ABC/Randy HolmesMetallica will play a charity concert in their hometown of San Francisco on September 26. The special event, dubbed Dreamfest, will raise money for UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals.

Dreamfest will be held in conjunction with San Francisco-based tech company Salesforce's annual Dreamforce conference. The concert will be open to Dreamforce attendees, sponsor and donors.

If you're a member of Metallica's Fifth Member fan club, you'll have a chance to obtain free tickets to the show, which will not go on sale to the public. Visit Metallica.com for more info.

Metallica will kick off a U.S. tour in support of their latest album, Hardwired...to Self-Destruct, this Sunday, September 2, in Madison, Wisconsin.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 28)  The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) is looking into an audit report that pointed to irregularities in government-funded skills training.

"We are now starting our own investigation to punish those who may be responsible for this," TESDA Director General Gene Mamondiong told CNN Philippines' The Source.

"By the second week of September, we'll be coming out with the results of the inspection," he added.

The Commission on Audit (COA) found that TESDA spent over 10 million in two potentially irregular skills trainings. About 9.3 million was given to the Sta. Mesa Campus of AMA Computer College for a JAVA and Software Development NC IV training for 310 scholars. Another 1.47 million was given to the Technivoc Institute Corporation (TIC) for barista training for 270 scholars.

The COA reported that it could not reach a majority of the scholars. It found that TIC did not physically exist, and 77 students of AMA Computer College who responded went to a different campus and did not attend any TESDA software development training program.

"With the fictitious reported scholars/trainees, the objective to produce skilled graduates to be productive/employable was defeated, instead, put government efforts and resources to waste," the COA wrote. "This also deprived other qualified beneficiaries to be scholars in that course under the program."

Mamondiong noted that the events COA recounted took place and 2015, and were discovered by the agency in 2016.

"The money has been refunded and deposited to the Bureau of Treasury," he said in an August 23 statement.

The district director who oversaw the project with AMA Computer College has since been moved.

"She is already assigned somewhere else," said Mamondiong, without naming the official. "She is still with TESDA, but as I said... we are conducting our own investigation to find out if this can be treated [as a] criminal [complaint]  what kind of action we can file against her."

The TESDA Chief added since he first took the position in 2016, he had 175 training centers and 6,273 programs closed as a result of a technical audit. TESDA runs about 123 of the 4,283 training centers nationwide.

District, regional, and provincial directors all over the country have also been reshuffled, he added.

Mamondiong said he has also organized a national inspectorate for TESDA last year. The body is tasked "to evaluate and gather information from the training centers." However, they are short on resources.

"We need 500 inspectors. We were only able to organize 150," he said. "I have to reduce [them] because we do not have the funds. What is left now is about 50."

Mamondiong has offered a 50,000 reward for anyone who could tip information on illicit activities involving TESDA. However, he said nobody has come forward.In addition to the wine sold at the Festival of the Vine, there are eight businesses in Geneva that will hold special wine-related events in conjunction with the festival, she said, like 29th annual Grahams Bacchus Meets Quetzalcoatl Wine and Chocolate Tasting Event. The event pairs wines from Geneva Wine Cellars and Tasting Room with hand-dipped fine chocolates from Grahams. Tickets cost $38 and sell out fast  its advised to reserve yours early. That event is 6:30, 7:30 and 8:30 p.m. Sept. 7-8.ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Mumbai, August 27

Stating he was happy Congress president Rahul Gandhi has made it clear he was not driven by prime ministerial ambitions, NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Monday said the aim should be to vote out the BJP and that any party in the Opposition getting the maximum seats after the 2019 polls could claim the top post.

And I am happy that the Congress leader (Rahul Gandhi) has also said he is not in the race for the prime minister's post," he said at a party meeting in Mumbai.

Pawar pressed for forging alliances of anti-BJP parties at state level and favoured picking up the prime ministerial candidate after the election results, as happened after the 1977 and 2004 General Elections.

Raising concerns over the alleged instances of EVM tampering, Pawar asked the Election Commission to revert to using ballot papers during polling.

Congress leaders Ashok Gehlot and Ashok Chavan and NCP leaders Praful Patel and Jayant Patil would discuss seat sharing between the two parties in a week or two, he said.

Pawar's remarks comes a day after the Congress president said he was not driven by an ambition to become prime minister.

I don't have these visions. I view myself as fighting an ideological battle and this change has come in me after 2014. I realised that there's a risk to Indian state, to Indian way of doing things and I'm defending that, Gandhi had said.  PTI

Let elections take place, remove these people (BJP) from power. We will sit together. Whichever party gets more seats can claim the Prime Ministers post. Sharad Pawar, NCP ChiefROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 27

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh sarsangchalak Mohan Bhagwat will address and interact with a select audience comprising prominent citizens from all walks of life, including politics, in Delhis Vigyan Bhawan between September 17 and 19, RSS Akhil Bhartiya Prachar Pramukh Arun Kumar said on Monday.

Kumar refuted any connection between Sanghs first-of-its-kind outreach  a three-day lecture series on Future of Bharat: an RSS Perspective  and recent anti-RSS onslaught by Opposition leaders, especially Congress president Rahul Gandhi who likened it to Islamic group Muslim Brotherhood. However, it was obvious what the BJPs ideological fountainhead had in mind while designing and scheduling it ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Kumar did not specify whether Rahul would be among the prominent invitees (let it be our prerogative said) from political parties to the event, but it seems he could be in the list. We are open to interaction and questions from all, a Sangh leader said.

Meanwhile, responding to Rahul and his jibes, Kumar said someone (read Rahul), who himself admits that he is still learning about Bharat, is not expected to know much about the Sangh and its work.If he knew about the sufferings of people due to IS, he would not have made the comments, the RSS leader said in response to questions on Rahuls comparison.

According to Kumar, the aim of the lecture series by Bhagwat (he will be the sole speaker on all the days) was to inform about the Sanghs views on contemporary issues and those concerning Indias future. Today Bharat is moving ahead towards regaining her special and unique position in the world among the galaxy of nations. At the same time the RSS is realising that there is a growing eagerness among larger sections of society, including the intellectuals and the youth to know and understand the RSS perspective on various issues of national importance. Kumar claimed that though it had no connection with politics, many parties still try to connect the Sangh with various political occurrences in the country another reason for the interaction.

This is the first time the RSS, which is known to generally maintain a low profile, is organising such an event. Ever since the BJP came to power, the Sangh has grown in stature and some of its recent events that saw the attendance of former President Pranab Mukherjee and top industrialist Ratan Tata made huge headlines.

No invitation from Sangh yet: Congress

The Congress on Monday said it had not received any invitation from the RSS for party chief Rahul Gandhi yet. Answering a question on RSS offering to invite Rahul to its event soon, Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, I have checked. Rahul Gandhi has not received any invitation from the RSS yet. We will respond as and when we receive the invitation and we will also convey that response to you. TNSamansharma@tribunemail.com

Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 28

Senior diplomat Ruchi Ghanashyam has been appointed as India's next High Commissioner to United Kingdom. A 1982-batch India Foreign Service officer, Ghanshyam is currently serving as Secretary West at Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi.

Ghanashyam will be India's second woman high commissioner in London in nearly six decades after Vijaya Laxmi Pandit who served as High Commissioner from 1954 to 1961. Ghanashyam will takes over the assignment shortly from serving envoy Yashvardhan Sinha.

Ghanashyam will have her task cut out at a time when India and UK have been at loggerheads over the Returns Bill dealing with deportation of illegal immigrants as well as the ground being allowed by London to pro-Khalistan outfits inciting anti-India sentiments. Uncertainty also prevails over trade investment issues as the Theresa May government continues to fight it out politically while negotiating Brexit terms and conditions.

Ghanashyam has previously served as Joint Secretary and Additional Secretary heading the Europe West Division in MEA. Her overseas assignments include serving as High Commissioner in Ghana, concurrently accredited to Burkina Faso, Togo and Sierra Leone from 2008 to 2011 and Minister in the Permanent Mission of India to UN in New York prior to that. During her diplomatic career she also served as Director (Pakistan) in Delhi from 2000 to 2004 having earlier served as Counsellor (Political, Press & Info) in the High Commission of India in Islamabad.

Meanwhile, the UK government has announced next edition of the High Commissioner for a Day contest to celebrate International Day of the Girl Child on October 11. British envoy to India Dominic Asquith today launched the competition by calling on young women aged 18-23 to submit a short video on social media explaining what gender equality means to them. The winner gets to don the High Commissioner's hat for a day. "We want to celebrate this important day by demonstrating to young women that anything is possible, and giving them a platform to talk about the important issue of girls' rights," said Dominic Asquith.monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Chennai, August 28

DMK leader MK Stalin was on Tuesday elevated as the party president, being elected unopposed to the top post.

At the party's General Council meeting held here, DMK General Secretary K Anbazhagan said Stalin was elected unopposed, as he was the sole candidate who had filed nomination for the party chief's post on August 26.

The 65-year-old Stalin's elevation comes about three weeks after the death of his father and party president M Karunanidhi on August 7 and amidst threats by his elder brother and expelled DMK leader MK Alagiri that the party will have to face "consequences" if he was not re-admitted into its fold.

Congratulations and best wishes to @mkstalin for being elected President of the DMK @arivalayam  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) August 28, 2018

Chants hailing Stalin as "Thalapathy" (Commander) rented the Kalaignar Arangam where the meeting was underway even as the General Council members cheered with loud applause.

DMK Principal Secretary Durai Murugan was elected Treasurer, succeeding Stalin, a post he vacated recently in view of his proposed elevation. PTImonicakchauhan@gmail.com

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 28

NEW DELHI: A day-long meeting of the BJP Chief Ministers' Council is ongoing here to discuss plans of reaching out to beneficiaries of the Centre's welfare schemes as part of the party's efforts to retain power in 2019.

BJP president Amit Shah inaugurated the meeting in which it was decided to meet targets of the 'Swachh Bharat' scheme in a time-bound manner.

The ongoing 'Gram Swaraj' project in over 48,000 villages was also discussed in the meeting.

Party sources said the meeting also passed a condolence message commemorating former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as a leader who brought to fruition the concept of good governance and in whose death the country lost a visionary.

BJP leaders also remembered Vajpayee's work to develop the northeast region and also create three new states as they paid him tributes.

Sources said it was decided in the meeting that the targets set for the 'Swachh Bharat' (Clean India) project should be met within a specified period.

The BJP has 15 Chief Ministers and seven Deputy Chief Ministers, two in Uttar Pradesh and one each in Gujarat, Bihar, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura.

It is a part of the coalition government led by the Janata Dal-United in Bihar and of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party's Neiphiu Rio-led People's Democratic Alliance in Nagaland. With PTI inputssanjiv@tribunemail.com

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 28

Exactly a year after the 73-day military stand-off ended at Doklam, India and China have brought about a semblance of visible normalcy along the boundary. Another new normal is the presence of greater-than-before number of Chinese troops at Chumbi valley, located to the north of the disputed site.

While China has permanently stationed some 1,000 troops, Indias defences are much superior with more than 30,000 troops and even a regiment of tanks lined up along eastern Sikkim, facing the Chumbi valley.

Beijing has added military infrastructure at Yatung and upgraded an air base at Shigatse, 225 km north of Doklam  an 89 sq km plateau at the trijunction of India-China and Bhutan  but all in its own territory and not the disputed spot. Since last year, the two sides have agreed to resolve issues at the level of local military commanders and not let matters escalate to have long stand-offs. A fresh memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation is being drafted while engagements between the armed forces are being expanded.

The border is quieter now. The recent high-level visits could result in better measures to be put in place, said a senior functionary, counting the changes, especially after PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke in Wuhan (April 27-28).

After Doklam, the Indian Army issued instructions to its troops to maintain sanctity of the Line of Actual Control, remain within laid down protocol but not to yield ground. Jostling, touching, heckling or shouting at Chinese troops has been banned too.

Some Hostility stays

426 transgressions by the China troops in 2017

170 transgressions by China in 2018

3,488 km is the length of the disputed, undemarcated Line of Actual Control, the boundary between the two countrieseditorial@tribune.com

Jupinderjit Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 27

The rebel AAP MLAs, led by Sukhpal Singh Khaira, on Monday remained defiant even as the Harpal Cheema group had a victory of sorts when it forced the Speaker to not expunge names of Congress leaders named by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh as accused in the 1984 riots.

It is rare for the Opposition to prevail upon the Speaker and get its demand accepted. The victory was the bright point for the party even as the Khaira group remained indifferent. Khaira and his supporters raised issues separately and even staged a walkout when Leader of Oppsotion Harpal Cheema got up to speak. The two MLAs of the Lok Insaf Party (LIP), which had an alliance with AAP earlier, joined the Khaira group in the walkout. Khaira returned the favour when he supported LIP MLA Balwinder Singh Bains who was being cornered by Congress MLAs.

However, the Khaira group did not join other AAP MLAs when they were led by Cheema to protest in the well of the House on the riots issue.

Phoolka, who has been fighting cases of riot victims, even jumped aggressively in the well of the House, and asked the Khaira group to join him in protest against the Speakers announcement to expunge names of Congress leaders involved in the 1984 riots. The Khaira group, however, refused to budge.

The controversy began when Akali MLA Bikram Singh Majithia drew Speakers attention on the recent statement of AICC president Rahul Gandhi saying that the Congress was not involved in the riots. Majithia termed it a false claim as a number of Congress leaders were facing court cases for their involvement.

Responding to the allegations, the CM said he had visited Delhi immediately after the riots and some of the victims named some Congress leaders. He insisted that the leaders might be involved in their individual capacity, but it was wrong to blame the Congress party.

As Akalis and AAP MLAs took on the CM, the Speaker directed the names of accused Congress leaders be expunged. Phoolka demanded that the names be retained. When the Speaker refused to relent, Phoolka went to the well of the House, raised slogans and jumped aggressively demanding retention of the names. While Cheema and his MLAs joined him, the Khaira group didnt. Phoolka walked up to them and asked them to join, but in vain.

As Phoolka continued his aggressive approach, the CM intervened in the pandemonium, saying he had been taking the names since long and those might be retained. The pandemonium ended with the Speaker accepting the demand of not expunging the names as stated by the CM.

Earlier, when the Khaira group along with LIP MLAs staged a boycott on the issue of seeking a discussion on sharing river waters, Cheema and his 11 MLAs did not join them.

On the sidelines

Khaira for preserving heritage buildings

The Tribune report on attempts to convert a heritage site  Sangrurs Maharaja Ranbir Club  into a bar was flagged in the Assembly by Sukhpal Khaira, head of the rebel group of AAP MLAs. He demanded rollback of the order. Khaira and his group said heritage sites should be protected.

AAP under minority threat

The rift between AAP groups at one time threatened the party's position as the main opposition party in the Assembly. When the Khaira group of eight MLAs staged a walkout, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm Mohindra sought the Speaker's attention and claimed that the Leader of the Opposition was in minority. However, the Speaker said the LoP had majority of the MLAs seated with him.

Accusations come full circle

Accusations flew thick and fast in the House on Monday. Former minister Parminder Dhindsa accused Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu of using derogatory words about SAD chief Sukhbir Badal's mother and demanded an apology. AAP MLA Sukhpal Khaira pointed out that Sukhbir had used derogatory words against his (Khaira's) brother-in-law Justice Ranjit Singh (retd). To this, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm Mohindra rapped Khaira for having used casteist remarks against his Cabinet colleague Chanjit Singh Channi.

Capt chides Majithia

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh hit back at Akali leaders when they questioned his claims on the 1984 riots. The CM told Bikram Singh Majithia that he was only eight years old when the riots took place. When Majithia protested, the CM took out a piece of paper from his pocket and announced that the Akali leader was born in 1976.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 27

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday alleged that there was a conspiracy to defame the erstwhile SAD-BJP government and divide the Sikh community. Releasing call details with tower locations, he said Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, his ministers and Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) were consorting with radical Jathedars to vet the sacrilege probe Commission report, including a meeting held at the CMs residence on Sunday night.

Capt Amarinder denied these allegations on the floor of the House. When Sukhbir accused the CM and ministers Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa and Sukhjinder Randhawa of having met radical leader Baljit Singh Daduwal late on Sunday night, the CM said he could not even recognise Daduwal. I have met him only once, and that too when I went to Bargari after the sacrilege incidents had taken place, he said.

Later, addressing a press conference, the SAD president said, The unholy nexus between the Congress, AAP and ISI-sponsored radical outfits to help the Congress is out in the open. We have conclusive evidence that the CM is not only encouraging radical elements but also consorting with them. This new evidence proves that the Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) Commission report was vetted at the farmhouse of radical leader Chanan Singh Sidhu at Mullanpur Garibdass near here.

He further said: Sukhpal Khaira, Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) and Commission Registrar JS Mehmi visited the farmhouse on June 15 and were together for four hours from 6 am to 10 am, while producing call records of these persons, showing the same tower location in Mullanpur.

Sukhbir alleged that Khaira and Justice Ranjit Singh again visited the farmhouse on June 17 from early morning to evening and were joined by Bajwa. He said Bajwa had also visited the dharna site at Bargari and subsequently gone to London, days before the ISI-backed SFJ held a declaration for Sikh Referendum.

A third meeting was held at Sidhus farmhouse on July 18, which was attended by sarkari Jathedar Dhian Singh Mand, radical leader Gurdeep Singh Bathinda, Justice Ranjit Singh and minister Sukhjinder Randhawa, alleged Sukhbir.

He said Daduwal claimed that he was in Bathinda on Sunday night, but the SAD had proof of his entry into Chandigarh through the Banur toll plaza. Sukhbir claimed that after the meeting, Daduwal was bundled into a car and whisked off to Randhawas residence.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 27

The Punjab State Legislature (Prevention of Disqualification) Amendment Bill, 2018, was tabled in the Vidhan Sabha on Monday, even as Congress MLA Randeep Singh Nabha told the government that the amendments would have to stand legal scrutiny.

He sought an assurance from the Advocate General that the amendments would not lead to disqualification of MLAs for holding an office of profit. He said similar amendments of states such as Rajasthan, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh had hit a roadblock.

Policy to be modified

Modifications will be made to the dispute resolution and litigation policy to check growing litigation in government departments.

Resolution on corridor

The Vidhan Sabha passed a resolution to press the Central Government to pursue with Pakistan the opening of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor during Guru Nanaks 550th birth anniversary celebrations.

Passed on MondayOnly midwives with nursing degrees are legally permitted to practice in Illinois. The new bill would allow some certified professional midwives who are not nurses to apply for licensure in Illinois, a move that would allow them to provide more comprehensive care without fear of criminalization, advocates say, while opening up more options for parents seeking home birthsrchopra@tribunemail.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 28

Drama was witnessed in and out of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday as the debate on the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission got underway with the Opposition Akali Dal boycotting the proceedings.

And while the Congress MLAs began the debate in the House, outside the Akali Dal legislators held a mock session in protest clearly signifying that Panthic politics could stay on at the centre of the debate.

When the session began, the SAD MLAs, who were apparently unhappy over the time allotted to it, walked out of the House as the debate resumed after a small adjournment. They started a mock session outside the Assembly.

Congress MLA Harminder Singh Gill began the debate by talking about the involvement of Dera Sacha Sauda followers in sacrilege cases.

He talked of the report saying the Badals were instrumental in granting of pardon to Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim.

He also spoke of the then chief ministers involvement in the use of police force on protesters at Kotkapura on the intervening night of October 13-14.

Gill mocked the grant of Panth Rattan and Faqr-e-Quom titles to Parkash Singh Badal. He compared the sacrilege incidents of Punjab to the stealing of hair from the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar. Gill drew the attention of the House towards anti-Panthic action of the Akalis.

Meanwhile, in a tweet, Capt Amarinder Singh dared the Akali leaders not to run away from the debate.

Gill demanded serious punishment for all guilty, including Badal. He demanded that a case be registered against Sukhbir Badal for defaming people. He also flashed pictures of Parkash Singh Badal with Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and Asaram.

Gill said strict action be taken against Sumedh Singh Saini and other police officers.

Later, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, who has been accused by the Akali Dal of having scripted the report, spoke by pointing out the links of Akalis with Dera Sacha Sauda. He also accused Akalis of not tabling the report of Justice Jora Singh Commission.

Randhawa said Punjab wanted to know what action the CM took on the commission report.

Sukhbir Badal, though not present in the House, tweeted, The conspiracy was exposed by your @capt_amarinder mid-night secret meeting with radical bogus Jathedar Baljit Daduwal. If you want to discuss this false report we are ready. Give us equal time and I will come back to the Vidhan Sabha even now. Or you stand exposed.

Earlier, ahead of the debate on the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report, the Punjab Vidhan Sabha witnessed uproarious scenes after Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh sought a House committee to probe the allegations by SAD president Sukhbir Badal.

Sukhbir had alleged that mobile calls were exchanged between Congress ministers, AAP leader Sukhpal Khaira and controversial Sikh preacher Baljit Daduwal.

SAD MLAs stormed the Well of the House after the CM alleged that the SAD was misleading the House.

Addressing a press conference outside the assembly, Sukhpal Khaira accused Sukhbir Badal of concocting the call detail records of politicians to get the attention off the report.

Khaira claimed that because of the fabricated things that Badal had said and called his political opponents ISI agents, they would meet the same fate as Manjit Singh GK in the US two days back.

AAP MLA Kultar Singh Sandhawan accused the Akalis of throwing down the Ranjit Singh Commission report, and sought a resolution condemning the Akalis for desecrating the report, which had Guru Granth Sahib written in it. The House unanimously passed the resolution.

There was also ruckus over Sukhbirs allegations that an AAP MLA, Justice Ranjit Singh, registrar of the commission and two ministers had met at a farm house and scripted the report.

Badal had levelled these allegations on Monday. The CM read out his statement, denying it and saying it was misleading. The CM said the towers mentioned in Badals statement did not exist.

Sukhjinder Randhawa said clear involvement of Sukhbir Badal on sacrilege is proved. He demanded life imprisonment for Badals.

He also demanded custodial interrogation of Gaganjit Singh Brar, principal secretary to former CM Parkash Singh Badal, and to take back inquiry from the CBI and hand it to police.

Randhawa demanded that title Faqr-e-Quom be taken from Parkash Singh Badal.

Congress MLA Navtej Cheema demanded action against the Akalis for running parallel session without permission and showing it live on PTC.

AAP MLA HS Phoolka called upon SGPC members to listen to their inner voice and work for the panth.

Phoolka praised Capt Amarinder Singh for speaking truth on 1984 riots. He called upon the chief minister to do justice to the Ranjit Singh Commission report by withdrawing investigation of the sacrilege cases from CBI.

He also demanded a resolution for special court to hear sacrilege cases.

Talking in context of the action taken on commission report, Phoolka asked why the Congress is after small fish while leaving the mastermind out.

Why former DGP Sumedh Singh Saini has just been given the notice, Phoolka pointed out that police officers did not follow procedure should be tried under murder charges.

He also read a text from the report on involvement of Dera Sacha Sauda in the sacrilege and demanded a case against jailed Dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim.

Sukhjinder Randhawa demanded in the House that no such Dera head should be allowed to raise his head in Punjab.

Phoolka dared the Akalis to challenge the call records placed on record by the Justice Ranjit Singh commission.

Phoolka demanded that the House pass a resolution demanding immediate implementation of the recommendations of the commissions report.

Phoolka sought assurance from the chief minister to take action against Fastway for not showing the debate.

Congress MLAs raise the issue of Fastway blocking channels that are airing the proceedings live.

Navjot Singh Sidhu too supports them and exhorts that the licence of PTC be cancelled.

Sidhu said Akalis ran away from debate because they had no explanation to give for a dark phase in the history of Sikhs.

Sidhu said that though Sukhbir Badal is known to win over people with money, he (Sidhu) was not for sale and is thus standing straight with his pride intact.

Sidhu also asked Badal to explain what happened to Rs 100 crore that sukhbir is alleged to have taken from Dera Sacha Sauda Chief in 2015, for allowing the latters movie to be released.

Sidhu said that to wriggle out of corruption cases, as many as 104 witnesses had withdrawn their statements, so what is Himmat in front of the lucrative things offered to him.

Himmat Singh is a key witness in the Ranjit Singh Commission report, who had deposed saying that he was present in the meeting of Sikh high priests with Badals when they were asked to grant pardon to the Dera chief.

Last week, Himmat had withdrawn his statement given to commission.

He asked the chief minister to take action against the Badals saying it is the voice of people of Punjab.

Sidhu said that action against Badals should be a deterrent for others.

Why should the CBI investigate the case when it plays in the hands of the Centre? Let Punjab Police investigate, said Sidhu.

AAP MLA Aman Arora pointed to various loopholes in the police investigation regarding police firing at Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura. He said the Congress government was not implementing recommendations of the commissions recommendations.

Congress MLA Fateh Jang Bajwa writes an open letter to chief minister to withdraw his decision to handover investigation of sacrilege cases to the CBI.

Lok Insaf Party leader Simarjit Singh Bains said the entire world is watching the chief ministers decision on punishment to be handed down to those behind the sacrilege.

Bains said the chief minister will have to bring out his swords and attack those who desecrated the holy books.

Bains invoked the sacrifice of martyr Udham Singh to remind the chief minister to act firmly with the sacrilege suspects.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm Mohindra presented the resolution against the SAD-BJP for running a mock session in the House.

The lobby outside is part of the House, he said, while exhorting Speaker Rana KP Singh to take action for violation of the rules of the Vidhan Sabha. The proposal was passed by the House.

Sukhpal Singh Khaira said Akali leaders used to go to bhog ceremonies of terrorists. He said they are the ones who had links with those who opposed Government of India.

He accused the Akalis of cheating the Panth. He also accused the Congress of attacking the Darbar Sahib, which led to uproar in the House.

Khaira said though the order for use of police force was given by Parkash Singh Badal, but in fact it was ordered by de facto CM Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi said Parkash Singh Badal is suffering because of the sins of his son Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Channi said Sukhbir Badal conspired with Dera Sacha Sauda for polarisation of votes. He also sought inquiry into the firing at Sikh preacher Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale.

On the demand of Phoolka, the speaker allowed AAP MLA Baldev Singh to speak. Baldev Singh demanded martyr status for those killed in police firing.

He demanded that 100 bed hospital and sports stadium at places where police firing and sacrilege incidents took place. This will help the people of the area to overcome the loss, he said.editorial@tribune.com

London, August 27

An NRI, serving a jail term in the UK for the 2009 murder of his wife, will be deported to India to serve the remainder of his sentence in Punjab.

Harpreet Aulakh was sentenced to a minimum of 28 years in London in December 2010 for ordering the murder of his wife, Geeta Aulakh (28), after she sought divorce. The 40-year-old will be deported under the India-UK Repatriation of Prisoners Act, the BBC reported on Monday.

All arrangements are in place. According to the plan, the UK authorities will bring him to New Delhi, from where a team of the Punjab Police will bring him to Amritsar, IPS Sahota, a top prison officer in Punjab, was quoted as saying.

IG (Prisons) Roop Kumar said Harpreet had told the UK authorities that he wanted to serve his remaining term in India. In November 2009, Geeta was hacked to death with a sword.

The attack had taken place when Geeta went to pick up her sons after leaving a community radio station where she worked as a receptionist. Harpreet, also known as Sunny, Sher Singh (19) and Jaswant Dhillon (30) were found guilty of Geetas murder in 2010. Sher Singh, who wielded the sword, and Dhillon, who acted as the lookout, were sentenced to 22 years behind bars.  PTI

Was hacked to deathsanjiv@tribunemail.com

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 28

Accepting the demand of Congress and Aam Aadmi Party MLAs, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh announced on Tuesday that the probe into cases of sacrilege as well as the Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura police firing, now with the CBI, would be handed over to a special investigation team (SIT) of the Punjab Police for speedy disposal.

He was delivering the concluding speech after an eight-hour-long debate on the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report. The Akali legislators staged a walkout before the debate began, protesting against the less time allotted to their party during the debate on the Commissions report. Painting former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal as anti-Panthic, Capt Amarinder Singh squarely blamed him for the incidents of sacrilege during the SAD-BJP tenure. Calling him a coward and a liar, he accused Badal of always having worked against the states interests, for Operation Bluestar and for sabotaging peace efforts preceding the military action.

Parkash Singh Badal is not ill, but has avoided coming to the House as he knew he would be nailed, he claimed. While blaming his predecessor for the damage caused to the state and its people owing to his grave acts of commission and omission, the CM also attacked SAD president Sukhbir Badal, his wife and Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur, her brother Bikram Majithia and other Akali leaders, claiming they had not cared to visit those injured in the police firing. On the Bargari and Behbal Kalan incidents, he said a day prior to retirement, the former DGP had claimed to have spoken to the then CM about the police firing. How then could he (Badal) have been asleep?

Congress MLAs spoke vociferously on various aspects of the Commissions report and the alleged complicity of Dera Sacha Sauda in cases of sacrilege.

AAP legislators Sukhpal Singh Khaira, HS Phoolka and Kanwar Sandhu and senior Congress MLAs Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Tript Rajinder Bajwa, Manpreet Badal and Harminder Singh Gill urged the Chief Minister to put the Badals behind bars for disrespect to Sikh scriptures.

As sought by Randhawa, a privilege motion was unanimously passed against SGPC chief Gobind Singh Longowal for rejecting the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report. The SGPC will be freed from the clutches of the Badals, Randhawa claimed.

Meanwhile, the Speaker formed a House committee to probe SAD president Sukhbir Badals allegations that the CM had met Sikh preacher Baljit Singh Daduwal at the formers residence a day before the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report was tabled in the Assembly.

Bills passed in vidhan sabhaeditorial@tribune.com

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 28

The Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday unanimously passed the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018, and The Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018, which seek 10 years term to life imprisonment for those who commit sacrilege.

The two Bills were passed on the day the Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) Commission report on incidents of sacrilege was discussed. This report had pointed out that a majority of the incidents had remained unsolved.

The two Bills aim to enact Section 295-AA for imprisonment of 10 years (under IPC) and life term (under CrPC) for injuring, causing any damage or sacrilege to Guru Granth Sahib, Bhagavad Gita, Quran and Bible, with the intention to hurt religious sentiments.

Such offences will be cognisable and non-bailable. Presenting the Bills in the Vidhan Sabha, the Congress government said the move was necessitated by attempts in the recent past to disturb peace and communal harmony by committing sacrilege of holy books of all religions.

A Bill in this regard, introduced in the Assembly in March 2016, was withdrawn in May this year by the state government after the President refused to grant assent. The earlier Bill had prescribed life imprisonment for those who committed sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib. Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh said the Central Government had returned the 2016 Bill, saying that it was against the secular tenets of the Constitution. Thus, we have included all religions in the new section, and the law passed will be sent to the Government of India for approval, he added.

Participating in the debate, AAP MLA Aman Arora demanded that another amendment be made, stipulating that the trial should be completed within six months. Gurpartap Singh Wadala (SAD) said religion should not be politicised.

Politicising religion could have adverse repercussions for Punjab. The Akali Dal is supporting the Bill, but people should get closure on this sensitive issue of sacrilege, he said. Bikram Singh Majithia (SAD), too, said his party supported the Bill, but stated that desecration of Guru Granth Sahib should be treated separately as the latter was regarded as a living Guru.

Technical Education Minister Charanjit Singh Channi accused the Akali Dal of double standards on the matter, saying that the party had not opposed the Centres decision to return the Bill.sanjiv@tribunemail.com

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Patiala, August 28

To jack up profits, factory owners with political affiliations in the state used spurious milk  containing chemicals, including detergents  to manufacture paneer and ghee without the fear of the law in connivance with Health Department officials, against whom no action has been initiated thus far.

These factory owners earned crores over the past 10 years, many selling products to ghost dairies which would further sell these to prominent sweets shops and bakeries, sources in the Health Department told The Tribune.

For most of these manufacturers, it was a rags-to-riches story. They earned enough to send their wards abroad for studies and bought high-end cars and properties. To ensure their business was undisturbed, they generously donated funds to various parties for electioneering, a top official revealed.

Mandeep Singh Sidhu, Patiala SSP, explained: These factories used about 1,000 litres of milk made of poor quality milk powder, urea or some detergent. About 200 litres of this ingredient would be boiled at 80 degrees and a layer formed at the top by using some chemical, instead of lime, extracted. Likewise, 200 litres of refined oil would be boiled and the layer at the top removed. Later, this mixture would be poured into the remaining 800 litres and the temperature was gradually brought down by 10 to 15 degrees, yielding a semi-solid product.

This product was poured into specially designed tumblers and flattened with machines. Left for a few hours, it was then cut into 5-kg bricks of paneer. The SSP said what was even more worrying was that the residue water carrying chemicals was drained into borewells dug for the purpose, polluting underground water.

During questioning, one of the accused factory owners, Anil Kumar Singla of Devigarh, reportedly confessed that he would pay officials Rs 15,000 for every seized sample that was cleared by them.

Farmers unions in Punjab lament that spurious milk products have caused huge losses to dairy owners and want immediate action against the erring officials. Warning of more raids, KS Pannu, Director, Tandarust Mission, says he will recommend stern action against them.

None of the MLAs want to talk about the matter, claims Patiala MP Dr Dharamvira Gandhi. The issue ought to be raised in the Vidhan Sabha and the Health Minister asked to spell out the action to be taken against the department officers involved in the scam, he says.

Preparing the dangerous concoctioneditorial@tribune.com

Our Correspondent

Tarn Taran, August 27

Two gangsters were shot dead and two injured in a fight between two local gangs at Goindwal Sahib town, 25 km from here, on Monday.

The Goindwal Sahib police have registered a case under Sections 302, 307, 148 and 149 of the IPC and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act.

Darshan Singh Mann, SSP, and other police officials reached the spot.

The SSP said the deceased gangsters were identified as Gurjant Singh of Dhunda and Arshdeep Singh of Goindwal Sahib.

He said members of a gang, Gurlal Singh, Sahilpreet Singh and Prabhjit Singh of Hansawala village, came in two SUVs with their other accomplices and opened fire on their rival gang members.

The SSP said all the gangsters were involved in many criminal cases of looting, robbery, etc. The SSP added that one of the Gurlals gang members, too, was injured in the firing.

He said both gangs indulged in a verbal duel over their personal issues on Monday morning at a gym in Goindwal Sahib.

The deceased gangsters were standing near their car near Gurdwara Baoli Sahib in the town when the other gang members opened indiscriminate firing on them from their .315-bore rifles and .32-bore revolvers.

Involved in many criminal caseseditorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 27

The US on Monday assured a fair and thorough probe into the attack on DSGMC president Manjit Singh GK outside a gurdwara in California on Sunday. A delegation of the SAD and the DSGMC, led by Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, met US Ambassador Ken Juster here on Monday.

After the meeting, Harsimrat said the Ambassador had assured them of necessary action. I am satisfied with the response, she said.

In a six-page memorandum to Jester, the delegation alleged that pro-Khalistani groups backed by Pakistans ISI were behind the attack. It sought security cover for GK and his family while they were on a visit to the US.

It alleged that one of the attackers had been identified as Jasbir Singh Lauban, a witness in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case who had turned hostile. The delegation claimed that Lauban had served imprisonment in India for threatening riot witnesses and victims.

It also accused Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, SFJs legal adviser operating from New York, of instigating youth against the Sikh community for vested interests. The delegation complained that no security cover had been provided to Manjit Singh GK and his family members even as he faced threats from radical elements.

The Ambassador was told that the DSGMC presidents visit to the US was part of a mission to interact with the Sikh community to apprise them of worldwide celebrations to commemorate 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev next year.

Later talking to the media, Harsimrat charged the Congress of colluding with elements involved in the attacks. Lubana is a confidant of Jagdish Tytler, one of the accused in anti-Sikh riots. Is it a coincidence that the attack on Majit Singh GK took place immediately after Rahul Gandhi said in the UK that Congress was not behind the riots? she claimed.

GK had exposed Tytler in a sting operation and had also filed a FIR against him, she added.ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

As the special session of the Congress meets to-day, and as the abstention of a number of moderate leaders with their following is now an accomplished fact, no useful purpose can be served by prolonging the controversy regarding the circumstances that have led to the split. In fairness to the seceders, however, such a statement as the following made by Mrs Besant in a recent letter to the Bombay Chronicle cannot be allowed to go unchallenged:- The Nationalists have done all that was possible to preserve national unity short of surrendering their adhesion to the principles for which the Empire and its allies are fighting. The simple truth is that neither the extreme nor the moderate wing has shown any real solicitude in this matter of preserving national unity.editorial@tribune.com

Dehradun, August 27

The Uttarakhand Cabinet on Monday decided to constitute a committee for relocation of Gujjars from the Corbett Tiger Reserve and shut down schools which have less than 10 students.

It also decided to launch a medical insurance scheme named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, providing an annual coverage of Rs 5 lakh to every family.

The proposals were cleared by the state Cabinet at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, Cabinet minister and spokesman of the government Madan Kaushik told reporters.

It was decided that a committee, headed by the Forest Minister, will be constituted to implement an order of the Uttarakhand High Court to relocate the Gujjar families living in the Corbett to somewhere, Kaushik said.

The Agriculture Minister and the Chief Secretary would be the members of the panel, he added. Kaushik said the high court would also be informed about the formation of the committee.

Nine Gujjar families were living in the Jhirna range and 24 in the Dhela range of the reserve, he said.

In another decision, the Cabinet approved the closure of primary and upper primary schools which had less than 10 students. Those studying in such schools would be shifted to other schools.

Of the 12,339 primary schools, 2,425 have less than 10 students. And of 2,796 upper primary schools, 291 have less than 10 students.

The Cabinet also gave its nod to a medical insurance scheme named after Vajpayee providing an annual coverage of Rs 5 lakh to around 20 lakh families.

A budgetary provision of Rs 172 crore would be made for the scheme  Atal Ayushman Yojana Uttarakhand (AAYU)  which would come into force from September 25, Kaushik said.

The Cabinet also paid tributes to Vajpayee by reading an obituary proposal and observing a two-minute silence. PTIeditorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 28

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the construction of Rs 4,000 crore Lakhwar Multi-Purpose Project in the upper Yamuna basin in New Delhi.

Apart from him, Chief Ministers of five more states  Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, UP and Uttarakhand  signed the MoU in the presence of Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

The Lakhwar project envisages the construction of 204-metre high dam on the Yamuna with the storage capacity of 330 million cubic metre (MCM) and generation of 330 MW of power. It will the supply 79 MCM of drinking water to the six states.

The Centre will bear 90 per cent cost of the water component project and the rest 10 per cent be borne by the states in the ratio of water supplied to these.

The cost of power component of the project will be borne by Uttarakhand and it will avail the benefit of the power generation. The dam will be constructed by the Uttarakhand Government within 54 months and the work will be monitored by the Upper Yamuna River Board.

Jai Ram Thakur said Himachal would receive 3.15 per cent of water and correspondingly contribute Rs 8 crore as the states share.

Three major storage projects are proposed to be constructed on the river and its tributaries, the Tons and the Giri in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

Union Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Arjun Ram Meghwal was also present on the occasion.sanjiv@tribunemail.com

Islamabad, August 27

Two presidential candidates were on Monday chosen by Pakistans warring factions of the Opposition alliance which failed to reach a consensus on fielding a joint nominee, giving an upper hand to Prime Minister Imran Khans pick for the post of President, according to a media report.

Pakistan Peoples Partys (PPP) Aitzaz Ahsan and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman emerged as the two candidates who will challenge Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insafs (PTI) Dr Arif Alvi in the election of September 4.

The Election Commission of Pakistan had announced on August 16 that the presidential election will be held on September 4  five days before the expiry of the five-year term of President Mamnoon Hussain.

The failure of the opposition parties to field a joint candidate will virtually provide a walkover to the ruling PTIs Alvi for the presidents office, the report said.

While Ahsan filed his papers for the presidential election hours before the noon deadline on Monday, a JUI-F spokesperson claimed that Fazl would be the single nominee of the opposition parties, with the exception of the PPP.

The JUI-F chief will submit his nomination papers shortly as the joint candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA), Awami National Party, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and National Party, the spokesperson was quoted as saying by the report.

The PPP and the PML-N representatives directly and with the help of mediators remained in touch throughout on Sunday in their bid to reach an understanding, but all their efforts failed after the PPPs refusal to withdraw Ahsans name, the report said. The PML-Ns acting secretary general Ahsan Iqbal, however, said they had been still making all-out efforts to bring a joint opposition candidate, expressing the hope that the PPP might show flexibility.  PTI

Final list on August 30

PPPs Aitzaz Ahsan and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman emerged as the two candidates who will challenge PTIs Dr Arif Alvi in the election. The final list of candidates will be issued on August 30

VIP protocol at pak airports bannedshalender@tribune.com

Washington, August 28

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeos planned trip to North Korea last weekend was cancelled after he received what US officials deemed to be a belligerent letter from Pyongyang, The Washington Post reported.

The precise contents of the letter, which came from Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of North Koreas ruling party, were not known, the Post said.

Pompeo received it on Friday and showed it to President Donald Trump. They concluded it was belligerent enough to call off the visit, the Post said late Monday, quoting two administration officials.

In pulling the plug on the visit, Trump tweeted that he had not seen sufficient progress toward Pyongyang denuclearising. Trump acted amid independent reports that North Korea has done little or nothing to roll back its nuclear programme, despite promises made at a historic summit in June with Kim Jong Un.

He also blasted China for not doing enough to help push denuclearisation, but left open the possibility of a Pompeo trip to Pyongyang when the US-China trading relationship is resolved.  AFP

Pyongyang still big threat, says Japan

Tokyo: North Korea still poses a serious and imminent threat, Japan said on Tuesday in its first annual defence review since tensions eased on the Korean peninsula. Japans 2018 defence white paper also took aim at Chinas rise as a military power.shalender@tribune.com

The Hague, August 28

The United States told UN judges on Tuesday they had no jurisdiction to rule on Tehrans demand for them to order the suspension of debilitating nuclear-related sanctions against Iran.

Iran has argued that US President Donald Trump breached a 1955 treaty with his decision to reimpose the sanctions after withdrawing from a multilateral nuclear accord.

But US State Department lawyer Jennifer Newstead told the court in The Hague that it lacks prima facie jurisdiction to hear Irans claims.

But Newstead argued that the United States had the right to protect its national security and other interests.

The treaty cannot therefore provide a basis for this courts jurisdiction in the case, she said.

The United States and several other world powers lifted sanctions on Iran under a 2015 accord after years of diplomacy. In return, Tehran made commitments not to seek to build nuclear weapons.

Trump said the 2015 accord did not do enough to curb the threat from Iran. He pulled out of the accord in May and began reimposing sanctions this month.

In the first day of hearings at the ICJ on Monday, Irans lawyers said the sanctions were threatening the welfare of its citizens and disrupting tens of billions of dollars worth of business deals.  AFP

Tehran to maintain military presence in Syria

London: Iran will maintain its military presence in Syria despite U.S. pressure for its withdrawal, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday, revealing more details about a military cooperation deal that Tehran and Damascus signed this week. Iranian Defence Minister Amir Hatami visited Damascus on Saturday for talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and senior military officials. He signed a deal for military cooperation in a meeting with his Syrian counterpart, but details of the accord were not revealed. Reuters

Rouhani answers economic questions

London: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani attended a parliamentary session on Tuesday to answer lawmakers' questions on his government's handling of Iran's economic struggles following a new round of US sanctions on Tehran. It is the first time parliament has summoned Rouhani, who is under pressure from hardline rivals to change his cabinet after a deterioration in relations with the United States and Iran's growing economic difficulties. ReutersNeval Bissambhar views life and worship through the lens of an omnista person who believes in all faiths or creeds.

A born Hindu, Bissambhar follows the tenets of his familys faith. The D Rampersad INDI-ART lead singer is preparing to celebrate Divali this week. However, he says all religions have a part to play in the perpetual battle of light over darkness.The woman in this screen grab which were shared on social media this weekend has been identified as a 36-year-old Venezuelan national who is working legally in this country, who fought back against the would be thief because the bag she was carrying had her Venezuelan passport and work permit.Sponsored: Ministry of Planning

Climate Change and Land Degradation are two significant environmental issues facing the world today. We see many countries in the news talking about their strategies towards dealing with these, but what is our country doing?

More here#I know there have been some recent changes to Eurorail passes and routes and there are various discount cards#

Forget you ever read about Eurail, Eurorail, GoEuro, Rail Europe, the less you know about them the better.

Your mode of travelling (i.e. fixed dates) are best served by booking point-to-point tickets with advance purchase discounts.

#usually cheaper if bought at the train station,#

You have got this backwards, purchasing at the station on the day of travel will be the most expensive.

As each country has its own administration, the booking window varies, Germany has a booking window of 180 days for domestic trains, Italy 120 days, Czech Republic about 60 days.

Just a few notes (random samples)

Munich to Lienz (not Leinz), easiest connection would be:

Munich to Fortezza (book with bahn.com or oebb.at), discounted Sparpreis about 29

Fortezza to Lienz (book with oebb.at, or simply purchase ticket on site, there is no reduction, price 17)

Ljubljana to Venice Marco Polo airport

Bus to Trieste (several operators, eg. Flixbus)

Trieste to Venezia Mestre (book with trenitalia.com, 1 hr 35 mins journey, discounted "Super economy" price roughly 13.50)

Venezia Mestre to airport, bus www.atvo.it, line 29 from Mestre station (12)

As you are travelling next month, the cheapest price bucket would have been sold out. For example, Stuttgart Amsterdam on Sept 29th, cheapest I could find would be 99,

Edited: 3 years agoNo one knows ... this is a question for an airline or travel agent.

Flight prices vary vastly according to date, and Vancouver to Australia has very limited stopovers. You can choose from LA, San Francisco, Hawaii or even New Zealand.

This is such an open question and requires a lot of research.Hello! I am flying from Mumbai to Toronto(terminal 1) via Newark. I will have to change terminals from C to A once I land at Newark. Will some one help me with what are the steps required to board the flight to Toronto from terminal A?

Also Ive heard terminal C is a domestic terminal and I hope it wont be a problem for me to board a flight from there since I am an international passenger.

I land in Toronto (terminal 1) and I hope they have immigration counters despite being a domestic terminal as I will need to clear immigration to enter Toronto.There are several hotels with names similar to that. If you mean the Tree House Hotel near Arenal, much of what you list will not be possible. I would personally be happy there for four days but you are nowhere near the beach. That hotel is also a bit of a drive to La Fortuna and most of the activities.

In fact, with only four full days it would be difficult to spend time both near a volcano and on a good beach.

The closest to that you could do would be to fly into Liberia, visit a beach in Guanacaste for a few days and then spend a little time near Tenorio or Rincon de Vieja.

There really are no hikes "up any volcano", although you can visit several in the country. Which airport are you flying into and what are your flight times? We can then see which locations re possible and if you can squeeze in more than one.

In the meantime, you can study maps and learn general things about various locations on anywherecostarica.comI would not book a full month in the area and accommodations you have not been to. I would book the first few days, max a week, and if you like it in the first few days, you can make arrangements to extend, if possible, or move elsewhere in the near by town, etc. Have a short list prepared.

While no one can predict the exact weather for the time you are somewhere, this gives you average rainfall on the Caribbean side: . January has lower amount of precipitation than Dec.

I would avoid the peak holiday season, I.e. the second half of Dec. and the beg. of Jan., no matter where you go. Peak prices, lots of ppl, special cancellation terms may apply, etc.

We enjoy S. Caribbean side, but we did not have a/c in any of the places we stayed, found it hot, humid, but we were ok with it. Our main purpose was wildlife and beach, and we were happy there, then returned there again. We stayed in Manzanillo and in Cahuita, near the national park, and visited Puerto Viejo town and Punta Uva beaches.Well, first of all, you're making the same mistake first-timers do, as seen in TA posts every day - trying to cram in far too much.

I go to SEAsia for a month every year and would never ever dream of an itinerary such as yours. Far too much. Be realistic.

Travel in SEAsia is very slow and time-consuming. With travelling, afternoon hotel/hostel check-in and morning check-out, you lose a day in between places.

The best thing you can do is go to Travelfish.org and research for the places that really fit your preferences/interests. Be very choosy.

'More is less, but less is more'. So often misunderstood :-(

The most I've done during my past visits is 3 countries staying in 2 places in each, or 2 countries staying in 3 places in each. No lying around, only daily activities and sightseeing.

You'll be going to a wonderful part of our planet, don't just plan to 'see' parts of it..... experience it and enjoy itHello Everyone,

I am planning a 9 day trip to Vietnam along with my wife in early November 2018 from Calcutta, India. There are few things on my mind. Any help will be appreciated.

1. While going from Calcutta, i have a layover of 6 hours at Bangkok, before connecting flight to Vietnam So, do we have to get a transit visa at Bangkok?

2. What are the places we can visit in 9 days? Our last visit was to Thailand(phuket,krabi and bangkok). We want to do something similar.

Thank you in advance.

:)If the weather is clear, then you can see Fuji as you pass. But, similarly, you can see it from many locations in/around Tokyo too. Winter is a good time as the cold/dry air makes it more often visible.

No special train, and while people recommend D&E seats on the shinkansen, that is not strictly necessary - easy enough to get up and check from the windows in the space between carriages.This is a tremendous victory for Marsha, Karen Loewy, Lambda Legal senior counsel and seniors strategist, said in a statement following the opinions release. She, just like all people living in rental housing, whether LGBT or not, should be assured that they will at least be safe from discriminatory harassment in their own homes. What happened to Marsha was illegal and unconscionable, and the Court has now put all landlords on notice that they have an obligation to take action to stop known harassment.Do you know that it is our crazy New Year Holidays from Dec. 29 to Jan. 3, when many Japanese return to their home town to cerebrate the New Year with their parents, relatives, or old friends, and because of this many long distance JR trains are crowded very much during this Holidays? Therefore, it is the most important to decide what to do during these period. I recommend you to stay at either Tokyo or Kyoto/Osaka during this period and decide where to go at first after that.

The JR Pass(29,110 yen) does not pay off when the move between Tokyo and Kyoto/Osaka (@14,000/@14,500 yen by standard JR tickets) is oneway.

You should get an ICOCA card at JR Kansai Airport(KIX) Station when you arrive there, for all of your local transports in Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo. It's better than subway pass which only covers subways.Hi,

I am visiting Japan for the first time in early October. Our itinerary is 5 nights in Tokyo, 3 nights in Kyoto, 2 nights in Hiroshima and 4 nights in Okinawa. We start in Tokyo (staying in Shinjuku) and will be flying to Okinawa from Hiroshima, then from Okinawa back to Tokyo before flying home.

We intend travelling from city to city by train (and will include a day trip by train to Osaka from Kyoto)

Can anyone tell us the fastest trains/line between each city and whether these will all be covered by the JR Pass?

Thank youThanks for the feedback and advice. Is the 2nd spot you name Serenity Island Resort on South Sea Island? We haven't heard much about that island/resort, but it looks like a lot of sources consider it part of the Mamanucas, so maybe that's why it wasn't come up in our researches.

To give more background, we're looking to do a lot of snorkeling mixed in with beach activities/hiking/maybe a dive, which is how we narrowed our list to those 3 resorts/general locations. Also, we figured going as far north as possible the first day would give us a good look at the islands overall and be an enjoyable day in itself.

Similarly, we figured the transfers between islands would likewise be part of the fun/adventure, and not eat up too much time. Is this mistaken? We kind of like to do sampling/touring of places when we travel, doing brief stays at each location, and figured the Bula Pass/Yasawa Flyer option would be the most readily available way to do something like that in Fiji, but maybe we underestimated the time/difficulty in transferring between islands.Hello all,

I've wanted to travel to Japan for as long as I can remember and am planning on spending a year studying abroad there. I understand that the Japanese have negative stigmas around tattoos and was wondering to what extent, I understand that some public spaces will bar you from entering, however I'm more curious of the social side. Will I be seen as intimidating?

This is a really broad question since everybody's an individual, however I'm just wondering whether I should cover tattoos at all times to avoid any hassle, if anybody could speak from experience that would be really appreciated! Thank you!Is it that bad if traveling with kids? Well be in Vegas for about 18 hours and while were eyeing up The Orleans a bit thanks to a precious post and answers - but the price of Circus Circus is drawing us in, ugh- as we have to purchase two rooms. The husband and I have the opportunity to celebrate our anniversary kid free - a rarity and wed love to spend a bit more on a nice dinner and a show, just the two of us. Were already in Nevada on vacation, the original plan was to come Vegas the day before to be closer to the airport. Trying to kill a couple birds with a stone here...

Will staying at Circus Circus really be THAT bad? The splash pad is really drawing me in, too, as my mom will be hanging out with our kids (5&6.5) Our flight takes off at 7ish a.m. so we all want to stay in the same hotel.

Ive been to Vegas a ton, but not in 9/10 years - and pre-kids and pre-single income life - weve experienced Venetian, Bellagio, etc. We know CC will in no way compare and that its hilarious to even put this all in the same sentence. I know. If we go in knowing to expect a pretty ridiculous and cheesy time - will it be fine?

Id really much rather spend money on a good show and an excellent meal at this point in my life. But I also want to be safe, not leave with bed bugs, etc.

Maybe some reassurance? Thanks!He is known to have been escaped mysteriously from Shimo La Tewa Prison, Mombasa in 1998 and was re-arrested a year later. This is what most people do not know about current Nairobi Governor Mbuvi Gideon Kioko aka Mike Sonko. He was arrested towards the end of 1997 before he escaped to attend his mother Saumu Mukamis burial in 1998. As if not enough, Sonko was re-arrested in 1999 and locked in Kamiti Maximum Security Prison. He was, however, released in 2000 as a fully transformed man with the interest to serve the underprivileged in the society. In this post, we give you insights on Mike Sonkos biography and latest news.

Mike Sonko contacts

Here is Mike Sonko contacts open to the general public:

Mike Sonko phone number: 0722 886 600

Twitter: Mike Sonko

Mike Sonko Email: mikesonko@gmail.com

Facebook page:

Mike Sonko latest news

Here is latest Mike Sonko news.

Mike Sonko orders Subru Motors to immediately vacate land meant for public library. The Nairobi Governor claimed that the car dealer had been given a notice to move out of the land in Lavington along James Gichuru Road with immediate effect. Though the governor said the companys proprietor was his friend as well as the Presidents, he would not compromise the fight against corruption and impunity in the name of friendship. The property registered under LR.NO. 3734/843 was given to Nairobi City Council in 1972 by President Jomo Kenyatta as a site for the construction of a public library.

Mike Sonko fires back at Ferdinand Waititu; Kiambu Governor, over the comments he made during the weekend. Nairobi Governor used the social media to order his Kiambu counterpart to keep off Nairobi County affairs and instead, should mind about the business of his county. This comes after Waititu strongly stood against the present demolition of buildings constructed on public and riparian land. He added that his is a big loss of investor resources and advised the authorities concerned to consider diverting the rivers instead of bringing down the structures worth billions of shillings.

Nairobi Governor suspends three leading City Hall officers suspected of misusing public funds. In a statement published early this month, Sonko said he had presented the officers names to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for thorough investigations. It is alleged that the officers had cooperated to take away approximately Ksh.4.8 million that was meant for the ongoing city beautification exercise. The governor has also reshuffled his cabinet members in an attempt to boost service delivery.

Mike Sonko officially opens the Nairobi County Validation Forum at Charter Hall on the proposed 2019/20 Annual Development Plan.

The event kicked off after several consultative forums were conducted in all the 17 Sub-Counties in Nairobi City County. The governor said his administration is focused on implementing the development projects in all the Sub-Counties.

Nairobi County government pays Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) Ksh.58 million to supply drugs to all the hospitals owned by the county government. The governor said anyone found selling the medicine meant for public hospitals in private chemists will be arrested to face the law. He added that his administration has set aside 21 percent of the budget this year to the health sector with the aim of providing quality health services.

Mike Sonko biography

Like all other famous personalities in the world, he has a unique story behind him. He has put his hands on almost everything under the sun and tasted different worlds of good and bad. In all these adventures, Nairobi City County Governor Gideon Kioko Mbuvi aka Mike Sonko still emerged out like pure gold in terms of success.

No wonder all he has, except his skin, are made of gold including the fleet of cars he drives, mobile phones, chains and other accessories. Here is much more that you did not know about Mike Sonko bio.

Mike Sonko age - How old is Mike Sonko?

There have been various controversies concerning Mike Sonko age especially when seen from his youthful lifestyle. In the real sense, Governor Mike Sonko birthday is on February 27 and was born in 1975. This means that he is now 43 years and is one of the youngest politicians to hold such a big office. While most people think he was born and raised in Nairobi, Mike Sonko born place is Mombasa where his parents used to stay and work.

Mike Sonko family

Despite being busying handling public issues most of his time, Mike Sonko ensures that he stays close to his family as a loving husband and a caring father. He has had three wives though the first two died. The current mike sonko wife name is Primrose Mbuvi. There is no information published about Mike Sonkos brothers and other family members, he happened to have started off after working in his fathers business.

Mike Sonko children

There are three Mike Sonko daughters though all of them have different mothers. The eldest daughter and a graduate from JKUAT; Saumu Mbuvi was born during the first marriage with the late Wangui Njeri while Salmas mother and Mike Sonko second wife remained unknown though it is clear she is also deceased. The third Mike Sonko daughter is a product of his current marriage with Primrose, whom he has publicly introduced as his legally married wife.

Mike Sonko and his family members have appeared publicly on several occasions, and the governor seems to be deeply in love with them. For instance, they featured in the famous Churchill show with his family in 2013 when he was serving as Nairobis Senator.

Mike Sonko and Miguna Miguna

Questions have dominated Nairobis political atmosphere over the relationship between Mike Sonko and Miguna Miguna. This comes after the Governor wrote a letter in May this year showing that he was appointing Miguna Miguna as his deputy to replace Polycarp Igathe who had resigned. His nomination of Miguna who is still out of the country pending deportation to Canada was, however, turned down by the County Assembly.

Mike Sonko and Uhuru Kenyatta

Mike Sonko and Uhuru Kenyatta have been close allies after Sonko declared that he was behind him during the previous presidential election. There is only one instance where the Government withdrew Mike Sonko security but was later reinstated. Recently, the duo supported NEMA in the quest to do away with properties that were built on riparian and public land. Mike Sonko and Uhuru have also cooperated to ensure the current Nairobi City County beautification process.

Mike Sonko and William Ruto

There has been nothing common between Mike Sonko and William Ruto except for the support of Uhurus government and few public appearances. However, there is a turn of events in the dilemma of the awaited demolition of Weston Hotel that belongs to Ruto. The property has been listed among those alleged to be sitting on illegally acquired property. This incident might adversely affect the partnership of Mike Sonko and Ruto especially at the time when Sonko has publicly reprimanded politicians who deem to be against Rutos presidential candidacy in 2022.

Mike Sonko CV

Here is what you should know about Mike Sonko CV.

Mike Sonko education started in Kikowani Primary School and later joined Kwale High School. He came to the limelight after contesting for and winning Makadara Constituency seat in Parliament at age 35. He was elected in 2013 as Nairobis first Senator, and it was during his term of office as the Senator that he founded Sonko Rescue Team as an NGO to meet the urgent needs of Nairobians. Hence, Mike Sonko Foundation helped boost his popularity among the slum dwellers where he mingled freely with the residents with no sign of Mike Sonko bodyguards in view.

Following his earlier announcement, Mike Sonko contested for the Nairobi Countys seat during the 2017 electioneering period. And true to his word, he beat the then Nairobis Governor Evans Kidero to become the second governor of Nairobi. He is, therefore, the current Nairobi County Governor after being elected through Jubilee Party ticket.

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Source: Breaking News- The MP says he cannot stoop too low to get handouts from the deputy president

- Caleb Amisi claimed the DP was dishing out handouts to MPs to get support

- Saboti constituents should not be discriminated on development due to his stand, he said

A flamboyant ODM MP has told deputy president William Ruto that he cant auction his political allegiance to him in exchange for weekly handouts saying he is not cheap like some of his colleagues.

Saboti MP Caleb Amisi said this in response to a jibe by the deputy president who while visiting Trans Nzoia on Friday, August 24, said Amisi should emulate fellow NASA MPs in the region who have forged working relations with the government.

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READ ALSO: Picha za Kabogo akijivinjari na kipusa asiyejulikana zawasisimua Wakenya

The deputy president should not expect me to line up like a flower girl to clap for him whenever he visits this region to launch government projects which are funded by the taxpayer. I dont need his handouts, Amisi spoke in Kitale on Monday, August 27.

Saboti MP Caleb Amisi who has declined Rutos weekly handouts in exchange for political support. Photo: Philip Bwayo.

Source: Original

READ ALSO: William Ruto is a PhD holder and not academic dwarf like you - Jubilee MP to Joho

He further said he is entitled to his political stand and that should not be used to victimise his constituents when it comes to matters development since they pay taxes like other Kenyans.

I was elected on an ODM ticket and I have no regrets to make. The deputy president should know that my politics is above those that bow down before him since he oils their pockets, said the MP.

The legislator also said he is fully behind the national government projects owing to the fact that his party leader Raila Odinga has forged good working relations with President Uhuru Kenyatta.

READ ALSO: Kipchumba Murkomen strongly suggests Hassan Joho deals in illegal business

I dont have to attend the deputy presidents political rallies to justify my support for national government projects. He should know that I voted in favour of the same projects during budgeting, said Amisi.

The MP also said he is not troubled by the sentiments by the deputy president since he knows Uhuru is a phone call away hence he can easily be reached when need arises.

We are in a new dispensation. The DP should stop behaving like a semi-god who must be worshipped yet the head of state who is his boss is busy building bridges of reconciliation, he said.

Story by Philip Bwayo, Trans-Nzoia County Correspondent.

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.

When Uhuru, Ruto and Raila Met at State house - on TUKO TV

Source: Tuko- The deal signed between Uhuru and US investors will see projects worth KSh 23.9 billion invested in Kenya

- It will lead to construction and operation of a 100-megawatt grid-connected wind power plant

- Another agreement worth KSh 5 billion will see the expansion of Twiga foods and enhance food security

- The agreements were signed after the president of OPIC visited Kenya in July 2018

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday, August 27, witnessed the signing of two agreements which will see two companies from the United States invest about KSh 23.9 billion worth of projects in the country.

The agreement will see US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and Kipeto Wind Energy Company, who signed the documents, finance the construction and operation of a 100-megawatt grid-connected wind power plant south of Nairobi.

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READ ALSO: Picha za Kabogo akijivinjari na kipusa asiyejulikana zawasisimua Wakenya

The agreement was signed between US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and Kipeto Wind Energy Company. Photo: Uhuru Kenyatta

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: William Ruto is a PhD holder and not academic dwarf like you - Jubilee MP to Joho

A statement issued by the presidential press team indicated the plant will provide a more reliable source of energy to the national grid and support the US Power Africa Initiative to double the number of people in Sub-Saharan Africa with access to electric power.

A second agreement was also signed in the presence of Uhuru when he met business executives of leading US companies under the umbrella of the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU).

The signed agreement was a KSh 5 billion letter of commitment in financing to expand the distribution network of Twiga Foods and improve food security and agricultural wages in Kenya.

READ ALSO: Former President Daniel Moi cannot bless an aspiring future leader - Lawyer Ahmednasir

A second agreement was also signed in the presence of Uhuru when he met business executives of leading US companies. Photo: Uhuru Kenyatta

Source: Facebook

Kenneth Namunje and Grant Brooke signed for Kipeto Energy and Twiga Foods respectively while Ray Washburne, Uhuru and Chief Executive of OPIC signed on behalf of his organization.

Addressing the US business executives, Uhuru assured them of his administrations commitment to remove any hurdle that could impede their operations in Kenya.

Kenya is open for business and all we want to do is package our partnership in a way that it is mutually beneficial to you as a private sector and the people of Kenya, said Uhuru.

READ ALSO: Garisaa governor arrested

He further invited more US investors to set shop in Kenya to benefit from the opportunities created by the Big Four development blueprint projects. Photo: Uhuru Kenyatta

Source: Facebook

He further invited more US investors to set shop in Kenya to benefit from the opportunities created by the Big Four development blueprint projects.

He argued the Big Four agenda projects  pegged on boosting manufacturing to create jobs, food security, provision of affordable housing and universal healthcare coverage  present major opportunities for local and foreign investors.

This presents major opportunities for local and foreign investors in areas such as agro-processing, textiles and leather, the maritime sector, construction, iron and steel, and oil and gas, the Head of State informed the meeting.

The BCIU is a US-based organization comprising of 200 member companies. It helps its members to engage internationally by facilitating mutually beneficial relationships between business and government leaders worldwide.

READ ALSO: Former President Daniel Moi cannot bless an aspiring future leader - Lawyer Ahmednasir

The signing of the agreement comes barely a month after president of the OPIC, which helps US private companies to do business in developing countries, Ray Washburne, visited the country on Saturday, July 21.

Initial report by TUKO.co.ke indicated OPIC was seeking to support the 470-kilometre, Nairobi-Mombasa expressway whose building was scheduled to begin before the end of July 2018, under contract with the US-based engineering company Bechtel.

The investor had also echoed Trump's warnings that China's Belt and Road investment initiative in Africa is saddening the continent with crushing debts.

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 supermarket Burns Down in Nairobi CBD | Tuko TV.

Source: Tuko Kenya- The governor is being questioned over the shooting of former Finance CEC Idris Mkutar

- He was picked from his home on Tuesday, August 28

- Idris was shot on the head and left for dead on Monday, August 20 in Kileleshwa

Garissa Governor Ali Korane has been arrested over attempted murder of a former county Finance minister, Idris Aden Mkutar.

Korane was arrested on the morning of Tuesday, August 28, and taken to the Nairobi Area Police Station for questioning.

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READ ALSO: Picha za Kabogo akijivinjari na kipusa asiyejulikana zawasisimua Wakenya

Korane was arrested on the morning of Tuesday, August 28.

Source: UGC

RAED ALSO: Priests unearth 2 magical pots at Mwingi's notorious blackspot where 10 students perished

Two other suspects, believed to be hired assassins, have been arrested and are being held at Kilimani police station.

Idris was shot in the head by a three-man gang outside a hotel in Kileleshwa in Nairobi on Monday, August 20.

READ ALSO: Former President Daniel Moi cannot bless an aspiring future leader - Lawyer Ahmednasir

Idris Aden Muktar (Center) with the Governor Nadif A. Jamaa and his Deputy Abdullahi. Photo: Mohamed Mahat.

Source: Facebook

Police investigations revealed the gang trailed the victim to his car and shot him at close range before escaping without stealing anything from him.

The victim had left prayers at a nearby mosque and was leaving for his house when the gangsters opened fire.

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 supermarket Burns Down in Nairobi CBD | Tuko TV.

Source: Kenya Breaking News Today- The Kapseret lawmaker alleged certain individuals were being targeted in ongoing demolitions

- Sudi warned those behind the rampant destruction of properties to watch out their steps

- He threatened to produce names of people who grabbed public land but were not being targeted

- City Hall is working with the national government to demolish structures erected on public land

- Both Uhuru and Sonko are on record saying no stone would be left unturned in the fight against impunity

Vocal Kapseret Member of Parliament Oscar Sudi has warned President Uhuru Kenyatta and Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko against demolishing Deputy President William Ruto's posh Weston Hotel in Nairobi.

Sudi warned those behind the demolitions in the capital not to dare bring down the DP's property because they (Ruto's allies) would not take a back seat on the matter.

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READ ALSO: 71% of Kenyans want Ruto's Weston Hotel demolished - TUKO poll

Kapseret Member of Parliament Oscar Sudi warned President Uhuru Kenyatta and Governor Mike Sonko against bringing down Weston Hotel.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Mwanamke aliyenaswa akimbusu mwanariadha Asbel Kiprop anywa sumu

Addressing journalists on Monday, August 27, Sudi alleged certain individuals were being targeted in the ongoing demolitions and threatened to name people occupying public land and who were not being targeted.

"I recently saw them saying they wanted to demolish Weston Hotel. I want to tell Kenyans and those behind the demolitions before the day for destroying Weston Hotel arrives, we will produce for you a list," Sudi said.

Deputy President William Ruto had been accused of grabbing land on which he built Weston Hotel located on the Langata Road, Nairobi.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: There is no demolition order against William Rutos posh hotel in Nairobi - Mike Sonko confirms

The MP, who is widely believed to be one of Ruto's attack dogs, further alleged the war on corruption was being used to fight certain people.

"This issue of corruption...do you want to tell me corruption started in Kenya yesterday? They should have found a different way of going forward and better way to fight graft. What is happening at the moment is about targeting certain people," Sudi said.

READ ALSO: Aviation Authority confirms DP Ruto grabbed its land to build Weston Hotel

The national government in collaboration with the County Government of Nairobi embarked on a demolition spree targeting buildings erected on wetlands or public land including road reserves.

Some of the iconic buildings that have been destroyed so far include Ukay Centre in Westlands and South End Mall on Lang'ata Road and with pressure mounting on Uhuru and Sonko to also bring down Weston Hotel.

An opinion conducted poll by TUKO.co.ke in August 15 showed at least 71% of Kenyans wanted Weston Hotel demolished.

READ ALSO: NEMA to demolish multimillion house in Riara estate where former MP lives

Uhuru on Sunday, August 12, reiterated the demolition exercise would not spare anyone, regardless of who they were in the society.

"No matter how much money you have, no matter how many people in high offices you know, we will not be prevented from achieving our dreams because of impunity," he warned.

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.

Massive Demolition in Kileleshwa with JAVA House and Shell Station down - On Tuko TV

Source: TukoCruz, who was referred to in court by the surname Ochoa, pleaded guilty in November to starting the blaze, which occurred after his boss told him he would be docked vacation time to cover two days the defendant didnt show up for work, according to court records. Cruz insisted he had been at work for those days, and became so upset that his supervisor summoned a fellow manager into the meeting for fear Cruz would become violent.- McCain died on Saturday, August 25, after battle with brain cancer

- The senator was a major critic of President Donald Trump's policies

- He was diagnosed with an aggressive form of malignant brain tumor called glioblastoma in 2017

The late John McCain penned an emotional final message to the people of United States before his death shortly after discontinuing his brain cancer treatment.

The republican senator asked US citizens not to despair of the present difficulties the country is facing but believe in the promise and greatness of it.

READ ALSO: Mwanamke aliyenaswa akimbusu mwanariadha Asbel Kiprop anywa sumu

The republican senator asked the US citizens not to despair of the present difficulties the country was facing. Photo: Getty Images

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: President Trump may not attend Senator McCain's funeral

In the final letter which was read by his former campaign manager Rick Davis on Monday, August 27, MCcain noted he had tried to serve the country honourably.

He also acknowledged he had made mistakes but hoped his love for America will be weighed favourably against them.

"I have often observed that I am the luckiest person on earth. I feel that way even now, as I prepare for the end of my life. I have loved my life, all of it. I have had experiences, adventures, friendships, enough for 10 satisfying lives, and I am so thankful. Like most people, I have regrets. But I would not trade a day of my life in good or bad times for the best day of anybody elses," read the statement.

READ ALSO: Former US presidential candidate John McCain discontinues brain cancer treatment

The former presidential candidate owed his satisfaction to the love he received from his family.

"One man has never had a more loving wife or children he was prouder of than I am of mine. And I owe it to America to be connected to Americas causes: Liberty, equal justice, and respect for the dignity of all people brings happiness more sublime than lifes fleeting pleasures," the letter read on.

Our identities and sense of worth were not circumscribed, but are enlarged by serving good causes bigger than ourselves," it continued.

READ ALSO: US Senate candidate in hot soup for accusing late McCain of sabotaging her campaign

The former presidential candidate owed his satisfaction to the love he received from his family.

Source: Twitter

McCain noted they were citizens of the worlds greatest republic, a nation of ideals, not blood and soil which was blessed and is a blessing to humanity when it upholds and advances those ideals at home and in the world.

"We have helped liberate more people from tyranny and poverty than ever before in history, and we have acquired great wealth and power in the progress," he added.

We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment, and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe. We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down; when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been, he went on.

READ ALSO: Former US presidential candidate John McCain discontinues brain cancer treatment

As he did when he conceded the presidency in 2008, McCain sought to emphasise nothing in the US is inevitable and added there was more common ground between Americans than there is dissent.

McCain, a longtime lawmaker from Arizona and Navy veteran who endured brutal torture as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, died Saturday, August 25, at the age of 81 after a struggle with brain cancer.

The senator's outsized presence came not only from his military and political record but also from his frank talk and recent willingness to call out President Donald Trump for perceived violations of American norms.

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.

NASA now claims to have evidence of Raila's victory from IEBC sources - On TUKO TV

Source: Tuko- The Kenyan officials were put on the spot for failing to take notes during the crucial trade talks

- They were seen staring while their US counterparts were busy jotting down notes

- The meeting ended with the signing of KSh 23.9 billion investment deal between Kenya and US

The Kenyan delegation that accompanied President Uhuru Kenyatta to the meeting with US President Donald Trump on Monday, August 27, for trade talks between the two countries has been put on the spot for failing to take notes.

Although the meeting was evidently fruitful, the natizens were not impressed with the manner in which the Kenyan delegation conducted themselves during the special and historic White House meeting.

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READ ALSO: President Kenyatta witnesses signing of investment deals worth KSh 23.9 billion in Washington DC

Kenyan delegation led by President Uhuru Kenyatta and US delegation led by President Donald Trump during trade talks at the White House on Monday, August 27.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Mwanamke aliyenaswa akimbusu mwanariadha Asbel Kiprop anywa sumu

TUKO.co.ke observed trouble started when photos taken during the closed-door talks between US and Kenyan delegations, headed by presidents Trump and Uhuru respectively, revealed the Kenyan officials went to the meeting room without pens and notepads unlike their American counterparts.

"Kenya delegation to the US will bring their notepads and pens out when they have to calculate their share of deals signed," joked one Twitter user by the name Karani Onsomu in reaction to the photos.

READ ALSO: Former President Daniel Moi cannot bless an aspiring future leader - Lawyer Ahmednasir

The Kenyan officials could be seen staring and just smiling as their colleagues from the US side jotted down notes during the trade talks.

But this was not the first time the Kenyan delegation was put on the spot for attending an important meeting without notebooks.

The officials were criticised for the same conduct when Uhuru met Cuban President, Raul Castro Ruz, during an official trip to Cuba where they were spotted admiring the surrounding while their counterparts took notes.

READ ALSO: Governor Joho holds closed-door meeting with ex-president Moi at his home

The Cuba and US talks, nevertheless, ended with signing of lucrative deals between Kenya and the respective trade partners.

Cuba agreed to dispatch a team of Cuban medics to Kenya to support the country's struggling health sector.

The US on the other hand ended with the signing of a KSh 23.9 billion investment deals.

The multi-billion agreement will see US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and Kipeto Wind Energy Company finance the construction and operation of a 100-megawatt grid-connected wind power plant south of Nairobi.

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: How to be an African president - detailed guide by Tuko - On Tuko TV

Source: Tuko Newspaper- Mwilu was arrested at the premises of the Supreme Court of Kenya

- Her arrest follows a series of meetings between Judicial Service Commission and Judiciary

- She was taken for probing by officers from Directorate of Criminal Investigations

Deputy Chief Justice and Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Kenya Philomena Mwilu has been arrested, TUKO.co.ke has established.

Preliminary reports indicate Mwilu was arrested on Tuesday, August 28, at the premises of the Supreme Court in Nairobi for alleged involvement in corruption dealings.

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READ ALSO: It is rare to find a virgin girl in Kenya these days - Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu

The arrest of Philomena Mwilu comes in tha back of numerous meetings between the Judicial Service Commission (JSC)and Judiciary on Tuesday, August 28, morning. Photo: Philomena Mwilu/Facebook.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Mwanamke aliyenaswa akimbusu mwanariadha Asbel Kiprop anywa sumu

She was whiseked away by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in her car for probing at around 1.30pm after a mid morning meeting between the Judicial Service Commission and the Judiciary, according to sources privy to the matter.

Also at the meeting was Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss George Kinoti and Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji.

"Kinoti and Noordin arrived about noon and were moving in and out of Chief Justice David Maraga's office. After Mwilu was led to her car, Kinoti was driven closely behind her. It could not be established if the deputy chief justice had her lawyers or not," a source intimated to TUKO.co.ke.

DCJ Philomena Mwilu was led to her car by police after the meeting involving Judicial Service Commission, Judiciary , DPP and DCI boss. Photo: Philomena Mwilu/Facebook.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Damning allegations emerge of how Mwilu and Lenaola met with NASA lawyers before Supreme Court verdict

The move comes a day after it emerged that the senior judge was being sought after for possible arrest and prosecution over corruption allegations.

Unconfirmed reports indicated Mwilu's arrest was linked to under dealings which led to the collapse of the Imperial Bank in 2015 among others.

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.

Massive Demolition in Kileleshwa with JAVA House and Shell Station down - On Tuko TV

Source: Tuko.co.ke- Daddie Marto and lover exchanged marital vows in a ceremony held in Uganda

- The two had been dating for years

- The Ugandan traditional wedding ceremony was attended by throngs of Daddie's friends from Kenya

Celebrated Kenyan thespian Martin Githinji, known to many as Daddie Marto, is officially off the market.

The revered actor married the love of his life named Christine Kokueendera Lwanga in a Ugandan traditional wedding held at the bride's homeland, Lubowa, Uganda.

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READ ALSO: Mwanamke aliyenaswa akimbusu mwanariadha Asbel Kiprop anywa sumu

READ ALSO: Gospel mix master DJ Mo's sister walks down the aisle with lover in colourful wedding ceremony

The colourful affair went down on Saturday, August 25, and saw the attendance of some of Marto's friends and family from Kenya.

Marto and his men wore some sleek Kanzus and coats with his wife and her girls donning matching maroon dresses with flowers inprint.

The affair impressed tens of his fellow celebrities including his workmate Celina of Sue na Jonnie who sent him countless congratulatory messages on different social media platforms.

READ ALSO: Gospel musician Eko Dydda and wife have an agreement not to take children to school

The wedding however, did not auger well with a cross section of Kenyas, including the self-styled Boychild President Cyprian Nyakundi who condemned Marto and other Kenyan men who marry foreign women.

In a calm demenor, Marto hit back at Nyakundi with a kind social media post seen by TUKO.co.ke.

READ ALSO: Stolen State House vehicle found in Tanzania, 2 suspects arrested

''Nyakundi Thanks you for your kind words to myself and my wife. Use the same gentle spirit to talk to other Kenyan women you feel have erred in their ways. The Insults wont, accomplish anything. There is a lesson yes but thats not the way to drum it. Be kind. It wont cost you a thing. I respect and value all Kenyan women alike. If you feel they are flawed. Lets mitigate, not agitate, he wrote.

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.

Willy Paul Interview for Tuko Buzz: Willy Paul Reveals it All | Tuko TV

Source: Tuko.co.ke- Heavy rains have been foreseen in Nairobi, Kiambu, Embu, Kisii and Nyamira among other areas

- Heavy rains pounded Nairobi on Monday which caused heavy traffic after city roads flooded

- On Tuesday, City management was compelled to repair drainage to forestall further flooding

- Southeastern Lowlands, Coastal Counties are however expected to remain dry and partly cloudy

The Kenya Meteorological department has cautioned Kenyans to expect heavy downpour in the Country from Tuesday, August 28, and Monday, September 3.

This comes after heavy rains pounded Nairobi City on Monday, August 27, which occasioned major traffic snarl ups and and flooding on major city roads.

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READ ALSO: Mwanamke aliyenaswa akimbusu mwanariadha Asbel Kiprop anywa sumu

Heavy rains pounded Nairobi on Monday, August 27 which caused heavy traffic after city roads flooded. Photo:UGC

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Mike Sonko - biography and latest news 2018

Through a weather advisory seen by TUKO.co.ke, the weather man singled out Lake Victoria Basin, Highlands West of the Rift Valley, Central and South Rift valley, Northwestern, Central Highlands and the Coastal strip as regions set to experience the rains.

""Kisumu, Siaya, Homabay, Migori, Kisii, Nyamira, UasinGishu, Marakwet, Nandi, Laikipia, Nakuru Narok, Bote Kakamega, Vihiga, Busia and Bungoma Counties are likely to experience morning rains. Afternoon/evening showers and thunderstorms are expected over several places throughout the forecast period," read the statement.

READ ALSO: Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu arrested

An earlier report by TUKO.co.ke, the department had given a heavy rains advisory which indicated the rains would be experienced between Tuesday, July 31 and Saturday, August 4.

The Northwestern Counties of Turkana, West Pokot and Samburu have been mapped out to experience morning rains and evening/afternoon showers but also with sunny intervals during the day.

Nairobi Nyandarua, Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Murang'a, Kiambu, Meru, Embu and Tharaka Counties are set to experience cool and cloudy early mornings

"Afternoon/evening shower are expected in over few places for the foretasted periods," it stated

However, the weatherman has foreseen continued sunny episodes in Southeastern Low lands; Marsabit, Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Isiolo, Kajiado, Kitui, Makueni, Machakos and Tiata Taveta Counties.

Counties in the Coastal Strip: Mombasa, Tana River, kilifi, Lamu and Kwale will remain sunny but possibilities of morning showers can not be ruled out between Friday, August 31 and Monday, September 3.

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.

Kenya News: Top supermarket Burns Down in Nairobi CBD | Tuko TV.

Source: Tuko Breaking News- Philomena Mwilu faces charges of abuse of office when she served as Court of Appeal Judge

- She allegedly used her office to obtain a KSh 12 million non-taxed loan from collapsed Imperial Bank of Kenya

- The Deputy Chief Justice appeared in court with a battery of renowned lawyers but did not take plea

- She was released on KSh 5 million personal bond and ordered to appear in court on Wednsday, August 29 to take plea

- She had been arrested at Supreme Court premises on Tuesday, August 28

Deputy Chief Justice (DCJ) Philomena Mwilu has been released on a personal bond of KSh 5 million after she was arraigned in court with corruption charges involving KSh 12 million TUKO.co.ke can confirm.

The DCJ was arrested at the Supreme Court in Nairobi, an institution in which she is the vice president, on Tuesday, August 28 by officers from Directorate of Criminal Investigations.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

READ ALSO: Mwanamke aliyenaswa akimbusu mwanariadha Asbel Kiprop anywa sumu

Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu was arraigned in court for illegally obtaining KSh 12 million from Imperial Bank. She is set to take plea on Wednesday, August 29. Photo: Robin Njogu/Twitter.

Source: Twitter

READ ALSO: More claims of corruption in court surface as DPP orders probe into Kibera Traffic Court

In a charge sheet seen by TUKO.co.ke, Mwilu is accused abuse of office in contravention with section 46 and 48 of the anti-corruption and Economic Crimes Act 3 of 2003.

"Philomena Mbete Mwilu betweeen August 15, 2013 and October 23, 2013 at Imperial Bank Headquarters in Westlands within Nairobi county being a person employed in the public service as a judge of the Court of Appeal used the said position improperly to confer a benefit of KSh 12 million to yourself from the bank," read part of the charge details.

Mwilu who was accused of tax evasion in the acquisition of the loan on false pretence was arraigned alongside Stanley Muluvi Kiima.

The Supreme Court judge who had assembled a battery of renowned lawyers including Senior Counsels John Khaminwa and James Orengo, Nelson Havi, Okong'o Omogeni, Judy Soweto and Dan Maanzo however did not take the plea.

Philomena Mwilu is facing charges of abuse of office when she served as a Court of Appeal Judge. Photo: Robin Njogu/Twitter.

Source: Twitter

READ ALSO: US First Lady scolded for lauding Margaret Kenyattas beyond zero campaign

Chief Magistrate Lawrence Mugambi sitting at Milimani Law Courts ordered she be released on the KSh 5 million bond considering time was far much gone to facilitate an expeditious plea taking and anticipated bail hearing.

Mugambi ordered Mwilu to appear before him on Wednesday, August 29 at 9am where she is expected to take a plea and subsequently have the bail application hearing determined.

"You are thereby ordered to appear before the court at 9am. The bond terms are temporary and subject to revision," said Mugambi.

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.

Massive Demolition in Kileleshwa with JAVA House and Shell Station down - On Tuko TV

Source: Tuko Kenya- Parliament records show Aladwa attended Church Army Secondary School between 2008 and 2008

- Aladwa had sat for his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education at Joseph Apudo Primary School in 1985

- Aladwa served as Nairobi City Council mayor and is Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) chairman Nairobi branch

Barely a week after TUKO.co.ke established Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi was a genius of sorts who happened to be in primary and secondary school at the same time, his Makadara counterpart George Aladwa seems to have easily whitewashed him.

Parliament records showed Sudi attended Ngeria Primary and Highway Secondary School between 2003 and 2006 where he attained the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens.

READ ALSO: Parliament records show MP Oscar Sudi was in primary and secondary school at the same time

Makadara MP George Aladwa joined Secondary School in 2008 and completed the same year with a KCSE certificate. Photo: George Aladwa/Facebook.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: William Ruto is a PhD holder and not academic dwarf like you - Jubilee MP to Joho

However, Aladwa pulled a new academic record by completing High school in a record one year against the stipulated four years according to his profile in the National Assembly's web page seen by TUKO.co.ke on Tuesday, August 28.

According to the records, the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Nairobi branch chairman who once served as Nairobi Mayor in the defunct city council between 2011 and 2013, attended Church Army Secondary School between 2008 and 2008. What a record!

Makadara MP George Aladwa's National Assembly membership profile. Photo: National Assembly of Kenya.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Mwanamke aliyenaswa akimbusu mwanariadha Asbel Kiprop anywa sumu

The records further highlight that Aladwa spent a record 23 years before joining Church Army after sitting for Kenya Certificate of Primary Education at Joseph Apudo Primary School in 1985.

Makadara MP George Aladwa is also Orange Democratic Movement Chairperson Nairobi branch. He stayed for 23 years after primary school before joining secondary school. Photo: George Aladwa/Facebook.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Charge sheet reveals how Philomena Mwilu received KSh 12 million bribe

The Parliament records indicate Aladwa, currently pursuing a Bachelors of Business Administration at Kenya Methodist University since 2014, joined Joseph Apudo Primary School in 1978.

TUKO.co.ke could not establish how the vocal and combative MP scanned through a four-year compact syllabus in a record one year and got awarded a Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).

He could have registered as an adult private student maybe or he could just have utilised the 23 years experience out of school to conquer the tough Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) KCSE exams.

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.

Kenya News: Top supermarket Burns Down in Nairobi CBD | Tuko TV.

Source: TukoWhen Franciscan was seeking state approval for the Olympia Fields expansion and shutting down emergency care and inpatient services in Chicago Heights, area first responders expressed concern about longer ambulance transport times to travel to Olympia Fields and the potential of having an ambulance out of service to respond to calls due to the longer round trip. There also were concerns about the possibility of Olympia Fields emergency department having to go on bypass because of high patient loads.Produced by the Melrose Park-based North American Institute for Mexican Advancement, organizers work with groups in Mexico to find acts and local organizations to secure funding to stage the show. The Federation of Hometown Associations from the State of Jalisco, also based in Melrose Park, is assisting with the Elgin appearance. Jalisco is one of Mexicos 31 states, its biggest city and capital being Guadalajara.This country is now stepping on the accelerator to get more electric cars on the roads.Ukraine appealed against the WTO panel report in a dispute with the Russian Federation over railway equipment import restrictions.

"Ukraine filed an appeal on 27 August concerning the WTO panel report in the case brought by Ukraine in Russia  Measures Affecting the Importation of Railway Equipment and Parts thereof (DS499). The panel circulated its report on 30 July 2018," the WTO press service reports.

On July 30, the World Trade Organization published a report of a group of experts in the case of Ukraine v. Russia regarding the importation of railway equipment. Claims of Kyiv were upheld partially. The group of experts recognized that Russia had violated certain provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade of 1994 (GATT) and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade.

Further information will be available within the next few days.

As reported, Ukraine filed an appeal against a WTO panel report in the case Ukraine - Anti-Dumping Measures on Ammonium Nitrate on August 23.

olUkraine and the EU have made progress in agreeing terms for providing our country with macro-financial assistance worth EUR 1 billion.

The relevant agreement will be signed in the near future, Ukraines representative to the EU, Ukraines Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg Mykola Tochytsky said at a press meeting within the framework of the 13th plenary meeting of heads of foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

"There is a progress, and there are conditions. Unfortunately, I cannot disclose this information until the agreement is signed. It will be signed in the near future," he said.

At the same time, the diplomat did not outline a time frame for signing the agreement.

As Ukrinform reported, on June 13, 2018, the European Parliament supported by an overwhelming majority the provision of the fourth macro-financial assistance program worth EUR 1 billion to Ukraine.

ishThe UK is ready to negotiate with Ukraine on a new post-Brexit trade agreement to replace the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement.

"The British side is ready for talks. They agree that short-term agreements will not work anymore. Now the ball is in our court. We need to form a delegation, draw directives and our vision and start official negotiations," Ukraines Ambassador to the UK Natalia Halibarenko said at a press club meeting within the framework of the 13th meeting of ambassadors at the Foreign Ministry, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Ukraine opposes excluding some sectoral parts, energy and integration clauses from the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, leaving about ten pages and calling them a new trade agreement with the UK, the ambassador noted.

"There are sectors where we can boost economic cooperation [with Britain], for example, go beyond the quotas established with the EU," the diplomat stressed.

As Halibarenko noted, the Ukrainian side looks forward to full-fledged negotiations with the British side.

olCanadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland has canceled her visit to Ukraine, which was to be held today.

The Canadian Foreign Ministry confirmed this information to Ukrinforms correspondent.

The diplomatic mission stressed that the visit had been canceled due to urgent negotiations on a free trade between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, which would be held in Washington.

Chrystia Freeland, who was in Germany, has already left for the United States. Her visit to France was also canceled.

As a reminder, the U.S. and Mexico announced the completion of negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement and invited Canada to join it.

ishUkraine cannot raise the issue of UN peacekeeping mission deployment in Donbas at the UN Security Council without reaching an agreement in the "Normandy format."

"All the events at the UN, i.e. specific negotiations at the Security Council on the mandate for this [peacekeeping] operation, should start with certain decisions within the Normandy Four group. From the very beginning, we agreed with our partners, primarily France and Germany, that we will act jointly. Ukraine cannot promote one idea, and Germany and France promote another one," Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations Volodymyr Yelchenko said at a press club meeting within the framework of the 13th meeting of ambassadors at the Foreign Ministry, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Ukraine cannot initiate discussion on peacekeeping mission at the UN Security Council because there is currently no progress within the Normandy Four format, Yelchenko explained.

olIn early November, German Chancellor Angela Merkel intends to pay a visit to Ukraine.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko stated this while speaking at a meeting with heads of foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

"This fall, in early November, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will pay a visit to Ukraine," the president said.

According to the head of state, this visit will be "a vivid evidence of special attention" by the German partners to a mutually beneficial partnership with Ukraine.

ishPresident of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has said that he expects a package of documents from the Foreign Ministry to begin a process of termination of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.

The president stated this while speaking at a meeting with heads of foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

"In the near future, I expect the package of documents from the Foreign Ministry that are required for the implementation of this process," Poroshenko said.

He noted that "today we have approached well prepared and legally protected the next step - the termination of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, which has long been an anachronism due to Moscow's fault."

As reported, in April, Poroshenko said that he would propose the Verkhovna Rada to terminate certain provisions of the treaty on friendship with Russia, which had been conducting military aggression against Ukraine for four years.

ishUkrainian agencies have already approved the text of a draft agreement on the trips of citizens of Ukraine and Georgia between the two countries using internal passports in the form of ID cards.

Ambassador of Ukraine to Georgia Ihor Dolhov stated this during a press club meeting within the framework of the 13th meeting of ambassadors at the Foreign Ministry, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"We received confirmation that the text of the agreement on the trips of citizens was agreed by the relevant agencies of the Ukrainian side," the ambassador said.

According to him, the documents will be sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. Following this, the Ukrainian government will have to authorize a "certain person" to sign it.

Dolhov added that after the agreement is signed, Ukrainians and Georgians will be able to travel between the two countries using ID cards.

iyfacebook like button Tweet tweet button for twitter

Published August 24, 2018

During the 2018 summer sessions, University of Louisiana Monroe Professor of Art Dr. Joni Noble once again offered two art/photography courses in Europe through ULMs consortium partner the University of West Florida in Pensacola.

The Catalyst Program is available to any university student, and provides six hours of university transfer credit to participants. The study in London, Paris, Berlin and Prague coincides with ULMs first summer session, making it a perfect fit for ULM students wishing a study abroad experience.



The Catalyst this year began on May 15 and lasted for five weeks. In addition to Nobles art/photography course, the program offers courses in International Business, History, Psychology, Sociology, Literature and Current Political Events.



The Catalyst Program, now entering its fifth year, is organized by the University of West Florida through an academic consortium of 14 colleges and universities located throughout the United States. The purpose of the consortium is to promote a more profound understanding of European history, culture and society among students and faculty through scholarly and educational activities.



As participants in The Catalyst Program, ULM students also have ample opportunity for independent travel around Europe. In recent years, students have made their way to Dublin, Prague, Luxembourg, Barcelona, Munich, Krakow, Edinburgh, Venice, Athens, Rome, Florence, and Amsterdam. Students are given a full week of free travel time to backpack across Europe.



ULM students participating in this years Catalyst Program were Min J. Kim, Kimberly Tran, Darrell Smith, Tiffany Pruitt, Asja Jordan, and Kylie Daigle.





For funding availability information, students should contact ULMs Office of International Education. Complete information about the Catalyst Program, The British Studies Program, and The Village can be obtained from Dr. Joni Noble at noble@ulm.edu or 342-1383.Truba said he had returned all submissions to candidates to the external selection commission.

Chief of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) Roman Truba has decided to reject the appointment of all 27 winners of a competition for senior posts in the agency.

Speaking at a press conference, Truba said he had returned all submissions to candidates to the external selection commission, an UNIAN correspondent reports.

Prior to that, he said, having determined the winners of the competition for positions in the agency, the external commission on July 18 decided for some unknown reason to destroy results of their polygraph tests.

Read alsoPoroshenko signs decree on appointment State Bureau of Investigation chief

Moreover, Truba says, some candidates are involved in journalists' probes and criminal trials, the Ukrainian news outlet Ukrayinska Pravda reported.

In particular, one of the candidates appears in criminal proceedings as charged with high treason.

"Yes, I was not mistaken, these are treason-related criminal proceedings! The investigator in this case applied to the external commission to get any results. I do not know if he's succeeded," Truba said.

He added there is also a candidate who, together with his family members, appears in a money laundering criminal case.

"Another candidate closely communicates with members of the separatists [self-proclaimed Russian-backed republics in Donbas]. There is also the fact when two crony candidates, who once started their careers together, have won the competition for senior positions in the SBI. This is not an accusation, but a remark," Truba said.

He added the National Agency on Corruption Prevention should also check the property, hectares of land and assets of the said candidates seeking top positions in the SBI.The Kremlin is exploring new fronts of destabilization in Ukraine, seeking to sow religious discord around Kyiv's initiative to gain independence and unity for its Orthodox church.

Russia is mulling a wider use of "political Orthodoxy" in Ukraine as the FSB security service and SVR foreign intelligence have ultimately given up on the idea that the process of the Ukraine Orthodox church getting from Constantinople a so-called "tomos on autocephaly," effectively meaning religious independence from any Russian influence, could be stopped by a range of hybrid methods (bribery, blackmail, or backstage arrangements).

According to Dmytro Tymchuk, coordinator of Ukraine-based Information Resistance OSINT community, Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Kirill (Gundyaev) is also well aware that the process is unstoppable. Therefore, he expresses a categorical unwillingness to further speak on the issue with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

Under the current circumstances, Kirill considers his earlier announced visit to Constantinople humiliating, now planning to send Metropolitan Hilarion, head of the ROC Department for External Church Relations. At the same time, Hilarion tries to convince Kirill that the latter actually needs to pay such visit, not to further destroy the already affected image of the Russian Orthodox Church.

At this point, it is clear that Vladimir Putin and his entourage are gravely disappointed over the latest developments, realizing that they are losing one of the most important levers on Ukraine. The Kremlin's biggest irritant is the fact that the apparent failure to prevent independence of Ukraine church jeopardizes further efforts to remove the current Ukrainian leadership during the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in 2019 and bring to power in Kyiv other political forces, loyal to Moscow.

Therefore, Russian special services seem in their "impotent rage" seem to have decided to opt for the "last resort" measures from their toolkit, which is the threat of force.

Reports came this week that the Russian-controlled clergy of Kamianets-Podilsk set up a religious procession heading to the Pochaiv Lavra, while its participants, who looked more like thugs than local believers, were spotted sporting T-shirts with an appeal to "prepare for war."

Read alsoNothing sacred: Russian spies tried hacking Orthodox clergy - AP

As we remember, it is the infamous "religious war" that is one of the most prominent "boogeyman stories" used by Ukrainian MP Vadym Novinsky, a vivid supporter of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, as well as various pro-Kremlin "experts," to intimidate Ukrainian public and international community when they forecast what will happen once independence is granted to the Ukraine church.

Besides, the "pilgrims" were carrying an "Orthodox flag of the DPR," which pro-Russian terrorists "consecrated" in Donetsk in 2014 and which "miners and tractor drivers" were led by in battles against the "Kyiv junta."

The purpose of this showoff is to warn of the Kremlin's readiness to shed blood on religious grounds, as well as shape up information background for further provocations.

In addition, according to the IR community, Russia-controlled clergy from Odesa received yet another order from the secretariat of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Read alsoIndependent church last missing piece to create truly independent Ukraine - media

Thats about the need to exploit more widely the factor of "political Orthodoxy" to further destabilize the region and create popular tensions on religious grounds. At the same time, attention is focused on the fact that these efforts should be pro-active, namely, through organizing and holding protest actions and disobedience rallies involving parishioners of the Russia-controlled churches.

At the same time, according to the IR data, here has been a significant decrease in the number of priests supporting any radicalization in Odesa region, and , on the contrary, an increasing number of supporters of the idea of autocephaly of the Ukrainian local Orthodox Church.The diplomat added that the president would address the General Assembly on September 26, immediately after lunch break.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will demand the deployment of peacekeeping forces in conflict-struck eastern Ukraine as he will address the United Nations General Assembly on September 24-26, according to Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Volodymyr Yelchenko.

"As in past years, the President's visit to the UN General Assembly is scheduled and now being prepared. Conditionally, he will be there between Sept 24 and Sept 27, but this is yet to be confirmed," Yelchenko said, speaking at the meeting of the MFA Press Club in Kyiv, an UNIAN correspondent reports.

The diplomat added that President Petro Poroshenko would address the General Assembly on September 26, immediately after lunch break.

"The speech will concern not only the problems of the UN, but also questions Ukraine has to the United Nations, and first of all, something that the president has reiterated previously, almost daily, will be stressed  that we will continue to strongly demand and fight for the approval of the decision on the deployment in Donbass of a peacekeeping mission under the auspices of the United Nations," stressed Yelchenko.

He said that in the issue of peacekeepers, due to the destructive position of the Russian Federation, it is not possible to find any understanding, even with regard to the basic principles for deploying peacekeepers.

Read alsoUkraine preparing "unpleasant surprises" for Russia at UN General Assembly  Envoy

Also, during the speech, the president will raise the issue of the blocking by Russia of vessels heading to the Sea of Azov.

"I believe the president will surely remember the Holodomor issue, as this year marks the 85th anniversary of this tragedy, and we will try to draft and adopt during the session a special declaration of the UN General Assembly dedicated to this," the Ambassador said.

Poroshenko will also meet with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and the foreign minister of Ecuador, because this country this year presides over the UN General Assembly. There will be other bilateral meetings. At present, these meetings are being coordinated.

In addition, Poroshenko will meet with the leaders of Ukrainian organizations in the U.S., leaders of Jewish organizations, and businesses.

Read alsoUkraine's envoy to UN elected vice-president of 73rd General Assembly

As UNIAN reported, following the latest meeting in Berlin of Normandy Four foreign ministers on June 12, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin stressed Ukraine's position that the United Nations peacekeeping forces should receive a real mandate to disarm illegal armed formations and search for concealed heavy weapons throughout the occupied Donbas.

In his opinion, the powers of peacekeepers should not be limited only to the protection of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission observers.

Read alsoPeacekeepers may be deployed in Donbas as early as 2019  Interior Ministry

At the same time, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia opposed the proposal of Ukraine and the United States that the UN mission take control of the occupied Donbas to organize elections.

At the same time, Klimkin said that the Normandy Four had substantively discussed the deployment of the UN peacekeeping mission.Poroshenko is convinced that the scheduled visit testifies to the development of Germany's mutually beneficial partnership with Ukraine.

Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Angela Merkel, in early November will fly to Ukraine, according to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko

"This autumn, in early November, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will pay a visit to Ukraine," Poroshenko told a meeting of heads of Ukraine's foreign diplomatic institutions in Kyiv, according to an UNIAN correspondent.

Read alsoUkraine has made progress in efforts to join NATO  Bolton

"This is a very vivid testimony of special attention on the part of our German partners in Berlin to the development of a mutually beneficial partnership with Kyiv," said Poroshenko.

He emphasized that the work on the peace track was never stopped -- in particular, two phone conversations with Angela Merkel were held recently. "Of course, we discussed further steps to intensify the peace process on the implementation of the Minsk agreements, including in the Normandy format. The prospect of deployment of the peacekeeping mission with the mandate of the UN Security Council in the occupied Donbas was also discussed. It is our key task. This is still the only way to create a security component of the Minsk agreements," Petro Poroshenko stressed.

In turn, Ambassador of Ukraine to the Federal Republic of Germany Andrij Melnyk said that the visit of the Federal Chancellor would be the best expression of not only solidarity, but also practical support. "Germany is the largest bilateral donor of Ukraine in terms of technical assistance - more than 0.5 billion euros. Most of these funds came after Maidan, since 2014. Thus, the economic component will also be important. Investments from Germany are increasing. Commodity turnover is over 8 billion dollars as of today," he said, adding that the given figure had overcome the pre-crisis level. Andrij Melnyk stressed that German investments went for the production and creation of jobs.

"The visit is really significant. Symbolic not only in the context of the Minsk process, not only in the context of seeking peace in the Donbas, but also in the bilateral context. So that the Chancellor can see that the country has risen from its knees in four years, that the economy is growing and the German producers also benefit from this growth. And this is also an important element of the fact that the actions and solidarity that is felt in Berlin and Europe, in the western world, are not worthless and help us really become stronger," the Ambassador said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Chancellor Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed the situation in Ukraine in a phone conversation Monday, August 27.The head of state has noted that Russia's status of the aggressor state is enshrined in Ukrainian legislation.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to prepare the necessary package of documents for the termination of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership with Russia.

"At last, being sufficiently prepared and legally protected, we have approached the termination of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, which has already become an anachronism, and it's Moscow's fault. In the near future I expect to see the necessary package of documents from the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine," Poroshenko tweeted Tuesday.

The head of state has also noted that Russia's status of the aggressor state is enshrined in Ukrainian legislation, and recalled the need to create a coordinating body for the formation of Ukraine's consolidated damage recovery claim to Russia.

Read alsoPoroshenko to table bill in parliament to amend Constitution for accession to NATO, EU

UNIAN memo. The Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Russia and Ukraine, dubbed the "Great Treaty," was signed by the presidents of the two countries on May 31, 1997. The two states officially recognized each other's borders and consolidated the principles of strategic partnership and respect for territorial integrity. After the annexation of Crimea and the beginning of Russian aggression in Donbas, calls were repeatedly made to terminate the Treaty because of Russia's violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity.Deshchytsia expressed hope that Ukraine and Poland would be able to find a compromise on the disputed pages of common historical past.

There are certain forces in Poland exploiting historical past in their political interests, but the society is generally positive toward Ukraine, while Poland's support of Ukraine remains tangible in strategic directions, according to Ukrainian Ambassador to the Republic of Poland, Andriy Deshchytsia.

"Poland remains our friend and partner, and should further remain such," Deshchytsia said at the 13th Kyiv meeting of heads of Ukraine's foreign diplomatic institutions on Tuesday, an UNIAN correspondent reports.

"I believe that our task, and my task as Ambassador, is to preserve this strategic character of our relations as much as possible while at the same time defending our national interests, including national interests relating to the historical past," the diplomat said.

Read alsoSome politicians manipulate historical past in Ukraine-Poland relations  Envoy

"Unfortunately, there are certain forces in Poland that use this historical past for their own political interests, but in general the society is positive toward Ukraine," said Deshchytsia.

"In general, we really feel Poland's support in such strategic directions for Ukraine  it's about the EU, cooperation with NATO, extension of sanctions against Russia, issues of supporting Ukraine in the UN Security Council, and this also applies at the European level. Poles - such as Donald Tusk - are very supportive of us," the diplomat said.

Deshchytsia expressed hope that Ukraine and Poland would be able to find a compromise on the disputed pages of common historical past "so that historians and experts held discussions at their level, found common points of contact, and approached the solution of these historical issues with dignity and in a Christian way - with respect to the memory of those who died, and it does not matter whether it was a thousand or ten thousand people," concluded the Ambassador.Moscow's tentacles have penetrated social networks heavily, according to the president.

Russia is preparing for a new powerful manipulation campaign to meddle in the Ukrainian elections scheduled for next year, according to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

One of the most critical periods is coming as the democratic world is entering a new electoral cycle, the president told the 13th meeting of heads of foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine, according to the presidential administration's press service.

The elections will be held in the U.S. in November, the renewal of the European institutions - in 2019, while Ukraine is also approaching the period of the electoral campaign.

"Leading IT companies have already recorded thousands, tens of thousands of fake accounts with Russian roots being created. Russia is preparing for a new powerful manipulation campaign - fake news, undermining stability," the president said.

The president stressed: "I have no doubt that Moscow will not lose any opportunity to discredit our achievements in order to sow disillusionment among citizens in the future and fatigue of the European choice. We have to be ready to respond, although this is not a simple task, said Poroshenko.

Read alsoPoroshenko at UNGA to demand peacekeepers' deployment in Donbas - Yelchenko

According to the president, Russia has gained skills other countries, in particular during the referendum in Netherlands on ratification of the association agreement and during the Brexit referendum.

"The tentacles of Moscow have penetrated social networks heavily, they hold grip on certain media, they are present in cyberspace. At the same time, the Kremlin skillfully covers its subversive activities with democratic values and principles. We have to look for ways to cooperate with other states and coordinate efforts to develop a reliable mechanism for preventing third-party interference in the electoral process and ensuring free expression of will of our citizens," the president said.

The President called for special attention to be paid to the countries that already have relevant developments. "In particular, the experience of Paris and Berlin is very interesting," Poroshenko said.

"I ask you to work out the possibility of involving German, French and American experts in the preparation of a similar legislative initiative in Ukraine," the president said, addressing the diplomats. "I can emphasize that international assistance will be useful. The issue is extremely sensitive, because it requires maintaining a balance between the requirements of national security and respect for democratic values."The newly formed platform, Slovensko a Cesko za Olega Sencova / Slovakia and Czechia for Oleh Sentsov, launched the campaign #FreeOlegSentsov, which appeals to society to wake up from its indifference.

Major Slovak personalities have called on politicians to act in the case of the Ukrainian director imprisoned by the Russian authorities and to stand clearly on the side of democratic values.

The newly formed platform, Slovensko a Cesko za Olega Sencova / Slovakia and Czechia for Oleh Sentsov, launched the campaign #FreeOlegSentsov, which appeals to society to wake up from its indifference, on August 23, The Slovak Spectator wrote.

"Just as in 1968 when the fate of occupied Czechoslovakia was decided, now, the life of Oleh Sentsov and other Ukrainian prisoners is being decided behind the thick walls of the Kremlin," the platform's supporter, political analyst Grigorij Meseznikov said, as quoted by the TASR newswire.

Just as in 1968, when Czech and Slovak citizens became the victims of the power and wilfulness of an aggressive state, today the Russian leadership, headed by Vladimir Putin, is ready to sacrifice the life of Oleh Sentsov to its own interests  just because he does not agree with the Russian invasion, occupation and illegal annexation of the Crimea, Meseznikov continued.

He likened the annexation of the Crimea to the occupation of Czechoslovakia in August 1968.

Read alsoActivist detained in Moscow for lone picket in support of Oleh Sentsov

Members of the initiative point to the connection between August 21, 1968 and the recent politics of Russian President Vladimir Putin in an open letter to Slovak president Andrej Kiska, Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak and Speaker of Parliament Andrej Danko. The public can also sign it by going to the changenet.sk website.

The people involved with the initiative use short videos to point to fundamental human rights which are the values and priorities of democratic countries. They include film director Martin Sulik, Head of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) Pavol Sajgalik, actress Tana Pauhofova and writer Michal Havran. More and more videos are appearing on the Youtube channel "Slovensko a Cesko za Olega Sencova".

"We founded the platform to create public awareness of the case of Oleh Sentsov and to highlight to Slovak and Czech citizens the connections between what is happening now with historical events," one of the platform's founders, Eva Krizkova, told TASR.

Read alsoU.S. State Department calls on Russia to immediately release Sentsov

President Andrej Kiska made a phone call to Ukrianian President Petro Poroshenko, congratulating him on the state holiday of Ukrainian Independence Day on August 24. Among other issues, Kiska was interested in the current situation concerning the imprisoned Ukrainian film director Sentsov, sentenced in the name of the Russian federation to 20 years for the alleged organisation of a terrorist group in the Crimea despite the fact that it is outside its territory.

Sentsov has been on hunger strike for more than 100 days asking not only for his own release but also for the release of other Ukrainians illegally held in Russian prisons.

Poroshenko informed his Slovak counterpart of the very bad health condition of Sentsov, at which the President expressed his concern.

Kiska confirmed for Poroshenko, as cited by TASR, the official stance of the Slovak Foreign Ministry, and the European Union, calling for the freedom of illegally imprisoned Ukrainian citizens. He also assured him that Slovakia considers the Crimea to be Ukrainian territory in its internationally acknowledged borders.(CNN)  Just after midnight on Sunday night, the flag flying above the White House was hoisted back to full staff.

Since Saturday evening, it had been positioned at half-staff to mark the death of Sen. John McCain, the former Vietnam prisoner of war and onetime Republican nominee for President. His death had sparked an outpouring of tributes from across the political spectrum, except at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. U.S. President Donald Trump initially tweeted condolences for McCain's family but did not praise the senator specifically. On Monday afternoon, he issued a statement saying, "Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain's service to our country. "

Earlier Monday, the White House flag had returned to its regular position even as other flags around Washington  including at the U.S. Capitol  remained in the half-staff mourning position.

But on Monday afternoon, the White House once again lowered the flag to half-staff and Trump, in his statement said he "signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment."

The contrast earlier in the day offered the latest reminder of the animosity that Trump has maintained for McCain, even after his passing.

Trump has yet to offer a single word of praise or recognition of McCain's service since he died Saturday after a battle with brain cancer. The White House offered no official statement, but Trump did tweet his "deepest sympathies and respect" to McCain's family.

Early in his presidential bid, Trump  who received five deferments to avoid military service in Vietnam  infamously maintained that McCain was not a war hero because he had been captured. He never apologized or walked-back his comments, despite the fact that McCain was imprisoned and tortured in Vietnam for more than five years.

Barring an official White House proclamation ordering flags nationwide to be flown at half-staff in McCain's honor, the top Senate Republican and Democrat on Monday requested that the Defense Department "provide necessary support so that U.S. flags on all government buildings remain at half-mast through sunset on the day of Senator McCain's interment," Schumer's communications director said.

Defense Department guidelines call for flags to be flown at half-staff "from the day of death through the following day" in the event a U.S. senator or member of Congress dies. But the President has the authority to order a longer period of mourning.

Even after McCain was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer, Trump continued to launch broadsides in McCain's direction, lambasting him for his critical "no" vote that thwarted a last-ditch Republican effort to partially repeal Obamacare. Earlier this month, during a signing event for the national defense spending bill named after McCain, Trump did not once mention the senator.

During the time he remained active in the Senate, McCain also expressed deep misgivings about Trump's job as President, criticizing his handling of world affairs and the example he has set for the country.

McCain also made clear he did not want Trump to attend his funeral service, instead choosing former Presidents George W. Bush, a Republican, and Barack Obama, a Democrat, to eulogize him. Vice President Mike Pence is expected to represent the White House at McCain's funeral service.

CNN's Ted Barrett contributed to this report.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Trump finally orders flags lowered to honor McCain."He said that at about 12:50 p.m. Saturday, witnesses said the woman was walking south on Harlem Avenue as a Metra train approached from the west. Despite the gates being down, witnesses reported that she headed across the tracks in an apparent attempt to cross before the train arrived, he said.The enemy has resorted to main battle tanks again after a long break.

Russia's hybrid military forces mounted 26 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas in the past 24 hours, with two Ukrainian soldiers reported as wounded in action (WIA).

"In the past 24 hours, two Joint Forces members were wounded in action," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation (JFO) said in an update on Facebook as of 07:00 Kyiv time on August 28, 2018.

Read alsoJournalist explains why Russia not to leave Donbas

According to intelligence reports, three occupiers were killed and another four were wounded.

Russian occupation forces opened aimed fire from 120mm and 82mm mortars, tank guns, grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms to attack the defenders of the towns of Zolote, Avdiyivka and Krasnohorivka, and the villages of Stanytsia Luhanska, Krymske, Luhanske, Novomykhailivka, Hnutove, Pavlopil, Lebedynske, Vodiane, and Shyrokyne.

The enemy resorted to mortars near Krymske in the Luhansk sector, near Luhanske in the Svitlodarsk sector, as well as near Hnutove and Lebedynske in the Mariupol sector. Moreover, tanks were used against the Ukrainian troops near Lebedynske after a long break.

"Since Tuesday midnight, Russian-led forces have mounted six attacks on the Ukrainian positions outside Novoluhanske, Hnutove, Pavlopil, and Lebedynske, using artillery systems, mortars, grenade launchers and heavy machine guns," the report says.According to recent reports, Russians have brought a lot of new and heavy military equipment to the contact line.

Officer of the 53rd separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Anatoliy Shtefan has said Russia holds the so-called republics, "Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics" ("LPR/DPR"), at a distance and uses them as a testing ground for its new ammunition, equipment and weapons.

"There are tonnes of proof of this. The last one is testing of a new multiple rocket launcher, a rocket we do not have in service," he said in an interview to the Ukrainian online news outlet Obozrevatel.

Read alsoRussia reportedly sends another train with fuel to occupied Donbas  volunteer

According to Shtefan, according to recent reports, Russians have brought a lot of new and heavy military equipment to the contact line.

"As we are informed, this is for conducting training. And it does not seem like an offensive, but we still need to be ready, since under the guise of these drills the enemy may occupy positions that are advantageous for a possible offensive," the officer said.

Shtefan emphasizes Russia may take inadequate decisions amid hybrid warfare, but the Armed Forces of Ukraine are ready to retaliate.

"The more they bring military equipment here, the more we burn it," he said.Zakharchenko is unlikely to be replaced in a "dramatic way" as was the case with former "LPR" head Igor Plotnitsky.

Military columnist Yuriy Karin has said the Kremlin will likely appoint someone more convenient for further negotiations with Ukraine instead of head of the "Donetsk People's Republic" ("DPR") terrorist organization Alexander Zakharchenko in September.

Read alsoDonetsk terrorist chief Zakharchenko reportedly wounded

"According to recently received data of the Information Resistance analytical group, the Kremlin will appoint a more convenient candidate instead of Zakharchenko in the coming weeks, [it will be] a specially trained person for coming to an understanding with a new, pro-Russian president of Ukraine. That is, it will be a figure without a bad background, criminal records and blood on his hands," Karin said.

At the same time, Zakharchenko is unlikely to be replaced in a "dramatic way" as was the case with former head of the "Luhansk People's Republic" ("LPR") terrorist organization Igor Plotnitsky.

"According to our data, a commission from Russia will arrive in Donetsk in September, which will find abuse of power, misuse and other pretexts for Zakharchenko's dismissal from his post," the expert said.

"Who will come instead of Zakharchenko? Obviously, it will be the Kremlin's new puppet whose name nobody cares about at all," Karin added.The official version of why Ukrainian troops suffered significant losses near Ilovaisk in August 2014 has not changed four years following the "Ilovaisk Cauldron" tragedy -- Ukrainian military leadership says it's Russia's regular troops who are to bear full responsibility.

The only reason for massive losses among Ukrainian troops was an unexpected attack by Russian armed forces, Serhiy Sobolev of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine told a Kyiv press conference timed to the fourth anniversary the tragedy, according to an UNIAN correspondent.

The official noted that as of August 20, 2014, were preparing to surround pro-Russian militants and mercenaries in order to terminate them in the area.

"Luhansk was blocked from the north, west, south and partly from the east; the railway and motorway junction in Debaltseve was taken under control, personnel, weapons, military equipment and material resources supply routes to Donetsk, Makiyivka, Horlivka, and Yenakiyeve were blocked. Thus, Russian militants were separated into four parts, which created prerequisites for further completion of their blocking and destruction," Sobolev said.

At the same time, he added that Russia, assessing the threat of the destruction of its hybrid forces, on August 24-25 from various directions introduced into the territory of Ukraine up to eight tactical combat groups, which dramatically changed the balance of forces in favor of the enemy.

Read alsoIn flashback: Ilovaisk battle in 2014 becomes turning point in Donbas war

In particular, by engaging Ukraine troops from multiple rocket launchers and artillery from the Russian territory, the enemy forced them to abandon positions and withdraw to the Kuteinikove-Osynove-Komsomolske line.

In addition, on August 25-26 battalions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs during the clearing mission in Ilovaisk was defeated in a clash with the enemy and then blocked in the area.

According to Sobolev, the headquarters of the Anti-Terrorist Operation decided to reinforce said units with the battalion tactical group of the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, company tactical groups of the 92nd and 93rd separate mechanized brigades, as well as the combined unit of the 42nd Territorial Defense Battalion, and developed a plan on de-blocking Ilovaisk.

The operation start was scheduled for September 1. However, units of the 72nd and 93rd separate mechanized brigades failed to deploy in designated areas, while units of the 39th Battalion who had been serving at checkpoints near Ilovaisk, arbitrarily abandoned their positions.

At the same time commanders of the battalions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in an ultimatum demanded an immediate exit from Ilovaisk under the guarantees of the Russian military.

"This made it impossible to carry out an operation to release Debaltsevo and allowed the enemy to seize the initiative," Sobolev stressed. He added that, despite this fact, a decision was made to withdraw Ukrainian units from Ilovaisk on August 28, while the issue of an unhindered withdrawal was agreed with the Russian military leadership

In the so-called "withdrawal corridors," units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Armed Forces were attacked by Russian regular troops, which resulted in the death of 150 personnel and wounding of another 90. In general, for the entire period of battles of Ilovaisk, from August 7 to September 30, some 366 Ukrainian soldiers were killed, 429 wounded, 128 captured, while 158 went missing. To date, 11 servicemen are still being held captive, while 84 are considered missing in action.

Read alsoScenario for returning Donbas by force could entail up to 12,000 in casualties in 10 days  Chief of Gen. Staff

As UNIAN reported, at the end of August 2014, after fierce fighting, ATO forces were surrounded near Ilovaisk of Donetsk region. Russian military shelled the withdrawal corridor.

The Parliamentary Interim Investigation Commission for Investigation of the Ilovaisk Tragedy estimated the total losses of Ukrainian troops at nearly a 1,000.

On August 14, 2017, the Prosecutor General's Office announced the results of the investigation, naming the main culprit the military command of the Russian Federation.

The Prosecutor General's Office reported that the materials of the investigation into war crimes during the events near Ilovaisk were forwarded to the office of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

The PGO stated that on the night of August 24, 2014 during the Ilovaisk tragedy, the invasion groups of the Russian Armed Forces consisted of nine battalion-tactical groups, involving 3,500 personnel, up to 60 tanks; up to 320 BMD (IFVs); up to 60 artillery units; up to 45 mortars; and 5 ATGMs.

Veterans of the Battle of Ilovaisk demand that military commanders be held accountable for planning the Ilovaisk operation and all other steps that led to the tragedy.Sanders said the two leaders sought "renewed efforts to solve the conflict in eastern Ukraine."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump shared concerns about developments in Syria, especially the humanitarian situation in the region around Idlib, their offices said on Monday after the leaders spoke by telephone.

Read alsoTough talks, no agreements at Merkel, Putin meeting near Berlin  media

"Both leaders called for international action to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Idlib Province," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement, as reported by Reuters.

"Russia is called upon to act in a moderating manner on the Syrian government and prevent a further escalation," Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said in a statement.

Seibert said the two leaders also spoke about Ukraine, the Western Balkans and trade, he said, without elaborating. Sanders said they sought "renewed efforts to solve the conflict in eastern Ukraine."Ukrainian politicians see such a declaration, known as a "Tomos of Autocephaly," as a key step in consolidating their country's national identity. Russian religious leaders see it as an attack on Christian Orthodox unity and are fighting to stop it.

As Kyiv and Moscow clash on the battlefields of eastern Ukraine, a new front has opened up in the religious sphere.

Earlier this year Ukrainian's president launched a campaign to persuade Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, seen by many as the first among equals of Eastern Orthodox leaders, to grant Ukrainian clerics full ecclesiastical independence from the Russian Orthodox Church to which they have been tied for hundreds of years, The Washington Post wrote.

Ukrainian politicians see such a declaration, known as a "Tomos of Autocephaly," as a key step in consolidating their country's national identity. Russian religious leaders see it as an attack on Christian Orthodox unity and are fighting to stop it.

Read alsoNothing sacred: Russian spies tried hacking Orthodox clergy - AP

It's in the midst of this religious tussle that The Associated Press has discovered a Russian digital espionage campaign targeting Bartholomew's top aides.

To hear the religious leaders in Moscow tell it, separating the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from Russia would spark the worst schism since Orthodox and Catholic Christianity parted ways nearly 1,000 years ago.

"This wrong step can only be compared to the division between East and West in 1054," senior Moscow Patriarchate official Hilarion Alfeyev said earlier this year. "If such a thing happens, Orthodox unity will be buried."

More immediately, the move would dramatically shrink the size and influence of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Even though Ukraine's population is several times smaller than that of its large Slavic neighbor, it is widely considered the more observant of the two and accounts for something like a third of the Russian Orthodox Church's approximately 35,000 parishes.

Perhaps just as important, the Russian Orthodox Church would lose its link to centuries' worth of tradition tied up in Ukraine's shrines and monasteries  a heavy symbolic blow.

Losing Ukraine "would be humiliating," said Katja Richters, an independent researcher who writes about the Russian Orthodox Church. "The Moscow Patriarchate would lose about 600 years of history."

That's what many Ukrainians argue.

"When a new state appears, when it becomes stable, it's a normal procedure for the Orthodox church believers to separate their church from the others," said Ukrainian historian Kyrylo Halushko. "This happened a few times in the 20th century: in Bulgaria, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, etc. So it's a very logical step for independence to be given to Ukrainian Orthodox Church."

It may be logical, but it's not simple.

Leaving aside the theological wrangling over who has the authority to declare a church independent, there are important philosophical reasons for keeping the Ukrainian church in communion with its Russian counterpart.

Read alsoMost Ukrainians consider Kyiv Patriarchate true successor of church established in Kievan Rus - poll

Christians are enjoined to unity (Galatians 3:28 says, in part, "Ye are all one in Christ Jesus.") The global Orthodox community is already fragmented and few leaders relish the prospect of cutting the world's largest Orthodox denomination in two. Even within Ukraine, some Orthodox clergy are leery of a process driven in part by secular politicians and the pressure of armed conflict between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

"Some of them say that it is difficult to have it done in a time of war and military confrontation with Russia," said Thomas Bremer, a professor of Eastern Churches Studies at the Faculty for Catholic Theology of the University of Muenster in Germany. "There is also a group of priests and bishops who would prefer to stay as a self-administering part of the Russian Orthodox Church.'"

The Ecumenical Orthodox Church also faces countervailing pressures. Bartholomew is 78 and some doubt he wants to cloud his legacy with a schism.

"I do not believe that Bartholomew wants to enter church history as the patriarch who has split his Church," said Bremer.

Anticipation is building on the Ukrainian side that Bartholomew will take the bold step of issuing a Tomos. Writing earlier this month for the Atlantic Council, an American think tank, Ukrainian commentator Kateryna Kruk said the ecclesiastic divorce "is almost a done deal."

Richters, the independent researcher, urged caution.

Read alsoFilaret announces possible terms for Ukraine Orthodox Church to become autocephalous

"The Ukrainians seem very excited and they seem to think there will be a Tomos on Autocephaly in early September," she said. "They were fairly convinced 10 years ago and it didn't happen then."

Many read a trip by the Moscow patriarch to Istanbul planned for this week as a sign that the Russians are worried.

"This visit is not accidental," said Vasilios Makrides, a professor of religious studies at the University of Erfurt in Germany. "They must be nervous."

It's not clear whether the AP's spying revelations will have any impact on the debate over autocephaly, but Richters said it could heighten emotions that are already running high on both sides.

"(The hacking) would definitely be seen as hostile and tasteless and immoral," she said.(@FahadShabbir)

Business opportunities in Malaysia were presented to a leading Indian trade association at a seminar held in New Delhi to promote bilateral economic ties.

NEW DELHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Aug, 2018 ) :Business opportunities in Malaysia were presented to a leading Indian trade association at a seminar held in New Delhi to promote bilateral economic ties.

Officials from a number of Malaysian government agencies highlighted potential areas for business growth at the "Interactive Session on Doing Business with Malaysia" jointly organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the High Commission of Malaysia.

Trade between Malaysia and India grew by 9.9 per cent to US$7.7 billion in the first half of 2018 and the two countries hope to achieve their target of US$15 billion in an annual trade by 2020, Malaysian High Commissioner to India Hidayat Abdul Hamid said.

The volume of trade last year grew 21.6 per cent to US$14.3 billion.

Hidayat said Malaysia's strengths in areas like infrastructure, healthcare, construction, palm oil and petroleum products are well known and many top Malaysian companies are active in India.

He said Indian companies are similarly growing their presence in Malaysia in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, engineering and information technology.

"We welcome more investment from India. FICCI members may explore more investment opportunities in Malaysia.""We would like to encourage more importers to source from Malaysia since we have bilateral trade agreements namely the Malaysia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (MICECA) and the regional trade agreement ASEAN-India FTA (AIFTA)," he said.

The Malaysian agencies participating in the event on Monday included Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), Malaysian Palm Oil board (MPOB), Tourism Malaysia, Malaysian Timber Council and the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA).(@ChaudhryMAli88)

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2018) Kiev and Brussels have agreed on the terms of provision of EU financial assistance totaling 1 billion Euros (over $1.1 billion) and are set to sign an agreement soon, Mykola Tochytskyi, the head of Ukraine's Mission to the European Union, said.

In May, the Council of the European Union approved a new package of macro-financial assistance for Ukraine to support the country's economic stabilization and substantive reform agenda. The assistance will be conditional on Ukraine's progress in the prevention of corruption and fulfillment of obligations related to government reforms.

"There has been progress [on the agreement] and the terms exist. Unfortunately, I cannot disclose them to you until an agreement is signed. It will be signed in the near future," Tochytskyi said at briefing, as quoted by the Ukrainian news Agency.

This would be Europe's third package of financial assistance to Ukraine since 2014. Kiev is heavily relying on foreign aid to support its economy and pay its debts amid the ongoing armed conflict with militia in the country's southeast.Additional Deputy Commissioner Saima Younas Tuesday directed all Assistant Commissioners (AC) of the district to inspect field activities of Anti-dengue workers and take necessary action for eliminating of dengue larvae in the area.

RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Aug, 2018 ) :Additional Deputy Commissioner Saima Younas Tuesday directed all Assistant Commissioners (AC) of the district to inspect field activities of Anti-dengue workers and take necessary action for eliminating of dengue larvae in the area.

Chairing a meeting to review anti-dengue arrangements, she directed the officials of Waste Management Company and Water and Sanitation Agency to ensure the draining of rain water at all places as the present spell of rains has increased the threat of dengue larvae, which needs to be tackled on urgent basis.

The ADC said that surveillance activities or tracing larva and its eradication be further expedited besides focusing on hotspots where from dengue cases are being reported equally giving attention towards the places where from larva has been detected during current checking.

Saima directed the officials to make maximum arrangements for the treatment of dengue fever patients, besides all possible preventive measures to meet any eventuality.

She directed to create awareness among the residents of the use of mosquito net or mosquito repellents like mats and coils.

On the occasion health official briefed the meeting that 1230 dengue fever suspects have so far been brought to the allied hospitals of the city, out of which 137 cases were probable and 21 having dengue positive results who were being provided the required treatment, he added.

He told that during indoor surveillance in Rawal Town, Chaklala Cantonment and Rawalpindi cantonment areas 39,681 houses were checked during August 1 to 26 where larvae was found at 940 houses while 70,429 spots were checked during outdoor surveillance by 185 teams in the said areas and larvae was found at 271 points, he added.

While special attention was given to Tehsil Gujar Khan area where anti-dengue teams checked 53704 houses where larvae was found at 214 houses while 4096 spots were checked during outdoor surveillance in the said areas and larvae was found at 17 points, he added.

Meanwhile talking to APP, Incharge Anti-dengue campaign Dr Zeeshan Ahmed said fogging and surveillance has been lengthened in these areas while anti dengue spray is also being carried out atbus terminals.

He said dengue is under control in Rawalpindi and health department is on high alert to cope with any situation. Dr Zeeshan called upon the residents to keep an eye on junkyards, schools and under construction buildings which lead to spread of dengue larvae and leave no place wet or with stagnant water.(@FahadShabbir)

Chinese neurosurgeon Li Yongjie can still recall the details of the first brain operation he did to treat Parkinson's disease after he returned from the United States 20 years ago.

BEIJING, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Aug, 2018 ) :Chinese neurosurgeon Li Yongjie can still recall the details of the first brain operation he did to treat Parkinson's disease after he returned from the United States 20 years ago.

"It was the first microelectrode-guided stereotactic surgery ever conducted in China. Although there was an assisting team, no one actually knew how to do it except me," says Li, director of the Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery at Xuanwu Hospital, and a pioneer in his field.

Stereotactic surgery was developed from the stereotactic method in the 1940s. The patient's head is fixed in a frame so that a thin electrode can be precisely directed to the target area in the brain through a small hole on top of the skull.

Hoping the advanced technique would take root in China, Li was clear about the significance of the first operation. He didn't sleep well for several nights before the operation, and went over the procedures again and again in his head.

On July 12, 1998, he completed the operation in eight hours, mostly by himself.

It was a success. More patients came to him. By the end of that year, Li and his team had worked out a set of standard procedures and performed dozens of operations each month, each taking only two hours.

"I brought back the operation skills as a seed, and it has grown into a thriving tree," Li says.

The institute now treats more than 30 neurological dysfunctions, including epilepsy, dystonia and chronic pain, making it one of the world's most comprehensive medical institutions in the sector.

Li attributes his achievements to China's reform and opening-up, which allowed him to be adventurous and have a say on his own destiny.

Born in 1961 in Datong, north China's Shanxi Province, Li grew up during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). His father, labeled a "rich peasant" who had to be "remolded", urged him to study hard in those chaotic days.

"I was timid and reticent; I had to grow up early and it was lonely," Li said.

China resumed the gaokao, the annual college entrance exam, in 1977. Li was happy to see the nation starting to embrace "the spring of science," which valued education and knowledge.

Good grades gave him confidence. He came top in a provincial physics competition in high school. In 1979, he enrolled at the prestigious Beijing Medical University, now the Health Science Center of Peking University, to study medical science.

"It wasn't really my choice. It was my mother who wanted me to be a doctor," says Li, who took more than five years to agree that it was a worthwhile career. From then on, he was more aware of his inner voice at each decisive moment.

In 1994, Li, with a doctor's degree from Shanxi Medical University, gave up a steady job as a surgeon in Taiyuan, and sold his allocated apartment -- a much coveted goal under the housing distribution system -- to pursue advanced studies at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

"When I was a graduate student, two teachers from the United States had aroused my curiosity of the outside world.

They were eloquent and open-minded, and the knowledge and techniques they brought to us were new and advanced," Li recalls.

After China emerged from its long closure and began its reform and opening-up in 1978, many talented young Chinese went to study abroad to expand their horizons and better themselves. At its peak in the 1980s and 1990s, the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) exam drew more than 100,000 students every year, as a pass was required for admission to universities and colleges in the United States. (More)Profile: A Chinese surgeon's adventures in the brain At Johns Hopkins Hospital, Li first witnessed the marvel of the stereotactic surgery, when it was used to treat a woman suffering from Parkinson's disease.

Just seconds after the surgery, her right hand stopped trembling for the first time in 10 years. She turned her hand over and over, and tears welled in her eyes.

"I determined then to master the technique," Li says.

But rather than continue his successful life in the United States, he made an unusual decision -- to return to China.

Work and living conditions in China lagged far behind developed countries in the 1990s. More than 70 percent of Li's classmates from university had gone abroad, but only two came back.

"I had no hesitation as I preferred challenges. In the United States, I could foresee my life beyond retirement," Li says. "I would have regretted not seeing all the changes in China, which was developing at such a great speed." PASSING ON EXPERIENCE Under Li's direction, Xuanwu Hospital opened the Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery in 1998. The institute has now treated more than 100,000 patients and performed more than 20,000 operations.

Li is always considering new technologies. Stereotactic surgery has been mostly replaced by deep brain stimulation, a new method to treat movement and neuropsychiatric disorders by sending electrical pulses to specific targets in the brain through implanted electrodes.

His institute has ranked first in the world in the number of implanted neurostimulators for 10 years running.

"When I first returned from abroad, we were fighting alone. Even the name of functional neurosurgery was unheard of," Li says. "A lot has changed over the years, and hospitals and medical schools around the country are eager to develop or expand their functional neurosurgery departments." Li wants to accelerate this progress. In the preface to his Functional Neurosurgery treatise published this year, he estimates that more than 5 million neurological patients in China can benefit from proper and timely surgery.

"Such huge potential demand for medical services cannot be ignored, nor can the historic opportunity to propel the discipline be missed," he writes.

Li is now researching non-invasive surgery, and even considering the utilization of artificial intelligence.

"A human brain has 60 billion to 70 billion cells. If each cell were a star, the brain would be as infinite as the universe," he says. "I would like to take more adventures in it."(@rukhshanmir)

Several people were injured in Islamabad, Pulwama, Shopian and other areas, today, after Indian police and troops subjected to brute force the peaceful demonstrators protesting against the onslaught on Article 35-A of the Indian Constitution in Indian occupied Kashmir.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Aug, 2018 ) :Several people were injured in Islamabad, Pulwama, Shopian and other areas, today, after Indian police and troops subjected to brute force the peaceful demonstrators protesting against the onslaught on Article 35-A of the Indian Constitution in Indian occupied Kashmir.

According to Kashmir Media Service, people took to the streets in different areas of Islamabad, Pulwama and Shopian after news spread this morning that the Indian Supreme Court was hearing a fresh petition challenging the Article 35-A. The constitutional provision guarantees special rights and privileges to the permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir.

The protesters chanted high-pitched pro-freedom and anti-India slogans. Indian police and troops fired teargas shells and used brute force to disperse the protesters, triggering clashes between the demonstrators and the forces' personnel. Several people sustained injuries in the forces' brutal actions.

The clashes were going on when reports last came in. Three youth with eye injuries were shifted to Srinagar hospitals for treatement.

People including students held massive demonstrations in Srinagar and Kulgam also in support of the continuation of the Article 35-A. Indian troops barged into the government Degree College Kulgam and thrashed students and the staff. The students said that the troops also beat up female students and staffers without any reason.

Meanwhile, complete shutdown is being observed in different areas of Srinagar, Islamabad and Pulwama areas against the attempts to repeal the Article 35-A.

On the other hand, the Indian Supreme Court, today, adjourned the fresh plea seeking abrogation of Article 35-A following adjournment request by the petitioner. The petition listed for hearing was dropped by the apex court after an adjournment letter was moved by the petitioner Ashwani Upadhyay, who is a BJP leader and lawyer.(@FahadShabbir)

Commenting on the United Nations (UN) Fact Finding Mission's report, UK Minister of State for Asia & The Pacific Mark Field has said that the UN Mission's conclusions on human rights violations in Burma since 2011, in particular the truly horrific violence from August last year in Rakhine, come as no surprise.

LONDON, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Aug, 2018 ) :Commenting on the United Nations (UN) Fact Finding Mission's report, UK Minister of State for Asia & The Pacific Mark Field has said that the UN Mission's conclusions on human rights violations in Burma since 2011, in particular the truly horrific violence from August last year in Rakhine, come as no surprise.

In a statement issued here Mark Field said "anyone like myself who had been engaged directly in this terrible crisis, or had spoken to Rohingya refugees,knows the Burmese military was primarily to blame for such appalling human rights violations as the widespread assault and murder of the Rohingya people", .

The Fact Finding Mission provides yet more damning evidence of their culpability,he remarked.

The UK Minister of state for Asia and Pacific said "There cannot and must not be impunity for such acts, which the Mission has concluded warrants "the investigation and prosecution of senior officials in the Tatmadaw chain of command, so that a competent court can determine their liability for genocide in relation to the situation in Rakhine State".

"We commend the Fact Finding Mission for their work and look forward to seeing the full report. We believe the gravity of the report warrants the attention of both the UN Human Rights Council and the UN Security Council", he said.

Mark Field said "We will discuss options for bringing the report before the Security Council with other members once the Fact Finding Mission have made their final presentation to the Human Rights Council in September".

He added that there also remained an urgent need for domestic acceptance and accountability in Burma and it was now essential the Burmese government sets out how its Commission of Inquiry would be able to investigate these crimes with full impartiality and how it would be linked to a judicial process to hold those responsible to account.Climate Change expert Pervaiz Amir said 90 per cent of climate change is going to impact agriculture sector and uneducated of the country unaware of drastic environmental hazards looming in the future.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Aug, 2018 ) :Climate Change expert Pervaiz Amir said 90 per cent of climate change is going to impact agriculture sector and uneducated of the country unaware of drastic environmental hazards looming in the future.

He was of the view that the uneducated youth inhabiting in the rural and urban areas needs due attention of the stakeholders which is being neglected. It is the most important factor while the highly qualified have set their targets in abroad for a better future, he added.

Pervaiz Amir was addressing a seminar on "Youth Driven Climate Action" organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) here on Tuesday.

"When you touch nature, it responds in multiple times", he remarked while claiming that climate change impacts are the outcome of our drastic actions destroying natural resources.

The researches made earlier were limited while the models presented were not holding water in current scenario, he maintained.

He referred to develop climate change adaptation and mitigation measures particularly focusing on changing life style, food patterns and youth life style.

According to a global study, 2019-2022 would witness unprecedented temperature rise in our region, he said, adding all of the glaciers were melting due to increase in our resource.

He said The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) study revealed that youth's major issue in Gilgit Baltistan and in its surroundings was suicide as climate related influence in the area has made explicit effects on the life of the natives. The study researchers claimed that people visiting northern areas were posing serious mental stress on the residents.

Amir claimed that the government should focus to develop five new cities in the coastal area of Balochistan other than Gwadar which 1046 Kilometers (km). He said the overpopulated Karachi, Lahore and other mega cities cannot cater the massive youth bulge. It would be a US$1 trillion investment in the future which should not be given to Chinese for development rather other international partners to be involved in the project, he said.

"Pakistan needs to grow trillion of trees to overcome the gruesome impacts of climate change", he added. The next bigger challenge would be plastic pollution particularly polyethylene causing deep environmental effects.

"If colleges across the country are closed to involve the youth of the country to clean plastic pollution then there is no harm in it", he said. Youth is the ultimate factor that can prove to be fruitful in attaining sustainable solution to our environmental pollution and its hazards and to curb climate change issue.

He said we need to mobilize, educate and train our youth on modern trends to meet this global challenge as its not a decade rather entire generations on stakes.

Member of National Assembly (MNA) and former Parliamentary Secretary for Ministry of Climate Change, Romina Khurshid said we have developed certain behavioural changes since the last many decades that to an extent contributed in our deteriorated environment and ecological system. The contemporary youth considered as lethargic and social media freak cannot be blamed for everything. The modern technology developers have set certain parameters and limits pertaining to the usage of the gadgets. She said we have vast knowledge and expertise pertaining to climate change as it only requires mobilizing that valuable material in the form of experts and precise policies.

Speaking on the occasion Executive Director, SDPI Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri said we are at the crossroads today amid vulnerability of climate change that badly affecting our agriculture, livestock and ecosystem. He urged the need for adopting proper mechanism to mitigate adverse impacts of climate change on the rural livelihood. He said that Demand Driven Policy making by the government to focus the required steps and policy measures as demanded by the youth which would help reach sustainable solutions. We have to focus sustainable production, consumption and natural resource management through youth which has to lead the country in the future.Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has decided to hand over one snorkel and three fire tenders to Karachi administration and seven other fire tenders to the administration of divisional headquarters of the province.

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Aug, 2018 ) :Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has decided to hand over one snorkel and three fire tenders to Karachi administration and seven other fire tenders to the administration of divisional headquarters of the province.

He took this decision on Monday while presiding over a meeting to review progress of on-going development schemes launched under Karachi Package, said a statement.

The meeting was attended by Minister Local Government Saeed Ghani, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Sohail Rajput, Secretary Local Government Khalid Hyder Shah, Secretary Finance Noor Alam, Secretary P&D Shireen Narejo, Project Director Karachi Package Niaz Soomro, Engineer Khalid and other officers cocerned.

The Chief Minister Sindh said that some fire erupting incidents took place in different factories and shopping centers in the city for which he directed the Minister Local Government to inquire and report to him.

He also said that a snorkel and 10 fire tenders have been purchased at the cost of Rs 389 million. "I want to hand over one snorkel and three fire tenders to Karachi, six fire tenders to divisional headquarters and one fire tender to Qasimabad, Hyderabad," he said.

It may be noted that the snorkel procured for the city has a length of 104-meter and has been procured for Rs199 million. The fire tenders have been purchased for Rs19 million each.

Syed Murad Ali Shah said that at the end of his earlier tenure four important schemes such as Tipu Sultan Road, Tipu Sultan Flyover, Sunset -Gizri Boulevard Flyover and Cantonment Station roads were in progress.

He told that all those schemes have been completed with minor touch up are left.

Murad Ali Shah asked the Minister Local Government to get necessary arrangements for their inauguration. "I want to open them officially for public during this week," he said.

Project Director Niaz Soomro briefing the chief minister said that five percent work on the construction of U-turn at Natha Khan Bridge is going on very slow.

It is a Rs70 million scheme.

The CM Sindh directed his principal secretary to look into land acquisition issues of the U-turn so that it could be completed within next two months.

The CM Sindh was told that 70 percent work on Drigh Road Underpass along Shahrah-e-Faisal with restoration of right turn bridge has been done and further work was in progress. It is a Rs1.6billion scheme.

The CM Sindh was told that the work on underpass at Submarine Chowrangi has been completed by 95 percent. It is a Rs2.2billion scheme.

on that, the CM Sindh said that the work on Underpass has been completed but still its beautification and opening of connecting roads have not been done. "I have seen it personally and want you to complete it at the arliest," he directed the PD.

Murad Ali Shah said that the work on Karachi Zoo is going on at a snail's pace. It is hardly a Rs 331.3million scheme. He directed the PD of the project to expedite work of the Zoo.

It was pointed out that widening of Stadium Road from Stadium to Rashid Minhas Road at the cost of Rs 379.8 million has been completed by 75 percent. Construction of Road from Tank Chowarngi to Superhighway via Thando Nalo of Rs 574 million has been done by 85 percent.

The CM Sindh was told that in order provide to water Baldia Town a 24 dia pipe line was being laid from Habib Bank to Pump No.3. It is a Rs399.5 million scheme and 25 percent work has been completed.

The construction of Storm Water Drain (SWD) from Star Gate to Chakora Nalla. Shahrah-e-Faisal started for Rs200 million is still at initial stage.

On that, the CM Sindh directed Minister Local government Saeed Ghani to personally monitor the completion of on-going schemes.

"I want them to be completed at the earliest so that we can start new schemes- still we have to do a lot," he said adding that Karachi is a beautiful city and we have to make it a best livable city of the world.The designs of Kishanganga and Ratle Hydroelectric Plants do not conform to the relevant provisions of Indus Water Treaty, Minister for Water Resources Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar told Senate on Tuesday.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Aug, 2018 ) :The designs of Kishanganga and Ratle Hydroelectric Plants do not conform to the relevant provisions of Indus Water Treaty, Minister for Water Resources Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar told Senate on Tuesday.

In a written reply to the question of Senator Agha Shahzaib Duirrani, he said India had constructed Kishanganga Hydroelectric Plant on Neelum, however, the construction on Ratle Hydroelectric Plant was not yet started.

He said India was allowed to construct hydroelectric power plants on the Western Rivers ( Indus, Jhelum and Chenab) subject to the design construction and operational constraints as per Indus Water Treaty.

Accordingly, Pakistan, after exhausting the bilateral dialogue at the level of Permanent Indus Commission and the Secretaries of the Ministries of Water Resources of both Pakistan and India, referred the case to the World Bank on 19-08-2016 for empanelment of the Court of Arbitration to get the dispute resolved according to Treaty's dispute resolution mechanism.

To frustrate Pakistan's request for arbitration, he said India filed a parallel request (subsequent to Pakistan's request for arbitration). The President World Bank engaged with the Parties to forge a consensus.

The Bank so far could not succeed in developing a consensus on which Pakistan has conveyed its serious concerns from time to time. Matter is being perused with the Bank.

It is important to mention that in case India unilaterally proceeds for construction of a project and gets it completed, Treaty's Article IV (14) does not recognize such unilateral action as India's right.

The said Article IV (14) is as below: "In the event that either Party should develop a use of the waters of the Rivers which is not in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty,that Party shall not acquire by reason of such use any right, by prescriptionor otherwise, to a continuance of such use."(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Sindh Minister for Minorities Affairs, Social Welfare and Prisons Hari Ram Kishori Lal Monday directed jail authorities to beef up the security of prisons and ensure provision of facilities to inmates as per jail manual.

KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Aug, 2018 ) :Sindh Minister for Minorities Affairs, Social Welfare and Prisons Hari Ram Kishori Lal Monday directed jail authorities to beef up the security of prisons and ensure provision of facilities to inmates as per jail manual.

He issued these directives while presiding over an introductory briefing on Jails at his office, said a statement.

Inspector General of Prisons Imran Yaqoob gave a detailed briefing on jail manuals, budgets, development schemes and other related issues.

The Minister directed to evolve a system to facilitate visitors who come to meet inmates in jails.

He maintained that overcrowding is a biggest problem of prisons and to overcome it, under construction jails should be completed in stipulated time.

He said that he himself would pay surprise visits to prisons in different cities to see improvements and assured to resolve all issues of jails at the earliest.

On the occasion, IG of Prisons Imran Yaqoob informed the minister that 27 prisons in the province have been authorized the capacity of 13038 inmates whereas, at present, 17991 inmates were residing in jails.

He said that jails authorities are facing biggest problem of overcrowding and to resolve this issue, three new prisons each at Shaheed BenazirAbad, Thatta and Malir were under construction and 70 per cent work have been completed.

The IG Prisons further informed that besides Police, personnel of Pakistan Rangers and Frontier Constabulary have also been deputed forsecurity of prisons. He informed that the Sindh Prisons is facing shortage of staff and needs attention.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has demanded the government to do consolidated legislation on disaster risk management and mitigation to lessen the losses in this disaster-prone country.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Aug, 2018 ) :The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has demanded the government to do consolidated legislation on disaster risk management and mitigation to lessen the losses in this disaster-prone country.

"Pakistan is a disaster-prone country which requires consolidated legislation on disaster risk management and mitigation," said Chairman, Lt. Gen Omar Mahmood Hayat in an exclusive talk with APP.

He said that contrary to the standard practices, different institutions were given mandate to deal with disasters, either natural or man made, in Pakistan while internationally disasters were being dealt by one institution under single management.

He said that lack of coordination and absence of consolidated management, has always been obstacle in efficient disaster risk management and mitigation.

Internationally, the disaster management agencies are working under chief executive or head of the state while in our case it remained under Ministry of Climate Change till March 2018.

Answering another question, he said the 18th amendment devolved the subject of disaster management to provinces, adding the provinces today are at varying levels of competence in terms of Disaster Management.

Highlighting the importance of consolidated legislation on disaster management, he said there should be constitutional and institutional link between Met office, SUPARCO and other institutions working independently.

National Emergency Operation Centre was a basic set up that needs to be functionalized, he added. The main impediments and hurdles in effective disaster risk response and management are due to improper legislation.

He was of the view that due to its geography and terrain, the country was prone to various natural and manmade disasters, so there is dire need of a consolidated mechanism under a constitutional cover to help mitigate the losses.

To a question, he said, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) primarily deals with policy planning and coordination in terms of disaster management, preparedness and disaster risk reduction, the Chairman NDMA said.

He added that United Nations Development Program (UNDP) head while commenting on the authority's setup opined that the policy framework done was commendable and better than other countries seeking disaster preparedness and risk reduction.

Commenting on NDMA's assessment of climate change on the country, he said Pakistan is at number 7 among top 10 countries directly facing climate change impact.

Climate Change, he said is completely different from disaster management and disaster risk reduction but it ultimately contributes to disasters.

Climate Change Adaptation measures are adopted to efficiently respond the situation, he added.

An apex body on disaster management namely National Disaster Management Commission (NDMC) was formed under Prime Minister including chief ministers of all the four provinces, GilgitBaltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and other concerned stakeholders.

However, it remained non-functional for last five years until March 2018 when after many efforts, meeting of the Commission was convened.

The meeting decided to take NDMA out of the domain of Ministry of Climate Change and place it directly under Prime Minister.

The then Prime Minister gave his approval for raising National Disaster Response Force and subsuming of ERRA into NDMA.

A committee was also formed under NDMA Chairman to improve legislative framework.

To a question, Chairman NDMA said it is a national level disaster management organization which has only around 150 personnel.

Thailand's disaster management authority alone in Bangkok has 6,500 staff while Turkish disaster management authority AFAD has 10,000 staff working, he said.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Acting President Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani Tuesday called upon the overseas Pakistani businessmen to invest in their homeland and contribute to national progress.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Aug, 2018 ) :Acting President Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani Tuesday called upon the overseas Pakistani businessmen to invest in their homeland and contribute to national progress.

He expressed these views in a meeting with the Pakistani businessmen based in Bahrain, who called on him at Parliament House, a statement issued here said.

Sadiq Sanjrani said that the environment of doing business in Pakistan was conducive and overseas Pakistanis should benefit from the investment opportunities available in different sectors.

The businessmen delegation, led by President Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry Muhammad Sajid apprised the Acting President about the problems being faced by the Pakistani community in Bahrain, particularly with regard to issuance of visa to the Pakistani nationals.

The acting president said that he would ask the ministries concerned to take up the issue with Bahrainian government and resolve it at the earliest.

He said that the role of overseas Pakistanis in the national development agenda could not be over looked and institutions in Pakistan would facilitate the overseas Pakistani businessmen to ensure their participation in the economic activities of the country.

The delegation appreciated Sadiq Sanjrani for taking keen interest in resolving the issues confronting the Pakistani community in Bahrain and assured their full cooperation for enhancing the economic ties between Pakistan and Bahrain as well as motivating the business community there to invest in Pakistan.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

The Chairlift at Malam Jabba has been reconstructed and stared its operation to facilitate thousand of tourist who visit the picturesque point and enjoy the natural beauty.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Aug, 2018 ) :The Chairlift at Malam Jabba has been reconstructed and stared its operation to facilitate thousand of tourist who visit the picturesque point and enjoy the natural beauty.

The authorities are optimistic that reasonable number of local as well as foreign tourists would visit the high point which would ultimately generate revenues .

Sajjad Hameed, General Manger, Tourism Corporation KP (TCKP) while talking to APP on Tuesday said that the chairlift was totally destroyed during militancy in 2008-09 was reconstructed and opened for tourists, 'the newly reconstructed chairlift has been imported and is safe in all aspect,'.

As per the agreement, he said, KP Govt would earn Rs12million revenue annually with 10pc increase each year from Malam Jabba chairlift.

"Construction work on four star hotel adjacent to the chairlift has entered in final stage and would be opened for tourists in up-coming summer season with all modern facilities,' he said.

Under Beautification Projects at Kalam, Naran and Galayat, Malam Jabba ,a flagship projects of PTI Government, conditions of access roads in these scenic tows were improved besides establishment of children playing areas, tuck shops and other facilities to promote tourism, he added.

The GM TCKP said five Camping Pods, an eco-tourism friendly project of PTI Government, were also established at Thandyani in Abbottabad, Shahikh Badeen in DI Khan, Shahran in Manshera, Bishigram in Swat and Yakhtangi in Shangla that would help expend tourism and reduce load on established tourists resorts in the province, he added.President of the Ecuadorian National Court of Justice Paulina Aguirre has started the process to extradite Paul Ceglia, who had claimed to own half of Facebook, to United States, where he is facing federal fraud charges, Ceglia's lawyer said.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2018) President of the Ecuadorian National Court of Justice Paulina Aguirre has started the process to extradite Paul Ceglia, who had claimed to own half of Facebook, to United States, where he is facing Federal fraud charges, Ceglia's lawyer said.

"The judge initiated the process, now evidence needs to be presented. In 45 days maximum, we will learn whether the extradition has been granted or not," Roberto Calderon said, as quoted by El Comercio newspaper on Monday.

According to the media outlet, the judge made the decision after Ceglia refused to be extradited to the United States during Saturday's hearing, claiming that his life would be in danger there.

El Universo newspaper reported on Monday, citing the lawyer, that the US side was not complying with the extradition agreements signed with Ecuador.

"There are two [extradition] treaties signed with the United States and neither of them includes the crimes for which Ceglia is being prosecuted in the United States," Calderon was quoted as saying by the news outlet.

In 2010, Ceglia filed a suit against Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg, alleging that he owned 50 percent of the network, which was provided for by an agreement reportedly signed by the two men. Facebook lawyers argued that Ceglia falsified the agreement and email exchange with Zuckerberg, which led to mail fraud and wire fraud charges against the man in the United States. Facing up to 40 years of imprisonment, Ceglia fled the country in 2015 and was caught in Ecuador on Thursday.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Seven members of the security forces were killed early Tuesday after their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in eastern Burkina Faso, security sources said.

Ouagadougou, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Aug, 2018 ) :Seven members of the security forces were killed early Tuesday after their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in eastern Burkina Faso, security sources said.

The fatalities were gendarmes and troops who were sent to the town of Pama as reinforcements after a police station there came under attack, they said. One of the sources said the blast killed eight people.(@rukhshanmir)

Western countries are exploiting the topic of chemical arms to apply more pressure on the Syrian government despite the fact Damascus has no such weapons, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2018) Western countries are exploiting the topic of chemical arms to apply more pressure on the Syrian government despite the fact Damascus has no such weapons, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council on Tuesday.

"The chemical topic is crudely manipulated to put pressure on Damascus," Nebenzia said.

The publicity around such a possible provocation alone, he added, could "unleash strikes" in Syria. He also said that Syria's armed forces do not possess any chemical arms and there is no military need for the use of chlorine or other similar weapons in the country.

The Russian envoy said that any reasonable government would not needlessly use prohibited tactics that could trigger reprisal by the world's major powers, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and France.

Moscow has also seen how western countries are more clearly supporting the al-Qaeda linked Jabhat Nusra terrorist group (banned in Russia), he added.

The Russian envoy thanked the other members of the Security Council for their warning about how they would respond to chemical attacks in Syria.

"We strongly suggest that you refrain from them [responses]," Nebenzia told the Council members.

On Monday, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov warned that the United States was building up a group of cruise missile carriers in the middle East in order to react to the next staged chemical weapons attack in Syria.

Later on Monday, a US Defense Department spokesperson told Sputnik that Russia's claims were not true. The United Kingdom joined Washington by saying that Moscow is trying to fabricate a story and spread fake news.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Chinese ambassador to Pakistan, Yao Jing has said as a well-wisher of Pakistan, China would like to help Pakistan march toward growth and prosperity.

BEIJING, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Aug, 2018 ) :Chinese ambassador to Pakistan, Yao Jing has said as a well-wisher of Pakistan, China would like to help Pakistan march toward growth and prosperity.

"Newly elected Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan recently stated that he attaches great importance to China-Pakistan relations, and the CPEC provides an important opportunity for Pakistan's development. I highly appreciate his remarks and believe that the new government will bring new opportunities," he said in his article published by China Daily on Tuesday.

He said developing China-Pakistan relations had always been a priority of China's neighborhood diplomacy. China is looking forward to strengthening cooperation with the new Pakistani government, bringing more dividends of the CPEC to the grassroots and the general public in Pakistan, making it a model project for the benefits of both peoples.

Yao Jing said China would actively promote investment in Pakistan. The Chinese government would firmly promote industrial cooperation, expand China's direct investment in Pakistan, and encourage Chinese enterprises to actively participate in the construction of special economic zones. "Its focus of cooperation will be upgrading Pakistan's manufacturing capacity and expanding export-oriented industries." "We will continue to organize delegations from the private sector in China to visit Pakistan and set up various platforms for business-to-business cooperation. We will also continue to promote the transfer of high-quality and advanced industrial technologies from China to Pakistan, establish more joint ventures, and strengthen the brand of "Made in Pakistan", he added.

The Ambassador said that China would also actively expand its imports from Pakistan. In November, China will hold the first China International Import Expo in Shanghai, where, as one of the "Chief Guest" countries, Pakistan has been invited to send a large delegation of exporters and set up exhibitions at both the national and export levels. It is hoped that Pakistan will make full use of this opportunity to promote its superior products to China.

"The Chinese side will also promote cooperation between the customs and quarantine authorities of both countries to facilitate the further opening-up of China's agricultural product market to Pakistan," he added.

Yao Jing said China would, under the framework of free trade cooperation between the two countries, provide a larger market share for Pakistani goods, and strengthen cooperation and facilitate local trade between Gilgit-Baltistan and China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. "And China will take further visa facilitation measures to encourage more Pakistani businesspeople to visit China." About CPEC focus on development, he said as result of the largest number of ongoing projects with the fastest progress, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) had become a major pilot project of the Belt and Road Initiative.

"The CPEC has progressed in four major agreed areas: ports, transportation infrastructure, energy and industrial cooperation. It has so far created 70,000 direct jobs for the local people," he added.

He informed at present, 15 energy projects were planned as a priority with a total capacity of 11,110 megawatts, among which, 11 were under construction or in operation and their total capacity is 6,910 MW.

The Ambassador said, to help the "iron brother" in need, many Chinese engineers had traveled to Pakistan, and worked shoulder to shoulder with Pakistani colleagues, sometimes day and night.

"Recently, many friends have told me that power outages have reduced, making this summer more enjoyable. This is really good news to me, and the CPEC workers from both countries," he added.

Yao Jing said he was also happy to see the transportation infrastructure projects advancing rapidly, adding, the cargo shipment from Gwadar Port was increasing day by day. And the Gwadar Free Trade Zone had been officially inaugurated, attracting investment from both China and Pakistan.

"The CPEC is people oriented, too. It adheres to the Belt and Road Initiative's principles of mutual consultation, joint construction and shared benefits. Any CPEC project, whether at the planning or construction stage, is equally negotiated, fully discussed and jointly implemented by China and Pakistan. These projects strictly follow the principle of market orientation and the international business model," he added.

He said the CPEC had adopted advanced technologies and strict environmental protection standards. And the Chinese government strictly supervised the CPEC projects and prohibits all Chinese companies from indulging in corruption.

Reiterating China's commitment to improving Pakistan people's livelihood, he said besides, China would focus more on helping Pakistani people improve their livelihoods. It would actively promote cooperation between the two countries' universities, establish more vocational and technical training centers in Pakistan, provide aid for building 50 schools in the tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, expand the Primary school in Gwadar "donated" by China. The purpose of this is to help Pakistan improve the quality of its human resources, especially of the youth.

He said besides, China would consider setting up an agricultural technology demonstration center in Pakistan to improve local agricultural technology, production efficiency and value-added agricultural industry.

"It also will strengthen scientific and technological cooperation with Pakistan, establish a China-Pakistan Joint Research Center on Earth Science, strengthen scientific research on disaster reduction and prevention, promote ecological and environmental protection, and help develop green and sustainable growth in Pakistan," he added.

The Ambassador said Beijing would encourage Chinese companies to fulfill their social responsibilities and play a more active role in sponsoring livelihood projects.

"We will also explore more pragmatic cooperation with Pakistan in such areas as poverty alleviation and healthcare," he added.

"In a nutshell, the CPEC is a joint project and joint asset of and joint opportunity for the two countries and the two peoples," he added.

He said that China was ready to work with Pakistan to maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges, making good use of the CPEC to deepen our pragmatic cooperation in trade, investment, agriculture and livelihood.

"Let us work together to push our all-weather friendship to new heights to build a community of China-Pakistan shared future at an early date," he concluded.China on Monday welcomed the joint participation of Pakistan and India in "Peace Mission" anti-terrorism exercise held in Russia under the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) framework.

BEIJING, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Aug, 2018 ) :China on Monday welcomed the joint participation of Pakistan and India in "Peace Mission" anti-terrorism exercise held in Russia under the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) framework.

"We welcome the joint participation of India and Pakistan in the anti-terrorism exercise under the SCO framework," Chinese foreign ministry's spokesperson Hua Chunying said during her regular press briefing held here.

She said both India and Pakistan were important countries in South Asia and added, the stability of India-Pakistan relations was of great significance to regional peace and stability and even world peace and development.

"We sincerely hope that India and Pakistan will strengthen bilateral and dialogue and cooperation within multilateral mechanisms such as the SCO, improve relations and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability," she added.

It may be mentioned that on August 24, India and Pakistan participated for the first time in the2018 SCO "Peace Mission" anti-terrorism exercise held in Russia.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

On Chile's windswept coast, a newly inaugurated China-funded wind farm, the first of its kind, is expected to supply clean energy equivalent to 130,000 homes per year.

OVALLE, Chile (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Aug, 2018 ) :On Chile's windswept coast, a newly inaugurated China-funded wind farm, the first of its kind, is expected to supply clean energy equivalent to 130,000 homes per year.

The Punta Sierra wind farm is "diversifying the grid and making it much cleaner and sustainable," Energy Minister Susana Jimenez said at the opening ceremony last week joined by China's State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) and Chilean government officials.

Since Chile in 2015 adopted the National Energy Policy 2050, the electricity sector has developed quickly, turning the South American country into "a world-class destination for solar and wind energy developers," according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency.

Chile welcomes investment in projects that promote sustainable development, especially when they bring high technology to local communities, Jimenez added.

With its 32 turbines, the wind farm in the country's north-central Coquimbo region is capable of generating 282 GWh a year, helping cut carbon dioxide by at least dozens of thousands of tons.

"Long-term growth ... can only be sustainable with investment that prioritizes our environment, and this wind farm does that," said Economy Minister Jose Ramon Valente.

Punta Sierra is "a good platform for strengthening and speeding up development in Chile," Jiang Yi, vice president of SPIC, said.

SPIC has so far invested nearly 2 billion U.S. Dollars in Chile since 2016, becoming the largest private Chinese investor there, according to Jiang.

"Long distances don't separate close friends," Jiang said, adding that close China-Chile cooperation has made the project a reality.

The wind farm is situated in Ovalle, a town some 320 km north of the capital Santiago, and is one of 34 clean-energy projects in different stages of development in Coquimbo.

Coquimbo accounts for 70 percent of Chile's installed wind-energy capacity.

"I want to thank the residents, because without your support, this plant won't operate well," Li Wuji, charge d'affaires at China's embassy in Santiago, said.

Li added that China has been Chile's leading trade partner for the past five years, and the real beneficiary of close bilateral ties is "the average person."Aleksei Kuznetsov, one of Russian businessmen evading Russian justice abroad, returned to home country on Tuesday, the press service of Russian Business Ombudsman Boris Titov told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2018) Aleksei Kuznetsov, one of Russian businessmen evading Russian justice abroad, returned to home country on Tuesday, the press service of Russian business Ombudsman Boris Titov told Sputnik.

In February, Titov named Russian businesspeople suspected of various crimes who had fled to the United Kingdom and other countries but were willing to return to their homeland. The so-called London list comprised 16 people.

"On August 28, one more member of Boris Titov's London list, Aleksei Kuznetsov, director general of the LLC KC-Agro-Inform, returned to Russia. Today, his pre-trial punishment was changed to travel restrictions," the spokesperson for the press service said.

The spokesperson added that Kuznetsov was the fourth person from the list to return to Russia.

"Our experts declared last year that [Kuznetsov's] case was a typical case of substituting a civil matter with criminal prosecution. Of course, the investigation into Aleksei Kuznetsov's case will continue, but we will protect him. The accusations are baseless, they have been filed upon application of a [Kuznetsov's] competitor. We believe that Kuznetsov should be released from criminal prosecution, and hope that this will happen," Titov said, as quoted by his press service.

The criminal case against Kuznetsov was initiated in May 2017. He was accused of illegal banking activities. According to the investigators, Kuznetsov, without a banking license, had established in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don a group that would carry out illegal banking activities using documents and controlled entities.

"Kuznetsov's defense insisted that there was regular economic activity related to the sale of agricultural products. The investigative authority has groundlessly qualified the trade markup of 3 to 5 percent as cashing in of money. All the commercial operations that the investigators consider fictional, were in fact real. The financial and economic expertise completely refutes the investigators' contentions," Titov's press service said.

Russian businesspeople fleeing justice in their country have for years been choosing London as their safe haven, as there is no agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal affairs between Moscow and London, and Russian court rulings cannot be implemented in the United Kingdom.(@rukhshanmir)

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who arrived in Berlin on Monday afternoon, is due to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday.

ZAGREB, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Aug, 2018 ) :Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who arrived in Berlin on Monday afternoon, is due to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday.

"Tomorrow we will propose to the German side a ten-point action plan which our two foreign ministries have been preparing for some time so that we can identify topics and groups of topics as a framework for improving cooperation with Germany, which is already one of the biggest investors in Croatia. It will be a sort of road map of our relations with Germany," Plenkovic said, upon his arrival on Monday afternoon, while addressing the Croatian expat community in the German capital city.

He said they would also discuss the situation in Southeast Europe, including migration, which he said was a very important topic for Germany.

Recently, Merkel held meetings with two premiers from the region, Denis Zvizdic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Dusko Markovic of Montenegro on the migrations and refugee crisis.

The Merkel-Plenkovic talks will also address Croatia's bid to join the Schengen Area as a form of tighter integration within the European Union.

Plenkovic has said the meeting with Merkel was agreed as part of the Berlin Process in Berlin in early July and that it will serve as a preparation for an important election year in Europe.(@rukhshanmir)

Two of Europe's most vocal anti-migrant politicians, Italy's hardline Interior Minister Matteo Salvini and far-right Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will meet on Tuesday, as pressure mounts on the EU to tackle immigration.

Rome, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Aug, 2018 ) :Two of Europe's most vocal anti-migrant politicians, Italy's hardline Interior Minister Matteo Salvini and far-right Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will meet on Tuesday, as pressure mounts on the EU to tackle immigration.

The talks in Milan comes after Italy's latest standoff with the EU on the issue, with scores of migrants held on a coastguard boat moored in Sicily for days as the government traded barbs with the bloc over who should take them in.

Salvini, 45, has vowed to close Italy's ports to ships that rescue people trying to cross into Europe by boat from Libya as Rome's populist government hardens its stance on immigration.

But his meeting with fellow hardliner Orban -- who has clashed repeatedly with the EU over the migrant crisis -- has exposed fractures in Italy's ruling coalition, which mixes Salvini's hard right League party and the populist Five Star Movement.

Salvini's fellow Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio on Monday blasted Orban for putting up "barbed-wire barriers" and refusing to take in migrants.

"As far as I'm concerned countries that refuse allocation of migrants should not be entitled to European funding," Di Maio said in an interview with daily La Stampa.

Five Star, which has governed Italy alongside the League since the start of June, contains within its broad political church a left-wing faction uncomfortable with the party's alliance with Salvini.

"Orban is very different from us and it is right to make this clear: the Hungarian Prime Minister represents a right-wing force while the M5S is neither right nor left," Di Maio said.

Both Italy's deputy leaders had shown a common front against the EU in the recent standoff over the migrants held on the Diciotti vessel in Sicily, with Di Maio threatening to halt Italy's payments to the bloc.

Nearly 140 people who had been stranded on the boat for over a week were allowed to disembark on Sunday after Albania and Ireland stepped in to take some of them.

Migration is a hot-button issue in Italy, where hundreds of thousands of people have arrived since 2013.

Neither Italy, nor Hungary has given a reason for Salvini's talks with Orban.

Left-wing activists are expected to hold a demonstration on Tuesday afternoon in Milan to protest the meeting.The guarantor states of the ceasefire regime in Syria, namely Russia, Turkey and Iran, have not asked Kazakhstan to host the new round of peace talks on the Syrian crisis, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry told Sputnik on Tuesday.

ASTANA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2018) The guarantor states of the ceasefire regime in Syria, namely Russia, Turkey and Iran, have not asked Kazakhstan to host the new round of peace talks on the Syrian crisis, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry told Sputnik on Tuesday.

So far, the guarantor countries have not officially made such request ... At the same time, in case of a decision by the guarantor countries to hold additional rounds of inter-Syrian talks on the Astana platform, Kazakhstan is ready to consider this issue in a positive manner, the ministry's spokesman said.

Kazakhstan remains committed to promotion of the Syrian crisis settlement, the spokesman noted.

Previous nine rounds of talks on Syria were held in the Kazakh capital of Astana. At the 10th Astana format meeting, which took place in the Russian resort city of Sochi in July, the sides pledged to hold next talks in November. Moscow offered to host the meeting in Sochi again, but the venue has not been finally determined yet.Moldovan President Igor Dodon condemned on Monday the protest being held by the country's opposition, labeling it as a disgrace.

CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th August, 2018) Moldovan President Igor Dodon condemned on Monday the protest being held by the country's opposition, labeling it as a disgrace.

The demonstration was organized on Sunday by the right-wing Dignity and Truth Platform Party (PDA), Party of Action and Solidarity, and Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova. Protesters unanimously adopted a resolution calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Pavel Filip, abolition of the law on tax amnesty and end of the political persecution against the opposition. They also urged the government to recognize the results of Chisinau's mayoral election.

"What the parties were doing today in the Great National Assembly Square is a disgrace to democracy. The sad thing is that this is happening on the eve of Independence Day. No one has the moral right to use people to advance their political interests," Dodon wrote on Facebook.

Earlier on Monday, the police dispersed the protesters who stayed on the square overnight.

According to the police reports, over 6,500 people came to the demonstration on Sunday.

US Ambassador to Chisinau James Pettit called the protest an exercise in democracy and expressed satisfaction that it was held peacefully.

A EU high-ranking official told Sputnik commenting on the protest that Brussels expects the Moldovan authorities to guarantee the principles of freedom of expression, speech and assembly.

Filip and Moldovan parliamentary speaker Andrian Candu, on their part, believe that opposition organized the protest to attract public attention before the parliamentary elections scheduled for February 2019.

The early mayoral election in the capital of Moldova was held in two stages, the second of which was on June 3. According to the Central Electoral Commission, PDA leader Andrei Nastase won over 52 percent of the vote. However, on June 25, the Supreme Court of Justice declared the election invalid because there was campaigning on election day. Four days later, the Central Electoral Commission annulled the results of the vote. In response, the opposition vowed to hold protests until the results were recognized by Moldovan authorities.With Art & Big Fork, we were looking to fill a special festival niche, said Amy Amdur, President of Amdur Productions. A new type of festival that would meet the needs of Evanstons culturally rich community, with its intellectual and little bit granola crowd, environmentally conscious and a Northwestern college town..The number of people affected by unsafe drinking water in the city of Basra in Iraq's south has exceeded 14,000, Basra's Health Department Director General Riyadh Abdul-Ameer said in a statement on Monday.

BAGHDAD (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th August, 2018) The number of people affected by unsafe drinking water in the city of Basra in Iraq's south has exceeded 14,000, Basra's Health Department Director General Riyadh Abdul-Ameer said in a statement on Monday.

Last week, media reported that 4,000 patients had been hospitalized due to diseases contracted from polluted drinking water.

"The number [of people] affected by [water] pollution in Basra reached over 14,000," the statement said.

For years, Basra residents have been struggling with increasingly salty water in the region, with desalinization facilities failing to provide residents with enough potable water.

The lack of fresh water also impacted the supply of electricity in the region as high salinity levels prevented power plants from operating properly.

Over recent months, the situation with access to drinking water in the country's southern provinces has been exacerbated due to extremely high temperatures (122 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas). In July and early August, a series of protests against the disruptions in the operation of Iraqi public utilities took place. The protesters, in particular, demanded that authorities put an end to the irregularities in the water and electricity systems, as well as address the issue of unemployment.(@rukhshanmir)

US Vice President Mike Pence and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani discussed by phone on Tuesday efforts to facilitate a peace process in Afghanistan, the White House said in a press release.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2018) US Vice President Mike Pence and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani discussed by phone on Tuesday efforts to facilitate a peace process in Afghanistan, the White House said in a press release.

"The Vice President and President Ghani discussed the current security situation in Afghanistan and efforts to initiate a peace process," the release said on Tuesday.

Pence and Ghani also talked about the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for in the fall and the need for political inclusion in order to secure long-term stability and effectiveness of the Afghan government, the release said.

In addition, the two officials discussed the progress of President Donald Trump's South Asia strategy over the past year, the release noted.

Pence reaffirmed the United States' commitment to support the Afghan government and its security forces, the release said.

Afghanistan has long experienced socio-political and security instability as the government fights the Taliban movement and the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia).(@ChaudhryMAli88)

A Hellenic Air Force T-2 two-seater trainer aircraft has crashed during a training flight in the vicinity of the town of Sparta, located on the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece, killing one pilot, local media reported on Tuesday, citing the Hellenic Air Force's General Staff.

ATHENS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2018) A Hellenic Air Force T-2 two-seater trainer aircraft has crashed during a training flight in the vicinity of the town of Sparta, located on the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece, killing one pilot, local media reported on Tuesday, citing the Hellenic Air Force's General Staff.

The plane had taken off from the Kalamata Aviation Training Center, but at 8:50 a.m.

local time (05:50 GMT), the personnel on board was forced to eject from the aircraft, the militaire.gr website reported.

One pilot was reportedly found dead, although this has yet to be officially confirmed. The co-pilot has reportedly been taken to a hospital in Kalamata and is now in good condition.

The T-2 Buckeye aircraft is one of the oldest airplanes of the Hellenic Air Force. It is used for training flights only.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Ten of the more than 600 migrants who forced their way into the Spanish territory of Ceuta last month by violently storming a heavily fortified border fence with Morocco were arrested Tuesday, police said.

Madrid, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Aug, 2018 ) :Ten of the more than 600 migrants who forced their way into the Spanish territory of Ceuta last month by violently storming a heavily fortified border fence with Morocco were arrested Tuesday, police said.

The 10 sub-Saharan African migrants, who were arrested at an immigrant holding centre in Ceuta, are accused of belonging to a criminal organisation, assaulting a police officer and causing damage, Spain's Guardia Civil said in a statement.

Among those arrested is the suspected head of the group that led the coordinated assault on the border on July 26 in which 22 police officers were injured, it added.

The man, who is from Togo, "offered strong resistance during his detention causing light injuries" to a police officer, the statement said.

Two of the other arrested men are from Cameroon, with the rest from Guinea.

Pictures released by police showed the men being escorted by armed officers into a green and white police van, their hands handcuffed behind their backs.

A total of 602 migrants reached Ceuta last month storming the double border fence and attacking police with caustic quicklime, excrement, stones and sticks.

They even set spray cans on fire, using them as "flame-throwers", and used saws and shears to cut the fence, according to police.

Police said they seized molotov cocktails as well as several bags with hashish from the migrants who stormed the border.

The scramble over the barbed wire-decked barrier was the biggest in Ceuta since February 2017, when more than 850 migrants entered the overseas territory over four days.

Last week 116 migrants made a similar bid to enter Ceuta but were promptly sent back to Morocco, prompting criticism from human rights groups.

Ceuta and Melilla, Spain's other territory in North Africa, have the European Union's only land borders with Africa, drawing migrants trying to reach the bloc.

A total of 4,382 migrants have entered the two territories by land since the start of the year, according to the International Organization for Migration.

More than 32,000 migrants have arrived in Spain by sea and land this year, making it the main entry point for migrants arriving in Europe, after Italy and Greece.(@FahadShabbir)

Tensions between Italy and the European Commission escalated last Friday after a meeting of EU member states in Brussels failed to find a solution for the distribution of illegal migrants stranded in the Mediterranean on board the Italian Coast Guard's Diciotti vessel among the rest of the European Union.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2018) Tensions between Italy and the European Commission escalated last Friday after a meeting of EU member states in Brussels failed to find a solution for the distribution of illegal migrants stranded in the Mediterranean on board the Italian Coast Guard's Diciotti vessel among the rest of the European Union.

Following the talks, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte pledged to respond to the EU failure to ease Italy's burden of migration by voting down the next seven-year budget plan of the European Union.

This triggered an escalating spat, with European Commission Deputy Chief Spokesman Alexander Winterstein resorting to aggressive rhetoric and claiming that threats in Europe did not lead anywhere.

Despite the fact that Italy, which initially refused to let the migrants on board the Diciotti vessel disembark in the country's ports, allowed to drop off the rescued migrants at a Sicilian port after Albania, Ireland and the Italian Episcopal Conference agreed to host the migrants, the fundamental disagreements on migration between Rome and Brussels remain in place.

EU NEGLECTING NATIONAL AUTHORITIES CONCERNS

Aldo Carcaci, a member of the Belgian parliament, criticized in his comments to Sputnik the European Commission's lack of respect to Italy's national government's demands.

"The pretentious attitude of [President Jean-Claude] Juncker's Commission is totally unacceptable. [The European Commission] must show respect to the elected national governments. That is where democracy lies, not in the Brussels[-based] commission corridors," Carcaci, who is Sicilian by origin, argued.

He believed that the Italian authorities were criticized by Brussels due to the fact that they had revealed to the world that EU migration policy was pure lip service.

"The truth is that in southern countries, where the Germans have imposed an implacable austerity, hundreds of thousands of people are suffering, and nobody cares about their fate. And yet, every time a clandestine migrant gets talked about, the deal makes headlines in Europe," Carcaci stressed.

ITALY HAS EVERY RIGHT TO DEFEND NATIONAL INTERESTS

Italy, with a population of 60 million people, is the fourth net contributor to the EU total budget and the sole southern European member state to give Brussels more than it receives.

This does give Italy some strength in its demands, especially taking into account the fact that after the departure of the United Kingdom from the bloc, the EU member states will have to either increase their contributions or reduce the expenditures.

"A wind of change is blowing across Europe at the moment and the Brussels establishment is absolutely terrified. The Italian government has every right to defend their national interest at the Council [of the European Union] level," Jonathan Bullock, a member of the European Parliament from the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), told Sputnik.

If Italy votes down the EU budget, the European Union could face a deep crisis, since the funding draft covers the bloc's entire policy plans between 2021 and 2027.

Fabio Castaldo, a member of the European Parliament from Italy's anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), told Sputnik that the announced plans to veto the EU draft budget should not be perceived as a threat or revenge.

"We hope not to have to impose our veto on the European budget. Our position is not a threat nor a revenge, but the firm willingness to protect the citizens' interests," Castaldo explained.

He wondered why Italy should support the proposal for the next EU long-term financial framework at a time when Brussels was completely unperceptive to Italy's legitimate claim to share the migration management burden.

"Italy spends 4 billion [euros] a year to keep up, alone, the welcoming machine of migrants landing on the Italian soil, which is also the European soil. The problem is common to the entire European Union, but the solution remains as a burden, for only Italy to bear," Castaldo emphasized.

Filip Dewinter, another member of the Belgian parliament, underlined in an interview with Sputnik that Italy was sovereign to decide on its budget and had the right to threaten the EU "apparatchiks" taking into account the country's contribution to the bloc's budget.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

The Russian Embassy in Finland provides consular assistance to a Russian citizen facing a murder charge in the Finnish southeastern town of Mikkeli and is in contact with his lawyers, the embassy's press service told Sputnik on Tuesday.

HELSINKI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2018) The Russian Embassy in Finland provides consular assistance to a Russian citizen facing a murder charge in the Finnish southeastern town of Mikkeli and is in contact with his lawyers, the embassy's press service told Sputnik on Tuesday.

Finnish media reported in November that a foreign student was held on remand as he was suspected of stabbing to death another foreign student in Mikkeli. The Russian Embassy in Finland said earlier that a Russian citizen was detained in the southeastern town on suspicion of murder. The embassy's consular department received a corresponding notification from Finnish police.

The hearing of the case started on Monday. Prosecutors demand life imprisonment for the Russian for an aggravated murder.

"Court hearings of the case of Russian national Artur Ziatdinov, ... accused of murder, are underway in Finland. The embassy is monitoring the situation since the detention of the Russian citizen on November 2, 2017, and is providing him with consular assistance. An official from [the embassy's] consular department visited Ziatdinov in prison of the town of Mikkeli and is in contact with his lawyers," the press service said.

The court ruling in Ziatdinov's case is expected next month.(@FahadShabbir)

Chief of the Russian General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov urged on Tuesday his counterparts from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states to engage in the humanitarian operation in Syria.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2018) Chief of the Russian General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov urged on Tuesday his counterparts from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states to engage in the humanitarian operation in Syria.

Gerasimov was speaking at the opening of SCO member states' chiefs of staff meeting, being held in the Russian capital of Moscow.

"I address you with a suggestion to participate in the humanitarian operation in Syria, where it is possible today to cooperate on a wide range of practical issues, such as demining the territory, conducting joint surveillance, providing humanitarian assistance and recovering the infrastructure," Gerasimov said.

He added that the SCO member states shared common values  good-neighborly relations, mutually beneficial cooperation, regional stability and security.

"We face common challenges and threats, first of all, of the international terrorism, which the recent events clearly showcase. It has become obvious for everyone recently that only joint efforts could help ensure security," Gerasimov said.

The SCO member states' chiefs of staff meeting is aimed at discussing the pending issues of the regional security, ways to enhance military cooperation, as well as ways to implement the decisions made by the SCO member states' defense leadership.

The meeting, uniting the representatives of Russia, India, China, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Belarus, is being held amid the SCO counterterrorism exercise, dubbed Peace Mission, which is being held in Russia's Chelyabinsk region from August 22 to August 29.

Since 2015, the Russian military have been carrying out humanitarian missions in the crisis-torn country. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Russian side has carried out over 1,900 humanitarian actions, delivering over 2,900 tonnes of food, water and necessities to civilians, while the number of Syrians who have received medical assistance from the Russian medics amounts to over 90,000.The Scotland's Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh on Monday conferred the honorary fellowship on President Mamnoon Hussain at a special investiture ceremony held here at the prestigious institution.

EDINBURGH, Scotland , (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Aug, 2018 ) :The Scotland's Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh on Monday conferred the honorary fellowship on President Mamnoon Hussain at a special investiture ceremony held here at the prestigious institution.

Prof. Derek Bell, President Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh conferred the award on President Mamnoon. The accolade is reserved for world leaders for making exceptional contribution to society in medical science.

President Mamnoon in his address here at the ceremony attended by the doctors' fraternity, Fellows and Councilors, said it was a moment of pride for him and the country for receiving the fellowship from the institution which had rendered remarkable services in the field of medicine worldwide and also in Pakistan.

The President expressed satisfaction that the Institute on his request had decided to conduct the examination of International Certification for Pakistani doctors within the country, which would be beneficial for both Royal College and Pakistani doctors.

President Mamnoon said in this way, the young Pakistani doctors would have an opportunity to utilize the best research facilities.

Also, he said the Pakistani doctors with immense experience in professional practice regarding the examination and treatment of patients could prove very useful for the research and medical journals of the Royal College.

President Mamnoon congratulated the Royal College of Physicians and its management on its decision and expressed confidence that the cooperation between medical institutions of Pakistan and Royal College would continue to grow in the future.

Professor Bell in his remarks said it was an honour for the College to host President Mamnoon Hussain and mentioned that during his visit to Pakistan early this year, he was impressed by the range and quality of services in the hospitals.

On cooperation between the College and medical institutions and programmes in Pakistan, Professor Bell said it was an excellent and exciting opportunity for international medical collaboration, and added that his organisation looked forward to working closely with physicians from Pakistan.

Earlier, President Mamnoon participated in the roll-signing ceremony and took a tour of the College's Georgian buildings on Queen Street.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Environmental NGOs welcomed South Africa's decision to scrap the plan on boosting energy supply from nuclear plants, and expressed hope that further steps will be taken by the country in embracing renewables, in comments to Sputnik.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th August, 2018) Environmental NGOs welcomed South Africa's decision to scrap the plan on boosting energy supply from nuclear plants, and expressed hope that further steps will be taken by the country in embracing renewables, in comments to Sputnik.

On Monday, Energy Minister Jeff Radebe released the draft Integrated Resources Plan (IRP) for South Africa for the period up to 2030, which outlined that the country would forgo the plans of former President Jacob Zuma to increase the use of nuclear energy in favor of increasing renewable energy sources.

"We welcome the draft IRP, particularly because it freezes expansion of nuclear [energy use]; however, we would very much like to see plans to decommission [nuclear power plants] in the next review of the energy plan," Makoma Lekalakala, the director of the Johannesburg branch of environmental group Earthlife Africa, said.

Lekalakala stated that Earthlife supports the initiative to increase the country's use of renewable energy, particularly if it stimulates job creation.

Mike Kantey, the national chairperson of the Coalition Against Nuclear Energy (CANE), believes that this draft IRP is part of a wider global trend to decrease reliance on nuclear energy.

"Definitely - all sensible governments worldwide are turning away from nuclear power and embracing renewable energy," Kantey said in answer to a question on whether decreasing reliance on nuclear power was a long-term trend for South Africa.

Kantey added that as the South African government foregoes an increase in investments into nuclear energy, there will be more funds to spend on other sectors such as health, education and transport.

Koeberg, which has an installed capacity of 1,860 megawatts, is the only nuclear power station in South Africa. Zuma had plans to increase its capacity by 9,600 megawatts by 2030.MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2018) US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have called for international efforts to prevent the humanitarian crisis in the Syrian northwestern province of Idlib, the White House said on Tuesday.

The President spoke with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany this morning to discuss a range of issues of mutual interest, including crisis resolution in Syria ... Both leaders called for international actions to prevent humanitarian crisis in Idlib province, the statement read.(@rukhshanmir)

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin on Tuesday confirmed that his Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland had to cancel her visit to Ukraine because of urgent talks on trade with the United States.

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2018) Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin on Tuesday confirmed that his Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland had to cancel her visit to Ukraine because of urgent talks on trade with the United States.

On Monday, the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that Freeland would be in Ukraine on a three-day visit through Wednesday and would meet her Ukrainian counterpart. Media reports, however, suggested that Freeland had to cancel the visit in order to attend talks on trade agreement between the United States and Mexico.

"That is really a pity that Chrystia Freeland rescheduled her visit because of the need [to attend] urgent talks. Good luck to Freeland and hope to meet soon," Klimkin wrote on his Twitter.

Also on Monday, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States had reached an agreement on a new trade deal with Mexico instead of the existing trilateral NAFTA deal. Washington indicated that Canada was welcome to join the new agreement, which, in particular, significantly curbed imports in automotive industry.The United States stands ready to respond to any chemical attacks in Syria perpetrated by the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, US Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council Kelley Currie said during a UN Security Council briefing on Syria on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2018) The United States stands ready to respond to any chemical attacks in Syria perpetrated by the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, US Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council Kelley Currie said during a UN Security Council briefing on Syria on Tuesday.

"The United States and our allies France and the United Kingdom will respond appropriately to any new chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime," Currie said.

Curria also voiced "deep concern" that the Syrian government may use chemical weapons against the civilian population in the future.The United States stands ready to respond to any chemical attacks in Syria perpetrated by the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, US Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council Kelley Currie said during a UN Security Council briefing on Syria on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2018) The United States stands ready to respond to any chemical attacks in Syria perpetrated by the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, US Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council Kelley Currie said during a UN Security Council briefing on Syria on Tuesday.

"The United States and our allies France and the United Kingdom will respond appropriately to any new chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime," Currie said.

Currie also voiced "deep concern" that the Syrian government may use chemical weapons against the civilian population in the future.

On Saturday, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said militants in Syria were preparing a provocation to accuse the Syrian government of using chemical weapons against civilians in the province of Idlib.

Konshenkov said the following day that the provocation was planned within the next two days in the settlement of Kafr Zita with the assistance of English-speaking specialists.

The United States redeployed several days its warship USS Sullivan, armed with 56 cruise missiles, and a B-1B strategic bomber armed with 24 cruise missiles closer to the region.

Last Wednesday, US National Security Adviser John Bolton said that the United States understood the Syrian government plans to resume offensive activities in Idlib and would respond very strongly if it used chemical weapons.US forces carried out an airstrike near the Libyan town of Bani Walid, killing a member of the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia), US Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a press release on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2018) US forces carried out an airstrike near the Libyan town of Bani Walid, killing a member of the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia), US Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in a press release on Tuesday.

"In coordination with the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), US Africa Command conducted a precision airstrike near Bani Walid, Libya, on August 28, killing one (1) ISIS-Libya terrorist," the release said.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

A US Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft from the 155th Air Refuling Wing in the state of Nebraska has arrived Pardubice Air Base in the Czech Republic for a NATO military exercises, the US Air Force announced in a press release on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2018) A US Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft from the 155th Air Refuling Wing in the state of Nebraska has arrived Pardubice Air Base in the Czech Republic for a NATO military exercises, the US Air Force announced in a press release on Tuesday.

"The KC-135 is scheduled to participate in Ample Strike, a Czech Republic-led exercise with aircraft and participants conducting day and night time operations out of the Czech Republic to improve NATO allies and partner nation interoperability," the release said.

About 300 international participants from 17 NATO allied and partner nations, plus nearly 1,000 members of the Czech armed forces will participate in the exercise, which runs until September 12, NATO reported in a recent press release.

The KC-135 replaced the propeller-powered KC-97 tankers beginning in 1956, when propeller-driven tankers could no longer keep up with jet fighters and bombers, the manufacturer Boeing explained on its website.The President of the US Episcopal Conference has issued a statement renewing the "commitment for greater effectiveness and transparency in disciplining Bishops." Text provided by the USCCB.

By Christopher Wells



In a statement issued on Monday, the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, pledged to take up Pope Francis' challenge "to be firm and decisive in the pursuit of truth and justice."

In his statement, he renews the Bishops' commitment to investigate questions surrounding Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, who was disciplined by Pope Francis after charges McCarrick had abused a minor were found to be "credible" and "substantiated." The Holy Father shortly afterwards accepted McCarrick's resignation from the Cardinalate.

Cardinal DiNardo also made reference to questions raised by a letter from the former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano. "The questions raised deserve answers that are conclusive and based on evidence," he wrote.

In his statment, Cardinal DiNardo said he had requested an Audience with Pope Francis "to earn his support for [the Bishops'] plan of action." He said, "I am confident the Pope Francis shares our desire for greater effectiveness and transparencyin the matter of disciplining bishops." Cardinal DiNardo added, "We renew our fraternal affection for the Holy Father in these difficult days."

The statement concluded with Cardinal DiNardo's words to survivors of abuse, and to famiies who have lost loved one's to abuse. "I am sorry,", he said. "You are no longer alone." After recalling steps the Bishops have already taken to address cases of abuse in the church, Cardinal DiNardo frankly acknowledged, "In other ways, we have failed you." But, he said, "We will do better."

Here is the complete text of the statement of Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, President of the USCCB:

"In communion with the Holy Father, I join the Executive Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in taking upon ourselves his exhortation, 'this open wound [of abuse] challenges us to be firm and decisive in the pursuit of truth and justice.'

"On August 1st, I promised that USCCB would exercise the full extent of its authority, and would advocate before those with greater authority, to pursue the many questions surrounding Archbishop McCarrick. On August 16th, I called for an Apostolic Visitation, working in concert with a national lay commission granted independent authority, to seek the truth. Yesterday, I convened our Executive Committee once again, and it reaffirmed the call for a prompt and thorough examination into how the grave moral failings of a brother bishop could have been tolerated for so long and proven no impediment to his advancement.

"The recent letter of Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano brings particular focus and urgency to this examination. The questions raised deserve answers that are conclusive and based on evidence. Without those answers, innocent men may be tainted by false accusation and the guilty may be left to repeat sins of the past.

"I am eager for an audience with the Holy Father to earn his support for our plan of action. That plan includes more detailed proposals to: seek out these answers, make reporting of abuse and misconduct by bishops easier, and improve procedures for resolving complaints against bishops. Inspired by his recent letter to the people of God, and his motu proprio of two years ago, As a Loving Mother, I am confident Pope Francis shares our desire for greater effectiveness and transparency in the matter of disciplining bishops. We renew our fraternal affection for the Holy Father in these difficult days.

"To the survivors of abuse and the families who have lost a loved one to abuse, I am sorry. You are no longer alone. Since 2002, hundreds of professionally trained staff across the country have been working with the Church to support survivors and prevent future abuse. Nationwide, the Church has a zero-tolerance policy toward priests and deacons who abuse, safe environment training, background checks for those working around children, victim assistance coordinators, prompt reporting to civil authorities, and lay review boards in dioceses.

"In other ways, we have failed you. This is especially true for adults being sexually harassed by those in positions of power, and for any abuse or harassment perpetrated by a bishop. We will do better. The more she is buffeted by storms, the more I am reminded that the Church's firm foundation is Jesus Christ. The failures of men cannot diminish the light of the Gospel. Lord, by the help of your mercy, show us the way to salvation."

Mott 32, one of Hong Kongs most award-winning restaurants and a culinary icon in contemporary Chinese cuisine, will open its first U.S. outpost this winter, bringing their Eastern concept West to The Palazzo at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas (Pictured: Apple Wood Roasted Peking Duck).

The acclaimed menu combines authentic Chinese recipes handed down from generations with progressive cooking techniques. Paired with exceptional mixology methods and stunning design, the experience at Mott 32 is truly one of a kind.

We wanted to do something different by bringing a little of Hong Kong to Las Vegas. Mott 32 is one of the only upscale Cantonese restaurants born in the Far East that will come to The Strip, said Patrick Lang, vice president of restaurant and nightlife development for Las Vegas Sands. Mott 32 is known for stunning design, innovative yet authentic Chinese cuisine, delicious hand-crafted cocktails and first-class service wrapped up in a vibrant, energetic environment. It is a unique brand that appeals to both Western and Asian customers perfect for our guests at The Venetian.

The name Mott 32 comes from New Yorks first Chinese convenience store that opened in 1891 at 32 Mott Street and was the nucleus for what is now a vibrant Chinatown in one of the most exciting cities in the world. Mott 32 is thus a celebration of Hong Kong culture and culinary tradition, and represents a modern Chinese city.

Farm-to-table cooking is at the heart of the restaurants menu. Led by Group Executive Chef Man-Sing Lee  a two-Michelin star chef in his previous role  and Vegas-based Head Chef Alan Ji, Mott 32s culinary team meticulously sources the finest ingredients, allowing the authentic flavors to shine with delicacies derived from Cantonese, Szechuan, and Beijing cultures.The signature dishes at Mott 32 will include Apple Wood Roasted Peking Duck with Mott 32s Signature Cut, Barbecue Pluma Iberico Pork glazed with Yellow Mountain Honey, Iberico Pork with Soft Quail Egg and Black Truffle Siu Mai and Crispy Triple Cooked Wagyu Beef Short Ribs.

Mott 32 is a playful scene with a design that dares to be different. Renowned interior designer Joyce Wang will oversee the design of Mott 32 Las Vegas after the critical success of her Mott 32 designs in Hong Kong and Vancouver, which includes winning the World Interior of the Year award out of all categories for Mott 32s Hong Kong outlet.

In addition to pairing New York industrialism with classic Chinese elements, The Palazzo location of Mott 32 has an added layer of details rich in Las Vegas culture. Various areas within the venue are delicately lit by neon signage  a cerebral trick on the viewer, who could find this reminiscent of either urban Chinese street market signs or the glimmering lights of Las Vegas.

The designs pay tribute to the history of Las Vegas  from a dining table made out of a vintage Roulette wheel, or the chandelier adorned with a feather boa. These intricate design elements, along with the venues open, spacious and inviting layout, provide the perfect setting for a full night experience.

This is a most exciting period in our companys history, said Malcolm Wood, Founder & Group Managing Director of Maximal Concepts. With the addition of its fourth global branch, set to open in Las Vegas, Mott 32 will reinforce its position as the leading luxury Chinese restaurant around the world. Were excited to introduce the U.S. to a unique, luxurious yet comfortable fine-dining experience with a standard of authentic Chinese cuisine that does not exist here yet.After an amazing inaugural year, we once again transformed Highwood into Nashwood, the next South by Southwest, said Eric Falberg, president of Celebrate Highwood. The close proximity of the bars and restaurants in town, combined with the fact that most are owner-operated, allowed us to create a Nashville-like atmosphere.U.S. Senator John McCain's career-long impact on U.S. foreign affairs was recognized Monday in tributes from across Asia and the Middle East, including tributes from national leaders and calls for a street to be named after him in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.

"We offer our condolences to the family and friends of Senator John McCain who was a great friend of AFG (Afghanistan). Senator McCain served his country honorably in uniform and his service in the Senate is truly exemplary," wrote Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Twitter. McCain advocated for more troops and resources for Afghanistan in its fight against militants.

Afghanistan's Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah also expressed condolences on McCain's death on his Twitter page.

Condolence messages poured in from neighboring Pakistan, a country McCain visited several times.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the thoughts and prayers of the people of Pakistan are with the family and friends of Senator McCain. "As Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Senator McCain always stood for strong Pakistan-US relations and a cooperative approach for promoting peace and building stability in the region."

He will be greatly missed in Pakistan, Qureshi added. Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa also conveyed his condolences to McCain's family.

Most surprising, perhaps, were calls for McCain to be honored in Vietnam, the country where he was held as a prisoner of war for more than five years after being shot down on a bombing raid in 1967. Years later, he played a key role in the reconciliation process that helped end decades of enmity after the Vietnam War.

"From an enemy to a friend, and frankly a benefactor," wrote Bui Hoang Tam on the Facebook page of VOA's Vietnamese Service. "Rising above hatred, forgetting rancor, doing favors, he deserves to have a street named after him in Hanoi. I  citizen Bui Hoang Tam  would like to request Hanoi to have a street that bears Mr. McCain's name."

At least two other readers posted similar demands that a Vietnamese street be named for the senator.

In Bangladesh, from where McCain adopted his daughter Bridget in 1993, the country's foreign minister said he was deeply saddened by McCain's passing and called the senator a great friend of Bangladesh.

"Late Senator McCain, who was a real American hero and a tall leader in the public service of the nation, was always a strong voice for global humanity, which was reflected in his many commendable works in the Senate including in recent times his firm stand against the atrocities on the Rohingyas in Myanmar, and for holding the perpetrators accountable," said Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mohmood Ali.



In Iraq, the prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government called McCain's passing a "a tremendous loss for the people of Kurdistan."



"He was a true friend and a staunch advocate of the rights of the Kurdistan people. He did his best, at every opportunity, to defend and protect the basic rights of the people of Kurdistan," said Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani.Japan remains concerned of North Korean threat. Cleaning Indonesia's plastics with seaweed. New interest grows on Indian farms. A fruit may juice up a local economy. A Genetic Disorder no match for crazy socks, and spying on the history of spies.Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta says his country wants to increase bilateral trade with the United States and attract more U.S. investors. U.S. President Donald Trump received Kenyatta at the White House on Monday for talks that focused on trade and security. Ahead of the talks, Kenyatta told VOA African Service in an interview that his country is battling corruption and boosting security to create the right environment for foreign investment. VOA's Zlatica Hoke reports.Italy's best-known architect, Renzo Piano, offered on Tuesday to donate the design for a bridge to replace the one that collapsed in his birthplace of Genoa this month, saying he cannot think about anything else after 43 people were killed in the tragedy.

The 80-year-old Piano, who shot to fame with the design of the Centre Pompidou in Paris in the 1970s and decades later designed The Shard in London, lives in France but still keeps an office near Genoa.

The project was announced after a discussion between the regional governor of Liguria, Giovanni Toti, and Piano.

"My commitment is above all moral, to make sure that the new bridge has the traits of Genoa, of our qualities and a little of our parsimony," Piano told reporters after the meeting. "I can't think of anything else but that bridge."

Italy's populist government has pledged to strip the state concession to the toll road company that managed the bridge, and to have it rebuilt quickly, preferably by the state-controlled Fincantieri.

The collapsed bridge, completed in 1967, was seen as an avant-garde work of engineering at the time, and became a symbol connecting two sides of a city that snaked along the seashore.

"Renzo Piano voluntarily offered, as a competent Genovese, to give this new bridge project as gift to the city," Toti said. "We happily accepted the help, and he's already made a few proposals."Bosnia's journalists held protests for a second day on Tuesday to express solidarity with a reporter from an independent Bosnian Serb television station who was badly beaten by unknown assailants.

BNTV reporter Vladimir Kovacevic was hospitalized following the beating late Sunday outside his home in Banja Luka, the main town in the Serb-run part of Bosnia.

Hundreds of journalists gathered Tuesday in the Bosnian municipalities of Sarajevo, Zenica and Mostar, demanding an end to attacks on journalists in the war-ravaged country.

Some journalists in Sarajevo held notes reading Journalism is no crime. Participants said that media freedom has been in jeopardy in Bosnia ever since the 1992-95 war.

Faruk Kajtaz, who heads the journalists' club of Bosnia, said this is a problem that is definitely escalating.

I fear what is going to happen next, especially because we have the election campaign coming, he added, referring to the October 7 general vote.

Also Tuesday, some television stations aired a black-and-red message reading Stop violence against journalists in Bosnia!

Prosecutors have said they are treating Kovacevic's beating as attempted murder, while Bosnian Serb police said Tuesday they have questioned more than 20 people and found evidence.

BNTV has faced criticism from Bosnian Serb authorities for its independent editorial policies. A regional Balkan journalism network said Tuesday that Bosnia's politicians have created an atmosphere of fear and violence.

If this case remains unresolved, we will consider that the authorities are behind the attack on Kovacevic, the statement added.

Journalists protested in Banja Luka on Monday.Brazil's Supreme Court will weigh in September an appeal by jailed former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to be set free so he can join the presidential campaign already under way, a court spokesperson said on Monday.

Lula was jailed in April to start serving a 12-year sentence on a corruption conviction that will almost certainly disqualify him from running in the October election. He has appealed an earlier decision by a Supreme Court justice who rejected a habeas corpus writ his lawyers had filed seeking his release.

The full 11-member court will now rule on the appeal by electronic vote between Sept. 7 and 13, the spokesperson said.

Lula is leading polls by a long stretch ahead of the Oct. 7 vote despite not being able to campaign or take part in presidential debates.

Even if Lula is freed while awaiting appeals of his conviction, Brazilian electoral law bans candidates whose guilty verdicts have been upheld on a first appeal, as is Lula's case.

His Workers Party registered his candidacy even though Brazil's electoral court is expected to bar him from running before the Sept. 17 deadline for altering tickets.

Lula has denied receiving bribes from government contractors during his two terms in office and says the corruption case against him is a pretext to keep him from returning to power.

A Datafolha poll last week gave him 39 percent of voter support, almost twice that of his nearest rival, far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro.Cambodia has released 14 members of the country's dissolved opposition party in the wake of a controversial election that extended Prime Minister Hun Sen's three-decade grip on power.

The group was released early Tuesday from Phnom Penh's Prey Sar prison after receiving pardons from Cambodia's king. They were convicted for insurrection after taking part in a 2014 street protest that turned violent. They were sentenced to jail terms between seven and 20 years.

The pardons were granted after they issued statements apologizing for their actions.

The 14 were members of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, which was dissolved last year by the Supreme Court, clearing the way for Hun Sen's ruling Cambodia People's Party to win a clean sweep of all 125 parliamentary seats in last month's general elections. Nineteen smaller parties participated in the election, but put up only token opposition.

The landslide victory ensures that Hun Sen will extend his 33-year grip on power once the new parliament convenes next month.

The dissolution of the CNRP capped an apparent crackdown on dissenting voices launched by Hun Sen to avoid a repeat of the last national election in 2013, when he and his ruling government were nearly defeated.

The repressive moves include the arrest of CNRP co-leader Kem Sokha on charges of treason, which led half of the party's lawmakers to flee, and the closure of The Cambodia Daily, one of the country's last independent newspapers, after the publishers received an exorbitant overdue tax bill they said was bogus.China said Tuesday it isn't blocking action by the United Nations on the issue of Muslim Rohingya refugees, but that it doesn't believe sanctions or criticism of Myanmar's government will help resolve the crisis.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying's comments came a day after investigators working for the U.N.'s top human rights body said Myanmar military leaders should be prosecuted for genocide against the Rohingya.



China is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council with veto power over whether the issue will be brought before the International Criminal Court. It has been reticent about condemning Myanmar's government during the crisis.



Hua said China believes the Rohingya issue has a complex historical, religious and ethnic background and China wishes to play a "constructive role" in finding a proper solution.



"You said China blocked the relevant U.N. discussions or actions; I cannot agree with you," Hua said in response to a question at a daily ministry briefing. "We don't think unilateral sanctions or criticisms would help with settling the issue."



More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled into neighboring Bangladesh over the past year to escape a Myanmar government crackdown that followed rebel attacks on security and police posts.Egypts top Sunni Muslim authority has called for strong penalties against perpetrators of sexual harassment, following a recent increase in reports.

Several incidents, apparently recorded by victims or bystanders during the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday last week and posted on social media, left many Egyptians in shock.

One showed a brawl in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria where a 40-year-old man was stabbed to death when he tried to fend off another man harassing his wife.

Local media said the unidentified 39-year-old attacker was in custody.

In another social media post, a crowd of young men in the Nile delta city of Damanhour fought off a motorbike rider as he tried to rescue three women being mobbed on a public street.

The authenticity of the recordings could not be independently verified, but some local media had reported on them.

In a statement first issued on Monday, al-Azhar said sexual harassment in any form was deviant behavior, and rejected any attempt to blame the way some women dress or behave.

Al-Azhar has closely followed up the reports of sexual harassment incidents recently circulated by the mass media outlets and social media networks including harassers violent attacks on those trying to save women, the statement, also issued in English on Tuesday, said.

Al-Azhar asserts that criminalizing harassment and those who commit harassment must be absolute and without any condition or context, it added.

The statement rejected any attempt to blame women for sexual harassment, saying abuse violates womens privacy, freedom and human dignity.

Al-Azhar demanded the activation of all laws that punish sexual abuse and called for efforts to raise social awareness.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi ordered a crackdown on sexual harassment after he was elected for his first term in office in 2014, following an incident in which seven men were arrested for attacking women near Cairos Tahrir Square during his inauguration celebrations,

Earlier this year, an Egyptian court jailed a Lebanese woman for eight years for insulting Egypt and Egyptians after she posted a video on Facebook complaining of sexual harassment.The death of Senator John McCain after a year-long battle with brain cancer has drawn an outpouring of condolences from every corner of the globe, some of the most poignant and diverse of which came from southeastern Europe, where the Arizona Republican's unique brand of personal diplomacy forged bonds with democratic leaders and irritated illiberal regimes.

Known for packing Congressional recesses with extensive global travels, McCain, a war hero, statesman, and international human rights advocate, used his office to shed light on conflicts underreported by major Western news outlets.

"If I learned one thing from John its that you cannot protect America sitting in Washington, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who accompanied McCain on nearly 50 trips to Iraqi and Afghan war zones, told Josh Rogin of The Washington Post. You cant learn how this world works watching cable news."

His August 2008 Wall Street Journal op-ed, "We Are All Georgians"published upon the ceasefire that followed Russia's invasion of Georgia's breakaway enclave of Abkhaziawas a dire warning against Western diplomatic complacency.

"For anyone who thought that stark international aggression was a thing of the past, the last week must have come as a startling wake-up call," he said of the first major cross-border military invasion on European soil in nearly half a century. "The world has learned at great cost the price of allowing aggression against free nations to go unchecked."

Penned in the latter stages of his last failed presidential bid, the essay proved prescient in Ukraine upon Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea.

"Sad news for all Ukrainian peoplea great friend of Ukraine, Senator John McCain, has died," tweeted Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, whose nation routinely hosted the U.S. legislator.

"We will never forget his invaluable contribution to the development of democracy and freedom in Ukraine and the support of our state."

Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman lauded McCain as "a real friend and the embodiment of a principled politician," and Oleksandr Turchynov, Ukraine's Secretary of National Security and Defense, credited McCain with Kyiv's ongoing U.S. aid.

"It was thanks to his efforts that Ukraine finally began to receive military aid from the U.S. He was strong and honest person, he always professed his beliefs. We will always remember," he tweeted.



Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili called the Arizona senator "a national hero of Georgia whom our people will never forget."

Margvelashvili's top diplomat, Davit Zalkaliani, called McCain "a defender of small countries worldwide, fighting for freedom, peace, security and democracy, echoing sentiments conveyed by Georgia's ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, who issued a video condolence calling McCain's passage "an unbelievable loss for Georgia, and a very huge lost for the world.

"If 1/3 of the leaders of the west had such a strong willpower [and] bravery, no Russian aggression would have followed in Ukraine and Syria," tweeted Grigol Vashadze, a presidential candidate for Tbilisis opposition United National Movement.

In Moscow, often the target of McCain's ire, social media commemorations by state officials ranged from stoically frank to outright pugnacious.

"He was neither a friend nor ally of Russia, on the contrary, he was our ardent opponent," said Russian parliamentarian Leonid Slutsky, a subject of U.S. sanctions, according to The Washington Post. "McCain was an outstanding American hawk."

Russian legislator Alexei Pushkov used McCain's own words to ridicule the late senator's calls to oust Syrian autocrat Bashar al Assad.

"'Gaddafi is on the way out, next in line with Bashar Assad,' John McCain said 7 years ago, in August 2011," wrote Pushkov. "Assads overthrow and death did not wait for McCain. Politics and fate decided otherwise. McCain's plans to restructure the world under the total hegemony of the United States will not come true."

McCain's support for expanding NATO by adding members from eastern Europe  some former Warsaw Pact nations while under Soviet control  won him friends there as well.

"The Senator's bravery and wisdom were inspiring for Montenegro and a big voice of support in the period when we were making democratic progress towards NATO membership," said Prime Minister Dusko Markovic in an official statement. "Senator John McCain was first of all a sincere friend of Montenegro and we will be forever grateful to him."

Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, who is currently pushing for the passage of a referendum that would open the doors to NATO membership, posted comments on Facebook, lamenting that the world has "lost one of the most dedicated politicians who truly believed in democracy."

Bosnian Prime Minister Denis Zvizdic offered condolences to McCain's family on Twitter, while Sarajevos Mayor Abdulah Skaka vowed to organize a formal commemoration of the later senator.

"The Bosnian people especially remember his noble engagement to stop the Bosnian war," Skaka said. "When he called things by their real names, when he asked for just solutions. We highly appreciate his contribution to the overall help that the U.S. provided for Bosnian people."

People of #Kosovo & myself join the family, friends of @SenJohnMcCain, as well as entire American nation, in mourning his passing," tweeted Kosovo President Hashim Thaci. "One of his last foreign trips was in 2017 in #Kosovo, when I bestowed him our highest order of merit. He was one of the last true heroes of our era.

Albanian President Ilir Meta and Prime Minister Edi Rama said Albanians were also mourning the loss of a good friend.

Sen. McCain was a staunch supporter of Kosovos freedom and independence," he wrote on Facebook. He was one of the main supporters of Albania joining NATO. ... Albanians will be forever grateful to him."The packet provided the board outlined adult responsibilities concerning the underage use of alcohol. That included the 2013 Social Host Law, which mandates a Class A misdemeanor for parents who provide alcohol for people under 21. It is punishable by a fine, even if the parent was not home at the time.Three experts working for the U.N.'s top human rights body say the governments of Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia may have been responsible for war crimes including rape, torture, disappearances and "deprivation of the right to life" during 3 years of escalated fighting against rebels in Yemen.

In their first report for the Human Rights Council, the experts also point to possible crimes by rebel Shi'ite militia in Yemen, who have been fighting the Saudi-led coalition and Yemen's government in a civil war since March 2015.

The experts have also chronicled the damages from coalition airstrikes, the single most lethal force in the fighting, over the last year.

They urged the international community to "refrain from providing arms that could be used in the conflict"  an apparent reference to countries including the United States and Britain that help arm the Saudi-led coalition, as well as Iran, which the coalition has accused of arming the Houthis.

The experts visited some but not all parts of Yemen as they compiled the report.

"[We have] reasonable grounds to believe that the governments of Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are responsible for human rights violations," the report said. It cited violations including unlawful "deprivation of the right to life," arbitrary detention, rape, torture, enforced disappearances and child recruitment.

Saudi, Emirati and Yemen officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday. On Twitter, Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash wrote that the UAE "must review it, answer its merits and review what it says about the horrors of the Houthis."

Saudi state media later said its coalition had received the U.N. report and forwarded it onto its own lawyers to review before it "will take the appropriate position."

The Associated Press reported last year that the UAE and its allied militias were running a network of secret detention facilities, beyond the control of Yemeni government. In June, the AP revealed that hundreds of detainees had been subjected to sexual abuse and torture.

The U.N. report accused the "de facto authorities"  an allusion to rebel leaders that control some of the country's most populated western and northern areas  of crimes including arbitrary detentions, torture and child recruitment. Human rights advocates have faulted the Houthis for laying landmines and targeting religious minorities and imprisoned opponents.

'World's worst humanitarian crisis'

Kamel Jendoubi, a Tunisian human rights advocate who chaired the group of experts, said they compiled a "confidential list" of people suspected of committing international crimes, which was being handed over to the office of the U.N. human rights chief on Tuesday. His team refused to indicate how many or which people or groups were on the list  whether on the government or rebel sides.

"Despite the gravity of the situation, we still note a total disdain for the suffering of the Yemeni people," Jendoubi told reporters in a briefing on the report Tuesday. "This crisis reached its peak with light appearing at the end of the tunnel. This conflict has in effect fallen into the void."

Since March last year, the U.N.'s humanitarian aid agency has said Yemen  already the Arab world's poorest country  is facing the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The report says three-fourths of its population of over 29 million need humanitarian assistance. The war has devastated the country's health system and provided the breeding grounds for the world's largest cholera outbreak last year.

The experts cited some 6,475 deaths from the conflict between March 2015 and June this year, but said the "real figure is likely to be significantly higher." Other groups have estimated that more than 10,000 people have been killed.

Criticism for coalition

They also sharply criticized work by the coalition's Joint Incidents Assessment Team, which was set up as a bulwark against possible rights violations. They questioned the JIAT's explanations for the airstrikes that have killed civilians, and challenged its "independence and its ability to carry out impartial investigations."

The experts also said nearly a dozen deadly airstrikes they investigated over the last year "raise serious questions about the targeting process applied by the coalition." They chastised some in-the-field coalition combatants for "routinely" failing to seek information about targets on official "no-strike" lists that should have been avoided.

Even getting the experts up and running was an accomplishment for the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council, which passed a resolution creating the team last September. Largely due to the objections of Saudi Arabia and its allies, the council failed several times to authorize a more intrusive investigation into possible war crimes in Yemen. The 47-member body only last fall reached a compromise to bring in the experts.

Displaced families

Also on Monday, the U.N. refugee agency said more than 450 civilians were killed in Yemen in the first nine days of August, making it one of the deadliest periods since the start of the war.

William Spindler, UNHCR spokesman, also called for the protection of thousands of families displaced by the fighting in the vital port city of Hodeida, the main entry point for food in a country teetering on the brink of famine.

Since June, the Saudi-led coalition has waged an offensive to clear the port city of Houthis and restore government control.

Spindler said the offensive has resulted in the displacement of over 50,800 families, according to the U.N. office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA).The United States and Mexico agreed on Monday to a sweeping trade deal that pressures Canada to accept new terms on autos trade, dispute settlement and agriculture to keep the trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the White House was ready to notify the U.S. Congress by Friday of President Donald Trump's intent to sign the bilateral document, but that it was open to Canada joining the pact.

The 24-year-old NAFTA is a trilateral deal between the United States, Canada and Mexico that underpins $1.2 trillion in North American Trade.

Here are some of the main issues at the heart of the negotiations:

Autos Dominate

The new deal requires 75 percent of the value of a vehicle to be produced in the United States or Mexico, up from the NAFTA threshold of 62.5 percent.

The higher threshold is aimed at keeping more parts from Asia out, boosting North American automotive manufacturing and jobs. Even if more plants are built in Mexico, jobs will grow in the United States due to high levels of integration, with studies showing that U.S. parts make up 40 percent of the value of every Mexican-built car exported to the United States.

The pact also requires greater use of U.S. and Mexican steel, aluminum, glass and plastics.

The provision started out as a U.S. demand for 85 percent regional content, with 50 percent coming from U.S. factories.

That plan was vehemently opposed by Mexico, Canada and the auto industry. It later morphed into the U.S.-Mexico deal's requirement of 40 to 45 percent of a vehicle's value to be made in high wage areas paying at least $16 an hour, requiring significant automotive production in the United States.

Although full automotive details have not yet been released, auto industry officials say it will allow Trump the ability to impose higher national security tariffs on vehicles that do not comply with the new thresholds.

Most Mexican auto exports are in a position to comply with the new limits, the country's economy minister said.

No Sunset

Trump backed off from an initial U.S. demand for a "sunset" clause that would kill the pact unless it was renegotiated every five years and which businesses said would stymie long term investment in the region.

Canada and Mexico were strictly opposed to the clause.

Instead, the United States and Mexico agreed to a 16-year lifespan for NAFTA, with a review every six years that can extend the pact for 16 years more, providing more business certainty.

Dispute Settlement

Mexico agreed to eliminate a settlement system for anti-dumping disputes, NAFTA's Chapter 19.

The move, sought by the United States, puts Canada in a difficult position because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had insisted on maintaining Chapter 19 as a way to fight U.S. duties on softwood lumber, paper and other products that it views as unfair. Ottawa now has less than a week to decide to accept a deal without that provision.

A settlement system for disputes between investors and states was scaled back, now only for expropriation, favoritism for local firms and state-dominated sectors such as oil, power and infrastructure.

Agriculture, Labor

The new deal will keep tariffs on agricultural products traded between the United States and Mexico at zero and seeks to support biotech and other innovations in agriculture. It lacks a previous U.S. demand to erect trade barriers to protect seasonal U.S. fruit and vegetable growers from Mexican competition.

It contains enforceable labor provisions that require Mexico to adhere to International Labor Organization labor rights standards in an effort to drive Mexican wages higher.

Now Canada

The U.S.-Mexico NAFTA deal opens the door for Canada to immediately rejoin the talks and is a major step forward in updating the accord.

Canada, which sat out the last leg of discussions while the United States and Mexico ironed out their bilateral differences, is now pressured to agree to the new terms on auto trade and other issues to remain part of the three-nation pact.

Trump has presented this as a bilateral deal and threatened Canada with car tariffs. Some lawmakers have said that a bilateral deal would face a higher vote threshold in Congress because the NAFTA fast-track negotiating authority law calls for a trilateral agreement.A Dallas County jury on Tuesday found a former policeman guilty of murder for using a rifle to kill a black teenager in a car moving away from him.

The case from April 2017 in a Dallas suburb fueled a national debate about possible racial bias in U.S. policing.

Roy Oliver, 38, who is white, was fired by the Balch Springs Police Department for violating department policy a few days after he fatally shot Jordan Edwards, 15, a standout high school student and athlete. Edwards was struck in the head and died.Lawyers for U.S. President Donald Trump have asked a federal judge to dismiss a defamation lawsuit by adult film actress Stormy Daniels, calling it an attempt to suppress the president's free speech.

In a motion filed Monday in Los Angeles federal court, Trump's lawyers also said that Daniels, who has said she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 and was threatened to keep quiet about it, had actually benefited from the attention brought by her dispute with the president.

Daniels' lawyer, Michael Avenatti, called the motion "baseless and desperate."

Daniels' lawsuit, filed on April 30, centers on her account of being accosted by a man in a Las Vegas parking lot soon after she had agreed in May 2011 to talk about her alleged encounter with Trump to In Touch magazine.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has said the man told her to "leave Trump alone" and, after looking at her infant daughter, said: "That's a beautiful little girl. It'd be a shame if something happened to her mom."

On April 17, Avenatti released a composite sketch purporting to depict the man.

Trump, who has denied having an affair with Daniels, responded the next day on Twitter: "A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!"

Daniels said the tweet was defamatory.

In Monday's motion, Trump's lawyers said the lawsuit was "designed to chill the president's free speech rights on matters of public concern." They cited a law in Daniels' home state of Texas requiring that such a lawsuit be dismissed unless Daniels could provide "clear and specific evidence" for her claims, which they said she had failed to do.

They also said that Daniels had not been harmed, and had instead "capitalized" on the dispute with a nationwide tour of strip clubs "for which she admittedly is being paid at least four times her normal appearance fee."

Trump's longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty last week to violating federal election law by paying Daniels $130,000 not to disclose information that would be harmful to Trump.

The White House denied any wrongdoing by the president after the plea, and Trump said on Twitter that Cohen made up "stories" to get a deal with prosecutors.Hawaii officials on Monday continued assessing damage from Tropical Storm Lane, which ranked as the No. 3 rainmaker from a tropical cyclone in the United States since 1950.

It's still too early to quantify the extent of the damage, but it runs the gamut from flooded homes to washed-out roads, said Kelly Wooten, spokeswoman for the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency.

"We don't really have any numbers or statistics back yet,'' she said. Assessment teams began surveying the damage Sunday.

The storm caused damage, mostly on the Big Island, where rivers raged near Hilo and nearly 40 people had to be rescued from homes.

There were no deaths from the storm, which had the potential to cause much more destruction.

Some 200 people have called to report some kind of damage, mostly on the east side of the Big Island, said county Managing Director Wil Okabe.

"What we're concerned about is the mold - when it goes into the drywall, the rug, stuff like that,'' Okabe said.

The storm named Lane was barreling toward the Hawaiian Islands as a powerful Category 5 hurricane in the middle of the week. But then it slowed down, moving as slow as 2 mph at times.

While it slowed, the storm's outer bands hovered over the east side of the Big Island, allowing Lane to drop 51.53 inches (131 centimeters) of rain, the National Weather Service said Monday.

On Sunday, state Sen. Kai Kahele surveyed flood damage at Waiakea Elementary School in Hilo on the Big island. Six classrooms for preschool, special education and kindergarten students flooded and the smell of mildew was settling in, he said.

"I think it's reflective of what you see all over east Hawaii,'' he said. "Four feet of water in three days overwhelmed even the best infrastructure and the best storm drains and plans.''

As the island continued to clean up from the storm, some people were feeling like it could have been worse if Lane remained a hurricane and unleashed destructive winds.

Catarine Zaragoza-Dodge, owner of The Locavore Store in Hilo, was feeling grateful her shop fared better than others. The store got some flooding Thursday night and they were able to mop up waterproof vinyl floors on Friday in order to re-open by Saturday.

Parts of Hawaii are still seeing the effects of Lane, said National Weather Service Meteorologist Vannesa Almanza.

A flash flood warning was in effect for Kauai and the Big Island Monday.

"We're expecting some dryer air to move in Tuesday night into Friday,'' Almanza said, which could bring some relief to the Big Island, where it continued to pour Monday morning.

"People just want the rain to stop,'' Kahele said. "People are tired of being wet.''Sizzling weather this summer will put pressure on almost 200 governments to reach a deal in Poland in December on the details of a global plan to limit climate change, the incoming president of the U.N. talks said.

Environment ministers will meet in Katowice, the heart of Poland's coal-producing region, Silesia, to agree on rules for the 2015 Paris climate accord. That accord set a sweeping goal of ending the fossil fuel era this century, but the text was vague on details.

"Paris is empty without Katowice," Michal Kurtyka, a former deputy energy minister of Poland who will preside at the December 3-14 talks, told Reuters.

Poland, which generates most of its electricity from coal, is hosting the annual U.N. climate talks for the third time.

"The Paris Agreement includes certain principles. However, the way they will be implemented will be described in the Katowice package. So the more detailed and concrete it is, the better," Kurtyka said.

Hot weather this summer that set off wildfires from California to Greece has made officials more determined to reach a detailed deal in Katowice, he said.

"For sure this is something that affected millions of people all over the world. ... Societies in particular countries will act on politicians. I think that this will increase political determination for the solutions to be as concrete and as

detailed as possible," Kurtyka said.

Bangkok session

Many issues remain to be discussed at an extra session in Bangkok next month, he said, where "a vision of the whole should be built."

Some of the sticking points include the way the countries report on their emission reductions, adapting to climate change and financing tools, he said.

Environmentalists have complained about foot-dragging by the countries involved. French Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot resigned Tuesday in frustration over sluggish progress on climate goals.

Writing the "rule book"  formally known as "implementation guidelines"  is the biggest test of the international commitment to the Paris Agreement since President Donald Trump said in June last year that he would pull the United States out.

"If some countries, such as for example the U.S., conclude that they are not ready to follow the Paris Agreement direction, then I'd assume that all other countries will seek to keep their presence so that they are part of the agreement," Kurtyka said.

"I will strive for all parties to become signatories, whereas the question I will ask at the end will be: 'Do I hear a voice of objection?' I hope not."

The choice of Poland for the climate talks is itself a point of contention, because of its dependence on coal. In February, the European Union's top court said the country had failed to uphold air-quality standards, one of several environmental conflicts between Poles and the EU.

"The opinions that Poland is not a reliable climate talks host, due to the significant share of coal in power production, are formulated from the EU perspective. The world is more diverse than that," Kurtyka said.

Kurtyka was appointed the climate talks president in April. He replaced the former Environment Minister Jan Szyszo, who had been initially named to preside at the conference in Katowice.

Szyszko had approved the increased logging in the ancient Bialowieza Forest in 2016, another of Poland's conflicts with the European Union.Former Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda was a dreaded commander whose troops slaughtered civilians with machetes and disembowelled pregnant women, the International Criminal Court (ICC) heard on Tuesday.

In their closing statements against the man nicknamed "The Terminator," prosecutors described how his rebel army conducted a reign of terror in Ituri, in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2002 and 2003.

"A lot of people were executed by hand, with machetes," ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told a three-judge bench at the Hague-based tribunal.

"Some of them were disembowelled, even pregnant woman as well. They took the foetuses out of the women," Bensouda said, quoting a witness's testimony during the trial.

Ntaganda faces 13 counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity for his role in the brutal conflict that devastated the DR Congo's east more than 15 years ago.

"The evidence has proven beyond all reasonable doubt that Bosco Ntaganda is indeed guilty of the crimes charged against him," Bensouda said.

Sex slaves

Ntaganda, dressed in a black suit, dark-blue shirt and striped black tie and with a pencil moustache, listened intently with his glasses perched on his nose and occasionally taking notes.

The Rwandan-born former rebel chief pleaded not guilty to the charges at the start of his trial in September 2015.

On Tuesday, prosecutors said Ntaganda was central to planning operations for the Union of Congolese Patriots and its military wing, the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC).

Known as a charismatic commander with a penchant for cowboy hats and fine dining, prosecuters said Ntaganda used child soldiers and coerced women soldiers into sexual slavery while attacking civilians on ethnic grounds.

Ntaganda also "personally committed crimes," Bensouda said.

"He persecuted and attacked civilians, he murdered them, pillaged their goods, destroyed their churches and hospitals," in a bid to rid Ituri of Lendu and other inhabitants who were not from the Hema ethnic group, he said.

At least 800 people were killed by the FPLC as it battled rival militias for control of the mineral-rich area.

Prosecutors in particular singled out Ntaganda for allegedly leading a November 2002 attack on the gold mining town of Mongbwalu that lasted six days and left 200 villagers dead.

'Soldier, not criminal'

The soft-spoken Ntaganda however during his trial balked at the "Terminator" nickname and told judges he was a "soldier, not a criminal".

Ntaganda wants to present himself as a "human being", his lawyer Stephane Bourgon told AFP. He said his client was likely to make a statement during the closing arguments.

The first-ever suspect to voluntarily surrender to the ICC, Ntaganda walked into the US embassy in Kigali in 2013 and asked to be sent to the court.

Ntaganda is also a founding member of the M23 rebel group, which was eventually defeated by Congolese government forces five years ago.

More than 60,000 people have been killed since violence erupted in the volatile Ituri region in 1999, according to rights groups.

This week's hearings will run from Tuesday to Thursday.

It could take months, even years, before the ICC's judges hand down a verdict.

The three-day hearing is set to be followed with interest after the surprise acquittal of another former Congolese leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba.

Initially sentenced to 18 years for war crimes committed by his troops in the Central African Republic, Bemba was acquitted on appeal in June. He has since returned to Kinshasa.

However, Ntaganda's former FPLC commander, Thomas Lubanga, was sentenced to 14 years' jail in 2012. That was the second conviction by the court since it was set up 16 years ago to try the world's most horrific crimes.A contentious three-way U.S. Senate battle in Arizona on Tuesday among Republicans fighting to prove the depth of their allegiance to President Donald Trump tops the last big day of state nominating contests before November's elections.

Voters there and in Florida were heading to the polls to pick candidates for Nov. 6, when Democrats will try to pick up 23 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and two seats in the Senate to gain majorities and slam the brakes on Trump's legislative agenda.

In Arizona, a Southwestern state that Trump won by 4 percentage points in the 2016 White House race, Republican establishment favorite U.S. Representative Martha McSally has led consistently in opinion polls over former state Senator Kelli Ward and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

The contest could be critical to the balance of power in the Senate in November because the Arizona seat of retiring Republican Jeff Flake, a Trump critic, is considered one of the two top takeover targets for Democrats, along with Nevada.

McSally is seen as a stronger general election candidate than either Ward or Arpaio, both hard-line conservatives.

McSally has already launched advertising aimed at her likely Democratic opponent in November, U.S. Representative Kyrsten Sinema.

Polls have shown Sinema with narrow leads over McSally and a wider gap between her and the other two candidates.

But the race to embrace the polarizing Trump could make it harder in November for the Republican winner. All three have fought over who is closest to Trump and most enthusiastic about his agenda, highlighting the praise Trump has offered them over the past few years.

McSally boasts she has been invited to the White House for movie screenings, and many of Ward's events feature life-sized cardboard cutouts of Trump. Arpaio, who built a national reputation as an immigration hard-liner, won a pardon from Trump after he was convicted of criminal contempt in a case involving racial profiling.

"The entire campaign has been defined by the effort to show who is the better, more enthusiastic supporter of the president," said Stan Barnes, a veteran Republican strategist in Arizona. Trump has not endorsed any of the three Republicans.

McCain's Death Overshadows Race

The contest has been overshadowed in recent days by the death of John McCain, Arizona's longtime Republican senator, on Saturday. All three Republicans had distanced themselves from McCain, who frequently feuded with Trump, and Ward suggested that his family's announcement on Friday that he was stopping medical treatment was timed to hurt her campaign.

McCain's death narrowed the number of Republican-held seats in the 100-member U.S. Senate to 50, with Democrats controlling 49. Republican Arizona Governor Doug Ducey will appoint a member of his own party to succeed McCain.

Florida Primary

Control of the Senate could also be determined by the November Senate race in Florida, which will pit term-limited Republican Governor Rick Scott against incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson. Polls have shown a close race. Scott faces only token opposition in Tuesday's primary; Nelson is unopposed.

Trump has waded into Florida's hotly contested Republican gubernatorial primary, endorsing conservative U.S. Representative Ron DeSantis over Adam Putnam, the state agriculture commissioner and a former U.S. congressman. On Tuesday, Trump reiterated his support for DeSantis in a tweet.

DeSantis, who aired a campaign ad showing him urging his toddler daughter to "build that wall" with toy blocks, now leads in polls.

Trump carried Florida by just over 1 percentage point in 2016.

The Republican winner will face whoever emerges from a crowded Democratic gubernatorial primary field led by moderate former U.S. Representative Gwen Graham, the daughter of Bob Graham, a former Florida governor and U.S. senator.

Graham's top challengers include former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, a progressive favorite endorsed by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.

As with other states throughout this election cycle, early turnout has been strong. More than 1.9 million Florida voters have already cast absentee ballots or voted early, according to the state's Division of Elections, surpassing early voting in state primaries in 2014 and 2016.

Both Arizona and Florida were holding primaries for several competitive U.S. House races that could prove crucial for the Democrats' chances to take control of the House. Democrats see several Republican-held districts in South Florida as prime opportunities to pick up seats.

Oklahoma Runoff

In addition, Oklahoma is holding a primary runoff Tuesday to determine the Republican nominee for governor, as no candidate hit the 50 percent threshold needed to advance to the general election in the June primary. Democrats have already nominated Drew Edmondson, former state attorney general.

After Tuesday's primaries, only five states remain to pick candidates before full attention turns to the November election, when all 435 House seats, 35 Senate seats and 36 governors' offices will be at stake.Iran will maintain its military presence in Syria despite U.S. pressure for its withdrawal, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday, revealing more details about a military cooperation deal that Tehran and Damascus signed this week.

Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami visited Damascus on Saturday for talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and senior military officials. He signed a deal for military cooperation in a meeting with his Syrian counterpart, but details of the accord were not revealed.

"The continued presence of Iranian [military] advisers in Syria was part of this military cooperation agreement between Tehran and Damascus," the state news agency IRNA quoted Tehran's military attache to Damascus, Abolqassem Alinejad, as saying.

"Iran will help Syria in clearing minefields in different parts of the country... Iran will help Syria to rebuild the military factories that were damaged in the war," Alinejad said.

Irans Revolutionary Guards have sent weapons and thousands of soldiers to Syria to help shore up Assad during the seven-year-long civil war there.

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton reiterated last week Washington's call for Iran to remove all its forces from Syria.

The United States has reimposed economic sanctions against Iran partly over its involvement in conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Yemen as well as over its nuclear and missile programs.

Israel has also long called for its arch foe Iran to withdraw from its neighbor Syria. The Israeli air force has carried out scores of air strikes against Iran's allies there.

"The pact between Syria and Iran for rehabilitating the Assad army is an excuse and a facade meant to grant legitimacy to the Iranian forces remaining in the area," Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan told Ynet TV on Tuesday. "But as far as we are concerned, no machinations keeping the Iranians in the area will be acceptable."

A senior Israeli official said in an anonymous statement to reporters that Israel's military "will continue to act with full determination against attempts by Iran to transfer military forces and weapons systems to Syria."

Iran has repeatedly said its military presence in Syria is at the invitation of the Assad government and that it has no immediate plans to withdraw. More than 1,000 Iranians, including senior members of the elite Revolutionary Guards, have been killed in Syria since 2012.

The Guards initially kept quiet about their role in Syria.

But in recent years as casualties have mounted they have been more outspoken, framing their engagement as an existential struggle against Sunni Muslim fighters of Islamic State who see Shiites that form Iran's majority as apostates.Japan said on Tuesday North Korea still posed a dire threat to its security despite a halt to ballistic missile tests and a pledge by leader Kim Jong Un to denuclearize the Korean peninsula.

"North Korea's military activities pose the most serious and pressing threat our nation has faced," said an annual white paper published on Tuesday by Japan's Ministry of Defense.

The document outlines security concerns about nuclear-armed North Korea, China's growing military might and territorial ambitions, and Russia's intent to rebuild its power that paint a picture of Japan surrounded by potential adversaries in East Asia.

The latest security assessment also comes after U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly cancelled a planned fourth trip by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Pyongyang this week as part of a fresh bid to push North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles following the unprecedented summit between Trump and Kim in Singapore in June.

Trump hailed his meeting with Kim as a success and agreed to halt joint military exercises with South Korea. The North Korean leader reiterated an earlier pledge to work towards removing nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula.

However, negotiations have since ground to a halt with Washington demanding tangible steps and Pyongyang asking for U.S. concessions first.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said since the Singapore meeting that his country would not change its military stance towards its belligerent neighbor until it saw concrete, irreversible and verifiable steps towards disarmament.

"We need to keep a careful watch on North Korea to see what concrete action it takes to abandon its nuclear weapons and missiles," the Japanese defense paper said.

It noted that North Korea had conducted three nuclear tests and fired 40 ballistic missiles since the start of 2016, some of which have passed over Japan.

North Korea has derided Abe's government as a "cult" bent on derailing Pyongyang's diplomatic outreach in recent state media comments. State-run newspapers, which once slammed Trump, have recently switched to praising the U.S. leader.

Japan said last month it planned to buy two Aegis Ashore air defense radar tracking stations from the United States to bolster its defense against North Korean missiles. The equipment, which will be deployed along with interceptor missile batteries, could also be turned against any potential threat from China from 2023 onward.

"As Chinese power grows, its military strength is rapidly burgeoning," the white paper said.Ben Kingsley said he didn't portray Adolf Eichmann out of love or admiration. Rather, he wanted to "nail him to the gates of Auschwitz."



The Oscar-winning Kingsley, who has tackled historical figures before, including Mahatma Gandhi, Otto Frank and Simon Wiesenthal, said playing Eichmann in "Operation Finale" produced an entirely different feeling in him.



"With Gandhi, I loved him. With Simon, I loved him. With Otto, I loved him. With Itzhak (Stern), I loved him. But him  I'll nail you to the gates of Auschwitz. I'll put you up there so everyone can see what you did, what you stood for and who you are," Kingsley told The Associated Press in a recent interview.



The story takes place 15 years after the end of World War II. A team of Mossad agents travel to Argentina with the extremely dangerous mission of smuggling Eichmann out of the country to bring him to justice in Israel.



Eichmann, wanted for war crimes, was living in the South American country after escaping Germany at the end of the war. He was the main architect of the Final Solution, the Nazi plan to exterminate Jews that led to more than six million deaths.



"I put him into the camera for you to judge him, for you to see. I've let go of him and I dedicated my performance to Elie Wiesel and the millions who lost their lives under his command," Kingsley said.



"Rather than saying to the man that I portrayed, 'I am doing this for you,' because I certainly wasn't, I used to say to Elie Wiesel, 'I'm doing this for you,' because I know that Elie and other survivors said quite rightly that if we forget the six million, we are murdering them all over again."



In the film, the rhetoric spoken by Eichmann bares an eerie similarity to the vicious debates currently surrounding the immigration issue in the United States and across the globe. Kingsley sees the film as a cautionary tale and hopes that audiences "will have thoughts after the seeing the film that they did not have before."

After protests by neo-Nazis and white supremacists last year in Charlottesville, Virginia, Kingsley thinks it's important to not forget the lives lost in the Holocaust, so it doesn't happen again.



"Memory is vitally important, truth and memory. I'm quoting now Elie Wiesel, whom I met on several occasions. I loved his company. It was definitely being in the company of what I would say would be comparable to an Old Testament prophet. I felt that also when I was in the presence of Simon Wiesenthal for all those months when I portrayed him. And Simon, quite clearly said that it could happen again. And so did Elie in his heroic pessimistic moments."



"Star Wars" star Oscar Isaac took a break from shooting the latest installment in the franchise to attend the recent New York premiere of "Operation Finale."



"I flew in from a galaxy far, far away where we're shooting in London," he said.



Isaac plays Nazi-hunting Mossad agent Peter Malkin. He also drew parallels between the rhetoric of Eichmann and the vicious debates of today on immigration.



"You start to hear a lot of similar language, and it's so, so powerful what a demagogue can do. How he can whip up just normal people, not monsters, not psychopaths  just regular people to hate," Isaac said.



Isaac is also an executive producer on the film.



Nick Kroll, who plays a Mossad administrator, agreed the film is a cautionary tale.



"We have to be aware of the fact that holocausts are still going on and that we must do our part to protect people from genocide," he said.



The film hits theaters Aug. 29 and also stars Melanie Laurent, Lior Raz and Joe Alwyn.U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis on Tuesday rebuffed a proposal to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan and replace them with private security forces.

"When the Americans put their nation's credibility on the line, privatizing it is probably not a wise idea," Mattis told reporters.Mexican president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador welcomed a deal between Mexico and the United States to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that he said preserved Mexican "sovereignty" in the energy sector.

The U.S.-Mexico deal was announced by U.S. President Trump on Monday, putting pressure on Canada to agree to new terms and details that were only starting to emerge. Lopez Obrador said it was important that Canada be part of the deal.

Lopez Obrador, who is scheduled to take office on Dec. 1, said Trump "understood our position" and accepted his incoming administration's proposals on the energy sector. The text of the new agreement has not yet been made public.

"We put the emphasis on defending national sovereignty on the energy issue and it was achieved," Lopez Obrador told reporters after arriving in the southern state of Chiapas.

"We are satisfied because our sovereignty was saved. Mexico reserves the right to reform its constitution, its energy laws, and it was established that Mexico's oil and natural resources belong to our nation," he said.

Lopez Obrador opposed a constitutional change pushed through by Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto that opened production and exploration in the energy sector to private capital.

Mexico has already awarded more than 100 oil exploration and production contracts to private companies.

Lopez Obrador has said he would pour resources into state oil company Pemex while still respecting private sector contracts, as long as a review does not find evidence of corruption.

He is expected to slow down or stall the process of offering more contracts to private players.

Jesus Seade, Lopez Obrador's designated chief NAFTA negotiator, participated in the latest talks between the current Mexican administration and the U.S. Trade Representative to strike the new NAFTA agreement.

Seade said on Monday that both Pena Nieto's team and the United States had agreed to change language in a draft proposal of the NAFTA overhaul on energy that had previously been a "cut and paste" from the text of Mexico's energy reform.

The new language still preserved the same ideas and was consistent with Pena Nieto's reform, Seade said, adding that Lopez Obrador was not seeking to change the legal framework for private energy projects in Mexico.

While the new administration planned to increase production at Pemex, Seade told a news conference in Washington "there will be areas where cooperation with the private sector is needed."Drums pounded hard as a circle of men, their shoulder-length hair whirling through the air, spun their heads in a trance.

In the middle of the circle, other men pierced their heads with knives and drove skewers in their mouths as hundreds of others chanted, "Muhammad the savior will wash off the heart's stain and show the righteous path."

They were members of the Sufi branch of Islam, celebrating their return to the Iraqi city of Mosul after the overthrow of Islamic State. They were performing their rituals in Ali Kasnazani Takya  a new convent to hold Sufi ceremonies after most of their places of worship were destroyed during the brutal 6-month-old campaign to oust IS from Mosul.

Sufism is a mystical strain of Islam characterized by an inward search for God and the rejection of materialism. The group is divided into many different orders and has followers around the world.

In Iraq, followers of the Kasnazani order believe they have established a spiritual lineage through their leader and founder, Shaikh Muhammad Abdul Kareem al-Kasnazani al-Qadiri al-Hussaini, to the prophet of Islam.

WATCH: Sufism Returns to Mosul After Islamic State

Criticism

Sufism often comes under criticism by non-Sufi Muslims and faces heavy government control due to its adherents, locally known as dervishes, inflicting wounds upon themselves. But followers say their rituals and practices help them attain the ecstatic trance to reach God.

"Our method is peaceful and is only to help us come closer to God," Madullah Farhan, a Sufi member from Mosul, told VOA. "Our remembrance of Allah purifies our hearts."

Farhan said remembrance and meditation, which included headbanging and the recitation of the 99 names of God in Islam, helped them perform supernatural wonders and establish communion with God.

The sect has been targeted by Islamist militant groups since 2003 due to the claim that they practice a heterodox form of Islam.

IS persecution

When IS controlled Mosul in 2014, it declared the Sufis as legitimate targets, confiscated their convents, known as Takya, and gave them the option to either abandon their practices or face death.

Waled Jabr, head of Mosul's Takyas, recounted to VOA how IS purged followers of the sect. He said most Sufis fled Mosul, and those who stayed had to hide their beliefs. The Islamist group burned their religious texts, turned their convents into training camps for new recruits and exploded the burial sites of Sufi spiritual leaders.

Jabr was imprisoned by IS and sentenced to death by hanging in 2017. He was later freed on the condition he abandons all Sufi practices.

"IS tried to destroy everything that we considered sacred," he said. "They started destroying our Takyas as soon as they entered Mosul."

Of the nearly 100 Sufi convents in Mosul, the majority now lie in ruins. The followers are pained particularly at the destruction of their main places of worship known as Rafai Takya and Naqishbandi Takya in the Old City district.

Rami al-Abadi, a member of the Mosul Sufis Committee, said IS turned the Naqishbandi Takya into a mosque before it was destroyed by airstrikes during the war for Mosul. The famous convent, which once hosted hundreds of Sufi students from across Iraq, is now a hulk of shattered concrete and twisted metal.

"Generations of Sufis were being prepared here to spread the philosophy of modesty, tolerance, love and peace," al-Abadi said, adding that the convent also attracted other religious minorities such as Christians to settle in the vicinity.

But IS took over the convent in mid-2014 and changed it to a mosque named after Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab  an Islamic theologian from Saudi Arabia who founded the movement now called Wahhabism. Many radical Islamists are said to have taken inspiration from the movement.

"IS changed the name to Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab to justify their takifri ideologies and their thirst for killing," al-Abadi said.

"Takfiri" is an Arabic term used to criticize jihadists who accuse other Muslims of apostasy.

WATCH: Mosul's Sufi Convents in Ruins After Islamic State

Sufis say they are trying to provide a parallel pathway against radical Islamist ideology. They say the attacks on their convents, particularly from IS, are to scare away more Muslims around the world from joining their ranks.

A group of about 40 Islamist militants last November attacked the Sufi mosque of al-Rawdah in Egypt's northern Sinai and killed more than 300 worshipers, including children. The attack triggered world condemnation and resurfaced debates over the need to end decades of targeting and discrimination against the Sufis across the Middle East.

New hope

For followers of the Kasnazani order who have resumed their rituals in Mosul, the removal of IS gives birth to a new hope that they can finally practice their beliefs without the fear of persecution.

Abdullah Muhammad, one of the leading Sufis in headbanging meditations at Ali Kasnazani Takya, charged that the defeat of IS has helped many Sufis return to their homes, but militant threats and social shaming are far from over.

"We sacrificed a lot under IS. We hope our sacrifice brings peace and tolerance to Mosul," he told VOA.A Nigerian news company released an alleged "proof of life" audio recording Monday night of Leah Sharibu, one of the so-called Dapchi Girls abducted in February by Boko Haram militants.

Sharibu is among more than 100 female students taken hostage by the Islamists in the northeastern Nigerian town of Dapchi. Insurgents released other classmates but continue to hold Sharibu captive, reportedly because she refused to convert from Christianity to Islam.

In the recording, a female voice says, "I am Leah Sharibu. I was kidnapped from Dapchi school and I am begging the Nigerian government to have pity on me."

The audio and a photo of Sharibu in captivity were aired Monday night by Nigerian online news outlet The Cable.

Leah's father, Nathaniel Sharibu, says the voice is his daughter's.

"It's her. She is the one," he said. "I feel very, very encouraged yesterday as I heard her voice. I believe now that my daughter is still alive."

In the 35-second audio clip, the voice alleged to be Sharibu's asks the Nigerian government to help her family, as they have been having a hard time since her abduction.

The Free Leah Sharibu hashtag and the audio recording have been trending on Nigeria's social media.

Nigerian activist Rebecca Gadzama calls the audio recording an answered prayer.

"I knew it would come up one day. I had the confidence in me that the government wants to bring this girl back, so all along I have been positive," Gadzama said.

The Nigerian government did not immediately confirm the audio's authenticity. A spokesman for President Muhammadu Buhari said they were investigating the recording.

The Bring Back Our Girls movement, which launched after Boko Haram's 2014 abduction of the Chibok school girls, vowed to increase pressure on the government to free Sharibu.

"Why I would have wanted to [see a] video is so that we can see her condition," said Allen Manasseh, a member of the movement. "I want to see [a] video and clear terms of her rescue. What do they want to release her? They should tell us exactly what they want in exchange for Leah. Is it money? Is it their fighters that were arrested in the past or what exactly do they want? If the government is serious, it could release these girls in 24 hours."

The Nigerian government was heavily criticized for the time it took to free many of the 276 school girls Boko Haram took from Chibok. Eighty-nine were released last year in a government swap for Boko Haram prisoners, but more than a hundred are still missing and believed to be in captivity.

Rights groups say Boko Haram has abducted at least 2,000 children since 2009, when it began fighting for an Islamist state.Pakistan vowed Tuesday it will attempt in upcoming talks with the United States to mend strained bilateral relations, despite a row over a recent phone call between new Prime Minister Imran Khan and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, while speaking in the upper house of Parliament, the Senate, again denied there was any discussion on militants operating in Pakistan when Pompeo telephoned Khan. Washington's account of Thursday's phone call was "contrary to the facts," he explained to the house.

"Mistakes are made and it could have been made, and what we have stated [about the Pompeo-Khan call] is correct. I think we have to move on, and if he [Pompeo] is coming on September 5, we will try to steer our bilateral relations with America toward a better path," Qureshi said.

The U.S. State Department readout of the call said that Pompeo wished Khan success and also asked him to take "decisive action against all terrorists operating in Pakistan."

Despite the controversial beginning with the U.S., Qureshi sounded upbeat about better future ties with Washington. He informed the lawmakers the telephone conversation "much to the surprise of many, was very cordial. It was very engaging and very constructive in nature."

The foreign minister made the policy statement in the upper house in response to sustained opposition criticism and calls for an explanation, citing the U.S. State Department spokesperson standing by their version of the Pompeo-Khan talk.

"I will not allow a U.S. secretary of state to stand up and tell the prime minister of Pakistan to do more in the war on terror. This something which is not acceptable to us," said veteran opposition Senator Raza Rabbani.

"Pakistan has paid in terms of lives, Pakistan has paid in terms of economy, and yet the Americans have the gall to turn around and tell us to do more," said the former Senate chairman.

Washington-based analyst Michael Kugelman notes the messaging from both sides since the phone call has been largely conciliatory.

"Ultimately, both sides will move on from this little spat, but we're still likely to see the current stalemate in U.S.-Pakistan relations remain firmly in place," said the deputy director of the Asia Program and senior associate for South Asia at the Wilson Center.

Kugelman says the Trump administration is unlikely to support further progress in the relationship until the terrorism issue has been handled.

"America's biggest ask  that Pakistan cracks down on terrorist sanctuaries on its soil  certainly won't be supported by Khan's government, which has telegraphed an unwillingness to do anything at Washington's behest," Kugelman said.

Pompeo is due to arrive in Islamabad on September 5, and he will be the first top American official and is likely to be the first foreign dignitary to meet Khan since he was sworn in August 18.

Khan is well known for being highly critical of the U.S.-led military intervention in neighboring Afghanistan and Pakistan's alliance with the coalition. He has been calling for a negotiated settlement to end the Afghan war and has welcomed a recent American push for promoting talks with the Taliban insurgency.

U.S. President Donald Trump suspended all military assistance to Pakistan in January of this year until Islamabad takes decisive action against militants on its territory who allegedly are staging deadly attacks on American forces fighting the Taliban on the other side of the border.

Pakistani officials deny their country is supporting the insurgents and maintain U.S. allegations against Pakistan stem from Washington's military failures in Afghanistan. Islamabad says it has cleared its territory of all terrorist groups and has suffered tens of thousands of civilian and military casualties in the process.South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar and other opposition party leaders have refused to sign the latest draft of a Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (ARCSS) to end a five-year civil war.

Machar and President Salva Kiir signed a cease-fire and power-sharing deal last month in Khartoum, but put off making a decision on the contentious issue of the number of states and their boundaries. One delegate at the talks Monday night confirmed the issue has been referred to the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) heads of states to make a final decision.

Rita Lopidia, a member of the South Sudan women's coalition, said after the talks resumed last weekend the parties could not agree on Article 4 of the revitalized 2015 peace deal because each party insisted on its previous position regarding states and their boundaries.

"The opposition, including the government, have not agreed on some of these articles that have been introduced. That is why it has been referred to the IGAD heads of state to look into it. And a letter has been drafted by the special envoy today, " Lopidia told South Sudan in Focus.

Lopidia said the parties did make progress on other disputed issues, including the responsibility of the first vice president, naming of the new five ministries, and the National Constitution Review Commission and issues related to the judiciary reforms.

The parties have held several weeks of talks in the Sudanese capital in an attempt to reach a comprehensive peace agreement to end a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people.

Lopidia said Monday that despite the drawn-out peace negotiations and the challenges that remained during the latest round of talks, all parties have shown a commitment to achieving lasting peace in the country.

"It has been a very tedious process and a very difficult one. But eventually after a very tough time and tough negotiations, parties have really reached some sort of compromise to get to where it is today. But still a lot of work needs to be done because there still is a need to build trust among the parties," Lopidia said.

'Confusing peace process'

A spokesman for the SPLM In Opposition said the group is eager to end the civil war. But Mabior Garand De Mabior told VOA the government has not been negotiating in good faith.

"It has been a very confusing peace process for many people. I can only tell you what we know as the facts. We are dealing with Chapter 1 and 2 of the revitalized ARCSS and are waiting for IGAD to give us direction on what we are going to do with the rest of the chapters," Mabior told VOA.

The parties signed an agreement in June aimed at ending the fighting, but Machar opposed a proposal to have three different capitals in order to distribute power.

In 2015, the Kiir administration changed the number of original states from 10 to 32.

Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, who on Monday met in Washington with President Donald Trump, said he and other IGAD leaders are committed "together with our brothers and sisters to ensure that peace and stability returns to South Sudan."

In an exclusive interview with VOA, Kenyatta said, "We will try anything that will achieve that because for most of us in the region, our greatest concern is not about the leadership of the country, but to ensure the people of South Sudan, who have had to endure untold suffering for many years after struggling to achieve their independence," are able to be free.

He said IGAD leaders will continue to pressure the leadership of South Sudan to acknowledge that it is their responsibility to "ensure they come together and find a framework that works to restore peace, stability, and human dignity to the people of South Sudan."Indigenous people in Peru will keep protesting against China-owned miner MMG Ltd. to stop it from using a highway on their community's farmland, preventing the company from transporting copper from its Las Bambas mine to port, an attorney for the community said on Monday.

The protesters have blocked the road for nearly a week.

Attorney Carlos Vargas said the community, Nueva Fuerabamba, plans to continue protesting until MMG's senior officials in Peru agree to talk about providing compensation for use of the highway.

Vargas accused the company of building the road on Nueva Fuerabamba's property without consulting the community, and said the government illegally turned it into a state highway in May.

MMG, the international mining unit of China's state-owned China Minmetals Corp., did not respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours at its headquarters in Australia.

Peru's energy and mines ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

A source with MMG's local unit said the company's Las Bambas mine has not transported copper concentrates to the Pacific port of Matarani since Wednesday, but production at the mine has not been affected, said the source, who was not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity.

Las Bambas, one of Peru's largest copper mines, produced about 190,000 tons of copper in the first six months of 2018, according to government data. Peru is the world's No. 2 copper producer.

The protests mark the latest conflict stemming from Las Bambas' decision to transport its copper over unpaved roads instead of through a pipeline as initially planned by the mine's previous owner, Switzerland's Glencore Plc.

Indigenous farming communities in the region have raised safety and health concerns about heavy dust churned up by hundreds of trucks used by Las Bambas every day.

Clashes between protesters and authorities left four local men dead in 2015 and 2016. Protesters blocking roads in 2016 suspended Las Bambas' shipments of copper from Matarani and nearly halted its operations.

Nueva Fuerabamba was the only community relocated to make way for Las Bambas, which was built in 2016. Community members have said the company did not deliver all it promised in a deal that gave them a new town near the mine and farmland in a neighboring region.

In June, Nueva Fuerabamba filed a lawsuit against the company at a local court, seeking 150 million ($46 million soles) and the annulment of its relocation agreement with the company on the grounds that it contained fake signatures, said Frank Chavez, another attorney for the community.Russia has deployed several frigates to the Mediterranean via the Bosphorus, an analysis of shipping traffic showed, part of what a Russian newspaper on Tuesday called Moscow's largest naval buildup since it entered the Syrian conflict in 2015.

The reinforcement comes as Russia's ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is believed to be considering an assault on the last big rebel-held enclave, Idlib in the north.

Russia has accused the United States of building up its own forces in the Middle East in preparation for a possible strike on Syrian government forces.

On Saturday, the Admiral Grigorovich and Admiral Essen frigates sailed through Istanbul's Bosphorus towards the Mediterranean, Reuters pictures showed.

The day before, the Pytlivy frigate and landing ship Nikolai Filchenkov were pictured sailing through the Turkish straits that connect the Black Sea with the Mediterranean. The Vishny Volochek missile corvette passed through earlier this month.

The Izvestia newspaper said Russia had gathered its largest naval presence in the Mediterranean Sea since it intervened in Syria in 2015, turning the tide in Assad's favor.

The force included 10 vessels, most of them armed with long-range Kalibr cruise missiles, Izvestia wrote, adding that more were on the way, and that two submarines had also been deployed.Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has frequently supported giving the U.S. government wide latitude in the name of national security, including the secret collection of personal data from Americans.

It's a subject Democrats plan to grill Kavanaugh about during his confirmation hearings scheduled to begin next Tuesday. Beyond his writings as an appeals court judge, some senators suspect Kavanaugh was more involved in crafting counterterrorism policies during the George W. Bush administration than he has let on.

Kavanaugh stated in past congressional testimony that he wasn't involved in such provocative matters as warrantless surveillance and the treatment of enemy combatants in the years immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

But legal experts say he could shift the court on national security issues, if he is confirmed to replace retired Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Stephen Vladeck, a University of Texas law professor whose expertise includes national security and counterterrorism, cites opinions he says show Kavanaugh is a lot less willing (than Kennedy) to look at international law as a relevant source of authority and constraint. He said on matters such as Guantanamo detention, Kavanaugh is much more deferential to the executive branch in this context than Kennedy would have been.

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, calls Kavanaugh incredibly well-qualified. The former U.S. trade representative and White House budget director knows Kavanaugh from their time together in the Bush administration. He said Kavanaugh believes strongly in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

I think he's in the mainstream with regard to these issues, and frankly, I don't think it's a difference with any meaning between where he is and where the court is currently, Portman said.

Democrats facing an uphill battle in blocking Kavanaugh's nomination have focused less on his judicial counterterrorism record than whether he misled senators about his role in Bush policies while testifying in 2006 confirmation hearings.

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and Vermont Sen. Pat Leahy are among Democrats who want to see more records from Kavanaugh's White House days, saying news media accounts after he was seated on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia raised new questions.

White House spokesman Raj Shah said Durbin has been doing the misleading by taking Kavanaugh's answers out of context.

As several colleagues have stated, and Judge Kavanaugh accurately said in his 2006 testimony, he was not involved in crafting legal policies that formed the rules governing detention of combatants, Shah said in an emailed statement.

After meeting recently with Kavanaugh, Durbin said the judge acknowledged that he was involved in conversations involving enemy combatants.

Shah responded with a tweet saying Kavanaugh was truthful, and that the conversations Durbin referred to were about public litigation, not the legal framework or policies that formed the rules governing detention of combatants.

Kavanaugh's confirmation got past a potential obstacle when libertarian-leaning Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., endorsed him last month.

Paul had cited Kavanaugh's 2015 defense of the National Security Agency's widescale secret collection of telephone metadata  records of callers and recipients' phone numbers and times and durations of the calls. But after meeting with Kavanaugh, Paul said he's confident Kavanaugh will carefully adhere to the Constitution and will take his job to protect individual liberty seriously.

The NSA program didn't include capturing conversations themselves, and Kavanaugh wrote that it served a critically important special need  preventing terrorist attacks on the United States ... In my view, that critical national security need outweighs the impact on privacy occasioned by this program.

Larry Klayman, founder of the conservative group Freedom Watch and lead plaintiff in the NSA case, said Kavanaugh approved what a U.S. district court judge had called government use of almost Orwellian technology.

Kavanaugh defended the NSA program in an opinion attached to a procedural ruling in which he and his colleagues agreed not to rehear the case, so there was no pressing need for him to weigh in.

University of Louisville law professor Justin Walker, a former Kavanaugh clerk, said that's not unusual for the judge. For example, Kavanaugh added his opinion to a procedural ruling in a case that led to a Supreme Court decision for a drug suspect who had a police-placed GPS tracker on his car.

The high court found in USA vs. Antoine Jones that Jones' Fourth Amendment rights were violated, with a majority opinion that incorporated Kavanaugh's observation that police intruded on the defendant's personal property: his car.

I've been surprised that his one short opinion (in Klayman) has not been seen in a broader context with more perspective, Walker said, adding that when senators study Kavanaugh's complete record on civil liberties, they're going to like what they see.

But Cindy Cohn, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based organization dedicated to digital privacy rights, worries that he has a very broad view of the government's ability to do mass surveillance and specifically in the context where the government is claiming national security.

Cohn has pursued a lawsuit alleging illegal NSA surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans, among cases she said could eventually reach the Supreme Court. She questions whether Kavanaugh supports real checks and balances on the power of the executive branch on privacy issues.

Kavanaugh discussed judicial restraint on national security in an 87-page 2010 opinion. That one went against a Yemeni citizen U.S. forces captured in Afghanistan.

Put simply, Congress knows how to limit the executive's authority in national security and foreign policy; there is no reason or basis for courts to strain to do so absent such congressional direction, Kavanaugh wrote.

Vladeck pointed to such cases as Kavanaugh's 2011 ruling for turning over a U.S. citizen linked to al-Qaida terrorism in Iraq to Iraqi authorities the man said were likely to torture him, and in 2009 joining in a 2-1 vote against plaintiffs who wanted to sue private contractors they accused of beatings, dog attacks and other abuse at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

There are still 40 detainees at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, U.S. naval base, with the possibility of more.

In a 2013 lecture, Kavanaugh talked about his appeals court's rulings in cases involving Guantanamo detainees and counterterrorism, saying he disagreed with people who believed the courts should be creating new rules to constrain the executive  that this new kind of war requires new rules created by the courts.

He's incredibly smart; he's a thoughtful and thorough judge, said Vladeck. He just has pretty exceptionally conservative views about the role of the federal courts in the kinds of cases that I work on.Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras saw his interior minister take up a key post in his leftist Syriza party on Monday, heralding a cabinet reshuffle to shore up waning support after painful bailouts.

In a rousing speech, Tsipras ruled out early elections, telling his party faithful that polls would be held as scheduled in the autumn of 2019, but that his government and the Syriza movement needed 'new blood.'

The country emerged from the biggest bailout in economic history last week but jaded Greeks found little reason to celebrate after nine years of cuts and job losses.

"It will be the mother of all battles," Tsipras declared, referring to the election next year, effectively firing the opening salvo to what appears to be a long-drawn out election campaign.

"To give all these battles victoriously we need to rally together, unity and renewal. Our country, the government and the party, need new blood and more appetite to get to work," he said.

Greece holds parliamentary elections every four years, with the next expected by October 2019 at the latest.

Based on the latest three opinion polls conducted by Greek media, Syriza is trailing the main opposition New Democracy conservatives by between 5.3 and 11.6 percentage points.

Panos Skourletis, the interior minister nominated by Tsipras to become new Secretary of Syriza's Central Committee, is a party stalwart with widespread support at a grassroots level. He was backed by a wide majority of central committee members and was elected for the post late on Monday.

Tsipras was elected in 2015 promising to end years of austerity for Greece, imposed by international creditors. But he was forced to reverse course by the prospect of the country being kicked out of the euro zone and pursue deeper reforms under a third international bailout program.

"From now on... we no longer have the alibi of implementing a program which is not ours," Skourletis told the central committee, adding that he saw potential for reform but also challenges for the party in the post-bailout period.

Austerity and political turmoil followed as the economy shrank by a quarter, pushing a third of the population into poverty and forcing the migration of thousands abroad.

The bailout programmes concluded last week. Greece has received 288 billion euros in financial aid since 2010.

Tsipras said the government now had the fiscal space to alleviate some tax burden on business and individuals, but was not specific. "We are ready to proceed with brave interventions," he said.

Government officials have previously said the government may scrap plans for further pension cuts next year.

Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, who steered the country's exit from the third bailout, was likely to remain in his post, sources said.

Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, instrumental in brokering an accord ending years of dispute with Macedonia over its name, was also expected to stay on board.U.S. Senator John McCain's death will likely shift leadership of the Senate Armed Services Committee from one of President Donald Trump's most vocal Republican critics to one of his biggest supporters, which observers say could mean fewer checks on the Pentagon.

No decision has been announced since McCain's death on Saturday, but the committee's number two Republican, Senator James Inhofe, who chaired meetings and hearings in McCain's absence, is expected to be made chairman in the coming weeks.

Inhofe, 83, represents Oklahoma, where Trump won more than 65 percent of the vote in 2016. He is seen as a more traditional Senate conservative less likely to confront a Republican president than McCain, who could be a harsh critic of his fellow Republicans as well as Democrats.

The change could have major implications for the panel, which sets policy for more than $700 billion in annual Pentagon spending, reviews nominees for a wide range of military positions and, under McCain, acted as a watchdog that sought to rein in what McCain saw as wasteful Defense Department spending.

Like McCain, Inhofe is a believer in a large, strong military. While McCain underwent cancer treatment at home in Arizona this year, the two worked together to shepherd through a bill authorizing $716 billion in military spending, billions more than Trump requested.

Inhofe, first elected to the Senate in 1994, served in the Army from 1957 to 1958.

War Hero

McCain, the son and grandson of Navy admirals, a war hero and former Republican presidential nominee, spent decades as one of his party's most influential voices on national security. He used his status to forge ties to - and question - both U.S. and world leaders.

Last year, McCain held up Trump's pick for secretary of the Army and other Defense Department positions to press the administration for answers about the deaths of U.S. troops in an ambush in Niger.

Tortured himself while a prisoner of war in Vietnam, McCain strongly opposed torture, and urged fellow senators not to confirm Trump's nominee to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, Gina Haspel, because of her past ties to the CIA's "harsh interrogation" program.

Inhofe, with other Republicans, voted to narrowly confirm Haspel.

"McCain consistently through his chairmanship pushed the military to live up to the best of its values, even when it meant bringing harsh critiques to get them to do so," said Mieke Eoyang, vice president for the national security program at the Third Way think tank in Washington.

"Inhofe is less likely to critique the military. ... Inhofe will not endorse the same kind of stringent budget oversight that McCain provided," Eoyang said.

An Inhofe spokeswoman and Republican Senate leadership aides did not respond to requests for comment on the committee leadership or its membership. McCain's death leaves the Armed Services panel with 26 members: 13 Republicans and 13 Democrats.

Besides appointing a chairman to succeed McCain, the Senate's Republican leaders will need to name a new Republican committee member to restore the party's 14-13 majority.Uganda's former police chief, General Kale Kayihura, has been released on bail after 76 days in military custody on charges of failure to protect war materials and aiding and abetting kidnapping.

Kayihura is charged with allowing arms and ammunition issued to police units to be given to gangs and paramilitary organizations, and with kidnapping for his involvement in the forced illegal repatriation of Rwandan exiles and refugees to Rwanda. Kayihura faces a maximum penalty of death if convicted.

In seeking bail, Kayihura's lawyers argued the 62-year-old is not well and requires medical attention outside Uganda.

Analysts say that as police inspector general, Kayihura had worked more to suppress political opposition and protect the power of President Yoweri Museveni, rather than on actual policing.

But political analyst Patrick Wakida argues that because Kayihura is a military official, his alleged quest for power was misconstrued as resistance to the government from within the army, which led to his persecution and prosecution.

"And what lies underneath these cases that they have put on him is a power struggle," Wakida said. "And I can tell you that power struggle will continue. Even those who are actually prosecuting him are asking themselves, 'What comes next to us?' Does it only prove what everybody says, 'That there is only one emperor in this country? The rest are servants of that emperor.'"

One of Kayihura's lawyers, Jet Tumwebaze, says his arrest and continued detention by the army is an injustice. He adds any actual lawbreakers are still in the ranks.

"You can see, they promised to charge General Kale [Kayihura] with 19 counts and the other day they only could manage a miserable three, which are also service offenses," Tumwebaze said. "If I am the head, and my lieutenants abused their firearms, go for them. So if any officer working under General Kale, kidnapped or misused the gun, please [arrest] the guys still [in] the confines of this republic. Let the law take its course."

Kayihura must remain in Kampala and Wakiso, and may not leave Uganda without permission of the military court and army leadership.Canada's minister of foreign affairs is scheduled to hold talks in Washington on Tuesday in hopes of reaching a trade agreement with the United States, an urgent response after President Donald Trump announced a deal with Mexico on Monday that left out Canada.

The official, Chrystia Freeland, is facing a tight deadline to keep the three nations that formed the North American Free Trade Agreement 24 years ago together in a trade pact. The deal unveiled Monday by Trump - whose administration set a Friday deadline - raised several key questions:

Can Canada, the United States' second-largest trading partner, be coaxed or coerced into a new pact?



If not, is it even legal - or politically feasible - for Trump to reach a replacement trade deal with Mexico alone?



And will the changes being negotiated to the 24-year-old NAFTA threaten the operations of American and foreign companies that have built sophisticated supply chains that span the three countries?



"There are still a lot of questions left to be answered,'' said Peter MacKay, a former Canadian minister of justice, defense and foreign affairs who is now a partner at the law firm Baker McKenzie.



Trump was quick to proclaim the agreement a triumph, pointing to Monday's surge in the stock market, which was fueled in part by the apparent breakthrough with Mexico.



"We just signed a trade agreement with Mexico, and it's a terrific agreement for everybody,'' the president declared. "It's an agreement that a lot of people said couldn't be done.''

Trump suggested that he might leave Canada out of a new agreement. He said he wanted to call the revamped trade pact "the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement'' because, in his view, NAFTA has earned a reputation for being harmful to American workers.



But first, he said, he would give Canada a chance to get back in - "if they'd like to negotiate fairly.'' To intensify the pressure on Ottawa to agree to his terms, the president threatened to impose new taxes on Canadian auto imports.



Talking to reporters, the top White House economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, urged Canada to "come to the table.''



"Let's make a great deal like we just made with Mexico,'' Kudlow said. "If not, the USA may have to take action.''

Canada's NAFTA negotiator, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, is cutting short a trip to Europe to fly to Washington on Tuesday to try to restart talks.



"We will only sign a new NAFTA that is good for Canada and good for the middle class,'' said Adam Austen, a spokesman for Freeland, saying that "Canada's signature is required.''



MacKay added, "There is still a great deal of uncertainty -trepidation, nervousness, a feeling that we are on the outside looking in.''



Critics denounced the prospect of cutting Canada out a North American trade pact, in part because of the risks it could pose for companies involved in international trade. Many manufacturers have built vital supply systems that depend on freely crossing all three NAFTA borders.



Noting the "massive amount of movement of goods between the three countries and the integration of operations,'' Jay Timmons, president of that National Association of Manufacturers, said "it is imperative that a trilateral agreement be inked.''



Trump has frequently condemned the 24-year-old NAFTA trade pact as a job-killing "disaster'' for American workers. NAFTA reduced most trade barriers between the three countries. The president and other critics say the pact encouraged U.S. manufacturers to move south of the border to exploit low-wage Mexican labor.



The preliminary deal with Mexico might bring more manufacturing to the United States. Yet it is far from final. Even after being formally signed, it would have be ratified by lawmakers in each country.



The U.S. Congress wouldn't vote on it until next year - after November midterm elections that could end Republican control of the House of Representatives. But initially, it looks like at least a tentative public-relations victory for Trump, the week after his former campaign manager was convicted on financial crimes and his former personal attorney implicated him in hush money payments to two women who say they had affairs with Trump.



Before the administration began negotiating a new NAFTA a year ago, it had notified Congress that it was beginning talks with Canada and Mexico. So Monday's announcement raises the question: Is the administration authorized to reach a deal with only one of those countries?



A senior administration official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said yes: The administration can tell Congress it had reached a deal with Mexico - and that Canada is welcome to join.



But other analysts said the answer wasn't clear: "It's a question that has never been tested,'' said Lori Wallach, director of the left-leaning Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch.



Even a key Trump ally, Rep. Kevin Brady, the Texas Republican who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, expressed caution about Monday's apparent breakthrough. Brady said he looked forward "to carefully analyzing the details and consulting in the weeks ahead to determine whether the new proposal meets the trade priorities set out by Congress.''



And the No. 2 Senate Republican, John Cornyn of Texas, while hailing Monday's news as a "positive step,'' said Canada needs to be party to a final deal.

WATCH: Trudeau on NAFTA



"A trilateral agreement is the best path forward,'' Cornyn said, adding that millions of jobs were at stake.



There are political reasons to keep Canada inside the regional bloc:



"Mexico will have a difficult time selling 'Trump's deal' back home if Canada does not think it is a good deal,'' said Daniel Ujczo, a trade attorney with Dickinson Wright PLLC. "It will appear that Mexico caved.''



Indeed, Mexico has said it wants Canada included in any new deal to replace NAFTA.



"We are very interested in this being an agreement of three countries,'' said President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. At the same time, Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray told reporters that "Mexico will have a free trade agreement regardless of the outcome'' of U.S.-Canada negotiations.



The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Mexico had agreed to ensure that 75 percent of automotive content be produced within the trade bloc (up from a current 62.5 percent) to receive duty-free benefits and that 40 percent to 45 percent be made by workers earning at least $16 an hour. Those changes are meant to encourage more auto production in the United States.



For months, the talks were held up by the Trump administration's insistence on a "sunset clause'': A renegotiated NAFTA would end after five years unless all three countries agreed to continue it. Mexico and Canada considered that proposal a deal-killer.



On Monday, the Trump administration and Mexico announced a compromise on that divisive issue: An overhauled NAFTA would remain in force for 16 years. After six years, the countries would review the agreement and decide whether it needed to be updated or changed. They then would either agree to a new 16-year deal or the pact would expire.The U.S. military has no plans yet to suspend any more major military exercises with South Korea, the defense secretary said on Tuesday, in the middle of a breakdown in diplomacy with North Korea over its nuclear weapons.

Defense Secretary James Mattis said at a Pentagon news conference no decisions had been made about major exercises for next year, but noted that the suspension of drills last summer as a good-faith gesture to North Korea was not open-ended.

U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to unilaterally suspend the drills caught many American military planners off-guard and was roundly criticized as a premature concession to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who Trump wants to give up his nuclear weapons.

"We took the step to suspend several of the largest exercises as a good-faith measure coming out of the Singapore summit," Mattis told reporters, referring to the June 12 meeting between Trump and Kim.

"We have no plans at this time to suspend any more exercises," he said, adding that no decisions had yet been made on major exercises for next year.

Mattis also said smaller exercises deemed to be exempt from the suspension were ongoing.

Mattis' comments on the drills come at a delicate time for negotiations between the United States and North Korea after Trump scrapped plans for a meeting between top officials from both countries.

At the June summit, the first meeting between a serving U.S. president and a North Korean leader, Kim agreed in broad terms to work toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. But North Korea has given no indication it is willing to give up its weapons unilaterally as the Trump administration has demanded.

Since then, diplomats have failed to advance the process. North Korean officials even warned in a letter to U.S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week that denuclearization talks risked falling apart, U.S. officials told Reuters.

In particular, the North wants steps toward a peace treaty. The 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving U.S.-led U.N. forces technically still at war with North Korea.

U.S. officials fear North Korea might turn its attention to cutting a separate deal with South Korea and driving a wedge between the U.S.-South Korea alliance.

A South Korea presidential spokesman said he was not in a position to comment on the authenticity of the letter but acknowledged that talks between Washington and Pyongyang were at a stalemate.

"With North Korea and the U.S. remaining stalemated, there is an even bigger need for an inter-Korea summit," Kim Eui-kyeom, a spokesman for the presidential Blue House, told a briefing.

South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said this month his planned third summit with North Korea's Kim next month would be another step toward the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and an end to the Korean War.

Trip canceled

Trump abruptly canceled his top diplomat's planned trip to North Korea on Friday, publicly acknowledging for the first time that his effort to get Pyongyang to denuclearize had stalled since his summit with the North's leader.

Trump partly blamed China for the lack of progress with North Korea and suggested that talks with Pyongyang.

On Sunday, North Korea's state media accused the United States of "double-dealing" and "hatching a criminal plot" but did not mention Pompeo's canceled visit.

U.S. intelligence and defense officials have repeatedly expressed doubts about North Korea's willingness to give up its nuclear weapons and they had not expected Pompeo's trip to yield positive results.

Mattis declined to comment on the broader diplomatic efforts, deferring to Pompeo's State Department.

"We will work very closely, as I said, with the secretary of state and what he needs done we will certainly do to reinforce his effort. But at this time, there is no discussion about further suspensions," Mattis said.

The traditional U.S. calendar for other major drills does not pick up again until next spring, officials say, which could give diplomats and military planners time.

The U.S.-South Korean exercise calendar hits a high point every spring with the Foal Eagle and Max Thunder drills, which take months to plan. It was unclear if any planning for the drills was already taking place.

Max Thunder's air combat exercises so unnerved North Korea this year that it issued threatening statements that nearly scuttled the June summit between Trump and Kim.

Foal Eagle is designed to simulate war scenarios and involves ground, air, naval and special operations forces.The tentative new U.S. trade deal with Mexico is a win for both countries, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer believes, creating more jobs for workers and farmers alike.

Final details have yet to be worked out in the trade deal announced Monday, and Canada could join it yet in a broad revision of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement. But some of the specific terms in the U.S.-Mexican agreement are aimed at boosting the manufacture of cars in the two countries to curb the import of vehicles from Asia, especially from China.

To escape tariffs, the deal calls for 75 percent of "auto content" - parts and amenities - to be made in either the U.S. or Mexico, up from the current 62.5 percent North American content. In addition, wages for some auto workers in Mexico are likely to climb sharply, with the agreement decreeing that 40 to 45 percent of the auto content must be produced by workers earning $16 or more an hour.

The average hourly pay for U.S. auto workers is more than $22 an hour, but in Mexico it is now less than $3.50 an hour. With the increase in labor costs, it likely will boost the cost of buying a vehicle.

"I think it's going to modernize the way we do automobile trade, and I think it's going to set the rules for the future at the highest standards in any agreement yet negotiated by any two nations for things like intellectual property, and digital trade, and financial services trade, and all of the things that we think of as the modernizing, cutting-edge places that our economy is going," Lighthizer said.

"So this is great for business," he said. "It's great for labor. It has terrific labor provisions in it. Stronger and more enforceable labor provisions than have ever been in an agreement by a mile. Not even close."

However, lawmakers in both countries still need to approve the pact in the coming months.

Some of the agreement mirrors elements contained in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the 12-nation Pacific Rim trade pact that Mexico and the U.S. both agreed to, before President Donald Trump withdrew the United States. It requires Mexico to allow more collective bargaining for workers and calls for more stringent air quality and marine life protections.

The accord is set to last for six years, at which point the United States and Mexico will review it, and if both sides agree, they would extend it for 16 more years.

But the agreement does not end steel and aluminum tariffs Trump imposed on Mexico earlier this year, leading to Mexican levies on U.S. imports.

Trade between the U.S. and Mexico totaled an estimated $615.9 billion in 2017, with the U.S. exporting $63.6 billion less in goods and services than it imported.

Trump spoke Monday with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about trade negotiations between the two countries. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland headed to Washington to open new trade talks with Lighthizer, but it was uncertain whether the two countries could quickly resolve long-standing disputes over duties on autos and dairy products that for months have kept them from a NAFTA revision.Seven years after civil war erupted in 2011, it appears Syria is beginning to emerge from a dark period of death and destruction. Any recovery may be hampered, however, by what analysts say are signs of a crisis that is looming over water and how it is managed, which could mean the difference between peace or new conflicts  internal and regional  in the future.

Land along the Euphrates River, which runs through modern-day Turkey, Syria and Iraq  also known historically as the Fertile Crescent  has been hit by water shortages, drought, and poor crop yields.

To increase hydro-electric production and improve irrigation in arid parts of Anatolia, Turkey began building a series of 23 dams starting in the 1980s, reducing the amount of water that could be used for agriculture downstream in Syria and Iraq.

Turkish leaders unilaterally annulled a water-sharing agreement with both Syria and Iraq in 2014.

"They were supposed to allow 500 cubic meters per second of water through to the Euphrates and they reduced that down to 200 meters," Marcus King, a specialist on environmental security at George Washington University in Washington, told VOA.

Decreased flow from Turkey, seven years of fighting, and mismanagement of water resources in many parts of the country, have hit farming hard in Syria. A severe drought from 2006 to 2010 also caused tens of thousands of Syrians to give up agriculture, creating an army of idle young men that may have helped ignite the conflict that began in 2011.

Joshua Landis, who heads the Middle East program at the University of Oklahoma, said the four-year drought "caused immense suffering in Syria," and forced more than a million people to leave their farms in eastern Syria and to migrate to cities or the edge of cities. "It was that population," Landis said, "that in many ways laid the groundwork for civil war."

The drawn-out conflict has damaged or destroyed water networks and infrastructure in Syria's two largest cities, Aleppo and Damascus, as well as in the provinces. Militant groups that controlled water plants and reservoirs upstream periodically used those assets to blackmail their opponents in urban areas.

"There have been various sub-national actors [who] have monopolized water for their own purposes, mismanaged water," said King. He argues the Kurds, who hold sway over large swathes of northern and eastern Syria, control large segments of the Euphrates River, including the Tabqa Dam and Lake Assad.

Observers say the Syrian government did not allocate water resources equally to all regions of the country before the war, giving more to some sectarian groups, such as President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect.

To avoid future conflicts, he says, the government must avoid favoritism when it rebuilds and repairs its water network.

"If the reconstruction isn't done in an equitable way, this will lead to further tensions and cleavages within Syria itself as it begins to recover from conflict," King said.

Syrian analyst Nabil al-Samman agrees. In a recent article in the Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, he wrote that water could be the catalyst for future conflicts between regional states, including Syria and Turkey.

Syria and Turkey already fought a long guerilla war, starting in the 1970s, using the Kurdish PKK militia group as a proxy.

Joshua Landis recalls that former Syrian President Hafez al- Assad "gave [Abdallah] Ocelan, the PKK leader, an office in Damascus and helped the Kurds in their insurgency in [Turkey's] eastern Anatolia," he said. "That [was] a war and it was done in part because Turkey began to dam up the Euphrates, and Assad was angry and he did not know how to get them to stop."

Recognizing that empty reservoirs and parched land are a threat to all people, the United Nations voted in 2010 to make access to water a human right, and most nations now resort to international law to mediate water disputes

That option broke down, though, as regional powers entered the fray of Syria's civil war, when the country's many militia groups, often armed and supported by neighboring countries, preferred force over negotiations.

Going forward, Marcus King worries more about internal than external conflict for Syria. "What worries me," he said, "is some of the sub-national factors, some of the internal inequities and cleavages and disagreements that could lead to conflicts over water."

Tempering concerns about the frictions between Turkey and Syria, King and others note the last war fought exclusively over water in the Levant dates back to antiquity, and he doubts a new one is likely.Women and well-off suburban Republicans will play decisive roles in countering President Donald Trump's loyalists in November's midterm elections, according to Ipsos pollsters who are armed with new tools to face their first big test after the billionaire's shock 2016 victory.

Trump's capture of the White House took the entire polling industry by surprise, as election forecasters blew it by predicting a Hillary Clinton win.

This year, in order to obtain a more comprehensive view of a complex electorate, Ipsos is using an amalgam of three sources of information - traditional polls, expert analysis from the University of Virginia, and social media trends - in a new tool, available for free online and presented Tuesday in Washington.

"It's really come out of our experience with the 2016 elections.... The market writ large got the elections wrong," Cliff Young, president of Ipsos Public Affairs, told AFP in an interview.

There has been extensive debate over why so many polling organizations missed the mark two years ago, but in Ipsos's view it was because "the market, in general, depended on one single input and that was polls," Young said.

"We overstated Hillary slightly" in crucial swing states and tended to "underestimate rural, white, under-educated individuals," he added.

Ipsos will be tracking more than 400 races scheduled for November 6, using its new tool to poll 10,000 likely voters per week, analyze the assessments of a dozen political science professors, and screen up to 5.5 million social media mentions per day.

At stake in November are the 435 House of Representatives seats and about one-third (35 seats) of the 100-member Senate, both of which are currently controlled by Republicans. The governorships in 36 states, as well as numerous state and local seats, are up for grabs.

'Strong blue year'

Most signs point towards Democrats taking back the House, although it will be an uphill climb for them to do the same in the Senate, where the electoral map is tougher.

"All three of the methods suggest it will be a strong blue year (favoring Democrats)," Young said. "The question is how big will the wave be?"

Another question is what to make of the president's prediction of a "red wave" instead.

"That's fantastical," Young said, emphasizing that the party in power in the White House typically sheds seats in Congress in the midterms.

Three demographic groups are likely to play pivotal roles, according to Young.

Women, who might be put off by the scandal-plagued Trump, "will be very important" in determining 2018 election outcomes, he said. "There is a huge differential in terms of support for women between Trump and the Democrats."

Middle-class and upper middle-class voters living in America's residential suburbs will require close scrutiny, too.

"These tend to be Republican strongholds" where voters favor lower taxes and pro-business policies, but who have become "very turned off by the conduct of the president" and might sit out the November election, Young said.

Finally, Trump's core supporters: ignoring them would be a mistake. The president enjoys a high rate of popularity, some 80 percent, among Republicans.

Minority voters, who lean Democratic, tend to mobilize less during midterm elections. "But who knows this year?" Young said, noting that traditional political patterns have been jolted since Trump's White House win.

On the social media front, Ipsos - through the use of complex algorithms - is analyzing trends in online conversations that provide "very good insight" into understanding the key issues for voters in 2018, Young says.

Three topics, apart from the overarching figure of Trump himself, are at the fore: health care, immigration and jobs.

Keenly aware of the Russian interference in the last U.S. presidential election, including the spread of fake or inflammatory news reports on social media, Ipsos is taking care to detect and dismiss the "bots," or automated accounts, some from overseas, that have proliferated in the political realm.

"What we really want to understand is what is the true human conversation going on," Young said.Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta says his meeting Monday with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House will focus on trade and security issues.

In a wide-ranging interview Sunday evening at the Hay-Adams hotel near the White House, Kenyatta told VOA's English to Africa service that he believes his own country can attain domestic peace and security, after several election cycles marred by violence and disputes about the results. He also addressed efforts to bring stability to South Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia.

The following is an edited transcript of his remarks.

VOA: "Let's talk about your meeting with President Donald Trump on Monday. This is a first for an East African president. He has just met a handful presidents from Africa. What are the talks going to be centered on?"



Kenyatta: "Well, the talks will largely be centered on our security cooperation, but more importantly on how to boost our trade and investment. Given the fact that the United States is one of our biggest trading partners, we have had a long, solid foundation of partnership that stretches back all the way back to our independence [in 1963], and I think our objective is to see how we can strengthen that, how we can deepen that for the mutual benefit of our two countries.

"... We want to see how we can encourage more American investment into Kenya, to take advantage of the reforms that we have made, especially over the last four years, but also the infrastructural development that has been put in place. And we want Americans to come and take advantage of these activities, encourage more companies to come in, to take advantage not just of the reforms and the infrastructure development, but also Kenyas location."

VOA: "Of course, a good climate for investment is key, and Im wondering about your handshake with your former opponent, Raila Odinga. Is this [peace] going to hold? Because what we saw before when there was no peace, no bridges being built, there was a lot of chaos, a lot of violence, and that put away a lot of investors and lack of confidence in that."



Kenyatta: "Indeed I am, because I am committed, and I believe that my partner in this endeavor, Raila Odinga, is also equally committed. With the recognition that politics is just about opposing ideas, its not about anonymity. We all, after all, belong to one nation, one country, Kenya. We are all one people and it is not in the interest of any one of us to allow political differences to cause a disintegration of our country.

"And therefore, the onus is on us to really say that how can we ensure we create a political environment that encourages strong political discourse, that encourages positive criticism, that encourages political competition, but not at the expense of the unity of the country. So we are committed to seeing how we can work together, especially to ensure that we unite our people, so that ideas give way. I mean, individuals give way to ideas and create an environment where we have stability and predictability in our political life, so that we move away from this issue of five year cycles, where every five years the whole country grinds to a halt as they wait to see what outcome it has.

"Because what happens in that situation? First and foremost, you lose a year prior to the election. We have economic slowdown, you have people saying, Let's wait and see. Then you have the following year, where the government starts to set up again and start a whole new process. So basically every 10 years you almost lose two, two and a half years because of political uncertainty.

"We want to create political certainty. We want people to understand that governments will always come and go, but Kenya will remain. And that policies may change, but stability will always be there."



South Sudan

VOA: "We've seen South Sudan ink deals about peace in that country which never took place. Now they just inked another deal. Do you feel confident that this time around there will be peace in South Sudan and that President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar, will hold the country together?



Kenyatta: "It is impossible for me to say that I believe it will or it will not. But what I can say is that we are committed to working together with our regional brothers and sisters to ensure that peace and stability returns to South Sudan. And we will try anything that will achieve that, because for most of us in the region our greatest concern is not about the leadership of the country but to ensure that the people of South Sudan  who have had to endure untold suffering for many years, after struggling to achieve their independence  are able to achieve the fruits that they struggled for.

"... We will try everything and we must therefore put hope and faith and continue to put pressure on the leadership of South Sudan from all sides, that it is their ultimate responsibility to ensure they come together and find a framework that works to restore peace and stability and ultimately human dignity to the people of South Sudan."



Ethiopia

VOA: We have a new prime minister in Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, and he has made quite some sweeping changes in the country trying to bring the country together, opening democratic space in that country, reaching out to a long-time enemy, Eritrea. Youve met with Prime Minister Abiy. What does he expect from regional leaders like you?



Kenyatta: I think what he expects is our support and I have committed to give Kenyas total support. I believe that he has a vision for his country and he has a vision for the region as well. And I intend to work very closely with him to establish that.

"We are very happy with the situation as we see it ... the rapprochement of power between Ethiopia and Eritrea. All this works for peace in our region. All this works for stability in our region and for us to be able as a region to focus not on insecurity or wars but rather to focus on economic growth and prosperity of our people.

"... I look forward to working together with Abiy as a partner to be able to achieve that objective. I wish him well. I continue to say I am strongly in support of what he's doing together with his other colleagues in Ethiopia to help achieve this dream for us all.



Somalia

VOA: With regards to Somalia, you had to deal with Al-Shabab militants having attacked Kenya, decimating people, creating a lot of chaos. And there have been some calls within the Kenyan legislature asking that you pull out of Somalia. Is that something that is likely to happen? How is that war against terrorism especially looking at those militants going on?



Kenyatta: ... We all are hopeful that we all shall be able to pull out of Somalia in the shortest possible time. That we will be able to work together with the federal government of Somalia to be able to strengthen them, that they are able to take care of the security concerns within their own country, and so that we can pull back to our borders and reduce the costs that we are currently bearing and be able to focus that on other more productive areas.

"So until we're in such a situation, it is impossible for us to say when the withdrawal date shall be. The withdrawal date is based on us being able to defeat al-Shabab, on the Somali people being able to establish strong, solid security structures, a national army and good administrative structures that will then ensure that they are capable of handling their own affairs.

"I think that should be the focus, as opposed to when people withdraw, because we can't say we're going to withdraw and leave a vacuum. There must be something to replace that vacuum and a withdrawal date should be tied toward a scenario where the people of Somalia have themselves been able to establish and to take care of the security concerns in their country as well as the administrative foundations that they shall need to build a strong and stable Somalia.The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formation led by Nelson Chamisa has in 24 hours raised over $15,000 of the targeted $128.000 to cover legal costs of the recent Constitutional Court case in which the MDC Alliance was seeking the nullification of the results of presidential election.

The Constitutional Court dismissed the matter with costs. The MDC Alliance, which fielded Chamisa as its presidential candidate, claimed that it won the poll by a wide margin while results released by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission showed that President Emmerson Mnangagwa got 50.6 percent of the votes cast and Chamisa just over 44 percent.

The Constitutional Court said the MDC Alliance did not have tangible concrete evidence of the alleged vote rigging.

By 10:30pm Monday, the MDC had raised $15,798.75 through the free online fundraising application, gofundme, in a campaign which was launched on Sunday.

A fundraising community team based in Stevenage, East of London, UK, is spearheading the campaign together with other members of the MDC Alliance, which has refused to recognize Mnangagwa as Zimbabwes new president, claiming that the ruling Zanu PF party stole the peoples vote.

In a post accompanying the fundraising campaign on the app, the team wrote in part, On 30 July 2018, Zimbabweans turned up in unprecedented numbers to exercise their right to vote in a resounding, and unequivocal cry for change. Official observers deemed the election free, but not fair and not credible.

Against overwhelming public opinion amongst Zimbabweas at home and abroad; the judgement handed by the Zimbabwe Constitutional Court went against Nelson Chamisa. Worse still, it carried a punitive condition requiring Nelson Chamisa to foot the legal costs of everyone involved. The funds required are needed as soon as possible.

Please give generously, to fight this cynical ploy to silence a critical voice defending human rights, democracy and change in Zimbabwe.

In the campaign is titled Zimbabweans Defend Vote Legal Costs, donors are expected to make their contributions by debit/credit card or via Ecocash.

Donors with up to R3,000 in South Africa have been urged to utilize FNB E-Wallet, ABSA Cashsend, Nedbanks Thumela Imali and several other money transfer schemes.

The same campaign has been launched on You Tube by some well-wishers and the MDC Alliance, which says, Let's stand together because the journey to change requires each and every one of us to play a part.

Legal costs for the Constitutional Court matter are expected to run into thousands of dollars.(CNN)  To hear U.S. President Donald Trump tell it on Monday, the United States is abandoning the NAFTA free trade deal between the U.S., Canada and Mexico in favor of a bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Mexico. And possibly a second bilateral deal with Canada.

Trump even gave the bilateral agreement a name: the "U.S.-Mexico Trade Agreement," which he said would replace the trilateral free trade deal.

But none of that is happening.

There is no formal free trade deal between the U.S. and Mexico, only an agreement between the two countries on how to resolve key issues in their trade relationship as part of the NAFTA talks. The U.S. trade representative's office officially described the agreement as "a preliminary agreement in principle ... to update the 24-year-old NAFTA with modern provisions representing a 21st century."

Made for TV moment

The "US-Mexico Trade Agreement" does not exist  and likely never will.

"We hope that Canada can join in now and we expect them to begin that process very soon," the U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on a call with reporters after Trump's announcement. A senior White House official added that Canada would be brought in to the trade discussions on Monday afternoon.

None of that stopped Trump from giving the impression on Monday morning that he was "terminating" NAFTA "and going into this deal" with Mexico. He even added later in the day that he had "just signed a trade agreement with Mexico," which cannot happen without the U.S. first nixing NAFTA.

The agreement between the U.S. and Mexico on Monday was a significant marker in the yearlong effort to renegotiate the trilateral trade pact, sweeping away key obstacles impacting the U.S. and Mexico that had held up trilateral talks.

But Trump was eager to portray the agreement as much more than that as the reality TV star-turned-president orchestrated the latest made-for-TV moment of his presidency.

"It's a big day for trade, big day for our country. A lot of people thought we'd never get here, because we all negotiate tough," Trump said as he walked into the Oval Office and took his seat behind the Resolute Desk. "And this is a tremendous thing. This has to do  they used to call it NAFTA. We're going to call it the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement, and we'll get rid of the name NAFTA."

Trilateral agreement or bust?

Trump has repeatedly indicated he would prefer to reach bilateral agreements with Canada and Mexico, but the two countries have maintained a united front that a trilateral agreement is the only one they will sign. There was no indication on Monday that Mexico had abandoned that position.

Instead, the Mexican President Enrique Pena-Nieto, who joined Trump in the Oval Office by speakerphone, emphasized three times the importance of Canada joining the burgeoning agreement.

"I desire, I wish that the part with Canada will be materializing in a very concrete fashion, and we can have an agreement the way we proposed it from the initiation of this renegotiating process, a tripartite," Pena-Nieto said through a translator.

Senior administration officials also made clear on a call with reporters Monday afternoon that they were still pursuing a revised NAFTA trade agreement, though they maintained the possibility of a bilateral deal between the U.S. and Mexico if a trilateral deal with Canada cannot be reached.

A senior administration official indicated the White House plans to submit a letter to Congress on Friday notifying the legislature of the President's plans to sign a new trade deal, with or without Canada's agreement.

"What we will do is ideally Canada will be in and we'll be able to notify that. If Canada is not in then we'll notify that we have an agreement with Mexico and we are open to Canada joining it," the official said.

But pressed as to whether Mexico is willing to enter a bilateral deal with the U.S., a senior White House official on the same call dodged.

"I think we're at a position where we're going to have discussions with Canada this week and see where we get to," the official said, referring reporters to Mexico to describe their position.

Some experts interpreted the administration's signaling about a possible bilateral deal as an attempt to pressure Canada into a swift agreement on revising NAFTA, which the U.S. administration denied.

"This wasn't designed to put pressure on anybody," a senior administration official said, before later adding that the U.S. planned to submit its NAFTA renegotiation plans to Congress by the end of the week with or without Canada's agreement.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Trump says he's ditching NAFTA but that's not what's happening."After Saturdays death of U.S. Sen. John McCain, the White House flag was lowered to half-staff, and returned to full height Monday  provoking consternation and confusion. Later Monday afternoon, it partly descended the pole again.

Throughout each tug of the rope, White House officials say they were strictly following protocol, although some other U.S. government agencies continued to fly the flag at half-staff throughout Monday.

Without a presidential proclamation, according to the U.S. Flag Code, the Stars and Stripes are to be at half-staff only on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress.

After an outcry from members of Congress, veterans groups, media commentators and many other citizens, Trump belatedly issued such a proclamation Monday afternoon.

In a statement released just minutes after the White House flag was again at half-staff, Trump said, Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCains service to our country and, in his honor, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment.

The proclamation declares that the U.S. flag will be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, on the day of interment and also directs that the flag shall be flown at halfstaff for the same period at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

Several times earlier in the day, when White House reporters were in proximity to Trump during his meetings with visiting Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, he was peppered with questions about McCain that went unanswered.

McCain died of brain cancer Saturday at the age of 81 in his home state of Arizona, a day after his family announced he was stopping treatment for the terminal disease.

Several prominent veterans groups on Monday had called for Trump to issue a proclamation out of respect for the late Republican senator, who spent five years in a prisoner-of-war camp in North Vietnam enduring torture, after his Navy jet was shot down over a Hanoi lake during a 1967 bombing run.

Trump should follow long-established protocol for the Navy captain war hero who served in the U.S. Congress for three decades, American Legion national commander Denise Rohan wrote in a letter to the president.

American Veterans, known as AMVETS, issued a statement saying it was deeply disappointed in the lack of traditional and appropriate respects in the White Houses reaction to McCains death.

By lowering flags for not one second more than the bare minimum required by law, despite a long-standing tradition of lowering flags until the funeral, the White House is openly showcasing its blatant disrespect for Senator McCains many decades of service and sacrifice to our country, as well as the service of all his fellow veterans, said AMVETS national executive director Joe Chenelly.

After the White House flag had returned to full-staff, anger spread on social media and the hashtag #NoRespect accompanied tweets criticizing Trump. Many noted that in 2009, after the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy, American flags were ordered by President Barack Obama to fly at half-staff for five days.

Animosity between McCain and Trump began during the 2016 presidential campaign. McCain, himself a two-time contender for the presidency, deemed the New York real estate businessman unfit to hold the highest office, before endorsing him as the Republican partys nominee, only to withdraw support after old tapes emerged of Trump making vulgar comments about women.

During Trumps presidency, McCain, who headed the armed services committee, had not hesitated to bluntly express policy differences with the White House.

McCain provoked Trumps anger when he cast a vote with a thumbs-down gesture that prevented the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare, the health coverage plan of Trumps predecessor, and an action the president repeatedly brought up as recently as last week at political events.The leader of Zimbabwes opposition MDC Alliance Nelson Chamisa said he is not backing down on allegations that the ruling Zanu-PF party stole the July 30th elections, and that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the Constitutional Court, were all complicit in facilitating President Emmerson Mnangagwas victory.

Despite a Constitutional Court ruling that paved the way for President Emmerson Mnangagwas inauguration Sunday, after dismissing the MDC Alliances election outcome challenge as lacking evidence to substantiate claims of vote rigging, the opposition partys leader, Nelson Chamisa, said the bigger issue of legitimacy still hangs in the balance.

The issues of legitimacy are not resolved in the courts," said Chamisa. Legitimacy comes from the people. The will of the people is fundamental and final, and the people have decided, the people have spoken, the people have voted, their voice must be protected, he said.

Having failed to get a favorable ruling from the Constitutional Court in Zimbabwes whos ruling is final, Chamisa, who did not attend Sundays inauguration, is now looking outside Zimbabwe to help shed light on what he insists was a stolen election.

His party, which has been engaging diplomats of various western and regional countries, plans to take its case to the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights in the Gambia, though he knows it will have no bearing on Mnangagwas presidency.

Yes, that route is closed," acknowledged Chamisa, "but we have other remedies available for purposes of testing the correctness of the decision, for the purposes of laying to bed and on the table, the evidentiary basis upon which we are seeking the relief, we are seeking the constitutional courts," said Chamisa.

He continued, "number two, we must also exploit and explore our remedies that are available on the continent because we need African solutions to African problems."

President Mnangagwa has called out to Chamisa directly to join him in his call for peace, but Chamisa said outside twitter and in public speeches, Mnangagwa has not officially reached out to him.

There hasnt been any approach, there hasnt been any indication that that kind of invitation, Chamisa said.

The opposition leader contends that previous efforts to engage Mnangagwa in dialogue, prior to the elections, have not succeeded in getting them to meet.

"We wrote to Mr. Mnangagwa on a party to party basis and also on in his capacity as the government leader then, before elections, because we had raised certain issues, those issues have not been addressed, the letter has not been responded to," Chamisa explained.

"Wed expect a reply from him then we can start to talk about how we can go forward, because if he doesnt do it, we will continue to insist on our position that we won this election."

However, some members of the ruling Zanu-PF party say there is no basis for Mnangagwa to meet with Chamisa, particularly following the Constitutional Court ruling which was aired live on TV and Facebook, and gave Mnangagwa the mandate to lead.

The partys secretary for legal affairs, Paul Mangwana, said Chamisa has no leverage to make any demands.

"Nelson Chamisa is clearly aware that he lost the election, with a very good margin of almost 300, 000 votes so he has no basis for wasting everybodys time, instead of allowing President Mnangagwa to focus on governing the country and bringing economic recovery to the people of Zimbabwe," said Mangwana.

Former United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe Charles Ray, said it will work to Chamisas advantage to accept this loss of this election and look to the next election, 2023.

"I think its incumbent upon the opposition to at least honor the courts decision, not to stop working to improve the conditions in Zimbabwe, but to look for ways to pull the country together to look forward to improving peoples lives there, and look to the next election, said Ray, who served as Ambassador to Zimbabwe under the administration of former U.S. President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2012.

Chamisa, however, said he and his party only want the best for Zimbabweans who for years have been living under a shattered economy and isolation from the international community.

He said he plans to keep up the pressure on Mnangagwa to deliver on his campaign promise to improve the lives of his fellow citizens.

"People are suffering, people have no jobs, industries are closing, we have problems with the currency  I see the bond note is wild on the market. We need to be resolving those issues, business has to be back in the fold. Now its not happening because we have political issues that are supposed to be sorted out."If you havn't done it yet,to get one of the fastest volcano news online:

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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:Delgadillo is charged with one count of aggravated driving under the influence resulting in death, a Class 2 felony carrying a possible three to seven years in prison upon conviction; driving under the influence of alcohol, a Class A misdemeanor carrying a possible sentence of up to a year in jail; and failure to yield to a traffic signal, a traffic citation, according to Waukegan Police and the Lake County States Attorneys Office.This content is expired!

Unfortunely this content is expired and cannot be viewed anymore; if You are the owner of this content please login to our Website, go to our access panel and enable this content again.American, Canadian and Russian tourists fined 450 each by Rome police.

Two American tourists in their fifties have been fined 450 each for jumping into the Trevi Fountain on 26 August, according to Rome police.

A 40-year-old Russian tourist also received a 450 fine for entering the waters of the same 18th-century fountain the day before.

The news comes a week after a 68-year-old American tourist was fined 450 for dipping her feet in the fountain of the Altare della Patria monument in Piazza Venezia.

The latest incidents of tourists being caught in Rome fountains follows a much-reported "skinny dipping" case on 19 August by "English-speaking" tourists at the Altare della Patria fountains.

On 13 August two Canadian tourists, a man and woman aged 30, were fined 450 each for jumping into the Trevi Fountain at dawn. A few hours earlier police caught the same pair attempting to get into the fountain but sent them away with a caution.We will continue to be actively engaged in this discussion that affects our residents and those of surrounding communities, and we offer our collaboration in studying the needs of the district and the merits of any proposal affecting the district, Whitehead said in a written statement.6-8 Sept. The small town of Ariccia, in the Castelli Romani area, hosts its Sagra della Porchetta, in honour of the savoury, fatty and moist boneless roast pork that is traditional to the region.

The 69th edition of the three-day festival starts at 17.00 on 6 September and ends at midnight on 8 September with the traditional firework display.

The festival features numerous events including live music, dancing and kids' activities. For full details see website.This deal is pretty well put together with Mexico, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Fox Business Network on Tuesday. So the president, as hes indicated, is fully prepared to go ahead with or without Canada. We hope that Canada will come in. I think its a good idea if they do. Theres really not much they should object to. But if not, they will then have to be treated as a real outsider.Berkshire Hathaway has agreed to buy a stake in the company behind Paytm, India's biggest digital payments brand, in Warren Buffett's first foray into the country's start-ups, people familiar with the matter said. Buffett is set to acquire 3 to 4 percent of One97 Communications, valuing the target at more than $10 billion, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity as the discussions are private. A formal announcement could come in the next few days.When the check arrived, the night took an unexpected turn. The name at the top of the receipt read Moms Skillet. No ones nonna is in the kitchen. New ownership acquired the bistro about four months ago. Maria Villalda and Robert Velez, the wife-and-husband team behind the local Pica Taco chain, saw an opportunity when the space went up for sale. Velez said they plan to change the signage to reflect the new name at some point, but theyre tweaking the recipes they inherited to Villaldas liking and getting a feel for the clientele.Inside the walled block, there will be viewing platforms from which visitors can peer out to Berlin  in contrast to the Cold War platforms that people in the West could use to peek into East Berlin.I think too many people are interpreting it as a reflection of how we feel or dont feel about what Louis was accused of, or admitted to doing. Its not really about that, Dworman said of his club allowing C.K. to drop in. Its more of an ACLU approach, which Ive always had, which is to say that were a platform for comedy, that handing out punishments is something that institutions of courts of law do.In his book Notes on the State of Virginia, published in 1785, Jefferson wrote: Deep rooted prejudices entertained by the whites; ten thousand recollections by the blacks of the injuries they have sustained . . . will divide us into parties and produce convulsions which will probably never end but in the extermination of the one or the other race.Problems in the financial aid office became public in late March when a university investigation found that for several years, some employees who received tuition benefits that covered the cost of classes were simultaneously receiving university grants. In effect, officials acknowledged, those employees were double-dipping. Six employees had been fired for what the university termed gross misconduct and neglect of duties in connection with the misappropriation of $369,000 in financial aid.Folks naturally are hesitant to confront others, Coker said. We have staff doing this, but it depends on everyone being willing to remind others of what our community expectations are. Some folks are going to test the boundaries, but well be very clear: Smoking is not to be done on college property.Board member Vermelle Greene said change is needed. What we really need to do  and were not going to be able to do it today or this year or whatever  but we have to break the mold, she said. We cant keep doing the same thing the same way because its not helping our children, our black and brown children especially.On one hand, its the cornerstone of democracy thats going to help all kids. On the other hand, were going to underfund it year after year, he said. We talk out of both sides of our mouth all the time about public education, and I think our results reflect that.Shannon Dion, director of the Department of Criminal Justice Services, said in an email that the agency received an application from a Lee County school employee seeking the designation. The application materials indicated at least 13 more employees would do the same, said Dion, who requested Herrings opinion on the matter.What Naperville does, they pick and choose what they want and what they dont want, which is discrimination, said Palatnik, who has three CBD Kratom stores in Chicago. At the end of the day, we sell the same items as Menards, Target, Walgreens, Walmart. You go to the mall, and you see CBD products everywhere. But Naperville decided they can discriminate and decide which ones can sell it and which ones cannot. I think its unfair to small businesses.Students of color are placed in places where they feel discomfort at a constant rate, and a lot of times, these students of color are told to disregard that discomfort  dont rock the boat, dont make a difference, said Clark, 17. That my community is responsible for making a true difference . . . makes me really proud.On March 23, a nurse said she would refer Mariee to a physician, according to the letter, but two days later a licensed vocational nurse who never examined the girl cleared her for release. After flying to New Jersey to join relatives. Juarez took her daughter to a pediatrician. She was admitted to the emergency room needing oxygen that night.The victim and three other people got into the dispute about 7:15 p.m. on a D8 bus in the 1700 block of Montello Avenue in the Trinidad area, the transit agency said.Todays Headlines

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By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy PolicyElrich won the Democratic nomination by 77 votes over Potomac businessman David Blair in the six-person race. Their tight battle for the nomination came down to absentee and provisional ballots, as well as a partial recount of the results that Blair requested. Blair has since thrown his support behind Elrich.When Mr. Aid was 12, his brother said, he would tell his parents in New York that he was going to the library  only the library was at the National Archives. He took the train to Washington, then returned home in time for dinner.He said that his client was caring for his daughter in the hours before she was injured and that nothing seemed abnormal. Jezic said that he did not know what happened to the girl and that they were awaiting more details from prosecutors.Jackson denied a request by the defense team to ask potential jurors if they voted in the 2016 presidential election, saying that it would not reveal bias and that other questions gauge the level of respondents political activity and where they get news. Attorneys may push further if jurors say they have views about people involved in the Trump campaign, she said.The incident occurred about 2 p.m. Sept. 11, 2016, when two people went into the store at 95th Street and Route 59, tied up the store employees, and stole their personal possessions and an undisclosed number of new cell phones, police said in a news release.Contrasting opinions about the case had been swirling within the Baltimore Police Department since early in the investigation, even as the state medical examiners office ruled his death a homicide. Some believed the evidence pointed to his death being a suicide staged to look like a killing, while others said that theory strained credibility and was a convenient out for an agency struggling to solve the death of one of its own.This is a different reaction from the laity than Ive ever seen before, said Adrienne Alexander, the founder of a nascent national movement called Catholics for Action that has staged protests in seven cities in the past two weeks, with more planned in the coming days. Regular old church folks in the pews are saying: This bishop has to go. Or: All bishops have to go. Thats just something Ive never seen from the laity.Northam casts himself as an environmentalist, but he has drawn criticism from other Democrats for failing to oppose the pipeline projects. He has countered that he is satisfied that state agencies are conducting a thorough review of the projects.For an officer to be convicted of murder resulting from an on-duty shooting, the facts of the incident have to be so bizarre that there is no rational explanation for the officers actions, said Philip Stinson, an associate professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green State University who tracks police misconduct. I think that shooting into a car full of teenagers as they slowly drive down the street away from the officer fits that pattern.We liked Evanston, she said, but many of us couldnt afford to live there and so we built in Northbrook. We wanted our children to have the opportunity of a YMCA experience, with Indian Guides, Indian Princesses and different clubs. There were a lot of people in the Evanston area who wanted to live (in Northbrook).Cambodia pardons more jailed opposition members: Fourteen anti-government activists have been given pardons that will free them from long prison terms, the latest release engineered by authoritarian Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen after his party's election sweep last month. The 14, including at least 11 former members of the now-dissolved opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, were convicted of insurrection over a protest four years ago that turned violent. At least eight other people held on political charges have been freed since the beginning of last week.Thai junta to soon ease curbs on political parties: Thailand's military junta said it will ease some restrictions on political parties to let them conduct basic functions and prepare for elections set for early next year, but campaigning will still be forbidden. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said the new rules would, among other things, allow parties to hold meetings and accept new members ahead of the elections. Political gatherings of five or more people were banned by the junta after it seized power in a May 2014 coup.On the Today show in June, Bill Clinton was asked if he had ever apologized personally to Monica Lewinsky. The normally eloquent and loquacious former president went into the verbal equivalent of a mad dash to the sidelines  once again getting comeuppance for his appalling behavior while in office. But Clinton was hardly the only one who, in the words of the old song, done her wrong. So, too, did Brett M. Kavanaugh, almost certain to be the next Supreme Court justice. Even more so than Clinton, he owes Lewinsky an apology.Additionally, most of whats in NAFTA is implemented by statute. That means that no matter what Trump says, most of its provisions will live on unless and until Congress actually, you know, passes a new trade law. Which a Republican-led Congress doesnt seem keen to do, at least if the new law in question is more protectionist than the one we have.In his memoir published this year, The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights and Other Appreciations, McCain again called for immigration reform, describing it as something this country needs to do now, in this political moment, as old fears and animosities that have blighted our history appear to be on the rise again, exploited by opportunists who wont trouble their careers or their consciences with scruples about honesty or compassion for their fellow man.No matter the evidence, still the conspiracy theorists hock their wares, he wrote in 2009, introducing a book refuting 9/11 conspiracy notions. They ignore the methods of science, the protocols of investigation and the dictates of logic. The conspiracy theorists chase any bit of information, no matter how flimsy, and use it to fit their preordained conclusions. They ascribe to the government, or to some secretive group, powers wholly out of proportion to what the evidence suggests. And they ignore the facts that are present in plain sight. We cannot let these tales go unanswered.His courage, primarily, seems to have set him apart from most other late notables. That, and his toughness, which was recognized even by the former director of the North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp where McCain spent more than five years. Retired Col. Tran Trong Duyet remarked on his former captives death by recalling how much he liked him personally for his toughness and strong stance, and grew fond of him later for his efforts to build relations between Vietnam and the United States.Clark, too, shared some of Jacksons recollection of OPRF. Clark is a 2001 graduate of OPRF, and he is currently a special education teacher there. As a student, Clark remembered being that only black kid in honors classes and how he struggled with his identity because of that. He also felt that what he learned during class and in books about black history was not an accurate depiction, and I feel like when youre in school and you dont learn about your history, its hard for you to build your own sense of worth.Viganos accusations are serious and credible. He has everything to lose by making them public. He cited specific letters and documents that he and others sent to Rome  which he said are readily available in the files of the Holy See and the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington. The Vatican must now release them. And his account was backed on Monday by Monsignor Jean-Francois Lantheaume, the former first counsellor at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, who said Vigano tells the whole truth. I am a witness. Most importantly, in his letter the archbishop declared that he is ready to reaffirm them under oath by calling on God as my witness  which means he is calling for his own eternal damnation if he is lying. Is Pope Francis willing to do the same?The first is the way of St. Francis of Assisi. He reacted to the ecclesiastical and social corruption of his time by renouncing his fathers wealth, stripping off his clothes and living a life of poverty and service. He touched lepers, cared for animals, tried to mediate a Crusade and introduced gentleness and love into the harsh 13th century. At one personal turning point, he heard God saying, Francis, seest thou not that my house is in ruins? Go and restore it for me. And he did, by returning to the example of Christianitys founder, but staying within the established church.Trump keeps warning that he may have to get involved in the Justice Department, which means he may intervene to shut Mueller down. Why would anyone refuse to believe this is a real threat? Why would anyone refuse to believe that now  with Trumps personal lawyer singing to the feds, the keepers of his financial and personal secrets talking to prosecutors under grants of immunity, and his former campaign chairman under great pressure to flip  the threat is greater than ever?In Pennsylvania, the spring primary was slightly delayed to let candidates file in the new districts. But with little time left before November, some in North Carolina have proposed replacing the November midterm with a primary election and paying for a new general election a few weeks later. If the House hangs in the balance  Democrats need to flip 23 seats to take over  a determination of who holds the chamber could be delayed.The session is scheduled to take place at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 26 at Roosevelt ElementarySchool, and it is designed to provide an opportunity for those considering a run for the board to informally ask questions of current and former board members about the time commitment and challenges involved in serving on the seven-member board.After McCains death on Saturday at the age of 81, Trump rejected the advice of top aides who advocated releasing an official statement that gave the decorated Vietnam War POW plaudits for his military and Senate service and called him a hero. Trump instead offered words of condolence to the senators family in a tweet that made no mention of McCains storied service in the military and on Capitol Hill.Sessionss friends and advisers have tried to buck him up in recent days, reaffirming his decision to defend his position and telling him that if Trump were willing to face the political and possibly legal consequences of firing him, he would have done so by now, according to an ally of the attorney general.Several administration officials said Trump was frustrated with the TV coverage and felt besieged  that nothing he said about McCain would be enough. Trump also suggested to advisers that many of those speaking out on television were merely looking for reasons to attack him and that some of the same people now praising McCain previously did not like the senator.Were going to make clear to the rest of the world that the dark days that weve been under coming out of Washington, that the derision and the division that have been coming out of our White House, that right here in the state of Florida we are going to remind this nation of what is truly the American way, he said.Unit 2 at 1309, the upper-level residence, is priced at $1.995 million. The front door opens into the middle of the open floor plan, which is similar to Unit 1s. A bay window and another window face R Street from the dining area. The kitchen is at the center of the unit. At the back, the living area has floor-to-ceiling windows, and there is a small deck with stairs that lead to the parking pad.Protest organizer the Rev. Gregory Livingston, of West Humboldt Parks New Hope Baptist Church, said the disruption on the expressway will shine a light on the protesters demands: that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel resign and that activists play a role in police officer contracts. Livingston said his group also wants to see more economic investment on the South and West sides of the city, two areas plagued by gun violence, and more African-Americans hired for construction projects tied to city, state or federal contracts.Additionally, Macrons chief of staff, Alexis Kohler, is under investigation for influence peddling and for violating conflict-of-interest rules. Culture Minister Francoise Nyssen is under investigation for having illegally enlarged the premises of the publishing house she ran before entering the government. Budget Minister Gerard Darmanin was investigated for rape earlier this year, although the charges were later abandoned. Hulot, too, came under fire in February for allegedly sexually assaulting a granddaughter of former French president Francois Mitterrand in the late 1990s  an allegation from 2008 he denied. The government stood by him.For traditionalists, Martins invitation from the Vatican to speak last week in Dublin at a massive World Meeting of Families event was proof of how Francis is gradually eroding church teachings on sexuality. Before Francis landed in Dublin, a group of 400 dissidents met for two days at a hotel for what one organizer called a gathering to promote the authentic teachings of the Catholic Church. And in Madison, Wis., responding to the churchs sex abuse crisis, Bishop Robert Morlino wrote in a letter to Catholics in his diocese that it is time to admit that there is a homosexual subculture within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.(CNN)  The German government condemned attempts to "spread hatred on the streets" after a violent demonstration Sunday in Chemnitz, eastern Germany, where protesters called for foreigners to leave the city.

Police admitted being unprepared for the scale of the protests, which took place after a 35-year-old man died from injuries sustained in a fight.

Footage posted on social media shows participants clashing with police and shouting "Foreigners get out," "This is our city" and "We are the people," a phrase used 30 years ago to call for the reunification of East and West Germany, but now frequently heard at far-right gatherings to express anti-immigrant sentiment.

In one video, two men are seen chasing after someone they believed was an immigrant.

About 800 people took part in Sunday's protest, police said, with around 50 of them encouraging violence. The demonstration, which took place on the final afternoon of the city's summer festival, was called only a few hours earlier, and police initially did not have enough officers available. Extra officers were called in from the nearby cities of Leipzig and Dresden to deal with the incident.

The protesters moved quickly from their meeting point into the city center, according to police, some throwing bottles at police officers.

"This has no place in our country," said government spokesman Steffen Seibert on Monday. "Such targeting and hunting of people with different looks, different origins, or the attempt to spread hatred on the streets has no place in our cities."

Far right party called for protest

The protest was triggered by the death of a 35-year-old man following a fight between multiple people in central Chemnitz in the early hours of Sunday morning, according to police. Two other men were seriously injured in the fight.

The public prosecutor said Monday that two men  a 23-year-old Syrian citizen and a 22-year-old Iraqi citizen  are being investigated for suspected murder.

Authorities had previously released no information about the nationality of the two suspects, but speculation quickly spread across parts of social media on Sunday that migrants were to blame for the man's death and a number of calls to action were issued.

The local branch of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party responded by calling for a "spontaneous demonstration" in memory of the victim, posting a picture on Facebook of a blood-spattered pavement.

AfD lawmaker Markus Frohnmaier also called for action, saying it was a "civic duty to stop this deadly 'knife migration.'"

"If the state cannot protect its citizens, people will take to the streets and protect themselves," he wrote on Twitter.

Around 100 people gathered for the AfD protest, due to start at 3 p.m. They soon dispersed but were replaced by a crowd of around 800, police said, adding that the group refused to cooperate with attempts by the authorities to calm the situation.

Following the march to the city center and a vigil at the spot where the fight had taken place earlier, the crowd gradually broke up and moved away, police said.

Mixed response from AfD

Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Siegbert Droese, an AfD member of the Bundestag for the nearby city of Leipzig, denied his party was responsible for the protest and said the AfD was "appalled" by the events.

But a second AfD politician, Tino Chrupalla, appeared to defend the call to action.

"Chemnitz is among the list of cities considered the most dangerous in the country," he said. "Families can't even feel safe in going to the state festival anymore... We call upon our voters to do something about this."

The AfD, which campaigned on an anti-immigration, anti-Islam platform, won more than 25 percent of the vote in the state of Saxony  where Chemnitz is located  in last September's federal election, almost double the national average.

Further right-wing demonstrations were planned for later on Monday. Left-wing and anti-racism groups were also urging their supporters to take to the streets of Chemnitz for a counter-protest.

Police said Monday that the city was "well prepared" for any upcoming protests.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "German government condemns right-wing rioters after protests surprise police."The arrests and searches are stirring up Indias left-wing intellectuals. Arundhati Roy, Booker Prize-winning author of The God of Small Things and a vocal critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, compared the shakedown to the state of emergency in the 1970s, a three-year period of heavy censorship and rule by decree, in an interview with Scroll. That the raids are taking place on the homes of lawyers, poets, writers, Dalit rights activists and intellectuals instead of on those who make up lynch mobs and murder people in broad daylight tells us very clearly where India is headed.In his sermons and on his Facebook page, Sharjabi did not shy away from expressing views against those ruling Aden, according to colleagues and friends. He urged youth to stay away from the pro-secessionist militias and denounced extremism. In some of his last Facebook posts, he railed against the authorities who have caused us suffering and wrote that the highest of martyrs is he who says whats righteous to an oppressing leader and gets killed for that.Pompeo had argued ferociously against the rollback championed by Mulvaney. Since taking office in April, Pompeo has repeatedly said he wants to restore swagger to the State Department. Having almost 10 percent of foreign aid snatched from his control would have made that task far more difficult and would have wounded him in the eyes of employees who consider U.S. aid to be an essential tool for American diplomacy.There is little evidence of any attempt by parties to the conflict to minimize civilian casualties, Kamel Jendoubi, the head of the investigations team, known as the Group of International and Regional Eminent Experts on Yemen, said in the statement. I call on them to prioritize human dignity in this forgotten conflict.This is not an easy fight. Weve never said it was, Mattis said. But I dont believe that you can use this example as emblematic, because if you look at where the Taliban were and what they were claiming they were going to do two years ago, one year ago, they have not succeeded in taking down these towns and holding these towns.During his time in Washington, Vigano emerged as a conservative darling who arranged a surprise meeting between Francis and Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who spent six days in jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Yet during his U.S. tenure, Vigano was not above reproach on the issue of sexual abuse. According to documents from a church-sponsored investigation, Vigano tried to cover up a case against the former archbishop of St. Paul, Minn., John Nienstedt, who faced allegations of misconduct with men.Trudeau has taken political hits since then for minor lapses, such as a luxury family holiday visit to a Caribbean island and an ill-fated trip to India, but his biggest challenge, just a year before Canadians go to the polls, has come from the leader of Canadas longtime military ally and economic partner.Since my arrival in the diocese in 1992, on a number of occasions priests and lay people have expressed their concerns to me about Father Emerson taking on several occasions, boys who were minors on outings or vacations with himself and also about his having them stay in the rectory, Melczek wrote in the Dec. 22, 2004, letter, filed in Orange County (Fla.) Clerks Office. I have warned Father Emerson about that matter.Sometimes, when you do food the Waterford Way, you make magic happen, and thats exactly what Thomas Baldwin did when he decided to use his farming skills to make ice cream.

It all started back in 2006 when Thomas visited some farms on a scholarship trip to the Netherlands.

We were checking out some dairy farms and I happened to see a farm making ice-cream and it really captured my imagination, Thomas said.

I was building a new milking parlour at the time so I tweaked the plans a little bit, got a Leader Grant and took the first step on the ladder.

Thomas was dealing with an Italian company for the equipment and they also provided training, to give him that initial boost.

I worked off some basic recipes to start with just to find my feet and see what we could do, Thomas said. We obviously had no customers at the beginning so I had to go out and show the world what we could do.

And show they world he did. Thomas bought an Ice Cream cart and headed into the Dungarvan Farmers Market to try and sell a few scoops. It was the summer of 2007, the sun was shining, and people were falling in love with Baldwins Farmhouse Ice Cream.

I went cold-calling after that, Thomas said. I visited supermarkets and local restaurants to try and build up a customer base. A lot of people responded to the idea of local ice cream, made from local milk, from local cows eating local grass.

Thomas took his inspiration from Eamon Lonergan, whose famous Knockanore Cheese is made right next door to him. They regularly collaborate - in the true spirit of Food the Waterford Way - not only with their dairy, but also with their distribution. Together, Thomas says, they are definitely stronger.

Currently, you can pick up a carton of Baldwins Farmhouse Ice Cream in a number of SuperValus across Waterford, as well as such fine restaurants as Loko, McClearys, Slize Pizza and The Cruise.

They currently stock around 20 flavours, our favourite is the mint-choc, but are presently looking for new and imaginative ice-creams to tickle those taste buds

What motivates you?

I think its either in you or its not, Thomas said. Going out and making a go of something yourself. Some people are happy to work for a company or do a 9-5, but Ive always got a kick out of the challenge of creating something out of nothing."

"When you get up in the morning its up to me how profitable my day is. Some days are good and some are bad, and thats the nature of the business. I love that, and when people tell me that they love our ice-cream, then it makes it all worthwhile?

What do you think of the food industry in Ireland in 2018?

Its good, for the most part, but what bugs me are the rogue traders, Thomas said. For example, there are a few ice-creams that carry the name farm but theyre not made on a farm at all. Ultimately though, all we can wish for is that the customer gives the small, local producer a chance so that we can all grow and get better."

Whats next for Baldwins Ice Cream?

Weve taken on a full time sales rep now so hopefully were going to expand beyond the small little pocket that were currently trading in, Thomas said.

As my friend and collaborator from Knockanore Cheese says, if youre not growing, youre going backwards!

Want to learn more  check out www.foodthewaterfordway.com or follow us @Waterford_WayAustralians are underestimating the danger of popular sleeping pills and sedatives "at their peril", as a record 142 people die every month in accidental drug overdoses, a major new report warns.

Annual drug deaths almost doubled in the decade to 2016, a period that claimed 13,471 lives through unintentional overdose and saw drug deaths overtake the road toll.

Legal pharmaceutical painkillers are the leading killer, but most people are dying with a combination of substances in their system, including alcohol, heroin, amphetamines and synthetic cannabis.

One dangerous combination is prescription painkillers, sleeping tablets and alcohol.

The Penington Institute, which published the overdose report, warned that benzodiazepines  sleeping and anxiety pills common in Australian homes  were now contributing to hundreds of deaths each year.Why did they do that? I was part of something they didnt like. In 2012, with a bunch of brilliant women and men I didnt know at the outset, I campaigned to ask advertisers to rethink their support of the Alan Jones program because of his vile comments about Gillard. Those comments werent about her policies. They were about her father. Jones said Gillards father died of shame. The Destroy The Joint campaign cost Macquarie Radio Network more than 1.5 million bucks. The then chief executive of Macquarie Radio Network begged us to stop.

As with Gillard, Turnbull, Rudd and Baird, much of this turned on the commentary of Alan Jones and his cronies which was then amplified in the pages of The Australian and The Daily Telegraph but it was in the days before anyone paid any attention to FoxLocal. Sometimes I wish my kids focused as much on my views as this lot did.

But like those four, I was targeted. Vilified. Mocked for my appearance. Been subjected to false and malicious commentary. Like those four, Ive experienced emails demanding the Powers That Be sack me. Fortunately in my case, no-one listened.

I identify with Malcolm Turnbull. With Mike Baird. With Kevin Rudd . And (more predictably) with Julia Gillard. I havent got tickets on myself. I am not now and will never be a member of any political party. I will never be elected by the Australian people.

It truly surprised me that the response of Jones and his allies was to pick on a boring, middle-aged mother of three without any real political power  and it was then I got some insight into what it would be like to actually challenge the trogs. I understood what it was like to feel utterly powerless as the subject of their commentary. But much more importantly, I also know what it felt like to fight back on someone else's behalf and to know exactly how good that feels.

Alan Jones making a public apology for his remarks about Julia Gillard's father. Credit:Not for syndication

Ive spent the last few days speaking to those in the Liberal and Labor camps about how their leaders felt when they were being attacked. What surprised me (and thrilled me) was that neither Turnbull nor Gillard would listen to Alan Jones in the morning. They relied on staffers doing a quick summary  but only when and if absolutely necessary. The reason these prime ministers werent glued? The summary of their thinking from staffers was: Can I ever reason with these people? They dont want to be convinced. They knew it was not possible to bring Alan Jones along to a centrist position. They could never get him onside.

And that matters because Jones and his gang are not onside with you, dear readers. He is not interested in a centrist position but you are. You want something that straddles both sides of politics and you are looking for leaders who do that too. Thats what the polls say. Thats what research on Australian voting patterns says. There are a few of us off to the loony edges but most of us are not. But somehow, Joness fake views  fake because they do not represent the majority of Australians  are used to bully Liberal members of parliament. Jones is out of step with majority opinions, says emeritus professor of politics at the University of Sydney Rod Tiffen. You might think, bloody academics, they would say that. But the people Ive spoken to from the Liberal Party agree. They say that older folks, who still listen to Jones, have the time to ring their local members and ask why they arent paying proper respect to their media heroes. But the rest of us dont have time for that lark. But we must.Before jury selection began Monday, Judge Salvador Vasquez said that while its rare to talk about the underlying facts of the case when picking jurors, I do think this case is a little bit different. Vasquez said he felt it was important for jurors to know that the person killed in the case was an off-duty police officer.A south coast grandfather has been sentenced to 32 years behind bars for the systemic child sexual abuse and "psychological mutilation" inflicted upon five of his own grandchildren for at least 11 years.

In the attic of his Sussex Inlet home, his car, his holiday caravan and a south coast motel, the 71-year-old man inflicted varying levels of sexual predation on the grandchildren entrusted to his care; plying them with drugs and alcohol and using them for the production and dissemination of child pornography.

The parents whose children were victims of the assaults. Credit:Georgia Matts

Police investigators and prosecutors maintain it is the worst case of child sex abuse they have ever seen.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identities of the children involved, was handed the lengthy sentence, with a non-parole period of 24 years, at Penrith Court House on Monday.Results from the 2018 WA NAPLAN tests have been released, but there are calls for them to be thrown out altogether after a commissioned report found posting them on the My School website would be "inappropriate and misleading".

WA students sat the test in May this year, and the results have found WA students remained consistent with 2017's positive results throughout year 9.

Around one fifth of schools in Australia did their NAPLAN tests online in 2018. Credit:James Alcock

However, while WA remained consistent with its 2017 results overall, students fell below the Australian average across all five key competencies throughout years 3, 5 and 7.

University of Western Australia senior lecturer in social sciences Dr Glenn Savage said it was important to consider the results in context for individual children, but said NAPLAN's findings do help pinpoint some areas of concern for WA schools.Emergency crews have freed two people after a car was driven into a house just south of Perth.

The accident happened about 8.50am on South Lake Drive.

Police and emergency crews were called to the property just before 9am. Credit:Cathryn Tremain

The crash trapped the driver of the vehicle, and also an occupant of the home.

St John Ambulance crews and fire fighters were called to help, with both people freed within half an hour."At no point was there any consideration for 'Everyday Australians' as you have indicated that you stand up for. We have lost 2 very experienced ministers over this spill, namely Malcolm Turnbull and Julie Bishop. I am extremely angry about this whole fiasco and equally disappointed in you Michael! I will be thinking seriously come the next election about who l vote for." Long-time Liberal voter Patricia Greig told Fairfax Media that while Mr Sukkar didn't represent her views during the spill he was a good local member. "So Ill need to be convinced that any other candidate will be better even though Im really disappointed by his stance," she said. Others said they had already made up their mind.

"Seriously? Your public actions this week supporting Dutton make this statement of yours just puerile and wasted spin. When you opposed [same-sex marriage] you lost me (did you note your electorate voted overwhelmingly in favour?). But your actions and this statement have lost me for good." While the comments are not a scientific sample of sentiment of local reaction, the angry responses appear to be reflected in an exclusive Fairfax poll conducted after the leadership change that revealed a strong swing against Mr Sukkar in his electorate of Deakin, with the Liberals trailing Labor by 47 to 53 per cent on a two-party basis. The Liberal Partys primary vote in Deakin has fallen from 50 per cent at the last election to 42 per cent in the new poll, conducted by ReachTel for Fairfax Media. The poll found that 64 per cent of respondents did not believe the Liberal Party did the right thing in removing Mr Turnbull. Mr Sukkar played down the poll result showing he could lose his seat and declared he would listen to the community even though a clear majority of his constituents said they did not want last weeks leadership change.

Asked on Sky News if he was out of line with his own community, Mr Sukkar said single-seat polls were not reliable. I think this poll had a sample size of 300, which is not something that you would ordinarily put any weight on, he said. Loading The poll had a sample size of 1047. The reality is weve got to listen to the community. The community does not like seeing these sorts of games in Canberra, he said.

They didnt like it in 2015 when Malcolm Turnbull took over the leadership from Tony Abbott, they dont like it now, because I think instinctively they believe that while youre engaging in those sorts of activities youre not focused on the main game. I think theres an argument there that theyre correct. None of that surprises me. Weve got to re-dedicate ourselves to the community. You cant take any seat for granted. I certainly dont take mine for granted. On social media, the feedback has continued to pour in. Peter Easdown wrote: "Duplicitous. So unimpressed with your behaviour. Its a shame we dont have a decent Liberal here to vote for any more." "Well I will not be voting for you. I have lost total respect for you and your party," said Leslie Allan.The federal minister charged with easing traffic congestion and overcrowding in Sydney and Melbourne says the newly installed Morrison government will push for increased infrastructure investment and more even distribution of population growth across Australia.

Alan Tudge  the new Minister for Cities, Urban Infrastructure and Population who has been spruiked by Prime Minister Scott Morrison as the "minister for congestion-busting"  will be taking on a highly sensitive and complex portfolio linked, via immigration, to the Coalition's internal conflicts and broader community anxiety about population growth in the big eastern cities.

Shifting into the new portfolio shortly after Australia's population ticked past 25 million, Mr Tudge told Fairfax Media that population policy was "multi-faceted" and would require better co-operation between federal departments and agencies as well as state and local governments.

Incoming Cities, Urban Infrastructure and Population Minister Alan Tudge. Credit:Andrew Meares

"Immigration settings are clearly a factor that go into population policy," he said, "but the issues of congestion, which is what is most on peoples minds, is not just a one-dimensional issue about the immigration growth rate."Prime Minister Scott Morrison is facing his first foreign policy test ahead of a regional visit next week, as Pacific leaders urge him to deepen Australias cuts to greenhouse gas emissions and cement Australias commitment to the Paris agreement on climate change.

The moves heighten pressure on the new Prime Minister to confirm his stance on the global climate deal as two new cabinet ministers take on the Energy and Environment portfolios amid talk of a policy reset.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is greeted at Quilpie airport by David Littleproud. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Fiji Prime Minister Josaia "Frank" Bainimarama wrote to Mr Morrison on Monday to congratulate him on his elevation while also seeking a commitment to tackle carbon emissions.

We cannot settle for business as usual and we certainly cannot tolerate any backward steps, Mr Bainimarama said of the urgent need to address climate change.Above all, the investigators said the situation in Myanmar should be referred to the International Criminal Court, and if not, to a special tribunal. Last week, Myanmar's government rejected any cooperation with the ICC, to which it is not a party. China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council with veto power over whether the issue will be brought before the ICC, has been reticent about condemning Myanmar's government during the crisis. UN leaders, foreign government officials, and human rights watchers have for months cited evidence of genocide in Myanmar, and the United States late last year said that "ethnic cleansing" was occurring in Myanmar. But few experts have studied the issue as in-depth, and in such an official way, as the fact-finding mission with a mandate from the 46-nation council. Rohingya refugees queue for a meal provided by a Turkish aid agency at a food distribution site in Coxs Bazar. The refugee camps in Coxs Bazar are home to over 900,000 Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar. Credit:Kate Geraghty The United Nations does not apply the word "genocide" lightly. The team's assessment suggests the crimes against the Rohingya could meet the strict legal definition, used to highlight and condemn state-supported abuses in places like Bosnia, Rwanda and Sudan's Darfur region.

Human rights watchers say that determining "genocidal intent" is perhaps the most difficult criteria to meet: In essence, it's the task of assessing the mindsets of perpetrators to determine if ethnicity, race, religion or another attribute had motivated them. "The crimes in Rakhine state, and the manner in which they were perpetrated, are similar in nature, gravity and scope to those that have allowed genocidal intent to be established in other contexts," the report said, alluding to a region of Myanmar that is home for many Rohingya. Adding into their assessment: The extreme brutality of the crimes; "hate rhetoric" and specific speech by perpetrators and military commanders; policies of exclusion against Rohingya people; an "oppressive context;" and the "level of organisation indicating a plan for destruction." Jomil aged 2 lays unconscious whilst being treated for fever and breathing problems at the Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital in Kutupalong Camp. Kutupalong & Balukhali camps combined are the worlds largest refugee camp, home to approximately 400,000 of the 900,000 Rohingya who fled Myanmar. Credit:Kate Geraghty The investigators cited six Myanmar military leaders as "priority subjects" for possible prosecution, including Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing. A longer list of names is to be kept in the office of the UN human rights chief for possible use in future judicial proceedings. The United States and European Union have already slapped sanctions on some Myanmar military leaders, though Min Aung Hlaing is not among them.

"The main perpetrator, the people that we want the spotlight on, is the Tatmadaw," said mission member Radhika Coomaraswamy, a Sri Lankan former UN undersecretary-general, referring to Myanmar's military. Christopher Sidoti, an Australian human rights expert, acknowledged that no "smoking gun" linked the six military leaders directly to orders to carry out genocide, but pointed to inferences of their role based on a strict chain of command in Myanmar. They called for the creation of a special body, or "mechanism," to keep watch on the still-evolving human rights situation in Myanmar. They said the United Nations' own role in the country since 2011 should be reviewed to see if the world body did all it could to prevent such a crisis. They also faulted Aung San Suu Kyi for not using her role as head of Myanmar's government, nor her "moral authority" - she is a Nobel peace prize laureate - to stop the events in embattled Rakhine state. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is scheduled to give a briefing on Tuesday during a Security Council commemoration of the anniversary of the violent crackdown on the Rohingya. Guterres also has described what happened in Myanmar as ethnic cleansing.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Monday that Guterres urged all UN bodies and the international community to seriously consider the experts' report recommendations. The determination of whether "a genocide" occurred must be made by "an international judicial body," Dujarric said. "The secretary-general has for a long time underscored the violations of human rights in Myanmar" and stressed "that accountability is essential for genuine reconciliation," he said. Forum-Asia, an advocacy group, called the report "significant" and said the United Nations needed to heed its call. "If the UN fails to adequately address these findings it will be a monumental failure for the world body, which has already been criticised for not doing enough," said R. Iniyan Ilango, UN advocacy program manager for the group. Praise also came from the ground in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, where refugee camps have taken in hundreds of thousands of Rohingya from across the border.Parkhouse said delays were caused by a minor issue with a city utility and he said parts of the project had to be redesigned after the work began.STAMFORD  The steel sculpture of a giant bent spoon that was placed in front of Purdue Pharmas headquarters in Stamford was returned to the artist on Monday.

Domenic Esposito was able to get the sculpture back after a motion was granted by a judge at the Stamford courthouse on Monday morning.Hot and humid conditions will continue through Wednesday as Bermuda high pressure remains in control of the weather across the region.

Daytime temperatures will reach the lower and middle 90s with heat indexs will make it feel like 95 to 104 degrees.

Not much relief is in store at tonight as temperatures struggle to fall below 80 degrees in urban areas like New York City.

Elsewhere, temperatures will only fall into the middle and upper 70s.

A cold front approaches Wednesday night and gradually moves through the region on Thursday. There will be a chance for showers and thunderstorms on Thursday with temperatures in the 80s.

On Monday just before 6 p.m., Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford hit 88degrees. Other high temperatures Monday were 88 at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks; 87 in Hartford and Meriden; 86 at White Plains airport, near Greenwich; 85 in Danbury, 84 in Oxford; and 84 at Tweed-New Haven airport.

Most of Connecticut has a heat advisory from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday.

A Heat Advisory is issued when the combination of heat and humidity is expected to make it feel like it is 95 to 99 degreesfor two or more consecutive days, or 100 to 104 degrees for any length of time.

There is an Excessive Heat Warnings in effect for the greater Hartford-Springfield area, as well as for eastern and northeastern Massachusetts, including greater Boston.

A warmer than average August

Last August we had no 90-degree days in southwest Connecticut.

This August, Sikorsky Memorial Airport had four days of 90 degree or above days. Danbury and New Haven had have only one 90-degree day.

From June through Monday, Bridgeport has had nine 90-degree days; Danbury, six; and New Haven three.

Augusts normal average temperature of 81 degrees is around three degrees above normal.

For Tuesday and likely Wednesday, New England state air quality forecasters are predicting air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups, due to ground-level ozone. The areas that are predicted to exceed the federal air quality standard for ozone are coastal New Haven and Fairfield counties in Connecticut, southeastern Massachusetts and all of Rhode Island.

With hot, summery weather, EPA and the medical community suggest that people limit their strenuous outdoor activity when poor air quality is expected. On these days, people can also help reduce emissions by choosing to carpool, use public transportation, and limit the use of electricity during peak electrical use hours.

Taking precautions

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy advised Connecticut residents, particularly those who are most vulnerable, to take precautions ahead of the high temperature conditions that are expected to impact the state through Wednesday.

Those who are looking for a place to get out of the heat can locate their nearest cooling center by calling 2-1-1.

A few steps can greatly reduce heat-related issues, especially for the elderly, the very young and people with respiratory ailments who are more susceptible to the effects of high temperatures, Governor Malloy said. Any resident looking for a place to cool off should call 2-1-1 to find out where their closest cooling center is located.

Although anyone can suffer from heat-related illness, some people are at greater risk than others:

Infants and young children are sensitive to the effects of high temperatures and rely on others to regulate their environments and provide adequate liquids.

People 65 years of age or older may not compensate for heat stress efficiently and are less likely to sense and respond to change in temperature.

People who are overweight may be prone to heat sickness because of their tendency to retain more body heat.

People who overexert during work or exercise may become dehydrated and susceptible to heat sickness.

People who are physically ill, especially those with heart disease or high blood pressure, or who take certain medications, such as for depression, insomnia, or poor circulation, may be affected by extreme heat.

The forecast

Today: Sunny, with a high near 92. Heat index values as high as 99. Light west wind increasing to 5 to 9 mph in the morning.

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 73. Southwest wind 3 to 6 mph.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 92. Heat index values as high as 99. West wind 5 to 10 mph.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 73. Southwest wind 5 to 7 mph.

Thursday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 9am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 85. West wind 5 to 9 mph.

Thursday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64.

Friday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 76.

Friday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers before 5am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 63.

Saturday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 74.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 63.

Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 78.We look at the hottest new openings this week  with concerts, new musicals and dramas galore!







Jeremy Jordan

 David Gordon

5. Jeremy Jordan in Concert

Cadogan Hall, 1 to 2 September

We don't usually put concerts on here, but then again we don't usually have Jeremy Jordan on our shores! The Broadway legend, known for the likes of Newsies and films like The Last Five Years, is coming over to perform some of his classics in west London.

Find out more about the concerts







The Globe

 R/DV/RS (CC BY 2.0)

4. Love's Labour's Lost

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, until 15 September

After the success of Othello and Emilia, Shakespeare's Globe is on fine form as it heads indoors for an intimate staging of the Bard's comedy. Directed by Nick Bagnall, the show is described as "a discourse on art versus life". A late summer treat?

Read our review of Emilia, which runs until 1 September







Matt Horne and Ed Speelers

 Dan Wooller for WhatsOnStage

3. Rain Man

Theatre Royal Windsor, then UK tour

The film version was headed by Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman, but now Mathew Horne and Ed Speelers take the reins in this new touring production of the Rain Man, with direction by Jonathan O'Boyle. The show kicks off its run in Windsor, and will be visiting locations across the UK throughout the winter months.

Read the tour announcement







Jonathan Pryce and Eileen Atkins in The Height of the Storm

 Helen Maybanks

2. The Height of the Storm

Richmond Theatre, Cambridge Arts Theatre and Theatre Royal Bath before Wyndham's Theatre in the West End

The Height of the Storm is a family drama with every great thing going for it  penned by the award-winning Florian Zeller, translated by Christopher Hampton and directed by Jonathan Kent with a cast led by Jonathan Pryce and Eileen Atkins. Is there anything more you'd want from a touring production? The show runs in Richmond, Cambridge and Bath before settling in the West End later this year.

See the show in rehearsals







1. Six

Arts Theatre, 30 August to 25 September

Who would have thought a musical about the six wives of Henry VIII would have taken the Edinburgh Fringe by storm and now heads down to London to repeat the process? It may sound like an unlikely candidate for a summer smash hit but, judging from its tunes, Six is one to catch at the Arts.

Find out more about Six





Last chance to see: Pressure (Ambassadors Theatre), Emilia (Shakespeare's Globe), Fun Home (Young Vic), Around the World in 80 Days (Union Theatre), Homos, or Everyone in America (Finborough Theatre), Bring It On (Southwark Playhouse), Silk Road (Trafalgar Studios)

PLUS this week marks Andrew Polec's final week in the West End Bat Out of Hell  catch him while you can!My other thought was strictly about our safety if we offered her a ride. I had no idea who she was, where she was from, or her personal story. Where would I take her? Would I feel obliged to drive her back to her vehicle? What if she was drunk or on drugs?Include a visit to The Dark Side of F Street in your Halloween hauntings! Take some canned foods and grocery ...

When you see the flags flying at schools, you dont generally think about who put them up or how they...When we get a call like this, we request as many (departments) as possible, because the aim is to rescue people while theyre still on top of the water, Berkowsky said.He said the department initially also called for helicopter help from the Coast Guard and the Chicago Fire Department, but they werent needed.U.S. Senator John McCain is being remembered by Manitobans as a charming, unpretentious and personable man who was "a great friend of Canada."

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 27/8/2018 (1162 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

U.S. Senator John McCain is being remembered by Manitobans as a charming, unpretentious and personable man who was "a great friend of Canada."

MP James Bezan (Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman) met the American war hero and one-time presidential candidate in Washington, D.C. in 2016.

SUPPLIED Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman MP James Bezan, left, met U.S. Senator John McCain in Washington, D.C. in 2016.

Bezan was one of a half-dozen MPs -- members of the Commons Standing Committee on National Defence -- who met McCain in his U.S. Senate office. McCain chaired the U.S. Senate's Armed Services Committee.

"(McCain) liked the idea that both he and I had both been banned from Russia," Bezan recalled on Monday. "He said those were badges of honour in taking principled stands against (President Vladimir) Putin's invasion of Ukraine."

McCain, a one-time naval aviator who was tortured during five-and-a-half-years of captivity in Vietnam, died Saturday of brain cancer at his home in Arizona the age of 81. As the Republican presidential nominee in 2008, he lost to Barack Obama.

McCain was very personable, Bezan said. "He was very easy to sit down and chat with. He wasn't pretentious in any way, shape or form..."

The Canadian delegation was slotted for 30 minutes of McCain's time, but remained with the senator for an hour. Before they got down to the business of discussing issues related to Canada-U.S. defence, NATO and Russia's "imperialistic" ambitions, McCain proudly showed the Canadians some of the paintings in his office, "pictures he had from Arizona, including of the local Navaho people and celebrating the First Nations in his area of the world," Bezan said.

During the meeting, McCain pointedly thanked Canada and its armed forces for their contributions to the war in Afghanistan, while paying tribute to Canadians who had served and died around the world.

Bezan, who is currently vice-chair of the Commons defence committee and the Conservatives' shadow minister (critic) for national defence, said McCain will be missed by Canada.

"He said that Canada has always been the U.S.'s strongest ally," the Manitoba MP said. "He was a great friend of Canada."

Former Manitoba premier and Canadian ambassador to the U.S., Gary Doer, could not be reached for comment on Monday.

NDP Leader Wab Kinew met John McCain about five years ago while working in the United States as a reporter for the English news service of Al Jazeera.

Kinew was working on a documentary about the U.S. border patrol. He and a camera operator "ambushed" McCain outside CNN's Washington building as the senator was arriving on a Sunday for an interview.

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Although Kinew had not given him a heads up, McCain was unflappable and agreed to be questioned on the spot.

"We had some tough accountability questions. McCain pulled up in a black car, hopped out, saw us, smiled, shook my hand and he didn't think twice."

They spoke for five to 10 minutes. McCain largely dodged Kinew's questions while managing to leave a favourable impression on the future political leader.

"I respected the fact that he didn't run away from me, he didn't decline to comment," Kinew said. "Rather, he had the skills to walk into the interview and to handle himself with skill and to come out looking better for it."

Kinew recalled doing a lot of so-called "doorstep interviews" for Al Jazeera. "I had doors slammed in my face. I had Congress people run down hallways to get away -- one hid in a stairwell. McCain did none of those things. He stopped, smiled and left me feeling like he wanted to be my friend."

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.caThe cost to demolish the Public Safety Building and the adjacent parkade is on the rise.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 28/8/2018 (1161 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The cost to demolish the Public Safety Building and the adjacent parkade is on the rise.

City of Winnipeg officials now estimate the demolition of both structures at $12.09 million, an increase from the $10.7-million estimate provided to councillors in July 2017.

The latest figure is contained in an administrative report to the Sept. 4 meeting of the property and development committee.

Councillors are being asked to approve a demolition schedule that would have some of the work carried out by the end of 2018, with the removal of hazardous materials. The bulk of the demolition would be carried out in 2019, and site preparation for redevelopment in early 2020.

The PSB had been the downtown headquarters for the Winnipeg Police Service for more than 50 years. The WPS moved into the former Canada Post warehouse at 245 Smith St. in 2016.

A conceptual look at what the 2.4-acre Market Lands site could become. (Supplied)

The parkade was closed in 2012 because of structural concerns.

The property the former police headquarters is built on had been gifted to the city in 1875 with a caveat it remain in the public use, which prevents the city from selling it to private developers. The caveat does not apply to the parkade property.

Redevelopment of the 2.4-acre site, now dubbed the Market Lands, will follow a proposal from CentreVenture Development Corp. (an arm's-length agency of the City of Winnipeg), which had launched a public consultation initiative in January 2017. The CentreVenture plan, based on the public consultations, recommended the property be developed with a mix of public, commercial and residential uses.

Demolition of the six-storey PSB sparked some controversy within the community. Heritage and architecture advocates urged city hall to preserve the building. Civic officials said the cost of saving the building could reach $60 million and recommended against that option. Others in the community felt the buildings modernist design was simply too ugly, and it should be demolished.

Mayor Brian Bowman was an early proponent of clearing the site, and his position hasn't changed.

"That is prime real estate in our downtown. That property can do a lot more than its doing right now," he said.

The property the former police headquarters is built on had been gifted to the city in 1875 with a caveat it remain in the public use, which prevents the city from selling it to private developers. The city hopes the Market Lands, as it is now known, will be developed with a mix of public, commercial and residential uses. (Supplied)

"Youve got two buildings there that were obviously custom built, whose needs have long passed. The demolition will cost but, obviously, well be recouping much more in property taxes down the road provided the development is a positive one."

Council approval will be required for how the former PSB site will be retained as public space.

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The current $12.09-million demolition cost could change again. The report says the figure is a Class 3 estimate, which could vary from 20 per cent less to 30 per cent higher still, depending on final figures.

The administrative report said, pending councils approval of the demolition cost, the property could be ready for redevelopment before the end March 2020. Starting the hazardous abatement work now, the report states, would result in an earlier completion date.

Of the estimated $12.09-million price tag, council only has set aside $1.63 million, with the Winnipeg Parking Authority. The rest of the funds would have to be borrowed.

Officials had predicted some of the demolition and site preparation costs could be recovered when the parkade portion is sold to private developers.

 with files from Erik Pindera

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.caThe Southdale apartment block levelled in an early morning Sunday blaze that left 24 families homeless was built to out-of-date construction codes that left it susceptible to flames making quick work of the building.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 27/8/2018 (1162 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Southdale apartment block levelled in an early morning Sunday blaze that left 24 families homeless was built to out-of-date construction codes that left it susceptible to flames making quick work of the building.

It's likely the fire moved so fast through the three-storey complex due to its 1970s, open-attic design built from wooden trusses, experts say. The fire, visible from blocks away, tore through the attic, opening the roof to the sky before the flames jumped onto a neighbouring building.

"Once a fire gets into the attic, those are wooden trusses, so the fire roared through the open attic and the roof started to collapse," Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service Assistant Chief Mark Reshaur told the Free Press Sunday.

On Monday, Dustin Pernitsky, communication co-ordinator for the Winnipeg Construction Association, said he wasn't sure when the open-attic design found in the Southdale apartments was discontinued. The most recent update to the construction code came in 2011. It remains unclear how common the design is in Winnipeg or how many other complexes throughout the city may also have open attics.

Buildings such as the Southdale apartments  located on the 1000 block of Beaverhill Boulevard close to Fermor Avenue  are grandfathered in when new construction codes are implemented. It isn't feasible to divide an undivided attic after construction is complete, Pernitsky said.

Vladimir Chlistovsky, president of the Canadian Association of Fire Investigators, said as far as he's aware, there have not been many substantive changes to building codes from the late-1970s, although the division of attics, however, is one that's been made for good reason.

While Chlistovsky was unable to speak specifically about the fire Sunday, he explained the hazards posed by open-attic designs, in general. "If you look at some of the older semi-detached houses or apartments that were built, the living areas may be separated, but there's no separation when it comes to the attic space. That means if a fire breaks out in one of the units and spreads up through the ceiling into the attic, then once that fire spreads it goes across the roof and burns the roof off, then spreads damage into the other units," he said.

"Today's fire code limits the open attic space to limit the amount of fire spread. Sectioning that attic into smaller spaces helps keep that fire much more contained."

The apartment at 1085 Beaverhill Blvd. was completely destroyed in the blaze, and the neighbouring building at 1081 was badly damaged. Both were built in 1978.

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The cause of the fire remains under investigation. It's unclear what the final dollar-figure attached to the fire will be, but it's expected to be in the millions. A representative for Ladco Co. Ltd., the owner of the buildings, has said that both will likely be rebuilt.

The WFPS first received a report of the fire shortly before 6 a.m. and the blaze was finally extinguished at about 7:40 a.m., thanks to the work of 19 fire crews. No one was injured, likely due, in part, to an unnamed tenant who ran through the building knocking on doors to alert other residents. Chlistovsky said investigators sift through the wreckage to determine the origin and cause, a process that could take anywhere from a day to several months, depending on the specific situation. "Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's not. They'll be using witness statements or video evidence, looking at fire patterns, fire dynamics and knowledge of the electrical system, all to determine that point of origin and potential causes," he said.

"It's a process of elimination to get to your origin. Then you have to consider all reasonable causes that may be possible within that origin area."

 With files from Alexandra Paul

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @rk_thorpeOTTAWA  Manitoba's police watchdog will decide as soon as this week whether to investigate testimony that RCMP officers were complicit in sexual assaults allegedly committed by Hydro workers dating back to the 1960s.

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This article was published 27/8/2018 (1162 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  Manitoba's police watchdog will decide as soon as this week whether to investigate testimony that RCMP officers were complicit in sexual assaults allegedly committed by Hydro workers dating back to the 1960s.

"Every case will be determined by its unique set of circumstances and facts that are found," Independent Investigation Unit civilian director Zane Tessler told the Free Press Monday.

Last Tuesday, the Manitoba government released a damning report from the arms-length provincial agency Clean Environment Commission, detailing allegations of discrimination, assaults and sexual abuse by Hydro workers during the construction of northern dam projects.

The CEC report included alleged RCMP complicity in "brutalizing men, permitting the exploitation of women and failing to take local complaints seriously, although there were instances of these complaints being addressed."

A member of Fox Lake Cree Nation had testified that Mounties had "organized gangbangs" in nearby Gillam, taking women "to jail for no reason, to be sexually abused while being incarcerated in jail overnight."

RCMP called the IIU last Wednesday, and have since had in-person discussions and followup calls, Tessler said.

TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Independent Investigation Unit civilian director Zane Tessler

The IIU will determine whether the allegations fit its mandate. The unit was launched in June 2015 to investigate incidents of serious injury or death in the course of a police investigation in Manitoba.

Its mandate, however, is discretionary for other issues, such as when officers break the law. In those cases, the IIU often oversees the police forces own investigation  and steps in if it seems the probe is inadequate  unless the IIU decides from the start that it ought to instead be leading the probe, "if the public interest demands an investigation."

The Fox Lake allegations fall into the discretionary category.

The IIU has just eight investigators, plus a commander, who all work full time. "We always are mindful of our resources and we do have contingency plans available, in the event that our resources may be outstripped," Tessler said. Those plans can range from asking an outside agency for help, to transferring the case entirely to an external police force.

Tessler said he hasn't had to refer any cases to an outside body, "and weve had some big ones." He cited the November 2015 shooting death of Mark di Cesare on the grounds of Kapyong Barracks at Grant Avenue and Kenaston Boulevard, which involved more than 100 interviews and a crime scene that spanned 22 kilometres.

Meanwhile, its unclear whether the IIU, or any other body, will probe claims that Mounties failed to investigate alleged crimes by Hydro workers. The RCMP has an independent agency, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission, that looks at code-of-conduct issues that fall short of Criminal Code breaches.

GRAEME BURCE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS / MAPBOX

But last week, a spokesman for federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale noted that Mounties contracted to provincial postings are under that provinces jurisdiction. That suggests officials might ask the Law Enforcement Review Agency or even the IIU to look into Mounties alleged failures.

First Nation looking for details Leadership from Fox Lake Cree Nation is considering whether it wants to participate in a planned steering committee tasked with finding solutions after fallout from the Clean Environment Commission (CEC)s latest report. Last week, Sustainable Development Minister Rochelle Squires released a regional cumulative effects assessment report from the CEC that compiled testimony from northern and First Nations communities about the effects of Manitoba Hydro development in their areas. The report was dated May 28, 2018, but Squires released it nearly three months later. click to read more Leadership from Fox Lake Cree Nation is considering whether it wants to participate in a planned steering committee tasked with finding solutions after fallout from the Clean Environment Commission (CEC)s latest report. Last week, Sustainable Development Minister Rochelle Squires released a regional cumulative effects assessment report from the CEC that compiled testimony from northern and First Nations communities about the effects of Manitoba Hydro development in their areas. The report was dated May 28, 2018, but Squires released it nearly three months later. The shocking results included allegations of sexual abuse and racial discrimination at the hands of Hydro workers, starting in the 1960s and largely concentrated around Fox Lake. The province asked RCMP to investigate the findings. Squires said the steering committee will consist of Hydro employees and officials from the Sustainable Development department. Fox Lake CEO Robert Wavey said the First Nation's membership isnt sure what the committees goals are. I think thats important for us to know. What are the terms of reference and (is) it something that we would be welcome to participate in? he said Monday. When asked what the terms of reference for the committee would be, when members would meet and whether the province would consider non-Hydro and Sustainable Development officials for the committee, a government spokesman responded with a prepared statement from Crown Services Minister Colleen Mayer. Given the seriousness of this report and the allegations that it contains, our government is consulting with the affected Indigenous communities to arrive at solutions that address the needs of those communities, the minister said. Wavey said members of Fox Lake could offer close to 60 years of stories related to Hydro, including lived experiences of a lot of people who have had to endure all of the negative stuff that had happened during the course of those developments. I think we would also have some ideas of our own on how those (issues) might be addressed and, to a degree, resolved, Wavey said. Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew put out a statement Monday calling on the province to include leadership from northern Hydro-affected communities on its CEC committee. The residents of Fox Lake Cree Nation have calmly and courageously raised their voices throughout decades of abuse and hate, he said. Their community is committed to addressing this issue and working towards healing. It was Hydro and the Manitoba government making decisions without the community that led to these problems. The community must be included as we work towards solutions.  Jessica Botelho-Urbanski Close

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The IIU doesnt review investigations that a police force already conducted, but it can probe historical issues that only recently came to light. Tessler also stressed that even if the IIU decides not to probe the CEC reports allegations, it will reconsider any new evidence that emerges.

If the IIU does look into the Fox Lake allegations, his staff will focus only on the role of Mounties, not the Hydro workers, nor wider issues about violence against women.

"The mandate of the IIU is to focus on police involvement, solely; we're not looking at other agencies or other individuals," he said, saying those other issues may be looked at by police forces, inquiries or courts.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs sent along last weeks CEC report to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. An inquiry spokeswoman confirmed receiving the report, but said accountability shouldn't wait for the commissioners to weigh in.

"The national inquiry is calling on the Manitoba government, Manitoba Hydro and the RCMP to take all necessary steps to implement every measure that can be taken to ensure the safety of Indigenous women, girls and (LGBTTQ*) peoples. Actions need to be taken now," wrote Nadine Gros-Louis.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.caIn 2010, Canadas health ministers stated in a Declaration on Prevention and Promotion that the promotion of health and the prevention of disease, disability and injury are a priority and necessary to the sustainability of the health system. So, you would think that public health would be a clear priority in Canadas health-care system. However, Canadas governments have not acted in accordance with those fine words.

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Opinion

In 2010, Canadas health ministers stated in a Declaration on Prevention and Promotion that "the promotion of health and the prevention of disease, disability and injury are a priority and necessary to the sustainability of the health system." So, you would think that public health would be a clear priority in Canadas health-care system. However, Canadas governments have not acted in accordance with those fine words.

Public health is the only part of the health care system that is wholly concerned with preventing death, disease and injury. While most apparent in infectious disease control, it plays a leading role in the fight against tobacco, chronic diseases, obesity, injury, substance abuse, addictions and mental disorders. Not only does public health improve the health of the population, it is one of the best ways to sustain our publicly funded health-care system.

On average in 2015, the health-care system consumed 37 per cent of provincial program expenditures, a proportion that all provinces are struggling to contain. Because as health-care fundings share of the budget increases, it squeezes other sectors whose contributions to health and well-being are just as important: housing, education, social services and others.

There is only so much the provinces can do to reduce the cost of health care through efficiencies before they have to reduce services and access. But there is a better way: reduce the burden of disease, which is the work of public health. In addition, there are significant economic benefits from prevention, not only from avoided health-care costs but in avoided loss of production, income and tax revenue.

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Public health is being weakened across Canada. As it is, it receives only three to four per cent of health-care funding, and in some provinces and health authorities, much less. Public health funding in Nova Scotia is among the lowest in the country, at 1.5 per cent of health-care spending in 2010-11. Quebecs regional public health units were hit by severe budget cuts of 33 per cent in 2015, while the British Columbia auditor general reported last year that while all the care sectors within the system had increases in funding between 2012-13 and 2015-16, public health funding actually decreased.

It is not only a matter of funding. Recent editorials and commentaries in the Canadian Journal of Public Health have pointed to other problems, including downgrading the status of public health within governments and health authorities, eroding the independence of medical officers of health and limiting the scope of public health.

Meanwhile, nationally, the chief public health officer for Canada was downgraded by the Harper government from leading the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to being little more than an adviser to the president of PHAC. Inexplicably, the Liberal government  which established the agency in 2004  has failed to reverse this change in status and authority.

So significant is the crisis facing public health that last year, Canadas Chief Medical officers of Health wrote in the Canadian Medical Association Journal imploring "health ministers to reaffirm commitment to the principles outlined in the declaration."

Public health cannot fulfill its vitally important role with one hand tied behind its back. Our health care system depends upon a strong public health sector. Canadas governments need to make public health a priority.

Trevor Hancock is a retired professor of public health at the University of Victoria. Art Eggleton is chairman of the senate standing committee on social affairs, science and technology.In his last speech to Indigenous peoples, at the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) in October 2016, an 80-year-old Sen. John McCain reflected on the decades he spent advocating for Native American issues.

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In his last speech to Indigenous peoples, at the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) in October 2016, an 80-year-old Sen. John McCain reflected on the decades he spent advocating for Native American issues.

As the longest-serving member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (serving twice as chairman in 1995-97 and 2005-07), he was applauded by tribal chiefs and leaders as he listed off his policies that addressed native American inequities in health, education, and government.

John McCain speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2015.

The most rousing part of the speech though, was in his condemnation of offences United States corporations and lawmakers had recently committed against Indigenous communities, including the Gold King mining disaster in Colorado, which released three billion gallons of toxic waste into the Animas watershed.

He declared Indigenous leaders were "key to a water future" and the United States should follow their lead, demanding the U.S. "honour the treaties."

"We must listen more to you," McCain said, "and get out of the way of tribal authority."

He was one of the best advocates Indigenous peoples have ever had in the United States, but he was a flawed, imperfect politician who set a bar.

For most of his time in office, McCain had an affinity for Indigenous issues. While representing a state where he had to (5.3 per cent of Arizona is native American with more than 20 tribal communities), the vigour of his commitment is notable. McCains work was not driven by guilt and votes though, for he found a confluence of politics and ethics in Indigenous peoples.

Much of McCains record was on enacting the sovereignty of Indigenous nations and the handing over of government responsibilities to tribal governments. A belief in lesser government is a Republican position, of course, but McCain focused specifically on ensuring social inequities were addressed at the same time. He introduced policies and changes such as the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act and the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, and advocated for Indigenous-specific provisions in the Violence Against Women Act. One of his last bills was the Native American Education Opportunity Act, which gave Indigenous parents a chance to send children to non-Bureau of Indian Affairs schools (BIA schools are vastly substandard and federally run).

McCain was a co-creator of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, a transformative law that opened up the door for native American-run casinos and economic self-sufficiency. He even went after Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist who defrauded tribal nations in pursuit of casinos.

McCain also expanded the AMBER Alert warning system to include Indigenous communities, mediated water-rights settlements for tribes in Arizona and was central in the building of the Smithsonians National Museum of American Indians in Washington, D.C.

His most passionate project for Indigenous peoples was his advocacy of Indigenous veterans, whom he greeted, wrote letters to, and acknowledged consistently. His military relations didnt forget this: at the mortuary where his body sits now stand two Indigenous veterans.

But this is not all McCain did.

He battled publicly in Arizona with Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye over how to handle corruption, housing and trauma from the tribes relocation. He took a hard political line by cutting off funding to the community, resulting in innocent families being harmed.

McCain also had two forces that made him forget Indigenous peoples: campaign fundraising and the military.

Two years before his comments to the NCAI, McCain slid a "rider" (an addition to a passing law that often has little to do with it) to a defence authorization bill that gave access to 2,400 acres of lands claimed by the San Carlos Apache tribe to the Rio Tinto copper-mining company.

San Carlos Apache citizens decried the loss of their traditional lands and the lack of any consultation, likening the impacts a forthcoming mining project would have on their sacred sites as "destroying a church."

In a statement, McCain argued, "To maintain the strength of the most technologically advanced military in the world, Americas armed forces need stable supplies of copper for their equipment, ammunition and electronics."

Lesser known was the financial benefit McCain received from the bill: he was the top recipient of campaign contributions from Rio Tinto in 2014.

Related Items Click to Expand Articles Aug 27, 2018: Death of McCain prompts Manitoba memories Larry Kusch

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This betrayal wasnt forgotten by Indigenous activists, who confronted McCain on this and other land-claim violations he oversaw during his visit to Window Rock, Ariz., in August 2015. Filmed and uploaded on YouTube, this confrontation went viral.

The most ironic thing was, in 1989, a younger McCain proposed amendments to the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, which would require governments to consider Indigenous communities and not intrude on "native American religions or religious practices." Literally standing beside Indigenous activists when arguing for the amendments, McCain passionately argued Indigenous peoples should have legal powers to define and protect their relationships with the sacred  which would include land.

In the end, McCain suffered from a lack of votes and political will and the bill never became law. If it had, it would have likely made his rider 26 years later illegal.

McCain was full of complexity.

He was one of the better advocates Indigenous peoples have had in the United States, but he set a bar. Perhaps a low bar, but an unforgettable one.

niigaan.sinclair@freepress.mb.caConservative Leader Andrew Scheers scheduled trip to India seemed like a clever idea when he announced it a week ago  a way to remind the country of Justin Trudeaus calamitous India dress-up tour, which gave him his worst week in nearly three years as prime minister.

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This article was published 27/8/2018 (1162 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheers scheduled trip to India seemed like a clever idea when he announced it a week ago  a way to remind the country of Justin Trudeaus calamitous India dress-up tour, which gave him his worst week in nearly three years as prime minister.

But a week, as they say, is a long time in politics. Mr. Scheer showed since then that he could not hold his party together. Four-term Beauce MP Maxime Bernier bolted last Thursday; no one yet knows how many will follow, but already Mr. Scheers authority in the party and in the country is undermined.

Mr. Scheers story now is that Mr. Bernier is an ego-driven person who decided to quit a long time ago. Why did his leader not know this? Why did Mr. Scheer not strike first, by kicking Mr. Bernier out before he could do more damage?

ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Maxime Bernier announces he will leave the Conservative party during a news conference in Ottawa, Thursday August 23, 2018.

The Conservative leader has more urgent business before him than a publicity stunt in India. He has to cement the loyalty of his caucus members to ensure there will be no more defections. He has to show he has the confidence to expel traitors before they defect. He has to tour the country and reconnect with all the riding executive members whose efforts will re-elect Conservative MPs  or not.

It may be too late to back out of the India tour. He may have to go through with it and just hope and pray that no more sheep will stray from the fold while the shepherd travels overseas. But if a decent pretext for cancelling can be found, he should use it. He should show the party and the country that he recognizes the gravity of the current challenge to Conservative unity. He should teach Conservatives that discipline wins elections and indiscipline loses them. At this moment, he has no higher duty to his party.

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Disagreement about supply management of eggs, poultry and dairy products was the immediate occasion for Mr. Berniers departure. Mr. Scheer likes the system, Mr. Bernier does not. But Canadas supply management system has already sprung leaks through trade negotiations with the European Union and the Pacific Rim countries  and will probably spring more leaks in the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump took another verbal shot at Canadas dairy sector, while announcing a U.S.-Mexico side agreement on trade. When youre choosing which hill to die on, supply management is a poor one to choose: the matter is being decided elsewhere and the hill is eroding.

ANDREW VAUGHAN / THE CANADIAN PRESS Conservative Party of Canada leader Andrew Scheer delivers remarks at the party's national policy convention in Halifax on Friday, Aug. 24, 2018.

"I have come to realize over the past year that this party is too intellectually and morally corrupt to be reformed," Mr. Bernier said as he slammed the door on his former colleagues. Mr. Bernier was first elected to Parliament for the Conservatives in 2006. Odd that it took him 12 years to figure out the party did not meet his high standards.

Conservative stalwarts are painting last weeks Halifax party convention as a great success for party unity, but there is no concealing the high-profile defection and the humiliation of the leader.

Mr. Scheer has to pick himself up, get back on the horse and lead his troops into battle  after first making sure theyre with him. He can console himself with the thought that Justin Trudeau also has bad weeks. The next election is still a year off and, as they say, a week is a long time in politics.District officials also suspect that a hike in the number of students who say theyve used marijuana in the previous 30 days, from a low of 20 percent to 28 percent in the most recent survey, could also be connected to vaping. Thats because THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, can also be ingested via e-cigarettes, Hayes said.Robert Redford stars this fall in The Old Man and the Gun. The film, hes said, will be his last as an actor.WiGBits Headline News Would you like to receive our WiGBits? Signup today!

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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.Everest Re Group Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of reinsurance and insurance services. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Reinsurance, International, Bermuda, and Insurance. The U.S. Reinsurance segment writes property and casualty reinsurance and specialty lines of business, including marine, aviation, surety, and accident and health business, on both a treaty and facultative basis, through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies primarily within the U.S. The International segment offers foreign property and casualty reinsurance through Everest Re's branches in Canada and Singapore and through offices in Brazil, Miami, and New Jersey. The Bermuda segment comprises reinsurance and insurance to worldwide property and casualty markets through brokers and directly with ceding companies from its Bermuda office and reinsurance to the United Kingdom and European markets through its UK branch and Ireland Re. The Insurance segment writes property and casualty insurance directly and through brokers, surplus lines brokers, and general agents within the U.S., Canada, and Europe. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartere

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Police investigating Halloween death as a homicide

Pueblo police have begun a homicide investigation after finding a deceased female in her home on Halloween.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Tailored Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TLRD) released its earnings results on Wednesday, March, 18th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks' consensus estimate of ($0.54) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $690.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $708.46 million. Tailored Brands had a negative net margin of 14.39% and a negative trailing twelve-month return on equity of 138.49%. The company's revenue was down 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.28) EPS.

View Tailored Brands' earnings history.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..Wall Street analysts have given iShares MSCI India 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 India ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.7 hours ago

Americans sour on economy amid inflation woes: AP-NORC Poll

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Americans opinions on the U.S. economy have soured noticeably in the past month, a new poll finds, with nearly half expecting economic conditions to worsen in the next year. Just 35% of Americans now call the national economy good, while 65% call it poor, according to a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Read ArticleBrookfield Asset Management, Inc. engages in the management of public and private investment products and services for institutional and retail clients. It operates through the following segments: Asset Management, Real Estate, Renewable Power, Infrastructure, Private Equity, Residential Development, and Corporate Activities. The Asset Management segment includes the management of its listed partnerships, private funds and public securities. The Real Estate segment is comprised of the ownership, operation and development of core office, core retail, LP investments and other properties. The Renewable Power segment encompasses the ownership, operation and development of hydroelectric, wind, solar, storage and other power generating facilities. The Infrastructure segment consists of the ownership, operation and development of utilities, transport, energy, data infrastructure and sustainable resource assets. The Private Equity segment refers to the broad range of industries, and is mostly focused on business services, infrastructure services and industrials. The Residential Development segment represents homebuilding, condominium development and land development. The Corporate Activiti

Read MoreWall Street analysts have given Elegant Hotels 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 Elegant Hotels Group wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.Townsville, Australia  In a dusty, secluded corner of the Australian state of Queensland, a septuagenarian scientist is on an urgent mission to raise the alarm about the future of the planet.

John "Charlie" Veron  widely known as "The Godfather of Coral"  is a renowned reef expert who has personally discovered nearly a quarter of the world's coral species and has spent the past 45 years diving Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

But after a lifetime trying to make sense of the vast ecosystems that lie beneath the ocean's surface, the 73-year-old is now becoming a prophet of their extinction.

More on the Great Barrier Reef

"It's the beginning of a planetary catastrophe," he tells CNN. "I was too slow to become vocal about it."

In 2016 and 2017, marine heat waves caused by climate change resulted in mass bleaching, which killed about half of the corals on the Great Barrier Reef, along with many others around the world.

"Somewhere between a quarter and a third of all marine species everywhere has some part of their life cycle in coral reefs," he says. "So, you take out coral reefs and a third to a quarter of all marine species gets wiped out. Now that is ecological chaos, it is ecological collapse."

Watch the full documentary: Race to save the reef

One of the natural wonders of the world, the Great Barrier Reef is 2,300km long  roughly the length of Italy  and is the only living organism that can be seen from space.

When Veron, a former Chief Scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, first went diving on the vast reef in the early 1960s he felt like "his life started."

"It was so much packed into a small area, so much life, so much activity, even noisy. It was really a metropolis, it was really humming and buzzing," he says. "It's a wilderness, it's dangerous, it's exciting."

At that stage, he had no idea about what was in store for this vibrant underwater habitat.

"I was a climate change skeptic, at first," he says. He realized that climate change was "serious" in the mid-1980s, and around 1990 he became "alarmed" about its impact on coral reefs.

Coral reefs 'on death row'

Veron says the mass bleaching events in the past few years  and the prospect of losing one of nature's greatest treasures  were a wake-up call for the world in the wider battle against climate change.

"It's more than an alarm bell," says Veron. "It's an air raid siren."

But the die-off came as no surprise to him. Back in the 1990s, he had predicted that climate change would destroy the reef, documented in several books he published, and in a 2009 keynote lecture titled "Is the Great Barrier Reef on Death Row?" at the Royal Society in London, where he was introduced by veteran British naturalist Sir David Attenborough.

Attenborough described Veron as "one of the great authorities in the world on coral" who has "devoted himself to looking after and raising awareness about the dangers facing the reef."

Watch: The race to save the Great Barrier Reef

Among the Australian conservation community, Veron's reputation is also unmatched.

"Charlie is a legendary figure in coral reef circles. There's no-one else in the world who has seen what Charlie has seen," says Richard Leck, the Head of Oceans at WWF Australia. "He comes with a level of experience and gravitas that few other people and organizations could match and that's where his enormous influence comes from."

After the recent mass bleaching events, Veron dived in multiple areas of the Great Barrier Reef to see the damage for himself.

"I was seeing it and feeling it and it was absolutely horrific, there's no other way to describe it," he says.

Veron took CNN underwater for a first-hand look. There are still large sections of healthy, thriving parts of reef that are teeming with life. But there are also vast areas of coral graveyards that look like they suffered an underwater forest fire.

In the summer of 2018, experts say no bleaching occurred, which has helped some of the bleached coral to begin the recovery process. But Veron says it takes about 10 years for corals to recover fully, and they simply don't have that sort of time.

"For most years, say five out of seven years, there will be now mass bleaching on coral reefs around the world," he says.

Veron says he hates to predict the future for the Great Barrier Reef, because it "can't be anything other than absolute massive death."

His certainty is partly due to the fact that the oceans are only now seeing the impact of carbon emissions from the late 1990s, so Veron says even if we stop burning fossil fuels now, the oceans will continue warming for at least two more decades.

A life underwater

Born John Veron, his teachers at school gave him the nickname "Charlie" after Charles Darwin, due to his obsessive curiosity with the natural world, as detailed in his 2017 memoir, "A Life Underwater."

He has had a storied career in academia and research, becoming the first scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and later its Chief Scientist. But he eventually left as, he says, he struggled with the bureaucracy of working for the government agency.

"Charlie is a maverick, he is certainly outspoken and is certainly passionate," Leck says. "Charlie has risked his reputation, probably his livelihood, and people who don't want the status quo to change get upset about that."

Now, Veron spends his days mostly working from his rural home Rivendell'  named after the refuge of the elves in the J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings"  near Townsville in Queensland.

The sprawling concrete structure, which Veron helped to build more than 40 years ago, is immersed in nature. Wandering outside the house he points out multiple wallabies. His pets include dozens of fish, two dogs and a few geese.

He lives with his second wife, 60-year-old British coral biologist Mary Stafford-Smith, who has co-authored and edited many of his books. Together, they are documenting and categorizing the worlds corals on their website, Corals of the World.

Veron has three adult children: one daughter from his first marriage, and a son and daughter with Stafford-Smith. His face clouds over as he talks about the heartbreak of losing another daughter, Noni -- short for Fiona -- who drowned in a creek as a 10-year-old.

He again turns gloomy when he talks about the family's plan to leave their beloved Rivendell, to move further north to an area which is higher and wetter, where they could one day live off the land. He says he wants to secure his family's future for a world that he believes will be ruined by climate change.

"We have to have a refuge for our children when everything goes belly up," he says. "We've got no choice."

'Mass extinction event'

This doomsday scenario seems extreme, but after decades of studying scientific evidence around this topic, Veron believes that this eventuality is a certainty.

"We have got now also the phenomenon of a mass extinction event looming," he says, which he describes as a "man-made asteroid" that would compare to the dinosaurs being wiped out.

The biggest driver of increased carbon emissions in the atmosphere is burning coal, he says, and that's something he thinks Australia is not doing enough to stop.

"It's very political, because no country is as addicted to coal as Australia is," he says. "We're making a fortune out of coal."

Australia was the world's largest exporter of coal in 2017 and although the country is signed up to the Paris Agreement on climate change, this week the Australian government withdrew its National Energy Guarantee (NEG) legislation  which included targets for lowering carbon emissions  saying there was a lack of support for the bill.

Race to save the reef

Earlier this year, the Australian government announced nearly $400m (21.3 billion) in new funding towards scientific projects designed to help the Great Barrier Reef.

There has been criticism in Australia about the tender process for the funding, as the money was given directly to a small charity -- the Great Barrier Reef Foundation  which will administer the funds to different projects. The government insists it met the relevant guidelines, and says it welcomes an audit into the process.

Read: Successful trial of 'coral IVF' gives hope for Great Barrier Reef

Critics also say that the money should have been spent on tackling climate change.

"Coral bleaching is driven by carbon dioxide  unless you stop pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, it'll go on. It's as simple as that," Veron says.

The funding won't be wasted, though, Veron says, as scientists will be able to create a sort of seed bank for corals, to preserve the species until the climate is stable enough to rebuild the reefs.

"What the scientists hope to do is to help nature along a bit if they can, and that is to do all we can to repopulate, help the corals, after the big carbon dioxide increase is over and it starts to come down," he says.

For all his dire predictions for the future of the planet, he thinks humans were destined to take this path.

"It's part of being human to not worry about the long-term future," he says. "We're genetically programmed like that ... we just don't think ahead."

This story was first published on CNN.com "Great Barrier Reef headed for massive death"The following companies are subsidiares of InterContinental Hotels Group: 2250 Blake Street Hotel LLC, 24th Street Operator Sub LLC, 36th Street IHG Sub LLC, 426 Main Ave LLC, 46 Nevins Street Associates LLC, Allegro Management LLC, Alpha Kimball Hotel LLC, American Commonwealth Assurance Co. Ltd., Asia Pacific Holdings Limited, BHMC Canada Inc., BHR Holdings B.V., BHR Luxembourg SARL, BHR Pacific Holdings Inc., BHTC Canada Inc., BOC Barclay Sub LLC, Barclay Operating Corp., Bristol Oakbrook Tenant Company, Cafe Biarritz, Cambridge Lodging LLC, Capital Lodging LLC, Compania Inter-Continental De Hoteles El Salvador SA, Crowne Plaza Amsterdam (Management) B.V., Crowne Plaza LLC, Cumberland Akers Hotel LLC, Dunwoody Operations Inc., EVEN Real Estate Holding LLC, Edinburgh IC Limited, General Innkeeping Acceptance Corporation, Guangzhou SC Hotels Services Ltd., H.I. (Ireland) Limited, H.I. Soaltee Management Company Ltd, HC International Holdings Inc., HH France Holdings SAS, HH Hotels (EMEA) B.V., HH Hotels (Romania) SRL, HI Sugarloaf LLC, HIM (Aruba) NV, Hale International Ltd., Hoft Properties LLC, Holiday Hospitality Franchising LLC, Holiday Inn Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Holiday Inns (China) Ltd, Holiday Inns (Chongqing) Inc., Holiday Inns (Courtalin) Holdings SAS, Holiday Inns (Courtalin) SAS, Holiday Inns (England) Ltd., Holiday Inns (Germany) LLC, Holiday Inns (Guangzhou) Inc., Holiday Inns (Jamaica) Inc., Holiday Inns (Malaysia) Ltd., Holiday Inns (Middle East) Ltd., Holiday Inns (Philippines) Inc., Holiday Inns (Saudi Arabia) Inc., Holiday Inns (South East Asia) Inc., Holiday Inns (Thailand) Ltd., Holiday Inns (UK) Inc., Holiday Inns Crowne Plaza (Hong Kong) Inc., Holiday Inns Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd, Holiday Inns Inc., Holiday Inns Investment (Nepal) Ltd., Holiday Inns of America (UK) Ltd., Holiday Inns of Belgium N.V., Holiday Pacific Equity Corporation, Holiday Pacific LLC, Holiday Pacific Partners LP, Hotel Inter-Continental London Limited, Hotel InterContinental London (Holdings) Limited, Hoteles Y Turismo HIH SRL, IC Hotelbetriebsfuhrungs GmbH, IC Hotels Management (Portugal) Unipessoal Lda, IC International Hotels Limited Liability Company, IHC (Thailand) Limited, IHC Buckhead LLC, IHC Edinburgh (Holdings), IHC Hopkins (Holdings) Corp., IHC Hotel Limited, IHC Inter-Continental (Holdings) Corp., IHC London (Holdings), IHC M-H (Holdings) Corp., IHC May Fair (Holdings) Limited, IHC May Fair Hotel Limited, IHC Overseas (U.K.) Limited, IHC UK (Holdings) Limited, IHC United States (Holdings) Corp., IHC Willard (Holdings) Corp., IHG (Australasia) Limited, IHG (Marseille) SAS, IHG (Thailand) Limited, IHG ANA Hotels Group Japan LLC, IHG ANA Hotels Holdings Co. Ltd., IHG Bangkok Ltd, IHG Brasil Administracao de Hoteis e Servicos Ltda, IHG Commission Services SRL, IHG Community Development LLC, IHG Cyprus Limited, IHG ECS (Barbados) SRL, IHG Franchising Brasil Ltda, IHG Franchising DR Corporation, IHG Franchising LLC, IHG Hotels (New Zealand) Limited, IHG Hotels Limited, IHG Hotels Management (Australia) Pty Limited, IHG Hotels Nigeria Limited, IHG Hotels South Africa (Pty) Ltd, IHG International Partnership, IHG Istanbul Otel Yonetim Limited Sirketi, IHG Japan (Management) LLC, IHG Japan (Osaka) LLC, IHG Management (Maryland) LLC, IHG Management (Netherlands) B.V., IHG Management MD Barclay Sub LLC, IHG Management SL d.o.o, IHG Management d.o.o. Beograd, IHG Orchard Street Member LLC, IHG PS Nominees Limited, IHG Systems Pty Ltd, IHG Szalloda Budapest Szolgaltato Kft., IHG de Argentina SA, IND East Village SD Holdings LLC, Inter-Continental D.C. Operating Corp., Inter-Continental Florida Investment Corp., Inter-Continental Florida Partner Corp., Inter-Continental Hospitality Corporation, Inter-Continental Hoteleira Limitada, Inter-Continental Hotels (Montreal) Operating Corp., Inter-Continental Hotels (Montreal) Owning Corp., Inter-Continental Hotels (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Inter-Continental Hotels Corporation, Inter-Continental Hotels Corporation de Venezuela C.A., Inter-Continental Hotels of San Francisco Inc., Inter-Continental IOHC (Mauritius) Limited, Inter-Continental Management (Australia) Pty Limited, InterContinental (Branston) 1 Limited, InterContinental (PB) 1, InterContinental (PB) 2, InterContinental (PB) 3 Limited, InterContinental Berlin Service Company GmbH, InterContinental Brasil Administracao de Hoteis Ltda, InterContinental Gestion Hotelera S.L., InterContinental Hotel Berlin GmbH, InterContinental Hotel Dusseldorf GmbH (Germany), InterContinental Hotels (Puerto Rico) Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd, InterContinental Hotels Group (Australia) Pty Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group (Canada) Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group (Espana) SA, InterContinental Hotels Group (Greater China) Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group (India) Pvt. Ltd, InterContinental Hotels Group (Japan) Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group (New Zealand) Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group (Shanghai) Ltd., InterContinental Hotels Group Customer Services Ltd., InterContinental Hotels Group Healthcare Trustee Limited, InterContinental Hotels Group Operating Corp., InterContinental Hotels Group Resources Inc., InterContinental Hotels Group Services Company, InterContinental Hotels Group do Brasil Limitada, InterContinental Hotels Italia S.r.L., InterContinental Hotels Limited, InterContinental Hotels Management GmbH, InterContinental Hotels Nevada Corporation, InterContinental Management AM LLC, InterContinental Management Bulgaria EOOD, InterContinental Management France SAS, InterContinental Management Poland sp. z.o.o, InterContinental Overseas Holding Corporation, Intercontinental Hotels Corporation Limited, KG Benefits LLC, KG Gift Card Inc., KG Liability LLC, KG Technology LLC, KHP Washington Operator LLC, KHRG 11th Avenue Hotel LLC, KHRG 851 LLC, KHRG Aertson LLC, KHRG Alexandria LLC, KHRG Alexis LLC, KHRG Allegro LLC, KHRG Argyle LLC, KHRG Austin Beverage Company LLC, KHRG Baltimore LLC, KHRG Born LLC, KHRG Boston Hotel LLC, KHRG Canary LLC, KHRG Cayman Employer Ltd., KHRG Cayman LLC, KHRG DC 1731 LLC, KHRG DC 2505 LLC, KHRG Donovan LLC, KHRG Employer LLC, KHRG Goleta LLC, KHRG Gray LLC, KHRG Gray U2 LLC, KHRG Hillcrest LLC, KHRG Huntington Beach LLC, KHRG King Street LLC, KHRG La Peer LLC, KHRG Miami Beach LLC, KHRG Muse LLC, KHRG NPC LLC, KHRG Onyx LLC, KHRG Palladian LLC, KHRG Palomar Phoenix LLC, KHRG Philly Monaco LLC, KHRG Pittsburgh LLC, KHRG Reynolds LLC, KHRG Riverplace LLC, KHRG SFD LLC, KHRG Sacramento LLC, KHRG Savannah LLC, KHRG Schofield LLC, KHRG Sedona LLC, KHRG State Street LLC, KHRG Sutter LLC, KHRG Sutter Union LLC, KHRG Taconic LLC, KHRG Tariff LLC, KHRG Texas Hospitality LLC, KHRG Texas Operations LLC, KHRG Tryon LLC, KHRG VZ Austin LLC, KHRG Vero Beach LLC, KHRG Vintage Park LLC, KHRG WPB LLC, KHRG Wabash LLC, KHRG Westwood LLC, KHRG Wilshire LLC, KHRG Zamora LLC, Kimpton Hollywood Licenses LLC, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group LLC, Kimpton Phoenix Licenses Holdings LLC, Kimpton Sedona Licenses LLC, Louisiana Acquisitions Corp., MH Lodging LLC, Mercer Fairview Holdings LLC, PML Services LLC, PT SC Hotels & Resorts Indonesia, Pollstrong Limited, Powell Pine Inc., Priscilla Holiday of Texas Inc., RM Lodging LLC, Regent Hotels and Resorts, Resort Services International (Cayo Largo) L.P., SBS Maryland Beverage Company LLC, SC Cellars Limited, SC Hotels International Services Inc., SC Leisure Group Limited, SC NAS 2 Limited, SC Quest Limited, SC Reservations (Philippines) Inc., SCH Insurance Company, SCIH Branston 3, SF MH Acquisition LLC, SPHC Group Pty Ltd., SPHC Management Ltd., Semiramis for training of Hotel Personnel and Hotel Management SAE, Six Continents Corporate Services, Six Continents Holdings Limited, Six Continents Hotels Inc., Six Continents Hotels International Limited, Six Continents Hotels de Colombia SA, Six Continents International Holdings B.V., Six Continents Investments Limited, Six Continents Limited, Six Continents Overseas Holdings Limited, Six Continents Restaurants Limited, SixCo North America Inc., Solamar Lodging LLC, Southern Pacific Hotel Corporation (BVI) Ltd., Southern Pacific Hotels Properties Limited, Universal de Hoteles SA, White Shield Insurance Company Limited, and World Trade Centre Montreal Hotel Corporation.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Gildan Activewear Inc. manufactures and sells various apparel products in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It provides various activewear products, including T-shirts, fleece tops and bottoms, and sport shirts under the Gildan, Gildan Performance, Gildan Hammer, Comfort Colors, American Apparel, Anvil by Gildan, Alstyle, Prim + Preux, and GoldToe brands. The company also offers hosiery products comprising athletic; dress; and casual, liner, therapeutic, and workwear socks, as well as sheer panty hoses, tights, and leggings under the brands of Gildan, Under Armour, GoldToe, PowerSox, GT a GoldToe Brand, Silver Toe, Signature Gold by Goldtoe, Peds, MediPeds, Kushyfoot, Therapy Plus, All Pro, Secret, Silks, Secret Silky, and American Apparel. In addition, it provides men's and boys' underwear products, and ladies panties under the Gildan and Gildan Platinum brand names; and ladies' shapewear, intimates, and accessories under the Secret and Secret Silky brands. The company sells its products to wholesale distributors, screen printers, or embellishers, as well as to retailers and consumer brand companies. The company was formerly known as Textiles Gildan Inc. and changed its name to Gildan Activewear Inc. in March 1995. Gildan Activewear Inc. was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Montreal, 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.

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 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.Wall Street analysts have given Hansteen 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 Hansteen 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 Minoan 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 Minoan Group wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.Imperial Brands PLC, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, imports, markets, and sells tobacco and tobacco-related products. It offers a range of cigarettes, fine cut and smokeless tobacco, papers, and cigars; and next generation product (NGP) portfolio, such as e-vapour products, as well as oral nicotine and heated tobacco products. The company sells its products under various brands, including Davidoff, Gauloises, JPS, West, L&B, Bastos, Fine, Winston, News, Parker & Simpson, blu, Kool, Horizon, Jade, Cohiba, Montecristo, Romeo Y Julieta, Backwoods, Skruf, Golden Virginia, Rizla, and Knox in approximately 160 countries worldwide. It also provides logistics services that include the distribution of tobacco and NGP products for tobacco and NGP product manufacturers; and various non-tobacco and NGP products and services. In addition, the company is involved in the management of a golf course; marketing of papers; restaurant business; distribution of pharmaceuticals, POS software, and published materials and other products; printing and publishing activities; and provision of long haul transportation, industrial parcel and express delivery, advertising, and support management services. Further, it owns the trademarks; and retails its products. The company was formerly known as Imperial Tobacco Group PLC and changed its name to Imperial Brands PLC in February 2016. Imperial Brands PLC was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Bristol, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreWall Street analysts have given iShares MSCI South Korea 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 South Korea 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 Continental Aktiengesellschaft: A-Z Formen- und Maschinenbau GmbH, ADC Automotive Distance Control Systems GmbH, ALPHALOR 3 EURL, AZ-CZECH s.r.o., Adam Touring GmbH, Advance Tyre Company Ltd., Advanced Imaging Technologies, Advanced Imaging Technologies (Pty) Ltd, Advanced Scientific Concepts, AlMutlak Continental Company Limited Liability Company, Application Solutions (Electronics and Vision) Ltd., Argus Cyber Security Ltd, BENECKE-KALIKO S.A., BENECKE-KALIKO S.A., BEST DRIVE CTM S.A. de C.V., BV Environmental Limited, BV F1rst Limited, Bandvulc Tyres Limited, Belt Concepts of America Inc., BeltTrade Inc., Benecke Changshun Auto Trim (Zhangjiagang) Co. Ltd., Benecke Changshun Eco Trim (Changzhou) Co. Ltd., Benecke-Kaliko AG, BestDrive LLC, BestDrive Sverige AB, Bestdrive Benelux B.V.B.A., CAC Philippines Inc., CAS Munchen GmbH, CAS UK Holding Ltd., CAS-One Holdinggesellschaft mbH, CGH Holding B.V., CGT Referral Resources Inc., CONTINENTAL CPM S. DE R.L. DE C.V., CONTINENTAL ENGINEERING SERVICES PORTUGAL UNIPESSOAL LDA, CONTINENTAL IBERIA SALES AND SERVICES S.A.U., CONTINENTAL INDUSTRIAL SERVICES S A (Pty.) Ltd., CONTINENTAL SURFACE SOLUTIONS INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED, CONTITECH Chile S.A., CPT Automotive Changchun Co. Ltd., CPT GUADALAJARA S. de. R. L. de C.V., CPT MANUFACTURING MEXICO S. de R. L. de C.V., CPT MAQUILA MEXICO S. de R. L. de C.V., Carrel Grundstucksverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH Co. Vermietungs KG, Changshu ContiTech Trading Ltd., Conseo GmbH, Conti Automotive Servicios S.A. de C.V., Conti Temic microelectronic GmbH, Conti Trade Australia Pty. Ltd., Conti Trade Italia S.r.l., Conti Versicherungsdienst Versicherungsvermittlungsges. mbH, Conti-Gummi Finance B.V., ContiTech (Shandong) Engineered Rubber Products Co. Ltd., ContiTech AG, ContiTech AVS France, ContiTech Africa (Pty.) Ltd., ContiTech Anoflex SAS, ContiTech Antriebssysteme GmbH, ContiTech Australia Pty Ltd, ContiTech Belgium BVBA, ContiTech Canada Inc., ContiTech China Rubber & Plastics Technology Ltd., ContiTech Consulting Mexicana S.A. de C.V., ContiTech Dae Won Airspring Systems Ltd., ContiTech Elastomer-Beschichtungen GmbH, ContiTech Finland Oy, ContiTech Fluid Automotive CZ s.r.o., ContiTech Fluid Automotive Hungaria Kft., ContiTech Fluid Automotive Maroc SARL, ContiTech Fluid Distribuidora S.A. de C.V., ContiTech Fluid Korea Ltd., ContiTech Fluid Mexicana S.A. de C.V., ContiTech Fluid Mexicana Servicios S.A. de C.V., ContiTech Fluid Monterrey Servicios S.A. de C.V., ContiTech Fluid Oil & Marine Middle East FZE, ContiTech Fluid Serbia D.O.O., ContiTech Fluid Shanghai Co. Ltd., ContiTech Fluid Technology (Changchun) Co. Ltd., ContiTech France SNC, ContiTech Global Holding Netherlands B.V., ContiTech Holding (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, ContiTech Holding Netherlands B.V., ContiTech IMAS A.E., ContiTech India Pvt. Ltd., ContiTech Japan Co. Ltd., ContiTech Kautschuk- und Kunststoffvertriebsges. mbH, ContiTech Kuhner Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, ContiTech Kuhner GmbH & Cie. KG, ContiTech Lastik Sanayi ve Ticaret AS, ContiTech Luftfedersysteme GmbH, ContiTech MGW GmbH, ContiTech Magyarorszag Kft., ContiTech Maroc SARL, ContiTech Mexicana S.A. de C.V., ContiTech North America Inc., ContiTech Oil & Marine Corp., ContiTech Power Transmission (Ninghai) Ltd., ContiTech Power Transmission (Sanmen) Ltd., ContiTech Power Transmission Korea Co. Ltd., ContiTech Print Service (S) Pte. Ltd., ContiTech Printing Blanket Shanghai Ltd., ContiTech Roulunds Rubber A/S, ContiTech Rubber Industrial Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, ContiTech Scandinavia AB, ContiTech Schlauch GmbH, ContiTech Services (Pty.) Ltd., ContiTech Shanghai Rubber & Plastics Technology Ltd., ContiTech Singapore Pte. Ltd., ContiTech Slovenija druzba za proizvodnjo gumenih tehnicnih izdelkov d.o.o., ContiTech South Africa (Pty.) Ltd., ContiTech Techno-Chemie GmbH, ContiTech Thermopol LLC, ContiTech Thermopol Romania S.R.L., ContiTech Tianjin Conveyor Belt Ltd., ContiTech Transportbandsysteme GmbH, ContiTech USA Inc., ContiTech United Kingdom Ltd., ContiTech Vibration Control France SAS, ContiTech Vibration Control GmbH, ContiTech Vibration Control Slovakia s.r.o., ContiTech Vibration Control s.r.o., ContiTech-Universe Verwaltungs-GmbH, ContiTrade (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ContiTrade Africa (Pty) Ltd, ContiTrade France Rechapage, ContiTrade Services s.r.o., ContiTrade Slovakia s.r.o., Conticlub SAS, Continental - Industria Textil do Ave S.A., Continental Adria pnevmatike d.o.o., Continental Advanced Antenna Automotiva LTDA, Continental Advanced Antenna GmbH, Continental Advanced Lidar Solutions US LLC, Continental Aftermarket & Services GmbH, Continental Aftermarket GmbH, Continental Automotive AB, Continental Automotive Aguascalientes S.A. de C.V., Continental Automotive Austria GmbH, Continental Automotive Bajio S.A. de C.V., Continental Automotive Bangkok Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Benelux BVBA, Continental Automotive Brake Systems (I) Private Limited, Continental Automotive Changchun Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Components (India) Private Ltd., Continental Automotive Components Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Automotive Corporation, Continental Automotive Corporation (Lianyungang) Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Czech Republic s.r.o., Continental Automotive Electronics LLC, Continental Automotive Engineering (Chongqing) Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive France SAS, Continental Automotive Funding Corp., Continental Automotive GmbH, Continental Automotive Grundstucksges. mbH, Continental Automotive Guadalajara Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Continental Automotive Holding Netherlands B.V., Continental Automotive Holding Spain S.L., Continental Automotive Holdings UK Ltd., Continental Automotive Hungary Kft., Continental Automotive Inc., Continental Automotive Instruments Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Automotive Interior Wuhu Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Italy S.p.A., Continental Automotive Japan K.K., Continental Automotive Jinan Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Korea Ltd., Continental Automotive Lithuania UAB, Continental Automotive Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Automotive Maquila Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Continental Automotive Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Continental Automotive Occidente S.A. de C.V., Continental Automotive Parts (Suzhou) Co. Ltd, Continental Automotive Rambouillet France SAS, Continental Automotive Romania SRL, Continental Automotive SLP S.A. de C.V., Continental Automotive Singapore Pte. Ltd., Continental Automotive Spain S.A., Continental Automotive Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Systems (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Systems Changsha Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Systems Changshu Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive Systems Costa Rica S.A., Continental Automotive Systems Inc., Continental Automotive Systems SRL, Continental Automotive Systems Slovakia s.r.o., Continental Automotive Trading France SAS, Continental Automotive Trading Italia S.r.l., Continental Automotive Trading Nederland B.V., Continental Automotive Trading UK Ltd., Continental Automotive Trading Osterreich GmbH, Continental Automotive UK Ltd., Continental Automotive Wuhu Co. Ltd., Continental Automotive d.o.o. Novi Sad, Continental Automotive do Brasil Ltda., Continental Barum s.r.o., Continental Benelux SPRL, Continental Bicycle Systems GmbH & Co. KG, Continental Bicycle Systems Verwaltungs GmbH, Continental Brake Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Continental Brakes Italy S.p.A., Continental Brasil Industria Automotiva Ltda., Continental Caoutchouc-Export-GmbH, Continental ContiTech de Chihuahua S. de R.L. de C.V., Continental ContiTech de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Continental Daek Danmark A/S, Continental Dekk Norge A/S, Continental Digital Services France SAS, Continental Dack Sverige AB, Continental Engineering Services & Products GmbH, Continental Engineering Services GmbH, Continental Engineering Services Ltd., Continental Finance GmbH, Continental France SNC, Continental Global Business Services Manila Inc., Continental Global Holding Netherlands B.V., Continental HT Tyres s.r.o., Continental Holding China Co. Ltd., Continental Holding France SAS, Continental Hungaria Kft., Continental India Private Limited, Continental Industrias del Caucho S.A., Continental Industria e Comercio Automotivos Ltda., Continental Industria e Comercio de Pecas de Reposicao Automotivas Ltda., Continental Intelligent Transportation Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Continental Intelligent Transportation Systems LLC, Continental Investment Ltd., Continental Italia S.p.A., Continental Lemmerz (Portugal)-Componentes para Automoveis Lda., Continental Llantera Potosina S.A. de C.V., Continental Mabor Industria de Pneus S.A., Continental Matador Rubber s.r.o., Continental Matador Truck Tires s.r.o., Continental Middle East DMCC, Continental Opony Polska Sp. z o.o., Continental Pneus (Portugal) S.A., Continental Pty Ltd, Continental Reifen Deutschland GmbH, Continental Rengas Oy, Continental Rubber of America Corp., Continental Safety Engineering International GmbH, Continental Secure Data Germany GmbH, Continental Secure Data Headquarter B.V., Continental Secure Data USA LLC, Continental Servicos de Vulcanizacao do Brasil Ltda., Continental Suisse S.A., Continental Temic Electronics (Phils.) Inc., Continental Teves AG & Co. OHG, Continental Teves Portugal - Sistemas de Travagem Lda., Continental Teves UK Ltd., Continental Tire Andina S.A., Continental Tire Canada Inc., Continental Tire Chile SpA, Continental Tire Colombia S.A.S., Continental Tire Corporativo S.A. de C.V., Continental Tire Holding US LLC, Continental Tire Japan Co. Ltd., Continental Tire Korea Co. Ltd., Continental Tire Sumter LLC, Continental Tire West Africa Limited, Continental Tire de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Continental Tire the Americas LLC, Continental Tires (China) Co. Ltd., Continental Tires (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Continental Tires Espana S.L., Continental Tires Holding Singapore Pte. Ltd., Continental Trebbin GmbH & Co. KG Sondermaschinenbau, Continental Trebbin Verwaltungs- und Beteiligungs-GmbH, Continental Tyre AS Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Tyre Group Ltd., Continental Tyre Investment UK Ltd., Continental Tyre Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Tyre Management Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Tyre Marketing Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Tyre North Africa SARL, Continental Tyre PJ Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Tyre Services Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Tyre South Africa (Pty.) Ltd., Continental Tyre Technology Centre Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Continental Tyres (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Continental Tyres Ltd., Continental Tyres of Australia Pty Ltd, Continental UK Group Holdings Ltd., Continental VUK s.r.o., Continental do Brasil Produtos Automotivos Ltda., Continental of Taiwan Co. Ltd., Continental vyroba pneumatik s.r.o., Contitech Argentina S.R.L., Contitech Botswana (Pty) Ltd, Contitech do Brasil Produtos Automotivos e Industriais Ltda., Contitrade Espana S.A.U., Contitrade Holding, Contitread Renovado Morelia S.A. de C.V., Correx Handelsgesellschaft fur Kautschukprodukte mbH, Custom Machining Services Inc., DRUST, Dekkmann A/S, Dunlop Oil & Marine Ltd., DynaGen Inc., EPD Holdings Inc., Eddelbuttel + Schneider GmbH, Elektrobit, Elektrobit Austria GmbH, Elektrobit Automotive Americas Inc., Elektrobit Automotive Finland Oy, Elektrobit Automotive GmbH, Elektrobit Automotive Korea Limited, Elektrobit Automotive Romania SRL, Elektrobit Automotive Software (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Elektrobit France SAS, Elektrobit India Private Ltd., Elektrobit Nippon K.K., Emitec Denmark A/S, Emitec France SAS, Eu-Retec (Private) Ltd., FSC Franchising Service Company S.p.A., Formpolster GmbH, General Tire International Company, Granite Investments Limited, Holding ContiTech SAS, Hoosier Racing Tire Corp., Hornschuch (Shanghai) Surface Technology Co. Ltd., Hornschuch Consulting GmbH, Hornschuch Group GmbH, Hornschuch Italia S.r.l., Hornschuch Stolzenau GmbH, Hornschuch UK Ltd., Hornschuch-Markt GmbH, INTECH Thuringen GmbH, Kathrein Automotive, Kathrein Automotive Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Kathrein Automotive North America Inc., Kathrein Automotive Portugal Sociedade Unipessoal Lda., Kim Holdings Scotland Limited, Kolubara-Univerzal D.O.O., Konrad Hornschuch AG, Konrad Hornschuch International GmbH, Legg Company Inc., Libra Associates (Properties) Limited, MISA GmbH & Co. KG, MISA-Beteiligungs GmbH, Merlett Belgie B.V.B.A, Merlett Benelux B.V., Merlett Deutschland GmbH, Merlett France SAS, Merlett Group, Merlett Iberica 2016 S.L., Merlett Norway As, Merlett Plastics UK Ltd., Merlett Polska Sp. Z o.o., Merlett RUS LLC, Merlett Tecnoplastic S.p.a., Noviteck SA, O'Sullivan Films Inc., OOO "ContiTech Rus", OOO "Continental Automotive RUS", OOO "Continental Automotive Systems RUS", OOO "Continental Kaluga", OOO "Continental Tires RUS", OOO Hornschuch RUS, OTA Grundstucks- und Beteiligungsverwaltung GmbH, OTA keys, OTA keys S.A., Omitec Group, Otomotiv Lastikleri Tevzi AS (OLTAS), POWERTRAIN MAQUILA MEXICO S. DE R.L. DE C.V., PT Continental Tyre Indonesia, PT Quantum Inventions Indonesia, Parkpocket, Phoenix Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Phoenix Compounding Technology GmbH, Phoenix Conveyor Belt India Private Ltd., Phoenix Conveyor Belt Solutions Inc., Phoenix Conveyor Belt Systems GmbH, Phoenix Fluid Handling Industry GmbH, Phoenix Oil & Marine Ltd., Phoenix Service GmbH & Co. KG, Phoenix Shanxi Conveyor Belt Co. Ltd., Phoenix Vermogensverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Pneu Egger AG, Profi Reifen- und Autoservice Gesellschaft mbH, Prazisionstechnik Geithain GmbH, QUANTUM INVENTIONS SDN. BHD., Quantum Inventions, Quantum Inventions Private Limited, R & J Strang Tyre Services Limited, REG Reifen-Entsorgungsgesellschaft mbH, REPARATION PNEUMATIQUES DU SUD EST (REPNEU) SAS, ROSEA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Objekt Hannover-Stocken KG, Reifen Apel GmbH, Reifen Kauffmann GmbH, Reifen-John GmbH & Co KG, Reifen-Service Clemens & Hegel GmbH, Rengasmaailma Oy, Road-Broad Automotive Electronics (Qufu) Co. Ltd., Rundpneu Beteiligungsges. mbH, S.C. ContiTech Fluid Automotive Romania S.R.L., S.C. ContiTech Romania S.R.L., S.C. Continental Automotive Products SRL, SAS CONTITRADE FRANCE, STEINEBRONN BETEILIGUNGS-GMBH, Semperit (Ireland) Ltd., Semperit (UK) Ltd., Semperit Reifen Gesellschaft mbH, Senior Experts Services GmbH, Siemens VDO Automotive S.p.A., Specialised Belting Supplies Ltd., Specialty Fabrics & Converting Inc., Specialty Yarn & Converting Inc., Stable One Insurance Company LLC, Synerject Taiwan Co. Ltd., Syrma A.E., TON Tyres Over Night Trading GmbH, TOO "Continental Matador KZ", Temic Automotive (Phils.) Inc., Tikka Spikes Oy, Tyre Maintenance Limited, Tyre Reinsurance (Ireland) DAC, Tyre and Auto Pty Ltd, UMG Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Union-Mittelland-Gummi-GmbH & Co. Grundbesitz KG, Unterstutzungskasse mbH der Goppinger Kaliko- und Kunstleder-Werke GmbH, VIVAX Trading GmbH, Vanvulc Tyres Limited, Vaysse SAS, Vergolst GmbH, Veyance Distribuidora de Produtos de Engenharia Ltda., Veyance Hong Kong Co. Ltd., Veyance Industrial Services Inc., Veyance Qingdao Engineered Elastomers Company Ltd., Veyance Technologies, Veyance Technologies Australia Pty. Ltd., Veyance Technologies Canada (NS) ULC, Veyance Technologies Hong Kong Co. Ltd., Veyance Technologies Zambia Ltd., Viking Tyres (UK) Ltd., Vitesco Technologies (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Vitesco Technologies 1. Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, Vitesco Technologies 1. Verwaltungs GmbH, Vitesco Technologies 2. Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, Vitesco Technologies 2. Verwaltungs GmbH, Vitesco Technologies Automotive Cuautla S.A. de C.V., Vitesco Technologies Canada ULC, Vitesco Technologies Czech Republic s.r.o., Vitesco Technologies Delavan LLC, Vitesco Technologies Eisenach Verwaltungs GmbH, Vitesco Technologies Emitec GmbH, Vitesco Technologies Engineering Romania SRL, Vitesco Technologies France S.A.S., Vitesco Technologies GDL S. de R.L. de C.V., Vitesco Technologies Germany GmbH, Vitesco Technologies GmbH, Vitesco Technologies Group Aktiengesellschaft, Vitesco Technologies Holding 1 Canada Inc., Vitesco Technologies Holding 2 Canada Inc., Vitesco Technologies Holding China Co. Ltd., Vitesco Technologies Holding Netherlands B.V., Vitesco Technologies Hungary Kft., Vitesco Technologies India Private Limited, Vitesco Technologies Italy S.R.L., Vitesco Technologies Japan K.K., Vitesco Technologies Korea, Vitesco Technologies Lohmar Verwaltungs GmbH, Vitesco Technologies Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Vitesco Technologies Roding GmbH, Vitesco Technologies Romania SRL, Vitesco Technologies Singapore Pte. Ltd., Vitesco Technologies UK Ltd., Vitesco Technologies USA LLC, Vitesco Tecnologia Brasil Automotiva Ltda., Vogtlandische Reifenwerke Sitz Bad Nauheim GmbH, Vulcanite Holdings Pty Ltd, Vulcanite Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Vulcanite Pty Ltd, Wohlfahrtseinrichtung fur die Arbeiter und Angestellten der Semperit Reifen AG GmbH, Zonar, Zonar Systems Inc., Zytek Automotive, Zytek Automotive Ltd., Zytek Group Ltd., balance GmbH Handel und Beratungsservice im Gesundheitswesen, co-pace GmbH, inotec Innovative Technologie GmbH, and kek-Kaschierungen GmbH.Lloyds Banking Group plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of banking and financial services in the United Kingdom and internationally. It operates through three segments: Retail; Commercial Banking; and Insurance and Wealth. The Retail segment offers a range of financial service products, including current accounts, savings accounts, mortgages, motor finance, unsecured loans, leasing solutions, credit cards, and other financial services to personal and small business customers. The Commercial Banking segment provides lending, transactional banking, working capital management, risk management, and debt capital market services to small and medium-sized entities, corporates, and financial institutions. The Insurance and Wealth segment offers life, home, and car insurance products; and pension, investment, and wealth management products and services. It also provides digital and mobile banking, and telephone services, as well as advisory services for savings, investments, and planning for retirement. The company offers its products and services under the Lloyds Bank, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Scottish Widows, MBNA, Schroders Personal Wealth, Black Horse, Lex Autolease, Birmingham Midshires, LDC, IWeb, and Agricultural Mortgage Corporation brands. Lloyds Banking Group plc was founded in 1695 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreZayo Group Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides bandwidth infrastructure solutions for the communications industry in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The company operates in six segments: Fiber Solutions, Transport, Enterprise Networks, Zayo Colocation (zColo), Allstream, and Other. The Fiber Solutions segment provides dark fiber, and fiber-to-the-tower and small cell mobile infrastructure services for carriers and other communication service providers, Internet service providers, wireless service providers, media and content companies, large enterprises, and other companies. The Transport segment offers lit bandwidth infrastructure solutions comprising wavelength, Ethernet, wholesale IP services, and SONET services through its metro, regional, and long-haul fiber networks for carriers, content providers, financial services companies, healthcare, government entities, education institutions, and other medium and large enterprises. The Enterprise Networks segment provides connectivity and telecommunications solutions comprising Internet, wide area networking products, managed products, and cloud based computing and storage offerings to medium and large enterprises. The Zayo Colocation (zColo) segment offers data center infrastructure solutions consisting of colocation space, and power and interconnection services to a range of enterprise, carrier, cloud, and content customers. The Allstream segment provides cloud VoIP and data solutions, such as voice offerings; and unified communications, as well as telecommunications services, including Ethernet, and IP/MPLS VPN solutions. The Other segment provides network and technical resources to customers in designing, acquiring, and maintaining their networks. Zayo Group Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Illinois Tool Works: A V Co 1 Limited, A V Co 2 Limited, A V Co 3 Limited, ACCU-LUBE Manufacturing GmbH - Schmiermittel und -gerate -, AIP/BI Holdings Inc., Accessories Marketing Holding Corp., Advanced Molding Company Inc., Allen Coding GmbH, Allen France SAS, Alpine Automation Limited, Alpine Engineered Products, Alpine Holdings Inc., Alpine Systems Corporation, Anaerobicos S.r.l., AppliChem GmbH, Arylux Hungary Elektromechanikus Alkatreszgyarto Kft, Avery Berkel France, Avery India Limited, Avery Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avery Weigh Tronix, Avery Weigh-Tronix (Suzhou) Weighing Technology Co. Ltd., Avery Weigh-Tronix Finance Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Holdings Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix International Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix LLC, Avery Weigh-Tronix Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Properties Limited, Azon Limited, B.C. Immo, Beijing Miller Electric Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Berkel (Ireland) Limited, Berrington UK, Brapenta Eletronica Ltda., Brooks Instrument (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Brooks Instrument B.V., Brooks Instrument GmbH, Brooks Instrument KFT, Brooks Instrument Korea Ltd., Brooks Instrument LLC, Buell Industries Inc., CAPMAX Logistica S.A. de C.V., CCI Realty Company, CFC Europe GmbH, CS (Australia) Pty Limited, CS (Finance) Europe S.a.r.l., CS Mexico Holding Company S DE RL DE CV, CSMTS LLC, Calvia Spolka z Ograniczona Odpowiedzialnosci, Capital Ventures (Australasia) S.a r.l, Capmax Logistica S.A. de C.V., Celeste Industries Corporation, Coeur, Coeur (Shanghai) Medical Appliance Trading Co. Ltd, Coeur Asia Limited, Coeur Holding Company, Coeur Inc., Compagnie Hobart, Compagnie de Materiel et d'Equipements Techniques-Comet, Constructions Isothermiques Bontami C.I.B., Crane Carrier Company, Despatch Industries, Diagraph Corporation Sdn. Bhd, Diagraph ITW Mexico S. de R.L. De C.V., Diagraph Mexico S.A. DE C.V., Dongguan Ark-Les Electric Components Co. Ltd., Dongguan CK Branding Co. Ltd., Dorbyl U.K. (Holdings) Limited, Duo Fast de Espana S.A.U., Duo-Fast Korea Co. Ltd., Duo-Fast LLC, E.C.S. d.o.o., ECS Cable Protection Sp. Zoo, ELRO (Holding) AG, ELRO Grosskuchen GmbH, ELRO-WERKE AG, Elga Skandinavian AS, Elro Group, Eltex-Elektrostatik-Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Envases Multipac S.A. de C.V., Eurotec Srl, FEG Investments L.L.C., Fasver, Filtertek, Filtertek De Mexico Holding Inc., Filtertek De Mexico S.A. de C.V., GC Financement SA, Gamko B.V., Gun Hwa Platech (Taicang) Co. Ltd., HOBART Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Hartness International, Hobart (Japan) K.K., Hobart Andina S.A.S., Hobart Brothers International Chile Limitada, Hobart Brothers LLC, Hobart Dayton Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Hobart Food Equipment Co. Ltd., Hobart Foster Belgium, Hobart International (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Hobart Korea LLC, Hobart LLC, Hobart Nederland B.V., Hobart Sales & Service Inc., Hobart Scandinavia ApS, Hobart Techniek B.V., Horis, ILC Investments Holdings Inc., ITW (China) Investment Company Limited, ITW (Deutschland) GmbH, ITW (EU) Holdings Ltd., ITW (European) Finance Co. Ltd., ITW (European) Finance II Co. Ltd., ITW (European) Finance III Co. Ltd., ITW (Ningbo) Components & Fastenings Systems Co. Ltd., ITW AEP LLC, ITW AOC LLC, ITW Aircraft Investments Inc., ITW Alpha Sarl, ITW Ampang Industries Philippines Inc., ITW Appliance Components EOOD, ITW Appliance Components S.A. de C.V., ITW Appliance Components S.r.l.a, ITW Appliance Components d.o.o., ITW Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, ITW Australia Property Holdings Pty Ltd., ITW Australia Pty Ltd, ITW Automotive Components (Chongqing) Co. Ltd., ITW Automotive Components (Langfang) Co. Ltd., ITW Automotive Japan K.K., ITW Automotive Korea LLC, ITW Automotive Parts (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, ITW Automotive Products GmbH, ITW Automotive Products Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Bailly Comte, ITW Befestigungssysteme GmbH, ITW Belgium, ITW Brazilian Nominee L.L.C., ITW Building Components Group Inc., ITW CER, ITW CP Distribution Center Holland BV, ITW CS (UK) Ltd., ITW Canada Inc., ITW Celeste Inc., ITW Chemical Products Ltda, ITW Chemical Products Scandinavia ApS, ITW Colombia S.A.S., ITW Construction Products (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Construction Products (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., ITW Construction Products AB, ITW Construction Products AS, ITW Construction Products ApS, ITW Construction Products CZ s.r.o., ITW Construction Products Italy Srl, ITW Construction Products OU, ITW Construction Products OY, ITW Contamination Control (Wujiang) Co. Ltd., ITW Contamination Control B.V., ITW Covid Security Group Inc., ITW DS Investments Inc., ITW DelFast do Brasil Ltda., ITW Delta Sarl, ITW Denmark ApS, ITW Dynatec, ITW Dynatec Adhesive Equipment (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., ITW Dynatec GmbH, ITW Dynatec Kabushiki Kaisha, ITW EAE B.V., ITW EAE Mexico S de RL de CV, ITW EF&C France SAS, ITW EF&C Selb GmbH, ITW Electronic Business Asia Co. Limited, ITW Electronic Components/Products (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Electronics (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., ITW Epsilon Sarl, ITW Espana S.A., ITW FEG Hong Kong Limited, ITW FEG do Brasil Industria e Comercio Ltda., ITW Fastener Products GmbH, ITW Finance Designated Activity Company, ITW Finance Europe S.A., ITW Fluids and Hygiene Solutions Ltda., ITW Food Equipment Group LLC, ITW France Finance Alpha S.A.S., ITW GH LLC, ITW GSE ApS, ITW GSE Inc., ITW Gamma Sarl, ITW German Management LLC, ITW Global Investments Holdings LLC, ITW Global Investments Holdings Y Compania Sociedad en Comandita por Acciones, ITW Global Investments II Inc., ITW Global Investments Inc., ITW Global Tire Repair Europe GmbH, ITW Global Tire Repair Inc., ITW Global Tire Repair Japan K.K., ITW Graphics (Thailand) Ltd., ITW Graphics Asia Limited, ITW Graphics Italy S.R.L. in liquidazione, ITW Great Britain Investment & Licensing Holding Company, ITW Group France (Luxembourg) S.ar.l., ITW HLP Thailand Co. Ltd., ITW Holding Quimica B.C. S.L. Sole Shareholder Company, ITW Holdings Australia L.P., ITW Holdings I Limited, ITW Holdings II Limited, ITW Holdings III Limited, ITW Holdings IV Limited, ITW Holdings IX Limited, ITW Holdings Inc., ITW Holdings UK, ITW Holdings V Limited, ITW Holdings VI Limited, ITW Holdings VII Limited, ITW Holdings VIII Limited, ITW Holdings X Limited, ITW Holdings XI Limited, ITW Hungary Finance Beta Kft, ITW ILC Holdings I Inc., ITW IPG Investments LLC, ITW Imaden Industria e Comercio Ltda., ITW India Private Limited, ITW International Holdings LLC, ITW Invest Holding GmbH, ITW Ireland Holdings Unlimited Company, ITW Ireland Unlimited Company, ITW Italy Finance Srl, ITW Italy Holding Srl, ITW Japan Ltd., ITW Korea LLC, ITW LLC & Co. KG, ITW Limited, ITW Lombard Holdings Inc., ITW Lys Fusion S.r.l., ITW M FILMS II LLC, ITW MH LLC, ITW Meritex Sdn. Bhd., ITW Metal Fasteners S.L., ITW Mexico Holding Company S. De R.L. de C.V., ITW Mexico Holdings LLC, ITW Morlock GmbH, ITW Mortgage Investments II Inc., ITW Mortgage Investments III Inc., ITW Mortgage Investments IV Inc., ITW Netherlands Administration BV, ITW Netherlands Beta B.V., ITW Netherlands Finance Alpha BV, ITW New Universal LLC, ITW New Zealand, ITW Novadan Sp. Z.o.o., ITW PPF Brasil Adesivos Ltda., ITW Packaging Technology (China) Co. Ltd., ITW Participations S.a r.l., ITW Pension Funds Trustee Company, ITW Performance Plastic (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids Japan Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids Korea Limited, ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids OOO, ITW Performance Polymers (Wujiang) Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers ApS, ITW Performance Polymers and Fluids Group FZE, ITW Peru S.A.C., ITW Philippines Holdings LLC, ITW Poly Mex S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Polymers Sealants North America Inc., ITW Pronovia s.r.o., ITW Pte. Ltd., ITW Qufu Automotive Cooling Systems Co. Ltd., ITW Real Estate Germany GmbH, ITW Residuals III L.L.C., ITW Residuals IV L.L.C., ITW Rivex, ITW SMPI, ITW SPG Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Simco-Ion (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., ITW Slovakia s.r.o., ITW Spain Holdings S.L., ITW Specialty Film LLC, ITW Specialty Films France, ITW Specialty Materials (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., ITW Spraytec, ITW Sverige AB, ITW Sweden Holding AB, ITW Test & Measurement Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, ITW Test & Measurement GmbH, ITW Test and Measurement Italia Srl, ITW Test and Measurement Services Industry and Trade Ltd., ITW Texwipe Philippines Inc., ITW Thermal Films (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW UK, ITW UK Finance Beta Limited, ITW UK Finance Delta Limited, ITW UK Finance Gamma Limited, ITW UK Finance Limited, ITW UK Finance Zeta Ltd., ITW UK II Limited, ITW Universal II LLC, ITW Welding, ITW Welding AB, ITW Welding GmbH, ITW Welding Products B.V., ITW Welding Products Group FZE, ITW Welding Products Group S. DE R.L. De C.V., ITW Welding Products Italy Srl, ITW Welding Products Limited Liability Company, ITW Welding Produtos Para Solgdagem Ltda., ITW Welding Servicios Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Welding Singapore Pte. Ltd., ITW de France, ITW do Brasil Industrial e Comercial Ltda., Ideal Molding Technologies LLC, Illinois Tool Works (Chile) Limitada, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) Nederland B.V., Illinois Tool Works Norway AS, Impar Comercio E Representacoes Ltda., Industrie Plastic Elsasser GmbH, Inmobiliaria Cit. S.A. de C.F., Innova Temperlite Servicios S.A. de C.V., Innovacion y Transformacion Automotriz S.A. de C.V., Instron (Shanghai) Ltd., Instron (Thailand) Limited, Instron Brasil Equipamentos Cientificos Ltda., Instron Foreign Sales Corp. Limited, Instron France S.A.S., Instron GmbH, Instron Holdings Limited, Instron International Limited, Instron Japan Company Ltd., Instron Korea LLC, International Leasing Company LLC, International Truss Systems Proprietary Limited, Isolenge - ITW Sistemas de Isolamento Termico Ltda., KCPL Mauritius Holdings, Kester, Kester Components (M) Sdn. Bhd., Kleinmann GmbH, Krafft S.L., Loma Systems, Loma Systems (Canada) Inc., Loma Systems BV, Loma Systems sro, Lombard Pressings Limited, Lumex Inc., Lys Fusion Poland Sp. z.o.o., M&C Specialties (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., M&C Specialties Co., MAGNAFLUX GmbH, MEHB Holdings Limited, MGHG Property LLC, MOA Enterprises Inc, Manufacturing Avancee S.A., Meritex Technology (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Meurer Verpackungssysteme GmbH, Miller Electric Mfg. LLC, Miller Insurance Ltd., NDT Holding LLC, NOVADAN APS, Norden Olje AB, North Star Imaging Europe, North Star Imaging Inc., Nova Chimica S.r.l., Orbitalum Tools GmbH, PENTA-91 OOO, PR. A. I. Srl, PT ITW Construction Products Indonesia, Pacific Concept Industries Limited (Enping), Panreac Quimica S.L., Paslode Fasteners (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Peerless Machinery Corp., Penta Dnepr LLC, Penta Sever OOO, Penta Volga OOO, Polyrey, Premark FEG L.L.C., Premark HII Holdings LLC, Premark International, Premark International LLC, Prolex Sociedad Anonima, QSA Global Inc., Quimica Industrial Mediterranea S.L., Ramset Fasteners (Hong Kong) Ltd., Rapid Cook LLC, Refrigeration France, S.E.E. Sistemas Industria E Comercio Ltda., ST Mexico Holdings LLC, Sealant Systems International Inc., Sentinel Asia Yuhan Hoesa, Shanghai ITW Plastic & Metal Co. Ltd, Simco (Nederland) B.V., Simco Japan Inc., Societe de Prospection et dInventions Techniques  SPIT, Speedline Holdings I Inc., Speedline Holdings I LLC, Speedline Technologies GmbH, Speedline Technologies Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Speedline Technologies Mexico Services S. de R.L. de C.V., Stokvis Celix Portugal Unipessoal LDA, Stokvis Danmark ApS, Stokvis Holdings S.A.R.L., Stokvis Promi s.r.o, Stokvis Prostick Tapes Private Limited, Stokvis Tapes (Hong Kong) Co. Limited, Stokvis Tapes (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes (Taiwan) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes BVBA, Stokvis Tapes Benelux B.V., Stokvis Tapes Deutschland GmbH, Stokvis Tapes France, Stokvis Tapes Italia s.r.l., Stokvis Tapes Limited, Stokvis Tapes Limited Liability Company, Stokvis Tapes Norge AS, Stokvis Tapes Oy, Stokvis Tapes Polska Sp Z.O.O., Stokvis Tapes Sverige AB, Stolvis Holdings II S.A.R.L., Technopack Industria Comercio Consultoria e Representacoes Ltda., Teknek (China) Limited, Teknek (Japan) Limited, Teksaleco Ltd., The Miller Group Ltd, Thirode Grandes Cuisines Poligny, Tien Tai Electrode (Kunshan) Co. Ltd., Tien Tai Electrode Co. Ltd., Unichemicals Industria e Comercio Ltda., VR-Leasing Sarita GmbH & Co. Immobilien KG, VS European Holdco BV, Valeron Strength Films B.V.B.A., Veneta Decalcogomme S.r.l., Versachem Chile S.A., Vesta, Vesta (Guangzhou) Catering Equipment Co. Ltd, Vesta Global Limited, Viltronics Soltec, Vitronics Soltec B.V., Wachs Canada Ltd., Wachs Subsea LLC, Weigh-Tronix Canada ULC, Weigh-Tronix UK Limited, Wilsonart International Holdings LLC, Wynn Oil (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd., Wynn's Automotive France, Wynn's Belgium BVBA, Wynn's Italia Srl, Wynn's Mekuba India Pvt Ltd, ZF TRW (Engineered Fasteners and Components), and Zip-Pak International B.V..L3 Technologies, Inc. provides aircraft sustainment, simulation and training, night vision and image intensification equipment, and security and detection systems used on military, homeland security, and commercial platforms in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Systems; Communications and Networked Systems (C&NS); and Electronic Systems. The company offers engineering, modernization and sustainment, space avionics and imaging payload, counter unmanned aircraft systems (CUAS) mission, cyber and electronic warfare, special mission command and control, modeling and simulation, and life cycle support services for ISR, airborne sensor, warrior sensor, space and sensor, aircraft, and intelligence and mission systems, as well as for military aviation services and advanced programs. It also provides network and communication systems, secure communications products, radio frequency components, satellite communication terminals and space, microwave and telemetry products, and secure data links in various business areas, such as broadband communication, naval power, space and power, and maritime sensor systems, as well as in advanced communications. In addition, the company offers components, products, subsystems, and systems, as well as related services to military and commercial customers in various business areas, including commercial aviation solutions, precision engagement systems, link training and simulation, and security and detection systems. It serves the United States (U.S.) Department of Defense and its prime contractors, the U.S. Government intelligence agencies, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, foreign governments, and commercial customers. The company was formerly known as L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to L3 Technologies, Inc. in December 2016. L3 Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of HCA Healthcare: 2490 Church LLC, 360 Community Alliance LLC, 4600 Waters Avenue Professional Building Condominium Association Inc., 52 Alderley Road LLP, AC Med LLC, ACH Inc., ADC Surgicenter LLC, AOGN LLC, AOSC Sports Medicine Inc., AR Holding 1 LLC, AR Holding 10 LLC, AR Holding 11 LLC, AR Holding 12 LLC, AR Holding 13 LLC, AR Holding 14 LLC, AR Holding 15 LLC, AR Holding 16 LLC, AR Holding 17 LLC, AR Holding 18 LLC, AR Holding 19 LLC, AR Holding 2 LLC, AR Holding 20 LLC, AR Holding 21 LLC, AR Holding 22 LLC, AR Holding 23 LLC, AR Holding 24 LLC, AR Holding 25 LLC, AR Holding 26 LLC, AR Holding 27 LLC, AR Holding 28 LLC, AR Holding 29 LLC, AR Holding 30 LLC, AR Holding 31 LLC, AR Holding 4 LLC, AR Holding 5 LLC, AR Holding 6 LLC, AR Holding 7 LLC, AR Holding 8 LLC, AR Holding 9 LLC, ASD Shared Services LLC, Acadiana Care Center Inc., Acadiana Practice Management Inc., Acadiana Regional Pharmacy Inc., Access 2 Health Care Physicians LLC, Access Health Care Physicians LLC, Access Management Co. LLC, Ace Leasing II LLC, Acute Kids Urgent Care of Medical City Childrens Hospital PLLC, Acworth Immediate Care LLC, Administrative Physicians of North Texas PLLC, Advanced Bundle Convener LLC, Advanced Plastic Surgery Center of Terre Haute LLC, Advanced Practice Providers of Gulf Coast PLLC, Alaska Regional Medical Group LLC, Albany Family Practice LLC, Aligned Business Consortium Group L.P., All About Staffing (India) Ltd., All About Staffing Inc., All About Staffing Philippines Inc., Alleghany General and Bariatric Services LLC, Alleghany Hospitalists LLC, Alleghany Primary Care Inc., Alleghany Specialists LLC, Alliance Surgicare LLC, Alpine Surgicenter LLC, Alta Internal Medicine LLC, Alternaco LLC, Altitude Mid Level Providers LLC, Ambulatory Endoscopy Clinic of Dallas Ltd., Ambulatory Endoscopy Holdco LLC, Ambulatory Laser Associates GP, Ambulatory Services Management Corporation of Chesterfield County Inc., Ambulatory Surgery Center Group Ltd., American Medicorp Development Co., Anchorage Surgicenter LLC, AppleCare/Memorial Immediate Care Joint Venture LLC, Appledore Medical Group II Inc., Appledore Medical Group Inc., Appomattox Imaging LLC, Arapahoe Surgicenter LLC, Arlington Diagnostic South Inc., Arlington Neurosurgeons PLLC, Arlington Primary Care PLLC, Arlington Primary Medicine PLLC, Arlington Surgery Center L.P., Arlington Surgicare LLC, Arthritis Specialists of Nashville Inc., Ashburn ASC LLC, Ashburn Imaging LLC, Athens Community Hospital Inc., Atlanta Healthcare Management L.P., Atlanta Home Care L.P., Atlanta Market GP Inc., Atlanta Outpatient Surgery Center Inc., Atlanta Surgery Center Ltd., Atlantis Surgicare LLC, Atrium Surgery Center L.P., Atrium Surgicare LLC, Augusta CyberKnife LLC, Augusta Inpatient Services LLC, Augusta Management Services LLC, Augusta Multispecialty Services LLC, Augusta Primary Care Services LLC, Augusta Specialty Hospitalists LLC, Augusta Urgent Care Services LLC, Aurora Endoscopy Surgicenter LLC, Austin GI Surgicenter LLC, Austin Heart Cardiology MSO LLC, Austin Medical Center Inc., Austin Physicians Management LLC, Austin Urogynecology PLLC, Aventura Cancer Center Manager LLC, Aventura Comprehensive Cancer Research Group of Florida Inc., Aventura Healthcare Specialists LLC, Aventura Neurosurgery LLC, BAMI Property LLC, Backlogs Limited, Bailey Square Ambulatory Surgical Center Ltd., Bailey Square Outpatient Surgical Center Inc., Bannerman Family Care LLC, Barrow Medical Center CT Services Ltd., Basic American Medical Inc., Basil Street Practice Limited, Bay Area Healthcare Group Ltd., Bay Area Surgical Center Investors Ltd., Bay Area Surgicare Center Inc., Bay Area Surgicenter LLC, Bay Hospital Inc., Bayonet Point Surgery Center Ltd., Bayshore Family Practitioners PLLC, Bayshore Multi-Specialty Group PLLC, Bayshore Occupational and Family Medicine PLLC, Bayshore Partner LLC, Bayshore Radiation Oncology Services PLLC, Bayshore Surgery Center Ltd., Bayside Ambulatory Center LLC, Bedford-Northeast Community Hospital Inc., Behavioral Health Sciences of West Florida LLC, Behavioral Health Wellness Center LLC, Bellaire Imaging Inc., Belleair Surgery Center Ltd., Belton Family Practice Clinic LLC, Big Cypress Medical Center Inc., Blacksburg Family Care LLC, Blossoms Healthcare LLP, Blue Ridge-TKC LLC, Bone & Joint Specialists Physician Group LLC, Bonita Bay Surgery Center Inc., Bonita Bay Surgery Center Ltd., Bountiful Surgery Center LLC, Boynton Beach EFL Imaging Center LLC, Bradenton Cardiology Physician Network LLC, Bradenton Outpatient Services LLC, Brandon Imaging Manager LLC, Brandon Regional Cancer Center LLC, Brentwood ASC LLC, Brigham City Community Hospital Inc., Brigham City Community Hospital Physician Services LLC, Brigham City Health Plan Inc., Brighton Surgicenter LLC, Brookwood Medical Center of Gulfport Inc., Broward Cardiovascular Surgeons LLC, Broward Healthcare System Inc., Broward Neurosurgeons LLC, Brownsville Specialists of Texas PLLC, Brownsville Surgery PLLC, Brownsville Surgical Specialists PLLC, Brownsville Surgicenter LLC, Brownsville-Valley Regional Medical Center Inc., Buford Road Imaging L.L.C., Byron Family Practice LLC, C. Medrano M.D. PLLC, C/HCA Capital Inc., C/HCA Development Inc., C/HCA Inc., CAREOS Surgicenter LLC, CC Clinic PLLC, CCBH Psychiatric Hospitalists LLC, CCH-GP Inc., CFC Investments Inc., CH Systems, CHC Finance Co., CHC Holdings Inc., CHC Management Ltd., CHC Payroll Agent Inc., CHC Payroll Company, CHC Realty Company, CHC Venture Co., CHC-El Paso Corp., CHC-Miami Corp., CHCA Bayshore L.P., CHCA Clear Lake L.P., CHCA Conroe L.P., CHCA Mainland L.P., CHCA Pearland L.P., CHCA West Houston L.P., CHCA Womans Hospital L.P., CHCK Inc., CJW Infectious Disease LLC, CJW Wound Healing Center LLC, CLASC Manager LLC, COL-NAMC Holdings Inc., COSCORP LLC, CP Surgery Center LLC, CPS TN Processor 1 Inc., CRMC-M LLC, CUC PLLC, CVMC Property LLC, Calder Immediate Care PLLC, California Imaging Center Manager LLC, California Urgent Care LLC, Calloway Creek Surgery Center L.P., Calloway Creek Surgicare LLC, Cancer Centers of North Florida LLC, Cancer Services of Aventura LLC, Capital Anesthesia Services LLC, Capital Area Cardiology, Capital Area CareNow Physician Associates, Capital Area Multispecialty Providers, Capital Area Neurosurgeons, Capital Area Occupational Medicine PLLC, Capital Area Primary Care PLLC, Capital Area Primary Care Providers, Capital Area Providers, Capital Area Specialists PLLC, Capital Area Specialty Providers, Capital Area Surgeons PLLC, Capital Division - CCA Inc., Capital Division Inc., Capital Network Services Inc., Capital Professional Billing LLC, Capital Regional Healthcare LLC, Capital Regional Heart Associates LLC, Capital Regional Psychiatry Associates LLC, Cardiac Surgical Associates LLC, Cardio Vascular Surgeons of North Texas PLLC, Cardiology Associates Medical Group LLC, Cardiology Clinic of San Antonio PLLC, Cardiology Specialists of North Texas PLLC, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons of Texas PLLC, Care for Women LLC, CareNow, CareOne Home Health Services Inc., CarePartners HHA Holdings LLLP, CarePartners HHA LLLP, CarePartners Rehabilitation Hospital LLLP, CareSpot Professional Services of Middle Tennessee LLC, CareSpot of Brentwood (210 Franklin Road) LLC, CareSpot of Cool Springs (100 International Drive) LLC, CareSpot of Donelson (2372 Lebanon Road) LLC, CareSpot of Hendersonville (280 Indian Lake Boulevard) LLC, CareSpot of Hermitage (5225 Old Hickory Boulevard) LLC, CareSpot of Lebanon (1705 West Main Street) LLC, CareSpot of Mt. Juliet (S. Mt. Juliet Road) LLC, CareSpot of Murfreesboro (1340 Broad Street) LLC, CareSpot of Nashville (2001 Glen Echo Road) LLC, CareSpot of Nashville (West End Avenue) LLC, Career Staffing USA Inc., Carlin Springs Urgent Care LLC, Carolina Forest Imaging Manager LLC, Carolina Regional Surgery Center Inc., Carolina Regional Surgery Center Ltd., Cartersville Medical Center LLC, Cartersville Occupational Medicine Center LLC, Cartersville Physician Practice I LLC, Catalog360 Limited, Cedar Creek Medical Group LLC, Cedars International Cardiology Consultants LLC, Cedars Medical Center Hospitalists LLC, Centennial Cardiovascular Consultants LLC, Centennial CyberKnife Center LLC, Centennial CyberKnife Manager LLC, Centennial Heart LLC, Centennial Hospitalists LLC, Centennial Neuroscience LLC, Centennial Psychiatric Associates LLC, Centennial Surgery Center L.P., Centennial Surgical Associates LLC, Centennial Surgical Clinic LLC, Centennial Womens Group LLC, Center for Advanced Diagnostics LLC, Center for Advanced Imaging LLC, Center for Digestive Diseases LLC, Center for Occupational Medicine LLC, Centerpoint Cardiology Services LLC, Centerpoint Clinic of Blue Springs LLC, Centerpoint Hospital Based Physicians LLC, Centerpoint Medical Center of Independence LLC, Centerpoint Medical Specialists LLC, Centerpoint Orthopedics LLC, Centerpoint Physicians Group LLC, Centerpoint Womens Services LLC, Central Florida Cardiology Interpretations LLC, Central Florida Division Practice Inc., Central Florida Health Services LLC, Central Florida Imaging Services LLC, Central Florida Management Services LLC, Central Florida Obstetrics & Gynecology Associates LLC, Central Florida Physician Network LLC, Central Florida Regional Hospital Inc., Central Health Holding Company Inc., Central Pasco LLC, Central San Antonio Surgical Center Investors Ltd., Central Shared Services LLC, Central Tennessee Hospital Corporation, Central Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Physicians PLLC, Centrum Surgery Center Ltd., Charleston CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Chatsworth Hospital Corp., Chattanooga ASC Acquisition Inc., Chattanooga Diagnostic Associates LLC, Chattanooga Healthcare Network L.P., Chattanooga Healthcare Network Partner Inc., Chelsea Outpatient Centre LLP, Chesterfield Imaging LLC, Chicago Grant Hospital Inc., Childrens Multi-Specialty Group LLC, Chino Community Hospital Corporation Inc., Chippenham & Johnston-Willis Hospitals Inc., Chippenham & Johnston-Willis Sports Medicine LLC, Chippenham Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Chippenham Pediatric Specialists LLC, Chiswick Outpatient Centre LLP, Christiansburg Family Medicine LLC, Christiansburg Internal Medicine LLC, Christina Cano-Gonzalez M.D. PLLC, Chugach PT Inc., Church Street Partners, Citrus Memorial Hospital Inc., Citrus Memorial Property Management Inc., Citrus Primary Care Inc., Citrus Specialty Group Inc., Citrus Surgicenter LLC, City of San Antonio H2U Employee Health and Wellness Center PLLC, Clarksville Surgicenter LLC, Clear Creek Surgery Center LLC, Clear Lake Cardiac Catheterization Center L.P., Clear Lake Cardiac GP LLC, Clear Lake Family Physicians PLLC, Clear Lake Medical Tower Owners Association Inc., Clear Lake Merger LLC, Clear Lake Multi-Specialty Group PLLC, Clear Lake Regional Medical Center Inc., Clear Lake Regional Partner LLC, Clear Lake Surgicare Ltd., ClinicServ LLC, Clinical Education Shared Services LLC, Clinishare Inc., Coastal Bend Hospital CT Services Ltd., Coastal Bend Hospital Inc., Coastal Carolina Home Care Inc., Coastal Carolina Multispecialty Associates LLC, Coastal Carolina Primary Care LLC, Coastal Healthcare Services Inc., Coastal Imaging Center L.P., Coastal Imaging Center of Gulfport Inc., Coastal Inpatient Physicians LLC, Coliseum Health Group Inc., Coliseum Health Group LLC, Coliseum Medical Center LLC, Coliseum Park Hospital Inc., Coliseum Primary Care Services LLC, Coliseum Primary Healthcare - Macon LLC, Coliseum Primary Healthcare - Riverside LLC, Coliseum Professional Associates LLC, Coliseum Same Day Surgery Center L.P., Coliseum Surgery Center L.L.C., College Park Ancillary LLC, College Park Endoscopy Center LLC, College Park Radiology LLC, Colleton Ambulatory Care LLC, Colleton Diagnostic Center LLC, Colleton Medical Anesthesia LLC, Colleton Medical Hospitalists LLC, Colleton Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery LLC, Collier County Home Health Agency Inc., Collin County Diagnostic Associates PLLC, Colorado Health Systems Inc., Columbia ASC Management L.P., Columbia Ambulatory Surgery Division Inc., Columbia Arlington Healthcare System L.L.C., Columbia Bay Area Realty Ltd., Columbia Behavioral Health Ltd., Columbia Behavioral Healthcare Inc., Columbia Behavioral Healthcare of South Florida Inc., Columbia Call Center Inc., Columbia Central Florida Division Inc., Columbia Central Group Inc., Columbia Champions Treatment Center Inc., Columbia Chicago Division Inc., Columbia Coliseum Same Day Surgery Center Inc., Columbia Development of Florida Inc., Columbia Doctors Hospital of Tulsa Inc., Columbia Eye and Specialty Surgery Center Ltd., Columbia Florida Group Inc., Columbia GP of Mesquite Inc., Columbia Good Samaritan Health System Limited Partnership, Columbia Greater Houston Division Healthcare Network Inc., Columbia Health System of Arkansas Inc., Columbia Healthcare System of Louisiana Inc., Columbia Healthcare of Central Virginia Inc., Columbia Hospital Corporation at the Medical Center, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Arlington, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Bay Area, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Central Miami, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Corpus Christi, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Fort Worth, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Houston, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Kendall, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Massachusetts Inc., Columbia Hospital Corporation of Miami, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Miami Beach, Columbia Hospital Corporation of North Miami Beach, Columbia Hospital Corporation of South Broward, Columbia Hospital Corporation of South Dade, Columbia Hospital Corporation of South Florida, Columbia Hospital Corporation of South Miami, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Tamarac, Columbia Hospital Corporation of West Houston, Columbia Hospital Corporation-Delaware, Columbia Hospital Corporation-SMM, Columbia Hospital at Medical City Dallas Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Hospital-El Paso Ltd., Columbia Integrated Health Systems Inc., Columbia Jacksonville Healthcare System Inc., Columbia LaGrange Hospital LLC, Columbia Lake Worth Surgical Center Limited Partnership, Columbia Medical Arts Hospital Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Center Dallas Southwest Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Center at Lancaster Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Center of Arlington Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Center of Denton Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Center of Las Colinas Inc., Columbia Medical Center of Lewisville Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Center of McKinney Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Center of Plano Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Group - Centennial Inc., Columbia Medical Group - Daystar Inc., Columbia Medical Group - Parkridge Inc., Columbia Medical Group - Southern Hills Inc., Columbia Medical Group - Southwest Virginia Inc., Columbia Medical Group - The Frist Clinic Inc., Columbia Midtown Joint Venture, Columbia North Alaska Healthcare Inc., Columbia North Central Florida Health System Limited Partnership, Columbia North Florida Regional Medical Center Limited Partnership, Columbia North Hills Hospital Subsidiary L.P., Columbia North Texas Healthcare System L.P., Columbia North Texas Subsidiary GP LLC, Columbia North Texas Surgery Center Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Northwest Medical Center Inc., Columbia Northwest Medical Center Partners Ltd., Columbia Ocala Regional Medical Center Physician Group Inc., Columbia Ogden Medical Center Inc., Columbia Oklahoma Division Inc., Columbia Palm Beach GP LLC, Columbia Palm Beach Healthcare System Limited Partnership, Columbia Park Healthcare System Inc., Columbia Park Medical Center Inc., Columbia Parkersburg Healthcare System LLC, Columbia Pentagon City Hospital L.L.C., Columbia Physician Services - Florida Group Inc., Columbia Plaza Medical Center of Fort Worth Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Primary Care LLC, Columbia Psychiatric Management Co., Columbia Resource Network Inc., Columbia Rio Grande Healthcare L.P., Columbia Riverside Inc., Columbia South Texas Division Inc., Columbia Specialty Hospital of Dallas Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Specialty Hospitals Inc., Columbia Surgery Group Inc., Columbia Surgicare of Augusta Ltd., Columbia Tampa Bay Division Inc., Columbia Valley Healthcare System L.P., Columbia West Bank Hospital Inc., Columbia Westbank Healthcare L.P., Columbia-CSA/HS Greater Canton Area Healthcare System L.P., Columbia-CSA/HS Greater Cleveland Area Healthcare System L.P., Columbia-Georgia PT Inc., Columbia-Osceola Imaging Center Inc., Columbia-Quantum Inc., Columbia-SDH Holdings Inc., Columbia/Alleghany Regional Hospital Incorporated, Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation of Central Texas, Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation of Northern Ohio, Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation of South Carolina, Columbia/HCA Heartcare of Corpus Christi Inc., Columbia/HCA International Group Inc., Columbia/HCA John Randolph Inc., Columbia/HCA Middle East Management Company, Columbia/HCA Physician Hospital Organization Medical Center Hospital, Columbia/HCA San Clemente Inc., Columbia/HCA of Baton Rouge Inc., Columbia/HCA of Houston Inc., Columbia/HCA of New Orleans Inc., Columbia/HCA of North Texas Inc., Columbine Psychiatric Center Inc., Columbus Cardiology Inc., Columbus Cath Lab Inc., Columbus Cath Lab LLC, Columbus Doctors Hospital Inc., Commonwealth Perinatal Services LLC, Commonwealth Specialists of Kentucky LLC, Community Hospital Family Practice LLC, Comprehensive Radiation Oncology LLC, Comprehensive Radiology Management Services Ltd., Concept EFL Imaging Center LLC, Concept West EFL Imaging Center LLC, Congenital Heart Surgery Center PLLC, Conroe Hospital Corporation, Conroe Montgomery Physicians Group PLLC, Conroe Orthopedic Specialists PLLC, Conroe Partner LLC, Conroe Specialists of Texas PLLC, Continental Division I Inc., Coral Springs Surgi-Center Ltd., CoralStone Management Inc., Corpus Christi Healthcare Group Ltd., Corpus Christi Heart Clinic PLLC, Corpus Christi Primary Care Associates PLLC, Corpus Christi Psychiatric Specialists PLLC, Corpus Christi Radiation Oncology PLLC, Corpus Christi Surgery Center L.P., Corpus Christi Surgery Ltd., Corpus Christi Surgicenter LLC, Corpus Surgicare Inc., Countryside Surgery Center Ltd., Crewe Outpatient Imaging LLC, Cumberland Medical Center Inc., Cy-Fair Medical Center Hospital LLC, DFW Physicians Group PLLC, DOMC Property LLC, DS Real Estate Holdings LLC, Daleville Imaging L.P., Daleville Imaging Manager LLC, Dallas CardioThoracic Surgery Consultants PLLC, Dallas Cardiology Specialists PLLC, Dallas Hand Surgery Center PLLC, Dallas Medical Specialists PLLC, Dallas Neuro-Stroke Affiliates PLLC, Dallas Pediatric Neurosurgery Specialists PLLC, Dallas/Ft. Worth Physician LLC, Davie Medical Center LLC, Daytona Medical Center Inc., Dean 4641 LLC, Deep Purple Investments LLC, Del Sol Bariatric Clinic PLLC, Delray EFL Imaging Center LLC, Denton Cancer Center PLLC, Denton County Hospitalist Program PLLC, Denton Pediatric Physicians PLLC, Denton Regional Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Denver Clinic Surgicenter LLC, Denver Mid-Town Surgery Center Ltd., Denver Surgicenter LLC, Derry ASC Inc., Diagnostic Breast Center Inc., Diagnostic Mammography Services G.P., Diagnostic Services G.P., Dickson Surgery Center L.P., Doctors Bay Area Physician Hospital Organization, Doctors Hospital (Conroe) Inc., Doctors Hospital Columbus GA-Joint Venture, Doctors Hospital Surgery Center L.P., Doctors Hospital of Augusta LLC, Doctors Hospital of Augusta Neurology LLC, Doctors Osteopathic Medical Center Inc., Doctors Same Day Surgery Center Inc., Doctors Same Day Surgery Center Ltd., Doctors-I Inc., Doctors-II Inc., Doctors-III Inc., Doctors-IV Inc., Doctors-IX Inc., Doctors-V Inc., Doctors-VI Inc., Doctors-VII Inc., Doctors-VIII Inc., Doctors-X Inc., Doctors Memorial Hospital of Spartanburg Limited Partnership, Dominion Hospital Physicians Group LLC, Dublin Community Hospital LLC, Dublin Heart Specialists LLC, Dublin Multispecialty LLC, Dura Medical Inc., E.P. Physical Therapy Centers Inc., EASTSIDE URGENT CARE LLC, EHCA Diagnostics LLC, EHCA Eastside Occupational Medicine Center LLC, EHCA LLC, EHCA Metropolitan LLC, EHCA Parkway LLC, EHCA Peachtree LLC, EHCA West Paces LLC, EIRMC Hospitalist Services LLC, EMMC LLC, EP Health LLC, EP Holdco LLC, EPIC Development Inc., EPIC Diagnostic Centers Inc., EPIC Healthcare Management Company, EPIC Properties Inc., EPIC Surgery Centers Inc., EPSC L.P., East Falls Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery LLC, East Falls Family Medicine LLC, East Falls Plastic Surgery LLC, East Florida - DMC Inc., East Florida Behavioral Health Network LLC, East Florida Cardiology Network LLC, East Florida CareNow Urgent Care LLC, East Florida Division Inc., East Florida Emergency Physician Group LLC, East Florida Healthcare LLC, East Florida Hospitalists LLC, East Florida Imaging Holdings LLC, East Florida Primary Care LLC, East Houston Primary Care PLLC, East Houston Specialists PLLC, East Layton Internal Medicine LLC, East Orthopedics PLLC, East Pointe Hospital Inc., Eastern Idaho Brachytherapy Equipment LLC, Eastern Idaho Brachytherapy Equipment Manager LLC, Eastern Idaho Care Partners ACO LLC, Eastern Idaho Care Partners Holdings LLC, Eastern Idaho Care Partners LLC, Eastern Idaho Health Services Inc., Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center Inpatient Services LLC, Eastside Behavioral Health Associates LLC, Eastside General Surgery LLC, Eastside Heart and Vascular LLC, Eastside Medical Center LLC, Eastside Surgery Center LLC, Edmond General Surgery LLC, Edmond Hospitalists LLC, Edmond Physician Hospital Organization Inc., Edward White Hospital Inc., El Paso CareNow Urgent Care PLLC, El Paso Healthcare Provider Network, El Paso Healthcare System Ltd., El Paso Healthcare System Physician Services LLC, El Paso Nurses Unlimited Inc., El Paso Primary Care PLLC, El Paso Surgery Centers L.P., El Paso Surgicenter Inc., Eldridge Family Practitioners PLLC, Elite Family Health of Plano PLLC, Elite OB-GYN Services of El Paso PLLC, Elite Orthopaedics of El Paso PLLC, Elite Orthopaedics of Irving PLLC, Elite Orthopaedics of Plano PLLC, Elstree Outpatient Centre LLP, Emergency Physicians at Wesley Medical Center LLC, Emergency Providers Group LLC, Emergency Psychiatric Medicine PLLC, Encino Hospital Corporation Inc., Endocrinology Associates of Lees Summit LLC, Endoscopy Surgicare of Plano LLC, Endoscopy of Plano L.P., Englewood Community Hospital Auxiliary Inc., Englewood Community Hospital Inc., Envision Stakes LLC, Eye Care Surgicare Ltd. a Missouri limited partnership, FHAL LLC, FMH Health Services LLC, Fairfax Surgical Center L.P., Fairview Medical Services LLC, Fairview Park GP LLC, Fairview Park Limited Partnership, Fairview Partner LLC, Family Care Partners LLC, Family Care of E. Jackson County LLC, Family First Medicine in Brownsville PLLC, Family Health Medical Group of Overland Park LLC, Family Health Specialists of Lees Summit LLC, Family Medicine of Blacksburg LLC, Family Practice at Forest Hill LLC, Family Practice at Retreat LLC, Family Practitioners of Montgomery PLLC, Family Practitioners of Pearland PLLC, Fannin MOB LLC, Fannin MOB Property Management LLC, Far West Division Inc., Fawcett Memorial Hospital Inc., Florida Care Partners LLC, Florida Care Partners Orlando LLC, Florida Home Health Services-Private Care Inc., Florida Outpatient Surgery Center Ltd., Flower Mound Surgery Center Ltd., Focus Hand Surgicenter LLC, Foot & Ankle Specialty Services LLC, Forest Park Surgery Pavilion Inc., Forest Park Surgery Pavilion L.P., Fort Bend Hospital Inc., Fort Chiswell Family Practice LLC, Fort Myers Market Inc., Fort Pierce Immediate Care Center Inc., Fort Pierce Orthopaedics LLC, Fort Pierce Surgery Center Ltd., Fort Walton Beach Medical Center Inc., Fort Worth Investments Inc., Forward Pathology Solutions LLC, Four Rivers Medical Center PHO Inc., Frankfort Hospital Inc., Frankfort Wound Care LLC, Freeport Family Medicine LLC, Fremont Womens Health LLC, Frisco Surgicare LLC, Frisco Warren Parkway 91 Inc., Frist Clinic Express LLC, Ft. Pierce Surgicare LLC, Ft. Walton Beach Anesthesia Services LLC, G. Rowe M.D. PLLC, G. Schnider M.D. PLLC, G. Voorhees M.D. PLLC, G.P. Martin Fletcher & Associates LLC, GA PHYSICIAN SERVICES LLC, GA Urgentcare Holding LLC, GHC-Galen Health Care LLC, GI Associates of Denton PLLC, GI Associates of Lewisville PLLC, GME Services of Osceola LLC, GPCH-GP Inc., GYN-Oncology of Southwest Virginia LLC, Gainesville GYN Oncology of North Florida Regional Medical Center LLC, Gainesville Physicians LLC, GalTex LLC, Galen (Kansas) Merger LLC, Galen BH Inc., Galen Center for Professional Development Inc., Galen College of Nursing, Galen Diagnostic Multicenter Ltd., Galen GOK LLC, Galen Global Finance Inc., Galen Health Institutes Inc., Galen Health Partners Limited, Galen Holdco LLC, Galen Hospital Alaska Inc., Galen Hospital of Baytown Inc., Galen Hospital-Pembroke Pines Inc., Galen International Holdings Inc., Galen KY LLC, Galen MCS LLC, Galen MRMC LLC, Galen Medical Corporation, Galen NMC LLC, Galen NSH LLC, Galen Property LLC, Galen SOM LLC, Galen SSH LLC, Galen Virginia Hospital Corporation, Galen of Aurora Inc., Galen of Florida Inc., Galen of Illinois Inc., Galen of Kentucky Inc., Galen of Mississippi Inc., Galen of Virginia Inc., Galen of West Virginia Inc., Galen-Soch Inc., Galencare Inc., Galendeco Inc., Galichia Anesthesia Services LLC, Galichia Emergency Physicians LLC, Garden Park Community Hospital Limited Partnership, Garden Park Hospitalist Program LLC, Garden Park Investments L.P., Garden Park Physician Group - Specialty Care LLC, Garden Park Physician Group Inc., Gardens EFL Imaging Center LLC, Gastroenterology Specialists of Middle Tennessee LLC, General Hospitals of Galen Inc., General Medical Clinics Limited, General Surgeons of Houston PLLC, General Surgeons of North Richland Hills PLLC, General Surgeons of Pasadena PLLC, General and Cardiovascular Surgeons of Conroe PLLC, Generations Family Practice Inc., GenoSpace LLC, Georgia Health Holdings Inc., Georgia L.P., Georgia Psychiatric Company Inc., Glemm SA, Good Samaritan Hospital L.P., Good Samaritan Hospital LLC, Good Samaritan Surgery Center L.P., Goppert-Trinity Family Care LLC, Grace Family Practice LLC, Gramercy Eye Surgicenter LLC, Gramercy Surgery Center Ltd., Grand Strand Regional Medical Center LLC, Grand Strand Senior Health Center LLC, Grand Strand Specialty Associates LLC, Grand Strand Surgical Specialists LLC, Grandview Health Care Clinic LLC, Grant Center Hospital of Ocala Inc., Grayson Primary Care LLC, Greater Gwinnett Internal Medicine Associates LLC, Greater Gwinnett Physician Corporation, Greater Houston Preferred Provider Option Inc., Greater Tampa Bay Physician Network LLC, Greater Tampa Bay Physician Specialists LLC, Greater Tampa Bay Physicians - Pinellas LLC, Green Oaks Hospital Subsidiary L.P., Greenview Hospital Inc., Greenview PrimeCare LLC, Greenview Specialty Associates LLC, Gulf Coast Division Inc., Gulf Coast Electrophysiology Associates PLLC, Gulf Coast Inpatient Specialists LLC, Gulf Coast Medical Center Primary Care LLC, Gulf Coast Medical Ventures Inc., Gulf Coast Multispecialty Services LLC, Gulf Coast Physician Administrators Inc., Gulf Coast Provider Network Inc., Gwinnett Community Hospital Inc., Gynecology Specialists of Utah LLC, H2U Wellness Centers - Del Sol Medical Center PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers - Las Palmas Medical Center PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers - Medical City Dallas PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers - St. Davids Medical Center PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers LLC, H2U Wellness Centers  Clear Lake Regional Medical Center PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers  Conroe ISD PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers  Conroe Regional Medical Center PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers  Corpus Christi PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers  El Paso PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers  PISD PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers  San Benito CISD PLLC, HBP Lone Star Inc., HCA - IT&S Field Operations Inc., HCA - IT&S Inventory Management Inc., HCA - IT&S PBS Field Operations Inc., HCA - IT&S TN Field Operations Inc., HCA - Information Technology & Services Inc., HCA - Raleigh Community Hospital Inc., HCA - Viera ALF LLC, HCA - WHS Progressive LLC, HCA - WHS Services LLC, HCA ASD Financial Operations LLC, HCA ASD Sales Services LLC, HCA American Finance LLC, HCA Carenow Limited, HCA Central Group Inc., HCA Central/West Texas Physicians Management LLC, HCA Chattanooga Market Inc., HCA Development Company Inc., HCA Eastern Group Inc., HCA Global Capital LLP, HCA Gulf Coast GME PLLC, HCA Health Services of California Inc., HCA Health Services of Florida Inc., HCA Health Services of Georgia Inc., HCA Health Services of Louisiana Inc., HCA Health Services of Miami Inc., HCA Health Services of Midwest Inc., HCA Health Services of New Hampshire Inc., HCA Health Services of Tennessee Inc., HCA Health Services of Texas Inc., HCA Health Services of Virginia Inc., HCA Health Services of West Virginia Inc., HCA Healthcare Mission Fund LLC, HCA Healthcare UK Limited, HCA Holdco LLC, HCA Human Resources LLC, HCA Imaging Services of North Florida Inc., HCA Inc., HCA International Holdings Limited, HCA International Limited, HCA LewisGale Regional Cancer Centers Clinical Co-Management Company LLC, HCA Long Term Health Services of Miami Inc., HCA Luxembourg 1 Sarl, HCA Luxembourg 2 Sarl, HCA Luxembourg Equities Sarl, HCA Luxembourg Finance Limited, HCA Luxembourg Investments Sarl, HCA Management Services L.P., HCA Medical City Limited, HCA Medical Services Inc., HCA Midwest Comprehensive Care Inc., HCA Outpatient Clinic Services of Miami Inc., HCA Outpatient Imaging Services Group Inc., HCA Patient Safety Organization LLC, HCA Pearland GP Inc., HCA Physician Services Inc., HCA Plano Imaging Inc., HCA Property GP LLC, HCA Psychiatric Company, HCA Purchasing Limited, HCA Realty Inc., HCA Richmond Cardiac Clinical Co-Management Company LLC, HCA SF LLC, HCA SFB 1 LLC, HCA Sarasota Orthopedic and Spine Clinical Co-Management Company LLC, HCA Squared LLC, HCA Staffing Limited, HCA Swiss Capital 1 LLP, HCA Swiss Capital 2 LLP, HCA Switzerland Finance GmbH, HCA Switzerland Holding GmbH, HCA Switzerland Limited, HCA UK Capital Limited, HCA UK Holdings Limited, HCA UK Investments Limited, HCA UK Limited, HCA UK Services Limited, HCA Wesley Rehabilitation Hospital Inc., HCA Western Group Inc., HCA-Access Healthcare Holdings LLC, HCA-Access Healthcare Partner Inc., HCA-California Urgent Care Holdings LLC, HCA-EMS Holdings LLC, HCA-EmCare Holdings LLC, HCA-Georgia Urgent Care Holdings LLC, HCA-HBPS Holdings LLC, HCA-HealthONE LLC, HCA-Solis Holdings Inc., HCA-Solis Mammography Service Holdings of Continental LLC, HCA-Solis Mammography Service Holdings of Gulf Coast LLC, HCA-Solis Mammography Service Holdings of North Texas LLC, HCA-Solis Mammography Service Holdings of TriStar LLC, HCA-Solis Mammography Services LLC, HCA-Solis Master LLC, HCA-Urgent Care Holdings LLC, HCAPS Anesthesia Manager LLC, HCAPS Conroe Affiliation Inc., HCOL Inc., HD&S Corp. Successor Inc., HDH Thoracic Surgeons LLC, HHBY Holdings LLC, HHNC LLC, HICCH-SCL LLC, HM Acquisition LLC, HM OMCOS LLC, HMMG 1226 LLC, HPG Energy L.P., HPG Enterprises LLC, HPG GP LLC, HPG Solutions LLC, HSS Holdco LLC, HSS Systems LLC, HSS Virginia L.P., HTI Gulf Coast Inc., HTI Health Services of North Carolina Inc., HTI Hospital Holdings Inc., HTI MOB LLC, HTI MSO LLC, HTI Memorial Hospital Corporation, HTI Physician Services of Utah Inc., HWCA PLLC, Hamilton Memorial Hospital Inc., Hamsard 3160 Limited, Harley Street Clinic @ The Groves LLP, Hathor Chelsea Ltd., Healdsburg General Hospital Inc., Health Care Indemnity Inc., Health Insight Capital LLC, Health International Billing Partners Limited, Health Midwest Medical Group Inc., Health Midwest Office Facilities Corporation, Health Midwest Ventures Group Inc., Health Partners of Kansas Inc., Health Service Partners Inc., Health Services (Delaware) Inc., Health Services Merger Inc., Health to You LLC, HealthCoast Physician Group LLC, HealthONE Aurora Investment LLC, HealthONE Care Partners LLC, HealthONE CareNow Urgent Care LLC, HealthONE Clear Creek LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Bariatric Medicine LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Behavioral Health LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Cancer Care LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Cancer Specialties LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Cardiovascular LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Medical Specialties LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Neurosciences LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Obstetrics and Gynecology LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Occupational Medicine LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Oncology Hematology LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Orthopedic Specialists LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Otolaryngology Specialists LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Pediatric Specialties LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Primary Care LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Spine Specialists LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Spine Surgeons LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Surgery Neurological LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Surgical Specialties LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Transplant Services LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Womens Services LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Youth Rehabilitation LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services LLC, HealthONE High Street Primary Care Center LLC, HealthONE IRL Pathology Services LLC, HealthONE Institutes for Clinical Research LLC, HealthONE Lowry LLC, HealthONE Radiation Therapy at Red Rocks LLC, HealthONE Radiation Therapy at Thornton LLC, HealthONE Ridge View Endoscopy Center LLC, HealthONE Surgicare of Ridge View LLC, HealthONE Urologic LLC, HealthONE at Breckenridge LLC, HealthONE of Denver Inc., HealthOne Heart Care LLC, HealthOne Lincoln Investment LLC, HealthOne Westside Investment LLC, HealthTrust Europe Company Limited, HealthTrust Europe LLP, HealthTrust Locums Inc., HealthTrust Workforce Solutions LLC, Healthcare Oklahoma Inc., Healthcare Purchasing Alliance LLC, Healthcare Sales National Management Services Group LLC, Healthcare Technology Assessment Corporation, Healthco LLC, Healthnet of Kentucky LLC, Healthserv Acquisition LLC, Healthtrust Inc. - The Hospital Company, Healthtrust MOB Tennessee LLC, Healthtrust Purchasing Group L.P., Healthtrust Utah Management Services Inc., Healthy State Inc., Heart Specialist of North Texas PLLC, Heart of America ASC LLC, Heart of America Surgicenter LLC, Heartcare of Texas Ltd., Hearthstone Home Health Inc., Heartland Womens Group at Wesley LLC, Heathrow Imaging LLC, Heathrow Internal Medicine LLC, Hendersonville Hospital Corporation, Hendersonville Hospitalist Services Inc., Hendersonville OB/GYN LLC, Hendersonville ODC LLC, Hendersonville Primary Care LLC, Henrico Doctors Hospital - Forest Campus Property LLC, Henrico Doctors Neurology Associates LLC, Henrico Doctors OB GYN Specialists LLC, Henrico Surgical Specialists LLC, Heritage Family Care LLC, Heritage Hospital Inc., Heritage Medical Care LLC, Hermitage Primary Care LLC, Hidalgo County Family Practitioners PLLC, Hidden Lakes Health Center PLLC, Highlands Regional Medical Center, Hip & Joint Specialists of North Texas PLLC, Homecare North Inc., Hometrust Management Services Inc., Horizon Orthopedics LLC, Horizon Surgical LLC, Hospital Corp. LLC, Hospital Corporation of America, Hospital Corporation of Lake Worth, Hospital Corporation of Tennessee, Hospital Corporation of Utah, Hospital Development Properties Inc., Hospital Partners Merger LLC, Hospital Realty Corporation, Hospital-Based CRNA Services Inc., Hospitalists at Centennial Medical Center LLC, Hospitalists at Fairview Park LLC, Hospitalists at Greenview Regional Hospital LLC, Hospitalists at Horizon Medical Center LLC, Hospitalists at Parkridge LLC, Hospitalists at StoneCrest LLC, Hospitalists at Wesley Medical Center LLC, Hospitalists of the Wabash Valley LLC, Houston - PPH LLC, Houston CareNow Urgent Care PLLC, Houston Healthcare Holdings Inc., Houston NW Manager LLC, Houston Northwest Concessions L.L.C., Houston Northwest Operating Company L.L.C., Houston Northwest Surgical Partners Inc., Houston Obstetrics and Gynecology for Women PLLC, Houston Pediatric Specialty Group PLLC, Houston Urologic Surgicenter LLC, Houston Womans Hospital Partner LLC, ICU Associates of West Houston PLLC, IMX Holdings LLC, IRL Pathology Services MidAmerica LLC, Idaho Behavioral Health Services LLC, Idaho Physician Services Inc., Illinois Psychiatric Hospital Company Inc., Imaging Realty LLC, Imaging Services of Appomattox LLC, Imaging Services of Jacksonville LLC, Imaging Services of Louisiana LLC, Imaging Services of Louisiana Manager LLC, Imaging Services of Orlando LLC, Imaging Services of Richmond LLC, Imaging Services of Roanoke LLC, Imaging Services of West Boynton LLC, InVivoLink Inc., Independence Neurosurgery Services LLC, Independence Regional Medical Group LLC, Independence Surgicare Inc., Indian Path Hospital Inc., Indianapolis Hospital Partner LLC, Institute for Womens Health and Body LLC, Institute of Advanced ENT Surgery LLC, Integrated Regional Lab LLC, Integrated Regional Laboratories LLP, Integrated Regional Laboratories Pathology Services LLC, Intensive Care Consortium Inc., Internal Medicine Associates of Huntsville PLLC, Internal Medicine Associates of Southern Hills LLC, Internal Medicine of Blacksburg LLC, Internal Medicine of Pasadena PLLC, Internist Associates of Houston PLLC, Isleworth Partners Inc., J. M. Garcia M.D. PLLC, JCSH LLC, JDGC Management LLC, JFK Internal Medicine Faculty Practice LLC, JFK Medical Center Limited Partnership, JPM AA Housing LLC, Jackson County Medical Group LLC, Jackson County Pulmonary Medical Group LLC, Jacksonville CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Jacksonville Multispecialty Services LLC, Jacksonville Surgery Center Ltd., James River Internists LLC, John Randolph Family Practice LLC, John Randolph OB/GYN LLC, John Randolph Surgeons LLC, Johnson County Neurology LLC, Johnson County Surgery Center L.P., Johnson County Surgicenter L.L.C., Jordan Family Health L.L.C., Jupiter EFL Imaging Center LLC, KC Pain ASC LLC, KC Surgicare LLC, KPH-Consolidation Inc., Kansas CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Kansas City Cardiac Arrhythmia Research LLC, Kansas City Gastroenterology & Hepatology Physicians Group LLC, Kansas City Neurology Associates LLC, Kansas City Pulmonology Practice LLC, Kansas City Surgery Center Properties LLC, Kansas City Vascular & General Surgery Group LLC, Kansas City Womens Clinic Group LLC, Kansas Healthserv LLC, Kansas Pulmonary and Sleep Specialists LLC, Kansas Trauma and Critical Care Specialists LLC, Kathy L. Summers M.D. PLLC, Kendall Healthcare Group Ltd., Kendall Regional Medical Center LLC, Kendall Regional Urgent Care LLC, Kennedale Primary Care PLLC, Kingwood Multi-Specialty Group PLLC, Kingwood Surgery Center LLC, Kingwood Surgicenter LLC, Kissimmee Surgicare Ltd., Kyle Primary Care PLLC, L E Corporation, LAD Imaging LLC, LGMC Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, LOC @ The Christie LLP, LOC @ The London Bridge Hospital LLP, LOC Partnership LLP, LPN TeleBehavioral Health PLLC, Lafayette OB Hospitalists LLC, Lafayette Urogynecology & Urology Center LLC, Lake City Imaging LLC, Lake City Regional Medical Group LLC, Lake Forest Family Health PLLC, Lakeside Radiology LLC, Lakeside Womens Services LLC, Lakeview Cardiology Specialists LLC, Lakeview Hospital Physician Services LLC, Lakeview Internal Medicine LLC, Lakeview Medical Center LLC, Lakeview Regional Medical Center Inpatient Services LLC, Lakeview Regional Physician Group LLC, Lakeview Urology & General Surgery LLC, Lakewood Surgicare Inc., Laredo Medco LLC, Largo Medical Center Inc., Largo Physician Group LLC, Las Colinas Primary Care PLLC, Las Colinas Surgery Center Ltd., Las Encinas Hospital, Las Palmas Del Sol Cardiology PLLC, Las Palmas Del Sol Internal Medicine PLLC, Las Palmas Del Sol Urgent Care PLLC, Las Vegas ASC LLC, Las Vegas Surgicare Inc., Las Vegas Surgicare Ltd. a Nevada Limited Partnership, Lawnwood Cardiovascular Surgery LLC, Lawnwood Healthcare Specialists LLC, Lawnwood Medical Center Inc., Layton Family Practice LLC, Leaders in Oncology Care Limited, Leadership Healthcare Holdings II L.P. L.L.P., Leadership Healthcare Holdings L.P. L.L.P., Lees Summit Family Care LLC, Leslie Cohan M.D. PLLC, Lewis-Gale Hospital Incorporated, Lewis-Gale Medical Center LLC, Lewis-Gale Physicians LLC, Lewisville Primary Care PLLC, Lewisville Surgicare LLC, Lincoln Surgery Center LLC, Live Oak Immediate Care Center LLC, London Oncology Clinic LLP, London Pathology Limited, London Radiography & Radiotherapy Services Limited, Lone Peak Hospital Inc., Lone Star Intensivists at Gulf Coast PLLC, Lonestar Provider Network, Longview Regional Physician Hospital Organization Inc., Lorain County Surgery Center Ltd., Los Gatos Surgical Center a California Limited Partnership, Los Robles Regional Medical Center, Los Robles Regional Medical Center MOB LLC, Los Robles SurgiCenter LLC, Loudoun Surgery Center LLC, Louisiana Psychiatric Company Inc., Loveland Surgicenter LLC, Low Country Health Services Inc. of the Southeast, Lowry Surgicenter LLC, M. Jamshidi D.O. PLLC, MCA Investment Company, MCA-CTMC Holdings LLC, MEC Endoscopy LLC, MFA G.P. LLC, MFM Fact PLLC, MGH Medical Inc., MH Anesthesiology Physicians LLC, MH Angel Medical Center LLLP, MH Asheville Specialty Hospital LLC, MH Blue Ridge Medical Center LLLP, MH Eckerd Living Center LLLP, MH Highlands-Cashiers Medical Center LLLP, MH Hospital Holdings Inc., MH Hospital Manager LLC, MH Master Holdings LLLP, MH Master LLC, MH McDowell Imaging LLLP, MH Mission Hospital LLLP, MH Mission Hospital McDowell LLLP, MH Mission Imaging LLLP, MH Physician Services LLC, MH Transylvania Imaging LLLP, MH Transylvania Regional Hospital LLLP, MHS Partnership Holdings JSC Inc., MHS Partnership Holdings SDS Inc., MHS SC Partner L.L.C., MHS Surgery Centers L.P., MMC Sleep Lab Management LLC, MOSC Sports Medicine Inc., MOVCO Inc., MP Management LLC, MRT&C Inc., MSL Acquisition LLC, MVH Professional Services LLC, Macon Healthcare LLC, Macon Northside Health Group LLC, Macon Northside Hospital LLC, Macon Psychiatric Hospitalists LLC, Madison Behavioral Health LLC, Mainland Family Medicine PLLC, Mainland Multi-Specialty Group PLLC, Mainland Primary Care Physicians PLLC, Management Services Holdings Inc., Manatee Surgicare Ltd., Marietta Outpatient Medical Building Inc., Marietta Outpatient Surgery Ltd., Marietta Surgical Center Inc., Marion Community Hospital Inc., Mark Gottesman M.D. PLLC, Martin Fletcher & Associates L.P., Martin Fletcher Associates Holdings Inc., Mary Alice Cowan M.D. PLLC, Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialists of Corpus Christi PLLC, Maternal Fetal Services of Utah LLC, Maury County Behavioral Health LLC, Mayhill Cancer Center LLC, McAllen Comprehensive Upper Extremity Center PLLC, McKinney Surgeons PLLC, Mechanicsville Imaging LLC, Mecklenburg Surgical Land Development Ltd., Med City Dallas Outpatient Surgery Center L.P., Med Corp. Inc., Med Group - Southern Hills Hospitalists LLC, Med-Center Hosp./Houston Inc., Med-Point of New Hampshire Inc., Medi Flight of Oklahoma LLC, MediCredit Inc., MediPurchase Inc., MediStone Healthcare Ventures Inc., MediVision Inc., MediVision of Mecklenburg County Inc., MediVision of Tampa Inc., Medical Arts Hospital of Texarkana Inc., Medical Associates of Ocala LLC, Medical Care America Colorado LLC, Medical Care America LLC, Medical Care Financial Services Corp., Medical Care Real Estate Finance Inc., Medical Care Surgery Center Inc., Medical Center - West Inc., Medical Center Imaging Inc., Medical Center Surgery Associates L.P., Medical Center of Baton Rouge Inc., Medical Center of Plano Partner LLC, Medical Center of Port St. Lucie Inc., Medical Center of Santa Rosa Inc., Medical Center of Southwest Florida LLC, Medical Centers of Oklahoma LLC, Medical City Dallas Hospital Inc., Medical City Dallas Partner LLC, Medical City Dallas Primary Care PLLC, Medical City Frisco, Medical City OB-GYN PLLC, Medical City Pediatrics PLLC, Medical City Specialty Surgicenter of Dallas LLC, Medical City Surgery Center of Alliance LLC, Medical City Surgery Center of Frisco LLC, Medical City Surgery Center of Lewisville LLC, Medical City Transplant PLLC, Medical Corporation of America, Medical Group - Dickson Inc., Medical Group - Southern Hills of Brentwood LLC, Medical Group - Southern Hills of Nolensville LLC, Medical Group - StoneCrest FP Inc., Medical Group - StoneCrest Inc., Medical Group - Stonecrest Pulmonology LLC, Medical Group - Summit Inc., Medical Imaging Inc., Medical Imaging of Colorado LLC, Medical Office Buildings of Kansas LLC, Medical Oncology Associates LLC, Medical Partners of North Florida LLC, Medical Plaza Ambulatory Surgery Center Associates L.P., Medical Specialties Inc., Memorial Family Practice Associates LLC, Memorial Health Primary Care at St. Johns Bluff LLC, Memorial Healthcare Group Inc., Memorial Neurosurgery Group LLC, Memorial Satilla Specialists LLC, Memorial University Medical Center, Menorah Medical Group LLC, Menorah Urgent Care LLC, Mercy ASC LLC, Metairie Primary Care Associates LLC, Methodist Ambulatory Surgery Center of Boerne LLC, Methodist Ambulatory Surgery Center of Landmark LLC, Methodist Cardiology Physicians, Methodist CareNow Physician Associates, Methodist CareNow Urgent Care PLLC, Methodist Healthcare System of San Antonio Ltd. L.L.P., Methodist Inpatient Management Group, Methodist Medical Center ASC L.P., Methodist Physician Alliance, Methodist Physician Practice Services LLC, Methodist Physician Practices PLLC, Metroplex Surgicenters Inc., Metropolitan Multispecialty Physicians Group Inc., Miami Beach EFL Imaging Center LLC, Miami Beach Healthcare Group Ltd., Miami Dade Surgical Specialists LLC, Miami Lakes Surgery Center Ltd., Miami-Dade Cardiology Consultants LLC, Michael Mann M.D. PLLC, Mid-America Surgery Center LLC, Mid-America Surgery Institute LLC, Mid-Cities Surgi-Center Inc., Mid-Continent Health Services Inc., MidAmerica Division Inc., MidAmerica Oncology LLC, Middle Georgia Hospital LLC, Middle Georgia Urgent Care Services LLC, Middle Tennessee Neurology LLC, Midtown Diagnostics LLC, Midwest Cardiology Specialists LLC, Midwest Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery LLC, Midwest Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons of Kansas LLC, Midwest Division - ACH LLC, Midwest Division - CMC LLC, Midwest Division - LRHC LLC, Midwest Division - LSH LLC, Midwest Division - MCI LLC, Midwest Division - MMC LLC, Midwest Division - OPRMC LLC, Midwest Division - RBH LLC, Midwest Division - RMC LLC, Midwest Division Spine Care LLC, Midwest Doctors Group LLC, Midwest Heart & Vascular Specialists LLC, Midwest Holdings Inc., Midwest Infectious Disease Specialists LLC, Midwest Medicine Associates LLC, Midwest Metropolitan Physicians Group LLC, Midwest Oncology Associates LLC, Midwest Trauma Services LLC, Midwest Womens Healthcare Specialists LLC, Mikrod Services Inc., Mill Creek Outpatient Services LLC, Millenium Health Care of Oklahoma Inc., Mission Bay Memorial Hospital Inc., Mission Community Anesthesiology Specialists LLC, Mission Employer Solutions LLC, Mission Health, Mission Health Partners Inc., Missouri Healthcare System L.P., Mobile Corps. Inc., Mobile Heartbeat, Mobile Heartbeat LLC, Montgomery Cancer Center LLC, Montgomery Hospitalists LLC, Montgomery Regional Hospital Inc., Montgomery Surgery Associates LLC, Mountain Division - CVH LLC, Mountain Division Inc., Mountain View Hospital Inc., Mountain View MRI Associates Ltd., Mountain West Surgery Center LLC, MountainStar Behavioral Health LLC, MountainStar Brigham General Surgery LLC, MountainStar Canyon Surgical Clinic LLC, MountainStar Cardiology Ogden Regional LLC, MountainStar Cardiology St. Marks LLC, MountainStar Intensivist Services LLC, MountainStar Medical Group - Cache Valley LLC, MountainStar Medical Group - Ogden Regional Medical Center LLC, MountainStar Medical Group - St. Marks Hospital LLC, MountainStar Medical Group Neurosurgery-St. Marks LLC, MountainStar Medical Group Timpanogos Primary Care LLC, MountainStar Medical Group Timpanogos Specialty Care LLC, MountainStar Specialty Services LLC, MountainStar Urgent Care LLC, MountainView GME Primary Care LLC, Mountainstar Brigham OBGYN LLC, Mountainstar Cardiovascular Services LLC, Mountainstar Ogden Pediatrics LLC, Movement Disorders of North Texas PLLC, Mt. Ogden Utah Surgical Center LLC, NPAS Inc., NPAS Solutions LLC, NT Urgent Care PLLC, NTGP LLC, NTMC Management Company, NTMC Venture Inc., NTX Pathology Program PLLC, Nashville Psychiatric Company Inc., Nashville Shared Services General Partnership, Nashville Surgicenter LLC, Natchez Medical Associates LLC, Natchez Surgery Center LLC, National Association of Senior Friends, National Contact Center Management Group LLC, National Patient Account Services Inc., National Transfer Center Management Services LLC, Navarro Memorial Hospital Inc., NeighborMD Management LLC, Network MS of Florida Inc., Network Management Services Inc., Neuro Affiliates Company, Neuro-Hospitalist of Clear Lake PLLC, NeuroHospitalist of McAllen PLLC, Neurological Eye Specialists of North Texas PLLC, Neurological Specialists PLLC, Neurological Specialists of McKinney PLLC, Neurology Associates of Hendersonville LLC, Neurology Associates of Kansas LLC, Neurosurgery Atlanta LLC, Neurosurgery of Kingwood PLLC, Neurosurgical Associates of North Texas PLLC, Neurosurgical Specialists of El Paso PLLC, Neurosurgical Specialists of North Texas PLLC, Nevada Surgery Center of Southern Hills L.P., Nevada Surgicare of Southern Hills LLC, Nevada Urgent Care Holdings Inc., New Iberia Healthcare LLC, New Iberia Holdings Inc., New Port Richey Hospital Inc., New Port Richey Surgery Center Ltd., New Rose Holding Company Inc., Niceville Family Practice LLC, North Augusta Imaging Management LLC, North Augusta Imaging Services LLC, North Augusta Rehab Health Center LLC, North Austin Plastic Surgery Associates PLLC, North Austin Surgery Center L.P., North Brandon Imaging LLC, North Central Florida Health System Inc., North Central Methodist ASC L.P., North Charleston Diagnostic Imaging Center LLC, North Florida Cancer Center Lake City LLC, North Florida Cancer Center Live Oak LLC, North Florida Cancer Center Tallahassee LLC, North Florida Division I Inc., North Florida Division Practice Inc., North Florida GI Center GP Inc., North Florida GI Center Ltd., North Florida Immediate Care Center Inc., North Florida Neurosurgery LLC, North Florida Outpatient Imaging Center Ltd., North Florida Physician Services Inc., North Florida Physicians LLC, North Florida Radiation Oncology LLC, North Florida Regional Company Care LLC, North Florida Regional Freestanding Surgery Center L.P., North Florida Regional Investments Inc., North Florida Regional Medical Center Inc., North Florida Regional Psychiatry LLC, North Florida Regional Trauma LLC, North Florida Rehab Investments LLC, North Florida Surgical Associates LLC, North Georgia Primary Care Group LLC, North Hills Cardiac Catheterization Center L.P., North Hills Catheterization Lab LLC, North Hills Orthopaedic Surgeons PLLC, North Hills Surgicare L.P., North Houston - TRMC LLC, North Miami Beach Surgery Center Limited Partnership, North Miami Beach Surgical Center LLC, North Palm Beach County Surgery Center LLC, North River Physician Network LLC, North Shore Specialists of Texas PLLC, North Suburban Spine Center L.P., North Tampa Imaging LLC, North Texas - MCA LLC, North Texas Cardiology PLLC, North Texas Craniofacial Fellowship Program PLLC, North Texas Division Inc., North Texas General L.P., North Texas Geriatrics PLLC, North Texas Heart Surgery Center PLLC, North Texas Internal Medicine Specialists PLLC, North Texas Medical Center Inc., North Texas Neuro Stroke OP PLLC, North Texas Pulmonary Critical Care PLLC, North Texas Sports and Orthopedics Center PLLC, North Texas Stroke Center PLLC, North Texas of Hope PLLC, North Transfer Center LLC, Northeast Florida Cancer Services LLC, Northeast Methodist Surgicare Ltd., Northeast PHO Inc., Northern Utah Healthcare Corporation, Northern Utah Healthcare Imaging Holdco LLC, Northern Utah Imaging LLC, Northern Virginia CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Northern Virginia Community Hospital LLC, Northern Virginia Hospital Corporation, Northern Virginia Surgicenter LLC, Northlake Medical Center LLC, Northlake Physician Practice Network Inc., Northlake Surgical Center L.P., Northlake Surgicare Inc., Northside MRI Inc., Northwest Fla. Home Health Agency Inc., Northwest Florida Healthcare Systems Inc., Northwest Florida Multispecialty Physicians LLC, Northwest Florida Primary Care LLC, Northwest Medical Center Inc., Notami (Opelousas) Inc., Notami Hospitals LLC, Notami Hospitals of Florida Inc., Notami Hospitals of Louisiana Inc., Notami Hospitals of Missouri Inc., Notami LLC, Notco LLC, Nuclear Diagnosis Inc., OB Hospitalists of Womans Hospital PLLC, OB/GYN of Brownsville PLLC, OB/Gyn Associates of Denton PLLC, OBS Diagnostic and Treatment Centre LLP, ODP Holdings LLC, ODP Manager LLC, ODP Properties LLC, OHH Imaging Services LLC, OPRMC-HBP LLC, Oak Hill Acquisition Inc., Oak Hill Family Care LLC, Oak Hill Hospitalists LLC, Oakwood Surgery Center Ltd. LLP, Ocala Health Company Care LLC, Ocala Health Imaging Services LLC, Ocala Health Primary Care LLC, Ocala Health Surgical Group LLC, Ocala Health Trauma LLC, Ocala Regional Outpatient Services Inc., Ocala Stereotactic Radiosurgery LLC, Ocala Stereotactic Radiosurgery Partner LLC, Occupational Health Services of PRH LLC, Occupational and Family Medicine of South Texas, Ogden Imaging LLC, Ogden Internal Medicine & Urology LLC, Ogden Regional Health Plan Inc., Ogden Regional Medical Center Professional Billing LLC, Ogden Senior Center LLC, Ogden Tomotherapy LLC, Ogden Tomotherapy Manager LLC, Okaloosa Hospital Inc., Okeechobee Hospital Inc., Oklahoma Holding Company LLC, Oklahoma Outpatient Surgery Limited Partnership, Oklahoma Physicians - Medical Specialties LLC, Oklahoma Physicians - Obstetrics and Gynecology LLC, Oklahoma Physicians - Primary Care LLC, Oklahoma Physicians - Surgical Specialties LLC, Oklahoma Surgicare Inc., Old Fort Village LLC, On-Site Primary Care PLLC, Oncology Services of Corpus Christi LLC, Oncology Services of Corpus Christi Manager LLC, OneSourceMed Inc., Online Pathology Services Limited, Orange County Healthcare LLC, Orange Park Hospitalists LLC, Orange Park Medical Center Inc., Orlando CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Orlando Outpatient Surgical Center Inc., Orlando Outpatient Surgical Center Ltd., Orlando Surgicare Ltd., Orthopaedic Specialty Associates L.P., Orthopaedic Sports Specialty Associates Inc., Orthopedic Hospital Ltd., Orthopedics Specialists LLC, Osceola Neurological Associates LLC, Osceola Physician Network LLC, Osceola Regional Hospital Inc., Osceola Regional Hospitalists LLC, Osceola Surgical Associates LLC, Outpatient Cardiovascular Center of Central Florida LLC, Outpatient GP LLC, Outpatient Services - LAD LLC, Outpatient Services Holdings Inc., Outpatient Surgical Services Ltd., Outpatient Womens and Childrens Surgery Center Ltd., Overland Park Cardiovascular Inc., Overland Park Medical Specialists LLC, Overland Park Orthopedics LLC, Overland Park Surgical Specialties LLC, Oviedo Medical Center LLC, Ozarks Medical Services Inc., P&L Associates, P/SL Hyperbaric Partnership, PET CT LLP, PMM Inc., POH Holdings LLC, PSG Delegated Services LLC, PTS Solutions LLC, Pacific Partners Management Services Inc., Palm Beach EFL Imaging Center LLC, Palm Beach General Surgery LLC, Palm Beach Healthcare System Inc., Palm Beach Hospitalists Program LLC, Palmer Medical Center LLC, Palms West Gastroenterology LLC, Palms West Hospital Limited Partnership, Palms West Surgery Center Ltd., Paragon Physicians Hospital Organization of South Texas Inc., Paragon SDS Inc., Paragon Surgery Centers of Texas Inc., Paragon WSC Inc., Paragon of Texas Health Properties Inc., Parallon Business Solutions LLC, Parallon Enterprises LLC, Parallon Health Information Solutions LLC, Parallon Holdings LLC, Parallon Payroll Solutions LLC, Parallon Physician Services LLC, Parallon Revenue Cycle Services Inc., Park Central Surgical Center Ltd., Park Ridge Surgery Center LLC, Park South Imaging Center Ltd., Park View Insurance Company, Parkersburg SJ Holdings Inc., Parkland Hospitalists Program LLC, Parkland Oncology LLC, Parkland Physician Services Inc., Parkridge East Specialty Associates LLC, Parkridge Hospitalists Inc., Parkridge Medical Associates LLC, Parkridge Medical Center Inc., Parkridge Professionals Inc., Parkside Surgery Center Inc., Parkway Cardiac Center Ltd., Parkway Hospital Inc., Parkway Surgery Services Ltd., Parthenon Insurance Company Limited, Pasadena Bayshore Hospital Inc., PatientKeeper, PatientKeeper Inc., Patients First Neurology LLC, Pavilion 2 Condominium Property LLC, Pavilion 2 Medical Office Building Condominium Association Inc., Pavilion Surgicenter LLC, Peach State Anesthesia Partners LLC, Pearland Institute for Womens Health PLLC, Pearland Partner LLC, Pediatric Anesthesia Consultants of San Antonio PLLC, Pediatric Cardiac Intensivists of North Texas PLLC, Pediatric Critical Care of Clear Lake PLLC, Pediatric Hospitalists of Conroe PLLC, Pediatric Intensivist Group LLC, Pediatric Intensivists of El Paso PLLC, Pediatric Intensivists of North Texas PLLC, Pediatric Specialists of Clear Lake PLLC, Pediatric Specialty Clinic LLC, Pediatric Surgicare Inc., Pediatrics of Greater Houston PLLC, Pensacola Primary Care Inc., Physician Associates of Corporate Woods LLC, Physicians Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Physicians West Surgicenter LLC, Pinellas Medical LLC, Pinnacle Physician Network LLC, Pioneer Medical LLC, Plains Healthcare System Inc., Plano Ambulatory Surgery Associates L.P., Plano Heart Institute L.P., Plano Heart Management LLC, Plano Surgery Center - GP LLC, Plano Surgery Center Real Estate LLC, Plano Surgicenter Real Estate Manager LLC, Plano Urology PLLC, Plantation General Hospital L.P., Plaza Medical Specialists PLLC, Plaza Primary Care PLLC, Plaza Transplant Center PLLC, Podiatry of Clear Lake PLLC, Poinciana Medical Center Inc., Port St. Lucie Surgery Center Ltd., Portland Primary Care LLC, Portsmouth Regional Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Portsmouth Surgicenter LLC, Preferred Hospitals Inc., Preferred Works WC LLC, Premier ASC LLC, Premier Medical Management Ltd., Primary Care Medical Associates Inc., Primary Care Plano PLLC, Primary Care Services of Orlando LLC, Primary Care South PLLC, Primary Care West PLLC, Primary Care of West End LLC, Primary Health Asset Holdings Ltd., Primary Health Group Inc., Primary Health Inc., Primary Health Network of South Texas, Primary Health Physicians PLLC, Primary Medical Management Inc., Proaxis Therapy HealthOne LLC, Provident Professional Building Condominium Association Inc., Psychiatry Services of Osceola LLC, Pulaski Community Hospital Inc., Pulaski Urology LLC, Pulmonary Renal Intensivist Group LLC, Putnam Community Medical Center of North Florida LLC, Putnam Hospital Inc., Putnam Radiation Oncology LLC, Putnam Radiation Oncology Manager LLC, Putnam Surgical Group LLC, Quantum/Bellaire Imaging Ltd., Quick Care Centers LLC, Quivira Internal Medicine Inc., RCH LLC, RMC - Pulmonary LLC, RMC Transplant Physicians LLC, RMCA Professionals Mgmt LLC, ROi CPS LLC, Radford Family Medicine LLC, Radiation Oncology Center of Thornton LLC, Radiation Oncology Manager LLC, Raleigh Community Medical Office Building Ltd., Rapides After Hours Clinic L.L.C., Rapides Healthcare System L.L.C., Rapides Regional Physician Group LLC, Rapides Regional Physician Group Primary Care LLC, Rapides Regional Physician Group Specialty Care LLC, Rapides Surgery Center LLC, Raulerson GYN LLC, Raulerson Gastroenterology LLC, Raulerson Primary Care LLC, Raymore Medical Group LLC, Red Rock Holdco LLC, Red Rock at Smoke Ranch LLC, Red Rocks Surgery Center LLC, Redmond Anesthesia Services LLC, Redmond Hospital Services LLC, Redmond Neurosurgery LLC, Redmond Park Health Services Inc., Redmond Park Hospital LLC, Redmond Physician Practice Company, Redmond Specialty Services LLC, Regional Hospital Healthcare Partners LLC, Research Cardiology Associates LLC, Research Family Physicians LLC, Research Internal Medicine LLC, Research Neurology Associates LLC, Research Neuroscience Institute LLC, Resource Optimization & Innovation L.L.C., Reston Hospital Center LLC, Reston Hospitalists LLC, Reston Surgery Center L.P., Retreat Cardiology LLC, Retreat Hospital LLC, Retreat Internal Medicine LLC, Retreat Surgical Associates LLC, Rhodes Limited-Liability Company, Richmond Imaging Employer Corp., Richmond Multi-Specialty LLC, Richmond Pediatric Surgeons LLC, Ridgeline Surgicenter LLC, Rim Building Partners L.P., Rio Grande Healthcare MSO Inc., Rio Grande NP Inc., Rio Grande Regional Hospital Inc., Rio Grande Valley Cardiology PLLC, Rio Grande Valley CareNow Urgent Care PLLC, Rio Grande Valley Urology PLLC, Riverside CyberKnife Manager LLC, Riverside Healthcare System L.P., Riverside Holdings Inc., Riverside Hospital Inc., Riverside Imaging LLC, Riverwalk ASC LLC, Roanoke Imaging LLC, Roanoke Neurosurgery LLC, Roanoke Surgery Center L.P., Roanoke Valley Gynecology LLC, Robotic Radiosurgery LLP, Rocky Mountain Pediatric Hematology Oncology LLC, Rocky Mountain Surgery Center LLC, Rome Imaging Center Limited Partnership, Roodlane Medical Limited, Rose Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Rose Health Partners LLC, Rose Medical Plaza Ltd., Rose POB Inc., Rosewood Medical Center Inc., Rosewood Professional Building Ltd., Round Rock Hospital Inc., Round Rock Trauma Surgeons PLLC, Royal Oaks Surgery Center L.P., S.A. Medical Center Inc., SAPN LLC, SCRI Global Services Limited, SCRI Holdings LLC, SCRI Scientifics LLC, SJMC LLC, SSHR Holdco LLC, SSJ St. Petersburg Holdings Inc., STPN Manager LLC, SWMC Inc., Sahara Outpatient Surgery Center Ltd., Salem Hospitalists LLC, Salem Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Salt Lake City Surgicare Inc., Samaritan LLC, San Antonio Division Inc., San Antonio Regional Hospital Inc., San Antonio Surgicenter LLC, San Bernardino Imaging LLC, San Joaquin Surgical Center Inc., San Jose Healthcare System LP, San Jose Hospital L.P., San Jose LLC, San Jose Medical Center LLC, San Jose Pathology Outreach LLC, San Marcos ASC LLC, San Marcos Surgicenter LLC, Sante Fe Family Practitioners PLLC, Sarah Cannon Development Innovations LLC, Sarah Cannon Research Institute LLC, Sarah Cannon Research Institute UK Limited, Sarasota Doctors Hospital Inc., Savannah Behavioral Health Associates LLC, Savannah Health Network LLC, Savannah Health Services LLC, Savannah Inpatient Services LLC, Savannah Multispecialty Associates LLC, Savannah Pediatric Care LLC, Savannah Primary Care Associates LLC, Sebring Health Services LLC, Selma Medical Center Hospital Inc., Senior Health Associates LLC, Short Pump Imaging LLC, Silicon Valley Health Holdings LLC, Silicon Valley Surgery Center L.P., Silicon Valley Surgicenter LLC, Sky Ridge Spine Manager LLC, Sky Ridge Surgery Center L.P., Skyline Medical Group LLC, Skyline Neuroscience Associates LLC, Skyline Rehab Associates LLC, Skyline Specialty Associates LLC, Smith Laboratories Inc., Solis Mammography at Bayshore Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Clear Lake Regional Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Conroe Regional Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Denton Regional Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at HCA Houston Tomball LLC, Solis Mammography at Kingwood Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Las Colinas Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical Center Alliance LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical Center Arlington LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical Center of Lewisville LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical Center of McKinney LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical Center of Plano LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical City Dallas LLC, Solis Mammography at Pearland Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Rose Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Skyline Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at StoneCrest Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at West Houston Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Womans Hospital of Texas LLC, Solis Mammography of Cedar Hill LLC, Solis Mammography of CyFair LLC, Solis Mammography of Dallas LLC, Solis Mammography of Flower Mound LLC, Solis Mammography of Frisco LLC, Solis Mammography of Garland LLC, Solis Mammography of Grand Prairie LLC, Solis Mammography of Houston NW LLC, Solis Mammography of Katy LLC, Solis Mammography of Louetta/249 LLC, Solis Mammography of Mainland LLC, Solis Mammography of Mansfield LLC, Solis Mammography of Mesquite LLC, Solis Mammography of Montgomery LLC, Solis Mammography of North Cypress LLC, Solis Mammography of North Loop LLC, Solis Mammography of Sugar Land LLC, Solis Mammography of West Plano LLC, Solis Mammography of Womans Place LLC, South Atlantic Division Inc., South Austin Surgery Center Ltd., South Austin Surgical Management LLC, South Austin Surgicenter LLC, South Brandon Imaging LLC, South Florida Division Practice Inc., South Texas Surgicare Inc., South Transfer Center LLC, South Valley Hospital L.P., Southeast Georgia Health Services LLC, Southern Hills Medical Center LLC, Southern Hills Neurology Consultants LLC, Southern Kentucky Medicine Associates LLC, Southern Kentucky Surgicenter LLC, Southern Texas Physicians Network, Southpoint LLC, Southtown Womens Clinic LLC, Southwest Florida Health System Inc., Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center Inc., Southwest Medical Center Family Practice LLC, Southwest Medical Center Multi-Specialty Group LLC, Southwest Medical Center Surgical Group LLC, Southwest Medpro Ltd., Southwest Surgical Clinic Inc., Southwest Virginia Orthopedics and Spine LLC, Spalding Rehabilitation L.L.C., Specialists in Obstetrics and Gynecology PLLC, Specialty Associates of West Houston PLLC, Specialty Physicians of Northern Virginia LLC, Specialty Surgicare of Las Vegas LP, Spotsylvania Condominium Property LLC, Spotsylvania Medical Center Inc., Spotsylvania Multi-Specialty Group LLC, Spotsylvania Regional Surgery Center LLC, Spring Branch Family Practitioners PLLC, Spring Branch Medical Center Inc., Spring Hill Hospital Inc., Spring Hill Imaging LLC, Spring Hill Physicians LLC, Springview KY LLC, Spruce Pine Healthcare LLC, St. Davids Austin Area ASC LLC, St. Davids Cardiology PLLC, St. Davids CareNow Urgent Care PLLC, St. Davids Healthcare Partnership L.P. LLP, St. Davids Heart & Vascular PLLC, St. Davids Neurology PLLC, St. Davids OB Hospitalist PLLC, St. Davids Ortho Neuro and Rehab PLLC, St. Davids Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation PLLC, St. Davids Quality Alliance LLC, St. Davids Specialized Womens Services PLLC, St. Davids Trauma Surgeons PLLC, St. Lucie Hospitalists LLC, St. Lucie Medical Center Hyperbarics LLC, St. Lucie Medical Center Walk-In Clinic LLC, St. Lucie Medical Specialists LLC, St. Lucie West Primary Care LLC, St. Marks Ambulatory Surgery Associates L.P., St. Marks Gynecology Oncology Care LLC, St. Marks Investments Inc., St. Marks Physician Billing LLC, St. Marks Professional Services LLC, St. Marks South Jordan Family Practice LLC, St. Martins Healthcare Limited, St. Martins Ltd., St. Martins Medical Services Limited, St. Petersburg General Surgery LLC, Stafford Imaging LLC, Statland Medical Group LLC, Steamboat Springs Surgicenter LLC, Sterling Primary Care Associates LLC, Stiles Road Imaging LLC, StoneCrest Surgery Center LLC, StoneSprings Medical Office Building Property LLC, StoneSprings Surgicenter LLC, Stonecrest Medical Group - Family Practice of Murfreesboro LLC, Stonecrest Medical Group - SC Murfreesboro Family Practice LLC, Stones River Hospital LLC, Suburban Medical Center at Hoffman Estates Inc., Sugar Land Surgery Center Anesthesia LLC, Sugar Land Surgery Center Ltd., Sullins Surgical Center Inc., Summit Convenient Care at Lebanon LLC, Summit General Partner Inc., Summit Heart LLC, Summit Outpatient Diagnostic Center LLC, Summit Research Solutions LLC, Summit Surgery Center L.P., Summit Surgical Associates LLC, Summit Walk-in Clinic LLC, Sun Bay Medical Office Building Inc., Sun City Hospital Inc., Sun City Imaging LLC, Sun Towers/Vista Hills Holding Co., Sun-Med LLC, Sunrise Flamingo Holdings LLC, Sunrise Flamingo Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center LLC, Sunrise Mountainview Hospital Inc., Sunrise Mountainview Multi-Specialty Clinics LLC, Sunrise Outpatient Services Inc., Sunrise Physician Services LLC, Sunrise Trauma Services LLC, Surgery Associates of NTX PLLC, Surgery Center of Atlantis LLC, Surgery Center of Aventura Ltd., Surgery Center of Bay Area Houston LLC, Surgery Center of Greenview L.P., Surgery Center of Independence L.P., Surgery Center of Overland Park L.P., Surgery Center of Port Charlotte Ltd., Surgery Center of Rome L.P., Surgery Center of the Rockies LLC, Surgical Associates of Southwest Virginia LLC, Surgical Care Medical Group LLC, Surgical Center of Irving Inc., Surgical Facility of West Houston L.P., Surgical Park Center Ltd., Surgical Specialists of Clear Lake PLLC, Surgical Specialists of Conroe PLLC, Surgical Specialists of Corpus Christi PLLC, Surgicare America - Winter Park Inc., Surgicare Merger Company of Louisiana, Surgicare Outpatient Center of Baton Rouge Inc., Surgicare Outpatient Center of Jackson Inc., Surgicare of ADC LLC, Surgicare of AGI LLC, Surgicare of Alpine LLC, Surgicare of Altamonte Springs Inc., Surgicare of Anchorage LLC, Surgicare of Arapahoe LLC, Surgicare of Arlington LLC, Surgicare of Ashburn LLC, Surgicare of Augusta Inc., Surgicare of Aurora Endoscopy LLC, Surgicare of Aventura LLC, Surgicare of Bay Area Endoscopy LLC, Surgicare of Bay Area LLC, Surgicare of Bayonet Point Inc., Surgicare of Bayside LLC, Surgicare of Bountiful LLC, Surgicare of Brandon Inc., Surgicare of Brentwood LLC, Surgicare of Brighton LLC, Surgicare of Brooksville LLC, Surgicare of Brownsville LLC, Surgicare of Buckhead LLC, Surgicare of CAREOS LLC, Surgicare of Central Florida Inc., Surgicare of Central Park Surgery Center LLC, Surgicare of Central San Antonio Inc., Surgicare of Chattanooga LLC, Surgicare of Chippenham LLC, Surgicare of Citrus LLC, Surgicare of Clarksville LLC, Surgicare of Corpus Christi LLC, Surgicare of Countryside Inc., Surgicare of Dallas Specialty LLC, Surgicare of Denton Inc., Surgicare of Denver Clinic LLC, Surgicare of Denver LLC, Surgicare of Denver Mid-Town Inc., Surgicare of Dickson LLC, Surgicare of Eastside LLC, Surgicare of Evans Inc., Surgicare of Fairfax Inc., Surgicare of Florida Inc., Surgicare of Flower Mound Inc., Surgicare of Focus Hand LLC, Surgicare of Fort Worth Co-GP LLC, Surgicare of Fort Worth Inc., Surgicare of Ft. Pierce Inc., Surgicare of Good Samaritan LLC, Surgicare of Gramercy Inc., Surgicare of Greenview Inc., Surgicare of Hanover Inc., Surgicare of Houston Kingwood LLC, Surgicare of Houston LLC, Surgicare of Houston Womens Inc., Surgicare of Indianapolis Inc., Surgicare of Kansas City LLC, Surgicare of Kingwood LLC, Surgicare of Kissimmee Inc., Surgicare of Lakeview Inc., Surgicare of Las Vegas Inc., Surgicare of Laurel Grove LLC, Surgicare of Lorain County Inc., Surgicare of Los Gatos Inc., Surgicare of Los Robles LLC, Surgicare of Loveland LLC, Surgicare of Madison Inc., Surgicare of Manatee Inc., Surgicare of McKinney Inc., Surgicare of Medical City Dallas LLC, Surgicare of Memorial Endoscopy LLC, Surgicare of Merritt Island Inc., Surgicare of Miami Lakes LLC, Surgicare of Mountain West LLC, Surgicare of Mt. Ogden LLC, Surgicare of Nashville LLC, Surgicare of Natchez LLC, Surgicare of Newport Richey Inc., Surgicare of North Austin LLC, Surgicare of North San Antonio Inc., Surgicare of Northeast San Antonio Inc., Surgicare of Orange Park II LLC, Surgicare of Orange Park Inc., Surgicare of Orange Park Ltd., Surgicare of Orlando Inc., Surgicare of Overland Park LLC, Surgicare of Palms West LLC, Surgicare of Park Ridge LLC, Surgicare of Pasadena Inc., Surgicare of Pavilion LLC, Surgicare of Physicians West El Paso LLC, Surgicare of Pinellas Inc., Surgicare of Plano Inc., Surgicare of Plantation Inc., Surgicare of Port Charlotte LLC, Surgicare of Port St. Lucie Inc., Surgicare of Portsmouth LLC, Surgicare of Premier Orthopaedic LLC, Surgicare of Reston Inc., Surgicare of Ridgeline LLC, Surgicare of Riverside LLC, Surgicare of Riverwalk LLC, Surgicare of Roanoke LLC, Surgicare of Rome Inc., Surgicare of Rose LLC, Surgicare of Round Rock Inc., Surgicare of Royal Oaks LLC, Surgicare of Silicon Valley LLC, Surgicare of Sky Ridge LLC, Surgicare of Sky Ridge Womens Center LLC, Surgicare of South Austin Inc., Surgicare of Southeast Denver Inc., Surgicare of Southern Hills Inc., Surgicare of Southern Kentucky LLC, Surgicare of Southwest Houston LLC, Surgicare of Spotsylvania LLC, Surgicare of St. Andrews Inc., Surgicare of St. Andrews Ltd., Surgicare of St. Davids Austin LLC, Surgicare of Steamboat Springs LLC, Surgicare of StoneCrest LLC, Surgicare of StoneSprings LLC, Surgicare of Stuart Inc., Surgicare of Sugar Land Inc., Surgicare of Swedish LLC, Surgicare of Tallahassee Inc., Surgicare of Terre Haute LLC, Surgicare of Thornton LLC, Surgicare of Travis Center Inc., Surgicare of Tulsa Inc., Surgicare of Utah LLC, Surgicare of Wasatch Front LLC, Surgicare of West Hills Inc., Surgicare of Westlake Inc., Surgicare of Wichita Inc., Surgicare of Wichita LLC, Surgicare of Willis LLC, Surgicare of Wilson County LLC, Surgicare of Winchester LLC, Surgicenter of East Jefferson Inc., Surgicenter of Johnson County Ltd. a Kansas limited partnership, Surgicenter of Kansas City L.L.C., Surgico LLC, Swedish MOB Acquisition Inc., Swedish MOB I Ltd., Swedish MOB II Inc., Swedish MOB III Inc., Swedish MOB IV Inc., Swedish MOB LLC, Swedish Medpro Inc., TBHI Outpatient Services LLC, TCMC Madison-Portland Inc., THN Physicians Association Inc., TUHC Anesthesiology Group LLC, TUHC Hospitalist Group LLC, TUHC Physician Group LLC, TUHC Primary Care and Pediatrics Group LLC, TUHC Radiology Group LLC, Tallahassee Community Network Inc., Tallahassee Medical Center Inc., Tallahassee Orthopaedic Surgery Partners Ltd., Tampa Bay Health System Inc., Tampa Surgi-Centre Inc., Tarrant County Surgery Center L.P., Tchefuncte Cardiology Associates - Lakeview LLC, Teays Valley Health Services LLC, Telehealth Physician Services LLC, Tennessee Healthcare Management Inc., Tennessee Valley Outpatient Diagnostic Center LLC, Terre Haute Hospital GP Inc., Terre Haute Hospital Holdings Inc., Terre Haute MOB L.P., Terre Haute Obstetrics and Gynecology LLC, Terre Haute Regional Hospital L.P., Texas CareNow Physician Associates, Texas HSS LLC, Texas Institute of Medicine and Surgery, Texas Psychiatric Company Inc., The Austin Diagnostic Clinic PLLC, The Cancer Care Center of North Florida LLC, The Cardiovascular Partnership for Quality LLC, The Charter Cypress Behavioral Health System L.L.C., The Christie Clinic LLP, The Glynne Medical Practice Limited, The Harley Street Cancer Clinic Limited, The London Breast Institute UK Ltd, The Medical Group of Kansas City LLC, The Neurohealth Sciences Center LLC, The Physicians Clinic Limited, The Prostate Centre Limited, The Rankin Foundation, The Regional Health System of Acadiana LLC, The Wasatch Endoscopy Center Ltd., The West Texas Division of Columbia Inc., Timpanogos Pain Specialists LLC, Timpanogos Regional Medical Services Inc., Total Imaging - Hudson LLC, Total Imaging - North St. Petersburg LLC, Total Imaging - Parsons LLC, Town Plaza Family Practice LLC, Travel Medicine and Infections LLC, Travis Surgery Center L.P., Tri Cities Health Services Corp., Tri-City Multi-Specialty LLC, Tri-County Community Hospital Inc., Tri-County Surgical Specialists LLC, TriStar Bone Marrow Transplant LLC, TriStar Cardiovascular Surgery LLC, TriStar Family Care LLC, TriStar Gynecology Oncology LLC, TriStar Health System Inc., TriStar Joint Replacement Institute LLC, TriStar Maury Behavioral Healthcare LLC, TriStar Medical Group - Centennial Primary Care LLC, TriStar Medical Group - Legacy Health LLC, TriStar Medical Network LLC, TriStar OB/GYN LLC, TriStar Orthopedics LLC, TriStar Physicians LLC, TriStar Radiation Oncology LLC, Trident Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Trident Behavioral Health Services LLC, Trident Eye Surgery Center L.P., Trident Medical Center LLC, Trident Medical Services Inc., Trident Neonatology Services LLC, Tulane Clinic LLC, Tulane Professionals Management L.L.C., Tuscan Imaging Center at Las Colinas LLC, U.S. Collections Inc., Ultra Imaging Management Services LLC, Ultra Imaging of Tampa LLC, University Healthcare Specialists LLC, University Healthcare System L.C., University Hospital Ltd., Uptown Primary Care Associates LLC, Urgent Care Enterprise LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Ann & Simmons LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Cactus & Southern Highlands LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Charleston & Decatur LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Charleston/Sloan LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Craig & Clayton LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Craig & Decatur LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Durango & Cheyenne LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Durango & Flamingo LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Eastern & Horizon Ridge LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Rainbow/Mardon LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Warm Springs & Green Valley LLC, Urgent Care Extra Silverado & Maryland LLC, Urgent Care Extra-Tropicana & Jones LLC, Urgent Care Nevada LLC, Urological Specialists of Arlington PLLC, Urology Associates (London) Limited, Urology Center of North Georgia LLC, Urology Services of El Paso PLLC, Urology Specialists Devonshire LLP, Urology Specialists London LLP, Urology Specialists of Kingwood PLLC, Urology Specialists of Richmond LLC, Urology Surgery Center of Colorado LLC, Utah CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Utah Imaging GP LLC, Utah Medco LLC, Utah Surgery Center L.P., VH Holdco Inc., VH Holdings Inc., VHSC Plantation LLC, VIP Inc., Valify, Valify Inc., Value Health Holdings Inc., Value Health Management Inc., Vascular and Endovascular Specialists LLC, Venture Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Venture Medical Management LLC, Village Oaks Medical Center Inc., Virginia Care Partners ACO LLC, Virginia Gynecologic Oncology LLC, Virginia Hematology & Oncology Associates Inc., Virginia Hospitalists Inc., Virginia Psychiatric Company Inc., Virginia Quality Care Partners LLC, Vision Consulting Group LLC, Vision Holdings LLC, W & C Hospital Inc., WCP Properties LLC, WHG Medical LLC, WHMC Inc., WJHC LLC, Walterboro Community Hospital Inc., Warren County Ambulance Service LLC, Wasatch Front Surgery Center LLC, Washington Holdco LLC, Waterway Primary Care LLC, Weatherford Health Services LLC, Weatherford Mammography JV LLC, Weatherford Regional Medical Center, Welbeck Street Diagnostic Centre LLP, Wellington Diagnostic Services LLP, Wesley Cath Lab LLC, Wesley Manager LLC, Wesley Medical Center LLC, Wesley Physician Services LLC, Wesley Physicians - Anesthesiologist LLC, Wesley Physicians - Cardiovascular LLC, Wesley Physicians - Medical Specialties LLC, Wesley Physicians - Obstetrics and Gynecology LLC, Wesley Physicians - Primary Care LLC, Wesley Select Network LLC, Wesley Urgent Care LLC, West Boynton Beach Open Imaging Center LLC, West Creek Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, West Creek Medical Center Inc., West Florida - MHT LLC, West Florida - PPH LLC, West Florida Behavioral Health Inc., West Florida Cardiology Network LLC, West Florida Cardiology Physicians LLC, West Florida CareNow Urgent Care LLC, West Florida Division Inc., West Florida Gulf Coast Primary Care LLC, West Florida HealthWorks LLC, West Florida Imaging Services LLC, West Florida Internal Medicine LLC, West Florida PET Services LLC, West Florida Physician Network LLC, West Florida Professional Billing LLC, West Florida Regional Medical Center Inc., West Florida Specialty Physicians LLC, West Florida Trauma Network LLC, West Florida Urgent Care Network LLC, West Hills Hospital, West Hills Surgical Center Ltd., West Houston ASC Inc., West Houston Healthcare Group Ltd., West Houston Internal Specialists PLLC, West Houston LLC, West Houston Medical PLLC, West Houston Outpatient Medical Facility Inc., West Houston Surgicare Inc., West Jacksonville Medical Center Inc., West Jordan Hospital Corporation, West LPN Fort Worth Oncology PLLC, West LPN Inc., West Los Angeles Physicians Hospital Inc., West McKinney Imaging Services LLC, West Paces Services Inc., West Park Surgery Center L.P., West Valley Imaging LLC, West Valley Medical Center Inc., West Valley Medical Group LLC, West Valley Medical Group Specialty Services LLC, West Valley Therapy Services LLC, Westbury Hospital Inc., Western Plains Capital Inc., Westlake Surgicare L.P., Westminster Community Hospital, Westside Surgery Center Ltd., Wichita CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Wildwood Medical Center Inc., Willis Surgicenter LLC, Wilson County Outpatient Surgery Center L.P., Womans Health Group PLLC, Womans Hospital Merger LLC, Womans Hospital of Texas Incorporated, Women Practitioners of Houston PLLC, Women Specialists of Bayshore PLLC, Women Specialists of Clear Lake PLLC, Women Specialists of Mainland PLLC, Womens & Childrens Center LLC, Womens & Childrens Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Center LLC, Womens & Childrens Pulmonology Clinic LLC, Womens Center at Brookside LLC, Womens Health Center of Central Florida LLC, Womens Health Center of SWVA LLC, Womens Hospital Indianapolis GP Inc., Womens Hospital Indianapolis L.P., Womens Link Specialty Obstetrical Referral Clinic PLLC, Womens Multi-Specialty Group LLC, Womens Surgical Specialists of Texas PLLC, Womens and Childrens Professional Management L.L.C., Womens and Childrens Specialists LLC, hInsight-Airstrip Holdings LLC, hInsight-BMA Holdings LLC, hInsight-Customer Care Holdings LLC, hInsight-Digital Reasoning Holdings LLC, hInsight-Healthbox Holdings LLC, hInsight-I2 Holdings LLC, hInsight-InVivoLink Holdings LLC, hInsight-LS Holdings LLC, hInsight-Loyale Healthcare Holdings LLC, hInsight-Mobile Heartbeat Holdings LLC, hInsight-NX LLC, hInsight-PWS I Holdings LLC, hInsight-Procured Holdings LLC, and hInsight-VAI Holdings LLC.CA, Inc., doing business as CA technologies, develops, markets, delivers, and licenses software products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Mainframe Solutions, Enterprise Solutions, and Services. The Mainframe Solutions segment offers solutions for the IBM z Systems platform, which runs various mission critical business applications. Its mainframe solutions enable customers enhance economics by increasing throughput and lowering cost per transaction; increasing business agility through DevOps tooling and processes; increasing reliability and availability of operations through machine intelligence and automation solutions; and protecting enterprise data with security and compliance. The Enterprise Solutions segment provides a range of software planning, development, and management tools for mobile, cloud, and distributed computing environments. It primarily provides customers secure application development, infrastructure management, automation, and identity-centric security solutions. The Services segment offers various services, such as consulting, implementation, application management, education, and support services to commercial and government customers for implementation and adoption of its software solutions. The company serves banks, insurance companies, other financial services providers, government agencies, information technology service providers, telecommunication providers, transportation companies, manufacturers, technology companies, retailers, educational organizations, and health care institutions. It sells its products through direct sales force, as well as through various partner channels comprising resellers, service providers, system integrators, managed service providers, and technology partners. The company was formerly known as Computer Associates International, Inc. and changed its name to CA, Inc. in 2006. CA, Inc. was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Read More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The following companies are subsidiares of Occidental Petroleum: 1PointFive Inc., 1PointFive P1 LLC, APC Aviation Inc., APC International Holdings LLC, APC Midstream Holdings LLC, APC Venezuela Srl, ARCO Long Beach, Altura Energy, Amarok Gathering LLC, Anadarko 20-25 Company, Anadarko 20-36 Company, Anadarko 20-47 Company, Anadarko 20-48 Company, Anadarko 20-49 Company, Anadarko Algeria Block 403 c/e Company, Anadarko Algeria Block 406B Company, Anadarko Algeria Company LLC, Anadarko Algeria Oil & Gas Company, Anadarko Brazil Investment I LLC, Anadarko Brazil Investment II LLC, Anadarko Canada E&P Limited, Anadarko China Holdings 2 Company, Anadarko Colombia Company, Anadarko Consolidated Holdings LLC, Anadarko Cote d'Ivoire Block 103 Company, Anadarko Cote d'Ivoire Company, Anadarko DBMOS Operator LLC, Anadarko Development Company, Anadarko Development Holding Limited, Anadarko E&P Onshore LLC, Anadarko Egypt Holdings Company, Anadarko Energy Holding Limited, Anadarko Energy Services Company, Anadarko Exploracao e Producao de Petroleo e Gas Natural Ltda., Anadarko Finance Company, Anadarko Gabon Company, Anadarko Ghana Mahogany-1 Company, Anadarko Global Energy S.a.r.l, Anadarko Global Funding 1 Company, Anadarko Global Funding II Ltd., Anadarko Guyana Company, Anadarko Holding Company, Anadarko International Development S.a.r.l, Anadarko International Energy Company, Anadarko International O&G Company, Anadarko International Trading Corporation, Anadarko Jordan Company, Anadarko Kenya Company, Anadarko LMM S.a.r.l, Anadarko Land Corp., Anadarko Mexico B.V., Anadarko Mexico S.a.r.l, Anadarko Midkiff/Chaney Dell BR Corp., Anadarko Midkiff/Chaney Dell LLC, Anadarko Natural Gas Company LLC, Anadarko New Zealand Company, Anadarko OGC Company, Anadarko Offshore Holding Company LLC, Anadarko Offshore Well Containment Company LLC, Anadarko Oil & Gas 5 LLC, Anadarko Peru B.V., Anadarko Petroleum, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, Anadarko Realty LLC, Anadarko Rockies LLC, Anadarko Royalty Holdings Company, Anadarko UK Corporate Limited, Anadarko US Offshore LLC, Anadarko USH1 Corporation, Anadarko Venezuela Company, Anadarko Venezuela LLC, Anadarko Venezuela Srl, Anadarko WCTP Company, Anadarko West Texas BR Corp., Anadarko West Texas LLC, Anadarko Worldwide Holdings C.V., Atlantic Rim Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Aventine LLC, Baseball Merger Sub 2 Inc., Bear Branch Exploration LLC, Big Island Trona Company, Bitter Creek Coal Company, Bravo Pipeline Company, Cain Chemical, Cain Chemical Inc., Carbon Finance Labs LLC, Concord Petroleum Corporation, Conn Creek Shale Company, D.S. Ventures LLC, DMM Financial LLC, Deerwood Exploration LLC, Downtown Plaza II, Elk Hills Field, FLAG Development LLC, FP Westport Commodities Limited, FP Westport GmbH, FP Westport LLC, FP Westport Limited, FP Westport Services LLC, FP Westport Trading LLC, Fosters Mill Exploration LLC, Glenn Springs Holdings Inc., Globrep Representaciones S.A., Grand Bassa Tankers Inc., Grupo OxyChem de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Headwater II LLC, Houndstooth Resources LLC, INDSPEC Chemical B.V., INDSPEC Chemical Corporation, INDSPEC Chemical Corporation, INDSPEC Chemical Export Sales LLC, INDSPEC Holding Corporation, Ingleside Cogeneration GP LLC, Ingleside Cogeneration Limited Partnership, Interore Trading Ltd., Joslyn Partnership, KERR-McGEE TT E&P LTD., KM BM-C-Seven Ltd., KM International Insurance Ltd., Kerr-McGee Corporation, Kerr-McGee Natural Gas Company Inc., Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Onshore LP, Kerr-McGee Shared Services Company LLC, Kerr-McGee Stored Power Corporation, Kerr-McGee U.K. Energy Corporation, Kerr-McGee Worldwide Corporation, Kerr-McGee do Brasil Ltda., Kerr-McGee of Canada Northwest Ltd., Laguna Petroleum Corp., Laguna Petroleum LLC, Liwa Oil & Gas Ltd., MC2 Technologies LLC, Mariana Properties Inc., Marico Exploration Inc., Miller Springs Remediation Management Inc., Moncrief Minerals Partnership L.P., NGL Ventures LLC, Natural Gas Odorizing Inc., New OPL LLC, OEVC Energy LLC, OEVC Midstream Projects LLC, OIH LLC, OLCV CE Holdings ULC, OLCV CE US Holdings Inc., OLCV Net Power LLC, OLCV Services LLC, OOG Partner LLC, OOOI Chem Holdings LLC, OOOI Chem Sub LLC, OOOI Chemical International LLC, OOOI Chile Holder LLC, OOOI Ecuador Management LLC, OOOI Oil and Gas Sub LLC, OOOI South America Management LLC, OPM GP Inc., OPM Holdco LLC, OTCF LLC, OTH LLC, OXY CV Pipeline LLC, OXY Campus LLC, OXY Inc., OXY LPG LLC, OXY Libya E&P Area 103 BR4 B.V., OXY Libya E&P Area 35 Ltd., OXY Libya E&P Concession 103 Ltd., OXY Libya E&P EPSA 102 B.V., OXY Libya E&P EPSA 1981 Ltd., OXY Libya E&P EPSA 1985 Ltd., OXY Libya E&P NC 143 144 145 150 B.V., OXY Libya Exploration SPC, OXY Libya LLC, OXY Little Knife LLC, OXY Mexico Holdings I LLC, OXY Mexico Holdings II LLC, OXY Middle East Holdings Ltd., OXY Oil Partners Inc., OXY PBLP Manager LLC, OXY Support Services LLC, OXY Tulsa Inc., OXY USA Inc., OXY USA WTP LP, OXY VPP Investments LLC, OXY West LLC, OXY of Saudi Arabia Ltd., OXYCHEM (CANADA) INC., OXYMAR, Oakwood Exploration LLC, Occidental (Bermuda) Ltd., Occidental (East Shabwa) LLC, Occidental Advance Sale Finance Inc., Occidental Al Hosn LLC, Occidental Angola Holdings Ltd., Occidental CIS Services Inc., Occidental Canada Holdings Ltd., Occidental Chemical Asia Limited, Occidental Chemical Belgium B.V.B.A., Occidental Chemical Chile Limitada, Occidental Chemical Corporation, Occidental Chemical Export Sales LLC, Occidental Chemical Far East Limited, Occidental Chemical Holding Corporation, Occidental Chemical International LLC, Occidental Chemical Investment (Canada) 1 Inc., Occidental Chemical Receivables LLC, Occidental Chemical de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Occidental Chile Investments LLC, Occidental Chile Minority Holder LLC, Occidental Colombia (Series G) Ltd., Occidental Colombia (Series J) Ltd., Occidental Colombia (Series K) Ltd., Occidental Colombia (Series L) Ltd., Occidental Colombia (Series M) Ltd., Occidental Colombia (Series N) Ltd., Occidental Colombia (Series O) Ltd., Occidental Crude Sales Inc. (Canada), Occidental Crude Sales Inc. (International), Occidental Dolphin Holdings Ltd., Occidental Energy Marketing Inc., Occidental Energy Ventures LLC, Occidental Exploradora del Peru Ltd., Occidental Exploration and Production Company, Occidental Hafar LLC, Occidental International (Libya) Inc., Occidental International Corporation, Occidental International Exploration and Production Company, Occidental International Holdings Ltd., Occidental International Oil and Gas Ltd., Occidental International Services Inc., Occidental Joslyn GP 2 Co., Occidental LNG (Malaysia) Ltd., Occidental Latin America Holdings LLC, Occidental Libya Oil & Gas B.V., Occidental MENA Manager Ltd., Occidental Middle East Development Company, Occidental Midland Basin LLC, Occidental Mukhaizna LLC, Occidental Oil Asia Pte. Ltd., Occidental Oil Shale Inc., Occidental Oil and Gas (Oman) Ltd., Occidental Oil and Gas Corporation, Occidental Oil and Gas International Inc., Occidental Oil and Gas International LLC, Occidental Oil and Gas Pakistan LLC, Occidental Oil and Gas of Peru LLC, Occidental Oman (Block 27) Holdings Ltd., Occidental Oman Block 51 Holding Ltd., Occidental Oman Block 51 LLC, Occidental Oman Block 65 Holding Ltd., Occidental Oman Block 65 LLC, Occidental Oman Block 72 Holding Ltd., Occidental Oman Block 72 LLC, Occidental Oman Gas Company LLC, Occidental Oman Gas Holdings Ltd., Occidental Oman North Holdings Ltd., Occidental Oriente Exploration and Production Ltd., Occidental Overseas Holdings B.V., Occidental PVC LLC, Occidental Peninsula II Inc., Occidental Peninsula LLC, Occidental Permian Ltd., Occidental Permian Manager LLC, Occidental Permian Services Inc., Occidental Peruana Inc., Occidental Petrolera del Peru (Block 101) Inc., Occidental Petrolera del Peru (Block 103) Inc., Occidental Petroleum (Pakistan) Inc., Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Occidental Petroleum Corporation Political Action Committee, Occidental Petroleum de Venezuela S.A., Occidental Petroleum of Nigeria, Occidental Petroleum of Oman Ltd., Occidental Petroleum of Qatar Ltd., Occidental Power Marketing L.P., Occidental Power Services Inc., Occidental Qatar Energy Company LLC, Occidental Red Sea Development LLC, Occidental Research Corporation, Occidental Resource Recovery Systems Inc., Occidental Resources Company, Occidental Shah Gas Holdings Ltd., Occidental South America Finance LLC, Occidental Specialty Marketing Inc., Occidental Tower Corporation, Occidental Transportation Holding Corporation, Occidental West Texas Overthrust Inc., Occidental Yemen Ltd., Occidental Yemen Sabatain Inc., Occidental del Ecuador Inc., Occidental of Abu Dhabi (Bab) Ltd., Occidental of Abu Dhabi (Shah) Ltd., Occidental of Abu Dhabi Holdings Ltd., Occidental of Abu Dhabi LLC, Occidental of Abu Dhabi Ltd., Occidental of Bahrain Ltd., Occidental of Bangladesh Inc., Occidental of Colombia (Chipiron) Inc., Occidental of Colombia (Cosecha) Inc., Occidental of Colombia (Medina) Inc., Occidental of Colombia (Putumayo) Ltd., Occidental of Colombia (Teca) Ltd., Occidental of Colombia PUT-36 LLC, Occidental of Dubai Inc., Occidental of Iraq Holdings Ltd., Occidental of Iraq LLC, Occidental of Oman Inc., Occidental of Russia Ltd., Occidental of South Africa (Offshore) Inc., Occidental of Yemen (Block 75) LLC, Oceanic Marine Transport Ltd., Opcal Insurance Inc., Oryx Crude Trading & Transportation Inc., Oxy BridgeTex Limited Partnership, Oxy C & I Bulk Sales LLC, Oxy Canada Sales Inc., Oxy Carbon Solutions LLC, Oxy Carbon Storage LLC, Oxy Climate Ventures Inc., Oxy Cogeneration Holding Company LLC, Oxy Colombia Holdings LLC, Oxy Colombia TopCo Ltd., Oxy Delaware Basin LLC, Oxy Delaware Basin Plant LLC, Oxy Dolphin E&P LLC, Oxy Dolphin Pipeline LLC, Oxy Energy Canada Inc., Oxy Energy Services LLC, Oxy Expatriate Services Inc., Oxy FFT Holdings Inc., Oxy Holding Company (Pipeline) Inc., Oxy International Ventures Ltd., Oxy LPG Terminal LLC, Oxy Levelland Pipeline Company LLC, Oxy Levelland Terminal Company LLC, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures LLC, Oxy Midstream Strategic Development LLC, Oxy Oleoducto SOP LLC, Oxy Overseas Services Ltd., Oxy Permian Gathering LLC, Oxy Permian Plaza LLC, Oxy Petroleum de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Oxy Renewable Energy LLC, Oxy Salt Creek Pipeline LLC, Oxy TL LLC, Oxy Taft Hub LLC, Oxy Technology Ventures Inc., Oxy Transport I Company LLC, Oxy Vinyls Canada Co., Oxy Vinyls Export Sales LLC, Oxy Vinyls LP, Oxy Westwood Corporation, Oxy Y-1 Company, OxyChem Ingleside Ethylene Holdings Inc., OxyChem do Brasil Ltda., OxyChile Investments LLC, Oxychem Shipping Ltd., Permian Basin JV Tax Matters Member LLC, Permian Basin Limited Partnership, Permian VPP Holder LP, Permian VPP Manager LLC, Phibro, Placid Oil LLC, Ramlat Oxy Ltd., Rio de Viento Inc., Rodeo Midland Basin LLC, San Patricio Pipeline LLC, Scanports Shipping LLC, SequestCo LLC, Stetson Exploration LLC, Sun Offshore Gathering Company, Swiflite Aircraft Corporation, Transok Properties LLC, Troy Potter Inc., Turavent Oil GmbH [in liquidation], Tuscaloosa Holdings Inc., UP Petroleo III Ltd., Upland Industries Corporation, Venezuela US SRL, Vintage Gas Inc., Vintage Petroleum, Vintage Petroleum Argentina Ltd., Vintage Petroleum Boliviana Ltd., Vintage Petroleum International Finance B.V., Vintage Petroleum International Holdings LLC, Vintage Petroleum International LLC, Vintage Petroleum International Ventures Inc., Vintage Petroleum Italy Inc., Vintage Petroleum South America Holdings Inc., Vintage Petroleum South America LLC, Vintage Petroleum Turkey Inc., WGR Asset Holding Company LLC, WGR Canada Inc., Wardner Ranch Inc., Western Gas Resources Inc., Western Gas Resources-Westana Inc., Western Midstream Holdings LLC, Woodlands International Insurance Ltd., and YT Ranch LLC.Wall Street analysts have given NavSight 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 NavSight wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Fund, Inc. is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc. The fund is co-managed by Morgan Stanley Investment Management Limited and Morgan Stanley Investment Management Company. It invests in the public equity markets across the global emerging markets. The fund invests in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. It invests in companies across all market capitalizations. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the MSCI Emerging Markets Net Index. Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Fund Inc. was formed on August 27, 1991 and is domiciled in the United States.

Read MoreWall Street analysts have given iShares Silver 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 iShares Silver Trust 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 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 Mueller Industries: ATCO Rubber Products, ATCO Rubber Products Inc., Aegis Oil and Gas Leasing Ltd., Amwest Exploration Company, Arava Exploration Company, Arava Natural Resources Company Inc., B & K Industries Inc., B&K Industries, B&K LLC, Bayard Mining Corp., Canco Oil & Gas Ltd., Carpentertown Coal & Coke Company, Changzhou Mueller Refrigerant Valve Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Climate Components LLC, DENO Holding Company Inc., DENO Investment Company II Inc., DENO Investment Company Inc., Die-Mold Tool Limited, Extruded Metals, Extruded Metals Inc., Great Lakes Copper Ltd., Halstead Industries, HeatLink Group, Heatlink Group Inc., Heatlink Group USA LLC, Howell Metal Company, Itawamba Industrial Gas Company Inc., Jungwoo Metal Ind. Co. Ltd., King Coal Company, Leon Water Enterprises Inc., Lincoln Brass Works, Lincoln Brass Works Inc., Linesets, Linesets Inc., MA Industrial Secured Lending LLC, MCTC LLC, MCTP LLC, MII Financial Corporation, MPC Foundry Inc., MPC Machine Shop Inc., Macomber Building and Land Corporation, Macomber Construction Company, Macomber Incorporated, Micro Gauge, Micro Gauge Inc., Microgauge Machining Inc., Mining Remedial Recovery Company, Mueller Brass Co., Mueller Brass Forging Company Inc., Mueller Brass Holding Company Inc., Mueller Canada Holding Co. Ltd., Mueller Casting Company Inc., Mueller Comercial de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Mueller Copper Tube Company Inc., Mueller Copper Tube Products Inc., Mueller East Inc., Mueller Europe Investment Company Ltd., Mueller Europe Limited, Mueller Fittings Company Inc., Mueller Fittings LLC, Mueller Formed Tube Company Inc., Mueller Impacts Company Inc., Mueller Industrial Realty Co., Mueller Industries Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Mueller LBHC Inc., Mueller Middle East B.S.C., Mueller Packaging LLC, Mueller Plastics Corporation Inc., Mueller Plastics Holding Company Inc., Mueller Press Company Inc., Mueller Refrigeration Holding Company Inc., Mueller Refrigeration LLC, Mueller Refrigeration Products Company Inc., Mueller Southeast Inc., Mueller Streamline China LLC, Mueller Streamline Co., Mueller Streamline Holding S.L.U., Mueller Streamline II LLC, Mueller Streamline Trading LLC, Mueller Tool and Machine Inc., Mueller de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Muellux Holding Company I SARL, Muellux Holding Company II SARL, NICNA Mexico Proyectos S. de R.L. de C.V., NICNA Mexico Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., Overstreet Hughes, Overstreet-Hughes Co. Inc., PexCor, Pexcor Manufacturing Co. Inc., Precision Tube Company LLC, Propipe Technologies, Propipe Technologies Inc., Sherwood Valve, Sherwood Valve Products Inc., Southland Pipe Nipples Company Inc., Streamline Copper & Brass Ltd., Summit Systems Inc., Tecumseh Products Co., Tecumseh Products Holdings LLC, Tube Forming, Turbotec Products, Turbotec Products Inc., U.S.S. Lead Refinery Inc., USSRAM Exploration Company, United States Fuel Company, Vemco Brasscapri, WTC HoldCo I LLC, WTC HoldCo II LLC, WTC Holding Company, Washington Mining Company, Westermeyer Industries, Westermeyer Industries Inc., and White Knob Mining Company.The following companies are subsidiares of Teledyne Technologies: Alia Corporation Inc, Bolt Technology Corp, Bowtech Products, CARIS, CDL do Brasil Equipamentos e Servicos Submarinos Sociedade Empresaria Ltda., CETAC Technologies, DALSA, Demo Systems, Detcon Holdco Inc., Ensambles de Precision S.A. de C.V., Falcon Analytical, Frontline Test Equipment, GMI Group Holdings Limited, Hafmynd ehf, Hanson Research Corp, IST Oldham Instruments India Private Limited, Industrial Control Machines, Intelek, Intelek Limited, Intelek Pension Trustees Limited, Intelek Properties Limited, LeCroy (Beijing) Trading Co. Ltd., LeCroy Corporation, Lidar Aviation Services Inc., Maple Imaging LLC, Micralyne Inc, Ocean Design Ltda., Oldham Instrument (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Oldham Simtronics SAS, Oldham-Winter GmbH, PDM Neptec, Reynolds Industries Limited, Rhombi Canada LP, Rhombi Holdings Limited, Rhombi Netherlands B.V., Rockwell Scientific Company, Simtronics AS, TDY Jersey Limited, Teledyne Advanced Pollution Instrumentation, Teledyne Australia Pty Ltd, Teledyne BlueView, Teledyne Bogatin Enterprises LLC, Teledyne Bowtech Limited, Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc., Teledyne C.M.L. Group Limited, Teledyne CARIS B.V., Teledyne CARIS Inc., Teledyne CARIS UK Ltd., Teledyne CARIS USA Inc., Teledyne CDL Inc., Teledyne CDL Limited, Teledyne Catalyst Enterprises Inc., Teledyne Computer Access Technology Corporation, Teledyne Controls LLC, Teledyne Cougar, Teledyne Czech s.r.o., Teledyne DALSA (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Teledyne DALSA Asia-Pacific Ltd., Teledyne DALSA B.V., Teledyne DALSA GmbH, Teledyne DALSA Inc., Teledyne DALSA Industrial Products Inc., Teledyne DALSA K.K., Teledyne DALSA Semiconductor Inc., Teledyne Dalsa, Teledyne Defense Electronics LLC, Teledyne Denmark A/S, Teledyne Detcon Inc., Teledyne Digital Imaging Inc., Teledyne Digital Imaging US Inc., Teledyne Energy Systems Inc., Teledyne Europe Holdings C.V., Teledyne France, Teledyne France SAS, Teledyne Gas Measurement Instruments Limited, Teledyne Gavia ehf., Teledyne Germany GmbH, Teledyne Hanson Research Inc., Teledyne ICM SA, Teledyne ICM SPRL, Teledyne Innovaciones Microelectronics S.L.U., Teledyne Instruments Inc., Teledyne Instruments Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Teledyne Japan Corporation, Teledyne Korea Ltd., Teledyne Labtech Limited, Teledyne LeCroy AB, Teledyne LeCroy Delaware LLC, Teledyne LeCroy GmbH, Teledyne LeCroy Inc., Teledyne LeCroy India Trading Private Ltd., Teledyne LeCroy Japan Corporation, Teledyne LeCroy Korea Ltd., Teledyne LeCroy OakGate Inc., Teledyne LeCroy S.A.R.L., Teledyne LeCroy S.R.L., Teledyne LeCroy SA, Teledyne LeCroy Singapore Pte. Ltd., Teledyne Limited, Teledyne Micralyne Inc., Teledyne Monitor Labs, Teledyne Monitor Labs P.R. Inc., Teledyne Netherlands B.V., Teledyne ODI, Teledyne Optech Inc., Teledyne Paradise Datacom Limited, Teledyne RD Instruments, Teledyne RD Technologies (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Teledyne RESON, Teledyne RESON A/S, Teledyne RESON B.V., Teledyne RESON GmbH, Teledyne RESON Holding B.V., Teledyne RESON Inc., Teledyne RESON Pte. Ltd., Teledyne RESON UK Limited, Teledyne RISI Inc., Teledyne Rad-icon Imaging Corp., Teledyne Redlake MASD LLC, Teledyne Reynolds Inc., Teledyne SG Brown Limited, Teledyne Scientific & Imaging LLC, Teledyne Scientific Imaging GmbH, Teledyne Scientific Imaging Limited, Teledyne Signal Processing Devices Sweden AB, Teledyne Singapore Private Limited, Teledyne TSS Limited, Teledyne Taiwan Company, Teledyne Technologies (Bermuda) Limited, Teledyne Technologies (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Teledyne Technologies International Corp., Teledyne Technologies Israel Ltd., Teledyne Tekmar Company, Teledyne UK Limited, Teledyne VariSystems, Teledyne VariSystems Inc., Teledyne Wireless LLC, Teledyne e2v, Teledyne e2v (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Teledyne e2v (Overseas) Holdings Limited, Teledyne e2v Asia Pacific Limited, Teledyne e2v Limited, Teledyne e2v Semiconductors SAS, and The Oceanscience Group Ltd..The following companies are subsidiares of Bristol-Myers Squibb: 1096271 B.C. ULC, 345 Park LLC, A.G. Medical Services P.A., AHI Investment LLC, AbVitro LLC, Abraxis BioScience Australia Pty Ltd., Abraxis BioScience Inc., Abraxis BioScience International Holding Company Inc., Abraxis BioScience LLC, Abraxis BioScience Puerto Rico LLC, Acetylon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Adnexus, Adnexus a Bristol-Myers Squibb R&D Company, Allard Labs Acquisition G.P., Amira Pharmaceuticals, Amira Pharmaceuticals Inc., Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Apothecon LLC, B-MS Generx Unlimited Company, BMS Benelux Holdings B.V., BMS Bermuda Nominees L.L.C., BMS Data Acquisition Company LLC, BMS Forex Company, BMS Holdings Sarl, BMS Holdings Spain S.L., BMS International Insurance Designated Activity Company, BMS Investco SAS, BMS Korea Holdings L.L.C., BMS Latin American Nominees L.L.C., BMS Luxembourg Partners L.L.C., BMS Omega Bermuda Holdings Finance Ltd., BMS Pharmaceutical Korea Limited, BMS Pharmaceuticals Germany Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals International Holdings Netherlands B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Korea Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Mexico Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Netherlands Holdings B.V., BMS Real Estate LLC, BMS Spain Investments LLC, BMS Strategic Portfolio Investments Holdings Inc., Blisa Acquisition G.P., Bristol (Iran) S.A., Bristol Iran Private Company Limited, Bristol Laboratories Inc., Bristol Laboratories International S.A., Bristol Laboratories Medical Information Systems Inc., Bristol-Myers (Andes) L.L.C., Bristol-Myers (Private) Limited, Bristol-Myers Middle East S.A.L., Bristol-Myers Overseas Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (China) Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (Israel) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (NZ) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Proprietary) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (Singapore) Pte. Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Taiwan) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (West Indies) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb A.E., Bristol-Myers Squibb Aktiebolag, Bristol-Myers Squibb Argentina S. R. L., Bristol-Myers Squibb Australia Pty. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Axia Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb B.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb Belgium S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Business Services Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada International Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Delta Company Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Denmark Filial of Bristol-Myers Squibb AB, Bristol-Myers Squibb EMEA Sarl, Bristol-Myers Squibb Egypt LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Epsilon Holdings Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Farmaceutica Ltda., Bristol-Myers Squibb Farmaceutica Portuguesa S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb GesmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holding Germany GmbH & Co. KG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings 2002 Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Germany Verwaltungs GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Ireland Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Pharma Ltd. Liability Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Ilaclari Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb India Pvt. Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb International Company Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb International Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Investco L.L.C., Bristol-Myers Squibb K.K., Bristol-Myers Squibb Kft., Bristol-Myers Squibb Luxembourg International S.C.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Bristol-Myers Squibb MEA GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb Manufacturing Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Marketing Services S.R.L., Bristol-Myers Squibb Middle East & Africa FZ-LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Norway Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Nutricionales de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb Peru S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma (HK) Ltd, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma (Thailand) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Holding Company LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Ventures Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Polska Sp. z o.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Products SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Puerto Rico Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Puerto Rico/Sanofi Pharmaceutical Partnership Puerto Rico, Bristol-Myers Squibb Romania S.R.L., Bristol-Myers Squibb S.A.U., Bristol-Myers Squibb S.r.l., Bristol-Myers Squibb SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Holding Partnership, Bristol-Myers Squibb Sarl, Bristol-Myers Squibb Service Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Services Sp. z o.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Spol. s r.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Theta Finance Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Trustees Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Verwaltungs GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb de Colombia S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb de Costa Rica Sociedad Anonima, Bristol-Myers Squibb de Guatemala S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb/Astrazeneca EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Pfizer EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Partnership, Bristol-Myers de Venezuela S.C.A., CHT I LLC, CHT II LLC, CHT III LLC, CHT IV LLC, CR Finance Company LLC, Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals, Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals Inc., Celem LLC, Celem Ltd., Celgene, Celgene A.B., Celgene AS, Celgene Ab (Finland), Celgene Alpine Investment Co. II LLC, Celgene Alpine Investment Co. III LLC, Celgene Alpine Investment Co. LLC, Celgene ApS, Celgene B.V., Celgene BVBA, Celgene Brasil Produtos Farmaceuticos Ltda., Celgene CAR LLC, Celgene CAR Ltd., Celgene Chemicals Sarl, Celgene China Holdings LLC, Celgene Co., Celgene Corporation, Celgene Distribution B.V., Celgene EngMab GmbH, Celgene Europe B.V., Celgene Europe Limited, Celgene European Investment Company LLC, Celgene Financing Company LLC, Celgene Global Holdings Sarl, Celgene GmbH [Austria], Celgene GmbH [Germany], Celgene GmbH [Switzerland], Celgene Holdings East Corporation, Celgene Holdings II Sarl, Celgene Holdings III Sarl, Celgene Ilac Pazarlama ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Celgene Inc., Celgene International Holdings Corporation, Celgene International II Sarl, Celgene International III Sarl, Celgene International Inc., Celgene International Sarl, Celgene K.K., Celgene Kft., Celgene Limited [Hong Kong], Celgene Limited [Ireland], Celgene Limited [New Zealand], Celgene Limited [Taiwan], Celgene Limited [UK], Celgene Logistics Sarl, Celgene Ltd, Celgene Luxembourg Sarl, Celgene Management Sarl, Celgene NJ Investment Co, Celgene Netherlands B.V., Celgene Netherlands Investment B.V., Celgene Pharmaceutical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Celgene Pte. Ltd., Celgene Pty Ltd, Celgene Puerto Rico Distribution LLC, Celgene Quanticel Research Inc, Celgene R&D Sarl, Celgene RIVOT LLC, Celgene RIVOT Ltd., Celgene RIVOT SRL, Celgene Receptos Limited, Celgene Receptos Sarl, Celgene Research Incubator At Summit West LLC, Celgene Research S.L.U., Celgene Research and Development Company LLC, Celgene Research and Development I ULC, Celgene Research and Development II LLC, Celgene Research and Investment Company II LLC, Celgene S. de R.L. de C.V., Celgene S.L.U., Celgene S.R.L., Celgene SAS, Celgene Sarl AU, Celgene Sdn Bhd, Celgene Services Sarl, Celgene Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, Celgene Sp. Z.o.o., Celgene Sro [Czech Republic], Celgene Summit Investment Co, Celgene Switzerland Holding Sarl, Celgene Switzerland II LLC, Celgene Switzerland Investment Sarl, Celgene Switzerland LLC, Celgene Switzerland Sarl, Celgene Tri A Holdings Ltd., Celgene Tri Sarl, Celgene UK Distribution Limited, Celgene UK Holdings Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing II Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing III Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing Limited, Celgene d.o.o., Celgene sro [Slovakia], Celmed LLC, Celmed Ltd., ConvaTec Divestiture, Cormorant Pharmaceuticals, Cormorant Pharmaceuticals AB, Crosp Ltd., Delinia Inc., Deuteria Pharmaceuticals Inc., DuPont Pharmaceuticals, E. R. Squibb & Sons Inter-American Corporation, E. R. Squibb & Sons L.L.C., E. R. Squibb & Sons Limited, EWI Corporation, EngMab Sarl, F-star Alpha, FermaVir Pharmaceuticals L.L.C., FermaVir Research L.L.C., Flexus Biosciences, Flexus Biosciences Inc., Forbius, Galecto Biotech, GenPharm International L.L.C., Gloucester Pharmaceuticals LLC, Grove Insurance Company Ltd., Heyden Farmaceutica Portuguesa Limitada, IFM Therapeutics, Impact Biomedicines Inc., Inhibitex, Inhibitex L.L.C., Innate Tumor Immunity Inc., JuMP Holdings LLC, Juno Therapeutics GmbH, Juno Therapeutics Inc., Kosan Biosciences, Kosan Biosciences Incorporated, Linson Investments Limited, Mead Johnson (Manufacturing) Jamaica Limited, Mead Johnson Jamaica Ltd., Medarex, Morris Avenue Investment II LLC, Morris Avenue Investment LLC, MyoKardia, O.o.o. Bristol-Myers Squibb, Oy Bristol-Myers Squibb (Finland) AB, Padlock Therapeutics, Padlock Therapeutics Inc., Pharmion LLC, Princeton Pharmaceutical Products Inc., Receptos LLC, Receptos Services LLC, RedoxTherapies Inc., Route 22 Real Estate Holding Corporation, SPV A Holdings ULC, Seamair Insurance DAC, Signal Pharmaceuticals LLC, Sino-American Shanghai Squibb Pharmaceuticals Limited, Societe Francaise de Complements Alimentaires(S.O.F.C.A.), Squibb Middle East S.A., Summit West Celgene LLC, Swords Laboratories, VentiRx Pharmaceuticals Inc., Westwood-Intrafin SA, Westwood-Squibb Pharmaceuticals Inc., X-Body Inc., ZymoGenetics, ZymoGenetics Inc., ZymoGenetics LLC, ZymoGenetics Paymaster LLC, iPierian, and iPierian Inc..Travis Perkins plc distributes building materials to the building, construction, and home improvement markets in the United Kingdom. It operates through four segments: Merchanting, Retail, Toolstation, and Plumbing & Heating. The Merchanting segment distributes interior building products, which include drywalls, ceilings, external envelopes, fire protection products, flooring and partitioning products, and tools and accessories to professionals within the construction industry; civil, drainage, and heavy building materials to specialist contractors and trade professionals; and pipeline and heating solutions. This segment also distributes building materials, plumbing and heating products, landscaping materials, timber and sheet materials, painting and decorating products, dry lining and insulation products, doors and joinery, and hand and power tools to trade professionals and self-builders. The Retail segment operates as a home improvement retailer, which sells kitchen, bathroom, paint, and timber products. The Toolstation segment supplies products to the trade, home improvers, and self-builders industry through approximately 350 branches, as well as online, call center, and a mobile website. The Plumbing & Heating segment supplies its products to the trade, home improvement, and DIY markets. The company also offers kitchens and joinery products to specialist joiners, kitchen fitters, house builders, local authorities, and national house builders; and operates as a tile retailer. The company was formerly known as Sandell Perkins Public Limited Company and changed its name to Travis Perkins plc in October 1988. Travis Perkins plc was founded in 1797 and is headquartered in Northampton, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreThe works of Japanese artist Keiichi Tanaami, 82, often capture an audience's imagination at first glance with their dazzling color schemes and the compact composition of their subjects.

Yet underneath these fantastic and at times weird scenes set out in his vivid creations, Tanaami, a leading figure in postwar Japan's artistic landscape, dwells on the topic of life and death. He juxtaposes elements of pop culture with his childhood experiences of World War II and the hallucinations as a side effect of medication in his 40s.

Tanaami's eponymous exhibition, currently running at the chi K11 art space in Guangzhou, Guangdong province through Sunday, charts his artistic course through his paintings, prints, collages, sculptures and designs since the 1960s.

The Tokyo-born artist gained initial fame as a successful commercial illustrator and graphic designer after he graduated from Musashino Art University in 1960. His encounter with several avant-garde artists in Japan, including Ushio Shinohara, encouraged him to venture into art.

Tanaami's works, between the 1960s and '70s, showed the deep influence of American pop artists Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, and featured symbols associated with global pop culture and rising consumerism.

Gradually, however, Tanaami charted his own path to forge his own style, borrowing elements from popular Japanese culture. Venus Lau, the exhibition curator and artistic director of the K11 Art Foundation, says before being introduced to these prominent pop artists from the West, Tanaami's studies of the imagery of mass culture had already begun.

She says Tanaami's works show that he has drawn inspiration from everyday Japanese cultural products such as tatebanko - the art of making paper dioramas dating back to the Edo period - and kamishibai, a popular form of street theater and storytelling from the early Showa period; and combined them with the trademarks of time-honored brands.

"His creations are more than about simply transplanting emblems of pop culture," Lau says. "His works infuse his individual experience of life with the aesthetic view of a social collective."

Ready-made images from cultural products constitute only a small part of Tanaami's output. He has drawn greatly from the traumatic experiences of his childhood.

In an interview with Tate Modern in September 2015, when Tanaami was featured as part of The EY Exhibition: The World Goes Pop at the London gallery, he said the horrific memories of watching Tokyo being destroyed by devastating air raids between 1942 and 1945 continue to haunt him to this day, decades after the war ended.

"It almost feels like yesterday, although it was far away in the past," he recalls.

Tanaami incorporates these frightening recollections into his work, from the recurring image of B-29 bombers to the reflections of an explosion in a goldfish tank at his grandfather's house and roosters terrified by the oncoming approach of bombers overhead.

Later, he added images from hallucinations emerging because of an intake of strong medicine, after he was severely ill and hospitalized for months.

Lau says she once asked Tanaami whether it was a way of self-healing that he returned, in a creative way, to those unhappy experiences of the war and the illness that nearly led to his death.

"He said that wasn't the case. He was simply interested in how he could reorganize his memories," she says.

Tanaami puts images of different times, and from different cultures, into packaged units to achieve a highly expressive, intense effect that first arouses strong feelings of confrontation in the audience, before eliciting a yearning for peace.

Tanaami's exhibition is being held in a popular shopping center in Guangzhou.

Tanaami says it is not unusual to hold art exhibitions in shopping malls, and the situation is quite common in Japan, where art shows and spaces appear in commercial compounds, such as the Mori Art Museum.

The art museum is located in the 54-story Mori Tower, a building which includes office space, restaurants and retail outlets in the bustling Roppongi district of Tokyo.

Tanaami says he saw young people in K11 taking photos with posters from his exhibition on every floor of the mall and in front of a wall showing digital projections of his work.

He says there is no future for art if it remains too far out of the reach of ordinary people.

"Only when art walks close enough by people's sides, can it find the right direction to progress further."

If you go

10 am-9:30 pm, through Sept 2. chi K11 art space, 4th floor of Guangzhou K11, 6 Zhujiang Dong Lu, Tianhe district, Guangzhou.



Zalando SE operates as an online fashion and lifestyle retailer. It offers a range of products, including shoes, apparel, accessories, and beauty products for women, men, and children, as well as free delivery and returns services. The company also sells its products through its Zalando Lounge; and brick-and-mortar stores in Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne, Leipzig, Hamburg, Hanover, MAnster, Stuttgart, Mannheim, and Ulm. It serves in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The company has a strategic partnership with Sephora SAS to create the online prestige beauty destination. Zalando SE was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Berlin, Germany.

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Earlier this year, the Anhui Fine Arts Publishing House and the National Museum of China jointly published an album of classic calligraphic works from the latter's collection.





Thereafter, the two sides released their second and the third albums.





The albums provide a glimpse of the evolving styles of Chinese characters. And they feature works from oracle bones, bricks, pottery, coins, seals, tomb steles and paper.





The National Museum of China holds more than 40,000 objects carrying calligraphic writings.



Events that have unfolded since an anti-Venezuelan pogrom carried out on August 18 in Brazils northernmost state, Roraima, as well as the reactions to it by the Brazilian authorities, have highlighted the increasing turn by the countrys political establishment to the far-right.

Initial reports emerging on the day of the pogrom in the city of Paracaima stated that a demonstration against an assault on a local shopkeeper attributed to Venezuelan immigrants had descended into rioting over the states overstretched resources and the failure of federal authorities to relocate the large number of Venezuelans entering the impoverished state. Coming over the only road to Brazils northern border, their aim is to find jobs and better living conditions in Brazils industrial south or in Argentina and Chile.

It was later revealed that accounts of the assault were falsified to incite the pogrom, with the involvement of the far-right Patriotic party, which had also been falsely reporting the displacement of Brazilians from public hospitals to make room for Venezuelans.

At least 1,200 Venezuelans were chased to the border, after dozens of Brazilians torched a camp where Army soldiers were screening migrants. As soldiers watched, the far-right bands threw rocks at the Venezuelans, assaulting even small children.

When the Venezuelans started leaving, Brazilian soldiers cordoned them off from the aggressors, who denounced them as traitors. They then began gathering the Venezuelans abandoned belongings and taking them to the citys central square to set them on fire. In a further indication of the coordinated character of the action, the roving bands started looking for Venezuelans in other military facilities to drag them off, taking them to the border.

But the pogrom was only the beginning of a continuing campaign of terror. Faced with the repeated refusal by the countrys Supreme Court and federal authorities to allow the states right-wing Governor Suely Campos to seal the border, motorcycle gangs have cruised through the city at night expelling homeless Venezuelans and enforcing a curfew over those with papers and able to find some shelter.

A gang leader, interviewed by Deutsche Welle on August 23, revealed that their actions are coordinated with the local Military Police. According to reports, Venezuelans who spend their days trying to get Brazilian papers and find jobs now go back across the border at night to sleep on the ground in a parking lot inside Venezuelan territory.

Roraima is Brazils least populated state, with only 530,000 inhabitants and a GDP of only 9 billion reais (US$ 2.3 billion). Sharing a border with Venezuela, it has received an estimated 130,000 Venezuelans fleeing their countrys deepening economic crisis. An estimated 50,000 have remained in the state. The city of Paracaima itself has only 4,500 inhabitants, and only 21 percent of the population has access to the sewage system.

The chief difficulty for the migrants, who usually walk at least 200 km from the border city of Paracaima to the state capital of Boa Vista, is the states geographical isolation from the rest of Brazil. Its only land connection to the rest of the country is a precarious 800 km road link to Manaus, a special economic zone harboring a manufacturing hub deep inside the Amazon jungle, from which it is possible to leave by plane or by sailing down the Amazon River a further 1,600 km to Belem to reach the countrys road network.

Plagued by poverty and even poor healthVenezuelans have lost an average of 11kg in the last years due to food scarcitythese migrants have been met with contempt and indifference from authorities, living in improvised camps spread around the state and facing a 65 percent unemployment rate. A relocation program announced on February 12 has benefited only 800 Venezuelans, with Sao Paulo, the countrys richest state with a population of 45 million, offering shelter to only 300.

Mirroring the reaction of the most right-wing European regimes, the Australian government and the Trump administration, the Brazilian ruling class is using the precarious situation facing the Venezuelan populationand more broadly the recent influx of Haitian, African, Bolivian and a small number of recent Syrian refugeesto create a constituency for a far-right mass movement to counter working class radicalization. In Brazils case in particular, this agitation is also employed to justify closer alignment with US imperialism in the drive to war against Venezuela.

Brazil, the worlds fifth largest and sixth most populated countryand Latin Americas largest economy, territory and population by a wide marginhas received less than 2 percent of the 2.3 million Venezuelans who have left their country. However, after the initial rebuff to the proposed sealing of the border, the government leader in the Senate, Romero Juca, a Senator for Roraima state facing the prospect of losing his seat in the October general elections, announced on August 20 as he left a meeting with President Michel Temer that he would propose a law for immigration quotas, citing the reactionary European Union refugee policy as an example. Juca also made clear he would campaign for the sealing of the border, in an apparent disagreement with Temer.

At the same time, Temer on August 22 dispatched his Public Safety Minister, Raul Jungmann, to Colombiarecently confirmed as a global partner of the NATO alliance and for decades the most reliable US ally in the regionto coordinate a response to the crisis. This decision was taken barely two weeks after US Defense Secretary Gen. James Mattis declared in a Latin American tour that Brazil should lead discussions on how to put pressure on the Maduro government.

Having reached no concrete agreement with Colombia, Jungmann declared in a press conference after coming back to Brazil that he would offer no further help to Roraima beyond dispatching 120 National Guard troops to repress Venezuelans, as the federal government had concluded that the state had unused funds and should be able to deal with the migrants. He added that Roraima Governor Suely Campos was free to request federal intervention in the state if crime was a problem, and that the armed forces were ready to act upon request.

The militarization of the Roraima statewith wide layers of the countrys military ever more supportive of the fascistic reserve Army captain and presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro, the military inaction in the face of the far-right bands and the open acknowledgement of the collaboration between such elements and the states Military Policeis a clear indication of the willingness of the ruling class to bring to the forefront of Brazilian politics the most backward forces.

Heavily interconnected with Venezuelan economy, and even integrated into its power grid due to the isolation of the rest of Brazil, and ridden with violent land disputes around the indigenous reservations covering half of its territory, Roraimas crisis has become a rallying point for Brazilian reaction in preparation for major class battles.

Significantly, the Workers Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores, PT) has remained largely silent on the anti-refugee pogroms in Roraima. On the one hand, many of its pseudo-left supporters back the Maduro regime in Venezuela and refuse to acknowledge the flight of economic refugees from the country as anything but imperialist propaganda. On the other, the party is loathe to alienate the far-right, anti-immigrant elements with which it allied itself during its 13 years in power.Fifty years ago, o n the night of August 20-21, 1968, some 165,000 soldiers and 4,600 tanks from four Warsaw Pact statesthe Soviet Union, Poland, Hungary and Bulgariaaccompanied by military advisors from East Germany invaded Czechoslovakia.

Soviet tanks in Czechoslovakia in 1968

The invasion and occupation of Czechoslovakia sent shock waves throughout the world. Aimed at suppressing a growing popular movement of workers and youth during the so-called Prague Spring, it discredited the Stalinist regimes, which were falsely equated with socialism, in the eyes of millions around the world.

Along with the mass general strike in France a few months earlier, the invasion of Czechoslovakia was a defining event of that period. It set into motion political and social developments that were to shape this part of the world for decades to come.

This series will review the origins of the crisis of 1968, its dynamic, and the role that Pabloism played in enabling the Stalinist bureaucracy to oppress working class opposition to its rule.

Czechoslovakia was one of a series of deformed workers states established in 1948 in Eastern and Southeastern Europe. The country had been partitioned in 1938 in the infamous Munich agreement, which the imperialist powers agreed to after Hitlers invasion of northwestern Czechoslovakia and annexation of the so-called Sudetenland. Most of what is now the Czech Republic was annexed to the Nazi Reich. The so-called Slovak Republic was ruled by a far-right bourgeois regime that joined the Nazi effort to exterminate the Jewish population and wage a war of annihilation against the Soviet Union.

The partition of Czechoslovakia after the Munich agreement

By the time the Red Army liberated Czechoslovakia in 1945, the country had lost about 3.7 percent of its total population in the war. This was considerably less than in neighboring Poland or the Soviet Union, but it was significantly greater than in most Western European countries that had been occupied by the Nazis.

Of the pre-war Jewish community of about 255,000 people, only between 40,000 and 50,000 survived. Over 90 percent of the 8,000 Sinti and Roma who had lived in the Czech lands were murdered. In the most infamous act of terror by the Nazi regime in Czechoslovakia, the SS torched the entire village of Lidice following the assassination of SS leader Reinhard Heydrich by members of the Czechoslovak resistance movement. Hundreds of people, including many children, were murdered or put into concentration camps.

Memorial to the murdered children of Lidice

An estimated 25,000 Czechoslovak communists who resisted the fascists were murdered. Tens of thousands of workers were forced into slave labor by the Nazi regime. Many more were wounded or displaced. The total material losses from the war were estimated at $4 billion.

In contrast to many other Eastern European countries, where the working class was decimated by the Nazis brutal war of annihilation, Czechoslovakia, whose economy in both the Czech lands and Slovakia had been put almost entirely at the disposal of the Nazi war economy, experienced considerable industrial growth during the war. By 1945, the industrial working class was more numerous than ever before.

Meanwhile, the Munich betrayal of 1938 and the war had totally discredited both capitalism and bourgeois democracy. As historian Kevin McDermott has noted, ...there was a widespread belief that right-wing parties and their bourgeois leaders had collaborated with the Germans under the occupation. [1] In short, anti-capitalist and pro-Soviet sentiment was overwhelming.

As in virtually all countries that had been liberated by the Red Army, the last months of the war and its immediate aftermath saw the establishment of factory councils at hundreds and thousands of enterprises. In Czechoslovakia, the factory councils not only represented the workers and oversaw the renewal of production, they also organized a purge from work places of collaborators and officials who had worked with the Nazis.

The Stalinist bureaucracy in the Soviet Union, which had emerged under conditions of the international isolation of the USSR in the early 1920s, and whose social privileges depended on the political oppression of the working class and the prevention of the international extension of the October revolution, was deeply troubled by these developments.

In contrast to most other countries in Eastern Europe, the Red Army left Czechoslovakia as early as November 1945. However, through the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (Komunisticka strana CeskoslovenskaKSC) and the cooperation of both the trade unions and bourgeois leaders, the Stalinist bureaucracy was able to bring the working class movement under its control. In these efforts, the bureaucracy was able to base its political legitimacy on the enormous prestige of both the October 1917 Revolution and the heroic struggle of the Red Army against the hated Wehrmacht.

Moreover, the Stalinist bureaucracy was operating under conditions where the Trotskyist movement in Czechoslovakia and Eastern Europe had been all but destroyed. Formed in 1923 by Leon Trotsky, the Left Opposition had fought the Stalinist program of socialism in one country and the increasingly dictatorial methods of rule of the Stalinist faction within the party. Following the rise of Hitler to power in 1933, a shattering defeat of the German working class that had been enabled, above all, by the policies of the Stalinized Comintern, Trotsky concluded that the Stalinist parties could not be reformed and that a new, Fourth International had to be built. In September 1938, the Fourth International was founded in Paris.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the struggle of the Trotskyist movement found a powerful echo in the Czechoslovak communist movement. The Czechoslovak Left Opposition translated many of Trotskys writings and was an important liaison between the Polish and German Trotskyists.

The Soviet Left Opposition, which had numbered in the tens of thousands, was murdered by Stalin almost in its entirety during the Great Terror. The Communist parties of Eastern and Southeastern Europe were also violently purged, with tens of thousands of communists from that region murdered in the USSR. The party leaderships that remained had all proven their loyalty to Stalinism in this unprecedented massacre of revolutionaries. The Trotskyist movement in Czechoslovakia, as in Poland, was almost entirely destroyed by a combination of the Stalinist terror and that of the Nazi occupiers.

Throughout most of the 1940s, the KSC pursued a course of direct class collaboration. Already, in 1943, its leader, Klement Gottwald, who had risen to prominence for his ruthless purge of Trotskyists from the Communist Party in the mid-1920s, forged an agreement with the bourgeois government-in-exile and its leader, Edvard Benes, who became a personal friend of Joseph Stalin.

Klement Gottwald, head of the Czechoslovak Communist Party from 1929 until his death in 1953

After the end of the war, the KSC, Benes, the Social Democratic Party and a number of other bourgeois parties in both the Czech lands and Slovakia agreed upon the formation of a National Front government. Benes was declared president. Gottwald became prime minister of a government in which five important portfolios, including labor, agriculture and culture and education, went to the KSC. The Third Republic was declared and nothing was further from the Communist Partys mind than socialist revolution.

But in the meantime, the popularity of the Communist Party was rising quickly. The partys membership exploded from about 25,000 to 1 million by March 1946. That year, unrigged elections saw the KSC emerge as the most powerful party in parliament, with 40 percent of the votes in Bohemiaa center of the coal and auto industryand 30 percent in the more agricultural Slovakia.

However, it was not until the beginning of the Cold War, provoked by the United States in 1947-1948, that the Kremlin moved toward large-scale nationalizations and the establishment of full political control in these states. In Czechoslovakia, the KSC took power in February 1948 under conditions of a deep economic crisis and initiated large-scale nationalizations in industry and agriculture.

The Fourth International described the states that emerged in Eastern Europe at this point as deformed workers states. Unlike the Soviet Union, they had not emerged out of a victorious socialist revolution by the working class. Rather, they originated on the basis of the political suppression of the spontaneous struggles of masses of workers at the hands of the Stalinist bureaucracy.

However, to the extent that these states represented an extension to Eastern Europe of elements of the social relations that had been established in 1917, they had to be defended from an attack by imperialism. This defense, the Fourth International insisted, could be achieved only through a political revolution by the working class against the Stalinist bureaucracies in a conscious alliance with the struggles of workers in the imperialist countries to overthrow capitalism. The Stalinist-ruled states of Eastern Europe were, in every respect, unstable and historically transient formations.

In November 1949, the Fourth International stressed the critical role that Stalinism had played in suppressing the revolutionary struggles of the working class:

An evaluation of Stalinism cannot be made on the basis of localized results of its policy but must proceed from the entirety of its action on a world scale. When we consider the state of decay which capitalism presents even today, four years after the end of the war, and when we consider the concrete situation of 1943-1945, there can be no doubt that Stalinism, on a world scale, appeared as the decisive factor in preventing a sudden and simultaneous crash of the capitalist order in Europe and in Asia. In this sense, the successes achieved by the bureaucracy in the buffer zone constitute, at most, the price which imperialism paid for services rendered on the world arenaa price which is moreover constantly called into question at the following stage. From the world point of view, the reforms realized by the Soviet bureaucracy in the sense of an assimilation of the buffer zone to the USSR weigh incomparably less in the balance than the blows dealt by the Soviet bureaucracy, especially through its actions in the buffer zone, against the consciousness of the world proletariat, which it demoralizes, disorients and paralyzes by all of its politics and thus renders it susceptible to some extent to the imperialist campaign of war preparations. Even from the point of view of the USSR itself, the defeats and the demoralization of the world proletariat caused by Stalinism constitute an incomparably greater danger than the consolidation of the buffer zone constitutes a re-enforcement. [2]

This political assessment was fully borne out in the subsequent years and decades. Pursuing the reactionary and unviable program of socialism in one country, the Stalinist bureaucracies in each and every country stumbled from crisis to crisis, cracking down violently on working class opposition at every step of the way.

As soon as the deformed workers states had been established, the Stalinists unleashed another round of terror in the USSR and the Eastern bloc, this time with explicit anti-Semitic overtones, targeting the politically most conscious layers of youth, workers and intelligentsia. Among those who were now executed or imprisoned were the few former Left Oppositionists who had managed to survive the war and the purges of the 1930s, and many of their children.

In Czechoslovakia, the purges were particularly ferocious. Between 1948 and 1954, 90,000 people were persecuted for political crimes. Some 22,000 people were thrown into 107 labor camps. More than 1,000 perished in detention, and over 230 were executed. In addition to these political purges, the Stalinist government expelled millions of ethnic Germans and Hungarians on the reactionary basis of ascribing collective guilt to them for the crimes of fascism. The expulsions were combined with nationalist propaganda that was aimed at undermining the class solidarity among Czech, Slovak, German and Hungarian workers.

In the notorious Slansky trial, Rudolf Slansky and a number of other party leaders were accused of sympathies for the Yugoslav leader Tito. Yet again, the bureaucracy consciously whipped up an atmosphere of toxic nationalism and anti-Semitism in order to further undermine the political consciousness of the working class. (Eleven of the 14 defendants in the trial were explicitly denounced for their Jewish origin.)

Rudolf Slansky at the trial

The purges were a preemptive move by the bureaucracy against the uprisings it feared from the working class. These fears were very well-grounded.

After the death of Joseph Stalin in March 1953, the Stalinist regimes were thrown into a deep crisis. The first in a series of major workers revolts against the Stalinists bureaucracies after Stalins death occurred in Czechoslovakias second largest city, Plzen (Pilsen), on May 31-June 2, 1953. Some 17,000 workers at the Skoda auto factory went on strike to protest against the economic effects of a currency reform that had eaten up all their wages. They were soon joined by 2,000 students.

A spontaneously formed revolutionary committee stormed the local prison and released hundreds of political prisoners. As strikes spread to other cities, the party sent in the military, which killed some 40 workers and injured 220 more. Over 650 workers were arrested, and the suspected leader of the uprising was executed. Despite the ferocious repression, a strike wave involving some 360,000 workers in Bohemia and Moravia, the Czech lands that immediately bordered the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) continued for about a week. [3]

Just a few days later, on June 16, the more famous workers uprising in East Germany began. It was brutally crushed by Soviet tanks, with more than 500 people killed.

A Soviet tank in East Berlin, June 1953

The crisis of Stalinism intensified further in 1956. The revelation of some of Stalins most horrendous crimes in Nikita Khrushchevs famous Secret Speech in February at the 20th Congress of the CPSU shook the communist movement throughout the world and initiated the so-called thaw in the Soviet Union. In Hungary, workers launched a full-scale uprising against the Stalinist regime, which was crushed by an invasion carried out by the Soviet Union. Over 20,000 workers and youth were killed.

A few weeks later, workers rose up in Poland. Expecting a similar development in Czechoslovakia, the KSC began mass arrests. Between October and November 5, 1956, some 665 people were arrested for political reasons, almost half of whom were classified as manual laborers. Touching upon the main fear of all the Stalinist regimes, a Czechoslovak worker said: Its a pity that these events did not occur all at once. First there were disturbances here in Plzen, then in Poland and now in Hungary. It would be different today if they had all happened together. [4]

To be continued

**

End notes

[1] Kevin McDermott, Communist Czechoslovakia, 1945-89. A Political and Social History, Palgrave 2015, p. 25

[2] Quoted in David North, The Heritage We Defend. A Contribution to the History of the Fourth International, Mehring Books 2018, pp. 156-157

[3] Ivan Pfaff, Aufstand. Weg mit der Partei! [Uprising. Away with the Party!] Die Zeit, May 22, 2003. https://www.zeit.de/2003/22/S_86_Vorspann_Pilsen

[4] Quoted in: McDermott, 2015, pp. 97-98Two reports released last month cast further light on the acute class polarisation across Australia.

A report by the Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) estimated that in 2017 about 3,000 ultra-wealthy individuals each had wealth of over $US50 million ($A65 million) making it the country with the fifth highest number of ultra-wealthy individuals in the world next to France and Canada.

As elsewhere globally the wealth of Australias richest has swollen over the past two decades. Between 2004 and 2016 the fortunes of the top 5 percent of the population increased by an average of 60 percent, and the top 10 percent by 56 percent.

Using statistics compiled by Credit Suisse research the report also disclosed the differences in wealth among the richest 10 percent, who own nearly half of all the wealth45 percent. Within this affluent layer, the richest 1 percent, a little over 240,000 people, owns the lions share, controlling 15 percent of all wealth, around $A246.3 billion.

The top 20 percent of households now hold 62 percent of all wealth, 100 times greater than that of the poorest 20 percent, who own virtually nothingless than 1 percent of societys wealth. The bottom half of the population, approximately 12 million people, own just 18 percent of the wealth, with 6 percent of that distributed to the poorest 40 percent of homes.

An individual in the top 1 percent will have an average weekly income of 26 times that of a person in the poorest 5 percent of households ($11,682 per week vs $436 per week), thus earning roughly in a fortnight the equivalent of what the poorest people earn in a year. This does not account for additional earnings from investments and shares, which are not reported in the statistics.

The report claims that the average household wealth in 2017 was $936,000, up from $644,000 in 2003. This average figure has been inflated by a 61 percent increase in investment property wealth and a 119 percent rise in superannuation balances.

The primary beneficiaries of this wealth increase have been the top 20 percent of the population, who own 80 percent of all investment properties and shares, and 60 percent of superannuation assets.

This surge has fed a property bubble that is now showing signs of collapse. For millions of working class people, who have had to take out huge mortgages to buy a place to live, the bursting of this bubble could cause financial ruin, wiping out life savings and forcing many to default on their loans, losing their homes.

A Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) report highlighted the increased financial burden on families because of stagnant real wages and rising living expenses. The report is the latest survey of approximately 9,500 households that has charted the social and economic trajectories of its participants over the past 16 years.

Between 2009 and 2016, the mean annual household income of the respondents increased by only $2,168 or 2.4 percent. This meant a decrease once adjusted for the cost of living. A clearer indicator of the worsening inequality is the absolute fall in median equivalised household disposable income. In 2016 half of all house holds were earning less than $46,865 per year, down from $47,085 in 2015.

Of all respondents 10 percent reported they felt they were in poverty and approximately 11 percent said they felt they were in financial stress in 2016. Between 2010 and 2015 over half (54 percent) of the respondents experienced financial stress, often for more than a year at a time. That meant they were not able to afford regular meals and/or were not able to pay rent or bills on time, had to pawn belongings for money or had to ask family or friends for financial assistance.

Utility costs such as gas, water and electricity all increased, with families regularly receiving heavy bills. Mean expenditure on home energy rose from approximately $1,360 per year in 2006-2008, to $2,118 per year in 2015-16.

Many families live pay cheque to pay cheque. Approximately 23 percent of respondents said they would be unable to bring together $3,000 in the event of an emergency. A medical issue, weather-related disaster, an unexpectedly large bill, an accident or loss of a job would push many households into crisis.

The financial stratification is exacerbated by astronomical housing costs. A weakness of the HILDA report is that it limits the definition of housing stress to respondents in the bottom 40 percent of income earners who spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs. It proceeds from the assumption that those with higher incomes choose to live in housing stress and can move elsewhere if necessary.

Even by this measure around 19 percent of households reported they were in housing stressvirtually half the respondents in the bottom 40 percent. Those most impacted were single parent households and young couples. Approximately 22 percent and 14 percent respectively indicated they are in housing stress.

Many more young people are forced to keep living with their parents or are crammed into student accommodation and shared housing, often well into their 20s.

The HILDA report points to an enormous growth in underemployment over the past four decades. In February 1978, only 2.6 percent of people in the workforce were underemployed; in February 2017 it had reached an all-time high of 8.7 percent. This is a nearly four-fold increase in the proportion of workers wanting full-time work but pushed into casual, temporary or part-time work.

This process, hidden by the official unemployment statistics, is the product of the extensive destruction of jobs and working conditions enforced by successive Labor and Liberal-National Coalition governments, particularly since the wholesale restructuring imposed by the Hawke and Keating Labor governments, assisted by the trade unions, between 1983 and 1996.

This has impacted on young people above all31 percent of workers below the age of 20 reported being underemployed. Even more revealingly, 41.2 percent of part-time, casual employees aged 15-19, and 47.1 percent of part-time employees aged 20-24 were underemployed.

The results presented in the HILDA report predate the implementation, from this July, of the Fair Work Commissions March 2017 ruling to slash weekend penalty rates in many of the industries, such as hospitality, on which young workers and students often rely to make ends meet.

Both the ACOSS and HILDA reports point to an historic social reversal and a widening wealth and income gulf that is a product of four decades of attacks on working people by Labor and Coalition governments alike, and the long suppression of workers struggles by the trade unions.Prisoners in across the United States are in the second week of their strike as solidarity rallies have been held in many locations. The strike, which began August 21 and is set to last a total of 19 days, has been largely ignored by the mainstream media, and reliable information about the strikes progress has been scant.

What information that has emerged has been provided by various anarchist groups reporting on the strike and in touch with inmates. The Facebook and Twitter pages of the Anarchist Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), the Anarchist Black Cross, as well as Itsgoingdown.org, a web site dedicated to supporting the uprising, have documented strike actions by prisoners across the US.

On August 9, prisoners in New Mexico began their strike early, in response to the brutal and dehumanizing conditions imposed upon them. Writing on Twitter, a supporter of the strike affiliated with the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC), a branch of the IWW, described some of the treatment meted out to inmates that prompted their rebellion:

[C]onditions at GEO Group prison reached a tipping point and the strike took place early due to administration cutting family visits, harassing families, strip searching elder family members, and STIU [Security Threat Intelligence Unit] targeting, harassing, and abusing inmates. 3 housing units joined in this movement to take a stand against the cruel conditions. Retaliation is ongoing.

As of August 20, all of New Mexicos 11 prisons were placed on lockdownwhere all prisoners in a facility are confined to their cellsas collective punishment for the work stoppages and to prevent further organizing amongst inmates.

In South Carolina, there have been reports of widespread participation in the strike, and facilities there are rumored to be on lockdown. At McCormick Correctional Institution in that state, IWOC has reported that the entire prison population has stopped work, with the exception of 12-15 prisoners in the privileged unit, a section reserved for informants.

The Guardian reported that earlier this week in North Carolina approximately 100 prisoners at Hyde Correctional Institution engaged in a demonstration in the prison yard, carrying signs calling for parole, better food and solidarity. In Florida, home to 143 prisons, there have been reports of up to 11 prisons participating in the strike. This has been denied by state Department of Corrections officials. Inmates in Alabama are also reported to be participating in the strike.

In Washington, detained immigrant workers at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC), a private immigration prison in Tacoma, are participating in the strike. Prisoners there are victims of the Trump administrations fascistic immigration policies. It has been reported that more than 200 inmates are engaged in a work stoppage and hunger strike. There have been some 15 hunger strikes at NWDC since 2014.

Twenty inmates incarcerated at the Sterling Correctional Facility in Colorado began a hunger strike August 20. The 20 men are among a group of 38 who are being held in the solitary confinement wing of the prison, some for as long as three months. They have issued five demands, including an end to collective punishment in which an entire racial group, usually Hispanics, are placed on lockdown in retaliation for the acts of a single individual. According to the statement released by the inmates, 20 to 100 inmates can be placed in solitary confinement indefinitely at any given time.

The Colorado inmates have also called for the state to abolish solitary confinement, abide by a recent court ruling ordering the state to allow inmates in segregation access to the outdoors, to refund inmate money spent on electronic tablets that were later recalled by the state, and to expand educational programs.

The strike has also spread to Canada, where inmates at Burnside jail in Halifax, Nova Scotia have expressed solidarity with their American counterparts and released their own set of demands, which include better healthcare, food and rehabilitation programs.

There have been additional reports of inmates in Ohio, Arizona, and California engaging in hunger strikes.

Nationally, there have been rallies held in support of the striking prisoners in Richmond, Virginia; Columbia, South Carolina; New York; Boston; Seattle; and Lansing, Michigan. Additionally, there have been widespread reports of banner drops, large signs placed in public places such as overpasses, in support of the prisoners. Pro-strike graffiti has also been seen in cities across the country.

Internationally, the strike has attracted support from other prisoners. A statement of solidarity was issued by 6,000 imprisoned Palestinian prisoners from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, jailed for their opposition to the colonialist policies of the Israeli state. The statement read in part: [W]e extend our solidarity to the prisoners in the jails of the United States participating in the national prison strike beginning on August 21, fighting exploitation, racism, and capitalism from within the heart of imperialist prisons. ...The prison strike is a struggle of oppressed and exploited workers, first and foremost, confronting the unmasked brutality of capitalism behind bars. Around the world, prisoners have only protected their human rights and won victories through struggle.

Addressing the international dimensions of the strike, the statement goes on to say: Today, prison workers are some of the most exploited workers in the United States, and the same ruling class that profits from the confiscation of Palestinian land and resources and from the bombing of children in Yemen also profits from the forced labor of prisoners. Your struggle is a workers struggle that is part of our global conflict against the vicious exploitation that our peoples face today.

Strike organizers in various prisons across the country have been moved into solitary confinement. In June, Ronald Brooks, a prisoner at the notorious Angola prison in Louisiana was transferred to the equally brutal David Wade Correctional Center after making a pro-strike video and organizing in support of the strike.

In July, Siddique Hassan, a prisoner at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, was reportedly punished for his strike organizing activity by having his phone privileges removed for a year. Inmates within the facility have reported that prison officials went so far as to place sandbags along the front of Hassans cell to prevent him from communicating with other inmates.

Hassan, a leader of the 2016 prison strike, has been on death row in Ohio since 1993 for his participation in the Lucasville prison uprising, where inmates rebelled against the conditions they were being held under. Nine prisoners and one guard were killed in the course of the incident, and inmates who participated in the uprising have been targeted by corrections officials since then.

The strike being conducted by prisoners today follows the 2016 strike, the largest in US history. At that time, an estimated 24,000 inmates participated in the strike across prisons in 20 states. Just as now, the inmates at that time demanded an end to modern-day slavery, better living conditions, and an end to the reactionary laws which mandate long prison sentences and prevent inmates from being paroled.

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Brutal conditions in US prisons drive inmates to strike

[22 August 2018]The US and its allies are systematically putting into place all the elements needed to justify and carry out a major new act of aggression against Syria, according to reports from Moscow and the Middle East.

The charges that Washington is preparing an unprovoked attack followed warnings made by US National Security Adviser John Bolton, as well as by British and French officials, that their governments would retaliate sharply against any use of chemical weapons by the government of President Bashar Assad in the northern Syrian province of Idlib.

Recent bombing and shelling by the Syrian military, as well as the reported transfer of the Syrian army regiment based in the city of Homs to the southern border of Idlib, have raised speculation that Damascus is on the verge of launching an offensive to retake one of the last territories still under the control of Al Qaeda-linked Islamist militias. These forces were armed and funded by Washington, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to wage a seven-year-long proxy war for regime change aimed at installing a more pliant pro-imperialist regime in Damascus.

The Assad government has denied employing chemical weapons in its campaign to reassert control over areas of the country seized by the Western-backed rebels. It has accused the Al Qaeda-linked forces of staging chemical weapons incidents with the aim of provoking US military attacks on the regime, like the ones carried out last April and in 2017.

Speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem last Wednesday, Bolton declared: We are obviously concerned about the possibility that Assad may use chemical weapons again. Just so theres no confusion here, if the Syrian regime uses chemical weapons we will respond very strongly and they really ought to think about this a long time.

The US national security adviser also made the case for the more aggressive US assault on Iran, which has included the abrogation of the 2015 nuclear agreement reached between Tehran and the major powers, along with the re-imposition of punishing economic sanctions.

Bolton claimed that Washingtons aim was not regime change in Tehran, but rather a massive change in the regimes behavior. At the same time, he made it clear that the purpose of the economic sanctions was to create intolerable conditions for the masses of the Iranian people, leading to social upheavals.

He also spelled out areas where the Pentagon is preparing for confrontation with Iran. Iranian activity in the region has continued to be belligerent: what they are doing in Iraq, what they are doing in Syria, what they are doing with Hezbollah in Lebanon, what they are doing in Yemen, what they have threatened to do in the Strait of Hormuz, he said.

Bolton followed up his trip to Israel with a meeting in Geneva with his Russian counterpart, Nicolai Patrushev, apparently in an attempt to enlist Russian assistance in Washingtons campaign against Iran. Publicly, at least, Moscow appeared to rebuff the approach. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov demanded that all military forces not invited into Syria by the government leave the country, a clear attempt to distinguish between Tehran and Washington.

US officials have made clear that while Washingtons objective in Syria remains the toppling of the Assad regime, it is also focused on the driving out of Iranian forces from the country as part of its strategy of rolling back Iranian influence throughout the Middle East and clearing the path for the assertion of US hegemony in the oil-rich region.

Iran has rejected US and Israeli demands that it abandon Syria, insisting its forces have been invited into the country by the government in Damascus, unlike the 2,200 US troops there, which have been deployed in direct violation of international law.

Irans Defense Minister Amir Hatami and his Syrian counterpart announced on Monday the signing of a defense and technical agreement that provides for the continued presence and participation of Iran in Syria.

We hope to have a productive role in the reconstruction of Syria, Hatami said during his visit. Tehran had previously committed to building 20,000 housing units for returning refugees. The Trump administration, meanwhile, has canceled $230 million that had been earmarked for Syrian stabilization and has made it clear that it will provide nothing for reconstruction of the vast majority of the country that is now under government control.

To achieve its strategic aims in Syria and the broader Middle East, Washington is driven to intensify its military intervention.

The Russian government has claimed that it has intelligence establishing that British trained specialists have been sent into Idlib for the purpose of staging a chemical attack designed to provide the pretext for US, British and French strikes on the Syrian government.

The execution of this provocation with active participation of British security services is supposed to serve as yet another pretext for delivering a missile and aviation strike by the US, the United Kingdom and France on Syrias government and economic facilities, Maj. Gen. Igor Konsashenkov, the spokesman of the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.

Konsashenkov pointed to the deployment of the US guided missile destroyer USS The Sullivans, armed with 56 cruise missiles, to the Persian Gulf, as well as the transfer of a B-1B bomber carrying 24 cruise missiles to the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar as indications that Washington is preparing for a major strike on Syria.

He cited reports from the Middle East that the Islamist militia Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (previously known as the Al Nusra Front, the Syrian affiliate of Al Qaeda) had brought eight containers with chlorine to the city of Jisr ash-Shugur in the Idlib governate... in preparation for a staged chemical weapons incident.

The timing of a US assault on Syria may be influenced by the announced plan for a September 78 summit in the northern Iranian city of Tabriz, bringing together Iranian President Hassan Rouhani with his Russian and Turkish counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for talks aimed at achieving a negotiated settlement of the Syrian conflict.

Turkey is opposed to a Russian-backed offensive against Idlib, where it has provided support to some of the rebel groups. At the same time, however, it has come into increasing conflict with the US, intensified by recent trade sanctions, and has drawn closer to Moscow and Tehran.

Washington is vehemently opposed to any resolution of the seven-year-old war in which it does not dictate the terms.

A further incentive for launching a major escalation of the US war in Syria is the domestic political crisis of the Trump administration, which has confronted a tightening legal noose with last weeks plea agreement with Michael Cohen, his former lawyer, and the conviction the same day of Paul Manafort, his former campaign manager, as well as the announcement of immunity deals with two of the US presidents closest associates, Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg and National Enquirer publisher David Pecker.

The Democratic Party and decisive layers within the ruling establishment have centered their opposition to Trump on the question of confronting Russia, the sharp edge of which centers on US policy in Syria.

In an editorial published Saturday titled Trump is getting in his teams way on Syria, the Washington Post sharply criticized the US president for failing to pursue a more aggressive military policy in the ravaged Middle Eastern country, while praising various officials within his administration for affirming that US troops will remain in the country and asserting a policy of confrontation with both Iran and Russia.

Any US strategy in Syria would face steep obstacles, including the machinations of Russia, which claims to want to restrain the regime and remove the Iranians, but, in practice, abets both, the editorial stated. Yet the unique problem with this US policy is that it is at odds with the stated positions of President Trump. Mr. Trump has repeatedly and bluntly declared that he wishes to withdraw US forces from Syria as soon as possible...

What all sides in Syria perceive is not only a lack of US resolve. They also see an administration that hasnt been able to formulate a clear strategy to defend American intereststhanks to the poor judgment of the president.

The launching of a major US military escalation in Syria would provide Trump with the means of blunting the attacks on his presidency. At the same time, it would raise the risk of a military confrontation that could quickly escalate into a region-wide and global war.Country

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An exhibition titled Treasures of China will open in Riyadh as part of an exchange program that saw Saudi relics displayed in Beijing last year, Wang Kaihao reports.





From December 2016 to March 2017, a major cultural relics exhibition, Roads of Arabia: Archaeological Treasures of Saudi Arabia, was held at the National Museum of China in Beijing. Its closing ceremony was attended by President Xi Jinping and Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in a mark of its success.





The exhibition, which included 400-odd artifacts from 15 Saudi museums, served as a reminder to the Chinese public that Saudi Arabia can not simply be stereotyped as a land of oil and wealth, but also as a country with a rich history and culture.





Following a nihao (hello) from the Saudi side, it is now the turn of their Chinese counterparts to reply with a "salaam" by sending some of their national treasures to Riyadh to showcase the prominence of ancient Chinese civilizations.





Treasures of China will open at the National Museum of Saudi Arabia on Sept 13, putting 264 exhibits, including 173 cultural relics, from China on display, it was announced at a news conference in Beijing last week.





This will be the largest Chinese cultural relics exhibition ever to be held in the region, and is due to run until Nov 23.





According to Xu He, curator of the exhibition from Art Exhibitions China, an organization in charge of Sino-foreign cultural relics exchange exhibitions, 13 institutions nationwideincluding the Palace Museum in Beijing, the Shaanxi History Museum in Xi'an, and the Luoyang Museum in Henan provincesent contributions from their collections for the upcoming exhibition.





"We want to present a comprehensive history of China to Saudi visitors," Xu says. "The artifacts will be displayed in time order.





"The different facets of the Chinese dynasties over the centuries are shown through people's lifestyles, artistic achievements and their communication with foreign countries," she says. "The continuity and inclusiveness of Chinese civilization will be reflected through this."





Many of the most globally recognized Chinese cultural relics have been chosen for this exhibition, like the oldest artifact in China's cataloga pot dating back to 3000 BC which is decorated with images of human faces and fish. It was unearthed in Banpo, a Neolithic relic site in Shaanxi province.





The world-famous Terracotta Warriors, which will also be on show, are known for being the life-size figurine soldiers that guard the mausoleum of Qinshihuang, the first Chinese "emperor" from the 3rd century BC, in today's Xi'an.





A two-meter-high figurine of an admiral was chosen for the exhibition to allow people to catch a glimpse of "Qinshihuang's secret army". Admiral figurines are very precious, since only a handful of them were dug up during the excavation work at the mausoleum.Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has called for persistent efforts to enhance healthcare, medical insurance, and pharmaceutical reforms to ease the difficulties in receiving medical services and alleviate the financial burden on patients.

Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks in a written instruction to a national teleconference on medical reforms which is held Monday in Beijing.

Li urged reforms that lower the cost of overpriced drugs, deepen public hospital reform, improve the basic medical insurance system and the multi-tiered diagnosis and treatment system, and develop medical and healthcare services via the internet.

Li said the reforms have already achieved some important results and a large number of medical workers have made great contributions to promote the reforms and protect people's health.

Vice Premier Sun Chunlan attended and addressed the teleconference.

Sun, also head of the State Council's health reform leading group, echoed Li's instruction and asked for more efforts to tackle key problems in the reforms to better benefit the people, inspire medical workers to perform their duties better, and ensure sustainable inputs for the medical system.

Sun also stressed the need to strengthen supervision and regulation over medical work, enhance drug quality control, and support private hospitals.Strange Brigade Thrice Damned Part 3 DLC is Out NowOverwatch Halloween Terror 2021 Event Now Live With New Cosmetics and the Return of 'Junkenstein's Revenge'Rose McGowan is speaking out about the allegation that her friend and fellow #MeToo champion, Asia Argento, sexually assaulted actor Jimmy Bennett five years ago. Its been nearly a week since the New York Times revealed that Argento settled with her own accuser for $380,000, and in a statement released Monday, McGowan said shes needed time to gather her thoughts.

I would first of all like to start off this statement saying thank you for your patience, she began. A lot of people have been demanding answers and a response to the recent events surrounding Asia Argentos sexual assault case. Many people believe that because we have been close in each others lives over the past year that perhaps I am affiliated with this incident or being complicit. I am not.

McGowan continued, I first met Asia on a red carpet, but its only been the past year through our shared experience of the [Harvey Weinstein] case that we have bonded. Asia was a person who understood my trauma in a way that many others didnt. We were able to talk through them together and champion each others voices. We even got matching dot tattoos!

Actresses Asia Argento, left, and Rose McGowan participate in a demonstration to mark International Womens Day in Rome, March 8, 2018. (Photo: AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Both McGowan, 44, and Argento, 42, alleged that Weinstein raped them (he has denied any accusations of non-consensual sex), and together they have been at the forefront of the #MeToo movement. Thats why it was such a shock when the sexual assault allegations against Argento surfaced. Bennett claimed that the actress  who played his mother in a 2004 film  performed oral sex on him before initiating intercourse in a Los Angeles hotel room in 2013. He was 17 and Argento was 37.

Its no secret to anyone that Im a blunt, candid, brazen individual vocally  and I think thats what I really related to Asia the most with, McGowan wrote. But then everything changed.

McGowan revealed that she was made aware of the brewing scandal by Rain Dove, whom she refers to as the being Ive been dating. (Dove is a nonbinary gender model who prefers to be referred to as they rather than he or she.)

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Rose McGowan and Rain Dove (Photo: Getty Images)

[Rain] said that they had been texting with Asia and that Asia had revealed that she had indeed slept with Jimmy Bennet [sic], McGowan alleged. Rain also shared that Asia had stated that shed been receiving unsolicited nudes of Jimmy since he had been 12. Asia mentioned in these texts that she didnt take any action on those images. No reporting to authorities, to the parents, or blocking of Jimmys social media. Not even a simple message Dont send me these images. They are inappropriate. There were a few other details revealed as well that I am not at liberty to mention in this statement as investigators do their job.

The aforementioned texts are seemingly the ones TMZ obtained between Argento and a friend. However, McGowan implies that they were leaked not by them but by the authorities, as screenshots of the messages were published 48 hours after they turned them over to the cops.

What was hard was the shell shock of the realization that everything the MeToo movement stood for was about to be in jeopardy, she said.

McGowan grew so close to Argento in the last year that she flew to Europe to comfort the Italian actress in the wake of Anthony Bourdains suicide. It was even McGowan who released a statement on behalf of Argento as tabloids speculated about the state of the couples relationship prior to the Parts Unknown hosts death.

I was with Asia to comfort and support her. Rain Dove came to support us both. It was an emotionally chaotic time and Rain Dove suggested we go to Berlin for a couple days to take the mourning out of Asias home and into a neutral space. So we did, McGowan said in her statement. While in Berlin Asia had mentioned that she was being extorted for a large sum of money every month by someone who was blackmailing them with a provocative image. No one in the room knew who the extortionist was. Now we know it to be a reference to this case.

Argento  who has called Bennetts claims false  alleged that it was Bourdain who paid off her former co-star.

To the people who have checked in with me to see if Im alright  the answer is thank you and Yes. Ill be fine, said McGowan. Its sad to lose a friend connection, but whats even more sad is what happened to Jimmy [Bennett].

McGowan continues, Whether or not the extortion case is true- it wasnt fair and it wasnt right. It is the type of thing I fight against alongside so many. The reason I havent released a statement is because Ive frankly been extremely humbled by this event. I had to take a step back and realize that in my own activism while I fight hard with passion- I need to evolve.

The actress says as a victim shes been angry and justified in fiery feelings, but she recognizes that those accused are the friends, parents, and family members of other people.

McGowan continued, There absolutely should be no leeway or tolerance for sexual assault. Hard stop. NONE. Victims also shouldnt be told how they should react or what they should say about their abusers. However as allies to the victim and voyeurs of an event we should find a better way to balance support of the victim with due process for the accused. Ive never claimed to be perfect. This week especially has made me come to terms with the fact that we all have a lot of growing to do, including myself.

She encouraged people to look past the drama of Argentos current situation and seek justice instead: We cannot let this moment break the momentum of a movement that has freed so many people. We must use it to allow us to become stronger. More compassionate. More aware. And More organised.

McGowan concluded by addressing Argento directly.

Asia you were my friend. I loved you. Youve spent and risked a lot to stand with the MeToo movement, she said. I really hope you find your way through this process to rehabilitation and betterment. Anyone can be better  I hope you can be, too. Do the right thing. Be honest. Be fair. Let justice stay its course. Be the person you wish Harvey could have been.

Argento has yet to comment on McGowans statement.

Read the full statement below:

I would first of all like to start off this statement saying thank you for your patience. A lot of people have been demanding answers and a response to the recent events surrounding Asia Argentos sexual assault case. Many people believe that because we have been close in each others lives over the past year that perhaps I am affiliated with this incident or being complicit. I am not. I first met Asia on a red carpet, but its only been the past year through our shared experience of the Harvey Weinstein case that we have bonded. Asia was a person who understood my trauma in a way that many others didnt. We were able to talk through them together and champion each others voices. We even got matching dot tattoos! Something I had posted on my Instagram just about a month ago. Its no secret to anyone that Im a blunt, candid, brazen individual vocally- and I think thats what I really related to Asia the most with. They were edgy, confrontational, and strong willed with very little care about how much others liked or disliked them. Rare things to find in women in this industry or the world. But then everything changed. In an instant. I received a phone call and series of messages from the being Ive been dating- Rain Dove. They said that they had been texting with Asia and that Asia had revealed that she had indeed slept with Jimmy Bennet. Rain also shared that Asia had stated that shed been receiving unsolicited nudes of Jimmy since he had been 12. Asia mentioned in these texts that she didnt take any action on those images. No reporting to authorities, to the parents, or blocking of Jimmys social media. Not even a simple message Dont send me these images. They are inappropriate. There were a few other details revealed as well that I am not at liberty to mention in this statement as investigators do their job. Rain Dove said that they were going to go to the police with these texts once we were done speaking no matter what. But that they wanted me to be aware of them so that I may be able to take further actions. I responded with You have to. You must. I wasted no time. It wasnt hard to say or support. What was hard was the shell shock of the realization that everything the MeToo movement stood for was about to be in jeopardy. An hour after our conversation was finished Rain Dove confirmed that they had turned over the texts and were in conversation with officers. Almost 48 hours later the texts were in the press. I had introduced Rain Dove to Asia Argento last month, three days after the passing of Anthony Bourdain. I was with Asia to comfort and support her. Rain Dove came to support us both. It was an emotionally chaotic time and Rain Dove suggested we go to Berlin for a couple days to take the mourning out of Asias home and into a neutral space. So we did. While in Berlin Asia had mentioned that she was being extorted for a large sum of money every month by someone who was blackmailing them with a provocative image. No one in the room knew who the extortionist was. Now we know it to be a reference to this case. Rain Dove continued on communicating with Asia occasionally after meeting her- and their conversations have been their own. I know Rain is a person to whom many high profile entities consult when they are experiencing social pressures because Rain is good at guiding them through the research, confrontation, rehabilitation, and solution process. While they are a person who is good at keeping a secret for those dedicated to making things right- they are also justice driven. So it was not a surprise to me that I received that call and the messages from them. Ive referred to Asia in the past as My Ride or Die and said very clearly that their friendship comes first. I know that coming to me with those messages must have been hard for Rain because of that so I commend them for their bravery. To the people who have checked in with me to see if Im alright- the answer is thank you and Yes. Ill be fine. Its sad to lose a friend connection, but whats even more sad is what happened to Jimmy Bennet. Whether or not the extortion case is true- it wasnt fair and it wasnt right. It is the type of thing I fight against alongside so many. The reason I havent released a statement is because Ive frankly been extremely humbled by this event. I had to take a step back and realize that in my own activism while I fight hard with passion- I need to evolve. In the past I have been occasionally angry. As a victim I was justified in fiery feelings. But I know that those accused are the friends, parents, and family members of other people. There absolutely should be no leeway or tolerance for sexual assault. Hard stop. NONE. Victims also shouldnt be told how they should react or what they should say about their abusers. However as allies to the victim and voyeurs of an event we should find a better way to balance support of the victim with due process for the accused. Ive never claimed to be perfect. This week especially has made me come to terms with the fact that we all have a lot of growing to do, including myself. At this current moment it may be easy to focus on the drama of the situation. The conspiracy. But the real focus should be on supporting justice. Supporting honesty. And supporting each other. We can not let this moment break the momentum of a movement that has freed so many people. We must use it to allow us to become stronger. More compassionate. More aware. And More organised. Asia you were my friend. I loved you. Youve spent and risked a lot to stand with the MeToo movement. I really hope you find your way through this process to rehabilitation and betterment. Anyone can be be better- I hope you can be, too. Do the right thing. Be honest. Be fair. Let justice stay its course. Be the person you wish Harvey could have been.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:Our current era of Peak TV has been a bountiful one, but whats lately been lacking from the small screen is a large-scale supernatural mystery to captivate American audiences in the way that Lost did from 2004-10. NBC will attempt to rectify that situation when it premieres its own baffling new drama, Manifest, in September  and to get you ready for its confounding storyline, we have an extended first look at the premiere episode.

From executive producer Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Flight), Manifest concerns Montego Air Flight 828, which in 2013 takes off from Jamaica with a full cabin of passengers that includes Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh), her brother, Ben (Josh Dallas), and her young nephew, Cal (Jack Messina), whos suffering from a strain of leukemia yet to be remedied by treatment. As you can see in the above clip, which sets the shows entire scene, Michaela is still undecided about whether to say yes to her boyfriend when she boards the craft, but at the end of the journey  which is marred by a bit of harrowing turbulence  she finds that she has much bigger problems to contend with.

Melissa Roxburgh, Josh Dallas, and Jack Messina in Manifest. (Photo: NBC)

Thats because, after being rerouted to a smaller airport and being greeted by siren-flashing vehicles on the tarmac, she and the rest of the travelers learn something out-of-this-world stunning: Theyve been gone for five and a half years, and thus been presumed dead by the world at large. Even though to them, its only been a few hours  and they havent aged a day.

How could such a scenario have taken place? What could be responsible for this supernatural turn of events? And what does it all mean for both Montego Airs passengers and the loved ones waiting to greet them at home? The shows debut trailer suggests that this bizarre occurrence may be a saving grace for Cal, even as it also implies that the government isnt just going to let this mystery lie. Theres certainly no doubt that Manifests premise seems tailor-made to tantalize viewers with head-spinning questions while simultaneously delivering the sort of heartfelt family and relationship drama thats made the networks This Is Us a hit.

Story continues

Manifest premieres on NBC on Monday, Sept. 24. Watch the trailer:





Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:Lover or cover? Maria Butina and the romance at the heart of an alleged Russian influence operation originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

Maria Butina and Paul Erickson have encountered several challenges that have surely put their relationship to the test.

Long distances. Money problems. Meeting the prospective in-laws. And now a federal investigation. A sudden arrest. And detention while Butina awaits a trial on charges of acting as a foreign agent that threatens to thrust their private lives into public view.

Federal prosecutors say Butina, a 29-year-old Russian gun-rights activist, ensnared Erickson, a 56-year-old conservative political operative, in a duplicitous relationship, using him for cover and connections as she developed an influence operation designed to advance the agenda of the Russian Federation.

But Butinas attorney, Robert Driscoll, says that even in the face of those allegations, the couple, as far as he can tell, remains strong. In fact, Driscoll says, Butina told him Erickson even visited her in jail on Saturday.

In an interview with ABC News last week, which aired Tuesday on Good Morning America, Driscoll offered an array of fresh details about the five-year relationship at the crux of the governments case against Butina and pushed back against the notion that his client was looking for something other than love and affection from Erickson.

I think in some ways its a classic love story, Driscoll said. I think [reporters] are filling in a lot of the gaps with a lot of spy novels.

PHOTO: Maria Butina, a Russian gun-rights activist, and Paul Erickson, a conservative political operative are pictured together in an undated handout photo. (Obtained by ABC News)

(MORE: Maria Butina offering sex for access? 'Clearly a joke' her lawyer says)

Erickson did not respond to repeated messages seeking comment. Erickson has not been accused of any wrongdoing and it remains unclear if he could face any charges in connection to Butinas alleged conspiracy. Several messages left at the office of the attorney said to be representing Erickson were not returned. A spokesperson for the National Rifle Association, where Erickson had deep ties to high-ranking officials, did not respond to a request for comment.

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The U.S. Attorneys Office declined to comment, though on Thursday prosecutors filed a letter to the court accusing Driscoll of violating local rules by continuing to discuss the case with the media despite a previous warning from the judge.

Butina met Erickson in Moscow in 2013, Driscoll told ABC News. Erickson had traveled there with then-NRA President David Keene to meet with Butina, the young leader of a nascent Russian gun-rights group called The Right to Bear Arms.

Their romantic relationship began shortly thereafter on New Years Eve in Tel Aviv. Where the government sees a covert Russian agent with ties to the Russian intelligence services seizing an opportunity to infiltrate a powerful American political organization, Driscoll sees only a pair of ambitious people who hit it off over their similar interests.

Butina made frequent trips to the United States in the ensuing years, becoming a fixture at various conservative conferences and conventions where Erickson allegedly helped her make inroads with Americas political elite. In August 2016, she moved to Washington, D.C. on a student visa to study international relations at American University.

PHOTO: Maria Butina, a Russian gun-rights activist, and Paul Erickson, a conservative political operative are pictured together in an undated handout photo. (Obtained by ABC News)

(MORE: Maria Butina's attorney warned against trying her case in the press)

And they often traveled together, not only to centers of power like Washington, D.C. and Moscow, but also to their respective hometowns in South Dakota and Siberia to meet each others families. When Ericksons mother died last year, Driscoll said, Butina attended the funeral.

They even booked a Disney Cruise in 2014 and took a jaunt to Disney World in 2016. Butinas fascination with Disney ran so deep, Driscoll said, that the couple once recorded a duet and accompanying music video in a Moscow music studio as a birthday present for Erickson that showed the couple gazing adoringly into each others eyes as they sang the title track from Beauty and the Beast.

I think you also look at this and say, This looks pretty legitimate, Driscoll said of the video, which was obtained exclusively by ABC News. At least I do. Maybe Im a sucker for romance.

For Driscoll, this is all evidence that Butina and Erickson, despite the governments claims to the contrary, are engaged in a mutual and genuine cross-cultural romance.

Theyve done all the things you would expect in kind of a significant long-term relationship, Driscoll said.

The problem is that, according to the government, theyve done much more than that.

PHOTO: This courtroom sketch depicts Maria Butina listening to Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Kenerson as he speaks to Judge Deborah Robinson, left, during a hearing in federal court in Washington, July 18, 2018. (Dana Verkouteren/AP, FILE)

(MORE: A passion for guns, 'in-your-face love for Putin: A portrait of alleged Russian agents time in DC)

The government has alleged that an unnamed U.S. Person 1, which sources have identified as Erickson, worked with Butina to arrange introductions to U.S. persons having influence in American politics, including high-ranking members of the NRA and organizers of the National Prayer Breakfast, that would ultimately give her a surprising level of access to conservative politicians, including  in one memorable interaction captured on video  to a future president.

It would appear that, even as Erickson was helping Butina forge those connections, he may have been aware of the political implications.

Unrelated to specific presidential campaigns, Erickson wrote in an October 2016 email to an acquaintance that was later obtained by the FBI, Ive been involved in securing a VERY private line of communication between the Kremlin and key [unnamed political party] leaders through, of all conduits, the [unnamed gun-rights organization].

And during an FBI raid of Ericksons South Dakota home, investigators discovered a handwritten note suggesting Erickson may have been aware of a possible job offer from Russian intelligence services: How to respond to FSB offer of employment? Erickson scratched, an apparent reference to the Russian equivalent of the CIA.

Even Driscoll didnt have an explanation for the note.

Whatever Paul wrote, Driscoll said, Pauls the one whos gonna have to explain.

Driscoll described Butina as a promising graduate student whose career has been derailed by this case, but prosecutors claim that was just a cover while she continued to work on behalf the Russian Official, which based on the description appears to be Alexander Torshin, deputy governor of the Russian Central Bank and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

PHOTO: Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia, Alexander Torshin, addresses a meeting in Moscow, Sept. 14, 2016. (TASS via ZUMA Press)

(MORE: Former Trump campaign aide was in alleged Russian agent's social network)

Indeed, it was her longtime mentor and alleged handler Torshin, ABC News has learned, who wrote some of her recommendations for graduate school.

She meets and charms world leaders effortlessly and shall greet her fellow students with equal ease, Torshin wrote of Butina in a letter of recommendation, a copy of which can be read below, to Columbia Universitys Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, one of the seven graduate schools to which she applied. Thank you for considering her  please teach her and return her home ready for the next chapter in Russian / U.S. relations.

Erickson allegedly helped her maintain that cover. He supported her financially, telling McClatchy DC he established a South Dakota-based company Bridges LLC with Butina in order to help defray her educational expenses, and according to court filings, assisted with her coursework by editing papers and answering exam questions.

Meanwhile, prosecutors claim, Butina appear[ed] to treat [her relationship with Erickson] as simply a necessary aspect of her activities. She privately expressed disdain for continuing to live with him, prosecutors claim, and even offered another individual  sex in exchange for a position within a special interest organization.

Of all the governments accusations, Driscoll says that claim angered and upset Butina the most.

Thats just simply not true, he said, calling the widespread portrayal of her as a kind of Red Sparrow both unfortunate and sexist.

I think anyone would be upset, Driscoll added. The government, for lack of a better term, called her a whore. Its not very nice to have happen to you in open court.

PHOTO: Maria Butina, right, attends a meeting of a group of experts, affiliated to the Russian government, in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters on July 17, 2018. (Russian Federation/Handout via Reuters)

(MORE: Maria Butina, Russian gun rights activist linked to NRA, charged as Kremlin agent)

On Friday, Driscoll slammed the governments case against Butina in a motion filed to the court, calling it a war drum based on pure fiction and accusing prosecutors of taking what was clearly a joke out of context in order to smear his client as a Kremlin-trained seductress.

The only evidence the government relied on for its explosive [sex-for-access] claim was an excerpt from an innocuous three-year-old text exchange sent in Russia between Ms. Butina and DK, her longtime friend, assistant, and public relations man for The Right to Bear Arms gun rights group that she founded," the filing reads. "DK" is not identified.

As she awaits trial, Butina remains in jail in Alexandria, Virginia. She is due back in court on Sept. 10. Butinas future  and the future of her relationship with Erickson  are, to say the least, uncertain.

Even if Butina prevails, Driscoll said, her visa could be revoked, putting yet another obstacle between her and Erickson.

If she gets out, theyll cross that bridge when they get to it, Driscoll said. And thats a problem I would love for her to have.Trump announces new US trade deal with Mexico; looking to 'terminate' NAFTA originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

After months of negotiations, President Donald Trump on Monday announced the United States and Mexico have agreed on revisions to key parts of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) -- a trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico.

"It's a big day for trade. It's a big day for our country," Trump said.

Trade negotiations with Canada are still ongoing. "We'll see if Canada can be part of the deal," he said. Trump cast the agreement as the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement, saying he wanted to do away with the NAFTA name because it had "bad connotations."

PHOTO: President Donald Trump shakes hands with Mexico's Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray Caso as he arrives to speak on trade in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Aug. 27, 2018. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

It's unclear if Trump intends to keep the trilateral framework in place. The president said he's also open to a separate deal with Canada, and said he will terminate the existing NAFTA agreement once there is a deal with both countries. Any changes to NAFTA would require congressional approval before taking effect.

In an interview with ABC News, the president's top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, said Trump has directed U.S. Trade Ambassador Robert Lighthizer to immediately begin negotiations with the Canadians.

"The best-case scenario, they'll join the deal in a three-part deal in the way the discarded NAFTA was," said Navarro.

"It is our wish, Mr. President, that now Canada will also be able to be incorporated in all this," said Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto, via speakerphone during the Oval Office announcement.

During the announcement, Trump threatened to put tariffs on all cars made by Canada, likely in an effort to add pressure on America's northern neighbor.

Still, Navarro said that the president would be making a call to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Monday.

PHOTO: The President of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto, waves upon his arrival at the military base of Catam in Bogota, Colombia, Aug. 6, 2018. (EPA via Shutterstock, FILE)

Trump, who has had a strained relationship with Enrique Pena Nieto over his demands that Mexico pay for a border wall, cited "closer" ties to America's southern neighbor on Saturday.

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Our relationship with Mexico is getting closer by the hour. Some really good people within both the new and old government, and all working closely together....A big Trade Agreement with Mexico could be happening soon!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2018

"Our relationship with Mexico is getting closer by the hour. Some really good people within both the new and old government, and all working closely together ... A big Trade Agreement with Mexico could be happening soon!" he tweeted.

(MORE: Trump predicts 'very good relationship' with Mexico's president-elect Lopez Obrador)

The agreement between the U.S. and Mexico Monday mostly focuses on automobile manufacturing.

The two main provisions include a requirement that 40-45 percent of all automobile components be made by workers earning $16 or more per hour, aimed at helping the U.S. compete against low wage auto workers abroad, and also new rules requiring a significant portion of automobile parts -- 75 percent -- be made in the U.S. and Mexico.

"This is going to be a great day for Detroit," Lighthizer said in a briefing call with reporters.

An administration offical said the border wall and immigration were not a part of negotiations with Mexico.

"That was not part of the discussion today or part of this negotiation. That's a separate matter," Navarro told ABC News. In the past, Trump has said Mexico would pay for the border wall indirectly via NAFTA.

Following the July election of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Trump predicted that he will have a "very good relationship" with the newly-elected Mexican president.

Trump told reporters in July that he had a 30-minute phone call with Lopez Obrador, who assumes office on Dec. 1, about trade, border security and a potential U.S.-Mexico trade deal.

"I think the relationship will be a very good one. We'll see what happens," Trump said, adding that Mexico's election was "better than anticipated."

Lopez Obrador, a leftist, thanked Trump on Friday for treating Mexicans with more respect.

"For some time now, (Trump) has been very prudent in referring to Mexicans, or he hasn't said offensive things," Lopez Obrador said. "I have to thank him for that. ... Up to now, things are going well. There has been respect."

Trump's inflammatory rhetoric about Mexicans began the day he launched his campaign in June 2015.

"When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best...theyre bringing those problems with us," he said at a campaign rally. "Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.

Trump made border security a cornerstone of his campaign for president and has repeatedly threatened to rip up NAFTA, blaming the trade agreement, which came into effect in 1994 while Bill Clinton was president, for the loss of manufacturing jobs in America's Rust Belt.Texas police have launched an investigation after troubling footage of a seemingly distressed woman ringing doorbells in a residential neighborhood surfaced. The video was captured by resident Jennie Drude's doorbell camera, and she posted the video on her Facebook page.

According to multiple reports, in the middle of the night on Friday, August 24, an unidentified woman rang the doorbells of several residents in the Sunrise Ranch neighborhood of Montgomery, Texas. Drude had her security camera set up at her front door and it captured the moment the woman approached her home at around 3.a.m. Drude posted the video on Facebook and also alerted the police.

In the video, you can see the woman emerge from behind some bushes in Drude's yard, approach the door, ring the doorbell, and nervously look down the street. She was partially clothed in only a T-shirt -and appears to be wearing handcuffs, which were visible when she rang the doorbell.

According to Drude, the woman looked out of breath when she got to her front porch.

One Sunrise Ranch resident told Click2Houston that the woman rang their doorbell nearly 30 times. "We were dead asleep in our beds," they said. "My husband was woken up by doorbell ring. It rang probably 20 to 30 times." But by the time they approached their front door, the woman was gone. "No one was in sight. It's like she disappeared in thin air," they said.

After the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office became aware of the video, officers spoke with residents and launched an investigation. Reportedly, none of the residents in the neighborhood recognized the woman, and she doesn't fit the description for any missing persons reports.

The police department is asking residents to be careful, and Lieutenant Scott Spencer warned residents that this could be part of a scheme.

"Answer the door, but call from the other side of the door," Spencer said. "Don't actually open the door. Unfortunately, times have changed, so you have to be very careful. We have had a lot of home invasions."

('You Might Also Like',)Another batch of trainee acrobats from developing countries left China this month after studying for a year at the Hebei Wuqiao Acrobatic Art School.

Bilal Fofanah, 15, from Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone, was one of them. He said he was excited to be going home but sad to be leaving Wuqiao county, in northern China's Hebei province, which is regarded as the cradle of Chinese acrobatics.

The school has trained nearly 400 foreign students from 23 developing countries since 2002, when a cultural exchange program was launched by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Commerce. However, concerns have been expressed about their career prospects after they leave.

Before Bilal arrived in Wuqiao, he was a middle school student who practiced hip-hop dancing. "It was the Chinese kung fu films I watched that attracted me here," he said, mentioning martial arts stars such as Jackie Chan.

He started to learn acrobatics as a hobby at 13 when a friend got to know an acrobat and persuaded him they should learn together.

Bilal said he thought acrobats were just as cool as martial art stars, but his parents disapproved. "They scolded me for learning useless things, complaining that I couldn't bring any fortune to the family by performing acrobatics," he said.

His parents also criticized him for not helping with the housework, because as a novice he ached all over after practicing basic skills like somersaulting and handstands.

Yet their attitude toward acrobatics changed when Bilal was chosen for the one-year course in China. "They're supportive now because they know I may have a future in acrobatics, since the art form is greatly valued and can be taught well in China," he said.

Like other students, Bilal started training at 8 am each day and would spend about six hours a day practicing basic skills and different circus acts.

Through hard work and willpower, after a year's learning and practicing Bilal now can perform amazing acrobatic feats, such as juggling hats and controlling a rotating Cyr wheel.

"I like the feeling of performing on a stage when audiences cheer and applaud my movements," Bilal said. He was keen to show people back home and in other countries what he had learned, but said he wished he could have stayed in Wuqiao longer to learn more.

"I miss home but I don't want to leave China," he said.

There were 35 international students-from Tanzania, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Laos-on his one-year course at the school in Wuqiao, which attracts dozens of international students each year.

Ethiopian Yeneneh Tesfaye, 35, was one of the earliest foreign students, studying acrobatics in Wuqiao from 2004 to 2006.

Mu Hongyuan, deputy director of the school's international exchange program, said Tesfaye had used what he learned in China to found an acrobatics school in his homeland that now has more than 100 students and teachers.

"Tesfaye and his students have brought Chinese acrobatics to Africa and Europe in the past decade in circus tours and have performed various acrobatics shows," said Mu, who has kept in touch with Tesfaye.

Qi Zhiyi, vice-president of the Hebei Wuqiao Acrobatic Art School, who has been engaged in acrobatics training for 34 years, said, "The traditional art form is one of the most important cultural bridges connecting people from countries across the world."

He said Chinese acrobats are regarded as among the best in the world in terms of technique, performance design and apparatus.

"Acrobatics is a universal art," Qi said. "People from any place around the globe-young or old-can enjoy it, without barriers of language, politics or geography."

In addition to students from developing countries who visit Wuqiao through cultural exchange programs, acrobatics enthusiasts from countries such as the United States, Finland, Mexico and Bulgaria also enroll at the school.

"Somehow they had heard about or watched Chinese acrobatics and decided to come," Qi said.

But problems have emerged as growing numbers of international students acquire acrobatic skills from China.

Qi said most of the foreign students arrived in China as individuals, rather than as members of acrobatics troupes, which made it harder to sustain careers after they left.

"Most acrobatics shows need to be performed by a team," he said. "It's hard for one student to carry out a whole performance, which makes it hard for the student to find work with a circus and easy for him or her to give up the career."

To tackle the problem and allow more acrobats have the opportunity to learn Chinese acrobatics, the Hebei Wuqiao Acrobatic Art School is establishing branches in foreign countries including Laos, Ethiopia and Sierra Leone.

"We will send acrobatic teachers and cooperate with local counterparts to cultivate skilled acrobats, especially troupes," Qi said.

Students coming to Wuqiao as a team will also be preferred, he said.Photo credit: Clive Mason - Getty Images

From Town & Country

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are embarking on their first overseas tour as a married couple this fall-and according to one royal expert, itll be a major litmus test for the Duchess of Sussex.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will visit Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Tonga on the trip, according to an official royal announcement. Their visit will coincide with the Invictus Games, a competition Prince Harry founded in 2014, which take place in Sydney this year. Its still unclear exactly when theyll go on their trip, but the Invictus Games run from October 20 to October 28, so its safe to say itll fall around those dates.

Photo credit: Karwai Tang - Getty Images

Shes had a taste of the Invictus Games in Toronto last year but she was Harrys girlfriend. Now she is his wife there will be much more expectation, Dickie Arbiter, the former spokesperson for the Queen, told The Mirror. Shes a good communicator, shes good at talking to people but it will be a real baptism of fire. They will have a very demanding schedule and the Duchess will have to get used to local customs with the eyes of the world on her. But no doubt she will come through with flying colors and they will show they will be a force of good for the Commonwealth and the Royal Family on the global stage.

Meghan and Harry have focused their efforts on engaging with young people in the Commonwealth countries, and their trip will continue that mission. Later this year we will embark on a tour of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga, Prince Harry said at a reception for the Commonwealth Youth Challenge in July. This will be a wonderful opportunity for us to meet and hear from more young people about their ideas for creating a better future.

('You Might Also Like',)Great British Bake Off finally returns to Channel 4 this August.

As if you need any reminding, the ninth series of Great British Bake Off is about to kick off on Channel 4.

And as any GBBO fan knows, asides from the spectacular baking, part of the fun of each series are the many mishaps, innuendos and oftentimes unintentionally hilarious moments.

Take a look at these ten ridiculous yet gloriously unforgettable Great British Bake Off talking points from the past eight series

Nadiyas many, many facial expressions

Nadiya captivated the nation with her multitude of expressions.

Nadiya Hussains fantastic range of facial explanations really need very little explanation. The beloved series six winner became renowned for her vividly expressive expressions as well as her witty one liners.

Mary Berrys unfortunate spoiler

Long before Prue Leiths unforgettable Twitter mishap came original BBC judge Mary Berrys unfortunate radio spoiler. While speaking live on the Chris Evans Radio 2 Breakfast Show in 2015 Berry let slip that weeks eliminated contestant.

So far only two eliminated contestants had been revealed. That was until Berry declared: Wait a minute, weve lost three. We lost Marie last week, Dorret and on the first week it was our lovely chap with his little hat on, Berry revealed. *Mic Drop.*

Prue Leiths Twitter disaster

Toksvig and Fielding poke fun at Leiths Twitter gaffe in the new series.

Perhaps the most shocking Bake Off moment to date occurred just last year when new judge Prue Leith tweeted the series winner  a whopping twelve hours before the episode aired on Channel 4.

Leith blamed the gaffe on time difference confusion, as she was holidaying in Bhutan at the time. However, Bake Off producers clearly see the funny side of the almighty mistake, as in tonights opening episode hosts Fielding and Toksvig recreate the debacle with a silly Bake to the Future skit.

#BinGate

Who can forget series five #Bingate incident? A shocking mishap which divided Bake Off fans across the board involved a contestants baked Alaska which went very wrong.

Contestant Iain Watters furiously threw his baked Alaska into the bin after it failed to properly set. Editing suggested rival contestant Diana Beard had removed some of his cakes icing and thus sabotaging his creation.

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Much debate ensued over whether this actually occurred, and whether it was actually the inept freezers provided faults instead. Never fully resolved, Watters left the tent that episode and Beard left due to illness before the next episode aired.

#Squirrelgate

Bake Off may seem like a classy show on the outset, but part of its appeal is its saucy innuendos and often unexpected cheeky moments. And perhaps no moment reflects this better than when the camera panned to a particularly well-endowed squirrel in the finale of Great British Bake Off series two. And fans were none too happy when in season three the cheeky chappy was replaced by what fans branded a pleasant pheasant.

Various middle class moments

Flora wasnt familiar with using a regular oven.

Is Bake Off the most middle class show on television today? This could be the case or at least by going on the various classic middle class comments and reactions each series typically produces.

But none seems more appropriate than 2015 contestant Flora Sheddon who seemed to come into difficulty when trying to use a regular oven. When Mel and Sue asked why she was having such a hard time with the cooking appliance, she responded in all seriousness: At home weve got an Aga.

Dough throwing mishap

Things went a little wrong for contestant Cathryn Dresser when she attempted to mimic Paul Hollywoods smooth twist and throw dough stretching technique. Over enthusiastically tossing the dough, it ended up covered in hair after landing on the tents carpet.

Mary Berrys many unintended innuendos

Mary Berry has made many a delightful unintended innuendo.

Mary Berry is one staunch lady, but this doesnt stop her from making many innuendos, which we can only presume are mostly unintentional. From her it smells a little like grass comment to reacting to edible carpet within a contestants gingerbread house creation with the awkward Ill eat a bit of carpet line  her reactions are nothing if not unpredictable.

The magnificent bread lion

Prison governor Paul Jagger created one of the most memorable Bake Off works of art ever in series six. For the infamous bread week, Jagger went above and beyond when he created an elaborate bread lion. Beautiful and majestic, somehow Jagger didnt win the challenge (a travesty), but the masterpiece did launch a thousand memes and became part of Bake Off history.

Sue Perkins budget cuts joke

Original BBC judge Sue Perkins was known and loved for her blunt sense of humour, and heres a key example when she jabbed at recent BBC budget cuts. Saying that usually there would be more elaborate sketches, viewers would have to make do with her and fellow judge Mel Giedroyc fight over a contestants mousse.

Great British Bake Off returns to Channel 4 August 28 at 8pm.

CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO MEET THIS YEARS BAKE OFF CONTESTANTS

Read more

Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith reveal series nine secrets

Meet the series nine Great British Bake Off contestants

Great British Bake Off winners: Where are they now?



Abby Huntsman, far right, has been named a co-host joining the View panel led by moderator Whoopi Goldberg, center, with, from left, Sunny Hostin, Joy Behar, and Meghan McCain. (Photo: ABC/Heidi Gutman)

Its official: Abby Huntsman is heading to The View. The Fox News personality will join Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, and Meghan McCain as a co-host when Season 22 premieres on Sept. 4.

We have an exciting season ahead of us and are thrilled to welcome Abby Huntsman to The View, the network said in a statement. She brings her unique life and professional experiences and has a smart, relatable, and distinctive point of view on everything from pop culture to politics to parenthood. We cant wait to return to the Hot Topics table with Abby joining our panel of incredibly talented women whose diverse voices have always played a significant role in the national conversation.

Huntsman added, I couldnt be more be excited to return to my professional roots at ABC News. I look forward to adding my own point of view to the most interesting and successful talk show on television today. Joining the women at The View really is a dream come true.

So what can viewers expect when Huntsman joins the table? Here are seven things to know about the 32-year-old television personality.

1. Yes, shes conservative.

Huntsman joined Fox News in 2015 as a general assignment reporter and became a co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend. She will be the second right-leaning voice on the panel with McCain, something the daughter of the late Sen. John McCain will appreciate. On an episode of Watch What Happens: Live, McCain said it would be nice to have another Republican on the show.

My wingmen  @foxandfriends A post shared by Abby Huntsman (@huntsmanabby) on Aug 12, 2018 at 4:16am PDT

2. She got her start at ABC.

Huntsman began her career at age 16 as an assistant booker for Good Morning America. As mentioned in her statement, she has had strong ties to ABC, interning for Diane Sawyer during college. Huntsman moved on to launch HuffPost Life and was a co-host of MSNBCs The Cycle. When the network didnt renew the show in 2015, she moved to Fox News Channel.

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3. Her father is Jon Huntsman Jr.

Huntsman has politics in her blood. She is the daughter of the one-time Republican presidential candidate and served as a media adviser on his 2012 campaign. Jon Huntsman is the current U.S. ambassador to Russia. Last month, he dismissed calls to resign following President Trumps Helsinki summit.

4. She isnt afraid to critique President Trump.

Although Huntsman is conservative, she doesnt back down from expressing her views  even if her opinion isnt favorable to the president. After Trump seemingly sided with Vladimir Putin at the Helsinki summit, she tweeted, No negotiation is worth throwing your own people and country under the bus. She also referred to Trump as a dictator but later apologized, saying it was a slip-up.

5. Service and giving back have played an important role in her life.

Huntsman wrote the upcoming childrens book Who Will I Be?, which explores the value of service and the extraordinary power of giving back to your community. According to her author bio, Huntsman drew inspiration from her own life. When she was young, her mom would tuck her into bed at night and ask, What did you do today to make someone elses day a little better?

6. Family is important.

Huntsman is one of seven children, including two brothers in the U.S. Navy and two sisters adopted from China and India. She is married to her college sweetheart, Jeffrey Bruce Livingston, and they have an 8-month-old daughter, Isabel Grace.

7. The military is a hot-button issue for her.

In an interview with Elle, Huntsman said she wanted to give our military a bigger platform, highlighting her family ties. I think we could do a better job of helping people understand the sacrifice that is made and who these people are that step up to serve. I know it so well now, she exclaimed. These are my brothers. I know their friends. Theyre at my house. And I spend so much time with them, asking them about what life is like and why they wanted to do it and are they nervous about going out to serve. And its in those moments that I think not enough people fully understand what it means to do this, and thats what makes America great  our men and women who put themselves forward to fight for those freedoms.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:Geneva (AFP) - Countries should quickly agree a treaty banning the use of so-called killer robots "before it is too late", activists said Monday as talks on the issue resumed at the UN.

They say time is running out before weapons are deployed that use lethal force without a human making the final kill-order and have criticised the UN body hosting the talks -- the Convention of Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) -- for moving too slowly.

"Killer robots are no longer the stuff of science fiction," Rasha Abdul Rahim, Amnesty International's advisor on artificial intelligence and human rights, said in a statement.

"From artificially intelligent drones to automated guns that can choose their own targets, technological advances in weaponry are far outpacing international law," she said.

"We are calling on states to take concrete steps to halt the spread of these dangerous weapons... before it is too late."

Her comments came as a CCW group of governmental experts on lethal autonomous weapons systems began a week-long meeting in Geneva.

The world body hosted the first-ever killer robot negotiations last year and India's disarmament ambassador Amandeep Gill, who chairs the CCW talks, told reporters "good progress" had been made since then.

Yet countries have yet to agree on which path to take in addressing such weapons.

The number of states calling for an outright killer robot ban has increased, with campaigners saying at least 26 are now onboard.

But the states believed to have the most advanced autonomous weapons, including the United States, France, Britain and Israel, have not committed to any form of binding mechanism restricting their use.

The way forward is expected to be determined this week or at a broader CCW conference in November, but the requirement to reach consensus could prove a stumbling block.

Activists are pushing nations to move on to formal negotiations on a binding treaty within the CCW.

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- Prevent 'dystopian scenarios' -

The Campaign to Ban Killer Robots stressed Monday that without clear progress in that direction, negotiations could also happen outside of the confines of the CCW convention.

"We are willing and able to take it outside of the UN if it is blocked by consensus," campaign member Jody Williams, who won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for her work towards a treaty banning landmines, told journalists in Geneva.

Activists meanwhile took heart at growing awareness in the private sector and academia of the threat posed by weapons that entirely rely on machine intelligence in deciding what to kill.

"We have actually seen a lot of action... from the private sector," Peter Asaro, of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control, told reporters.

He pointed in particular to Google's decision in June to fold to pressure from its own employees and retreat from a deal to help the US military use artificial intelligence to analyse drone video.

He said there was a growing realisation that "there needs to be human accountability. There needs to be human control."

Amnesty's Rahim meanwhile insisted that "it's not too late to change course."

"A ban on fully autonomous weapons systems could prevent some truly dystopian scenarios."Kris Osborn

Security, Asia

The Pentagon 2018 report, called Military and Security Developments Involving the Peoples Republic of China, details a broad spectrum of risks to include global economic expansion, massive military modernization and breakthrough weapons technology able to threaten U.S. superiority.

Aircraft Carriers, Stealth Fighters and Lots of Missiles: China's Military Has Arrived

Aircraft carriers, stealth fighters, anti-satellite weapons, drones, cyber attack technology and a growing arsenal of ballistic missiles are all among a series of Chinese weapons said to present serious concerns for Pentagon leaders and weapons developers, according to DoDs annual China report.

The Pentagon 2018 report, called Military and Security Developments Involving the Peoples Republic of China, details a broad spectrum of risks to include global economic expansion, massive military modernization and breakthrough weapons technology able to threaten US superiority.

While of course the report emerges within the context of a complicated, multi-faceted and stressed US-China relationship which includes growing tensions, military rivalry and some measure of cooperation as well. A recent DoD news report, for instance, was careful to mention China as a potential adversary, not enemy.

Nevertheless, the Pentagon assessment is quite detailed in its discussion of the fast-growing military threat posed by China. A few examples, for instance, include the reports discussion of Chinas short, medium and long-range ballistic missile arsenal. China is believed to possess as many as 1,200 short-range missiles and up to 300 intermediate range missiles, according to the report. With this in mind, the report specifies that some of Chinas longer-range, precision-guided ballistic missiles are able to reach US-assets in the Pacific region.

The Pentagon report, along with previously released Congressional assessments of Chinas military, catalogue information related to Chinas nuclear arsenal and long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles - such as the existing DF-31, DF-26 and DF-31A along with the DF-41. In fact, the Pentagon report specifically cites the DF-26 as presenting a particular threat; the intermediate range ballistic missile, the report says, can carry both conventional and nuclear explosives out to ranges of 4,000 kilometers.

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US bases in Japan are in range of a growing number of Chinese MRBMs and LACMs. H-6K bomber flights into the Western Pacific Ocean demonstrate Chinas ability to range Guam with air-launched LACMs. The DF-26, which debuted publicly in 2015 and was paraded again in 2017, is capable of conducting precision conventional or nuclear strikes against ground targets that could include U.S. bases on Guam, the 2018 report says.

The Chinese are believed to already have a number of road-mobile ICBMs able to carry nuclear weapons, the report says. The DF-41 is reported to have as many as 10 re-entry vehicles, analysts have said.

China is known to have conducted several hypersonic weapons tests. Not surprisingly, US Air Force leaders are currently accelerating prototyping, testing and development of hypersonic weapons.

In addition, China's well-documented anti-satellite, or ASAT, weapons tests have inspired international attention and influenced the Pentagon and US Air Force to accelerate strategies for satellite protection such as improving sensor resiliency, cyber hardening command and control and building in redundancy to improve prospects for functionality in the event of attack.

China's rapid development of new destroyers, amphibs, stealth fighters and long-range weapons is quickly increasing its ability to threaten the United States and massively expand expeditionary military operations around the globe, according to this years Pentagon report as well as several previous Congressional reports from the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

In recent years, the Chinese have massively increased their foreign presence around the globe, in a transparent effort to rival the US as a global superpower. The Chinese have made large incursions into Africa, and even set up a military base in Djibouti, Africa, right near a strategically vital US presence.

Chinas military strategy and ongoing PLA reform reflect the abandonment of its historically land-centric mentality. Similarly,doctrinal references to forward edge defense that would move potential conflicts far from Chinas territory suggest PLA strategists envision an increasingly global role, the report cites.

Many of the details of the Pentagons 2018 report are aligned with similar claims made in a 2016 US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a Congressional report which also specified China's growing provocations and global expeditionary exercises.

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Additional instances of Chinese provocation in recent years include placement of surface-to-air-missiles and fighters in sensitive areas of the South China Sea, along with its announcement of an "air exclusion zone" in recent years. While the US military flew B-52 bombers through this declared zone in a demonstration of defiance, the move did demonstrate China's growing willingness to be aggressive. In addition, Chinese "land reclamation" and territorial claims in the South China Sea continue to prompt US "freedom of navigation exercises" to unambiguously challenge China's claims.

Chinese Navy:

While Chinese naval technology may still be substantially behind current U.S. platforms, the equation could change dramatically over the next several decades because the Chinese are reportedly working on a handful of high-tech next-generation ships, weapons and naval systems.

China has plans to grow its navy to 351 ships by 2020 as the Chinese continue to develop their militarys ability to strike global targets, according to the Congressional reports.

Also the Chinese are building their own indigenous aircraft carriers; their first self-built carrier was launched last year and is expected to enter service by 2019, the Pentagon report says. More are being built to joint Chinas first carrier, the Ukrainian-built Liaoning.

Looking to the future, the 2016 report says "future Chinese carriers are likely to be flat deck ships, like U.S. aircraft carriers, that utilize steam or magnetic catapults and would enable the PLA Navy to employ aircraft armed with heavier munitions intended for maritime strike or land attack missions. According to DOD, China could build several aircraft carriers in the next 15 years. China may ultimately produce five shipsfor a total of six carriersfor the PLA Navy."

The report also cites the LUYANG III, a new class of Chinese destroyers are engineered with vertically-launched, long-range anti-ship cruise missiles. The new destroyers carry an extended-range variant of the HHQ-9 surface-to-air missile, among other weapons, the report says.

As evidence of the impact of these destroyers, the reports point out that these new multi-mission destroyers are likely to form the bulk of warship escorts for Chinese carriers - in a manner similar to how the US Navy protects its carriers with destroyers in "carrier strike groups."

"These 8,000 ton destroyers (the LUYANG III) . . . have phased-array radars and a long-range SAM [surface-to-air missile] system which provides the [navy] with its first credible area air-defense capability," the 2016 report states.

The Chinese are currently testing and developing a new, carrier-based fighter aircraft called the J-15.

Regarding amphibious assault ships, the Chinese are now adding more YUZHAO LPDs, amphibs which can carry 800 troops, four helicopters and up to 20 armored vehicles, the report said.

"The YUZHAO can carry up to four air cushion landing craft, four helicopters, armored vehicles, and troops for long-distance deployments, which DOD notes provide[s] a . . . greater and more flexible capability for far seas operations than the [PLA Navys] older landing ships., according to the report.

The Chinese also have ambitious future plans for next-generation amphibious assault ships.

"China seeks to construct a class of amphibious assault ships larger than the YUZHAO class that would include a flight deck for conducting helicopter operations. China may produce four to six of these Type 081 ships with the capacity to transport 500 troops and configured for helicopter-based vertical assault," the report says.

Some observers have raised the question as to whether this new class of Chinese amphibs could rival the US Navy's emerging, high-tech America-Class amphibious assault ships.

The Chinese are also working on development of a new Type 055 cruiser equipped with land-attack missiles, lasers and rail-gun weapons, according to the review.

Chinas surface fleet is also bolstered by production of at least 60 smaller, fast-moving HOBEI-glass guided missile patrol boats and ongoing deliveries of JIANGDAO light frigates armed with naval guns, torpedoes and anti-ship cruise missiles.

Pentagon and Congressional reports also say that Chinese modernization plans call for a sharp increase in attack submarines and nuclear-armed submarines or SSBNs. Chinese SSBNs are now able to patrol with nuclear-armed JL-2 missiles able to strike targets more than 4,500 nautical miles.

The Chinese are currently working on a new, modernized SSBN platform as well as a long-range missile, the JL-3, the commission says.

Chinese Air Force:

A 2014 Congressional report states that the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army currently had approximately 2,200 operational aircraft as far back as four years ago, nearly 600 of which were considered modern.

Regarding stealth aircraft, the Chinese now operate their first 5th Gen stealth fighter, the J-20. The aircraft is reported to be more advanced than any other air platform currently deployed in the Asia-Pacific region. The Chinese are also testing a smaller stealth fighter variant called the J-31 although its intended use is unclear, according to the report.

In 2014, China displayed the Shenyang J-31 stealth fighter at Chinas Zuhai Air show, according to various reports. However, several analysts have made the point that it is not at all clear if the platform comes close to rivaling the technological capability of the US F-35.

At the same time, the 2014 Congressional report specifically cites a Defense Science Board finding that Chinese cyber attacks resulted in the theft of significant specs and technical details of a range of US weapons systems - to include the F-35. In fact, the Pentagons recent news story about the 2018 mentions that apparent similarities between the F-35 and Chinese J-20 could very well be a result of espionage.

Overall, the U.S. technological advantage in weaponry, air and naval platforms is rapidly decreasing, according to all the assessments. To illustrate this point, the Congressional review cites comments from an analyst who compared U.S.-Chinese fighter jets to one another roughly twenty years ago versus a similar comparison today.

The analyst said that in 1995 a high-tech U.S. F-15, F-16 or F/A-18 would be vastly superior to a Chinese J-6 aircraft. However today -- Chinas J-10 and J-11 fighter jet aircraft would be roughly equivalent in capability to an upgraded U.S. F-15, the review states. For this reason, the Air Force is now moving aggressively on a range of upgrades to its fleet of F-15s, to include new computer technology, electronic warfare, radar and weapons systems.

Alongside their J-10 and J-11 fighters, the Chinese also own Russian-built Su-27s and Su-30s and bought Su-35s from Russia as well.

The Su-35 is a versatile, highly capable aircraft that would offer significantly improved range and fuel capacity over Chinas current fighters. The aircraft thus would strengthen Chinas ability to conduct air superiority missions in the Taiwan Strait, East China Sea, and South China Sea as well as provide China with the opportunity to reverse engineer the fighters component parts, including its advanced radar and engines, for integration into Chinas current and future indigenous fighters, the review writes.

In addition to stealth technology, high-tech fighter aircraft and improved avionics, the Chinese have massively increased their ability with air-to-air missiles over the last 15-years, the review finds.

All of Chinas fighters in 2000, with the potential exception of a few modified Su-27s, were limited to within-visual-range missiles. China over the last 15 years also has acquired a number of sophisticated short and medium-range air-to-air missiles; precision-guided munitions including all-weather, satellite-guided bombs, anti-radiation missiles, and laser-guided bombs; and long-range, advanced air-launched land-attack cruise missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles, the review says.

The review also points to the Y-20 aircraft, a new strategic airlifter being developed by the Chinese which has three times the cargo-carrying capacity of the U.S. Air Forces C-130. Some of these new planes could be configured into tanker aircraft, allowing the Chinese to massively increase their reach and ability to project air power over longer distances.

At the moment, the Chinese do not have a sizeable or modern fleet of tankers, and many of their current aircraft are not engineered for aerial refueling, a scenario which limits their reach.

Until the PLA Navys first carrier-based aviation wing becomes operational, China must use air refueling tankers to enable air operations at these distances from China. However, Chinas current fleet of air refueling aircraft, which consists of only about 12 1950s-era H6U tankers, is too small to support sustained, large-scale, long-distance air combat, the review states.

The Pentagon annual review also raises concerns about Chinas acquisition of Russian-built S-400 surface to air missiles.

The S400 more than doubles the range of Chinas air defenses from approximately 125 to 250 miles, the previous Congressional review writes. This new range would create a weapons with enough reach to cover all of Taiwan, the Senkaku Islands, and parts of the South China Sea, the review says.

This first appeared in Warrior Maven here.

Read full articleThe U.S. Department of Agriculture announced this week that it will be releasing the first tranche of $12 billion in aid to farmers who have been harshly affected by tariffs from the trade war.

The payment program will begin on Sept. 4, with $4.7 billion in payments being provided to corn, cotton, dairy, hog, sorghum, soybean and wheat farmers in addition to federal government purchases of up to $1.2 billion involving commodities unfairly targeted by unjustified retaliation. Those in the soybean industry will be receiving the biggest share of the payments.

Blake Hurst, a corn and soybean farmer from Missouri, said on Midday Movers that while many farmers are grateful of the help they are receiving and supportive of what President Trump is trying to accomplish, obviously wed be much better off with a resumption of normal trading patterns around the world.

Soybean farmers will receive the biggest share of agricultural aid. AGRICULTURE/CATERPILLAR REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

The biggest question for Hurst, who also serves as the Missouri Farm Bureau president, is whether or not the trade war will continue. He put a human face on the fact that soybeans have been hit the hardest by the tariffs.

Weve seen about a 1520% drop on the prices we receive in our farm, he said. The only answer, he stated, is to make progress in negotiations with China, since they are the biggest soybean customers. Not more government programs, but to make progress, he said.

There has to be some sign that were making forward progress, Hurst added. If were just having tariffs for tariffs sake, then thats a dumb economic policy and disastrous for Americas farmers.

Trade is an existential issue for farmers. Hurst that said news of the trade deal between the US and Mexico was a step in the right direction.

Lets finish up with Canada and get on to China, he said. Thats the answer.

Follow Adriana on Twitter.

READ MORE: Former U.S. ambassador to Canada: Trump is the arsonist that becomes the firefighterJapans prime minister Shinzo Abe  the countrys business federation has raised concerns over Brexit uncertainty. Photo: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

Everyone is preparing for a no-deal Brexit. France is making contingency plans for the UK crashing out of the European Union without a deal after Britain released a flurry of technical notices about how the situation would hit all sectors in the nation. The EU has already released its own reports.

The UKs most powerful people are also warning Brits that a no-deal Brexit is a distinct possibility and prime minister Theresa May is trying to play down the risky scenario by saying wouldnt be the end of the world. But this is perhaps due to her governments belief that especially in a no-deal Brexit, the UK would be able to forge ahead and seal bilateral trade deals with any country it chooses namely with the biggest economy in the world, the US.

But amid its focus on the US, the UK is forgetting about one of its biggest, and most vocal, investors Japan. The UK imports around $13.7bn (10.6bn) in goods a year from Japan.

In 2016, Japans Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a 15-page document, detailing how Britains economy will be severely damaged if it leaves the EUs single marketsomething that would happen in the event of a no-deal Brexitand said it would have a natural knock-on effect on investors that have close trade ties with the UK. This was made even more explicit when it pointed out in the note that Britains success in attracting Japanese investment is derived from its membership within the bloc.

However, two years after that document was published, Japanese investors are becoming increasingly frustrated about how Britain is drifting further away from a deal with the EU and the likelihood of staying within the single market, even more distant.

In the Financial Times on 28 August, the head of Japans most powerful business lobby group, which represents the likes of Toyota (TM), Honda (HMC), and Nissan (NSANF), said companies are fed up with the lack of clarity

We just cant do anything. Everyone is seriously concerned, said Hiroaki Nakanishi, chairman of Keidanren, the Japan Business Federation. Various scenarios get discussed, from no Brexit to plunging into Brexit without any kind of deal at all. Were now in a situation where we have to consider what to do in all of them.

Story continues

He added that it is even more confusing because when you talk to the UK government, they say something a bit different depending on who is speaking.

Please keep the current economic environment as much as possible, including the customs union. If you dont then it will clearly hinder economic activity in the UK, he added.

Japans warnings

This isnt the first time Japanese officials have warned since the document was released in 2016 that this lack of clarity means Japanese investors have to thoroughly assess what theyre going to do about the 1,000 companies in the UK that employ 140,000 people. In February this year, Japans ambassador to the UK, Koji Tsuruoka, said: If there is no profitability of continuing operations in the UKnot Japanese onlyno private company can continue operations. So it is as simple as that.

He also added later in June this year that while car maker Nissan wouldnt abandon Britain, it will have to make difficult investment decisions in the face of Brexit uncertainty.

They are not thinking of leaving or deserting something they have been working on for 40-years plus, he said. There will be difficulty  No manufacturing company I know  has expended their capacity since Brexit because the uncertainty is there.

Japanese companies are already moving business out of Britain.

In 2017, Japans biggest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ, announced it is relocating its UK investment-banking operations from London to Amsterdam, even though it maintains that Britains capital city will still be its EMEA HQ. Meanwhile both Nomura (NMR) and Daiwa have chosen Frankfurt, Germany as its new EU base.



Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who died Saturday at the age of 81 after a long career in public service, will be remembered in multiple ceremonies this week. The first will be in Phoenix on Wednesday, on what would have been his 82nd birthday.

Officials in a number of states and municipalities have ordered flags to be flown at half-staff, including at the U.S. Capitol and other government buildings. Flags at the White House, however, were raised to full-staff less than 48 hours after McCains death. The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., on Monday placed a portrait of McCain on its In Memoriam wall, located on the museums first floor.

Heres a calendar of other major events that will honor McCains life.

Wednesday: Arizona State Capitol

McCains body will lie in state in the rotunda of the Arizona state Capitol. The public can pay their respects beginning at 2 p.m. local time following a private service at 10 a.m., according to McCains office.

Senator #JohnMcCain will lie in state here at the Arizona Capitol this Wednesday -- his birthday. This is a rare and distinct occurrence for a truly special man. John McCain is Arizona, and we will honor his life every way we can.  Doug Ducey (@dougducey) August 26, 2018

Thursday: North Phoenix Baptist Church

Arizonans will hold a memorial service for McCain at North Phoenix Baptist Church. Tickets are no longer available but the event will be livestreamed on McCains website.

Friday: U.S. Capitol

McCains body will lie in state inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. His Senate colleagues and staff will honor him in a ceremony beginning at 11 a.m. Eastern time Friday.

Members of the public will be able to enter through the Capitol Visitor Center and pay their respects from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

In coordination with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan , Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, I am honored to announce today that the late Senator John S. McCain will Lie in State at the United States Capitol Rotunda. pic.twitter.com/X4tZX7fXtl  Leader McConnell (@SenateMajLdr) August 26, 2018

McCain will become one of about three dozen people in U.S. history to be honored through this tradition, according to the Architect of the Capitol. Lying in state refers to government leaders and military members, and lying in honor refers to private citizens.

Story continues

Past dignitaries who have been memorialized in this way include former presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, as well as civil rights icon Rosa Parks. The most recent person to lie in honor was evangelical leader Billy Graham, who died in February.

Saturday: Washington National Cathedral

A televised funeral service will begin at 10 a.m. at the Washington National Cathedral. At McCains request, former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush are set to deliver eulogies. McCain ran presidential campaigns against both men.

President Donald Trump, however, does not plan to attend. McCain reportedly did not want him there, after Trumps relentless personal attacks on McCain.

Sunday: U.S. Naval Academy

McCains family will hold a private service at his alma mater in Annapolis, Maryland, before laying him to rest at the academys cemetery.

Sen. John McCain will be buried in this plot at the US Naval Academy Cemetery next to his longtime friend ADM Chuck Larson. pic.twitter.com/89fEtlayi3  U.S. Naval Institute (@NavalInstitute) August 27, 2018

This post has been updated with additional memorial events for McCain.

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Related Coverage

John McCain, Senator And Former Republican Presidential Nominee, Dead At 81

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17 Photos To Commemorate John McCain's Life

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Also on HuffPost

Then-U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. John McCain is interviewed about his experiences as a prisoner of war during the war in Vietnam on April 24, 1973.

Barack Obama, at the time the president-elect of the U.S., meets with his former GOP rival McCain at Obama's transition offices in Chicago on Nov. 17, 2008.

McCain as a young boy with his grandfather, Vice Admiral John S. McCain Sr., and father, Commander John S. McCain Jr., in a family photo from the 1940s.

McCain confers with Sens. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) during remarks to the press outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington on Dec. 16, 2005. The senators were often referred to as the "three amigos."

Then-President Richard Nixon greets former Vietnam prisoner of war John McCain at a pre-POW dinner reception in Washington on May 24, 1973.

McCain in 2008, during one of his three appearances on "The Late Show with David Letterman."

This reproduction of a family photo shows McCain in military uniform at his sister Sandy's wedding in the late 1950s.

McCain talks to his wife on the speaker phone in his Senate office.

Members of the McCain family attend the christening of USS John S McCain (DDG-56), an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, in Bath, Maine, on Sept. 26, 1992.

McCain stopped by ABC's "The View" on his daughter Meghan McCain's birthday.

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) confers with McCain before the start of a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on Feb. 10, 2005.

McCain, holding recently adopted Bridget, with wife Cindy Hensley, Vice President Dan Quayle and daughter Meghan during Mock Swearing on Jan. 7, 1993.

McCain at his home in Phoenix, Arizona.

McCain at a rally in the park with his family: daughter Bridget, wife Cindy, sons Jack and Jimmy, and daughter Meghan, on Jan. 31, 2000, in Keene, New Hampshire.

McCain and his mother, Roberta McCain, are interviewed by moderator Tim Russert during a taping for a broadcast on the "Meet the Press" website at the NBC Studios on May 13, 2007.

McCain as a baby on his grandfather's lap in a family portrait, circa 1936. Also pictured are his sister, father and mother.

McCain talks with Marines at Camp Fallujah outside of Fallujah, Iraq.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Photo credit: Science Photo Library - ANDRZEJ WOJCICKI

From Esquire

Apparently, theyll let anybody on the potentially hazardous asteroids list these days. An asteroid named 2016 NF23, which is larger in diameter than the Great Pyramid of Giza is tall and traveling at a cool 20,000 m.p.h., made headlines last week for its trajectory-one that puts our pale blue dot right in its path. Well, kinda. After dubbing the asteroid "potentially hazardous," NASA had to step in to remind us weve got nothing to worry about.

2016 NF23 is expected to pass within 0.03377 astronomical units of Earth Wednesday, August 29 in the early morning hours. That may sound close, but its approximately a 3-million-mile distance from the planet we call home. Our sun is 93 million miles away, for reference; the moon is almost 240,000 miles away. At 500 feet in diameter, consider our chances of meeting the space rock extremely slim.

NASA planetary defense officer Lindley Johnson, in addition to having a cooler job title than you, cleared the air about any potential doomsday scenarios, telling Space.com, There is nothing hazardous to Earth or even unique about this pass of the asteroid. NASA just calls all asteroids within a certain distance "potentially hazardous." Harsh!

For now, well have to stick to destroying the planet ourselves.

('You Might Also Like',)Stable natural gas supplies will benefit urban residents and tackle coal-led pollution as the winter approaches.

A slew of policies were announced to promote clean energy by improving natural gas supplies and the use of ethanol as a renewable biofuel after a State Council executive meeting, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday.

The meeting decided to build a diversified natural gas supply system by expanding domestic production and international cooperation that can better coordinate energy sources in and outside the country, according to a statement released after the meeting. In addition, infrastructure for the storage and transfer of natural gas will be improved to ensure a balance between supply and demand, it said.

The most eye-catching measure is an emergency response mechanism to ensure supplies for the coming winter and spring. Increases in natural gas supplies will be online for urban residential use and to replace coal in heavily-polluted areas in winter. New measures will be promulgated to encourage investment in exploring natural gas and support the transfer in a market-oriented manner.

Meanwhile, ethanol fuel will also be developed to consume excess grain stock. Another 15 provincial regions, including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cluster, will take part in a pilot program on ethanol gasoline this year, following programs in 11 other regions, the statement said.

The meeting was the latest move by the central government to prepare for the winter, following severe natural gas supply shortages in northern China when local governments wanted to replace coal with cleaner energy.

Natural gas consumption has apparent seasonal differences, which were aggravated by the governments encouraging industrial enterprises and residential heating to use such energy last year, according to the China Energy Development Report 2017, released by the China Electric Planning and Engineering Institute.

The report suggested the supply-side management be prioritized to achieve an orderly and stable shift from coal to natural gas.

In the first half of this year, China's natural gas consumption went up by 16.8 percent, compared with the same period last year, according to figures by the National Energy Administration.

The coming winter is expected to see a surge in demand for natural gas as the country strives to improve air quality in some heavily-polluted areas, including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cluster, experts said.

Last year's shortage of natural gas in northern China showed the country's shortcomings in production, supply, storage and sales of such energy, Yan Pengcheng, spokesman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a news conference in April.

A secure and stable supply of natural gas is closely related to the interests of the public and enterprises, and also a stable national economy, he said.

Many people who were affected by the natural gas shortage last year, spoke highly of the State Council decision. "Last year, my family had a tough winter as the new heating system was installed but did not have enough natural gas to run. We had to find other ways to warm our house," said Wei Lei, a 30-year-old saleswoman in suburban Baoding, Hebei province.

Wei said many of her neighbors supported the government in using cleaner energy to replace coal, which can help reduce heavy smog, but preparations should be made to ensure the supply.

She was echoed by Zhu Lijia, a professor of public management at the Chinese Academy of Governance. To tackle smog, more cities will join the current pilot program in 28 cities in northern China in replacing coal with natural gas and electricity, he said.

Wednesday's meeting was to make in-advance plans for peak time to avoid shortages of natural gas similar to last winter's and improve residents' lives in the chilly heating season, Zhu added.Buenos Aires (AFP) - Lawyers for Argentine ex-president Cristina Kirchner said Tuesday they will call in human rights observers to counter "violations" by prosecutors investigating her for corruption.

Her defense team plans to ask the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights to send observers to examine the investigation led by prosecutor Claudio Bonadio.

Lawyer Gregorio Dalbon said the investigation into the former president "is violating all legal procedures."

A key complaint is the refusal to allow one of her lawyers to be present at a search of her home last week.

Raids were carried out at three Kirchner residences in Buenos Aires and Patagonia after the Senate voted to temporarily suspend Kirchner's immunity.

"Human rights and due process have been subjugated in one way or another," Dalbon told AFP.

Now leader of the opposition in the Senate, 65-year-old Kirchner was president from 2007-2015.

She is the highest-ranking official being investigated in the so-called corruption notebooks case, which has already ensnared dozens of former government officials and top businessmen.

Prosecutors believe a total of $160 million was paid by business leaders to Kirchner and her supporters in return for state contracts during a 10-year period from 2005-2015.

Kirchner is being investigated in five other cases.

She remains hugely popular and claims her political opponents are trying to derail a possible run for the presidency next year.OSCEOLA, Ark. (AP)  Arkansas State Police say a man died following a gunfight with officers after he shot and killed a police dog.

In a statement, police say James Edward Blackmon of St. Louis died Tuesday morning at a hospital where he was transported after he was shot Monday evening near Osceola in eastern Arkansas.

The man had been pursued by Missouri law enforcement, though it was not immediately clear why.

Authorities say Blackmon ran when he was pulled over by Arkansas officers. According to state police, the man was pursued by a Mississippi County sheriff's deputy, two state troopers and a police dog.

State police say the dog "made contact" with the man. Police say Blackmon fatally shot the dog before turning his gun on officers, who shot him.Sebastien Roblin

Security, Europe

The U.S. Armys Asymmetric Warfare Group was formed in 2006 to identify gaps in U.S. military doctrine, equipment and field tactics, and to study how potential adversaries are developing tactics to exploit them. In 2017 the group released the 61-page Russian New Generation Warfare Handbook, based on observation of Russian tactics in Ukraine and to a lesser extent Syria, as well as published doctrine and public statements.

This Is How the Army Thinks Russia Would Wage War

Russia has also placed more emphasis on accurate tactical ballistic missiles such as the Iskander to deliver strikes that a Western military might employ aircraft to undertake. This means rear-area command and logistical units would be subject to deadly strikes, even if air superiority is secured.

The U.S. Armys Asymmetric Warfare Group was formed in 2006 to identify gaps in U.S. military doctrine, equipment and field tactics, and to study how potential adversaries are developing tactics to exploit them. In 2017 the group released the 61-page Russian New Generation Warfare Handbook, based on observation of Russian tactics in Ukraine and to a lesser extent Syria, as well as published doctrine and public statements.

(This first appeared several months ago.)

The handbook paints an intimidating picture of a military ready to combine old strengths in artillery and anti-aircraft systems with new technologies and tactics, leveraging drones, electronic warfare, information warfare and massed sniper fire.

To be clear, the document doesnt set out to paint the Russian military as an indomitable juggernaut.

In fact, its so-called New-Generation or Fourth-Generation warfare is founded on a recognition that old Soviet-era Deep Battle tactics emphasizing huge armored formations deploying to battle in echelon were no longer viable given Russias more limited resources compared to the Soviet Red Army, as well as its persistent qualitative inferiority.

Story continues

Despite progress in professionalizing, the Russian military remains largely made up of conscripts who, after four months of basic training, only serve for another eight before a new group of fresh recruits is rotated in. The armed forces retain a centralized command-and-control structure, which accords enlisted personnel and NCOs little ability to act on their own initiative.

Of course, the AWGs handbook is in attempt to understand an adversarys warfare from the outside, rather than reflecting how the Russian military perceives its own tactics. Such an effort will inevitably be colored by analysts cultural biases and worldviews, as well as a degree of paranoia intrinsic to the military profession.

For a reverse example, Russias concept of hybrid warfare, or the so-called Gerasimov doctrine  a term used to describe a blend of conventional and irregular warfare as well as political and cyber warfare  was actually coined to describe what the Russian military perceived as Western military tactics.

Without further ado, lets look are some of the major takeaways from the report.

Modern Russian units are evolving into smaller, more flexible formations:

The new basic Russian military unit is the Battalion Tactical Group, which can be tailored for specific missions by the addition of anti-aircraft, electronic-warfare and artillery units.

At the operational level, Russia has moved away from a force organized around large divisions to smaller but still well-rounded brigades  though the divisional echelon may soon be reemphasized to ease administrative burdens.

Moscow prefers to rely on local proxies to do the brunt of the fighting:

Moscow has made increasing use of allied irregular forces and private mercenary companies to lead operations in Ukraine and Syria, bolstered by Russian advisors, military equipment and training. This approach has been inspired in part by Western engagement with allied proxies in conflicts ranging from Vietnam to Libya and Afghanistan.

As the AWG puts it, the proxies create several useful effects for successful Russian military operations: confusion, deniability and additional manpower.

Local proxies free up conventional Russian military units and assets to intervene in the sectors they are most needed. They also help paint a veneer of political legitimacy to Russian military operations. Indeed, Moscow is placing renewed emphasis on information warfare to mold the human terrain of a conflict zone in its favor.

Finally, Russia uses the proxies to deny the involvement of their own forces, confusing the reactions of its adversaries. This was especially evident in the conflict in Ukraine, when the governments reaction was initially paralyzed by uncertainty as to whether it faced a Russian invasion or a purely local uprising.

Meanwhile in Syria, there is often uncertainty as to whether any given attack directed against civilian targets was perpetrated by Syrian or Russian forces.

Moscow uses cyberwarfare and information operations for offensive ends:

Moscow has invested to an unparalleled degree in an information-warfare apparatus designed to manipulate foreign public opinion and break into adversary computer systems for both political and military ends.

These hacking and disinformation campaigns have high possible rewards, and are done at limited risk to Russia because Western adversaries open political systems constrain their ability to retaliate. By contrasts, Russias authoritarian structure silences political opposition and independent media outlets that could undermine information campaigns, and projects a philosophy of universal cynicism to instill doubt in counterpropaganda.

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Moscow employs hundreds of professional hackers and internet trolls, and is also comfortable employing experienced criminal groups for such operations. While the propaganda generated by low-level sources may be contradictory, it still plays up the same general themes (Western society is on the verge of collapse, there are no Russian forces in Ukraine and so on), helping mold international opinion to Moscows preferred narratives.

Russian military relies on artillery to destroy enemy formations:

Russias fondness for the god of war dates back several centuries, and according to the guide, Russian tactics still emphasize artillery as a decisive instrument for destroying enemy formations, while maneuver units handle mopping up the survivors.

While self-propelled artillery vehicles can accompany troops on offensive maneuvers, in general the Russian military now seeks to keep the enemy at arms length from its frontline positions so that the artillery can blast enemy troops without hitting friendly forces.

Moscow has long been wielding more and bigger guns as a means to compensate for its forces qualitatively inferior training. Whereas Western militaries increasingly use artillery to launch precision strikes against enemy positions, the Russian army still values large-scale area bombardments with overwhelming volumes of firepower, especially from deadly multiple rocket-launcher systems such as the BM-30 Smerch.

In Ukraine, the wide-scale adoption of drones has reportedly been a game changer in the effectiveness of artillery. Russian-supported forces using drone spotters have delivered deadly artillery fires against Ukrainian formations on the move that inflicted over a hundred casualties in one attack.

However, a weakness of Russian artillery is its centralized command-and-control structure, which makes it difficult for frontline troops to request fire missions.

Russian-supported forces deploy lots of snipers:

Back in World War II, the Russian military famously made extensive use of snipers to degrade enemy morale and eliminate key unit leaders. In the last decades, Moscow has reinvested in elite sniper units by acquiring modern sniper rifles, suppressors, ammunition and sights from Western sources, as well as producing its own deadly T-5000 sniper rifle.

In Ukraine, Russian forces have even deployed platoon-sized sniper units in depth on narrow fronts, with the most elite sharpshooters deployed over a mile to the rear while local proxies man the front line.

These sniper fronts can pin down larger enemy formations with accurate fire  then call down artillery strikes on the immobilized enemy to inflict even greater casualties. The guide suggests only two tactical responses  either disengage immediately, even at the likely cost of some casualties, to avoid getting hit by an artillery strike, or to reply with accurate sniper or heavy-weapons fire.

Anti-access/area-denial weapons may target Western forces air and logistical support:

Western militaries have come to expect on-call air support and medical evacuation. By contrast, Russian forces are not accustomed to assuming air superiority  this was true even during victorious campaigns late in World War II  and thus have invested heavily in a diverse array of anti-aircraft systems, from short-range man-portable surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft vehicles at the battalion level to strategic S-300 or S-400 missiles that can threaten aircraft hundreds of miles away.

While each system individually has its limitation, they are designed to overlap into an integrated network that can only be dismantled with great care.

In Ukraine, Russian-supported forces deployed a variety of anti-aircraft systems that shot down Frogfoot attack jets, helicopter transports and gunships and even a fully loaded cargo plane, eventually forcing the Ukrainian air force to stop providing tactical air support. While Russian air-defense networks are not invincible, a Western adversary would likely only be able to count on sporadic air support, at least initially, due to the density of the anti-air threat.

Russia has also placed more emphasis on accurate tactical ballistic missiles such as the Iskander to deliver strikes that a Western military might employ aircraft to undertake. This means rear-area command and logistical units would be subject to deadly strikes, even if air superiority is secured.

Electronic warfare threatens dependence on communications and sensors

Western militaries depend on extensive command-and-control infrastructure and near real-time tracking of troop positions as force multipliers. However, Russian electronic-warfare batteries wield a multitude of systems to jam or spy upon frontline communication systems  including radio, cellular, satellite and even GPS.

Russian EW units may transmit misleading data to lure enemy forces into a trap, and signal-intercept devices and electromagnetic sensors can also detect the position of opposing communication and sensor nodes and subsequently direct precise artillery fires to destroy them.

These are not hypothetical capabilities; they have been demonstrated in the war in Ukraine. Russian electronic-warfare units shut down communications to frontline Ukrainian positions and directed deadly attacks on their headquarter units.

Western reliance on lavish C3 capabilities could be fatal in such an environment. Field commanders used to wielding precise control over their troops will instead need to learn to communicate in short transmissions, erect smaller and more dispersed Tactical Operation Centers, and give adaptable mission orders that delegate authority to low-level unit leaders to adapt to varying contingencies.

However, a major limitation to both Russias electronic-warfare and area-denial systems is that Moscow simply cant afford enough of them, and is forced to shuffle these assets from one critical zone to another.

Because their deployment may be necessary for local units to achieve their mission, this can slow down the pace of operations and makes the location of the next local offensive more predictable. Disabling such system is thus more likely to cripple a military operation than simply inflicting personnel losses, which can be more easily replaced due to the conscription system.

Its just as important not to overestimate an opponents strength as to underestimate them; likewise, while caution and situational awareness may be warranted, paranoia is not. The AWGs handbook does its best to contextualize how New Generation warfare just as much an attempt to compensate for Russian weaknesses as to exploit gaps in adversary capabilities.

It adds up to a timely reminder that awareness of an adversarys methods may be key to prevailing in a military conflict  or, more desirably, avoiding one in the first place.

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.

Read full articleBy Trevor Hunnicutt, Sankalp Phartiyal and Kane Wu

NEW YORK/MUMBAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway Inc has acquired a 25 billion rupees ($356 million) stake in the parent of digital payments company Paytm, a source said, its first investment in an Indian startup as it moves into the financial payments sector.

The conglomerate run by billionaire Warren Buffett confirmed in an email that Berkshire had invested in One97 Communications Ltd. Buffett was not involved in the transaction, his assistant Debbie Bosanek said in the email, without giving more details.

India's Economic Times had reported on Monday that Berkshire was in talks for a 3-4 percent stake in a deal valuing Paytm at more than $10 billion, citing people familiar with the matter.

The investment is a major endorsement for Paytm that has grown to become India's leading digital payments platform in just eight years.

For Berkshire, which is under pressure to find investments and whittle down a $108.6 billion stockpile of cash, this marks a rare shift in strategy. Buffett has traditionally invested in consumer, energy and insurance companies.

The foray into India's ultra-competitive digital payments space is not without risks. The market is expected to grow five-fold to $1 trillion by 2023, but rivalry is intense, with several players - including the state-backed Unified Payment Interface (UPI), in the fray.

Unlike digital wallets, which do not earn users any interest, UPI apps simplify interbank transfers, making it a preferred option for some.

Paytm and other mobile wallet companies have been forced to offer more services to retain customers.

Google earlier rebranded its Tez app as Google Pay, adding that it was teaming up with four top Indian banks, including HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, to offer instant, pre-approved digital loans to customers.

"Google has more Internet users' data than any other tech company so they can work with banks to offer solutions to these customers," said Satish Meena, senior forecast analyst at Forrester Research.

Story continues

"Google's partnership with Indian banks to offer loan products is going to be a challenge for Paytm and even WhatsApp, which is yet to formally launch its payments service."

In May, Buffett had indicated an interest in the financial payments industry at an annual shareholders meeting, saying the sector was a huge deal around the world and that many companies were working to reinvent the space.

One of Buffett's investment deputies, Todd Combs, seen as a potential chief investment officer at Berkshire, was leading the Paytm deal and has been given a seat on its board, the company said on Tuesday.

Combs has also led Berkshire's efforts to start a healthcare joint venture with Amazon.com Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Paytm, founded by Vijay Shekhar Sharma in 2010, counts China's Alibaba Group and its financial services arm Ant Financial Services Group among investors.

Alibaba and Ant Financial, which runs China's top payment system Alipay, jointly own about 40 percent of Paytm's parent after an investment in September 2015, Reuters has reported.

Japan's SoftBank also became a shareholder in May 2017, injecting $1.4 billion in Paytm's parent company for a 14.2 percent stake and some existing shares. That investment would value Paytm at about $7 billion.

One97 Communications and SoftBank did not respond to requests seeking comment. A spokeswoman for Alibaba referred Reuters requests to Paytm.

($1 = 70.16 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in New York, Sankalp Phartiyal in Mumbai and Kane Wu in Hong Kong; Additional reporting by Brenda Goh in Shanghai, Swati Bhat in Mumbai, Mekhla Raina in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier, Steve Orlofsky and Louise Heavens)The man who allegedly rushed the stage Saturday night during Beyonce and Jay-Z's Atlanta concert while drunk has been arrested and identified.

Anthony Charles Thomas Maxwell, 26, has been charged with disorderly conduct and simple battery charges.

It was a frightening moment for the duo Saturday night during their On the Run II tour stop in Atlantas Mercedes-Benz Stadium as the fan rushed the stage during the closing number, Apes***.

They were walking off the stage when the man suddenly appeared and raced after them.

Video shot by a fan inside the venue showed the frightening moment and how the dancers initially seemed perplexed by what was happening. They then raced into action to help apprehend the stage-crasher with the help of security officials.

"At the end of last night's show, we had an intoxicated male enter the stage. At this point, we had a controlled evacuation of all crew on the stage in order to safely defuse the situation, a statement from Beyonce's team read.

Atlanta police say that the man "made contact" with Jay-Z.

Upon later investigation, officers were able to gather evidence showing Maxwell had, in fact, made contact with Jay-Z. APD subsequently secured warrants to add additional charges of simple battery, Officer Jarius Daugherty said in the statement to the Los Angeles Times.

Maxwell was taken into custody Sunday night and transported to the Fulton County Jail, police said.

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Beyonce and Jay-Z Acknowledge NFL National Anthem Protests and Royal Wedding in 'Apes***'

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Related Articles:Remember the excitement you felt as a child when your parents brought you to Blockbuster to rent all of your favorite movies? Well, now you can tap into that feeling as an adult with a Blockbuster beer.

While the video-rental company is now down to its last store in Bend, Ore., it seems like people arent ready to completely let it go extinct. Instead, those behind the company have teamed up with 10 Barrel Brewing Co. to create a craft beer in its name  quite literally  dubbed the Last Blockbuster. And according to the brewing companys co-founder Chris Cox, its made to pair well with your favorite movie theater snacks.

The Last Blockbuster beer pairs perfectly with buttery theater popcorn and your favorite movie-size chocolate, with a light body, smooth finish, and hints of nostalgia, Cox told Business Insider. The companys Instagram promises even more.

The Last Blockbuster beer is set to launch at a 10 Barrel block party in Oregon on Sept. 21, kicking off the limited time sale at all six of its pub locations. For people feeling nostalgic, they might want to make the trek to Bend to partake in a final Blockbuster experience, before they forever Netflix and chill.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

 Tom Brady chugs beer like a champion on The Late Show

 John Oliver believes Russell Crowes jockstrap can save one of the last Blockbuster stores

 Scary Spice Mel B Gives the Inside Scoop on Wannabe



Paris (AFP) - France's Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot, one of the most popular members of the government, announced his resignation on Tuesday in a major blow for President Emmanuel Macron.

Hulot, a TV celebrity and veteran campaigner for the environment, was lured into government last year by Macron, but has repeatedly clashed with his cabinet colleagues over policy.

"I am taking the decision to leave the government," Hulot said on France Inter radio in a surprise announcement, adding that he felt "all alone" on environmental issues within the government.

Hulot said he had not informed either Macron or Prime Minister Edouard Philippe of his decision.

"It's an honest and responsible decision," he added.

His departure is a major blow for 40-year-old centrist Macron, who is facing challenges on several fronts.

Due to slowing economic growth, his government is having difficulties drawing up the 2019 budget which saw Prime Minister Philippe announce at the weekend that he was dropping targets for reducing the deficit.

At the diplomatic level, Macron is struggling to convince his European partners of the need for a more integrated EU and his efforts to build a relationship with US President Donald Trump have yielded few concrete results.

Over the summer, he also suffered the first major political scandal of his 15-month term when his former bodyguard and senior security aide was filmed manhandling protesters while appearing to impersonate a policeman.

Hulot's announcement is likely to be received bitterly by Macron, who was starting a trip to Denmark to sell his EU agenda on Tuesday.

"The most basic of courtesies would have been to warn the president of the republic and the prime minister," government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux told the BFM news channel.

Hulot was formerly best-known as the presenter of the Ushuaia TV programme on French television.

burs-adp/dlParis (AFP) - Emmanuel Macron suffered a major blow to his authority and green credentials on Tuesday as his popular environment minister resigned live on radio -- without informing the French president beforehand.

Nicolas Hulot, a TV celebrity and one of the most respected members of the cabinet among the public, announced the news on France Inter radio, taking both his interviewers and government colleagues by surprise.

"I am taking the decision to leave the government," Hulot said, explaining he felt "all alone" on environmental issues in a government committed to the same economic model "that is the cause of all the problems".

"I hope my departure will trigger deep soul-searching by our society on the realities of our world," Hulot added.

A government spokesman ripped into Hulot for not taking "the most basic of courtesies" to inform Macron or the prime minister before quitting -- an unprecedented move for a French minister, analysts said.

But Macron responded that Hulot was "a free man" and that he respected his decision.

"I hope I will be able to count on his commitment in another form," Macron said on a trip to Copenhagen.

Hulot, 63, was lured into government last year by Macron but has repeatedly clashed with his cabinet colleagues over policy.

"We're taking little steps, and France is doing a lot more than other countries, but are little steps enough? ... the answer is no," he added, after months of speculation over his role in government.

- Macron's woes pile up -

His departure adds to mounting problems for Macron, who swept to power in May last year promising to end decades of high unemployment and reform the European Union.

Due to slowing economic growth, his government is having difficulties drawing up the 2019 budget which saw Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announce at the weekend that he was dropping targets for reducing the deficit.

Story continues

At the diplomatic level, Macron is struggling to convince his European partners of the need for a more integrated EU as nationalist governments make gains across the continent.

The president also suffered a major political scandal this summer when a senior security aide was filmed manhandling protesters, and his poll ratings have slumped to their lowest-ever levels.

Hulot's exit also risks undercutting Macron's credentials as a leading campaigner internationally against climate change which has seen him adopt the catchphrase "Make our planet great again".

- Macron's record under fire -

His resignation "will signal to the public that the government isn't doing much" when it comes to the environment, said Daniel Boy, an environmental specialist at political research centre Cevipof.

While Macron claims he is "neither of the left or right", the shock announcement will further erode support from the centre-left after criticism that his economic policies favours the rich, Boy predicted.

While saying he had "profound admiration" for Macron, Hulot made a series of damaging remarks, denouncing the influence of "lobbies" and "targets that we know in advance we won't meet".

The TV star was left disappointed when the government backtracked on a target to cut back on nuclear power, while EU negotiations on pesticides were another source of frustration.

On Monday, the cost of a hunting licence was cut in half -- a final bitter pill for the vegetarian and animal rights campaigner, who faced accusations from fellow activists that he did not hold enough sway over government decisions.

Formerly the presenter of the hit Ushuaia environmental TV programme, Hulot had repeatedly turned down offers to enter government by previous French presidents.

He was widely reported to be close to quitting in February after media reports that he had been accused in the 1990s of rape, which he denied.

Macron's record on the environment is mixed.

Despite Hulot's frustrations, the president has made the battle against global warming one of his foreign policy priorities, hoping to compensate for US President Donald Trump's climate scepticism.

Macron also led efforts at the EU level to reduce the use of the controversial weedkiller chemical glyphosate and has scrapped a proposed airport in western France, partly on environmental grounds.

"Do you do an environmental revolution in one year? The response is no," government spokesman Griveaux said. "I prefer little steps to not moving."

burs-adp/kjl/spmBy Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California will become the first U.S. state to eliminate the cash bail system for people awaiting criminal trial, under a reform bill signed on Tuesday by Governor Jerry Brown that will take effect in October 2019. "Today, California reforms its bail system so that rich and poor alike are treated fairly," Brown, a Democrat, said in a statement. The law will allow for defendants to be released after being arrested if they are deemed likely to appear for court hearings and pose little danger to the public. Judges would be allowed to rule out release for people accused of felony acts of violence, misdemeanor domestic violence, sexual assault, making threats and certain other crimes. Civil liberties and human rights groups have long called for reforming the bail system, which has its roots in medieval England, but some of them opposed the California bill. "It cannot guarantee a substantial reduction in the number of Californians detained while awaiting trial, nor does it sufficiently address racial bias in pretrial decision making," leaders of three American Civil Liberties Union chapters in California said in a joint statement. Local court systems in California would be allowed to set their own standards for releasing people considered a medium risk of endangering the public or not appearing in court. In U.S. states, defendants are released if they can arrange payment of a cash bond, which a court can hold until the legal case is concluded. Judges may determine a defendant is ineligible for bail, such as in some murder cases where public safety might be at risk. Federal courts in the United States rarely require defendants to post cash bail. Instead, judges can set conditions for release, such as supervision and travel restrictions. California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye supported the new bill. "Our old system of money bail was outdated, unsafe, and unfair," Cantil-Sakauye said in a statement. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; editing by Bill Tarrant)Speakers: Ning Jizhe, vice director of the Office of the Leading Group for the Belt and Road Initiative, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, head of the National Bureau of Statistics

Hu Kaihong:

Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Welcome to this press conference. This year marks the fifth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Today, we are delighted to invite Mr. Ning Jizhe, vice director of the Office of the Leading Group for the Belt and Road Initiative, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission and head of the National Bureau of Statistics, Mr. Qian Keming, vice minister of commerce, and Mr. Zhang Jun, assistant minister of foreign affairs to brief us on the progress made under the Belt and Road Initiative over the past five years and its outlook in the future.

Now, Mr. Ning Jizhe will give you a brief introduction.

Ning Jizhe:

Thank you all. This morning, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, attended the symposium on the fifth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative, and delivered an important speech.

Over the past five years, the initiative has witnessed a warm welcome and active participation in countries all over the world. Much headway has been made in the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, as the Belt and Road Initiative has developed from a proposal and vision, into concrete activities.

First, enhancing strategic mutual trust and building international consensus. The Belt and Road Initiative and the principle of seeking shared benefits through extensive consultation and joint contribution have been included into many documents of international organizations like the United Nations. So far, 103 countries and international organizations have signed 118 cooperation agreements with China under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

In 2017, the first session of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was held successfully in Beijing. State and government heads of 29 countries, as well as more than 1,600 representatives of over 140 countries and over 80 international organizations participated in the event. Of the 279 items on the forum's outcome list, 265 items, or 95 percent of the total, have been completed or have become routine works, while great efforts have been made to accelerate the implementation of the remaining items.

Second, actively implementing cooperation projects to create demonstration effects. Solid progress has been made in a batch of cooperation projects, such as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, China-Laos railway, China-Thailand railway, Hungarian-Serbian railway, Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, and Gwadar Port Free Zone. As of Aug. 26, 10,000 cargo train journeys have been made on the China-Europe railway lines. The lines connect China with 43 cities in 15 European countries.

Third, promoting cooperation in the pursuit of win-win results and mutual development. By June 2018, the total volume of trade in goods between China and countries along the Belt and Road had surpassed US$5 trillion, and China's outward direct investment has surpassed US$70 billion. China's total investment in the economic and trade cooperation zones in countries along the Belt and Road has surpassed US$20 billion, creating more than 100,000 local jobs and bringing tax revenue worth billions of dollars to local governments. Currently, Chinese enterprises are exploring ways to work with enterprises from developed countries, including some multinational companies, in third-party markets under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Fourth, improving service systems and enhancing financial support. China has endorsed the Guiding Principles on Financing the Development of the Belt and Road with 17 countries, greatly boosting the overseas development of Chinese financial institutions. So far, 11 Chinese banks have set up 71 first-class branches overseas. Joint financing services have been developed with several multilateral banks, such as the African Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The control of legal risks has been tightened. The mechanisms and institutions to solve international commercial disputes under the framework of Belt and Road Initiative are being established.

Fifth, intensifying cultural exchange under the principle of openness and inclusiveness. Cooperation has been actively promoted in education, technology, cultural and other fields. Special cooperation plans have been designed in education, technology, finance, energy, agriculture, inspection and quarantine, the connectivity of standards, amid others. The "Silk Road" scholarship, Chinese overseas education institutions and other programs have cultivated many technological and managerial professionals for countries along the Belt and Road. In 2017, more than 300,000 students from these countries studied in China, and more than 60,000 Chinese students studied in these countries. In 2020, it is estimated that China and countries along the Belt and Road will receive more than 85 million tourists from each other, with a total expected consumption value of about US$110 billion.

The development of the Belt and Road Initiative over the past five years has proved that the initiative conforms to the trend of the times and the direction of development, thus winning greater international recognition and more partners, with its influence extending far and wide. However, we should also notice that the global economy is faced with many uncertain and unstable factors. Great changes are taking place in the world. The Belt and Road Initiative is also faced with many risks. A handful of countries remain doubtful about the initiative. Chinese enterprises are also faced with difficulties in overseas investment and development. Therefore, we should have an objective and reasonable understanding of the achievements and problems. We should remain resolved, use development and cooperation to solve problems, improve the safeguard system and international cooperation mechanisms, promote further, deeper development of the Belt and Road Initiative in a stable manner.

In view of the new situation, the Chinese government will continue to stick to the principle of seeking shared benefits through extensive consultation and joint contribution, stick to the rules of the market economy, and stick to international conventions to promote the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative with high standards, thus to pursue win-win results through cooperation.

First, we will enhance overseas coordination, build closer friendships with more countries, and turn the Belt and Road Initiative into an initiative for peace.

Second, we should promote win-win development, intensify mutually beneficial cooperation, improve connectivity and industry development, and turn the Belt and Road Initiative into an initiative for prosperity.

Third, we should play the leading role in pursuing open markets, boost the development of trade, improve trade and investment facilitation, and turn the Belt and Road Initiative into an initiative for openness.

Fourth, we should enhance the establishment of various mechanisms, explore more ways of reform, promote cooperation in high-tech sectors, and turn the Belt and Road Initiative into an initiative for innovation.

Fifth, we should improve cultural exchange, enhance friendly communication, build up soft power in the cultural sphere, and turn the Belt and Road Initiative into an initiative for higher civilization.

That's all. Thank you.By Julie Gordon and Sharay Angulo WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Canada's top trade negotiator joins her Mexican and U.S. counterparts in Washington on Tuesday in a bid to remain part of a revamped trilateral North American trade pact, as U.S. officials expressed optimism a deal could be reached this week. But Ottawa will be under pressure to accept new terms on autos trade, dispute settlement and intellectual property rules after the United States and Mexico agreed on Monday to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). U.S. President Donald Trump warned he could proceed with a deal with Mexico alone and levy tariffs on Canada if it does not come on board with the revised trade terms. A spokesman for Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, who arrived in Washington on Tuesday for the talks, said Canada would only sign a new agreement that is good for the country. Freeland rejoins the year-long talks following a hiatus of several weeks as the United States and Mexico ironed out bilateral differences in the renegotiation of the 24-year-old accord. They have agreed on several provisions that Canada opposes, making it harder for Freeland to win concessions from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. "I think he's going to sit there with his arms folded a lot," said Dan Ujczo, a Columbus, Ohio-based trade lawyer who focuses on U.S.-Canada issues. "It's not going to be a positive discussion this week." U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC on Tuesday that he believed the United States could also reach a trade deal with Canada this week. "The U.S. market and the Canadian markets are very intertwined," Mnuchin said. "It's important for them to get this deal and it's important for us to get this deal." Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray told Mexican television on Tuesday the three sides would work for a three-way deal. "We are now going to devote long hours to the negotiation with Canada," he said. Negotiations among the three partners, whose mutual trade totals more than $1.2 trillion annually, have dragged on for more than a year, putting pressure on the Mexican peso and the Canadian dollar. Both currencies gained against the U.S. dollar on Monday, but the peso weakened on Tuesday. Canada's main stock index opened higher on Tuesday on hopes for a NAFTA trade deal, before dipping. U.S. stocks edged to record highs for a third consecutive session. A sticking point for Canada is the U.S. effort to dump the Chapter 19 dispute resolution mechanism that hinders the United States from pursuing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases. Lighthizer said on Monday that Mexico had agreed to eliminate the mechanism. Other hurdles include intellectual property rights, such as the U.S.-Mexico 10-year data exclusivity for biologic drug makers and extensions of copyright protections to 75 years from 50, all higher thresholds than Canada has previously supported. Trump says he still could put tariffs on Canadian-made cars if Canada did not join its neighbors and warned he expected concessions on Canada's dairy protections. Canada's dairy farmers operate under a protectionist system that manages supplies and prices, and imposes high tariffs to limit imports. U.S. demands have ranged from ending those tariffs to scrapping a pricing system for milk ingredients that hurt U.S. exports of milk proteins. "It seems like a pretty steep challenge to now resolve these issues in three days," said David Wiens, a Manitoba dairy farmer and vice-president of industry group Dairy Farmers of Canada. BILATERAL LEGAL CONCERNS If a deal is not reached with Canada, Mnuchin said, the United States would proceed with a separate trade agreement with Mexico. The Mexican government has also taken that position, even as it says it wants a trilateral deal. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is keen to sign the agreement before leaving office at the end of November. But U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said a bilateral U.S.-Mexico raises "serious legal concerns" because the "fast track" negotiating authority used for NAFTA requires a trilateral deal. This may require a far more difficult 60-vote threshold in the Senate for ratification of a U.S.-Mexico bilateral trade deal. If talks with Canada are not wrapped up by Friday, Trump plans to notify Congress that he intends to sign a deal with Mexico, but would be open to Canada joining, Lighthizer told reporters on Monday. The White House has said Trump will sign the deal 90 days after notification. Congress needs to approve it in a process that will take several months, extending well into 2019. (Additional reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg and Miguel Angel Gutierrez in Mexico City; Writing by Anthony Esposito and David Lawder; Editing by Dave Graham and Susan Thomas)A handgun is used at a firing range in Arizona in 2018. Canadas National Firearms Association says it strongly opposes a proposed ban on handguns in Canada because it is the lawfully-owned property of Canadians. Photo from Getty Images.

Are Canadas two biggest cities looking for an easy target when it comes to addressing gun violence?

The countrys largest gun lobby group sure thinks so.

On Tuesday, CBC News reported the federal government plans to launch a study on a full ban on handguns and assault weapons in Canada.

The move comes after Montreal councillors unanimously voted to adopt a motion urging the federal government to impose a nationwide handgun ban last week. This follows a motion approved by Toronto to urge the federal government to impose a ban on the sale of handguns and handgun ammunition in the city.

Montreal Councillor Alex Norris tabled the motion, which urges the federal government to ban the possession of handguns and so-called assault weapons for those not with security or law enforcement forces. It also calls on the federal government to bolster its gun-control bill, C-71, while enhancing regulations to prevent dangerous individuals from owning firearms.

We dont see any reason for private individuals to be authorized to own such weapons, Norris told CBC News. These are weapons that are principally designed to kill people.

Blair Hagen, the executive vice-president of Canadas National Firearms Association, told Yahoo Canada these political gestures amount to nothing more than virtue signalling.

I think these cities are out of ideas when it comes to targeting criminal gang violence. And of course, its very difficult to do that because it requires a lot of resources, a commitment to fighting crime and frankly, its easier for them to go after law-abiding people.

The calls for more action on gun violence comes as Toronto grips with an unacceptable amount this summer, according to Toronto Mayor John Tory. During a one-week period this summer, 11 people were shot in the city of Toronto.

The city revealed a gun violence reduction plan last month that placed more police officers on night patrol, but that hasnt prevented incidents such as the deadly Toronto Greektown shooting.

Story continues





Targeting the wrong crowd?

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has acknowledged the federal government is considering a broad range of things in the fight against gun violence, but he hasnt ruled out a handgun ban in the same way Ontario Premier Doug Ford has.

Hagen, who supports Fords approach, asserted the real issue cities face is the demand for guns from criminal gangs.

Theyre not talking about reducing the demand for illegal guns, theyre talking about targeting the lawfully-owned property of Canadians. And frankly, its wrong and offensive and unconscionable, and they should be taken to task on that, Hagen said.

Instead, the National Firearms Association, which represents 150,000 legal gun owners across Canada, said it would rather see criminal gangs punished more severely with very, very costly prison sentences imposed on those guilty of illegal gun play.

Unless Ottawa and the courts get behind that, its just not going to happen, Hagen said.

Earlier this month, two-thirds of Yahoo Canada readers polled said they did not support Toronto having a handgun ban after more than 5,000 online votes were cast. Most of the comments appeared to side with the gun lobby group, but others said any move that limits the number of guns wouldnt hurt.

Criminals use unregistered weapons anyway. Tougher laws on gun crime are what we need, a Yahoo Canada reader named mazroon wrote.

I seriously doubt that the criminal element in society will be deterred by putting more controls on guns, they are already skirting the law, a commenter named norm chimed in.

Who needs a handgun? Aigle posted in the comment section.

I, as a legal gun owner, am not bothered at all about a handgun ban, Yahoo user Paul said.

But those in favour of a handgun ban argue time is of the essence. Earlier this month, Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said increased gun violence has devastated lives in the Toronto area.

There is an urgent need to stop gun violence from going from bad to worse, Horwath posted on Twitter. Measures to enhance community safety are worth considering.



OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday his position on the supply management system that protects Canada's dairy farmers has not changed and he will defend it as Canada works to renew the NAFTA trade deal with the United States and Mexico. He also said good progress had been made on auto terms in the talks between Mexico and the United States, and that Canada looked forward to signing a deal as long as it was good for Canadians. "My position on defending supply management has not changed," he told reporters during a visit to the province of Quebec. (Reporting by Andrea Hopkins, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)By Fergal Smith TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar strengthened to a nearly three-month high against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday as investors bet that Canada will reach a deal with the United States and Mexico to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement. Canada's top trade negotiator is joining her Mexican and U.S. counterparts in Washington in a bid to remain part of a revamped trilateral North American trade pact, as U.S. officials expressed optimism a deal could be reached this week. "The market is signaling that a deal is at hand," said Adam Button, currency analyst at ForexLive. "Canada has been strong armed into an agreement but at the end of the day a deal is better than no deal." Canada sends about 75 percent of its exports to the United States so its economy could benefit if talks with the United States and Mexico lead to a trilateral trade deal. At 3:33 p.m. (1933 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading 0.2 percent higher at C$1.2935 to the greenback, or 77.31 U.S. cents. The currency touched its strongest since June 6 at C$1.2887. The price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, fell as some investors took profits on recent strong gains. U.S. crude oil futures settled 0.5 percent lower at $68.53 a barrel. Canadian government bond prices were lower across a steeper yield curve, with the two-year down 1 Canadian cent to yield 2.145 percent and the 10-year falling 16 Canadian cents to yield 2.316 percent. Canada's gross domestic product data for the second quarter is due on Thursday. (Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Susan Thomas and David Gregorio)Dave Majumdar

Security, Asia

Once they work out all of the bugs, that is.

China's Navy Could Soon Have an Aircraft Carrier Battle Group

The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is a step closer to achieving its goal of deploying a full-scale aircraft carrier battle group. In recent days, Chinas first indigenously built aircraft carrier, Shandong, embarked on its second set of sea trials. Meanwhile, the PLAN also started sea trials for the first of its massive new Type 055 guided-missile destroyers, reportedly called Nanchang, on August 24.

Shandong, a Type 001A carrier based on the overhauled Soviet-built Type 001 Liaoning, was launched on April 26, 2017 and conducted its first set of sea trails this past May. However, as is often the case with any first of the class warship, Shandongs first set of sea trials revealed deficiencies that have had to be corrected. Those modifications have to be tested during the vessels second set of sea trials. Moreover, other systems that have been installed in the meantime since the ships first set of sea trials also have to be tested.

A ship researcher from the Navy who asked not to be named said he expected the second sea trial to mainly verify the carrier's communication, navigation and other electronic and mechanical instruments, the Chinese state-owned Peoples Daily reported on August 27. He also said the operation will test modifications and improvements on the ship's propulsion system that were made after the first sea trial.

The Peoples Daily reportwhich was also republished by the Peoples Liberation Army sponsored China Mil sitealso noted that the new aircraft carrier will require several sea trials before being commissioned into service by the PLAN. But Shandong is only a stepping-stone, Chinas follow-on carriers will be far more capable.

Chinas first domestic aircraft carrier was launched in 2017 and will likely join the fleet by 2019, states the Pentagons 2018 report to Congress on Chinese military capabilities. The new carrier is a modified version of Liaoning, but is similarly limited in its capabilities due to its lack of catapult and a smaller flight deck than U.S. carriers. However, China is expected to begin construction on its first catapult-capable carrier in 2018, which will enable additional fighter aircraft, fixed-wing early-warning aircraft, and more rapid flight operations.

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In addition to Shandong going to sea for its second sea set of trials, the Type 055 destroyer Nanchang also started its sea trials earlier this month after it was launched in June. The first of China's Type 055-class guided-missile destroyersAsia's largest and mightiest noncarrier warshipalso started its first sea trial on Friday from Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai, the Peoples Daily reported. The Type 055 destroyer displaces more than 10,000 tons and has 112 vertical launching cells capable of firing various kinds of missiles, including the nation's long-range land-attack cruise missile.

China is building at least four of the new Type 055 destroyers to escort its nascent aircraft carrier fleet. The U.S Defense Department expects the Type 055which the Pentagon refers to as the Renhai-class guided missile cruiserto be a formidable adversary when it becomes operational in 2019. The RENHAI CG is a 10,000-ton design that can carry an array of long-range ASCMs [anti-ship cruise missiles] and long-range SAMs [surface-to-air missiles], and will likely be able to launch ASBMs [anti-ship ballistic missiles] and LACMs [land attack cruise missiles] once these weapons are available. The RENHAI CG will be Chinas premiere carrier escort for blue-water operations.

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Even without those additional weapons, the Type 055 packs a formidable anti-ship punch. The LUYANG III class DDG and RENHAI-class CG will be fitted with a variant of Chinas newest ASCM, the YJ-18 (290 nm, 537 km), the report notes. Nor have the Chinese skimped out on the targeting. The PLAN recognizes that long-range ASCMs require a robust, over-the-horizon targeting capability to realize their full potential. China is investing in reconnaissance, surveillance, command, control, and communications systems at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels to provide high-fidelity targeting information to surface and subsurface launch platforms.

Dave Majumdar is the defense editor for The National Interest. You can follow him on Twitter: @Davemajumdar.

Read full articleBOGOTA, Colombia (AP)  Colombia will leave a South American bloc promoted by the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to counter U.S. influence in the region.

President Ivan Duque said in a televised address Monday that UNASUR is now "the greatest accomplice of the Venezuelan dictatorship."

Colombia and five other nations had suspended their memberships amid differences over who should lead the group earlier this year.

The alliance has steadily been fracturing, with Ecuador President Lenin Moreno even demanding the union give up its central office in Quito.

Duque said UNASUR has failed to denounce Venezuela's "brutal treatment" of its citizens and that Colombia's withdrawal will be effective within six months.The Hague (AFP) - Former Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda was a dreaded commander whose troops slaughtered civilians with machetes and disembowelled pregnant women, the International Criminal Court (ICC) heard on Tuesday.

In their closing statements against the man nicknamed "The Terminator," prosecutors described how his rebel army conducted a reign of terror in Ituri, in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2002 and 2003.

"A lot of people were executed by hand, with machetes," ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told a three-judge bench at the Hague-based tribunal.

"Some of them were disembowelled, even pregnant woman as well. They took the foetuses out of the women," Bensouda said, quoting a witness's testimony during the trial.

Prosecutors showed gruesome pictures they said depicted the aftermath of one such an attack allegedly carried out by Ntaganda's troops.

One of the frames showed a heap of bodies, with the corpse of a man on top, his hands tied behind his back and his throat slit.

"No one was ever punished for the crimes committed," by Ntaganda's troops, prosecutor Marion Rabanit told the court.

Ntaganda faces 13 counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity for his role in the brutal conflict that devastated the DR Congo's east more than 15 years ago.

"The evidence has proven beyond all reasonable doubt that Bosco Ntaganda is indeed guilty of the crimes charged against him," Bensouda added.

- Sex slaves -

Ntaganda, dressed in a black suit, dark-blue shirt and striped black tie and with a pencil moustache, listened intently with his glasses perched on his nose and occasionally taking notes.

The Rwandan-born former rebel chief pleaded not guilty to the charges at the start of his trial in September 2015.

On Tuesday, prosecutors said Ntaganda was central to planning operations for the Union of Congolese Patriots and its military wing, the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC).

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Known as a charismatic commander with a penchant for cowboy hats and fine dining, prosecuters said Ntaganda used child soldiers younger than 15 years, coerced women soldiers into sexual slavery and attacked civilians on ethnic grounds.

Ntaganda also "personally committed crimes," Bensouda said.

"He persecuted and attacked civilians, he murdered them, pillaged their goods, destroyed their churches and hospitals," in a bid to rid Ituri of Lendu and other inhabitants who were not from the Hema ethnic group, she said.

At least 800 people were killed by the FPLC as it battled rival militias for control of the mineral-rich area.

- 'Soldier, not criminal' -

The soft-spoken Ntaganda during his trial balked at the "Terminator" nickname however and told judges he was a "soldier, not a criminal".

Ntaganda wants to present himself as a "human being", his lawyer Stephane Bourgon told AFP. He said his client was likely to make a statement during the closing arguments.

The first-ever suspect to voluntarily surrender to the ICC, Ntaganda walked into the US embassy in Kigali in 2013 and asked to be sent to the court.

Ntaganda is also a founding member of the M23 rebel group, which was eventually defeated by Congolese government forces five years ago.

More than 60,000 people have been killed since violence erupted in the volatile Ituri region in 1999, according to rights groups.

This week's hearings will run from Tuesday to Thursday.

It could take months, even years, before the ICC's judges hand down a verdict.

The three-day hearing was followed with interest after the surprise acquittal of another former Congolese leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba.

Initially sentenced to 18 years for war crimes committed by his troops in the Central African Republic, Bemba was acquitted on appeal in June. He has since returned to Kinshasa.

However, Ntaganda's former FPLC commander, Thomas Lubanga, was sentenced to 14 years' jail in 2012. That was the second conviction by the court since it was set up 16 years ago to try the world's most horrific crimes.An Ohio school has apologized for asking students to rank the life of people depending on their race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. (Photo: Getty Images)

An Ohio middle school has apologized for an assignment that asked students to hypothetically save peoples lives depending on their race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.

A photo of the assignment, titled Whom to Leave Behind, was posted to Facebook on Wednesday by Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio 6th Ward City Councilman Adam Miller, who called the project inappropriate.

I spoke with the teacher and I certainly can appreciate the fact that he wants to promote diversity etc. It was a Posted by Adam Miller on Wednesday, August 22, 2018

The assignment, which was given out by an unidentified teacher at Roberts Middle School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, instructed students to examine a list of 12 people selected to fly on a spaceship to another planet to avoid the Earths destruction. However, due to the ships space limitation, students must cut four people, ranking the list into most deserving and least deserving of life.

Here are the categories:

An accountant with a substance abuse problem.

A militant African-American medical student.

A 33-year-old Native American manager who does not speak English.

The accountants pregnant wife.

A famous novelist with a physical disability.

A 21-year-old female Muslim international student.

A Hispanic clergyman who is against homosexuality.

A female movie star who was recently the victim of sexual assault.

A racist armed police officer who has been accused of using excessive force.

A homosexual male, professional athlete.

An Asian, orphaned, 12-year-old boy.

A 60-year-old Jewish university administrator.

According to Millers Facebook page, parents raised their concerns to the school on Aug. 20. On Thursday, Todd M. Nichols, superintendent of Cuyahoga Falls City Schools, released a statement: They were just made aware of the situation and are investigating, according to local news station WOIO.

Parent Bernadette Hartman, whose son received the assignment, told news outlet WKYC, What does her being Muslim have to do with it? What does being female have to do with it? She added, Its hard for me to put it into words. Its just hard.

Story continues

This paper divides, she said. It doesnt pull anybody together. And parent Denise Petron asked of the teacher, What did he expect to get out of this?

On Facebook, Miller confirmed that the assignment was part of a seventh-grade math class and that parents had reached out to the city councilman as a last resort after their complaints went unanswered by the school.

In the comments section of Millers post, parents reacted. Im honestly having a hard time believing that anyone thought this was appropriate to give to kids, wrote one person. The assignment was also slammed as very disturbing, age-inappropriate, and a poor example of traditional ethical projects that encouraged critical thought. Liberal or conservative, thinking about how damning your kids answers could be if the teacher didnt agree with their viewpoints, wrote someone.

Since the maelstrom of criticism erupted over the assignment, the school has issued another statement. When contacted, the office of Todd M. Nichols, superintendent of Cuyahoga Falls City Schools in Ohio, directed Yahoo Lifestyle to an explanation posted on the website of Roberts Middle School. With regard to the assignment recently issued by a teacher at Roberts Middle School, it is important to provide context, the statement said. One of the Districts goals this year is training in the areas of diversity awareness and social justice. In this case, the intent of this assignment aligned with the goals of the District and was issued in four seventh- and eighth-grade classes.

The intent of this lesson was to engage in an activity in diversity designed to promote tolerance and break down stereotypes, the statement said. The activity, which was drawn from the University of Houstons Diversity Activities Resource Guide, was used as an ice-breaker during the first full week of school such that students can better understand each other and participate in group activities more successfully.

Unfortunately, some parents were upset and concerned by this particular assignment and thought it was not age-appropriate, the letter concluded. The teacher and District offer their most sincere apologies for the offense caused by the content used in this assignment. Future assignments on this topic will be more carefully selected.

A representative from the University of Houston sent the following statement to Yahoo Lifestyle:

The Diversity Activities Resource Guide is a collection of exercises, often developed by third-party sources. While UH did not create this specific activity, we use it as a resource for college students in an effort to create awareness about cultural bias with the hope of sparking productive discussions and enlightening self-reflection. We encourage facilitators of this exercise to be trained in diversity and inclusion issues to appropriately handle difficult conversations that could arise.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.The Chicago Cubs are looking to emulate the New York Yankees. The club is thinking about launching their own version of the YES Network once the teams current media contracts expire following the 2019 season, according to the Chicago Tribune.A dog owner thought he would never see his best mate again after the pooch fell overboard during a nasty storm. Source: Shane Hale / Facebook

A dog owner thought he would never see his best mate again after the pooch fell overboard during a nasty storm, but he was shocked when the dog turned up alive the next day.

Shane Hale and his pup Harley set sail on Saturday, but the weather soon turned nasty and a storm set in.

In the waters off Sarasota County, Florida, in the US, the pair were headed for Florida Keys and across the Caribbean, until the storm became too powerful and Harley fell overboard.

It was throwing me off the boat, slamming me back on the boat, throwing me off the boat, slamming me back on the boat, Mr Hale told WFLA news.

Footage from before the dog fell overboard shows the pet wearing a tether and life jacket. Source: Shane Hale / Facebook

I could see his head bobbing behind the boat, the swells, I dont want to seem like an exaggerating kind of guy, but I think they were nearly [three metre] swells.

Footage from before the storm shared to Facebook shows both Mr Hale and his pet were wearing a tether and life jacket onboard.

I got to his tether and when I pulled the tether, I realised there wasnt enough weight on the end of that tether for a dog to be on there. Sure enough I pull it out and I just see his life jacket, he said.

Shane Hale said it was a miracle his dog was found alive the next day, after falling off the boat. Source: Shane Hale / Facebook

I laid there for the rest of the storm and I prayed for Harley, and I prayed for me, he said.

Mr Hale didnt expect to see his best mate alive again.

When he went off the boat and I see the way he went, I never in a million years expected to see my dog again.

When Mr Hale arrived at shore, he shared a plea for help to find Harley.

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The following morning, the sailor received a phone call, with news he described as a miracle.

Harley had somehow battled the choppy waters and swam almost five kilometres to a nearby beach, where he was found.

Vets reportedly said the sea dog had a slight case of pneumonia, but is expected to make a full recovery.

Meanwhile Mr Hale has vowed to put his sailing days behind him and embrace a land-locked life with his clever mate.Donald Trump, the US president, frequently clashed with John McCain in recent years - AP

Donald Trump has declared his respect for John McCain and ordered all US flags on public buildings to be flown at half-mast, bowing to criticism over his initial response to the senators death.

The US president arranged for the military to help transport Mr McCains remains from Arizona to Washington DC, where he will lie in state, and asked senior administration figures to attend his funeral.

It came after growing outcry over Mr Trump's lack of praise for the 81-year-old former Republican presidential candidate, with whom he frequently clashed ever since his 2016 presidential bid.

Mr Trump declined to answer numerous shouted questions about Mr McCain from reporters in the White Houses Oval Office on Monday morning after an announcement on trade.

That followed reports that the US president had decided not to issue a statement drafted by White House aides praising Mr McCain as a hero, instead sending a brief tweet.

Mr Trump had written on Saturday night: My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!

My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2018

Critics noted that the comments included no praise for Mr McCains life and years of service first as a soldier and prisoner of war in Vietnam and then as a US congressman - in marked contrast to the reaction of other leading political figures.

Anger mounted on Monday when the White Houses flag, which had flown at half-mast on Sunday, returned to normal despite mourning continuing for Mr McCain.

Mr Trump changed that on Monday afternoon, issuing a statement which read: Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCains service to our country and, in his honour, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment.

Story continues

He added that Mike Pence, the vice president, will speak at an honouring ceremony in Congress while James Mattis and John Bolton, the defence secretary and White House national security adviser, will attend Mr McCains funeral.

Text of the proclamation Mr Trump signed showed that the half-mast rule will apply to all public buildings, military posts and naval stations in America, as well as all US embassies across the world.

Mr Trump and Mr McCain clashed a number of times during the 2016 US election. Once Mr Trump played down Mr McCains military record, saying: "I like people who weren't captured."

Mr McCain appeared to use his final message, read posthumously by his campaign manager Rick Davis, to push back against the presidents agenda.

Part of the message read: "We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe.

We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been.

The man who ran the Vietnamese prison that held Mr McCain captive for six years was also among those who paid tribute to the former congressman.

Col. Tran Trong Duyet reportedly said: At that time I liked him personally for his toughness and strong stance... He has greatly contributed to the development of Vietnam-U.S. relations."President Donald Trump on Monday issued a formal statement honoring the late Sen. John McCain following two days of backlash over his initial response to the Republicans death.

Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCains service to our country and, in his honor, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment, he said in the statement.

New Trump statement on McCain's death is still full of shade. pic.twitter.com/pa7NxIrOeh  Alana Horowitz Satlin (@achorowitz) August 27, 2018

The White House garnered negative press after people noticed White House flags had returned to full staff on Monday, less than two days after McCain had died.

The White House was operating under a protocol of keeping the flag at half-staff for a day and a half following the death of a sitting member of Congress. Anything beyond that would require a presidential proclamation.

Prior to the statement, Trump had only tweeted his deepest sympathies and respect to the McCain family. On Sunday, he turned down the release of an official White House statement that would have celebrated his late Republican colleague as a hero, according to The Washington Post.

Trump and the late senator from Arizona had a contentious relationship. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump attacked McCains status as a war hero.

President Donald Trump reversed course on Monday, issuing a formal statement honoring the late Sen. John McCain. (Photo: Leah Millis/Reuters)

While in office, Trump criticized McCain again for voting against a Republican push to repeal the Affordable Care Act last year.

Even in the final weeks of McCains life, Trump made his disdain for the senator clear  failing to mention the war hero during the signing of a defense bill that bore his name.

The president said Monday that he has asked Vice President Mike Pence to give an address at the ceremony set to honor McCain at the Capitol on Friday.

Story continues

Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush have reportedly been asked to deliver eulogies. However, Trump will not be invited to McCains funeral, at the request of the late senator.

McCains body will be laid to rest Sunday at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

This story has been updated with more details about Trump and McCains relationship. Hayley Miller and Doha Madani contributed to this report.

Related Coverage

Trump Orders White House Flag Lowered To Half-Staff Again In Honor Of McCain (UPDATE)

Here's How John McCain Will Be Memorialized This Week

John McCain Aide Reads Senator's Final Message To America

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.The last three Julys on Earth have been the three warmest ever recorded. But, they may also be the warmest months to occur on our planet in about 120,000 years.

Following NASA's recent announcement that July 2018 was the third warmest such month since reliable record keeping began in 1880, climate scientist Stefan Rahmstorf, head of Earth System Analysis at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, pointed out that this last July  already infamous for scorching Arctic temperatures and record-breaking heat waves  was also likely one of the warmest months since the geologic period called the Eemian.

SEE ALSO: How long does it take for today's violent wildfires to go out?

The period, lasting from about 130,000 to around 115,000 years ago, was, on average, around 1 to 2 degrees Celsius (1.8 to 3.6 Fahrenheit) warmer than it is today.

Warmth-loving hippos roamed present-day Europe, and sea levels, due to melted ice sheets, were 20 to 30 feet higher than today (much of Florida was underwater).

Just out: NASA global temperature for July. It was the 3rd warmest July on record after 2016 and 2017. Since July is the warmest month of the year, the past July was one of the warmest recorded months ever. Likely among the warmest months since the Eemian 120,000 years ago. pic.twitter.com/KGZXh5ZXOS  Stefan Rahmstorf (@rahmstorf) August 15, 2018

The Eemian period  and the ice ages before and after it  were natural Earth processes, explainable through simple physics by our orientation to the sun at the time, say earth scientists.

These warming and cooling events happened gradually over thousands of years. But the current rapid warming on Earth in just the last 150 years is unquestionably our own doing, as potent greenhouse gases produced by burning coal and other fuels amass in our atmosphere.

Story continues

The fluctuations between warm and cold periods on Earth have been "going on forever," Pat Bartlein, a paleoclimatologist at the University of Oregon who has researched temperatures since the last ice age, said over email.

"But the key thing is that since industrialization, weve been put on a completely different schedule," said Bartlein.

There's little doubt among scientists that we're now probably experiencing the warmest climate in some 120,000 years, even reaching above a particularly warm period around 7,000 years ago, during a post-ice age era called the Holocene.

Global temperature changes in relation to the average.

Image: nasa

Global temperature changes in relation to the average.

Image: nasa

"I agree entirely that it's very likely the last few summers have been the warmest in the last ~100,000-115,000 years," David Black, a paleoclimatologist at Stony Brook University, said over email. "It's very probable that we've begun to exceed the warmest part of the Holocene."

"It is safe to say that it's true," added Jennifer Marlon, a research scientist at Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, in an interview. "You'll find a scientific consensus among experts even on that point now I'd bet, which says a lot."

Marlon noted that during that hotter time 7,000 years ago, only the northern hemisphere experienced some pretty warm summers, "but now we are warmer year round."

Back in 2013, Rahmstorf already argued that the current climate had already surpassed this warmest period of the Holocene. And in the last five years, the case has only grown stronger.

Ice cores preserve air bubbles from Earth's long geologic past, revealing carbon levels in the ancient air.

Image: nasa

"There's been further warming," Rahmstorf said via email. Indeed, the three warmest years on record, 2015, 2016, and 2017, have occurred since then.

What's more, Earth fell into its last ice age for some 90,000 years after the Eemian ended, a time when saber-toothed cats, dire wolves, and towering Columbian mammoths still roamed the land.

There's no evidence that any points during that cooler period exceeded the average temperatures we're experiencing today.

As Earth continues its rapid warming pace, some scientists, looking at what we might expect in the future, have suggested Earth may see Eemian-like conditions in the future, said Black, which would mean a dramatically warmer climate and vastly higher seas.

But the Eemian, like other past climates, might not be a good roadmap for where we're headed.

"Humans are putting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at an unprecedented rate," said Black, adding that "there isn't an ideal climate analog in the past that we can explore to see what we might expect in the future."

Earth's melting ice sheets.

Image: nasa

The critical difference is carbon

A major difference between the Eemian period and the present, however, is the amount of carbon dioxide that's presently in the air. Today, carbon dioxide concentrations are phenomenally high  the highest they've been in 800,000 years.

During the Eemian these concentrations hovered around 280 parts per million, or ppm. Today they're around 409 ppm.

Scientists have known since the 1800's that carbon dioxide traps heat, and today's historic levels  when compared to past natural increases in carbon levels  are simply skyrocketing.

"The pace isnt even close  this isnt natural," Kristopher Karnauskas, a professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at Colorado Boulder, said in an interview.

Catapulting carbon levels on Earth.

Image: Kristopher Karnauskas @Oceansclimatecu

With all this carbon amassing the atmosphere, the looming problem is not simply today's warming, but how much more warming is in store.

"We put all this carbon in the air, now it's going to take a while for everything to catch up," said Marlon. "The big question is, how quickly will everything catch up?"

Like warming over the last century, these global-scale temperature changes take place over decades to centuries, said Karnauskas. But there's already enough carbon in the air to raise temperatures considerably more.

"Even under the best case scenario were going to double the warming weve already seen," said Karnauskas, who emphasized the need to wean ourselves from fossil fuels.

Another degree or two of warming  if we don't transition to cleaner energies  would bring us closer to the realm of the Eemian, a time that wasn't just warmer  it was a period distinctly different from the present day.

"Will the world be a warm world, or a very different world?" wondered Karnauskas.Athens (AFP) - Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Tuesday reshuffled his cabinet ahead of a keynote economy speech next month, seeking to rebound from poor ratings in the final stretch before 2019 elections.

Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos remains at his post, as does Defence Minister Panos Kammenos, leader of the nationalist Independent Greeks, the junior party in Tsipras' government coalition.

The reshuffle also left unchanged the key ministries of labour, migration, tourism and foreign affairs ahead of a name deal currently being negotiated with neighbouring Macedonia.

To fill junior ministry posts, Tsipras brought in a number of younger cadres from his leftist Syriza party into the government. Thirteen out of more than 50 government members are women.

Among notable changes is the appointment of former government spokeswoman Olga Gerovassili as the country's first female police minister. Her deputy is also a woman, former conservative Katerina Papacosta, in another first for the country.

The previous police minister Nikos Toskas resigned in the aftermath of last month's wildfires near Athens that left nearly 100 people dead.

Tsipras also sacked his justice minister Tuesday amid a furore over the conditional release from prison of a young businessman convicted of fraud, claiming disability.

The justice ministry also came under fire recently over furlough granted to a far-left hitman serving a life sentence for multiple murders.

The reshuffle saw former political rivals brought into the government to broaden its political appeal.

In addition to conservative Papacosta, former socialist health minister and European deputy Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou signed up as administrative reform minister.

Another former socialist European deputy, Myrsini Zorba, takes over the culture ministry.

The embattled 44-year-old premier is seeking to rebound from poor ratings exacerbated by the fire tragedy.

Tsipras' Syriza party trails the conservative New Democracy party by over 10 points.

Story continues

Elections are still over a year away, but there is speculation Tsipras could call them in early 2019.

Last week, Tsipras hailed the end of his country's eight-year "Odyssey" of painful debt bailouts and said the country had "won back the right to determine its own fortunes and future".

He has now pledged to raise the minimum wage and is expected to announce a batch of low-income benefits at the annual Thessaloniki trade fair next month.

"We need to rally. We need unity but also renewal," Tsipras told his leftist Syriza party this week.

"Our country, the government and the party need new blood and more hunger for work," he said.Tokyo (AFP) - The abdication of Japan's Emperor Akihito next year will be quite literally the end of an era, the Heisei era of his rule, and behind closed doors, talks on the next era have begun.

Japan is the only country in the world still using Chinese-style imperial calendars. It might be 2018 in much of the world, but in Japan it is Heisei 30, or 30 years into Akihito's reign.

While the Gregorian calendar is widely used in Japan, imperial dates feature on government documents, newspapers, and commercial calendars.

"It is easier to imagine what the time was like if you have eras," said Kunio Kowaguchi, president of major calendar maker Todan.

"For instance, we remember it was early Heisei that the bubble burst," he said, referring to the collapse of Japan's speculation-driven economy.

The upcoming end of the Heisei period was even reportedly a factor in the government's decision to implement death sentences this year against 13 members of the Aum cult behind a 1995 sarin attack.

Government officials apparently wanted to a draw a line under the cult's attacks before the Heisei era ends. All 13 executions were carried out in July.

Japan has had nearly 250 eras or "gengo" since adopting the system in the 7th century.

In the past, emperors would switch era names mid-reign to make a fresh start after natural disasters or crises.

But more recently, an era has run the entire length of a monarch's rule.

With just months to go before Crown Prince Naruhito ascends the Chrysanthemum Throne in May 2019, speculation about the new name is growing.

And calendar makers like Kowaguchi are particularly eager to hear.

- A new 'Y2K'? -

His company produces 10 million calendars a year, many featuring both Western and imperial dates.

He starts printing products a year before release, so it's already too late for his 2019 run to feature the new name, but he's hoping for a decision in time for the 2020 batch.

Story continues

The new imperial era will be the first since the IT revolution, and the tech sector is also girding for the transition.

It has inspired comparisons to the "Y2K" bug ahead of the year 2000, when experts worried about a tech apocalypse fearing that computers would not understand the new date.

"What is largely different from the time of the Y2K problem or the switch to the Heisei period is that IT is widely used and information is passed around among internet-capable devices," said Kazunori Ishii, a spokesman at Microsoft's Japan arm.

"We can't predict exactly what will happen," he said, though he added that major disruption was "unlikely".

Software used in Japan that converts between Western and imperial dates will need to be updated with the new era, and code and fonts for the new name will also need to be created.

The 84-year-old emperor's decision to abdicate has given experts a rare head start in choosing the new era's name.

The task falls to the government rather than the palace and, like many matters involving the royal household, it is shrouded in secrecy.

Reports initially suggested the name would be announced in 2018 but there have been rumours of a delay.

That may indicate the scale of the challenge, with experts bound by stringent guidelines requiring the name to have two characters, be easy to read and write, and not use common names.

- 'New era, new mindset' -

The new name is also unlikely to start with the first letter of any of the last four eras: Heisei, Showa, Taisho and Meiji.

And because each era name is considered "sacred", any name put forward but rejected in the past cannot be proposed again.

One of the few people familiar with the challenge is Junzo Matoba, a former bureaucrat who helped look for new names during the last years of emperor Hirohito's Showa era, in the late 1980s.

"Some people thought it was irreverent to think about the next era" while the emperor was still alive, he told AFP.

"I had to work secretly."

He consulted experts on Asian history and literature while trying to maintain a low profile.

"I found myself caught up in such a difficult task -- I was sitting under the Sword of Damocles," the 83-year-old told AFP.

By 1988, the search was narrowed to three contenders, and when Hirohito passed away on January 7, 1989, a panel of experts, politicians and ministers quickly approved "Heisei", meaning "becoming peaceful both inside and outside the country".

Japan's government is believed to have a shortlist of names, but has been mum on potential choices or an announcement date, despite the growing interest.

"Japanese people love to 'reset' things," said Matoba.

"A new era, a new mindset."Berlin (AFP) - A massive film-art project in the German capital is set to rebuild part of the Berlin Wall to create a closed-off mini-state, complete with visa checks, organisers said Tuesday.

The walled-in "city within a city" will host the world premiere of the mysterious and mammoth "DAU" film project and social experiment of enigmatic Russian filmmaker Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 43.

Pending final approval from Berlin city authorities, which organisers said was "in the works", staff plan to erect 900 concrete wall slabs, each 3.60 metres (about 12 feet) tall, for the 6.6 million euro ($7.7 million) event.

Visitors to the parallel world will have to apply online for entrance "visas" and swap their cellphones for off-line digital devices with an algorithm that will suggest a personalised tour.

Set on a city block on Unter den Linden boulevard, the time-capsule project is due to launch on October 12 and end with a ritualistic tearing down of the wall on November 9, the day of the historic event in 1989.

The aim is not to create "a Disney GDR" (German Democratic Republic), said Thomas Oberender, director of culture festival Berliner Festspiele which will host the mega-event.

"It is not a film premiere but a mixture of social experiment, artistic experiment and... an impressive form of world-building," he told a Berlin press conference.

The aim, said organisers, is to spark "a political and social debate about freedom and totalitarianism, surveillance, co-existence and national identity".

- 'Most insane film shoot' -

Long shrouded in mystery, a trickle of news and cryptic clues has created buzz and sparked controversy about the project, with critics labelling it a stunt hurtful to people who lived in communist East Germany.

"Out of respect for the victims who really experienced such situations, we should step away from this," Berlin politician Sabina Bangert of the Greens party said, according to Tagesspiegel daily.

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Others are excited about a convention-busting art event that will evoke, but not seek to replicate, the Cold War past of Berlin.

Germany's minister of culture, Monika Gruetters, said she was "absolutely convinced this will be a world event".

Lending star power to the project are conductor Teodor Currentzis, composer Brian Eno, director Tom Tykwer, performance artist Marina Abramovic, the band Massive Attack and, according to German news agency DPA, the legendary anonymous street artist Banksy.

Berlin's "DAU-Freedom" is set to kick off follow-up events in Paris in November ("DAU-Equality") and London in early 2019 ("DAU-Fraternity"), all organised by the London-based Phenomen Trust, co-founded by Russian millionaire Sergey Adoniev.

The epic "DAU" film project, more than a decade in the making, has been labelled "Apocalypse Dau: the most insane film shoot of all time" by Britain's Daily Telegraph.

Dau was the nickname of Soviet nuclear physicist and Nobel laureate Lev Landau (1908-68), one of the fathers of the Russian nuclear bomb and an advocate of free love.

The project started in 2005 as a conventional biopic, with funding from several European countries, but evolved into what Caravan magazine labelled a "brutal and baroque movie project/human experiment".

- 'Experiment is ongoing' -

Hundreds of amateur actors were asked to live full-time from 2009-11 in a mock-up secret Soviet nuclear research facility dubbed "The Institute" that was built in Ukraine.

Participants reportedly had to dress, speak and act as if living under the Soviet regime, with penalties for using cellphones or social media.

They wore scratchy underwear, ate tinned food, used roubles, carried ID cards and endured other privations of bleak Soviet life.

"They fell in love, betrayed friends, cheated on their partners, conducted experiments, were arrested, gave birth to children, grew older," says the event's press release.

Veteran cinematographer Juergen Juerges, who spent three years on the set, said the aim was to shoot their unscripted interactions "everywhere, anytime... They lived, and we filmed them."

A rare journalist to visit the site, from GQ magazine, wrote that Khrzhanovsky was ever-present, projecting "a carefully crafted self-portrait of a tyrannical genius".

At the end, Khrzhanovsky reportedly had neo-Nazis destroy the elaborate set.

The resulting over 700 hours of footage have been edited into 13 feature films, several TV series and are due to appear in an online multimedia project, said producer Susanne Marian.

"The experiment is ongoing," promises a trailer on the project website (https://dau.xxx/).

Reclusive Khrzhanovsky did not attend the Berlin press event.

Oberender thanked the "very many people who for months, and up to two years, didn't speak about this project -- a small miracle in a city like Berlin".The entrance to the current European Medicines Agency building in Canary Wharf, London (Getty)

The EUs Brexit preparations have been hit by a row over emergency funding for one of its agencies relocating from London.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA), which currently employs more than 900 people in Canary Wharf, will move to Amsterdam when Britain leaves the EU next March.

EMA managers have called on the European Commission to pay for an extra 40 temporary staff to help with a transition which could see close to half of current employees leaving.

But their request has been turned down to the dismay of MEPs, who warn the decision could have consequences for public health.

MORE: EXCLUSIVE  Theresa May set to address MEPs in final Brexit deal push

Minutes of the EMAs latest management board meeting in June state that staff loss is worsening dramatically as the date of the move approaches.

The best case scenario is a 17% loss of staff but the the EMA say its likely that 44% will go, according to an update given to the meeting on the agencys Brexit contingency plan.

Without the additional 40 staff, the EMA has warned it would become very challenging to implement new EU legislation.

European Medicines Agency executive director Guido Rasi at the organisations current headquarters in Canary Wharf (Getty)

EMA executive director professor Guido Rasi argues the cost of the new recruits would be budget neutral because of the exodus of existing staff.

And a cross-party group of four MEPs on the European parliaments environment, public health and food safety committee have backed his call for more funding.

In a written question to the European Commission about the situation, the MEPs state: The EMA is essential to the functioning of the single market for medicines in the EU and it would be regrettable if the agency were forced to implement further cuts in its activities with an important public health impact due to having insufficient staff.

They asked: What measures is the Commission taking to address the staffing concerns of the EMAs Management Board and to help the Agency resume functioning in full after its relocation?

MORE: Permanent EU citizenship could be a reality post-Brexit

Story continues

Vytenis Andriukaitis, the EUs commissioner for health and food safety, has now replied to the MEPs to confirm that the EMA will not receive the extra support requested.

The request and information provided by EMA were judged as not being sufficiently documented to support such an increase in staff, even for a temporary period, taking into account also the relatively large size of the agency, his answer states.

It should be noted that any requests for staff increase need to be very well substantiated via the budgetary procedure. The Commission remains in close contact with the Agency as regards the departure of key staff and its impact on the capacity of EMA to deliver on its high priority activities.

EU health and food safety commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis (Getty)

The EMA expect they could be granted funding for as few as four new staff members.

The decision has seen the commission accused of putting budgetary considerations ahead of long-term consequences by a patients organisation represented on the EMAs management board.

The EMA has said it may now call an extraordinary meeting to discuss the situation.

A vote of EU member states was held in November to decide where to relocate the EMA after Brexit. The final decision was made by drawing lots after Amsterdam was tied with Milan.

Staff will move to a temporary building by 30 March and relocate to a new permanent HQ by the end of next year.

The European Banking Authority, which employs around 150 people, is also relocating from Canary Wharf in London to Paris because of Brexit.

MORE: Raab criticised for forgetting expats living in Brexit limbo



By Joshua Schneyer and Andrea Januta

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Army has drafted a plan to test for toxic lead hazards in 40,000 homes on its bases, military documents show, in a sweeping response to a Reuters report that found children at risk of lead poisoning in military housing.

The inspection program, if implemented, would begin quickly and prioritize thousands of Army post homes occupied by small children, who are most vulnerable to lead exposure. Ingesting the heavy metal can stunt brain development and cause lifelong health impacts.

The lead inspections would cost up to $386 million and target pre-1978 homes to identify deteriorating lead-based paint and leaded dust, water or soil, according to the military documents.

A draft Army Execution Order says the program's mission is to mitigate all identified lead hazards in Army post homes in the United States. In homes where dangers are detected, the Army would offer soldiers' families "temporary or permanent relocation" to housing safe from lead hazards, it says.

The Army's mobilization comes after Reuters published an investigation https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-military-housing on August 16 describing lead paint poisoning hazards in privatized military base homes. It documented at least 1,050 small children who tested high for lead at base clinics in recent years. Their results often weren't being reported to state health authorities as required, Reuters found.

Behind the numbers were injured families, including that of a decorated Army colonel, J. Cale Brown, whose son JC was poisoned by lead while living at Fort Benning, in Georgia.

The article drew a quick response from lawmakers, with eight U.S. senators demanding action to protect military families living in base housing.

The Army's planned response is laid out in military documents, including the draft Execution Order, minutes from a private meeting attended by top Army brass, and other materials.

Story continues

One priority, detailed by Under Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy in an August 22 meeting, is for the military's response to counter any sense "that we  are not taking care of children of Soldiers and are not taking appropriate action quickly enough," meeting minutes say. "The Army will remain focused on the actions to assess, inspect, and mitigate risks to Soldiers and Families," the minutes say, citing McCarthy and Vice Chief of Staff General James C. McConville.

Army spokeswoman Colonel Kathleen Turner acknowledged plans are being formulated but said no decisions have been made. "Out of an abundance of caution, we are going above and beyond current requirements to ensure the safety of our soldiers and their families who work and live on all of our installations," Turner said in a statement. "We are currently evaluating all options to address these concerns.

Old lead-based paint becomes a poisoning hazard when it deteriorates, and poor maintenance of military base homes can leave legions at risk. About 30 percent of service families  including some 100,000 small children  live in U.S. military housing owned and operated by private companies in business with the military.

There are nearly 100,000 homes on U.S. Army bases, and the lead inspections are expected to focus on the approximately 40,000 built before a 1978 U.S. ban on the sale of lead paint.

The plans depart from guidance that appeared on the Army Public Health Center's website https://phc.amedd.army.mil/topics/workplacehealth/ih/Pages/Lead.aspx as recently as last week, which "discouraged" lead-based paint inspections in Army homes. The website has since been updated and omits that language.

Under the plans, the documents show, the Army would:

- Inspect all pre-1978 Army family housing units nationwide, including visual lead-based paint assessments by certified personnel, swipe-testing for toxic lead paint dust, and testing of tap water. Some homes will also receive soil testing. This phase alone, described as "near term actions," will cost between $328 million to $386 million, the Army's Installation Services director estimated.

- Temporarily or permanently relocate families when hazards are found. "If a Family or Soldier are concerned with potential negative impacts from lead; the U.S. Army will offer them a chance to relocate to a new residence," the documents say. "We must do everything we can to maintain that trust."

- Conduct town hall meetings on Army posts to address residents' lead concerns. The Army intends to do so with "empathy," the meeting minutes say. "Tone is key and can be just as important as the actions we take."

The documents leave some questions unanswered. They don't say how long it would take to inspect all 40,000 homes. Also unclear is whether the Army has funds immediately available for the program, or would need Congressional authorization to set them aside.

The Army would ensure that the private contractors who operate base housing "are meeting their obligations" to maintain base homes, the documents say, and would require them to show compliance with lead safety standards through independent audits.

The documents do not discuss whether private housing contractors would bear any of the costs of the lead inspections, or how any repairs would be funded.

In most cases, Army post homes are now majority-owned by private real estate companies. Under their 50-year agreements with the Army, corporate landlords operating military housing agreed to control lead, asbestos, mold, and other toxic risks present in some homes, particularly historic ones.

FAMILIES, SENATORS PRESS FOR ANSWERS

The Army plans come as base commanders and housing contractors face a wave of complaints about potential home lead hazards, and a rush of military families seeking lead tests for their children.

Last week, the hospital at Fort Benning, where Reuters reported that at least 31 small children had tested high for lead exposure in recent years, began offering "walk-in" lead testing. Some concerned families are already being relocated; in other homes, maintenance workers are using painter's tape to mark peeling paint spots that residents found contained lead by using store-bought testing kits.

Lead poisoning is preventable, and its prevalence in the United States has declined sharply in recent decades. Still, a 2016 Reuters investigation documented thousands of remaining exposure hotspots, mostly in civilian neighborhoods.

Last week, eight senators, including Republican Johnny Isakson of Georgia and Democrat Claire McCaskill of Missouri, pushed amendments to legislation to examine and address https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-lead-gao/u-s-senators-seek-review-of-lead-in-military-housing-citing-reuters-idUSKCN1L82DV the military's handling of lead exposure risks.

In coming weeks, Army officials plan to meet with lawmakers to address their concerns, the military documents show.

(Edited by Ronnie Greene and Michael Williams)(Reuters) - The United States and Mexico agreed on Monday to a sweeping trade deal that pressures Canada to accept new terms on autos trade, dispute settlement and agriculture to keep the trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the White House was ready to notify the U.S. Congress by Friday of President Donald Trump's intent to sign the bilateral document, but that it was open to Canada joining the pact. The 24-year-old NAFTA is a trilateral deal between the United States, Canada and Mexico that underpins $1.2 trillion in North American Trade. Here are some of the main issues at the heart of the negotiations: AUTOS DOMINATE The new deal requires 75 percent of the value of a vehicle to be produced in the United States or Mexico, up from the NAFTA threshold of 62.5 percent. The higher threshold is aimed at keeping more parts from Asia out, boosting North American automotive manufacturing and jobs. Even if more plants are built in Mexico, jobs will grow in the United States due to high levels of integration, with studies showing that U.S. parts make up 40 percent of the value of every Mexican-built car exported to the United States. The pact also requires greater use of U.S. and Mexican steel, aluminum, glass and plastics. The provision started out as a U.S. demand for 85 percent regional content, with 50 percent coming from U.S. factories. That plan was vehemently opposed by Mexico, Canada and the auto industry. It later morphed into the U.S.-Mexico deal's requirement of 40 to 45 percent of a vehicle's value to be made in high wage areas paying at least $16 an hour, requiring significant automotive production in the United States. Although full automotive details have not yet been released, auto industry officials say it will allow Trump the ability to impose higher national security tariffs on vehicles that do not comply with the new thresholds. Most Mexican auto exports are in a position to comply with the new limits, the country's economy minister said. NO SUNSET Trump backed off from an initial U.S. demand for a "sunset" clause that would kill the pact unless it was renegotiated every five years and which businesses said would stymie long term investment in the region. Canada and Mexico were strictly opposed to the clause. Instead, the United States and Mexico agreed to a 16-year lifespan for NAFTA, with a review every six years that can extend the pact for 16 years more, providing more business certainty. DISPUTE SETTLEMENT Mexico agreed to eliminate a settlement system for anti-dumping disputes, NAFTA's Chapter 19. The move, sought by the United States, puts Canada in a difficult position because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had insisted on maintaining Chapter 19 as a way to fight U.S. duties on softwood lumber, paper and other products that it views as unfair. Ottawa now has less than a week to decide to accept a deal without that provision. A settlement system for disputes between investors and states was scaled back, now only for expropriation, favoritism for local firms and state-dominated sectors such as oil, power and infrastructure. AGRICULTURE, LABOR The new deal will keep tariffs on agricultural products traded between the United States and Mexico at zero and seeks to support biotech and other innovations in agriculture. It lacks a previous U.S. demand to erect trade barriers to protect seasonal U.S. fruit and vegetable growers from Mexican competition. It contains enforceable labor provisions that require Mexico to adhere to International Labor Organization labor rights standards in an effort to drive Mexican wages higher. NOW CANADA The U.S.-Mexico NAFTA deal opens the door for Canada to immediately rejoin the talks and is a major step forward in updating the accord. Canada, which sat out the last leg of discussions while the United States and Mexico ironed out their bilateral differences, is now pressured to agree to the new terms on auto trade and other issues to remain part of the three-nation pact. Trump has presented this as a bilateral deal and threatened Canada with car tariffs. Some lawmakers have said that a bilateral deal would face a higher vote threshold in Congress because the NAFTA fast-track negotiating authority law calls for a trilateral agreement. (Compiled by Anthony Esposito in Mexico City and David Lawder in Washington; Editing by Sandra Maler and Rosalba O'Brien)A three-year-old boy suffered serious burns to his face and arm at the Home Bargains store in Tallow Hill, Worcester (Picture: PA)

The father of a three-year-old boy injured in a suspected acid attack has denied conspiring with six other people to carry out the assault.

The youngster suffered serious burns to his face and arm at the Home Bargains store in Worcester on July 21.

His 39-year-old father is charged with conspiring to commit grievous bodily harm in connection with the incident, in the Tallow Hill area of the city.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty to the offence when he appeared at Worcester Crown Court on Tuesday.

Five other men and a woman  all of whom are facing the same allegation  also denied the charge during the hearing.

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Also accused are Adam Cech, 27, and Jan Dudi, 25, both from Birmingham, Norbert Pulko, 22, and Saied Hussini, 41, both from London, and Jabar Paktia, 41, from Wolverhampton.

Martina Badiova, 22, of Newcombe Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, appeared in the court dock alongside the men.

She was the seventh person arrested in connection with the investigation and was charged on Friday.

Police officers conducting a search of Shrub Hill Retail Park in Worcester after the suspected acid attack (Picture: SWNS)

The defendants spoke with the assistance of four different interpreters, using the Dari, Pashto, Czech and Slovak languages, and were flanked by seven dock officers.

About 30 family and friends of the defendants also packed the public gallery.

Adjourning the case for a preliminary hearing on September 21, Judge Jim Tindal told those in the dock: By that stage, what I hope to have happened is well have identified a potential trial date and a potential trial judge, if not his honour Judge (Robert) Jukes.

All the defendants were remanded into custody to appear back at the same court next month.North Carolinas Capitol, in Raleigh. The states congressional map, one of the most severely gerrymandered in the country, was ruled unconstitutional by a federal court on Aug. 27. (Photo: Mlenny / Getty Images)

A federal court in North Carolina ruled for the second time this year that the states congressional map was drawn to so severely benefit Republicans that it violates the Constitution.

The court held on Monday that North Carolinas congressional map violates Article I, the First Amendment and the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

A three-judge panel reached an identical conclusion in January, but after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in two separate partisan gerrymandering cases, it sent the North Carolina case back to the lower court for further consideration.

In June the Supreme Court said in Gill v. Whitford that plaintiffs in partisan gerrymandering cases must show they suffered an injury in the districts where they live. It asked the North Carolina court to consider whether the plaintiffs in the case met those conditions, and on Monday the court said that it did.

We conclude that, under the test set forth in Gill, at least one Plaintiff registered to vote in each of the thirteen districts in the 2016 Plan has standing to assert an Equal Protection challenge to each of those districts, Judge James Wynn, who sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit wrote in an opinion that was joined by Senior U.S. District Judge William Earl Britt. In particular, such Plaintiffs introduced evidence establishing that each of their districts is packed or cracked and, as a result, that their votes carry less weight than [they] would carry in another, hypothetical district.

We further conclude that Gill did not call into question  and, if anything, supported  this Courts previous determination that Plaintiffs have standing to assert partisan gerrymandering claims under Article I and the First Amendment, Wynn continued.

The court said the map violated the 14th Amendment because it treated voters differently, depending on their political preferences. The panel also said the map violated the First Amendment because it made it more difficult for politically engaged groups and voters with certain political beliefs to elect their preferred candidates. The map runs afoul of a provision of Article I of the Constitution, the court said, because it gives the North Carolina legislature too much power in choosing who sits in the U.S. House. Article I says that the members of the House of Representatives shall be chosen by the people.

Story continues

The decision is significant because North Carolina is one of the most severely gerrymandered states in the country, with Republicans consistently controlling 10 of the states 13 congressional seats since 2012. Gerrymandering reform advocates believe the case presents one of the best opportunities for the U.S. Supreme Court to place a limit on partisan gerrymandering because the evidence of Republicans intent to gerrymander is so clear. A key Republican involved in drawing the congressional map in 2012 said he wanted a 10-3 GOP delegation because he did not think it was possible to draw one that was 11-2 in favor of Republicans.

Although North Carolinas loud and proud admission that legislators drew districts for partisan advantage is unusual, the practice is universal when politicians are in charge, Kathay Feng, the national redistricting director at Common Cause, which brought the suit on behalf of the North Carolina voters, said in a statement. Until we prohibit partisan gerrymandering, a true representative democracy will remain out of reach and the voices of all Americans will continue to be silent.

The court highlighted that the current North Carolina congressional map has been in place for six years and notably left open the possibility of implementing a new congressional map for this years midterm elections. Noting that North Carolina Republicans have dragged their feet in drawing previous court-ordered fixes to the map, the court declined to say whether it would afford lawmakers the opportunity this time around but said it would give lawmakers until Sept. 17.

Republicans are expected to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. With Justice Anthony Kennedys retirement, there is a 4-4 split between conservative and liberal justices, meaning the lower courts ruling could remain in place, wrote Rick Hasen, an election law expert and a professor at the University of California, Irvine.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.By Devika Krishna Kumar and Liz Hampton

(Reuters) - A fire broke out on Tuesday morning at a Plains All American Pipeline crude storage tank east of Wichita Falls, Texas, the company said.

The fire was limited to a single storage tank at the Wichita Falls Station, the company said, and none of its workers were missing. Plains did not say if there were injuries, but did say that first responders were on site.

Plains did not specify whether the fire had affected any other operations.

Wichita Falls is a crude injection point in north Texas along Plain's Basin Pipeline, which runs from the Permian Basin that to the oil storage hub at Cushing, Oklahoma.

The Basin pipeline was shut briefly, according to market intelligence firm Genscape, though the cause was unclear.

Flows on the pipeline resumed to a rate of nearly 410,000 barrels per day (bpd) after power consumption increased at about 1:00 p.m. ET, Genscape said in a notice.

Pipeline flow averaged about 365,000 bpd this week thus far and the Basin pipeline has a capacity of 450,000 bpd, Genscape said.

News of the pipeline closure contributed to weakness in West Texas Intermediate at Midland crude differentials during the day, traders and brokers said.

WTI Midland traded as much as $18 a barrel below U.S. crude futures early in the session, the biggest discount since late 2012. Prices recovered to last trade at a $16.75 a barrel discount, dealers said. On Monday, WTI at Midland traded near $15 a barrel under Cushing.

"Plains really hasn't said much to the shippers so unless it's going to be shut for a while, I don't think there'll be much market impact," said one trader who buys oil off the pipeline.

Plains did not respond to a request for comment on the Basin pipeline closure.

The Wichita Falls Fire Department did not comment on the status of the fire and the Wichita County Sheriff's office could not be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Houston and Devika Krishna Kumar in New York; Editing by Phil Berlowitz and Leslie Adler)HELENA, Mont. (AP)  Much-needed rain fell across Montana on Monday and slowed the spread of a fire burning near the U.S.-Canada border enough for Canadian officials to lift an evacuation order issued last week for Waterton Lakes National Park.

The rain has suppressed but not extinguished the 3-square-mile (8-square-kilometer) blaze burning in the northern part of Glacier National Park and threatening Waterton Lakes a year after another fire swept through the Alberta park.

"They got almost  of an inch of rain over the last 24 (hours) ... into early this morning," said Rocky Gilbert, the operations chief for Southwest Incident Management Team leading the firefighting efforts, in a video update Monday morning. "Hopefully things will be looking pretty good up on that fire with the rainfall."

Parks Canada officials said in a statement Monday that most of last week's closures have been lifted for Waterton park's trails, backcountry campgrounds and waterways.

It was the second consecutive year the park has been evacuated because of fire. A 2017 blaze burned over much of the park, destroying infrastructure and affecting more than 80 percent of its trails.

The rain also slowed another fire burning in Glacier near Lake McDonald that previously destroyed 14 residences and 13 other structures. Evacuation orders there remain in place and officials said Monday there is the possibility of wind-driven fire activity later this week when drier weather arrives.

Crews fighting fires across the state similarly reported rain from the weekend holding the blazes in check.

The rain was expected to continue through Monday night, with snow forecast for elevations above 6,000 feet (1,830 meters) in Glacier National Park and in western Montana, according to the National Weather Service.

Between 1 and 4 inches (2.5 centimeters and 10 centimeters) of snow could fall in the mountains, and up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) could fall on the highest peaks near the Canadian border.

Approximately 950 fires have burned 106 square miles (274 square kilometers) so far this year in Montana, which is just 5 percent of the land that burned across the state in last year's record-setting season.Business Insider

In the past, Melania Trump has been seen slapping away her husband's hand, ripping her hand away from his, and walking away from him during photo ops.Auburn High School in Alabama allows parents to opt out of fundraisers and bake sales. (Photo: Briana Leggett Woods via Facebook)

Nothing can send parents into panic mode faster than their child informing them that their school is holding a bake sale tomorrow, theyve signed them up to provide two dozen cupcakes, its already 9:00 p.m. and the house is out of sugar.

I distinctly remember my mother, near tears, covered in powder sugar of homemade frosting telling me only to offer to bring napkins and paper plates going forward. The lesson was so ingrained that I still offer to bring paper plates to any dinner party Im invited to.

Auburn High School in Alabama has finally thrown a bone to exhausted parents in the form of an opt out fundraiser, and, honestly, where has this been all our lives?

Parents who still wish to volunteer their services to future bake sales and fundraisers are encouraged to submit their email address, but parents who are too busy to respond to phone calls and emails can offer a $25 donation. Or, if theyre feeling generous and want to bribe the school to forget my name & my face and not ask me for anything else all year except to complete this form, they can send in $50 or more.

Plenty of people on social media can relate to the mother, Briana Leggett Woods, who initially shared a photo of the fundraiser on Facebook and who shared her relief on LoveWhatMatters.com.

Perhaps in the future parents will have the option to tell schools to take their money and leave them alone  please!

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Former U.S. ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman described Donald Trump as the arsonist that becomes the firefighter when it comes to the presidents dealmaking rhetoric.

I think one of the strategies that the president has done, and hes done this in a lot of areas,  Hes the arsonist that becomes the firefighter, Heyman, who served from April 2014 to the end of President Obamas tenure, told Yahoo Finances Dion Rabouin.

So he creates these false accomplishments. Because he created this drama. Whether he [does] it with the flag or whether he does it with the trade negotiations.

Everyone should just pause a minute

On Monday, President Donald Trump announced the U.S. and Mexico reached a bilateral trade agreement to replace NAFTA, which Trump calls the United StatesMexico Trade Agreement. During a televised phone call, Mexicos outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto told Trump that he wants to see Canada incorporated in the deal.

[The] announcement of an agreement  and I think that should be [considered] a soft agreement, preliminary agreement, or an understanding with Mexico  gave people a look at the path out of all of the tariffs that the president has been placing on so many of our allies and the issue hes had with NAFTA, Heyman said.

Bruce Heyman. Photographer: Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP Photo

The path ahead, though, is one that everyone should just pause a minute, Heyman added. The legal authority right now is for a trilateral deal  NAFTA. And so Canada needs to be part of this. Mexico wants Canada a part of it. And I think the presidents language was more a negotiating strategy than an outright say that hes going to do separate agreements.

Im hopeful we can see that same approach

During Tuesdays televised call, Trump indicated that Canada could do a separate deal with the U.S. or one thats incorporated into the new bilateral deal with Mexico. He added that hed call Prime Minister Justin Trudeau very soon and start negotiations.

[And] if theyd like to negotiate fairly, well do that, Trump said. You know, they have tariffs of almost 300 percent on some of our dairy products, and we cant have that. Were not going to stand for that. I think with Canada, frankly, the easiest thing we can do is to tariff their cars coming in. Its a tremendous amount of money, and its a very simple negotiation. It could end in one day, and we take in a lot of money the following day.

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This is the sort of rhetoric that Heyman interprets as part of Trumps negotiating style of being an arsonist and then a firefighter.

These auto provisions, this is only one industry, and he stood up and declared victory, Heyman said. Remember, he promised a wall being paid for by Mexico. Hes really lambasted Mexicans as a population here. And so, now he declares victory and he loves them. Its again, the arsonist then becoming the firefighter.

Heyman, noting that Trump seems to have a hard time with multilateral agreements, added that he hoped the presidents negotiating tactics will lead to more positive developments on trade.

Im hopeful we can see that same approach with Canada and make peace here.



Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.Jason Sensation made a few appearances in WWE in 1998.

A former professional wrestling personality caused a brief moment of panic during WWE Monday Night Raw in Toronto.

Jason Sensation sent a tweet during the event that he planned on committing suicide inside Scotiabank Arena during the show.

I got my gun through security & will shoot myself in the head & kill myself during tonights # RAW in Toronto. Dont ya dare miss it!!! Thanks for the memories, read the tweet.

Police and WWE were notified of the tweet and proceeded to investigate the threat before determining that Sensation was never present at the venue. His Twitter account has since been deactivated.

Public Advisory, There were numerous tweets to Toronto Police regarding a threat made by Jason Sensation over Twitter. We have been investigating it thoroughly. We are with Mr. Sensation now, he never was at the Scotiabank Arena, there is no concern for public safety, ^gl  Toronto Police OPS (@TPSOperations) August 28, 2018

Former WWE head writer Vince Russo reportedly spoke with Sensation after the incident, and apparently the whole thing was meant to be a joke. About suicide. With a gun. In front of tens of thousands of people. In what world is that funny? Russo said Sensation apologized and was doing OK after Russo reached out to let him know how many people cared for him.

According to his Twitter bio, Sensation is dealing with depression and recently suffered a heart attack. Hopefully this incident, as misguided as it was, allows Sensation to get the help that he needs.

What I managed to read from Jason Sensation's Twitter before it was taken down;

1) Bio said "dealing with depression"

2) Recently had heart attack

3)He was being nostalgic recently about his WWE days, posting pics of his $45 Royalty check.

4) He was on TV 20 years ago this year.  Flip Willy (@BallixMate) August 28, 2018

Sensation appeared in a few episodes of Raw in 1998 and was best known for his Owen Hart impersonation during a Degeneration X skit.COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP)  Denmark can do more in Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron declared Tuesday as he pushed for a more closely united European Union and a continent that takes more responsibility for its own defense.

On the first day of a two-day visit, Macron pressed the case that the EU shouldn't rely so much on the United States for its own security.

Denmark has a defense opt-out clause in its EU ties, meaning it does not take part in military matters. The Danish government and a majority of lawmakers want the defense waiver to be removed but are hesitant about calling a referendum on it since previous votes on the topic have been defeated twice.

"I believe Denmark is too modest about its European commitment," Macron told a news conference after talks with Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen. "I think Denmark can do even more in Europe.

"I am not calling for a referendum but for a debate, and it shouldn't just be black or white," Loekke Rasmussen said.

Macron's visit came as France's high-profile environment minister Nicolas Hulot unexpectedly announced his resignation on national radio Tuesday, dealing a blow to the French president's lofty green ambitions.

"Europe is not doing enough. The world is not doing enough," Hulot said. "The planet is becoming an oven, our natural resources are being exhausted, biodiversity is melting like snow in the sun and it's not always dealt with like a priority issue."

Macron initially said he doesn't usually comment on French affairs while abroad, but later called the resignation a personal choice, adding that France would "continue its work" on combatting climate change.

Macron was greeted by Denmark's Queen Margrethe at Copenhagen Airport and laid a wreath at a monument for fallen Danish soldiers before his talks with the Danish prime minister. Later he was joining a debate with students.

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Macron also was to visit the site of the Feb. 14, 2015, terror attack in Copenhagen that left two dead and five wounded.

France's departing ambassador to Denmark, Francois Zimeray, had attended a freedom of speech event targeted by the lone gunman, Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, who sprayed venue with gunfire and killed a bystander. Zimeray was unharmed.

El-Hussein later was also behind a second shooting outside Copenhagen's main synagogue where a guard was killed. The shooter was shot dead hours later.

On Wednesday, Macron will start a two-day visit to Helsinki, where he meets Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Juha Sipila.By Laurence Frost and Geert De Clercq PARIS (Reuters) - French Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot resigned on Tuesday in frustration over sluggish progress on climate goals and nuclear energy policy, dealing a major blow to President Emmanuel Macron's already tarnished green credentials. Hulot, a former TV presenter and green activist who consistently scored high in opinion polls, quit during a live radio interview following what he called an "accumulation of disappointments". "I don't want to lie to myself any more, or create the illusion that we're facing up to these challenges," Hulot said on France Inter. "I have therefore decided to leave the government." Hulot was among Macron's first ministerial appointments following his May 2017 election victory. His inclusion helped to sustain a green image France had earned 18 months earlier by brokering the Paris Agreement to combat global greenhouse emissions. But the centrist president has watered down a series of campaign pledges on the environment, including a commitment to cut the share of nuclear power in French electricity to 50 percent by 2025 and boost renewable energy. Those policy shifts have been a repeated source of frustration for Hulot. Since a post-election honeymoon period, they have been accompanied by a sharp slide in Macron's ratings, which touched new lows after his bodyguard was filmed assaulting demonstrators last month. Hulot said he had not informed Macron before announcing his resignation. "This may not be the right protocol, but if I had warned them they might have talked me out of it yet again," Hulot said. His cabinet portfolio also included energy. Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said the cabinet "regretted" his resignation, but also described it as "a blow from which we'll recover". "I don't understand why he is stepping down when we had many successes in the first year that are to his credit," Griveaux told BFM Television. "He didn't win all his battles but that's the way it goes for ministers." Greenpeace France director Jean-Francois Julliard said that while Macron had "made some fine speeches" and stood up to U.S. President Donald Trump on climate change, he had "never turned these words to concrete action" at home. "There is still no energy transition policy in France," Julliard said. FRUSTRATIONS Shares in power utility EDF, which is on the hook for the cost of decommissioning older nuclear plants, surged 2.7 percent in early trading before settling back to 14.26 euros at 0901 GMT, still up 1 percent on Monday's close. Hulot had also voiced disappointment after Macron wavered on a commitment to ban the weedkiller glyphosate, sold under Monsanto's Roundup trademark, and failed to prevent Total's La Mede refinery producing biofuel from imported palm oil linked to deforestation. His announcement came a day after the government promised to relax hunting laws, in a move widely seen as an attempt to bolster Macron's appeal in rural areas. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said he would discuss the "composition of the government" with Macron following Hulot's departure, leaving open the possibility of other changes. Macron's office sought to attribute the resignation to the "frustration, even exhaustion" of a ministerial novice suddenly confronted with the slow-moving machinery of government. "Political and administrative timeframes aren't necessarily as one hopes, coming from activism," an Elysee official said, insisting that Hulot's deep commitment to environmentalism was evidenced by the government's policy track record. In his radio interview, however, Hulot emphasized the inadequacy of "mini-steps" on climate change by France and other nations, voicing hope that his exit might "provoke deep introspection in our society about the reality of the world". His doubts about remaining in government had grown over the summer as devastating droughts were met with a tepid political response, he said. Alain Juppe, a conservative former prime minister and presidential contender, said he was impressed by Hulot's "high-mindedness and by the nobility of his act". "Beyond the inevitable political buzz, I hope this decision encourages us all to think and to change," he said on Twitter. (Reporting by Laurence Frost and Geert De Clercq; Additional reporting by Yann Le Guernigou, Richard Lough and Michel Rose; Editing by Richard Lough, John Stonestreet and Peter Graff)Beijing (AFP) - China's moves to combat an ageing population by relaxing decades-old curbs on family size have hit an unexpected snag: many parents are no longer interested in having more babies.

The government has indicated it will scrap its policy which limits the number of children per family through tough fines -- and sometimes through forced abortions and sterilisations.

The world's most populous country introduced its one-child policy in 1979 and last tweaked it in early 2016, raising the limit to two children as the nation scrambled to rejuvenate a greying population of some 1.4 billion.

But the pent-up demand for more children has ebbed, experts say. Couples have increasingly delayed having even one child as they devote more time to other goals, such as building their careers.

The skyrocketing cost of raising children in booming China has also given many prospective parents pause.

"Lots of people want to have a second child, but the biggest problem is the financial burden," said a mother in the northeastern city of Dalian, who wants a second and even third child but remains hesitant to bear the financial and career costs.

The proposed policy change was included in a new civil code being discussed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress this week. The code is set to be completed in 2020.

"Cancelling the family planning policy would mean that the right to decide how many children to have rests with couples and families," said Liu Hongyan of the China Population and Development Research Centre, a think tank under the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

This is "a manifestation of human rights in the field of reproductive health".

-Population trends-

The official Xinhua news agency said regulations on family size were omitted from the draft law due to "changes in the country's demographic situation".

China's working-age population fell by 5.5 million last year, maintaining a downward trend that began in 2012, according to the statistics bureau.

Story continues

Economists fear the nation will get old before it gets rich, leaving it trapped as a middle-income country burdened with too few workers to support an ageing populace.

By 2050, the World Bank forecasts the proportion of the population aged over 60 will jump from 15 percent in 2015 to 36.5 percent, with a median age of 49.6.

To lesson the pain, Beijing wants its "high-quality" citizens to build larger families, experts say.

There is "heavy propaganda aimed at urban educated Han women" urging them to "marry early and have children early," said Leta Hong Fincher, author of "Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China", referring to the majority Han community.

From the government's perspective, Qiu Chunjuan and Xu Jinhua, who are raising two children in Shanghai, would be ideal candidates for a larger family. But the parents are not considering it.

"With the education environment in Shanghai, the economic enviroment, having two is just right," said the father, Xu.

"We're saturated now," he said. His wife Qiu said that with the cost of private school and additional classes, the pressure was already "quite big".

Hu Yanhua, a 38-year-old mother in Shanghai, said she had her hands full with just one six-year-old boy.

"I need to work and I have limited energy, so I probably won't consider it," she said.

-Second child boom?-

When Beijing lifted restrictions and allowed all couples a second child, officials were expecting a flood of new births.

They received a trickle, enough to steady the falling birth count, with 17.23 million births in 2017 -- but well below an official forecast of over 20 million for the year.

Surveys have shown many one-child families harbour little desire for more children.

The white-collar mother in Dalian, who asked not to be named, worried she would fall behind in the workplace if she took time off to have a second child.

"I don't want to give up my job and the feeling of self-worth it brings," she said.A pre-6 a.m. tweet from President Donald Trump on Tuesday morning attacked the search engine Google for running a rigged algorithm that that the 72-year-old president says suppresses the voices of right-wing news media. The conspiracy theory floated by Trump of is a very serious situation-will be addressed! he commented.

When asked for comment on the tweets by Inverse, a Google spokesperson replied plainly, Search is not used to set a political agenda and we dont bias our results toward any political ideology.

Heres the full statement from Google:

When users type queries into the Google Search bar, our goal is to make sure they are receive the most relevant answers in a matter of seconds. Search is not used to set a political agenda and we dont bias our results toward any political ideology. Every year, we issue hundreds of improvements to our algorithms to ensure they surface high-quality content in response to users queries. We continually work to improve Google Search and we never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment

Heres Trumps criticism in full, from two separate tweets:

Google search results for Trump News shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96% of results on Trump News are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous. Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!

The Washington Post, in its coverage of Trumps tweets on Tuesday, noted that over the weekend, an article on the right-wing blog PJ Media put forth an assertion under this headline: 96 Percent of Google Search Results for Trump News Are from Liberal Media Outlets, using anecdotal Google searches. While not scientific, the results suggest a pattern of bias against right-leaning content, writes the author Paula Bollard

Story continues

Asked if there needs to be some sort of regulation for Google, Larry Kudlow, the presidents chief economic advisor, appeared to brush off the question by saying well let you know, were taking a look at it, well let you know.

Google search results are determined by a variety of factors that have been documented extensively over the years by technologists, media companies, and academics. Factoring into any individuals search results are geographic location, previous search history, the number of relevant articles a domain has on the topic, the amount of time spent on a page that comes up higher in results, relevant keywords, inbound links, and others.

Just last week, Google appeared to confirm its search neutrality by telling Inverse that it wouldnt interfere with its algorithm that was placing a parody website for Mike Pence higher than the White House website for Mike Pence. Because the parody website is a trending topic, and is flanked by real news sites discussing the topic, OfficialMikePence.com  the parody site  was considered relevant to the Google query, said a spokesperson.

Photos via Google

More From InverseLesbos Island (Greece) (AFP) - Police in Greece on Tuesday said they had arrested three members of a Greek NGO on suspicion of helping migrants illegally enter the country.

The members of Emergency Response Centre International (ERCI) were detained on the Greek island of Lesbos, where thousands of migrants are housed in squalid conditions in cramped camps.

"The activities of an organised criminal network that systematically facilitated the illegal entry of foreigners were fully exposed," a police statement said.

Members of the group were in contact with migrants on social media groups and "actively assisted" their illegal entry into Greece from 2015 onwards, according to the statement.

To keep tabs on migrant flows, the accused also illegally monitored Greek coastguard and EU border agency Frontex radio traffic, authorities said.

Any information gathered was not shared with Greek authorities, the police said.

Overall, six Greeks and 24 foreign nationals were implicated in the case, they added.

Among those arrested was Sarah Mardini, a 23-year-old Syrian refugee student and scholarship recipient of Bard College in Berlin.

Her sister Yusra -- a UNHCR goodwill ambassador -- participated on the refugee team at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

A year earlier, the sisters had employed their swimming skills to pull the water-logged boat that brought them over from Turkey with another 18 people onboard.

"They did nothing wrong, they want to help people out of idealism," said Yusra's swimming coach Sven Spannekrebs.

"I was on Lesbos a few weeks ago and saw what all the volunteers are doing: A great job," he told AFP via email.

Spannekrebs said Mardini and another detainee, Sean Binder, were "long term volunteers for ERCI (and) never engaged in any illegal activity as suggested by the authorities."

He also cast doubt on the claim that the activists were illegally listening in on encrypted coastguard radio.

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"The channels that the radios had access to are open to anyone to listen," the coach said.

Police said two ERCI activists had already been arrested in February onboard a jeep with concealed fake army license plates.

ERCI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lesbos has been a key gateway into the European Union since the start of the bloc's migration crisis in 2015.

At the height of the influx, some 5,000 migrants and refugees, mostly from war-torn Syria, landed on the island's beaches on a daily basis.

It now has the highest concentration of migrants in Greece, with the worst conditions in the camp of Moria where over 8,300 people live, according to UN figures -- about triple the nominal capacity.

Most wait months for their asylum applications to be processed. Living conditions are squalid and violent flare-ups common.

The overcrowding also means that the vulnerable -- including women and unaccompanied minors -- are in close quarters with non-family men.

Earlier this year, three Spaniards and two Danes were also accused of trying to help migrants illegally enter Greece.

They were cleared in court in May.Emma Burkholder, right, has chosen to be homeschooled for her junior year to help her mother, Jennifer Burkholder, center, through cancer treatment. (Photo: Jennifer Burkholder via Facebook)

For many 16-year-olds in America, junior year of high school is filled with the promise of a drivers license, junior prom, and spending as much time as possible with friends between school and extracurriculars before carving a path towards college. But instead of joining her friends at her local high school, Michigan teenager Emma Burkholder has opted to be homeschooled so she can help her mother, Jennifer.

Jennifer Burkholder, 42, was paralyzed from the waist down after a car accident when she was 18. In July, the mother of three was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer and invasive ductal carcinoma. According to WWTV/WWUP-TV, her chemotherapy is causing her to require more wheelchair assistance.

Being in a wheelchair makes it a lot more difficult, Kevin Burkholder, Jennifers husband, told the outlet. She has to dress herself, get on and off the bed and go to the bathroom, and with being weak from chemo and stuff its really hard.

But thanks to Emmas selfless decision to stay home to care for her mother, her father can continue to work to help pay for medical bills.

They found that she had two different types of cancer, being inflammatory breast cancer and invasive ductal carcinoma, and it had spread to her lymph nodes to her body but not to her organs yet, Kevin Burkholder, an Army veteran, explained, adding that knowing Emma would be home with his wife offered him peace of mind.

I know that if something were to happen, I know what to do, whereas a nurse or something may not know the specifics of my mom, says Emma. I would gladly give up this little part of my life to help my mom.

Jennifers white blood cell count dipped on Friday and she was admitted to the hospital. But on Monday, she let her Facebook friends know that she was going in for battle gear after she arrived at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Chicago.

Friends of the Burkholder family have started a Facebook fundraising page to help pay for treatment and travel costs.

Story continues

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A Romney supporter listens to a speaker as he wears a Make America Great Again hat at a Mitt Romney election party in Orem, Utah, June 26, 2018. (Photo: George Frey/Getty Images)

A 17-year-old student at Union Mine High School in El Dorado, Calif., is facing battery charges after she allegedly grabbed another students Make America Great Again hat off his head and allegedly physically assaulted her teacher in a classroom altercation.

Jo-Ann Butler, a senior at the school, was suspended for one week after she allegedly grabbed the MAGA hat in the classroom, according to CBS 13. As her English teacher escorted her out of the classroom, she allegedly slapped him, according to deputies. The incident was captured on video by another student in the class.

Butler says that her outburst was her way to express her political feelings, as she views the hat as a racist and hateful symbol.

Maybe just wake people up in some type of way, because its not cool the environment that our classroom is in, she told CBS 13.

El Dorado Union High School District allows students to wear political apparel, including the hat launched during President Trumps 2016 presidential campaign.

I dont agree with grabbing someones hat and verbally talking to them in that way, Butlers father, Chris Butler, said. But as far as the issue being brought up, maybe this is something that needs to be brought up.

Butler now faces two counts of battery. The school district released a statement on the incident, saying in part, Student and staff safety is our highest priority and the UMHS administration will continue to cooperate with the El Dorado County Sheriffs Office as the incident is being investigated.

The El Dorado County District Attorneys office will decide later this week if it will file formal charges against Butler.

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Sanaa (AFP) - Heavy air strikes targeted the international airport in Yemen's rebel-held capital and an adjacent airbase early Tuesday, residents said, with rebels blaming the Saudi-led coalition fighting on the side of the government.

The raids began at around midnight (2100 GMT Monday) and lasted half an hour, according to a resident in Sanaa, who reported more than a dozen strikes.

While the largely disused airport and the nearby Al-Dailami base are often targeted by coalition air strikes, the latest raids were particularly intense, residents said.

The Huthi rebels accused the coalition of conducting multiple overnight raids on the airport, which is closed except for occasional UN flights, via their Al Masirah TV.

They did not report any casualties.

The strikes came hours after the Huthis said they had targeted Dubai airport with a drone attack, which was denied by the United Arab Emirates, a leading member of the coalition.

Saudi Arabia and its allies have fought the Iran-backed Huthis since 2015 in an attempt to restore Yemen's internationally recognised government to power and push back the rebels.

The coalition has faced growing criticism over civilian casualties in a war that has left nearly 10,000 people dead and unleashed what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.Coinbase app

Zeeshan Feroz, CEO of Coinbase UK, spoke with CCN recently about the recent developments in the cryptocurrency exchange industry and the space as a whole.

Feroz has been with Coinbase since February 2017 and notes that the UK is the companys fastest growing market. After opening a London office in March of last year the company grew the team and introduced new initiatives like securing an e-money license from the FCA and adding Sterling support for UK customers, something Feroz says has been on the cards for a while.

We have been working to introduce Faster Payments for as long as weve been operating in the UK. Customers not only benefit from increased speed, but reduced cost as well. By no longer having to convert funds from Pound Sterling to Euros and vice versa to add and remove funds, there will be no more exchange rates. This will make crypto easily accessible to most people in the UK.

Feroz describes the company mission as establishing an open financial system to bring about economic freedom, innovation, efficiency, and equality of opportunity.

We believe cryptocurrency will help achieve this. As a business, our priorities are to be the most trusted and easiest to use crypto exchange in the world  and our recent initiatives, especially in Europe, have demonstrated that. Over the coming years, well continue to evangelise about the benefits of crypto and drive greater uptake in the use of crypto among both individuals and institutional investors.

Commenting on the recent addition of ethereum classic, Feroz simply said that one of the most common customer requests at Coinbase is the addition of more assets on the platform, hence the move to enable trading of ETC, adding: However, this is only the start and we are exploring a number of other assets to add to the platform in the near future.

Ethereum Classic Price

He had more to say when asked about the stiff competition from emerging exchanges such as Robinhood and what Coinbase has to offer in terms of UX over competitors.

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In terms of our UK customers, Coinbase is the first crypto exchange to have a UK bank account. This, coupled with faster payments, has allowed us to become the only exchange currently supporting GBP making payments faster on Coinbase than any other platform. Making crypto easier to use, trade and spend is key for us when it comes to improving the user experience. For instance, the launch of e-gift cards has allowed customers to spend their crypto balances more easily, realising its value to buy tangible things or experiences. We are a crypto first business and what sets us apart is our focus on trust and security. The FCA e-money license for our fiat operations demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that customer funds are always secure, and we now have safeguards and operational standards that are on par with those of other regulated financial institutions. This means Coinbase is not only the easiest crypto exchange to use  but the safest too.

We finished our interview on the topic of regulation and the effort by Coinbase to list tokens classed as securites.

Some tokens maybe considered securities and classifying them as such brings them within scope of regulation. This is the best way to provide individuals and institutions a safe environment to invest in them. The main challenge facing the crypto space at the moment in the lack of regulation, which leads to risk. We see the value in having some form of regulation for crypto exchanges as a means of ensuring due diligence and transparency in the crypto space.

Images from Shutterstock



The post Interview: Coinbase UK CEO Explains Why a Lack of Regulation is the Biggest Problem Facing Cryptocurrency appeared first on CCN.

Attorney general hopeful Patrick Anderson has attempted to cast Tibbetts death as a result of flawed immigration policies

Cristhian Bahena Rivera, a 24-year-old dairy farm worker from Mexico, has been charged with Tibbetts murder. Photograph: Reuters

An attempt to add a conservative candidate to the ballot for Iowa attorney general appears to have failed, dealing a blow to rightwingers seeking to make the death of student Mollie Tibbetts an election issue in November.

Tibbetts, 20, was out running near Brooklyn, Iowa when she was last seen, on the evening of 18 July. On Tuesday, it was announced that her body had been discovered in a cornfield, about 12 miles from town.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera, a 24-year-old dairy farm worker from Mexico who apparently used a false identity to conceal the fact he was an undocumented immigrant, was charged with her murder.

A funeral mass was held for Tibbetts on Sunday, in the gymnasium of BGM high school in Brooklyn, a city of 1,500 where she grew up. Hundreds of people attended. Bishop Thomas Zinkula of Davenport, Iowa, led proceedings.

Tibbetts father, Rob, told the audience in his eulogy to remember her by celebrating something wonderful, such as a couple who had just married the day before.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera is charged with first-degree murder in Tibbetts death. Investigators say the 24-year-old Mexican farmworker led them to a cornfield Tuesday where Tibbetts body had been left since her 18 July disappearance.



With the midterm elections expected to produce resounding Democratic victories, Republicans nationwide have attempted to cast Tibbetts death as the result of flawed immigration policies.

In a White House video, Donald Trump alluded to his hugely controversial policy of separating immigrant children from their parents when he said: Mollie Tibbetts, an incredible young woman, is now permanently separated from her family.

More starkly still, former House speaker and prominent Trump supporter Newt Gingrich told Axios: If Mollie Tibbetts is a household name by October, Democrats will be in deep trouble. If we can be blocked by Manafort, Cohen, etc, then GOP could lose [the] House badly.

Story continues

Despite appeals by Tibbetts family members and friends that such nakedly political activity should stop, an attempt was mounted locally to put Patrick Anderson, of Des Moines, on the Iowa ballot for attorney general as a non-party candidate. The incumbent Democratic attorney general, Tom Miller, is running unopposed.

State law does not allow non-party candidates to use any part of the names of the Republican, Democratic or Libertarian parties  the only three parties recognised in Iowa. The attempt to run Anderson therefore planned to list GOP beside his name. Short for Grand Old Party, the term is used interchangeably with Republican.

The group needed 1,500 signatures from at least 10 Iowa counties and began its effort on Wednesday. On Saturday, elections assistant Wes Hicok told the Associated Press the group turned in pages of signatures ahead of a 5pm deadline.

On a cursory look, it appears that they have not met the minimum threshold, Hicok said.

A formal review of the paperwork is due to take place on Monday.

Miller entered the national debate over immigration policy in June when he joined 20 other Democratic attorneys general in calling for the federal government to stop separating children from their parents when they enter the country illegally.



George Anderson, an organizer of the effort and Patrick Andersons son, told the AP: This has to do with the upholding of immigration law. Im not sure the current Iowa attorney general is committed to that.Tehran (AFP) - Iran's parliament declared its dissatisfaction with President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday, voting to reject his answers after grilling him over the deteriorating economy.

It was the first time Rouhani had been summoned by parliament in his five years in power, and MPs demanded answers on unemployment, rising prices and the sharp depreciation of the rial, which has lost more than half of its value since April.

The lawmakers, who have already impeached his labour and economy ministers this month, were unimpressed.

In votes at the end of the session, they expressed dissatisfaction with Rouhani's responses to four of their five questions on the economy.

In the coming days, they will decide whether the government's failures on these issues amount to a breach of legal obligations and should be referred to the judiciary.

The economy has been battered by the return of US sanctions following President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

Rouhani trod a difficult line, seeking to acknowledge the problems facing ordinary Iranians without admitting to a full-blown crisis.

"It should not be said we are facing a crisis. There is no crisis. If we say there is, it will become a problem for society and then a threat," he told parliament.

- 'Afraid of our disagreements' -

As usual, Rouhani offered no concrete policy proposals, instead saying the answer lay in showing a united front.

"You may talk about employment, foreign currency, recession, smuggling... I think the problem is in people's view of the future," he said.

"The people are not afraid of the United States, they are afraid of our disagreements. If the people see we are united, they will realise the problems will be resolved."

But Rouhani's government -- which staked everything on its bid to attract foreign investment through a more "moderate" approach to relations with the West -- has been badly weakened by the return of sanctions.

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Most foreign firms have abandoned investment projects in Iran, and the next phase of renewed US sanctions in November will hit the crucial oil sector.

"We will not allow a bunch of anti-Iranians who have gathered in the White House to conspire against us," Rouhani vowed.

- 'Palace of wishes' -

But most Iranians blame the government for failing to capitalise on the nuclear deal.

"You created a palace of wishes called the JCPOA," said Mojtaba Zolnour, an MP for the religious centre of Qom, using the technical name for the nuclear deal.

"With one kick from Trump, this palace was demolished, and you didn't have an alternative," he said.

Despite the impeachment of two of his ministers, Rouhani himself is protected by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who said recently that removing the president would "play into the hands of the enemy".

That may explain the soft line taken by several speakers, with one conservative MP, Hossein Naghavi-Hosseini, emphasising: "We will stand by your government for the sake of protecting the system of the Islamic republic."

But when it came to the votes, lawmakers accepted only one of Rouhani's answers -- related to international banking sanctions, which they agreed were beyond his government's control.

Rouhani has even lost support among reformists who had backed him as the best option after their own leaders were either locked up or barred from standing for office.

Leading reformist Mostafa Tajzadeh, who has spent several years in jail for criticising the system, said Rouhani's parliament appearance was a missed opportunity.

"By explaining the reasons for the country's problems, Rouhani could have taken a big step towards increasing public awareness," he wrote on Twitter.

"Parliament's negative votes shows that failing to disclose the facts will only embolden our rivals and disappoint the people."

The only previous time a president has been questioned was in 2012 when parliament summoned Rouhani's controversial predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose erratic, populist style had alienated him from the establishment and further damaged Iran's international standing.

It was after that session that MPs decided they should vote on the president's answers, deputy speaker Ali Motahari explained to ISNA news agency this week, because Ahmadinejad's responses were so "strange" and unconvincing.By Ali Sawafta

KAUBER, West Bank (Reuters) - The Israeli military on Tuesday demolished the family home of a Palestinian teenager in the occupied West Bank who killed an Israeli in a Jewish settlement a month ago and was shot dead in the attack.

Footage distributed by the military showed an armoured bulldozer tearing into the one-storey structure in the village of Kauber, north of the Palestinian city of Ramallah.

Mohammed Tareq Ibraham Dar Youssef, 17, broke into the settlement of Adam on July 26, and stabbed three people, killing Yotam Ovadia, 31. One of those wounded in the assault fatally shot the Palestinian, the military said.

Dar Youssef's uncle, Khaled Abu Ayyoush, said the youth's parents, two brothers and two sisters had lived in the house razed in the night-time operation. The family, he said, had known nothing of his intention to carry out an attack.

"Why are they at fault? Israel's continued policy of collective punishment is merciless," Abu Ayyoush said.

Israel's Supreme Court has upheld the demolition policy, which Israeli officials have termed both punitive and a deterrence to potential attackers.

In a statement, the military said dozens of Palestinians hurled rocks, firebombs and pipe bombs at troops who deployed in the village and that they responded with "riot dispersal means". It said none of the soldiers was hurt. There were no immediate reports of any Palestinian injuries.

"We entered tonight to close a circle and we destroyed the terrorist's home," Lieutenant-Colonel Liron Appleman, a battalion commander, said at the scene in the video clip provided by the military.

Although stabbings and car-rammings carried out by Palestinians since late 2015 have become less frequent in the West Bank, tensions have remained high in the aftermath of U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December.

Palestinians seek to establish a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital, and say Israel's expansion of settlements in occupied territory could deny them a viable and contiguous country.

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Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2014.



Related Video: Israel to Approve More Than 1,000 New West Bank Homes





Watch news, TV and more on Yahoo View.



(Additional reporting and writing by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Alison Williams)Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli forces demolished the home of a Palestinian who carried out a deadly knife attack in a settlement in the occupied West Bank, the army said Tuesday.

Minor clashes broke out between Palestinians opposed to the raid and soldiers in the West Bank during the early hours of Tuesday morning, the military and witnesses said.

The family home was destroyed, an AFP journalist at the scene said.

The army said its forces "demolished the residence of the terrorist Mohammed Dar Youssef from the village of Kobar, north of Ramallah."

Dar Youssef snuck into the Adam settlement south east of Ramallah in July, stabbing three Israelis, one fatally, according to the Israeli authorities.

He was then shot dead by a local resident.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Twitter on Tuesday he had kept the promise made to the widow and other relatives of Yotam Ovadia, the victim of the Adam attack, to destroy the house quickly.

The stabbings also led Lieberman to pledge to build more settler homes in response.

Israel authorised plans for more than 1,000 new homes in settlements in the occupied West Bank on August 22, including 370 in the Adam settlement.

Israel rejects the widely held view that settlement expansion is one of the greatest obstacles to peace with the Palestinians.MILAN (Reuters) - Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said on Tuesday that France should show greater "solidarity and sensibility" on immigration and suspend its policy of turning back migrants who try to enter France at the Ventimiglia border crossing. French President Emmanuel Macron "is the first who should show solidarity and sensibility by reopening the border at Ventimiglia", Salvini said after meeting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Milan. Salvini also said that talks with Germany have been going on for weeks and that an agreement to take back migrants who come through Italy and reach the German border is "close to hand". "The important thing for Italy is that it be a zero-sum exchange, which means we're willing to take back in our country the migrants involved in secondary movements as long as the same number of migrants are taken away from our country," Salvini said. (Reporting by Lisa Di Giuseppe, writing by Steve Scherer)By Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Italy has threatened to bar ships of the EU naval force from bringing migrants picked up in the Mediterranean to its ports unless the bloc comes up with ways to share the burden of taking them in, officials in Brussels said. Diplomats were meeting in Brussels on Tuesday over the latest migration threat from Italy, whose new populist government has already kept several rescue ships with hundreds of migrants on board stuck at sea for days. European Union officials say Rome gave the EU until the end of August to come up with a clear relocation scheme for migrants picked from the sea by ships from the Operation Sophia joint naval force, or it will no longer allow them into its ports. Any swift agreement on hosting people from Operation Sophia ships by other EU states is unlikely. EU states have been unable to agree on migration policy since migrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa began arriving in huge numbers. Italy, where more than 650,000 people arrived across the sea since 2014, has felt increasingly overwhelmed and left alone by its peers. Elections this year gave victory to parties campaigning on an anti-immigration platform. One EU official said the worst-case scenario would be that Operation Sophia ships stay in ports. Others said that was unlikely as the mission's mandate ran until the end of the year and EU states were generally in favor of keeping it afloat. They said a fudge was hence more likely. Unless a solution emerges, the ball would be back in Rome's court to see if it is willing to follow through with its threat. Operation Sophia currently has four ships in the Mediterranean as well as planes and helicopters to watch out for people-smuggling across the sea. Under international law, vessels are obliged to help people in distress and Operation Sophia ships have so far mostly delivered those rescued to Italian ports. While only some 70,000 people made it to the EU across the Mediterranean this year - a fraction of the more than one million arrivals in the record 2015 - migration still dominates European politics. EU defense ministers will also discuss the issue when they meet in Vienna this Wednesday and Thursday. (Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Angus MacSwan)As Joe Arpaio, who used to call himself "America's Toughest Sheriff," hustles for votes in Arizona ahead of Tuesday's nominating contest for one of the country's most competitive U.S. Senate races, analysts say his comeback bid is likely to fall flat.Among those mourning John McCain is his 106-year-old mother, who says she is "incredibly proud" of what the late senator and Vietnam War hero accomplished in his life.

"Roberta was his biggest supporter and the leader of his fan club," a close friend of Roberta McCain told People magazine. "She was incredibly proud of him. His mommy loved him. He knew that."

Her son, who was awarded numerous honors in a military career that included six years as a prisoner of war, died Saturday at his Arizona home following a battle with brain cancer. He was 81.

His mother's friend assured People that Roberta "is a very strong woman," adding, "She is all there, mentally, and is still going strong at 106. She outlived her 81-year-old son. That tells you a lot. But its a tough blow to bury your child."

Roberta McCain has always been a supporter of her sons ambitions. She even stumped for him during the 2008 presidential campaign.

McCain will be laid to rest Sunday at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Before his death, he had requested that former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush speak at his services, according to CBS News. President Trump, however, was not invited to speak.

"Few of us have been tested the way John once was, or required to show the kind of courage that he did," Obama, who bested McCain in the 2008 presidential election, said in a statement. "But all of us can aspire to the courage to put the greater good above our own. At John's best, he showed us what that means. And for that, we are all in his debt."

Bush, who beat McCain in the primaries to become the 2000 Republican presidential nominee, also released a public statement.

"Some lives are so vivid, it is difficult to imagine them ended," Bush wrote. "Some voices are so vibrant, it is hard to think of them stilled."

Story continues

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Related Articles:Sen. John McCain, who died Saturday at the age of 81, has been remembered for his toughness and strong stance by the former director of the Vietnamese prison where he was held as a prisoner of war for five and a half years.

Col. Tran Trong Duyet told Vietnam News that he felt very sad upon learning of the death of the decorated war hero.

McCain was held in captivity by the North Vietnamese in Hoa Lo Prison, nicknamed the Hanoi Hilton by American POWs, after his plane was shot down in October 1967 during a bombing mission over Hanoi.

McCain was subjected to repeated beatings and interrogations while being held captive and sustained lifelong injuries that prevented him from raising his arms above his head.

I had a lot of time meeting him when he was kept in the prison, Duyet said. At that time I liked him personally for his toughness and strong stance. Later on, when he became a U.S. Senator, he and Senator John Kerry greatly contributed to promote Vietnam-U.S. relations so I was very fond of him.

Duyet added that hed like to send condolences to the McCain family.

I think its the same feeling for all Vietnamese people as he has greatly contributed to the development of Vietnam-U.S. relations, he said.

Speaking during a visit to Vietnam in 2000 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, McCain said he harbored no anger nor rancor.

Im a better man for my experience and Im grateful for having the opportunity of serving, he said at the time.

Indeed, in 1995, when diplomatic relations between the countries were normalized after two decades of severed ties, McCain said the United States had looked back in anger at Vietnam for too long.

I cannot allow whatever resentments I incurred during my time in Vietnam to hold me from doing what is so clearly my duty, he said in a statement. I believe it is my duty to encourage this country to build from the losses and the hopes of our tragic war in Vietnam a better peace for both the American and Vietnamese people.

Story continues

Also on HuffPost

Then-U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. John McCain is interviewed about his experiences as a prisoner of war during the war in Vietnam on April 24, 1973.

Barack Obama, at the time the president-elect of the U.S., meets with his former GOP rival McCain at Obama's transition offices in Chicago on Nov. 17, 2008.

McCain as a young boy with his grandfather, Vice Admiral John S. McCain Sr., and father, Commander John S. McCain Jr., in a family photo from the 1940s.

McCain confers with Sens. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) during remarks to the press outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington on Dec. 16, 2005. The senators were often referred to as the "three amigos."

Then-President Richard Nixon greets former Vietnam prisoner of war John McCain at a pre-POW dinner reception in Washington on May 24, 1973.

McCain in 2008, during one of his three appearances on "The Late Show with David Letterman."

This reproduction of a family photo shows McCain in military uniform at his sister Sandy's wedding in the late 1950s.

McCain talks to his wife on the speaker phone in his Senate office.

Members of the McCain family attend the christening of USS John S McCain (DDG-56), an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, in Bath, Maine, on Sept. 26, 1992.

McCain stopped by ABC's "The View" on his daughter Meghan McCain's birthday.

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) confers with McCain before the start of a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on Feb. 10, 2005.

McCain, holding recently adopted Bridget, with wife Cindy Hensley, Vice President Dan Quayle and daughter Meghan during Mock Swearing on Jan. 7, 1993.

McCain at his home in Phoenix, Arizona.

McCain at a rally in the park with his family: daughter Bridget, wife Cindy, sons Jack and Jimmy, and daughter Meghan, on Jan. 31, 2000, in Keene, New Hampshire.

McCain and his mother, Roberta McCain, are interviewed by moderator Tim Russert during a taping for a broadcast on the "Meet the Press" website at the NBC Studios on May 13, 2007.

McCain as a baby on his grandfather's lap in a family portrait, circa 1936. Also pictured are his sister, father and mother.

McCain talks with Marines at Camp Fallujah outside of Fallujah, Iraq.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) had complimentary things to say about John McCain, but viewed the White Houses indecision surrounding how long to fly the flag at half-staff unsurprising given the late senators rocky relationship with President Donald Trump.

Well, you know, frankly, I think that John McCain is partially to blame for that because he is very outspoken, Inhofe told reporters Monday. He disagreed with the president in certain areas and wasnt too courteous about it. Both men, he said, were strong-willed people.

Inhofe did also offer reverential statements about McCain, calling him a fighter and a hero.

You always remember the people who help you when no one else would. John McCain was a fighter who was deeply loyal to his country, his family, his constituents &the causes he cared about. He was a patriot &always faithful. @SenJohnMcCain, thank you for your service and sacrifice. pic.twitter.com/KmTVpmHP7q  Jim Inhofe (@JimInhofe) August 28, 2018

The White House moved its American flag to half-staff on Saturday evening to honor McCain but had returned it to full-staff by Monday morning. Protocol calls for the flag to be lowered for a day and a half following the death of a sitting member of Congress, yet its common for presidents to issue a proclamation when a high-profile figure dies which directs all public buildings and military bases to partially lower the flag until the day of interment.

It took Trump two days following McCains death on Saturday to issue that proclamation, announcing Monday that the White House flag would yet again be lowered until the interment this coming Sunday. He also reportedly refused to release a statement that including the word hero, according to The Washington Post.

Story continues

Flags at the U.S. Capitol, meanwhile, have been at half-staff since Saturday and will remain that way all week, a spokesman for House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) told HuffPost.

Trump and McCain frequently butted heads on matters of policy, although Trumps attacks on McCain were viciously personal. He famously tried to argue that McCain shouldnt be considered a war hero since he didnt manage to avoid being captured during the Vietnam War.

I like people who werent captured, he said.

Related...

Trump Orders White House Flag Lowered To Half-Staff Again In Honor Of McCain (UPDATE)

Donald Trump Issues New Statement On McCain's Death After 2 Days Of Criticism

Also on HuffPost

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam who ran for president in 2008 as a maverick Republican and became a prominent critic of President Donald Trump, died on Saturday. He was 81. A senator from Arizona for more than three decades, McCain had been suffering from brain cancer since July 2017 and had not been at the U.S. Capitol this year. He died on Saturday afternoon at his ranch in Arizona with his wife, Cindy, and other family members at his bedside. McCain frequently battled with Trump and his family has said he did not want the president to attend his funeral. Flags flew at half-staff at the White House on Sunday. Trump has tweeted his "deepest sympathies and respect" to McCain's family, although he added no words of praise for McCain himself All five living former presidents - Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter - paid tribute to McCain's courage and character. Cindy McCain said her husband had "passed the way he lived, on his own terms, surrounded by the people he loved, in the place he loved best." McCain will lie in state in the Arizona Capitol on Wednesday and in the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Friday. There will be a memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral on Saturday, with U.S. and international leaders invited to attend, and McCain will then be buried in a private ceremony at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, on Sunday. AFFABLE, CANTANKEROUS McCain's death brings to 50 the number of Republican-held seats in the 100-member U.S. Senate, with Democrats controlling 49. Republican Arizona Governor Doug Ducey will appoint a member of his own party to succeed McCain after the funeral. That could also give Republicans a slight edge in the battle to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court because McCain had been too ill to vote this year. Alternatively affable and cantankerous, McCain had been in the public eye since the 1960s when, as a naval aviator, he was shot down during the Vietnam War and tortured by his North Vietnamese Communist captors. He was edged out by George W. Bush for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000 but became his party's White House candidate eight years later. After gambling on political neophyte Sarah Palin as his running mate, McCain lost to Obama, who became the first black U.S. president. Obama said in a statement that he and McCain, despite their different backgrounds and political views, shared a belief in American ideals. "We saw our political battles, even, as a privilege, something noble, an opportunity to serve as stewards of those high ideals at home, and to advance them around the world," Obama wrote. McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was a frequent critic and target of his fellow Republican Trump, who was elected president in November 2016. McCain denounced Trump for, among other things, his praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders the senator described as foreign "tyrants." "Flattery secures his friendship, criticism his enmity," McCain said of Trump in his memoir, "The Restless Wave," which was released in May. McCain castigated Trump in July for his summit with Putin, calling their joint news conference in Helsinki "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory." Defense Secretary James Mattis saluted McCain as a figure who "always put service to the nation before self." In Germany, whose government has clashed with Trump over a range of issues including trade and defense, Chancellor Angela Merkel said: "John McCain was guided by the firm conviction that the value of all political work could be found in serving freedom, democracy and the rule of law." French President Emmanuel Macron called McCain "a true American hero (whose) ... voice will be missed" and British Prime Minister Theresa May said he "embodied the idea of service over self." THUMBS-DOWN McCain, a traditionally Republican foreign policy hawk, was admired in both parties for championing civility and compromise during an era of acrid partisanship in U.S. politics. But he also had a famous temper and rarely shied away from a fight, including several with Trump. He was the central figure in one of the most dramatic congressional moments in Trump's presidency when he returned to Washington shortly after his brain cancer diagnosis for a middle-of-the-night vote in July 2017. Still bearing a black eye and scar from surgery, McCain gave a thumbs-down signal in a vote to scuttle a Trump-backed bill that would have repealed the Obamacare healthcare law and increased the number of Americans without health insurance by millions. Trump was furious about McCain's vote and frequently referred to it at rallies. After Trump launched his presidential campaign in 2015, McCain condemned his hardline rhetoric on illegal immigration and said Trump had "fired up the crazies." Trump retorted that McCain was "not a war hero," adding: "I like people who weren't captured." After Trump became president, McCain blasted what he called the president's attempts to undermine the free press and rule of law and lamented the "half-baked, spurious nationalism" of the Trump era. MCCAIN VERSUS OBAMA McCain, the son and grandson of U.S. Navy admirals, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982 after more than two decades of Navy service. Arizona next elected him to the U.S. Senate in 1986 to replace Barry Goldwater, the 1964 Republican presidential nominee revered by conservatives. In running for president in 2008, McCain tried to succeed fellow Republican Bush at time when the United States was mired in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and stuck in a financial crisis. It was a stark contrast between McCain, then a 72-year-old veteran of Washington, and the 47-year-old Obama, who was offering a "Yes, we can" message of change. McCain tried to inject some youth into his campaign with his selection of Palin, Alaska's governor, as his running mate. But her political inexperience and shaky interview performances raised concerns about her qualifications. McCain voiced regret in his new memoir for not choosing then-Senator Joe Lieberman, a Democrat turned independent, as his running mate. WAR INJURIES McCain flew attack planes off aircraft carriers during the Vietnam War. In October 1967, his A-4 Skyhawk was shot down on a bombing mission over North Vietnam's capital and he suffered two broken arms and a broken leg. A mob dragged him from a lake, broke his shoulder and stabbed him. Held at the notorious "Hanoi Hilton" prison and other sites, McCain was beaten and tortured, suffering broken bones and dysentery. He was released on March 14, 1973, but left with permanent infirmities. Several U.S. citizens living in Vietnam adorned a monument erected at the site of the plane crash with flowers on Sunday in tribute. "Not only did Senator McCain actively contribute to Vietnam-U.S. ties, he was a friend of Vietnam who won huge love from Vietnamese people at many levels," Vietnam's ambassador to the United States, Ha Kim Ngoc, told the state-run Voice of Vietnam radio service. In Congress, McCain prided himself on his history of working across party lines on immigration, climate change and campaign finance reform. He supported Bush's 2003 invasion of Iraq but also spoke out against the Bush administration's use of waterboarding, a type of simulated drowning widely considered torture, and other extreme interrogation tactics in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. McCain was born on Aug. 29, 1936, at an American naval installation in the Panama Canal Zone - U.S. territory at the time - where his father was stationed. McCain divorced his wife Carol after 15 years of marriage in 1980 and weeks later married the then Cindy Henley, daughter of a wealthy beer distributor in Arizona. A dark period for McCain came as one of the "Keating Five" group of senators accused of improperly intervening with federal regulators to help political contributor and bank executive Charles Keating, whose Lincoln Savings and Loan failed in 1989, costing taxpayers $3.4 billion. McCain was cleared of wrongdoing in 1991 but the Senate Ethics Committee rebuked him for poor judgment. On July 25, 2017, McCain delivered a Senate floor speech not long after his cancer diagnosis that was widely seen as his farewell address. It called on fellow Republicans to stand up to Trump and for all lawmakers to work together to keep America as a "beacon of liberty" in the world. (Reporting by Will Dunham; Additional reporting by Jason Lange, Maria Caspani, Paul Grant, Richard Cowan, Patricia Zengerle, Bill Trott, John Walcott, Rich McKay, Thomas Escritt in Berlin, Khanh Vu in Hanoi and David Schwartz in Phoenix; Editing by Diane Craft, G Crosse, Lisa Shumaker and Peter Cooney)John McCain, the former Republican senator and presidential candidate, died at the age of 81 - AP

John McCain warned America against falling into tribal rivalries or trying to hide behind walls in a final message that was read posthumously on Monday.

The former Republican senator and presidential candidate urged his country to reject forces that have sown resentment and hatred in the past.

The comments were taken by some as aimed at Donald Trump, the US president who Mr McCain frequently clashed with in public despite being in the same political party.

Mr Trump on Monday did not answer a string of questions about Mr McCain shouted at him by reporters after making an announcement on trade in the Oval Office.

The Washington Post reported that Mr Trump had declined to put out a statement drafted by aides describing Mr McCain as a hero after his death on Saturday.

Mr Trump instead tweeted: My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!

Commentators noted that the remark did not include any praise for what Mr McCain had achieved as a soldier and congressman - in contrast to comments from other politicians.

Rick Davis, Mr McCains campaign manager, read a message written by his former boss before his death on Monday.

One section went: "We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe.

Donald Trump, left, and John McCain frequently clashed in recent years

We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been.

Mr Trump and Mr McCain clashed a number of times during the 2016 election. Once Mr Trump played down Mr McCains military record, saying: "I like people who weren't captured."

The man who ran the Vietnamese prison that held Mr McCain captive for six years has been among those to pay tribute to the former congressman, who died aged 81.

Story continues

Col. Tran Trong Duyet reportedly said: At that time I liked him personally for his toughness and strong stance... He has greatly contributed to the development of Vietnam-U.S. relations."

On Monday the White House returned its American flag to half-mast after it had been criticised for raising it amid mourning for Mr McCain. The flag had hung at half-mast on Sunday.By Nathan Layne WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawyers for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort said on Tuesday that they would seek to move his second trial, scheduled to start next month, out of Washington, D.C., due to concerns that a jury from the Democratic stronghold would be biased. Their request for a change of venue highlighted the extent to which politics has coursed through the prosecution of Manafort, who U.S. President Donald Trump defended as a "brave man" even after a jury convicted him of tax and bank fraud in the first trial that ended last week. Manafort, who sought unsuccessfully to move the first trial away from the Washington suburb of Alexandria, Virginia, is hoping for better luck with Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is presiding over the second case in a federal court in Washington. Jackson said she would entertain the motion but said she believed he could get a fair trial in her court. "This jurisdiction has had very high profile cases before," Jackson said at a hearing on Tuesday. "I'd like to believe that is still possible." Manafort, a longtime Washington lobbyist and consultant, faces seven criminal counts in the upcoming trial, including allegations of money laundering, obstruction of justice and failing to register as a foreign agent for his work on behalf of pro-Russian politicians from Ukraine. Change of venue requests are rarely approved, according to two jury consultants interviewed by Reuters. In denying Manafort's motion to move the first trial to Roanoke, Virginia, the judge rejected the notion that a jury pool from Alexandria, which voted two-to-one for Hillary Clinton in 2016, would be biased against associates of Trump. The political tilt is more pronounced in Washington, which Clinton won with 90 percent of the vote. Leslie Ellis, a director at jury consulting firm DecisionQuest, saw a bigger risk for Manafort in the probability that jurors from the capital would be knowledgeable about lobbying, tax law and other issues central to the case. "Having case-relevant experience tends to be riskier for defendants because it is easier for someone with some knowledge of a field to hold a defendant to a higher standard than is appropriate or necessary," Ellis said. JURY SELECTION SET FOR SEPT. 17 Manafort's trials are the first to arise out of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, although Mueller has secured a number of indictments, guilty pleas and immunity deals. Berman said jury selection for the second trial would start on Sept. 17 and set opening statements for Sept. 24, a scheduling tweak she said was aimed in part at appeasing Manafort's lawyers who had requested a week delay in the trial's start date of Sept. 17. The move came after an earlier bench conference in which Kevin Downing, one of Manafort's lawyers, could be heard complaining to the judge about the time pressure they were under. The conference was supposed to be inaudible to attendees in the courtroom due to a white-noise machine. "We don't have the resources," Downing said. "We just finished a trial last week." Also on Tuesday, Jackson approved the prosecution's request to allow evidence about Justice Department inspections in the 1980's that found Manafort had failed to disclose lobbying activities for foreign governments, one way the government planned to show that Manafort knowingly broke the law. But Jackson said she would limit what they could show and asked both sides to agree on a stipulation that would tell the jury how Manafort was notified about lobbying disclosure rules in the past in a way that would not prejudice the jury. (Reporting by Nathan Layne in Washington; Editing by Bill Trott, Toni Reinhold)Right around the time free agency began, Kirk Cousins told ESPN that hed decided to have a camera crew follow him around to document the free agency process. Part one is now online, and reveals a few interesting bits on information, namely that Cousins had a bigger offer on the table from another team and decided to sign with the Minnesota Vikings instead.A new report by WalletHub posits that Alaskans are the hardest working among Americans, while people from Michigan are the least.

The company looked at ten key metrics  which ranked from the average workweek hours to average commute time  to put together the list which is topped by several unlikely contenders.

Big hubs like New York and California didnt rank at the top even though their cities topped WalletHubs list of hardest working cities, possibly because of the disparities among cities within the states.

Heres the top 10:

Alaska North Dakota Wyoming South Dakota Nebraska New Hampshire Texas Colorado Virginia Kansas

(Check out the full ranking on Wallethub.)

Alaska is the most hardworking state mostly because its residents work an average 42 hours a week, the most in the country, Jill Gonzalez, an analyst at WalletHub told Yahoo Finance.

(Photo: Wallethub/Yahoo Finance)

The state also has only 20.34% households where there are no working adults, the second lowest share in the U.S., Gonzalez added, and 73% workers who leave vacation time unused, the third highest percentage.

Alaskas economy is mainly driven by its oil industry, followed by tourism and fishing. The seafood industry is the biggest private-sector employer. That industry stands to take a hit if trade tensions with China worsen as the country is Alaskas top seafood export market.

Michigan has one of the shortest work weeks in the country

West Virginia, Rhode Island, and Michigan were at the bottom of the list.

These states had the shortest work weeks in the country, only 37.8 hours on average, explained Gonzalez, and 31.22% of its households dont have any adults working at all.  Michigan residents also have about six hours of daily leisure time, the fifth highest amount of time in the U.S.

Overall, Americans work relatively hard. Paid time off is a luxury to most Americans, with the U.S. ranking behind many developed countries on paid leave and public holidays, according to the OECD.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, discussed in the August 17 video above, has taken that work ethic to a grueling extent by telling the New York Times that work was making his life miserable.

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Im actually very worried about him, Yahoo Finances Jen Rogers says of the South African-born American entrepreneur.

Spanish workers have it the best with their governments mandating that they have 22 paid vacation days, in addition to public holidays.

Chart: Statista

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Related:BEKAA, Lebanon (Reuters) - The contrast between the vibrant green of a cannabis field and the arid land nearby in Lebanon's Bekaa valley has for years raised a dilemma for the area's impoverished farmers. Cannabis is hardier, less thirsty and cheaper to grow than the region's other main crops like apples and potatoes, but it is also illegal - for now. Parliament will consider legalizing its growth for medicinal use, the speaker said last month, but in the Bekaa, some people are unconvinced there will be a meaningful change. "It is like giving a dog a bone because people are hungry and can't bear it any more," said cannabis farmer Abu Mohammad, 52. "But whether they legalize it or not, the most important thing is to give an amnesty," he said, echoing a common complaint in the region. Farmers faced prison terms of five years, he said. Talal Shreif, mayor of the town of Yammouneh in the northern Bekaa, said that about 35,000 people in the region were being sought by the police for cannabis farming. What angers some people in the Bekaa is a feeling that they have little choice but to grow an illegal crop. Abu Abdo, 40, a resident of the nearby town of Brital who spent years in prison for a cannabis offence said it was high local unemployment that pushed farmers to grow a few square kilometers of the narcotic. "They bring some money in now, but it is not a solution. People are poor," he said. The mayor, Shreif, raised the possibility that if legalized cannabis farming might be regulated in the same way as tobacco, with the government buying the crop at a set price. Around his town, Yammouneh, there are about 1,500 square km of land used for cannabis farming, owned by about 150 local people who employ hundreds of casual Syrian laborers, he said. For now, there is little likelihood of a rapid move towards legalization. Nearly four months after a general election, Lebanon's political parties are still squabbling over the formation of a new coalition government. But in Bar Elias, a nearby town, farmers say they are struggling. One farmer, Khaled Araji, said his recent crop of vegetables had suffered catastrophically from drought. The river that watered it has gone dry. "Not even a bird can drink from it," he said. He said he would grow cannabis instead if the government allowed it. "The farmers here don't want to be rich. They just want to be able to live through the winter and afford the school fees for their children." (Reporting By Ayat Basma; Editing by Angus McDowall and Richard Balmforth)Comedian Louis C.K. reportedly made a surprise appearance at a New York City comedy club Sunday night. Here he is pictured at Madison Square Garden in November 2016. (Photo: Getty Images)

Louis C.K.s surprise performance at a New York City comedy club Sunday night marked the comedians first appearance since admitting to multiple instances of sexual misconduct November. In the moment, the comedian reportedly got a standing ovation. On social media now, the comedian is getting mostly the opposite  a digital booing thats urging him, once again, to get off the stage.

In the two days since his appearance at the Comedy Cellar, a few comedians have defended C.K.s comeback (like Michael Ian Black), but the vast majority have come out against it. Theyre far from alone. Feminists, survivors, and academics have also weighed in, calling his comeback premature and the nature of it  rogue and unannounced  appallingly similar to the way in which he assaulted women.

And you know how it's clear Louis CK still doesn't get it? Dropping into a show without the audience's knowledge, which could include women who have been victims of this kind of thing. Informed consent still appears to be a remarkably fuzzy concept for him.  Charlotte Clymer (@cmclymer) August 28, 2018

I think some of you think that because we're alone on stage, that stand-up is a completely solitary line of work, but it's not. You spend tons of time with other comedians, often in situations where there's an imbalance in power.  Bris Farley (@IanKarmel) August 28, 2018

Talk to me about redemption when women who are harassed by their colleagues get more than a headline and five seconds of sympathy if theyre lucky. Louis CK had a great career. All the good parts still happened. And now theyre over.  Sady Doyle (@sadydoyle) August 28, 2018

#LouisCK did a surprise stand up show in NYC last night. Good to see hes stopped ambushing the unsuspecting  Jordan Carlos (@jordancarlos) August 28, 2018

But whether or not coming back into the public sphere was the right decision, the fact that he is back in the spotlight has major implications  not just for his five female victims but also for the millions of survivors of sexual violence nationwide. Samantha Manewitz, LICSW, an educator and AASECT-certified sex therapist, has counseled many patients grappling with these issues in the #MeToo era and says this is another example of the trauma that many wade through on a daily basis.

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Its definitely upsetting and infuriating, Manewitz tells Yahoo Lifestyle, being sure to note that she cant speak for all survivors. Everyone responds to triggers differently depending on where they are in their healing journey. But these men coming back  combined with a constant news cycle about sexual assault  is continually terrifying and exhausting.

Manewitz says theres a scientific reason that incidents like this can be painful to survivors. It involves two areas of the brain: the limbic system, which stores emotions and sensations, and the prefrontal cortex, which controls executive functioning. During a crisis  such as a sexual assault  the limbic system goes into survival mode, shutting off the prefrontal cortex, the brains higher functioning. While this may protect the individual from remembering some of the more vivid images of an assault, it also thwarts the brains ability to perfectly store memories. What results is a tendency to be triggered by outside stimuli, which may or may not resemble the actual assault experienced.

When you experience a traumatic event, your limbic system takes over and does what it needs to protect you and looks for patterns, and  when that is activated  your prefrontal cortex goes offline, Manewitz tells Yahoo Lifestyle. So while your limbic system is looking for  and recording  patterns to protect you, e.g., a smell, a T-shirt, a voice, the rational part of your brain isnt operating.

In other words, your brain does the best it can to record warning signs, but without your rational brain, the record isnt perfect. If theres a smell or a T-shirt or anything that resembles what happened to you, your brain will respond as if the trauma is happening all over again, says Manewitz. When youre experiencing PTSD, your brain literally cannot gauge what is and isnt safe and will default to I am unsafe. As a trauma survivor, your brain cannot always tell the difference between something happening to you or someone else, so your brain will treat everything as a threat.

To be sure, this threat isnt painless. Experiencing PTSD, severe anxiety, or panic attacks is more than uncomfortable  its excruciating. Symptoms of PTSD include flashbacks, debilitating fear, emotional numbness, and prolonged psychological distress. Anxiety attacks bring symptoms ranging from increased heart rate and racing thoughts to trembling and sweating. Panic attacks, worse, involve an onset of fear so severe and tangible that it can convince those suffering from one that theyre dying.

Its impossible to confirm, of course, that the return of C.K. to the stage has yielded such reactions  but if it has, it wouldnt be unusual. In an interview with Self in October, trauma expert Simon Rego, PsyD., chief psychologist at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine in NYC, said that even the story of another sexual assault can trigger a reaction in a trauma survivor. It would be perfectly normal for someone suffering from PTSD to be triggered by reminders of their event, Rego told Self, adding that reminders could provoke an intense emotional and psychological reaction.

Manewitz hopes that explanations like these will help others realize the uncontrollable nature of a survivors reaction in the era of #MeToo. This isnt Oh, no, poor snowflakes having feelings; this is physiology that is not within a survivors control, she says. The thing a survivor can control is coping systems to recover more quickly. But you cant make fun of somebody for being triggered  thats like making fun of somebody for sneezing.

For those who are experiencing increased anxiety in the current news cycle, Manewitz recommends taking time away from social media or the news, or opting for other self-care measures that help with your own mental health. And in extremely dire situations, do not hesitate to reach out for help, either through RAINN or TNLR.org.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

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Emmanuel Macron says EU unity comes before making a deal with post-Brexit Britain - AFP

Emmanuel Macron, the French president, on Monday said preserving European Union unity was more important than forging a close relationship with post-Brexit Britain, and hit out at what he called US President Donald Trump's "aggressive" isolationism.

Mr Macron, who met Theresa May, the prime minister, for talks on Britain's departure from the EU during the summer holiday, said he wanted to reach a Brexit deal by the end of the year and showed no signs of breaking ranks with other EU capitals.

"France wants to maintain a strong, special relationship with London but not if the cost is the European Union's unravelling," he told a gathering of French ambassadors.

On Brexit, Mr Macron said, "is a sovereign choice, which we must respect, but it can't come at the expense of the European Union's integrity."

In a 90-minute speech outlining his diplomatic priorities for the year ahead, Mr Macron made no major policy shifts, but spoke forcefully on what he labelled the "crisis of multilateralism" and the need to make Europe more "sovereign".

Mr Macron called on Europe to be "a trade and economic power",which defends its strategic interests and financial independence with tools that can fend off U.S. extraterritorial sanctions.

"Multilateralism is going through a major crisis which collides with all our diplomatic activity, above all because of U.S. policy," he said.

"The partner with whom Europe built the new post-World War order appears to be turning its back on this shared history," he said.

In his first year, Mr Macron banked on nurturing relationships with awkward leaders such as Mr Trump and Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader, appearing engaged on the world stage but often remaining non-committal and trying to mediate without unsettling anyone.

That approach has been tested after Trump shunned Mr Macron and other allies, pulling out of a global climate pact, imposing extraterritorial sanctions on Iran, and imposing tariffs on EU steel and aluminium.Scott Servais is a man of his word.

Back in June, Mariners closer Edwin Diaz made a daring deal with his manager: if he reaches 50 saves, Servais has to get his same haircut. Servais agreed, and why wouldnt he? Managers should always want to motivate their players.

So heres how Diaz wears his hair:

Now that Edwin Diaz has 50 saves he wins the bet with manager Scott Servais. Servais will get this haircut pic.twitter.com/bgO2Rj4Nsy  Jody Jackson (@Jody_Jackson) August 26, 2018

Well, last Saturday night, Diaz notched his 50th save, and planning commenced. According to Seattle Times beat writer Ryan Divish, Robinso Cano and Jean Segura helped fly out Diazs barber to San Diego, where the Mariners are currently playing the Padres.

Heres an ecstatic Diaz reminding Servais of the deal:

edwin diaz notches his 50th save. underrated cute moment, diaz usually keeps every ball from his saves, this one he hands to scott servais who promised to get his haircut when he reached 50 saves pic.twitter.com/FHbWfqMESI  chris  (@beathappened) August 26, 2018

The appointment was set for 2 p.m. in the Petco Park visitors clubhouse, and media were not allowed in. Lucky for us, Diaz live-streamed the whole ordeal on his personal Instagram account. Servais seemed thrilled.

Scott Servais got his hair cut like closer Edwin Diaz. (@sugardiaz44)

Scott Servais got his hair cut like closer Edwin Diaz. (@sugardiaz44)

Heres the final comparison:

The finished product.  This photo belongs in a museum. pic.twitter.com/LYVoxUJqjl  Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) August 28, 2018

Props to the skipper for holding up his end of the deal. Really, its a small price to pay for a closer boasting a 1.97 ERA and converting 92.6 percent of his save opportunities.

More from Yahoo Sports:

 Why Khalil Mack-Raiders impasse has no end in sight

 3 Arizona sports stars to take part in McCain funeral

 Mets star gives hilariously honest quotes after tough stretch

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Matt Lauer is still hoping for a comeback.

The disgraced former "Today" show host has been laying low in the Hamptons since was fired last November for sexual misconduct in the workplace. He's been living at his beloved estate with his estranged wife, Annette Roque, and their three children as they've been negotiating the final terms of their divorce. They recently settled for a reported $20 million.

During a rare recent outing in Manhattan, though, Lauer allegedly hit his old haunt, Donohue's Steak House, a restaurant he'd been known to frequent over the years, he seemed to imply that he'll be returning to television in the future.

"A group of older ladies came over to Lauer, saying, 'We miss you!'" a source told Page Six.

Lauer's response? "I've been busy being a dad, but don't worry, I'll be back on TV."

The reported interaction occurred as Lauer has begun to step out a bit more publicly over the summer months: The 60-year-old was all-smiles at the Hamptons Paddle and Party for Pink earlier this month, he was spotted eating at Serafina in East Hampton and he attended the Hampton Classic this past Sunday. Roque was also there, and "they interacted" during the event.

The series of public outings comes after a source told ET that he's "inching his way back into society."

"Matt is completely aware he has not been forgiven for his sexual misconduct, and certainly all has not been forgotten. He has kept a very low profile not only for himself but for the sake of his family," the source said. "He realizes the utter embarrassment he has caused everyone involved."

"He also knows he might never be completely pardoned for his behavior, so he's finally come to terms with the fact he needs to start stepping out in public," the source added. "He is beginning to inch his way back into society. He still fears the endless backlash, but also knows he can't hide forever."

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Back in June, Page Six also reported that Lauer was spotted at dinner with "Today" senior producer Deborah Kosofsky.

Whispers that Lauer could attempt a full-fledged comeback come as a surprise, seeing as though none of the other men whose behavior was exposed as part of the #MeToo movement have tried to rebuild their careers. Charlie Rose, Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Kevin Spacey and Louis C.K. have all all but disappeared from the public eye, though Louis C.K. did make a surprise appearance at Comedy Cellar on Monday night in New York City.



This year marks the 40th anniversary of the launch of China's reform and opening-up. There are many foreign experts who have witnessed the process and made a great contribution. Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, chairman and founder of Warwick Manufacturing Group, is one such person. He has had a close personal relationship with China for over 30 years and was awarded the China Friendship Award in 2017.



Phoenix (AFP) - Late US senator John McCain took a final swipe at Donald Trump in his farewell message to the nation delivered posthumously Monday, denouncing "tribal rivalries," as an aide confirmed the president will not attend the lawmaker's funeral.

The message came as Trump found himself mired in controversy over his rather conspicuous failure to pay tribute to McCain, who died Saturday at 81 after a year-long battle with brain cancer.

The flag at the White House was at full-staff Monday, and no formal statement came from Trump beyond a brief tweet.

On Monday, McCain offered his final thoughts, in a message read by his former campaign manager Rick Davis -- and he did not spare the Republican president.

"We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe," McCain said in the statement.

"We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been," he added -- an apparent reference to Trump's plans for a border wall.

"I lived and died a proud American. We are citizens of the world's greatest republic, a nation of ideals, not blood and soil," the former prisoner of war, two-time Republican presidential candidate and titan of US politics said.

"Do not despair of our present difficulties but believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here," he said, adding that the country "will get through these challenging times."

That appeared to be a reference to Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.

McCain's death has left many American mourning the loss of a national hero who repeatedly challenged the status quo and consistently sought bipartisan solutions to the country's problems.

Story continues

The longtime senator clashed repeatedly with Trump despite being from the same party, and the president -- who in 2016 famously dismissed McCain as "not a war hero" -- has paid scant tribute to the senator in the wake of his death.

With bad blood between them at the boil, McCain reportedly excluded Trump from his funeral ceremonies -- a development that Davis confirmed on Monday.

"The president will not be, as far as we know, attending the funeral. That's just a fact," Davis told a press briefing in Arizona.

The two men who defeated McCain in his White House campaigns, Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Barack Obama, are expected to deliver eulogies at a Saturday service at the National Cathedral in Washington, a day after McCain's body lies in state in the US Capitol.

McCain will be buried Sunday at the US Naval Academy in nearby Annapolis, Maryland in a private funeral service.Mexico City (AFP) - Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's advisers on Monday hailed a new trade deal with the United States, saying it represented progress on energy and wages for Mexico's workers.

"We see the agreement announced today as a positive step, because it reduces the uncertainty about our economy and also takes into account the concerns raised by the president-elect's team," said future foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard.

Lopez Obrador is a leftist free-trade skeptic, and his landslide victory in Mexico's July 1 elections had raised doubts about the future of the ongoing renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

However, his transition team has been taking part in the talks, and gave their blessing to the two-way deal announced between Washington and Mexico City.

Ebrard said the preliminary deal -- which will now be presented to Canada, the third member of NAFTA -- represented progress "especially related to the Mexican energy sector, labor conditions and wages for our workers."

It also "maintains trilateral arenas for resolving disputes and certainty about the agreement itself in the medium term," he said in a joint press conference with future economy minister Graciela Marquez Colin at Lopez Obrador's offices in Mexico City.

The comments alluded to many of the thorniest issues that had been dividing the negotiating teams.

Lopez Obrador, who takes office on December 1, has been reluctant to continue outgoing president Enrique Pena Nieto's opening of the Mexican energy sector, complicating negotiations on the energy portion of the deal.

Low wages for Mexican workers are meanwhile a sore spot for both the United States and Canada -- and for Lopez Obrador himself, who vowed to bring them closer in line with what American and Canadian workers earn.

The talks had also stumbled over US President Donald Trump's bid to eliminate NAFTA's dispute resolution mechanism and introduce a "sunset clause" requiring the three countries to renew the deal every five years.

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The three countries have been renegotiating NAFTA for just over a year at the behest of Trump, who calls the 1994 trade pact a "terrible deal" that he blames for sending US manufacturing jobs to Mexico.

In announcing the deal, Trump suggested he might cut Ottawa out of the agreement reached with Mexico and added that he wanted to change the name of the North American Free Trade Agreement because it has "bad connotations."

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto urged Canada to get on board, tweeting he had told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by phone that a final, three-way deal was possible this week.

Pena Nieto also spoke with Trump on the phone, in a conversation televised live from the Oval Office.

The Mexican president's office said the two-way deal "reflects a balance between both countries' interests" and "brings certainty" about the economy.Tuxtla Gutierrez (Mexico) (AFP) - Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called Monday for a three-way trade deal with the United States and Canada, saying a two-way agreement reached with the US was just a first step.

"It's important that Canada also be included," said the leftist president-elect after the US and Mexico announced a bilateral deal to update the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

"We're very interested in it remaining a three-country deal," he told journalists. "The free-trade agreement should remain as it was originally conceived."

The ball is now in Canada's court after the United States and Mexico reached an agreement including a compromise on the controversial auto sector, higher wages for Mexican workers and a provision to review the accord every six years.

Canada's top diplomat and trade negotiator Chrystia Freeland cut short her trip to Europe to travel to Washington on Tuesday to rejoin the talks.

Lopez Obrador, a leftist free-trade skeptic who won a landslide election victory on July 1, said he considered it a good deal for Mexico.

He placed particular emphasis on energy issues, which had become a potential point of friction.

Lopez Obrador, who takes office on December 1, has been reluctant to continue outgoing president Enrique Pena Nieto's opening of the Mexican energy sector, complicating the negotiations.

"We're satisfied, because our sovereignty has been safeguarded. Mexico reserves the right to reform its energy laws, and it's laid down in writing that Mexico's oil and natural resources belong to the nation," he said.

He thanked US President Donald Trump for his "understanding" and "respect" on the issue.

"We also take a favorable view of the fact that salaries have been increased in the auto industry," Lopez Obrador added.

The three countries have been renegotiating NAFTA for just over a year at the behest of Trump, who calls the 1994 trade pact a "terrible deal" that he blames for sending US manufacturing jobs to Mexico.By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) - African migrants rejected by Italy in a standoff with the European Union last week said they had been held by smugglers for up to two years in Libya and many had been beaten, tortured and raped, the U.N. migration agency said on Tuesday. The 150 migrants, mainly Eritreans and Somalis, were rescued in the Mediterranean on Aug. 15 but waited 10 days while Italy's anti-immigrant government refused to let them disembark, until Ireland, Albania and the Vatican agreed to accept them. A further 27 unaccompanied minors and 13 people needing urgent hospital treatment had earlier been allowed ashore in Italy, whose government had threatened to cut funds to the European Union unless other states took in the migrants. The U.N. International Organization for Migration (IOM) said its staff had gathered testimony from the migrants. All were malnourished and exhausted and said they had been held against their will in Libya for up to two years, IOM spokesman Joel Millman told a U.N. briefing in Geneva. "In Libya they complained that many had been beaten and tortured by smugglers and traffickers seeking ransom money from their families in their countries of origin," he said. "Italian doctors who attended all the women ... reported that many of them said they had been raped while in Libya." He said IOM believed thousands of migrants were still being detained - held in safehouses or warehoused, but getting people to the shore had recently become more difficult because of violence in the west of the country. A drop in the value of the Libyan dinar had also made it more difficult for sub-Saharan Africans hoping to earn enough in Libya to fund their sea voyage to Europe, prompting the smugglers to look for other nationalities with more resources. Italian Interior Minister Salvini, who has led a popular crackdown against immigration since his government took office in June, has said he was under investigation by a Sicilian prosecutor for abuse of office, kidnapping and illegal arrest over the migrant standoff. (Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Edmund Blair)Mollie Tibbetts, 20, went missing on July 18. (Photo: Facebook)

A relative of slain Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts has a message for everyone whos politicizing the young womans death: No. No, no and no.

It is not your right to exacerbate this grievous act by hijacking Mollie and all she believed with your racist fear-mongering, Sandi Tibbetts Murphy, a relative, wrote on Facebook . You do not get to use her murder to inaccurately promote your permanently separated hyperbole.

The permanently separated remark is an obvious reference to a video the White House posted on its official Twitter account Wednesday. The video features several grieving family members of other victims of violence whose assailants happened to be undocumented immigrants.

For 34 days, investigators searched for 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts, the tweet reads. Yesterday, an illegal alien, now charged with first-degree murder led police to the cornfield where her body was found. The Tibbetts family has been permanently separated. They are not alone.

Tibbetts Murphy wrote no one has permission to callously use this tragedy to demonize an entire population for the acts of one man.

Tibbetts' body was found on Aug. 21, the same day police arrested Cristhian Rivera, a 24-year-old undocumented immigrant from Mexico. Hes been charged with first-degree murder. (Photo: Facebook)

Tibbetts, a 20-year-old University of Iowa student, went missing on July 18, in the rural town of Brooklyn, which is located some 70 miles from Des Moines. Her body was found on Aug. 21, the same day police arrested Cristhian Rivera, a 24-year-old undocumented immigrant from Mexico. Hes since been charged with first-degree murder in the case.

President Donald Trump and multiple politicians have already used Tibbetts death as a political talking point. Just hours after news broke Tuesday that her body had been found in a Poweshiek County cornfield in Iowa, Trump mentioned her demise during a campaign rally in Charleston, West Virginia.

You heard about today with the illegal alien coming in very sadly from Mexico, he told supporters during the rally. And you saw what happened to that incredible, beautiful young woman.

Trump supporters, including Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Kelli Ward, a former Arizona state senator who is seeking a U.S. Senate seat, have thrown in their own two cents, echoing Trumps anti-immigration beliefs.

Story continues

As Iowans, we are heartbroken, and we are angry. We are angry that a broken immigration system allowed a predator like this to live in our community, and we will do all we can bring justice to Mollies killer.  Gov. Kim Reynolds (@IAGovernor) August 21, 2018

The loss of Mollie Tibbetts is a devastating reminder that we must urgently fix our broken immigration laws. pic.twitter.com/0Kaz0FQw36  The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 22, 2018

Shortly after the White House video went live on Wednesday, Trump posted his own video to Twitter, again using Tibbetts slaying to push an anti-immigrant agenda.

A person came in from Mexico illegally and killed her, Trump said in the video. We need the wall, we need our immigration laws changed, we need our border laws changed. We need Republicans to do it because the Democrats arent going to do it.

The rhetoric has spilled over from political pundits to social media where, in addition to heated discussions, multiple memes have been circulating blaming immigration laws for Tibbetts death.

All of this, seemingly against the wishes of Tibbetts family, who want her remembered for who she was and not how she died.

Mollie was a young, intelligent, caring woman with a ready smile and a compassionate heart, Tibbetts Murphy wrote on Facebook. So many across the state of Iowa and the entire country embraced her.

Riveras immigration status, according to Tibbetts Murphy, is inconsequential.

It matters not, she wrote. He could have been a citizen, born in this country; he could have been an older, white man from anywhere; he could have been a man from Mollies world. He is a man, whose path in life crossed that of Mollies life, with tragic results.

Riveras lawyer has filed court documents seeking a gag order barring the government from referring to Rivera in Trumps immigration agenda.

Sad and sorry Trump has weighed in on this matter in national media which will poison the entire possible pool of jury members, defense attorney Allan Richards wrote in a Wednesday filing in Poweshiek County court.

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The national discussion, according to Tibbetts Murphy, should be about violence and the fact that FBI statistics indicate men are overwhelmingly responsible for violent acts, including rape, murder and domestic violence.

We must be willing to address the way we raise our boys and young men, so that violence is not a part of their response to this world, she said. Like the recent murders of the Colorado family or the similarly tragic homicide of Kate Steinle, Mollies death is further example of the toxic masculinity that exists in our society.

Tibbetts Murphy ended her post with four powerful words: We reclaim our Mollie.

Only time will tell if anyone honors her wishes.

Send David Lohr an email or follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

Related Coverage

Man Confesses To Abducting Mollie Tibbetts: Police

More Than 1,000 Mourners Attend Mollie Tibbetts' Funeral

Also on HuffPost

Samantha Sayers

Since Aug. 1, 2018, Samantha Sam Sayers, 28, has been missing in the mountains of Washington state.



On the morning of her disappearance , Sayers made the two-hour drive from her Seattle home for a solo hike at Vesper Peak in the North Cascades in Snohomish County. She is familiar with the area and previously went hiking there several times.



Samantha Sayers was supposed to contact her boyfriend, Kevin Dares, around 6 p.m. When she didnt, he went looking for her. He located her vehicle parked at the trailhead. Despite increasing darkness, he hiked 2 miles along the rocky pathway before he was forced to turn back. He then notified a local ranger station.



According to the Snohomish County Sheriffs Office, a group of hikers reported seeing Samantha Sayers on her way up Vesper Peak around midmorning on Aug. 1. Another hiker reported seeing her the same day at the 6,220-foot summit and then he watched her head south from the summit.



The search led by the sheriff's office was suspended on Aug. 23, 2018. Sayers' family has since taken over coordinating volunteer search efforts.



Friends and family members are posting updates to a Facebook group, #findsamsayers. They are encouraging everyone to share her story using the hashtag #FindSamSayers. Anyone with any information is asked to call the Snohomish County Sheriffs Office at 425-388-3808 or 425-388-3523.

Tamala Wells

Tamala Wells, of Detroit, Michigan, disappeared on August 6, 2012. Her mother, Donna Wells-Davis, learned of her daughter's disappearance on Aug. 7, 2012, when she received a phone call from her granddaughter, who was then 6 years old. The little girl said that her mom, then 33, had gone out the previous night and never returned.



The mystery deepened when the Pontiac Wells had supposedly been driving was found abandoned just a few blocks from her home.



In an interview with HuffPost, the father of Wells' daughter denied any involvement in Wells' disappearance, but he didn't deny how he feels about the mother of his child -- or about the child herself.



"She gives me a headache," Rickey Tennant said. "[Wells] used to give me a headache, but I dealt with it, and I'm looking at it right now as 'one headache is better than two headaches.'"



READ: Ex-Boyfriend Calls Missing Woman One Less 'Headache'

David Neily

David Neily disappeared in Mendocino County, Calif., on April 14, 2006. Additional information can be found at this link: www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/21/donald-cavanaugh-david-neily-missing_n_4319266.html Neily was 69 years old when he was last seen. He was 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighed 150 pounds, and had gray hair, green eyes and a white beard. He suffered from stunted growth due to a heart murmur, and as a result his legs were not proportional to his body. Anyone with information asked to call Sgt. Jason Caudillo at (707) 468-3423 or the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Anonymous tip line at (707) 234-2100.

Jason Ellis

Jason Ellis, of Indianapolis, has been missing since Dec. 3, 2006. According to Project Jason, Ellis disappeared from an apartment he shared with two roommates. One of the roommates allegedly told police that Ellis, then 20, had left and taken his belongings with him. However, Ellis' last two paychecks were untouched and his car was still parked at the residence. In 2010, authorities told local media that they suspect Ellis is the victim of a homicide, but investigators did not elaborate. At the time of his disappearance, Ellis was 160 pounds and 6 feet 1 inch tall. He had a tattoo of his mother's name, Neatrice, on his chest, tattoos of Scooby and Scrappy Doo on his left arm, and a tattoo of a maple leaf and his name on his right arm. Anyone with information regarding Ellis' disappearance is asked to call the Indianapolis Police Department at (317) 413-7440.

Ann Marie Newark

Authorities in New Braunfels, Texas, are trying to locate 53-year-old Ann Newark. According to the San Antonio Express-News, she was last seen on Sept. 12, 2013, leaving her New Braunfels home after a brief argument with a family member. Authorities said Newark suffers from depression and is believed to be armed with a handgun. She is described as 5 feet 2 inches tall and 160 pounds. She has blonde shoulder-length hair, hazel eyes and a scar on her throat. Anyone with information about Newark's whereabouts is asked to contact the New Braunfels Police Department at (830) 221-4100.

Dara Hagans

Dara Hagans, 32, of Wilmington, Del., was last seen on Oct. 16, 2013, when she left the Christiana Care healthcare facility on West 14th Street. According to Black & Missing Foundation Inc., Hagans suffers from a unspecified medical condition and there is a genuine concern for her safety and welfare. She may be operating a blue 2005 Ford Focus with Delaware registration 595519. Hagans is described as 200 pounds and 5 feet 3 inches tall. She has black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information is asked to call (877) 972-2634.

Chad Cookson

WTNH.com reports that Connecticut police are trying to locate Chad Cookson. The 44-year-old from Naugatuck was last heard from on Aug. 22, 2013, when he spoke with his son by telephone. Cookson's son told police his father was depressed because of the recent death of his mother. Cookson is described as 250 pounds and 5 feet 10 inches tall. He has brown hair and brown eyes. His vehicle, a red 2001 Pontiac Montana, with license plate 705-FET, is also missing. Anyone with information on Chad Cookson's whereabouts is asked to contact the Naugatuck Police Department at (203) 729-5221.

William Culbreath

William Culbreath, 77, of Volusia County, Fla., was last seen on Oct. 17, 2013, when he left his Deltona home to go to a doctor's appointment in Orange City. Culbreaths wife reported him missing when he did not return. According to police, Culbreath could be suffering from delusions. A description of the missing man has not been released. Investigators also are trying to locate his black 1997 Ford van with a gray stripe and Florida license tag number VA6257. Anyone with information about Culbreath's whereabouts is asked to contact the Volusia County Sheriff's Office at (407) 323-0151.

Erik Lamberg

Erik Lamberg, 51, of Hermosa Beach, Calif., has not been seen since May 28, 2013, when he checked out of a hotel in Laytonville. His vehicle was later found abandoned in Northern California. Despite several searches, authorities have been unable to locate the missing computer security technician. Lamberg is described as 6 feet 5 inches tall, 200 pounds with sandy blond hair and blue eyes. Anyone who may have seen Lamberg or has information about his whereabouts is asked to call the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office at (707) 463-4086. A website and Facebook page have been created to share information in the case.

Tametre Taylor

The Associated Press reports that Tennessee police are trying to locate Tametre Taylor. The 40-year-old from Memphis was last heard from on Oct. 11, 2013, when she spoke with her pastor by telephone. No additional details have been released. Anyone with information on Taylors whereabouts is asked to contact the Memphis Police Department at (901) 545-2677.

Robert Mayer

Robert Mayer, 46, of Dix Hills, N.Y., has not been seen since June 14, 2013. Robert Mayer's red 2004 Pontiac GTO was found in the parking lot of the Long Island Rail Road's Deer Park station the day after he disappeared. The keys were not inside the vehicle and according to Mayer's wife, the driver's seat was adjusted much farther forward than her husband typically kept it. Mayer is described as a white male, 6 feet 1 inch tall and about 200 pounds. He has brown hair and green-hazel eyes. He was last seen wearing a gray polo-type work shirt with a J.C. Electrical logo, light blue jeans and black work boots. His left middle finger is missing the tip. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Suffolk County Police Second Squad detectives at (631) 854-8252.

Kenneth Lawson

Patricia Bryan has been looking for her father, Kenneth Lawson, since June 6, 2013. The 76-year-old was last seen at his home in Union Point, Ga. A number of exhaustive searches have been conducted. "We have had no leads on the whereabouts of my father," Bryan said. "He was not always in a state of confusion. He would have moments were he would check out or not know where he was, but this was not all the time. Up till my father went missing, I didn't realize just how many people with dementia and Alzheimer's went missing on a daily basis. The media does not do them justice."

Crystal Rogers

Crystal Rogers, a 35-year-old mother of five, was last seen at her from Bardstown, Kentucky home on July 3, 2015, by her live-in boyfriend, 34-year-old Brooks Houck. Bardstown is a small city located roughly 60 miles southwest of Lexington.



Rogers' maroon 2007 Chevy Impala was found abandoned with a flat tire along Kentucky's Bluegrass Parkway two days after she disappeared. Her keys, purse and cell phone were reportedly found inside the car.



Investigators have since named Houck a suspect in his girlfriend's disappearance.



Crystal Rogers is described as a white female, 5 feet 9 inches tall, 150 pounds, with shoulder-length blonde hair and blue eyes. Anyone with information in the case is asked to contact the Nelson County Sheriff's Office at 502-348-1840.



READ: Search For Missing Mom Crystal Rogers Eerily Similar To Aunt's 1979 Disappearance

Willie Michael Wheaton

Willie Michael Wheaton, 57, was last seen at a Greyhound bus station in Jackson, Miss., on the evening of June 17, 2006. Wheaton boarded a bus that was en route to Sacramento, Calif., but it is unknown if he ever arrived. For more information, visit Blackandmissinginc.com.

Jennifer Kesse

Jennifer Kesse has been missing from Orlando, Fla., since Jan. 24, 2006. It is believed she was abducted from her apartment complex early that morning. On Jan. 26, 2006, Kesse's car was found abandoned at a condominium complex located roughly 1 mile down the road from where she lived. Valuables were found inside the vehicle, leading police to believe Kesse was not the victim of a robbery or carjacking. Police bloodhounds tracked a scent from where the car was found back to Kesse's condo, but the trail ended there. At the time of her disappearance, Jennifer Kesse was 24 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall and 135 pounds. She had shoulder-length sandy blonde hair and green eyes. Anyone with information in the case or who would like to donate to search efforts can do so at Findjenniferkesse.com. Tipsters can also call anonymously at 800-423-8477.

Jacob Tipp

Jacob "Jake" Lipp, 27, is missing from North Huntingdon, Pa., last seen Dec. 16, 2013, in Pittsburgh by his girlfriend. Lipp and his girlfriend were at Static Bar when they got into a fight and the girlfriend drove off, leaving Lipp at the McDonald's on Penn Avenue around 3 a.m. She came back to get him and he was gone. He has not been seen since. Lipp is 5 feet 6 inches, 160 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. (Missing Persons Of America)

Lauren Spierer

Lauren Spierer, 20, was last seen around 4:30 a.m. on June 3, 2011, just a few blocks from her apartment in Bloomington, Ind. Earlier in the night, Spierer had visited Kilroy's, a nearby sports bar that closes at 3 a.m. When she left the establishment, she left behind her shoes and cell phone, police said. After leaving the bar, Spierer reportedly went to the apartment of Corey Rossman, a fellow college student at the university, before deciding to walk home. What happened to her after that remains a mystery. She was reported missing less than 12 hours later. Bloomington police, Indiana University police, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, Indiana State Police and the FBI have all conducted searches for Spierer. Lauren Spierer is described as a white female, 4 feet 11 inches tall with a slender build. She has blue eyes and blond hair. She was last seen wearing a white tank top with a light-colored shirt over it and black stretch pants. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call Bloomington Police at 812-339-4477.

Carlos Diaz

Carlos Diaz, of Bronx, N.Y., disappeared on Dec. 23, 1986, after he went out to bury a family pet. He has not been seen since. He is described as a Hispanic male with brown hair and brown eyes. He was 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed 170 pounds at the time of his disappearance. He has a tattoo of the initials C.D. on his left hand. For more information, visit Findthemissing.org.

Vilet Torrez

Vilet Patricia Torrez, 38, of Miramar, Fla., was last seen by a friend she met for dinner on the night of March 30, 2012. Authorities have declined to comment on where Torrez went for dinner and will not release the name of the person she was with. Torrez's movements after the dinner are also unknown, but the vehicle she was driving was later found at her residence in the 12900 block of Southwest 28th Court, a gated community off Miramar Parkway. Torrez was scheduled to work March 31 at her job with Bath Fitter in Doral, but she did not show up or call in. On April 2, Torrez was reported missing. Her estranged husband, Cid Torrez, has since been named a person of interest in her disappearance. Torrez is 5 feet 3 inches, weighs 125 to 130 pounds, and has black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information about her disappearance is asked to call Miramar police at (954) 602-4000 or Broward Crime Stoppers at (954) 493-TIPS.

Michelle Parker

Michelle Parker, 33, vanished on Nov. 17, 2011, the same day that her appearance with her ex-fiance, Dale Smith, aired on "The People's Court." The couple was in dispute over a $5,000 engagement ring. After hearing both sides, Judge Marilyn Milian ordered Parker to pay Smith $2,500. A few hours after the episode aired, Parker dropped her 3-year-old twins off at Smith's condo for scheduled visitation. Parker's 2008 black Hummer H3 was found the following day in a parking lot on the west side of Orlando. Decals for Parker's Glow mobile tanning business had been removed from the windows, police said. Police initially said that Smith was cooperating and was not considered a suspect, but during a later press conference he was named the primary suspect in Parker's disappearance. For more information, visit Find Michelle Parker.

Nieko Lisi

Nieko Lisi, 18, lives in Jasper, N.Y., about 40 miles from Elmira. According to relatives, Lisi was en route to Buffalo when he disappeared. He was last seen around 2 p.m. on Sept. 30, 2011, when he and friend Robert Knight, 20, stopped at Lisi's uncle's home in Addison, N.Y. Knight arrived at his parents' home in Michigan on the morning of Oct. 1, 2011. He allegedly told family members Lisi had dropped him off, but no one physically saw Lisi, police said. Lisi's family reported him missing and on Oct. 5, Michigan police went to talk to Knight about his friend's whereabouts. According to WETM-TV, Knight "suffered some sort of ailment" during police questioning and was hospitalized. Knight was released from the hospital on Oct. 9. The next day, Knight was found dead in his parents' home. Lisi is described as a white male, 5-foot-10-inches tall and 160 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He has a tattoo of Chinese writing on the back of his right arm, a large angel on his right side and a large woman with a devil's tail on his left side. He was last seen wearing jeans, a T-shirt and a silver cross necklace. Anyone with information about Lisi's whereabouts is asked to call New York State Police at (607) 776- 6866. Lisi's family is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to his whereabouts.

Kelly Armstrong

Kelly Armstrong, mother of a 2-year-old son, has been missing from Kokomo, Ind., since August 2011. Family members became concerned when they were unable to reach her. A missing person report was filed on Sept. 26, 2011. In February 2012, authorities charged Armstrong's boyfriend, Travis Funke, with voluntary manslaughter in her death. According to an arrest affidavit, Funke allegedly told investigators he killed Armstrong around the first of July, placing a plastic bag on her head, wrapping her in a tarp and putting her in a trash tote. The garbage container was supposedly picked up later that same day. Investigators spent six days sifting through 6,000 tons of trash at the local landfill, but were unable to locate Armstrong's remains. Armstrong's father, David Armstrong, doubts Funke's version of events. People interested in helping search or donating funds can do so at Operationfindkelly.yolasite.com. Anyone with information is asked to contact Kokomo police at 765-459-5101.

Robyn Gardner

Robyn Gardner was last seen in Oranjestad, Aruba, on Aug. 2, 2011, traveling with Gary Giordano, an acquaintance she met on a dating website. Giordano claimed Gardner was swept out to sea while snorkeling in waters off Baby Beach. Giordano, 50, allegedly told police he had noticed a current pulling them out to sea and signaled to Gardner that they should return to shore. But when he got to dry land, she was nowhere to be found. Authorities conducted an extensive search of the area, but were unable to locate the 35-year-old Maryland woman's body. On Aug. 5, police took Giordano into custody before he left Aruba. Authorities held Giordano for four months in Gardner's disappearance, but he was released without charges in early December. Gardner vanished in the same Aruban town where teenager Natalee Holloway disappeared in May 2005. Gardner's whereabouts, like Holloway's, remain a mystery. For more information, visit theRobyn Gardner Full Coverage page.

William "Billy" Disilvestro

Billy Disilvestro, 28, has been missing since Feb. 7, 2011, when his grandmother dropped him off at a friend's house in Hamilton, Ohio. At about 2:30 a.m., DiSilvestro placed two calls -- one to his mother and one to his grandmother. Both calls went unanswered. What happened to DiSilvestro after that remains a mystery. According to police, the friend said DiSilvestro left the house after attempting to contact his mother and grandmother -- presumably for a ride. It is believed he was headed to his grandmother's house about 2 miles away, which would take him through a forested area called Milikin Woods. Authorities have conducted several searches of the area, but have yet to find any sign of the missing man. DiSilvestro is described as a white male, 6 feet 2 inches tall, 180 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing jeans and a gray winter coat with fur around the hood. DiSilvestro has several tattoos, including the word SMOKE across his back, Jesus carrying a cross on his upper right arm, and a large angel on his upper left arm. Anyone with information regarding this case should contact the Butler County Sheriff's Office at 513-785-1300.

Susan Powell

Susan Powell was reported missing by her family on Dec. 7, 2009, when she failed to show up for her job as a stockbroker at Wells Fargo Financial. Her husband, Josh Powell, told police he had been camping with their two children, then ages 2 and 4, and had last seen his wife around midnight. Suspicious of his story, investigators named Powell a "person of interest" in his wife's disappearance. Not long after, Powell and his two children moved back to his hometown of Puyallup, Wash. On Feb. 5, 2012, police say Josh Powell attacked his two boys, Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5, with a hatchet and then set his home on fire, killing the three of them in a gas-fueled explosion. Since that time, a mountain of evidence has emerged that supports law enforcement's decision to name Powell the prime suspect in his wife's disappearance. Nevertheless, her whereabouts remain a mystery.

Natalee Holloway

Natalee Holloway, 18, from Mountain Brook, Ala., disappeared May 30, 2005, while on a trip to Aruba to celebrate her high school graduation. Holloway's classmates said they last saw her leaving Carlos 'n Charlie's nightclub with Joran van der Sloot, then a 17-year-old Dutch honors student living in Aruba, and his two friends, Surinamese brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. All three young men would be arrested in the case, but they were released without being charged. On Jan. 13, 2012, van der Sloot, now 24, was sentenced to 28 years in prison for the slaying of Stephany Flores on May 30, 2010. The Peruvian business student was found dead in van der Sloot's hotel room in Lima that year. Van der Sloot was charged with first-degree murder and robbery in the case. Holloway's body has never been found.

Lakeisha Nichole Archie

Lakeisha Nichole Archie was last seen on Aug. 5, 2002. A family member dropped her off at a residence in the vicinity of Park Street and Buckeye in Sidney, Ohio, and she has not been seen since. Archie has a tattoo that reads "Lakeisha" on the right side of her neck, a tattoo of a black panther on her left forearm and tattoos of claws on each breast. For more information, visit Blackandmissinginc.com.

Jessie Foster

Jessie Foster has not been seen since March 29, 2006. According to her mother, Foster was living in Kamloops, British Columbia, in the spring of 2005, when she began traveling to the United States. In May 2005, the then 21-year-old ended up going to Las Vegas. While in Las Vegas, Foster met a man and the two were quickly engaged to be married. The man was reportedly wealthy and the two lived together in a million-dollar home. In 2006, Foster stopped calling her family. Concerned, they contacted her fiance and he allegedly said Foster had left him in April 2006. Foster's family promptly reported her missing to police, but with few clues to follow, the case quickly went cold. Foster is described as 5 feet 7 inches tall and 120 pounds, with blonde hair and hazel eyes. Anyone with information is asked to call Las Vegas Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477. Foster's mother also maintains a website devoted to the case, which can be found at jessiefoster.ca. According to the site, a $50,000 dollar reward is being offered for information in the case.

Jesse Ross

Jesse Warren Ross was a 19-year-old sophomore when he vanished on Nov. 21, 2006, while attending a mock United Nations conference in Chicago. According to police, Ross was last seen at about 2:30 a.m., leaving the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, where a conference dance was held. Surveillance footage from the hotel does not indicate Ross was intoxicated when he left. He was likely heading to his hotel, the Four Points Sheraton, about 10 minutes away. What happened to Ross after he left remains a mystery. For more information, visit Findjesseross.com.

Brittanee Drexel

Brittanee Drexel, 17, was last seen by friends on April 25, 2009, when she left the Bar Harbor Hotel in Myrtle Beach, S.C., to meet friends at the nearby BlueWater Resort. Surveillance footage shows Drexel arriving at the resort, then leaving roughly 10 minutes later. What happened to her after that is a mystery. For more information, visit Helpfindbrittanee.com.

Corrie Anderson

Corrie Anderson, a 36-year-old mother of three from Chautauqua County, N.Y., was last seen at about 1 p.m. on Oct. 28, 2008. Family members reported Anderson missing at about 3:45 p.m. that day, when she failed to show up at her son's school for a meeting. Two days later, a hunter discovered Anderson's car abandoned about 2 miles from her house. Authorities used ATVs, helicopters and dogs to search areas of interest in the case, but there's been no sign of Anderson. For more information, visit Findcorrie.com.

John James Morris

John James Morris, 38, was last seen on July 30, 2007, in the driveway of his ex-boyfriend's residence on Whites Ferry Road in Dickerson, Md. According to police, Morris' ex-boyfriend was out of town on the day John stopped by to pick up his belongings. Morris has not used his credit card or cell phone since and, according to his family, he did not have his ADD (attention deficit disorder) medication with him when he disappeared. For more information, visit Findjohnmorris.com.

Ahren Benjamin Barnard

Ahren Barnard was last seen in Boise, Idaho, on Dec. 4, 2004. He dropped his young son off for the evening with the child's mother and presumably drove home. His car was later found parked in his driveway, but he has not been seen since. For more information, visit Helpfindahren.com.

Roxanne Paltauf

Roxanne Paltauf was 18 years old on July 7, 2006, when she disappeared from the Budget Inn hotel in Austin, Texas. According to Roxanne's mother, Elizabeth Harris, Roxanne had been staying at the hotel with her boyfriend. The couple had an argument and, according to the boyfriend, she left the hotel, leaving all of her belongings behind. For more information, visit Find Roxanne Paltauf.

William "Billy" Smolinski

William "Billy" Smolinski, was a 31-year-old resident of Waterbury, Conn., when he disappeared Aug. 24, 2004. Smolinski told a neighbor he was going out of town for a few days to look at a vehicle. He has not been seen since and his truck was later found in his driveway. His keys and wallet were found inside. Investigators searched Smolinski's home and truck, and conducted several interviews but found no clues suggesting what might have happened to him. For more information, visit Justice4billy.com.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Polyamory  having more than one consensual sexual or emotional relationship at once  has in recent years emerged on television, mainstream dating sites like OkCupid and even in research. And experts who have studied these kinds of consensual non-monogomous relationships, say they have unique strengths that anyone can learn from.

Consensual non-monogamy can include polyamory, swinging and other forms of open relationships, according to Terri Conley, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Michigan who has studied consensual non-monogamy. While there arent comprehensive statistics about how many people in America have polyamorous relationships, a 2016 study published in the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy found that one in five people in the U.S. engage in some form of consensual non-monogamy throughout their lives.

But these relationships can still be shrouded in stigma. And people in polyamorous relationships often keep them a secret from friends and family.

Often theyre scared of losing their jobs, not getting a job, losing family or friends who wont respect them anymore or scared that their children will be taken away, says Carrie Jenkins, a professor of philosophy at the University of British Columbia and the author of What Love Is: And What It Could Be.

But Jenkins, who participates in polyamorous relationships herself, cautions that there isnt a one-size-fits-all approach to relationships. One impression that I dont want to give is that I think polyamorous relationships are better for everyone, she says. Were all very different from one another.

Still, experts who study relationships say polyamorous relationships can provide useful lessons for monogamous couples. Here are a few areas where, researchers say, polyamorous couples are particularly successful:

Communication

Successful monogamous relationships require communication about desires, needs and problems, says Joanne Davila, a professor of clinical psychology at Stony Brook University who studies monogamous relationships. And this is one area where polyamorous couples excel.

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A May 2017 study published in PLOS One noted that people in consensual non-monogamous relationships communicate to negotiate agreements, schedules, and boundaries, and to work through the kinds of problems that emerge when negotiating polyamory, amongst the typical relational problems that can emerge in any relationship. The study found that polyamorous individuals tend to communicate better with their primary partner than secondary partners  because greater communication may be necessary for primary relationships to endure while other relationships are pursued.

This is one area particularly relevant to monogamous couples, according to Benjamin Karney, a professor of social psychology at UCLA who researches monogamous relationships. I dont see studying non-monogamous couples as studying a totally separate country with no relevance to monogamy at all, he says. Consensually non-monogamous couples might have a lot to teach everybody about negotiating desire and competing interests.

Defining the relationship

Polyamorous partners often define boundaries and form agreements about what each relationship should look like, and Conley says these agreements can be beneficial to monogamous relationships, where partners might assume theyre on the same page about what monogamy means.

When deciding to enter a relationship, there might be a conversation beyond that about what that means: does it mean were monogamous? What does it mean to be monogamous? Conley says. For some people, even mere thoughts of attraction to someone else can be defined as cheating. For other people, anything but intercourse is OK.

Polyamorous relationships can take many different forms. Sometimes, partners will know each other and form a family-like network sometimes called kitchen table polyamory, according to Kate Kincaid, a psychologist at Tucson Counseling Associates who works with polyamorous couples. Another style, known as parallel polyamory, means that all of the partners are aware of each other, but have little to no contact, Kincaid explains.

Kincaid says that she works with couples to figure out which model is best for them  though she often recommends kitchen table polyamory because its often more efficient for all parties to communicate directly. She says that one of the biggest challenges she encounters with polyamorous couples is time management.

Everyone jokes that love is not a finite resource, but time is, Kincaid says. You can have multiple partners you want to see a lot  you have to negotiate time and space to do that.

Practicing safe sex

A 2012 study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine found that individuals in polyamorous relationships were more likely to practice safe sex than those who cheat in monogamous relationships. The study showed that monogamous individuals often consider monogamy a safe sex practice in and of itself, so sexually unfaithful individuals may reject safer sex strategies because of the presence of a stable relationship.

Kincaid says that she works with clients to fill out a questionnaire about what sexual acts theyd be comfortable with them doing with other partners to make sure theyre on the same page. Amy Moors, an assistant professor of psychology at Chapman University who conducted the 2012 study with Conley, says consensually non-monogamous couples often make explicit agreements with partners to use condoms and get information about STI history with each new partner.

They have to navigate the sexual health of a bunch of people, Moors says. Implicit in that is that theres very clear conversations about sexual health that are happening in consensual non-monogamous relationships that may not be happening in monogamous relationships.

But in monogamous relationships, couples often stop using condoms as a covert message of intimacy: now, were really dating, Moors says. But if a monogamous individual decides to cheat on their partner, theres no guarantee he or she will practice safe sex.

Managing jealousy

You might think that having multiple romantic partners would elicit more jealousy than being in a monogamous relationship. But according to a a 2017 study published in Perspectives on Psychological Science, thats not necessarily the case.

The study, which surveyed 1,507 people in monogamous relationships and 617 people in consensual non-monogamous relationships, found that people in consensual non-monogamous relationships, including those who engaged in polyamory and swinging, scored lower on jealousy and higher on trust than those in monogamous relationships.

People in monogamous relationships were really off the charts high on jealousy. They were more likely to check their partners phones, go through their emails, their handbags, Moors says. But people in consensual non-monogamous relationships were really low on this.

Davila, who also works as a couples therapist, says that shes observed monogamous couples avoid addressing jealousy altogether, whereas consensual non-monogamous couples might be more vocal with their feelings. In consensual non-monogamous relationships, jealousy is expected, Davila says. But they see what feelings arise and actively work to navigate them in a proactive way.

Maintaining a sense of independence

Another area where polyamorous couples tend to excel, according to Kincaid, is allowing their partners to maintain a sense of independence outside of their relationship. Conley and Moors found in their 2017 study that monogamous couples are more likely to sacrifice their own needs for the sake of their relationship, while polyamorous couples put their own personal fulfillment first.

The biggest thing that I appreciate about poly people is that they focus on knowing what their needs are and get their needs met in creative ways  relying more on friends or multiple partners instead of putting it all on one person, Kincaid says. Once [monogamists] get into a relationship, they tend to value their romantic partner above everyone else.

She suggests that doing the former allows your relationships to be deeper and can enable you to get a lot more support from your loved ones.

Karney says that he could also see how having your needs met by others might strengthen consensual non-monogamous relationships.

If were a married monogamous couple, we have to figure out what to do about our problems. Were either going to avoid them, resolve them or break up, Karney says. But if Im in a non-monogamous relationship and I have the same problem, I might not have to resolve it if Im not getting all my needs met from you.The mother of a competitive gamer wounded in Sundays deadly shooting at a competition in Florida said her son told his half-brother, I was shot. Tell my mother I love her, before the phone line went dead.

Sujeil Lopez, at a press conference on Monday, described a terrifying phone call between her son, 26-year-old Timothy Anselimo, and his half-brother and how Anselimo ran for his life as shots rang out during an esports tournament in Jacksonville. The attack left two people dead, plus the gunman.

As his mother, I thought he would be safe, Lopez said of Anselimo, who is from Tampa and goes by the gaming name oLarry.

He just said right before he went into surgery, he couldnt believe that this happened to him, she said. You never expect it to hit so close to home.

Lopez said her son grew up playing video games, which she considered a safe alternative to being out on the streets.

He started in New York to stay out of trouble, and we let him, she said, adding that his video gaming was permitted as long as he kept up good academic performance. If your child is playing 15 hours of video games and is doing good in school, he can be doing a lot worse. Let him play.

Instead of enjoying a typically safe environment on Sunday, Anselimo was shot once in his right hand, once in the side and once in the chest. At least one of the bullets struck him while he was running out of the building, Lopez said.

Sujeil Lopez (far left), Timothy Anselimos mother, speaks at a press conference the day after he was shot at an esports tournament in Jacksonville, Florida, on Aug. 26. (Photo: Facebook)

Anselimos 20-year-old half-brother was watching a live broadcast of the competition on TV and, hearing gunfire at the tournament, immediately called him to ask if he was OK, Lopez said.

He told him, Tim, I heard something that sounded like shots, and my son told him, I was shot, tell my mother I love her, Lopez said, her voice breaking.

And thats the call I got, she said of the news that sent her racing from the Tampa Bay area to Jacksonville to be by her sons side.

God was with these guys today pic.twitter.com/YrWlphteBT  Sujeil (@olarrysmom) August 27, 2018

He was in surgery on Monday for his hand, and he does not yet know whether hell be able to play video games competitively again, she said.

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Hes very stressed. Hes upset. Hes depressed. Hes sad. Hes hurt, she said of her son, whos right-handed. If you lost your hand and couldnt do what you love, it would be a devastation.

In a tweet from Anselimo early Monday, he confirmed that feeling.

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

Devastated. No Words. Surgery In The Morning. Thanks To All Who Reached Out.  LARRY LEGEND (@oLARRY2K) August 27, 2018

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Jacksonville Shooting At 'Madden' Tournament Leaves At Least 3 Dead, 11 Injured

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.



North Korea has warned the US that denuclearisation talks may fall apart, it has been reported.

Sources told CNN that a letter from North Korea was delivered directly to US secretary of state Mike Pompeo saying that Kim Jong-uns government felt the process could not move forward.

They said the letter contained the message that the US is still not ready to meet expectations in terms of taking a step forward to sign a peace treaty.

The Korean War of the early-1950s ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, meaning the US and North Korea are still technically at war.

Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump shake hands at their summit in Singapore in June (Picture: Rex)

The North has long made clear that it sees an official end to the state of war as crucial to lowering tensions on the Korean peninsula.

The US has been reluctant to declare an end to the Korean War until after North Korea abandons its nuclear weapons programme.

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The Washington Post reported on Monday that US president Donald Trump called off a visit to North Korea by Mr Pompeo after the latter received a belligerent letter from a senior North Korean official just hours after the trip was announced last week.

CNN reported that the letter was sent by the former head of North Koreas spy agency, Kim Yong Chol, but it was not known how it was sent.

The Washington Post said North Korea had been increasingly communicating through its UN mission.

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo reportedly received the letter from North Korea (Picture: Rex)

CNN reported that the letter also mentioned that if a compromise could not be reached and the talks crumble, North Korea could resume nuclear and missile activities.

On Sunday, North Koreas state media accused the United States of double-dealing and hatching a criminal plot but did not mention Mr Pompeos canceled visit.

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The Washington Post said the exact contents of the message were unclear, but it was sufficiently belligerent that Mr Trump and Mr Pompeo decided to call off the planned trip.

In cancelling the trip, Mr Trump publicly acknowledged for the first time that his effort to get North Korea to denuclearize had stalled since his June 12 summit with Mr Kim in Singapore.

US intelligence and defence officials have repeatedly expressed doubts about North Koreas willingness to give up its nuclear weapons.







Even after 21 years since its establishment, The Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is still struggling to find its feet.



The sub-regional group of seven nations from South Asia and Southeast Asia -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Thailand -- risks facing the fate of the Southern Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) that has become dysfunctional thanks to the bitter rivalry between two nuclear powers -- India and Pakistan.

However, BIMSTEC member states seek to add vigor and dynamism as their leaders are gathering for its 4th summit held in Kathmandu on Aug. 30-31, with the theme "Peaceful, prosperous and sustainable Bay of Bengal."

"We have set five priority areas that include connectivity, investment, trade, tourism, poverty alleviation, mitigation of climate changes and control of cross-border crimes for discussion in the Summit," Nepal's Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Gyawali said, adding, "We want to develop BIMSTEC as an effective mechanism to lead the people of the region towards prosperity."

As the chair of both regional organizations, BIMSTEC and SAARC, Nepal has onus to activate them as it ushers in an era of stability following decades of political transition.

The BIMSTEC Summit offers an opportunity for the communist-led majority government to boost the country's image abroad and execute independent foreign policies that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli describes as one of the key characteristics of his administration. This will be the biggest international event hosted by Nepal following the formation of its new government.

Although the Summit should have been held two years ago, Nepal did not show a willingness to do so as its relations with its southern neighbor, India, had gone sour. India had imposed a blockade on Nepal, showing reservation about the contents of Nepal's new constitution. Now relations with India have improved substantially and the summit is taking place amidst hope and enthusiasm.

BIMSTEC is a bridge between South and Southeast Asia, and landlocked nations like Nepal and Bhutan naturally aspire to engage with Southeast Asian nations through roads, railways and transmission lines, thereby improving their trade, tourism and people-to-people relations.

Here, the objectives of BIMSTEC are well in sync with China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that focuses on the connectivity, trade, investment and people to people relations across the continents.

However, critics argue that India has pushed BIMSTEC strategically as an alternative to SAARC to isolate Pakistan. In October 2016, India invited six BIMSTEC countries to attend the BRICS Outreach Summit in Goa.

Following a terrorist attack in Uri, India pulled out of the 19th SAARC Summit scheduled in Islamabad in 2016. Since then, SAARC is not a priority for India. Despite Nepal's efforts to revitalize SAARC, it is not done so with success. Pakistan has urged Nepal to play a constructive role in holding the 19th SAARC summit.

If India attempts to use BIMSTEC as a geopolitical tool only to corner its tough neighbor, the bloc's overarching objectives are unlikely to be met. In fact, BIMSTEC has already been weighted down with numerous goals (at least 14 areas of cooperation) but there is little or no implementation of them.

For instance, BIMSTEC member states have yet to conclude the negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) started in 2004. Even if the FTA is made a priority, aiming to increase the intra-regional trade from current 7 percent to 21 percent, it will still be a challenge due to the involvement of seven nations, according to interlocutors.

Despite this, there are many positive attributes that inspire the countries to cooperate and achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. Ecology and Buddhism are two crucial factors that unite the people of BIMSTEC nations. The Bay of Bengal is the source of monsoons, the lifeline of their agriculture growth. Rain-producing clouds form over the Bay of Bengal and are dispersed across the region, bringing cheers to their farmers.

But it is Buddhism that brings together the people in region. Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand are Buddhist nations while Nepal is the birthplace of Buddha. In India, Buddha received enlightenment and propagated his philosophy that spread to China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Japan via Nepal.

Nepal's former prime minister Sushil Koirala had proposed developing a Buddhist Circuit' by connecting the important Buddhist sites in South Asia and Southeast Asia during the 3rd BIMSTEC Summit in Myanmar in 2014. It is high time the BIMSTEC leaders worked to realize the concept of a "Buddhist Circuit" to promote socio-cultural bond among their people

Moreover, they should show their political will and commitment to evolve BIMSTEC into a vibrant organization on par with ASEAN or the European Union. Only then will they be able to fulfill their promises.

Ritu Raj Subedi is an associate editor of The Rising Nepal.





Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.Heres a smarmy tweet from Matthew Dowd, who was a strategist for former President George W. Bush and who now serves as a political analyst for ABC News:

Since President Trump and this disgraceful White House wont fly flag at half mast for John McCain I will do this for them. pic.twitter.com/mtozRncQJ3  Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) August 27, 2018

The tweet is referencing the White Houses decision to return its flag to full staff just two days after the death of Sen. John McCain (it would later take the flag back to half staff). The flag business had set off a great pious harrumphing among establishment types, liberal and conservative alike. Jake Tapper alone did so much garment-rending that for a minute I thought hed have to host todays show wearing nothing but a big yellow ribbon over his crotch.

And here was Dowds contribution to the discourse: a photo probably pulled off Google Images, where a version of it has been indexed via the website of South Carolina state Rep. Bill Hixon. Its not hard to see why Dowd chose this particular shot. It hits all the proper elegiac notes: the flag, the soldier, the salute, the dying sun of some alien desert.

But the thing about this photo is that its a fake. The original was photoshopped to drop the flag to half staff.

The real photo can be seen here. It was taken in southern Iraq by Marine Sgt. Tisha L. Carter-Valrie. The soldier in the photo is her husband and fellow Marine sergeant, James E. Valrie, who died in 2009 after a bout with kidney cancer. The date was April 3, 2003, two weeks into a catastrophic war of which McCain was an enthusiastic salesman. The photo was quickly pressed into service of its own. The USAA put it on a postcard. KISS put it on their website. A Marine had it tattooed on his forearm.

Unfortunately, with all the wonderful ways it has been used, Carter-Valrie wrote in the Los Angeles Times on the 10th anniversary of the war, the photograph has also been manipulated and in some cases used in ways I found disrespectful. People flipped it so the flag flies in the other direction  but by doing that, Carter-Valrie pointed out, it makes my husband look like he is saluting with the wrong hand. Nor did she like the version, spotted on an anti-war website, in which the flag was turned upside down. Nor did she like the version, sometimes disseminated on Memorial Day, in which the flag was moved to appear at half staff.

Story continues

That was the photo Dowd came across and circulated. People seem to like it. By 3 p.m., it had been retweeted more than 2,000 times. Carter-Valrie would not be happy if she saw it, I dont think, but thats a minor consideration when there are postures to be struck. And maybe in its fraudulence, the photoshopped image serves some larger truth. What a perfect tribute, after all  to McCain, to the war he and Dowds old boss wanted so badly, to the establishment ghouls who helped them sell it. A glib and phony artifact from a war sold on glib and phony pretenses.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Madrid (AFP) - Ten of the more than 600 migrants who forced their way into the Spanish territory of Ceuta last month by violently storming a heavily fortified border fence with Morocco were arrested Tuesday, police said.

The 10 sub-Saharan African migrants, who were arrested at an immigrant holding centre in Ceuta, are accused of belonging to a criminal organisation, assaulting a police officer and causing damage, Spain's Guardia Civil said in a statement.

Among those arrested is the suspected head of the group that led the coordinated assault on the border on July 26 in which 22 police officers were injured, it added.

The man, who is from Togo, "offered strong resistance during his detention causing light injuries" to a police officer, the statement said.

Two of the other arrested men are from Cameroon, with the rest from Guinea.

Pictures released by police showed the men being escorted by armed officers into a green and white police van, their hands handcuffed behind their backs.

A total of 602 migrants reached Ceuta last month storming the double border fence and attacking police with caustic quicklime, excrement, stones and sticks.

They even set spray cans on fire, using them as "flame-throwers", and used saws and shears to cut the fence, according to police.

Police said they seized molotov cocktails as well as several bags with hashish from the migrants who stormed the border.

The scramble over the barbed wire-decked barrier was the biggest in Ceuta since February 2017, when more than 850 migrants entered the overseas territory over four days.

Last week 116 migrants made a similar bid to enter Ceuta but were promptly sent back to Morocco, prompting criticism from human rights groups.

Ceuta and Melilla, Spain's other territory in North Africa, have the European Union's only land borders with Africa, drawing migrants trying to reach the bloc.

A total of 4,382 migrants have entered the two territories by land since the start of the year, according to the International Organization for Migration.

More than 32,000 migrants have arrived in Spain by sea and land this year, making it the main entry point for migrants arriving in Europe, after Italy and Greece.Police are making a huge effort to trace a 21-year-old man following the murders of his former partner and her mother in an early-morning attack in a residential street.

Janbaz Tarin is being sought over the killings of Raneem Oudeh, 22, and Khaola Saleem, 49, in Solihull. Officers said the two women suffered serious stab wounds.

West Midlands Police appealed directly to Tarin to hand himself in and called on the public to contact detectives with information.

Chief Constable Dave Thompson said: Huge effort underway to locate this man. Call us, web chat us or tell Crimestoppers UK if you can help.

Janbaz Tarin, 21, is wanted by police (Picture: PA)

And Detective Inspector Caroline Corfield, who is leading the investigation, said: As we have so far not been able to locate Tarin, Im now asking for the publics help in tracing him.

If anyone knows where he is or thinks they may have seen him, Id urge them to ring 999 immediately.

Raneem Oudeh, 22, was stabbed to death along with her mother in Solihull on Monday (Picture: PA)

Khaola Saleem, 49, who was stabbed to death along with her daughter (Picture: PA)

If theres anyone out there who may be shielding him through a sense of misguided loyalty, they need to be aware that they are committing an offence and will be prosecuted.

My message to Tarin would be that its vitally important that we get to speak to you as soon as possible, so please do the right thing and let us know where you are.

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In a statement, the victims relatives said: Our family is devastated with the loss of our loved ones.

We would like to give thanks for all the love and support we have received. We kindly request that our privacy is respected at this difficult time.

West Midlands Police force said it had referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) because it had previously had contact with the victims family.

Story continues

Tarin is being sought over the killings of his former partner and her mother (Picture: PA)

A spokesman for the IOPC said: I can confirm we have received a referral and that it will be assessed.

Screams woke neighbours in Northdown Road in the early hours of Monday and the women were pronounced dead at the scene outside Ms Saleems home.

One woman living nearby said: I thought it was foxes screaming. She (one of the victims) was absolutely screaming her head off. He wasnt speaking English, thats for sure. He shouted something and then ran off.

Police forensic tents outside the property on Northdown Road in Solihull (Picture: PA)

The two women were killed outside a house in Solihull on Monday morning (Picture: PA)

There was a lot of screaming and shouting and then I saw the guy run off. About a minute later I saw him leave in a van.

The neighbour, who said she was stunned by what had happened, added she did not know the victims, but they kept themselves to themselves.

Another neighbour said he was woken at around 12.30am by screaming but assumed it was people coming home from a night out.

The father-of-two, who also declined to give his name, said: Then police knocked on my door and asked for some towels, so I knew at that point it was serious.

Ive got a young family so I was worried about what was going on.

Forensics tents were erected at the scene and police said house-to-house inquiries were being carried out.

CCTV footage is being examined, the force said, adding that there will be a visible police presence in the area in the coming days.

The public has been advised not to approach Tarin and to call 999.Prince Michael Jackson at the 2018 iHeartRadio MMVAs in Toronto. Image via Getty Images.

Prince Michael Jackson made his Canadian awards show debut with a powerful message for young fans.

The 21-year-old heir to the King of Pop arrived in Toronto for the 2018 iHeartRadio MMVAs on Sunday night, happily posing for photos with fans on the red carpet.

The eldest of Michael Jacksons three children, Prince Michael Jackson was a presenter at the annual music video awards show, taking the stage to introduce a performance by 17-year-old Dutch musician, bulow.

Before bulow took the stage, Jackson encouraged all the young viewers to get involved in causes that they believe in.

Image via Getty Images.

While Jackson could very well rest on the laurels and success of his famous family, in 2017 he founded Heal Los Angeles, a non-profit organisation that helps support and raise funding for social issues such as education reform and ending homelessness.

Youre never too young to speak out and stand up, he said.

Through Heal Los Angeles, Jackson hopes to further his fathers mission of ending child abuse and world hunger through deceased entertainers Heal the World organization.

Prince Jackson at his fathers funeral in 2009. (Getty Images)

Aside from being an active philanthropist, Jackson hopes to forge a career for himself in the music industry as a producer.

Jackson is working as a music producer, releasing songs through his production company, Kings Son Productions. Image via Getty Images.

In 2016, Jackson worked with Norwegian rapper Omer Bhatti on his single, Automatic, releasing the single under his production company, Kings Son Productions.

Music is a big part of my life, Jackson said in a 2016 interview. It shaped who I am because of my family, but Ive always wanted to go into production. My dad would ask me what I wanted to do and my answer was always producing and directing.

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for non-stop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyleUK.

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Paris Jackson and her brother Prince hold hands on red carpet at charity dinnerMoscow (AFP) - President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that a scientific breakthrough was a key priority for Russia as the country struggles with increasing international isolation and a brain drain.

"We have placed the scientific technological breakthrough among our key national goals and priorities," Putin said at a tech forum in Siberia's main city Novosibirsk.

"I am convinced that we are able to accomplish this by uniting the efforts of the state, businesses and the scientific educational community while expanding the freedom for initiative and creativity of our people," Putin said in comments released by the Kremlin.

He called on the authorities to do everything for talented youth to "feel like they are in demand" and to lure "scientists from all over the world to Russia".

Putin said Russia's financing for science has drastically increased in the last 17 years and called for the state to "create conditions to attract talented youth to science".

But critics say the government has done little to improve the investment climate and opportunities for businesses and scientists in Russia.

The authorities have also failed to stem the brain drain from the country's middle class.

According to a survey by a state-controlled pollster released last month, nearly one in three Russians aged 18 to 24 wants to leave and live abroad.

In addition, a crackdown on internet freedom by security services has intensified in the country over the past few months.

An increasing number of Russians, including teenagers, are being prosecuted because of posts on social media -- in some cases even "likes" or reposts -- branded extremist by the authorities.

Putin, re-elected for a fourth term in March, has ruled Russia since 2000.

Quality of life in Russia declined over his previous Kremlin term and the country has become increasingly isolated on the global stage in recent years.

The economy has been hit by Western sanctions over its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and the war in the east of the former Soviet state.A letter written by the former Vatican ambassador to the U.S. is raising questions about whether the pope knew about sexual misconduct allegations against the former archbishop of Washington, Theodore McCarrick, but rehabilitated him anyway. (Aug. 27)Actress, model, and activist Rain Dove. (Photo: Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images for HBO Latino)

Asia Argento, an outspoken advocate of the #MeToo movement and a Harvey Weinstein accuser, recently denied that she sexually assaulted former co-star Jimmy Bennett when he was 17 years old and she was 37. However, shortly after her denial, text messages that were reportedly Argentos were leaked to TMZ, which seem to support Bennetts accusations against the actress.

On Monday, actress and fellow proponent of #MeToo, Rose McGowan, released a statement that named model and activist Rain Dove as the person who brought the incriminating text messages between Argento and Dove to the police.

Dove is a 28-year-old model, actor, and activist. Recently, Dove appeared in Refinery29s produced web series on Facebook, Strangers.

In her statement, McGowan says that she introduced Argento to Dove  the being [shes] been dating  after the death of Argentos boyfriend Anthony Bourdain. Together, McGowan, Dove, and Argento visited Berlin, where Argento mentioned that she was being extorted for a large sum of money every month by someone who was blackmailing [Argento and Bourdain] with a provocative image. Neither McGowan nor Dove knew at the time that the person was now 22-year-old Bennett.

Story continues

Dove, who goes by the they pronoun, continued to text with Argento after their meeting, according to McGowan. They said that they had been texting with Asia and that Asia had revealed that she had indeed slept with Jimmy Bennett. Rain also shared that Asia had stated that shed been receiving unsolicited nudes of Jimmy since he had been 12, McGowan states.

Dove informed McGowan that they wanted to take the text messages to the police. An hour after our conversation was finished, Rain Dove confirmed that they had turned over the texts and were in conversation with officers. Almost 48 hours later, the texts were in the press.

On Wednesday, Dove wrote a tweet seemingly aimed at Argento, stating, Friend, family, acquaintance it doesnt matter when it comes to justice  you do not get special treatment.

The truth helps me sleep well at night. Thats why its coming out no matter what. Friend, family, acquaintance it doesnt matter when it comes to justice- you do not get special treatment. You get equal treatment. Hope youre ready. #MeToo pic.twitter.com/xvn9aFWx7G  Rain Dove (@raindovemodel) August 22, 2018

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You might want to think twice before loading your half-caff skinny no-whip latte with Splenda next time you grab a cup at your local cafe. Despite its marketing as a low-calorie sweetener that passes through your body totally intact, research now suggests that sucralose  the chemical that makes up Splenda  in fact produces two previously unidentified metabolites during digestion and could even be stored in fat cells. If true, this means that the studies used to gain approval of sucralose by the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Food Safety Authority did not accurately capture the potential health consequences of the food product.

In a paper published August 22 in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A, a team of researchers at North Carolina State University and food testing company Avazyme, Inc., found that sucralose breaks down into two different metabolites in the rat digestive system. They also found that sucralose was detectable in the rats fat deposits two weeks after the animals had stopped consuming sucralose.

Even though you can use Splenda to bake a sugar-free cake, that doesn't mean it's free of potential consequences.

The average Splenda users should be informed that sucralose is accumulating in their bodies and that it forms metabolites whose effects are unknown, Susan Schiffman, Ph.D., an adjunct professor at North Carolina State University and one of the authors on the study, tells Inverse. The long-range effects of sucralose are not understood. Furthermore, we already know that it has adverse biological effects.

Schiffman has identified some potential adverse effects in her previous research. In a 2014 study on mice published in Nature, for instance, she and her colleagues found that sucralose and aspartame  another popular artificial sweetener  altered gut microbiomes and led to glucose intolerance, a precursor to diabetes.

Its worth noting that while these results sound worrisome, they need to be replicated in humans before we really know how sucralose affects humans. Additionally, despite the sucralose metabolites being an unexpected find, further research will be necessary to figure out what health consequences they have, if any.

Story continues

In the latest study, Schiffman and her colleagues fed rats an average of 80.4 milligrams per kilogram of body weight each day for 40 days. While this is higher than the acceptable daily intake set by the European Union  15 mg/kg  it is a similar amount of sucralose as researchers used in the toxicology studies that established its safety profile in the first place. In those studies, scientists concluded that sucralose quickly passed through the body, unaltered, meaning that even though it tastes like sugar, our bodies dont use it for energy or fat storage.

But in the new paper, Schiffman and her colleagues found evidence contradicting these initial assessments. By testing the rats urine and feces, they found that, in addition to unaltered sucralose, the animals were passing two previously unstudied metabolites, slight variations on sucralose. This finding suggests that sucralose might not be so inert after all.

It turns out Splenda isn't as inert as we once thought

These metabolites, the researchers say, are less polar than sucralose, meaning that they can bind to fat tissue more easily. This is especially concerning given their finding that, even two weeks after the rats had stopped consuming sucralose, they still showed detectable levels of sucralose in their fat.

So if sucralose isnt as inert as researchers once claimed, the obvious question is, Why didnt they realize at first?

For Schiffman, the answer is obvious.

There is no incentive for the manufacturers research team to do the proper research that revealed these findings, she says.

She anticipates that food industry scientists will soon refute these findings, but she plans to continue researching the matter.

Photos via Flickr / sayo-tsu, Unsplash / rawpixel, Flickr / JeepersMedia

More From Inverse Flash

Taking the newly-launched direct flight from Beijing to Edinburgh, and using Chinese mobile payment platform WeChat Pay to purchase tickets to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, Chinese tourists feel their holiday trips to Scotland this summer are more convenient and enjoyable.





"We are the first tourism business in Scotland to take on WeChat, so we are now at the very leading edge," David Allfrey, Chief Executive and Producer of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, told Xinhua.





Visiting China many times, Allfrey is not only looking forward to strengthening cooperation between his Military Tattoo and Chinese art groups, but also has a good understanding of the Chinese consumption preference.





With his support, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo reached an agreement with WeChat last year to become the first institutional user of the service in Scotland.





Starting from this summer, Chinese audiences can use WeChat to pay for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo tickets and souvenir.





"What we are watching is a increasing number of Chinese visitors coming to Tattoo, buying tickets on WeChat. That's fantastic and it means that they are able, even they don't speak English, they can totally engaged and enjoy it. This is good for anybody," said Allfrey, who has been the producer of Tattoo since 2011 and plans to bring the world famous show to China in 2020.





"We now have official accounts in WeChat and Weibo, starting to tell the story of Tattoo in Chinese social media, which is very exciting and amazing," he added.





In Scotland, under a China Ready project initiated three years ago by Edinburgh Tourism Action Group(ETAG), tourism businesses like Military Tattoo are joining the league to better prepare themselves for the influx of additional Chinese visitors, especially after the first direct flight from China to Scotland, starting June this year.





Edinburgh, which is already the most popular UK destination for Chinese visitors after London, wants to improve its tourism sector to ensure that Edinburgh is positioned as one of the UK's premier China-friendly destinations, according to ETAG.





The figures offered by the tourism promoting agency VisitScotland show that Edinburgh Castle alone welcomed over 170,000 Chinese nationals in 2017, accounting for 10.4 percent of total visits to the Castle.





Total spend by Chinese visitors to Scotland has increased by 414 percent, from 7 million pounds to 36 million pounds since 2007.





Continuous growth of the Chinese visitor market to Edinburgh presents an opportunity for the city's tourism sector.





Chinese visitors in Edinburgh now can see Chinese welcoming signs on doors of many stores. In almost every Scottish wool or Scotch whisky store along the downtown Royal Mile, Chinese customers can seek help from at least one Chinese-speaking sale assistant.





The city's leading visitor attractions, hotels and information centers are offering Mandarin "Welcome to Edinburgh" Guide which was first published last year, and more tourism businesses are considering catching up with Chinese spending and payment trends.





These services are provided based on careful surveys which showed the five most common requests by Chinese tourists are free WiFi, Chinese payment facilities, kettle in room, city map in Chinese and availability of Chinese restaurants and food.





ETAG Chair Robin Worsnop said: "Our research shows that 50 percent of Edinburgh's Chinese visitors also visit the Highlands; and 38 percent head to Glasgow. With numbers like these and the first-ever direct flight arriving from China, there is never been a better time for Scotland's tourism businesses to get China-Ready."



When Sen. John McCain is remembered at memorial ceremonies in Arizona and Washington, D.C., this week, and when he lies in state at the U.S. Capitol on Friday, it will be a time for many of those who knew him to pay their respects. But President Trump will not attend the funeral  at the request of the Arizona Republican himself.

Though the specific request marks a departure from the norms of memorializing notable political figures, the question of Trumps attendance is part of a long history of meaning when it comes to presidential funeral attendance. Its relatively common for other members of an administration to attend funerals in the presidents stead, but its also common for those decisions to be assigned great meaning.

McCain, who died at the age of 81 a little more than a year after being diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer, had a longtime feud with Trump, which extended to pointed remarks in his farewell letter. McCains family had asked that Trump not attend funeral services prior to the Arizona senators death, according to initial reports from the New York Times later confirmed by the Associated Press. In his requests for the funeral, McCain asked that former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush deliver eulogies.

Trump, who earned rebukes on Monday after flying flags at the White House at full staff, a decision he then reversed, is not the first president to be absent at the funeral of a person with great impact on American history.

Former president Lyndon Johnson did not attend the funeral for Martin Luther King Jr., citing security concerns, according to Rebecca Burns book Burial for a King: Martin Luther King Jr.s Funeral and the Week that Transformed Atlanta and Rocked the Nation. Vice-President Hubert Humphrey was sent instead. Johnson spent the day of Kings funeral meeting with top advisors at Camp David to talk about the Vietnam War, while the civil rights leader was buried in Atlanta  but it was a decision that apparently left the president agonized, as he weighed his personal safety against the message he wanted to send and the meaning of his presence.

Story continues

President Johnson is joined by several of his top advisors at Camp David to discuss the Vietnam War. It is believed by some that the meeting was held so as to excuse the president from attending Martin Luther King, Jr.'s funeral.

More recently, President Obama drew criticism when he declined to attend the funeral of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. While the decision was not totally out of the ordinary  previous presidents have skipped funerals for other Supreme Court justices  rumors flew about why Obama would not attend Scalias funeral. The situation showed that its easy to read into the decision by any president to attend or not attend a notable funeral, perhaps especially when it comes to those who have been political opponents. Former White House press secretary Josh Earnest defended Obama at the time, saying that he would pay his respects to Scalia while his body laid in repose. Vice President Joe Biden represented the administration at the funeral. Obama was also criticized by some for deciding not to attend Nancy Reagans funeral, though that choice was largely in keeping with precedent.

Still, its relatively rare for a president to not attend the memorial or funeral services of historical figures when those deaths are officially marked by the government. Presidents serving at the time of death for the last five people laid at the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, where McCain will soon become the 13th U.S. Senator to lie in state, attended services to honor them. Trump attended the memorial service for Rev. Billy Graham, who laid in honor at the Capitol, from Feb. 28 to March 1.

When presidents do decline to attend such funerals, it is typically to avoid disrupting services because of added security or because they had another engagement  not because the subject in question asked them not to come at all.Yahoo News photo illustration; photos: AP, Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images, AP, Alexander F. Yuan/AP, Getty Images

After President Barack Obamas reelection in 2012, political journalists wrote an armada of stories about the brilliance of his online campaign. Obamas nerds were hailed as geniuses for harnessing big data to create precise models of which voters they needed to reach, and of using cutting edge methods to get them to the polls. They helped boost African-American turnout in the key swing state of Ohio from 11 percent of the electorate in 2008 to 15 percent in 2012.

Yet just four years later, when Donald Trump won a surprise victory in the 2016 presidential election, the storyline  somewhat predictably  emerged that his technology team had created a modern-day Manhattan project for targeting voters on Facebook. In the ensuing two years, progressives have lamented that Democrats now lag behind Republicans in using data and digital tools to win elections.

The truth usually lies somewhere in the middle, according to political consultants and analysts who have worked in social media for years. Yet there does appear to be some indication that Democrats failed to capitalize on some of Obamas early successes online.

President Barack Obama waves after his victory speech in Chicago in November 2012. (Photo: Jerome Delay/AP)

I think there was a misunderstanding of the fundamental ways that Facebook had changed.  There was a certain amount of complacency, to be frank, said Cheryl Contee, CEO of Do Big Things, a digital marketing and advocacy firm, who has previously said that progressives are 10 years behind in this area.

Its crucial to point out that Facebook engagement is one part of a much larger universe of digital tools and tactics that campaigns can employ. And even in this realm, there is nuance and complexity that makes it hard to conclude that one campaign did better than the other.

What is clear is that Clinton and Trump had different goals on the platform, and thats where critics can question strategic choices.

A Facebook white paper said that Trump outspent Clinton on Facebook $44 million to $28 million, though former Clinton campaign aides dispute they were outspent. And the Trump campaign and RNC created more ad variations than Clinton, through which they tested voter responses to their content. One white paper by a Facebook executive reported the ad variation disparity to be 5.9 million for Trump to 66,000 for Clinton. But a Bloomberg article weeks before the election reported the gap to be much smaller but nonetheless significant, at 100,000 for Trump.

Story continues

Those numbers do show a heavier investment in a certain type of engagement. The Clinton campaign, however, says that the majority of Trumps money spent on Facebook was to raise money, and that it invested more money in other types of fundraising that it says were more efficient and had a higher rate of return. And Clinton did end up distributing more sponsored posts than Trump on Facebook.

A Facebook page promoting Hillary Clinton for president in 2016. (Photo: Mike Segar/Reuters)

As for the ad variations, Clintons people say they devoted much more energy than Trump to figuring out how to persuade undecided voters on Facebook to support Clinton. The Clinton argument is that they werent just speaking to people they knew were supporters, but that they were trying to find new voters on the platform.

That strategy may have been a strategic mistake, however.

Theres not a lot of evidence that when youre trying to change someones mind about who to vote for or whether to vote, digital is a great platform on which to do that, said John Hagner, a partner at Clarity Campaign Labs, a Democratic analytics firm.

Keegan Goudiss, digital advertising director for Bernie Sanders in 2016, told Yahoo News that social media can be an effective part of a larger persuasion strategy if it is employed early in a campaign to help move the debate to certain issues and to frame the way those concerns are discussed. Thats a high-level approach for digital that does work for persuasion, Goudiss said.

Goudiss said he thought Clintons team did many things well but was too cautious with its messaging for much of the campaign, because they were focused on avoiding mistakes rather than firing up supporters. Politics on social media, Goudiss said, requires candidates to be sharper edged and to be more willing to talk about ideological extremes.

Red meat is important if you want to get people interested and excited, he said. The politician with a jacket over their shoulder is not going to work. People arent going to buy it.

Facebook is good at confirming bias and reinforcing tribal instincts. This can also be described as community building by digital operatives, and Rory McShane, a Republican strategist, said that it didnt seem like [Clinton campaigners] were focused on community building.

Of course, Hillary Clinton was perhaps not the most inspirational figure for an online community. And the Trump campaign also used Facebook to aim ads at potential Clinton supporters in order to discourage them from voting, even going so far as to tell reporters they were mounting three major voter suppression operations.

Some of it appears to have been luck on Trumps part. His digital operation was initially overseen by a political novice, Brad Parscale, whose most relevant experience had been in building and designing websites for businesses like Trumps wineries. After Trump became the nominee in the summer of 2016, the RNC stepped in and professionalized the campaign, taking over most aspects of its execution.

Brad Parscale, center, then Donald Trumps campaign digital director, at the Republican convention in Cleveland in 2016. (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

[Id] never run a campaign before. Well, Id run a campaign, just never a political campaign. Lots of product campaigns, which are different. So there were a lot of gaps, Parscale, who is now the campaign manager for Trumps reelection effort, said recently.

The Trump campaigns approach to Facebook might have benefitted from having someone like Parscale who approached it like a corporate marketer.

For experts on selling digital who are not political, the approach is you find your segment of the market and you pound the market until you get what you need. Thats a great way to get 40 percent of the vote, said Hagner, the partner at the Democratic analytics firm.

Steve Bannon, the former head of Breitbart, the right-wing media organization, also had a significant role in the Trump campaign. He had seen Facebooks power over the previous years, having helped build Breitbarts reach through the network.

Bannon was also, before he joined the Trump campaign, vice president of Cambridge Analytica, the digital firm that was discovered after the election to have improperly acquired personal data on Facebook of 50 million users, and helped the Trump campaign target those voters.

For much of the past few years, on the other hand, Democrats were underestimating Facebook, said Kelly Vingelis of Revolution Messaging, the digital firm that worked with Sanderss campaign.

My belief is they have not given Facebook enough credit in the past because its just a place where people go to share pictures of their baby or their wedding. But its where people go for hours a day to get online news or engage with online communities, Vingelis said in an interview. People, no matter their age, are heavily invested in Facebook, so Democrats have underestimated that and need to catch up.

I think Facebook has always been considered a relevant platform but not the hot platform for advertising because theres a belief you can reach people on other platforms in the same way, which is not correct, she said.

The 2016 election was a wake-up call that Democrats cant overlook Facebook, Vingelis said. Facebook is the No. 1 platform for reaching people and having a conversation, she said. Democrats are starting to use Facebook more and use it for engaging in conversation. Im encouraged by that, but we still have a long way to go.

Donald Trump speaks in the spin room after a Republican candidate debate in Las Vegas in 2015. (Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

But Hagner cautioned against overhasty conclusions from one presidential election. A lot of progressives are seizing on the fact that Trump spent a lot on digital and won, and thinking they won because of that, and they assume the solution for Dems is to copy that. Its the old trope that winning campaigns did everything right and losing campaigns did everything wrong, he said.

On data and analytics, Hagner said, Democrats are still as good if not better than Republicans, especially since Republicans continue to see campaign voter contact results being split between the RNCs database and the list built by the Koch brothers.

In the 2012 election, Obamas team famously used Facebook to target friends of friends. It was part of an overall strategy of empowering supporters to build local communities to mobilize for Obama. But after 2012, Vingelis said, it changed from being a social media network to being an advertising platform. In addition, Facebook lost some of its appeal as a cool or cutting-edge platform as the user base skewed older and more conservative over time.

Nonetheless, a few things contributed to a drop-off in Democratic performance after 2012. While Republicans were hell-bent on catching up for four years after 2012, Democrats had a certain amount of apathy about remaining innovative.

Some think the departure of much of Obamas top talent into the private sector played a role.

And Obamas focus on building up Organizing for America rather than the Democratic National Committee led to what some  including Clinton herself  thought was a decline in the DNCs operation. This is likely part of why Democratic candidates at the local level have not benefitted from the innovations that went on in Obamas campaigns, leaving a void that groups like Tech for Campaigns (TFC) are now trying to fill.

Theres a lack of shared infrastructure for digital, which is what we want to build, said Jessica Alter, co-founder of TFC, which connects technology professionals with smaller campaigns to help bring their digital and web presence up to speed.

Alter started the company, which does not charge for its services, in 2017 after Trumps inauguration. But she quickly saw that state legislatures were a highly neglected area of politics.

No one was helping them, and theyre very important, Alter said. Whether youre giving time or money or skills  unless youre maybe the biggest donors  state legislatures are the biggest return on investment you can get.

Hillary Clinton is joined by husband Bill Clinton and running mate Tim Kaine at a press conference the day after the 2016 election. (Photo: Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Another big critique of Democratic campaigns is that they are not spending enough money on digital targeting, because too many Democratic operatives and consultants are either stuck in the past and think TV is the dominant platform, or because they have a vested financial interest in continuing to garner the big fees that come with television advertising. (This debate has existed on the Republican side for years as well.)

TV can still be influential in a race where voters dont know much about the candidates or the issues, unlike in a presidential campaign, when the candidates are well known by most voters and are defined more by the daily news cycle than by paid advertising. In addition, older demographics vote more reliably, and many of these voters still watch a lot of TV.

In federal and statewide elections, TV can still play a large role, but many candidates in smaller campaigns cant afford TV, nor would it be an efficient use of resources. For them, digital may be a smart investment, especially now that Facebook and Google make it easy to target voters even at a smaller scale.

The challenge, Hagner said, is a lack of evidence for how digital campaigns move undecided voters toward a candidate. What will ultimately help Democrats figure this out, he said, is not the tactics or digital tools, but finding more dynamic and inspiring candidates.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:Man Utd defence remains Achilles heel for Jose Mourinho who may pay ultimate price for lack of investment

Jose Mourinhos Manchester United future is as uncertain as ever following an epic rant on Monday night.

The Red Devils were downed 3-0 on their own home turf as Harry Kane and Lucas Moura put United to the sword.

In a press conference following the heavy defeat, Mourinho lashed out at journalists in a moment of madness before exiting the room.

READ MORE: Jose Mourinho rant raises more questions than answers

READ MORE: Mourinhos press conference transcript  Every word spoken

READ MORE: Neville  Mourinho must accept responsibility for Man Utd failings

He said: I won three Premier League titles, more than the other 19 managers. Respect please.

But what set about the rant from the manager who has tasted top flight success with Chelsea?

Aside from the heavy defeat, the lack of transfer funds and perceived backing from Ed Woodward, it appears it took only four words for the Portuguese manager to lose his cool.

After Mourinho arguing about meaning of result and supporters walking/staying, @JamieJackson___ just puts it to to him "you lost 3-0, though". Mourinho: "And I won three PL titles, more than any of the other 19 managers. Respect, please." Walks out asking for more respect.  Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) August 27, 2018

In fact, it was the Guardians Jamie Jackson who prompted the meltdown, after Mourinho insisted he didnt know his best back four.

You lost 3-0, though, were the words which did the damage.

Could they prove to be the beginning of a chain which sees Mourinho sacked sooner rather than later?An email from Roger Stone, sent to supporters on Monday, says he's likely next on the crooked special prosecutors hit list. (Photo: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

President Donald Trumps long-time friend and adviser Roger Stone has launched a legal defense fund because hes convinced special counsel Robert Mueller is coming after him as part of his Russia investigation.

Just days ago, Stone said he thought Mueller would indict Donald Trump Jr., the presidents eldest son. In emails on Monday asking Fellow Patriot[s] for money, Stone says hes likely next on the crooked special prosecutors hit list.

It is becoming clear that special counsel Robert Mueller intends to frame Roger Stone for some bogus offense unrelated to Russian collusion, WikiLeaks, or perhaps even the 2016 election, Stones defense fund website declares.

To silence Roger and destroy him and his family, the Clinton/Obama DNC and their sore loser supporters are suing Roger because they lost the election. Dont let it happen!

Roger Stone's latest pitch to his email list of supporters boils down to this: Donate right now because, literally, I am the next guy to get indicted. pic.twitter.com/sWAx2BQtSJ  Marshall Cohen (@MarshallCohen) August 26, 2018

Stone seemingly has a lot on his mind. On Monday, he posted a video on Instagram in which he claimed a source was pushing a fake news story to New Yorker journalist Ronan Farrow about overhearing Stone tell Trump he had advance knowledge of the content of the hacked Democratic emails that WikiLeaks released during the 2016 presidential campaign.

This is categorically false, Stone says in his video. This is exactly the epitome of fake news. He said the false narrative has also been pushed to The Washington Post and The New York Times.

So far, the outlets havent published anything of the sort.

Stone has previously acknowledged talking to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange before the email leaks. He has also said he communicated with Kremlin-linked Guccifer 2.0, identified by federal investigators as responsible for the hacks.

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A post shared by Roger Stone (@rogerjstonejr) on Aug 27, 2018 at 12:02pm PDT

Stone told the conservative website Political Insider in an interview posted Friday that he believed Mueller would indict Donald Trump Jr. for lying to the FBI about the reason for his 2016 meeting with a Kremlin-linked lawyer at Trump Tower. Trumps eldest son had hoped to get damaging information on Hillary Clinton during the campaign.

The special counsel is going to charge Donald Trump Jr. with lying to the FBI. Notice theyre not charging him for having an illegal meeting with a Russian at Trump Tower because theres nothing illegal about that meeting, Stone said.

The idea that there was nothing illegal about the meeting echoes the presidents attitude after he finally admitted this month that the aim of the huddle was to get dirt on Clinton. But several lawyers have pointed out that colluding with a foreign power in a bid to win an election may constitute conspiracy against the United States.

Also on HuffPost

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.By Andrew Osborn MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will next month hold its biggest war games since the fall of the Soviet Union, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday, a massive military exercise that will also involve the Chinese and Mongolian armies. The exercise, called Vostok-2018 (East-2018), will take place in central and eastern Russian military districts and involve almost 300,000 troops, more than 1,000 military aircraft, two of Russia's naval fleets, and all of its airborne units, Shoigu said in a statement. The maneuvers will take place at a time of heightened tension between the West and Russia, which is concerned about what it says is an unjustified build-up of the NATO military alliance on its western flank. NATO says it has beefed up its forces in eastern Europe to deter potential Russian military action after Moscow annexed Ukraine's Crimea in 2014 and backed a pro-Russian uprising in eastern Ukraine. The war games, which will take place from Sept. 11-15, are likely to worry Japan, which has already complained about a Russian military build-up in the Far East, something Moscow has linked to Tokyo's roll-out of the Aegis U.S. missile system. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is due to attend a forum in the Russian city of Vladivostok over the same period, and a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said on Tuesday that Tokyo always paid attention to shifts in Russian-Chinese military cooperation. Shoigu said the war games would be the biggest since a Soviet military exercise, Zapad-81 (West-81) in 1981. "In some ways they will repeat aspects of Zapad-81, but in other ways the scale will be bigger," Shoigu told reporters, while visiting the Russian region of Khakassia. Shoigu said that both Russia's Pacific and Northern Fleets would take part, while the Russian Ministry of Defense has said that Chinese and Mongolian military units will also participate. "A MORE ASSERTIVE RUSSIA" Asked if the cost of holding such a massive military exercise was justified at a time when Russia is faced with higher social spending demands, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said such war games were essential. "The country's ability to defend itself in the current international situation, which is often aggressive and unfriendly towards our country, means (the exercise) is justified," Peskov told reporters on a conference call. When asked if China's involvement meant Moscow and Beijing were moving towards an alliance, Peskov said it showed that the two were cooperating in all areas. China and Russia have taken part in joint military drills before but not on such a large scale. NATO spokesman Dylan White said that Russia had briefed the alliance on the planned exercise in May and that NATO would monitor it. Russia had invited military attaches from NATO countries based in Moscow to observe the war games, an offer he said was under consideration. "All nations have the right to exercise their armed forces, but it is essential that this is done in a transparent and predictable manner," White said in an emailed statement. "Vostok demonstrates Russias focus on exercising large-scale conflict. It fits into a pattern we have seen over some time: a more assertive Russia, significantly increasing its defense budget and its military presence." Shoigu this month announced the start of snap combat readiness checks in central and eastern military districts ahead of the planned exercise. "Imagine 36,000 armored vehicles - tanks, armored personnel carriers and armored infantry vehicles - moving and working simultaneously, and that all this, naturally, is being tested in conditions as close as possible to military ones," Shoigu said on Tuesday. (Additional reporting by Katya Golubkova and Andrey Kuzmin in Moscow, Robin Emmott in Brussels and Elaine Lies in Tokyo; Editing by Andrew Bolton)Istanbul (AFP) - Russia and Turkey are in intense negotiations to ensure the rebel-held province of Idlib does not become a breaking point in their alliance on Syria, but the long term fate of the area still risks provoking a rupture, analysts say.

President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan have spearheaded an unlikely but so far sustained partnership to bring peace to Syria since late 2016, despite being in theory on opposite sides of the civil war.

The cooperation now faces its biggest test over Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, bordering Turkey, which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad wants to recapture to complete a string of military successes.

Idlib has over the last years become an increasingly densely-populated region where problems in resolving the seven-year Syrian civil war were effectively dumped to be resolved at a later date.

That moment is now drawing closer with expectations of a government offensive and fears over the combustible mix in the province of displaced people from other Syrian regions, moderate rebels and Islamist radicals.

Erdogan has been a champion of the anti-Assad rebels and bitterly denounced Putin in the crisis that followed the shooting down of a Russian war plane by Turkey in November 2015.

But the burgeoning alliance with Moscow, which also includes cooperation in trade, energy and defence, is now of critical importance to Ankara at a time when a crisis in relations with the US has caused the Turkish lira to bleed value.

"There is still a hope in Moscow to find an agreement with Ankara that could allow the Syrian regime to take control of Idlib without a new rupture with Turkey," Kerim Has, a Moscow-based analyst on Turkish-Russian relations, told AFP.

He said Moscow was carefully watching Turkey-US ties and could launch a full operation at the "moment when the Turkish leadership is in most desperate need of the Kremlin's encouragement during a deepening Turkey-US crisis."

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- 'Limited offensive' -

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Friday led a delegation including Defence Minister Hulusi Akar and spy chief Hakan Fidan to Moscow to discuss the Idlib situation and also Moscow's planned delivery of S-400 missile systems to Turkey.

Cavusoglu warned that a "military solution" in Idlib, which he said is now home to 3.5 million people, would be a "catastrophe" and provoke a new refugee influx into Turkey where three million Syrians already live.

But he also said "radical groups and terrorists" in Idlib should be "neutralised", in comments seen as indicating Ankara could support a limited intervention.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said a differentiation should be made between moderate rebels and extremists, like the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (HTS) who control much of Idlib.

In a sign of the importance of the visit, Cavusoglu was received by President Putin, who praised the "deep cooperation" over Syria. Cavusoglu told Putin "your dear friend Mr Erdogan" expected him in Istanbul soon for dinner at a fish restaurant.

"Russia and Turkey are trying to find agreement with suitable terms for both sides," Timur Akhmetov, Ankara-based researcher at the Russian International Affairs Council, told AFP.

He predicted Russia and the Syrian regime would launch a "limited offensive" against groups linked to former Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front -- especially on factions that have irritated Moscow by launching swarm attacks with drones against its Hmeimim base, the heart of Russian operations in Syria.

"Russia is trying to encourage Turkey to have the opposition contribute to the offensive and in return, these groups will be spared from air attacks," Akhmetov added.

- 'Direct opposition' -

Yet as has been the case repeatedly for Idlib, a limited offensive will only temporarily sidestep the key issue, namely who will control the province long-term and eventually postwar.

And even if Russia can agree a compromise, it is not always the case that Assad automatically follows Moscow's line or that his other main ally Iran backs the Kremlin.

"The Russians and the Turks will be hard pressed to reach a sustainable, long-term agreement acceptable to the regime in northwestern Syria," Elizabeth Teoman, Turkey analyst for the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), told AFP.

Turkey has set up 12 so-called observation points in Idlib staffed by its military, ostensibly aimed at monitoring a de-escalation zone but which also serve to protect Ankara's interests.

Teoman said Erdogan could contemplate a possible limited offensive -- with Russian and Turkish interests overlapping for now on limiting a refugee influx and promoting reconstruction in Idlib.

She said the current discussions likely did not represent an "imminent breaking point" between Moscow and Ankara but warned: "Turkey's aspirations are in direct opposition to Assad's goals to crush the remnants of the Syrian rebellion."An asylum-seeker boat has reached Australia for the first time in almost four years, the government said Monday, with many of those on board the Vietnamese vessel fleeing into a crocodile-infested mangrove rainforest after running aground near the coast.

Locals said passengers from the rickety vessel disappeared into the dense forest near the Daintree River, north of popular tourist city Cairns, in the tropical far north of Queensland state on Sunday.

They will have to avoid crocodiles, venomous snakes, ferocious sandflies and giant cassowaries -- one of the world's deadliest and most aggressive birds -- that all call the ancient Daintree rainforest home.

Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation 15 passengers had been found so far.

The ABC added that two others, including the boat's captain, were still missing. The Brisbane Courier Mail reported that up to 20 were unaccounted for. It said those detained were well dressed and in good health.

State Emergency Service area controller Peter Rinaudo said earlier his crews were searching through the mangroves and near the mouth of the river, reportedly with dogs.

"It'll be a hard slog, it's still quite warm in there and it'll be tough conditions for the guys," he told the ABC.

"I hope the people, however many there are, get located -- it's not a nice area for them to be in."

A fisherman who spotted two asylum-seekers hiding in the mangroves said he took the pair on a tour of the Daintree River.

"We gave them a ride up the river and had a few laughs and we got them to help us pull in the crab pots", fisherman Justin Ward told television broadcaster Channel Nine, adding that they were taking photos and selfies.

He later broke it to the men that he would hand them over to the police.

- Tough policy -

Home affairs minister Peter Dutton said the partially sunk vessel had come from Vietnam and was the first boat of asylum-seekers to reach the country since 2014.

Story continues

"Australia, we believe, has received the first... people-smuggling venture in over 1,400 days," he told reporters.

"We will work with the agencies to make sure we can repatriate these people back to their country of origin, once we understand the facts of the matter."

Dutton did not confirm how many passengers were on board or their nationalities.

Under Canberra's tough immigration policy, asylum-seekers who try to reach Australia by boat are either turned back or sent to remote Pacific camps where conditions have been widely criticised. They are blocked from resettling in Australia.

The United Nations and human rights advocates say the policy violates the 1951 Refugee Convention of which Australia is a signatory.

Dutton reaffirmed the government's stance on Monday, saying the boat's arrival was "a reminder that people-smugglers have not gone out of business".

"We've had a very proud record, over the course of the last few years, and we aren't going to take a backward step. The people-smugglers... will not succeed in putting people on to boats to get to Australia."

Most asylum-seeker boats that have arrived in Australia in recent years embarked from Indonesia, though some originated in Sri Lanka.

Former Border Force chief Roman Quaedvlieg tweeted Monday that Vietnamese fishing boats "have been illegally fishing in fleets" off the far north Queensland coast in the past two years due to their own depleted fishing stocks.

"Possible the Daintree vessel & crew have used this activity as a staging point to make Oz landfall & avoid returning to VN (Vietnam)," he added.Political figures and civilians alike mourned the passing of Sen. John McCain on Saturday in their own ways. President Barack Obama released a statement noting McCains courage and strength; Sen. Tim Kaine reflected on what he learned from the late Senator; the White House decided on Monday to fly the flag at half-staff until his burial.

And Sen. Chuck Schumer proposed a resolution to honor McCains career of service by renaming a building after him. Schumers idea, which he announced in a tweet on Sunday, has quickly gained support from others on both sides of the aisle, from Sen. Nancy Pelosi to Sen. Jeff Flake.

The Senate, the United States, and the world are lesser places without John McCain.



Nothing will overcome the loss of Senator McCain, but so that generations remember him I will be introducing a resolution to rename the Russell building after him.  Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) August 26, 2018

The building to which Schumer is referring is the Russell Senate Office Building, the oldest U.S. Senate office building. At present, the building is named for Senator Richard Russell, a former U.S. senator for Georgia who served for 40 years. The building also has a memorial statue of Russell, which was erected in 1995.

Schumers proposal is not the least bit random: McCains office was housed in the Russell building, and the committee he chaired, the Senate Armed Services Committee, often meets in the building as well.

But who was Richard Russell?

Richard Brevard Russell Jr. was the governor of Georgia from 1931 to 1933 and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1932 in a special election that followed the death of Sen. William J. Harris, according to the American National Biography. A Navy veteran, Russell was nicknamed the senators Senator and the Georgia Giant, according to Gilbert C. Fites biography of Russell, for his prominence and popularity within the Senate.

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Richard Russell on the Aug. 12, 1957, cover of TIME

Like McCain, Russell served as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, where the Senate Historical Office says he worked toward strengthening the U.S. defense budget.

But the legislative legacy with which he is most associated is very different. Russell was a dedicated segregationist.

As the Senate Historical Office also points out about Russell, he often used his parliamentary skills as an adversary of the civil rights movement, opposing bills that would ban lynching and eliminate poll taxes that kept black men and women from voting despite the constitution guaranteeing them that right. A TIME cover story from 1938 reported that Russell had scoffed at attempts to prosecute and punish lynchers; a 1957 cover story reported on his floor speech denouncing what he saw as an attempt to destroy the separate system for the races on which the social order of the Southern states is built.

Russell co-authored the Declaration of Constitutional Principles, commonly dubbed the Southern Manifesto, for Congress in 1956. The Office of the Historian for the House of Representatives says that the document, signed by 101 congressmen, urged southerners to exhaust all lawful means to resist the chaos and confusion that would result from school desegregation. The manifesto was a response to 1954s Brown v. Board of Education decision, which made public school segregation illegal.

The culmination of Russells disdain for civil rights legislation came with his leading the charge of resistance to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Old Senate Office Building was named for Russell in 1972, the year after his death. Russell was chosen for the buildings rededication due to the overarching respect for [his] legislative skills, even among his opponents, the Senate Historical Office explains. Sen. Philip Hart, whod later become the namesake of the Hart Senate Office Building, voted against the name decision at the time on the reasoning that it was unwise to guess so soon what history would think of Russell.

This isnt the first time a proposal has come forward to strip his name from the building due to his legacy on civil rights. But Schumers proposal to rededicate the building in McCains honor will perhaps succeed where other attempts have failed, as historys answer on Russells civil rights views is clear  and as politicians across the spectrum seek to hold the Senate to a standard embodied for many by John McCain himself, and the quality that Obama described as his fidelity to something higher. Flash

President Xi Jinping on Monday underlined thorough and solid cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to benefit people in countries involved and build a community with a shared future for humanity.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, addressed a symposium held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, marking the fifth anniversary of the BRI.

Xi called for efforts to uphold dialogue and consultation, joint contribution, shared benefits, win-win cooperation, exchange and mutual learning and to promote political mutual trust, economic integration, people-to-people exchanges with the Belt and Road countries in order to advance the initiative step by step, producing achievements.

In the autumn of 2013, respectively in Kazakhstan and Indonesia, Xi proposed the building of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road -- the Belt and Road Initiative for short.

Xi stressed that the initiative serves as a solution for China to participate in global opening-up and cooperation, improve global economic governance, promote common development and prosperity, and build a community with a shared future for humanity.

China's trade with Belt and Road countries has exceeded 5 trillion U.S. dollars and outward direct investment has amounted to over 60 billion dollars, creating over 200,000 local jobs, he said.

Xi pointed out that jointly pursuing the BRI was not only aimed at economic cooperation but also an important pathway to improve global development patterns and global governance and promote the healthy development of economic globalization.

"The broad support for the BRI shows aspiration from countries involved, developing countries in particular, for peace and development," Xi said, noting the BRI is an initiative for economic cooperation, instead of a geopolitical alliance or military league, and it is an open and inclusive process rather than an exclusive bloc or "China club."

"It does not differentiate countries by ideology nor play the zero-sum game. As long as countries are willing to join, they are welcome," Xi said.

The next priority of jointly advancing the initiative is to realize its high-quality development, he said.

Xi asked for efforts to push for progress in Belt and Road projects, especially those delivering real benefits to local people, and keep expanding the market while maintaining the balance of trade.

He advocated a policy system on financial support for the BRI and encouraged non-governmental funds to invest in infrastructure and resource development projects in Belt and Road countries.

Work should be done to boost exchanges in areas of education, science, technologies, culture, sports, tourism, health and archaeology, he said.

Xi ordered authorities to regulate investment activities and pay high attention to forestalling risks overseas.

He also stressed importance of intensifying the CPC's leadership over the joint development of the BRI.

Vice Premier Han Zheng, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the leading group on advancing BRI development, presided over the meeting.Nairobi (AFP) - Kenya's deputy chief justice, the country's second-highest judge, was arrested Tuesday on corruption charges.

Philomena Mwilu, one of seven members of the Supreme Court, was among the judges who annulled President Uhuru Kenyatta's initial election win in August 2017, leading to the controversial holding of a fresh vote.

Kenya's director of public prosecutions, Noordin Haji, told journalists there was evidence she had abused her office for personal gain and accepted money as a gift in dubious circumstances.

She is also accused of failing to pay taxes and using false pretences to carry out a transaction involving an asset belonging to the Imperial Bank, which collapsed in 2015.

"This afternoon, I informed Chief Justice David Maraga of my decision to grant consent for the arrest and prosecution of the deputy chief justice, Lady Justice, Philomena Mbete Mwilu, on criminal charges," said Haji.

"This decision has not been taken lightly," he added. "The dignity and independence of the judiciary is dear to us."

Mwilu later appeared in court where she was released on bail of five million shillings ($50,000/42,000 euros). She is expected to face formal charges on Wednesday.

- A warning -

Her lead lawyer James Orengo -- who fought for the opposition NASA alliance in its Supreme Court battle to overturn the election outcome -- said he planned to challenge the proceedings on the grounds of constitutionality.

Three of Mwilu's other lawyers also took part in the election court battle on the side of the opposition.

Haji issued a warning to judges and investigators who, he said, "use their position to enrich themselves at the expense of the Kenyan people."

Mwilu was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2016, and shot into the limelight for her role in annulling Kenyatta's first poll win last year.

In October 2017, her bodyguard was shot dead the day before the Supreme Court was to hear a petition to postpone the re-run.

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As a result, Mwilu did not attend the hearing and the lack of a quorum meant the election went ahead unchallenged.

- Expect more -

Haji said her arrest was part of an ongoing crackdown against corruption, which has seen several high-ranking officials hauled into court, a rarity in graft-wracked Kenya whose citizens rarely see justice done.

"Many other cases are under investigation... and Kenyans should expect fresh investigations and prosecutions on a regular basis," he added.

Asked by a journalist whether Mwilu's prosecution was related to Kenyatta's threat to "fix the judiciary" after the annulment of his initial election, Haji insisted the decision was independently taken.

"We are an independent institution and we are not being directed by anyone or by any statements given out there, this decision was made independently of all other matters and factors," he said.

In response, opposition leader Raila Odinga said the signs were "troubling" but said he wanted to give the public prosecutor "the benefit of the doubt".By Richard Cowan and Makini Brice

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's trade deal with Mexico could struggle to win approval from Congress unless Canada comes on board, lawmakers from both parties said on Tuesday, saying support from Democrats would be needed to pass a purely bilateral deal.

Trump unveiled the Mexico deal on Monday and threatened to slap tariffs on Canadian-made cars if Canada did not join the revamp of the trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which Trump has long criticized.

If Trump, a Republican, tries to get the Senate to vote in favor of a bilateral deal as a replacement for NAFTA, he will face an uphill struggle to win passage, lawmakers said.

Some lawmakers said only a trilateral pact would be eligible for fast-track, 51-vote Senate approval.

A bilateral deal, on the other hand, would need 60 votes and that would require some support from Democrats, who likely would be reluctant to help Trump, they said. There are now 50 Republican-held seats in the 100-member Senate.

To get fast-track Senate ratification, "the administration must also reach an agreement with Canada," said Republican Senator Pat Toomey in a statement.

"NAFTA was a tri-party agreement only made operative with legislation enacted by Congress," said Toomey, a member of the committee that oversees trade policy.

"Any change, such as NAFTA's termination, would require additional legislation from Congress. Conversion into a bilateral agreement would not qualify for ... 'fast track' procedures and would therefore require 60 votes in the Senate."

A White House spokeswoman referred questions to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer's comments on Monday, when he said the White House was ready to notify Congress by Friday of Trump's intent to sign a bilateral document, but that it was open to Canada joining the pact.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland on Tuesday started her first negotiating session at Lighthizer's office in several months and told reporters: "We are encouraged by the progress that the U.S. and Mexico have made."

Story continues

Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer said a bilateral deal would face "serious legal concerns," while he also questioned a lack of details on the terms of the Mexico pact.

"I'm a little worried that this one is like North Korea. They have a nice announcement, but then we don't see the details," Schumer told reporters in a Capitol hallway.

U.S. stock markets surged on Monday after Trump said he had reached an understanding with Mexico. On Tuesday, stocks had given up some of their early gains by the closing bell.

Senator Ron Wyden, the senior Democrat on the trade committee, said: "We know very few details right now. There are real questions about whether this is even enforceable ... We are far from being done on this and the fact is you cannot really move this substantively without the Canadians."

In the House of Representatives, Democrat Bill Pascrell urged Republicans in a statement to convene a bipartisan House trade council to advise the White House.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan and Makini Brice, Additional reporting by Jeff Mason, Steve Holland, Susan Cornwell, Lisa Lambert and Amanda Becker; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Rosalba O'Brien and Susan Thomas)Starbucks is joining forces with Nestle to market its packaged goods across the globe. This would allow the coffee giant to place its focus elsewhere. Yahoo Finances Dan Roberts, Rick Newman, and Julia La Roche break down the details.Khartoum (AFP) - South Sudan rebel chief Riek Machar on Tuesday refused to sign a final peace deal with the government that aims to end a brutal civil war, a Sudanese mediator said.

"The main South Sudanese opposition groups, including the SPLM-IO (Machar faction), refused to sign the final document demanding that their reservations be guaranteed in it," Sudanese Foreign Minister Al-Dierdiry Ahmed told reporters.

The warring South Sudanese parties have held weeks of talks in Khartoum in search of a comprehensive peace deal to end the conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions in the world's youngest country since it erupted in December 2013.

Machar and his arch foe, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, have already inked several agreements, including a permanent ceasefire and a power-sharing deal, but on Tuesday the rebel leader refused to sign the final document.

"For the first time, the opposition told us that it will not sign," Ahmed said, showing the draft text to reporters and diplomats who had gathered for what was expected to be a preliminary signing ceremony in the Sudanese capital.

"South Sudan will not have peace unless these groups sign."

The Sudanese minister said the opposition's refusal to sign spelled the end of the current Khartoum talks.

"This was the last round of negotiation," Ahmed said, adding that the mediators will submit the final text to the East African regional bloc IGAD which has led the South Sudan peace push.Moscow (AFP) - Russia's defence minister said on Tuesday that war-torn Syria would be ready to accept one million returning refugees, following Moscow-backed reconstruction work.

"Since 2015, when towns and villages gradually started to be freed, more than one million people have returned home," Sergei Shoigu said in comments reported by Russian news agencies.

"Now every opportunity has been created for the return of roughly one million (more) refugees," he told journalists.

"Huge infrastructure reconstruction work is ongoing, the rebuilding of transport routes and security points so that Syria can begin accepting refugees."

Russia, a long-time ally of Syria, launched a military intervention in 2015 to support the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad, a move that changed the course of the war.

Assad and his allies have since recovered swathes of territory and the government is turning its attention to post-conflict reconstruction, with the aid of Moscow.

The war that erupted in 2011, one of the most devastating conflicts since World War II, has displaced more than half of Syria's population, including more than five million beyond its borders.

Most of them fled to neighbouring countries, particularly Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.

Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump discussed the return of refugees at a summit in Helsinki last month.

Moscow later said it had put forward plans to Washington to cooperate on their return to Syria but details have yet to be confirmed.By Andreas Rinke and Paul Carrel BERLIN (Reuters) - Talk of Britain leaving the European Union without an exit deal is more a negotiating position than a reality as such a scenario would benefit neither side, Ireland's foreign minister told Reuters on Tuesday. With just seven months to go until it leaves the EU on March 29, Britain has yet to reach an agreement with the bloc on the terms of its departure. British Prime Minister Theresa May's plan for a "business-friendly" deal has failed to impress negotiators in Brussels and has been heavily criticized at home. Earlier on Tuesday, Sky News reported that May had said that failing to secure a deal with the EU before Britain leaves the bloc next year "wouldn't be the end of the world". But Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney told Reuters: "I think the chances of a no-deal Brexit are very slim." "I think talk of being able to survive or manage a no-deal Brexit is more a negotiating position than it is reality," he added in an interview. "Nobody benefits from a 'no-deal' Brexit and we all have a responsibility to ensure that doesn't happen." The EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said earlier this month a deal with Britain was needed "not much later" than in early November and that the bloc was not working towards a "no-deal" Brexit, though it had to prepare for it. "I think it is possible to get a deal well in advance of the end of the year," Coveney said. Turning to migration policy, another big issue vexing the EU, Coveney called for "action and practical measures" and said all member states needed to make a contribution. The EU has sought a common migration policy since 2015, when more than a million refugees, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, entered the bloc, putting a heavy burden on countries like Greece and Italy at the edge of Schengen. The Czech Republic and other central European countries like Hungary, Poland and Slovakia have long opposed a Brussels-prescribed quota system to re-distribute asylum seekers. The idea was officially dropped at an EU summit in June, replaced with agreements to share out refugees on a voluntary basis and other measures to deal with asylum requests. "Countries that are willing to take migrants and refugees in order to share the burden with countries that are bordering the Mediterranean should be encouraged to do that," Coveney said. "And countries that refuse to actually take migrants, I believe should be made to actually make significant financial contributions to helping the EU response towards the overall migration crisis." (Writing by Paul Carrel)Tesla (TSLA) is a "hope stock" with little chance of success in the car-manufacturing industry, a fund manager told CNBC on Tuesday.

"Are we living in the real world?" Tesla is just another one of those hope stocks," Peter Toogood, chief investment officer at The Embark Group, said on CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe."

Tesla's share price took a nosedive Monday after the company's Chief Executive Elon Musk abruptly halted plans to take the firm private.

Musk had shocked investors on August 7 by announcing his aim to remove Tesla from the stock market at $420 per share. The firm's shares have shed almost 16 percent off their value since.

Days after that initial announcement, Musk said that Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund had approached him "multiple times" about taking the firm off the public market, lifting hopes that Tesla could raise some much-needed cash to help its drive toward profitability. Such hopes of a Saudi deal have waned since Musk's U-turn on taking Tesla private.

Despite Toogood's bearish thoughts on Tesla's auto manufacturing abilities, the analyst said there was "hope" for the firm in its self-driving technology.

"The only bit that has got hope is the autonomous driving," Toogood said, adding, "(but) the idea to compete on a platform basis with cars; it's losing money every time it sells one."

The investment manager said that the lack of a network for servicing Tesla cars was also a point of concern. Some international customers, for instance, have bemoaned repair waiting times, as parts need to be shipped from overseas.

"He's losing money every time he sells a car today, and he can't service them," Toogood said. "Ask Norway, they can't actually get the car serviced because there's no network to service them. It's just not real."

Norway is considered an electric vehicle-friendly country due to subsidies aimed at improving affordability and an overall target of going all-electric by 2025.

Story continues

"Tesla continues to be a transformational company, especially on Model 3 production and demand," Daniel Ives, chief strategy officer and head of technology research at GBH Insights, told CNBC in an email Tuesday.

"However, this last month has been a nightmare for Tesla bulls and the Street continues to put the company in the investor penalty box, given all the uncertainty surrounding the name in the near-term with the going-private fiasco front and center. At this point there are more questions than answers on Tesla."

Tesla's stock price target was cut by a number of brokers on Monday and Tuesday, including CFRA, Independent Research and Canaccord Genuity .

Musk is the largest investor in Tesla, owning almost a fifth of the company's shares. Market observers have expressed worries over his leadership, citing the executive's presence on Twitter (TWTR), involvement in public issues and general disdain for the media as causes for concern.Ottawa (AFP) - US electric automaker Tesla has won a lawsuit against Canada's most populous province of Ontario after its new government scrapped a rebate initiative for electric car purchases.

The Electric and Hydrogen Vehicle Incentive Program, launched by the previous Ontario Liberal administration, offered rebates of up to Can$14,000 (US$11,000) on qualifying vehicles.

But the program was scrapped along with other Ontario green energy initiatives when a new Tory government came to power in July.

The government told AFP it is reviewing the ruling and "will make a decision on how to proceed in the coming days."

Tesla spokeswoman Gina Antonini said: "We're pleased with the court's decision to strike down the ministry's transition plan as unfair and unlawful."

"Tesla only sought fair treatment for our customers and we hope the ministry now does the right thing by delivering on its promise to ensure all EV-owners receive their incentives during the wind-down period," she said.

Tesla's suit centered on the exclusion of hundreds of Tesla buyers from a transition plan that allowed customers who bought other electric cars before July to remain eligible for rebates until mid-September.

In its complaint, Tesla slammed the "arbitrary" exclusion, saying it put its customers into an "unfair position of no longer being eligible for the rebate they had expected to receive when they ordered their vehicles, while purchasers of other brands and from other dealers will still receive the rebate during a transition period."

It asked the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to strike down the limitation of the transition program that excluded Tesla customers waiting on some 600 Model 3 vehicle orders.

In a scathing ruling, Justice Frederick Myers called the government's decision favoring some electric car buyers but not others "egregious."

He acknowledged the government's right to cancel the subsidies, but said that Ontario unlawfully "singled out Tesla for reprobation and harm."UNITED NATIONS (AP)  Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for accountability for the "horrendous persecution" of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar on Tuesday, and Sweden and the Netherlands urged the Security Council to refer the crimes to the International Criminal Court. But China, which has close ties to Myanmar's government, said the international community should stop putting pressure on Myanmar and let its government work out the repatriation of Rohingya refugees as soon as possible with Bangladesh, where nearly one million have fled. The council meeting, commemorating the one-year anniversary of Myanmar's latest violent crackdown that led about 700,000 Rohingya to flee, reflected the deep division over addressing the Rohingya crisis.

BEIJING (AP)  More than a dozen human rights groups have sent a letter to Google urging the company not to offer censored internet search in China, amid reports it is planning to again begin offering the service in the giant Asian market. The joint letter dated Tuesday calls on CEO Sundar Pichai to explain what Google is doing to safeguard users from the Chinese government's censorship and surveillance. It describes the censored search engine app, codenamed "Dragonfly", as representing "an alarming capitulation by Google on human rights. "The Chinese government extensively violates the rights to freedom of expression and privacy; by accommodating the Chinese authorities' repression of dissent, Google would be actively participating in those violations for millions of internet users in China," said the letter That follows a letter earlier this month signed by more than a thousand Google employees protesting the company's secretive plan to build a search engine that would comply with Chinese censorship.

MANILA, Philippines (AP)  A bomber who killed two people and wounded 35 at a town festival in the southern Philippines offered fruit to people in hopes of evading suspicion when he abandoned the bag that also contained the bomb, a Philippine military commander said Wednesday. Wary residents still alerted police when the man hurriedly left the bag under a parked motorcycle near a night market, Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana told The Associated Press by telephone. Troops chased the man when villagers pointed to him but he fled on a motorcycle that had its engine already running in the chaos caused by the explosion Tuesday night in Isulan town in Sultan Kudarat province

Story continues

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP)  Amnesty International on Wednesday urged Malaysia to quash a caning sentence for a lesbian couple, calling the punishment cruel and unjust. Two unidentified ethnic Malay women, aged 22 and 32, had pleaded guilty for attempting to have sexual intercourse and were sentenced to six strokes of a cane and fined by a Shariah court earlier this month. The caning in northeast Terengganu state was due Tuesday but reportedly postponed to Sept. 3 due to technical reasons. Court officials couldn't be immediately reached for comment. Amnesty's Malaysian director Gwen Lee welcomed the deferment but said a delay was insufficient.

UNITED NATIONS (AP)  U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley says the Trump administration expects to see two Reuters journalists accused by Myanmar's government of illegally possessing official documents acquitted of all charges next week. A Myanmar judge postponed the verdict in the case of Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone on Monday, saying it will be announced on Sept. 3. The two reporters have pleaded not guilty to violating Myanmar's colonial-era Official Secrets Act. They contend they were framed by police while reporting on Myanmar's brutal crackdown on Rohingya Muslims. Haley told the Security Council Tuesday that "a free and responsible press is critical for any democracy." U.N.

BANGKOK (AP)  Thailand's military junta announced Tuesday it will ease some restrictions on political parties to let them conduct basic functions and prepare for elections set for early next year, but campaigning will still be forbidden. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said after a junta meeting that the new rules would allow political parties to hold meetings, make adjustments to regulations, appoint managers and accept new members ahead of polls loosely scheduled for February. He said the restrictions would be eased "soon" via a special executive order. Political gatherings of five or more people were banned by the military junta after it seized power from an elected government in a May 2014 coup.

TOKYO (AP)  A Japanese man released by North Korea after being accused of an unspecified crime arrived back in Japan on Tuesday, officials and reports said. Tomoyuki Sugimoto, who was arrested in early August, had been in North Korean custody during an investigation into the alleged crime. The North's official Korean Central News Agency said Sunday that the country decided to be lenient and expel him for humanitarian reasons. Reports said Sugimoto arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday night on a flight from Beijing. A crowd of reporters waiting in the arrival area was unable to see him, apparently because he was escorted out through a different exit.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Australia's former foreign minister on Tuesday described the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines flight over Ukraine in 2014 as the most emotional time of her life. Julie Bishop was reflecting on her five years as Australia's first woman foreign minister after she quit the Cabinet following an unsuccessful bid last week to become prime minister. Most of new Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Cabinet was sworn in on Tuesday, including new Foreign Minister Marise Payne. Bishop said she remained in contact with the families of the 38 Australian citizens and residents who were among the 298 people killed when a missile brought down Flight 17 on July 17, 2014.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP)  Fourteen Cambodian opposition activists were freed Tuesday from long prison terms, their pardons coming as the latest in a series of releases engineered by Prime Minister Hun Sen after his party's election sweep last month. The 14 former members of the now-disbanded opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party were convicted of insurrection in connection with a street protest four years ago that turned violent. By many accounts, the violence was started by pro-government agitators, and the arrests of the opposition members were seen as political persecution. Those freed Tuesday were serving prison terms ranging from seven to 20 years, the longer sentences given to those seen as leaders of the July 15, 2014, protest in Phnom Penh.

MANILA, Philippines (AP)  Relatives of several people slain in the Philippine president's anti-drug campaign asked the International Criminal Court on Tuesday to prosecute him for alleged crimes against humanity, in the second such request for a ruling on thousands of deaths that have occurred during the crackdown. Lawyer Edre Olalia said a 50-page complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte was sent to an ICC prosecutor by email. Olalia said it accuses Duterte of ordering, inciting or tolerating the drug killings from the start of his presidency in mid-2016 to this month. The Duterte administration said it expects the effort to fail.President Donald Trump accused Google of rigging its search engine results to feature overwhelmingly negative coverage of him and others.

The Fake New Media, according to Trumps early Tuesday tweets, makes up 96 percent of the news displayed in Googles search for Trump News. He accused the search engine of not including Republican, Conservative and Fair media, a practice he dubbed illegal.

He threatened that the situation will be addressed.

Google search results for Trump News shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96% of....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 28, 2018

....results on Trump News are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous. Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 28, 2018

Larry Kudlow, Trumps economic adviser, told The Washington Post on Tuesday that the administration was taking a look at whether the government should regulate Google searches.

Google disputed the notion that it was using political favoritism to tailor its search results.

When users type queries into the Google Search bar, our goal is to make sure they receive the most relevant answers in a matter of seconds, the company said in a statement. Search is not used to set a political agenda and we dont bias our results toward any political ideology. Every year, we issue hundreds of improvements to our algorithms to ensure they surface high-quality content in response to users queries. We continually work to improve Google Search and we never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment.

Story continues

Trump regularly rants against media outlets whose coverage he doesnt agree with, and that at times also includes internet platforms. In October 2016, he tweeted, Wow, Twitter, Google and Facebook are burying the FBI criminal investigation of Clinton.

But on July 19, he referred to Google as one of our great companies.

He has also criticized Facebook in the past for always being anti-Trump, accusing the social media giant of colluding with news outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post.

And he accused Twitter of illegally shadow-banning Republicans last month, a term used by Vice News to describe how certain Republicans werent coming up in search results.

On Aug. 18, he said social media companies were totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices.

Trump also typically uses the term rigged to describe special counsel Robert Muellers probe into Russian involvement in the 2016 election.

This article has been updated with comment from Kudlow and Google.

Related Coverage

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Donald Trump's Social Media Solution? A Free-For-All For Both The 'Good And Bad'

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Flash

Russia on Monday blasted the U.S. sanctions over an alleged poison attack on a former Russian spy, saying Moscow will "withstand" and respond to Washington's "brute pressure."





In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the Russian embassy to the United States said the sanctions that took effect on the same day were "hostile," "illegitimate" and "one-sided."





"Decisions are made with zero attempts to look into things, while ignoring our calls for dialogue, in absence of any real proof of 'Russia's guilt,'" it said, accusing the U.S. mainstream media of spreading "absurd accusations against our country."





"It feels like local politicians have an unhealthy craving for demolishing the fundamental basis of bilateral relations, on which rests the global security," it said, noting that U.S. "political elites seem to ignore the fact that every new 'seizure' of American sanctions 'fever' brings the U.S. close to the point of no return in resolving pressing international issues - joint fight against terrorism and danger of WMD falling into the hands of non-governmental entities."





"It is clear that the worst Cold War scenarios, the ones the world should have forsaken 30 years ago, are now taking shape. Instead, it turns out that no one is safe from brute pressure of Washington," the embassy said, adding that "the U.S. public has to know that sanctions against Russia are futile. They meet the interests of neither Russian, nor American people."





"Not everyone can withstand it. But Russia can," it said, referring to U.S. punishment actions. "We do not accept Washington's hostile sanctions. They will have no effect on our determination to follow our own course in international relations."





Also on the same day, the Kremlin was quoted by media as saying that it needed time to assess the impact of U.S. sanctions before considering retaliatory response, but President Vladimir Putin would act in line with Russia's national interest.





Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov was quoted by media outlets as saying that Russia has drawn up a group of response in case Washington imposes sanctions on Russian sovereign debt.





On Monday, the U.S. Federal Register said in a notice that U.S. sanctions came into effect on the same day.





The Department of State has determined that "the Government of the Russian Federation has used chemical weapons in violation of international law or lethal chemical weapons against its own nationals," it said.





U.S. foreign assistance, the licensing of defense articles and services, and the licensing of national security-sensitive goods and technology concerning effort to Russia would be banned.





Russia will also be denied of "any credit, credit guarantees, or other financial assistance by any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States Government, including the Export-Import Bank of the United States."





However, the notice read that the Department of State "has determined and certified to Congress ... that it is essential to the national security interests of the United States to partially waive the application of the sanctions."





This included the issuance of licenses in support of government space cooperation and commercial space launches, the safety of flight of civil fixed-wing passenger aviation, and transactions with Russian nationals, wholly-owned U.S. subsidiaries in Russia, and Russian state-owned or state-funded enterprises, "provided that such licenses shall be issued on a case-by-case basis."





"These measures shall be implemented by the responsible departments and agencies of the United States Government and will remain in place for at least one year and until further notice," said Christopher Ford, assistant secretary of state, in the notice.





Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, aged 66, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping center in Britain's southwestern city of Salisbury on March 4. Britain claimed the pair was exposed to a nerve agent and holds Russia responsible, while the Russian government has denied any involvement in it.





The U.S. State Department said on Aug. 8 that the country will impose new sanctions on Russia over the case.





"These sanctions will take effect upon publication of a notice in the Federal Register, expected on or around August 22, 2018," said State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert.Roger Stone, longtime advisor to US President Donald Trump, said he thinks he is the next one to be indicted by special prosecutor Robert Mueller in the FBI's Russia investigation: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Roger Stone, an associate of Donald Trump, said special prosecutor Robert Mueller is coming for me as part of the FBIs investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign team and Russian officials.

Mr Stone, in an email to supporters asking for assistance to fund the legal fees he anticipates occurring, also wrote he is on Mr Muellers hit list.

Im next on the crooked special prosecutors hit list because Ive advised Donald Trump for the past 39 years. I am being targeted not because I committed a crime, but because the deep state liberals want to silence me and pressure me to testify against my good friend, the email read.

The longtime political consultant known for his opposition research told The Guardian via a text message, Mr Mueller may frame me for some bogus charge in order to silence me or induce me to testify against the president.

A fundraising website has also been set up by an accounting firm in Florida.

The url whoframedrogerstone.com appears to be a nod to the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

The website reads: The Congressional investigations into Roger are a runaway train. To silence Roger and destroy him and his family, the Clinton/Obama DNC and their sore loser supporters are suing Roger because they lost the election.

The website said Mr Stones legal fees could reach up to $2m (1.5m).

Mr Stone has also posted a video on Instagram in which he alleged somebody has been pushing a fake news story about how he had advanced knowledge of the Democratic National Committees hacked emails made public by Wikileaks during the summer of 2016.

This is categorically false, Mr Stone said in the video posted on 27 August.

Mr Stone has denied any wrongdoing but previously admitted to being in contact with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and Kremlin-linked hacker Guccifer 2.0. The Manhattan Madame Kristen Davis was also questioned as part of the Russia investigation, specifically about her relationship with Mr Stone.

Story continues

His email plea comes just one week after two other associates of the president made headlines.

Paul Manafort, former 2016 campaign manager, was found guilty on eight counts of tax and bank fraud.

Mr Trumps former personal lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight similar counts of fraud and campaign finance violations. He also implied he committed the crimes at the behest of the president.It seems that someone needs to explain the concept of SEO to President Donald Trump after another early morning tweetstorm, this time aimed at search results on Google.

SEE ALSO: Trump's awkward call with the president of Mexico gets mashed with 'Veep' credits

Trump unleashed his criticism in early morning tweets that sound exactly like the type of thing a person who regularly Googles himself (or has someone do it for him) might say, especially if he's not happy with the results. (Note: Trump deleted the original tweets because on contained the phrase "Fake New" but reposted nearly identical ones with the proper "Fake News" claim around 11 a.m. ET on Tuesday).

Google search results for Trump News shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96% of....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 28, 2018

....results on Trump News are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous. Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 28, 2018

Okay, a couple of things.

First, Trump is complaining that the top results are from "Fake News." When you consider that Trump's deemed every non-Fox News outlet to be "Fake News"  including the sites for CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, the New York Times, and the Washington Post  then, sure, this would fit his narrative.

Story continues

Second, as Matthew Gertz of progressive news watchdog Media Matters points out, Trump seemed to be tweeting about Monday's episode of Lou Dobbs' show on Fox Business.

Good morning. The president was up before dawn this morning watching and tweeting about last night's episode of Fox's Lou Dobbs Tonight.



Left, Dobbs, 7:30 pm

Right, Trump, 5:24 am pic.twitter.com/7eArOEwChe  Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) August 28, 2018

And, most tellingly, Dobbs was citing a study by conservative media outlet PJ Media which based its findings off of a media chart by conservative pundit Sharyl Attkisson.

Dobbs' take was that Google is "banning" and "suppressing" conservative news sites from appearing in their results. His source is a piece from PJ Media that sorted results based on "Sharyl Attkisson's media bias chart," which lists the Washington Post & the NY Times as far left. pic.twitter.com/c9WTCbj5QQ  Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) August 28, 2018

There is a lot wrong with the above chart, but you'd be forgiven if you didn't trust the analysis simply for the fact that it claims Info Wars (a site whose founder once bemoaned the government "turning... frogs gay") is closer to center than NPR, the BBC, or the New York Times.

It's true that Google's search results can be incredibly problematic, but Trump's complaints paint a simple-minded conspiracy where the truth is actually very complex and based around a series of constantly shifting algorithms, geographic-specific rankings, and changes based on searches via mobile.

And for all of this information that we do have, there's even more we don't know about how Google search actually works because Google has steadfastly refused, like many other platforms, to be fully transparent about its inner workings.

Hours after Trump's tweetstorm, White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow told press that the administration's "taking a look at" Google searches.

"We're taking a look at it," says WH econ advisor Larry Kudlow, asked if the Administration thinks Google searches should be regulated, following @POTUS complaint today that it's rigged against him. pic.twitter.com/6DJdhE0dyf  Mark Knoller (@markknoller) August 28, 2018

Google has since denied the president's accusations.

Breaking: Google statement in response to Trump tweet pic.twitter.com/QqMuxQ7gkj  Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) August 28, 2018

As for Trump's search results, as of 9:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, the top Google search results for Trump were all about...Trump and Google.

Image: google

While those top two results for me  ABC News and the Washington Post  are perfectly reliable sources, Trump-friendly Fox News comes in at number three, which seems to undermine Trump's claims of suppression.President Donald Trump has a complicated relationship with the media. Outside of Fox News, the president seems to believe that most, if not all, news organizations are biased against him and his administration. On Tuesday, though, Trump set his sights on Google (GOOG, GOOGL).

In an early-morning tweet, the president claimed that Google News only shows news from the National Left-Wing Media; suggested that doing so might be illegal; alleged that Google and others are suppressing voices of Conservatives; and asserted that the situation will be addressed.

President Trump claims that Google News is biased against conservatives.

But even if Trumps claims were accurate, theres little he could actually do to change what Google shows its users.

Under current statutory and constitutional law, it is absolutely not illegal for a private media company like Google News to show only certain kinds of newsleft-leaning, right-leaning, you name it, Genevieve Lakier, an assistant law professor at the University of Chicagos law school, told Yahoo Finance.

How Google News works

Google News is the search giants news aggregation page, which provides users with headlines and links to the days top stories. According to the companys own explainer on how items are chosen for Google News, the majority of the headlines a user sees are selected via Googles algorithms, which are based on your past usage history including via Google Search, YouTube and other properties, as well as subjects in which youve indicated your interest via the News app.

There are instances when humans curate stories within Google News, but they are relatively limited. Publishers, for example, can choose which stories appear in their respective sections of the Newstand portion of the Google News App. For instance, CNN can choose what it shows in the CNN section, while USA Today can choose what appears in the USA Today section.

Googles editorial team can also add temporary topics for major events such as the Olympics or elections, and can add follow-up links to relevant search results. For example, Google says it could show a link to How to register to vote, under the Elections section. That, however, doesnt mean Google has any bias as to what shows up in Google News.

Story continues

Following Trumps tweet, Google released the following statement:

When users type queries into the Google Search bar, our goal is to make sure they receive the most relevant answers in a matter of seconds. Search is not used to set a political agenda and we dont bias our results toward any political ideology. Every year, we issue hundreds of improvements to our algorithms to ensure they surface high-quality content in response to users queries. We continually work to improve Google Search and we never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment.

Is it illegal to hide news stories?

But what if Google chose to discriminate against specific news sources or based on certain topics as Trump claims. Would doing so be illegal? Not according to two legal experts who spoke to Yahoo Finance.

President Trumps assertions are basically empty bluster, explained University at Buffalo law professor Mark Bartholomew. Google is a private business with a proprietary algorithm that determines the news stories its users see.

He added: There is little the government can do that would directly alter what news this business decides to highlight for its users. The First Amendment represents an enormous bulwark for Google against government intervention in this regard.

Can Trump do anything to change this?

As Lakier points out, the First Amendment protects a persons or companys right to favor speakers based on their viewpoints. It would, however, be illegal for the government to favor one person, company or groups viewpoints over anothers. But since Google is a private company and not a government entity, it is free to express any viewpoint it pleases.

This means that even if the president were able to convince the Congress to enact a law prohibiting media companies from engaging in the kind of viewpoint discrimination he accused Google News of engaging in, that law would likely face an immediate First Amendment challengea First Amendment challenge I cannot see how it would win, Lakier said.

That doesnt necessarily mean the Trump administration has its hands tied. In fact, the Trump administration could target other parts of Googles business to pressure the company into changing how it displays news stories about him.

He could threaten antitrust enforcement against Google. He could try to encourage federal authorities to scrutinize more closely Googles information tracking practices, possibly contending they run afoul of consumer protection laws, Bartholomew explained.

But these are indirect efforts. Theres little the president can do if he doesnt like the news stories that come up on Google, just as theres little he can do if he doesnt like the stories written about him in The New York Times, he added.

More from Dan:

Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@oath.com; follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley. Follow Yahoo Finance on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedInPresident Trump has been mocked for coloring in the American flag incorrectly during a visit to a childrens hospital in Ohio. The U.S. president was photographed adding a blue stripe to an outline of the star-spangled banner, rather than correctly filling in the 13 alternating red and white stripes, representing the original colonies.President Trump spoke to reporters during a meeting in the Oval Office and remarked that Google, Facebook and Twitter were treading on very, very troubled territory. The president's comments came after he tweeted that Google rigged its search results.Washington (AFP) - Donald Trump bowed to pressure Monday to honor the late John McCain, ordering that flags be lowered to half-staff across the country, as the late senator fired a parting shot at the president in a farewell message to the United States.

Trump's about-face came after he found himself mired in controversy over his rather conspicuous failure to pay tribute to McCain, who died Saturday at 81 after a year-long battle with brain cancer.

When veterans' groups launched appeals for a more fitting salute to McCain, a Navy veteran who was imprisoned for more than five years in Vietnam, the Republican leader -- who had no love lost for the Arizona senator -- blinked.

"Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain's service to our country," Trump said in a statement as he ordered the flag atop the White House and elsewhere to fly at half-staff until McCain's burial on Sunday.

He later told evangelical leaders that "we very much appreciate everything that senator McCain has done for our country."

The White House flag was lowered after McCain's death on Saturday -- but it was once again at the top of the flagpole on Monday morning.

Trump's initial silence about McCain underscored the isolation of the US leader and fueled criticism that he is incapable of bringing a divided nation together even as it mourns a man widely seen as an American hero and a political icon.

In Phoenix, where a week of tributes to McCain was soon to get under way, the two-time presidential candidate's former campaign manager Rick Davis confirmed that Trump would not be attending the funeral.

However, Vice President Mike Pence is set to speak at a ceremony honoring McCain at the US Capitol on Friday.

White House chief of staff John Kelly, Defense Secretary James Mattis and National Security Advisor John Bolton will represent the administration during services.

- 'Tribal rivalries' -

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In Phoenix, Davis read a posthumous statement that made a final jab at Trump.

"We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe," McCain said.

"We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been," he said -- -- an apparent reference to Trump's plans for a border wall.

- Long-running enmity -

McCain, who served as a senator from Arizona for more than 30 years, clashed repeatedly with Trump even though they were both Republicans, and the president initially paid scant tribute to the senator after his death.

The Washington Post reported that White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, Chief of Staff Kelly and other senior staff had urged a statement be released referring to McCain as a "hero" -- but Trump opted for a terse, impersonal tweet instead.

The enmity between Trump and McCain dates from the day the real estate tycoon announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination with an attack on Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists.

During the 2016 campaign, Trump mocked McCain's war service. In the years since, McCain was Trump's loudest Republican critic, especially as the president disrupted America's long-time alliances.

McCain's remains will lie in state at Arizona's capitol on Wednesday, before a public viewing Friday in the rotunda of the US Capitol -- an honor reserved for the likes of John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and civil rights champion Rosa Parks.

The two men who defeated McCain in his White House campaigns, Republican George W. Bush in 2000 and Democrat Barack Obama in 2008, are expected to deliver eulogies at a Saturday service at the National Cathedral in Washington.

Among the pallbearers will be Democratic former vice president Joe Biden, ex-senator Russ Feingold, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and actor Warren Beatty.

McCain will be buried Sunday at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in a private funeral service.

- Bipartisan praise -

In Washington, McCain's death has been a rare occasion for bipartisan praise for his lifetime in public service.

Tributes have poured in from every living former president honoring the former Navy aviator for his courage, integrity and decency.

On Capitol Hill, his desk on the Senate floor was draped with a black cloth, and adorned with white roses.

Senators returning to work were saddened by his passing.

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is proposing a bill to rename one of the upper chamber's buildings after McCain, spoke of a great and unexpressable loss."

"In stark relief to what now passes for our politics, he continues to serve as a beacon to who we are and who we can be when we are at our best," said Jeff Flake, who was McCain's fellow Arizona senator.

"If John McCain can forgive the North Vietnamese torturers, we can at least forgive each other."By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House lowered its U.S. flag to half-staff, raised it back up and on Monday lowered it again after the death of Senator John McCain, in an unusual and confusing break with protocol on the passing of a national leader. McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam, longtime U.S. senator from Arizona and 2008 Republican presidential nominee, died of brain cancer on Saturday at age 81. That prompted many Americans to lower flags to half-staff, a traditional gesture of honor. But President Donald Trump, who had clashed with fellow Republican McCain over various issues and said during his campaign that the senator was "not a war hero," wavered in his approach to what presidents normally treat as a gesture of courtesy and respect. Trump's White House lowered its flag on Saturday, then raised it back following the minimum period under law. Trump also delayed issuing the customary proclamation for flags to remain at half-staff for longer than the two-day minimum. Finally, under pressure from veterans and members of Congress, Trump said in a statement later on Monday that he respected McCain's service to the nation and had ordered flags to half-staff. In a letter to Trump on its Facebook page, the American Legion veterans group had urged the White House "to follow long-established protocol following the death of prominent government officials." The Legion described McCain as a "cherished member." After a day of ignoring shouted questions about McCain, Trump broke his silence during a gathering of evangelical leaders at the White House on Monday evening. "Our hearts and prayers are going to the family of Senator John McCain ... and we very much appreciate everything Senator McCain has done for our country," he told the religious leaders. Through most of Monday, confusion reigned across the federal government, with flags flying at half-staff over the U.S. Capitol and at hundreds of national parks, but at full-staff over the Pentagon and the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security had issued a government-wide notification after McCain's death to lower flags at U.S. facilities but rescinded it on Monday, leaving the decision to staff at individual sites, according to an official. 'SOMEWHAT SHOCKING' Presidents normally follow Congress' lead on the death of a prominent lawmaker and order flags lowered until sunset on the day of burial. Critics of the president saw his reticence as a final slight against McCain. "I doubt you could find a comparable situation where the president doesn't order the flag flown at half-mast until the funeral," said John Lawrence, history professor at the University of California's Washington Center. "The disparity between the Congress and White House policy is obviously noticeable and somewhat shocking." McCain was a frequent Trump critic and his family has said he did not want the president to attend his funeral. A family spokesman issued a farewell statement from McCain in which he said of the United States: "We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries ... We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been." (Reporting by David Morgan; Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell, Steve Holland, Tim Gardner, Amanda Becker, Phil Stewart, Tim Ahmann and Jeff Mason; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Peter Cooney)By John Whitesides (Reuters) - A contentious three-way U.S. Senate battle in Arizona on Tuesday among Republicans fighting to prove the depth of their allegiance to President Donald Trump tops the last big day of state nominating contests before November's elections. Voters there and in Florida were heading to the polls to pick candidates for Nov. 6, when Democrats will try to pick up 23 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and two seats in the Senate to gain majorities and slam the brakes on Trump's legislative agenda. In Arizona, a Southwestern state that Trump won by 4 percentage points in the 2016 White House race, Republican establishment favorite U.S. Representative Martha McSally has led consistently in opinion polls over former state Senator Kelli Ward and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The contest could be critical to the balance of power in the Senate in November because the Arizona seat of retiring Republican Jeff Flake, a Trump critic, is considered one of the two top takeover targets for Democrats, along with Nevada. McSally is seen as a stronger general election candidate than either Ward or Arpaio, both hard-line conservatives. McSally has already launched advertising aimed at her likely Democratic opponent in November, U.S. Representative Kyrsten Sinema. Polls have shown Sinema with narrow leads over McSally and a wider gap between her and the other two candidates. But the race to embrace the polarizing Trump could make it harder in November for the Republican winner. All three have fought over who is closest to Trump and most enthusiastic about his agenda, highlighting the praise Trump has offered them over the past few years. McSally boasts she has been invited to the White House for movie screenings, and many of Ward's events feature life-sized cardboard cutouts of Trump. Arpaio, who built a national reputation as an immigration hard-liner, won a pardon from Trump after he was convicted of criminal contempt in a case involving racial profiling. "The entire campaign has been defined by the effort to show who is the better, more enthusiastic supporter of the president," said Stan Barnes, a veteran Republican strategist in Arizona. Trump has not endorsed any of the three Republicans. MCCAIN'S DEATH OVERSHADOWS RACE The contest has been overshadowed in recent days by the death of John McCain, Arizona's longtime Republican senator, on Saturday. All three Republicans had distanced themselves from McCain, who frequently feuded with Trump, and Ward suggested that his family's announcement on Friday that he was stopping medical treatment was timed to hurt her campaign. McCain's death narrowed the number of Republican-held seats in the 100-member U.S. Senate to 50, with Democrats controlling 49. Republican Arizona Governor Doug Ducey will appoint a member of his own party to succeed McCain. Control of the Senate could also be determined by the November Senate race in Florida, which will pit term-limited Republican Governor Rick Scott against incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson. Polls have shown a close race. Scott faces only token opposition in Tuesday's primary; Nelson is unopposed. Trump has waded into Florida's hotly contested Republican gubernatorial primary, endorsing conservative U.S. Representative Ron DeSantis over Adam Putnam, the state agriculture commissioner and a former U.S. congressman. On Tuesday, Trump reiterated his support for DeSantis in a tweet. DeSantis, who aired a campaign ad showing him urging his toddler daughter to "build that wall" with toy blocks, now leads in polls. Trump carried Florida by just over 1 percentage point in 2016. The Republican winner will face whoever emerges from a crowded Democratic gubernatorial primary field led by moderate former U.S. Representative Gwen Graham, the daughter of Bob Graham, a former Florida governor and U.S. senator. Graham's top challengers include former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, a progressive favorite endorsed by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders. As with other states throughout this election cycle, early turnout has been strong. More than 1.9 million Florida voters have already cast absentee ballots or voted early, according to the state's Division of Elections, surpassing early voting in state primaries in 2014 and 2016. Both Arizona and Florida were holding primaries for several competitive U.S. House races that could prove crucial for the Democrats' chances to take control of the House. Democrats see several Republican-held districts in South Florida as prime opportunities to pick up seats. In addition, Oklahoma is holding a primary runoff Tuesday to determine the Republican nominee for governor, as no candidate hit the 50 percent threshold needed to advance to the general election in the June primary. Democrats have already nominated Drew Edmondson, former state attorney general. After Tuesday's primaries, only five states remain to pick candidates before full attention turns to the November election, when all 435 House seats, 35 Senate seats and 36 governors' offices will be at stake. (Reporting by John Whitesides in Washington; Editing by Peter Cooney and Jonathan Oatis)KAMPALA (Reuters) - Soldiers involved in the beating of Ugandan lawmakers and civilians over their alleged role in a stoning of President Yoweri Musevenis convoy have been arrested, the army said on Tuesday. Supporters of an independent candidate contesting a parliamentary by-election threw stones at Museveni's motorcade on Aug. 13 as he was leaving the town of Arua after campaigning for a ruling party candidate. Songwriter Robert Kyagulanyi, who is also a lawmaker, was among dozens of people detained shortly afterwards on suspicion of taking part in the assault on the convoy. Their lawyers and others have said the detainees have since been beaten and tortured - accusations the government has rejected as "rubbish". "We have apprehended all the (soldiers) who were involved in the incidents and they have been brought to book," army spokesman Richard Karemire said. He declined to identify the detained soldiers, say how many had been arrested or when their cases would be heard. In a letter to Museveni dated Aug. 27, Parliament Speaker Rebecca Kadaga had called for the arrest of security personnel involved in the suspected beating and torture of 33 people after their arrest over the convoy incident. "I am concerned that no effort has been made to arrest the security officers from the (Special Forces Command), Military Police and Uganda Police Force who were involved in the violent actions against unarmed civilians," Kadaga wrote. "This is therefore to demand that the officers concerned be apprehended at the earliest opportunity and presented in court. The Uganda parliament will not condone or acquiesce in acts of torture." Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah halted parliamentary business on Tuesday for a week to await an official response from the president about the beating of lawmakers. The arrests sparked two days of anti-government protests in the capital Kampala and other towns last week. Protesters and opposition supporters accuse Museveni, president of the East African country since 1986, of stifling dissent through intimidation, beatings and detentions, charges which his government denies. On Monday a Ugandan High Court granted bail to all 33 people arrested over the stoning. Presidential spokesman Don Wanyama could not confirm whether Kadaga's letter had reached Museveni but said the issues it purportedly raised had been addressed. "It was President Museveni who was the first to condemn the violence and shooting of civilians during and after (the by-election)," he said. "He ordered the arrest of police officers who shot dead a civilian in Mityana Town," Wanyama said, adding that the president would respond once he received the letter. It was the second time Kadaga had written to Museveni demanding action over assaults on parliamentary deputies. Last year when soldiers attached to Museveni's office stormed parliament and beat up lawmakers during a debate on scrapping the presidential age limit, Kadaga protested to him over the incident, Ugandan media reported. The presidential age limit has since been removed, opening the way for Museveni - now 74 - to seek re-election in 2021. (Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Omar Mohammed and Mark Heinrich) Flash

The United States has reached a trade agreement with Mexico that would pave the way for overhauling the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday.





"We're going to call it the United States-Mexico trade agreement," Trump said at an event in the Oval Office with outgoing Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto joining by phone call.





"We'll get rid of the name NAFTA. It has a bad connotation because the United States was hurt very badly by NAFTA for many years," he said.





Pena Nieto insisted during the phone call that Canada should also be included in a final deal.





"It is our wish, Mr. President, that now Canada will also be able to be incorporated in all this. And I assume that they are going to carry out negotiations on the sensitive bilateral issues between Canada and the United States," he said through a translator.





Trump said he would speak with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a little while and hoped to resume negotiations with Canada soon.





"One way or another we'll have a deal with Canada. It'll either be a tariff on cars or it'll be a negotiated deal," he said.





"Frankly, a tariff on cars is a much easier way to go. But perhaps the other would be much better for Canada," said the president.





The U.S. push to finish NAFTA talks came after the Trump administration recently launched the national security investigation into automotive imports, a protectionist move that could disrupt the global auto supply chains.





A spokesman for Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Monday that Canada will "continue to work toward a modernized NAFTA," but would only sign a new agreement that is good for the country.





"We will only sign a new NAFTA that is good for Canada and good for the middle class. Canada's signature is required," the spokesman said.





U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer, at the same event in the Oval Office, said he expects to submit a notice to Congress on Friday and the new trade agreement is likely to be signed at the end of November.





The agreement, which subjects to congressional approval, will last 16 years and will be reviewed every six years, according to a senior administration official.





"At the end of that review, we would expect that the agreement would be extended for another 16 years," the official told reporters in a briefing call on Monday.





While calling Monday's announcement by the United States and Mexico "an important step toward modernizing NAFTA," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch emphasized that "a final agreement should include Canada."





"I look forward to reviewing the details of today's announcement and continuing to work with USTR to resolve these issues so that a revamped NAFTA can pass Congress and become law," Hatch said in a statement.





As the main panel in the Senate overseeing trade issues, the finance committee's approval will be key to any trade deal.





Talks on renegotiating the NAFTA began in August 2017 as Trump threatened to withdraw from the trilateral trade deal, which he claimed harmed U.S. industries and jobs.Geneva (AFP) - All sides in Yemen's bloody conflict may have committed war crimes, UN investigators said Tuesday, highlighting deadly air strikes, rampant sexual violence, and the recruitment of young children as soldiers.

In their first report, a team of UN-mandated investigators said they had "reasonable grounds to believe that the parties to the armed conflict in Yemen have committed a substantial number of violations of international humanitarian law".

Many of these violations may amount to "war crimes", the report said, pointing to widespread arbitrary detention, rape, torture and the recruitment of children as young as eight to take part in hostilities.

Kamel Jendoubi, who heads the UN's so-called Group of Independent Eminent International and Regional Experts, said the investigators had identified a number of alleged perpetrators.

He told journalists in Geneva that a "confidential list" of these individuals would be presented Tuesday to the UN High Commissioner" for Human Rights.

- 'World's worst humanitarian crisis' -

The devastating conflict has left nearly 10,000 people dead since March 2015, when a Saudi-led coalition intervened to fight Huthi rebels closing in on the last bastion of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government.

The UN human rights office said Tuesday that some 6,660 civilians were among the dead, while more than 10,500 had been injured.

The UN has already described the situation in Yemen as world's worst humanitarian crisis.

The UN expert group, which was created by the UN Human Rights Council last September and which needs that body's permission next month to continue its work, detailed a long line of abuses committed by all parties to the conflict.

"There is little evidence of any attempt by parties to the conflict to minimise civilian casualties," Jendoubi said.

The report concluded that "coalition air strikes have caused most of the documented civilian casualties," pointing to a large number of strikes on residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, detention facilities, civilian boats and medical facilities.

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The report said there were "serious concerns about the targeting process applied by the coalition," pointing out that in many cases there were no apparent military targets in the vicinity of the attacks.

- Child soldiers -

The report covers the period from September 2014 to June 2018, and does not address the latest series of deadly strikes that have killed dozens of children in rebel-held areas and sparked international outrage.

The coalition has not confirmed or denied it carried out two air raids last Thursday that the UN said killed at least 26 children and four women south of the flashpoint rebel-held city of Hodeida.

Those deaths came after a coalition attack on a bus in the northern rebel stronghold of Saada early this month killed 40 children, prompting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to call for an independent investigation of attacks targeting civilians in the three-year war.

"Children are the most vulnerable. Poverty, coupled with violence and insecurity render them defenceless and exposed to exploitation and abuse by parties to the conflict," Charles Garraway, a member of the expert group, told reporters.

The experts said they had received "substantial information" indicating that Yemen's government, the coalition-backed forces and the rebels had all conscripted children, mainly aged 11 and up, but some as young as eight.

The report also spoke of the devastating impact a blockade imposed by the Saudi coalition on Yemen's ports and the Sanaa airport had had on the civilian population.

Jendoubi urged an end to "disproportionate restrictions on the safe and expeditious entry into Yemen of humanitarian supplies and other goods indispensable to the civilian population."

The experts did not delve into the complex web of countries supporting different parties to Yemen's conflict, including the United States, Britain and Iran, but did call on all nations to stop selling arms that could be used in the war.

They also called on all sides to halt hostilities, and urged support for UN efforts to broker a peace deal.

UN-backed talks between Yemen's government and the Huthis are to open in Geneva on September 6 -- a first step toward resuming peace negotiations that broke down two years ago.

"This crisis has reached its peak with no apparent sight of light at the end of the tunnel," Garraway said.Beirut (AFP) - A high-level US security delegation met Syria's powerful intelligence boss in Damascus two months ago, a pro-regime Lebanese daily newspaper reported Tuesday.

The visit, which AFP could not immediately confirm from official sources, could signify a new phase in the strained relations between the two countries.

According to Al-Akhbar, a Lebanese newspaper close to the pro-Damascus Hezbollah movement, senior US security officials visited Damascus during the last week of June.

"The delegation held a meeting of four hours" with Ali Mamluk, the head of Syria's security services, said Al-Akhbar, which reported that the meeting was facilitated by Emirati and Russian intermediaries.

Al-Akhbar said Mohammed Dib Zeitoun, the head of Syria's General Security Directorate, and Muwaffaq Asaad, the deputy chief of staff of the armed forces, attended the meeting but did not give the names of the US agents.

The Pentagon and State Department did not immediately respond to AFP's requests for comment on the story.

Washington severed ties with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in the early stages of the deadly conflict that erupted in 2011 with the government's repression of widespread demonstrations.

It has also blacklisted dozens of Syrian government officials, including both Mamluk and Zeitoun, for alleged human rights abuses.

The US has backed Assad's opponents militarily and politically, and carried out air strikes in both 2017 and 2018 against Syrian military infrastructure in response to what it said were deadly chemical attacks by the regime.

American troops are on the ground in northeast Syria alongside Kurdish forces as part of a declared campaign to defeat the Islamic State jihadist group.

According to Al-Akhbar, that military presence was discussed as part of a possible deal between Damascus and Washington.

The US delegation reportedly offered to pull its troops from Kurdish-held territory if Iranian forces withdraw from areas near Syria's southern border with Israel, if US companies are guaranteed a share of Syria's oil and if Damascus agreed to share intelligence on foreign jihadists.

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According to the Lebanese daily, the Syrian officials suggested any such steps were premature but agreed to "keep communicating through the Russian-Emirati channel".

With Russian help, Assad's forces have recaptured nearly two-thirds of Syrian territory, and the lion's share of the rest is held by the US-backed Kurdish forces.

Officially, the US and Syria have no diplomatic ties, but last year the New York Times reported contact between the two countries over an American journalist, Austin Tice, missing in Syria since 2012.

The Times said in June 2017 that a CIA back channel with Mamluk had rekindled hopes for Tice's release but that the talks were scrapped after a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town in April.Washington (AFP) - The United States hopes to strike a quick bargain with Canada after reaching an agreement with Mexico this week on continent-wide trade, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday.

Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland was due in Washington to begin talks later Tuesday, one day after US President Donald Trump suggested he could cut Ottawa out of any final deal if disagreements persist in the year-long efforts to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"I think our objective is to try to get Canada aboard quickly," Mnuchin said on CNBC.

"The US market and Canadian markets are very intertwined. It's important for them to get this deal and it's important for us to get this deal."

Washington and Mexico City on Monday announced that they had smoothed over disagreements, agreeing to a regular review process to reauthorize the trade deal and higher wages for certain auto workers, among other matters.

Mnuchin said he was optimistic that Canada could be won over -- but, like Trump, he warned that absent an agreement with Ottawa, Washington could take a bilateral route.

"I think we'll be successful but again, if we don't, we'll move forward with Mexico and then we'll reach a separate agreement with Canada," Mnuchin said.

Canadian officials say their country's signature is "required" for a successful outcome in the NAFTA talks and it remains unclear whether Washington lawmakers would cooperate with efforts to pursue bilateral talks instead.

Canada "will only sign a new NAFTA that is good for Canada," a spokesman for Freeland said Monday.

Senior Republican lawmakers and industry representatives have insisted this week that a final deal should include all three countries.

Mnuchin also said Tuesday he believed a trade agreement could be reached quickly with Britain, which is in fraught negotiations to exit the European Union.

"We are very much ready to do a free trade deal with the UK. So whenever they're ready, as President Trump has said, they're at the front of the bus, not the back of the bus," he told CNBC.

"They're a great ally, they're a great trading partner in financial services and goods and we welcome more opportunities for US companies."Shares of big U.S. automakers climbed on news that the U.S. and Mexico have reached a preliminary deal to update the 25-year old North American Free Trade Agreement , but experts warned that the deal is too narrow to have a major impact on carmakers' fortunes.

General Motors (GM), Ford Moto (F)r, and Fiat Chrysler (FCA-IT) all jumped on trading Monday, as Donald Trump announced the agreement at the White House. Here's how they responded: GM and Fiat-Chrysler rose 4.3 percent, while Ford increased 2.8 percent.

But U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, said the deal that would be called The United States-Mexico Trade Agreement  would not undo the 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum that have raised costs at GM and Ford this year.

And experts on U.S.-Mexico trade said that the need for congressional ratification of the deal, coupled with the prospect that the president's party could lose control of the House of Representatives or the Senate in November's election, means that the agreement isn't likely to push shares meaningfully higher.

"There's a very good chance this will never see the light of day," said Frank DuBois, a professor at American University's Kogod School of Business and head of the Made in America Index, which tracks the domestic and imported content of every car model sold in the U.S. "Auto companies will pressure Congress to leave well enough alone."

The new deal will last 16 years and will be reviewed every six years. It will not cap imports of light vehicles from Mexico.

The deal's provisions allow for import tariffs on cars and trucks that do not get at least 75 percent of their content from within the NAFTA region of the U.S., Canada and Mexico, or use a higher proportion of labor that makes at least $16 an hour. That provision would incent car makers to push more of their production into the U.S. or Canada from lower-wage Mexican plants, or buy more parts from outside of Mexico.

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The expected impact is that makers of cars from existing Mexican plants will pay import duties of 2.5 percent when they are sent to the U.S., DuBois said. But vehicles made in newly-built plants will pay 25 percent. On paper, that gives U.S. automakers a powerful incentive to build in the U.S., but the likelier outcome is that automakers will hold off siting any new plants for as long as they can, DuBois said.

The market's positive reaction today reflects traders' dislike of the uncertainty created by Trump's trade battles and threats, both with allies like Mexico and Canada and with frequent rivals including China, said Jared Bernstein, an economist at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington.

"I'm not surprised markets reacted positively to this news," Bernstein said. "It's the flipside of sell-offs when the trade war heats up. In other words, markets really don't like Trump's trade agenda and the uncertainty it creates. So when things look a bit more certain, markets react positively." (CNBC's Steve Liesman has documented the swings markets have made in response to Trump's trade moves .)

What lies ahead

In terms of jobs, the agreement appears to be "much ado about nothing,'' said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics.

"It won't materially change the U.S.-Mexican trade balance or increase trade between the two countries," Zandi said in an e-mail. "Like the trade deal with the EU, the U.S.-Mexican deal is a face-saving way to cool the brinkmanship. It doesn't move the dial for either the U.S. or Mexican economies."

"The U.S. gross domestic product and job impacts will be on the margin. And this assumes that the U.S. is able to strike a similar deal with Canada. If not, it could disrupt manufacturers supply chains, particularly for automakers whose supply chains extend across North America."

Indeed, the administration's attention is now turning to trying to get Canada to agree to a revision of NAFTA, a name the president says he wants to scrap as part of the talks. Officials in Washington are hoping to make a deal by Friday.

But Wall Street analysts did little to encourage speculation that the deal will boost automakers' profits.

Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas, a voluble media presence on auto issues, didn't issue a report on the deal and declined to talk about it. Instead, he published a report saying that slowing consumer spending in China could hurt profits at General Motors.

If tariffs on steel and aluminum remain in place, as the administration said, the earnings pressure that caused shares of GM and Ford to tank after second-quarter results came out in July will still be there, CFRA Research analyst Efraim Levy said in an interview.

But he said automakers would benefit from greater certainty about what the rules will be, even if the companies don't like specific provisions. The full impact won't be known until agreements are reached with Canada and the European Union, he said.

"Every agreement (gets done) in pieces that have to fall into place,'' he said. "The auto makers and parts suppliers have gotten whacked this year on trade issues. Once you have a level of certainty, you can manage for it.''The United States is currently at a weaker position with North Korea than before U.S. President Donald Trump met with the leader of the rogue nation, an expert told CNBC on Monday.

"We are worse off than where we were when the summit happened because, in the meantime, China and Russia have alleviated sanctions pressure on North Korea. We've also unilaterally canceled our military exercises with South Korea with our own president even labeling these exercises provocative which certainly unnerved Japan," said Sean King, senior vice president at public policy and business development firm Park Strategies.

The United States is currently at a weaker position with North Korea than before U.S. President Donald Trump met with the leader of the rogue nation, an expert told CNBC on Monday.

His warning follows a North Korean state-controlled newspaper on Sunday accusing the U.S. of "double-dealing" and "hatching a criminal plot" against Pyongyang after Washington abruptly canceled a visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo .

The decision to cancel Pompeo's trip appeared to have been made abruptly, coming just a day after Pompeo announced it would happen.

Since Trump's summit with North Korea dictator Kim Jong Un , the U.S. has called off its military exercises with South Korea while China and Russia have softened pressure on North Korea.

"We are worse off than where we were when the summit happened because, in the meantime, China and Russia have alleviated sanctions pressure on North Korea. We've also unilaterally canceled our military exercises with South Korea with our own president even labeling these exercises provocative which certainly unnerved Japan," said Sean King, senior vice president at public policy and business development firm Park Strategies.

Even during the June summit, King said, both parties seemed to have misunderstood to what the other was agreeing.

"Trump thinks he (Kim) said he will give up his nukes and then we will work toward some kind of peace deal. But in Kim's mind, it is the end of the U.S.-South Korea alliance first and then maybe he will denuclearize ," King said.

Story continues

King suggested that part of the problem was a difference of opinion about strategy within the White House.

"You have a professional staff that is talking a hard line, and the president feels he could do his own deal based on personal chemistry. It is like we have two parallel administrations and North Korea is trying to exploit that," King said.

Moving forward, King said the U.S. should take a tougher stance against China and North Korea if denuclearization is a priority.

 Reuters and CNBC's Christina Wilkie contributed to this report





More From CNBC

The Hague (AFP) - The United States told UN judges Tuesday they had no jurisdiction to rule on Tehran's demand for them to order the suspension of debilitating nuclear-related sanctions against Iran.

Washington cited security concerns in its first legal response to a suit by the Islamic Republic, which is suffering increasing economic chaos.

Iran has argued that US President Donald Trump breached a 1955 treaty with his decision to reimpose the sanctions after withdrawing from a multilateral nuclear accord.

But US State Department lawyer Jennifer Newstead told the International Court of Justice in The Hague that it "lacks prima facie jurisdiction to hear Iran's claims".

She argued that the United States had the right to protect its national security and other interests.

The treaty "cannot therefore provide a basis for this court's jurisdiction" in the case, she said.

Sanctions on Iran had been lifted under a landmark 2015 accord with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. In return, Tehran made commitments not to seek to develop nuclear weapons.

But Trump said the deal did not do enough to curb the threat from Iran.

He pulled out of the accord in May and began reimposing sanctions this month, alarming other signatories to the deal.

In the first day of hearings at the ICJ on Monday, Iran's lawyers said the sanctions were threatening the welfare of its citizens and disrupting tens of billions of dollars' worth of business deals.

The US lawyers held Iran to blame for its economic woes.

They have "deep roots in the Iranian government's mismanagement of its own economy and repression of its own population," Newstead said.

- Oil sanctions coming -

Trump says the sanctions are needed to ensure Iran never builds a nuclear bomb. He accuses it of supporting terrorists.

The Islamic Republic's lead representative in the case, Mohsen Mohebi, branded the sanctions "naked economic aggression".

Story continues

"The United States is publicly propagating a policy intended to damage as severely as possible Iran's economy and Iranian nationals and companies," Mohebi said.

"Iran will put up the strongest resistance to the US economic strangulation, by all peaceful means."

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday dismissed Iran's claims as "meritless".

The US measures have added to Iran's economic woes, fuelling strikes and protests across the political spectrum.

Iran's currency has lost around half its value since April.

The sanctions target financial transactions and imports of raw materials, cars and aircraft among other sectors.

International companies including French oil firm Total and Germany's Siemens have suspended operations in Iran since Trump's announcement in May.

A second wave of punitive measures is due to hit the OPEC member state in early November, targeting its vital energy sector including oil exports.

- History of litigation -

Iran's lawyers have asked the court urgently to order the suspension of the sanctions pending a definitive ruling.

Newstead argued that Iran had a broader aim to "reinstate sanctions relief" altogether -- a matter she said was beyond the court's remit.

The court adjourned after Tuesday's hearing until Wednesday when Iran will have the opportunity to respond to the US arguments.

The ICJ is expected to take several weeks to decide whether to grant Tehran's request for a provisional ruling. A final decision could take years.

ICJ judgements are binding, final and without appeal.

However, whether any decision will be implemented remains unclear.

Both Iran and the US in the past have ignored ICJ rulings against them.

Despite the 1955 Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations, the two countries have not had diplomatic ties since 1980.A book of condolences is open at the US embassy in Hanoi, and flowers are laid down at the site where John McCain crashed his plane during the Vietnam war, to pay tribute to the former prisoner of war and US Senator.DONGDUCHEON, South Korea (AP)  Ninety-three-year-old Ham Sung-chan's eyes widen with excitement as he describes the shock and euphoria of reuniting with his baby brother, now 79, during three days of family reunions in North Korea.

But there's a deep and bitter regret, too, and it stems from a simple bit of math: After nearly 70 years of a separation forced by a devastating 1950-53 war that killed and injured millions and cemented the division of the Korean Peninsula into North and South, Ham and his North Korean brother got a total of only 12 hours together.

Ham was one of the 197 South Koreans who visited North Korea's scenic Diamond Mountain resort from last Monday to Wednesday for rare reunions with relatives in the North. The heart-wrenching images of elderly Koreans embracing each other for the last time continued in a second set of reunions involving around 300 South Koreans that took place from Friday to Sunday.

"There's a large sense of dejection that has set in," said Ham, who described the details of his trip in an Associated Press interview in his home in Dongducheon, north of Seoul. "The time we spent together was too short, way too short. It wasn't a week; it wasn't 10 days. Just after we met, we had to depart."

Here's how Ham described the brief but intense time he spent with his North Korean brother after so many decades apart:

___

SLEEPLESS IN SOKCHO

Born in eastern North Korea, Ham was in his 20s, selling fish and cosmetics in the South, when war broke out in June 1950 and prevented him from returning to his hometown.

Ham thought his mother was still in the North until he met her in the South in 1983, several years before her death. But he did not expect any of the three brothers he'd left in North Korea to be alive. If they weren't killed by the war or North Korea's devastating 1990s-era famine, he thought they would have died of old age.

One of his brothers, however, 79-year-old Ham Dong Chan, was frail but still alive and eager to meet his oldest brother. But Ham's joy when he learned of this soon gave way to anxiety. His mind raced with endless questions.

Story continues

Who's this person they say is my brother? Will he resemble the skinny, quiet kid I remember? What if I don't recognize him? Did he have a difficult life? Does he have grandchildren?

Ham's two daughters and son bought gifts for their uncle, filling four large bags with underwear, long johns, duck-down parkas, medicine, vitamins, sugar, candy, instant noodles and five boxes of "Choco Pies," a brand of South Korean-made chocolate-covered cakes known to be popular among North Koreans.

The day before the reunions, Ham, his wife and younger daughter drove to a resort in the South Korean coastal town of Sokcho, where the South Korean participants spent a night before crossing into North Korea by bus.

Red Cross officials arranged health checkups for the participants, who were told not to criticize North Korea's authoritarian leadership and broken economy and not to point at portraits of the three leaders of the Kim dynasty that has ruled the North since 1945.

"I couldn't sleep at all that night," Ham said.

___

DAY 1: 'BROTHER, IT'S ME!'

On Monday morning, Ham's bus crossed into North Korea. Ham said he felt "spooky" when three North Korean soldiers, in olive-green uniforms and large round hats, came aboard his bus during a border check.

"They only asked me when I had crossed over to the South," Ham said. "I told them it was before the war."

After arriving at the Diamond Mountain resort, Ham marveled at how the modern facility differed from the underdeveloped surroundings, where small, crude homes were scattered around fields and on hills. The resort was built by South Korea's Hyundai business group during a period of rapprochement in the 2000s. Analysts say North Korea, which has long rejected South Korean demands to increase the number of reunions and participants, keeps the meetings at Diamond Mountain to limit North Koreans' awareness of what's going on in the outside world.

Ham unpacked in room No. 512 at the Kumkangsan Hotel at the resort. It had nice beds, air conditioning and hot water, but the bulky television did not work.

The first meetings took place at about 3 p.m. Ham's heart trembled as he walked with his wife and daughter toward the banquet hall where the North Korean relatives were waiting at white tables. As Ham approached a table marked with the number 90, a slim, deeply wrinkled man in a suit and tie sprung from his seat. The brothers embraced tightly, smiling widely, tears streaming down their faces.

"He yelled, 'Brother, it's me!'" Ham said. "I recognized him right away. He was still that skinny, quiet kid. Maybe our bloodlines pulled us together."

For four hours, Ham and his brother mostly talked about family, explaining to each other when their parents and brothers had died.

___

DAY 2: FROM THRILLED TO DEVASTATED

Ham had another sleepless night after the meeting. He was thrilled to see his brother but devastated that one-third of their reunion was already over.

On Tuesday, the brothers had deeper conversations over lunch in a room at a nearby hotel, away from North Korean government watchers and the dozens of South Korean reporters covering the event.

Dong Chan, who came to the meetings with his 72-year-old wife, had thought that his oldest brother was dead. He did not know that his mother had made it to the South, remarried there, and lived for decades.

Dong Chan said he had been hospitalized in Pyongyang to treat migraines when he received word from North Korean authorities that his brother in South Korea was looking for him.

"He told the authorities that it must be a different person with the same name because he was so convinced that I had died," Ham said. "When North Korean officials asked again, this time mentioning the names of our parents, he was shocked."

During those three hours of talks on Tuesday, workers brought Ham's bags of gifts. Ham also gave Dong Chan an album containing dozens of photos of him, his family and their mother. Dong Chan gave Ham three bottles of liquor made from ginseng and a silk tablecloth.

Workers then delivered boxed meals of rice cakes, grilled chicken and octopus, stir-fried mushrooms and pickled cucumbers.

"It didn't taste good; I couldn't finish it," Ham said.

Ham told his brother about how he overcame poverty in his younger days and how proud he was of his three U.S.-educated children. But because of the anti-American sentiment prevalent in the North, he left out that he worked at a U.S. military base in Dongducheon for nearly two decades as a civilian employee.

Ham said Dong Chan was equally proud of his life as a retired North Korean government worker. Dong Chan said he's living in an apartment in Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, which itself is a status symbol in North Korea. He also talked about a grandson who was studying at the prestigious Kim Il Sung University.

"Once I heard that he was living in Pyongyang, I was relieved," Ham said. "As brothers, we had so much to talk about over so little time. But other South Korean relatives were meeting North Korean nephews they'd never seen  some of them told me it was hard to keep a conversation going after 30 minutes."

___

DAY 3: 'EXPLODED WITH TEARS'

Ham tried hard to be cheerful during his last lunch with Dong Chan on Wednesday. He laughed, clinked glasses of beer with his brother and shouted, "Good health is the best!"

Ham promised Dong Chan that he will be the first South Korean to apply for a North Korean visa if relations improve to the point where cross-border travels are allowed. Dong Chan told Ham that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's relationship with South Korean President Moon Jae-in was so close that the Koreas will be able to unify in three years.

But Ham's spirits sank as the clock ticked away. After organizers announced that the meeting had ended, Ham said goodbye and walked out of the banquet hall alone, sobbing all the way to the bus waiting to take him home. Ham's wife and daughter lingered a bit longer at the hall, tearfully embracing the North Korean relatives they were just getting to know.

Later, outside the hotel, Ham, still in tears, waved both hands from inside the bus as his brother came out to see him off. The bus slowly rolled out of the resort and headed back to South Korea.

"I had told myself, 'I won't cry, I won't cry,'" Ham said. "But I exploded with tears."

___

Follow Kim Tong-hyung on Twitter at @KimTongHyungPresident Trump reversed course Monday, ending his conspicuous silence about the death of his political rival Sen. John McCain.

The American flag over the White House, which was lowered to half-staff after McCains death Saturday evening, was raised again a day later, in what was widely viewed, and protested by veterans groups, as a sign of disrespect.

In a statement Monday, Trump backed down, without addressing the controversy. Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCains service to our country and, in his honor, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment, Trump said in his statement.

President Trump listens during a phone call in the Oval Office with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto about a trade agreement between the United States and Mexico, Aug. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Flags elsewhere in the capital had remained at half-staff Monday, and it was widely believed that Trump was demonstrating his continued resentment toward McCain, who provided the pivotal vote preventing Republicans from repealing the Affordable Care Act.

Since that momentous political defeat, Trump had, in speeches at rallies across the country, frequently mocked the thumbs-down gesture McCain used to torpedo the legislation.

Unfortunately, one senator decided to put the thumb down late in the morning, Trump said at one such rally in June, and that was not a good thing when he put that thumb down.

Sen. John McCain on the floor of the Senate, July 25, 2017. (Photo: Senate Television via AP)

The attacks continued even as McCains battle with cancer intensified, leading the senators family to cry foul.

What more must my family be put through right now? McCains daughter Meghan tweeted last Sept. 27. This is abhorrent.

Over the weekend, the Washington Post reported that Trump stopped his staff from issuing a formal statement praising McCain as an American hero. Instead, he posted a tweet, extending sympathy toward McCains family but saying nothing about his former rivals career and legacy.

My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain, Trump wrote Saturday on Twitter. Our hearts and prayers are with you!

Story continues

During the Vietnam War, McCain served as a Navy pilot. After his plane was shot down, he was captured by the North Vietnamese and tortured during five years of captivity. Trump, as a presidential candidate, drew the ire of many in his own party for questioning McCains heroism.

Hes not a war hero. Hes a war hero because he was captured. I like people that werent captured, Trump said at a campaign event in Iowa in 2015.

Earlier Monday, a statement written by McCain before his death read like a not-so-veiled criticism of the president.

We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe, McCain wrote. We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been.

In his own statement, Trump, who was not invited to attend McCains funeral, said he had asked Vice President Mike Pence to offer an address at the ceremony honoring McCain at the U.S. Capitol on Friday. White House chief of staff John Kelly, Secretary of Defense James Mattis and national security adviser John Bolton would represent the administration at the funeral, Trump said in his statement.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:Malaysian chef Redzuawan Ismail, better known as Chef Wan. (File photo: The Malay Mail)

Malaysian celebrity chef Redzuawan Ismail  better known as Chef Wan  has slammed Singapores bid to have its hawker culture officially recognised in UNESCOs Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

Chef Wan told Malaysian news outlet The Star Online: People who lack confidence in their food will go all out to do these things for recognition.

He added: Its not necessary to announce to the world that you have this or that. By taking this route, its a bit of arrogant behaviour.

We already fight about everything else, such as territorial claims, oil, and water, he told The Star. Now, its up to the level where they want to bring their hawker culture to the UNESCO.

Incidentally, another Malaysian celebrity chef, Datuk Ismail Ahmad, also offered his take on Singapores hawker centers: Beautiful but tasteless, he told The Star.

Is Chef Wan right about Singapore being arrogant? Or is this a case of sour grapes? Have your say. Take our poll and leave a comment below.

Related stories:

NDR 2018: Singapore to nominate hawker culture for UNESCO listing

Yahoo Poll: Is hawker culture worthy of a UNESCO heritage listing?

Malaysian celebrity chefs go savage on Singapores goal to get hawker culture recognised by UNESCO Flash

At least 10 people were feared trapped under the debris following the collapse of a four-storey building on Sunday in western Indian state of Gujarat, police said.





The building collapsed in Odhav area of Ahmedabad, about 27 km south of Gandhinagar, the capital city of Gujarat.





"This evening a building collapsed near Jhewan Jhotyi society here," a police official in Ahmedabad said. "No casualties have been reported so far but there is assertion 10 people are trapped inside."





Following the collapse, authorities rushed police teams and fire service personnel to the spot to carry out rescue work.





"The rescue operations are going on in full swing," the police official said. "Earth movers have been brought to spot to remove the debris."





According to officials the building was already declared unsafe by the local municipal authorities and inmates were issued eviction notices.





"Most of the families had vacated their apartments, only three or four remained, who are now feared trapped inside," city mayor Bijal Patel told media.





Deadly accidents due to failing infrastructure (either new or old) is common in India. Construction experts blame the lax administration and corruption in India for flouting building rules that often results in using poor quality materials, inadequate supervision, poor safety standards for workers.A nine-year-old boy has taken his own life after enduring four days of homophobic bullying at school, his mother has said.

Leia Pierce said her son, Jamel Myles, told her over the summer he was gay and wanted to tell his classmates at his school in Denver, Colorado because he was proud of his orientation.

The Denver coroners office confirmed Jamel died by suicide.

"My child died because of bullying. My baby killed himself, Mr Pierce told The Denver Post. He didnt deserve this. He wanted to make everybody happy even when he wasnt. I want him back so bad.

She said Jamel had begun wearing fake fingernails on 20 August, the first day back following the school holiday. Four days later, she found his lifeless body at home.

Jamels eldest sister revealed other children had told the boy to kill himself, Ms Pierce added.

Counsellors were made available to children, teachers and school staff at Joe Shoemaker Elementary School on Monday, the newspaper reported.

In a letter sent to families, Denver Public Schools (DPS) said Jamels death was an "unexpected loss for our school community".

The note said: "Our goal is to partner with you in sharing this news with your child in the most appropriate way possible, with as much support as may be needed, so please feel free to reach out about how you want to handle this."

Ms Pierce said that over the summer, Jamel told her he was gay while curled up in the back seat of the family car.

He was scared because he is a boy and its harder on boys when they come out, Ms Pierce said. I smiled at him and said I still loved him. This world is missing out.

She added: Im dead inside. He was beautiful. He was magic. I lost my greatest gift.

For confidential support call Samaritans on 116 123.

In the US, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for free on 800-273-8255

You can also contact the following organisations for confidential support: https://www.mind.org.uk; https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk; http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/mentalhealth; https://www.mentalhealth.org.ukYSL Beauty is setting up shop temporarily in New York, with the help of Zoe Kravitz.

The luxury French cosmetics brand is set to launch a two-day pop-up YSL Beauty Hotel' in the city's SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan this September, WWD reports. The boutique will honor Kravitz's new role as the face of YSL's signature Black Opium' fragrance -- a role she was announced for back in July.

The pop-up, which will open its doors from September 8 through September 9 during New York Fashion Week, will reportedly feature multiple interactive activities, such as fragrance workshops, a pool room that will allow visitors to walk on water' and a rooftop cafe and boutique stocking the label's newest releases.

According to Verane de Marffy, senior vice president of YSL Beauty Marketing, the aim of the pop-up is to generate buzz among social influencers and shoppers and strengthen the brand's image in the US. New York is the second stop for the Beauty Hotel' concept, which previously touched down in Paris back in January.

YSL is the latest in a string of online beauty brands investing in pop-up experiences -- earlier this month, prestige makeup label Jouer announced the opening of its first ever temporary store, while the past few months have seen major labels such as Fenty Beauty by Rihanna and Kim Kardashian's KKW Beauty open their own, dedicated stores for a limited time period.Less than a week after an IDF commander identified only as Sgt. R signed a lenient plea deal and sentenced to 60 days in prison for physically abusing his subordinates, Ynet has obtained more disturbing testimonies about a series of violent incidents at an IAF course.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



The case was first reported by Ynet a year ago, following the hospitalization of a trainee enrolled in a vocational course at the school.

The soldier claimed his commander, Sgt. R., began humiliating and physically abusing him and other soldiers several months after their enlistment. The abuse pattern at the school was revealed when Sgt. A., a cadet, arrived at the hospital with multiple wounds on his body.

Air Force Technical School in Haifa (Photo: Avishav Sha'ar-Yashuv)

Another commander is currently undergoing legal proceedings, and an IDF investigation has been opened into the conduct of a deputy training officer.

The chief judge of the Jaffa military court, Lt. Col. Carmel Wahabi, chose to approve the lenient plea deal despite the quantity of evidence against Sgt. R.

Although the judge described Sgt. R.'s actions as "abominable and severe," he agreed to a lenient punishment that also included his demotion to the rank of private, a compensation order of NIS 1,500, and 30 days of work normally carried out by a master sergeant.

Now, more testimonies about alleged abuses are surfacing, including the testimony of one victimidentified as Sergeant A.who reported the incidents, which started back in 2014.

The IAF rejected the chagre that a pattern of abuse had permeated the school, instead describing these events as a isolated incidents. However, the rejection did not dovetail with the testimonies collected by the Military Police Criminal Investigations Division (MPCID).

The army claims that training and enforcement measures were taken in order to prevent similar incidents. In practice, however, no concrete steps were taken, and those involved were not reprimanded. Only two of the commanders involved have paid the price so far.

'Put your hands on the wall and take the blows like a man'

"I went to the commanders' room after I realized that my commander took my phone and told me that if I wanted it back, I had to go to his room," said Sargent A.

The abuse started 11 months ago when, Sargent A., a soldier at the Hatzerim Air Force Base near Be'er Sheva, was sent to the Air Force Technical School in Haifa for training.

"I went to the officers' room and Sergeant R. was already waiting for me a mop stick in his hands," he told the MPCID investigators.

"The second commander, Sergeant Z, was sleeping on the bed. Sergeant R. told me to put my hands on the wall and take the blows like a man. I looked him in the eye and told him I would not put my hands on the wall and he would not injure my back," Sgt. A. said in his testimony.

"He started to hit me with the mop. He had rage in his eyes. He hit me with a stick between 50 and 70 times. I tried to get away and told him, 'Stop, leave me alone, you are going too far.' I was in pain and I cried. I showed him that I was bleeding and he continued. He said that everything would be over if I put my hands on the wall and let him break the mop's stick on my back," he recalled.

At this point Sergeant Z. woke up. "When Z. woke up, he took the small part of the stick, which was broken in half by now, and began hitting me as well. Sergeant R. hit me on my legs and on the sides of my body, and Sergeant Z focused on the hands," the abused soldier said, adding that the level of pain was 15 on a scale of one to ten.

"I cannot even begin to describe the pain, they both had an evil look in their eyes. They were not kidding around. I had cuts and scratches from the broken stick. I shouted in pain, I cried, I was sweating and bleeding. My left hand was swollen because of the blows, and as soon as I showed them my hand, they stopped and I was done. I was dizzy. I felt humiliated and depressed," Sergeant A. added as he continued to describe his ordeal.

Sergeant A.'s written testimony

It was not the first time Sergeant A. had encountered this type of behavior. In his testimony, which was used in the indictment filed by the Military Advocate General Office, Sergeant A. describes first witnesseing the abuse carried out against others.

"When it started, I was in shock. I was quite frozen because I felt pressured by the whole thing. When Sergeant R. hit one of the trainees, I looked away. When it was the turn of the trainee standing next to me, I was scared because I knew I was next. I took a step back, and then Sergeant R. told me that if I did not take the blows now, then it would be worse later on."

Before the incident, Sargent A. was considered a good soldier. He received a positive appraisal, was highly motivated, demonstrated impressive personal skills, and was a perfect candidate for a command position.

Army investigators asked him why he waited for three weeks before filing a complaint, to which he replied: "I did not speak about it sooner because I was afraid that if I tell someone they would beat me, and it would ruin my chances of becoming a commander. Sergeant R. threatened me at the hospital that if I tell someone, I will get more beatings. He followed me around everywhere and made sure that I kept quiet."

The abused soldier also mentioned that the culprit had told him that he too had experienced worse treatment, such as fire using a deodorant spray, and being hit on his back with sticks.

Another commander hoping to ensure that the abuse ramained under wraps, attempted to maniputlate the victim into keeping quiet.

"Later on, on the way to the clinic, another commander said to me: 'You're going to be a commander. You do not seem like a snitch. I trust you.' I do not want this practice to go on, and for people to be subjected to this physical and mental pain. Sergeant R. went over the story, word by word, (the cover-up story that the commanders invented, according to which he fell down the stairs) all the way to the clinic," Sargent A. continued.

He also testified that he saw his abusive commander, Sergeant R, being hit by a senior commander: "I said, under pressure, that Sergeant R, was my 'senior', so the other commanders took us out of the room, and we knew that he was going to get some beating. We heard screams coming from the outside, we only caught a glimpse of him heading towards the wall and putting his hands up, he seemed to know the procedure and he had no problem with it. There was a cadet there who wanted to hit him with the stick, but he refused, claiming he would not take any beating from him."

The cover-up

The culture of accepted abuse was reflected in other testimonies as well. Corporal Y., a trainee in the school, testified: "Sergeant R. came into the room and asked the cadets 'Who is a man?' to which I replied 'I am, break the stick on my back'. At first everyone was scared of him, so he took me up on my offer and beat me with the stick in the garage. When I did not have the correct answer during training, I knew that I would get a blow with a screwdriver, as a joke. I wanted to be a 'man', so I told Sergeant R. to break a board on my back, and he agreed. When it was over, we smiled at each other and returned to the garage as friends."

According to Sergeant A., trainees were beaten with screwdriver handles dozens of times as part of the training process, while Sergeant Z. admitted to hitting cadets with a screwdriver

"I told the soldiers that when they gave the wrong answer, I would ask another question and if they did not answer correctly a second time, I would hit them with a screwdriver. Of course this was done jokingly. This only happened once to each soldier, and no one refused," Sgt. Z. said.

Sergeant R., the main defendant, tried to cover-up the events and claimed that the plaintiff sustained his injuries after falling down the stairs.

Only towards the end of his trial did he retract his denial and plead guilty as part of the lenient plea bargain. Sergeant R. even distributed an email around the school claiming that Sergeant A. fell.

During the course of the interrogation, however, MPCID investigators discovered telephone conversations between the parties involved, that expose the cover-up attempt.

One conversation between Sergeant A. and Sergeant Z. suggests that the abuse at the school is not a new occurrence.

Sergeant Z. advised the young cadet to cover his bruises, saying "If you manage to hide it then good, if notthink of another way. I came home bruised a million times and nothing happened. I simply covered up the bruises," said the victim.

Sergeant A.: "Really? But you're a sergeant."

Sergeant Z.: "I was also once a corporal, you know."

Sergeant A.: "What do you say?"

Sergeant Z.: "Not everyone is born a sergeant".

Sergeant A.: "How long has this been going on?"

Sergeant Z: "It's not a tradition, it' s fun, it's not a bad thing, if you take it badly, then I don' t want you to keep at it. Did you take it badly?"

Sergeant A.: "Oh, I'll tell you the truth, I think it was a bit extreme, but ah..."

Sergeant Z.: "You're right, I don't know what happened before I woke up."

Sergeant A.: "Even after you woke up it crossed the line."

Sergeant Z.: I also think it crossed the line. You need to know when to stop ... You do not have to be a victim ... It was not supposed to hurt you ... If it did ... I really am sorry. "

Another phone conversation between the two revealed that Sergeant Z. asked the cadet what he told his parents: "What did you say to your parents? Think about it before you get into trouble."

'I beat him with my weak arm'

During the course of the investigation, apart from Sergeant R., who was convicted in a plea bargain, six other commanders, including a lieutenant, were suspected of committing violent offenses against cadets. The proceedings in their case have not yet concluded.

In another phone conversation between Sergeant R. and Sergeant Z., the only two commanders charged so far, the parties can be heard discussing ways to cover-up the incident, indicating a concerted effort to conceal the abuse. "I'm afraid that A. will talk ... I'm really afraid, man," said Sergeant R., to which Sergeant Z. replied: "He no longer has any evidence."

As for the violent incidents Sargent, R. told investigators his version of the events: "As with men, we learn through power games and machismo, we arm wrestle, lightly push each other. It happened in the cadets' room, and everything was done jokingly, in a positive and good atmosphere, with their consent. We made it clear to them that if we cross a line, the should say something, and it will stop," he said.

Regarding the incident in which he beat the soldier with a stick, Sargent R. said: "We hit him gently with the pieces of the mop stick, and told him that if it was too much, he should say something. I gave him soft blows, with my weak left hand, after 10 minutes of gentle beatings. Another soldier hit me." Sargent A. denied these claims.

In his testimony, Sergeant R. said that he was also beaten by his commanders in the past. "It's something that happens from time to time ... Everything is done in good humor," he said.

The Military Advocate General's Office thought otherwise, and described in Sergeant R.'s indictment, among other things, a case in which a trainee refused to accept the beatings. In order to "calm down" his subordinates, the defendant said: "The expectation of a blow is more difficult than the blow itself."

Air force reject claims

Senior Air Force officers insist that abuse is not a common practice on bases, despite the fact that officers from the Air Force Technical School testified to the contrary.

Major Amnon Shlomov, for instance, who is a senior training officer at the base, testified that the incident was not a singular occurrence: "Sergeant A. told me that the commanders beat a soldier in the shower, while he was completely naked. I have recordings."

The IDF Spokesperson's Unit also responded to the cases, concluding that the evidence did not support the contention that abuse was a frequent occurrence on the bases. "The MPCID investigation into the matter did not indicate that there is a culture of violence at the base," a statement said.

Other military sources added: "Some of the soldiers who testified said that they heard of violent incidents that occurred a few years ago. Those soldiers could not provide any details, and some did not even serve in the unit while these incidents took place. Some soldiers reported hearing that following the commanding echelon's involvement, a change occurred, and the violence stopped. "

The IAF also noted that the base commander initiated the Military Police investigation.The IDF is embarking on a new strategy that will see medics provide emergency treatment to wounded soldiers inside enemy territory, in a bid to mitigate exposure of Israel Air Force (IAF) rescue helicopters to enemy fire and cut out delays caused by transporting soldiers back to Israel.

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Field surgeries as well as other life-saving procedures will be held in behind enemy lines prior to the evacuation of the wounded to hospitals in Israel.

Wounded evacuation drill (:  ")

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The change is gradually being implemented by the Medical Corps and the Technological and Logistics Division (TLD) through the Gideon Brigadenow active in one of the two leading mandatory service divisions. Division 36 and Division 162 will follow.

The Medical Corps data shows that 90 percent of severely wounded soldiers can be saved if their bleeding is stopped at an early stage.

To this end, more nurses will be trained as a part of an academic reserve training course as of next october. Doctors and paramedics, alongside nurses from the new program, are to be trained as a front line medical team of combatants who will serve in each battalion.

The new medical teams will carry monitoring equipment that can be attached to the casualties' bodies, and transmit EEG and other medical indicators. The teams will also have a drone at their disposal for logistical needs that can carry up to 40 kg of medical equipment to ranges of 7-8 km.

Monitoring equipment attached to casualties' bodies (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit )

The new drone is now being tested and has already crashed once due to inadequate operating. Nevertheless, it is expected to be put to use in any case of an immediate war situation.

In addition, each battalion's medical equipment will include augmented reality glasses, which will enable the doctor situated in enemy territory to hold an online consultation with a specialist in Israel's territory.

A TLD senior officer said that despite the 18 percent shortage of doctors in the IDF, most of the doctors positions in the combat support unit are occupied.

Drone providing medical supplies (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit )

The IDF hires civil doctors to man the vacant position in the combat support units where it struggles to fill the position from within the army.

In the past, casualties were evacuated from the battlefield mostly with two armored personnel carriers (APC) under the command of an officer who was not part of the fighting force.

As part of the main change conducted in the mandatory service brigades, battalion 101, also known as the Peten Battalion within the Paratroopers Brigadeunder the command of a major who served as a deputy battalion commanderwill be in charge of evacuating the wounded, providing supplies and the forces' mobility.

Armored personnel carrier (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit )

An additional unit will operate alongside the Peten Brigade and will be in charge of managing the evacuation tasks in each brigade.

In light of the logistic adjustments to the Gideon brigade, it was decided that only new trucks would be used in the infantry maneuvering brigades, some of which will be unmanned, leading to the scrapping of 1,600 old trucks whose performance is slow, cumbersome and which slows down the mobility of the forces.

The new strategy of the Gideon brigade is based on investing in the infantry maneuvering forces according to their importance, as was determined by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, meaning that the IDF's leading divisionsDivision 36, Division 162 and elite Division 98will receive more resources, along with innovative, advanced and armored means of fighting.

Over the next decade, the reserve brigades will be also gradually invested in.

According to the senior officer, "each soldier in the reserve brigade has advanced military equipment and their night vision tools will be also replaced."

Medical team in training (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit )

The officer rejected the claims of the IDF Soldiers' Complaints Commissioner, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Isaac Brick, who has determined that a sharp decrease has occurred in the motivation of officers occupying low-to-medium ranked jobs, harming the military preparedness for the next war.

"There are things which I refuse to accept in the IDF Soldiers' Complaints Commissioner's report. We have data indicating otherwise," he insisted.

"According to an extensive survey we've conducted this year among 3,300 IDF engineers, some 80 percent of them are pleased with their additional service. This is not a crisis," the senior official concluded.

However, half of those participating in the survey expressed their discontent with their military's salary, and some 30 percent of them voiced their dissatisfaction with the workload assigned to them, while 62 percent said they are willing to continue serving in the army.IDF soldiers demolished on Monday night the house of terrorist Mohammad Tareq Yousef from the city of Kaubar in the West Bank.

Yousef committed the stabbing attack in the settlement of Adam on July 26 in which Yotam Ovadia was murdered.

During the operation, violent riots broke out, and dozens of Palestinians threw stones, Molotov cocktails, torched tires, and pipe bombs at the soldiers.

The IDF forces used riot control measures to disperse the riot. There are no casualties.Iran will overcome newly reimposed US measures against Tehran, sanctions that will only serve to unify the nation, President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday.

In a speech broadcast live on state television, Rouhani said his government would overcome the economic challenges and show "the anti-Iranian officials in the White House" that the sanctions would fail.

"The economic problems are critical, but more important than that is that many people have lost their faith in the future of the Islamic Republic and are in doubt about its power," Rouhani said, while answering lawmakers' questions about his handling of the economy, amid rising prices and unemployment.

"We are not afraid of America or the economic problems," he said. "We will overcome the troubles."Britain wants Turkey's economy to flourish and would welcome a visit from its finance minister, British Prime Minister Theresa May's office said, after she spoke to President Tayyip Erdorgan by phone on Monday.

The two leaders also discussed concerns about escalating military action by the Syrian regime in northwest Syria and the possibility of the further use of chemical weapons, according to a statement.The IDF demolished on Monday the house of terrorist Mohammad Tareq Yousef from village of Kobar in the West Bank, who carrried out a stabbing attack in the settlement of Adam last month in which Yotam Ovadia was murdered.

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During the operation, violent riots broke out, and dozens of Palestinians threw stones, Molotov cocktails, torched tires, and pipe bombs at the soldiers.

IDF forces demolishes house in Kobar

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The terror attack in Adam took place on the eve of July 26 when Yousef, 17, infiltrated the settlement through the fence, passed through a playground and stabbed three people at random before being shot dead by one of his victims.

IDF forces in Kobar (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

Father-of-two Yotam Ovadia, 31, who was critically wounded in the attack, succumbed to his wounds and was laid to rest the next day. A 58-year-old victim was also seriously wounded, along with a third victim who sustained light injuries.



The terrorist's house was demolished sooner than in previous cases that have taken place in the last couple of years, in light of emerging criticism about the effectiveness of demolishing terrorists' houses as a deterrence policy against further terror attacks.

The late Yotam Ovadia (Photo: Courtesy of the Ovadia family)

According to the IDF, 35 terrorists' homes were demolished while five others were sealed between 2015 and 2017. So far in 2018, four houses have been demolished and one sealed, with three other demolitions pending.

A legal battle is currently being waged by the family of the terrorist who murdered Adiel Kolman at the Lion's Gate in Jerusalem some five months ago, who submitted objections to the demolition.

In recent years, there has been a significant decline in the number of actual demolition of terrorists' homes.





IDF demolishes terrorist's house in Kobar (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

The National Union faction in the Bayit Yehudi party has turned several times to Dina Poliak, the Ministry of Defense's Freedom of Information officer, as well as to the Public Security Ministry, the Israel Police and the IDF, asking why many terrorists' homes have yet to be razed.Iran will overcome newly reimposed US measures against Tehran, President Hassan Rouhani told a parliamentary session on Tuesday, vowing that his government would defeat any Western plot against the Islamic Republic.

The parliament summoned Rouhani for the first time to answer questions on weak economic growth and rising unemployment, but Rouhani said the troubles only began when Washington reimposed sanctions on Tehran. Flash

U.S. State Department said on Monday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday spoke over phone with South Korean and Japanese foreign ministers to discuss the next step on the engagement with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).





According to an announcement issued by State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, Pompeo and South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha "reaffirmed the United States and the Republic of Korea remain committed to the final, fully verified denuclearization" of the DPRK.





The two diplomats also "pledged to maintain close coordination and agreed that pressure must continue until the DPRK denuclearizes," read the statement.





In a separate statement also issued by Nauert, Pompeo and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono also reaffirmed their commitment to the the DPRK's final denuclearization, and "agreed that pressure must continue until the DPRK denuclearizes."





Pompeo and Kono "affirmed the strength of the U.S.-Japan Alliance and vowed to continue working closely together to address common challenges, seize shared opportunities, and advance the interests of both the United States and Japan" in the region, read the statement.





U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday tweeted that he had asked Pompeo to cancel his upcoming trip to the DPRK, just one day after Pompeo said he and Stephen Biegun, the U.S. new special envoy for the DPRK, will travel to Pyongyang the following week "to make further diplomatic progress towards our objective."





Speaking of the call between Pompeo and Kang, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said on Friday that "Pompeo explained in detail the background behind the postponement of his visit to North Korea."





In response, Kang expressed regret over the postponement of the visit, "citing the unswerving commitment of the ROK and the US to a thorough implementation of the measures agreed upon at the inter-Korean and US-North Korea summit talks."





She also proposed that South Korea and the U.S. side, "while maintaining the momentum of dialogue, continue efforts to achieve denuclearization and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula," read the statement.





In the joint statement after his June 12 meeting in Singapore with DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un, Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK, while Kim reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to a complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.A protest rally against the presence of illegal African migrants in south Tel Aviv is scheduled to take place on Thursday, just shy of of year after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the area to tell Israeli residents that the government would soon remove them.

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The demonstrations sloganSophie is still waiting! Returning sovereignty!was selected as a reference to a meeting held between an elderly lady and Netanyahu during his visit to the area , who explained her difficulties and was promised by the prime minister that the migrant issue would soon be resolved.

We will do what a sovereign country has to do, Netanyahu said at the time.



South Tel Aviv has been seriously affected by the wave of illegal migration in recent years that swept through Israels once-porous southern border.

The roughly 35,000 - 37,000 Africans, mainly from war-torn Sudan and dictatorial Eritrea, began arriving in Israel in 2005 through its border with Egypt after Egyptian forces violently quashed a refugee demonstration and word spread of safety and job opportunities in Israel.

PM Netanyahu during visit to south Tel Aviv (Photo: Shaul Golan)

Tens of thousands crossed the desert border, often after enduring dangerous journeys, before Israel completed a barrier in 2012 that stopped the influx.

Since then, Israel has wrestled with how to cope with those already in the country. Many took up menial jobs in hotels and restaurants, and thousands settled in southern Tel Aviv, where Israeli residents began complaining of rising crime.

While the migrants say they are refugees fleeing conflict or persecution, Israel views them as job-seekers who threaten the Jewish character of the state.

Exactly a year after Netanyahu looked Sophie in the eye and promised her that her living nightmare was about to end, we will all stand here outside her home and say in the loudest and clearest voice, You promised us expulsion and we got an intifada, said the organizers.

You promised us sovereignty and we got a fire zone, you promised us a nation state and we got an African colony, will also be among the chants cried out by the protesters.

In June, clashes broke out as hundreds of Eritreans gathered in the Levinsky Park to demonstrate against Eritrean dictator Isaias Afwerki.

Days later, the police chief superintendent in south Tel Aviv told the Knesset Internal Affairs Committee that the number of violent incidents has soared among the African migrant community in the area under his command since the closure of Saharonim Prison and Holot detention facility , where many were being held.

Rally poster reads: 'Sophie is still waiting!'

We dont want to hear promises and excuses anymore. We dont care what Europe is doing and what the High Court of Justice rules against. We chose a right-wing government, so get up and do what a right-wing government should do, one activist said.

Shefi Paz, a resident of southern Tel Aviv and one of the leaders of the Liberation of South Tel Aviv Front movement who is also one of the initiators of the protest, shared her thoughts on the matter.

Give the population and immigration authorities power, reopen the Holot facility, enforce the laws which already exist, legislate the laws that dont yet exist, Paz said, calling on the government to cut a deal with the Eritrean and Sudanese governments.





PM Netanyahu meets with Sohpie during visit

The main thing is that you release us from the punishment of the worlds unemployed who have come as nice guys through are back yards, she continued.

Paz also heaped criticism on the police which she says persecutes activists who support expelling the migrants.

The police, in the absence of tools and support, find themselves helpless in the face of the violence and the crime that has raised its head in the last few months," Paz complained.

"It is looking for the easy solution and is trying to get rid of the activists who are documenting their helplessness through pointless arrests. This is how we find ourselves repeatedly handcuffed in front of the infiltrators who attack us.

Shefi Paz (Photo: Yariv Katz)

In the absence of a deportation program, the Israeli government has pursued other avenues to pressure the migrants to leave the country.

Since last year, the illegal migrants have faced a de facto 20 percent salary cut as part of Israels policy to persuade them to leave.

Israel withholds the money from their paychecks every month and returns it only if they leave the country.The Krayot Magistrates Court extended Tuesday the detention of a 20-year-old resident of the Krayot, who was arrested Monday on suspicion attacking three Arab citizens on a beach in Kiryat Haim, Haifa.

The Judge said that compared to the two other suspects who were released, there are stronger evidence against this suspect.The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported Tuesday that the United States had offered to withdraw from Syria in exchange for a full Iranian withdrawal from southern Syria.

According to the report, a secret meeting was held last week in Damascus between the American delegation and senior Syrian security officials.

During the meeting, US officials presented their Syrian counterparts with several demands in exchange for the US withdrawal, including the withdrawal of Iranian forces from southern Syria, Syrian guarantees that the United States would receive their "share of Syrian oil", and information regarding terrorist organization operating in Syria.French President Emmanuel Macron is coming to Denmark for a two-day visit, hoping to build the relationships he needs to push France's agenda of a more closely united European Union.

Macron wants Europe to take more responsibility for its own defense, saying the continent's security shouldn't rely so much on the United States.

Denmark has a defense opt-out in its EU ties, meaning it does not taking part in military matters. The Danish government and a majority of lawmakers want the defense waiver to be removed but are hesitant about calling a referendum on it.Iran will overcome newly reimposed US measures against Tehran, President Hassan Rouhani told a parliamentary session on Tuesday, vowing that his government would defeat any Western plot against the Islamic Republic.

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The parliament summoned Rouhani for the first time to answer questions on weak economic growth and rising unemployment, but Rouhani said the troubles only began when Washington reimposed sanctions on Tehran.

US President Donald Trump withdrew in May from a deal that had lifted sanctions on Tehran in return for curbs on its nuclear program.

President Rouhani and President Trump (Photo: AFP, Getty Images)

Washington imposed a new round of sanctions in August targeting Iran's trade in gold and other precious metals, its purchases of US dollars and its car industry. A new round of sanctions to be imposed in November targets Iranian oil sales.

"I want to assure the Iranian nation that we will not allow the US plot against the Islamic Republic to succeed," Rouhani said in a live broadcast on state television.

"We will not let this bunch of anti-Iranians in the White House be able to plot against us."

He added, "We are not afraid of America or the economic problems. We will overcome the troubles."

Rouhani, a pragmatist who reduced tension with the West by striking a nuclear deal with world powers in 2015, now faces a backlash from hardliners over Washington's pullout from the pact.

"Be aware that sabotage creates destruction. Be aware that painting a bleak picture of people's lives will lead to further darkness," Rouhani said.

Rouhani also made a cryptic remark that Iran had a "third way" to deal with the crisis other than abandoning or staying in the nuclear deal. He did not elaborate, but said he mentioned it to French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday.

Hardline elements in the parliament have pressed Rouhani to reshuffle his economic team to better shield the economy from Trump's moves and tamp down public discontent.

Rouhani said the troubles began with anti-government protests in early January when many Iranians, angered by rising prices took to the streets , chanting slogans against the government and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"The protests tempted Trump to withdraw from the nuclear deal," he said, asking lawmakers to support his cabinet and not add to anti-government sentiment.

Iranians take to the street in protest against economic hardships

Although the economic problems were critical, Rouhani said, "More important than that is that many people have lost their faith in the future of the Islamic Republic and are in doubt about its power."

Lawmakers asked why the government had not adopted reforms in the financial sector and foreign exchange market, and sought an explanation why, more than two years after the nuclear deal, Iranian banks still had only limited access to global financial services.

Rouhani appointed a new central bank governor and accepted the government spokesman's resignation, suggesting that he accepts the need to reshuffle his economic team.The three victims of the attack on Kiryat Haim beach were identified on Monday night as Dr. Muhammad Yusifin, Muatasim Ayoub, and Mawd Ayoub, following a solidarity event in their hometown of Shfaram.

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The men said they wanted to show their faces as a statement that they are not "criminals, but victims."

"First of all, I would like to thank all the people and citizens from all over the country, Jews and Arabs alike, who have supported us through this ordeal," Muatasim Ayoub said.

"After we received this outpouring of support from all kinds of people including Jews, Arabs and Knesset members, we felt secure enough to show our faces," he added.

Dr. Muhammad Yusifin, Muatasim Ayoub, and Mawd Ayoub

The three sent a message to the law enforcement authorities, calling on the Israel Police and the judicial system to continue investigating the matter.

The incident occurred last week in the early hours of Thursday. We were sitting on the beach for about half an hour when a Jewish man walked up to us and asked if we were Arabs. We said yes, what do you want? And he just left. We thought that he might be drunk. The man returned shortly after, this time accompanied by many others," the victims said.

After two minutes, he came back with nine other people with knives, metal chains and bars and just started hitting us, they recalled.

They started hitting us with no mercy, in all parts of our body, when we were sitting down. They wanted to kill us, just because we are Arabs, they said.

Two Jewish men passed by, pushed them back from us and called the police and Magen David Adom (MDA) paramedics. The two Jewish men gave us water and helped us," they added.

Dr. Muhammad Yusifin said, It pains me, because in my profession I treat Jews. I have never looked at a mans origin. I also have Jewish friends and I live among Jews.

The men also said that the attackers cursed and swore at them as the assualt took place, calling them "Arab dogs," and telling them "dont stay here.

Following the attack, the three men were sent to the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa for treatment, where they filed a complaint.

We didnt hurt anyone, they told Ynet on Friday. They just started beating us for no reason. They almost killed us. We asked them to stop but they kept going. They were only pushed away when other people arrived," they said.

Yair Elalouf

Yair Elalouf helped the three Shfaram residents and stopped the attack. In an interview with Ynet, Elalouf said that at least 70-80 people witnessed the attack, but none of them intervened or called the police.

According to Elalouf, 8-10 youths attacked the three Arab men. "I saw a group of young Russian men beating (the Arabs) with clubs and chains. They jumped three people there, who were already unconscious on the ground, covered with blood," he said.

"One of them asked for my help, said they were going to kill them. I went there, got the young guys away from there, and called the police. I did what I thought was right," Elalouf added.

Elalouf said he heard two versions of what had happened. "One (from people who were there) that they (the Arabs) started it (by provoking) the Russian guys, and another version from girls who said they were there that they (the Arabs) didn't do anything, they were just sitting there quietly drinking. What's the truth? I don't know, I think this is unjustified hatred," he continued.

Later on Sunday, Elalouf met with the three victims at his workplace. "They are very nice guys, they thanked me and asked me where live. They took my phone number and invited me for dinner at their home in Shfaram, the also want to visit my home. I told them they are more than welcome," Elalouf told Ynet.

"People ask me all the time, 'Did you know they were Arabs?' Of course I did, but it doesn't matter. It has nothing to do with that, it does not matter who asked for my help, I would have helped anyone, whether they are Ethiopians, Arabs, or Jews, it does not matter. I wish the country would do the same," he concluded.

The Krayot Magistrates Court extended Tuesday the detention of a 20-year-old resident of the Krayot, who was arrested Monday on suspicion of attacking the three men at the beach. The Judge said that compared to the two other suspects, there is stronger evidence against the latest suspect.

The suspect's attorney confirmed that his client was at the scene of the crime, but says he "denies any involvement in the attack". According to the lawyer, the suspect's girlfriend and his father had been interrogated by the police before his arrest was made.

One of the suspects in court (Photo: Gil Nechushtan)

On Saturday, police arrested the first suspect in the case but he was released the following day.

According to the suspect, he was arrested in his home for no apparent reason: "I was not there and I was not involved. I have no idea why they arrested me." At the end of his hearing, the judge sentenced him to house arrest.

The decision was made due to lack of sufficient evidence presented to the court. Similarly, on Monday, the Krayot Magistrates Court released the second suspect to a two-day house arrest.The Russian Navy has dispatched the biggest task force to the Mediterranean Sea since the start of Russia's intervention in the Syrian conflict in September 2015, Russian daily Izvestia reported.

The task force includes 10 ships, including ships carrying 'Kalibr' cruise missiles, and two submarines. Several additional ships are on their way .

According to Izvestia, military experts say the fleet will be able to support the Syrian army's campaign in th rebel-held Idlib Province.Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Tuesday that more clarity was needed about Britain's stance regarding its planned departure from the European Union.

"I hope that Britain will further develop its positions regarding Brexit," Coveney told an economic conference organised by the German foreign ministry in Berlin.

With little more than seven months to go until it leaves the EU on March 29, Britain has yet to reach an agreement with the bloc on the terms of its departure. Prime Minister Theresa May's plan for a "business-friendly" deal has failed to impress negotiators in Brussels and has been criticised at home.Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan referred to the cooperation agreement signed by Iran and Syria Monday, saying that "we did not expect the Iranians to openly wave a white flag. This is an excuse made to legitimize the presence of Iranian forces in Syria."

In an interview with Ynet, Erdan added that "Assad will have a lot more to lose if he allows Israel's greatest enemy to establish grounds in Syria. I think that will get that message across over time."The US told Syria that its forces would leave the country on condition that Iranian forces fully withdraw from southern Syria, according to a Tuesday report in the Lebanese newspaper, Al-Akhbar.

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Last week, the report claims, a surreptitious meeting took place in Damascus between an American delegation of senior Defense Department officials, during which they made a series of demands in exchange for the US vacating war-torn Syria.

In addition to the demand that Iranian forces exit southern Syria, the US also sought a Syrian guarantee that the US would receive a share of Syrian oil and that the country transfer information from Damascus to Washington about the terrorist organizations operating in the country, claiming that "the threat of terrorism crosses continents and that the information we receive can likely serve the states security.

President Trump and President Assad (Photo: AP, AFP)

According to the report, the American delegation, which was escorted by a large Syrian security detail, met with Ali Mamlouk, the head of Syrias national security bureau. The report claimed that the US team was led by a senior officer and was composed of representatives from other intelligence agencies.

The Syrian delegation, the report claimed, included other senior security officials, including the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate and the meeting was said to have lasted for four hours.

The Syrians allegedly rejected the American proposal. You are here as an occupying force. You came onto our land without permission and you can leave in the same way, Mamlouk was quoted as saying. Until that happens, we will treat you as an occupying force.

Mamlouk also responded to the American demand that Iran leave southern Syria, telling the US delegation that the two countries in the Middle East were now part of a wider axis of cooperation, underscoring that the relations between them, and with the Hezbollah terror group, were strong.

The American proposal, he said, would not be changing the alliance which has been set up for the long haul. At the meetings conclusion, it was agreed that the channels of communication between the US and Syria through the Russians would remain in place.

On Monday, Iran and Syria signed a deal for military cooperation in a meeting between the defense ministers of the two countries in Damascus, the Tasnim news agency reported.

Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami travelled to Damascus on Sunday for a two-day visit, meeting Syrian President Bashar Assad and senior military officials, Tasnim reported.

President Assad with Defense Minister Hatami (Photo: AP)

Hatami later said that an axis of resistance is prepared and ready to always respond to any attack against Syria.

The presence of the Iranian forces in Syria is in accordance with a request in Damascus, and no other country has the right to express an opinion on this presence, Hatami said in an interview with the Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen satellite channel. Flash

Chinese and Greek foreign ministers on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to jointly advance the construction of the Belt and Road, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks during a routine press release, saying that the signing of the MOU is significant to bilateral relations and Belt and Road cooperation.

"The signing is like installing a new high-powered engine for China-Greece relations, which will inject strong and long-lasting impetus into the pragmatic cooperation between the two countries," said Hua, quoting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

As an important meeting point of the land Silk Road and the maritime Silk Road, Greece is China's natural partner in the construction of the Belt and Road, Hua said, adding that the Port of Piraeus is the model of China-Greece cooperation.

Against the background of rising unilateralism and protectionism, the joint construction of the Belt and Road is an important symbol of adhering to multilateralism, in addition to being a useful exploration for improving global governance and trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, Hua said.Sweden's municipalities and government are directly and indirectly funding anti-Semitic organizations, according to a research conducted by Gatestone Institute for International Relations.

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The research was published by Nima Gholam Ali Pour, a member of the board of education in the Swedish city of Malmo, as well as a participant of several Swedish Middle East teams.

Swastikas on synagogues in Sweden

In addition, he is the editor for the social conservative website "Situation Malmo," and has published books.

The research report also concluded that Malmo's municipality is using tax payers' money to endorse Group 194an organization that posts anti-Semitic content on its Facebook page, such as a caricature of a Jew drinking blood and feeding on a child.

The research argued that anti-Semitism originating in the Middle East is also funded by Swedish public money.

Therefore, when anti-Semitic scandals occur in the Scandinavian country, those tasked with addressing them are often the same officials responsible for distributing the offensive material that led to them.

Moreover, no effective action is currently being taken against the spread of anti-Semitism in Sweden.

Ali Pour concluded that the direct and indirect governmental funding of anti-Semitic organization should be scrutinized and immediately halted.

Stockholm Neo-Nazi rally (Photo: EPA)

He adds that as long as the funding continues, Sweden's Jews will continue living in a perpetual state of fear and insecurity.

Big Swedish cities such as Malmo have become known as places in which Jews feel threatened, and the country's increasingly prevalent anti-Semitism has drawn international attention.

In December of 2017, Muslims demonstrated in front of a synagogue in Malmo and a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a prayer room in a Jewish cemetery following US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

"We want our freedom back and we'll shoot the Jews," the anti-Semitic demonstrators shouted in front of the synagogue.

Molotov cocktails were also hurled at a synagogue in the Swedish city of Gothenburg.

Hate graffiti on synagogues

Furthermore, representatives of the Youth Against Settlements (YAS) organization based in Hebron are visiting and lecturing in Swedish high schools against Hebron's Jewish residents.

One of the high school students who attended YAS's lectures in February 2018 said that the anti-Semitic organization had argued that there are checkpoints all across Israel and that Arabs are routinely beaten and killed.

It was also said the Palestinians are living in concentration camps similar to those set up by the Nazis in in WWII.

"They talked a lot of nonsense and made us to take pictures with their flag," one of the high school student said.

"The most controversial thing they said was that the Jews control the United States and the media," another student added.

Zelika El Motsev and Anas Amro, YAS's representatives across Sweden, were described in the media as "peace activists," while they praised stabbing attacks, Shahids (martyrs) and Arab uprising on their Facebook pages.

YAS's spokespersons were invited to speak before public institutions in Sweden and the country's Foreign Affairs Minister Margot Wallstrom met with them during her visit to Ramallah in December 2016.An Israeli-American citizen who is suspected of the murder of a Canadian English teacher in Taipei has managed to escape Taiwan to the Philippines, but faces extradition.

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The suspect, Oren Shlomo Mayer, 37, was identified by the Taipei authorities as a tattoo artist. He allegedly committed the murder with the help of an American citizen, before fleeing to the Philippines.

According to media reports in Taiwan, Canadian teacher Ramgahan Sanjay Ryan was murdered last week following a dispute between drug dealers.

The suspect, Oren Shlomo Mayer (Photo: Taiwannews)

Mayer, known as "Oz" in Taipei, ambushed the victim together with his accomplice, Ewart Odane Bent. The two men then murdered Sanjay and dismembered the body. The dismembered body was discovered in a local park on August 22.

Local police say Mayer, who is described by local media as "the biggest marijuana dealer in northern Taiwan," was captured on security cameras when he entered a local supermarket with his accomplice. The two bought beers to celebrate the murder.

Disguised himself as a backpacker and fled to the Philippines

Last Saturday, Taipei Police arrested Bent, who confessed to the murder and testified against Mayer, who fled to the Philippines on August 25.

Security cameras captured Mayer arriving at the Taipei International Airport disguised as a backpacker. He managed to get on a flight to the Philippines, which has an extradition agreement with Taiwan. Consequently, Mayer may be extradited to Taiwan soon.

According to local news agencies, Mayer was born in Israel and grew up in the United States. In 2015, he completed an internship in Los Angeles and moved to Taiwan.

X

During his first couple of years in Taiwan, Mayer worked as an English teacher for children aged 2 to 12. In 2017, he set up a tattoo shop in the Taiwanese capital.

The investigation revealed that his friend Bent had been invited to Taiwan to assist Mayer in his expanding drug deals.

The two men used to spend time at a local nightclub, where they met Sanjay, who served as the club's public relations agent. The victim introduced himself as an English teacher, but the police believe he was also dealing drugs.

During police questioning, Bent claimed Mayer had advised him to run away to the Philippines with him, but he refused, since he believed local authorities will never find out the truth.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem, "the media reports in Taiwan have been brought to our attention. We have no information to offer beyond that."North Korean officials have warned in a letter to the United States that denuclearization talks were "again at stake and may fall apart", CNN reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

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The letter was delivered directly to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and stated that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's government felt that the process could not move forward.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) and N. Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (Photo: AP)

"The US is still not ready to meet (North Korean) expectations in terms of taking a step forward to sign a peace treaty," CNN reported, citing sources.

The 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving US-led UN forces technically still at war with North Korea.

The North has long made clear that it sees an official end to the state of war as crucial to lowering tensions on the Korean peninsula.

The United States has been reluctant to declare an end to the Korean War until after North Korea abandons its nuclear weapons program.

The Washington Post reported on Monday that US President Donald Trump called off a visit to North Korea by Pompeo after the latter received a belligerent letter from a senior North Korean official just hours after the trip was announced last week.

CNN reported that the letter was sent by the former head of North Korea's spy agency, Kim Yong Chol, but it was not known how it was sent. The Washington Post said North Korea had been increasingly communicating through its UN mission.

Moreover, it was mentioned that if a compromise could not be reached and the nascent talks crumbles, North Korea could resume "nuclear and missile activities".

Kim and Trump meet in Singapore (Photo: AP)

On Sunday, North Korea's state media accused the United States of "double-dealing" and "hatching a criminal plot" but did not mention Pompeo's canceled visit.

The Washington Post said the exact contents of the message were unclear, but it was sufficiently belligerent that Trump and Pompeo decided to call off the planned trip.

The trip had been announced the previous day of this week and Pompeo had intended to introduce a newly named special envoy, Stephen Biegun, to his North Korean counterparts.

The White House referred queries on the Washington Post report to the State Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In cancelling Pompeo's trip, Trump publicly acknowledged for the first time that his effort to get North Korea to denuclearize had stalled since his June 12 summit with Kim in Singapore

US intelligence and defense officials have repeatedly expressed doubts about North Korea's willingness to give up its nuclear weapons and they had not expected Pompeo's trip to yield positive results.

A South Korea presidential spokesman said he was not in a position to comment on the authenticity of the letter but acknowledged that talks between Washington and Pyongyang were in a stalemate.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to N. Korea canceled (Photo: Reuters)

"With North Korea and the US remaining stalemated, there is a even bigger need for an inter-Korea summit," Kim Eui-kyeom, a spokesman for the presidential Blue House told a briefing.

South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said this month his planned third summit with North Korea's Kim next month would be another step towards the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and an end to the Korean War.US lawyers urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Tuesday to dismiss an Iranian lawsuit calling for a lifting of US sanctions against Tehran, saying its real aim was to restore a 2015 nuclear pact rejected by President Donald Trump.

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The ICJ is the United Nations' highest court for resolving disputes between nations. Its rulings are binding, but it has no power to enforce them, and the United States and Iran are both among a handful of countries that has ignored its decisions.

Iran argues that the reimposed US sanctions, which are undermining its already weak economy, violate a 1955 friendship treaty between the two countriessigned before Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution and the sharp deterioration in bilateral ties that has endured until today.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (L) and President Donald Trump (Photo: Reuters)

But US State Department Legal Advisor Jennifer Newstead said on the second day of oral arguments in the case that Iran's appeal based on the 1955 Treaty of Amity was a legal dodge.

"Iran is endeavouring to use the procedures of the Treaty of Amity to enforce rights that it claims under an entirely different (agreement) that specifically excludes judicial remedies," she said.

Newstead said US-Iranian disagreements should be resolved through diplomacy and not by the court.

Trump pulled out of what he described as a flawed 2015 pact between Iran and major world powers under which sanctions were lifted in return for Tehran accepting curbs on its nuclear program. The Trump administration then announced unilateral plans to restore sanctions against Tehran.

L to R: Merkel, Macron and May (Photo: EPA, Reuters)

Although Washington's European allies protested against the move, most Western companies intend to adhere to the sanctions, preferring to lose business in Iran than be punished by the United States or barred from doing business there.

"This case is entirely about an attempt to compel the US by order of this court to resume" the 2015 nuclear deal, Newstead said.

The Trump administration has said its decision to quit the 2015 deal were prompted by US national security concerns, including the threat it says is posed by Iran's nuclear program and Tehran's involvement in conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Iran asked the ICJ, which is also known as the World Court, on Monday to order Washington to suspend the sanctions temporarily while it hears Iran's case in full, a process that could take years. Washington says that request must be rejected.

A provisional ruling is expected within a month, though no date has been set.Current US sanctions on Iran are unlikely to stop Iranian oil exports completely, a long-time adviser at Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry said on Tuesday, adding Iran would be unable to close the straits of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab even partially.

Speaking at an oil conference in the Norwegian city of Stavanger, Ibrahim al-Muhanna said Iran would be the first to lose out on a move to block those major shipping routes and that any such action would trigger further sanctions on Iran.France has told its diplomats and foreign ministry officials to postpone indefinitely all non-essential travel to Iran, citing a foiled bomb plot and a hardening of Tehran's attitude towards France, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

Any hardening of relations with France could have wider implications for Iran. France has been one of the strongest advocates of salvaging a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, which US President Donald Trump pulled out of in May.The Shin Bet has uncovered a Hamas terror cell in Hebron which has been operating in coordination with Hamas headquarters in Gaza and abroad.

The cell includes Dina Karmi, the wife of the terrorist who murdered four people in 2010. The Shin Bet has arrested the members of the cell and indictments have been submitted in Judea Military Court.The IDF will "continue working with complete determination against Iran's attempts to transfer military forces and weapons systems to Syria," a senior Israeli official said Tuesday in response to the military cooperation agreement signed between Tehran and Damascus.

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"The prime minister has set the struggle against Iran's military entrenchment as a central goal, just as he did with the cancelation of the Iranian nuclear deal, which he achieved despite the fact it seemed impossible then," the official said.

Israel's fight against Iranian presence in Syria is done "both on the diplomatic level and on the military level," the senior official said.

Prime Minister Netanyahu (Photo: Reuters)

But despite Israeli and US pressure, Tehran's military attache to Damascus, Abolqassem Alinejad, said Tuesday that Iran will maintain its military presence in Syria.

Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami visited Damascus on Saturday for talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad and senior military officials. He signed a deal for military cooperation in a meeting with his Syrian counterpart, but details of the accord were not revealed.

"The continued presence of Iranian (military) advisers in Syria was part of this military cooperation agreement between Tehran and Damascus," the state news agency IRNA quoted Alinejad as saying.

The accord also emphasized the importance of Syria's territorial integrity and sovereignty, he said, adding that it came into effect on the day of its signing.

"Iran will help Syria in clearing minefields in different parts of the country... Iran will help Syria to rebuild the military factories that were damaged in the war," Alinejad said.

Iran and Syria sign military cooperation agreement (Photo: AFP)

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have sent weapons and thousands of soldiers to Syria to help shore up Assad during the seven-year-long civil war there.

Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, reported on Tuesday that the US is negotiating with Syria on the withdrawal of American forces from the country on condition that Iranian forces fully withdraw from southern Syria.

The report has not been confirmed by other sources yet.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan told Ynet that "The US also understands the immense damage caused by the Iranian presence in the Middle East, but (removing Iran from Syria) is primarily a direct Israeli interest."

Erdan dubbed the agreement between Iran and Syria a "shady plan meant to establish Iranian forces."

"This campaign is long term and will not be decided in the coming weeks or months. This is a campaign that entails the collection of intelligence and very specific decisions. There are regional interests involved," he went on to say.

Erdan stressed Israel would not accept Iranian presence in Syria and said the IDF would "demonstrate to (Syrian President Assad) the price he would have to pay if he allows (the Iranians) to remain in Syria."

The public security minister explained that while Assad was fighting for survival, he could let the Iranians into his country because he "didn't have much to lose." But once he resumed control of most of Syria, "leaving an Iranian force there would lead to Israel having to confront it in Assad's territory. If he doesn't understand that, he will once he sees kinetic strike in Syria," he elaborated.





PARIS - France has told its diplomats and foreign ministry officials to postpone indefinitely all non-essential travel to Iran, citing a foiled bomb plot and a hardening of Tehran's attitude towards France, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

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Any hardening of relations with France could have wider implications for Iran. France has been one of the strongest advocates of salvaging a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, which US President Donald Trump pulled out of in May

Iran's economy has been hammered by the prospect of the re-imposition of US sanctions that had been lifted under the deal. European countries including France have pledged to try to soften the economic blow, but have been unable so far to persuade their firms to defy Washington and stay in Iran.

French President Macron and Iranian President Rouhani (Photo: Reuters)

French oil and gas major Total and its carmakers PSA and Renault have led an exodus of European companies from Iran, fearful of the extra-territorial reach of Washington's sanctions.

The memo cites a foiled plot to bomb a rally held by an exiled Iranian opposition group near Paris that was attended by Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani as a sign of Tehran's more aggressive stance towards France.

"The behavior of the Iranian authorities suggests a hardening of their position vis-a-vis our country, as well as some of our allies," Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, the ministry's secretary general wrote in the notice dated August 20.

"Given the known security risks ... all departmental officers, whether from headquarters or (overseas) posts, are required to defer until further notice, except for urgent work, any travel plans in Iran," Gourdault-Montagne added.

The instructions were also relayed to officials in government departments outside the foreign ministry to be passed on to staff who intended to travel to Iran, a separate memo obtained by Reuters showed.

The French foreign ministry declined to comment on the memo or say whether embassy staff had been asked to repatriate their families. Iranian officials at the Embassy in Paris did not respond to a request for comment.

France's latest travel advisory for its citizens, published on May 10, cautions against visitors entering Iran with electronic equipment such as drones and walkie-talkies and taking too many photographs.

Relations sour

The memo underscores how confidence in the Tehran government has been eroded in Paris as relations between the two become increasingly strained, even as President Emmanuel Macron talks up preserving the nuclear accord.

Iran has said it had nothing to do with the alleged plot to attack a National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) meeting on June 30. Germany has detained an Iranian diplomat based in Austria. Belgium, where the plot was uncovered, has sought the diplomat's extradition.

French officials have not commented on the matter but diplomatic sources have said privately that if Iran's involvement were proven then it would be difficult for France not to react strongly.

Since pulling out of the nuclear accord, Trump has expressed a readiness to negotiate a new deal while warning Tehran of dire consequences "the like of which few throughout history have suffered before" if it made threats against the United States.

It was Macron who led efforts to persuade Trump to stick with the agreement, arguing it was the best means Western powers had to check Iran's nuclear activities.

Rouhani on Monday urged the remaining signatories to the nuclear agreement to act to save the pact.

Macron reiterated France's commitment to maintaining the accord, but Europe's leaders have appeared powerless to prevent the US sanctions inflicting pain on Iran's economy.

The ministry memo said any staffer who travelled to Iran for personal reasons would not be shielded by diplomatic immunity, even if holding a diplomatic passport. It made specific reference to tourism and language classes.

Britain's foreign ministry said its advice on Iran to diplomats was the same as to the British public. It flags the risks of terrorist attacks and arbitrary detentions and advises against all travel to the frontiers with Iraq and Afghanistan.The owner of the recently opened Anne & Frank Bakery in Amsterdam has said he is considering changing the name of his business in light of criticism that the name was tasteless.

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The owner, Roberto, explained to the Dutch media that it seemed like a nice name to me, and that he meant no harm adding: Anne is a hero for me too.

Anne & Frank Bakery

The bakery is located in the same neighborhood as the Anne Frank House, where the Jewish teenager hid from the Nazis with her family during World War Two.

Anne Frank (L) and her sister (Photo: AP)

Anne Frank and her family were discovered by the Nazis in August of 1944 and deported to Auschwitz. Anne was later sent to the Bergen Belsen concentration camp, where she succumbed to typhus in early 1945, at the age of 15.

Newly discovered diary pages (Photo: AP)

The diary she kept before and during her years in hiding has become a worldwide bestseller and has been translated into 67 languages.

In May, the Anne Frank Museum revealed two previously unknown pages from the diary that had been hidden behind brown sticky paper.

Anne seemingly hid the pages because she feared that the others who were hiding with her in the attic would read the pages, which contained crass jokes and musings about sex, contraception and prostitution.

Anne Frank wrote the two pages on the September 28, 1942, at the age of 13. It was only three months after she and her family went into hiding in Amsterdam.The police closed the southbound Ayalon Highway, one of Israel's busiest roads, from Herzliya to Tel Aviv for half an hour on Tuesday evening due to a demonstration by people with disabilities at HaShalom Interchange.

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The junction near the Azrielly Mall in central Tel Aviv was also closed in all directions because of the demonstration.

Some 100 protesters demanded their disability benefits be raised to equal minimum wage, and were carrying signs slamming Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon.

Police close Ayalon Highway

The demonstration was held under the banner of "Justice to all Elderly and Disabled," with organizers saying the government continues ignoring their plight and their demand to live in dignity.

On Tuesday night, some 20 disabled protesters blocked the four lanes on the road leading to Terminal 3 at Ben-Gurion International Airport for an hour and 15 minutes until they were allowed inside, following which they blocked the exit road for arrivals.

Boris Asipovich, one of the protesters, explained that "the great majority of the disabled lost their ability to work when they were still at an age they could work, and that means no one is insured against such trouble. Today it's me and tomorrow, heavens forbid, it might be you."

He dismissed Treasury officials' warnings of the effect increasing the disability benefits could have on the economy, saying "They're trying to scare us that the economy would collapse, but look at where the people's money is going. They force us to save at the expense of basic necessities, while billions of the National Insurance Institute's funds are taken out of our pockets for unknown things."

(Photo: Matan Turkiya)

Yitzhak, another demonstrator, bemoaned the fact that "Kahlon made promises that were recorded, and didn't keep a single one. Any attempt of dialogue with him has not gone well. He transfers money to the rich, his conduct is dismissive. He said no 'elderly mother' will be cold at night, but many 'elderly mothers' have to decide whether to buy medicine or a heater for the winter."

(Photo: Amir Alon)

Another protester, Ayala Moshe, charged that "rather than have the National Insurance Institute's money go to the insured disabled and elderly, it's put into the state budget for politicians who are advancing the needs of their ministries. We want the money to be returned to the disabled, who have had the threat of starvation hanging over their heads for years. This is the public's money and it's the institutional corruption of the system."

(Photo: Amir Alon)

"100,000 people with disabilities don't leave their homes, so they don't have to spend a shekel," lamented Dov, another protester. "They lie at home half naked in the summer to not spend electricity on air conditioning and cover themselves up in a hundred blankets in the winter to not spend money on heating. They're depressed and they feel guilty for becoming a burden on their families, and some commit suicide because of that. They are torn between purchasing medicine and purchasing food. They die of the health and nutritional neglect because of the low benefits, and the state is responsible."

(Photo: Amir Alon)

The basic disability benefits were raised to NIS 3,270 ($900) per month under a new law that increased the benefits for the first time in 16 years. Under the law, the benefits will be raised to NIS 3,700 ($1,020) at a later stage, but there has been no date set for that. The protesters, meanwhile, demand their disability benefits be raised to NIS 5,300 ($1,460), equal to minimum wage.WASHINGTON -- The US ambassador to the United Nations is calling on Middle Eastern nations to increase aid to Palestinian refugees.

The Trump administration slashed funding for the UN agency aiding Palestinian refugees earlier this year.

Nikki Haley said the US cannot be faulted for cutting funding when countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait don't give more to the UN Relief and Works Agency, which provides services to Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan and Lebanon.

Haley spoke Tuesday at a conference in Washington hosted by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.The Shin Bet, IDF, and Israel Police have uncovered a large Hamas terror network in Hebron in recent weeks, the Shin Bet has cleared for publication Tuesday.

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The terror cell, which included women, worked to covertly convey intelligence and raise funds from the organization's headquarters abroad.

According to the Shin Bet, the funds were intended to finance terror attacks, recruit agents, coordinate activities in mosques, provide aid to families of security prisoners, and finance propaganda and incitement online.

Palestinian female security forces (Archive) (Photo: AFP)

The first indictments in the case have already been filed to the Judea Military Court, with the main charge being membership and holding a position in an illegal organization.

The network's activity has expanded in recent years and included the recruitment of dozens of women, some of whom were sent to meet with operatives abroad as well as receive funds and instructions from the deportees of the Gilad Shalit deal, including the terrorist Nasser Adin, who resides in Turkey.

In general, Hamas, an extremist religious terrorist organization, does not use women for its military activities. In this case, it appears women were used mainly for intelligence collection and for money laundering.

The cell was headed by Nizar Shehadeh and Faras Abu Sharah, senior Hamas officials who have previously served prison terms in Israel. According to the Shin Bet, the two utilized the women to transmit encrypted messages in secret.

The network reportedly planned to take control of the Hebron municipality as well as the charitable institutions in the largest Palestinian city in the West Bank, which has long been considered a Hamas stronghold.

The womens chapter of the network was headed by Dina al-Sa'id, the wife of the terrorist Nashat al-Karmi, who carried out an attack in 2010, murdering four Israelis. Karmi himself was killed during a shootout with security forces.In an opinion piece published earlier this week on Ynetnews, the former director of the Shin Bet, Carmi Gillon, stated that Im Tirtzu is "the most influential movement in Israel in recent years." And I am pleased to agree with him.

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Furthermore, in Gillon's analysis of the political climate in Israel, he stated that words shape reality; in other words, consciousness, and our beliefs, shape our perception of reality.

Since Im Tirtzu's establishment, there has been a refreshing change in the public discourse in Israel. After many long years, the nationalist and Zionist Israeli public has gotten an authentic civil society organization that unequivocally promotes values taught by pioneers like Herzl, Jabotinsky, Ben-Gurion and Berl Katznelson. First consciousness, then reality.

Im Tirtzu protesters (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

Im Tirtzu is the leading voice against those who, in the words of poet Nathan Alterman, try to "dull his brain so that he will forget that justice is with him." This tactic, to uproot the belief in the justness of Zionism, is what prompted Im Tirtzu to come into being. And after more than a decade of activities, as Gillon stated, the fruits of our labor can easily be seen.

We succeeded in returning positive discourse surrounding Zionism to center stage in Israelby conveying to students the understanding that freedom of speech and academic freedom is for everyone, not only for far-left professors; by returning the appreciation for IDF reservists nationwide; by assisting Israeli minorities to serve in the IDF or do national service; and by providing recognition to ultra-Orthodox who serve in the IDF.

We succeeded in restoring blue-and-white to campuses where the flag of the Palestine Liberation Organization became commonplace. We succeeded in assisting bereaved families and wounded IDF veterans to have their voices heard. Above all, we succeeded in providing a response for IDF soldiers in the face of unrelenting slander and persecution, which climaxed with the infamous Goldstone Report after Operation Cast Lead.

But there is still much work to be done, precisely because of the organization that Gillon proudly made a "modest contribution" to. The New Israel Fund, a foreign political organization registered in Israel as a foreign company, is aggressively working to harm the character of the state. The annual budget of the NIF is some $30 million, while the budget of Im Tirtzu is less than three percent of that.

Former Shin Bet director Carmi Gillon (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

Although Gillon admittedly did not "thoroughly examine the list of organizations benefiting from its funds," the NIF gives millions to NGOs that, inter alia, defame IDF soldiers, petition the courts against Israel's security policy, defend terrorists in courts, and lead the campaign of the delegitimization of Israel.

In the case of the NIF, it is moneynot wordsthat inflict lethal wounds onto the Israeli public.

In recent weeks, we have witnessed a rise in activities by the NIF and its grantee organizations. One the one hand, they have engaged in activities against the freedom of expression of bereaved families who wrote a letter concerning Maj. Gen. Yair Golan and against the performance of artist Berry Sakharof in the Mount Hebron region.

On the other hand, they explicitly called on the public to join a protest together with the Arab High Follow-Up Committee, in which slogans like "with blood and spirit we will redeem Palestine" were chanted.

Whoever strives to live in a free, Jewish and democratic state, cannot stand aside and remain silent in the face of these activities.Police investigators questioned Likud MK David Bitan for five hours on Tuesday, confronting him with testimony that alleged he received $55,000 in cash as bribe from developer Doron Glazer in return for his help in promoting construction projects in Tel Aviv.

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The testimony from Glazer, a state's witness, was apparently corroborated by Bitan's close associate Moshe Yosef.

Bitan, who kept silent in his questioning for a long period of time, told investigators the money constituted payment for his services.

Bitan arrives at police offices for his questioning (Photo: Zvika Tishler)

"I did provide services to Glazer, and it was part of legal advice given. I had permission to deal with that matter," the MK told police.

Bitan, who was surprised by the testimony, asked to be confronted with Yosef and Glazer in person, but investigators decided not to hold such a confrontation at this time.

Glazer told police that Bitan's services included keeping building inspectors away from Glazer's construction sites.

The money, according to Glazer, was transferred to Bitan in cash through businessman Moshe Yosef.

Bitan, however, told police that "Moshe Yosef hoodwinked me. I didn't get the money that was agreed on from Glazer, and he still owes me the money."

However, he denied Glazer's claims on the building inspectors, arguing, "How would I have connections in the Tel Aviv municipality to stop inspectors?"

Bitan's lawyer, Effi Dimri, told Ynet that "MK Bitan provided investigators with a full version and answered any question he was asked. His answers are good and satisfactory. I don't intend to address the content of the investigation."

Police suspect that construction company Danya Cebus and supermarket chain Hatzi Hinam transferred bribe money to Bitan through his close associate Moshe Yosef.

According to the police, Danya Cebus passed on NIS 300,000 to Yosef in return for issuing a fictive tax invoice, and this money was allegedly transferred to Bitan's bank account. Police suspect the money was meant to promote one of the company's projects in Rishon LeZion, where Bitan was a member of the city council.

Officials in the Rishon LeZion municipality as well as contractors and businessmen were detained for questioning in the case.

In addition, police suspect Yosef has further information about additional bribery deals.Cutting aid to the Palestinians , cutting funding to UNRWA , and the Trump administration's declaration that it does not recognize the Palestinian "right of return," are all welcomed steps, because they will force the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and other factions in the PLO to adopt a more practical view on a permanent resolution to the conflict. Perhaps these moves could even cause the Palestinians to recalculate their own steps and come back to the negotiating table with a paradigm that would be closer to something Israel would consider acceptable.

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But alongside the possibilities in these moves by Washington, we must first recognize the risks. The economic pressure, which is the result of cutting UNRWA's funding, will almost certainly cause a very serious and very real humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and to a lesser degree in Judea and Samaria as well.

In addition, the Palestinian leadership's response to Trump's declaration, which pulls the rug out from under the international legitimacy for the Palestinian "right of return" demand, will almost certainly spark violence on Gaza and West Bank streets, mostly on the backdrop of the battle over the PA leadership in the wake of Abbas's departure.

US President Donald Trump; Palestinian President Abbas (Photo: AFP)

Therefore, if the US, Israeland perhaps also the Quartetwant to leverage the funding cuts and the canceling the recognition for the Palestinian "right of return" in order to achieve a groundbreaking positive result, this process must be done gradually and be accompanied by supplementary economic moves.

Washington needs to gradually cut the funds the Palestinians receive either directly or through UNRWA over 3-4 years in a way that allows the supplementary economic moves to be implemented on the ground, giving the Palestinians in Gaza and in Judea and Samaria alternative sources of income and employment. Otherwise, cutting the funding will, in short order, bring to a humanitarian crisis in the strip that Israel has a supreme political and security interest in preventing. Such a crisis will lead to security tensions that Hamas would either initiate or be dragged intoand the rest is known.

A similar conflict could develop in Judea and Samaria as well. There won't be a humanitarian crisis, but the worsening unemployment situation will serve as another incentive for unrest, which has been bubbling under the surface anyway. It will start with street protestsand the rest is known here as well. It could end with another mini-intifada, or perhaps even a full-blown intifada.

All of this could be avoided if the Trump administration announces a gradual reduction of funding, which will be done in tandem with a plan for economic investments and projects to establish electricity, water, health and education infrastructures in the strip and in Judea and Samaria, in order to replace the donations the Palestinians receive through UNRWA and other international bodies. Indirectly, such a "Marshall Plan" for Gaza and the West Bank could increase Palestinian motivation to reach a peaceful resolution to the conflict, and create internal processes within Palestinian society to allow this. On such a backdrop, the US withdrawing its recognition of the Palestinian "right of return" won't lead to such serious unrest.

The Gaza donor countries convened in Brussels Tuesday. This is an excellent opportunity to establish an international consortiumincluding Arab statesthat would also supervise and ensure the economic investments are not funneled by Hamas to its military wing and that the Palestinian education system doesn't teach incitement.

Israel would be an active partner in such a consortium, but not as a regular member, rather a "facilitator." Meaning, the Israeli government won't fund or directly carry out the moves, but will do everything in its power to ensure the implementation of these moves will be done quickly through our ports and the border crossings under our control. Professional, engineering and mostly security consultation to the international consortium is necessary not just for effective implementation, but also to maintain our vital national security interests.

We can talk and bargain over everything else after there's a calm in the Gaza Strip (a return to the post-Protective Edge understandings), which will allow this process to begin. Calm currently prevails in the West Bank, where this process can start immediately. Then, when this process is already underway, serious negotiations could start over the captives and the bodies of the soldiers that need to be returned home, as well as all kinds of "arrangements."WASHINGTON - US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Tuesday appeared to question the world body's count of Palestinian refugees, the latest in a series of steps by the Trump administration challenging how relief aid is delivered to the Palestinians.

In remarks at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank often sympathetic to Israel, Haley agreed with a questioner who suggested that the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA), which helps Palestinian refugees, overcounts their number.

The United States earlier this year cut its aid to UNWRA to $60 million from a promised $350 million for the year.

"We will be a donor if it (UNRWA) reforms what it does ... if they actually change the number of refugees to an accurate account, we will look back at partnering them," Haley said.

UNWRA says it provides services to about 5 million Palestinian refugees. Most are descendants from individuals who fled Palestine in the 1948 war that led to the creation of the state of Israel.News

Washington, DC - Today, First Lady Melania Trump joined President Donald J. Trump in welcoming President Uhuru Kenyatta of the Republic of Kenya and First Lady Margaret Kenyatta to the White House.

Mrs. Trump and Mrs. Kenyatta enjoyed an afternoon together with an open dialogue focused on their common goals and their respective initiatives on behalf of children. Mrs. Trumps Be Best campaign and Mrs. Kenyattas Beyond Zero Initiative are united under the goal of improving and protecting the well-being of children.

Mrs. Trump plans to visit Africa in October, further reinforcing the deep and long-standing partnerships between the United States and many African countries.

The determination with which Kenya strives to create better lives for its children is a shared compassion with the United States, said First Lady Melania Trump. I am very much looking forward to visiting Africa. Thank you to First Lady Margaret Kenyatta for coming to the White House today. I look forward to future opportunities for us to collaborate.Latest News

Washington, DC - Vice President Mike Pence spoke with President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan by phone today. The two leaders discussed the impact of President Trumps South Asia strategy over the past year. The Vice President and President Ghani discussed the current security situation in Afghanistan and efforts to initiate a peace process.

Vice President Pence reinforced the U.S. and international commitment to partner with and support the Afghan government and security forces. The Vice President and President Ghani also discussed the upcoming parliamentary elections that are scheduled for this fall and the need for political inclusion to enable the long-term stability and effectiveness of the Afghan government.Yuma News

Yuma, Arizona - This morning, at approximately 11:56 a.m., the Yuma Police Department received a call in reference to a possible school shooting to occur at Cibola High School.

The Cibola School Resource Officer was provided the information and the male juvenile was immediately detained and transported to the Yuma Police Department. The juvenile was interviewed by Detectives and the information received was corroborated. Cibola High School is cooperating fully with the investigation.

A 15 year old Cibola High School male student has been arrested in reference to this case and will be booked into the Yuma County Juvenile Justice Center for Terrorism.

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.Yuma News

Yuma, Arizona - U.S. Senator and Presidential candidate John McCain passed away Saturday, Aug. 25, leaving a void in the nation and the Yuma community. Mayor Douglas J. Nicholls issued the following statement today:

"Senator John McCain lived as a champion who fought for our nation and for Arizonans each day. He was a great friend to Yuma, in relentless support of our veterans and military installations, and cared deeply about the community's agriculture, the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area, and every resident of Yuma. Senator McCain truly loved his visits to our community.

Each time he visited Yuma or interacted with community members, it was evident that McCain was more than just familiar with our region's strengths and issues... He knew Yuma expertly. At one point, Senator McCain personally stepped in to save the Search and Rescue operations at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (MCAS-Yuma) when the program was at risk of being eliminated. He understood how important the program is to the military as well as to the entire community, and he fought to keep it.

Whether he was walking in a lettuce field, down the flight line at MCAS-Yuma, or visiting the halls of the Yuma Territorial Prison, his words exuded honor, patriotism, and compassion for his fellow Americans. His legacy will continue to inspire us to keep working for a brighter future for our nation, for Arizona, and for Yuma in a way that truly calls us to strive for greatness with honor and integrity."

Senator McCain had been undergoing chemotherapy and various surgeries after doctors discovered glioblastoma, an aggressive tumor, in his brain in July 2017. He passed away on Saturday, Aug. 25, at the age of 81. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has ordered all flags to be lowered to half-staff.

The former Navy pilot, Vietnam prisoner of war, and Republican presidential nominee dedicated 30 years as a Senator for Arizona.

The City of Yuma and the Mayor and Council join all Arizonans in sending their deepest condolences to Cindy, his wife, and the entire McCain family during this difficult time.Yuma News

Yuma, Arizona - Last night, at approximately 10:20p.m., Yuma Police Officers responded to the Chilis Grill and Bar, 1131 S Yuma Palms Parkway in reference to an Armed Robbery.

The investigation revealed the Victims were approached by two suspects outside the business, who displayed a knife and a firearm and demanded property. The suspects then fled on foot in separate directions.

Responding officers were flagged down by the Victims and Witnesses who pointed out the locations of the suspects. After two separate foot pursuits by Officers, two juveniles were taken into custody.

A third suspect in a vehicle was also possibly involved. There is no description of the third suspect; however the vehicle is described as a dark blue 4-door sedan.

One of the Victims reported minor injuries reference to this case. This case 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.Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business.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iStock/Thinkstock(MADISON, Wisconsin) -- A Wisconsin couple was arrested and charged with reckless endangerment, child neglect and false imprisonment after authorities said they kept their children in cages.



Travis Lanier Headrick, 46, and Amy Michelle Headrick, 39, were charged by Monroe County authorities on nine felony counts and ordered not to have contact with the children.



On Monday afternoon, authorities searched the couples home in the village of Melvina after they received a complaint about children being locked in cages and a horse trough in a residence, according to the criminal complaint. Authorities also received a photo of small boy in a horse trough with metal fencing as the cover, secured with zip ties. They said they were informed that five children were in the house, four of whom were adopted and one who was a biological child.



Three detectives searched the home and one described what he saw in the complaint.



"I noticed a child in a horse trough with metal fencing over the top of the trough secured with zip ties," Detective John Brose of Monroe County said. "There was also a child in a locked cage on what appeared to be a double stacked cage."



The children had soiled themselves in these cages, the complaint said, and almost all of the doors of the house had alarm systems. The children were allegedly not allowed to leave the house other than on Sunday for church.



A deputy said he had to cut the zip ties off the horse trough to free one of the children.



When authorities questioned Amy Headrick, according to the complaint, she asserted she was a good mother and was trying to protect her children.



She told authorities, the complaint said, that the child in the horse trough had been put there because he smeared his feces on walls and furniture, which had been attracting maggots, and she was "creating a membrane that is washable."



"I didnt want to put him in a bathtub and make him sleep in the bathroom," the complaint quoted her as saying, "so I thought this was something I could wash and take out for him."



A babysitter who said she had been working with the couple since March 2018, Monday through Friday, described the conditions to detectives, the complaint said.



Brose said in the complaint that the babysitter told him she was instructed to unlock the cages in the morning and to put the children back in the cages later. He said the babysitter expressed fear that the couple's daughter would report her to the mother, Amy Headrick, if she didn't do as she was told and that the former babysitter had "quit because she was fed up with it."



The couple were arrested and a $20,000 bond was set on Monday. A trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 6. If convicted, the couple faces up to 10 years and $25,000 in fines for each of the seven reckless endangerment and neglect charges and up to six years and $10,000 for each of the two false imprisonment charges.



The Headricks had attorneys present at their bond hearings, according to the Monroe County Clerks Office, but it is unclear whether they have retained attorneys to represent them.



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to form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.Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

According to the new market research report by IndustryARC titled Business Process as a Service Market: By Process (HR, Marketing, Finance, Accounting, Others); By Solutions (Platform, Services) By Deployment Model (Public, Private, Hybrid Cloud); By End-user (Large Enterprises & SMEs); By Industry (BFSI, IT, Healthcare, Consumer Goods, Others) - Forecast(2018 - 2023) the market will be driven by the growing acceptance of technologies such as business analytics, process automation software, and social media platforms.

North America will dominate the Business Process as a Service Market

North America will dominate the Business Process as a Service Market in the forecast period. In the countries such as US and Canada, business organisations are using BpaaS solutions for reducing capital expenditure and enhancing the operational efficiency. The growth of the Asia Pacific market is due to the growth of the enterprise sector and broadband penetration in the countries such as India and China. Europe is also making use of BpaaS, since there is need among the business enterprises to find solutions that can reduce the cost of service delivery. Companies in Latin America, Middle East, and Africa are making use of business process as service to resolve technical glitches that hamper the effectiveness of the business process.

Selected Regulatory Analysis Done in the Full Report:

The banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) segment has the largest share in the market. This is due to the growing adoption of cloud computing, which has resulted in improving focus to enhance efficiency of the systems which propels the BFSI segment in the forecast period. Business process as a service has helped SMEs (small medium prised enterprises) and online retailers to improve their marketing and services. This factor will drive the application of business process solutions in the retail segment. Favourable government regulations will also bolster the growth of the retail segment.

Selected Driving Factors Mentioned in the Full Report

Reduced operational costs and faster time to market (TTM) will spur the growth of business process modeling tools.

Prominence of cloud technology and globalization of markets will spur the demand for the business process management.

Increase in IT spending and growing adoption of Bpaas in SMEs (small, medium, business enterprises) provides many opportunities to the Business Process as a Service Market.

Industry verticals such as BFSI, healthcare, retail and telecommunication & IT are using Bpaas solutions for improving their business and automation processes.

To access/purchase the full report, click the link below:

https://industryarc.com/Report/15272/business-process-as-a-service-bpaas-market.html

Key Players of the Business Process as a Service Market

The key players of the Business Process as a Service Market include Cognizant Technology Solutions, Accenture, Computer Science Corporation, and Fujitsu Limited. Cognizant utilizes Bpaas to help organisations in meeting their demands with a business impact and flexibility. Accenture focuses on building an analytical platform which is industry specific or cross industry and can be configured to meet the requirements of the clients. Computer Science Corporation has announced its expansion of business process services to regions such as Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Hong Kong.

The Business Process as a Service Market is Segmented as Indicated Below:

Increasing adoption of service models with suitable payment options will enhance the demand for the Business Process as a Service Market.

Business Process as a Service Market By Process Type Human Resource Marketing Finance & Accounting Sales Operations Others

Business Process as a Service Market By Solution Type Platform Solution Services Solution

Business Process as a Service Market By Deployment Model Public Cloud Private Cloud Hybrid Cloud

Business Process as a Service Market By End user Large Enterprises Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Business Process as a Service Market By Industry Vertical Banking, Financial Service & Insurance (BFSI) Supply Chain & Manufacturing IT & telecommunication Healthcare Consumer Goods & Retail Government Others

Business Process as a Service Market By Geography (13+ countries)

Business Process as a Service Market Entropy

Company Profiles Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. Accenture PLC Computer Science Corporation Fujitsu Limited IBM Corporation Oracle Corporation SAP SE Capgemini Genpact ADP, LLC.



Appendix: Abbreviations, Sources, Research Methodology, Bibliography, Compilation of Experts, Disclaimer.

Sample Report @ https://industryarc.com/pdfdownload.php?id=15272

What can you expect from the report?

The Business Process as a Service Market Report is prepared with the main agenda to cover the following 20 points:

1. Market Size by Product Categories

2. Market Trends

3. Manufacturer Landscape

4. Distributor Landscape

5. Pricing Analysis

6. Top 10 End User Analysis

7. Product Benchmarking

8. Product Developments

9. Mergers & Acquisition Analysis

10. Patent Analysis

11. Demand Analysis (By Revenue & Volume)

12. Country level Analysis (15+)

13. Competitor Analysis

14. Market Shares Analysis

15. Value Chain Analysis

16. Supply Chain Analysis

17. Strategic Analysis

18. Current & Future Market Landscape Analysis

19. Opportunity Analysis

20. Revenue and Volume Analysis

Media Contact

Mr. Venkat Reddy

Sales Manager

Email 1: sales@industryarc.com

Or Email 2: venkat@industryarc.com

Contact Sales: +1-614-588-8538 (Ext-101)

About IndustryARC

IndustryARC is a Research and Consulting Firm that publishes more than 500 reports annually, in various industries such as Agriculture, Automotive, Automation & Instrumentation, Chemicals and Materials, Energy and Power, Electronics, Food & Beverages, Information Technology, and Life Sciences & Healthcare.

IndustryARC primarily focuses on cutting-edge technologies and newer applications in a market. Our custom research services are designed to provide insights on the constant flux in the global supplydemand gap of markets. Our strong team of analysts enables us to meet the clients research needs at a rapid speed and with a variety of options.

We look forward to helping the client address its customer needs effectively, stay ahead in the market, become the top competitor, and get real-time recommendations on business strategies and deals. Contact us to find out how we can help you today.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.Unfortunately, the ESD website is no longer operational. It must have been reverse-hacked by the aliens using Jeff Goldblum's Magical MacBook. But they still need people in the regular U.S. Army, wouldn't you know.

1 The British Army Promises "Military Makeup" Sessions For Female Soldiers

According to Kazakhstan, the biggest battlefield nightmare for men is fighting alongside some frumpy dame. But according to the British Army, it's even worse to be that frumpy dame. So what's more important to the ladies in green than defending life, liberty, and the right to be politely snide about everything? Why, a military makeover, of course!

Continue Reading Below Advertisement

British Army Camouflage your blemishes. Literally.

That's what these 2017 social media ads targeting women in Scotland seemed to suggest. The ads were promoting the British Army's recruitment booth at an upcoming beauty and fashion show, encouraging attendees to "try on some Cam cream " and take selfies after a "Military Makeup" demonstration, complete with hashtags like #ABetterYou and #ItsAnArmyGirlThing. Heaven knows if there's anything millennial women love more than invading hostile territories, it's hashtags.

Continue Reading Below Advertisement

The would-be recruits were obviously less than thrilled by the pandering display, and the posts were promptly deleted, followed by an apology that reaffirmed the British Army's commitment to equality. Balderdash, we say. Until men and women are encouraged to pretty up before battle, there can be no equality.

You could put together a better ad with a copy of Marketing For Dummies.

Support your favorite Cracked writers with a visit to our Contribution Page. Please and thank you.

For more, check out 5 Myths About The Military You Believe (Thanks To Movies) and MI-6 To CIA: 5 Top Secret Agencies (Who Want To Hire You).

Also, we'd love to know more about you and your interesting lives, dear readers. If you spend your days doing cool stuff, drop us a line at iDoCoolStuff at Cracked dot com, and maybe we can share your story with the entire internet.

Follow us on Facebook. Or don't. It's your life.27 Agustos 2018 Pazartesi, 15:57

Both of Emine Ocaks arms are virtually covered in bruises. The Saturday Mother, who received rough treatment and was bundled into a vehicle by the police, said she was hurt not when these bruises formed but on seeing her children being beaten.

Emine Ocak is 82. She has been seeking justice for 23 years, ever since her son Hasan Ocak disappeared. The day before yesterday, to demand accountability on behalf of her son, she went to Galatasaray Square where she sits down every week. But, on the 700th week of the vigil, the police did not permit Emine Mother to sit in that square. Seeing her children who had come to support the action being beaten up and arrested, before she had had the chance to tell the police, Stop, dont, two police officers had grabbed her by the arm. Emine Mother gives the following account of that moment: The police dragged me away. A plain-clothes officer said, Dont take the old lady, as they were about to put me in the vehicle. I said, They are all my children. If you are carting them all off, Im coming, too. Then the police removed me by force. It hurt with the police pulling me in opposite ways, but it grieved me to see my children being beaten up on the ground. While looking around at that moment, I said, I lost one Hasan and gained a thousand Hasans. In turn, elder sister Maside Ocak says, Three generations of us were given rough treatment.

His photographs in every room

When we went to her home in Esenyurt, Emine Ocak greets us with eyes tired from seeking justice for years and bruised arms. Before sitting down, she takes us on a tour of the rooms in the home. There is a photograph of her lost son, Hasan Ocak, in every room. Her daughter Maside Ocak also joins us in the room to which we pass for the interview.

They are all my children

Saying that on that day they went to Taksim at 10:00 and sat in an arcade, Emine Mother gives the following account: A journalist told us that they werent letting anyone into Galatasaray Square. And I joined up with my children and friends. When I got there, the police were arguing with my children. And I went over to them. Before I had the chance to say, What are you doing? Stop, dont, the police dragged me away. A plain-clothes officer said, Dont take the old lady, as they were about to put me in the vehicle. I said, They are all my children. If you are carting them off, Im coming, too. Then the police removed me by force. I said, I will not leave my children. But they got me out. CHP parliamentarian Sezgin Tanrkulu and my son Huseyin took hold of me. I asked them, Whats your issue? Nobody replied. We hadnt done anything to anybody or harmed them. Ive done nothing but seek justice for 23 years. Why are they doing this to us? They beat me up and put me in prison before. I didnt say anything to them.

I didnt raise my voice so as not to upset the young people

From time to time losing herself in her sons photograph, Emine Ocak says, recalling what happened to them 21 years ago, Everyone there is my family. I didnt just go there for Hasan. I went for the mothers, for the fathers, for the youngsters without graves, for my people and for the peoples. I lost one Hasan and gained a thousand Hasans. I didnt raise my voice as they were taking me away thinking that the young people would see and get upset. I didnt want harm to come their way. It hurt because the female police officers were pulling my arms in opposite ways. But I was grieved by what my children were taking. I had a walking stick in my hand. An elderly woman who has difficulty walking. Why did they act so harshly towards me? I have a complaint about those female police officers. I have a complaint about all those police officers who acted harshly. They even arrested a 23-year-old youngster who happened to be passing there. I have sat in that square for years and asked for peace and justice. I have not killed or harmed anybody. I have always sat in this square. I have knocked at every door. I have gone to political leaders. They turned me away. They have not given me my son.

Three generations of us were given rough treatment there

For her part, elder sister Maside Ocak, who has trouble sitting down and getting up following the rough treatment from the police, gives the following account of those moments: The police surrounded us. Somebody got word to our mothers that they had surrounded us with shields. They came, too. We were in the second and third-generation area. That is, in the area where the brothers, sisters, children and grandchildren of the missing were. Because we didnt want harm to come our mothers way. They couldnt stand it and came. My mother went in the direction of the shields to speak to the police officers. We tried to defend our mother from the shields. We were surrounded. They were trying to drag my mother away. While they were taking us off, Rdvan Karakocs brother Hasan Karakoc was being beaten while spread out on the ground. On the other side, my elder brothers son was being dragged along the ground. I couldnt leave my mother and deal with them. They were twisting Gamze Elvans arm as if they meant to break it. They broke one of my female friends fingers. It was a very violent attack. I was also in the arrests of the 90s. We experienced nothing so violent in that period. It was not so harsh. The only difference is that it was the mothers in the 90s. At the time of this attack, there were also their fathers and uncles or relatives of the missing there for their uncles. There was the third generation. Yesterday, three generations of us were given rough treatment. We sat for hours handcuffed in the vehicle. We were handcuffed from 10:40 until the evening. We were said to have resisted the police under arrest. With an 82-year-old woman being beaten, we were just trying to protect her.

We will be in Galatasaray again next week

Saying, Last year we sat down without trouble. Why can we not sit this year? We are without an answer to this, Emine Mother continues: We are sitting there for peace. We are harming nobody. My concern is the children. The mothers are speaking of their longing for their children. The brothers and sisters say, Enough. Let us finally have our grave. I sat there in the 600th week with Asiye Karakoc, Fatma Morsumbul, Hediye Coskun, Makbule Babaoglu and Guzel Sahin. They are no longer with us. There are fewer of us as the mothers are lost with each year that passes. I will continue to go there. I have promised to find the killers of their children. Why did they do this to us? Let President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Suleyman Soylu give me the answer to this. On which day did we hurt an ant? We will be in Galatasaray again next week. It depends a bit on my state of health, of course. The people who came to support us were beaten up and sprayed with gas. Some have got medical reports testifying to the beatings. I was deeply moved. Those who came to support us were shouting the slogan, Were here, mother, youre not alone. I was deeply touched. It was good they were with us. I embrace them.

Is this how Erdogan is keeping his promise?

Saturday Mother Kadriye Baykal Ceylan: It is as though we were an occupied country. The police attacked us like occupiers. We have been asking for justice for years. Erdogan made a promise in 2011. Is this how he is keeping his promise? How much more gas will they choke us with? We will go and stage a different kind of action. We are not for sitting and remaining silent. I have been looking for my son for fourteen years. I will never give up. We will search until our childrens bones are found. Nobody can impede this.

Human Rights Association and Turkish Human Rights Foundation: We are gripped with shame and astonishment, because those who were trying to arrest Emine Ocak mother by dragging her off by both arms were trampling on values that the human family of which we are part has created with enormous difficulty. We are astonished, because are not the values that bind together as citizens those who arrested Emine Ocak and us the same values? Their values are the oppressive practices of the permanent state of emergency regime, while ours are the values of freedom, equality, justice and peace based on human honour. What has happened now? With them prevented from saying, Find our missing and punish the culprits have you established your authority? Or have you covered up the truth?

Turkish Director of the Human Rights Watch Organisation Emma Sinclair-Webb: It was shameful, cruel treatment of families seeking justice for state crimes.

PEN Turkey Writers Association: We condemn the attack. We condemn the malice and hatred directed at the writers and artists who were showing solidarity with this meeting and journalists who were trying to perform their duties. We are aware that this violence is an indicator of impotence and lawlessness. We renew our call, Do not fear mothers and call on all officials to display common sense.

'Bir Hasan kaybettim bin Hasan kazandm'Sex workers have shared intimate details about their jobs and how they feel about their chosen careers.

In an interview with sexiologist Shelby Sells for Paper Magazine, seven sex workers opened up about how they got into their profession and where they find their clientele.

Sex work includes a variety of professions, from working as a dominatrix to webcam modeling. Through a series of interviews, the seven worker speak out about the discrimination they face and why people need to educate themselves more about their profession.

Outspoken: Pauli Cakes is a performer who first started sex work at 15 years old and wants people to understand the profession is not geared toward one stereotype

Important: 'Not all sex workers are cis,' Pauli said in an interview with Paper Magazine. 'Not all sex workers are women'

Taking back power: Karmenife, who works as a dominantrix, found herself in the profession after she was raped her freshman year of college

Stunning: In an interview, Karmenife said becoming a dominantrix helped her overcome the assault she experienced by being in control during sex

Cashing in: GIllian Skye defended her decision to become a dominatrix because people make money out of their own skills all the time

Self-fulfilled: Gillian said she was made for the job because she already has a dominating personality

Pauli Cakes is a performer who first started in the sex industry at the young age of 15, after earning a job working at different bars in New Jersey.

The employers would pay Pauli and other women to convince men to buy them drinks at the bar. The more drinks that were bought for them, the more money they earned.

'I never had an open dialogue about sex work, but that was kind of my foot in the door for selling my sexuality and getting paid by clients,' Pauli said.

After working in a range of professions within sex work, Pauli wants people to understand that it can't be stereotyped towards specific people.

'Visibility is really important,' Pauli said. 'Not all sex workers are cis. Not all sex workers are women. Not all sex workers are conventionally attractive or skinny.'

An inability to see past stereotypes can cause harm to the sex workers, Pauli warned.

Two women interviewed by Paper Magazine, Karmenife and Gillian Skye, work as dominatrixes.

Karmenife found herself in the profession after she was raped her freshman year of college. As a way to overcome the experience, she did an art project where she dressed up as a dominatrix to reclaim her identity.

Branching out: AJ Saunders uses the internet to promote her own sex work. She sells her underwear and works as an online girlfriend for people

Smart: 'It's kind of nice because it's still offering the same service but to different people it means different things,' AJ told the magazine

Empowered: Sex work does not always entail intercourse. Michelle Hope works as an educator to help empower others through embracing sex and sexuality

Educational: 'I help people reach the safest, most gratifying sexual experiences they can in the healthiest way possible,' Michelle said

'I had never felt so powerful and beautiful, and to feel that in a space where I had been ripped apart was beyond empowering,' Karemife said.

One drawback from the job is the shame other women inflict on her because they don't understand or agree with her profession as a dominatrix.

'I hate when people say that I'm doing this because I'm stupid and that I'm a slut,' Karmenife said.

'It always makes me laugh because at the end of the day, we're all sluts because we're all getting f**ked by capitalism.'

Gillian Skye also saw a way to use the capitalist society by selling something she was good at, being a dominatrix.

'People use their looks all the time, really, so... I mean it's really all a matter of choice,' she said.

Since the launch of the Internet, sex work has expanded to include a larger base for clientele and the services people can offer.

AJ Saunders sells her underwear online as well as chats with people through websites as an 'online girlfriend sexting companionship'.

'It's kind of nice because it's still offering the same service but to different people it means different things,' she told the magazine.

'The internet offers so many clientele opportunities because of all the outlets there are for sex work online.'

Sex work doesn't mean someone is having intercourse with clients. Instead it includes a range of professions, such as becoming a sexologist or sex educator.

Confident: Lindsey Dye utilized the internet to become a webcam model for people

Helpful: She said the experience has helped her get to know her body better and become more confident

Diverse: Radical Pomm understands how to understand the clients and offer an experience that is unique to them

Unique: Radical said diversity is very much in demand in the field of being a sugar baby or escort

Michelle Hope's passion to become a sex educator stemmed from the assault she experienced as a teenager. To overcome the assault, she needed resources that would help her understand why it happened.

Now, Michelle has become one of those resources.

'I help people reach the safest, most gratifying sexual experiences they can in the healthiest way possible,' Michelle said.

She uses her platform to help people understand the role sex plays into our society and how people can use their own skills safely.

'I think the best thing for our society to do to support individuals who choose to do sex work is to recognize that sex work is vastly larger than what it seems,' she said.

Lindsay Dye has transformed stripping to work well online with the help of a webcam.

'I have always idolized strippers and I was looking for a job where I could be a stripper, but with distance from other humans, and that's what webcam modeling offered me,' she said.'

With the help of the webcam, she has grown to appreciate all the angles of her body and gain confidence through her work.

'I was looking for a balance between something really artistic, pure, and beautiful looking and something that can still be sexy and that you can masturbate to,' Lindsay said.

The final sex worker, Radical Pomm, has a knack for understanding what the clients want and what makes the services so unique from other people.

'I am a fantasy  the hair, the prettiness, my ethnicity  that is very demanded right now in the sugar baby/escort sex world,' Radical said.Alexis Neiers has come a long way since she served time for being a part of the Bling Ring, the infamous gang that robbed celebrity homes and inspired a Sofia Coppola movie.

Now 27, the mother-of-two seems to have grown up quite a bit  and she's sharing some of her wisdom with her Instagram followers.

Alexis took to Instagram this weekend to talk about coming to terms with the way her body has changed since she's had kids, revealing that she had no qualms about getting a little help of the surgical variety to feel better.

Speaking out: Alexis Neiers, who was part of the infamous Bling Ring gang that targeted Hollywood homes, has opened up about her postpartum body in a candid Instagram post

'Nancy Jo, this is Alexis Neiers calling...' Alexis appeared in her own reality show on E! called Pretty Wild, which began filming during the time of her arrest for the Bling Ring robberies

It's been years since Alexis Neiers, now Alexis Haines, served time in a cell next to Lindsay Lohan after she was sentenced for burglarizing Orlando Bloom's house.

Real: The 27-year-old also added a photo to her Insta Stories showing her stretchmarks after her tummy tuck

These days, she's no longer yelling at journalists via voicemail because they incorrectly described the height of her heels  as she did on her E! reality show, Pretty Wild  because she is too busy focusing on being a mother.

In 2012, she married Evan Haines, and the pair have two daughters: Harper, born in May 2013, and Dakota, born in June 2016.

But while her Instagram account makes it clear that she is loving motherhood, Alexis recently revealed that adjusting to her changing body has been a more difficult aspect of her parenting journey.

On Sunday, she posted a side-by-side comparison of her body now and what it looked like just after she delivered her first daughter via C-section.

Then, she was 87 pounds, having gained 67 pounds during pregnancy. Five and a half years later, she weighs 137 pounds.

'Does your weight equate to your value?' she wrote. 'The difference I see is that my worth weighs more than gold in both pictures. I am a hard working mother, a devoted wife, and great friend. A person who is passionate about helping others and I juggle it all like super woman (most of the time).

Mama: The 27-year-old is now a mother of two little girls, Harper and Dakota

Growth: She has spoken about accepting that her body has changed permanently

Family: Alexis, who married Evan Haines in 2012, said: 'Ill never be 120 pounds again. I dont want to be 120 pounds again. I was miserable and too thin'

'My weight in both photos doesnt matter because I was kicking a** at motherhood (despite postpartum depression and anxiety) in 2013 and I still am today.'

Realizing that has given her some peace when she thinks about the likelihood that she'll never have the same body she did before pregnancy.

'Ill never be 120 pounds again,' she wrote. 'I dont want to be 120 pounds again. I was miserable and too thin. I also never want to be in that mindset again... thinking my value was all based on how I looked, not how much I offer to those around me.

'It is super easy post-baby to beat yourself up about how much weight youve gained, how much extra skin you have, how weird your boobs look, and how many stretch marks you have,' she went on.

'Especially when you have people on the internet, like I did, calling you a pig right after youve given birth. Self-acceptance takes work. It doesnt have to be before you lose the weight.

'While yes, its so important to be healthy, it is also important to see that your value is not defined by how much you weigh, but by how hard we work as mothers.'

While Alexis has come to terms with the way her body has changed, she also admitted to having some help.

'Self-acceptance takes work. It doesnt have to be before you lose the weight,' she said

A long way: Alexis is pictured with her mom while pregnant with her first child

Work done: Alexis admitted she has had a breast lift and tummy tuck

In fact, she said, she wants to be honest about getting work done so people who haven't don't compare themselves to her unfairly.

'Please recognize that the snap back isnt a real thing for the majority of the population who dont have hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend on personal trainers, plastic surgeons, and hair and makeup artists,' she wrote.

'Before you compare yourself to me... dont! I lost all the weight and then I got a full tummy tuck with muscle repair and hernia repair and a breast lift.

'I am shameless about the help Ive had. I still have stretch marks and some cellulite just like vast majority of mothers.'

She also posted a close-up of what her stomach looked like a year after the tummy tuck, proudly showing off her stretchmarks.

This isn't the first time that Alexis has share a candid post about her postpartum body, either.

In January of 2015  nearly two years after delivering her first child, and before getting pregnant with her second  she posted a close-up of her belly before the tuck, showing the loose skin where it used to be taut.

Honesty: In January of 2015  nearly two years after delivering her first child, and before getting pregnant with her second  she posted a close-up of her belly before the tuck

Flashback:Alexis was sentenced to 180 days in jail for burglarizing Orlando Bloom's house

'I have lived in fear the last two years about showing my body to anyone,' she wrote at the time. 'Partly due to the criticism I received for gaining so much weight with Harper and the media telling women that bodies like these aren't acceptable.

'My legs and arms returned to normal but my stomach will never go back to looking the same way it did before Harper. I have trained and trained and it will never look the same.

'I am so tired of seeing women on the covers of magazines after birth who don't look like me. It feels like they are telling me that my new body is not okay. I am done feeling bad about my body. Today I am taking my power back.

'This body carried and birthed one baby. This body endured a C-section and a home birth all in one day. This body recently lost one baby and carried it for as long as it could. This body is capable of birth.

'This body is capable of bringing life into this world. So here I am! Feeling absolutely vulnerable and raw. Feeling like my healing from Harper's birth is starting to happen,' she said.

After Alexis's Bling Ring sentence, she was arrested and put on trial for possession of heroin at age 19. She pleaded with the judge to not send her to jail, and ended up completing rehab treatment for drug addiction.

According to InTouch, today she works at Alo House Recovery Center as a drug and alcohol counselor.Kylie Jenner certainly has a lot of makeup-related expertise to pass on to her daughter  and it seems highly unlikely that little Stormi will one day be left to figure out lipliner all by herself.

But the 21-year-old mother says that the most important lesson she'll be teaching her little girl when it comes to beauty is to do her own thing.

'The beauty lesson that I want to pass on to Stormi is probably just be carefree and experiment,' Kylie said in a new video for Vogue Australia. 'And let her experiment with her look and who she wants to be.'

Mother-daughter lessons: Kylie Jenner shared the beauty lesson she wants to teach her daughter, Stormi

Dish: The 21-year-old appears in a new video for Vogue Australia

Mother's love: In the artsy clip, she says that beauty, to her, is Stormi

She said: 'Creating life was one of the most beautiful moments in my life. It's hard to explain why, it's just when you experience it you understand'

Kylie, who snagged her first Vogue cover this month with the front of Vogue Australia's September issue, got candid about her first child in an in-book interview.

But she also spoke briefly about Stormi in a new video that the magazine released to accompany the issue.

'Beauty to me means being yourself. Beauty to me means Stormi,' she said.

'I think confidence makes nosecone beautiful. Life is beautiful. Marriages, sunsets,' she went on.

'Creating life was one of the most beautiful moments in my life. It's hard to explain why, it's just when you experience it you understand.'

Future: She also looked to the future, saying that in ten years she just wants to be 'happy, whatever I'm doing'

Trial and error: She said she wants to teach her daughter to experiment and be carefree

'I feel like having a daughter, and thinking about beauty in the future, has definitely changed me,' she said in Vogue Australia this month

She added: 'I feel like it has made me love myself more and accept everything about me'

She also looked to the future, saying that in ten years she just wants to be 'happy, whatever I'm doing.'

Kylie spoke more about Stormi in her cover story, an interview with big sister Kendall Jenner. Most notably, she explained how becoming a mother shifted her perspective on beauty in general and has helped her find more self-acceptance.

'I feel like having a daughter, and thinking about beauty in the future, has definitely changed me, and I feel like it has made me love myself more and accept everything about me,' she said.

Shortly before the interview was released, Kylie revealed that she stopped getting lip fillers for the first time in years. The move led fans to speculate that Kylie felt differently about herself as a mom  and she confirmed this in Vogue.

Her pride and joy: Kylie posted a video of herself with Stormi on Instagram

She made it: The Kylie Cosmetics mogul had landed her very first Vogue cover on the front of the September issue of Vogue Australia

'Even my ears, I always felt like they stuck out too far, and she [Stormi] has the same ears as me and so now I love my ears,' she said.

'Its just having a different outlook on life so I can pass that on to her. I want to be an example for her. What kind of example would I be if she said she didnt like her ears, and then I didnt like them either?

'I just want to teach her that. Im trying to love myself more.

'I actually feel like I love myself more after I had Stormi. And Im trying to be  I mean, Im already a positive person, but just having fun, being positive,' she added.Montgomery County Sheriff's Department(HOUSTON) -- A video of a mystery woman who rang the doorbell of a Texas house in the dead of night, wearing what appeared to be broken restraints on both wrists, has some residents of the neighborhood spooked -- and internet sleuths intrigued.



The Facebook post with the video, which shows the woman approaching the door of the home after midnight has been shared over 23,000 times as of Tuesday afternoon and more than 5,400 people have commented on it -- some from as far as the United Kingdom.



As police scoured the neighborhood and reviewed the surveillance footage in search of the woman, worried residents of Sunrise Ranch said they feared for her safety.



"We still don't know who the girl is -- if she's local, if she's from somewhere else, does she come from within the neighborhood," Chris Geros, a neighbor, told "Good Morning America."



"The look on her face, but she was being very very quiet she just looked distressed," said another resident, Kelly Bordon.



Authorities in the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office are still trying to identify the woman.



"Numerous citizens in the state and outside have sent missing persons flyers suggesting the women in the video is a missing person from their area," the sheriff's office said in a statement on Sunday. "Deputies and Detectives are reviewing these flyers for any similarities, but as of now none are believed to be the women in the video."



Sean Simmonds, a resident who lives in the area, said the woman had rung the doorbell of several different neighbors, but by the time they answered their doors, she had disappeared.



"I've got a 9-year-old daughter at home," another neighbor, Branson Golson, told Houston ABC station KTRK. "It worries me what's going on in the neighborhood."



The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone with information about the woman to contact them at 936-760-5800.



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.With perfect alabaster skin and rosy cheeks, Margot Robbie is known for her glowing complexion.

And now, the 28-year-old actress has spilled her beauty secrets, which include a $24 hydrating toner, a budget balm she buys from Woolworths and high-end moisturiser and eye cream - which she uses every day.

Here, FEMAIL takes a look at Margot's skincare routine - and the items she swears by in the morning and at night.

With perfect alabaster skin and rosy cheeks, Margot Robbie (left and right) is known for her glowing complexion - and recently she shared her day and night skincare regime

Starting with Dr Lancer's cleanser, which retails for a cool $75, the actress follows her cleansing with the exfoliating Peter Thomas Roth Complexion Correction Pads, which cost $61

While you might think a red-carpet ready complexion comes as a result of a detailed and time-consuming regime, Margot revealed that in fact she is laidback but thorough in her approach to skincare.

Starting with Dr Lancer's cleanser, which retails for a cool $75, the Australian actress follows her cleansing in the shower with the exfoliating Peter Thomas Roth Complexion Correction Pads, which cost $61.

I'm on a plane every five seconds, and I can't wash my face. I hate that feeling, but then I use these pads and my face feels really good,' Margot told Elle.

She also swears by Bepanthen ointment, which costs $10 from Woolworths:

'I have a conspiracy theory that lip balms actually have additives in them to dry your lips out so you keep buying them. But because Bepanthen is just a cream for dry skin, it works. It's what I've used my whole life,' the actress explained.

When it comes to toner, Margot said she swears by two cult products - Aesop's Immediate Moisture Facial Hydrosol, for $25 (left) and a Caudalie option - she loves Dr Lancer cleanser

She (pictured) also swears by Bepanthen ointment, which costs $10 from Woolworths, as well as toners by Caudalie and Aesop

When it comes to toner, Margot said she swears by two cult products - Aesop's Immediate Moisture Facial Hydrosol, for $25, and Caudalie's Beauty Elixir, for $24.

She will carry either one in her bag 'all the time'.

To keep her skin nourished and hydrated, Margot uses the Australian brand, Bloc Cosmetics' Citrus Moisturiser, which costs $52.

'There's a dermatologist in Australia who has a skin-care line called Bloc Cosmetics; I like the day-night moisturiser,' she told Harper's Bazaar.

The Citrus-flavoured product is 'nourishing yet light on the skin'.

'It is designed to calm, soothe and protect the skin, locking in moisture,' the website reads.

In the evening, Margot will cleanse and tone all over again, before switching up her moisturiser and adding in an eye cream to keep crow's feet at bay - she uses La Prairie

In the evening, Margot will cleanse and tone all over again, before switching up her moisturiser and adding in an eye cream to keep crow's feet at bay.

'At the moment at night I'm using my Dr. Lancer cleanser and a La Prairie moisturiser. No matter how drunk I am I absolutely will not go to bed with my make-up on, I will not,' the actress explained to Vogue.

She also uses La Prairie's Cellular Swiss Ice Crystal Eye Cream, which costs an eye-watering $325.

Margot isn't the only high-profile fan of La Prairie. Fellow actress, Angelina Jolie, also uses their Caviar Cream, which is said to give the skin a much-needed protein boost.Kayla Itsines has built a global following from promoting a bikini body workout guide to some 10 million followers on social media.

But despite her passion for all things natural and fitness-based the 27-year-old Australian has still come under scrutiny for allegedly tricking fans in her latest snap.

The photo, which shows a loved-up Kayla looking adoringly at her fiance Tobi Pearce, was taken during their latest trip to Italy.

Scroll down for video

The photo, which shows a very loved-up Kayla looking adoringly at her fiance Tobi Pearce, was taken during their latest trip to Italy

'Why does the tummy area look like its been edited?' One person wrote in the comments, attracting 211 'likes' from other people

'Hiking today with my chicken. Just went on a helicopter ride for the FIRST time ever! We flew down the Amalfi Coast and it was the most beautiful thing we've ever seen,' she captioned the sweet photo.

But not everyone was convinced the photo was untouched.

'Why does the tummy area look like its been edited?' One person wrote in the comments, attracting 211 'likes' from other people.

A selection of other individuals quickly jumped to the Instagram star's defense, explaining that they think this type of snap might have been shaped by a strange angle

'I think it's just the angle she's bending so her ribs are poking outwards and her arm arm makes it look wonky,' one said

'I thought I was the only one having seen something weird. Above the arm is bigger than under the arm,' another added.

'It has been edited which I find really disgusting while promoting an account about fitness and how women look and the goals we achiever with effort and hard work and being healthy. What a pity.'

A selection of other individuals quickly jumped to the Instagram star's defense, explaining that they think this type of snap might have been shaped by a strange angle.

'I think it's just the angle she's bending so her ribs are poking outwards and her arm arm makes it look wonky,' one said.

Kayla decided to settle the score by jumping into the conversation and said: 'Hahaha... no I wasn't born this way. Not edited AT ALL! Swear on BOTH my dogs lives'

'It's just her rib cage,' another responded.

Kayla decided to settle the score by jumping into the conversation and said: 'Hahaha... no I wasn't born this way. Not edited AT ALL! Swear on BOTH my dogs lives.'

The fiercely driven exercise guru is known for her washboard set of abs and lithe legs, so these kind of claims have the power to seriously damage her reputation.

Her business is estimated to be worth an astounding $63 million and she made this year's 'Instagram Rich List' with each post set to rake in $15,000.With its low prices, fast checkout lanes and meticulous stores with consistent layouts, it's no surprise families enjoy shopping at Aldi.

And the new Roy Morgan Net Trust Score Survey has found the German discount supermarket chain is the most trusted brand in Australia for the second time in a row.

Famous for its delicious sausage sizzles, warehouse giant Bunnings took out the second spot after jumping three places, followed by Qantas and the ABC.

Comparing the latest findings to the previous survey, airline Qantas improved one place from fourth spot, and the ABC jumped three places from seven.

Famous for its delicious sausage sizzles, warehouse giant Bunnings took out the second spot - jumping three spots within a month

Australian airline Qantas improved one place from fourth spot - taking out third on the list

Revealed: Australia's most trusted brands 1. Aldi 2. Bunnings 3. Qantas 4. ABC 5. NRMA 6. Samsung 7. Bendigo Bank 8. Myer 9. RACQ 10. IGA Advertisement

For the financial sector, Bendigo Bank is the only banking brand to make the top list.

But it's not good news for financial services giant AMP as Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine claimed the company declined in trust after revelations swirled in the Royal Commission.

'The banks were already deeply distrusted so any material impact on their market value is up and down. But AMP has never before been so distrusted,' she said.

'Seventeen years ago, AMP shares were worth more than $14. Today they're worth less than $3.50. That's a drop of 72 per cent.

'AMP's skyrocketing level of distrust has cost the household brand billions of dollars. According to financial analysts, more than $4 billion has been wiped off the company's value as a direct consequence of revelations during the Royal Commission.'

The new Roy Morgan Net Trust Score Survey has found German discount supermarket chain ALDI is the most trusted brand in Australia

Aldi, Bunnings and Qantas have remained in the top five most trusted brands across all surveys since October 2017.

For the first time, Samsung, RACQ and Myer made the top 10.

Meanwhile, the data also looked at the country's most trusted industries, including banks, sport, retail, private health insurance and media.

The survey found retail is the most trusted industry, with the banking sector 'by far the most distrusted'.

HCF took our the first spot for private health insurance, while netball is the number one most trusted spot in the country.

While the ABC is the most trusted media brand, SBS took out the first spot in commercial media brand.It wasn't until she turned two that Leanne and James Wake noticed something unusual about their little girl, Ava.

While the Melbourne-based parents assumed that their daughter was 'teething', in fact her 'agitated and unsettled nature' was hiding something more serious.

It was only when Leanne and James took her to the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne for a full-body MRI that they found out Ava was fighting stage 4 Neuroblastoma, a very aggressive form of cancer with a terrifying prognosis.

'I heard the words and then it was all background noise,' Leanne, 31, recalled to FEMAIL. 'I felt shell-shocked. I could see them talking but couldn't comprehend anything past the word cancer.'

While the Melbourne-based parents assumed that their daughter Ava (pictured) was 'teething', in fact her 'agitated and unsettled nature' was hiding something far more serious

It was only when Leanne and James took Ava (pictured) to the Royal Children's Hospital that they found out Ava was fighting Neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of cancer

'I felt shell shocked. I could see them talking but couldn't comprehend anything past the word cancer,' Leanne (pictured with her family) said of when she found out

What is Neuroblastoma? * Neuroblastoma is the most common solid tumour of childhood. It is almost exclusively a childhood cancer occurring most commonly between the ages of 0-5 years. * It is a solid tumour arising from particular nerve cells which run in a chain-like fashion up the childs abdomen and chest and into the skull following the line of the spinal cord. * Neuroblastoma is a rare disease with about 40 children diagnosed with neuroblastoma each year in Australia. * At one end of the spectrum are benign tumours that may even resolve spontaneously, while at the other end are aggressive tumours with an average survival rate of 40 per cent. Source: Neuroblastoma Australia Advertisement

Leanne and James explained that while little Ava had always been sunny and happy in disposition, after celebrating her second birthday, they knew something was up.

'We thought it was teething, but it kept getting worse,' Leanne said.

'She wasn't sleeping, she was crying all the time and had fevers. We took her to the doctors three times, and were told it was viral, and then a UTI (urinary tract infection).

'But we knew it wasn't a simple virus or a UTI so we took her to the emergency department in the Royal Children's Hospital.

'When we found out, it was very surreal. We were so overwhelmed and didn't want to believe it. But it felt as though someone had already taken her away and given a death sentence.'

The terrified mum and dad were also told that Ava's best chance for survival is a new trial treatment only available at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York City, which carries an extremely hefty $350,000 price tag.

The terrified mum and dad were also told that Ava's (pictured) best chance for survival is a new trial treatment only available in New York City, which carries a hefty $350,000 price tag

Originally, Leanne thought that Ava (pictured) was struggling with teething issues, as she wasn't sleeping and was always crying

Ava (pictured with her family) is in the middle of her sixth round of chemotherapy - she has had multiple invasive surgeries

Heading home with the news, Leanne and James set up a fundraising page to help to raise money to get Ava the treatment she so desperately needs in order to live past the age of five.

While the treatment has delivered results, the vaccine currently doesn't receive funding - which means Leanne and James and their friends must come up with the money necessary for treatment within the next twelve months.

In the meantime, Ava is in the middle of her sixth round of chemotherapy.

She has also had multiple invasive surgeries, and she and her parents spend around three weeks of every month.

'Life is erratic and unpredictable,' Leanne explained. 'When at home, Ava can't do usual toddler activities like swimming, dancing lessons or playgroups.

'We take her to outdoor places like the beach and parks and go for walks.'

'Life is erratic and unpredictable,' Leanne explained - the family can't do normal activities indoors so that they go to the beach or to the park (pictured)

'Ava remains a shining star, a bright beacon of positivity and happiness despite what is thrown at her,' Leanne said of her daughter (pictured)

While the parents don't really have much time for themselves personally, as they spend their days working and raising money for Ava's trip to the US, they said that they will do whatever it takes to help their daughter.

'We ask for the help of others to help save our little girl and give her the gift that all of us have and want for our own children - the gift of a happy life,' the parents wrote on their GoFundMe page.

'This journey has by far been the most difficult that James and I have ever (and probably ever will) face. But Ava remains a shining star, a bright beacon of positivity and happiness despite what is thrown at her.'

To donate to Ava and her family, visit the GoFundMe page, Ava's Journey, here. You can also follow for updates on Facebook.A grieving father has shared a heartbreaking letter he penned for his baby boy who tragically died from whooping cough at 32 days old.

Western Australian parents Greg Hughes and his wife Catherine welcomed their newborn son Riley on February 13, 2015.

But at just four weeks later, the little boy died in hospital as a result of pneumonia-based complications arising from whooping cough.

Speaking candidly ahead of Father's Day, the 32-year-old - who has two young daughters - revealed the eulogy he read out on the day of his late son's funeral.

Father Greg Hughes has shared a heartbreaking letter he penned for his baby boy Riley who tragically died from whooping cough (pictured together)

At just 32 days old, the little boy tragically died after he contracted whooping cough in 2015

Little Riley holding his father's finger in the days leading up to his tragic death in 2015

'To my beautiful Riley, you were born into this world on Friday the 13th - a day that so many in my family were quick to admonish due to their superstitious natures,' Mr Hughes said in a post on his Facebook page Dad Minus One.

'I, on the other hand, felt like my entire world had been completed. You were a beautiful baby boy who reinstated the balance of power in a distinctly female-dominated household.

'No more would I have to battle my daughter for the last muesli bar - and lose, or be dictated to by the whims of the Hughes women. I felt empowered.

'Little did I know that I was far from the only one smitten with you.

Reflecting back on fond memories, Mr Hughes recalled the loving sibling bond shared between his newborn son and daughter Olivia.

'After your birth, our daughter became a maniacal three-year-old who was hell-bent on telling everyone how perfect you were,' he recalled.

The last photo of Riley and his sister Olivia together sharing cuddles - taken the night before he was rushed to hospital where he died a few days later

The distraught father spending the final moments with his newborn son Riley in March 2015

'Whenever I'd go to sit on my couch, I'd be greeted with "Girls only! ...And Riley too...!" I'd have been upset if it weren't for the fact that you were just so perfect that I understood why she made exceptions for you.

'No-one was allowed to change your nappy without your sister rushing for the change table yelling "I WANT TO SEE THE POOP!".

'Strangely enough, she wasn't quite so forthcoming when it came to actually changing the nappy and disposing of its contents.

'She was the nappy helper, the bath helper, the change of clothes helper, and the pushing the pram helper.

'When we explained that your soft forehead was not to be touched for fear of causing you damage, she immediately became the protector and guardian of your precious little scalp, warding off friends, family and strangers alike in her loudest and most matronly voice she could muster.'

Beautiful Riley was born on February 13, 2015 - but just 32 days later, he tragically died

Mr Hughes said he found himself competing against his devoted wife Catherine for their baby son's love and affection shortly after he was born

And Mr Hughes said he also found himself competing against his devoted wife Catherine, 31, for their baby son's love and affection.

'Your mother wasn't much better,' he said.

'From attempting to wrangle you from anyone's arms whenever there was a cry that went slightly longer than five seconds, to finding my household suspiciously quiet and discovering you and her cuddling and napping together - you were her everything.

'And who could blame them? All of my hopes and dreams came true the day I met you.'

Looking at the similarities between father and son, Mr Hughes highlighted his son's lovable traits.

'Much like myself, you ate, slept, grunted, and ate some more,' he joked.

'Whilst other babies woke up their parents by wailing and shrieking, you gently snuffled in your bassinet and were perfectly content, and loved having your back patted as you drifted off blissfully.

'Even when you decided to wait until I'd removed your nappy before spray-painting me with impeccable aim, I quickly forgave you upon looking into your enormous blue eyes as you gazed at me, your strong neck working overtime to ensure you didn't miss a minute of the action.

'Life was perfect. Our family of four was complete.

'And then.... you were gone.'

The Western Australian father has three kids, including his two daughters Olivia, now aged six, and two-year-old Lucy

The couple gave birth to their 'rainbow' daughter Lucy (pictured) 17 months after losing Riley

On March 17, 2015 - just four weeks after he was born - little Riley tragically died after contracting whopping cough.

'I stand here completely bereft of words suitable to convey the enormity of loss I'm currently experiencing. I'm devastated, angry, heartbroken, empty, lost, confused, bewildered. My world has been thrown into chaos,' Mr Hughes said.

'But somehow, as you always seemed to do whenever I'm feeling down, you've helped me find solace.

'The name Riley means courageous or valiant, and in 32 days you've achieved more than I ever could have dreamt to achieve in 32 lifetimes.

'I want to be mad at you for leaving me behind; my house empty, my three year old bossy, my wife likewise. But I find an inner comfort in the fact that you were put here with a purpose.

'You've changed the world in such a short period of time and you've made incredible changes to all of our lives.

'Until I see you again, I love you Riley John. Love, Dad".'If our list of skincare essentials wasn't long enough, it seems there is a new wonder product to add to the ever growing collection of cosmetic must-haves.

Dubbed 'Photoshop in a bottle' by online reviewers, body foundation by is the new beauty bag essential which celebrity makeup artists claim is the secret to the much-coveted A-list glow.

Australian women are known for their love of healthy, freshly tanned limbs, and one brand in particular has been lauded as the holy grail of fake, photo-finish bronzing.

And one product gaining impressive traction amongst tan lovers is Vita Liberata's Body Blur Instant HD Skin Finish, a $68 lotion promising to 'diffuse imperfections' and create an airbrushed appearance from head to toe.

Dubbed 'Photoshop in a bottle' by online reviewers, body foundation is the new beauty bag essential which celebrity makeup artists claim is the secret to the much-coveted A-list glow

'It's like wearing luxury sheer stockings everywhere!' Vita Liberata claim.

The luxury body base is available online from Revolve Australia for $68 and can be used anywhere including as a primer beneath makeup on your face.

Made with shea butter and provitamin B5, Body Blur is water-resistant and formulated without parabens or harsh chemicals for use by all skin types.

Vita Liberata's Body Blur Instant HD Skin Finish diffuses imperfections and create an airbrushed appearance from head to toe (pictured, US beauty influencer Carli Bybel with the product in a YouTube tutorial)

'It's like wearing luxury sheer stockingseverywhere!' - Carli Bybel showcases the finished look using Body Blur as a makeup primer

Cosmetics enthusiasts on UK makeup site Cult Beauty raved about the product and gave it five star reviews, with one user calling it 'the best thing I've ever used!'.

'The texture is so smooth and the coverage is amazing,' she wrote.

'If you love an Instagram filter  this is the real deal,' another said.

'Calling all tan lovers  this product is just outstanding.

'It's Photoshop in a bottle!'

Cosmetics enthusiasts raved about the product and gave it five star reviews, with one user calling it 'the best thing I've ever used!' (pictured, one leg after Body Blur application and one without)

Another reviewed Body Blur and lavished similar praise on the product, asking 'where have you been all my life?'.

'It's instant so you can see if you're made any streaky faux pas and rectify it immediately,' she said.

'This stuff stays put all night long  I can't imagine life without it!'

She added she also mixed some into her usual body moisturiser, which 'worked like a dream'.



In 2016, the brand famously provided faux glows using Body Blur for Sarah Hyland (left) and Martha Hunt (right) on the red carpet of Sir Elton John's Oscar Viewing Party

International model Hailey Baldwin recently rocked Body Blur on the red carpet at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards

US beauty influencer and social media sensation Carli Bybel (aka Carlibel) is a longtime fan of Body Blur, and often uses the product in her much-watched YouTube tutorials.

International model Hailey Baldwin recently rocked Body Blur on the red carpet at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards.

According to her makeup artist, Vincent Oquendo, Justin Bieber's fiancee used the Vita Liberata tanner in shade Latte to get her gorgeous glow.

In 2016, the brand famously provided faux glows using Body Blur for actress Sarah Hyland, comedian Sarah Silverman and Victoria's Secret model Martha Hunt on the red carpet of Sir Elton John's Oscar Viewing Party.For families who religiously shop at ALDI, they are the seriously low-priced products people can't get enough of.

From award-winning champagne to beauty skincare range that's said to rival luxury brands, it's become a one-stop grocery destination in recent years.

As the German discount chain is named the most trusted brand in Australia, FEMAIL has rounded up the affordable products loved by loyal customers everywhere.

With its low prices, fast checkout lanes and meticulous stores with consistent layouts, it's no surprise families enjoy shopping at Aldi (file image)

Voted as Product of the Year 2018: Purewick Reed Diffuser (left), Bakers Life Kornig 14 Seeds & Grains Bread (centre) and Lacura 24-hour Duo Lipstick (right)

ALDI's Product of the Year 2018 Purewick Reed Diffuser 75mL

Bakers Life Kornig 14 Seeds & Grains Bread 670g

Lacura 24-hour Duo Lipstick

Green Action Dishwashing Liquid 500mL

Logix Platinum 18 in 1 Dishwashing Tablets 40pk

Lacura Naturals Verde Hand Wash 500mL

Power Force Pro Bath & Shower Cleaner 750mL

Almat Laundry Liquid 2L

Confidence 3ply Double Length Toilet Tissue 8pk

Hillcrest Protein Bars 5pk/200g

Lacura Naturals Premium Anti-Aging Cream

Lacura Naturals Premium Anti-Aging Night Cream

Lacura Naturals Premium Anti-Aging Serum

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Choceur Liviano Milk Chocolate Wafer Bars 5pk/150g

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The retailer's $20 Veuve Monsigny Champagne Brut was named as one of the best in the world at this year's International Wine and Spirits Competition.

The bargain bubbly won a Silver Outstanding medal - one of 20 awards presented to the chain at the prestigious contest.

And it's not just alcohol bringing home the prize.

The popular Le Pave won accolades in June, with many comparing the $6 creamy cheese to D'Affinois that retails for three times the price in other supermarkets.

Sadly, the sellout cheese is no longer sold in stores - but customers can still get their hands on a selection of dairy products, including the Emporium Selection Australian Washed Rind Cheese and the Triple Cream Brie - both having won multiple awards.

And among the awards, ALDI has revealed the Products of the Year 2018, ranging from skincare, grocery to cleaning items.

Packed full of goodness, Bakers Life Kornig 14 Seeds & Grains Bread has been voted as one of the best products of the year.

Customers have been raving about the delicious Hillcrest Protein Bars which have been touted to give you the fuel you need to get through your day.

Choceur Liviano Milk Chocolate Wafer Bars has also been crowned as the product of the year for offering consumers an indulgent experience.

Purewick's Reed Diffusers, which comes in three distinct scents, have been a crowd favourite in the homeware department.

Customers' most loved products: Green Action Dishwashing Liquid (left), Lacura Naturals Verde Hand Wash 500mL (centre), and Just Organic Apple Cider Vinegar 500mL (right)

For $2.49, shoppers can get their hands on organic Kombucha (left) - while ALDI is selling its famous 'Big Daddy Steak' (right) in the lead up to Father's Day

Said to rival luxury beauty brands, women can purchase the popular anti-aging skincare products by Lacura

When it comes to cleaning, customers are opting for Green Action dishwashing liquid, Power Force pro bath & shower cleaner and Logix Platinum 18 in 1 dishwashing tablets.

Said to rival luxury beauty brands, women can purchase the popular anti-aging skincare products by Lacura.

And the beauty brand has proven popular among its loyal customers, with four of its products voted as the best - including the night cream, serum, eye cream and premium anti-aging cream.

For $2.49, shoppers can get their hands on organic Kombucha for a fraction of the price. There are two flavours to choose from: ginger & lemon and raspberry & lemon.

Emporium Selection Triple Cream Brie (left) has won multiple awards while the retailer's $20 Veuve Monsigny Champagne Brut (right) was named as one of the best in the world

The most loved ALDI products: Hillcrest Protein Bars (left), Almat Laundry Liquid 2L (centre) and Choceur Liviano Milk Chocolate Wafer Bars 5pk (right)

Voted as the best products of the year: Logix Platinum 18 in 1 Dishwashing Tablets (left) and Power Force pro bath & shower cleaner (right)

In the lead up to Father's Day, ALDI is selling its famous 'Big Daddy Steak' for the first time in Australia, set to hit shelves on Wednesday.

For only $16 per kilo, customers can grab the 500-odd grams of the retailer's delicious rump steak that's sure to delight Aussie families this weekend.

And besides the cheap products, consumer research company Canstar Blue awarded Aldi as the country's best supermarket for the second year in a row.

Last month, the German discount chain scored top marks for overall satisfaction and won five stars in four categories, including value for money, specials and private label products.

With all its astonishing awards and glowing reviews over the years, it's not hard to see why ALDI has been crowned the trusted brand in Australia.If you've been holding out on purchasing your Christmas holiday flights don't hesitate any longer.

Skyscanner has revealed that buying your fares 17 to 18 weeks out from the prospective break is the cheapest time to do it.

And as of today we've entered that all-important 17th week.

If you've been holding out on purchasing your Christmas holiday flights don't hesitate any longer

The online travel agency explained that if you strike at the right time you're looking at saving upwards of 24 per cent on the airfare price.

For those hoping to visit Sydney from Adelaide this news is particularly poignant because if you buy that ticket today you're looking at saving as much as 46 per cent.

Previously, the booking site revealed while almost three quarters of Australians intend to catch a flight for the holidays, 84 per cent of that number have yet to book.

With flight prices steadily increasing the closer we get to the Christmas period, research from the online giant revealed an informative list detailing potential savings based on Aussies most popular destinations.

When should you start booking? Sydney to Bali: Book the week beginning September 24 - save an estimated 7 per cent Sydney to London: Week beginning September 24 - 21 per cent Melbourne to Perth: Week beginning September 10 - 22 per cent Melbourne to Tokyo: Week beginning September 17 - 13 per cent Melbourne to Singapore: Week beginning September 10 - 18 per cent Perth to Sydney: Week beginning September 10 - 29 per cent Perth to Singapore: Week beginning September 3 - 28 per cent Adelaide to Sydney: Week beginning August 27 (now!) - 46 per cent Adelaide to Bali: Week beginning October 8 - 40 per cent Advertisement

Skyscanner revealed while almost three quarters of Australians intend to catch a flight for the holidays, 84 per cent of that number have yet to book airplane tickets

Melbourne travellers can secure a flight to Wellington for eight per cent less than average if they book seventeen weeks in advance.

New South Wales residents could be in for even greater reductions, with Sydneysiders saving 10 per cent on Manila flights when they book thirteen weeks ahead of time.

Flying out of Australia on December 21 is one of the most expensive days of the year to travel, with fares costing 12 per cent more than average.

Pushing your departure back to 23rd December will save you 3 per cent compared with two days prior.

New South Wales residents could be in for even greater reductions, with Sydneysiders saving 10 per cent on Manila flights when they book thirteen weeks ahead of time

TOP 20 DECEMBER HOLIDAY DESTINATIONS FOR AUSTRALIANS 1. Bali 11. Tokyo 2. Melbourne 12. Manila 3. Sydney 13. Adelaide 4. Auckland 14. Dublin 5. London 15. Nadi (Fiji) 6. Brisbane 16. Los Angeles 7. Gold Coast 17. Hobart 8. Bangkok 18. New Delhi 9. Singapore 19. Colombo 10. Perth 20. Cairns Advertisement

Michael Grierson, Travel Expert at Skyscanner Australia, said when it comes to frugal flying, planning is everything.

'The festive period is naturally a busy time as Aussies prepare to visit family, head on holiday orcontinue to work, but travellers can bag a good deal if they plan smartly.

'We'd encourage Aussie travellers to consider travelling outside these key dates, and is possible to avoid peak times.'

Skyscanner urged travellers not to leave their bookings until the last minute (e.g. within one week of intended departure) as this will likely incur a hefty premium.

Australia's longstanding love affair with Bali is set to continue over the festive season, with the Indonesian island remaining the most booked travel spot even after the recent earthquake devastation.

Other popular hot spots include Auckland and London, while domestic travel to major cities including Brisbane, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne is also a major focus.

The research will likely be welcomed nationwide, as it was revealed 41 per cent of those surveyed said they would not travel due to prohibitively expensive cost.Australian brand Shoes of Prey has announced it will be closing after nine years , with the company's founder admitting the business has 'faced struggles'.

On Tuesday, the shoe retailer loved by fashionistas and stars alike released a statement confirming to shoppers the company will halt production effective immediately.

'When we started Shoes of Prey back in 2009, we couldn't have dreamed that we would have the opportunity to share in such an incredible adventure,' the statement said.

'And you were the most wonderful people to have that adventure with. Today we're pausing to consider our options for the future of our business, and we have stopped taking orders.

'We have reviewed all of our orders and if we see that we are unable to make your shoes, you will be fully refunded.'

Shoes of Prey co-founder Jodie Fox (pictured) explained 'like every company behind the scenes we faced struggles'

The company is famed for it's unique take on the shoe market, one that allowed customers to design their own shoes

The brand, which launched in 2009, is famed for its unique take on the shoe market, and counts names such as Rihanna, Kate Middleton and Elle Macpherson as customers.

Using their online 3D designer customers were able to design their dream shoe from scratch, from the fabric used, to the colour of the sole, and have these delivered within weeks.

In a longer explanation shared on Instagram, the brand's co-founder Jodie Fox said 'just like every company behind the scenes we faced struggles'.

'While the all the data was positive, we were not really able to crack mass-market adoption.

'We remain passionate and positive about our vision.'

A statement released by Jodie Fox on Instagram explained in more depth why the business was halting production

Speaking previously to Daily Mail Australia, Ms Fox explained why she decided to launch the company in the first place.

'I'd always liked shoes, but I never loved them because I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for,' she said.

'Either it wasn't quite the right colour, there was an embellishment I didn't like, or not quite the right heel height. I didn't love shoes until I could design them myself.'

Jodie Fox, 35, raised $30 million in investment for the online customised shoe company Shoes of Prey

She was aiming to solve a problem many women have while shoe shopping - finding the right fit in the right colour in the shape she wanted

In 2009, the 36-year-old raised $30.6 million to launch her business.

In the same year, Ms Fox and with her husband, and their friend Mike Knapp, set up shop, working from the couple's one bedroom flat in Sydney.

'In the beginning, our biggest hurdle was getting other people to understand what it was we were doing. We had to provide a lot of education around the idea, she said.

'We also had to build our reputations from scratch, as we were three twenty-somethings building a totally pie-in-the-sky idea.'

More than six million shoes have been designed on Shoes of Prey's website since then, shipping to 100 countries and worn anywhere from the shops to the catwalk.

Ms Fox moved to Los Angeles in 2014 to grow the business in the U.S., which is now 'by far' its biggest market, with 200 staff in Australia, LA, and Asia.Viewers of BBC One's bank holiday thriller Bodyguard have branded sex scenes between the main characters as a 'cliched' and 'tasteless and mechanical'.

The final ten minutes of the second episode saw bodyguard David Budd (Richard Madden) and Home Secretary, Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes) in not one, but two steamy clinches.

However, those watching from home were less than impressed, calling the passionate scenes 'gratuitous' and saying it detracted from the high-octane plot, which saw a terrorist attack and an assassination attempt in a breathless 45 minutes of drama.

Scroll down for video

The second episode of BBC One drama Bodyguard, which was written by Line of Duty's Jed Mercurio, saw Special Protection Officer David Budd (Richard Madden) seduced by Home Secretary Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes)...but viewers were less than impressed

The couple fell into bed twice in the last ten minutes but viewers said the sex scenes were unnecessary and detracted from the high-octane thriller's plot

Former Afghan soldier Budd is promoted to protecting the Home Secretary after he averts a terrorist attack on a train...and the couple quickly cross the professional boundary

As soon as Mercurio's central protagonists headed for the bedroom, Twitter was awash with protests from viewers, many of whom said the sex was clinical and cliched

As Madden's former Afghan soldier turned bodyguard and Hawe's Home Secretary embarked upon an illicit romance, Twitter was quickly awash with comments from protesting viewers.

@lspark89 blasted: 'Why do the BBC always have to ruin what at first looks to be a good drama by making it all about sex!? Last 10 minutes was total c***!

@KrisSaunders24 added: 'A good tense thriller spoilt by the steamy unnecessary (we knew it would happen) sex scenes. Leave it out...'

@kateorawan said she was rolling her eyes when the pair became intimate. 'Rolling my eyes at the sex scenes...Home Secretary and her bodyguard..so cringe/cliche/ridiculous!'

@SSeanAAyre ranted: 'Well BBC youve just ruined #bodyguard it was a perfectly good drama and then you had to include booze and sex! Cant any UK drama not include that anymore?'

The first episode of the BBC's latest drama, written by Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio, attracted a healthy 6.9million viewers on Sunday night, with many praising the edge-of-your-seat plot that saw war veteran police officer Budd dramatically avert a suicide bomb on a train - by negotiating with a jittery potential assassin.

After the pair survive a blood-drenched assassination attempt on Montague's life, they retreat back to her apartment and quickly become intimate

Awkward: Many viewers said they found the sex scenes between the two actors distinctly lacking in passion

A late-night supper of fish and chips at Number 11 Downing street proved the aphrodisiac

Former Afghan soldier David Budd appears to be battling demons; and the first two episodes of the drama, sex scenes aside, were generally praised for its edge-of-seat plot

The second episode continued where the first had begun, with the now promoted Budd heading for Number 11 Downing Street as Specialist Protection Officer to the Home Secretary.

While many praised the ensuing drama, which saw a truck bomber bound for his children's primary school and a blood-drenched murder attempt on Montague, many viewers said not only were the sex scenes that followed unnecessary, they were also chemistry-free.

@SarahLaverty1 chimed in: 'How is is physically possible for Richard Madden to be involved in such an awkward sex scene.'

@CurlySueChick19 agreed: 'That was the worst sex scene EVER filmed! They even made it look like @_richardmadden is a bad kisser! Awkward to the MAX!

She continued: '@BBCOne - why didnt that end up on the cutting room floor? What a waste of air time! And seriously - did they need to have sex?!'

However, some felt the final scene between Game of Thrones star Madden and Hawes' characters reflected the trauma the pair had just been through.

@IreneCrammond praised: 'What a great sex scene in #Bodyguard! No nudity, no raunch, just a very sexy, sensuous scene... Other writers, directors take note...'

Ratings for the six-parter are likely to have delighted BBC execs, with 6.9million catching the first episode.

The show could now be picked up by US broadcasters, as Mercurio's Line of Duty, which also starred Keeley Hawes, did.

Bodyguard continues on Sunday at 9pm on BBC OneA single woman has revealed how she gave birth to a baby girl fathered by her gay best friend - after making a pact to become parents on a drunken night out.

Kerry Allen, 29, who is heterosexual, and Ali Thomson, 27, from Northumberland, welcomed Lanah in May, after carrying out artificial insemination at home.

The friends, who both agreed they didn't want to have sex, ordered a 3 plastic medical syringe from Amazon, and using the 'turkey baster method', where sperm is put directly into the vagina, they discovered Kerry was pregnant.

But tragedy struck just 19 weeks later when, in May 2017, the pair were told their baby boy Elijah's heart had stopped beating, and Kerry gave birth to the stillborn infant.

Now though, the couple - who met six years ago while working at a fast-food restaurant - are overjoyed to have welcomed a healthy baby girl, who was born on May 23 this year.

Kerry Allen, 29, who is heterosexual, and Ali Thomson, 27, from Northumberland, welcomed Lanah in May, after carrying out artificial insemination at home. Pictured together when Lanah was six weeks old

When Kerry Allen, 29, and Ali Thomson, 27, (seen in 2016 a month before they started trying for a baby) found themselves single and both desperate to be parents, they formed a plan on a drunken night out to have a child together

Kerry, who shares a three-bedroom home in Berwick-upon-Tweed with Ali and their baby, said: 'Being parents was something we had both wanted for so long, and seeing Lanah for the first time, I felt completely full of love.

'I would never have thought it would cost us just 8 to bring us so much joy. Using just a cheap syringe from the internet and a Tupperware from Morrison's, we have an amazing baby.

'People do ask me, 'Don't you just wish Ali was straight?' But I don't. Neither of us have ever had any sort of romantic feelings for each other and we wouldn't have the relationship we have now if he was.'

Ali, a barman, and Kerry, who worked in Burger King until her pregnancy, say they 'just clicked' when they met  and have been best friends ever since.

He provided support for her, as she'd just come out of an 'unhealthy' relationship.

Ali pictured with a newborn Lanah. Kerry, who shares a three-bedroom home in Berwick-upon-Tweed with Ali and their baby, said: 'Being parents was something we had both wanted for so long, and seeing Lanah for the first time, I felt completely full of love'

On May 23  two days overdue and after a five-hour labour  Kerry gave birth to 6lb 11oz Lanah Allen-Thomson, pictured, with Ali by her side again

But their partnership was strictly platonic. 'Ali is a good-looking guy, but I never fancied him,' said Kerry. 'That wasn't what it was about.'

The best friends moved in together in 2014 and a year later, during a drunken night out, Kerry had a light-bulb moment.

She continued: 'I'd always wanted to be a mum and felt the time was right. 'The only thing was, I wasn't in a relationship and didn't feel ready to be in one for a long time as I have been hurt before.

After ordering a plastic storage container and a plastic medical syringe (pictured) and using the 'turkey baster method'  where sperm is put directly into the vagina  at home, Ali discovered Kerry was pregnant

'Feeling broody, when I looked at Ali, I knew he would make a perfect dad.

'He was kind, funny and had said he would love to be a father one day too, so why not do it together?'

Steeled by a few glasses of wine, Kerry asked Ali what he thought about having a baby with her.

'I said, "Shall we have a baby together?",' she recalled. 'I think he was a bit shocked at first.

'He probably wondered what I was propositioning him for, but then, after thinking about it, he agreed.'

The morning after, Kerry asked Ali if he was still interested in her plan  and he was.

Straightaway the pair started researching how they could get pregnant without having sex.

'Sex was never an option for us. I don't have the parts Ali likes, and neither of us see each other that way,' said Kerry. 'I did research on IVF but the process was shockingly expensive.'

They then found the 'turkey baster method' which sounded like the best, cheapest and easiest type of artificial insemination to suit their needs.

Kerry and Ali pictured before having a child together. 'Sex was never an option for us. I don't have the parts Ali likes, and neither of us see each other that way,' said Kerry. 'I did research on IVF but the process was shockingly expensive'

The pair fell pregnant in August 2017, after giving birth to a stillborn son in May 2017, and welcomed daughter Lana in May of this year (Lanah at the 20 week scan)

At home, Ali would collect his sperm in the plastic box before collecting it in a medical syringe, which Kerry would then insert into her vagina and inject its contents before letting nature take its course.

After ordering the 3 syringe from Amazon and a 5 plastic box from Morrisons, for Ali to collect his sperm in, the pair chose a quiet night in October 2016 to start trying.

Kerry explained: 'Ali did his thing, he left the syringe in my bedroom for me to collect before I did my 'thing'.

'We did it all very separately and privately, and afterwards I laid on my bed with my legs propped up against the headboard for an hour and a half, as that can help with conception.'

Three months later, on their fourth attempt, they were delighted to discover Kerry was expecting.

But in May 2017, tragedy struck at just 19 weeks when, at a private scan during which they'd planned to find out the sex, the pair were told their baby boy's heart had stopped beating.

Kerry had to give birth to their stillborn son, named Elijah, with Ali by her side.

Kerry said: 'We were both heartbroken, as all our dreams of becoming parents felt like they were over, but fortunately we were supported by the Scottish charity SiMBA, who help people who have lost a child during pregnancy.

Now three months old and living together in their three-bedroom home with separate bedrooms, Kerry says Ali is the perfect 'other half', changing nappies and sharing the gruelling night feeds

'We have had counselling online with the charity, which has helped us get through the devastating time.'

Despite their grief, the pair were determined to fulfil their wish to start a family, now even more sure they wanted to be parents together.

Last August, they decided to try for a baby for a second time - using the same 3 syringe as before, which they had kept on the bathroom shelf, and just sterilised.

And incredibly, Kerry fell pregnant straightaway. 'I almost didn't believe it was true,' she said.

'We had been left so devastated after losing Elijah that I never thought it would be possible again - but there they were, those two magic lines on the test.'

Throughout her pregnancy, Ali doted on Kerry, making her dinner and running baths to ease her aching body. 'He was the perfect partner to go through it all with,' Kerry explained.

'And as my bump started to show, people did think we were a couple and congratulated us on expecting.

'We never hid anything. We just smiled and explained we weren't a couple, Ali was gay, but we were having a baby together.'

Throughout her pregnancy, Ali doted on Kerry, making her dinner and running baths to ease her aching body. 'He was the perfect partner to go through it all with,' Kerry explained. Pictured, their baby Lanah at two months old

At the 16-week scan, Kerry who is originally from Livingston, and Ali from Balerno, both near Edinburgh, Scotland, found out they were expecting a baby girl.

Kerry became fearful their daughter might arrive on May 20, the anniversary of Elijah's stillbirth, but, on May 23  two days overdue and after a five-hour labour  she gave birth to 6lb 11oz Lanah Allen-Thomson with Ali by her side again.

'She was just so perfect,' Kerry recalled. 'The way Ali looked at her made me realise everything we had done was so right. 'And she is the spitting-image of her dad, too!'

With Lanah now three months old and living together in their three-bedroom home with separate bedrooms, Kerry says Ali is the perfect 'other half', changing nappies and sharing the gruelling night feeds.

'Lanah is a real daddy's girl. She adores her dad, and so do I,' Kerry smiled. 'We are both so lucky we met each other and decided to have a baby. 'It's the best thing I have ever done.'

Worried at first about people's reactions, Kerry and Ali say the support they have had from family and friends has been nothing short of amazing.

'My mum cried and said she never thought I would give her a grandchild,' Ali said. 'Kerry's mum was shocked but so happy, and now they are doting grandparents.'

And as for the future, Kerry, who says she has no interest in being in a new relationship, knows Ali, who has not dated for four years, will probably meet someone else and move out one day.

But they do not want any more children, because of the trauma of losing Elijah.

She explained: 'I know Ali will find someone, and I hope he does. But they will have to accept that Lanah and I will always come first.

'And we'll explain to Lanah when she is older that we don't have the most traditional set-up, but Mummy and Daddy love her so very much.'

Ali added: 'The most important thing is that a baby is loved, and Lanah truly is.'A woman left so terrified by her online stalker that she slept with a knife next to her bed has spoken of her relief at seeing him jailed  bringing an end to three years of torment.

Nicola Brookes, 51, from Brighton was hounded by Nicky Wright, 39, who shared sinister photos of her, mocked her Crohn's disease and spoke with fellow trolls on Facebook about things they would do to her sexually.

He bombarded her via his 28 Twitter accounts and 18 Facebook profiles, as well as public hate pages, public internet radio, video channels and blogs.

Wright - branded a 'cowardly predator' by the judge - even posted Nicola's home address online, leaving her living in fear.

As she battled to bring Wright to justice, Nicola, from Brighton, said she sometimes sent police up to 150 screenshots a day because the abuse was so constant.

Now she is delighted to have seen Wright, from Lewisham in London, jailed for 22 weeks for stalking plus two weeks for failing to surrender, and issued with an indefinite restraining order, after being convicted at Brighton Magistrates Court earlier this month  but fears she has not heard the last of him.

Nicola Brookes, 51, from Brighton was bombarded with as many as 150 abusive messages a day from a stranger who targeted her online

Nicky Wright Wright, from Lewisham in London, has been jailed for 22 weeks for stalking plus two weeks for failing to surrender. He was also issued with an indefinite restraining order at Brighton Magistrates Court

Speaking of how she believes there should be a register for serial stalkers, she said: 'Nicky Wright is a dangerous, unbalanced fantasist. He is not going to stop.

'When he gets out of jail, he'll continue to target me, but if there was a register and he was on it, at least it would help police intervene much sooner and prevent him from escalating his abuse.'

Nicola's nightmare began in 2011, when she left an innocent comment on an X Factor fan page, defending contestant Frankie Cocozza, then 18, who was being targeted by online bullies.

She added: 'I don't even like the X Factor, but I have a daughter around his age who had been bullied too so I've seen the affect it can have on teenage minds.

A sinister picture posted online mocked up to show a man pointing a gun pointed at Nicola's head, which was posted online. At the height of Wright's campaign of stalking she was receiving 150 abusive messages every day

'The abuse he was getting from grown adults was shocking.

'All I said was that there was no need for it, and for him to ignore it as they would soon move on to someone else, which they did  me.'

A number of troll accounts then singled out Nicola, trawling the web for personal information and falsely accusing her of being a prostitute and drug dealer.

'I didn't understand how it had snowballed so much,' she said.

The trouble started for Nicola when she posted a comment on Facebook, defending former X Factor contestant Frankie Cocozza. She faced a backlash and a troll shared her picture, claiming she was his drug dealer

'I was hammering the report button, but new profiles kept appearing. I was dealing with an organised gang of trolls who randomly pick people to bully and stalk.'

Contacting a solicitor, she eventually took her case all the way to the High Court, where, in 2012, she won a landmark battle to get Facebook to reveal the identities of the trolls who vilified her.

Shockingly, one of them was a serving police officer.

Over the next four years, Nicola campaigned for an end to cyberbullying.

A poster made about Nicola in 2016 and posted British Transport Police HQ in London, claiming she tries to get people fired and have their children taken away

But she believes her victory in the courts  and refusal to be afraid to speak out  angered her trolls, in particular Nicky Wright.

In March 2015, he made his first contact with her via Twitter, initially claiming to be a fellow victim, saying he, too, knew how it felt to be relentlessly targeted.

'I knew that was nonsense. I was already aware of his presence online, so knew he was just another predator,' said Nicola.

'You could tell by the rest of his Tweets that he wasn't a victim. He was an attention-seeking troublemaker.

A sign made mocking Nicola's Crohn's disease. Her condition became aggravated with the stress of the stalking and she slept with a knife next to her bed as she was so afraid

'I was still trying to move on from it all, but here he was, dragging me back into it.

'For months, I tried to ignore him, but he'd grow more and more vile.

'I'd never met him. He was a total stranger, but that wasn't a shock. Total strangers had been bullying me since the Frankie Cocozza comment.'

Whenever Nicola blocked Wright, new accounts would spring up.

And no matter how tightly locked she kept her profiles, he still managed to find out personal information.

Every time she posted on social media, Nicola faced cruel and offensive comments from trolls

Between June 2016 and September 2017, Wright stalked her on an almost daily basis.

He photoshopped pictures of her, doctored comments she made, created videos about her and made sexually suggestive comments and posted hate mail.

Brighton Magistrates Court also heard how he attempted to feed lies about her to the national press.

'It was like my fight starting all over again, but I knew I had to keep storing evidence,' she said. 'Every vile thing he did publicly, police advised me to record. At points, I was sending them 150 screenshots a day.

Nicky Wright bombarded Nicola via his 28 Twitter accounts and 18 Facebook profiles

Nicky set up a Facebook page, specifically to target Nicola with abusive comments

'The fear was building inside me, but I had to show restraint and not engage with Wright in any way, not even to defend myself against his wild accusations and serious defamation.'

Speaking of her long battle to get the case to court, Nicola continued: 'It should never have taken three years and countless officers to jail him. I felt incredibly unsupported by police, like I was left alone with the biggest threat I'd ever faced.

'It'd take all my courage just to pop out to the shop, and I never went out after dark. I was constantly looking over my shoulder, wondering if I was going to see him. He could've marched straight up and punched me, stabbed me, thrown acid in my face  anything.

Nicola from Brighton said she was so scared she could barely summon up the courage to leave the house to go to the shop and never went out after dark

'I lost friends because I became such a recluse. I even slept with a knife near my bed. Wright seemed like he really did want me dead.'

Her Crohn's aggravated with the stress of it all, Nicola was near breaking point.

But, determined to face her tormentor, she pressed on until finally the case made it to court after Wright's identity was validated via his IP address.

After pleading not guilty to a stalking charge, forcing Nicola through a trial, where she took to the stand for four hours giving evidence, Wright didn't even show up for the hearing.

He claimed he'd overslept, but Brighton Magistrates Court found him guilty in his absence.

Handing himself in after being convicted, Wright was hauled back to court for sentencing in August 2018.

There, Nicola's emotionally charged impact statement was read out, where she said: 'He is ever present, breathing down my neck, planning every move he makes.

'The nightmare ordeal of being publicly abused and stalked for years with no relief, no peace of mind, with no one stopping it has made me an angry, defensive, overly suspicious, very intolerant person. My faith in human nature has been shattered.'

Disgustingly, Wright stuck his fingers in his ears as the statement was read  before swearing at Nicola as he was led away to begin his sentence.

Nicola on the beach in Brighton. She admits she lost friends during her stalking ordeal as she became reclusive

'I'd waited so long to hear his defence, and he didn't even submit one,' she said.

'As he was sentenced, though, I made sure he saw me smile, saw me for the strong woman I am rather than the downtrodden victim he tried to make me.'

District Judge Amanda Kelly described Wright's stalking as 'about as serious as it can get' and slammed him for hiding behind the anonymity of the internet to wage a 'sinister and deeply personal campaign'.

She added: 'I find you deliberately chose not to come to court because you lacked the courage to face your victim in the flesh.'

Now, still on social media where she continues to campaign against cyberbullying, Nicola finally has breathing space while Wright is caged  but has slammed the authorities for their handling of her case.

She feels Wright should have been brought to justice much sooner and says she intends to launch a complaint against Sussex Police.

'It should not have taken all these years for the case to come to court,' she said.

Abusive comments about Nicola left online after she posted a remark defending former X Factor contestant Frankie Cocozza

Adding that her fight has cost seven years of her life due to lengthy police investigations she said: 'People told me to give up, but I didn't. It's been a hard battle  one where I feel the police have been more hinderance than help  but finally, Wright is a convicted stalker.

'I'm so thankful to the judge for validating everything I've been saying all this time, but the onus should not have been on me as the victim to prove this.'

A spokesperson for Sussex Police said: 'We acknowledge that Ms Brookes has had a difficult experience and she did have a number of officers handling her case originally from Sussex and other police forces.

'However, once we were aware of this, she had an experienced detective investigating and supporting her throughout her case which has been a long and complex process.

Nicola is relieved that her stalker is behind bars but is disappointed that it took so long to bring him to justice

'We and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have worked hard to bring this case to court and ultimately to seek justice for the victim. In addition to the custodial sentence of 22 weeks, a restraining order was issued against Wright to prevent further offences in the future.

'The force's officer in charge of anti-stalking also met Ms Brookes to talk about her experience and how we can learn from it. She was referred to support groups for victims of stalking.'

Detective Superintendent Stu Hale of Sussex Police said: 'We are committed to keeping people safe when they report stalking and online stalking.

'We have improved our understanding of what stalking and harassment is and what our response should be. This is being reinforced force-wide through sharing of guidance, training and reviewing stalking cases.

'We are absolutely aware of the consequences if our response is not the correct one, so we need to ensure that victims have confidence in how both police and the CPS will support them.'Viewers of BBC2's found themselves more than a little confused while watching the latest episode - and, for once, it had nothing to do with Jeremy Paxman's questions.

The respective captains from Strathclyde University and the University of Durham bore more than a striking resemblance to each other, with many at home assuming they were in fact the same person.

Maths student Matthew Toynebee, of Durham, and Jack Pollack, a budding aeromechanical engineer from Strathclyde, both wore blue tops, spectacles and their brown hair closely cropped.

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Aero-mechanical engineering student Jack Pollack was captain of the team from Strathclyde in the latest episode of BBC2 quiz University Challenge

Sat directly beneath Pollock, captaining the University of Durham, was his doppelganger Matthew Toynbee, a Maths student from South Derbyshire - and it wasn't long before people noticed how remarkably similar they looked

The pair left viewers more than a little confused with some taking to social media to say they'd thought the same person was answering lots of questions

Sitting directly above and below each other; they looked remarkably similar in the studio setting.

Shortly after the quiz kicked off, Twitter wits couldn't resist posting about the doppelgangers, with some asking whether they were real-life twins.

@historyboy71 wrote: 'How is the same person captaining BOTH #universitychallenge teams?! And how has the Universe not imploded?'

@MooMooMosschops added: 'I've spent the last 15 minutes thinking one player in spectacles is having a stupendous match. I've just noticed they appear to have twins on opposing teams!'

@tommykl96 penned: 'Looks like Durham and Strathclyde have brought the same captain #UniversityChallenge.'

@Superbokka quipped: 'Are the Captains of each team tonight twins?'

When it came to the actual intellectual contest, the similarities ended with Strathclyde University well and truly thumped by their rivals, with the final scoreline at 360 to 55, with the University of Durham sailing into the second round.

Durham flattened the opposition, earning a place in the second round with a score of 360, the highest seen on the show in recent years, as an impressed Jeremy Paxman told the students

The impressive scoreline was among the highest in recent history.

Former quiz contestant Bobby Seagull shared the teams that have racked up the largest amount of points on the show, with a 1997 Open University team topping the list with 415 in 1997.

He wrote: 'Imperious @Durham_Uni. Might threaten top Paxman-era #UniversityChallenge scores.'

And even Paxman himself was impressed, congratulating the four students on their high-achieving score at the show's end.A family member of a disgruntled bride-to-be who hit the headlines for calling off her wedding after guests refused to pay $CAD 1,500 each to attend has admitted she does have 'entitlement issues', but insists she's normally not this obnoxious.

The Canadian bride, who is known only as 'Susan', blamed her family and friends for the breakdown of her relationship with her childhood sweetheart, who she was due to marry in a lavish $CAD 60,000 ($46,020) wedding.

Now an unnamed cousin has taken to Facebook to explain more about Susan's background, insisting she comes from humble beginnings and worked on her parents' farm from a young age, before more recently developing an obsession with 'Kardashian stuff'.

And it's not the first time she's tried to get her loved ones to fund her lifestyle, demanding an $CAD 2,000 ($1,500) 'royal baby carriage' as a gift for her baby shower.

'When I try to analyze her entitled behaviour, I believe deep down she's very insecure about her status and how she stacks up to others,' the relative explained, insisting that Susan is certainly 'a living breathing human being'.

'Growing up on a farm isn't the most glamorous thing. Maybe her feelings of embarrassment and shame is fuelling her craving for luxury and making others pay for it.'

A bride hit headlines this week for demanding that her guests pay $CAD 1,500 each to attend her fairytale wedding, and now her cousin has elaborated on the row in a Facebok post, admitting that she has 'entitlement issues' (stock image)

Update: The person who originally shared Susan's status on a 'wedding shaming' Facebook group claiming to be her cousin later shared an update with more details about the bridezilla

She pointed out that the Facebook status was only up for 15 minutes before it was deleted, even speculating that the angry bride had been 'drinking while writing' it. However the woman, who originally posted Susan's status in a wedding shaming group on Facebook, said that the outburst came as a shock to even those who know Susan best.

The poster revealed that she 'sadly shares a small percentage of DNA' with her, before expressing her relief that she 'doesn't have to see her more than once a year'. However, despite the cousin's feelings about her relative, she notes that nothing could have prepared Susan's family for what was to come.

The cousin went on to say that she believes Susan needs to take time to 'evaluate herself and her life', adding that she 'hopes for her healing and recovery because she wasn't raised to be like this'. However, the cousin does not believe that this period of self-reflection will take place in South America as Susan suggested.

'On a final note, I understand everyone's valid concern about her leaving her son for two months to go backpacking,' the cousin wrote. 'However nobody believes she's actually going to South America. This woman has never been outside the US.

Jealous: Susan's cousin explained that she had been obsessed with the Kardashian family - Kylie Jenner in particular - for many years

Moving on: She also claimed that 'nobody believes Susan is actually going to South America

'We all think she's saying that to be dramatic. I also have a feeling she may have been drinking while writing this status, it's especially vulgar and incredibly embarrassing. It was only up for maybe 15 minutes before she took it down.'

In Susan's initial Facebook post, the furious mother-of-one blamed her family and friends for the breakdown of her relationship as she vented her frustration in a lengthy post.

The post read: 'Dear friends, it comes with great sadness that I am announcing the cancellation of the wedding. I apologise for cancelling only four days beforehand.

Our request for $1,500 was not f***ing out of the ordinary... If you couldn't contribute you weren't invited.

'Unfortunately, [fiance] and I have broken up due to some recent and irreparable problems. We have decided to end our relationship and not go forth with any future proceedings.'

Susan then explained how her relationship ended abruptly because her guests failed to fork out the $CAD 1,500 ($1,150) they had requested.

'I specifically, I mean specifically asked for cash gifts. How could we have our wedding that we dreamed of without proper funding?' she said.

'We'd sacrificed so much and only asked each guest for around $1,500. We talked to a few people who even promised us more to make our dream come true.

'My maid of honor pledged $5,000 along with her planning services. We tearfully thanked and accepted. My ex's family offered to contribute $3,000.

'So our request for $1,500 for all other guests was not f***ing out of the ordinary. Like, we made it clear. If you couldn't contribute, you weren't invited to our exclusive wedding. It's a once and a lifetime party [sic].'

She revealed the reason behind why they opted for an extravagant wedding.

'Since our love was like a fairytale, we wanted an extravagant blow out wedding... A local psychic told us to go with the most expensive option, and we thought why the hell not?' Susan explained.

Taking to Facebook, the mother-of-one blamed her family and friends for the breakdown of her relationship as she vented her frustration in a lengthy post

'We just needed a little push. Our dream wedding amounted to $60,000... All we asked was for a little help from our friends and family to make it happen.'

After sending out the invitations, only eight guests RSVP'd with their cheque of $1,500.

'We were f***ing livid,' Susan continued.

'How was this supposed to happen without a little help from our friends. To make matters worse, my ex's family took back their offer.

'Suddenly, more people backed out, including the c*** maid of honor. My best friend since childhood. My second family. I was so shocked and tearful.

'It was only a month before the wedding. To cancel everything would have been more than $5,000.'

Desperate for her wedding day to go ahead, Susan said the couple then asked their guests to donate what they could afford.

'I mean seriously people, what is $1,000? What is $1,500? Clearly, not a lot. It would be quite manageable and within budget. I've heard of people asking for worse,' she said.

'We also set up a GoFundMe. That only got us $250. At this point we were exhausted, tired. I yelled at my ex; I became unravelled. I realised my dream wedding was becoming a nightmare. Then it got worse.'

Trying to find another solution, her then-fiance suggested getting an elopement in Vegas to cut down on costs.

A disgruntled bride-to-be has revealed she was forced to cancel her 'fairytale' wedding after her guests refused to pay $CAD 1,500 ($1,150) each to attend (stock image)

'I laughed in his face, but he was dead serious. He wanted those cheap, filthy, w**** like Vegas weddings. I mean WHAT the f***?? Was he out of his mind?' she said.

'Am I some h**ch piece of f***ing trash, a hooker? Am I supposed to like the idea of getting married in the heart of shady gamblers, alcoholics, and the get rich fast fallacy? Suddenly, my body began to shake as I entered a panic attack.

'My ex left the room and didn't apologise for his horrid suggestion. I then called my maid of honor and cried my eyes out. Instead of sympathy, I was told that I was asking for way too much and I should stick to the budget.

'How could someone who offered me thousands of dollars then deny me my promised money and then tell me to shift down my budget? She knows my f***ing dream was a blowout wedding.

The bride-to-be insisted she had specifically told her guests she wanted 'cash gifts'

'I just wanted to be a Kardashian for a day and then live my life like normal. I called her a filthy f***ing poor excuse of a friend, and hung up.'

Susan then claimed her partner was gossiping behind her back.

'I overheard him talking in the basement when he called me a stuck up b****. Anyway I am exhausted. I am bone tired. My heart is not the same. It's stone cold,' she said.

She ended her explosive post by saying she will spend the next two months backpacking through South America after she deletes her Facebook account.

Her friends quickly commented on her outburst, which was later posted onto Reddit

'How hard would it to have been to f***ing give me money for my wedding. I won't even sugarcoat. I won't even pretend that's now what I wanted,' she said.

'It was for a dream. I was stabbed, cheated on... Goodbye. See you in two months. Friendly reminder to you c***s. Don't think you own me. I am cutting all of you snakes off. I am living my life alone now. I only let those I believe have good intentions.'

Her friends quickly commented on her outburst.

'I have no words. You're out of your mind, Susan,' one wrote.

And another said: 'What happened to you??? Who on hell expects that amount of money?'

Screen grabs of Susan's Facebook rant were later posted on Reddit, with many speculating the post is too good to be true.

The rant even attracted some A-list attention, with Chrissy Teigen retweeting the original post on her own account, describing the saga as 'some lower stakes 13 Reasons Why s***'.She is known for bold wardrobe choices, and tonight was no exception for Brigitte Macron as she attended a state dinner in Copenhagen tonight.

The French First Lady, 65, dazzled in a white gown with glittering silver detailing as she joined her husband President Macron, 40, at the banquet hosted by the Danish Royal Family at Christiansborg Palace.

The couple, who arrived in Denmark today for a two-day visit, were escorted into the reception room by Queen Margrethe, 78, who looked elegant in a dark purple gown.

Mr Macron is carrying out the visit as he seeks to strengthen the relationships he needs to push France's agenda of a more closely united European Union.

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Cheers! French First Lady Brigitte Macron, 65, joined her husband President Macron, 40, at a state dinner hosted by the Danish Royal Family at Copenhagen's Christiansborg Palace. Above, President Macron toasts Queen Margrethe at the start of the lavish state dinner

Queen Margrethe (pictured centre) beamed in a lace gown paired with pearls as she stood with President Macron and his wife

French First Lady Brigitte Macron also toasted Queen Margrethe at the banquet hosted by the Danish Royal family

The Danish Queen gave a speech during the dinner at Christiansborg Palace to mark the official visit of the French President

Dazzling: The French First lady donned a white gown with glittering silver detailing and a daring leg slit as she arrived for the dinner with her husband and the Danish queen, pictured

Guests of honour: The couple, who arrived in Denmark today for a two-day visit, were escorted into the reception room by Queen Margrethe, 78, who looked elegant in a dark purple gown

Black and white delight: Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, who has drawn comparisons to the Duchess of Cambridge, opted for a white satin gown with a full skirt and a black watercolour floral print as she arrived for the formal dinner with husband Crown Prince Frederik

Inspired by Meghan? Princess Marie donned a bold red gown with an off-shoulder neckline - a favourite of the Duchess of Sussex - as she joined husband Prince Joachim for a photo

Royal welcome: Pictured right to left: Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte, Prince Joachim and Princess Marie of Denmark and Princess Benedikte of Denmark greet guests arriving for the state dinner in Copenhagen

Lavish: The royals and their guests dined in the beautiful Christiansborg Palace, pictured

Crown Prince Frederik, 50, and Prince Joachim, 49, attended with their respective wives, Crown Princess Mary, 46, and Princess Marie, 42.

Australian-born Mary, who has drawn comparisons to the Duchess of Cambridge, opted for a white satin gown with a full skirt and a black watercolour floral print.

Meanwhile her sister-in-law Princess Marie took a leaf out of the Duchess of Sussex's style books with an off-shoulder red gown.

Also in attendance was Princess Benedikte of Denmark, the sister of Queen Margrethe, who donned a soft purple dress with a cape.

Whirlwind tour: President Macron, pictured with his wife (left) and Queen Margrethe, is visiting Denmark in the hope of strengthening the relationships he needs to push France's agenda of a more closely united European Union. The Danish royals marked the occasion with a dinner

Attention to detail: The French First Lady matched the glittering silver of her dress with a pair of metallic pointed heeled pumps, just seen, and a neat metallic silver clutch

Guard of honour: President Macron inspected the guards as he made his way into the banquet

Elegant: Queen Margrethe, whose husband Henrik died in February, accompanied President Macron as he made his way through Christiansborg Palace to the dining room

Handsome couple: Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark with his wife Crown Princess Mary

Family affair: Also in attendance was Princess Benedikte of Denmark, the sister of Queen Margrethe, who donned a soft purple dress with a cape

Earlier today President and Mrs Macron were greeted by the Danish royals as they arrived in the Danish capital.

Matched in vibrant shades of red, Crown Princess Mary and Mrs Macron appeared to brush over the very similar wardrobe choices they'd made as they prepared to lay wreaths to fallen soldiers at the Citadel in Copenhagen.

Brigitte opted for a warm woollen peacoat over a matching above-the-knee dress and handbag in the same shade. She finished the striking look with a simple pair of black heels.

Building relationships: President Macron, seen shaking hands, appeared in good spirits as he joined his wife and the Danish Royal Family in welcoming guests to the palace. Pictured right-left: Queen Margrethe, Mr and Mrs Macron, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary, Prince Joachim and Princess Marie (not seen) and Princess Benedikte

Dazzling: Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark leans towards French First Lady Brigitte Macron as they share a quiet word ahead of the dinner. Pictured right to left: Queen Margrethe, Mr and Mrs Macron, Prince Frederik and Princess Mary, Prince Joachim and Princess Marie

Sumptuous: Queen Margrethe took a seat as she welcomed guests to the state dinner alongside Mr and Mrs Macron, her children Crown Prince Frederik and Prince Joachim, their respective wives Princess Mary and Princess Marie, and her sister Princess Benedikte

Meanwhile, the glamorous Danish Crown Princess wore a dress by Brazilian designer Raquel Diniz.

The high-necked red Armonia silk georgette dress floated beyond the knee, with billowing sleeves.

The Australian-born mother-of-four carried a clutch purse in a deeper shade of red and wore snakeskin heels, with a botanical brooch complementing her dress.

Her husband, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, 50, was also in attendance, looking dapper in a sharp blue suit.

French First Lady Brigitte Macron and Crown Princess Mary cut a striking duo in their perfectly co-ordinated red outfits. The 65-year-old president's wife is in Copenhagen as her husband prepares to forge closer ties with the Danish government

While Mrs Macron opted for a warm red peacoat over a stylish, knee-length dress, Crown Princess Mary wore a high-necked red Armonia silk georgette dress by designer Raquel Dini

Red is the colour! Brigitte Macron, centre left, and Crown Princess Mary, centre right, walk towards their respective husbands, far left, President Macron, and, far right, Crown Prince Frederik

President Macron, arriving in Copenhagen to lay wreaths to fallen soldiers at the city's Citadel, shakes hand with Crown Princess Mary as his wife Brigitte and Crown Prince Frederik (far right) look on

Bonjour! Brigitte looks delighted to shake the hand of the Australian-born Danish royal, while Crown Prince Frederik offers a broad smile to his guests

On Wednesday, the Macrons make a two-day visit to Helsinki, where the premier will meet Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Juha Sipila.

The couple have enjoyed a summer break though, surprising villagers in the Bormes-les-Mimosas area of south-eastern France.

The politician and his wife spent time relaxing at Fort de Bregancon - the French presidents official summer retreat - in early August.

The French premier is hoping to forge better relationships with the Danes on the two-day visit...before he heads to Helsinki in Finland to do the same

A dapper-looking Crown Prince Frederik, wearing a navy blue suit with red spotted tie, moves in to chat with his guests, while his Australian-born wife looks on

This way! Crown Prince Frederik guides his presidential guests through the Copenhagen citadelYour bedroom should supposedly be a haven of tranquility and the most restful spot in the house, but across the UK it seems that many sleeping areas are in urgent need of a makeover.

People from across the country have been submitting snaps of their embarrassing bedrooms for a contest to find the UK's worst.

And Fiona Karbal, from Prenton, Birkenhead has received the dubious honour of first prize after submitting a snap of her son's bedroom which features bare plaster behind the bed, mismatched furniture and orange and yellow walls.

'The bedroom has been like this ever since we moved into the house two years ago. My son's bedroom is one of the last remaining 'really ugly' rooms left to decorate,' Fiona explained.

Fiona Karbal, from Birkenhead, Merseyside won a contest to find the UK's worst bedroom after submitting a snap of her son's room where the wall behind the bed is bare plaster after the roof leaked

While there's bare plaster behind the bed, Fiona's son has to put up with yellow and orange walls and mismatched furniture since moving in two years ago

Diane Brook, from Littlehampton, sent in a photo of her old-fashioned bedroom which features frilled pink bedding and clashing orange headboards

'He'd really like a masculine or gender neutral looking bedroom and likes retro and mid-century modern styles.

'He has been very patient as he knows we have had other priorities, so it will be really nice to finally get his room done. It has a bare plaster wall where a leaky roof was repaired, two other walls painted yellow and orange and an orange ceiling.'

Fiona will now receive a selection of prizes to give her son's bedroom a makeover from Home furnishings retailer Terry's Fabrics, which launched the contest last month.

Others submitted snaps of bedrooms that are so messy, the floor can no longer be seen, while Diane Brook from Littlehampton, sent in a photo of her old-fashioned bedroom which features frilled pink bedding and clashing orange headboards.

Blast from the past! Jan Jackson, from Banbury, Oxfordshire submitted a photo of her bedroom featuring an outdated, patterned carpet and bland walls

Amanda Ward, from Rotherham admitted she's 'living in the 90s' and urgently needs to upgrade her dubious fitted wardrobes

Christine Monk, from Derby had been looking forward to redecorating before her 'boomerang son' returned home. 'These are the colours he chose as a ten-year-old and I was looking forward to redecorating and reclaiming the room before he came back,' she explained

Kali Filsell, from Eastbourne, East Sussex submitted a photo of her mismatching bedroom and said she's despairing over her 'uncool, open-plan wardrobe'

Laura Avery, from Rochester, sent in this photo of the 'nursery' which her family hasn't got around to decorating yet as it's become a dumping ground. 'My eldest would love to turn it into his own room. It still has baby wallpaper on and hasn't been painted in 12 years,' she said

Roberta Levene, from Shenley, Hertfordshire admits she's despairing over her daughter's messy bedroom, saying: 'My daughter's floordrobe! Help!'

Patricia Clarke, from Coventry, shared a photo of her bedroom with clothes, food boxes and wires scattered everywhere. She captioned it the 'junk room'Lady Kitty Spencer and Viscountess Weymouth proudly flaunted their friendship in matching outfits as they stepped out together on holiday.

The blue-blooded beauties twinned in Dolce & Gabbana ensembles as they headed out to the exclusive Le Club 55 in St Tropez on Tuesday.

Lady Kitty, 27, Princess Diana's niece, shared a snap of the playful sartorial moment on her Instagram account, prompting followers to praise her as 'beautiful' and 'gorgeous'. One declared them 'best friend goals'.

Designer duo! Lady Kitty Spencer and Viscountess Weymouth twinned in Dolce & Gabbana ensembles as they headed out to the exclusive Le Club 55 in St Tropez on Tuesday. Lady Kitty shared this snap of the playful sartorial moment on her Instagram account

Dressed to impress: The co-ordinating ensembles won praise from dozens of Instagram followers who said the pair were 'best friend goals' and 'so cute'

She showcased her figure in a flattering full length dress with a sweetheart neckline and bustier style top that nipped in at her waist.

Meanwhile Viscountess Weymouth, 32, who is married to Viscount Weymouth, wore the same vibrant floral pattern in a cropped bustier top and full length skirt.

They completed their lookalike ensembles with matching low chignons and oversized circular sunglasses.

Showstoppers: The glamorous pair have long been friends and have been brought closer by their shared role as ambassadors for D&G. They were chosen to walk the brand's stunning Alta Moda show in Lake Como in July (pictured with Domenico Dolce, left, and Stefano Gabbana)

Global sensations: Fans from around the world praised the stunning photo on Instagram

The snap, which was later reposted by Stefano Gabbana, captures the women smiling as they hold hands and stroll towards the beach bar and restaurant.

The glamorous pair have long been friends and have been brought even closer by their shared role as ambassadors for Dolce & Gabbana.

They were among the models who took part in the Italian fashion house's showstopping Alta Moda extravaganza in a breathtaking setting at Lake Como in July.

BFFs: Lady Kitty and Viscountess Weymouth, who is married to Viscount Weymouth, are often snapped together at events. Pictured, the friends at a D&G event at Lake Como in July

Lady Kitty was given the honour of opening the show, walking ahead of industry heavyweights Naomi Campbell and Eva Herzigova .

Lady Kitty said it was the 'ultimate honour' and an 'unforgettable moment' taking on the role of Lucia in the show, themed around the 17th Century Italian opera The Betrothed.

The society beauty, who is also an ambassador for Bvlgari, often opts for D&G for high-profile occasions - including to the wedding of her cousin Prince Harry, 33, and the Duchess of Sussex, 37, in May.A British tourist was left baffled after stumbling across a bizarre Tokyo restaurant claiming to serve a 'traditional' pub menu.

Reddit user OhaPineapple snapped the 'Taste of Britain' offering in a branch of the Japanese restaurant chain HUB, which claims to offer an authentic pub experience.

The list of dishes included jacket potatoes with anchovy sauce and the mysterious 'honey cheese snacks'.

The menu was mocked on the online forum, with one user joking that the food was 'just like nan used to make'.

Just like home: A British themed pub in Tokyo, Japan, has been mocked by Reddit users for its bizarre 'traditional' food menu. The restaurant offers three different fish and chip options, jacket potato with anchovy sausage, shepherd's pie and 'honey cheese snacks'

'Authentic': Another Reddit user revealed the pub is part of a nationwide chain called 'HUB'

Baffled: The menu was mocked by Reddit users after the photo was shared on the online forum. One cheeky poster joked it was just like their grandmother's cooking

On the menu was three different options for fish and chips, which cost 630 yen (4.40) each.

The most exotic was the 'Greenland halibut', which is unlikely to be found on the board of the local chippy.

Also available is a 680 yen (4.75) serving of thinly sliced roast beef and mash, which the beef bizarrely placed on top of the mash with a pot of gravy on the side.

A traditional shepherd's pie, mashed up jacket potato and a bag of sausage rolls - dubbed pasties - cost 310 yen (2.16) each.

Meanwhile the deep-fried 'honey cheese snacks' resembled triangles of melted cheese on toast.

Ridiculed: Reddit users have roundly mocked the food on offer, with many joking about the unusual 'anchovy and mayonnaise sauce' served alongside the jacket potatoes

OhaPineapple shared the picture to Reddit, posting: 'Traditional British food served at a British themed pub chain in Japan.

'Im just glad I found somewhere I could get my honey cheese snacks.'

The post has received hundreds of comments mocking the bizarre options on the menu, as it doesn't bear much resemblance to traditional British food.

One commented: 'I like the fact that the first three items are all fish & chips.'

Favourite team? The pub's menus are emblazoned with Union flags and Liverpool FC slogan 'you'll never walk alone'

'Just like nan used to make,' another posted.

A third wrote: 'Lol some of it just looks like posh versions typical British meals. That jacket potato dish sounds like something Waitrose would churn out.'

'Good old British honey cheese snacks,' another joked.

Another Reddit user pointed out that the pub is actually part of the HUB chain, which has British inspired branches across Japan.

Earlier this year Reddit users mocked a Danish supermarket's interpretation of British food in its international food aisle. It featured Bovril, OXO cubes, Branston Pickle, Tyrrell's crisps, Bird's Custard powder, Yorkshire and Ty-phoo tea bags and McVities Hobnobs and Digestive biscuits

The pub's menus are emblazoned with a Union Jack and the tagline of Liverpool FC's slogan 'You'll never walk alone'.

Earlier this year Reddit users were left in stitches at the British food aisle of a supermarket in Denmark.

The shelves were stacked with Bovril, OXO cubes, Branston Pickle, Tyrrell's crisps, Bird's Custard powder, Yorkshire and Ty-phoo tea bags and McVities Hobnobs and Digestive biscuits.At first glance, New Mexico-based lipstick company Blush & Whimsy is all about improving the outer beauty of its customers.

But in fact, it's really an outlet for the inner beauty of its founder.

Michaela Brown launched the Albuquerque-based brand in 2016 not just as a way to sell pretty lipstick, but to provide people opportunities. And to that end, she employs more than 80 with disabilities ranging from Down syndrome to war injuries.

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Doing good: New Mexico-based lipstick company Blush & Whimsy employs more than 80 with disabilities ranging from Down syndrome to war injuries

Pretty: The company creates beautiful lipsticks with floral centers

Something to support: Michaela Brown launched the brand in 2016 not just as a way to sell pretty lipstick, but to provide people opportunities

Brown first launched the startup shortly after she volunteered at a charity for disabled American veterans.

'Ive witnessed the challenges people with disabilities often face finding employment. I think its a missed opportunity for so many companies and I wanted to ensure I did not miss out,' the Blush & Whimsy CEO said.

'From the warehouse all the way up to the guest, I wanted everyone to feel empowered, feel essential, and feel important.'

Brown currently employs people with different abilities in varying roles in the company, from packaging the products to organizing the mailroom.

'Right now, we have about 80 people in the warehouse with Down Syndrome, ALS, disabled veterans and elderly. And theyre unable to find work,' she said. 'I do not believe that people with disabilities have enough opportunity.'

She partnered with a nonprofit agency called Adelante Development Center Inc., which supports people with disabilities with employment, vocational and life skill straining, and residential services.

Inspired: Brown first launched the startup shortly after she volunteered at a charity for disabled American veterans

All around: Brown currently employs people with different abilities in varying roles in the company, from packaging the products to organizing the mailroom

Cause: She partnered with a nonprofit agency called Adelante Development Center Inc., which supports people with disabilities with employment, and vocational and life skill straining

'Adelante hires thousands of people with different abilities from all over the state of New Mexico,' she explained.

Jill Beets, Adelantes Vice President of Marketing said: 'Over 70 per cent of people with disabilities do not participate in the workplace at all, and thats counting people of working age, which is a real travesty in our country  that so many people are left out of the workforce.

'When you add people with disabilities to your workforce, you see things you never saw before. You see inefficiencies in your system that cause people to walk farther than they should. You see better ways to set up your work station, you see flaws in your training.'

To prove Jills point, Brown's business is thriving, and she believes she wouldnt have the success she does if it wasnt for her employees.

'I would be overflowing my house with boxes and products, I would be behind in shipping, I would not be able to participate in any sort of marketing engagements, because Id be stuck trying to fulfilling things,' she said.

Success: Brown's business is thriving, and she believes she wouldnt have the success she does if it wasnt for her employees

Important: 'I made all this happen to tell a story, a message that is so much more than me and my lipsticks,' said Brown

'For us, our products need to be the most inclusive possible. In all of our marketing and all of our packaging, youll notice that we dont use models at all,' she said

Brown added: 'From the warehouse all the way up to the guest, I wanted everyone to feel empowered, feel essential and feel important'

'This year we did he Grammys, we did the gifting suite honoring the Academy Awards and ... we are in the official gifting suite for Cannes Film Festival.

'People are hearing our story, hearing our message and theyre getting it,' she went on. 'I made all this happen to tell a story, a message that is so much more than me and my lipsticks.

'Its about the change that were giving to the world. Were empowering people to be exactly who they are and not trying to change or force conformity. Its about celebrating the individual to be the best that they can be and the possibility that can be.'

'In the world of fashion and beauty the word "inclusivity" just means skin tone. But within my company I wanted it to mean skin tone, race, religion, gender, ability. They are my entire company.

'For us, our products need to be the most inclusive possible. In all of our marketing and all of our packaging, youll notice that we dont use models at all.

'Because even in those images with models, theres still that subliminal message that says youre not enough, you need to wear this to look like this model.

'So for us it was empower you to be who you are and to celebrate that uniqueness,' she said.Jenna Bush Hager teared up as she paid tribute to her father's close friend John McCain on Tuesday morning  while also bashing the president's reaction to the Arizona senator's death.

During an appearance on Megyn Kelly Today, Jenna, 36, Glamour editor-in-chief Samantha Barry, 36, and NBC News' Craig Melvin, 39, discussed McCain's legacy and his friendship with Jenna's father, George W. Bush, now 72.

Bush is one of two former presidents, along with Barack Obama, whom McCain asked to speak at his funeral.

Moved: Jenna Bush Hager, 36, choked up while paying tribute to John McCain on Today on Tuesday morning

Speaking out: Megyn Kelly, 47, along with Jenna, criticized President Trump's reaction to McCain's death

Megyn, after bashing Trump for making 'every moment about his own personal pettiness, as opposed to about the country', reminded Jenna that her own father beat McCain for the 2000 Republican nomination.

'But then they became dear friends,' Jenna said. 'I think there's a history in our country, long before what we're living in now, where politics is put aside for friendship.

'And John McCain was a good friend. He was a really good person and he will be missed.'

She was visibly moved as she discussed McCain's farewell statement, in which he wrote: 'Do not despair of our present difficulties, we believe always in the promise and greatness of America because nothing is inevitable here.'

Jenna said she felt the urge to share the senator's words with her daughters Mila, five, and Poppy, three.

Friends: Jenna said McCain became a 'good friend' even after her father George W. Bush, 72, beat him for the 2000 Republican nomination. Both men are pictured in 2008

Personal: 'I think there's a history in our country, long before what we're living in now, where politics is put aside for friendship,' she said

'I wanted to shout it out to my little children who don't know how to read because his statement speaks to the best of our country and where I'll believe we'll go back,' she said.

'And how appropriate that the maverick had the last word.'

Reaction: Trump ignored shouted questions from reporters regarding McCain's death on Monday (pictured), as his treatment of the senator's passing was widely deemed callous

President Trump's reaction to McCain's death was widely deemed callous; on Monday, he ignored reporters' questions about the senator's passing while the White House flag, which was placed at half-mast on Sunday, was raised again prematurely.

The president's reluctance to participate in the national remembrance for McCain, who was severely beaten while a prisoner of war over a number of years in Vietnam, was awkward and uncomfortable, even by the standards of a leader who acknowledges he does not act like a typical president.

Trump eventually relented under pressure to honor the late senator, recognizing his 'service to our country'.

On Tuesday, Jenna was eager to point out that people are honoring the senator 'all across our country', adding: 'And it's the everyday people's voices that are being heard. So let's not get, because one person may not be celebrating loudly'

Megyn interjected: 'But it's the president!', to which Jenna replied: 'I agree.'

Megyn continued, telling Jenna: 'I'm sure your dad disliked a number of people in and around Washington.'

World: Glamour editor-in-chief Samantha Barry (left), 36, who is from Ireland, joined the group, and noted that McCain was 'revered' internationally as well

Sharing: Jenna said she wanted to read McCain's farewell statement to her daughters Mila, five, and Poppy, three, because it 'speaks to the best of our country'

Jenna laughed and quipped: 'Dislike? That's a strong word.'

'Typically, our presidents have looked to provide healing moments in the wake of big losses or national tragedies and man, we've gone a different way,' Megyn added.

Samantha, who is from Ireland, explained that as a foreigner, McCain was one of the only senators she knew before coming to the US, pointing out he was 'revered' internationally as well.

'He's very much a senator that was known on a global scale, not just here in the US,' she added.

Before Trump's statement on Monday afternoon, his only commentary on McCain's death had been a perfunctory tweet Saturday.

The lack of a formal statement  combined with the fact that White House flags were flown at half-staff only briefly drew strong criticism from Republicans and veterans' groups as well as Democrats.

Publicly, Trump has frequently railed against McCain's dramatic thumbs-down vote against the president's efforts to repeal Obama's health care law.

Privately, he has groused about such slights as his belief that McCain did not appreciate his endorsement in the senator's 2016 re-election bid.

McCain, for his part, recently slammed Trump's Helsinki meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as 'one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.'Videos

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.Pippa Middleton played project manager as she supervised a furniture delivery at her west London home on Tuesday.

The mother-to-be was on hand as a team of movers unloaded rugs, mattresses and ornamental armchairs at the 17million property she shares with husband James Matthews, 43.

The couple have been living in rented accommodation for almost a year while extensive renovation work was carried out, with a nursery among the new additions to the sprawling mansion.

However it appears the couple will soon be back at home, with furniture being moved back into place today.

It means they will be settled in ahead of the arrival of their first child later this year.

Project manager Pippa: The mother-to-be was on hand to supervise as a team of removal men unloaded furniture at the 17million west London home she shares with husband James Matthews. The couple are preparing to move back in following extensive renovation

Attention to detail: Pippa, 34, appeared to take photos of furniture as it was offloaded at the five-storey property. The couple have been living in rented accommodation over the last year as extensive renovation work is carried out but appear to be close to moving back in

Man of the house: James Matthews arrived by bicycle to help his wife with the process. He bought the stucco-fronted property in 2014. Pippa moved into the luxury mansion in May 2016, a year before she married Mr Matthews last summer, in the society wedding of the year

Extra care: A team of removal men were seen carrying a king-size mattress from the truck to the property, which boasted six bedrooms before the renovations even started

Before the renovation started the five-storey mansion already boasted a gym, an underground cinema, a lift, a 'staff room' as well as six bedrooms.

They spent a reported 1.2million on a large extension, which will add a separate male and female dressing rooms off the master bedroom as well as a nursery for their little one.

A recent report suggested the couple has also splashed out on air-conditioning.

Pippa, 34, looked focused on the task as she directed workmen on the street outside the property this afternoon.

Their belongings, which were removed ahead of the renovations, arrived in at least two large trucks from London-based company Anthony Ward Thomas.

Uniformed men carefully unloaded bulky furniture as well as smaller wrapped pieces like cushions and kitchen utensils.

Supervision: Pippa, the younger sister of the Duchess of Cambridge, helped direct the team as to where the furniture should go as they started the job outside their Chelsea home

Mother-to-be: Pippa opted for a practical outfit of dark wash blue jeans, Adidas Stan Smith trainers and a pale pink smock top which skimmed over her blooming baby bump

Focused: Clutching her iPhone in her hand, Pippa looked like a woman on a mission as she returned to the sprawling five-bedroom property to help direct the team inside

Dream home: Pippa appeared deep in thought as she managed the large-scale delivery, with mattresses, armchairs and rugs all arriving at the family home on Tuesday

Growing family: Pippa's stunning engagement and wedding rings sparkled on her hand as she took time out of the moving project. She has recently been seen shopping for furniture

Pippa, the younger sister of the Duchess of Cambridge, opted for a practical outfit of a top and jeans from brand Sacks & Co and Adidas Stan Smith trainers.

She later covered up with a long-sleeved cargo green button-down short as evening set in and the temperature dropped.

She was seen snapping photos of the goods being unloaded on her rose gold iPhone before heading inside to help with the organisation.

Her husband James, a City financier, arrived on his bike to help with the large-scale project.

His and hers: A removal man balanced a pile of belongings, including two cushions and a small fragile box with 'James' scribbled across it as he unpacked the Matthews' belongings

Every little helps: Smaller items were unloaded alongside larger pieces like chairs and beds

Teamwork: Two delivery men from London-based firm Anthony Ward Thomas shuffled across the pavement with what appeared to be a large armchair between them

Mr Matthews was smartly dressed in a blue button-down shirt, blue chinos, casual trainers and a satchel bag slung across his back.

Pippa and James have kept a low-profile on recent months as they prepare to become parents for the first time.

The child will just be a few months younger than his or her cousin, Prince Louis, who was born to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Helping hand: Pippa offered advice to the removal men as they unloaded her belongings

Team leader: The mother-to-be appeared to be leading the substantial home project, speaking to the workmen and checking the furniture before it was taken into the property

In November last year, MailOnline reported the couple were building a first floor extension above the kitchen to make room for a new bathroom complete with a 'vanity basin' and his and hers sinks.

James bought the stucco-fronted property in 2014.

Pippa moved into the luxury mansion in May 2016, a year before she married Mr Matthews last summer, in the society wedding of the year.

Keeping a close eye: Pippa appeared to photograph her belongings before they were moved

Autumn chill: Pippa later covered up in long-sleeved cargo green button-down short as evening set in and the temperature dropped

Heavy load: A removal man slung a large rug over his shoulder as the moving continued

Prized possessions: The wrapped furniture, which was removed ahead of the renovations, was returned to the property today as the couple prepare to move back into their family homeA third grade teacher has stunned the internet after she unveiled her 'magical' Harry Potter-themed classroom ahead of the beginning of the school year.

Tressa Mellow Bargella, 39, teaches for Valley View School District in Peckville, Pennsylvania. On Thursday, the third grade teacher unveiled her incredible classroom that makes anyone feel like they've stepped right into a Harry Potter book.

'I am COMPLETELY DRAINED but it was worth it,' Tressa wrote online after revealing pictures of her classroom. 'I honestly lost track of how many hours it took me but in the end, I spend more time here than at home some days and it is now my happy place.'

Magical: Tressa Mellow Bargella teaches for Valley View School District in Peckville, Pennsylvania and unveiled her Harry Potter-themed classroom on Thursday

Inviting: When students first walk in, they are welcomed with Harry Potter decor include Maurader's Map footprints

Clever: Featured in the classroom is an image of Hogwarts where each student can place a picture of themselves on a wizard's body

Important: Sticking with the theme, Tressa unveiled a mission for the classroom that mirrored popular language from the famous books

She added: 'Hope my new little wizards love being inside my Hogwarts walls as much as I do! Heres to a magical new year!!!'

Genius: Tressa, pictured with her husband, will be teaching a group of third graders this year

The excited teacher pulled out all the stops for her students to welcome them into their new classroom.

At the entrance of the room, Tressa wallpapered the wall with a brick design to represent Platform 9 3/4. She even included a trolley halfway out of the wall with luggage.

Once people enter the classroom, they truly enter the magical world of Harry Potter with floating candles, Marauder Map footsteps and Daily Prophet newspaper clippings.

What sets Tressa's classroom a part from others is her commitment to tying in different themes from Harry Potter and Hogwarts into her every day activities with the students.

There are four sets of desk clusters to make up the Hogwarts houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

Tressa then included glass jars on the side of the classroom with beads so each 'Hogwarts house' can collect rewards for good behavior and answering questions correctly.

True to theme: Almost every aspect of Tressa's classroom features something that connects to Harry Potter

Incredible: The desks are arranged into four clusters to make up the Hogwarts houses

Creative: One one side of the room is a cubby area for each students backpack

Inspired: Tressa made sure to include important quotes from the book series all around the magical classroom

Brilliant: At the head of the classroom is the 'headmaster's' chair for Tressa to sit in

In one corner of the room, there are cubbies for each young 'wizard' to place their book bags and belongs before making their way to their desks. But the cubbies keep true to theme with a broomstick, owl cage and luggage strewn across the top.

At the front of the classroom is a single red chair for the headmaster, in this case Tressa, to sit when she is teaching her students.

Scattered throughout the classroom is a series of inspirational quotes from prominent characters in the famed book series.

'Working hard is important. But there is something that matters more, believing in yourself,' the wall above the classroom sink reads, which was originally said by Harry Potter in the series.

Another famous quote from Albus Dumbledore was placed above the cubby area. It reads: 'It is our choices that show who we truly are, far more than our abilities.'

Snake sighting! Tressa even added a fake snake, to represent Nagini, in the corner of the classroom

Amazing: For classroom chores, Tressa created a 'House Elves' area where each student grabs the assigned sock for the task

Hardwork: The teacher admitted it took her hours to decorate the entire classroom

Rewarding: Each 'Hogwarts house' will receive beads as rewards for good behavior and answering questions correctly

The Harry Potter themes only continue as Tressa labeled the area where she assigns classroom tasks  such as being line leader, caboose and secretary  as 'house elves'.

Each student will grab the assigned sock when they have a task.

Included in the classroom as a fun (but important) way to keep the students focused is a chart where Tressa can move any child clothespin depending on how they are behaving.

The students start the day on the 'Accepted to Hogwarts' section. But if they are displaying exceptional behavior, the student can move up to 'Bonus House Points' or 'Prefect' status.

But if a student is behaving poorly, they can go down to the 'Forbidden Forest' which entails a warning. Then they can move down to 'Chamber of Secrets' for the teacher's choice and the 'Howler' section with a note home to the parents.

The final section is entitled 'Azkaban' where the student will get sent to the principal's office.

'Not that any of my little angels will need it,' Tressa wrote in a caption about that section of her classroom.

Fun: Based on the pictures, it looks like Tressa had a lot of fun decorating her new classroom

Welcoming: She even created a fireplace area with a table that looks like it was pulled from the set of one of the Harry Potter films

Encouraging: Above the sink is a quote that was said by Harry Potter in one of the books

Intelligent: To keep her students behaving well, Tressa created a Harry Potter-themed chart

All in the details: The classroom even includes a picture of Moaning Myrtle (left) in the mirror and a Mandrake plant (right)

Ingenious: Other aspects of the classroom include a 'Wizard of the Week' section (left) and an area with Daily Prophet front pages (right)

Proclamations: Tressa included four classroom rules, like listening and respecting others, that looked like Professor Umbridge's rules

Tressa also makes sure to reward good behavior of her students by having a 'Wizard of the Week'.

The student who earns the title gets to place their picture in the middle of a Daily Prophet front page for the entire week.

Since Tressa unveiled her magical classroom on Thursday, the pictures have been shared more than 110,000 times with adults expressing how they want to go back to school.

'Omg you are beyond extra! I can't even describe how amazing this is!! I'm going to take an anti-aging potion and sign up for your class,' one person wrote online after seeing the amazing pictures.

Another person commented: 'I dont even have kids and I wish I could go back to 3rd grade! This is amazing for kids imaginations and to still have fun while learning!'

If any of Tressa's students aren't fans of Harry Potter before they enter the classroom, they probably will by the end of the year because of how much fun the theme makes for learning.Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden donned a vibrant cocktail dress as she presented a sustainability award in Stockholm on Tuesday.

The 41-year-old royal was on hand to award the winner of the Junior Water Prize, which recognises the work of young people interested in water and environmental issues.

Her Royal Highness beamed on the red carpet outside the event, which was held at the Berns Salonger venue in the Swedish capital.

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden donned a vibrant cocktail dress as she presented a sustainability award in Stockholm on Tuesday. She beamed on the red carpet outside the event, which was held at the Berns Salonger venue in the Swedish capital

Crown Princess Victoria donned a frock printed with featured scenic landscapes, buildings, statues and even rollercoasters.

She kept her accessories simple by sticking to black pumps and a matching black velvet clutch bag.

Victoria kept her hair swept her signature low bun, revealing a pair of delicate pearl drop earrings.

Keeping her make-up simple, the mother-of-two looked fresh-faced to make her dress the main attraction.

The heir apparent to the Swedish throne kept her hair swept in her signature chic low bun for the outing in Stockholm on Tuesday, showing off a pair of delicate pearl drop earrings

Victoria, a mother of two, is patron of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize, which is open to entrants for around the world.

Each year some 30,000 young people enter in the hope of taking home the $15,000 (11,656) prize money, along with a blue crystal sculpture, a diploma and a stay in Stockholm.

They join national competitions in hopes of earning the chance to represent their nation at the international final held during the World Water Week in Stockholm.

Crown Princess Victoria kept her accessories simple by sticking to black pumps and a matching black velvet clutch bag. She was on hand to present the Junior Water Prize, which recognises the work of young people interested in water and environmental issues

The national and international competitions are open to young people between the ages of 15 and 20 who have conducted water-related projects of proven environmental, scientific, social or technological significance.

The projects range from local or regional to national or global topics.

The appearance at the gala marks a busy month for Victoria and her family returning back to their royal duties after they were believed to have spent most of their holiday at Solliden palace in Oland.

The appearance at the gala marks a busy month for Victoria and her family returning back to their royal duties after they were believed to have spent most of their holiday at Solliden palace in Oland. Pictured, Victoria attends a theatre performance in Stockholm last week

It has been a busy couple of weeks for Victoria since returning from her summer break with her daughter Estelle, six, beginning her first day at school on Tuesday.

She and her husband Prince Daniel, 44, were among the parents waving their children off from the school gates on their first day.

The youngster is starting her learning at Campus Manilla, one of Stockholm's most exclusive educational establishments.People at high risk of schizophrenia are more likely to smoke cannabis, a study has found.

Scientists studied more than 180,000 people worldwide using data from DNA testing website 23andMe as well as UK health records and past studies.

They found 35 genes which influence whether people are ever likely to smoke marijuana.

And the same genes also affect how likely someone is to develop schizophrenia, showing that as the likelihood of one increases, the other does, too.

The illness could actually be driving people to use cannabis in order to cope, the researchers suggest, instead of the previously-held belief that the drug can directly cause the condition.

And similar genetic links mean people are also more likely to have extroverted personalities or indulge in risky behaviour  which could drive them to smoke pot.

But the study does not give any evidence to prove that smoking marijuana does not contribute to mental health problems.

People who are genetically more likely to get schizophrenia are also more likely to use cannabis, but the drug may not directly cause the condition, according to international research

The study was carried out by researchers at the QIMR Berghofer Institute in Brisbane, Radboud University in the Netherlands and Virginia Commonwealth University in the US.

Researchers used data from past scientific studies and medical records, as well as from the website 23andMe, which offers private DNA and ancestry testing by post.

They found what they called a 'genetic overlap' in people's DNA.

The overlap revealed there are some genes which increase both someone's chance of developing schizophrenia and their tendency to smoke cannabis.

In the study the authors say the genes make people more likely to smoke cannabis by making them more likely to take risks or behave impulsively  traits they say are associated with people who use marijuana.

'That is not a big surprise because previous studies have often shown that cannabis use and schizophrenia are associated with each other,' said Jacqueline Vink of Radboud University.

People vulnerable to schizophrenia are more likely to use cannabis

'Our study showed that people with a vulnerability to develop schizophrenia are at increased risk of using cannabis.'

Many of the 35 overlapping genes also appear to make it more likely that someone will smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol.

Past research suggested drug triggered the illness

Past research has suggested that smoking cannabis can trigger schizophrenia or other mental illnesses.

But this study shows marijuana use may not be a direct cause but people could instead be using cannabis to cope with the illness, or the drug could contribute to an already-existing condition.

Professor Eske Derks from Queensland's QIMR Berghofer Institute said: 'This may suggest that people with schizophrenia use cannabis to cope with the symptoms.

'These findings don't rule out the possibility that cannabis use could also contribute to the onset of schizophrenia; however, we haven't found any evidence to support that in this study.'

The study was published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.Ebola has now killed 75 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo outbreak which is gripping the north-east region of North Kivu.

The epidemic was declared on August 1 and 111 cases of the deadly fever have been reported since  nearly four new infections per day.

Some 47 people have died from confirmed cases of the disease while another 28 deaths are suspected to have been caused by to the virus.

But there are rays of hope for the troubled African country  no new cases have been diagnosed since before Sunday and two infected patients have recovered after being given an experimental therapeutic drug.

Health authorities are trialling five new anti-Ebola medications to try and stop the highly contagious virus in its tracks amid concerns it is spreading into a warzone.

More than 3,400 people have been given the medicines and experts say the Congo's medical assault on the infection is a 'global first'.

Some 75 people have died in the most recent Ebola outbreak taking place in the North Kivu province in the north-east of Democratic Republic of Congo. Pictured: Health workers carry the body of a suspected victim last Wednesday, August 22, in Mangina, a town near Beni

Ebola is a haemorrhagic fever which causes sudden fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and internal and external bleeding.

The virus can be fatal in up to 90 per cent of cases, depending on the strain, and spreads quickly between people through contact with infected bodily fluids.

Congo's current outbreak is taking place in the north-east of the country, around the city of Beni near the Ugandan border.

Last week a doctor in the nearby 'no-go' conflict zone of Oicha contracted the infection after his wife visited Beni, where the outbreak is thought to have begun.

Experts say if the virus begins to spread in Oicha, a volatile area surrounded by armed militia from Uganda, it will become extremely hard to control.

And global health officials are rushing to stop the spread of the virus for fear it could spiral into another pandemic like the one in 2014 which killed 11,000 people in West Africa.

Two patients have recovered after receiving experimental drug

But health officials may be making progress in the fight as a widespread drug programme has shown signs of success.

This week, two of the first 10 people to have been given an experimental cure known as mAb114 made a recovery from the often-deadly infection.

In a statement the Congo's health ministry confirmed: 'These two people are among the first 10 patients to have received the therapeutic molecule mAb114.'

Treatment usually relies on keeping patients hydrated and quarantined, and trying to manage their symptoms as the body tries to fight off the virus.

Congo's vaccination efforts 'a world first and a ray of hope'

Emergency: A health worker gets ready to perform medical checks inside an Ebola Treatment Centre run by The Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA) in Beni

Developed in the US, mAb114 was the first of five experimental treatments the Congo has begun using in the outbreak.

The health ministry has confirmed four other experimental drugs have been approved for use in the country  ZMapp, Remdesivir, Favipiravir and Regn3450-3471-347.

On Saturday the World Health Organisation said the Congo's attempts to stop the virus were 'a global first, and a ray of hope for people with the disease.'

Healthcare offered for free to encourage people to seek help

The mayor in the city of Beni, Jean Edmond Nyonyi Masumbuko Bwanakawa, has announced treatment for Ebola will be free in the region for three months.

He hopes the move will encourage people to seek immediate medical help and not be put off by a fear of having to pay for healthcare.

More than 100 people are thought to still be living with Ebola in the area.

WHAT IS EBOLA AND HOW DEADLY IS IT? Ebola, a haemorrhagic fever, killed at least 11,000 across the world after it decimated West Africa and spread rapidly over the space of two years. That epidemic was officially declared over back in January 2016, when Liberia was announced to be Ebola-free by the WHO. The country, rocked by back-to-back civil wars that ended in 2003, was hit the hardest by the fever, with 40 per cent of the deaths having occurred there. Sierra Leone reported the highest number of Ebola cases, with nearly of all those infected having been residents of the nation. WHERE DID IT BEGIN? An analysis, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found the outbreak began in Guinea - which neighbours Liberia and Sierra Leone. A team of international researchers were able to trace the epidemic back to a two-year-old boy in Meliandou - about 400 miles (650km) from the capital, Conakry. Emile Ouamouno, known more commonly as Patient Zero, may have contracted the deadly virus by playing with bats in a hollow tree, a study suggested. HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE STRUCK DOWN? WHICH COUNTRIES WERE STRUCK DOWN BY EBOLA DURING THE 2014-16 EPIDEMIC? (CDC figures) COUNTRY CASES DEATHS DEATH RATE (%) GUINEA 3,814 2,544 66.7% SIERRA LEONE 14,124 3,956 28.0% LIBERIA 10,678 4,810 45.0% NIGERIA 20 8 40.0% SENEGAL 1 0 N/A SPAIN 1 0 N/A US 4 1 25.0% MALI 8 6 75.0% UK 1 0 N/A ITALY 1 0 N/A Figures show nearly 29,000 people were infected from Ebola - meaning the virus killed around 40 per cent of those it struck. Cases and deaths were also reported in Nigeria, Mali and the US - but on a much smaller scale, with 15 fatalities between the three nations. Health officials in Guinea reported a mysterious bug in the south-eastern regions of the country before the WHO confirmed it was Ebola. Ebola was first identified by scientists in 1976, but the most recent outbreak dwarfed all other ones recorded in history, figures show. HOW DID HUMANS CONTRACT THE VIRUS? Scientists believe Ebola is most often passed to humans by fruit bats, but antelope, porcupines, gorillas and chimpanzees could also be to blame. It can be transmitted between humans through blood, secretions and other bodily fluids of people - and surfaces - that have been infected. IS THERE A TREATMENT? The WHO warns that there is 'no proven treatment' for Ebola - but dozens of drugs and jabs are being tested in case of a similarly devastating outbreak. Hope exists though, after an experimental vaccine, called rVSV-ZEBOV, protected nearly 6,000 people. The results were published in The Lancet journal. Advertisement

Unsafe burial of patient triggered the outbreak

According to the WHO, the unsafe burial of a 65-year-old Ebola sufferer was to blame for triggering the current outbreak.

After she was buried, members of her family began to display symptoms of the virus and seven of them were reported to have died.

Genetic analysis confirmed the virus in the latest outbreak is the Zaire strain, which is the same as the one earlier this summer.

Yet, Peter Salama, WHO's deputy director for emergency preparedness and response, revealed last week the pathogen is genetically different to the virus seen before.

Fears outbreak is reminiscent of 2014 epidemic

An Ebola patient is being checked by two medical workers after being admitted into a Biosecure Emergency care Unite (CUBE) in Beni, Democratic Republic of Congo

The current Ebola outbreak is the 10th to strike the Congo since 1976, when the virus was first identified and named after the Ebola River in the north of the country.

The outbreak on the border of Uganda was announced just days after another was declared over in the north-west of the Congo at the start of August.

Virologists feared it would be 'reminiscent' of the 2014 Ebola pandemic, which decimated West Africa and killed 11,000 people.

Yet the new outbreak has already dwarfed the one earlier this summer and has stoked more fears among the medical community.

Calls to end violence

In a desperate attempt to stem the outbreak, the World Health Organization's (WHO) chief called for an end to the fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) last week.

Dr Tedros Adhanom travelled to east DRC to examine the situation in person and told reporters in Switzerland he was 'actually more worried after the visit than before'.

He added: 'We call on the warring parties for a cessation of hostilities because the virus is dangerous to all. It doesn't choose between this group and that group.'

Professor Paul Hunter, a virologist at the University of East Anglia, last week praised an experimental vaccine being distributed in the DRC that stops the spread of Ebola.

Aid workers will have to work among more than 100 armed groups

Yet, he also raised fears that conflict in the region might make the outbreak hard to control, as those infected could be displaced to refugee camps where the virus can thrive.

Professor Hunter said: 'The effectiveness of any immunisation campaign depends on the ability to deliver that vaccine to the appropriate people is a timely manner.

'Unfortunately the latest outbreak is in an area of armed conflict and this poses substantial difficulties for effective prevention.'

Aid workers have been told they will have to navigate their response among more than 100 armed groups.

A WHO spokesperson said: 'This is an active conflict zone. The major barrier will be safely accessing the affected population.'Cases of the worst ever cholera outbreak in Yemen have been slashed dramatically - because of the Met Office and NASA.

Just 2,500 new cases of the killer bug are being recorded each week in the war-torn nation - down from 50,000 each week last year.

The Met Office, alongside NASA, is helping aid workers on the ground battling the outbreak through powerful weather mapping technology.

It monitors rainfall patterns to gauge the most vulnerable regions. Downpours can overwhelm the sewage system and spread the waterborne infection.

The data is passed to the Department for International Development (DFID), allowing staff on the ground to target resources more effectively.

Just 2,500 new cases of the bug are being recorded each week in the war-torn nation - down from 50,000 each week last year (a swamp following rains in Sana'a - the capital of Yemen)

Yemen was hit by the worst cholera epidemic in living memory last year, with more than a million suspected cases and 179 deaths.

The country's civil war, which has been raging on for three years, was blamed, as it destroyed sewerage and sanitation systems.

But since the new model was introduced in March only 2,597 suspected cases have been recorded each week, according to DFID data.

The United Nations last week warned of a possible 'third wave' of the epidemic, with fears cases are still increasing.

Cholera, mainly found in places lacking a clean water supply and sewage systems, is caused by eating contaminated food or drinking water.

Tests show the tool, which can predict where cholera will occur four weeks ahead of time, has been 92 per cent accurate so far.

It allows aid workers to stockpile water treatment kits, equipment and medicines in vulnerable areas, as well as educate people on hygiene and sanitation.

Professor Charlotte Watts, the DFID's chief scientific adviser, said the system had helped aid workers bring a rampant epidemic under control.

'We have thousands of people around the world that died from cholera each year,' she told the BBC.

'And I think this approach could really help put a dent into that figure.

'What this technology enables us to do is really home in to where we're going to get new outbreaks, and respond really effectively.'

Helen Bye, head of international development at the Met Office, said: 'Met Office meteorologists are able to translate our global modelling and scientific expertise to show where rain has fallen and where it will fall.

Yemen was hit by the worst cholera epidemic in living memory last year, with more than a million suspected cases and 179 deaths

'We then provide weekly tailored guidance to DFID and humanitarian agencies including Unicef to inform their lifesaving actions.'

The Met Office's supercomputer in Exeter makes 14 thousand trillion calculations per second.

This allows it to take in 215 billion weather observations across the world every day.

The data is used as a starting point for UK and global weather forecasts and in Yemen, high-resolution models are used to forecast to six days.

The forecasts were used to improve a model developed by scientists at the University of West Virginia and the University of Maryland.

It draws on information from regions such as population density, seasonal temperatures and access to clean water.

The team wants to improve the model to predict outbreaks eight weeks in advance - doubling its current capability.

This would allow aid agencies to plan targeted vaccination campaigns.

The scientific teams noted a later rainy season, greater immunity against cholera and changes in national guidance in the recording of cases may have contributed to the lower number of cases.

Helen Ticehurst, Met Office's international development manager, told the BBC that the project is 'really exciting'.

She hopes scientists can use the data to prevent other infections linked to rainfall and temperature, such as malaria.

The civil war in Yemen - between a Saudi-led coalition and Iranian-allied Houthi rebels - has been raging since 2015.

Aid agencies estimate there have been at least 10,000 civilian deaths, with some believing the death toll could be five times that figure.THE PROBLEM

If you, like me, spend a large part of your day hunched over a computer or staring down at your smartphone screen  or double screening by doing both at the same time  then you may suffer neck pain.

In fact, the problem even has its own name: tech neck. Prolonged periods of peering downward over a screen causes the neck to get stuck in a more forward position, because those strained tissues lose their pliability.

And the condition isnt just cause of discomfort. No, the worst part is that its causing an explosion in prematurely lined and wrinkled necks.

So what can be done? Well, rolling the shoulders and neck forwards and the back, tucking in the chin  like making a double chin  and doing various other shoulder stretches are said to help. But I was intrigued to try a traditional Chinese medical approach called tui na, after reading reports of a German study that found six sessions of this special massage could reduce neck pain significantly. So where better to try it than in the birthplace of the method, Beijing.

Jonathan Neal had tui na - a Chinese medical therapy - at the Rosewood Beijing (pictured), part of the ultra-hip companys growing collection of unique luxury properties around the world, and visited its Sense spa

THE SOLUTION

I had the chance to visit Beijing on a stop-off, on the way to Tokyo. The Chinese government now allow visitors to the city, Shanghai and a couple of other destinations to stay for up to five days (144 hours) without a visa as long as youre then going onward to somewhere other than your country of origin.

The Transit Without Visa (TWOV) system makes having a day or two in China on the way to another Asian destination an enticing possibility. I stayed at the Rosewood Beijing, part of the ultra-hip companys growing collection of unique luxury properties around the world, and visited its Sense spa.

THE TREATMENT

Having visited a fair few spas around the world, Id confidently say Sense is up there with the best. The hotel is a stunning 282-room glass skyscraper, set among the other towers of the citys financial district. You enter the spa via a wooden walkway over water. Candles and bamboo screens give a nod to the Chinese heritage without being pastiche. The cavernous room has a glass ceiling and is planted with a small jungle of trees and plants, giving an outdoorsy feel. Tui na (90 minutes, 123) translates as pinch and pull, which is pretty accurate. For the massage, you wear special undergarments, youre covered with a large cloth sheet and the massage is carried out through this.

'I got off the table feeling more flexible and agile, with far more movement in my neck. Im so impressed that since coming home, Ive had a treatment every fortnight or so at my local Chinese doctors clinic'

Like acupuncture, the strokes  small, and mostly circular  are designed to work along the invisible energy meridians that flow through the body, bringing everything into balance.

Its quite invigorating, and at times deep enough to make you wince slightly.

And the effect is almost immediate. I got off the table feeling more flexible and agile, with far more movement in my neck. Im so impressed that since coming home, Ive had a treatment every fortnight or so at my local Chinese doctors clinic.

Double rooms from 205. rosewoodhotels.comWomen with depression and anxiety during pregnancy may see their babies' brains altered, a small study suggests.

Researchers say this modified brain development could linked to behavior problems later in childhood.

A team from the University of Wisconsin-Madison asked 101 women to complete questionnaires about depression and anxiety symptoms during their third trimester of pregnancy.

Overall, six mothers had symptoms of major depressive disorder, five met criteria for moderate depression, and 42 met criteria for mild depression.

Women with depression and anxiety during pregnancy may see their babies' brains altered, a small study suggests (file image)

Then, researchers took MRIs of the infants' brains when they were about one month old.

They found more alterations in brain structure among the babies born to women who experienced at least moderate levels of depression during pregnancy.

Researchers said that maternal depression and anxiety were linked to changes in what's known as white matter microstructure in the brain.

This area is similar to 'wiring', responsible for neural communication between different regions of the brain and helps control bodily movements to managing emotions.

There were also differences seen when it came to the sexes of the babies, of which 53 percent were male.

Female babies exposed to higher levels of maternal depression and anxiety had less diffusion - or spreading of water - on a zero-to-one scale known as fractional anisotropy.

Meanwhile, males had higher fractional anisotropy if their mothers had high levels of depression.

'Our study suggests that moderate levels of maternal depression and anxiety symptoms during pregnancy were associated with variations in the brain's white matter microstructure or "wiring" at one month of age,' said lead study author Dr Douglas Dean III of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Dr Dean said the pattern may be different among the sex because 'boys and girls having different developmental trajectories and being differentially impacted by certain early life experiences'.

Up to one in five pregnant women experience depression and anxiety, and mounting evidence links these conditions with poorer emotional and behavioral outcomes in children, researchers note in JAMA Pediatrics.

That's true even when mothers' symptoms aren't severe, they say.

Untreated depression during pregnancy is associated with underweight babies who are more likely to need intensive care after birth.

Pregnant women with uncontrolled depression may not eat well or keep up with prenatal visits and, in the most severe cases, they may be at increased risk for suicide.

A study published in April, from Columbia University in New York, said women who took antidepressants during pregnancy had differences in both the gray and white matter of their brains.

Researchers said this could put the newborns at risk for anxiety and depression later in life.

The researchers say the study is unable to prove whether anxiety or depression during pregnancy might directly influence infants' brain development or emotional or behavioral development and, if it does, how so.

It is also unclear whether changes seen on brain scans during infancy would persist as the children aged or whether any treatment the mothers get for depression or anxiety might impact babies' brain development

Currently, the team has scanned the brains of these same children at age two and plans to examine if this development has any impact.Half of all firearm deaths in 2016 occurred in just six countries in the Americas, a shocking new study has found.

Brazil topped the list with more than 43,200 gun deaths, either via homicide, suicide or accidental injury.

Joining Brazil in the top five were the US, India, Mexico, and Colombia.

However, when the number of deaths were added up together, half of the more than 250,000 in the countries in the Americas listed above as well as Venezuela and Guatemala.

The team, from the University of Washington, are calling upon lawmakers to implement policy changes - such as strengthening background checks or requiring a permit to purchase a firearm - that might help drive down the staggering number.

Half of all firearm deaths occur in just six countries in the Americas, a shocking new study has found, with Brazil topping the list (file image)

For the study, the team used data from the Global Burden of Disease Study, which measures mortality due to diseases, injuries and risk factors.

They looked at firearm-related mortality for 195 countries and territories that occurred between 1990 and 2016.

The researchers did not include gun deaths attributed to execution, law enforcement or conflict/terrorism.

In 113 of the countries and territories, homicides were the leading cause of firearm-related deaths in 2016. For 67 nations, the leading cause was suicide.

Globally, in 2016, 64 percent of gun deaths were homicides, 27 percent were suicides and nine percent were accidental injuries.

When it came to an aggregate of death for all ages and both sexes, Brazil topped the list with 43,200 deaths in 2016.

Rounding out the top five were the US, India, Mexico, and Colombia.

However, two more countries in the Americas, Venezuela and Guatemala, made the top 10 list at numbers six and eight, respectively.

TOP 10 COUNTRIES WITH MOST GUN DEATHS IN 2016 Homicides, suicides and accidental injuries combined: 1. Brazil: 43,200 deaths 2. United States: 37,200 3. India: 26,500 4. Mexico: 15,400 5. Colombia: 13,300 6. Venezuela: 12,800 7. Philippines: 8,020 8. Guatemala: 5,090 9. Russia: 4,380 10. Afghanistan: 4,050 Advertisement

But in terms of the highest rate, El-Salvador led all countries. There, guns were responsible for 39.2 deaths per 100,000 people.

The team also calculated countries with the lowest rate, the title of which went to Singapore with 0.1 deaths per 100,000 people.

It was followed by countries in Asia: China, Oman, Japan and Taiwan, a nation-state whose independence from China is disputed.

Worldwide, deaths involving guns surpassed deaths due to global conflict and terrorism every year from 1990 to 2016.

The only exception was in 1994, when the Rwandan genocide occurred. The UN estimates the death toll from that event to be 800,000.

Although the aggregate global death toll increased from 209,000 in 1990 to 251,000 in 2016, the death rate actually decreased over the 16-year period.

'This study confirms what many have been claiming for years - that gun violence is one of the greatest public health crises of our time,' said co-author Dr Mohsen Naghavi, a professor of global health at the University of Washington.

'There are no simple antidotes to address this health problem. The tragedy of each firearm-related death will continue until reasonable and reasoned leaders come together to address the issue.'

The authors also found that 87 percent of all deaths - amounting to almost 219,000 - were men.

In the 20-24 age group alone, there were more than 34,700 male deaths.

'These findings show the disproportionately high mortality among men,' said senior author Dr Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.

'This study is important for policymakers at the national and global levels.'An anti-vaccination nurse is under investigation after she reportedly considered taking a saliva sample from a toddler with measles and exposing her own unvaccinated son to the potentially deadly virus.

After seeing the infected child at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, the nurse allegedly posted on the Proud Parents of Unvaccinated Children - Texas Facebook page, admitting her horror at the boy's illness but reaffirming her anti-vaxxer stance.

The boy is one of at least seven cases of measles in Texas this year and 124 people have already been sickened by the once-eradicated virus this year.

Texas Children's has suspended the nurse and has kept her away from patients after it became aware of her Facebook Post on Friday.

Despite admitting the illness was far worse than she had thought, a now-suspended nurse who saw her first case of measles at Texas Children's Hospital said she remains anti-vaccine - and that she even thought about infecting her own son with a sample from a sick boy

The measles vaccine effectively eradicated the virus in the US, but public health experts suspect recent outbreaks are driven by the growing anti-vaxxer movement

According to the Houston Health Department, the boy is between one and three years old and has now tested definitively positive for measles.

His is the first case of measles investigated in Houston since 2013, according to the city's health department, but by the end of January, six cases had already been reported in Ellis County, Texas.

All of those infected were unvaccinated against the virus, according to a Texas Department of State Health Services press release.

It is not clear if the child hospitalized at Texas Children's was vaccinated or not.

But by the unidentified nurse's own account, he was extremely sick.

The Proud Parents of Unvaccinated Children - Texas Facebook page where she posted has since been taken down, but Houston's ABC 13 News station obtained screenshots of her postings beforehand.

'I think its easy for us nonvaxxers to make assumptions but most of us have never and will never see one of theses diseases. [But] for the first time in my career I saw Measles this week,' she allegedly wrote.

'Actually most of my coworkers and the ER docs saw measles for the first time as well. And honestly, it was rough. The kid was super sick. Sick enough to be admitted to the ICU and he looked miserable.'

Measles symptoms include a flat red rash, red, watery eyes, runny nose, and a high fever.

About one in 20 children who gets measles develops pneumonia, too, and if the viral infection is left untreated too long, children can develop brain welling that can cause permanent damage.

The measles virus (left) was considered eradicated from the US in 2000, but there have been many recent outbreaks of the illness several states and other countries. The nurse said the illness was 'worse' than she thought, but she remains steadfastly anti-vaccination (right)

The nurse commented on her own post that she suspected the patient in her hospital had gotten measles while travelling abroad and that she had thought of giving the virus to her son

One to two out of every 1,000 children that are infected with measles die from it. In the decade leading up to the release of a vaccine (in 1963), nearly all children in the US got measles, and between 400 and 500 people died each year.

Measles was considered eradicated from the US in 2000, but there has been a sudden resurgence of outbreaks, which most public health officials blame on the current momentum behind the anti-vaxxer movement.

Vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella is required by law for children in all 50 states, though many allow religious exemptions.

Texas is one of only a handful of states that allow 'philosophical' exemptions to vaccinations, a permission won by the anti-vaxxer political lobby there.

The Texas Children's nurse was struck, but unmoved by seeing her first measles patient.

'By no means have I changed my vax stance, and I never will,' she reportedly wrote on the Facebook page.

'But I just wanted to share my experience and how much worse it was than I expected.'

Nevertheless, she went on to discuss her post in the comments section and at one point wrote: 'I'm not kidding that I thought about swabbing his mouth and bringing it home to my 13 (year old),' ABC 13 reported.

Measles is a highly contagious virus, and can easily spread from child to child if they are not vaccinated against the illness.

A concerned parent shared screenshots of the nurse's posts to Texas Children's Facebook page on Friday and the hospital launched an investigation.

'This is a highly-contagious, vaccine-preventable infection. We know vaccination is the best protection against measles,' a hospital spokesperson told Daily Mail Online in an emailed statement.

Its staff has also reached out to the families of all of the children the sick boy may have come into contact with, a key to containing the spread of the virus, as it be contagious but without visible symptoms for seven to 14 days.

'We are also aware that one of our nurses posted information on social media and we take these matters very seriously. A thorough investigation is underway,' the hospital wrote.Scientists have discovered humans have tiny secret tunnels that connect the skull to the brain.

These channels are thought to allow immune cells that are produced in the skull to take a shortcut to the brain if it is experiencing inflammation following a stroke or injury.

Experts previously thought immune cells were only transported to the brain via the bloodstream.

The study's researchers, from Harvard, believe the discovery may help them understand how certain disorders cause brain inflammation, which can lead to loss of consciousness, seizures and even death.

They also believe the finding might enable them to better grasp conditions such as multiple sclerosis, which occurs when a person's immune system mistakenly attacks their brain.

Scientists have discovered humans have tiny secret tunnels that connect the skull to the brain. These channels are thought to allow immune cells that are produced in the skull to take a shortcut to the brain if it is experiencing inflammation following a stroke or injury

How the research was carried out

The researchers set out to uncover whether immune cells enter the brain from bone marrow, where they are produced, in the skull or the large shin bone, known as the tibia.

To do this, they tagged immune cells called neutrophils, which are the first on the scene after an injury, with a fluorescent dye.

Those tagged with a red dye were injected into mice's skulls, while those impregnated with a green dye were implanted into the rodents' tibias.

The researchers then caused the animals to experience brain inflammation either by inducing a stroke or a meningitis-like disorder.

Results suggest that bone marrow in the skull provides more neutrophils after a brain injury than that in the tibia.

The researchers tagged immune cells, known as neutrophils, with a red dye in the skull and green in the shin of mice. After inducing brain inflammation, they found more immune cells from the skull enter the brain than from the shin, which they do via these secret tunnels

WHEN DO HUMAN BRAINS BECOME 'OLD'? The human brain becomes 'old' at just 25, research suggested in February 2017. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which is found in the brain and spinal cord, changes its speed of movement in people older than their mid-20s, a Lancaster University study found. These movements are linked to breathing and heart rates, with CSF changes previously being associated with conditions such as multiple sclerosis and high blood pressure. It is unclear if these CSF changes are associated with brain disorders that typically affect the elderly, such as dementia. Previous research suggests the volume and weight of the brain begins to decline by around five per cent per decade when a person reaches 40 years old. On the back of these findings, study author Professor Aneta Stefanovska added further research 'may open up new frontiers in the understanding and diagnosis of various neurodegenerative and ageing-related diseases to improve diagnostic procedures and patient prognosis.' The discovery came to light during the development of a new method of investigating brain function, which has revealed the stage in life when the brain starts to deteriorate. Previous research carried out by Imperial College London suggests brains' grey matter, which enables the organ to function, shrinks during middle age and is related to cell death. White matter, which enables communication between nerve clusters, also appears to decline at around 40. This is also when the deterioration of myelin sheath occurs. Myelin sheath is a fatty substances that surrounds nerve cells and ensures proper function of the nervous system. These changes are thought to occur due to a reduction in the hormones dopamine and serotonin. Advertisement

'We discovered tiny channels connect the marrow with the brain'

After making this discovery, the scientists assessed how neutrophils reach the brain.

Study author Dr Matthias Nahrendorf said: 'We started examining the skull very carefully, looking at it from all angles, trying to figure out how neutrophils are getting to the brain.'

The scientists analysed the inner surface of the mice's skulls, which revealed microscopic channels that directly connect the skull's bone marrow to the protective lining that covers the brain.

Normally, red blood cells flow through these channels from the brain to the bone marrow, however, after a stroke or brain injury, this movement is reversed.

To discover if the same occurs in people, the researchers analysed pieces of human skulls taken from surgeries and found the same channels are present.

What ages the brain?

This comes after research released earlier this month suggested smoking cannabis ages a person's brain by an average of 2.8 years.

This is compared to four years in schizophrenia patients, according to the largest study of its kind.

Brain ageing is defined as reduced blood flow through the organ.

Excessive alcohol also ages the organ by 0.6 years, the research adds.

Lead author Dr Daniel Amen, founder of Amen Clinics, which are throughout the US, said: 'The cannabis abuse finding was especially important, as our culture is starting to see marijuana as an innocuous substance. This study should give us pause about it.'

Reduced brain blood flow has previously been linked to stroke and dementia.

Results further suggest bipolar disorder accelerates brain ageing by 1.6 years, while attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) speeds it up by 1.4 years.

Perhaps surprisingly, no link was found between depression and brain ageing. The researchers believe the mental-health condition may affect different parts of the brain to disorders such as ADHD and schizophrenia.The heartbroken parents of a newborn with a rare blood vessel constricting disorder are trying a last ditch treatment to save her.

Cassandra Brooks and Brandon Pritt, from Staunton, Virginia, had been trying to get pregnant for four years and found out they were expecting on Valentine's Day.

Their daughter, Raven, was born prematurely earlier this month and, when she was just two weeks old, doctors told her parents she was suffering from a disease known as GACI.

It's caused by a buildup of calcium that narrows blood vessels and arteries and restricts blood flow, which can lead to heart failure and kidney failure.

Raven was given just a 15 percent chance to live past six months.

Now, the couple, told the Staunton News Leader they've received approved to transfer their daughter to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia where she will be treated with a new drug in hopes of saving her.

Cassandra Brooks and Brandon Pritt are trying a last ditch treatment to save their newborn daughter Raven after she was diagnosed with a rare disorder. Pictured: Brooks and Pritt with Raven

Around week 31, Brooks had to have an emergency C-section after a scan showed Raven (left and right) had hydrops fetalis, which is a fluid buildup around the heart, and was in distress. The baby was transferred to the NICU unit at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville

Generalized arterial calcification of infancy (GACI) is a rare, genetic disorder that affects the circulatory system.

In about 75 percent of children, it is caused by mutations in the ENPP1 gene, which gives instructions to make a protein called ATP.

Both parents must be carriers of the recessive gene to pass it on and, if they do, the child has a 25 percent chance of having GACI.

This genetic defect causes the body to have low levels of an enzyme called pyrophosphate, which prevents calcium from building up in blood vessels and arteries.

According to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, this abnormal calcium buildup (calcification) narrows both vessels and arteries and restricts the flow of blood.

Infants who are diagnosed with the disease may have difficulty breathing or an enlarged heart and are at risk for heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure.

The disorder is very rare, occurring in about one in 391,000 children.

There is a 15 percent chance of living past the first six months of life, which is known as the 'critical period'.

At UVA, Raven was put on a ventilator and had a tube to drain the fluid around her heart. She was also given the opioid fentanyl to try to ease her pain. Pictured: Pritt holding Raven

After two weeks, Raven (pictured) was off the ventilator and had her tube removed. Doctors took her off the painkillers and her parents thought she was close to being able to go home

But after doctors noticed her blood pressure was abnormally high so they ordered a CAT scan. Pictured: Raven

Brooks said her pregnancy was not easy from the start.

'I was sick all the time - morning sickness. My back was really bad throughout my pregnancy,' she told the newspaper.

Brooks went into preterm labor nine weeks early and was rushed to Augusta Health in Fisherville, Virginia.

She was given magnesium sulfate, an inorganic salt administered via IV, to stop her contractions and was sent home.

It's not understood exactly how magnesium sulfate works, but it is known to decrease calcium levels in uterine muscle cells, according to Healthline.

Because muscles cells need calcium to contract, the magnesium sulfate is believed to relax the muscles.

One week later, week 31 of her pregnancy, Brooks said she woke up and said she didn't feel her daughter moving.

She visited her doctor's office, who immediately sent her to Augusta Health, where it was discovered that Raven had hydrops fetalis, which is a fluid buildup around the heart, and was in distress.

Brooks had an emergency C-section and delivered her daughter, who was transferred to the NICU unit at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville.

The results of the scan showed that Raven (pictured) has a rare, genetic disorder called generalized arterial calcification of infancy, or GACI

The disorder is caused by a buildup of calcium that narrows blood vessels and arteries and restricts blood flow. Children have a 15 percent chance of living past six months. Pictured: Raven

Both parents must be carriers of the recessive gene - which Brooks and Pritt (pictured together) do to pass it on. The child has a 25 percent chance of having GACI

At UVA, Raven was put on a ventilator and had a tube to drain the fluid around her heart. Brooks says her daughter was also given the opioid fentanyl to ease her pain.

Brooks was kept at Augusta Health for three days before she was discharged.

After two weeks, Raven was off the ventilator and had her tube removed. Doctors took her off the painkillers. She was also moved from her incubator to a crib and the couple thought she was close to being able to go home.

'Then they noticed she had really high blood pressure. Abnormally high for a baby,' Brooks said.

Doctors ordered a CAT scan and, when the results came back, Raven was diagnosed with GACI.

'The doctors called us in for a family meeting. I knew we were getting bad news. I just wasn't ready to hear it,' Brooks said.

'They brought us over into the room and sat us down and showed us the CAT scans and it's awful.

'We broke down. We just wanted to spend all the time we could with her.'

After doing some research, Brooks found there was a pediatric endocrinologist at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) who has worked with GACI patients in the past.

On Monday, the UVA Hospital medical board and the couple's health insurance approved her parents' request to transfer Raven (pictured) to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

There, Raven (pictured) will receive a new drug that breaks down minerals in the blood by a pediatric endocrinologist who treats GACI patients

On Monday, the UVA Hospital medical board and the couple's health insurance approved her parents' request to transfer their daughter to CHOP.

'As of right now, we are stuck in limbo waiting to figure it all out. We're just trying to keep it together,' Brooks told the News Leader.

Raven has already been given her first treatment, a new drug that breaks down minerals in the blood that she will be receiving when she gets transferred.

If she survives past six months, she could face further issues including calcification of the joints, hearing loss or a softening of the bones known as rickets, according to CHOP.

'But all of those are treatable, and as long as she is alive and can have a normal life, that's what we want,' said Brooks.

'It doesn't matter if she is short because of it or has to wear leg braces - as long as she gets to grow up.'

The couple has set up a GoFundMe page to help cover travel expenses and medical costs. So far, $160 has been raised out of a $5,000 goal.Protesters are battling to save a lonely dolphin and dozens of penguins left abandoned in a derelict aquarium since the start of the year.

The plight of the dolphin, nicknamed Honey, and dozens of penguins in the Inubosaki Marine Park Aquarium in Japan has sparked protests this week.

The operator of the Inubosaki Marine Park Aquarium in the city of Choshi in Chiba prefecture, just east of Tokyo, shut the facility in January citing a decline in visitors after the 2011 earthquake and Fukushima nuclear crisis.

Bottlenose dolphin, Honey, was seen in a small pool at abandoned Inubosaki Marine Park Aquarium in Choshi, Japan

But Honey and 46 penguins, along with hundreds of fish and reptiles, remain at the aquarium, an official with the Chiba Health and Welfare department said.

Employees have been regularly feeding the animals, but photos and video taken by activists in March and August from outside the park show Honey floating in a tiny pool in an eerily empty facility.

In another picture, dust-covered penguins can be seen perched on a crumbling structure near a pile of debris.

The female bottlenose dolphin was captured in 2005 near Taiji, a western port town that has become notorious for its annual dolphin hunt that was featured in the Oscar-winning 2009 documentary The Cove, Japanese media reports.

The operator of the Inubosaki Marine Park Aquarium in Choshi in Chiba, east of Tokyo, shut the facility in January after a decline in visitors after the 2011 earthquake and nuclear crisis

Honey was captured in 2005 near Taiji, a western port town that has become notorious for its annual dolphin hunt that featured in the Oscar-winning 2009 documentary The Cove

The practice of Japanese aquariums buying dolphins from Taiji came under heavy criticism following the release of the film.

The hunt involves driving hundreds of dolphins into a cove, where some are taken alive for sale to marine parks, while others are killed for meat.

The Japan Association of Zoos and Aquariums has since agreed to stop buying dolphins from Taiji.

Now activists and ordinary Japanese residents alike are calling for the animals to be saved from the hazardous park.

Akiko Mitsunobu, chief of aquarium issues for Animal Rights Centre, a local group, said: 'Honey is a symbol of both the problem of marine parks and Taiji's hunting practices.

'When we went to check on the facility, she was showing signs of stress, putting her head weakly in and out of the water.'

Repeated calls to Inubosaki Marine Park and its parent company went unanswered and a Choshi city official said they have also been unable to reach park representatives.

Sachiko Azuma, a representative of local activist group PEACE (Put an End to Animal Cruelty and Exploitation), said: 'I get feelings of danger and doubt from the fact that they are so silent about this.

'As a group that handles animals, they have a responsibility to explain what they intend to do with Honey and the other animals.'

Around 46 penguins have been abandoned in dirty conditions at the Inubosaki Marine Park

The aquarium has been left derelict since January with hundreds of fish and reptiles also still in the crumbling park

News of the abandoned animals spread quickly over social media, with Twitter users posting photos captioned 'Save Honey'.

A resort hotel's offer to give them a new home sparked a flood of retweets.

'I beg the authorities to get in close contact with each other and push ahead with this,' wrote one Twitter user.

The aquarium has an average of three stars out of five on TripAdviser, with many reviewers criticising the park's treatment of the animals.

One reviewer from Norfolk wrote: 'I'm disgusted by the captivity of these beautiful animals. They will have been driven in from out at sea with their pods, seen many of them slaughtered in front of them and then forced into venues like this.

'These dolphins will have been caught in Taiji, ask yourself how they got there. Then ask yourself what kind of life they live stuck in a tiny tank.

'These animals should be swimming wild, not swimming in disgusting water no bigger than a bath tub for people's amusement.'

Another said: 'Although the staff are very pleasant my heart sake when I seen the conditions the Dolphins were being forced to live in. Not only was the water green in colour, it was cloudy as well.'Economic data and forecasts are being mined ruthlessly by both sides on the Brexit battleground.

Dry numbers have been  horrible word  weaponised. Outside of the political and media bubble, people are bamboozled and more than a little bit bored.

As the Brexit camp never tires of telling everyone, Project Fear has not materialised. George Osborne in 2016 scored a huge own goal by predicting a vote to leave would tip the economy into recession, lead to half a million job losses and a huge hit to growth.

Economic data and forecasts are being mined ruthlessly by both sides on the Brexit battleground

None of it has happened. But the Brexiteer take on the economy is pretty dodgy too. The UK is doing just fine, we were told last week, because were growing faster than Japan and Italy.

Cue hollow laughter. Italy is a total mess, with high youth unemployment and a basket-case banking system. Japan has struggled for decades. More pertinent, perhaps, is the fact the UK is performing worse in terms of GDP growth than almost every other developed economy, but that is glossed over.

The Brexit camp even used as ammunition the better-than expected public borrowing figures for July. These were taken as evidence that post referendum Britain is a land of surplus and plenty.

To use one months figures in this way  even if they are part of a positive trend  is more than a touch misleading. Particularly when we have a debt mountain of nearly 1.8trillion and an ageing population that will be a burden on the public purse for decades to come.

Chancellor Philip Hammond is in hot water for being a gloomster

A few good months wont magic that away, and neither will Brexit. If fewer skilled migrants come here, the worker to pensioner ratio is likely to get worse, unless people start having many more children or dying much younger. Both sides bombard the public with data and facts, cited without context, aiming to score points rather than to illuminate.

Who, if anyone, does this benefit? It certainly doesnt lead to greater public understanding, or help people and firms navigate the upheaval of Brexit.

There is also a fundamental misunderstanding about the figures bandied around. Forecasts and data are often based on samples and are subject to sometimes major revisions.

If they are to be of use at all, they need to be weighed in a spirit of informed scepticism, not ramped up as propaganda tools in an atmosphere of tribal politics. By the same token, the biggest costs attached to Brexit are probably unquantifiable. It is impossible to measure the opportunity cost  the gains we have foregone by spending so much money and energy on Brexit instead of investing and coming up with innovations  but it is nonetheless a real loss.

Chancellor Philip Hammond is in hot water for being a gloomster because he said a no-deal Brexit will result in a 5 to 10 per cent hit to growth, and repeated official estimates that the economy will be 150billion smaller in 15 years. Brexit supporters say hes got it wrong. He probably has. Chancellors  and economists  get many of their predictions wrong.

It would be surprising if they didnt, considering the complexity of the analysis involved. Economists have failed to anticipate no fewer than 148 of the past 150 recessions, so they are highly unlikely to be able to foretell with accuracy what will happen in a no-deal Brexit 15 years hence.

They are, if anything, getting worse at making forecasts because the world is getting more complex. That profession, or perhaps it is a pseudo-science, needs to lose some of its arrogance and think hard about how it can better serve politicians and society. This has never been more important.

As Brexit approaches, there is a desperate need for sane and dispassionate debate instead of yah-boo economics.Advertisement

A striking new exhibition has gone on display showing off the incredible tattoos of serving and former servicemen and women.

The REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) Museum is currently running photos of the tattoos and the personal stories behind them.

Curator Jennifer Allison, who took the photos of the anonymous individuals, was asked what hilarious or moving tales inspired them.

She said: ' There have been some great stories coming out, from tattoos done in memory of other REME soldiers, to some done with family members to show relationships and shared memories.

'Of course, there are the stories of drunken night and dares, which might not make it into the exhibition, but have still been great to hear about.'

Each image is captioned with an anonymous message from the respective serviceman or woman.

'For me, my tattoo is unique, not just the fact that my son designed and delivered it, but the fact that it told what I wanted it to tell. Me as a 16-year-old soldier being influenced by a conflict that shaped my career for the rest of my life.'

'Both me and my brother are in the Army. The poppies symbolise my career, my brother's career and those people who have died or risked their lives and gone before us. It's remembrance.'

We are individuals at the end of the day, and just as you choose what to wear when you go out or the way you have your hair, its the same with tattoos, its completely individual. Some people hang art on walls, I do it on my skin.

Left: Tattoos have evolved so much between my generation and the older generation, its more of an art form and less of a taboo. With the military, you have to abide by certain rules on how you look and how you dress. So when you go on PT training, you have to wear the same green top, the same black shorts. Tattoos let you keep your individuality within uniformity. Right: For me, its wearing it proud that Im an Army wife, proud that hes serving.

My first tattoo was Barney Rubble with my blood group round the outside. When I joined up the troubles in Northern Ireland were still ongoing, so having your blood group tattooed at the top of your arm was the done thing.

'I wanted tattoos for years but could never decide on what I wanted. I got these fairly late in life, when I was 44 or 45, so I know that they're not going to get too bad as I get older. You have to think about these things. I see no problems with tattoos. I think there is still stigma out there, for example in the job market, depending on what job you're doing. If you're a tattooist or if you're in the music industry it's accepted in that kind of sphere, but if you're going to be on the normal job market you can be reducing your chances of getting a decent job along the line.'

There are words on there, things like honour, courage, loyalty, sacrifice, and family most importantly, my military family and my own family because they support me as well.

Rules on tattoos in the military Any visible tattoos can stop people from being accepted into the military. The Army relaxed their rules on tattoos in 2014 allowing them on the back of a hand or back of a neck. Originally soldiers could only have them on the upper arm as they could be hidden by uniform. However, tattoos that are obscene, ie those that depict sex acts, violence or illegal drugs for example are a no-no. In 2013-14, the Army rejected 336 applications because of offensive or inappropriately placed tattoos, a Freedom of Information request showed. One in five Britons now has a tattoo, according to research cited by the British Association of Dermatologists in 2012. Advertisement

Jennifer has been fascinated by the variety of tattoos borne nowadays and the changes in style and technique which have happened over the generations.

These have included the traditional Corps' crests and 'from a book' designs, but also messages remembering fallen comrades and others with deeply personal meanings.

She asked serving and former REME men and women to share the story of their tattoos, and to have their pictures taken and be part of the exhibition.

A serving soldier told her: 'This is just the way that I've remembered my friends who have died on tour.

'The remembrance tattoo, it is what it is, remembering all of the fallen, heroes, comrades, past wars, Afghanistan, Iraq, and having served 23 years, I've known people that have unfortunately lost their lives on operations, so it's also for them.'

Military attitudes to the artform have varied over the years, but in 2014 regulations were relaxed allowing soldiers to bear non-offensive tattoos on their hands and the back of their necks something not previously permitted.

'A lot of my tattoos are to do with family. I joined the Army when I was 16 and I think being away from home a lot, it keeps my family around me. For me, the bow and arrow, it has to be pulled back to project forwards, so it's about taking setbacks in a positive way.'

Left: This was my first one, but it tells more of a story now. It means mirrored person, and Im an identical mirror image twin. Then I got pregnant, and its covered in stretch marks, it got massive. But Id never have it changed, its got wear and tear now. Its got more of a story. Right: We are individuals at the end of the day, and just as you choose what to wear when you go out or the way you have your hair, its the same with tattoos, its completely individual. Some people hang art on walls, I do it on my skin.

'The remembrance tattoo, it is what it is, remembering all of the fallen, heroes, comrades, past wars, Afghanistan, Iraq, and having served 23 years, I've known people who have unfortunately lost their lives on operations, so it's for them also.'

'When my friend Deano, or Dean John, died in Afgahnisatan, he was a Welshman, and it just seemed fitting that he went above the Welsh dragon on mt back. From there it just led on, I had another friend die, H, then Manning and Meady, so it seemed fitting that I continue the list. Unfortunately I have a few more names to put on.'

Left: 'I first joined up 15 years ago. It wasnt until the Iraq and Afghan days that I really noticed people getting the memorial tattoos or the poppies. The Iraq and Afghan days were bad, and everyone was involved in it.' Right: 'My remembrance tattoo, I wanted to do something for myself. You see people buying and wearing poppies but they only do that in November. Id rather have one for me throughout the year.'

As part of the exhibition, there will also be a live tattooing session in September where someone will be having their military tattoo finished off, and visitors are welcome to watch.

REME was formed in 1942 and has the responsibility for repairing and maintaining the British Army's equipment.

From its creation, REME detachments have served on the front line of every major theatre of operation.

The Military Ink exhibition will run until December 8 at the REME Museum in RAF Lyneham, Wiltshire.Jo Cox was a regular visitor to the Ancienne Belgique concert hall when she worked in Belgium before being elected to Parliament in 2015.

A square in Brussels is to be named in honour of the murdered Labour MP Jo Cox as part of a bid to 'feminise' the city's streets.

The mother-of-two, 41, was a regular visitor to the Ancienne Belgique concert hall when she worked in Belgium before being elected as Batley and Spen MP in West Yorkshire in 2015.

Ms Cox, who was killed just before the EU referendum, had lived in Brussels for about six years, working for the MEP Glenys Kinnock and Oxfam, where she was head of policy.

Brussels MP Mohamed Ouriaghli said the square which is home to the music venue, would be named after her on September 27.

He wrote on Twitter: 'On 27.09 at 1pm, Helen Joanne Cox will have her name attributed to the place located at the back of the Ancienne Belgique, a place she frequented during her stay at #BXL.

'This event is in her honour and in the wish to feminise the squares and street names of the @VilleBruxelles.'

The announcement was welcomed by Stephen Kinnock, who called it a 'lovely gesture.'

The Labour MP for Aberavon, whose mother, the former MEP Glenys Kinnock, employed Ms Cox as an assistant in Brussels, added: 'Jo loved living in Brussels, and back in the day we all loved going to the Ancienne Belgique  a fantastic live music venue.

The square at the back of the concert hall Ancienne Belgique, that will be named after the Labour MP

The announcement was made by Brussels MP Mohamed Ouriaghli, who said it was part of a move to 'feminise' the city streets

'Kudos and 'un grand merci' to the City of Brussels, for doing this.'

Ms Cox was included on a list of 'illustrious women' who will have squares, streets and buildings named after them as part of the city's plans for female and male equality.

The Batley and Spen MP was murdered on 16 June, in Birstall, West Yorkshire, as she arrived to hold a constituency surgery.

Her killer Thomas Mair shouted: 'This is for Britain', 'keep Britain independent', and 'Britain first'.

The Ancienne Belgique concert hall in Brussels. A square at the back of the venue will be named in the murdered MP's honour

Labour MP Stephen Kinnock said Ms Cox 'loved going to the Ancienne Belgique' calling it a 'fantastic live music venue'

Labour MP Stephen Kinnock, left, said the announcement was a 'lovely gesture.' Ms Cox husband Brendan Cox, right

Mair, who has a history of mental illness but did not want it to form his defence, also stabbed 77-year-old Bernard Kenny in the stomach when the pensioner tried to protect Cox.

In November 2016 Mair was sentenced to life in prison.

In February her husband Brendan Cox apologised after allegations of sexual assault against him emerged.

He said sorry for the 'hurt and offence' he caused and said he was 'deeply apologetic' for his behaviour.

In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, he announced his immediate resignation from the Jo Cox Foundation and More In Common  the charities he launched to honour the memory of his wife.A one-year-old girl died after she caught a lung infection while being held at an immigration detention facility in Texas with her mother, it has been revealed.

Mariee was 21 months old when she died in May, just weeks after she was released from the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley with mother Yazmin Juarez.

The toddler was in perfect health when she and Juarez, 20, arrived at the center in March.

Juarez had crossed the border with her young daughter searching for a better life than the one that was plagued with violence in their native Guatemala.

But when Juarez and Mariee arrived at the Dilley center they were put in cages for three days in a 'very cold room', with only space blankets to give them warmth.

After three days they were moved into a cell with six beds for six mothers and their children. Four days later, Marie had a fever of 104 degrees F.

One-year-old Mariee died after she caught a lung infection while being held at an immigration detention facility in Dilley, Texas with her mother Yazmin Juarez (pictured together)

The toddler also had a cough, diarrhea, and a rapid heart rate, according to medical records obtained by VICE News.

She was diagnosed with bronchiolitis and an ear infection and treated with Tylenol, Pedialyte, and the antiobiotic Augmentin.

At one point it appeared Mariee was getting better, but soon her health took a turn for the worse.

Juarez took her to get treatment at the center for the third time, once again waiting all day in a cold room with 200 other detainees before she was seen.

Mariee had since lost two pounds, nearly eight percent of her body weight. She was still coughing and her nose was running as well.

A physician assistant's once again treated the child with Tylenol, Augmentin, and Pedialyte, this time throwing in a probiotic as well.

The next day, Mariee couldn't keep the Augmentin down and her fever once again spiked to 103.3. Now her lungs were wheezing as well.

A pediatrician treated the child with Vicks Vaporub and the allergy medicine Zyrtec.

Juarez was becoming so desperate to get Mariee to a hospital that she begged the center to let her return to Guatemala.

The toddler and Juarez were detained in March and held for weeks when Mariee began to develop a cough. She then developed a fever that reached 104 degrees F

She even sneaked out salt from the cafeteria, hoping she could help her daughter by rubbing it on her belly.

Juarez finally got the news she passed her credible fear interview and was released on March 25. Mariee was deemed healthy enough to travel.

Two days later, after flying to New Jersey to stay with Juarez's mother, she was back in the ER.

She was diagnosed with pneumonia and transferred to the ICU, where she was put in a medically included coma and given a breathing tube.

Mariee was eventually transferred to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and, on May 10, suffered a hemorrhage that led to irreversible brain and organ damage.

'She couldn't wake up,' Juarez told Vice. 'I couldn't touch her, because I could damage her with the tubes she had.'

'She had like 20 little bags injected into her. She was in really bad shape.'

Juarez watched her baby girl's skin turn from purple to black. Doctors asked if they could take Mariee off the ventilator.

'It was the most difficult decision of my life,' Juarez said.

Mariee died shortly afterward of viral pneumonitis, an inflammation of lung tissue.

The law firm Arnold & Porter is now blaming US Immigration and Customs Enforcement for detaining Mariee and her mother in a facility 'with unsafe conditions.'

Law firm Arnold & Porter blames US Immigration and Customs Enforcement for detaining Mariee and her mother in a facility 'with unsafe conditions. Pictured is the Dilley center

It is accusing ICE of releasing a 'gravely ill' child 'without medical treatment or guidance,' and said it was considering a lawsuit.

'Instead of offering safe harbor from the life-threatening violence they were fleeing, ICE detained Yazmin and her baby in a place with unsafe conditions, neglectful medical care, and inadequate supervision,' said partner R. Stanton Jones.

'While there, Mariee contracted a respiratory infection that went woefully undertreated for nearly a month. After it became clear that Mariee was gravely ill, ICE simply discharged mother and daughter. Yazmin immediately sought medical care for her baby, but it was too late.'

Advocates for immigrants have long complained about problems with accessing medical care in immigration facilities like the one at Dilley, one of two family detention centers in Texas.

But five pediatricians who reviewed details of Mariee's care say that after contracting the illness, she received treatment that was consistent with what they would have done.

All five doctors believed Mariee's 'recommended course of treatment would have been the same had she not been in ICE custody.'

'It's reasonable care,' said Dr Ewen Wang, associate director of pediatric emergency medicine at Stanford University Medical Center.

Advocates for immigrants have long complained about problems with accessing medical care in immigration facilities like the one at Dilley (pictured)

'It didn't sound like she was in the best of health, but not something you anticipate dying from.'

But in July, two doctors who were contracted by the Department of Homeland Security found that Dilley and detention centers like it were an 'assault on the dignity and health of children and families'.

And a review by the DHS also found that ICE did not properly address the required treatment for sick children.

'Parents and children should not have to wait 24 hours for treatment and should not have to wait for their healthcare needs to become urgent to receive quicker attention and treatment,' the report stated.

Juarez decided to have Mariee buried in their native Guatemala. Her asylum case is pending.

'I had the illusion of making a new life with her, because my life in Guatemala was unbearable,' she said.

'I wanted to happily with her, to go to the park with her and to work hard for her. She was everything to me, but unfortunately that didn't happen.'

Texas child welfare officials have opened an investigation into the death.

ICE said in a statement that it 'takes very seriously the health, safety and welfare of those in our care.'

'Comprehensive medical care is provided to all individuals in ICE custody,' the agency said.An investigative review board has concluded that Detective Sean Suiter (pictured) most likely killed himself

A Baltimore detective who died a day before he was to testify in a police corruption trial most likely killed himself, a panel reviewing the case has concluded.

Police authorities and the medical examiner's office initially determined Detective Sean Suiter's death was a homicide.

Investigators had said Suiter was attacked while investigating a 2016 triple homicide with his partner in a high-crime neighborhood in West Baltimore in November 2017.

But now, Paul Siegrist, a lawyer for Suiter's widow, said on Monday that Nicole Suiter was notified recently that an investigative review board believes her late husband's death was probably not a homicide.

Siegrist said she is 'shocked by their determination and very upset.'

The independent board impaneled earlier this year recently wrapped up its monthslong review, but its final report has not been released publicly.

WBAL-TV was the first to report that the panel concluded Suiter probably took his own life.

Investigators had said Suiter was attacked while investigating a 2016 triple homicide with his partner in a high-crime neighborhood in West Baltimore in November 2017. Pictured, a makeshift memorial at the scene in November

Suiter was shot in the head with his own gun the day before he was to testify before a grand jury investigating police corruption.

Baltimore police authorities said Suiter had been attacked.

A spokesman for the city's medical examiner said Monday evening that officials would not discuss any cases still under investigation.

The police version of events was questioned from the start.

Former Police Commissioner Kevin Davis, who was fired by the mayor in January, told reporters last year that Suiter approached a 'suspicious' man in a vacant lot between row houses, leading to a violent confrontation in which he was shot with his own gun.

His partner could be seen on private surveillance video taking cover across the street, according to police.

Suiter was shot in the head with his own gun the day before he was to testify before a grand jury investigating police corruption. Pictured, his funeral

As rumors went into overdrive, authorities said there was no evidence to suggest Suiter's scheduled testimony in the federal corruption investigation led to his death.

And in late December, the FBI declined to accept Davis' request for federal agents to lead the homicide probe, sending a letter to police saying they believed it would be 'prudent' for city detectives to continue leading the inquiry.

The unsolved case has remained a homicide investigation led by Baltimore detectives ever since.

There has been a $215,000 reward for months, but nobody has been charged.

Before he resigned earlier this year after a very brief tenure, former Police Commissioner Darryl De Sousa said he did not know the origin of the few vague details about the lone attacker - identified as an African-American man in a black jacket with a white stripe.

When he announced that an independent board would review Suiter's death, De Sousa stressed that the panel would examine whether they believed evidence pointed to a homicide, a suicide, an accidental injury or even 'something internally within the department.'

It wasn't immediately clear when City Hall officials and police authorities would comment on the board's final report and publicly release its recommendations.Mark Edwards (pictured) had an argument with a woman at a Hebersham, 47 kilometres west of the Sydney CBD, in June

A man has walked away from court without a jail sentence after he pleaded guilty to kicking a five-month-old baby.

Mark Edwards had an argument with a woman at Hebersham, 47 kilometres west of the Sydney CBD, in June.

The infant was sitting in a swing nearby but the boy was not strapped into the seat.

When the argument became more heated Edwards kicked the swing and the five-month-old fell out and hit his head on tiles.

There were spots of blood and the baby started vomiting as a result of the impact.

The woman called triple zero for help as Edwards fled, kicking a table as he left the property.

The baby was taken to hospital with cuts and bruises and Edwards was arrested by police a short time later.

The 22-year-old's lawyer said that frustration got the better of him and that he never meant to hurt the little boy.

The lawyer added that Edwards is 'extremely remorseful', according to 9 News.

In sentencing him to 150 hours of community service, the magistrate said Edwards admitted what he had done straight away and pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

He also noted no permanent damage was done to the baby.

The infant was sitting in a swing nearby but was not strapped in when Edwards kicked out as the argument became more heatedAn Airbnb host has been left to fix thousands of dollars of damage after a group of 16 rugby fans trashed his apartment at the weekend.

Auckland man Ravi Punjwani told Daily Mail Australia he initially had just one guest booked for his apartment but a few weeks before he was asked if it could be changed to 16 guests.

The guests, believed to be on a boys tour from Australia, were in New Zealand for the Bledisloe Cup rugby union clash between the All Blacks and the Wallabies in Auckland on Saturday.

Auckland man Ravi Punjwani (pictured) was left with $5000 worth of damage to his Auckland apartment from Airbnb guests

Among the damage inside and outside was wine on the ceiling

'That was alarming for us (16 guests) and we decided to check with Airbnb about such question from the guest,' Mr Punjwani said.

'Airbnb in turn communicated with them, and later confirmed us that there won't be any partying in the house, following which we accepted the change request.'

He said the guests said they would only be using the house for sleeping.

Mr Punjwani said his guests policy was 'no parties' unless they were small and no noise could be heard outside the home.

Mr Punjwani said his guests policy was 'no parties' unless they were small and no noise could be heard outside the home

He said he believed the rugby union match could have 'triggered' the destructive behaviour

There were cigarette butts inside and outside the house as well as damage to a number of pieces of furniture

'We have hosted hundreds of such groups who have behaved well with our policies. We are thankful to all our guests who stayed at our properties,' he said.

'We have hosted a lot of international tourists gracefully, including Australians.'

He said the result of the rugby union match could have 'triggered' the destructive behaviour - with the All Blacks beating Australia 40-12 - and when he received the call he had to cancel his entire weekend to address the damage.

'The house looked like a junkyard after the guests checked out this Sunday,' he said.

'The house looked like a junkyard after the guests checked out this Sunday,' he said

Debris was strewn throughout the inside and outside of the house, including soiled underwear

Mr Punjwani coudn't believe the destruction that was left in the guests' wake

'They left behind several undies, shorts, trousers, we found the chair broken, sofa-bed flat and not operational anymore.

'The outdoors were littered with cigarette butts, tissue rolls, packaging wrappers etc. There were several wine and flute glasses missing and broken.'

Debris was strewn throughout the inside and outside of the house.

'Leftover food and drinks lying around everywhere. Sofa back rests were stretched to the extent that it had torn apart from many corners,' he said.

'We can expect a little wear and tear but this was completely a different level,' Mr Punjwani said

His sofa bed was also destroyed by the revelers

'We can expect a little wear and tear but this was completely a different level. They smoked inside the house which is completely against our house rules.'

The smoke alarms installed in Mr Punjwani's home are set up to remotely alert him if there is smoke detected on the premises however the guests went the extra mile to avoid that.

'Covering the smoke alarms with the plastic grocery bag, so they can make a mess of my house,' he said.

'It is illegal to cover smoke alarms like they did. They spilled wine all over the place, including the ceiling and walls apart from the kitchen floor, kitchen bench, dining table, carpet and stairs.'

He said he wanted to warn others about the pitfalls of the short term rentals industry after his own negative experience

'They even dented on my wall. They clearly didn't live like humans,' he said

'They even dented on my wall. They clearly didn't live like humans.'

All told the damages to My Punjwani's home came to at least $5000, while Airbnb only covers a $500 damages bond.

He said he wanted to warn others about the pitfalls of the short term rentals industry after his own negative experience.

Mr Punjwani said he wanted to warn others about the pitfalls of the short term rentals industry after his own negative experience

Mr Punjwani had to cancel his weekend plans to address the damage done to his property

'The damages to the interiors will be sorted out gracefully, and the house will be back to its normal shape tomorrow, leaving no signs of the horror story,' Mr Punjwani said

'People might look for more money in this but it must be taken into consideration that such incidents will be happening and you have to deal with them,' he said.

'Sometimes, the booking channels like Airbnb may help, but not always, based on my past experience.'

Despite the letdown Mr Punjwani still acted with grace.

'The damages to the interiors will be sorted out gracefully, and the house will be back to its normal shape tomorrow, leaving no signs of the horror story,' he said.

Mr Punjwani didn't get to meet the guests in person however he was made aware the person booking was a professional and not a blue collar worker.

'Given the amount they paid for such booking for two nights, they didn't seem to be doing too hard to make ends meet,' he said.

Mr Punjwani said it also surprised him how much of their won belongings and clothes were left behindNotorious rapist Robert John Fardon (pictured) will no longer be subject to curfews, counselling or restrictions on where he can live

Notorious rapist Robert John Fardon will soon be a free man after lawyers for the Queensland government lost a bid to have his supervision order extended.

Fardon, who has an extensive history of sexual offending including raping a 12-year-old girl at gunpoint, was jailed in 1989 for the rape of a woman.

His full-time release date for that offence was in 2003, but he was kept locked up after being deemed too dangerous to be in the community.

He was finally released on a supervision order in 2006, which he repeatedly breached before being thrown back in jail in 2008 on another charge of rape.

That conviction was later overturned on appeal.

After a lengthy fight with the government, Fardon finally won his release on a new supervision order in 2014.

He has not breached any conditions of that order while living in the community.

His exact location has been kept secret, but he is believed to have been living with other sex offenders near a southeast Queensland jail.

Lawyers for Queensland's Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath took the unusual step of seeking to have his supervision order extended beyond its October expiry date.

Lawyers for the Queensland government lost a Supreme Court bid on Monday to have Fardon's supervision order extended

SERIAL RAPIST ROBERT FARDON'S LIFE OF CRIME 1967 - Convicted at 18 for attempted carnal knowledge of a girl under 10. Released on a good behaviour bond. 1978 - Raped a 12-year-old girl, wounded her sister. Fled to the Northern Territory but was caught and jailed. 1988 - Broke parole by travelling to Townsville. Violently raped and assaulted a woman. Sent back to jail. 2003 - Became the first person in Queensland to be jailed indefinitely under new laws targeting repeat sex offenders. 2006 - Released on a supervision order with 32 conditions. 2007 - Breached the order by going to a school, breaching curfew and travelling to Townsville. He's briefly returned to prison before released in October. 2008 - Re-arrested over rape of a 61-year-old intellectually disabled woman. 2010 - Sentenced to 10 years' jail for the rape. The conviction was quashed on appeal a few months later but Fardon remained in jail due to other earlier breaches of a supervision order. 2011 - Government launches lengthy court battle to keep him in jail. 2013 - Released on supervision order. 2014 - Brief return to prison before court orders Fardon's release into supervised accommodation. 2018, August - Court denies a Queensland government bid to extend a supervision order governing how Fardon lives in the community. It expires in October. Source: AAP Advertisement

However, they lost their Supreme Court bid on Monday, meaning Fardon, now 69, will no longer be subject to curfews, counselling or restrictions on where he can live.

The government's lawyers had argued Fardon remained a danger to the community without the order, which gave him support in times of stress, frustration and anger.

In dismissing the application Justice David Jackson said psychiatric evidence showed Fardon's risk of reoffending was low, and that he had shown a strong desire to remain out of prison.

Justice Jackson ruled there were 'not reasonable grounds' for believing he was an unacceptable risk if released.Shock jocks Alan Jones and Ray Hadley have reopened communications with Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

The radio personalities are accused of helping oust former PM Malcolm Turnbull, who boycotted their programs after a series of clashes.

Mr Hadley banned Mr Morrison from his show over a year ago, with the broadcaster saying the then-Treasurer 'doesn't say anything' and had 'become boring'.

Now, text messages show the pair have been in contact with the new prime minister, with both broadcasters claiming they are prepared to have him on air.

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Shock jocks Alan Jones (pictured) and Ray Hadley have reopened communications with Prime Minister Scott Morrison

The radio personalities are accused of being being the ouster of Malcolm Turnbull, who boycotted their programs, and Mr Morrison was banned from Mr Hadley's (pictured) show

Mr Hadley claimed he contacted Mr Morrison directly to ask him about his offer to make former PM Tony Abbott a special indigenous affairs envoy.

'Is this a fair dinkum job offer?' Mr Hadley texted Mr Morrison.

'Yes, it is a fair dinkum job offer,' Mr Morrison replied.

Mr Hadley said he then passed the information on to Mr Abbott, 'as most good broadcasters would do'.

Mr Jones also confirmed he had been in touch with the new Prime Minister, The Australian reported.

'We've communicated. He was on his way to Quilpie [a drought-affected Queensland town], and we'll be talking in the days ahead,' he said.

Now new text messages show the pair have been in contact with the new prime minister (pictured), and both broadcasters said they were prepared to have him on air

'Scott Morrison deserves a clean slate until he dirties it. My view is  he's a new Prime Minister and deserves the respect that goes with that status.'

Mr Hadley also said he was prepared to 'repair bridges', and that he hoped Mr Morrison could do the same with Mr Abbott.

The 2GB hosts were frequent critics of Mr Turnbull, who refused to appear on Mr Jones' show.

Both are supporters of Mr Abbott, who was involved in Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton's attempt to seize the leadership last week.

Mr Jones admitted contacting two MPs during the leadership crisis to urge them to dump Mr Turnbull.

He said he told his long-time friend Liberal MP John Alexander 'this is critical stuff, you've got to really think about this, the party's got to change direction'.

Mr Turnbull spoke about an insurgency 'backed by powerful voices in the media' during his concession speech, a comment aimed at Mr Jones, Mr Hadley and Sky News host Peta Credlin.

Mr Hadley claimed he contacted Mr Morrison directly to ask him about an offer to make former Prime Minister Tony Abbott a special indigenous affairs envoy role (pictured is a reproduction of the text message exchange)

Mr Hadley read a text on-air during the leadership crisis he received from a 'Liberal Party MP' but a slip-up led to speculation it was sent from Mr Dutton.

2GB removed the on-air stumble from the audio posted online, and Mr Hadley denied the text was from Mr Dutton.

Mr Hadley responded to claims made in the Australian Financial Review that he had a hand in Mr Turnbull's downfall by downplaying his own influence in politics.

'I really appreciate the kudos you're giving me for bringing down a PM. I'm far more powerful than you could ever hope to be but I think the praise is in the wrong direction,' he said.

'I think you'll find that it was 38 consecutive Newspolls that brought him down and a lot of his colleagues who thought he wasn't up to the job.'

As to when Mr Morrison might appear on the programs, neither Mr Jones nor Mr Hadley were able to confirm a time.

'When the opportunity arises, I'll be talking to him,' Mr Jones said.The atmosphere at Notting Hill yesterday reflected a year of murder and violence in London as the largest police presence in six years patrolled the carnival.

Metal detectors known as knife arches were placed at strategic points and officers were given increased powers to stop and search indiscriminately.

Scotland Yard imposed a Section 60 order across the carnival area between 9am and midnight, allowing the 7,000 officers to search anyone they believed might be carrying a weapon.

By 6pm, there had been 125 arrests, including 25 for possession of an offensive weapon and four for assaults on police officers.

Police officers search carnival-goers. They were given increased powers to stop and search indiscriminately

There were 133 arrests the previous day, known as the carnivals family day, and 16 knives recovered.

Near the Ladbroke Grove entrance, where there were two knife arches, police who searched carnival-goers made three arrests in just half an hour early yesterday afternoon.

Last year's arrests Police arrested 313 people at Notting Hill Carnival 2017 - compared with 373 this year. Last year there were 112 arrests for drugs, 58 for offensive weapons, and 17 for assault on police officers. Advertisement

The publics reaction was mixed.

Henry Wood, 25, from New Cross, said: He told me I was detained under Section 60 while the search was going on, then afterwards was free to go. I was happy for them to do it, it only took a few minutes and the police were fine.

Obviously its quite a controversial topic and everyone has an opinion on it but if youve got nothing on you then youll be all right.

Until things quieten down in London in terms of violence, then this is the only way really to keep things from getting out of control. Teacher Padraigh Wheeler, 24, from nearby Kendal Rise, added: You only have a problem if youve got something on you.

Yet some suggested a disproportionate number of people from ethnic minority backgrounds were stopped.

Zephon Allen, 22, and his brother Raphael, 19, were both searched after passing through the arches.

A brazen festival-goer inhales a suspicious balloon, often used to take hippie crack, and clutches a bottle of Hennessy as he goes through a knife arch near the Harrow Road entrance to the carnival

A carnival reveller huffs on a balloon thought to be filled with nitrous oxide while clutching a second in her hand

He said: It is a bit embarrassing  you think of all the people going past who see you being searched when youve done nothing wrong. And you see many other people going through and wonder why they arent being stopped.

They said it was a random search but you do wonder if the fact that me and my brother are black had anything to do with it.

Carnival-goers said police told them their priority was finding weapons rather than drugs.

It was claimed that police told revellers they were not interested in confiscating hippy crack during the searches.

PC Gary Hitchman and Brazilian dancer Juliana Campos

One man said the officer who searched him told him not to worry if he was carrying balloons  a reference to nitrous oxide, which became illegal under the Psychoactive Substances Act in 2016  because their focus was on finding weapons.

Another man was photographed walking through the knife arches past watching officers with what appeared to be a balloon filled with the gas in his mouth.

Elsewhere at the carnival, however, an officer was photographed with a bag containing dozens of confiscated canisters. The party atmosphere on the parade route came to a halt at 3pm for a 72-second silence in memory of those killed in the Grenfell Tower fire, just half a mile away.

Not all the revellers seemed to get the message, though, as many continued to party despite the music being turned off.

The silence was broken with cheers, whistles and the booming voice of the late Aretha Franklin singing Respect.Federal Labor MP Emma Husar says vicious 'slut shaming' forced her to quit politics.

Ms Husar, a first-term MP for the western Sydney seat of Lindsay, announced this month she would not contest the next election after being accused of bullying staff.

But in a preview of her interview with ABC's 7.30 on Tuesday night, Ms Husar denies calling time on her federal parliamentary career because of such allegations.

The 38-year-old said she quit because of the extraordinary media attention around the harassment claims and 'the slut shaming that went along with that'.

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Federal Labor MP Emma Husar (pictured) says vicious 'slut shaming' forced her to quit politics

Ms Husar (pictured), who represents the seat of Lindsay, in western Sydney, announced in August she would not recontest the next election

'That's actually what brought my career in politics to an end was being slut-shamed so viciously, with no ability to come back and stand up for myself,' she said.

'I guess slut shaming is the oldest trick in the book to bring down a woman. It's almost used as a method of torture.'

Ms Husar said politics is a tough environment for young, single women, who are the subject of constant rumours and gossip.

Ms Husar claims she was subject to such treatment from the first day she walked through the doors of the Labor Party in 2014.

Ms Husar (pictured), a first-term MP, said politics was a tough environment for young, single women

She has been accused of bullying and sexually harassing her electorate office employees and diverting Labor funds into her personal bank account.

The 39-year-old was also accused of exposing herself to Labor frontbencher Jason Clare while he played with his young child in his office.

'Its utter garbage,' Ms Husar said.

'You've had both me and Jason Clare on the record saying it didn't happen.'

Allegations also include claims from staff that Ms Husar made them babysit her children during and outside work hours, as well as clean up after her dog.

Footage emerged last month of an assistant walking Ms Husar's dog Thomas outside her Penrith electorate office.

The assistant was captured picking-up the dog's poo and placing it in a bin.

FINDINGS OF WHELAN REPORT INTO LABOR MP EMMA HUSAR Barrister John Whelan independently assessed complaints against federal Labor member for Lindsay, Emma Husar and found: * There is no basis for Ms Husar to resign from parliament (however she has said she will step down at the next election). * Allegations of misuse of public entitlements should be referred to the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority. (Already under way) * Allegations of sexual harassment were not supported. * Allegations of lewd conduct in the office of a fellow MP were not supported. * Allegations of misleading the parliament were not supported. * Complaints that staff performed non-work related and personal duties for Husar have merit and should be referred to the Department of Finance's Ministerial and Parliamentary Services (MOPS) for advice. * Complaints that staff were subjected to unreasonable management including, unreasonable communication, demands, practices and disciplinary methods have merit. * MOPS should review the electorate office staff complaints resolution process. * Full report will be kept confidential. Source: AAP Advertisement

Two days after Ms Husar announced her decision to quit, Labor released the results of an internal investigation clearing her of allegations of lewd conduct and sexual harassment of employees, finding there was no need for her to resign.

However, the report did find she behaved unreasonably towards staff and there were grounds for a further investigation into the alleged misuse of entitlements.

The investigation into Ms Husar's office dragged on for months but only became public in August when some details leaked - which the report found was 'reprehensible'.

The interview airs on ABC's 730 on Tuesday night.Bailiffs are being sent to more than 81,000 companies a year as owners struggle to pay their business rates.

Councils used debt collectors to raid 222 properties a day last year to chase unpaid rates, research reveals.

They sought to take away firms goods and sell them at auction in order to settle the debts.

The huge numbers suggest shopkeepers are finding it hard to pay what they owe, amid fast-rising rates and brutal competition from foreign internet rivals such as Amazon.

It will pile more pressure on ministers to reform the tax, and follows the Daily Mails campaign to save our high streets in a crisis that has seen 50,000 retail jobs lost this year

It will pile more pressure on ministers to reform the tax, and follows the Daily Mails campaign to save our high streets in a crisis that has seen 50,000 retail jobs lost this year.

Labour MP Wes Streeting said: The combination of Tory cuts to council budgets and struggling high streets is leading to cash-strapped councils sending bailiffs round to cash-strapped businesses. No one wins in that scenario.

Its time for the Government to help save our high streets by cutting business rates, and giving councils the funding they need.

Since 2012, councils have been able to keep half the business rates raised in their area, encouraging them to pursue firms more aggressively for unpaid cash.

Robert Hayton, of management consultants Altus Group, which obtained the figures, warned that the rush to squeeze money out of companies had even seen some dragged to court to pay the wrong amount. Councils are taking enforcement action much earlier, he said.

This sometimes leads to companies with manifestly incorrect demands receiving summonses and facing enforcement action. The problem is also exacerbated by understaffing within some councils, and the inordinate delays that this creates in dealing with ratepayers.

Altus used Freedom of Information laws to get details on how many business premises were referred to bailiffs in 2017-18 by 264 English councils.

Using the data provided, it estimated that bailiffs were sent to 81,317 premises, compared with 83,710 the year before

Using the data provided, it estimated that bailiffs were sent to 81,317 premises, compared with 83,710 the year before. However it calculated that 6.5 per cent of firms liable for rates faced having their goods seized, up from 6 per cent the year before.

Birmingham City Council referred the most premises to bailiffs over the year, at 3,864, down from 4,414 in 2016-17.

Manchester referred 2,667 premises  the second highest and up 38 per cent.

The councils of Liverpool, Coventry, Hounslow and Brent all made more than 1,000 referrals to bailiffs. Birmingham and Manchester are among a small number of councils that get to retain 100 per cent of business rates as part of a Government pilot.

More widely, ministers are planning to increase the share kept by local authorities across England from 50 per cent to 75 per cent in 2020.

A Government spokesman said: It is important that councils are proportionate in enforcement and use bailiffs only as a last resort.

We are introducing over 10billion worth of business rate support by 2023.

Last month the Mail revealed how councils are using private firms to spy on businesses suspected of paying rates which are too low.

Almost half of English councils are using investigation company Analyse Local to sift through satellite images.You cant turn your back for five minutes. Or, at least, thats what I used to think. Whenever I took a holiday, I always worried I might be missing something.

Not any more. These days you can safely turn your back for five or six weeks and nothing much changes. Its almost as if I never went away.

This summer I decided to take an extended break, after 30 years writing this column. Frankly, Id had enough of trying to find something original to say about the same old nonsense. I didnt want to read, let alone write, another word about Brexit.

Id had it up to here with grandstanding politicians, lobbyists and campaigners, flaunting their faux virtue and peddling their prejudices.

Nor did I want to end up like the ageing rock star in Randy Newmans song Im Dead (But I Dont Know It).

I have nothing left to say

But Im gonna say it anyway

Thirty years upon a stage

And I hear the people say

Why wont he go away?

So off I went, fervently hoping against hope that by the time I stumbled back to the wordface, the world would have moved on.

With Parliament breaking up for the recess, maybe the political class would all calm down. Sanity might prevail. Some hope. These people never take a day off.

Id only been gone a week when news of Mother Theresas attempted Brexit betrayal at Chequers filtered through, forcing me to interrupt my slumbers.

RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: 'Id only been gone a week when news of Mother Theresas attempted Brexit betrayal at Chequers filtered through'

When even that craven effort to keep us in the EU in everything but name was contemptuously rejected by the chief Brussels negotiator Michel Barnier, I wrongly assumed it was safe to return to my sunbed.

But like rust, Project Fear never sleeps. Barely a day has passed without yet another horror story catapulted into orbit by the Remoan camp and being treated faithfully as gospel by the slavishly pro-EU sections of the media.

I cant be bothered to revisit them all here. The latest involves portable toilets being placed every five yards along the M20 to accommodate the thousands of lorry drivers who will allegedly be stranded for hundreds of years on the approach to Dover after we leave.

Its not called the silly season for nothing. This kind of alarmist drivel deserves to be filed along with the ridiculous racism allegations which greeted Boriss burka remarks and the confected outrage over Jamie Oliver flogging Jamaican jerk rice.

Frankly, these so-called stories should be laughed out of court. Theyre not worthy of serious comment. The reassuring reality is that, outside the political/media bubble, nobodys taking the slightest bit of notice. Be honest, how many conversations about the predicted Brexit apocalypse have you had this summer?

When I started writing this column, news was something which actually happened.

Today it has been reduced to what somebody says, usually on social media, and the tiresome Twitterstorm which inevitably follows. This isnt news, its froth and bubble, mere noise.

Elsewhere the same old stories Ive been writing about for donkeys years have been coming round again on the hurdy-gurdy all summer. Labour riddled with anti-Semitism (more of which elsewhere). Check.

Police abandon the streets. Check. The first column I wrote headlined Mr Plod has lost the plot appeared in 1989.

Prisons in turmoil. Check. How many Porridge spoofs off the back of these reports have I written over the years?

Brexit scaremongering must be ignored as 'silly season' sees outrageous stories being circulated, according to Richard Littlejohn (pictured: Theresa May's cabinet at Chequers)

I must admit I got a warm, nostalgic glow yesterday when I read The Timess front-page splash about South American criminals moving in on London. Been there, done that. More than 30 years ago, when I was on the Evening Standard, I spent a week with the Mets dip squad on the trail of South American pickpockets who were targeting shoppers in Londons West End.

Seems that Los Desperados have graduated to housebreaking these days.

Long hot summer caused by global warming. Of course it was, just like 1976, before climate change had been invented.

Anyway, since I arrived home last week, it hasnt stopped raining.

Still, the good news is that the Whitehall committee which meets every Monday morning to give me something to write is due to reconvene next week after its own summer break.

Insiders tell me theyve been secretly working on a wealth of new material. You aint seen nothing yet.

There are battles still to be fought and won, bucketloads to be tipped, pomposity to be pricked, and plenty of politicians to be pilloried and brought down to earth.

Its good to be back.

Bodyguard is not a TV fiction for Labour's Jewish MPs

Bodyguard is the new critically acclaimed drama from the BBC, starring Keeley Hawes. It centres on a fictional female Home Secretary and her close protection officer.

Meanwhile, out in the real world, Jewish Labour MPs have been offered their own bodyguards to protect them from militant anti-Semites at the partys conference next month.

Who could have imagined that Jewish politicians in Britain would ever need professional minders to guard them against their own so-called colleagues?

Actually, I could.

Keeley Hawes stars in BBC drama Bodyguard about a Home Secretary who has a close relationship with her personal protection detail

Eleven years ago, I made a TV documentary exposing the new anti-Semitism coming from an unholy alliance of the hard Left and extreme Islamists. Ive written about this vile threat frequently.

Few took me that seriously at the time, but they do now.

Ever since terrorist stooge Jeremy Corbyn and his Momentum thugs took over Labour, anti-Semitism has gone mainstream.

If this hatred was directed at any other racial or religious minority, the police hate crime squad would be working overtime and feeling collars.

But Labours anti-Semites appear free to operate with impunity. Perhaps the Home Secretary, the DPP or the Met Commissioner would care to explain why. Bodyguard may be a TV drama, but for Jewish MPs its becoming a way of life.

Airport bars turn into Wild West saloons... at 7am

Stag and hen parties are taking off from airports in the UK to cheap destinations for booze fulled weekends - although some never make the flight

The worst part of flying is not the journey itself, its the airports  at least in Britain, where every terminal has been turned into a glitzy shopping mall.

After youve endured security, youre forced to run the gauntlet of garishly lit duty-free stores, staffed by aggressive saleswomen in Coco the Clown make-up spraying you with assorted scents at seven oclock in the morning.

Now you also have to contend with a new horror  drunken stag and hen parties. This year, I followed a bunch of dopey birds in pink tutus, complete with pink fairy wings and princess tiaras.

They were bound for the bar, where no doubt they were planning to get tanked up on prosecco before boarding their budget flight to goodness-knows-where. Always-open bars airside were once a mark of civilisation. Now theyre turning into early-morning Wild West saloons full of revellers in fancy dress.

So I can sympathise with airline chiefs who want to bring airport bar hours in line with those on the outside and introduce a two-drink limit.

Most violence and unruly behaviour on planes is associated with earlier consumption of booze.

The latest call to restrict opening hours comes just days after a drunken passenger dressed as Tinkerbell and a companion in a Bob the Builder outfit were removed from a Poland-bound flight by armed police at Stansted.

Incidentally, the passenger in the Tinkerbell costume was a man.

Bring on the Oompa Loompas!

Thanks to all of you who wrote wishing my mum a very happy 90th birthday. She was thrilled. On her birthday, we went to lunch in a typical, classic American steakhouse, all dark wood and dim lighting. You needed a torch to read the menu and a miners lamp to find your way to the toilet.

After paying the bill, I found my way through the gloom to the Gents, only to discover Mum washing her specs in the sink. It was so dark she couldnt read the sign on the door.

Fortunately, I was the only other person in there. Mum, you do know this is the mens room, I said. Dont worry, she replied. If anyone asks, Ill say Im identifying as transgender today.A former co-director at Rome's top American priest school has backed an archbishop who said Pope Francis knew of sexual abuse claims made against a senior clergyman.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a former Vatican envoy to the United States, said he had told Francis of the allegations against prominent US cardinal Theodore McCarrick in 2013.

But rather than punish McCarrick, who was forced to resign last month, Vigano said Francis had lifted sanctions imposed on him by his predecessor pope Benedict XVI.

In a television interview Reverend Monsignor Anthony Figueiredo, who was a co-director at The Pontifical North American College in Rome, said Vigano's letter has shaken up the church.

Figueiredo told CBS News correspondent, Seth Doane, that the publishing of the document, while Francis was apologizing to abuse victims on a trip to Ireland, was 'like an earthquake for the Church'.

Figueiredo, a CBS News consultant, added that Vigano, 77, is regarded very highly in the church and that he trusted him.

'I know him personally. I know him as a man of great integrity, honest to the core,' Figueirdo said. 'He's worked for three different popes, and [was] sent to a Vatican position, a diplomatic position as big as the United States, which means he's a trusted man.'

'This is like an earthquake for the Church': Reverend Monsignor Anthony Figueiredo (pictured) addressed Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano's claims Pope Francis knew about sexual misconduct allegation against Archbishop Theodore McCarrick from as far back 2013

Pope Francis, flanked by Vatican spokesperson Greg Burke (right) listens to a journalist's question during a press conference aboard of the flight to Rome at the end of his two-day visit to Ireland, Sunday

Cardinal Theodore McCarrick (pictured November 2011) is the subject of investigation

In his letter published in the National Catholic Register and several conservative US Catholic publications, Vigano said: 'Corruption has reached the very top of the Church's hierarchy.'

But the pope refused to address the allegation on Sunday, amid speculation conservative elements in the Catholic hierarchy are using the issue to mount a 'putsch' to remove the liberal pontiff.

'I will not say a word about that. I think that the communique speaks for itself,' Francis said on his plane as he flew back from Dublin to Rome.

The timing of the letter's release - right in the middle of Francis's landmark trip to Ireland - has raised speculation of a campaign against the Argentine by conservatives in the Church.

Francis told journalists to 'read the communique attentively and make your own judgement,' referring to Vigano's letter, which called on the pope to resign.

Pope Francis refused to comment on whether he knew about the sex abuse allegations against McCarrick

The investigation into Theodore McCarrick US cardinal Theodore McCarrick has been accused of sexually abusing a teenager while working as a priest in New York in the early 1970s. Pope Francis accepted the 88-year-old's resignation in July, making McCarrick just the second cardinal ever to lose his status. At the time, the Vatican announced that Francis had ordered McCarrick to conduct a 'life of prayer and penance' before a church trial over the allegations of sexual abuse, which included one claim involving an 11-year-old boy. McCarrick was previously one of the highest, most visible Catholic church officials in the United States and was heavily involved in the church's years-long response to allegations of priestly abuse there. 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. Francis received McCarrick's letter offering to resign from the College of Cardinals after a spate of allegations that the prelate had for years sexually abused boys and had sexual misconduct with adult seminarians. 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 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. Advertisement

In his 11-page 'testimony', Vigano, 77, who was a papal nuncio in Washington between 2011 and 2016, said Benedict XVI imposed canonical sanctions against McCarrick in the late 2000s.

McCarrick was forced to leave his seminary and live a life of penance after former Vatican ambassadors in Washington, now dead, reported him for 'gravely immoral' behaviour with seminarians and priests.

Vigano claimed Francis asked him about McCarrick when he took office in June 2013, but that the pope ignored his warnings.

He said the pope 'knew from at least June 23, 2013, that McCarrick was a serial predator,' adding that 'he knew that he was a corrupt man, he covered for him to the bitter end'.

The pope accepted the resignation of McCarrick, now 88, in July, making him just the second cardinal ever to lose his status.

In his letter, Vigano condemned the 'culture of secrecy' in the Church but also railed against 'the homosexual current' he claimed was prevalent in the highest echelons of the Vatican and contributing to a 'conspiracy of silence' over abuse.

'The homosexual networks present in the Church must be eradicated,' he said. 'These homosexual networks... are strangling the entire Church.'

US cardinals Monday defended themselves against Vigano's allegations of a cover-up.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, a progressive, expressed 'shock, sadness and consternation' at the wide-ranging allegations and Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington denied any knowledge that his predecessor had been either sanctioned or accused of abuse.

'Make no mistake. This is a coordinated attack on Pope Francis,' said an editorial article on the website of the progressive National Catholic Reporter weekly.

Pope Francis asked journalists on board the plane to make up their own minds on whether he was aware of what was going on

Pope Francis waves as he leaves from Dublin Airport back to the Vatican putting an end to his visit to Ireland

In the document Vigano says the pope spoke about the McCarrick allegations five years ago

'A putsch is afoot and if the US bishops do not, as a body, stand up to defend the Holy Father in the next 24 hours, we shall be slipping towards schism,' the author Michael Sean Winters wrote.

'The enemies of Francis have declared war.'

Nicolas Seneze, the Rome correspondent for the French daily La Croix, echoed that there is 'a clear desire to attack Francis,' telling AFP that 'those who regard Francis as dangerous will stop at nothing.'

Among ultra-conservative Catholics, the pope is regarded as a dangerous progressive more interested in social issues than traditional Church matters.

With his more conciliatory approach to the gay community Francis had raised hopes among some that he might steer the Church towards greater acceptance of homosexuality but he remains in line with traditional Church teaching on sexuality and marriage.

During his visit to Ireland on Sunday the pope 'begged for God's forgiveness' for past clerical abuse scandals, which have badly damaged the image of the Church in the Catholic stronghold.

His trip was met with enthusiastic crowds but also protests, with about 5,000 abuse victims and supporters attending a 'Stand for Truth' rally in the capital Dublin.

The investigation looks into potential sexual abuse at two seminaries it hosts following misconduct allegations against ex-Cardinal McCarrick and other priests

Vigano claims Pope Francis knew about Cardinal Theodore McCarrick (pictured 2015)

How Archbishop Vigano has clashed with Francis in the past He is the hardline, anti-gay conservative who has urged Pope Francis to resign. But it is not the first time Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the Vatican's ambassador to the US from 2011 to 2016, has clashed with the pontiff. The 77-year-old, who as born in Italy, and the Pope had a major dust-up during Francis' 2015 visit to the US, which Vigano organised. In that incident, a leading U.S. opponent of gay marriage, Kim Davis, was among those invited to meet with Francis at Vigano's Washington residence. Francis was so enraged that Davis' supporters had leaked word of the meeting that the Vatican subsequently insisted he only held one private audience while there: with one of his former students, a gay man and his partner. Vigano has also had his own problems with allegations of cover-up in the past. The cover-up accusation, which Vigano denied, concerned allegations that he tried to quash an investigation into the former archbishop of St. Paul-Minneapolis, Minnesota, John Nienstedt, who was accused of misconduct with adult seminarians. In 2016, the National Catholic Reporter said Vigano allegedly ordered the investigation wrapped up and a piece of evidence destroyed. The report cited a 2014 memo from a diocesan official that was unsealed following the conclusion of a criminal investigation into the archdiocese. No charges were filed. In a statement provided to the AP about the Nienstedt case, Vigano said a Vatican investigation of the allegation found no wrongdoing on his part. He said the allegation that he destroyed evidence was false and that his efforts to have the archdiocese correct the record have been met with silence. Nienstedt was forced to resign in 2015 over complaints about his handling of sex abuse cases. Vigano's name also made headlines during the 2012 'Vatileaks' scandal, when some of his letters were published. In them, he begged not to be transferred to the Vatican embassy in Washington from the administration of the Vatican City State. He claimed he was being punished for having exposed corruption in the Vatican. Advertisement

CBS News reported Monday that Vigano still stands by his letter, which he has claimed can be backed up by people in the Catholic church.

It has been reported that a Vatican official who worked with Vigano said the document is accurate. It had led to two US bishops asking for an investigation into the matter.

Bishop Joseph E. Strickland from Tyler, Texas, told priests to 'include this notice in the masses on August 26, and post it on their websites and other social media immediately,' reports LifeSiteNews, who published the full explosive letter from Vigano.

The publication also reports that Cardinal Raymond Burke has asked for similar action to be taken.

'The corruption and filth which have entered into the life of the Church must be purified at their roots,' Burke said. 'The declarations made by a prelate of the authority of Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano must be totally taken to heart by those responsible in the Church.

'Each declaration must be subject to investigation, according to the Churchs time-tried procedural law.'

Vigano's version of events was corroborated on Monday by a former official in the Vatican embassy in Washington, Monsignor Jean-Francois Lantheaume, who told Catholic News Agency: 'Vigano said the truth. That is all.'

When allegations of sexually abusing a minor turned out to be credible, an investigation by the US church prompted another man to come forward with claims McCarrick had molested him from the age of 11.

Now, several former seminarians have said they were abused and harassed by him when they were in seminary.

It's alleged to have been an open secret that McCarrick would often invite seminarians to his beach house in New Jersey and asked them to share his bed.

Vigano's extensive letter names Vatican cardinals and US archbishops who apparently were aware of McCarrick's wrongdoings, and claims that documents in the Vatican archives can support his claim.

Francis' predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, was said to have sanctioned McCarrick in 2009 or 2010 and the letter says he was also told and to not travel or publicly celebrate Mass.

'Holy Father, I don't know if you know Cardinal McCarrick, but if you ask the Congregation of Bishops, there is a dossier this thick about him. He corrupted generations of seminarians and priests, and Pope Benedict ordered him to withdraw to a life of prayer and penance,' the text reads.

He says the 'stormy' meeting in which the accused was told of the new rules can be backed up by a former counselor in the embassy who is 'prepared to testify'.

Vigano says that McCarrick went on missions on behalf of the church, regardless, notably to China and Cuba, the latter as recently as 2014.

'Archbishop McCarrick, like any other person, has a right to due process. He looks forward to invoking that right at the appropriate time,' McCarrick's civil attorney, Barry Coburn, said in a statement. He added the allegations were 'serious'.

The claims come just after allegations of sex abuse and a cover-up in a Pennsylvania grand jury report. It found that 300 priests had abused more than 1,000 children over 70 years in six dioceses.

Pope Francis gets ready to leave from Dublin Airport back to the Vatican on SundayBeing a clown in Britain today, it seems, is no laughing matter.

With youngsters increasingly demanding Disney characters and pirates for their parties, jobs are few and far between.

Now the oldest clowning foundation has warned the profession could be in danger of dying out altogether.

Clowns International, founded in 1946, said there are only around 100 registered clowns in the country, with numbers set to decline further.

Being a clown in Britain today, it seems, is no laughing matter. With youngsters increasingly demanding Disney characters and pirates for their parties, jobs are few and far between

Mattie Faint, from the body, told The Daily Telegraph: There arent so many clowns around these days.

'I think most clowns are childrens party clowns, rather than, say, being part of a circus, but now children want Disney characters or pirates so the times have changed.

'At one point the only person you ever saw at a childs party was a clown  now it can really be whatever they like.

A new exhibition run by Clowns Gallery Museum in London, which outlines the history of clowning, will be touring the country to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the circus.

It is hoped the exhibition can help salvage the profession.

Part of the tour will display more than 150 clown eggheads, which make up the Clown Egg Register.

The eggs, which are made from clay and painted to replicate a clowns face paint, are used as an informal copyright system for the profession.

The register has been captured in a book by Luke Stephenson and Helen Champion.

Now the oldest clowning foundation has warned the profession could be in danger of dying out altogether

Egg-painting was first started in the 1940s by the late Stan Bult, founder of the International Circus Clowns Club, now Clowns International.

Mr Bult would capture clowns appearances by painting them on to hollowed-out eggs as a way to copyright their facial features, in the hope that no two clowns would look the same.

The collection later grew into what is now the Clown Egg Register.

Mr Stephenson, photographer of the latest edition of The Clown Egg Register book, said: While I havent seen any particular trends in the eggs, the personas of the clowns are certainly captured in the paintings.

They are quite remarkable little things and something quite unusual but interesting to photograph.

Mr Faint added: Were now holding a number of events this year and we really hope this will help boost the popularity of clowns.

'Maybe parents will see the display of eggs and it will make them consider that for their children.University Challenge will introduce 'gender neutral' questions so contestants can't tell whether a man or a woman wrote them.

The BBC show's executive producer Peter Gwyn said the change was made after a viewer wrote in to complain that not enough questions were about women.

He 'agreed and decided to rectify it' in the hope it will encourage more female contestants to take part.

The BBC show's executive producer Peter Gwyn hopes the change will encourage more female contestants to take part in the popular quiz show

Mr Gwyn thinks the quiz questions 'should never sound as if they are directed more at men than women'.

'Perhaps 'gender-neutrality' is what we aim for,' he said.

'We believe very strongly that the more representative, inclusive and diverse we can make the programme, the better and more interesting it will be.'

This year's final featured a round on female artists and questions about US author Willa Cather.

Jeremy Paxman, the show's no-nonsense host

Contestants were also quizzed on Marin Alsop, the first woman to conduct the Last Night of the Proms, and Byzantine historian and princess Anna Komnene.

The number of women who take part in the show has also come under scrutiny.

St Hugh's College, Oxford, previously faced criticism for fielding four male students on the programme - despite the fact it was originally founded as a women's college in 1886.

Host Jeremy Paxman remarked live on air: 'We could be forgiven for thinking they'd [men] rather taken it [St Hugh's] over'.A failure of surveillance has been blamed for a boatload of Vietnamese asylum seekers running aground in far north Queensland in the first people-smuggling operation to reach the Australian coast in almost four years.

The bright blue fishing boat came ashore near Cairns on Sunday, making it through Australia's so-called border protection 'ring of steel', with those on board fleeing into crocodile-infested waters.

Despite confusion over whether the group who fled the boat were asylum seekers or illegal fishers, newly-reinstated Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said it was clear the vessel was part of a people-smuggling operation.

A failure of surveillance has been blamed for a boatload of Vietnamese asylum seekers running aground in far north Queensland

It is the first people-smuggling operation to reach the Australian coast in almost four years

A local fisherman (left) treating one of two suspected asylum seekers to a tour

The two asylum seekers (pictured middle and right) were found on the banks of the Daintree River after their fishing vessel sank in waters off the coast of Queensland

'We know that there are 14,000 people in Indonesia waiting to get onto boats now. We know that people will come out of Sri Lanka, out of Vietnam, out of the Middle East to hop on the boats,' Mr Dutton said.

'Clearly there's been a failing when surveillance has not worked as it should in identifying this vessel or allowing this vessel to get as close to the coastline as it has, but we'll work through all of that.'

Authorities have captured 15 of the asylum seekers and are still searching for anywhere between two and 17 still on the run in the Daintree rainforest.

Those captured so far have been flown to a Darwin detention centre from where they will be transferred back to Vietnam.

Colin Patterson, a commercial angler who towed the vessel to deeper water, said the ship had been deliberately run aground.

Authorities have captured 15 of the asylum seekers and are still searching for anywhere between two and 17 still on the run in the Daintree rainforest

The bright blue fishing boat came ashore near Cairns on Sunday

Despite confusion over whether the group who fled the boat were asylum seekers or illegal fishers Peter Dutton said it was clear the vessel was part of a people-smuggling operation

'It's pretty shocking for Border Force that it can get all the way around the tip of Australia and down the east coast without being spotted,' Mr Patterson told Newscorp.

'This was not an ordinary Indonesian fishing boat  it was set up purely as a people-smuggling boat.'

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson suggested those on the boat may have headed for Australia as a result of last week's leadership crisis in Canberra.

'Because the eye was off the ball last week, and the news would have happened that Malcolm Turnbull was no longer prime minister, that these people would have got on a boat to come across to Australia,' she told the Seven Network on Monday.

'We have thriving croc-spotting operations all up and down the river,' Douglas Shire Mayor Julia Leu told AAP on Monday.

Former Australian Border Force chief Roman Quaedvlieg tweeted that it wasn't unusual for Vietnamese asylum seekers to target a remote part of the Australian coast.

There has been an outcry for better border security after a fishing boat carrying at least 20 suspected illegal immigrants crashed on Australia's coastline

MP George Christensen was among several federal MPs calling out the government for not doing enough to secure the nation's borders.

'Qld borders need to be made more secure esp (especially) given proximity of PNG & Indonesia, considering level of radical Islamism in Indonesia, Malaysia & Philippines,' he tweeted.

'With Peter Dutton back as Home Affairs Minister, I suspect this incursion will be dealt with swiftly and that there will be more focus on border security in North Queensland,' he later posted to Facebook.

Opposition immigration and border protection spokesman Shayne Newman pinned the arrival on the new prime minister.

'This boat arrival falls squarely at the feet of PM Scott Morrison,' he tweeted.

The boat came to shore at Cape Kimberley just north of the Daintree River near Cairns on Sunday (authorities pictured at the beach where the boat arrived)

More than 20 illegal immigrants are on the run after the fishing boat they were on ran aground in far north Queensland

'Unlike the chaos and division inside the Government that has put the security of Australia's borders at risk, Labor is a united team.'

Paramedics in Mossman treated two people in custody for fever and chills while another three were assessed.

ABF told Senate Estimates in April the last people smuggling venture under the Operation Sovereign Borders construct to reach Australia was in July 2014.

A Sri Lankan man came to Australia alone in November that year in the last documented boat arrival.A Labour MP paid off his Jewish Parliamentary assistant with taxpayers money after she accused him of religious discrimination, it was claimed last night.

Khalid Mahmood, the shadow foreign minister for Europe and MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, was taken to an employment tribunal by his former lover and assistant Elaina Cohen, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Mr Mahmoods 40,000-worth of legal and staffing costs during the case, which was settled out of court with a non-disclosure agreement, were paid for by the parliamentary expenses system.

MP Khalid Mahmood pictured with his former lover Elaina Cohen

The MP, 57, was criticised for claiming nine nights at a luxury hotel in Kensington costing 1,350 in 2009, during his relationship with Miss Cohen.

The expenses watchdog Ipsa, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, has now come under fire as it is revealed the transparent expenses system can be used to fund secret gagging orders.

Official records show Mr Mahmood claimed 900 expenses for lawyers fees, and 1,500 in legal costs.

During the tribunal he was also granted nearly 37,000 from Ipsa to pay staff covering for Miss Cohen.

Claims of religious discrimination first surfaced when Mr Mahmood disciplined Miss Cohen after she called another Labour MP, Naz Shah, an anti-Zionist in a tweet in 2016.

Mr Mahmood suspended his former lover and began an internal disciplinary process against her. Meanwhile, Naz Shah was suspended for anti-Semitic Facebook posts.

When Miss Cohen returned to work she realised she did not have a job. Her religious discrimination claim was settled out of court in 2017. Miss Cohen still works for Mr Mahmood.

The shocking revelation comes as hundreds of complaints of anti-Semitism against Labour Party members are thought to remain unaddressed, according to The Times.

That is despite promises from leader Jeremy Corbyn that he would speed up the partys disciplinary procedures.

Although Miss Cohen, 60, is bound by the gagging order and unable to discuss the detail of the case, she last night criticised Mr Mahmoods use of taxpayers cash to fund his legal case.

She said: I complained to Ipsa several times on the unfairness of substantial public funds being used. Ipsa should not be funding MPs in actions against their members of staff.

Jeremy Corbyn and Khalid Mahmood MP pictured at the House of Commons

Were in the middle of an anti-Semitism storm, and I had two years of hell over two tweets trying to bring it to the partys attention.

Sir Alistair Graham, the former chairman of the committee on standards in public life, last night called for more transparency in the expenses system.

If public money is involved, there should not be secret deals like non-disclosure agreements used to resolve staff issues, he told the Telegraph.

This is about transparency. Both the public and Mr Mahmoods constituents should be able to see how he has come to spend so much public money. Mr Mahmood told the Telegraph last night: There was an agreement that was signed which forbids me to go into any details in relation to [the case].

This is not an expense which is unwarranted. Part of the problem with this is it puts all the burden on Members of Parliament, without having any real support to deal with this sort of situation, when such an issue arises with staff in offices.

He added that Ipsa was fully aware that the money was to deal with his discrimination case and its subsequent costs.

Although full-time Parliamentary assistant jobs have a salary of 31,000, Mr Mahmood spent nearly 37,000 on the part-time cover  including an 8,016 overspend  according to the Telegraph.

A spokesman for Ipsa told the newspaper yesterday: MPs may apply for a contingency payment for costs which are not covered by the [MPs expenses] scheme or where they expect to exceed a particular budget.

Applications are considered by the Contingency Panel who assess whether there are exceptional circumstances warranting extra support.

In relation to Mr Mahmoods 8,016 overspend, Ipsa refused to say whether it would, or had, taken any action against him for the nine-month delay to repay it.An out-of-control car that veered into parked cars before crashing into a nearby wall just narrowly missed hitting a child walking home from school.

The incredible footage shows an elderly driver losing control of her car on Green Acre Drive in Parkwood on the Gold Coast, 66km south of Brisbane.

The young schoolgirl had a lucky escape while walking back from school as she was just moments away from being struck by the silver Toyota Corolla.

The out-of-control car mounted the curb in the exact spot where the schoolgirl had been walking moments before.

The 23-second clip clearly shows the Corolla driving onto a footpath and hitting a postbox before careening across the road straight into the parked cars.

The car came to a rest after smashing into a wall.

Narrow miss: A schoolgirl was moments away from being hit by the out-of-control Toyota

The elderly driver was attempting a U-turn when she hit the accelerator instead of the brake

The car went through some parked cars and smashed into a wall before coming to a rest

The elderly woman was reportedly suffering from chest pains at the time of driving.

She was attempting a U-turn when she accidentally hit the accelerator instead of the brake.

No one was seriously injured in the incident. The driver was taken to hospital suffering from shock.A heartbroken woman is being comforted by friends after her new lover allegedly stabbed to death a man she had previously been dating.

Emma Thomson, 36, was visiting her new boyfriend Milo Manu Felix Wild, 27, at his Bondi apartment on Sunday morning when an alleged fight broke out between Wild and Jordan Byrne, 26.

Mr Byrne suffered horrific head and abdominal injuries, and died a short time later.

Wild has been charged with his murder.

Daily Mail Australia can now reveal police are investigating whether the incident between Mr Byrne and Wild occurred after a jealous argument over Ms Thomson.

Scroll down for video

Friends are rallying around Emma Thomson (pictured), the woman understood to be central to a love-triangle dispute that saw her ex-boyfriend allegedly stabbed to death by her new lover

Jordan Byrne (pictured) was allegedly stabbed to death in an apartment in Bondi in the early hours of Sunday morning. His heartbroken father has spoken out about his 'senseless murder'

Friends said Ms Thomson, 36, had previously dated Mr Byrne before moving on to a relationship with Wild.

Ms Thomson and Wild are understood to have arrived back at his Military Rd unit where Mr Byrne was hanging out with Wild's female flatmate, Natasha Jones, just before midnight on Saturday.

Neighbours inside the unit block reportedly heard the two men arguing loudly about 12.30am on Sunday.

Moments later an ambulance was called to the complex.

When paramedics arrived they reportedly found Mr Byrne suffering stab wounds to his face and abdomen. He was rushed to hospital but died during surgery.

A friend of Ms Thomson said she was 'shattered' by the violent clash between the two men.

'She doesn't want to talk to anyone, I can't even imagine what she's going through,' the friend said.

When contacted by Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday morning, Ms Thomson said: 'No thank you'.

The victim's shattered father, Colum, told Daily Mail Australia of his heartache after the death of his son, which police have called a 'senseless murder'.

It is understood Ms Thomson and Wild had arrived back at his Military Rd unit where Mr Byrne (pictured with Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim) was hanging out with Wild's female flatmate

Wild (centre), Ms Thomson (left) and Natasha Jones (right) are all understood to have been at the apartment at the time of Mr Byrne's alleged murder

'She's just shattered about it. She doesn't want to talk to anyone, I can't even imagine what she's going through,' a friend of Ms Thomson (right, pictured with a friend) said

'Me and Deborah (his mother) just got that horrible phone call at 5am in the morning, the one that no parent should ever get,' Mr Byrne said.

'They just said he'd been attacked in Sydney and that he'd had surgery but they couldn't save him.'

Mr Byrne's father said after high school his son had left his home town on the NSW Central Coast and moved to Sydney to chase his dream of becoming a crane driver.

Within ten years, he'd established a successful career working on construction sites across the city, and saved enough money to buy three investment properties.

One of four children, Mr Byrne's father said his son was living his dream right next to the beach - but never forgot his family or where he came from.

Mr Byrne was rushed to hospital suffering stab wounds to his head and abdomen, but died while in surgery

'He was our absolute pride and joy': Colum Byrne (right) relived the moment he and his wife Deborah (left) got a phone call at 5am telling them that their son Jordan (centre) had died

'He was a kind, loving kid who everyone loved. Everybody knew Jordan, he was truly the funniest kid you'll ever come across,' Colum Byrne said.

'He was a normal kid in his 20s, but hed just accomplished so much. He was making plenty of money, he had apartments in Merrylands, Hillsdale and Bondi - he was our absolute pride and joy.

'He would come up and see us and tell us how good of parents we were - he never forgot us or his siblings.

'He was only 26 and he was on fire in life and I would just really like to share that with people.'

The two men had both dated the same woman, but detectives are trying determine exactly what sparked the fight. Pictured: paramedics rushing Byrne to hospital

Neighbours in the apartment complex reportedly heard the two men arguing loudly and told media they assumed police had been called immediately.

'I heard someone in the block yell out 'shut up' but the argument kept going,' a man said.

Wild faced Waverley Local Court on Monday and was refused bail. He is due back in court in October.An Uber driver who allegedly raped a teenager after dropping off her two friends has been charged.

The 37-year-old ride-share driver picked up the 17-year-old female and her two friends at 1.30am on Sunday from the city to drop them off in Bondi, east of Sydney.

After dropping off the teenager's friends home, the man drove the young woman to an address in north Bondi.

An Uber driver who allegedly sexually assaulted a teenager after dropping off her two friends has been charged (stock image)

It is alleged he sexually assaulted her in his vehicle.

She reported the rape to officers at the Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command.

A NSW Police spokesman told reporters that the girl was sleeping at the time of the alleged assault.

On Monday, officers arrested the driver at a Liverpool address and took him to the police station where they charged him with sexual intercourse without consent.

An Uber spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia that they cooperated with police as soon as they were aware of the alleged incident.

'This is deeply upsetting and has no place anywhere. As soon as we became aware of this report, we immediately removed this driver's access to the app,' the spokeswoman said.

'We are working closely with the New South Wales Police Force and will continue to support their investigation in any way possible.'

He was released on conditional bail and is not allowed to operate as a ride-share service driver.

He will appear in Liverpool Local Court on October 25.Federal judges have ruled North Carolina's congressional map as unconstitutional after it was allegedly gerrymandered by Republicans in 2016.

On Monday, the three-judge panel, led by Judge Jim Wynn, Judge W. Earl Britt, and Judge William Osteen Jr, ruled in favor of election advocacy groups and Democrats who sued to challenge the boundaries drawn that year, claiming excessive partisanship.

The Greensboro-based court also raised the possibility of directing the GOP-dominated legislature to redraw the maps by mid-September so they could be in effect for the fall elections, or getting an outside expert to do so.

The printing of ballots has been delayed while other fall election matters are in court.

A three-judge panel has ruled North Carolina's congressional maps are unconstitutional after they were allegedly drawn to favor the GOP. The ruling can potentially hurt Trump's control of the House as midterm elections approach

'In such circumstances, we decline to rule out the possibility that the state should be enjoined from conducting any further congressional elections using the 2016 plan,' U.S. Circuit Judge Wynn, an Obama appointee, wrote in the majority opinion.

He asked lawyers in the case to weigh in by Friday about what should happen next.

However, even the plaintiffs, in their news releases praising the ruling, said they anticipated the Supreme Court would hear appeals during its session starting in October, meaning any new maps probably wouldn't be used until the 2020 cycle.

Any decision demanding new maps for this cycle likely would risk confusion among voters and be appealed by the Republican legislative leaders being sued.

May primaries were held, and general election candidates are raising money and campaigning in the current districts while approaching a midterm election in which control of the House is at stake.

The groups and individuals that sued, alleged that GOP mapmakers manipulated the lines of the state's 13 districts in 2016 using political data to ensure Republicans retained a 10-3 majority within the delegation.

The same judges in January deemed the map an illegal partisan gerrymander that violated constitutional protections of Democratic voters.

But the Supreme Court, which had ruled against plaintiffs in a redistricting case in Wisconsin, asked them to take a second look in June.

The sides in the case then filed briefs and provided new evidence.

In Monday's order covering almost 300 pages, Wynn wrote that at least one plaintiff registered to vote in each of the 13 districts has legal standing to challenge their district - meeting a key element of the justices' ruling in the Wisconsin case.

The same judges in January deemed the map an illegal partisan gerrymander that violated constitutional protections of Democratic voters

Attorneys for GOP mapmakers had argued the three-judge panel should dismiss the lawsuits because the plaintiffs' evidence was statewide in nature, not district by district

In each case, the opinion reads, the voter offered evidence showing the district had been twisted so that the person's vote carried less weight compared to another hypothetical district that hadn't been packed or split for partisan results.

The U.S. Constitution 'does not allow elected officials to enact laws that distort the marketplace of political ideas so as to intentionally favor certain political beliefs, parties, or candidates and disfavor others,' Wynn wrote.

Wynn, District Judge Britt and District Judge Osteen agreed again that the 2016 redistricting plan violated the U.S. Constitution's equal-protection provision.

They also ruled that it violated provisions requiring states to be in charge of congressional elections because it dictated electoral outcomes.

Osteen, a Bush appointee, in a separate opinion disagreed with decisions by Wynn and Britt that the map also violated the First Amendment rights of Democrats to freedom of speech and of association.

Judge Britt was appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1980.

Attorneys for GOP mapmakers had argued the three-judge panel should dismiss the lawsuits because the plaintiffs' evidence was statewide in nature, not district by district.

Republican Senate leader Phil Berger's office focused Monday night on Wynn for 'outrageous election meddling' that could affect which party wins the House majority this year.

'The decision throws North Carolina into chaos causing maximum voter confusion, and suggests that a court can deny North Carolina citizens their right to vote in November,' said Pat Ryan, a Berger spokesman.

Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina, called the ruling a historic win for voters, and a significant step towards finally ending gerrymandering.'

The map was redrawn in 2016 because other federal courts determined two districts originally drawn in 2011 were illegal because of excessive racial bias.

Wynn noted the decadelong challenges.

'We continue to lament that North Carolina voters now have been deprived of a constitutional congressional districting plan - and, therefore, constitutional representation in Congress - for six years and three election cycles,' he wrote.A hero firefighter and another courageous man rushed to protect customers shopping at a New Mexico convenience store where a gunman opened fire earlier this summer.

The frightening incident took place at a Giant gas station in Espanola in June.

The Espanola Police Department released surveillance footage over the weekend which shows two separate angles from inside the store the evening of the incident.

Local firefighter Enrico Trujullio was identified as one of the men who shielded a female friend from the gunfire.

This is the moment a hero firefighter is seen as he shielded a woman from gunfire

Trujullio is shown in surveillance as he fully covered the woman on the floor for several seconds

The firefighter and woman rushed to the back of the convenience store with the other customers until the gunfire stopped

Trujullio told KRQE: 'I saw two people fighting and a crowd started to form outside... I saw a kid walking from the back of a vehicle and he loaded the gun.

'We heard gunshots go off, (my friend) ran into the store in front of me, and my first instinct was just to cover her.'

Trujullio is shown in surveillance as he fully covered the woman on the floor for several seconds.

Shortly after, the firefighter and woman rushed to the back of the convenience store with the other customers until the gunfire stopped.

Trujullio (above) said: 'Here at work, we are always watching out for one another. One of our main duties is to preserve life and property. I take that seriously'

Trujullio is a firefighter with the Espanola Fire Department

The frightening incident took place at a Giant gas station in Espanola in June

'I wasn't sure whether or not they were going to go inside the store,' Trujullio told the station.

'Here at work, we are always watching out for one another. One of our main duties is to preserve life and property. I take that seriously.'

In another angle from the surveillance, an unidentified male customer is seen as he shielded two children and another woman when the gunshots went off from outside.

Another angle from inside the store shows an unnamed man (right) as he shielded two kids and another woman

The Espanola Police Department said on Facebook: 'Watch as this unidentified man takes two children in his arms and shields them with his body as shots were fired in their direction.

'As he went to the ground, he also positioned his body over a woman who was already laying down.

'Without hesitation, this man protected three lives. Thank you sir for your bravery.'

There were no injuries from the incident.

The Facebook video had 8,000 views as of Monday night.

The department confirmed two men were arrested. Their names have not been released.A pair of French nationals have been arrested after their 'disruptive' behaviour forced an international flight to divert.

The flight from Bali to Perth was forced to land at Port Hedland International Airport, 1650km north of the Western Australian capital, because of the alleged behaviour.

Western Australia Police were called at 9.30pm in relation to the two passengers.

A flight from Bali to Perth was forced to land at Port Hedland International Airport after one of the French passengers 'became disruptive on board' (Pictured: Pura Ulun Danu Bratan in Bali)

The 32-year-old man was restrained for his 'increasingly erratic behaviour' on the plane before being arrested by police.

The 29-year-old woman travelling with the man was also detained by officers.

The flight continued on to Perth and when it landed Australian Federal Police questioned the plane's flight crew and any passengers who may have seen what happened.

The investigation is continuing and the two French nationals remain in police custody.

Western Australia Police were called at 9.30pm over the two passengers, who were then detained (Pictured: Port Hedland International Airport)November 22, 2003 - Mr Zuckerberg to Mr Ceglia

'I have recently met with a couple of upperclassmen here at Harvard that are planning to launch a site very similar to ours. If we dont make a move soon, I think we will lose the advantage we would have if we release before them.



'Ive stalled them for the time being and with a break if you could send another $1000 for the facebook (sic) project it would allow me to pay my roommate or Jeff to help integrate the search code and get the site live before them. Please give me a call so that we can talk more about this.'



January 1, 2004 - Mr Zuckerberg to Mr Ceglia

I think it is unnecessary at this point, with all of the extra work I have done for you, to be held to the original completion date. I should not be penalized for delays that were out of my control, namely that there have been so many unspecified requests from the Streetfax project that you wanted to be placed as a priority, thereby delaying my start on our second project.



'Thus, I am requesting a written waiver on your part exempting me from the obligation to give you additional ownership in the project that is outlined in our original contract.'



January 5 - Mr Ceglia to Mr Zuckerberg

'It is well past January 1 and to my knowledge you don't have a single thing done for the site... You know perfectly well that you can't just take a person's investment and then spend it on women and beer or whatever you do up there in Harvard.



'I've been stalled long enough on this thing and if I don't see something soon I'll no choice but to contact the school and perhaps your parents in Dobbs Ferry and let them know what's going on.'



February 2, 2004 - Mr Zuckerberg to Mr Ceglia

'Paul, I have a rather serious issue to discuss with you, according to our contract I owe you over 30% more of the business in late penalties which would give you over 80% of the company.



'First I want to say that I think that is completely unfair because I did so much extra work for you on your site that caused those delays in the first place and second I dont even think it is legal to charge such a huge penalty.



'Mostly though I just wont even bother putting the site live if you are going to insist on such a large percentage. Id like to suggest that you drop the penalty completely and that we officially return to 50/50 ownership.'



February 6, 2004 - Mr Zuckerberg to Mr Ceglia

'Sorry its taken me a few days to respond, (sic) Now that the sites (sic) live I feel I must take creative control and I just can not risk injuring my sites (sic) reputation by cheapening it with your idea of selling college junk, nor do I wish to spend my time shipping out coffee mugs to rich alumni. The site is cool as it is and I dont care about making any money on it right now, I just want to see if people will use it.'



February 7, 2004 - Mr Ceglia to Mr Zuckerberg

'Mark, all I can think is your parents have handed you everything your entire life and after all this time and energy and MONEY that you think in your head that an ok way to act is to just say - oh Ive changed my mind I dont think its cool to make money and that that should be that.'



April 6, 2004 - Mr Zuckerberg to Mr Ceglia



'Paul, I have become too busy to deal with the site and no one wants to pay for it, so I am thinking of just taking the server down. My parents have a fund that I can tap into for my college expenses and I would just like to give you your two thousand dollars back and call it even on the rest of the money you owe me for the extra work. At this point I wont even really be able to work on the facebook until Summer.'



April 6, 2004 - Mr Ceglia to Mr Zuckerberg

'Grow up, take a f***ing ethics class, choke yourself with that silver spoon of yours.'



July 22, 2004 - Mr Zuckerberg to Mr Ceglia (A week before the company was incorporated)China, the world's most populous nation, appears to be setting the stage to end its decades-long policy of determining the number of children that couples can have, a social media post by a state-run newspaper suggested.

All content on family planning has been omitted in a draft civil code being deliberated by top lawmakers on Monday, the Procuratorate Daily wrote in a post on its Weibo account.

The report did not indicate whether the new policy would raise the limit or allow an unlimited number of children.

China is paving the way to abolish its two-child policy as it faces a demographic crisis

The wide-ranging code also includes a one-month 'cooling off' period in which couples filing for divorce can withdraw their case.

Revisions to the draft civil code will be submitted to China's annual parliamentary meeting in March 2020.

China has loosened its family planning policy as its population greys, birth rates slow and its workforce declines. In 2016, the government allowed couples in urban areas to have two children, replacing a one-child policy enforced since 1979.

However, the country's birth rate last year dropped to a 'shockingly low level' instead, contrary to the government's expectations.

For nearly 40 years, each Chinese couple was only allowed to have one baby

Concerns over an ageing population led to limited reforms in 2013, including allowing a second child for some couples in urban areas, but relatively few have taken up the opportunity

Last year, the number of births in mainland China slipped 3.5 per cent to 17.2 million, compared with 17.9 million in 2016; while the birth rate - the number of live births per thousand of population per year - dropped from 12.95 in 2016 to 12.43, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China.

The surprising outcome has prompted the government to roll out policies including government subsidies and tax reductions in recent months for eligible couples in a bid to rejuvenate its economy.

For example, all of the 'second child' in Xianning in central China could enjoy free tuition fees when they go to the kindergarten, according to a latest government document released in early August.

'It's quite clear that the Chinese government is increasingly alarmed at the low birth rate and the failure to produce the expected boost in births by easing the one-child policy,' Leta Hong Fincher, author of 'Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China', told AFP.

News of the proposed changes lit up Chinese social media.

Speculation that China may further ease its two-child policy was sparked early this month when China Post unveiled the design of a stamp that features a family of three cheerful piglets

'So they want us to have more babies and less divorces?' wrote one user on the Twitter-like Weibo platform.

'The created generation, us only children, let's gather together and prepare to work in our twilight years,' another user wrote.

'Having children is good, eases the government's healthcare cost for the elderly.'

Speculation that China may further ease its two-child policy was sparked early this month when China Post unveiled the design of a stamp for release next year that features a family of two pigs and three cheerful piglets.

Debate on the policy was further stoked after two Chinese researchers proposed forcing couples with fewer than two children to pay into a 'procreation fund', an idea that was widely criticised.Geological evidence suggests an eruption from one of the volcanoes lying beneath Melbourne has the potential to be worse than an eruption from one of Hawaii's volcanoes.

The 400 volcanoes known as the Newer Volcanic Province (NVP) span the area from Melbourne to South Australia's Mount Gambier, just over the Victorian border and are considered to be active.

Tasmanian volcanologist Doctor Rebecca Carey said although the last eruption was about 5,000 years ago, Melbourne locals should prepare for potential disaster.

A string of 400 volcanoes stretch from Melbourne to South Australia's Mount Gambier

Mount Gambier's Blue Lake (pictured) could become highly explosive

'From what we can establish now, we're in a long phase of dormancy and that there is the possibility of an eruption in this province,' Dr Carey told 60 Minutes.

But how could an eruption from a volcano lying dormant underneath Melbourne prove to be worse than those in Hawaii?

Three academics shed light on the dangers of NVP volcanoes in a report for The Conversation.

They included Heather Handley, Associate Professor in Volcanology and Geochemistry, Macquarie University, Jozua van Otterloo, Assistant Lecturer in Volcanology, Monash University, and Ray Cas, Professor emeritus, Monash University.

The experts said the magma, the hot fluid below the earth's crust, in the NVP has the ability to move very quickly from underground up to the surface.

This could result in more rock fragments being spewed out of the erupting volcano, as the lava moves too quickly for the rocks to melt.

Volcanoes in Hawaii have the ability to erupt multiple times over a short period of time but the NVP volcanoes are likely to erupt only once over a long period of time.

For example, the most recent eruption at Mount Gambier occurred more than 5,000 years ago.

This could mean that whilst only occurring very sporadically, the eruption - if it does happen - could be huge.

Mount Gambier is considered a maar volcano, meaning it is formed by magma rising through the earth's crust - distinguished by its shallow, crater-like shape.

An eruption from an NVP volcano could also produce more volcanic ash and deadly pyroclastic surges made up of currents of gas and volcanic material.

This is because water is more readily available under the surface of the Melbourne volcanos, and water can amplify the explosive potential of an eruption.

Experts warn an eruption could send molten lava flowing down the city's streets and if any of the volcanoes do begin to stir, residents will have very little warning.

Hawaii's deadly Mount Kilauea volcano has been erupting continuously since 1983

Kilauea has wrought much damage to surrounding areas including destroying an entire town

Without an advanced monitoring system in place, the first signs of disturbance would come in the form of gentle tremors.

'Once you see that happening, you know in a couple of hours something is going to happen,' Monash University volcanology lecturer Jozua van Otterloo told ABC.

Hawaii's deadly Mount Kilauea volcano has been erupting continuously since 1983 and has wrought much damage to surrounding areas, including destroying the entire town of Kalapana in 1990.A single mother-of-two in Calgary, Canada has urged parents to keep a close eye on their kids after her two-year-old daughter was partially paralyzed due to falling on a drinking glass.

Jaclyn Derks was playing in a fort she'd built at her grandparent's home when she fell on the object placed between a couch and bed, leaving shards deep in the back of the toddler's neck on July 22.

The horrific slip sent glass through her spinal cord and left the child partially unable to move the left side of her body.

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Jaclyn Derks, 2, (pictured with mom Kayla Rudichuk, 25,) was playing in a fort she'd built at her grandparent's home when she fell on the object placed between a couch and bed on July 22

Rudichuk described it as one of the scariest incidents admitting she thought she'd lose her child after the freak accident that sent her to emergency surgery the same night

Her mother Kayla Rudichuk, 25, described it as one of the scariest incidents.

'I've never seen so much blood, so much pain,' she told CTV News, adding that she got the phone call about her daughter when she was grocery shopping.

The severe injury was enough to make the mom-of-two think she was going to lose her youngest girl but she is recovering after emergency surgery on the night of the accident.

She describes the moment she was told what had happened.

'I could just hear the panic in her voice. She told me Jaclyn was being rushed to the hospital,' she reflected in the TV interview.

But according to doctors who treated her, the only other case of a freak accident like this happening has been noted in Turkey.

'I could just hear the panic in her voice. She told me Jaclyn was being rushed to the hospital,' she reflected in the TV interview about the day it all unfolded

Jaclyn was sliced through her spinal cord in the accident at her grandmother's house

According to doctors who treated Derks the only other case of a freak accident like this happening has been noted in Turkey

Although rare, it hasn't stopped Rudichuk  also mother to fiveyear-old Jolene Derks - from warning moms and dads to watch out for dangers in their children's path.

'Pay as close attention as you can to your babies and keep them close because you never know what can happen,' she said.

With her daughter lucky to be alive, medical experts are even hopeful she'll be able to walk again.

Now she's able to breathe on her own and talk to those around her but can't fully move her left hand.

It's progress as the she was unable to move her left leg at one point, however a GoFundMe page states she 'can't stand without being supported but she now has braces that help with teaching her to walk and build those muscles back up'.

Two physiotherapy sessions each day have enabled her to go to the Alberta Children's Hospital playroom and part with her elder sister.

'Pay as close attention as you can to your babies and keep them close because you never know what can happen,' Rudichuk said

Rudichuk's friend of 10 years, Amanda Lane, (left) started a GoFundMe page which has so far raised $8,455, exceeding the $1,000 goal

Two physiotherapy sessions each day have enabled her to go to the Alberta Children's Hospital playroom and part with her elder sister Jolene (left)

'I now understand why there are so many great things to say about this place,' the mother writes on the crowdfunding page, adding that: 'Jackie is one resilient little angel and the progress is better and better every day.'

Derks' family is 'amazed' with the progress the little one has made but Rudichuk couldn't hold back tears as she spoke about watching her little one recover and learn things all over again.

'The hardest part is honestly physio,' she shared about her usually 'spunky, crazy, fun, monkey'. 'That's when I get the most emotional because even though it's so positive and so good, it's a realization that this is what the rest of my life is going to be like.'

With Rudichuk having to take leave from her two jobs to care for her child, pay for medical bills and being financially burdened by a move, friends have already helped raise $8,455, exceeding the $1,000 goal.

'She's been always there for us so we just did what we do and we come together and help Kayla out,' Amanda Lane, her friend of 10 years, said.A Texas couple have been arrested for allegedly leaving their 11-year-old daughter at home for five days, so they could attend a concert 1,300 miles away.

Parents John Guerrero, 48, and Virginia Yearnd, 39, left their Houston home Wednesday and drove to Detroit to see English industrial metal band, Godflesh, in concert.

The pair had been away for five days while their daughter was home alone.

John Guerrero, 48, and Virginia Yearnd, 39, left their daughter home alone for five days when they went to Detroit to see English industrial metal band, Godflesh, in concert (mugshots above)

The couple returned home Monday, when they were arrested, after leaving their 11-year-old daughter (pictured) home alone for almost a week

The great aunt of the young girl reported the incident to police on Thursday.

When police arrived the the home, they said the child was trying to cook food on her own, according to the Houston Chronicle.

The couple were arrested Monday after they arrived back home. The child is now in custody of a neighbor.

The great aunt of the young girl reported the incident to police on Thursday

Guerrero and Yearnd were booked Monday to the Harris County Jail without bond

Yearnd reportedly told police she asked another family member to check on her child, but they never showed up to do so.

Guerrero and Yearnd were booked Monday to the Harris County Jail without bond.

They have been charged with second-degree felony child endangerment.

Further investigation is underway.Longtime Trump loyalist Roger Stone has predicted that Special Counsel Robert Mueller will indict President Donald Trump's eldest son.

'The special counsel is going to charge Donald Trump Jr with lying to the FBI,' Stone said during a video interview with conservative website Political Insider that was published on Friday.

Stone believes the potential charges will stem from contradictory statements Trump Jr has made about an infamous 2016 meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya.

Trump Jr first said publicly that it was a meeting to discuss international adoption laws, before admitting the meeting was to discuss potential dirt on the Hillary Clinton campaign - though no such dirt was ever produced, according to the Trump camp.

Roger Stone (left) has predicted that Don Trump Jr (right) could be the next person targeted by the Mueller probe, potentially over allegations he made false statements to the FBI

Mueller (above) has yet to bring an indictment for the crime of criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government, his original mandate

The meeting itself was not a crime, but if Trump Jr also made contradictory statements to FBI investigators about the meeting, he could be charged with a crime.

It's unknown whether Trump Jr ever discussed the meeting with the FBI - though he has testified before Congress, and Stone claims that he 'went in for multiple interviews' with federal investigators.

'All they've got to do is catch you in one discrepancy, whether or not that discrepancy is meaningful or not is almost immaterial,' said Stone.

'Notice they're not going after him for the underlying crime, because there is no crime, he's done nothing wrong,' said Stone, discussing a hypothetical indictment.

'There is no Russian collusion, it's a myth, it's a fairytale,' Stone said.

Stone also believes he himself is high on the list of potential targets for Mueller.

Stone has long been accused by pundits of being a secret channel between WikiLeaks, which published hacked emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign manager during the 2016 election. The suspicions attached to him after he appeared to make predictions of big moves by WikiLeaks before the documents dropped.

Now Stone, a self-described political trickster, says that never had any contact with WikiLeaks, and was simply making predictions based on public statements by the group's found Julian Assange.

'So yeah, I punked the Democrats. I puffed and I postured,' Stone said in the new interview.

Stone said that he has not yet been contacted by Mueller's investigators - who often save the interview of a target for last - but the probe has contacted several of his associates, including former 'Manhattan Madam' Kristin Davis, Stone's longtime employee.

In an email to his supporters on Sunday, Stone pleaded for cash to help fight the indictment he predicts will soon target him.

'Robert Mueller is coming for me,' Stone wrote in an email asking supporters to donate to his legal defense fund, according to an image posted by CNN.

The email continued: 'I'm next on the crooked special prosecutor's hit list because I've advised Donald Trump for the past 39 years. I am being targeted not because I committed a crime, but because the 'deep state' liberals want to silence me and pressure me to testify against my good friend President Donald J. Trump.'

Stone said in the interview that an attorney had asked him for $2 million dollars to mount a defense in the event he is prosecuted.

'This threatens to destroy me financially,' Stone said.Voters in Arizona, Florida and Oklahoma head to the polls in the final multistate elections of the 2018 primary season.

They offer another test of President Donald Trump's imprint on the Republican Party.

But the races, especially in Arizona, will take on special meaning following the death of Sen. John McCain, which has spurred a debate about how far the party has moved to the right since his failed 2008 bid for the presidency.

What to watch:

TRUMP, McCAIN AND A TOSSUP SENATE SEAT

Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kelli Ward suggested the announcement that McCain was ending medical treatment was intended to hurt her campaign hours before Sen. John McCain died on Saturday

There is a competitive three-way GOP primary for the Senate seat now held by the retiring Jeff Flake

Perhaps no other race in the country demonstrates the competing strains on the modern Republican Party than the three-way GOP primary for the Senate seat now held by the retiring Jeff Flake, who joined McCain as one of Trump's most outspoken GOP critics.

Republican Rep. Martha McSally is the Washington establishment's favorite, with a resume that includes time as an Air Force colonel. She's played up her allegiance to Trump but faces two outspoken conservative opponents: Former state Sen. Kelli Ward, who lost to McCain in a 2016 primary, and former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the 86-year-old immigration hawk once convicted of criminal contempt of court but pardoned by Trump.

The results could be mixed. Arizona rules give the nomination to whoever gets the most votes. That means McSally could come out on top even if a majority of Republicans split their vote between the more right-leaning Ward and Arpaio.

Such a scenario could leave McSally in a weak position heading into a general election campaign against the likely Democratic nominee, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema.

In a year where Senate Democrats are playing defense, the Arizona seat offers a rare pickup opportunity that could help them maintain the status quo of a narrowly divided Senate or even tip them into the majority.

Tuesday's results could also help Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey decide they type of person he wants to pick to fill McCain's seat through 2020. If a majority of voters chooses one of the most conservative candidates, that could encourage him to choose a candidate who is more of a hard-liner on the issues Trump cares about most deeply, especially immigration.

A strong vote for McSally could discourage the governor from picking someone whose profile is dramatically different than McCain's.

Trump has intervened in multiple GOP primaries this year but has so far stayed out of the Arizona Senate race.

Senatorial candidate Martha McSally stands at the international border with Mexico, with ranchers Jim Chilton, left, Ted Noon, center, and Tom Kay, right, south of Arivaca, Ariz.

Democratic Senatorial candidate Kyrsten Sinema speaks with the media after volunteering at a food pantry in Phoenix

DOUBLE FEATURE IN FLORIDA

Primaries for governor on both sides of the aisle may remind voters why Florida is still the nation's ultimate political battleground.

Trump has weighed in for Rep. Ron DeSantis in the Republican primary, complete with a campaign rally and the requisite tweeting.

But Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, the favorite of the in-state GOP establishment, has done his best Trump impression, with broadsides against "fake news" and dubbing himself an "NRA sellout."

The problem for Putnam may be that in 2016, he was among the many Republican establishment figures who expressed reservations about Trump publicly. So if DeSantis wins, it'll be another sign of Trump's stamp on the GOP. If Putnam manages to win, he'll head into the general election with his handling of Trump leaving him exposed to critics on his left and right.

Democrats, meanwhile, have their own choice of philosophies and personalities.

Pragmatic centrists are hoping for Gwen Graham, the former congresswoman and daughter of Florida political icon Bob Graham, who served as governor and senator. (Among her endorsers: musician Jimmy Buffett.)

Liberal progressives have their champions in Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum (endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders). But the airwaves have been dominated by two tremendously wealthy candidates, former Miami Beach Mayor Phil Levine and real estate investor Jeff Greene.

With no runoff required, the winner will immediately have to shore up support within the party.

The primary also is expected to cement a heavyweight Senate matchup in November pitting Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson against two-term Republican Gov. Rick Scott.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis speaks with the news media during a campaign event in August

Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Putnam speaks during a campaign rally

Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gwen Graham, right, hugs Florida Rep. Tracie Davis before meeting community leaders about gun violence

NUMBERS WATCH

Beyond checking the winners, primaries in Arizona and Florida will offer political observers plenty of data to plow through. Of note, which party draws more overall voters to the polls in Florida and just how are those votes distributed? Will it be south Florida Democrats or panhandle Republicans who turn out in numbers closer to presidential year voting? Which side will cast more ballots in the state's battleground region along Interstate 4, particularly in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, home to two of the most populous presidential swing counties in the country?

In Arizona, the Senate race is likely to turn in November on whether Democrats can maximize their base while peeling off enough Republicans. That means a close watch on how the Senate primary shakes out in the Phoenix suburbs.

The winner of the Arizona GOP Senate primary could influence who the governor appoints to replace the late Sen. John McCain

The Republican Senate primary in Arizona is one contest where Trump has not endorsed

OKLAHOMA GOVERNOR: WILL REPUBLICANS THROW A CURVE BALL?

Republicans in Oklahoma are trying to hold onto the state's top office despite term-limited Mary Fallin having some of the worst job approval numbers of any governor in the nation.

Democrats are hoping the GOP electorate's rightward march and embrace of outsiders result in a runoff win for Tulsa mortgage company owner Kevin Stitt over former Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett. Stitt is using his personal fortune to attack Cornett for not being sufficiently loyal to Trump and his administration.

Democrats already have nominated Drew Edmondson, a former state attorney general, and national Democrats believe he has the profile to wage a competitive race against Stitt.

A Cornett victory Tuesday would be a big win for business-minded Republicans who believe a more moderate message can still prevail - and likely squelch Democratic hopes for November.Thailand is set to open a brand-new kind of tourist attraction on Saturday - the army base once suspected of being home to a CIA black site and secret torture prison.

The attraction, located in Thailand's north-eastern city of Udon Thani, will open as Ramasun Camp Historical Museum and will be free to enter.

The facility is rumoured to be where the US Central Intelligence Agency took south-east Asia's most wanted terror suspect, Riduan Isamuddin  also known as Hambali.

Thailand is set to open Ramasun Camp Historical Museum - the ex-army base once suspected to be home to a US CIA blacksite and secret torture prison

The facility is rumoured to be where the US Central Intelligence Agency took south-east Asia's most wanted terror suspect, Riduan Isamuddin  also known as Hambali

Hambali was arrested in 2003 for his alleged links to the 9/11 attack as well as the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings which killed 202 people.

The terror suspect was said to have been held in a 'secret location' for three years before he was sent to Guantanamo Bay.

The CIA's first international detention site was always rumoured to be in Thailand, where detainees were reportedly waterboarded or had their heads repeatedly slammed into walls.

However, speaking to the Bangkok Post, Lieutenant Colonel Ratkrit Daengthaisong - commander of the battalion for Ramasun  rejected all reports that Ramasun harboured such a secret facility.

'I think it is because the compound is off-limits to outsiders while local people are aware of an underground tunnel. That may give them a sense of secrecy,' he said.

'So, we will open up Ramasun camp to the public and let them see for themselves. You'll see giant radar towers and a 300-metre underground tunnel.'

The CIA's first international detention site was always rumoured to be in Thailand, where detainees were reportedly water-boarded or had their heads repeatedly slammed into walls

Ramasun allegedly started life as a US Army Radio Research Field station in 1964 and was later used in the Vietnam war to spy on communists and control plane movements.

The base was then abandoned between 1976 and 1997, according to the government-run Thailand Tourism Directory website.

The US has neither confirmed nor denied using Thailand in its war on terror, but Thai governments have continually denied any involvement in CIA blacksites.

Ramasun allegedly started life as a US Army Radio Research Field station in 1964 and was later used in the Vietnam war to spy on communists and control plane movements

US President Donald Trump selected Gina Haspel as CIA Director when he took office, which - given Haspel's background - brought the subject into question once more.

Haspel allegedly ran a blacksite named Cat's Eye in Udon Thani where she oversaw the interrogation of maritime terrorist Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri before he too was transported to Guantanamo Bay.

It is unclear whether the site Haspel ran was Ramasun or one attached to the Udon Thani Air Force Base 14 kilometres away.

The latter is still operational and not open to the public.

Ramasun is one of three sites in the Udon Thani area suspected to be part of the CIA's global network of secret locations.Newly appointed Federal Minister for Energy Angus Taylor has a plan that could slash the cost of electricity by $3.2 billion.

Mr Taylor takes charge of energy after it was broken off from the Environment portfolio by new PM Scott Morrison in a gesture signalling major market reform.

While working as a financial analyst for Port Jackson Partners in 2013, Mr Taylor authored a report that suggested the costs of electricity could be reduced by dropping the Renewable Energy Target.

Newly appointed Minister for Energy Angus Taylor has a plan that could slash the cost of electricity by $3.2 billion

Speaking at an event in 2013, Mr Taylor said dropping subsidies for wind farms would cut energy bills by more than $3billion.

Mr Taylor also argued emission targets could still be met and the savings could be up to $300 per household by 2020.

Energy and emissions targets have long been a dividing issue in party rooms with policies going as far back as the Rudd government's proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme failing to gain consensus.

The latest iteration of the policy, which Mr Turnbull called the National Energy Guarantee, was instrumental in his downfall because the conservative faction in the Liberal Party is staunchly opposed to the plan.

A key point was to legislate a reduction in emissions of 26 per cent, a number in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, but one critics said was pointless if big emitters did not follow suit.

As the new front bench was sworn in on Tuesday, Mr Morrison labelled Mr Taylor his 'most important minister'.

Mr Taylor also argued that emission targets could still be met and the savings could be up to $300 per household by 2020 (file picture)

'A tough job, but an extremely important one that has a big impact on so many Australian households and businesses,' Mr Taylor tweeted of the appointment.

Many see Mr Taylor, who has a Master of Philosophy in Economics from Oxford University, as the man to bring sense to the debate.

'The problem with energy policy for years is it doesn't focus on the energy, it focuses on if you are in favour of coal, wind, solar or hydro,' Mr Taylor said.

'What we should be wanting is reliable, affordable power that brings down our emissions.'

The 'Minister for getting energy prices down' as the new PM labelled him when he announced his new front bench on Sunday, has long been a critic of rushing into a transition to renewable energy, particularly the wind farms being built in his electorate of Hume.

'The obsession with emissions at the expense of reliability and affordability has been a massive mistake,' he told radio shock jock Ray Hadley two weeks ago.

Speaking at an event in 2013, Mr Taylor claimed that dropping subsidies for wind farms would cut energy bills by more than $3billion (stock photo)



The DEA has warned doctors to watch out for pet owners who may be harming their animals to obtain drugs for themselves.

A conference in Louisville, Kentucky this month shared details of how those addicted to opioids have in the past, resorted to hurting animals that belong to them to get their hands on controlled substances.

Scott Brinks told more than 200 doctors at the gathering, which included veterinarians, animals are paying the price for people desperate to get their hands on painkillers, with some of them being sliced so owners can get a prescription, intended for the pet but ultimately used by them.

Diversion Control Division in Washington warned veterinarians to watch for potential doctor shoppers as animals are being abused to obtain opioids

Elizabethtown resident, Heather Pereira, was caught in December 2014 and sentenced to four years in prison for harming her dog Alice to get Tramadol

Pereira, was caught after she returned three times in two months to treat her pets for injuries

Elizabethtown investigator John Thomas said It was shocking to discover the animals that fell victim to drug-addicted owners

USA Today reports that despite being told to be vigilant, vets were told theres no way to confirm pet owners are doctor shopping to get drugs from different animal surgeries in order to stock up on their stash and avoid suspicion.

In the 2014 case of Elizabethtown resident, Heather Pereira, she was caught and sentenced to four years in prison for harming her dog Alice to get Tramadol.

The charges included a felony of making false statements to get a controlled substance and a misdemeanour of torturing a cat or dog.

Vets knew something was up when they noticed the poochs cuts were too clean to have been an accident.

Additionally, Pereira had returned for the third time in two months, mounting up unlikely stories including that her pet was playing under a car or rubbing against a broken part of a gutter when she obtained the injuries.

One time, her trusting victim reportedly needed six to eight stitches at a time to mend gashes next to her right flank.

She was released in 2016 but is still on supervised probation.

Elizabethtown Animal Hospital called police on Pereira in after noticing bogus signs

I remember my initial feeling of disbelief, this can't be real, Elizabethtown investigator John Thomas said. It was shocking.

Although the extreme is not a likely scene at an average veterinarian surgery, some owners may exaggerate or fake a pet injury so experts are being reminded to use their gut instinct and make the call as to whether animals really need the medication by observing symptoms.

Another option is giving the animal the stronger drug at the clinic and sending the owner home with the weaker ones if need be.Muslim activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied has written a 'eulogy' for her broadcast career that reveals a vile message she received on Instagram.

The 27-year-old Sudanese-born writer penned a speech for the Melbourne Writers Festival program called 'Eulogy for My Career', that highlights some of the backlash she has received.

The speech explored the grief the former oil rig engineer has endured since she sparked a wave of controversy over a tweet she posted on Anzac Day in 2017.

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Muslim activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied (pictured) has written a 'eulogy' for her broadcast career that reveals a vile message she received on Instagram

The Brisbane-raised, former Queensland Young Australian of the Year explained that she received an Instagram direct message just before coming back to Australia.

'My Name Is Nelson, and Im a big fan. Do you mind if I ask just one favour? Please Reply, I love You,' the message began.

The message then took a dark turn: 'Go to Flinders St Station, Cut Your Wrists and Let them bleed out so we can all watch you die. Lest We Forget.

'Hopefully Ill be able to distinguish you from all the other Sudanese N*****s, but I know youll be the only ape wearing a ridiculous towel over your head.'

The horrific message makes reference to the controversial tweet Ms Abdel-Magied posted in 2017 that linked Anzac Day with the plight of asylum seekers on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.

'Lest we forget (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine)', she infamously wrote on Anzac Day 2017.

The message references the tweet (pictured) she posted in 2017 that linked ANZAC Day with the plight of asylum seekers on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea

Although she quickly deleted and apologised for the tweet, the damage had already been done.

'It was brought to my attention that my last post was disrespectful, and for that, I apologise unreservedly,' she said.

Following the tweet, Ms Abdel-Magied was inundated with abuse and had her news program with the ABC cancelled.

The Brisbane-raised, former Queensland Young Australian of the Year, explained that she received an Instagram direct message just before coming back to Australia

The activist has since moved to London but stressed that she hadn't run away from Australia.

'I left. And I don't think that's the same as running away,' she told SBS program The Feed.

However, on Remembrance Day just seven months later, the Muslim activist was again slammed for a similar post: '#LestWeForget (Manus)'.

Theresa May dismissed Philip Hammond's grim forecasts about the impact of no deal Brexit today - insisting it would not be the 'end of the world'.

The Prime Minister played down Treasury estimates that failure to reach agreement with the EU could cost the UK 10 per cent of GDP over 15 years, saying they were a 'work in progress'.

She acknowledged that the outcome would not be a 'walk in the park' - but argued that the government was already taking steps to soften the blow.

The comments came as Mrs May kicked off a tour of Africa in which she is banging the drum for post-Brexit trade.

Theresa May (pictured today arriving in South Africa) has played down dire forecasts from the Treasury about the impact of failing to reach a deal with the EU

Mr Hammond caused fury among Tory Eurosceptics last week when he highlighted the controversial forecasts in a letter to senior MPs.

The missive overshadowed the publication of a slew of government documents designed to ease fears about the consequences of no deal - as the standoff with Brussels seemingly deepens.

Speaking to journalists as she arrived in South Africa for the first leg of her trip today, Mrs May pointed out that the Treasury estimates dated from January.

Asked if the government's no deal planning could mean the figures had improved, the premier said: 'They are a work in progress.'

Mrs May endorsed remarks from the head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Roberto Azevedo last week.

'First of all I understand the Chancellor was talking about a set of figures that came out in January,' she said.

'Look at what the director of the WTO said. He said about the no deal situation that it would not be a walk in the park but it would not be the end of the world.

'What the government is doing is putting in place the preparations such that if we are in that situation we can make as success of it, just as we can make a success of the good deal I believe we are able to get.'

Mrs May refused to be drawn on increasingly negative noises coming out of the EU about the potential for compromise.

French President Emmanuel Macron stressed yesterday that getting a Brexit deal was less important than maintaining unity in the bloc.

The premier said she was focused on working with the commission and European leaders to find an arrangement that is 'good for both sides', saying she believed her Chequers package was the best model.

Mr Hammond caused fury among Tory Eurosceptics last week when he highlighted the controversial forecasts in a letter to senior MPs

Mrs May is in South Africa today holding talks with Presaident Cyril Ramaphosa (pictured)

But she added: 'I've said right from the beginning that no deal is better than a bad deal.

'I think it is absolutely right that government is preparing for no deal, because we don't know what the outcome of this will be.'

Mrs May also flatly rejected calls for a second Brexit referendum - including from some Tory MPs.

'The government's position is very clear,' she said.

The PM sidestepped questions about whether Conservative MPs could be punished by their local activists for defying policy.

'I think what matters to local associations is what the government is delivering,' she said.

The Prime Minister's spokesman today refused to say whether MPs would be shown an economic analysis of what no deal would mean for Britain before a vote on whatever is negotiated in Brussels.

The spokesman said: 'There is a range of work being conducted, I'm not going to stand here and set out precisely what that work will set out.'

He added that MPs would be shown the 'appropriate analysis' at the time of any vote on a deal, while preparations continued for a no deal to ensure Britain continues to 'thrive outside the EU in whatever scenario'.Video footage has sparked more conspiracy theories that Melania Trump has a body double .

During her trip with her husband President Donald Trump to Columbus, Ohio, on August 24, FLOTUS's clothes and hair were the center of attention for the most bizarre reason.

The 48-year-old donned a monochrome ensemble including a polka dot blouse and sunglasses.

But people on social media who believe the theories suggested her alleged stand-in couldn't get the outfit right.

Fake Melania Trump (right) rumors have resurfaced after her outing August 24 in Ohio with US Donald Trump

Melania fans were not convinced by her polka dot blouse on the outing last week

Melania visited a children's hospital but other scenes from earlier in the day were not her according to conspiracy theorists

'Hair colour and hair parting wrong, blouse wrong, jacket collar wrong, logo on sunglasses missing on double  it defo aint her,' one Twitter user mentioned.

Others even analyzed the appearance right down to her posture, poses and weight, with some suggestion the person they were seeing in a video was around 20lbs heavier than Melania and that the giveaway was in her fuller face.

'What's with the fake Melania on Trump's trip to Ohio yesterday?' one user wrote.' @ItIsIMac caught it first. I don't know who that is in the polka dot top but it sure ain't her at Andrews or at Columbus. MSM claiming it is.'

The White House resident is also known for her silky brunette locks so all eyes were on her supposedly different hairline and locks that appeared to be way darker than the Melania they loved to watch.

Twitter users are convinced she has a stand-in for appearances but are not pleased with how the alleged fake Melania looks

People have been quick to point out her hair, clothing and even the way she gestures

Trump's appearance has gotten people talking for at least the first time in a year

Trump's monochrome look did not convince some spectators who thought she switched sunglasses

Some added that if the faux First Lady - who visited a children's hospital that day -wanted to really do it right, she should avoid a vigorous handshake which is apparently uncharacteristic of Melania.

July's NATO Summit in Brussels also saw fake Melania resurface.

Last October, social media users also went in with allegations that a Melania clone is somewhere out there.

Critics zeroed in on footage of Trump as he addressed the media about hurricane relief for Puerto Rico that showed the First Lady, wearing her large black sunglasses, standing behind her husband nodding.

Conspiracy theorists are suggesting that Melania Trump has a body double who appears alongside the President in public wearing a fake nose and giant sunglasses

The Fake Melania theory was set off with a post on Facebook by Andrea Wagner Barton, which was shared more than 100,000 times

During the press conference, Trump pointed out the presence of his wife even though she was standing in clear view of the cameras.

'My wife, Melania, who happens to be right here,' he said.

Conspirators based their theory of a Melania body double on the fact that Trump pointed out the First Lady was there to cover for the fact she was actually somewhere else.

They also claim that the Melania doesn't appear to look like herself in the footage, specifically questioning the shape of her nose.

The theory was set off with a post on Facebook by Andrea Wagner Barton, which was shared more than 100,000 times.

Some appeared to believe the conspiracy theory of Melania having a body double

Twitter user @JoeVargas, also known as BuyLegalMeds, then latched on with a series of tweets Tuesday night.

'Who's awake right now? I need to show you guys something that blows my mind and is really creepy. Seriously,' he tweeted.

'This is not Melania. To think they would go this far & try & make us think its her on TV is mind blowing. Makes me wonder what else is a lie.

'I initially didn't notice, but thought it was strange when he said 'my wife Melania, she's right here' to try & convince media it was her.'

As quickly as the theory spread, so too did the hilarious fake-Melania memes.

The search terms 'Melania Trump double' and 'Fake Melania' also spiked on Google since the theory started circulating.A police officer who was shot at with live rounds during a training exercise is suing his bosses for 250,000.

Sergeant Robert Haughey was forced to dodge bullets which missed him by inches as he was fired on during drills at the Connaught army barracks in Dover.

The 47-year-old claims the incident has left him with post-traumatic stress disorder and is now unable to return to police work.

Mr Haughey, from Strood, Kent, took cover after discovering that the shooter was using live rounds, which shattered a window, as opposed to blanks.

Sergeant Robert Haughey was forced to dodge bullets which missed him by inches as he was fired on during drills at the Connaught army barracks in Dover (pictured)

He claims to now suffer from anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance, flashbacks, intrusive memories and recurrent nightmares as a result of his PTSD.

A court writ filed against City of London Police by Mr Haughey's lawyer claims the police sergeant felt 'panic and terror' during the incident, The Sun reports.

It added: 'He feared for his life and suffered psychiatric injuries as a result.'

City of London Police admits liability over the incident, but a settlement is yet to be reached with Mr Haughey.

A City of London Police spokesman said: 'While participating in a firearms training exercise on 19 March 2015 at Connaught Barracks, Dover, Kent, a City of London Police officer discharged live rounds from a firearm that was supposed to be using imitation rounds. No one was struck by those discharged live rounds.

'This incident was reviewed by the City of London Police Professional Standards Department (PSD) in 2015, overseen by a senior investigating officer. A number of recommendations were made and an action plan implemented to ensure that it could not happen again. These have been managed by the City of London Police firearms senior leadership team. Improvements included further training for some of the officers involved.

'A subsequent investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has concluded that no further action is to be taken against the City of London Police. However, there are a number of recommendations highlighted by the HSE that the City of London Police is working towards - including a full review of the transportation, storage, and retention of ammunition and weapons within the force.

'There is an ongoing civil claim and as a result we will not be commenting on the specifics of the incident or individuals involved.'A former Catholic priest has been charged with raping a 10-year-old boy in a public toilet, following a new investigation.

Police have alleged that Brian Spillane, 75, sexually assaulted the boy during an altar boys' picnic on Shark Island, near Rose Bay in Sydney, in 1964.

Spillane was chaplain and head of discipline at St Stanislaus College in Bathurst and is currently in jail for numerous historical sex offences against young boys and girls.

Former Catholic priest Brian Spillane has been charged with raping a boy, 10, in a public toilet

NSW Police Force Marine Area Command also issued the 75-year-old a Future Court Notice for buggery at a Correctional Centre in South Nowra.

He is due to appear at Central Local Court on September 25.

Police have alleged that Brian Spillane, 75, (pictured right) sexually assaulted the boy during an altar boys picnic on Shark Island, Rose Bay (left) in 1964Michael Cohen's lawyer Lanny Davis has backpedaled on several key claims, sowing doubt that Cohen could tie President Donald Trump to claims of Russian election interference.

In a series of interviews, Davis backtracked two assertions: that Cohen saw Trump being advised beforehand of a notorious Trump Tower meeting, and that Cohen could testify whether Trump was aware of Russian hacking.

Davis admitted to BuzzFeed News that he was a source for a bombshell CNN report last month claiming that Cohen was willing to testify to Special Counsel Robert Mueller that Trump knew in advance about a meeting between Don Trump Jr and a Russian lawyer in Trump Tower in 2016. That claim, Davis now says, he cannot confirm.

The report cited anonymous sources, saying that Davis had declined to comment on the record. Now Davis says that he was one of the background sources, and couldn't clear up the record until Cohen pleaded guilty last week, because of the ongoing criminal investigation.

Lanny Davis (above) has backpedaled on several key claims, severely undermining the possibility that Cohen could tie President Trump to claims of Russian election interference

Cohen (above) pleaded guilty last week to several charges, which Davis says allowed him to finally speak out to clarify the record now that the criminal investigation is ended

The CNN report, which got prime-time play on the network, excited the President's opponent's with the possibility that Cohen had and was willing to offer prosecutors information damaging to Trump.

Top CNN reporters Jim Sciutto, Marshall Cohen and Carl Bernstein - of Watergate reporting fame - had bylines on the story.

CNN is standing by its report.

Other outlets that raced to confirm the CNN 'scoop' in July, including the New York Post and Washington Post, have now admitted that Davis was their source, and published the lawyer's apologies for misleading them.

'I regret that I wasn't clear enough to The Post. I should have been more clear. I could not independently confirm the information in the CNN story,' Davis told the New York paper.

'I regret my error,' Davis said to the DC outlet.

Davis also is hedging suggestions he made on television last week that Cohen could tell Mueller about whether Trump was aware of and encouraged Russian hacking during the 2016 campaign before it became publicly known.

CNN is standing by its July report (above) that said Cohen was willing to testify that Trump knew about the Trump Tower meeting in advance

After suggesting to CNN last Wednesday that 'Cohen was an observer and was a witness to Mr. Trump's awareness of those emails before they were dropped,' Cohen told the Washington Post, 'there's a possibility that is the case. But I am not sure.'

Davis is not alone in backtracking on his claims, with Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani also admitting he had misspoken about the Trump Tower meeting.

He told NBC News on August 19 that he didn't know if participants in the meeting, including Trump Jr and Paul Manafort, knew that lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya 'was Russian at the time.'

'All they had was her name,' Giuliani said.

In fact, emails released by Trump Jr himself make clear that he was explicitly told an attendee at the meeting would be a 'Russian government attorney' who wanted to provide damaging information about Clinton.

Additionally, Trump Jr has said he didn't have the lawyer's name prior to the meeting.

Trump, who has denied knowing about the meeting, seized on Davis' about-face.

'Michaels Cohen's attorney clarified the record, saying his client does not know if President Trump knew about the Trump Tower meeting (out of which came nothing!),' Trump tweeted on Saturday. 'The answer is that I did NOT know about the meeting. Just another phony story by the Fake News Media!'A man who ordered four cokes from a McDonald's drive-thru before being found slumped over the wheel of his car may have been poisoned.

The man, aged in his 60's, was found slurring his words and couldn't keep eye contact as he sat in his car in the fast food restaurant's car park.

Paramedics arrived at the Noble Park McDonald's, in Melbourne's south-east, at about 12.30pm on Tuesday afternoon following reports of a suspected poisoning.

It was reported he was rushed to Dandenong hospital.

A man who ordered four cokes from a McDonald's drive-thru (pictured) has been rushed to hospital. Witnesses say he may have been poisoned

The man was seen going through drive-thru twice, purchasing four cokes before he was found in a delirious state

Noble Park Mcdonald's general manager Shehani Wick told the Sunshine Coast Daily the man had gone through the store's drive-thru twice.

'He was sitting in his car in the car park drinking the cokes,' she told the publication.

'He was a bit aggressive but alright in the end.'

A spokesperson from Victoria Ambulance told Daily Mail Australia they did pick the man up from the car park and take him to the hospital.

They said he was taken in a stable condition, but were unable to confirm or deny the allegations of poisoning.

'We're not sure if its poisoning at all, but that is what we had a call for.'

A spokeswoman from Dandenong hospital said the man was not in their care.

Daily Mail has contacted Mcdonald's Noble Park for further comment.The mistake Peter Dutton (pictured) made the night before the leadership vote is revealed

The critical mistake that Peter Dutton made before the leadership vote has been revealed.

Mr Dutton appears to have been so sure he would win the Liberal leadership spill that he went out for a 'celebratory' dinner - only to then lose to Scott Morrison.

While Mr Dutton was out eating with ally Mathias Cormann, Mr Morrison was sitting in his office at Parliament House making calls as he tried to gain as much support as possible from his colleagues.

Labor campaign strategist and commentator Dee Madigan told news.com.au that the 'mood' of the rebel camp's dinner was 'celebratory', as though the vote had already gone in Mr Dutton's favour.

'Dutton out to dinner instead of making phone calls was such a surprise to me,' Ms Madigan said.

It followed the decision by former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to delay the party room meeting until Friday at midday - a move that allowed Mr Morrison to garner his votes.

It seems that the expectant Prime Minister-to-be Peter Dutton (right) was out celebrating his win with his supporters (Mathias Cormann pictured left, was at the dinner) before it had even happened

Ms Madigan said that this was the most important decision made throughout the entire chaotic week.

'It gave Scott Morrison time to do the numbers, which is what Turnbull would've wanted. It was the only sound thing to happen,' she said.

When the rebel camp went into the party room meeting on Friday, they expected to exit with Mr Dutton as Australia's next Prime Minister.

The history books will show the former home affairs minister made a grave miscalculation, as Mr Morrison swept up 45 votes compared to Mr Dutton's 40.

After a week-long saga that saw Mr Dutton attempt to rid Mr Turnbull of his leadership position, both he and his supporters were confident they held the majority to push him into the top spot.

However, when the three-way vote between Mr Dutton, Mr Morrison and Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop came to fruition, the rebel camp discovered some of their supporters had changed their minds over the risk of another High Court scandal.

On Thursday night, Mr Dutton and his supporters scrambled to obtain 40 of the 43 signatures Mr Turnbull demanded in order for the party room meeting to go ahead.

With just three votes left, Mr Dutton and his team were confident they would be able to acquire them the following morning.

The history books will show the former home affairs minister made a grave miscalculation, as Scott Morrison (pictured, middle) swept up 45 votes compared to Mr Dutton's 40

Yet, the camp came to a standstill on Friday morning when Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue QC informed Mr Dutton that there was a 'risk' to his eligibility.

It was believed that Mr Dutton may have been seen as 'ineligible' by the High Court under section 44 of the Constitution, as his family trust owns two childcare centres in Brisbane.

Concerns were raised among the MPs who pledged their support for Mr Dutton, as they didn't want to face the risk of another High Court crisis.

This saw some of them sway their allegiance and vote for Scott Morrison, Australia's next - and 30th - Prime Minister.

The result came as an embarrassment to Mr Dutton, who had been just a few votes a away from defeating Mr Turnbull in a spill just days earlier.Three men accused of conspiring a terror plot in Melbourne were allegedly motivated by the belief they would die as martyrs and enter paradise, a Supreme Court trial has been told.

Hamza Abbas, 23, Ahmed Mohamed, 25 and Abdullah Chaarani, 27, faced day one of their trial on Tuesday, each charged with conspiring or preparing for acts of terror targeting Flinders Street Station, Federation Square and St Paul's Cathedral on Christmas Day, 2016.

Three men accused of conspiring a terror plot in Melbourne allegedly bought supplies for improvised explosives from Bunnings (stock image) in Broadmeadows, court told

Prosecutors allege the men purchased metal pipes from Bunnings in Broadmeadows, hydrogen peroxide from Chemist Warehouse, and light globes and batteries to make "improvised explosive devices".

In his opening to the jury, prosecutor Nicholas Papas QC said the men wanted to wage jihad against disbelievers, known as "kafirs".

"The crown case is that each accused followed an extreme brand of Sunni Islam, which had, as one of its central aims, a violent jihad - a violent struggle, against its disbelievers around the world," he said.

Mr Papas said Australia was viewed as a country of disbelievers.

He added it was expected "the terrorist act would also result in the death of the accused", which meant "they would ascend to paradise as a martyr".

It's alleged that Hamza Abbas, 23, Ahmed Mohamed, 25 and Abdullah Chaarani, 27, bought hydrogen peroxide from Chemist Warehouse (stock image) to make their 'improvised explosives'.

Footage was shown to jurors of the men on the steps of Federation Square, which the Crown alleges was a "reconnoitre".

Mr Papas said the men planned for a terrorist act at the central location where people gathered "to maximise casualties".

The trial, which is expected to take up to 10 weeks, continues.Prime Minister Scott Morrison has become well known for his 'ScoMo' nickname to the point where it appears on his Facebook profile (pictured)

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has become well-known for his 'ScoMo' nickname.

But where the nickname originated from remains the subject of much conjecture.

Twitter was abuzz this week as journalists laid claim to coining 'ScoMo'.

Mr Morrison for his part has embraced the moniker, to the point where his Facebook profile even mentions the nickname.

Back in January 2017 when Ray Hadley introduced Mr Morrison on his 2GB radio program, he said 'should I say ScoMo'.

'That's what I've been tagged as so I may as well embrace it,' Mr Morrison said.

Hadley replied: 'So you're on Facebook now as Scott Morrison Treasurer, in brackets, ScoMo'.

'That's how people are increasingly getting to know me, so I'm happy to take the nickname,' Mr Morrison said.

About 18 months earlier, Mr Morrison had appeared on the same radio station, where he was interviewed by Ben Fordham.

Scroll down for video

Mr Morrison (pictured) said he when he was a youngster, he had the nickname 'Scotty Mo'

Mr Fordham had said to Mr Morrison at the end of the interview: 'Before I let you go we are talking nicknames this afternoon and we have got a bit of a challenge running. You picked up one recently which is Scott Morrison being shortened down to'.

'ScoMo. These things I think Ben you just  you don't get much say over these things, you just embrace them,' Mr Morrison responded.

When asked if he previously had any other nicknames, Mr Morrison said he had.

'When I was a kid I was known as Scotty Mo so I suppose  because my best mate was Scott Merryman and he was called Scotty Me. So it was Scotty Me and Scotty Mo,' he said.

Former political journalist Fleur Anderson said on Twitter she was the one who first used 'ScoMo' in print

Journalist Uma Patel said she used 'ScoMo' in 2013, posting a copy of an email to Twitter to back-up her claims

Former Australian Financial Review political reporter Fleur Anderson said she had used the nickname 'ScoMo' in print first after listening to her husband, fellow AFR reporter Phillip Coorey.

'Actually while I can claim to be the first to use it in print, I nicked it from Phillip Coorey's singsong utterances in the office. ScooooooMoooooo,' she posted on Twitter.

Uma Patel, a former journalist with the ABC and Sky News, now living in Berlin, said she first coined the phrase 'ScoMo' in 2013 and posted a copy of an email to back-up her claims.

A tweet from the VEXNEWS political website in December 2011 which used 'ScoMo'

'For the haters: This is a copy of an e-mail where I used ScoMo in 2013. Case closed, I started it,' she wrote.

She later said: 'I obviously expect royalties from any ScoMo related memorabilia'.

The nickname was also referenced in a tweet from the now shut-down political website, Vexnews, which was run by Andrew Landeryou, back in December 2011.

Daily Mail Australia contacted the Prime Minister for comment.Dexter Bristol, 57, collapsed outside his London home and died in March

The family of a Windrush migrant, who died trying to prove he had British citizenship, stormed out of an inquest as the coroner dismisses their claim the Home Office's policy caused his death.

Dexter Bristol, 57, collapsed in the street outside his home in Camden and died on March 31.

At the time of his death, he was caught up in the Windrush immigration scandal that saw people deported, detained or denied access to benefits and healthcare because they could not prove they were in the country legally.

His mother Sentina Bristol said he had spent the last year of his life trying to untangle his immigration status with the Home Office.

She said that despite the fact he came to Britain from Grenada in 1968, he had been classified as an illegal immigrant, denied benefits and sacked from his job because he had no passport.

An inquest into his death was held at St Pancras Coroner's Court on Tuesday.

Coroner Dr William Dolman ruled that the Home Office should not be an interested party in the inquest as its policy was not relevant to the immediate circumstances of his death.

He said it is 'absolutely clear that he was under some sort of distress or pressure' but that this did not come solely from his immigration status.

At the time of his death, he was caught up in the immigration scandal that saw people deported, detained or denied access to benefits and healthcare because they could not prove they were in the country legally

Mr Bristol's mother Sentina stands with Irene Nembhard (left) as they issue a statement outside St Pancras Coroners Court after walking out of his inquest today

Una Morris, representing Mr Bristol's family, repeatedly tried to make submissions to the court about the role Home Office policy might have played in his death.

Dr Dolman accused her of 'trying to tell me how to run my court' and repeatedly ordered her to sit down.

He abruptly called a break after the heated exchange between the two of them.

Dr Dolman later apologised to Ms Morris and Mr Bristol's family, saying: 'I didn't mean any discourtesy at all.'

A second break was called at the family's request as Ms Morris said they are 'considering whether they want to continue participating with this process'.

Ms Morris responded: 'My concern isn't for myself as much as the impact on the family, the family are deeply upset at the way you spoke to me.'

His mother Sentina Bristol (pictured today) said her son had spent the last year of his life trying to untangle his immigration status with the Home Office

After the family left, Coroner Dr William Dolman ruled that Mr Bristol died from natural causes, an acute cardiac arrhythmia.

He added: 'I accept from the evidence that the deceased was suffering from a great deal of stress at the time.'

He passed his sympathy on to the family and said: 'I am so sorry that they are not here to have heard the evidence.

'All that might have been asked I have tried to ask on their behalf.'

Una Morris, representing Mr Bristol's family, tried to make submissions to the court about the role Home Office policy might have played in his death. A coroner accused her of 'trying to tell me how to run my court' and ordered her to sit down. Pictured: Sentina Bristol (left), arrives with a lawyer for the family (right) and a relative at the Poplar Coroner's Court in July

Mr Bristol's immigration lawyer Jacqueline McKenzie said after the hearing: 'It's really distressing that the family decided that they couldn't participate in the proceedings - I think that's really sad but I think they were quite right to do so.

'I think the start of the proceedings were very, very difficult, I think the coroner did not show courtesy to the family or to their legal team so I understand how they feel.'

She added: 'We saw at the outset a very robust person but distressed by the fact that he was having to prove his status in the country, even though he had been here since 1968.

'He was prepared to fight but as the months went on and he was required to find more evidence it became very difficult and we saw him just decline into a shadow of himself.'Victoria Atkins (pictured), MP for Louth and Horncastle, said that she is 'a little cautious' about the number of teenagers undergoing gender reassignment treatment

Transgender activists have been accused of 'sacrificing the welfare of children on the altar of political correctness' following a row over a minister's comments.

The minister for women was slammed by transgender campaigners for saying that young people are having their gender reassigned as 'an answer to questions they are perhaps not asking themselves'.

Victoria Atkins, MP for Louth and Horncastle, said the country needed to remain 'particularly alert' about young people seeking 'life-changing' medical intervention and that she is 'a little cautious' about the number of teenagers undergoing gender reassignment treatment.

But LGBT+ campaigners accused her making 'damaging' comments and warned that people's 'lives are at stake' - prompting her fellow Tory MPs to leap to her defence and accuse the campaigners of shutting down debate.

Tim Loughton, a Tory MP and former children's minister, said that Ms Atkins is 'absolutely right' to be cautious about children 'rushing' to change their genders, The Telegraph reports.

'Nobody is trying to suppress the right of young people to express themselves and their sexuality in any way,' he said. 'Of course we should be cautious and give them all the support they need on life changing decisions about their gender.

'My concern is that those who have a political agenda seem to want to sacrifice the welfare of children on the altar of political correctness and equalities whereas every child needs to be respected and supported in their own right. This is about individuals, not other people's agendas.'

Trans activist Fox Fisher told MailOnline: 'Trans youth and trans teenagers are an incredibly vulnerable group that need our support.

Trans activist Fox Fisher told MailOnline: 'Trans youth and trans teenagers are an incredibly vulnerable group that need our support - the Womens Minister concerns need to be put into perspective and she needs to look into the actual reality of treatment given to trans people, and she needs to consult with trans organisations and people that work on the ground'

'There is a big misconception that they are being given treatment such as hormones and surgeries, but trans teens are not given access to any hormones until at least at 16 and surgeries until after 18 years old.

'The Womens Minister concerns need to be put into perspective and she needs to look into the actual reality of treatment given to trans people, and she needs to consult with trans organisations and people that work on the ground.

'It is damaging to imply that trans teens are being given treatment lightly, as behind it are decades of research and best practice. Trans peoples lives are at stake here, and we know what we need.'

The UK's specialist gender reassignment clinic  Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) in London - have seen patients as young as four among the 50 children a week they have asking to change their gender.

Figures released last year revealed two four-year-olds, four children aged five and 17 six-year-olds have been referred to the centre.

The number of pensioners who want to change their birth gender is also slowly increasing year by year, from eight in 2008/09 to 11 in 2015/16.

According to the latest NHS figures, 82 people over the age of 60 underwent surgery to change their gender between 2008 and 2016 - with seven of those 71 or over.

Mrs Atkins  also the drugs minister - was last accused in May of a 'massive conflict of interest' after it emerged her husband operates Britain's largest cannabis farm - albeit perfectly legally.

Her husband, Paul Kenward, is managing director of British Sugar, which last year started growing substantial amounts of marijuana in Norfolk intended for medical use.EU negotiator Michel Barnier threatened to boycott Brexit talks if Theresa May insisted on basing a deal on her Chequers plans, it emerged today.

Mr Barnier furiously told officials the controversial proposals could save British businesses billions of pounds a year if they were able to trade in Europe free from many EU regulations.

Mrs May's plans - loathed by Brexiteers and criticised by the EU - imagine Britain voluntarily following EU rules on goods while leaving the single market and customs union to pursue trade deals and innovative services products.

EU negotiator Michel Barnier (right with Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab last week) threatened to boycott Brexit talks if Theresa May insisted on basing a deal on her Chequers plans

Mrs May's (pictured today arriving in South Africa) plans imagine Britain voluntarily following EU rules on goods while leaving the single market and customs union to pursue trade deals and innovative services products

The prospect of the EU suspending negotiations will raise further the prospect of talks ending in failure and Britain crashing out without a deal.

The Prime Minister today slapped down Chancellor Philip Hammond for grim warnings about what a no deal would mean for Britain - insisting it would not be 'the end of the world'.

Politico revealed Mr Barnier's threat after it was revealed by officials who attended a meeting on the Chequers plan.

It reported: 'According to four officials present at the meeting, the Commission offered a very negative assessment of the Chequers proposal.

'Barnier's team were adamant that if Britain formally put forward the plan then it should boycott the talks altogether, according to two officials.

'A third official said that the Commission representatives objected to the UK proposals, but in less dramatic terms.'

Mrs May has been scrambling to insist Britain is ready for a break down in talks.

But the effort was undermined last week by the Chancellor warning of a huge hit to the economy if there is no deal.

But while flying to South Africa for a trade mission today, Mrs May said: 'First of all I understand the Chancellor was talking about a set of figures that came out in January,' she said.

'Look at what the director of the WTO said. He said about the no deal situation that it would not be a walk in the park but it would not be the end of the world.

'What the government is doing is putting in place the preparations such that if we are in that situation we can make as success of it, just as we can make a success of the good deal I believe we are able to get.'

But she added: 'I've said right from the beginning that no deal is better than a bad deal.

'I think it is absolutely right that government is preparing for no deal, because we don't know what the outcome of this will be.'

Mr Hammond (pictured on June 6) was accused of launching a 'dodgy Project Fear' on Thursday when he suggested that GDP could fall and borrowing could be around 80 billion a year under a scenario in which Britain resorted to World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms after a no-deal Brexit

The Prime Ministers spokesman today refused to say whether MPs would be shown an economic analysis of what no deal would mean for Britain before a vote on whatever is negotiated in Brussels.

The spokesman said: There is a range of work being conducted, I'm not going to stand here and set out precisely what that work will set out.

He added that MPs would be shown the appropriate analysis at the time of any vote on a deal, while preparations continued for a no deal to ensure Britain continues to thrive outside the EU in whatever scenario'.

The Prime Minister has ordered her Cabinet to meet on September 13 to work out a plan for critical areas not yet covered by no deal plans.

Mrs May has called her no deal crisis summit amid fears the row between Brexiteers and Remainers is undermining negotiations with Brussels.

The meeting comes as Dominic Raab risked a Cabinet row with Philip Hammond after questioning the worth of economic forecasts about Brexit, days after the Chancellor warned that no deal could cause major damage.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, the Brexit Secretary said that some projections needed to be treated with 'a measure of caution', adding that GDP estimates for 2019 'have been revised up.

Mr Hammond was accused of launching a 'dodgy Project Fear' on Thursday when he suggested that GDP could fall and borrowing could be around 80 billion a year under a scenario in which Britain resorted to World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms after a no-deal Brexit.

Without naming Mr Hammond, Mr Raab told the Sunday Times: 'I'm always chary of any forecast because most of them have been proved to be wrong.'Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.A Chinese passenger plane with 166 people on board made an emergency landing with two wheels missing at Shenzhen airport on Tuesday, after the pilots aborted landing at nearby Macau and declared 'Mayday', aviation authorities said.

Flight JD5759, which had taken off from Beijing, was operated by Capital Airlines, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in a statement on its website. Capital Airlines is a unit of Hainan Airlines.

The crew also reported a fault in one of the Airbus A320's engines at about 11:40am local time, about three hours and 20 minutes into the journey, according to CAAC.

The Capital Airlines passenger plane with 166 people on board made an emergency landing with two wheels missing at Shenzhen airport on Tuesday after pilots aborted landing at Macau

Pictures circulating online shows two of the landing gear wheels missing from the aircraft

The authority added that there were 157 passengers and nine crew on board.

Capital Airlines said in a post on Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, that it suspected the flight encountered wind shear whilst attempting to land in Macau and the crew 'concluded that landing gear may have been damaged.'

Despite having two wheels missing, the plane landed safety at Shenzhen at about 11:58am and all passengers and crew members were evacuated at 12:13pm.

Footage posted online shows passengers evacuating the plane via emergency slides at the Shenzhen airport while pictures circulating online shows two of the landing gear wheels missing from the aircraft.

The plane's impaired left engine was also pictured, reportedly damaged by the flying debris of its wheels.

The plane's impaired left engine was reportedly damaged by the flying debris of the wheels

Footage posted online shows passengers evacuating the plane via emergency slides

One of the plane's broken front landing gear tyres (left) and debris (right) from the wheels were collected after the incident. All 166 people on board were evacuated safely after the landing

The airport at Shenzhen, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north-east of the gambling hub of Macau, shut one of its runways for three hours to accommodate the emergency landing, the airport said on its official Weibo account.

CACC said five passengers suffered minor injuries following the scare and were taken to hospital.

It also added that the incident caused delays to a total of 161 other flights at the airport. The airport has arranged for the affected passengers to reach Macau by ferry.

Tuesday's incident comes just three days after flight JD5158 - also an A320 - experienced a sudden drop in altitude and cabin pressure mid-air on Sunday following reported mechanical failure.

The aircraft's 146 passengers and nine crew travelling from Kunming, Yunnan province, to Hangzhou, Zhejiang province had spent only 20 minutes in the air when oxygen masks were dropped and they were diverted back to Kunming.Advertisement

From Typhoons soaring over the snowy mountains of the Falkland Islands to the Red Arrows flying over Buckingham Palace, they are photographs that stiffen the sinews.

And these stunning images represent the best of more than 1,000 pictures and 25 videos entered into this year's RAF Photographic Competition, a contest which has now run for nearly three decades.

Other impressive photographs include a firefighter involved in fire training at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire, and an RAF Puma HC2 flying over Kabul in Afghanistan as part of a sortie in support of Operation Toral.

Also entered into the competition was a shot of an RAF Airbus A400M Atlas taking part in the Royal International Air Tattoo, and an RAF Typhoon taxiing to the threshold at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.

Another amazing picture showed a Battle of Britain Memorial Flight fighter pilot sheltering from the sun at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire under his Spitfire while an aerobatic display team banked in formation overhead.

But the top prize went to Sergeant Rob Travis for his stunning portfolio of Typhoons and Voyagers taken in the Falkland Islands, which won first place in the RAF Photographer of the Year section.

The competition, which also features a corporal's 'Selfie' taken during a routine training sortie over Anglesey in North Wales, is intended to showcase the RAF's work and the skills of its service and civilian photographers.

'Selfie' taken by Corporal Tim Laurence RAF, during a routine training sortie over the coast of Anglesey, Wales, in an RAF Hawk T2, from IV Squadron based at RAF Valley, entered in the People's Choice category in the RAF Photographer of the Year

An RAF Puma HC2 flying over Kabul, Afghanistan, as part of a sortie in support of Operation Toral, titled 'Flaring Up' by Corporal Lee Matthews - entered in the People's Choice category in the RAF Photographer of the Year 2018 competition

Corporal Emma Pook, one of two women firefighters at RAF Benson, in a photo taken during section fire training (left); and a Red Arrows flypast over London on July 10 in the Royal Air Force's centenary year, taken by Corporal Tim Laurence (right)

Two RAF Typhoons flying over the mountains in the West Falklands in a photograph taken by Sergeant Rob Travis RAF, part of a portfolio which won first place in the RAF Photographer of the Year of the 2018 Royal Air Force Photographic Competition

Flight Lieutenant Andy Preece, a Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Fighter Pilot, shelters from the sun at RAF Fairford under the wing of his PR MkXIX Spitfire while the Spanish Patrulla Aguila aerobatic display team bank in formation overhead

An RAF Airbus A400M Atlas taking part in the Royal International Air Tattoo 2018 titled 'Last of the Titans'by Senior Aircraftman Chris Thompson-Watts, part of a portfolio which took second place in the RAF Photographer of the Year

An RAF Voyager taking off from Mount Pleasant Complex on the Falkland Islands, in another photo by Sergeant Rob Travis

A photo called 'Six One Seven' by Corporal Tim Laurence which took second place in the RAF 100 section of the competition

A Royal Air Force Typhoon taxiing to the threshold at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, in a photograph taken by Corporal Lee Matthews

A 2018 Typhoon Display Team performing at the Royal International Air Tattoo 2018, titled Up, 'Up and Away' by Senior Aircraftman Chris Thompson-Watts (left), and RAF Red Arrows during the transit from Kuwait City to Doha, Qatar, as part of the RAFAT Eastern Hawk Tour 2017, titled 'Parallels' taken by Senior Aircraftman Hannah Smoker )rogjt_

The RAF's new F-35B Lightning salutes the crowd at the 2018 Royal International Air Tattoo, in a photo titled 'Look Who Popped In' by Senior aircraftman Chris Thompson-Watts, part of a portfolio which took third place in the RAF 100 section

'Circles of Confusion' by Sergeant Rachel Malthouse, which took third place in the RAF Photographic Section PortfolioA Qantas plane bound for Texas was forced to turn back to Sydney on Tuesday after passengers started hearing an 'unbearable whistling sound'.

Flight QF7 had only been in the air for a couple of hours when passengers noticed a very loud 'whistling' sound coming from one of the plane's doors.

Upon learning of the noise, the pilot diverted the plane and headed straight back to Kingsford Smith Airport in Sydney - but not before dumping fuel into the ocean.

One passenger aboard flight QF7 who managed to capture footage (pictured) of the plane dumping fuel into the ocean telephoned radio station 2GB to talk about the ordeal

Qantas told news.com.au in a statement that the decision to turn around and head back to Sydney was based on passenger comfort and not safety.

'A door seal was creating a high pitched whistling noise in the cabin so in the interests of passenger comfort the captain decided to return to Sydney,' the spokesperson said.

The Qantas spokesperson said at no time were passengers in any danger, and added engineers have since begun inspecting the aircraft to ensure its safety.

'Cabin pressure was always maintained and the aircraft landed safely and without incident,' the spokesperson said.

One passenger aboard flight QF7 who managed to capture footage of the plane dumping fuel into the ocean telephoned radio station 2GB to talk about the ordeal.

The passenger, who identified himself as Colin, told the radio host the cause of the 'whistling' sound was due to a faulty door seal.

Qantas flight QF7 had only been in the air - on its way from Sydney to Dallas - for a couple of hours when passengers noticed a very loud 'whistling' sound coming from one of the plane's doors (flight path pictured)

The passenger said that cabin crew informed everyone on board that the plane would return to Sydney due to the sound being 'unbearable'.

'It was more than just the whistling noise because the steward told us that passengers couldn't sit near the door because it was far too noisy and [cabin crew] couldn't work near the door,' he said.

He told radio host Ben Fordham cabin crew had also explained to him that the decision to dump some fuel was necessary for safety reasons.

'They actually have to dump fuel because they can't land heavy - it's too dangerous,' Colin said.

The passenger then told Fordham he was happy with the airline's decision to head back to Sydney, saying it was a 'sensible thing to do'.

While no one was reportedly injured during the mid-flight ordeal, it's not the first time a Qantas plane bound for Dallas, Texas has had to turn around and head back to Sydney.

Another Qantas QF7 plane on the same route had to return back to Sydney in 2017.

At the time, Qantas officials said: 'The flaps on the aircraft (attached to the wing) are unable to retract which means the aircraft cant fly efficiently,' news.com.au reported.A British man facing a rape retrial in Australia will be allowed to fly home while he awaits his court hearing as long as he pays 102,000 (180,000 Australian dollar) in bail.

Scott Richardson is accused of raping an American woman while she slept at a property in the Redfern suburb of Sydney in December 2015.

He was originally found guilty of the sex attack, but that conviction was then quashed on appeal following a row over DNA evidence.

An Australian court has now taken the 'very rare' step of allowing the 26-year-old to leave the country while he awaits his retrial, provided the large sum of money is put down to ensure he returns.

Scott Richardson is facing a retrial for rape in Sydney over an alleged sex attack in 2015

Richardson, who has spent more than 21 months in prison, was said to be 'relieved' at the prospect of being released and his lawyer says he is looking forward to 'the opportunity to clear his name'.

He appeared for the bail hearing at the Downing Centre court in Sydney by video link from Bathurst Correctional Complex today.

Wearing a dark green jumper and glasses, he thanked district court judge Helen Syme as she granted conditional bail.

Judge Syme said one of the conditions was that 'two acceptable persons deposit a first amount of 130,000 dollars (74,000) and the second amount of 50,000 dollars (28,000)'.

Richardson is also prohibited from contacting the alleged victim or witnesses in the case.

His lawyer, Nick Hanna, said it was 'very rare' for a defendant to be allowed to reside outside the jurisdiction while on bail.

Mr Richardson was originally arrested over an allegation he raped a woman in the Redfern district of Sydney in December 2015

Mr Hanna told the Press Association: 'He's relieved to have had his conviction overturned and to have been granted bail and he looks forward to the opportunity to clear his name at the retrial next March.'

Richardson was found guilty of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent on December 13, 2016 after a trial.

He has been held in custody ever since, having been ordered serve at least two years and three months in prison.

Richardson saw his conviction for the alleged 2015 attack quashed after an appeal court heard new DNA evidence had come to light in July.

Appeal judges in New South Wales heard that DNA tests using a more advanced method than that used during his trial had found profiles of two men, rather than one.

Richardson's retrial is due to take place next year.Theresa May today laughed off mockery over her awkward 'Maybot' dancing with schoolchildren during a visit to South Africa.

The Prime Minister's toe-curling moves as she watched a display of traditional singing and dancing sparked comparisons with footballer Peter Crouch's famous 'robot'.

But responding to the slew of ridicule tonight, Mrs May admitted: 'I suspect my dancing this morning might not make it on to Strictly.'

The premier's toe-curling bid to copy the children's movements had TV viewers watching through their fingers as she jerked and shuffled her way across the playground.

A video of her dance moves provoked hilarity online, with Twitter jokers comparing her to the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz.

Theresa May risked acute embarrassment today as she danced with school children on the first day of her African tour

Appearing to copy the dance moves around her, the PM shuffled toward the children while grinning for the cameras

Mrs May was greeted by a crowd of singing children and indulged in a dance in the playground - watched on by aides and reporters

Social media users were quick to mock the Prime Minister's 'wooden' dance moves

Others were more forgiving, sympathising with Mrs May for being made to dance on TV, something which they said would terrify most British people.

Twitter user Andrew Jones joked: 'Theresa May has stolen my 'I should have gone to bed at least an hour ago' wedding dance.'

Sky News reporter Alan McGuinness added: 'Theresa May is me at weddings after being dragged to the dance floor and forced to dance after an entire evening of avoiding doing so.'

The Prime Minister was visiting the I.D. Mkize Secondary School, which takes part in a British Council funded teacher exchange, to promote ties between Britain and South Africa.

Her dancing skills saw her compared to Peter Crouch, the Tin Man and Futurama robot Bender

Others suggested Simon Cowell or Craig Revell-Horwood would have been less than impressed and others said they were watching through their fingers

Others were more sympathetic, remembering times they embarrassed themselves dancing

At a packed school assembly, Mrs May told pupils: 'Can I thank all those young people who were involved in the performances outside who welcomed me.'

She added: 'What I see before me in this hall today is the future of South Africa.'

In a round of broadcast interviews tonight, Mrs May said: 'I have to say it was a great welcome from the school today; everybody was dancing, it was great excitement, it was a fantastic moment and a great welcome to South Africa.'

The Prime Minister is to make clear the 13billion annual development budget will 'unashamedly' be used for the UK's 'national interest'.

Mrs May landed in Cape Town this morning on board the RAF Voyager following a 12-hour flight ahead of a three-day tour of South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.

Maybot malfunctions: How Theresa May's time in Downing Street has been hit with a series of gaffes The Prime Minister was dubbed the 'Maybot' due to a series of wooden performances in interviews and her reliance on pre-written phrases such as 'Brexit means Brexit'. Her time as British leader has been punctuated with a series of gaffes and embarrassments. The day before she assumed office, she walked out of Downing Street's famous door for cameras, then had to turn around when she realised she had gone the wrong way. Then in October last year, came her car crash speech h to the party conference. Her leadership was under fire and she was under pressure to set out a coherent vision of Brexit, but the speech was almost like a pantomine act. She repeatedly had to stop due to coughing and to be handed cough sweets, while letters from the slogan 'Building a country that works for everyone' began falling off the wall behind her. In an interview question last summer designed to show her more human side, she was asked what was the 'naughtiest' thing she had ever done. But her answer provoked fresh derision when she replied that her worst actions were when she had 'run through fields of wheat' as a child. She scored another own goal last year when she was watching an England vs France football match and rose out of time for a Mexican wave, unlike her French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. At another speech in March this year, she appeared in front of a background of a brick wall, with a brick pattern on her lecturn. Jokers said the strange set made her look like Thomas the Tank Engine's Henry when he is bricked into a tunnel, or Bob the Building. Advertisement

The visit came ahead of a speech in which Mrs May vowed to deploy Britain's aid budget to help boost post- Brexit trade with Africa as she kicks off a visit to the continent

May outlined Britain's first post-Brexit trade pact as she also committed the UK to providing an extra 4 billion of investment in African economies.

The Prime Minister said the Government intends to carry over the EU's economic partnership agreement with Mozambique and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), which consists of South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland.

Mrs May's pledge came during a keynote speech in Cape Town on how the UK plans to use its aid budget in the 'national interest', encourage private firms to invest on the continent and help offer security and jobs to stabilise African economies.

She said an additional 4 billion of UK investment aimed to 'pave the way' for at least another 4 billion from private sector financing, as part of the Government's ambition to overhaul the United States as the G7's top investor in Africa.

The UK is also to sign a new agreement to 'repatriate huge sums of money that have been illegally removed from Kenya', allowing this to be returned to its 'rightful owners' and invested in the country, Mrs May said.

But she denied the UK has neglected Africa, pointing to visits by former foreign secretary Boris Johnson.

Mrs May landed in Cape Town this morning on board the RAF Voyager following a 12-hour flight ahead of a three-day tour of South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria

Theresa May (pictured on Sunday in Maidenhead) will vow to deploy Britain's aid budget to help boost post-Brexit trade with Africa as she kicks off a visit to the continent

The Prime Minister is to make clear the 13billion annual development budget will 'unashamedly' be used for the UK's 'national interest' (file image)

International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt (file image) has been pushing for money to be used more creatively to help further the government's key objectives

May vows to bolster Brexit Britain's ties to Africa Theresa May will bang the drum for post-Brexit Britain this week as she heads for Africa in a bid to boost trade ties. The Prime Minister is taking a business delegation to South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya on a whirlwind three-day tour. Amid mounting pressure over the deadlock in negotiations with the EU, Mrs May insisted the the trip demonstrates the UK's 'ambition' on the global stage. Mrs May said: 'Africa stands right on the cusp of playing a transformative role in the global economy, and as longstanding partners this trip is a unique opportunity at a unique time for the UK to set out our ambition to work even closer together. 'A more prosperous, growing and trading Africa is in all of our interests and its incredible potential will only be realised through a concerted partnership between governments, global institutions and business. 'As we prepare to leave the European Union, now is the time for the UK to deepen and strengthen its global partnerships. 'This week I am looking forward to discussing how we can do that alongside Africa to help deliver important investment and jobs as well as continue to work together to maintain stability and security. 'I am proud to be leading this ambitious trip to Africa and to become the first UK Prime Minister in over 30 years to visit Kenya.' Advertisement

Downing Street believes helping young people in Africa secure jobs will stabilise the economy of their country while also reducing the likelihood of them undertaking risky journeys to Europe.

Mrs May is taking part in a trade mission to South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, which also has a focus on security.

Speaking at the First National Bank in Cape Town, Mrs May said: 'As Prime Minister of a trading nation whose success depends on global markets, I want to see strong African economies that British companies can do business with in a free and fair fashion.

'Whether through creating new customers for British exporters or opportunities for British investors, our integrated global economy means healthy African economies are good news for British people as well as African people.

'That's why I'm delighted that we will today confirm plans to carry over the European Union's Economic Partnership Agreement with the Southern African Customs Union and Mozambique once the EU's deal no longer applies to the UK.'

Britain's overseas aid budget totalled 13.9 billion in 2017, an increase of 555 million in 2016 and in line with the legal commitment to invest 0.7% of national income in this area.

It has proven a controversial pledge among some Tory backbenchers, with successive international development secretaries vowing to use the cash to help develop trade against the backdrop of Brexit.

Mrs May made an 'unashamed' vow to ensure the aid programme works for the UK, explaining: 'Today I am committing that our development spending will not only combat extreme poverty, but at the same time tackle global challenges and support our own national interest.

'This will ensure that our investment in aid benefits us all, and is fully aligned with our wider national security priorities.'



The family of a Sydney girl who captured the heart of Duchess of Cambridge and made her laugh during her 2014 Royal visit to Australia have shared heartbreaking photos of their final adventure together.

Mia Murchison, 9, took her 'last little breath' in her parents' arms on August 17, after a long battle with Batten's disease which eventually robbed her of the ability to walk, talk, eat or see.

Her funeral was described by parents Peta and Hamish as 'the saddest and most beautiful day'.

Photos have been posted on social media of their 'final family adventure together with Mia' with her brave little brother Toby, 6, riding in the back of the car next to a beautifully decorated casket.

Brave Toby Murchison, 6, rode in the back of the car with the casket of his big sister Mia, who died earlier this month

Mia Murchison (pictured far right in 2014) who met Kate Middleton at her hospice in 2014 has died after a battle with Batten's disease

Mia's family plan to keep Mia's wooden name plate that was on the casket (pictured)

'It was very special Hamish driving Mia to her funeral himself in his car with Toby and I - our final family adventure together with Mia,' Peta wrote on Facebook.

'I was never going to ready for this goodbye but it was heavenly and more beautiful than I ever could have imagined. So raw and honest. Our family all coming together to cry, laugh, sob and honour our little girl.'

Mia's casket had a wooden name plate that her family will keep forever.

'I never thought you could like a casket but hers was so beautiful covered in flowers and so very Mia. I loved it,' Peta wrote.

'The most ethereal of flowers are in Mia's room. Pink ribbons and drawings by her friends pinned to her wall. It feels like we are being lifted up with all love pouring in to our little family.'

Mia's mother Peta said the beautiful casket (pictured) was 'so very Mia'

Mia's little brother Toby, 6, (pictured) had a big role to play in his family's 'final adventure together with Mia'

A public memorial service for Mia was held on Sydney's northern beaches on Tuesday (August 28).

Wearing her favourite 'princess dress', she met the Duchess of Cambridge at children's hospice Bear Cottage in Sydney in 2014.

The Mirror reports that even though she spent just a few minutes with her, little Mia, then aged four, managed to make the Duchess laugh when she tried to steal a bouquet of flowers she was carrying in her hand.

An amused Kate, who was visiting the hospice with Prince William. then said the youngster could keep them.

When Mia said the word 'baby' to her, the Duchess reportedly replied: 'Yes, I have a baby, baby George.'

A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise proceeds for charities that played a role in Mia's life, or offer support to children like Mia, which has already raised more than $38,000.

A public memorial service for Mia Murchison was held on Sydney's northern beaches this week

'I was never going to ready for this goodbye but it was heavenly and more beautiful than I ever could have imagined. Our family all coming together to cry, laugh, sob and honour our little girl,' Mia's family wrote after her funeral

Funds donated will go into the Mia Johannah Trust, which will distribute the proceeds to Riding for Disabled Association of Australia, Bear Cottage, Guide Dogs Australia and Batten Disease Support and Research Association.

'The love that Mia gave & the joyfulness that everyone experienced through Mia's life is her gift to us all,' the page states.

'However in the six years since Mia's diagnosis there have been countless supporters, champions, advocates, friends and professionals who have extended themselves for Mia and our family. We would like to recognize and support the organisations that supported Mia's joyful life.'

Mia's father Hamish drove Mia on their final family adventure together, with Mia's brother Toby in the back with her casket

On August 17 her family wrote on Facebook: 'Mia died this morning at home in our arms. So incredibly sad and beautiful. So very loved and adored'

Even though little Mia spent just a few minutes with the Duchess of Cambridge, it was reported she managed to make her laugh when she tried to steal a bouquet of flowers she was carrying in her hand

In 2013 Mia (right) was diagnosed with batten disease at Sydney Children's Hospital

Mia (left) was first diagnosed with epilepsy but her memory and language then deteriorated and she began to suffer frequent falls

Mia met the Duchess of Cambridge at a children's hospital in eastern Australia in 2014

Mia was born in Dublin, Ireland, a healthy, robust baby who walked at 12 months and passed all developmental milestones. But at the age of three, when her family was living in Singapore, she suffered her first seizure.

At first she was diagnosed with epilepsy, but the seizures started to become more regular.

Her language and memory deteriorated, and she began to suffer frequent falls.

In 2013, she was finally diagnosed with batten disease at Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick.

On August 17 her family confirmed the devastating news on Facebook: 'Mia died this morning at home in our arms. So incredibly sad and beautiful. So very loved and adored.'A Christian schoolgirl abducted by Boko Haram is still being held hostage by jihadists because she refused to convert to Islam.

Leah Sharibu, 15, was among more than 100 schoolgirls abducted from their hostel in the town of Dapchi in the conflict-ridden northeast of Nigeria on February 19.

As the only Christian among the hostages, the teenager remains in captivity months after all the other girls were released.

The terrorists returned 110 Dapchi girls to the town on March 21, following negotiations with the government.

Schoolgirls who were released after being kidnapped in Dapchi in northeast Nigeria. But their schoolmate, Leah Sharibu, remains in captivity because she would not convert to Islam

Both the government and the jihadists claimed no ransom was paid, but a UN report this month said Nigeria paid huge sums for the girls' release.

Some of the released girls said five schoolmates died in captivity while Sharibu was retained for refusing to forsake Christianity for Islam.

In an unverified chilling recording Boko Haram sent to local media late yesterday, Sharibu begged Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to work for her freedom.

Her father Nathan Sharibu spoke of his joy at hearing her voice.

Sharibu said in her native Hausa, a language widely spoken in the north of the country: 'I plead with, the government and the president to have pity for me and save me from my situation.'

Sharibu faltered and repeated herself in the recording, suggesting she was reading from a prepared text.

If verified, it would be the first evidence that Sharibu was alive since she was kidnapped.

The audio was accompanied by a picture of Sharibu clad in a light brown hijab revealing only her face, sitting on a mat in an undisclosed location.

As the only Christian among the 100 hostages, Leah remains in captivity months after all the other girls were released

Buhari's spokesman Garba Shehu said on Twitter: 'The secret service is analysing the voice. Our reaction will follow the outcome of the investigation.

'For President Buhari, nothing will be spared in bringing all our girls home. He will not rest until all of them are freed.'

Nathan Sharibu, Leah's father confirmed the voice was his daughter and urged the authorities to secure her release when he told AFP today: 'The voice in the audio is no doubt that of Leah.

'As her father I can't mistake her voice. I'm delighted to have heard her voice because it proved beyond doubt that my daughter is still alive.

'The government has not contacted me to verify if the voice is indeed that of Leah.'

Fighters believed to be loyal to an IS-affiliated Boko Haram faction led by Abu Mus'ab Al-Barnawi abducted the girls after storming the Government Girls Science and Technical College in Dapchi in Yobe state.

The incident evoked memories of the April 2014 kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in neighbouring Borno state.

Christian schoolgirl, Leah Sharibu, who was abducted by Boko Haram jihadists has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to secure her release in a chilling recording

Although more than 100 Chibok girls have been freed or rescued, some 112 are still missing.

Sharibu's case has stoked tensions among Christians, who have accused the government of failing to do enough to secure her release.

Nigeria is roughly evenly divided between Muslims and Christians and religious tensions lead to occasional flareups.

Sharibu's captivity has become a political issue with Buhari seeking a second term in office in February elections.Barry Stevens, 74, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, was given the task of guarding the Iron Lady for 20 years

A former detective has told of his work protecting Margaret Thatcher from assassination attempts and egg attacks in his work that echoes the plot of a hit BBC drama.

Barry Stevens, 74, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, was given the task of guarding the Iron Lady for 20 years, and was by her side throughout her time as Prime Minister from 1979 until 1990.

His life's work bears striking similarity to the BBC political thriller Bodyguard, which stars Keeley Hawes, telling the story of a protection officer for the Home Secretary.

The grandfather of two told how she was never bothered about the amount of hostility against her throughout her time in Parliament.

And he saw her make grown men cry, was 'handbagged' twice - and decided to wear a raincoat to protect himself against the number of egg attacks.

He also told how he is still 'tainted by guilt' that he was not there on the night the IRA bombed Brighton's Grand Hotel in 1984.

The BBC One drama, which drew seven million viewers to its first episode, stars Ms Hawes at politician Julia Montague and David Budd as her guard, played by Game of Thrones' Richard Madden.

The Afghanistan war veteran has to defend her no matter what - despite him being ton between his true beliefs and her decision to back military intervention in the Middle East.

Margaret Thatcher pictured leaving 10 Downing Street alongside Barry Stevens, right

Mr Stevens deflecting an egg meant for Thatcher as she was pelted by missiles during a visit to Cumnock, East Ayrshire

And this is something former Special Branch detective Mr Stevens wrestled with when he was alongside Thatcher from 1978 until he retired in 1998.

The former teacher, who said he was always left wing, told the Daily Mirror: 'When I was first told about the posting, I thought: 'Crikey, I'm not sure I am going to last long with her.

'From what I had read about her, I wasn't sure I was going to make the grade, and she wouldn't want me. But actually I grew to like her.'

He also told how he had been 'handbagged twice' after telling her something about her son Mark that she didn't like.

Mr Stevens said he was recovering from an emergency appendectomy at the time of the IRA bombing on the Grand Hotel in Brighton in 1984.

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, with Mr Stevens, left, waves to the crowd as she leaves the presidential palace following a meeting with Chilean President Eduardo Frei in 1994

Thatcher with Mr Stevens during a trip to Bedruthan, Cornwall

In a photograph taken in 1980 Thatcher is seen alongside Mr Stevens, right, during a visit to the Whiston Colliery

'I wasn't there when she was in the greatest danger of her life,' he said.

And she once caught one of the guards eyeing up her legs. 'I think she was quite chuffed actually.'

He said he also irritated her in the early days. He told the publication: 'They don't want someone around them all the time and when they're on holiday  they're not used to it.

'But politicians are grateful because they know you put your life on their line for them.

Bodyguard follows former solider David Budd, played by Richard Madden, as he works for the Home Secretary, Julia Montague, played by Keeley Hawes. Pictured: A promotional picture for the series

'They try to make life easy for you if they can and you want to make their life as easy as possible. And there is a respect that grows.'

Bodyguard drew nearly 7million viewers on its first night  with many quick to point out the number of women in key roles.

The debut episode of the Keeley Hawes drama attracted an audience of 6.8million, compared with 4.7million who watched the return of Poldark in June.

And the decision to cast women as high-profile characters has won praise from viewers.

The programme was applauded for the 'bold change' and the 'exposure of women in traditional male roles'.

The main female character, Home Secretary Montague, is played by The Durrells star Miss Hawes.

Gina McKee portrays the head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command and Pippa Haywood is the chief superintendent who is the boss of the titular bodyguard.

Other actresses take traditionally male roles such as police firearms officers, a bomb disposal agent and even a train guard.

One viewer wrote on social media: 'I admire the BBC for the blatant exposure of women in traditional male roles during Bodyguard intro.

'Yes it looks and feels weird, but it's a bold change of direction which I hope they maintain. Each time they do, the women will seem a little less ridiculous to people.'

The third episode of Bodyguard will be shown on BBC1 on Sunday. The first two episodes are available on iPlayer.A man was left fighting for his life after being stabbed in a street fight in the early hours of this morning.

Police rushed to the scene of the altercation at the Arlington Road junction with Jamestown Road in Camden, London around 1.30am.

The victim, believed to be in his 30s, was suffering from life-threatening stab wounds and he was rushed to a north London hospital. As of this morning, his injuries are no longer life-threatening.

Police remain at the scene and enquiries are ongoing. No arrests have been made yet.

A man was left fighting for his life after being stabbed in a street fight in Camden in the early hours of this morning

Police rushed to the scene of the altercation at the Arlington Road junction with Jamestown Road in Camden Town, London around 1.30am

The stabbing comes hours after a 16-year-old was stabbed in broad daylight on Monday in Walthamstow, London.

The teen was rushed to hospital after the incident.

His injuries aren't life changing or threatening and no arrests have been made yet in the case.

Over the weekend, a man in his twenties was stabbed to death next to an anti-knife crime poster, becoming the subject of London's 101st murder investigation this year.

Tuesday's victim, believed to be in his 30s, was suffering from life-threatening stab injures and he was rushed to a north London hospital

Police remain at the scene and enquiries are ongoing. No arrests have been made yet

Police and paramedics were scrambled to Creek Road in Deptford, south east London just before midnight.

They found a young man with stab wounds next to an anti-knife campaign poster on the side of a bus stop.

The victim, believed to be 22, was taken to a hospital in south London but he was pronounced dead at 12.40am.

His death came just days after police announced their 100th murder probe in the capital this year after Carole Harrison, 73, was found dead at home in Teddington, south west London.

Met Police said a 16-year-old was rushed to hospital after a stabbing in Walthamstow (pictured) on Monday afternoonThis is the moment two men attack a police officer as he and his colleague try to pin down a suspect on the floor of a McDonald's.

Shocking video footage shows two officers restraining a man as they try to arrest him at the fast food restaurant in Hackney, east London at 10.40pm last night.

Surrounded by people screaming, shouting and filming the incident on their phones, the clip shows one of the officers raising a police radio above the suspect's head.

As they do so, one person is heard saying 'They're going to kill him' before an onlooker launches himself at the officer, kicking him twice.

The scene then descends into further chaos as the two policemen continue to struggle with the suspect on the floor and the 'hostile' by-standers crowd in on them.

One of the officers is kicked by the same man again and the PC shouts 'get the f*** off me' repeatedly before pointing a taser at another man who approaches him.

Mobile phone footage shows two police officers restraining a man as they try to arrest him at a McDonald's in Hackney, east London on Monday night. As they pin down the suspect on the floor, one raises a police radio (right)

After one officer raises the radio one person is heard saying 'They're going to kill him' before another onlooker (pictured in white) launches himself at the officer, kicking him twice

Police confirmed the man on the floor was arrested and detained.

One of the suspects seen attacking the police officer was arrested and taken to a north London police station. The other is still at large.

A Met Police spokesman said one of the officers was treated for an ankle injury and the other for cuts to his face. Neither have called in sick and are already back at work.

The Met told MailOnline the taser was 'deployed but not discharged', which means it was switched on but not fired.

The mobile phone footage was posted on Twitter with the caption 'meanwhile.. in hackney #NottingHillCarnival' in the early hours of this morning.

The force appealed for witnesses who knew the other suspect on Twitter today, saying: 'If you witnessed this incident last night please DM.

'If the 'tough man' who feels it's acceptable to kick my colleague in the back, not once but twice when trying to arrest someone, feels any sort of remorse, get in touch too before we track you down. #ProtectTheProtectors'

After a man in white is pictured kicking one of the police officers, another onlooker (pictured in grey with pink balloon in his mouth) approaches the two PCs. At that point one of them shouts 'get the f*** off me' over and over again and points a yellow taser at him

A flash of light is seen as one of the officers is pictured pointing a taser at the man in grey with a pink balloon in his mouth. A Hackney Police spokesman told MailOnline the taser was switched on but not fired

Dozens of users commented on the video, with some defending the actions of police and others questioning their use of force.

Several branded the youths' behaviour 'disgusting' and said it 'made them feel sick'.

One user posted saying: 'Man pulls out his taser,' with a crying face emoji.

Responding to the comment, the force defended the officers' actions, saying: 'Man got assaulted, not once but twice whilst trying to arrest someone. Think you miss the point here.'

Police had to wade into the debate again when another Twitter user accused them of tasering a man they already had pinned down on the floor.

They wrote: 'I'd also love to know if @MPSHackney can explain why they appear to be tasering someone who is already lying on the floor with two officers on top of them holding them quite easily.'

But the force replied: 'The officers aren't. If you watch it you'll see the officer produces his taser and directs it towards the crowd who assaulted them not once but twice, not the suspect on the floor.'

They added: 'It's down to each officer to justify their own use of force and reasons for it.'

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'Police were called at approximately 22:40hrs on Tuesday, 28 August to McDonalds in Mare Street, Hackney.

'Staff at the restaurant had used the panic alarm and reported that a man was fighting with customers.

'Two response officers attended and detained the man concerned. The officers were then confronted with a hostile crowd some of whom assaulted the officers.

'Both officers were later treated for injuries; one for an ankle injury and the other for cuts to his face. Neither officer has reported sick.

'Colleagues arrived on scene a short time later, a 30-year-old man was arrested for assault on police and taken to a north London police station where he is currently detained. Enquiries continue to try and identify the other suspects involved.'

Acting Borough Commander Steve Johnson of the Central East Command Unit, added: 'Two officers, who were responding to a call to protect the public have been repeatedly assaulted.

'This is an unacceptable, nasty incident, with my officers being kicked while they were on the floor just trying to do their job. I would ask anyone with any information to call us and assist in the investigation.'

Any witnesses or anyone with any information is asked to call police on 101 or contact via Twitter @MetCC. Quote CAD 7430/28AUG.

To give information anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.A Moroccan pop star is being held on suspicion of raping a woman in Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera, his third arrest for sexual assault in eight years.

Saad Lamjarred, 33, who is already facing trial for aggravated rape and assault in Paris, was taken into police custody on Sunday.

He also narrowly escaped a rape trial in the US after allegedly raping a woman in Brooklyn, New York, after his accuser withdrew her co-operation with the investigation.

Alleged rapist: Moroccan superstar Saad Lamjarred, pictured in 2016, has been arrested on suspicion of raping a woman in Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera

Lamjarred is a superstar on the Arab pop music scene, with more than 650 million views on YouTube, 6.6million followers on Instagram and legions of fans which include the Moroccan royal family.

King Mohammed VI even awarded him Morocco's highest national honor in 2015.

He was arrested in October 2016, having allegedly assaulted a 20-year-old French woman in a luxury hotel on the Champs-Elysee.

Repeat story: This is the third time Lamjarred, 33, has been arrested and accused of rape, and is still set to face trial over a 2016 alleged rape and assault at a Paris luxury hotel in 2016

He was charged with aggravated rape and assault, and the case has yet to be brought to trial.

In 2010, a grand jury in Brooklyn, New York, indicted him on 21 counts including rape, sexual abuse, sexual assault, and harassment.

Lamjarred posted bail and fled the country, and in 2016, the indictment was dismissed.

The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office said the woman who made the initial complaint would no longer cooperate.A brave man confronted an alleged thief who 'tried to steal his car' and held a gun to his head as he waited for police to arrive.

Footage from the scene shows a man sat inside a white car as another holds a handgun to the window.

The car owner had approached the young man after he heard car doors opening outside his window.

A car owner confronted a thief (pictured) and held a gun to his head as he waited for police to arrive

The thief had reportedly gone under the car porch directly outside the owner's window and attempted to steal his car.

Filmed in Kansas, US and posted online by Fly Height, the clip captured the young man leaning against the steering wheel as the pair waited for police to arrive.

Three officers from Wichita Police Department then appeared from beyond the porch, shining torches onto the scene.

The car owner thanks them for coming, before stepping back to allow an officer to take the young man out of the vehicle.

The young man (pictured) was then removed from the car by Wichita Police Department officers

He is then pushed against a nearby car and handcuffed.

The six-minute clip continues as the alleged thief has his pockets searched by officers.

The car owner is heard telling police 'I should have shot him, to be honest' as they collect evidence from the car porch.It is the TV series that made its name with profane themes and attacks on religion - but now it seems Preacher is straying into the world of politics as well.

During the third season finale, which aired on Sunday, a neo-Nazi was shown wearing a Make America Great Again hat while trying to free Hiter from a prison bus.

The political jibe divided fans of the show, with some applauding it while others vowed never to watch again.

The final episode of series three of Preacher aired on Sunday and featured a neo-Nazi wearing a Make America Great Again cap

The series is produced by Seth Rogen who has been an outspoken critic of Trump, and revealed he privately messages Trump Jr on Twitter with criticisms of his father

Preacher is produced by Seth Rogen, Sam Catlin, and Evan Goldberg and is based on a DC comic book series of the same name.

It follows the story of Jesse Custer, a hard-drinking, chain-smoking preacher from West Texas who is having a crisis of faith when he is embodied by Genesis - the spirit spawn of an angel and a demon.

Imbued with new powers he enlists the help of his ex-girlfriend Tulip and a hard drinking Irish vampire named Cassidy to go on a literal search for God.

The ensuing seasons have been filled with gory violence, blasphemous themes and jokes at the expense of Christianity - with God called a d*** in one episode.

Some fans reacted with anger to the political jibe, vowing never to watch the show again

At the end of the first season Hitler was freed from Hell and came to America, where he promptly set about trying to reestablish the Third Reich.

While in the process of gathering followers, the Angel of Death snatches the dictator up and throws him on a bus back to the underworld - which is where the final episode of the third season finds him.

But on its way back to Hell, the bus is waylaid by a group of neo-Nazis and their tank, who attempt to free him.

In one shot, a group of uniformed Nazis run up and threateningly cock their weapons, before one is seen wearing the hat.

Others appreciated the joke, while a few also pointed out that Preacher has made far more offensive jokes about religion without causing a stir

The scene divided viewers on Twitter, with one writing: 'Why does Hollywood have to ruin everything? You're a d*** Set Rogen.'

Another said: 'Genius move Seth Rogen. Just killed off your show Preacher? Inserting your views, especially comparing MAGA to Nazis? Another talented person who is absolutely ignorant.'

Rogen is an outspoken critic of Trump, and has revealed he privately messages Trump Jr on Twitter with attacks on his father.

However, others were more supportive, saying the hat was a 'nice touch'. Another pointed out the hat reference alongside laughing emojis.

A third pointed out: 'I'd like to say that if you are more offended by a Nazi character wearing a MAGA hat than by all the God, Hitler and Jesus stuff, then you need to get your priorities right.'A Russian man risked his life trying to save a brown bear with its head stuck in a giant tin while it was scavenging for food.

But before he could free it from the container the wild beast ran off into the forest and has still not been found.

The man got dangerously close to the young brown bear and used what appears to be a bicycle tyre to try and pull the container off the wild animal's head.

The Russian man tried to yank the plastic tub off the bear's head with a bike tyre

After hooking the tyre round the green tub, he tried to yank it off the bear's head.

Despite the creature running off the man then chases after the stricken animal and tries again to hook the tyre round its head.

At one point he scurries away from the agitated bear as it runs towards him still trapped in the container.

He makes four attempts to free the predator before it runs off into the forest while his friend films the rescue bid.

The video was shot in Russia's coldest Yakutia region, also known as the Sakha Republic, it is believed.

As the agitated bear tried to run away into the forest the man again attempted to hook the tyre round the tin to pull the container off its head

They call the wild animal 'Misha' - a common name for bears in Russia - as they seek to show their friendly intentions.

At first the bear appeared willing to let the man try and help remove the tightly jammed canister - but later becomes more nervous and his best efforts failed.

One of the men called out 'Misha, Misha, wait' as the animal walks away.

The bear did not growl but appears in pain.

Had the man managed to remove the container, he could have been in mortal danger from an attack by the bear.

Despite the man's best efforts the animal ran off into the forest still with the tub on its head

Now a search is on for the animal with Russian hunters ordered by the regional government to look out for the stricken bear.

The animal cannot see, eat or use its sense of smell while its head is struck in the container and it is feared could die of starvation if not found.

If found, it will be sedated then the canister removed.

The bear is believed to have been scavenging for food - possibly in a rubbish dump - when its head became wedged.

It is not known what was inside the container that attracted the animal.

The local Minister of Ecology ordered all rangers in the area to be on the lookout to save the bear which cannot eat while its face is wedged inside the large tin, reported The Siberian Times.

Anna Nalimova, a spokeswoman ministry, said: 'The Ministry's hunting department sent a note to all inspections in the south of Yakutia, asking them to figure out where the video was filmed.'

However, the region is almost as large as India so finding the bear may prove hard.

By early today the bear had not been found and the authorities were widening the search.

There have been many reports in Yakutia this year about bears coming to explore rubbish sites.

Russian authorities are looking for the wild beast to sedate it and take the container off its head before it dies of starvation

Earlier this summer hunters had to be called to protect a children's camp under siege from a brown bear with two cubs.

Two years ago, a polar bear had to be sedated to remove a tin can that became wedged to its mouth.

The cases have raised concerns about the danger to wild animals of man's pollution from throwaway containers.Advertisement

They may seem like an unlikely pair but this 10-month-old baby girl is best friends with a 200lbs Great Dane.

Karli Weir, 34, and her husband-of-three-years Michael Ahmed, 35, had worried their huge hound Rome would be too boisterous around their little girl Merri Ahmed.

But when Merri came home in November 2017 and met three-year-old Rome, it was 'love at first sight'.

Merri Ahmed, pictured with Great Dane Rome, has a great relationship with the massive dog despite their difference in size

Ten-month-old Merri is inseparable from Rome, who weighs in at almost 200lbs, at their home in Newcastle upon Tyne

Merri, pictured with her parents Karli Weir and Michael Ahmed as well as their dogs Rome, right, and Bow, left, became a massive dog lover after arriving home from hospital in November 2017

Rome, pictured with Merri even tried to help change the infant's soiled nappy as he watches over his young charge

The harlequin Great Dane, who weighs a whopping 198.4lbs, was instantly transformed from clumsy canine into gentle giant - and the adorable duo have been inseparable ever since.

Now the gorgeous tot and her much bigger 'brother' love nothing more than cuddling up together, playing, and sharing their food - and the baby's parents are convinced Merri thinks she is a puppy.

Watchful 'babysitter' Rome isn't happy unless he's keeping a close eye on Merri and even sneaks into Karli and Michael's room to watch the tot as she sleeps in her cot.

Personal trainer Karli from South Shields, Newcastle upon Tyne, said: 'Rome had never been around kids before and because he was so young and boisterous still we were a bit worried.

'But when we brought him in to meet Merri, it was love at first sight and he has looked after her ever since.

'He has completely stepped up, he really looks after her. He's the best big brother and a great babysitter.

Karli said: 'Rome had never been around kids before and because he was so young and boisterous still we were a bit worried. But when he brought him in to meet Merri, it was love at first sight'

Karli continued: 'He has completely stepped up, he really looks after her. He's the best big brother and a great babysitter

As soon as Rome first met Merri as a baby he has become very protective of the new addition to the family

'When Merri was a tiny baby Rome would rest his head on her tummy and he would go into our room and hop on our bed just to watch her sleeping in her cot.

'He's always been so gentle with her. He's big for a Great Dane, he weighs about 90kg, but you wouldn't know seeing him around Merri.

'He acts more like he's the size of a spaniel.

'When Merri watches telly she has to sit against Rome and they love their cuddles. They're so happy in each other's company.

'They always have to be near each other. Merri's always resting her head on Rome - they can't get close enough. It's lovely.

According to the family, Great Danes are very docile dogs despite their imposing size and are great with children

Now Merri is able to crawl, Rome follows her around to ensure that she isn't hurt as she clambers along the furniture

Rome spent hours watching baby Merri as she slept in her cot, as evidenced in this picture

The massive dog even follows Merri into the bath, pictured, as he continues his vigil

Despite the considerable difference in size and weight, Merri is not afraid of her dog

'When she's eating in her highchair it's a case of "one for Merri, one for Rome". The other day he was bringing her his dog biscuits.

'Merri is crawling and she can walk around holding onto the furniture.

'Ever since she started moving around, you can see Rome watching her and following her around to make sure she's okay.

'When I change her nappy, Rome will come along and try to help me take it off. He's so funny.

'They have such a close relationship, they are the best of friends. It's so cute to watch them together.

'But I think Merri thinks she is more of a puppy than a baby sometimes.'

According to Karli, sometimes she believes her daughter is more puppy than baby

According to Karli, Rome was a bit of a handful until Merri was born in November 2017

Rome, pictured with Karli, right, has himself grown from a tiny puppy, left, to a 14-stone dog

Dog lovers Karli and Michael, a self-employed builder, also have a five-year-old Great Dane called Bow and absolutely adore the breed.

The first-time parents think their daughter really benefits from growing up around the king-sized canines - almost as much as Rome has benefited from befriending the tot.

Karli said: 'Rome was quite naughty growing up but he calmed down the moment he met Merri.

'Both the dogs are so good with her. They're an amazing breed, they're gentle giants.

'Sometimes I feel like I'm a mum of three because Great Danes are just like big kids - big kids with no clue of their size whatsoever.

'Merri really benefits from having them around, especially from her close relationship with Rome. She's already so at home with animals at such a young age.

'There's this cafe we go to that lets people bring their dogs and Merri loves it so much that we've booked her first birthday there.'

The couple, pictured, have booked a local cafe which allows people to bring their dogs as the venue for Merri's first birthday

According to Karli: 'Sometimes I feel like I'm a mum of three because Great Danes are just like big kids - big kids with no clue of their size whatsoever'A woman who left four children in a hot car on a scorching summer day while she shopped in Officeworks has walked free from court.

Saman Irfan was charged after leaving four children aged nine and under inside a car in a Bankstown car park, in Sydney's west, on a January afternoon last year.

The temperature reached 41C and the court heard Ms Irfan left the children inside the car for close to 15 minutes with the windows up and doors closed.

Despite the magistrate admitting there was no dispute the children had been left in the car, Ms Irfan had the charge against her dropped on Tuesday.

Saman Irfan leaves court after having her charges dismissed. She was charged over an incident where four children were left inside a car on a hot day

The magistrate said the issue was whether or not the health of the children was likely to be permanently or temporarily impaired, 9 News reported.

The kids - aged nine, eight, seven and six - were crying when shoppers spotted them inside the car, a passerby told Fairfax media at the time.

In court on Tuesday, the magistrate said the issue was whether or not the health of the children was likely to be permanently or temporarily impaired.

The magistrate found that given Ms Irfan checked on the children four minutes after leaving them, she could not find that the kids were left without proper supervision.

The charge of leaving children in a motor vehicle causing emotional distress was dropped in court, after it was found none of the children faced any temporary or permanent injuries as a result of the incident.

Solicitor Zaki Hajjar did not comment when approached outside of court.

KidSafe says this should act as a warning as summer approaches.

Christine Erksine of KidSafe NSW said leaving a small body in a hot car leaves them highly at risk of overheating.A Jamaican man has been hospitalised after having a part of his penis bitten off by his neighbour's dog.

The man, named locally as Neily, had been chatting to his neighbour over her gate in Stony Hill, north of Kingston, Jamaica, when her dog attacked.

He told a Jamaican newspaper that the dog had pushed its nose through the metal bars of the gate and snapped its jaws around his genitals.

Attacked: The man had been speaking to the dog's owner over her gate, when it suddenly stuck its nose through the bars and snapped its jaws around his genitals (stock image)

He said he was lucky it was not a more severe injury, but that he had still lost a part of his penis.

'The dog pushed its mouth through the metal because I was standing close to it, and it bit me on my penis,' he told The Weekend Star.

'I will not be going near those dogs again.'

The Weekend Star reported that the woman's dogs are known to be aggressive and attack passers-by.

The incident took place in Stony Hill, St Andrew, north of Kingston, Jamaica

However this is thought to be the first time they have bitten a person in the genitals.

Neily said he would not be pursuing his neighbour for any compensation, as she helped him get to a nearby hospital where he received care.

The injury, while painful, is not life threatening and he is thought to be ready to return to his job as an odd job handyman shortly.A British BASE jumper has been killed after smashing against the side of a Swiss cliff 'while attempting a double flip'.

The unnamed 44-year-old had jumped from a take-off point near the village of Murren in Switzerlands Lauterbrunnen area - known as a paradise for extreme sport.

The British man suffered fatal injuries after crashing into a cliff face with the parachute left hanging off the rocks.

Tragedy: The 44-year-old British man died when he crashed into a cliff side after allegedly trying to perform a 'double front flip' trick

Video footage of the helicopter's attempts to reach the body was posted on Facebook by professional BASE jumper Jeb Corliss.

Corliss addressed the incident in a comment to the video posted on his page, which has some 345,000 followers, saying the Briton had 'tried to do acrobatics and didnt do them fast enough'.

'If someone had told me they were going to try and do a double front flip from the nose I would have told them they were going to die.

'The cliff is not good for acrobatics. Its a tracking cliff or wingsuit cliff only.'

The unnamed 44-year-old had jumped from a take-off point near the village of Murren in Switzerlands Lauterbrunnen area

The man's body was later recovered, and local police confirmed that he was dead by the time rescue teams reached him.

'An investigation is being carried out to find out what went wrong after the man's chute was deployed,' a police spokesperson said.

'It is believed he died as a result of the collision with the cliff.

'A rescue helicopter was quickly on the scene but there was nothing that could be done for the man, his body was trapped for some time on the side of the cliff face.'On a typical Sunday, Australia's new Prime Minister is one of nearly 2000 people worshiping at a Hillsong-style church in Sydney's south.

Scott Morrison is a devout member of the Pentecostal 'Horizon Church', which preaches about the ability of its parishioners to heal others as part of a radical Christian philosophy.

The so-called 'mega-church's' belief structure has some political operatives concerned it could could impact on his decision-making as Prime Minister.

Mr Morrison would be encouraged to downplay his religious beliefs in public, a senior Liberal source told news.com.au

A senior Liberal source said new PM Scott Morrison (pictured in a Catholic church) would be encouraged to downplay his Christian beliefs in the public eye

On a typical Sunday, Mr Morrison is among nearly 2,000 people packing out Horizon Church in Sydney's Sutherland Shire (pictured)

Mr Morrison (pictured with family) is a devout member of the Pentecostal mega-church, which preaches about the ability of its parishioners to heal others and speak in tongues

Mr Morrison has never shied away from his faith, declaring in his maiden speech that his personal faith in Jesus Christ was 'not a political agenda'.

'For me, faith is personal, but the implications are social- as personal and social responsibility are at the heart of the Christian message,' he said.

Horizon Church was established in 1949 but rebranded in 2018.

At least 2,000 people squeeze into the concert-style exhibition centre every weekend, with theatre seating and a high-tech lighting system making each service feel more like a rock show than a Christian church service.

The church proudly claims that its members speak in tongues when 'baptised in the holy spirit', while declaring its parishioners are 'protected and healed from sickness and disease'. Speaking in tongues refers to the religious phenomenon of sharing the gospel directly from God.

The Christian church promotes a radically-different lifestyle which some political sources believe could impact the decision-making of the nation's leader.

Mr Morrison is the most powerful parishioner to emerge from the Pentecostal mega church

The church relies on donations from its patrons, and provides people with alternatives to the traditional passing the plate at the end of the service  offering EFTPOS, direct deposits and even accepting cheques.

Mr Morrison is not Australia's first devout Prime Minister, with Tony Abbott training as a Roman Catholic priest, and former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd calling himself a 'God botherer'.

However there are people within his party who believe his faith and church may not sit well with the Australian public.

'After 14 years of bitter disappointments, God remembered [Jenny's] faithfulness and blessed us with our miracle child, Abbey Rose,' Mr Morrison said after the birth of their first child

The 50-year-old son of a policeman defeated former home affairs minister Peter Dutton, a former policeman, 45 votes to 40 to take over the Liberal leadership from Malcolm Turnbull

Senior lecturer at Deakin University, Geoffrey Robinson told news.com.au he believed the prime minister would keep the two elements of his life secular.

'If I were Morrison, I'd be careful about appearing too religious and pushing it too much,' Mr Robinson said.

'Those 'heart on the sleeve' declarations of religious faith make some people a bit uncomfortable. There's something of a suspicion about religion in politics. Seeming overtly religious can be a problem.

'But I'm sure Morrison is fairly well aware of these kinds of considerations.'

However, Mr Morrison has let his religious convictions impact his decision-making previously, voting against the legalisation of same-sex marriage earlier in 2018.

Mr Morrison, the former Treasurer, met his future wife Jenny at a Sydney church when they were just 12.

They started dating at age 16 before marrying at the age of 21.

The devout Christian couple had to wait another 18 years before they conceived their first child, with 14 of those years spent enduring IVF attempts to become parents.

Their two daughters, however, were born naturally without IVF.

Mr Morrison, who turned 50 in May, described the birth of his first daughter as a God-given 'miracle' after multiple procedures.

'After 14 years of bitter disappointments, God remembered [Jenny's] faithfulness and blessed us with our miracle child, Abbey Rose,' he said.

The church relies on donations from its patrons, and provides people with alternatives to the traditional cash donationAdvertisement

Locals are angry that an historic tower which was restored using public money could now be sold off for a huge profit by a banker who looks set to quadruple his money on the site just 12 months after he bought it.

Campaigners fought a long-running battle to keep the stunning Hadlow Tower near Tonbridge in Kent open to visitors after 3million in grants from Historic England and the Heritage Lottery Fund were pumped into its restoration.

But after the trust which owned it went into liquidation, it was snapped up for 425,000 a year ago by accountant Christian Tym, who has now put it on the market for 2million.

Musician Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber is among the critics of the latest sale and has said he fears the public money invested in the site could now end up in private hands.

Locals meanwhile are upset that the site, which attracted hundreds of visitors to the picturesque village, could now become closed to the public.

A banker is expected to quadruple his money on Hadlow Tower in Kent, despite public money having been used to restore it

The gothic tower was built in 1838 in the grounds of Hadlow Castle in Kent by Walter Barton May but it was damaged in the Great Storm of 1987 and, following a public campaign to restore it, has now ended up in private hands

Banker Christian Tym is trying to sell the tower for 2million. Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber has criticised the proposed sale

The tower was turned into a home after a long-running battle by campaigners in the local area in Kent

Lord Lloyd-Webber told the Daily Telegraph: 'A huge amount of public money was spent on this project... if it's going to be sold, it should be returned to Historic England and the Heritage Lottery Fund. It can't go into the pocket of a private person. I don't think the public purse should be used to speculate  this seems to have slipped through the net.'

John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, added: 'With so much taxpayers' money being spent on the restoration of this historical site, you'd think that the owner would agree to allow members of the public to visit on occasion.'

Hadlow Tower cost 3million to restore, and that money was granted on the condition that it be accessible to the public for 28 days every year. But is understood no visitors have entered the Grade I listed building since it was bought by its current owner last summer.

There are now fears among villagers that the rules keeping the eight-storey tower accessible to the public could be bypassed by any new purchaser.

Historic England, who funded part of the tower's make-over, say the covenants which ensure public access 28 to the building 28 years a year are still in place and the current owner or any future owner could be forced to repay public investment if the rules are not upheld.

A spokesman for the body said: 'Hadlow Tower is a stunning Grade I listed building which was once on Historic England's Heritage at Risk register.

'It was restored in large part thanks to public money and it is only right that the public should be able to enjoy the Tower inside and out.

'Otherwise, they would be in breach of contract and could be required to repay a proportion of the public money given as grant-aid by Historic England and other partners. Any new owner would be subject to the same conditions of the deed of covenant as part of the sale of the Tower.'

At the foot of a large, spiral staircase which leads up the tower, the owner will be able to sit at this attractive writing desk

The property was bought after the owners went into liquidation and has since been renovated by its current owner

Among the many unique features of the property is this huge fire place in a octagonal sitting room

The one-of-a-kind, 175 ft gothic tower was built in 1830, but fell derelict before being rescued by the artist Bernard Hailstone in the 1950s.

After it changed hands, a community action group fought to get the tower restored after it was severely damaged in the Great Storm of 1987.

Locals formed the The Save Hadlow Tower Action Group, and poured 50,000 of their own cash into the building, raised through fundraising projects, which topped up cash from Heritage England and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Hadlow Tower was then bought by The Vivat Trust for 1 after a compulsory purchase order was made by the borough council in 2011.

Campaigners financed and staffed a visitor centre on the ground floor, and from 2013 it was open to the public weekly in summer.

Restoration on the castle was completed in February 2013 and it was shortlisted for the 2014 Kent Design Awards.

Known locally as 'May's Folly', the tower then received a multi-million-pound restoration and later rented out as a holiday home for 1,954 a week.

It was rumoured the motive of man who originally built the tower was to create a vantage point to spy on his estranged wife

It is now on the market for 2million, provoking criticism of how its owner seems to cashed in on the public money invested

The tower has four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a dining room, a kitchen, a drawing room and a media room

The tower has a large spiral staircase running up to the top, where beautiful views are offered of the Kent countryside

In 2016, the the tower owners went into liquidation and Hadlow Tower was put on the market for offers over 1million.

It was sold to Christian in 2017, who is married with four sons, who said he was attracted by 'the novelty factor.'

Campaigners reported that 700 people visited the castle in 2017 - with the numbers dwindling in 2018 to zero.

The Heritage Lottery Fund said it expected Christian to report to it in August with evidence of his compliance.

Mr Tym was unavailable for comment. The estate agent organising the sale however previously said that he did not intend to sell the building so quickly, but found it unsuitable for his family.

The castle is listed as containing a media room, castle drawing room and four bedrooms. It also comes with almost three-and-a-half acres of grounds and a lift to all floors.

The completely unique property includes a number of stained glass windows and quirky features

Many of the rooms are near-circular, with this king-size bed looking out over the surrounding countryside from one floor

Critics say the public money invested in the project should go back into the public purse rather than into private hands

Building began in the late 1780s and was commissioned by Walter May whose son Walt added a 170ft octagonal tower in 1838.

After the son died the tower was owned by the High Sheriff of Kent and later by Harley Street specialist Dr MacGeagh.

During the Second World War the castle was used as a watchtower by the Home Guard and Royal Observer Corps.

Restoration on the 130ft Grade-I listed castle was completed in February 2013 and it was shortlisted for the 2014 Kent Design Awards.

The tower was previously advertised on swingers website Club Aphrodite - inviting '25 couples or 50 singles' for some 'Gothic castle folly'.

It said: 'Enjoy threesomes, foursomes and moresomes in the intriguing candlelit rooms created for the fulfilment of the eccentric, original owner's medieval, baronic fantasies.'Tulsa Police Department(TULSA, Oklahoma) -- Protests have erupted over a class being taught to sheriff's deputies by a white Oklahoma officer who was acquitted of manslaughter charges in the fatal 2016 shooting of an unarmed African-American man.



Despite the demonstrations, however, former Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby, now a nearby sheriffs deputy, went ahead Tuesday with the scheduled class titled "Surviving the Aftermath of a Critical Incident" to Tulsa County sheriff's deputies, officials said.



Word of Shelbys teaching such a class in Tulsa ignited protests Monday outside the Civic Center in city's downtown area, where one demonstrator, Marq Lewis, called the move "a slap in the face to all African-Americans."



"The reason this is a slap in our faces is that they're putting it in our faces and they're saying to us, 'It's fine, deal with it. We don't care how insensitive it is. We're going to have this class and it's OK,'" Lewis, leader of the grass-roots civil group We the People Oklahoma, said Tuesday morning.



"These are our tax dollars that are being put to use to have this class for other law enforcement officers," Lewis told ABC News. "It's almost as if we, as citizens, don't have a say in saying that we don't want this class going forth."



Shelby was arrested and charged two years ago with first-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Terence Crutcher, 40, after she came across an idling SUV stopped in the middle of a two-lane roadway and spotted Crutcher walking toward the vehicle.



Police dashcam and helicopter video showed Crutcher with his hands in the air as Shelby and other officers approached him with their guns pointed at him. Crutcher can be seen in the video lowering his hands and apparently attempting to reach into the vehicle when Shelby opened fire, killing him.



Authorities later determined the vehicle window into which Crutcher appeared to be reaching was rolled up at the time and no weapon was found on him or inside his SUV.



Shelby went to trial on manslaughter charges and a jury acquitted her in August 2017, prompting outrage from the African-American leaders in Tulsa and angry protests in the city's streets.



Shelby returned to the police force with back pay. She has since gotten a new job as a sheriffs deputy in neighboring Rogers County.



Shelby's course, which she teaches outside her regular duties as a sheriffs deputy, was scheduled to run from 8:30 a.m. to noon Tuesday. She was expected to "describe some of the challenges" that arise after a critical incident, such as officer-involved shootings, including financial, legal and emotional issues, according to a synopsis of the course.



Shelby has taught the course to other law enforcement agencies throughout Oklahoma but this is the first time she has led the class in Tulsa. The class has been certified by the state Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training under mental-health instruction.



"My class is not about the shooting and I do not discuss the shooting, Shelby said in a statement Monday to ABC Tulsa affiliate KTUL-TV.



"A critical incident is an event that happens to someone that will test the limits of their coping skills. I faced many challenges that I was unprepared for such as threats to my life by activists groups to loss of pay. My class is to help others by sharing some of the skills I used to cope with the stress of my critical incident," her statement reads.



"As law enforcement, we experience many critical incidents throughout our career. These tools that I share are just a few to help them cope with the stress of the critical incidents they have had or will experience."



Rogers County Sheriff Scott Walton told the Tulsa World that he is supportive of Shelbys class.



Its not about opening wounds, Walton told the newspaper. Its about Betty Shelby teaching something that opens law enforcements eyes. If this was taught to the community, I think it would open [their] eyes to what law enforcement had to endure.



During the protest Monday attended by Crutcher's parents, demonstrators carried signs reading "#BanBetty."



"We're saying that you need to get another teacher," Oklahoma state Rep. Regina Goodwin, D-Tulsa, told the crowd.



Goodwin recalled an interview Shelby gave CBS News' "60 Minutes" after her acquittal in 2016 in which she said, "I would rather be tried by 12 than carried by six."



Rep. Goodwin said, "Terence Crutcher didn't get an opportunity to get that statement. Folks are talking about there's a scab on the wound. There's no scab here because there's no healing."



Lewis and other protestors have no problem with the course Shelby is teaching, he told ABC News, but they just find it tone deaf that she is being allowed to teach it.



"Betty Shelby went on national television and said that Terence Crutcher caused his own death, Lewis said, referring to the 60 Minutes interview. We don't feel there is any form of rehabilitation.



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Capitalism as we know it is coming to an end because it fails to look after people's long-term needs and focuses on short-term profit, researchers have warned the UN.

Constant economic growth has been fueled for decades by an abundance of cheap resources and energy, but as those dwindle growth will slow, scientists say.

As a result the economy will need to refocus from profit and growth to sustainability and efficiency, which the current system does not promote, they argue.

Constant economic growth driven by abundant resources and cheap energy is coming to a close and will bring our current capitalist model down with it, scientists say

Economic models will also need to change to account for things like energy efficiency and environmental impact, or risk being unable to accurately explain or predict this new future.

The team of scientists was drawn from the BIOS Research Unit in Finland by the UN Secretary-General, Motherboard reports.

They were tasked with providing research to feed into the UN Global Sustainable Development Report, to be published next year.

The paper's lead author, Dr. Paavo Jarvensivu, explains that the crisis is twofold: fossil fuels are becoming increasingly difficult and expensive to extract, while other forms of energy have not caught up.

For the first time in history, whether societies stick with fossil fuels or switch, they are being forced to spend more effort to produce the same amount of energy.

Fossil fuels are becoming increasingly expensive to extract making energy harder to generate, meaning future economies will have to be focused on efficiency, rather than growth

While renewables might some day bring energy costs down they are not ready to take up the slack yet, meaning a shift in the way our world operates

In the past, the availability of cheap oil meant the trend was the other way around.

While renewables might eventually bring costs down again, the technology is still in its infancy and so cannot immediately take up the slack.

That absence of cheap energy will cause the constant economic growth we have experienced in recent decades to slow, putting a strain on politicians who will be held responsible for the slip in living standards.

To remedy the situation, Dr Jarvensivu's team argue we need to be working toward making cities more efficient, curtailing the growth of freight and flying, and restructuring the food system so more is produced locally.

At the same time, energy-intensive industries such as construction need to move away from steel and concrete into more sustainable materials like wood.

'Capitalism, in that situation, is not like ours now,' Jarvensivu said.

'Economic activity is driven by meaning - maintaining equal possibilities for the good life while lowering emissions dramatically - rather than profit, and the meaning is politically, collectively constructed.

'Well, I think this is the best conceivable case in terms of modern state and market institutions. It can't happen without considerable reframing of economic-political thinking, however.'Jeremy Corbyn claimed that Israeli officials control the speeches made by British MPs, in bizarre comments that have been called an 'anti-Semitic conspiracy theory' which casts Jews as sinister manipulators, MailOnline can reveal.

The remarks were captured on video in 2010, at a meeting of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) in London. In a speech about the shooting of Turkish activists at sea by the Israeli commandos, the Labour leader said:

[British MPs] all turned up [to the debating chamber] with a pre-prepared script. Im sure our friend Ron Prosor (the Israeli ambassador) wrote it.

Because they all came up with the same key words. It was rather like reading a European document looking for buzz-words.

And the buzz-words were, Israels need for security. And then the extremism of the people on one ship. And the existence of Turkish militants on the vessel.

It came through in every single speech, this stuff came through.

MailOnline has examined the transcript of the debate in question and could find no evidence that any of Mr Corbyns buzz words were mentioned by MPs.

In addition, a number of parliamentarians who spoke during the session have confirmed to MailOnline that they received no such pre-prepared script or buzz-words from Israeli sources.

Jewish Labour MPs (pictured left to right: Ruth Smeeth, Margaret Hodge, Luciana Berger) who have been the victims of abuse will be offered protection at the Labour party conference

Alistair Burt, the Tory MP who moved the motion, said: My only script is from the Foreign Office and I then answer spontaneously to the debate. I have no other briefing.

Labour MP Richard Burden, who also spoke at the debate, said: 'I certainly dont recall the Israeli Embassy giving me any kind of pre-prepared script for that debate, or at any other time.'

The claims add to the pressure facing the Labour leader after MailOnline revealed that he had accused British Zionists of not understanding English irony last week.

Gideon Falter, chairman of the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, said: Antisemitic conspiracy theories cast Jews as sinister manipulators, pulling the strings and subverting democracy.

Without any evidence, Jeremy Corbyn seems to have visions of the Jewish state literally putting words into many of our politicians mouths.

However, when it comes to malicious influence from the Middle East, the politician who springs to mind is Mr Corbyn himself, with his full schedule of trips to visit genocidal antisemitic terrorist organisations.

A Labour spokesman has been contacted for comment.

It follows claims that hundreds of complaints alleging antisemitism in Labour are going unaddressed by party officials, as it was revealed that Jewish Labour MPs are being provided with security guards at this year's party conference.

Volunteer charity Campaign Against Antisemitism started the petition to oust Jeremy Corbyn (pictured) on Change.org this week

Insiders say the party's internal investigations unit has collapsed as Mr Corbyn has promised to speed up the party's disciplinary process.

Labour's former head of the compliance unit and at least two others have left, leaving only one staff member to investigate the mounting number of cases of alleged antisemitism, the Times reported.

A spokesman told the paper: 'We have robust processes for dealing with complaints we receive. We don't comment on staffing matters.'

It comes as Jewish Labour MP Luciana Berger attacked Mr Corbyn for accusing British Zionists of having 'no sense of irony' despite having 'lived in Britain all of their lives'.

The former Shadow Minister for public health said she felt 'unwelcome' in her own party after Mr Corbyn's 'inexcusable comments' that were revealed by the MailOnline last week.

Campaigners have renewed calls for Corbyn to step down as leader in an online petition.

Volunteer charity Campaign Against Antisemitism started a Change.org campaign this week calling for Labour MPs to issue a vote of no-confidence in the embattled leader.

Entitled 'For the many not the Jew', the petition has already garnered over 5,000 signatures.

A message accompanying the description reads: 'For weeks, events from Jeremy Corbyn's disturbing past have trickled into the light.

In a statement released on Friday evening, Mr Corbyn said he had been defending the ambassador from 'what I thought were deliberate misrepresentations' by people 'for whom English was a first language, when it isn't for the ambassador'.

Mr Corbyn said: 'I described those pro-Israel activists as Zionists, in the accurate political sense and not as a euphemism for Jewish people - and that is made clear in the rest of my speech that day.

'I am now more careful with how I might use the term 'Zionist' because a once self-identifying political term has been increasingly hijacked by anti-Semites as code for Jews.'Donald Trump is refusing to back down from his claim that Google 'rigged' its search engine results to show bad news stories about him.

Trump told reporters on Tuesday that Google, as well as American social media giants Facebook and Twitter, needs to tread carefully.

'I think that Google really taking advantage of a lot of people,' he said. 'It's not fair to large portions of the population.'

Invoking Facebook and Twitter, he said, 'We have literally thousands and thousands of complaints coming in. And you just cant do that.'

RED CARD: Donald Trump is refusing to back down from his claim that Google 'rigged' its search engine results to show bad news stories about him

Trump told reporters on Tuesday that Google, as well as American social media giants Facebook and Twitter, needs to tread carefully. 'I think that Google really taking advantage of a lot of people,' he said

Trump made the remarks during a press event with U.S. Soccer Federation President Carlos Cordeiro (L) and FIFA President Gianni Infantino (R). They presented him with a 'red card' during their comments

The president had launched an early-morning attack on Google after apparently seeing a chart on a conservative news site that claimed to portray news outlets' biases. The article containing the chart was headlined '96 Percent of Google Search Results for "Trump" News Are from Liberal Media Outlets.'

He claimed in the tweets that the search engine giant is 'suppressing' the voices of conservatives and 'hiding information and news that is good.' He hinted that his administration was considering official action.

Google categorically denied that politics play any role in the complex algorithms that determine what users are shown when they search a term.

It said in a statement responding to Trump it said: 'Search is not used to set a political agenda' and that 'we never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment.'

Donald Trump launched into an attack on Google on Tuesday morning, accusing the web giant of rigging its search results to make him look bad

Trump threatened to address what he called 'a very serious situation', though it is not clear how he intends to do this

Google's parent company's stock fluctuated all day as Trump assailed the search engine and it fought back

Trump said in his tweets: 'Google search results for 'Trump News' shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media.

'In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent,' he tweeted. 'Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96% of results on 'Trump News' are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous.'

He said, 'Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see.'

'This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!'

Trump tweeted, and deleted, then retweeted the same assault on Google later in the day, adding an 's' to the words 'news' to correct a typo.

After Trump's first round of tweets, the president's chief economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, told reporters at the White House, 'There needs to be some form of regulation for Google.'

'We'll let you know. We're taking a look at it,' he said.

Alphabet Inc, Google's parent company, saw its stock close more than 10 points down on NASDAQ amid the spat.

The president had launched an early-morning attack on the firm after apparently seeing a chart on a conservative news site that claimed to portray news outlets' biases. The article containing the chart was headlined '96 Percent of Google Search Results for "Trump" News Are from Liberal Media Outlets'

In response, Google issued a statement saying: 'When users type queries into the Google Search bar, our goal is to make sure they receive the most relevant answers in a matter of seconds.

'Search is not used to set a political agenda and we don't bias our results toward any political ideology,' the statement said. 'Every year, we issue hundreds of improvements to our algorithms to ensure they surface high-quality content in response to our users' queries.'

The tech firm said, 'We continually work to improve Google Search and we never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment.'

Google for Jobs co-founder Nick Zakrasek later told Fox Business, 'We never rank results to manipulate political sentiment.'

He said in the Tuesday interview on the network, 'We continually work to improve Google search.'

Zakrasek also explained that when 'users type queries into the Google search bar, our goal is to make sure that they receive the most relevant answers in a matter of seconds. Search is not used to set a political agenda and we dont bias our results towards any political ideology.

'Every year we issue hundreds of improvements to our algorithms to ensure that they surface high-quality content in response to users queries. We continually work to improve Google search and we never rank results to manipulate political sentiment.'

Google uses a complex algorithm to decide which search results a user is presented with, though its exact workings are a closely guarded secret

Trump's tweets come after Alex Jones urged the President to weigh in on censorship after he was booted off Facebook, YouTube and Spotify for 'hate speech'

Google uses a complex algorithm to decide what results users are presented with, although its exact workings remain a closely guarded corporate secret.

The firm has revealed that a user's search history will affect the results, so it is possible that any given user's reading habits will determine which news outlets they see information from in the future.

Trump appeared to base his argument on a report from PJ Media, a conservative news site that posited that Google might be 'manipulating its algorithm to prioritize left-leaning news outlets.'

The piece claimed that CNN has a 'disproportionate' share of articles showing up at the top of search.

CNN is a favorite 'fake news media' target of the president.

'I performed the search a multiple times using different computers (registered to different users) and Google returned similar results,' the article's author said. 'While not scientific, the results suggest a pattern of bias against right-leaning content.'

The author relied on a chart put together by Sharyl Attkisson, host of the Sunday morning program 'Full Measure,' to determine which outlets skew left.

It's not clear what metrics the TV journalist used to create the chart. She says on her website, 'The placement is based on perceived overall tone and audience.'

She also said in a message that she posted the same day that Trump sent his tweets that she's been updating the chart based on new and additional information.

Other right-wing figures have been arguing for months that their voices are being silenced online by the likes of Twitter, Facebook, and Google -- all three of which are due to testify next week to Congress.

Conservative bloggers Diamond and Silk accused Facebook of censoring their message after noticing dwindling audience figures earlier this year.

Since then there have been multiple congressional hearings about the issue, with tech companies repeatedly denying that they promote or demote content based on its political content.

Mark Zuckerberg's testimony before Congress over election meddling was also peppered with questions about the suppression of conservative voices earlier this year.

Earlier this month, Alex Jones's Infowars program was removed from all platforms with the exception of Twitter for promoting hate speech and conspiracy theories.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg will testify before the Senate next week and are also expected to be asked about Trump's claims their social media companies are biased against conservatives.

During his own testimony before Congress, Mark Zuckerberg faced repeated questions about censorship of conservative voices, which he denied

In recent weeks Trump has stepped up his attacks on censorship, telling a rally in West Virginia that it is worse than his old foe 'fake news media'

Jones, an avid Trump supporter, appealed directly to the president to put an end to 'censorship' after his content was pulled.

Since then, Trump has tweeted multiple times about the issue, including on August 18 when he accused social media of 'totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices' and vowing: 'We won't let that happen.'

On Friday of last week he renewed his attack, accusing the same networks of 'silencing millions of people.'

And at a rally in West Virginia earlier in the week, the president even suggested that censorship was worse than his old foe the 'fake news media'.

Trump said 'social media censorship' is 'the new thing' but he'd rather have 'fake news' over people being 'stopped and censored.'

'So we'll live with fake news. I mean, I hate to say it,' he said, 'Because that's by far the better alternative.'

Trump has attacked tech giants on other occasions, too, in the past. He has accused American firms of suppressing bad news about his former general election opponent.

In October 2016, Trump accused Google, Facebook and Twitter of burying the news that Hillary Clinton was being investigated by the FBI over her emails - branding them the 'very dishonest media.'Thai police have said they will issue a summons for the British teenager raped on Koh Tao after her mother said she fled the island without reporting the crime because she feared for her life.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was attacked on June 26 after a night drinking with friends at two bars on Sairee Beach.

She passed out shortly after and woke up on the sand with no underwear on - near the spot where British backpackers Hannah Witheridge and David Miller were found dead four years ago.

The victim's mother has now claimed Koh Tao is being run by gangsters who left her daughter terrified  and she has vowed to never let her daughter return.

Thai police (pictured along the beach where the girl was attacked) have said they will issue a summons for the British teenager raped on Koh Tao

But on Tuesday, police on the island led a press parade along the beach where the girl was attacked.

Surat Thani police commander Apichart Boonsriroj said officers would issue a summons for the teenager to return to the island and give evidence.

He said the alleged rape occurred at 1.30am on June 26 in a location that police found was crowded at the time due to live coverage of a World Cup at the time.

He said: 'Police patrolled the area at 3am the same morning and seven surveillance cameras within a 300-metre radius of the location on Sairee beach remained functional.

'The female tourist did not make a rape complaint. She told the hostel owner who advised her to contact the police.

'She went to Koh Phangan for the Full Moon party where she told police there that her valuables had been stolen. She did not tell them about the alleged rape.

The girl drank at Leo Bar (pictured next to the large rock) on Koh Tao before she was raped and robbed on the beach

'We are investigating the complaints but we must have co-operation from the person involved.'

In an interview, the girl's mother said she would 'never let my daughter return to Thailand' and offered to go instead before the three-month limit for reporting a crime passes.

Speaking from her home in the UK, she said: 'She was having a fantastic time. She had an amazing time working at an orphanage in Sri Lanka then went to meet her friends in Koh Phi Phi [in Thailand].

'This was a disaster, an absolute disaster. It's changed her life, it's changed her freedom, she's even scared to be here. She wants to be out, then when she's out, she wants to be in.

'The [British] police have the t-shirt so what more evidence is there? This is the trouble, it's her word against them, the whole of the police force of Koh Tao and Koh Phangan.

The girl passed out shortly after drinking from Leo Bar and woke up undressed on a beach next to a man (file photo)

'The British Embassy is in touch with me, their hands are tied too, aren't they? Nobody really knows what to do because it's so dark.

'I'm not letting my daughter go back to Thailand. I will go back, I've been in touch with the FCO and they said they would be happy to meet me and keep me safe.'

The three-month limit means the girl has until September to report the crime.

She had only reported a stolen iPhone and 3,000 baht (71) before going back to the UK.

Her mother told local media: 'This island is run by two mafia families who cover up, sickly cover up, somebody or some people who enjoy spiking, raping and murdering.

'It has to stop. My daughter is a survivor and she managed to come back (to Britain)'.

The rape suspect, who was reportedly smiling, left the scene after allegedly attacking her, the Samui Times reported.

Her mother has now claimed Koh Tao (file image used) is being run by 'two Mafia families'

A friend also reported seeing the same man checking up on her as she left the bar that evening.

The girl left the island following her assault on June 26 and attempted to report her ordeal to the Koh Phangan police. Officers reportedly refused to take any details of the alleged rape.

The girl's mother contacted the Fishbowl Bar and was told the CCTV cameras were not working on the night of the assault.

A male friend who also went to the bar was allegedly also told that CCTV cameras there were not working.

Her mother also claimed her daughter wanted to get off Koh Tao as soon as possible, desperately fearing for her safety.

She says her daughter believed she could report the crime on nearby Koh Pangan but police told her they had no jurisdiction there.

The location of the assault was very close to where the bodies of Hannah Witheridge (left) and David Miller (right) were found in 2014

Fears over the safety of the idyllic Koh Tao island were heightened after the murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23, from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk and David Miller, 24, from Jersey in 2014.

Four other Western tourists, including three more Britons, died on the island in the two years following their deaths and the family of some of the deceased accused local police of not investigating the deaths properly.

Koh Tao has become a huge draw for young backpackers thanks to its stunning beaches and cheap accommodation - so much so that as many as 750,000 Britons visit each year.

But on September 15 2014, the island's community was left reeling after the battered bodies of Ms Witheridge and Mr Miller were found on Sairee Beach.

Ms Witheridge had been savagely raped and beaten to death and Mr Miller had been beaten unconscious and left to drown in the incoming tide.

Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo were sentenced to death for the killings. But although Mr Miller's family called the verdict 'justice', the trial of the two Burmese migrant workers was plagued by accusations of human rights abuses.

The men, apprehended soon after the pair's bodies were found, initially confessed to the crime only to retract their statements amid claims they were extracted by torture.This is the heart-stopping moment a Japanese airplane suddenly nosedives over a runway in Japan after the pilot attempted to land during a typhoon.

Video footage shows the passenger jet coming in for landing at Tokyo's Narita Airport when the nose suddenly dips forward.

The incident took place as Typhoon Cimaron barrelled across the Japanese islands over the weekend, bringing winds of nearly 134 mph.

Terror: Video footage shows the passenger jet, reportedly a Boeing Dreamliner, coming in for landing at Tokyo's Narita airport

The strong winds made it difficult to fly any form of aircraft, and commercial airlines cancelled around 300 flights on Thursday and Friday.

It is easy to see why when watching the video of the plane, reportedly a Boeing Dreamliner, coming in for a very wobbly landing at Narita Airport.

Fortunately, the pilot was able to steer the plane back up again, and the passenger plane landed safely.

Other footage shot in Japanthis weekend showed torrential rain, flooded streets and some structural damage with roof tiles blown off.

Moment of fear: The video shows the passenger jet's nose suddenly dipping forward in the strong storm

Worship hall of Taishogun-jinja Shrine tumbles down after Typhoon Cimarron hit the area in Kyoto, western Japan

Typhoon Cimaron left nearly 100,000 households without power, and both flights and train services in the region were temporarily cancelled.

The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said 30 people had been injured while non-compulsory evacuation orders and advisories were at one point issued to more than one million people in western Japan.

'But the number of people advised to evacuate has declined dramatically and is likely to fall further now,' an agency official told AFP on Friday adding that at least 77 houses and buildings had sustained damage.

A windmill tumbles down at Hokudan Earthquake Memorial Park after Typhoon Cimarron hit Awaji, Hyogo prefecture, western Japan

Cimaron followed Typhoon Soulik, which passed through southern Japan earlier last week, bringing heavy rain to parts of the main southern island of Kyushu.

The typhoon is the latest weather front to batter Japan, which has also been sweating through a record and deadly heatwave.

This followed devastating heavy rain in central and western parts of the country in July that killed more than 200 people.Advertisement

A huge blaze has torn through a Primark store in the middle of Belfast, destroying the historic five-storey building as officials warn the entire structure is on the verge of collapse.

Flames were seen shooting out from the roof of the 233 year-old Bank Buildings, which has recently undergone a 30million refurbishment.

Shoppers and staff were evacuated from the five-story building, which was bombed three times during the Troubles, at around 11am on Tuesday.

Parts of the structure's roof have collapsed, with firefighters from Northern Ireland's Fire and Rescue Service in attendance.

Flames and thick black smoke have engulfed the entire five-storey Bank Buildings.

Scroll down for video

A huge blaze has torn through a Primark store in the middle of Belfast , destroying the historic five-storey building

The Bank Buildings iconic clock is engulfed in flames after the fire broke out near the roof this morning

Police closed off the road in Belfast city centre as brave fire fighters battled the inferno this afternoon

Flames were seen shooting out from the roof of the 233 year-old Bank Buildings, which has recently undergone a 30million refurbishment

A firefighter trains a hose on a major blaze which has broken out at the Primark store in Belfast city centre today

Debris outside a Primark store as a major blaze has engulfed the shop

People look on as firefighters tackle a major blaze which has destroyed a Primark store in the historic five-storey Bank Buildings in Belfast city centre

Debris outside a Primark store as a major blaze has engulfed the shop in the historic five-storey Bank Buildings in Belfast city centre

Baby seagull rescued from the poisonous smoke caused by fire A baby seagull who could not fly has been rescued from poisonous smoke created by the Primark store fire. He was on the balcony of a nearby Ann Summers store in Belfast city centre when the blaze broke out. The bird had been abandoned by his family a couple of weeks ago and has been christened Smokey by his rescuers. Staff at Ann Summers had been keeping an eye on him. A representative from Debbie Dolittle's Wildlife picked him up. His Facebook post said: 'When I arrived to get him there was an obvious danger. 'As most may have seen on the news by now that the Primark building is in flames. Just opposite the rescue site. 'I raced out onto the balcony to get it as he was fully exposed to the smoke and as he can't fly would have sadly choked to death as he had no shelter. 'Thankfully we got him safe before being asked to evacuate the building. 'The things you have to do. Lol.. just glad he's safe... if a little smelly.' Advertisement

Thick black smoke could be seen billowing miles away, from a distance itlooked like a tornado had landed in Belfast.

Flames could be seen blazing inside the windows of the high rise building.

With much of the city centre closed off, large crowds had gathered to watch and film the efforts to fight the fire.

But to the massed bank of onlookers held back by police tape, it appeared like the damage was terminal.

Primark chief executive Paul Marchant said he is deeply shocked and saddened by the fire that has destroyed the Belfast flagship store.

He reassured staff who worked in the building that he will ensure they are 'fully supported'.

Mr Marchant also said he will work with the authorities and building contractors to establish the cause of the blaze that destroyed the five-storey building.

Belfast City Councillor Jim Rodgers told the Belfast Telegraph that he was told tar was being laid on the roof of the building shortly before the fire started.

He said: 'Inquiries are still at a very early stage but I've been told by a number of people that the fire started on the roof, seemingly it was tar being put down on the roof as part of the refurbishment of the building.

'It's been worked on for so long and within minutes it's disappeared into an absolute inferno.

'I've got to praise the fire and rescue service, there's a large number of them here and they've done a brilliant job in bringing the fire under control.'

The Bank Buildings were designed by Sir Robert Taylor and erected by Waddell Cunningham in 1785.

The original bank opened in 1787 under the name of 'The Bank of the Four Johns', as all four founders were named John.

After the bank collapsed, the building was used as the residence of the Bishop of Down and Connor.

In 1805, it was converted into a shop, and has remained an outlet for retail ever since. Primark took over the building in 1979.

Social media posts show huge plumes of black smoke above the building and billowing right across Belfast city centre

Parts of the structure's roof collapsed, with firefighters from Northern Ireland 's Fire and Rescue Service in attendance

PSNI officers watch as flames from a major blaze engulf a Primark store in the historic five-storey Bank Buildings in Belfast city centre today

A two-year refurbishment and extension of the building was due for completion next month, with Primark announcing plans to take on 100 new staff just last week.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for the NIFRS said: 'NIFRS received a call at 11am today to a fire on the top floor of the Primark building - a five-storey commercial property in the Castle Street area of Belfast.

'11 appliances are in attendance. The building has been evacuated.

'The public are advised to avoid the Castle Street/Royal Avenue area whilst the incident is ongoing.'

Emer Hinphey tweeted: 'Looks like a bad fire at the Primark building in Belfast City Centre.

'Seeing the Fire Fighters move across to the roof is a scary reminder of the amazing and risky job they do.'

Flames were seen shooting out from the roof of the 233 year-old Bank Buildings, which has recently undergone a refurbishment

A number of diversions are in place at Bridge Street, High Street, Castle Street and Queen's Street to allow the fire service to deal with the ongoing incident

Social media posts show huge plumes of black smoke above the building and billowing right across Belfast city centre

Parts of the structure's roof has collapsed according to one report, with firefighters from Northern Ireland 's Fire and Rescue Service in attendance

A huge blaze has broken out at a Primark store in a historic building in the middle of Belfast

The Police Service of Northern Ireland also issued a warning to motorists to avoid the area.

A number of diversions are in place at Bridge Street, High Street, Castle Street and Queen's Street as well as Royal Avenue and North Street to allow the fire service to deal with the ongoing incident.

Police have advised drivers to seek an alternative route. Primark added that the store was safely evacuated after a fire on the roof.

A spokesman for Primark said that the fire alarm had sounded, after several eyewitnesses claimed it had not.

He said: 'Our Belfast store on Castle Street was safely evacuated this morning (Tuesday) following a fire on the roof.

'Fire services are attending the scene and working to extinguish the fire.'

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service is currently in attendance, with 11 fire engines rushed to the scene

A two-year refurbishment and extension of the building was due for completion next month, with Primark announcing plans to take on 100 new staff just last week

SDLP councilor Tim Attwood said the scenes a the historic building were 'devastating' and 'extremely worrying'.

'The iconic building that is home to Primark, which has been undergoing refurbishment work, is being threatened by a fire,' he said.

'My thoughts are with the staff and the emergency services who are battling to control the flames.'

Joan McCoy, president of the Royal Society of Ulster Architects, said the fire a sad day for Belfast.

She added: 'Thankfully, there are no reports of any injuries arising from this major fire but it is a sad day for Belfast. Buildings like these help give Belfast its unique identity and character. The Bank Building is a very important part of the city's architectural heritage and is loved by many,' she said.

'This building has survived bombs and fire before. We can only hope that the damage is not too severe and that the building can be saved.'

Pictured here in the early part of the 20th century, the iconic building has been both a bank and the home of a bishop

Werner Schiffelers, a tour guide from the Netherlands, is staying in Belfast. He was waiting on his guests returning from a tour of Titanic Belfast when he saw the fire.

The worldwide traveller said he has 'never seen a fire like this'.

'We have to see if we can sleep in our hotel at the Ramada or not tonight, that is the big question,' he added.

'About 30 minutes ago it was almost out - only the roof was on fire, but now the complete building has gone.

'We were just here three hours ago when it started and now it is gone.'

He was broadcasting the blaze on Facebook live to followers around the world.Billionaire Peter Thiel has praised Donald Trump saying he was the only Republican candidate for president who wasn't a 'zombie'.

The PayPal co-founder said Trump was the only presidential hopeful who didn't stick to 'programmed ideological soundbites', Bloomberg reports.

Speaking at an event on entrepreneurship in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Monday, Thiel claimed Trump was a 'very healthy corrective' to the problem of political correctness in politics.

'I got to meet a lot of people running for president on the US Republican side in 2016 and they all felt like zombies,' the 50-year-old said.

Billionaire Peter Thiel (pictured in 2016) has praised Donald Trump saying he was the only Republican candidate for president who wasn't a 'zombie'

'They couldn't say anything different other than programmed ideological soundbites.'

He added that although he understands why some consider Trump a 'rude, mean person,' he believes that's better than telling 'beautiful lies about the way the country is working'.

Thiel also said with the 'flaws' and 'challenges' that the Trump administration has faced, it is important to 'articulate certain things about how our political institutions and our society were not working as well as before.'

Thiel, who was the first big investor in Facebook and continues to sit on the company's board despite selling most of his shares, used to be among the most vocal of Trump's supporters.

The PayPal co-founder said Donald Trump (pictured) was the only presidential hopeful who didn't stick to 'programmed ideological soundbites'

He stumped for Trump at the Republican National Convention in 2016 and was on Trump's transition team.

But over the past year, he has remained silent on Trump's performance in the White House.

His comments on Monday only came in response to a question about the president that was asked by David Velez, the CEO of Nubank  a Brazilian financial technology startup backed by Thiel's Founders Fund.A police officer on duty at London's Notting Hill Carnival has revealed he arrested a female reveller who slapped his bottom during an on-going incident.

Inspector Owen Pyle, who is a neighbourhood inspector for MPS Southwark, tweeted his disdain at the female party goer, who he later arrested.

'While dealing with an incident at Carnival yesterday a woman thought it'd be funny to slap my bum. She soon regretted it when I arrested her.

Inspector Owen Pyle tweeted his response to the incident following a women grabbing his bum during an incident at Notting Hill Carnival

'I don't come to work to be sexually assaulted while doing my job. That kind of behaviour is unacceptable.'

Other social media users chimed in to support the officer, with the tweet receiving over twenty likes, but the officer did point out that the festival atmosphere may have fueled her behaviour.

'I think alcohol played a part tbh. But we need to be robust in dealing with people who think it's ok to do that.'

The officer admitted that alcohol may have played a part in her behavior, but said officers need to be robust with 'people like that'

The party-goer was escorted away from the carnival following the incident.

On Twitter one user Will (@willscottb) said 'firm action needs to be taken against anyone like that.'

'I can't remember whether it was last year but that video of a male reveller grinding up against a female police officer springs to mind. Firm action needs to be taken against anyone like that.'

'I really don't understand how people can think that behaving like that towards a police officer or anyone else for that matter would be acceptable.'

In a statement to the MailOnline the Met Police said: 'At 21:45hrs on Monday, 27 August a 26-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly in Westbourne Park Road, W2.

'She was taken to a central London police station, where she was issued a dispersal order requiring her to leave the Carnival footprint.

'The arresting officer deemed it more appropriate and proportionate based on the circumstances to arrest the woman on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly.'

This comes as Scotland Yard today hailed the Notting Hill Carnival a 'safe and spectacular' success as party-goers welcomed a rise in police presence.

More than a million revellers descended on west London for Europe's biggest street party, which took place over the bank holiday weekend.

During the course of the weekend officers imposed stop-and-search orders on both days and installed new 'knife arch' metal detectors at key points for the first time after a surge in violence on London's streets.A 'disturbed and violent' man has been arrested a month after video emerged of a woman being punched in Paris.

Marie Laguerre, 22, was shown in CCTV footage being struck across the face in the French capital after telling a man not to wolf-whistle her.

The 25-year-old suspect, named as Firas M, had been receiving psychiatric treatment at a hospital and was arrested as he left the unit, according to French media.

Outrage erupted in France after a man attacked a young woman, Marie Laguerre (pictured in the red dress), when she responded to lewd noises he made at her outside a Paris cafe

Laguerre, 22, was punched by a passer by (left) when she told him to 'shut up' after he wolf-whistled at her

Investigators traced him using his phone number and found that he was in the hospital as part of a separate judicial case.

He has been described as disturbed and violent and 'capable of hitting his mother', according to Le Parisien.

Laguerre, a student, wrote on Facebook last month that she was returning home when a man started making lewd comments. She told him to 'shut up' and kept walking away, while the man went in the opposite direction.

In surveillance video provided by the cafe, the man is then seen grabbing an ashtray from a table on the cafe's patio and throwing it at her. He then returns and strikes Laguerre across the face.

She filed a complaint with police and later posted the video, writing that 'we must no longer keep quiet'.

Laguerre has received praise from the French public and abroad for her courage in standing up to her aggressor. She has created a website 'Nous Toutes Harcelement' (We are all harassed) for other victims of sexual harassment to recount their stories

Since her video went up on Facebook, Laguerre has received messages from around the world from women sharing their own experiences as well as from men offering their support.

Paris prosecutors have opened an inquiry following the posting of the video of the assault on her.

In the days that followed, France outlawed sexual harassment on the streets, leaving cat-callers and aggressively lecherous individuals facing potential on-the-spot fines of more than 650.Tesla CEO Elon Musk is not expected to attend Burning Man, Nevada's famed annual desert art and music festival which kicks off this week.

The eccentric and sometimes erratic CEO has previously joined the tens of thousands of revelers in the Nevada desert for the past nine years.

But in the face of public and investor scrutiny, Musk is reportedly giving the festival a miss in favour of staying at the helm of his company amid reports the SEC is investigating Telsa after a series of erratic tweets led to plummeting share prices.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk (pictured) is not expected to attend Burning Man, Nevada's famed annual desert art and music festival

Held deep in the Nevada desert at the end of the summer, Burning Man consists of a vast, purpose-built, city which hosts a mind-bending array of art, music and performances

The impulsive genius and architect of cutting-edge car, rocket and solar panel companies built nearly from scratch has had a tough year.

He admitted to taking Ambien to help him sleep and on August 7 he made an unexpected tweet that funding was secured and Tesla may go private,.

He then released a statement that the money wasn't locked down after all.

Musk has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Burning Man festival, sharing his thoughts over Twitter in 2014.

'If you haven't been, you just don't get it. You could take the craziest LA party and multiply it by a thousand, and it doesn't even get f - - king close,' he wrote.

Musk has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Burning Man festival, sharing his thoughts over Twitter: 'You could take the craziest LA party and multiply it by a thousand, and it doesn't even get f - - king close'

But after his series of erratic tweets, experts say it all could wind up with Tesla exposed to a fine for misleading investors and may erode his credibility with stakeholders who have endured multiple broken promises and years of losses as a public company.

'Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured,' he tweeted earlier in the month.

But on Friday Musk announced that Tesla would remain public, passing up a $72billion private deal.

'Earlier this month, I announced that I was considering taking Tesla private. As part of the process, it was important to understand whether our current investors believed this would be a good strategic move and whether they would want to participate in a private Tesla,' Musk wrote.

'Based on all the discussions that have taken place over the last couple of weeks and a thorough consideration of what is best for the company, a few things are clear to me: Given the feedback I've received, it's apparent that most of Tesla's existing shareholders believe we are better off as a public company.'This is the moment a pervert was snared after chatting online to two paedophile hunters who he thought were two girls - before trying to blame it on foreign hackers.

David Nicholson, 45, of Blyth, Northumberland, believed he had been sending messages to girls aged 13 and 15 last month - but had been duped by Dark Justice.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the organisation set up fake profiles to expose adults looking for illegal contact with children.

David Nicholson is pictured on the night he was ensnared by members of paedophile hunter group Dark Justice as he went to meet what he thought would be a 13-year-old girl

Police found 13 indecent images and three prohibited images of children on Nicholson's phone

Nicholson had spoken to the profiles about 'kissing and cuddling'  and, when the youngest of the profiles asked him about having sex, he replied: 'If you wanted to'.

He was confronted by Dark Justice when he turned up to meet the 13-year-old girl in Sunderland. Nicholson told them: 'My internet has been hacked a few times.'

Nicholson (pictured outside court) admitted two offences of attempting to communicate with children and possessing banned images

Dark Justice asked: 'Who by?' He replied: 'People in Dubai.' Dark Justice said: 'You are telling me people in Dubai are hacking your internet and talking to children?' And Nicholson said: 'Maybe.'

Vincent Ward, prosecuting, told the court: 'They made arrangements to meet at 1am. He arrived at the meeting place, which was (in) Sunderland, and two gentlemen from Dark Justice were there to meet him. He was detained by them.'

The court heard Nicholson was arrested and police found 13 indecent images and three prohibited images of children on his phone.

He admitted two offences of attempting to communicate with children and possessing the banned images.

Mr Recorder Ben Nolan QC sentenced him to a community order for three years with rehabilitation and programme requirements, with a five-year sex offender registration and sexual harm prevention order.

The judge said Nicholson has an 'unhealthy interest' in teenage girls, adding: 'I am prepared to avoid imposing what would be a relatively short custodial sentence so that the interests of the public can be better protected if you go on a sex offender treatment programme.'

The court heard Nicholson has never been in trouble before and did not attempt to conceal his true identity during the online conversations.The Metropolitan Police has launched an appeal to find this suspect Joseph Longman, 19, who is wanted on suspicion of serious assault, although social media users have mocked him over his uncanny resemblance to Princess Leia from the Star Wars franchise

A fugitive's 'man buns' are being mercilessly mocked online after police issued a photo of a wanted man who locals say looks like 'Princess Leia on a bad day'.

Hillingdon Police released a photo of 19-year-old Joseph Longman saying he was wanted on suspicion of a serious assault.

A spokesman issued a photo of the teen, complete with 'man buns', stating: 'Fugitive Friday: Can you help us track down Joseph Longman, age 19? He is wanted for a serious assault.'

Locals said it shouldn't take long to track the teenager down given his distinctive hair-do, which some said looked like Princess Leia - played by Carrie Fisher in the Star Wars movies - or Minnie Mouse.

Writing on the Facebook page of Hillingdon Police, which covers a patch in north west London, Richard Favre wrote: 'What's the crime? Doing a bad impersonation of Princess Leia?'

Scott Turnill wrote: 'How can you not find a guy that's walking around with Princess Leia's hairstyle??? Not exactly inconspicuous.'

Craig McGhee wrote: 'Princess Leia- The Crunk Years.', and Alan Clayton wrote: 'He's going for the Princess Leia look but failing.'

Sammy R wrote: 'Princess Leia on a bad day - a very bad day.'

Hillingdon Police have warned members of the public not to approach Longman

Social media users compared Longman's style to that worn by Carrie Fisher in 1977

Some commentators said Longman's distinctive hairstyle will assist police with their search

Others suggested Longman should face punishment for the unusual hairstyle

Despite the serious nature of the charge facing Longman, social media users mocked him

Local Terry Howard wrote: 'Princess Leia looks dreadful!', and Jason Meehan wrote: 'In a galaxy far, far away!' and Adrian Beckwith wrote: 'Help me obi wan kenobi, you're my only hope.'

Others reckoned the fugitive looked more like Minnie Mouse, with Lynn Mackenzie writing: 'Have you tried Minnie's house? He could be there.'

Phil Taylor wrote: 'Its Minnie Mouse.', with Andrew Winn writing: 'Check Disneyland.'

Hayley Owens wrote simply: 'Mickey mouse's clubhouse?'

Joker Matt Gibbons wrote: 'Who did he assault?? His hairdresser?' and Mark Coughlan wrote: 'If it was his hairdresser he assaulted could this photo be used as mitigation in his defence?'

A spokesman for Hillingdon Police said: 'If you know where he is or where we can find him, do not approach, please give us a call on 101. If you wish to remain anonymous, give Crimestoppers a call on 0800 555 111.'A BBC actress has captured the moment a photobombing seagull stole her 99 ice-cream flake.

Waterloo Road star Kirstie Steele, 27, was enjoying an ice cream near Brighton beach when the dive-bombing bird swooped.

A photo posted on social media shows the brazen bird with its beak clamped round the chocolate flake in a daylight raid.

The gull appeared to ignore Kirstie's vanilla treat and headed straight for the 99's chocolate treat.

A photo posted on social media shows the brazen bird with its beak clamped round the chocolate flake in a lightning daylight raid

Kirstie, who played Imogen Mulgrew in the hit BBC series, captured the incredible moment the bird struck.

She wrote: 'Wanted: for theft of a 99. #brighton #icecream #dangersofinstagram #seagull #brightonpier #99cone #seaside #beach #thisisbrighton.'

Fans took to social media to praise the image after it was posted online.

Jamesbrace1 posted: 'Great snap but the bird seems a bit flakey tho!' and thesaltroombrighton posted: 'Sums up trying to eat outside in Brighton! Be safe today - eat indoors.'

Experts have warned in a rise of aggressive gulls plaguing Britain's coastlines.

Alongside the image Kirstie wrote: 'Wanted for theft of a 99'

Kirstie (centre, back) played Imogen Mulgrew in the hit BBC series Waterloo Road (pictured)

And last year they reported a surge in the number of patients injured in attacks. Pharamcists in Cornwall said they were seeing at least one patient a week who had been left bloodied or cut as a result.

MPs have warned that many coastal towns are being 'terrorised' by the birds, who appear to have come increasingly aggressive, with some calling for a cull.

In one instance in July an elderly man reportedly killed a seagull in front of crying children when it sole a chip from him.

Mother-of-three Rachael Beer says the incident occurred at Weston-super-Mare's seaside resort.

The 40-year-old claims the man grabbed a seagull by its feet and swung it against a wall after it stole food from his takeaway container. RSPCA have confirmed they are investigating the incident.

And a month earlier a seagull was spotted shoplifting, as it tried to steal a packet of cotton pads from a chemist.

Sophie Mack, 27, was visiting Kamsons Pharmacy in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, with her mother when she snapped the feathered fiend attempting to make off with the beauty products.

Theresa May shrugged off the threat of a 'right wing coup' from Boris Johnson today - vowing to fight the next election.

The Prime Minister insisted she was in her job for the 'long term' despite a rising backlash among Tory grassroots over her soft Brexit plans.

Mrs May sidestepped questions over whether she feared being booed at party conference, merely insisting she would deliver 'important messages' to the faithful.

She also played down fears over 'entryism' with a wave of hardline Brexiteers said to be joining in expectation of a leadership contest.

Theresa May (pictured today in Cape Town) shrugged off the threat of a 'right wing coup' from Boris Johnson today - vowing to fight the next election

There has been mounting speculation over a move against her by Boris Johnson (pictured in Oxfordshire earlier this month), who dramatically quit in protest at the Chequers plan earlier this summer

The combative stance came as Mrs May was grilled by reporters during a trip to Africa today.

There has been mounting speculation over a move against her by Mr Johnson, who dramatically quit in protest at the Chequers plan earlier this summer.

Theresa May to quit: What happens next? How does a leadership election work? The election to find Theresa May's replacement is held in two stages with up to 20 Tory MPs expected to try to stand. To join the battle, any candidate requires two other MPs to sign forms agreeing to be their proposer and a seconder. The race will start on June 7 and is expected last around six weeks with the new leader in place by the end of July. Mrs May is expected to remain as Prime Minister until a successor is appointed and ready to be confirmed by the Queen. How are candidates eliminated? Conservative MPs will hold a series of head-to-head ballots to whittle the list of contenders down to a final two, with the lowest placed candidate dropping out in each round. Who votes on the final two? There will then be a series of hustings involving the two final candidates - probably in all regions of the UK - and a TV debate could also be held. It is then the Tory members across the country step in. They will then have around a fortnight to vote via postal ballot - which Mrs May avoided after rival Andrea Leadsom dropped out of the race. The last time a postal vote was held was in 2005, when David Cameron grabbed the leadership. Advertisement

The PM defended her proposals for future relations with the EU, despite Mr Johnson using his newspaper column yesterday to compare it to the treatment Greece received when it nearly went bankrupt after the credit crunch.

Mrs May stressed that the government had stepped up 'no deal' planning alongside negotiating with the EU.

Asked if she was concerned about getting booed and slow-handclapped by restive Tory activists at conference, Mrs May said: 'I will be going to conference with important messages about what we as a government are doing.'

Pressed on whether she stood by her commitment to lead the Tories into next general election, Mrs May said: 'I've answered that question before.

'I'm in this for the long term.

'The British people voted for us to leave the EU and I'm focused on doing that.'

The PM was asked if she feared being ousted in a 'right wing coup' like Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull, a longstanding friend since they attended Oxford University together.

'The Australian politics have certainly been active over the last week or two,' she said.

'I think if you look at Australia politics they are rather different than you see in the UK.'

Asked in a separate interview with ITV news tonight whether she had 'noticed how much Boris wants your job', Mrs May delivered a withering put-down.

I was very pleased that Boris was foreign secretary for the period that he was foreign secretary, she said.

Mrs May was in South Africa today as she kicked off a major trade mission, which will also see her visit Kenya and Nigeria.

The Prime Minister (pictured today during an official welcoming ceremony with South Africa president Cyril Ramaphosa) insisted she was in her job for the 'long term' despite a rising backlash among Tory grassroots over her soft Brexit plans

Theresa May held talks with Cyril Ramaphosa (pictured right) at the Presidential Palace in Cape Town today

The Prime Minister told Mr Ramaphosa she wanted Britain to be a 'partner' for South Africa

The PM denied being 'late to the party' in forging ties with Africa today as she revealed six countries have agreed to 'roll over' trade deals with the EU.

In the first trade pacts confirmed for after Brexit, Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland will continue the existing terms of the European Partnership Agreement after the UK leaves the bloc.

Theresa May laughs off mockery over her awkward 'Maybot' dancing with South African schoolchildren Theresa May risked acute embarrassment today as she danced with school children on the first day of her African tour Theresa May today laughed off mockery over her awkward 'Maybot' dancing with schoolchildren during a visit to South Africa. The Prime Minister's toe-curling moves as she watched a display of traditional singing and dancing sparked comparisons with footballer Peter Crouch's famous 'robot'. But responding to the slew of ridicule tonight, Mrs May admitted: 'I suspect my dancing this morning might not make it on to Strictly.' The premier's toe-curling bid to copy the children's movements had TV viewers watching through their fingers as she jerked and shuffled her way across the playground. A video of her dance moves provoked hilarity online, with Twitter jokers comparing her to the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz. Advertisement

Delivering a speech in Cape Town, the PM also announced a major expansion of Britain's diplomatic presence in Africa.

And she unveiled billions more of investment in the continent, and said the foreign aid budget would be used 'unashamedly' to drive closer trade ties.

But she was forced to defend the government's level of engagement - after critics pointed out that she is the first UK premier to tour sub-Saharan Africa since 2011.

Since 2010 French presidents have visited 27 times, while Xi Jinping of China has gone there 79 times since 2011.

Asked after the speech whether she accepted more could have been done, Mrs May said bluntly: 'No.'

She argued that former foreign secretary Mr Johnson had made a series of visits to the continent.

'We have been working with African nations and African governments in the past,' she said.

'What I'm talking about today is a new partnership for the future recognising the challenges that we both face.'

She was able to deliver some positive news on Brexit, with the first confirmation that some of the EU's existing trade deals will be rolled over once the UK has left.

Mrs May said: 'This agreement is a hugely positive step and will ensure that our important trade relationships in southern Africa will not be disrupted as we leave the EU, providing continuity for UK firms and consumers, and for our trading partners here - as well as paving the way for more exciting opportunities in future.'

Appearing to copy the dance moves around her, the PM shuffled toward the children while grinning for the cameras

Mrs May was greeted by a crowd of singing children and indulged in a dance in the playground - watched on by aides and reporters

The statement of intent is the most advanced yet from around 40 existing EU trade agreements that the UK hopes to continue.

Theresa May denies being 'late to the party' in forging ties with Africa Theresa May denied being 'late to the party' in forging ties with Africa today as she revealed six countries have agreed to 'roll over' trade deals with the EU. In the first trade pacts confirmed for after Brexit, Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland will continue the existing terms of the European Partnership Agreement after the UK leaves the bloc. Delivering a speech in Cape Town, the PM also announced a major expansion of Britain's diplomatic presence in Africa, unveiled billions more of investment in the continent, and said the foreign aid budget would be used 'unashamedly' to drive closer trade ties. But she was forced to defend the government's level of engagement - after critics pointed out that she is the first UK premier to tour sub-Saharan Africa since 2011. Since 2010 French presidents have visited 27 times, while Xi Jinping of China has gone there 79 times since 2011. Asked after the speech whether she accepted more could have been done, Mrs May said bluntly: 'No.' She argued that former foreign secretary Boris Johnson had made a series of visits to the continent. 'We have been working with African nations and African governments in the past,' she said. 'What I'm talking about today is a new partnership for the future recognising the challenges that we both face.' Mrs May has kicked off a three-day trip that will also take in Nigeria and Kenya. She told the audience that there were huge benefits to be had from investing in greater prosperity for the continent. Advertisement

The arrangements would be ready to come into force in March 2019 if negotiations with the EU fail.

The UK's trade with southern Africa is worth almost 10billion annually  including 5billion of exports.

Mrs May also made clear the 2.6billion in aid the UK distributes in Africa annually would be used to drive economic growth that will help Britain thrive outside the EU.

'The UK's role in international development is something of which I'm immensely proud as I believe the nation as a whole should be,' she said.

'We will remain a global champion for aid spending, humanitarian relief and international development.

'We will continue our commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of gross national income on official development assistance and we will not falter in our work to deliver the sustainable development goals.'

She said: 'I want to be clear, foreign aid works.'

Mrs May said: 'I want to put our development budget and expertise at the centre of our partnership as part of an ambitious new approach  and use this to support the private sector to take root and grow.'

She kicked off her three-day charm offensive in Africa by dancing with some schoolchildren on the first leg of her tour.

The Prime Minister was mocked for her awkward 'Maybot' dancing with the youngsters in South Africa.

The Prime Minister's toe-curling moves as she watched a display of traditional singing and dancing sparked comparisons with footballer Peter Crouch's famous 'robot'.

But she laughed off criticisms, admitting: 'I suspect my dancing this morning might not make it on to Strictly.'

A video of her dance moves provoked hilarity online, with Twitter jokers comparing her to the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz.Oklahoma teacher Haylie Smart, 29, was arrested on a charge of second-degree rape, for allegedly having sex with a student, starting when he was 17 years old

An Oklahoma high school teacher has been arrested on allegations of having sex with a student, starting when he was 17 years old.

Haylie Smart, 29, was arrested on a charge of second-degree rape, the Rogers County Sheriffs Office said.

She's accused of having sex with the Oologah-Talala High School student both after class and at his home.

Smart's employment with the School District I-004 ended on May 29, Max Tanner, superintendent of Oologah-Talala Public Schools, said in a statement toTulsa World.

Smart could not immediately be reached for comment.

Smart is accused of having sex with a Oologah-Talala High School student, starting when the student was 17 years old, both after class and at his home

Smart was not discreet about her sexual relationship with the student, according to law enforcement documents.

The probable cause affidavit states she began rubbing the students back and placing her head on his shoulder in October 2017.

At some point, Smart and the student were said to have hugged in front of other students multiple times.

The two allegedly began having sex in November, according to the documents.

The student turned 18 in December. Regardless of the student's age, it's illegal for a teacher to have sexual encounters with a student, under Oklahoma state law.

Regardless of the student's age, it's illegal for a teacher to have sexual encounters with a student, under Oklahoma state law

It's believed Smart had sex with the student both after class, and also at his home, during a two-week statewide teacher walkout.

Smart sent a message to a friend in May about her alleged relationship with the student, and noting the school's investigation.

She said she believed the school would find sufficient evidence to fire her, according to authorities.

Smart was suspended from the school district in May, and she resigned from her position several days later, Oklahoma News 4 reported.

The warrant for Smarts arrest was issued on August 17, the Sheriffs Office said.

She turned herself in to authorities on Friday and was released after posting a $25,000 bond.

Smart could not immediately be reached for comment.A couple accused of stealing some of the $400,000 the public raised for a homeless man insist they were simply trying to stop him wasting it all on drugs.

Johnny Bobbitt, 35, made headlines around the world in November after he used his last money on gas for New Jersey woman Kate McClure.

McClure and her boyfriend Mark D'Amico set up GoFundMe page dedicated to changing Bobbitt's life and it attracted hundreds of thousands of donations. But nine months on, the couple admit just over $150,000 of the $400,000 raised remains.

During an appearance on the Megyn Kelly Today show Monday, they explained that they had initially put the money in their own bank account temporarily because Bobbitt didn't have one of his own - and had no ID or documentation to get one.

'We worked to get him all those things. That's takes so much time,' McClure said.

During an appearance on the Megyn Kelly Today show Monday, Kate McClure. McClure and her boyfriend Mark D'Amico, accused of stealing some of the $400,000 the public raised for a homeless man insisted they were simply trying to stop him wasting it all on drugs

Becoming emotional, they explained they'd been receiving death threats from people who assumed they'd stolen Bobbitt's cash

Meanwhile, the couple used the funds to buy Bobbitt a trailer, that he picked out, after he told them he didn't want a house.

'His dream - one of the first conversations I had with him was what he wanted,' said D'Amico.

'You can do anything you want in the world. You won the lottery, basically. I asked him what his dream was, he said to end up in Alaska in a travel trailer and living off the land and fishin hunting. I said, let's do it.'

They even allowed him to keep the trailer on the McClure property while they sorted out his paperwork, and he'd used their home to shower, and would walk in whenever he liked.

Eventually, the documents came through and they set up a bank account for Bobbitt, but by this time, D'Amico said they'd started to notice some 'red flags'.

Johnny Bobbitt made headlines around the world in November after he used his last money on gas for New Jersey woman Kate McClure

Johnny Bobbitt, 35, is back living on the street nine months after Mark D'Amico and Kate McClure raised $400,000 for him through a GoFundMe page because they have spent half the money, apparently on his care, and are withholding the rest

The biggest warning sign came after Christmas, when the couple say they deposited $25,000 into Bobbitt's account.

The money disappeared within 13 days - spent almost exclusively on drugs, D'Amico told Kelly.

'We saw the pattern developing. Every dollar he ever touched was used for drugs,' D'Amico said.

McClure said they tried to get Bobbitt to go to a rehab program but when he refused, they were worried to hand over the rest of the cash because they feared 'he was going to do something foolish and end up right back where he was.'

'I wanted to make sure at the end of the day when he was ready he had something left.'

D'Amico says that just $150,000 remains of the initial $400,000.

'He spent a lot of money,' he said of Bobbitt.

D'Amico explained that after GoFundMe took its cut, they were left with around $350,000 and that the $200,000 had been spent on his trailer, legal fees and court costs ,the hotel Bobbitt stayed in beforehand, an SUV, TV, laptop, two cell phones, and sending his parents money.

'Also his brother came into the picture and was living oppose our property, who is also an addict,' D'Amico said, adding that the rest, including the $25,000 he cycled through in 13 days, went on drugs.

Nearly 15,000 people donated $402,000 to get Bobbitt off the street after he used his last $20 to buy McClure gas in Philadelphia. Now, GoFundMe is looking in to whether or not the money has been mismanaged

In January, the couple went to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon where they enjoyed a $500 per person helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon. McClure said it was a gift from D'Amico

The couple say they paid for their trips, her new BMW and his casino trips with their salaries. He is a carpenter and she is a receptionist for the state department of transportation

Yet the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the couple have since sold the camper for just $10,000, as well as the SUV, because Bobbitt wanted to use the money from the sale to move out of New Jersey. He claims he has received no money from the sale.

Meanwhile Bobbitt has accused the couple of embezzling his money for their own means - and splashing the cash on vacations and a new car - something they adamantly deny.

Although D'Amico does admit he used $500 of the donations to gamble at a casino, he insists that Bobbitt was with him and it was with his full permission.

McClure is shown at Disney earlier this year

D'Amico and McClure say they are in the process of setting up an independent trust for the remaining funds for Bobbitt and say they are happy to have a forensic account go through their spending to prove they haven't spent any of the funds themselves.

'That's what we're in the process of doing.'

But it's been tough for the pair who say they just wanted to do something nice for the homeless man who touched them with his kindness.

McClure broke down in tears as she described receiving death threats from people who assumed they'd stolen Bobbitt's cash.

'It's so hard to deal with, because people are getting one side of the story, and receiving death threats and threats to burn my house down and threats against my family and everything like that is so hard to deal with when we know that we did a good thing,' she said.

'I still believe that we did a good thing, and I would do it all over again.I would do it all over again for him.'

Meanwhile, Bobbitts is back on the streets after the couple reportedly sold his trailer and asked him to leaveMcClure's land, claiming he had stolen from them.

They've also sold the SUV but Bobbitt has not received a penny from the sales.

In April, they took Bobbitt to New York City for the first time. It is 80 miles from their home in New Jersey

GoFundMe is now working with a team of lawyers who have agreed to work pro-bono for Bobbitt to determine whether the money has been mismanaged.

'Giving him all that money, it's never going to happen. I'll burn it in front of him,' D'Amico said bluntly in a recent interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer.

In the meantime, the couple have enjoyed trips to Las Vegas and Los Angeles and McClure has purchased a new BMW. They insist they used their salaries.

He is a carpenter and she works as a receptionist for the state department of transportation. They both say they took 'significant' time off from work to help Bobbitt and they have not explained how they funded their lives during that hiatus.

WHERE DID THE MONEY GO McClure and D'Amico say they spent $200,000 on 'care' for Bobbitt which included; A stay in a hotel A camper they have now sold An SUV which was not the one he wanted Two cell phones A TV A laptop $30,000 for GoFundMe's fee $25,000 on cash he spent on drugs Money he sent to his parents and gave to his brother $150,000 being held back Advertisement

In April, they took Bobbitt to New York City from New Jersey. They were pictured there together smiling happily for photographs.

Bobbitt says he feels betrayed by the pair and thinks their greed got the better of them once the money started pouring in.

'I think it might have been good intentions in the beginning, but with that amount of money, I think it became greed,' he said.

Homeless advocates have enrolled him in two rehab programs to try to rid him of his opioid addiction. He spends $15 a day on drugs and is living beneath a bridge.

When contacted by DailyMail.com on Friday morning, McClure did not immediately respond.

She told The Philly Inquirer she did not want to lose her job over the dispute.

GoFundMe spokesman Bartlett Jackson said the company was investigating the disagreement.

'When there is a dispute, we work with all parties involved to ensure funds go to the right place. We will work to ensure that Johnny receives the help he deserves and that the donors' intentions are honored,' he said.

Nearly 15,000 people donated to the page. It is no longer accepting donations.

In her last update on it, McClure wrote: 'Now lets get down to some business. We've received a lot of comments and questions about what Johnny's plans are for this money and how it will be used.

Bobbitt is shown (left) before he became homeless and (right) after making the news for helping McClure. He said he believes the couple began wanting to help him but that they got carried away with the amount of money raised

'Hopefully this will answer them while keeping his privacy and the privacy of the people he is helping also.

'The first thing on the list is a NEW Home which Johnny will own!! He will never have to worry about a roof over his head again!! Second will be the dream truck he's always wanted... a 1999 ford ranger (yes I'm serious).

'There will also be 2 trusts set up in his name, one essentially giving him the ability to collect a small "salary" each year and another retirement trust which will be wisely invested by a financial planner which he will have access to in a time frame he feels comfortable with so when the time comes he can live his retirement dream of owning a piece of land and a cabin in the country.

'A bank account will be set up for him with funds for every day needs that will get him through until he finds a job. And lastly, he will be donating to a few organizations and people who over the last couple of years have helped him get through this rough patch in his life.

'This is a well thought out plan that Johnny his lawyer and financial advisor came up with in order to give Johnny the means to acclimate back into a "normal" life and also to protect him and ensure he has a bright future.'

Bobbitt said he was never given a lawyer and met once with a financial adviser.One in seven Americans reported using marijuana last year, an increase on 2016 that appears largely driven by states legalizing the drug for medicinal or recreational use.

Overall, 14.6 per cent of people told researchers that they used marijuana at some point in 2017, though that number varied widely depending on where people lived.

In states where marijuana was legal for recreational use, 20 per cent said they had consumed some form of the drug in the last year, compared to 12 per cent in states where the drug was completely illegal.

One in seven Americans reported using marijuana at some point in 2017, an increase of one in eight the previous year, a study has revealed

In states where medical marijuana was legal, 14 percent of those surveyed said they had used in the past year.

In 2016, 13 per cent of all Americans told polling agency Gallup that they had used marijuana that year.

The new research, which questioned 16,280 US adults, was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Smoking was by far the most popular method of consumption, with 55 per cent of those who reported using saying they took it this way.

But again the data was skewed depending on the law, with those in legal states experimenting with a greater variety of methods.

People were more likely to vape or to consume marijuana as an edible in states where recreational use has been legalized, researchers found.

Overall, 6 per cent said they had consumed edibles, 4.7 per cent reported vaping, 1.9 per cent said they had used concentrates and 0.8 per cent reported using topical versions of cannabis.

'There are increasingly novel forms of marijuana available and the risks of these products to health are unknown,' said study coauthor Dr. Salomeh Keyhani of the University of California, San Francisco.

'THC (the psychoactive component) is very high in some forms of marijuana, the concentrates, for example.

'We don't understand the impact of products with high THC.'

Marijuana rates were much higher in states which had legalized the drug for recreational use - 20 per cent - compared to those which hadn't - 12 per cent

Keyhani is concerned about the rapidly changing landscape. 'It seems like the current regulatory structure is not keeping pace with commercialization,' she said.

'There is commercialization without uniform standards on the types of products that can be sold or marketed to the public.'

Cannabis use was inversely related to age. Younger people were more likely than older ones to use, with those between 18 and 34 reporting the highest use.

Baked goods or pastries and candy were the most common forms of edibles consumed by U.S. adults.

Keyhani is right to be concerned about the varying levels of THC in the cannabis products people are using, said Dr. Michael Lynch, medical director of the Pittsburgh Poison Center of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

'Historically the downsides of marijuana have been minimized,' Lynch said. 'Its use has been considered safe and without risks and that is not necessarily the case.

'For example, 10 per cent of adult users become addicted, while about 17 per cent of adolescent users do. Those are not insignificant numbers when you consider that the overall numbers are increasing.'

What's most concerning, Lynch said, are products with high concentrations of THC, whether it's in oils for vaping or in edibles.

'When it's more concentrated or more highly potent, you see side effects like agitation,' he added. 'There's a potential for anxiety and for psychotic effects.'

And while there's talk about cannabis calming seizures, in high potency forms it can actually bring them on in people who are vulnerable, Lynch said.

Lynch is also concerned about teen use. 'Early use is associated with more negative effects on brain and cognitive development,' he said.

Ultimately, there needs to be more research on cannabis, and a way to know what potency marijuana you're getting, Lynch said.

'In states like Pennsylvania, where medical marijuana is legal, it's tightly regulated in terms of concentrations,' he said. 'So what's on the label ought to be correct.'

As for risks and benefits, that's 'a moving target,' Lynch said.A California lawmaker has blasted blackmailers who tried to slut-shame and threaten her by posting scandalous accusations and racy photos of her at Burning Man online.

Rachel Hundley, who is a Sonoma city councilmember running for re-election, said an anonymous person created a website earlier this month that featured photos of her in her underwear and questioned her personal lifestyle.

The 35-year-old said she was sent an email containing a link to the website on August 13 that threatened to expose her if she didn't drop out of the upcoming council election.

The now defunct 'Rachel Hundley Exposed' website included allegations of 'lascivious, drunk and drug-addled behavior'.

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Rachel Hundley, a city councilmember in Sonoma, California, said blackmailers tried to force her out of the upcoming election by slut-shaming her with photos (above in 2016) from Burning Man

'The little we've done so far in researching your history is highly troubling. We believe your behavior is immoral and has no place in our Town,' the email read.

'You do not measure up. We suggest you pass and move on with your life; otherwise, your candidacy this time will be one of full disclosures to all Sonoma.'

The photos posted on the website of Hundley at Burning Man had been taken from her public social media accounts.

Hundley, who is a former mayor of the Sonoma city, posted a video online addressing the extortion attempt and slammed the 'spineless individuals' who created the website.

Hundley, who is a former mayor of the Sonoma city, posted a video online addressing the extortion attempt and slammed the 'spineless individuals' who created the website

She said the blackmailers tried to slut-shame her but she insisted she never intended to give into their demands.

'I am here today to tell my faceless bullies that I cannot be shamed into quitting because I am not ashamed,' she said.

Hundley confirmed that she had attended Burning Man for several years and worked there serving Sonoma wines at a well-known wine bar associated with a 'consent-focused sex-positive theme camp'.

'What was especially disturbing in this era of Me Too was the attempt to slut shame me for celebrating my body and for my attendance at Burning Man,' Hundley said of the website.

Hundley said she was sent an email containing a link to the website on August 13 that threatened to expose her if she didn't drop out of the upcoming council election

Hundley confirmed that she had attended Burning Man for several years and worked there serving Sonoma wines at a well-known wine bar. The photos posted on the website of Hundley at Burning Man (above in 2017) had been taken from her public social media accounts

Hundley said much the information on the website was just 'outright lies'.

She added that some of the photos were not even of her, including one of a woman smoking a bong.

She said the website was created to pressure her to withdraw from the election, to make her afraid and to 'silence another strong female voice'.

It is not clear who created the website because the URL was obtained anonymously in April. It described Hundley as a 'cruel and demented person' and said she was 'a cancer' that needed to be cut from the community.

The email Hundley received was signed by an organization called the Sonoma Citizens for Peace and Cooperation.Chilling video has captured the attention of police in Texas that shows a woman who appears to be in need of help, ringing doorbells in the middle of the night with restraints on her wrists.

The woman is seen on resident Jennie Drude's security camera, who shared the video to Facebook and with police. The woman seems to be walking quietly up to the door of the home with what appears to be some sort of restraints on her wrists, with no pants or shoes on.

The woman was ringing doorbells in the Sunrise Ranch area of Montgomery, Texas at around 3am on Friday August 24, but by the time the residents reached their doors, the woman was gone.

As the woman rings the doorbell she appears to look down the block nervously, as if she fears being discovered.

The woman is seen on a resident's security camera, around 3am Friday approaching the door with no pants or shoes on

In the short video that was captured by Jennie Drude's home security camera the woman appears to be quietly approaching the door

As the woman gets closer to the camera it appears she has some sort of restraints on her wrists

It looks like the woman has restraints on her wrists which become clearer as she reaches for the doorbell

The woman approaches the door and rings it but by the time any of the residents reached the door, she had vanished

The woman appeared to be in need of help- and now the cops in Sunrise Ranch, Texas are asking the public if they have any information

After she rings the doorbell, we get a better look at her face's profile as she appears to look nervously down the block

Jennie Drude's home security camera captured the chilling video of the woman who was ringing doorbells in Texas

In the short clip the woman is seen emerging from behind a bush, she seems to be trying to be quiet, and she reaches for the doorbell.

There appears to be what may be restraints on her wrists. Drude described the woman as appearing to be out of breath from what she could see on her home's surveillance video.

Another resident, who did not want to be identified, told Click2Houston, 'We were dead asleep in our beds. My husband was woken up by doorbell ring. It rang probably 20 to 30 times.

By the time her husband answered the door, no one was there.

'He walked outside no one was in sight. It's like she disappeared in thin air,' the resident said.

'It was kind of scary because this girl looked like she was just in a shirt. She looked like she had wrist restraints on her wrist and she was barefoot. You can see her with a worry on her face looking around,' the resident said.

She rang on at least five residents' doorbells in the area.

No one in the tiny community recognizes her from the neighborhood.

Police canvassed the area and went door-to-door to speak with residents. They are also reviewing other security footage from the area.

The area surrounding the rear of the small neighborhood is densely wooded.

Law enforcement canvassed the neighborhood, conducted a door-to-door check interviewing residents, and is currently reviewing surveillance camera footage from the area, the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said.

As of Tuesday morning, the Sheriff's office tells DailyMail.com 'We have nothing new. Detectives are currently investigating. We have not confirmed the identity of the woman.'

The chilling video was taken in the quiet neighborhood of Sunrise Ranch, Texas on Friday

The area behind the neighborhood where the woman rang doorbells is heavily wooded

'Numerous citizens in the state and outside have sent missing persons flyers suggesting the women in the video is a missing person from their area' the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said, according to ABC News.

'Deputies and Detectives are reviewing these flyers for any similarities, but as of now none are believed to be the women in the video.'

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office is calling on anyone with information about the woman to contact them at 936-760-5800.The daughter of Adolf Hitler's favourite actress has spoken out from beyond the grave about her mother's alleged affair with the Nazi dictator.

Austrian actress Romy Schneider believed her German mother Magda, also an actress, had slept with Hitler, whose Austrian Alp retreat was next door to their family home.

Ms Schneider, who died in 1982 just 44 years old, made the extraordinary claims in a 1976 interview which has never before been broadcast.

Rumoured affair: Romy Schneider believed her German actress mother Magda, pictured with Hitler, had slept with the Nazi leader

Romy, herself an actress, was reportedly convinced her mother had an affair with Hitler while visiting him at Obersalzberg in the Austrian Alps

German journalist Alice Schwarzer is to finally broadcast an interview next month, saying Ms Schneider 'was firmly convinced that her mother had a sexual relationship with Hitler.'

Magda Schneider, whose marriage to Romy's father broke down in 1945, is known to have visited Hitler at Obersalzberg.

Hitler had once reportedly stated that Magda Schneider was his favourite actress.

Mother and daughter Schneider had a fraught relationship, and she reportedly never forgave her mother - who outlived her by 14 years - for her relationship with Hitler.

Video footage from the time of Hitler's reign shows the Fuhrer visiting his mountain retreat, Obersalzberg, above the town of Berchtesgaden, along with both Madga and Romy Schneider.

Romy Schneider, left, is pictured with her mother Madga, far right, and her stepfather Hans Herbert Blatzheim after the war

Fraught relationship: Madga and Romy Schneider on the set of the 1955 film Sissi, where they played mother and daughter

The footage from the 1976 interview reportedly sees Ms Schneider reduced to tears as she speaks of her mother.

Ms Schwarzer said they had to break off a number of times because the actress' tears.

'Why shouldn't I cry? I am no superhuman. S**t,' she reportedly says at one point in the recording.

'I am no longer ashamed. Not at all. I'm not afraid anymore.'

However, despite this statement, Ms Schwarzer said she had been asked not to broadcast the interview, because of the salacious claims made by the Austrian actress.

In the recording, Ms Schneider allegedly says to Ms Schrwarzer: 'If you betray me, Alice, it would be bad.'

Ms Schneider, who died in 1982 just 44 years old, made the extraordinary claims in a 1976 interview which has never before been broadcast

Romy also alleged that her mother's second husband, the restaurateur Hans Herbert Blatzheim, tried to sleep with her many times.

Schwarzer has now decided to release the interview as part of a documentary, entitled 'Ein Abend mit Romy' [An Evening with Romy].

'I didn't speak of it for decades because I respected her wishes. But in order to understand her despair, her pain, her hyper-sensibility, one has to know this too. And it's good to say it now,' she explained.

The documentary will air on 16th September on the Franco-German TV network Arte.An unpublished condolence letter written by Nelson Mandela from his prison cell is to go under the hammer and could fetch as much as 100,000.

The reflective and tender letter was written to Mandela's friend and fellow anti-apartheid activist Michael Harmel.

It describes in moving detail Mandela's appreciation of the older man's advice and wisdom.

He refers to Harmel as 'one of those men who fully understood the meaning of their life'.

An unpublished condolence letter (pictured) written by Nelson Mandela from his prison cell could fetch as much as 100,000 at auction next month

Michael Harmel's wife Ray (second from top right) made Winnie Mandela's wedding dress at Mandela's request and the famous post-wedding photograph (pictured) of the newly married couple was taken at the Harmel's house. Michael Harmel is pictured on the left, while his daughter Barbara Harmel is pictured on the right sat down in a stripy top

At the point of writing Mandela was ten years into a life sentence on Robben Island and still sleeping every night on a stone floor.

He touches on faith and hope in the letter, which is due to go under the hammer at Bonhams auction house later this month.

The letter, which has never been published, is addressed to Barbara Lamb and sends condolences on the death of her father Mr Harmel.

News of his death had only recently reached Mandela at the time of writing.

Mandela first met Harmel at a Communist Party meeting in the 1940s, and he writes movingly about his initial failure as a young college graduate to appreciate the older man's gifts.

He said: 'I was convinced that he did not deserve the honour of being placed amongst the elite.

'It was some years later that I came to accept his simplicity as a virtue on which one could model his own life'.

Over time their friendship grew.

The intro to the letter written by Nelson Mandela to Barbara Lamb sending condolences on the death of her father

The letter (pictured) written by Mandela describes how much of an inspiration Harmel was labelling him 'one of those men who fully understood the meaning of their life as part of mankind generally and as individuals'

Harmel's wife Ray  a seamstress and ardent supporter of the anti-apartheid movement  made Winnie Mandela's wedding dress at Nelson's request and the famous post-wedding photograph of the newly married couple was taken at the Harmel's house.

Elsewhere in the letter Mandela says: 'He was one of those men who fully understood the meaning of their life as part of mankind generally and as individuals.

'His peep into the future very often coincided with one's most intimate hopes and dreams. May he rest in peace for 'his work on earth is done'.'

The conditions under which Mandela lived when the letter was written were brutal.

The future South African president was still sleeping every night on a stone floor, breaking stones in the yard every day during the week, and was confined to his cell 23 hours a day at the weekends.

Although by 1974 he had progressed from a Grade D to a Grade A prisoner, and was able to maintain more contact with the outside world.

Despite the hardships and sad circumstances he had been ordered to endure following his conviction for sabotage at the Rivonia Trial in 1964, he still maintains a sense of perspective and humour.

Looking forward to his freedom he promises to take his European 'sisters'  close friends who had supported him in the days of struggle  to a feast and then to invite them to join in Umngqungpo, the Xhosa dance performed by elder women to celebrate girls who are coming of age.

The letter closes with a characteristically thoughtful interweaving of the personal and the philosophical.

Mandela says: 'It has been said that faith is like an oak tree, it grows steadily but, once established, it endures for centuries.

'Ever ridden a horse in your life, or seen a horse race? Hope is the horse on which you ride and travel to your destination, to reach the winning post.

'My only fortune in life is to have friends who taught me these things, amongst whom was your beloved Pa. Fondest regards & sincere good wishes to all. Sincerely, Nelson'.

Bonhams is predicting the letter to fetch between 50,000 and 100,000 at auction.

Giles Peppiatt, director of the South African sale, said: 'When Nelson Mandela wrote this letter he had endured ten years of appalling treatment with no prospect of release, yet he retained his humanity, his sense of humour and his faith in the future.

'He writes with almost conversational grace and ease. It is a wonderful letter.'

The letter is due to go under the hammer at Bonhams' South African sale in London on September 14.Accused Russian spy Maria Butina is still dating her Republican campaigner boyfriend, and he has even been to see her in jail, her lawyer says.

Attorney Robert Driscoll has told ABC News there is no way his client - who has been charged as part of Mueller's investigation into Russian influence on the 2016 Presidential election - was using her partner for access, and he has the video to prove it.

Driscoll has released what appears to be professionally taken footage of Butina, 29, recording a version of the Beauty and the Beast theme song with boyfriend Paul Erickson, 56, in a bid to prove their relationship was legitimate.

'I think in some ways it's a classic love story,' he said. 'I think [reporters] are filling in a lot of the gaps with a lot of spy novels.'

Accused Russian spy Maria Butina (right) is still dating her Republican campaigner boyfriend Paul Erickson (left), her attorney says

Robert Driscoll, who is representing Butina in court, says not only are the couple still together, but Erickson has been to visit her in jail in the past few days

Driscoll released video of the pair singing the theme to Beauty and the Beast as a way of proving their relationship was real

Admitting he may just be a 'sucker for romance', Driscoll says the video of the pair proves their relationship was legitimate, and not a case of sex for access, as the US Government is suggesting.

Butina and Erickson met when the Republican political operative travelled to Russia on behalf of the NRA to vet the accused Russian operative's own pro-gun group, The Right to Bear Arms.

The pair quickly began dating, and Driscoll says they fell in love.

The US Government disagrees though, claiming in court documents the Russian redhead 'appears to treat [the relationship] as simply a necessary aspect of her activities'.

It is alleged Butina offered another person sex in exchange for a position within a special interest organization, and was dissatisfied in her relationship.

The US Government alleges the 29-year-old used her 56-year-old boyfriend for connections to other high-profile individuals and groups

Paul Erickson reportedly went to visit Butina on Saturday. The pair met five years ago when the 56-year-old travelled to Moscow

'Further, in papers seized by the FBI, Butina complained about living with US Person 1 and expressed disdain for continuing to cohabitate with US Person 1,' the documents read.

Butina has been charged with conspiracy and acting as an undeclared foreign agent.

The US Government alleges she had been trying to sway the Republican Party to adopt more Russia-friendly policies through her relationship with the NRA.

It is alleged she did this on behalf of Alexander Torshin - the deputy governor of Russias central bank, who is also believed to be her handler.

Butina was indicted last month alongside 11 other alleged Russian intelligence agents who sought to meddle in the 2016 election.

She was allegedly preparing to flee the country at the time, and is now being held without bond as she is considered a flight risk.

It is alleged Butina was working on behalf of the Russian Government and had been doing the bidding of handler Alexander Torshin - the deputy governor of Russias central bankYassmin Abdel-Magied has blasted Australian 'white men' politicians involved in the leadership spill, accusing them of not taking their job seriously and 'taking the p***'.

The Muslim activist, who was a guest on Channel Ten's The Project to discuss her recent speech at the Melbourne Writers Festival, couldn't resist speaking her mind when the issue of politics came up.

When asked how she felt about the recent chain of events that saw Malcolm Turnbull resign as Prime Minister, Abdel-Magied said she found the whole situation 'embarrassing'.

Yassmin Abdel-Magied (pictured) has blasted Australian 'white men' politicians involved in the leadership spill, accusing them of not taking their job seriously and 'taking the piss'

'Lols, lols. Like honestly, they are taking the p***,' she told the hosts.

'Like genuinely, it's like the Australian politicians are playing some sort of game in their own world and not really taking seriously the fact that they are running a country, and it's honestly offensive.'

The Sudanese-Australian said that she thinks Australians deserve better from their politicians and government.

'I think it's really embarrassing for them,' she said. 'Also, if anyone ever says to me that like women can't do something or like people of colour aren't able to do something, I'll be like right is this the best that you white men have.

'Don't come at me with chat about merit or quotas because it's a pretty low bar.'

Abdel-Magied's fired-up comments not only revved up audiences but also social media, with some people sharing their thoughts on Twitter.

Social media users were divided over Abdel-Magied's comments about Australian politicians

'As always Yassmin is amazing. I just can't get over how badly she was treated, and now we've lost a highly talented & inspiring Australian to the UK,' one person wrote.

Another person said: 'is this the best white men can do' 'people of colour' You are a racist, plain and simple. Secondly you have a giant chip on your shoulder.'

'You are amazing. Nothing but love for you. Xxx,' a third person wrote.

Abdel-Magied (pictured) took a swipe at politicians during an interview on The Project on Tuesday

The former Queensland Young Australian of the Year who was born in Brisbane was in Australia to present her speech, titled, 'Eulogy for My Career', which details the backlash she said she faced after losing her job in Australia.

The 28-year-old engineer, writer and TV presenter moved to the UK in mid 2017 after she lost her job in the wake of a series of controversies, including a tweet that she posted that read, 'LEST.WE.FORGET. (Manus, Nauru, Syria, Palestine...)'

She also made headlines for a number of headline for her heated conversation about Sharia Law with former Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie on Q & A.

In an edited version of her speech presented at the Melbourne Writers Festival, Abdel-Magied described the written words as a 'eulogy' of her past self.She said she felt as though she had 'lost an innocence' she was unaware of at first.Former Donald Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort held talks with prosecutors about making a plea to settle charges against him in Washington, D.C.  shortly before Trump inveighed against 'flipping.'

Manafort faces a separate raft of charges in the D.C. jurisdiction. A Virginia jury convicted him of eight counts on another set of money laundering and tax fraud charges last week.

His team met with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's lawyers about resolving the second set of charges while the Virginia jury was deliberating over a four-day period, the Wall Street Journal reported.

There has been considerable media speculation that Manafort has much to tell should he ever reach a broad cooperation agreement with authorities. He helmed Trump's campaign during the critical convention period, overseeing the delegate count.

Former Donald Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort held talks with prosecutors about making a plea to settle charges against him in Washington, D.C.

He is linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. According to prosecutors who searched Manafort's home and got his emails, it was out of an effort to become 'whole' with the oligarch that Manafort offered to provide briefings on the Trump campaign.

In the D.C. trial, Manafort faces charges of failing to register as a foreign agent, obstruction of justice by lying to the FBI, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

He set up a skein of offshore accounts to stash millions earned representing a pro-Moscow Ukrainian political party, according to the case laid out by prosecutors.

Trump last week inveighed against the practice of prosecutors enticing lower-level people facing criminal charges to 'flip' in order to get them to spill the beans on higher-ups.

President Donald Trump last week said 'flipping' by witnesses should perhaps be illegal

Michael Cohen, former lawyer to U.S. President Donald Trump, pleaded guilty on eight counts last week

Manafort was found guilty of eight charges by a Virginia jury

'It's called flipping and it almost ought to be illegal," Trump told Fox News.

"I know all about flipping, 30, 40 years I have been watching flippers. Everything is wonderful and then they get 10 years in jail and they flip on whoever the next highest one is or as high as you can go,' Trump complained.

Trump popped off about flipping following the guilty plea of longtime lawyer Michael Cohen to eight criminal charges. He gets sentenced in December.

President Donald Trump waves to supporters in Ohio last week after he inveighed against 'flipping' by potential witnesses

CFO: Michael Cohen's lawyer Lanny Davis said invoices were submitted to the chief financial officer  position held by Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg

News of Weisselberg's immunity deal came a day after it was revealed American Media Inc. publisher David Pecker received immunity

'It almost ought to be outlawed. It's not fair," Trump continued. "If you can say something bad about Donald Trump and you will go down to two years or three years, which is the deal he made, in all fairness to him, most people are going to do that. ... And I have seen it many times. I have had many friends involved in this stuff. It's called flipping and it almost ought to be illegal."

In a week of bombshell revelations, it also came out that Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg and National Enquirer CEO David Pecker each have been granted a form of immunity from prosecution.

Both feature in the saga of how Cohen paid $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels in a hush agreement, later to get reimbursed by the Trump Organization. Pecker hired former Playboy model Karen McDougal for $150,000, in a deal worked out with Cohen. Both women claim they had sexual affairs with Trump, which he denies.

It was not clear what charges Manafort sought to negotiate. His second trial starts Sept. 17th. He has likely racked up substantial legal fees, and could potentially face retrial on 10 charges to which the jury couldn't reach a verdict in Virginia.

Manafort's longtime deputy, Rick Gates, himself pleaded guilty and cooperated with prosecutors during Manafort's trial. But Manafort's defense brought up false Gates covering up an affair, and one juror said the jury panel discounted his testimony.A Pennsylvania a man killed his wife with an ax in their Luzerne County home and then took his own life by stabbing himself to death over the weekend.

According to police, troopers were called to the Exeter Township home at around 2pm on Sunday and found the bodies of the couple.

Police said 58-year-old Daniel Arangio slayed 47-year-old Valerie Arangio 'by striking her in the head with an ax.'

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Murder-suicide: Police in Pennsylvania say Daniel Arangio, 58, killed his wife of two years, 47-year-old Valerie Arangio (pictured together), by striking her in the head with an ax

Crime scene: Valerie's body was found in a bedroom inside their Exeter Township home, while her husband was found in a bathroom

They said the man then 'committed suicide by a self-inflicted stab wound.'

Valerie's lifeless body was found in a bedroom of the home on Rohland Lane, while her husband was found dead in a bathroom. Troopers said the deaths occurred sometime between Saturday and Sunday.

According to the wife's Facebook page, she and Daniel got married in July 2016. Photos and posts indicate that she has a son who is about to turn 14 next month, an older daughter and a granddaughter.

Valerie and Daniel got married in July 2016 (pictured exchanging vows, left). The bride's young granddaughter acted as the flower girl (right)

Valerie is survived by a grown daughter and a son (center) who is about to turn 14 next month

Valerie was charged with harassment in February after allegedly scratching Daniel's forearm during a fight, but was acquitted in April

Court records obtained by Scranton Times-Tribune reveal that the husband had a single traffic ticket, which was dismissed last year.

His wife, however, was charged with harassment in February after allegedly scratching Daniel's forearm during a fight.

The wife and mother was ultimately found not guilty of the charge at trial that took place in April.

It is unclear where Valerie's teenage son was staying over the weekend.

Neighbors tell WNEP Daniel and Valerie kept to themselves and were not close to anyone in the small community.Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of John McCain's closest friends in the Senate, said President Donald Trump has the 'right to feel anyway he likes' about the late senator.

'How the President feels about Senator McCain, it's his right to feel anyway he likes. I know how America feels about Senator McCain. I know how the Senate feels about Senator McCain. I know how the world feels about Senator McCain,' Graham said Tuesday morning on NBC's 'Today Show.'

'Clearly they had a contentious relationship. He's not the only one to have had a tense relationship with John McCain,' he added.

Lindsey Graham, one of John McCain's closest friends, said President Trump can feel anyway he likes about the late Senator

Graham will honor McCain with a speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday

President Trump had initially resisted calls to speak about John McCain

Graham also said that White House chief of staff John Kelly had reached out to the McCain family and had spoken to Cindy McCain, offering the administration's assistance in whatever she needs.

'The President told John Kelly 'Whatever they need they get,' so let's look forward,' Graham said.

McCain was known for his temper and short fuse but, while he often got into tiffs with fellow senators, reporters, and others he usually would get over the disagreement and form a working relationship.

Two men who defeated him for the presidency - George W. Bush in the 2000 GOP presidential primary and Barack Obama in the 2008 general election - are speaking at his funeral.

But McCain and Trump were never able to bridge the gap between them.

The longtime feud between the two men reached its peak on Monday, after the White House raised its flag to full staff, prompting outrage at what people took to be a slight of the late senator.

The president relented Monday afternoon - after the commander of the influential veterans group the American Legion released a statement asking for the flag to be lowered.

'Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain's service to our country and, in his honor, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment,' Trump said in a statement.

McCain will be buried Sunday at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

'It's all over now,' Graham said. 'The flag is down.'

Additionally, Trump offered praise of the late senator during a dinner with evangelical leaders at the White House on Monday evening.

'We very much appreciate everything that Senator McCain has done for our country,' he said.

Down on president's orders: The flag above the residence in the White House was lowered Monday after criticism that John McCain was not being honored

The flag will be at half staff until Senator McCain is buried on Sunday

A black cloth and white roses were placed on John McCain's Senate desk - a tradition for senators who die while in office

Throughout most of Monday, the coverage of the late senator focused on the White House flag and the president's stubborn refusal to lower it or acknowledge McCain's legacy.

Twice Trump declined to answer reporters' questions on the late senator and, at one point, sat at his desk in the Oval Office, arms crossed and refusing to speak.

Even Vice President Mike Pence and chief of staff John Kelly tried to get him to relent and issue as statement, four administration officials told The New York Times.

Additionally, Kelly, National Security Adviser John Bolton, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and deputy chief of staff for communications Bill Shine urged Trump to let aides take over the White House response to McCain's death.

McCain, himself, got in a final word on Monday, when his longtime aide Rick Davis read a letter to America the senator dictated before he died.

His words of patriotism, gratitude and love of country also contained a rebuke to th president.

'We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe,' McCain's statement read. 'We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been.'

Trump wants to build a border wall between the United States and Mexico.

The senator died Saturday at the age of 81 after a long battle with brain cancer.

Trump will not be attending the senator's funeral on Saturday as McCain banned his attendance before his death.

Instead, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly (a retired Army general), Defense Secretary James Mattis (retired Marine Corps General, and National Security Adviser John Bolton (National Guard) will represent the Trump administration.

Vice President Mike Pence will speak at a ceremony for McCain on Friday at the U.S. Capitol.

President Trump also praised McCain during a dinner with evangelical leaders on Monday

Sen. John McCain's last words included a rebuke to President Trump

John McCain (pictured December 2017) passed away after a battle with brain cancer this weekend and Trump, 72, left White House officials to post their own personal tributes

Trump also authorized full military honors for McCain when he is buried on Sunday on Hospital Hill at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

Davis choked up a several points as he read McCain's words.

He declined to answer any question's about the flag or Trump's response to McCain's death.

'The entire focus of McCain family is on John McCain. There really is no room in the McCain family today to focus on anything but him,' Davis said. 'I think any discussion of what any one individual has done or said, if you look at the gravity of all he reactions around the world - world leaders our allies - it's been immense. They choose to focus on that.'

Graham, who has traveled the world with McCain as one of a group of Senate friends known as 'The Three Amigos,' will pay tribute to his pal with a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday.

'The last thing he said to me was, 'I love you, I have not been cheated,' Graham said as a tear rolled down his cheek.This is the dramatic moment a beached killer whale is returned to the sea by dozens of volunteers.

Local residents spotted two stranded killer whales on the beach in Nueva Atlantis, Argentina, but arrived to find one had already died.

They called the emergency services and members of the Mundo Marino foundation sent a team of experts to carry out the rescue operation of the surviving orca

Dozens of volunteers teamed together to rescue a beached killer whale in Argentina (pictured)

Footage from the rescue shows volunteers digging sand from around the whale as the sea laps over it.

Mundo Marino workers and volunteers are then seen guiding the killer whale out to sea and cheering joyfully as it swims away.

Foundation member and biologist Karina Alvarez led the operation and said it was a good thing the whale was stranded at night.

She said: 'The orca was not injured and did not suffer from hypothermia, however if it had been in the sun it would have died due to the time it spent out of the water.'

'The tide did not help us and its weight, around four tonnes, meant that it was virtually impossible to move it in the shallow water.

Local residents spotted two stranded killer whales on the beach but arrived to find one had already died

Mundo Marino workers and volunteers were seen cheering joyfully as the whale swam away

'After a great deal of effort, we managed to lift the animal with a harness and move it to a deeper area.

'Once it had recovered from muscular cramps, the orca began to flap its tail and move out to sea.'

Mundo Marino representative Maria Florencia Especiale said: 'The orca was very tired. We kept it wet and gave it injections to avoid infection.'The former chief rabbi Lord Sacks today lashedJeremy Corbyn as an 'anti-Semite' who 'defiles our politics'.

He said a tape of him attacking English Zionist Jews was the most offensive remark by a British politician since Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood speech in 1968.

And he accused the Labour leader of supporting 'racists, terrorists and dealers of hate who want to kill Jews and remove Israel from the map'.

MailOnline revealed last week Mr Corbyn used a speech at the Palestinian Return Centre in London in 2013 to criticise a group of British Zionists.

But Labour hit back at the former chief rabbi's remarks, branding them 'absurd and offensive'.

Rows over anti-Semitism have rocked Labour all summer after the party refused to adopt in full an internationally accepted definition of hatred against Jews.

The party is expected to finally do so next week - but it was claimed today could still add caveats to its rulebook to protect members who accuse the Israeli government of racist treatment of Palestinians.

And the Labour leader faced fresh controversy today after MailOnline unearthed another video in which Mr Corbyn claimed that Israeli officials control the speeches made by British MPs.

The former chief rabbi Jonathan Sacks today lashed Jeremy Corbyn (pictured in Edinburgh last week) as an 'anti-Semite' who 'defiles our politics'

Lord Sacks (file image) said a tape of him attacking English Zionist Jews was the most offensive remark by a British politician since Enoch Powell's Rivers of Blood speech in 1968

Lord Sacks told theNew Statesman: 'The recently disclosed remarks by Jeremy Corbyn are the most offensive statement made by a senior British politician since Enoch Powell's 1968 'Rivers of Blood' speech.

'It was divisive, hateful and like Powell's speech it undermines the existence of an entire group of British citizens by depicting them as essentially alien.'

Lord Sacks said Mr Corbyn could only be judged by 'his words and his actions'.

In the remarks revealed by MailOnline, which have been widely condemned as anti-Semitic, Mr Corbyn said: 'They clearly have two problems.

Labour frontbencher used 40,000 of taxpayers' cash to pay off his Jewish ex-lover assistant MP Khalid Mahmood pictured with his former lover Elaina Cohen A Labour MP paid off his Jewish Parliamentary assistant with taxpayers' money after she accused him of religious discrimination, it was claimed last night. Khalid Mahmood, the shadow foreign minister for Europe and MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, was taken to an employment tribunal by his former lover and assistant Elaina Cohen, the Daily Telegraph reported. Mr Mahmood's 40,000-worth of legal and staffing costs during the case, which was settled out of court with a non-disclosure agreement, were paid for by the parliamentary expenses system. The MP, 57, was criticised for claiming nine nights at a luxury hotel in Kensington costing 1,350 in 2009, during his relationship with Miss Cohen. The expenses watchdog Ipsa, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, has now come under fire as it is revealed the transparent expenses system can be used to fund secret gagging orders. Official records show Mr Mahmood claimed 900 expenses for 'lawyers' fees', and 1,500 in 'legal costs'. During the tribunal he was also granted nearly 37,000 from Ipsa to pay staff covering for Miss Cohen. Claims of religious discrimination first surfaced when Mr Mahmood disciplined Miss Cohen after she called another Labour MP, Naz Shah, an 'anti-Zionist' in a tweet in 2016. Mr Mahmood suspended his former lover and began an internal disciplinary process against her. Meanwhile, Naz Shah was suspended for anti-Semitic Facebook posts. When Miss Cohen returned to work she realised she did not have a job. Her religious discrimination claim was settled out of court in 2017. Miss Cohen still works for Mr Mahmood. Advertisement

Continuing his attack on the Labour leader as 'low, dishonest and dangerous', Lord Sacks said: 'He has given support to racists, terrorists and dealers of hate who want to kill Jews and remove Israel from the map.

'When he implies that, however long they have lived here, Jews are not fully British, he is using the language of classic pre-war European anti-Semitism.

'When challenged with such facts, the evidence for which is before our eyes, first he denies, then he equivocates, then he obfuscates.

'This is low, dishonest and dangerous. He has legitimised the public expression of hate, and where he leads, others will follow.'

He added: 'Now, within living memory of the Holocaust, and while Jews are being murdered elsewhere in Europe for being Jews, we have an anti-Semite as the leader of the Labour party and Her Majesty's Opposition.'

The former Chief Rabbi's intervention came after footage emerged of Mr Corbyn attacking a group of British Zionists who had criticised Palestinian ambassador Manuel Hassassian. Zionism refers to the movement to create a Jewish state in the Middle East, roughly corresponding to the historical land of Israel.

In the 2013 recording, revealed last week by MailOnline, Mr Corbyn said: 'They clearly have two problems. One is they don't want to study history, and secondly, having lived in this country for a very long time, probably all of their lives, they don't understand English irony either.'

The remarks, made while the Labour leader was still an obscure backbencher, reignited the toxic row over anti-Semitism inside Labour that has rocked the party.

A Labour party spokeswoman said: 'This comparison with the race-baiting Enoch Powell is absurd and offensive.

'Jeremy Corbyn described a particular group of pro-Israel activists as Zionists, in the accurate political sense - not as a synonym or code for Jewish people.

'Jeremy Corbyn is determined to tackle anti-Semitism both within the Labour Party and in wider society, and the Labour Party is committed to rebuilding trust with the Jewish community.'

But Mr Corbyn is facing a fresh storm of controversy after MailOnline unearthed another video showing him accusing MPs of having their contributions to a debate written by the Israeli ambassador.

Speaking at a meeting of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) in London in 2010, he accused MPs speaking in a parliamentary debate about the shooting of Turkish activists at sea by the Israeli commandos of turning up with a 'pre-prepared script'.

He said: '[British MPs] all turned up [to the debating chamber] with a pre-prepared script. I'm sure our friend Ron Prosor (the Israeli ambassador) wrote it.

'Because they all came up with the same key words. It was rather like reading a European document looking for buzz-words.

'And the buzz-words were, 'Israel's need for security'. And then 'the extremism of the people on one ship'. And 'the existence of Turkish militants on the vessel'.

'It came through in every single speech, this stuff came through.'

MailOnline has examined the transcript of the debate in question and could find no evidence that any of Mr Corbyn's 'buzz words' were mentioned by MPs.

In addition, a number of parliamentarians who spoke during the session have confirmed to MailOnline that they received no such 'pre-prepared script' or 'buzz-words' from Israeli sources.

In a statement issued last Friday night on his remarks on Zionists and irony, Mr Corbyn defended his use of language in 2013 - but said he was now more cautious.

He said he had used the term Zionists 'in the accurate political sense and not as a euphemism for Jewish people'.

He added: 'I am now more careful with how I might use the term 'Zionist' because a once self-identifying political term has been increasingly hijacked by anti-Semites as code for Jews.'

Commenting on the same remarks, a spokeswoman for Mr Corbyn said: 'This was a speech about the need to better teach the history of Israel-Palestine and about the brutality of colonialism, occupation and dispossession.

'A section of the speech that was edited out of the footage posted on YouTube sets his comments in context, he had been speaking about Zionists and non-Zionist Jews and very clearly does not go on to use Zionists as any kind of shorthand for Jews.'

Jews, including the Labour MP Luciana Berger (pictured) have repeatedly demanded Mr Corbyn tackle anti-Semitism inside LabourRichard J. Savage, 52, (above) was arrested after he pointed a rifle at people in his apartment complex community pool

A man who turned up to a pool party with a rifle because he said the music was too loud has been arrested for assault and child abuse.

52-year-old Richard J. Savage heard the noise coming from the community pool in his Florida apartment in the Columns at Cypress Point.

Around 8pm he pointed the weapon at the group of pool-goers, telling them to 'turn that s**t down', the Pasco County sheriff's office alleged.

Robert Rodriguez said he was playing music from his truck for his family and co-workers when Savage appeared with a gun on Sunday night.

52-year-old Richard J. Savage heard the noise coming from the community pool in his Florida apartment in the Columns at Cypress Point (pictured)

'I just froze, I honestly froze,' Mr Rodriguez told Fox 13.

'Probably about five minutes into it, my sister screams out,' he recounted.

'I just turned around and the guy was standing there with a weapon pointed directly at me.'

Pasco County deputies arrived on the scene to find Savage carrying a rifle.

They also alleged he racked the slide and pointed it at the group, demanding they 'shut it down' before he headed back inside.

Among the pool party attendees, young children including 10-year-old Keiliany Diaz were at the party.

'I was in shock mode, why would someone do that for music?' she asked. 'You could've gotten killed at that moment.'

Savage later admitted pointing the rifle at the group because they wouldn't turn down the music.

He was charged with three counts of aggravated assault and and three counts of child abuse.

His bond has been set for $30,000.

Among the pool party attendees, young children including 10-year-old Keiliany Diaz were at the partyThe sisters of a gay man murdered by Grindr killer Stephen Port have claimed that police would have acted earlier if his victims had been women.

Jack Taylor was one of four men drugged with a lethal amount of date rape drug GHB by serial killer Port after he met them on dating sites.

Three of the victims were dumped in the same graveyard opposite Ports flat in Barking, east London, but the Met Police failed to link the cases.

The 25-year-old's grieving sisters blasted police for missing vital clues that might have stopped the rapist from carrying out more killings.

Jack Taylor (shown left) was one of four men drugged with a lethal amount of date rape drug GHB by serial killer Port (right) after he met them on dating sites

The 25-year-old's grieving sisters Jenny and Donna blasted police for missing vital clues that might have stopped the rapist from carrying out more killings

Donna and Jenny appeared on Loose Women to talk about how they helped to crack the case, despite officers rejecting their suggestions that Jack did not take drugs.

'We just knew he wouldnt have taken drugs, 100 per cent we knew it wasnt right,' his sister Jenny said.

'He had an injection mark on his right arm, and we had to be the ones to tell them that Jack was right-handed, so it made no sense for him to be injected there.

'They told us that he had a drug overdose and that was it. But we knew it wasn't right.'

The sisters went about proving to police that several gay men had died in similar and unexplained circumstances in Barking, forcing officers to look at linking the deaths.

'When we went on the internet to see if we could see anything quite similar and we found the other boys,' added Jenny.

Daniel Whitworth (left) and Gabriel Kovari (right) were both murdered at the hands of Port, who was jailed for life in 2016

'We found that they were in Barking, unexplained deaths, all with GHB. We couldn't believe it.

'We said "we are going to give you lots of things to go away with, and prove us wrong, because we dont believe you".

'Everything time they came back and said unfortunately, we were right.'

Donna added: 'They never asked what Jack was like, for a picture of what his background was lie.

Anthony Walgate, a fashion student originally from Hull, died at Port's hands in June 2014

'It was us explaining to him what sort of person he was. The person they were saying he was, was not our Jack.

'Had it have been a women that was found, they would have handled it so differently.'

Port, 42, was convicted of the murders of Anthony Walgate, 25, Gabriel Kovari, 22, Daniel Whitworth, 21, and Jack Taylor, 25, in 2016.

Mr Walgate, a fashion student originally from Hull, died at Port's hands in June 2014. Port told police he had found him collapsed outside his flat.

He was later prosecuted for perverting the course of justice, but police did not believe Mr Walgate's death was suspicious.

Between August and September 2014, Port murdered his three other victims with both Mr Kovari's and Mr Whitworth's bodies found in the grounds of St Mary's Church, Barking.

Discovered on Mr Whitworth's body was a note, penned by Port, which suggested that he had killed Mr Kovari before taking his own life.British fishermen are calling for military help after their French rivals allegedly petrol-bombed a trawler in a battle over scallops.

Tempers have flared between the two groups over claims UK vessels are 'pillaging' the shellfish from international waters.

Now British anglers are demanding the Government intervenes, with some asking for the Navy to be drafted in for protection.

Video footage of the latest flare-up in a years-long war over the prized shellfish appears to show a Scottish trawler, owned by MacDuff shellfish, in flames after it was targeted in the attack.

How the situation looks in the Channel with tensions hightened as fishing crews clash over scallops off the coast of France

Stones and flares were also reportedly thrown and boats were rammed leaving a number of vessels with holes in their hulls and windows as the furious rivals clashed off Seine Bay, according to local reports.

The British were heavily outnumbered at five boats to around 40 French vessels and officials from France were called out to keep the peace in the scallop-rich waters off Normandy.

The French government only allows fishermen to catch scallops between October and May but British fishermen do not face the same regulations. This sea battle took place in international waters.

Footage shows a Scottish trawler boat on fire after flares were reportedly thrown after the latest flare-up in a years-long war over the prized shellfish

A fishing boat owner from Brixham says a boat was 'petrol bombed' and others had 'windows smashed'

Another clip also shows one fishing vessel try to ram another, with a smaller boat getting stuck in between them, as rocks are thrown by the French.

French fishing officials later accused the British of 'pillaging' scallop supplies.

A fishing boat owner from Brixham said: 'There were about 40 boats. One boat got petrol bombed, others had windows smashed. I can't believe that someone wasn't killed.'

'A few months ago our agreement was ended with the French and they walked away from our deal as they said the deal wasn't good enough.

'We could have gone over there the day the agreement ended but thought it would be better to go when the weather was better and to go in numbers in case something like this happened.

'They've made it seem as though we have gone there to pillage their stocks but we were outside their 12 mile limits. It was international waters'

French fishing officials later accused the British of 'pillaging' scallop supplies

According to French media, fishing vessels had set off from Trouville-sur-Mer, Port-en-Bessin and Ouistreham to confront the English. It is not clear which ports the small British fleet were from.

'The French went to contact the British to stop them working and they clashed with each other,' said Normandy fishing chief Dimitri Rogoff, claiming that while there was stone-throwing he had not heard of any injuries or damage.

'The French almost surrounded the British,' Rogoff said, prompting the British to flee.

Fishing vessels had set off from Trouville-sur-Mer, Port-en-Bessin and Ouistreham to confront the English. It is not clear which ports the small British fleet were from

French and British fishermen clashed in the English Channel on Tuesday over a hoard of scallops - the latest flare-up in a years-long war over the prized shellfish. Pictured is a previous confrontation between rival French and British fishermen off Le Havre in 2012

Rogoff said 'around 40' French boats had gathered overnight in protest at British 'pillaging' of the scallop supply.

French boats only have the right to fish for scallops from October 1 until May 15 to allow local stocks to regenerate, but the British do not face the same restrictions.

French boats sailed out from Trouville-sur-Mer, Port-en-Bessin and Ouistreham on the North coast of France to meet English scallop boats in the Seine Bay (shown by red marker)  a scallop-rich area off Normandy

Stones were thrown and boats were rammed leaving a number of vessels with holes in their hulls as the furious rivals clashed off Seine Bay

French boats only have the right to fish for scallops from October 1 until May 15 to allow local stocks to regenerate, but the British do not face the same restrictions

The French trawlermen wanted the British to stay north of a line running from Barfleur in Normandy to Cap d'Antifer to the east to avoid running supplies down, Rogoff said.

Tensions have been high between British and French fishermen for several years, leading to angry disputes that have been dubbed 'Scallop Wars'.

In some years the two sides have been able to come to partial agreements, but 'not this year', said Rogoff.Michelle Atwell, 33, whose baby died last year of asphyxia after becoming wedged between a bed and a wall has been sentenced to two years probation

An Iowa mother whose baby died after becoming wedged between a mattress and a wall has been given two years of probation.

Court records say 33-year-old Michelle Atwell from Ankeny was fined $1,000 at her sentencing Monday in Des Moines and given a deferred judgment.

A deferred judgment allows her conviction to be removed from court records if she completes her probation terms. Atwell had pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance for sale.

Police were called to the Ankeny home of Atwell and Matthew Cohara, 48, on August 26, 2017, after their seven-month-old was found not breathing.

Police say the baby became wedged and suffocated after Atwell left her on the bed for hours after feeding her.

The girl, Harper Dawn Cohara, was brought to a local hospital that night.

An autopsy found a cocaine byproduct in the baby's system.

Atwell admitted to officers that she drank two bottles of beer, smoked marijuana out of an apple and did a line and a half of cocaine in her bathroom.

At around 4:30am she heard her daughter crying and woke up to nurse her.

Her daughter soon fell asleep and Atwell returned to her bedroom.

Five hours later, after Cohara came in to ask where their daughter was. Atwell saw that only the top of the baby's head was visible and that she was wedged between a wall and the mattress. She began performing CPR and called 911.

Atwell had been charged with child endangerment causing substantial risk, narcotics possession with intent to deliver, possession of marijuana and several other drug charges.

Those charges were dismissed in exchange for her guilty plea to the drug possession charge.

Matthew Cohara, 48, also pleaded guilty to substance abuse and child endangerment. He was given a similar 'deferred judgement' sentence and is required to attend substance abuse evaluation and treatment

know it doesn't define me,' Atwell said at the sentencing, stating her desire to reapply for her nursing license, which was suspended following her arrest in November.

According to the Des Moines Register Atwell's attorney, Tomas Rodriguez, said at the hearing that Atwell had taken 'significant steps to change her lifestyle' since her daughter's death.

Polk County District Court Judge Jeffrey Farrell said the fact that Atwell had no prior criminal history was 'significant' and the fact she had the rules set out for her while on pretrial release was 'a good sign.'

He said he was also encouraged by the fact that her employer kept her on in a different role after her nursing license was suspended and that the quality of her work remained consistent.

Atwell is also allowed to have contact with her two other children providing she is supervised by another adult.

Cohara was given a similar sentence.A Colombian man has had his nose cut off, ears mutilated and eyes tattooed on his face so his head can look like a skull.

Tattoo artist Kalaca Skull, real name Eric Yeiner Hincapie Ramirez, has been undergoing extreme surgical procedures to make his face look like a skeleton for the last two years.

The 22-year-old says he had been fascinated by skulls ever since he was a child, but only started making his face look like a skeleton after his mother's death because she did not approve of the extreme body modification.

Kalaca Skull has been undergoing extreme surgical procedures to make his face look like a skull for the last two years, including removing skin from his nose and having his ears mutilated

The Colombian tattoo artist had the lower half of his nose removed and most of his ear lobes cut off, then hollow shading inked around his eyes to complete his extreme look

After splitting his tongue in half and tattooing it to a blue-grey colour, Kalaca then had large black eye-sockets tattooed around his eyes to make himself appear skeletal

During the painful procedures Kalaca had the lower half of his nose removed and most of his ear lobes cut off.

After splitting his tongue in half and tattooing it to a blue-grey colour, he then had large black eye-sockets tattooed around his eyes.

Large teeth and even the hollow space between the mandible and maxilla was then shaded in ink around his mouth.

He also shaved his hair into a mow-hawk style to show off his head tattoos.

Kalaca Skull was the first person in Colombia to voluntarily have his nose and ears mutilated, a decision that attracted both the attention of the media as well as a lot of criticism from the general public.

His Instagram account has pictures of him getting tattoos and posing with fans in the streets.

In other social media posts he poses with Colombian newspapers whilst smoking and shares meme comparing himself to 'scary' cartoon characters.

Despite hitting headlines across South America, Kalaca insists he is getting more ink to complete his nightmare look

The 22-year-old poses with fans on social media (left) and before his most recent facial ink was finished (right). Body modification has become popular around the world with more and more people reinventing themselves through painful procedures

Kalaca Skull, real name Eric Yeiner Hincapie Ramirez, before his extreme surgeries to his nose and ears completed his skull makeover

One of the reasons Kalaca says he chose to make himself look like a skull was that it is a look we 'all share underneath our skin and in death', he told Rio Noticias website in Colombia.

He said: 'Body modifications are a personal decision and should not be judged.

'It is like judging a woman for getting breast or buttock implants. For me, a skull is like my sister, a part of my family really, I feel very attached to them.'

He added the surgery was a 'dream come true' and despite hitting headlines across South America, says he has other procedures planned to complete his transformation into a 'living skull'.

On social media Kalaca poses with an animal skull (left) and (right) before he had more face tattoos completed. His social media posts reveal how his image became more extreme

Kalaca admits his unusual appearance makes a lot of people uncomfortable and some even cross the street when they see him so they don't have to pass him face-to-face.

He added: 'I am a normal person who just happens to look a lot different than most other people.

'It's like a different way of thinking, of dressing, a different style of music. I just feel good the way I am.'

Kalaca is one of many people to 'transform' his body as modification works becomes increasingly popular.

One of the reasons Kalaca says he chose to make himself look like a skull, was because it is a look we 'all share underneath our skin and in death'

Earlier this month, one of the most famous men to tattoo himself towards looking like an unearthly creature took his own life.

Tattooed model Zombie boy, a friend of singer Lady Ga Ga, killed himself by jumping from the 4th floor balcony of his Montreal apartment, on August 1.

Canadian Rick Genest, 32, committed suicide in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal at 5pm Wednesday, but paramedics were unable to revive him, law enforcement sources told TMZ.

His manager Karim Leduc said his family believes it was a tragic accident and he fell, as he would lean back on the railing while smoking. They also say they believe he would have left a suicide note had it been intentional.

However, police ruled the death of Zombie Boy who appeared in the 2011 video for 'Born This Way' as a suicide.

Heavily tattooed 'Zombie Boy' who transformed himself through tattoos, body modifications and piercings died on August 1. The 32-year-old was found dead after plunging from his Montreal apartment

Rick Genest, 32, is shown in January 2011 on the runway during the Thierry Mugler fashion show in Paris. He was a well-known 'modified' model who took his own lifeRussian advertising standards officials have sparked outrage after declaring that a woman having small breasts is a 'physical defect'.

The bizarre ruling came following complaints over a construction company ad which used a gratuitous image of a petite woman in lace underwear measuring her chest.

Activists had accused the advert, which declared that the company's buildings had 'small prices and lots of complexes', was bodyshaming women, and officials agreed.

Thanks for nothing: Russian officials ruled that the advert projected an 'offensive image of women', and then added that small breasts were a 'physical defect'

However, Russias Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) took one step forward and two steps backwards in their ruling declaring that the billboard had violated advertising laws.

The FAS fined the company and wrote that the advert had projected an 'offensive image of women', according to the Moscow Times.

However, the ruling added that an 'expert council found that the advertisement points to physical defects in women (small breasts).'

The sudden classification of small breasts as being a 'physical defect' was seized upon by several Russians on social media.

More controversy: Another advert by the same company which used a completely unrelated image of a half-naked woman to sell property

'I wouldn't be surprised if the Federal Antimonopoly Service staff don't even suspect that there's anything wrong or offensive to women about how they handled this,' blogger and anti-sexism campaigner Nastya Krasilnikova wrote according to Meduza.

'Probably, the person who wrote this thinks it's perfectly obvious that a small chest is a physical disability.'

This is not the first time Akvilon Invest has come under fire over it's billboards. In the past it has advertised flats as being cheaper than 'renting' alongside a picture of woman undressing, which according to Meduza was alluding to prostitution.

Another advertisement by the company used in January this year showed a picture of a larger woman, with the caption 'even the discount is fatter after the holidays'.A couple who claim they became sick at the same hotel in Egypt where two Britons died last week have spoken out about their horrific ordeal and vowed to take legal action.

Garry Copeman and his wife, Faye, stayed at the five star all-inclusive Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada in April.

But their luxury holiday soon turned into a living nightmare when Mrs Copeman, 45, claims she was struck down with severe sickness and diarrhoea just one day into their trip.

John Cooper, 69, and wife Susan, 63, fell ill and died at the five-star property last week where they were staying with daughter Kelly Ormerod.

Investigations continue into the cause of death, and Thomas Cook evacuated 300 more guests as a precaution.

Garry Copeman and his wife, Faye, say they became ill after a stay at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada in April

Susan Cooper, 63, and her husband John Cooper, 69 (pictured together), were on holiday at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic hotel in the Red Sea resort town of Hurghada when they died within hours of each other

Mrs Copeman, pictured in bed at the hotel, became sick and had diarrhoea just one day into the trip, according to her husband

After spending 1,280 on their holiday, Mr and Mrs Copeman, of Hull, then paid an additional 380 on snorkelling trip and sunset cruises through Thomas Cook.

Mr Copeman claims that once his wife's sickness subsided he then fell unwell just days later and the pair were unable to leave their hotel room.

They also claim that after speaking to other guests it became apparent that dozens of people had been struck down by the sickness bug with some guests begging their travel agents to return home.

Mr Copeman is now sharing his shocking ordeal in light of the double deaths last week at the same hotel and has now launched legal action through Hudgell Solicitors.

The 51 year old said: 'We didn't leave the hotel so there's no doubt we caught something while there.

'It took Faye just two days before she started throwing up and battling diarrhoea.

'We'd booked some trips through Thomas Cook for 380 on our first day but we couldn't enjoy either of them as Faye was so unwell.

'She couldn't leave the hotel room and our travel rep wasn't bothered at all, he was so rude.

The couple also said the hotel was overrun with birds, pictured

The couple are launching legal action and say they did not leave the property so believe something at the hotel is responsible for their sickness

'Everyone around us was complaining and we couldn't believe our holiday had turned into such a nightmare.

'Faye was worried to eat anything other than soup and when I fell ill I couldn't eat at all.

'We've not received anything from Thomas Cook apart from a letter to state we could have 100 off our next trip if we spend another 1,000.

'It's a joke and it was a complete disaster. I just feel so sorry for the family that have lost two people there.'

Mr Copeman has now embarked on a legal battle against Thomas Cook in an attempt to redeem funds for his holiday.

He added: 'It's not about the money now it's about the principle of it all.

'We took hardly any photos on holiday as we never wanted to remember our time there, it was awful.

'Me and Faye are still affected by the suspected food poisoning now as every time we eat a large meal we have to rush to the toilet.

'There were entire families on our holiday that were ill and desperate to come home early.

'We feel lucky it wasn't any worse after reading what we have about the hotel in recent days.'

Mr Copeman said other guests at the hotel, pictured, were 'begging to go home' after suffering similar illnesses

Thomas Cook says it will continue to investigate any complaints of illness at the resort, pictured

Paul McClorry, head of Travel Litigation at Hudgell Solicitors said: 'Obviously, I'm saddened by the tragic events which have taken place in Egypt and my thoughts are with the family of John and Susan Cooper at this time.

'In instances like this, the health and safety of holidaymakers should always take priority and its pleasing to see that Thomas Cook have now taken measures to relocate guests from the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel.

'Given the tragic outcome of the past few days at this hotel and the extreme measures which have been taken to remove around 300 other holidaymakers, it is clear there needs to be a through, detailed and open investigation into what has happened and any concerns which have been raised.

'Some of these cases date back to April of this year, which draws into question this hotel's hygiene standards for a significant period of time, during which hundreds of people will have stayed here on holiday.

'Therefore, the hotel's hygiene procedures need to be very carefully considered for the entirety of this period.

'Thomas Cook and the hotel owners must now undertake comprehensive investigation to discover any potential factors which may have cause this tragedy and contributed towards any outbreaks of illness.'

A spokesperson for Thomas Cook said: 'We are aware that a number of customers have come forward to say they have experienced illness while staying at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada, Egypt.

'We are very sorry for those customers whose holidays have been spoiled. We take all illness very seriously and we will continue to investigate any outstanding cases.'A mysterious flash of light which lit up Western Australia's dark skies has sparked a fiery debate online about the cause of the illuminating object.

Hundreds of people took to social media to share footage of the flash, which was seen from Mindarie in Perth's north to Meckering in the city's east.

Some witnesses claimed the flash of light was likely a meteorite, although others believed the blue burst looked more like falling debris.

Scroll down for video

Dash cam footage shared on Twitter shows the bright blue light descending through the night skies in Perth

The Perth Observatory had multiple reports of a meteor .

Ralph Gonzalvo was driving on Marangaroo Road headed east when he saw 'a big flash, kind of like lightening.'

He told the Daily Mail Australia the light was so bright at first he thought he had been flashed by a speed camera.

'When I went to look up the light dimmed and I saw some sort of large object burning in the sky. It was on fire.'

He said it lasted about three seconds before it went out.

One Twitter user claimed that the light came through blue and went bright white before hitting the ground and exploding.

Another said she caught a glimpse of it and that it seemed much brighter and 'red/orange-er than any meteor I've ever seen.'

'The Mrs just saw it. Said it looked like bright falling debris rather than a meteor,' added another Twitter user.

Other locals reported hearing a loud bang, shaking windows and a bright light.Advertisement

A 'heavenly' country estate which has been home to two extraordinary women has been put on the market for 3 million.

Kinrara is set in more than 1,000 acres of the Scottish Highlands and boasts a large principal house and a further five estate cottages.

It lies adjacent to the River Spey in the Cairngorms National Park and has a renowned pheasant shoot.

The estate lies on the left bank of the majestic River Spey which flows along the entire length of the south eastern boundary. Within the estate Caledonian pine, Scots pine and larch proudly stand interspersed with native Silver birch, rowan and oak above a forest floor rich in Juniper, flora and fauna.

On the ground floor, the front door leads to a well proportioned and welcoming entrance hall with flagstone flooring and open fire. Beyond, the dining room and drawing room are connected by a hallway.

The estate, described as having one of the finest Georgian properties in the region, has been home to two influential women.

It was built in the 1790s for Jane, Duchess of Gordon, following her estrangement from the Duke of Gordon.

She was renowned for her independent spirit and beauty as well as her forthright determination and political endeavour.

Integral to the main house are two self contained apartments - Butler's Flat & Library Flat which are ideally suited for staff, overspill accommodation or holiday lets.

There is single bank salmon and sea trout fishing rights on a pretty 3.2 mile stretch of the River Spey. It has only been lightly fished by family and friends with no formal records kept.

Jane, Duchess of Gordon, was one of the leading political hostesses of her time, both at her London home on Pall Mall and on the sprung dance floor she had installed along the full length of Kinrara House, she threw lavish parties.

One of her proudest achievements was securing titled husbands for all five of her daughters, including three dukes, a marquis and a baronet.

She insisted the marriages and offspring of all her daughters be inscribed on her gravestone, which lies at Kinrara near the ancient site of St Eata's Chapel near the banks of the Spey.

The grazing land extends to about 201 acres of meadows running along the bank of the River Spey. At present, this land is let to a local grazier with a term date of 28th November 2018.

There are seven principal bedrooms on the first floor with a further five bedrooms located in the "Cadet Wing" - used in recent years to accommodate cadets from the Gordon Highlanders, continuing the regiment's long association with the estate.

Lady Houston Lucy, Lady Houston, born Fanny Lucy Radmall, was a British philanthropist, political activist, and suffragette. Beginning in 1933, she published Britain's Saturday Review which was best known for its attacks on what the paper labelled the 'unpatriotic' National Government of Ramsay MacDonald. She has been acknowledged as an aviation pioneer, 'the saviour of the Spitfire'. Lady Houston gave generously to British aviation. In 1931, she donated 100,000 to Supermarine, allowing them to win the Schneider Trophy in that year. In 1932, she also she offered to give 200,000 to strengthen the British army and navy. But the government refused. Advertisement

She also established The Gordon Highlanders, later commanded by her son George, recruiting its first battalion in 1794 with 'a shilling and a kiss', by offering the King's shilling between her teeth to any man who would join their ranks.

From around 1929 until 1936 Kinrara was lived in by a second extraordinary woman.

Lucy, Lady Houston, was a former 'show-girl' known as 'Poppy'.

She eloped in 1873 at the age of 16 to Paris with a member of one of the families that owned the Bass Brewery, Frederick Gretton.

They had a tumultuous relationship and when he died in 1882, he left her 6,000 per year for life.

She went onto marry three times and was an active suffragette.

Later in her life she made a huge financial and political contribution to the fledgling aviation industry, with her funding ultimately leading to the development of the Spitfire.

The Kinrara Estate's current owner has just put it up for sale with Savills for a guide price of 3 million-plus.

Of national importance historically, architecturally, and for its spectacular woodlands, Kinrara is 'a hidden gem amongst the majestic mountains' which form the dramatic backdrop.

Evelyn Channing, of Savills, said: 'Kinrara has it all, tranquillity and beauty and a range of possibilities for developing income streams.

'Its lovely setting, in the midst of glorious Speyside which attracts visitors from all over the world, will appeal to entrepreneurial buyers wishing to capitalise on Scotland's growing tourist sector.

Who is Jane Gordon, Duchess of Gordon? Jane Gordon, Duchess of Gordon was a Scottish conservative political hostess. Together with her husband Alexander, 4th Duke of Gordon and her son George, Marquess of Huntly, the future 5th Duke of Gordon she founded the Gordon Highlanders, a British Army infantry regiment that existed until 1994. In 1799, Jane became depressed and ill. Her eldest son, George, the later George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon, had gone off to the wars. Her second son, Alexander, died at 23, and her husband had moved his mistress, Jane Christie, into Gordon Castle and built a small house on the Spey, called Kinrara, for his estranged wife. Jane lived there for the next six years, continuing her entertaining and partying. The Duchess was also proud of marrying all of her three daughters to noble men and insisted all her daughters be inscribed on her gravestone, which lies at Kinrara near the ancient site of St Eata's Chapel near the banks of the Spey. The Gordon Highlanders The regiment was formed on 1 July 1881 instigated under the Childers Reforms. The new two-battalion regiment was formed out of the 75th (Stirlingshire) Regiment of Footwhich became the 1st Battalion of the new regimentand the 92nd (Gordon Highlanders) Regiment of Foot, which became the 2nd Battalion. The 1st battalion fought at the Battle of Tel el-Kebir in September 1882 during the Anglo-Egyptian War, and then took part in the Nile Expedition in an attempt to relieve Major-General Charles Gordon during the Mahdist War. Advertisement

'Or, quite simply it will appeal to those looking for the ultimate family home in the Highlands.'

There are seven principal bedrooms on the first floor of Kinrara House with a further five bedrooms located in the cadet wing, which was used in recent years to accommodate cadets from the Gordon Highlanders.

The main house also has two self-contained apartments and the estate, which has five further cottages, has fishing, stalking and shooting rights, wonderful wetlands, pasture and glorious mixed woodlands.

Polished wood sprung floors run the full length of the house, to allow for traditional Scottish reeling on a grand scale.

Set in 1,010 acres, the estate has a 3.2 mile stretch of the River Spey for salmon and sea trout fishing.

It also provides an excellent habitat for both Roe deer and Red deer hinds. It is thought the population would support culls of up to about 30 Roe deer and ten Red deer hinds per year.

Jane, Duchess of Gordon, and her daughter-in-law Elizabeth Marchioness of Huntly were avid tree planters and are responsible for the Scots-pine woodlands which continue to thrive on the estate.A mother-of-two has spoken of her surprise after a kind stranger in New York tracked her down using LinkedIn to post her missing wallet back to the UK completely free of charge.

Sarah Hodgson said she was 'gutted' when she realised the treasured item - a leaving gift from her last job - had fallen out of her bag in a cab in Brooklyn.

But while she was resigned to it being gone forever, the black Radley purse had in fact been found by the family of a student from Chicago.

He then used the information on Sarah's work pass to find her on the employment social network.

Sarah, who works in children's services at Liverpool City Council, was stunned when she checked her e-mails to see the message 'Your lost wallet'.

She said: 'I thought 'Friday night, Brooklyn, I'm never getting that back.'

Sarah Hodgson (pictured right) was 'gutted' when she found out her treasured purse had fallen out of her bag in a cab in Brooklyn. At the time she had been on holiday with her husband Gareth (pictured left), their two children and her mum

The family travelled to Manhattan from Brooklyn to meet Ms Hodgson's brother. Their return journey involved a ferry trip back from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Unfortunately during the taxi ride from the ferry terminal in Brooklyn back to their hotel, Ms Hodgson lost her purse. She had to leave the country without it. Fortunately a kind stranger was able to send it back to the United Kingdom completely free of charge

'I didn't realise until the next day that it had gone. I was trying to find my purse and I just knew I must have left it in the taxi.

'We'd only landed the day before and my brother Michael had flown in from Toronto so we met him in Manhattan. My kids are only five and seven, we'd been out all day, it was boiling hot and we were all really tired.

'We were staying in Brooklyn so we got the boat back. It was 9pm and my little girl was fast asleep so we got a taxi from the boat terminal to the hotel.

'I paid the taxi driver but my bag was open and it must have just fallen out.'

The purse - a present from her former colleagues at Sefton Council - contained 50 in English money, more than 100 US dollars and her debit and credit cards.

Every penny was returned - and her Good Samaritan refused to take any money as a thank you, even paying for the purse to be shipped to the UK this week.

Sarah, 38, from Crosby, said: 'We just got on with our holiday. I cancelled my cards and my husband had to pay for everything.

'When we were flying home on the Tuesday I checked my e-mails and saw this message about my purse.

'His family had found it. It had my work ID in it and he had the idea of tracking me down via LinkedIn. He could tell from the photo on my profile that it was me.

'I told him to take some money out of it to post it back but he wouldn't and sent it by FedEx.'

Sarah Hodgson's missing purse (pictured) had been given to her by colleagues when she left Sefton Council. She now works in children's services at Liverpool City Council

Sarah was visiting New York with husband Gareth, mum Angela, son Alex, seven, and daughter Sadie, five as a 40th birthday treat for Gareth.

And losing her purse wasn't the end of her bad luck.

She said: 'On the Saturday night I left my handbag in a bar - it's a Mulberry and was a present - but I got it back.

'At one point my phone was the only thing I had left!

'I'm not in business so I don't really use LinkedIn. I couldn't believe I got the bag back and then the purse - I was very surprised.

'The people in Brooklyn are so friendly and I'd definitely go back.'

The holiday money in Sarah's purse will now be put towards a family trip to Toronto next year.A grieving mother has hit out at 'selfish' boy racers after her daughter was killed in a horror crash on her way home from work.

Victim Kelly Kennedy, 25, died after working long hours as a carer to autistic children - to save for a once-in-a-lifetime trip around the world.

But as she drove home in her Ford Ka she was hit by two young men drove 'side-by-side' at up to 90mph on a busy road.

Kelly Kennedy, 25, pictured, was killed after two boy racers were speeding to a in their cars

Ms Kennedy, pictured with her partner Joseph Connolly, was killed following the accident

Liam Price, left, and Cory Kedward, right, both aged 23, were both racing their cars when Price's motor smashed directly into Ms Kennedy's Ford Ka

Drivers Liam Price and Cory Kedward, both 23, were racing each other when Price's car ploughed into Ms Kennedy's.

Her heartbroken mother Tracey, 51, has now told how she 'screamed and screamed' when she was broken the devastating news that her daughter was killed.

Mrs Kennedy, of Swansea, South Wales, said: 'Kelly was rarely late home from work but my husband Paul said she'd probably popped to the shops on the way home.

'I tried to call her but it just rang and rang and she didn't answer Paul's text either. I closed my eyes I had this graphic vision of a car crash.

'I just sprang out of bed and told Paul I was going to look for Kelly.'

The horrific head-on crash happened near Pontardawe, Swansea, at 10pm as she drove home in July 2016.

Ms Kennedy, pictured here in Amsterdam with her partner Joseph Connolly had planned o to travel the world during a once in a lifetime trip

Ms Kennedy's parents Tracey and Paul, 51, feared the worst when they found her route home was closed due to an accident.

Police then went to the family home to tell them the heartbreaking news.

Mrs Kennedy said: 'I knew it was the police and I knew what they had come to tell me. I just screamed and screamed. Paul was crying. We couldn't take it in. Kelly was going to visit Asia, Japan, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Australia.

'She was so excited and had planned to go and work in an elephant sanctuary as she adored animals.'

Honda Civic sport driver Liam Price, of Pontardawe, was sentenced to six years and four months at Swansea Crown Court after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

Vauxhall Astra SRi driver Kedward, of Penycae, Swansea Valley, was sentenced to seven years after a trial on the same charge.

Speaking outside the court, Ms Kennedy's mother Tracy described the impact her daughter's death. She said: 'I will never see my daughter's wedding day or hold my first grandchild. Kelly never got to go on her dream world trip she'd worked so hard for'

Judge Paul Thomas told the pair: 'Winning the contest was all you cared about.'

Speaking to Kedward, the judge said that in 30 years he had never seen such 'whining self pity in the witness box'.

Mrs Kennedy has raised 4,000 for Cruse Bereavement after her ordeal - and is campaigning against speeding drivers.

She continued:: 'I will never see my daughter's wedding day or hold my first grandchild. Kelly never got to go on her dream world trip she'd worked so hard for.

'I want to visit schools now and talk to children before they learn to drive. I will tell them how reckless, selfish driving can destroy lives and whole families.'Betty Shelby, 44, resigned from the Tulsa Police Department following her acquittal last year in the 2016 fatal shooting of Terence Crutcher

A white female police officer who was acquitted in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man in Oklahoma is now teaching a training class on how to survive a critical incident.

Betty Shelby, 44, resigned from the Tulsa Police Department following her acquittal last year in the 2016 fatal shooting of Terence Crutcher.

She now works as a patrol officer for the nearby Roger County Sheriff's Office.

Shelby is scheduled to teach a 'critical incident' class on Tuesday for the Tulsa County Sheriff that focuses on how to cope with the aftermath of an officer-involved shooting.

The decision to let Shelby teach the class has led to protests from those who claim it is 'insensitive' to let her lead the training.

Dozens of activists and pastors held a rally on Monday with signs saying 'Ban Betty' in a bid to pressure authorities into removing Shelby from the CLEET-approved class.

State Rep. Regina Goodwin, who spoke at the rally, said she urged the sheriff to reconsider the training class.

'The class is entitled Surviving the Aftermath of a Critical Incident. How about allowing one to survive the 'beforemath'?' Goodwin wrote on Facebook.

'If officers and deputies are to learn best practices, how would Betty Shelby be most fit to provide insight?'

The decision to let Shelby teach the class has led to protests on Monday from those who claim it is 'insensitive' to let her lead the training. Footage shot by KJRH showed protesters holding signs saying 'Ban Betty'

Shelby (left in her mugshot) was found not guilty in May last year of manslaughter in the shooting death of Crutcher

Reverend Rodney Goss told Newson6 that the decision was insensitive.

'It lacked integrity and it also lacked empathy. No one seems to really care about the family itself,' he said.

'It endorses her side of the story. It rewards her for what she has done, and it continues the narrative of her team that somehow, she's a hero in this whole picture.'

Shelby issued a statement Monday following the protests saying the class would include her experiences following Crutcher's death.

'I faced many challenges that I was unprepared for such as threats to my life by activists groups to loss of pay,' she said in a statement.

'My class is to help others by sharing some of the skills I used to cope with the stress of my critical incident. As law enforcement we experience many critical incidents throughout our career.

'These tools that I share are just a few to help them cope with the stress of the critical incidents they have had or will experience. My class is not about the shooting and I do not discuss the shooting.'

Shelby was en route to a domestic violence call when she encountered Crutcher's broken-down SUV blocking a road on September 16, 2016. She claims he didn't respond to her questions as he walked to his vehicle with his hands in the air

Police helicopter video and a dashboard camera showed Crutcher walking away from Shelby on the street with his arms in the air

Shelby was found not guilty in May last year of manslaughter in the shooting death of Crutcher.

The officer was en route to a domestic violence call when she encountered Crutcher's broken-down SUV blocking a road on September 16, 2016.

Shelby claims he did not respond to her questions and did not respond to commands to stop as he walked to his vehicle with his hands in the air in the moments before she shot him.

Police helicopter video and a dashboard camera showed Crutcher walking away from Shelby on the street with his arms in the air.

It doesn't offer a clear view of when Shelby fired the single shot.

Crutcher was unarmed and had followed directions to put his arms in the air, authorities said at the time.

Prosecutors had tried to argue that Shelby 'reacted unreasonably' and was 'emotionally involved to the point that she overreacted' when she shot Crutcher.

Shelby's attorneys said she shot Crutcher because she feared for her life, believing Crutcher was reaching into his vehicle for a gun.

When she was acquitted in May last year, Shelby resigned from the department and has since become a deputy at the sheriff's office.

Crutcher's parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Tulsa in April this year.Reverend Peter McConnell, of Longhorsley, Northumberland, is accused of sexually assaulting the student on a British Airways jet

A vicar groped a fellow plane passenger after downing bottles of wine on a transatlantic flight, a court heard.

Reverend Peter McConnell, of Longhorsley, Northumberland, is accused of sexually assaulting the student on a British Airways jet from Philadelphia to Heathrow in March last year.

Jurors at Newcastle Crown Court were told McConnell, who admitted downing four small bottles of wine, sat next to the 20-year-old from the United States and tried to engage him in conversation.

The alleged victim then drifted off to sleep towards the end of the long haul journey, and it is claimed McConnell groped him under a blanket.

The clergyman, 63, had made 'odd' comments, talked about God, teaching children and asked his victim if he had been to a 't***y bar', the court was told.

The alleged victim said the vicar also talked about masturbation being a 'way of relieving stress' during the seven hour journey.

McConnell, who is vicar of St Helen's Church in Longhorsley, denies a single charge of sexual assault.

The alleged victim today gave evidence at Newcastle Crown Court via video link from his parents home in the US.

He said McConnell asked him if he had been to a 't***y bar'. He said: 'I thought that was very inappropriate, a very inappropriate thing to say to another person.

'He said he had gone to one, he had been to one before, that he regretted it now but he had been to one before.'

The student added: 'He kept saying this weird question 'are you mischievous', about four to six times.'

McConnell, pictured in 1994, left, and outside court, right, denies one count of sexual assault

And he said he then turned the conversation to masturbation.

He added: 'He tried to make some statement about how in today's world everyone is very stressed, very busy and that is why we have masturbation, masturbation was the solution, I guess, to everyday stress.

'I thought it was an extremely inappropriate, very disgusting remark.

'I reacted with pretty strong disgust, very uncomfortable, it made me feel very uncomfortable. I kind of faked a chuckle.'

The student said he 'didn't see a problem' when McConnell handed him the blanket as he grew tired, towards the end of the flight.

But he said he 'reacted with shock' when his private parts were groped after he fell asleep.

The student said McConnell was 'apologising profusely' afterwards and added: 'He mentioned he had been drinking pretty heavily'.

He added: 'He said it was alcohol, why he was behaving like this, and kept asking for forgiveness.

'He kept making an attempt to hug me, which was very strange.

'Once, when he was trying to hug me, I could feel him trying to kiss one of my earlobes.'

Prosecutor Andrew Espley had earlier told the court there had been some 'small talk' between the men during the journey and the vicar had moved into the empty seat beside the alleged victim because his own was being kicked from behind by a disabled boy.

The court heard McConnell told the stranger he had been in America with his adult Godson, visiting his two sisters and that one of them was seriously ill.

He also talked about politics, films and was 'trying to engage him in conversation'.

Mr Espley said the student had believed the vicar was being 'kind' when he covered him with a blanket as he got tired towards the end of the flight.

But Mr Espley told jurors: 'He was drifting off to sleep when he felt Peter McConnell's hand under the blanket.'

The court heard then victim jolted awake when he realised he was being touched on his private parts, over his trousers.

He claims the Reverend then asked him: 'Is that not alright?'

Mr Espley added: 'He then said he wasn't 'like that', presumably referring to being homosexual.

'After this, Peter McConnell kept trying to talk to him, saying he was drunk and blaming the alcohol.

'He tried to shake the complainant's hand and asked the complainant to forgive him. He said 'no'.'

Mr Espley added: 'What he really didn't like in particular, as well as what happened, was Mr McConnell kept referring to God in conversation and how he liked teaching children.

'When he mentioned children the complainant decided he would try and get his contact information, not thinking for a moment that Mr McConnell would hand it over.

'He said 'if I'm in Newcastle how could I get in touch with you' and he gave the correct email address.'

The court heard the alleged victim reported his ordeal to the airline and the authorities.

McConnell was questioned by detectives in the UK. The court heard the vicar admitted he had been on the flight and had had 'about four' small bottles of white wine.

He denied touching the alleged victim or engaging in graphic conversation.

The trial continues.South Africa has withdrawn its white farmland redistribution bill - six days after Donald Trump warned he was closely studying the situation.

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) said the bill passed by parliament in 2016 enabling the state to make compulsory purchases of land to redress racial disparities in land ownership needed further consideration.

It comes after Trump criticised the country's land reform plans in a tweet that touched on the overwhelmingly white ownership of farmland in South Africa - one of the most sensitive issues in the country's post-apartheid history.

South Africa has withdrawn its white farmland redistribution bill - six days after Donald Trump warned he was closely studying the situation

According to President Cyril Ramaphosa, who himself farms cattle on a 5,100 hectare ranch, the white community that makes up eight percent of the population 'possess 72 percent of farms'

It comes after Trump (pictured) criticised the country's land reform plans in a tweet that touched on the overwhelmingly white ownership of farmland in South Africa - one of the most sensitive issues in the country's post-apartheid history

'I have asked Secretary of State... (Mike) Pompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers,' tweeted Trump to his 54 million followers.

His tweet apparently followed a segment on conservative Fox News about Pretoria's plan to change the constitution to speed up expropriation of land without compensation to redress racial imbalances in land ownership.

'South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers',' said Trump's post, which tagged the show's host, Tucker Carlson, as well as the channel.

The country is in the middle of a racially charged debate over land reform, a lawful process that seeks to correct the legacy of decades of white-minority rule that stripped blacks of their land.

According to President Cyril Ramaphosa, who himself farms cattle on a 5,100 hectare ranch, the white community that makes up eight percent of the population 'possess 72 percent of farms'.

In contrast, 'only four percent' of farms are in the hands of black people who make up four-fifths of the population.

The stark disparity stems from purchases and seizures during the colonial era that were then enshrined in law during apartheid.

South Africa's government reacted angrily to Trump's tweet with officials telling their American counterparts the comments were 'alarmist, false, inaccurate and misinformed'.

The President asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to monitor 'farm seizures and the killing of white farmers' in South Africa, announcing this in an early morning tweet

People place white crosses, representing farmers killed in the country, at a ceremony at the Vorrtrekker Monument in Pretoria, South Africa

In July, Ramaphosa said the ruling African National Congress party would amend the constitution so the state could start to expropriate land without compensation to speed up the process of land redistribution, but that has not yet happened and no land has been seized.

A fringe group of the white minority claims land reform will inspire violent attacks, though experts say farm attacks reflect the country's generally high crime rate and are on the decline.

Claims of 'genocide' against white South Africans, however, have been picked up by some white nationalists in the U.S., and leaders of a right-wing South African group traveled to the U.S. in May to lobby officials about the alleged targeting of white farmers.

Trump's tweet was quickly lambasted by many in South Africa, with one top ruling party official, Zizi Kodwa, telling the Associated Press that Trump has never experienced apartheid and doesn't know its legacy of stark inequality.

Later on Thursday, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the administration's position was that land expropriation without compensation 'would risk sending South Africa down the wrong path.'

Nauert toned down Trump's language suggesting that massive land seizures were underway and did not repeat the president's suggestion that large numbers of white South African farmers had been killed.

Trump's tweet did find support among some South Africans, while some farmers spoke out about their security concerns.

'We try very hard not to go and live in a walled security area somewhere, but it costs a lot of money in the first place to have the necessary security,' said Leon Sholtz, a farmer in Broederstroom in North West province.

'It is fact that we have lost four of our neighbors in the last 10 to 12 years due to farm murders. ... I think it is something that the government should look into and try and stop as soon as possible.'A father of five went on the rampage critically wounding two deputies at a sheriff's office in north-central Kansas before then holding his own family hostage and driving off in their minivan.

Kansas Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Melissa Underwood says the suspect, Jason Lee Whitson, entered the Jewell County Sheriff's Office in Mankato around 8am Tuesday.

There was a 'disturbance' and the man shot one deputy in the neck and another in the torso before fleeing.

The Kansas Highway Patrol says a trooper spotted the suspect's minivan about 45 minutes later, 35 miles southeast of Mankato, near Glasco.

Jason Whitson is accused of shooting two northern Kansas deputies and then driving off with his wife and five young kids as he fled the scene

The shooting happened at 8am at the Jewell County Sheriff's Department in Mankato, pictured

Officials say Whitson ignored a trooper's commands to pull over and continued on at a normal speed.

He drove another 20 miles before letting out members of his family, including his wife and five kids, before taking off again.

This time, a trooper performed a 'tactical vehicle intervention' at 9:11am. The suspect lost control of the vehicle as he was driven off the road according to WIBW.

Troopers found him inside the vehicle with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Whitson attempted to flee in this silver minivan with his wife and five children inside

The Jewell Co. Sheriff's Office says one deputy is being treated for their injuries and is expected to be released later Tuesday. The other was taken by air ambulance to a Salina Hospital and will undergo surgery.

The suspect, Whitson, later died after attempting to take his own life with a gun.

Governor Jeff Colyer Tweeted after learning about the shooting, saying, 'I'm praying for a full recovery for the two Jewell County deputies shot in the line of duty earlier this morning. We appreciate the service rendered by all law enforcement officers, and thank them for their bravery.'Police in Ohio are asking for the public's help in tracking down four children who they say have been abducted by their mother and her abusive boyfriend.

The Lima Police Department on Tuesday issued an alert for all states between Ohio and Florida, asking law enforcement and civilians to be on the lookout for Marianne Merritt, Charles Perkins and the woman's children, ranging in age from eight to 13.

The group is said to be headed to Florida, and the children are believed to be endangered.

On the run: Marianne Merritt (left), 40, and Charles Perkins (right), 39, are accused of abducting woman's four children, between ages 8 and 13, from Lima, Ohio

Missing: Damara Croley (left), 13, and her younger brother, 12 -year-old Benjamin Karl-Leland Croley (right), are among the missing kids

Also abducted were Patience Wilson (left), nine, and her baby brother, eight-year-old Damien Wilson (right)

Courtesy of 10TV

According to police, Merritt, 40, has no custodial rights. Her 39-year-old boyfriend has active warrants out for his arrest, is considered armed and dangerous and is said to be abusive towards Merritts children.

The children were allegedly whisked away by their mother and her boyfriend from a residence on North Main Street in Lima at around 1.30am.

About two hours before, Merritt wrote an angry status update on her Facebook page that stated: Waste of time....Waste of breathe....Waste of space...I am who I am....Sorry if you don't like it!!!

Three days earlier, she shared a menacing meme that read: Im a lot more f***ed up than people think.

Merritts youngest child, eight-year-old Damien Wilson, is described as 4 feet 5 inches tall, weighing 111lbs, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a blue shirt and red-and-black shorts.

On Monday night, Merritt wrote this angry status update on her Facebook page

Merritt has no custodial rights. Her boyfriend, Perkins, has active warrants out and is known to be abusive towards the children

The mom (pictured with her eldest daughter) and the rest of the group are believed to be headed to Florida. They are now the subject of a multi-state alert

Patience Wilson, nine, is 4-feet-5 and 80lbs, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a white top and dark-blue or black leggings.

Benjamin Karl-Leland Croley, 12, is 5-foot-1 and weighing 120lbs, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing yellow smiley emoji pants.

The womans eldest child, 13-year-old Damara Croley, stands at 5 feet 3 inches in height and weighs 180lbs, with brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a red Ohio State University shirt and Spiderman web pants.

The two adults and four children might be traveling in a dark-blue 2000 Chrysler Voyager with a white passenger door and Ohio license plate FMQ3175.

Anyone with information on their whereabouts is being asked to call police at 419-227-4444.An Ohio teen who vanished after watching his father get murdered in front of him has been found safe a year later.

Jacob Caldwell, 15, was with his younger siblings and dad Robert Caldwell, 35, in August of 2017 when a gunman opened fire, hitting and killing his father.

The shooter was later revealed to be Sterling Roberts, the new boyfriend of Robert Caldwell's ex-wife Tawnney, 33. Tawnney, who is Jacob's mother, is currently in jail facing murder charges along with Roberts.

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Jacob Caldwell, who vanished after watching his father get murdered in front of him has been found safe a year later, after a billboard campaign

Jacob Caldwell, 14, was with his younger siblings and dad Robert Caldwell in August of 2017 when a gunman opened fire, hitting and killing his father (Robert with new wife Candice and his two children)

The shooter was later revealed to be Sterling Roberts (right), the new boyfriend of Robert Caldwell's ex-wife Tawnney (left). Tawnney, who is Jacob's mother, is currently in jail facing murder charges along with Roberts

Six days after the horrific shooting, Jacob fled.

Sugarcreek Township Police confirm Jacob was found safe on Monday night in south Dayton.

He was found just days after ten digital billboards, donated by Lamar Advertising Company and Norton Outdoor Advertising, were installed along Interstate 75 began displaying Caldwell's missing posters to help locate the teen.

Authorities had also mounted search efforts across state borders and the FBI even offered a $15,000 reward.

In a news conference Tuesday morning, Chief Michael Brown, of the Sugarcreek Police Department, said a 'very credible' tip came in to the department from the billboards and at 11.30pm Monday night, his office served a search warrant at a home in Miami Township in Montgomery County.

Police found Jacob living in the basement, Fox 45 reported.

He did not appear to have been locked in and was free to move around the house, where there were four adults living, officers said. But Brown added that Jacob did not go outside or socialize with any other children.

Brown said the teen seemed 'traumatized' but physically healthy and is currently being held at Greene County Juvenile Detention Center.

It's not yet clear what charges the adults living with Jacob will face.

'It's been on our mind every day,' he said of the missing persons case, adding that t investigators always had a 'strong feeling that it was a family member involved in him being missing.'

Brown said Jacob was not abducted, but was encouraged by family members to run away.

Jacob's aunt posted on Facebook she was delighted that her nephew had been found

The FBI released the last photo of Jacob after he went missing in August 2017

Sugarcreek Township Police confirm Jacob was found safe on Monday night in south Dayton

Authorities had also mounted search efforts across state borders and the FBI even offered a $15,000 reward

Meanwhile, six people have been indicted in connection with the death of Jacob's father Robert.

He was walking out of a counselors office with his three kids on August 15, 2017, when he was shot numerous times in the parking lot. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Sterling Roberts, was arrested a few days later after police chased him to South Carolina.

Roberts and Tawnney had recently started a family after Tawnney and Robert Caldwell's divorce. Tawnney was arrested in March this year and charged with murder and aiding and abetting Roberts.

US Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Benjamin Glassman said Roberts pulled the trigger, but Tawnney created the plot.

Several of Tawney's family members were also arrested for aiding and abetting.

Chief Michael Brown, of the Sugarcreek Police Department, said a Jacob living in the basement after a 'credible tip' from the billboards

Police say that he appeared traumatized but was physically healthy

Family members believe Robert Caldwell was killed as part of a custody battle with Tawnney.

Robert's mom Sally DeThomas told Fox 45: 'He got custody and he got them July 21 and he was being buried a month later.

'So I think that's-that seems to be pretty obvious with that.'

Court documents show Robert and Tawnney started their divorce in 2011, shortly after he discovered she was allegedly running an escort website.

His brother said when they married they were deeply in love but that the escort service was the final straw.

Both had moved on since the divorce, and Robert had married his new wife Candice Caldwell.

Candice said it was after their wedding that Tawnney changed and became more aggressive.

Candice is pictured with her late husband Robert and his two kids

Robert Caldwell, pictured with new wife Candice, is believed to have been killed as part of a custody battle with his ex

Then a few days before he was murdered, Robert called 911 to report someone was trying to kill him.

'Yeah I got a guy chasing me over here on Sutton in Jamestown. Um and he, he just tried to lure me. Uh, I'm assuming he's trying to kill me,' Robert told 911 dispatchers.

He even named his killer; Sterling Roberts, to the cops, before calling Candice and telling them to get their kids out of the house.

Ten days after the 911 call, Roberts shot and killed Robert Caldwell.

The FBI would not release details of the Greene County Sheriff's Office's investigation into the 911 call from last year.Administrators are to refund almost all of a $400,000 reward fund aimed at gathering information about a missing Iowa student.

The money will all be returned to donors now that she's been found dead.

Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa said Tuesday that most of the donations from individuals and businesses were provided on the condition of Mollie Tibbetts' safe return.

Group vice president Greg Willey says the donations will now be returned.

Administrators almost off of a $400,000 reward fund aimed at gathering information about a missing Iowa student will be returned to donors now that she's been found dead

The bulk of the money collected will now be refunded to the generous donors

'Crime Stoppers wishes to thank all of the many individuals and businesses who responded so quickly to give to the fund,' Greg Wyllie, vice president of Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa, said in a statement.

'Your kindness and compassion is greatly appreciated.'

For donors who did not request their contribution be returned, the money will go to the Tibbetts family or the Crime Stoppers General Fund.

Crime Stoppers did not reveal how much money will go to the family.

Tibbetts vanished on July 18 while she was out running in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa.

Crime Stoppers started the fund, set up with First State Bank in Brooklyn, shortly after Tibbetts was reported missing.

In the weeks since, donations grew to more than $385,000, a 36-year-record at Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera is charged with first-degree murder in the death of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts

Last week Rivera led police to Mollie Tibbetts' body. She had been missing since July 18

Last week, police say 24-year-old Cristhian Bahena Rivera led them to Tibbetts' body in a cornfield on August 21.

Rivera faces first-degree murder charges after leading police to Mollie Tibbetts' lifeless body last week that had been left stabbed to death since her July disappearance.

The dairy worker was arrested last Monday when police traced him through surveillance footage that showed his car following Mollie.

When Rivera, a father-of-one, was approached by police he went willingly to participate in an interview where he confessed to attacking Mollie, putting her body in the trunk of his car and driving her to a field 10 miles away.

It was later revealed that Rivera was an illegal migrant farm worker from Mexico who used a fake ID to pass background checks, his employers say.The family of an elderly Connecticut man who died last year has filed a lawsuit against a bar for serving alcohol to an already drunk woman moments before she got in her vehicle and crashed, killing herself and the victim.

Edward Bertulis, 87, died on May 9, 2017 after Katherine Berman, the wife of ESPN anchor Chris Berman, crashed into his vehicle in Woodbury.

Family members said Bertulis had just left a cemetery where he was visiting his wife's grave when the cash occurred.

Authorities aid Berman was intoxicated and rear-ended Bertulis' 2003 Ford Escape while they were driving down Sherman Hill Road. The force of the crash caused Bertulis' vehicle to strike a utility pole and flip over.

Katherine Berman was killed in May 2017 when she rear-ended another motorist while intoxicated. She's pictured above with her husband, ESPN anchor Chris Berman as he was honored with a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in May 2010

Edward Bertulis, 87, was also killed in the crash. Family said he had just left the cemetery from visiting his wife's grave when he was killed

The crash caused Bertulis' car (pictured) to crash into a utility pole and flip over on a road on Woodbury, Connecticut

The 87-year-old, who was not wearing a seat belt, was partially thrown from the car and pronounced dead at the scene.

Berman's 2003 Lexus veered off the road and down an embankment and overturned in a small body of water. She was also pronounced dead at the scene.

Bertulis' family is suing the Market Place Kitchen & Bar and its owner Elias Hawli alleging that employees served Berman 'numerous alcoholic beverages' and continued to supply her with alcohol even though she 67-year-old was already intoxicated, according to the Hartford Courant.

According to the suit, Berman left the bar around 2.15pm on May 9 and drove drunk onto Sherman Hill Road, a short distance from the restaurant. The family claims Berman was following closely behind Bertulis 'when, in consequence of her intoxication, she suddenly and without warning slammed into the rear of Mr Bertulis car'.

The lawsuit doesn't specify how many drinks Berman had, and the state's examiner's office declined to release toxicology results.

Berman's car veered off the road and down an embankment and flipped over. She and Bertulis were pronounced dead at the scene

Bertulis' family sued the Market Place Kitchen & Bar claiming employees supplied Berman with 'numerous alcoholic beverages' and continued to give her alcohol even though she was drunk

Katherine Barmen is pictured second from right with her Chris Berman and their kids Douglas and Meredith

Connecticut State Police said they are still investigating the crash and have not released their findings yet. Berman and her estate are not named in the suit.

The lawsuit was filed under a state statute known as the Dram Shop Act, a law which holds an establishment responsible if a customer served alcohol leaves and causes death or injury. The suit is seeking more than $50,000 from the bar.

Bertulis' family said he had just left Mt. Olivet Cemetery where he was visiting his wife's grave when he was killed. They said Bertulis visited his wife's grave every day since her death in 2015.Professor Marjan Jahangiri outside the High Court

A failing NHS Trust that suspended one of the world's top cardiologists has been ordered to reinstate her by a High Court judge.

Professor Marjan Jahangiri, 56, was excluded from St George's hospital, Tooting, South London, after it was claimed she prioritised private patients over those from the NHS and had shouted at a nurse.

The surgeon, the first female professor of cardiac surgery in Europe, claimed she was subjected to a 'campaign of bullying and harassment', and was sent a dead animal and a decapitated doll in the post.

The St George's Healthcare Trust was described as 'toxic' and in the grip of 'dark forces' in a report earlier this year.

As a result of that report, the hospital commissioned a second review into the revelations surrounding the Trust.

Employees were warned not to speak to any witnesses involved in that investigation but the Trust claimed that Jahangiri indirectly contacted one of the witnesses through her secretary.

But today the surgeon was vindicated by Judge Matthew Nicklin, who said: 'Overall, the decision to exclude was irrational, in the public law sense.'

He said of the surgeon: 'She has been successful, she had been required to come to court to obtain the relief that she has obtained.

'Whist the impact of exclusion on an individual doctor is always likely to be severe, when a skilled and respected surgeon, about whom there are no concerns as to her ability, is excluded the consequences reach far beyond the individual.'

Professor Jahangiri was excluded from St George's hospital after it was claimed she prioritised private patients over those from the NHS and had shouted at a nurse

Speaking outside the High Court, Prof Jahangiri said: 'I am delighted with today's judgement and very much look forward to returning to my patients, their families, my colleagues and my trainees.

'My priority, as it has always been, is combining excellent patient care with research and training.

'I am devoted to the NHS.'

The professor's barrister Iain Quirke said the decision to exclude the professor meant that patients were missing operations that could save their lives.

'This present application is urgent because with each day that goes by, patients booked for heart surgery with the claimant are cancelled,' he said.

Jahangiri operates around 250 cases a year at St George's Hospital in Tooting, South London

He went on to say that Jahangiri's skills were so specialised that she was sometimes the only surgeon able to carry out specific kinds of complex operations.

'In some cases, the claimant is only person at the trust who is able to carry out those operations.'

Mr Quirke told the court how the average heart surgeon in the UK has a mortality rate of 7-15%. Professor Jahangiri's rate is 1.2%.

'Despite that, she has been treated in the most outrageous way,' he added, 'She is the envy of the unit.

Professor Marjan Jahangiri was the first female professor of cardiac surgery in Europe

'I really do believe that this hospital is in deep trouble and that's partly because the management want to get rid of the professor.'

Mr Quirke went on to say that 14 different complaints had been made against Jahangiri because she had acted as a whistleblower in the past.

'The basis that the claimant has been excluded on is the thinnest of grounds. The defence case it totally, totally hopeless and outrageous.

'The unit is dismantling her research by reallocating it to others in the department - that is a drastic measure.

'The continued exclusion is in breach of the defendants own policy. There must be a reasonable and proper reason to exclude - my Lord, there is not.

'The trust is in special measures. She is an exceptional surgeon and in internationally recognised.'

He told the court that Jahangiri is the only female professor in cardiac surgery in Europe.

Mr Quirke went on to claim that her students at the hospital have threatened to leave if she doesn't return to work.

He said that of the accusations levied against his client, 'they are outrageous, they are scurrilous and they are made for malicious reasons,' calling them a, 'character assassination.'

Mr Quirke said that the delicacy involved in heart surgery required constant use of her skills and that her exclusion meant that she would be unable to practice the extremely complex operations needed to save lives.

The trust's lawyer, Simon Cheetham QC said: 'There is no suggestion that anyone is saying she is the source of [the trust's] problems.

'These are decisions that, whether they are right or wrong, were made in good faith.

'It was necessary to suspend her because if that was the claimant's behaviour, then it would have been bound to have had an impact on the report.'

Professor Marjan Jahangiri denied that she prioritised a private client over NHS patients as well as shouting at a nurse.

She also denied that her indirect interaction with the report witness required her suspension.

Judge Nicklin ordered that the suspension of Professor Jahangiri by the St George's NHS Trust be overturned.

Speaking outside the court Jahangiri's solicitor Katy Colton said the professor's legal fight would continue.

'Ultimately we are looking for a statement from the court saying this was a breach of contract,' she said

The professor now wants a full judgement from the court stating that the professor had been treated unfairly by the hospital trust.

Jacqueline Totterdell, chief executive at St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said she was disappointed by the outcome.

She added: 'We are disappointed by the judgment issued today, but understand and respect it. We welcome that this ruling is not about guilt or exoneration, and the judge made no finding on the facts being investigated.

'He has said that the exclusion process was not appropriate, but has allowed the trust to continue its investigation into very serious issues raised.'Advertisement

An avid Disney collector has sold off his huge haul of memorabilia for the princely sum of $8.3million, with sale prices breaking multiple records.

Richard Kraft, a Hollywood agent and producer, displayed the collection of more than 900 items at an abandoned warehouse in Sherman Oaks, California, for about three weeks.

Tens of thousands flocked to see the exhibition 'That's from Disneyland!' and the Disney fanatic even presided over a wedding at the venue, before everything was sold off over the weekend.

Kraft says he had spent 25 years collecting the memorabilia, 'with absolutely no intention of seeing it as an investment or acquiring things to sell,' but is delighted his decision to part with it will allow him to help his children - including a daughter who has special needs, and others like her.

Hollywood agent Richard Kraft has sold off his entire collection of Disney memorabilia. This Dumbo ride, which used to hang from his ceiling, sold for $483,000

The items were placed on exhibition for the public to see for about three weeks before they were sold at auction

Kraft's Sea Serpent fetched $80,000 at the two-day auction

One of the original vehicles from Disneyland's Skyway - a cable car style ride that took viewers over the park - sold for $621,000. The steep price made it the highest price ever paid for a Disneyland ride vehicle

'[Collecting] has been purely for the joy of connecting to so many personal memories of the Happiest Place on Earth,' he said.

'When I finally decided to let it go, it became much more about throwing a grand Bon Voyage party to those magical artifacts than about making projections about their worth.

'As the flood of astronomical bids came in, it made me think how these treasures were now securing the financial future of my children and allowing me to contribute towards other kids, like my daughter, with special needs.

'Im still in a state of shock that Dumbo, Jose the talking parrot and trash cans from Disneyland could make me feel as if I won the lottery.'

Walls of an abandoned warehouse were decorated in vintage posters, while colorful rides were scattered around for Disney fanatics to look at and take photos with

Kraft (left and right with daughter Daisy) said he was selling off the items to help secure his children's futures, and would donate the excess profits to charities that helped people who had the same condition as his daughter Daisy

Jose, the animatronic bird from the Tiki Room, was one of many items that sold well above what Kraft believed he would get for it. The bird was purchased at auction on the weekend for $425,000

Jose, the animatronic parrot from The Tiki Room, sold for $425,000, while the Dumbo attraction vehicle went for $483,000.

This hand painted Haunted Mansion stretching portrait from the popular ride fetched $402,500 at auction

One of the original vehicles from Disneyland's Skyway - a cable car style ride that took viewers over the park - sold for $621,000. The steep price made it the highest price ever paid for a Disneyland ride vehicle.

Also of note was an original Haunted Mansion Stretching portrait, which went for $402,500 and an Autopia original attraction poster, which went for $287,500.

The sale of the entryway sign to the Pirates of the Caribbean also sold for a record-breaking $264,500 - the highest price ever paid for a Disneyland park sign.

Kraft began his collection 25 years ago in 1993, after the death of his older brother David, who had Chrohn's disease.

Their parents would always take the brothers, who grew up just a few hours' drive north of the Disneyland, to the park when David was healthy.

After David's death, Kraft returned to the theme park of his childhood which brought back only great memories of his late brother.

'These were the same sidewalks I walked as a child with my brother,' Kraft earlier told CNN.

'I'm not satisfied with a souvenir book or a little pennant: I had to actually own pieces of the park,' says Kraft, who admits 'I'm a bit obsessive.'

When he heard about an auction of Disneyland travel posters, he made his first bid on an Autopia poster from Tomorrowland and won.

Ever since then, he's been hooked.

For 25 years his collection grew to include six 'It's A Small World' animated dolls from the famous rise and hand-painted Haunted Mansion stretching portraits.

He bought a 40-foot sea serpent from the Submarine Voyage, a 38-foot Davy Crockett Explorer Canoe, and a 16-foot-tall neon script 'D' from the top of the Disneyland Hotel - which was purchased over the weekend by magician David Copperfield.

Kraft's collection included a 'PeopleMover' vehicle, a 'Mr Toad' car, a mine car from the 'Snow White's Scary Adventure' ride, and the 'Submarine Voyage' Sea Serpent.

The most expensive piece in the collection is the 'Dumbo' ride car that once soared above his living room.

That was bought by Kraft for $35,000 at auction - less than 10 per cent of what he recently sold it for.

Kraft's collection, which at one point had filled his home and backyard, was seen in perfect condition when it arrived at the exhibition

The collection did not just include ride cars and posters, but also icecream carts (pictured) and trash cans

The Autopia poster from Tomorrowland (left) was Kraft's first purchase in 1993. Since then, he has added many more pieces of memorabilia to his collection. The Autopia poster sold for $287,500 - the highest price ever paid for a Disneyland attraction poster

Kraft began his collection in 1993, after the death of his older brother David, who had Chrohn's disease. He said the pair had holidayed at the park as children and he returned to look back on fond memories

Kraft sold his collection in part for his four-year-old daughter Daisy.

She was born with Coffin-Siris Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes developmental delays and physical abnormalities.

Kraft says part of the proceeds from the auction will go to the Coffin-Siris Foundation and the CHIME Institute, which works with schools that specialize in putting children with special needs together.

However, he agreed on selling his beloved collection under the condition that it first goes on display for the month-long pop-up for the public to see.

Co-owner of Van Eaton Galleries, Mike Van Eaton, says this is 'one of the most amazing private collections I've ever seen,' and by far the largest Disney memorabilia auction he's hosted.

'You don't see a lot of people with, say, a Space Mountain car in their backyard, or a 40-foot-long sea serpent, for that matter, by their swimming pool. It's the kind of collection you'll see once in a lifetime,' Van Eaton said.

Kraft has also purchased items at past Van Eaton auctions, and had specifically sought out Mike when he made the decision to sell.

Kraft's exhibition was interactive, with guests able to have their silhouette copied at one booth

Kraft's collection includes rides, signs, posters and amenities from the park and was considered possibly the biggest privately owned Disney collection in the worldBruce Ohr, the career Justice Department official who is often a target of President Donald Trump's tweets, is on Capitol Hill Tuesday for a closed-door grilling with lawmakers.

Ohr was in contact with former British spy Christopher Steele, whose unverified dossier claimed Trump was vulnerable to blackmail from the Russians, during the 2016 campaign.

That relationship is expected to be the focus of lawmakers' inquiries as House Republicans contend that connection between Steele and Ohr has tainted special counsel Robert Mueller's Russian investigation.

Former associate deputy U.S. attorney general Bruce Ohr arrives to testify behind closed doors before the House Judiciary and House Oversight and Government Reform Committees

President Trump has targeted Ohr repeatedly on Twitter

Lawmakers are also expected to ask Ohr why he continued to meet with Steele after the FBI terminated its ties with the former spymaster as they probed Russia's role in the 2016 election.

Trump allies Reps. Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan are leading the hearing.

'When he comes to Congress tomorrow, Bruce Ohr has explaining to do,' tweeted Meadows tweeted Monday.

A GOP House Oversight Committee aide told The Washington Examiner that Republicans are 'increasingly focused' on Ohr's role in getting the Steele dossier to the FBI, and then how it was used from there.

'[They are] particularly curious about his contacts with [Steele],' the aide said ahead of Tuesday's meeting, noting that there were more than 60 contacts since January 2016, 'and when those contacts with Steele occurred.'

'I don't know if it's improper but I want to know who at DOJ knew and it certainly looks like he continued to meet with Mr. Steele after the FBI had terminated their relationship with Mr. Steele,' Jordan told Fox News.

The House Judiciary Committee and the The House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform have held multiple joint sessions with the players in the saga surrounding Mueller's investigation as part of their look into FBI and Justice Department activities related to the 2016 election.

They have heard from former FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, in an open session for Strzok and a closed session for Page.

They allege the ties between the various players show a 'deep state' conspiracy to keep Trump from ascending to the presidency.

The FBI claimed Steele violated his confidentiality agreement by revealing to the media his work with federal agents and ended their relationship with him in the weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election.

Documents show Steele and Orh continued to email and text after that occurred.

But The New York Times reported Monday Ohr's contacts with Steele were part of the FBI's effort to determine whether the dossier's allegations were true. After Ohr meet with Steele, he debriefed agents.

The FBI did not have all of Steele's reports and wanted to obtain them, The Times noted.

Ohr had contact with former British spy Christopher Steele, whose unverified dossier alleged Russia had information it could use to blackmail Trump

Ohr is speaking to lawmakers as part of their look into the FBI's and Justice Department's roles in the 2016 election

Ohr is an expert on the Russian mafia and organized crime, work that brought him into contact with Steele, who specialized in Russia when he worked as a spy.

The two men met in 2007, when Steele still worked for MI-6 and Ohr was investigating Russian crime syndicates.

Steele went on to investigate ties between Trump and Russia for the research firm, Fusion GPS, where Ohr's wife Nellie worked as a contractor.

Fusion GPS commissioned Steele to write the dossier on Trump that alleged the Russians have information they could use to blackmail the president, including an allegation - which Trump has denied - that he hired 'a number of prostitutes to perform a 'golden showers' (urination) show in front of him' when he was in Moscow for the 2013 Miss Universe pageant.

Reports indicate Nellie Ohr did not work on the dossier and her time at Fusion GPS did not influence her husband's work at DoJ.

But Republicans want to ask Ohr if whether there was a pipeline for Fusion GPS to feed Steele's dossier to federal agents during the campaign.

'The relationship with Bruce Ohr, Nellie Ohr, Fusion GPS, and Christopher Steele needs to have a lot more illumination,' Meadows told the Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill.

Trump and his allies claim the Steele dossier was politically motivated by those in the government who do not want to see Trump be president.

Democrats, meanwhile, argue the Ohr testimony is another attempt to prove a conspiracy theory they say does not have merit.

Trump ally Jim Jordan is leading the questioning and wants to know about Ohr's and Steele's meetings

Trump ally Mark Meadow is also leading the questioning and wants to know about the two men's relationship

It's this tangled web of contacts and conflicts that lawmakers are seeking more knowledge of and Trump has used to tout himself the victim of a conspiracy. He's called on Ohr to be fired.

'Will Bruce Ohr, whose family received big money for helping to create the phony, dirty and discredited Dossier, ever be fired from the Jeff Sessions 'Justice' Department? A total joke!,' the president tweeted on August 20th.

The president has also threatened to revoke Ohr's security clearance, which would render him unable to do his work at the Justice Department.

Ohr's role in the saga has long be scrutinized.

In dueling memos released earlier this year, Republicans and Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee battled over Ohr's connections to Steele and its level of importance.

Republicans argued Ohr was aware of Steele's bias against Trump and helped conceal it from a judge when the FBI applied to get a wiretap on Trump campaign advisor Carter Page.

Democrats said Republicans exaggerated Ohr's connections to Steele.

In July, the administration released documents that showed the FBI relied on more than the Steele dossier to obtain the warrant against Page.

Ohr is an former Associate Deputy Attorney General who was demoted this past year to Organized Crime Task Force Director. He was later removed from that position as well.A Florida restaurant has ended its 'Monkey Monday' tradition after an eight-year-old boy was bitten by a customer's pet capuchin.

Carrabbas Italian Grill in Stuart, Florida, began the tradition in honor of customers Mary and Richard Van Houten, who came to eat there every Monday accompanied by nine-month-old capuchin JoJo.

But all that ended on July 16 when JoJo bit youngster Jaxson Ignelzi when the boy tried to pet her.

Carrabbas Italian Grill in Stuart, Florida, has banned a couple from bringing their pet capuchin JoJo to the restaurant for their regular Monday meal after it bit a child

Jaxson was at the eatery for dinner alongside father Joseph, who approached Mary and Richard before dinner and asked if his son could pet the monkey.

The pair agreed, but told Jaxson to be careful because JoJo was acting 'hyper'.

At first the petting passed without incident, with Joseph and Jaxson returning to their meal, but then the child went back a second time as he was leaving.

Jaxson 'grabbed JoJo trying to play', the Miami Herald reports, when the monkey turned around and bit him on the finger.

The boy escaped with a small cut and was taken to the hospital where doctors cleaned his finger and sent him home.

Eight-year-old Jaxson Ignelzi tried to 'grab' the monkey to play when she bit him on the pinky finger, leaving him with a small cut (file image)

Investigators were sent to the Van Houtens' home where they discovered three other monkeys living, though all were properly cared for.

JoJo was up to date will all her vaccinations except rabies, which the Van Houtens said they were advised against getting by their vet. In fact it is mandatory.

The pair were cited for failing to get the vaccination, and for owning an exotic pet that bit somebody.

Carrabbas Italian Grill says it no longer allows exotic pets in the restaurant, only service animals such as dogs and ponies.Roseanne Barr has thanked John Goodman publicly for defending her and 'speaking truth'.

In a recent interview, Goodman, 66, said that his former co-star was not a racist.

'I was surprised,' Goodman said. 'I'll put it this way, I was surprised at the response. And that's probably all I should say about it. I know, I know, for a fact that she's not a racist.'

On Monday, Barr, 65, tweeted her appreciation towards Goodman. 'I thank John Goodman for speaking truth about me, despite facing certain peril from producers and network.'

John Goodman has revealed in an interview that when The Conners returns without star Roseanne Barr, his character Dan will be 'mopey and sad because his wife's dead'

Roseanne Barr has thanked John Goodman publicly for defending her and 'speaking truth'

Goodman, 66, said he was 'very depressed' following Barr's tweet about Valerie Jarrett and defended her, saying: 'I know for a fact she is not a racist'

Goodman's comments came in an interview with the Times in which the actor spoke about the cancellation of the Roseanne revival and the a new spinoff called The Connors, in which Barr will not appear.

Goodman revealed how the departure of the main character will be handled when the sitcom returns.

Asked about how Dan Conner will handle her absence, he told The Sunday Times: 'It's an unknown. I guess he'll be mopey and sad because his wife's dead.'

Goodman admitted that he had been depressed for a month after ABC pulled Roseanne after just nine episodes in the wake of Barr's tweet about Valerie Jarrett.

ABC fired Barr in May but she agreed to allow the network to continue to make the show she created without her. Goodman will return with other original cast including Sara Gilbert

ABC fired Barr in May and ultimately she agreed to allow the show she created to continue with the other original castmembers and be rebranded as The Conners.

Goodman said he did message Barr during that time, saying: 'She had to sign a paper saying that she relinquished all her rights to the show so that we could go on.'

'I sent her an email and thanked her for that. I did not hear anything back, but she was going through hell at the time. And she's still going through hell.'

Goodman said the cast will have their work cut out to make the new show a success without her.

Speaking about his relationship with Barr, he recalled that the two used to laugh a lot, and said his goal in life was 'to make her wet her pants'.

But it seems the pair did not share much of a relationship off set, as Goodman describes Barr as his 'work friend'.

Barr caused widespread outrage after she tweeted that Jarrett, who was born in Iran and is of African American heritage, looked like 'the Muslim Brotherhood & Planet of the Apes had a baby'.

Roseanne ran from 1988 to 1997. Its revival earlier this year was a huge ratings hit for ABC but was yanked off air after nine episodes due to Barr's racism scandal

Barr said her tweet that Jarrett, an Obama adviser who was born in Iran and is of African American heritage, looked like 'if the Muslim Brotherhood and Planet of the Apes had a baby'

She has repeatedly apologized for any offence that the tweet caused as well as to the cast and crew of Roseanne, but refuses to accept that it was racist.

Barr insists that she thought Jarrett was white and intended the tweet as a political jibe at Obama's nuclear deal with Iran.

On Sunday, Barr sent a message to fans on Twitter saying she was 'doing better' after changing doctors, having previously hinted at mental health issues.

Meanwhile ABC President Channing Dungey has revealed that the Jarrett tweet was just the last in a long line of problems with Roseanne that got her fired.

Speaking about the decision, she said: 'It was actually made very swiftly. We knew what we wanted to do, and we did it.

'For us, we have had multiple instances with Roseanne, and certainly this tweet crossed the line that cannot be crossed, but it was for us a sense of enough is enough and something had to be done.

'It was nice that it was so clear to everyone that there wasn't a lot of debate and discussion about it.'Darren Johnson, the founder of children's soft play firm Eddie Catz, recorded schoolgirls under the partition of a swimming pool changing rooms

The married founder of a children's soft play area firm was caught filming schoolgirls getting changing at his local swimming pool.

CCTV captured Eddie Catz founder Darren Johnson, 51, following two 14-year-old girls from a swimming pool and entering the cubicle next to theirs before filming them change by poking his mobile phone underneath a partition.

When the company director was arrested, police found hundreds of photos of women's exposed breasts, using two 'peepholes' at a public toilet at one of his company's sites.

The court heard he took more than 700 indecent cover images of women and children in total and filmed women changing at the leisure centre, using public toilets at an Eddie Catz centre, and of his female employees at his company's private changing rooms.

The father-of-two appeared for sentencing at Kingston Crown Court today after pleading guilty to five counts of voyeurism in July.

Lauren Sales, prosecuting, said one incident took place at Putney Leisure Centre in June last year, adding: 'It was on that occasion that two 14-year-old girls he attended their school swimming clubs.

'Mr Johnson, as outlined on the CCTV with the description from the officers, is seen walking around the changing facilities. He goes to the swimming pool, he walks around the centre with no particular purpose, he sees the girls and follows those girls. There's also a 12-year-old girl, she's not subject to any count on our indictment.'

He will find out tomorrow whether he faces jail after admitting voyerism at a previous hearing

The prosecutor added: 'They enter a cubicle together and he purposely enters the cubicle next to theirs. The two girls were undressing after swimming club and they saw a iPhone6 which they have identified pointing to them from the adjacent cubicle.

'Mr Johnson was later identified by staff on the CCTV.

'Police attended his home address, and computers were seized. All the images on our counts were located on these computers.'

The court heard 150 files of photos taken at Putney Leisure Centre were found on one of his computers but these could only be a fraction of the indecent covert images he didn't delete.

The court also heard how he hung up a bag containing a camera to spy on women and children at an Eddie Catz site in Earlsfield, south London.

She said he took images of women at a third toilet at the site by poking his mobile phone underneath partitions between cubicles.

Police found 150 files of photos taken at Putney Leisure Centre on Johnson's computer

Johnson, of Putney, south-west London, also pleaded guilty to taking indecent images of his employees at a private changing room from January 1 2005 to February 8 2012.

His defence barrister Tom Williams entered a 'basis of plea' saying: 'One part of the basis is to make it clear that the conduct in question took place over a few months in 2007.'

The prosecutor said the images could only be dated by the women's uniforms.

Mr Williams said Johnson had an alcohol problem and had an argument with his wife and was drunk when he filmed the girls at the leisure centre.

He added: 'Since his arrest he has tried to do what he can to turn things around, despite depressions and some suicidal periods. This is somebody who does recognise that he has had a serious issue.

'He and his wife have two children, both of them had to receive therapy since all of this came out.'

He also took secret pictures of women at a toilet in the Eddie Katz centre in Earlsfield

Johnson, who has children aged 18 and 20, resigned as director of Eddie Catz last September after the allegations came to light. His wife Maria Johnson, 51, is still a director at Eddie Catz.

Judge Andrew Campbell bailed Johnson ahead of his sentencing tomorrow.

Earlier this year, a spokesman for Eddie Catz said: 'Eddie Catz severed all ties with Darren Johnson more than one year ago,' the spokesman said.

'Mr Johnson is no longer a shareholder or director of the firm. He has no association with business.'The parents of video game shooter David Katz clashed bitterly over how to treat their son's burgeoning mental health 'crisis'  his mother dosing him with powerful anti-psychotic drugs while his father argued that he didn't 'have any psychiatric problems', according to court documents obtained by DailyMail.com.

Katz, 24, opened fire on Sunday after being knocked out of a 'Madden 19' video game tournament being hosted in a pizzeria in Jacksonville, Florida. Eli Clayton, 22, of California, and Taylor Robertson, 27, of West Virginia, were killed before Katz committed suicide.

Katz, who drove to Florida from his home in Baltimore, Maryland, had legally purchased a handgun and a 9mm pistol in the weeks leading up to the shooting, Jacksonville Sheriff's Department confirmed.

His mental health problems appear to have stemmed from childhood.

Howard County Circuit Judge Lenore Gelfman wrote in 2010: 'David would go days without bathing, would play video games until 4am on school nights, would walk around the house in circles.

'[He] was failing all classes at Hammond High, was unresponsive to school teachers and uncooperative with school psychotherapists/counselors and was extremely hostile toward his mother.'

Shooter: Jacksonville gaming convention shooter David Katz, 24,(left ) is believed to have been living alone with his NASA engineer father Richard (right).

Bitter dispute: The battling parents' differing positions on their son's mental health were set out in hundreds of pages of legal documents in court in Columbia, MD

At one point, when his mother attempted to take away his video game controllers, he punched a hole through her bedroom door to retrieve them, she told the court.

His parents Elizabeth Katz, 60, and Richard Katz, 58, separated in 2005 when David was 12 and their elder son Brandon was 16.

In court documents, Richard Katz accused his ex-wife of verbal abuse and adultery.

The prolific filings at Howard County Circuit Court in Maryland reveal the estranged couple were in deep conflict for years over their marriage breakdown and at odds over how to deal with their son's troubling issues.

A filing from April 2006, by Richard Katz's attorney, reads: 'Elizabeth Katz is giving the children medicines that pose significant and unknown risks to the children.

'For example, David Katz is being given a medication called Risperidone, whose brand name is Risperdal.'

Richard Katz, a NASA engineer, said that the medication is an anti-psychotic used to treat schizophrenia.

He quoted the National Institutes of Health (NIH), saying that no studies have been done on giving this medication to children.

'Richard Katz has seen no evidence whatsoever of schizophrenia in David Katz. David seems well aware of reality at all time Indeed, Elizabeth Katz provides no evidence whatever showing that either child is suffering from schizophrenia,' the filing reads.

Richard Katz also alleged that his ex-wife was treating David with 'Fluxetine'  marketed as Prozac  and again noted NIH studies, that children who take anti-depressants are 'more likely to think about harming or killing themselves or plan to do so than children who do not take antidepressants'.

In May 2006, Elizabeth Katz, who worked as a toxicologist for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, requested the appointment of a guardian for her children after a disagreement between the parents about their 'psychiatric and psychological treatment' and 'the sanctity of the children's psychiatric records'.

'The minor children are both under the care of therapists who have prescribed medication for the children intended to address the children's affective disorders,' the filing reads.

Home: David Katz was living with his father Richard in his Inner harbor condo in Baltimore, MD

Mother: Elizabeth Katz lives in this Columbia, MD, home. Court documents show she believed her son had an 'affective disorder' aged just 12

High school problems: Court documents show: '[He] was failing all classes at Hammond High, was unresponsive to school teachers and uncooperative with school psychotherapists/counselors and was extremely hostile toward his mother.'

Elizabeth Katz alleged that her husband told David not to cooperate with his therapist.

'At the present time the minor child David is, as described by his therapist, to be experiencing a 'psychiatric crisis', the filing states.

'David has suffered with depression, which depression has recently escalated to the extent that the depression isinterfering with David's ability to attend school and has effected [sic] his eating, sleeping, communication and willingness to even get out of bed.'

The mother claimed that her ex-husband had prevented her son from receiving therapy and 'has stated that David does not have any psychiatric problems'.

In April 2006, while attending Glenelg Country School in Maryland, the principal recommended that David not return until he had 'straightened things out'  but his father insisted he continue to attend, according to court papers.

In May 2006, Richard Katz opposed his ex-wife's attempt to get an injunction and prevent him 'from having access to any medical records of children in the future'.

The father claimed she had diagnosed their sons with 'affective disorders', alleging: 'Whether or not children suffer from an affective disorder is a matter to be determined by a mental health expert. There is no evidence that Elizabeth Katz is a mental health expert.'

In an affidavit on May 7, 2006, Richard Katz wrote: 'David has informed me that he does not want to take the psychiatric drugs, they make him feel worse, and is making efforts to refuse them. I was unaware of David's efforts to avoid taking these drugs until I was informed of them by David. I have not seen evidence of schizophrenia in David Katz.

'Elizabeth Katz purchased medications for David after a single visit with the prescribing doctor, during which the doctor was given information that was not correct or significantly exaggerated.'

He continued: 'I believe that Ms. Katz is not acting in the actual best interests of the children and that her conduct is inappropriate and suggestive of a possible mental disorder.

'This includes, in response to David refusing to take the psychiatric drugs, dragging David to the car where David locked himself in as he sought safety.'

The father claimed that this resulted in emergency services being sent to the family home and 'a paramedic told David that David would be put in handcuffs by the police if the police had to take David out of the car and take him to the hospital.' David Katz was 12 at the time.

Eli Clayton, 22, and Taylor Robertson, 27, were both killed in the shooting

A classmate who attended Glenelg, an independent middle school in Ellicott City, Maryland, revealed to DailyMail.com that David Katz was picked on by other students. 'I can tell you that he was bullied,' the classmate, who did not wish to be named, said.

'And to bullied at our school you have to be weird to the other kids in your grade.'

Kevin Pham, 25, who attended Hammond High School in Columbia with Katz, said he had a similar reputation there for being 'weird'. 'I thought he was just a normal kid,' he said of Katz, who graduated in 2011.

'We had a class together and I remember him quietly laughing at some of my jokes. 'We would say he looked like Jim from The Office, only with a baby face.

'He didn't get in any trouble that I know of. He just went to school and went home, there was nothing remarkable about him.

'When I heard he was the shooter I was confused more than anything. I didn't know he loved video games. 'I'm a very good Madden player and had I known he was that good I would definitely have challenged him. We could have been friends.'

Court records also revealed that the Katzes tried a multitude of ways to get David adequate care.

He had been placed in psychiatric care in Townson and Rockville, Maryland and at one point sent to a 'therapeutic wilderness school' for teenagers in Utah.

Neither Richard Katz or Elizabeth Katz could be reached for comment by DailyMail.com after multiple attempts.An independent study revealed that an estimated 2,975 people died in the months following Hurricane Maria as a result of the storm, with the elderly and poor among the most impacted in Puerto Rico.

The long-awaited research ordered by the U.S. territory's government was released Tuesday and contradicted the official death toll of 64. The government's previous estimate of how many could have perished was 1,400.

Researchers with The Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University said the official death count from the Category 4 storm that hit on September 20 was low in part because physicians were not trained on how to certify deaths after a disaster.

Aurea Cruz, 66, who lives in the island of Vieques survived the worst hurricane to ever make landfall in Puerto Rico's history

A Puerto Rican flag is mounted on debris of a damaged home in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in La Perla, a seaside slum in San Juan

The study noted that mortality in Puerto Rico had been slowly decreasing since 2010, but spiked after the hurricane.

There was a 22 percent overall increase in the number of deaths from September 2017 to February 2018 compared to previous years in the same time period, Lynn Goldman, dean of the institute, told reporters.

'We are hopeful that the government will accept this as an official death toll,' she said.

The office of Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello did not immediately return a message for comment.

About 40 percent of Puerto Rico's 78 municipalities saw a significantly higher number of deaths in the six months after the storm compared with the previous two years, researchers said.

These municipalities were located mostly in the island's northeast and southwest regions.

Researchers found that the risk of death was 45 percent higher for those living in impoverished communities, and that men older than 65 saw a continuous elevated risk of death.

San Juan a day after Hurricane Maria made landfall on September 21, 2017

The shattered remains of a house in the town of Barranquitas after Hurricane Maria tore through it in September 2017

Hurricane Maria, the worst in Puerto Rico's history, pummeled towns like San Juan, making them inhabitable for weeks and months

They also stated that physicians and others told them that Puerto Rico's government did not notify them about federal guidelines on how to document deaths related to a major disaster.

'Others expressed reluctance to relate deaths to hurricanes due to concern about the subjectivity of this determination and about liability,' the report stated.

Researchers said they took into account an 8 percent drop in Puerto Rico's population that occurred from September 2017 to mid-February 2018, when tens of thousands fled the damage left by the storm.Lucila Rodriguez was allegedly sexually abused by her son, Hipolito Paulino Rodriguez, in the Dominican Republic on Sunday

A mother in the Dominican Republic died Sunday after she was allegedly sexually abused by her son in the municipality of Villa Hermosa.

Lucila Rodriguez, 89, was found dead in her home after her granddaughter walked into a room and caught her dad Hipolito Paulino Rodriguez attacking her grandmother, according to various reports.

Lucila's granddaughter alerted police officers who arrived on the scene and arrested him.

It wasn't the first time Paulino Rodriguez had abused his mother, according to family members who spoke to Noticias Sin.

Rodriguez would have turned 90-years-old in October.

The investigating magistrate, Juana Andrea Familia, told the Daily Mail that the woman's corpse was sent to the coroner's office where an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.Chicago police say a father shot dead his son and twin daughter, both 10 years old, execution-style and then turned the gun on himself in their North Side apartment.

Police say they were called to a residence in the 6200 block of North Richmond Street at 11am on Monday after a nanny was unable to enter the apartment.

There they found a 45-year-old man dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the face.

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Chicago police say Derrick Sanders (pictured left), 45, shot and killed his children, Addison and Mason Sanders (pictured together, right), then shot himself in the face Monday

The bodies of the father and twins were found inside Sanders' apartment in the 6200 block of North Richmond Street in Chicago early Monday

Horror behind the door: The father was found dead in the hallway inside apartment @N; his children were found dead elsewhere from gunshot wounds to the back of the head

The children, identified by the medical examiner's office as Addison and Mason Sanders, were found elsewhere, both with gunshot wounds to the back of the head.

The fathers identity has not been officially released, pending notification of next of kin, but friends and neighbors said the man's name was Derrick Sanders.

Police say they didnt have any prior contact with the father.

Family friend Brenda Adams told ABC7 Sanders was divorced and shared custody of the twins with his ex-wife.

The brother and sister lived with their mother, but would come over to stay in their father's rented condominium apartment every other weekend.

A family friend said Sanders was hot-tempered but otherwise a good father to Mason (left) and Addison (right)

Internal struggle: A neighbor said he suspected Sanders, 45, was suffering from depression

Adams described the dad to Chicago Tribune as hot-tempered but said he was otherwise a great parent.

She said that both Addison and Mason were very active, happy and well-behaved children.

Sanders' upstairs neighbor Leslie Lawrence told the Chicago Sun-Times he suspected that Derrick Sanders was suffering from depression.

'I saw it in his face and his tone, so, me being friendly, Id try to give him a couple of words, crack a joke,' Lawrence said.

A Chicago police spokesperson said in a tweet that the 'senseless murder suicide' was a 'cowardly' act carried out by the young victims' father.Theresa May will pledge to use the UK aid budget to slash immigration into Europe as she visits Nigeria tomorrow.

The Prime Minister is to unveil a series of commitments to cut 'illegal and unsafe' inflows from West Africa.

Nigeria is believed to be the fifth-largest country of origin for victims of modern slavery in Britain - a cause that Mrs May has championed for years.

Nigeria is believed to be the fifth-largest country of origin for victims of modern slavery in Britain - a cause that Mrs May (pictured in South Africa today) has championed for years

The vile trade sees men, women and children tricked into making perilous journeys to Europe before being abused, treated as forced labour, or pushed into prostitution.

Mrs May, who will discuss the issue in talks with President Muhammadu Buhari tomorrow, said: 'Modern Slavery is one of the greatest human rights abuses of our time and the UK is a world leader in making it an international mission to end this heinous crime.

'Today we are stepping up our partnership with Nigerian authorities to find traffickers and bring them to justice.

'And because this is an international problem which needs international response, we are also launching a new project with France to strengthen border cooperation to prevent trafficking along key migration routes towards Libya and Europe.

'But as well as targeting the smugglers and traffickers that cruelly exploit people for financial gain, it's vital that we support the victims who have suffered enormous trauma and are at high risk of being re-trafficked, and that is an important part of the support we are announcing today.'

Among the measures being outlined by Mrs May is new support to help migrants and modern slavery victims rebuild their lives in Nigeria

Mrs May met a group of schoolchildren in Cape Town yesterday on the first day of her African tour (pictured)

The UK will also help Nigeria and Niger prevent trafficking across their border.

Support will be provided for up to 1,700 migrants and modern slavery victims returning to Nigeria from Libya, with counselling to deal with the distress of their ordeal and training in business and vocational skills to help them get jobs.

A new project  led by the UK and France  will help Nigeria and Niger strengthen border cooperation to block trafficking along routes towards Europe.A Hells Angels boss is fighting for his life after being shot at in a drive-by shooting at a set of traffic lights.

The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club member, identified only as Dariusch F, was reportedly shot in Hamburg, Germany.

The 38-year-old leader of the Hamburg branch of the notorious club was rushed to hospital and is being guarded by police following the horrific attack.

The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club leader, identified only as Dariusch F, was reportedly shot in Hamburg, Germany

The 38-year-old member of the notorious club was rushed to hospital and is being guarded by police following the horrific attack

Eyewitnesses said that he was in a white Bentley (pictured) when a car approached him and gunmen shot him five times before speeding away

Blood spattered on the car is pictured following the drive by shooting with the Hells Angels leader

Eyewitnesses said that he was in a white Bentley when a car approached him and gunmen shot him five times before speeding away.

One of the stray bullets hit the facade of a nearby pub, however only Dariusch has been reported as injured.

A police spokesman said: 'Shots were fired shortly before midnight at Millerntor Square.'

Police launched a large-scale hunt for the gunmen, but they remain at large.

The Hells Angels boss was given emergency surgery following the shooting and will remain under police protection for safety.

The Hells Angels boss was given emergency surgery following the shooting and will remain under police protection for safety

Dariusch is believed to be the leader of the Hamburg branch of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club

According to local media, Dariusch is officially the 'sergeant-at-arms' within the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, which is the third highest rank in their hierarchy, but is believed to be the leader of the Hamburg branch.

The spokesman did not confirm whether the shooting was related to a long-standing rivalry between the Hells Angels and the Mongols Motorcycle Club following reports that members clashed on August 18.

He was suspected of being involved in the shooting of Mongols Motorcycle Club members in a taxi back in December 2015.Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg will testify before the Senate next week and are expected to be asked about President Donald Trump's claims their social media companies are biased against conservatives.

They are also expected to be questioned about how Russians were able to use their various platforms to influence the 2016 election and what measures they are taking to safeguard the upcoming midterm contests.

Representatives of the big three companies - Facebook, Twitter and Google - have appeared before various Congressional committees several times to discuss these issues but the continued requests for appearances indicate lawmakers' concerns about Silicon Valley's influence in the political world.

The two tech executives will speak to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Sept. 5.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has defended his company against allegations of bias

Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg will join Dorsey on Sept. 5 before the Senate Intelligence Committee

Trump, especially, has been slamming social media hard, using Twitter to complain about bias in Google searches and that conservatives' voices are being silenced.

He's accused Google of 'rigged' search results and Twitter of 'shadow banning.'

And, on Tuesday, he doubled down on claims that Google 'rigged' its results to show only bad news stories about him.

The tech firm categorically denied that politics play any role in the complex algorithms that determine what users are shown when they search a term.

Google said in a statement: 'Search is not used to set a political agenda' and that 'we never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment.'

Trump wrote: 'Google search results for 'Trump News' shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media.

'In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent.

'Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96% of results on 'Trump News' are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous.

'Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see.

'This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!'

Google uses a complex algorithm to decide what results users are presented with, though its exact workings remain a closely guarded corporate secret.

The firm has revealed that a user's search history will affect the results, so it is possible that Trump's focus on negative stories about himself skewed his search.

However, other right-wing figures have been arguing for months that their voices are being silenced online by the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Google and YouTube.

Dorsey told CNN last weekend that political ideology does not influence how Twitter determines what is and is not appropriate behavior.

The real question behind the question is, Are we doing something according to political ideology or viewpoints? And we are not. Period, Dorsey said. We do not look at content with regards to political viewpoint or ideology. We look at behavior.

In July, Trump blasted Twitter for allegedly depressing the exposure of messages from its conservative users.

'Twitter SHADOW BANNING prominent Republicans. Not good' the president boomed, ironically on his Twitter account.

'We will look into this discriminatory and illegal practice at once! Many complaints.'

It's unclear what the administration could do to challenge Twitter for sorting content and delivering it selectively to users based on a computer algorithm.

It's also not obvious what law Trump believes the platform's management might be violating.

Twitter has denied it shadow banned.

President Trump has been slamming social media hard, using Twitter to complain about bias in Google searches and that conservatives' voices are being silenced

Donald Trump launched into an attack on Google on Tuesday morning, accusing the web giant of rigging its search results to make him look bad

Trump threatened to address what he called 'a very serious situation', though it is not clear how he intends to do this

Conservative bloggers Diamond and Silk accused Facebook of censoring their message after noticing dwindling audience figures earlier this year.

There already have been two Congressional hearings about the issue, with tech companies repeatedly denying that they promote or demote content based on its political content.

Trump's complaints also come after right-wing talk show host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was banned from multiple social media platforms - including Facebook and Twitter - for violating hate-speech policies.

At a rally in West Virginia earlier in the week, Trump even suggested that censorship was worse than his old foe, the 'fake news media'.

Trump said 'social media censorship' is 'the new thing' but he'd rather have 'fake news' over people being 'stopped and censored.'

'So we'll live with fake news. I mean, I hate to say it,' he said, 'Because that's by far the better alternative.'

It is not the first time that Trump has attacked tech giants, though on that occasion he accused the firms of suppressing bad news about others.

In October 2016, Trump accused Google, Facebook and Twitter of burying the news that Hillary Clinton was being investigated by the FBI over her emails - branding them 'very dishonest media'.The son of a billionaire aristocrat who was caught speeding claims he lost his concentration because he was so excited at being near his family's Scottish estate.

The Honourable Charles William Llewellyn Cadogan, 19, was driving his grey BMW at 71mph in a 50mph zone when he was pulled over.

The former Harrow School pupil - whose family is worth 6.5billion - said he put his foot down because he was close to his family's sprawling 2,000 acre estate.

Pictured: Ex-Harrow School pupil Charles William Llewellyn Cadogan, 19, and his billionaire father Viscount Chelsea, left, arriving at court in Perth, Scotland

The 19-year-old admitted speeding on the A9 but escaped a ban after telling a court he had been told that his father, Viscount Chelsea, felt let down by his behaviour.

Cadogan, whose family is one of Britain's richest, was handed a 300 fine for speeding - and given 28 days to pay. He had four points imposed on his licence.

The teenager admitted he was speeding when he was pulled over by police on the outskirts of Perth on 27 June.

Cadogan - whose grandfather is the Earl of Cadogan - admitted clocking over 71 miles per hour through roadworks on the A9 western bypass. The speed limit was 50 mph.

The teenager, who was accompanied to court by his father, represented himself and handed a letter pleading guilty and explaining the incident to the Justice of the Peace.

'I write this letter of mitigation to apologise for the offence I have committed,' he said in the letter to Perth's Justice of the Peace court.

'I completely understand why I have been charged. I was driving from my home in London to my home in Scotland and the excitement of being close to home after a long drive perhaps led to a momentary blip of concentration in my speed for which there's no excuse.

'I believe I have learned my lesson due to the disappointment of my parents and the disappointment in myself having committed an offence like this.

The excitement of being close to home after a long drive perhaps led to a momentary blip of concentration

'My deepest apologies go out to those I have troubled in my actions and the process of my offence. I have never had any problems with the police previously and I intend to have no future problems.

'All I can ask is for forgiveness as everyone makes mistakes, especially at a young age.'

Defending himself in the dock, he added: 'It was irresponsible of me. I apologise for what I've done. I believe I've learned my lesson and it won't happen again.'

Fiscal depute Tina Dickie told the court: 'The incident happened just before 2.15pm. Police were on mobile patrol. At the time major roadworks were being undertaken and a 50 mph restriction was in place.

'The officers observed the accused's grey BMW travelling north and were of the opinion it was in excess of 50 mph. Police followed the accused and activated Vascar in their vehicle. His speed was detected as 71.42 mph.

'The vehicle was stopped and the police spoke to the driver. He was cautioned and charged and stated 'I apologise.'

The Earl of Cadogan made a fortune from property and owns swathes of high value land in Chelsea which has helped account for a 6.5 billion pounds fortune. He is richer than the Queen.

Cadogan was heading to the family estate at Snaigow in Perthshire when he was stopped by the police.Theresa May today visited the prison where Nelson Mandela was held captive for nearly two decades.

The Prime Minister received a guided tour and was handed a key to open the cell of the man who went on to become South African president.

After viewing the conditions first hand, Mrs May signed the guestbook, writing: 'It has been a privilege to visit in this year - the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nelson Mandela.

The Prime Minister today received a guided tour and was handed a key to open the cell (pictured) of the man who went on to become South African president

Nelson Mandela (pictured) was held prisoner on Robben island for nearly two decades

'His legacy lives on in the hopes and dreams of young people here in South Africa and around the world.'

But earlier Mrs May had faced awkward questions on her record campaigning for Nelson Mandela's release in the Seventies and Eighties.

The Prime Minister was repeatedly asked what she did to campaign for Mr Mandela's freedom during the apartheid era.

Mrs May was asked by Channel 4 News whether she felt 'guilty' for not doing more at the time, as she prepared to visit Robben Island.

Mrs May, who is in South Africa as part of a three-day trade mission to the continent, responded: 'What I will be feeling when I go to Robben Island is to recognise the immense statesmanship of a man who spent so many years incarcerated and when he came out of that incarceration had that breadth of vision and that calm approach that has enabled South Africa to be built into the country that it is today.'

Before the visit (pictured), Mrs May had faced awkward questions on her record campaigning for Nelson Mandela's release in the Seventies and Eighties

Asked if she went on any protests at the time, she said: 'I think you know full well that I didn't go on protests.

'But what is important is the work that the United Kingdom government did to ensure that it was able to give support where that support was needed.

She added: 'What is important was the support that the UK government was giving at the time. Often support behind the scenes, but in other ways too, to ensure that we saw the result that we did in relation to the ending of Apartheid.'A promising young Democratic Socialist candidate for New York State Senate has been apparently exposed for lying about her Jewish heritage and status as an immigrant.

Julia Salazar, 27, a progressive Democrat who has been touted as the next Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and like Ocasio-Cortez is also affiliated with the powerful Democratic Socialists of America, has gotten caught up in what appears to be a web of lies.

Salazar has been aggressively campaigning in Brooklyn, New York, where her image and name have been flurried on doorsteps and advertisements, as she prepares to go up against incumbent state Senator Martin Malave Dilan.

During one campaign event, the 27-year-old says 'I am a Jew of color. I am a Colombian, American, but I am also Jewish... I immigrated to this country with my family when I was very little from Colombia.'

Democratic Socialist Julia Salazar claims to be an immigrant, but she was born in Miami, and Jewish, but her entire family thinks they are Catholic. pic.twitter.com/Tpn7GqZfDO  Jason Buttrill (@JasonButtrill) August 25, 2018

False statements: During a campaign event (event is pictured here) Julia Salazar said 'I immigrated to this country with my family when I was very little from Colombia'

Under fire: Salazar also claimed her father is Jewish, though her brother bunks that piece of biography as false, saying no one in their family is Jewish and they were not raised Jewish

Salazar's mother Christine Salazar (top left) and her brother Alex Salazar (top right). Alex says they do not have any Jewish heritage and were not raised Jewish

However her brother, Alex Salazar, contributed to a report by the Tablet, in which he says 'There was nobody in our immediate family who was Jewish  my father was not Jewish, we were not raised Jewish.'

He also added that one of their father's brothers was a Jesuit priest.

There is also the issue of the claiming she was an immigrant on her campaign's website, however she blamed the 'error' on a campaign staffer, despite repeating the claim at campaign events and in various interviews.

Her campaign site has been updated, and it now says 'A daughter of working-class immigrants, Julia was raised by a single mother, attended public schools, and began working at a local grocery store when she was 14 to help make ends meet.'

However both of her parents are not immigrants. While her father is from Colombia, her mother is a United States citizen.

She shot back at the expose, saying she 'made it crystal clear that I had been born in Miami.'

Salazar had proclaimed her immigrant background in several publications.

A profile in the New York Magazine calls her a naturalized citizen.

A piece in the Intercept has since been corrected: 'An earlier version of this piece referred to Julia Salazar as a Colombian immigrant, based on claims she made to The Intercept and elsewhere. She refers to herself as a ''proud immigrant'' on her campaign website. The story has been updated to remove that reference, and to make clear that while Salazar said she emigrated from Colombia, she was in fact born in Miami.'

Salazar ruffled at the questioning of her Jewish religion. She said such inquest of her faith is part of 'a long history of bigoted policing of the identity of Jewish people of color, particularly people with patrilineal Jewish heritage or Jews who converted. I'm sad to see that brought into my campaign.'

She hit out on Twitter over the expose in the Tablet calling their reporting unfair and specifically stating her mother is United States born citizen

However, one Twitter user responded that despite her website being 'corrected' it was still misleading in its wording about her family's immigrant status

She did undergo a two month conversion to conservative Judaism in 2012.

As a student at Columbia University, she appeared to have more conservative views.

In 2012 and 2013, she was the president of Columbia Right to Life, the campus' top anti-abortion group.

According to the Tablet's report, her now deleted social media posts also often mentioned her Christian faith.

She was also a registered Republican, then an Independent and just last year she registered as a Democrat, according to the New York Daily News.A new report claims that a Chinese company was able to insert code into the programming for Hillary Clinton's private email server and managed to forward her emails to a third party in real time.

The claim was made by Texas GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert, who has put forward complex conspiracy theories, as well as by an anonymous former intelligence official who spoke to theDaily Caller, which reported the story.

According to the report, two officials with the inspector general for the Intelligence Committee, identified as investigator Frank Rucker and lawyer Janette McMillan, warned FBI officials about the Chinese intrusion, to no avail.

Hillary Clinton's emails were automatically forwarded to a Chinese firm located in Virginia, a report claimed Tuesday

A former member of the IG's office told the publication: 'When [the ICIG] did a very deep dive, they found in the actual metadata  the data which is at the header and footer of all the emails  that a copy, a 'courtesy copy,' was being sent to a third party and that third party was a known Chinese public company that was involved in collecting intelligence for China.'

'The [the ICIG] believe that there was some level of phishing,' the source said, according to the report. 'But once they got into the server something was embedded,' he said. 'The Chinese are notorious for embedding little surprises like this.'

Clinton's email server became a top topic of discussion during the 2016 elections

The claim of an 'anomaly' was referenced by Texas GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert at a public hearing. He said it related to a country other than Russia

But the official failed to identify the company, which would provide one way to verify the authenticity of the claim. ''We do know the name of the company. There are indications there are other 'cutouts' that were involved,' the official said. 'I would be in a lot of trouble if I gave you the name,' the person said.

At a public hearing in July, Gohmert grilled former FBI official Peter Strzok on why he wasn't able to recall more about a meeting with the IG and other officials about ' an anomoly they had found on Hillary Clinton's emails that were going to and from the private unauthorized server that you were supposed to be investigating.'

Strzok remember the meeting, but little more, prompting Gohmert to express astonishment why he didn't know about each Clinton email going to an 'unauthorized source' that he said was a 'foreign entity unrelated to Russia.'

Clinton's emails got forwarded in real time, according the press report sourced to anonymous officials

Former Clinton campaign spokesman Nick Merrill trashed the report as well as the publication when it sought comment.

'This is the most combed over subject in modern American political history,' Merrill said. 'The FBI spent thousands of hours investigating, and found no evidence of intrusion. That's a fact.'

Gohmert has also made claims about the Muslim Brotherhood infiltrating the U.S. and the Russians tipping the election to Harry Truman in 1948.

He drew media ridicule for holding up a chart last year at a House Judiciary Committee hearing that connected Justice Department officials, a Uranium company, former attorney general Eric Holder, Benghazi, political intelligence firm Fusion GPS, Clinton's secret server, Bill Clinton, the IRS targeting scandal, and other topics.Pictured: High school student Jo-Ann Butler was suspended and is facing charges of battery after taking a MAGA hat off her classmate and throwing it on the ground

A high school student from California's El Dorado is facing multiple battery charges after swatting a classmate's MAGA hat off his head.

Jo-Ann Butler, 17, told CBS the hat was 'a racist and hateful symbol', and she wanted to 'maybe just wake people up in some type of way'.

'It's not cool the environment our classroom is in,' she said.

Video from the incident shows Jo-Ann take the hat off in the classroom and arguing can be heard before her English teacher tries to intervene and take her out of the room.

Butler was allegedly 'verbally berating' the student before throwing the hat onto the ground.

After she was asked to leave, she returned to continue her argument, Fox News reported.

Police allege she slapped the teacher, leading to her second battery charge.

Butler (pictured) said the hat was a 'racist and hateful symbol' and she wanted to 'wake people up'

Butler's father says he does not approve of how his daughter handled the situation but says it is a conversation worth having

The teenage girl was arrested shortly after by a school resource officer, who took her to the El Dorado County Juvenile Hall.

Political clothing is within the dress code at Union High School, which has suspended Butler for a week as punishment for her actions.

The teenage girl's father Chris says he in no way approves of his daughter's behavior, but told CBS she is not out of line to find the accessory distasteful.

'I don't agree with grabbing someone's hat and verbally talking to them in that way,' he said.

'But as far as the issue being brought up, maybe this is something that needs to be brought up.'

The school has released a statement explaining the safety of its students and staff are a top priority, and it would continue to work with the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office as the incident was investigated.A Georgia sheriff says two deputies have been arrested for bringing guns to Mexico, where it's illegal to carry such weapons.

Crisp County Sheriff Billy Hancock tells news outlets Martelle and Shawana Davis were traveling to Cancun for vacation and were taken into custody when they got off their flight there.

The 36-year-old man and 31-year-old woman are married and both work for the sheriff's office.

Hancock says they brought the guns as a safety precaution after several killings were recently reported in Cancun.

American police officers Martelle (L) and Shawana Davis (R) took illegals guns on their vacation in Mexico, where they were arrested last week

The sheriff says the couple were fined and returned to the U.S. Monday morning after being arrested Thursday night.

'After working closely with officials in the U.S. and Mexico to resolve the issue, the two were released late Saturday on bond,' Hancock says.

He says they didn't violate his office's policy allowing officers to carry their weapons while off duty.

Hancock says there will be an internal investigation.

'I can't thank all those on a State and Federal level who took my phone calls to assist enough.

'Each one played an important role in the release of these two deputies. Our prayers have been answered.'A new company is set to open what it claims is the first sex doll brothel in North America next month.

Aura Dolls, the company behind the brothel, plans to open its 24-hour business in a small strip mall in Toronto on September 8.

Customers will be able to pay to have sex with any of their high-tech dolls made of silicone.

The company's website advertises it as 'North America's first known 'brothel' that offers sexual services with the world's most beautiful silicone ladies'.

Aura Dolls, the company behind the sex doll brothel, plans to open its 24-hour business in a small strip mall in Toronto, Canada on September 8. Customers will be able to pay to have sex with any of their high-tech dolls made of silicone

The site features images of the dolls, including their names and descriptions.

Rates vary from $80 for 30 minutes to $960 for four hours.

The mall where the brothel will be located already has a nail salon, massage parlor and a dry cleaner.

While the owners want to remain anonymous, the company's marketing director Claire Lee told Toronto's CityNews that the idea for the brothel originated after a visit to Japan.

Sex doll brothels already exists in parts of Europe and Asia where some have criticized it for the dehumanization of women.

'At the end it's just a doll,' Lee said. 'I see it more as a way for men to fulfill their fantasies.

The company's website advertises it as 'North America's first known 'brothel' that offers sexual services with the world's most beautiful silicone ladies'

She went on to suggest the service was good for men who have violent fantasies.

'Instead of putting out the urge to act aggressively, they can do something like this which is safe for everyone,' Lee said.

The company said even though the dolls are sanitized, they recommend the use of protection to prevent sexually transmitted diseases.

They said they were also looking to add male dolls to expand business.

Following complaints from local residents about the future business, local council members are examining city by-laws to see if they can halt the opening.

Aura Dolls said it had a license to operate in Toronto but city official say that's not the case.

The business plans to open on September 8.A 13-year-old girl undergoing chemotherapy treatment said she was humiliated when a school picture day photographer told her to take off the hat she was using to hide her hair loss.

Bella Thurston, 13, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, said the incident occurred during her Hoover Middle School's official school picture day.

'It was just really humiliating and upsetting for me,' Bella told KOAT. 'I was trying really hard not to cry. It was just not a good experience.'

Bella Thurston, 13 (right, with mom Kara), said that a photographer refused take her middle school class picture unless she removed the hat she wore to cover her chemo hair loss

Bella, who was first diagnosed with cancer when she was five, said some of her hair started falling out after a recent round of chemotherapy treatment for her brain and spine tumors, so she started wearing a hat.

Bella, who was first diagnosed with cancer when she was five, started wearing the hat after some of her hair fell out following recent chemotherapy treatments

On picture day, the photographer, an employee with Lifetouch Photography, told Bella that she needed to remove her hat before he could take her picture because it was 'against policy.'

'I was like, "OK, so I can't wear my hat?" And he was like, 'No, you can go fix your hair, take your hat off or I won't take your picture,' Bella recalled, adding that she decided not to get her picture taken because she didn't think that she needed to remove her hat for the photo.

Kara Thurston, Bella's mother, said she was enraged when she heard what happened to her daughter.

Kara said that hearing there was something that had happened to her daughter that she couldn't fix was 'heartbreaking' and left her feeling 'helpless.'

When reached by KOAT, representatives for Lifetouch Photography offered an apology for the 'misunderstanding' and said in a statement that, 'We have been in touch with the school and have reached out to the family to offer their daughter a complimentary photography session in a place of their choosing.'

Bella's mom, Kara (left), said that she was outraged when she heard what happened to Bella

Bella said that the photographer told her wearing a hat in the class picture was against school policy and she could either take her hat off or fix her hair, otherwise he couldn't take her photo

Bella said the incident occurred on picture day at Hoover Middle School in New Mexico

The company also stated that they would be 'revisiting our training protocol with our photographers' in the wake of Bella's incident.

An Albuquerque Public Schools spokesperson told KOAT that the school district has met with the photography company to discuss Bella and her mother's concerns and that more training will be given to the staffers who interact with children.

Just because she has cancer, Bella said, she does not want to be 'singled out' for special treatment.

Bella said that she has no interest in a special photography session as she just wants to have her school picture 'taken the normal way' and in the same place that everyone else's yearbook pictures are taken.A mother has contracted a mystery illness after staying at the same Egyptian hotel as a British couple who died last week.

John and Susan Cooper, from Burnley in Lancashire, died after falling ill at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel.

The couple had booked the trip through tour operator Thomas Cook.

Now a fellow holidaymaker has come forward to say she is battling a strange illness after staying at the resort at the same time.

Jackie Elliot, 51, told The Sun she was struck down with vomiting and diarrhoea within days of arriving.

Susan Cooper, 63, and her husband John Cooper, 69 (pictured together), were on holiday at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic hotel in the Red Sea resort town of Hurghada when they died within hours of each other

Speaking to the newspaper, the childminder said she went to seek help from the hotel but was disappointed with the medical care.

She said: 'I went to the hotel reception and the doctor examined me. I was then sent in a taxi to a hospital in Hurghada. The hospital was absolutely filthy and was in this derelict area.

The childminder said: ''I was really tearful and panicky. I was on a saline drip and being pumped full of drugs but I didn't know what they were.'

To make matters worse, Mrs Elliot said all of her family were taken ill during the trip with her son Jack, 20, still being treated with antibiotics now.

Garry Copeman and his wife, Faye, say they became ill after a stay at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada in April

A day after being hospitalised, Mrs Elliot was flown to Manchester and she is now at home recovering, though she is not yet able to resume work.

She said no one from Thomas Cook had been in touch with her.

The tour operator told The Sun: 'Mrs Elliott was hospitalised on Friday evening after reporting sickness on her way to the airport for her return flight.

'While Mrs Elliott was in hospital, she was visited by our resort team on two different occasions and offered assistance.

'We arranged for the family to fly home on Saturday as soon as the hospital said she was fit to fly.'

Mrs Elliot joins a list of former guests at the troubled Thomas Cook resort.

Earlier today, Garry Copeman and his wife, Faye, who stayed at the five star all-inclusive property in April, announced plans to sue.

The couple told MailOnline their luxury holiday turned into a living nightmare when Mrs Copeman, 45, claims she suffered severe sickness and diarrhoea just one day into their trip.

John Cooper, 69, and wife Susan, 63, fell ill and died at the five-star property last week where they were staying with daughter Kelly Ormerod.

Investigations continue into the cause of death, and Thomas Cook evacuated 300 more guests as a precaution.Rapper Cardi B performed in a sketch that was called 'repulsive' and 'false' by the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King.

Cardi B played Scott King in a clip titled 'Real Housewives of the Civil Rights Movement,' alongside actors portraying Rosa Parks, the wives of Malcolm X and Jesse Jackson, and a woman referred to as 'the Iggy Izalea of the Civil Rights Movement.

In the clip, filmed as part of 'Wild 'N Out' star Rip Michaels' new show, 'Off the Rip,' almost everyone references Dr. King's infamous infidelities, but it's Cardi's character who says:

'All these hussies wanna sleep with my huuusband!'

Rev. Dr. Bernice King singled out Cardi, telling TMZ the performer was using a platform made possible by her parents in an atrocious way, after which Cardi apparently said she was sorry.

'Thank you, @iamcardib, for reaching out to me and apologizing for the skit that aired on @TMZ. I look forward to talking with you soon,' the Kings' daughter wrote on Twitter, just before 2.00pm Eastern on Tuesday.

Prior to receiving the apology, Dr. Bernice King told TMZ the sketch was 'repulsive' and 'false' early on Tuesday, saying she wanted to speak to Cardi, face-to-face.

She also called the sketch poorly-timed, as it was first published on the 55th anniversary of King's March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the site of his 'I Have A Dream' speech.

In the sketch, the character of Jacqueline Levina Brown, Jackson's wife, starts by giving a testimonial-style interview.

Cardi B apologized to Rev. Dr. Bernice King (pictured), daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, for a sketch where she portrayed Scott King, talking about her husband's rumored affairs

Rev. Dr. Bernice King singled out Cardi, telling TMZ the performer was using a platform made possibly by her parents in an atrocious way, after which Cardi apparently said she was sorry

Cardi B, playing Corretta Scott King: ''All these hussies wanna sleep with my huuusband!' But it's alright, 'cause I know he marches home to me'

'So I decided to invite the ladies over for some drinks, so we can plan this rally, because nothing can go wrong for Martin in Memphis,' Brown says.

(That's where Dr. King was killed, on April 4, 1968.)

'I'm so happy that I could get you ladies here so we can talk of this movement,' she says, now in scene with the other women.

'We really have to get the women together, because you know these men cannot progress without us. We have to be the backbone.'

The clip then cuts to a testimony by Betty Shabazz, Malcolm X's wife, saying:

'I don't know why none of these hoes are up in here. Matter of fact, I don't even know why I'm here.'

Back in scene, Scott King says, 'Well I think I should be the leader of this group. You know my huuusband have marched in every states, and have fought so we use the same toilet as everybody...'

Rev. Dr. King also called the sketch poorly-timed, as it was first published on the 55th anniversary of King's March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the site of his 'I Have A Dream' speech; Martin Luther King, Jr. is shown here at the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York City on January 12, 1968, where he announced the Poor People's March On Washington

In the sketch scene, the character of Scott King (the real Coretta Scott King is shown at left, in 1994) says, 'Well I think I should be the leader of this group. You know my huuusband have marched in every states, and have fought so we use the same toilet as everybody...'

Then she gets cut off by Shabazz, who is seated next to Brown, who is wagging a finger in the air.

'Well you husband is a hoe,' Shabazz says.

That's when Scott King gets her moment for a testimonial, and delivers the hussy line.

'All these hussies wanna sleep with my huuusband!' she says. 'But it's alright, 'cause I know he marches home to me.'

Another character in the sketch references how 'nothing can go wrong for Martin in Memphis,' which is where Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968; This photo is one of the last pictures to be taken of Dr. King, as he was speaking to a mass rally on April 3, 1968 in Memphis

In another quick cut to a tesimonial, Shabazz says, 'Oh and Coretta, she thinks she's untouchable, honey. Let me tell you something about Coretta. Everybody done had a piece of Martin.'

With that last line, Shabazz lowers her shades to reveal the top half of her eyes.

Back in scene, the ladies are talking over each other, as Shabazz says louder than anyone else, 'I will show you what violence does. I will show you.'

That's when a white woman, known only as 'Margaret' walks in, and the other ladies all say in unison, 'Oh, hell no!'

Margaret then gets her own testimonial to close out the sketch, where she's titled as 'the Iggy Azalea of the Civil Rights Movement.'

'Like, Im sory i thought you guys were fighting for equal rights, and I'm pretty sure me f**king Martin Luther King is, like, a perfect example of that,' she says.

Meanwhile, throughout the clip, a character introduced as the 'Secret KKK Spy' basically says nothing.

It's not clear exactly what Cardi said to Rev. Dr. King to make amends, as the apology wasn't made publicly.California's governor Jerry Brown signed a bill on Tuesday which will eliminate bail for suspects awaiting trial - making it the first state to enact such a law.

The California Money Bail Reform Act will replace bail with a risk-assessment system, which will determine a defendant's risk to public safety and probability of that suspect missing a court date rather than their ability to pay bail.

Brown said in a statement that the bill 'preserves the rights of the accused, while prioritizing public safety'.

'Today, California reforms its bail system so that rich and poor alike are treated fairly,' Brown said.

California governor Jerry Brown signed a bill on Tuesday eliminating bail before trial. The governor is pictured center as he signs the California Money Bail Reform Act

The bill will determine a defendant's risk to public safety and probability of that suspect missing a court date rather than their ability to pay bail. Pictured are inmates outside at San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin in August 2016

Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye called the bill signing a 'transformative day in our jusice system'.

'Our old system of money bail was outdated, unsafe, and unfair. It took a three-branch solution with Governor Brown, the Legislature led by Senator Hertzberg and Assemblymember Bonta, and the Judicial Council's Administrative Director Martin Hoshino working with judges in my Pretrial Detention Reform Work Group to bring about a fair and just solution for all Californians,' Cantil-Sakauye said.

Brown's signature gives the state's Judicial Council broad authority to reshape pretrial detention policies.

Each county will use the council's framework as a basis to set its own procedures for deciding whom to release before trial, potentially creating a patchwork system based on where a suspect lives.

Most suspects arrested for nonviolent misdemeanors will be released within 12 hours of being booked under the new law. Those facing serious, violent felonies will not be eligible for pretrial release.

The legislation gives officials 24 hours to determine whether other suspects should be released before trial. That time can be extended by 12 hours if necessary.

Some criminal justice reform advocates worry defendants will spend weeks in jail while their lawyers try to prove they deserve to be set free.

Brown said the bill 'reforms its bail system so that rich and poor alike are treated fairly'

Opponents of the legislation say it gives judges too much power. Some worry dangerous people will go free and won't return for trial.

Supporters, including the Judicial Council headed by the state Supreme Court's chief justice, say the change will end the unfair practice of imprisoning people simply because they are poor. Incarceration should instead depend on the risk a defendant poses if they are released, they argue.

'Wealth is not the measure of any woman or man. By eliminating cash bail, we are saying that those with the least ability to pay should not be released or incarcerated solely on the basis of their wealth or poverty. SB 10 is only one leg of the long journey toward perfecting our justice system, but it is an important one,' said Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon.

Other states such as New Jersey and New Mexico have overhauled their bail systems, although neither state has completely eliminated bail.

The Judicial Council is the policy-making body for California's courts. It creates rules and procedures to ensure consistency across the state.

The California bill will take effect on October 1, 2019.The founder of a company which was blocked from giving away the instructions to make untraceable 3D guns for free says he will now sell them to get around the judge's order banning him from giving them away.

Cody Wilson appeared at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon to say he planned to ignore the judge's restraining order issued earlier in the day.

'Anyone who wants to get these files is going to get them. They can name their own price,' Wilson, who owns Defense Distributed, said.

He claimed to have already sold 400 people the plans.

On Monday, a Seattle judge agreed with 19 states and blocked Wilson's efforts over concerns they posed a security risk. U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik extended a temporary restraining order, and his new decision will last until the case is resolved.

He said Wilson wanted to post the plans online so that citizens can arm themselves without having to deal with licenses, serial numbers and registrations.

Cody Wilson (posing with one of the untraceable guns in 2013, when he first made it) vowed to sell the plans to make them instead of giving them away for free after being blocked by a judge from posting them online

He wanted to do it for free but, given the order on Tuesday, will now let customers who want them name their price.

Now, Wilson is raising money on his website to pay for his legal fund. Memberships to Defense Distributed range in price from $5 for a one-time subscription to $1000 for a lifetime membership.

If code is going to be everything and if code is going to be the speech of everything then we're going to have this fight now, on our terms.

It is not immediately clear on the company's website what each level of financial commitment buys.

On Tuesday afternoon, Wilson said he would sell the plans to make them via USB sticks, secure transfers and email.

He told reporters that he'd be the 'iTunes' of 3D guns if he was not able to be the 'Napster'.

Wilson had said that 'governments should live in fear of their citizenry.'

He likens the ability to being able to print guns to having free speech, claiming computer code will become the speech of the future.

In an interview on Monday night, he told the podcast Popular Front: 'Of course I am causing trouble but I am causing trouble in a necessary way.

U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik banned Wilson from giving the plans away for free on Monday

'I think this is the brass ring of system failure. If code is going to be everything and if code is going to be the speech of everything then we're going to have this fight now, on our terms.

'I have an activist intent.'

The judge disagreed and characterized his efforts as downright dangerous.

'It is the untraceable and undetectable nature of these small firearms that poses a unique danger,' Lasnik said.

'Promising to detect the undetectable while at the same time removing a significant regulatory hurdle to the proliferation of these weapons - both domestically and internationally - rings hollow and in no way ameliorates, much less avoids, the harms that are likely to befall the states if an injunction is not issued.'

The State Department had reached the settlement with the company after the agency removed the 3D gun-making plans from a list of weapons or technical data that cannot be exported overseas.

The states argued that the federal agency didn't follow the law when it removed 3D guns from the munitions list. They said the government was supposed to notify Congress and provide a 30-day window before making a change to that list, but it did not.

Lasnik criticized the government for switching its position on the threat posed by the 3D gun-making plans.

Up until April, the government argued the distribution of the guidelines 'posed a threat to world peace and the security and foreign policy of the United States,' the judge said.

Wilson spoke at a press conference in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday to vow to push on with his plan to make the guns accessible to the public

Despite those fears, the government decided that it only needed to restrict the international availability of firearms up to .50 caliber. That's when they reached a settlement with the 3D gun company.

There was no indication the government evaluated the unique characteristics of the plastic guns when it considered deleting that category of weapons from the prohibited list, the judge said.

'Nor is there any reasoned explanation for its change in position,' Lasnik said.

The federal government declined to comment on the judge's ruling.

Wilson, owner of Defense Distributed, holds a 3D printed gun, called the 'Liberator', in his factory in Austin, Texas

A lawyer with the U.S. Justice Department had argued against the injunction, saying possessing 3D plastic guns is already against the law, and the federal government is committed to enforcing that law.

But the judge said it wasn't enough.

'While the court appreciates the earnestness with which this commitment was made at oral argument, it is of small comfort to know that, once an undetectable firearm has been used to kill a citizen of Delaware or Rhode Island or Vermont, the federal government will seek to prosecute a weapons charge in federal court while the state pursues a murder conviction in state court,' Lasnik said.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson praised the ruling.

'Once again, I'm glad we put a stop to this dangerous policy,' Ferguson said.

'But I have to ask a simple question: why is the Trump administration working so hard to allow these untraceable, undetectable 3D-printed guns to be available to domestic abusers, felons and terrorists?'

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a pro-gun control group that has aggressively fought the online release of the gun plans, praised the judge's ruling 'as a tremendous victory for the American public.'

Avery Gardiner, co-president of the group, said 3D-printed guns 'represent a supreme threat to our safety and security, and we are grateful that Judge Lasnik recognized it as such.'

The states suing are Washington, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.While Theresa May was hard at work on affairs of state in the front section of the RAF Voyager plane taking her to South Africa yesterday morning, a senior aide briefly left her side.

Slipping behind the curtain that separated the Prime Minister from the dozen or so journalists accompanying her on the three-day trip, he told them she would join them shortly for an on-the-record chat.

Of course, I know you will want to ask her all about the Chancellor, he observed pointedly.

Theresa May delivered brutal put-down of Philip Hammond on trip to South Africa

The Prime Minister seized the opportunity to give vent to the rage that has been quietly simmering since Thursday

Thus the stage was set for Mrs May to deliver her most brutal put-down to date of Philip Hammond after his latest dire warnings on a no-deal Brexit.

According to those on the plane, she offered him no support as she practically spat out words that had clearly been rehearsed in advance, accusing her Chancellor of getting his figures wrong.

The Prime Minister seized the opportunity to give vent to the rage that has been quietly simmering since Thursday.

That was the day Mr Hammond managed to wreck the carefully stage-managed release of the first tranche of technical government papers offering proportionate advice to prepare Britain for exiting with no deal.

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab had made a well-regarded, balanced speech.

He said that while the over-riding priority was to secure a good deal, the nation had to be alert to every eventuality.

Yet within hours, the Chancellor had intervened to cause maximum embarrassment.

PM offered him no support as she practically spat out words that had clearly been rehearsed in advance, accusing her Chancellor of getting his figures wrong

The Treasury released a letter from Mr Hammond  a letter that had not been cleared with No 10 or Mr Raab  that took Project Fear-style scaremongering to new heights

The Treasury released a letter from Mr Hammond  a letter that had not been cleared with No 10 or Mr Raab  that took Project Fear-style scaremongering to new heights.

Written to Nicky Morgan, the Remain chairman of the Treasury select committee, it warned that no deal could wipe almost 10 per cent off GDP over 15 years and burden Britain with 80 billion of extra borrowing.

This crude act of political sabotage was a gift for the Labour Party and the Remoaners in the Conservative ranks. But, much more damagingly, it has been seized on by EU negotiators.

At A stroke Mr Hammond undermined the Governments stance that no deal is better than a bad deal by warning in apocalyptic language that it would be much worse for Britain than the rest of Europe.

There was an immediate meltdown in Downing Street.

Relations between Mrs May and Mr Hammond, lukewarm at best in the past few months, were plunged into the deep freeze.

Former Brexit Secretary David Davis, who is close to Mr Raab, summed up the furious mood in No 10 writing: The timing of the letter was either spectacularly incompetent or deliberate. I know what I think.

The majority of Mrs Mays team share his view, believing the release of the letter was a deliberate act by a Remainer Chancellor who, when it comes to Brexit, relishes living up to his nickname of Eeyore.

PM told journalists that the Chancellor had been using, as the basis for his letter to the Treasury committee, data which were merely work in progress back in January

And thats why Mrs May chose to signal so clearly in advance her intentions, before joining the press pack huddle 35,000 ft above the ground yesterday.

She was seizing this opportunity to put Mr Hammond in his place. She told journalists that the Chancellor had been using, as the basis for his letter to the Treasury committee, data which were merely work in progress back in January.

In other words, the Chancellor had got his figures wrong. And not for the first time.

Before the last election it was widely assumed that Mrs May would sack Mr Hammond if she won with a big majority.

The Chancellor had signed his death warrant in his Budget before the election with plans to increase national insurance contributions for the self-employed that breached his partys manifesto. An embarrassed and enraged Mrs May was forced to drop the changes.

The inconclusive election meant she had to stick with Mr Hammond, and hes been flexing his muscles ever since. But her supporters say the darkness of her mood in the past few days matches her rage over the botched Budget.

Any student of politics knows a bad relationship between a Prime Minister and Chancellor can have fatal political consequences.

Mrs Thatchers Chancellor, Nigel Lawson, resigned in 1989 and the following year she was gone. Tony Blairs premiership was scarred by rows with Gordon Brown.

It seems Theresa Mays relationship with Philip Hammond is fast going the same way.A white former Texas police officer who shot into a car full of unarmed black teenagers at a party and left a 15-year-old dead has been found guilty of murder.

Roy Oliver, 38, has been convicted for firing into the car and killing Jordan Edwards in April 2017.

He was, however, found not guilty on two counts of aggravated assault for firing his rifle into the car full of teenagers.

Edwards, who was sitting in the front passenger seat and trying to leave the party, was shot in the back of the head and died at the scene in front of his brother.

Oliver, who has already been fired from the Balch Springs Police Department, testified that he opened fire after seeing the car move toward his partner.

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Roy Oliver (pictured in court on Tuesday) was found guilty of murdering Jordan Edwards after he shot at a car full of unarmed black teenagers at a house party

He was, however, found not guilty on two counts of aggravated assault for firing his rifle into the car full of teenagers

Oliver bows his head as he talks with his defense attorney Bob Gill before the reading of his sentence on Tuesday

The former cop told jurors last week that he thought his partner, Officer Tyler Gross, was in danger. Gross told jurors he didn't fear for his life and never felt the need to fire his weapon.

The Dallas County jury deliberated for around 12 hours for a period of two days before deciding on a verdict, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Edwards' family clapped and cheered after the verdict was read.

Edwards (pictured as a child) was sitting in the front passenger seat and trying to leave the party with his brother when Oliver shot him in the head

'It's been a long time, hard year, and we're just really happy,' Odell Edwards, Jordan's father, said. 'We did it.'

Oliver was immediately taken into custody and his bond was revoked.

The jury will now listen to testimony from Jordan's family, friends, and teachers before determining Oliver's sentence.

He faces up to life in prison.

Tuesday's conviction marked the first time in more than 40 years since an on-duty cop has been found guilty of killing someone in a shooting in Texas.

'It's about Tamir Rice. It's about Walter Scott. It's about Alton Sterling,' Edwards' attorney, Daryl Washington, said after the verdict was read, naming other men who and boys who had been killed by officers across America.

'It's about every unarmed African-American, who has been killed and who has not gotten justice.'

Jordan's death launched the Dallas suburb of Balch Springs into a national conversation on issues of law enforcement and race.

Former Texas police officer Roy Oliver (pictured right before the verdict was read on Tuesday) testified that he opened fire after seeing the car move toward his partner

Odell Edwards, father of Jordan Edwards, gets a hug from Dallas County district attorney Faith Johnson after hearing a guilty of murder verdict on Tuesday

Edwards and Charmaine Edwards, Jordan's mother, were emotional after the verdict was read on Tuesday afternoon

Ingrid Oliver, wife of Roy Oliver, listens during the ninth day of the trial

Physical evidence Detective Garrick Whaley, with the Dallas County Sheriff's Department, shows members of the jury the rifle Roy Oliver used to fire at the vehicle during the fifth day of the trial last Wednesday

Experts said ahead of the trial that securing convictions against an officer was challenging, in part because criminal culpability in on-duty shootings is subjective and jurors are more inclined to believe police testimony.

In closing arguments, defense attorneys told the jury they needed to evaluate the circumstances from Oliver's viewpoint and from what the former officer knew at the time.

But prosecutors described Oliver as out of control and looking for a reason to kill. They argued that his firing into the car wasn't reasonable.

The shooting came after Oliver and Gross, had broken up a large house party following a report of underage drinking.

Both officers were inside the residence when they heard gunfire outside and responded.

Authorities later determined the shots were fired near a nursing home in the area.

Oliver retrieved his rifle and went toward Gross, who was ordering the car carrying Edwards to stop. He claimed his partner had a sense of urgency in his voice.

The officer testified that he saw the car back up and stop for a second before moving forward and going toward Gross.

He claimed he saw movement from a passenger's silhouette inside the vehicle, and thought Gross had found a shooter or shooters or at least some information on the gunfire.

Oliver said a vehicle can be considered a deadly weapon, so he was left with no choice but to fire his rifle.

Gross, however, testified that he didn't feel like the vehicle was trying to hit him.

During his testimony, Oliver said it was 'very sickening' when he realized he had killed the boy. 'I was in shock for days,' he said.

Edwards's step-mother previously told the court how he was a studious child who was getting A and B grades before he was killed (pictured left with father Odell Edwards, right)

Two teenagers who were at the party testified last week that they were across the street when Oliver fired.

The teens, Eric Knight and Jeremy Seaton, said they could not see a justification for the gunfire.

Seaton said the car was not facing an officer at the time and had steered into the wrong lane of traffic to avoid officers.

The prosecution said all five shots were fired by Oliver after the car had passed Gross. Investigators also said no guns were found in the teens' vehicle.

Body-cam footage shown during the trial showed Jordan's brother and his friends all putting their hands outside the car's windows after he was shot.

Officer Jeremy Chamblee testified that the teens were 'begging' for help after Jordan was killed.

'I specifically heard the driver stating needing help cause his brother was shot dead in the vehicle by a police officer,' Chamblee said.

Chamblee also revealed that Jordan's brother asked if they could pray together following the teen's death.

'He was asking God to watch over his brother if he doesn't make it, to keep him safe,' Chamblee recalled.

Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson hugs Kevon Edwards, the older brother of Jordan Edwards, during the trial on Monday

The former cop told jurors last week that he thought his partner, Officer Tyler Gross, was in danger. But his partner told jurors he didn't fear for his life

Philip Hayden, a use-of-force expert called by the prosecution, said Oliver used excessive force when he shot and killed Edwards and testified that a reasonable officer would not have opened fire.

Oliver also testified the shooting could have been prevented if one of the bystanders had waved at him and reported the shooters near the nursing home had left the scene.

'It would have changed the outcome,' he said.

The defense also asked Oliver about an April 2017 incident in which he was rear ended while off duty and drew his weapon.

Police say he pointed the weapon at the ground after the collision. He was later indicted on two counts of aggravated assault tied to the incident.

Oliver, who said he was driving with his wife and young son at the time, testified he did hold his firearm up against his chest during the encounter.

Defense attorney Bob Gill told the jury in an opening statement last Thursday that the law requires them to view the situation through Oliver's perspective.

Lead prosecutor Michael Snipes gives a closing argument in Oliver's trial on Monday in front of a picture of Edwards

Odell Edwards, father of Jordan Edwards, drops his head to avoid seeing a crime scene photo during a closing argument on Monday

'It doesn't matter that looking back on it, in hindsight, we'd all make a different decision now,' he said in court.

'We have to look at it how Roy Oliver saw it at the time and what he saw was a significant threat to his partner.'

George Lewis, the Dallas County District Attorney's chief prosecutor, told the jury that Oliver was reckless with the boys' lives.

'They go out, they sacrifice, they put their life on the line to protect us and keep us safe. To protect and serve,' Lewis said during his closing statement.

'But keep in mind that is their duty to protect and to serve. When we have police officers like the defendant in this case, Roy Oliver, who go out and they hurt our citizens, that's where it stops.'

'That's where it must stop and you, as the jury, in these cases today have a say in stopping defendants like Roy Oliver.'A Nebraska woman spent three hours dangling 70 feet above the ground after she panicked during her first solo-skydive and crashed into a tree.

Abbey Lacy, of Omaha, has done tandem jumps before but on Saturday she attempted her first static line skydive.

She said everything was fine, until she lost communication with the person on the ground radioing her instructions on where to maneuver her parachute.

'I panicked because I saw the treeline getting closer,' she told WOWT, 'and then I braked and went down and I knew I was gonna hit the tree.'

Abbey Lacy seen after she was rescued on Saturday after spending three hours dangling 70 feet above the ground in a tree

Lacy was on her first solo-skydive when she panicked and landed in a tree in Omaha. Rescue crews are seen trying to use a tall ladder to get to her

It took rescue three hours to reach her. Lacy said during the first 90 minutes she was doing OK but after she started to lose feelings in her legs she started to feel lightheaded

Crews had to have workers from the Omaha Public Power District come and turn off the overhead power lines that were preventing the rescue

Lacy said she was dangling 70 feet above the ground after panicking and crashing into a tree

Lacy said when she first landed in the tree she wrapped her arms and legs around a limb, but they eventually went numb. She said she was forced to let go and dangle 70 feet in the air as she waited for rescue crews to get to her, the Omaha World-Herald reports.

It took firefighters three hours to get Lacy down from the tree.

She told WOWT that rescue crews initially ran into trouble because they could not get their tall leaders to the tree she was stuck in. They eventually had to use a chainsaw to cut parts of the tree away so they could get the ladder closer.

They also had to have workers from the Omaha Public Power District come and turn off the overhead power lines that were preventing the rescue.

After hours of dangling firefighters were able to get the ladder underneath Lacy, cut her off her parachute and get her down.

Lacy said during the first 90 minutes of the ordeal she was OK. Members of a local parachute club were on the ground shouting encouragement to her and reassuring her she was going to be fine.

After awhile, however, Lacy said her legs went numb because the harness from her parachute was cutting off her circulation and she was starting to feel lightheaded. She said she was also worried because she felt the parachute cords slipping.

After she was rescued, Lacy was taken to the hospital to treat some cuts and bruises. She said doctors told her she damaged nerves in her right leg, but she's expected to make a full recovery.

Lacy has skydived in the past but never did a solo jump before Saturday. She said she plans to get back out there after she's healed

A rescue worker is seen taking Lacy down from the tree. They had to cut away portion of the tree to get the tall ladder underneath her

Lacy is pictured second from right before her solo jump on Saturday in Omaha

'It was the most terrifying and painful thing that Ive ever experienced,' she wrote on Facebook saying that she plans to skydive again

Lacy updated her friends and family on her situation in a Facebook post on Saturday night, ensuring everyone that she was doing OK.

'It was the most terrifying and painful thing that Ive ever experienced. I wish I could remember the names of all of the people that helped me today. Every single person was incredible. From all of the amazing people at Lincoln Sport Parachute Club who waited the entire time with me, talked to me, kept me strong, and have continued to reach out and check on me throughout the evening, to the firefighters, EMTs, and various other rescue personnel that talked me through the whole thing and cared for me after. Every single one of you was amazing,' she wrote.

'You saved my life today. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Im okay! Im at UNMC tonight with bumps, bruises, cuts, scrapes, and a leg with some pretty serious nerve and muscle damage. But Im okay! And as soon as Im better Ill be back out there!'In the span of just two years, Paul Manafort has gone from one of Washington's most sought-after Republican lobbyists to a political pariah with a shattered family.

'My life - personally and professionally - is in shambles,' he told Judge T.S. Ellis III, in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia on March 7.

'The last two years have been the most difficult years for my family. Humiliated and would be a gross understatement.'

He laid it on thicker to the next sentencing judge, Amy Berman Jackson, in Washington D.C. on March 13: 'I will be 70 years old in a few weeks. My wife is 66. She needs me. I need her. Please let me and my wife be together.'

Self-pitying certainly, but hardly wrong. Sitting in a wheelchair and contemplating the real prospect of dying behind bars, Manafort was diminished in every way, the extravagantly-tailored and immaculately connected powerbroker who could ask for millions for his counsel now wearing prison green as he asked not for money but compassion.

Typically though, the whole story was not on display; in recent years, Manafort had betrayed his wife with a mistress 30 years his junior who he put up in a New York apartment and handed an unlimited credit card.

That infidelity was only another staging post on the long and spectacular fall from grace for the 69-year-old former Trump campaign manager, the son of a small-town mayor who went on to work for four U.S. presidents and made his fortune as the Washington mouthpiece for some of the world's most notorious dictators.

Today Manafort has few defenders in the nation's capital, after being convicted of tax fraud and money laundering by special counsel Robert Mueller - who first secured a guilty verdict from a jury then a plea deal on the eve of a second trial.

Even Manafort's former boss, President Trump, claimed he never would have hired the former lobbyist if he had known about the allegations.

'Paul Manafort came into the campaign very late and was with us for a short period of time (he represented Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole & many others over the years), but we should have been told that Comey and the boys were doing a number on him, and he wouldn't have been hired!' wrote Trump in a Twitter post in June 2018.

The president had faced Manafort co-operating with Robert Mueller 'fully and truthfully.'

But even that was beyond the ability of Manafort, who Mueller's prosecutors charge lied to them after his agreement to cooperate.

The power brokers: Paul Manafort, his future business partners Roger Stone and Lee Atwater, were photographed as young Republican operatives. Stone, a Trump confidante and notorious political dirty trickster is now fighting off the Mueller probe himself; Atwater died in 1991, a former RNC chairman with a reputation for dirty campaigns. All three cashed in on their political work by lobbying those they got elected

Manafort, the grandson of an Italian immigrant, was raised in a staunch Republican home in New Britain, Connecticut.

When he was 16, his father Paul John Manafort Sr. was elected mayor of New Britain and served for three terms.

In 1981, Manafort Sr. was indicted  but later acquitted  on perjury charges in a sweeping city corruption and bribery scandal that also ensnared the police and fire chiefs.

After Catholic parochial schools and graduating from Georgetown University Law School, Manafort went on to work as an advisor for Republican Presidents Gerald Ford. It is unclear why he was not drafted for Vietnam.

He went on to serve as an advisor to Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bob Dole's presidential campaign.

But he worked out how to turn political advising into a gusher of cash: by lobbying the very politicians they had helped elect.

He co-founded a prominent lobbying firm with ex-Nixon aide Roger Stone, and Lee Atwater, another notorious figure, which shopped their access to top Republicans to U.S. businesses, state and city governments, and anyone who would pay.

The lobbying would be punctuated by periods of working for campaigns - guaranteeing the access on which they depended if their candidates won (which by and large they did).

That came to embrace the wider world too; the Manafort lobbying roster included brutal regimes willing to pay high fees for his services  including Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos and Zaire military leader Mobutu Sese Seko.

Betrayed: Kathleen Manafort stood by her husband despite his family finding proof of his mistress on Instagram; she attended every minute of his trial and was there when he said he was flipping

Manafort went on to found his own political consulting firm in 2005, bringing on his former intern Rick Gates as his trusted deputy.

He also continued to take on controversial clients. In 2010, Manafort helped elect Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, head of Ukraine's Putin-allied Party of Regions.

The victory paid off  between 2010 and 2014, federal investigators said Manafort's firm earned 'a cash spigot': $60 million in fees from the Party of Regions' political patrons.

According to prosecutors, Manafort stashed the funds away in a series of offshore bank accounts and shell companies, and failed to disclose the income in his tax returns. In total, they claim he dodged taxes on $15 million.

But after Yanukovych was voted out of power by Ukraine's parliament in 2014, Manafort's fortunes suddenly changed. He stopped getting payments from Yanukovych's wealthy oligarch supporters, and started to have trouble paying his bills.

This is when prosecutors claim Manafort started applying for loans using phony financial information. In total, they said he scammed banks out of $20 million.

Manafort's then-alleged crimes were uncovered during the course of a special counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller, who has been investigating potential Russian interference in the 2016 election and collusion with the Trump campaign.

Even before the charges were filed against him, Manafort's personal life had been unravelling, according to years of hacked text messages between his daughters Andrea, 32, and Jessica, 36, that were posted online.

According to the messages, Manafort's family had caught him having an affair with a woman who was around the same age as his daughters, renting a pricey house for her in the Hamptons and paying her credit card bill.

They discovered the affair after seeing the woman's posts boasting about her expensive travel and dinners on Instagram.

Manafort, who was undergoing an emotional breakdown according to the messages, committed himself to a psychiatric clinic in Arizona in 2015.

Texts: Manafort's daughters Jessica (left, with now ex-husband Jeff Yohai, who flipped) and Andrea (right with husband Christopher Shand) exchanged text messages which were hacked revealing his affairs and calling him a psychopath. Jessica has changed her name to Bond, her mother's maiden name

Fruits of lobbying: This is the condo overlooking the Potomac where the FBI raided Manafort on orders from Mueller. He bought it for $2.75 million, part of a property empire worth conservatively $15 million

After he was released in 2016 - claiming he had 'new insight' into himself - he linked up with the Trump campaign and became the candidate's campaign manager during the crucial months surrounding the Republican National Convention.

His daughter Andrea took a different view of that. She wrote in a leaked text to a friend, who was not named in the leak: 'Trump probably has more morals than my dad. Which is really just saying something about my dad. My dad is a psycho!!! At least trump let his wives leave him. Plus, Trump has been a good father.'

And she also texted: 'Trump waited a little too long in my opinion, but I can attest to the fact that he has now hired one of the world's greatest manipulators. I hope my dad pulls it off. Then I can sell my memoir with all his dirty secrets for a pretty penny.'

But getting in tow with Trump in June 2016, his neighbor in Trump Tower, was to prove catastrophic.

Trump in fact fired him in August 2017 when questions about Manafort's dealings with Russians in Ukraine started to surface.

Manafort returned to his shadowy lobbying life, but then he was caught up in the Mueller probe.

In July 2017 his home in Alexandria was raided before dawn; in October he and his loyal deputy Gates were indicted, with charges of tax fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, failing to register as foreign agents and conspiracy against the United States.

Manafort's legal strategy was to split the cases in two, meaning two separate trials - one for the monetary charges, the second conspiracy and failing to register as a foreign agent.

But before they began, Gates took a plea bargain, turning on his boss, agreeing to cooperate fully and truthfully with Mueller. From there Manafort's path was consistently downhill.

In Washington D.C. Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an Obama appointee, proved tough; she had him locked up before trial when Mueller accused him of witness tampering.

Turned: Rick Gates

That meant he attended his first trial, in Virginia, from jail, walking in every day with federal marshals and walking out in handcuffs.

In Virginia, Ronald Reagan-appointee T.S. Ellis III presided over the first trial in August 2018. Manafort and his supporters might have been cheered by his apparent toughness on the Mueller prosecutors, including berating them in front of the jury, and repeated demands for them to hurry up.

But when the jury returned its guilty verdicts on eight of the 18 counts, other legal observers said Ellis was making sure the case could not be appealed. Ellis declared a mistrial on the remaining 10 counts, which meant that Mueller could keep them in reserve for a second trial.

And if there were any lingering thoughts that the judge had sympathy for the felon, Ellis told Manafort that he would be wearing prison, not regular, clothing for subsequent hearings.

The next month his second trial was due to begin but Manafort then decided, finally, to seek a deal with Mueller, and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and witness tampering.

He also admitted to most of the 10 charges which the jury could not reach a verdict on the previous month, and - crucially - agreed to cooperate fully and truthfully with Mueller.

But he could not even manage that; by November, Mueller filed a court document accusing him of lying in breach of the plea deal.

The next month they revealed Manafort's attorney had briefed the White House on his dealings with Mueller.

Then in January came a moment which showed Manafort still had the power to shock: Mueller revealed in a court filing that he had passed Trump campaign polling data to Konstantin Kilimnik, his one-time aide who has been named as a suspected Russian intelligence asset.

In a February hearing Mueller's prosecutors went further, suggesting Manafort might have lied about passing on the polling data to boost his chances of a presidential pardon.

Judge Berman Jackson ruled he had lied and set his sentencing for March; his sentencing in Virginia will come after that.

If he were to get a pardon, the peril is hardly over; New York state's attorney general is investigating his tax fraud to see if he could be prosecuted for evading state taxes. Presidential pardons do not apply in state courts.

Left in tatters is a reputation, a fortune, and a family.

His elder daughter, Jessica Manafort filed to change her name to Jessica Bond in August 2018, after his conviction, telling the Los Angeles Times: 'I am a passionate liberal and a registered Democrat and this has been difficult for me.'

Despite the clearly unhappy family, Manafort's wife Kathleen stood by him in the face of his infidelity.

She loyally attended each day of his tax fraud trial, always sitting in the row directly behind his defense table.

Tarnished legacy: Paul Manafort Sr. was three-term mayor of New Britain, CT

Since June 2018, Manafort has been incarcerated in a county jail in Alexandria.

Largely held in solitary confinement for his own safety, his health has clearly suffered. He attended some hearings in a wheelchair and his legal team disclosed he had been diagnosed with gout.

Perhaps more stinging to his vanity, in a mug shot, the fashion-conscious Manafort sported a jailhouse jumpsuit and shadowy stubble. His brown hair, which he previously dyed, is now tinged with grey.

The former lobbyist, who once spent $18,000 on a python skin jacket, has also been forced to attend his trial without socks  because he reportedly balked at the white ones he is required to wear as an inmate.

He has depression and anxiety and his lawyers complained he had little contact with his family. In letters submitted ahead of his sentence family members pleaded for leniency.

But there were no letters from the rich, powerful Republicans who Manafort had counted as his friends.

Manafort's conviction even impacted the legacy of his father, the popular three-term mayor in New Britain, Connecticut, from 1965 to 1971.

In August 2018 the city changed a street named after the former mayor from 'Paul Manafort Drive' to 'Paul Manafort Sr. Drive.'New immigrants would be forced to settle in regional areas instead of metropolitan cities for up to five years under a federal plan to ease congestion in Melbourne and Sydney.

A decision on the time period for mandatory settlement was due to go to the Turnbull cabinet last week, but the leadership spill put that discussion on hold, The Australian reported on Wednesday.

The proposal has yet to be put to Scott Morrison's new cabinet, and the prime minister's office would not comment on the development of the policy.

New immigrants would be forced to settle in regional areas instead of metropolitan cities for up to five years under a federal plan to ease congestion in Melbourne and Sydney

It is understood a new visa class would apply to the skilled and family migration program but could also apply to refugees.

Almost 90 per cent of new migrants are settling in metropolitan areas such as Melbourne and Sydney.

A population package put before Government before last week's leadership spill included the proposal for new migrants to be settled in regional areas for a period of up to five years - after this migrants could choose to relocate.

The newly appointed PM has created a separate portfolio of population to be lead by former Citizenship Minister Alan Tudge.

The newly appointed PM has created a separate portfolio of population to be lead by former Citizenship Minister Alan Tudge (pictured)

Department of Home Affairs figures revealed by The Australian showed that of the 112,000 skilled migrants that arrived in the country over the previous financial year, 87 per cent settled permanently in Sydney and Melbourne.

Mr Tudge has previously said that the number of incoming migrants was not the only factor in growing population pressures, but rather where these migrants were settling and the distribution being focused in major cities.

'If the population was distributed more evenly, there would not be the congestion pressures that we have today in Melbourne and Sydney,' Mr Tudge told a forum in Melbourne.

'Nor would there be if the infrastructure was built ahead of demand,' he said.President Donald Trump is again vowing his border wall will be paid for by Mexico, one day after announcing a major trade deal with that country, and his tough words brought an almost immediate denial from that country that such a move would happen.

'Yeah, the wall will be paid for very easily, by Mexico. It will ultimately be paid for by Mexico,' Trump said Tuesday to reporters in the Oval Office.

But Mexico's Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Videgaray Caso promptly denied that his country would do so.

President Trump vowed again on Tuesday that Mexico will pay for his border wall

Mexico's Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Videgaray Caso promptly denied his county would pay for a border wall

Caso used Trump's favorite medium, Twitter, to write Mexico will never pay for the border wall

Caso used Trump's favorite medium, Twitter, to write Mexico will never pay for the border wall, which is estimated to cost $25 billion.

'We just reached a trade understanding with the US, and the outlook for the relationship between our two countries is very positive. We will NEVER pay for a wall, however. That has been absolutely clear from the very beginning,' Caso tweeted.

Trump has insisted Mexico will pay for his wall since he started touting the idea of a border block during his presidential campaign.

Mexican officials, however, have consistently said they will not and it is difficult to see how Trump would get the funds out of them.

Funding for the wall also could clog the American budget process as lawmakers debate how much funding to put in this year's appropriations.

Trump has asked for $5 billion to get his project started and has threatened to shut down the government if he doesn't get it.

Government funding runs out at the end of September.

Meanwhile, the president announced Monday that a trade agreement had been reached with Mexico.

He called it a 'big day for trade' and a 'big day for our country' in remarks in the Oval Office, which featured a live conference call with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

President Donald Trump said Monday that a trade deal had been reached with Mexico in an Oval Office announcement

Trump's border wall is estimated to cost $25 billion

President Donald Trump speaks from the Oval Office in August as Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray

Trump said the North American Free Trade Agreement was a 'rip-off' for the U.S. and the new pact, which he called United States-Mexico Trade Agreement, will be 'incredible' for both countries.

Trump's long-awaited trade announcement, which the White House added to his schedule suddenly on Monday, was in disarray from the moment he appeared on camera, however. Not only was a formal accord still being hammered out, how exactly the deal would be married with existing U.S. trade law had not been laid out.

In a horrifying moment, Trump struggled to get Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on the phone to congratulate him on achieving a deal.

'Hello?' the U.S. president said repeatedly on camera, before the outgoing leader, whose term ends at the beginning of December, joined the line. 'It's a big thing. A lot of people waiting. Hello?' Trump again said.Emmett Till (pictured) a black 14-year-old was killed in Money, Mississippi, in 1955 after a white woman alleged he had grabbed her

More than 60 years after 14-year-old Emmett Till was savagely beaten to death in segregated Mississippi for 'boasting of having a white girl', his 'girlfriend' has finally spoken out.

J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant abducted the young black teen on August 28, 1955, and murdered him, after they say he whistled at Roy's wife Carolyn in a grocery store in Money, Mississippi.

But journalist William Bradford Huie, who secured their confessions in an infamous Look magazine story in 1956, believes the motive went deeper.

Till's murderers 'killed him because he boasted of having a white girl and showed them the picture of a white girl in Chicago,' Huie told filmmakers for the 1987 'Eyes on the Prize' documentary.

The identity of that girl has remained a mystery for the past six decades, until now, USA Today reports.

The photo Till had shown was a picture of some of the white kids he had graduated elementary school from, and had pointed to the white girl in the picture who he referred to as his 'girlfriend', according to the documentary's producer, Henry Hampton. In fact, she was his classmate.

'That had to be me,' said Joan Brody, who had been the only white girl in his class.

Brody recalls sitting next to the teen, who was a year older than her, in class.

'He had beautiful eyes,' she said, adding that they would sometimes goof around in class.

The final time she saw him was at their graduation, when they were joined by other students on stage for photos.

The next time she heard of Till, was after the brutal murder.

JW Milam, right, and Roy Bryant, left, were charged with Till's murder but acquitted. Months later they admitted to the murder in a magazine interview

Till's mutilated body was found three days after his death and had been so badly pistol-whipped that parts of his skull fell out but neither of his killers, who were both white, ever served time.

Bryant and his half-brother JW Milam - were charged with murder but acquitted in the slaying of Till, who had been staying with relatives in northern Mississippi at the time.

The men later confessed to the crime in a magazine interview, but weren't retried. Both are now dead.

Bryant's wife Carolyn testified at the time that Till grabbed her, whistled and made sexual advances at a store in 1955.

With jurors out of the courtroom, she said a 'n****r man' she didn't know took her by the arm.

'Just what did he say when he grabbed your hand?' defense attorney Sidney Carlton asked, according to a trial transcript released by the FBI a decade ago.

'He said: 'How about a date, baby?'' she testified. Bryant said she pulled away, and moments later the young man 'caught me at the cash register,' grasping her around the waist with both hands and pulling her toward him.

Till's accuser Carolyn Bryant, pictured in 1955, admitted that she lied about the encounter

'He said: 'What's the matter baby, can't you take it?'' she testified. Bryant also said he told her 'you don't need to be afraid of me', claiming that he used an obscenity and mentioned something he had done 'with white women before'.

She later admitted that she wasn't truthful in her testimony.

Brody dismissed the idea that Till would have been so aggressive with a woman, or that he would have claimed to have had sex with her.

'He was a gentleman,' she said, adding he would have blushed if the subject of sex ever arose.

'He wasn't a smart-alecky kid,' she said. 'He wasn't a person to smart off to a white woman or any woman.'

Abducted from the home where he was staying, Till was beaten and shot, and his mutilated body was found weighted down with a cotton gin fan in the Tallahatchie River.

Images of his mutilated body in the casket gave witness to the depth of racial hatred in the Deep South and helped build momentum for subsequent civil rights campaigns.

They ran in several black publications but much of the mainstream media refused to show them.

Brody broke down in tears after she saw the images, calling the murders 'worse than animals.'

Carolyn's then-husband Roy Bryant, left, and his half-brother John W Milam, right, are shown in undated photos

Defendant Roy Bryant sits with his family at the Tallahatchie County Courthouse

'He had his whole life ahead of him  to be gone just like that,' she said. 'And for what reason?'

'He didn't deserve it,' she said. 'Nobody deserves what they did to him.'

The federal government has reopened its investigation into the brutal slaying of black teenager Emmett Till, 63 years after the black teenager's death in Mississippi.

The Justice Department told Congress in a report in March it is reinvestigating Till's slaying in Money, Mississippi, in 1955 after receiving 'new information'.

The case was closed in 2007 with authorities saying the suspects were dead; a state grand jury didn't file any new charges.

Deborah Watts, a cousin of Till, said she was unaware the case had been reopened until contacted by The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The federal report, sent annually to lawmakers under a law that bears Till's name, does not indicate what the new information might be.

But it was issued in late March following the publication last year of 'The Blood of Emmett Till,' a book that says a key figure in the case acknowledged lying about events preceding the slaying of the 14-year-old youth from Chicago.Passengers were forced to hogtie a French tourist who allegedly sparked chaos on a flight from Bali to Perth after a drunken dispute with his girlfriend.

Police allege the 32-year-old man and 29-year-old woman were intoxicated and began arguing on the Garuda Indonesia plane on Monday night.

Video from inside the cabin shows seven passengers holding the man down, before his wrists, feet and legs were tied and he was strapped to a chair.

Passengers were forced to hogtie a French tourist who allegedly sparked chaos on a flight from Bali to Perth after a drunken dispute with his girlfriend

Video from inside the cabin shows seven passengers holding the man down

'They were completely sloshed. They were quite jovial, but he got out of control,' passenger John Caputo told Seven News.

'They were having to settle him down, constantly telling him to calm down, having to use force to keep him to his chair because he obviously wanted to get out,' Mr Caputo told Nine News.

The pilot was forced to divert to Port Headland, sparking a two-and-a-half hour delay.

'It was quick, quicker than usual, we all had to get ready for a quick landing,' Mr Caputo said.

The bearded man was filmed smiling as he was led off the aircraft (pictured), with his wrists still tied

Police swarmed the plane when the pilot was forced to land at Port Headland on Monday night

The pair were taken into custody in South Hedland, and police spoke to witnesses when the plane landed in Perth.

The bearded man was filmed smiling as he was led off the aircraft with his wrists still tied.

'I've been on a plane a lot in my time and I've never seen anything like this happen. But you just take it as it comes,' Mr Caputo said.

The pair were each charged with interference with crew or aircraft and offensive and disorderly behaviour.

They are due to appear in the Perth Magistrates Court on September 14.

Police allege the 32-year-old man and 29-year-old woman were intoxicated and began arguing on the Garuda Indonesia plane on Monday nightThis blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 14 years and 30,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.A Harry Potter superfan suffering from terminal cancer has organised her own funeral - complete with a Hogwarts coffin and an order for friends and family to dress as witches and wizards.

Veronica Leaning, 78, has lung and bone cancer and has been told she has just months left to live.

To ensure she gets the magical send off she wants, Ms Leaning has organised it herself.

Her Harry Potter coffin has been decorated with the colours of each Hogwarts' houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

The pensioner, who has official signed copies of all seven Harry Potter books, every DVD, cast autographs and dozens of boxes of memorabilia including soft toys, ornaments and drawings, has also asked mourners to don wizards hats, Hogwarts scarves and broomsticks.

Veronica Leaning, 78 from Grimsby reads one of her many Harry Potter books which she says has helped get her through her terminal cancer

Ms Leaning has followed Harry Potter for more than a decade and has read all of the books by JK Rowling multiple times

Veronica has been a huge fan of the fantasy series for years and is the proud owner of handwritten letters from JK Rowling, personally inviting her to three premiers, which she attended with her late husband, Tony, where they met the author herself and several stars of the films including Warwick Davis.

The superfan, from Grimsby, Lincs, has watched the films and read the books dozens of times and hopes to leave some Harry Potter memorabilia to each beloved member of her enormous family - including her six children, 15 grandchildren and soon-to-be 30 great-grandchildren.

Veronica Leaning, 78 from Grimsby with her World Premier Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 tickets which she attended in London

Veronica Leaning, 78 from Grimsby with her family (L-R) Stepson, Terry Leaning, 52, Daughter, Sue Ireland, 55 and Son-in-law Philip Ireland 49 at Veronicas bedside

A letter from author J K Rowling to Veronica Leaning who has been helped through her cancer by the characters in JK Rowling's books

The family of Ms Leaning will attend her funeral in wizard and witch attire as they celebrate her life

In 2015 Ms Leaning's favourite author JK Rowling wrote to her to thank her for being a fan

Speaking of her fascination with Harry Potter, Veronica said: 'It's been as good as any medicine really, reading the books, looking forward to seeing the films and collecting all of the memorabilia.

'It takes my mind off things and gives me something to focus on.

'I have six children, 15 grandchildren and nearly 30 great grandchildren, with one on the way. There's enough for them all to have a little something which is really important to me.

'I've got boxes and boxes of the stuff in my house.

'My favourite characters are Professor Snape and Dobby. Professor Snape seems bad all the way through and then comes good at the end. And Dobby, well, I just love him.'

Veronica Leaning at the 2008 premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in London

Ms Leaning has been invited to world premiers of Harry Potter films after writing to JK Rowling

Terry Leaning, 52 from Grimsby has created a Harry Potter coffin for his stepmother wqho has just months to live

Veronica Leaning at the 2008 premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince with Jason Isaacs who played Lucius Malfoy in the film

Ms Leaning's room is filled with Harry Potter memorabilia including a teddy of Dobby the house elf

Ms Leaning has not got long to live so she has been planning her funeral to be just the way she wants it

A signed letter from Emma Watson aged 15 at the time of writing to Veronica Leaning

Veronica wants to make her funeral a celebration and has even asks guests to dress as witches and wizards or sport Hogwarts attire for her final send-off.

She will be laid to rest in a red, yellow, green and blue coffin adorned with stickers of her favourite Harry Potter characters, which was decorated by her stepson Terry and is currently being kept in her spare room.

Veronica added: 'We got it from the undertakers because we wanted to decorate it but they wouldn't take it back because they aren't able to store them so it's been in my spare room ever since.

'We even wrote to Warner Bros. to check that it would all be okay and my stepson painted it and stuck the stickers on for me.

'I just want my funeral to be a celebration of the things I love.'As Cynthia Nixon prepares to go face-to-face with New York Gov Andrew Cuomo, on Wednesday she has one request: temperature control.

Nixon's team voiced their concerns that the debate hall at Hofstra University might be too cold.

Cuomo has been known to favor brisk temperatures during his public appearances.

Last week, one of Nixon's strategists, Rebecca Katz, requested that the temperature in the debate hall remain at 76 degrees Fahrenheit, according to The New York Times.

She said working conditions are 'notoriously sexist when it comes to room temperature, so we just want to make sure we're all on the same page here'.

Cynthia Nixon has demanded that the temperature at Hofstra University be warmed to 76 degrees ahead of her debate against New York Gov Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday

Last week, one of Nixon's strategists, Rebecca Katz, requested the temperature in Hofstra's (pictured) debate hall remain at 76F. She said working conditions are 'notoriously sexist when it comes to room temperature, so we just want to make sure we're all on the same page here'

Katz sent the email to WCBS-TV, the debate host, who has been accused by Nixon's team of catering to Cuomo's needs.

She told the Times on Tuesday that she hasn't heard back from WCBS about their request.

Cuomo's camp, meanwhile, mocked Nixon's campaign for asking that the venue's temperature be set at 76 degrees.

His campaign said it made no temperature requests.

Nixon and Cuomo will square off Wednesday in their only scheduled debate before next months' Democratic primary.

The televised exchange at Hofstra University comes two weeks before the state's September 13 Democratic primary.

With Nixon trailing in the polls and in fundraising, the debate provides the former 'Sex and the City' star with what could be her last good chance to speak directly to voters - and perhaps knock Cuomo off his game.

Look for Cuomo to tout his progressive credentials and his opposition to Republican President Donald Trump while trying to avoid gaffes, such as the one he made two weeks ago when he said America 'was never that great'.

'The stakes are extremely high for Nixon,' said Baruch College political scientist Doug Muzzio, who predicted that she would come armed with 15 to 20 one-liners intended to rattle Cuomo.

'She's got to make up an incredible amount of points before she's even in striking distance. She's got to be knowledgeable about the issues, tough but not too tough.'

Reflecting the testiness of the race, the two campaigns struggled to agree even on the logistics of the debate.

Nixon's campaign first accused Cuomo of ducking earlier debate requests and then said he was trying to control the terms of Wednesday's exchange, demanding that the candidates remain seated during the back-and-forth and not shake hands before or after.

With Nixon trailing in the polls and in fundraising, the debate provides the former 'Sex and the City' star with what could be her last good chance to speak directly to voters

Polls give Cuomo a lead of 30 percentage points going into the primary. He also has a formidable financial advantage going into the final weeks of the campaign, with more than $20million in his campaign account compared to $450,000 for Nixon.

The debate will be the first time the candidates have met since Nixon, 52, entered the race this spring.

She has aggressively attacked Cuomo from the left, portraying him as a bully and an insider who has failed to address chronic government corruption, income inequality and New York City's aging subways.

Nixon is betting on big support from liberals who have long been skeptical of Cuomo, once a centrist who has recently moved further to the left, a shift Nixon's campaign refers to as the 'Cynthia effect'.

'The polls right now are not capturing the new progressive voters and the hunger for real change,' Nixon told reporters in Albany last week, adding that she was more focused on meeting voters than preparing for the debate.

'We're talking to people. We've got thousands of volunteers across the state... we are mobilizing our army.'

Meanwhile, Cuomo's campaign has touted the governor's liberal accomplishments such as a higher minimum wage, paid family leave, gun control and same-sex marriage.

Cuomo, 60, has avoided even mentioning Nixon, spending more time attacking Trump.

His campaign aides, however, have dismissed Nixon as a dilettante too inexperienced to lead the nation's fourth largest state.

The campaign released an advertisement featuring an endorsement from former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday that plays up the issue of experience.

Asked by reporters on Monday how he was preparing for Wednesday's debate, Cuomo had a one-word response.

'Governing,' he said.

Meanwhile, Cuomo's campaign has touted the governor's liberal accomplishments such as a higher minimum wage, paid family leave, gun control and same-sex marriage

While there may be more pressure on Nixon, Muzzio said Cuomo, known for his rough edges, will want to avoid a gaffe or comments perceived to be dismissive of his opponent.

Cuomo's verbal misstep two weeks ago came when he was criticizing Trump's Make America Great Again slogan.

He later said the comment was an 'inartful' way of saying that Trump wants to return to a time of greater intolerance and bigotry.

Four years ago, Cuomo refused to debate challenger Zephyr Teachout before the Democratic primary.

Teachout went on to win a third of the vote. She is now running for attorney general.

The winner of the Democratic primary faces Republican Marc Molinaro, the Dutchess County executive; independent candidate Stephanie Miner, a former mayor of Syracuse; and Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins.

Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in New York state by more than 2-1.Advertisement

Montana has the highest suicide rate in the U.S. - and extremely limited resources to take on the problem.

With nearly 26 suicides for every 100,000 residents, Montana's suicide rate has increased 38 percent since 1999 - and far surpasses the national average of 13.5, NBC News reported.

Residents of the rural state who struggle with mental health have the odds stacked against them. Montana has less than 25 percent of the mental health providers necessary to care for the more than 1 million people who call the state home, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration.

Many residents have guns - and outdated stigmas about mental health. Alcohol consumption is high and winter daytime hours are short.

This map illustrates the rate of suicide per 100,000 residents in each state; the darker the state, the higher the incidence of suicide. The number in each state represents how many suicides occurred in each state in 2016

To make matters worse, state lawmakers recently closed a massive budget hole, in part, through deep cuts to Montana's health department, which took most of the mental health funding with it. More than 100 mental health care providers were laid off across the state, and 10 rural health care programs were forced to close, according to the Behavioral Health Alliance of Montana.

'We have a perfect storm when it comes to suicide,' said Karl Rosston, suicide prevention coordinator for Montana's Department of Public Health and Human Services, in an interview with NBC News. 'We have a lot of factors that are all happening at the same time.'

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has made efforts to address the issue, and his office says mental health funding has grown by millions of dollars since 2011  even when taking into account the recent budget cuts.

Despite that, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) found that Montana's mental health funding fell below other comparable states from 2009-2015.

Bullock's office announced plans earlier this year to restore Medicaid reimbursement rates for mental health care and partially restore Medicaid case manager reimbursement rates  both of which had previously been slashed.

But it remains unclear if it will be enough to reopen facilities that closed under budget cuts.

That's cold comfort in Lincoln County, where Amy Fantozzi is the sole behavioral health employee for its nearly 20,000 residents.

'In Montana there's a huge amount of stigma that surrounds mental health,' Fantozzi told DailyMail.com. 'It's hard for people to reach out for help and there's not a lot of knowledge in the general community about what mental health is so we're really pushing to raise awareness'

She's focused on training people in mental health first aid  which teaches people how to spot signs of mental health crises and take initial steps to intervene and refer someone in need.

While mental health first aid is an important stop-gap measure, it can't replace having sufficient providers who are trained to care for people in need.

Lincoln County has just one hospital and ever since a non-profit mental health provider closed a local clinic (one of 12 that served 15,000 before closing last year), the only option for patients in crisis is to go to the emergency room.

'It's just hard,' Fantozzi said. 'Everybody is overworked. It's hard to add one more thing on to their plate.'

Amy Fantozzi is the sole behavioral health employee for all of Lincoln County, Montana

Not all populations are affected in the same way by the suicide epidemic. For example, the suicide rate among Montana's Native American population was 22 percent higher than the state's average between 2005-2014, according to the Department of Public Health and Human Services.

More than a half dozen of Laurencia Starblanket's friends and relatives have committed suicide. The 19-year-old member of the Salish Tribe first experienced that kind of loss as a child when her aunt killed herself. Since then three of her friends, two cousins and an uncle all killed themselves.

'It's hard. You lose a lot,' she told NBC News, adding that after her uncle died, 'I didn't want to do anything. I just laid in bed.'

Veterans can also be particularly vulnerable: They accounted for more than 200 suicides from 2013-2016, according to the state Office of Vital Statistics.

'It's one of those things, especially if you're a male, not to ask for help,' Army Veteran Ryan Ranalli told NBC News. 'People I served with, they don't want to reach out and say, "Hey, I'm having some problems, and I need to talk to somebody."'

Struggling with survivor guilt in 2012, he came close to killing himself one night in his garage before his wife found him and convinced him to get help.

But local resources were nowhere to be found and Ranalli wound up traveling to San Diego for months of treatment.

When he returned to Montana he made it his mission to get a permanent veterans mental health clinic in Helena. After a letter-writing campaign he finally saw a facility open earlier this year, which has since provided care for nearly 150 veterans and their families.

He pursues his own ongoing treatment through the facility and has plans to start speaking publicly about suicide prevention.

'To me, one is too many,' he said, 'whether it's a vet or a high school student.'After her husband confessed to an affair with Assia Wevill, Sylvia Plath desperately tried to rescue their six-year marriage.

But when Ted Hughes disappeared for two weeks to London, leaving no contact address, she realised that they had to separate.

In October 1962, he returned for the last time to their house in Devon, where Sylvia was living with their two small children...

Poet Sylvia Plath laid bare her torment in last letters she ever wrote before she killed herself

To Aurelia Plath (Sylvias mother)

Tuesday, October 9, 1962

Ted is in love, humming, packing, leaving this week. Hell live with the woman [Assia Wevill, then married to her third husband], I think marry her, though he wont admit it.

To hell. I am getting a divorce. It is the only thing.

He wants absolute freedom, and I could not live out a life legally married to someone I now hate and despise.

The foulness I have lived, his wanting to kill all I have lived for six years by saying he was just waiting for a chance to get out, that he was bored & stifled by me, a hag in a world of beautiful women just waiting for him, is only part of it.

If I am divorced, he can never be unfaithful to me again, I can start a new life. It is the hardest 30th birthday present I could envision. I am fighting on all fronts, I have to stand my ground.

He has been brutal, cruel, bastardly, cowardly and the flesh has dropped from my bones. But I am stubborn. I am a fighter.

PS: He goes tomorrow. Everything is breaking  my dinner set cracking in half. Even my beloved bees set upon me today when I numbly knocked aside their sugar feeder & I am all over stings.

The poet wrote many candid letters describing her decision to divorce husband Ted Hughes to her mother, psychiatrist and author friends

To Dr Ruth Beuscher (Sylvias former psychiatrist in the U.S.)

Tuesday, October 9

Ted would have left me with all the lies, but bit by bit, the truth has come out. Or what he thinks is the truth. He has been building up a secret life in London all summer  flat, separate bank account, this woman, another woman. Hes lied to the end.

He is mad for [Assia], afraid to tell me [in case] I wont go through with the divorce (I think). I guess her husband will either divorce her or commit suicide. I found he went after Ted with a knife at Waterloo Station & tried to commit suicide after.

Ted says he has been a hypocrite for at least the last 3 years of our marriage, I have been eating not real bread, but a delusion of love. He has nothing but shattering things to say of me, seems to want to kill me, as he kills all he does not want.

He has agreed to pay 1,000 maintenance for the house-running & children a year. He is turning into a terror, a miser. Im not to have sherry, to have roast beef, Im to smoke the last quarter inch of my cigarette  theyre expensive. 1,000, he taunts me, seems too much.

How can I ever get free? My writing is my one hope, and that income is so small. The humiliation of being dependent for my childrens support on a man I hate & despise is a torture.

He switches on & off like an electrode. I face the worst (for me): he will live with this woman, marry her, they will have a wonderful life  wealthy, no children, travel, people, affairs, & every time they are bored, screw us by forgetting the money. Bloody hell.

I long for the divorce, for my independence, like clear water. I am, in my good minutes, excited about my new life. I want to fight back to a London flat by next fall, keep this place [in Devon] for summers.

Perhaps when his first kicking, killing passion is past, & he is free, & with this woman, Ted may be not such a bastard. I have to be nice, cant afford the luxury of a fury even. Be good little doggy & you shall have a penny. It is the last degradation.

Right now I hate men. I am stunned, bitter. I have the consolation of being no doubt the only woman who will know the early years of a charming genius. On my skin. Like a Belsen label.

To Aurelia Plath

Friday, October 12

Ted left yesterday, after a ghastly week, with all his stuff, clothes, books, papers. It is over. My life can begin.

Thursday, October 18

I am myself, proud, and full of plans. I need time to breathe, sun, recover my flesh. I have enough ideas & subjects to last me a year or more!

To Olive Higgins Prouty (American novelist and poet)

Thursday, October 18

I suppose it is something to have been the first wife of a genius.

To Dr Ruth Beuscher

Sunday, October 21

What has astounded me is my reaction to [Teds] departure, and to my decision to get a divorce as fast as I can. I felt the most fantastic exhilaration & relief.

In the last 3 years I have produced & nursed two children, had a miscarriage [in February 1961], and been so intrigued & delighted by my bodily processes & infants I have been out for the count. Also, my relation to Ted was in many, many ways, gravely regressed, more & more I was calling on him to be a father.

After I drove him to the station with his things, I returned to the empty house expecting to be morbid and huge with gloom. I was ecstatic. My life, my sense of identity, seemed to be flying back to me from all quarters.

I knew what I wanted to do, pretty much who I was, where I wanted to go, who I wanted see, even just how, when I get to a good London haircutter, I wanted to do my weird hair. I was my own woman.

Now I get up at 4 every morning & write like fury till 8, stuffing the babes with rusks & juice. I am doing a poem a day, all marvellous, free, full songs.

I think my marriage, though it had much good, was a pretty sick one. Ted has reverted to pretty much what he was when I met him  the greatest seducer in Cambridge, only now it is the world.

Even in love with this barren ad agency writer [Assia] who commands a huge salary & puts it all on her back, he picks up Finns in coffee bars & takes them to hotels  he & this Assia are such a perfect match I laugh in my guts when I think of them married.

They look exactly alike: the same color, shape, everything. She is his twin sister, & like his sister, barren, uncreative, a real vamp. All sophistication. They smoke (Ted, a non-smoker, has been desperately practising) & drop names of the opposite sex, to titillate each other. They will be elaborately unfaithful to each other, very rich, & have no children, I presume, if her 2 abortions & 4 miscarriages can let me have this satisfaction.

I suppose it will be hell for me to meet them together at my first party or literary affair. But I will.

Oddly, I think some day she & I may be friends, not friends, but speaking. Ted says she has got my book out of the library, adores my work, etc. etc.

His stay here before the final departure almost killed me. I have never felt such hate.

He told me openly he wished me dead, it would be convenient, he could sell the house, take all the money & Frieda, told me I was brainless, hideous, had all sorts of flaws in making love he had never told me, and even two years ago he had not wanted to live with me.

Why in Gods name should the killing of me be so elaborate, and the torture so prolonged!

He told me London was death to him, got me down here [to Devon] hand-hemming curtains & painting furniture for a year hoping to see him radiant with what he wanted, & he seemed to be, then pouf!

Two years of hypocrisy, just waiting for the right bed to fall in? I cant believe it. It just seems insane to me.

Ted is on the brink of real wealth. His mss. sell for $100 a poem, just the handwriting. He is at the peak of fame. I was scrimping 6 years for this, balancing check books, dying for first nights, trips, dresses & a nanny. His family wants him to give us nothing. He has left me no address.

I hope time may mellow him toward the children, but I doubt it. His ethic is that of the hawk in one of his most famous poems, being taught to all British school-children: I kill where I please, it is all mine. He was furious I didnt commit suicide, he said he was sure I would!

Just tell me where all this hate comes from? He says he thinks I am dangerous toward him now. Well, I should think so!

I see, too, that domesticity was a fake cloak for me. My trouble is that I can do an awful lot of stuff well. I can give a floor a beautiful scrub, cook a fine pie, deliver a baby with ease, and stitch up a nightgown.

I also love hanging out a clean laundry in the apple orchard. But I hate doing housework all, or much of the time. I have been running a 103 fever out of sheer mad excitement with my own writing.

I am ravenous for study, experience, travel. I love learning how to manage things  I have kept bees this year, my own hive, & am very proud of my bottled honey, & my stings. I am learning to ride horseback & the riding mistress is delighted, I am a natural. My mind is dying of starvation here.

And I am tied by nothing but money. And the sense my husband wants to kill me by cutting it off altogether, so I am hogtied & cant work. Its enough to make any woman sail to Lesbos!

What I dont want is a nice, safe, dull, sweet reliable husband to take Teds place. He has to marry again  wholl cook? And what a showpiece for looks hes got!

But me  my independence, my self, is so dear to me I shall never bind it to anyone again. Most men who are domestic are dull  I hate routine jobs, and most men who are creative or scientific miracles are bastards.

I dont mind knowing a bastard, or having an affair with a bastard, I just dont want to be married to a bastard. I suppose it sounds as if I think all men are bastards, I dont, but the interesting ones I would rather have as either friends, lovers or both, than husbands.

Faithfulness, the ethic of faithfulness, is essentially boring. I see that. Ted made much better love while he was having these other affairs, & the tart in me appreciated this.

But I also just havent the time to be married to a philanderer. That bores me too. There is so much else besides sex. I want my career, my children, and a free supple life.

I am so happy, everything intrigues me. It is as if this divorce were the key to free all my repressed energy, which is fierce from six years of boiling in a vacuum.

After 6 years of having only one man attract me as much as Ted  what I wouldnt give to see him now!  I am again interested in other men, but few men are both beautiful physically, tremendous lovers & creative geniuses as Ted is. I cant even imagine anybody ever making me feel passionate enough to have an affair, after him. And I am so bloody proud & particular.

Court Green Cottage, Devon home of Assia Wevill (1927 -1969) who is perhaps most well-known for having an affair with Ted Hughes. On March 23, 1969, Assia Wevill took her own life and that of their daughter Shura in a manner that nearly re-enacted Sylvia Plath's suicide

To Aurelia Plath

Wednesday, November 7

I am writing from London, so happy I can hardly speak. I think I have found a place. And guess what, it is W. B. Yeats house. With a blue plaque over the door saying he lived there!

Ted is behind me in this, he took me round looking at places. Now he sees he has nothing to fear from me  no scenes or vengefulness  he is more human.

His life is nothing to me & I am now staying with a wonderful Portuguese couple, the girl a best friend of Teds girlfriend, & they see how I am, full of interest in my own life, & are amazed, as everyone is, at my complete lack of jealousy or sorrow.

I amaze myself. It is my work that does it, my sense of myself as a writer. I am, I think, & will be when I get this London flat arranged, the happiest of women.

I had my fringe cut just before I came up to London in the most fashionable style  high on top, curling down round the ears  and kept my long coronet in back. It looks fabulous. Ted didnt even recognize me at the train station!

My morale is so much improved. Truck drivers whistle & so on, its amazing. Living apart from Ted is wonderful  I am no longer in his shadow, & it is heaven to be liked for myself alone. I may even borrow a table for my flat from Teds girl  I could be gracious to her now, & kindly.

She has only her high-paid ad agency job, her vanity & no chance of children & everybody wants to be a writer, like me. I may be poor in bank funds, but I am so much richer in every other way I envy them nothing.

My babies & my writing are my life & let them have affairs & parties, pouf! What a bore.

Monday, November 19

I am happier than ever before in my life. I realize now that all my married life I have sacrificed everything to Ted & his work, putting his work first, going to get part-time jobs, with great faith in his future wealth & fame.

I never even got a new dress or went to a hairdresser!

Now he goes out with fashion models. Well, I have finished a 2nd book of poems in this last month, & the minute I get a mothers help in London I will do novel after novel.

Friday, December 14

Well, here I am! Safely in Yeats house! And I can truly say I have never been so happy in my life. I just sit thinking Whew! I have done it, and beaming  shall I write a poem, shall I paint a floor, shall I hug a baby? Everything is such fun, such an adventure.

Wednesday, January 16, 1963

Ted comes about once a week to see Frieda & sometimes is nice & sometimes awful. It is very hard for me to think of him living in an expensive flat, being wined & dined, taking his girlfriend to Spain when I have worked so hard all these years & looked so forward to what I saw was to be our good fortune.

It is the starting from scratch that is so hard.

I guess I just need somebody to cheer me up by saying Ive done all right so far.

To Olive Higgins Prouty

Tuesday, January 22

Frieda [aged nearly three] makes me so sad. Ted comes once a week to see her, she hangs on him dotingly, then cries Daddy come soon for the rest of the week, waking in the night, tearful and obsessed with him.

It is like a kind of mirror, utterly innocent, to my own sense of loss. Having been so deeply and spiritually and physically happy with my dear, beautiful husband makes this harder than if I had never known love at all.

I could never live under the same roof with him again, but I hope for the childrens sake that each week he visits I can be brave and merry, without sorrow or accusation, and forge my life anew.

Ted has some of the inhumanity of the true genius that must kill to get what it wants.

I desperately want to make an inner strength in myself, an independence that can face bringing up the children alone & in face of great uncertainties.

To Aurelia Plath

Monday, February 4

I have been feeling a bit grim  the upheaval over, I am seeing the finality of it all.

To Marcia B. Stern

(American college friend)

Monday, February 4

I am in a limbo between the old world & the very uncertain & rather grim new. Ted comes once a week [to see the children] like a kind of apocalyptic Santa Claus.

To Dr Ruth Beuscher

Monday, February 4

I have finally read the Fromm [Erich Fromms The Art Of Loving] & think that I have been guilty of what he calls Idolatrous love, that I lost myself in Ted instead of finding myself.

There was enough identity left to me in Devon to make me feel immense relief at his departure  now I shall grow out of his shadow, I thought, I shall be me.

While we were married we were never apart & all experience filtered through each other. On a grown-up level, I dont think I could have endured a marriage of infidelities.

I had a beautiful, virile, brilliant man & he still is, whatever immaturities there may be in his throwing over everything in such a violent way. He has said he is sorry for the lying, and shows concern that we get on on our own.

What appals me is the return of my madness, my paralysis, my fear & vision of the worst  cowardly withdrawal, a mental hospital, lobotomies.

Perhaps this is accentuated by my seeing Ted once a week when he comes to see Frieda  seeing how happy & whole & independent he is, how much more I admire him like this, & what good friends we could be if I could manage to grow up too.

He is gaga over this ad-agency girl who has gone back to live with her 3rd husband to keep the passion hot, although she did live for three weeks with Ted & flew to Spain for a holiday with him.

If I were simply jealous about this it would be okay. But I know Spain and lovemaking would do me no good now, not until I find myself again.

I feel I need a ritual for survival from day to day until I begin to grow out of this death & found Fromms recommendation for concentration, patience & faith gave me a kind of peace, but that I keep slipping into this pit of panic & deepfreeze.

I am living on sleeping pills & nerve tonic & have managed a few commissions for a magazine & the BBC and poems very good but, I feel written on the edge of madness.

The publicity of Teds leaving is universal & I was taking it all with dignity & verve at first  people were buying poems & putting BBC work in my way, & I am scared to death I shall just pull up the psychic shroud & give up.

A poet, a writer, I am I think very narcissistic & the despair at being 30 & having let myself slide, studied nothing for years, having mastered no body of objective knowledge is on me like a cold, accusing wind.

Just now it is torture to me to dress, plan meals, put one foot in front of the other. Ironically my novel [The Bell Jar] about my first breakdown is getting rave reviews over here.

I feel a simple act of will would make the world steady & solidify. No one can save me but myself, but I need help & my doctor is referring me to a woman psychiatrist.

Living on my wits, my writing  even partially, is very hard at this time, it is so subjective & dependent on objectivity. I am, for the first time since my marriage, relating to people without Ted, but my own lack of center, of mature identity, is a great torment.

I am aware of a cowardice in myself, a wanting to give up. If I could study, read, enjoy people on my own Teds leaving would be hard, but manageable. But there is this damned, self-induced freeze.

I am suddenly in agony, desperate, thinking Yes, let him take over the house, the children, let me just die & be done with it. How can I get out of this ghastly defeatist cycle & grow up.

I am only too aware that love and a husband are impossible to me at this time, I am incapable of being myself & loving myself.

Now the babies are crying, I must take them out to tea.

With love,

Sylvia

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Footnote: Sylvia Plath killed herself a week later. Ted Hughes had another child by Assia Wevill. In 1969, she killed both herself and their four-year-old daughter. Until he died in October 1998, Ted Hughes proved to be a devoted father to Frieda and Nicholas.

The Letters Of Sylvia Plath Volume II: 1953-63 edited by Peter K. Steinberg and Karen V. Kukil, to be published by Faber at 35 in the UK on September 6. To buy this book for 28 (20 per cent discount) call 0844 571 0640 or go to mailbookshop.co.uk/books. P&P is free on orders over 15, offer valid until September 5, 2018.Senator Lindsey Graham was shedding tears during a touching tribute to his best friend John McCain, prompting a bipartisan group of lawmakers to offer him hugs and condolences.

'To those who are striving as a young person, remember John McCain. He failed a lot but he never quit. And the reason we're talking about him today, and the reason I'm crying, is because he was successful in spite of his failures,' Graham said on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon.

He added: 'I do not cry for a perfect man. I cry for a man who had honor and always was willing to admit to his imperfection.'

In his nearly 20 minutes of remarks, Graham recalled McCain's fondness for bad jokes, his service to his country and how he believes 'there is a little John McCain in all of us.'

Senator Lindsey Graham teared up when he gave tribute to John McCain

John McCain and Lindsey Graham became friends in the early 2000s during the impeachment proceedings against then-President Bill Clinton

He admitted when he began his remarks: 'I have been dreading this, and I am now gonna do this.'

After his emotional speech, in which he choked up and wiped away tears, Graham stood on the side of the Senate floor as his colleagues lined up to offer him hugs and condolences.

A bipartisan group of senators - including Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Kirsten Gillibrand and Chris Coons and Republican Sen. Marco Rubio - hugged him.

Others offered him pats on the back and handshakes.

The Republican senator from South Carolina wore a Naval Academy tie for his tribute, which he said would both honor and annoy McCain at the same time since Graham is not an academy graduate but McCain was.

Graham read his speech from a legal pad, where he had written on his thoughts on it in large letters by hand. He delivered it from his Senate desk, which is next to McCain's black-clothed draped one. Colleagues from both sides of the aisle were on hand to watch.

Later, Graham said seeing McCain's desk, with a vase of white roses on it, was hard.

'What killed me was the black,' he said referring to the cloth.

And he said of his friend: 'This is the only time I've known him that he's been pain free.'

McCain was tortured during the five years he was held prisoner by the North Vietnamese in the Vietnam War. He could not raise his arms above his shoulders or comb his hair.

After his remarks, Graham talked to reporters about his friendship with McCain and relayed the advice the late senator gave him on dealing with President Donald Trump: 'Help him when you can, just don't get sucked into all this bull****.'

Graham added: 'I said 'roger.' So I'm going to help him where I can and not get sucked into all the other drama.'

McCain and Trump feuded during the 2016 presidential campaign and never mended fences.

The longtime feud between the two men reached its peak on Monday, after the White House raised its flag to full staff, prompting outrage at what people took to be a slight of the late senator.

The president relented Monday afternoon - after the commander of the influential veterans group the American Legion released a statement asking for the flag to be lowered.

Sen. John McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham hold a news conference at the Capitol in July 2017

Graham could not offer a single name of who would take on McCain's watchdog role in the Senate. The late senator was one of the few Republican lawmakers who would call out Trump harshly and publicly when he disagreed with the president.

It would take several lawmakers to play such a role, Graham said, but he sounded almost McCain-esque when he talked about his relationship with the president going forward.

'When it comes to foreign policy I will stay close to this president if he lets me,' he said, adding that he would give him advice on that subject matter.

'I will do it politely but if I see a drift back to the old ways, I will say something about it and damn the consequences,' Graham added.

Graham also said he spoke to Cindy McCain after his floor speech and that she approved of his words.

He had no concrete suggestions for a way to honor McCain. One suggestion was to rename the Russell Senate Office Building in his honor.

'I'd rename the Capitol after him if I could,' Graham said, adding he would talk to Cindy McCain to hear her wishes.

He later joked there was another building that should bear the late senator's moniker.

'John McCain was a soldier's best friend and the Pentagon's worst nightmare. I'd like to name the Pentagon after him just to get back at everybody,' he said.

As chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, McCain had over sight over the military's budget, a weapon he wielded forcefully.

And Graham named several pieces of legislation he wanted to get passed for McCain, including theRussians sanctions bill, protecting the 2018 midterm elections, and 'I'm going to make sure immigration reform gets done or die trying.'

Immigration reform was a longtime goal of McCain's. He and Sen. Ted Kennedy started working on the issue in the early years of 2000. McCain was part of the Gang of Eight that pushed for immigration reform in 2013.

'If we ever pull this off on immigration reform it'll be because of the work of John McCain and Ted Kennedy,' Graham said.

McCain and Graham have been friends since going back nearly 30 years.

McCain died Saturday, at the age of 81, following a long battle with brain cancer and Graham said he considers himself one of the family.

'My name is Graham, not McCain. But I feel like a McCain,' he said, recalling all the waiters, cops, and strangers on the street who've come up to him to offer condolences.

McCain and Graham's friendship began during the impeachment proceedings against then-President Bill Clinton.

Then presidential candidate John McCain, Senator Lindsey Graham and campaign manager Rick Davis tour the podium and stage before McCain's keynote address at the Republican National Convention

Lindsey Graham talked to reporters about his memories of McCain after he gave his speech

Graham, then a House member, was presenting the case for impeachment to senators, including McCain.

'Congressman Graham, on the most solemn occasion, said, 'You know, where I come from, any man calling a woman at 2 a.m. is up to no good,'' McCain said in March 2017 when he talked about their friendship on CNN. 'I knew right then that Lindsey Graham was a guy I wanted to spend time with.'

Graham joined the Senate in 2003.

The two men, along with then-Sen. Joe Lieberman, traveled the world together on official trips, calling themselves 'The Three Amigos.'

Both Graham and Lieberman will speak at McCain's memorial service at the National Cathedral on Saturday.President Donald Trump warns in a secretly-recorded closed-door meeting with evangelical leaders that there would be 'violence' if his party loses in the November elections.

Trump made the remarks in a closed meeting with religious leaders, whom he entertained for a White House dinner along with First Lady Melania Trump on Monday.

'You're one election away from losing everything that you've got,' Trump told them, according to excerpts obtained by NBC News.

Trump warned there were 'violent people' who would undue gains, which he listed during the meeting, 'violently.'

Trump warned Christian leaders there were 'violent people' who would undue gains if Republicans lose in November

'They will overturn everything that we've done and they'll do it quickly and violently, and violently. There's violence,' according to the excerpts the network obtained.

'When you look at Antifa and you look at some of these groups  these are violent people,' Trump said, pointing to violent protesters who have sought confrontations and engaged in vandalism to counter far-right groups.

Trump told more than 100 Christian leaders the election  where Democrats hold an edge in the generic ballot according to opinion polls  was a referendum 'on your religion.'

'The level of hatred, the level of anger is unbelievable,' the president said.

Trump issued the stern political warning at the White House, following an event honoring Evangelical leadership in the State Dining Room of the White House

PRAYING FOR VICTORY: President Donald Trump bows his head as Pastor Paula White reads a prayer at an event honoring Evangelical leadership

'Part of it is because of some of the things I've done for you and for me and for my family, but I've done them.  This Nov. 6 election is very much a referendum on not only me, it's a referendum on your religion, it's a referendum on free speech and the First Amendment.'

He didn't specify what he meant he had done for his own family.

The closed meeting happened after Trump held a public meeting with evangelical leaders.

Police clash with demonstrators as they try to clear 'Antifa' members and anti-Trump protesters from the area during a protest on June 4, 2017 in Portland, Oregon

President Donald Trump, right, applauds as pastor Robert Jeffress waves during the "Celebrate Freedom" event at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Saturday, July 1, 2017. Jeffress has praised Trump's policies, but said recently his group does not support extramarital affairs or hush payments

'I just ask you to go out and make sure all of your people vote,' Trump added, the New York Times reported, once again amping up the pressure.

'Because if they don't  it's Nov. 6  if they don't vote we're going to have a miserable two years and we're going to have, frankly, a very hard period of time because then it just gets to be one election  you're one election away from losing everything you've got.'

Trump also characterized himself as having gotten 'rid of' the Johnson Amendment, a priority for religious conservatives because it limits political action from the pulpit. In fact, he has issued only an executive order and it remains the law of the land.

Trump acknowledged pro-Trump Southern Baptist preacher Robert Jeffress in the crowd.

'I had the great Robert Jeffress back there. Hello, Robert. Who said about me: He may not be the perfect human being, but he is the greatest leader for Christianity,' Trump said.

Trump warned there were 'violent people' who would undue gains, which he listed during the meeting, 'violently.'

'Hopefully I've proven that to be a fact in terms of the second part. Not the first part,' Trump said.

Jeffress on Fox News Monday night backed Trump's policies though he said his group doesn't support 'extramarital affairs.'

'We have to understand these are still allegations against the president, so I'm not going to judge the president on these things. But even if they were true, some of these allegations, I mean, obviously, we don't support extramarital affairs, we don't support hush money payments, but what we do support are these president's excellent policies,' he told the network.

In yet another leaked excerpt on CNN, Trump warned: ''It's not a question of like or dislike, it's a question that they will overturn everything that we've done and they will do it quickly and violently. And violently. There is violence.'

'The level of hatred, the level of anger is very unbelievable,' Trump said.Fears are growing for a six-year-old boy who went missing last week after he was seen being driven away in a car with a woman believed to be his mother.

An amber alert has been issued for Phoenix Mapham, who was seen in a white 1999 Holden Vectra at Weston Creek, Canberra, at 1.30pm on Thursday.

He is believed to be with Tessa Woodcock, who was driving the sedan with the registration YAU56P.

An amber alert has been issued for Phoenix Mapham (left), who is believed to be with Tessa Woodcock (right)

ACT Police also believe he could be in a blue Subaru Forester with a broken rear window and damaged bonnet. That car's registration is YKP08U.

Officers say they are in either the Australian Capital Territory or New South Wales.

'Phoenix is not in the lawful custody of his mother and police are seeking to locate him as there are serious concerns for his wellbeing,' a police spokesman said.

The amber alert is the first issued in the ACT.

Anyone with information is urged to call ACT Policing on 02 6256 7777.A poll on Tuesday flashed red for President Trump as more than four in 10 Americans said he should be removed from office.

The calls for his impeachment, as surveyed in an Axios poll, have not reached fever-pitch level, though - just 49 percent of Independents and 44 percent of all voters say Trump should be charged with high crimes and misdemeanors.

Democrats like ex-President Jimmy Carter are warning the party to ease off the topic.

Carter told Fox Business, 'Not me, I dont talk about impeachment, I think thats the wrong thing for Democrats to do.'

Democrats like ex-President Jimmy Carter are warning the party to ease off the topic

Axios' poll, which the news website conducted via SurveyMokey, gave Trump the support of a slim majority, 51 percent, where impeachment is concerned.

Another 46 percent said they did not believe that his campaign colluded with Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

Nearly two-thirds of voters, 64 percent, say they believe his ex-attorney, Michael Cohen, over the president, however, when he says that Trump 'directed' him to commit crimes on his behalf.

Cohen said last week in a guilty plea that he paid off porn actress Stormy Daniels, who says she had an affair with the president, attempted to buy a Playboy model's story at Trump's behest.

Trump says he found out about the deals 'later' and did not commit any crimes.

Just 31 percent of voters polled by Axios said they believe him. Even 38 percent of Republicans sided with Cohen.

Some Democrats have been tempted to bank November's midterms on the president's alleged crimes and possibility of impeachment -- an outcome they could achieve if Republicans lose control of the House and they're able to convince two-thirds of the Senate to convict him.

It's a fairly high bar in the upper chamber to remove a sitting president from office, but Republicans such as House Intelligence Chair Devin Nunes are cautioning GOP voters not to be complacent this fall because it's absolutely possible.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is also warning that Democrats will make impeaching President Trump one of their priorities if they capture the House.

McCarthy, the California Republican who is vying to succeed Rep. Paul Ryan as speaker, raised the impeachment issue in a Sunday appearance on 'Fox News,' after a week that featured the conviction of Trump's ex-campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, the guilty plea by his longtime lawyer, Cohen.

McCarthy brought up the push by some Democrats to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an issue Trump also highlights at his campaign rallies.

'The other thing they want to do is impeach this president,' McCarthy said.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republicans, is warning that Democrats will make impeaching President Trump one of their priorities if they capture the House.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (pictured far right) is warning that Democrats will make impeaching President Trump one of their priorities if they capture the House

'They voted on it twice already forced the vote to the floor. [Billionaire activist] Tom Steyer spent more than $30 million and he brags that his list is bigger than the NRA list on impeaching this president,' McCarthy told host Maria Bartiromo on 'Sunday Morning Futures.'

McCarthy would be minority leader if Democrats succeed in taking control. If the GOP hangs on, he will be challenged by Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio for the top post.

Talk of impeachment came after leaked document showed the raft of oversight investigations Republicans fear Democrats will jump-start  from probing Trump's tax returns to the Constitution's 'emoluments' clause and Trump family members like son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to an Axios report.

Democrats hold an eight-point lead in a recent 'generic' congressional poll by NBC that asked whether respondents favored one party of the other.

Historically, the midterm elections are also leaning their way.

McCarthy's statement is the latest instance of the GOP  rather than Democrats vying for control  raising the impeachment issue to drive up turn out among their own base.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi cautioned last week against any rush to impeach based on the current state of the Mueller probe.

'It's not a priority on the agenda going forward unless something else comes forward,' House minority leader Nancy Pelosi said of impeachment

Tom Steyer, co-founder of NextGen Climate Action Committee, cut a new video urging people to join his drive for impeachment following the stunning courtroom developments. McCarthy pointed to Steyer's impeachment campaign

'Impeachment has to spring from something else,' she said, hours after longtime Trump lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight charges and a Virginia jury found former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort guilty of eight charges.

Pelosi, who would stand for speaker if Democrats retake the House but is facing pushback from some Democratic candidates, would oversee any impeachment that gets put forward.

On Wednesday it was the White House that elevated the issue when press secretary Sarah Sanders teed off on on Democrats, faulting them for a 'sad attempt' at 'cheap political stunts.'

'The idea of an impeachment is frankly a sad attempt by Democrats,' she said. 'It's the only message they seem to have going into the midterms.'

The Michael Cohen plea immediately ignited questions about impeachment. Justice Department rules state that a sitting president cannot be indicted

McCarthy on Sunday listed impeachment alongside immigration and health care.

'First they are very clear they want to abolish ICE. So those MS-13 members that come across, those kids that have been trafficked that get stopped that ICE saves or what about the fentanyl that ICE saves in the process 167 voted present in the process,' he said. Host Maria Bartiromo responded: ''Wow.'

Although some Democrats wand to abolish the agency linked to the Trump administration's child separation policy, they aren't in favor of stopping law enforcement at the border.

McCarthy continued: 'And the last thing they want to do single payer healthcare, so 55% of Americans have healthcare through their employer. That would end, but the scary thing of this those who are on Medicare, you will end because they will bankrupt it before and put everybody into it and bankrupt Medicare,' he said.

Former Virginia Republican Rep. Tom Davis, asked whether it now makes sense for Democrats to start talking about impeachment, told DailyMail.com after the Cohen plea and Manafort conviction: ''Not yet. It certainly lays a predicate.'

Democrats 'have to ask themselves if this is 1998, where Republicans overplayed impeachment and lost seats, or 1974, where anger over Nixon and the pardon led to huge gains,' said Davis, who previously ran the GOP House campaign arm and now runs government affairs at Deloitte.

'The ominous weeks will tell, but Nancy Pelosi navigated 2006 successfully to lead to a House turnover and she knows if and when to pull the trigger. There is still a lot to play out and it's August. Remember Access Hollywood?' he concluded.King William III, who was also widely known at William of Orange

The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688 resulted in the deposition of James II from the throne.

In his place was his daughter Mary II and her husband, William II, Prince of Orange.

James II, who came to the throne in 1685, was a Roman Catholic, and this alienated most of Britain.

Despite James promoting Roman Catholics in numerous institutions, such as the Army and Oxford University, no moves were made against him.

However, this changed in 1688. Parliament refused to accept the idea of a Catholic succession, and when his wife Mary gave birth to a son, they decided to act.

Parliamentarians and senior members of the Anglican church invited the Dutch Prince William of Orange to invade.

As a grandson of Charles I, William had only a tenuous link to the throne, but his wife, Mary, daughter of James II, had a much stronger claim to the succession.

William of Orange landed at Brixham Harbour in Devon on 5th November, 1688, accompanied by an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 troops.

He headed inland, to a cottage six miles from Brixham, called King William's Cottage.

Travelling a further three miles he came to a farmhouse where he met with Sir Edward Seymour, an influential privy counsellor and opponent of James II, and other dignatries.

This meeting has been termed his first Parliament on English soil.

He advanced slowly on London as support fell away from James II. Jamess daughter Anne and his best general, John Churchill, were among the deserters to Williams camp. Thereupon, James fled to France.

William was now asked to carry on the government and summon a Parliament.

In January 1689, the now-famous Convention Parliament met. After significant pressure from William, Parliament agreed to a joint monarchy, with William as king and Jamess daughter, Mary, as queen.

The two new rulers accepted more restrictions from Parliament than any previous monarchs.

The new king and queen both signed the Declaration of Rights, which became known as the Bill of Rights. Experts believe the Bill of Rights was the first step toward a constitutional monarchy.Britains scallop fishing industry is worth around 120million a year and supports more than 1,200 jobs.

But under EU law, the British are not allowed to fish within 12 miles of the French coast.

UK fishermen can dredge for scallops in the 40-mile stretch of international water known as the Bay of Seine  while the French have access from November to February.

Fierce competition between the nations has been simmering since the long-running dispute blew up in 2012 in an incident in which French fishermen attempted to ram British boats.

The dispute was nicknamed the 'Guerre de la Coquille' when again British and French fishermen clashed this time off the coast of Le Havre, France.

French fishermen believe that British fishermen were coming within Frances twelve-mile zone inside the Bay of Seine to dredge for scallops.

The situation was worsened by the fact that the French fishermen were banned from fishing for scallops over the summer months as a measure to allow stocks to spawn and regenerate.

But British fishermen were allowed to dredge scallops all year round, although they only had a limited numbers of day to access the best fishing grounds.

Militant French fishermen demanded a boycott of British caught scallops as the war over fishing rights intensified.

They rammed British boats, pelted them with iron bars and rocks and attempted to snag their propellers with rope.

Protests have seen Norman fishermen overturn trays of scallops in supermarkets and hurl fish in front of shoppers and they have even set fire to live lambs.Montevideo, Aug 28 (EFE).- The Uruguayan Tourism Ministry and the Unvenu service-station operators association signed an agreement Tuesday for the installation of bathrooms accessible to disabled people on the nation's major highways.

Tourism Minister Liliam Kechichian told reporters that the accord was "very important" because service stations are relevant to the tourism sector.

"To the degree that we think of tourism as a human right, to have a service such as that of bathrooms at the stations that can be used by people with any kind of disability or mobility problems - because we have an older population - is a very big advancement," she said.

The minister added that the initiative fits with the evolution of service stations to include amenities such as ATMs, pharmacies and convenience stores.

Kechichian called the pact another step in raising awareness about the issue of accessibility in Uruguay, where disabled people represent 17.6 percent of the population, according to the most recent census figures, dating from 2011.

The accessible restrooms are expected to run roughly $10,000 each, with the tourism ministry and Unvenu splitting the cost.Air pollution causes a 'huge' reduction in intelligence, scientists say.

Shocking new research suggests air pollution has a serious impact on mental capabilities as well as physical health in human beings.

High levels of pollution can trigger a decrease in language and arithmetic skills  with the average impact of 'dirty air' equivalent to losing a year in education.

The United Nations has blamed air pollution for seven million deaths worldwide each year, while campaigners have urged local government to take more action.

Scroll down for video

Air pollution causes a 'huge' reduction in intelligence, according to a new study. Earlier this month it was revealed London's pollution is now so bad it's equivalent to smoking 251 cigarettes

An international team of researchers led by Beijing Normal University analysed language and arithmetic tests conducted on 20,000 people across China between 2010 and 2014.

However, the study is relevant worldwide, as the latest figures show around 95 per cent of the global population are now breathing unsafe air.

Scientists conducted the tests across China in areas with varied levels of pollution.

According to the latest findings, air pollution is a significant cause of loss of intelligence  roughly equating to the impact of losing a year of education.

Although previous research had found air pollution is capable of harming cognitive performance in students, this latest study is the first to examine people of all ages.

It also analysed the difference between men and women.

'Polluted air can cause everyone to reduce their level of education by one year, which is huge,' researcher Xi Chen of Yale School of Public Health told the Guardian.

'But we know the effect is worse for the elderly, especially those over 64, and for men, and for those with low education.

'If we calculate [the loss] for those, it may be a few years of education', he said.

Worse still, the researchers found that the longer people are exposed to dirty air, the greater the damage to their intelligence levels.

'We find that long-term exposure to air pollution impedes cognitive performance in verbal and math tests', researchers wrote in their paper, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

'We provide evidence that the effect of air pollution on verbal tests becomes more pronounced as people age, especially for men and the less educated.

'The damage on the aging brain by air pollution likely imposes substantial health and economic costs, considering that cognitive functioning is critical for the elderly for both running daily errands and making high-stake decisions'.

For the latest study, scientists accounted for the gradual decline in cognition seen as people age.

They also ruled out the possibility that people are more impatient or uncooperative during tests when the pollution levels were especially high.

It is now believed 95 per cent of the world's population breathes in polluted air. The longer people are exposed to dirty air the greater the damage to their intelligence

HOW MUCH PLASTIC POLLUTION DO WE BREATHE IN PER DAY? Plastic pollution has become so widespread that we may be inhaling up to 130 tiny pieces a day, research found. Fibres from fleece and polyester clothing and particles from urban dust and car tyres are the biggest sources of so-called microplastics in the air. Microplastics are small plastic pellets ranging in size from 0.5 millimetres that have accumulated in the marine environment following decades of pollution. They include polyester fibres generated from laundry The tiny specks are lighter than air and could cause asthma, heart disease and auto-immune conditions, the research, published in December 2017, found. The study, a review of a number of recent plastics studies, revealed washing a single polyester garment can produce 1,900 plastic fibres. Plastic pollution has become so widespread that we may be inhaling up to 130 tiny pieces a day, research found (stock image) This plastic pollution is on the rise as more and more synthetic clothing is produced. While only people working with plastic fibres are known to develop respiratory problems, experts say the pollution is so widespread that it may now pose a risk to everyone's health. The study's author, Dr Joana Correia Prata, of Fernando Pessoa University in Portugal, said: 'The evidence suggests that an individual's lungs could be exposed to between 26 and 130 airborne microplastics a day, which would pose a risk for human health, especially in susceptible individuals, including children. 'Exposure may cause asthma, cardiac disease, allergies and auto-immune diseases.' Advertisement

Following the publication of the latest study, Aarash Saleh, a registrar in respiratory medicine in the UK and part of the Doctors Against Diesel campaign, told the Guardian: 'This study adds to the concerning bank of evidence showing that exposure to air pollution can worsen our cognitive function.

'Road traffic is the biggest contributor to air pollution in residential areas and the government needs to act urgently to remove heavily-polluting vehicles from our roads.'

Earlier this year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) released the results of its study into fine particle air pollution in nearly 110 countries.

These microscopic particles are invisible to the human eye  but can penetrate deep into the lungs, and also cause heart disease and cancer.

The WHO report revealed every corner of the globe is dealing with air pollution.

However, poorer countries fare worse than richer nations, with outdoor pollution levels highest in the Middle East, North Africa and South-East Asia.

Earlier this month, it was revealed London's pollution is now so bad it's equivalent to smoking 251 cigarettes a year.

Spending a long weekend in Europes 10 most popular but polluted cities could have the same health impacts as smoking between one and four cigarettes over just several days, the European Transport and Environment Association revealed.Dolphins can learn from each other to walk on their tail  and this intelligence could help save the species from climate change, a new study found.

Scientists say a dolphin who learned the complex trick in captivity has taught it to nine of her friends and family since she was released into the wild.

It marks the only known example of a mammal teaching human tricks to its peers in the wild without any help from a human trainer.

The skill allows dolphins to adapt new behaviours faster than they would through natural selection, potentially giving them the edge over rapid changes to their environment caused by global warming.

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Billie the bottlenose dolphin was rescued from a polluted creek in the 80s and spent time at a dolphinarium before she was released back into the wild. She was not taught how to tail walk but was later spotted performing the trick in the wild. Pictured left is Billie tailwalking

The research comes from experts at the University of Exeter and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation, which is based in Chippenham, Wiltshire.

It is the latest chapter in the story of Billie the dolphin - a bottlenose who was rescued from a severely polluted creek in January 1988.

Billie was rehabilitated at a dolphinarium in Adelaide for several weeks, where she learned a trick known as the tailwalk by watching the performing peers she was housed with.

The trick, which involves 'standing' upright on the tail and running backwards along the waterline, is a common part of dolphinarium routines and rarely seen in the wild.

Following her release back into the wild, Billie continued to perform the trick and by 2011 nine of her peers were copying her, according to the new study.

The frequency of the habit dropped off over time, researchers said, and by 2014 only two tailwalkers remained, both of whom performed the behaviour only sporadically.

Tail walking is the act of rising vertically out of the water and then moving back and forth across the surface (file photo). The behaviour is a standard part of the routine in most dolphinariums, but rarely occurs in the wild

A BRIEF HISTORY OF BILLIE THE TAILWALKING DOLPHIN Billie the dolphin was rescued from a polluted creek in January 1988, spending several weeks in a dolphinarium in Adelaide. While housed with the performing dolphins, Billie learnt a trick known as tail walking by watching them go through their act. During a tail walk, a dolphin rises vertically out of the water and moves forward or backwards across it. The move rarely occurs in the wild but is a standard part of the routine in almost all dolphinaria. Once released back into the wild Billie began performing this unique behaviour in front of her peers in the pod. Billie's tail walking would be nothing more than an interesting example of individual social learning if she alone had performed it. Yet soon other dolphins copied it and by 2011 nine dolphins had been observed tail walking in the wild. After 2011 the number of dolphins tail walking in the wild declined with the most prolific tail-walker dying in 2014, leaving only two remaining tail-walkers, both of whom performed the behaviour only sporadically. Advertisement

Tailwalking now seems destined to disappear from the community and is a dying fad, researchers said, but the finding may have implications for the dolphins as they fight to cope with global warming.

An ability to quickly imitate others could help the animals adapt to develop new survival skills faster than natural selection allows.

New foraging or hunting behaviours could quickly spread between pod-members as the environment changes over the next few decades.

Researchers followed the behaviours of Billie and her pod over the course of three decades for their paper.

Dr Mike Bossley, of Whale and Dolphin Conservation and the study's lead author, said: 'I knew Billie's history and was able to track her behaviour and that of the other dolphins in the community over an extended period.

The find marks the only known example of a mammal teaching human tricks to its peers in the wild without any help from a human trainer (file photo)

'This enabled me to observe tail walking spread through the community and then its eventual fading away.'

Dr Luke Rendell, a dolphin specialist from the University of St Andrews, added the study provided a 'revealing insight' into the role of imitation in dolphin communities.

Co-author Philippa Brakes said the existence of imitation in wild dolphins has important implications for conservation.

She said: 'Understanding more about the social transmission of behaviour will help us predict how different species may respond to changes in their environment.

'The rapid spread of socially learnt behaviours can operate much faster than the intergenerational process of natural selection, which can be an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on the type of behaviour transmitted.'

The study was published in the Royal Society's Biology Letters.Nasa's next-generation supersonic passenger airliner will not have a windscreen because its unusually long nose would block any view for the pilots.

Instead, the aircraft will use a combination of monitors and cameras known as an 'external vision system' that recreates a similar view to the one pilots would get through the windscreen of a more traditional plane.

The 1,100mph (1,770kph) jet  dubbed X-59 Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST)  will also feature a small, second set of wings positioned slightly ahead of the main pair, it has been revealed.

An expert at Lockheed Martin, which has paired with Nasa on the project, said the bizarre features are designed to dampen the sound of the X-59's sonic booms.

The two firms are attempting to build an airliner that produces booms no louder than a slamming car door in a bid to get around government bans on noise pollution.

If successful, flights with the X-59 could begin as early as 2021, with the eventual goal to produce a commercial supersonic airliner capable of travelling from London to New York in just three hours.

Dubbed 'son of Concorde' by aviation fans, the vehicle could lead to the first supersonic aircraft to carry commercial passengers since the iconic Anglo-French jet was decommissioned 15 years ago.

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Nasa's next-generation supersonic passenger airliner will have no windscreen because its unusually long nose blocks the view of its pilots. Instead, the aircraft - dubbed the X-59 Quiet Supersonic Transport (artist's impression) - will feature a monitor and camera system

A new in-depth look at the highly anticipated test vehicle, which is also known as the Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator (LBFD), has revealed fresh details on the project.

Peter Iosifidis, Lockheed's X-59 program manager, told CNet that building a craft capable of 'low-sonic-booms' was vital for commercially viable supersonic travel.

Concorde, which was permanently grounded in 2003, could only fly between London, New York and Paris due to government legislation on noise levels.

Mr Iosifidis said: 'If you don't have a low-sonic-boom airplane and you're only traveling fast over the ocean, you're limiting your pair cities for travel.

'The business model to service only a third of the world ultimately doesn't work  you have to satisfy the entire global community.'

The X-59 has several unusual features designed to disperse sound waves as the vehicle breaks the sound barrier.

The 1,100mph (1,770kph) X-59 (artist's impression) will also feature a small, second set of wings positioned slightly ahead of the main pair, it has been revealed

The convergence of these waves is what produced the loud sonic booms of concorde, and scientists believe halting it could dampen the plane's noise levels.

But the X-59's huge nose, which helps separate sound waves during flights, is so long that it obstructs the view of the runway during landing, Mr Iosifidis revealed.

Concorde got around this problem by including a folding nose, but Nasa's aircraft will provide pilots with monitors instead.

The aircraft will also achieve its quieter sonic booms using a second pair of wings.

These so-called 'canards', positioned slightly further forward than the main wings, ensure sound waves produced when the aircraft breaks Mach 1 do not converge.

'A low sonic boom is directly attributable to the shape of an aircraft,' Mr Iosifidis said.

'If the airplane was shorter, we would not be able to separate those shocks like we need to.'

WHAT IS NASA'S 'SON OF CONCORDE' X-PLANE? Nasa is developing a 1,100mph (1,770kph) aircraft that has been dubbed the 'son of Concorde'. The vehicle is the first in a series of aircraft Nasa is developing with Lockheed Martin in a quest to build a commercially viable supersonic jet. It is designed to fly at Mach 1.4 (925 mph / 1,488 kph) at an altitude of 55,000 feet (10 miles). Dubbed the X-59 Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST), the research craft aims to cut out the sonic booms associated with supersonic travel. Pictured is an artist's impression of the Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) low-boom flight demonstrator (LBFD) The aircraft is shaped to separate the shocks and expansions associated with supersonic flight to reduce the volume of the shaped signature, and was developed by Lockheed's Skunk Works over 20 years. The team is hoping to achieve a sonic boom 60 dBA lower than other supersonic aircraft, such as Concorde. Recent research has shown it is possible for a supersonic airplane to be shaped in such a way that the shock waves it forms when flying faster than the speed of sound can generate a sound at ground level so quiet it will hardly will be noticed by the public, if at all. Advertisement

Nasa pilot Jim Less will fire off 'quiet' sonic booms over a small city in Texas this year in a bid to gauge public reaction to the dampened supersonic thuds. Pictured is Less with the F-18 fighter jet aboard which he will perform the research in November

While the X-59 is still under development, the test vehicle could take to the skies for the first time as early as 2021.

Before these flight go ahead, Nasa is investigating whether members of the public are put off by the noise produced by X-59 when it breaks the sound barrier.

The agency announced a series of such tests last month.

Tests scheduled for November will see an F-18 fighter jet conduct a dive manoeuvre off the shores of Galveston, Texas - an island city near Houston.

The plane will dive from almost 50,000 feet (15,200 metres), briefly going supersonic and firing off the sound likely to come from X-59 aircraft.

Nasa is developing the aircraft with Lockheed Martin's aeronautics branch with test flights planned for 2021. The plane is dubbed the Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) low-boom flight demonstrator (artist's impression)

The noise, which Nasa calls a 'sonic thump', should sound more like a car door slamming as opposed to the booms produced by existing supersonic aircraft.

The agency will measure the sounds using sensors on the ground while gathering public reaction through a series of surveys.

Alexandra Loubeau, Nasa's team lead for sonic boom community response research at Langley, said: 'We'll never know exactly what everyone heard.

'We won't have a noise monitor on their shoulder inside their home.

'But we'd like to at least have an estimate of the range of noise levels that they actually heard.'

Originally named the Low-Flight Flight Demonstrator by Nasa, the agency announced last month that the aircraft was to be called X-59 QueSST going forward.

The US Air Force made the name change in-part as a hat tip American X-plane history, which began in 1947 with the world's first supersonic plane, the the Bell X-1.

'For everyone working on this important project, this is great news and we're thrilled with the designation,' Jaiwon Shin, associate administrator for Nasa's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, said in a statement.

The X-59 project aims to cut out the noisy sonic booms that echoed above cities in the era of Concorde, while travelling at speeds of 1,100mph (Mach 1.4 / 1,700 km/h).

The loud booms that rang out whenever a Concorde broke the sound barrier were often described as 'unsettling' by members of the public, which ultimately limited the aircraft to flights over the Atlantic when it began carrying passengers in 1976.

X-59 is designed to stop shockwaves triggered by the movement of air particles when an aircraft breaks the sound barrier from merging - a phenomenon that gives off the telltale sonic boom of supersonic aircraft.

HOW WILL NASA REDUCE THE SOUND OF SONIC BOOMS? In a conventional supersonic aircraft, shockwaves from the nose, cockpit, inlets, wings and other features come together as they move through the atmosphere into strong shocks emanating from the nose and tail. These are known as bow and tail shocks, respectively. As these shockwaves pass over the ground, air pressure rises sharply, declines, then rises rapidly again. It's this that produces the classic 'double-bang' sonic boom. In a conventional supersonic aircraft, shockwaves from the nose, cockpit, inlets, wings and other features come together as they move through the atmosphere into strong shocks emanating from the nose and tail Reshaping the aircraft to produce a longer, more slender shape is the best way to generate shockwaves of lower, more equal strength that do not form into such strong bow and tail shocks. Nasa and other organisations are working on creating shapes to reduce sonic booms. Stretching the nose to break the bow shock into a series of weaker shockwaves is particularly effective. This lowers and spreads that initial pressure peak and softens the first bang of the sonic boom. Advertisement

Nasa hopes to reduce the sound of the sonic boom to a quiet thud, similar to the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance or a neighbour closing their door.

'With the X-59 you're still going to have multiple shockwaves because of the wings on the aircraft that create lift and the volume of the plane,' said Ed Haering, a Nasa aerospace engineer at Nasa's Armstrong Flight Research Center in California.

'But the airplane's shape is carefully tailored such that those shockwaves do not combine.

'Instead of getting a loud boom-boom, you're going to get at least two quiet thump-thump sounds, if you even hear them at all.'

Flights conducted by Nasa in November will study the US public's reactions to 'quiet' supersonic noises above their homes. Pictured is an artist's impression of the Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) low-boom flight demonstrator (LBFD)

Nasa's November tests will produce similar shockwaves using an F-18 fighter jet to conduct sharp manoeuvres in the air.

The aircraft, pilot by Nasa researcher Jim Less, will dive from 49,000 feet (15,000m) and go briefly supersonic before levelling off at 30,000 feet (9,000m).

Shockwaves produced by the manoeuvre will concentrate directly below the aircraft in the form of a very loud, focussed pair of sonic booms.

A few miles from the dive points, the noise quickly trails off as they spread out and weaken.

'The result in that area: a pair of quiet sonic booms  soft thumps, really  which people on the ground, including those Nasa researchers and resident volunteers, might barely notice, if they hear anything at all,' the agency wrote in a statement.

The team hopes to reduce the sound of the sonic boom to a quiet thud, similar to the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance or a neighbour closing their door. This graphic compares the F18 sonic boom to the sonic 'thump' that Nasa aims to achieve in the future

QueSST is the latest addition to the X-series of experimental aircraft and rockets, used to test and evaluate new technologies and aerodynamic concepts.

Their X designation indicates their research mission status within the US system of aircraft naming.

This all dates back to Chuck Yeager's sound-barrier-breaking craft, the X-1, a rocket enginepowered aircraft, designed and built in 1945, that achieved a speed of nearly 1,000 miles per hour (1,600 kmh) in 1948.

Nasa's vision for the X-59 was approved In the latest proposed US budget released by the Office Of Management And Budget In Washington, DC, in February.

WHAT WAS CONCORDE? Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger jet that was operated until 2003. It had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound at Mach 2.04 (1,354mph or 2,180k per hour at cruise altitude) and could seat 92 to 128 passengers. It was first flown in 1969, but needed further tests to establish it as viable as a commercial aircraft. Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger jet that was operated until 2003. It had a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound at Mach 2.04 and could seat 92 to 128 passengers Concorde entered service in 1976 and continued flying for the next 27 years. It is one of only two supersonic transports to have been operated commercially. The other is the Soviet-built Tupolev Tu-144, which ran for a much shorter period of time before it was grounded and retired due to safety and budget issues. Concorde was jointly developed and manufactured by Aerospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) under an Anglo-French treaty. Concorde's name, meaning harmony or union, reflects the cooperation on the project between the United Kingdom and France. In the UK, any or all of the type are known simply as 'Concorde', without an article. Twenty aircraft were built including six prototypes and development aircraft. Air France (AF) and British Airways (BA) each received seven aircraft. The research and development failed to make a profit and the two airlines bought the aircraft at a huge discount. Concorde was retired in 2003 due to a general downturn in the commercial aviation industry after the type's only crash in 2000, the September 11 attacks in 2001, and a decision by Airbus, the successor to Aerospatiale and BAC, to discontinue maintenance support. Advertisement

The space agency was awarded $19.9 billion (14.3bn) for the next year, $500 million (360m) more than the previous year.

It is not known what proportion of this has been allocated for the supersonic aircraft project.

QueSST will be used as a test bed for technologies that could make their way into commercial planes.

Nasa is hoping to see the first flight tests take place in 2022, with public reaction tests to the final aircraft scheduled for the following year.Advertisement

Four new species of extinct parasitic wasps have been discovered in 40 million years in ancient fly pupa.

This is the first time evidence of a parasite living inside another organism has been found in the fossil record.

The fossilised fly pupa containing the parasitic wasps living inside were unearthed in the Quercy region of France and date back around 23 to 60 million years, proving parasitic events took place during the Palaeogene era.

Scientists have named the new wasp species as Xenomorphia resurrecta, Xenomorphia handschini, Coptera anka and Palaeortona quercyensis.

Four species of extinct wasp that lived around 30 to 40 million years ago prove ancient parasitic events existed even during the Palaeogene

Parasites are extremely common in nature, with around half of all organisms on the planet a parasite of some sort.

This is particularly common in the order Hymenoptera, which includes ants, bees and wasps.

According to the authors of the study: 'Many wasp species develop as parasitoids on or within an arthropod host, ultimately causing its death. An estimated 1020 per cent of all extant insects are parasitoid wasps.'

Proof of parasitism is hard to find in the fossil record, despite the prevalence of the creatures, as it requires both partners to be preserved, which is exceptionally rare.

As a consequence the fossilised remains of parasitoid wasps is almost exclusively restricted to a few isolated adults  with a handful of examples of unidentified larvae trapped in amber alongside their hosts.

The only existing evidence of a parasite inside another organism was found in the Quercy region in France during the Palaeogene - which spanned from 23 to 60 million years ago

WHAT IS A PARASITOID? Parasitoids are insects with parasitic larvae that eat their host - usually another insect - from the inside out. They often employ a sharp tool known as an ovipositor to deposit eggs under the skin or exoskeleton of unsuspecting hosts. After a short gestational period, the larvae hatch and begin consuming their host, normally reaching adulthood when the host has died. Parasitoid species are mostly types of bee, wasp and ant, though some species of fly also employ the gruesome technique. The biology of parasitoids has inspired several science fiction authors and scriptwriters to create parasitoidal aliens that kill human hosts, including the infamous Xenomorph in Ridley Scott's 1979 film 'Alien'. Parasitoids are insects with parasitic larvae that eat their host - usually another inset - from the inside out. Pictured is a parasitic wasp that injects larvae into spiders and then sews the host into its nest to pin it down Advertisement

Parasites are extremely common in nature, with around half of all organisms on the planet a parasite of some kind. This is particularly common in the order Hymenoptera - which includes ants, bees and wasps

Analysis of the rare fossils found four never before seen species - Xenomorphia resurrecta, Xenomorphia handschini, Coptera anka and Palaeortona quercyensis

The latest study, conducted by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Karlsruhe, Germany, has revealed the first proof of a parasitic wasp living inside the pupa of another species.

The fossilised wasps were discovered using high-throughput synchrotron X-ray microtomography, which allows scientists to visualise the three-dimensional interior of real objects without damaging their structure.

To do this, scientists beam X-rays through the sample, which are recorded by a detector on the other side to produce radiograph.

The sample is then rotated by a small fraction of a degree and another projection image is taken. This is repeated until the sample has rotated 180 or 360 degrees producing a series of projection images.

The resulting set of projections are reconstructed as two-dimensional layers  or slices  of the entire object.

By stacking these slices together, it is possible to visualise the structure in three dimensions.

Thomas van de Kamp and colleagues at KIT used this method to examine 1,510 fossilised fly pupae unearthed in the Quercy region of France that date back to the Palaeogene geological era, which spans from 66 million years ago to 23 million years ago.

Proof of parasitism is rare in the fossil record despite the prevalence of the creatures as it requires both partners to be preserved, which is exceptionally rare

The small fossils were reanalysed by the researchers using high-throughput synchrotron X-ray microtomography

Checking a three-dimensional visualisation of the inside of the fly pupa, van de Kamp and colleagues identified 55 parasitisation events by the four newly discovered wasp species.

All of the wasps that were discovered developed as solitary parasites inside their hosts.

According to scientists, all four of the species are fully-winged 'indicating the need for dispersal'.

Each of the newly-discovered species have a variety of morphological adaptations tailored to exploit their hosts.

For example, the authors state Coptera anka and Palaeortona quercyensis have specific modifications to their antennae, wings and petiole  the narrow 'waist' that separates the abdomen from the thorax.

This makes the wasp better equipped for a ground-dwelling lifestyle, compared to the two Xenomorphia species.

Meanwhile, the shape of the head of Coptera anka is believed to facilitate a forward-directed movement through leaf litter and other ground associated material.

Further research is needed to determine all of the modifications showcased by the new species.

The research was published in the journal Nature Communications.

Thomas van de Kamp and colleagues from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Karlsruhe, Germany examined the 1,510 fossilised fly pupae from the Palaeogene of France

They identified 55 parasitisation events by the four newly discovered wasp species. All of the wasps that were discovered developed as solitary parasites inside their hosts and have a variety of morphological adaptations tailored to exploit the hosts in one habitat

A wide variety of fossils were discovered from the site in France and analysis of them allowed researchers to inside the fly pupae without having to destroy it

All of the wasps that were discovered developed as solitary parasites inside their hosts and have a variety of morphological adaptations tailored to exploit the hosts in one habitatThe Russian Ministry of Defence has been keen to promote a range of new super weapons currently believed to be in development.

President Putin unveiled a catalogue of doomsday weaponry as part of his annual 'State of the Nation' speech in March 2018.

However, questions remain about the true nature of their capabilities, how far into development the weapons truly are, and when they will be combat-ready.

RS-28 Sarmat ICBM

The RS-28 Sarmat is intended to replace the Soviet-designed SS-18 Voyevoda, the world's heaviest ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile).

It is known as 'Satan' in the West and carries 10 nuclear warheads.

Sarmat can unleash ten large thermonuclear warheads, 16 smaller ones, or a combination of both, according to the Russian Ministry of Defence.

Each warhead is purportedly capable of taking aim at a different target.

The hypersonic glide vehicle, dubbed Avangard, launches atop an intercontinental ballistic missile (IBM) before sailing on top of the atmosphere toward its target. Russia tested its latest IBM, the Sarmat missile, for the first time last year (pictured)

The (ICBM) weapons can strike targets via both the North and South poles.

TV broadcaster Zvezda, which is run by the Russian Ministry of Defence, has previously claimed the missile will be capable of wiping out areas the size of Texas or France.

It is also capable of carrying up to 24 of Russia's new Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles, designed to sit atop of an ICBM.

Putin says both weapons will be combat-ready in 2020.

Avangard Hypersonic Glide Vehicle

Russia is also believed to be developing a hypersonic weapon that can breach even the world's most advanced missile defence systems.

The Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle purportedly travels at 20 times the speed of sound and can hit targets anywhere in the world within half an hour.

The vehicle launches atop an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, before gliding on top of the atmosphere toward its target.

It is loaded with advanced countermeasure systems that allow it to skirt around the latest-generation of missile defence systems, Russia claims.

The vehicles are equipped with onboard countermeasure systems capable of dodging even the most advanced missile defence systems. This artist's impression shows how the glider could manoeuvre at high speed to bypass missile defences

The gliders are also highly unpredictable thanks to their manoeuvrability, making them almost impossible to track using conventional systems.

Each weapon could be loaded with a nuclear warhead, however military experts say the sheer speed of the vehicles means they could do damage even without an explosive payload attached.

Putin described his hypersonic arsenal as 'invincible' during a state-of-the-nation address in March 2018.

He claimed Avangard strikes 'like a meteorite, like a fireball' and was capable of reaching targets at 20 times the speed of sound.

At this speed the weapon could circle the Earth in just over half an hour.

Speaking to MailOnline, Neil Gibson, senior weapons analyst for Jane's by IHS Markit, said: 'I think the ability of hypersonic systems to defeat air-defence system is highly exaggerated.

'They have advantages and disadvantages as per any other weapon system.

'The fact is, the vast majority of ballistic missiles are already hypersonic anyway, it's the controlled flight when still hypersonic that we are talking about here.

'If nuclear armed, they just come under 'mutually assured destruction' style posturing. Using them is always possible of course.

'Conventionally-armed versions are more likely to be used, though any confusion with what they carry - nuclear or conventional warhead - could start an exchange of nuclear weapons if it is mistaken for a nuclear attack.'

Kinzhal Hypersonic Air Launched Missile

Another new missile, the hypersonic Kinzhal, travels at ten times the speed of sound, Putin says.

It is currently undergoing tests in southern Russia.

The hypersonic Kinzhal missile is launched from a high-altitude MiG-31 fighter jet and can be fitted with either nuclear, or conventional weapons.

This still shows the hypersonic Kinzhal, which travels at ten times the speed of sound and is currently undergoing tests in southern Russia

It has an effective range of 1,250 miles (2,000 km), although Putin claims its total range is actually 'unlimited'.

Russia has already conducted some 350 training missions with the military unit tasked with testing the Kinzhal.

Putin claims the new missile would be capable of striking 'anywhere in the world', and that its high speed and manoeuvrability allowed it to pierce any missile defence.

However, despite Putin's major promises, the missile has still not been able to stay airborne for more than a few minutes, according to US intelligence sources.

The new missile has purportedly been tested four times between November and February and crashed every time.

Burevestnik nuclear powered cruise missile

The burevestnik, or thunderbird, nuclear propulsion system for Russian cruise missiles aims to give them 'unlimited range and unlimited ability to manoeuvre', according to Sergey Pertsev, a developer.

Ministry of Defence officials said in July, 2018, that work on the unlimited-range missile is going according to plan.

Footage purported to show the missile in action, although it is unclear whether it was being powered by nuclear or conventional fuel.

The 'Burevestnik' nuclear propulsion system for Russian cruise missiles, pictured, is said to have 'unlimited range and unlimited ability to manoeuvre'

'Launching systems are also being designed, while technological processes to manufacture, assemble and test the missile are being improved,' an official said at the time.

However, experts have criticised the missile, including Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

He told Vice's Motherboard: 'The nuclear-powered cruise missile is newand bats**t crazy.'

Poseidon Drone Submarine

The Poseidon drone submarine is a sister project to burevestnik.

It is essentially a giant, nuclear-capable torpedo capable of carrying a two megaton nuclear warhead capable of obliterating military ports.

The Kremlin's Poseidon torpedo sub is designed to destroy 'enemy navy bases' and will be able to travel up to 70 knots (80 miles per hour), it claims.

Russian state news agency TASS says it has not been able to confirm details of the weapon.

The Poseidon drone submarine - with a miniature nuclear propulsion system - is shown undergoing a static test

However, it quoted a military source as saying: 'It will be possible to mount various nuclear charges on the 'torpedo' of the Poseidon multipurpose seaborne system, with the thermonuclear single warhead similar to the Avangard charge to have the maximum capacity of up to two megatonnes in TNT equivalent.'

With its nuke, the weapon 'is primarily designed to destroy reinforced naval bases of a potential enemy,' the report added.

Peresvet Combat Laser System

Named after a medieval warrior monk, very little is known about this system.

Many believe Peresvet is a jamming system carried on the back of military lorries, which can be used to 'blind' optical electronic equipment inside enemy vehicles using a laser beam.

According to ex-Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov the 'combat laser systems' that Putin addressed in his State of the Nation speech back in March had already been delivered to the nation's armed forces last year.

Many believe Peresvet is a jamming system carried on the back of military lorries (pictured), which can be used to 'blind' optical electronic equipment inside enemy vehicles using a laser beam

Once found only in works of fiction, Mr Borisov said such devices were now a very real and necessary tool of modern warfare.

'We can talk a lot about laser weapons and movies were made about them a long time ago and fantastic books have been written, and everyone knows about this,' Mr Borisov said in comments translated by the state-run Tass Russian News Agency.

But the fact that these systems have started entering service is indeed today's reality.'Advertisement

A California firm has revealed a radical new AI 'pilot assistance' system it hopes could change they way we travel.

SkyRyse says its first craft will begin operations in Tracy, California, in January where it will provide support to the city's emergency response units, including law enforcement, search and rescue missions, and firefighters.

The system will eventually allow helicopters and other vehicles to fly themselves, and its founder hopes to take on Uber and others developing 'flying taxi' services.

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SkyRyse says its first craft will begin operations in Tracy, California, in January providing support to emergency response units. It will eventually allow helicopters and other vehicles to fly themselves.

HOW DOES THE SKYRYSE SYSTEM WORK? SkyRyse has built a first-of-its-kind advanced pilot assistance system (APAS) that combines Artificial Intelligence, a flight perception suite, and decision-making algorithms. SkyRyse's APAS is designed to lessen the pilot's workload and reduce human error, a leading cause of accidents in all modes of transportation, and to work with any FAA-approved vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. Advertisement

'Somewhere in the span of a five to 10 years, it will be possible to request an aircraft that's vertical takeoff and landing capable to a location not too far from your origin or destination,' Mark Groden, CEO and co-founder of SkyRyse, told CNBC.

At 15 Groden, who co-founded SkyRyse with Mitch Adler, built the world's first micro fixed-wing aircraft capable of vertical take-off UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) at a U.S. Air Force research lab that was used by the U.S. military in missions.

He said the goal of the company is to build autonomous flying taxis that are similarly priced to Lyft, Uber or Didi.

'Every year, billions of hours are wasted in traffic and spent following inefficient travel corridors, taxing our well-being and economic productivity.

'We are building an air transportation service that is not limited by today's infrastructure.'

'What began as science fiction is becoming a reality at SkyRyse,' the firm said.

'Soon cars and traffic will be replaced with flights that safely and quickly take us to where we want to be.

'With SkyRyse, we're able to bridge the gap keeping vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) flight from becoming a mainstream, everyday transportation option.'

The firm's first products will focus on emergency response, and it has a partnership with the city of Tracy, California.

It added sensors, radar and cameras to make Tracy's first responder helicopter safer and easier to fly in tough conditions like fog.

The helicopter includes sensors that it would need for autonomous navigation - for example the radar, is similar to the lidar laser sensors on driverless cars, providing a detailed view of the surroundings even in heavy weather.

'Because the stakes are highest in emergency response situations when minutes can mean the difference between life and death, we're launching SkyRyse Emergency Response to support governments and municipalities first, with plans to change how we get around our cities in the future.'

SkyRyse's Air Emergency Response service is available to state and local governments to connect first-responders, law enforcement and firefighters with emergency scenes in minutes, regardless of location.

SkyRyse has built a first-of-its-kind advanced pilot assistance system (APAS) that combines Artificial Intelligence, a flight perception suite, and decision-making algorithms

SkyRyse's APAS is designed to lessen the pilot's workload and reduce human error, a leading cause of accidents in all modes of transportation, and to work with any FAA-approved vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft

The SkyRyse service will include FAA-approved VTOL aircraft equipped with its APAS, a mobile application and a network of highly trained pilots to safely transport emergency responders four-times faster than ground response systems and at a fraction of the price.

'The City of Tracy is always seeking out new, innovative technologies that can bolster the safety and wellness of our community,' said Tracy Police Lieutenant Terry Miller.

'SkyRyse's focus on safety, their world-class team and exceptional technology attracted us to the partnership. SkyRyse's Air Emergency Response service will help us respond to emergencies faster and more affordably.'

The company also announced it has raised $25 million in seed and Series A funding led by Venrock, with participation from Eclipse, Stanford University, Industry Ventures, Trucks VC, Cantos, and Engage Ventures.

The SkyRyse service will include FAA-approved VTOL aircraft equipped with its APAS, a mobile application and a network of highly trained pilots to safely transport emergency responders four-times faster than ground response systems and at a fraction of the price.

'While there's a lot of hype and speculation around the promise of self-driving cars, the future of transportation is in the sky,' said Ethan Batraski of Venrock.

'SkyRyse's team, assisted-flying technology, practical focus and go-to-market strategy put them in an incredible position to help solve our transportation issues.'Twitter has removed another batch of accounts from its platform for participating in what it calls 'coordinated manipulation.'

The social media giant announced late Monday that it had suspended another 486 accounts believed to be linked to Iran's disinformation campaign, bringing the total number of deleted accounts to 770.

Last week, Twitter announced it had taken down 486 accounts that were tied to Iran.

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Twitter has removed another batch of accounts from its platform for participating in what it calls 'coordinated manipulation.' It removed an additional 486 accounts from its site

'Since our initial suspensions last Tuesday, we have continued our investigation, further building our understanding of these networks,' Twitter's safety division wrote in a tweet.

'In addition, we suspended an additional 486 accounts for violating the policies outlined last week.

'That bringing the total suspended to 770,' they continued.

Most of the suspended accounts are believed to be from Iran. Fewer than 100 were located in the US and they tweeted about 867 times, were followed by 1,268 accounts and had joined Twitter less than a year ago.

As with much of the content discovered from fake accounts, they were sharing content meant to sow division between Americans, often touching on inflammatory political issues.

Interestingly, unlike other disinformation campaigns that have involved far-right themes, the content removed by Twitter involved anti-Trump rhetoric.

Other disinformation campaigns have involved far-right themes, but the content removed involved anti-Trump rhetoric. Pictured are examples of tweets from suspended accounts

As with much of the content discovered from fake accounts, they were sharing content meant to sow division between Americans, often touching on inflammatory political issues

For example, one post states 'The exact moment American stopped being "great," and shows a photo of President Donald Trump being sworn in.

Another one of the identified accounts claimed the FBI was blackmailing Trump.

'We identified one advertiser from the newly suspended set that ran $30 in ads in 2017,' Twitter's safety unit noted.

'Those ads did not target the US and the billing address was located outside of Iran.

'We remain engaged with law enforcement and our peer companies on the issue,' they continued.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey recently admitted in an interview with CNN that the company hasn't 'figured out' fake news yet, noting that policing false information is a difficult task

The move comes after Twitter announced last week that it had suspended 284 accounts from its platform, also for engaging in 'coordinated manipulation.'

Shortly before it, Facebook said it had removed 652 pages, groups and accounts that were tied to Russia and Iran.

Facebook and Twitter worked with cybersecurity firm FireEye to identify the suspicious accounts.

'These were networks of accounts that were misleading people about who they were and what they were doing,' CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a call with reporters.

'We ban this kind of behavior because authenticity matters. People need to be able to trust the connections they make on Facebook.'

Google also removed 58 accounts from YouTube, Google+ and other sites that were linked to Iran.

WHAT ARE TWITTER'S POLICIES? Graphic violence and adult content The company does not allow people to post graphic violence. This could be any form of gory media related to death, serious injury, violence, or surgical procedures. Adult content - that includes media that is pornographic and/or may be intended to cause sexual arousal - is also banned. Some form of graphic violence and adult content is allowed in Tweets marked as containing sensitive media. However, these images are not allowed in profile or header images. Twitter may sometimes require users to remove excessively graphic violence out of respect for the deceased and their families. Unlawful use The platform is not allowed to be used to further illegal activities. Badges Users are not allowed to use badges, including but not limited to the 'promoted' or 'verified' Twitter badges, unless provided by Twitter. Accounts using unauthorised badges as part of their profile photos, header photos, display names, or in any way that falsely implies affiliation with Twitter or authorisation from Twitter to display these badges, may be suspended. Usernames Users may not buy or sell Twitter usernames. Username squatting - when people take the name of a trademark company or a celebrity - is not allowed. Twitter also has the right to remove accounts that are inactive for more than six months. Abusive behaviour Context matters when evaluating for abusive behaviour and determining appropriate enforcement actions. Factors we may take into consideration include whether the behaviour is targeted at an individual; the report has been filed by the target of the abuse or a bystander or the behaviour is newsworthy and in the legitimate public interest. Users may not make specific threats of violence or wish for the serious physical harm, death, or disease of an individual or group of people. This includes, but is not limited to, threatening or promoting terrorism. Users may not promote or encourage suicide or self-harm. Users may not promote child sexual exploitation. Users may not direct abuse at someone by sending unwanted sexual content, objectifying them in a sexually explicit manner, or otherwise engaging in sexual misconduct. Users may not use hateful images or symbols in your profile image or profile header. Private information Users may not publish or post other people's private information without their express authorisation and permission. Users may not post or share intimate photos or videos of someone that were produced or distributed without their consent. Users may not threaten to expose someone's private information or intimate media. Source: Twitter Advertisement

Domain ownership information and other evidence was 'strongly linked' to Iran's state broadcaster, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, the firm said.

It comes as Twitter, Google, Facebook and others face growing scrutiny from users, experts and lawmakers to ramp up security efforts ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.

All of them have struggled to deal with the spread of false information and fake accounts on their platforms.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey recently admitted in an interview with CNN that the company hasn't 'figured out' fake news yet, noting that policing false information is a difficult task.

Additionally, Dorsey is set to testify before a U.S. House of Representatives committee on Sept. 5 about how Twitter monitors and polices content.Canada's Iron Curtain Cave  so called because of its bountiful iron deposits  could hold the key to beating superbugs.

The cave system, near Chilliwack in British Columbia, is home to ancient bacteria undisturbed by the outside world.

Researchers are testing hundreds of them - and have already found two that are multi-drug-resistant microbial strains that could be used to create a new breed of antibiotics that can beat superbugs.

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Inside Canada's Iron Curtain Cave: The researchers have been taking swabs from the cave system to try and discover the ancient bacteria within it. Pictured: (A) Site #4: The Octopus Room; (B,C) Site #7: with two types of speleothem common to the cave; soda straws and bacon; (D) The Curtain made of calcium carbonate; (E) Soil sediment containing iron as well as some more geographical features unique to the cave

Of these 100, 12.3 per cent were unknown, and may even be completely new bacteria.

In 2016, biologists at Indiana University estimated that 99.9999 per cent of all microbial species, around a trillion different species, are still to be discovered.

Samples are obtained in the caves using forceps or cotton swabs by researchers or professional cavers, then transported to the lab in containment vessels containing agar, and kept at 12 C, to mimic cave conditions to help keep the microorganisms alive.

Bacteria found within the caves. Researchers say the hardest thing is working out how to grow them outside of the unique cave environment. (F) media plates that were exposed for nine months in the cave; (G) 'popcorn' structures found in the cave

One of the biggest problems facing researchers is how to keep the bacteria alive and growing in the lab.

'It's a shot in the dark,' Naowarat (Ann) Cheeptham, a microbiologist at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia who is leading the research, told Wired.

'We don't know what type of media each bacterium would like to grow on,'

'I have to guess what kind of biological, physical and chemical factors they like, then try to mimic that in the lab. It's never 100 per cent, and we miss a lot of things a lot of the time.'

However, the team has had notable success.

'Two species of the genus Streptomyces exhibited a wide range of antimicrobial activities against multidrug resistance (MDR) strains of Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas spp. along with non-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli,' the team wrote in 2016.

Bacteria from the cave: These are two of the samples researchers found seen under heavy magnification

'We find microbes in that soil,' Cheeptham told Al Jazeera.

'Pristine organisms that haven't contacted surface life in any way. When we put them in contact with drug resistance bacteria, we get fascinating results.'

The Iron Curtain Cave is located near Chilliwack, British Columbia on the north side of Chipmunk Ridge

The soil and dirt in those subterranean nooks are fuelling Cheeptham's search for treatments to kill superbugs.

The Iron Curtain Cave is located near Chilliwack, British Columbia on the north side of Chipmunk Ridge

The cave system, near Chilliwack in British Columbia, is home to ancient bacteria undisturbed by the outside world

Last year a team of researchers has discovered a 'superbug' bacterium at the bottom of a 1,000 feet (300m) deep cave that is resistant to 70 per cent of modern antibiotics.

But the bacteria have remained isolated from humans, society, and antibiotic drugs for four million years.

The ancient bacteria are able to completely inactivate some of the most effective drugs available to modern medicine.

And the bacteria's defensive internal machinery has been around for millions of years.

A team of researchers has discovered a bacteria 'superbug' at the bottom of a 1,000 feet (300m) deep cave that is resistant to 70 per cent of modern antibiotics. Pictured is an illustration of E.coli, a common bacteria which can also become resistant to antibiotics

They developed it over years of chemical warfare with other bacteria in a longstanding fight for nutrients.

The finding negates the theory that bacteria only develop resistance to antibiotics when directly exposed to them.

According to Dr Hazel Barton, a microbiologist at Ohio's University of Akron, who helped find the bacteria, the team's finding has: 'Changed our understanding because it means antibiotic resistance didn't evolve in the clinic through our use.

'The resistance is hard-wired,' she told NPR.

Dr Barton and her team found the super-resistant bug inside Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico.

The cave is one of the most inhospitable places on Earth, and is the deepest limestone cave in the continental US  1,632 feet at its lowest point.

It is so deep that it never sees the sun

Water takes around 10,000 years to reach the bottom from the surface.

The finding negates the theory that bacteria only develop resistance to antibiotics when directly exposed to them. According to lead researcher Dr Hazel Barton, the resistance is 'hard-wired'. (Stock image)

These incredibly harsh conditions mean that food is scarce, leading to a brutal war raged between bacterial colonies as they attempt to steal one another's precious resources.

Through the brutal underground chemical warfare between colonies of bacteria, the natural resistance to most of the 'last resort' antibiotics developed.

'About 99.9 percent of all the antibiotics that we use come from microorganisms, from bacteria and fungi,' Dr Barton says.

'They are constantly lobbing these chemical missiles at each other.

'And so if you're going to live in that environment you have to have a good defense.'

However, some antibiotics are man-made.

'The bacteria in the cave have never been exposed to these antibiotics,' Dr Barton says.

'So they're still sensitive them.'

The ancient bacterium, called Paenibacillus, is not pathogenic, so cannot harm humans.

The scientists hope that the bacteria will help them to develop new ways of fighting resistance.

'People are like, 'Oh no! It's a superbug!' says Dr Barton.

'But I prefer to call it a hero bug.'More than a dozen human rights groups and other advocacy organizations urged Google to abandon any plans to build a censored version of its search engine in China.

The project, said to be referred to internally as Dragonfly, 'would represent an alarming capitulation by Google on human rights,' argued a letter signed by 14 groups including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders.

The letter is addressed to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and comes after weeks of internal revolt at the company, wherein employees have expressed outrage over the firm's rumored plans to launch a censored search engine in China.

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More than a dozen human rights groups and other advocacy organizations urged Google to abandon any plans to build a censored version of its search engine in China

CHINESE INTERNET CRACKDOWN While China is home to the world's largest number of internet users, a 2015 report by US think tank Freedom House found that the country had the most restrictive online use policies of 65 nations it studied, ranking below Iran and Syria. But China has maintained that its various forms of web censorship are necessary for protecting its national security. It has cracked down on VPNs after the passing of a controversial cybersecurity bill last November that tightened restrictions on online freedom of speech and imposed new rules on service providers. Since the regulation took effect this June, authorities have closed dozens of celebrity gossip blogs and issued new rules around online video content to eliminate programmes deemed offensive. Advertisement

The groups said Google employees and whistle-blowers speaking out against the Dragonfly project should be protected by the company.

'Google risks becoming complicit in the Chinese government's repression of freedom of speech and other human rights in China,' the letter read.

'Google should heed the concerns raised by human rights groups and its own employees and refrain from offering censored search services in China.'

Cynthia Wong of Human Rights Watch said Google 'has failed to explain how it will shield users from the Chinese government's efforts to monitor and suppress dissent.'

Other organizations signing the letter include Access Now, Article 19, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Human Rights in China, International Service for Human Rights, PEN International, Privacy International and Witness.

Google hasn't publicly commented on the existence of such a project.

However, audio obtained from a staff meeting by the New York Times included Pichai talking about doing more business in China.

He noted that Google was 'not close to launching a search product in China.'

Google withdrew its search engine from China eight years ago due to censorship and hacking but it is now working on a project for the country codenamed Dragonfly, an employee told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The letter, which was signed by 14 human rights groups, addressed to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and comes after weeks of internal revolt at the company, wherein employees have expressed outrage over the firm's rumored plans to launch a censored search engine in China

The search projectwhich works like a filter that sorts out certain topicscan be tested within the company's internal networks, according to the worker.

Programmers and engineers at the company have created several versions of an Android app, called 'Maotai' and 'Longfei,' one of which has been presented to the Chinese government.

Should it be approved by government officials, a final version could be launched as soon as the next six to nine months.

The app would have to comply with China's rigid censorship laws, which would mean restricting access to content that government officials consider unfavorable, according to the Information, which first reported the rumored project.

Search terms about human rights, democracy, religion and peaceful protests will be blocked from the app.

Programmers and engineers at the company have created several versions of an Android app, called 'Maotai' and 'Longfei,' one of which has been presented to the Chinese government

When someone uses the search engine, banned websites won't be included in the first page of search results, with websites like BBC and Wikipedia part of a list of banned sites.

Although Google has not commented publicly on the plans, some reports said the company has described the effort as exploratory.

'We provide a number of mobile apps in China, such as Google Translate and Files Go, help Chinese developers, and have made significant investments in Chinese companies like JD.com,' spokesman Taj Meadows told AFP when news of Dragonfly broke early this month.

'But we don't comment on speculation about future plans.'

US internet titans have long struggled with doing business in China, home of a 'Great Firewall' that blocks politically sensitive content, such as the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and The New York Times website are blocked in China, but Microsoft's Bing search engine continues to operate.Letter writing may be a dying art, but researchers say writing someone a thank you note makes both parties feel better.

Researchers at the The University of Texas at Austin asked participants, in three different experiments, to write a letter of gratitude to someone who's done something nice for them and then anticipate the recipient's reaction.

In each experiment, letter writers overestimated how awkward recipients would feel about the gesture and underestimated how surprised and positive recipients would feel.

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Texas researchers found letter writers overestimated how awkward recipients would feel about the gesture and underestimated how surprised and positive recipients would feel

The researchers say what is significant about the research and its results is that thank-you notes and letters of gratitude should be written and sent more often.

'What we saw is that it only takes a couple of minutes to compose letters like these, thoughtful ones and sincere ones,' said Kumar.

'It comes at little cost, but the benefits are larger than people expect.'

Kumar says anxiety about what to say or fear of their gesture being misinterpreted causes many people to shy away from expressing genuine gratitude.

In one experiment they asked expressers to rate their own competence in saying thanks, along with questions about whether recipients would judge the letter as warm and sincere.

'We found that expressers may worry inordinately about how they are expressing gratitude  their ability to articulate the words 'just right'  whereas recipients are focused more on warmth and positive intent,' the authors wrote.

'When we're thinking about ourselves, we tend to think about how competent we are  are we going to be articulate in how we're expressing gratitude,' says Kumar.

That view may create an 'unwarranted barrier' to expressing gratitude more often in everyday life, the researchers say.

'Researchers have known for 15 years that gratitude improves well-being.

'There's lots of work done on this already.

'What was interesting to me is that even though it's something that's well-known, people still don't express gratitude all that often.'iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- Justice Department official Bruce Ohr appeared on Capitol Hill Tuesday for a closed-door interview with the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees as part of the investigation into FBI decision-making during the 2016 presidential election.



Republicans, who have questioned the origins of special counsel Robert Muellers investigation, have honed in on Ohr and his ties to Christopher Steele, the former British Spy contracted by political research firm Fusion GPS to dig into Donald Trumps alleged ties to Russia in 2016.



"We've seen his notes. We've read his notes. We realize now that it was not just a casual contact, that he was having multiple contacts with Christopher Steele and Glenn Simpson with Fusion GPS," Rep. Mark Meadows, R-North Carolina, told reporters Tuesday morning.



As ABC News has previously reported, Ohr, whose decades of work for the Justice Department focused on organized crime, had a prior relationship with Steele through professional circles.



Trump has called Ohr a "creep" and threatened to revoke his security clearance, while Republicans have also seized on the fact that Ohrs wife, Nellie, a Russian linguist, was hired by Fusion GPS.



While the House is out of session for August recess, several Republican members of Congress -- including Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, who is on the ballot in his state's primary Tuesday -- traveled to Washington for the interview with Ohr.



Democrats, who were represented by committee staff in the interview, have accused Republicans of targeting Ohr and the FBI's actions in 2016 to discredit the Mueller investigation.



Republicans who participated in the interview Tuesday said Ohrs testimony suggested that the FBI had doubts about the credibility of the dossier and its allegations about Trump when they sought surveillance of former Trump campaign official Carter Page in October 2016.



They have previously argued that the FBI improperly relied on the dossier to seek surveillance of Page, whom the FBI believed was recruited by the Russian government.



"I think that's what we're learning, that well into president-elect Trump's period, they were continuing to use false evidence to maintain surveillance effectively on the president," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, told reporters.



According to a letter from Sen. Chuck Grassleys office, Ohr first met with the FBI on Nov. 22, 2016, a month after the Page surveillance request was submitted to the FISA court.



Democrats say the FISA application and the requests to renew the secret surveillance to an intelligence court - made public earlier this summer after media outlets submitted Freedom of Information requests -indicated that law enforcement officials followed proper procedure and had reasons to believe Page was a Russian agent.



Republicans have said the FBI didnt adequately reveal the political nature of the dossier allegations that were referenced in the surveillance requests, though the FBI said in its application that the "U.S. person" hired to research "Candidate #1s" links to Russia "was likely looking for information that could be used to discredit" the candidate's (Donald Trumps) campaign.



Ohr did not comment to reporters when he arrived for his interview Tuesday, or when he left for a break midday. Ohr left shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday and did not speak to reporters as he left.



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Advertisement

As dream properties go, they don't get much dreamier than a private island in French Polynesia.

Nine-and-a-half-acre Motu Teta - in Tahitian it means 'far away isle' - is on the market for 2.5million, which is a lot, but for that you will own a slice of South Pacific paradise.

Amazing images show that the island has gorgeous white sandy beaches, plenty of lush greenery and is surrounded by mesmerising turquoise waters.

Nine-and-a-half-acre Motu Teta - in Tahitian it means 'far away isle' - is on the market for 2.5million, which is a lot, but for that you will own a slice of South Pacific paradise

Amazing images show that the island has gorgeous white sandy beaches, plenty of lush greenery and is surrounded by mesmerising turquoise waters

Motu Teta is located 211 miles from Papeete in the Commune of Tiputa, which sits within the Rangiroa atoll

The current accommodations on the island include an owner's bungalow and a guest beach bungalow, caretaker's accommodations and a utility building

Courtesy of YourDreamIsland

Other stunning shots show the sun setting against the backdrop of the palm trees and a luxury bungalow that comes with the island.

Motu Teta is located 211 miles from Papeete in the Commune of Tiputa, which sits within the Rangiroa atoll.

It is listed for sale on www.vladi-private-islands.de.

'If you've ever dreamed of owning your own island in a South Pacific tropical paradise, covered in lush palms, cooled by gentle breezes, surrounded by warm tropical waters teeming with exotic corals and sea life, then your dream could possibly come true,' states the listing.

It is listed for sale on www.vladi-private-islands.de. The listing on the site says: 'If you've ever dreamed of owning your own island in a South Pacific tropical paradise, covered in lush palms, cooled by gentle breezes, surrounded by warm tropical waters teeming with exotic corals and sea life, then your dream could possibly come true'

This amazing aerial shot shows how the accommodation on the island nestles among lush palms

'Trusted staff keep the grounds and the buildings in top shape and tourist operation guarantees extra income, if so desired,' the listing states

Basic supplies, restaurants and shopping, as well as gourmet foods from France and around the world, are available in Papeete

The island really is miles from anywhere, as this map shows. It's a true castaway location

Motu Teta offers a jaw-dropping getaway

'Motu Teta is covered in coconut palms and bordered by the warm waters of the turquoise lagoon.

'For the discrete private individual looking for a personal escape, or an ideal resort location, Motu Teta is ideal.

'Trusted staff keep the grounds and the buildings in top shape and tourist operation guarantees extra income, if so desired.

'The current accommodations include an owner's bungalow and a guest beach bungalow, caretaker's accommodations and a utility building. Fresh rain water is collected in the cistern and electricity is generated by two generators and some solar panels.'

Flights from Los Angeles and other international cities arrive in Papeete daily.

A one-hour local flight brings you to Rangiroa, then a short lagoon boat ride brings you to Motu Teta.

Basic supplies, restaurants and shopping, as well as gourmet foods from France and around the world, are available in Papeete.The Block's Sara and Hayden Vale were left furious after their bathroom was branded 'ugly' and 'dated' by the judges on Sunday night's episode.

In an interesting development the controversial Blockheads revealed the most bizarre place they've ever had sex in is a 'public bathroom.'

Speaking to KIIS FM's Kyle and Jackie 'O' show on Tuesday morning, Hayden, 45, revealed the couple have enjoyed sexual escapades 'in a bathroom somewhere' during the pair's appearance on the Sydney radio program.

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The Block's Sara (left) and Hayden Vale (right) reveal the most bizarre place they've ever had sex... and it's in a 'public bathroom!' The couple pictured in their renovated bathroom on The Block 2018

Sara, 31, and Hayden were quizzed about the 'weirdest place they've had sex' during the 'Cost of Love' radio segment, which gauges how well couples know each other.

'Definitely been in a bathroom somewhere!' Hayden remarked.

'When you say public bathroom...where?' Jackie 'O' Henderson probed.

'Definitely been in a bathroom somewhere!' Speaking to KIIS FM's Kyle and Jackie 'O' show on Tuesday morning, Hayden, 45, revealed the couple have enjoyed sexual escapades 'in a bathroom somewhere' during the pair's appearance on the Sydney radio program

Hayden explained the married couple 'usually' get frisky in the bathroom of a 'restaurant.'

Next the radio hosts unveiled the Sydney mother's pre-recorded answer to see if it matched up with her partners.

'We do it at weddings a lot!' the brunette reality TV star answered.

Frisky: Hayden (left) explained the married couple 'usually' get frisky in the bathroom of a 'restaurant.' The couple pictured during their appearance on The Kyle and Jackie 'O' show on Tuesday morning

'You're doing it at other people's weddings and you're doing it at restaurants!' Shock jock, Kyle Sandilands, 47,(pictured) reacted to the Blockheads sexual revelation during the 'Cost of Love' radio segment on Tuesday

'You're doing it at other people's weddings and you're doing it at restaurants!' shock jock Kyle Sandilands, 47, exclaimed.

The couple's rather amusing admission comes after Sara sensationally quit the Channel Nine renovation show on Sunday after her bathroom was criticised by the judges.

After scoring just 22 points, Sara tearfully explained that she and husband Hayden 'put their heart and soul' into the renovation and resented being bottom of the leader board 'three weeks in a row'.

Tears and tantrums: Sara (right) and her husband Hayden (left) were left furious after finishing in last place because the judges did not like their bathroom renovation on Sunday night's episode of The Block

Judges Neale Whitaker, Shaynna Blaze and John McGrath were initially blown away by the spectacular golden brass bath tub - but it all went downhill when they turned their attention to other fixtures.

The modern bathroom featured a black and grey colour palette, which John described as overwhelming.

'There's too much black - black cabinetry, black tap ware, black basins. For me, it brings you down,' he said during the judges' critique.

Bold design: The modern bathroom featured a black and grey colour palette, which judge John McGrath described as overwhelming

Criticism: Furthermore, the judges said the layout of the bathroom was impractical and 'ugly'

Glowing reviews: Judges Neale Whitaker, Shaynna Blaze and John McGrath were initially blown away by the spectacular golden brass bath tub - but it all went downhill when they turned their attention to other fixtures

Unique: The bathroom also had three black walls, which Neale described as 'drab'. It also had white and grey tiles, an oversized glass shower screen, a visible toilet and two hand basins with round mirrors above

Too harsh? Judges Neale Whitaker (left), Shaynna Blaze (centre) and John McGrath (right) were unimpressed by Sara and Hayden's efforts and subsequently, the couple finished last

The bathroom also had three black walls, which Neale described as 'drab', white and grey tiles, an oversized glass shower screen, a visible toilet and two hand basins with round mirrors above.

The judges said the layout was impractical and 'ugly'.

'There's a lot of money in this bathroom,' said Shaynna.

'When we first walked in, I did see the toilet straight away.'

'[The shower screen] is a little bit too close you're like, 'Oh there's glass there, I have to move', so it felt a little bit uncomfortable to start with.'

Each team is renovating luxury apartment spaces at the infamous Gatwick hotel in Melbourne.

They are all competing to win $100,000, in addition to any profits made during auction.

Winning bathroom: South Australians Kerrie, 48, and Spence, 46, won with a total score of 27.5

The final scores were: Bianca and Carla - 27; Norm and Jess - 23; Hayden and Sara - 22, Courtney and Hans - 24; and winners Kerrie and Spence - 27.5.

After learning that they had come last, Sara and Hayden criticised the producers backstage and tearfully quit the show.

'I'll make it quick, I'm not coming back... Again, after everything... last?' Sara wept.

'You've got to be kidding me? This is f**king embarrassing. We put our heart and soul into that!'

She continued: 'I'm going, I'm not coming back... take your f**king mics. If we're gonna constantly come last and be embarrassed, why would I want to be here? That bathroom did not deserve to be last.'In late May, Em Rusciano faced off against 2DayFM management following a horror week which saw staffers publicly branded her 'toxic'.

Sensational claims had emerged that several 2DayFM employees quit their jobs after refusing to work with the hot-headed radio personality.

And in a blog post on Monday, the 39-year-old was characteristically unrepentant and insisted that women have a right to express their anger.

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'I've been called aggressive, unappealing and scary': Em Rusciano (pictured) has revealed she is 'no longer trying to ignore her anger'... after being accused of creating a toxic workplace

In her blog, Em addressed a recent viral news article about a bridezilla named 'Susan' who cancelled her wedding and branded the guests 'c**ts' because they refused to pay $1,500 to attend.

Reflecting on the story, she wrote: 'In the past, I've been called aggressive, unappealing and scary, so I tried to ignore my anger as to make myself more palatable.

'But this year, with the uprise of women finally feeling safe to express their honest emotions, I've learned how to give myself permission to be p***ed off.'

Speaking up: In a blog post this week, Em addressed a recent viral news article about a bridezilla named 'Susan' who cancelled her wedding and branded the guests 'c**ts' because they refused to pay $1,500 to attend

She continued: 'Ladies, if you're feeling like a s**tstorm is brewing, I encourage you to get to know your anger. Acknowledge it, sit with it. Express it in a safe way. Wear it bravely when you feel it. But don't bottle it up and don't ignore it.'

In May, the pregnant mother-of-two spoke candidly about her public image and workplace attitude, describing herself as 'impatient, mean and a b**ch'.

Speaking to comedian Will Anderson on his Wilosophy podcast, Em admitted that her mood could indeed 'turn' if she feels taken advantage of.

She revealed: 'Something just goes in my eyes and I become a different person. So I'm not very good at crescendoing my moods.'

Right to be angry? Reflecting on the story, she wrote: 'In the past, I've been called aggressive, unappealing and scary, so I tried to ignore my anger as to make myself more palatable'

'I know that there is a perception of me and I'm hyper-aware of it and I think I'm in a self-fulfilling prophesy with that idea of me... is that I'm difficult or that I'm a diva or I'm to work with or I'm just hard work in general,' Em explained.

She also took aim at the press, describing the media in Sydney as a 'bunch of c**ts'.

That same month, The Daily Telegraph claimed that 'several people' had departed 2DayFM's Em, Grant & Ed radio show while others were seeking new employment.

A source allegedly said: 'Things are at breaking point, people just cannot work with her [Em's] energy. There have been... casualties at the hands of Em Rusciano.'

She continued: 'Ladies, if you're feeling like a s**tstorm is brewing, I encourage you to get to know your anger. Acknowledge it, sit with it. Express it in a safe way. Wear it bravely when you feel it. But don't bottle it up and don't ignore it'

They added: 'The audio producer is now working on another show, the publicist is refusing to work with her and one of the producers has told the company that they are looking for other work.'

Meanwhile, Em insisted that she isn't a 's**t person' during her podcast interview with Will.

She did acknowledge, however, that she isn't always easy to work with.

'I'm impatient and I'm mean and I'm a b'**ch and I'm not a team player. I'm s**t in a team,' she said.

Em has two children - Marchella, 16, and Odetta, 11 - with husband Scott Barrow. She is expecting the couple's first boy.

Family first: Em has two children, Marchella (right), 16, and Odetta (left), 11. She is currently expecting a baby boySister Wives star Kody Brown has opened up about his family's trek from Las Vegas, Nevada to Flagstaff, Arizona in a new interview.

'We moved to heaven, but we're in living hell right now,' Kody, 49, told the AP of his moving efforts, the family's second in seven years since they left Utah in 2011 amid legal issues liked to their polygamist lifestyle.

'Utah is hostile toward polygamists,' he said. 'There is a very natural and subtle discrimination from the public because of those anti-polygamy laws.'

United front: The Browns - (L-R) Robyn, Christine, Kody, Janelle and Meri - are seeking to build on a four-acre lot in Flagstaff

Brown made it clear he's optimistic that Flagstaff will provide a tolerant atmosphere for his family, with local culture and politics leaning toward equality and diversity.

'Let's just say there's a lot of hippies in Flagstaff, and they're awesome,' said Kody, who in June plunked down $820,000 for a four-lot property that's spread across nearly 15 acres, with the intent to build atop it. (The family is currently renting in town.)

Brown said he and his family, who say they are fundamentalist Mormons, would not entertain a return to Utah due to laws that prohibit bigamy, as people who are wed cannot legally have an additional 'spiritual spouse' residing with them.

Authorities in Flagstaff addressed the situation swirling around the town's newest high-profile residents, making clear Kody was in no legal jeopardy due to the fact he's legally wed to Robyn Brown. (He's 'spiritually married' to her sister wives Meri, Janelle and Christine.)

Looking to the future: Kody said he's encouraged by the atmosphere of tolerance he's witnessed in Flagstaff

United front: The family, seen here in 2010, has moved twice in the past seven years

Locals in the desert community had mixed reactions to the latest additions to the community in speaking with the AP.

Michael Reidy said there was a concern the area would become overrun with camera crews, fans and media amid the family's move there.

'Everyone has the same concern: "Is this going to turn into a circus?"' he said. 'Most of us don't think it will, but that will be the fear.'

Jessie Luckey, who said she's a fan of the series, said she didn't want the culture of polygamy in the community, as she believes it would be 'normalizing a behavior [she doesn't] think should be normalized.'

Sister Wives' eighth season is slated to premiere early next year on TLC.A standalone film about DC Comics villain Joker is set to start filming next month.

And on Monday, it was announced that Alec Baldwin is joining the cast of the movie that stars Joaquin Phoenix in the title role.

Baldwin, 60, has been tapped to play Thomas Wayne, the father of Bruce Wayne AKA Batman, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

New role: Alec Baldwin is joining the cast of Joaquin Phoenix's standalone Joker movie, it was announced on Monday. He's tapped to play Batman's dad Thomas Wayne

The Warner Bros. movie is described as a darker take on the DC Comics clown prince of crime than has been seen in previous Batman films.

It will explore the origins of the Joker and be more of a character study than crime thriller, THR.com reported.

As for the Thomas Wayne character, the trade publication quotes sources that claim the script paints Batman's father as 'a cheesy and tanned businessman who is more in the mold of a 1980s Donald Trump.'

Baldwin, of course, has famously portrayed Trump on NBC's Saturday Night Live and received his second Emmy nomination for it this year.

Sources told THR.com the script paints Thomas Wayne as 'a cheesy and tanned businessman who is more in the mold of a 1980s Donald Trump.' Baldwin plays Trump on SNL, pictured

Not a joke: Phoenix is starring in what's being described as a darker take on the DC Comics clown prince of crime than has been seen in previous Batman films

Gritty: The film, being directed by Todd Phillips, is being billed as an exploration of the origins of The Joker and be more of a character study than crime thriller, THR.com reported

He joins already announced castmembers Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz and Marc Maron in the feature being directed by Todd Phillips.

Phillips, who has co-written the screenplay with Scott Silver, is best known for his comedies including Old School, Starsky & Hutch and The Hangover series.

Principal photography is scheduled two begin in two weeks.

Gravitas: Robert De Niro has already been cast in the standalone Joker movie that is scheduled to start principal photography in two weeks timeKourtney Kardashian and Sofia Richie had a bikini battle in Mexico over the weekend.

The ladies were spotted rocking nearly identical coral swimsuits as they enjoyed some fun in the sun during their separate getaways.

Kourtney, 39, caught some rays in a skimpy bright two piece in Cabo, and on Wednesday continued all the fun as she posted several snaps of herself posed up alongside her 'crib.'

Strike a pose: Kourtney Kardashian wore a tiny coral bikini during her getaway to gorgeous Cabo over the weekend

'welcome to my crib, Mexico edition,' she captioned the seductive snaps.

Kourtney was spotted over the weekend enjoying her girls' getaway in the bold bikini as she wore her hair in a ponytail while shading her eyes behind a cool pair of sleek sunglasses.

Sofia, 20, meanwhile, was seen Friday wearing a bikini that was nearly identical to the one Kourtney had been wearing.

The daughter of Lionel Richie was vacationing with boyfriend Scott Disick, who previously was in a long-term relationship with Kourtney.

'Welcome to my crib, Mexico edition': The reality star captioned the seductive snaps

Life's a beach! The daughter of Lionel Richie frolicked around the beach at Joe Francis' Casa Amaro with boyfriend Scott Disick, who previously was in a long-term relationship with Kourtney

Sofia and Scott and his kids - Mason, eight, Penelope, six, and Reign, three - vacationed at his Girls Gone Wild creator pal Joe Francis' private beach side estate, Casa Aramara, in Punta Mita, where the Kardashians have long been regular guests.

In helping out with the childcare, Sofia was stepping in for Scott's ex, Kourtney, who coincidentally was also in Mexico.

And with her long brunette hair, slender petite frame and delicate features, Sofia, who turned 20 on Friday, was a double for the reality star.

Even her neon orange high-cut bikini could have been taken from Kourtney's collection, with the mother-of-three wearing a strikingly similar one on her own vacation.She traded her glamorous lifestyle to try and learn the ways of the land.

But Megan McKenna's time on Celebs On The Farm was cut short, as she was the second star to be eliminated from the 5STAR show.

Having failed to do well in a disastrous challenge, which saw them milking cows, the reality star, 25, was given the boot by farmer Chris, much to the public's chagrin.

Celebs On The Farm: Megan McKenna was the second star to be eliminated after disastrous miking challenge on Monday night's episode

Despite the elimination, Megan had clearly captured the hearts of the viewers, as they flocked to Twitter in their droves to lament the loss.

One user wrote: 'You won in my eyes girl @Megan_Mckenna_ you done absolutely amazing. Hope people realise what a lovely person you really are.'

Another said: '@Megan_Mckenna_ ahhh so so sorry Megan do done brilliant on celebs on the farm you should be proud of your self xxx (sic).'

Megan's co-star Charlotte was one of the first to express her sadness over Megan's elmination, as she wrote: 'can't believe my girl has left me @megan_mckenna_ on the farm noooo made a friend 4lyf... my Paris to my nicole. We never stop laughing. Love you lots (sic).'

Upset: Despite the elimination, Megan had clearly captured the hearts of the viewers, as they flocked to Twitter in their droves to lament the loss

The group of celebrities were tasked with learning how to attach machines to cow's udders in order to milk them properly.

But Megan struggled with the task, fearing that the cows would react badly as she said: 'I cant do it, its not going to kick my face is it? I cant, Im really s**t at it. I cant.'

After abandoning her post and admitting she wasn't up to the task, her fellow contestant Louie Spence jumped in to give her some advice.

Offering to assist her by taking her through the process step-by-step, the dancer reassured her as they put the machine on the animal's udders together.

But that wasn't the end of the reality star's woes, as the group were also tasked with cleaning up excrement out of the animal's pens which made her feel nauseous.

Tough job: The group of celebrities were tasked with learning how to attach machines to cow's udders in order to milk them properly

Struggling: But Megan struggled with the task, fearing that the cows would react badly as she said: 'I cant do it, its not going to kick my face is it? I cant, Im really s**t at it. I cant'

Unhappy: But that wasn't the end of the reality star's woes, as the group were also tasked with cleaning up excrement out of the animal's pens which made her feel nauseous

With Megan now out of the farm, she leaves behind a host of stars battling it out to be crowned the ultimate farmhand.

Also appearing on the show has been Ex On The Beach's Charlotte Dawson, Pineapple Dance Studios star Louis Spence and TOWIE's Bobby Norris.

Also mucking out in the Sussex countryside is former Strictly Come Dancing professional Gleb Savchenko, actress Lorraine Chase and British Judo Champion Ashley McKenzie.

Celebs on the Farm airs weekdays on 5STAR at 10pm

Helping hand: Offering to assist her by taking her through the process step-by-step, Louie reassured her as they put the machine on the animal's udders together

Out of the running: With Megan now out of the farm, she leaves behind a host of stars battling it out to be crowned the ultimate farmhandNoah Centineo's Instagram account was hacked late Sunday.

Once the To All The Boys I Lover Before actor, 22, had control of his accounts again Monday he apologized and did his best to clear up any fan confusion.

'I wanna apologize if the hackers contacted any of you guys through my DMs,' Noah told his 5.4million followers while shirtless in an Instagram story.

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So sorry: Noah Centineo apologized to fans after his Instagram account was hacked late Sunday. The star of To All The Boys I've Loved Before is seen above August 16

He continued, saying: 'It's not cool, it's really skeevy and f***ing disgusting. Sorry about that.'

The scammers tried to dupe Noah's followers by offering a link promising 'free' iPhone Xs in exchange for personal information in the now-removed posts.

The Florida-born actor first took to Twitter to clear things up, sharing: 'Unfortunately I have absolutely no IPhone Xs to giveaway. Which leads me to my next point: My instagram is Hacked.'

Once everything was back in order he shared another tweet: 'Two-step Verification.'

Not cool: 'I wanna apologize if the hackers contacted any of you guys through my DMs,' Noah told his 5.4million followers while shirtless in an Instagram story

'I needed that s***. But we back now [thumbs up emoji.]'

Noah recently won hearts in the Netflix feature To All The Boys I Lover Before, which was only released for streaming ten days ago on August 17.

The Fosters regular talked about his rocketing stardom with W Magazine last Tuesday, telling the publication about how he plans to use his 5.4million follower reach for good.

Don't do it! The scammers tried to dupe Noah's followers by offering a link promising 'free' iPhone Xs in exchange for personal information in the now-removed posts

'Im currently strategizing the best way for me to leverage my platform, my growing platform, my friends platforms, to help fight a various group of social injustices,' he explained.

'Currently, Im not really able to discuss it because its still in the developing process,' he added.

Next Noah is set to appear in Sierra Burgess Is A Loser, out on Netflix September 7.Karl Stefanovic's mother Jenny has reached out to his son Jackson after the Today show's ex-wife Cassandra Thorburn claimed his family have 'practically no contact' with their three children.

During an interview with The Australian's Women's Weekly earlier this month, Cassandra, 47, claimed his family and friends 'discarded and disposed of' their children in the wake of her split from the TV star.

Following Cassandra's comments, Jenny posted an Instagram birthday tribute to her grandchild, Jackson, as he turned 19, on Tuesday.

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'I really hope the universe is able to get you to see our wishes': Karl Stefanovic's mother Jenny has reached out to Karl's eldest son Jackson (pictured here) after Cassandra Thorburn claimed Today show host's family had 'practically no contact' with their children following split

Alongside a picture of a birthday card, Jenny wrote: 'Happy 19th birthday Jackson.'

'l hope you have a great day celebrating while overseas. I really hope the universe is able to get you see my/our wishes. Love you heaps Jackson. Little nanny.'

In a second comment, she directly tagged the teenager - who is yet to respond.

In a statement to TheFix last week, a spokesperson for the Stefanovic family said they are disappointed by Cassandra's recent claims in the magazine.

Hitting back? Following Cassandra's comments, Jenny posted an Instagram birthday tribute to her grandchild, Jackson, as he turned 19 on Tuesday

'l hope you have a great day celebrating while overseas. I really hope the universe is able to get you see my/our wishes. Love you heaps Jackson. Little nanny,' Jenny gushed online

'We are disappointed Cass would claim such inflammatory suggestions that we have alienated Karl's children from our family,' the statement read.

'Nothing could be further from the truth. Karl regularly co parents his children and has his loving family around them.'

They added: 'We refuse to keep a running dialogue of the children. There are custody and financial matters before the Family Court and Karl has abided by every single one of them and we will not jeopardise it. Family is often compromised when parents go through a painful divorce and we do our best to continue our love and support for the children.'

The statement was in response to Cassandra's allegations that Karl's friends and family are barely in contact following their split.

'Last year, I declared that Karl really was dead to me, a man I no longer know, but the children still have their father,' the mother-of-three said.

Family matters: In a second comment, she directly tagged the teenager - who is yet to respond

'We've been discarded and disposed of': Earlier this month, Cassandra claimed Karl's family and friends have had 'practically no contact' with her and the couple's children since their split

'The flip-side of that is I feel like we're dead to his family and almost anyone from our old life,' she claimed.

Cassandra went on to allege: 'There has been practically no contact. I feel like we've been discarded and disposed of, replaced by a whole new line-up of starters.'

The brunette sat down with the magazine for the feature to commemorate the two year anniversary since her split from Karl.

'Last year, I declared that Karl really was dead to me': In the tell-all, Cassandra expressed that she'd found happiness after the split, but was still frustrated by the distance between the pair

Karl announced his split from former wife Cassandra, an accomplished journalist and TV producer, in September 2016 after 21 years of marriage.

The Channel Nine personality met model-turned-shoe designer Jasmine Yarbrough in December 2016. They became engaged in January 2018.

In April 2017, reports emerged that Karl's three children Jackson, 19, Ava, 13, and 11-year-old River weren't in attendance at the wedding of Karl's brother Peter and Sylvia Jeffreys.

New relationship: The Channel Nine personality met model-turned-shoe designer Jasmine Yarbrough in December 2016. They became engaged in January 2018

At the time, a family friend reportedly spoke to The Sydney Morning Herald claiming the children were 'upset' to have missed their uncle's wedding.

The children's lack of presence appears to be unusual for the Stefanovic family, after both Ava and River were present at their other uncle Tom's wedding.

The youngsters had served as flower girl and page boy at the event in August 2015, as he married long-term love Jenna Dinicola in Griffith.

No-show? In April 2017, reports emerged that Karl's three children Jackson, 18, Ava, 13, and 11-year-old River weren't in attendance at the wedding of Karl's brother Peter and Sylvia Jeffreys

In March 2018, Karl and Jasmine celebrated their relationship with a commitment ceremony.

An insider told Daily Mail Australia at the time that Karl's three children did not attend the ceremony but that Ava and River did show up for the celebrations afterwards.

Woman's Day also reported that Ava and River were confused and upset after finding out about the commitment ceremony just three hours beforehand.

Karl and Cassandra's eldest child Jackson did not attend.

Commitment ceremony: An insider told Daily Mail Australia at the time that Karl's three children did not attend Karl and Jasmine's commitment ceremony in March 2018

In October last year, Cassandra broke her silence after the breakdown of her marriage in a candid interview with Woman's Day, in which she declared that Karl was 'dead' to her.

'The children still have a father but I don't have a husband. He really is dead to me and no, we won't ever be friends again,' she said at the time.

'There were days in the beginning I would get up, put on a brave face and drop the kids at school, then I'd get to the back door and I would lie in a heap for the rest of the day unable to move - there were very dark days,' she told the magazine.

'I was completely gazumped when I realised Karl had gone.'Newlyweds Tim Robards and Anna Heinrich recently confessed they were living apart following their fairytale nuptials in Italy earlier this year.

But on Tuesday, the 35-year-old former Bachelor paid tribute to his lawyer wife, 31, as the pair enjoyed a romantic lunch date together.

Tim, a chiropractor from Bondi, took to Instagram to encourage his followers to spend more quality time with their loved ones.

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'Always make time for those most important in your life': Tim Robards paid tribute to wife Anna Heinrich on Instagram after it was revealed they were living separately following their wedding

In the photo, the genetically-blessed couple looked like they didn't have a care in the world as they dined at a cafe.

'Always make quality time for those most important in your life,' he wrote in the caption.

Earlier this month, Anna confessed that she and Tim were already living apart due to work commitments.

'How lucky am I to have this gorgeous woman to come home to': The newlyweds recently confessed they were living apart following their fairytale nuptials in Italy earlier this year

She explained to NW that Tim is based in Melbourne for his new role in Neighbours, while she remains in Sydney for her legal and media career.

'It's extremely hard, but we're both extremely busy with our own projects,' Anna said, adding that Tim flies back to Sydney on weekends.

'Obviously we just got married, so that doesn't make things easy, but at the same time I speak to him all day every day.'

Work commitments: Earlier this month, Anna explained that Tim is based in Melbourne for his new role in Neighbours (pictured), while she remains in Sydney for her legal and media career

Although the distance has been hard for the couple, Anna admitted that it helps they are 'both so busy' at the moment.

'I fall more in love with Tim every day, and being apart from him makes me appreciate him more for sure!' she said.

Tim and Anna met on the 2013 season of The Bachelor Australia and married in Puglia, Italy in June this year.She was announced as the face of Tiffany & Co last year.

And Lara Worthington (nee Bingle) dutifully attended the luxury jeweller's Paper Flowers launch in Melbourne on Tuesday.

The 31-year-old beauty entrepreneur wore a loose-fitting white sweater dress paired with a black belt and pointed-toe boots.

White hot! Lara Bingle flaunts her figure in a chic sweater dress as she attends Tiffany & Co event in Melbourne

She opted for natural makeup consisting of foundation, bronzer, mascara and pink lipstick and she wore her short locks swept up in a ponytail.

Last year, Lara was reportedly paid to attend a Tiffany & co launch party in Sydney, under a contract worth 'tens of thousands,'The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The blonde beauty, who is based in Los Angeles, arrived in her native Australia this month however it is unclear if she travelled with her husband Sam Worthington, 42, and their two children.

Chic: The 31-year-old beauty entrepreneur wore a loose-fitting white sweater dress paired with a black belt and pointed-toe boots

The couple share sons Rocket, three, and Racer, one.

Last month, the model gave Sunday Life magazine a peek under the veil of their marriage.

In an interview with the publication, she revealed the trait she finds most attractive in her husband  and it has nothing to do with his good looks.

Flawless: She opted for natural makeup consisting of foundation, bronzer, mascara and pink lipstick and she wore her short locks swept up in a ponytail

Businesswoman: Last year, she was reportedly paid to attend a Tiffany & co launch party in Sydney, under a contract worth 'tens of thousands,' The Sydney Morning Herald reported

Outdoor shoot: Lara posed for snaps on the streets of Melbourne, alongside an old school American taxi

Going solo: Lara, who is based in Los Angeles, arrived in her native Australia this month however it is unclear if she travelled with her husband Sam Worthington, 42, and their two children

The couple 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.'

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?'The reboot of Roseanne is being rebooted as The Conners following the racist tweet scandal by lead and show creator Roseanne Barr.

And now Roseanne's TV husband John Goodman has apparently revealed how the departure of the main character will be handled when the sitcom returns this fall.

Asked about how Dan Conner will handle her absence, he told Britain's The Sunday Times: 'Its an unknown. I guess hell be mopey and sad because his wifes dead.'

John Goodman has revealed in Sunday Times interview that when The Conners returns without star Roseanne Barr, his character Dan will be 'mopey and sad because his wife's dead'

Goodman, 66, also admitted in the newspaper interview that he had been depressed for a month after ABC pulled Roseanne after just nine episodes in the wake of Barr's tweet about Valerie Jarrett.

And the actor defended the controversial actress and comedienne, saying: 'I know, I know, for a fact that she's not a racist.'

ABC fired Barr in May and ultimately she agreed to allow the show she created to continue with the other original castmembers and rebranded as The Conners.

Goodman said he did message Barr during that time, saying: 'She had to sign a paper saying that she relinquished all her rights to the show so that we could go on.'

And looking ahead, Goodman said the cast will have their work cut out to make the new show a success without her.

Goodman, 66, said he was 'very depressed' following Barr's tweet about Valerie Jarrett and defended her, saying: 'I know for a fact she is not a racist'

ABC fired Barr in May but she agreed to allow the network to continue to make the show she created without her. Goodman will return with other original cast including Sara Gilbert

Speaking about his relationship with Barr, he recalled that the two used to laugh a lot, and said his goal in life was 'to make her wet her pants'.

But it seems the pair did not share much of a relationship off set, as Goodman describes Barr as his 'work friend'.

Barr caused widespread outrage after she tweeted that Jarrett, who was born in Iran and is of African American heritage, looked like 'the Muslim Brotherhood & Planet of the Apes had a baby'.

She has repeatedly apologized for any offence that the tweet caused as well as to the cast and crew of Roseanne, but refuses to accept that it was racist.

Roseanne ran from 1988 to 1997. Its revival earlier this year was a huge ratings hit for ABC but was yanked off air after nine episodes due to Barr's racism scandal

Barr said her tweet that Jarrett, an Obama adviser who was born in Iran and is of African American heritage, looked like 'if the Muslim Brotherhood and Planet of the Apes had a baby'

Barr insists that she thought Jarrett was white and intended the tweet as a political jibe at Obama's nuclear deal with Iran.

On Sunday, Barr sent a message to fans on Twitter saying she was 'doing better' after changing doctors, having previously hinted at mental health issues.

Meanwhile ABC President Channing Dungey has revealed that the Jarrett tweet was just the last in a long line of problems with Roseanne that got her fired.

Speaking about the decision, she said: 'It was actually made very swiftly. We knew what we wanted to do, and we did it.

'For us, we have had multiple instances with Roseanne, and certainly this tweet crossed the line that cannot be crossed, but it was for us a sense of enough is enough and something had to be done.

'It was nice that it was so clear to everyone that there wasn't a lot of debate and discussion about it.'ER star Maura Tierney was hit by a vehicle on Monday afternoon while riding a bicycle in the beach community of Marina Del Rey, California.

The 53-year-old actress tumbled to the ground when the vehicle made contact with the back tire of her bike, reported TMZ,

Maura was transported to a nearby hospital following the incident.

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On the mend: Actress Maura Tierney, 53, was released from a hospital after she was hit by a vehicle on Monday afternoon while riding a bicycle in the beach community of Marina Del Rey, California

Reps for the Boston native told Page Six that she's 'has been released from the hospital with no major injuries' in the wake of the scary incident.

The rep added: 'Thank you to everyone who has reached out with their concern.'

The driver of the vehicle was not apparently under the influence of drugs or alcohol, authorities told the outlet.

The Golden Globe-winning performer, best known for her roles on ER, The Affair and The Good Wife, was seen in photographs posted on TMZ lying on her back on a strip of grass in the wake of the incident.

Scary moments: Tierney laid back on a strip of grass following the terrifying incident

Tough day: Emergency workers prepared to transport the actress to a nearby hospital

Scary scene: Onlookers flocked to the TV star after she was knocked down after her bike was struck by a car

Emergency workers tending to her placed a neck brace on and placed her into a wheelchair as they prepared her for a trip to a medical facility.

Tierney earlier this summer opened up to The Cut about her passion for exercise, saying it's one of the things she does to calm down amid her high-pressure Hollywood career.

'Honestly, this is so cliche, but I find that if I exercise - Im a runner, I like to run - if I do that in a regular fashion and Transcendental Meditation, that really works for me,' she said. 'Thats just like putting in money in the bank to be calm.'New BBC drama Bodyguard has scored the highest overnight audience for a drama launch this year by more than one million viewers.

And off the back of its success, writer Jed Mercurio teased a second series could already be in the pipeline.

The creator of Line Of Duty took to Twitter on Sunday after the first episode, offering former Home Secretary Amber Rudd a cameo if another series was commissioned.

It's a hit! New BBC drama Bodyguard has scored the highest overnight audience for a drama launch this year by more than one million viewers

The new six-part series starring Keeley Hawes and Richard Madden debuted on Sunday night at 9pm to an average overnight rating of 6.7 million and an audience share of 35%, the BBC said. The programme peaked with 6.9 million viewers.

Ahead of the show Amber Rudd, 55, wrote an article in The Sunday Times, detailing her personal experiences of working with her bodyguard during her time as Home Secretary.

Delighted with the response to the political thriller, Jed shared the article, writing: 'Thanks to Amber Rudd for an interesting and thought provoking article on Bodyguard. Maybe she'll honour us with a cameo appearance if we get a second series!'

In the works? Off the back of its success, writer Jed Mercurio teased a second series could already be in the pipeline

Exciting: The creator of Line Of Duty took to Twitter on Sunday after the first episode, offering former Home Secretary Amber Rudd a cameo if another series was commissioned

Bodyguard was also the most-watched broadcast of Sunday night, ahead of the News at 10pm on BBC One, which had an average audience of 5.1 million.

The second most-watched new drama launch of the year so far is BBC One's McMafia, which had an average overnight audience of 5.6m when it aired on New Year's Day, while ITV dramas Innocent and Girlfriends opened with 5.3 million and 5.2 million average viewers respectively.

The series, penned by Jed, sees Ashes To Ashes star Hawes play fictional home secretary Julia Montague while Game Of Thrones actor Madden is the bodyguard assigned to protect her.

Gripping: The six-part series starring Keeley Hawes and Richard Madden debuted on Sunday night at 9pm to an average overnight rating of 6.7 million and an audience share of 35%

The dramatic first instalment focused on an attempted bombing on a London train.

Viewers were highly entertained by the political thriller's first episode, with some taking to Twitter to say they were gripped and could not wait for the second episode.

'Opening twenty minutes most tense drama this year,' wrote one viewer on Twitter. 'Richard Madden is immense and Keeley Hawes is as excellent as ever.'

Another posted: '#Bodyguard was brilliant!! omg literally on the edge of my seat!!'

Getting it on: Monday night's second episode saw Miss Hawes's character and her bodyguard David Budd rip their clothes off for two steamy trysts

Monday night's second episode saw Miss Hawes's character and her bodyguard David Budd rip their clothes off for two steamy trysts.

Following an attempted assassination on the Home Secretary, as her car was repeatedly shot at by a sniper on the roof of an office building, the pair were then given adjoining rooms for security reasons.

Budd entered the Home Secretary's room, swiftly took off his shirt and removed her trousers while kissing her neck in an intimate embrace. As the passion continued, Miss Montague said: 'Your job and my job, it just makes things complicated.'

Convincing portrayal: The series, penned by Jed, sees Ashes To Ashes star Hawes play fictional home secretary Julia Montague

'Nothing complicates my job, it's to protect you,' Budd responded. Despite the intimate scenes, it is still unclear what will happen between the duo, as Budd secretly holds a political grudge against her because of his time as a soldier serving in Afghanistan.

The episode also portrayed a horrifying attack on a primary school in South London attended by Budd's two children.

Two terrorists try to drive a white van towards the gates but heavily armed officers open fire as it approaches.

Terrifying: The episode also portrayed a horrifying attack on a primary school in South London attended by Budd's two children

While the driver is killed instantly, the other assailant is still conscious.

Unknown to the police the van contains explosives which are then detonated, killing five people at the scene.

As the van explodes, children are seen screaming and running into a classroom to take cover as windows shatter and teachers try to shield them.

The scenes were shown less than two weeks after a car was driven at cyclists in Westminster, and a year after eight people died in the London Bridge terror attack.

The drama's creator Jed Mercurio has said of such scenes: 'It's very contemporary and obviously we want to handle that in the most sensitive way, but also in a way that does feel authentic.'She is expecting her second child with her fiance Brendan Fevola.

And Alex Fevola took to Instagram on Tuesday to show off her growing baby bump in a mirror selfie.

The blonde beauty kept her look simple and sophisticated, wearing a long black coat and trousers, paired with a white T-shirt.

Bumping along nicely! Pregnant Alex Fevola flaunts her baby bump in a white T-shirt as fiance Brendan hints couple's second wedding could be in Bali

'Almost 26 weeks,' she wrote in the caption of her post.

Friends and followers of Alex showered her with compliments over her stylish maternity outfit, including DJ Havana Brown who wrote: 'Looking gorgeous!'

Her step-daughter Mia, Alex's daughter from a previous relationship, also commented: 'This is cute.'

Meanwhile, former AFL star Brendan also took to his Instagram to share a photo of his fiancee showing off her bare tummy.

Sexy mama! The former AFL star also took to his Instagram to share a photo of his fiancee showing off her bare tummy

Ready to walk down the aisle again: The former AFL star turned Fox FM radio host recently hinted he and Alex could be headed back to the altar four years after their divorce in 2014

In the captioned he proudly wrote: 'So sexy @alexfevolamakeup the countdown is on baby number 4 #girls #milf #sexymumma.'

The Fox FM radio host recently hinted he and Alex could be headed back to the altar four years after their divorce in 2014.

'When the kids are a bit older we might go to Bali and get the togs on,' he told The Herald Sun.

First wedding! The couple are pictured at their 2005 wedding at St John's Church in Toorak, Melbourne

Brendan has three children, Leni, 12, Lulu, 8, and Alex's daughter Mia, 18, from his previous relationship.

Speaking about the new addition to their family, he revealed: 'The baby is all planned for November 28, which is my brother's birthday. I'm pumped.'

'It was nine years ago we had our last baby, so you forget. It's all happening again and the kids are excited. I can't wait,' he added.She is supporting her rekindled beau James Argent as he returns to rehab.

And Gemma Collins received some moral support as she reunited with BFF Jonathan Cheban for a lunch date at Park Chinois in Mayfair, London on Monday.

The former TOWIE star, 37, looked every inch the Essex starlet as she wore a black sparkly cardigan with ripped skinny jeans.

Reunited: Gemma Collins received some moral support as she reunited with BFF Jonathan Cheban for a lunch date at Park Chinois in Mayfair, London on Monday

Hugs: The former TOWIE star, 37, looked every inch the Essex starlet as she wore a black sparkly cardigan with ripped skinny jeans

She teamed the ensemble with a Louis Vuitton clutch bag and pink Givenchy slider sandals.

Gemma styled her blonde locks into a curly blow-dried hairdo as she added a slick of make-up and a pair of oversized black sunglasses.

Despite her ex entering rehab, the television personality appeared in good spirits as she was reunited with Jonathan.

Leggy: She teamed the ensemble with ripped jeans, a Louis Vuitton clutch bag and pink Givenchy slider sandals

Radiant: Gemma styled her blonde locks into a curly blow-dried hairdo as she added a slick of make-up and a pair of oversized black sunglasses

Good spirits: The star looked delighted to be reunited with Jonathan in London

Reality sensation: Kim Kardashian's BFF looked casually cool in a black t-shirt and joggers

Old pals: The pair first bonded in the 2016 series of Celebrity Big Brother

The best friend of Kim Kardashian, 44, cut a casual figure in a black tracksuit and t-shirt with red socks.

He completed his look with a Prada side bag, black trainers, a silver necklace and brown Ray-Ban sunglasses.

The two reality stars appeared delighted about their reunion as they laughed and hugged each other after their delicious meal out.

Gemma and Jonathan met on the 2016 series of Celebrity Big Brother, yet their friendship hasn't always been plain sailing as she previously put him on a 'time out' as he failed to spend any time with her last time he was in the UK.

The GC: Gemma was delighted as she reunited with her pal

Chic: The blonde beauty looked edgy for her lavish lunch date

Good to see you: Jonathan couldn't contain his delight as he greeted Gemma

Matching: The pair sported matching black ensembles and mirrored shades

Smile: Gemma looked typically glamorous for her lunch date

Her outing comes after the reality star spoke of her 'incredibly difficult summer' as she supports beau James Argent in rehab.

Speaking ahead of the launch of her first solo reality show, Diva Espana, the GC admitted she had gone through turbulent times following her split from Arg, 30, but that she was determined to support him.

She said: 'It was incredibly raw, yes, it's been an incredibly difficult summer. But, that said, you know, we're back now in Essex and Arg is receiving help and you know, as long as he's doing well, that's great for him and for us.

Happy: The pair enjoyed a quick gossip as they left the restaurant

Edgy: The TOWIE star showed off her sartorial flair as she walked into the street

A-list: Jonathan is known to millions all around the world for his friendship with Kim K

Chat: The star smiled as she caught up with Jonathan

Radiant: Gemma flashed her pearly whites as she gossiped with Jonathan

Superstar: Gemma was all smiles as she chatted with pals

Banter: The pair became good friends on the 2016 series of CBB

'I'm just supporting him on his journey and I'm feeling pleased that the viewers get to see what goes on behind the cameras and I think it's good for them to see that behind all the glamour there's real ups and downs, even in celebrities' lives.'

The blonde beauty said she was relieved that people would see the real her on her reality show, although the prospect had been daunting.

'It was really sort of scary to show the public that side of me because the public don't really see that side of me,' she said.

'I guess it was just me going about my everyday life and all that that entails (laughs!) I know that is usually a rollercoaster!

Support: She said: 'It was incredibly raw, yes, it's been an incredibly difficult summer'

Emotion: The blonde beauty said she was relieved that people would see the real her on her reality show, although the prospect had been daunting

Reunited: Gemma spent time with CBB BFF Jonathan earlier in the day

Hugs: The star looked delighted as she hugged Kim Kardashian's BFF

Close: The pair cracked radiant smiles as they caught up

Smile: The beauty was catching up with her reality bestie

'So I guess it made me feel a bit vulnerable as no one has seen that sort of side to me, totally uncovered, so it's a bit scary to think what people are going to think because they're used to the GC and all her craziness but they're getting to see Gemma now so I don't know what they're going to think about her!'

Arg does appear in Diva Espana but will be taking a break from his TV career.

Diva Espana is on ITVBe Wednesday 29th August at 9pm.

Meanwhile Arg revealed he has returned to rehab following his split from Gemma in a brave bid to tackle his demons.

In a statement released to MailOnline, Arg said: 'It's not been an easy time but I'm happy to be back in a programme that gives me the ongoing support I need.

'I'm thankful for the incredible support I have received from my family, close friends and colleagues.'

The Sun reported: 'He has been living under a dark cloud' and has decided it's time to 'focus on his health'.

The site reports that Gemmaand James are now back together after leaving fans guessing about the status of their relationship.

They split in July after a series of rows but got back together this month after being pictured out and about together.

James' issues were said to have put a huge strain on their relationship before he sought help.

On and off: James' issues are said to have put a huge strain on his romance with Gemma Collins and they split in July before getting back together this month

MailOnline has contacted a spokesperson for James Argent and TOWIE for comment.

James spent three months in a facility in Thailand over the festive season in 2016 in a bid to curb his wild ways and has revealed that he has checked himself in to a programme in order to get the 'ongoing support' he needs.

Arg has also spent time in The Priory for alleged drink and drug issues.He has been an A-list actor for more than four decades.

But on Monday Michael Keaton seemed to relish the role of grandpa while out to eat with family in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Los Feliz.

The Birdman star was all smiles as he carried his 17-month old grandson River in his arms at the cozy and hip Italian hot spot Little Dom's.

Enjoying the role of grandpa: Michael Keaton was spotted enjoying lunch with his family in the LA section of Los Feliz on Monday

Keaton enjoyed lunch with his 35-year old son Sean Douglas and his wife Rachel Bartov while sitting outside near the street.

But on this day, it was more than apparent, the Jackie Brown star wanted to dote on River. During their stay, he picked up the little boy a number of times and walked him in and around the establishment.

The 66-year old went with a casual but cool look dressed in light brown shorts, a blue polka-dot button-down shirt and flip-flops.

Little River's parents also seemed to be having a great time from the looks of those big smiles on their faces.

All in the family: The 66-year old actor doted on his 17-month old grandson River during the family outing

A-list Grampa: Keaton also got to spend time with his 35-year old son Sean Douglas and his wife Rachel

Keaton's lengthy and illustrious resume in Hollywood includes roles in Beetlejuice (1988), Tim Burton's Batman (1989), Pacific Heights (1990), Batman Returns (1992), My Life (1993) and Jackie Brown (1997).

Most recently he has been lauded for his award-winning performance in Birdman (2014), as well as Spotlight (2015) and Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). He is currently filming Spider-Man: Far From Home and Dumbo.

His son Sean is a Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum songwriter and producer. He co-wrote the hit tune 'Die A Happy Man', which was performed by Thomas Rhett. It went on to win a number of awards in 2017 that included Billboard Music Awards for Top Country Song and CMA Song of the Year.

Hollywood star: Keaton has had a plethora of iconic roles including Batman in 1989 and Batman Returns in 1992

Iconic performance: The actor was lauded for his role in the 2014 film Birdman

Keaton and his son are said to be especially close, as seen when he won a Golden Globe Award in 2015 for his incredible performance in Birdman. He chocked up while talking about Sean.

'My best friend is kind, intelligent, funny, talented, considerate, thoughtful," he said on stage,' adding, 'Did I say kind? He also...' Keaton then paused to compose himself, 'He also happens to be my son. Sean.'

Douglas' mother was actress Caroline McWilliams , who Keaton was married to from 1982 to 1990. She passed away from cancer in 2010. She starred in movies like Mermaids,and White Water Summer.

When McWilliams died, Keaton opened up to Elle: 'She was a remarkable mom. Sean is the great guy he is because of her-- we've always been tight, but now the bond's even tighter.She is rumoured to make it to The Bachelor's final two contestants.

And a recent Instagram post by Sophie Tieman may contain a hint as to who wins Nick 'The Honey Badger' Cummins' heart.

A photo shared to her blog Two Corporate Girls shows the 25-year-old modelling a chic navy frock - but it's her jewellery that has everybody talking.

The future Mrs Badger? The Bachelor's Sophie Tieman (pictured) flashed a sparkling ring on her finger in a recent Instagram post - so does this mean she is engaged to Nick Cummins?

Sophie posed for the photo while carrying a black leather Oroton handbag and highlighted her slender figure in a Karen Millen frock.

Sophie's blonde locks were styled into a chignon at the nape of the neck, and her striking facial features were enhanced with an elegant makeup palette.

While the property valuer certainly looked stunning in the dress, fans were immediately drawn to the sparkling rings on her fingers.

Could one be an engagement ring? Sophie was noticeably wearing two bands, one on her forefinger and the other on her ring finger, sparking speculation that Nick may have proposed

Sophie was noticeably wearing two bands, one on her forefinger and the other on her ring finger, sparking speculation that Nick, 30, may have proposed.

The photo comes amid a flurry of rumours about the identity of this year's Bachelor winner and whether there is an end-of-season engagement.

Based on paparazzi photos and the research efforts of Bachelor fans, the finallists are believed to be Sophie, Brittany Hockley, Brooke Blurton and Cassandra Wood.

How will it all end? The photo comes amid a flurry of rumours about the identity of this year's Bachelor winner and whether there is an end-of-season engagement

Sophie recently announced she was moving from Brisbane to Sydney to work as a property valuer.

Coincidentally, Nick is based in Sydney's Northern Beaches.

Eagle-eyed fans picked up on this, with one in particular writing in the comments section: 'Did Sophie move for Nick?'

However, Sophie replied that she was simply relocating for work and was living with a 'best friend that's also moved down'.

Evidence? Sophie recently announced she was moving from Brisbane to Sydney to work as a property valuer. Coincidentally, Nick (left) is based in Sydney's Northern Beaches

Meanwhile, there is also a growing catalogue of evidence that Sophie places runner up and it is Brittany who wins Nick's heart.

Earlier this month, Nick's family members were caught interacting with the 30-year-old radiographer on Facebook.

Brittany is also the currently bookies' favourite to win, according to Sportsbet.

The Bachelor continues Wednesday August 29 at 7.30pm on Network Ten.She's scooped the role as a Capital radio host.

And Dani Dyer took to her role as a presenter like a duck to water as she was grilled on her new-found fame during her evening show.

The 22-year-old Love Island alumni revealed the most famous person to message her on Instagram was Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown, 14, and divulged she was planning on going for lunch with the actress soon.

Starstruck: Dani Dyer revealed the most famous person to message her on Instagram was Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown via Instagram on Monday

Responding who has been the most famous person to contact her via her DM's on Instagram, Dani said: 'That's an easy answer. Millie Bobby Brown.

'The girl actually watches Love Island, I couldn't believe it, I was like "Oh my god, Eleven" but apparently we are going out for a bit of lunch soon, so yeah, I'm looking forward to that.'

It comes after Millie's co-star Noah Schapp revealed her love of the ITV2 reality show, as he messaged Ellie Brown after entering the villa, commenting 'I watch you with Millie.'

Lunch plans: Dani said: 'The girl actually watches Love Island, I couldn't believe it, I was like "Oh my god, Eleven" but apparently we are going out for a bit of lunch soon'

Answer: Responding who has been the most famous person to contact her via her DM's on Instagram, Dani said: 'That's an easy answer. Millie Bobby Brown'

Meanwhile Love Island's Jack Fincham proved he's firmly in Dani's family circle as he enjoyed a roast dinner at Dani Dyer's granddad Bruv's house on Sunday and her EastEnders father Danny.

The former pen salesman, 26, took to his Instagram to share a photograph of the foursome all smiling and cuddled up.

He captioned the sweet snap with: 'Nice little roast round bruvs @bruv_loveislandlegend.'

Shock: It comes after Millie's co-star Noah Schapp revealed her love of the ITV2 reality show, as he messaged Ellie Brown after entering the villa, commenting 'I watch you with Millie'

Cute: Love Island's Jack Fincham proved he's firmly in the family as he enjoyed a roast at Dani Dyer's granddad Bruv's house on Sunday with his girlfriend and her EastEnders father Danny

The picture sent the couple's fans into meltdown as they flocked to comment on the adorable family portrait.

One person said: 'This is mint you all look so happy.'

A different follower put: 'This makes me so happy .'

Love Island sensation: The picture comes after his girlfriend's granddad, Bruv, launched his own Instagram account and is garnering thousands of followers per minute

While another fan added: 'We all fell in love with BRUV.'

This comes after Dani revealed she missed out on a part in EastEnders before finding fame on Love Island.

She told the Daily Star Sunday: 'I think it's because my dad is already on it so if I went on it there would be a massive outrage

'They won't let me, and are like, 'it ain't going to happen.

'I think it's because my dad is already on it so if I went on it there would be a massive outrage.'

The picture comes after his girlfriend's granddad, Bruv, launched his own Instagram account and is garnering thousands of followers per minute since his reality star granddaughter shared his handle on social media.

Dani had left fans of the ITV2 show in hysterics last month when she revealed she called her grandfather 'Bruv' as she always wanted a brother growing up.

'Bruv': Dani had left fans of the ITV2 show in hysterics last month when she revealed she called her grandfather 'Bruv' as she always wanted a brother growing up

Now following in the 22-year-old barmaid's lead, Bruv has stepped into the world of social media and posted three snaps with his current and constantly growing 45.9K followers, thanks to his granddaughter's promotion on Insta Story.

The roast dinner also comes after Dani revealed she only signed up for the ITV2 show after failing to land a role on her dad Danny's starring soap EastEnders.

The 22-year-old told The Daily Star On Sunday she would love to land to appear on the BBC soap, but thinks bosses are reluctant due to Danny's ongoing role as Mick Carter.

It comes as Dani also revealed that her boyfriend Jack Fincham has missed his former job as a stationery salesman since being crowned Love Island champion, admitting he's thought about returning on a part-time basis.

Dani reveals she tried to land a part on EastEnders before applying on Love Island and Survival Of The Fittest, but was given a firm no by bosses who feared a public backlash.

She said: 'I don't know about EastEnders, they wouldn't let me in it.

'I think it's because my dad is already on it so if I went on it there would be a massive outrage'

Big goal: She told The Daily Star On Sunday she would love to land to appear on the BBC soap, but thinks bosses are reluctant due to Danny's ongoing role as Mick Carter

A source also told the publication that Dani decided to make the move into reality TV after growing 'fed up' with working as a barmaid.

They added that despite dad Danny's reservations at her career change, he now agrees it is one of the best things she could have done.

Dani became the runaway winner of this year's Love Island thanks to her relationship with boyfriend Jack Fincham, with the coupling pairing up on day one and staying together until the series' end.

Since leaving the villa Jack and Dani's relationship has gone from strength to strength, with the pair even moving into their first home together in London earlier this month.

Sensational: Since being crowned Love Island champion Dani's career has gone from strength to strength, as has her relationship with boyfriend Jack Fincham

Meanwhile Dani also revealed that beau Jack is growing his old job selling pens, telling The Times he was keen to return to work soon after Love Island's end.

She said: 'When he came out, he was saying to my dad, 'I'm going to have a week off work, I reckon, and then I'll go back to selling pens.

'And my dad was like, 'No, Jack, it's not going to work like that, mate. You're going to have a different life now.'

'Jack didn't realise. He genuinely said, 'Dan, I think I'll have a week off,' and then he said, 'Well, how about I go back a couple of days a week then?' And I was like, ''Jaaaack!!!!''

Jack revealed earlier this week that he had quit his job selling pens, saying at the Edinburgh TV festival: 'I will stay in touch with the boys though. [I have] lovely opportunities elsewhere'.Despite Karl Stefanovic's best efforts at luring back viewers, Melbourne still refuses to wake up with Today.

According to ratings published by TV Tonight, Nine Network Today show was beaten in Melbourne by ABC's breakfast programs and Seven Network's Sunrise last week.

While Today finished with just 43,000 viewers, ABC snagged a total of 63,000 viewers (a number that includes both ABC News Breakfast's 43,000 and ABC News Mornings' 20,000).

Better luck next time! Nine Network Today show was beaten in Melbourne by ABC's breakfast programs and Seven Network's Sunrise last week

Meanwhile, Sunrise took out Melbourne's top spot with 71,000 sets of eyeballs tuning in.

The outcome surely comes as a disappointment for Today bosses, who have been working hard to win back favour among Melbourne viewers.

Indeed, in June this year Today temporarily relocated from Sydney to Melbourne for the first time in 12 years.

Winners! Meanwhile, Sunrise took out Melbourne's top spot with 71,000 sets of eyeballs tuning in. (Pictured: Sunrise's Edwina Bartholomew, Samantha Armytage, Kylie Gillies and Mark Beretta)

In an interview with TV Tonight at the time, Karl admitted Today's low Melbourne ratings were the reason behind the move.

'You have to give back to a city. Its our fault for letting them go,' he said.

'Of course we are here because our numbers are not good. But they arent good because we havent connected with this city for a long time.'

Too little too late? In June this year Today temporarily relocated from Sydney to Melbourne for the first time in 12 years

Are you not entertained, Melbourne? In an interview with TV Tonight at the time, Karl admitted Today's low Melbourne ratings were the reason behind the move. (Pictured: Karl Stefanovic)

'I think outdoor broadcasts can be distracting for a viewer': Karl also told the publication that he had played a big role in ensuring they filmed from a studio that looked exactly like their Sydney one. (Pictured: Today's Karl Stefanovic and Georgie Gardner)

Karl also told the publication that he had played a big role in ensuring they filmed from a studio that looked exactly like their Sydney one, rather than filming in front of a Melbourne landmark.

'I think outdoor broadcasts can be distracting for a viewer... We will get out and do stories here. But an outside broadcast needs to be for a reason, or based around an event,' he said.

He also claimed he would be willing to move to Melbourne permanently if the show chose to relocate.She is a former reality star known for her sartorial flair and stunning looks.

And Kimberley Garner looked fabulous as she arrived at Channel 5 ahead of an appearance on The Wright Stuff earlier this week.

The former Made In Chelsea star, 28, cut a chic figure in a dove grey checked peplum top with spaghetti straps, which revealed her slender waist.

Wow factor: Kimberley Garner looked fabulous as she arrived at Channel 5 ahead of an appearance on The Wright Stuff earlier this week

Drawing the eye to her toned legs as she strutted down the street, the star slipped on black skinny jeans and stiletto heeled ankle boots.

Her blonde tresses were styled in loose waves and parted in the middle while her pretty features were enhanced with smoky shadow and a slick of rose gloss.

Kimberley's outing comes after she was forced to deny claims she had gone under the knife, taking to Instagram to share a sizzling bikini snap.

She wrote: 'For all the gossip, no I have not had a boob job, and no I have not had a butt job! (Which still comes as a very weird concept to me)'

Chic: The former Made In Chelsea star, 28, cut a chic figure in a dove grey checked peplum top with spaghetti straps, which revealed her slender waist

Leggy: Drawing the eye to her toned legs as she strutted down the street, the star slipped on black skinny jeans and stiletto heeled ankle boots

'Womens bodys change, sometimes Im a little chubbier and sometimes too skinny, its just natural and so important to love our bodys, whatever the phase - but thanks for all the gossip I have heard over the past year, it has really made me laugh.'

She continued: 'ps I have been learning some butt exercises, will make a video, incase you want a fake butt ;) (sic).'

Kimberley jetted to Mykonos for a sun-soaked break with friends, and she was even spotted sunbathing topless beside her ex-boyfriend.

Toned: Her blonde tresses were styled in loose waves and parted in the middle while her pretty features were enhanced with smoky shadow and a slick of rose gloss

Confident: The star oozed confidence as she strolled along

Hitting back: Kimberley's outing comes after she was forced to deny claims she had gone under the knife, taking to Instagram to share a sizzling bikini snap

When contacted by MailOnline last month, the property heiress revealed the pair are 'not together' but still remain 'good friends'.

Remaining tight-lipped on his identity, she revealed she broke up with her former beau after a 'wonderful' three years together.

The blonde bombshell shot to fame when she starred in Made In Chelsea in 2012 as a love interest of Richard Dinan, but is now better known for her swimwear line Kimberley London.They shut down rumours they are expecting a baby earlier this year.

Yet Hailey Baldwin and Justin Bieber looked like the perfect family unit as they visited their Pastor and his brood in Los Angeles on Monday.

The 21-year-old daughter of Stephen Baldwin seemed particularly enamoured with the Pastor's baby as she held the child up in the air before heading inside.

Happy families: Hailey Baldwin and Justin Bieber looked like the perfect family unit as they visited their Pastor and his brood in Los Angeles on Monday

Hailey kept things casual for the outing, as she stepped out in an oversized black and white striped Adidas sweats set.

She teamed the look with chunky white sneakers.

The Vogue model had her blonde locks styled back into a slicked bun and she wore a minimal amount of makeup.

Coming to get ya! Hailey and Justin looked in good spirits as they ran towards the children

Baby love! Hailey looked delighted as she threw the little one up in the air before cuddling him

Joyful: Hailey looked in good spirits as she threw the baby up in the air and smiled at him

Feeling the love: Hailey cuddled up to the baby, whilst Justin hugged the family

Arriving in style: Justin pulled up to the house in a brand new Lamborghini

Chatting away: The duo seemed in good spirits on the outing as they chatted with each other

Making an entrance: All eyes were on Hailey as she hopped out of the luxury sports car

On the move: Hailey and Justin looked in high spirits as they strolled into the house

Justin was busy on his phone as he walked beside Hailey on Monday evening.

He sported a white T-shirt and dark shorts and paired the look with bright blue sneakers.

The Sorry hitmaker accessorized his look with a white cap.

Great day! Hailey struggled to wipe the smile off her face when she headed out with fiance Justin to visit their Pastor

Gorgeous: Hailey stunned in an oversized black and white striped Adidas sweats set

Stunner: The Vogue model had her blonde locks styled back into a slicked bun and she wore a minimal amount of makeup

Keeping it casual: Justin sported a white T-shirt and dark shorts and paired the look with bright blue sneakers

Cool, clam, collected: The Sorry hitmaker accessorized his look with a white cap and wore blue sneakers

Food first: Justin and Hailey's appearance comes after they were spotted making a pit-spot at a burger joint on their way to the Pastor's home

Justin and Hailey's appearance comes after they were spotted making a pit-spot at a burger joint on their way to the Pastor's home.

The former YouTube sensation drove his lady to the premises in his silver Porsche.

While Justin headed inside to pick up their meal, the daughter of Alec Baldwin waited inside the expensive vehicle.

Waiting for her man: While Justin headed inside to pick up their meal, the daughter of Alec Baldwin waited inside the expensive vehicle

Love: Justin proposed to Hailey with a $500,000 engagement ring on July 7 while on a trip to the Bahamas together

He picked Hailey: They previously dated from December 2015 to January 2016 and reconciled in May 2018 after Justin split with on/off girlfriend Selena Gomez, 26

Justin proposed to Hailey with a $500,000 engagement ring on July 7 while on a trip to the Bahamas together.

They previously dated from December 2015 to January 2016 and reconciled in May 2018 after Justin split with on/off girlfriend Selena Gomez, 26.

Despite their whirlwind engagement, it was reported on Monday the couple have decided to wait until next year for their wedding.

According to TMZ, the pair have decided to postpone their wedding until 2019, as they don't want to 'put pressure' on themselves and rush it.

An insider said they remain excited about getting married, but feel making the 'commitment' to each other is what really matters.

Still some time: According to TMZ , the pair have decided to postpone their wedding until 2019, as they don't want to 'put pressure' on themselves and rush itShe's the current frontrunner expected to capture the heart of Nick 'The Honey Badger' Cummins on The Bachelor.

But Brittany Hockley, 30, almost missed the Network Ten show together after quitting her life in Australia with a one-way ticket in 2015 and no plan to return.

In an emotional Openended blog post Brittany discussed her battle with 'depression' and how she escaped her home for the sake of her mental health.

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'I was so anxious and worried all the time': The Bachelor's Brittany Hockley discussed battle with mental health in a blog post from 2017

Brittany wrote: 'A few years ago after an anxious stress filled day running around Sydney like a chicken with her head cut off, I decided I'd had enough.'

'On the outside I had it all. I lived on one of the most beautiful beaches. I had two amazing careers taking place. A great social circle and wonderful family.'

'So why was I having this constant internal battle with myself daily?'

Well traveled: Brittany almost missed the Network Ten show together after quitting her life in Australia with a one-way ticket in 2015 and no plan to return

'This is the hardest thing about that sneaky black dog, sometimes it is unexplainable': In her post, Brittany spoke candidly about her battle with mental health

The brunette then documented her struggle with her mental health.

'I was so anxious and worried all the time, and the truth was, I wasn't happy, but I had no idea why,' she confessed, adding: 'This is the hardest thing about that sneaky black dog, sometimes it is unexplainable.'

'Black dog' is a metaphorical representation of depression.

Breaking free: Brittany then went on to quit her job, sell her home and all of her possessions to embark on a round the world trip - which had no end in sight

Tourist: Her impressive gallery features her at a beer festival in Germany, standing by Tower Bridge in London, at the top of Machu Picchu in Peru, riding a camel in the Sahara Desert and visiting a mosque in Istanbul, Turkey

Brittany continued: 'So, a week later I quit my job. I sold my house, my car and every other materialistic thing I owned and bought a one way ticket to South America armed with only the necessities, my backpack and my sister.'

'The next 2 and a half years were spent traversing the globe and exploring around 50 countries, and it honestly changed me from the inside out.'

As well as travelling, Brittany now credits meditation for maintaining her happiness.

Her zen place: As well as travelling, Brittany now credits meditation for maintaining her happiness

Before turning to the spiritual practice, Brittany said, 'after going through quite a big life event at the age of 25 I stopped sleeping'

Before turning to the spiritual practice, Brittany said: 'After going through quite a big life event at the age of 25 I stopped sleeping.'

'I was stressed, restless and was known to burst in to tears at the drop of a hat.'

'Emotions were high. Insomnia took over and everyday I looked like the walking dead.'

Throughout her travels, Brittany often wrote on Instagram, 'I have no idea when I'll stop' while hopping from country to country.

Her impressive gallery features her at a beer festival in Germany, standing by Tower Bridge in London, at the top of Machu Picchu in Peru, riding a camel in the Sahara Desert and visiting a mosque in Istanbul, Turkey.She made a memorable moment on the catwalk four years ago when she turned heads in a daring 'sand-kini'.

But Kyle Sandilands' girlfriend Imogen Anthony was a little bit more covered up when she took to the runway at New Zealand Fashion Week on Monday.

The busty blonde, 27, wowed guests at the Auckland event in a striking floral swimsuit by Australian brand Heaven Swimwear.

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Light and bright: Imogen Anthony (pictured) wowed audiences in a colourful bikini at New Zealand Fashion Week on Monday... in stark contrast to her notoriously revealing 'sandkini' from the 2014 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Sydney

The outfit's flowery details recalled the vibrant colourings of a peacock fanning out its feathers, and contrasted a zebra print pattern on the bust area.

The piece also came with a bolero in the same pattern, with white panels down the arms and around the wrists.

The outfit showed lots of cleavage, and Imogen wore minimal make-up and her straight platinum blonde hair past her shoulders.

Flanked by four male models in skimpy blue swimming briefs, Imogen was carried onto the catwalk on a surfboard before confidently sashaying down the runway in a pair of strappy gold high heels.

Animal magnetism: The outfit's flowery details recalled the vibrant colourings of a peacock fanning out its feathers, and contrasted a zebra print pattern on the bust area

Surf's up! Flanked by four male models in skimpy blue swimming briefs, Imogen was carried onto the catwalk on a surfboard before confidently sashaying down the runway in a pair of strappy gold high heels

The model's swimsuit was in stark contrast to the notorious 'sand-kini' that Imogen dared to wear at the 2014 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Sydney.

The skimpy attire involved her private parts being covered in the grainy material across her chest and groin area.

Imogen stopped people in their tracks at the event when she sashayed down the runway in the halterneck shaped bikini top and tiny pair of string briefs.

New Zealand or bust! The outfit showed lots of cleavage, and Imogen wore minimal make-up and her straight platinum blonde hair past her shoulders

Against the grain: The model's swimsuit was in stark contrast to the notorious 'sand-kini' that Imogen dared to wear at the 2014 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Sydney

Sand pit chic: The skimpy attire involved her private parts being covered in grainy material across her chest and groin area

She kept her gaze steadily forward and oozed confidence while she put her bronzed body on full display as she closed the Bondi Bathers Fashion Week show.

The model flashed a sultry smile as she reached the end of the runway and posed front-on to cameras with her hands by her side.

She then turned on her heels to give the flashbulbs an unadulterated view of her pert derriere and cheeky unicorn tattoo.

Butt that's not all: At one point, Imogen turned on her heels to give the flashbulbs an unadulterated view of her pert derriere and cheeky unicorn tattoo

Imogen was thrilled with her racy display and posted photos of the modelling gig to her Instagram account at the time, before admitting she enjoyed publicly flashing the flesh.

She captioned one picture: 'For the record, there is something f***ing liberating about walking down a runway naked.'

'Last night's experience was one in a million.. Closing the @bondibather show wearing nothing but an authentic Bondi Beach sand 'kini!' she wrote alongside another.

New Zealand Fashion Week opened on Sunday night at the ANZ Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland and runs until Sunday September 2.Paul Hogan has been spotted puffing on a cigarette on the set of The Very Excellent Mr Dundee in Melbourne, after revealing he regrets starring in advertisements for Winfield cigarettes.

The actor, 78, who introduced Australians to the Winfield brand in a wildly successful television advertising campaign in the 1970s, was spotted seemingly picking up the habit once again.

The comedy legend openly puffed away as he took a short break from filming the new Crocodile Dundee movie in the Victoria capital last week.

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Back on the ciggies? Paul Hogan (pictured) is caught smoking on set of the new Crocodile Dundee movie in Melbourne after revealing he regrets starring in the iconic Winfield adverts in the '70s

Clad in a plaid shirt, black puffer jacket and pair of blue-wash jeans, Paul displayed a downcast expression as he smoked the cigarette.

Moments earlier, Paul, who earned his first big television cheque more than a decade before he made Crocodile Dundee by promoting Winfield, was seen emerging from his movie trailer with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

As soon as the Australian star reached the bottom of the staircase, he was spotted lighting up the smoke.

Back in the day: In the 1970s Paul was the face of Winfield cigarettes

Caught out: Moments earlier, Paul (pictured) was seen emerging from his movie trailer with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth

Lighting up: The Crocodile Dundee star (pictured) was seen shielding the cigarette from the elements with his cupped hand as he lit the smoke with a blue handheld lighter

The Crocodile Dundee star was seen shielding the cigarette from the elements with his cupped hand as he lit the smoke with a blue handheld lighter.

Seconds later, smoke was seen billowing out of the cigarette which sat between Paul's index and middle fingers.

Elsewhere, Paul was seen clenching the filter tip with his lips as he readjusted his brown leather belt.

Smoko break: Elsewhere, Paul (pictured) was seen clenching the filter tip with his lips as he readjusted his brown leather belt

Changed your mind? Paul swapped his trademark 'Anyhow, have a Winfield' slogan for 'Let's Cure Cancer, Australia' in later years

The sighting comes after Paul asked his fellow countrymen to donate money for cancer research earlier this year.

Paul's old trademark, 'Anyhow, have a Winfield' slogan used to flog cancer-causing tobacco products has been replaced with 'Let's Cure Cancer, Australia'.

In January it was reported Paul was helping push cancer research for Cure Cancer Australia in advertisements that reference his famous 'shrimp on the barbie' tourism campaign.

Cigarette break: Clad in a plaid shirt, black puffer jacket and pair of blue-wash jeans, Paul (pictured) displayed a downcast expression during his cigarette break

New film: Paul Hogan on set of The Very Excellent Mr Dundee in Melbourne last Friday

On set: Paul donned a black puffer jacket and a pair of blue wash jeans on set of his new Crocodile Dundee flick

Noble move: In January it was reported Paul (pictured) was helping push cancer research for Cure Cancer Australia in advertisements that nod to his famous 'shrimp on the barbie' tourism campaign

'I was a drug dealer': In a 2013 interview with news.com.au, Paul expressed his regrets about taking part in the campaign

Winfield became Australia's top-selling cigarette brand when it moved from packs of 20s to 25s and continued to be heavily promoted on television and in print by Paul.

Cigarette advertising in Australia was banned on radio and television in 1976 and in print media in 1989.

After promoting cigarettes, Paul starred in 1980s television commercials for the Australian Tourism Commission, inviting Americans to visit his homeland with the line 'Come on. Come and say g'day. I'll slip an extra shrimp on the barbie for ya'.

Paul Hogan's 1970s television commercials for Winfield cigarettes were hugely successful

Paul previously expressed his regret over advertising cigarettes, which helped him quit his job working as a rigger on the Habour Bridge, in an interview with news.com.au in 2013.

'Yeah, we were encouraging people to smoke,' Hogan said then.

'At the time, 1971 or something, they used to say: 'Doctors recommend' or 'Nine out of 10 smokers prefer'

'We were all being conned. When they put the medical warning in there I said, 'I'm going to get out of this.'

'Young ones were taking up smoking and all going for Winfield. It was a staggering success but I was a drug dealer. But who knew then?'

Before he was Crocodile Dundee, Paul Hogan helped launch Winfield cigarettes in Australia



She is taking the US by storm.

And it is not hard to see why, if Natalie Roser's latest Instagram upload is anything to go by.

The 24-year-old Australian model posted a steamy video clip of herself taking an outdoor shower in a revealing swimsuit.

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Hot tamale! Natalie Roser flaunts some underboob in a VERY revealing swimsuit during steamy shower photo shoot in Mexico

Playfully splashing around under the running water, she showed off some underboob in a halterneck style bikini top matched with white high cut bottoms.

The former Miss Universe Australia had her luscious blonde locks styled up in a bun and accessorised with gold hoop earrings.

She wrote in her caption: 'cooling off in #Tulum,' referring to the luxurious beach-side location.

Steamy: Playfully splashing around under the running water, she showed off some underboob in a halterneck style bikini top matched with white high cut bottoms

Natalie is currently in Mexico alongside other stunning social media influencers for Modeliste Magazine's Mode Around The Globe Influencer Getaway.

The blonde bombshell has been there for the past week and has posted several bikini snaps of herself.

In one photo she showed off her curves in a floral string bikini, while in another picture she flaunts her pert derriere in a ting beige two piece.

Summer stunner: Natalie is currently in Mexico alongside other stunning social media influencers for Modeliste Magazine's Mode Around The Globe Influencer Getaway

In May this year, Natalie and her boyfriend Harley announced they were relocating to Los Angeles via Instagram post.

She wrote: 'I'm so excited to watch this man chase his dreams while I chase mine - could not be more excited to take this journey with you, @harleympbonner.'

The blonde bikini model finished: 'Look out L.A. we are coming your way.'

The pair first announced they were together in March of last year, and have been going from strength-to-strength since they debuted their romance.Dakota Fanning is enjoying a little down time after filming Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt.

So on Monday the 24-year old starlet enjoyed a romantic night out with boyfriend Henry Frye.

The two lovebirds were snapped holding hands while taking a stroll down the bustling streets after having dinner at a restaurant in the Soho neighborhood of downtown New York City.

Romantic: Dakota Fanning was spotted on a stroll with beau Henry Frye on Monday in New York

The Alienist star seemed to not have a care in the world as she stayed close to Henry.

Dakota oozed casual elegance in a burgundy-red spaghetti-strapped dress the seemed to be equal part cool and comfortable.

She paired it with black and white sandals and carried a pink purse over her shoulder.

The former child star wore her trademark blonde tresses long and with a part down the middle.

Stylish: The 24-year old starlet oozed casual elegance in a burgundy red dress

Loving: The happy couple hit the bustling streets after having dinner in the Soho neighborhood in downtown NYC

Henry, who is still a bit of a mystery man, went casual but well kept in red shorts, a classic white t-shirt and white sneakers.

He pulled back his long blond hair into a ponytail and, he too, had a part in the middle.

Page Six reported that the first photo of the couple popped up on social media last October.

Since then they've been spotted at several sporting events in New York City as well as out and about in Manhattan.

New item: The couple were first spotted together in October 2017, according to Page Six

According to his Facebook, Frye lives in New York City and he studied at the University of Vermont.

As for the former child star: she has proven to be a vital force in Hollywood as an adult.

In recent years she starred in the films Effie Gray (2014), The Benefactor (2015), The Escape (2016) and Ocean's 8 (2018).

The 24-year old stars in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt; the actress is pictured in NYC in 2012

She will no doubt have a lot of eyes on her when Tarantino's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood hit theaters in July 2019. It also stars Al Pacino, Burt Reynolds, Damian Lewis, Margot Robbie and Luke Perry.

The film's storyline, set against the backdrop of the Manson Family murders, casts Leo and Brad as Hollywood has-beens looking for a way back on top in the 1960s.

Fanning plays Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme, who was a would-be assassin best-known for trying to kill U.S. President Gerald Ford in 1975, and as a member of the infamous Manson family.

She eventually was sentenced to life in prison for the assassination attempt but was paroled in 2009 after serving 34-years behind bars.The married couple have been mercilessly trolled online after being labelled this year's 'villains' on The Block for their fiery tempers and outspoken personalities.

And while Hayden and Sara Vale pride themselves on having 'thick skin', they could not ignore one terrifying incident that occurred on social media.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday, the Sydney parents said they were forced to take immediate action after an anonymous troll shared their private home address in a public chat group.

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EXCLUSIVE 'We shut that down quite quickly!' The Block's 'villains' Hayden and Sara Vale reveal the terrifying moment a troll shared their family's address online (PICTURED: Hayden and Sara Vale with their two-year-old daughter, Harlow)

'We had someone know our address and as soon as that happened we shut that done quite quickly,' the worried pair recalled of the home they live in with their two-year-old daughter, Harper.

After enlisting the help of Channel Nine's media team and Facebook, Sara said they were pleased by the outcome, explaining: 'We got them kicked out of the social chat.'

Sara and Hayden claimed the network gave them a 'heads up' about potential trolling that could occur while being on the show and understood that being in the public eye made them 'more susceptible' to online abuse.

'You've just got to have thick skin and ignore the comments, because clearly their lives are just bad and all they want to show is negativity which is actually quite dangerous,' Sara said.

'You've just got to have thick skin and ignore the comments': Sara and Hayden claimed the network gave them a 'heads up' about potential trolling that could occur while being on the show and understood that being in the public eye made them 'more susceptible' to abuse

Sara made headlines this week after she threatened to quit Channel Nine's renovation show during Sunday's episode after the couple's $75,000 bathroom was given the lowest score for the week.

'Watching it back on the weekend was really tough. I could feel all the emotions that I felt on the actual episode and you only saw five minutes of it - it wasn't the full intensity,' she told KIIS FM's Kyle And Jackie O on Tuesday.

In her explosive on-air walkout, Sara tore off her microphone and declared: 'I'm not f***ing coming back. Dead f***ing set I'm f**king over this.'

'Dead f***ing set I'm f**king over this': Sara made headlines this week after she threatened to quit Channel Nine's renovation show during Sunday's episode after the couple's $75,000 bathroom was given the lowest score for the week

Explaining her meltdown, she added: 'It was the insults that hit home and that coupled with stress, fatigue, pressure from The Block and missing our little one.'

'A lot of people are saying to us, "You should have known what you're getting into on The Block", but well, actually, unless you've been in that situation, you've got no idea!'

Despite threatening to quit, it appears the couple have chosen to stay on the show, with the pair's apartment listed on Domain for an October auction.

The Block airs on Sunday nights from 7pm and Monday to Wednesday nights from 7.30pm on Channel NineShe is famed for her extremely edgy style.

So naturally Rita Ora used the fun and frolics of Notting Hill Carnival to max out her kooky looks as she rocked vintage Christian Dior, purple braids, tiny Nineties-inspired sunglasses and a host of jewels at the CASA BACARDI Stage on Monday afternoon.

The 27-year-old Hot Right Now hitmaker looked sensational as she lapped up the atmosphere in her native area while snapping photos and dancing to the music.

Kooky: Naturally Rita Ora used the fun and frolics of Notting Hill Carnival to max out her kooky style as she rocked vintage Christian Dior, purple braids, tiny Nineties-inspired sunglasses and a host of jewels on Monday afternoon

Rita looked nothing short of sensational as she wowed the crowds in her kooky ensemble as she shed her trademark bleached tresses for a lilac do.

She went for a pastel colour scheme as she tied her pale coloured locks in with the pink pattern on her jacket - which was adorned with the classic Dior monogram.

In a nod to the small sunglasses trend, Rita took things to the extreme with her barely-there lenses complete with an oval shape and mirrored purple hue.

Her make-up was flawlessly applied as she rocked pink lipstick with a strong defined eyebrow and subtle eye make-up to allow her outfit to speak for itself.

Stunner: The 27-year-old Hot Right Now hitmaker looked sensational as she lapped up the atmosphere in her native area while snapping photos and dancing to the music

Wow! Only recently, Rita was spotted looking stony-faced while emerging from a New York hotel alongside her boyfriend Andrew Watt last week

Only recently, Rita was spotted looking stony-faced while emerging from a New York hotel alongside her boyfriend Andrew Watt last week.

The couple, who have been linked since earlier this year, appeared united despite allegations that she was seen 'getting cosy' with her ex Tyrone Wood - son of Rolling Stones rocker Ronnie - despite their relationship supposedly being finished.

According to The Sun, the pair, who remain good friends, were seen in North London, looking close, at The Abbey Tavern after a gig at RiZE Festival in Essex.

Up close and personal: Only recently, Rita was spotted looking stony-faced while emerging from a New York hotel alongside her boyfriend Andrew Watt last week (pictured on August 20)

Lost love: The couple, who have been linked since earlier this year, appeared united despite allegations that she was seen 'getting cosy' with her ex Tyrone Wood (pictured) - son of Rolling Stones rocker Ronnie - despite their relationship supposedly being finished

A source told the publication: 'Rita arrived at about 7PM and made a beeline for Tyrone. They were with friends but stood right next to each other and were giggling and whispering...

'There was undeniable chemistry between them, they couldnt keep their hands off each other. She and Tyrone kept ordering shots of tequila and stayed until the pub closed. Ritas boyfriend wouldnt have been impressed.'

Tyrone is an art consultant, known for dating Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Daisy Lowe in the past. MailOnline have previously contacted a rep for Rita for comment.

But the pair were later spotted getting cosy backstage, dancing and chatting closely to each other.NA Chairwoman Ngan presents a third-class Military Order to the Vietnam Coast Guard in recognition of its achievements. (Source: VNA)



Addressing a ceremony to mark 20 years of the traditional day of the Vietnam Coast Guard in Hanoi on August 28th, the top legislator stressed the important role of Vietnams seas and islands in national construction and defence.

The Party and State consistently pursue the policy of protecting and developing the sea-based economy, she said.

Citing the Maritime Strategy until 2020 and the Maritime Law, Ngan added that the National Assembly is expected to adopt a Law on Vietnam Coast Guard during its upcoming sixth session.

To better fulfill its role, the Vietnam Coast Guard should carry forward achievements and overcome shortcomings, while seriously implementing the Partys guidelines and policies on military and national defence, she said.

The NA Chairwoman urged the force to work harder in order to improve combat capacity of all-level Party committees and organisations, and raise the quality of personnel training.

Apart from the communication work, the force needs to pay attention to international cooperation and joining hands with law enforcement forces and competent agencies of foreign countries to address sea-related issues, she said.

Over the past time, the Vietnam Coast Guard has prevented thousands of foreign vessels from violating Vietnams waters, detected hundreds of trade fraud cases, and busted many major drug rings. Besides, the force has provided support for fishermen who were in distress at sea.

The Vietnam Coast Guard has set up bilateral and multilateral ties, and hotlines with law enforcement forces of 20 countries in the region and the world at large, helping create an image of Vietnam as a responsible nation in preserving maritime security, order and safety, and coping with non-traditional security challenges.

At the ceremony, Ms Ngan presented a third-class Military Order to the Vietnam Coast Guard in recognition of its achievements./.Billie Faiers' fiance poked fun at his future mother-in-law, 48, after she was spotted engaging in a steamy kiss on Thursday, while on her daughter's hen party in Ibiza.

Greg Shepherd, 30, took to his Instagram Story to mock Sue Wells' flirty, sun-soaked display with a handsome hunk.

Sharing a photograph on Instagram, he wrote: 'The mother in law @suziewells_ setting the pace with Delciano,' followed by a series of laughing face emojis.

Joking around: Greg Shepherd, 30, couldn't help but poke fun at his future mother-in-law's flirty display in Ibiza, as he took to his Instagram Story to laugh at her sun-soaked smooch

Sue has been getting involved in Billie's pre-wedding festivities in Ibiza as she prepares to take on the role of mother of the bride, as Billie prepares to tie the knot with fiance Greg Shepherd.

Sue had her amazing figure on full display on Thursday as she sported a plunging navy swimsuit with a long silver chained necklace.

Going barefoot as she strolled along the jetty, the blonde beauty joined her beau in taking a dip in the water, with her wet blonde tresses slicked back out of the way.

Sue looked in the throes of love as she engaged in a racy kissing session with her partner.

The countdown is on: Billie Faiers, 28, and Greg Shepherd, 30, are set to tie the knot

Glamorous: Billie Faiers' mum Sue put on a sizzling display in a revealing navy swimsuit on Thursday as she joined her daughter's raucous hen party in Ibiza

PDA: The grandmother-of-four was not afraid to showcase her love for her beau during their raunchy PDA-fest

Showing off her signature Essex tan, the family matriarch had her ageless complexion on full display in the look as she emerged dripping wet from the water before returning to the beach.

Her hunky boyfriend sported his muscular physique as he sported a pair of skimpy black shorts.

MailOnline has contacted Sue Wells' representatives for more information.

Billie is preparing to marry businessman Greg, who she shares daughter Nelly, four, and 18-month-old son Arthur, in the Maldives after whopping four year long engagement and much divisive chat over the nuptials.

After finally settling on the plans, the couple have been throwing themselves into their pre-wedding festivities, with Greg having flown to Las Vegas earlier this month.

Betrothed: Billie is preparing to marry businessman Greg, who she shares daughter Nelly, four, and 18-month-old son Arthur, in the Maldives after whopping four year long engagement

Loving life: Sue has been getting involved in Billie's pre-wedding festivities in Ibiza

Things were obviously set to get wild for Billie and her gal pals as they jetted to Ibiza in the wee hours of Thursday morning, during which they certainly made an impact on the airport with all the ladies rocking stylish matching denim shirts.

Sam has two children Paul, aged two, and Rosie, with her love of more than three years Paul Knightley.

Just weeks ago, Sam claimed she ended her feud with former BFF Ferne after they famously fell out over rival ITV2 programmes documenting motherhood. They put their problems aside on attending Billie's bridal shower and the former pals managed to heal the rift in their friendship.

Sam told The Sun: 'We were both at my sister's bridal shower - Ferne was there. It was fine. It was nice. We were just catching up on the babies really. So we are fine.'She has formed an entire career out of her saucy modelling shoots.

And Emily Ratajkowski was up to her old tricks once more on Monday as she shared a series of smouldering snaps from her latest shoot with Paper Magazine, in which she went nude while larking around in a bubble bath.

The 27-year-old Gone Girl star discussed in an accompanying interview how she treats her Instagram as a 'sexy feminist magazine', in which she litters her page with saucy shots from her various shoots and also smouldering selfies.

Emily looked simply sensational in the images, as she posed and pouted in the tub while showing off a shorter hairstyle that usual which was teased into a bouncy blowdry with huge curls at the ends and a sweeping side fringe.

Following her dip in the tub, she then wrapped herself in a towel and gave a piercing gaze to the camera over her shoulder - with her hair perfectly in place.

In the accompanying interview saw Emily is defending her right to show off her whenever and however she seems fit. The model opened up about how she aligns her sultry social media snaps and her feminist views the new interview.

Emily was propelled her into stardom after she appeared in Robin Thicke's controversial video for his song Blurred Lines, back in 2013.

Hot stuff: The 27-year-old Gone Girl star discussed in an accompanying interview how she treats her Instagram as a 'sexy feminist magazine', in which she litters her page with saucy shots from her various shoots and also smouldering selfies

In that video, Emily danced along with Robin, now 41, Pharrell Williams, 45, rapper, T.I., 37, and model Elle Evans, 28, and Jessi M'Bengue, 28.

All three men wore outfits such as suits and button-down shirts while the women wore white shorts and matching bras, with Emily ending up in a flesh-colored thong.

The video came as the song was accused of having a sexist undertone, of being 'rapey' and of celebrating the objectification of women.

Sending them dotty: In that video, Emily danced along with Robin, now 41, Pharrell Williams, 45, rapper, T.I., 37, and model Elle Evans, 28, and Jessi M'Bengue, 28

Emily later called the video the 'bane of [her] existence' in an interview with InStyle UK, wondering why people were still talking about it three years after its release.

Modelling was supposed to be just a day job for Emily, a temporary gig that would enable her to make some money before possibly going back to school.

'To have something that I was just viewing so much as a 9-5 job turn into something I really was not expecting was super surprising,' she told Paper Magazine.

Out and a pout: Emily later called the video the 'bane of [her] existence' in an interview with InStyle UK, wondering why people were still talking about it three years after its release

Stunner: She is on the front cover of the latest edition of Paper Magazine

Emily has stuck with modeling, appearing on the cover of Cosmopolitan, Glamour, and CR Fashion Book, among other publications. She has walked the runways of some of the highest-profile designers, including Marc Jacobs and Miu Miu.

On a day-to-day basis, Emily has carefully crafted her social media image, thanks to regular publications featuring her figure and / or close-ups of her delicate facial features.

The video vixen recently made headlines with her surprise wedding to Sebastian Bear-McClard at a New York courthouse in February.

Emily exchanged vows with Sebastian, 31, in a small ceremony with just a handful of friends in attendance in February.

Their marriage came as a shock to Ratajkowski's 16.6 million followers as the two were only dating for a few weeks prior to the wedding.

They only became a couple a few weeks before the wedding but a source told UsWeekly that she'd known him 'for years'.They are famed for their saucy ensembles and bountiful curves.

So naturally a night out with pals Blac Chyna and Amber Rose called for the sexiest possible looks, with the former opting for sizzling thigh-high boots while the latter wowed in the plunging catsuit as they hit the streets of Hollywood on Monday.

The 30-year-old stunner opted for a military-inspired look complete with a hat and structured blazer while her shaved-head pal opted for a deeply plunging jumpsuit.

Hot stuff: Naturally a night out with pals Blac Chyna and Amber Rose called for the sexiest possible looks, with the former opting for sizzling thigh-high boots while the latter wowed in the plunging catsuit as they hit the streets of Hollywood on Monday

Blac, who is rumoured to have recently split from 19-year-old rapper YBN Almighty Jay, was dressed to impress as she hit the town in the all-black ensemble.

The model and dancer, known for her penchant for wigs, sported a long, red hair piece from beneath her military style hat.

Her hair coordinated with the crimson adornments on the arms of the jacket which was boxy in style with buttons extending down the front.

She boosted her famously diminutive height with the addition of thigh-high boots with a staggering heel and pointed toe.

Strutting her stuff: The 30-year-old stunner opted for a military-inspired look complete with a hat and structured blazer while her shaved-head pal opted for a deeply plunging jumpsuit

Flame red: The model and dancer, known for her penchant for wigs, sported a long, red hair piece from beneath her military style hat

Amber meanwhile looked phenomenal in the pink jumpsuit which featured a lace-up back with a deeply plunging front to show her eye-popping cleavage.

She was showing off her natural beauty from beneath her fluttering lashes and plumped up pout while her bleached buzzcut was in place as ever.

The stunner wore a pair of staggering heels as she strutted out of the venue with her curves on display for all to see.

Chic: Amber meanwhile looked phenomenal in the pink jumpsuit which featured a lace-up back with a deeply plunging front to show her eye-popping cleavage

Split: Earlier this month, The Shade Room posted a story headlined: 'Blac Chyna and YBN Almighty Jay are over and may already be in new relationships'

Hot stuff: She was showing off her natural beauty from beneath her fluttering lashes and plumped up pout while her bleached buzzcut was in place as ever

Earlier this month, The Shade Room posted a story headlined: 'Blac Chyna and YBN Almighty Jay are over and may already be in new relationships.'

It included a video of the pinup kissing another man, who was not identified, and another clip of an Instagram model named Cree wearing YBN's chain.

The couple were last seen together in public August 5, getting lunch at a LA-area Chuck E Cheese.

Blonde beauty: She wowed in the one-piece which showed off her frameDave Berry has announced he is expecting his first child with wife Sarah-Jane.

The Absolute Radio host confirmed the exciting news on the station's Breakfast Show on Tuesday and admitted that he's looking forward to adding to their family in December.

Speaking on his morning show, he said: 'I return from my holidays with news.'

Delight: Dave Berry has announced he is expecting his first child with wife Sarah-Jane (Pictured alongside his co-host Matt Dyson, who revealed he's set to welcome his thrid child)

'The news is, my wife and I are expecting our first child. Exciting but scary news. We are so, so happy its great.'

The presenter, who secretly married his other half in March in an intimate ceremony at Old Marylebone Town Hall, went on to explain about the joy of pregnancy pillows as he prepares to welcome his little one in December.

'Id never seen a pregnancy pillow before, never mind use one,' he began. 'Let me tell you I think that my performances on FIFA have gone up five or six notches.'

'Admittedly Sarah Jane who is the pregnant one is saying, "can I please have the pillow back because I really want a nap." To which I reply, "Is it more important that you have a nap, or I get Charlton back into the Premiere League?"'

Blossoming: The presenter, who secretly married his other half in March in an intimate ceremony at Old Marylebone Town Hall, went on to explain about the joy of pregnancy pillows as he prepares to welcome his little one in December

Excited: Speaking on his morning show, he said: 'I return from my holidays with news. The news is, my wife and I are expecting our first child. Exciting but scary news. We are so, so happy its great'

In a serendipitous turn of events, Dave's co-host Matt Dyson followed the announcement with the news that his wife is in fact also expecting their third baby.

The presenter who also co-hosts Rock n Roll Football with Matt Forde has two daughters.

Following announcing the news on his radio show, Dave took to his Instagram to share a glowing photo of his pregnant wife, cradling her bump during their sun-soaked holiday.

Captioning the sweet shot, the broadcaster jokingly wrote: 'A bunch of Berrys'.

The thrilling news comes six months after he secretly married Sarah-Jane in an intimate ceremony at Old Marylebone Town Hall.

'Mr and Mrs Berry!' Radio host Dave shared an adorable wedding cake moment in the first look at his secret nuptials to long-term girlfriend Sarah-Jane

And while keeping quiet about their nuptials, an elated Dave was more than happy to give a glimpse of the wedding reception - sharing the adorable cake-cutting moment via his Instagram.

After exchanging vows in front of family and friends, the 39-year-old radio host shared the sweet treat with his new wife at the private members' only The Ivy Club.

In the heartwarming clip, Dave lovingly fed Sarah a slice of their wedding cake, which boasted a rainbow-coloured centre and creamy icing top.

The Absolute Radio host then turned towards his young niece to help her eat some of the sugary delicacy.

Dave sweetly captioned the post: 'Mr & Mrs Berry + A cake loving niece' accompanied by a love heart emoji.

Dig in! The Absolute Radio host then turned towards his young niece to help her eat some of the sugary treat

Wedding bells: Dave sweetly captioned the post: 'Mr & Mrs Berry + A cake loving niece' accompanied by a love heart emoji

The social media upload was the first glimpse of Dave's new wife Sarah and their nuptials, as the couple have been careful about keeping out of the public eye.

Sarah - who looked radiant in her soft tulle wedding dress and flowing brunette locks - beamed as she was handed the cake by her husband, being careful to ensure no crumbs made it to her gown.

Dave cut a dapper figure in sharp black tux and crisp white shirt and waistcoat.

The TV personality proposed to the former talent manager during a romantic trip to Rome last year.

Happy couple: The social media upload was the first glimpse of Dave's new wife Sarah and their nuptials, as the couple have been careful about keeping out of the public eye

Speaking to the The Sun, Berry - who started dating his new wife a number of years ago but chose to keep their relationship out of the public eye - admitted he got down on one knee in the Italian capital as it was the 'perfect city to do it in'.

'I asked Sarah-Jane to marry me whilst in Rome, wed been travelling around the world for a few months and it was the perfect city to do it in,' he explained.

'We got hitched in Old Marylebone Town Hall followed by the most amazing family lunch.'

I do: Dave Berry proposed to Sarah during a romantic trip to Rome

Berry's marriage comes seven years after his split with former Sugababes star Heidi Range.

Announcing the end of their eight-year relationship in December 2011, a spokesperson for the presenter said: 'Dave Berry announced today that his engagement to partner Heidi Range has been broken off.

'Mr Berry announced the news today although the couple agreed to separate in the Autumn.

'The split is amicable and no third parties are involved and he will make no further statement on the issue.'

Romantic: The presenter exchanged vows with former talent manager Sarah-Jane in front of close friends and family at Old Marylebone Town Hall on Friday

Heidi also took to her Twitter page to break the news, writing: 'Very sadly, after eight years together, myself and Dave decided to separate a few months ago. I wish him nothing but the best in life x'

The pair had previously told OK! Magazine that they were planning a wedding in London in October 2011, with Heidi adding that she already had her eye on a designer dress.

She told the magazine: 'I havent tried any yet but when I did a gig in Barbados with the Sugababes, Vera Wangs daughter came up to me and said, "My mum was at the gig and shed love to make you a wedding dress". I nearly passed out, Ive always dreamt of a Vera Wang wedding dress!'

The former couple met in 2003 and on New Year's Eve 2009, Berry proposed while the couple were on holiday in India.Russell Brand serenaded his wife Laura with a rather cheeky song on their one-year wedding anniversary - and posted a video of the moment on Twitter.

Throwing it back to his movie, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, he sang Inside Of You from his comedic film on Sunday.

The comedian, 43, went shirtless for the oddly romantic ditty to mark the special day.

One year on: Russell Brand, 43, serenaded his wife Laura Gallacher, 30, on their first wedding anniversary with a curious rendition of the song 'Inside of You'

In the short selfie clip, he can be heard warbling: 'Old as Ancient Skies/I've had these wondering eyes.

'But you took me by surprise when you let me inside of you/Inside of you/Inside of you. I long to be, is it wrong to be, inside of you.'

The actor then thanks his co-star in the 2009 rom-com Jason Segel, who penned the song, before blowing kisses to the camera.

He captioned the video: 'Happy Anniversary Laura! One year in! #insideofyou.'

Time out: Russell briefly stepped out of the limelight last year as he adjusted to life as a husband and father; Pictured with Laura Gallacher in Los Angeles, California in January

Sexual singing: The comedian took to Twitter to share the bizarre video of himself topless, singing the tune to his wife to mark the anniversary of their special day

Inspired: The song 'Inside of You' is from his comedy film Forgetting Sarah Marshall; Pictured alongside Kristen Bell in Forgetting Sarah Marshall

The Rock Of Ages actor and Laura began dating on and off in 2007, but embarked on official romance three years ago.

The pair married in a romantic ceremony in Henley-on-Thames in August 2017 with the great and good of showbiz watching, including Noel Gallagher and David Baddiel.

They share two children together - daughter Mabel, 20 months, and a second daughter, who is thought to have been born in July this year - her name is yet to be disclosed.

Russell threw himself back into work earlier this month as he began work filming for children's movie Four Kids and It at the National History Museum in Dublin.

With love from Russell: The actor then thanks his co-star in the 2009 rom-com Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Jason Segel, who penned the song, before blowing kisses to the camera

Sporting a greying beard and sunglasses, the actor looked virtually unrecognisable as he transformed himself for his role as the oddball villain, Tristan.

The film, based on the 2012 Jacqueline Wilson book, follows four children who are upset to discover that their beach holiday is a bonding trip with possible step-siblings.

During an argument, they stumble across the Psammead - described as a magical, sandy, grumpy creature - who reluctantly grants them a wish a day.

Four Kids and It will be directed by Andy De Emmony, and will also star Paula Patton, Michael Caine and Matthew Goode, as well as Cheryl in a cameo role.Danny Dyer finds his role on EastEnders so draining that he has resorted to using IV booster drips for energy.

The TV hardman, 41, who plays Mick Carter in the long-running BBC soap, told the Daily Star: 'Ive been boosting my energy. Ive had four courses of booster drips recently.

'I was so lethargic. It also helps the liver and everything.'

Draining: Danny Dyer finds his role on EastEnders so draining that he has resorted to using IV booster drips for energy

The admission comes as Danny returns to the set of the stalwart soap, in London, for the first time, after taking a lengthy summer break with his family.

The drips cost around 160 per session and are a favourite of other celebrities including Simon Cowell, Brad Pitt, Madonna, Rihanna and Danny's own daughter, Love Island star Dani.

The drips involve a flow of vitamin B12 to the body and are said to improve calmness and well-being, improving health over the days afterwards.

Danny has to endure long hours on set at EastEnders, and his plots tend to involve high drama. Mick has been involved in an affair with his daughter-in-law, a heist gone wrong and the rape of his wife by his own brother.

Back to the grind: The admission comes as Danny returns to the set of the stalwart soap, in London, for the first time, after taking a lengthy summer break with his family

The TV hardman, 41, who plays Mick Carter in the long-running BBC soap, told the Daily Star: 'Ive been boosting my energy. Ive had four courses of booster drips recently'

Suffering: 'I was so lethargic. It also helps the liver and everything,' Danny said of the treatments

He is also about to embark on a stint in the West End, alongside Martin Freeman in Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter/A Slight Ache - sure to add more pressure to his grueling schedule.

He had to take time off from work earlier in the year, thanks to suffering from personal issues with his wife. He fled to Africa to be alone, returning home and to work several weeks later having sorted out the problems.

At the weekend, Danny was sure to dedicate some downtime to his family - with him and Dani joining her boyfriend Jack Fincham for a Sunday roast.

Jack took to his Instagram to share a photograph with Dani's family - including her grandfather, affectionately known as 'Bruv' - all smiling and cuddled up.

Heavy going: Danny has to endure long hours on set at EastEnders, and his plots tend to involve high drama. Mick has been involved in an affair with his daughter-in-law, a heist gone wrong and the rape of his wife by his own brother

Back to normal: He had to take time off from work earlier in the year, thanks to suffering from personal issues with his wife. He fled to Africa to be alone, returning home and to work several weeks later having sorted out the problems

Jam packed: He is also about to embark on a stint in the West End, alongside Martin Freeman in Harold Pinter's The Dumb Waiter/A Slight Ache - sure to add more pressure to his grueling schedule

Cute: Love Island's Jack Fincham proved he's firmly in the family as he enjoyed a roast at Dani Dyer's granddad Bruv's house on Sunday with his girlfriend and her EastEnders father Danny

He captioned the sweet snap with: 'Nice little roast round bruvs @bruv_loveislandlegend.'

This comes after Dani revealed she missed out on a part in EastEnders before finding fame on Love Island.

She told the Daily Star Sunday: 'I think it's because my dad is already on it so if I went on it there would be a massive outrage. They won't let me, and are like, it ain't going to happen.'She was recently mercilessly trolled on Instagram over a sun-drenched photo of her feet, which some fans labelled 'creepy'.

Yet Elle MacPherson did not let the online haters get her down as she snapped back at her bodyshamers via another foot snap shared on Instagram on Monday.

The supermodel, 54, posted a near-identical snap of her ten toes while aboard a boat in Miami during her family getaway in retaliation to her foot critics last month.

Confident: Elle Macpherson, 54, clapped back at fans who called out her 'creepy ugly' feet by posting another defiant foot snap shared via Instagram on Sunday

Elle topped up her tan aboard the luxury liner during a trip with sons Arpad Busson, 20, and Aurelius Busson, 15.

The Australian beauty's toes extended out, and Elle appeared nonplussed by her followers' previous comments, simply commenting: 'Miami Sunday'.

Elle had much to say within the comment section of her latest post as she was lambasted for her digits, with one fan writing 'Damn girl you have some long as feet & toes. #Monsters'. The Next Top Model star took no notice, and replied, '6ft baby.'

Not having it: Elle had much to say within the comment section of her latest post as she was continually lambasted for her digits

Another fan brought up their own feet experience, who explained that they were nervous about getting surgery to remove the bone spurs that Elle also has.

'Do you know something I don't? Have you been advised either way as nervous about it,' wrote the worried fan

The body confident star reacted: 'Why remove?' in support of the follower, proving her defiance against body shaming.

'Peace': When Elle posted an Instagram snap in July, the appearance of her feet got mercilessly trolled in the comments

'Why remove?': Another fan brought up their own feet experience, who explained that they were nervous about getting surgery to remove the bone spurs that Elle also has

Continuing to show off her feet with pride, Elle also shared two Instagram stories, with her digits the main focus on both top-down snaps.

Last month, Elle received backlash for her original snapshot, captioned: 'Peace,' in which her feet were in full view while sunning herself in front of an infinity pool that overlooked a dazzling ocean view.

Not seen was her new man - notorious British former doctor Andrew Wakefield. 'What's wrong with her feet?' asked one comment, prompting the reply: 'maybe bone spurs? I assume wearing high heels for years can't be too easy on the feet.'

'Probably shoe problems,' wrote another Instagram commenter, whereas yet another user of the social network merely posted several feet emoji.

Chatter: 'What's wrong with her feet?' asked one comment, prompting the reply: 'maybe bone spurs? I assume wearing high heels for years can't be too easy on the feet'

'Those popcicle toes though!!!' wrote one commenter, adding a trio of laughing emoji, while another wrote: 'Skinny weird feet'.

The negative reaction to her feet spanned multiple languages, with one Instagram user writing incredulously: 'C est quoi ces pieds ????'

This is not to say that Elle was without her defenders, however, as many Instagram users sprang into action to take the Australian model's side.

'Years of heels and catwalks. Leave her alone. This woman paved a path!!!!!!!' wrote one Instagram commenter amid all the trolling.

'The funny thing is, all this sniping, yet there are literally millions of men who'd eat their own pinky off just to have five minutes of quality time with the feet of Elle Macpherson,' wrote another, popping in a smiling emoji before: '#imoneofthem'.

'If ya don't like her feet, there lots of other things to LOVE about her!!' piped up another Instagram user, buttoning the statement with a flamenco dancer emoji.

Throwback: Elle is is an internationally famous model known as 'The Body'; she is pictured in a Zeki Triko bikini back in 1994

Elle has two sons with her London-based French financier ex Arpad Busson. She hit the headlines last week when she was spotted kissing Andrew Wakefield.

The shamed doctor controversially linked autism to the measles MMR vaccine and had his UK medical license rescinded in 2010 for offenses including fraud.

Andrew, who is estranged from his wife Carmel, was spotted locking lips with Elle at a Miami farmer's market this past Friday.Declan Donnelly took to Twitter on Tuesday to re-tweet a mantra about 'letting of ego, resentment and hate.'

Quoting a post from what appears to be a fan account for American business magnate Warren Buffett, Dec's re-tweet comes in the midst of the dramas surrounding his long-term co-host Ant McPartlin.

The tweet read: 'Let go of: 1 ego 2 entitlement 3 resentment 4 hate 5 doubt. Hold on to: 1 hope 2 gratitude 3 optimism 4 curiosity 5 love.'

Wise words: Declan Donnelly took to Twitter on Tuesday to re-tweet a mantra about 'letting go' and 'holding on'

Mantra: Quoting a post from what appears to be a fan account for American business magnate Warren Buffett, Dec's re-tweet comes in the midst of the dramas surrounding his long-term co-host Ant McPartlin

This seems poignant given the current situation with Ant - who announced last week that he is taking time away from TV until 2019, leaving Dec to front their joint TV shows alone.

While it was retweeted by Ant and Dec's joint Twitter handle, it's worth noting that Dec has been the only person tweeting in recent weeks from the account in recent weeks.

In addition, dramas currently surround Ant's estranged wife Lisa Armstrong and his new girlfriend Anne-Marie Corbett.

While Ant is focusing on his relapse in his painkiller addiction recovery, his estranged wife Lisa has been taking to social media to 'like' tweets about him being 'pathetic' and 'despicable'.

Lisa was left feeling heartbroken after photos of her estranged husband Ant emerged with his new girlfriend Anne-Marie in Florence over the weekend.

Timely: This seems poignant given the current situation with Ant, his estranged wife Lisa Armstrong, his new girlfriend Anne-Marie Corbett and the shake-up concerning his presenting duties

Doing what she loves: Lisa shared this snap on Instagram, writing 'And were back!! @lisadaveyhair #hairandmake-up xx' as she got back to work on the new season of Strictly

Ant was snapped looking cosy with his and Lisa's former PA during a holiday to Italy, in which a passersby told The Sun: 'Ant kept cuddling Anne-Marie, he looked amazing and happier than ever.'

After a fan sent her a message about how heartbreaking the situation must be, Lisa responded with a simple crying face Emoji.

She went on to favourite several tweets, which called Ant 'insensitive' and 'disrespectful' - continuing to do so on Sunday as more replies branded him 'despicable' and 'shameful'.

One tweeter penned: 'Seeing those pictures can only make you stronger hold your head high the nation can now see for their own eyes how certain humans are beyond despicable & you were right all along #shameonthem.'

Heartbroken: Ant's estranged wife Lisa took to Twitter on Saturday afternoon to share her heartache over his holiday with new girlfriend

Support: One fan branded Ant 'despicable'

Cryptic: Lisa also reposted a snap about a person being buried by people only to 'grow' as a seed, to which she added three heart emojis

Hitting back: The make-up artist went on to favourite several tweets, which called Ant 'insensitive' and 'disrespectful'

Another wrote: 'Hardest pill I had to swallow was learning that no matter how good you could be to someone, no matter how much you care & love them, that they can & WILL turn their back on you & theres absolutely nothing you can do about it but say f**k it and keep moving forward!'

Lisa also replied to a photo from her best friend and former Deuce star, Craig Robert Young, who shared a quote which said 'those people who tried to bury you didn't know you were a seed,' to which she replied with three red hearts.

The Strictly Come Dancing make-up artist re-tweeted a message from a fan, which read: 'Its tough Ive been there to and sooo disrespectful after so many years.

'It might not seem it but the best thing is to hold ur head up high and be as successful as you can not just career wise - men are weak and always need someone !! Women dont xxx.'

Loved-up: Anne-Marie has been seeing Ant for the last few months

Lisa and Ant announced their split in January before details of his new romance came out earlier this year - much to Lisa's open heartache.

Following the images, a fan messaged the star saying: 'Seeing those pictures of Ant hugging his girlfriend and looking smitten must be so painful for Lisa...

'Really feel for her,it's not nice to see your ex with someone else, but to see it all over social media... must be twice as hard.'

She then responded to the message with the crying face which appeared to reflect her heartache on the scenario and her agreement over the message.

Of the romantic holiday snaps of Ant and Anne-Marie, the source told The Sun: 'They seemed even more in love and were just being classic tourists, shopping in the market and taking pictures of the buildings.

'Ant kept his arm around Anne-Marie constantly. He seemed really protective of her. Its great to see him looking so well again.'

Heartache: The star's romance with Anne-Marie, his former PA, was revealed earlier this year, after he confirmed he called it quits with wife of twelve years Lisa in January

In the midst of his romantic holiday, ITV bosses have confirmed that Ant will be replaced for the forthcoming season I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here and that Declan Donnelly won't be hosting alone.

The TV duo were split up for the first time earlier this year after Ant suffered a relapse during his addiction recovery and had to take a break from his career to focus on his health.

Ant announced he would be taking time off from all presenting duties until 2019 following a difficult year, leaving fans to speculate who would replace him alongside co-host Dec for the show's 18th series.

It has since been announced that Holly Willoughby will take his place, come November.They rekindled their romance earlier this year after a brief split.

Yet it seemed Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik were going stronger than ever as they enjoyed a night in with the One Direction star's family.

Taking to Instagram, Zayn's family shared snaps of the supermodel as she joined them to celebrate Eid al-Adha, also called the Festival of Sacrifice.

Cute couple: It seemed Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik were going stronger than ever as they enjoyed a night in with the One Direction star's family

Eid al-Adha marks the end of the Hajj pilgrimage - which is one of the five pillars of Islam - and Muslims celebrate the day with food, gifts, prayers and family gatherings.

Gigi looked radiant for the celebrations, clad in a traditional kurta - an upper garment for men and women that originates in the Indian subcontinent.

The kurta was picked out for Gigi by Zayn's mother Trisha, who shared a sweet black white and snap of the trio cuddled up for the camera, which she captioned with heart emojis.

Zayn's sister Waliyha also shared snaps of the group celebrating, captioning the selection of pictures: 'Eid Mubarak'

Family first: Taking to Instagram, Zayn's family shared snaps of the supermodel as she joined Zayn's mother Trisha to celebrate Eid al-Adha, also called the Festival of Sacrifice

Dressed to impress: Gigi looked radiant for the celebrations, clad in a traditional kurta - an upper garment for men and women that originates in the Indian subcontinent

Zayn's father Yaser is British-Pakistani and Trisha converted to Islam when she met him, with the couple raising their children Muslim.

The former One Direction star previously said of his religion: 'I take a great sense of pride  and responsibility  in knowing that I am the first of my kind, from my background.

'I'm not currently practising but I was raised in the Islamic faith, so it will always be with me, and I identify a lot with the culture. But I'm just me. I don't want to be defined by my religion or my cultural background.'

Family fun: Zayn's sister Waliyha also shared snaps of the group celebrating, captioning the selection of pictures: 'Eid Mubarak'

Gigi, who also celebrated Eid with Zayn's family last year, was raised muslim by Jordanian-American father Mohamed Hadid and Dutch-American mother, Yolanda.

Whilst Gigi has not spoken at length about her religion, sister Bella openly discussed her father's heritage and how this factored into her upbringing.

'He was always religious, and he always prayed with us. I am proud to be a Muslim,' Bella told Porter magazine.She has followed in her mother's footsteps to become a muse for the French fashion house.

And Lily-Rose Depp proved her loyalty to the luxury brand as she slipped into a striking pink swimsuit for a new social media campaign for Chanel on Tuesday.

The 19-year-old model showcased her slender figure in the plunging halterneck one-piece, which boasted criss-cross print in navy and white across it.

Pink to make them wink: Lily-Rose Depp, 19, proved her loyalty to the luxury brand as she slipped into a striking pink swimsuit for a new social media campaign for Chanel on Tuesday

Smouldering down the camera, she hinted at her sideboob in the risky swimsuit, which featured a daringly-low back.

The daughter of Vanessa Paradis and Johnny Depp teased at her pert derriere while she posed for the shot.

The model-turned-actress worked her hands through her brunette tresses and sported a pair of nineties-inspired shades for the photo.

The photo, which was shared on Chanel's official social media, was captioned: 'Lily-Rose Depp for #CHANELHolidays'.

Muse: She has followed in her mother's footsteps to become a muse for the French fashion house (Pictured with Karl Lagerfeld)

Lily-Rose isn't the only celebrity starring in the sun-soaked advertisement with Oscar nominated star Margot Robbie and Grammy award winner Pharrell Williams.

Meanwhile, Lily-Rose is following in the footsteps of both her parents, forging a career as a model for Chanel as well as an actress with several film roles under her belt.

The 5-foot, 3-inch celebrity offspring has been modeling since her early teenage years and has been the face of Chanel's fragrance No. 5 L'Eau in 2016 and appeared in a campaign for Chanel's beauty line in 2017.

Star-studded: Lily-Rose isn't the only celebrity starring in the sun-soaked advertisement with Oscar nominated star Margot Robbie and Grammy award winner Pharrell Williams

Making a splash in print, she has also appeared on the cover of British Vogue and Vogue Russia.

Her acting career includes roles in movies like Tusk (2014), The Dancer (2016) and Planetarium (2016) opposite Natalie Portman.

More recently Lily-Rose has been filming the historical drama film The King, which stars Robert Pattinson, Timothee Chamalet, Joel Edgerton, Ben Mendelsohn and Sean Harris.

The film, which is an adaptation of Shakespeare plays Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2 and Henry V, is expected to premiere in 2019.Li Zhanshu, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, presides over a bimonthly session of the 13th NPC Standing Committee at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 27, 2018. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

BEIJING, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislature began its bimonthly session on Monday, with deliberating draft civil code sections and revisions to the individual income tax law on the agenda.

Li Zhanshu, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, presided over the meeting.

DRAFT CIVIL CODE SECTIONS

Six draft sections on specific areas of civil law were submitted to the top legislature for review, beginning the second phase of formulating the country's long-expected civil code.

The six draft sections, namely provisions on property, contract, personality rights, marriage and family, inheritance, and torts, consist of 1,034 articles.

Monday's meeting marked the beginning of the second phase, which is expected to run until 2020, according to Shen Chunyao, head of the Legislative Affairs Commission under the NPC Standing Committee.

During this week's session, the six draft sections were submitted as a package but may be put through follow-up readings for further deliberation, reviews, and revisions in different batches, Shen said while presenting the drafts at the opening meeting.

After that, the revised draft sections will be combined with the General Provisions to form a draft civil code and submitted to the plenary session of the NPC in March 2020, said Shen.

INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX LAW

According to a draft amendment to the individual income tax law, the minimum threshold for personal income tax exemption was raised from 3,500 yuan (about 512 U.S. dollars) to 5,000 yuan per month or 60,000 yuan per year.

The draft adds a new special expense deduction for caring for the elderly, in addition to previous special expense deductions for items like children's education, continuing education, treatment for serious diseases, as well as housing loan interest and rent.

Explaining the draft to lawmakers at the start of the NPC Standing Committee session, Xu Hui, vice chairman of the NPC's Constitution and Law Committee, said that it is necessary to revise the current law to enable taxation to better play its role in adjusting income distribution.

LAWS ON FARMLAND OCCUPATION TAXES, VEHICLE PURCHASE TAXES

Draft laws on farmland occupation taxes and vehicle purchase taxes were submitted to the ongoing session for the first reading.

The draft law on farmland occupation taxes states that entities and individuals who occupy farmland to build houses or other non-agricultural construction should pay farmland occupation taxes. The construction of water conservancy facilities on farmland will be exempt from tax.

The building of military installations, schools, kindergartens, social welfare institutions, and medical institutions on farmland will be exempt from the farmland occupation taxes as well, it said.

According to the draft law on vehicle purchase taxes, entities and individuals should pay purchase taxes at a tax rate of 10 percent, same as the figure stated in the current interim regulation, for buying cars or motorcycles, streetcars or trailers with an engine displacement of over 150 milliliters.

It said tax authorities will decide the payable taxes in cases that taxpayers declare obviously low taxable prices with no warrant.

E-COMMERCE LAW

The draft e-commerce law was submitted to the NPC Standing Committee session for the fourth reading.

E-commerce platform operators may face a penalty of 500,000 yuan, or up to 2 million yuan in serious cases, for failing to take necessary steps against intellectual property rights infringement by merchants on their platforms, or unreasonably restricting transactions on the platforms, the draft law said.

It also said e-commerce operators should fulfill their obligations to protect the environment, adding that the State Council, local governments at or above county-level as well as related departments should take measures to support and promote environmentally friendly packaging, storage, and transportation in e-commerce.

LAW ON SOIL POLLUTION

The draft law on soil pollution prevention and control was submitted to the session for the third reading.

According to the draft, there will be national standards for soil pollution risk control, and a nationwide soil condition census should be conducted at least once every ten years.

A network of monitoring stations are required to be established nationwide with data and other information collected shared among environmental, agricultural, natural resources, housing, water resources, health, and forestry and grassland authorities, it said.

Environmental and health authorities of the State Council are required to conduct screening and evaluation of toxic and harmful substances in the soil and make public a list of them.

AMENDMENT TO CRIMINAL PROCEDURE LAW

According to a draft amendment to the criminal procedure law, a default judgment can be applied to not only corruption-related criminal cases, and also serious cases endangering state security and terrorist activities that have been examined and approved by the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Lawmakers also reviewed other documents including a treaty of extradition between China and Barbados.

The legislative session will run until Friday.

[ Editor: Zhang Zhou ]He recently said he'll be enlisting the help of police following a number of threats towards his family by online trolls.

But on Tuesday night, former Married At First Sight Nasser Sultan seemed relaxed as he cut a youthful figure on the red carpet at MTV Live Sessions in Sydney.

Striking a pose for the cameras, the aspiring beauty blogger looked fresh-faced at the exclusive one-off music event.

Scroll down for video

Single and ready to mingle? Married At First Sight star Nasser Sultan, 51, cut a youthful figure when he attended the MTV Live Sessions event in Sydney on Tuesday night

This year's MTV Live Sessions saw Australian electronic music duo Peking Duk take to the stage to entertain the crowds.

For the outing, Nasser opted to keep his look smart casual, wearing loose-fitting slacks which he paired with a crisp white shirt and button-down blazer.

Flashing the cameras a smile, Nasser completed his outfit with a pair of stylish black-framed glasses, a black belt and high-shine boots.

Smart casual! Nasser opted for a chic look, wearing a black button-down blazer and a crisp white shirt to the event, which saw electronic music duo Peking Duk perform

Despite the relaxed showing, it comes after Nasser sent out a warning to trolls he would be going to the police due to threats against his family.

Last week, Nasser appeared on KIIS FM's Kyle and Jackie O Show, telling the hosts and listeners he would be seeking help from the cops.

'I'm going to the police today and I've got a list of death threats, bomb threats, and stalking threats,' Nasser said of the seriousness of the hostile interactions.

Tough time: 'The people sending death threats will be arrested!' On Tuesday, Nasser said he would be enlisting the help of police to investigate vile messages sent by online trolls

Nasser claims the death threats escalated after news broke of his decision to contact a 12-year-old's school principal for vile comments he received from the pupil.

'People are sending me pictures of guns and saying: "9mm - your family is going to get blown up. You're going to get blown up."'

Clearly angered by the brazen comments made by the public to his private inboxes, Nasser told the radio hosts: 'I'm not going to tolerate that.'

On the radio program, it appeared shock jock Kyle went in to bat for the former reality star.

'When you do make death threats against someone the police will handle them seriously, and you will get arrested,' Kyle said.

Nasser rose to fame on the last season of Married At First Sight, when he was paired with Northern Beaches blonde, Gabrielle Bartlett.Keanu Reeves has been performing his own stunts for new movie, John Wick: Parabellum.

The third film in the neo-noir action thriller has been shooting on the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn, with dramatic sequences involving Keanu's titular character on horseback in the rain.

Behind-the-scenes footage has emerged of the movie star, 53, shooting in a suit, straddling the horse with safety harnesses attached to his costume.

Back in the saddle: Keanu Reeves has been performing his own stunts for new movie, John Wick: Parabellum

In other footage, he rides alongside a man on a motorbike, holding a gun to the driver's head.

Keanu is no stranger to action movies, known for iconic roles in Speed and The Matrix.

While Speed saw him guiding Sandra Bullock on how to save the passengers from a bomb on a runaway bus, The Matrix series saw Keanu back-flipping and levitating in a dystopian future.

For these roles, Keanu was seen leaping from the Speed bus to a moving car, while in The Matrix he performed martial arts.

High octane: Keanu is seen straddling a horse with safety harnesses attached to his costume riding alongside a man on a motorbike, holding a gun to the driver's head

Action man: Behind-the-scenes footage has emerged of the movie star, 53, shooting in a suit

He also appeared in period fantasy 47 Ronin in 2013, another role requiring martial arts skills.

He portrayed Kai - a masterless samurai in 18th-century Japan who avenged the death of their lord, in the style of Chushingura.

Keanu had to attend a three-month 'John Wick boot camp' to prepare for the role, featuring intensive training in judo and jiu-jitsu, gun work, fight choreography and stunt driving.

The movie is in fact being directed by Chad Stahelski who not only is a former stunt coordinator but who worked with Keanu in The Matrix movies.

'Chad is so interested in not just action, but the character in the action, and whats the storytelling,' the actor told Page Six in 2017, ahead of John Wick: Chapter 2.

Seasoned pro: Keanu is no stranger to action movies, known for iconic roles in Speed and The Matrix

High spirits: The Matrix series saw Keanu back-flipping and levitating in a dystopian future

At it again: he third film in the neo-noir action thriller has been shooting on the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn, with dramatic sequences involving Keanu's titular character

Of the gun work he did for the film, he said: 'Basically just take the gun home, start walking around, practice spying rooms, practice your draws... practice your reloads, transitions from weapon to weapon, footwork, and then kind of coming up with the John Wick style.'

Of his stunt driving, he added: 'They said, "Get in the car, drive backward and smash into that other car." It was funny because I hit that car so hard, I ripped the steering wheel off the steering column.'

Keanu does, however, have a driving stunt double, Jeremy Fry, who takes on the particularly hard core sequences.

In the first film, ex-hitman John came out of retirement to track down the gangsters that killed his dog.

In the driver's seat: Speed saw Keanu guiding Sandra Bullock on how to save the passengers from a bomb on a runaway bus

Back on the beat: Hitman John will find himself on the run again in the forthcoming film, set in New York

In the 2017 sequel, he returned to the criminal underworld to repay a debt, but discovered that a large bounty had been put on his life.

Hitman John will find himself on the run again in the forthcoming film, set in New York.

Keanu's character is forced into hiding when he finds out about a $14million contract on his life, then finds himself targeted for killing a man on Continental Hotel grounds.

John's victim is believed to be a member of the High Table who ordered the open contract.

Oscar-winning James Bond star Halle Berry, 51, is joining Keanu in the all-star cast, alongside Anjelica Huston, Asia Kate Dillon and Jason Mantzoukas.

Fighting fit: He also appeared in period fantasy 47 Ronin in 2013, another role requiring martial arts skills

Hitting the target: He portrayed Kai - a masterless samurai in 18th-century Japan who avenged the death of their lord, in the style of Chushingura

In the know: John Wick 3 is in fact being directed by Chad Stahelski who not only is a former stunt coordinator but who worked with Keanu in The Matrix movies

Rounding out the cast of the action film - helmed by Chad Stahelski, who directed the first two - are Jason Mantzoukas, Ian McShane and martial arts master Tiger Hu Chen.

Keanu will next be seen alongside Winona Ryder in new romantic comedy Destination Wedding, which follows the high jinks of two wedding attendees who clearly don't fit in with the staid ceremony taking place in California wine country.

The comedy will be a departure for Keanu, which is a far cry from the John Wick action series.

John Wick 3 is currently expected to be released on May 17, 2019.She's turning 32 on Wednesday.

And Lea Michele couldn't be more excited about the big day - because she's guest hosting The Ellen Show.

She tweeted: 'I get the best birthday present EVER tomorrow! Im HOSTING The Ellen Show! This is such a dream come true! Make sure you tune in!!!!'

Beautiful! Lea Michele was spotted going makeup free in Los Angeles Monday as she made a pit stop to a beauty spa

Orange glow: Michele rocked a textured orange top that billowed around her distressed denim cutoff shorts

And Lea has no concerns about turning older, writing: 'It feels amazing! Im so happy and grateful to be where I am in my life right now! So excited to see what this year of being 32 brings!'

Prepping for her birthday, Lea was spotted flashing a bare face while heading out to spend a day at the spa in Los Angeles on Monday.

Lea was dressed comfortably in a bright, billowing textured orange blouse and a pair of denim cutoffs.

Stunning! Over the weekend Lea snapped a selfie before heading to a bridal shower in Venice for a friend

The makeup free Glee star kept her sleek and straight brunette hair down and flowing.

Over the weekend a decidedly more glam version of Lea stepped out for a friend's bridal shower in Venice.

A bride-to-be herself, Lea snapped a selfie from the car on her way to the party wearing in a printed pink bohemian style daytime dress with a plunging neckline.

She said yes! In April Lea announced her engagement to boyfriend Zandy Reich on Instagram

Back in April, Michele took to Instagram to announce her engagement to beau Zandy Reich.

The Scream Queens star posted a smiling seaside photo with her hand covering her face and showing off a new diamond ring.

Lea is best known for her role as Rachel Berry, the goody two shoes student with a stunning voice, on Ryan Murphy's hit Glee.

She stared on the musical comedy series on Fox from 2009 until 2015.

During her tenure on the show the soprano stared dating her co-star Cory Monteith. The pair's yearlong relationship ended abruptly due to the Canadian born actor's untimely death in 2013.

Monteith was just 31-years-old when he accidentally overdosed on heroin in a Vancouver hotel room.Rose McGowan released a statement on Monday about allegations against Asia Argento.

In it, she confirmed that her partner, Rain Dove Dubilewski, was the one conversing with the Italian actress about Jimmy Bennett in text messages leaked to TMZ.

Rain and Asia only recently met and became close, but Rose said: I know Rain is a person to whom many high profile entities consult when they are experiencing social pressures.

Rose McGowan confirmed in a statement that partner Rain Dove was the person Asia Argento opened up to about Jimmy Bennett in a series of text messages

Because Rain is good at guiding them through the research confrontation, rehabilitation, and solution process.

Rose continued: While they are a person who is good at keeping a secret for those dedicated to making things right  they are also justice driven.

In the text exchange, Asia seemingly admitted to Dove that she had a sexual relationship with a then 17-year-old Jimmy. She claimed, however, that she was unaware he was a minor until after the fact.

Asia also said in the messages that the young actor, whom she referred to as a horny kid, jumped her and then threatened legal action sometime after the fact.

I believe in justice  Rose McGowan (@rosemcgowan) August 27, 2018

It was then that boyfriend Anthony Bourdain paid Jimmy $380,000 in hush money, according to the text conversation. Asia maintained that Jimmy was extorting her.

In her statement, Rose said Dove planned to turn the text conversation over to police.

I responded with, You have to. You must. I wasted no time. It wasnt hard to say or support. What was hard was the shell shock of the realization that everything the MeToo movement stood for was about to be in jeopardy, she said.

An hour after our conversation finished, Rain Dove confirmed they had turned over the texts and were in conversation with officers. Almost 48 hours later the texts were in the press.

Heres what you need to know about Rain Dove, including who they are, how theyre connected to Rose McGowan and more.

Who is Rain Dove?

Rain Dove Dubilewski was born September 27, 1989. They are a gender non-conforming model and activist.

Dove doesn't have preferred pronouns. They explained in an interview: 'For me, a pronoun is a sound, and what I'm listening to in that sound...[is respect], and I'm listening for intent.

'So if you want to address me and you're doing it respectfully and you're calling me "him" or "they", you can call me "it", I don't care. As long as what you're trying to say is something that's respectful.'

Dove has appeared in mens and womens fashion campaigns for brands like Boyswear and Malon Breton.

Before entering the world of modelling, Dove studied at the University of California at Berkeley. They received a degree in genetic engineering.

Dove also worked as a firefighter.

In addition to their modelling work, Dove is an outspoken supporter of the LGBTQ community. They often advocate for other gender non-conforming people, too.

Dove has been championing the #MeToo movement since its earliest days, likely partially because of their ties to Rose McGowan.

Rain Dove Instagram

Rain Dove has more than 250,000 followers on Instagram. They use their platform to share modelling photos, do advocacy work for the LGBTQ and gender non-conforming communities and more.

They often post photos in male-presenting looks side-by-side with female-presenting looks to drive home their belief that gender is merely a construct.

Rain Dove Rose McGowan

Rose McGowan confirmed in her statement that she and Rain Dove are dating. Rumors had been circulating about the pair for some time after photos of them sharing a kiss in New York surfaced online.

Dove previously alluded to their relationship with Rose on Twitter, writing that they were dating a human many hate me 4 dating.

Rose has been criticized after coming out about abuse she suffered at the hand of Harvey Weinstein.

Jimmy Bennett Asia Argento allegations

The New York Times ran a piece on August 19, accusing Asia Argento of paying off Jimmy Bennett after he sued her for sexual assault. In a legal filing, Jimmy alleged that he was lured into a hotel room by Asia and pounced on.

Asia reportedly performed oral sex on him before the pair had intercourse. Jimmy was 17 at the time, which is under the age of consent in California. Asia was 37.

In text messages between her and Rain Dove, Asia claimed Jimmy jumped her in the incident.

Asked whether she was insinuating her sexual interaction with Jimmy was rape or something else, Asia said: I had sex with him it felt weird.

I didnt know he was a minor until the shakedown letter.

In another text, believed to be part of the same exchange, Asia said: It wasnt [rape] but I was frozen. He was on top of me. After, he told me I had been his sexual fantasy since [he] was 12.

Asia also said: I didnt report it because I always felt bad for this Hollywood failed child actor, a casualty of the machine, of his parents.

I have 80 pages on him by a PI [Private Investigator] that Anthony [Bourdain] hired.

Rain then told Asia she needed to prove the money came from AB [Anthony Bourdain] account, seemingly confirming that Jimmy was paid the $380,000 in hush money referenced in the Timess story.

It appears that Asias now-deceased boyfriend, Anthony, paid the money.

She claims it wasnt hush money, but rather Jimmy extorting her.

Asia said in a text to Rain: Carrie never wanted to do this, she wanted to go to the press first and show the extortion I was being threatened with.

Despite the apparent confession in Asia and Doves text exchange, she denied ever having sex with Jimmy in a public statement released two days after the allegations surfaced.

Asia said she never had any sexual relationship with Bennett, adding that she was deeply shocked and hurt by having read news that is absolutely false.

She also claimed that her former partner, Anthony, insisted the matter be handled privately and paid Jimmy in the hopes of avoiding blowback and alleviating what she described as Jimmys severe economic problems.

We decided to deal compassionately with Bennetts demand for help and give it to him, she said in her statement. Anthony personally undertook to help Bennett economically, upon the condition that we would no longer suffer any further intrusions in our life.

Jimmy responded with a statement of his own, saying: I did not initially speak out about my story because I chose to handle it in private with the person who wronged me.

My trauma resurfaced when she came out as a victim herself. I have not made a public statement in the past days and hours because I was ashamed and afraid to be part of the public narrative.Teen Mom 2 star Jenelle Evans defended herself as well as her second husband David Eason during the second part of the eighth season reunion on Monday night.

Dr. Drew Pinsky confronted the 26-year-old reality star over an April road rage incident with her son Jace Vahn (with ex-boyfriend Andrew Lewis) where she pulled a gun on a 'tailgating' driver.

'Ever since then I've been having PTSD, I've been having nightmares. When the incident first happened, I didn't leave my house for two weeks,' the North Carolina native lamented.

Grilled: Teen Mom 2 star Jenelle Evans defended herself as well as her second husband David Eason during the second part of the eighth season reunion on Monday night

'All I thought about is he almost hurt my son, he almost knocked my son out and that's what pissed me off. We went to his therapist after and we've talked about it. It just makes me so mad.'

To make matters worse, Jenelle then scolded her nine-year-old boy for not lying to his legal guardian - her estranged mother Barbara - about the handgun incident.

'I was really desperate at the time. I don't want to get arrested for something stupid,' Evans explained of the July 23 episode.

'I told him, I said, "Listen, I don't want police thinking the wrong thing if they hear you say that." I told my mom after we were done filming, she knows...I have my conceal carry permit. My gun goes with me wherever I go.'

Temper tantrum: Dr. Drew Pinsky confronted the 26-year-old reality star over an April road rage incident with her son Jace Vahn (with ex-boyfriend Andrew Lewis) where she pulled a gun on a 'tailgating' driver

The North Carolina native lamented: 'Ever since then I've been having PTSD, I've been having nightmares. When the incident first happened, I didn't leave my house for two weeks'

She added: 'All I thought about is he almost hurt my son, he almost knocked my son out and that's what pissed me off. We went to his therapist after and we've talked about it'

'I was really desperate': To make matters worse, Jenelle then scolded her nine-year-old boy for not lying to his legal guardian - her estranged mother Barbara (M) - about the handgun incident

Evans explained of the July 23 episode: 'I told him, I said, "Listen, I don't want police thinking the wrong thing if they hear you say that." I told my mom after we were done filming'

'My mom says that all the time': The Read Between the Lines author - who was arrested four times between 2010-2012 - also blamed Barb for little Jace calling her and David 'pieces of s***'

The Read Between the Lines author - who was arrested four times between 2010-2012 - also blamed Barb for little Jace calling her and David 'pieces of s***' since 'my mom says that all the time.'

Her 30-year-old bearded beau was fired off Teen Mom 2 after tweeting homophobic posts on February 19, which included 'I'm going to teach [my children] not to associate with [LGBTQAI people] or be that way.'

'His kids didn't hear him say that, he typed it. He doesn't run around the house saying, "I hate gay people!"' Jenelle blasted.

'[If David's children are gay] he'll still love them and adore them but he just wouldn't support... agree... with their lifestyle.'

'I'm going to teach [my children] not to associate with [LGBTQAI people] or be that way': Her 30-year-old bearded beau was fired off Teen Mom 2 for homophobic tweets on February 19

Jenelle blasted: 'His kids didn't hear him say that, he typed it. He doesn't run around the house saying, "I hate gay people!" [If David's children are gay] he'll still love them and adore them but he just wouldn't support... agree... with their lifestyle' (pictured August 1)

'Mama': Eason is father to son Kaden and daughter Maryssa with ex-wife Whitney Johnson, and he has a 19-month-old daughter Ensley Jolie with Evans, with whom he'll celebrate a year of marriage on September 23 (pictured August 13)

Her two sons: And the 5ft1in brunette is also mother to four-year-old son Kaiser Orion (R) with ex-fiance Nathan Griffith (pictured Sunday)

Eason is father to son Kaden and daughter Maryssa with ex-wife Whitney Johnson, and he has a 19-month-old daughter Ensley Jolie with Evans, with whom he'll celebrate a year of marriage on September 23.

And the 5ft1in brunette is also mother to four-year-old son Kaiser Orion with ex-fiance Nathan Griffith.

Jenelle's gun defense came the day after her ex-husband Courtland Keith Rogers was jailed for 'assaulting a woman' four months after his arrest for drug dealing - according to TMZ.

Divorced in 2014: Jenelle's gun defense came the day after her ex-husband Courtland Keith Rogers was jailed for 'assaulting a woman' four months after his arrest for drug dealing

She has a type: Last Wednesday, Evans' on/off ex-boyfriend Kieffer Delp - whom she dated between 2011-2013 - was sentenced to 18 to 36 months in state prison for operating a meth lab in his Pennsylvania apartment

Evans famously ended her 18-month marriage to the heavily-tattooed 32-year-old back in 2014, and things have certainly spiraled for the 'habitual felon.'

And last Wednesday, her on/off ex-boyfriend Kieffer Delp - whom she dated between 2011-2013 - was sentenced to 18 to 36 months in state prison for operating a meth lab in his Pennsylvania apartment.

According to Radar Online, the New Jersey-born 28-year-old copped a plea deal with Allegheny County prosecutors for the felonies and he'll remain on probation for three years after release.She touched down in Italy ahead of the Venice Film Festival on Tuesday.

And Naomi Watts continued to garner attention as she soaked up the sun in the Italian city during a casual walkabout later that day.

The King Kong actress, 49, nailed casual chic in a blue-striped SEA New York SS/18 'St Tropez Combo' maxi-dress, which featured a frilly panel in a darker blue.

Bold in blue: Naomi Watts, 49, looked great in a blue-striped SEA New York SS/18 'St Tropez Combo' maxi-dress as she wandered around Italy ahead of the Venice Film Festival on Tuesday

Opting for comfort for her trip around the city, Naomi chose a pair of well-worn white sneakers, and toted a stylish white cross-body bag.

Sweltering under the heat, the A-lister carried her chic white jacket in the crook of her arm while classic pink shades shielded her eyes.

Naomi tucked back her blonde locks in a statement white trilby, and accessorised the bold look with turquoise jewellery.

Stylish: The King Kong actress looked sensational in a striped T-shirt dress, which featured a cascading midnight blue skirt

Stepping out: Opting for comfort for her trip around the city, Naomi chose a pair of well-worn white sneakers, and toted a stylish white cross-body bag

Smile: Sweltering under the heat, the A-lister carried her chic white jacket in the crook of her arm while classic pink shades shielded her eyes

Earlier in the day, Naomi Watts looked effortlessly chic in a billowing pastel blue pleated dress as she landed in Venice and quickly hopped on a boat.

Naomi flaunted her sartorial elegance with a bold wide-brimmed trilby and elegantly sauntered onto a waiting boat with box-fresh sneakers.

The Ring star flashed a beaming smile as she boarded the lavish liner, with gold rimmed shades and a delicate metallic chain added extra glamour to her ensemble.

Sun-kissed: Naomi tucked back her blonde locks in a statement white trilby, and accessorised the bold look with turquoise jewellery

Say cheese! Naomi didn't mind stopping her stroll to meet her fans and to take a quick snap

Naomi tucked her cropped blonde tresses underneath her stylish accessory, and showcased her fresh-faced glow with nude make-up.

Meanwhile, her ex Liev Schreiber, took a more casual approach to his dog walk around New York on Sunday.

The Ray Donovan star, 50, opted for comfort in a grey T-shirt, khaki slacks and blue sandals.

The Venice Film Festival is a landmark event in the world of cinema, with many films reaching Oscar success after showing at the coveted event.

Stunning: Earlier in the day, Naomi Watts looked effortlessly chic in a billowing pastel blue pleated dress as she landed in Venice and quickly hopped on a boat

Stepping out: Naomi flaunted her sartorial elegance with a bold wide-brimmed trilby and elegantly sauntered onto a waiting boat with box-fresh sneakers

A-List beauty: The A-list star flashed a beaming smile as she boarded the lavish liner, with gold rimmed shades and a delicate metallic chain added extra glamour to her ensemble

This year, the highly anticipated opening night slot, which has previously shown award-winners Gravity, Birdman and La La Land, will go to Neil Armstrong biopic First Man, which stars Ryan Gosling.

Elsewhere, Naomi has been enjoying a new romance with her Gypsy co-star Billy, 50, after their onscreen relationship translated into real life after portraying husband and wife duo on the Netflix drama.

Gypsy, which centres on a married psychologist (Naomi) who becomes obsessed with one of her client's ex-girlfriends.

Smiles: Naomi tucked her cropped blonde tresses underneath her stylish accessory, and showcased her fresh-faced glow with nude make-up

Having fun: Naomi looked on cloud nine as she prepared for her boat trip

Comfort: Meanwhile, Naomi's ex Liev Schreiber, 50, took a more casual approach to his dog walk around New York on Sunday

A source confirmed to PEOPLE last July that the pair were 'dating' in real life.

An eye witness also told Page Six: 'They were spotted holding hands in New York City last year and an eyewitness told , they 'looked happy and were laughing a lot, then left again holding hands.'

'We didn't know they were a couple. Pretty cool seeing two big stars so into each other,' the source said.

'Bonjourno': Naomi couldn't help showing off her stunning style and lavish getaway on Instagram, captioning her boat snap: 'Here we go #venicefilmfestival Arrivata!!!'

Italian beauty: Actress Jasmine Trinca, 37, also cut a casual figure as she arrived in Venice

On his way: Christoph Waltz, 61, touched down with his luggage, and cut a sharp figure in black blazer and deep blue slacks

Edgy: The Prodigy artist Liam Howlett, 47, looked ready to rock as he landed in Venice in an all-black ensemble

Scene stealing! Brazilian beauty Izabel Goulart, 33, put on an ultra elegant display as she posed up a storm in a sheer black dress, which put her black lacy lingerie on full display

Making their arrival: Carolina Crescentini and her boyfriend Francesco Motta were also spotted arriving in Venice for the annual festival

Naomi and her ex Liev confirmed their split in September 2016 after 11 years together.

In a joint statement the duo said: 'Over the past few months we've come to the conclusion that the best way forward for us as a family is to separate as a couple.

'It is with great love, respect, and friendship in our hearts that we look forward to raising our children together and exploring this new phase of our relationship.'

They share two sons Alexander, 10, and Samuel, nine, and while Naomi has been linked to Billy, Liev is rumoured to be dating Miss South Dakota, Taylor Niesen, 26.Vanessa Hudgens is not afraid to show off her assets.

The California girl took to Instagram Tuesday to post a new set of sexy shots wearing a skin-baring black jumpsuit.

A daring v-neck plunged down to just above the 29-year-old's belly button and highlighted the glamorous star's perky cleavage.

Wow! Vanessa Hudgens shows off some skin in a revealing jumpsuit with plunging neckline in photos she posted to Instagram on Tuesday

Style star: The beauty worked with stylist Natalie Saidi to achieve this fierce look in a jumpsuit by SemSem

Loose locks: Chad Wood pulled the star's hair back softly into a loose chignon

Vanessa was glammed up by makeup artist to the stars Allan Avendano to shoot Monday night's episode of So You Think You Can Dance, the Fox reality competition show where she is featured as a judge.

The Spring Breakers star looked striking in a black jumpsuit by SemSem with ruffled cap sleeves and rhinestone detailing along the edges of the dramatic neckline.

With it she wore a pair of strappy YSL heels.

Her nearly 30 million Instagram followers were treated to all angles of the stunning look styled by Natalie Saidi.

Close up shots revealed a pair of crystal barrettes clipped into a softly pulled back chignon which was done by celebrity hairstylist Chad Wood.

The sleek pin-like design of the barrettes were mirrored in a pair of long, thin, Kallati Jewelry diamond drop earrings.

So glam: The 29-year-old rocked the glamorous look to a taping of So You Think You Can Dance on Monday night

Mani moment: Long almond shape nails in a neutral pale shade completed the stars look

The star showed off a set of impeccably manicured long almond shaped nails in a pale neutral tone.

Hudgens looked soulfully into the camera to show off her dramatic eye makeup.

The actresses makeup artist combined a smokey eye and a cut crease with warm browns and deep blacks in the hollows of her eye lid.

The beauty look was topped with a shimmering metallic silver on the lids and inner corners, creating the illusion that her eyes were glowing ever so slightly.

Giving face: Vanessa went for bold eye makeup that shadowed and shimmered on her youthful face

Accessories galore: Vanessa matched her crystal barrettes with her delicate drop earrings. The look complimented the rhinestone detailing in the jumpsuit

SYTYCD is currently in it's 15 season dancing through Monday nights on Fox.

Before the show Hudgens posted an Instagram story walking back stage with a freckled and flowered filter.

She told her followers not to miss the episode and said 'the show tonight is fire.'

Judges corner: Hudgens joined SYTYCD as a judge in 2017, alongside creator Nigel Lythegoe, Mary Murphy and tWitch

Selfie time: Back stage Vanessa snapped a selfie video for Instagram telling her nearly 30 million followers to catch the show

On Monday's episode, contestant Darius Hickman performed a powerful and controversial routine on gender expression that had everyone talking.

The judges were floored by the number and Hudgens said the routine left her 'legit shook.'

Fans were shocked when later in the episode Darius, along with Jay Jay Dixonbey, were booted from the top six.

Hudgens joined the hot tamale train as a judge in 2017, alongside creator Nigel Lythegoe, Mary Murphy and tWitch.Chilling Adventures of Sabrina starlet Kiernan Shipka shopped with Riverdale starlet Camila Mendes at Larchmont Beauty Center in Los Angeles on August 11.

The 18-year-old Mad Men alum showed a lot of skin in a clingy black bodysuit, button-up denim mini-skirt, and white sneakers for the sunny outing.

The raven-haired 24-year-old - who plays Veronica Lodge on the Archie Comics-inspired CW soap - bared her midriff in a grey 'Werk it, b****' T-shirt and black denim shorts.

Day off: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina starlet Kiernan Shipka (L) shopped with Riverdale starlet Camila Mendes (R) at Larchmont Beauty Center in Los Angeles on August 11

Heatwave: The 18-year-old Mad Men alum showed a lot of skin in a clingy black bodysuit, button-up denim mini-skirt, and white sneakers for the sunny outing

The talented twosome later hung out with 13 Reasons Why actor Tommy Dorfman and Shipka shared a subsequent selfie teasing a crossover involving all three of their teen-centered shows.

When the streaming giant saw the snap, its official Instagram account gushed: 'My heart rate just skyrocketed. The most ambitious crossover event featuring all my absolute faves!'

But Kiernan's new onscreen leading man Ross Lynch blasted the idea of a Sabrina/Riverdale crossover in March, telling ET: 'There's no talks of a crossover right now, [and] I don't know if there ever would be one because the shows are on different networks.'

On Monday, the Chicago-born blonde - who boasts 534K social media followers - Insta-storied a selfie captioned: 'TFW you've had to cry in every single scene for the day.'

Gal pals: The raven-haired 24-year-old - who plays Veronica Lodge on the Archie Comics-inspired CW soap - bared her midriff in a grey 'Werk it, b****' T-shirt and black denim shorts

'13 Chilling Adventures of Riverdale?' The talented twosome later hung out with 13 Reasons Why actor Tommy Dorfman and Shipka shared a subsequent selfie teasing a crossover involving all three of their teen-centered shows

When the streaming giant saw the snap, its official Instagram account gushed: 'My heart rate just skyrocketed. The most ambitious crossover event featuring all my absolute faves!'

But Kiernan's new onscreen leading man Ross Lynch (M) blasted the Sabrina/Riverdale crossover in March, telling ET: 'There's no talks of a crossover right now, [and] I don't know if there ever would be one because the shows are on different networks' (pictured March 18)

The two-time SAG Award winner plays Sabrina Spellman - the half-human, half-witch in Netflix's 20-episode, two-season reimagining of ABC's Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Set in fictional Greendale, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina starts streaming October 26, and it promises to be darker than the original T.G.I.F. sitcom (1996-2003).

'It's going to be really dark and really cool, and have this very like macabre take on everything. I'm really pumped to be a witch. Who wouldn't be?' Shipka told ComicBook.com in February.

'I mean, I love The Crucible, and I love kind of the like dark Rosemary's Baby vibe of things, and this is the direction that it's going to go, which is really fun.'

On Monday, the Chicago-born blonde - who boasts 534K social media followers - Insta-storied a selfie captioned: 'TFW you've had to cry in every single scene for the day'

'I'm really pumped to be a witch!' The two-time SAG Award winner plays Sabrina Spellman - the half-human, half-witch in Netflix's 20-episode, two-season reimagining of ABC's Sabrina the Teenage Witch

'Very macabre': Set in fictional Greendale, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina starts streaming October 26, and it promises to be darker than the original T.G.I.F. sitcom (1996-2003)

The upcoming spooky series also features Miranda Otto, Lucy Davis, Michelle Gomez, Bronson Pinchot, Abigail F. Cowen, and Tati Gabrielle.

Executive producer/director Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa previously shared a snap of the newest feline sensation taking over the role of Salem witch-turned-cat, Salem Saberhagen.

But don't expect a cameo from original star Melissa Joan Hart, who's in 'early discussions' to reprise her role in Nickelodeon's reboot of Clarissa Explains It All - according to THR.

First table read: The upcoming spooky series also features Miranda Otto, Lucy Davis, Michelle Gomez, Bronson Pinchot, Abigail F. Cowen, and Tati GabrielleShe's staying at a mysterious hotel in Lake Tahoe that descends into chaos after seven strangers book a room for the night.

And Dakota Johnson isn't taking any chances as she wields a gun after the madness begins, as seen in a new trailer for the upcoming thriller, Bad Times At The El Royale.

The actress, 28, stars opposite Chris Hemsworth, Jeff Bridges, Jon Hamm, Lewis Pullman, Cailee Spaeny, Cynthia Erivo, and Nick Offerman in the movie, which follows seven strangers and their horrific night at the El Royale hotel.

Ready, aim, fire: Dakota Johnson wields a gun as the night descends into chaos in a new trailer for the upcoming thriller, Bad Times At The El Royale

All starts off well in the trailer, after the guests all check into the hotel which straddles the California and Nevada border.

The presence of Father Daniel Flynn (Bridges) rattles the hotel check-in(played by Pullman), who tells him, 'This is not a place for a priest, Father. You shouldn't be here.'

At night, Billy Lee (Hemsworth) wanders around the lobby before turning on the juke box.

'It's a little too quiet in here,' he remarks, 'It gives me the willies.'

Hunk: Hemsworth wanders around the hotel showing off his eye-catching chest

Madness: The actor steps outside of the mysterious hotel and into the rain

On your marks: Darlene Sweet (Cynthia) aims a gun as Daniel confesses he's no priest

But things begin to take a horrific turn after Daniel realizes he is being monitored.

'You watch me?' he asks.

'I only watch who they tell me to watch,' replies the man, who appears to be the hotel check-in.

Welcome! All starts off well in the trailer, after the guests all check into the hotel which straddles the California and Nevada border

She's ready: Chris appears to have a confrontation with Dakota, asking her, 'You think you can just take what's mine and I wouldn't come a hunting?'

'Who's they?' Daniel demands.

'Management.'

Later, Daniel confesses to Darlene Sweet (played by Cynthia Erivo) that he is no priest as she pulls out a gun.

Not exactly a warm welcome: The presence of Father Daniel Flynn (Bridges) rattles the hotel check-in(played by Pullman), who tells him, 'This is not a place for a priest, Father. You shouldn't be here'

Meanwhile, Billy appears to have ulterior motives for staying at the hotel.

Billy appears to have a confrontation with a guest named Emily Summerspring (Dakota), and asks her, 'You think you can just take what's mine and I wouldn't come a hunting?'

'No I figured you would,' Dakota replies as the scene shows her grabbing a pistol. 'But I'd be ready when you did.'

The film, written and directed by Drew Goddard, is set for release on October 5.

The film is about seven strangers who are given a chance to redeem themselves over the course of the night at El Royale, before things descend into chaos.

The plot thickens: The film is about seven strangers who are given a chance to redeem themselves over the course of the night at El Royale, before things descend into chaosHe vowed to stay sober after being detained following a drunken row with his wife, Mara Lane, on a plane last month.

And Jonathan Rhys Meyers looked happy and healthy as he jetted into Paris with Mara and their one-year-old son, Wolf, on Tuesday.

The Tudors actor, 41, showed off a clean-shaven look as he headed to his hotel with his brood and puffed away on a cigarette on the balcony.

Family affair: Jonathan Rhys Meyers looked happy as he joined wife Mara Lane and their one-year-old son Wolf for a Parisian holiday on Tuesday... after THAT drunken flight row

Jonathan cut a dapper figure in jeans, a denim jacket and simple grey V-neck T-shirt.

He finished off the look with tan leather brogues and went incognito behind a pair of square-frame shades.

Mara, meanwhile, looked typically chic in striped flared trousers and a navy sweater with gold detailing.

The brunette beauty looked every inch the doting mother as she carried Wolf, who was bundled in a furry jacket, on her hip.

Smart: The Tudors actor, 41, showed off a clean-shaven look as he headed to his hotel with his brood

Suave: He cut a dapper figure in jeans, a denim jacket and simple grey V-neck T-shirt

Their outing comes after Jonathan recently shared details on the 'frustrating' series of events that led to his drunken outburst on a flight earlier this month.

In an interview on Larry King Now, the actor admitted drinking doesn't 'suit' him as he spoke about the incident, which led to him being detained at Los Angeles' LAX airport when his plane touched down on the runway.

The Dracula star, who was accompanied by his wife Mara Lane and their one-year-old son Wolf on the flight from Peru, recalled: 'My wife and I had been travelling 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.

Flying under the radar: He finished off the look with tan leather brogues and went incognito behind a pair of square-frame shades

Chic: Mara, meanwhile, looked typically chic in striped flared trousers and a navy sweater with gold detailing

'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.'

Jonathan admitted he was 'upset' by his actions but had apologised to all involved in the incident and thanked police for being 'incredibly kind and understanding'.

Taking a time out: Jonathan later went to his hotel balcony to have a cigarette

Taking in the sights: He seemed to be in good spirits as he puffed away

Simply stylish: Mara later took a cigarette break herself on their hotel terrace

Oh dear: Their outing comes after Jonathan recently shared details on the 'frustrating' series of events that led to his drunken outburst on a flight earlier this month

He continued: '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. I apologised for my behaviour, and that's the entire story.'

Jonathan - who is trying to quit smoking so he doesn't set a bad example to his son - insisted he has 'learned [his] lesson' from the incident and is now sober again.

Incident: In an interview on Larry King Now, the actor admitted drinking doesn't 'suit' him as he spoke about the incident, which led to him being detained at Los Angeles' LAX airport when his plane touched down on the runway

Support: Mara previously insisted the incident was 'out of character' for her husband and she revealed he had been trying to combat his 'anger issues'

He added: 'It is a good opportunity to apologise to anybody who was offended that that incident happened, but I learned my lesson.

'As soon as I got off the airplane I went and spoke to somebody and I got back on track immediately.'

Mara previously insisted the incident was 'out of character' for her husband and she revealed he had been trying to combat his 'anger issues'.SEOUL, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chung Eui-yong, top national security advisor for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, on Tuesday expressed anticipation for the resumed negotiations between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States in the near future.

Chung made the remarks during a parliamentary committee meeting for the presidential Blue House, saying both the DPRK and the United States had a firm willingness toward talks about the denuclearized Korean Peninsula.

He said current situations were different from the past as top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump had strong wills to implement their agreement reached after their first summit in Singapore on June 12.

His comments came after the cancelled visit by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the DPRK, originally slated for this week.

Chung said negotiations were underway between Pyongyang and Washington over the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, which he called a very important and difficult issue to resolve.

In the course of negotiations, many situations could emerge, Chung noted, adding that certain contractions could be inevitable in the initial phase of negotiations.

[ Editor: WPY ]Abby Huntsman has joined The View.

And on Tuesday the first official image of the former Fox And Friends Weekends co-host was released.

The 32-year-old beauty looked on-trend in a sleeveless top with bell-bottom slacks as she posed with Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin and Meghan McCain.

New image: Abby Huntsman, far right, posed with Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin and Meghan McCain for her first official photo with The View cast after joining the show

Tanned and toned: The 32-year-old beauty looked on-trend in a sleeveless top with bell-bottom slacks as she posed next to McCain

'I couldnt be more be excited to return to my professional roots at ABC News,' said Huntsman on Tuesday.

'I look forward to adding my own point of view to the most interesting and successful talk show on television today.

'Joining the women at The View really is a dream come true!'

'We have an exciting season ahead of us and are thrilled to welcome Abby Huntsman to The View,' said Hilary Estey McLoughlin, senior executive producer.

Early days: The beauty seen in 2014 on the set of Extra in New York City

'She brings her unique life and professional experiences and has a smart, relatable and distinctive point of view on everything from pop culture to politics to parenthood.

'We cant wait to return to the Hot Topics table with Abby joining our panel of incredibly talented women whose diverse voices have always played a significant role in the national conversation.'

Season 22 begins on September 4 with guests Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Sec. John Kerry, Stormy Daniels and Ricky Gervais, Wendy Williams, Kristen Bell, America Ferrera, Ricky Gervais, Taraji P. Henson, Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T, Terri, Bindi and Robert Irwin.

A sad loss: This photo is being released just days after Meghan lost her father John McCain

The mother-of-one is stepping up following the departure of Sara Haines.

Huntsman hosted her last show for FAF in mid August after three years with the cable news network.

Joined on the couch by her husband and daughter, the star tearfully thanked her co-hosts Ed Henry and Pete Hegseth after viewing a montage video of her time on the show.

'The last three years have been the most transformative I think of my entire life. I have given my heart and soul to this place, and to you guys. And in return, you've given it back to me and so have our viewers,' Huntsman said. 'This is a really tough thing. I'm moving onto the next chapter, mainly to be with my family and to spend time with them.

'I just want to thank everyone for being part of the show. I'm leaving you guys in great hands because the people I work with are the very best in the business.'

Huntsman joined Fox News in 2015, and in the following year she became a Fox & Friends weekend co-host.

She is the daughter of US Ambassador to Russia, Jon Huntsman.

Fox News said of Huntsman's departure: 'We thank Abby for her contributions to FOX News and wish her the very best.'She's celebrated for her work on stage and screen.

And Kristin Chenoweth looked positively radiant as she showed off her stunning figure by the pool in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning.

The 50-year-old actress flaunted her sun-kissed skin in a daring strapless swimsuit and sky-high heels for the fun-filled morning by the water.

Beauty: Kristin Chenoweth looked positively radiant as she showed off her stunning figure by the pool in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning

Kristin's fit physique was on display in the skin-tight bathing suit which featured a strapless neckline in a deep beige hue.

Her swimwear proved to be somewhat daring with large keyholes running down her torso with a matching ribbon tied across her chest.

She added inches to her petite frame with a pair of light brown suede heels with chunky wooden platforms.

Wow! The 50-year-old actress flaunted her sun-kissed skin in a daring strapless swimsuit and sky-high heels for the fun-filled morning by the water

Looking good: Kristin's fit physique was on display in the skin-tight bathing suit which featured a strapless neckline in a deep beige hue

Playtime: Chenoweth's platinum blonde hair was worn in delicate, face-framing curls with a deep part toward the side

Chenoweth's platinum blonde hair was worn in delicate, face-framing curls with a deep part toward the side.

Her stellar features were further highlighted with a touch of mascara and golden bronzer across her cheekbones.

The Tony Award-winning performer played around with a hot pink pool toys fashioned into a giant pair of handcuffs.

Nice: Her swimwear proved to be somewhat daring with large keyholes running down her torso with a matching ribbon tied across her chest

Unique: The Tony Award-winning performer played around with a hot pink pool toys fashioned into a giant pair of handcuffs

Smile! Her stellar features were further highlighted with a touch of mascara and golden bronzer across her cheekbones

She later picked up reading glasses and the fictional Tara Ellison novel about moving on, Synchronized Breathing.

Kristin recently returned to television screens portraying main suspect Lavinia Peck-Foster on the NBC sitcom Trial & Error.

While Kristin made her Broadway debut in 1997 in Steel Pier, she worked on a bevy of productions before taking a turn on TV with her own sitcom, Kristin, in 2001.

She later earned film accolades for roles on Bewitched, The Pink Panther and Four Christmases among a host of voice over roles throughout the years.

Smart cookie: She later picked up reading glasses and the fictional Tara Ellison novel about moving on, Synchronized BreathingTheir stint on Love Island ended in victory last month, when they scooped the top prize with an overwhelmingly large majority of the public vote.

And Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham were seen cashing in on their newfound success on Tuesday, when they teamed up to shoot a new advert for soft drink brand Lucozade.

Dani, 22, took to Instagram to upload a shot of herself sharing a tender kiss with her 26-year-old beau as they shot the clip, which she revealed would be 'coming soon'.

Sealed with a kiss: Dani Dyer took to Instagram to upload a shot of herself sharing a tender kiss with her boyfriend Jack Fincham as they shot a Lucozade advert on Tuesday

Wearing a white lemon-and-polka-dot patterned crop top with a matching flamenco-inspired skirt, the daughter of EastEnders star was seen gently caressing her boyfriend's neck as she leaned towards him for the intimate display.

Sporting a turquoise T-shirt with jeans, Kent native Jack looked casually cool as he drew his girlfriend closer to lock lips with her on the set.

During their busy day, Dani took to her Instagram Story to share a peek behind the scenes, showing that the lovebirds had their own personalised Lucozade bottles, in between shots of her getting glammed up for her big moment before cameras.

Attire: The pair's ensembles complemented one another's as they posed together on the set

Bottles: During hr time on set, Dani showed that personalised bottles had been made for them

Their rise to fame since debuting on Love Island this summer has been unprecedented, with such stars as Margot Robbie and Paris Hilton weighing in on the happenings in the Mallorca villa.

And Dani, who recently landed a job as a host on Capital radio, revealed the most famous person to message her on Instagram was Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown, 14, and divulged she was planning on going for lunch with the actress soon.

Responding who has been the most famous person to contact her via her DM's on Instagram, Dani said: 'That's an easy answer. Millie Bobby Brown.

'The girl actually watches Love Island, I couldn't believe it, I was like "Oh my god, Eleven!" But apparently we are going out for a bit of lunch soon, so yeah, I'm looking forward to that.'

Glamour girl: Dani, 22, also uploaded footage of herself getting glammed up for the shoot

Wow: The reality star praised her makeup artist's handiwork as she showed the complete work

It comes after Millie's co-star Noah Schapp revealed her love of the ITV2 reality show, as he messaged Ellie Brown after entering the villa, commenting 'I watch you with Millie.'

Meanwhile, Jack proved he's firmly in Dani's family circle as he enjoyed a roast dinner at Dani Dyer's granddad Bruv's house on Sunday and her actor father Danny.

The former stationery salesman, 26, took to his Instagram to share a photograph of the foursome all smiling and cuddled up.

He captioned the sweet snap with: 'Nice little roast round bruvs @bruv_loveislandlegend.'

Chilling out: Former stationery salesman Jack looked upbeat as he relaxed behind the scenes

Starstruck: Dani recently revealed that the most famous person to message her on Instagram was Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown

This comes after Dani revealed she missed out on a part in EastEnders before finding fame on Love Island.

She told the Daily Star Sunday: 'I think it's because my dad is already on it so if I went on it there would be a massive outrage.

'They won't let me, and are like, 'it ain't going to happen. I think it's because my dad is already on it so if I went on it there would be a massive outrage.'

The picture comes after his girlfriend's granddad, Bruv, launched his own Instagram account and is garnering thousands of followers per minute since his reality star granddaughter shared his handle on social media.

Plans: Dani said of Millie Bobby Brown, 'The girl actually watches Love Island, I couldn't believe it, I was like "Oh my god, Eleven!" But apparently we are going out for a bit of lunch soon'

Answer: Responding who has been the most famous person to contact her via her DMs on Instagram, Dani said, 'That's an easy answer. Millie Bobby Brown'

Dani had left fans of the ITV2 show in hysterics last month when she revealed she called her grandfather 'Bruv' as she always wanted a brother growing up.

It comes as Dani also revealed that her boyfriend Jack Fincham has missed his former job as a stationery salesman since being crowned Love Island champion, admitting he's thought about returning on a part-time basis.

Dani became the runaway winner of this year's Love Island thanks to her relationship with boyfriend Jack, with the couple pairing up on day one and staying together until the series' end.

Since leaving the villa Jack and Dani's relationship has gone from strength to strength, with the pair even moving into their first home together in London earlier this month.

Cute: Jack recently proved he's firmly in the family as he enjoyed a roast at Dani Dyer's granddad Bruv's house with his girlfriend and her actor Danny Dyer

Big goal: She told The Daily Star On Sunday she would love to land to appear on her dad's BBC soap, but thinks bosses are reluctant due to Danny's ongoing role as Mick Carter

Meanwhile, Dani also revealed that beau Jack was reluctant about giving up his old job selling pens, telling The Times he was keen to return to work soon after Love Island's end.

She said: 'When he came out, he was saying to my dad, "I'm going to have a week off work, I reckon, and then I'll go back to selling pens."

'And my dad was like, "No, Jack, it's not going to work like that, mate. You're going to have a different life now."

'Jack didn't realise. He genuinely said, "Dan, I think I'll have a week off," and then he said, "Well, how about I go back a couple of days a week then?" And I was like, "Jack!"'

Jack revealed earlier this month that he had quit his job selling pens, saying at the Edinburgh TV festival: 'I will stay in touch with the boys though. [I have] lovely opportunities elsewhere'.

Sensational: Since being crowned Love Island champion Dani's career has gone from strength to strength, as has her relationship with boyfriend JackShe and her twin sister Mary Kate Olsen are launching a menswear collection to their hugely successful label, The Row.

And on Tuesday, Ashley Olsen took a break from her booming career for a walk with a mystery man in Los Angeles.

The 32-year-old fashion designer and actress cut a casual figure in a graphic T-shirt with baggy track bottoms and a plaid cover up.

Keeping casual: Ashley Olsen took a break from her booming career for a walk with a mystery man in Los Angeles on Tuesday

The star chose green colored bottoms that she wore with a colorful printed shirt, adding a multi-hued plaid shirt on top.

She buttoned up the red, blue, white and yellow cover up for part of her stroll before opting to leave it unbuttoned.

Ashley hit the pavement in black sneakers, adding large aviator sunglasses to round out her casual look.

The blonde star wore her hair loose and center parted briefly before pulling it back into a low ponytail.

Low key: The 32-year-old fashion designer and actress cut a casual figure in a graphic T-shirt with baggy track bottoms and a plaid cover up

Relaxing Tuesday: The star chose green colored bottoms that she wore with a colorful printed top, adding a multi-hued plaid shirt on top

Ashley finished off her casual ensemble by opting to go makeup free.

Her companion donned green track bottoms with a graphic hoodie, adding boots and small framed sunglasses.

The Row is known for its minimalism, timelessness and attention to detail and fit.

One year later, the sister launched a second, more affordable brand called Elizabeth and James.

The lifestyle brand, which they founded in Fall 2007, includes clothes, fragrances, watches, jewelry, eyewear and handbags.

This year, Ashley and Mary Kate won Accessories Designer Of the Year for The Row at the Council Of Fashion Designers Of America Awards.

Talented: Ashley and her twin sister Mary Kate founded their luxury fashion label The Row in 2006; they named it that after Savile Row in London; pictured on November 20, 2014 in Munich, Germany at their The Row presentation

In May, Ashley and Mary Kate attended the star studded Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum Of Art in New York City.

Both women chose vintage Paco Rabanne dresses for the gala, which had the theme of Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.

Ashley stunned in a patchwork style frock with burgundy, burnt orange and black colors; she added layers of jewelry.

The twins revealed in an interview with WSJ Magazine that they are expanding The Row - adding a menswear collection.She was recently involved in a harrowing collision while riding her bicycle without a helmet near her home in Southern California.

And Maura Tierney was spotted bandaged up nearly 24 hours after the incident which occurred in the beach community of Marina Del Rey, California.

The 53-year-old actress was assisted by a few friends as she left an appointment wearing a massive dressing across her arm.

Healing: Maura Tierney was spotted bandaged up nearly 24 hours after the incident which occurred in the beach community of Marina Del Rey, California

The ER star donned a black long-sleeved top paired with black shorts for some medical attention to her arm.

She kept her dark brown hair worn down and straight across her shoulders, with a pair of sunglasses shielding her eyes from the afternoon sun.

The Baby Mama star tumbled to the ground when a vehicle made contact with the back tire of her bike on Monday afternoon, according to TMZ.

Recovering: The 53-year-old actress was assisted by a few friends as she left an appointment wearing a massive dressing across her arm

The ER star donned a black long-sleeved top paired with black shorts for some medical attention to her arm

Good Samaritans helped Maura out of the street and to the curb before she was transported to a nearby hospital following the incident.

Reps for the Boston native told Page Six that she's 'has been released from the hospital with no major injuries' in the wake of the scary incident.

The rep added: 'Thank you to everyone who has reached out with their concern.'

The driver of the vehicle was not apparently under the influence of drugs or alcohol, authorities told the outlet.

On the mend: Actress Maura Tierney, 53, was released from a hospital after she was hit by a vehicle on Monday afternoon while riding a bicycle in the beach community of Marina Del Rey, California

Scary moments: Tierney laid back on a strip of grass following the terrifying incident

The Golden Globe-winning performer, best known for her roles on ER, The Affair and The Good Wife, was seen in photographs posted on TMZ lying on her back on a strip of grass in the wake of the incident.

Emergency workers tending to her placed a neck brace on and placed her into a wheelchair as they prepared her for a trip to a medical facility.

Tierney earlier this summer opened up to The Cut about her passion for exercise, saying it's one of the things she does to calm down amid her high-pressure Hollywood career.

'Honestly, this is so cliche, but I find that if I exercise - Im a runner, I like to run - if I do that in a regular fashion and Transcendental Meditation, that really works for me,' she said. 'Thats just like putting in money in the bank to be calm.'

Tough day: Emergency workers prepared to transport the actress to a nearby hospitalAs the BBC races to find a replacement for its Question Time host David Dimbleby, its most controversial panellist is calling for the 'dreadful' flagship show to be axed once and for all.

Television historian David Starkey claims Dimbleby, 79, who is stepping down as presenter later this year, has brought the live debate programme on BBC1 to its demise by over-indulging the audience.

'I think Question Time has come to the end of its life. It think it should become something else now,' says 73-year-old Starkey, who has divided viewers with his forthright opinions and frequent put-downs on the show. 'I always say about great BBC programmes, like Top Gear, that they get to a point where you would normally say bye-bye, but what happens instead is they become national institutions and continue for ever  however awful they are. And, of course, Dimbleby symbolises that.'

Television historian David Starkey claims Dimbleby, 79 (pictured), who is stepping down as presenter later this year, has brought the live debate programme on BBC1 to its demise by over-indulging the audience.

The outspoken Tudor expert, who recently blasted TV bosses for giving presenting jobs to 'old ugly women', admits he's frustrated that he hasn't appeared on the show since 2015.

'I shall never be on it again because I'm old, I'm male, I'm pale, I'm Right-wing,' he tells me 'They couldn't possibly have people like me on it.'

Some of the BBC's top broadcasters, including Desert Island Discs' Kirsty Young, Newsnight's Kirsty Wark and the Today programme's Mishal Husain, are said to be battling it out to replace Dimbleby, who has missed only one episode during his 25-year reign.

'The great problem with Question Time is the role they have accorded the audience,' adds Starkey, who once brusquely told an audience member that if he couldn't recognise propaganda from fact, he 'shouldn't be at a programme like this'.

'The audience is very long-winded, very vague, very boring to listen to and desperately indulged by Dimbleby, and I think we need to go back to a much sharper debate programme.

'Get people who really know about things to debate and go head-to-head. Not dilute it with the audience. It's dreadful, it's an embarrassment.'

The outspoken Tudor expert (pictured) who recently blasted TV bosses for giving presenting jobs to 'old ugly women', admits he's frustrated that he hasn't appeared on Question Time since 2015

Stage and screen star Jonathan Pryce discovered an unexpected upside to playing eccentric knight Don Quixote in Terry Gilliams long-awaited film. I had one of the best times ever, Pryce, 71, tells me.

There were no rules  I could behave however I wanted. I was mostly on horseback, which was great. I was more comfortable on a horse than standing. When you get to my age, its better to be sitting down a lot!

Great-grandpa Douglas, 101, dotes on little Lua in tender family snap

Looking relaxed in slippers and sunglasses, the 101-year-old film legend is utterly captivated by the youngest member of the Douglas family, holding out his hands to eight-month-old baby Lua Izzys outstretched little arm

Spartacus star Kirk Douglas is clearly revelling in his latest role of great-grandfather, as this tender photo of him with his first great-grandchild reveals.

Looking relaxed in slippers and sunglasses, the 101-year-old film legend is utterly captivated by the youngest member of the Douglas family, holding out his hands to eight-month-old baby Lua Izzys outstretched little arm.

The heart-warming scene features family photos in the background, and was captured by Kirks grandson Cameron, 39, the babys father and one-time drug-taking troubled son of actor Michael Douglas and his first wife Diandra.

This is not the first time baby Lua, born in December to Viviane Thibes, Camerons Brazilian-born yoga instructor girlfriend who stood by him during the seven-year prison sentence he served for drugs offences, has been seen with her great-grandpa.

In January, Cameron posted a photo online of the newborn cradled in Kirks arms.

Game Of Thrones actor Kit Harington is starting married life on a high. The 31-year-old, who wed co-star Rose Leslie this summer, has become one of the UKs most bankable names after making 1.3 million last year. Now new figures show the West-London-born actor, who plays Jon Snow in the HBO series, has amassed more than 2.2 million in the bank. It marks a successful year for Harington, who also recently played Robert Catesby in the BBC series Gunpowder.

Clean-eating Ella tucks into a big pizza

The 27-year-old posted a picture at the weekend showing her indulging in a large mushroom pizza while on holiday in Italy with her husband Matt Mills, son of the late Dame Tessa Jowell

Criticised for promoting clean-eating when she launched her wildly popular health food empire, Deliciously Ella, in 2012, Mrs Mills is now determined to prove she doesnt live on rabbit food alone.

The 27-year-old posted a picture at the weekend showing her indulging in a large mushroom pizza while on holiday in Italy with her husband Matt Mills, son of the late Dame Tessa Jowell.

Balance is exactly what weve been doing, explains Ella, the daughter of ex-Labour MP Shaun Woodward and supermarket heiress Camilla Sainsbury.

Mostly its avocado, rice, chickpeas, lentils and broccoli at home, because it makes me feel so energised, but when were travelling in Italy it has to be pizza. When in Rome . . .

He's the UKs best-paid male model, but not even David Gandy can get a table at his favourite restaurant. The 38-year-old, who shot to fame wearing tiny white trunks in a Dolce & Gabbana advert, was dismayed this week when he and his pregnant girlfriend, criminal lawyer Stephanie Mendoros, were turned away without a reservation by Daylesford in Marylebone, London. He relayed his heated exchange with the staff on Twitter. Can [Mendoros] sit anywhere while we wait? he asked, apparently receiving in reply a rather unsympathetic: Pfft.

The 38-year-old, who shot to fame wearing tiny white trunks in a Dolce & Gabbana advert (pictured) was dismayed this week when he and his pregnant girlfriend, criminal lawyer Stephanie Mendoros, were turned away without a reservation by Daylesford in Marylebone, London

Former BBC director general Mark Thompson, now chief executive of the New York Times Company, was memorably very generous when he approved a 1 million payoff for his deputy, Mark Byford, in 2010. And it appears he is continuing to offer him financial support. I notice that Byford, who is raising money for Samaritans with a 52-mile walk, has received 500 in sponsorship from a Mark T, who writes: Well done, Mark! on his fundraising site.

Saucy novelist Kathy Lette, who has just finished her one-woman show at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, reveals shes ready to jump out of her comfort zone again. Instead of heading home, on impulse Ive diverted to Loch Ness to try my hand at kayaking, explains the 59-year-old. I may not find out if Nessie is merely a fishy figment of imagination or the worlds most mysterious aquatic enigma, but Ill certainly have fun trying.

Bond: Work flirting's fun!

Broadcaster Jennie Bond, who spent 14 years as the BBCs royal correspondent, claims flirting at work is good for morale.

I quite like flirtation in an office. It adds a sense of fun, Bond, 68, tells me. Id walk by [the BBC bosses] and pinch their bum or give them a slap. So what? I wasnt saying: I want to go to bed with you.  Happily married to her husband of 36 years, James Keltz, Bond insists she was able to handle herself if things went too far.

I am of that generation with Anne Robinson when, if a man was inappropriate, it was absolutely routine, and you slapped them, told them to go away or just got on with life.

Ciao Venice! Naomi pulls up in style

Hollywood star Naomi Watts is kicking off this years Venice Film Festival in style.

The 49-year-old blonde ensured all eyes were on her when she arrived at the annual festival dressed in a Giorgio Armani pastel blue pleated dress, teamed with an ivory, wide-brimmed trilby hat and spotless white trainers.

The mother of two, who was born in Shoreham, Kent, before moving to Wales aged eight, then to Australia aged 14, posted this snap (left) online from a boat, as she teased a glimpse of her legs.

Here we go, she captioned it.Rating:

Warning: The Great British Bake Off (C4) will go to your waistline. As the most fattening show on TV returned with trayloads of mouth-watering biscuits, millions of fans across the country headed straight for the custard cream jar.

Two of the regular team have grown a tad since we last saw them. Judge Paul Hollywood tried to hide it by keeping his capacious blue shirt untucked.

Since joining Bake Off, Noel Fielding has plumped up, too. With his jet-black quiff and sideburns, he claimed to be a Shakin Stevens lookalike.

Star baker: Manon Lagreve's biscuit depiction of Japan

Meanies might suggest that Fielding now looks more like Elvis... from his Hunka-Hunka-Burning-Love years in Vegas.

Bake Off abides by its own traditions and rarely tweaks the recipe. Most of our favourite components were in place from the start, from catchphrases to camera angles, but unexpectedly we began with biscuits instead of cakes.

The reason became obvious in the showstopper round, when the 12 new bakers were challenged to create portraits of themselves in ginger nuts and shortbread: Biscuit selfies.

That might sound an abominably trendy gimmick, but cleverly it did force viewers to think about the contestants faces  which helped us get to know them much more quickly.

Several of the biccy piccies looked suspiciously as though theyd been drawn by the same cartoonist, but theres nothing in the rules to say that bakers cant take art lessons.

The other major change to the format is the absence of scripted innuendo. When Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins were in charge, every comment had a filthy double meaning, even if poor Mary Berry didnt understand why everyone was sniggering.

Uncanny: A neatly iced holiday picture by Karen Wright

But Sandi Toksvig and Prue Leith are too well-mannered to indulge in such childishness, Noel is only funny when hes being surreal, and Paul Hollywood cant do Carry On humour without sounding creepy and lecherous. Bake Offs much better without the smut.

No one gave that memo to baker Kim-Joy, 27, from Leeds. She took one look at gay dad Dans self-portrait of himself cradling a low-slung baby wrapped in a pink blanket, and burst into embarrassed squeals.

That looks like a prawn, commented Paul, but it wasnt a prawn that Kim-Joy was thinking of.

Two of the contestants, Bollywood-loving banker Antony and nuclear physicist Rahul, both 30, were born in India.

Meanwhile, farmers daughter Manon, 26, from Brittany, introduced herself in French, with subtitles. Paul was impressed by her efficiency at the oven: The style of her baking is very classically French, everythings precision, he said.

Impressive: Luke Thompson's self-portrait in Vegas

The same couldnt be said for her English. Struggling with the technical challenge to create wagon wheels, Manon pleaded: I haz no idea what is a wheelin wagon, what is it called?

Prue promised she would be a tougher judge this year, but it was Paul who doled out the withering comments. Thats a really rough biscuit, it didnt blow me away, thats dry and feels rubbery, were a few of his kinder put-downs.

As the presenters sat down to discuss which baker would be the first evictee, Sandi commented with a note of sincerity that shed be sad to see any of them go.

I knew what she meant. This opening episode got off to a much quicker start than last year, by making sure we got to know all the new faces.

So welcome back to Bake Off, without the saucy soggy bottoms, and with some extra zip  its sweet and addictive as ever.

Bake Off's return puts the icing on the biscuit

This years Great British Bake Off contestants immediately found themselves facing a tough challenge as the series returned last night  becoming artists.

In the first instalment of the Channel 4 show, the 12 bakers were asked to create a biscuit selfie  a portrait of themselves in a memorable location made from layers of biscuits.

Manon Lagreve, an early favourite to be crowned winner, created a white chocolate and matcha ganache selfie biscuit of her visit to Japan, which judge Prue Leith described as exquisite.

Civil servant and DJ Luke Thompson, 30, created an image of himself at Las Vegas, while Karen Wright, 60, made an impressive portrait of herself on holiday. But stay-at-home father Dan Beasley-Harling, 36, raised eyebrows with his depiction of himself holding his baby son wrapped in a pink blanket in Palm Springs, California.

Fellow baker Kim-Joy, 27, asked: What are you holding? When he explained that it was a baby, she replied: Oh, I thought it was something else. Judge Paul Hollywood, however, seemed to think it resembled a massive prawn.

After impressing with her hazelnut Cornish shortbread and wagon wheels, Miss Lagreve, 26, was named star baker.

But countryside officer Imelda McCarron, 33, failed to impress the judges with her bland and dry selfie biscuit which showed her at the seaside. She was the first contestant to be sent home.She's one of the most highly sought after models who regularly expresses her love for travel on her social medias.

And Olivia Culpo brought her followers along for her shoot in Jamaica on Tuesday, documenting the experience on her Instagram Stories.

And while the 26-year-old looked stunning in the bikini shoot, it wasn't all smooth sailing with her injured toe impacting the day.

Gorgeous: Olivia Culpo flaunted her bikini body during a shoot in Jamaica while revealing she had an injured her toe on Tuesday

Olivia was seen in a white bikini that drew attention to her ample cleavage and trim waist.

She lazed around on a chair outside while waiting for a storm to pass so the shoot could continue.

The stunner had her brunette locks styled back and sported a luminous complexion with a pinky nude lip.

All bandaged up: While she didn't reveal what in fact had happened, throughout the day, she shared video of how the shoot had to accommodate her injury as priority

Scary! One location saw the team hike through the jungle until they reached a river that was 28 feet below them

Olivia also took a moment to update her fans on her bandaged toe.

While she didn't reveal what in fact had happened, throughout the day, she shared video of how the shoot had to accommodate her injury as priority.

One location saw the team hike through the jungle until they reached a river that was 28 feet below them.

Special treatment: While the photographers stayed on dry land, an assistant had to first jump in and place a floatie at the bottom to ensure her foot didn't come in contact with the water

While the photographers stayed on dry land, an assistant had to first jump in and place a floatie at the bottom to ensure her foot didn't come in contact with the water.

'That floatie is for me because my toe isn't supposed to get wet,' she captioned.

Olivia was seen slowly climbing down the ladder while a male at the bottom carefully helped her onto the flotation device for the shoot.

Loved up: And while her work life seems to be going swell, Olivia's love life is also in full bloom - reconciling with on-off boyfriend Danny Amendola back in June

She later updated her fans on the toe situation.

'Update on toe, it's alive and doing well,' she said.

And while her work life seems to be going swell, Olivia's love life is also in full bloom - reconciling with on-off boyfriend Danny Amendola back in June.

Doing it differently: She told Haute Living New York: 'I am [dating someone], but right now work is definitely important, and my most important relationship is the one that Im working on with myself. Im dating, but its not something I want to get into too much detail on'

She told Haute Living New York: 'I am [dating someone], but right now work is definitely important, and my most important relationship is the one that Im working on with myself. Im dating, but its not something I want to get into too much detail on.'

Being just in her mid-twenties, the star said she's 'way too young to be thinking about' marriage and family.

'Im only 26. I honestly dont know [if Ill have kids] because its not even on my radar.'

The world will be seeing much more of Olivia when her docuseries Model Squad premieres on E! September 4.She has been busy jetting around the world to promote her new movie Christopher Robin.

And Hayley Atwell looked as dazzling as ever as she faced the cameras at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association press conference for the film in Beverly Hills on Tuesday.

The actress chose a chic gold sequin skirt for her big moment in the spotlight.

Picture perfect: Hayley Atwell looked as dazzling as ever as she faced the cameras at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association press conference for the film in Beverly Hills on Tuesday

Hayley showed off her figure in the tight skirt, which she teamed with a chic pale pink top.

Her new film Christopher Robin tells the tale of the little boy from the Winnie The Pooh series, who is now grown-up and has lost all sense of imagination.

His old friends from the Hundred Acre Wood come back into Christopher's life to help him rediscover his adventurous spirit.

So chic: The actress spoke to press about her new film Christopher Robin

Simply stunning: Hayley chose a chic gold sequin skirt for her big moment in the spotlight

The film stars Ewan McGregor in the titular role, alongside Hayley as his wife Evelyn, and Mark Gatiss as Giles Winslow, Christopher's boss.

While she has been walking plenty of red carpets recently, Hayley told Town & Country UK this week that she won't appear on any with her long term boyfriend until there's a ring on her finger.

The British-American actress said of her plans to marry: 'If thats on the cards for us, lovely.

Starring role: Her new film Christopher Robin tells the tale of the little boy from the Winnie The Pooh series, who is now grown-up and has lost all sense of imagination

All star cast: The film stars Ewan McGregor in the titular role, alongside Hayley as his wife Evelyn, and Mark Gatiss as Giles Winslow, Christopher's boss

'The emotional connection of belonging to someone, or having the intention to build something together, that feels really nice.

'I wouldnt want him to be on a red carpet with me, or in any way in the public eye unless there was a ring on my finger to respect him and respect the relationship. Hes not seen on my arm as my date.

However, she did say that her boyfriend isn't hugely into the whole showbiz scene.

She said: I saw him watching the Oscars highlights, and he said, God, your job is really weird.

'He doesnt know anyone in terms of celebrity, so I can bring him to anything and he doesnt change how he responds to anyone at all. That makes everyone feel very comfortable.'SERIAL RAPIST ROBERT FARDON'S LIFE OF CRIME:

1967 - Convicted at 18 for attempted carnal knowledge of a girl under 10. Released on a good behaviour bond.

1978 - Raped a 12-year-old girl, wounded her sister. Fled to the Northern Territory but was caught and jailed.

1988 - Broke parole by travelling to Townsville. Violently raped and assaulted a woman. Sent back to jail.

2003 - Became the first person in Queensland to be jailed indefinitely under new laws targeting repeat sex offenders.

2006 - Released on a supervision order with 32 conditions.

2007 - Breached the order by going to a school, breaching curfew and travelling to Townsville. He's briefly returned to prison before released in October.

2008 - Re-arrested over rape of a 61-year-old intellectually disabled woman.

2010 - Sentenced to 10 years' jail for the rape. The conviction was quashed on appeal a few months later but Fardon remained in jail due to other earlier breaches of a supervision order.

2011 - Government launches lengthy court battle to keep him in jail.

2013 - Released on supervision order.

2014 - Brief return to prison before court orders Fardon's release into supervised accommodation.

2018, August - Court denies a Queensland government bid to extend a supervision order governing how Fardon lives in the community. It expires in October.China-Africa relations have set a model for the solidarity and cooperation between China and developing countries, as well as the best example for South-South cooperation, diplomats, experts and scholars told Peoples Daily ahead of the upcoming 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

The summit to be held in Beijing from September 3 to 4 will provide new opportunities for China and Africa to align each others development strategies and build a closer community of common destiny, they added.

Placing high importance on the development of relations with African countries, China will always stand together with Africa and other developing countries, and will be a sincere friend and reliable partner of Africa forever, no matter how the international landscape changes, and no matter how much progress China has made in development, China pledged previously.

The principle of upholding justice while pursuing shared interests and the principles of sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 for China's relations with Africa were welcomed by the latter, said Xu Jinghu, Special Representative of the Chinese Government on African Affairs.

The concepts serve as the guiding philosophy for China in its endeavors to strengthen solidarity and cooperation with developing countries, expressed Xu, adding that China-Africa relations have become a role model for cooperation between China and developing countries, as well as South-South cooperation.

During the past 18 years since the establishment of the FOCAC, the mechanism has constantly progressed to deeper levels and broader directions, said He Yafei, former Vice Foreign Minister of China.

He, also a senior researcher with Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies under Renmin University of China, pointed out that the FOCAC has become an important platform for collective dialogue and pragmatic cooperation between China and African countries.

In addition to economic and trade cooperation, the Beijing Summit will see deepening and expanding China-Africa cultural and people-to-people exchanges, said He, adding that the Summit will inject more vitality into bilateral friendship.

Under the framework of the FOCAC, China and African countries have established many sub-forums covering a variety of aspects including industry, agriculture, law, education, culture, and art, according to Liu Guijin, former Special Representative of the Chinese Government for African Affairs, former Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, and former Chinese Ambassador to South Africa.

The sub-forums of the FOCAC have continuously pushed China-Africa relations to new heights, Liu said, adding that the forum has brought benefits to both China and Africa.

The FOCAC has witnessed a process of mutual consultation, joint construction, and benefit sharing between China and Africa. The proposal to hold the Forum was first put forward by African countries, and China has been consulting with African countries for their opinions when it was to hold the events, said Liu.

According to Zhou Yuxiao, China's Ambassador for Affairs of the FOCAC, new policies will be introduced at the Beijing Summit to effectively align the Belt and Road Initiative with the African Union Agenda 2063, so as to promote the deep integration of the Chinese dream and the African dream, thus building a closer China-Africa community of common destiny.

The construction of the Belt and Road has provided a broader platform for China-Africa cooperation, said Zhou, indicating that China and Africa have laid a foundation for cooperation in achieving infrastructure and financial connectivity, and the upcoming summit will attract more countries to join the construction of the Belt and Road.

Calling the construction of Belt and Road and the FOCAC as two legs and engines of China-Africa cooperation, Zhou said that China-Africa cooperation will walk faster in a steady manner with the legs, and will fly higher and further thanks to the engines.

African countries are now committed to pushing forward industrialization and modernization, Zhou pointed out, saying that the Beijing Summit will formulate priority areas and key directions for China-Africa cooperation with special considerations given to meet the needs of Africas economic transformation and upgrading.

The policies to be worked out at the Beijing Summit will help Africa nurture its capacity for independent development, thus accelerating its marches towards industrialization and modernization, said Zhou.

He believes that with the concerted efforts, the Beijing Summit of the FOCAC will become a milestone event in the history of China-Africa relations.

[ Editor: WPY ]Two people are on the run in Tasmania after a young man was stabbed in the neck at a home in suburban Launceston.

A 24-year-old man is in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries in what police believe was a targeted attack on Monday night at Rocherlea.

Another man, 49, was also assaulted and treated at the scene for cuts to his nose and right hand.

Police are searching for a 26-year-old woman and man, 31.

It is believed the victims and apparent attackers are known to each other.You'd be hard pressed to accuse Julie Bishop of disloyalty.

But it was disloyalty that ultimately ended her time at the highest level of government, forcing her out of the leadership team and onto the back bench.

For more than 10 years, the West Australian lawyer with the killer stare and snappy suits was the Liberal Party's second in command.

She served as deputy to three leaders, watching from close proximity as each copped the knife.

But it was never Bishop bearing the fruits of the killing by stepping into the outgoing leader's shoes.

Last Friday, after a turbulent week in the Liberal party that ended Malcolm Turnbull's prime ministership, she went for the top job.

But she fell well short, winning only 11 votes - including her own - in the partyroom vote of 85 MPs.

It emerged on Sunday that she never had a hope, with moderates urging each other to put their votes behind Scott Morrison to stop Peter Dutton becoming prime minister.

"Despite our hearts tugging us to Julie we need to vote with our heads for Scott in round one," Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher wrote to the group on WhatsApp.

On Sunday, the super-fit 62-year-old ran in Perth's City to Surf race before announcing she was calling time on her successful tenure as foreign minister.

That means a move to the back bench, and on Tuesday Bishop revealed she was sticking around as Member for Curtin for the foreseeable future.

"I will remain as the member for Curtin, as I had the overwhelming support of my constituents. I'm optimistic about my future, whatever it may hold," she told reporters.

She entered parliament at the 1998 election as Perth's member for Curtin and it's where she opted to stay.

Though WA is her political home-ground, Bishop was born to cherry farmers in Adelaide and attended the city's St Peter's Collegiate Girls' School.

She studied law at Adelaide University and practised as both a solicitor and a barrister before moving to WA with her husband, property developer Neil Gillion.

They later divorced but Bishop stayed put.

Years later in parliament, Labor would query Bishop's role during her legal days in defending building product company CSR from compensation claims by asbestos victims.

She said she only acted in accordance with her client's instructions and on advice from some of WA's most senior barristers.

It was in the Howard government in 2003 that Bishop joined the front bench as aged care minister.

John Howard rewarded her with the education portfolio and made her responsible for women's issues in 2006 but it was short-lived with the government falling in the November 2007 'Ruddslide'.

She was elected deputy Liberal leader under opposition leader Brendan Nelson after the 2007 poll and was handed the shadow employment and workplace relations role.

When Nelson's leadership imploded 11 months later she remained deputy under Malcolm Turnbull and took on the shadow treasury role.

Widely considered a failure in the portfolio, she stepped aside months later and shifted to foreign affairs - a job in which she thrived.

Incoming leader Tony Abbott kept her by his side after his one-vote partyroom win over Turnbull in December 2009 and she kept the portfolio after Labor scraped into minority government in 2010.

As Abbott ran all over the train wreck that was federal Labor in 2013, Australia's first female foreign minister faced some tough challenges.

But she reaped the benefits of Labor's lobbying for a United Nations Security Council seat, making the most of it to tackle issues including Iran, Islamic State's rise in Iraq and Syria and shaming Russia over the MH17 tragedy.

The families of the Malaysian Airline disaster victims appreciated her deep and ongoing interest and sympathetic response.

"It was the most emotional moment of my life. So, I want to ensure that the people for whom we fought do get justice," Ms Bishop said.

She undoubtedly played a key role in healing the damage caused to relations with Indonesia by Labor's live cattle export policy, turning back boats and the Indonesian president phone tapping scandal.

At times, her profile put her ahead of Turnbull in the popularity stakes.

In a March 2017 poll by Roy Morgan, 30 per cent of people surveyed said she was their preferred Liberal Party leader, compared to 27 per cent for Turnbull and 5 per cent for Peter Dutton.

Whatever is next for Bishop, it seems unlikely she will be slowing down any time soon.

As Bishop told reporters in 2013 when asked if she could withstand several more terms as foreign minister - replying "absolutely" without hesitation - she has no shortage of energy.

"You have to have inexhaustible supplies of energy to be a federal politician from Western Australia anyway," she said.Not sending Australia's prime minster to a key Pacific Islands meeting is an insult and a strategic mistake, Labor says.

New prime minister Scott Morrison won't attend the Pacific Islands Forum in Nauru next month, with Foreign Minister Marise Payne going instead.

"For the prime minister not to attend the Pacific Islands Forum, it's an insult to our neighbours, but it's also a serious strategic mistake," deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek told reporters on Tuesday.

Ms Plibersek said the move wasn't good for Australia's national defence.

China has ramped up its spending in the Pacific, causing concern about its rising influence and debt levels among island nations.

Senator Payne will go to Nauru for her first international trip in her new role, after switching from Defence.

The government has also been criticised for not spending enough on foreign aid, which was cut significantly under the coalition.

Outgoing foreign minister Julie Bishop said foreign aid must be targeted, focused and affordable.

"It currently makes up 0.8 per cent of our national budget. I believe every dollar of foreign aid invested wisely and effectively and efficiently is of benefit to our nation," she told reporters.A court has issued a $300,000 fine over a fatal sledgehammer incident at a NSW mill owned by the makers of SunRice.

Deniliquin firm Haconby was handed the fine in the District Court on Monday after Geoffrey Mace was killed while trying to change a tyre on a large industrial fork lift at a SunRice facility in October 2014.

Judge Wendy Strathdee found Mr Mace, a Ricegrowers fumigator, was killed after he and a Haconby employee used a sledgehammer to hit tyre rims in an attempt to safely remove them.

Instead, when the fumigator missed the rim, the wheel assembly blew off and a tyre fired into his head.

The force pushed Mr Mace about 10 metres.

The fine included a $75,000 penalty for an injury caused to a Haconby employee who had used the sledgehammer on the forklift earlier that day.

Judge Strathdee said that earlier incident was "effectively a warning" about what could happen.

"The policy of Haconby should have been that when an issue arose the appropriate people would be told and that work would stop until a safe solution had been agreed upon," she said.

"This did not occur."

Haconby, which pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, has since sold its tyre businesses.A Tamil asylum seeker from Sri Lanka has died at Logan Hospital south of Brisbane.

Refugee advocates said the 45-year-old was admitted to hospital last week after attempting to take his own life.

The man had fallen into a deep depression several weeks ago because his asylum application was initially rejected, the advocates said.

His life support was turned off on Sunday.

The man was understood to have had a wife and four children in Sri Lanka, and had arrived in Australia in 2014 after being on Nauru since 2012.

Lifeline 13 11 14

beyondblue 1300 22 4636Food delivery service Foodora is being pursued by Australian authorities over unpaid tax and superannuation, according to the Transport Workers Union.

The Australian Tax Office and Revenue NSW are both investigating the company which recently pulled out of Australia, the union said on Tuesday.

"Not only were Foodora ripping off riders for years it has now been confirmed they were ripping off taxpayers," national secretary Tony Sheldon said in a statement.

The tax office won't comment on the affairs of individual companies but a spokesman told AAP in a statement "more generally the ATO is reviewing the sharing - or gig - economy".

Foodora has been contacted for comment.Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton may have new questions to answer following revelations he personally intervened to stop the deportation of a third au pair.

Mr Dutton, who's facing an upcoming Senate inquiry over his involvement in the cases of two au pairs, sought a briefing on the third after she arrived in Australia in November 2015, when she was detained for questioning.

Mr Dutton, who was immigration minister in 2015, used his powers to grant the woman a tourist visa despite concerns she intended to work after his office was lobbied by AFL boss Gil McLachlan, multiple reports on Tuesday said.Alleged spy James Ricketson has told a Phnom Penh court that he preferred the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) and had asked the wife of its exiled leader Sam Rainsy to fact-check an opinion piece he wrote.

Under cross-examination by a bench of three judges on Tuesday, the court was told the 69-year-old filmmaker had written a letter that was defamatory of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and that Tioulong Saumura, of the banned CNRP, was asked to edit it.

Ricketson said he had not asked Saumura to edit the story but asked her to check for factual errors or if it is "misleading in any way".

It was one in a series of letters, emails and film footage produced by prosecutors to substantiate allegations that Ricketson had committed espionage and endangered national security under Article 446 of the national penal code.

One letter entitled "Cambodian politics for dummies" was translated between Khmer and English, and said Hun Sen had all the tanks and water cannon along with 10,000 troops.

The court heard it described Cambodia was "in a situation of intimidation and betrayal" and that "Hun Sen and the CPP have plundered the resources and stolen land from tens of thousands and thrown in prison people who objected."

It also urged Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull not to shake hands with Hun Sen -- otherwise he risked having that moment "frozen in eternity" -- and that he halt all support for Hun Sen.

"It seems like you defamed the prime minister, it seems like you say something bad about the leader and the CPP and support the CNRP. This is not journalism," judge Koy Sao said.

The CNRP was banned from contesting July elections, in which the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) won all 125 seats in the National Assembly, after Hun Sen accused Sam Rainsy of fomenting a "colour revolution" to overthrow his government.

Ricketson said he had known Sam Rainsy and Saumura in a professional capacity as a journalist for the last 20 years.

He was defiant, saying the letter meant for Turnbull was unpublished and, "I wrote that as a private citizen and not as a journalist."

"This may not be pleasant for the prime minister (Hun Sen) or many Cambodians. I was merely trying to influence the opinion of my prime minister," Ricketson said. "My opinion at the time was that the CNRP was the better political party."

He said he had written 10 to 12 letters to Turnbull but none of these letters supported allegations he was a spy.

"We are not close," Ricketson said of his relationship with Turnbull. "I have only met the prime minister on two occasions and in Australia it is not unusual for members of the public to have met with their prime minister."

The trial is continuing.James Maloney has been named to return from a knee injury for Penrith's crucial final-round clash with Melbourne.

The fifth-placed Panthers need to win on Friday to have any hope of returning to the top four, while a loss could see them hit the road to either Brisbane or Auckland for the first week of the finals.

Elsewhere, Andrew McCullough will miss Brisbane's clash with Manly after he was knocked out by Dylan Napa last week, with Jake Turpin named in his spot at hooker.A man who allegedly wielded a sword at police has been arrested amid a series of raids targeting a drug ring operating in Brisbane.

The 32-year-old was arrested and charged with weapons offences on Tuesday as police executed search warrants at 27 addresses across Brisbane's north.

The man was one of 24 arrested on 75 charges while replica firearms, drugs and cash were also seized by officers.

The alleged ringleader of the syndicate, a 45-year-old man from Bald Hills, has been charged with a range of offences including drug trafficking and money laundering and will face Pine Rivers Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

The sword-wielding man from Burpengary is due to appear in the Caboolture Magistrates Court on September 18.

Officers seized $20,000 in cash, a quantity of methamphetamine and a number of replica guns and other weapons including flick knives during the raids.WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State Department said Thursday that it has neither plans nor expectations for a possible meeting between State Secretary Mike Pompeo and the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Jong Un, during Pompeo's upcoming visit to the nation.

"We don't have that schedule. We have no expectations of meeting with Chairman Kim," State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a briefing.

"I think what's important is that we are regularizing these meetings and these conversations with a government that we have had very, very little interaction with over the past decade or so," Nauert said.

"The consultations will continue, and I imagine you'll see more meetings and trips ahead," she added. "We look forward to having those conversations."

She also said the newly appointed special envoy for the DPRK issue, Stephen Biegun, will pick up "some of those meetings that perhaps the secretary normally would have gone on or would have conducted. So I think this is just sort of the more -- more of a normalization of our types of conversations."

Earlier on Thursday, Pompeo said that he has appointed Biegun as the new special envoy for the DPRK.

He also said that he and Biegun will travel to Pyongyang next week "to make further diplomatic progress towards our objective."

Pompeo has visited the DPRK three times -- in April, May and July.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he would "most likely" meet with Kim for a second time and believed Pyongyang had taken specific steps toward denuclearization, adding that he has "great chemistry" with Kim.

[ Editor: WPY ]Prime Minister Scott Morrison's first overseas visit will be to Jakarta to stress the importance of Australia's relationship with Indonesia.

The new leader will leave later this week and is expected to discuss the conclusion of free trade talks with President Joko Widodo.

"By making my first overseas visit as prime minister to Indonesia, I want to make a clear statement about the importance of our relationship," Mr Morrison said in a statement on Tuesday.

"And the commitment of my government to deepening our economic and security co-operation."

Mr Morrison said Australia and Indonesia share geography, deep historical ties, a "vibrant contemporary relationship" and a vision of a peaceful and prosperous region.

"Our close collaboration across economic, security and strategic domains makes both countries stronger, safer and more prosperous," he said.

"I look forward to working with Indonesia's president to lay the foundation for the next stage of our bilateral partnership."

Australia and Indonesia are both ranked in the world's top 20 economies by gross domestic product.

An Indonesian government spokesman said the two leaders would discuss their "bilateral relationship, including economic co-operation, and other regional issues".

Mr Morrison's predecessor Malcolm Turnbull had been scheduled to travel to Jakarta in September. He and Mr Widodo had set a target of completing the free trade negotiations last year.

Despite being close geographically, Australia was only the 14th-biggest buyer of Indonesian exports in 2017, while Indonesia was the 10th-largest export destination for Australia, according to the International Monetary Fund data.

Boosting exports, including by securing market access for Indonesian products through free trade deals, is a priority for the Widodo government.Prime Minister Scott Morrison has put the new schools funding agreement high on his to-do list.

"We've got to move quickly, Dan," he told new Education Minister Dan Tehan at their first cabinet meeting in Canberra on Tuesday.

He was referring to the needs-based education funding model proposed by former Education Minister Simon Birmingham, which seeks to rejig how funding for schools is calculated.

"We're going to bring that home and we're going to bring everybody in the schools sector with us," Mr Morrison said.

"We'll be reaching out and concluding the work that Simon and Malcolm started and ensuring that we can complete that job."

Hailed by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull as the biggest-ever education funding reform, the deal boosts schools funding to $23.5 billion over the next decade.

But despite funding legislation passing federal parliament last year, long-term agreements have not been signed by the states and territories.

However the National Catholic Education Commission says Catholic schools are worse-off under the new deal.

Catholic schools pool their government funding, which is then divided between the schools based on need.

"We're trying to protect the right of families to choose an affordable non-government school education for their children," a National Catholic Education Commission spokesman told AAP.

"Non-government school families need fair and certain funding arrangements to enable them to make long-term choices about their children's education. Many do not have that currently."Today's birthday: Airbnb co-founder and chief executive Brian Chesky (1981 - ).

Brian Chesky's high school yearbook quote said, "I'm sure I'll amount to nothing", but just under a decade later he and his flatmates had an idea that meant he couldn't have been more wrong.

Born on August 29 1981, the future CEO of hospitality exchange service Airbnb was the son of social workers and one of two children.

Growing up in Niskayuna, New York, it was obvious early on that a young Chesky was not like other children. While other kids asked for toys so they could play with them, he was more focused on redesigning his toys to make them better.

That focus on redesigning the world around him saw Chesky graduate high school bound for the Rhode Island School of Design.

After a stint in Los Angeles, the former bodybuilder moved to San Francisco and into an apartment with college buddy Joe Gebbia.

It was 2008 and a design conference in San Francisco had filled every hotel in the city to capacity. Seeing an opening and feeling the financial pinch, Chesky and Gebbia decided to rent out their home to conference attendees.

Pulling out some airbeds from their cupboards, the pair called their venture "Air bed and breakfast" and the rest, as they say, is history.

"Once we started hosting, we didn't want to stop. We instantly felt more connected to the world," Chesky told the New York Times. "And we thought, if other people could feel like we did that very first weekend, then this idea would catch on."

Forbes now estimates Airbnb to be used by more than 160 million people in 65,000 cities in 190 countries across the world.

At the helm is the now 37-year-old Chesky, with none of the traditional experience of other businessmen and women in his position. But he hasn't let his inexperience slow him down, using his reported insatiable sense of curiosity to learn everything possible from everyone possible about leadership.

Among his list of role models are former CIA Director George Tenet and Berkshire Hathaway chief executive Warren Buffett.A man is due to face court charged with drug trafficking and supply, and money laundering after ice, weapons and cash were seized in raids in northern Brisbane.

Police arrested 24 people and seized a quantity of the drug, weapons, including a sword and replica guns, and $20,000 in cash in the raids on 27 addresses on Tuesday.

The 45-year-old Bald Hills man, an alleged ringleader, is due to appear in the Pine Rivers Magistrates Court on Wednesday. The other alleged ringleader, a 32-year-old Burpengary man, is due to appear in Caboolture Magistrates Court on September 18.Authorities appear to be moving swiftly to deport suspected asylum seekers who fled from a sinking boat off the coast in far north Queensland.

Refugee advocates confirmed 15 people, believed to be from Vietnam and detained following a two-day manhunt near the mouth of the Daintree River, had arrived on Christmas Island.

Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul told AAP the group had landed on the Indian Ocean island at 1.30pm on Tuesday.

The final two men arrested by police on the Daintree Ferry on Tuesday morning are expected to make the same journey via Darwin.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has already promised swift repatriation for the group, following what he says is the first people smuggling operation to reach Australian shores in almost four years.

"We have been very clear that we won't allow people who arrive illegally into our country to settle in this country," Mr Dutton told reporters on Monday.

"People will be deported from our country at the first available opportunity."

The location of the two men on Tuesday morning, understood to be the captain and first mate of the rickety boat which ran aground north of Cairns on Sunday, ended a search of surrounding rainforest and mangrove swamps by SES volunteers, Queensland police and Australian Federal Police.

It's understood the operator of the Daintree Ferry, on his penultimate day in the role, ensured authorities detained the final two men.

Border Force and the Department of Home Affairs have refused to comment on the operation or how many people have been detained.A suburban rail loop is exactly what Melbourne needs as it races towards nearly doubling its population by 2050 - but the Victorian government needs to stop "plonking" down projects, experts say.

Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday unveiled a $50 billion, 90km suburban rail loop plan, promising a business case if his government is re-elected in November, with building to start in 2022 and finish by 2051.

It would link Cheltenham in the southeast to Werribee in the southwest and connect to the proposed Melbourne Airport rail line, with up to 12 new underground stations, moving 400,000 people a day.

If re-elected, the Labor state government would tip in $300 million for a proper business case.

Details including the location of stations and route alignment are yet to be confirmed and the government will rely heavily on commonwealth funding for it.

"I'm broadly supportive of this project because I think one of the weaknesses in Melbourne's metropolitan train network is the lack of these orbital or circumferential links," RMIT urban policy professor Jago Dodson told AAP.

However, he said, it would be better if the government created a whole-of-Melbourne plan like what is required under the Transport Integration Act - legislation in place since the previous government but has no sanctions against inaction.

"We're just seeing these projects being dreamed up and plonked down without that wider strategy," Prof Dodson said.

"We've recently seen the widening of the Tullamarine Freeway and then shortly after an announcement to build a rail line to the airport.

"If we had got our planning right and our sequencing right, we might have decided that by building a rail line we'll take congestion off the Tullamarine Freeway and therefore we wouldn't have to spend that extra billion dollars on the Tullamarine Freeway."

University of Melbourne senior lecturer in transport planning, John Stone, also said it was "fantastic" to see the government try and fix public transport for suburbs, but testing on different options was needed.

Monash University transport engineering expert Graham Currie welcomed the "extremely ambitious" project but said $50 billion seemed a low estimate.Education Minister Dan Tehan's first day on the job is likely to be focused on a new schools funding model, after the prime minister told him they have to "move quickly".

The government's needs-based education funding model, proposed by former education minister Simon Birmingham, seeks to rejig how funding for schools is calculated.

"We're going to bring that home and we're going to bring everybody in the schools sector with us," Mr Morrison said.

"We'll be reaching out and concluding the work that Simon and Malcolm started and ensuring that we can complete that job."

Hailed by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull as the biggest-ever education funding reform, the deal boosts schools funding to $23.5 billion over the next decade.

But despite funding legislation passing federal parliament last year, long-term agreements have not been signed by the states and territories.

However the National Catholic Education Commission says Catholic schools are worse-off under the new deal.

Catholic schools pool their government funding, which is then divided between the schools based on need.

"We're trying to protect the right of families to choose an affordable non-government school education for their children," a National Catholic Education Commission spokesman told AAP.

"Non-government school families need fair and certain funding arrangements to enable them to make long-term choices about their children's education. Many do not have that currently."Sexual predators driving taxis or rideshare vehicles have been warned technology makes it easy for the law to catch them.

The police warning was prompted by the "traumatic" alleged rape of a teenager inside an Uber in Sydney.

She was allegedly preyed upon on Sunday morning while travelling home after a night out in the CBD.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Walton warned any taxi or ride-share driver contemplating a similar attack that their movements were being monitored by technology such as CCTV and trip tracking.

"If you are someone who engages in this predatory behaviour, we are going to catch you," he said.

"We get very co-operative support from the ride-share providers and taxi industry who help us with investigations every day - be that sexual assaults or any other offence."

The 17-year-old's two friends left the vehicle in Bondi moments before the attack.

But instead of taking the girl to her destination in North Bondi, the 37-year-old driver allegedly set upon the sleeping teen.

"It is alleged she was asleep at the time of the incident," Mr Walton said.

"It's a very traumatic incident but she has the support of family and police are ensuring she is looked after."

The man was arrested on Monday afternoon and charged with sexual intercourse without consent.

He was granted bail to appear at Liverpool Local Court on October 25.

An Uber spokeswoman said the driver's access to their service had been revoked as soon as the company became aware of the reported attack.

"This is deeply upsetting," she told AAP in a statement on Tuesday.

"We are working closely with NSW Police and will continue to support their investigation in any way possible."It's intimidating walking into a room where Ronda Rousey and Lauren Cohan are waiting for you.

What could go wrong?

Well, former UFC undisputed champ turned WWE professional wrestler Rousey could punch me in the face and then with an armbar submission guarantee an extended hospital stay and weeks of physiotherapy.

Cohan is also no wallflower.

As The Walking Dead's heroine Maggie, the US-born, UK-raised actress is comfortable eradicating Saviors or zombies with assault rifles, shotguns, knives or a simple spike.

Thankfully pleasant smiles from both greet their pain-fearing visitor, but as I settle in a seat opposite them something frightening happens.

One of the legs of my chair is dodgy.

I almost crash to the ground, but recover and laugh.

Rousey and Cohan laugh too.

"That's how we break people in," Rousey says.

That was the closest I came to injury during the interview in Los Angles to promote their new action film Mile 22, written by Lea Carpenter and co-starring Mark Wahlberg, John Malkovich and Indonesian martial arts star Iko Uwais.

Rousey, Cohan and Wahlberg play members of an elite US paramilitary team engaged in an urgent mission to transport an intelligence source in a convoy along a perilous 22 mile (35km) route through an Asian city to an airfield.

It is the fourth collaboration between Wahlberg and director Peter Berg, who also joined forces on Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon and Patriots Day.

What immediately stood out while sitting in a hotel suite with Rousey and Cohan were just how in awe they were of each other.

Particularly Walking Dead super fan Rousey, who despite spending weeks with Cohan shooting Mile 22 on sets in Colombia and Atlanta was still giggly about being in her presence.

"I have a not so mild, very extreme, zombie obsession and am a doomsday prepper," Rousey confides.

"I was trying so hard from the second I knew she was on this project not to geek out all over her.

"I was just salivating at the chance to say, 'What's your apocalypse plan for zombies? What's your favourite weapon? Oh my God!'"

Cohan, while describing how inspirational Rousey was to her, stopped twice.

The first was when she explained how she was about to reach across and touch Rousey's stomach because from Rousey's "core she is such an inspirational woman".

The second was when Cohan began to get goosebumps while talking about how they were cast to play powerful, non-gender specific characters in an action film written by a woman.

"It's really exciting especially in this time of the conversation about equality and powerful women to legit have somebody like Ronda at your side," Cohan said.

Rousey, 31, has achieved so much in her trailblazing career but she has one burning wish.

Rousey wants to be cast as a zombie on The Walking Dead.

"I would love to have you kill me as a zombie," Rousey tells Cohan.

"Ohhhhh," Cohan, 36, replies affectionately.

"We should arrange it."

Mile 22 opens in Australia on August 30.Malcolm Turnbull could be compelled to give evidence to a Senate committee about a decision to give more than $440 million to a private sector backed Great Barrier Reef charity.

Committee chairman Peter Whish-Wilson said the former prime minister could be summoned when he resigns his seat on Friday. Senate committees can't force lower house MPs to front hearings.

Senator Whish-Wilson wants to question Mr Turnbull about an April 9 meeting with Great Barrier Reef Foundation chair John Schubert and former environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, when funding for the group was discussed.

"I'll be seeking to work with the committee to invite him as a witness and compel him if we have to," the Greens senator told The Australian on Wednesday.

"He is the one person who can answer our questions that haven't been answered, and get to the bottom of this."

The $444 million grant given to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation has been criticised because it was settled without a competitive tender process, with federal Labor describing it as an "extraordinary abuse of process".Professor Juan Bosch (1909-2001) was the leader of the national liberation movement in Latin America and the first President of the Dominican Republic. He helped the Dominican people to understand more about the war in Vietnam and President Ho Chi Minh, thus forming revolutionary movements to support the Vietnamese people.

The ceremony was attended by Miguel Mejia, the Dominican Republics United Left Movement (MIU) General Secretary and Minister for Regional Integration Policies; Tran Thanh Man, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, and President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee; Ngo Thi Thanh Hang, Member of the Party Central Committee, and Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee; Nguyen The Hung, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee.

Addressing the ceremony, VFF President, Tran Thanh Man, said that the inauguration of the bust in Hanoi will help promote the friendship between the two nations people and help more Vietnamese people further understand the life and career of Juan Bosch as well as the Dominican Republic.

MIU General Secretary and Minister for Regional Integration Policies, Miguel Mejia, affirmed that it is an honour for the Dominican Republic to have a bust of Juan Bosch in Hanoi and it is a critically important event in their bilateral relations.

Ho Chi Minh and Juan Bosch were great leaders who guided their people through challenges and difficulties to bring their countries success with the goals of peace, democracy and civilisation, he added.Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is facing demands to explain why he personally intervened to save a French au pair from deportation at the request of AFL boss Gil McLachlan.

Federal Labor is also calling on Mr Dutton to explain whether political donations had any influence on his decision to help the young woman into the country.

Mr Dutton has flatly denied any wrongdoing.

As immigration minister in November 2015, Mr Dutton intervened to free a 27-year-old from immigration detention after his office was lobbied by the AFL boss.

The minister used his discretionary powers to grant her a tourist visa.

The au pair was planning to work for Adelaide-based farmer Callum MacLachlan, who is Gil McLachlan's second cousin.

Callum's father Hugh MachLachlan has donated roughly $150,000 to state and federal branches of the Liberal Party since 1999.

Mr Dutton said the donations had no influence on his decision.

"The minister has intervened in many cases presented by Labor members of parliament and you would have to ask them if they are presenting those cases based on donations to the Labor Party," a spokeswoman told the ABC.

Mr Dutton said immigration ministers receive hundreds of representations about migration matters each year.

"I consider cases on their merits," he said.

"Any suggestions cases are determined on any other basis, including whether I knew the individual who referred the matter, is completely ridiculous."

However, opposition immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann has demanded Mr Dutton appear before a Senate inquiry into the matter.

"The issues of whether a Liberal party donor or family members have called on the minister to assist them should be ventilated before a Senate inquiry," Mr Neumann told the ABC.

"It becomes more and more murky and more and more unusual, shall I say, about what's been happening in relation to this issue as events unfold."

The AFL has been contacted for comment.

Last week, Labor successfully moved to establish an inquiry into Mr Dutton's personal interventions in the cases of two other au pairs.

The upper house committee will next week investigate two separate decisions by Mr Dutton to overrule his department's denial of entry to the two young women in 2015.Moderate former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull was deposed in a Liberal party coup last week driven by a hardline conservative faction

Dumped prime minister Malcolm Turnbull will quit parliament this week, reports said Tuesday, in another headache for Australia's rattled government which will temporarily lose its tiny one-seat majority.

The moderate was deposed in a Liberal party coup last week driven by a hardline conservative faction.

After being knifed, he indicated would leave parliament rather than go to the backbench and told a party gathering on Monday evening he will officially resign on Friday, broadcaster ABC and Fairfax Media reported.

His departure will trigger a by-election for his Sydney seat, potentially on October 6, leaving new Prime Minister Scott Morrison in a precarious position with no parliamentary majority for two weeks.

Turnbull's seat in the wealthy Sydney enclave of Wentworth is traditionally a Liberal safe haven, although a backlash against the government's political infighting could make this less certain.

"As you know, my prime ministership has come to an end. The circumstances have appalled most Australians but again, I won't labour the point," he told the Monday meeting, Fairfax reported.

"I have a strong view which I've made very clear publicly so it comes as no surprise, that former prime ministers are best out of parliament not in it, and I think recent events best underline the value of that observation.

"And so, accordingly, on Friday, I will resign from the House of Representatives."

Christine Forster -- the sister of arch-conservative Tony Abbott, who helped orchestrate Turnbull's demise -- has already put her hand up to replace Turnbull in the plum seat.

Forster, who is gay and was a high-profile proponent of same-sex marriage in a successful campaign last year, is a well-known Liberal councillor in Sydney.

Others reportedly in the running include businessman and former ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma, while the Greens and Labor will almost certainly field candidates.Bosco Ntaganda is accused of war crimes during his time as a rebel leader in Democratic Republic of Congo

International judges will hear closing arguments Tuesday in the case against former Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda, accused of war crimes including using child soldiers and sex slaves in his rebel army.

Once known as "The Terminator", Ntaganda faces 13 counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity for his role in a brutal civil conflict in the DR Congo's volatile east more than 15 years ago.

The Rwandan-born Ntaganda in September 2015 pleaded not guilty to the charges at the start of his trial before the International Criminal Court.

Prosecutors at the Hague-based tribunal say his rebel army in 2002 and 2003 conducted a reign of terror in the vast central African country's northeast Ituri region, unleashing horrific abuses on local inhabitants.

Ntaganda was central to planning operations for his Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), using child soldiers and coercing women into sexual slavery while attacking civilians on ethnic grounds, prosecutors say.

The charismatic commander, a feared ex-general with a penchant for cowboy hats and fine dining, gave the orders and provided logistics and weapons to his troops, the prosecution say.

At least 800 people were killed by the FPLC as it battled rival militias for control of the mineral-rich area.

Prosecutors single out Ntaganda for allegedly leading a November 2002 attack on the gold mining town of Mongbwalu that lasted six days and left 200 villagers dead.

- 'Soldier, not criminal' -

Ntaganda, aged around 44, during his trial balked at the "Terminator" nickname and told judges he was a "soldier, not a criminal".

Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda insisted during his trial that he never attacked civilians

"I never attacked civilians, on the contrary, your honours, I protected them," he said.

The first-ever suspect to voluntarily surrender to the ICC, Ntaganda walked into the US embassy in Kigali in 2013 and asked to be sent to the court.

Ntaganda is a founding member of the M23 rebel group, which was eventually defeated by Congolese government forces five years ago.

Fighting in the eastern DRC has left some 60,000 people dead since 1999, exacerbated by the wealth of mineral resources in the region, notably gold and minerals used in electronic products.

This week's hearings will run from Tuesday to Thursday with Ntaganda himself expected to make a statement towards the end of the hearings. It could take months, even years, before the ICC's judges hand down a verdict.

The three-day hearing is set to be followed with interest after the surprise acquittal of another former Congolese leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba.

Initially sentenced to 18 years for war crimes committed by his troops in the Central African Republic, Bemba was acquitted on appeal in June. He has since returned to Kinshasa.

However, Ntaganda's former FPLC commander, Thomas Lubanga, was sentenced to 14 years in jail in 2012. That was the second conviction by the court since it was set up 16 years ago.North Korea looms large in Japan

North Korea still poses a "serious and imminent threat", Japan said Tuesday in its first annual defence review since tensions eased on the Korean peninsula.

Japan's 2018 defence white paper also took aim at China's rise as a military power, saying Beijing was sparking "strong security concerns in the region and international community, including Japan".

Last year's defence review was published at the height of the tensions with North Korea, amid nuclear and missile tests and with US President Donald Trump threatening to rain down "fire and fury" on Pyongyang if it kept up its threats.

But since then, a spectacular diplomatic detente has taken place, culminating in the historic summit between Trump and the North's leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12.

Nevertheless, Tokyo insisted on Tuesday: "There is no change in our basic recognition concerning the threat of North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles."

Pyongyang continues to post "an unprecedentedly serious and imminent threat to Japan's security and (to) significantly damage the peace and security of the region and the international community", according to Tokyo.

Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera acknowledged in the document that North Korea had begun dialogue with its former foes the US and South Korea.

"But we cannot overlook the fact that, even to this day, it possesses and fully deploys several hundred missiles that put nearly all of Japan within range," the minister stressed.

In response, Japan is steadily upgrading its capacity to shield the nation from the North's arsenal, including a plan to spend some $4.2 billion over the next three decades on installing and operating US radar systems.

The defence ministry is expected later this week to request a record 5.3 trillion yen ($47.6 billion) for the budget for the fiscal year starting from April.

Despite the historic handshake in Singapore, there has been little progress in denuclearising the Korean peninsula and Washington-Pyongyang relations appear to have taken a turn for the worse, with Trump abruptly scrapping a planned visit to the North by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The white paper also reiterated Japan's worries about China's increasing military spending and expanding naval ambitions.

It complained that Beijing was trying to "change the status quo by coercion", referring to such actions as building up disputed islands in the South China Sea and expanding naval activities around East China Sea islands disputed with Japan.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying dismissed the white paper as containing "irresponsible" and "baseless accusations".

"We hope that the Japanese will not come up with all sorts of excuses to expand their military strength but instead look at the bigger picture of a stable relationship with China," she said.

The white paper also drew ire from Seoul by repeating Tokyo's longstanding claim of sovereignty over islands which Japan calls Takeshima.

The islands are controlled by South Korea, which calls them Dokdo.

"The Japanese government must bear in mind that repeating such unjustifiable and groundless allegations over Dokdo will not be helpful at all in building forward-looking relations between the two countries," the South Korean foreign ministry said in a statement.

burs-hih/sah/amuWhile tributes poured in from the US and abroad highlighting John McCain's lifetime of service, Donald Trump initially resisted following suit

Donald Trump bowed to pressure Monday to honor the late John McCain, ordering that flags be lowered to half-staff across the country, as the late senator fired a parting shot at the president in a farewell message to the United States.

Trump's about-face came after he found himself mired in controversy over his rather conspicuous failure to pay tribute to McCain, who died Saturday at 81 after a year-long battle with brain cancer.

When veterans' groups launched appeals for a more fitting salute to McCain, a Navy veteran who was imprisoned for more than five years in Vietnam, the Republican leader -- who had no love lost for the Arizona senator -- blinked.

"Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain's service to our country," Trump said in a statement as he ordered the flag atop the White House and elsewhere to fly at half-staff until McCain's burial on Sunday.

He later told evangelical leaders that "we very much appreciate everything that senator McCain has done for our country."

The White House flag was lowered after McCain's death on Saturday -- but it was once again at the top of the flagpole on Monday morning.

Trump's initial silence about McCain underscored the isolation of the US leader and fueled criticism that he is incapable of bringing a divided nation together even as it mourns a man widely seen as an American hero and a political icon.

In Phoenix, where a week of tributes to McCain was soon to get under way, the two-time presidential candidate's former campaign manager Rick Davis confirmed that Trump would not be attending the funeral.

However, Vice President Mike Pence is set to speak at a ceremony honoring McCain at the US Capitol on Friday.

White House chief of staff John Kelly, Defense Secretary James Mattis and National Security Advisor John Bolton will represent the administration during services.

- 'Tribal rivalries' -

In Phoenix, Davis read a posthumous statement that made a final jab at Trump.

McCain's former campaign manager Rick Davis read the Arizona Republican's final message in Phoenix

"We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe," McCain said.

"We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been," he said -- -- an apparent reference to Trump's plans for a border wall.

- Long-running enmity -

John McCain at the 2008 Republican convention, where he accepted the party presidential nomination

McCain, who served as a senator from Arizona for more than 30 years, clashed repeatedly with Trump even though they were both Republicans, and the president initially paid scant tribute to the senator after his death.

The Washington Post reported that White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, Chief of Staff Kelly and other senior staff had urged a statement be released referring to McCain as a "hero" -- but Trump opted for a terse, impersonal tweet instead.

The enmity between Trump and McCain dates from the day the real estate tycoon announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination with an attack on Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists.

During the 2016 campaign, Trump mocked McCain's war service. In the years since, McCain was Trump's loudest Republican critic, especially as the president disrupted America's long-time alliances.

McCain's remains will lie in state at Arizona's capitol on Wednesday, before a public viewing Friday in the rotunda of the US Capitol -- an honor reserved for the likes of John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and civil rights champion Rosa Parks.

The two men who defeated McCain in his White House campaigns, Republican George W. Bush in 2000 and Democrat Barack Obama in 2008, are expected to deliver eulogies at a Saturday service at the National Cathedral in Washington.

Among the pallbearers will be Democratic former vice president Joe Biden, ex-senator Russ Feingold, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and actor Warren Beatty.

McCain will be buried Sunday at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in a private funeral service.

- Bipartisan praise -

In Washington, McCain's death has been a rare occasion for bipartisan praise for his lifetime in public service.

The US flag above the White House returned to full staff Monday -- only to be lowered again later on in the day in honor of McCain

Tributes have poured in from every living former president honoring the former Navy aviator for his courage, integrity and decency.

On Capitol Hill, his desk on the Senate floor was draped with a black cloth, and adorned with white roses.

Senators returning to work were saddened by his passing.

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is proposing a bill to rename one of the upper chamber's buildings after McCain, spoke of a great and unexpressable loss."

"In stark relief to what now passes for our politics, he continues to serve as a beacon to who we are and who we can be when we are at our best," said Jeff Flake, who was McCain's fellow Arizona senator.

"If John McCain can forgive the North Vietnamese torturers, we can at least forgive each other."The ricketty fishing boat believed to be carrying asylum seekers which ran aground in crocodile-infested waters

All of the asylum-seekers from a Vietnamese boat that ran aground in crocodile-infested waters off Australia have been rounded up without incident, media reports said Tuesday.

The rickety vessel -- the first asylum-seeker boat to reach Australia in almost four years -- began sinking near the Daintree River north of popular tourist city Cairns in Queensland state on Sunday.

Those on board fled into dense mangrove rainforest teeming with crocodiles, venomous snakes, sandflies and giant cassowaries -- one of the world's deadliest and most aggressive birds.

Broadcaster ABC said 17 people were on the boat and the final two on the loose were caught Tuesday morning, citing State Emergency Service local area director Peter Rinaudo.

"It was determined at that stage that all the missing persons they believe they were looking for were located," he told ABC in explaining that emergency personnel had been stood down by Queensland police.

The Cairns Post said the last two found were the boat's skipper and first mate, and they were detained as they tried to cross the Daintree River by ferry.

It cited an Australian Border Force (ABF) official as saying: "We're still trying to confirm the identities and motives of the two men picked up this morning. But we're fairly confident we've got the total number."

The newspaper said the two men were heading for nearby Noah Beach, where they had arranged to be picked up by other members of an alleged people-smuggling syndicate based out of Sydney.

The ABF made no immediate confirmation to AFP on whether all the boat's passengers had been caught or other information about the vessel and who was onboard.

On Monday, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said the partially sunk vessel had come from Vietnam and was the first boat of asylum-seekers to reach the country since 2014.

He made clear they would not be allowed to settle in Australia.

Under Canberra's tough immigration policy, asylum-seekers who try to reach Australia by boat are either turned back or sent to remote Pacific camps where conditions have been widely criticised.

The United Nations and human rights advocates say the policy violates the 1951 Refugee Convention of which Australia is a signatory.

Most asylum-seeker boats that have arrived in Australia in recent years embarked from Indonesia, though some originated in Sri Lanka.Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russia's Vladimir Putin at Syria talks in Ankara earlier this year

Russia and Turkey are in intense negotiations to ensure the rebel-held province of Idlib does not become a breaking point in their alliance on Syria, but the long term fate of the area still risks provoking a rupture, analysts say.

President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan have spearheaded an unlikely but so far sustained partnership to bring peace to Syria since late 2016, despite being in theory on opposite sides of the civil war.

The cooperation now faces its biggest test over Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, bordering Turkey, which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad wants to recapture to complete a string of military successes.

Idlib has over the last years become an increasingly densely-populated region where problems in resolving the seven-year Syrian civil war were effectively dumped to be resolved at a later date.

That moment is now drawing closer with expectations of a government offensive and fears over the combustible mix in the province of displaced people from other Syrian regions, moderate rebels and Islamist radicals.

Erdogan has been a champion of the anti-Assad rebels and bitterly denounced Putin in the crisis that followed the shooting down of a Russian war plane by Turkey in November 2015.

Members of Russian and Syrian forces stand guard near posters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian counterpart Putin on the eastern edge of Idlib province

But the burgeoning alliance with Moscow, which also includes cooperation in trade, energy and defence, is now of critical importance to Ankara at a time when a crisis in relations with the US has caused the Turkish lira to bleed value.

"There is still a hope in Moscow to find an agreement with Ankara that could allow the Syrian regime to take control of Idlib without a new rupture with Turkey," Kerim Has, a Moscow-based analyst on Turkish-Russian relations, told AFP.

He said Moscow was carefully watching Turkey-US ties and could launch a full operation at the "moment when the Turkish leadership is in most desperate need of the Kremlin's encouragement during a deepening Turkey-US crisis."

- 'Limited offensive' -

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Friday led a delegation including Defence Minister Hulusi Akar and spy chief Hakan Fidan to Moscow to discuss the Idlib situation and also Moscow's planned delivery of S-400 missile systems to Turkey.

Cavusoglu warned that a "military solution" in Idlib, which he said is now home to 3.5 million people, would be a "catastrophe" and provoke a new refugee influx into Turkey where three million Syrians already live.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (l) met with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Friday

But he also said "radical groups and terrorists" in Idlib should be "neutralised", in comments seen as indicating Ankara could support a limited intervention.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said a differentiation should be made between moderate rebels and extremists, like the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group (HTS) who control much of Idlib.

In a sign of the importance of the visit, Cavusoglu was received by President Putin, who praised the "deep cooperation" over Syria. Cavusoglu told Putin "your dear friend Mr Erdogan" expected him in Istanbul soon for dinner at a fish restaurant.

"Russia and Turkey are trying to find agreement with suitable terms for both sides," Timur Akhmetov, Ankara-based researcher at the Russian International Affairs Council, told AFP.

He predicted Russia and the Syrian regime would launch a "limited offensive" against groups linked to former Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front -- especially on factions that have irritated Moscow by launching swarm attacks with drones against its Hmeimim base, the heart of Russian operations in Syria.

"Russia is trying to encourage Turkey to have the opposition contribute to the offensive and in return, these groups will be spared from air attacks," Akhmetov added.

- 'Direct opposition' -

Yet as has been the case repeatedly for Idlib, a limited offensive will only temporarily sidestep the key issue, namely who will control the province long-term and eventually postwar.

And even if Russia can agree a compromise, it is not always the case that Assad automatically follows Moscow's line or that his other main ally Iran backs the Kremlin.

Idlib is now home to 3.5 million people.

"The Russians and the Turks will be hard pressed to reach a sustainable, long-term agreement acceptable to the regime in northwestern Syria," Elizabeth Teoman, Turkey analyst for the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), told AFP.

Turkey has set up 12 so-called observation points in Idlib staffed by its military, ostensibly aimed at monitoring a de-escalation zone but which also serve to protect Ankara's interests.

Teoman said Erdogan could contemplate a possible limited offensive -- with Russian and Turkish interests overlapping for now on limiting a refugee influx and promoting reconstruction in Idlib.

She said the current discussions likely did not represent an "imminent breaking point" between Moscow and Ankara but warned: "Turkey's aspirations are in direct opposition to Assad's goals to crush the remnants of the Syrian rebellion."US President Donald Trump, right, Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta and their wives Melania Trump and Margaret Kenyatta meet in the White House Oval Office

The United States and Kenya agreed Monday to build a superhighway from Nairobi to Mombasa, the White House said.

After President Donald Trump welcomed his counterpart President Uhuru Kenyatta in the Oval Office, the pair voiced support for closer economic cooperation "aimed at making their nations stronger and their citizens more prosperous," the White House said in a statement.

The project, known as the Nairobi-Mombasa Expressway project would link Kenya's capital with second city Mombasa, a major Indian Ocean port. It is due to be built by US construction firm Bechtel Corporation.

"Both sides agreed to undertake further consultations to conclude the terms of the financing agreement," the White House said.

The two leaders also announced that their governments had established direct flights between Nairobi and New York.

"This and nearly $900 million in other commercial deals and engagements announced during the visit are expected to create thousands of American and Kenyan jobs, further enhancing the prosperity and economic competitiveness of both nations," the statement added.A Japanese printer checks 2019 calendars, which display the current era, known as Heisei, marking the reign of Emperor Akihito, who is expected to abdicate in May next year

The abdication of Japan's Emperor Akihito next year will be quite literally the end of an era, the Heisei era of his rule, and behind closed doors, talks on the next era have begun.

Japan is the only country in the world still using Chinese-style imperial calendars. It might be 2018 in much of the world, but in Japan it is Heisei 30, or 30 years into Akihito's reign.

While the Gregorian calendar is widely used in Japan, imperial dates feature on government documents, newspapers, and commercial calendars.

"It is easier to imagine what the time was like if you have eras," said Kunio Kowaguchi, president of major calendar maker Todan.

"For instance, we remember it was early Heisei that the bubble burst," he said, referring to the collapse of Japan's speculation-driven economy.

The upcoming end of the Heisei period was even reportedly a factor in the government's decision to implement death sentences this year against 13 members of the Aum cult behind a 1995 sarin attack.

Government officials apparently wanted to a draw a line under the cult's attacks before the Heisei era ends. All 13 executions were carried out in July.

Emperor Akihito (R) and Crown Prince Naruhito at the royal family's New Year greeting to well-wishers at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo

Japan has had nearly 250 eras or "gengo" since adopting the system in the 7th century.

In the past, emperors would switch era names mid-reign to make a fresh start after natural disasters or crises.

But more recently, an era has run the entire length of a monarch's rule.

With just months to go before Crown Prince Naruhito ascends the Chrysanthemum Throne in May 2019, speculation about the new name is growing.

And calendar makers like Kowaguchi are particularly eager to hear.

- A new 'Y2K'? -

His company produces 10 million calendars a year, many featuring both Western and imperial dates.

He starts printing products a year before release, so it's already too late for his 2019 run to feature the new name, but he's hoping for a decision in time for the 2020 batch.

The new imperial era will be the first since the IT revolution, and the tech sector is also girding for the transition.

It has inspired comparisons to the "Y2K" bug ahead of the year 2000, when experts worried about a tech apocalypse fearing that computers would not understand the new date.

Junzo Matoba, a former government official, played a key role in selecting the name of the new era in Japan in 1989 when emperor Hirohito passed away

"What is largely different from the time of the Y2K problem or the switch to the Heisei period is that IT is widely used and information is passed around among internet-capable devices," said Kazunori Ishii, a spokesman at Microsoft's Japan arm.

"We can't predict exactly what will happen," he said, though he added that major disruption was "unlikely".

Software used in Japan that converts between Western and imperial dates will need to be updated with the new era, and code and fonts for the new name will also need to be created.

The 84-year-old emperor's decision to abdicate has given experts a rare head start in choosing the new era's name.

The task falls to the government rather than the palace and, like many matters involving the royal household, it is shrouded in secrecy.

Reports initially suggested the name would be announced in 2018 but there have been rumours of a delay.

That may indicate the scale of the challenge, with experts bound by stringent guidelines requiring the name to have two characters, be easy to read and write, and not use common names.

- 'New era, new mindset' -

The new name is also unlikely to start with the first letter of any of the last four eras: Heisei, Showa, Taisho and Meiji.

Calendar makers say it's already too late to put the name of the new era on their 2019 run, but they're hoping for a decision in time for the 2020 batch

And because each era name is considered "sacred", any name put forward but rejected in the past cannot be proposed again.

One of the few people familiar with the challenge is Junzo Matoba, a former bureaucrat who helped look for new names during the last years of emperor Hirohito's Showa era, in the late 1980s.

"Some people thought it was irreverent to think about the next era" while the emperor was still alive, he told AFP.

"I had to work secretly."

He consulted experts on Asian history and literature while trying to maintain a low profile.

"I found myself caught up in such a difficult task -- I was sitting under the Sword of Damocles," the 83-year-old told AFP.

By 1988, the search was narrowed to three contenders, and when Hirohito passed away on January 7, 1989, a panel of experts, politicians and ministers quickly approved "Heisei", meaning "becoming peaceful both inside and outside the country".

Japan's government is believed to have a shortlist of names, but has been mum on potential choices or an announcement date, despite the growing interest.

"Japanese people love to 'reset' things," said Matoba.

"A new era, a new mindset."Malaysian Muslims have traditionally practised a tolerant brand of Islam, but concerns have grown in recent years that attitudes are becoming more conservative

A Malaysian Islamic court postponed the caning Tuesday of two women convicted of lesbian sex as activists hoped it would give them time to stop the punishment being carried out.

The women, aged 22 and 32, were arrested in April by Islamic enforcement officers after they were found in a car in a public square in northern Terengganu state, one of the most conservative areas of the Muslim-majority country.

They were brought before an Islamic court and admitted to breaking a sharia law that forbids sexual relations between women and sentenced to six strokes of the cane each and fined 3,300 ringgit ($800).

The sentence was to be carried out Tuesday but Terengganu Sharia Court chief registrar Wan Abdul Malik Wan Sidek told AFP it had been moved to September 3 for "technical reasons".

He did not give details but The Star newspaper quoted another court official as saying that since a few agencies would be involved in carrying out the sentence, technical issues needed to be resolved first.

Both women are out on bail.

Members of Malaysia's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community have been facing rising pressure in the largely Islamic country, with public officials frequently accused of targeting them.

Transgender rights group Justice for Sisters co-founder Thilaga Sulathireh hoped the postponement would give activists time to try to stop the punishment from being carried out.

"There is a bit more time now... (to) have more conversations about this and see if these conversations can add any kind of pressure or change people's mind about the sentence itself," she said.

Malaysia operates a dual-track legal system and Islamic courts can handle religious and family matters, as well as cases such as adultery.

Caning is conducted out of public view.

Malaysian Muslims which make up more than 60 percent of the country's 32 million population have traditionally practised a tolerant brand of Islam, but concerns have grown in recent years that attitudes are becoming more conservative.The Egyptian President lauded his Vietnamese counterparts visit, affirming that it will help promote the bilateral traditional friendship and all-round cooperation.

Both leaders briefed each other on the current situation in each country, showing their pleasure at the recent progress of bilateral relations with the success of the first meeting of the Sub-Committee on Trade and Industry Cooperation in Egypt in April 2018 to realise the outcomes of the Inter-Governmental Committees fifth meeting in August 2017.

Through the mechanisms, Vietnam and Egypt agreed on specific measures to strengthen their cooperation in various fields, they said, noting that in the first half of 2018, two-way trade reached US$230 million, a surge of 44.5% year-on-year.

President Tran Dai Quang expressed his delight at the attainments that Egypt has gained over the past few years under the leadership of President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, positioning Egypt as one of the leading economies in Africa with a GDP of nearly US$1.2 trillion and growth of over 5%.

He congratulated President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi for being re-elected as president, saying that he believes Egypt will go on to gain greater achievements, and maintain socio-economic stability and economic growth for a more prosperous country.

He proposed that Vietnam and Egypt maintain regular meetings between senior leaders; encourage delegation exchanges among ministries, sectors, and localities; and promoting cooperation at multilateral forums, especially within the framework of the UN, South-South Cooperation, Non-Aligned Movement, and the Francophone.

The Vietnamese leader suggested that Egypt, as a member of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, act as a bridge for ASEAN countries, including Vietnam, to get closer to the African Union and its members.

Egypt should remove trade barriers and create favourable conditions for Vietnamese goods to access its market, especially in terms of farm produce, aquatic products, and construction materials, while finalising legal procedures to approve the Double-Taxation Avoidance Agreement signed with Vietnam in March 2006, he asked.

The Vietnamese President welcomes Egypt to send its puppetry artists to the country to perform in November this year within activities to celebrate the 55th founding anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties.

The two countries should maintain the effective implementation of their cultural cooperation programme in the 2017-2021 period and the tourism affiliation programme throughout the 2017-2019 period.

He thanked Egypt for coordinating with and creating optimal conditions for the Vietnamese Embassy to launch television programmes and seminars to honour late President Ho Chi Minh, who visited Egypt three times.

For his part, President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi said that with its position connecting Asia, Africa, and Europe, Egypt is willing to help Vietnamese goods access the Egyptian market, including the upcoming launch of the Halal trade standard programme and supporting Vietnamese officials in learning Halal standards for goods exported to Muslim markets, including Egypt.

Egypt will strengthen bilateral collaboration in recognising each others flora and fauna quarantine measures for farm produce and seafood.

The two leaders also concurred to increase delegation exchanges and experience sharing in security, defence, economy, trade, investment, culture, sports, tourism, agriculture, transportation, and locality-to-locality cooperation, with particular focus on promoting economic partnerships for the target of 1 billion USD in bilateral trade in the next five years.

The two sides welcomed the signing of a cooperation deal between Ninh Binh province of Vietnam and Luxor city of Egypt, laying the foundation for other localities to set up partnerships.

Vietnam and Egypt will maintain scholarship programmes for Vietnamese students to study the Arabic language in Egypt, they agreed, assigning ministries, sectors, and localities of both sides to effectively realise the signed agreements in the field.

Both leaders agreed to maintain close affiliation at multilateral forums and in global matters such as anti-terrorism and sustainable use of water resources.

At the talks, the two Presidents witnessed the signing of a number of important cooperation deals between ministries, sectors, localities, and enterprises, including a memorandum of understanding between Vietnams Ministry of Industry and Trade and Egypts Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, and another between the two trade and industry ministries.

After the signing ceremony, President Tran Dai Quang and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah Al Sisi met the media.

Later the same day, the Egyptian President hosted a banquet for his Vietnamese guest.May's trip to South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya will be seen as an effort to stamp her authority on her embattled premiership

British Prime Minister Theresa May touched down in Cape Town Tuesday as she kicked off a tour of the African continent where she hopes to lay the foundations for post-Brexit trade deals.

May is facing pressure at home from so-called Remainers sceptical of her ability to forge trade deals once Britain severs ties with Brussels, as well as from Brexiteers fearful she will not deliver a clean break.

Her tour of South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya -- May's first to the continent since becoming premier in 2016 -- will be seen as an effort to stamp her authority on her embattled premiership.

"As we prepare to leave the European Union, now is the time for the UK to deepen and strengthen its global partnerships," May said in a statement.

"Africa stands right on the cusp of playing a transformative role in the global economy," she added.

May will use a speech in Cape Town to set out how Britain can bolster its partnership with Africa, "particularly by bringing the transformative power of private sector trade and investment from the UK", her office said.

Former foreign minister Boris Johnson, whose July departure from the cabinet brought May's government to the brink, said in his resignation speech that May's current Brexit policy would hamper London's ability to strike independent trade deals.

- World War I sacrifice -

May will then present President Cyril Ramaphosa with the bell from the troopship Mendi, which sank in the English Channel in 1917 drowning more than 600 mainly South African troops who were preparing to join the Allied forces fighting in World War I.

It was the worst maritime disaster in the African country's history, and has become a symbol of its Great War sacrifice.

The bell was given to a BBC reporter at a British seaside resort in 2017 following an anonymous tip, according to the broadcaster.

The prime minister is also expected to visit Robben Island where former president Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for decades to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth.

May will head to Nigeria on Wednesday for meetings with President Muhammadu Buhari in the capital Abuja and with victims of modern slavery in Lagos.

On Thursday she will meet Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, shortly after his return from seeing US President Donald Trump in Washington and before he travels to China to meet President Xi Jinping.

The prime minister will then see British troops in training action and tour a business school, before concluding the trip at a state dinner hosted by Kenyatta.Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has said more pardons are likely, but rejected suggestions he was bending to international pressure

Fourteen Cambodia opposition supporters jailed for insurrection were released Tuesday, the largest pardon since Premier Hun Sen extended his grip on power in an election that turned the kingdom into a one-party state.

The main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was dissolved months before the July election, giving Hun Sen's ruling Cambodia People's Party a clean sweep of seats in parliament, and many CNRP members and government critics were rounded up in a crackdown on dissent.

The 14 released Tuesday from Prey Sar prison in Phnom Penh were pardoned by the Cambodian king for convictions that carried between seven and 20 years behind bars.

Their pardons came after they all apologised to Hun Sen in letters.

They were arrested in 2015 and charged with insurrection after clashes that left dozens of security officers and protesters wounded.

"We could work together. We may argue when it comes to politics, but we shouldn't kill each other," Meach Sovannara, a former press officer who had been sentenced to 20 years, said in a Facebook Live broadcast after he was released.

Last week Cambodia's strongman ruler said more pardons were likely, but rejected suggestions he was bending to international pressure following his one-sided election win.

Analysts have said Hun Sen could use pardons and the kingdom's pliant courts to help deflect criticism, as he has in the past, after July's vote was widely decried as a sham.

The US widened travel bans on the country after the vote but Cambodia's main concern is its tariff-free access to European garment markets, where sales fuel the country's largest industry.

Land rights activists and a former lawmaker have also been freed in recent days.

But the pardons have yet to include the CNRP's co-founder Kem Sokha, who was arrested before the party's dissolution last November and thrown in jail on treason charges.US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, whose trip to North Korea was cancelled over a "belligerent"

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's planned trip to North Korea last weekend was cancelled after he received what US officials deemed to be a belligerent letter from Pyongyang, The Washington Post reported.

The precise contents of the letter, which came from Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of North Korea's ruling party, were not known, the Post said.

Pompeo received it Friday and showed it to President Donald Trump. They concluded it was belligerent enough to call off the visit, the Post said late Monday, quoting two administration officials.

In pulling the plug on the visit, Trump tweeted that he had not seen sufficient progress toward Pyongyang denuclearizing.

Trump acted amid independent reports that North Korea has done little or nothing to roll back its nuclear program, despite promises made at a historic summit in June with Kim Jong Un.

Trump also blasted China for not doing enough to help push denuclearization, but left open the possibility of a Pompeo trip to Pyongyang when the US-China trading relationship is "resolved."

China on Tuesday rejected the "completely irresponsible" accusation that Beijing was not doing enough.

"I'm willing to point out again, the US's characterisation goes against the truth, and is completely irresponsible," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing.

Beijing has always encouraged dialogue to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula, she said, noting however that the deal struck between Kim and Trump at their summit in June "does not seem to be smooth sailing".

Hua urged all parties to "reflect on themselves to figure out why, and not repeatedly swing back and forth".

Kim is set to meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in next month for their third summit this year. The recent tension with the US was unlikely to hamper preparations for that event, Moon's spokesman said.

"We believe that the inter-Korea agreement to hold it (the summit) in September will be honoured," Kim Eui-Kyeom told reporters on Monday.

Seoul was in "no position" to verify the latest Post report over the letter from Kim Yong Chol, he said.Taiwan's top court ruled in May 2017 that preventing same-sex marriage was unconstitutional but there has been little progress on the issue since

Conservative campaigners on Tuesday threw a roadblock in the path to legalising same-sex unions in Taiwan, proposing a public vote on the issue and saying any reforms would jeopardise "family values".

Taiwan's top court ruled in May 2017 that preventing same-sex marriage was unconstitutional and gave a two-year deadline for its legalisation -- which would make the island the first place in Asia to do so.

But there has been little progress on the issue since then, with President Tsai Ing-wen saying society is still divided on the issue.

The anti-gay marriage Happiness of the Next Generation Alliance submitted a referendum petition to election authorities on Tuesday to try to prevent the civil code from being amended to recognise same-sex partnerships.

If successful, the move may instead require a separate law to be enacted for civil unions between same-sex couples -- a move that gay marriage campaigners say would be discriminatory and offer fewer legal protections.

"The bottom line of basic family values shouldn't be overturned," alliance spokesman Tseng Hsien-ying told reporters after the petition was brought to the election commission.

"The collapse of the family system will deal a huge blow to society."

Last year's court decision did not give specific guidance on how same-sex relationships should be legislated.

The petition collected more than 678,000 signatures. If vetted and approved by the Central Election Commission, the referendum will be held to coincide with local elections in November.

The group said it would also lodge two more petitions with the commission later Tuesday.

One would remove same-sex education from the school curriculum, while the other redefines the civil code's definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman.

The commission said it had a number of other referendum proposals to process first and will handle the group's petition later Tuesday or Wednesday.

Gay rights campaigners are also rushing to gather signatures for their own referendum proposal, which would ask the public to vote to enshrine same-sex marriage in the civil code.

"We have to let those in power see very clearly the wishes of the people, and we hope they can amend the legislation as soon as possible," said Miao Bo-ya, a key activist behind the campaign.

Referendum proposals in Taiwan are put to a public vote if they are supported by 1.5 percent of the electorate -- a little over 280,000 signatures.

Plebiscites are legally binding and the government is obliged to propose laws that reflect their results.The Syrian civil war has displaced more than half of the country's population, including more than five million beyond its borders

Russia's defence minister said on Tuesday that war-torn Syria would be ready to accept one million returning refugees, following Moscow-backed reconstruction work.

"Since 2015, when towns and villages gradually started to be freed, more than one million people have returned home," Sergei Shoigu said in comments reported by Russian news agencies.

"Now every opportunity has been created for the return of roughly one million (more) refugees," he told journalists.

"Huge infrastructure reconstruction work is ongoing, the rebuilding of transport routes and security points so that Syria can begin accepting refugees."

Russia, a long-time ally of Syria, launched a military intervention in 2015 to support the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad, a move that changed the course of the war.

Assad and his allies have since recovered swathes of territory and the government is turning its attention to post-conflict reconstruction, with the aid of Moscow.

The war that erupted in 2011, one of the most devastating conflicts since World War II, has displaced more than half of Syria's population, including more than five million beyond its borders.

Most of them fled to neighbouring countries, particularly Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.

Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump discussed the return of refugees at a summit in Helsinki last month.

Moscow later said it had put forward plans to Washington to cooperate on their return to Syria but details have yet to be confirmed.Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May is greeted by schoolchildren waving British and South African flags during a visit to the ID Mkhize Secondary School in Gugulethu township, about 15 km from the centre of Cape Town, on August 28, 2018

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday pledged to prioritise investment in Africa as she started a visit to the continent to seek new trade deals during preparations to leave the European Union.

"By 2022, I want the UK to be the G7's number one investor in Africa, with Britain's private sector companies taking the lead," May told business leaders in Cape Town, South Africa.

The G7 groups major industrialised nations, but does not include China.

"As prime minister of a trading nation whose success depends on global markets, I want to see strong African economies that British companies can do business with," she said.

"I want to create a new partnership between the UK and our friends in Africa built around shared prosperity and shared security."

Her tour of South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya -- May's first to the continent since becoming premier in 2016 -- is seen as an effort to stamp her authority on her embattled premiership.

May's tour of South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya is her first to the continent since becoming premier in 2016

May is facing pressure at home from so-called Remainers sceptical of her ability to forge trade deals once Britain severs ties with the EU, as well as from Brexiteers fearful she will not deliver a clean break.

"As we prepare to leave the European Union, now is the time for the UK to deepen and strengthen its global partnerships," she said in a statement.Israeli security forces at the Adam settlement in the occupied West Bank on July 26, 2018, after a stabbing attack

Israeli forces demolished the home of a Palestinian who carried out a deadly knife attack in a settlement in the occupied West Bank, the army said Tuesday.

Minor clashes broke out between Palestinians opposed to the raid and soldiers in the West Bank during the early hours of Tuesday morning, the military and witnesses said.

The family home was destroyed, an AFP journalist at the scene said.

The army said its forces "demolished the residence of the terrorist Mohammed Dar Youssef from the village of Kobar, north of Ramallah."

Dar Youssef snuck into the Adam settlement south east of Ramallah in July, stabbing three Israelis, one fatally, according to the Israeli authorities.

He was then shot dead by a local resident.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Twitter on Tuesday he had kept the promise made to the widow and other relatives of Yotam Ovadia, the victim of the Adam attack, to destroy the house quickly.

The stabbings also led Lieberman to pledge to build more settler homes in response.

Israel authorised plans for more than 1,000 new homes in settlements in the occupied West Bank on August 22, including 370 in the Adam settlement.

Israel rejects the widely held view that settlement expansion is one of the greatest obstacles to peace with the Palestinians.Some 60 percent of women in Egypt said they had been victims of some form of harassment during their lifetimes according to a 2017 report from UN Women and Promundo

Egypt's highest Sunni Muslim authority has said there can be no justification for sexual harassment, in a country where many people often blame women themselves for the widespread problems they face.

In a statement Al-Azhar blasted all forms of harassment as "a forbidden act and deviant behaviour" and said "the one who carries it out is a sinner".

"Criminalising sexual harassment must be absolute and free from any condition or context," the statement released Monday said.

"Justifying sexual harassment with the behaviour or clothing of the woman is a misunderstanding, for sexual harassment is an assault on the woman and her freedom and dignity," it said.

Some 60 percent of women in Egypt said they had been victims of some form of sexual harassment during their lifetimes in a 2017 report from UN Women and Promundo.

Three-quarters of men and 84 percent of women polled said that women who "dress provocatively deserve to be harassed".

The divisions have been highlighted by a recent debate over a video posted on the internet by an Egyptian woman showing a man making unwanted advances on her in a Cairo street.

The footage of the man parking his car and approaching a woman to go for a coffee went viral and drew wide-ranging reactions online.

Some commentators said it definitely constituted harassment given the hostile atmosphere of the Cairo streets.

But others described the approach as normal given the man made no obscene gestures, and there were even suggestions the woman was at fault as she was welcoming advances by standing in the street.

Public debate over harassment intensified in the aftermath of the January 2011 uprising against former president Hosni Mubarak.

The protests demanding Mubarak's ouster centred around Cairo's Tahrir Square, where constant media coverage also highlighted sexual attacks and helped show public denial of the phenomenon.

Following the 2011 uprising, anti-harassment graffiti spread around downtown Cairo, volunteers organised to rescue women from mob attacks, and more women shared their own stories publicly.

In February 2013, women took to the streets brandishing knives in a symbolic protest against sexual violence.

Authorities directly criminalised sexual harassment in June 2014, days before President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's inauguration, however many women complain that officials still turn a blind eye to the problem.ISIS has been forced to reorganise and change strategy to survive after a string of devastating defeats four years after announcing its cross-border 'caliphate' in Iraq and Syria.

The jihadist group has been pinned down to its last desert holdouts in Syria having lost all urban centres previously under its control in neighbouring Iraq.

It has now changed its administrative structure and shifted its focus away from operating the state-like apparatus it once ran.

An Iraqi security official said that after losing ground in Iraq and Syria, 'ISIS leadership is now focused on a global vision' modelled on Al-Qaeda.

ISIS has been forced to reorganise and change strategy to survive after a string of devastating defeats four years after announcing its cross-border 'caliphate' in Iraq and Syria. ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi addresses worshippers at a mosque in the Iraqi city of Mosul in 2014

Its cross-border state now destroyed, ISIS is instead likely to focus on spreading shock and terror around the world through dramatic attacks, the official added.

ISIS will have to find 'a new way of doing things, especially to recruit after heavy losses', said the official, who asked to remain anonymous, told AFP.

At its peak, the self-proclaimed caliphate included 35 'wilaya' (provinces) mostly set within a swathe of territory spanning either side of the border between Syria and Iraq.

But following major military defeats - including the jihadists' loss of their de facto capitals of Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq - ISIS propaganda outlets now only mention six 'wilaya'.

Former ISIS provinces like Mosul, Raqqa and Kirkuk - an oil-rich province in Iraq - no longer exist.

Instead, the term 'wilaya' is now used to refer to large chunks of territory like Iraq and Syria, along with Somalia, East Asia, Tajikistan and the Egyptian Sinai.

The administrative reshuffle marks a clear switch from 2014, when ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi boasted of having erased the 'imperialist' design that divided the Middle East.

The proclamation was made with great fanfare as jihadists drove bulldozers across the Syrian-Iraqi border, symbolically destroying one of the frontiers drawn up by colonial powers as they carved out the modern Middle East from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire after World War I.

After years battling ISIS, Iraqi troops are now redeployed along most of the border with Syria, across which jihadists and weapons have long flowed unimpeded.

On the Syrian side, separate offensives by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and a US-backed coalition have pushed ISIS jihadists out of most of the territory they once controlled.

'The change proves Daesh's weakness and the loss of much of its leadership,' the security official told AFP, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.

ISIS's restructure 'shows its central command lacks confidence in its wilaya commanders in Iraq and that it is reducing their powers to one (central) leadership', the official said.

Iraqi authorities regularly announce the arrest or death of ISIS leaders and relatives of Baghdadi, such as his son, who was killed in Syria in July by Russian missiles.

Baghdadi himself was thought to have been killed several times, and the US has offered up a $25 million (21.5 million euro) reward for information leading to his capture or death.

The jihadist group has been pinned down to its last desert holdouts in Syria having lost all urban centres previously under its control in neighbouring Iraq

In a purported new audio message released on Wednesday to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, Baghdadi called on his followers to 'not give up the jihad against their enemy'.

'Baghdadi's speech was one of consolation and condolence,' said Hisham al-Hashemi, an expert on radical Islamist groups.

It was an 'acknowledgement of defeat... but (Baghdadi) urged those remaining to persevere', he said.

In a first, Baghdadi used his 55-minute recording to call for attacks in the West, saying an operation there would be 'worth a thousand' at home.

Much of the address was reminiscent of approaches long used by Al-Qaeda, according to Hashemi.

In it, the ISIS leader scorns the US, blasts Shiite Iran, and calls on Sunni Muslims in Iraq to denounce the Shiite-dominated paramilitary units of the Hashed al-Shaabi.

Tore Hamming, a jihadist specialist at the European University Institute, said Baghdadi's speech falls into the same category as his last three - 'crisis management'.At a meeting with Speaker of the House of Representatives of Egypt Ali Abdel Aal in Cairo as part of his State visit to the country, President Quang lauded the Egyptian legislature for its efforts in establishing the Egypt-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians Group.



He expressed his hope that the group and its Vietnamese counterpart will intensify exchanges to promote the inter-parliamentary ties, contributing to consolidating the fruitful relations between the two countries.



Vietnam always treasures the traditional friendship, the leader said, expressing his thanks to Egyptian people for their valuable support to Vietnam during its past struggle for national liberation as well as the present cause of national construction and development.



He spoke highly of achievements Egypt has recorded in maintaining political stability and national development, which have seen constructive contributions of the Egyptian legislative body.



The President urged parliamentary agencies of the two countries to increase delegation exchange and cooperation and mutual support at regional and international inter-parliamentary forums.



On this occasion, President Quang conveyed National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngans invitation to Speaker Ali Abdel Aal to pay an official visit to Vietnam. The Egyptian top legislator accepted the invitation with pleasure.



The host expressed his admiration for Vietnams efforts for national independence in the past, and his impression of the countrys economic development.



Vietnam and Egypt established diplomatic ties 55 years ago but the foundation for their relationship was laid since President Ho Chi Minhs visit to Egypt more than a century ago, he said.



Over the past 55 years, the two countries have reaped significant cooperation achievements, especially in politics, diplomacy, economy, trade, culture, education and training, the leader noted.



Ali Abdel Aal said he hopes President Quangs visit will contribute to creating breakthroughs in the bilateral ties, particularly in economy, in order to soon complete the target of raising the two-way trade to US$1 billion in 2020, for the interest of each nation.



He assigned the Egypt-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians Group to work as a bridge to promote cooperation and mutual understanding between the two countries as well as their legislatures.Jennifer Newstead, a lawyer for the US State Department, told the ICJ that the country had the right to protect its national security

The United States told UN judges Tuesday they had no jurisdiction to rule on Tehran's demand for them to order the suspension of debilitating nuclear-related sanctions against Iran.

Washington cited security concerns in its first legal response to a suit by the Islamic Republic, which is suffering increasing economic chaos.

Iran has argued that US President Donald Trump breached a 1955 treaty with his decision to reimpose the sanctions after withdrawing from a multilateral nuclear accord.

But US State Department lawyer Jennifer Newstead told the International Court of Justice in The Hague that it "lacks prima facie jurisdiction to hear Iran's claims".

She argued that the United States had the right to protect its national security and other interests.

The treaty "cannot therefore provide a basis for this court's jurisdiction" in the case, she said.

Iran's lead representative in the case, Mohsen Mohebi, branded the sanctions "naked economic aggression"

Sanctions on Iran had been lifted under a landmark 2015 accord with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. In return, Tehran made commitments not to seek to develop nuclear weapons.

But Trump said the deal did not do enough to curb the threat from Iran.

He pulled out of the accord in May and began reimposing sanctions this month, alarming other signatories to the deal.

In the first day of hearings at the ICJ on Monday, Iran's lawyers said the sanctions were threatening the welfare of its citizens and disrupting tens of billions of dollars' worth of business deals.

The US lawyers held Iran to blame for its economic woes.

They have "deep roots in the Iranian government's mismanagement of its own economy and repression of its own population," Newstead said.

- Oil sanctions coming -

Trump says the sanctions are needed to ensure Iran never builds a nuclear bomb. He accuses it of supporting terrorists.

The Islamic Republic's lead representative in the case, Mohsen Mohebi, branded the sanctions "naked economic aggression".

"The United States is publicly propagating a policy intended to damage as severely as possible Iran's economy and Iranian nationals and companies," Mohebi said.

"Iran will put up the strongest resistance to the US economic strangulation, by all peaceful means."

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday dismissed Iran's claims as "meritless".

Iran's currency has lost around half its value since April

The US measures have added to Iran's economic woes, fuelling strikes and protests across the political spectrum.

Iran's currency has lost around half its value since April.

The sanctions target financial transactions and imports of raw materials, cars and aircraft among other sectors.

International companies including French oil firm Total and Germany's Siemens have suspended operations in Iran since Trump's announcement in May.

A second wave of punitive measures is due to hit the OPEC member state in early November, targeting its vital energy sector including oil exports.

- History of litigation -

Iran's lawyers have asked the court urgently to order the suspension of the sanctions pending a definitive ruling.

Trump pulled out of the accord in May and began reimposing sanctions this month, alarming other signatories to the deal

Newstead argued that Iran had a broader aim to "reinstate sanctions relief" altogether -- a matter she said was beyond the court's remit.

The court adjourned after Tuesday's hearing until Wednesday when Iran will have the opportunity to respond to the US arguments.

The ICJ is expected to take several weeks to decide whether to grant Tehran's request for a provisional ruling. A final decision could take years.

ICJ judgements are binding, final and without appeal.

However, whether any decision will be implemented remains unclear.

Both Iran and the US in the past have ignored ICJ rulings against them.

Despite the 1955 Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations, the two countries have not had diplomatic ties since 1980.Bosco Ntaganda is accused of war crimes during his time as a rebel leader in Democratic Republic of Congo

Former Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda was a dreaded commander whose troops slaughtered civilians with machetes and disembowelled pregnant women, the International Criminal Court (ICC) heard on Tuesday.

In their closing statements against the man nicknamed "The Terminator," prosecutors described how his rebel army conducted a reign of terror in Ituri, in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2002 and 2003.

"A lot of people were executed by hand, with machetes," ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told a three-judge bench at the Hague-based tribunal.

"Some of them were disembowelled, even pregnant woman as well. They took the foetuses out of the women," Bensouda said, quoting a witness's testimony during the trial.

Prosecutors showed gruesome pictures they said depicted the aftermath of one such an attack allegedly carried out by Ntaganda's troops.

One of the frames showed a heap of bodies, with the corpse of a man on top, his hands tied behind his back and his throat slit.

"No one was ever punished for the crimes committed," by Ntaganda's troops, prosecutor Marion Rabanit told the court.

Ntaganda faces 13 counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity for his role in the brutal conflict that devastated the DR Congo's east more than 15 years ago.

"The evidence has proven beyond all reasonable doubt that Bosco Ntaganda is indeed guilty of the crimes charged against him," Bensouda added.

- Sex slaves -

Ntaganda, dressed in a black suit, dark-blue shirt and striped black tie and with a pencil moustache, listened intently with his glasses perched on his nose and occasionally taking notes.

The Rwandan-born former rebel chief pleaded not guilty to the charges at the start of his trial in September 2015.

On Tuesday, prosecutors said Ntaganda was central to planning operations for the Union of Congolese Patriots and its military wing, the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC).

Known as a charismatic commander with a penchant for cowboy hats and fine dining, prosecuters said Ntaganda used child soldiers younger than 15 years, coerced women soldiers into sexual slavery and attacked civilians on ethnic grounds.

Ntaganda also "personally committed crimes," Bensouda said.

"He persecuted and attacked civilians, he murdered them, pillaged their goods, destroyed their churches and hospitals," in a bid to rid Ituri of Lendu and other inhabitants who were not from the Hema ethnic group, she said.

At least 800 people were killed by the FPLC as it battled rival militias for control of the mineral-rich area.

- 'Soldier, not criminal' -

The soft-spoken Ntaganda during his trial balked at the "Terminator" nickname however and told judges he was a "soldier, not a criminal".

Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda insisted during his trial that he never attacked civilians

Ntaganda wants to present himself as a "human being", his lawyer Stephane Bourgon told AFP. He said his client was likely to make a statement during the closing arguments.

The first-ever suspect to voluntarily surrender to the ICC, Ntaganda walked into the US embassy in Kigali in 2013 and asked to be sent to the court.

Ntaganda is also a founding member of the M23 rebel group, which was eventually defeated by Congolese government forces five years ago.

More than 60,000 people have been killed since violence erupted in the volatile Ituri region in 1999, according to rights groups.

This week's hearings will run from Tuesday to Thursday.

It could take months, even years, before the ICC's judges hand down a verdict.

The three-day hearing was followed with interest after the surprise acquittal of another former Congolese leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba.

Initially sentenced to 18 years for war crimes committed by his troops in the Central African Republic, Bemba was acquitted on appeal in June. He has since returned to Kinshasa.

However, Ntaganda's former FPLC commander, Thomas Lubanga, was sentenced to 14 years' jail in 2012. That was the second conviction by the court since it was set up 16 years ago to try the world's most horrific crimes.Russia currently has 10 warships and two submarines in waters off Syria, according to Russian media

Moscow is reinforcing its military presence in the Mediterranean near Syria, Russian media reported Tuesday, as speculation grows that Damascus is planning a Russian-backed offensive on rebel-held Idlib province.

Moscow has accused rebels of planning to stage a chemical attack in the northwestern province that would "provoke" Western strikes on its ally Damascus.

Quoting anonymous sources, the Kommersant daily reported that Russia sent two warships and an additional anti-aircraft missile system to the Mediterranean in August.

Pro-Kremlin paper Izvestia said Russia currently has 10 warships and two submarines in Syrian waters, saying this amounted to Moscow's biggest military presence there since it became involved in the conflict in 2015.

According to Izvestia, Russia plans to send "several more" warships to Syria.

Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov charged that the jihadist group Tahrir al-Sham "is close to committing a very serious provocation in Idlib using chemical weapons".

At the weekend, Russia repeatedly accused Syrian militants of planning the attack in the rebel-held province.

It also accused British secret services of being "actively involved" in the plot.

Moscow's accusations came after US President Donald Trump's national security adviser John Bolton said Washington will respond "very strongly" if Syrian regime forces used chemical weapons to retake Idlib.

In April, the US, France and Britain launched joint missile strikes on Syrian targets in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack in the town of Douma that left scores of people dead.

Russian stuck by its ally Syria and angrily insisted the Douma attack was staged by the White Helmets volunteer rescue service.

Russia, a long-time ally of Syria, launched a military intervention in 2015 to support the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad, a move that changed the course of the war.

Damascus still holds the southeastern tip of Idlib, a strategically important province adjacent to Latakia on the Mediterranean coast that is home to Assad's clan.

More than 350,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since Syria's war started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.Duterte has attacked the ICC's examination of his internationally condemned drug war

Rights advocates urged the Philippines' top court on Tuesday to halt President Rodrigo Duterte's push to quit the International Criminal Court, which has launched a preliminary probe into his deadly narcotics crackdown.

In oral arguments before the Supreme Court in Manila, they told the justices the Philippine Senate would have to approve the nation's withdrawal from the tribunal's founding treaty.

Duterte in March gave notice he was pulling out of the agreement, saying the ICC's examination of his internationally condemned drug war was "unduly and maliciously created".

However opposition senators and rights advocates have asked the Supreme Court to declare the withdrawal invalid, arguing the constitution requires two-thirds of the Senate to approve the move.

"A treaty already transformed into Philippine law cannot be undone by a one-sided act of the president. Only the Senate can undo its own act," Romel Bagares, lawyer for a coalition of campaigners, told the court.

Judges will next hear from senators who are also plaintiffs in the case as well as the government's lawyers, but the court does not set itself deadlines to issue rulings and cases sometimes take years to resolve.

Opened in 2002, the ICC is the world's only permanent war crimes court and aims to prosecute the worst abuses when national courts are unable or unwilling.

The Philippines, under previous president Benigno Aquino, ratified the Rome Statute in 2011, giving the tribunal authority to investigate crimes on its soil.

But Duterte has pushed back against the ICC as he defends his narcotics crackdown which police say has killed more than 4,000 alleged drug dealers or users.

Rights groups say the actual number of dead is triple that and could amount to crimes against humanity.

Officially quitting the court requires a year's notice and experts say pulling out does not preclude an investigation of the killings.

Duterte's government says the Senate's constitutional powers apply only to ratifying new treaties, not withdrawing from them.

The ICC's examination came after complaints from a lawyer and lawmakers critical of the drug war.

On Tuesday, families of people killed in the crackdown filed a similar complaint before the Hague-based tribunal, alleging Duterte "ordered and incited the killings".

Duterte's spokesman Harry Roque downplayed the importance of the new filing.

"That's not a complaint, that's a communication because it's still to be acted upon by the ICC," he said.Rohingya refugees have recounted widespread stories of rape, murder and arson by Myanmar troops

A UN probe has called for Myanmar's military leaders to face justice for alleged genocide and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya, but the road to a tribunal will be long and complex, with China likely to block any prosecution of its ally at the International Criminal Court.

On Monday a damning report by a UN fact-finding mission said members of Myanmar's armed forces, including military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, should be prosecuted for their roles in violently expelling some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims into neighbouring Bangladesh.

Refugees have recounted widespread stories of rape, murder and arson by security forces as they were driven from their homes.

The report was the most serious step towards accountability in the crisis to date but experts warn of major legal and diplomatic obstacles ahead.

- What's the quickest route to justice for the Rohingya? -

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague. For proceedings to begin, the United Nations Security Council needs to refer Myanmar to the court.

But geopolitics is likely to get in the way with China and Russia -- which last week hosted Min Aung Hlaing -- able to veto any referral.

China has consistently refrained from condemning Myanmar for its treatment of the Rohingya, describing it as an internal matter.

"Rakhine State has very complex historic, ethnic and religious background," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters on Tuesday.

"So how to resolve this problem? Through negotiation and dialogue," she said, adding: "I think that blame on any side, or pressure, does not help resolve anything."

The Security Council is set to discuss Myanmar later Tuesday in New York.

- What about Plan B? -

If legal moves for the ICC stall at the Security Council, it could consider an ad hoc or mixed tribunal similar to ones created for Rwanda, Yugoslavia, Lebanon and Cambodia.

This would in theory require the cooperation of national authorities in Myanmar.

Another possibility stems from an unprecedented request by the chief prosecutor at the ICC, Fatou Bensouda, to extend its jurisdiction to Myanmar, which has not signed up to the court.

That's "uncharted territory", according to Kingsley Abbott of the International Commission of Jurists, who says the move may be possible because they crisis spilled over into Bangladesh, a member of the ICC.

If the court agrees, the prosecutor could launch a preliminary investigation and ultimately issue arrest warrants for Myanmar nationals.

But this would take time, requiring participation from Bangladesh in the investigation and -- somewhat implausibly -- Myanmar to hand over suspects.

- Who could be prosecuted? -

The UN probe names six senior members of Myanmar's armed forces including military chief Min Aung Hlaing

The court targets individuals, not countries. On Monday the UN probe named six senior members of the armed forces including military chief Min Aung Hlaing.

Investigators argue they bear responsibility because of their direct command over troops that carried out "clearance operations" in northern Rakhine state.

But the ICC cannot forcibly bring suspects from Myanmar, and would have to rely on member states to detain them in the event they travel abroad.

This has been problematic in the past.

In December 2017 war crimes judges criticised Jordan for failing to act on the Hague's warrant to arrest Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir.

- Could Aung San Suu Kyi face trial? -

Highly unlikely. The current calls are aimed at the upper echelons of Myanmar's security forces, and the Nobel laureate has no control over the military.

But the UN probe did call her out for not using her position as leader of the civilian government or her "moral authority" to try to stem the violence.

It also accused her administration of denying any wrongdoing, blocking the UN investigation, and spreading false narratives.

"Through their acts and omissions, the civilian authorities have contributed to the commission of atrocity crimes."

- How is this playing out inside Myanmar? -

Myanmar has long denied accusations it committed ethnic cleansing or genocide.

Min Aung Hlaing's military campaign has enjoyed support from Myanmar's public

It has reserved particular scorn for the ICC prosecutor's request on jurisdiction.

In August the government branded it "meritless" and called for it to be dismissed.

Myanmar says it has also established its own independent commission of inquiry -- a panel critics say is toothless.

The stateless Rohingya garner little empathy inside Myanmar and Min Aung Hlaing's military campaign has enjoyed support from the public, many of whom see it as a defence of the country from militants.South Sudanene rebel leader Riek Machar, hailed as a "man of peace" just three weeks ago when he inked a power-sharing deal with the government on August 5, 2018, has refused to signed the final peace agreement

South Sudan rebel chief Riek Machar on Tuesday refused to sign a final peace deal with the government that aims to end a brutal civil war, a Sudanese mediator said.

"The main South Sudanese opposition groups, including the SPLM-IO (Machar faction), refused to sign the final document demanding that their reservations be guaranteed in it," Sudanese Foreign Minister Al-Dierdiry Ahmed told reporters.

The warring South Sudanese parties have held weeks of talks in Khartoum in search of a comprehensive peace deal to end the conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions in the world's youngest country since it erupted in December 2013.

Machar and his arch foe, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, have already inked several agreements, including a permanent ceasefire and a power-sharing deal, but on Tuesday the rebel leader refused to sign the final document.

"For the first time, the opposition told us that it will not sign," Ahmed said, showing the draft text to reporters and diplomats who had gathered for what was expected to be a preliminary signing ceremony in the Sudanese capital.

"South Sudan will not have peace unless these groups sign."

The Sudanese minister said the opposition's refusal to sign spelled the end of the current Khartoum talks.

"This was the last round of negotiation," Ahmed said, adding that the mediators will submit the final text to the East African regional bloc IGAD which has led the South Sudan peace push.The UN report detailed a horrifying list of atrocities against the Rohingya

Rohingya leaders in Bangladesh on Tuesday challenged the United Nations to ensure Myanmar's generals stand trial after investigators called for top military commanders to be prosecuted for genocide against the minority.

A UN fact-finding mission into violations in Myanmar said the country's army chief and five other senior brass should be investigated over a brutal crackdown last year that drove 700,000 Rohingya Muslims into Bangladesh.

The report commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council detailed a horrifying list of atrocities against the Rohingya, including murder, enforced disappearance, torture, and sexual violence "perpetrated on a massive scale."

Estimates that 10,000 were killed in the 2017 crackdown were "conservative", investigators said.

Myanmar has vehemently denied the allegations, insisting it was responding to attacks by Rohingya rebels.

Community leaders for the roughly one million displaced Rohingya in southern Bangladesh welcomed calls for prosecution, but said they would judge the UN on its ability to deliver justice.

"The UN has to ensure that justice sees the light," Rohingya community leader Abdul Gowffer told AFP by phone.

"The commanders must face an ICC trial," he added, referring to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

The investigators have called on the UN Security Council to refer the Myanmar situation to the ICC or for the creation of an ad hoc international criminal tribunal.

The Security Council has repeatedly urged Myanmar to halt military operations and to allow the Rohingya to safely return home.

But its initiatives have been limited by council member and top Myanmar ally China, who could also thwart efforts to refer the case to the ICC.

Dil Mohammad, another Rohingya leader, urged the UN to take further steps to ensure their safe return to Rakhine state, a process that has stalled with Bangladesh and Myanmar blaming each other for the delay.

"It already took a year to reach this UN ruling," said Mohammad, who lives in a strip of no-man's land near the Bangladesh-Myanmar border with 6,000 other refugees.

"Many things need to be done very quickly so we can return to our land in dignity and safety," he told AFP.

The investigators were never granted access to Myanmar and based their findings on interviews with 875 victims and witnesses, as well as satellite imagery and authenticated documents, photographs and videos.Students hold up banners in support of their teacher, Akcay, at the airport in Ulaanbaatar in July

A Turkish teacher in Mongolia who was the victim of a suspected kidnapping attempt has asked a United Nations agency to arrange asylum, his lawyer says.

Veysel Akcay was seized last month from outside his home and bundled onto a small passenger jet, which Mongolian authorities grounded for eight hours until he was freed.

The 50-year-old is associated with US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating a botched 2016 coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In a letter written by his lawyer and seen by AFP Tuesday, Akcay calls on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to intervene and let him leave Mongolia so he may seek asylum.

"Initial encouraging steps by the government of Mongolia have been subsequently followed by actions, which have clearly exposed Mr Akcay to the imminent risk of illegal transfer to Turkey," the lawyer wrote, adding that Akcay had twice in the past week been stopped from leaving the country.

Mongolian authorities said Friday that Akcay -- who has not been arrested for any crime -- has been barred from leaving the country but did not give a reason.

"We are unable to comment on the case as of this moment," said a spokesperson from the Ulaanbaatar prosecutor's office which requested the travel ban.

Colleagues say Akcay has been worried about his safety and did not show up for work on Tuesday. He heads a school in Mongolia allegedly linked to Gulen but teachers there denied the connection when asked by AFP.

The aborted coup in July 2016 was blamed by authorities on the Gulenist movement -- a group outlawed as "terrorist" by Turkey -- and prompted the biggest purge in the country's modern history, including the detention of some 80,000 people.

Gulen denies any links to the coup bid and insists he leads a moderate Islamic group.

Turkey's intelligence agency has carried out operations against suspected Gulen supporters in places such as Kosovo, Gabon and more recently, Ukraine.

Ankara last month rejected accusations that it was behind the foiled kidnapping attempt in Mongolia.North Korea says it has freed a detained Japanese on humanitarian grounds

A Japanese man detained by North Korea earlier this month arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday, local media reported, after Pyongyong said it was freeing him on humanitarian grounds.

Tomoyuki Sugimoto arrived at Tokyo's Haneda airport from Beijing, where he landed earlier Tuesday, according to public broadcaster NHK and Kyodo news agency.

Reporters at the airport did not see the man while the foreign ministry did not immediately confirm his arrival.

His arrest was reported earlier in August, though the exact date and reason for his detention remains unclear.

Earlier this week North Korea's KCNA news agency said he was being released, without providing further details of why he had been detained.

"The relevant institution of the DPRK decided to leniently condone him and expel him from the DPRK on the principle of humanitarianism," it said, using the acronym for the North's official name.

Japan's foreign ministry has not commented on the details of the detention.

North Korea has a long history of arresting foreigners on spying charges and then using them as diplomatic pawns.

But a thaw in relations between much of the international community and Pyongyang saw it release three US detainees in May in an apparent goodwill gesture before a US-North Korea summit.

Tokyo has largely stood on the sidelines of the whirlwind of diplomacy, but has reportedly sought its own summit with Pyongyang in hopes of resolving issues including the abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s.

There has been little information about Sugimoto, with Japanese media describing him as a 39-year-old videographer who was visiting the North on a tour arranged by a foreign travel agency.

He may have been suspected of shooting video of a military facility in the western port city of Nampo, reports cited Japanese government sources as saying.

Tokyo advises Japanese citizens against travel to North Korea as part of its economic sanctions on the country.Former South African president Jacob Zuma is under investigation over allegations he allowed a family of businessmen to systematically plunder the government coffers

A former South African lawmaker told an anti-graft inquiry Tuesday how she was offered a cabinet position by a businessman accused of masterminding corruption under then-president Jacob Zuma.

Vytjie Mentor told the judicial commission she had been seeking a meeting with Zuma and was surprised when she was driven to the Johannesburg house of the Guptas, a wealthy business family.

Ajay Gupta told her a cabinet reshuffle was pending and that she would be offered the job of public enterprises minister, a key role overseeing state-owned businesses at the heart of the graft allegations facing Zuma.

At this, she lost her cool and raised her voice, demanding how he knew about the reshuffle, at which point Zuma walked into the room.

She said she had expected Zuma to be angry that such an offer had been made by a businessman but instead, he appeared completely unfazed.

"He did not act surprised at all, his main focus was on calming (me) down," Mentor told the inquiry in Johannesburg. "He did not appear angered at all."

The probe is looking into allegations Zuma organised the systematic plunder of government coffers by the Guptas and allowed them to choose ministers in a scandal known as "state capture".

Mentor said she found the meeting "strange and discomforting".

"The reaction of the president was disheartening to say the least and I decided to leave," she said.

Zuma, 76, stands accused of being in the sway of the Guptas, allegedly granting them lucrative government contracts and deals with state-owned businesses.

He was forced to resign in February when ruling African National Congress lawmakers turned against him.

The inquiry, which is headed by deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo, opened this week and could take two years to deliver its findings.

The former president has separately been charged with 16 counts of graft linked to an arms deal from before he became president and will next appear in court on November 30 as the criminal case against him continues.Receiving Chief Justice of the Supreme Peoples Court of Vietnam, Nguyen Hoa Binh, on August 27 and 28, General Secretary of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Bounnhang Vorachith and Chairwoman of the National Assembly of Laos, Pany Yathotou, emphasised the court collaboration between Vietnam and Laos as the court system has an important role in building a law-governed state to protect human rights.

They urged further cooperation between the two courts while proposing that Vietnam continues to provide training and share professional expertise, thus helping Lao judges to improve their capacity.

Besides assisting Laos in the establishment of administrative courts in its court system, the Lao leaders hoped that the Vietnamese side would share practical experience so that the courts will be put into operation soon.

They took the occasion to thank the Vietnamese Party, Government and people for their timely support for the victims of the Sepien-Senamoi hydropower dam break in Attapeu province. They said that it is a vivid illustration of the special Vietnam-Laos ties.

Briefing the Lao leaders on the cooperative achievements between the two courts in recent years, Chief Justice of the Supreme Peoples Court of Vietnam Binh said that the collaboration has developed in an increasingly substantive manner.

In the near future, both sides will further experience sharing and increase delegation exchanges in order to improve the efficiency of court operations in both countries, he said.

Vietnam will continue implementing training courses for Lao judges, while ten scholarships will be granted to Lao students to study at the Vietnam Court Academy from 2019, he added.

Chief Justice of the Supreme Peoples Court of Vietnam Binh is on a working visit to Laos from August 26-28.Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu, who stepped into the limelight last year for her role in scrapping the outcome of Kenya's controversial presidential election

Kenya's deputy chief justice, the country's second-highest judge, was arrested Tuesday on corruption charges.

Philomena Mwilu, one of seven members of the Supreme Court, was among the judges who annulled President Uhuru Kenyatta's initial election win in August 2017, leading to the controversial holding of a fresh vote.

Kenya's director of public prosecutions, Noordin Haji, told journalists there was evidence she had abused her office for personal gain and accepted money as a gift in dubious circumstances.

She is also accused of failing to pay taxes and using false pretences to carry out a transaction involving an asset belonging to the Imperial Bank, which collapsed in 2015.

"This afternoon, I informed Chief Justice David Maraga of my decision to grant consent for the arrest and prosecution of the deputy chief justice, Lady Justice, Philomena Mbete Mwilu, on criminal charges," said Haji.

"This decision has not been taken lightly," he added. "The dignity and independence of the judiciary is dear to us."

Mwilu later appeared in court where she was released on bail of five million shillings ($50,000/42,000 euros). She is expected to face formal charges on Wednesday.

- A warning -

File picture of Kenya's Supreme Court judges at a hearing last November into a complaint over the electoral commission's handling of the repeat elections. Philomena Mwilu is third from the left

Her lead lawyer James Orengo -- who fought for the opposition NASA alliance in its Supreme Court battle to overturn the election outcome -- said he planned to challenge the proceedings on the grounds of constitutionality.

Three of Mwilu's other lawyers also took part in the election court battle on the side of the opposition.

Haji issued a warning to judges and investigators who, he said, "use their position to enrich themselves at the expense of the Kenyan people."

Mwilu was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2016, and shot into the limelight for her role in annulling Kenyatta's first poll win last year.

In October 2017, her bodyguard was shot dead the day before the Supreme Court was to hear a petition to postpone the re-run.

As a result, Mwilu did not attend the hearing and the lack of a quorum meant the election went ahead unchallenged.

- Expect more -

Haji said her arrest was part of an ongoing crackdown against corruption, which has seen several high-ranking officials hauled into court, a rarity in graft-wracked Kenya whose citizens rarely see justice done.

The director of public prosecutions, Noordin Haji, told journalists that the decision to arrest Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu was 'made independently'

"Many other cases are under investigation... and Kenyans should expect fresh investigations and prosecutions on a regular basis," he added.

Asked by a journalist whether Mwilu's prosecution was related to Kenyatta's threat to "fix the judiciary" after the annulment of his initial election, Haji insisted the decision was independently taken.

"We are an independent institution and we are not being directed by anyone or by any statements given out there, this decision was made independently of all other matters and factors," he said.

In response, opposition leader Raila Odinga said the signs were "troubling" but said he wanted to give the public prosecutor "the benefit of the doubt".The United States flag flies at half-staff over the US Capitol in honor of Sen. John McCain

The US Senate gets back to work in full Tuesday after a summer break, with the death of John McCain leaving his Republican party absent a crucial voice of resistance to President Donald Trump.

Few returning Republicans have displayed much appetite for taking on McCain's role as a legislator willing to openly challenge the scandal-plagued president.

Instead, with Trump still highly popular with the party's base and Republican control of Congress under the gun in November midterm elections, Senate Republicans appeared likely to fall in line behind the White House.

Democrats as well as Republicans have been effusive in their praise of McCain, celebrating his storied military career and 31 years representing Arizona in the US Senate.

In a bitterly fractured Washington, McCain feistily stood up against extremism and worked across party lines to build consensus in a Senate split 51-49 for Republicans.

"He didn't vote to score political points, he voted to make democracy work," Tom Perez, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, wrote in a tribute Tuesday.

"In stark relief to what now passes for our politics, he continues to serve as a beacon to who we are and who we can be when we are at our best," fellow Republican Senator Jeff Flake said on the Senate floor.

"We owe it to his memory to try to be more like him."

McCain's death could give Trump even greater leverage over a rightward-tilting Republican party as he fights for his political life against the Russia meddling and obstruction investigations.

McCain, who will be buried Sunday, is likely to be replaced by a more conservative, toe-the-line appointee.

Flake, another relative moderate in the party, is retiring.

And Senator Susan Collins, who many have looked to to resist the president's most extreme tendencies, appeared to be uncomfortable taking that torch.

"Indeed, a Democratic senator just spoke to me on the floor and was very kind and said, 'You know we're all looking to you now.'"

"But I would not begin to compare myself to John McCain, I really wouldn't. His strength and resilience were extraordinary."The five activists and lawyers were arrested during raids across India

Indian police arrested five outspoken lawyers and left-wing activists during raids across the country Tuesday that drew condemnation from opposition parties and rights watchdogs who said it was a crackdown on critics of the government.

Police said the five had been detained for their links to Maoist militants, but Rahul Gandhi, head of the main opposition Congress party, said the government just wanted to "jail all activists".

Rights groups and media reports named the five as communist poet Varavara Rao, human rights lawyer Vernon Gonsalves, writer and lawyer Arun Ferreira, journalist and activist Gautam Navlakha, and trades unionist Sudha Bharadwaj.

Police did not name the five but the joint commissioner of police in the western city of Pune, Shivaji Bodakhe, told AFP: "These persons have been arrested for their Maoist links."

The homes of other activists and lawyers were raided as part of the investigation, media reports said. Five other people were detained in June.

Police have been investigating violence between low-caste Dalits and upper-caste groups following a political meeting near Pune on December 31 last year.

The Press Trust of India news agency quoted police as saying the five detained Tuesday had links to the meeting.

It also quoted security officials as saying that "two letters, purportedly exchanged by Maoist leaders indicating plans to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and Home Minister Rajnath Singh, led to the police action."

The government did not immediately comment on the case. But Congress leader Gandhi led critics of Modi, whose right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party will seek re-election next year, accusing the government of seeking to silence its opponents.

"There is only place for one NGO in India and it's called the RSS," Gandhi said on Twitter, referring to the BJP's ideological Hindu nationalist backer, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

"Shut down all other NGOs. Jail all activists and shoot those that complain. Welcome to the new India."

- 'Disturbing' crackdown -

Booker-prize winning author Arundhati Roy, an outspoken critic of Modi, said the arrests were an attempt to muzzle freedoms ahead of next year's polls.

Critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the government of attempting to silence its opponents

"We cannot allow this to happen. We have to all come together. Otherwise we will lose every freedom that we cherish," she said, according to the Scroll news portal.

The Indian sections of Amnesty International and Oxfam released a joint statement calling the sweep "disturbing" and questioning whether the five had been detained for their rights work.

The latest wave of raids is "the second of such crackdowns on rights activists, advocates and journalists who have been critical of the state," said Aakar Patel, executive director of Amnesty International India.

"All these people have a history of working to protect the rights of some of India's most poor and marginalized people."

In July, Reporters Without Borders warned of deteriorating press freedom in the world's largest democracy amid a sharp rise in online hate campaigns directed at critics of Modi's Hindu nationalist government.Didi has been slammed by observers over safety lapses after a female passenger was raped and murdered by her driver

China ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing issued an apology Tuesday for a string of lapses that led to the rape and murder of a passenger last week, the second such killing this year.

The company has been slammed by observers, including China's transport ministry, over safety lapses after a 20-year-old female passenger was raped and murdered by her driver in the eastern city of Wenzhou on Friday, barely three months after a similar incident in May.

Founder Cheng Wei and president Jean Liu apologised for their "ignorance and pride" in an emotive note, promising an overhaul to ensure customer safety.

"Throughout the company we start to question if we are doing the right thing; or even whether we have the right values," said the statement released late Tuesday.

"There is an enormous amount of self-doubt, guilt and soul-searching."

The company earlier admitted it bore responsibility for the crime, failing to act on a complaint about the same driver from another passenger who said he had driven her to an isolated location and followed her in his car after she left the vehicle.

The lengthy apology, which was posted on Didi's official account on the Twitter-like Weibo platform, attracted nearly 53,000 comments in less than three hours but did little to placate angry users worried about their safety.

"You are only concerned about earnings", commented one Weibo user.

"You apologise, but you never change," another user wrote.

In response to the fierce criticism that followed last week's killing, Didi announced the suspension of its Hitch service, which links up commuters travelling in the same direction.

The company also said it would upgrade its SOS button and itinerary sharing functions that allow a user to share their journey with a chosen contact.

Friday's murder follows the killing in May of a 21-year-old air stewardess by her driver as she was using the Hitch service. In 2016, a 24-year-old female passenger using the same service was robbed and murdered.

News of the murder has dominated Chinese media for days and the topic "female passenger killed on Didi Hitch" has been trending on the Weibo microblogging site.

China's transport ministry censured the company on Sunday, calling for it to improve its driver vetting and education processes.

In addition, local authorities in three Chinese cities have ordered Didi to conduct safety reviews, the official Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday.

Police have also arrested two men in the cities of Shenzhen and Wuhan for making offensive remarks about the murder victim in online chat groups.

Under China's internet rules, users who spread rumours or make defamatory comments can be arrested or even sent to jail.

Didi Chuxing -- which muscled out Uber in 2016 after a bruising battle -- says it has 30 million drivers and more than 550 million users across its various services.Back in the 1980s, Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari was a military dictator but he was elected as president in 2015

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari came under fire Tuesday from the opposition, lawyers and civil society groups for placing national security above the rule of law.

Buhari, a former military dictator in the 1980s but who was elected in 2015 and is seeking re-election in February, said the "rule of law must be subject to the supremacy of the nation's security and national interest."

The 75-year-old made the remarks at the opening of the Nigerian Bar Association's annual conference in Abuja on Sunday.

"Where national security and (the) public interest are threatened or there is a likelihood of their being threatened, the individual rights.. must take second place, in favour of the greater good of society," he said.

But the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the rule of law should not be compromised.

"Our national interest is thoroughly embedded, protected, expressed and enforced only under the rule of law... and there is no (way) how Nigerians can allow an individual to superimpose or override the constitution with his personal whims and impulses," a party statement said.

The PDP said Buhari should also be made to "answer for the litany of human rights violations in Nigeria, including documented disobedience to court orders, extra-judicial and arbitrary executions, unlawful arrests and political detentions."

- 'A dangerous proposition' -

Lagos lawyer Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa said the rule of law was sacrosanct.

"The rule of law limits and interposes upon the rule of self all forms of arbitrariness and is thus preferable to the whims and caprices of individuals," he said, warning that a stance like Buhari's should be avoided, particularly in the light of February's election.

"It is a dangerous proposition as we approach 2019. Taken to its proper interpretation, it may be taken to be an advance notice to the people of Nigeria, to brace up for likely threats to their rights and liberties, in the coming days."

Buhari's remarks also drew flak from the Citizens Advocacy for Social and Economic Rights (CASER) lobby group.

"President Muhammadu Buhari cannot use national security or national interest to justify his government's disobedience to orders of court directing it to either grant bail to specific citizens or commanding it to perform specific acts," it said.

Buhari has been accused of using his anti-graft crusade to crack down on perceived political opponents.

Many political figures, including former national security adviser Sambo Dasuki are languishing behind bars despite several court orders for their release.

The criticism followed a Financial Times report that US President Donald Trump told close aides he never wanted to meet "lifeless" Buhari during his recent visit to the US.

The Nigerian presidency has dismissed the report, insisting Buhari was fit.US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis holds a press conference at the Pentagon

The United States will end its suspension of military drills on the Korean peninsula, a move that had been decided as a "good faith" measure following President Donald Trump's summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

"We took the step to suspend several of the largest military exercises as a good faith measure," Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters. "We have no plans to suspend any more."

Mattis, however, did not give any indication that exercises with allied forces in the region -- which have angered Pyongyang in the past -- would resume any time soon.

"We are going to see how the negotiations go, and then we will calculate the future, how we go forward," Mattis said.

In June, after Trump met with Kim in Singapore, the United States said it would suspend "select" exercises with South Korea, including the large-scale Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercises slated for August, making good on a Trump summit pledge.

Some 17,500 US military personnel were due to take part in the Freedom Guardian drills.

In June, Trump raised eyebrows by describing the exercises as "war games" and as "provocative" -- a term used by the North.

Mattis demurred when asked if a resumption of exercises could now be considered provocative.

"Even answering a question in that manner could influence the negotiations. Let's let the negotiations, let the diplomats go forward. We all know the gravity of the issues we are dealing with," he said.

US and South Korean forces have been training together for years, and routinely rehearse everything from beach landings to an invasion from the North, or even "decapitation" strikes targeting the North Korean regime.What is in a name?

A great deal, as far as the US state of Missouri is concerned.

A new state law went into effect Tuesday banning manufacturers from marketing lab-grown and plant-based meat substitutes with terms that previously implied meat products.

A slaughterhouise worker northwestern France -- the US state of Missouri has followed France's lead in clamping down on what can legally be called meat

In short, no burgers made of tofu or sausages made of vegetables.

If it didn't come from an animal, it isn't meat in Missouri.

The law - the first of its kind in the country - was championed by the state's powerful beef industry. The legislature approved it in May.

"This is about protecting the integrity of the products that farm and ranch families throughout the country work hard to raise each and every day," Mike Deering of the Missouri Cattlemen's Association said in a statement when the law passed.

The group hopes other states will follow Missouri's lead.

The meat substitute industry, represented by the Good Food Institute, expressed its displeasure Monday with a federal lawsuit seeking to stop the law, claiming it is akin to censorship.

"No one buys Tofurky 'PLANT-BASED' deli slices thinking they were carved from a slaughtered animal any more than people are buying almond milk thinking it was squeezed from a cow's udder," the institute said in a written statement.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund, which files lawsuits on behalf of animals and joined the Missouri case, accused the state's politicians of picking sides in a gastronomic battle.

"Missouri is putting its thumb on the scale," said the fund's Stephen Wells.

Missouri is not alone, no matter its motives.

A similar debate is raging in Europe, where the EU's Court of Justice last year ruled plant-based producers of dairy-like products cannot market with dairy terms such as cheese and yogurt.

The French parliament approved a similar meat term ban earlier this year.A high-level US security delegation "held a meeting of four hours" with Ali Mamluk, the head of Syria's security services (pictured September 2015), a visit that could signify a new phase in the strained relations between the two countries

A high-level US security delegation met Syria's powerful intelligence boss in Damascus two months ago, a pro-regime Lebanese daily newspaper reported Tuesday.

The visit, which AFP could not immediately confirm from official sources, could signify a new phase in the strained relations between the two countries.

According to Al-Akhbar, a Lebanese newspaper close to the pro-Damascus Hezbollah movement, senior US security officials visited Damascus during the last week of June.

"The delegation held a meeting of four hours" with Ali Mamluk, the head of Syria's security services, said Al-Akhbar, which reported that the meeting was facilitated by Emirati and Russian intermediaries.

Al-Akhbar said Mohammed Dib Zeitoun, the head of Syria's General Security Directorate, and Muwaffaq Asaad, the deputy chief of staff of the armed forces, attended the meeting but did not give the names of the US agents.

The Pentagon and State Department did not immediately respond to AFP's requests for comment on the story.

Washington severed ties with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in the early stages of the deadly conflict that erupted in 2011 with the government's repression of widespread demonstrations.

It has also blacklisted dozens of Syrian government officials, including both Mamluk and Zeitoun, for alleged human rights abuses.

The US has backed Assad's opponents militarily and politically, and carried out air strikes in both 2017 and 2018 against Syrian military infrastructure in response to what it said were deadly chemical attacks by the regime.

American troops are on the ground in northeast Syria alongside Kurdish forces as part of a declared campaign to defeat the Islamic State jihadist group.

According to Al-Akhbar, that military presence was discussed as part of a possible deal between Damascus and Washington.

The US delegation reportedly offered to pull its troops from Kurdish-held territory if Iranian forces withdraw from areas near Syria's southern border with Israel, if US companies are guaranteed a share of Syria's oil and if Damascus agreed to share intelligence on foreign jihadists.

According to the Lebanese daily, the Syrian officials suggested any such steps were premature but agreed to "keep communicating through the Russian-Emirati channel".

With Russian help, Assad's forces have recaptured nearly two-thirds of Syrian territory, and the lion's share of the rest is held by the US-backed Kurdish forces.

Officially, the US and Syria have no diplomatic ties, but last year the New York Times reported contact between the two countries over an American journalist, Austin Tice, missing in Syria since 2012.

The Times said in June 2017 that a CIA back channel with Mamluk had rekindled hopes for Tice's release but that the talks were scrapped after a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town in April.View of a Puerto Rican flag placed on a pair of shoes among hundreds displayed in memory of those killed by Hurricane Maria in front of the Puerto Rican Capitol, in San Juan on June 1, 2018

Hurricane Maria killed 2,975 people in Puerto Rico, according to the results of a long-awaited study commissioned by the US government, amid controversy over the true toll of the 2017 monster storm.

"The results of our epidemiological study suggest that, tragically, Hurricane Maria led to a large number of excess deaths throughout the island," said principal investigator Carlos Santos-Burgoa, a professor of global health at George Washington University.

"Certain groups -- those in lower income areas and the elderly -- faced the highest risk."

The study tracked excess deaths related to Hurricane Maria from September 2017 to February 2018, and found the toll was "22 percent higher than the number of deaths that would have been expected during that period in a year without the storm."

The government's long-standing official death toll from Maria has been just 64 for the island territory which is part of the United States.

A study by Harvard University earlier this year estimated around 4,600 had died in the three months following the storm.

Authors of the latest report described it as "the most rigorous study of excess mortality due to the hurricane done to date."

The report is based on an analysis of death certificates and other mortality data for six months from September 2017 through February 2018.

Researchers estimated the excess deaths with the help of mathematical modeling that compared post-hurricane deaths to the expected number based on historical patterns, and adjusted for age, sex and migration from the island.

The team also identified flaws in the system that may have led to an under-reporting of deaths previously, including lack of communication, and poor training for doctors on how to certify deaths in disasters.

Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico in September 2017, wreaking widespread devastation and causing $90 billion in damages.

It is ranked as the third costliest cyclone in the United States since 1900.

For comparison, the death toll from 2005's Hurricane Katrina -- the costliest hurricane in US history -- was far lower, and estimated at 1,833.

The previous findings by Harvard University blamed most deaths after Hurricane Maria on interruptions in medical care due to power outages and blocked or washed out roads.

Households went for an average of 84 days without electricity, 64 days without water, and 41 days without cellular telephone coverage after the storm.

The government of Puerto Rico stopped publicly sharing its data on hurricane deaths in December 2017.A young boy peeks out of a tent in a camp near the border with Turkey for people displaced by violence from the Syrian provinces of Idlib and Hama

Several UN Security Council ambassadors on Tuesday voiced concern over the fate of civilians in the rebel-held Syrian province of Idlib, as Damascus appears ready to militarily re-take the region.

Following a council meeting on the humanitarian situation in Syria, Western nations warned of the dire consequences of an attack by the government of Bashar al-Assad.

"There are alarming signs of a pending military offensive in northwestern Syria," said Carl Skau, Sweden's ambassador to the Security Council.

"Increased military escalation," he warned, "would have catastrophic consequences and can lead to a humanitarian disaster."

The strategically important northwestern province of Idlib borders on Turkey and is the last holdout of rebels in Syria.

John Ging, a senior official with the UN Humanitarian Affairs office, said that observers have seen a "serious deterioration of the humanitarian situation" in northwestern Syria in the past weeks.

The Security Council's engagement is "critical" to de-escalate tensions in Idlib, and "to ensure safe, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access, and to ensure the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure," he said.

Anne Gueguen, the French deputy ambassador, said that her country is "very concerned" over the signs of a large-scale Syrian offensive in Idlib, recalling that any use of chemical weapons will mean military response from Washington, Paris and London.

"The lives of 2.2 million people are at stake," Gueguen said. She said that the bombing "that has intensified in recent weeks must stop immediately."

British ambassador Karen Pierce, who described the situation in Idlib as "dire," warned that there will be "no reconstruction assistance until there is a credible and ongoing political process" in Syria.

- 'Deeply concerned' -

Washington, in turn, is "gravely concerned about the threats to civilian lives should the regime and its allies undertake a wider offensive in Idlib province," said Kelley Currie, with the US diplomatic mission at the United Nations.

The United States "is also deeply concerned that the regime may again use chemical weapons against civilian populations as part of its assault on Idlib, with devastating consequences for humanitarian conditions on the ground and further eroding the international regime prohibiting the use of chemical weapons," she said.

Russia's envoy, however, defended the Syrian government's right to regain control over the restive province.

"The situation in Syria is stabilizing," said Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, adding that the Assad regime "has given security guarantees ... for a return of refugees."

Nebenzia criticized what he described as "the passive position" taken by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees on this issue.

"We need to decouple moderate groups from terrorist groups" in Idlib, he said.

More than 350,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since Syria's war started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.Speaking at the sixth national congress of the Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Association (VYEA), held in Hanoi on August 28, Deputy PM Binh emphasised the need to push ahead with the start-up campaign among youths, especially young intellectuals, in order to increase forces for the fourth Industrial Revolution.

The Deputy PM urged the VYEA to promote its role in protecting the legitimate rights and interests of start-ups and young entrepreneurs, and propose guidelines and policies to the Party and State in order to create favourable conditions for young entrepreneurs to devote more to the nation.

Start-ups and young entrepreneurs should improve their governance capacity, take the lead in innovation and the application of new and advanced technologies, raise productivity, quality and competitiveness, support each other and join the global value chain, he suggested.

The Government will create all possible conditions for young entrepreneurs and help them remove difficulties to move forward, the Deputy PM pledged.

The association reported that nearly 10,000 of its members created 3 million jobs in the 2015-2018 period.

Over the past four years, the association held more than 200 trade promotion activities and generated some US$ 25 billion in average annual revenue.

In the 2018-2021 tenure, the VYEA aims to improve its performance toward practical outcomes, make contributions to economic-related draft laws and develop business incubator programmes.

The congress elected the VYEA Central Committee for the 2018-2021 tenure with 113 members. Dang Hong Anh, Vice Chairman of TTC Group, was elected as president of the association and is supported by six vice presidents.

On the occasion, the VYEA Central Committee for the 2014-2017 term received certificates of merit bestowed by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee.NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A federal judge in Louisiana has refused to reconsider his order clearing the way for the removal of a Confederate monument.

U.S. District Judge Robert James of Monroe on Monday dismissed the lawsuit by the Shreveport chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which wants to keep the monument outside the Caddo (KAD'-oh) Parish Courthouse.

In his ruling last month, James said the group failed to prove it had any "private property interest" in the land where the monument sits. He also rejected arguments that parish officials had violated the group's rights to free speech and equal protection under law.

The group has filed notice that it will go to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump says the government's "attacks on communities of faith" are over as he hosts a dinner celebrating evangelical Christian leaders at the White House.

Trump says the government in recent years has tried to undermine religious freedom, but those days are over.

He's pointing to efforts by his administration to secure the release of imprisoned pastors and limit federal funding for abortion providers.

President Donald Trump, center, greets people as he arrives to speak during a dinner for evangelical leaders in the State Dining Room of the White House, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Among those attending are megachurch Pastor Paula White and the Faith & Freedom Coalition's Ralph Reed.

Trump has long pledged to defend the religious rights of the conservative Christians who helped propel him to power.

Trump tells the evangelical leaders their support "has been incredible," but says he doesn't don't feel guilty "because I have given you a lot back."NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A Catholic school official said Monday that a suburban New Orleans school has rescinded its policy forbidding hair extensions.

But it remains unclear whether a sixth-grader who left school in tears last week after running afoul of the rule will return to Christ the King school.

Video of Faith Fennidy dejectedly walking out of school last week drew accusations that the rule targeted black students. A state judge blocked enforcement of the rule after the families of Faith and another girl, Tyrielle Davis, filed suit.

FILE - In this Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, file photo, Faith Fennidy walks to a news conference outside the offices of attorney James Williams, in Metairie, La. A Catholic school official says a suburban New Orleans school has rescinded its policy forbidding hair extensions. But it remains unclear whether Fennidy, a sixth-grader who left the school in tears a week earlier after running afoul of the rule, will return to Christ the King school. (Matthew Hinton/The Advocate via AP, File)

A lawyer for the Fennidy family, James Williams, and officials with the archdiocese said last week they would meet on Monday. But a statement from RaeNell Houston, the superintendent Archdiocese of New Orleans schools, says the family postponed, then canceled the meeting.

Lawyers for the Fennidy and Davis families issued a statement late Monday saying the meeting had not been canceled. Their news release said it was rescheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Houston's statement said Fennidy's family, and the family of Tyrielle Davis, another student who joined in a lawsuit over the policy, were told last week that Christ the King's hair extension policy had been rescinded.

"When this issue arose, the school immediately reviewed its policy and recognized that there may have been sensitivities that needed to be addressed," Houston's statement said. "They then reached out for input from the Office of Catholic Schools, the Office of Black Catholic Ministries, other principals, and parents."

Attorneys for the girls' families said the school did not immediately rescind the policy. They initially refused to change the policy, the attorneys claim, "instead asking that if Faith and Tyrielle return to school they pretend that their hair was natural."

In her earlier email, Houston said she will work with school officials to "create a uniform policy that is sensitive to all races, religions, and cultures."

The video that sparked the controversy went virile after Faith's brother posted it on Facebook. He included an explanation that there were practical reasons for Faith's use of extensions.DALLAS (AP) - The Latest on jury deliberations in the murder trial of a white ex-Texas police officer in the fatal shooting of a black teenager (all times local):

8:55 p.m.

A jury has concluded its first day of deliberations in the trial of a white former Texas police officer charged with fatally shooting a black teenager leaving a house party last year.

Defendant Roy Oliver, former Balch Springs police officer who is charged with the murder of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, talks with his wife while the jury deliberates during his trial of at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018.(Rose Baca/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Pool)

The Dallas County jury in the trial of former Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver deliberated for eight hours Monday before quitting for the night. The jurors will resume deliberations Tuesday morning.

Oliver was fired from the Balch Springs Police Department days after he shot into a moving car filled with five black teens, killing 15-year-old Jordan Edwards. Oliver testified he thought his partner was in danger and said he decided to fire when he saw the car moving toward his partner. His partner, however, testified he didn't fear for his life and never felt the need to shoot.

___

12:35 p.m.

Jury deliberations have begun in the trial of a white former Texas police officer charged with fatally shooting a black teenager leaving a house party last year.

Roy Oliver was fired from the Balch Springs Police Department days after he shot into a moving car filled with five black teenagers, killing 15-year-old Jordan Edwards. The deliberations started Monday after attorneys gave their closing arguments.

Oliver has testified he thought his partner was in danger and said he decided to fire when he saw the car moving toward his partner. His partner, however, testified he didn't fear for his life and never felt the need to shoot.

Defense attorneys told jurors they must consider the circumstances from Oliver's viewpoint. The prosecution argued Oliver was out of control and looking for a reason to kill.WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump on Monday welcomed the president of Kenya to the White House, where the two leaders talked trade, security - and Trump's accomplishments.

Trump hosted President Uhuru Kenyatta as Kenya is emerging from a period of election turmoil. He's the second African leader to meet with Trump at the White House, following a visit by Nigeria's president earlier this year.

Trump has been criticized for paying too little attention to the continent and faced demands for an apology earlier this year after his private comments about "shithole countries" in Africa and other regions were leaked to journalists.

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Monday night, though, Trump and Kenyatta released a joint statement resolving to elevate the U.S-Kenya relationship to a "Strategic Partnership, affirming it as a cornerstone of peace, stability and good governance in Africa and the Indian Ocean region." They said the partnership will include "an annual dialogue to advance mutual prosperity."

U.S. first lady Melania Trump, who helped welcome Kenyatta and his wife to the White House, is planning a solo trip to Africa this fall.

Trump and Kenyatta, in their joint statement, said they discussed a series of topics, including cooperation on terrorism and building trade and investment ties.

During remarks to reporters before their meeting, Trump trumpeted a preliminary trade deal with Mexico he'd announced earlier in the day as well as recent stock market gains.

"Well, you were here on a very special day," Trump told Kenyatta, adding: "Everything I said is going to happen, it ends up happening, so you picked a good day to come. We're in a very good mood."

Kenyatta said he hoped Trump would share the wealth with his country.

"We'll bring that over to Kenya," Trump joked.

Trump also pointed to what he called a "massive roadway" infrastructure project in Kenya as a sign of the countries' ties. He appeared to be referring to the Nairobi-Mombasa Expressway project that would link Kenya's capital with its major Indian Ocean port.

The head of the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation met last month with U.S. construction company Bechtel in Kenya about the agency's "ready support" for the project, which is seen by the U.S. as tool to compete with China's sweeping Belt and Road Initiative in Africa and elsewhere. Last year Kenya opened a Chinese-funded railway between Nairobi and Mombasa that has been described as Kenya's largest infrastructure project since independence.

Kenyatta has been trying to bolster his image following a crisis in which Kenya's Supreme Court overturned the August presidential election, citing irregularities, and the opposition boycotted the fresh vote.

Kenya is the third highest recipient of U.S. security aid in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the Security Assistance Monitor. Both Kenya and the U.S. have troops in Somalia, and the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group has crossed the border to carry out dozens of attacks inside Kenya, calling it retribution for sending troops. Nearly 100 Kenyan police officers have been killed since May 2017 in bombings and ambushes.

The Kenyan leader is also meeting with U.S. business leaders to promote investment in his country while in Washington. He'll host British Prime Minister Theresa May in Nairobi, Kenya's capital, on Thursday.

__

Tom Odula contributed to this report from Nairobi.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump pose for members of the media with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his wife Margaret Kenyatta as they arrive at the White House, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Australia's former foreign minister on Tuesday described the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines flight over Ukraine in 2014 as the most emotional time of her life.

Julie Bishop was reflecting on her five years as Australia's first woman foreign minister after she quit the Cabinet following an unsuccessful bid last week to become prime minister.

Most of new Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Cabinet was sworn in on Tuesday, including new Foreign Minister Marise Payne.

Australia's former Foreign Minister Julie Bishop addresses the media at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. Australia's first woman foreign minister described the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines flight over the Ukraine in 2014 as the most emotional time of her life. (AP Photo/Rod McGuirk)

Bishop said she remained in contact with the families of the 38 Australian citizens and residents who were among the 298 people killed when a missile brought down Flight 17 on July 17, 2014.

"I don't know that it was a defining moment, but it was the most emotional moment of my life," Bishop told reporters.

"I want to ensure that the people for whom we fought do get justice. I have no doubt that Marise Payne and the highly professional team at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will continue to fight for justice," she said.

In May, a day after international prosecutors said they had unequivocal evidence of Russian involvement in the flight's downing, Australia and the Netherlands announced they were holding Moscow legally responsible for its role in the missile attack.

The move put further strain on already tense relations between Russia and the West and opened a new legal front in the long-running process of apportioning blame for the missile strike.

A Dutch-led international team of investigators said they had strong evidence that the Buk missile system that brought down the Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur flight came from a Russia-based military unit, the 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade based in the Russian city of Kursk. It was the most explicit link between Moscow and the downing of the flight published by the investigators.

Bishop at the time called for international support for the Dutch-Australian legal initiative.

Russia denies involvement in the downing of the Boeing 777 that was flying 33,000 feet (about 10,000 meters) over war-ravaged eastern Ukraine when it was torn apart by a Buk missile fired from territory controlled by pro-Russian rebels.WASHINGTON (AP) - Canada's minister of foreign affairs is scheduled to hold talks in Washington on Tuesday in hopes of reaching a trade agreement with the United States, an urgent response after President Donald Trump announced a deal with Mexico on Monday that left out Canada.

The official, Chrystia Freeland, is facing a tight deadline to keep the three nations that formed the North American Free Trade Agreement 24 years ago together in a trade pact. The deal unveiled Monday by Trump - whose administration set a Friday deadline - raised several key questions:

Can Canada, the United States' second-largest trading partner, be coaxed or coerced into a new pact?

President Donald Trump talks on the phone with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018, in Washington. Trump is announcing a trade "understanding" with Mexico that could lead to an overhaul of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Trump made the announcement Monday in the Oval Office, with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto joining by speakerphone. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

If not, is it even legal - or politically feasible - for Trump to reach a replacement trade deal with Mexico alone?

And will the changes being negotiated to the 24-year-old NAFTA threaten the operations of American and foreign companies that have built sophisticated supply chains that span the three countries?

"There are still a lot of questions left to be answered," said Peter MacKay, a former Canadian minister of justice, defense and foreign affairs who is now a partner at the law firm Baker McKenzie.

Trump was quick to proclaim the agreement a triumph, pointing to Monday's surge in the stock market, which was fueled in part by the apparent breakthrough with Mexico.

"We just signed a trade agreement with Mexico, and it's a terrific agreement for everybody," the president declared. "It's an agreement that a lot of people said couldn't be done."

Trump suggested that he might leave Canada out of a new agreement. He said he wanted to call the revamped trade pact "the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement" because, in his view, NAFTA has earned a reputation for being harmful to American workers.

But first, he said, he would give Canada a chance to get back in - "if they'd like to negotiate fairly." To intensify the pressure on Ottawa to agree to his terms, the president threatened to impose new taxes on Canadian auto imports.

Talking to reporters, the top White House economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, urged Canada to "come to the table."

"Let's make a great deal like we just made with Mexico," Kudlow said. "If not, the USA may have to take action."

Canada's NAFTA negotiator, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, is cutting short a trip to Europe to fly to Washington on Tuesday to try to restart talks.

"We will only sign a new NAFTA that is good for Canada and good for the middle class," said Adam Austen, a spokesman for Freeland, saying that "Canada's signature is required."

MacKay added, "There is still a great deal of uncertainty - trepidation, nervousness, a feeling that we are on the outside looking in."

Critics denounced the prospect of cutting Canada out a North American trade pact, in part because of the risks it could pose for companies involved in international trade. Many manufacturers have built vital supply systems that depend on freely crossing all three NAFTA borders.

Noting the "massive amount of movement of goods between the three countries and the integration of operations," Jay Timmons, president of that National Association of Manufacturers, said "it is imperative that a trilateral agreement be inked."

Trump has frequently condemned the 24-year-old NAFTA trade pact as a job-killing "disaster" for American workers. NAFTA reduced most trade barriers between the three countries. The president and other critics say the pact encouraged U.S. manufacturers to move south of the border to exploit low-wage Mexican labor.

The preliminary deal with Mexico might bring more manufacturing to the United States. Yet it is far from final. Even after being formally signed, it would have be ratified by lawmakers in each country.

The U.S. Congress wouldn't vote on it until next year - after November midterm elections that could end Republican control of the House of Representatives. But initially, it looks like at least a tentative public-relations victory for Trump, the week after his former campaign manager was convicted on financial crimes and his former personal attorney implicated him in hush money payments to two women who say they had affairs with Trump.

Before the administration began negotiating a new NAFTA a year ago, it had notified Congress that it was beginning talks with Canada and Mexico. So Monday's announcement raises the question: Is the administration authorized to reach a deal with only one of those countries?

A senior administration official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said yes: The administration can tell Congress it had reached a deal with Mexico - and that Canada is welcome to join.

But other analysts said the answer wasn't clear: "It's a question that has never been tested," said Lori Wallach, director of the left-leaning Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch.

Even a key Trump ally, Rep. Kevin Brady, the Texas Republican who is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, expressed caution about Monday's apparent breakthrough. Brady said he looked forward "to carefully analyzing the details and consulting in the weeks ahead to determine whether the new proposal meets the trade priorities set out by Congress."

And the No. 2 Senate Republican, John Cornyn of Texas, while hailing Monday's news as a "positive step," said Canada needs to be party to a final deal.

"A trilateral agreement is the best path forward," Cornyn said, adding that millions of jobs were at stake.

There are political reasons to keep Canada inside the regional bloc:

"Mexico will have a difficult time selling 'Trump's deal' back home if Canada does not think it is a good deal," said Daniel Ujczo, a trade attorney with Dickinson Wright PLLC. "It will appear that Mexico caved."

Indeed, Mexico has said it wants Canada included in any new deal to replace NAFTA.

"We are very interested in this being an agreement of three countries," said President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. At the same time, Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray told reporters that "Mexico will have a free trade agreement regardless of the outcome" of U.S.-Canada negotiations.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Mexico had agreed to ensure that 75 percent of automotive content be produced within the trade bloc (up from a current 62.5 percent) to receive duty-free benefits and that 40 percent to 45 percent be made by workers earning at least $16 an hour. Those changes are meant to encourage more auto production in the United States.

For months, the talks were held up by the Trump administration's insistence on a "sunset clause": A renegotiated NAFTA would end after five years unless all three countries agreed to continue it. Mexico and Canada considered that proposal a deal-killer.

On Monday, the Trump administration and Mexico announced a compromise on that divisive issue: An overhauled NAFTA would remain in force for 16 years. After six years, the countries would review the agreement and decide whether it needed to be updated or changed. They then would either agree to a new 16-year deal or the pact would expire.

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This story has been corrected to show that the Mexican president is Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, not Andres Manuel Lopez Observador.

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Gillies reported from Toronto. Josh Boak, Jill Colvin and Darlene Superville in Washington and Peter Orsi and Mark Stevenson in Mexico City contributed to this report.

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Follow Paul Wiseman on Twitter at https://twitter.com/PaulWisemanAP

President Donald Trump hangs up after talking with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on the phone in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, left, and Mexican Secretary of Economy Idelfonso Guajardo, right, walk into the White House on Monday August 27, 2018. President Donald Trump says the prospects are "looking good" for an agreement with Mexico that could set the stage for an overhaul of the North American Free Trade Agreement. (AP Photo/Luis Alonso Lugo)

United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, front left, and Mexican Secretary of Economy Idelfonso Guajardo, front right, walk to the White House on Monday August 27, 2018. President Donald Trump says the prospects are "looking good" for an agreement with Mexico that could set the stage for an overhaul of the North American Free Trade Agreement. (AP Photo/Luis Alonso Lugo)

United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, left, and Mexican Secretary of Economy Idelfonso Guajardo, right, walk into the White House on Monday August 27, 2018. President Donald Trump says the prospects are "looking good" for an agreement with Mexico that could set the stage for an overhaul of the North American Free Trade Agreement. (AP Photo/Luis Alonso Lugo)BOSTON (AP) - U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren keeps popping up on short lists of possible 2020 Democratic presidential contenders, but three Republicans in her home state are hoping to short-circuit any White House dreams she might have.

State Rep. Geoff Diehl, business executive John Kingston and Beth Lindstrom - a cabinet official under former Massachusetts Republican Gov. Mitt Romney - are vying for the chance to go head-to-head with Warren in November as she seeks re-election to a second term.

The three, battling it out in the state's Sept. 4 primary, hope to use Warren's national profile against her, saying she's become too divisive and is ignoring the needs of Massachusetts residents. Warren is unopposed in the Democratic primary.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2018 file photo, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks during a town hall style gathering in Woburn, Mass. Warren keeps popping up on short lists of possible 2020 Democratic presidential contenders, but will first face a Republican challenger as she seeks re-election in November. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Warren routinely spars with President Donald Trump on Twitter, is a standard-bearer in the resistance to the Republican administration and last week released 10 years of tax returns - a move seen as another possible step to a presidential bid. Trump has refused to release his tax returns.

"She hasn't stopped campaigning," said Lindstrom. "I think she cares more about her Twitter followers than about her constituents back in Massachusetts."

It's a line of attack echoed by Warren's other Republican challengers.

"People know that she's done nothing for Massachusetts," Kingston said. "God bless her if she wants to run for president, then go run for president and don't pretend that you're not."

Diehl said "it feels like since the day she was elected she put us in the rearview mirror."

Warren, 69, repeatedly has said she's not running for president, but she continues to position herself as a national leader in the Democratic Party.

There are other areas where the three GOP challengers agree.

Each has praised Trump's decision to nominate Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court and has criticized Warren's opposition as a liberal knee-jerk reaction. They've also voiced support for the tax plan approved by Congress and signed by Trump. Warren has described the measure as a "tax giveaway to giant corporations and the super-rich."

Most recently, the Republicans have condemned Warren's comments on the death in Iowa of 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts and the suspect charged with first-degree murder - a native of Mexico suspected of being in the U.S. illegally. Warren had expressed sympathy for the young woman's family but added: "But one of the things we have to remember is we need an immigration system that is effective, that focuses on where real problems are." Warren said she met mothers separated from their children at the border, and "we need immigration laws that focus on people who pose a real threat."

Kingston called Warren's remarks "outrageously insensitive," saying she's "more worried about illegal immigrants and open borders than the safety of American citizens."

Lindstrom and Diehl also slammed Warren's remarks and said she should back off calls to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency also known as ICE.

Whatever vulnerabilities Warren may bring to her re-election bid, any Republican faces tough odds in Massachusetts - a state where GOP voters make up less than 11 percent of the electorate and where Trump is so unpopular, Republican Gov. Charlie Baker couldn't bring himself to vote for him in 2016.

For Warren's GOP opponents, the biggest elephant in the room may be Trump himself.

Of the three, Diehl has the closest ties to the president: In 2016, he co-chaired Trump's 2016 Massachusetts campaign. He is quick to note the state gave Trump one of his biggest early primary vote totals.

"By supporting the president, I give Massachusetts a seat at the table, not just in a Republican-controlled Senate but also with a White House where it's going to be very important for Massachusetts to have a voice," said Diehl, 49.

Lindstrom, 56, and Kingston, 52, have been more reluctant to fully embrace the president.

Lindstrom, who helped elect former Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown to the Senate, said her support for Trump depends on the issue.

"I will be with him when it's right for the people of Massachusetts, but I don't work for the president," Lindstrom said. She said her biggest concerns are Trump's tone, temperament and use of Twitter.

Kingston held up Baker as the kind of moderate Republican he would model.

"I'll be able to work with the administration when it's actually doing good things for Massachusetts and not stand in line when it's not," said Kingston. "That's distinguished from Sen. Warren, who is against everything."

All three have also said they wouldn't use the term "Pocahontas" to refer to Warren. Trump has repeatedly used it to denigrate Warren's claims of Native American heritage.

Warren, who won her Senate seat by defeating Brown in 2012, has by far the biggest campaign bankroll with more than $15.6 million in her account as of June 30.

That's compared to $2.6 million for Kingston, who has loaned his campaign nearly $4.7 million, and Lindstrom, who loaned her campaign $200,000 and ended June with $79,000. Diehl had $235,091 in his account.

FILE - In this April 28, 2018 file photo, Geoff Diehl addresses the Massachusetts Republican Convention at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass. Diehl will face two other candidates in the Sept. 4 Republican primary, with the winner challenging Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the November general election as she seeks re-election to a second term. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson, File)

FILE - In this April 28, 2018 file photo, John Kingston addresses the Massachusetts Republican Convention at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass. Kingston will face two other candidates in the Sept. 4 Republican primary, with the winner challenging Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the November general election as she seeks re-election to a second term. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson, File)In their remarks at the meeting, Minh and Swaraj praised the long-standing relations between Vietnam and India, highlighting that the bilateral ties have made significant progress with several important milestones since the last joint committees meeting in 2013.

The two countries lifted their relations to the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in September 2016 and successfully hosted the Vietnam-India Friendship Year 2017 to celebrate the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic ties and the 10th year of their strategic partnership.

Political trust has been consolidated through exchanged visits by top leaders of the two sides, they said.

They agreed to promote the visit of Indian top leaders to Vietnam at the earliest convenience and maintain a regular exchange of visits at all levels to implement the Action Plan of the Vietnam-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the period of 2017  2020.

They also agreed to accelerate the promotion of Indian investment in Vietnam in priority areas such as power, renewable energy, and high-tech agriculture; together with Vietnamese investment in India in the fields of agriculture, farm produce , and aquatic and timber product processing. They both affirmed that the two countries will continue their long-term cooperation in oil and gas, while also seeking collaboration from a third country.

Minh highly appreciated Indias continued provision of non-refundable development aid, soft credit packages, and exclusively designed courses for Vietnamese personnel.

Meanwhile, Swaraj said she is proud to see more and more Vietnamese people pursuing education in India, particularly in technological studies.

The two sides spoke highly of bilateral cooperation in the growing fields of science and technology, culture, tourism, and people-to-people exchange, while at the same time stressed the necessity to set up joint working groups on agriculture, information and communications, healthcare, and information technology, as well as foster negotiations on judicial cooperation.

They hailed the two nations close coordination and support for each other at regional and international forums, notably in the United Nations and within the framework of the ASEAN-India partnership and other ASEAN-orientated mechanisms.

Minh welcomed the active role of India and its position in the Indo-Pacific region through its Act East policy, while the Indian official highly valued Vietnams role as a coordinator for promoting ASEAN-India ties between 2015-2018, saying she is looking forward to Vietnams continued cooperation in implementing commitments from the Delhi Declaration (issued at the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in January this year).

Both officials reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, safety, and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, adding that they backed the settlement of disputes based on international law and without use of force or threat to use force. They also called on involved parties not to complicate the situation in the area and to effectively enforce the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and soon conclude the Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea.

On the occasion, the Peoples Committee of Ninh Thuan province and the Embassy of India signed a memorandum of understanding for the implementation of seven projects that aim to provide support for Cham people in the province.

The 17th Meeting of the Vietnam-India Joint Committee is scheduled to take place in India in 2020.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Glowering in public and near-silent for two days, President Donald Trump relented under pressure by tersely recognizing Sen. John McCain's "service to our country" and re-lowering the White House flag.

While much of the nation remembered McCain's record as a war hero, longtime senator and presidential nominee over the weekend, Trump had nursed his grievances. McCain had been an infuriating foil in a long-running feud over style and policy that did not end with the senator's illness and death.

Trump's reluctance to participate in the national remembrance was awkward and uncomfortable, even by the standards of a leader who acknowledges he doesn't act like a typical president. The episode highlighted the outsider president's impulse to harbor personal resentments regardless of political repercussions.

The American flag files at half-staff at the White House, Monday afternoon, Aug. 27, 2018, in Washington. Two days after Sen. John McCain's death, President Donald Trump says he respects the senator's "service to our country" and has signed a proclamation to fly the U.S. flag at half-staff until his burial. The flag atop the White House flew at half-staff over the weekend but was raised Monday and then lowered again amid criticism. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Before Trump's Monday afternoon statement, his only commentary on McCain's death had been a perfunctory tweet Saturday. The lack of a formal statement - combined with the fact that White House flags were flown at half-staff only briefly - drew strong criticism from Republicans and veterans' groups as well as Democrats.

When he finally did comment, in a printed statement, Trump was sparing with his praise for the six-term senator: "Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain's service to our country."

Later, at an evening dinner honoring evangelical leaders, he said "our hearts and prayers" are going to the family "and we very much appreciate everything that Senator McCain has done for our country."

Earlier in the day, a stone-faced Trump sat mute as reporters at several photo sessions invited him to comment on McCain. As he was peppered with questions about McCain's legacy, the usually talkative president made no response.

Publicly, Trump has frequently railed against McCain's dramatic thumbs-down vote against the president's efforts to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law. Privately, he has groused about such slights as his belief that McCain did not appreciate his endorsement in the senator's 2016 re-election bid. McCain, for his part, recently slammed Trump's Helsinki meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory."

Against that backdrop, the flag above the White House spoke volumes.

The Stars and Stripes were briefly lowered to half-staff over the weekend, then went back up to full height Monday while flags at the U.S. Capitol and elsewhere stayed at half-staff. Shortly before Trump issued his written statement, the flag was lowered again to half-staff.

That was after complaints had risen all day from both right and left, and then from a group the president assuredly does not want to offend.

"On the behalf of The American Legion's two million wartime veterans, I strongly urge you to make an appropriate presidential proclamation noting Senator McCain's death and legacy of service to our nation, and that our nation's flag be half-staffed through his interment," said a statement directed to him from Denise Rohan, the organization's national commander.

While the president's statement sought to defuse the controversy, the upcoming weeklong celebration of McCain's life is likely to bring new awkwardness. Former presidents will speak at McCain's funeral Saturday, but the senator's family made clear they did not want Trump to attend.

Trump said he had asked Vice President Mike Pence to speak at a ceremony honoring McCain at the Capitol on Friday and said other administration officials would attend memorial services. He also said he'd agreed to the McCain family's request for military transportation of the senator's remains from Arizona to Washington. Burial will be Sunday at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

In death, McCain himself had more to say. In a final letter released Monday, McCain appeared to repudiate Trump's politics one last time, saying, "We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe."

Republican Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma allowed that McCain "was partially to blame" for the rift with Trump, saying, "He was very outspoken that he disagreed with the president in certain areas and wasn't too courteous about it."

As Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, a Trump friend, put it, "I think there's a lot of hard feelings on both sides."

Just a few weeks ago the president signed into law a defense bill named in honor of the senator without a single mention of his name.

Back in 2015, McCain had gotten under then-candidate Trump's skin by saying he had "fired up the crazies" at a rally in Phoenix. Trump later told a crowd in Iowa that McCain was only a war hero "because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured."

McCain said Trump owed veterans an apology for that, but he continued to back the celebrity businessman as the Republican nominee. He later withdrew his support after the release of the infamous "Access Hollywood" tape in which Trump bragged about groping women.

After Trump took office, McCain established himself as a leading critic, opposing Trump's immigration-limiting order, warning him against coziness with Moscow and lecturing him on the illegality of torture.

Friction increased earlier this year after word surfaced that a West Wing aide had been dismissive of McCain during a closed-door meeting. The aide told colleagues they should disregard McCain's opposition to Trump's CIA nominee because "he's dying anyway."

In death, McCain attempted a last word in his farewell letter.

"Do not despair of our present difficulties," he wrote. "But believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here."

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Associated Press writers Laurie Kellman and Jill Colvin contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump crosses his arms after speaking with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on the phone about a trade agreement between the United States and Mexico, in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018, in Washington. Trump has bowed to widespread pressure from veterans groups and others to do more to honor John McCain's death. Trump on Monday ordered flags at the White House and elsewhere lowered to half-staff until the six-term senator is buried Sunday. He also proclaimed "respect" for McCain, with whom he feuded bitterly for years. It was a marked reversal from Trump's refusal to comment on McCain. Earlier Monday, the White House flag had been raised. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The American flag files at half-staff at the White House, Monday afternoon, Aug. 27, 2018, in Washington. Two days after Sen. John McCain's death, President Donald Trump says he respects the senator's "service to our country" and has signed a proclamation to fly the U.S. flag at half-staff until his burial. The flag atop the White House flew at half-staff over the weekend but was raised Monday and then lowered again amid criticism. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

An American flag above the White House flies at full-staff less than 48 hours after the death of Sen. John McCain, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The American flag flies at half-staff at the Capitol in honor of Sen. John McCain of Arizona who died Saturday of brain cancer, in Washington, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. McCain will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda on Friday. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)TALLAHASSEE, Florida (AP) - A liberal Florida Democrat pulled off an upset victory Tuesday in the state's primary for governor while President Donald Trump's favored candidate cruised to victory for the GOP, setting up a fierce fall showdown in the nation's largest political battleground. Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who would be the state's first black governor, and Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis, both defeated more moderate opponents aligned with their parties' establishment.

Gillum is his party's third black gubernatorial nominee this campaign season, along with Stacey Abrams in Georgia and Ben Jealous in Maryland. His victory comes as Democrats have elevated an increasingly diverse field of candidates, including women, African-Americans and Muslims. The slate of candidates heading into the fall campaign is seen as a manifestation of the party's resistance in the racially charged atmosphere of the Trump era.

In Arizona, Rep. Martha McSally fended off a pair of conservative challengers to carry the Republican Senate primary to fill the seat vacated by retiring Sen. Jeff Flake. That race was shadowed by the death of John McCain, a towering figure who represented Arizona in the Senate for six terms. Gov. Doug Ducey will name McCain's replacement after the senator's funeral.

Andrew Gillum addresses his supporters after winning the Democrat primary for governor on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Cannon)

Florida and Arizona are both closely watched states, featuring growing minority populations that have bolstered Democratic candidates and Republican electorates that have grown older and more conservative. The fall face-offs could well signal how they'll swing in the 2020 presidential election.

In Florida, DeSantis gave Trump credit for his victory, saying that with one supportive tweet, the president "kind of put me on the map."

Gillum thanked supporters who embraced "our plan for a state that makes room for all of us, not just the well-heeled and the well-connected, but all of us."

The results immediately transformed the Florida race into one of the key gubernatorial campaigns in the country. Gillum's primary victory could help Democrats boost enthusiasm among minorities, while DeSantis will test Trump's grip on a crucial state he won in 2016 and wants to keep in his column in 2020.

In Arizona, McCain's death after a yearlong battle with brain cancer loomed over the primary contests.

Though he has received praise from far and wide this week, the three Republican candidates running to replace his retiring seat-mate, Flake - including establishment favorite McSally - aligned themselves more with the president than the longtime senator.

Elsewhere Tuesday, GOP voters in reliably Republican Oklahoma backed mortgage company owner Kevin Stitt in a runoff for the gubernatorial nomination. Stitt won in part by criticizing his opponent as insufficiently supportive of Trump.

Trump surprised Florida Republicans with his endorsement of DeSantis, and frequently tweeted about the lawmaker, one of his staunchest supporters in Washington. His backing helped push DeSantis past Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who has held elected office in Florida since 1996, quickly built up establishment support and raised millions of dollars.

Gillum came from behind in a crowded and diverse Democratic field. Former Rep. Gwen Graham, whose father, Bob Graham, served as governor, had hoped to position herself to become the state's first female governor.

Gillum, a favorite of progressives, spent the least of the five major Democratic candidates and had the smallest television presence. He often said he was the only candidate in the race who wasn't a millionaire or billionaire, and won the endorsement of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is vacating the governor's mansion to run for Senate. He easily won his primary, setting up a showdown with Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson that is expected to be one of the nation's most competitive races.

Democrats also eyed congressional pickup opportunities in Florida as they try to flip control of the U.S. House. One of their best chances is in South Florida, where Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is retiring in a district that should favor Democrats.

Donna Shalala, who served as President Bill Clinton's Health and Human Services secretary, claimed the Democratic nomination in Ros-Lehtinen's district.

The contests in both Florida and Arizona were being watched for signs of how the states might tilt in the 2020 presidential election.

McCain's death has highlighted anew the shift in the Republican Party since he captured the GOP nomination for president in 2008. With his consistently conservative voting record, Arizonans elected McCain to the Senate six times, including in 2016. But his more moderate stance on immigration and his deciding vote last year against Trump's efforts to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law turned off many GOP voters.

A CNN survey in June found that 67 percent of Democrats had a favorable opinion of McCain, while just 33 percent of Republicans did.

Among those on the Arizona ballot was former state Sen. Kelli Ward, who tried unsuccessfully to unseat McCain in 2016. When McCain's family said last week that he was discontinuing medical treatment, Ward speculated in a later-deleted Facebook post that the announcement was intended to hurt her campaign for Flake's seat.

Also running for the Senate nomination was former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the controversial immigration hardliner. Trump spared Arpaio a possible jail sentence last year by pardoning his federal conviction stemming from immigration patrols.

Ward and Arpaio split about half of the vote, clearing the way for McSally, a fighter pilot turned congresswoman in the McCain mold. She'll face Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, who easily won her race.

McSally wasted no time taking on her Democratic opponent, calling the race "a choice between a doer and a talker, between a patriot and a protester."

Sinema's and McSally's Senate runs also have created House openings in Arizona, a fast-growing and increasingly diverse state where Democrats are eager to gain a foothold. McSally's district in particular is expected to be one of the most competitive House races in November's general election.

Former Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick emerged from a competitive Democratic primary to win the nomination for the seat.

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Pace reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Joe Reedy in Tallahassee, Florida, Nicholas Riccardi in Phoenix, Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City, AP polling editor Emily Swanson in Washington, Kelli Kennedy in Miami and Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale contributed to this report.

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On Twitter, follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Brendan Farrington at http://twitter.com/bsfarrington

FILE - In this July 31, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis during a rally in Tampa, Fla. Florida voters are going to the polls, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, to select nominees to replace Republican Gov. Rick Scott in an election that's caught the attention of Trump. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)

U.S. Senate candidate and U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., celebrates her primary election victory, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, in Tempe, Ariz. McSally will face U.S. Rep. Krysten Sinema, D-Ariz., in the November election as they seek the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Tyler Clark, from left, Kara Weaver and Terri Lipsey Scott cheer on gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum during his watch party at Hotel Duval in downtown Tallahassee, Fla., Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. (Joe Rondone/Tallahassee Democrat via AP)

FILE--In this Aug. 14, 2018, file photo, Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey speaks at a news conference in Phoenix. Ducey and a Democratic Hispanic education professor appeared likely to win their parties' respective nods in the primary election for Arizona's top office. Both Ducey and Democratic front runner David Garcia earlier announced suspension of campaign gatherings later in the week when events are planned to honor Sen. John McCain, who died Saturday from brain cancer,(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, file)WASHINGTON (AP) - Here's how John McCain made it clear he was happy to see you in the Senate hallways.

"Haven't seen you in a while. How was the Betty Ford clinic?"

Or he'd growl, "Whaddya want?"

FILE - In this Oct. 25, 2017, file photo Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., followed at right by House Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, makes a humorous face to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. McCain died on Aug. 25, 2018, after battling brain cancer. McCain's "wicked" wit was often aimed at himself over long Washington career. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Such rascally greetings produced smiles before the discussion or tough questions even had begun. The charm could be disarming, a way of making the sometimes unpleasant hothouse of American government and politics more, well, fun. That was true even among his equally ambitious Senate colleagues, campaign opponents and the reporters who covered him. In fact, Republicans grumbled for years that the McCain fun factor and his maverick streak made him more an ally of reporters than other Republicans.

And yet, the tributes pouring out since McCain's death on Saturday at 81 were marked by regret over the loss of his particular brand of humor, which was often in borderline taste and frequently at his own expense.

Even straight-faced Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, often vexed over the years by McCain, on Saturday lamented the loss of his "wicked sense of humor."

No one paying attention would have been surprised at what arrived in the Senate after Arizona's 1986 election. During the campaign, McCain referred to the retirement community Leisure World as "Seizure World." Prodded over that, McCain attributed the remark to his "irremediable" tendency to be "a wiseass."

He won by 20 percentage points.

Inside the Senate, McCain's humor became a trademark alongside his temper. He writes in his memoir "The Restless Wave" that during his early years in the Senate he had a shouting match away from the microphones with Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. The exchange, he wrote, featured abundant cursing and was overheard by reporters in the gallery above. Then, he recalled, he and Kennedy became buddies.

Outside the Senate, McCain often aimed his humor at himself. And he frequently delivered it with a wink.

"Thanks for the question, you little jerk," he said in 2007 to a New Hampshire high school student wondering if McCain, then 71, was too old to be president.

McCain writes in his memoir that he learned about humor - and other matters - from his mentor Mo Udall, who wrote a book called, Too Funny to Be President. McCain wrote that the late Arizona congressman, who ran for president in 1976, was the funniest man he knew.

"You know the difference between a cactus and a caucus?" It was one of Udall's trademark jokes, which McCain repeated for reporters. "With a cactus, the pricks are on the outside."

Second funniest: Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. "With an eye to the absurd, he can brighten up the dreariest day and make any journey even the most exhausting slog, fun," McCain wrote. Then, perhaps describing himself, too, he writes that Graham "has a hard time not being amusing and amused."

In October 2008, McCain spoke before Democrat Barack Obama at the annual Alfred E. Smith dinner in New York. The Arizona senator played up expectations for Obama's speech. It would be unkind, McCain said, to throw Obama off his game by setting "unreasonably high expectations" for the quality of the Democratic senator's humor.

So McCain did.

"You all are about to witness the funniest performance in the 63-year history of this event," McCain said, predicting "nonstop hilarity" and the "funniest 15 minutes of your life or any other" from Obama.

"I think he knows that anything short of that would mar the evening, insult our host and perhaps even cost him several swing states. Sen. Obama, the microphone is all yours." Obama, cracking up, joined the standing ovation.

McCain returned to "Saturday Night Live" a few days before the election that year to run through some alternative strategies for beating Obama. Among them: "The reverse-maverick. That's where I do whatever anybody tells me."

Also under consideration, McCain said, was the "double-maverick. That's where I go totally berserk and just freak everybody out."

A third option: "The Sad Grandpa. That's where I get on TV and go, 'C'mon! Obama's going to have plenty of chances to be president. It's my turn!'"

McCain requested that Obama deliver his eulogy at the Washington National Cathedral.

___

Associated Press writer Adam Beam in Lexington, Kentucky, contributed to this report.

Follow Kellman at http://www.twitter.com/APLaurieKellmanPHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Fourteen Cambodian opposition activists were freed Tuesday from long prison terms, their pardons coming as the latest in a series of releases engineered by Prime Minister Hun Sen after his party's election sweep last month.

The 14 former members of the now-disbanded opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party were convicted of insurrection in connection with a street protest four years ago that turned violent. By many accounts, the violence was started by pro-government agitators, and the arrests of the opposition members were seen as political persecution.

Those freed Tuesday were serving prison terms ranging from seven to 20 years, the longer sentences given to those seen as leaders of the July 15, 2014, protest in Phnom Penh. It had been held as opposition lawmakers were boycotting parliament to demand political reforms, saying the previous year's election had been rigged by Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party.

A former member of the now-disbanded opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party Meach Sovannara has soft drink in a restaurant on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. Fourteen anti-government activists were given pardons Monday that will free them from long prison terms, the latest in a series of releases engineered by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen after his party's election sweep last month. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Tuesday's releases came at about 1 a.m., a move that seemed intended to keep supporters from gathering publicly to welcome them. A court spokesman said the pardons were signed Monday by King Norodom Sihamoni at the request of Hun Sen.

At least eight other people held on political charges have been freed with pardons or on bail since the beginning of last week.

The acts of clemency came after the July 29 general election, in which Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party won all 125 National Assembly seats. The polls were heavily criticized inside and outside Cambodia as unfair, because pro-government courts last year dissolved the Cambodian National Rescue Party, the only credible opposition grouping.

In the run-up to the election, there was a crackdown on Hun Sen's political foes and the media that crippled the opposition. Hun Sen, who has been in office since 1985, has a record of cracking down harshly when facing a serious challenge, then easing up when he no longer feels threatened.

A repentant appeal for pardons issued Friday by the 14, along with a conciliatory statement calling for national unity from the most prominent prisoner, former opposition spokesman Meach Sovannara, after his release, suggested that the latest release was carefully orchestrated by the government. Early last week, Hun Sen hinted broadly that they would be released soon.

There has been a major exception to the latest releases. Last week, the former leader of the opposition party, Kem Sokha, was denied his request to be released on bail. He has been in prison awaiting trial since last November, when he was arrested on the charge of treason for allegedly plotting with U.S. backing to overthrow the government. The charge is regarded more as politically motivated than based on fact.

Am Sam Ath, a member of the Cambodian human rights group Licadho, said there may be another opportunity on Thursday for Kem Sokha to gain his freedom, when a closed-door hearing will be held at his prison in eastern Cambodia to determine whether to renew his pre-trial detention period.

A former member of the now-disbanded opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party Meach Sovannara sits in a restaurant on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. Fourteen anti-government activists were given pardons Monday that will free them from long prison terms, the latest in a series of releases engineered by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen after his party's election sweep last month. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)CINCINNATI (AP) - Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has frequently supported giving the U.S. government wide latitude in the name of national security, including the secret collection of personal data from Americans.

It's a subject Democrats plan to grill Kavanaugh about during his confirmation hearings scheduled to begin next Tuesday. Beyond his writings as an appeals court judge, some senators suspect Kavanaugh was more involved in crafting counterterrorism policies during the George W. Bush administration than he has let on.

Kavanaugh stated in past congressional testimony that he wasn't involved in such provocative matters as warrantless surveillance and the treatment of enemy combatants in the years immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

FILE - In this Aug. 7, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, officiates at the swearing-in of Judge Britt Grant to take a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta at the U.S. District Courthouse in Washington. SKavanaugh has frequently supported giving the government wide latitude in the name of national security, including the secret collection of personal data from Americans. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

But legal experts say he could shift the court on national security issues, if he is confirmed to replace retired Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Stephen Vladeck, a University of Texas law professor whose expertise includes national security and counterterrorism, cites opinions he says show Kavanaugh "is a lot less willing (than Kennedy) to look at international law as a relevant source of authority and constraint." He said on matters such as Guantanamo detention, Kavanaugh is "much more deferential to the executive branch in this context than Kennedy would have been."

Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, calls Kavanaugh "incredibly well-qualified." The former U.S. trade representative and White House budget director knows Kavanaugh from their time together in the Bush administration. He said Kavanaugh "believes strongly in the Constitution" and the Bill of Rights.

"I think he's in the mainstream with regard to these issues, and frankly, I don't think it's a difference with any meaning between where he is and where the court is currently," Portman said.

Democrats facing an uphill battle in blocking Kavanaugh's nomination have focused less on his judicial counterterrorism record than whether he misled senators about his role in Bush policies while testifying in 2006 confirmation hearings.

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and Vermont Sen. Pat Leahy are among Democrats who want to see more records from Kavanaugh's White House days, saying news media accounts after he was seated on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia raised new questions.

White House spokesman Raj Shah said Durbin has been doing the misleading by taking Kavanaugh's answers out of context.

"As several colleagues have stated, and Judge Kavanaugh accurately said in his 2006 testimony, he was not involved in crafting legal policies that formed the rules governing detention of combatants," Shah said in an emailed statement.

After meeting recently with Kavanaugh, Durbin said the judge "acknowledged that he was involved in conversations involving enemy combatants."

Shah responded with a tweet saying Kavanaugh was truthful, and that the conversations Durbin referred to "were about public litigation, not the legal framework or policies that formed the rules governing detention of combatants."

Kavanaugh's confirmation got past a potential obstacle when libertarian-leaning Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., endorsed him last month.

Paul had cited Kavanaugh's 2015 defense of the National Security Agency's widescale secret collection of telephone metadata - records of callers and recipients' phone numbers and times and durations of the calls. But after meeting with Kavanaugh, Paul said he's confident Kavanaugh will "carefully adhere to the Constitution and will take his job to protect individual liberty seriously."

The NSA program didn't include capturing conversations themselves, and Kavanaugh wrote that it served "a critically important special need - preventing terrorist attacks on the United States ... In my view, that critical national security need outweighs the impact on privacy occasioned by this program."

Larry Klayman, founder of the conservative group Freedom Watch and lead plaintiff in the NSA case, said Kavanaugh approved what a U.S. district court judge had called government use of "almost Orwellian technology."

Kavanaugh defended the NSA program in an opinion attached to a procedural ruling in which he and his colleagues agreed not to rehear the case, so there was no pressing need for him to weigh in .

University of Louisville law professor Justin Walker, a former Kavanaugh clerk, said that's not unusual for the judge. For example, Kavanaugh added his opinion to a procedural ruling in a case that led to a Supreme Court decision for a drug suspect who had a police-placed GPS tracker on his car.

The high court found in USA vs. Antoine Jones that Jones' Fourth Amendment rights were violated, with a majority opinion that incorporated Kavanaugh's observation that police intruded on the defendant's personal property: his car.

"I've been surprised that his one short opinion (in Klayman) has not been seen in a broader context with more perspective," Walker said, adding that when senators study Kavanaugh's complete record on civil liberties, "they're going to like what they see."

But Cindy Cohn, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based organization dedicated to digital privacy rights, worries that "he has a very broad view of the government's ability to do mass surveillance and specifically in the context where the government is claiming national security."

Cohn has pursued a lawsuit alleging illegal NSA surveillance of "millions of ordinary Americans," among cases she said could eventually reach the Supreme Court. She questions whether Kavanaugh supports "real checks and balances on the power of the executive branch" on privacy issues.

Kavanaugh discussed judicial restraint on national security in an 87-page 2010 opinion. That one went against a Yemeni citizen U.S. forces captured in Afghanistan.

"Put simply, Congress knows how to limit the executive's authority in national security and foreign policy; there is no reason or basis for courts to strain to do so absent such congressional direction," Kavanaugh wrote.

Vladeck pointed to such cases as Kavanaugh's 2011 ruling for turning over a U.S. citizen linked to al-Qaida terrorism in Iraq to Iraqi authorities the man said were likely to torture him, and in 2009 joining in a 2-1 vote against plaintiffs who wanted to sue private contractors they accused of beatings, dog attacks and other abuse at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

There are still 40 detainees at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, U.S. naval base, with the possibility of more .

In a 2013 lecture , Kavanaugh talked about his appeals court's rulings in cases involving Guantanamo detainees and counterterrorism, saying he disagreed with people who believed "the courts should be creating new rules to constrain the executive - that this new kind of war requires new rules created by the courts."

"He's incredibly smart; he's a thoughtful and thorough judge," said Vladeck. "He just has pretty exceptionally conservative views about the role of the federal courts in the kinds of cases that I work on."

___

Find AP's reporting on the Kavanaugh nomination at https://apnews.com/tag/Kavanaughnomination

___

Follow Dan Sewell on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dansewellOKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Tulsa mortgage company owner Kevin Stitt, who criticized his opponent as being inadequately supportive of President Donald Trump, won the Republican nomination Tuesday in the race to become Oklahoma's next governor.

The 45-year-old owner of Gateway Mortgage Group defeated former Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett and advanced to face Democrat Drew Edmondson and Libertarian Chris Powell in November.

"Let's celebrate this victory tonight, because tomorrow we get back to work," Stitt told supporters at a watch party at his company headquarters.

In this Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, photo Republican gubernatorial candidate Kevin Stitt, right, speaks during a candidate forum in Oklahoma City. At left is Republican candidate Mick Cornett, who Stitt will face in a runoff Tuesday, Aug. 28. At center is Democratic candidate Drew Edmondson, who will face the winner in November. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Two-term Republican Gov. Mary Fallin couldn't run again because of term limits.

In mailers and television ads, Stitt hammered Cornett for not being supportive enough of Trump or his immigration policies.

In a televised debate last week, Cornett shot back, criticizing Stitt as a Johnny-come-lately to Oklahoma's Republican political scene.

"Where have you been over the last 14 years?" Cornett said during the debate on Oklahoma City's KOCO-TV. "You haven't been on the front lines fighting for conservative principles."

Stitt, though, fully embraced his standing as a businessman and political outsider.

"I've been in the private sector, in the real world creating jobs," Stitt responded. "I haven't been cashing a government check."

Republican candidates who try to align themselves more closely with Trump have seen success in a number of other states, including neighboring Kansas, said GOP political consultant Trebor Worthen.

"The Republican Party is President Trump's party, and any politician that you see across the country who has not been adequately supportive of President Trump has paid a price for that," Worthen said.

Phil Workman, a 66-year-old retiree from Norman, said he liked the fact that Stitt was a political newcomer.

"One thing that led me to Stitt was that he's out of the norm for politics in that he's not an insider, he's an outsider," Workman said.

The two men's performance in the 10-candidate field in the primary broke along geographical lines, with Cornett winning big in Oklahoma City and central Oklahoma, and Stitt taking counties in Tulsa and eastern Oklahoma. Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb, who finished a close third in the race and performed well in many rural counties, hasn't endorsed either candidate.

Those geographical differences separate the two candidates more than political ideology, said Republican political consultant Pat McFerron, who worked on Lamb's campaign.

"There might be a slight ideological difference, but it's very minor," McFerron said of Cornett and Stitt.

Both men touted their opposition to abortion and support of Trump, but differed on their support of a tax increase this year narrowly approved by the Legislature to help pay for the first teacher pay hike in a decade. Cornett said he supported Fallin's signing of the bill, while Stitt has said he wouldn't have signed it.

Stitt outpaced Cornett in fundraising mainly by bolstering his campaign with personal loans totaling more than $3.2 million so far, bringing his total raised to more than $6.5 million. Cornett raised more than $3.2 million, but his campaign was aided by two outside groups that have spent nearly $1 million on pro-Cornett ads.

Republicans running for statewide office in Oklahoma have enjoyed dominating success at the ballot box in the last decade, but Democrats are pinning their hopes on Edmondson, a 71-year-old Vietnam veteran and four-term attorney general. Edmondson hopes to tap into voter frustration with the GOP Legislature exacerbated by this spring's statewide teacher walkout and an anti-Trump sentiment that has energized Democratic voters. Edmondson met frequently with some of the tens of thousands of teachers who thronged the Capitol during the two-week walkout and talks on the stump about his experience as a young high school teacher in his hometown of Muskogee.

___

Follow Sean Murphy at www.twitter.com/apseanmurphy

In this Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, photo Oklahoma Republican gubernatorial candidate Mick Cornett, left, speaks during a candidate debate in Oklahoma City. At center is Democratic candidate Drew Edmondson. At right is Republican candidate Kevin Stitt, who Cornett will face in a runoff Tuesday, Aug. 28. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)DENVER (AP) - Authorities say Denver Public Schools crisis counselors met with children at an elementary school after a 9-year-old student killed himself after he was reportedly bullied for being gay, the Denver Post reports.

The Post reports that the Denver Coroner's Office confirmed Jamel Myles died by suicide on Thursday. DPS spokesman Will Jones says Jamel was a fourth-grader at Joe Shoemaker Elementary School.

"My child died because of bullying. My baby killed himself," Leia Pierce, the boy's mother, told the Post on Monday.

Pierce told the newspaper that her son came out as gay this summer and began wearing fake fingernails on Aug. 20, the first day at school. Pierce says she found Jamel's body on Thursday and tried unsuccessfully to revive her son.

School district grief counselors met Monday with students, teachers and school staff.CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - Leaders of North Carolina's flagship university were given a three-month deadline Tuesday to figure out how to preserve - and where to put - a Confederate monument torn down by protesters.

The resolution approved by the board that oversees the statewide university system doesn't indicate whether University of North Carolina leaders favor returning the statue known as "Silent Sam" to its former location in a main quad of the Chapel Hill campus. The statue was torn down during a protest a week ago.

The Board of Governors' resolution simply directs the Chapel Hill campus chancellor and trustees to develop a plan for the statue's "disposition and preservation" by Nov. 15.

FILE- In this Monday, Aug. 20, 2018 file photo, police stand guard after the confederate statue known as Silent Sam was toppled by protesters on campus at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. Police are filing charges against three people who they say helped bring down the Confederate statue at North Carolina's flagship university. University of North Carolina Police issued a statement Friday, Aug. 24, 2018, that the department has filed warrants for three people on charges of misdemeanor rioting and defacing a public monument. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, File)

The resolution calls for "a plan for a lawful and lasting path that protects public safety, preserves the monument and its history, and allows the University to focus on its core mission of education ..."

The statewide board and the Chapel Hill trustees held separate meetings behind closed doors to discuss legal options for dealing with the aftermath of the statue's toppling on Aug. 20.

After the meetings, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt told reporters that university leaders will consider "all options" of where to put the statue, including possibly displaying it again on campus, with an aim of balancing visibility and access with public safety.

The bronze statue is currently in temporary storage in an undisclosed location.

Every Board of Governors member who joined the meeting voted in favor of the resolution except for Thom Goolsby. The lawyer and former state legislator has argued the statue should be swiftly returned to its pedestal in the quadrangle known as McCorkle Place.

"I cannot support the motion as it is written. I believe the time frame is too long especially in light of the violence, the ongoing threats and the continuing danger on our college campuses," he said before the vote.

The Board of Governors also approved an external review of the university's preparation for the protest and the police response.

The statue was yanked down on Aug. 20 after several hundred demonstrators gathered on the Chapel Hill campus, protesting what they consider its racist symbolism. They raised banners to conceal people tying the rope, and marched into the streets to draw officers away from the statue, according to videos. Officers also were less confrontational than they were at a similar protest a year ago.

So far, three people accused of helping tear the statue down face misdemeanor charges of rioting and defacing a public monument. Arrest warrants said they damaged it by "pulling it down from its base," but the warrants don't elaborate on what else investigators know about how protesters executed their plan. One of the three is scheduled to appear in court Thursday and the other two next week.

A fourth protester was charged with misdemeanor counts of resisting officers and wearing a mask before the statue came down.

Seven others face charges related to a protest that happened on Saturday, after the statue's toppling. Several appeared in court Monday.

___

Follow Derosier at www.twitter.com/xanderosier and Drew at www.twitter.com/JonathanLDrewDespite a strong economy, about 40 percent of American families struggled to meet at least one of their basic needs last year, including paying for food, health care, housing or utilities.

That's according to an Urban Institute survey of nearly 7,600 adults that found that the difficulties were most prevalent among adults with lower incomes or health issues. But it also revealed that people from all walks of life were running into similar hardships.

The findings issued Tuesday by the nonprofit research organization highlight the financial strains experienced by many Americans in an otherwise strong economy.

FILE- In this Sept. 28, 2017, file photo low lying morning fog covers part of San Francisco. Despite a strong economy, about 40 percent of American families struggled to meet one of their basic needs last year, according to a new study by the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research organization. That includes paying for food, health care, housing or utilities. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

The average unemployment rate for 2017 was 4.4 percent, a low that followed years of decline. But having a job doesn't ensure families will be able to meet their basic needs, said Michael Karpman, one of the study's authors. Among the households with at least one working adult, more than 30 percent reported hardship.

"Economic growth and low unemployment alone do not ensure everyone can meet their basic needs," the authors wrote.

Food insecurity was the most common challenge: More than 23 percent of households struggled to feed their family at some point during the year. That was followed by problems paying a family medical bill, reported by about 18 percent. A similar percentage didn't seek care for a medical need because of the cost.

Additionally, roughly 13 percent of families missed a utility bill payment at some point during the year. And 10 percent of families either didn't pay the full amount of their rent or mortgage, or they paid it late.

While startling data to some, it comes as no surprise to those Americans who are struggling to get by.

Debra Poppelaars of Nashville, Tennessee, underwent spinal fusion surgery last fall and was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly thereafter. Although she is insured, she owes roughly $19,000 for her portion of the medical bills.

Between disability, a job change and the mounting debt, she hasn't been able to make ends meet and is now facing bankruptcy.

"It's very hard at 64 years old, I look back and think I am in this position and I should be able to retire," she said.

Jerri Wood of Renton, Washington, says she makes choices each month to pay one bill instead of another as she struggles to pay for her health care. Wood has lived for years with a brain tumor that requires regular monitoring and was recently diagnosed with diabetes that she takes insulin to manage.

Rising costs for her care, even with insurance, have her juggling bills to get by - such as paying her cellphone or electricity bill one month and not the next. And she still feels like one of the lucky ones as she is able to survive.

"There is such a need for safety nets, so many people are in this position," she said.

The Urban Institute survey comes at a time when lawmakers are considering cuts to some safety-net programs, such as Medicaid, SNAP and housing assistance.

The researchers said that lawmakers run the risk of increasing the rate of hardship if they reduce support services.

It is the first study on the subject by the DC-based organization, which looks at economic and social policy issues. The institute plans to conduct the study every year to track the well-being of families as the economy and safety net systems evolve.

FILE- In this June 14, 2018, file photo, nectarines, plums, mangos and peaches are marked at a fruit stand in a grocery store in Aventura, Fla. Despite a strong economy, about 40 percent of American families struggled to meet one of their basic needs last year, according to a new study by the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research organization. That includes paying for food, health care, housing or utilities. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)BERLIN (AP) - Germany's top security official offered to send federal assistance to the eastern state of Saxony on Tuesday following violence during a far-right protest in the city of Chemnitz that left at least 18 people injured.

The protest late Monday, sparked by the killing of a 35-year-old German man in an altercation with migrants over the weekend, erupted into clashes between neo-Nazis and left-wing counter-protesters. Opposition parties criticized police for failing to prevent the violence.

"The police in Saxony are in a difficult situation," Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said. "Should it be requested, the federal government will provide police support."

Protesters light fireworks during a far-right demonstration in Chemnitz, Germany, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018 after a man has died and two others were injured in an altercation between several people of "various nationalities" in the eastern German city of Chemnitz on Sunday. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

He was backed by Chancellor Angela Merkel, who condemned the violence.

"Should Saxony need help to maintain law and order, and to uphold the law, the federal government stands ready," she said.

Saxony's police chief Juergen Georgie acknowledged authorities had underestimated the size of the protest. Initial estimates had forecasts about 1,000 far-right protesters and half that number of counter-protesters would descend on Chemnitz, he said.

In the end, some 600 officers struggled to prevent 6,000 supporters of the far-right from breaking through police lines. Footage showed demonstrators performing Nazi salutes and chanting "the national resistance is marching here!"

Georgie said the police presence in Chemnitz would be stepped up in the coming days, with more protests planned.

Green lawmaker Konstantin von Notz urged Seehofer to consider resigning, accusing him of fanning anti-migrant sentiment over the past year. Von Notz told the news portal t-online.de that the violence in Chemnitz recalled events elsewhere in eastern Germany during the early 1990s, when authorities failed to stop far-right mobs from attacking migrants.

The state of Saxony has long been a hotbed of anti-migrant sentiment, with some accusing police of turning a blind eye to sympathizersin their own ranks . The far-right Alternative for Germany party received almost a quarter of the vote in Chemnitz last year.

Chemnitz police said they have arrested a 22-year-old Syrian and a 21-year-old Iraqi on suspicion of manslaughter in the stabbing death of the German man after a street festival early Sunday. Prosecutors said the killing was preceded by a verbal confrontation that escalated.

Saxony's governor slammed far-right extremists for using the man's death as a political tool and for spreading false information online about it. While the influx of migrants to Germany in recent years has resulted in a rise in violent crime , experts have noted that this is largely due to demographic factors: young men, who make up a large share of the migrant population, are generally more likely to commit crimes, whether they're German or foreign-born.

Governor Michael Kremtscher said authorities would swiftly and thoroughly investigate the killing but will also come down hard on those who had stoked violence in its wake, including attacks on migrants on the sidelines of the protest.

"We will show that we have a strong state," he told reporters in Dresden, noting that pastfar-rightattacks in the state had demonstrated the need for grassroots efforts to prevent extremism.

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas expressed concern that Germany's reputation could suffer as a result of violent far-right protests.

"We have to keep in mind that these are pictures that will be seen abroad," Maas told reporters in Berlin. "But I don't think that what was seen there even comes close to reflecting the reality in Germany. I firmly believe that the majority of people living in this country want an open and tolerant country."

___

Follow Frank Jordans on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/wirereporter

People light candles as part of a demonstration in Chemnitz, Germany, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018 after a man has died and two others were injured in an altercation between several people of "various nationalities" in the eastern German city on Sunday. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

In this Aug. 27, 2018 photo police officers run during protests in Chemnitz, Germany. Authorities in the eastern German city of Chemnitz were braced for rival protests Monday amid tensions over the killing of a man in what police described as a dispute between "several people of various nationalities." The killing sparked spontaneous protests by hundreds of people late Sunday in Chemnitz, a city where almost a quarter voted for the far-right Alternative for Germany party last year. (Andreas Seidel/dpa via AP)

A police officer pushes a man during a demonstration in Chemnitz, Germany, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018 after a man has died and two others were injured in an altercation between several people of "various nationalities" in the eastern German city of Chemnitz on Sunday. Slogan reads 'No Access For Terror'. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

Young men attend a demonstration in Chemnitz, Germany, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018 after a man has died and two others were injured in an altercation between several people of "various nationalities" in the eastern German city of Chemnitz on Sunday. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

Men shout during a far-right protest in Chemnitz, Germany, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018 after a man has died and two others were injured in an altercation between several people of "various nationalities" in the eastern German city of Chemnitz on Sunday. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

Protesters light fireworks during a far-right demonstration in Chemnitz, Germany, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018 after a man has died and two others were injured in an altercation between several people of "various nationalities" in the eastern German city of Chemnitz on Sunday. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

Men shout during a far-right protest in Chemnitz, Germany, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018 after a man has died and two others were injured in an altercation between several people of "various nationalities" in the eastern German city of Chemnitz on Sunday. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

Protesters carry a wreath as they gather for a far-right protest in Chemnitz, Germany, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018 after a man has died and two others were injured in an altercation between several people of "various nationalities" in the eastern German city of Chemnitz on Sunday. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

Protesters gather for a far-right protest in Chemnitz, Germany, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018 after a man has died and two others were injured in an altercation between several people of "various nationalities" in the eastern German city of Chemnitz on Sunday. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

Protesters gather for a far-right protest in front of a Karl Marx monument in Chemnitz, Germany, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018 after a man has died and two others were injured in an altercation between several people of "various nationalities" in the eastern German city of Chemnitz on Sunday. Slogan reads 'We Are Colorful Until Blood Splashes' (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)Under the pressure from Iran and the interests of European firms operating in the country, the EU recently announced a US$20.7 million package in support of Irans sustainable socio-economic development projects, including capital for the development of the private sector. This is the first sum in a EUR50 million aid package that the EU intends to offer to help Iran deal with its economic and social challenges, as committed to within the framework of the Iran nuclear deal, officially named the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The US Department of State (DOS) criticised that the EUs plan to support Iran came at the wrong moment and could send a misleading message to the Tehran administration. The head of the DOSs Iran Action Group, Brian Hook, expressed his concern that the EU support will lead the Iranian administration to continue the policies, which are said by Washington to produce threats to regional security. In the face of the risks of economic losses due to the USs unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA and its imposition of new sanctions on Iran, Irans Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, stated that Tehran still awaits guarantees for its oil sales and financial transactions from the EU.

Forced to choose between interests in Iran and the binding relationships in business with the US, a number of European companies withdrew from Iran as US sanctions against Teheran came into effect on August 6. French energy giant Total officially withdrew from its multi-billion dollar investment project in the aim of protecting its interests amid fears of US sanctions. French automaker PSA, including the brands of Peugeot, Citroen and Opel, announced last June that it was planning to cease operations in Iran, one of PSAs major foreign market in terms of sales revenues. Franco-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR is concerned about the fate of the 20 aircraft Iran has ordered. French airline Air France will stop flights to the Iranian capital of Tehran on September 18, explaining that its business operations have become ineffective as a result of new US sanctions against Iran. Air Frances decision came just after the UKs British Airways announced it would cease operations of its direct flights to Tehran in September as the route is no longer commercially feasible. Last month, Dutch airline KLM also stopped providing flights to Tehran due to negative business results and financial outlook. Italy suffered damage in railroads and shipbuilding as Italys state railways, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, signed a contract to build a highway linking Qom and Arak in northern Iran. Shipbuilding firm Fincantieri, engineering firm Maire Tecnimont, and boiler manufacturer Immergas, are also sitting on fire as they have signed an array of deals with Iran.

The runaway wave of many European companies from Iran has caused huge economic losses for both sides. The EU has issued a law in response to US sanctions against businesses operating in Iran, which allows the European Investment Bank to fund projects in Iran. However, moves from Europe are not enough to protect the interests of both the EU countries and Iran. Iran has urged more drastic measures from Europe, while calling on the people to unite in order to overcome the economic pressures of the US.

While Europe neglected US protests to continue working with Iran in implementing the JCPOA, the US repeatedly threatened to impose tougher sanctions on Teheran. In the face of such an ally and a no. 1 economic partner as the US, Europe is seeking a solution to save itself from getting stuck in a tense US-Iran confrontation.PARIS (AP) - France's high-profile environment minister unexpectedly announced his resignation live on national radio Tuesday, lamenting the government's lack of decisive action on green issues. The move deals a stinging blow to the environmental credibility of President Emmanuel Macron.

Clearly emotional, Nicolas Hulot said he'd not even told his wife, let alone Macron or the prime minister, of his decision to stand down. The long-time environmental advocate lamented France's slow pace of progress on green issues and his own lack of power to force change.

His on-air resignation on France Inter radio was so out of the blue that the first reaction from an interviewer was: "Are you serious?"

FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017 file picture Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot, looks on, as French President Emmanuel Macron delivers his speech during a meeting at Rungis international food market, near Paris, France. France's high-profile environment minister, former TV personality Nicolas Hulot, has unexpectedly announced his resignation live on national radio, dealing a blow to the lofty green ambitions of President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)

"I no longer want to lie to myself," Hulot said. "I don't want to create the illusion that my presence in government means that we're up to standard on these issues, and so I am deciding to quit the government."

Recruiting Hulot as a minister had been a coup for Macron, who has sought to position France as a champion in the fight against environmental degradation and as a counterweight to the climate change attitudes of President Donald Trump.

Losing Hulot so suddenly will force a ministerial reshuffle and casts doubt on the strength of Macron's commitment to "make our planet great again." Macron's office confirmed there will be a reshuffle, but said it won't happen while the French leader is visiting Denmark and Finland this week.

Speaking in Denmark, Macron defended his government as having "done more than any other on this subject." He urged patience, saying: "It's a fight that isn't won from one day to the next."

Hulot expressed hope that his resignation would stir French politicians and the public into action, calling it "an act of mobilization."

"I no longer believe," Hulot said. "The planet is becoming an oven, our natural resources are being exhausted, biodiversity is melting like snow in the sun and it's not always dealt with like a priority issue."

He damned Macron's government with faint praise as he sprang his resignation surprise.

"France is doing more than a lot of other countries. Do not make me say that it is doing enough. It is not doing enough. Europe is not doing enough. The world is not doing enough," he said.

Never a career politician, Hulot accepted a role in government in the hope that, from an inside position, he could make real progress on the environmental concerns that he has long sounded the alarm about. He was one of just two ministers given the special title of "minister of state." The other is the interior minister, who leads the police and France's domestic fight against terrorism.

On France Inter, Hulot said short-term pressures were taking priority in the French government over the longer-term need to reverse environmental destruction. He described himself as "all alone" and said: "I have a bit of influence, but I have no power and no means."

"Where are my troops? Who do I have behind me?" he asked.

Hulot said he'd been mulling his resignation for several months, but one of the last straws was a meeting Monday with Macron about hunting. Hulot was dismayed to see that a hunting lobbyist was allowed to take part despite not being invited, seeing this as a symbol of lobbyists' influence in French corridors of power.

Macron's critics seized on Hulot's departure to take swipes at the president, whose popularity ratings have slid in recent months.

Leftist leader Jean-Luc Melenchon tweeted that "Macronism is starting to decompose."

___

AP writer Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.

FILE - In this Friday, July 27, 2018 file picture French President Emmanuel Macron, right, flanked with French Minister of the Ecological and Social Transition Nicolas Hulot, left, attends a summit for Energy Interconnections at the European Maritime Safety Agency headquarters in Lisbon, Portugal. France's high-profile environment minister, former TV personality Nicolas Hulot, has unexpectedly announced his resignation live on national radio, dealing a blow to the lofty green ambitions of President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Armando Franca, File)COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - Denmark can do more in Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron declared Tuesday as he pushed for a more closely united European Union and a continent that takes more responsibility for its own defense.

On the first day of a two-day visit, Macron pressed the case that the EU shouldn't rely so much on the United States for its own security.

Denmark has a defense opt-out clause in its EU ties, meaning it does not take part in military matters. The Danish government and a majority of lawmakers want the defense waiver to be removed but are hesitant about calling a referendum on it since previous votes on the topic have been defeated twice.

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, looks at Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen during their joint press conference at Christiansborg Castle Castle in Copenhagen Denmark, Tuesday Aug. 28, 2018. Macron is on a two-day visit, hoping to build the relationships he needs to push France's agenda of a more closely united European Union. (Olafur Steinar Gestsson/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

"I believe Denmark is too modest about its European commitment," Macron told a news conference after talks with Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen. "I think Denmark can do even more in Europe.

"I am not calling for a referendum but for a debate, and it shouldn't just be black or white," Loekke Rasmussen said.

Macron's visit came as France's high-profile environment minister Nicolas Hulot unexpectedly announced his resignation on national radio Tuesday, dealing a blow to the French president's lofty green ambitions.

"Europe is not doing enough. The world is not doing enough," Hulot said. "The planet is becoming an oven, our natural resources are being exhausted, biodiversity is melting like snow in the sun and it's not always dealt with like a priority issue."

Macron initially said he doesn't usually comment on French affairs while abroad, but later called the resignation a personal choice, adding that France would "continue its work" on combatting climate change.

Macron was greeted by Denmark's Queen Margrethe at Copenhagen Airport and laid a wreath at a monument for fallen Danish soldiers before his talks with the Danish prime minister. Later he was joining a debate with students.

Macron also was to visit the site of the Feb. 14, 2015, terror attack in Copenhagen that left two dead and five wounded.

France's departing ambassador to Denmark, Francois Zimeray, had attended a freedom of speech event targeted by the lone gunman, Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, who sprayed venue with gunfire and killed a bystander. Zimeray was unharmed.

El-Hussein later was also behind a second shooting outside Copenhagen's main synagogue where a guard was killed. The shooter was shot dead hours later.

On Wednesday, Macron will start a two-day visit to Helsinki, where he meets Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Juha Sipila.

French President Emmanuel Macron , left, shakes hands with Denmark's Queen Margrethe as he arrives with his wife Brigitte at Amalienborg Castle in Copenhagen Denmark, Tuesday Aug. 28, 2018. Macron is on a two-day visit, hoping to build the relationships he needs to push France's agenda of a more closely united European Union. (Martin Sylvest/Ritzau via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron greets 96 year old Evald Brinck during a wreath laying ceremony with Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik, at the Citadel of Copenhagen, in honor of fallen Danish soldiers on international missions, Tuesday Aug. 28, 2018. Evald Brinck is the last surviving Dane that participated with the allies on D day in 1944. French President Emmanuel Macron is on a two-day visit, hoping to build the relationships he needs to push France's agenda of a more closely united European Union. (Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

French first lady Brigitte Macron, left shakes hands with Denmark's Queen Margrethe as she and President Emannuel Macron arrive at Amalienborg Castle in Copenhagen Denmark, Tuesday Aug. 28, 2018. Macron is on a two-day visit, hoping to build the relationships he needs to push France's agenda of a more closely united European Union. (Martin Sylvest/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron attends a wreath laying ceremony with Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik, at the Citadel of Copenhagen, in honor of fallen Danish soldiers on international missions, Tuesday Aug. 28, 2018. French President Emmanuel Macron is on a two-day visit, hoping to build the relationships he needs to push France's agenda of a more closely united European Union. (Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron and Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik attend a wreath laying ceremony at the Citadel of Copenhagen, in honor of fallen Danish soldiers on international missions, Tuesday Aug. 28, 2018. French President Emmanuel Macron is on a two-day visit, hoping to build the relationships he needs to push France's agenda of a more closely united European Union. (Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron meets with Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen, right, at Christiansborg Castle in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday Aug. 28, 2018. French President Emmanuel Macron is on a two-day visit, hoping to build the relationships he needs to push France's agenda of a more closely united European Union. (Nils Meilvang/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, talks with Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen during their meeting at Christiansborg Castle Castle in Copenhagen Denmark, Tuesday Aug. 28, 2018. Macron is on a two-day visit, hoping to build the relationships he needs to push France's agenda of a more closely united European Union. (Olafur Steinar Gestsson/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron, left and first lady Brigitte Macron, second arrive at Amalienborg Castle where they are officially welcomed by Denmark's Queen Margrethe, centre and Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik, left and Crown Princess Mary in Copenhagen Denmark, Tuesday Aug. 28, 2018. Macron is on a two-day visit, hoping to build the relationships he needs to push France's agenda of a more closely united European Union. (Tariq Mikkel Khan/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)ROME (AP) - An Italian journalist who says he helped a former Vatican diplomat pen his bombshell allegation of sex abuse cover-up against Pope Francis says he persuaded the archbishop to go public after the U.S. church was thrown into turmoil by revelations in the Pennsylvania grand jury report.

Marco Tosatti said he helped Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano write, rewrite and edit his 11-page testimony, saying the two sat side-by-side at a wooden table in Tosatti's living room for three hours on Aug. 22.

Tosatti, a leading Italian critic of Francis, told The Associated Press that Vigano had called him a few weeks ago out of the blue asking to meet, and then proceeded to tell him the information that became the basis of the testimony.

Pope Francis gestures as he answers to a journalist's question during a press conference aboard of the flight to Rome at the end of his two-day visit to Ireland, Sunday, Aug. 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, Pool)

Vigano's document alleges that Francis knew of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick's sexual misconduct starting in 2013, but rehabilitated him from sanctions that Pope Benedict XVI had imposed. The claims have shaken Francis' five-year papacy.

Vigano called for Francis to resign over what he said was complicity in covering up McCarrick's crimes. There is ample evidence, however, that the Vatican under Benedict and St. John Paul II also covered up that information, and that any sanctions Benedict imposed were never enforced.

Vigano has kept largely quiet since the bombshell testimony Sunday, and his whereabouts are unknown. As a result, Tosatti's reconstruction provides the only insight into how the document came about.

Tosatti, a longtime correspondent for Italian daily La Stampa but who now writes largely for more conservative blogs and newspapers, said after their initial meeting a few weeks ago, Vigano said he wasn't prepared to go public. They had been acquaintances, not friends, and Vigano said he needed to settle some personal matters before proceeding.

But Tosatti said he called him after the Pennsylvania grand jury report published Aug. 15 alleged some 300 priests in six Pennsylvania dioceses abused more than 1,000 children over the past 70 years, and that a sequence of bishops had covered it up.

Tosatti said he told Vigano: "I think that if you want to say something, now is the moment, because everything is going upside-down in the United States. He said 'OK.'"

The two then met at Tosatti's Rome apartment. Initially, Tosatti thought Vigano would give him an interview, but then Vigano decided to put his thoughts on paper.

"He had prepared some kind of a draft of a document and he sat here by my side," Tosatti told the AP from behind his desk, pointing to the wooden chair to his right. "I told him that we had to work on it really because it was not in a journalistic style."

Tosatti said he persuaded Vigano to cut claims that couldn't be substantiated or documented "because it had to be absolutely waterproof." Tosatti said Vigano was "deadly serious" the whole time, and that both emerged physically and emotionally exhausted.

Tosatti said Vigano was well aware of the implications of the document and what it took for a Holy See diplomat to reveal secrets he had kept for years.

"They are brought up to die silent," Tosatti said of Holy See diplomats. "So what he was doing, what he was going to do, was something absolutely against his nature."

But he said Vigano felt compelled to publish out of a sense of duty to the Catholic Church and to clear his conscience.

"He enjoys a good health but 77 is an age where you start preparing yourself ... he couldn't have a clear conscience unless he spoke," Tosatti said.

Document in hand, Tosatti then set out to find publications willing to publish it in its entirety: the small Italian daily La Verita, the English-language National Catholic Register and LifeSiteNews and the Spanish online site InfoVaticana.

All are conservative or ultraconservative media that have been highly critical of Francis' mercy-over-morals papacy.

The English and Spanish publications translated the Italian document and all agreed on a Sunday morning embargo, coinciding with the second and final day of Francis' trip to Ireland, where the Catholic church's sex abuse and cover-up scandal dominated his trip.

Tosatti said Vigano didn't tell him where he was going after the article came out, knowing that the world's media would be clamoring to speak with him.

As Tosatti accompanied Vigano to his door, he bent down to kiss Vigano's ring - a sign of respect for Catholic bishops.

"He tried to say 'No.' I told him 'It's not for you, it's for the role that you (play) that I do it,'" Tosatti said. "He didn't say anything. He went away, but he was crying."ATHENS, Greece (AP) - A Greek anarchist group has staged a protest at Foreign Ministry building in central Athens to oppose Greek-Israeli energy and military cooperation as well as the decision by the United States to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

In the videotaped protest posted online, two members of the Greek anarchist group Rubicon climbed into the ministry compound and left a bag near the entrance. The group said it contained a Palestinian flag and photographs of Palestinian protesters shot dead by Israeli forces during demonstrations that coincided with the U.S. Embassy move in May.

No arrests were reported.

Greece has improved ties with Israel in recent years, and the two countries hold regular military exercises in the region, often joined by U.S. forces.BEIJING (AP) - China said Tuesday it isn't blocking action by the United Nations on the issue of Muslim Rohingya refugees, but that it doesn't believe sanctions or criticism of Myanmar's government will help resolve the crisis.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying's comments came a day after investigators working for the U.N.'s top human rights body said Myanmar military leaders should be prosecuted for genocide against the Rohingya.

China is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council with veto power over whether the issue will be brought before the International Criminal Court. It has been reticent about condemning Myanmar's government during the crisis.

FILE - In this Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018, file photo, Rohingya women cry as they shout slogans during a protest rally to commemorate the first anniversary of Myanmar army's crackdown which lead to a mass exodus of Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh, at Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh. China is denying it blocked action by the United Nations on the issue of Muslim Rohingya refugees but says it doesn't believe sanctions or criticism of Myanmar's government will help resolve the crisis. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, File)

Hua said China believes the Rohingya issue has a complex historical, religious and ethnic background and China wishes to play a "constructive role" in finding a proper solution.

"You said China blocked the relevant U.N. discussions or actions; I cannot agree with you," Hua said in response to a question at a daily ministry briefing. "We don't think unilateral sanctions or criticisms would help with settling the issue."

More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled into neighboring Bangladesh over the past year to escape a Myanmar government crackdown that followed rebel attacks on security and police posts.SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) - Bosnia's journalists held protests for a second day on Tuesday to express solidarity with a reporter from an independent Bosnian Serb television station who was badly beaten by unknown assailants.

BNTV reporter Vladimir Kovacevic was hospitalized following the beating late Sunday outside his home in Banja Luka, the main town in the Serb-run part of Bosnia.

Hundreds of journalists gathered Tuesday in the Bosnian municipalities of Sarajevo, Zenica and Mostar, demanding an end to attacks on journalists in the war-ravaged country.

Bosnian journalists shows banners with the text "Journalism is not a crime" and " Stop violence against journalists" in downtown Sarajevo to protest against the beating of a journalist in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. Bosnia's journalists have held protests for a second day to express solidarity with a reporter from an independent Bosnian Serb television station who was badly beaten by unknown assailants. (AP Photo/Amel Emric)

Some journalists in Sarajevo held notes reading "Journalism is no crime." Participants said that media freedom has been in jeopardy in Bosnia ever since the 1992-95 war.

Faruk Kajtaz, who heads the journalists' club of Bosnia, said "this is a problem that is definitely escalating."

"I fear what is going to happen next, especially because we have the election campaign coming," he added, referring to the Oct. 7 general vote.

Also Tuesday, some television stations aired a black-and-red message reading "Stop violence against journalists in Bosnia!"

Prosecutors have said they are treating Kovacevic's beating as attempted murder, while Bosnian Serb police said Tuesday they have questioned more than 20 people and found evidence.

BNTV has faced criticism from Bosnian Serb authorities for its independent editorial policies. A regional Balkan journalism network said Tuesday that Bosnia's politicians have created an "atmosphere of fear and violence."

"If this case remains unresolved, we will consider that the authorities are behind the attack on Kovacevic," the statement added.

Journalists protested in Banja Luka on Monday.

In this photo provided by the Bosnian TV station BNTV on Monday Aug. 27, 2018, journalist Vladimir Kovacevic is hospitalized after he was beaten in Banja Luka, Bosnia, late Sunday. The U.S. Embassy in Bosnia and Bosnian journalists expressed outrage Monday after two masked assailants attacked and seriously hurt Vladimir Kovacevic, a reporter for an independent Bosnian Serb television station BNTV. (BNTV via AP)CHICAGO (AP) - A suburban Chicago girl has received a heart transplant just days after she danced her way into a hospital visit from Drake.

Surgeons performed the transplant on 11-year-old Sofia Sanchez on Monday at Chicago's Lurie Children's Hospital. The Canadian rapper visited Sofia there after seeing a video of her dancing in a hospital hallway to his song, "In My Feelings." The video inspired a viral dance craze.

Cardiovascular surgeon Carl Backer says Sofia's nine-hour surgery went extremely well, although the first 48 hours after are critical.

This Monday, Aug, 20, 2018 photo provided by the rapper Drake shows him posing with Sofia Sanchez, at Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago. Drake surprised her after she recorded a video of herself dancing to the rapper's "In My Feelings" and invited him to her birthday party. Sanchez is awaiting a heart transplant. (OVO/Drake via AP)

A Facebook video shows Sofia being told of the transplant on Sunday and then exclaiming "I'm getting a heart, Mom? Oh my God!"

___

This story has been corrected to show that the surgery took nine, not 12 hours.COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - Danish police say a 43-year-old man has been charged with illegally smuggling 1.3 tons (1.4 short tons) of amphetamine and about 13.8 tons (15.2 short tons) of hashish into Denmark, in one of the Scandinavian country's biggest cases.

The Copenhagen police say the man, who cannot be identified under a court order, has been in pre-trial jail since July 2017 and would face a trial in October.

In a statement Tuesday, police said the man smuggled the drugs between February 2015 and June 2017. Police declined Tuesday to give further details.CAIRO (AP) - An Egyptian court has sentenced six people to death for their roles in a 2016 militant attack on a security checkpoint north of Cairo that killed a policeman.

Cairo Criminal Court on Tuesday also sentenced two defendants to life in prison and four others, including a 15-year-old, to between 3 and 15 years.

All were charged with "establishing a terrorist group" among other charges for the attack on security forces.

The death sentences came after the court received approval from the grand mufti, the country's highest Islamic authority.

Egypt has cracked down on suspected Islamists since the military ousted an elected but divisive Islamist president in 2013. Since then, hundreds of Islamists, including Muslim Brotherhood members, have been sentenced to death. The authorities have carried out dozens of executions.WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S home prices climbed 6.3 percent in June from a year earlier, as affordability is becoming a greater obstacle for would-be buyers.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose at a slightly slower pace than the 6.5 percent annual gain in May from a year earlier, according to a report Tuesday. But home values are increasing at more than double the pace of average wage growth, weighing down property sales despite solid demand because of accelerating economic growth and solid hiring.

Mortgage rates are also higher than a year ago, creating another price pressure for would-be buyers. The National Association of Realtors said that sales of existing homes have declined for the past four months. Despite the sales slowdown, inventories remain tight and that has meant that buyers - especially those searching for homes worth less than $250,000 - have scant options.

FILE- In this June 8, 2018, file photo a for sale sign stands in front of a house, in Jenkintown, Pa. On Tuesday, Aug. 28, the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index for June is released. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

"Sellers, for now and for the foreseeable future, are still in control in this market," said Aaron Terrazas, a senior economist at the real estate company Zillow.

Home prices in three metro areas have increased by double digits in the past year: Las Vegas (13 percent), Seattle (12.8 percent) and San Francisco (10.7 percent). The smallest annual growth in prices was in Washington, D.C. (2.9 percent), Chicago (3.3 percent) and New York City (3.8 percent).The meeting between Turkey, Russia and Iran, the three guarantors of a cease-fire deal in Syria, comes ahead of increasing international efforts in reaching a solution to the Syrian crisis.

The summit will be held in the northern Iranian city of Tabriz, according to broadcaster TRT Haber.

The three countries have been mediating a peace process for the Syrian crisis since 2016.

Ankara has been urging against an impending military operation by the Syrian forces targeting the rebel-held Idlib Province, citing concerns of civilian casualties and a possible refugee influx toward Turkish border.

The Syrian government aims to clear Idlib of militants, who have been controlling the province since early 2017.

The latest trilateral summit of Astana process was held in Ankara in April, with the participation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on a proposal to rename the Senate's oldest office building for John McCain (all times local):

3:50 p.m.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he was not notified in advance that Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer would propose renaming a Senate office building in honor of the late Sen. John McCain.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., joined by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., left, and Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, speaks with reporters following their weekly policy meetings, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

McConnell, a Republican, says he will form a bipartisan committee to determine a fitting tribute for the Arizona Republican, who died Saturday of brain cancer.

McConnell says the bipartisan committee is similar to one created to honor Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy after his death in 2009. McConnell says both McCain and Kennedy were considered "lions of the Senate" because of their long service and outsized stature in the chamber.

McConnell says the bipartisan panel will convene after McCain's funeral and burial so lawmakers can consider what to do "in a calmer environment."

__

11 a.m.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is hitting the brakes on a push to rename the Senate's oldest office building for the late Sen. John McCain.

McConnell, a Republican, said Tuesday that he will form a bipartisan committee to determine a fitting tribute for the Arizona Republican.

He says "there's no shortage of good ideas," including naming the hearing room for the Senate Armed Service Committee after him. Another idea is to add a portrait of McCain to a reception room right off the Senate floor.

But McConnell was careful not to make a specific recommendation.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has proposed renaming the Russell Senate Office building in McCain's honor, but some Republicans are wary of that idea.

The building is named after Sen. Richard Russell, a Georgia Democrat who led opposition to civil rights legislation.

___

12:30 a.m.

A proposal to rename the Russell Senate Office building after Sen. John McCain appears to be gaining bipartisan support, but success is far from assured.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer proposed renaming the Senate's oldest office building in McCain's honor after the Arizona Republican died Saturday from brain cancer.

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who served with McCain for 31 years, says he's in favor of "naming almost any building" for McCain, but adds, "I'm not sure that I would make a decision on a specific building at this point."

The building is named after Sen. Richard Russell, a Georgia Democrat who, like McCain, chaired the Armed Services Committee.

Russell was a segregationist and led Southern opposition to anti-lynching bills and other civil rights legislation. He died in 1971.DALLAS (AP) - A white ex-police officer was convicted of murder Tuesday for fatally shooting a black, unarmed 15-year-old boy while firing into a car packed with teenagers in suburban Dallas, marking a rare guilty verdict in a police shooting case.

Dallas County jurors were not swayed by Roy Oliver's claim that he feared for his partner's life when he fired into the vehicle as it drove away from a large house party in Balch Springs in April 2017. The gunfire killed Jordan Edwards, who was sitting in the front passenger seat.

Gasps echoed around the courtroom as the verdict was read. Edwards' relatives sobbed and hugged prosecutors, waved their hands in the air and proclaimed "Thank you, Jesus!" after the jury left.

Odell Edwards and Charmaine Edwards, parents of Jordan Edwards, react to a guilty of murder verdict during a trial of fired Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver, who was charged with the murder of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. (Rose Baca/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Pool)

His father, Odell Edwards, briefly spoke outside the courtroom before heading back in to begin listening to the sentencing phase of the trial. He said he was thankful for the decision of the jury - which featured two black members out of 12 jurors and two alternates - and felt like jumping for joy.

"I just want to say I'm happy, very happy," he said, adding that it's "been a long time" since he felt that way.

Oliver faces between five and 99 years in prison, according to an Edwards family attorney.

Oliver and his partner were responding to a report of underage drinking at the house party. Police initially said the vehicle backed up toward officers "in an aggressive manner," but later said that bodycam video showed the vehicle was moving forward as officers approached. Oliver was fired just days after the shooting.

Oliver testified during the trial that he opened fire after seeing the car move toward his partner. But his partner told jurors he didn't fear for his life.

It's extremely rare for police officers to be tried and convicted of murder for shootings that occurred while they were on duty. Only six non-federal police officers have now been convicted of murder in such cases - and four of those were overturned - since 2005, according to data compiled by criminologist and Bowling Green State University professor Phil Stinson.

Stinson, who tracks such cases nationwide , told The Associated Press on Tuesday that to secure a murder conviction against an officer, the facts of a case have to be "so over the top and bizarre" that the officer's actions cannot be rationally explained.

Experts also say that securing a conviction against an officer is often a challenge because jurors are inclined to believe police testimony and criminal culpability in such cases is subjective.

Oliver was found not guilty on two lesser charges of aggravated assault stemming from the shooting. Jurors deliberated for two days before reaching the verdicts. The sentencing phase stretched into the evening Tuesday before jurors recessed for the day. Testimony will resume Wednesday.

"This was a long fought battle," said Daryl Washington, an attorney representing Odell Edwards in a civil lawsuit filed in the death. "We are just happy ... that Roy Oliver is gonna have to do his time for taking Jordan's life. What he did on that night should have never happened."

Washington said black children and teenagers across the country can now walk around a little safer because officers know they will be held accountable.

In closing arguments, defense attorneys told jurors they needed to evaluate the circumstances from Oliver's viewpoint and from what the former officer knew at the time.

But prosecutors described Oliver as out of control and looking for a reason to kill. They argued that his firing into the car wasn't reasonable.

The shooting came after Oliver and his partner, Tyler Gross, had broken up the party. Both officers were inside the residence when they heard gunfire outside and responded. Authorities later determined the shots were fired near a nursing home in the area.

Oliver retrieved his rifle and went toward Gross, who was ordering the car carrying Edwards to stop. Oliver testified that he saw the car back up and stop for a second before moving forward and going toward Gross.

Testifying in his own defense, Oliver told the jury the car was about to hit his partner. Oliver said he felt he had no other option but to fire. Gross, however, testified that he did not fear for his life and never felt the need to fire his weapon. He also said he didn't feel like the vehicle was trying to hit him.

Prosecutors said Oliver fired after the vehicle passed Gross. Investigators also said no guns were found in the teens' vehicle.

___

For the latest developments on this story: https://apnews.com/c6f1aebf73aa4cb8bebb65c2aac6c3ce

Fired Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver, center, and his attorneys Miles Brissette, left, and Bob Gill stand before the reading of the verdict during Oliver's trial at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. Oliver was convicted of murder on Tuesday for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager when he fired into a car full of teenagers leaving a house party in suburban Dallas. (Rose Baca/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Pool)

Defendant Roy Oliver, right, a fired Balch Springs police officer charged with the murder of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, and his defense attorney Bob Gill speak after seeing a question from the jury indicating they can't reach a unanimous verdict during a trial of Oliver at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. Oliver was convicted of murder on Tuesday for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager when he fired into a car full of teenagers leaving a house party in suburban Dallas. (Rose Baca/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Pool)

Odell Edwards, father of Jordan Edwards, gets a hug from Dallas County district attorney Faith Johnson after hearing a guilty of murder verdict during the ninth day of the trial of fired Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver, who was charged with the murder of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. (Rose Baca/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Pool)

CORRECTS PHOTOGRAPHER TO RYAN MICHALESKO, NOT BACA - Alongside attorneys, Odell Edwards, right, father of Jordan Edwards, speaks to members of the media after a Dallas County jury found Roy Oliver, the former Balch Springs police officer who killed 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, guilty of murder during a trial of Oliver at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. Oliver was convicted of murder on Tuesday for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager when he fired into a car full of teenagers leaving a house party in suburban Dallas. (Ryan Michalesko/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Pool)

Odell Edwards, father of Jordan Edwards, speaks to members of the media after a Dallas County jury found Roy Oliver, the former Balch Springs police officer who killed 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, guilty of murder during a trial of Oliver at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. Oliver was convicted of murder on Tuesday for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager when he fired into a car full of teenagers leaving a house party in suburban Dallas. (Ryan Michalesko/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Pool)

Fired Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver, who was charged with the murder of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, sits before the reading of the verdict during his trial at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. Oliver was convicted of murder on Tuesday for fatally shooting the unarmed black teenager when he fired into a car full of teenagers leaving a house party in suburban Dallas. (Rose Baca/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Pool)

Lead prosecutor Michael Snipes reacts to seeing a question from the jury indicating they can't reach a unanimous verdict during a trial of fired Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver, who was charged with the murder of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. Oliver was convicted of murder on Tuesday for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager when he fired into a car full of teenagers leaving a house party in suburban Dallas. (Rose Baca/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Pool)TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - The Latest on the primary election in Florida (all times local):

9:30 p.m.

Former Clinton administration Cabinet member and university president Donna Shalala has won the Democratic nomination for a U.S. House seat in Florida.

A voter cast his ballot at the Miami-Dade County Palm Springs North Fire Station, during the Florida primary election, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, in Miami. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Shalala defeated four candidates Tuesday in the Miami-area race. Incumbent Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is retiring. The seat is widely viewed as one of the Democrats' best chances for a pickup.

Seventy-seven-year-old Shalala served eight years as President Bill Clinton's Health and Human Services secretary. She also was president of both the University of Miami and the University of Wisconsin.

Shalala banked that voters would see her experience as an asset. The Democratic candidates had similar positions on most key issues, such as tackling climate change, reducing gun violence, improving health care, and overhauling immigration. But none could match Shalala's lengthy record or familiar name.

___

9:10 p.m.

Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum has won the Democratic nomination in his quest to become Florida's first black governor.

Gillum won the primary Tuesday after upsetting a field of better-known and better funded candidates. He defeated a field that included former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, who aimed to follow her father to the office and become the state's first woman governor.

Gillum was a favorite among many groups that call themselves progressive Democrats. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont endorsed him.

Gillum spent only $6.5 million on a primary where billionaire Jeff Greene spent $38 million and millionaire former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine spent about $29 million of his fortune.

He faces Republican nominee U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis in the race to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Rick Scott.

___

8 p.m.

U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis has won Florida's Republican nomination for governor, with the help of President Donald Trump's endorsement to overtake an opponent with a long history in Florida politics.

DeSantis defeated Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam on Tuesday and faces the Democratic challenger in the race to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Rick Scott.

DeSantis entered the race in January and largely built his name recognition with near-nightly Fox News appearances. Trump's endorsement helped him overtake Putnam, who has held elected office nearly his entire adult life.

DeSantis is a former Navy lawyer who won his seat in 2012 running as a Washington outsider. He ran for Senate in 2016 but dropped out of the race when Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio decided to run for re-election after a failed presidential campaign.

___

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is heading into a bitter and expensive clash with U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson after an easy win in the Republican primary.

The looming battle between Scott and the three-term Democratic incumbent could help determine whether Republicans keep control of the U.S. Senate.

Nelson wasn't on the ballot Tuesday because no other Democrat challenged him in the state primary.

Scott defeated California businessman Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente, who earned attention this year by mounting U.S. Senate bids in multiple states.

The two-term governor is leaving office because of term limits and entered the race for Senate at the urging of President Donald Trump.

Scott's campaign has already spent millions on television ads bashing Nelson as an out-of-touch career politician. Recent polls have shown Scott with a slight lead.

___

3:50 p.m.

For Christi Lane Fritz and Kevin Fritz, the most important issues on their minds as they went to vote at a senior center in downtown Orlando were gun control and the environment.

They wanted to see a ban on the bump stock, waiting periods for gun purchases, tighter controls on assault weapons and stricter background check on gun buyers. Keeping the waters around the Florida peninsula free of oil rigs was at the top of their list "for tourism, for one thing, and our general health," said Kevin Fritz, who runs a communications firm.

The Orlando couple had a hard time deciding on the Democratic gubernatorial candidate since several of the five candidates shared so many similar positions. They settled on Gwen Graham within the last few days.

"There wasn't so much a defining factor as much as going with my gut," said Christi Lane Fritz.

____

3:50 p.m.

Corrie Decker has kids in public schools so education was her priority when she went to vote Tuesday at a senior center in downtown Orlando, dodging raindrops on the way. She wanted to see higher pay for teachers and a pullback from high-stakes testing.

"We need pressure from the government for testing to let up because my kids are very of stressed by all the testing," said Decker, who lives in Orlando. "It plays too big a role in our lives."

Decker and her husband were on the fence for a long time on who to vote for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. They don't have cable television and didn't see many candidate ads so they made their decision in the past few days by doing a lot of reading in newspapers and online. They picked Gwen Graham.

____

2:45 p.m.

A Florida Republican was trying to decide between a candidate for governor endorsed by President Donald Trump and the state's agriculture commissioner as he entered a polling place in Fort Lauderdale.

Don Cook, a 42-year-old who works in software marketing, says he was leaning toward agriculture commissioner Adam Putnam on Tuesday.

Cook says he's a "relationship guy" who votes for the candidates that give him the "warm and fuzzies." He described Putnam as having that "guy next door appeal," holding downhome barbeques while DeSantis made rounds on Fox television.

He says he wonders if Putnam's strategy will prevail because "the population watches the news."

___

1:35 p.m.

An 84-year-old Florida man says he's "done with Republicans," adding that he's for "any Democrat."

Jim McCauley and his 79-year-old wife Nancy voted for Gwen Graham for governor in the Democratic primary on Tuesday. They cast ballots at the Mainland, a retirement community in Pinellas Park, which is near St. Petersburg.

McCauley says he's always voted "by the man" and not the party. He didn't vote for President Donald Trump.

He says he and his wife remember when Graham's father, Bob Graham, was governor and were "very, very happy with him." He says they believe his daughter can follow in his footsteps.

Sixty-seven-year-old Sharon Grant drove her golf cart to the same polling place and voted for Republican Ron DeSantis for governor. She originally supported Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam but changed her support when Trump supported DeSantis.

___

12:20 p.m.

Concerns about climate change and school safety are the main reasons two South Florida voters say they are supporting former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine in the Democratic gubernatorial primary.

Michael Lefevre is a 29-year-old Democrat who works in the transportation industry. He said after voting Tuesday that Levine has been a "champion" of climate change. Lefevre added that he thinks South Florida should be better represented in the capital, Tallahassee.

Lefevre says he doesn't think President Donald Trump is much of a factor in Florida's statewide races. He says it is a senator's role, not a governor's, to stand up to the president. Lefevre also voted for Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, whose challenger in November is likely to be Republican Gov. Rick Scott.

Louis Carvajal is a 44-year-old former teacher who has a son. Carvajal says he voted for Levine because he views protecting schools as the No. 1 issue in the governor's race. He says he's not opposed to guns but believes some sort of restrictions should be placed on assault weapons.

(This item has been edited to correct spelling of "Lefevre.")

___

11:20 a.m.

A University of Miami political science professor says he voted for Gwen Graham in Florida's Democratic primary for governor because he believes 2018 is the year of the woman.

Gregory Koger also said he believes Graham will make the strongest candidate in November's general election. After casting his ballot on Tuesday, the 47-year-old said it was a tough choice because there were "a lot of good candidates" in the Democratic primary.

He said he believes Graham can "help turn out a lot of voters, make people feel enthusiastic and provide a nice contrast in the race." Graham is the daughter of former U.S. Senator and Florida Governor Bob Graham.

Koger cited Medicaid expansion as another reason he selected Graham because he feels it is "life or death for thousands of Floridians." He says it's "ridiculous" that Florida has been rejecting Medicaid expansion "so that the Republican legislators can have a personal talking point."

___

11:20 a.m.

President Donald Trump's endorsement played a major role in Josie Parke's decision to vote for U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis in Florida's Republican primary for governor.

The 68-year-old interior designer and architect from Coral Gables says she believes DeSantis is a "true Republican." After casting her ballot on Tuesday morning, Parke said she believes in Trump's policies and that DeSantis is also "a very conservative person."

While Parke said she supports the president, she added that she doesn't "love the way he opens his mouth too much, sometimes saying things that are not quite appropriate."

DeSantis is running against Agriculture Commission Adam Putnam in the Republican primary.

___

3:20 a.m.

Florida voters are going to the polls to select nominees to replace Republican Gov. Rick Scott in an election that's caught the attention of President Donald Trump.

Trump endorsed U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis in the Republican primary for governor over Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.

In the Democratic primary, former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham is seeking to win the nomination in hopes of following her father, Bob Graham, into the governor's office.

Graham is being challenged by former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, billionaire Jeff Greene and Orlando-area businessman Chris King.

Florida is also picking its nominees for agriculture commissioner and attorney general. And while Scott has a primary in the U.S. Senate race, it's a foregone conclusion that he'll cruise to victory in the effort to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

FILE - In this July 31, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis during a rally in Tampa, Fla. Florida voters are going to the polls, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, to select nominees to replace Republican Gov. Rick Scott in an election that's caught the attention of Trump. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)

A voter cast her ballot at the Miami-Dade County Palm Springs North Fire Station, during the Florida primary election, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, in Miami. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Voters wait in line to cast their ballots at the Miami-Dade County Palm Springs North Fire Station, during the Florida primary election, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, in Miami. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Utah police have arrested a man suspected of drunkenly firing gunshots that struck a public bus and a semitrailer.

Authorities say 57-year-old Michael Hinckley was arrested Monday after he interrupted investigators searching a nearby peach orchard in the city of Fruit Orchard north of Salt Lake City.

Davis County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Ty Berger says officers determined that Hinckley sometimes shoots his gun there. Authorities believe two shots accidently hit the vehicles on a nearby highway before dawn. The bus had a dozen passengers aboard. No one was hurt.

Hinckley is being held on suspicion of intoxication, disorderly conduct and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Berger says authorities are investigating a possible misdemeanor charge of discharging a weapon within city limits.

No attorney was listed for Hinckley in court records.SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - The bishop for the Catholic Diocese of San Jose has reversed course and said he will not live in a $2.3 million Silicon Valley home that the diocese bought for his retirement.

Bishop Patrick J. McGrath acknowledged he "erred in judgment" and said he plans instead to live in a rectory at one of the diocese's parishes, the San Jose Mercury News reported Tuesday. The house will be put up for sale.

"I failed to consider adequately the housing crisis in this valley and the struggles of so many families and communities in light of that crisis," McGrath said in a statement. "I have heard from many on this topic and I have decided not to move into this house."

File - In this May 25, 2018, file photo, Bishop Patrick McGrath blesses and dedicates the new Holy Cross Church in San Jose, Calif. The Catholic Diocese of San Jose has purchased a five-bedroom, $2.3 million home in Silicon Valley for its retiring bishop, which is raising some concerns among the diocese's 640,000 Catholics, given the church's mission of charity and serving the poor. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group via AP, File)

McGrath's reversal came after the purchase of the nearly 3,300-square-foot home (306-square meter) raised concerns among some of the diocese's 640,000 Catholics, given the church's mission of charity and serving the poor.

It also appeared at odds with McGrath's previously expressed concerns about housing inequality in Northern California, where soaring housing prices have pushed some lower-income residents into homelessness.

In 2016, McGrath co-authored an article backing a $950 million bond measure for affordable housing in which he wrote "too many children and families are living in cars or tripled up with other families in small homes because they can't afford the rent on their own."

"There is no moral or social justification, no justification whatsoever, for the lack of housing," he wrote.

The home has been described as similar to a Tuscan estate - with soaring ceilings, a "grand-sized chef's kitchen" and a "spa-like marble bathroom.

The bishop, 73, said any profit from the home sale will be donated to Charities Housing, a division of Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County.

"I assume full responsibility for this decision and I believe that the sale of the house is the appropriate action," he said.OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) - A Burkina Faso army official says eight security force members were killed when their vehicle hit an explosive device while driving in the country's east toward the Benin border.

The official said Tuesday the gendarmes and soldiers left the eastern regional capital, Fada, on Monday to support the gendarmerie in Pama in the far east where there had been an attack by jihadists. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not permitted to speak to the press on the matter.

The army said it is investigating and has arrested several suspects.

A few weeks ago, five gendarmes were killed in the same area.

Last week, suspected jihadists attacked security forces in the southwest and the north near the Mali border.VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - A jury has awarded $800,000 to the estate of a woman killed by police while in a car with a violent crime suspect who had fired at officers.

India Kager was killed when SWAT officers tried to arrest Angelo Perry, a suspect in four violent crimes. Both Kager and Perry were killed, while their 4-month-old child was unharmed in the backseat.

The jury decided that two of the officers whose bullets were found in Kager's body were grossly negligent. The other two were cleared. The department is supporting all the officers, who weren't charged.

The Virginian-Pilot reports that the money would come from the city of Virginia Beach, but may be held up by appeals.

___

Information from: The Virginian-Pilot, http://pilotonline.comLONDON (AP) - A fire has gutted a landmark Belfast building in a blaze that sent dark smoke billowing over the Northern Ireland capital.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service says it was called Tuesday morning to a blaze at the Bank Buildings, home to clothing retailer Primark.

Flames engulfed the roof of the structure, destroying the rooftop clock, before spreading through the five-story building.

Flames from a major blaze which has broken out at the Primark store in Belfast city centre, in Northern Ireland, Tuesday Aug. 28, 2018. The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service is currently in attendance at the scene. (Liam McBurney PA via AP)

Primark says shoppers and staff were evacuated safely, and police cordoned off the area as debris fell from the building.

The Bank Buildings date from the late 18th century, though the current structure was built around 1900. It was nearing the end of a major renovation.

Joan McCoy, president of the Royal Society of Ulster Architects, says it is "a sad day for Belfast."

A firefighter trains a hose on a major blaze which has broken out at the Primark store in Belfast city centre, in Northern Ireland, Tuesday Aug. 28, 2018. The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service is currently in attendance at the scene. (Liam McBurney PA via AP)

A firefighter trains a hose on a major blaze which has broken out at the Primark store in Belfast city centre, in Northern Ireland, Tuesday Aug. 28, 2018. The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service is currently in attendance at the scene. (Liam McBurney PA via AP)

Emergency services at the scene of a major blaze which has broken out at the Primark store in Belfast city centre, in Northern Ireland, Tuesday Aug. 28, 2018. (Liam McBurney PA via AP)

Emergency services at the scene of a major blaze which has broken out at the Primark store in Belfast city centre, in Northern Ireland, Tuesday Aug. 28, 2018. (Liam McBurney PA via AP)The statement said the National Assembly will vote for its leadership on September 6 before giving a vote of confidence to a new government on the same day.

Cambodia held its sixth general election on July 29 with 20 political parties contesting. The official results indicated that the ruling Cambodian People's Party of Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen won all 125 seats in the National Assembly.

Through the triumph, Hun Sen will continue to lead the government for another five years.WASHINGTON (AP) - Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, is getting more time to prepare for his second trial even as his attorneys say they will request that the case be moved from Washington to another location because of pretrial publicity.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said Tuesday that jury selection in Manafort's trial in the District of Columbia will begin as scheduled on Sept. 17, but opening statements will be delayed until the following week. The ruling came after Manafort's attorneys argued that they needed more time to sort through the more than 1,600 pieces of evidence that special counsel Robert Mueller's team intends to introduce at trial related to Ukrainian lobbying and political consulting work.

Manafort attorney Richard Westling also told the judge he plans to file a motion requesting the trial be moved out of Washington but said he didn't yet know what alternate location he would propose. Manafort's defense had unsuccessfully made a similar request in his first trial in Virginia.

Jackson said she would reserve judgment until seeing the motion. But she noted the court in Washington had seen plenty of high-profile cases and had been able to select juries that were impartial through thorough questioning. She also noted that Manafort's case had attracted national publicity, making it difficult to argue that other locations would be more suitable.

Jackson did note that jury selection may take more time because of the amount of attention given to Manafort's case.

Jurors in the case will be required to fill out an extensive questionnaire that will probe where they get their news, whether they are politically active and whether an affiliation with the Trump campaign would affect their ability to decide Manafort's case solely on the facts.

Jurors will not be asked how they voted in the 2016 presidential election, and on Tuesday, Jackson also struck a question asking whether jurors voted at all during that election, saying it was "invasive" and didn't reveal anything about potential bias.

The trial will come about a month after a jury in Virginia convicted Manafort on eight felony counts of filing false tax returns, failing to report offshore bank accounts and bank fraud. The jury deadlocked on 10 other counts.

Manafort's second trial will likely take a few weeks, with prosecutors saying they need 10 to 12 days to put on their case. The defense said in a recent filing that it hasn't decided whether to put on any evidence, but it could take three to four additional days, if so.

While Manafort's Virginia trial focused on his taxes and bank loans, the Washington trial will largely focus on his Ukrainian political work and what prosecutors say was a scheme to carry out foreign lobbying work in the U.S. without registering with the Justice Department as required by U.S. law.

The case does not involve Manafort's work on the Trump campaign or Russian election interference during the 2016 presidential election, a point prosecutors affirmed Tuesday.

In addition to the foreign agent charge, Manafort is accused of laundering millions of dollars through offshore accounts and later lying to federal agents and the Justice Department about the nature of his lobbying work. He also faces charges of obstruction of justice related to contacts he and an associate had with witnesses who said they felt pressured to lie about the nature of his foreign work.

Prosecutors have said Manafort's associate, Konstantin Kilimnik, has ties to Russian intelligence services and is believed to be living in Russia. He has not appeared in a U.S. court to face the charges.

___

Read the trial exhibit list: http://apne.ws/q8wMD6tTHE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Police say they have detained a 26-year-old man suspected of threatening an attack on the Dutch Parliament or on the organizer of a Prophet Muhammad cartoon competition scheduled to be held in November.

Police didn't name the targeted organizer by name Tuesday, but the cartoon contest is organized by anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders and will be staged in his party's tightly-guarded office in the Parliament complex.

Physical depictions of God or the Prophet Muhammad, even positive ones, are forbidden in Islam.

Police did not release any details of the suspect or his identity. They say he made the threat in a Facebook post. The suspect likely will be arraigned on Friday.

Wilders has for years lived under round-the-clock security due to repeated death threats.WASHINGTON (AP) - When President Donald Trump celebrated on Monday the workings of a new deal with Mexico that would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, numerous questions were left unsettled.

No full text has yet been provided. On Friday, the Trump administration plans to send Congress a formal notice of the trade agreement. Not until 30 days after that would lawmakers likely receive a text of the deal.

But based on what is already known, here is a snapshot of key changes in the agreement so far:

Jesus Seade, left, designated chief negotiator of Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, gestures while speaking as Mexico's Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo, right, looks on during their news conference at the Mexican Embassy in Washington, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. The Trump administration and Mexico have reached a preliminary accord to end the North American Free Trade Agreement and replace it with a deal that the administration wants to be more favorable to the United States. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

___

NO MORE "NAFTA"

Trump, ever focused on branding, considers the popular name for the North American Free Trade Agreement to be toxic. For Trump and other critics of NAFTA, the 1994 landmark deal might have helped companies trade more freely across national borders, but it also caused the gutting of the industrial Midwest.

Many economists and historians argue that the reality is more nuanced. They point out that the industrial Midwest was already struggling with closures before NAFTA was signed. They also note that while certain sectors of U.S. manufacturing were hurt by NAFTA, American consumers and companies - and workers in some industries, like agriculture - benefited from it.

But Trump wants to end that debate and scrap a name he says is tainted.

"I like to call this deal the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement," he said Monday. "I think it's an elegant name."

Of course, there are a few problems with this particular name. Most obviously, it excludes Canada, the third member country in NAFTA. Second, it gives the United States top billing, which could be interpreted as an affront to Mexicans and Canadians.

___

EITHER CANADA SIGNS UP, TOO, OR IT MAY BE CUT OUT

This is the wild card. The proposed deal between Mexico and the United States intensifies pressure on Canada to agree to the same terms.

That said, the Trump administration had pursued the negotiations to update NAFTA with the assumption that Canada would be included. So it's unclear whether a U.S. deal with Mexico alone would clear Congress' requirements. Chrystia Freeland, Canada's minister of foreign affairs, came to Washington on Tuesday in hopes of reaching an agreement.

Losing Canada would be a problem for the United States.

Trump on Monday seemed to suggest that trade with Canada was a "smaller segment," while Mexico is a "very large trading partner." It's not quite clear if Trump was referring to the state of the negotiating process or to the flow of imports and exports among these countries.

But Canada is a dominant exporter of crude oil to the United States: It accounts for 47 percent of the barrels imported to the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Canada was the United States' second largest trading partner in 2017, ranking just below China. Mexico is the third largest U.S. trading partner.

___

MORE AUTO PARTS MUST BE MADE IN NORTH AMERICA

Of the $149 billion worth of auto parts imported into the United States last year, 48 percent came from Mexico and Canada, according to the U.S. International Trade Administration. The proposed deal between the United States and Mexico would likely increase that figure.

It would require that 75 percent of autos contain parts made in North America, up from 62.5 percent now required by NAFTA. And 70 percent of the steel, aluminum and glass used to make a vehicle must also originate in North America. These requirements could possibly lead to fewer imports from Asia, Europe and South America.

___

40 TO 45 PERCENT OF VEHICLES WOULD BE MADE BY WORKERS WHO EARN AT LEAST $16 AN HOUR

A major wage gap separates autoworkers in the United States and Mexico, and this new provision aims to narrow it. An average Mexican autoworker earned $5.21 an hour, and auto parts workers make even less than that, according to a 2016 analysis by the Center for Automotive Research. That is about one-fourth the average hourly earnings of $21.68 for a U.S. autoworker, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Trump can say that the wage requirement will preserve factory jobs in the United States, while the Mexican government can say it will boost incomes in that country.

"There is no doubt this agreement creates incentives for the salaries in the auto industry grow over time," Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray Caso of Mexico told The Associated Press. "A percentage of the value of the vehicle must be made in areas with high salaries. This generates a clear incentive for the salaries in Mexico eventually reach a higher level."

___

THE PACT WOULD EXPIRE IN 16 YEARS, BUT THE TWO COUNTRIES COULD REVIEW IT EVERY SIX YEARS AND RENEW IT FOR 16 MORE

The agreement would force countries to update the trade pact. One of the criticisms of the 24 year-old North American Free Trade Agreement was that it no longer applies to the economy as it exists today. It was forged before the internet, smartphones, social media or China's entrance into the World Trade Organization - transformations that leave parts of NAFTA woefully outdated.

This new clause could create two forms of pressure: Countries would feel obligated to update the agreement in order to preserve it. But businesses could also face tremendous uncertainty if the agreement was on the verge of ending.

___

AP writer Luis Alonso Lugo contributed to this report.UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. director of humanitarian operations warned Tuesday that a large-scale Syrian government offensive in the last major rebel stronghold in northern Idlib province "has the potential to create a humanitarian emergency at a scale not yet seen" in the seven-year civil war.

John Ging called on members of the U.N. Security Council Tuesday "to do all they can to ensure that we avoid this."

The Syrian government is gearing up for an expected offensive in Idlib province, which is home to nearly 3 million people and has a large al-Qaida presence in addition to Syrian rebel groups. It borders Turkey, which fears an offensive may trigger a humanitarian and security catastrophe.

Ging said recent weeks have seen "a further serious deterioration of the humanitarian situation" with intense bombing and shelling reported in parts of Idlib as well as Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces resulting in civilian deaths and destruction of schools and hospitals.

He said humanitarian organizations are trying to sustain their current response and prepare for a possible further deterioration, "but a worst-case scenario in Idlib will overwhelm capacities and has the potential to create a humanitarian emergency at a scale not yet seen through this crisis."

The United States, Britain and France have warned that they will respond "appropriately" to any chemical weapons attack in Idlib - a warning repeated to council members Tuesday by all three countries.

Russia again accused Syrian rebels of preparing a chemical attack, which Moscow says the West will use to justify a strike against Syrian forces. Russia also claims British special forces are helping the rebels, including by possibly supplying chlorine, allegations vehemently denied by Britain's U.N. Ambassador Karen Pierce who called them "baseless" and "outlandish."

"Having heard their case," Pierce told reporters after the council meeting, "it's very clear to us and our partners that this is an effort to distract from an imminent attack on Idlib."

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Syrian armed forces have no chemical weapons and there is no military need for them.

"People in their right minds will not use means that are useless from a military point of view in order to trigger reprisals by three major powers. But of course publicity about what is expected provocation could unleash the strikes," he said.

"Thank you for this warning of your response. We want to also warn you that we are absolutely aware of your unsavory plans," Nebenzia said. "We strongly suggest that you refrain from them. Carrying out these plans will further deliver a strike against a peaceful resolution in Syria."

Pierce, the current Security Council president, was asked whether in closed consultations she saw any prospect that the 15 members would unite and respond to Ging's plea to avoid a humanitarian disaster in Idlib.

"The short answer is no, and that's very sad," she said. "In closed consultations the Russians backed off their original consultations a little bit. I'd like to think that that meant we might be able to get to a sensible outcome on Idlib in the council that helps protect civilians."

"But I'm afraid all the evidence so far is against us. We will still try," Pierce said.NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) - Several thousand primary, middle and high school teachers have marched to the Cyprus' presidential palace to protest measures the government says aim at reducing costs that are some of the highest in the European Union.

Teachers' union leaders say the measures undermine the quality of public education. They're also angry at what they say is the education minister's imposition of those measures - including longer working hours for some senior-level teachers - without sitting down and consulting with them beforehand.

Schools will open next month as scheduled, but teachers will vote on proposed strike action, including abstaining from extracurricular activities.

Teachers march as they shout slogans against the education ministry during a protest outside of the presidential palace in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. Several thousand primary, middle and high school teachers have marched to the Cyprus' presidential palace to protest measures the government says aim at reducing costs that are some of the highest in the European Union. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

A bid by Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades to mediate an end to the dispute last week failed.

Teachers march as they shout slogans against the education ministry as on a banner reading in Greek "The dignity of teachers is not redeemed", during a protest outside of the presidential palace in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. Several thousand primary, middle and high school teachers have marched to the Cyprus' presidential palace to protest measures the government says aim at reducing costs that are some of the highest in the European Union. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Teachers march as they shout slogans against the education ministry during a protest outside of the presidential palace in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. Several thousand primary, middle and high school teachers have marched to the Cyprus' presidential palace to protest measures the government says aim at reducing costs that are some of the highest in the European Union. The banners read 'dignity, communication' and writing on the t-shirt reads ' do not dissolve public schools'. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Teachers march as they shout slogans against the education ministry during a protest outside of the presidential palace in capital Nicosia, Cyprus, on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. Several thousand primary, middle and high school teachers have marched to the Cyprus' presidential palace to protest measures the government says aim at reducing costs that are some of the highest in the European Union. The banners read 'dignity, communication'. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - The Latest on primaries in Arizona and Florida and a runoff election in Oklahoma (all times local):

12:25 a.m.

Ann Kirkpatrick has won a seven-way primary to become the Democratic nominee for a congressional district seat being vacated by Arizona Rep. Martha McSally.

A voter cast his ballot at the Miami-Dade County Palm Springs North Fire Station, during the Florida primary election, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, in Miami. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Republican McSally is running for retiring Sen. Jeff Flake's seat.

The district covers the southeastern corner of Arizona from most of Tucson down to the U.S-Mexico border. It has almost an equal number of registered Democrats and Republicans. Democrats hope to flip the seat in their bid to take control of the House.

Kirkpatrick is a former congresswoman who represented a northern Arizona district and once ran for U.S. Senate. She'll face the winner of a four-way Republican primary in November.

___

12:05 a.m.

Steve Ferrara won a three-way primary to become the Republican nominee for an open Arizona House seat.

He beat recurring candidate Dave Giles and longtime resident Irina Baroness Von Behr in Tuesday's primary. The seat, Arizona's 9th Congressional District, is held by Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, who is running for U.S. Senate.

In November, Ferrara will face former Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, who ran on the Democratic ticket unopposed.

Ferrara is a former Navy chief medical officer who spent more than two decades in the military. He's campaigned with a moderate approach, saying he wouldn't participate in conservative lawmakers' Freedom Caucus.

The district covers parts of Phoenix and suburbs to the east. It went for Hillary Clinton in 2016, but it has more unaffiliated voters than Republicans or Democrats.

___

11:43 p.m.

Congresswoman Martha McSally has won the Republican primary for Arizona's open U.S. Senate seat.

She defeated former state Sen. Kelli Ward and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Tuesday's primary.

McSally is an Air Force veteran who was the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat. She's represented a southern Arizona district covering parts of Tucson and rural Cochise County since 2015.

Many political observers predicted McSally would emerge as the nominee with Ward and Arpaio splitting the state's most conservative voters.

Arizona has an open Senate seat this cycle after Republican Sen. Jeff Flake decided to not run for re-election. The seat is considered a key pickup for Democrats in their bid to take control of the chamber.

___

11:40 p.m.

Education professor and military veteran David Garcia is the Democratic nominee for Arizona governor.

He beat state Sen. Steve Farley and Kelly Fryer, former CEO of the YWCA Southern Arizona in Tuesday's primary. He'll face Republican Gov. Doug Ducey in November.

Garcia emphasizes increasing funds for public schools and establishing more sustainable energy sources. He's a professor at the education school at Arizona State University and a fourth-generation Arizona resident.

Garcia has also pointed out the historical relevance of his candidacy: A Latino hasn't won statewide office in Arizona since Gov. Raul Castro was elected in 1974.

Garcia emerged as the front-runner in the primary this summer. The Republican Governors Association already as aired attack ads against Garcia linking him to calls to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

___

11:25 p.m.

Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema has won her party's nomination for Arizona's U.S. Senate seat, a largely expected victory for the centrist.

Sinema defeated community activist Deedra Abboud in Tuesday's primary. This November she'll face the winner of a three-way Republican primary.

Sinema is currently serving her third term in the House.

In her Senate campaign, Sinema focused on affordable health care and her willingness to work across the aisle. She had a significant cash advantage and deep well of establishment support.

Arizona has an open U.S. Senate seat this cycle after Republican Sen. Jeff Flake decided to not run for re-election. The seat is considered a key potential pickup for Democrats in their bid to take control of the chamber.

___

11:25 p.m.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has defeated a Republican challenger in the primary round of his re-election bid.

In Tuesday's primary, Ducey bested a more conservative GOP candidate, former Secretary of State Ken Bennett, who had little funding and campaign resources.

Ducey's re-election effort has focused on border security and job creation. He's touted the new law enforcement collaboration effort called the Border Strike Force as well as multiple companies that have located in Arizona during his first term.

___

10:45 p.m.

A Tulsa fast-food restaurateur has won the Republican nomination in the race for the open U.S. House seat in Tulsa.

Kevin Hern defeated longtime Tulsa prosecutor Tim Harris in Tuesday's GOP primary runoff to advance to the November ballot in the race for the state's only open congressional seat. Hern will face The Democratic nominee, Tulsa attorney Tim Gilpin.

The seat was previously held by U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine, a Republican tapped by President Donald Trump to be administrator of NASA.

Republicans have held the seat for more than 30 years and are heavily favored to keep it in November.

The 56-year-old Hern runs a company that owns and operates a chain of McDonald's restaurants in northeast Oklahoma.

___

10:41 p.m.

The polls are closed for Arizona's primary election, but some people are still waiting to cast votes.

Social media video shows long lines of voters outside public libraries in Tempe and Phoenix.

Since they were in line before the polls closed at 7 p.m. local time Tuesday, they will be allowed to vote.

Most voters cast their ballots early.

However, some voters who waited to vote until Tuesday morning faced problems in the Phoenix metro area.

Several locations opened hours behind schedule because voting machines had not been set up on time.

The office of Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes says 62 polling places didn't open on time, but all were operating by 11:30 a.m.

The county has about 750 locations.

___

10:25 p.m.

Among the winners in Tuesday's statewide primary races in Florida is Tallahassee's Democratic mayor, Andrew Gillum, who is seeking to become the state's first black governor.

Gillum faces the Republican nominee, U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, who won with the backing of President Donald Trump.

The man they hope to replace, Republican Gov. Rick Scott, won his party's primary for the U.S. Senate and will compete against incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson.

Former Clinton administration Cabinet member and university president Donna Shalala has won the Democratic nomination for a U.S. House seat in Florida.

Meanwhile, polls have closed in Arizona's primary election.

___

10:10 p.m.

The polls are now closed for Arizona's primary election.

Most voters cast their ballots early but polling places across the state opened at 6 a.m. local time Thursday and closed at 7 p.m. local time.

However, some voters faced problems at Phoenix-area polling places.

Several locations opened hours behind schedule because voting machines had not been set up on time.

The office of Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes says 62 polling places didn't open on time, but all were operating by 11:30 a.m.

The county has about 750 locations.

The head of elections in Arizona called on the county to seek a court order to keep the polls open later, but leaders opted against the move.

No voting machine problems were reported in other parts of Arizona.

___

10:10 p.m.

Tulsa attorney Tim Gilpin has won the Democratic nomination in the race for the open U.S. House seat in the northeast Oklahoma district.

The 58-year-old former member of the Oklahoma State Board of Education defeated 36-year-old Amanda Douglas in Tuesday's primary runoff.

Gilpin advances to the general election against the winner of the GOP primary between Tulsa businessman Kevin Hern and former Tulsa County District Attorney Tim Harris.

The seat was left open when President Donald Trump appointed Jim Bridenstine to head NASA. Republicans have held the Tulsa-area seat for three decades.

___

9:40 p.m.

Former Clinton administration Cabinet member and university president Donna Shalala has won the Democratic nomination for a U.S. House seat in Florida.

Shalala defeated four candidates Tuesday in the Miami-area race. Incumbent Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is retiring. The seat is widely viewed as one of the Democrats' best chances for a pickup.

Seventy-seven-year-old Shalala served eight years as President Bill Clinton's Health and Human Services secretary. She also was president of both the University of Miami and the University of Wisconsin.

Shalala banked that voters would see her experience as an asset. The Democratic candidates had similar positions on most key issues, such as tackling climate change, reducing gun violence, improving health care, and overhauling immigration. But none could match Shalala's lengthy record or familiar name

___

9:35 p.m.

Andrew Gillum's win in the Florida Democratic gubernatorial primary makes him the third black Democratic nominee for governor this year.

The Tallahassee mayor joins Georgia's Stacey Abrams and Maryland's Ben Jealous.

There have been just two black governors in American history. Abrams would be the nation's first black woman to hold the post.

Gillum and Abrams both defeated white challengers backed by longtime establishment leaders in their respective states. Jealous' top primary rival also was black.

The three winners represent a generational shift in black Democratic politics.

Gillum is 39. Abrams is a 44-year-old former legislative leader. Jealous is the 45-year-old former NAACP chief.

___

9:30 p.m.

Tulsa mortgage company owner and political newcomer Kevin Stitt has won the Republican nomination in the race to become Oklahoma's next governor.

Stitt defeated former Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett in Tuesday's primary runoff. The 45-year-old will face Democrat Drew Edmondson and the winner of the Libertarian runoff.

Two-term Republican Gov. Mary Fallin couldn't run again because of term limits.

Stitt touted his experience growing his company, Gateway Mortgage Group, into one of the nation's largest privately held mortgage companies.

He boosted his campaign finances by loaning himself nearly $3.3 million, about half of the $6.5 million he received ahead of Tuesday's primary runoff.

He also overcame a barrage of negative advertising in recent weeks that highlighted wrongdoing by his company ahead of the country's mortgage crisis.

___

9:20 p.m.

Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum has won the Democratic nomination in his quest to become Florida's first black governor.

Gillum won the primary Tuesday after upsetting a field of better-known and better-funded candidates. They included former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, who aimed to follow her father to the office and become the state's first female governor.

Gillum is a favorite among those who call themselves progressive Democrats. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont endorsed him.

Gillum spent only $6.5 million on a primary where billionaire Jeff Greene spent $38 million and millionaire former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine spent about $29 million of his fortune.

Gillum faces the Republican nominee, U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, in the race to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Rick Scott.

___

8:05 p.m.

U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis has won Florida's Republican nomination for governor, with the help of President Donald Trump's endorsement to overtake an opponent with a long history in Florida politics.

DeSantis defeated Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam on Tuesday and faces the Democratic challenger in the race to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Rick Scott.

DeSantis entered the race in January and largely built his name recognition with near-nightly Fox News appearances. Trump's endorsement helped him overtake Putnam, who has held elected office nearly his entire adult life.

DeSantis is a former Navy lawyer who won his seat in 2012 running as a Washington outsider. He ran for Senate in 2016 but dropped out of the race when Republican Sen. Marco Rubio decided to run for re-election after a failed presidential campaign.

___

8:05 p.m.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is heading into a bitter and expensive clash with U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson after an easy win in the Republican primary.

The looming battle between Scott and the three-term Democratic incumbent could help determine whether Republicans keep control of the U.S. Senate.

Nelson wasn't on the ballot because no other Democrat challenged him in the primary.

Scott defeated California businessman Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente, who earned attention this year by mounting U.S. Senate bids in multiple states.

The two-term governor is leaving office because of term limits and entered the race for Senate at the urging of President Donald Trump.

Scott's campaign has already spent millions on television ads bashing Nelson as an out-of-touch career politician. Recent polls have shown Scott with a slight lead.

___

7:15 p.m.

Arizona voters are nominating candidates to replace one of President Donald Trump's fiercest critics in the Senate, a primary contest that comes amid increasing political change in a closely watched political battleground.

Tuesday's primary contest is for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Jeff Flake, whose opposition to Trump badly hurt his standing with the conservative Republican voters who dominate Arizona's GOP primaries.

The death of Sen. John McCain means both of the state's Senate seats will change hands by year's end. The state's governor will name a replacement to fill McCain's seat.

The three Republicans competing Tuesday all embraced Trump and distanced themselves from McCain, including establishment favorite Rep. Martha McSally.

Florida and Oklahoma also are holding elections Tuesday.

___

6:40 p.m.

Gun control is weighing on the minds of some voters casting ballots in Florida, where a Jacksonville shooting Sunday stoked the still painful memory of a February shooting in south Florida.

Independent voter Franklyn Roman of Miami says he wants Florida's next governor to press for some form of gun control. Roman says he's a gun owner and doesn't want anyone taking away his guns but adds, "I think it's become a problem."

Likewise, South Miami Democrat Louis Carvajal says restricting access to assault weapons, in light of the deadly shooting in Parkland this year, is an important issue.

___

5:10 p.m.

A contractor hired to set up voting machines in the Phoenix area failed to send enough technicians, leaving several polling places down during Arizona's primary election.

Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes said Tuesday that his office in the state's most populous county learned of the issues Monday afternoon. He says he sent his staff to as many locations as possible to make fixes.

Fontes says he had expected up to 250 locations not being operational by Tuesday morning, but only four sites were down by 10 a.m. It's unclear how many polling places were down when they were supposed to open.

Fontes says the contractor didn't set up the machines on time. More than 100 calls from voters have reported problems Tuesday.

It comes more than two years after Phoenix-area voters endured hourslong lines after the county cut polling locations.

File - In this Aug. 22, 2018, file photo, U.S. Senatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., laughs while touring the international border with Mexico, south of Arivaca, Ariz. In her bid to become the Republican Senate nominee, McSally is facing former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Dr. Kelli Ward for the republican nomination in Tuesday's statewide primary. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., talks to campaign volunteers at a Democratic campaign office on primary election day Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, in Phoenix. Sinema is seeking the current U.S. Senate seat occupied by outgoing Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, and will face the Republican primary winner of the race between Rep. Martha McSally, former state Sen. Kelli Ward, and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, if Sinema wins the Democratic primary. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Andrew Gillum and his wife, R. Jai Gillum addresses his supporters after Andrew Gillum won the Democratic primary for governor on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, in Tallahassee, Fla. Gillum defeated former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, the daughter of former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham and four other candidates. (AP Photo/Steve Cannon)

Democratic candidate for Congress Donna Shalala speaks during watch party on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Gubernatorial candidate Kevin Stitt, left, greets supporters during a watch party in Jenks, Okla., Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. (Matt Barnard/Tulsa World via AP)

Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis speaks with the news media during a campaign event at Versailles restaurant, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018, in Miami. At left is his wife Casey DeSantis. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

In this Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018 photo, U.S. Senatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., speaks with the media after volunteering at a food pantry in Phoenix. Sinema is the democratic nominee seeking the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. in a race against U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)

In this Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018 photo, U.S. Senatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., stands at the international border with Mexico, with ranchers Jim Chilton, left, Ted Noon, center, and Tom Kay, right, south of Arivaca, Ariz. In her bid to become the Republican Senate nominee, McSally has tacked hard right after initially keeping her distance from President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Matt York)

FILE - In this May 2, 2018 file photo, Arizona Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kelli Ward speaks to the media as she prepares to file her nominating petitions at the state Capitol in Phoenix. Ward, running for her party's nomination for an open Senate seat, suggested the announcement that McCain was ending medical treatment was intended to hurt her campaign hours before Sen. John McCain died on Saturday, Aug. 25. (AP Photo/Bob Christie, File)

Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis speaks with the news media during a campaign event at Versailles restaurant, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018, in Miami. At left is his wife Casey DeSantis. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Putnam speaks during a campaign rally at the Columbia restaurant Monday, Aug. 27, 2018, in Tampa, Fla. Putnam is running against U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gwen Graham, second from left, speaks with Jacksonville community leaders about gun violence Monday, Aug. 27, 2018, at a restaurant near the scene of a mass shooting on Sunday at The Jacksonville Landing in Jacksonville, Fla. A gunman opened fire at a video game tournament killing multiple people and then fatally shooting himself in a rampage that wounded several others. (AP Photo/John Raoux)SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A Utah firefighter whose department is still reeling from the death of one of their own during California's largest wildfire is starting a new chapter with a dog he found near front lines of the same fire.

Draper firefighter Patrick Cullen said Monday he never forgot the exhausted, thirsty German shepherd who emerged from the Northern California wilderness earlier this month as the Mendocino Complex Fire glowed in the distance.

"In the middle of the night, he came wandering over the hill," said Cullen, who was among dozens of out-of-state firefighters who traveled to help fight the massive blaze. With the nearest town an hour away, at first he wondered if the creature was a mountain lion, but he quickly realized it was a German shepherd. "He was definitely matted and he looked like he'd been out for a while."

Draper firefighter Patrick Cullen with his new dog, Mendo, at Fire station 21 in Draper on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. While working the Mendocino Fire Cullen saw a dog huddled under a tree. He brought the German shepherd puppy to the Mendocino Animal Hospital for treatment where the dog was named "Mendo" by firefighters. Mendo soon received a clean bill of health, and after no one claimed the dog, the shelter agreed to let Cullen adopt him. (Steve Griffin/The Deseret News via AP)

He gave the dog some water and let him sleep under the engine, but as the fire overtook their location he left him with another crew who could bring him to a safe spot away from the flames.

He thought that might be the last he'd see of him, but as the days wore on fighting the blaze he marveled at the chances of the pup finding him and worried about how he'd fared. Cullen started calling animal shelters.

He didn't have any luck at first, but finally tracked him to the Mendocino County Animal Shelter.

The approximately 2-year-old dog had been dropped with a veterinarian, who treated him and then sent him to the shelter, said Richard Molinari, director of animal care services at the shelter.

Molinari then learned Cullen had worked with Draper Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett, who was killed by falling tree debris while fighting the blaze on Aug. 13. The two men had known each other through the community of Utah firefighters for more than a decade.

"The wind was out of his sails when he talked, he was down in regard to everything," Molinari said. The dog didn't have a microchip used to track pets, but the shelter kept him for about a week, the standard period they wait for people to claim lost pets before putting them up for adoption.

When no owner appeared, staffers drove the dog out to Reno, Nevada, to reunite him with Cullen, who had since returned to the Salt Lake City area. He named him Mendo, after the Mendocino Complex Fire.

Mendo is now settling in with Cullen, his family and their two other dogs. The dog is a bright spot for Cullen and the rest of the department in what's been an otherwise heartbreaking month.

"In the middle of all the tragedy we're going through, there is a happy story that came out of our journey to California," Cullen said.SEATTLE (AP) - Marking another phase in his education agenda, Bill Gates is now taking a more targeted approach to help struggling U.S. schools.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is now funding groups working directly with clusters of public schools in some of the most impoverished regions of the country. Many of those third-party groups already had relationships with the world's largest philanthropy, and some of the grants went straight to a school district and charter schools organization.

The foundation on Tuesday announced the first round of nearly $100 million for 19 program initiatives for middle and high schools in poor communities across 13 states. Gates pledged $460 million over the next five years to fund networks of school programs that help low-income and minority students get to college.

FILE - In this April 21, 2018, file photo, Co-Chair of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Bill Gates speaks in Washington, D.C. Gates is taking a more targeted approach in his goal to help America's struggling school systems, this time by largely funding familiar groups to work directly with public school districts in some of the most impoverished regions of the U.S. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)

The grants will address the whole scope of what it takes to get those students to college - from academic skills like math and english proficiency, to existential pitfalls like middle school suspensions and the college application process.

It's also another indication that the Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist is trying to be less prescriptive with top-down ideas that have rankled some educators. Critics have said the foundation's work over the past decade has included trial-and-error programs that haven't accomplished as much as hoped to help vulnerable children succeed in school.

"We're not inventing anything in this strategy. We're taking what we learned from research and experience," said Bob Hughes, who leads Gates' K-12 education program.

Letting local and regional forces take the lead marks a departure from the national or system-wide education initiatives that Gates previously supported, including majorly consequential directives over academic standards, teacher evaluations and school sizes.

Here's a look at some of the Gates Foundation's educational funding over the past two decades:

NETWORKS FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT

SINCE 2018 ' $460 Million

Gates is granting money for specific proposals submitted by various groups, public school districts and charter school networks to support and expand programming ideas aimed at helping low-income children.

Among the grantees is the San Diego-based High Tech High Graduate School of Education. The program's provost Ben Daley said the school will use the money to help students navigate what can be an overwhelming college admissions process that includes trying to get financial aid, transferring credits and following up on college acceptance letters.

Daley said that work will be more nuanced than layering more programming on top of what's already offered, so that it can be a "simple, engaging and positive" resource for kids across 30 public, charter and alternative high schools in his region.

"We know if it's just like 'more.' That's not going to work," Daley said.

COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS

1999-2018 ' $1.6 BILLION

The most enduring Gates Foundation program was the Gates Millennium Scholars.

Gates wanted to foster diversity in science-related fields with college scholarship money. More than half of the 20,000 scholarships went to lower-income minority students whose parents hadn't gone to college. Gates also supported recipients when many went on to graduate school with hopes to diversify leadership in those fields.

That program officially ended in 2018, though the scholarship model lives on as the new Gates Scholars program, which is limited to undergraduate studies.

COMMON CORE

2008-2017 ' $280 million

Gates used his money and celebrity to support the Common Core State Standards because he believed it ensured all kids got an equally good education. The academic standards determined what kids should learn, but doesn't set the curriculum or determine how kids learn.

His success was evident when nearly all states initially adopted it, but President Barack Obama's support became politically problematic.

Obama's administration created incentives benefiting Common Core's roll-out, which critics slammed as tantamount to federal overreach. The teachers and parents who also soured on the standards claimed a formulaic approach to education was confusing and detrimental to the learning process.

TEACHER QUALITY AND EVALUATIONS

2009-2015 ' $257 Million

Gates set out to quantify what it takes to be a good teacher and partially funded school districts that were piloting ways to measure and improve teaching. But the idea to tie student test scores to teacher evaluations upset some teachers.

The program ended poorly. An independent Rand Corporation report commissioned by Gates said the endeavor failed to substantially improve the learning process for either teachers or students. Hillsborough County Public Schools in Tampa, Florida was left scrambling financially after the Gates money disappeared.

SMALL SCHOOLS

2001-2009 ' $345 million

Convinced that smaller schools with specific interests could foster better, more motivated learning for the most at-risk students, Gates spent millions testing how to break up the large comprehensive high school model.

But schools struggled with the logistics of multiple academies under the same roof and communities felt disconnected by the changes. The academic gains were in some cases impressive but limited in scope. Gates chalked it up to the financial and political cost of changing traditional schools.

LIBRARY TECHNOLOGY

1999-2007 ' $325 million

Bill and Melinda Gates' first major charitable effort was to install personal computers and internet access in libraries. Then known as the Gates Library Foundation, the initiative was eventually absorbed into their namesake, Seattle-based foundation that is today the world's largest private nonprofit.

The man who led the computing revolution and his wife - a former computer programmer and Microsoft manager - gave money for computers, internet and librarian training.

The library program ensured 10,000 libraries - or 99 percent of all public libraries at the time - across the country had access to the new technology, particularly in low-income communities.

___

Follow AP Education Reporter Sally Ho on Twitter: https://twitter.com/_SallyHo

FILE - In this April 27, 2018, file photo, a person walks by the headquarters of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle. Marking another phase in his education agenda, Bill Gates is now taking a more targeted approach to help struggling U.S. schools. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is now funding groups working directly with clusters of public schools in some of the most impoverished regions of the country. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) - A judge in Nicaragua has convicted two young men in the killing of a journalist during the early days of the unrest that has shaken the country, but the reporter's widow said Tuesday that the accused had nothing to do with her husband's murder.

Angel Gahona was broadcasting from an April 21 protest in front of city hall in the Caribbean coast city of Bluefields via Facebook when he was shot in the head.

Gahona's widow, Migueliuth Sandoval, said the two men convicted in a closed proceeding are innocent.

"This decision is humiliating, it doesn't give us justice, because we know that these guys didn't kill my husband, that those who really did it are riot police, because there are videos indicating it, (showing) that my husband was surrounded by police," Sandoval said.

"Of the 18 witnesses presented by prosecutors, none could say for sure that these guys shot my husband," she said. "The decision does not satisfy us because the killer is free and two innocents are condemned."

Brandon Lovo, 19, and Glen Slate, 20, could face 20 to 25 years in prison. It was the first case related to the unrest to arrive at a conviction. Their defense asserted that there was reasonable doubt because no one connected them to the crime, but Judge Ernesto Rodriguez ruled against them.

An international team of experts from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights was denied access to the courtroom.

Team member Amerigo Incalcaterra told local press that they had gone through the proper channels with the foreign ministry to gain access, but were still turned away.

"We hope that it was just a miscommunication and that communication between state institutions is clarified," Incalcaterra said. "Maybe the phones, faxes and internet don't work."SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Puerto Rico's governor raised the U.S. territory's official death toll from Hurricane Maria from 64 to 2,975 on Tuesday after an independent study found that the number of people who succumbed in the desperate, sweltering aftermath had been severely undercounted.

The new estimate of nearly 3,000 dead in the six months after Maria devastated the island in September 2017 and knocked out the entire electrical grid was made by researchers with the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University.

"We never anticipated a scenario of zero communication, zero energy, zero highway access," Gov. Ricardo Rossello told reporters. "I think the lesson is to anticipate the worst. ... Yes, I made mistakes. Yes, in hindsight, things could've been handled differently."

FILE - In this Oct. 5, 2017 file photo, a Puerto Rican national flag is mounted on debris of a damaged home in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in the seaside slum La Perla, San Juan, Puerto Rico. An independent investigation ordered by Puerto Rico's government estimates that nearly 3,000 people died as a result of Hurricane Maria. The findings issued Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, by the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University contrast sharply with the official death toll of 64. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

He said he is creating a commission to study the hurricane response, and a registry of people vulnerable to the next hurricane, such as the elderly, the bedridden and kidney dialysis patients.

Rossello acknowledged Puerto Rico remains vulnerable to another major storm. He said the government has improved its communication systems and established a network to distribute food and medicine, but he noted that there are still 60,000 homes without a proper roof and that the power grid is still unstable.

"A lesson from this is that efforts for assistance and recovery need to focus as much as possible on lower-income areas, on people who are older, who are more vulnerable," said Lynn Goldman, dean of the Milken institute.

Tuesday's finding is almost twice the government's previous estimate, included in a recent report to Congress, that there were 1,427 more deaths than normal in the three months after the storm.

The George Washington researchers said the official count from the Sept. 20 hurricane was low in part because doctors were not trained in how to classify deaths after a disaster.

The number of deaths from September 2017 to February 2018 was 22 percent higher than during the same period in previous years, Goldman said.

Donald Berry, a professor of biostatistics at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center who was not involved in the study, told The Associated Press in an email that he believes the report is more accurate than the one released by Harvard investigators in May that estimated up to 4,600 more deaths than usual occurred.

He said the data sources used by George Washington also are better, "but its accuracy is not as great as they advertise."

"If the true number of deaths attributable to Maria turns out to be 2,000 then I would not be surprised," he said.

The number of dead has political implications for the Trump administration, which was accused of responding half-heartedly to the disaster. Shortly after the storm, when the official death toll stood at 16, President Donald Trump marveled over the small loss of life compared to that of "a real catastrophe like Katrina."

Hurricane Katrina, which struck New Orleans in 2005, was directly responsible for about 1,200 deaths, according to the National Hurricane Center. That does not include indirect deaths of the sort the George Washington researchers counted in Puerto Rico.

The White House issued a statement on Tuesday noting that it sent 12,000 personnel to Puerto Rico for response and recovery efforts, and said it would continue to support the island's government and its communities in their recovery for years to come.

"The American people, including those grieving the loss of a loved one, deserve no less. The president remains proud of all of the work the federal family undertook to help our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico," it said.

Yet many remain outraged at both the local and federal governments.

Rep. Nydia Velazquez, a New York Democrat, said the report shows the U.S. government failed the people of Puerto Rico.

"These numbers are only the latest to underscore that the federal response to the hurricanes was disastrously inadequate and, as a result, thousands of our fellow American citizens lost their lives," she said in a statement.

There is no national standard for how to count disaster-related deaths. While the National Hurricane Center reports only direct deaths, such as those caused by flying debris or drowning, some local governments may include indirect deaths from such things as heart attacks and house fires.

Researchers with George Washington said they counted deaths over the span of six months - a much longer period than usual - because so many people were without power during that time.

"That caused a number of issues," Goldman said, explaining that people were forced to exert themselves physically or were exposed to intense heat without fans or air conditioning. "It's fairly striking that you have so many households without electricity for so long. That's unusual in the U.S. after a disaster."

Power has not yet been fully restored to Puerto Rico nearly a year after the hurricane, and outages remain common.

Puerto Rico's government released data in June showing increases in several illnesses in 2017 that could have been linked to the storm: Cases of sepsis, a serious bloodstream infection usually caused by bacteria, rose from 708 in 2016 to 835 last year. Deaths from diabetes went from 3,151 to 3,250, and deaths from heart illnesses increased from 5,417 to 5,586.

Bethzaida Rosado said government and health care officials were not prepared for the storm, and she is still angry her 76-year-old mother died because oxygen tanks were not available on the island after the hurricane.

"Do you know what it's like to see your mother run out of oxygen?" she said. "I don't wish that on anyone."

Months ago, the Rossello administration stopped updating its official death toll at 64 and ordered the independent investigation amid suspicions the dead were substantially undercounted.

The first phase of the study cost $305,000. In the second phase, the researchers plan to focus on the causes of death.

The researchers found that the risk of death was 45 percent higher for those living in impoverished communities, and that men over 65 saw a continuous elevated risk of death.

They also reported that physicians and others told them that Puerto Rico's government did not notify them about federal guidelines on how to document deaths related to a major disaster.

"Others expressed reluctance to relate deaths to hurricanes due to concern about the subjectivity of this determination and about liability," the report said.

For the study, the researchers reviewed mortality data from July 2010 to February 2018. They also took into account an 8 percent drop in Puerto Rico's population in the six months after the storm, when tens of thousands fled because of the damage.

However, they did not share details of their methodology, saying those will be released if the study is published in a scientific journal.

"We did not cherry-pick, I can promise you," Goldman said. "We used very rigorous methodology."

The study also found that government emergency plans in place when Maria hit were not designed for hurricanes greater than a Category 1. Maria was a Category 4 with 154 mph winds. Damage was estimated at more than $100 billion.

The researchers made several recommendations, including more emergency planning and government training for doctors on filling out death certificates. They also said the public health system needs to be strengthened, though Goldman said they don't know yet whether those weaknesses contributed to storm-related deaths.

Rossello pledged to carry out the recommendations, though there are questions about Puerto Rico's ability to do so. The island is trying to restructure a portion of its more than $70 billion public debt amid a 12-year recession.

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello speaks during a press conference regarding the number of estimated deaths in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. Rossello has raised the island's official death toll from Maria from 64 to 2,975 after an independent study found that the number of people who succumbed after the storm had been severely undercounted. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello pauses during a press conference regarding the number of estimated deaths in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. Rossello has raised the island's official death toll from Maria from 64 to 2,975 after an independent study found that the number of people who succumbed after the storm had been severely undercounted. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello attends a press conference regarding the number of estimated deaths in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. Rossello has raised the island's official death toll from Maria from 64 to 2,975 after an independent study found that the number of people who succumbed after the storm had been severely undercounted. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)"The export of coal from Russia, according to our estimates, is expected to exceed 200 million tons: about 100 million tons in the west and about 100 million tons in the east," Energy Minister Alexander Novak said at a fuel and energy commission in the Kemerovo Region.

He said that Russia's total share in the global coal market has increased more than 3.5 times over the past 20 years and amounted to 14 percent. Russia is expected to produce over 420 million tons of coal in 2018.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the meeting that Russia will further expand its presence in the world coal market.

He noted that Russian companies exported more than 190 million tons of coal last year, ranking the third in the world.

"The current situation provides an opportunity to expand Russia's presence in the global coal market, strengthen its positions and increase our share," he said.

To better handle pressure from increasing competition in the global energy market, Putin urged domestic energy companies to diversify supplies and explore new markets, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.

"There is a growing demand for a wide range of goods, and this opens up great opportunities for Russian companies," he said.DALLAS (AP) - The Latest on a white former police officer charged in the shooting death of a black teenager in Texas (all times local):

8:45 p.m.

Jurors deciding the fate of a former Texas police officer convicted of murdering an unarmed, black teenager have recessed for the day.

Fired Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver, center, and his attorneys Miles Brissette, left, and Bob Gill stand before the reading of the verdict during Oliver's trial at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. Oliver was convicted of murder on Tuesday for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager when he fired into a car full of teenagers leaving a house party in suburban Dallas. (Rose Baca/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Pool)

Roy Oliver was convicted Tuesday in the death of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards last year. Oliver was a police officer in Balch Springs when he fired into a car full of black teenagers leaving a party in the Dallas suburb. Edwards was killed.

The jury went into sentencing after only a brief break following the conviction. Jurors heard hours of additional testimony, including from Edwards' father.

He told jurors that his son was always smiling and dreamed of playing football at Alabama.

The sentencing phase of the trial is scheduled to resume Wednesday.

___

7:45 p.m.

The father of an unarmed black teenager who was fatally shot by a white former police officer in Texas says his son was always smiling, adding: "He gets that from me."

Odell Edwards testified Tuesday night at the sentencing of Roy Oliver. The ex-police officer in Balch Springs was convicted of murder earlier in the day for the slaying of Edwards' son, 15-year-old Jordan Edwards.

The father says he approved of his son going to the house party where the shooting occurred because he'd been to similar parties without incident.

Edwards said he learned of the shooting when he got a call from the driver of the car his son was riding in when he was shot. He says it wasn't clear what happened.

He says he tried to call back repeatedly, then drove around looking for where his son might be.

___

6:15 p.m.

An expert who tracks police shootings nationwide says the murder conviction of an ex-police officer in Texas is extremely rare.

Philip Stinson is a criminologist at Bowling Green State University. He says that since 2005, only six non-federal law enforcement officers have been convicted of murder for on-duty shootings.

He says four of those were later overturned, and the latest conviction occurred Tuesday when a Dallas County jury convicted former Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver.

Experts say that securing convictions against officers are often challenging because jurors are inclined to believe police testimony.

Oliver was found guilty of murder in the death of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards. Oliver says he feared for his partner's safety when he fired into a car full of black teenagers that was driving away from a party in suburban Dallas.

Oliver was later fired from the Balch Springs Police Department.

___

4:40 p.m.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is responding to the murder conviction of a white former police officer who killed an unarmed black teenager last year in suburban Dallas.

The Republican tweeted Tuesday that "this life should never have been lost," referring to 15-year-old Jordan Edwards.

The teen was killed when then-Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver fired into a car full of teenagers leaving a house party in April 2017. Abbott's tweet came shortly after Oliver was convicted by a jury in Dallas.

Abbott came under criticism from Texas Democrats last year over his muted response to the shooting. Abbott didn't say anything publicly for days before giving the media a statement that expressed condolences, saying Edwards' family deserved a fair and full investigation.

___

3:20 p.m.

Gasps echoed across the courtroom as a Texas jury found a white former police officer guilty of murder for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager.

Roy Oliver was convicted Tuesday in Dallas County. He killed 15-year-old Jordan Edwards last year when he fired his gun into a car full of black teenagers leaving a house party in the Dallas suburb of Balch Springs.

After the verdict was read, Edwards' relatives sobbed, hugged prosecutors and exclaimed, "Thank you, Jesus!"

An attorney for Edwards' family, Daryl Washington, said: "This was a long-fought battle."

The former Balch Springs officer was acquitted on two lesser charges of aggravated assault. Jurors deliberated over two days before reaching the verdict.

The trial now moved into the sentencing phase.

___

2:20 p.m.

A white former Texas police officer has been found guilty of murder for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager as he left a house party in a car full of teenagers.

Jurors convicted Roy Oliver on Tuesday in a Dallas County courtroom.

Oliver was fired from the Balch Springs Police Department days after the April 2017 shooting. Oliver killed 15-year-old Jordan Edwards when he fired into a moving car carrying five black teenagers leaving a local house party.

Edwards was in the front passenger seat.

Oliver testified that he opened fire after seeing the car move toward his partner. He says he thought his partner was in danger. But his partner told jurors he didn't fear for his life and never felt the need to fire his weapon.

___

10:25 a.m.

A jury has started its second day of deliberations in the trial of a white former Texas police officer charged with fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager leaving a house party.

Roy Oliver was fired from the Balch Springs Police Department days after he shot into a moving car filled with five black teens, killing 15-year-old Jordan Edwards in April 2017.

A Dallas County jury deliberated for eight hours Monday and resumed their work Tuesday.

Oliver testified last week that he decided to fire at the car when he saw it moving toward his partner. But his partner told jurors he didn't fear for his life.

Oliver is being tried on murder and aggravated assault charges. Prosecutors say the jury could also find him guilty of manslaughter.

Odell Edwards and Charmaine Edwards, parents of Jordan Edwards, react to a guilty of murder verdict during a trial of fired Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver, who was charged with the murder of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. (Rose Baca/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Pool)

Odell Edwards, father of Jordan Edwards, gets a hug from Dallas County district attorney Faith Johnson after hearing a guilty of murder verdict during the ninth day of the trial of fired Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver, who was charged with the murder of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. (Rose Baca/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Pool)

Fired Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver, who was charged with the murder of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, awaits the reading of the verdict during his trial at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. Oliver was convicted of murder on Tuesday for fatally shooting the unarmed black teenager when he fired into a car full of teenagers leaving a house party in suburban Dallas. (Rose Baca/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Pool)

Defendant Roy Oliver, right, a fired Balch Springs police officer charged with the murder of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, and his defense attorney Bob Gill speak after seeing a question from the jury indicating they can't reach a unanimous verdict during a trial of Oliver at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. Oliver was convicted of murder on Tuesday for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager when he fired into a car full of teenagers leaving a house party in suburban Dallas. (Rose Baca/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Pool)

CORRECTS PHOTOGRAPHER TO RYAN MICHALESKO, NOT BACA - Alongside attorneys, Odell Edwards, right, father of Jordan Edwards, speaks to members of the media after a Dallas County jury found Roy Oliver, the former Balch Springs police officer who killed 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, guilty of murder during a trial of Oliver at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. Oliver was convicted of murder on Tuesday for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager when he fired into a car full of teenagers leaving a house party in suburban Dallas. (Ryan Michalesko/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Pool)WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on Attorney General Jeff Sessions (all times local):

3:30 p.m.

The Senate Majority Leader says he has "total confidence" in Attorney General Jeff Sessions and suggests President Donald Trump should not try to replace him.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks to members of the media about Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Republican leader Mitch McConnell told reporters Tuesday that Sessions "ought to stay exactly where he is."

McConnell's remarks come after fellow GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said on NBC's "Today" that it's clear the relationship between Trump and Sessions is "dysfunctional" and "beyond repair."

Graham has said Trump could consider a new attorney general after the midterm election.

But McConnell outlined a busy fall agenda that did not include plans for confirming a new Trump pick at the Justice Department.

__

11:35 a.m.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina says the relationship between President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions is "dysfunctional" and "beyond repair."

Graham told NBC's "Today" that the Justice Department needs a leader who can work with the president and that Sessions was not the only person for the job.

But he said anyone picked to replace Sessions would have to commit to allowing special counsel Robert Mueller to finish his investigation into Russian election interference and potential coordination between Russia and Trump's 2016 campaign.

The comments represent a stark turnabout for Graham, who served with Sessions on the Senate Judiciary Committee and who said last year that there would be "holy hell to pay" if the attorney general was fired.HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania's governor is heading to Puerto Rico to examine damage from last year's Hurricane Maria and to develop cultural and business ties.

Gov. Tom Wolf is paying his own airfare and accommodations for the two-day trip that will end Friday morning.

Pennsylvania is home to more than 350,000 people who are from Puerto Rico or descendants of Puerto Ricans. The state has hosted people displaced by Maria.

The visit comes as the territory's governor increased its death toll from the September hurricane from 64 to nearly 3,000, based on an independent study.DORTMUND, Germany (AP) - Borussia Dortmund has agreed to sign Spanish forward Paco Alcacer on loan from Barcelona with an option to buy.

The Bundesliga side says the 24-year-old Alcacer completed a medical on Tuesday and will wear the No. 9 for the club.

Should Dortmund take up the option to keep the player, he will be tied to the club for a further four years after the one-year loan spell.

Kicker magazine reported Dortmund was paying 2 million euros ($2.3 million) for the loan spell, while a permanent transfer fee would be 23 million euros ($27 million) if the club decides to keep him.

Dortmund had been looking for a striker following the departure of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Arsenal in January, and the end of Michy Batshuayi's loan spell as his replacement.

Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc says: "We're firmly convinced this type of player will be a good fit for our style of play."

Alcacer, who joined Barcelona from Valencia in 2016, scored 43 goals and set up two more in 151 Spanish league appearances - including a season at Getafe.

He has six goals in 13 appearances for Spain.WASHINGTON (AP) - Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said her meeting Tuesday with United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer was "a very good, constructive conversation" about how to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Freeland told reporters after the meeting she and her team plan to work this week in "a full-steam effort" and said both parties will start diving into specific issues Wednesday morning.

Freeland hurried to Washington a day after the Trump administration reached a preliminary deal Monday with Mexico to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland speaks to members of the media as she arrives at the Office Of The United States Trade Representative, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, in Washington. Canada, America's longtime ally and No. 2 trading partner, was left out of a proposed deal Trump just reached with Mexico and is scrambling to keep its place in the regional free-trade bloc - and fend off the threat of U.S. taxes on its vehicles. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

She doesn't have much time, because Lighthizer intends to formally notify Congress of the deal with Mexico on Friday.

Freeland said both parties "are set for an important and constructive week" but also warned that "we are prepared for all scenarios."

She said significant concessions from Mexico in the areas of labor and rules of origin on cars "really paved the way for what Canada believes will be a good week."

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Mexico had agreed to ensure that 75 percent of automotive content be produced within the trade bloc (up from a current 62.5 percent) to receive duty-free benefits and that 40 percent to 45 percent be made by workers earning at least $16 an hour. Those changes are meant to encourage more auto production in the United States.

Tuesday's meeting was the first time Freeland had met with her U.S. counterparts in Washington since May.

___

Reach Luis Alonso Lugo at http://www.twitter.com/luisalonsolugoBISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - A New York City woman who suffered a serious arm injury in an explosion while protesting the Dakota Access oil pipeline in North Dakota lost a legal battle to obtain evidence she wanted to bolster a civil rights lawsuit against law enforcement.

Sophia Wilansky sued the federal government in February, seeking the return of shrapnel and clothing taken from her while she was hospitalized following her November 2016 injury, or an opportunity to have the items analyzed by a forensic scientist of her hiring.

Her father, Wayne Wilansky, willingly surrendered the evidence, but her lawsuit argued in part that the government was keeping the seized property for an unreasonable length of time and violating her constitutional rights.

U.S. District Judge Wilhelmina Wright said in the Monday ruling that "nothing in the written consent imposes a limitation on the length of time." She added that Wilansky didn't provide "any evidence or argument as to why she is unable to commence a timely civil action without first obtaining access to or possession of the seized property."

Wayne Wilansky told The Associated Press late last year that his daughter planned to sue law enforcement for money damages and that the evidence could bolster her case. Calls to his telephone number on Tuesday were not answered. Sophia Wilansky's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wright's decision to dismiss the case.

Federal prosecutors had argued the seizures were legally done and the items were evidence in a grand jury investigation into the altercation in which Wilansky was injured. Prosecutors declined comment Tuesday on Wright's ruling.

Wilansky was injured during a violent clash between protesters and police that became the emblematic skirmish of the months-long protest in North Dakota that tried to block the pipeline's final construction phase. The four-state pipeline began carrying North Dakota oil to Illinois in June 2017.

Wilansky suffered a left arm injury in an explosion and had several surgeries. Protesters allege the blast was caused by a concussion grenade thrown by officers, but police maintain it was caused by a propane canister that protesters rigged to explode. The cause is still a mystery, and no one has been charged in the blast.

___

Follow Blake Nicholson on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/NicholsonBlakeSANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - Former New Mexico governor and current Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate Gary Johnson picked up the endorsement of Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky on Tuesday in his effort to unseat an incumbent Democrat.

Paul shunned Republican nominee Mick Rich, an Albuquerque construction contractor and newcomer to politics, in favor of Johnson, who was elected governor of New Mexico twice as a Republican before running for president in 2012 and 2016 on the Libertarian ticket.

Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich of Albuquerque is seeking a second term in the November election.

Former Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson talks to reporters on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018, about his decision to join the U.S. Senate race in New Mexico. (AP Photo/ Russell Contreras)

Johnson and Paul share an enthusiasm for extremely limited government. In a news release, Paul praised Johnson as a "true fiscal conservative" and for his dedication to reducing the size of government and improving services as governor of New Mexico.

"His leadership on issues of government overreach, protecting Americans' Fourth Amendment rights against mass surveillance, and common sense foreign policy is sorely needed," Paul said in the statement.

Johnson backers are pressuring Rich to drop out of the race in the interest of ousting Heinrich. Tuesday was the final day for candidates in New Mexico to withdraw their names from the general election ballot.

Paul won't drop out, said his campaign spokesman, Nathan James.

Rich seized on the endorsement from Paul to highlight Johnson's support for recreational marijuana and to voice concern about hardline fiscal conservatism.

"New Mexico needs a senator who doesn't work to shut down the government, but who uses federal resources to help the people of New Mexico," Rich said in a statement.

Paul has waged a lengthy battle against federal deficit spending - triggering a brief government shutdown in February by holding up a spending bill vote from the Senate floor.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., waves as he walks across the tarmac after traveling on Air Force One with President Donald Trump, during their arrival at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Sunday, Aug. 19, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California will become the first state to eliminate bail for suspects awaiting trial and replace it with a still murky risk-assessment system under a bill signed Tuesday by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Brown's signature gives the state's judicial council broad authority to reshape pretrial detention policies ahead of the new law's October 2019 start date.

Based on the council's framework, each county's superior court will set its own procedures for deciding who to release before trial, potentially creating a patchwork system based on where a suspect lives.

Gov. Jerry Brown holds a copy of a bill to end bail he signed Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, in Sacramento, Calif. The bill, co-authored by state Sen. Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, third from right, and Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, right, makes California the first state to eliminate bail for suspects awaiting trial. Also seen are Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, left, Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, second from left, and California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, second from right, (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Most suspects accused of nonviolent felonies will be released within 12 hours of booking, while those charged with serious, violent felonies will stay in jail before trial.

The new law gives judges wide latitude to decide what to do with other suspects based on their likelihood of returning to court and the danger they pose to the public.

It's still unclear which suspects would fall into each category or how long they might spend in jail.

California's new law is the latest development in the nationwide debate over bail, which many people say unfairly punishes people for being poor. Other states including New Jersey, Alaska and New Mexico have overhauled their bail systems, although no other state has completely eliminated bail.

Advocates of the California law say incarceration should depend on a suspect's risk to public safety, not the ability to pay.

"Our path to a more just criminal justice system is not complete, but today it made a transformational shift away from valuing private wealth and toward protecting public safety," the law's author, state Sen. Bob Hertzberg, a Democrat from Van Nuys, said in a statement.

Opponents, including some social justice groups, argue the new law gives judges too much power to decide who should be released.

Gina Clayton Johnson, executive director of Essie Justice Group, which advocates for women with family members in prison, says she worries the policy will lead to mass incarceration. She said there's not enough protection in the law to ensure it doesn't perpetuate racial bias in the criminal justice system.

"This is a bill that has confused a lot of people because it does do something very positive, which is to end the bail industry," she said. "Yet what we had to trade for that win actually sets us further back."

Others, meanwhile, argue it will allow dangerous people to go free and perhaps not return for trial.

Such arguments are playing out in New Mexico after a judge decided to allow the release of several members of an extended family accused of child abuse at a desert compound.

The judge said her decision was tied to recent reforms that set a high bar for holding suspects without bail.

Her decision has caused political uproar. Prosecutors have alleged the group was training children to use firearms for an anti-government mission and are fighting to keep the suspects from being released.

New Mexico voters approved an overhaul of the pre-trial release system in 2016.

Other states have been watching California as they weigh overhauling their bail systems, said Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, who works on criminal justice issues for the American Civil Liberties Union.

The ACLU has been in talks with more than 30 other states about bail overhaul and is now advising them to avoid using California as a model because its system won't ensure due process and won't prevent racial bias, she said.

In California, overarching rules will be set by the judicial council, the policy-making body for California's courts headed by the state's chief justice.

The new law lets counties set up their own pretrial assessment agencies or run their risk assessment programs through existing probation departments.

It gives officials 24 hours to determine whether a suspect should be released before trial. That time can be extended by 12 hours if necessary.

Some criminal justice reform advocates worry defendants will spend weeks in jail while their lawyers try to prove they should be set free.

Gov. Jerry Brown hands a copy of a bill to end bail he signed to Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, right, who along with state Sen. Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, third from right, co-authored the measure, during a signing ceremony, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, in Sacramento, Calif. The bill makes California the first state to eliminate bail for suspects awaiting trial. Also seen are Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, left, Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, second from left, and California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, second from right, (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)NEW ORLEANS (AP) - In a story Aug. 28 about the last reunion for Merrill's Marauders, The Associated Press reported erroneously that David Allen was among 13 survivors of some 3,000 volunteers who took part in a secret jungle mission during World War II. Allen wasn't one of those volunteers but was among reinforcements flown to the jungle fighters' final destination in Myanmar, then called Burma, to help hold the airfield they had taken.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Last reunion for famed US WWII unit, 'Merrill's Marauders'

It's the last reunion for members of the famed U.S. Army jungle fighters called "Merrill's Marauders"

By JANET McCONNAUGHEY

Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - It's the last reunion for members of the famed U.S. Army jungle fighters called "Merrill's Marauders." Three thousand volunteered for a dangerous secret mission during World War II - a mission so secret they weren't told even where they were going.

They hacked their way through nearly 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) of jungle behind enemy lines in Myanmar, then called Burma, fighting in five major and 30 minor actions against veteran Japanese troops.

"This is the last of the outfit," said David Allen of Rock Hill, South Carolina.

Allen was among eight men attending the reunion. Five of those present were original volunteers. The other three, including Allen, were reinforcements flown to the final destination in Myanmar to help the Marauders hold the airfield they had taken from the Japanese.

With the veterans are more than 90 children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They filled a meeting room Tuesday at a New Orleans hotel, gathering at round tables to reminisce and look at small black-and-white photos, articles about the campaign and their old reunions. Children and other descendants were collecting autographs and listening to memories.

It was the first reunion for Ethan Glen Byrne, 15, of Hamilton, Alabama, and his grandfather Rick Lowe, whose father was a Marauder.

Lowe was in his teens when his father, Delbert P. Lowe, died. He began researching Merrill's Marauders several years ago and learned about the reunions.

He came because it was the last. "I wanted to honor my dad," he said.

The unit won a Presidential Unit Citation, six Distinguished Service Crosses, four Legions of Merit, 44 Silver Stars and a Bronze Star for every man in the regiment. Their shoulder patch was adopted by the 1st Battalion of the 75th Infantry Ranger Regiment. And their families are pushing a pair of bills to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Merrill's Marauders.

A war correspondent created the nickname, after Brig. Gen. Frank Merrill, because the formal name was a mouthful, according to the 2013 history "Merrill's Marauders: The Untold Story of Unit Galahad and the Toughest Special Forces Mission of World War II."

The men of the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) were a thoroughly mixed bag. Some were seasoned jungle fighters. Others were city boys without much service. Still others, some of them joining when the unit was training in India, were like the "Dirty Dozen," leaving the stockade for danger and a pardon. Allen said he was a "college playboy" when he was drafted.

Robert "Bob" Passanisi, 94, of Lindenhurst, New York, said patriotism and family solidarity were his reasons for volunteering. He had two brothers serving in Europe. "I somehow felt that me doing my part would relieve my brothers," he said Tuesday.

Gilbert H. Howland, 95, of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, said he was among 124 volunteers out of 500 gathered in a Puerto Rico stadium. "These guys were my buddies," he said. "I didn't want to be with any strange unit."

Marcos M. Barelas, 96, then a private and a machine-gun operator, was pragmatic: "If I had to go, I may as well go now."

With mules and horses to carry 70-pound (32-kilogram) radios and airdropped supplies, they also had muleskinners and others to care for the animals. Lester Hollenbeck, 96, of Deltona, Florida, shod them. "Mules sometimes were ornery," he said. "We sometimes had to throw 'em down on their side to put shoes on them."

He signed autographs Tuesday with a pen made from a 50-caliber bullet.

During the six-month campaign in 1944, malaria, amoebic dysentery and other tropical diseases took down five times as many members as bullets and shrapnel, which wounded 293 and killed 93. When they reached the airfield at Myitkyina (MITCH-ih-nuh), fewer than 500 were in shape to fight.

Howland and Passanisi both said they were hospitalized - Howland with shrapnel wounds and Passanisi with malaria - when the Marauders took the airport, but were shipped back with other just-discharged "walking wounded" to help hold it.

The reunions may be over, but not the closeness, said Linda Rose Burchett of Hampton, Virginia. She said her father, who died in 2003, attended every reunion from 1949 through 2003. Burchett and her daughter, Lara Watson, 32, of Rockville, Virginia, also have attended steadily, starting as babies.

"These men have seen me grow up," she said. "They are my family. Absolutely. They were my dad's family. Absolutely. But through social media now we're all going to remain connected to honor our fathers."WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade (all times local):

6:25 p.m.

Mexico's foreign minister is again insisting his country will never pay for President Donald Trump's long-promised border wall.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland speaks to members of the media as she arrives at the Office Of The United States Trade Representative, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, in Washington. Canada, America's longtime ally and No. 2 trading partner, was left out of a proposed deal Trump just reached with Mexico and is scrambling to keep its place in the regional free-trade bloc - and fend off the threat of U.S. taxes on its vehicles. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Trump was meeting with the president of FIFA Tuesday when he said his stalled wall "will be paid for, very easily, by Mexico. It will ultimately be paid for by Mexico."

The comment came a day after Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto held a celebratory call to announce the new deal.

Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray Caso tweets that Mexico "just reached a trade understanding with the US, and the outlook for the relationship between our two countries is very positive."

But he says his country has been "absolutely clear" that Mexico "will NEVER pay for a wall."

__

5:25 p.m.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland is discussing how to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement with United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

Before entering the USTR building, Freeland told reporters she is "encouraged by the progress the U.S. and Mexico have made, particularly on cars and labor."

Freeland hurried to Washington a day after the Trump administration reached a preliminary deal Monday with Mexico to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.

It is the first time Freeland has met with her U.S. counterparts in Washington since May.Foreign media take part in a tour exploring AI and smart technology in the city of Tianjin

The Rediscovering Tianjin from the eyes of Foreign Media  Binhai Edition kicked off today, August 27, and will see foreign journalists from Belt and Road and ASEAN countries explore the city of Tianjin over the following days.

As part of the tour, foreign journalists have already visited a number of companies to learn about the artificial intelligence and smart technology being developed in the Binhai Area.

The area boasts a number of tech companies that are pioneering new methods of implementing technology to help in daily life. For example, the Tianjin Academy for Intelligent Recognition Technology is developing facial and iris recognition software to help identify people, hoping to eventually disregard the need for ID cards. This software is already being implemented in Chinese airports and railway stations.

The enterprise is also developing danger recognition technology, which can pinpoint a small flame or high temperature device in a deliberate or accidental incident.

Other companies, such as Efy Technology, are focused on implementing drones for a number of different commercial purposes, including agriculture, police assistance, GPS, mapping and delivery.

Its hoped that through this tour, journalists can learn more about the area and its advancements in AI, and help communicate ideas between China and the rest of the world.Brian Egg, 65, was reported missing in late July after family and friends became concerned that they hadn't had contact with him since June

A headless corpse has been discovered stuffed inside a fish tank inside the San Francisco home of a man who has been missing for months.

Brian Egg, 65, was reported missing in late July after family and friends became concerned that they hadn't had contact with him since June.

But it was a neighbor's phone call that prompted the police visit on August 14 after they spotted Egg's apartment with crime scene tape around it and a private crime scene cleaner and a stranger outside.

Responding officers reported a strong decaying odor and cleaning supplies inside and arrested the stranger, Robert McCaffrey, 52, on suspicion of homicide, identity theft and other charges.

Investigators returned the next day with a search warrant and dogs trained in finding bodies, police Commander Greg McEachern said.

After two days of searching the house, they found the body stuffed in a fish tank 'in a concealed part of the home,' McEachern said.

Police also arrested Lance Silva, 39, who was also booked on suspicion of homicide and identity theft, he said.

His body was discovered inside a fish tank at his San Francisco home (pictured) on August 17

Neither have been charged after the San Francisco district attorney's office said it required more evidence to charge the men, including cause of death and the identity of the body found, but both remain 'people of interest.'

Investigators are awaiting the results of an autopsy which will provide the official cause of death and identification of the body.

McCaffrey has been released from jail, while Silva was transferred to Alameda County jail, where he is being held on an alleged probation violation.

Police believe it was Egg's body who was found inside a fish tank at his home

Police are confident they can arrest McCaffrey if the district attorney files charges, McEachern said.

Alameda County jail records don't indicate if Silva is represented by an attorney. Police didn't disclose a home address for McCaffrey, and he could not be reached for comment.

Officers in early August visited Egg's home three times and left after each visit when no one answered the door, McEachern said. There were no signs of foul play, he said.

'We don't make entry into people's homes just because there's a missing person's report,' McEachern said.

NBC reports that Egg, a former bartender in legendary gay bar The Stud who neighbors described as 'eccentric', would often let homeless people stay in his San Francisco home.

Both men police arrested in connection with Egg's murder were reportedly living in his home after his death and told police, during their visits, that he was on vacation.



Theresa May dismissed fears of a no-deal Brexit apocalypse as she played down the Chancellors warnings of major economic consequences.

The Prime Minister repeated claims that no agreement with the EU would not be a walk in the park but wouldnt be the end of the world, initially made by the World Trade Organisations (WTO) Roberto Azevedo.

She added the Government is putting in place measures to ensure it can make a success of no deal and remains confident it can do similar with a good deal  which she maintained it was possible to agree.

Prime Minister Theresa May with Chancellor Philip Hammond (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Yesterday, we released the first batch of Technical Notices to let businesses and citizens know how to prepare for the unlikely event of a no deal #Brexit.https://t.co/mAWFixkmDJ pic.twitter.com/kh2V5qzD89  Department for Exiting the EU (@DExEUgov) August 24, 2018

Mrs May also said Philip Hammond was highlighting work in progress figures released in January when he published a letter just hours after the Government started revealing its no-deal Brexit preparations.

The Chancellor was accused by Tory backbenchers of launching another project fear by referring to disputed provisional analysis which claimed GDP could fall and borrowing could be around 80 billion a year higher by 2033/34 if Britain resorted to WTO terms.

Mr Hammond said such an impact on GDP would have large fiscal consequences.

He also said this analysis was undergoing a process of refinement ahead of a parliamentary vote on any deal.

Mrs May, asked about the timing and content of Mr Hammonds intervention, said she had previously labelled the data as a work in progress.

Speaking to reporters on her trade mission to Africa, the PM added: Look at what the director of the World Trade Organisation has said.

He said about a no deal situation that it would not be a walk in the park but it wouldnt be the end of the world.

What the Government is doing is putting in place the preparations such that if were in that situation we can make a success of it, just as we will make a success of the good deal I believe were able to get and the good deal were working to get.

"I firmly believe that we can complete what we have started. We can negotiate a new relationship with the EU that works in our mutual interest."  PM @Theresa_May pic.twitter.com/vEvcswfBJs  UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) July 20, 2018

Mrs May was also challenged on whether she would order her MPs to vote for no deal if her preferred approach  agreed following talks at Chequers  was not secured with the EU.

She replied: Ive said right from the beginning that no deal is better than a bad deal.

I think its absolutely right that the Government is putting the preparations in place for no deal because we dont know what the outcome of this is going to be.

But alongside that what were doing is working for a good deal.

I believe what weve set out in the Chequers arrangement, set out in the white paper is a deal that benefits not just the United Kingdom but benefits the European Union as well.

Eurosceptic Tories have criticised the Governments proposals, which include a common rulebook with the EU on goods, amid fears it could restrict the UKs ability to do trade deals.

Mrs May also said the UK was working to secure a deal by October and within a timetable which meant Brexit could occur in March 2019.

On whether Tory MPs face a backlash from their local party associations for supporting a second EU referendum, Mrs May added: I believe that what matters to local associations is what the Conservative Government is delivering for them  and what were delivering is what the people voted for.

Mrs May also reiterated the UK Governments desire to end free movement is non-negotiable.US president Donald Trump has relented under pressure by recognising the late senator John McCains service to our country and lowering the White House flag again as a mark of respect.

While many Americans remembered Mr McCains record as a war hero, a long-serving senator and as a presidential nominee after his death at the age of 81, Mr Trump had nursed his grievances.

Arizona senator Mr McCain had been an infuriating foil for the US president in a long-running feud over style and policy.

The presidents reluctance to participate in the national remembrance for Mr McCain, who was severely beaten while a prisoner of war over a number of years in Vietnam, was awkward and uncomfortable, even by the standards of a leader who acknowledges he does not act like a typical president.

The episode highlighted Mr Trumps tendency to harbour personal resentments regardless of the political repercussions.

The American flag files at half-mast at the White House (AP)

Before Mr Trumps statement on Monday afternoon, his only commentary on Mr McCains death had been a perfunctory tweet on Saturday.

The lack of a formal statement  combined with the fact that White House flags were flown at half-staff only briefly  drew strong criticism from Republicans and veterans groups as well as Democrats.

When he finally did comment in a printed statement, Mr Trump was sparing in his praise for the six-term senator: Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCains service to our country.

Mr McCain had been suffering from brain cancer (AP)

Later, at an evening dinner honouring evangelical leaders, the president said our hearts and prayers are going to the family and we very much appreciate everything that senator McCain has done for our country.

Earlier in the day, a stone-faced Mr Trump sat mute as reporters at several photo sessions invited him to comment on Mr McCain, who had been suffering from brain cancer. As he was peppered with questions about Mr McCains legacy, the usually talkative president made no response.

Publicly, Mr Trump has frequently railed against McCains dramatic vote against the presidents efforts to repeal Barack Obamas landmark health care law.

Mr Trumps stance had drawn criticism from Republicans and Democrats (AP)

Privately, he has complained about such slights as his belief that Mr McCain did not appreciate his endorsement in the senators 2016 re-election bid. Mr McCain, for his part, recently attacked Mr Trumps Helsinki meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin as one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.

While the presidents statement sought to defuse the controversy, an upcoming celebration of Mr McCains life is likely to bring new awkwardness. Former presidents will speak at McCains funeral on Saturday, but the senators family has made it clear they do not want Mr Trump to attend.

Mr Trump said he had asked his vice president Mike Pence to speak at a ceremony honouring Mr McCain at the Capitol on Friday. He added that other administration officials would attend memorial services.

He also said he had agreed to the McCain familys request for military transportation of the senators remains from Arizona to Washington. Burial will take place on Sunday at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

A procession follows the hearse carrying the late Arizona senator John McCain (AP)

In death, Mr McCain himself had more to say.

In a final letter released on Monday, Mr McCain appeared to repudiate Mr Trumps politics one last time, saying: We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe.

He also wrote: Do not despair of our present difficulties. But believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.Theresa May turned her hand to dancefloor diplomacy on the opening day of her Africa trade trip.

The Prime Minister moved from side to side and bobbed up and down as she was greeted at a school by a group of pupils dancing energetically.

Mrs May smiled and laughed throughout and later joined in with a second dance during her visit to the ID Mkize School in Cape Town.

Prime Minister Theresa May dances with students at ID Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

At a packed school assembly, she told the pupils: Can I thank all those young people who were involved in the performances outside who welcomed me.

The Prime Minister thanked the students for the warm welcome (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

The PM used her visit to the school to announce that the Chevening scholarship would be opened up to 100 more of Africas brightest young people.

She said: What I see before me in this hall today is the future of South Africa.

ID Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town is twinned with Whitby High School in Yorkshire and the two schools are part of a British Council-funded teacher exchange scheme called Connected Classrooms (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

She added: Id like to think that some of you, when you get older, if youre thinking of going to university that you might think of coming to one of our great universities in the UK.

Prime Minister Theresa May addressed pupils at a packed assembly at ID Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Weve got a programme, its called the Chevening scholarship, which helps people to do that and Im pleased to say today were announcing that were going to open up scholarships to 100 more of Africas brightest young people.Theresa May has arrived in Cape Town on the first leg of a three-country African trade mission. Here is what media and public figures in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria are saying about the visit.

 South Africa

The Prime Minister arrived in South Africa amid a fierce debate over expropriation of land in the country.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in July that the government will go ahead with changing the constitution to allow authorities to redistribute land.

The Citizen, a national tabloid based in Johannesburg, asked: Will Cyril and Theresa get along? The paper predicts they May.

Will Cyril and Theresa get along? They May https://t.co/bXdvx6ynuo  The Citizen News (@TheCitizen_News) August 27, 2018

While the governments of Australia and the United States have taken official positions on South Africas land issues, the United Kingdom is likely to take a more diplomatic approach on the surface, the paper says.

Mrs Mays trip is primarily billed as an opportunity to highlight opportunities for trade after Brexit.

For the first time since becoming Prime Minister in 2016, #TheresaMay will be visiting South Africa before heading to Nigeria and Kenya as part of a trade mission aimed at boosting post-Brexit fortunes. pic.twitter.com/5m1VE1HQVs  SABC News (@SABCNews) August 27, 2018

As she touched down in Cape Town, The Agenda, a television news and current affairs programme, held a Twitter poll of viewers, asking them if they believed closer ties with Britain after Brexit would benefit Africa.

After several hundred votes were cast, the poll suggested a majority thought it would not.

 Nigeria

Next stop on Mrs Mays trade tour is Nigeria  where German Chancellor Angela Merkel will also visit this week.

The Nation, a daily paper based in Lagos, highlights that the trip comes after French President Emmanuel Macron visited earlier this year.

UK PM May for Abuja, Lagos tomorrwow https://t.co/b0olsdyse3  The Nation Nigeria (@TheNationNews) August 28, 2018

Ahead of Mrs Mays arrival, former vice president Atiku Abubakar, who is running for the leadership, said Brexit could blow life back into the old relationships in the Commonwealth and fan the fires of progress and prosperity in Nigeria and across Africa.

Writing in the UKs Daily Express, he said: My sincere belief is that Brexit can be a great force for good. It could blow down barriers which have prevented Nigeria and other countries from grasping their potential.

 Kenya

The last call of Mrs Mays trip is Kenya.

One of the countrys largest papers, the Daily Nation, tells its readers her visit could not come at a more difficult time for the Prime Minister  referring to divisions in the Tory Party over Brexit.

Mrs May needs all the good news she can get, an article says.

It adds of the visit: Unofficially of course, it is another attempt to reassure the British public that the UK is capable of going it alone after Brexit and forging new trade deals with Commonwealth partners and other major economic powers like China and the US.

Prime Minister Theresa May meets Kenyas President Uhuru Kenyatta in London in 2017 (Yui Mok/PA)

Nairobi-based The Star says Mrs Mays visit comes as President Uhuru Kenyatta grapples with funding for his big four agenda.

The leader, who has been visiting Donald Trump in the US, is aiming to introduce universal healthcare and affordable housing, improve food security and increase manufacturing.

The president and his delegation are keen to tap from foreign investment, the paper says.

It adds: It is expected Nairobi will be pushing for the establishment of a British visa processing centre in the country.An Italian journalist who says he helped a former Vatican diplomat pen bombshell allegations of sex abuse cover-ups against Pope Francis has said he persuaded the archbishop to go public after recent revelations in Pennsylvania.

Marco Tosatti said he helped Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano write and edit his 11-page testimony, saying the two sat side-by-side at a wooden table in the reporters living room for three hours on August 22.

Mr Tosatti said Archbishop Vigano, a previous acquaintance, had called him a few weeks ago asking for a meeting.

Pope Francis is greeted by a group of nuns during his weekly general audience in the Pope Paul VI hall at the Vatican (AP)

He then proceeded to tell Mr Tosatti the stories that became the basis of his testimony against the pope.

The senior clerics allegations have thrown Francis five-year papacy into crisis.

A recent US grand jury report found that 300 priests had abused more than 1,000 children over 70 years in six dioceses in Pennsylvania.

The scandal has led to calls for heads to roll and for a full Vatican investigation into who knew what and when about the former archbishop of Washington, Theodore McCarrick.German police and security officials have been criticised over violence during a far-right protest in the eastern city of Chemnitz that left at least six people injured.

The protest late on Monday, sparked by the killing of a 35-year-old German man in an altercation with migrants over the weekend, erupted into clashes between neo-Nazis and left-wing counter-protesters.

German news agency dpa reported that Chemnitz police acknowledged having mobilised too few officers for the demonstration.

Clashes erupted between neo-Nazis and left-wing counter-protesters (Jens Meyer/AP)

Footage showed officers struggling to prevent far-right protesters breaking through police lines. The protesters also performed Nazi salutes and chanted the national resistance is marching here.

Chemnitz is in the eastern state of Saxony, which has long been a hotbed of anti-migrant sentiment. The far-right Alternative for Germany party received almost a quarter of the vote in Chemnitz last year.

The opposition Green party accused interior minister Horst Seehofer of fanning anti-migrant sentiment in recent months and urged him to think about resigning after the violence.

The police in Saxony are in a difficult situation, Mr Seehofer said. Should it be requested, the federal government will provide police support.

Chemnitz police reportedly acknowledged mobilising too few officers (Jens Meyer/AP)

Green legislator Konstantin von Notz told the news portal t-online.de that the violence in Chemnitz recalled events in other parts of eastern Germany during the early 1990s, when authorities failed to stop far-right mobs from attacking migrants.

Chemnitz police said they had arrested a 22-year-old Syrian and a 21-year-old Iraqi on suspicion of manslaughter over the death of the German man after a street festival early on Sunday.

Prosecutor Christine Muecke said the killing was preceded by a verbal confrontation that escalated.A coroner has had a heated exchange with the lawyer of the family of a Windrush migrant who was trying to prove his British citizenship when he died.

Dexter Bristol, 57, collapsed in the street and died while caught up in the immigration scandal that saw people deported, detained or denied access to benefits and healthcare because they could not prove they were in the country legally.

An inquest into his death is being held at St Pancras Coroners Court on Tuesday.

Sentina Bristol, the mother of Dexter Bristol (Yui Mok/PA)

Una Morris, representing Mr Bristols family, repeatedly tried to make submissions to the court about the role Home Office policy might have played in his death.

Coroner Dr William Dolman accused her of trying to tell me how to run my court and repeatedly ordered her to sit down.

He abruptly called a break after the heated exchange between the two of them.

Dr Dolman later apologised to Ms Morris and Mr Bristols family, saying: I didnt mean any discourtesy at all.

Ms Morris responded: My concern isnt for myself as much as the impact on the family, the family are deeply upset at the way you spoke to me.

Dr Dolman ruled that the Home Office should not be an interested party in the inquest as its policy was not relevant to the immediate circumstances of his death.

He said it is absolutely clear that he was under some sort of distress or pressure but that this did not come solely from his immigration status.

A second break was called at the familys request.

Ms Morris said they are considering whether they want to continue participating with this process.

Mr Bristol died of natural causes on March 31 having suffered acute heart failure.

He had not visited his GP for more than a year and believed he could not change surgeries unless he could prove his immigration status.

He also could not get a job because he did not have documents proving his right to work.

Mr Bristol, who lived in Camden, north London, died shortly before a letter arrived suggesting a breakthrough in his case.Irelands presidential election is to be held on October 26, it has been confirmed.

A formal order for the election was signed on Tuesday by Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy.

This will start the 28-day period in which hopeful candidates can secure their place on the ballot paper.

The closing date for nominations is September 26.

The minister has appointed Barry Ryan, a Principal Officer in the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, to be the Presidential Returning Officer.

Potential candidates will have to gain the support of four county councils or the backing of 20 TDs and Senators.

Irelands current president Michael D Higgins confirmed in June that he will seek re-election for a second term.

Each term lasts seven years.

Gavin Duffy is among those seeking nomination (Niall Carson/PA)

Mr Higgins has the backing of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.

Mr Murphy confirmed the election date on RTEs Today With Miriam.

A number of councils around the country have been hearing petitions from hopeful candidates, including Meath County Council on Monday.

Among those seeking nomination is Dragons Den star Gavin Duffy, founder of Pieta House suicide prevention charity Senator Joan Freeman, journalist Gemma ODoherty and artist Kevin Sharkey.

Sinn Fein said it will also include a candidate, but is not expected to reveal the identity for a number of weeks.

Others seeking nomination include Marilyn Monroe impersonator Sarah Louise Mulligan, farmer John Groarke and Marie Goretti Moylan.Frances high-profile environment minister has unexpectedly announced his resignation live on national radio, lamenting the governments lack of decisive action on green issues.

The move by Nicolas Hulot deals a stinging blow to the environmental credibility of President Emmanuel Macron.

Clearly emotional, he said he had not even told his wife, let alone Mr Macron or his prime minister, of his decision to stand down.

Nicolas Hulot (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)

The long-time environmental advocate lamented Frances slow pace of progress on green issues and his own lack of power to force change.

His on-air resignation on France Inter radio was so out of the blue that the first reaction from an interviewer was: Are you serious?

I no longer want to lie to myself, Mr Hulot said. I dont want to create the illusion that my presence in government means that were up to standard on these issues, and so I am deciding to quit the government.

Recruiting him as a minister had been a coup for Mr Macron, who has sought to position France as a champion in the fight against environmental degradation and as a counterweight to the climate change attitudes of US President Donald Trump.

Losing Mr Hulot so suddenly will force a ministerial reshuffle and casts doubt on the strength of Mr Macrons commitment to make our planet great again.

The presidents office confirmed there will be a reshuffle but said it will not happen while the French leader is visiting Denmark and Finland this week.

Speaking in Denmark, Mr Macron defended his government as having done more than any other on this subject. He urged patience, saying: Its a fight that isnt won from one day to the next.

Mr Hulot expressed hope that his resignation would stir French politicians and the public into action, calling it an act of mobilisation.

I no longer believe, Mr Hulot said. The planet is becoming an oven, our natural resources are being exhausted, biodiversity is melting like snow in the sun and its not always dealt with like a priority issue.

He damned Mr Macrons government with faint praise as he sprang his resignation surprise.

France is doing more than a lot of other countries. Do not make me say that it is doing enough. It is not doing enough. Europe is not doing enough. The world is not doing enough, he said.

Never a career politician, he accepted a role in government in the hope that, from an inside position, he could make real progress on the environmental concerns he has long sounded the alarm about.

He was one of two ministers given the special title of minister of state. The other is the interior minister, who leads the police and Frances domestic fight against terrorism.

On France Inter, Mr Hulot said short-term pressures were taking priority in the French government over the longer-term need to reverse environmental destruction.

He described himself as all alone and said: I have a bit of influence but I have no power and no means.

We are my troops? Who do I have behind me?

Mr Hulot said he had been mulling his resignation for several months but one of the last straws was a meeting on Monday with Mr Macron about hunting. Mr Hulot was dismayed to see a hunting lobbyist was allowed to take part despite not being invited, seeing this as a symbol of lobbyists influence.Killing of woman, 20, in Zhejiang on Friday generates renewed emphasis

The Ministry of Transport on Monday urged the nation's online car-hailing platforms to take concrete action to safeguard passengers' personal safety, after a 20-year-old woman in Yueqing, Zhejiang province, was raped and killed by a Didi driver on Friday, the second such killing this year. The driver confessed, the police said.

Ride-hailing platforms should learn a lesson and conduct their businesses strictly in line with laws and regulations, and by no means should they push the legal limits, thereby endangering passengers' priceless lives, an article posted on the ministry's website and WeChat account said.

Recent homicides have demonstrated that online hailing platforms, such as Didi, pursued business expansion and profit at the expense of safety, and that they have been lacking in social responsibility, it said.

The article called on all to "show zero tolerance" of omissions when it comes to passenger safety in the transportation sector.

In Shanghai, the account of a Didi driver was frozen after a female passenger filed a complaint about the driver's "harassing her and asking her to go to a hotel" via WeChat after the trip concluded, ThePaper.cn reported on Monday.

In nearby Zhejiang, where the Friday killing took place, the transportation management authority in Taizhou, in central Zhejiang, said it had investigated and prosecuted more than 360 illegal and unregistered car-hailing vehicles using the Didi brand between May and July.

The city created a detailed regulation for managing online car-hailing as early as November 2016, setting specific requirements for platforms, vehicles and drivers' experience.

"But Didi hasn't contacted us to obtain the business operation permit required," an official in Taizhou's transportation bureau said.

The recent homicide case has also stirred appeals from the publicespecially female passengersto ask car-hailing platforms to take more steps to protect their safety via the apps, such as embedding a one-click link to the police.

So far, short messages to 12110, and the 110 emergency hotline remain the two mainstream means of emergency contact, an official at the Zhejiang Public Security Department told China Daily on Monday.

In a separate development, Huolala, a vehicle-hailing platform for cargo, apologized on Monday to a female client in Hangzhou after she complained that a driver had continued to harass her after the trip.

The woman, surnamed Wang, complained online that she was so frightened by the continuous harassing calls from the driver that she felt she had to move out of her apartment and stay at a nearby hotel for more than 20 days.

The driver's account was later frozen.Theresa May outlined Britains first post-Brexit trade pact as she also committed the UK to providing an extra 4 billion of investment in African economies.

The Prime Minister said the Government intends to carry over the EUs economic partnership agreement with Mozambique and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), which consists of South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland.

Mrs Mays pledge came during a keynote speech in Cape Town on how the UK plans to use its aid budget in the national interest, encourage private firms to invest on the continent and help offer security and jobs to stabilise African economies.

She said an additional 4 billion of UK investment aimed to pave the way for at least another 4 billion from private sector financing, as part of the Governments ambition to overhaul the United States as the G7s top investor in Africa.

The UK is also to sign a new agreement to repatriate huge sums of money that have been illegally removed from Kenya, allowing this to be returned to its rightful owners and invested in the country, Mrs May said.

(PA Graphics)

(PA Graphics)

But she denied the UK has neglected Africa, pointing to visits by former foreign secretary Boris Johnson.

Downing Street believes helping young people in Africa secure jobs will stabilise the economy of their country while also reducing the likelihood of them undertaking risky journeys to Europe.

Theresa May visits ID Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Mrs May is taking part in a trade mission to South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, which also has a focus on security.

Speaking at the First National Bank in Cape Town, Mrs May said: As Prime Minister of a trading nation whose success depends on global markets, I want to see strong African economies that British companies can do business with in a free and fair fashion.

Whether through creating new customers for British exporters or opportunities for British investors, our integrated global economy means healthy African economies are good news for British people as well as African people.

WATCH LIVE: PM @Theresa_May speaks about renewing the UK-Africa relationship in South Africa https://t.co/ewzA9WJrUn  UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) August 28, 2018

Thats why Im delighted that we will today confirm plans to carry over the European Unions Economic Partnership Agreement with the Southern African Customs Union and Mozambique once the EUs deal no longer applies to the UK.

Britains overseas aid budget totalled 13.9 billion in 2017, an increase of 555 million in 2016 and in line with the legal commitment to invest 0.7% of national income in this area.

It has proven a controversial pledge among some Tory backbenchers, with successive international development secretaries vowing to use the cash to help develop trade against the backdrop of Brexit.

Prime Minister Theresa May meets South African president Cyril Ramaphosa at DeTuynhuys Presidential Palace in Cape Town, South Africa, where they held bilateral meetings. The Prime Minister is on day one of her trip to South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya on a trade mission designed to bolster the UKs post-Brexit fortunes (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Mrs May made an unashamed vow to ensure the aid programme works for the UK, explaining: Today I am committing that our development spending will not only combat extreme poverty, but at the same time tackle global challenges and support our own national interest.

This will ensure that our investment in aid benefits us all, and is fully aligned with our wider national security priorities.

The PM said a crackdown on illicit finance and organised crime, with expertise deployed in financial centres around the world.

Future spending plans will see the Government set out its proposals in more detail, Mrs May said.

Mrs May meets students and staff at ID Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Her visit is the first by a British PM to sub-Saharan Africa in five years.

Asked if the UK has neglected Africa and come late to the party compared to other nations in working with the continent, Mrs May replied: No.

I think, just look at the number of visits the former foreign secretary made just last year as an example of that.

We have been working with African nations and African governments in the past. What Im talking about today is a new partnership for the future  recognising the challenges we both face.

Mrs May said she would discuss South African land reform with the countrys president Cyril Ramaphosa, backing his calls of having no smash and grab change.

Business leaders and ministers, including the international trade departments George Hollingbery, are accompanying Mrs May on her trip.

Global Justice Nows Nick Dearden said: The Prime Minister is today laying out a deeply regressive vision of aid which takes us back to the 1970s  a time when aid was not about creating a fairer world but about helping western countries to generate more business for their own corporations.Turkish club Fenerbahce have insisted they are not trying to sign Tottenham midfielder Moussa Sissoko.

The Super Lig club, managed by Dutchman Phillip Cocu, have been linked with a move for the Frenchman ahead of the transfer window shutting at the end of the week.

But the club have distanced themselves from the speculation, revealing they have not made contact with Spurs.

Moussa Sissoko was not involved for Tottenham on Monday at Manchester United (Adam Davy/PA)

They said in an official statement on their website: Regarding a transfer of Moussa Sissoko to our club, there has been no contact with the player, the manager or the club.

Sissoko, who was Tottenhams joint-record signing when he arrived from Newcastle in 2016, was not involved in the matchday squad for Mondays 3-0 win at Manchester United.

The 29-year-old has found life tough since moving to London two years ago, making only 24 Premier League starts.Historians have raised concerns about proposed plans to build a driverless car testing facility over the site of the Battle of Bosworth Field.

Japanese-owned automotive specialists Horiba Mira has launched an application to build the 26 million 1.2 million square foot test-track, which is set to be discussed on Tuesday.

The company wants to test cars at speeds reaching 155mph on the site where Richard III was defeated by Henry Tudor in 1485.

Enthusiasts re enact battle of Bosworth during the Bosworth Anniversary Event at Bosworth Heritage Centre, Market Bosworth.

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council has been advised to approve the application at the meeting.

Historians have said the plans would have a direct physical impact, and would alter the rural character of part of the battlefield.

More than 4,000 people have signed an online petition to try and prevent the council from approving the plans.

Although it has made no formal objections to the proposals, Historic England wrote a letter to the council, which said: The Battle of Bosworth was one of the most pivotal battles in English history and continues to receive considerable public interest.

The development proposal is a substantial structure, and would have a direct physical impact and an indirect impact through altering the rural character of part of the battlefield.

The construction of a CAV testing track, control tower, storage building, ground works, landscaping and associated infrastructure would impact both the topographic integrity and archaeological potential of the battlefield.

Please help save Bosworth Battlefield from being developed. Also email any objections to planning@hinckley-bosworth.gov.uk quoting ref 18/00425/FUL by Tuesday.

We can't lose one of most significant and unique spots in our country https://t.co/dy1L4S48NF  Tudor Chronicles (@TudorChronicles) August 27, 2018

A spokesman for the Battlefield Trust said: The Trust recognises the constraints imposed by current national planning guidance for heritage assessments, but would argue that battlefields represent a special case which has not been fully considered by this guidance; the whole battlefield constitutes a single heritage asset and should be treated as such.

The negative impact of the development on battlefield tourism does not seem to have been fully factored into the public benefit assessment and the Trust urges that this should be undertaken in advance of any decision being made.

The Trust therefore objects strongly to this application and has asked the Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council Planning Committee to reject it.

Horiba Mira declined to comment on the application until the conclusion of the planning meeting.A large-scale policing operation is continuing in a bid to trace a 21-year-old man wanted after his ex-partner and her mother were found fatally injured at their home.

Janbaz Tarin is being sought in connection with the killings of Raneem Oudeh, 22, and Khaola Saleem, 49, in Solihull, who were attacked in the early hours of Bank Holiday Monday.

West Midlands Police have appealed directly to Tarin to hand himself in and called on the public to contact detectives with information.

Raneem Oudeh (West Midlands Police/PA)

The hunt for Tarin, an Afghan national who is in the UK legally, is continuing as police confirmed they had searched three addresses connected to him, including a property in Birminghams Sparkhill area.

Ms Oudeh had a two-year-old son, though Tarin is not the father, and had moved to England from Syria, along with her mother Ms Saleem, who herself had six children.

Post-mortem examinations are due to be carried out on both women on Tuesday.

Chief Constable Dave Thompson tweeted: Huge effort underway to locate this man. Call us, web chat us or tell Crimestoppers UK if you can help.

(PA Graphics)

Detective Inspector Caroline Corfield, who is leading the investigation, said: As we have so far not been able to locate Tarin, Im now asking for the publics help in tracing him.

If anyone knows where he is or thinks they may have seen him, Id urge them to ring 999 immediately.

If theres anyone out there who may be shielding him through a sense of misguided loyalty, they need to be aware that they are committing an offence and will be prosecuted.

My message to Tarin would be that its vitally important that we get to speak to you as soon as possible, so please do the right thing and let us know where you are.

In a statement, the victims relatives said: Our family is devastated with the loss of our loved ones.

We would like to give thanks for all the love and support we have received. We kindly request that our privacy is respected at this difficult time.

Khaola Saleem (West Midlands Police/PA)

West Midlands Police force said it had referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) because it had previously had contact with the victims family.

A spokesman for the IOPC said: I can confirm we have received a referral and that it will be assessed.

Screams woke neighbours in Northdown Road in the early hours of Monday and the women were pronounced dead at the scene outside Ms Saleems home.

One woman living nearby said: I thought it was foxes screaming. She (one of the victims) was absolutely screaming her head off. He wasnt speaking English, thats for sure. He shouted something and then ran off.

There was a lot of screaming and shouting and then I saw the guy run off. About a minute later I saw him leave in a van.

The neighbour, who said she was stunned by what had happened, added she did not know the victims, but they kept themselves to themselves.

A police forensic officer outside a property on Northdown Road in Solihull, where the mother and daughter were stabbed to death (Aaron Chown/PA)

Another neighbour said he was woken at around 12.30am by screaming but assumed it was people coming home from a night out.

The father of two, who also declined to give his name, said: Then police knocked on my door and asked for some towels, so I knew at that point it was serious.

Ive got a young family so I was worried about what was going on.

At the scene on Monday, forensics tents were erected at the scene and house-to-house inquiries were being carried out.

CCTV footage is also being examined, the force said, adding that there will be a visible police presence in the area in the coming days.

The public has been advised not to approach Tarin and to call 999.The grief-stricken parents of London Bridge terror attack victim Sara Zelenak have launched a charity to help others overcome the loss of a loved one in similarly traumatic circumstances.

Ms Zelenak, 21, was among the eight people killed when a white van ploughed into crowds at the landmark before three killers carried out a frenzied knife attack in Borough Market in June last year.

Her parents Mark and Julie Wallace have since sought to channel their heartache by establishing Sarz Sanctuary, named in memory of their Australian au pair daughter, as a way of honouring Saras life and keeping her spirit alive.

Sara Zelenak was one of the victims in the London Bridge terrorist attack (Metropolitan Police/PA)

Her mother said: Losing Sara when she was only 21 crushed my spirit, spiralled me into turmoil, and devastated my family.

Its every parents worst nightmare to lose their child  the shock and grief is unimaginable.

As parents, were not sure we will ever come to terms with losing Sara, but were determined to give purpose to her loss by establishing the Sarz Sanctuary charity.

Mr Wallace added: The charitys mission is also a true reflection of the kind of love Sara taught everyone around her when she was with us  unconditional, unchanging, without barriers, forgiving, nurturing and supportive, a love that can lift others from defeat.

The parents hope to establish free holistic grief healing centres in both the UK and Australia, offering people in mental turmoil the chance to attend seven-day funded programmes with access to a range of specialist treatments such as therapy.

James Galvin, a former Metropolitan Police officer and UK trustee for Sarz Sanctuary in the UK, said: Having first-hand experience of the impact terror incidents have on victims, their families and the emergency services, the establishment of Sarz Sanctuary by Mark and Julie is a force for good that will give those touched by traumatic grief newfound hope.

Killers Rachid Redouane, Youssef Zaghba and ringleader Khuram Butt were shot dead by armed police eight minutes after the first emergency call on the evening of the attack on June 3 2017.

 To donate to Sarz Sanctuary, visit https://chapel-yorkukfoundation.org/donate-to-sarz-sanctuary/A car used by Pope Francis during his trip to Ireland is to be donated to a Londonderry search and rescue charity, Archbishop Eamon Martin has confirmed.

Last weekend, for Pope Francis visit to Ireland, two Skoda Rapid cars were used at various times to transport the Pontiff during his two-day trip to locations in the Archdiocese of Dublin, and in the Archdiocese of Tuam.

Following a recommendation from Archbishop Eamon Martin, one of the cars used by Pope Francis has been offered to the volunteer charity.

Foyle Search and Rescue was set up by the local community in 1993 in response to the high number of drownings in the river Foyle.

The charity have since adopted the role of preventing suicide and supporting families in the city.

Archbishop Eamon Martin welcomes donation of Pope Francis Skoda Rapid to Foyle Search and Rescue https://t.co/Ty6mUbvgKd  Foyle Search& Rescue (@Foylerescue) August 28, 2018

Archbishop Martin hailed the work of the charity, and commended volunteers selflessness.

From my time as a priest ministering in Derry, I know well at first-hand how the local Foyle Search and Rescue volunteers work selflessly, and of their own free time, each week to help those who are vulnerable and in need, he said.

I also wish to avail of this opportunity to commend the exemplary volunteers who provide an educational programme on water safety and suicide awareness to local schools, workplaces and community groups.

In addition, Foyle Search and Rescue facilitates the North West Bereaved by Suicide Support Group  which assists families and friends who have lost a loved one.

The chairman of Foyle Search and Rescue, Stephen Twells, said the car would be a morale boost for the team.

Pope Francis travelling in the Skoda (Yui Mok/PA)

He added: Foyle Search volunteers are very honoured and most appreciative to be the recipients of this very kind gift.

Pope Francis car will be provide a morale boost to our volunteers at this time, during what has been a very tough year for all of us in the city.

I also know that this gift will be a great comfort to many families here in Derry knowing that we have been recognised by the Holy Father, and by Archbishop Martin, for the work that we do.

Patrolling the fast flowing river on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, volunteers engage with people in distress, maintain lifebelts and save lives.

The blue Skoda Rapid will be given over to Foyle Search and Rescue in the coming days, and will be used by volunteers patrolling the shores of the River Foyle.

It will not be able to keep the number plate, SCV 1, which means Stato della Citta del Vaticano, Vatican City.

The other car has been gifted to social care agency of the Catholic church in Dublin, Crosscare.A heart surgeon excluded from working at a hospital pending disciplinary proceedings says she is delighted after winning the latest stage of a High Court fight.

Professor Marjan Jahangiri had been excluded by bosses at St Georges University Hospital in Tooting, London, pending a disciplinary investigation into allegations made against her.

She took legal action and asked a judge to lift the exclusion order.

Professor Marjan Jahangiri had been excluded by bosses at St Georges University Hospital in Tooting (PA)

Mr Justice Nicklin on Tuesday ruled in her favour, following a High Court hearing in London, and said he was not satisfied that exclusion was necessary.

The safety of our patients & staff take priority at all times. We support anyone who raises concerns. We dont put up with bullying & harassment & investigate allegations thoroughly. Id encourage any staff who have concerns to come forward so we can support & protect them.  Jac Totterdell (@TotterdellJac) August 25, 2018

I am delighted with todays judgment and very much look forward to returning to my patients, said Professor Jahangiri outside court.

My priority, as it has always been, is combining excelled patient care with research and training.

Professor Janangiri had complained of being the victim of a campaign.

The judge indicated that litigation was at an early stage and said he could not make any such findings.

He said any such findings could only be made after a proper consideration of evidence at a trial.

Lawyers said Professor Janangiri had made a breach of contract complaint which had yet to be analysed.

They said further hearings were expected.

Jacqueline Totterdell, chief executive at St Georges University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said she was disappointed by the outcome.

She added: We are disappointed by the judgment issued today, but understand and respect it. We welcome that this ruling is not about guilt or exoneration, and the judge made no finding on the facts being investigated.

He has said that the exclusion process was not appropriate, but has allowed the trust to continue its investigation into very serious issues raised.The leader of a Sikh temple damaged in a petrol bomb attack in Edinburgh says the community has been stunned and frightened by the incident.

The doors to the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Sheriff Brae were set alight around 5am on Tuesday.

No one was injured but there is said to be significant smoke damage inside the building.

The Gurdwara said a lit petrol canister was pushed through the front door of the building before the alarm was raised by a passer-by.

Scotlands Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said he was saddened by the attack while other faith groups have offered support to the Sikh community.

Firefighters extinguished the fire at the front door and officers are now investigating along with police.

The inside of the Gurdwara suffered damage from fire and smoke (Jane Barlow/PA)

Kulbear Singh, president of the Edinburgh Sikh Gurdwara, said: Scotlands Sikh community places an emphasis on contributing positively to society and prides itself as a vital part of a modern, multicultural Scotland.

As such, hateful occurrences such as this are incredibly disheartening. The gurdwara is the place of sanctuary and learning. We come here every week with our family and children; it is frightening that someone would target us in this way.

Wege Singh, general secretary of the Edinburgh Sikh Gurdwara, added: We are an active community in Edinburgh and provide free meals for the local community and educational services.

We are appalled at this attack on a religious centre. We will not stop playing our part in this vibrant city and will work through interfaith to create an inclusive Scotland.

The Gurdwara is situated in a former church and has been used by the Sikh community for nearly 50 years.

It is the only Sikh centre in the Scottish capital, serving a community of over 500 people.

Mr Yousaf tweeted: Saddened at the news that a Sikh temple in Edinburgh was petrol-bombed today.

I know @policescotland will investigate thoroughly.

Solidarity with my Sikh friends and Sikh Community across Scotland.

Scotlands First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also tweeted, saying: This is appalling. An attack on any individual or community because of their faith or race is an attack on all of us.

The Sikh community are a wonderful and valued part of Scotlands diverse society. They have my support and solidarity.

Rt Rev Susan Brown, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, said: How sad that a place of worship should be the target of such a hateful act. I am glad no one was injured and extend sympathy to the Sikh community in Edinburgh.

We recognise the actions of a small minority do not reflect the good relations that exist with your local community. There is no room in Scotland for intolerance.

The Gurdwara said local businesses having been reviewing CCTV and Police Scotland has appealed for any witnesses from the area.

Detective Inspector Clark Martin said: Fortunately, the fire was extinguished relatively quickly and no one was injured, but nevertheless we are treating this incident with the utmost seriousness.

Anyone who remembers seeing any suspicious activity around the temple, or in the Sheriff Brae area during the early hours of Tuesday morning should contact police immediately.

In addition, anyone with any further information relevant to this investigation is also asked to come forward.

The doors to the Guru Nanak Gurdwara were set alight around 5am on Tuesday (Jane Barlow/PA)

Inspector Andrew Johnson said: At this time we do not know if this has been a random and reckless act, or a targeted attack on the temple.

In addition to maintaining a continued dialogue with staff within the temple, and the wider Sikh community, we will have a high-visibility presence in the area while this investigation is conducted to engage with the public and offer reassurance.

If you believe you know something that can assist with the ongoing inquiry into this incident then please speak to the officers on patrol, contact us via 101 or make an anonymous report to Crimestoppers.Theresa May faced awkward questions on her record campaigning for Nelson Mandelas release in the 70s and 80s as she visited the place where the former South African president was held for nearly two decades.

The Prime Minister was repeatedly asked what she did to campaign for Mr Mandelas freedom during the apartheid era.

Mrs May was asked by Channel 4 News whether she felt guilty for not doing more at the time, as she prepared to visit Robben Island.

Prime Minister Theresa May enters a cell on Robben Island which housed political prisoner Nelson Mandela (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Mrs May, who is in South Africa as part of a three-day trade mission to the continent, responded: What I will be feeling when I go to Robben Island is to recognise the immense statesmanship of a man who spent so many years incarcerated and when he came out of that incarceration had that breadth of vision and that calm approach that has enabled South Africa to be built into the country that it is today.

Asked if she went on any protests at the time, she said: I think you know full well that I didnt go on protests.

But what is important is the work that the United Kingdom government did to ensure that it was able to give support where that support was needed.

She added: What is important was the support that the UK government was giving at the time. Often support behind the scenes, but in other ways too, to ensure that we saw the result that we did in relation to the ending of Apartheid.

During her visit to the island, Mrs May was handed a key to open the cell of the man who went on to become South African president.

She was given details about the cell as she stood inside, including what was used as a toilet.

Mrs May signed the guestbook, writing: It has been a privilege to visit in this year, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nelson Mandela.

His legacy lives on in the hopes and dreams of young people here in South Africa and around the world.A former chief rabbi has branded Jeremy Corbyn an anti-Semite and claimed the Labour leaders remarks on Zionists are the most offensive by a senior politician since Enoch Powells rivers of blood speech.

Crossbench peer Lord Jonathan Sacks accused Mr Corbyn of giving support to racists, terrorists and dealers of hate as claims of anti-Semitism continued to rock Labour.

The comments came after footage from 2013 emerged of Mr Corbyn attacking a group of British Zionists who had criticised Palestinian ambassador Manuel Hassassian.

Mr Corbyn said: They clearly have two problems.

One is they dont want to study history, and secondly, having lived in this country for a very long time, probably all of their lives, they dont understand English irony either.

Lord Sacks told the New Statesman: The recently disclosed remarks by Jeremy Corbyn are the most offensive statement made by a senior British politician since Enoch Powells 1968 rivers of blood speech.

It was divisive, hateful and like Powells speech it undermines the existence of an entire group of British citizens by depicting them as essentially alien.

We can only judge Jeremy Corbyn by his words and his actions.

He has given support to racists, terrorists and dealers of hate who want to kill Jews and remove Israel from the map.

Lord Sacks is a former chief rabbi (Toby Melville/PA)

When he implies that, however long they have lived here, Jews are not fully British, he is using the language of classic pre-war European anti-Semitism.

When challenged with such facts, the evidence for which is before our eyes, first he denies, then he equivocates, then he obfuscates.

This is low, dishonest and dangerous.

He has legitimised the public expression of hate, and where he leads, others will follow.

Now, within living memory of the Holocaust, and while Jews are being murdered elsewhere in Europe for being Jews, we have an anti-Semite as the leader of the Labour Party and Her Majestys Opposition.

Enoch Powell made the `rivers of blood speech in 1968 (PA)

That is why Jews feel so threatened by Mr Corbyn and those who support him.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: This comparison with the race-baiting Enoch Powell is absurd and offensive.

Jeremy Corbyn described a particular group of pro-Israel activists as Zionists, in the accurate political sense, not as a synonym or code for Jewish people.

Jeremy Corbyn is determined to tackle anti-Semitism both within the Labour Party and in wider society and the Labour Party is committed to rebuilding trust with the Jewish community.

The Labour leader has previously said that his remarks had been defending the ambassador from what I thought were deliberate misrepresentations by people for whom English was a first language, when it isnt for the ambassador.Blog Archive Nov 2021 (2) Oct 2021 (58) Sep 2021 (67) Aug 2021 (62) Jul 2021 (54) Jun 2021 (50) May 2021 (58) Apr 2021 (44) Mar 2021 (57) Feb 2021 (64) Jan 2021 (93) Dec 2020 (82) Nov 2020 (62) Oct 2020 (50) Sep 2020 (45) Aug 2020 (51) Jul 2020 (56) Jun 2020 (53) May 2020 (70) Apr 2020 (66) Mar 2020 (169) Feb 2020 (211) Jan 2020 (184) Dec 2019 (54) Nov 2019 (56) Oct 2019 (55) Sep 2019 (63) Aug 2019 (54) Jul 2019 (69) Jun 2019 (56) May 2019 (65) Apr 2019 (68) Mar 2019 (72) Feb 2019 (76) Jan 2019 (62) Dec 2018 (55) Nov 2018 (69) Oct 2018 (90) Sep 2018 (82) Aug 2018 (58) Jul 2018 (36) Jun 2018 (47) May 2018 (44) Apr 2018 (64) Mar 2018 (63) Feb 2018 (68) Jan 2018 (92) Dec 2017 (85) Nov 2017 (64) Oct 2017 (82) Sep 2017 (54) Aug 2017 (89) Jul 2017 (60) Jun 2017 (86) May 2017 (84) Apr 2017 (62) Mar 2017 (86) Feb 2017 (91) Jan 2017 (113) Dec 2016 (109) Nov 2016 (100) Oct 2016 (82) Sep 2016 (95) Aug 2016 (84) Jul 2016 (84) Jun 2016 (99) May 2016 (93) Apr 2016 (106) Mar 2016 (145) Feb 2016 (125) Jan 2016 (103) Dec 2015 (83) Nov 2015 (80) Oct 2015 (100) Sep 2015 (111) Aug 2015 (94) Jul 2015 (98) Jun 2015 (151) May 2015 (125) Apr 2015 (109) Mar 2015 (122) Feb 2015 (113) Jan 2015 (135) Dec 2014 (131) Nov 2014 (115) Oct 2014 (146) Sep 2014 (112) Aug 2014 (128) Jul 2014 (94) Jun 2014 (104) May 2014 (140) Apr 2014 (132) Mar 2014 (81) Feb 2014 (89) Jan 2014 (141) Dec 2013 (100) Nov 2013 (96) Oct 2013 (99) Sep 2013 (94) Aug 2013 (95) Jul 2013 (95) Jun 2013 (91) May 2013 (139) Apr 2013 (179) Mar 2013 (73) Feb 2013 (76) Jan 2013 (85) Dec 2012 (59) Nov 2012 (71) Oct 2012 (85) Sep 2012 (70) Aug 2012 (71) Jul 2012 (53) Jun 2012 (51) May 2012 (52) Apr 2012 (52) Mar 2012 (69) Feb 2012 (76) Jan 2012 (70) Dec 2011 (60) Nov 2011 (54) Oct 2011 (57) Sep 2011 (75) Aug 2011 (72) Jul 2011 (64) Jun 2011 (76) May 2011 (56) Apr 2011 (73) Mar 2011 (114) Feb 2011 (71) Jan 2011 (80) Dec 2010 (92) Nov 2010 (82) Oct 2010 (73) Sep 2010 (95) Aug 2010 (86) Jul 2010 (81) Jun 2010 (76) May 2010 (71) Apr 2010 (74) Mar 2010 (74) Feb 2010 (82) Jan 2010 (101) Dec 2009 (108) Nov 2009 (182) Oct 2009 (136) Sep 2009 (102) Aug 2009 (120) Jul 2009 (151) Jun 2009 (136) May 2009 (180) Apr 2009 (145) Mar 2009 (113) Feb 2009 (113) Jan 2009 (124) Dec 2008 (108) Nov 2008 (69) Oct 2008 (89) Sep 2008 (76) Aug 2008 (75) Jul 2008 (87) Jun 2008 (80) May 2008 (99) Apr 2008 (93) Mar 2008 (115) Feb 2008 (147) Jan 2008 (162) Dec 2007 (124) Nov 2007 (95) Oct 2007 (67) Sep 2007 (42) Aug 2007 (78) Jul 2007 (75) Jun 2007 (123) May 2007 (110) Apr 2007 (108) Mar 2007 (92) Feb 2007 (136) Jan 2007 (119) Dec 2006 (41) Nov 2006 (34) Oct 2006 (12) Sep 2006 (13) Aug 2006 (13) Jul 2006 (16) Jun 2006 (12) May 2006 (21) Apr 2006 (38) Mar 2006 (27) Feb 2006 (25) Jan 2006 (18)On March 7, 2018, local readers peruse the China Bookshelf on the opening day of the Thats China Bookshelf in Turkeys Nezih Bookstore. (Photo/Peoples Daily Overseas Edition)

A bookshelf called the Thats China Bookshelf," laden with nearly one thousand books filled with stories from China captivated local readers in Bangkok, Thailand on July 26, according to Peoples Daily Overseas Edition.

The unique bookshelf is one of Chinas real-life examples of the Thats China Bookshelf project, which intends to promote Chinese books of rich cultural reference to share stories about China with the world, and to provide readers in various countries a window to better understand China.

As a new channel and new brand of Chinese cultural publicity, "That's China Bookshelf" was the brainchild of Jing Xiaomin, deputy director of China Intercontinental Press, who was inspired by a Japanese Bookstore in the United Arab Emirates, and decided to create a dedicated platform that would help introduce Chinese stories to a foreign audience.

The Thats China Bookshelf project was launched in January 2016 during the 47th Cairo International Book Fair, as a subproject of the Publishing Project under Chinas Belt and Road Initiative. It aims to introduce Chinese literature to countries along the Belt and Road, thus contributing to cultural exchange along the route.

Photo taken in May 2017 shows the opening ceremony of the first bookshelf of Thats China Bookshelf in Jadir Bookstore in the United Arab Emirates. (Photo/Peoples Daily Overseas Edition)

At present, the China Bookshelf team have set up a total of 15 bookshelves in 13 countries including Egypt, Turkey, the UAE, Argentina, Germany, France, the United States, and Singapore.

The Thats China Bookshelf project not only helps introduce high-quality Chinese books to people along the Belt and Road, but also enables foreigners living in China or coming to China to understand Chinese culture more thoroughly.

Foreigners in China can now find multilingual versions of Chinese literature in foreign-related institutions such as famous scenic spots, international hotels, and foreign bookstores in 10 major Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Xiamen.

Books displayed on this unique bookshelf include Chinese classics such as Tang Poetry and Song Lyrics, books that explain the "Belt and Road" initiative, practical guides to living in China, and Xi Jinping: The Governance of China.

Besides paper books on the shelves, the China Bookshelf also explores more channels to spread Chinese stories along the Belt and Road by creating a digital reading App and online version of Thats China Bookshelf.

With the help of Chinas multinational networking and telecommunications equipment provider Huawei, the organizers of China Bookshelf launched a digital reading App named Thats Books in Arabic.

This January, the online version of Thats China Bookshelf was established by JD.com, a major e-commerce company. So far, more than 1,500 Chinese books covering a range of subject matter in 16 languages have been sold on overseas platforms of JD.com.

With more major Chinese publishers attracted to the project, Jing Xiaomin now has bigger dreams, planning to build the Thats China Bookstore in countries all over the world.Northern Irelands two largest parties once again blamed each other for Stormonts powersharing impasse as the region passed an unwelcome milestone for non-governance.

Tuesday marked 589 days since the Democratic Unionist and Sinn Fein-led powersharing executive collapsed  passing Belgium for the worlds longest peacetime period without a properly functioning government.

While Northern Ireland will avoid an embarrassing entry in the Guinness Book of World Records  the Stormont stalemate was ruled ineligible as it only relates to a devolved administration  angry members of the public organised a series of public protests to mark the day.

The #wedeservebetter events were arranged for more than a dozen cities and towns across the region on Tuesday evening, though organisers were forced to cancel the main rally outside City Hall at late notice due to a major fire at a nearby shop.

DUP leader Arlene Foster and party colleagues unveil a banner addressed at Sinn Fein outside Parliament Buildings at Stormont (Liam McBurney/PA)

The executive imploded in January 2017 amid a bitter row between the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein over a botched renewable energy scheme.

The rift widened to take in other more tradition disputes  such as the Irish language  and the parties remain at loggerheads, with no prospect of an imminent breakthrough on the horizon.

While there has been speculation over a new round of negotiations for the autumn, no date has publicly been announced.

The DUP marked the milestone by unfurling a banner outside Stormont calling on Sinn Fein to end its boycott on governing.

For over 500 days Sinn Fein have continued to block the formation of an Executive and restore devolution. The DUP will continue to deliver. pic.twitter.com/dpqjkhNGrP  DUP (@duponline) August 24, 2018

Party leader Arlene Foster said she shared the frustration of the wider public.

There is only one problem party and lets call it out  thats Sinn Fein, she said. And they need to end their boycott here in Northern Ireland.

I share the frustrations of many today that we dont have a government here taking decisions on education and on health, on infrastructure and on the future of this country itself.

So its time to get back into government  long past the time to get back into government.

Mrs Foster repeated her call for government to be restored while a parallel process to resolve outstanding issues is run.

Sinn Feins Conor Murphy said the party was dedicated to getting the institutions up and running on a proper basis.

"It would suit them (The DUP) better to carry a banner at a Pride parade, supporting the rights of those people than to wave a banner out the front of this building" - @conormurphysf speaking at Stormont today  pic.twitter.com/97JnXpbE7p  Sinn Fein (@sinnfeinireland) August 28, 2018

The republican party has accused the DUP of blocking rights-based concessions, such as protections for Irish language speakers, the introduction of same-sex marriage and the release of additional funds for historic inquests on killings carried out by the security forces.

Mr Murphy, who rejected the notion of a parallel approach, said the DUP had not been in contact with his party for weeks and engagement prior to that over the summer had been minimal.

Those rights issues will continue to have to be addressed, they are still here, they are still part of the reason why this institution collapsed, they are going to have to be addressed, he said.

We are a party of dialogue, we want to engage with other political parties and both governments to ensure these institutions are restored, but we will not be doing it on the basis of the denial of peoples rights.

Referring to the DUPs banner, Mr Murphy added: It would suit them better to carry a banner in a Pride parade supporting the rights of those people, than to be waving a banner out the front of this building.

Mr Murphy said his party did not have enough trust in the DUP to go back into government on just a promise the other issues will be dealt with on the side.

We are supposed to take on trust that well set these institutions up and all will be well within a couple of weeks? he said. Im afraid they have no track record of that.

Ulster Unionist leader Robin Swann was in a downbeat mood as he commented on the 589-day milestone.

He said he believed neither of the two big parties want to come back this side of Brexit.

Its completely embarrassing, Mr Swann said.

It embarrassing for us as politicians and its embarrassing for Northern Ireland.

The DUP are blaming Sinn Fein and Sinn Fein are blaming the DUP and, at the end of the day, its the people of Northern Ireland that are suffering.

He added: I think Northern Ireland is utterly despairing at this minute in time  they are disgusted, they are embarrassed at the failure of the two large parties to be able to pull together a government at this minute in time that can actually take decisions.

Mr Swann called on Secretary of State Karen Bradley to either convene immediate talks or move to introduce direct rule without further delay.

Karen Bradley has been urged to either convene immediate talks or move to introduce direct rule without further delay (Victoria Jones/PA)

This drift has gone on for far too long, he added. The politics of protest and placards isnt serving anybody at this point in time.

A spokeswoman for Mrs Bradley said: The Secretary of State is acutely aware of the deep frustration and difficulties faced by the people of Northern Ireland and the urgent need to resolve the current impasse.

She shares the firm view that the current situation cannot be allowed to continue and is working on options to ensure the good governance of Northern Ireland.

The UK Governments priority is to secure a basis for political talks and re-establish a locally elected, democratically accountable devolved government at the earliest opportunity.

In the absence of an Executive, the Secretary of State continues to take the necessary decisions to protect the interests of Northern Ireland and ensure stable public finances, demonstrated by the recent Budget Act.

Late Sinn Fein deputy first minister Martin McGuinness quit in January (Liam McBurney/PA)

The crisis was triggered on January 9 2017 when the late Sinn Fein deputy first minister Martin McGuinness quit.

The executive collapsed one week later  on January 16  when the deadline for Sinn Fein to nominate a new minister expired.

Tuesday marked 589 days since the latter date.

Belgium was without a properly functioning government for 589 days when Prime Minister Yves Leterme quit in April 2010, and it went 541 days without any government at all when a new administration was not formed after a subsequent election in June 2010.

Guinness uses the 541-day timeframe for measuring the world record.

In Northern Ireland, the administration limped on without a first or deputy first minister until March 2 2017  when a snap Assembly election was held.

Using the measure of the time without any government at all, Northern Ireland passed 541 days last Friday, on August 24.South Sudans opposition parties have rejected what was to be the final version of the peace agreement with the government.

The move threatens to destabilise the fragile process.

On Tuesday, opposition leader and former Vice President Riek Machar and the South Sudan Opposition Alliance, representing the splintered opposition parties, refused to initial the document.

Two young boys play inside a cardboard box in South Sudan (Sam Mednick/PA)

The development came in Khartoum, the capital of neighbouring Sudan where the peace talks are being held, said Suna, Sudans state-run media.

Earlier this month South Sudan celebrated when both sides signed a power-sharing agreement and it appeared to signal an end to the countrys five-year civil war.

The opposition is contesting several outstanding issues in the most recent version of the agreement, including how many states South Sudan should have and their boundaries as well as security arrangements.A senior fire officer has described the fire that gutted a Primark store in Belfast as one of the biggest they have battled in a number of years.

Flames and thick black smoke engulfed the five-story historic building in the city centre.

More than 100 firefighters battled for over six hours as the major blaze ripped through the Bank Buildings.

CEO of Primark Paul Marchant said he is deeply shocked and saddened by the fire and moved to reassure staff that have been gravely impacted by the blaze, saying he will ensure they are fully supported.

The building, which has been in the heart of Belfasts shopping district since 1787, had recently undergone a multimillion-pound refurbishment.

Primark customers and staff were evacuated from the building at around 11am on Tuesday after smoke could be seen billowing from the roof.

Flames from a major blaze which broke out at the Primark store (Liam McBurney/PA)

Flames reaching at least 50 feet could be seen right across Belfasts skyline.

The historic clock at the top of the building was engulfed in flames before the fire spread from the roof to the floor below.

Parts of the roof then collapsed as thick black smoke and fire ripped through the rest of the flagship store.

The building has survived bombs and fires throughout its long history in the city.

Michael Graham, assistant chief fire and rescue officer, said they would continue to deal with the fire into the evening and potentially overnight.

Heavy smoked swamped the area (Liam McBurney/PA)

He said he did not know what caused it, nor whether there were fire alarms or sprinklers in place. Nobody was injured.

He expressed concerns over the structural integrity of the building, with part of it prone to collapse and said a 30-metre cordon had been established for that reason.

It was a difficult fire and a fire that has continued for approximately six hours, he said.

It has been a long and arduous six hours for them but we will continue to fight the fire until we extinguish it.

It is one of the biggest we have experienced in the last two to three years.

He said he was concerned about the front and the two sides of the structure.

Debris outside the Primark store (Liam McBurney/PA)

Crews are fighting the blaze on several fronts.

Last week, Primark announced a recruitment drive for more than 100 jobs as it is currently undergoing renovations to add 30,000 sq ft.

Work to complete the bigger store was to be finished by the end of the year.

The fire will have an impact on hundreds of jobs at Northern Irelands largest Primark store.

In a statement, Mr Marchant said: We are deeply shocked and saddened by the fire today at our Bank Buildings store in Belfast city centre.

People look on as firefighters tackle the blaze (Liam McBurney/PA)

The safety and wellbeing of our customers, colleagues and construction team is of course the most important consideration and we are truly relieved that all were evacuated safely.

We would like to thank the emergency services for their swift response and ongoing actions.

Our store is housed in an iconic building and much loved by the people of Belfast.

We would like to reassure our customers, colleagues and the wider community in Belfast that we are committed to working with the authorities and our building contractors to establish the cause of the fire.

We are working closely with our team in Belfast to ensure they are fully supported during this challenging period.

We would like to thank everybody for their support during this difficult time.

People watch outside the Primark store in Belfast city centre (Liam McBurney/PA)

Hundreds of members of the public were removed from the area as they city went into lockdown with police closing roads and diverting traffic to allow firefighters to tackle the blaze.

Loud bangs could be heard coming from the fire, while large pieces of debris were seen falling from the building.

Joan McCoy, president of the Royal Society of Ulster Architects (RSUA), said that these types of buildings give Belfast a unique identity and character.

The Bank Building is a very important part of the citys architectural heritage and is loved by many, she added.

This building has survived bombs and fire before. We can only hope that the damage is not too severe and that the building can be saved.A mother and daughter who were victims in a suspected double murder at their home were on the phone to police as the fatal attack unfolded, according to detectives.

Raneem Oudeh, 22, and Khaola Saleem, 49, in Solihull, were assaulted in the early hours of Bank Holiday Monday, at Ms Saleems house.

Janbaz Tarin, who is Miss Oudehs ex-lover, is being sought in connection with the incident, but has so far not been traced.

Clarifying speculation about police contact with Miss Oudeh in the hours leading up to her death, West Midlands Police said there had been a number of calls from her to the force, on Sunday night.

In a statement, police added one of its call handlers was on the phone to the young woman when the situation quickly escalated  and immediately dispatched officers to the scene.

Janbaz Tarin is being sought in connection with the incident (West Midlands Police/PA)

Earlier, police had said they could not comment on any previous contact, having self-referred the incident to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

Officers rushed to the victims home in Northdown Road, shortly after 12.30am, finding them fatally wounded.

Despite the efforts of emergency services neither could be saved.

A large-scale operation to trace Tarin is currently under way, with three addresses having been raided by police, including one in Sparkhill, in nearby Birmingham.

Computer equipment and mobile phones have been seized and a van is undergoing forensic examination.

The force has appealed directly to Tarin, an Afghan national who is in the UK legally, to hand himself in and also warned against anyone shielding the 21-year-old.

Chief Constable Dave Thompson tweeted: Huge effort under way to locate this man. Call us, web chat us or tell Crimestoppers UK if you can help.

(PA Graphics)

Neighbours had described being woken by screams coming from Ms Saleems address, where Miss Oudeh lived with her mother, as the attack happened.

Miss Oudeh had a two-year-old son, though Tarin is not the father, and had moved to England from Syria, along with Ms Saleem, who herself had six children.

In a statement, their family said they had been left devastated.

Following a public appeal, police said they had received dozens of phone calls and were currently sifting the information and a number of potential sightings.

Khaola Saleem (West Midlands Police/PA)

Detective Inspector Caroline Corfield, leading the investigation, said: We have a team of detectives working around the clock (to) get justice for Raneem and Khaolas family.

The response from the public to our appeal has been positive and we are following up all credible lines of inquiry  but we need anyone with information on Tarins whereabouts to get in touch.

This is a shocking, tragic case.

In a statement, the force said: Following speculation over police contact with the victim on the evening, we are clarifying the following points.

There were a number of calls from Miss Oudeh to police on Sunday evening and we tried to physically locate her but were unsuccessful.

Contact was being made to arrange to see Miss Oudeh and it was during this conversation that the situation quickly escalated and the call handler immediately dispatched officers to the location in Northdown Road where they arrived within minutes.

A police forensic officer outside a property on Northdown Road in Solihull, where the mother and daughter were stabbed to death (Aaron Chown/PA)

Meanwhile, post-mortem examinations to establish a cause of death were continuing on Tuesday evening.

At the scene on Monday, forensics tents were visible and house-to-house inquiries were being carried out.

CCTV footage is also being examined and residents have been told to expect a visible police presence in the area in coming days.

The public has been advised not to approach Tarin and to call 999.A white former US police officer has been found guilty of murder for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager as he left a house party in a car full of teenagers.

Jurors in Texas convicted Roy Oliver in a Dallas County courtroom.

Oliver was fired from the Balch Springs Police Department days after the April 2017 shooting.

Charmaine Edwards giving evidence about her son, Jordan (Rose Baca/AP)

Oliver killed 15-year-old Jordan Edwards when he fired into a moving car carrying five black teenagers leaving a local house party.

Oliver gave evidence that he opened fire after seeing the car move toward his partner.

He said he thought his partner was in danger but his partner told jurors he did not fear for his life and never felt the need to fire his weapon.A heart surgeon barred from working at an NHS hospital after a bullying allegation is preparing to return to work after winning a High Court fight.

Professor Marjan Jahangiri took legal action after being excluded by bosses at St Georges Hospital in Tooting, London, pending a disciplinary investigation.

She wanted to be allowed to return and complained of a breach of contract.

Mr Justice Nicklin on Tuesday said he was not satisfied that exclusion had been necessary and said it was strongly arguable that the decision to exclude was irrational.

A High Court judge ruled in favour of the surgeon (Nick Ansell/PA)

He said the bar should be lifted.

The judge, who described Prof Jahangiri as a leading heart surgeon and said she had pioneered a form of surgery, had analysed evidence at a High Court hearing in London.

I am delighted with todays judgment and very much look forward to returning to my patients, said Prof Jahangiri after the ruling.

My priority, as it has always been, is combining excelled patient care with research and training.

She added: I am devoted to the NHS.

Jacqueline Totterdell, chief executive at St Georges University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: We are disappointed by the judgment issued today, but understand and respect it.

We welcome that this ruling is not about guilt or exoneration and the judge made no finding on the facts being investigated.

He has said that the exclusion process was not appropriate, but has allowed the trust to continue its investigation into very serious issues raised.

Mr Justice Nicklin explained how an internal investigation had begun after a hospital boss received an email from an employee in March.

The employee had alleged that Prof Jahangiri had shouted at a nurse, prioritised a private patient over an NHS patient.

Bosses said the employee had given evidence in relation to alleged bullying.

St Georges Hospital in Tooting (John Stillwell/PA)

That allegation had been made in the wake of wider concerns.

Research had indicated a rise in the mortality rate amongst patients being treated at the hospitals cardiac surgery unit.

Bosses were also concerned about the working relationship between the six heart surgeons in the unit, and about an allegedly dysfunctional environment.

They had asked a human resources consultant to stage a review and thought that the employee who made the bullying allegation about Prof Jahangiri might give evidence during the review process.

They had excluded Prof Jahangiri in early August after she was accused of indirectly approaching the employee.

Bosses had been concerned that there had been an attempt to influence a potential witness involved in the review.

Prof Jahangiri denied the allegation.

Mr Justice Nicklin said Prof Jahangiri had demonstrated that she had strong grounds upon which to contend that exclusion had been a breach of contract.

But he said he had focused on the exclusion issue and said those findings were provisional and interim.

He said issues would have to be finally adjudicated upon at a trial.

The judge also said Prof Jahangiri felt unfairly targeted and argued that hospital bosses actions explicable only on the basis of a campaign against her.

But he said it was impossible for him to make such findings at this stage of the litigation.

He said such findings could only be made after a proper consideration of evidence at a trial.

A spokeswoman for Prof Jahangiri said late on Tuesday that the next hearing in the case was expected to be a final trial.Labour is facing a fresh storm over allegations of anti-Semitism at the top of the party after former chief rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks compared Jeremy Corbyns comments on Zionists with Enoch Powells inflammatory rivers of blood speech.

Lord Sacks scathing remarks, in which he branded Mr Corbyn an anti-Semite who supported racists, terrorists, and dealers of hate drew an angry response from Labour.

Condemnation of the Leader of the Opposition by the crossbench peer, who served as chief rabbi between 19912013, comes just a week before Labours ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) again considers its code of conduct on anti-Semitism.

Labour hit back at the comments by branding them absurd and offensive.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (Jane Barlow/PA)

Lord Sacks remarks came after footage from 2013 emerged of Mr Corbyn attacking a group of British Zionists who had criticised Palestinian ambassador Manuel Hassassian.

Mr Corbyn said: They clearly have two problems.

One is they dont want to study history, and secondly, having lived in this country for a very long time, probably all of their lives, they dont understand English irony either.

Lord Sacks told the New Statesman: The recently disclosed remarks by Jeremy Corbyn are the most offensive statement made by a senior British politician since Enoch Powells 1968 rivers of blood speech.

It was divisive, hateful and like Powells speech it undermines the existence of an entire group of British citizens by depicting them as essentially alien.

We can only judge Jeremy Corbyn by his words and his actions.

He has given support to racists, terrorists and dealers of hate who want to kill Jews and remove Israel from the map.

When he implies that, however long they have lived here, Jews are not fully British, he is using the language of classic pre-war European anti-Semitism.

When challenged with such facts, the evidence for which is before our eyes, first he denies, then he equivocates, then he obfuscates.

This is low, dishonest and dangerous.

He has legitimised the public expression of hate, and where he leads, others will follow.

Now, within living memory of the Holocaust, and while Jews are being murdered elsewhere in Europe for being Jews, we have an anti-Semite as the leader of the Labour Party and Her Majestys Opposition.

That is why Jews feel so threatened by Mr Corbyn and those who support him.

Enoch Powell made the "rivers of blood" speech (PA)

A Labour Party spokesperson said: This comparison with the race-baiting Enoch Powell is absurd and offensive.

Jeremy Corbyn described a particular group of pro-Israel activists as Zionists, in the accurate political sense, not as a synonym or code for Jewish people.

Jeremy Corbyn is determined to tackle anti-Semitism both within the Labour Party and in wider society and the Labour Party is committed to rebuilding trust with the Jewish community.

The Labour leader has previously said that his remarks had been defending the ambassador from what I thought were deliberate misrepresentations by people for whom English was a first language, when it isnt for the ambassador.By Nellie Peyton

DAKAR, Aug 27 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Liberia is on the verge of passing a long-awaited land rights law that would help prevent foreign companies uprooting communities to make way for mining and logging, activists said.

Liberia's Senate passed the Land Rights Bill last week after four years of debate. The law recognises customary land rights - the rights of communities to ancestral land - as equal to private ownership, yet will be tough to implement, experts say.

The Senate was the most difficult institution for the bill to get through, said Ali Kaba of Liberia's Sustainable Development Institute, who worked with lawmakers to revise it.

The House of Representatives, which passed the bill last year, must now approve changes before it goes to the president to sign into law, but no major setbacks are expected, Kaba said.

"I think this is transformative," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Communities can now protect their land."

Most of Liberia's 5 million people have only customary rights to the land they live on, according to the Sustainable Development Institute.

Since customary rights are not currently legally recognised, communities that have held land for generations can be kicked off at any time to make way for outside investors, Kaba said.

Following the West African nation's second civil war, which ended in 2003, the government accelerated long-standing policies which granted natural resource concessions to foreign companies.

Foreign palm oil concessions were at the heart of reforms which the World Bank has credited with transforming Liberia into a promising country for agricultural producers to invest in.

But land concessions - which now cover more than 45 percent of Liberian territory - have provoked conflict in recent years.

"I am overexcited that after four years of this act lingering at the legislature it has finally passed," said Stanley Toe, executive director of the Liberian Land Authority - the government agency in charge of land policy.

"Liberians, especially those in the rural areas, can no longer wait to see this thing put into place."

But change will not come about immediately, Toe said.

Communities will have to work together to define their members and boundaries, create a land governance structure and then go through a process to document their rights, he added.

"Once the president approves the law and it is effective, the biggest challenge will be implementing the law. We will have to manage expectations," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

An estimated 90 percent of Liberia's civil court cases are related to land, and as many as two thirds of violent conflicts in the country have their root in land rights issues. (Additional reporting by James Giayhue in Monrovia, Editing by Kieran Guilbert. Please credit Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights, and climate change. Visit www.trust.org)By Aaron Maasho

ADDIS ABABA, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Police in Ethiopia arrested the disgraced former head of the eastern Somali region on Monday on charges of human rights abuses and stoking deadly ethnic clashes, the attorney general's office said.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, presiding over democratic reforms in the African nation of 100 million, said on Saturday rights abuses committed in the region "defied belief" and included torture, rapes and killings.

The region's administrator, Abdi Mohammed Omer, was forced to resign on Aug. 6 after violence broke out in the provincial capital Jijiga.

At least 20 people died and thousands fled Jijiga as mobs looted properties owned by ethnic minorities and burned down several Ethiopian Orthodox churches.

The central authorities said the unrest in the region had been triggered by local officials fearing arrest on human rights abuse charges.

On Monday, Federal Police "apprehended Abdi Mohammed Omer at his home in Addis Ababa," state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation said, citing the Federal Attorney General's Office.

"Crimes he committed include, among others, human rights abuses and stoking disputes along ethnic and religious lines," it said, adding that other officials were also sought by police.

Rights groups have routinely accused Abdi's administration of abuses such as torture, while some witnesses claimed he had ordered paramilitary raids on civilians in neighbouring Oromiya province after ethnic clashes there last September.

The government fired senior regional prison officials last month over accusations of torture. Abiy on Saturday described cases in which prisoners had been put into cells with lions, hyenas and leopards to force them into confessing.

The region has been plagued by violence for the last three decades, in which the government fought the secessionist Ogaden National Liberation Front before the group declared a unilateral ceasefire this month in the wake of reforms.

The region holds four trillion cubic feet of oil and gas reserves, government estimates show. China's GCL-Poly Petroleum Investments has been developing two gas fields there since 2013. (Reporting by Aaron Maasho; Editing by Omar Mohammed)OTTAWA, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Sunday and both agreed to the tri-lateral nature of the NAFTA deal, the prime minister's office said on Monday amid news that the United States and Mexico have reached an agreement on trade.

"The leaders discussed the ongoing negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement and shared their commitment to reaching a successful conclusion to this agreement for all three parties," the prime minister's office said in a statement.

(Reporting by Andrea Hopkins)WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- The United States has reached a trade agreement with Mexico that would pave the way for overhauling the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday.

"We're going to call it the United States-Mexico trade agreement," Trump said at an event in the Oval Office with outgoing Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto joining by phone call.

"We'll get rid of the name NAFTA. It has a bad connotation because the United States was hurt very badly by NAFTA for many years," he said.

Pena Nieto insisted during the phone call that Canada should also be included in a final deal.

"It is our wish, Mr. President, that now Canada will also be able to be incorporated in all this. And I assume that they are going to carry out negotiations on the sensitive bilateral issues between Canada and the United States," he said through a translator.

Trump said he would speak with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a little while and hoped to resume negotiations with Canada soon.

"One way or another we'll have a deal with Canada. It'll either be a tariff on cars or it'll be a negotiated deal," he said.

"Frankly, a tariff on cars is a much easier way to go. But perhaps the other would be much better for Canada," said the president.

The U.S. push to finish NAFTA talks came after the Trump administration recently launched the national security investigation into automotive imports, a protectionist move that could disrupt the global auto supply chains.

A spokesman for Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Monday that Canada will "continue to work toward a modernized NAFTA," but would only sign a new agreement that is good for the country.

"We will only sign a new NAFTA that is good for Canada and good for the middle class. Canada's signature is required," the spokesman said.

U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer, at the same event in the Oval Office, said he expects to submit a notice to Congress on Friday and the new trade agreement is likely to be signed at the end of November.

The agreement, which subjects to congressional approval, will last 16 years and will be reviewed every six years, according to a senior administration official.

"At the end of that review, we would expect that the agreement would be extended for another 16 years," the official told reporters in a briefing call on Monday.

While calling Monday's announcement by the United States and Mexico "an important step toward modernizing NAFTA," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch emphasized that "a final agreement should include Canada."

"I look forward to reviewing the details of today's announcement and continuing to work with USTR to resolve these issues so that a revamped NAFTA can pass Congress and become law," Hatch said in a statement.

As the main panel in the Senate overseeing trade issues, the finance committee's approval will be key to any trade deal.

Talks on renegotiating the NAFTA began in August 2017 as Trump threatened to withdraw from the trilateral trade deal, which he claimed harmed U.S. industries and jobs.PARIS, Aug 27 (Reuters) - French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Monday tasked his ministers to prepare contingency measures in case of a no-deal Brexit.

France is keeping working on the basis that Britain will reach a deal with its European Union partners on its exit from the bloc but needs to be ready in case Britain left with no deal, Philippe's office said in a statement.

Measures will include facilitating the stay of British citizens currently living in France and ensuring smooth border controls, the statement said. (Reporting by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Toby Chopra)REUTERS, 27th AUGUST, 2018-President Emmanuel Macron on Monday said preserving European Union unity was more important than forging a close relationship with post-Brexit Britain, and hit out at what he called U.S. President Donald Trumps aggressive isolationism.



Macron, who met Prime Minister Theresa May for talks on Britains departure from the EU during the summer holiday, said he wanted to reach a Brexit deal by the end of the year and showed no signs of breaking ranks with other EU capitals.



France wants to maintain a strong, special relationship with London but not if the cost is the European Unions unravelling, he told a gathering of French ambassadors.



Brexit, Macron said, is a sovereign choice, which we must respect, but it cant come at the expense of the European Unions integrity.



In a one-and-a-half hour speech outlining his diplomatic priorities for the year ahead, Macron made no major policy shifts, but spoke forcefully on what he labelled the crisis of multilateralism and the need to make Europe more sovereign.



Macron called on Europe to be a trade and economic power, which defends its strategic interests and financial independence with tools that can fend off U.S. extraterritorial sanctions.



Multilateralism is going through a major crisis which collides with all our diplomatic activity, above all because of U.S. policy, he said.Bart Van Dijk - Country Manager Daraz Sri Lanka

Sri Lankas fast growing e-commerce platform, Daraz hosted over 400 sellers at a Seller Summit held recently at the Hilton Colombo. The summit offered all sellers registered with Daraz an opportunity to learn and discover smarter ways to be successful with Daraz through initiating them into the new upgraded systems.

From its inception in 2016 Daraz has grown immensely through its innovative technology and continuous upgrading of systems and processes. The recent acquisition of the company by Alibaba, the global e-commerce giant, stands testimony to what Daraz has achieved and its potential.

The Co-CEO of Daraz,Bjarke Mikkelsenstated that as a group, Daraz is focused on bettering their services and setting benchmarks in the industry. For instance, the delivery time which was over 10 days is at present less than 4 days, with orders increasing 10 fold over a year. The e-commerce market values at approximately 60 million USD at present. However, Mikkelsen envisions it would evolve into a half a billion USD market in 4 years with the strategy put in place by Daraz.

Introducing the upgraded Seller back-end system, Mikkelsen referred to the 3 step-approach used by Daraz to develop seller engagement and serve the customers better. The initial step is a revamped Strategy where Daraz will give the tools which will enable the sellers to sell their own products, create their own campaigns, and directly interact with their customers among many other things. The Tools which are needed for this are provided entirely by Daraz. The control and quality of service will be maintained by the company through a dynamic performance management system. The final and most important step is building the Business Process and ensuring that it is seamless and foolproof. This new system will go live on the 13th of September 2018 and promises to be a focal point in the e-commerce industry as it will change the whole landscape of online retail selling and shopping.

Bjarke Mikkelsen - Co CEO Daraz

Looking back at what Daraz has achieved in the past years and the current opportunities, Bart Van Dijk  Country Manager for Daraz Sri Lanka emphasized on the many activities that the company has done with and for the sellers. Optimizing sales through innovative campaigns such as Mobile Week and Black Friday, building a wide network online and offline, improving logistics and digitally enabling partners through educating them are some of the key activities which have enhanced seller engagement on the platform. The Seller Score card which rates sellers from Bronze to Platinum also acts as a boost, especially allowing small scale sellers to grow to their full capacity through Daraz.

The key note speech for the evening was delivered by Hussain Siddique, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Retail Association. Retail contributes to over 30% of the national GDP and the objective of the Association is to make Sri Lanka a retail destination, stated Siddique. He also mentioned that the online retail market is growing at 15% globally. Agility and open mindedness are key attributes that should be enhanced and online retail is the platform in which this is truly tested.

Moreover the Seller Summit gave an opportunity to the partners to learn further about the other developments that Daraz has introduced in the recent past. The Daraz Hubs are equally beneficial to sellers and customers as they serve as convenient drop-off and pick-up points respectively. They also operate as after-sales service points, seller registration locations, training centers for sellers as well as a commodity which builds credibility and trust among the customers who are especially new to online shopping.

Daraz Express (DEX) is another development in the Daraz experience. The logistic solutions arm comes with its own fleet network which will optimize the first and last mile delivery. DEX will also serve as the managing and monitoring point of 3PL delivery, in order to enhance delivery and return time. Daraz Express will play a key role in Seller fulfillment in terms of reaching destinations out of Colombo, efficient transport to and from the Sortation Hub, Line Haul and Shuttle Transport through which all the Hubs will be connected and thereby reduce delivery time, Forward delivery and Reverse fulfillment.

Mr Hussain Siddque - Key Note Speaker - The Chairman of Sri Lanka Retail Association

The sellers were also taken through the new Daraz Seller Center and the newly introducedDarazUniversity which operate as the main dashboard where sellers could enhance their sales through the various options available. The automated system allows the sale to go live immediately while the performance dashboard that is visible to customers will become a deciding factor in seller performance. Sellers are also able to build their own following through the new system. Whilst enabling the sellers with many options, the system also lays more responsibility on the sellers in the areas of customer service and offering better quality products.

The Seller Summit concluded with a sneak peek at the next big sale on Daraz, the 11.11. or Singles Day. Daraz will be bringing this biggest international online sale for the first time to Sri Lanka.(Reuters), AUGUST 27, 2018- Iran and Syria signed a deal for military cooperation in a meeting between the defense ministers of the two countries in Damascus, the Tasnim news agency reported on Monday.



Iranian Defence Minister Amir Hatami travelled to Damascus on Sunday for a two-day visit, meeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and senior military officials, Tasnim reported.



Iranian forces have backed Assad in the countrys civil war.



Tasnim did not provide any details about the military cooperation deal.



U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said last week that Iran should remove its forces from Syria.



Senior Iranian officials have said their military presence in Syria is at the invitation of the Assad government and they have no immediate plans to withdraw.The Japanese government at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday decided to appoint Akira Sugiyama as the new ambassador to Sri Lanka.

Akira Sugiyama has served as minister at the permanent mission to the United Nations in New York, as well as head of the Yamagata prefectural police and chief of protocol at the Foreign Ministry. (Jiji press)Nature Interpretation Programme for jeep drivers

SL visitors do not value our own resources

Although Sri Lanka is blessed with many national parks, that stand out as potential tourist attractions, lately they have discouraged foreigners from visiting them owing to various reasons. While the mushrooming number of jeeps inside national parks and the unruly behaviour of jeep drivers have been major concerns among visitors and environmentalists, much hasnt been done to curb this menace. A total wildlife experience is much more than chasing after a leopard or a bear. But visitors experience the opposite inside most national parks in Sri Lanka. As a result, the number of visitors interested in seeing wildlife is on the decline. Foreign tourists bring massive revenue to national parks daily and this decline is a huge blow to the tourism industry and the economy on the whole.

Identifying the need to discipline jeep drivers and encourage them to interpret the nature, the Federation of Environmental Organisations along with the Department of Wildlife introduced a Nature Interpretation Programme. This programme brings together conservationists and environmental experts who focus on educating jeep drivers and tourist guides on the flora and fauna, mammals and their behaviour while also teaching them to maintain park discipline along with etiquette and personal presentation.

Hence the DailyMirror spoke to Rohan Wijesinha, former Secretary of the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) and Jehan Canagaretna who was also a member of the WNPS to find more about this initiative.





Federation of Environmental Organisations

The Federation of Environmental Organisations (FEO) was setup as a trust to work with other organisations on conservation issues. In total they have around 30 organisations which are affiliates of FEO. One major factor that influenced us to commence this initiative was a survey done on visitors to the parks, said Wijesinha.Foreign visitors contribute the biggest income to national parks. What influenced us was the fact that although 70% of the visitors saw a leopard, bear or an elephant, the experience they had was bad. This is a black mark not only against national parks, but the entire tourism industry. We need people to come back and tell their friends. So its a question of providing visitors with a quality service and not just quantity which we are doing now, he said.

A message sent by a foreign visitor read : A majority of foreign tourists have visited parks in Africa and have voiced their concerns over the unruly behaviour of the jeep drivers when spotting tuskers, bear and leopard. Some of them have visited and hoped the situation would improve, but alas they had not and definitely we are not coming again.

Hence the jeep drivers are being trained to create a story around each park. Some of them dont know the archaeological history of the parks

These are the reasons why we came up with this idea, Canagaretna added. Everybody criticizes the jeep drivers, but in reality nobody has told them that they are killing their own livelihood. The jeep drivers have not been trained and it is also the tour guides fault. Based on that we came up with this concept and we also got a few panelists who had much knowledge about conservation-related areas. For example Dr.Sumith Pilapitiya is doing the elephant conservation aspect of the programme and talking about the human-elephant conflict etc. Depending on the parks we have different experts coming in to talk to the jeep drivers. If we take Wilpattu for instance it has a history of itself. But the jeep drivers are more concerned about the leopard and they drive past these archaeological sites which the tourists would be interested to see. Hence they miss out on other things in the park while they chase after the leopard. Most foreigners havent seen the barking deer and other species we could see at Wilpattu and if it could be interpreted properly, it would add more value to their ride. There are many other small animals and birds that are in a national park, but they are often missed, added Canagaretna.

The Programme

Speaking further, Wijesinha said that taking all this into consideration the FEO started off with locations that are easier to handle. For example, Yala is a challenge as there are over 1000 jeep drivers at present and it would be too much of a task. Therefore we started off at Wilpattu and conducted one programme and it entails a couple of different aspects to the park. We speak about the park itself and for that we get an expert who knows the park well. Then we talk about the flora and fauna, mammals, reptiles, bird life etc. Through this we explain to the jeep drivers what they should be explaining to the tourists. For example if they see a painted stork they must talk about a key feature about it etc. Then we also teach them how to behave, how they should dress and how they should be addressing people etc. Here the biggest challenge is the language. Some of them would know German or Italian but they wouldnt know English. In addition to that the Warden at the Park does a presentation about the DWC side of it. He speaks about the rules of the park, why they are there and how the drivers should behave keeping with the rules. From the feedback we received, we realized that it was the first time that the jeep drivers had participated in

such a programme.

We also had an opportunity to show them our concerns as well. From our first programme we learned something for the second programme. After the first programme we gave them a questionnaire so that they could tell us what they thought about the programme. The second time we gave the questionnaire at the beginning and at the end of the programme. As a result we were able to find out how the answers differed. We give them a certificate and we work with the DWC and the Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) who endorses the certificate. So they will only use people who have followed the programme as they control 70% of the inbound operators in the country, said Wijesinha.

Hence the jeep drivers are being trained to create a story around each park. Some of them dont know the archaeological history of the parks. Its an easy option for the youth in these areas to become jeep drivers, similarly to the places where young people become three-wheel drivers

Hence the jeep drivers are being trained to create a story around each park. Some of them dont know the archaeological history of the parks. Its an easy option for the youth in these areas to become jeep drivers, similarly to the places where young people become three-wheel drivers. As you start offering a quality service one can easily start charging.

Feedback process

Such programmes require a feedback process to ensure that the drivers have adhered to what they have learned. But the programme is organised as and when funds are available. Its difficult for us to monitor and it would be better if the DWC could do the monitoring, Canagaretna said. We also can obtain feedback through the SLAITO companies. We tell the jeep drivers that we are monitoring their performance. We are trying to implement this programme in all the national parks in the country. With this programme we are also trying to impose a limit. The visitation to some parks needs to be regulated. For example the visitation to Udawalawa is similar to Yala. Most of the jeep drivers realised the importance of preserving the park because at the end of the day its their livelihood. Whats happening at Yala has come as a huge warning. The message is also going out to tourists and we are trying to encourage a total wildlife experience, he added.



Speeding Jeeps within national parks have created much chaos Pic: AFP

Challenges

The exorbitant rates charged by the travel guides are another issue. In most instances, tourists dont get an experience worth the cost. Wijesinha further said that such exorbitant rates wouldnt have been an issue if they give an experience worth the cost, but at the end of the day tourists dont get either. One of the panelists is from SLAITO and he gives an input about how the tourists feel and the chaos going on in Yala. We are showing that the tourists are not coming for the chaos but to get a good experience. Another problem that the jeep drivers encounter is that they are allowed to go on their own with the tourists. This is due to the lack of rangers. So they have a language barrier and they are scared to talk in English because they feel ashamed. Another issue is that there is a glass partition that separates the driver from the tourists at the back. So they anyway cant talk anything,said Wijesinha.

Sri Lankan visitors also create problems. As in most instances, they merely do not realise the value of our own resources. They go and pollute the place, Canagaretna said with much disgust. If we go to India and Africa we wouldnt drink the whole night and go for a safari ride the next morning. After all its your hard-earned money that you are spending. But this may not be so for locals. They would find the place fairly cheap enough and they would have a drink and go on the ride. So there are reasons why jeep drivers havent been behaving in the proper manner. Through this programme we are trying to tie it altogether. The more tourists say that they will not come, the jeep drivers should realise the risks they have in losing their jobs,he reasoned.

Yala is a challenge as there are over 1000 jeep drivers at present and it would be too much of a task

Speeding jeeps within national parks have created much chaos, some even killing leopards and other mammals. According to Wijesinha the trackers and jeep drivers have mobile phones and when one of them spots a leopard, they will alert the others. So once another jeep driver is tipped they charge with the hope that they too would spot it, he added. But obviously the animal doesnt stay in one place. We want to change this thought-process and make it a total wildlife experience. We want them to think about the other mammals and birds other than only the leopard. Its fun to watch elephant behaviour. One should go with an open mind to experience the park itself. Chasing the leopard is the biggest issue and that creates a lot of issues. Its important to interpret nature around them and we hope we could slowly change their mind-sets through this programme, added Wijesinha.

A total wildlife experience is much more than chasing after a leopard or a bear

We knew very little about wildlife

The Daily Mirror also spoke to Asanka, a jeep driver, who participated in the programme. According to him this was the first time he got involved in such a programme. The session on elephants was very interesting. Dr. Sumith taught us about the behaviour of elephants. I started this job back in 2003 and we knew very little about the wildlife aspect of it. It is important that all jeep drivers attend this programme as we could gather more knowledge about various aspects of wildlife,said Asanka.

Training should be mandatory for all jeep drivers

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Dr.Sumith Pilapitiya said that through this programme jeep drivers will be taught how to park the vehicles without disturbing the animals. I focus on the elephant conservation aspect on a voluntary basis. Through this we train jeep drivers to observe and interpret whats happening at an elephant gathering. If you observe a herd, many things are going on. So we want the jeep drivers to create a story around this event. They could observe the behaviours of males, how they behave during the musth season, how they choose a female etc.

We also discuss briefly about elephant communication. This programme will be quite effective and already the response has been positive. It should expand beyond Minneriya and we want to ensure 100% participation as we proceed with this initiative. In the long run we want to make sure that the DWC makes training a mandatory aspect for all jeep drivers and make this programme a monthly or a yearly workshop, said Pilapitiya.

DR. sumith pilapitiyaMyanmars military carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Muslim Rohingya with genocidal intent and the commander-in-chief and five generals should be prosecuted for orchestrating the gravest crimes under law, U.N. investigators said on Monday.



The civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi has allowed hate speech to thrive, destroyed documents and failed to protect minorities from crimes against humanity and war crimes by the army in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan states, they said in a report. In doing so, it contributed to the commission of atrocity crimes, the report said. A year ago, government troops led a brutal crackdown in Myanmars Rakhine state in response to attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army on 30 Myanmar police posts and a military base.

GENEVA (Reuters), AUGUST 27, 2018ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (Reuters), AUGUST 27, 2018 - Pope Francis said he would not respond to explosive accusations by a former top Vatican official that the pontiff had covered up sexual abuse, saying dismissively that the document containing the allegations speaks for itself.



Francis, talking to reporters aboard the plane returning to Rome from Dublin, said he would not say one word on the 11-page document, in which the former official says Francis should resign. The pontiff said journalists should read the document carefully and decide for themselves about its credibility.



The official accused the pope of having known of allegations of sex abuse by a prominent US. cardinal for years. The document by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former Vatican ambassador to Washington, was an unprecedented broadside against the pope by a Church insider.



I read that statement this morning. I read it and I will say sincerely that I must say this, to you and all of you who are interested: read the document carefully and judge it for yourselves, he said.

I will not say one word on this. I think the statement speaks for itself and you have sufficient journalistic capacity to reach your own conclusions, he said.President Maithripala Sirisena will lead the Sri Lanka delegation to the fourth Summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), which will be held from 30-31 August 2018 in Kathmandu, a statement from his office said today.

At the conclusion of the Summit, the Chairmanship of BIMSTEC will be handed over to Sri Lanka by the current Chair, Nepal.

The Presidents of Sri Lanka and Myanmar, the Prime Ministers of India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Thailand, and the Chief Advisor of the Government of Bhutan will be leading their respective delegations to the Summit.

The leaders are to adopt the 4th BIMSTEC Summit Declaration: "Towards a Peaceful, Prosperous and Sustainable Bay of Bengal Region" on 31 August at the conclusion of the Summit.

The leaders will also witness the signing of the MoU for the BIMSTEC Grid Inter-Connection" at the Summit.

During the preceding meetings, several initiatives under agreed priority sectors will be reviewed with a view to enhancing inclusive growth and economic prosperity in the BIMSTEC region.

The 3rd BIMSTEC Summit was held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar in 2014, and a BIMSTEC leaders' retreat and the BRICS & BIMSTEC outreach Summit was held in Goa, India in 2016.

State Minister of Foreign Affairs Vasantha Senanayake, and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Kathmandu will also participate in summit related meetings.

During his stay in Nepal, President Maithripala Sirisena will be meeting his Nepali counterpart President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and the Prime Minister of Nepal Khadga Prasad Oli on 01 September.

The President will also attend a Banquet hosted by the President of Nepal in his honour.

President Sirisena will be visiting Lumbini on 01 September, and on 02 September, he is scheduled to visit the SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu and attend a tree planting ceremony there.

The assault on our way of life was gruesome, ruthless, dishonourable and was defeated but it must not rise again







People shouldnt be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.

~Alan Moore, V for Vendetta

The traditional three pillars on which the stability and sustenance of our working democracy rested were the Legislature, the Executive, and the Judiciary. These pillars are cemented on a hard-pressed foundation of the very source of our law, the Constitution of our country. To this robust dynamic of societal evolution was added the Free Press, the Fourth Estate.

In order to dismantle this strong and firm structure, one must engineer an assault on all four elements, either individually on each pillar or as one single structure.

The Rajapaksas of the 2005 to 2014-era summoned their despicable yet formidable forces, whose existence was intricately intertwined with the survival of the Rajapaksa cabal, to undermine the pillars of a democratic State, one by one at times and all four in total at others and deliver the reins of power into the lone hands of the Executive President, Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Mahindas fidelity to his family, especially to his immediate one comprising of his wife and three sons were excessively unyielding. At the same time, he did not have to worry about his siblings for they were all well entrenched in their own pits of corrupt and unpatriotic ventures.

Yet, when one tries to decipher the innumerable webs the Rajapaksas had woven around their despicable cabal, one invariably finds many a move which appeared to an ordinary layman as impulsive and unplanned acts of misdeeds whose eventual target was making enormous amounts of money while getting more and more comfortable in a lap of luxurious living, bordering on erotic conduct and lustful indulgences.

The four pillars on which stability of a working democracy rested are the Legislature, the Executive, the Judiciaryand the Free Press

These luxuries were chiefly facilitated by the wealth they made at the expense of the countrys wellbeing. It was alleged that the 30%-sibling made it no secret that he would not sit down for talks with a potential dealer without 10% down at the very beginning!

Then another was alleged to have made it sure that all those who made it their sacred profession to let the world know about the gravity of crimes allegedly committed by his elder brothers regime are harassed, intimidated and sometimes even killed in order to silence their voices.

When one looks at the very construct of our State- namely the Democratic Socialist Republic- sits on a fragile foundation of the Constitution, supported by the four pillars of the Legislature, Executive, the Judiciary and the Fourth Estate, it is not rocket science to find that the one most effective way to attack the stability of our State is to attack either one or all the pillars at the same time.

And they did so. And they were successful until the end of 2014. At their call was the war-victory. The war-victory, most palpably, they schemed, would render them a license to ravage the country at the behest of their elder brother, President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Let us examine how they ventured out to do just that:

The Legislature

Our Legislature constitutes of the House of Parliament. By hook or by crook, Mahinda Rajapaksa managed to secure a two-thirds majority in Parliament to ensure the passage of Acts and Bills to suit his egotistical requirements.

MPs were bought and sold at the right price. The honour and decorum of Parliament were debased and the likes of Mervyn Silva, who was a Rajapaksa-serf but now claims to be a hero by being a critic of the Rajapaksas, were promoted to the ranks of Cabinet and States Ministers.

One must never forget the way in which some Parliamentarians of the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) indulged in the well of the House of Parliament, the very shrine in which the hopes and dreams of the people are shaped and realized; they desecrated the age-old traditions and profound values of a decent forum for, by and of the People.

The Executive

The Executive ran amok during the Rajapaksa rule. From ordering to the killing of the twenty seven (27) prisoners in the midst of an unarmed riot in the prison, Rasthupaswela and Katunayake killings and all other dictatorial dictates of the Chief Executive, purely at the discretion of the King, the Executive branch of Government during this distasteful rule of the Rajapaksas did stand trial at the 2015 Presidential Elections. And the verdict was guilty. The Rajapaksas had to retreat

to Medamulana.

The Executive branch of the Rajapaksa Government had one single thought in their mind. The war-victory was their cover. Its like raping a woman after rescuing her from an unmerciful flood. That rescue was no license to rape her, period.

Following are some of the major allegations against the Rajapaksas. They were all executed under their very nose. They have been arranged in chronological order.

November 9 and 10, 2012 Prison attack - 27 killed



On 13 January 2013 Impeachment of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake



On 8 February 2010 Military Police arrested General Sarath Fonseka



Disappearance of Prageeth Ekneligoda since 24 January 2010



August 1, 2013, three persons were killed including two students in Rasthupaswela



Katunayake



Unanswered heinous crimes against journalists and media institutions



May 2008: Keith Noyahr, Associate Editor and defence columnist of The Nation newspaper was abducted and beaten up.



January 6, 2009: The Sirasa Depanama Studio Complex was bombed by a group of assailants.



January 8, 2009: Not even 48 hours after the attack on the Depanama Complex, Senior Journalist Lasantha Wickrematunga was assassinated at Attidiya.



January 23, 2009: Chief Editor of the Rivira newspaper Upali Tennakoon was assaulted by a group that arrived on two motorcycles.



March 25, 2009: The office of the Udayan newspaper in Jaffna was attacked with a hand grenade.



June 1, 2009: Journalist Poddala Jayantha was abducted in Ambuldeniya, Nugegoda.



March 22, 2010: Attack launched on the head office of the Sirasa Media Network, leaving several of its employees injured.



July 30, 2010: Attack launched on the Voice of Asia Media, a group which runs Siyatha TV and radio stations.



April 13, 2013: Head office of the Udayan newspaper attacked once again, making it the 33rd such attack on its office and journalists.

The Judiciary

Sri Lankas judiciary was simply taken for just a valueless pawn in the cruel and ruthless hands of those who ran the regime.

The then Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake was humiliated and removed by a fake impeachment motion which was commenced and concluded within a couple of days.

She was replaced by a Rajapaksa lackey and the independent arm of the Judiciary was within the grips of the Cabal. Unqualified men and women were appointed to the Bench of Courts.

Anyone who dared to oppose the Cabal was transferred or terminated. And the people just waited, not knowing how to react for the then Opposition was mute and impotent. The blind lady of justice was molested, raped, and violated. When the judiciary in any country is being assaulted and bent to the whims and fancies of the rulers, that country becomes a Rogue State. Sri Lanka was fast approaching that state.

When the honour, legitimacy and legality of a Democratic Republic have been stripped away, that Republic becomes a mere naked being. Bared open to the rest of the world, various allegations regarding the misdoings of the regime-dwellers were swept under the proverbial carpet. The Judiciary, the last line of defence of the people was being thrashed and on the verge of being demolished by the Rajapaksa regime.

Fourth Estate

The Fourth Estate (or fourth power) is a segment of society that wields an indirect but significant influence on society even though it is not a formally recognized part of the political system. The most commonly recognized part of the fourth estate is the news media or press. The Fourth Estate (or fourth power) is a segment of society that wields an indirect but significant influence on society even though it is not a formally recognized part of the political system. The most commonly recognized part of the fourth estate is the news media or press. (Wikipedia)

The assault on the Free Press was unrelenting under the Rajapaksa rule. The killing of Lasantha Wickrematunga, Editor of the Sunday Leader newspaper which was merciless in criticizing the salient allegations against the First Family and its head was killed in broad daylight. And the guilty are still at large.

Prageeth Ekneligoda, another critic of the Rajapaksas was abducted and the body is still missing. The two women, Sonali, Lasanthas widow and Sandhya, Prageeths wife are awaiting justice that never seems to arrive.

Murder of journalists of the Udayan newspaper in Jaffna stands still unresolved. From Upali Tennakoon to Poddala Jayantha, Keith Noyahr and other unnamed journalists have witnessed the brutality of a regime gone wild.

This attack and subjugating of the four elements of a working democracy was no accident, nor was it a loosely concocted plan; it was a result of a well-designed strategy aimed at total control of a people whose trust was grossly abused and destroyed.

The assault on our way of life was gruesome; it was ruthless; it was dishonourable and ultimately it was defeated. And it must not

rise again.

The writer can be contacted at vishwamithra1984@gmail.comA law enforcement officer inspects vaccines at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Rong'an county of Liuzhou city in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo by Tan Kaixing/China Daily]

Jilin province will learn a lesson from recent vaccine scandals and take vigorous action to rectify the problems that led to them, the top official of the province said during a news conference on Sunday.

"Recent vaccine scandals should trigger a deep rethinking about government work. And we should be determined to avoid more administrative omissions and irresponsible action. It shouldn't happen again," said Bayanqolu, Jilin's Party chief.

During a conference with senior officials in the province on Sunday, Bayanqolu said that a "revolutionary change" should be made in all political organs in the province, and Party members should take the lead.

Changchun Changsheng Bio-tech Co, which is based in the province, was reported to have produced 252,600 substandard doses of vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough (DTaP) for infants last year. The company was also found to have seriously violated the law since 2014 in its production of rabies vaccine, including adulteration of expired doses and faking production dates.

Several high-ranking officials were fired and dozens of others disciplined in connection with the scandals. Among the senior officials dismissed were the vice-governor of the province, Jin Yuhui; the vice-chairman of the Jilin Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Li Jinxiu; and Liu Changlong, mayor of Changchun, the provincial capital.

Bayanqolu said the improper production of vaccines by Changsheng was shocking and vile in nature. He said the scandals posed a severe threat to public health and damaged the image of the province.

"The scandals have revealed the problems in the work style of some officials," he said. "Such problems have become great obstacles that hindered the province's development."

On Aug 16, a meeting of the State Council chaired by Premier Li Keqiang was held to follow up on the findings of the investigative team's report. The meeting said the case highlights supervisory failures on the part of local government and regulatory agencies in implementing food and drug safety rules.

State and local supervisory authorities were also criticized for their failings, including a failure to report major risks and potentially risky conditions and poor contingency management, leading to a serious dereliction of duty.

Bayanqolu said the State Council's attitude and treatment of the vaccine scandals shows the country's determination to crack down on illegal activities that threaten lives and other interests.

"Drawing lessons will lead to better development. We will turn self-criticism and guilt into a driving force that pushes us to work hard and fulfill our responsibilities," he said.Dharmapalas large-scale global institution-building programmes were focused on the larger project of realizing his dream of a united Buddhist world



The material within the diaries, in Sinhala and English, enabled me to highlight the dual dimensions of the Dharmapalas missionary and political zeal



It was a magical destination: by restoring Buddhism in this primordial spot Dharmapala hoped that the wonderful messages of Buddhism would conquer the world





Sasanka Perera has recently introduced readers to a new book by Steven Kemper entitled Rescuing Dharmapala from the Nation (University of Chicago Press, 2015)  a book which surveys the socio-political activities of the Anagarika Dharmapala in a refreshing manner. I have yet to get hold of the book, but Sasanka provides enough commentary to provoke a discussion.

Within a context where Dharmapala aka Don David Hewavitarne is regarded as an influential Sinhala Buddhist chauvinist by many social scientists analysing Sri Lankan history and politics, Perera indicates that Kemper provides broader dimensions by re-situating Dharmapala within the Buddhist world of his time by  focusing on his international activities in aid of Buddhist causes and cross-faith discussions. Kempers new work, therefore, is a modification of the Protestant Buddhist thesis popularized in social science circles by Gananath Obeyesekeres writings in particular.

Perera underlines these points:

What manifests in Kempers descriptions of Dharmapalas relentless travels and consistent speeches and writings are the dynamics of a tireless and almost single handed universalizing mission undertaken by an obstinately passionate man.

Dharmapalas large-scale global institution-building programmes were focused on the larger project of realizing his dream of a united Buddhist world  one which privileged Theravada Buddhism.

Thus, says Perera, Kemper presents this enigmatic historical character in the complexity he deserves  while adding, here, his (Pereras) own caustic side-shot at the deficiencies in Amunugamas recent compendium The Lions Roar.

During this welcome introduction to Kempers work, Sasanka Perera makes an important point: he highlights the enormous power vested in private capital in spearheading [Dharmapalas] religio-political mission. Furthermore, this funding was not from NGOs, but from individuals, which often meant himself.

Himself, I add, meant the fortunes built up by his father Don David Hewavitarne and his brothers in the contracting, merchandising and furniture building trades during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Ironically, but not unusually, this means that the channels of capital formation and educational advancement in the English medium developed by the British colonialists in the nineteenth century paved the way for both Dharmapalas world missionary outreach and his anti-colonial drive within Ceylon and India. These pathways have been illustrated previously in the researches of Ian Vandendriesen, KM de Silva, Kumari Jayawardena and others  including here my researches on elite formation.

Perera stresses that a significant portion of the material used by Kemper to weave his narrative comes from Dharmapalas unpublished notes and diaries collecting dust and disintegrating in neglected archives in India, which many Sri Lankan researchers hardly know of. This comment is on the mark  but only partly. Perera does not seem to be cognisant of the fact that many of Dharmapalas diaries are available in the Department of National Archives and the Maha Bodhi Society in Colombo.

The diaries are indeed a treasure trove. Working on the diaries for the period 1890-1915, I was able to fashion two articles in the late 1990s. As indicated in the title of one of these essays, viz., For Humanity. For the Sinhalese. Dharmapala as Bosat Crusader, the material within the diaries, supplemented by Dharmapalas writings in Sinhala and English, enabled me to highlight the dual dimensions of the Dharmapalas missionary and political zeal.

FOR THE SINHALESE

For the Sinhalese marks Dharmapalas pro-Buddhist and pro-Sinhala endeavours together with their considerable chauvinist extremism. Both in his public canvas and in his diaries Dharmapala viewed the British and Christians as brutes, savages, demons, pagans and heathens. This was an inversion: he was deploying some of the verbal weaponry utilized by the British evangelists and ruling class in their readings of the natives.

However, in keeping with some of the writings in Sinhala in his day, Dharmapala also railed against the demala. the marakkala and the kocci. Rather innovatively, on one occasion he disparaged those whom he identified as hambamarakkala and on another occasion in 1911 even directed a diatribe at the kocci demala. Restrained to Calcutta during World War One, he fired off two virulently anti-Moor letters to the Colonial Office in London as soon as he heard of the tough measures the British took against the Sinhalese in suppressing the riots of mid-1915. This line of bias was set within a critique of British rule.

A striking strand in his thinking was a tendency to treat the subjectively-meaningful collective noun Sinhalese as equivalent to the category Ceylonese. In brief, the major part of the islands population  that of his ethnic group  was rendered equivalent to the whole -- often in an unthinking and embedded manner. When associated with the prominent place commanded by the Sinhalese in the standard readings of the islands history conditioned by the Mahavamsa and many school texts in the British period, the political implications were deadly.

This thinking came to the fore in the revolution of 1956 and subsequent island politics. Dharmapalas political writings (in English and Sinhalese) and such texts as DC Wijayawardhanas The Revolt in the Temple embodied the ideologies driving these politics. As we well know now, these currents, in their turn, heightened the collective identity of the Sri Lankan Tamils and eventually spawned the militant movement for Eelam in the 1970s.

Moreover, the diaries reveal that Dharmapalas adoption of the Anagarika path of a Brahmacharya was linked to a self-perception of his life-path in the steps of the Buddha

My academic interactions at Peradeniya informed my pessimistic readings of the situation THEN in the early-mid 1970s. I was among those in Ceylon Studies Seminar circles at Peradeniya University who organised a full-day conference in Colombo entitled the The Sinhala Tamil Problem in early October 1973. That gathering only deepened my pessimism. In my reasoning the equation of Sinhalese with Ceylonese embodied previously in Dharmapalas writings and holding sway among significant sections of the Sinhalese populace in the 1950s-70s was a fundamental factor bedevilling political compromise and promoting Tamil extremism. I drafted an essay in Heidelberg in 1976 which eventually appeared in the journal Modern Asian Studies in 1978 and indicated that Tamil militarism was around the corner. It gives me little pleasure to point to this article and tell people today: I told you so.

FOR HUMANITY

In this segment of my article I deployed the material Dharmapalas diaries in several ways. I showed that the influence of Orientalist thinking and Protestant values in Dharmapalas thinking argued for by Obeyesekera et al was, indeed, powerful. For instance, Dharmapala valued science, espoused a work ethic and railed against the uncleanliness of the Sinhalese and their attachment to yaktovil (exorcisms).

But the diaries also reveal his engagement with such Buddhist texts as the Visuddhimagga and the jataka stories over the course of time. They display the emergence from 1899 of his intellectual dissension from Colonel Olcotts line of emphasis and his hostility to Annie Besants interpretations within the world Theosophy movement.

THE PATH OF A BODHISATVA

Moreover, the diaries reveal that Dharmapalas adoption of the Anagarika path of a Brahmacharya was linked to a self-perception of his life-path in the steps of the Buddha. At his first visit to Buddha Gaya on 27th February 1891, he wrote: This morning at 4 I pledged myself to work for Humanity.  and a little later he records this commitment: I have to decide on the 17th inst. as to what life I should take and I decide it now. Bodhisatva life. Pure life and work for Humanity (d/e 4 Sept. 1893) This meant a rejection of renunciatory asceticism in favour of bosat work in the world. It meant an emphasis on purity and a rejection of selfishness. It involved a constant inner battle with his own sexual desires  such as those instigating masturbation.

May I remain pure, pure, pure. There is much work to be done and I must be consciously pure in my thoughts (d/e 26 July 1909, emphasis his)

Last night [my] mind was disturbed by polluting sensual thoughts. When will this filthy body become emancipated from low desires? There is no possibility of my ever taking the sensual life. Nevertheless, disturbing tendencies at times overpower the higher nature (d/e 14 June 1907)

As I argued then, the terms pure and morality in Dharmapalas usage can be considered renderings of the Buddhist concept of Suddha, which denotes virtue in thought, word, and deed. Linked to this tenet is (was) the concept of sila, the externalization of Suddha through injunctions supporting purity in word and deed.

Studying the Dharmapala diaries was a revelatory and educational process for me as researcher. Though his terminology presented a Victorian and Orientalist flavour, it became clear that his readings of the world were directed by Buddhist ethics more than Protestant puritan values.

This was one of my conclusions:

Dharmapala set forth on the Bosat path of the Buddha to reclaim Bodh Gaya, to spread the Dhamma in India and the world, to serve Humanity, and to revive Sinhala Buddhist society: My life is pledged to the Cause of Humanity. May I be born again and again to help the Sasana. I will follow the footsteps of the Lord of Compassion (d/e 18 July 1894, emphasis added). The reiteration is worth reiteration: his mission for humanity was to be in all [his] incarnations, life after life (d/e 27 Feb. 1891; 5 June 1894). 

In brief, this line of argument would seem to complement Kempers apparent emphasis on the importance of Dharmapalas overseas engagements and his missionary zeal towards spreading the Dhamma. The diary data also enables one to identify the thinking that underlay such massive efforts.

In my reading the seminal moment in his career arose during his first visit to Bodh Gaya in February 1891. To repeat: This morning at 4 I pledged myself to work for Humanity . . . (d/e 27 Feb. 1891). It was then that he committed himself to the path of a homeless (anagarika) celibate missionary -- that is, a brahmacharya.

BUDDHAGAYA

In a speculative leap, I go further. I suggest that Bodh Gaya (or Buddhagaya) was not merely an inspirational driving force for Dharmapala. It was a magical destination: by restoring Buddhism in this primordial spot Dharmapala hoped that the wonderful messages of Buddhism would conquer the world. Plant that wonderful seed in its birthplace and, hey presto, Buddhism would be disseminated throughout the contemporary world. This wonderful faith would be a world conqueror like Asoka. Mount Meru would be reincarnated.

This is a thought that I cannot substantiate. My work on the diaries was way back in time and the material is not at my fingertips. But it is a thought that has been lurking in the recesses of my brain. I present it to provoke. The provocation is directed at Kemper in particular: he has been one of the few to work on the Dharmapala diaries and he has done so recently. I await his response eagerly as I venture out to get my hands on his book.Singapore was committed to the benefit of the common citizen though some forces make misleading statements, Singaporean Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan had informed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, sources close to Prime Minister told journalists on Monday.

The Singaporean Minister has expressed this sentiment during the one-to-one meeting he held with Sri Lankan Prime Minister on the sidelines of ongoing third edition of Indian Ocean Conference in Hanoi.

Mr.Wickremesinghe had told the Singaporean Minister that the objective of the Yahapalana Government is to turn the country around from the political and economic set back it had suffered as a result of petty politics by some and their personal agendas.

Both leaders have focused on geopolitics during the discussion. (Yohan Perera in Vietnam)The prestigious National Sales Congress (NASCO) 2018, organized by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM), concluded on a celebratory note on 21st of August at the BMICH Colombo, amidst a gathering of distinguished guests from the corporate fraternity. The gala awards ceremony commemorated the role of sales professionals in driving success for corporates  by recognizing and rewarding winners of NASCO 2018. The event was graced by the Hon. Sajith Premadasa M.P. Minister of Housing & Construction as the Chief Guest and Mr. Wasantha Mallikarachchi, Past President SLIM as the Guest of Honor, who bestowed prizes on the winners. The overall winners list includes Sameera Buddhika Herath of Unilever Sri Lanka Limited won the Outstanding Territory Manager of the Year award; Malinda Mendis from Allianz Insurance Lanka Limited won the Outstanding Sales Executive of the Year award; W W Charith M Fernando of Hemas Manufacturing (Pvt) Ltd won the Outstanding Front Liner of the Year award; and Pasikku Hennadige Thanusha Nimari of Sadaharitha Plantations Ltd proudly walked away with the coveted Outstanding Female Sales Person of The Year award.

Commenting on SLIM NASCO 2018, Pradeep Edward, President of SLIM and the CEO of Lanka Hospitals Diagnostics, said, As the premier event dedicated to recognize the efforts and performance of sales personnel, NASCO is growing in stature with each passing year, evidenced by the growing number of entries. SLIM NASCO has become the premier sales awards event in the country and is serving as the ideal motivational tool to inspire sales professionals to optimize the skills and enhance capacity. We are committed to enhancing the scope of the awards to support the sales profession to meet emerging global trends.

Expressing his satisfaction with the outcome, Vice-President-Events of SLIM and the General Manager  Marketing of Derana / Power House, Roshan Fernando, said, We are delighted with the unequivocal success of SLIM NASCO 2018 and congratulate winners. On behalf of SLIM, I would like to express my gratitude to the distinguished panel of judges and headed by Stephan Paulraj and to Nandana A. Wickramage, Advisor to the panel of judges, for having invested their time and effort in selecting the best of the best sales professionals in the country and for maintaining the highest judging standards. The winners should be proud of their accomplishment at SLIM NASCO 2018.

The Project Chair of SLIM NASCO, Manthika Ranasinghe noted, SLIM NASCO is at the forefront of bringing recognition to sales professionals in the country and this would not be possible without our valuable sponsors and partners in SLIM NASCO 2018, whose support made this national level competition become a total success. Running this event is a massive task but the hard work and dedication of the SLIM Council, Staff of SLIM, and the fellow members of the Project Committee makes it seem easy! Sales professionals play a pivotal role in the business organization and make a significant contribution to the growth of the economy and SLIM NASCO upholds its support for all sales professionals in the country.

SLIMs 2018 edition of NASCO recorded the highest-ever participation - with as many as 700 entries from 22 industries. First-time companies debuting in this years competition were as high as 28. The highest participation in the competition this year is recorded from the FMCG, Banking, Finance institutions and Insurance sectors. In terms of categories, 250 front liners, 200 supervisor/ executives, 150 territory managers, 50 regional sales managers, 25 national sales managers and 25 coordinators have sent in their applications.

More importantly, adopting an inclusive approach, SLIM NASCO 2018 deemed that English was not mandatory and organizations could communicate freely in Sinhala and Tamil as well. As the National Body for Marketing in Sri Lanka, SLIM has been in the forefront in fostering marketing knowledge and best practices in the country, and SLIM NASCO is the only national event which recognizes and rewards sales personnel covering a spectrum of business sectors.Reinforcing its commitment to constant development, Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM), the national body for Marketing has been certified by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) covering all its operations, including branch operations in Kandy and Matara.

SLIM received the ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 29990:2010 in recognition of its superior quality management systems and is one of the first organizations to obtain ISO 29990:2010 certification in Sri Lanka which is for Learning Service Providers (LSP), providing non formal education and training services. ISO 29990:2010 quality assurance standard enables to establish, implement, and maintain a management system which focuses on sustained management of design, delivery and evaluation of courses for its Learning Service Providers.

In addition, ISO 9001:2015 is an international standard for quality management systems, which demonstrates an organizations ability to consistently provide products and services which meet customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements while achieving excellence in customer service and delivery.

The certification was awarded as a result of the 5-year plan of SLIM, long term stability and exemplary corporate governance, which were supplemented by initiatives such as the incorporation of quality systems into operational processes and creating a new quality culture within processes which drive high SLIM standards.

Commenting on the certifications, SLIM President Mr. Pradeep Edward noted that it symbolizes the institutes promise of delivering unmatched quality.

We are delighted to have been awarded the ISO quality certifications, as it reiterates our constant assurance of quality across all our processes. We are grateful to Bureau Veritas Sri Lanka for carrying out a fair evaluation based on the required criteria 

SLIM CEO/Executive Director Mr. Sanath Senanayake said that the certifications would support SLIM in its endeavor to develop world class marketers in Sri Lanka.

SLIM recognizes the need to provide regular high-quality services to our stakeholders in order to be effective in our journey of developing globally competitive marketing professionals. ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 29990:2010 provide us with the most current processes to provide high quality services to our students, lecturers, professional members and partners, and to improve these processes on a continuing basis according to market dynamics.

These standards give serious consideration to the demands of todays dynamic and globally interconnected world. Some of the key advancements include a greater emphasis on building a management system more aligned to each organizations particular needs, greater senior leadership involvement and accountability, alignment of quality with wider business strategy, and risk-based thinking and opportunity identification. There are also less prescriptive requirements for documentation and alignment with other key management system standards through the use of a common structure and core text.

The certifying authority for SLIM ISO 9001:2015/ & ISO 29990:2010 quality management system is the Bureau Veritas Sri Lanka and these certifications are bound to maintain and continually enhance SLIMs high quality standards for years to come.

As the national body for Marketing in Sri Lanka, SLIM has been promoting marketing excellence and elevating the status of marketing since 1970. It is a member of the Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL), and is a member of the Board of Management of the Asia Marketing Federation, which is affiliated to the World Marketing Association.SriLankan airlines has launched a new Ready to Fly programme to enhance its world-renowned customer service by providing increased punctuality levels of its flights around the world and requested co-operation from its valued passengers by boarding flights promptly.

The airline requested all its customers to,  help us to help you and be Ready to Fly by arriving at the departure gate at least 40 minutes prior to the scheduled time of departure. Our new Ready to Fly initiative is the result of feedback from a wide circle of customers. Not surprisingly, an on-time departure is one of the most important expectations of all our guests

In order for an aircraft to depart ontime, the airlines team works hard on all aspects of pre-flight preparation - this includes closing the doors in advance of scheduled departure time and making sure that the aircraft is Ready to Fly.

To achieve our Ready to Fly target, the departure gates will be strictly closed 20 minutes prior to the time of departure. Any guest arriving after this time will not be permitted to board the aircraft and their checked-in baggage will be removed from the flight.

The best rule of thumb is to arrive early to ensure adequate time for pre-flight processing and any other personal needs such as shopping or dining.A tense situation had been reported at the Galaha Hospital when a group of people attacked the hospital, after a three- and-half-year-old child died at the hospital, the Police said.

They said several Policemen and Special Task Force (STF) personnel have been deployed at the hospital premises following the incident and the security had been tightened.

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Check the URL you entered for any mistakes and try again. Alternatively, search for whatever is missing or take a look around the rest of our site.Summer camp, now a hit among young children from middle-class families in China, is estimated to turn over 20 to 30 billion yuan annually, with the market expected to swell to 400 billion yuan in the next five to ten years, China Newsweek reported on August 20.

In western countries, summer camps are an excellent way for students to spend their summer holidays and help working parents find something for their children to do. However, such activities have recently been promoted as an important event in China, with summer camps being deemed a must-do for every child.

Since the year 2000, outdoor activities have gradually expanded from enterprises to primary and middle schools after quality-oriented education was rolled out across China. Until 2009, the summer camps popular among Chinese students were channeled into three categories, learning, physical and mental training and study-touring.

In December 2016, the Ministry of Education and 10 other ministries jointly released a statement promoting study tours for primary and secondary school students, and the industry quickly took off.

Many summer camp organizers from abroad have spoken out about such factors as anxious Chinese parents stronger spending power and the mentality of blindly following any after-school education such as camp education, said Mrs Wang, a mother of three who has lived in the U.S. for over 10 years.

Wang explained that the facilities in domestic camps have now surpassed those in the U.S. However, she added that the most reputable U.S. camps depend not on their advanced facilities but instead on the quality of tutors.

She added that summer camp is just one of the options for American students deciding how to spend their summer holidays. About 14 million people in the United States, both parents and children, participate in summer camps every year according to 2013 American Camp Association data, indicating that summer camp students accounted for less than one-third of all school-age children that year.

China started to reward excellent students by sending them on excursions to the then Soviet Union in the early 1950s, marking the start of Chinese summer camps. In the eyes of the older generation, summer camps are still only for a small number of top students, but today, it seems more like good business, available to all.China and Africa, though thousands of miles away in geographic location, have been eyeing a relationship of mutual support and sincere cooperation like the Nile River flowing far and forever.

No matter how the international situation changes, the two countries always set mutual respect, mutual trust, mutual support and joint development as the underlying principle in developing their relations.

Egypt was the first African country to establish diplomatic ties with China 62 years ago. Under the care of leaders of both countries, China and Egypt have yielded fruitful results from their thriving friendly cooperation in recent years. The two countries have made concerted efforts to bring the comprehensive strategic partnership built in 2014 into a new phase of accelerated development.

The regular meetings between Chinese and Egyptian leaders have strongly deepened friendly cooperation. The two countries have great synergy of development strategies, which has driven bilateral pragmatic cooperation toward substantial progress.

The two sides are propelling the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and the development of Egypt's Suez Canal Corridor, as well as other national development plans in a coordinated way.

In addition, the two countries have made a great leap forward in the construction of big projects, and are unleashing new potential of cooperation in areas of power and energy, rail transport, urban construction, satellite technology, culture and education.

China is increasing investment in Egypt, and a number of their cooperation projects have been listed as key ones under China-Africa cooperation framework. China and Egypt are joining hands to forge ahead and creating new prospects for cooperation.

As Chinese Ambassador to Egypt, Im a witness and participator of the rapid development of China-Egypt relations. Here, I feel by myself the endless content and far-reaching influence of the age-old Egyptian civilization. It allows the Egyptians to grasp the general direction of national development at crucial moments for making choices and rise to challenges.

Egypt has entered a new era of focusing on social stability and economic development. In addition, it is laying more importance on developing diplomatic ties with other African countries. Next year, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will hold the rotating chairman of the African Union. My Egyptian friends and I feel very proud and happy that both China-Egypt and China-Africa ties are progressing well with strong momentum.

China and Africa have a shared dream of development and rejuvenation. Through focusing on cooperation and development and pooling wisdom and strength, the two sides are propelling common development and benefiting people of all related countries.

This sincere cooperation will make greater contribution to global peace and development. China and Africa can totally take one step ahead in constructing a community of common destiny for mankind and set an example for building a new type of international relations.

As an Egyptian saying goes once you drink from the Nile, you are destined to return, the meetings of Chinese leaders with their counterparts from Egypt and other African countries will again prove the stability and vitality of bilateral relations.

The upcoming 2018 Beijing Summit of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation will provide new strong political guidance and valuable historic opportunities for deepening China-Africa pragmatic cooperation.

(Song Aiguo is Chinese Ambassador to Egypt)A passenger is taking a selfie at the Nairobi station of the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in Kenya. (Photo by Wang Yunsong from Peoples Daily)

China and Africa have, in recent years, made important progress from a batch of big projects thanks to their mutual efforts in expanding cooperation fronts and deepening collaboration in infrastructure construction, a key engine to help China and Africa align their development strategies and build an even stronger community with a shared future.

Such efforts have laid a strong foundation to improve the peoples livelihood and develop the economy in Africa, with the China-constructed standard-gauge railway connecting landlocked Ethiopia to Djibouti serving as one of the epitomes.

The Addis AbabaDjibouti rail line, an iron dragon running through Ethiopian Highlands, is constructed with Chinese technology and equipment according to China standard.

The rail line brings night-and-day difference. Thank Chinese friend! said an excited Djiboutian passenger Abdullah who has taken the line three times, adding that before the rail line was put into use, the buses were the only transport he could choose when going to Dire Dawa in eastern Ethiopia.

In the past, it took me 18 hours because of the poor conditions of the road, and the trip was unsafe as well. Now, I can arrive there in 4 hours by the comfortable train carriages, Abdullah told Peoples Daily.

Two lines of electrified light rail transit constructed and operated by Chinese firm in Addis Ababa have made the capital city of Ethiopia the first East African city equipped with urban rail transit and brought local residents convenient life.

By May 31, the light rail system had run a total of 5.84 million kilometers in the 985 days of safe operation after it was put into use at the latter half of 2015. An accumulative 230,000 trains provided transportation services to 129 million passengers in total, an average of 104,500 ones each day and 185,000 ones at its busiest day.

The China-built Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in Kenya linking Mombasa with Nairobi, also a key project under the framework of the Belt and Road initiative and the ten major cooperation plans between China and Africa, has created more than 46,000 jobs for local community.

As Kenyas largest infrastructure project since its independence, the rail line is also a symbolic project under the China-Africa cooperation on construction of Africa's high-speed rail network, highway networks and regional aviation and industrialization, as well as production capacity.

It is believed that the railway will generate better future for both the business climate of East Africa and local business men, said a construction contractor from Mombasa.

Under the China-Africa cooperation framework, a package of projects, including rail lines, industrial parks and special economic zones, are now under an accelerated construction or have been put into operation, most of which make up the short boards of Africas weak infrastructure.

Thanks to the railways, highways and ports constructed by Chinese firms, more and more African residents have their life changed.

When you set foot on the land of Africa, you will see many projects invested by Chinese enterprises, who are helping African countries build roads, railways, airports and ports, Namibian President Hage Geingob said, adding that African countries are witnessing a prosperous infrastructure construction under the support of China.

In the Republic of Congo, the Chinese-built national road connecting the country's capital Brazzaville and coastal business hub Pointe-Noire has shortened the travel time between the two cities from a week to six hours after its full line was opened to traffic in 2016.

About 4,000 vehicles are now running on the highway each day, far more than about 100 ones in previous days.

With a total investment of $2.82 billion, the highway spanning 536 kilometers, which is also the biggest cooperation project between China and the Republic of Congo, is now the latters main traffic artery, and reputed by local residents as road of dreams.

Hailing that Chinese constructor has brought the dreams of generations of local people into reality, Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso said that China is sincere in helping us develop economy.

China-financed Karuma hydro power plant, also a model for China-Uganda economic cooperation, has employed over 6,000 Ugandans, accounting for 87 percent of its workers in total.

Upon the completion, the plant will generate 4 billion kilowatt hours annually and provide more than $200 million in revenue to the Ugandan government, which is close to 1 percent of its gross domestic product.

In Rwanda where rough mountain roads blocking the flow of materials and personnel, China Road & Bridge Corporation is renovating the road connecting Eastern Province of Rwanda to Tanzania and Uganda.

Road construction is not an easy job in the country known as land of a thousand hills. Upon the completion, the project will greatly ease the transnational trade and transport pressure between Rwanda and other East African nations, leverage economic vitality of local community and ultimately bring Rwandas geographical advantage as the heart of Africa into full play.

With Chinas help, the land of a thousand hills will be connected to more roads and break the bottleneck in transport with traffic arteries, said Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

By this March, China has put into use or made arrangement on over 90 percent of the funds it pledged to support the ten major China-Africa cooperation plans.

In the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) to be kicked off on September 3, both sides will plan for prior areas and key direction of bilateral cooperation for the next three years or a longer period, and more attention will be paid to public livelihood, employment, as well as other fields needed by Africas economic transformation and upgrade.The African countries are now embracing stronger capacity of independent grain production, more advanced farming technologies, optimized agricultural supply chain, and rising income of farmers thanks to Chinas concrete actions to fulfill its promises of helping with agricultural modernization of Africa three years ago.

At the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in South Africa in December 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward ten major China-Africa cooperation plans, in which supporting agricultural modernization in Africa was a priority area.

With an aim to help Africa accelerate agricultural modernization, China pledged at the summit to carry out agricultural development projects in 100 African villages to raise rural living standards, send 30 teams of agricultural experts to Africa, and establish a "10+10" cooperation mechanism between Chinese and African agricultural research institutes.

The Wanbao rice farm project in southern Mozambique's Xai-Xai district is one of the many fruits of China-Africa cooperation. It is the largest of its kind undertaken by China in Africa and also a key of China-Mozambique cooperation project.

The project, a comprehensive business that incorporates plantation, storage, processing and sales, aims to develop 20,000 hectares of farmland, and will lead farmers in surrounding areas to grow crops over another 80,000 hectares.

The 62-year-old Antonio in Xai-Xai said his life has undergone remarkable changes thanks to the project.

Before, I had a battered tractor and each hectare of land could produce only 1.5 tonnes of rice. Through the Wanbao project, I mastered more advanced farming technologies and learnt how to drive a rotary cultivator. The yield of rice per hectare of land has reached 7-8 tonnes, which is unbelievable, the man said.

In 2018 alone, 32,000 mu, or 2,133 hectares of rice has been planted by 450 local households and the yield per mu of land has climbed to about 500 kilograms.

In the development projects to raise African rural living standards, China sent agricultural experts to African villages to teach applicable Chinese farming technologies to local people in accordance with their needs.

The experts also provided information services and guided the establishment of industrial organizations in an effort to help local farmers be market-oriented, improve their farming skills and income, and help African rural areas develop.

Statistics indicate that 70 percent of African population is rural people, and agriculture contributes as much as 30 percent to African economy. However, food security there is not well guaranteed due to inadequate investment, poor agricultural infrastructure and backward technologies, as well as frequent natural disasters and social instability.

Under this circumstance, the Chinese technologies, experience and capital have greatly helped African countries develop agriculture and raised their ability to produce crops on their own.

In 2017, the Evergreen Conglomerate in south Chinas Guangdong province and the Egyptian government signed an agreement on a fishery project worth $ 76 million. Under the project, an industrial base that incorporates fish-seed breeding, feed production, cultivation techniques, refrigeration and processing was built.

The project has significantly improved Egypts agriculture and marine fishery industries, and helped the countrys effort to address food security challenges, said Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, adding that he was thankful toward the Chinese enterprise for developing modern agriculture, nurturing fishery talents and benefiting local people.

Influenced by the El Nino phenomenon, many African countries were severely hit by droughts in recent years, leading to a sharp decline in food production and threatening food security. Against such backdrop, President Xi announced to offer emergency food aid to affected countries at the Johannesburg Summit.

In 2017, China provided more than 59 million tonnes of rice to Uganda to help the country cope with food scarcity. On behalf of the Ugandan government, Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda thanked the Chinese government for the timely humanitarian aid, hailing it as a symbol of Africa-China friendship.

In January 2018, China delivered humanitarian relief supplies, including 30,000 tents, 10,000 mosquito nets and 500 water-tanks to Somalia at a ceremony held in Mogadishu, Somalia.

The supplies will benefit a lot of homeless and affected residents in Somalia, said Abdi Mohamed Sabriye, Minister of Interior and Federal Affairs of the Office of Prime Minister of Somalia, adding that the supplies fully showcase the sense of responsibility of China as a major country.

In recent years, China has provided emergency food aid to over 20 African countries.Fleeing fascist Italy in 1939, Dr. Achille Viterbi, an ophthalmologist nearing his 60th birthday, arrived in the United States faced with the daunting task of restarting his career at an age when many men start to think about retirement.

Forced to retake his medical boards and cope with rules that kept recent immigrants from practicing at the most prestigious hospitals, the physician never managed to regain the kind of financial footing that would have allowed him to fund exciting new research in his field.

Not to worry. His son, Andrew Viterbi of La Jolla, has that angle covered with a donation valued at $50 million to the UC San Diego School of Medicine. Announced Thursday, Aug. 23, the gift will fund six new endowed chairs in the schools Department of Ophthalmology, which will be renamed the Viterbi Family Department of Ophthalmology.

Plans are also in progress to build the Viterbi Family Vision Research Center next to the universitys Shiley Eye Institute, expanding and consolidating lab and meeting space with the goal of fostering the kind of collaboration that could quite literally end up restoring sight to the blind.

Viterbi, 83, said his father, who was a socialist in his youth, would surely have been tickled at the prospect of supporting such a lofty public goal.

Ophthalmologys on the cusp of great, great things. Were talking potentially giving sight to the blind. I think UCSD has one of the strongest programs in the nation in moving down that path, Viterbi said.

It is finding the right path that has firmly set the Viterbi name in the firmament of electrical engineering. The Viterbi algorithm revolutionized electronic communications through its ability to sift a signal from noise using a clever statistical model to predict the correct path of values among myriad dead ends.

Used in everything from satellite communications to cell phones, the algorithm produced the critical insights that eventually led to Viterbi becoming a co-founder of Qualcomm Inc. and its predecessor Linkabit Corp.

Achille Viterbi never got to see his sons ultimate success. He passed away in 1966 one year before Andrew Viterbi proposed the algorithm that led to the kind of success that has resulted in pile of awards, including the National Medal of Science.

Philanthropy has been an ongoing interest for decades with contributions to the Massachusets Institute of Technology, his alma mater, and the University of Southern California where he earned a doctorate in 1963. The USC Viterbi School of Engineering was renamed in his honor after a $52 million donation in 2004.

His gift to UC San Diego connects to a $2 billion fundraising campaign aimed at increasing the universitys teaching capacity and staff recruitment ability.

UCSD Chancellor Pradeep Khosla said endowments like the six included in Viterbis donation are what allow a public institution to compete with well-funded private schools such as Harvard and Stanford for top talent.

Having endowed chairs to offer definitely allows you to compete in the big leagues, and having the name of someone with the stature of an Andrew Viterbi attached to our program is invaluable, Khosla said.

Since 2012, the universitys aggregated endowment total has increased from $555 million to about $1.64 billion.

In the world of opthamology, UCSDs program already enjoys significant national stature. In 2016, the Journal of Clinical Ophthalmology ranked UCSD second in the nation for eye-related research.

Dr. Robert Weinreb, head of the Shiley Eye Institute, said its not too crazy to think that Viterbis gift could play a significant role in helping find the path forward for successfully transplanting the stem cell-derived optic nerve and retina cells that UCSD researchers are already able to grow in the lab.

Were looking forward to the time in hopefully the not-too-distant future where we can take the optic nerves and the retinal organiods and place them in humans that have been blinded by glaucoma or macular degeneration and restore their vision, Weinreb said.

I believe that the medical breakthroughs were going to make in the next decade will dwarf those made in the last century, and Mr. Viterbis generosity will allow us to lead that innovation, Weinreb said.

The donation includes $10 million in cash to fund six endowed chairs, one of which will be named for Achille Viterbi. A second chair will be named for internationally recognized ophthalmologist Alfred Vogt, the elder Viterbis colleague and mentor whose support was critical in making the familys immigration to the United States possible.

Viterbi will also transfer his 33-acre estate in Rancho Santa Fe to UCSD. Proceeds from the sale will be used to support the ophthalmology department and to build the research center building.

Today, Weinreb said, many of the universitys vision science labs are scattered across campus, but the new building will allow everyone to work in one place in addition to providing new space for the six new researchers hired to fill the six new endowed chairs.

This will serve as a real hub for our research, and it will make it much easier to do interdisciplinary collaborations with other disciplines like engineering, computation, life sciences, neurosciences and bio-engineering, Weinreb said.

UC San Diegos $2 billion fundraising campaign, which started in 2012, has now raised $1.6 billion. For more information, visit campaign.ucsd.edu.Hold the powder.

Thats the message Del Mar Mayor Dwight Worden communicated Monday, Aug. 27, at a public presentation on a proposed hotel and condominium resort targeted for a blufftop in the citys far northwestern reach.

In other words, Worden was saying, theres no need to figuratively blow up the proposed Del Mar Resort project before it goes through the necessary studies and hearings.

The likelihood that this project isnt going to change is pretty small, Worden said. We want to give the proponents a chance to hear the feedback and process that.

Solana Beach resident Brian Feingold attended Mondays meeting at the Del Mar Civic Center concerning the proposed Del Mar Resort. Feingold is leading the Save the Bluff campaign opposing the project. Michael J. Williams

Feedback gathered in interviews from a few of several hundred area residents who attended Del Mars second Citizens Participation Program session on the project tended to be negative.

The event at Del Mar Civic Centers Town Hall enabled attendees to view videos, absorb informational exhibits and interact with development representatives.

Contrary to the expectations of many in the crowd, the proceeding did not provide a forum for expressing public viewpoints, so there was no way to gauge how many were pro or con.

The Del Mar Resort Specific Plan calls for the installation of 271 hotel rooms, 76 villa-styled condominium units, three restaurants, a conference center and 705 parking spaces, among other features, on 16.5 acres at Camino Del Mar and Border Avenue.

According to information supplied Monday, 72 percent of the property would remain open space and there would be 1.5 miles of trails.

The land has been mostly vacant over the last 50 years. It escaped development despite being perched on cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean and shoreline, and across the street from the Del Mar Fairgrounds and Racetrack.

Debbie Hecht, a resident of the beachfront development, The Colony, south of the project site, is leading the No to Del Mar Resort Re-Zoning campaign. She circulated among visitors at Mondays event and asked them to sign a petition against the zone modifications required for the project.

In a view looking west toward the Pacific Ocean, poles support cords with flags that illustrate building heights of the proposed Del Mar Resort, which would be built on this property at Camino Del Mar and Border Avenue. Michael J. Williams

Were pretty adamantly opposed, she said.

Because of the sites locale abutting Solana Beach directly north, the project, with maximum building heights reaching 46 feet from the ground, would inevitably block some ocean views from homes on the Solana Beach side and vehicle access to the site would come from Border Avenue.

All the (economic) benefits go to the city of Del Mar and all the impacts go to Solana Beach, said J.B. Alberts of Solana Beach. There are huge negative impacts and theyre all in Solana Beach.

Solana Beach resident Brian Feingold, who lives on Marsolan Avenue, said ocean views from his home would be completely blocked. He has organized a campaign titled Save the Bluff that is distributing a petition opposing the project.

Its essentially going to be a mega-resort, Feingold said. The main thing is its going to destroy the beach down there. Its going to destroy the bluff. Its going to destroy life as we know it, both in Solana Beach and Del Mar.

Some residents have called for a public vote over the project, but just what such a measure would address and how it would be structured are unknown.

The specific plan, however, is at least a year and a half and several stages away from ultimate approval.

Technically in the design stage, the plan is undergoing environmental and economic analyses. The public review period for the draft environmental impact report is targeted to begin in November. Hearings by the citys Design Review Board could begin in February, followed by the Planning Commission in March and the City Council in July.

After that, the project would have to go to the California Coastal Commission because the locale is within the state coastal zone under the commissions overview.Dr. Patricio A. Frias Shawn Robertson

Following an extensive search, Rady Childrens Hospital and Health Center recently announced it has appointed Patricio Patrick A. Frias, M.D. to be its new president and chief executive officer.

Frias is currently chief operating officer at Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta. Frias is a pediatric cardiologist/electrophysiologist who spent his entire career at Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta, transitioning from patient care into administrative leadership roles with increasing levels of responsibility.

He earned his undergraduate and medical degrees at Creighton University and the University of Nebraska College of Medicine respectively and completed his residency and fellowship training at Duke and Vanderbilt University Medical Centers. Frias will assume the role from Donald B. Kearns, M.D., M.M.M., who is retiring as president and CEO and transitioning to an advisory role with the hospital, concentrating his leadership on key initiatives.

Kearns celebrated his 31st anniversary of service at Rady Childrens this year.

I am confident that we have found the outstanding candidate to lead Rady Childrens into the future, said Kearns. Dr. Frias has a comprehensive understanding not only of the business side of running a world-class childrens hospital, but he also displays a deep appreciation and long-standing, personal dedication to helping sick and injured children.

I could not be more thrilled to join Rady Childrens  one of the nations premier childrens hospitals that is recognized worldwide for excellence in patient care, education, research and advocacy -- and is on the leading edge of the new frontier of genomics research, said Frias. I am so impressed with the strong sense of team culture and the family-like dynamic that exists at Rady Childrens. To me, this role represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lead an organization that is already on such a positive trajectory.

The recruitment of Frias was carried out by the search committee of Rady Childrens board of trustees,which sought input from the entire Rady Childrens community on the qualities they thought were important in a new chief executive. More than 60 people, including board members, physicians, leaders and staff members, participated in the interview process.

The recruitment for our new president and CEO took into consideration both the qualifications of the candidates and whether they would be a cultural fit for the organization, said Michael P. Peckham, board chair of Rady Childrens Hospital Board of Trustees and co-chair of the search committee. We found that Dr. Frias career path has many similarities to Dr. Kearns: both spent their entire bedside medical careers at a single childrens hospital and understand their organizations from multiple perspectives; that of the patients, families, physicians, nurses and clinical staff and administration.

Rady Childrens is a unique institution in that it provides patient care to approximately 90 percent of children in the San Diego region and also is positioned as a world leader in areas like pediatric genomic medicine, said David F. Hale, board chair of Rady Childrens Institute for Genomic Medicine and co-chair of the search committee. It takes an equally unique individual to embrace both the daily responsibility of providing top-notch patient care, as well as articulating a compelling vision for the future. We believe weve found that individual in Dr. Frias.By Tony Barboza , Bettina Boxall, and Rosanna Xia

27 August 2018(Los Angeles Times)  Heat waves will grow more severe and persistent, shortening the lives of thousands of Californians. Wildfires will burn more of the states forests. The ocean will rise higher and faster, exposing California to billions in damage along the coast.These are some of the threats California will face from climate change in coming decades, according to a new statewide assessment released Monday by the California Natural Resources Agency.The projections come as Californians contend with destructive wildfires, brutal heat spells, and record ocean temperatures that scientists say have the fingerprints of global warming.This year has been kind of a harbinger of potential problems to come, said Daniel Cayan, a climate researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and one of the scientists coordinating the report. The number of extremes that weve seen is consistent with what model projections are pointing to, and theyre giving us an example of what we need to prepare for.State leaders vowed to act on the research, even as the Trump administration moves to unravel climate change regulations and allow more pollution from cars, trucks and coal-fired power plants.In California, facts and science still matter, Gov. Jerry Brown said in a statement. These findings are profoundly serious and will continue to guide us as we confront the apocalyptic threat of irreversible climate change.The states assessment draws on the latest science, including more than 40 new peer-reviewed studies, to project the effects of the continued rise in greenhouse gases on Californias weather, water, ecosystems and people and offer guidance on how officials across the state might adapt.

Its the fourth such report since 2006, when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered a climate change assessment as precursor to the Global Warming Solutions Act, the pioneering law California adopted that year to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels.This latest one for the first time scales down global climate models to project climates effect at the regional level or smaller. That approach is intended to provide local officials on the ground with more relevant, community-level information they can use to prepare.The difference between the San Joaquin Valley and the nearby coastal or Sierra Nevada mountains is enormous, so we have to have ways to unpack the large-scale global model calculations, Cayan said. [more]

Climate change will be deadlier, more destructive and costlier for California than previously believed, state warns

By Robert Monroe

27 August 2018

SACRAMENTO (UCSD)  The State of California today released Californias Fourth Climate Change Assessment, which details new information on the impacts of climate change and provides planning tools to support the states response.Among the assessments warnings are that two-thirds of Southern Californias beaches could completely disappear and the average area burned by wildfires could nearly double by 2100. Dan Cayan, a climate scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, served as editor-in-chief of the assessment and researchers from Scripps and California Sea Grant contributed to several of its technical and summary reports.To prepare for climate changes and to avoid possible catastrophic impacts, California needs a massive platter of scientific information, Cayan said. The Assessment supplies such information in finer spatial detail and with greater attention to episodic events, illustrating an extensive set of changes that may confront us over the next several decades.The compilation of original climate research includes 44 technical reports and 13 summary reports on climate change impacts to help ready the state for a future punctuated by severe wildfires, more frequent and longer droughts, rising sea levels, increased flooding, coastal erosion and extreme heat events. The peer-reviewed research translates global models into scaled-down, regionally-relevant reports to fill information gaps and support decisions at the local, regional and state levels.In California, facts and science still matter, said Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. These findings are profoundly serious and will continue to guide us as we confront the apocalyptic threat of irreversible climate change.

California has completed three prior Climate Change Assessments. Since the release of Californias Third Climate Change Assessment in 2012, the state has experienced several of the most extreme natural events in its recorded history, including a severe five-year drought, an unprecedented tree mortality crisis, damaging floods driven by atmospheric rivers, and increasingly large and destructive wildfires.The Fourth Assessment suggests these events will worsen in the future. Among the key findings: Wildfire : Climate change will make forests more susceptible to extreme wildfires. By the year 2100, if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, one study found that the average area burned by wildfires would increase 77 percent and the frequency of extreme wildfires burning more than 25,000 acres would increase by nearly 50 percent. In the areas that have the highest fire risk, the cost of wildfire insurance is estimated to rise by 18 percent by 2055. Additionally, the percentage of property insured in California would decrease.

: Climate change will make forests more susceptible to extreme wildfires. By the year 2100, if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, one study found that the average area burned by wildfires would increase 77 percent and the frequency of extreme wildfires burning more than 25,000 acres would increase by nearly 50 percent. In the areas that have the highest fire risk, the cost of wildfire insurance is estimated to rise by 18 percent by 2055. Additionally, the percentage of property insured in California would decrease. Sea-Level Rise : Under mid to high sea-level rise scenarios, up to 67 percent of Southern California beaches may completely erode by 2100 without large-scale human interventions. Statewide damages could reach nearly $17.9 billion from inundation of residential and commercial buildings if sea-level rise reaches 20 inches, which is within range of mid-century projections. A 100-year coastal flood, on top of this level of sea-level rise, would almost double the cost of damages. Updated modeling can help local planners analyze vulnerabilities in their area.

: Under mid to high sea-level rise scenarios, up to 67 percent of Southern California beaches may completely erode by 2100 without large-scale human interventions. Statewide damages could reach nearly $17.9 billion from inundation of residential and commercial buildings if sea-level rise reaches 20 inches, which is within range of mid-century projections. A 100-year coastal flood, on top of this level of sea-level rise, would almost double the cost of damages. Updated modeling can help local planners analyze vulnerabilities in their area. Energy : Higher temperatures will increase annual electricity demand for homes, primarily for use of air conditioning units. High demand is projected in inland regions and Southern California. More moderate increases are projected in cooler coastal areas. Increases in peak hourly demand during the hot months of the year could be more pronounced. This is a critical finding for Californias electric system, because generating capacity must match peak electricity demand.

: Higher temperatures will increase annual electricity demand for homes, primarily for use of air conditioning units. High demand is projected in inland regions and Southern California. More moderate increases are projected in cooler coastal areas. Increases in peak hourly demand during the hot months of the year could be more pronounced. This is a critical finding for Californias electric system, because generating capacity must match peak electricity demand. Extreme Heat Events and Impacts on Public Health: Heat-related illnesses and deaths are projected to worsen drastically throughout the state. By mid-century, the Central Valley is projected to experience heat waves that average two weeks longer than those today, and the hot spells could occur four to 10 times more often in the Northern Sierra region. A new California Heat Assessment Tool (CHAT) could support public health departments as they work to reduce heat-related deaths and illnesses. The latest reports also detail the unique and disproportionate climate threats to vulnerable communities and tribal communities, with a focus on working collaboratively with these communities on research and solutions for resilience.In addition, a report set for release in early September will highlight how California can better integrate climate impacts in design processes for critical infrastructure. The report by a working group established by AB 2800 (Quirk) of 2016 reflects the expertise of multiple scientific and engineering disciplines to help design and construct infrastructure to withstand higher temperatures, more frequent and intense storms, drought, wildfires and sea-level rise.To access Fourth Assessment technical reports, summary reports, online tools, climate projects and data, and other resources and information developed as part of Californias Fourth Climate Change Assessment, please visit ClimateAssessment.ca.gov.

California will convene the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco next month. At the summit, representatives from subnational governments, businesses and civil society will showcase the surge of climate action around the world, and make the case that even more must be done.Adapted from California Natural Resources Agency release. Contact Robert Monroe, 858-534-3624 scrippsnews@ucsd.edu

Lisa Lien-Mager, (916) 653-9402, Lisa.Lien-Mager@resources.ca.gov

California Releases New Climate Science, Planning Tools to Prepare for Climate Change ImpactsChinese search giant Baidu has issued a warning to Google, claiming to be the new search trendsetter, following the US-firms plans to re-enter the China with a censored search engine.

The move comes as Baidu saw profits beating market estimates on the back of strong ad sales.

Revenue for the segment rose 25 percent to 21.1 billion Chinese yuan ($3.10 billion) in the second quarter.

Google shut down its search engine in China in 2010 amid concerns over government censorship, cyberattacks, and stiff competition from domestic rival Baidu.

Now, its allegedly mulling a returnand Baidus CEO has fighting words for the Silicon Valley giant.

In a post published this month on WeChat, Chinas main chat app, Baidus Robin Li addressed the possibility of Googles return to China by reiterating a common tropethat Chinas tech giants are more advanced and influential than ever before, and are capable of going head to head with international counterparts.

In the post, which was shared privately to Lis contacts on WeChat but also circulated in Chinese media (link in Chinese), Li talked up Baidus efforts in artificial intelligence.

The Chinese search giant is developing open-sourced self-driving-car technology and recently ran a road test using a 5G network. The letter in full translates as follows:

Today the Peoples Daily on overseas social media said that it welcomes Googles return, but it first must respect Chinas laws. Friends have asked me what I think of this issue. Id like to say, Chinas tech companies nowadays have ample ability and confidence. Amid competition with international companies, both can reap the benefits of globalization. If Google decides to return to China, we have enough confidence to take them on once more, and win once more.

The Baidu of today is a world leader in artificial intelligence and has massive influence. Our global ecosystem of partners exceeds 300 companies. Google is also one of our partners in our international markets. Baidu is fully prepared for the industrys next phase of artificial intelligence, and will push the boundaries of technology with the world and share the results of innovation.

As for the Chinese marketthese few years, our industry environment and scale has endured earth-shattering changes. Chinas tech companies have led the world in discovering new problems and servicing new demands. The world is now copying from China. Every company that hopes to enter the Chinese market now must consider and face this.

Over the past few years, Baidu has often been perceived as the beneficiary of Googles exit from China. We cant confirm something that never happened. In fact, Google preceded Baidu when it launched an independent search service in China in 2000. It ramped up these efforts in 2005. Baidu was a latecomer, but with technology and innovation it surpassed Google. By 2010, Google left China as its market share continued to decline. Baidus market share exceeded 70%. If Google wants to come back, we can take them on with all our might and win again.

Baidu has seen rapid growth in its newsfeed product, an app that is similar to Facebooks feed, and has managed to escape the ire of regulators even as competitors continue to suffer temporary bans and fines for failing to censor content.Save my User ID and Password

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Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site.The DIGITIMES Research report you are trying to open requires subscription toordata services. Please sign in if you wish to continue.The eagerly awaited Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is expected to raise the curtain in this golden autumn, during which Chinese and African leaders will gather in Beijing to draw a new blueprint for China-Africa friendly cooperation in the new era under the theme of "China and Africa: Toward an Even Stronger Community with a Shared Future through Win-Win Cooperation".

Over the past four years after assuming office as Chinese Ambassador to Guinea, I have been impressed by the rich connotation and thriving vitality of a community of common destiny between China and Guinea, as well as the broad prospects of bilateral win-win cooperation.

China-Guinea ties have grown ever stronger as time goes by. China, one of the first countries that recognized Guineas independence, and Guinea, the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to establish diplomatic relations with China, have maintained sound and stable ties since they established diplomatic ties 59 years ago.

Sticking to the one-China principle, Guinea rendered mutual support with China on issues related to each other's core interests, as well as major international affairs.

The two countries have developed their relationship in an all-round manner under the guidance of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Guinean President Alpha Conde, and upgraded bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in 2016.

A friend in need is a friend indeed. China offered precious support to help Guinea out of difficulty during the early days after the latters independence.

In the emergent moment of 2014 and 2015 when the African country was hit by outbreak of Ebola virus disease, China lent a helpful hand at the first time by providing it with funds, supplies, food and medical assistance, and sending medical experts.

In the hard time, Chinese diplomats, medical teams, enterprises, and people living in Guinea stood side by side to fight the virus together with local community, which reveals the brotherly friendship of the two peoples who stick together in thick and thin and help one another in time of need.

China never stops its efforts to advance the economic and social development of Guinea. Thanks to China's pledge to provide satellite TV reception to 10,000 African villages under the framework of the FOCAC, a total of 333 villages in Guinea have been accessed to digital television in this year, and tens of thousands of local residents, as a result, have been offered with a new window to learn the world.

China and Guinea highly complement each other in economic growth. New fruits from China-Guinea pragmatic cooperation have been emerging one after another in recent years, with China offering the African country with commercial loans, concessionary loans and investment.

The Kaleta hydropower plant, financed by China, has greatly eased the electricity shortage of the countrys capital city Conakry and its neighboring areas after the project was put into use in 2015.

The landmark projects, including the five-star Hotel Kaloum and Diamond Plaza in Conakry built by Chinas private firms, add luster to the image of the city and the country.

All walks of life in Guinea laud China as their countrys most reliable friend and most prior cooperation partner.

Guinea places great importance on the FOCAC, an important platform for China-Africa collaboration.

Guinean President highly agrees with China's African policy of sincerity, real results, affinity and good faith and the correct viewpoint of righteousness and benefit put forward by Xi, and admires Chinas remarkable achievements in poverty reduction.

Conde, in a recent interview, described China as a good example for African partners, saying that African countries that have only tens of millions of population should conquer poverty given that China, with so much population distributed in such a vast land, is able to do so.

He expects to join in the co-construction of the Belt and Road, learn from Chinas experience in alleviating poverty, and boost cooperation with China in agriculture, mining and infrastructure by taking the upcoming Beijing summit as an opportunity, so as to realize mutual benefits, win-win results and common development.

(Bian Jianqiang is Chinese Ambassador to Guinea)Subscriber content preview

WASHINGTON (AP)  Snubbing Canada, the Trump administration reached a preliminary deal Monday with Mexico to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement  a move that raised legal questions and threatened to disrupt the operations of companies that do business across the three-country trade bloc.

President Donald Trump suggested that he might leave Canada, America's No. 2 trading partner, out of a new agreement. He said he wanted to call the revamped trade pact the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement because, in his view, NAFTA had earned a reputation as being harmful to American workers.





. . .Subscriber content preview

SEATTLE  The Avenues Apartments, at 10758 16th Ave. S.W., have sold for almost $19.2 million, according to King County records.

The seller was Avenues LLC, which apparently developed the property 1989.





. . .Changing the history of the whole world, Diaoyu Fortress in Chongqing has attracted countless visitors, who come to witness its magnificence and the stories of times gone by.

Like many historic sites in China, the name of Diaoyu Fortress was derived from an ancient legend. The story goes that during a flood, a group of refugees ran towards the surrounding mountains to avoid the fast rising water. They found themselves starving and exhausted. They prayed to the gods, and a Titan was sent down from the heavens to save them. The Titan stood on a nearby rock and caught fish to feed the victims. Therefore, the rock, along with several mountains, were named Diaoyu mountains, in an effort to commemorate the legendary tale.

The Diaoyu Fortress is located at the very top of the Diaoyu Mountains. Three rivers converge in this area, forming a natural military advantage for the Fortress - easy to defend, but hard to attack. The Fortress is famous for its resistance to the Mongol armies in the latter half of the Song Dynasty.

Though the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, Mongke , conquered Europe, Asia, and Africa to the west, he failed to occupy this small city of 2.5 square kilometers, and was allegedly injured in the battle field, dying a short while later.

The Diaoyu Fortress Battle is a feat of defense in both ancient and modern war history. It claimed Mongkes life and forced the Mongol Empire to withdraw from the Eurasian battlefield. The Europeans called the Mongolian army the "Scourge of God", and they named Diaoyu Fortress Gods Folding Scourge Place or the Oriental Mecca.

Today, Diaoyu Fortress has been placed on the World Cultural Heritage Tentative List, and the local government supports its application for World Cultural Heritage. The ancient battlefield has won a second chance of revival, attracting visitors around the globe.My Favorite Quotes Recent Quotes

Portfolio Summary Your most recently viewed tickers will automatically show up here if you type a ticker in the Get Quotes box on the top of the page.This weekend, Michigan Republicans dutifully nominated U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos choice for Secretary of State, Mary Treder Lang. The billionaire DeVos family has already padded Langs campaign account with more than $40,000 so far.

Republican pundit Bill Ballenger, best known for declaring the Flint water crisis to be overblown,* gave us some insight into another reason for Langs nomination in a rather creepy blog post in which he described Lang as blonde and effervescent. The post was titled: Does a Republican Have to be a Woman to be Elected Secretary of State in Michigan? Ballenger answered, It sure looks that way in the lede.

Lang can be expected to try and sell herself as some sort of friendly, nonpartisan figure in the general election, which has been the GOP playbook for years. In reality, she has been bragging for almost a year that she will use her position as the chief elections officer to help Republicans.

But dont take my word for it. Check out the receipts at MaryTrederDevos.com

Lang said in an April 2018 podcast with Tea Partier Trucker Randy Bishop that without GOP-led voter purges that kicked legitimate Michigan voters off the rolls in 2016, We wouldnt have President Trump today as our great president, nor would we be a red state.

Keep in mind that Michigan was the closest state in the 2016 election. Donald Trump only won by roughly 10,000 votes. Having a Republican SOS who is nakedly committed to tilting elections to the GOP could have far-reaching effects in the future.

This wasnt a gaffe. Lang threw out this conspiracy theory in the May 2018 Lapeer Tea Party debate and said God bless current GOP Secretary of State for giving us Trump:

If Ruth Johnson did not remove her half a million individuals, dead people from our voter files before the 2016 election this state here would not be red nor would we have president Trump in our office today and being a Republican president. God bless her and I will continue that forward momentum that she has created as a wonderful legacy of cleaning up the voter file.

And in a July 2018 MIRS News podcast, Lang repeated that voter purges turned Michigan red and helped Trump win:

We indicated Ruth Johnson doing a great job of cleaning up the voter files. You know, Ruth removed over a half a million deceased individuals before the 2016 election. Just imagine if she had not cleaned up the files before that election. Right now we wouldnt have, not only be a red state, but President Trump would not be elected as the President in a fair election process.

Not surprisingly, Lang is a big fan of Vice President Mike Pences voter suppression commission, which was disbanded after it failed to uncover any voter fraud in the 2016 election. Lang made a big deal about meeting Pence at a June 2018 campaign event in Michigan.

But voter purges arent all that Lang has planned if she wins. Lang wants to make it harder to vote and opposes the ACLUs Promote the Vote ballot initiative in Michigan that would allow same-day voter registration and no-reason absentee voting.

Lang also opposes the Voters Not Politicians initiative on the ballot this fall that would create a nonpartisan redistricting process because she wants to keep the GOP advantage in redistricting.

If Mary Treder Lang is elected, shell be the most radically partisan Secretary of State in Michigan history. She hasnt been hiding this fact. Shes been bragging about it for a year.

As Maya Angelou famously said, When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.

*Full disclosure: I happily fired Ballenger from his role as associate editor over his factually inaccurate and hurtful comments on the Flint water crisis when I was the editor and publisher of Inside Michigan Politics.BREAKING: Omarosa releases the only Omarosa tape you'll ever need to hear. pic.twitter.com/s0YvcWKWAQ  LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) August 27, 2018

That was the only Omarosa tape anyone ever needed to hear and its pretty much the best advice to stopping Trump: IGNORE HIM  and its the one strategy that definitely has not been tried.

Right here your brain is probably telling you, How can you do that? Hes the president. Hes wrong on the internet. I need to own him or be owned!

But what if were helping him? When Trump makes up a poll number or trade deal or pretends the wall is being built because a few fences are being replaced, he knows what happens. The lie gets reported and then it gets reported again by the fact checkers and then again and again and again until hes off to a new lie that hell repeat again.

You may not want to believe that Donald Trump is good at anything but were only fooling ourselves when we focus on Trumps slurs and lies. And the best brain science shows that by repeating his lies, were only helping spread them and make them more true to our brains. But what should we do about it? Can we just ignore the president of the United States? And if youre so smart why are you talking about Trump right now?

If Trump is an addiction, Im barely in step one of recognizing I have a problem. I try my best not to repeat, retweet or even quote retweet him but its not enough.

Thats why we wanted to have Gil Duran on, to give us an intervention and figure out how to best deal with Trump as we near the most important election of our lives.

Gil is the former Press Secretary for California governor Jerry Brown and Communications Director for U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein. Hes currently the host of the essential podcast about how to protect your brain from Trump  FrameLab with @GeorgeLakoff.

Gil Duran on Twitter: @GilDuran76

The FrameLab podcast with George Lakoff can be found HERE.

The Good Women are the anti-Trump part XXXII

Melissa Deckman at The Washington Post: This survey shows why theres never been a better time for women to run for office

The Bad  Trump is now on his 25th wave of judicial appointments

Jason Zengerle at The New York Times: How the Trump Administration Is Remaking the Courts

Jason Sattler at USA Today: Dont consider Brett Kavanaugh for Supreme Court until Mueller investigation is over

The Shrugly \_()_/  The politicization of Mollie Tibbetts

Axios: Republicans want to make Mollie Tibbetts a household name

STATEMENT FROM MOLLIE TIBBETTSS FAMILY: No. No, no and no. Especially for those of you who did not know her in life, you do not get to usurp Mollie and her legacy for your racist, false narrative now that she is no longer with us. We hereby reclaim our Mollie. pic.twitter.com/axnhHKHIJI  Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) August 27, 2018

Luke Nozicka and Kevin Hardy at the Des Moines Register: Today, we need to turn the page. Were at the end of a long ordeal, Rob Tibbetts tells crowd at daughters funeral

Ian Haney Lopez and Anat Shenker-Osorio at The Washington Post: The answer to GOP dog whistles? Democrats should talk more about race, not less.

Progressives Everywheres Candidate of the Week (via @JordanZakarin): Lets win Wisconsin! Support Tony Evers for governor along with Kriss Marion, Lee Snodgrass, and Julie Henszy for state senate.

Make a donation to support Tony Evers effort to defeat Scott Walker and become the new governor of Wisconsin HERE.

The show notes for Episode 10 of The GOTMFV Show are at http://www.eclectablog.com/2018/08/this-is-your-brain-on-trump-with-special-guest-gil-duran-from-the-framelab-podcast.html

Give us a five-star review at iTunes!

The GOTMFV Show Facebook page is HERE!

Music clips

Intro and transition music: You Dress Like an Asshole by Not The 1s

Progressives Everywhere intro/outro: Theyre Everywhere by Jims Big Ego

Flint Water Crisis Update intro: Unclaimed by Mike Wagner/Total Strangers

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CPF's new farming technique supports shrimp productions in Thailand

The shrimp business in Thailand has regained momentum due to burgeoning productions, Charoen Pokphand Foods' (CPF) said, citing the opinions of experts.

The boost in production is linked to CPF's newly developed farming technique - called the "3 Cleaning Approach" system - and the company's breeding programmes which successfully control the spread of Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS).

Dr. Sujint Thammasart, CPF's chief operating officer of its aquaculture business, said the production begins to rebound as shrimp farmers gain confidence from rising local price. Moreover, the EMS outbreaks are no longer a concern due to a successful breeding programme and better farming technique.

Five years ago, the spread of EMS has prompted CPF to develop farming system to curb the disease problem. The "3 Cleaning Approach" system focuses on shrimps in early stages of development, pond and water - all of which are important factors to be dealt with. The system encourages shrimp to grow healthier with high survival ratio. The technique would also help to double production.

"During the first three years of (struggle), we invented three cleaning systems. [These would ensure] clean pond, clean water and [healthy] animals," Dr. Thammasart said. "However, it takes time to convince farmers since they have to make some investments to developed the pond."

Dr. Thammasart added that the company has cooperated with Thailand's Agriculture Ministry to provide clean farming technology to farmers in the east of the country, particularly Chanthaburi. This effort was a role model for farmers nationwide to control EMS outbreaks, CPF said.

Shrimp disease is one of the key threats to farming, although there is no emerging diseases at the moment, Dr. Thammasart said at a recent CPF analyst meeting. The main challenge for Thailand's shrimp business, he added, is to control production cost to maintain competitiveness.

Once an industry giant, Thailand is losing key customers to major competitors like India and Vietnam due to a higher cost of operation.

This year, Thailand's shrimp year-on-year export volume to the US in June dropped by 42%. In addition, exports to the EU - once a key market for Thai products - also declined.

The US-based National Fishery Institute had reported that world's farmed shrimp production would reach 3.5 million tonnes this year. Thailand's shrimp production is forecast to achieve 290,000 tonnes.

Thailand's advantage is the capability to farm bigger size shrimps, Dr. Thammasart pointed out.

For now, CPF is focusing on expanding market for value added Thai shrimps.

"Thai operation will be a base for premium shrimp while India and Vietnam's operation will be the company's base for mass shrimp products" Dr. Thammasart said.

In explaining the development of CPF's premium shrimp, Robins McIntosh, senior vice president of CPF, said the company has developed an advance breeding programme to genetically improve strong and fast growing shrimps obtained from certain broodstocks.

"The company has made countless breeding programmes to find strong and fast growing shrimps," Robins explained. "Nowadays, EMS failure rate has dropped from over 40% to 0.1%."

In its effort to ensure disease-free shrimps, CPF has had shrimp nauplius nursed in an advance hatchery bio-security environment and underwent infectious disease testing for diseases like Vibrio Parahaemolyticus, EMS and Microsporidi.

CPF's 'baby' shrimps are thus trusted by farmers thanks to their outstanding survival rate, low infection risk and better economical value, the company stated.

- CPF





Foreign feed producers keen to expand operations in Vietnam

Vietnam has seen an increase in local production of animal feed, but still has to spend US$3 billion to import feed and raw materials for production yearly, Hanoitimes reported.

Moreover, the country's animal feed market has attracted several foreign feed companies like De Heus, Cargill and CP, thanks to a two-digit growth in the past two decades.

Vietnam's livestock industry currently needs about 16 million tonnes of animal feed worth some US$6 billion yearly. By 2020, the demand will increase to 25 million tonnes, valued at US$10.5 billion.

A key factor which attracts foreign investors to Vietnam's feed industry is its annual 10-15% growth rate. With the rising number of foreign investors in the sector, Vietnam, in term of animal feed production, is the leading country in ASEAN and the 10th in the world.

Reports from the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development showed that the country has 239 feed plants, of which 61 are foreign-invested firms. Although Vietnamese animal feed producers outnumber their foreign peers, they hold a market share of just some 35%, with the remaining 65% belonging to foreign producers.

Many foreign feed plants are planning to further expand production in Vietnam to catch up rising demands.

According to Montri Suwanposri, general director of CP Vietnam, the company has 10 animal feed and seafood production plants with a total output of 4.2 million tonnes per year in Vietnam. CP is expected to continue expanding production in this field.

Other foreign feed producers such as CJ, De Heus and Haid have also planned to increase output of their existing plants.

Industry insiders said that animal feed production requires high technology and huge investment - aspects which local producers are often weaker in than foreign direct investment (FDI) companies.

Le Ba Lich, chairman of the Animal Husbandry Association of Vietnam, also admitted that foreign firms have stronger financial capacity, experience, modern production line and especially appropriate distribution strategies to expand their market.

In addition, Dong Van Hoa, deputy director of Thanh Binh Company, said that to attract customers, FDI firms have also provided a full package solution for its partners and customers that supplies feed and one or all of its support products and services such as livestock breeds, farming equipment, technical advisory services, processing and consumption.

Farmers thus prefer products of foreign companies as the companies' completed production and consumption chains have helped them cut costs and have stable consumption.

Hoa suggested that domestic firms must join hands with other companies to provide complete supply chains in order to bolster their longevity.

Recently, some domestic large companies such as Masan, Hoa Phat, Hung Vuong and Vingroup have made big investments in the feed industry to provide complete supply chains with the aim of regaining local market share.

Masan has bought Proconco, Anco and Green Feed to become the second largest livestock feed supplier in the country as well as the largest Vietnamese corporation in term of feed production. Hoa Phat Group has also put into operation a feed plant with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year.

According to Tran Van Quang, head of the Dong Nai Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, Masan and Hoa Phat have feed plants in Dong Nai while Hung Vuong and Vingroup are also likely to invest in the country's largest livestock-producing province.

- HanoitimesThe German watchmaker has given its Senator Excellence Panorama Date and Senator Excellence Panorama Date Moon Phase a new look, lending this successful line the distinctive cachet of modern design.

The Saxon manufactory presents the Senator Excellence Panorama Date and the Senator Excellence Panorama Date Moon Phase in three new versions apiece  all destined for the style-conscious gentleman. Following the debut of initial versions in a classic style, the watches are now available in blue, silver grey and white, mounted in slightly bigger 42 mm stainless steel cases. With this contemporary, elegant design the brand extends its Senator Excellence line, which is based on the award-winning Calibre 36 automatic movement.

 Glashutte Original

Small changes, big impact

The new models underscore once again the Saxon watchmaker's dial competencies. After all, each colourful new face is the product of a galvanisation and finishing process performed in Glashutte Original's in-house dial manufactory in Pforzheim. The galvanic blue dial features a refined sunray decoration, the galvanic silver-grey dial is enhanced by a delicate vertically brushed finish and the smooth matte surface of the lacquered white dial version makes a splendid impression.

In Pforzheim, superb craft skill and dedication to detail also guide the integration of the moon phase and Glashutte Original Panorama Date in the dial. And last, but not least, the Pforzheim experts mount the characteristic appliques, contributing in the process to the lasting impression made by this watch  despite having been stripped down to pure essentials. Striking white gold indexes and colour-matched, clear and dynamic sword- shaped hour and minute hands complete the harmonious appearance of the new timepieces, forming an elegant unity.

 Glashutte Original

Proven quality times two

Thus, while the Senator Excellence Panorama Date and the Senator Excellence Panorama Date Moon Phase appear in a new outfit, continuity reigns within. And for good reason: The Calibre 36  here in versions 36-03 with the Panorama Date and 36-04 with the Panorama Date and moon phase  has already made a name for itself as the epitome of excellence in watchmaking. Introduced in 2016, the manufactory made movement, reduced to the essentials, forms the heart of the entire line.

The Calibre 36 has set new standards with respect to ease of use, particularly evident in these characteristic Glashutte Original complications. Both the Glashutte Original Panorama Date and the moon phase are set using the crown, which makes an additional corrector on the case unnecessary.

Like all other Senator Excellence models, these most recent versions guarantee a standard of quality. Every single one of these watches bears a special engraving in the form of a Q on the case back, to be read as a promise. Together with an individual examination certificate, the Q guarantees the owner that his watch meets the highest standards with respect to stability, running time, precision and aesthetics, and that it has been thoroughly tested over the course of 24 days  under conditions even more demanding than those governing German chronometer certification testing.Egypt's health ministry said on Tuesday a total of 55 Egyptian pilgrims have died in Saudi Arabia during the annual hajj season which concluded last week.

The latest death was a 69-year-old man who died in the holy city of Mecca after suffering a sharp drop in blood circulation and a sudden stop in respiratory functions, the ministry added in a statement.

The ministry said earlier on Tuesday that there were 53 deaths among Egyptians before announcing later that two more pilgrims passed away.

Deaths from heat exhaustion, fatigue and natural causes are not uncommon among pilgrims on the hajj in Saudi Arabia.

Last year, 110 Egyptians died of natural causes during the pilgrimage, according to figures released by the health ministry at the time.

Egyptian pilgrims started returning home earlier this week from the worlds largest annual gathering of Muslims. All capable Muslims are required to perform the hajj pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, at least once in their lifetime.

Saudi Arabia said last week more than 2.37 million pilgrims performed the five-day ritual, mostly from outside the kingdom with some 600,000 from inside the country.

Around 80,000 Egyptians were estimated to have gone on hajj this year, Egyptian officials have said.

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Nazis started street action in Germany

Several migrants have been chased and attacked by far-right extremists, after reports of knife attack in Chemnitz. There was a conflict between the right and left groups

Hundreds of far-right extremists rallied in eastern Chemnitz city on Sunday night, who went on to chase and attacked several migrants on the streets, local media reported on Monday.

NAZIS APPEARED

Approximately 2,500 racists participated in the demonstration in front of the Karl-Marx Monument with the call of the right-populist Pro Chemnitz movement. It was seen that the demonstrators greeted Nazi in front of the Marz monument. This approach of extreme right-wingers was accompanied by comments that "The Nazis in Germany appeared".

HITLER GREETING

In another tweet, the Saxon police reported that they had closed the face with some demonstrations and that they were leaving "Hitler greetings" and that these attacks would be necessary.

NUMEROUS CUSTODY AND INJURIES

Police officials reported that a large number of people were injured in the demonstration of extremist groups and the left-wing groups held against it. The interventions of the police were also very hard, and the demonstrators were arguing and the security forces of the coup detained them.

GOVERNMENT: WE WILL NOT ACCEPT

Chancellor Angela Merkels spokesman on Monday condemned the violence and stressed that the country would not tolerate such hate crimes.

We will not accept such riotous assemblies, such hounding of people who look different or have different origins, nor the attempt at spreading hatred on the streets, Steffen Seibert told a news conference in Berlin.This Page Is Under Construction - Coming Soon!

Why am I seeing this 'Under Construction' page?Egypt and Ethiopia have agreed during fresh talks in Addis Ababa to overcome obstacles in negotiations over a disputed dam project Addis Ababa is building on the Nile River that Cairo fears will diminish its water supplies, Egypt's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and the country's intelligence chief Abbas Kamel met with Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in the Ethiopian capital on Tuesday where they delivered a message from Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to bolster bilateral relations and to push ahead with the decisions made by the leaders of the two nations on the Grand Renaissance Dam, Ethiopias $4 billion hydroelectric project.

The two sides have "stressed the importance to press ahead with the current course of negotiations and to overcome any obstacles to ensure the desired understanding over the Renaissance Dam is reached in a way that ensures achieving development benefits of Ethiopia while preserving Egypt's water security," the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Egypt fears that the project will cut into its share of the Niles water. Addis Ababa maintains that the dam will not reduce Egypts share of the Nile and will help Ethiopias development.

During the talks, the officials discussed efforts to implement a 2015 agreement signed by Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan over Nile water rights and addressed decisions made by the ministers of the three countries during talks in May, which broke months of deadlock. These decisions include setting up a scientific study group to consult the nations on the process of filling the reservoir of the 6,000-megawatt dam and that the leaders of the three nations will meet every six months for consultations.

The two sides also stressed they aim to take steps to set up a proposed fund to invest in development projects in the three African nations and agreed to boost trade exchange and Egyptian investment in Addis Ababa.

The talks on Tuesday came days after Abiy said that the ongoing construction of the dam, which Ethiopia hopes will become Africa's largest power generator and exporter, is facing delays and issues over its design.

In June, Abiy and El-Sisi signaled during talks in Cairo that they had made a breakthrough to resolve differences over the dam project. The Egyptian president said at the time that the two countries have come a long way in building confidence and strengthening their bilateral cooperation. Abiy said his country was committed to securing Egypt's share of Nile water.

The two leaders are expected to meet in September on the sidelines of a China-Africa cooperation forum in Beijing.

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DrayNow, a Philadelphia, PA-based intermodal freight marketplace, completed its $5m Series A funding.

The round was led by Comcast Ventures with participation from Osage Venture Partners.

The company intends to use the funds to grow its team and accelerate expansion into new geographies.

Led by Mike Albert, founder and CEO, DrayNow provides a real-time marketplace for Intermodal shipping brokers to connect with available motor carriers.

The marketplace is accessed by Third-Party Logistics (3PLs), Intermodal Marketing Companies (IMCs), and brokers through a desktop interface where users can view truck capacity in real-time, post loads, track load status and obtain electronic documents immediately.

With the companys mobile application, truck drivers can get access to Intermodal freight, browse loads, compare rates and details, select loads, deliver loads and get paid faster.

FinSMEs

28/08/2018Narvar, a San Francisco, CA-based customer loyalty and engagement company, raised $30M in Series C funding.

The round, which brought total funding raised to date to $64m, was led by Accel, with participation from existing investors Battery Ventures and new investors Salesforce Ventures and Scale Venture Partners. In conjunction with the financing, Ryan Sweeney, partner at Accel, will join Narvars board.

The company intends to use the funds to continue developing products while investing in international growth.

Led by Amit Sharma, founder and CEO, Narvar provides a SaaS based post-purchase customer engagement platform to more than 500 global retailers, including Patagonia, Gap, Levis, TUMI and Sephora. The solution provides delivery tracking analytics, delivery notifications, returns management, feedback collection and timely customer communications.

The company has served nearly 5 billion customer interactions across 38 countries and 50 languages. In the last 12 months, Narvar has doubled revenue and employee headcount and added more than 100 brands, including Costco and Lululemon, to its customer list.

It has also expanded its global presence into APAC and EMEA  opening a London office and making its first leadership hires in Germany.

FinSMEs

28/08/2018A Cairo criminal court has sentenced six defendants to death and two others to life in prison over a deadly attack on a security checkpoint in Khosos, just north of Cairo, in 2016 which left one policeman dead and others injured.

The court sentenced one other defendant to 15 years, a second to five years, and a third to three years in prison.

The defendants can appeal the verdict before a higher court.

The defendants were convicted of establishing and joining an outlawed group aiming to disrupt the provisions of law and the constitution and preventing state authorities from carrying out their duties.

The court also found the defendants guilty of orchestrating terrorist attacks against police and army personnel, recruiting others to join a terrorist organisation, possession of illegal firearms and financing a terrorist organisation.

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.             COP26  , ,   ,          ...Egypt's education ministry has started the second phase of its project to build 100 Japanese-style state schools, the website of the countrys state television channel reported on Tuesday.

Education Minister Tarek Shawky said in June that 45 of a total of 100 of the schools will open their doors to students in September, after registration opened in July.

The second phase will see the remaining 55 schools constructed in time for the 2019/2020 school year, the ministry said.

The new schools will teach the same Arabic-language curriculum as other state schools, while adopting in addition the Japanese "whole child education" system known as Tokkatsu.

Tokkatsu's course of study focuses on achieving a balanced development of intellect, virtue and body by ensuring academic competence, rich emotions and healthy physical development.

The project was agreed on during Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi's visit to Japan in February 2016. Under a cooperation protocol signed between Egypt and Japan in 2017, Japan is providing the necessary technical support for the project.

Observers, teachers and parents argue that Egypt's education system is in need of a massive overhaul. Critics say that the system, which is based on rote learning, does not give students the necessary practical skills, leaving them unqualified for college and hindering their transition to the workplace.

The ministry says the new schools will focus on enhancing children's personalities, rather than scientific content, by introducing a special system that is meant to improve students' cognitive skills and behaviour while encouraging innovation and creativity.

The fees for the Japanese schools will be around EGP 10,000 ($560) per year, as opposed to fees of around $4 to $6 per year at the least expensive state-run schools, which are mostly attended by students from low-income families.

A new administrative capital Egypt is building east of Cairo will house three of these schools, the ministry said.

The schools were scheduled to open last year before the education ministry postponed studies to be better prepared and ensure a sufficient level of quality and selection criteria, the ministry said at the time.

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Egypt's National Press Authority announced on Tuesday that it had not yet decided whether to raise the prices of newspapers.

According to a statement issued by the official body, which is in charge of a number of aspects related to printed media in the country, the committee delegated to study the impact of raising prices has not yet finished surveying journalists and writers about the issue, and the possible impact on distribution rates.

Earlier this month, the NPA held a meeting with the CEOs and publishers of state-owned and privately owned newspapers to discuss raising prices, after months of increasing global paper prices.

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Anna Kendrick says she's more like her co-star Blake Lively's character, who Kendrick describes as "very comfortable with the fluid aspects of her sexuality," in their upcoming movie "A Simple Favor."

"I think I havent had that emotional love for a lady, which isnt saying it could never happen to me," the 33-year-old told PrideSource in a candid new interview.

Kendrick reflected on the first woman she kissed after high school where "it wasn't just like, we're at a party and boys are watching! That horrible performance silliness."

Ryan Reynolds Hilariously Says He Won't Allow Anna Kendrick to Steal Wife Blake Lively (Exclusive)

In "Bridesmaids" director Paul Feig's foray into dark comedy, Kendrick and Lively play very different moms who meet at the kids' school and become fast, fun, day-drinking friends. When Emily (Lively) disappears, Stephanie (Kendrick) searches high and low for her missing bestie.

And that kiss the two share?

"All Im ever thinking about in (kissing) scenes is, who has gum? Who has a mint? And I think Blake is probably the same because Ive never experienced a guy, like, searching for a mint and searching for gum," she said. "So, we were the mintiest, freshest two people to have ever kissed in the history of America.  Call Guinness."

Anna Kendrick Keeps Feud With Ryan Reynolds Alive at 2018 Teen Choice Awards: 'In Your Face!'

"It was a fun day," she added.

Kendrick also revealed that a nude painting of Lively as Emily featured in the film, prominently displaying her vagina, was never actually on set but created in post-production. Lively, she notes, was responsible for its explicit nature.

Ryan Reynolds Says He'll Miss Blake Lively After She Jokes About Being With Anna Kendrick

"Sometimes it was green screen, and sometimes it was this other painting that was very nice but very Tumblr art," she said. "It was actually Blakes idea to have it be a little bit more, um, obscene. Certainly its art, but a little more shocking for Stephanie to see. Not so polished, not so pretty, not so coy. I thought that was really brilliant."

Elsewhere in the interview, Kendrick speaks passionately about her desire to see the teased relationship between "Pitch Perfect" characters Beca (Kendrick) and Chloe (Brittany Snow) materialize into a lesbian romance. The fandom for Bechloe's romantic evolution has seemingly eluded Universal Pictures, says the actress, but not Kendrick, who once came across some lesbian fanfiction about the aca friends.

Disappointed by its wholesomeness, she said, "I was like, 'Aww, I wanted to read some sauciness!' I thought I was gonna get scandalized! Instead, I was like, 'Aww! This is, like, so sweet!'"

For "Pitch Perfect 3," the actress recalled her and Snow's attempt to "trick everybody" by filming a scene with the "two of us getting together," but the scene didn't make the final cut.

"It meant so much to us that there was this following around their latent relationship," she said, "and, yeah, I thought it wouldve been really cool if it would have ended up coming to fruition in the end."

Should the Bellas reunite for a fourth film, "I will fight tooth and nail for it," Kendrick said, "but Im not sure its gonna happen."

Read the full PrideSource interview here.

"A Simple Favor" hits theaters on Sept.14.MacGyver stunt coordinator Justin Sundquist has reportedly come out of a medically induced coma and was removed from intensive care, according to Deadline.

The news comes a week after it was reported that Sundquist suffered a "serious head injury" during a stunt, which involved "transferring from one vehicle to another" on the set of the CBS series in Atlanta.

Hes not out of the woods yet, but hes out of ICU and knows whats going on," veteran stuntman and longtime family friend, Spiro Razatos, told the outlet.

Hes responding and communicating with his friends and family. He has a long road ahead of him, but hes on a better road now. Were all praying for the positivity to continue.

As previously reported by the site, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is looking into the accident.

In a statement obtained by Deadline, Eric Lucero, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Labor, said: "OSHA has opened an investigation."

On Wednesday CBS Television Studios told Fox News in a statement: We have learned about an injury to stunt coordinator Justin Sundquist that occurred late Monday on the set of 'MacGyver' in Atlanta.

"The production team is cooperating with the authorities investigating the accident, and our primary concern at this time is Justins health and well-being."

Last year, Sundquist sued CBS and other parties for injuries he claims he suffered on the set of "Hawaii Five-O."

In the suit filed on May 10, 2017 with the Los Angeles Superior Court of California, Sundquist claimed that he was hit by a fast moving vehicle, resulting in potentially career-ending injuries.

According to the suit, obtained by Deadline at the time, there were a series of reckless, negligent mishaps  [that] caused or contributed to this accident, including a rushed, hectic set, lack of safety meeting and clear safety instructions and turning a blind eye to controlled substance abuse by key safety personnel.

He sued for negligence, requesting unspecified damages and a trial by a jury.

Sundquist's injury comes a year after "Walking Dead" stuntman, John Bernecker, died on the set of the AMC series, as well as, the death of a "Deadpool 2" stunt person, who died on the film set, while attempting to film a motorcycle scene.

Fox News' Mariah Haas contributed to this report.One week after saying saying her heart is broken following a sexual assault allegation against Asia Argento, Rose McGowan revealed in a lengthy statement that she was aware of the accusations nearly two days before they hit the media.

"I would first of all like to start off this statement saying thank you for your patience," McGowan, 44, said.

"A lot of people have been demanding answers and a response to the recent events surrounding Asia Argentos sexual assault case. Many people believe that because we have been close in each others lives over the past year that perhaps I am affiliated with this incident or being complicit. I am not."

The actress went on to share how she met Argento, who was at the center of a New York Times bombshell report earlier this month. Argento was accused by child star Jimmy Bennett of setting up a sexual encounter with him in California in 2013 when he was 17 and she was 37. The legal age of consent in California is 18.

"I first met Asia on a red carpet, but its only been the past year through our shared experience of the HW case that we have bonded," McGowan said, referring to disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

She continued: "Asia was a person who understood my trauma in a way that many others didnt. We were able to talk through them together and champion each others voices. We even got matching dot tattoos! Something I had posted on my IG just about a month ago.

"Its no secret to anyone that Im a blunt, candid, brazen individual vocally- and I think thats what I really related to Asia the most with. They were edgy, confrontational, and strong willed with very little care about how much others liked or disliked them. Rare things to find in women in this industry or the world."

However, McGowan noted, "then everything changed."

"In an instant," she recalled. "I received a phone call and series of messages from the being Ive been dating- Rain Dove. They said that they had been texting with Asia and that Asia had revealed that she had indeed slept with Jimmy Bennet," McGowan claimed. "Rain also shared that Asia had stated that shed been receiving unsolicited nudes of Jimmy since he had been 12. Asia mentioned in these texts that she didnt take any action on those images. No reporting to authorities, to the parents, or blocking of Jimmys social media. Not even a simple message 'Dont send me these images. They are inappropriate.'

"There were a few other details revealed as well that I am not at liberty to mention in this statement as investigators do their job," she added.

Reps for Argento and Dove did not immediately respond to Fox News' requests for comment.

According to McGowan, Dove explained that "they were going to go to the police with these texts" once the two were finished talking, "no matter what."

However, the person wanted McGowan "to be aware of them."

"So that I may be able to take further actions," she shared, adding that she responded with: "'You have to. You must.'"

"I wasted no time," McGowan said. "It wasnt hard to say or support. What was hard was the shell shock of the realisation that everything the MeToo movement stood for was about to be in jeopardy. An hour after our conversation was finished Rain Dove confirmed that they had turned over the texts and were in conversation with officers. Almost 48 hours later the texts were in the press."

McGowan also explained how Argento and Dove, a model and actor, knew each other, explaining that she had introduced them to each other shortly after Argento's boyfriend Anthony Bourdain died.

"I was with Asia to comfort and support her," McGowan shared.

"Rain Dove came to support us both. It was an emotionally chaotic time and Rain Dove suggested we go to Berlin for a couple days to take the mourning out of Asias home and into a neutral space. So we did."

According to the star, during their time in Berlin, "Asia had mentioned that she was being extorted for a large sum of money every month by someone who was blackmailing them with a provocative image. No one in the room knew who the extortionist was."

"Now we know it to be a reference to this case," said McGowan, who went on to say that Dove and Argento continued to communicate "occasionally" and "their conversations have been their own."

"I know Rain is a person to whom many high profile entities consult when they are experiencing social pressures because Rain is good at guiding them through the research confrontation, rehabilitation, and solution process," McGowan said. "While they are a person who is good at keeping a secret for those dedicated to making things right- they are also justice driven. So it was not a surprise to me that I received that call and the messages from them."

McGowan also explained how she's previously referred to Argento as her "Ride or Die" and "said very clearly that their friendship comes first," so she knew that going to her "with those messages must have been hard for Rain."

"So I commend them for their bravery," she said.

"To the people who have checked in with me to see if Im alright- the answer is thank you and Yes," McGowan shared, noting that she'll "be fine."

"Its sad to lose a friend connection, but whats even more sad is what happened to Jimmy Bennet," she continued. "Whether or not the extortion case is true- it wasnt fair and it wasnt right. It is the type of thing I fight against alongside so many."

As to why McGowan didn't give a statement before? The actress says it's "because Ive frankly been extremely humbled by this event."

"I had to take a step back and realise that in my own activism while I fight hard with passion- I need to evolve," she explained. "In the past I have been occasionally angry. As a victim I was justified in fiery feelings. But I know that those accused are the friends, parents, and family members of other people.

"There absolutely should be no leeway or tolerance for sexual assault. Hard stop. NONE," McGowan emphasized. "Victims also shouldnt be told how they should react or what they should say about their abusers. However as allies to the victim and voyeurs of an event we should find a better way to balance support of the victim with due process for the accused. Ive never claimed to be perfect. This week especially has made me come to terms with the fact that we all have a lot of growing to do, including myself."

The actress went on to state that even though "at this current moment it may be easy to focus on the drama of the situation," she believed "the real focus should be on supporting justice."

"Supporting honesty. And supporting each other," she continued. "We can not let this moment break the momentum of a movement that has freed so many people. We must use it to allow us to become stronger. More compassionate. More aware. And More organised."

McGowan concluded her statement with a message to Argento. "Asia you were my friend," she wrote. "I loved you. Youve spent and risked a lot to stand with the MeToo movement. I really hope you find your way through this process to rehabilitation and betterment.

"Anyone can be be better- I hope you can be, too. Do the right thing. Be honest. Be fair. Let justice stay its course. Be the person you wish Harvey could have been."

Last week, Bennett, now 22, broke his silence in a statement obtained by Deadline, saying: "I did not initially speak out about my story because I chose to handle it in private with the person who wronged me.

"My trauma resurfaced as she came out as a victim herself. I have not made a public statement in the past days and hours because I was ashamed and afraid to be part of the public narrative."

On August 19, The New York Times reported, citing court documents, that Argento paid roughly $380,000 to Bennett after he confronted her regarding an alleged sexual encounter that took place in 2013 in a California hotel room.

In the documents, Bennett sought to sue Argento for the alleged encounter at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Marina del Rey, Calif. At that time, Bennett allegedly showed him notes she had previously written to him and gave him alcohol. She then reportedly kissed him, pushed him back on the bed, performed oral sex on him and then the two had intercourse.

Argento, now 42, has denied the accusations saying in a statement given to reporter Yashar Ali last week: "I strongly deny and oppose the contents of the New York Times article dated 20 August 2018, as circulated also in national and international news.

"I am deeply shocked and hurt by having read news that is absolutely false. I have never had any sexual relationship with Bennett."

Last Wednesday, TMZ published a photo and text messages that appeared to contradict Argento's claim that nothing sexual happened between she and Bennett.

The celebrity gossip site reported that the photo of Argento and Bennett  in which they both appeared topless  was taken in a hotel room back in 2013. Citing "sources," TMZ reported that the photo was taken after "intercourse."

TMZ also published text messages reportedly "between Argento and one of her friends" last week in which a person the site claimed was Argento admitted to having sex with a minor. It was unclear how TMZ obtained the photo and alleged conversation.In a newly released deposition, Katy Perry denied, under oath, claims that she was raped by producer Dr. Luke.

The documents were released as part of Dr. Lukes ongoing defamation lawsuit against Kesha, who accused him of drugging and raping her in a 2014 case. The producers attorneys accuse Kesha of spreading the Perry rumor as an effort to smear his name and give her leverage in her legal battle.

However, Perry unequivocally denied having any abusive or consensual sexual relationship with Dr. Luke in a deposition from July 2017 obtained by Variety.

According to the outlet, Kesha sent a text message to Lady Gaga in February 2016 in which she claimed that Dr. Luke had raped Perry. In a separate deposition that was also released, Gaga discussed hearing the rumor, but was not in a position to confirm or deny its factual accuracy. Perry, however, was.

Meanwhile, Kelly Clarkson reportedly testified in documents obtained by People that she found Dr. Luke to be a "bully and demeaning."

"In general, I don't know anyone that likes him," Clarkson continued. "People have said he is sleazy."

The false narrative Kesha created about being raped became widely accepted, damaging Dr. Lukes reputation irreparably. Compounding this malicious act, in 2016, Kesha told Lady Gaga that Dr. Luke raped Katy Perry, which is outrageous and untrue, Dr. Lukes attorneys said in the statement to the outlet on Monday.

In a similar statement to the outlet, Keshas attorneys denied she ever claimed to have independent knowledge of any alleged assault.

But, to be clear, Dr. Luke is suing Kesha based on a private, one-on-one text message that Kesha sent Lady Gaga in 2016, shortly after Interscope CEO John Janick told Kesha and Lady Gaga hed heard a rumor that Dr. Luke had also abused Katy Perry. Mr. Janicks statement was discussed privately between the two friends and would never have become public, except that Dr. Luke decided to publish it to millions of people in his 2017 complaint against Kesha. This defamation claim, based on a private text message which was based on the statement of a third party, is also frivolous.Meghan Markles on-screen father Wendell Pierce shared a special moment with the American actress before she became Britains Duchess of Sussex.

The 54-year-old, who played Robert Zane in USA Networks Suits, told UKs Telegraph Tuesday he still cherishes one memory with the 37-year-old before they filmed the finale of Season 7  the last episode they starred in together.

He told Markle, who appeared as Rachel Zane in the legal drama, that he was her friend no matter where you are or whats going on.

We had a moment I cherish, explained Pierce. I was sitting with Meghan in her wedding dress, as we waited for a set-up [in the scene]. We were alone. I said to her, Your life is going to change. Its going to be amazing but I want you to know that Im your friend, and no matter where you are or whats going on  if the fishbowl that youre in ever starts getting to you  you can call me.

Pierce, who previously starred in HBOs The Wire, also discussed the racism that was directed at Markle after he was cast as her father.

Like gravity, [racism is] there, it exists, he said. You should always be vigilant for it and prepared for it.

Back in February, Pierce revealed on Harry Connick Jr.s chat show that he and Markle used to talk about her romance with Prince Harry in code to prevent spreading gossip.

We always talked about him in code really, he explained. You know, How you doing? Oh Im going to London, coming from London, whatever.

While many of Markles Suits co-stars attended the royal wedding at Windsor Castle in May, Pierce admitted he was unable to attend the big day. He instead chose to celebrate from home.Woody Allen, after decades of churning out at least one movie a year, is taking a long-deserved break.

A Rainy Day in New York  Allens 48th feature film  wrapped filming in November and is set to be released by Amazon before the end of the year.

Negotiated in 2016 by then-studio head Roy Price, Amazon has a deal with Allen that leaves Amazon on the hook for three more films after Rainy Day.

Earlier this year, a Hollywood Reporter article said that Amazon may decide to break the deal even if that means a hefty payout.

And the Woodman, 82, has no movie ready for release in 2019. IMDb lists an Untitled Woody Allen Project in pre-production for 2020. But sources say Allen has yet to secure financing for the project.

Woody loves working. He never takes a vacation. But he will be taking time off this year until he can find a backer, said one source.

The #MeToo movement, ironically spearheaded by his son Ronan Farrow, has hurt the auteur, who was accused by his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, of sexually abusing her 26 years ago. Allen was never formally charged with a crime, although a judge in Allens child-custody case against Mia Farrow called Allens behavior toward Dylan grossly inappropriate.

Woody always got great actors. Stars would work for scale because it gave them prestige, but with the #MeToo movement, hes toxic, one Hollywood producer told me.

Timothee Chalamet, Griffin Newman and Rebecca Hall announced they are donating their wages from A Rainy Day in New York to various charities for victims of sexual abuse.

Hall, who also starred in Allens Vicky Cristina Barcelona, said she regretted working for Allen. My actions have made another woman feel silenced and dismissed, she wrote on Instagram.

Rainy Day also stars Jude Law, Selena Gomez and Elle Fanning.

Allen had troubles even before #MeToo. His movies dont make money, said my source. For years, hes been going from one financier to another. He even went to Europe. But hes run out of options.

This story originally appeared in the New York Post.Missouri has passed a law that will protect consumers from the dangers of unwittingly purchasing fake or lab-grown meat.

On Tuesday, the state passed the first law in the nation prohibiting companies from misrepresenting a product as meat that is not derived from harvested production livestock or poultry, the law reads.

The law was lobbied by the Missouri Cattlemens Association, USA Today reports. The group was concerned about the shoppers being confused by plant-based or lab-grown meat, synthetic meat that is grown from cultured animal cells, posing as meat from an animal.

BEEF INDUSTRY FIGHTING BACK AGAINST 'FAKE MEAT'

"The big issue was marketing with integrity and ... consumers knowing what theyre getting," Missouri Cattlemens Association spokesman Mike Deering said to USA Today. "There's so much unknown about this."

The law states, Currently, no person advertising, offering for sale, or selling a carcass shall engage in any misleading or deceptive practice including misrepresenting the cut, grade, brand or trade name, or weight or measure of any product.

Manufacturers that fail to comply with the new law will face a $1,000 fine and up to a year in prison.

The U.S. Cattlemens Association is lobbying for a similar law at the federal level  prohibiting lab-grown and fake meat from using the words beef and meat in their marketing.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

Tofurkey, along with Animal Legal Defense Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri and the Good Food Institute (GFI) filed a lawsuit against the Missouri law.

All of these products that are currently on the market use descriptors that say what the source of the ingredients [is] ... youre going to find something that says soy-based vegan beef crumbles, the GFIs director of policy, Jessica Almy told NPR. These compound names, like plant-based chicken, communicate to consumers what the source of the food is.Even New York City bees cant resist the Big Apples dirty water dogs.

A swarm of thousands of bees made their home atop the umbrella of a Sabrett hot dog stand in the heart of Times Square, prompting a police response and the closure of a city street Tuesday afternoon.

The horde gathered on top of the yellow and blue umbrella at the corner of Broadway and West 43rd Street.

NYPD Sgt. Sheldo said at the scene that a bunch of the flying insects were initially spotted swarming around the pedestrian plaza at nearby Military Island.

People were just swatting in front of their faces, Sheldo said.

Officer Michael Lauriano  known as the NYPDs Bee Guy  donned protective gear, including a netting over his face, as he stood on a ladder and sucked up the bees with a special vacuum device.

Lauriano, an 18-year NYPD veteran, had the majority of the bees collected in a matter of minutes.

We try to get as many as we can, Lauriano said. We like to keep the families together.

Lauriano couldnt immediately say where the massive group of bees would be taken, but noted that officials will find them a hive.

Weve got to determine [where to take them], but definitely in a hive, Lauriano said.

The bee scene turned into a tourist attraction, with passersby snapping photos and shooting videos.

Look at all those darn bees! David Volger, 45, said as he live-streamed the incident on his cell phone.

Faith Beech, 31, said: This is absolutely crazy!

I wish I had a phone right now  this is too cool, Beech said.

Larry Gonoez, 70, a vendor selling hats across the street said of the bees: They make their house  sometimes it breaks. Thats nature.

You cant go against nature, he said.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post.When Lynn Kaufer Hodson was bitten by a triatomine, also known as a "kissing bug," she couldn't even feel it. It wasn't until a large, itchy lump appeared on her neck the next day that she realized some type of pest had sucked her blood.

Hodson had been staying with family in a camper on her ranch in Grass Valley, Calif., in November 2016 while she waited to move into her new home in Penn Valley  a town that was a roughly 30-minute drive away.

At first, Hodson just believed a spider or mosquito had bitten her while she was staying in a fifth wheel camper. But weeks went by, and the bite mark continued to throb and itch.

"It was super itchy for like two or three weeks," Hodson, 49, recalled to Fox News, though she admitted she initially decided against going to the doctor.

It wasn't until two months later that Hodson learned  by accident  the type of deadly bug that had actually bitten her.

BLOOD-SUCKING 'KISSING BUGS' SPREADING DANGEROUS PARASITIC DISEASE IN US, HEALTH OFFICIALS WARN

In January 2017, Hodson decided to donate blood, as she routinely did once a quarter. Weeks later, the wife and mother received a shocking letter in the mail from the American Red Cross that revealed there were signs she had been infected with the rare parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which triggers a dangerous illness called Chagas disease.

Hodson immediately underwent follow-up testing at the Center of Excellence for Chagas Disease at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, where doctors confirmed she had contracted Chagas.

The 49-year-old had to wait two months, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prioritized high risk patients such as pregnant women and those with AIDS, before she could get any medications to treat the infection.

"There is no urgency, no concern, no anything with this disease right now."  Lynn Kaufer Hodson

"They say if you get it treated right away research shows it's effective," Hodson said. "What's right away? I had to wait five months, so how I looked at it was  I have it. It's either going to affect me or it's not."

100 TAPEWORM EGGS FOUND INSIDE BRAIN OF 8-YEAR-OLD WITH SEVERE HEADACHES, SEIZURES: REPORT

At least 8 million people have been infected with Chagas disease in Central and South America and Mexico, according to the CDC's most recent report in December 2017. And an estimated 300,000 Americans in the U.S. also have the illness, a recent news release from the American Heart Association shows.

However, Hodson said the disease is called the "silent killer" because many people don't show any symptoms. Therefore, she estimates the number of those infected to be even higher.

Kissing bugs spread the infection by biting a human, typically on their face (hence the nickname), and then defecating near the wound. The parasite can then get rubbed into the open wound or get into the body if someone touches their mouth or eyes afterward.

Chagas disease can cause life-threatening heart issues, including heart disease, strokes, arrhythmias and cardiac arrest. About one-third of those infected will develop chronic heart disease, according to the AHA.

"There is no urgency, no concern, no anything with this disease right now. Not many people have it; it's not a sexy thing. You can't see it," Hodson said, explaining that she's hoping to "put a face" to the disease so others will take it seriously.

"It comes down to politics," she argued.

Hodson currently sees a cardiologist once a year for an echocardiogram and electrocardiogram. She also wears a Holter monitor for 48 hours after every check-up to monitor her heart activity. That's all she says she can do at the moment.

"I'm a total Type A control freak, but this is so beyond anyone's control. You can live your life stressed and worried about it or you can just live your life," Hodson said. "Life is short. You hope you're okay and you live your life."An Iowa couple who welcomed their first baby in July had been preparing to say goodbye to him since about halfway through their pregnancy after doctors diagnosed the unborn child with a terminal brain malformation. However, hours after Drew and Ariann Corpsteins son was born, they learned that he had been misdiagnosed, and that his condition could be managed.

The Corpsteins, who suffered a miscarriage in 2016 before learning that they were pregnant with their son Matthew James, were told at 23 weeks gestation that their son had malformed brain tissue, the Des Moines Register reported. The couple, who are Christian, were told that the babys brain had not fully formed and that they could either abort the pregnancy, or induce early labor to terminate.

During our 20-week ultrasound, which led to several others and a MRI quickly following, the doctors discovered our baby was missing most of his/her brain, the Corpsteins wrote on their GoFundMe page. And instead of a brain, it was replaced with cerebral spinal fluid. The fluid was going to continue to expand the head of our baby. The head size was measuring about 3 weeks ahead of normal. We were told our baby wouldnt live past several days, if not hours, or die before birth.

GIRL, 2, LEFT PARTIALLY PARALYZED AFTER FREAK ACCIDENT WITH DRINKING GLASS

The Corpsteins said that after the diagnosis, they began preparing to bury their child.

We knew that our baby was probably not going to be born alive, Ariann Corpstein told the news outlet. Whatever happens, its in Gods hands.

The couple spent the latter half of their pregnancy celebrating milestones with their baby, including motorcycle rides and a trip to Costa Rica. Ariann Corpstein was induced at 37 weeks gestation and spent three days in labor before delivering their son on July 29.

After he was born, he was able to latch and nurse right away. He responded to lights, voices and touch, the GoFundMe page post said. These were things that he supposedly wouldnt do.

The couple decided to risk what could have been limited time with their son in order for doctors to conduct another MRI, which is when they discovered that their son, who they call their miracle, had been misdiagnosed.

The couple was then told their son was born with hydrocephalus, which causes extra fluid on the brain, but that his brain tissue had developed. They were then told he needed emergency surgery to insert a shunt in his brain in order to drain the excess fluid.

When youre using imaging technology, like an MRI, on a baby thats inside the moms uterus, youre looking at something thats very small and very far away, Dr. Jona Conklin, a perinatologist who worked with the Corpsteins, told the Des Moines Register. If youre trying to look for a heart defect, for example, youre looking for something thats about the size of a quarter or half-dollar through all the tissue thats part of the moms body and fetus body.

The Corpsteins were told that their sons condition could be addressed with a shunt, and that he had every chance at a normal life.

The baby still has a long road ahead, Conklin told the news outlet. There is a whole gamut of possible neurological impacts, including autism, learning disabilities and other pretty severe neurological disorders.

The Corpsteins were sent home Aug. 4 with their son, who they call "Matthew the Great," but were readmitted on Aug. 19 after he developed meningitis. Drew told the news outlet that Matthew is improving but will need a new shunt before they are sent home.

They also shared on Facebook that they learned Ariann has an inability to absorb B12 and folate properly, as well as a gene mutation that may lead to malformations such as tongue tie, cleft lip and other issues, including those that can lead to hydrocephalus.Thousands of Syrians began returning to Daraya on Tuesday, state media said, for the first time since government forces clawed back the Damascus suburb from rebels two years ago.

The town was one of the major centres of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad and suffered massive damage during the fighting, forcing most of its people to leave.

Assad's military and its allies regained control of Daraya after years of bitter siege and bombing. Many who did not want to live under state rule left along with rebel fighters under a surrender deal in August 2016.

Civilians and fighters who feared state rule were bussed out to insurgent territory in the north, while others - who most likely are those now returning to the town - were displaced to government territory around the capital.

Displaced people were returning after Daraya was "purged of remnants of the terrorists and the main services were reinstated", state TV said.

State news agency SANA showed pictures of crowds gathering under large government flags and photos of Assad. Behind them, rows of buildings, their windows blown out, appeared pitted with shellholes and showed heavy damage from fighting.

Damascus has described local agreements - accept state rule or leave - as a "workable model to bring security and peace" after more than seven years of war. It says it seeks to restore territory from militants so Syrians can return to their hometowns

The opposition to Assad however says the deals amount to a policy of forced displacement that aims to shore up his rule.

The United Nations aid chief, Stephen O'Brien, voiced "extreme concern" over the Daraya evacuation at the time it went ahead. But since then several such withdrawal deals have been struck helping the government recapture major cities across Syria.

The conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of people since 2011 and made nearly 11 million Syrians homeless.

Hundreds of thousands of people have poured into Syria's northwest corner, the last remaining insurgent stronghold, forced to abandon their homes elsewhere in the country.

The United Nations has also said the displaced should be allowed to "return voluntarily, in safety and in dignity".

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An Alabama mom is applauding her 16-year-old daughter's high school for taking a unique approach to student fundraising this year  asking for donations directly instead of forcing parents and children to participate in bake sales, sell products or spend hours making cold calls.

Briana Leggett Woods, a mother of two from Auburn, was preparing for another stressful year of "brown envelopes, emails and Sign Up Genius notices" when she returned from her tenth-grade daughter's "Back to School Night." But as the mom shuffled through all of Auburn High School's orientation papers, one form, in particular, caught her eye.

"Don't want to sell anything, bake anything, buy anything or generally avoid fundraising of any kind? We feel the same way!!" the form, titled the "opt out" fundraiser, read.

NORTH CAROLINA MOM IN 'DISBELIEF' AFTER SON, 10, PUNISHED FOR CALLING TEACHER 'MA'AM'

The letter explained to parents they can avoid participating in typical fundraisers by simply making a donation that will directly benefit the high school. Parents could give as much money as they wanted, though the school recommended at least a $15 donation.

Woods called the honest note a "breath of fresh air."

"My very first thought was, Someone finally gets it. Sign me up! I was ecstatic to see this idea presented in such a humorous way," Woods wrote on the popular blogging site Love What Matters.

The mom, who works as a part-time nurse between juggling the busy schedules of an eighth-grader and high school sophomore, admitted she often skipped fundraising events anyway and cut a check instead.

TENNESSEE MOM'S SCHOOL DROP-OFF PARODY VIDEO GOES VIRAL

"Whether you are a stay at home parent or work full time outside the home, life is full. The days are full. And I dont want to spend any of my precious spare moments selling candles or tubs of cookie dough to people who dont really want to buy that stuff anyway," Woods explained. "I want 100% of my efforts to go directly to my kids schools."

Auburn High School Parent Teacher Organization president Emmy Sorrells confirmed to Opelika Auburn News the hilarious fundraising option is real.

[I] was looking for a way to do a no-pressure, totally tongue-in-cheek and humorous way to get more financial involvement" in the organization, Sorrells told the newspaper.

"Im not one to post a ton of things on social media but this most definitely made the cut."  Briana Leggett Woods

Her efforts clearly paid off. The letter she drafted, which prompts parents or guardians to make a $15, $25 or $50 or more donation, went viral after Woods posted about it on Facebook. As of August 7, the image has been shared more than 35,000 times and received hundreds of responses.

"Perfect solution," one Facebook user commented.

"I would pay the $50 and feel like I got away cheap," another added.

"All schools need one of these," one woman agreed.

While everyone may not agree with the PTO's approach, Woods said she thought it was a great option for busy families.

"Im not one to post a ton of things on social media but this most definitely made the cut," she added.NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

Every year the Pentagon releases a report detailing how Chinas military capabilities are growing deadlier and more technologically sophisticated. This year, the media jumped on the notion that China is likely training for bombing strikes against American targets and also strengthening its nuclear capabilities.

That sounds scary  but its just the tip of the iceberg.

In fact, Chinas military has much bigger aspirations. Beijing has been preparing for decades for what seems almost impossible: an all-out war against America if relations were to take a turn for the worse or if Washington threatened what the Chinese leadership considers its core interests.

Since the mid-1980s, China has slowly rebuilt its armed forces for a struggle against America. The Chinese correctly predicting that the Soviet Union  while a threat at the time  was in decline, and that Washington would challenge any move by Beijing to dominate Asia.

From Chinas perspective, events have proven that its leaders made the right decision. In the mid-1990s, Washington and Beijing clashed over Taiwan in an incident that was quite embarrassing for China. As the U.S. Navy deployed aircraft carrier battlegroups to the region, China had no way to respond. In fact, China could not even reliably locate the American naval vessels in the region, ensuring military defeat if war had come.

Fast forward to 2001, when a U.S. spy plane and Chinese fighter collided off the coast of China in international airspace. Beijing, once again, had few military options to respond if the incident had turned into an armed confrontation.

How times have changed. Thanks to hundreds of billions of dollars spent on a modernized military that is ready for war against any opponent on land, sea, air, space or cyberspace, China would clearly give America a run for its money in any sort of conflict today. Some scholars have even offered scenarios in which Beijing would come out on top.

Perhaps the centerpiece of Chinas efforts is a multi-decade effort to develop technologies and weapons platforms to mount a strong and effective military response if the U.S. attempts to access areas near Taiwan, the South or East China Seas, or along Chinas coast.

Going by the name Anti-Access/Area-Denial, Beijing has determined the best way to win a war against America is to fight asymmetrically  or deter Washington from ever fighting in the first place.

By building stealthy submarines that are hard to detect  along with tens of thousands of sea mines, and thousands of ballistic and cruise missiles  China wants to guarantee that any attempt by America to attack or militarily deter Beijing would be met with an overwhelming response.

Chinas strategy attempts to place at risk our most prized military assets: our Navy and specifically our aircraft carriers. To do this, Beijing has developed a weapon that has gained a near mythical status in the defense community over the last decade. Known as the carrier-killer missile, or DF-21D, Beijing has created a weapon that could, at least in theory, attack a naval vessel on the open ocean as far away as 1,000 miles.

And even more terrifying, China has already deployed a more advanced version of the missile that could strike a ship as far away as Guam. This missile could also carry a nuclear weapon to attack land targets. You can even see how effective these weapons are, because they have been tested extensively over the last few years.

The good news, if there is any when it comes to the potential of a U.S.-China war, is that America has been preparing for Chinas growing military might for at least a decade. The Trump administration thankfully understands the challenge and has responded quite aggressively.

First and foremost, Team Trump has not been shy about warning the public and allies about Chinas growing military power. Specifically, the U.S. is calling out Beijings abilities in multiple administration policy documents such as the National Security Strategy, stating in no uncertain terms that China seeks to displace the United States in the Indo-Pacific region.

While this might seem obvious, such actions help create general awareness of the problem in the media and outside of the Beltway, making sure the public is conscious of the issue and demands something be done about it.

Also, knowing that Obama era cuts in military spending not only hurt overall readiness but the simple ability of our forces to train against threats like China, President Trump has aggressively expanded our military budget, with a big focus on naval power and missile defenses.

This expansion ensures that our warfighters not only have the equipment and training they need, but can match-up with the Chinese in military domains where they are growing strongest.

And while some so-called experts think the idea of a Space Force proposed by President Trump is silly, a clear focus on warfare in this emerging domain is clearly important. This is especially true considering how Beijing is developing weapons to destroy U.S. satellites  to make sure we would be militarily blinded if war ever came.

But there is much more that needs to be done. Going forward, the Trump administration must work with likeminded nations in the Asia-Pacific and broader Indo-Pacific region to ensure that China can never use the possible threat of military force to bend other nations to its will.

America should help nations like Taiwan, for example  whose very existence is under threat thanks to Beijings aggressive efforts  to gain access to all the military hardware they can, like the F-35 fighter.

If our allies and partners enhance their own defensive capabilities, China might think twice about trying to threaten military force in a crisis or trying to bully its neighbors, as it has done in the past. Clearly, peace through strength is not just a smart choice for America, but for our friends in Asia as well.

The U.S. knows how to confront, contain and outcompete any nation that thinks its own rise should come at the expense of others. The Chinese Communist Party leadership should read up on recent history, and specifically what happened to the Soviet Union. When America is united behind a single foreign policy objective, well, as they say, the rest is history.

Be careful, China.NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

Is there anything sadder than the sight of progressives solemnly going through their borking rituals when nobody cares? Thats what happened Sunday, when activists sought to mobilize the public to keep Brett Kavanaugh off the Supreme Court. From Toledo to San Francisco, protesters dutifully showed up with Kava-NOPE placards, Unite for Justice T-shirts and, of course, their signature Handmaids Tale red frocks, meant to symbolize Judge Kavanaugh as an instrument of the patriarchy.

The website Common Dreams called the protest the largest of its kind in U.S. history. But it barely registered a blip. All that sound and fury signifying one thing: They dont have the votes.

How different this is from the original performance three decades back. Say what you will about Ted Kennedy, but when a demagogue was needed he was the man for the job. Within 45 minutes of Ronald Reagans announcement that Robert Bork was his pick to replace the retiring Justice Lewis Powell on the high court, Kennedy introduced him to America this way:

Robert Borks America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, artists would be censored at the whim of government, and the doors of the federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is often the only protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy.

Keep reading William McGurn's column in the Wall Street Journal.NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

Editor's note: This op-ed is based on the authors book The Russia Hoax: The Illicit Scheme to Clear Hillary Clinton and Frame Donald Trump.

Director James Comey knew the FBI was incorruptible. This is precisely why he seized control of the investigation of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clintons email practices covering her time as secretary of state, instead of allowing the FBI field office to conduct the probe.

By commandeering control of the investigation, Comey and his confederates could twist the facts and contort the law to dictate the outcome they desired. Clinton was the beneficiary of what FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe reportedly described as the HQ special.

The same is true of Special Counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. The very people who cleared Clinton of crimes  despite strong evidence that she broke the law  also assumed unfettered authority over the so-called collusion investigation to determine if Donald Trumps presidential campaign worked with Russia to help Trump become president.

Bereft of probable cause and credible evidence, they nevertheless pursued Trump in a probe designed to damage his candidacy  and later to destroy his presidency in an effort to overturn the results of the 2016 presidential election.

It was not just Comey and his abettors at the FBI who conjured this illicit scheme. There were others outside the walls of the J. Edgar Hoover Building who were both instrumental and complicit.

Clintons campaign and the Democratic National Committee furnished the necessary funds. Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS acted as the facilitator. And ex-British spy Christopher Steele provided the fabricated dossier that served as a pretext for launching the investigation of Trump.

This brings us to the steps of the Justice Department and a high-ranking official who was essential to the scheme.

Bruce Ohr

Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr bypassed his superiors at the Justice Department and worked covertly with Steele to exploit what became known as the Steele dossier. Sixty-three pages of texts, emails and handwritten notes show extensive contacts between Ohr and Steele both before and after the election.

Even after Steele was fired by the FBI for lying about his contacts with reporters, Ohr maintained intensive communications with Steele. The former British spy kept feeding his bogus information while simultaneously fretting to Ohr that his actions might be exposed.

It was a direct violation of FBI procedures to use a discredited source who had also broken an agreement with the FBI. To circumvent its rules, the bureau used Ohr as a conduit to continue its relationship with Steele.

It appears that Ohr would communicate with Steele, then endeavor to pass on the information to the FBI. Peter Strzok, the FBIs lead investigator in the Trump-Russia probe, confirmed in his congressional testimony that the FBI received documents and material from Mr. Ohr.

Ohr knew that Steele was a nefarious and unreliable character. Records show that in September of 2016 Steele told Ohr that he was desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not being president.

Given such an acute bias and motivation to lie, all contact with Steele should have been terminated and his dossier tossed in the garbage. However, both Ohr and the FBI were determined to use Steele and his unverified documents to damage Trump.

It is important to note that Steele was not only receiving money from the Clinton campaign. He was also on the payroll of the FBI from January 1, 2016 to November 1, 2016. Records obtained by Judicial Watch through a lawsuit reveal that he was paid eleven times when he met with the FBI.

Thus, it appears the FBI and Clintons campaign were working in concert to use a discredited source, who composed a fictitious document to harm her political opponent in the 2016 election.

Ironically, Clinton and her campaign are not being investigated for violating campaign laws. Her payments to a foreign source constituted a thing of value which is illegal under the Federal Election Campaign Act. In egregious cases like this one, it is a crime.

Juxtapose Clintons actions to the recent accusations against President Trump for personally funding payments that were perfectly legal under election laws. The disparity of treatment proves that equal justice under the law is a charade when partisan politics prevail.

Documents also show that Steele kept feeding the FBI allegations about Trump  even after Trump became president  all the way through May 15, 2017. Why? It is reasonable to conclude that the FBI was desperate to verify the unverified dossier. The material from Steele served as the basis for launching its Trump-Russia investigation and the foundation of its warrant to wiretap a Trump campaign associate.

Having violated FBI regulations by using unverified information in a warrant application and thereby committing a fraud on the court, the FBI was hoping to cure its wrongdoing belatedly. Its called covering your tracks.

It is not surprising the FBI was never able to corroborate or substantiate anything contained in the dossier. In British court documents, Steele was forced to admit under oath that his claims against Trump were derived from raw intelligence based on limited intelligence  casting doubt on their veracity.

Steele further acknowledged that his accusations were unverifiable. In other words, the dossier was so poorly sourced that it was inherently untrustworthy. The contents were based on triple and quadruple hearsay from anonymous sources that probably never existed in the first place. It was a clever illusion.

In a veiled reference to the partisan motivations behind his report, Steele cautioned that its contents must be critically viewed in light of the purpose for and circumstances in which the information was collected.

This was a subtle way for Steele to confess that his work was not worth the paper on which it was written. In plain language, it was an untruthful political attack intended to vilify an opposing candidate  Donald Trump. Ohr and the FBI plainly knew this. They didnt care.

Nellie Ohr

Bruce Ohr was peddling the false Steele document while benefiting from it financially. His wife, Nellie Ohr, worked on the dossier as an employee of Fusion GPS and was getting paid to do so by the Clinton campaign. Money was going into the Ohrs bank account at the same time Bruce Ohr was using his position at the Justice Department to advance this false intelligence document.

Since his wife worked for Fusion GPS and contributed to the dossier, the relationship presented a disqualifying conflict of interest for Ohr. He was legally obligated under Justice Department regulations to recuse himself from any investigation in which his wife was involved.

Ohr did not seek a waiver of the conflict of interest. Instead, he omitted this information. Upon joining the Justice Department, he had signed an agreement stating that he would be fired for violating its rules. Inexplicably, he was not terminated, which only reinforces the impression that impropriety and concealment continued at the highest levels of the department.

Not only did Bruce Ohr fail to disclose that Fusion GPS was paying his wife, but it appears he did not fully report the nature of the work performed in financial disclosure reports as required under Justice Department regulations. Willfully filing a false government report constitutes a crime under federal law  specifically 8 U.S.C. (United States Code) 1001.

It is also against the law to use a public official for personal financial gain. This runs afoul of the federal bribery and gratuity statutes (18 U.S.C. 201-b and 18 U.S.C. 201-c) and is a violation of the honest services fraud statute (18 U.S. C. 1346). These are serious felonies. Yet, there appears to be no known investigation of Ohr by the Justice Department, where he is still employed.

Jeff Sessions

Is it any wonder that President Trump continues to express impatience, disgust and frustration with Attorney General Jeff Sessions?

Sessions has failed to take aggressive action against those who appear to have broken the law with impunity. He ignored pleas from members of Congress to reopen the Clinton email case, including her destruction of documents under congressional subpoena.

There is no investigation of Clintons payments to a foreigner who was using Russian sources for the dossier. The actions of Comey, McCabe, Strzok and others should have been presented to a grand jury. Abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to gain wiretap warrants should have been pursued.

Instead, of doing these things, Sessions spent months obstructing Congress by refusing to produce documents in response to lawful subpoenas.

Sessions only real achievement as attorney general has been to alienate his boss by his actions and inactions. President Trump was right when he said that choosing Sessions as attorney general was one of the worst decision he made.

Sessions should take the hint. When you have lost the confidence and trust of the president, it is time to resign. In the alternative, President Trump should finally accept the letter of resignation that his attorney general submitted in May of last year. There was no time limit on the letter. It can be accepted at the presidents pleasure.

If not now, then Sessions should go after the midterm elections. Expect to see Sessions standing outside the Justice Department with a box of his office tchotchkes. Im betting it does not include the Scales of Justice.NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

When President George W. Bush sent U.S. troops into Afghanistan to attack Taliban and Al Qaeda forces following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. homeland, nations around the world lined up in support of America  as they should have.

When Israel is attacked by Palestinian terrorists from Hamas and other groups, many nations and the United Nations line up solidly against the Jewish state for daring to defend itself. No matter how much care Israel takes to prevent civilian casualties when it retaliates against terrorist attacks, it receives automatic condemnations and complaints that it has used disproportionate force.

As sure as the sun will set tonight and rise in the morning, you can bet that a majority of U.N. General Assembly members will heartily endorse any anti-Israel resolution that comes to a vote. Only Americas Security Council veto  along with the support of a few other Security Council members at times  has protected Israel from some of the worst of the U.N. resolutions.

Thankfully, terrorists have never succeeded in staging coordinated attacks in Israel as horrific as the Sept. 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people and injured more than 6,000 others in New York City, at the Pentagon and in a field in Pennsylvania. But the only reason this hasnt happened is because Israel has thwarted countless attacks and taken necessary defensive measures.

Terrorists dream of staging their own 9/11 on Israeli soil. Even without a mega-terrorist event, one study estimates that 3,705 Israelis have been killed and 14,736 injured by Palestinian terrorists since the founding of the small Jewish state. Nothing would make terrorists happier than to celebrate the deaths of thousands of innocent Jewish civilians in a future attack.

The latest virulently anti-Israel proposal from the U.N. came a few days ago from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. He circulated a 14-page U.N. report that calls for the U.N. to create an armed multinational military or police force to protect Palestinians from Israel.

The report also proposes that U.N. rights monitors and unarmed observers be dispatched to protect Palestinians.

Guterres said there is unacceptable targeting of Palestinian civilians by Israel, arguing that a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is necessary to secure the safety of Palestinians. But he said that "until such a solution is achieved, member-states may further explore all practical and feasible measures that will significantly improve the protection of the Palestinian civilian population."

Guterres also urged pouring in more U.N. humanitarian and development aid to "ensure the well-being of the Palestinian population.

If you werent familiar with whats really going on today, you might think from all the U.N. rhetoric that Israel is indiscriminately launching attacks on innocent and peaceful Palestinian civilians.

In fact, just the opposite is true. Palestinian and other terrorists are sending rockets, artillery shells, and kites and balloons armed with firebombs into Israel with the goal of killing as many Jews as possible and torching forests, nature preserves and crop-laden fields.

And the Hamas rulers of Gaza are using use foreign aid, building materials and the labor of Palestinians to construct terror tunnels under the security fence separating Israel from Gaza, with the goal of sending trained killers into Israel to kill or capture Jews.

Other terrorists enter Israel from the West Bank on deadly missions. Sometimes they succeed. More often they do not  but not for lack of trying.

The truth is that the worst enemy of ordinary Palestinians is the Palestinian leadership  Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

Palestinians are suffering and dying because they are deliberately being put into harms way by their leaders. These leaders are dedicated not to helping their own people but to attacking Israeli Jews. They view ordinary Arabs as pawns in a struggle with Israel that has gone on for 70 years.

Yet at the U.N., Hamas remains immune from even the slightest diplomatic sanction. There is not a word from UNICEF when Palestinian children die digging terror tunnels for their Hamas masters; there is silence when the murderers of Israelis are celebrated and rewarded in Gaza and the West Bank.

The humanitarian crisis for Palestinians has been concocted and sustained by Hamas, while abetted by the Palestinian Authority. Secretary General Guterres knows this.

There is a simple way to improve the lives of ordinary Palestinians: remove the terrorist group Hamas as the ruler of Gaza and force Mahmoud Abbas Palestinian Authority to change its policies and at long last recognize Israels existence as a Jewish state. If Abbas will then make reasonable compromises and take steps toward peace, he will find Israel will reciprocate.

For starters, the Palestinian Authority should stop its pay-to-slay policy, which rewards terrorists and their families with cash stipends to encourage more terrorist attacks.

These payments amounted to an astounding $347 million last year, and are budgeted for $403 million this year.

As the Jerusalem Post reported in March: Terrorists who have been sentenced to three to five years in Israeli prisons receive the average income of a Palestinian, about $580 per month. The families of those who committed more severe crimes and were involved in killing Israelis receive five times that each month for the rest of their lives.

And the U.N. itself should stop funding schools where the core curriculum is focused on teaching Palestinian children hatred of Jews and their state  along with training in hand-to-hand combat, firing guns, kidnapping and sending kites and large balloons into Israel carrying bombs.

With this kind of indoctrination going to children from the elementary school years onward, its no wonder that the fires of hatred against Jews and Israel burn in Palestinian hearts.

If I had the opportunity to see Guterres again, I would tell him this:

Mr. Secretary-General, Palestinians dont need 14-page reports with action plans to protect them from Israel. They need you to summon up the courage to tell the truth.

Want peace? Get rid of the terrorists; stop brainwashing children into a culture of death; tell Mahmoud Abbas to start acting like a president who wants peace and not war; stop treating terrorists like rock stars; and stop rewarding murderers.

In the extraordinary unlikely event that Guterres made such a declaration, there could be hope that both Palestinian and Jewish children may actually have a peaceful future.

But sadly, the chances of the U.N. coming out for steps like this anytime soon are almost nonexistent. We can only pray and hope that at some point  with the help of strong leadership from the United States  the U.N. and more of its member states will come out for a just and equitable peace that will allow Israelis and Palestinians to live side-by-side in peace and security.NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

This year, the American economy achieved a historic feat as job openings now outnumber the jobless, the first time on record this has happened. While this is a positive trend overall, there are two groups that risk continuing to be left behind: the youngest post-9/11 veterans, ages 25-34 and the military spouse.

Recent data suggests that post-9/11 veterans have rates of unemployment that are slightly higher than their civilian peers. With approximately 200,000 service members transitioning out of the military every year, many of them in this age group, we cannot afford to risk leaving these talented individuals, who served their country honorably, on the sidelines.

And with military spouse unemployment rates almost double that of their civilian counterparts, we must support military families as they also sacrifice for our freedom and prosperity.

The statistics about post-9/11 veterans and military spouses only tell part of the story. Not only must we do better helping them find a job, we cannot lose sight of a longer-term challenge, ensuring they also have the tools needed to succeed in the workplace. And the biggest mistake Americans can make is to assume the government alone has the responsibility to achieve those goals.

Success in this endeavor is actually predicated on corporations leading the way in recruiting, training and providing opportunities to service members entering civilian life. It is corporations that are best positioned to take up the career-building mantle and when they partner with such nonprofit organizations as the USO, together they can build powerful tools and resources that enable veterans and military spouses to thrive beyond their service.

When were considering the futures of the youngest post-9/11 veterans and military spouses, that effort should begin in Silicon Valley, where Americas largest and greatest technology companies hold the key to the future of work. As the global economy continues to undergo a massive digital transformation, there are enormous career-building opportunities that are not being taken advantage of.

Because of a skills gap, there are currently nearly 550,000 open computing jobs nationwide, positions that often require technical problem solving and creativity, skills that veterans honed while serving. These are often high-paying positions that encourage great ambition and empower workers to transform the way we live, work and learn.

Thats why technology companies must integrate their organizations into the military transition process. The leaders at these organizations know better than anyone else what skills are needed to compete in the 21st century economy. They should be recruiting, training and hiring these young veterans and military spouses.

While many returning veterans and their spouses may not have a college degree in computer science, their experience serving this nation has put them in position to learn the job, do the job and succeed.

Thankfully, we are already seeing some technology companies step up and embrace this opportunity.

Monday, Google.org announced that it will partner with the USO to provide career training and instructional support to 1,000 transitioning service members and military spouses to complete the Google IT Support Professional Certificate. This support enables veterans and military spouses without an IT background to be career-ready in about eight months, and matched to employers seeking IT support talent. This program will provide an almost immediate benefit for companies seeking to fill the 150,000 specific-IT job openings available across the United States. More importantly, this provides veterans and military spouses with the tools they need to build a successful career.

For more than 77 years, the USO has supported military personnel and their families around the world. More recently, we saw a growing need to address the obstacles that service members and their families face when transitioning out of the military, such as employment readiness, caregiving, family resiliency and personal wellness. In response, the USO has expanded programs and launched customized transition services through its center network to help chart the path from military service to thriving veteran status.

Seeing improvements in veteran and military spouse unemployment and underemployment is important, but it is also an ever-evolving mission that now requires corporate partners. They must lead the effort in helping veterans and military spouses break down barriers by investing in their future and providing them with the tools they need to succeed.

For our youngest service members and their spouses, that opportunity exists in technology more than any other sector and with the help of Silicon Valley, the skills gap can shrink and military families can thrive.The latest rallying cry from the far left to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) isnt a likely winner this election year, as a new poll finds only a quarter of Democrats support eliminating the agency supported by the Trump administration.

The findings demonstrate tension among Democrats about how to address the crisis at the border that intensified in June, as the White House came under fire over the separations of illegal-immigrant families.

But even as they dont want to fully dismantle ICE, 57 percent of Democrats view the agency negatively, including nearly three-fourths of those who describe themselves as liberal, according to the poll released Monday by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Last month, a Fox News Poll found that the call to abolish ICE was not trending among voters. The July poll showed that 41 percent of registered voters approved of how ICE was handling its job, while an identical 41 percent disapproved. The poll also discovered that, by a margin of more than 2 to 1, voters were against disbanding the agency  42 percent opposing vs. 18 percent favoring.

Some potential 2020 Democratic presidential contenders, such as Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, backed getting rid of ICE in response to the separations. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in June: The presidents deeply immoral actions have made it obvious we need to rebuild our immigration system from top to bottom, starting by replacing ICE with something that reflects our morality and that works.

Others, including Sen. Kamala Harris of California, urged a rethinking of the agency, but stopped short of calling for its abolition.

The push to abolish ICE became something of a litmus test among liberal Democrats this summer after self-declared socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez unseated a 10-term party leader for a New York congressional seat in part by campaigning on the issue. But it hasnt proved a political winner in other races.

President Trump has seized on the Democratic criticism of ICE to paint the party as weak on immigration and national security.

The administration worked to reunite separated families after an international outcry, but the process is ongoing.

Overall, opinions about ICE are divided along partisan lines.

While a majority of Democrats view the agency negatively, Republicans largely have favorable views of ICE.

A full one-third of Americans have said they're too unfamiliar with the agency to form an opinion, according to the AP poll.

DEMOCRATS CALLING TO ABOLISH ICE INCLUDE GILLIBRAND, WARREN AND OTHERS

Dianne Stone, a 68-year-old retired bus driver from Charlotte, North Carolina, said ICE should be modified but not scrapped. After spending decades living in Southern California, she said ICE ought to be less of a law enforcement agency, and more dedicated to helping immigrants negotiate the border.

Yes, there are more drugs and crime coming across the border than years ago. But you cant keep kids in cages, Stone said. ICE can be part of a more sophisticated vetting process where youre keeping criminals out.

The public largely is critical of the administrations progress in reuniting families. Nearly 6 in 10 think the Trump administration is doing too little, though 8 percent say its doing too much, and a third think it is doing enough, the AP poll showed.

Anna Lee Lish was appalled by the scenes of children separated from their parents at the border in June, but does not blame ICE for the problem.

I thought it was horrific, said the 60-year-old social worker from Pocatello, Idaho. ICE was just doing its job, following orders. But its the policy of separating families that needs to change, not abandon ICE.

The partisan divide is dramatic: 85 percent of Democrats say the administration is doing too little to reunite children with their families, compared to 22 percent of Republicans in the AP poll. Still, that means nearly a quarter of Republicans feel the administration should be doing more.

Reviews of Trumps overall handling of immigration also are divided.

More than three-quarters of Republicans largely have favorable views of the presidents immigration performance, while more than 90 percent of Democrats disapprove. Nearly two-thirds of independent voters said they dont approve of Trumps handling of the issue.

And while the Trump administration seeks to curb legal immigration, Americans are more likely to say they want to keep it at existing levels  42 percent  than to want the number of immigrants let in to be increased  29 percent  or decreased  28 percent, the AP poll found.

The AP-NORC poll of 1,055 adults was conducted Aug. 16-20 using a sample drawn from NORCs probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.Lanny Davis, the high-powered attorney of President Trumps longtime fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen, admitted Monday he was an anonymous source for a bombshell CNN story on the infamous 2016 Trump Tower meeting  after The Washington Post outed him as a source for its own story.

Davis told BuzzFeed News Monday night he regretted being the anonymous source as well as his subsequent denial. The CNN story, which cited multiple sources, claimed Cohen said President Trump knew in advance about the Trump Tower sit-down.

I made a mistake, Davis told BuzzFeed.

CNN, which has stood by its reporting, did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.

Davis spent recent days walking back his bombshell assertions that his client could tell Special Counsel Robert Mueller that Trump had prior knowledge of the meeting with a Russian lawyer discussing potentially damaging information on Hillary Clinton.

Trump has denied knowledge all along, and fired back following CNNs report last month.

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! Trump tweeted on July 27.

The CNN report from July 27 headlined, Cohen claims Trump knew in advance of 2016 Trump Tower meeting, cited sources with knowledge, contradicting repeated denials by Trump and his surrogates, as Fox News previously reported. CNNs report resulted in countless cable news segments and sent other news organizations scurrying to match.

Among them was The Washington Post. On Sunday, the newspaper published an interview in which Davis backpedaled.

Davis, attempting to clean up his comments in interviews last week after Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, tax evasion and bank fraud, told the Post he should have been more clear that he could not independently confirm what happened.

Davis said he regretted his error.

Daviss latest comments cast doubt on what Cohen may know, including about a June 2016 meeting in New Yorks Trump Tower attended by Trumps eldest son and a Russian lawyer, the Post wrote on Sunday night.

Davis started walking back the allegations last week, when during an interview with CNNs Anderson Cooper, he was asked whether there was evidence that Trump knew about the meeting before it happened.

No, theres not, Davis said.

He told BuzzFeed on Monday night about his comments to Cooper: I did not mean to be cute.

Fox News' Brian Flood and The Associated Press contributed to this report.A federal court in North Carolina ruled again Monday that the state's congressional districts must be redrawn and suggested that November's scheduled general election may need to be postponed.

The three-judge panel found that the election advocacy groups and Democrats who brought an initial lawsuit challenging North Carolina's congressional map had standing to do so under the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause.

The panel initially had rejected the boundaries in a January ruling that said Republican legislators had unconstitutionally redrawn the districts to give the GOP an insurmountable advantage in most seats. Currently, North Carolina is represented by 10 Republicans and three Democrats in the House of Representatives.

The Supreme Court declined to hear the case in June, instead ordering the lower court to examine whether the plaintiffs had standing to bring the case.

In Monday's ruling, U.S. Circuit Court Judge James Wynn wrote that North Carolina's General Assembly "expressly directed" the lawmakers and consultants responsible for crafting the congressional district map "to rely on 'political data'that is, past election results specifying whether, and to what extent, particular voting precincts had favored Republican or Democratic candidates, and therefore were likely to do so in the futureto draw a districting plan that would ensure Republican candidates would prevail in the vast majority of the States congressional districts, and would continue to do so in future elections."

Wynn added that lawmakers drew the map "not because they believe doing so advances any democratic, constitutional, or public interest, but because, as the chief legislative mapdrawer [state Rep. David Lewis] openly acknowledged, the General Assemblys Republican majority 'think[s] electing Republicans is better than electing Democrats.'

"But that is not a choice the Constitution allows legislative mapdrawers to make," Wynn added.

The court added: "It may be possible for the State to conduct a general election using a constitutionally compliant districting plan without holding a primary election. Or, it may be viable for the State to conduct a primary election on [Election Day] 2018, using a constitutionally compliant congressional districting plan, and then conduct a general election sometime before the new Congress is seated in January 2019."

The current court fight marks the second time that a panel of judges has thrown out Republican-drawn congressional boundaries in North Carolina. In 2016, another panel tossed out two majority black congressional districts initially drawn in 2011, saying there was no justification for using race as the predominant factor in forming them.

The matter could return to the Supreme Court, potentially in time for the new term that begins in October.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.Former Arizona State Sen. Kelli Ward held a news conference Monday to apologize over a suggestion  hours before Sen. John McCains death was reported Saturday  that his familys earlier announcement that he was ending cancer treatment was timed to hurt her Senate campaign.

I do understand how many could have misconstrued my comments as insensitive, and for this I apologize, Ward, who ran against McCain in the 2016 GOP primary, told reporters at her campaign headquarters.

The media quickly ran with a false narrative that I was being insensitive to Sen. McCain at a time when he found himself in dire straits, Ward said at the news conference. To be clear, my comments were in no way directed at Sen. McCain or at his family or his team.

She noted that her issues with McCain werent personal  our differences were always strictly political.

Ward, as Fox News previously reported, made the suggestion about the McCain announcement in response to a Facebook post by a campaign aide. According to screenshots of the conversation posted on Twitter by Arizona political reporters, the aide, Jonathan Williams, wondered if it was just a coincidence that the announcement of McCain ending medical treatment came the day Ward was launching a statewide bus tour, her big push before Tuesdays primary.

Ward replied: I think they wanted to have a particular narrative that is negative to me.

After her response was tweeted out, Ward deleted the post, and replaced it with one claiming the media were concocting a story.

McCain, a war hero who survived five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, served three decades in Congress and went on to become the Republican Partys nominee for president in 2008, died Saturday. He was 81.

On Tuesday, Ward faces the frontrunner Rep. Martha McSally and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio for the GOP nomination to replace Sen. Jeff Flake. Despite Flakes outspoken opposition to the president, as Fox News previously reported, all three candidates have expressed support for Trump. Whoever wins the primary likely will face a tough Democratic challenge, as top Democrats have said the seat could be flipped in November.

After the news conference, Arpaio tweeted in response: Dr. @kelliwardaz once again uses a tragedy as an excuse to praise herself. Her press conference today was shameful and clearly shows that she will always skirt the real issues in order to con voters into supporting her.

Ward also pushed back on a tweet she sent Monday morning: Political correctness is like a cancer! Standing by the tweet during the news conference, she said she felt her style and voice were being muzzled by political correctness.

Im not a robot. Im not an automaton. Im not somebody whos programmed with talking points, Ward said. I dont mean to offend people, I just mean to speak directly to people, and I think thats why people want me in this race.U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said on Monday that the United States had recently discussed the use of chemical weapons in Syria with Russia, after media reports that Syria was moving chemical weapons into a rebel-held area the government seeks to recapture.

"You have seen our administration act twice on the use of chemical weapons," Mattis told reporters. "I will assure you that (the) Department of State has been in active communication, recent active communication, with Russia to enlist them in preventing this ... The communication is going on."

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A visibly shaken Sen. Lindsey Graham reminisced about the late Sen. John McCain in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity Monday night. The South Carolina Republican acknowledged he's shed many tears over McCain's death, but vowed to give his longtime friend and colleague "the send-off he deserves" when he takes the Senate floor on Tuesday.

"I have cried a lot, and I am going to try to get over it," Graham told Hannity. "Now I'm going to speak tomorrow in the Senate. [McCain's] desk was right by mine and I hope I don't crack up."

McCain, one of Graham's "dearest friends and mentor," died at age 81 on Saturday, and will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol on Friday. A memorial service will be held at the National Cathedral in Washington the following day  before McCain is laid to rest at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland, on Sunday.

JOHN MCCAIN'S MILITARY CAREER, FROM HIS TIME AS A VIETNAM WAR POW TO ROLE IN PASSING DEFENSE BILL

Graham, agreeing with Hannity that McCain was a "hero," reiterated how patriotic the late senator was, and how much he adored his country.

"If I had to pick one person in the entire country to explain American to a foreigner, it'd be John," Graham said. "I mean, he had a romantic view of the nation; it never died. He loved America ... [he was] willing to die for it."

As Hannity mentioned, after his passing, several people  who weren't necessarily fond of McCain  changed their tune about the senator, later praising him for his dedication to America.

"I am better off for having known him."  Lindsey Graham

Graham said McCain would appreciate the kind words, joking with Hannity: "You know what John would say? 'I'll take it where I can get it.'"

"The fact that people say good things about [McCain] now, I appreciate, but the family appreciates it," Graham said, adding that McCain is survived by his wife, Cindy, seven children and mulitple grandchildren.

FAREWELL STATEMENT FROM JOHN MCCAIN

Graham emphasized the huge part McCain played in his life.

"I am better off for having known him," he said. "He loved his country, and we will be talking a lot about what he did and how theres a little John Mccain in all of us. If we can bring that out, the country would be in a good spot."

After McCain died on Saturday, Graham tweeted, "American and Freedom have lost one of her greatest champions," saying he'd need time to process his friend's death.

McCain was diagnosed with brain cancer in July 2017. Doctors discovered a tumor during a medical procedure to remove a blood clot from above his left eye. He remained upbeat after the diagnosis, flying back to Washington days after surgery with a large scar visible above his eye to partake in the Senates health care debate.For abortion defenders and opponents alike, all eyes are on Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Trumps confirmed pick to the Supreme Court, and whether he could vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Kavanaugh has not expressed outright opposition to abortion or the decades-old case that legalized it, and theres really only one instance that gives a glimpse into his views. In 2017, he issued the dissent in a case that ultimately let an undocumented teenager who wished to be released from custody obtain an abortion.

His involvement with that case has angered both anti-abortion conservatives and pro-choice activists: his dissent did not go far enough in its opposition to abortion for the former, and it did not show a tendency to support access to the procedure for the latter.

The addition of Kavanaugh to the bench will give the Supreme Court five presumably conservative members and four more liberal justices  thus stoking fears on the left that a repeal of Roe is imminent.

Read on for a look at what it would take for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and what that would mean.

First of all, what did Roe v. Wade determine?

In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the constitutional right to privacy ensured a woman had the right to make her own medical decisions  which included the right to an abortion.

The case was brought by Norma McCorvey  known as Jane Roe in the court document  as she wished to obtain an abortion in Texas, where the procedure was barred unless a womans life was at stake.

By the time the court ruled in McCorvey's favor, it was too late. The then-unmarried 22-year-old had already given birth to a daughter whom she gave up for adoption. She would later say she regretted her role in the landmark case and became an anti-abortion activist.

I'm 100 percent pro-life. I don't believe in abortion even in an extreme situation. If the woman is impregnated by a rapist, it's still a child. You're not to act as your own God, McCorvey told The Associated Press back in 1998.

How would Roe v. Wade be overturned?

Even with Kavanaugh's appointment, the court probably wouldnt have an impact on Roe anytime soon, Carol Sanger, a Columbia Law School professor, told Fox News.

A LOOK AT THE IRELAND ABORTION REFERENDUM

The court cant decide to change a case until it has a case before it, Sanger pointed out. And the court chooses its own docket so it gets to pick what cases it hears. We dont know whether they think there is a good case coming up to rule on Roe. They might not want to do that right away.

Should such a case come up, the court could decide to repeal Roe completely, or it could just increase states control over abortion regulation  or make no changes at all.

Would overturning Roe v. Wade make abortion illegal?

Not outright. Overturning the court decision would make abortion an issue to be taken up by individual states.

Should Roe be overturned, abortion would still be legal in most states, Clarke Forsythe, senior counsel for nonprofit Americans United for Life, told Fox News.

The court cant make abortion illegal. It wont make abortion illegal, Forsythe said. Theres no federal statute that makes abortion illegal, and theres no state prohibition in all states that would make abortion illegal.

There would be little immediate changes, he added.

However, some states have more restrictive laws or fewer clinics equipped to provide the procedure already. A full repeal of Roe could lead to more regulations in more conservative states, said Aziza Ahmed, a Northwestern University School of Law professor who has done extensive research on abortion and health law.

A LOOK AT THE PRO-LIFE CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTER CASE BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT

If Roe were to be overturned, the Supreme Court would essentially be saying that abortion is no longer a fundamental right and that women do not have the right to fully control their ability to reproduce, Ahmed told Fox News. Many more laws limiting abortion would pass and be held as constitutional.

Amy Hagstrom Miller, founder of Whole Womans Health, too, speculated that there could be more chipping away at Roe in the coming years  even if it does remain intact.

With each restriction, a group of people cant make it in for an abortion anymore. Its not like in one fell swoop, Roe is flipped and abortion is made illegal, Hagstrom Miller told Elite Daily, citing required ultrasounds, waiting periods and doctor regulations. With each of those restrictions, less and less people actually have access to safe abortion. It may exist on paper, theoretically, but actually obtaining it is next to impossible.

STUDENTS LOBBY FOR ABORTION SERVICES AT CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

If abortion were to become legal in some states and not in others, Sanger said that would make a big impact on class and wealth as wealthier women would be able to afford to travel overseas to get the procedure as opposed to those without the monetary means.

"Many women would suffer, and potentially die, as a result of this."  Aziza Ahmed

Forsythe doesnt predict the landmark case will be overturned right away. He said legal and political obstacles could get in the way and speculated the court would need at least six justices to do so.

The court has absolute discretion as to what cases it takes and what issues it takes and hears, he told Fox News. In the short term, if a case comes up to the court that might present the question of Roe, the court can reject it, simply deny its review.

Still, some anti-abortion groups have heralded Kavanaugh as a step in the direction of getting rid of the abortion law. Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion non-profit group, called on every self-avowed pro-life senator to vote for his nomination, citing his strong record of protecting life and constitutional rights.

Live Action, another pro-life organization, also pointed to a potential change in Roe with Kavanaugh on the bench.

We encourage Brett Kavanaugh to uphold the Constitution and support the most basic human right  the right to life  for all people. The Supreme Court will hear many cases, and we look forward to the day when our nation's highest court acknowledges the great injustice of abortion and finally upholds the right to life for all humans, born and unborn, Live Action President Lila Rose said in a statement. We hope that with Brett Kavanaugh, the court ensures that our very first right, the right to life, will be protected by our laws rather than trampled by them.

Four states do have so-called trigger laws in place that would make abortion almost automatically illegal if Roe is overturned: Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota and South Dakota.

According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, 12 states had banned abortion prior to the 1973 decision that could potentially be reinstated should Roe be overturned; 21 states had pre-viability bans.

Prior to the 1973 decision, a handful of states already had abortion laws on the books, including New York.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, recently called on New York lawmakers to codify Roe  something the Republican-controlled Senate has refused to do thus far.Officials in Arizona said Tuesday that problems with voting machines in several polling places temporarily prevented people from being able to cast ballots in the state's primary elections.

A spokesman for Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes told Fox News on Tuesday afternoon that "all polling locations dealing with technical issues this morning have been fixed."

A source familiar with the process said that because of the problems, Maricopa County may ask a court for an extension for polls to stay open past 7 p.m local time.

Earlier, Fontes said that his office, in the state's most populous county, learned of the issues Monday afternoon. Four polling places, he said, were down at 10 a.m.

"This is not a hiccup, this is a serious concern where lots of voters in Maricopa County are not able to get voting," Fontes said.

The contractor hired to set up voting machines in the Phoenix area apparently failed to send enough technicians, leaving several polling places out of operation. Fontes says he sent his staff to as many locations as possible to make fixes.

Fontes says the contractor didn't set up the machines on time. More than 100 calls from voters have reported problems Tuesday.

According to ABC 15 in Arizona, some voters say they were turned away from the polls because of tehnical and computer issues.

One frustrated voter, Ben Saylor, told the Associated Press he arrived at his polling place in north Phoenix and was told the equipment would not be set up until lunchtime. He was directed to a vote-anywhere polling station and also was told he would have to cast a provisional ballot.

"If you're a registered citizen, and you have the right to vote, there should be no such thing as a provisional ballot," Saylor said.

Among the elections taking place Tuesday is the Republican primary to replace outgoing Sen. Jeff Flake.

In the race, two-term Rep. Martha McSally has emerged as the frontrunner as she fends off challenges from the right from former state Sen. Kelli Ward and Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

In the states governors race, President Trump has endorsed the re-election effort of Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona, who is facing a challenge Tuesday from former Secretary of State Ken Bennett.

Governor Doug Ducey of Arizona is doing a great job," Trump said. "It would be really nice to show your support tomorrow by voting for him in Tuesdays Primary. Doug is strong on Crime, the Border, and our Second Amendment. Loves our Military & our Vets. He has my full and complete Endorsement.

Meanwhile, Ducey is expected to appoint someone soon to fill the seat of the late-Sen. John McCain, who died Saturday.

Fox News Peter Doocy, Pat Ward, Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report.Bob Bennett, the lawyer who represented former President Bill Clinton during the Paula Jones sexual misconduct case, declared his support on Tuesday for Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court, referring to the nominee as "the most qualified person any Republican President could possibly have nominated."

In a letter exclusively obtained by Fox News, written to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Bennett detailed his relationship with Kavanaugh, with whom he spent time during Ken Starr's investigation into Clinton.

Kavanaugh, 53, assisted Starr in writing his report in the 1990s, which laid out the legal framework for supporting Clinton's impeachment on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, linked to his affair with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

Bennett noted that while he and Kavanaugh worked for different teams during the investigation, the two were able to avoid "falling prey to that trap" of treating the opponent as a "villain."

TRUMP'S SUPREME COURT PICK NEEDS SENATE APPROVAL: A LOOK AT THE CONFIRMATION PROCESS

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals judge, Bennett wrote, "has had an innate sense of fairness and civility that has governed his relationships with allies and adversaries equally."

Bennett also said lawyers "love" to argue their cases to Kavanaugh, who will then treat each one fairly.

"To him, it does not matter whether you are bringing a 'conservative' case or a 'liberal' case," Bennett said. "What matters is whether you can support your case with solid arguments grounded in the law."

Bennett added that attorneys think "Brett is a 'judge's judge'" and that when Kavanaugh "rules against parties, they know he gave them a fair hearing and thoughtful explanation for his position."

Bennett said that if the Senate does not confirm Kavanaugh to the recently vacated Supreme Court seat held by Justice Anthony Kennedy, "it would undermine civility in politics twice over."

"First in playing politics with such an obviously qualified nominee, and then again in losing the opportunity to put such a strong advocate for decency and civility on our Nations highest court," Bennett wrote.

Confirmation hearings for Kavanaugh are expected to begin Sept. 4.

Fox News' Alex Pappas and Kaitlyn Schallhorn contributed to this report.Justice Department official Bruce Ohr is set to testify Tuesday during a closed-door session of the House Oversight Committee, where he will face a grilling about his involvement with ex-British spy Christopher Steelethe author of the salacious Trump dossier.

Republicans will likely allege that Ohr played a pivotal role in selling the unverified dossier, created by Fusion GPS  where his wife Nellie ohr worked  and paid for by Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

The dossier was used by federal officials to justify the surveillance of a top Trump aide, Carter Page. Steele, an ex-British spy, was a key source cited by the FBI and Department of Justice to obtain a FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) warrant to monitor Page.

California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa told Fox News on Monday that Ohrs testimony could be a strong opportunity to reveal information about his conversations with Steele. He added that Ohr should be suspended at least until the end of the investigation.

I would certainly think that he should be relieved of all authorities and powers until this investigation has been completed at a minimum, Issa said.

The hearing will focus on communications between Ohr and Steele, following revelations earlier this month that the pair extensively communicated, even after the FBI dropped Steele as a source in November 2016 over his contacts with the media.

DOJS BRUCE OHR WROTE CHRISTOPHER STEELE WAS VERY CONCERNED ABOUT COMEYS FIRING  AFRAID THEY WILL BE EXPOSED

The Republican-led House Intelligence Committee found that Steele effectively used Ohr as a back channel for communications after the termination.

During recent congressional testimony, now-fired FBI agent Peter Strzok confirmed that "the FBI received documents and material from Mr. Ohr."

Texas Republican Rep. John Ratcliffe said the testimony on Tuesday could help shed a light on who else in the Justice Department or the FBI was aware of the unverified information laid out in the dossier and was then used to justify surveillance of a Trump campaign staffer.

The Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told members of Congress under oath that he had no knowledge that Bruce Ohr was involved in the Russia investigation and he told members of Congress that he wasnt aware Bruce Ohr had permission to be working on the investigation, he said.

But we know very clear, that is not in dispute, that Bruce Ohr had more than 60 contacts with Christopher Steele and his wife was retained and paid to create the dossier with Christopher Steele, the congressman continued.

The documents also show that as the ex-British spy was shopping around the dossier to multiple media outlets, he also asked Ohr to help with a Russian oligarch  Oleg Deripaska  amid speculations that the U.S. might impose sanctions.

One of Ohrs notes also suggested that in December 2016, Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson met with him. Glen(n) gave me a memory stick, wrote Ohr.

President Trump seized on the revelations, slamming it as more proof that the investigation into his campaign for the alleged collusion with the Russian government is a witch hunt against him.

DOJs Emails & Notes show Bruce Ohrs connection to (phony & discredited) Trump Dossier," Trump tweeted. "A creep thinking he would get caught in a dishonest act. Rigged Witch Hunt!Lawmakers in California on Monday sent three bills to Gov. Jerry Browns desk that call for stricter restrictions on firearms in a state that has one of the toughest gun laws in the country.

The bill was sent to Browns desk one day after a gunman opened fire at a gaming event in Florida, killing two before turning the gun on himself.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the bills call for a lifetime ban for those convicted of domestic violence along with those ordered by a court to a psychiatric hold twice in one year.

State lawmakers have also called for Californians interested in obtaining a concealed weapon permit to undergo eight hours of instruction and pass a live-fire test before being granted the permit, the report said.

Most Republicans opposed the concealed-carry measure, warning that there is no limit on the amount of training a county can demand for the permit under the proposed law.

The state is known to have tight gun laws. Those convicted of domestic violence in the state currently face a 10-year probation, the report said. The state also currently enforces a five-year ban for those ordered by a court into a psychiatric holds, the report said.

If you want to have a loaded gun in public, you need to show that you know what you are doing, Todd Gloria, a Democratic assemblyman, told The Times.Suspects awaiting trial in California will now have their bail eliminated, according to a bill signed by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday.

In lieu of bail, suspects will be gauged under a risk-assessment system, although the details of the program, which will take effect in October 2019, were not immediately clear.

Suspects looking at serious, violent felonies wont be eligible for release prior to trial but the majority of suspects arrested for nonviolent misdemeanors will be let go within 12 hours of being booked, according to the legislation.

The bill gives officials 24 hours to determine whether other suspects should be released before trial. That time can be extended by 12 hours if necessary.

Today, California reforms its bail system so that rich and poor alike are treated fairly, Brown said in a statement, according to The Sacramento Bee.

Brown's signature gives the state's Judicial Council, the policy-making body for California's courts, broad authority to reshape pretrial detention policies.

Each county will use the council's framework as a basis to set its own procedures for deciding whom to release before trial, potentially creating a patchwork system based on where a suspect lives.

Senate Bill 10, the formal title of the legislation, was approved by the legislature earlier this month, according to The Sacramento Bee, but faced significant opposition from the bail industry prior to Brown's signing on Tuesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.An aide for Cynthia Nixon, the Democrat running in the New York gubernatorial primary against Governor Andrew Cuomo, reportedly asked to control the temperature of the room in which the two candidates are scheduled to debate this week, citing sexism.

Nixon and Cuomo are set to debate Wednesday night at Hofstra University in Long Island, to be moderated and aired by WCBS-TV.

CYNTHIA NIXON MOCKS CUOMO'S REMARKS BASHING AMERICA, AS 'GREATGATE' ESCALATES

The news station, according to The New York Times, received an email from Nixon's team last week requesting that the station keep the debate room's temperature at 76 degrees.

Cuomo likes to work in cool conditions, The Times reported in 2011, following the governor's inauguration.

Rebecca Katz, a strategist for Nixon, reportedly told the local CBS station that working conditions are "notoriously sexist when it comes to room temperature, so we just want to make sure were all on the same page here."

Katz told the newspaper that as of Tuesday, she had not yet heard from WCBS, which declined to comment to The Times.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO FINALLY AGREES TO DEBATE CYNTHIA NIXON

"Unlike Cynthia Nixon, the Governor has more important things to focus on than the temperature of a room," Cuomo's campaign told Fox News in a statement.

Nixon's campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.

A recent Sienna College poll found that Cuomo is ahead of Nixon, with a 60 to 29 percent lead. The primary is set for Sept. 13.Justice Department official Bruce Ohr testified to lawmakers on the House Oversight and Judiciary committees Tuesday about his relationship with former British spy Christopher Steele and his ties to the salacious anti-Trump dossier.

Ohr did not respond to reporter questions as he arrived for the closed-door session, accompanied by two officials.

While lawmakers told reporters that Ohr was being cooperative, Rep. Darrel Issa, R-Calif., said that Ohr "has a poor memory."

"He seems to not remember a lot of details and, you know, poor memories are often claimed by people who want to stick to what they can say and not be caught in perjury," he told Fox News.

Republicans allege that Ohr played a key role in selling the dossier, commissioned by Fusion GPS and paid for by Hillary Clintons campaign and the Democratic National Committee. They were expected to ask why Ohr broke with protocol and kept up communication with its author, Steele, long after the FBI fired him as a source in late 2016 due to his contacts with the media.

I dont know if it's improper but I want to know who at DOJ knew and it certainly looks like he continued to meet with Mr. Steele after the FBI had terminated their relationship with Mr. Steele, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Fox News ahead of the hearing.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., told reporters during a break in proceedings that there are conflicts between Ohr's testimony, and that of former FBI lawyer Lisa Page and Fusion's Glenn Simpson about the handling of evidence and the timing.

Simpson told the House Intelligence Committee that he had no contact with Ohr until Thanksgiving 2016, while emails reviewed by Fox News show contact in August.

Investigators are also probing Ohrs relationship with Simpson. Ohrs wife Nellie worked at Fusion as a Russian specialist and did research that formed part of the dossier. Government officials are not allowed to take actions in their official capacity that financially benefit family members, and Nellie was understood to be receiving significant income from Fusion GPS.



Ohr has become a key point of contention for Republicans and President Trump, who see the revelations about Ohr as the latest development that calls into question the FBIs actions that led to the beginning of the Russia probe. The dossier was used by federal officials to justify the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant on Trump aide Carter Page.



The fundamentals don't change the fact that a top Department of Justice officials wife is working for the firm the Clintons hired to put together the dossier and the FBI uses that dossier that theyre getting from Bruce Ohr ... to then go get the warrant to spy on the Trump campaign, Jordan said. So thats a big concern, who at the DOJ knew that?"



About two hours into the session, Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., came out and told reporters that the FBI knew there were "credibility" issues surrounding the dossier before it was used to secure the first FISA warrant on Page in October 2016. Meadows said Ohr had never acted or handled evidence in this way before.

Text messages obtained and reviewed by Fox News show that Steele also tried to use Ohr as a go-between with Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

We are frustrated with how long this reengagement with the Bureau and Mueller is taking, Steele wrote to Ohr. Anything you could do to accelerate the process would be much appreciated.

Months later, Ohr confirmed to Steele that he had passed along his questions to Muellers team. The Republican-led House Intelligence Committee found that Steele effectively used Ohr as a back channel for communications after his termination.

The controversy has even reached the White House, where President Trump has weighed in and floated revoking Ohrs security clearance.



I think that Bruce Ohr is a disgrace with his wife Nellie. For him to be in the Justice Department and doing what he is doing is a disgrace, he told reporters this month.



Fox News Catherine Herridge, Chad Pergram and Lukas Mikelionis contributed to this report.A U.S. delegation including security and intelligence officials visited Damascus in June and met Syria's security chief, an official in the regional alliance backing President Bashar al-Assad said on Tuesday.

Earlier on Tuesday the pro-Hezbollah Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar reported that the U.S. delegation had held a four-hour meeting with security chief Ali Mamlouk near Damascus international airport.

Asked about the reports, two senior U.S. intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was an "ongoing dialogue with members of the Assad regime" about driving Islamic State (IS) militants from Syria, Damascus' stockpile and use of chemical weapons, including chlorine, and the fate of journalist Austin Tice, who officials believe Damascus or its allies are holding.

The Syrian government could not be reached for comment.

Al-Akhbar reported that the U.S. officials had demanded the withdrawal of Iranian forces from southern Syria and data on "terrorist groups", including foreign fighters, and had also requested a role in the oil business in eastern Syria.

Mamlouk said Damascus would not cooperate with Washington on security issues until they had normalised ties and he also demanded a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria, al-Akhbar reported.

The regional source told Reuters that most details in the al-Akhbar report were correct.

U.S. officials have visited Damascus only rarely since 2011, when Washington started to back protests against Assad and later some of the armed rebels seeking to oust him.

Last year U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a CIA-run military aid programme to the insurgents to be shut down.

In November, a senior regional official close to Damascus said a senior U.S. official had met Mamlouk in the Syrian capital.

With military backing from Russia and Iran, Assad has recovered control of swathes of lost Syrian territory over the last two years and appears militarily unassailable.

U.S. forces have been fighting in Syria as part of the coalition against IS, helping Kurdish-led militias to capture Raqqa and other parts of northern and eastern Syria.

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Florida elections tend to be fairly competitive, and the race for the open U.S. Senate seat is shaping up to be no different.

Republican Gov. Rick Scott and incumbent Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson have emerged as the frontrunners in whats expected to be an extremely costly election.

The fact that a sitting U.S. senator and a sitting governor will likely square off in the race is a rarity, Dr. Susan MacManus, a University of South Florida professor and expert on Floridian politics, told Fox News.

Its two people with understanding of grassroots-level campaigning, two state politicians with two different views of the world, MacManus said. Its a clash of titans, I would say.

Heres a look at the contentious Senate race.

The Republicans

Gov. Rick Scott, 65, officially declared his candidacy for Senate in April 2018.

To win, Scott shouldnt try to paint himself as a political outsider  after all, hes spent the past seven years as Floridas governor  but should discuss congressional term limits as a way to differentiate himself from Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson, who has been involved in Florida politics for decades, MacManus said.

He should also tout his success in bringing jobs to the state. Scott, in announcing his candidacy, said nearly 1.5 million jobs were added under his governing; PolitiFact said Scott brought about 86 percent of the jobs he promised to the state  and he still has a few more months in office.

Scott, who is term-limited, got his first experience in Florida politics as its governor. He is a Navy veteran.

Also gunning for the Republican nomination is Roque De La Fuente, who sought offices this year in a handful of states, including California.

The Democrats

Incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson, 75, has represented Florida in the Senate for more than 17 years. Before he was senator, he served in the state legislature and the U.S. House.

It was while he was a congressman that he was able to join the crew on the space shuttle Columbia in 1986 for six days.

To win, Nelson needs to be able to get voters, particularly minorities, to come out to vote, Dr. Gregory Koger, a political science professor at the University of Miami, told Fox News.

"I think if he campaigns as a real Democrat, a real member of the party who is interested in checking the president, thats probably a strong message for him," Koger said.

In the Senate, Nelson serves on the Armed Services and Finance committees.

Nelson has not had a serious challenger since 2000.

The District

Trump narrowly defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in Florida in the 2016 presidential race by less than 2 percentage points, according to Fox News election results.

Fox News has ranked the election a toss-up.

Florida statewide elections tend to be fairly competitive, Dr. Kevin Wagner, a Florida Atlantic University political scientist, told Fox News. Florida is a purple state that neither side can win, and thats increasingly uncommon [nationally].

The fact that the president essentially lives here, comes on a regular basis, will make it hard for Republicans in the state to claim they do not know him or stay away from him.  Dr. Gregory Koger, University of Miami political science professor

Wagner said both sides will need an assist from their national parties in order to win in the fall.

Florida is a very large state and a very expensive state to run in, Wagner said, adding that Scott may already have a slight advantage as hes already shown, through his gubernatorial campaigns, that he is willing to spend his own money.

The issues

President Trump: Its inevitable that the president will play a role in the race  for better or for worse, depending on voters opinions of Trump. Its not uncommon for midterm elections to become a sort of proxy on how the president is doing," Wagner said.

But Trumps visibility certainly is heightened in the state given Mar-a-Lago, Trumps Palm Beach, Florida resort considered to be a winter White House.

The fact that the president essentially lives here, comes on a regular basis, will make it hard for Republicans in the state to claim they do not know him or stay away from him, Koger said. His presence here will be a constant reminder of the agenda of this administration.

So much more than other states, this election will probably be a referendum on the president, and that wont do well for the Republican Party, Koger said.

Gun control: In less than two years, Florida has seen two of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history  the Pulse nightclub attack in 2016 and the Parkland high school shooting in 2018.

Despite his A-plus rating with the National Rifle Association, the powerful gun lobbying firm, Scott ultimately signed Floridas new law raising the age limit to purchase rifles to 21 and creating a new process enabling law enforcement to seize guns from someone who is considered a danger.

Nelson has advocated for universal background checks and a ban on certain types of semi-automatic rifles.

Puerto Rico: Following the devastating hurricanes in 2017, particularly Hurricane Maria, more than 200,000 Puerto Ricans have relocated to Florida, at least temporarily, according to NBC News. And neither Nelson nor Scott have wasted time in courting the votes of those who have moved to the Sunshine State.

The administrations poor response to Puerto Rico will probably hurt Rick Scott, Koger said, although adding that Scott hasnt been as anti-immigrant as President Trump.

Both Nelson and Scott have visited Puerto Rico since the hurricanes. Wagner noted that theres typically not a high voter turnout among this demographic of people, but the hurricanes could change that this year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.On the same day that President Trump slammed social media companies for what he claimed was a bias against conservative media, a bipartisan group of lawmakers went after Googles CEO for refusing to testify next week on Capitol Hill.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai drew widespread criticism from senators of both parties after it was announced that he would not testify on Sept. 5 before the Senate Intelligence Committee, but instead would send Kent Walker, the company's senior vice president for global affairs, to the hearing.

This is the United States Senate, this is an important issue, and we deserve to hear from the decision-makers, not the people who carry out the decisions," said Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats, according to Bloomberg.

Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., who chairs the committee, said that Walker was not sufficiently high up in the tech company to provide testimony before Congress, but backed away from issuing a subpoena for Pichai to appear.

I dont normally subpoena people to be part of the solution," Burr said. "Google chooses not to participate and being part of the solution. Thats a decision they made.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebooks Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg have confirmed that they will be in Washington for the hearing.

The news of the bipartisan anger at Pichais declining to testify caps off a rough day for Google, after Trump launched an attack on the company with an early morning tweet accusing the tech giants search engine of being biased against conservative media and promising that the situation will be addressed.

Trump reiterated his warning Tuesday afternoon in the Oval Office, saying the companies are taking advantage of people and warning them to be careful.

They better be careful because you cant do that to people, Trump told reporters following a meeting with officials from FIFA. Google, Twitter and Facebook are treading on really troubled territory.

Google has denied ranking results to "manipulate" political sentiment and said the company constantly works on its algorithms to ensure users get the highest quality content on the web.

"When users type queries into the Google Search bar, our goal is to make sure they receive the most relevant answers in a matter of seconds," a Google spokesperson said in a statement. "Search is not used to set a political agenda and we don't bias our results toward any political ideology. Every year, we issue hundreds of improvements to our algorithms to ensure they surface high-quality content in response to users' queries. We continually work to improve Google Search and we never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment."

This is the first time Trump raised the issue of Google search engines alleged bias. Just weeks ago, Trump attacked other tech giants such as Twitter and Facebook for silencing non-left wing voices, saying too many voices are being destroyed and pledged to address the problem.

Facebook and Twitter have been under fire for allegedly censoring conservative and Republican accounts on their platforms, while taking a more lenient approach to liberal and left-wing users.

The president previously pointed to the problem of so-called shadow banning on social media platforms, where users, while technically not banned, found their posts invisible to most users.

A Google query for "Trump News" Tuesday afternoon, following the presidents remarks, showed stories from CNN, The New York Times, Fox News and the Wall Street Journal, among others.

Trump and some supporters have long accused Silicon Valley companies of being biased against them. But, while some company executives may lean liberal, they have long asserted that their products are without political bias, and indeed no such bias has been proven.

Trump didn't say what he based his tweets on. But in a blog post over the weekend, conservative activist Paula Boylard had said she found "blatant prioritization of left-leaning and anti-Trump media outlets" in search results.

Boylard based her judgments on which media outlets were left- or right-leaning on a list by Sharyl Attkisson, host of Sinclair Television's "Full Measure" and author of "The Smear: How Shady Political Operatives and Fake News Control What You See, Think, and How You Vote." Sinclair is a significant outlet for conservative views.

Fox News' Lukas Mikelionis, Bradford Betz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.Investigations into his tax returns, his payments to Stormy Daniels and his relationship with Russia.

Thats what President Trump will almost assuredly face if Democrats win back the House -- and the much-coveted power to subpoena and launch congressional investigations.

Democrats need to flip 23 seats to take back control and give Nancy Pelosi another crack at wielding the gavel, and the party of the sitting president typically loses seats in the first post-inauguration midterms.

The anti-Trump 'resistance' already is preparing for robust political payback, should Democrats succeed.

Another reason the Midterm elections matter  if Democrats take back the House they will have the power to launch investigations, subpoena witnesses, and hold public hearings on all of Trumps criminal activity, Nate Lerner, the executive director of the liberal campaign group Build the Wave, tweeted Monday.

Capitol Hill Republicans, meanwhile, are circulating a long list of issues they believe Democrats could investigate should they win the House, Axios reported over the weekend.

The list, which documents information requests already made by the minority party, predicts Democrats could launch investigations into Trumps family business, Trumps firing of FBI director James Comey, the personal email use of White House staff and White House security clearances, among many other issues.

Everything gets investigated, former Republican House Oversight Committee chairman Tom Davis recently told the Washington Post. You spend half your time answering subpoenas, digging up documents and having your people appear before these committees.

Pro-Trump conservatives are raising alarm about the list.

It is a road map to the full weaponization of government, former Republican congressional candidate Dan Bongino said Monday on Fox & Friends. And frankly, it's one of the most frightening things I have seen in a very long time.

But theres precedent to the opposition party winning back control of the House -- mostly recently in 2010, when Republicans rode the Tea Party wave to a House majority -- and becoming a major thorn in the side of the president.

That 2010 win ignited a slew of investigations on the House Oversight Committee, under Republican chairmen Darrell Issa and Jason Chaffetz, of Obama-era scandals, including the Benghazi attacks, the Fast and Furious operation and the IRS targeting of conservative groups.

TRUMP SAYS MARKET WOULD CRASH IF DEMS IMPEACHED HIM

Its possible Democrats will also move to impeach Trump should they win back control  an effort already embraced by some left-wing lawmakers. Top House Democrats have largely pushed back on calls to pursue that option, though some have kept the door open.

But the speculation over a possible impeachment effort ramped up again last week following the plea deal struck by Trumps former attorney Michael Cohen, who claims the president was involved in hush-money payments and admitted campaign finance violations related to them.

The president himself, in an interview on Fox News last week, dismissed talk of impeachment, saying, I dont know how you can impeach somebody whos done a great job while warning of economic consequences.

If I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash, I think everybody would be very poor, because without this thinking, you would see  you would see numbers that you wouldnt believe in reverse, Trump said.

Fox News Brooke Singman contributed to this report.A Republican congressman touched off a firestorm Tuesday after claiming on Twitter that his office had information suggesting the FBI leaked information to the press and used the resulting articles to help obtain surveillance warrants.

"We've learned NEW information suggesting our suspicions are true: FBI/DOJ have previously leaked info to the press, and then used those same press stories as a separate source to justify FISA's," House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows, R-N.C., tweeted overnight.

The claim stemmed in part from FBI intelligence analyst Jonathan Moffas Friday testimony behind closed doors before the House Judiciary and Oversight committees.

But what exactly Moffa told the committees is a matter of dispute.

A source with knowledge of the testimony initially told Fox News that Moffa said FBI personnel would use media reports based on information they leaked to justify applications for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants, echoing Meadows. The source said Moffa, who worked with controversial former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, acknowledged this had been a practice in the past.

But an FBI official pushed back, telling Fox News the initial claims about Moffas testimony were incorrect.

The source later clarified that Moffa testified the FBI routinely uses media material to corroborate their work product, including FISA materials, but never said directly 'we utilize FBI leaks for FISAs.' The source maintained, however, that the FBI has a culture of leaking for their own gain and uses media reports to support their work: There's quite a bit of evidence raising concerns that the FBI engages in this without Moffa saying it."

Republicans have long questioned to what extent leaked information, related to the unverified anti-Trump dossier, was used as a basis for surveillance warrants against former Trump adviser Carter Page in 2016 -- when the bureau was led by James Comey and deputy Andrew McCabe.

The source told Fox News that Moffa did not specifically confirm whether leaking was employed with regard to the dossier.

Another source familiar with Moffas testimony offered a more nuanced version of events. The source told Fox News that Moffa said the FBI keeps track of open source reports related to their cases -- and when asked whether a FISA application would reference a news account, he said it could be possible, hypothetically, but the FBI aims to find better information.

The source stressed that this was not related to any specific situation and that Moffa did not suggest this was a common practice at the FBI.

Meadows, though, largely stood by his claims  yet also offered a clarification in a Tuesday afternoon statement to Fox News, drawing a distinction between what Moffa testified and what his office has learned from other materials.

Jonathan Moffa made it clear to the committee the FBI routinely uses media reports to corroborate analytic work product. We have emails and texts plainly showing the FBI leaks to the media, raising major red flags. If FBI executives want the American people to believe they havent used leaks to their advantage, they are not being honest, Meadows said in the statement, while saying this includes FISA materials.

Meadows also told Fox News Americas Newsroom earlier Tuesday that the committee had evidence of the FBIs practice that would be hard to refute.

We know that some people at the Department of Justice and the FBI actually gave information to the media, then the stories were reported. Then they used those reports to justify further investigations, Meadows said. You know, thats like saying, were going to incriminate on one hand, and be the jury on the other. It just doesnt work that way.

The Daily Caller first reported on the specifics of Moffa's claims.

The Trump dossier, which contained salacious allegations about the then-presidential candidate, was compiled by ex-British spy Christopher Steele. Steele, who was also working as an FBI source, had been hired by research firm Fusion GPS to compile details for the dossier, which was funded by the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee.

One source familiar with Moffa's testimony told Fox News that his statements raise concerns that the bureau indeed used this practice with the dossier, referencing an article written by Yahoo! News Michael Isikoff.

The Isikoff article was published on Sept. 23, 2016, focusing on Pages July 2016 trip to Moscow. According to a House GOP memo earlier this year, the Isikoff article did not corroborate the Steele dossier as the article was derived from information leaked by Steele himself to Yahoo News. Yet the subsequent FISA application to spy on Page cited the Isikoff article, among other pieces of evidence.

The [Carter] Page FISA application incorrectly assesses that Steele did not properly provide information to Yahoo News, the memo read. Steele has admitted in British court filings that he met with Yahoo Newsand several other outletsin September 2016 at the direction of Fusion GPS.

Moffa served on the FBIs Mid-Year Exam, the code name for the bureaus investigation into Hillary Clintons handling of classified information and use of a private email server while secretary of state.

Moffas name often appeared in text message conversations between former FBI officials Strzok and Page, who came under scrutiny for their anti-Trump and politically charged exchanges. One text message exchange between the two on July 24, 2016 discussed their need to read Moffas thing, referencing an FBI 302which is an interview or witness deposition in an FBI investigation.

DOCUMENTS SUGGEST POSSIBLE COORDINATION BETWEEN CIA, FBI, OBAMA WH AND DEM OFFICIALS EARLY IN TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE: INVESTIGATORS

Another reference was on Aug. 8, 2016.

Hey no update yet, waiting on Moffa, hes in with Dina at mtg scheduled to end at 11, Strzok texted Page. An hour later, he added: Hey, talked to him, will let him fill you in. Internal joint cyber cd Intel piece for D, scenesetter for McDonough brief, Trainor [head of FBI cyber division] directed all cyber info be pulled. Id let Bill and Jim hammer it out first, though it would be best for D to have it before the Wed WH session.

In the texts, D referred to former FBI Director James Comey, and McDonough referred to former chief of staff for former President Barack Obama, Denis McDonough, according to GOP investigators.

Page left the bureau in May, and Strzok was fired earlier this month.

On Tuesday, House lawmakers have the chance to question Justice Department senior official Bruce Ohr on the same FBI practice, as Ohr testifies behind closed doors.

Ohr had frequent contact with Steele before and after the publication of the dossier, and the FBIs ultimate decision to cut ties with the ex-British spy. Ohrs wife, Nellie Ohr, worked for Fusion GPS at the time of the creation of the dossier.Once upon a time, Supreme Court nominees stood a good chance of garnering broad bipartisan support.

Those days are gone.

As Brett Kavanaugh, President Trumps nominee for the Supreme Court, prepares for hearings on Capitol Hill, he can expect a far more polarized and partisan confirmation process than even the grueling nomination fights of recent administrations.

Dating back to Gerald Fords presidency, most Supreme Court nominees  even when facing ardent opposition  eventually won some bipartisan support during a final confirmation vote.

Kavanaugh, if confirmed, is facing the possibility of an airtight party-line vote. This, after Justice Neil Gorsuch won confirmation on a relatively narrow 54-45 vote.

To be sure, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell shares responsibility for setting the intensely partisan tone over court nominees, by refusing to consider then-President Barack Obamas nomination of Judge Merrick Garland in 2016.

But the Trump era has witnessed perhaps the most consistently polarized judicial confirmation process for Supreme Court nominees in modern times.

Supreme Court confirmation votes since 1975

Neil Gorsuch -- 54-45

Merrick Garland -- NA

Elena Kagan -- 63-37

Sonia Sotomayor -- 68-31

Samuel Alito -- 58-42

Harriet Miers -- NA

John Roberts -- 78-22

Stephen Breyer -- 87-9

Ruth Bader Ginsburg -- 96-3

Clarence Thomas -- 52-48

David Souter -- 90-9

Anthony Kennedy -- 97-0

Robert Bork -- 42-58

Antonin Scalia -- 98-0

William Rehnquist -- 65-33

Sandra Day O'Connor -- 99-0

John Paul Stevens -- 98-0

Before Kavanaugh was even announced, some Democratic senators made clear they would not consider voting for him.

Hes a deeply, deeply conservative justice, way out of the mainstream, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor after it was made official.

Conservatives have pushed back, suggesting Democrats are against anyone Trump nominates. To make that point, they pounced on a mistake by the Womens March, an organization that sent out a press release slamming Trumps nominee as extremist but forgot to replace the placeholder XX in the text with Kavanaughs name.

This was in some cases quite literally a fill-in-the-blank opposition, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a floor speech. They wrote statements of opposition only to fill in the name later.

But uncompromising opposition to high court nominees may be the new norm under the Trump administration.

Trumps first pick for the court, Gorsuch, won just three votes from Democrats last year.

It hasnt always been this way: Under Ford, John Paul Stevens was confirmed 98-0. Under then-President Ronald Reagan, Sandra Day OConnor was confirmed 99-0; William Rehnquist was confirmed 65-33; Antonin Scalia was confirmed 98-0 and Anthony Kennedy was confirmed 97-0.

Under then-President George H.W. Bush, David Souter was confirmed 90-9. Under Bill Clinton, Stephen Breyer was confirmed 87-9, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg was confirmed 96-3.

PENCE 'VERY ENCOURAGED' BY REACTION ON CAPITOL HILL TO KAVANAUGH

Under George W. Bush, John Roberts was confirmed 78-22 and Samuel Alito was confirmed on a tighter 58-42. Under President Barack Obama, Elena Kagan was confirmed 63-37 and Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed 68-31.

Of course, during that time period, there were a few high-profile examples of polarizing picks who faced ardent opposition, including those barely confirmed or who never made it out of the confirmation process.

Aside from Garland, Robert Borks nomination was famously rejected by the Senate in 1987. Clarence Thomas squeaked by in 1991 by in a 52-48 vote.

Harriet Miers withdrew her 2005 nomination amid questions about her qualifications.Hundreds of Brett Kavanaughs decisions were thrust into the spotlight after President Trump formally selected him to fill former Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's seat. Kavanaugh was confirmed to the nation's highest court with a 50-48 vote on Oct. 6  weeks after sexual misconduct allegations against the judge took center stage in the Senate chambers.

Kavanaugh, 53, formerly clerked for Kennedy and was elevated to the powerful federal appeals court in the District of Columbia by former President George W. Bush, under whom he had also served as a White House lawyer and staff secretary.

Here's a look at some of Kavanaugh's decisions that were examined and discussed throughout the confirmation process.

Gun rights

In his 12 years as a judge, Kavanaugh has issued approximately 300 opinions and delivered numerous speeches and legal arguments. Among them is his dissenting opinion on a pivotal gun ban in 2001.

In Heller v. District of Columbia, the D.C. Circuit Court upheld the Districts ordinance banning most semi-automatic rifles. But in that case, Kavanaugh wrote the dissenting opinion, arguing the Supreme Court had already decided handguns  the vast majority of which today are semi-automatic  are constitutionally protected under the Second Amendment.

He said despite gun violence in the area, our task is to apply the Constitution and the precedents of the Supreme Court, regardless of whether the result is one we agree with as a matter of first principles or policy.

The Supreme Court eventually took the case and struck down the ordinance; it held that the Second Amendment protects the possession of semi-automatic weapons for purposes unrelated to militia use.

The National Rifle Association applauded Kavanaughs nomination as its president, Chris W. Cox, cited his impressive record that demonstrates his strong support for the Second Amendment.

On the other side, the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence derided the pick, saying he has issued prior rulings that are ideologically aligned with the gun lobby and reflect a radical interpretation of the Constitution under which public safety justifications play no role in Second Amendment jurisprudence.

But aside from gun-related legislation, lawmakers will have to sift through Kavanaughs rulings on countless other issues as they decide whether to confirm him to the nations highest court. Read on for a look at other opinions or decisions Kavanaugh is sure to be asked about as he goes before the Senate for his confirmation hearing.

Abortion

Although he has not expressed outright opposition to abortion, liberals have warned of the end of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, with Kavanaugh's confirmation.

Kavanaugh did, however, issue a dissent in a 2017 case involving an illegal immigrant who wished to be released from custody in order to obtain an abortion. While the court eventually allowed her to have the procedure, Kavanaugh said the majority opinion was radically inconsistent with 40 years of Supreme Court precedent.

A LOOK AT THE SUPREME COURT CONFIRMATION PROCESS

He argued if the government helped the 17-year-old obtain an abortion, then it ignores its "permissible interest in favoring fetal life, protecting the best interests of a minor and refraining from facilitating abortion.

Despite his dissent, Kavanaughs words irked some anti-abortion conservatives who felt as though he did not go far enough. During oral arguments, Kavanaugh suggested releasing the teen to a sponsor which would solve the governments objection and allow her to get an abortion.

Phillip Jauregui, president of the Judicial Action Group, said the case exemplifies why Kavanaugh is not the best available Supreme Court prospect in a memo last month.

Trump has said he did not discuss abortion with Kavanaugh.

The Womens March called the choice of Kavanaugh a death sentence for thousands of women in the United States.

Stripping a womans ability to make decisions about her own body is state violence, the group said. We cannot let this stand. We will raise our voices and take to the streets.

ObamaCare

Kavanaughs role in an ObamaCare decision had some conservatives on edge prior to his official nomination. As Fox News previously reported, Kavanaugh ultimately dissented in Seven-Sky v. Holder, a challenge to the Affordable Care Act.

However, in his dissent, Kavanaugh did acknowledge the Affordable Care Acts individual mandate provision could fit comfortably within Congress Taxing Clause power.

Conservative health care expert Christopher Jacobs argued Kavanaugh cultivated a theory that paved the way for Chief Justice John Roberts to uphold the individual mandate requiring people to purchase health insurance in 2012.

WHO IS BRETT KAVANAUGH?

Even as he avoided a definitive ruling on the merits of the case, Kavanaugh revealed himself as favorably disposed to the mandate, Jacobs wrote for The Federalist.

Religious liberty

In 2015, Kavanaugh sided with organizations that argued ObamaCares contraceptive coverage mandate infringed upon their religious rights.

When the Government forces someone to take an action contrary to his or her sincere religious belief (here, submitting the form) or else suffer a financial penalty (which here is huge), the Government has substantially burdened the individuals exercise of religion, Kavanaugh wrote in the dissenting opinion in Priests for Life v. HHS.

At issue here was the form organizations were required to provide to the insurer or federal government in order to be exempt from a monetary penalty levied if they did not wish to include contraceptives in their insurance coverage. After a form is filed, then the insurer will still offer contraceptive coverage for employees through separate funds provided by the government or insurer. But religious organizations argued it made them complicit in providing coverage for contraceptives, thus violating their religious beliefs.

KAVANAUGH NOD TOUCHES OFF SUPREME COURT CONFIRMATION BATTLE; DEMS WARN OF DEATHS OF COUNTLESS WOMEN

Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, said he is confident Kavanaugh will be a strong defender of the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and Bill of Rights, especially our First Freedom of religious liberty.

Presidential protections

Kavanaugh worked with Kenneth Starr in the 1990s, co-writing the independent counsels report laying out the legal framework supporting then-President Bill Clintons impeachment. He said Clinton should be impeached because he misled the public and lied to his staff, according to The New York Times.

But in 2009, citing his role with the investigation into Clinton, Kavanaugh expressed his opinion that presidents should not have to deal with criminal investigations or civil lawsuits while in office.

WHO ARE THE SUPREME COURT JUSTICES?

Writing for the Minnesota Law Review, Kavanaugh said, I think we grossly underestimate how difficult the job [of U.S. president] is. Because of that, he said he believes [it's] vital that the President be able to focus on his never-ending tasks with as few distractions as possible.

"The nation certainly would have been better off if President Clinton could have focused on Osama bin Laden without being distracted by the Paula Jones sexual harassment case and its criminal investigation offshoots."  Brett Kavanaugh

Looking back to the late 1990s, for example, the nation certainly would have been better off if President Clinton could have focused on Osama bin Laden without being distracted by the Paula Jones sexual harassment case and its criminal investigation offshoots, Kavanaugh said.

Kavanaugh said criminal investigations and civil lawsuits should simply be deferred  not eliminated  until he is out of office.

Even the lesser burdens of a criminal investigation  including preparing for questioning by criminal investigators  are time-consuming and distracting. Like civil suits, criminal investigations take the Presidents focus away from his or her responsibilities to the people, he said. And a President who is concerned about an ongoing criminal investigation is almost inevitably going to do a worse job as President.

Fox News Alex Pappas, Gregg Re and The Associated Press contributed to this report.No matter when John McCain left this earth, he would have been praised to the skies by the journalists who admired him enormously, even though they liked him far better when he was taking on his own party.

But because he died in the Trump era, there is in many of the media tributes an implicit or explicit contrast being drawn with the president who most of these same journalists decidedly do not admire.

And President Trump has fueled that story line by balking at saying anything positive about the 81-year-old senator after his death on Saturdayeven, according to The Washington Post, nixing a plan by John Kelly, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and other staffers to have the White House put out a statement praising McCain as a hero.

And in final words read by his former campaign chief Rick Davis, McCain appeared to take a subtle shot by saying we shouldn't confuse patriotism with "tribal rivalries" and "weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down."

Trump, after a fierce backlash, again lowered the White House flag to half-staff yesterday with a statement that "despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain's service to our country."

I'll leave it to readers and viewers to decide which of these two tough-talking adversaries they prefer. But there is simply no question that in giving the onetime Vietnam POW a hero's sendoff, many journalists and commentators are delivering an implicit rebuke of Trump.

It's a case study in the disparity between the way the media treat politicians they like, personally and ideologically, and those they dislike. McCain, who once jokingly called the press "my base," provided enormous access and was the most frequent Sunday show guest ever. Trump says 80 percent of the media is fake news and frequently attacks journalists and their outlets, though he does provide more access than is commonly realized because he doesn't hold formal press conferences.

None of that should matter when it comes to coverage, but it does.

Post columnist David Ignatius, while acknowledging the late senators flaws, begins a piece this way:

"John McCain's death offers a moment to think about the insurgency in the GOP that vexed him during his final decade as a politician, and that produced in Donald Trump a man he seemed to loathe, but couldn't figure out how to stop."

Ignatius, a "Morning Joe" fixture, goes on to say he believes McCain was among those who could never imagine that enough Americans "would actually vote for someone of such low moral character. McCain's refusal to temporize about Trump, as other Republicans have, was one of his finest moments."



So it becomes a litmus test: If, like McCain, you are a person of moral character, then you must stand up to Trump.

New York Times columnist David Leonhardt warily embraces "McCainism," but first feels obliged to tell readers about the conservative lawmakers bad side:

"I'm well aware that McCain could be maddeningly inconsistent and flawed. He equivocated about the Confederate flag in 2000. He too often acquiesced to Mitch McConnell's torching of Senate norms. For goodness sake, McCain decided Sarah Palin should be vice president. As he himself admitted, he should have done much more to fight Republican extremism."

And yet, the piece says, "the sum total of his career still represents a meaningful alternative to Trump, McConnell and the rest of today's Republican leadership."

And so, like so much else in today's society, everyone must be judged by where he or she stands on Trump or his policies. The acrimony between the two men makes that an easier story line, but it's not the only story line.

John McCain was shot down over Hanoi in 1967. He was first elected to Congress in 1982. He had an entire career, an entire life, before Trump took office last year.

To judge this wounded warrior through the lens of Trumpism is unfair, and suggests to me that too many in the media feel compelled to make everything about this president.Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort reportedly tried to strike a plea deal with prosecutors last week ahead of his second trial, but failed to reach an agreement.

The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the discussions, reported Monday that the negotiations between Manaforts defense team and prosecutors occurred during jury deliberations last week during his trial on bank and tax fraud charges. Those talks came to a halt after Special Counsel Robert Mueller brought up certain issues, the report said.

It was not clear what the issues entailed, or what was specifically being discussed regarding the plea deal itself, according to the Journal. The negations were reportedly centered around preventing a second trial that Manafort faces next month on similar charges.

The Journal reported that both Manafort and Mueller's team declined to comment for the report. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to an email from Fox News.

After four days of deliberations, Manafort was found guilty on eight counts of bank and tax fraud for hiding millions of dollars he earned from his political consulting in Ukraine. The jury was deadlocked on 10 other counts. A juror told Fox News that one lone holdout prevented a conviction of all 18 counts.

Manafort faces a second trial in Washington on charges that include conspiring against the United States, conspiring to launder money, failing to register as an agent of a foreign principal and providing false statements.

The news comes after President Donald Trump addressed Manaforts conviction during a Fox News interview on Thursday, in which he said he had great respect" for "what he's done... what he's gone through."

The president noted that unlike his former attorney Michael Cohen, who admitted last week to campaign finance violations by arranging hush money payments at the direction of then-candidate Trump, Manafort did not flip.

Cohen could have received up to 65 years in prison if convicted of all charges. However, as part of his plea deal, Cohen agreed not to challenge any sentence between 46 and 63 months. The deal does not involve a cooperation agreement with federal prosecutors.

Ive seen it many times, Trump told Fox News. Ive had many friends involved in this stuff. Its called flipping and it almost ought to be illegal.

Manafort is facing a maximum sentence of 80 years in prison.

Fox News' Peter Doocey contributed to this report.A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday postponed the second trial for President Trumps former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson postponed the start of the trial from Sept. 17 to Sept. 24 after Manafort's defense team requested a delay. Jury selection is still slated to begin on the original date.

The D.C. trial, coming on the heels of the tax and bank fraud case against Manafort, involves charges of conspiracy and money laundering.

Prosecutors and Manaforts attorneys were arguing Tuesday over whether evidence of the defendants alleged past bad acts should be permitted to be shown to jurors in the September trial, the Washington Post reported.

The evidence relates to falsely claimed tax deductions on a Trump Tower condo he bought in New York City, offshore accounts in Cyprus where Manafort allegedly funneled $4 million in connection with dealings with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, and a purported insider experts knowledge of U.S. reporting requirements for agents of a foreign government dating back to 1986.

Prosecutors, working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller, want the evidence introduced in trial  arguing that it will help prove that Manafort knowingly committed crimes, including conspiring against the United States, money laundering and obstructing justice. Manaforts legal team, however, say the law prohibits using past acts to suggest a defendant would commit a crime and want the evidence struck from the trial.

Manafort already faces a hefty prison sentence after a federal jury in Alexandria, Va., last Tuesday found him guilty on eight felony counts in a financial fraud case. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III declared a mistrial on 10 counts the jury was deadlocked on.

In his latest trial, Manafort is accused of laundering $30 million as a consultant for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Manafort is not expected to appear in court on Tuesday  having his request to waive his appearance granted as he sits in an Alexandria jail  and both the prosecution and defense are expected to debate a questionnaire for potential jurors.Peter Thiel, the billionaire tech investor who supported President Trump during his presidential bid, praised the presidents honesty on Monday and said the president isnt a zombie.

Bloomberg reported that Thiel was at an entrepreneurship conference in Brazil on Monday and was asked about Trump. He recalled meeting other Republican candidates in 2016 who had programmed ideological soundbites.

"I fully understand why people think of President Trump as a rude, mean person. But I think thats often better than telling beautiful lies about the way the country is working," Thiel said.

He said Trump was the only candidate to avoid political correctness.

During an event hosted by the Economic Club of New York in March, Thiel was asked by Fox News host Maria Bartiromo if he thinks Trump will get a second term in office.

"I think that if he runs again, he will get re-elected," Thiel said. "He'll make a judgment. And if he thinks he can get re-elected, he will run. And if he runs, I think he will win."French Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot announced his resignation on Tuesday, citing disappointment with the lack of progress on climate and other environmental goals.

Hulot said his decision, taken on Monday night, was the result of an "accumulation of disappointments" over the inadequacy of steps to tackle climate change, defend biodiversity and address other environmental threats.

Hulot, a former TV presenter and green activist, said on France Inter radio that he had not yet informed President Emmanuel Macron of his decision to resign.

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Short link:

President Trumps favored candidate, GOP Rep. Ron DeSantis, defeated state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam in Floridas Republican gubernatorial primary on Tuesday after riding the wave of the president's enthusiastic endorsement to victory.

Meanwhile, the Bernie Sanders-backed Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum pulled off a major upset in defeating a half a dozen rivals, including former Rep. Gwen Graham, in the Democratic primary.

DeSantis and Gillum will face each other in November's general election. If he triumphs, Gillum would be the state's first black governor.

During a celebration event in Orlando, DeSantis thanked the president for "viewing me as somebody who could be a great leader for Florida."

"Our victory is a good victory, anyways," DeSantis said, complimenting Putnam on a hard-fought race. "But man, to beat someone of his caliber is a big, big deal."

The president repeatedly had implored voters to support DeSantis over Putnam. Trump offered his congratulations on Twitter.

"Such a fantastic win for Ron DeSantis and the people of the Great State of Florida," Trump tweeted. "Ron will be a fantastic Governor. On to November!"

Appearing on the "Ingraham Angle" later, DeSantis downplayed the notion that his win was due to the president's backing, and touted his record on combatting environmental problems, illegal immigration, and education reform.

"We've been talking about these key issues time and time again and we're going to continue to do that and spread the message far and wide," he said.

Gillum, Tallahassees progressive mayor backed by the Democratic-socialist Sanders, shocked observers with his win, as Graham, the daughter of former Florida Governor and Sen. Bob Graham, led in pre-election polls.

"I'm truly honored to represent people across the state as the Democratic nominee -- and I promise to stand up for everyday Floridians and the issues that matter most," Gillum tweeted after his win.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democratic socialist star running for New York's 14th district, praised Gillum for staking out liberal positions by supporting Medicare for all, legalizing marijuana and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The progressive movement is transforming the country - and he proved that again tonight, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

In the state's closely-watched Senate contest, Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday easily won the GOP nomination. He faced a challenge from perennial candidate Roque De La Fuente.

"Congratulations to Governor Rick Scott of Florida on his conclusive Republican Primary Win," Trump, who encouraged Scott to run, tweeted. "He will be a great Senator!"

Scott, who is term-limited as governor, is set to face incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in what surely will be one of the most closely watched Senate races in November. Nelson ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.

But much of the attention in the run-up to Tuesday's vote had been on the contentious Republican gubernatorial primary between DeSantis and Putnam.

During a Fox News-sponsored debate in June, DeSantis played up Trumps backing of his campaign, expressing doubt that Putnam adequately supported Trump. I am proud to have the endorsement of President Trump in this race, DeSantis said.

DeSantis, 39, is an Iraq War veteran and decorated military lawyer who has served in the U.S. House since 2013. He is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School.

Putnam, 44, also played up his support for Trump, but emphasized, I am focused on Florida.

As for the Senate race, Republicans are hoping Scott could flip the seat in a battle with Nelson, one of the Democratic Partys most vulnerable incumbents.

Trump narrowly defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in Florida in the 2016 presidential race by less than 2 percentage points.

It was a good night for incumbents in House races in Florida, as Republican Carlos Curbelo and Democrat Stephanie Murphy were among those who beat back primary challengers.

National Democrats have eyed Curbelo's 26th congressional district as a potential pickup target, in large part because it voted heavily for Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. But with almost all precincts reporting, approximately 2,500 more people had turned out to vote in the GOP primary than in the Democratic primary.

Curbelo garnered 84 percent of the vote against primary opponent Souraya Faas, who described Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad as "heroes" and claimed chemical attacks in Syria's civil war were "staged."

In November, Curbelo will face Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a former associate dean at the Florida International University Medical School and Democratic candidate for state Senate.

Murphy, who unseated GOP incumbent John Mica in 2016, easily defeated a primary challenge in the 7th District from Chardo Richardson, who was backed by Ocasio-Cortez. She will face Florida state Rep. Mike Miller in November's general election.

Fox News Samuel Chamberlain, Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Mike Arroyo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.Georgia Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson on Monday said anyone who disrespects the legacy of late Sen. John McCain deserves a whippin.

John was better than me and I know it Isakson said on the U.S. Senate floor. Anybody who in any way tarnishes the reputation of John McCain deserves a whipping, because most of the ones who would do the wrong thing about John McCain didnt have the guts to do the right thing when it was their turn.

"Anybody who in any way tarnishes the reputation of John McCain deserves a whipping, because most of the ones who would do the wrong thing about John McCain didnt have the guts to do the right thing when it was their turn."  Georgia Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson

Isaksons comments were an apparent swipe at President Trump, who was criticized after the White House briefly broke the tradition and returned the flags to full height on Monday after flying them half-staff on Sunday, the day after the Arizona Republican succumbed to brain cancer at the age of 81.

I would say to the president or to anybody in the world, its time to pause and say, This was a great man who gave everything for us. We owe him nothing less than our respect that he earned.'

Multiple veteran groups expressed dissatisfaction with the White Houses decision, issuing statements urging to reverse the action.

CHAD PERGRAM: AN EMPTY US CAPITOL AFTER McCAINS DEATH IS SOBERING REMINDER THAT THE CLOCK IS TICKING

In a statement directed to Trump, American Legion National Commander Denise Rohan wrote: "On the behalf of The American Legion's two million wartime veterans, I strongly urge you to make an appropriate presidential proclamation noting Senator McCain's death and legacy of service to our nation, and that our nation's flag be half-staffed through his interment."

VFW spokesman Joe Davis said in a statement the organization had "asked the White House if the honor of lowering the flag to half-staff could be extended through Senator McCain's interment."

Following the criticism from veteran groups, Trump ordered on Monday to fly the American flag at half-staff through this coming Sunday to honor McCain.

Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCains service to our country and, in his honor, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment," said Trump, who added that Vice President Mike Pence will make remarks at Friday's ceremony honoring McCain at the U.S. Capitol.

Fox News Samuel Chamberlain contributed to this report.Most Republican governors support Brett Kavanaugh, President Trumps pick for the Supreme Court.

Kavanaugh has met privately with many senators on Capitol Hill, but he has not yet gone through a confirmation hearing. Ahead of the Senates decision on the federal appeals judge, more than 30 governors signed a letter in support of Kavanaugh, 53.

The governors said Kavanaugh's impeccable credentials demonstrate he is worthy of this nomination.

However, three Republican governors did not sign the letter. The three are from blue states and all are facing re-election this year.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner initially indicated that he would not sign the letter, but eventually did so.

Read on for a look at who did not sign the letter.

Charlie Baker, Massachusetts

Baker has stressed he believes a Supreme Court nominee should rule in favor of pro-choice issues.

Im a big believer in a womans right to choose, and I think that needs to be a fundamental part of the vetting process, Baker has said. I hope that is a fundamental part of the vetting process as they move forward here.

Larry Hogan, Maryland

Ben Jealous, the Democratic nominee for governor, has publicly called on Hogan to condemn Kavanaughs nomination to the nations highest court.

Phil Scott, Vermont

Scott told WCAX-TV he had not yet learned enough about Kavanaugh to sign onto the letter when asked by the Republican Governor's Association.

"I don't want to rubber stamp anyone. I don't know much about the nominee," he said. "If there had been a letter asking for a fair and open hearing on the confirmation, I would have signed it, but to blindly rubber stamp someone that I don't know a lot about -- I didn't think it would do great justice to anyone."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.Rep. Ron DeSantis is hoping to ride the wave of President Trumps endorsement to victory in Floridas GOP gubernatorial primary on Tuesday, as he battles state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam in the costly and closely-watched contest.

The polls close in Florida -- where voters are choosing nominees for governor, senator and a slew of other offices -- at 7 p.m.

On Monday, Trump tried to help DeSantis over the finish line with a tweet of support. The current governor, Republican Rick Scott, is challenging incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson for the Senate.

Congressman Ron DeSantis is a special person who has done an incredible job, the president tweeted. He is running in Tuesdays Primary for Governor of Florida.Strong on Crime, Borders and wants Low Taxes. He will be a great Governor and has my full and total Endorsement!

Trumps support has played a starring role in the race, with DeSantis securing the lead in polls after winning Trump's endorsement.

During a Fox News-sponsored debate in June, DeSantis played up Trumps backing of his campaign, expressing doubt that Putnam adequately supports Trump. I am proud to have the endorsement of President Trump in this race, DeSantis said.

DeSantis, 39, is an Iraq War veteran and decorated military lawyer who has served in the U.S. House since 2013. He is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School.

Putnam, 44, has also played up his support for Trump, but has emphasized, I am focused on Florida.

Putnam was elected as the states agriculture commissioner in 2010. He grew up on a cattle ranch and citrus grove, according to his campaign website, and has gotten the support of many Florida sheriffs.

Meanwhile, theres a crowded Democratic primary for governor, including Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene, former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, Orlando businessman Chris King and former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine.

Graham, a former congresswoman, has been consistently polling ahead seven points or more over her opponents.

Levine has spent millions of his own money and showed up Monday at the scene of the Jacksonville mass shooting to tout gun control.

Gillum, Tallahassees progressive mayor, hopes to be the first black governor of Florida and has the endorsement of the liberal Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

As for the Senate race, Scott -- who was urged to run for the seat by Trump -- is expected to win the GOP primary. He would then face Nelson, considered one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents running for re-election to the Senate.

Republicans, trying to hold onto control of the Senate, are hoping Scott could flip the seat.

Trump narrowly defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in Florida in the 2016 presidential race by less than 2 percentage points.



Trump, again, emphasized his support for Scott ahead of the election.

Rick Scott of Florida is doing a fantastic job as Governor, Trump tweeted. Jobs are pouring into the State and its economic health is better than ever before. He is strong on Crime, Borders, and loves our Military and Vets. Vote for Rick on Tuesday!

Elections are also taking place in Arizona, where three Republicans are facing off to replace outgoing Sen. Jeff Flake.

Officials in Arizona said Tuesday that problems with voting machines in several polling places temporarily prevented people from being able to cast ballots in the state's primary elections.

But a spokesman for Maricopa County, where the voting problems were reported, told Fox News on Tuesday afternoon that "all polling locations dealing with technical issues this morning have been fixed."

In the Senate race, two-term Rep. Martha McSally has emerged as the frontrunner in the GOP primary against former state Sen. Kelli Ward and Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The winner of this contest will likely face Democrat Kyrsten Sinema in November.

In the states governors race, President Trump has endorsed the re-election effort of Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona, who is facing a challenge Tuesday from former Secretary of State Ken Bennett.

Oklahoma on Tuesday is also holding primary runoff elections, with focus on the Republican race between former Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett and Tulsa businessman Kevin Stitt.

Fox News Phil Keating, Peter Doocy, Kaitlyn Schallhorn and The Associated Press contributed to this report.President Trump issued a message commemorating one of Americas most treasured modern historical figures.

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 55 years ago, stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March for Jobs and Freedom, and spoke passionately for his dream of equality and justice for all, Trumps message declared, observing the I Have a Dream speech.

We remain ever optimistic of our shared future as children of God and citizens of this great Nation, Trumps message said. May the memory of Dr. King, and the efforts we have made to fulfill his dream, remind us of the bonds of love and mutual respect that unite us.

The message honoring King tied in the civil rights leaders legacy with Trumps own presidential policies.

More than half a century after his speech, our Nation reaffirms our commitment to protecting the promise of America for all our people, Trumps message said. For this reason, my Administration is continuing to create an environment where the American Dream  and its many opportunities  are available for all hardworking Americans. As a result, for example, we have already seen the unemployment rate for African Americans reach a record low.

Trump frequently has touted that black unemployment is at a record low in America. But that figure is volatile on a monthly basis. After achieving a record low of 5.9 percent in May, it since has jumped back up to 6.6 percent in July. More important, economists have said, there are multiple signs that the racial wealth gap now is worsening, and the administration appears to have done little, if anything, to specifically address this challenge.

Government data show troubling economic disparities for black Americans. The median net worth of a black household is just $17,200, according to the Federal Reserve. The median net worth of a white household is 10 times higher. Back in 2004, the median net worth for whites was only seven times higher.

On the other side of the country, however, one of Kings children held a different commemoration.

KNSD reported that Martin Luther King III spoke at the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego County.

It is said that a nation is judged by how it treats its most precious resource. I believe our most precious resources are our children, King III said. We cannot rest until all the children are reunited with their loved ones and beyond that, we must work together to make sure all refugees are treated with dignity and respect in the future.

The crisis at the border intensified in June, as the White House came under fire over the separations of illegal-immigrant families. The administration worked to reunite separated families after an international outcry, but the process is ongoing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.President Trump threatened Google in an early Tuesday morning tweet, saying the Internet giants search engine is biased against conservative media and promised that the situation will be addressed.

Google search results for Trump News shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? Trump wrote in a tweet.

96% of results on Trump News are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous. Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed! he added.

Google, however, pushed back and denied ranking results to "manipulate" political sentiment.

"When users type queries into the Google Search bar, our goal is to make sure they receive the most relevant answers in a matter of seconds," a Google spokesperson said in a statement. "Search is not used to set a political agenda and we don't bias our results toward any political ideology. Every year, we issue hundreds of improvements to our algorithms to ensure they surface high-quality content in response to users' queries. We continually work to improve Google Search and we never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment."

This is the first time Trump raised the issue of Google search engines alleged bias. Just weeks ago Trump attacked other tech giants such as Twitter and Facebook for silencing non-left wing voices, saying too many voices are being destroyed and pledged to address the problem as well.

Facebook and Twitter have been under fire for allegedly censoring conservative and Republican accounts on their platforms, while taking a more lenient approach to liberal and left-wing users.

The president previously pointed out to the problem of so-called shadow banning on social media platforms, where users while technically not banned but their posts arent visible to most users, saying the practice was discriminatory and illegal.

TRUMP SAYS TOO MANY VOCIES ARE BEING DESTROYED BY SOCIAL MEDIA CENSORSHIP

Earlier this summer, California Republican Rep. Devin Nunes said Google and other tech giants could face hearings over alleged anti-conservative bias.

I think what the American people need to understand is there is bias against conservatives and Republicans all across this country, he said during an interview on Fox Business. And now as you see things, its always been there with newspapers and television, but now as you see it getting into the internet it's one of the challenges we have with millennials.

His remarks came after Google came under fire for inadvertently listed Nazism as one of the ideologies of the California Republican party. Google immediately fixed the issue after widespread criticism and blamed the search result on vandalism on one of its sources.

A U.S. House committee announced last week that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and other tech executives will appear before the panel on Capitol Hill Sept. 5.

Dorsey will discuss his companys algorithms and content judgment calls before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the committee announced via Twitter.The first-ever observations of merging binary stars stunned the astronomy community last year, but not quite as much as the first-ever signal from extraterrestrial life might someday stun the world.

And a new paper argues that the observations of an binary-star merger may actually be the key to making that second detection, which is the ongoing quest of a scientific effort called the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI.

"We were really impressed by the rapid growth of multi-messenger astronomy associated with [the neutron star merger detected last August], and started thinking about interesting possibilities far beyond traditional astronomical studies," lead author Yuki Nishino, a physicist at Kyoto University in Japan, wrote in an email to Space.com. "Actually, previously, we were not familiar with the SETI activities." [9 Strange, Scientific Excuses for Why Humans Haven't Found Aliens Yet]

So, he and his co-author started considering how a technologically advanced alien civilization beyond our galaxy might piggyback on the bright signals created by colliding neutron stars to catch our attention.

Their basic idea is that aliens would have the ability to predict the merger of a binary neutron star elsewhere in their own galaxy with plenty of warning. We can sometimes do that now, the pair wrote, because many neutron stars are pulsars, which produce a spinning jet of light. That means we can track where they are and how they are interacting in binary systems.

Next, the aliens would need to produce a signal timed around that collision. Scientists have already started dreaming up space-based gravitational-wave detectors they believe could observe a collision years in advance; they already turn all the telescopes at their command toward a collision after it's been registered. That means aliens may be able to catch our attention with an artificial signature before, after or both before and after the natural collision signal.

It would need to be quite a powerful signal, given that the study is focused on civilizations beyond our own galaxy, requiring long travel times even at the speed of light. The pair calculated that for aliens 130 million light-years away from Earth, the feat would require feeding a telescope like the Square Kilometer Array (currently being built) about a terawatt of energy. (For context, Earth's total energy consumption in 2015 was 17.4 terawatts, by one calculation.)

Of course, all this assumes that our still-hypothetical distant neighbors want to reach out to us, and there's no way to know how valid that assumption is. Nishino thinks outreach is inevitable. "I think one of the basic grounds for developing an advanced civilization is a profound desire to leave behind information," he wrote in his email. He added that it may well be safer in a scenario like his, where alien and correspondent civilizations are in two separate galaxies buffered by vast distances.

But for Nishino, what's compelling about this approach to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is that it relies on observations that are being gathered anyway. When word got out about the initial gravitational-waves detection from colliding neutron stars, astronomers around the world hustled to turn telescopes in all sorts of wavelengths toward the event. Nishino wants to ask them to look through the data with SETI in mind as well  which is much easier than gathering separate data for the hunt.

The research is described in a paper published on Aug. 1 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Original article on Space.com.A West Virginia man was arrested after officials with the states Natural Resources Police discovered he had been catching rattlesnakes from a nearby national forest and keeping them in his home in Randolph County.

'HUGE' RATTLESNAKE'S LOUD WARNING TO MISSISSIPPI MAN GOES VIRAL

The investigation was sparked after officials received information about illegal rattlesnake possession, eventually leading them to the mans home, where they found 17 rattlesnakes, West Virginia Natural Resources Police said in an online statement this week.

The man, who has not yet been identified, was charged with two counts of illegal possession of a timber rattlesnake and possession of a rattlesnake less than 42 inches. In West Virginia, residents can only have one rattlesnake and it must be at least 42 inches in length, according to officials.

The size limit was put in place to ensure a steady supply of breeding-age females, as female timber rattlesnakes are typically smaller than males, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported.

WISCONSIN WOMAN WHOSE CAR WAS 'RUNNING STRANGELY' FINDS LARGE PYTHON UNDER HOOD, POLICE SAY

The rattlers were later returned to the dens near where they were first captured, West Virginia Natural Resources Police said.The owner of a Texas company that makes untraceable 3-D printed guns is defying a federal court order by selling blueprints through his website.

Cody Wilson said at a news conference on Tuesday that hell make the plans available to anyone who wants them at any price. He said sales started Tuesday morning and that he'd already gotten nearly 400 orders.

That follows a federal judge in Seattle blocking Wilson's company from posting the blueprints online.

Nineteen states and the District of Columbia had sought an injunction to stop a settlement that the federal government reached with Wilson's Austin-based Defense Distributed.

The states argued that online access to the undetectable plastic guns would pose a security risk and could be acquired by felons or terrorists.

3-D PRINTED GUN BAN EXTENDED BY JUDGE PENDING STATE CHALLENGE

U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik agreed Monday, saying the government's actions not only impact national security but have domestic repercussions as well.

The State Department reached the deal with the company after the agency removed the 3-D gun-making plans from a list of weapons or technical data that are not allowed to be exported.

Wilson said he anticipates that states may try to sue to stop him from selling the plans, but that he is raising money for his legal defense.

Anyone who wants to get these files is going to get them, he said. They can name their own price.

ARMY BUILDS NEW SELF-PROPELLED HOWITZER TANK

Speaking to Fox News in July, Wilson described current 3-D printed guns as mostly curiosities, and said that the big and bulky characteristics of the weapons would help identify them. I doubt seriously that its a real problem, he added. If it is a problem, then the [security] norms will have to change.



Wilson also said he will continue to challenge the federal court order.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.Related May to make first visit to Africa as British PM this week

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday pledged to prioritise investment in Africa as she started a three-nation visit to the continent aimed at drumming up trade deals ahead of leaving the European Union.

Her tour of South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya -- May's first to Africa since becoming premier in 2016 -- is seen as an effort to reinforce Britain's global ambitions after Brexit.

"By 2022, I want the UK to be the G7's number one investor in Africa, with Britain's private sector companies taking the lead," May told business leaders in Cape Town.

The G7 groups major industrialised nations but does not include China, which has become a big investor on the African continent.

"As prime minister of a trading nation whose success depends on global markets, I want to see strong African economies that British companies can do business with," she said.

"I want to create a new partnership between the UK and our friends in Africa built around shared prosperity and shared security."

May is facing pressure at home from so-called Remainers sceptical of her ability to forge trade deals once Britain severs ties with the EU, as well as from Brexiteers fearful she will not deliver a complete break.

On her journey to South Africa, May suggested to travelling British press that a no-deal Brexit would not be a disaster for Britain and played down warnings of serious consequences for the UK economy.

Former foreign minister Boris Johnson, whose July departure from the cabinet brought May's government to the brink, said in his resignation speech that May's current Brexit policy would hamper London's ability to strike independent trade deals.

But May said Britain was well-placed and had many companies ready to invest in Africa.

On Tuesday, she announced a new four-billion-pound ($5 billion/4.4 billion euro) Africa investment programme. There were no immediate details about the initiative.

May added that Britain would also host an African investment summit next year, and would open new diplomatic missions across the continent.

The prime minister had earlier attracted mixed reviews for her tentative dance steps as she was greeted by singing pupils during a visit to a Cape Town school.

May also presented President Cyril Ramaphosa with the bell from the troopship Mendi, which sank in the Channel in 1917 drowning more than 600 mainly South African troops who were set to join the Allied forces fighting in World War I.

It was the worst maritime disaster in South Africa's history, and became a symbol of its Great War sacrifice.

The bell was given to a BBC reporter in 2017 following an anonymous tip.

Ramaphosa described the gift of the bell as "like returning their souls back to the land of their birth."

After talks with May, the president, who came to power this year, welcomed Britain's role in his efforts to secure $100 billion of foreign investment to revive South Africa's sluggish economy and soaring unemployment.

But he also added that he hoped Britain would soon conclude Brexit negotiations in a manner "that restores stability to economic and financial markets... as their exit also has an impact on our economy."

May was expected to later visit Robben Island where former president Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for decades to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth.

May will head to Nigeria on Wednesday for meetings with President Muhammadu Buhari in the capital Abuja and with victims of modern slavery in Lagos.

On Thursday she will meet Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, shortly after his return from seeing US President Donald Trump in Washington.

The prime minister will also see British troops in training action and tour a business school, before concluding the trip at a state dinner hosted by Kenyatta.

London and Brussels have yet to reach an agreement on the terms of Britain's exit from the EU in March.

Search Keywords:

Short link:

The White House is taking a look at whether the government should regulate Google, President Trumps top economic adviser said Tuesday  hours after the commander-in-chief targeted the platform.

Well let you know, Larry Kudlow told reporters outside the White House when asked whether Trump believes Google and its search engine should be regulated, The Washington Post reported. Were taking a look at it.

In a pair of early morning tweets, Trump promised to address what he called the very serious situation of social media companies suppressing conservative voices and hiding news that is good.

Trump recently began complaining about the issue as social media companies moved to ban right-wing Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones from their platforms.

Apple, YouTube and Spotify have permanently yanked some of Jones content, Facebook has suspended him for 30 days and removed some of his pages, while Twitter gave him a weeklong timeout.

The president has not named Jones  whose reputation he once described as amazing  in any of his tweets on the issue.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee recently announced that Twitter chief Jack Dorsey will testify before the panel on Sept. 5 about the platforms algorithms and content monitoring.

Google, based in Mountain View, California, responded to Trumps tweetstorm Tuesday by saying: When users type queries into the Google Search bar, our goal is to make sure they receive the most relevant answers in a matter of seconds.

Search is not used to set a political agenda and we dont bias our results toward any political ideology, a spokesperson said.

Every year, we issue hundreds of improvements to our algorithms to ensure they surface high-quality content in response to users queries. We continually work to improve Google Search and we never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment.

With Post Wires

This story originally appeared in the New York Post.Memories made at the happiest place on earth are often cherished for a lifetime, making it no surprise that a recent auction of Disneyland park rides, props and artifacts raised over $8.3 million  all for a special cause.

Over the weekend, Hollywood agent Richard Kraft auctioned off his 900-piece collection in a special-two day event dubbed Thats from Disneyland at an old sporting goods store in Los Angeles.

DISNEY WORLD VS. DISNEYLAND: 9 LITTLE KNOWN DIFFERENCES

"You never actually see this stuff up-close and personal the way you would see it in this exhibit, he told Fox News of the display.

Other Disney lovers evidently felt the same the sale attracted tens of thousands of visitors, and one couple even tied the knot at the event.

Inspired by nostalgia for visits with his late brother to the iconic theme park, Kraft began collecting the Disney memorabilia 25 years ago, Reuters reports, and he clearly had a knack for collecting valuable items.

At the sale, an original Skyway vehicle sold for a record-high $621,000, an original Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride car went for a whopping $483,000, and celebrity magician David Copperfield scooped up a neon letter D from the Disneyland hotel for $86,250, Forbes reports.

Nevertheless, Kraft says that the precious artifacts are about much more than just money.

"No matter how much it's worth I really hope the people who buy it appreciate it as much as I do. I don't want the people to go 'oh it's an investment, he told Fox News.

Moving forward, Reuters reports that Kraft intends to donate a portion of the $8.3 million raised from the sale to organizations for children suffering from the rare genetic disorder Coffin-Siris Syndrome, and other special needs, like his four-year-old daughter, Daisy.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWSOne Massachusetts pilot flying a skydiving plane walked away with minor injuries after his aircraft flipped on its roof while landing, just days after a fatal crash occurred near the same airport.

On August 27, Jacob Haselden attempted to land a Cessna 182 Skylane plane for Go SkyDive Boston when he overshot a runway at Cranland Airport, WHDH reports. Veering off and hitting a dirt road, the aircraft flipped over and the plane crashed, according to the Boston Globe.

We flew up. I had difficulties with the engine. I managed to get everyone out and came back in for a landing, but couldnt make it, 20-year-old Haselden told WHDH. The flipping [of the plane] was me running out of runway. I was coming in too fast due to difficulties with my engine, the flaps, and various plane issues.

CAPITAL AIRLINES PASSENGERS TERRIFIED OVER MIDAIR DROP: 'I DON'T WANT TO DIE'

Alone in the aircraft at the time of the crash in Hanson, emergency crews responded to the scene and Haselden was hospitalized for minor injuries.

Police told the Globe that the cause of the crash is currently under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Just days ago, a small plane similarly crashed near Cranland Airport in an accident that killed the pilot and critically injured the lone passenger.

On August 24, brothers Scott and Patrick Landis' Aeronca 7AC Champion plane crashed into a pond near Cranland Airport. The Landis were on a mission to spread their recently deceased fathers ashes from the high skies. Scott, an Army pilot, passed away the following day. Patrick was paralyzed from the waist down due to injuries sustained in the crash, the Globe reports.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

The gentleman that passed away was very well known and very well respected and loved in the community and its hit an awful lot of people very, very hard, said Hanson Town Administrator Mike McCue told CBS Boston of the tragedy . I believe that they run a very safe operation here, its just, again, one of those unfortunate coincidences.Fire officials in Colorado on Friday came to the rescue of a horse that was trapped in thick mud by creating a rope system to free him.

The Castle Rock Fire Department Local 4116 received a call that a horse, located about a half-mile away from the nearest road, needed assistance.

When crew members arrived, they had to "dig through the falling mud to sling the horse, set up a rope system, and pull the horse free from the mud and up a 10-ft embankment," the local fire department described in a Facebook post on Saturday.

It took two hours, but the horse  buried up to its torso  was finally freed. A veteranarian examined the colt, as rescuers remained on site until 4 a.m., to make sure it was healthy.A teddy bear won by a child at a Tennessee county fair was discovered to have a camera inside, but police don't suspect any wrongdoing.

After examining the stuffed animal her child won at the Wilson County Fair, a mother told the Lebanon Police Department she saw "what appeared to be a camera" inside.

ODD RESCUE: HORSE PULLED FROM THICK MUD BY COMPLICATED ROPE SYSTEM

In a Sunday Facebook post, police confirmed they examined the bear and found the camera, which they said included "a lens and a board, but was not functional" and had no power source.

Investigators believe the toy might had been previously returned to a store or was a damaged item that was "packaged for discount resale." Another theory is the stuffed bear "may have been a 'nanny cam' (surveillence cam) that was returned."

MAN JUMPS FENCE AT LAX, DOES PUSHUPS ON RUNWAY, POLICE SAY

Officers spoke with the operator of the booth where the child won the toy, and he said the bear came as part of a bulk order from a discount facility in Georgia.

"No other bears of this nature were found at the booth," police said, adding that "no illegal activity is suspected at this time."Four Ohio children were found safe Tuesday hours after they were abducted by their non-custodial mother and believed to be headed to Florida with her boyfriend, authorities said.

Marianne Merritt, the childrens mother, and her boyfriend, Charles Perkins, were taken into custody after they attempted to flee a home in Kenton as cops closed in, Lima police said.

Perkins was arrested on an active warrant. Merritt is being held on suspicion of interference with custody. Formal charges are pending.

The FBI and multiples law enforcement agencies in Allen and Hardin Counties helped located the four children, who were found unharmed and safe.

The children -- Damara Croley, 13; Benjamin Karl-Leland Croley, 12; Patience Wilson, 9; and Damien Wilson, 8 -- were placed in temporary custody with the Allen County Childrens Services.

Officials issued a multi-state alert Tuesday morning after the four children were taken by Merritt, who does not have custodial rights to her sons and daughters, Lima Police Department wrote on Facebook.

Merritt and the children were last seen on North Main Street in Lima around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, WHIO reported. They were possibly headed to Florida with Perkins, who authorities said had been abusive toward the four children in the past. Cops initially said Perkins was armed and dangerous.

Its unclear why Merritt took the children.A Colorado mother says her 9-year-old son took his life last week because of anti-gay bullying from his classmates.

Leia Piece, of Denver, told FOX 31 Denver she found her son, Jamel Myles, dead in her home Thursday  months after her son told her he was gay over the summer.

"And he looked so scared when he told me. He was like, 'Mom, Im gay.' And I thought he was playing, so I looked back because I was driving, and he was all curled up, so scared. And I said, 'I still love you,'" Pierce told the news station on Sunday.

Pierce said her son told her he wanted to tell his classmates when he went back to school because he was proud of himself. The mother also said her son told her he wanted to dress more femininely after coming out.

FBI SWARMS FAMILY HOME OF JACKSONVILLE LANDING GUNMAN DAVID KATZ

"And he goes, 'Can I be honest with you?'" Pierce said. "And I was like, 'Sure,' and hes like, 'I know you buy me boy stuff because Im a boy, but Id rather dress like a girl.'"

On Thursday, just four days after he started fourth grade at Joe Shoemaker Elementary School, Myles was dead.

The Denver Police Department told The Washington Post that officers responded to a medical incident at the boy's home. The 9-year-old was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. It was not immediately clear how he died, but the medical examiner ruled his death as a suicide.

Pierce told the Denver Post she believed bullying played a part in her sons death.

"My child died because of bullying. My baby killed himself," Pierce said.

She said her son told her daughter that his classmates told him to take his own life.

DINE-AND-DASH DATER FACES 10 FELONY COUNTS FOR ALLEGEDLY SKIPPING OUT ON DATES BEFORE BILL: REPORT

"Four days is all it took at school. I could just imagine what they said to him," Pierce told the station. "My son told my oldest daughter the kids at school told him to kill himself. Im just sad he didnt come to me. Im so upset that he thought that was his option."

Denver Public Schools sent a letter home to families stating it was providing extra social workers and crisis counselors at its schools. On Monday, grief counselors met with students and staff at the school.

Pierce said she wanted to raise awareness for bullying following her sons death.

"We should have accountability for bullying. I think the child should. Because the child knows its wrong. The child wouldnt want someone to do it to them. I think the parent should be held because obviously the parents are either teaching them to be like that, or theyre treating them like that," she said.

If you or somebody you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).Authorities in Chicago on Monday said a ninth victim died in an apartment fire over the weekend that authorities believe may have been started by fireworks, cigarettes or other smoking materials.

Cesar Contreras, 14, died Monday evening at a hospital, while another boy the same age remains in critical condition, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office said.

Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said investigators learned that children had set off fireworks on the porch in the past and that people had smoked cigarettes there.

The fire, which broke out around 4 a.m. Sunday in a three-story complex in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood, killed seven children and two adults. Investigators did not find working smoke detectors in the apartment building.

"We have not had this in many, many, many years -- this amount of fatalities and injuries in one location," Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago told reporters, adding that one of the children killed was an infant

The medical examiners office released the identity of three of the children who died in the blaze as a 3-month-old Amaya Almaraz, 10-year-old Giovanni Monarrez and 16-year-old Victor Mendoza. All three were listed as residents of the block where the fire happened.

Although an exact cause has yet to be determined, Langford said children have set of fireworks on the porch in the past and it was also a spot where people smoked cigarettes. He said investigators have ruled out any problems with the buildings electrical system as a cause, and dont believe it was set deliberately. Langford did point out that if there were working smoke detectors, the victims could have made it out alive.

"Because of where it started, (on the rear porch of a rear building), if they had at least one smoke detector, they would have woken up and walked out the front door," Langford said. "They could have grabbed everyone and made it out a stairway and outside (because) they had a clear shot at the front door."

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the city's Buildings Department says the apartment building's owner is due in court next month after being cited for two electrical violations.

The fire is Chicagos deadliest since at least 2000, and possibly since 1993, when 19 people died in a blaze that engulfed a single room occupancy residential hotel.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.Talk about speed dating.

A California man is facing 10 felony counts for allegedly sneaking out on dates just before the waiter brings the check, authorities said Monday.

Paul Guadalupe Gonzalez, 45, set up dates across southern California and would enjoy the meals before he'd disappear, the L.A. County District Attorney said, according to a news release.

Eight women purportedly ended up paying the bill themselves, one in the belief that the defendant was going to pay her back, while in two other instances the restaurants picked up the check, the prosecutor said in a statement.

ABC News reported that it tried repeatedly to contact Gonzales, but could not reach him. It is unclear if he has a lawyer.

He was reportedly taken into custody on Saturday. If convicted, he faces up to 13 years in state prison, KTLA.com reported. He pleaded not guilty to extortion, grand theft and other charges. Gonzales is accused of defrauding the women of nearly $1,000.

CBS Los Angeles spoke to an alleged victim. She said he was good looking and she thought: Why did he choose me?

He ordered a salad with shrimp, a filet mignon, yes, he went all out she told the station.

All of a sudden hes all, oh, my phones dying and Im waiting on the call from my mom about my aunt. Im going to go to the car to get my charger and then my first comment to him when he got up was oh what, youre not coming back?

She was stuck with the $130 bill, she said.

I didnt mention it to the restaurant, nothing. I think I was more embarrassed, my pride was just like, you know, I felt dumb.A white former police officer in suburban Dallas was convicted of murder Tuesday for the April 2017 shooting of an unarmed black teenager as he left a house party.

Roy Oliver was fired from the Balch Springs Police Department days after the shooting of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards. Edwards was in the front passenger seat of a moving car carrying five black teens when Oliver opened fire.

The shooting launched the Dallas suburb of Balch Springs into a national conversation on issues of law enforcement and race. Experts said ahead of the trial that securing convictions against an officer was challenging, in part because criminal culpability in on-duty shootings is subjective and jurors are more inclined to believe police testimony.

The shooting came after Oliver and his partner, Tyler Gross, had broken up the house party following a report of underage drinking. Both officers were inside the residence when they heard gunfire outside and responded.

Investigators later determined the shots were fired near a nursing home in the area.

Oliver retrieved his rifle and went toward Gross, who was ordering the car carrying Edwards to stop. Oliver testified that he saw the car back up and stop for a second before moving forward and going toward Gross.

Testifying in his own defense, Oliver told the jury the car was about to hit his partner. Oliver said he felt he had no other option but to fire.

Gross, however, testified that he did not fear for his life and never felt the need to fire his weapon. He also said he didn't feel like the car was trying to hit him.

Prosecutors said Oliver fired after the car passed Gross.

Investigators also said no guns were found in the teens' car.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.Egypt's Minister of Planning Hala El-Said has said on Tuesday a project aiming to develop the Sinai Peninsula should be completed by 2022 at a cost of EGP 275 billion Egyptian pounds (approx. $15.6 billion).

In statements to the press, El-Said added that the projects include establishing a fish farm on 15,590 acres in the Suez Canal region, in addition to the establishment of a natural lake in Port Said industrial zone.

The Egyptian state has been encouraging development in the Sinai region in recent years, to combat a militant insurgency waged by terrorist organisations that are based in the northern part of the peninsula.

The plan also includes the construction 10 new road networks, spanning 1,339 kilometres, funded with an investment of EGP 26 billion.

The project includes plans for residential and industrial developments, water desalination plants, hospitals and sewage networks, and a comprehensive network of roads.

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An off-duty firefighter and another bystander are being hailed as hero after new surveillance footage shows them shielding women and children at a New Mexico convenience store as gunfire rang out.

Enrico Trujillo was at Giant gas station in Espanola in June when gunmen opened fire outside the store. He told KRQE-TV on Sunday he was just doing his job when he jumped to protect his friend.

I didn't have time to react or think about anything else, Trujillo said.

The Espanola Police Department released the terrorizing footage last week.

Trujillo recalled seeing two people fighting and then a crowd outside the gas station. He then noticed a kid walking back to a vehicle to retrieve a gun and someone opened fire.

We heard gunshots go off. She ran back in the store in front of me and my first instinct was just to cover her, he said, adding he lay on top of his friend and then they both ran to the back of the store.

Trujillo said he didnt think twice about jumping into action.

Here at work we are always watching out for one another and one of our main duties is to preserve life and property. So I take that seriously, he told the station.

Another man, who has not been identified, was seen in the footage shielding two children and another woman from the gunshots.

Without hesitation, this man protect three lives. Thank you sir for your bravery, the police department said in a Facebook post.

No one was injured in the shooting and two men were arrested in connection to the incident, according to KRQE-TV.A planned hunt of grizzly bears near Yellowstone National Park has trophy hunters and environmentalists on edge as a federal judge may rule as early as Thursday if the planned hunt can still go forward.

U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen is set to hear arguments in six lawsuits brought by environmental groups against a planned grizzly bear hunt that hunters say they should be allowed to participate in.

About 700 grizzlies living in and around Yellowstone National Park lost their protected status last year when they were removed from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's threatened species list.

Ranchers and officials in the region are hopeful that lifting protections will allow the state to better address grizzly attacks on livestock that have grown more frequent as the population has grown and spread into agricultural areas.

Its not being bloodthirsty. The fact of the matter is that we need to do something for the benefit of the bear," Wyoming hunting industry spokesman Sy Gilliland told USA Today. We cant turn the clock back and remove the people from Wyoming. The bear is overflowing. He just needs to have his number trimmed back for the benefit of the species overall.

Advocates for continued protections claim that federal officials did not properly consult Indian tribal governments before delisting the bears, in addition to not studying shrinking natural food sources.

The stakes are so high for both sides on this issue, Louisa Willcox of Grizzly Times, a website consolidating supporters of grizzly expansion, told The Missoulian. Itll be most interesting to see what the judge is interested in."

NATURE PHOTOGRAPHER GETS LICENSE FOR WYOMING'S GRIZZLY BEAR HUNT, SAYS HE WONT: HUNTERS DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT

Christensen may rule right from the bench after he finishes questioning them, due to Wyoming and Idaho setting the grizzly hunting seasons to begin this Saturday, Sept. 1, according to the paper.

If the federal judge rules that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acted too quickly in delisting the bears last year, both states would have to suspend their hunting seasons.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials consider the region's grizzlies recovered from widespread extermination last century. They're expected to soon issue a formal proposal to lift the population's threatened species protections, but are first awaiting the outcome of a court case involving the Yellowstone grizzlies.

Montana officials decided to hold off for the time being on a hunt in the Yellowstone area to demonstrate the state's commitment to conserving grizzlies.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.An Oregon mother punched a homeless woman in the face after she allegedly tried to abduct her young daughter on Sunday, court records showed.

Stephanie Romero, 25, was arrested on burglary, theft and kidnapping charges. She was being held at the Multnomah County Detention Center and her bond was set at $352,500, KPTV reported.

Lilyana Salazar, 6, was playing outside her Portland apartment with her friends and brothers when Romero apparently walked over and told the child she was her daughter, KPTV reported.

"Come on, I'm gonna take you on the bike trail, follow me, the girl recalled Romero saying to her, court papers stated. The girl said the woman pulled her by her wrist but she was able to flee into her apartment. However, Romero followed the girl inside before the girls grandmother told her to leave.

WEST VIRGINIA MAN ARRESTED AFTER 17 RATTLESNAKES FOUND IN HOME

Romero was allegedly taking things from the residence and putting it in a bedsheet when the mother, Summer Salazar, confronted her. The elder Salazar was doing laundry when her son came over to tell her about Romero.

Im taking the stuff and Im taking her, Romero told the mother, according to court documents.

Salazar told Romero she wouldnt leave with her daughter and punched her.

My first reaction was 'Im going to hit her or shes going to take my kid or something,' Salazar told KPTV.

But she came in to pull my daughter out, she continued. She was really taking her. She had stuff packed. She was packing stuff for her.

4 OHIO CHILDREN ABDUCTED BY MOM, BELIEVED TO BE IN DANGER AND HEADING TO FLORIDA, POLICE SAY

Romero dropped the objects and left the apartment before hopping a fence and walking toward a trail, where police later arrested her.

To tell you the truth, it got me pretty angry, you know, German Salazar-Lopez, the girls father, told KPTV. You know, thank God I didnt get a hold of her when she stepped in the house because it wouldve been a different story.

While she was interviewed, Romero told the court staff at the county jail that she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, anxiety and depression, The Oregonian reported. She also said her daughter was in the states care.A troubling video of a woman wearing only a T-shirt and what appeared to be shackles around her wrists has prompted Texas officials to launch a search for her.

The woman rang the doorbell of a Sunrise Ranch subdivision home at around 3:20 a.m. Friday, according to the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office. The woman woke up the homeowner, but she was gone by the time the person answered the door, according to the Houston Chronicle.

The resident, who wasnt immediately identified, reviewed their security footage and sent it to the sheriffs office.

Since Montgomery County officials released the video on social media, numerous citizens around Texas have suggested the woman could be a missing person from as far as Canada, Montgomery County Sheriffs Lt. Scott Spencer said.

Officials have interviewed several residents in the neighborhood, according to the Chronicle. Spencer couldnt confirm whether there were in fact restraints around the womans wrists and added theres still a lot to be done.

Anyone with information about the woman was encouraged to call the sheriffs office at 936-760-5800 and refer to case No. 18A243347.Authorities in the suburbs in Philadelphia are searching for a person of interest in the murder of a former Playboy playmate discovered strangled inside her apartment.

The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office released surveillance video and photos on Monday of a man described as a "person of interest" in the slaying of 36-year-old Christina Carlin-Kraft.

Carlin-Kraft was found dead on Wednesday in the bedroom of her condo in the upscale suburb of Ardmore, located just west of Philadelphia. Her cause of death was ruled ligature strangulation.

The DA's office said the 36-year-old was seen on surveillance video in Philadelphia early Wednesday walking with the man, who was wearing a black jacket with white head covering.

"The male may have also utilized a ridesharing service from the area of 13th and Locust Streets to Sibley Avenue in Ardmore," officials said.

Officials told FOX29 that surveillance cameras caught the man entering the condo complex where Carlin-Kraft lived, but he's never seen leaving, possibly escaping through a balcony.

BODY OF EX-PLAYBOY MODEL FOUND STRANGLED IN HOME, POLICE SAY

The 36-year-old's body was found hours later after a welfare check by police.

The murder happened near a popular upscale shopping center, causing residents to fear the killer is still out there five days later.

Im afraid, I left the city for that reason. Because of the crime. So definitely here it makes us worry," Ardmore resident Nancy Klinghoffer told FOX29.

The one-time Playboy model had at least one minor brush with the law, according to court papers. In 2016 Carlin-Kraft assaulted a waiter at an upscale Manhattan restaurant, the New York Post reported. Carlin-Kraft was charged with misdemeanor assault, attempted assault and harassment. Prosecutors later dismissed the charges.

Anyone with information regarding the identity of the person of interest or knowledge of a rideshare transport he took is asked to contact the Lower Merion Police Department at 610-649-1000 or the Montgomery County Detective Bureau at 610-278-3368.

Fox News' Bradford Betz contributed to this report.A high school senior in California was arrested Monday after she went on a profanity-laced tirade against a classmate for wearing a Make America Great Again hat.

Union Mine High School student, Jo-Ann Butler, 17, was suspended for one week and faces two counts of battery: one against her classmate for grabbing his MAGA hat and the other against her English teacher, whom she slapped as he escorted her out of the classroom in an altercation captured on a cellphone, according to CBS Sacramento.

Thats a racist and hateful symbol, Butler said, adding she took out her anger at the student to wake people up in some type of way, because its not cool the environment our classroom is in.

ACCUSED MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN HAT THIEF COULD FACE JAIL TIME

The school districts policy allows students to wear political gear.

According to El Dorado Sheriffs Sgt. Anthony Prencipe, Butler started verbally berating her classmate for wearing the pro-President Trump hat.

At one point, the upset student grabbed the hat and threw it on the ground.

The English teacher told Butler to leave, but she came back in, arguing again with the hats owner. Prencipe says the teacher stepped in to hold back the angry student, who then slapped him on the arm.

A school resource officer arrested Butler, who was transported to the El Dorado County Juvenile Hall.

TEACHER COMPARES TRUMP MAGA HAT TEEN TO NAZI IN VULGAR TWEET: F--- EM

The school district released a statement that reads in part: Student and staff safety is our highest priority and the UMHS administration will continue to cooperate with the El Dorado County Sheriffs Office as the incident is being investigated.

The El Dorado County District Attorney is expected to formally charge Butler later this week.A Texas couples fun-filled road trip ended with them in handcuffs on Monday after police said officers discovered they left their 11-year-old daughter home alone for days so they could attend a concert in Michigan.

John Guerrero, 48, and Virginia Yearnd, 39, were arrested at their Houston home after they traveled to Detroit to see the English rock band Godflesh, the Houston Chronicle reported. Guerrero and Yearnds 11-year-old daughter had been home alone since last Wednesday.

Cops began investigating the couple when the girls great aunt called police Thursday to report that the child had been home alone since the day before, the newspaper reported, citing court documents. Deputies reportedly started calling Guerrero and Yearnd, but couldnt reach the duo for hours.

Yearnd eventually picked up one of the calls and told police they were in Louisiana, according to the report. She eventually confessed that she and Guerrero were in Detroit for a rock concert.

Officers went to check on the 11-year-old girl, who they found trying to cook. The girl said no one came to check up on her, despite her mother telling deputies that she asked her sister to look after her daughter. Its unclear when police checked on the girl.

Guerrero and Yearnd were charged with second-degree felony child endangerment. They were booked into jail with no bond.

They face 20 years in prison if convicted.A man who reported that his nephew was missing during a trip to a Texas convenience store in 1981 was charged with the boys murder Monday, police said.

Terry Lee Woodson, 64, told police he beat Anthony Tyrone Burt Woodson, 5, to death on Aug. 29, 1981, Lt. Michael Midkiff, a spokesperson for the Mansfield Police Department, told Dallas News.

Woodson used an electrical cord or other unknown object" to beat the boy while disciplining him, the paper reported, citing court documents.

Woodson was arrested on Aug. 16 on a murder warrant and placed in the Tarrant County Jail with a bail set at $200,000. The boys remains have not been found, police said.

MYSTERY AS WOMAN IN T-SHIRT AND POSSIBLY SHACKLES APPEARS ON TEXAS HOMEOWNERS DOORSTEP

Anthony's mother gave his grandmother custody of the child and the boy was sent to live with his uncle after his grandmothers eyesight started to worsen. The boys parents were going through a divorce when the mother gave custody of her son to the grandmother.

The young boy was reported missing from a 7-Eleven convenience store in Mansfield around 3:30 a.m.

At the time, Woodson told authorities he took his nephew to the store with him to buy a drink because he did not want to leave him behind with his wife who was sleeping. Woodson said the boy fell asleep during the car ride and he did not realize the boy was missing until he got home, the Star-Telegram reported.

He told police he saw another car pull up at the 7-Eleven at the time, but could not describe what the driver looked like. Police and volunteers conducted a search party to look for the boy, but were not successful.

MODEL CHARGED AFTER HOMELESS MAN BEATING CAPTURED IN SURVEILLANCE VIDEO

The case was reopened in May 2017 by the Mansfield Police Department after it was determined the child wasnt taken from his uncles car.

As the cold case investigation progressed, it was revealed that Anthony was not kidnapped out of his uncles vehicle, police said in a news release. Numerous interviews with the uncle, Terry Lee Woodson, revealed that Anthony was in fact beaten to death at the hands of Terry Woodson during the course of discipline.

Police have asked anyone with information to come forward regarding the missing boy and the location of his remains.Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly held a meeting on Tuesday with Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi on the future of oil and gas discoveries in Egypt, state agency MENA reported.

During the meeting, Madbouly expressed his appreciation for the existing cooperation with Eni, citing the Zohr offshore field, the largest gas discovery ever made in Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea.

For his part, Descalzi reviewed a report on the company's current activities and projects in Egypt.

The pair also discussed Eni's plans to increase investments in Egypt in the coming period, as well as the company's exploration and development activities in Sinai, the Gulf of Suez and the Western Desert.

It comes nearly two months after the Italian giant announced a second oil discovery in Egypts Western Desert, some 130 km north of the Siwa Oasis.

The discovery was made on the B1-X exploration prospect located in the South West Meleiha Concession.

Egypt is seeking to speed up production from recently discovered fields, with the aim of halting gas imports by 2019 and achieving self-sufficiency.

The giant Zohr offshore gas field in the Mediterranean contains an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of gas; production started in late 2017, with an initial production of 350 million cubic feet per day.

The daily production will increase to 1.75 billion cubic feet by the end of August, and to 2 billion cubic feet by September, according to statements by Egypt's petroleum minister earlier this month.

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The mother of a toddler from Guatemala who died after leaving a Texas immigration facility wants $40 million for her childs wrongful death, her lawyers said Tuesday.

Mariee Juarez died May 10, six weeks after she was discharged from the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, according to the notice of claim, the first step before a formal lawsuit. Mariee was 19 months old when she went to Dilley on March 5.

Those responsible for providing safe, sanitary conditions and proper medical care failed this little girl, and it caused her to die a painful death," Mariees attorney R. Stanton Jones said Tuesday. Mariee Juarez entered Dilley a healthy baby girl and 20 days later was discharged a gravely ill child with a life-threatening respiratory infection.

The 10-page notice of claim was filed Tuesday against the City of Eloy. The Arizona city serves as the federal governments prime contractor operating the Dilley facility, according to Jones who is with the Washington white-shoe law firm Arnold & Porter.

TEXAS OFFICIALS GET NAME OF BABY WHO REPORTEDLY DIED AFTER LEAVING ICE FACILITY

A lawyer for the City of Elon did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.

Reports circulated online nearly a month ago of a child dying after being released from the Dilley facility, which holds hundreds of immigrant mothers and children. Initial reports that the child died at Dilley were erroneous. The law firm had refused to release information about the case for several weeks.

Yazmin Juarez, a Guatemalan national, was traveling with Mariee when she was caught trying to enter the country illegally March 1. The notice of claims said she crossed the Rio Grande in Texas and was trying to seek asylum in the U.S. because she feared for her and Mariees safety in Guatemala.

Within a week of entering Dilley, Mariee was running a 104-degree fever, suffering from a cough, congestion, diarrhea, and vomiting, Jones said. The medical staff who discharged her weeks later noted none of these conditions and cleared her for travel without even seeing Mariee, conducting any kind of examination or taking her vitals, he claimed.

The girl spent the last six weeks of her life at hospitals in New Jersey and Philadelphia. Her lungs had collapsed from a respiratory infection, the attorney said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) defended its treatment of detained migrants and the condition of their family centers in a statement without commenting specifically on the toddler's death, the Houston Chronicle reported.

ICE takes very seriously the health, safety and welfare of those in our care, a federal official said in an email, according the paper. ICE is committed to ensuring the welfare of all those in the agencys custody, including providing access to necessary and appropriate medical care. Comprehensive medical care is provided to all individuals in ICE custody.

The story of the childs death spread on social media the night of July 31 when Houston lawyer Mana Yegani tweeted that she had heard of claims a child died in ICE custody in Dilley, Texas.

After ICE refuted the report the following day, Yegani subsequently clarified that the child, a little girl, died following her stay at the detention center as a result of possible negligent care and a respiratory illness she contracted from one of the other children.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services opened an investigation after being given the childs name, Fox News reported three weeks ago.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.In a story Aug. 24 about a Palestinian nurse involved in an attack against Israeli forces, The Associated Press reported erroneously that his employer, Doctors Without Borders, said he had been killed by Israeli troops. The group says he was killed, but it did not provide a cause of death.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Israel says Palestinian militant worked as nurse for MSF

Israel identifies Palestinian militant who it says attempted cross-border attack, says he was a nurse with MSF

By ILAN BEN ZION

Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP)  Israel has identified a Palestinian militant who it says attempted to carry out a cross-border attack this week, saying he worked as a nurse for the aid group Doctors Without Borders.

A statement released late Thursday by COGAT, the Israeli defense body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, said Hani al-Majdalawi tried to infiltrate Israel from Gaza, opened fire at soldiers and threw a bomb.

Israeli troops apparently shot and killed al-Majdalawi during the attack on Monday. The Israeli military has not said whether it is holding al-Majdalawi's remains.

According to the statement, COGAT's commander, Maj. Gen. Kamil Abu Rokon, said those who take "part in saving lives should assist in humanitarian activities in the Gaza Strip, and should not take part in terrorism."

Alva White, spokeswoman for Doctors Without Borders, confirmed al-Majdalawi had worked for the organization. She said the group, also known under its French acronym MSF was "working to verify and understand the circumstances regarding this extremely serious incident."

Al-Majdalawi's brother Osama said on Facebook that his brother had bought the rifle with his own money and that he was not affiliated with any militant group but a newly married man with a pregnant wife.

Monday's incident came amid Egyptian efforts to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist militant group that rules the Gaza Strip. The two sides have come close to serious conflict in recent weeks, as militants launched rockets and mortars into Israel, which retaliated with airstrikes.

Since March, Hamas leaders have organized violent protests weekly along the Gaza border fence.

Clashes with Israeli troops on the border have seen at least 168 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire, including at least 125 protesters, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry and a local rights group. An Israeli soldier was killed by a Gaza sniper during this same period.The father of a 3-year-old British boy, who suffered serious burns to his face in arm in an apparent acid attack, has been charged in the incident and was due in court Tuesday along with five other men.

The man, 39, who wasnt identified, and five others were charged with conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm after the substance was thrown on the child inside a Home Bargains store in July.

Adam Cech, 27, Jan Dudi, 25, Norbert Pulko, 22, Saied Hussini, 41, and Jabar Paktia, 41, were among those charged in the Worcester attack, according to Sky News.

The child was discharged from the hospital days after suffering the burns, but police said the long-term prognosis of his injuries is not yet known.

The use of corrosive liquids, which leave victims gruesomely disfigured with life-altering injuries, has grown in popularity the last few years.

In Britain, the number of reported attacks using acid rose from 262 in 2015 to 454 in 2016. In 2017, there were more than 500 acid attacks reported across the region.

British police have reported seeing an increase in acid attacks during the last year, but it is very rare for a victim to be so young. Some attacks are related to gang fights or late-night bar confrontations.

Robin Walker, the Worcester representative in Parliament, said lawmakers are considering toughening sentences for people convicted of any type of intentional assault with acid.

He described what happened to the 3-year-old boy as horrific.

Fox News Lucia I. Suarez Sang contributed to this report.The Egyptian hotel room where a British couple died had a "strange odor" inside, an Egyptian official revealed Tuesday, as investigators continue to probe what led to the deaths.

Maj. Gen. Ahmed Abdullah, governor of Egypt's Red Sea region where the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel is located, said "there was a strange odor in the room," according to Sky News.

John and Susan Cooper died last Tuesday morning while on vacation at the hotel in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada. The deaths of the couple, ages 69 and 63, prompted travel company Thomas Cook to evacuate 300 guests from the hotel as a precaution.

The room remains sealed off while engineers inspect ventilation and air conditioning systems, according to Abdullah, who added that the Coopers' bodies will be analyzed by a forensic laboratory in Cairo.

The governor added that only 23 of the hotel's 1,995 guests visited the on-site clinic or requested medical assistance in the last week, adding that those who felt unwell had stomach cramps from swallowing seawater or spent too much time in the sun.

The couple's daughter, Kelly Ormerod, has said she is suspicious because her parents had been in perfect health hours before they died. She previously told Sky News that her father, John Cooper, died in his room while her mother died after she was taken to the hospital.

"I think when they went back to that room that evening there was something in that room that's actually killed them -- whether they've inhaled something that poisoned them, I don't know," she told Sky News. "I can only have my opinion on what's gone on, but there's something that happened in that room that killed my parents."

BRITISH COUPLE DIES IN EGYPT HOTEL, DAUGHTER SAYS 'SOMETHING IN THAT ROOM' KILLED PARENTS

On Sunday, Thomas Cook Group CEO Peter Fankhauser told Sky News the company has brought in experts to test food, water and air conditioning systems at the Egyptian resort hotel.

"There is no evidence that it is a carbon monoxide poisoning. We have no evidence, but I don't want to rule out anything before I really know the cause," he said.

Fankhauser told Sky News that experts have taken "probes of the food, of the hygienic systems, of water, as well as the air conditioning systems and all those probes are now in Egypt," and that tests should take 10 days to complete.

Egyptian authorities dismissed criminal motives as being behind the deaths. An official statement by the Red Sea governorate on Friday said an initial medical examination of John Cooper showed he had suffered acute circulatory collapse and a sudden cardiac arrest. It said Susan Cooper later fainted and was rushed to a hospital, where resuscitation attempts continued for a half-hour.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.Iran's president attempted to explain to parliament on Tuesday how he would pull the country out of its economic nosedive, taking shots at the U.S. before lawmakers voted to reject his explanation.

Iranian lawmakers had ordered President Hassan Rouhani to answer for his role in the faltering economy amid growing political divisions in the country. Rouhani claimed that newly reimposed U.S. sanctions after President Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal would only serve to unify the country, according to Reuters.

I want to assure the Iranian nation that we will not allow the U.S. plot against the Islamic Republic to succeed, he told parliament. We will not let this bunch of anti-Iranians in the White House be able to plot against us.

Iran's currency, the rial, has lost more than two-thirds of its value in a year while the official unemployment rate sits at 12 percent. Youth unemployment, however, is as high as 25 percent in a country where 60 percent of the 80 million population is under 30, according to Reuters.

Earlier this year, nationwide protests erupted over economic anxiety, and lawmakers fired Rouhani's labor and finance ministers this month amid the economic crisis.

IRAN CLAIMS IT CONTROLS STRAIT OF HORMUZ, PROMPTING POMPEO DENIAL

Speaking Tuesday before parliament, Rouhani said those protests only strengthened Trump's hand to pull out of the atomic accord.

"This lured Trump into saying that he will not remain in the deal," Rouhani said.

Lawmakers, however, were not satisfied with the president's answer and voted four separate times to say they were unconvinced of his answers about Iran's recession, its cratering currency, unemployment and smuggling, according to the Associated Press.

Those questions now could go to Iran's judiciary for further review, serving as a warning to the cleric his political stature is slipping.

IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL: WHAT IS IT?

In recent days, rhetoric from Iran has increased as a top Iranian Navy general said that the country has taken full control of the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded Monday night, saying: "The Islamic Republic of Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait is an international waterway. The United States will continue to work with our partners to ensure freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce in international waterways."

Military officials echoed similar statements on Tuesday at a briefing with reporters at the Pentagon.

"For decades, our forces have been posted in the Gulf, to ensure freedom of navigation and we will continue to do that," said Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.next Image 1 of 2

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A Japanese man released by North Korea after being accused of a crime arrived in Beijing from Pyongyang on Tuesday and is expected to return home, reports said.

Tomoyuki Sugimoto had been in North Korean custody for an investigation into the unspecified crime, but the North's official Korean Central News Agency said Sunday the country decided to be lenient and expel him for humanitarian reasons.

Kyodo News said Sugimoto confirmed his identity to its reporters who were on the same Air Koryo flight. NHK television quoted a Japanese diplomat as confirming the man's identity and describing his health as "not bad." He is expected to return home later Tuesday, reports said.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said he could not comment "because of the nature of the matter." He only said that protection of Japanese nationals is the government's biggest responsibility.

Kyodo reported Sugimoto was escorted by North Korean authorities and showed up just before the gate closed for departure carrying a single bag. He was seated in economy-class but an official of the state-run Air Koryo sat in the row behind him and watched over him, Kyodo said.

He was silent during the trip except for asking a Kyodo reporter's identity before boarding the flight, the news agency said.

Earlier reports say Sugimoto was believed to be a videographer and was arrested in the North's western port city of Nampo, where North Korea may have suspected him of filming a military facility. Kyodo, quoting an unidentified Japanese government source, said Sugimoto was on a North Korea tour arranged by a China-based travel agent.

The Japanese government reportedly had sought his release through the North Korean Embassy in Beijing. Japan does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea.

In December 1999, a Japanese correspondent for the Nikkei newspaper was detained in North Korea for more than two years on spying charges in Pyongyang. Separately, Japan and North Korea have also disputed over abductions of Japanese citizens decades ago.

North Korea has also arrested other foreign nationals. Three Korean-Americans accused of anti-state activities and detained for more than a year were released and returned home in May. American college student Otto Warmbier, accused of stealing a propaganda poster and sentenced to 15 years in prison in the North, died in June 2017 days after he was repatriated to the U.S. with severe brain damage.

Their arrests had compounded the dire state of relations over North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

___

Follow Mari Yamaguchi on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mariyamaguchi

Find her work at https://www.apnews.com/search/mari%20yamaguchiThe Catholic Church is reeling after a grand jury report in Pennsylvania found that possibly more than 1,000 children in six dioceses had been sexually abused by about 300 priests or higher ranking officials.

On top of that, the report said that bishops and other top church officials had tried to contain the public outcry and liability by covering up the crimes, which Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro claimed went all the way to the Vatican.

But the report, and the Vaticans subsequent tepid response, has exposed a split within the Holy See which threatens to bring down Pope Francis just five years after he replaced Pope Benedict XVI.

ITALY JOURNALIST SAYS HE HELPED PEN BOMBSHELL AGAINST POPE

Several days after the news broke and dominated U.S. headlines, the Vatican released a statement. Using uncharacteristically strong language for the Vatican, even on such serious issues as child abuse, the Holy See spokesman said to victims that the pope is on their side.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said the incidents of abuse graphically documented in the grand jury report were betrayals of trust that robbed survivors of their dignity and their faith.

The church must learn hard lessons from its past, and there should be accountability for both abusers and those who permitted abuse to occur, he said.

POPE'S ALLEGED COVER-UP PIVOTS ON WHEN, IF SANCTIONS IMPOSED

But for many Catholics and long-time Vatican observers, the acknowledgment of the criminal behavior was too little, too late.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group that describes itself as agnostics and atheists (including former Catholics) are running a full-page ad later this week in The New York Times urging people to leave the Church.

Priests were raping little boys and girls, and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did nothing; they hid it all, the ad says. Six dioceses, three hundred predatory priests, a staggering 1,000-plus victims. No bishops indicted. The popes response? All words, no action  except, insultingly, to call on the faithful to pray and fast.

The advert in the Times comes after Francis was taken to task on Sunday by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former Vatican ambassador to the U.S.

POPE REFUSES TO COMMENT ON CLAIMS HE IGNORED MCCARRICK ABUSE ACCUSATIONS

In a damning 11-page letter released to ultra-conservative media in Europe, during the popes trip to Ireland over the weekend, Vigano accused the pontiff of being among Church hierarchy who knew  and did little or nothing towards disciplining  about rumored sexual indiscretions by ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

In fact, Vigano asserted, McCarrick was rehabilitated from sanctions imposed by Pope Benedict XVI, promoted and made part of high-profile Vatican events even as rumors about him swirled.

The timing of Viganos accusations have been seen by the progressive popes supporters as a deliberate attempt by more conservative factions to undermine his tenure, which has seen him reach out to homosexuals and divorced parishioners.

FORMER VATICAN DIPLOMAT CALLS FOR POPE FRANCIS TO RESIGN, CLAIMS HE IGNORED SEX ABUSE ALLEGATIONS

Compounding matters, Francis told reporters on Sunday that he "won't say a word" about Vigano's memo, saying it "speaks for itself".

Francis burst onto the global stage as a papal rock star of sorts in 2013, with people dubbing him a breath of fresh air. The first South American-born pope routinely went to prisons and washed inmates feet, spoke to the homeless, and expressed respect and fondness for those cast aside by society.

David Gibson, a former veteran religion writer and now director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University, says the backlash against Francis for the slower than preferred response to the abuse allegations is unfair.

Gibson said that Francis, admittedly, has been on a learning curve as far as dealing with a decades-old crisis of sex abuse by priests and high-ranking church officials.

He seems to be too much a creature of the Old Church, Gibson said. But hes been better than his predecessors. He believed in churchman before victims. He moved very carefully, giving deference to the church. That was evident in Chile, and the sex abuse allegations there.

Francis defended a bishop in his home country who was accused by victims of knowing about and ignoring abuse they suffered.

Then, he did an about-face, practically forcing Chilean bishops to resign for their grave defects in handling the abuse reports.

Furthermore, Francis accused them of destroying evidence, obstructing justice and putting children in harms way around pedophiles.

The move was noted as the first such time the Vatican initiated a bold action to hold bishops accountable for covering up sex abuse, and it did it very publicly.

Pope Francis wrote a very heartfelt apology, he said I was wrong and I must change, Gibson said. No pope ever had fired a bishop.

The scandals increasingly coming to the surface are a legacy he inherited from the last 60 years.

However, that does not excuse Pope Francis from slow responses now, Gibson said.

He is the pope, so its his responsibility to fix it.

Victims and their advocates for decades have lamented that top Catholic churchmen repeatedly put the reputation of the church ahead of obligations to protect children from harm from pedophile priests.

Groups of Catholic abuse survivors say swift and public actions are needed immediately to change the culture in dioceses and parishes that allow such abuses to still occur.

As he arrived in Ireland Pope Francis has once again missed another opportunity to seriously and concretely tell the world what he is going to do about the child sexual abuse and cover up crisis, said Peter Isely, founding member of Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA), a worldwide organization of abuse survivors and human rights activists who calling on Roman Catholic Church to end clergy abuse. This crisis is a global crisis. It not only effects Ireland, where there has been so much suffering, but in every corner of the globe where the Catholic Church is present.

What is most important about the Popes speech is what he did not say. He did not say that he will change church law so that any priest who has sexually abused a child will be permanently removed from ministry, Isely said. He did not say that any bishop who has been proven to have covered up sex crimes will be removed from office. Until he at least says and does that, nothing else he says and does will be effective in ending the crisis.The U.N. director of humanitarian operations warned Tuesday that a large-scale Syrian government offensive in the last major rebel stronghold in northern Idlib province "has the potential to create a humanitarian emergency at a scale not yet seen" in the seven-year civil war.

John Ging called on members of the U.N. Security Council Tuesday "to do all they can to ensure that we avoid this."

The Syrian government is gearing up for an expected offensive in Idlib province, which is home to nearly 3 million people and has a large al-Qaida presence in addition to Syrian rebel groups. It borders Turkey, which fears an offensive may trigger a humanitarian and security catastrophe.

Ging said recent weeks have seen "a further serious deterioration of the humanitarian situation" with intense bombing and shelling reported in parts of Idlib as well as Aleppo, Hama and Latakia provinces resulting in civilian deaths and destruction of schools and hospitals.

He said humanitarian organizations are trying to sustain their current response and prepare for a possible further deterioration, "but a worst-case scenario in Idlib will overwhelm capacities and has the potential to create a humanitarian emergency at a scale not yet seen through this crisis."

The United States, Britain and France have warned that they will respond "appropriately" to any chemical weapons attack in Idlib  a warning repeated to council members Tuesday by all three countries.

Russia again accused Syrian rebels of preparing a chemical attack, which Moscow says the West will use to justify a strike against Syrian forces. Russia also claims British special forces are helping the rebels, including by possibly supplying chlorine, allegations vehemently denied by Britain's U.N. Ambassador Karen Pierce who called them "baseless" and "outlandish."

"Having heard their case," Pierce told reporters after the council meeting, "it's very clear to us and our partners that this is an effort to distract from an imminent attack on Idlib."

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Syrian armed forces have no chemical weapons and there is no military need for them.

"People in their right minds will not use means that are useless from a military point of view in order to trigger reprisals by three major powers. But of course publicity about what is expected provocation could unleash the strikes," he said.

"Thank you for this warning of your response. We want to also warn you that we are absolutely aware of your unsavory plans," Nebenzia said. "We strongly suggest that you refrain from them. Carrying out these plans will further deliver a strike against a peaceful resolution in Syria."

Pierce, the current Security Council president, was asked whether in closed consultations she saw any prospect that the 15 members would unite and respond to Ging's plea to avoid a humanitarian disaster in Idlib.

"The short answer is no, and that's very sad," she said. "In closed consultations the Russians backed off their original consultations a little bit. I'd like to think that that meant we might be able to get to a sensible outcome on Idlib in the council that helps protect civilians."

"But I'm afraid all the evidence so far is against us. We will still try," Pierce said.Egypt signed on Tuesday a soft loan agreement with South Korea.



Under the deal, South Korea will provide Egypt with 243 million Euros to manufacture and import 32 metro trains to be used in Cairo Metro Line 3.



The deal was inked by the head of the National Authority for Tunnels Tareq Jamal Al Deen in South Korea.

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Thank you so much to all the families that stopped by the Grunion for the Belmont Shore Business Association's Trick-Or-Treat on Second Street! We saw some fantastic costumes this year, did we catch you on the Grunion camera? Check out our photo gallery below.Numerous complaints from citizens : Bonns Public Order Office is overstretched during night duty

Bonn The Bonn Public Order Office is overstretched. At the same time, the police union is demanding that officers no longer be called out to disturbances of the peace. Citizens are annoyed.

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The citys public order service cannot be reached at night and takes too long when called. Bonn residents repeatedly criticise those overseeing the Public Order Office, which is supposed to mediate breaches of the peace, for example, during evening hours. At the same time, the German Police Union (DPolG) is demanding that police officers no longer be called out to noise disturbances.

They currently do this frequently because the public order services are overstretched. This has also been confirmed by the city of Bonn. The situation should improve from next spring. Head of department Carsten Sperling has announced that the night time patrol duty will be restructured and personnel increased.

Frank Hoffmann is annoyed. He lives on Poppelsdorfer Allee and especially at weekends, the streets do not quieten down. Often not a night goes by during which young people arent settling down on the benches between 10pm and 2.30 am and cranking up loud music, he explains.

If you reach someone at the Public Order Office after several attempts, you hear that it will take a long time. By the time someone appears, another noise-filled hour can have passed.

The city of Bonn is aware of this problem. How quickly employees arrive depends on how far away they currently are and how many incidents have already taken place. We cant give exact times, it can take from ten minutes to an hour or more, explains Carsten Sperling.

Reason for poor availability

There is also an understandable reason for the poor availability: from Monday to Thursday from 6pm and on Sundays from 10am to 1am, incoming calls are diverted to the patrol services mobile phone. Employees can only use the phone if the situation allows.

This has consequences for the police. They fill in when the Public Order Office is unavailable or is not on duty at night. There is a clear call for more police, but it would be a start if the police could limit themselves to their original legal tasks, says Andreas Gut, chairman of DPolG Bonn.

By law, the district Public Order Offices are responsible for breaches of the peace, but in many places there are arrangements with the police. To simply hand tasks over to the police is not the answer, even if this has long been the practice in Bonn, says Gut.

Public order service will soon be strengthened at night

The city public order service will be strengthened and reorganised in the evenings from next spring. The core hours will be extended at the weekends and on public holidays from 1am to 2am. In addition, employees will remain in the city-owned control centre during these hours so that the patrol service no longer has to coordinate operations from their mobile phones.

A third car patrol will be added to the current two, which always comprise two people. Two additional foot patrols will be used as required. Ultimately, this is a compromise and a question of money. The city cant take over completely without further measures, as then significantly more personnel would be required, says Sperling.

It remains to be seen in practice whether the situation will then noticeably improve. Noise complaints have risen sharply in recent years. The trend is for the police to be called to such disputes more often, says Pfau.

He appeals for people to try and solve problems with breaches of the peace within their neighbourhood. A conversation often helps. Nevertheless, he is also seeing the mood becoming more aggressive. In such cases and where there are large groups, the police are, of course, the correct contact. Then well support the Public Order Office.

Until 1am, citizens should first contact the Public Order Service on 0228/773333. If officials are not available or do not arrive in time, the police will take action. Their number is 0228/150.Success story : Gin from Bonn-Lessenich sold Germany-wide

Lessenich From a mad idea to a success story: Daniel Wartacz from Lessenich had a penchant for gin and Naked Gin is the result.

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With the founding of his Bonn cottage industry in Martin-Legros-Strae, Daniel Wartacz fulfilled a dream in 2015 and in Naked Gin, created a brand exactly to his taste. Wartacz has long won over bars across the world with his own recipe. The Naked has already received several awards at international trade fairs. Now another award has been added: at the International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC), the brand received the silver medal and is therefore one of the best gins in the world. The distillery from the federal city won against spirits from around 90 countries.

What was initially planned as a hobby with a small production of 290 bottles has long since become a hit in the industry. Gin from Bonn is now on the shelves of high quality specialist shops all over Germany.

Juniper, lavender, sloes, ginger and pepper

Wartacz will naturally not give out the exact recipe, but he does reveal some of the 21 ingredients: Besides juniper, it contains lavender, sloes, ginger and pepper. Lavender and sloes remove the pungency of the alcohol, ginger and pepper provide spice and a rounded taste, explains the founder of the one-man operation.

His gin is distilled in North Rhine-Westphalia. Wartacz does not want to reveal exactly where. Each bottle passes through the masters hands after being filled. Wartacz then numbers, labels and seals each article personally. The Lengsdorf entrepreneur also wants to participate in international trade fairs and competitions in the future with two new products: the pear brandy Mr Williams and the pear liqueur Mrs Williams.

And how does Wartacz prefer to drink his gin? As the name suggests, naked of course, he laughs. Or with some ice and a sprig of rosemary at most. Naked and pure, he adds. So you do not have to take your clothes off to enjoy a Naked. How fortunate.Egypt's General Authority for Supply and Commodities (GASC) signed contracts on Tuesday to import 350,000 tons of wheat from Russia and Romania.



Upon an international bid held earlier in the day, Egypt will import 290,000 tons of wheat from Russia and 60,000 tons from Romania, GASC deputy head Ahmed Youssef said in a statement.



It will be shipped to Egypt from October 11 to 20, he added.

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France said on Monday it had killed a top official from Islamic State group's affiliate in West Africa in an operation in Mali that also killed another member of the group and two civilians.

The defence ministry, in a statement, named him as Mohamed Ag Almouner and said he was one of the top officials of the Islamic State group in the Greater Sahara. It did not name the second member of the group who was killed.

The ministry said two civilians - a woman and a teenager - were killed in the operation which was carried out on Sunday. Two other civilians and a member of the Islamic State group's affiliate group were also injured, the statement said.

It said it regretted the civilians' death.

France has deployed around 4,000 French troops in the West Africa's Sahel region as part of Operation Barkhane aimed at combating Islamist militants in the region.

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In recent years, Louisiana has bounced from one budget crisis to another, with a decades worth of short-term fixes barely keeping the lights on. As the current fiscal year approached, the state faced yet another fiscal showdown, with revenue sources expiring and a shortfall threatening deep cuts to hospitals, nursing homes, and colleges and universities, as well as the possible elimination of the food stamp program entirely.But a week before the fiscal year began in July, legislators agreed on a repair package that shifted $46 million in oil spill recovery money into the operating budget and, more important, preserved a sales tax increase that was set to expire. Or part of it, anyway. Rather than extending the full 1-cent surtax, lawmakers agreed to keep nearly half of it in place for the next seven years. Thats practically a lifetime in Louisiana budgeting. By working together, for the first time in a long time, Louisianas budget will have the kind of stability and predictability we need to bring new business opportunities to our state and grow our economy, said Gov. John Bel Edwards, who was applauding a sudden upgrade from Moodys, the credit rating agency.Robert Johnson, who chairs the Democratic caucus in the state House, put it differently. The ghost of Bobby Jindal has finally left the building, he told the, referring to the states most recent ex-governor, who left the state in terrible shape financially.Theres no question that the legislature managed to avert a set of painful spending cuts. But it may be a little premature to pop the champagne corks. While the budget deal enhanced revenues, it did little to address the states chronic spending problems. Overall spending by the state -- including a federal infusion of cash thanks to Louisianas belated expansion of Medicaid -- has grown by 24 percent over the past couple of years, many multiples above personal income growth. Daryl Pupera, the state legislative auditor, has warned that the Medicaid program is pretty broken right now and lacks proper oversight.Im definitely raining on the parade, says State Treasurer John Schroder, who argues the state needs to cut spending. Im glad we all came together and they passed a budget, but they didnt fix anything. Schroder fears that extending the sales tax for seven years may have removed the incentive to tackle difficult structural issues. He warns that lawmakers will be tempted to wait six years and 364 days before they take a serious swing at the spending side again. Looking ahead to next year, Republican legislators will be reluctant to cut deals with Edwards, a Democrat wholl be up for reelection.Legislators dont want to give the governor a victory to talk about in 2019, says Pearson Cross, a political scientist at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Its good they stopped the bleeding, he says. But he doesnt think theyve stopped it for good.When it comes to health outcomes for babies, the United States has some catching up to do: For every 1,000 live births, around six infants die before their first birthday, putting the U.S. behind poorer countries such as Cuba and Poland.Central Louisiana had some particularly troubling statistics. In 2013, the regions infant mortality rate was hovering around nine per 1,000 live births. Infant mortality usually correlates with poverty -- the rural region has an average per-capita income of just $25,000 -- and such associated contributing factors as low birth weight, premature birth and exposure to secondhand smoke. Unfortunately, Louisiana is full of them, says David Holcombe, medical director for Region 6 of the Louisiana Office of Public Health, which encompasses the central portion of the state.Thats why the Region 6 team decided to focus on infant mortality. Their solution was straightforward: Offer more care.In a time when rural clinics and hospitals are scaling back womens health services or closing altogether -- 86 rural hospitals have shuttered across the country since 2010 -- central Louisiana was able to take advantage of a federal grant to staff up. Now every parish in the region has a public health nurse who can counsel women on contraceptive options, STD testing and other reproductive health needs. The Region 6 team also ramped up the Nurse Family Partnership program, which assigns Medicaid-eligible pregnant women with a nurse who will assist them through pregnancy and the babys first year of life.As part of the efforts more holistic approach, the region started promoting long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), such as IUDs and arm implants. The idea is to help prevent teenage pregnancies or help women space their pregnancies out. While many doctors offices require a separate appointment to insert LARCs, Region 6 made same-day insertion available. We know that 30 percent of women who say they want one, but have to come back to get it, wont come back, Holcombe says.There is a delicate balance between encouraging long-acting reversible contraception in low-income populations and the impression of coercion, which harkens back to a history of involuntary sterilization in the early and mid-20th century. But the Region 6 effort is not about forcing women to get an IUD or implant. Its not that we want everyone to have them, but that we want to make sure everyone who wants one can have one, says Amy Zapata, director of Louisianas Bureau of Family Health.The demand is certainly there. One of the Region 6 health clinics is the states busiest by patient volume. If we had satisfied the need, we should have seen a decrease in the number of patients wanting LARCs, but we havent, says Holcombe. Weve seen mothers bring in their 13-year-olds to make sure they dont get pregnant.These efforts have paid off -- and quickly. In just two years, the infant mortality rate in Region 6 was halved, down to 4.7 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2015, the lowest of the states nine public health regions. The number bumped up slightly in 2016, but a minor uptick isnt unusual when looking at small data sets. Were looking to see if that rate is generally going up or down, says Zapata.Health officials know that focusing on the needs of women and babies is just part of the picture. We can put in a lot of LARCs and provide a lot of contraception, says Holcombe, but ultimately what drives your health is three things: education, income and social status.When governments decide to privatize functions, one of the things they often promise is that the move will save money. In Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds says privatizing management of the Medicaid system has saved the state tens of millions of dollars. But theres no real agreement about how much money has actually been saved -- or where the savings are coming from.In May, Mike Randol, Iowas Medicaid director, told legislators that the state had saved $141 million just this year through privatization. That was a lot less than the $238 million that then-Gov. Terry Branstad promised when he ordered the change back in 2015. Still, it was a lot more than earlier estimates of actual savings. In fact, it was triple the amount Randols agency had estimated as recently as January. You can see with the changing savings figures that the state has not been terribly transparent, says Anne Discher, executive director of the Child and Family Policy Center in Des Moines.Randol initially offered no explanation as to why the savings estimate had jumped from $47 million to $141 million in just a few months. He later said that the picture changed when he looked at the system as a whole, rather than individual programs and services. The state Department of Human Services (DHS) subsequently released details about its methodology, but legislators expressed some puzzlement and asked the state auditor to look into the disparity.State officials continue to insist that turning over management of the $5 billion Medicaid system to the private sector has brought the taxpayers a windfall. There is no dispute that managed care is bringing savings, says Matt Highland, a DHS spokesman.But a number of health providers in the state have complained that the numbers are a little fishy. They say the savings have resulted in part from delayed compensation to them, or complete nonpayment for legitimate treatments. They contend, among other things, that a change in the coding of procedures means valid services that arent on the new list arent being paid for. In short, providers say, theyre getting stiffed. The claims about savings were not a savings in services, but the fact that the Medicaid managed care companies simply werent paying the bills, says Peter Fisher, research director of the Iowa Policy Project, summarizing the argument. They counted that as saving money.Health-care advocates say that while there may be nothing wrong with managed care, the privatization switch was too much, too soon, with 600,000 individuals moved over into the new system all at once. In August, Reynolds fired a Medicaid adviser who had questioned the numbers. The state essentially handed over the program to three proprietary companies and has not managed the program, complains Kirk Norris, president and CEO of the Iowa Hospital Association.Norris warns that the new system may actually cost the state money in the long run. Brenna Smith, communications director for the governor, insists that the opposite is true. DHS newly released analysis reflects that our Medicaid program is the only way to ensure a responsible and sustainable program, as health-care-related costs continue to rise, Smith says.Time will tell whos right. That, and the auditors report. And, if the complaints about nonpayment for services are seen as valid, potentially some lawsuits.Jared Polis wants everyone to have health care. The Democratic candidate for governor in Colorado is promising to work together with other Western states to create a single-payer -- or make that multipayer -- consortium that will provide health coverage for every individual. Health care is a human right, Polis likes to say. I believed that 10 years ago when I first ran for Congress on a platform of Medicare for All, and I believe it today.Theres nothing particularly unusual about this stance in the current political climate. Lots of Democrats have made promises to push for some version of a universal health-care system, including a number of Democratic nominees for governor. But it still seems like a hard sell for Polis to make in Colorado. Just two years ago, voters decisively shot down a single-payer proposal known as Amendment 69. Nearly four out of five voters, or 79 percent, opposed the measure. Granted, it was a different proposal from what Polis is offering today, and it was drafted in such a way that cost it support among some liberal groups. But the intent and surely the goals were the same as the plan Polis has made the centerpiece of his campaign.Universal health care is just one of the progressive promises that Polis is running on. He also intends to fund free kindergarten and pre-K classes throughout the state. He wants to prod businesses to give employees ownership stakes in their operations. And he wants the state to convert all its energy usage to renewable sources by 2040, a policy Republicans warn will cripple the states $30 billion oil and gas industry. Polis, who is 43, has served in Congress for the past decade. (He made history as the first openly gay man to win a seat as a nonincumbent; if he wins in November, he will be Americas first openly gay man elected governor.) This spring, he introduced legislation to roll back last years tax cut package, prompting a derisive tweet from President Trump that Polis proudly wears as a blue badge of honor. Jared Polis is really the most liberal candidate the Democrats have ever fielded, says Dick Wadhams, a GOP consultant and former state party chair. The Democratic Party has moved to a place its never been before.If Polis represents a break from the more centrist line of Democrats whove been elected in recent decades to the job, including term-limited Gov. John Hickenlooper, his opponent has also endorsed policies that place him on the right end of the spectrum. State Treasurer Walker Stapleton has talked incessantly about the dangers of sanctuary city policies, to the extent that he almost comes across as a single-issue candidate. During the Republican primary campaign, the 44-year-old Stapleton gave Trump a starring role in all his ads. They both tried to appeal to the more, lets say, politically oriented voters in their base, Hickenlooper says, which for the Republicans are much more to the right and the Democrats much more to the left.Around the country, candidates in both parties are doing their best to fire up their bases. In campaigns for governor, candidates are talking a lot about national issues that excite partisan constituencies -- not least Trump himself, whether theyre Republicans pledging fealty to the president or Democrats who are repulsed by him. Theyre not devoting nearly as much time or focus to the state-level issues theyll actually grapple with as governor. It probably wont hinge on who has the best road proposal or who has the best plan for K-12, says Bill Owens, the last Republican governor of Colorado. Its winnable for either party, but its about who is able to define the other as too extreme. Its who can make the most ad hominem attacks.Although this may be a familiar scenario in many states this year, its still a little bit surprising that things are playing out this way in Colorado, which is among the most closely divided states in the country. Registered independents there outnumber both Democrats and Republicans. Democrats narrowly control the state House, but Republicans have a one-seat advantage in the state Senate. Hickenlooper just barely managed to hold on for reelection during the 2014 GOP wave, taking 49 percent against a weak opponent. Colorado Republicans won all the other statewide contests during that last midterm, including a U.S. Senate seat held by a Democrat. Hillary Clinton carried the state by five points in 2016 and now Trumps approval ratings are deep underwater. With the right candidate, this state trends slightly red, Democratic consultant Ted Trimpa says. Anyone who thinks its going to be a blowout either way is high.In a state split between its Democratic cities and conservative rural areas, most elections are decided by the swing voters in suburban Jefferson and Arapahoe counties. But neither Polis nor Stapleton seems to feel that his best hope lies in appealing to the mythical middle voter. Instead, both camps are working to excite their core supporters, in large part by tearing down the other guy as being beyond the pale. Moving toward the middle is probably an outdated paradigm, says Joe Webb, who chairs the Jefferson County Republican Party.Webb was one of the breakfast speakers at a recent Monday morning meeting of the Jefferson County Republican Mens Club (where women are ever and always welcome). Over their eggs and pancakes, about 30 attendees were warned repeatedly about the stakes in the governors race. Fred Holland, the clubs organizer, said that Nov. 6 is probably the most important election in your lifetime, while Kim Monson, a Denver radio personality, warned we are facing an ideological Normandy. For his part, Webb sought to persuade these stalwart Republican voters to get active and volunteer strictly on the basis that Polis was unacceptably liberal. Regardless of how you voted in the primary, he said, theres only one person between Jared Polis and the governors mansion.Webb isnt the only Republican worried about Polis winning. The Democrat led in polling conducted in the aftermath of the June 26 primary by comfortable single-digit margins. Polis is one of the richest members of Congress, having sold two internet companies, Blue Mountain and ProFlowers, for a combined $1.25 billion. He has always spent freely on his own races -- well over $10 million during this years primary alone -- and hes built up a network of field operations around the state that Stapleton has yet to come close to matching. Republicans also recognize that Colorado presents the kind of demographic profile that suits Democrats at the moment, with large numbers of minorities -- the state is 21 percent Hispanic -- and highly educated urban professionals. Democratic turnout nearly tripled in the primary from 2014 levels, rising 197 percent. Republican turnout, by comparison, was up by about 30 percent. Independents, known in Colorado as unaffiliated voters, could vote in a partisan primary for the first time this year, and 62 percent of them chose to vote on the Democratic side. I dont think you can look at that and not see that the intensity is on the Democratic side, says Wadhams, the GOP consultant. We would sure be crowing about it if more Republicans were voting in primaries.Colorados population has grown by 10 percent since 2010, with much of that growth centered in the Denver-Boulder metro area, which attracted 400,000 additional residents. Denver proper gave just 19 percent of its vote to Trump in 2016; his share in Boulder County was 22 percent. Its possible that Polis will get essentially no support in places like southern Colorado or along the Western Slope, but the yoga mat-toting residents of Denver may well be able to outvote them at this point. In order to win, Stapleton will have to keep Polis vote share under 70 percent in Denver, says Democratic state Rep. Dan Pabon. That wont be an easy task if he continues to frequently and openly embrace Trump. Denver and the metro area have a blue heart, and that blue heart gets bigger every year, Pabon says. This year, that blue heart is beating pretty fast, given the dynamics in Washington.If the blue heart of Colorado has truly grown in size, it may not matter how liberal or expensive the promises Polis has been making might be, at least not during an election year dominated by partisan passions. Jared Polis is not the type of Democratic candidate who has thrived around here over the last four decades, says Colorado political commentator Eric Sondermann. If Jared Polis becomes governor, either theres a huge blue wave that washes over the country and this state, or Colorado has fundamentally changed and is now California East, as opposed to Nebraska West.Colorado has been a state where the pendulum of political control has swung repeatedly in recent years. When Owens ran for governor in 1998, Republicans had been blocked from the office for 24 years. He led them out of the desert by running on a simple, straightforward platform. He said he would cut taxes, strengthen schools and school accountability, and widen Interstate 25, the major north-south route that runs through Colorado Springs, Denver and Ft. Collins. After winning by less than 10,000 votes the first time around, Owens was reelected easily in 2002 with 63 percent of the vote.But despite his political success, his party lacked much of an agenda for his second term. GOP legislators soon took an ideological turn. They devoted the bulk of their time to social issues,addressing God, gays and guns rather than nuts-and-bolts concerns such as roads and schools. (Actually, they didnt ignore schools entirely. At one point, legislators debated a ban on foreign flags from schools.) The lack of focus on the practical business of government led much of Colorados business community to abandon the GOP, or at least sit on the sidelines. The result in 2004 was the first Democratic takeover of the legislature in 30 years.Owens worked pretty well with the new Democratic majority on issues such as taxes and light rail construction. Once he left office, Democrats won the governorship three straight times. As the years went by, their legislative majority grew more liberal, passing environmental laws and gun restrictions that didnt play well outside of Denver and Boulder. In 2013, 11 counties held symbolic popular votes to secede. That same year, the gun control effort led to the recalls of two Democratic state senators and the resignation of a third. In 2014, Republicans enjoyed a near sweep of statewide offices and took back the state Senate.Polis played a role both times the parties seemed to overreach. He was part of the Gang of Four wealthy investors who largely bankrolled the Democratic comeback 14 years ago. They built up a party infrastructure -- think tanks, voter identification and outreach and data collection -- that has continued to boost the prospects of Colorado Democrats. But Polis took some hits within the party for his sponsorship of initiatives for the 2014 ballot that would have curtailed fracking. He withdrew them in a compromise brokered by Hickenlooper to have a task force examine the issue, but some Democrats believe Polis proposal roused the oil and gas industry, which invested heavily in politics that year, helping to oust a sitting Democratic U.S. senator.The energy sector already pays for much of the GOP partys field operations in Colorado. Republicans are counting on oil and gas interests to match Polis millions. His push for 100 percent renewable energy sources would have multibillion-dollar negative impacts on the state of Colorado, says state GOP chair Jeff Hays.To beat Polis, Republicans will have to hit him high and hit him low, Hays adds. With the party itself, super PACs and other affiliated groups lashing the Democrat, he says, Stapleton will be freed up to offer a more optimistic vision.The question is whether he has one. In the weeks after the primary, Republicans openly expressed concern about Stapletons ability to come up with a positive agenda to sell around the state. In recent years, Republicans have lost a series of contests by nominating candidates who had a message that could win primaries but werent acceptable to the larger general election electorate. Stapleton is seen as potentially more broadly appealing, but since winning the nomination, hes spent most of his time trying to raise money to catch up, rather than touting a new vision.Stapleton is practically the personification of an establishment candidate. His great-grandfather was a five-term mayor of Denver and hes a cousin of George W. Bush. Some Republicans say Stapleton, highly conscious of the now-unfashionable Bush family connection, went too far in the primary in trying to appear Trumpian. Stapleton not only showcased Trumps image constantly, but asked Tom Tancredo -- a former congressman and failed candidate for governor and president who has long been notorious for divisive rhetoric on immigration -- to nominate him at the state party convention. Stapleton ended up winning the primary by 19 points in a four-way field. He would have been better off pivoting to the center early, which might have cut his primary margin in half but put him in a better position for the fall, says Jon Caldara, president of the Independence Institute, a free-market think tank in Denver. You can make a mathematical argument that Walker played too much to the base, he says.Most Republicans do credit Stapleton for having the acumen to navigate a tough primary field successfully. They believe he can win but recognize that there are several big ifs involved. In addition to raising money and expanding his platform of ideas, some frankly worry whether he has the charisma to win over voters. In Colorado, the likability factor is huge, Caldara says. The question is, can Stapleton turn into a likeable guy?If he cant, for now, the centerpiece of Stapletons campaign is his base strategy: seeking to gin up fears about Polis and his radical, left-wing agenda. My gosh, says Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers, if Polis cant energize Republicans in Colorado, Im not sure who can.Even before Polis was nominated, the Democratic Party had already moved too far left to suit Cheri Jahn. First elected to the legislature in 2000 as a Democrat, the senator declared herself an independent at the end of last year. She was sick of the partisan posturing, she says. Although lawmakers in the divided legislature were occasionally able to find common ground, she complains more time was spent voting on message amendments than coming up with real solutions. Jahn sees that extending into this years campaign. Its really sad to see Polis run as far left as he can and Stapleton running as far right as he can, she says. Its really tough for the independent voters to make a decision between the two.But if either candidate moves seriously to the center, the other will waste no time vigorously reminding voters of all the extreme stances hed taken just weeks or months ago. Traditionally, the best route for a candidate has been to articulate problems that affect everyday lives and how hed go about solving them. Given the states rapid growth, both liberals and conservatives alike spend a good amount of time stuck in traffic. If either ran on modernizing highways and fixing I-70, people would cross party lines to vote that message, says Rob Witwer, a former Republican legislator who coauthored a book about the Democratic takeover in 2004. It would signal to the people of Colorado that this is a candidate who is not just posturing to get into power but understands the job hes running for and has an agenda to accomplish something.Perhaps such a belief is out of step with these hyperpartisan times. Candidates choose to speak to what they believe voters are interested in. Whether because of social media or because hardly any Colorado news outlets are covering the governors race full time or because of this president, it seems that even people who follow politics closely are most interested in national issues right now. Even when the candidates address the states challenges, theyre not talking about the nitty-gritty of policy choices or management. Instead, its promises for universal health care or attacking illegal immigration. One of the lessons of this era, and the success of figures such as Trump and Bernie Sanders, is that Americans want their politicians to present big, bold ideas, says Trimpa, the Democratic consultant. I come from the school where, in campaigns, you do whatever thats legal you need to win, he says. Then, you move on to governing.Theres still a school of thought that agrees with the notion of campaigning in poetry and governing in prose. But does that still happen in practice? If you campaign by demonizing your opponents, youll come into office leading a divided state. Those resentments often carry forward into governing. They certainly dont set the stage for collaboration. Whoever gets elected governor in Colorado this year will preside over a legislature that will still be closely divided, even if his party controls both chambers. Getting anything done -- let alone realizing bold visions like universal health care -- will be a struggle. And Colorado voters have already shown the door to parties that go too far once in office.From the breakfast meetings at the Jefferson Mens Club to the state party headquarters itself, the biggest fear Republicans express is not only that Polis will win, but that once in office he will be both symptom and cause of the state becoming more like California. Despite Californias economic success, Colorado Republicans worry that adopting its politics means embracing higher taxes and greater regulation. When it comes to Californians, I think we all welcome intelligent, creative people, says Hays, the state Republican chair, but we dont want them to re-create their political environment.But Colorado is bound to be different from California in one significant way. Colorado is set for continuing growth, projected to gain 50 percent more people, to 8.5 million, by 2050. Its already nearly doubled its population since 1980. Its road capacity certainly has not doubled over that same period. Our infrastructure was built decades ago, for decades ago, says Kenton Kaplan, a high school student in Boulder interning with the Polis campaign.When California had its great postwar growth spurt, building up its highways, water infrastructure and universities, its government was functional. Colorados ability to cope with growth is already constricted by its strict tax limitation laws. Like the country as a whole, it may find its ability to address the most serious problems has also been hampered by the fact that its narrowly but deeply divided when it comes to choosing government leaders. Colorado is growing at a time when people are incapable of working together, says Witwer, the former Republican legislator. People are so divided and dysfunctional, so intent about social issues or being offended by tweets, its possible to imagine things literally falling apart before they get addressed.The international community has a moral responsibility to sustain vital services such as education and health for Palestine refugees until the political conflict is settled

Last month, I met a remarkable UNRWA student named Aya Abbas. The 9th grader from Yarmouk refugee camp outside Damascus was the highest scoring student across Syria. Despite the extraordinary adversities she faced as a Palestine refugee child, including forced displacement from the camp where she was born and raised, she outperformed her peers in all subjects. Her courage and determination exemplify the commitment of 526000 students at our 711 schools in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Gaza and West Bank (including East Jerusalem).

It was because of students like Aya that I decided to open our schools on time this week, notwithstanding a shortfall of over 200 million USD an unprecedented deficit in UNRWAs 70-year history. Many people expressed deep satisfaction for what they considered a courageous decision . However, the real heroes who deserve our solidarity are the half a million students in our schools whose faith in UNRWAand by extension the international community---remains unwavering, despite repeated uncertainty and the absence of political horizon. Their courage should be celebrated by the world.

In recognition of that faith, and to pay tribute to the many donors who either significantly increased or advanced their contributions this year, we are opening our schools to celebrate one of the most successful human development programs in the Middle East. For decades, donors have recognized that UNRWA is a force multiplier for stability in one of the most the volatile regions around the world. Moreover, the prospect of over half a million students not attending schools was deeply unsettling for the host countries who have generously welcomed hundreds of thousands of refugees for decades.

As we deservedly celebrate the opening of our schools on time , however, we must not lose sight of the fact that we are still facing severe and crippling financial crises. The year began with the regrettable decision by the US Administration to cut 300 million USD from its planned annual contribution to our budget, adding to a pre-existing deficit of 146 million USD.

To overcome the existential threat we faced as a result of the steep funding gap, we launched the Dignity Is Priceless global fundraising campaign in January with the goal of opening new funding pathways and raising awareness about the plight of Palestine refugees. Fortunately, we mobilized about 238 million USD since the beginning of the year. While we were encouraged by the strong solidarity from the international community, including new donors, we still need 217 million USD to keep our schools open until the end of the year. That will require further decisive collective action by the international community whose mandate we are dutifully implementing.

Nearly 70 years after the UN General Assembly established UNRWA, the agency remains an enduring expression of the collective will of the international community. We have successfully helped generations of Palestine refugees realize their human potential by giving them much-needed grounding in education. Many of our alumni are celebrated entrepreneurs, scholars and leaders in their community.

Nothing has impressed me more since joining UNRWA as Commissioner-General in March 2014, than the passion with which UNRWA students pursue their education. It is inconceivable for me to face half a million students and their parents and tell them that their education is too expensive for the world. Similarly, we do not have the luxury of opening half of our schools or closing half of our almost 150 clinics. I continue to strongly believe that, together we can and must protect the dignity and human security of Palestine refugees.

Refugees like Aya Abbas are not defined by their enduring displacement but by their sheer determination to realize their full human potential. And as she and many others have proven over the years, Palestine refugees are one of the most industrious people around the world if they are given the necessary tools and opportunities. Time and again, they demonstrated their extraordinary attachment to the quality education and other vital services we provide.

We must not let half a million students like Aya down. And we cannot wish them away either. Palestine refugees have been told to have a faith in peace processes until a just and lasting solution is found to their plight. Decades later, they have neither justice nor a lasting solution.

The international community has a moral responsibility to sustain vital services such as education and health for Palestine refugees until the political conflict is settled. Because dignity is priceless.

*The writer is the Commissioner-General United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)

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The portfolio of Florida Gov. Rick Scott and his wife, Ann Scott, includes earnings last year of at least $2.9 million in two dozen hedge funds registered in the Cayman Islands, a well-known tax haven for U.S. and foreign investors.The investments had a minimum total value of $25 million and a potential value of $62 million, according to the financial disclosure statement Scott filed last month as a U.S. Senate candidate.The 125-page statement included details of Scott's blind trust, managed by a New York trustee who is a former business associate of the governor's."The governor had no role in selecting that investment," said a spokesman for Scott's campaign, Lauren Schenone. "The blind trust is managed by an independent financial professional who decides what assets are bought, sold or changed."Scott's assets totaled at least $255 million. The governor has not said whether he will continue to have a blind trust if he's elected to the U.S. Senate.Of the 23 individual investments the Scotts listed, six are in the governor's name and 17 are in his wife's name.The July 27 filing is the first time in his nearly eight years as governor that Scott was required to disclose his wife's financial holdings.Foreign investors park money in the Cayman Islands to avoid U.S. taxes. The British territory also is favored by corporations and partnerships that want to avoid the long reach of the IRS in taxing unrelated business income.Scott's campaign said the principal place of business for one fund, Overlook 3G Investments, is Hong Kong. But the company's website describes that fund as a Cayman Islands exempted limited partnership that was formed two years ago to invest in a Chinese utility company.Another investment listed by the Scotts, Canyon Balanced Fund LP, was held solely by the governor and had a value of between $5 million and $25 million, and produced income last year of between $100,001 and $1 million.Under Senate rules, candidates and officeholders list assets in broad ranges.In the 2012 presidential race, Republican Mitt Romney's investments in the Cayman Islands became a source of controversy. Politifact gave a True to a TV ad from President Barack Obama that criticized Romney on the issue.There is no indication that their offshore investments allowed the Scotts themselves to avoid paying their share of U.S. taxes."Gov. Scott has always followed all state and federal tax laws," his campaign said.Scott's finances will remain an issue in the general election phase of his battle with Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, which will begin Wednesday, the day after Tuesday's primary.As the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times has reported, the Scotts last year invested $3 million in a credit fund of the parent company of All Aboard Florida. The state-regulated firm operates a commercial rail line on Florida's east coast and has expressed a desire to run a high-speed rail line from Tampa to Orlando that Scott now supports, even though he rejected $2.4 billion for a similar project in 2011.Scott's Senate campaign noted that neither he nor Ann Scott has a direct investment in All Aboard Florida.In addition, Scott's statement shows that he had investments last year in companies that did business with the Nicolas Maduro regime in Venezuela, after Scott called on state investment fund managers to sever ties with businesses that do business there.The Scotts also held stock _ since sold _ in a worldwide shipping firm whose clients included a firm with links to the Vladimir Putin regime in Russia.The governor said in July that Putin "could not be trusted." In those cases, Scott's campaign said that because his assets are held in a blind trust, he had no role in selecting any of the investments.The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals today affirmed former House Speaker Mike Hubbard's convictions on 11 of 12 felony ethics charges and reversed the conviction on one.Hubbard was convicted in 2016 on the 12 counts and sentenced to four years in prison. He has been free on bond pending his appeal.The court reversed a conviction that Hubbard voted on a bill with a conflict of interest in 2013, the General Fund budget, which contained a provision that stood to benefit a business client of Hubbard's. That provision was later removed from the budget.The court upheld Hubbard's convictions for receiving money from a principal, which is a business that employs a lobbyist; using his office for personal gain; lobbying state agencies for a business client; using state personnel to help a business client and soliciting business investments from principals.Hubbard has denied any wrongdoing. His attorneys will continue to pursue appeals."We are grateful that one count was reversed, but extremely disappointed that others were not," attorney Joel Dillard said in an email. "This is the first step in the appellate process and we will continue to pursue an ultimate reversal of all counts on which Mike Hubbard was convicted. We believe we will ultimately prevail."Hubbard can appeal to the state Supreme Court.Mike Lewis, a spokesman for the Attorney General's office, which prosecuted Hubbard, said the ruling is under review and the AG's office had no comment at this time.There were no dissenting votes on the five-member Court of Criminal Appeals.Judge Samuel Henry Welch wrote the court's main opinion, which was 154 pages long. Judges Liles C. Burke, J. Elizabeth Kellum and J. Michael Joiner concurred, with Joiner writing a separate opinion.Presiding Judge Mary Becker Windom recused herself.Hubbard's appeal had been pending with the appeals court for more than a year.A special grand jury in Lee County indicted Hubbard on 23 counts in October 2014. Hubbard took the stand in his own defense during his trial in May and June 2016. The jury convicted Hubbard on 12 counts and acquitted him on 11.The conviction removed Hubbard from office.Before that, Hubbard had been one of the state's most powerful politicians. He is also a former chairman of the state Republican Party.Hubbard led the Republicans in a successful effort in 2010 to win majorities in the Legislature and end 136 years of Democratic control of the State House.Hubbard had sought dismissal of the criminal case on claims of misconduct by prosecutor Matt Hart, arguing that Hart was biased against Hubbard and that Hart swayed the grand jury's decision to indict with threatening and intimidating tactics. Lee County Circuit Judge Jacob Walker, who presided over the case, held a hearing and ruled against Hubbard's claim of prosecutorial misconduct. In its ruling today, the appeals court found no fault with Walker's decision on that issue.The appeals court also upheld Walker's decision to deny Hubbard a new trial based on an allegation of juror misconduct. The misconduct claim was based on an affidavit from a juror who heard comments from other jurors indicating a bias against Hubbard. The appeals court noted that Hubbard's lawyers did not call any jurors to testify at a hearing Walker held on the misconduct claim.Hubbard's lawyers also argued that the trial court improperly allowed testimony from former Alabama Ethics Commission Executive Director James Sumner, including testimony on the intent of the ethics law. The appeals court rejected that argument, too.When prosecutors outlined their case against Hubbard, they contended that the speaker illegally used his political office to supplement his income after he lost a private sector job that paid $132,000 a year. Several companies hired Hubbard as a consultant through his company, the Auburn Network.Prosecutors contended that the payments violated the ethics law because two of the companies that hired Hubbard were principals, companies that employed lobbyists. The ethics law prohibits public officials from accepting money or anything of value from a lobbyist or principal.Five of the convictions related to investments Hubbard sought for Craftmaster Printers, an Auburn-area company in which he owned a 25 percent interest.Hubbard solicited and received investments of $150,000 each from four business executives into Craftmaster. The jury convicted Hubbard on the charges that the four investors were principals. The fifth Craftmaster-related charge was that Hubbard received a financial turnaround plan and business advice from a principal, Business Council of Alabama Board Member Will Brooke.Four of the counts concerned Hubbard's contract with a company affiliated with a business owner in his district, Robert Abrams.That company, Capitol Cups, paid Hubbard's company $10,000 a month, a total of $220,000 from 2012 to 2014, to help market its products.Testimony showed that Hubbard used his public office to further his interests with Capitol Cups, the appeals court ruling says. That resulted in a conviction of using his office for personal gain.Hubbard was convicted on two counts of lobbying on behalf of another company for Abrams while he was being paid by Capitol Cups. Hubbard arranged meetings with Gov. Robert Bentley and Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield with Abrams to help the company with training.Hubbard was also convicted of using state resources and a state employee, his chief of staff, to try to help Abrams get a patent issued. Hubbard did so without telling his chief of staff, Josh Blades, that he was being paid by Capitol Cups.The appeals court opinion describes Hubbard's grounds for appealing each of the 12 convictions but finds those arguments lacking except on the charge of voting for legislation with a conflict of interest.A federal judge in Seattle issued a preliminary injunction Monday against a self-proclaimed "crypto-anarchist," blocking the Texas man from publishing downloadable internet blueprints for producing 3D-printable guns.U.S. District Court Judge Robert Lasnik's ruling extends a temporary restraining order he issued on July 31 that prevented Cody Wilson, a 30-year-old Austin, Texas, gun-rights advocate, from publishing the computer files containing the plans for printing the plastic guns on his company's website while a legal dispute over the matter was resolved.Led by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, 19 states along with the District of Columbia joined the lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction, contending that the federal government's decision earlier this year to drop its own five-year litigation against Wilson and allow his company to post the blueprints would have provided broad, unregulated access to dangerous weapons."The Court finds that the irreparable burdens on the private defendants' First Amendment rights are dwarfed by the irreparable harms the States are likely to suffer if the existing restrictions are withdrawn and that, overall, the public interest strongly supports maintaining the status quo through the pendency of this litigation," Lasnik wrote in the 25-page ruling.The U.S. State Department had fought Wilson since 2013 to prevent his nonprofit firm, Defense Distributed, from disseminating the blueprints online, arguing that doing so violated the federal Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which restrict exports of certain weapons.But in April, the federal agency reversed course, agreeing to settle a lawsuit brought by Wilson that would have allowed his firm to distribute the plans online.Last week, Lasnik heard oral arguments from lawyers in the case before expressing his own frustrations that neither President Donald Trump nor Congress had resolved the issue, leaving a decision up to the court.Assistant Washington Attorney General Jeffrey Rupert argued, among other points, that the State Department's actions to remove all nonautomatic firearms up .50 caliber from the U.S. Munitions List that regulates what weapons can be exported -- which effectively allows for the 3D printable gun blueprint files to be dispersed online -- would cause "irreparable harm."The action raises public-safety concerns by potentially giving terrorists and other criminals access to undetectable and untraceable firearms, Rupert said. And, because printable guns are plastic and don't set off metal detectors, governments would face the costly burden of updating security methods at airports, courts and other public institutions, he said.The states also argued the federal government violated multiple statutory requirements, including not giving Congress a required 30-day notice when modifying the munitions list to create an exemption allowing for the 3D printable guns files to be shared online.Steven Myers, the lawyer representing the State Department, countered that revisions made to the federal munitions list were technical in scope and didn't make substantive changes requiring congressional notice.If someone actually printed out a 3D plastic gun and used it in a crime, Myers added, such actions wouldn't be the result of the State Department's actions. He noted existing laws now prohibit anyone from manufacturing or possessing 3D-printable guns, which the federal government is "committed to vigorously enforcing."Wilson's attorney, Chad Flores, also argued that other blueprint files for 3D plastic guns already are available online, and that nothing legally prevents Wilson from disseminating the blueprints through other means, such as through the U.S. mail.Shortly after Lasnik issued the temporary restraining order in the case last month, President Donald Trump tweeted: "I am looking into 3-D Plastic Guns being sold to the public. Already spoke to NRA, doesn't seem to make much sense!"The White House later said the Justice Department had struck a deal in the Wilson case without Trump's approval and that the president was "glad this effort was delayed."But Lasnik, when taking the case under advisement last week, noted no further clarification on the issue came from the federal government's executive or congressional branches, leaving a decision on the matter up to him."You know, it's a little bit frustrating to be sitting in this chair as a United States District Court judge and seeing this is an issue that should be solved by the political branches of government," Lasnik said.Massachusetts officials are moving to set up an independent audit unit that will oversee the State Police after a series of scandals tarred the law enforcement agency.The creation of the special unit was included in the state budget passed by lawmakers and signed by Gov. Charlie Baker in July, as current and former troopers were hit with federal charges of overtime abuse. Two troopers have already pleaded guilty to the embezzlement charges, while a total of 46 remain under investigation.Now the state Inspector General's Office is posting a job listing for the director of the State Police audit unit. The job, based in Boston, comes with a salary range of $100,000 to $110,000 a year.The unit will be "responsible for monitoring the quality, efficiency and integrity of MSP's operations, organizational structure and management functions." The unit will also focus on prevent and detecting fraud and waste of public funds.The unit is housed inside the Office of the Inspector General and independent of the governor's public safety departments and the State Police.The director will supervise a "staff of investigators, attorneys and/or analysts (and such additional expert, clerical or other assistants as the work of the Unit may require," the job listing says.The inspector general, Glenn Cunha, has the power to appoint the director of the special unit. The director has a four-year term and will also have the title of assistant inspector general.The state inspector general was a position created in 1981, after a state commission uncovered corruption in the awarding of state and county building projects, particularly the shoddily constructed UMass Boston campus in the city's Dorchester neighborhood.The requirements for director of the unit include being a member of "good standing" with the Massachusetts bar and at least 10 years of experience as a prosecutor, along with a minimum of 3 years of management and supervisory experience.The job listing calls for cover letters and resumes to be submitted by Sept. 7.The eruption of multiple scandals within the State Police, starting in 2017, led to state lawmakers including the creation in the special audit when they passed the budget in late July 2018.Gov. Baker has called the State Police's overtime abuse scandal a "conspiracy" and a "scam" going back years.But that hasn't been the only scandal tarnishing the State Police. Col. Richard McKeon retired in November after rank-and-file troopers accused State Police leaders of forcing them to scrub the arrest report of a judge's daughter. His retirement was announced late in the day on a Friday.And just after 9 p.m. this past Friday, the State Police dumped the news of an internal affairs investigation on Leigha Genduso, who was hired by the department despite participating in narcotics dealing and drug use. Genduso resigned and she was issued a dishonorable discharge.In the late Friday statement, a State Police spokesman said the investigation laid blame on Genduso, instead of department officials, for not disclosing her involvement with a drug dealing operation.Col. Kerry Gilpin, installed by Baker to clean up the department, has created new procedures for background checks of recruit candidates.Description

GIS - 28 August, 2018: In an era where the world is being driven by technology it is essential that Mauritius, as a small island State, embrace the use of latest technology and innovation to pave the way forward towards a modern economy.

The Prime Minister, Minister of Home Affairs, External Communications and National Development Unit, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, made this statement yesterday afternoon during the launching of the I-Council at the District Council of Moka in Quartier Militaire. The project, I-Council, funded to the tune of about Rs 7 million, is a first of its kind.

Several personalities were present at the launch event including the Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Local Government and Outer Islands, Minister of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare, Mrs Fazila Jeewa-Daureeawoo; the Minister of Technology, Communication and Innovation, Mr Yogida Sawmynaden; and, the Minister of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research, Mrs Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun.

In his address, Prime Minister Jugnauth, said that it is crucial for Mauritius to adapt to the digital world as well as to change which implies moving towards innovation, blockchain technology and artificial intelligence which are the backbone for sustained economic growth. The I-Council initiative implemented by the District Council of Moka should serve as a model to be replicated in other District and Municipal Councils, he emphasised.

The Prime Minister also spoke of the various measures adopted by his Government in line with the vision of transforming Mauritius into a digital country which he pointed out will help position the country as a high income economy. In this endeavor, he recalled the setting up of the Citizen Support Portal, an innovative online platform, which ensures proximity with citizens by providing technological facilities to meet the aspiration of the population and transforming Mauritius into a fully-fledged digital country.

Moreover, the Prime Minister urged citizens to get better acquainted with new technologies which will eventually lead towards accelerated development and growth while at the same time improve the living conditions of the population.

In their respective speeches, the other Ministers present welcomed the I-Council initiative. They also dwelt on the importance of such an integrated system project which bears testimony to the Prime Ministers vision of creating a Ministry dedicated to technology and innovation hence making Mauritius a cyber-country.

On the same occasion, the Mauritius Post Ltd and the Moka District Council signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the provision of postal codes for the different roads in the region of Moka for which a pilot project is already underway at lEsperance, Quartier Militiare.

I-Council project

The project is an integrated system which consists of a business intelligence, an integrated reporting system, a project management system, the Citizen Support Portal, an asset Identification Solution, e-library, a Geographical Information System (GIS) for Urban Planning and Fleet management as well as a GIS Refuse Collection Management.Description

GIS  28 August ,2018: The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Ministerial Conference focusing on the theme Womens Economic Empowerment: A Prerequisite for Sustainable Development, opened this morning at the Ravenala Attitude Hotel in Balaclava.

Delegates from 19 IORA Member States are attending the two-day conference which is an initiative of the Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare. The Conference is expected to lead to the finalisation and adoption of the Work Plan of the Working Group on Womens Economic Empowerment.

Present on the occasion, the Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Local Government and Outer Islands, Minister of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare, Mrs Fazila Jeewa-Daureeawoo, highlighted that it is imperative to promote womens economic empowerment since it is the cornerstone of achieving the sustainable development goals. When women rise to the heights of prosperity in their community, it creates opportunities for greater justice, peace, development as well as sustainable and inclusive economies, she stated.

Vice-Prime Minister Jeewa-Daureeawoo spoke of the necessity to invest in women and girls to unleash and tap into their potentials and reiterated IORAs commitment in shaping and expanding the opportunities of women. Member States are key players in supporting IORAs efforts to achieve prosperity in the region by creating better sustainable societies for their citizens, she emphasised. Since 2016, she recalled, there have been concerted and commendable efforts of the IORA to push forward the agenda of advancing womens economic opportunities.

According to Mrs Jeewa-Daureeawoo, the present Ministerial Conference is the peak of a new era for the IORA as it offers a unique platform for high calibre professionals in the field of gender and human affairs to deliberate and shed more light on womens economic empowerment and to realise its set objectives by making the Working Group functional. Gender focal points, she indicated, should strategise and identify concrete, practical and actionable recommendations which should be shared with relevant Ministries to ensure that women are subject of policies and vital agents of constructive change.

In addition, the Vice-Prime Minister pointed out that it is also important to consider strategies, initiatives and policies which integrate a gender responsive approach into the six priority areas of intervention as a means of promoting and elevating the environment for transforming gender relations and fulfilment of womens rights.

Speaking about the Working Group, Mrs Jeewa-Daureeawoo stated that it represents a new path to achieve womens economic empowerment by bringing forth innovative and robust initiatives that will make the difference.

As for the Chair of the IORA and Minister of Small Business Development of the Republic of South Africa, Mrs Lindiwe Zulu, she pointed out that the IORA enables Member States to share best practices and experiences to enhance the emancipation of women who still face various challenges in the society . The Ministerial Conference, according to her, will help raise awareness and promote knowledge sharing on policies, programmes, initiatives and best practices that endorse the economic empowerment of women.(TNS)  In a Wellington, Fla., home in early August, a woman in her 20s locked herself in a bathroom with her cellphone.She began sending text messages to a 911 dispatcher, saying her ex-boyfriend had threatened her and her family. Moments later, when her ex left the home, she ran to safety at a nearby store, where she called police.It was the kind of scenario that public-safety officials envisioned when Palm Beach County launched its text-to-911 system in June."We consider the program to be a success so far," Dan Koenig, the county's 911 planning coordinator, said last week as the program approached its two-month mark.Since the program's launch on June 25, 299 text messages had been sent to dispatchers across the county as of Aug. 21, although Koenig noted that figure includes test messages that were used in training.The sheriff's office said that as of Aug. 21, it had received 23 emergency calls that originated as texts since the program's launch.According to court documents, it was a text that led deputies to respond to the Wellington domestic call Aug. 3Deputies arrested 37-year-old Juan Bixby on charges that include simple domestic battery, domestic battery by strangulation and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.Bixby remained in custody at the Palm Beach County Jail as of Monday morning.Koenig said there have been situations where those sending texts should have either called law enforcement or contacted authorities by other means. Some of the texts were messages from people wanting to send tips to police agencies, he said.As with phone calls, the text message system should be used only for emergencies, Koenig said, and he recommended that those with tips use either smartphone apps such as the sheriff's "See Something" program or the Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County website."It is still 911, so it should only be used in emergency cases," he said of the text-to-911 system. "[It] is still for when you need an immediate response."Koenig said phone calls to 911 are still the preferred means of communication, but the text messages allow dispatchers another way to communicate with those who either are deaf or have trouble hearing, who are unable to speak or who find themselves in situations where speaking could put them in danger.Officials have cautioned the texting system has limitations. It can only accommodate English speakers and does not accept photos, videos or emojis. In fact, an emoji will discontinue a texting session, officials say.The same rules that apply for phone calls apply to text messages. Someone found to be abusing the text-to-911 system could face a criminal charge, authorities have said.___(c)2018 The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Fla.)Visit The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Fla.) at www.palmbeachpost.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Drivers along Interstate 80 in Northern Utah have an added layer of protection against out-of-control autos. Several years ago, a cable-barrier was erected in the median between the two directions of highway.For that barrier, they can thank big data.Even though in many parts of [I-80] we have a very wide median, we found there was a need for additional shoulder protection, because of the types of crashes we were still having, explained Robert Miles, director of traffic and safety at the Utah Department of Transportation.Utah DOT engineers looked to crash data from a number of sources to gain better insight into the different dynamics affecting traffic along this 200-mile stretch of highway. They used data analysis tools like Numetric , which organize and sort vast amounts of information to give engineers and safety officials a better understanding of traffic conditions, highway design features or other variables that could influence driver behaviors.That level of analysis happens all across the state, as UDOT prioritizes safety projects.We help DOTs be more efficient and make more data-driven decisions and improve their states roadways, from a safety perspective, said Numetric CEO Nate Bowler.Some of the data collected and organized by Numetric include mile-markers and locations, as well as the location of objects such as signage or striping.And when you take all of that information, and combine it, you can start to do some very interesting analysis, and figure out, where are my hot spots in my roadway network? said Bowler.On I-80, UDOT officials were able to identify areas where the median wasnt adequate, said Miles.The space was masking problems that were happening, that werent evident unless you really got into the crash records, he added.Miles is careful to note that the department uses other data-driven analysis tools besides Numetric  which itself is a cloud-based service, accessed and searched via a Web browser  and data analysis has been part of the agencys decision-making for some time. The department also relies on the United States Road Assessment Program, otherwise known as usRAP , a program offered by the Roadway Safety Foundation.Numetric is one of the tools that we have in our toolbox, he explained. And its a good tool for allowing us to visualize what has happened in the past.Weve used data for a long time. Weve captured the information on the crash records, even back when we were doing it on paper copies, and put them into different data bases. But the change lately has been the ability to marry those data bases, and the popularity of the data science field, the emergence of the data science field, as a tangible thing for a practicing engineer. I would say thats really taken off in the last six to eight years.Too often, in the past, highway safety projects were identified largely through anecdotal feedback, where a department director merely steered projects in a way that he or she believed appropriate, said Miles.It was what they were hearing most about, or what was foremost in their consciousness, Miles said. Each director would come in and say, Hey, weve got to pick our safety projects. What do we have? What are our biggest problems?So it was really anecdotal. And these new projects allow us to move out of that anecdotal into more of a fact-based decision-making process, because youve got something to measure things on equal ground."Its not just offering more detailed and searchable data that technology firms like Numetric bring to transportation departments. The job often includes cleaning up the data so that its easier to access and decipher, said Bowler.You may have multiple names for roads. You may have incorrect or inconsistent data around latitude-longitude  and so we kind of normalize those things, he explained.Every state we work with has an issue with data, that either requires some cleaning, or thats siloed and kind of separated from other data, managed by different groups or departments, but need to have a third party like us to bring together."Numetric has worked with transportation departments in New Jersey, South Carolina and New York, among others.Getting traffic and crash related data in front of more eyes in an effort to make better data-driven solutions is a guiding philosophy at the Utah DOT and many transit and transportation departments.The more people we have looking at those crash records, those safety records, the more likely you are to find different solutions that we havent thought of before," said Miles. "And so, one of our mantras here is, we want to get safety data as close to the hands of the designers as possible, as close to the problem-solvers as possible. We want lots of opinions, and we want those experts to provide depth and meaning.  We want people to feel like they own the safety on their projects.(TNS)  After she was injured in a car accident allegedly caused by a driver impaired by pot, state Controller Betty Yee is backing a bill approved Monday by the Legislature that aims to begin addressing the problem of drugged driving on California roads.The measure sent to Gov. Jerry Brown would require the California Highway Patrol to report on how many motorists stopped for impaired driving are allegedly under the influence of marijuana.Its what other states have done  like Colorado and Washington  to at least start collecting state-level data, Yee said. They just want to understand the extent of cannabis-impaired driving.On July 13, Yee was riding in the back of a car that had stopped in traffic near Oakland when the vehicle was rear-ended by an automobile driven at a high rate of speed . The other card was driven by a 25-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of cannabis.Yee was knocked unconscious in the accident and said in an interview Thursday that she is still recovering from the bruising injuries.Its a slow process, but Ive got a job to do, she said. Its not deterring me from continuing to do my job.Yee opposed Proposition 64, a 2016 ballot measure that legalized growing, selling and possessing marijuana for recreational use. She and others voiced concerns that the state was not prepared for the massive regulation required to protect public safety, and for other complications that could arise from the fact that marijuana remains an illegal drug under federal law.Now, she said the cannabis industry must step up and do more to help make regulations work.What I am saying to the industry is, Please come forward, you are the experts about your product, Yee said. Work with law enforcement and policymakers to make sure that the public can feel at ease about having public safety measures in place.State Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) said the bill approved Monday is needed to determine the scope of the drugged-driving problem following voter approval of Proposition 64. As we have seen in other states that have legalized cannabis, an increase in cannabis drugged driving can almost certainly be expected due to legalization, Hill said.The measure was introduced by Assemblyman Ed Chau (DMonterey Park), who noted law enforcement does not distinguish between drugged driving and driving-under-the-influence arrests involving alcohol when reporting statistics.Establishing a uniform mechanism to evaluate cannabis drugged-driving arrests will inform what policies are needed to address this dangerous behavior, Chau said.A lack of data on the problem has hindered efforts to establish a measurable state standard for drug-impaired driving, which is illegal in California. Law enforcement officers rely on visual evidence of impairment, such as cars drifting between lanes.In Washington, which legalized cannabis in 2012, blood tests are conducted and drivers are presumed to be impaired if they have more than 5 nanograms of THC per milliliter in their bloodstream. California lacks such a standard, in part because there are questions about what level of THC results in impairment.A recent study by the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, a group of law enforcement agencies from Colorado, said marijuana-related traffic deaths in Colorado increased 48% since 2013, when that state legalized recreational use of marijuana.Yee said there are other things the industry can do itself to make sure people know of the dangers of driving after using cannabis.I would like to see a broader public education campaign, she told The Times. Im not indicting the industry by any means, but I think they are the experts on whats out there, and I hope they can take some additional measures to inform the public.(TNS)  Police are open to looking into new crime mapping technology for its residents, according to Norwell, Mass., Police Chief Ted Ross.Whitman Police have implemented the new mapping website for residents to be up-to-date on what is going on in their neighborhoods."As technology and social medial changes we are always looking for ways to inform our communities," Ross said.The website allows for residents to explore an interactive map of their town and to select approximate locations where crimes have occurred.Each crime has its own symbol. Vandalism, for example, is labeled as a spray can while a vehicle break-in/theft is recorded as a car.By clicking on each icon, a date, time, incident number and block that the crime occurred appears along with a brief description of the incident. Exact locations are not given.Sex crimes are not recorded on the website, as revealing the locations could be harmful to the victims.Crimes are searchable by date range, with the site being updated daily with information being pulled from the Whitman Police Department's records management system."We believe this map is a great way for residents to stay informed of what is going on in their neighborhood," Whitman Police Chief Scott Benton said. "If there is an uptick in crime in their area, residents can take extra precautions to protect themselves and their belongings."On Whitman's site, there is a link to the town's anonymous online email tip service that Chief Benton encourages residents to use.Time will tell if Norwell or other surrounding towns will follow Whitman's lead and use the crime mapping technology.(TNS)  BELOIT, Wis.  In an attempt to boost transparency, the Town of Beloit Police Department later this year will add body cameras for its officers, who already use squad-car cameras.The body cameras are expected to be fully operational by November, Police Chief Ron Northrop said.Last week, the police department received its storage server, which will be housed at the department and can hold about 25,000 hours of footage.Storage of the footage will be based on a tiered system.Northrop said videos could be walled in the server between six months and seven years, depending on the severity of the crime captured.Each body camera will be in a constant state of recording and will not have to be turned on manually, Northrop said.The cameras will not record audio automatically, however.Audio will have to be triggered manually, or it will activate when an officers siren is flipped on.That feature is in step with the departments squad cameras, which turn on with the cars siren.The Beloit Town Board on Aug. 6 reallocated about $30,000 in capital improvement funds to help pay for the server and body cameras. That money was paired with savings accrued by the department to buy the system.In total, Northrop said the cameras rollout will cost about $75,000. The entire body camera system includes the server, 10 charging stations, six squad cameras and a video camera in the interviewing room.The department employs nine full-time officers and four part-time officers, Northrop said.Footage from the cameras will download automatically when officers are within range of the departments Wi-Fi. Still, Northrop said the officers will place the cameras onto kiosks at the end of their shifts, and footage will be transferred to hard drives based on their criminal classification.Sgt. Bryan Hasse said the police department saved money by storing footage on a physical server rather than cloud-based storage.With the cameras, the town joins police departments in Janesville, the city of Beloit, the town of Milton and the town of Fulton that already use body cameras.Introducing body cameras will improve transparency, Northrop said.The footage will show the public the day-to-day job of an officer. It also will serve as evidence in some cases, and Northrop said it could fend off unsubstantiated allegations against officers.Or actually substantial citizen allegations, he said.A lot of departments are going with the body cams. Its a little bit tougher for the smaller department. Were moving forward as far as technology.Built sometime between late 1976 and early 1977, an Apple I computer will be auctioned off at a live-bid event by RR Auction on Sept. 25. The Apple I was the first personal computing device created in the 1970s by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs. It was originally designed as a bare-board kit computer for hobbyists to assemble themselves.However, that changed when Jobs successfully sold 50 Apple Is to a Byte-Shop in Mountain View, Calif., on the condition that they arrive already assembled. Jobs and Wozniak ended up assembling 200 units by hand, 175 of which they sold before launching the Apple II  the device that helped make personal computers a staple of homes and businesses.This particular Apple I has been fully restored but has not been modified like most other vintage Apple I computers.(TNS)  Sonoma County, Calif., is preparing to replace its aging voting system next year, a highly anticipated technological upgrade expected to make ballot counting faster and more efficient while still keeping the entire process secure from would-be hackers.The new system will continue using paper ballots but will speed up a lot of the behind-the-scenes work, for example, making it easier for election staffers to send out mail-in ballots. It will also allow the county to start providing periodic updates on the vote count.The county will rely on its current 35-year-old system for the upcoming Nov. 6 election. But officials will roll out the new technology for use in a smaller local election as early as March, following the Board of Supervisors vote last week to spend at least $2 million on the upgrade.Weve been getting by for years with a system that was harder and harder to keep operational, said Supervisor David Rabbitt, the boards vice chairman. The old machines ... were being cannibalized because the parts were no longer available. Once you get to that point, you realize the clock is ticking.Amid public concern about the security of elections prompted by reports of Russian interference in 2016, among other threats, county leaders stressed their new system is protected from potential bad actors.The new system will absolutely produce paper ballots, so well have the paper trail, said Deva Marie Proto, the countys clerk-recorder-assessor and registrar of voters-elect. It is not connected to the internet. Its in a secure room that very few people have access to. Its video monitored. We have a lot of controls in place.Mark-A-Vote, the system Sonoma County has used since 1983, has numerous shortcomings that election officials are eager to put behind them.Replacement parts are hard to come by, and the county knows of only one person whos qualified to do the necessary maintenance work.The system also doesnt allow for daily or weekly updates on the vote count. County officials cant simply add the ballots they received on Election Day to the mail-in ballots they tallied beforehand, so they have to count everything all over again.All of that changes with the new technology the county is getting from Dominion Voting Systems.This is going to speed up doing final results, because we dont have to go that extra step, said Elizabeth Acosta, special projects director in the registrar of voters office. We dont have to go back and tally everything all over again.But Proto cautioned against expecting a much faster final count in Sonoma County, which has historically lagged behind many of its peers in processing ballots.We still have to do manual counts. We still have to wait for ballots to come in that were mailed; we still have to process the provisional ballots, and theres specific timelines and reasons that those take a while, Proto said. So that part of it will not speed up. But the actual vote counting (and) the fact that well be able to do periodic updates will absolutely make a difference.The vast majority of Sonoma County voters cast ballots by mail. In the June election, 82 percent of those who cast ballots did so by mail, and Acosta said around 72 percent of all registered voters in the county are signed up to receive their ballots that way.The German grand prix has been saved, according to the local Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) newspaper.

Earlier, with Liberty Media's plans for a Miami GP next year in tatters, talks about reviving a contract at Hockenheim began.

FAZ says a deal has now been done, with Chase Carey agreeing to a lower race fee to be paid by Hockenheim promoters.

"The new contract should be signed in September," the newspaper said.

Late on Monday, however, the bosses at Hockenheim did not want to comment.

According to Bild newspaper, F1 commercial boss Sean Bratches said of the recent negotiations: "We're working on it. Don't write it off yet."

(GMM)Stoffel Vandoorne says McLaren is "going backwards".

It looks more and more likely that the Belgian, dead last for most of his home race weekend at Spa, has fallen out with McLaren team bosses Zak Brown and Gil de Ferran.

Vandoorne says he is disappointed with the car put at his disposal in 2018.

"Yes, of course," he told La Derniere Heure.

"After winter testing we were promised a lot of developments that never happened. Australia was our best race and ever since, we're just going backwards."

Not just that, Vandoorne says he doesn't expect the situation to improve.

"We are not going to get better in the last races, only in Singapore can we still hope to get points."

Vandoorne dismissed rumours he will be dropped prior to Monza this weekend. "I will be there, and I have repeated it 100,000 times," said the Belgian.

And he said he is still holding out hope that he can stay at McLaren beyond 2018.

"Yes, because things can evolve," said the 26-year-old. "It is not the same person who will design the car in the future."

(GMM)Photo: Ralph Smith/Getty Images

Last week, PepsiCo announced that it will buy SodaStream for $3.2 billion. It is the companys costliest acquisition since 2010 and the irony of the deal is not lost on anyone who remembers SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum calling the bottled-drink industry stupid and evil. Last year, when Pepsi introduced a product called LIFEWTR, Birnbaum said, The bottled-water industry is the biggest marketing scam of all time. (Presumably that complaint applies to the bottled wtr industry, too.) The deal is also the clearest sign yet that the worlds sugary-drink manufacturers are desperate to find new ways to entice drinkers that are increasingly aware of just how unhealthy and environmentally unfriendly traditional soda really is.

As everyone knows, soda sales are tanking. In 2016, they hit a 31-year low, representing a 25 percent decline since just the year 2000. In the early 2000s, the average American consumed about 11 cans of soda per week, a rate that correlated with the nations obesity crisis, an uptick in type 2 diabetes, and other health maladies. Now, the average is about eight cans per week, and falling. The whole industry has labored, largely in vain, to win consumers back by adding things like novelty flavors, newfangled sweeteners, or alcohol.

Meanwhile, its boom times for seltzer: Sales have risen 42 percent in the last five years, according to Beverage Marketing Corporation. Coffee drinks and plain bottled water are flying off shelves as well. Tastes have been evolving, observes Beverage Marketings managing director of research Gary Hemphill, and the bad news keeps coming for people who make carbonated drinks with lots of high-fructose corn syrup. California passed the nations first bill requiring all restaurants statewide to make either water or unflavored milk the default beverage option in kids meals. No more soda, unless parents explicitly request it. Theres more: Cities, and indeed even whole countries, are now taxing sodas, Michelle Obama campaigned against them when she was First Lady, states have flirted with warning labels, and many U.S. schools have banned sugary drinks entirely.

Of course this is not the end of Cokes or even glowing-lime-green bottles of Mountain Dew. Tristan Donovan, author of Fizz: How Soda Shook Up the World, says short of entering a neo-puritan hell where water is the only acceptable beverage choice, sugary soda will always be around, but these new policies do leave him imagining us reaching a point pretty quickly where it becomes frowned upon to give your child a cola.

To combat these issues, the industry itself has gotten creative. For example, Pepsi now makes a LaCroix knockoff called Bubly. Coca-Cola partnered with Keurig in 2014 on something called the Kold, a SodaStream-aping device that cost $370, and unshockingly, went belly-up after two years. Dr Pepper sold itself to Keurig, which in turn is owned by the same company that owns coffee-world darlings Stumptown and Intelligentsia. (Now, Dr Keurig is threatening to focus its coffee- and soda-world expertise on drinks that address the need for energy in the afternoon.)

Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and the Dr Pepper/Keurig behemoth have also begun using tactics that remind plenty of critics of Big Tobacco in the 80s  for example, secretly spending $100 million on pro-soda health studies, and employing lobbyists to promote controversial state preemption laws that prevent lawmakers from introducing sugary-drink taxes.

Mark Pertschuk, an activist who fought those corporate nicotine titans in their heyday, told Grub Street in July that Coke and Pepsis tactics are coming from a page right out of [Big Tobaccos] playbook. And food-industry watchdog Marion Nestles most recent book, Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning), is 500 pages railing on the industrys Big Tobaccoy business tactics. No issue that might affect marketing is too trivial to be ignored by industry lobbyists, she writes, adding that the script they follow is a carbon copy of the one used by cigarette companies to deflect attention from the hazards of smoking.

Of course, SodaStreams sales pitch is that its machines and refillable bottles help users cut down on plastic waste (a healthier, more sustainable planet), and the company offers a full line of flavored syrups that people can add to their homemade bubbly water if theyd like. Tellingly, however, a full 70 percent of SodaStream users prefer to take their water plain, and PepsiCo announced that it has no plans to add its existing products to the SodaStream flavor lineup. The news is sure to disappoint teenagers who may have dreamed of DIY Mountain Dew, but the corporate synergy nevertheless remains strong: Last week, PepsiCo CFO Hugh Johnston told The Wall Street Journal that, after some conversations, he and the powers that be at SodaStream realized that, in fact, the two groups think about things in the same way. Its amazing how easily that can happen when youre looking to get a toehold in a new market.News

Company female manager fined Dhs85,000 on fraud charges in Abu Dhabi

The case dated back to a lawsuit filed by the victim against the defendant in which he said that she fraudulently took Dhs85,000 from him through an Instagram ad in return for a permanent residence for him in a European country.



Haiti - Environment : New distribution of compression garbage trucks





After the distribution, on August 2, of 37 new compression trucks, destined for garbage collection for 30 town halls https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25142-haiti-environment-distribution-of-37-garbage-trucks.html Monday, President Jovenel Moise proceeded in front of the National Palace, to the delivery of 13 new trucks.



This new fleet of new compression trucks, ISUZU brands will strengthen the structures of 13 town halls. Each truck has a capacity of 8 m3 of rubbish and has a 3 year warranty for repairs and maintenance. In his speech, Moise recalled "The Government is working with the town halls on structuring projects to respect our campaign promises," inviting the mayors to make good use of this equipment and avoid accidents.



Dieulie Augustinau, the Mayor of Gressier on behalf of the National Federation of Haitian Mayors (FENAMH), welcomed the commitment of the President of the Republic to accompany the municipalities of the country in the fight against trash.



Let's remember that these trucks are part of the credit purchase of 123 million US dollars of heavy equipment, ordered in October 2017 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22300-haiti-politics-government-purchases-$123m-of-heavy-equipment.html



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25142-haiti-environment-distribution-of-37-garbage-trucks.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-22300-haiti-politics-government-purchases-$123m-of-heavy-equipment.html



HL/ S/ HaitiLibre





















Haiti - FLASH : 3 former ministers reappointed in the next ministerial cabinet ?





According to several sources in the corridors of the National Palace, the next ministerial cabinet is almost ready and the policy statement of Prime Minister Jean-Henry Ceant has already been handed to the Head of State. This General Policy would respond to both President Moise's roadmap and the expectations of the different sectors consulted.



In addition, circulates in the Palace a persistent rumor that suggests that 3 members of the outgoing Ministerial Cabinet could be reappointed in the new Cabinet. It would be the resigning ministers : Fritz Caillot (Public Works), Pierre Josue Agenor Cadet (Education) and Pierre Simon Georges (Environment).



According to our sources, the Prime Minister could go to Parliament with his cabinet on Thursday or Friday for his General Policy statement.



However, North-West Senator Onondieu Louis, Chairman of the Special Committee for the Analysis of Documents, recalled that his Commission has still not received the documents from the ministers who will form the next ministerial cabinet, which could change the timing of the presentation of the General Policy Statement of the appointed Prime Minister.



TB/ HaitiLibre





















Haiti - security : A haitian-american killed on his arrival in Haiti





A Haitian-American Christian Daniel, 65, from Austin, Texas to traveling to Haiti to visit his mother, was killed by unknowns shortly after his arrival on August 13, according to Daniel's niece, Vanessa Bissereth.



Remember that Christian Daniel had left Haiti to come to the United States in the 90s and then became an American citizen. He was very popular in his community near Rundberg Lane in Austin for his handyman skills.



Her niece Daniel, Vanessa Bissereth, said that prior to his trip in mid-August, Daniel told his family that he planned to bring food to his mother's village and do some work for the local residents, as he was doing in Austin. She said that after Daniel landed in Haiti, three men attacked him as he was leaving the airport and killed him.



Bissereth said that Daniel's family in the United States had learned of his death from relatives in Haiti. An official from the US State Department confirmed that the authorities knew about the death of this US citizen in Haiti "We are providing all appropriate assistance to the family and offer them our sincerest condolences on their loss," officials said.



Christian Daniel is survived by his wife, Vespa, his 20-year-old son who is studying at the University of Texas, and his 14-year-old daughter Kristine.



The family is also facing tremendous financial hardship in bringing the body back to the United States and attending the funeral. Bissereth has launched a "GoFundMe" page www.gofundme.com/eutbk9-please-help-christian-come-home to help cover the costs of Daniel's body transportation to Austin and additional funeral expenses. As of August 28, $6,184 in donations had already been received on a goal of $25,000.



S/ HaitiLibre

























by Andrew Walden

One day after allegedly stealing a police vehicle in Kaimuki, smashing into a bread truck, leading officers on a cross-island chase, getting shot in the shoulder, and running into the jungle near Waiahole, Jaya Keahonui Titcomb has been arrested by Honolulu police.

Would you buy noni from this guy? (Mug Shot Jaya Titcomb)

KITV August 28, 2018, reports ,

The suspect wanted for stealing a police vehicle, which then turned into a manhunt through Waiahole Valley, has been caught. Jaya Keahonui Titcomb, age 38, was wanted for Theft, DUI and Pro Dang Drug charges. He was arrested in Waiahole Valley. Titcomb was in the court system since 2007 for petty crimes like DWOL, DUI, speeding, and more. Titcomb was scheduled to be in court Monday for a DUI and A&P, and was out on bond for burglary. Back in March of 2018, Titcomb burglarized a home in Kailua and stole a vehicle. In July, he plead guilty, where we could have faced five years in jail, plus a $10,000 fine. He now faces attempted murder, on top of other charges, after Monday's manhunt.

What they didnt mention is that Titcomb is associated with Tulsi Gabbards Hare Krishna cult. His name pops up in 2016 on a published list of 533 cult members as a child of cult who works at cult-related Noni Connection. Noni Connection owners and employees have been identified as campaign contributors to Mike and Tulsi Gabbard for years.

In 2015 Jaya Titcomb foolishly travelled to a state where criminals are actually punished. Busted for heroin in Nye County, Nevada, he was sentenced to 15 months in the Nevada State Penitentiary.

January 2, 2017, KHON reported: Noni is what Jaya Titcomb likes to call Hawaiis superfruit. Hes with Puna Noni, a company thats giving a new twist to an ancient Hawaiian idea.

In 2011 Jaya Titcomb and Devaki Titcomb, also on the list of alleged cult members, registered Earth Child Hawaii, LLC with BREG. It quickly folded.

Readers of Stolen Stuff Hawaii IDed Jaya Titcomb from photos of an alleged burglar working Upper Manoa, August 9, 2018.

---30---

Cult Crime:

2015: Tulsi Gabbard's Cult Tied to "Billion Dollar Drug Empire"Funded TalibanRisto Murto, the CEO of Varma, predicts that the next economic downswing will occur under the watch of the next government, between 2019 and 2023. Now is the time to build up buffers, he declared on Twitter on Saturday.

Economists have continued to express their concerns about forecasts indicating that economic growth will slow down in Finland.

He reminded one day earlier that the global economy is currently faced with a considerably high number of risks.

Economic risks are predominantly coming from outside the borders of Finland. There is a substantial build-up of risks in the global economy. The list includes trade wars, Brexit, the autumn budget in Italy and the economic crisis in Turkey. The trade wars being waged on different fronts represent the biggest risk, but also other items on the list may take us by surprise, he wrote in a column for Kaleva on Friday

Murto pointed out that the global economy is expected to experience at least one hiccough during the course of the next electoral term, given the sustained period of weaker-than-average economic growth in the United States.

All signs point to there being some sort of a downswing in the coming years. That is also what some parts of the financial markets are anticipating. Finns should hope strongly that the risks in the global economy do not materialise. It would cut the upswing way too short here in Europe, he explained. It would be great if we could reverse the debt trend and give the employment rate more time to creep up.

Varma is one of the largest earnings-related pension insurance companies in Finland.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Source: Uusi SuomiEK on Friday reported that over a quarter (26%) of businesses have faced considerable and over four-tenths (41%) moderate difficulties in finding skilled workers. The skills shortage is affecting especially well-established small and medium enterprises, which form the industrial backbone of various regions in Finland.

Recruitment difficulties among businesses are common in a wide range of industries and regions in Finland, finds a survey conducted by the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK).

The phenomenon is evident also outside urban regions, according to EK. Its survey found that as many as 42 per cent of businesses domiciled in rural regions around cities have faced serious recruitment difficulties.

Almost a third (30%) of respondents attributed the phenomenon to the lack of occupational skills of applicants.

A quarter of respondents also indicated that the educational background of applicants does not meet their needs or that the necessary education is not even available. Over one in six (16%) identified inactivity traps and the difficulties associated with hiring from abroad as reasons for their recruitment difficulties.

I see the skills shortage exacerbating day by day. The effects are felt by the entire national economy, comments Kirsi Naamanka, the managing director of Kilta Henkilostopalvelut.

For example, companies in the manufacturing industries do not necessarily want to bid for a tender or look for new orders if they have no confidence in their ability to deliver the orders. This would require some guarantees that there is a sufficient number of workers and experts, she explains.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Source: Uusi SuomiThe ATOM Project is an international initiative to build global support for a permanent end to nuclear weapons testing and the total abolition of nuclear weapons. It was launched at a parliamentary assembly in Astana, Kazakhstan on August 29, 2012, the UN International Day Against Nuclear Tests, established in recognition of the closing of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site on that day in 1991 by the president of Kazakhstan.

Seeking to unite global public opinion about the documented catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons testing  particularly the 450 nuclear tests conducted in Kazakhstan between 1949 and 1991 that adversely affected the health and lives of nearly two million people, the Project recognizes that in recent decades the cause of abolishing nuclear weapons and weapons testing, and the awareness of the fundamental dangers they pose to life on the planet have become superseded by other humanitarian and environmental issues.

The Project believes the time has come to revive among governments and publics around the world an awareness of how dangerous and appalling the consequences of the testing and retention of nuclear arsenals has been, and of the threats that their continued possession poses to the human race.

The goals of the Project were articulated well by ATOM Projects Honorary Ambassador Karipbek Kuyukov from Kazakhstan, a survivor of the effects of nuclear tests.

Fifty years ago, Karipbek was born in a small village, just miles from

the place where more than 450 nuclear weapons tests conducted at the former Soviet Unions nuclear weapons test site. Those tests exposed his parents

to radiation and resulted in Karipbek being born without arms.

Having overcome many obstacles, he has devoted his life and art to making sure that no one else suffers the devastating effects of nuclear weapons testing.

Today Karipbek Kuyukov is Kazakhstans renowned artist whose works have been shown around the world.

Through his painting he offers a glimpse into his own struggles and motivation saying he has a lot to say to the world.

Karipbek Shares His Story

My name is Karipbek Kuyukov. I was born in the village of Yegyndybulak, which is located 100 kilometres away from the Semipalatinsk. This land is sacred to me not only because it is my motherland, but also because my forefathers were born here and lived there. For me, it is the most beautiful land in Kazakhstan.

Years ago during the testing, my parents bore witness to those bright and vast mushroom clouds as they filled the sky. When I was born, I was born without arms, and it was a shock to my mother.

My father was of course seriously worried about my future and very concerned about how I would live without arms. He brought me to Leningrad after learning about the Leningrad prosthetics institute where arm prosthetics were made. His hope was that I would be able to use them. I ended up studying in Leningrad and ultimately received my diploma, but I could never get used to the prosthetic arms.

In addition to my school studies, I took up art. I have loved to draw since my early childhood. I do not know why, but my soul was striving toward creating something beautiful. I did this without arms, but with my feet, legs and mouth.

I have become an artist, because an artists soul cannot be diminished by a physical limitation.

It is terrifying to realize that during the 40 years of tests on this sacred land, about 460 nuclear explosions were conducted. The people who lived in Semipalatinsk at the time came out of their homes during the explosions to watch them. They didnt even know about the health threats and devastating consequences of the crimes being committed against them. Overdoses of radiation cause human beings to suffer from cancer tumors, skin cancer and leukemia. And, whats more, according to the experts, the consequences of radiation can affect from five to six generations of people.

I have been to many countries where people have suffered from living under the shadow of nuclear tests. I have seen the tears falling from the eyes of mothers from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I have participated in meetings and protests at the Nevada test site in the United States. I have worked with many friends, one (limited by) the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster. I have seen sick mothers, and children  hidden by mothers uncomfortable with showing their children to other people. I have seen the effects of the great calamities that have damaged our planet.

Wherever I have been, I always say with pride that I live in a country

that was one of the first to give up nuclear weapons

Everywhere I have been through, people have known about Kazakhstan, and about the unprecedented peace-making initiative of our head of state.

Years ago, thanks to our President, the Semipalatinsk test site was closed. I am proud to live in Kazakhstan, the first country to abandon nuclear madness and to serve as a worthy example for other powers which continue the weapons race.

Thanks to that decision made by President Nazarbayev, I was encouraged to contribute towards and fight to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

My main mission on this land is to do everything I can for people like me to be the last victims of nuclear tests and I made my choice  I support The ATOM Project that aims at uniting common efforts in the struggle against nuclear weapons tests. I call on every single person to be active in building a future free from nuclear explosions: sign the online petition of the ATOM Project, make your mark in history.

I do not want the repeat of these events at any place or time, anywhere on the planet. I am happy to live at a time when the voice of one person can be heard and supported by millions living in the most distant places of the Earth 

our voices can become one powerful voice! And all as one, we can call for the permanent end to nuclear weapons testing.

Kazakhstans Nuclear Non-Proliferation Efforts: Background

In 1949, the Soviet nuclear weapons programme chose a test site right outside the Kazakhstan city of Semipalatinsk.

The Kazakh people know firsthand the horrors of nuclear weapons: between 1949 and 1991, 456 Soviet nuclear tests were conducted at the Semipalatinsk test site in Eastern Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan inherited more than 1,400 nuclear warheads upon gaining independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991.

In August 1991 President Nursultan Nazarbayev has signed a historic decree to close the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. Kazakhstan by then dismantled its infrastructure, and signed agreements to disarm the more than 1400 nuclear warheads inherited from the former Soviet Union.

On the 29th of December 1991 the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine signed the Almaty Declaration in which they agreed on the control mechanisms over the operation of the nuclear arsenal of the former USSR and affirmed their international obligations concerning the strategic arms reduction.

On the 23rd of May 1992 in Lisbon the representatives of Kazakhstan, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia and USA signed a five party Protocol to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. At the same time Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, as the states possessing nuclear weapons, committed themselves to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Kazakhstan was the first among the participants of the Lisbon Protocol to implement the provisions concerning removal of nuclear warheads. On the 21st of April 1996 the process of removal of 1416 nuclear warheads from Kazakhstan territory was completed  on the 30th of May 1995 the last nuclear test warhead, which was located in a gallery on the Semipalatinsk test site, was destroyed. Finally Kazakhstan had got rid of its nuclear inheritance forever.

In 2009 Kazakhstan with other regional partners created a nuclear weapon-free zone in Central Asia, and initiated a regional action plan to strengthen nuclear security, safety, non-proliferation and prevention of nuclear terrorism. Kazakhstan works tirelessly towards creating similar nuclear weapons-free zones throughout the world, and a WMD-free zone covering the Middle East. In 2013, Kazakhstan hosted two rounds of the P5+1 talks on Iran nuclear program, which paved the way for the Geneva talks.

In December 2009, the UN General Assembly unanimously accepted a resolution put forward by Kazakhstan proclaiming August 29, the day when in 1991 President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a decree on the closure of Semipalatinsk Test Site, as the International Day against Nuclear Tests.

Recognizing the negative impact of nuclear testing on human life and the environment, as well as the importance of ending nuclear tests as one of the key means of achieving a nuclear-weapon-free world, the Resolution sets out to commemorate a significant date in Kazakhstans  and, indeed, - the worlds history.

Achieving a world free of nuclear weapons was one of the priorities of Kazakhstans presidency in UN Security Council as a non-permanent member for 2017-2018.

HTMemorable Performance at Rototom Festival, Australia Next for Self-Contained Reggae Band EarthKry

It has been a busy summer touring season for EarthKry as the self-contained band ended their successful tour with memorable performances in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, UK and Spain. Jamaica's own Keyboardist Phillip Mcfarlane, Vocalist/Guitarist Aldayne Haughton, Drummer Kieron Cunningham and Bassist Kamardo Blake who proud themselves in authentic roots, rock reggae, have mesmerized reggae lovers with music from their popular Hard Road EP and debut album Survival. It was a successful tour, lots of new territories for us. We not only performed at new festival, but to larger crowds. MainStage at Boomtownfair and Rototom are two examples. It was an overall great tour. stated Phillip Mcfarlane.As the ovewrwhelming positive reviews of the band's tour are poruring in, "Earthkry delivered an outstanding set at Rototom Sunsplash earlier this evening. Earthkry's hectic touring schedule, coupled with their discipline and natural talents has made them one of the finest bands out there; tonight they gave a Main Stage worthy performance Rototom's Lion (second) stage." - Pat Meschino, Billboard Magazine., the band has announced a two weeks US stint and their maiden voyage to Australia!On September 1st, EarthKry will head to South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts and Rhode Island for selected US showsHaving joined Katchafire on the earlier part of their Legacy U.S Summer Tour, EarthKry will again join the New Zealand's reggae ambassadors for several shows in Australia. A first for the roots rock reggae band, who are humbled an excited to visit "The land down under". We are actually headed out to the states for 2 weeks. It is important for us to keep laying the foundation, this is grass roots work. So after 2 weeks, we will be back in Jamaica where we are finishing a single. then we head out to Australia. We have about 20 shows there with Katchafire, we are really looking forward to it as this is totally new territory for us, it will be magical" added the keyboardist.For Actor Brian Mallon, the landmark film on the wars bloodiest battle still holds up 25 years later

The Civil War community was introduced to Brian Mallon as Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock in the 1993 film Gettysburg and its 2003 successor Gods and Generals, both directed by Ronald F. Maxwell, and as the narrator of the 2011 Smithsonian Channel documentary The Fighting Irish of the Civil War. Mallons bona fides include the role of Pronsias Reilly in The Informant (1997) and his portrayal of the famed Welsh actor Richard Burton in Mark Jenkins stage play Playing Burton. Maxwell was considering Mallon for another role in Gettysburg before giving him the part of Hancock. The 66-year-old Mallon, a Detroit native of Irish descent who now lives in Dublin, recently wrote a novel about a subject close to his heart: Shane ONeill: The Grand Disturber of Elizabethan Ireland (Redbranch Press, 2015).

1 Did you know much about Hancock or the Civil War before agreeing to portray him?

Very little about Hancock, but a fair bit about the war. Strangely enough, in the 1970s, I met a young fellow named Armistead in New York. He told me all about his ancestor, [Confederate] General Lewis Armistead, including the dear friendship Armistead and Hancock had. (The fellow was a direct descendant of the first wife.)

2 How did you get the role in the film?

I was doing an Irish play in Hollywood, which won seven awards, and [Gettysburg director] Ron Maxwell came to see it. He returned with his producers, and then said he wanted to meet me about an acting job. I didnt know what the project was. I sat down with Ron in the Cafe Beckett, where Id been singing, to have this chat. Wed just begun, when an Apache fellow I knewI cant think of his name just nowcame by wearing a Union generals hat. Ron said, Nice hat! My friend then put the hat on my head. Ron laughed, because I didnt know that he was about to offer me a role in The Killer Angels, as the movie was then called. Ron was going to offer me the part of Buster Kilrain, but maybe my Apache friend knew something he didnt. He wouldnt take the hat back. I still have it.

3 How did you prepare for the role?

Reading and more reading. I got right on it and read several biographies. Sam Elliott [who played Union Brig. Gen. John Buford] had someone doing his research and was nice enough to give me all pertaining to Hancock. On a set full of reenactors who know their stuff, you wouldnt want to be unprepared!

4 Any fond memories or favorite scenes?

Of my own scenes, I particularly liked the one with Sam Elliott. Knowing that at the time of the war, California was a fairly new state, I chose to use an archaic pronunciation of it in my scene. Sam loved that, and I got a kick out of his response. Of the film as a whole, Id say Little Round Top. At the time, I wondered if it would play, five charges up the same hill, but it certainly did! As for favorite memories, in fairness Id have to say the nights in the Farnsworth House Tavern in Gettysburg. Several Irish actor friends were on the film, and a lot of fun was had. Sam Elliott was often with us, and we were referred to as The Irish Brigade. I enjoyed working with him. Such a great guy, and lots of fun.

5 Did your views on the war change after shooting either film?

I wouldnt say my views per se, but I came away with a deeper understanding of the tragedy of the war itself. Both sides were fighting for what they believed was right. For the North, the Union, and for the South, perhaps a loyalty to their locality and birthplace.



The Spotlight Shines: Shortly before Hancock is seriously wounded during Picketts Charge, shown here, Mallon delivers perhaps his most memorable line in the movie: There are times when a corps commanders life does not count. (Photofest)

6 How do you feel about Gettysburg 25 years later?

I couldnt be prouder of it. It holds up all these years later; moves and informs new generations. So many fine actors and performances, and master work by Ron Maxwell.

7 When did you decide you wanted to write a book?

In 1983. I was reading about Shane ONeill, a hero of Ireland in Elizabethan times. I realized that no one had ever told his real story. The two novels I found were so completely fictional, and the history book version was just contemporary propaganda that was taken as fact by virtue of repetition. But to begin at the beginning, my father died when I was 13, and I turned to my grandfather, who was immersed in Irish history. That year I stole a book from the downtown library in Detroit called Teach Yourself Irish. I knew I couldnt learn it in the two weeks allotted to borrow it. I became fluent in Gaelic and it has driven much of my life since. I sent the book back some years later.

8 Why did you choose to write about Shane ONeill?

Well, my fathers family was from Tyrone, ONeills country in the North. The Mallons were among his principal liegemen. We were the keepers of the Bell of St. Patrick, which had to be rung to inaugurate him, and was often carried in battle to assure victory. It was put into our keeping by St. Columbkille in the 6th century, and today resides in the National Museum here in Dublin.

9 How long did it take you?

(Laughs). A long time. I started the research in 83 and began writing it as a stage play. As I went along, I had a huge box of my notes from research. Id get going on it, and then get cast in a play, and immersed in that for many months, so it kept going on hold. When Id go back to it, Id have to go through all the notes again, so it was something that hung over me for decades. When I played Richard Burton in Playing Burton, it hit me the great regret of his life was that hed never written his book. This put a fire under me, and I finally finished it. As a play. As a script it was well received by the Abbey [the Irish National Theater in Dublin], and a few other theaters, but due to the epic nature of the piece, it would have been too costly to stage. They all told me that it needs to be a novel. So I went back to the drawing board. Six years later, I had my novel. And no more unfinished business hanging over my head.

10 How did you go about researching it?

All through those years Id comb major libraries in the various cities I was in: London, New York, Dublin, even the Vatican Archives. I found so much untold history that it drove me on. Thankfully the story continued to fascinate me, and thats what drove me to finish it.In 1865 more than a dozen African-American volunteers in the Union army paid dearly for their role in The Jacksonville Mutiny.

On the morning of October 29, 1865, a little more than five months after the end of the Civil War, an African-American private in the Union army named Jacob Plowden stepped out of his tent at Camp Shaw in Jacksonville, Florida, to witness a horrific sight. On the parade ground, two white officers had tied a shirtless African-American soldier by his thumbs to a scaffold. The man was dangling in agony, the toes of his feet barely touching the ground as his thumbs were pulled away from their sockets.

The soldiers alleged crime: stealing a jar of molasses from the commissary that morning.

Plowden lost his temper. An ex-slave from Tennessee in his mid-40s who had become a farmer in Pennsylvania before enlisting in the Union army in 1863, he was appalled to see black soldiers treated with the sort of brutality inflicted on slaves in the South. Two years earlier, Plowden had defied an order to help a white officer hang another black soldier by the thumbs, a common punishment during the Civil War, and as a result he had been demoted from corporal and spent 30 days in the brig on bread and water rations. But the experience didnt deter him from taking action against such injustice. He roused his fellow soldiers in the 3rd Regiment of the U.S. Colored Troops, shouting that hed rather die than see any more men go through the ordeal.

Soon, Plowdens comradesfree blacks from the North as well as former slaves from the Southwere watching in horror and outrage. Lets take him down, Private John Miller shouted. We are not going to have any more of tying men by their thumbs.

Several dozen black soldiers advanced across the field toward the prisoner and the white officers, Lieutenant George Graybill and Lieutenant John L. Brower, the regiments commander. Brower was just 23 and had taken command only a few weeks before. What he lacked in experience, he tried to make up for with the severity of his discipline. But the soldiers defiance must have frightened him. When they got within five yards, Brower drew his revolver and fired several shots at them, wounding one man in the chest and arm.

One of us is shot! someone cried out. Get your muskets. Shoot the son of a bitch!

The soldiers ran back to their tents, quickly reemerged with their weapons, and began shooting at the white officers and others who came to their assistance. Brower was wounded in the thumb and collapsed in pain, one of many injuries suffered by participants on both sides in the melee. Rescuers carried him into the cookhouse for safety. Another white officer, who had slashed a black soldier with his sword, was hit in the head with a fence post. After brief but furious fighting, order was restored in the camp, and Plowden and others were arrested for what came to be known as the Jacksonville Mutiny.

A little more than two years before, in July 1863, these same African-American soldiers had gathered at Camp William Penn, outside Philadelphia, to hear a speech by abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Douglass, a former slave, still bore the scars on his back from a Maryland overseers whip. Many of the Union army volunteers who listened to him had suffered similar torments before escaping to the North. Now, they were willing to risk their hard-earned freedom by returning to the South to help end slavery. The 3rd USCT was one of 180 such black regiments, which collectively accounted for about 10 percent of the Unions soldiers.

But Camp Penn itself was a reminder that the black troops werent entirely welcome in the North either. U.S. Army officials had erected the camp in Chelten Hills (today, Cheltenham Township) on the outskirts of Philadelphia rather than in the city, for fear that whites might riot to protest the presence of armed black men in their midst. There were plenty of signs of that tension. A black sentry at the camp was arrested for shooting and killing a white intruder, though he was later released. And at one point, the camps soldiers, under the watchful eyes of its sympathetic commander, German-born Louis Wagner, repelled and threatened to severely punish a slave catcher.

With notable exceptions, black soldiers fighting in Northern regiments certainly faced well-documented and varying degrees of discrimination from white superiors. Letters written by camp-based and frontline black soldiers to their families or friends and newspapers told of many heinous abusesranging from white officers sexually assaulting black women to the administration of torturous punishments that could lead to death. The soldiers also complained of inadequate medical treatment and said they received lower pay than whites.

With their training at Camp Penn completed, the 3rd USCT was sent to Morris Island, South Carolina. They dug trenches and built artillery platforms to assist in the siege of the Confederate stronghold Fort Wagneran event that would be depicted in the 1989 motion picture Glory, which dramatized the fate of another African-American unit, the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts. The 3rd USCTs noncombat duties were hard, dangerous work, with Confederate gunners shelling the trenches and sharpshooters trying to pick them off. Eventually, the fire grew so withering that they were forced to switch to working in the dead of night.

But the black troops persevered, and in September 1863 Confederate defenders finally abandoned the fort and fled. Corporal Henry Harmon was proud that the unit had helped to win the victory with their shovelsat a cost of 10 killed and more than 20 wounded, he reported. In those trenches our men distinguished themselves for bravery and coolness, which required more nerve than the exciting bayonet charge, he wrote in a letter home. And sir, I am proud to say that I am a member of the 3rd United States Colored Troops, and I hope that I am not considered boasting when I say so.

In early 1864 the men of the 3rd USCT boarded naval transports and sailed up the St. Johns River into Jacksonville, Florida, as part of a Union occupying force. They were stationed at Fort Shaw, a former Confederate base.

The black soldiers were clearly aware of tensions the occupation caused. Locals eyed them with suspicion, wondering if they were former Florida slaves whod returned to inflict retribution. Their officers kept them under tight rein.

The soldiers soon got a shocking reminder of how perilous their situation was when three innocent men from the Massachusetts 55th USCT were arrested and charged with raping a white woman. After a hasty trial, the three were hanged. Some of the black troops sobbed as they watched the execution. Union general Truman Seymour showed up to give the rest of the black solders a warning. Served them right, he proclaimed. Now let any other man try it if he dares.

It didnt help matters when Seymour led several other black units on an ill-advised raid to destroy a Confederate railroad trestle. The rebel forces lay in wait for them, and the Battle of Olustee ended in a Union defeat. Afterward, Seymour was relieved of his Florida command. At Olustee the men of the 3rd USCT could see other African-Americans being used as cannon fodder and undoubtedly heard the rumors that the Confederates had executed captured blacks on the battlefield.

It should have come as no surprise that these indignities and acts of violence, inflicted on honorable soldiers who were serving their country in time of war, culminated in the incident at Camp Shaw.

Two days after the mutiny in Jacksonville, guards escorted 15 soldiers from the 3rd USCT to the St. Mary, a Confederate side-wheel steamer that had been retrieved from a riverbed and refurbished by Union forces. The ships upper saloon was repurposed as a courtroom. The commander of the Unions Florida forces, Major General John G. Foster, convened a jury that, incredibly, included some of the white officers who were tied to the debacle.

Perhaps sensing that the outcome was predetermined by racism, the black defendants waived their right to counsel and instead allowed the prosecutor, Judge Advocate A. A. Knight, to represent them as well. Knights nonaggressive questioning of Brower, the officer who had started the violence by shooting a black soldier, undoubtedly allowed him to escape any kind of reprimand or punishment. Shortly after Brower testified, the army hastily mustered him out and sent him home to New York.

In the end, all but one of the 15 defendants were convicted of various crimes. Six of themJacob Plowden, James Allen, David Craig, Joseph Green, Thomas Howard, and Joseph Nathanielwere sentenced to death. The others convicted received prison sentences of up to 15 years.

Around noon on December 1, 1865, just days before they would have been mustered out of military service, the six condemned men were marched from the guardhouse at Fort Clinch in Fernandina Beach, Florida, to their place of execution. As the men walked past the crowd of spectators, Plowden saw a child and smiled. Goodbye, my boy, he said. Plowden had two young sons back home in Pennsylvania. He would never see them again.

The men were blindfolded and made to kneel in front of a row of caskets, with their backs to the 36-man firing squad, which came from another African-American unit, the 34th Regiment USCT. The executioners fired, and it was over.

The six menthe last servicemen to be executed for mutiny in the history of the U.S. Armed Forceswere buried in unmarked graves in the sand dunes. The site has since been swallowed by the Atlantic Ocean, just as the lives of the men of the 3rd USCT who rose up in the Jacksonville mutiny were swept away by racial animosity and injustice. In time, though, others would rise to take up the fight. MHQ

Donald Scott Sr. is the author of Camp William Penn: 18631865 (Schiffer Publishing, 2012).

This article appears in the Autumn 2018 issue (Vol. 31, No. 1) of MHQThe Quarterly Journal of Military History with the headline: Cruel and Not UnusualConfederate general Earl Van Dorn would hardly recognize the neighborhood central to the story of the end of his life

A skate park, pool supply store, and a rusty chain-link fence that commands little respect surround White Hall, the mansion in Spring Hill, Tenn., where Major General Earl Van Dorn, Army of Mississippi cavalry commander, made his headquarters beginning in March 1863. Although the Civil War-era home of physician and planter Aaron White retains most of its old charm, it clearly needs fresh coats of white paint. Large maples and a massive, ancient oak tree nearly obscure the view of the 1844 mansion from busy Duplex Road. Private Property, No Trespassing, warns a small sign near the front door.

A half-mile away, another mansion where Van Dorn also made his headquarters stands atop a slope overlooking Columbia Pike. Built in 1853, it is bordered by a ranch house, a carport, and the rest of the campus of the Tennessee Childrens Home, which owns the nearly two-acre property. Known

as Ferguson Hall, the Civil War-era home of Martin Cheairs boasts of nearly 8,000 square feet, four large bedrooms, a magnificent, freestanding spiral staircase, eight fireplaces, and 12-foot ceilings. But it, too, could use a dose of TLC.

Each mansion is for sale, with asking prices well north of $1 million. And each has a dark, ugly past: 155 years ago, White Hall was site of the beginning of a scandalous affair between the 42-year-old Van Dorn and a married woman 17 years his junior. Cheairs stately home was the site of the generals murder.

Perhaps no one knows more about Earl Van Dorn than Bridget Smith, author of Where Elephants Fought, a historical novel about the twists and turns of his sordid life and death. A 53-year-old Tennessee native, Smith has devoted more than 20 years researching the man she calls a typical 1860s frat boy.

A Mississippian who graduated 52nd of 56 in the West Point Class of 1842, Van Dorn was one of the wars most flamboyant and compelling personalities. He enjoyed poetry and was an accomplished painter and horseman. A Mexican War veteran, Van Dorn was the grand-nephew of President Andrew Jackson, who helped secure an appointment for him at the academy. During the Civil War, he quickly rose from army brigadier general to major general before becoming a cavalry commander. His battlefield results, mostly in the Western Theater, were mixed. In his greatest triumph, Van Dorns cavalry forces destroyed more than $1 million of Union supplies on December 20, 1862, at Holly Springs, Miss., disrupting Ulysses Grants operations against Vicksburg, Miss. He was, says Smith, always looking for fame and glory.

Although Van Dorn and his wife, Carolinea girlish-looking little woman whom he married in 1843 when she was 16had two children together, the general was far from a devoted partner. He worked overtime to earn one of the all-time great nicknames, the terror of ugly husbands and nervous papas.

Smithwho is writing a nonfiction companion to Where Elephants Fought and working on a movie about the generalhas documented Van Dorns dalliances. There was the 18-year-old in Vicksburg. And a woman in Texasa laundress probably of, ahem, low social standingwith whom he had three children. For Van Dorn, Smith says, there was a constant flow of women.

A reporter traveling with him in 1863 also took notice of Van Dorns obsession with the opposite sex, writing of the generals conversation with a buxom widow of twenty in Spring Hill: After the lively little creature had congratulated him upon his recent success, she closed by saying: General, you are older than I am, but let me give you a little advicelet the women alone until the war is over.

My God, madam! replied he, I cannot do that, for it is all I am fighting for. I hate all men and were it not for the women, I should not fight at all; besides, if I adopted your generous advice, I would not now be speaking to you.

Van Dorns constant flow of women ended in Tennessee, 35 miles south of Nashville. The beginning of the end came at White Hall.

After Joe Ed and Jean Gaddes purchased White Hall in 1992, the couple labored on the antebellum house, saving almost all the original structure. Weve worked on this all we could, says Jean, 76. We sure would like to see someone buy it who appreciates its history.

Surprisingly, the couple have never lived in White Hall, instead holding weddings, club meetings, high school reunions, and holiday events in the mansion by appointment only. They relish entertaining visitors with tales of its remarkable past. On the mansion lawn in late November 1864, Nathan Bedford Forests cavalrymen were served fried chicken by the White family, and the house was a Confederate hospital after the Battle of Franklin. But its a visit in the spring of 1863 that drives this story.

Eager to meet Earl Van Dorn, 25-year-old Jessie Peters brushed by Mrs. White and headed for the generals room on the second floor of White Hall. Peters was the beautiful third wife of George Peters, a 51-year-old doctor, farmer, and politician. Jessies visit to White Hall led to gossip of an affair and incensed the Whites, who suggested the general move his headquarters elsewhere. Van Dorn complied, taking his troopers to Cheairs mansion nearby. Soon, Dr. Peters got word of the distressing affair.

Although facts of Van Dorns murder remain in dispute, this we know for sure: On the morning of May 7, 1863, in a first-floor room in Cheairs mansion, Dr. Peters shot the general in the head with a single-shot pocket pistol, killing him. The gunshot apparently was muffled, so Van Dorns staff outside was unaware the general had been shot until well after the fact. With aid of a pass signed by Van Dorn, Peters escaped, riding a horse through Confederate lines to Union-held Nashville, where he surrendered. The doctor readily admitted his guilt, giving Federal authorities a detailed account of the shooting.

Peters said he told Van Dorn, If you dont comply with my demands I will instantly blow your brains out. The general, according to Peters, then replied, You dd cowardly dog, take that door, or I will kick you out of it. Peters then drew his pistol and fired, recalling that Van Dorn received the shot in the left side of his head just above the ear, killing him instantly. Peters was never convicted of the killing.

If you believe Van Dorns staff, the general was entirely unconscious of any meditated hostility on the part of Dr. Peters. The generals rumored involvement with Jessie? Rubbish, they said. Author Smith believes Van Dorns affair with a member of the Peters family indeed was the catalyst for the dastardly deed. But her research points to the generals seduction of 15-year-old Clara Petersthe doctors daughter from his second marriageas Peters motivation to commit murder. In another twist to this ugly tale, Smith has evidence suggesting Van Dorn impregnated Clara, whom the family later had stashed away in a Missouri convent, where she became a nun.

Coverage of Van Dorns death was mostly slanted toward the allegiance of the publication. The murder of Gen. Van Dorn, the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser wrote, will strike a thrill of horror through the whole South But Pennsylvanias Carlisle Weekly Herald had the most biting critique of the dead general: This man was a conspicuous traitor. He had not a particle of moral principle, deceiving alike, friend and foe. He was false to his country, his God, and his fellow men. A violent death was the natural consequence of a life stained all over with violence.

Laura Wayman, a 64-year-old Michigan native, has an intimate knowledge of the room where Van Dorn was killed. From 2003-2005, she lived alone in Ferguson Hall, steps from her job as an administrator for the Tennessee Childrens Home. No, she says unprompted, I never saw any ghosts. Over the years, the mansion has served as a military academy, housing for the childrens home and a residence for the president of the home. Most recently, it has been used as a venue for special events.

In the murder room, a desk like the one Van Dorn sat at when a one-ounce piece of lead was fired into his brain stands against the far, back wall. In a gold frame, a large painting of the general hangs above a fireplace, on a robin egg-blue-painted wall.

Theres a lot of me in this house, says Wayman, who has filed for funding grants for the mansion and even painted walls of its many large rooms. There may be something of Van Dorn in the house, too. Splotches on the wood floorboards a foot or so from the commanders replica desk appear to be blood. A sliver that was cut from the floor was tested in Nashville. The result: Confirmation of the presence of blood of an unknown male. Perhaps thats only fitting. After all, Van Dorn, Bridget Smith says, is quite the mystery. 

John Banks is author of Connecticut Yankees at Antietam and Hidden History of Connecticut Union Soldiers, both by The History Press. He also is author of a popular Civil War blog (john-banks.blogspot.com). Banks lives in Nashville, Tenn.For the first time, Chinese arms companies participated in the annual International Military-Technical Forum Army-2018 in Russia in late August, with Chinese experts saying that Chinese weaponry and equipment are becoming more competitive in the international arms market.

"We exhibited weapons and equipment in four major categories - suppression weapons, armored assault vehicles, anti-aircraft hardware and anti-tank weapons," a China North Industries Group Corporation Limited (Norinco) marketing representative, who declined to be named, told the Global Times on Monday.

He said his company showcased the VT4 main battle tank, PLZ-52 155mm self-propelled howitzer, HJ-10 anti-tank missile and Tianlong-50 air defense missile.

A photo released by Norinco's WeChat account on Sunday shows replicas of tanks, armored vehicles and missiles at the company's booth, with videos showcasing the weapons' capabilities.

This is the first time that Norinco took part in the Russian military show, the representative said.

Other Chinese companies, including China Electronics Corporation (CEC), one of the largest Chinese computer hardware and telecoms equipment manufacturers, and Shandong-based IRay Technology Corporation, a company which specializes in infrared thermal imaging, also participated in the show, Russian news agency Sputnik News reported on Wednesday.

Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Monday that taking part in the Russian military show is an indication that Chinese arms companies are becoming more competitive in the international arms market.

"Chinese weaponry and equipment are relatively cost effective, and the international market is recognizing them," Song said.

China used to purchase weapons from Russia, but Russia is not developing weapons as much as before due to its declining economic strength, Song noted.

The International Military-Technical Forum Army is an annual event organized by the Russian Defense Ministry. The Army-2018 show was held from August 21 to Sunday in Moscow, the show's website said.

Russia's alternative

Sputnik reported on Wednesday that Russia invited the Chinese arms companies to the show to sell China's equipment to their Russian partners amid US sanctions against the Russian arms industry.

Technology exports from Western countries to Russia have been restricted, which has made Russia turn to Chinese military equipment, as there are no restrictions, an IRay Technology Corporation representative told Sputnik.

Some reports said that China is not focusing on selling weapons and equipment at the show, but to help Russia deal with the US sanctions.

However, Song believes that Chinese arms companies are focused on the business side.

"It is natural for Chinese companies to take part in an international military showChina wants its weapons to gain international recognition, including those from developing countries," Song said.

China's share of global arms exports rose from 3.8 percent in 2012 to 6.2 percent in 2016, making China the third-largest arms supplier in the world after the US and Russia, the news website of the People's Liberation Army chinamil.com.cn reported in February, citing data released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The website also said the reasons behind China's transformation from an arms buyer to the third-largest supplier of weapons are that the country has a developed industrial system, provides customers with many options, is advanced in weapons designs, provides flexible payments and does not set sales barriers for political reasons.

The show is mainly open to members of the Commonwealth of the Independent States and former Soviet countries, and China wanted to gain a foothold in these countries, Song explained.

Chinese weapons and equipment enhance the Russian show, which is good for both sides, Song said.

More cutting-edge Chinese weapons and equipment are expected to enter the international market, Song said.As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content.

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If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create.MOSCOW, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Defense Ministry had received a new regiment set of the advanced S-400 Triumph air defense missile systems ahead of schedule, Russia's Almaz-Antey arms manufacturer said Monday.

The delivery ceremony was held at the Kapustin Yar training range in the Astrakhan region in southern Russia, according to the company's press service.

In compliance with the Defense Ministry's requirements, the systems were tested by engaging real air targets during their delivery, which were "performed successfully," the company was quoted as saying by Tass news agency.

The S-400 air defense missile system, designed and manufactured by Almaz-Antey, is considered the most advanced of its kind in Russia, capable of destroying targets at a distance of up to 400 km and a height of up to 30 km.

A S-400 regiment consists of two battalions (also known as divisions), which in turn are split into two batteries. A battery includes up to 12 transporter erector launchers, a target acquisition and engagement (fire control) radar systems and a command post.

According to the State Armaments Program, the Defense Ministry should receive 56 battalion sets of S-400 systems, the ministry's Zvezda TV channel said in July.

Almaz-Antey said on its website that it had supplied the Defense Ministry with four regiment sets of S-400 systems.

On Monday, Dmitry Shugaev, director of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, said Russia may start shipping its S-400 air defense missile systems to India in 2020.

In July, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Russia will deliver the first batch of S-400 defense system batteries to Turkey in late 2019, which will make the country the first NATO member to acquire the Russian system.

Russia also deployed S-400 systems to protect its air base in Syria.Cyprus PIO: Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 18-08-28 Cyprus Press and Information Office: Turkish Cypriot Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: The Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office Server at <http://www.pio.gov.cy/> Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review, 28.08.18 Contents [A] Turkish Cypriot Press [01] Turkish Naval Forces Command: "Establishment of a naval base in the TRNC" [02] "If necessary we will fight!" [03] Ozersay speaks on hydrocarbons issue [04] Ozersay accuses the Greek Cypriot side of trying to suffocate the Turkish Cypriot economy [05] Tore says that initiatives for giving a military base to the US are unacceptable [06] Coskun Kaya undertook "duties" in the "39th division administration" [07] A new mosque is under construction in occupied Lapythos village [08] More FETO suspects were detained in Turkey and the occupation regime [09] The "Religious Affairs Department" issues a statement about tomorrow's visit to Hala Sultan Tekke in Larnaka [B] Turkish Press [A] TURKISH CYPRIOT / TURKISH PRESS [01] Albayrak: "Turkey wants to take ties with EU to a new phase" [02] Washington to Ankara: Give up S-400s and get the F-35s [03] Erdogan due to Iran for the Astana summit [04] Erdogan discusses bilateral ties with Steinmeier and May over the phone [05] Turkish and American Defense chiefs discuss Syria over the phone [A] Turkish Cypriot Press [01] Turkish Naval Forces Command: "Establishment of a naval base in the TRNC" Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris Postasi newspaper (28.08.18 http://www.kibrispostasi.com/c36-TURKIYE/n261205-tc-deniz-kuvvetleri-komutanligi-kktcye-deniz-ussu-kurulmasi ) reports that the Turkish Naval Forces Command presented a proposal to the Turkish Foreign Ministry asking for the establishment of a naval base in the TRNC, at an appropriate position as specified. Claiming that the establishment of such a base will contribute towards strengthening both Turkey and the breakaway regime, the Turkish Naval Forces Command said that the base will safeguard the "sovereign rights and interests of the TRNC" and Turkey in Eastern Mediterranean, taking measures to prevent invasions in the marine energy field and strengthening the position of Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot side in the forthcoming negotiations. According to the statement, the base should be established as sovereign base facilities such as the British naval base in the region. (CS) [02] "If necessary we will fight!" Under the above title, Turkish Cypriot daily Demokrat Bakis newspaper (28.08.18) refers to articles published yesterday by Turkish journalists Fatih Cekirge in Turkish daily Hurriyet newspaper (27.08.18, http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/yazarlar/fatih-cekirge/dogu-akdenizde-bu-tahrige-dikkat-40937803) and Ardan Zenturk in Turkish daily Star newspaper (27.08.18, http://www.star.com.tr/yazar/kibrista-gerekirse--yine-savasiriz-bilin-yazi-1378552/) and argues that developments which attract attention are happening in the area, while tension continues between Turkey and the "Greek Cypriot administration", as it describes the Republic of Cyprus, on the issue of explorations for natural gas. In his article, Cekirge alleged that after the Republic of Cyprus gave a military base on the island to France, the US Chief of Land Forces visited the island to also ask for a military base. Recalling Cyprus' cooperation with Israel in the natural gas field, he claimed that Cyprus is trying to "bring the Turkish rights in Eastern Mediterranean before a fait accompli" by using the crisis in the relations between Turkey and the USA. "Turkey had stated that it would carry out explorations for natural gas in the Mediterranean in mid-2018. Behold, now I am sensing a conspiracy, a trick, a fait accompli, a provocation", alleged Cekirge. In his article under the title "If needed, we will fight again in Cyprus! You should know this", Zenturk argued that the natural gas is the first thing which comes to mind when someone refers to Cyprus today and alleged that the natural gas which Turkey possesses in the area according to the international law is enough to satisfy its energy needs for 572 years. Furthermore, he claimed the following: "An energy treasure of three trillion dollars exists right next to us and the world does its utmost for us to remain inactive. Alliances in the Israel-Greece-Egypt triangle are being established against Turkey and Britain, France and America are settled on this. It is obvious that in the very near future, Eastern Mediterranean will become the second field of settling energy accounts in the world after the Persian Gulf and imperialism is trying for all formu las which it will produce in the area to be 'without Turkey'. For us Cyprus is a field where we will fight again, if needed". Referring to Turkish President Erdogan, Zenturk calls on him to sign the soonest an "agreement" with the "TRNC", as he describes the breakaway regime in the Turkish occupied part of the Republic of Cyprus, for the establishment of a military base by Turkey alleging that this base should be "sovereign" like the British Base in Akrotri. (I/Ts.) [03] Ozersay speaks on hydrocarbons issue According to illegal Bayrak television (28.08.18-http://www.brtk.net/?english posts=ozersay-speaks-on-hydrocarbons-issue-2 2/4), so-called deputy prime minister and "foreign minister" Kudret Ozersay alleged that the Turkish Cypriot side is undertaking diplomatic initiatives to cool down tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, not to warm them up. Speaking on a program on illegal BRT last night, Ozersay said that they did not foresee a disaster scenario in the Eastern Mediterranean at this point of time. He alleged that Turkey and the "TRNC" are only taking steps to conduct their own exploratory and drilling activities in response to similar steps taken by the Greek Cypriot side. "We have not seen a disaster scenario or tension in the region due to this" he argued. He, however, claimed that the Turkish Cypriot side's preference is for any resources in the region to be explored and exploited jointly, ideally in the presence of a settlement. "Perhaps to be realistic at this point in time, it would be best if this wealth would be marketed and sold to international markets through a temporary agreement in the absence of a settlement in a matter which will safeguard the interests of both sides and which would not allow one side to downgrade the status of the other. I do not foresee a conflict as long as the issue is approached in this manner and common sense is exercised" he further alleged. Ozersay argued also that the Greek Cypriot side will avoid sharing the island's wealth as long as the international community does not highlight the fact that it belongs to both sides and continues to give the Greek Cypriots the green light to explore and exploit in the absence of a settlement. [04] Ozersay accuses the Greek Cypriot side of trying to suffocate the Turkish Cypriot economy According to illegal Bayrak television (28.08.18-http://www.brtk.net/?english posts=gca-is-suffocating-tc-economy-says-ozersay), so-called deputy prime minister and "foreign minister" Kudret Ozersay, in a written statement, accused the "Greek Cypriot administration", as the Republic of Cyprus is called, of trying to suffocate the "economy" of the "TRNC", by targeting its main pillars, which are the "higher education and tourism". In a written statement, Ozersay alleged that the Greek Cypriot side is trying to block cooperation between the "Eastern Mediterranean University", ("DAU) and Oxford University. Claiming that the Greek Cypriot leadership had no tolerance towards the Turkish Cypriot side, Ozersay accused the Greek Cypriot side of targeting the "TRNC universities" as well as the ship companies using the "TRNC ports". Claiming that such actions were hurting relations between the two sides, Ozersay alleged further the following: "It is understood that unfortunately, the Greek Cypriot leadership cannot stand letting the Turkish Cypriots catch a breath not only over politics, culture and sports, but also in the economic sector. We are faced with a mentality that tries to cut our every contact with the economic world", Ozersay alleged. He further argued that such attempts carried out while the Turkish Cypriot side is trying to improve economic relations between the two sides and supporting the increase in people crossing across the two sides, is a real disappointment. He also added that "such attempts will not dissuade the Turkish Cypriot side's struggle to exist on this island". Ozersay added further that when the Turkish Cypriot side maintains that a change of mind-set is necessary, it's this what it means. He alleged also that while the "degrees of graduates" of the "Eastern Mediterranean University" ("DAU") are being accepted throughout the world, the Greek Cypriot officials are trying to create problems over its cooperation with Oxford University without any legal backing."This is totally unacceptable. It's obvious they are doing this because they know that higher education and tourism are the two main pillars of the Turkish Cypriot economy. While the degrees of graduates of the Eastern Mediterranean University are being accepted throughout the world, the Greek Cypriot Foreign Ministry is attempting to declare such institutions as illegal. The example with Oxford University is a good one", Ozersay said, alleging that these actions contradicts the calls by the Greek Cypriot side to improve relations between the two communities. [05] Tore says that initiatives for giving a military base to the US are unacceptable Turkish Cypriot daily Kibrisli newspaper (28.08.18) reports that the "deputy speaker of the assembly", Zorlu Tore issued a statement reacting against the efforts which as he claims are exerted by the Republic of Cyprus for giving a military base to the US in Cyprus, "as if the agreements for giving for use the ports and airports of the Greek Cypriot side to France, Israel and Egypt were not enough", as he claimed. Tore claimed that the discovery of hydrocarbons in the area "increased the appetite of imperial states", and alleged that even if the region is in danger, the "TRNC people are safe and do not worry about their future because of the presence of the Turkish army (in the island)". He also claimed that there is separation in Cyprus adding even if it is not a velvet one, this separation cannot be transformed into a United Cyprus. (CS) [06] Coskun Kaya undertook "duties" in the "39th division administration" Turkish Cypriot daily Halkin Sesi newspaper (28.08.18) reports that Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci met yesterday with the "commander" and "major general" of the ""Turkish Cypriot peace forces commandership" ("KTBK"), Yilmaz Yildirim as well as with "major general" of the "39th division administration" Erdal Sener who handed-over his "duties" to "major general" Coskun Kaya. The above "major generals" were also met with the "speaker" of the so-called assembly, Teberruken Ulucay and with the so-called prime minister Tufan Erhurman. According to the paper, Akinci gave a honorary plaque to Erdal Sener for his "contribution". (AK) [07] A new mosque is under construction in occupied Lapythos village Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika newspaper (28.08.18) under the title: "New mosque in Lapythos instead of a school", reports that the residents in occupied Lapythos reacted over the fact that a new mosque, the fourth one in the village is under construction. According to the paper, the residents in the village criticized the so-called municipality of Lapythos for remaining silent over the issue and accused it of building another mosque in the village instead of a school. The residents also reacted with statements to the paper for the noise and the clouds of dust which are created because of the construction works and underlined that the mosque is built in a very big plot of land which is surrounded by several residences. The paper writes that the mosque is constructed with the financial aid of the "Turkish embassy" in the occupied area of Cyprus. (AK) [08] More FETO suspects were detained in Turkey and the occupation regime Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika newspaper (28.08.18) reports that in simultaneous operations by the Turkish authorities which took place in Turkey's Balikesir region as well as in 8 other provinces in Turkey and in the "TRNC" as well, the police detained 14 more army officers with the accusation of having links with terrorist FETO organization. The suspects were detained after the Turkish police conducted investigation in their payphones, writes the paper. (AK) [09] The "Religious Affairs Department" issues a statement about tomorrow's visit to Hala Sultan Tekke in Larnaka Turkish Cypriot daily Diyalog newspaper (28.08.18) reports that the "Religious Affairs Department" of the breakaway regime issued a statement regarding the visit to Hala Sultan Tekke in Larnaka which will take place tomorrow, noting that as like any other visits that took place before, this one as well will be organized only by the "Department". According to the statement, the persons who want to participate in the visit can do so only with the visit organized by the "department", following the "department's convoy". (CS) [B] Turkish Press [01] Albayrak: "Turkey wants to take ties with EU to a new phase" Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (27.08.18-http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-wants-to-take-ties-with-eu-to-a-new-phase-albayrak-136204) reported that Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak has said that Turkey wants to take its relations with the European Union to a new phase in a period when its trade with the bloc is more important. Speaking during a press conference with his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire in Paris on Aug. 27, during which both sides underlined the importance of Turkish-EU ties, Albayrak said that recent unilateral steps taken by the United States had shown relations between Turkey and the EU, namely France, were more important than ever. "We want to take relations with the European Union to a new phase," Albayrak said, adding that Turkey wanted to increase trade with Francenow at 14 billion eurosto 20 billion euros. Le Maire encouraged Turkey to use all available economic policy tools to ensure sustainable growth. "It is in everyone's interest, in France, in Turkey, in Europe, that the situation stabilizes in Turkey," Le Maire told reporters in the wake of a significant hit to the Turkish Lira amid strained ties between Turkey and the U.S. over the trial of pastor Andrew Brunson. Le Maire said further that Albayrak had stressed his country's commitment to structural reforms. "France encourages Turkish authorities to give this absolute priority ... by using all the leverage available through economic policy," he noted. "Recent steps taken by the United States against Turkey are politically motivated and could serve to ultimately bolster regional terrorism and the refugee crisis", Albayrak also said. "We talked about the recent trade sanctions by the United States  Such decisions of sanctions will negatively affect regional stability and bolster both regional terror and the refugee crisis," he said, adding that Turkey and France decided to move together over these issues. Albayrak also noted that both Ministers talked about moving together regarding the trade decisions against Turkey and the EU in violation of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) rules. "We are on the same page regarding Iran with France," Albayrak said, alleging that recent steps by the U.S. are isolating it from its allies. "In this period, the [U.S.] dollar is losing its status as a global trade tool," he added. [02] Washington to Ankara: Give up S-400s and get the F-35s Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (27.08.18-http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/washington-to-ankara-give-up-s-400s-and-get-the-f-35s-136198) reported that the members of a delegation from the United States Congress, who visited Turkey and met with their Turkish Parliament counterparts on Aug. 27, have urged Ankara to give up purchasing S-400 missile systems from Russia to receive the F-35 fighter jets. A three-member delegation headed by Congressman Michael Turner, a member of NATO Parliamentarian Assembly, first visited Incirlik Airbase in southern Adana province. The delegation later met with Turkish parliamentarians and discussed the issues of Turkey's purchase of Russian S-400 systems and delivery of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. The Congressmen urged Ankara to abandon procurement of S-400 systems to guarantee the delivery of the F-35s, while the Turkish side stressed further cooperation against the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETO). The U.S. Congress recently passed legislation threatening to halt U.S. sales of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, despite signed contracts between the countries over the latter's planned acquisition of Russia's S-400 missile defence system and the ramifications for the U.S. industrial base if Turkey is dropped from the international F-35 program. Criticizing the U.S. for trying to force Turkey not to purchase the S-400 air defence system from Russia, Ankara recalls that Turkey had been trying to purchase the Patriot air defence system from the U.S., but the missiles have never been sold to Ankara when they were needed the most. Turkey has been in the F-35 program since 1999. The Turkish defence industry has taken an active role in the production of the aircraft. Alp Aviation, AYESAS, Kale Aviation, Kale Pratt & Whitney and Turkish Aerospace Industries have been producing parts for the first F-35fighter jet. Turkey plans to purchase 100 F-35 fighter jets in the coming years. The row over the F-35s came at a time when the ties between the two countries were strained over the detention in Turkey of U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson. [03] Erdogan due to Iran for the Astana summit Turkish daily Hurriyet Daily News (27.08.18-http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-president-erdogan-to-visit-tehran-on-sept-7-for-syria-summit-136177) reported that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will travel to Iran on Sept. 7, the presidency announced on Aug. 27. Erdogan will attend the third summit within the Astana process amid raising concerns for a possible regime attack at the rebel-hold Idlib province of Syria. Turkey, Russia and Iran are the three countries that are the guarantors of a countrywide cease-fire in Syria and the leaders of the guarantors will meet in Iran. They have been mediating a peace process since January 2016 among Syria's warring sides in Astana, Kazakhstan. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has held two meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the last two weeks. Cavusoglu also met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Aug. 24. Defence Minister Hulusi Akar and National Intelligence Organization Director Hakan Fidan also held meetings in Moscow, just a week after their first trip to the Russian capital. Turkey's demarche comes over an impending Syrian military operation into Idlib where Ankara warns against a full scale military operation that will risk the lives of nearly three million civilians. The Syrian army, backed by Russia, aims to eliminate jihadist terrorists, which have been controlling the province since early 2017.el to Tehran on Sept. 7, the presidency announced on Aug. 27. [04] Erdogan discusses bilateral ties with Steinmeier and May over the phone Ankara Anatolia news agency (27.08.18-https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/erdogan-talks-to-german-counterpart-over-phone/1240358) reported that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier discussed bilateral relations and regional issues over the phone on Monday, according to a presidential source. Erdogan and Steinmeier also exchanged views on economy, trade and investment, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said. They also discussed the latest developments in Syria, particularly in Idlib, the source said. They agreed to arrange a meeting between Turkish and German Foreign, Finance and Treasury Ministers. The two leaders also exchanged views on Erdogan's visit to Germany in September. Meanwhile, Turkish daily Sabah (27.08.18 https://www.dailysabah.com/diplomacy/2018/08/27/erdogan-may-discuss-bilateral-relations-regional-issues-in-phone-call) reported that Erdogan and the British Prime Minister Theresa May discussed on Monday bilateral relations and regional issues over a phone call. According to Turkish presidential sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, Erdogan and May also exchanged views on the areas of economy, trade and investment. They agreed on a meeting between the Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak and his British counterpart Philip Hammond. Erdogan and May also discussed the latest developments in Syria, particularly in Idlib, the sources said. Erdogan paid a three-day official visit to the U.K. in May, where he attended the seventh Turkish-British Tatlidil Forum in southern England and also met Queen Elizabeth II and British Prime Minister Theresa May. In a press conference following his meeting with May, Erdogan said that the U.K. is the second biggest export market for Turkey, adding that the trade volume between Turkey and the U.K. was at a level of $16 billion in 2017 but their target for bilateral trade is $20 billion. [05] Turkish and American Defense chiefs discuss Syria over the phone Ankara Anatolia news agency (27.08.18-https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/turkish-american-defense-chiefs-talk-over-phone/1240408) reported that Turkey's National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis spoke over the phone late Monday, a Defense Ministry source told Anadolu Agency. Akar and Mattis exchanged views on the Turkey-U.S. defence relations, Syria and the fight against terrorism, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said. Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests - which erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings - with unexpected ferocity. TURKISH AFFAIRS SECTION (AK/ AM) Cyprus Press and Information Office: Turkish Cypriot Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleUS president Donald Trump. File photo. [Photo/VCG]

In a sign that the Donald Trump administration is hellbent on reviving the Cold War, the US Navy held a ceremony at Norfolk in Virginia on Friday for the re-establishment of its US Second Fleet which will be responsible for naval forces along the East Coast and in the northern Atlantic Ocean.

The fleet was created in the 1950s primarily to counter the former Soviet Unions military activities on the Atlantic Rim, before it was disbanded in 2011 as part of the Pentagons cost-saving plan. The decision to resurrect the outdated structures of the Cold War will only exacerbate tensions with Russia.

The move cannot but make people wonder why the United States is so intent on reviving the great power rivalry that kept the world on the brink of nuclear Armageddon for so long. Does Russia really pose a bigger threat to US citizens than terrorist groups such as al-Qaida?

The US National Defense Strategy labels Russia and China as revisionist powers that pose growing threats to the US. Yet it is the opposite that is true.

To deal with the imagined threats from Beijing and Moscow, the Trump administration has been adopting an increasingly aggressive defense strategy, with the US president recently announcing a plan to build a space force to ensure US dominance in that domain. He has also said he wants a 10-fold increase in the US nuclear arsenal.

The hawkish makeup of the Trump administration and the personality of the US president, who has an unhealthy fascination with the military, combined with his casual remarks about using nuclear weapons, make the prospect of a return to the high-stakes brinkmanship and proxy wars of the Cold War increasingly likely.

Is it profits, status or simply petrified beliefs that motivate the US administration to keep generating an atmosphere of war? If it is in pursuit of an arms race that it hopes will bring its rivals to their knees under the unbearable weight of defense budgets, then it should bear in mind the cost to itself. Many in the US already worry its military spending is putting the nation on a path to fiscal ruin.

The Cold War, which also bred many hot wars, should be consigned to the history books where it belongs. Instead of looking fearfully backward to the past, Washington should look boldly forward to the future and seek to build a new type of relations with Russia and China.Paul Kagame, Rwandan president and former military leader has recommended three books, youths should read to broaden their knowledge.

Kagame, who became president of Rwanda, in 2000 when his predecessor, Pasteur Bizimungu, resigned, during the recent #MeetThePresident, advised the young Rwandan professionals to continue seeking knowledge and invest in education.

In the event which took place in Kigali, one of the participants asked him to recommend books that he thinks the young people can read for inspiration. The student asked:

You talked about keeping increasing our knowledge and keep educating ourselves. If I am not mistaken, one of the best ways to increasing our knowledge is reading books. I would like to ask if you dont mind to tell us your three favorite books that youd recommend young people to read.

Being an avid user of Twitter, the Rwandan president took to the platform to grant the request.A student of the Federal Polytechnic, Ibadan, Oyo State, was yesterday, H@cked to death by some suspected cultists.

Olaniyi Olalekan aka Maku, who was a thorn in the flesh of cultists, was murdered around Apete.79-year-old Bill Oxley, ex-agent of Americas Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has claimed he is responsible for the death of reggae legend, Bob Marley.

Marley tragically died aged only 36-years-old, following a four-year battle with cancer.

The story of cancer may seem untrue as startling claims have emerged from a deathbed confession made by an ex-CIA officer, where he admitted to the killing.

According to a report by the Daily Star,Oxley is alleged to have claimed the murder of Marley among 17 other assassinations for the American government between 1974 and 1985, at a time when he said the CIA was a law unto itself.

Oxley, who reportedly worked as an operative for the CIA for 29 years, is alleged to have said he was often used as a hitman on targets deemed to represent a threat to the interests of the United States.

In a purported interview shared widely online, he admitted having no problem with proceeding with the Bob Marley assassination because

I was a patriot, I believed in the CIA, and I didnt question the motivation of the agency  Ive always understood that sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the greater good.

According to the conspiracy theory, Oxley used faked press credentials to gain access to Bob Marley at his Blue Mountain retreat; introducing himself as a famous photographer working for the New York Times, and gave Bob Marley a gift.

I gave him a pair of Converse All Stars. Size 10. When he tried on the right shoe, he screamed out OUUUCH.

That was it. His life was over right there and then. The nail in the shoe was tainted with cancer viruses and bacteria. If it pierced his skin, which it did, it was goodnight nurse.

There had been a series of high-profile assassinations of counter-culture figures in the United States in the late sixties, early seventies. By the time Bob Marleys time came around, we thought subtlety was the order of the day. No more bullets and splattered brains.

Mr. Oxley says he kept close contact with Marley during the final years of his life, ensuring the medical advice he received in Paris, London and the United States would hasten his demise rather than cure him.

The last time I saw Bob before he died he had removed the dreadlocks, and his weight was dropping like a stone, he says.

He was very withdrawn, unbelievably small. He was shrinking in front of us. The cancer had done its job.

Although widely dismissed as fiction, the account does tally with findings by UK scientists in 2014, who discovered the mysterious acral melanomas  the rare type of skin cancer that caused reggae musicians demise  was in fact not caused by the sun.

Bob Marleys soon Ziggy has previously implied his Father was killed, saying in a 2013 interview about the death: I dont know what to believe  there are a lot of theories.File photo: General Li Zuocheng, member of China's Central Military Commission (CMC) and chief of the Joint Staff Department under the CMC.

BEIJING, Aug. 28 (ChinaMil) -- Senior Colonel Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China (PRC), confirmed on August 25 that General Li Zuocheng, member of China's Central Military Commission (CMC) and chief of the Joint Staff Department under the CMC, would lead a delegation to visit Russia on August 26 at the invitation of General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the first Deputy Defense Minister of Russia.

During his visit, General Li would also attend the fifth meeting of the joint chiefs of staff of the armed forces of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states and inspect the "Peace Mission 2018" joint anti-terrorism military exercise together with other chiefs of general staff of SCO countries.

With regards to the purpose and specific arrangements of General Lis trip, Ren said that China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination continues to develop at a high level at present, and the relations between Chinese and Russian militaries are at all-time high.

The fifth meeting of joint chiefs of staff and the "Peace Mission 2018" joint anti-terrorism military exercise are important activities in the field of security and defense cooperation for the SCO this year. China is willing to make joint efforts with all member states to deepen the security and defense cooperation of the SCO, jointly fight against the "three evil forces" of terrorism, extremism and separatism, and play an active role in maintaining peace and stability in this region, Ren added.Out-going governor of Ekiti state, Ayodele Fayose has reacted to a recent report by Financial Times, where in, US president Donald Trump was quoted to have called president Muhammadu Buhari lifeless shortly after their meeting last April.

The governor says he was wondering when president Buhari will charge undiplomatic Trump for hate speech.

Fayose in a Twitter post this afternoon said if it were to be him, National Security Supremacy would have applied but wont in this case because Trump isnt Nigerian.

He wrote:President Muhammadu Buharis aide on media and publicity, Femi Adesina had come under serious criticisms following an interview with Channels TV this morning.

According to Adesina, during the interview with Maupe Ogun on Sunrise daily, he spoke on Leah Sharibu, Kemi Adeosuns alleged certificate forgery scandal amongst many other National issues.

On when says when Leah Sharibu, the kidnapped Dapchi girl, left behind because of her faith will be rescued, Adesina said only God knows.

Yesterday, online newspaper, TheCable had released a recent photo and an audio voice recording of Sharibu, appealing to President Buhari to rescue her.

Adesina was also asked to give a time-frame for Sharibus rescue, but heres what he said:

For how much longer, I think that question can only be answered by God. I believe that God is interested in that young girl and will ensure that she is preserved.

I think when that clip that we have is verified, at least one will be sure that its her and when that is determined, we should all be glad that she is alive.

When will she return? By the grace of God, the government is working on it and we believe she will be back.

Nigerians are not pleased with Adesinas response and have taken to social media to vent. Here are a few of their reactions.

https://twitter.com/emmaikumeh/status/1034329727077679104?s=19

https://twitter.com/DaamieAdams/status/1034378681945399296?s=19

Dear sir, @MBuhari, do you really send the likes of Femi Adesina to speak on your behalf? Are you really aware of the damage from their use of words or you are just interested in cartoons? Sighs..  POOJA (@PoojaMedia) August 28, 2018

@MaupeO asked Femi Adesina what's s presidency stands on allegedly certificate forgery of Adeosun, and the remarks of Prof. Sagay about irrelevance of the certificate.@FemAdesina replied certificate forgery is not a corruption.

Me : what is forgery ?@segalink @sunrisedailynow  ADD (@jhybolar) August 28, 2018

On #LeahSharibu; Is the Government in touch with the family  Maupe Ogun The State Governor or LG chairman should be The Presidency shouldnt be the one  Femi Adesina (SA to Buhari) WOW JUST WOW!!!|@Osekita   (@Heir_2D_Throne) August 28, 2018Wildlife conservation seems to be at an all time low at the Abuja Zoo in Abuja as a hungry looking camel was photoed by wildlife lovers who visited the zoo recently.

One can only but imagine the disappointment these visitors would have felt upon seeing the ungulate animal looking like its living on its ninth life.

The photos were shared on social media by a concerned Nigerian who understands clearly that the animal needs help.

Photos below,Barbe Clicquot (nee Ponsardin) Widow Clicquot or Veuve Clicquot (16 December 1777  29 July 1866), known as the Grande Dame of Champagne, was a French businesswoman who took on her husbands wine business when widowed at 27.

Here are some interesting things about the famous champagne you did not know about.

1.Veuve Clicquot means Widow Clicquot

Barbe- Nicole Ponsardin widowed at the age of 27, just seven years after marrying the son of Phillippe Clicquot- Muiron, Francois Clicquot.

2.Madame Clicquot was the first Woman to ever own a champagne House. Talk about girl power!!

Barbe Clicquot Took over as the head of the family Business following the untimely death of her Husband.

3. Veuve Clicquot was founded Over 200 years ago.

The Champagne house was established by Phillippe Clicquot- Muiron in 1772. The company was involved in Banking, wool and champagne production.

4. The Art of Sabrage

Madame Clicquot sent champagne to soldiers during the Napoleonic wars, who began the tradition of using their Swords to open the bottles which is Known as Sabrage.

5. Madame Clicquot Invented the Riddling Rack

Madame Clicquot and the houses cellar master created the riddling rack which allowed a more efficient process of premium sedimentation for the final corking of Champagne bottles.

It is still used by sparkling producers around the world.

6. The Queen of England Drinks Veuve Clicquot too!

Veuve Clicquot holds the royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. This royal warrant enables Veuve Clicquot to advertise the fact that they supply to the royal family.

A Champagne fit for Royals!!

7. Veuve Clicquot sells over 1.5 Million case of Champagne each year.

400,000 of those cases go to the United States!

8. Veuve Clicquots Signature Yellow Label has adorned the bottle for over 180 years!

The label started appearing on bottles around 1835 and was officially trademarked in 1877. It was created to distinguish dry bottles from the usual sweeter ones in the British market and became a huge hit.

9. Veuve Clicquot created the first-ever vintage champagne.

After five years of war, bad vintages and near-failure, Madame Clicquot celebrated the success of 1810 with the first single-vintage Champagne. The concept became a huge success the following year, when the iconic 1811 vintage champagne was labeled The Year of the Comet.

10. Veuve Clicquot was one of the first of Rose Champagne.

Veuve Clicquot was the first to produce rose Champagne by adding still red wine to its sparkling. First made in 1818, Veuve Clicquot Rose is now made by adding Pinot Noir to the classic Yellow Label.UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, who is on a 3-day trip to Africa(South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria) has said Nigeria is home to more poor people than any other nation in the world.

Ms May, on Tuesday said Africa is home to greatest number of poor people in the world, while speaking in Cape Town, South Africa.

The UK Prime Minister also said Africa also has the highest number of the worlds most fragile states, adding also that the worlds headquarter of displaced people is Africa.

Nigeria, she says holds the record for the highest number of poor people in the world, stating that 87 million Nigerians were living below the poverty line of $1 and 90 cents per day.

In her words:

Much of Nigeria is thriving, with many individuals enjoying the fruits of a resurgent economy, yet 87 million Nigerians live below $1 and 90 cents a day, making it home to more very poor people than any other nation in the world.Vanguard

Motorists plying the NPA Expressway, Ekpan, Warri, Delta State will soon heave a sigh of relief as the indiscriminate parking of tankers and trailers along thet road will soon be a thing of the past.

Thisday

Senior lawyers Monday disagreed with President Muhammadu Buharis comment that the rule of law must be subject to the supremacy of the national security and interest, adding that the executive arm of government cannot sit in judgment over courts decisions.

The Sun

Since January this year, his company, which deals in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), has been shut down by the Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, following an inferno that left one dead at the companys plant on CMD Road, Magodo, Lagos.

Daily Times

No fewer than 57 young men suspected to be involved in gay practice were on Monday paraded by the Lagos State Police Command.

Guardian

The newly elected chairmen of the 27 local councils in Imo State were sworn-in yesterday at the Sam Mbakwe Expanded Executive Council Chambers, Government House, Owerri.

The Nation

VICE-President Yemi Osinbajo has spoken again on how huge funds went down the drain in previous administrations, which earned much and invested little in infrastructure.

Tribune

Leah Sharibu, the only Christian among the abducted 119 students of Government Girls Secondary School, Dapchi, Yobe state, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to save her from captivity.Nigerian senator Dino Melaye has cried again on social media. Mr Melaye, who said he escaped assailants last month and hid atop a tree for hours, to avoid being set ablaze has accused the Nigerian police of trying to frame him up.

According to Melaye, the police is working with his state government to frame him up for culpable homicide and illegal possession of firearms.

The Lawmaker from Kogi state further alleged that the they want to forcefully take him to Lokoja and kill him there afterwards.

Melaye, who says he was headed to court in Lokoja from Abuja last July, when he was almost abducted by unknown assailants. The lawmaker said he escaped by divine intervention as he spent hours in the wilderness.

Taking to Twitter on Monday, heres what Dino Melaye:GEARY, NEW BRUNSWICK (Aug. 27, 2018)  After rave reviews a year ago, Pit Row TV will be returning to Speedway 660 to televise the prestigious Canadian Labour Day tradition known as SpeedWeekend which features the Martins Home Heating 150 and the McLaughlin Roof Trusses 250. The racing-themed network will once again cover all the action from both days of racing in all classes from Bandoleros and Sharp Shooters through the Sportsman and Pro Stock events. Broadcast and viewing information is available by navigating a web-enabled device to www.pitrow.tv.

The pro stock portion of SpeedWeekend alone pays nearly $75,000 with lap money available to leaders and various bonuses paid throughout the field. Saturday nights Martins Home Heating 150 boasts the biggest sportsman purse in Canada, paying $7500 to the winner with increased payouts through the field from a year ago. Sundays feature event consists of 250 green flag laps with a potential winners share of $28,500 up for grabs.

The response to Pit Row TVs presence last year was overwhelming, said Max Roy from Speedway 660. We had fans from across the continent watching Cassius Clark, Dave OBlenis and all our other winners go to victory lane which was something theyve never been able to do before. On top of that, our officials were able to utilize the Pit Row TV replay system to help us make the right calls during the race, so it was a benefit for not only our fans, but our competitors as well.

Last year, viewers watched Cassius Clark claim his fourth win in the Canadian classic, driving his No. 13 King Racing Fury chassis to victory lane after taking advantage of pit strategy and misfortune by American racer Johnny Clark. This year, over two dozen entries flooded the track office on the first day of open entries with additional racers making contact with the facility in the proceeding days.

Weve been doing this for quite some time, and each year things continue to get better, Roy said about the SpeedWeekend festivities. Weve learned from both good things and bad things in the past, and this year were hoping to see some fantastic racing in all classes. The drivers are pumped up, the current weather forecast is great, and everyone is excited about SpeedWeekend once again, both in the United States and Canada.

Pit Row TV has earned its place as one of the leading broadcast outlets for motorsports with coverage from various events past and present including the CARS Response Energy Tour, the Modified MEGA 100, the All-American 400 and many more. Since the weekend is one of Canadas marquee motorsports events, the network will be featuring multiple cameras to capture the action, replays, in-broadcast features, on-screen scoring and more.

Displaced fans who are unable to make the trek to Speedway 660 this weekend can catch every bit of action LIVE at www.pitrow.tv. The network also has a Roku app available for installation through their website for viewing on Roku devices including their line of smart TVs and external players. Chromecast users, mobile phone viewers, PC and Mac owners are all able to view the event on their favorite device of choice.

For more information about Speedway 660, visit Speedway660.com, like @Speedway660 on Facebook or call the Speedway 660 Raceline at (506) 454-7223.

About Speedway 660:

Speedway 660 is one of Canadas premier stock car racing facilities. Located in New Brunswicks Fredericton region, it attracts race teams and fans from the Maritimes, New England and Quebec. The Speedway 660 racing season runs from mid May until Labour Day Weekend. SpeedWeekend, one of the most prestigious short track events in eastern North America, wraps up Speedway 660s racing season.There is a lot of discussion about the future of the financial services sector, write Ralf Heussner and Enrique Marchesi-Herce of Deloitte. New technologies and automation, a changing regulatory landscape, and the entry of new market players are reshaping the industry. On top of this, the industry is undergoing further consolidation while having to respond to shifting customer demands and new distribution models.According to Global Times, Chinas first domestically built aircraft carrier embarked on its second sea trial from its dock at the Dalian Shipyard in northeast Chinas Liaoning Province on the morning of August 26.

Cao Weidong, a military expert, said in an interview that except for the higher degree of testing, the contents of this sea trial are similar to the first one. The ship still needs several sea trials before being commissioned to the PLA Navy.

The first homemade aircraft carrier was designed and built by China independently, with construction beginning in November 2013. In March 2015, the ship construction in the dock began, and the ship was moved from the dry dock into the water on April 26, 2017. From May 13 to 18 in 2018, it made its maiden sea trial, with a number of equipment tested living up to expectations.

According to the report, it is a common practice that carrier's sea trails can be divided into trial trips before service and in service. Sea trials before service are generally taken for navigational performance, including hull propulsion system, command system, water tight compartment sealing, radar navigation and communications system.

In line with the general rule, the first sea trial is centered on the testing of the propulsion system, while the second sea trial focuses on such sailing performance as the propulsion system, navigation system and communications system.

According to Cao, the first sea trial of the aircraft carrier is mainly to make it "move", that is to detect whether it can be brought into operation, and there is not much demand for speed and other factors. In the subsequent sea trials, the scope of testing items should be gradually expanded to verify whether indicators such as the carrier's speed, navigation time and airworthiness can meet the design standards, or whether the ship can sail and function normally under adverse sea conditions.

In addition, the focus of the second sea trail should also include the detection of radar and communications facilities, while the testing of missiles, guns and other weapons and equipment will not be implemented so early. In a word, the contents of the second and the first sea trials are similar, only with a higher degree of testing for the second.

Recently, in view of the presence of J-15 carrier-borne fighter jet and full-size models of Z-18, Z-9 multi-purpose helicopters on the domestic-made carrier, some media believe that the landing practice of carrier-borne aircraft will be carried out in the upcoming second sea trial.

Cao believes that aircraft models onboard should be used for dispatch training. Meanwhile, it is necessary to use the full-scale models to check whether the elevators and other equipment can operate normally, and see how many aircraft can be accommodated by the aircraft carrier. In addition, the landing practice for carrier-borne aircraft can only be carried out after all the testing items are completed and qualified.

Speaking about when the domestically built aircraft carrier could be commissioned to the PLA Navy, Cao stated that the sea trial of aircraft carriers is a progressive process, usually requiring a dozen times to complete. If all the sea trials of the first domestically built aircraft carrier go smoothly, then after 5 to 8 trial trips, all the instruments inspection can be completed in about half a year.

Disclaimer: The authors are Qiu Yue and Zhang Lingbo, reporters with the Global Times. The article is translated from Chinese into English by the China Military online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article are those of the authors from the Global Times and do not reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn. Chinamil.com.cn does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same. If the article carries photographs or images, we do not vouch for their authenticity.San Diego, CA - August 28, 2018 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Gopher Protocol Inc. (OTCQB: GOPH) ("Gopher"), a company specializing in the creation of Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence enabled mobile technologies, a global platform with both mobile and fixed solutions is pleased to announce it has commenced research in the robotics field with the goal of targeting its technology to enable advanced robots.

The goal of the research is to further develop our technology for the implementation of Gopher's technology within robots that will enable advanced features especially within GEO location, learning from experience and cognitive operations. Gopher intends to conduct an extensive research in the areas of security, military, autonomous machines, industrial and home robotics.

"We have clearly identified a wide range of robotics applications, which we believe that we can develop innovations for through the research we just commenced," stated Dr. Danny Rittman, Gophers Chief Technology Officer. "For example, we believe our GEO tracking technology has the ability to enable the ultimate location/orientation for robots utilized in any application including security or military. We also expect that our research will prove that our Avant! AI engine can enable smart, cognitive operation when utilized in autonomous machines, which we believe would allow robots to be trained, learning from its own experience, applying this experience in future use. Furthermore, we believe that connecting individual robots to our proprietary, private, secured communication protocol (gNET) would allow individual robots to learn from other robots experience as well in what we refer to as a "Knowledge Sharing Vault". As with anything new, we can expect some time until our research will be fully developed in order that it may be commercialized through the integration into robots, which could take up to ten years. People always ask me if smart robots will eventually replace us and I always answer, No. Robots are made by humans to complement our lives and to make them better. We have to see robots as our productive assistants and not our competitors."

About Gopher Protocol Inc.

Gopher Protocol Inc. (GOPH) ("Gopher") (http://gopherprotocol.com/) is a development-stage company which consider itself Native IoT creator, developing Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence enabled mobile technology. Gopher has a portfolio of Intellectual Property that when commercialized will include smart microchips, mobile application software and supporting cloud software. The system contemplates the creation of a global network. The core of the system will be its advanced microchip technology that can be installed in any mobile device worldwide. Gopher envisions this system as an internal, private network between all enabled mobile devices providing shared processing, advanced mobile database management/sharing and enhanced mobile features.

Corporate Site: http://gopherprotocol.com

Press page/ press kit - http://gopherprotocol.com/?page_id=228

Consumer and product website for Guardian Patch: http://www.guardianpatch.com/.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission located at their website (http://www.sec.gov). In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, governmental and public policy changes, the Companys ability to raise capital on acceptable terms, if at all, the Companys successful development of its products and the integration into its existing products and the commercial acceptance of the Companys products. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release.

Contact:

Dr. Danny Rittman, CTO

Gopher Protocol Inc.

VM Only 888-685-7336

Media: press@gopherprotocol.com

SOURCE: Gopher Protocol Inc.

Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investment involves risk and possible loss of investment. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Contact each company directly regarding content and press release questions. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Disclosure: GOPH is a PR, social media and publishing client and compensates Investorideas.com: More disclaimer and disclosure info: http://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp, http://www.investorideas.com/About/News/Clientspecifics.asp

Additional info regarding BC Residents and global Investors: Effective September 15 2008 - all BC investors should review all OTC and Pink sheet listed companies for adherence in new disclosure filings and filing appropriate documents with Sedar. Read for more info: http://www.bcsc.bc.ca/release.aspx?id=6894. Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country.

Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: http://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.aspVancouver, British Columbia - August 28, 2018 (Newsfile Corp.) (Investorideas.com Newswire) Ridgestone Mining Inc. (TSXV: RMI) (the "Company" or "Ridgestone), is pleased to announce that drilling is underway at its Rebeico Gold-Copper project located in Sonora, Mexico.

The program is designed to test for gold and copper mineralization below historical workings along the "Alaska" vein which has a strike length of over one kilometer and is open at depth.

Diamond drilling will comprise 12 HQ-diameter holes totaling approximately 1,400 meters, and is being conducted by Layne Drilling of Mexico, under the supervision of YQ Gold de Mexico, the project operator.

About the Rebeico Gold-Copper Project

The Rebeico Gold-Copper Project is located approximately 115 kilometers east of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico in the famed Sierra Madre Gold Belt, which has reportedly produced more than 80 million ounces of gold and over 4.5 billion ounces of silver.

Ridgestone has an option to earn a 100% interest in the Rebeico Gold-Copper Project (subject to a 2% NSR) from YQ Gold de Mexico S.de R.L. de C.V., (a private Mexican company) ("YQ") as further described in the Company's June 11, 2018 news release.

The Rebeico Gold-Copper Project's mineral concessions cover approximately 167 hectares located on private land and are easily accessed by paved highway and all weather gravel roads.

The Rebeico Gold-Copper Project has had intermittent historical production since the 1930's, with most of the efforts concentrated on the one kilometer-long "Alaska" vein, where underground workings reached depths of up to 70 meters.

Sampling by YQ geologists and others demonstrates that portions of the Alaska vein and some outcrops of a breccia zone west of the vein are mineralized with gold, silver and copper at concentrations that justify extensive exploration work, including drilling.

Additional information on the Rebeico Gold-Copper Project can be found in the National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") technical report entitled "NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Rebeico Gold-Copper Project, Central Sonora, Mexico", by Steven I. Weiss Phd, C.P.G., of Mine Development Associates, dated April 25, 2018, which has been filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Technical aspects of this news release have been reviewed and approved by Steven I. Weiss Phd, C.P.G., a qualified person under NI 43-101.

For further information, please contact:

Ron Birch, Director

Ridgestone Mining Inc.

Telephone: 1-800-910-7711

About the Company

Ridgestone is a TSX Venture Exchange -listed junior mineral exploration company with offices in Taipei and Vancouver, B.C. The Company's focus is on precious metals and copper in Sonora, Mexico, and specifically the Rebeico Gold-Copper project.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains forward-looking statements or information (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements"). Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements and are not guarantees of future performance of the Company. In this news release such statements include but are not limited to the preparation of a definitive agreement and the requirement of TSX Venture Exchange approval therefor. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. These forward-looking statements reflect management's current views and are based on certain expectations, estimates and assumptions which may prove to be incorrect. A number of risks and uncertainties could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including those described in the Company's Prospectus dated February 9, 2018 available on www.sedar.com. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of the Company's assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of risks, uncertainties and other factors is not exhaustive. Unpredictable or unknown factors not discussed could also have material adverse effects on forward-looking statements. The impact of any one factor on a particular forward-looking statement is not determinable with certainty as such factors are dependent on other factors, and the Company's course of action would depend on its assessment of the future considering all information then available. All forward-looking statements in this news release are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change.

More Info:

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Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions.

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Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.The opioid crisis has become a very well known or at least heard phrase and prevention and rehabilitation for the addiction is slowly being talked about more and more. According to research, the crisis has not reached Iowa but it seems to be a matter of time.The United States and Mexico have reached a trade agreement, leaving Canada as the odd man out in efforts to revise or replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, according to U.S. President Donald Trump.

The new deal will be called the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement, Trump said Monday. "We'll get rid of the name NAFTA, it has a bad connotation because the United States was hurt very badly by NAFTA for many years," Trump said.

"It's a big day for trade, it's a big day for our country," Trump said with reporters present, who were called to the Oval Office to watch as Trump spoke on the telephone with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

The Mexican leader expressed hope to "renew, modernize and update" NAFTA while Trump's rhetoric indicated he sees that 24-year-old three-nation deal as dead. "We'll have a formal news conference in the not-too-distant future," about the trade pact, Trump said to Pena Nieto.

"This is something very positive for the United States and Mexico," Pena Nieto replied, saying he is looking forward to toasting Trump with tequila to celebrate, expressing to his American counterpart that he is "really grateful and greatly recognize and acknowledge your political will in all of this."

Mexico has agreed to immediately begin purchasing as many agricultural products from the United States as possible, according to Trump. Pena Nieto leaves office on Dec. 1, turning over the Mexican government to his leftist successor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. That means the clock is ticking to give Mexico's legislature enough time to ratify it before the change of administration.PAF Pakistan Air Force Base Korangi Creek Karachi Jobs 2018

Latest Pakistan Air Force PAF Medical Posts Karachi 2021 PAF Pakistan Air Force Base Korangi Creek Karachi, Government of Pakistan required applications from experienced and qualified candidates for the posts of Civilian Medical Officer.

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.



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.U.S. Senator John McCain's career-long impact on U.S. foreign affairs was recognized Monday in tributes from across Asia and the Middle East, including tributes from national leaders and calls for a street to be named after him in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.

"We offer our condolences to the family and friends of Senator John McCain who was a great friend of AFG (Afghanistan). Senator McCain served his country honorably in uniform and his service in the Senate is truly exemplary," wrote Afghan President Asharf Ghani on Twitter. McCain advocated for more troops and resources for Afghanistan in its fight against militants.

Afghanistan's Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah also expressed condolences on McCain's death on his Twitter page. Condolence messages poured in from neighboring Pakistan, a country McCain visited several times.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the thoughts and prayers of the people of Pakistan are with the family and friends of Senator McCain. "As Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Senator McCain always stood for strong Pakistan-U.S. relations and a cooperative approach for promoting peace and building stability in the region."

He will be greatly missed in Pakistan, Qureshi added. Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa also conveyed his condolences to McCain's family.The UAE is urging Seoul to turn a controversial military memorandum of understanding it signed with the Lee Myung-bak administration into a formal military pact.

But Seoul believes that winning ratification from the National Assembly would be difficult in an area that is riddled with diplomatic and ideological sensitivities.

The Moon Jae-in administration fell out with the UAE late last year by demanding revisions to the deal, though the conflict was patched up when Moon himself stepped in.

The Lee administration signed the MOU in 2009, when it won a bid for nuclear power projects in the UAE, promising to assist the emirates in an emergency. But the deal was kept secret because military assistance to the UAE was so sensitive that it could spark backlash from other countries in the region.

After Moon came to power last year, the government here demanded revisions to the secretive deal, but the UAE was so upset that presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok had to fly to Abu Dhabi to patch things up. Moon himself later visited the country to smooth things over.

Now the UAE is calling on Seoul to turn the agreement into a formal military pact.

"It's possible that other countries in the region could raise questions if the issue of military assistance to the UAE comes to a head in an emergency," a government official here said. "It'll be also difficult to win public consensus."

Im will discuss the matter again with Khaldoon Al Mubarak, a senior adviser to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, according to officials here.

Investment consultant Kim Ki-joo said, "The market for secondhand products is burgeoning into a huge industry as technological developments brought changes like the spread of smartphones and growing number of single households."

In Japan, which is often ahead in such trends, the popularity of secondhand products can be seen through the success of the secondhand retail app Mercari. The service started in 2013 as an online flea market but has grown into a business capitalized at W5 trillion, rivaling Korea's No. 1 retailer Lotte Shopping, which is worth W5.1 trillion. Mercari accounts for 60 percent of Japan's secondhand market, which draws more than 10 million customers a month.

The market for secondhand products excluding cars is scaled at around W20 trillion, according to industry experts (US$1=W1,114). Up until 2008, the market for secondhand products was worth only W4 trillion, but it has since grown five-fold.

The sluggish economy has spurred demand for secondhand products, one of very few areas of business that are booming in Korea.

In Korea, banks and venture capitalists are boosting investment in secondhand retailers. Jungonara.com, Korea's No. 1 online flea market, has so far secured W13 billion in investment from venture capital firms.

A staffer at Kiwoom Securities said, "We decided to invest because we expect major growth in the market because the tougher the economy, the higher the demand for secondhand goods."

Jungonara.com CEO Lee Seung-woo said, "Our company got a major boost during the global financial crisis in 2008 and has been making even bigger growth over the last two years."

But the problem is that sales of new products shrink instead. A key example of this is books. Last year, the average monthly spending on books among salaried workers was just W15,000, and it has been declining every year. Industry watchers attribute the decline to the growth of large secondhand booksellers.

The market for secondhand clothes, which constitutes the biggest proportion of the used market, depresses demand for new clothes. Last year, Korea's clothing market shrank 1.6 percent and this year it is expected to shrink another 0.2 percent. The market for new home appliances like air conditioners also shrank 2.5 percent this year.

But some industries benefit from the growing popularity of secondhand products, like delivery and packaging. Other beneficiaries are repair shops.

"Consumers will continue to favor some new expensive products that keep their value can be resold for a good price," said Suh Yong-gu, a professor at Sookmyung Women's University. "We may also see new business opportunities open for high-end brands that whet the appetites of consumers."The government has decided to tighten controls and build more apartments at the same time after anti-speculation measures backfired and kept apartment prices in parts of Seoul soaring.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Monday designated four more "speculative" districts in Seoul -- Dongdaemun, Dongjak, Jongno and Jung -- in an effort to cool down burgeoning prices there.

The ministry also designated the Gyeonggi provincial cities of Gwangmyeong, Guri and Hanam as areas that need monitoring for speculation.All major Nepali and English broadsheet dailies published from Kathmandu on Tuesday have given the top priority to the fourth BIMSTEC summit being organised in Kathmandu on Thursday and Friday. Whereas all logistic and managerial preparations have been almost over, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli held a meeting with editors of major news media on Monday to talk about the issue. Many newspapers have published reports about the Prime Ministers statements on their front pages.

Other political issues, which otherwise would be the highlights of front pages, have not been seen significantly due to the BIMSTEC summit. Few other sociocultural and financial issues, however, have been featured. Among them is the murder of an eight-month-old child in Mahottari district of Province 2.

Important

Kathmandu all set to host BIMSTEC summit

Newspaper reports inform that the government has expedited preparations to host the BIMSTEC summit in Kathmandu on Thursday and Friday.

Meanwhile, the foreign secretaries of BIMSTEC member states will hold a meeting in Kathmandu on Tuesday as a part of the summit, according to newspaper reports.

Gorkhapatra informs that the officials have already arrived in Kathmandu on Monday and Nepals Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi received them at the Tribhuvan International Airport.

Another report in the same newspaper informs that Nepali Army has been assigned to lead security arrangements for the summit. Accordingly, army personnel have already begun patrolling in the city.

In the meantime, the first of six top dignitaries is arriving in Kathmandu today, according to The Himalayan Times. Myanmar President Win Myint is scheduled to land at the Airport at 2:45 pm today.

PMs meeting with editors

Nagarik reports that Prime Minister Oli interacted with editors for three hours yesterday. He told the editors to write what they see, but pay attention to if their writings could make people hopeless, according to the paper.

On the other hand, Oli also hinted that BIMSTEC could be an alternative to SAARC as SAARC could not become as active as expected, according to Annapurna Post anchor story. As Nepal is a founder of SAARC, but not BIMSTEC, Oli, however, maintained that he still preferred giving a momentum to SAARC.

He told top journalists that he was very strict about corruption issues and would not tolerate it, Kantipur reports in a snippet.

Ignored

Chinese officials in Kathmandu to discuss West Seti

Representatives of Three Gorges International Corporation have come to Kathmandu on Monday to discuss the stuck West Seti Hydropower Project with Nepals Investment Board, according to Karobar. The Board had signed an agreement with the company to build the project, but the Chinese company has raised some serious concerns delaying the ambitious project.

Govt launches probe into wide body irregularities

A box story in Annapurna Post reports that the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has launched a probe into reports of irregularities in the recent purchase of two wide body aircraft by Nepal Airlines Corporation.

The Ministry has formed a five member committee for the assignment and it has already begun the task, the report informs, adding the panel is preparing to conclude the investigation at the earliest.

Nepal received more foreign assistance through INGOs than government

The government is increasing scrutiny over transparency of funding handled by national and international non-government organisations of late. However, a startling revelation has come out recently that the country received more funds through such institutions than foreign grants received by the government last fiscal year, according to The Kathmandu Post lead story.

Based on the data of Social Welfare Council, the report says the country received Rs 39 billion through NGOs and INGOs whereas the government received only Rs 36.16 billion.

Interesting

Niharika becomes fourth lady to bag Madan Puraskar

Rajdhani, Gorkhapatra and The Kathmandu Post report on their front pages that novelist Nilam Karki Niharika has won the Madan Puraskar, Nepals most prestigious annual literary prize, for her later work Yogmaya. The Madan Puraskar Guthi announced the award on Monday.

Niharika is the fourth woman to receive the prestigious prize after Parijat, Jhamak Kumari Ghimire and Radha Paudel in past six decades.

Meanwhile, veteran litterateur Shanta Das Manandhar has been awarded with the Jagadambashree.

Biratnagar Muslims learning Sanskrit

Sanskrit, the language in which most scriptures of Hinduism are written, is still considered a language of Hindus only. However, 46 children of Muslim families in Biratnagar of Province 1 are studying at a Sanskrit school, Kantipur reports in its anchor story.

The report quotes a child to say that he rebelled against his mothers wish to join the Sanskrit school and he finds Sanskrit scriptures easier than Kuran these days.Sebelum Anda bermain, Anda perlu mengetahui apa yang Anda butuhkan untuk masuk ke dalam permainan roulette kasino online ini. Jika Anda sudah mendaftar di situs judi casino online dan sudah memberikan user ID, login terlebih dahulu dan pilih menu live casino yang tertera di situs judi tersebut. Pertama pilih dealer dan putuskan sendiri, lalu pilih meja atau kursi di dalam ruangan. Jika namanya tertera dan berwarna coklat, maka kursi tersebut sudah ditempati oleh pemain lain, dan pilihlah kursi kosong berwarna hitam.

Kasino Roulette adalah salah satu permainan paling populer di situs perjudian kasino. Jadi dalam permainan ini kamu harus menebak angka berapa yang akan keluar. Ada 36 nomor berbeda dalam permainan populer ini di mana sebuah bola kecil diputar dan dilemparkan ke dalam mesin roulette. Anda harus menebak dari mana bola kecil itu masuk dan di nomor berapa ia berhenti. Ada banyak jenis pilihan angka dari 0-36, dan mereka dihitung secara berbeda. Sebagai agen casino terpercaya, panduan permainan roulette ini juga memberikan informasi tentang jenis pilihan dan nama permainan roulette casino online sebagai berikut:

Jika Anda ingin bermain roulette di situs kasino online, caranya sangat sederhana. Anda dapat bermain di Kasino ION, Kasino Sbobet, dan Situs Kasino. Di bawah ini adalah artikel panduan bermain di mana Anda dapat mempelajari roulette langsung dan memainkannya di situs judi online mana pun.

tangkapan layar

Sebelum Anda bermain, Anda perlu mengetahui apa yang Anda butuhkan untuk masuk ke dalam permainan roulette kasino online ini. Jika Anda sudah mendaftar di situs judi casino online dan sudah memberikan user ID, login terlebih dahulu dan pilih menu live casino yang tertera di situs judi online tersebut. Pertama pilih dealer dan putuskan sendiri, lalu pilih meja atau kursi di dalam ruangan. Jika namanya tertera dan berwarna coklat, maka kursi tersebut sudah ditempati oleh pemain lain, dan pilihlah kursi kosong berwarna hitam.

Panduan Bermain Online Kasino Roulette

Kasino Roulette adalah salah satu permainan paling populer di situs perjudian kasino. Jadi dalam permainan ini kamu harus menebak angka berapa yang akan keluar. Ada 36 nomor berbeda dalam permainan populer ini di mana sebuah bola kecil diputar dan dilemparkan ke dalam mesin roulette. Anda harus menebak dari mana bola kecil itu masuk dan di nomor berapa ia berhenti. Ada banyak jenis pilihan angka dari 0-36, dan mereka dihitung secara berbeda. Sebagai agen casino terpercaya, panduan permainan roulette ini juga memberikan informasi tentang jenis pilihan dan nama permainan roulette casino online sebagai berikut:

1. Straight Up: Penempatan angka tunggal dari 0 hingga 36. Contoh perhitungan straight up adalah mengalikan taruhan dengan 35. Ini adalah jenis taruhan tertinggi dalam permainan roulette kasino, jadi 50 dikalikan dengan 35 memberi Anda 1750, mengapa jenis taruhan ini menghasilkan pengembalian yang begitu tinggi? Hal ini karena tidak mudah untuk memenangkan pilihan nomor dengan memilih hanya satu nomor dari banyak.

2. Taruhan split: Jenis taruhan yang ditempatkan pada dua angka atau di antara dua angka yang berbeda. Misalnya, menempatkan di sela-sela angka 9 dan 12 atau 13d dan 14 dihitung sebagai jenis taruhan split. Setiap nomor dapat ditempatkan dalam jenis ini selama nomor tersebut berdekatan dan persis seperti Gambar A dan B. Untuk taruhan ini, jika Anda memenangkan contoh dan mengalikannya dengan 850, Anda akan menerima jumlah taruhan yang dikalikan dengan 17. .

3. Taruhan jalanan: bertaruh dengan 3 angka ke bawah, misalnya 1,2,3 atau 10,11,12. Semua taruhan jalan akan menerima kemenangan dikalikan dengan 11. Misalnya, 50 dikalikan 550.

4. Taruhan sudut: Jenis taruhan di mana empat angka ditempatkan saling berhadapan, seperti 13,14,16,17 atau 19,20,22,23. Semua angka valid karena terdiri dari 4 angka yang diisi seperti kotak dan taruhan dikalikan 8 (misalnya 50 kali 800).

5. Taruhan baris: Atau, Anda dapat mengatakan bahwa ada 6 jenis taruhan yang terdiri dari 2 baris, tetapi 6 poin dengan 2 peregangan, seperti taruhan jalanan. Misalnya, jika Anda memilih angka 7 hingga 12 dan 13 hingga 18, taruhan 50 adalah 5 kali dan kemudian dikalikan dengan 250 kemenangan.

6. Kolom Inner Bet: Jenis taruhan vertikal dengan 12 poin berturut-turut, seperti kolom numerik 1,4,7,10,13,19,22,25,25,28,22,24,34 atau kolom lainnya. Dan jika dia memenangkan kolom, 50 taruhan digandakan dan 100 taruhan.

7. Lusin : Jenis taruhan menempatkan 12 angka tetapi menempatkannya pada kotak berbentuk seperti contoh Kolom A dengan angka 1 sampai 12 dan odds dengan kolom lain untuk dipilih dengan memilih 1 kotak pertama untuk Kolom A. Kalikan dengan 2, 50 taruhan 100.

8. Zero part : Cara bertaruh 0.1,2,3 sama persis seperti di gambar, karena berdekatan dengan angka 0, anda hanya bisa bertaruh 0.1,2,3. Menempatkan taruhan ini mengalikannya dengan 50. hingga 8.

9. Zero Corner: Bertaruh pada angka 0.1,2 atau 0.2,3 adalah dua pilihan karena Anda hanya bertaruh mendekati angka nol. Jenis taruhan ini dikalikan 11 jika taruhan menang.

10. Two Dozen: Jenis taruhan dengan hanya dua pilihan: 1-18 atau 19-36. Jika taruhan Anda adalah 50, itu dikalikan dengan 1 hingga 50 jika Anda menang.

11. Merah atau Hitam: Masukkan taruhan Anda dengan memilih Merah atau Hitam sebagai warna angka yang muncul saat taruhan 50.

12. Genap/Ganjil: Pilih angka yang menghasilkan jumlah jenis taruhan ganjil.CLATSOP COUNTY, Ore.  Sheriffs from 16 of Oregons 36 counties are urging Oregonians to vote yes on Ballot Measure 105, to repeal the states sanctuary status.

The Clatsop County Sheriffs Office released a letter Monday in support of the ballot measure. Sheriff John Hanlin of Douglas County and Sheriff Craig Zanni of Coos County endorsed the letter.

In the letter, Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin said the current statute undermines respect for the law. He said immigration law violations, which are federal offenses, are precursors to other crimes illegal immigrants routinely commit in their efforts to conceal their illegal presence  crimes, like identity theft, that harm everyday Oregonians at the local level.

He said the current statute has put a strain on county jails and it would help to have the ability to work with federal partners to alleviate it.

Bergin also referenced the recent murder of Mollie Tibbets in Iowa. Law enforcement officials have said the man charged with killing Tibbets was in the United States illegally. He said the man, was here because our government neglected its responsibility to keep him out.

Currently, the Oregon sanctuary law prohibits state agencies from asking about a persons immigration status if they have not committed another crime. It also bans state and local law enforcement from coordinating with federal immigration officials on raids and roundups.

The law has been in place since 1987, and those in favor of Oregons sanctuary status argue that it is necessary for public safety and to prevent racial profiling.

In the letter, Bergin responded to those claims and said immigrants can easily report crimes without having to disclose their identity or fear deportation.

When it comes to racial profiling, he said across the state officers have to undergo rigorous training, which includes anti-profiling training. Bergin said he has never witnessed an instance of racial profiling from any of [his] deputies.

Measure 105 will be on the ballot in the November election.EUGENE, Ore.  The Lane County Housing Authority, Homes for Good, is eyeing a property in the Bethel area for a new affordable housing complex.

Jacob Fox, the Executive Director for Homes for Good, said they hope to build a 40 to 60 unit complex on a piece of land currently owned by the Korean Presbyterian Church at 1600 Taney Street. Fox said they are working with the city of Eugene to partition the land so the church can sell it to them.

The estimated total cost of the project is $10 million. Much of the funding will come through the state.

When we develop a property, we want it to be in close proximity to schools, grocery stores, and bus lines, Fox said. We really feel like that property has a lot to offer the community.

Fox said this new complex with a focus on families with children and will be similar to their Bascom Village.

Neighbor Fred Gadsden said he supports the project and believes more like it are needed.

Rent's so high in the city that both people have to work and they can barely make it so it's tough, Gadsden said.

KEZI 9 News spoke with other neighbors who didnt want to appear on-camera and they said they're worried about crime in the area increasing if this project goes through. However, Fox said the project will have the opposite effect.

Our projects actually lower crimes in neighborhoods because we build community rooms, a place for kids to play and healthy and vibrate communities, Fox said.

Fox said officials with Homes for Good have already met with neighbors and the Bethel School District. He said they'll continue to work with them as the project moves forward. They hope to have it open by the Fall of 2020.SALEM, Ore. (AP)- - A law firm hired by Oregon's Legislature has formally objected to subpoenas for documents sought by the state's labor commissioner who had accused legislative leaders of permitting a culture of sexual harassment in the state Capitol.

In a letter to members and staff of the legislative assembly, lawyer Edwin Harnden said the firm filed objections Friday to the subpoenas because they seek confidential information about people who came forward in harassment complaints and asked to remain anonymous. Another objection is the subpoenas are overbroad.

Harnden said the Legislature respond to Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian's complaint on August 31.

Avakian on Aug. 1 accused fellow Democrats, Senate President Peter Courtney and House Speaker Tina Kotek, of allowing a sexually hostile environment at the Capitol and being slow to protect women from Republican Sen. Jeff Kruse. Kruse resigned earlier this year.EUGENE, Ore. - After multiple high schools and lots of frustration, a man who grew up in Springfield didn't think he'd ever find his path, but a trade school in Sacramento, California helped him find what he was passionate about and turned his life around.

Parker Silva went to both Thurston High School and Springfield High School, but said he just couldn't find the right fit. He said he just wasn't inspired about learning and eventually dropped out.

It wasn't until he discovered Universal Technical Institute that he learned he loved to work on cars. He said it was a lot of work to pursue a program at UTI. He had to get his GED before he could even get into the trade school, but he says it was all worth it.

Having those people look to you for advice feels really awesome, and to be able to have the schooling behind you and know that you can help fix it is a great feeling, Silva said.

Parker now works as a service technician for Kendall Toyota. He said he wishes there were more CTE programs when he was in high school, so he could have learned a long time ago how great his future could be.

He hopes that more students consider trade schools, because he knows from personal experience that a traditional four-year college path isn't for everyone.Kathmandu, August 28

The government is preparing to hold a round of talks with Chinas Three Gorges over some reservations it has expressed on terms and conditions set for the West Seti Hydropower Project construction.

The companys team is already in Kathmandu and meetings are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the Investment Board of Nepal.

As the company expressed reluctance to begin the project citing some practical concerns, the Investment Board had been inviting it for the talks, assuring genuine concerns would be addressed.

It has been learned that the government will request the company not to quit the project. Instead, it will propose decreasing the capacity from 620 megawatts to 550 megawatts.

Earlier, when the company demanded that the project be limited to 600 megawatts, the government was not ready.

We will listen to their demands and discuss what we can do over them, a Board official says, If we can devise a win-win situation, the company will build the project.

Otherwise, we will scrap the agreement we signed with them earlier.WASHINGTON, DC  An Iowa woman is one of just 24 middle school science teachers across America to share in a $100,000 grant.

The Society for Science & the Public says each teacher will receive money to spend on scientific research equipment for class. Megan Sabin of Algona Middle School is getting $3,000.

I am extremely excited to receive this grant, says Sabin. The funds will allow us to expand the availability of equipment to more students as they learn the research process and prepare to participate in the annual science fair. We hope to continue our tradition of success at the regional, state, and international levels of competition.

The Society says its STEM Research Grant Program supports educators who are implementing fresh and innovative teaching methods to shed light on discoveries that can be made through original STEM research projects. The one-time grants, in large part, are provided to educators in schools serving in low-income areas or underrepresented students.

Im excited to be providing this financial support to middle school teachers who encounter students at such an important point in their lives, said Maya Ajmera, President & CEO of the Society for Science & the Public. During this crucial time, students start setting the stage for their future path in high school while some young people begin drifting away from their interests in STEM. By providing these teachers with the resources to build a meaningful STEM research program, we are helping to engage the next generation of leaders in engineering and science.LuVerne, Iowa  An investigation is underway after a woman reported finding her husband unresponsive Monday.



The Kossuth County Sheriffs Office said the call was received at 5:30 p.m.



Upon arrival, the male was found to be deceased. The body will be transported to the State Medical Examiners Office for an autopsy, the Sheriffs Office said.

Claerance Huff lives across the street from where it all took place at the intersection of Smart Street and Hanna Avenue.

He said he could hear his neighbor arguing with another person and a little while later his street was covered with law enforcement.

"I was working on the law mower and my neighbor was over there sitting by the house and he was talking quite loud with another guy," he said. "A little while later I guess he came back ... the guy came back."



Iowa DCI has been called in to assist in the investigation.



Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to call the Kossuth County Sheriffs Office.



Authorities said there is no reason to believe that there is an ongoing threat to the citizens of this community.ROCHESTER, Minn.- Art Center staff members gave their annual financial report Monday to the Outside Agency Oversight Committee.

After an audit showed the art center's struggles, Rochester offered some assistance to the center.

Now, at the meeting the center reports that it has been able to stay under budget by implementing cost reducing measures.

The center was also able to increase profits within the last year.

Three factors contributed to the increase in profit.

One using an outside accounting firm, two having mayo civic center help with infrastructure maintenance and lastly the revenue from the exhibit Genome: Unlocking Lifes Code."

During that exhibit alone the art center saw a 200% increase in visitation.



Its been a good year in terms of containing our cost and having an exhibition that was popular and of interest to the citizens of Rochester and visitors found interesting as well, said Art Center Director Brian Austin.

Another focus of the arts center was their long term plan.

Part of that plan is creating a cultural center in the area.

They tell KIMT they want to also work with the parks department to figure out better use for the green space next to the center.

That will attract more people to the art center and surrounding areas like the library and the civic center.ROCHESTER, Minn.  Cocaine possession is sending a Rochester man to prison.

Zakaria Abdi Mohamed, 21, pleaded guilty to 2nd degree controlled substance crime in June. Rochester police arrested him in September 2017 after a traffic stop where they said Mohamed was found with an ounce of cocaine, three cell phones, and $940.

He was sentenced Monday to six year and nine months in prison, with credit for 107 days already served.ROCHESTER, Minn.  A man caught with drugs will have the charges dismissed if he can stay out of trouble.

Adnan Vele, 27 of Rochester, was arrested on September 13, 2017, after Rochester police say he was arrested while driving near 7th Street NW. He was charged with 3rd degree possession of methamphetamine, driving after suspension, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Vele entered a petition to plead guilty and on Monday was sentenced to five years of unsupervised monitoring without a conviction. The charges have been continued pending dismissal.GRANGER, Iowa  A woman is accused of stealing over $200,000 from a central Iowa school district.

Melissa Lee Lantz, 35 of Woodward, was arrested Tuesday and charged with 1st degree theft. Authorities say that while Lantz worked as the business manager/school board secretary for the Woodward-Granger Community School District, she was responsible for $221,851.27 in improper payroll disbursements. Shes accused of withdrawing the money from the districts accounts between December 2012 and August 2017 and using it for personal purchases.

According to court documents, suspicious financial transactions were discovered by AEA Grant Wood, a computer consulting company in Cedar Rapids. That led the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation to look into the matter, with the help of the State Auditors office.Zinc One Resources Inc. (TSX.V: Z) is a Vancouver-based company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of prospective and advanced zinc projects in mining-friendly jurisdictions. Zinc Ones key assets are the past producing Bongara Zinc Mine Project and Charlotte-Bongara Zinc Project in Peru.

President, CEO, and Director of Zinc One Resources, Jim Walchuck, discusses the company's flagship Bongara project and key plans moving forward.

Hannah Bernard: Hi, I'm Hannah Bernard. You're watching Market One Minute and I'm here today with Jim Walchuck of Zinc One Resources. So, Jim, I want to start off by talking about the Bongara Zinc Mine Project in Peru. Tell me its significance.

Jim Walchuck: It's a company maker. I've got 39 years in mining but I have never seen a project that has all the check marks on it.

Hannah Bernard: Wow.

Jim Walchuck: So, it's extremely high grade. It's sitting on surface. It's in Peru, it's a great jurisdiction. It's got no environmental issues that we know of, but we're checking. The community is extremely supportive and knowledgeable  and you're in Peru, like I said, a jurisdiction that likes mining and wants these things to go ahead.

Hannah Bernard: Great. That's so important. So what are the next steps with this project?

Jim Walchuck: Well, right now, we're delineating out a historical resource. We want to bring that to compliance and come out with the resource probably in September, October of this year.

Hannah Bernard: Great.

Jim Walchuck: And then follow up with a preliminary economic assessment to look at the economics of it and then we'll make a decision either to go straight to a pre-feasibility or feasibility. I think we can skip the pre-fease and go right to a feasibility, which will shorten the timeline to production.

Hannah Bernard: Great. So you mentioned the relationship with the surrounding communities, can you shed a little bit more light about that?

Jim Walchuck: I'd love to. I mean, the community is so good because it's very rare when you go out to try to develop a project that the community's so educated and the reason being is that it had a previous operator on the project. So, they saw the exploration phase, they saw the construction phase, the operation phase and they saw the remediation phase. So right now, it looks really nice up there. The previous operator did a pretty good job. We took it over from him, so he didn't complete it, but the community itself really understands it and they actually understand the benefits of the mine that'll come with it, so they're very, very supportive.

Hannah Bernard: Jim, tell us about the recent drilling sampling program at Bongara.

Jim Walchuck: Yes, it's quite, quite nice. When we started drilling off our program, we started sort of on the north side with a little portion called Bongarita. And then we moved over to Mina Chica and of the 1.2 million historical resource, the 1.2 million tonnes, only 50,000 of it was represented by Mina Chica. But Bill Williams, he was convinced that there was more there for various reasons, typically because there was no drilling done on it. It was just pit sampling and channel sampling, so when he started exploring, we started finding a lot more. The intercepts were very deep and extremely high-grade, so we were very keen. We think Mina Chica's going to become a major portion now of the overall project.

Hannah Bernard: And you mentioned the timeline to production, where are things at with that?

Jim Walchuck: We're not an exploration company, we're a mine development company. We like brownfield projects that can be brought into production in short order. That is the goal of our company, in good jurisdictions in North and South America. And this one fits all the bills, so what we're hoping to do is if we can get the feasibility done and get started. That would probably take up most of 2019 and then go into construction in 2020. So that's kind of the time frame that we're looking to target.

Hannah Bernard: Well, it sounds like a lot of great news coming from you guys. Jim, thanks so much for being with us.

Jim Walchuck: Thank you.The foreign big guys behind Vietnams online markets

VietNamNet Bridge - The owners of Shopee, Lazada and Tiki, the best known e-commerce websites in Vietnam, all are foreigners.

















Jack Ma, president of Chinese Alibaba Group, once compared Vietnams e-commerce to a gold mine. The billionaire has become one of the first miners.



In April 2016, Alibaba spent $1 billion to acquire 51 percent of shares of Lazada, which is considered Southeast Asias Amazon. In June 2017, Alibaba poured $1 billion more into the website, raising its ownership ratio to 83 percent in the startup valued at $3.15 billion.



Another big e-commerce group from China, JD.com, also joined the Vietnamese market in late 2017 when injecting money into Vietnams Tiki, becoming one of the biggest investors.



JD did not reveal the amount of money it has poured into Tiki. However, at an event, the representative of Tiki said Tiki had received $50 million to scale up its business.

Vietnamese e-commerce floors are also backed by large groups. Adayroi, for example, is backed by Vingroup, while Sendo by FPT. Both Vingroup and FPT are powerful corporations which are suitable matches to foreign giants.

Shopee is another e-commerce firm, with a part of its capital from China. Shopee is a subsidiary of SEA, headquartered in Singapore, the first technology firm in Southeast Asia that had an IPO on NYSE, raising $884 million worth of funds.



One of the biggest shareholders of SEA is Tencent, the conglomerate with the total capitalization value exceeding $500 billion, or higher than that of the giant Facebook.



As such, three Chinese technology giants in Vietnam compete with players from South Korea and Japan. With M&A deals, they have quickly penetrated the Vietnamese market but do not have to spend time building brands.



The real goal of the conglomerates is the entire vast Southeast Asia market with 640 million people and GDP of $2.6 trillion.



The presence of foreign giants has raised the concern that Vietnam may lose the online retail market to foreign hands.



Vu Vinh Phu, an expert in trade, warned that Vietnams e-commerce market, like the traditional retail market, is being controlled by foreigners.



Phu warned that the presence of Chinese e-commerce firms in Vietnam will clear the way for Chinese products to flood Vietnam which will badly affect domestic production.



Pham Van Trong, an e-commerce expert, also admitted that the appearance of foreign big players, especially Chinese, has really put pressure on Vietnams e-commerce market.



However, Tran Trong Tuyen, secretary general of the Vietnam E-commerce Association (Vecom), said there was no need to be too worried about foreign players.



Tuyen said Vietnamese e-commerce floors are also backed by large groups. Adayroi, for example, is backed by Vingroup, while Sendo by FPT. Both Vingroup and FPT are powerful corporations which are suitable matches to foreign giants.





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Trong Dat* Galaxy shortlists 7 for Argentina project* POSCO says to build lithium plant in Argentina* POSCO plans to start production from 2021* Galaxy shares jump 11 pct (Recasts, adds comment from Galaxy MD, shares) By Jane Chung and Sonali Paul SEOUL/MELBOURNE, Aug 28 (Reuters) - South Korean steelmaker POSCO has sealed a deal to buy lithium mining rights in Argentina from Galaxy Resources for $280 million, beefing up the Australian miner's funds to dig a lithium mine on neighbouring ground. POSCO said in a statement on Monday that it would also build a lithium plant in Argentina, planning to produce 25,000 tonnes of the commodity per year for 20 years starting from 2021. Demand for lithium, a critical ingredient for batteries used in electric vehicles, has grown in recent years as some consumers shift away from cars powered by fossil fuels.

POSCO said the move would secure stable lithium supplies for its battery material manufacturing affiliate POSCO ES Materials. Galaxy, which agreed in May to sell the rights for the Salar del Hombre Muerto salt flat in northern Argentina, plans to use the funds to develop its flagship Sal de Vida lithium project in South America. Galaxy has shortlisted seven firms as potential strategic partners at Sal de Vida, and hopes to decide on the best option before the end of 2018, Managing Director Anthony Tse told Reuters. The shortlist includes Chinese, other Asian and non-Asian firms, including lithium end-users, firms already in the lithium industry and materials and industrial firms looking to get into the lithium supply chain, Tse said. "You probably would be surprised in terms of some of the not-so-usual suspects that you might see on that list," Tse said in an interview. He said the deal with POSCO was carried out separately as the South Korean steel giant was focused on developing its own lithium processing technology, but he expected there will be opportunities for them to share infrastructure. "They wanted to get their hands on a fairly sizable and high quality resource in the region," Tse said. Shares in Galaxy, one of the Australian market's most heavily shorted stocks, jumped as much as 11 percent on Tuesday after the deal with POSCO was signed. The stock last traded up 3 percent outperforming a 0.6 percent rise in the broader market . Tse said that while the world's major lithium producers Chile's SQM , FMC Lithium and Albemarle Corp have mixed views on the outlook for near-term lithium carbonate prices, Galaxy expects rising demand to shore up prices. "We're somewhat positive in that we think the raw material consumption will actually step up as (electric vehicle) production has to step up in the second part of the year." Over the past two to three years, China's electric vehicle production has been much stronger in the second half of the year than the first half, driving up demand for battery materials later in the year. Demand is also expected to rise in Japan and South Korea, Tse said.

($1 = 1.3669 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Jane Chung and Hyunjoo Jin in Seoul and Sonali Paul in Melbourne Additional reporting by Susan Mathew and Aaron Saldanha in Bengaluru Editing by Joseph Radford and Richard Pullin)

Messaging: Aaron.Saldanha@thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))SANTIAGO, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Chile's state-owned Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, said on Monday it offered a new contract proposal to striking workers in hopes of ending a small strike at its Andina mine.

The 83 unionized workers of the Plantas de Andina union went on strike a week ago after talks with the company over salaries and bonuses in a new contract broke down. "This afternoon, the company presented the new offer and is waiting for it to be voted on by striking workers," Codelco said in a statement to Reuters.

The company reiterated that the strike at Andina had not affected production and denied that it had halted its concentrator plant as alleged by the union.

The Andina mine, which produced 220,000 tonnes of copper in 2017, is in the Andes mountains near Santiago.

(Reporting by Fabian Cambero; Writing by Mitra Taj; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Messaging: mitra.taj.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))MEXICO CITY, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Monday that the trade accord it announced on Monday with the United States would have to be tweaked, particularly regarding rules of origin, if it ends up as a bilateral agreement without Canada.

Guajardo said in an interview on Mexican radio that Mexico's preference was for Canada to remain in the three-nation pact, but if it opted out some parts of Monday's deal would have to be redesigned such as auto content rules.

"The whole issue of rules of origin is considered trilaterally, so if we go forward with a bilateral model it would need to be rethought," he said. "It's not the same having integration between three countries as two."

The United States and Mexico agreed on Monday to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), putting pressure on Canada to agree to new terms on auto trade and dispute settlement rules to remain part of the pact. The Mexico-U.S. discussions focused on crafting new rules for the automotive industry, which Trump has put at the heart of his drive to rework a pact he has repeatedly described as a "disaster" for American workers.

(Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz; Editing by Michael Perry)

Reuters Messaging: christine.murray.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))(Adds comment from the company)

LIMA, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Indigenous protesters in Peru have blocked China-owned miner MMG Ltd from using a highway on their community's farmland high in the Andes, keeping the company from transporting copper from its massive Las Bambas mine, the community's attorney said on Monday.

Families from the indigenous village of Nueva Fuerabamba started occupying the road nearly a week ago to demand the company compensate them for use of it, said Nueva Fuerabamba attorney Carlos Vargas. The protest will continue until MMG's senior officials in Peru agree to talks, he added.

MMG, the international mining unit of China's state-owned China Minmetals Corp Ltd , said there was no immediate impact to operations but that "all concentrate logistics are suspended."

"As it stands, the road is still blocked to all traffic," MMG said in a statement to Reuters from its headquarters in Australia on Monday.

"MMG is committed to establishing a meaningful dialogue with the community members and have engaged with public authorities," it added.

Vargas accused the company of building the road on Nueva Fuerabamba's farmland without consulting the community, and said the government illegally seized it by making it a state highway in May.

Peru's energy and mines ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

Las Bambas, one of Peru's largest copper mines at more than 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) in the country's southern mining belt, produced about 190,000 tonnes of copper in the first six months of 2018, according to government data.

The protests mark the latest conflict stemming from Las Bambas' decision to transport its copper over unpaved roads instead of through a pipeline.

Indigenous farming communities in the region have raised safety and health concerns about heavy dust churned up by hundreds of trucks used by Las Bambas every day.

Clashes between protesters and authorities left four local men dead in 2015 and 2016. Protesters blocking roads in 2016 suspended Las Bambas' shipments of copper from Matarani and nearly halted its operations.

Nueva Fuerabamba was the only community relocated to make way for Las Bambas. Community members have said the company did not deliver all it promised in a deal that gave them a new town near the mine and farmland in a neighboring region. In June, Nueva Fuerabamba filed a lawsuit against the company, seeking 150 million soles ($46 million) and the annulment of its relocation agreement with the company, said Frank Chavez, another attorney for the community.

MMG called the claim "unfounded and opportunistic," vowing to contest it.

(Reporting by Mitra Taj; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Messaging: mitra.taj.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))(Kitco News) - Gold prices are firmer and scored a two-week high in early U.S. trading Tuesday. A weaker U.S. dollar index on this day is a bullish element for the precious metals markets. However, with little risk aversion among traders and investors at present, the upside for the safe-haven metals will likely be limited. December gold futures were last up $2.90 an ounce at $1,218.70. December Comex silver was last up $0.028 at $14.995 an ounce.

World stock markets were again mostly higher overnight. U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward higher openings and at new record highs when the New York day session begins.

The world marketplace is still buzzing about the U.S. and Mexico coming to terms on a trade agreement. World stock markets rallied on the news. Some now reckon the U.S. will get to work on agreements with its other major trading partners, including the EU and China. However, President Trump has indicated hes in no rush to make a deal with China.

The key outside markets today find the U.S. dollar index weaker. The greenback bulls are fading a bit now. Meantime, Nymex crude oil prices are slightly up and trading around $69.00 a barrel.

U.S. economic data due for release Tuesday includes the weekly Goldman Sachs and Johnson Redbook retail sales reports, the advance economic indicators report, the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index, the consumer confidence index and the Richmond Fed business survey.

Technically, gold bears still have the overall near-term technical advantage but a price downtrend on the daily bar chart has been negated to suggest a market bottom is in place. Gold bulls' next upside near-term price breakout objective is to produce a close in December futures above solid resistance at $1,226.00. Bears' next near-term downside price breakout objective is pushing prices below solid technical support at the August low of $1,167.10. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of $1,220.70 and then at $1,225.00. First support is seen at Mondays low of $1,209.30 and then at $1,200.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 3.0

December silver futures bears have the overall near-term technical advantage, but prices hit a two-week high overnight. Silver bulls' next upside price breakout objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $15.50 an ounce. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $14.00. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of $15.07 and then at $15.25. Next support is seen at Mondays low of $14.82(Kitco News) - There wont be enough consumer demand to drive gold prices higher this year, according to Capital Economics, which projects gold to end the year at the $1,200 an ounce level.

We doubt that consumer demand for gold from India and China will provide much support to prices in the coming months. Our end-2018 forecast for the price of gold is $1,200 per ounce, broadly unchanged from todays level of $1,209, Capital Economics commodities economist Simona Gambarini said in a note published on Tuesday.

Gold saw a positive momentum forming at the end of last week, which managed to carry though untill Tuesday afternoon, but then prices dropped once again to slightly above the $1,200 an ounce level.

December Comex gold was last seen at $1,207.00, down 0.74% on the day after touching a two-week high overnight of $1,220.

Kitcos senior technical analyst Jim Wyckoff blamed the decline on traders simply taking advantage of recent gains.

Some normal profit-taking from the shorter-term futures traders was featured today, following decent gains the past few sessions that do suggest the yellow metal has put in a near-term market bottom, Wyckoff said in his PM Roundup.

But, Capital Economics remains conservative in their near-term outlook, pointing to gold not going anywhere until next year.

Looking ahead, we expect consumer demand from both [India and China] to decline, which is one reason why we forecast that gold prices will remain low, Gambarini said.

The note added that while Chinas gold imports declined in July, India showed renewed interest, but the recovery fell short of erasing all of the previous damage.

Data released from the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department, yesterday, and by the Swiss Federal Customs Administration, last week, revealed that Chinas combined imports of gold via the two hubs slumped by 53% m/m and 25% y/y in July to 68 tonnes, Gambarini said.

Capital Economics raised concerns over lack of consumer confidence in the state of the economy as one of the reasons for lower demand. Given that we expect the Chinese economy to continue to slow over the coming quarters, jewelry sales could fall further, Gambarini wrote.

In India, things are slightly looking up, with the countrys Commerce Ministry reporting that Indias imports of gold were up by 29% on a monthly basis and up by 41% on an annual basis in June, reaching $2.96 billion.

But, these numbers are not enough to bring consumer demand back to where it was a few years prior, Gambarini pointed out, citing Indias new regulations and weather factors as the main elements weighing on gold demand.

The bigger picture is that imports are still down by over 20% y/y since the start of 2018 and we think that increased regulation and a below-average monsoon will weigh on Indias gold demand in the remainder of the year, even in the face of strong economic growth, she added.NOVOSIBIRSK, Russia, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Russia has a plan to support world No.2 aluminium producer Rusal against U.S. sanctions put in place in April, including by purchasing the metal for state stocks, Industry Minister Denis Manturov told reporters on Tuesday.

The U.S. Treasury Department placed Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska and Rusal, which he controls, on a blacklist that month, freezing the bulk of the company's exports, paralysing its supply chain and scaring off many customers.

The sanctions caused major disruptions to global aluminium markets, although Rusal's international customers were given until Oct. 23 to wind down business with the company.

En+ Group , Deripaska's holding company, is also under sanctions.

Industry sources told Reuters in June that Rusal will take a major hit if sanctions are not lifted by late August. In July, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the United States was in productive talks with Rusal to remove it from the list. Manturov, speaking to reporters in the town of Novosibirsk in Siberia, said on Tuesday that Moscow had a back-up plan if sanctions against Rusal persist.

"There might be (aluminium purchases for the state stocks) but for now, there is no such need," he said, providing no other details.

Deripaska controls 66 percent of En+ Group, which in turn controls 48 percent of Rusal. He has already accepted that he may have to cede control of En+, if both En+ and Rusal are to survive, a source familiar with the matter said in May. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing by Katya Golubkova; Editing by Tom Hogue)JOHANNESBURG, Aug 28 (Reuters) - South Africa's rand edged lower in early trade on Tuesday, giving back the previous session's gains as traders booked profits with an eye on offshore events.

* At 0645 GMT the rand was 0.21 percent weaker at 14.1825 per dollar, having rallied to 14.1100 during New York trade after comments by the U.S. Federal Reserve suggesting a slower pace of monetary tightening lifted demand for risk currencies.

* With no significant data due locally until Thursday and trade volumes still relatively light traders were looking to shave profits off minor rallies with momentum in either direction unclear.

* Having tumbled to 2-year lows just shy of 16.00 mark earlier this month, as the massive selloff in Turkish lira spread to other emerging markets, the rand has seen increased intraday volatility and susceptibility to local and international newsflow.

* Bonds were also a touch weaker, with the yield on the benchmark government paper due in 2026 adding 1.5 basis points to 8.885 percent.

* Stocks were set to open flat at 0700 GMT, with the JSE securities exchange's Top-40 futures index up 0.1 percent.

(Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana Editing by Joe Brock)

Messaging: mfuneko.toyana.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))Participation from North falls through



By Kwon Mee-yoo





Maestro Chung Myung-whun will hold a concert promoting peace between North and South Korea at the Concert Hall of Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul, Sept. 2.







The 65-year-old conductor will lead the One Korea Orchestra, which was formed as part of Chung's efforts to promote cultural exchanges between the two Koreas through music. However, no North Korean musician will take part in the concert.







The orchestra consists of musicians from former and current members of top Korean orchestras and Korean musicians currently performing with orchestras overseas such as the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden and Hong Kong Chamber Orchestra.







This is going to be Chung's second official concert with the One Korea Orchestra, following the first concert in August 2017 with pianist Cho Seong-jin.







The concert master is violinist Zia Hyunsu Shin, who won the first Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud International Violin Competition in 2008 and received third prize in the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in 2012.







Other members of the One Korea Orchestra includee violist Lee Soo-min, cellist Joo Yeon-sun, double bassist Ahn Dong-hyuck and flutist Park Ji-eun.







Chung has shown interest in musical exchanges between the North and South for a long time and has mentioned that his dream is to perform with North Korean musicians.







The maestro attempted to invite North Korean vocalists to accompany the orchestra for this concert, but the plan fell through.







"Chung visited North Korea before and rehearsed Beethoven's Symphony no. 9 with North Korean musicians, but couldn't perform it on stage. Chung and the One Korea Orchestra's Symphony no. 9 at the September concert showcases the musician's desire to take a step closer to his dream," the concert organizer said in a statement.

Stricter antitrust rules, involuntary profit-sharing weigh on corporate sentiment



By Nam Hyun-woo



More and more companies are expressing their frustration over the Moon Jae-in administration's "unfriendly" corporate policies as it continues to tighten regulations on businesses, whether small or large, according to company officials Tuesday.



While pressuring companies to create more jobs and expand investment, the liberal administration has been introducing policies that pressure them to do the opposite, the officials said, adding that employers have been hit hard by soaring labor costs and shorter working hours.



Adding fresh woes to the corporate world is the scheduled revision of the Fair Trade Act, which is highlighted by the prosecution being allowed to investigate antitrust suspicions without the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) filing a complaint first.



The antitrust agency's plans to strengthen rules on intra-group subsidiary dealings and mandate profit-sharing with small contractors have unnerved large business groups, or chaebol, which have been the driving force of Korea's export-oriented economy.



"Details of the revision to the Fair Trade Act will certainly discourage companies," said an official at one of Korea's major business associations.



"In the Moon administration, businesses have been making a series of big investments and hiring plans to respond to the government's initiatives to create jobs and reinvigorate the economy, but it seems that policies are leaning far more toward regulation."



Earlier this month, the antitrust regulator said it will give up its exclusive right to file complaints about "hardcore cartel" cases with the prosecution, in line with its attempt to share authority with prosecutors. However, the move triggered corporate concerns over the rampant filing of complaints by not only the prosecution but also civic groups.



"Judgments on antitrust cases require expertise in business and the economy, but the amendment will bring excessive numbers of cases taken to the prosecutors or the court and naturally lead to criminal charges, discouraging companies' business activities," another business association official said.



Regulations are also tightening on intra-group business transactions of both listed and unlisted companies in which chaebol own more than a 20 percent stake, and if the revision passes the National Assembly, groups' owner families will have to unload massive amounts of their shares in subsidiaries.



For example, the Hyundai Motor Group owner family members hold a 29.9 percent stake in Hyundai Innocean, which deals with the group's advertising, in order to comply with the current standard of 30 percent. If the law is revised, they will have to sell nearly 10 percent of their shares.



"This may hamper efficiency at large conglomerates that have already established governance systems in a parent-subsidiary structure," Korea Economic Research Institute analyst Yoo Jeong-joo said.



Another problem for large businesses is a profit-sharing scheme, proposed by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.



The ministry said Monday that it will push forward legislation for the plan, in which a large company and its smaller partner companies "share" a certain amount of profits from their joint projects based on a pre-determined ratio agreed upon in advance.



Though the ministry said the plan will be voluntary and the legislation serves as the legal grounds for it, companies have expressed opposition. Reportedly, the government planned to hold a meeting Wednesday with officials from 13 large businesses over the plan but delayed it as companies showed a lukewarm response.



"Though the government said it will not be mandatory to share profits, it is almost like an invisible taxation when it gets legislated, while it will be difficult to calculate sharing ratios," a conglomerate official said.



"Ever since the inauguration of the Moon administration, companies say it has become really difficult to do business due to regulations."



Since his inauguration, President Moon has been deploying a series of policies that companies say burden them. The government has pledged a minimum wage hike to 10,000 won by 2020 as well as placing a statutory 52-hour cap in working hours, raising personnel costs across many industries.





By Jung Min-ho





Hwang Min, 45, the husband of famous actress Park Hae-mi, is under investigation for drunk driving that resulted in the deaths of two people Monday night.





According to police Tuesday, Hwang's Chrysler sedan, carrying four others, hit a 25-ton truck that was parked on the shoulder of a road at Guri, in Gyeonggi Province, about 11:15 p.m.





The incident left two people  an actor, 31, and an actress, 19  dead and three others injured. The injuries are reportedly not life-threatening.





Police said Hwang's blood alcohol level was 0.104 percent  over the license revocation limit  at the time of the incident.





Speaking to Edaily, a local media outlet, Park said she is heartbroken over the news.





"I don't know if he would ever be forgiven (by the families of the victims)," she said. "The two were my students. It breaks my heart."

President cautioned against furthering inter-Korean projects with no denuke progress



By Kim Bo-eun



Pressure on President Moon Jae-in regarding his role as mediator between North Korea and the U.S. is growing amid what appears to be a deadlock in denuclearization talks.



Moon's third summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had been planned for next month under the premise that U.S. Secretary Mike Pompeo would visit the North before the summit and reach a deal on North Korea submitting a list of its nuclear weapons.



Pompeo's visit, however, was cancelled over the weekend, due to what President Donald Trump cited as lack of progress in the North's denuclearization.



Expectations were that Pompeo would get the North to submit the list, and Moon would discuss with Kim inter-Korean issues such as declaring an end to the 1950-53 Korean War, along with carrying out other agreements in the Panmunjeom Declaration, namely economic cooperation.



Despite the cancellation of Pompeo's visit, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said Tuesday that the inter-Korean summit would take place as planned.



Views are the absence of high-level denuclearization talks between North Korea and the U.S. before the inter-Korean summit has placed the burden of addressing the issue on Moon.





By Choi Sung-jin





Summer seems to be ending, finally. It was the hottest summer in nearly a century and even lovers of the hot season are likely to feel relieved that it's almost over. No less heated than this baked peninsula throughout this summer was the debate over the nation's energy policy, especially the phase-out of nuclear power generation.



As the heat wave continued and air-conditioners became must-have items for most families, peak electricity demand pulled down the country's power reserve ratio to single-digit figures. The advocates of nuclear energy were nothing if they missed this opportunity. Conservative politicians and media outlets called for the liberal Moon Jae-in administration to reconsider its policy of weaning Korea off atomic energy.



"The idolatry of post-nuclear policy has resulted in contempt for energy, destruction of the industry, export failure, the collapse of parts supply networks, soaring power rates and the disruption of related studies," an expert said. "Denuclearization of the energy mix is not just part of a comprehensive energy policy but has been elevated to a sacred thing. President Moon should kick out these environmental fundamentalists from his administration."



Encouraged by changing trends, the Korean Nuclear Society (KNS) recently conducted an opinion poll on 1,000 Koreans. Announcing the results, the society said seven out of 10 Koreans believe the government should maintain or expand the operation of nuclear power plants.



These "Nuclear Mafias," who had kept a low profile since the reactor meltdown in Fukushima, Japan, in 2011, are coming back, riding ironically on climate change caused by the use of conventional energy, including fossil fuel.



The KNS' survey indicates how fickle public opinion can be. According to an opinion poll conducted by the Hyundai Research Institute last year, 84.6 percent of respondents supported the government's policy to break away from fossil fuel and nuclear energy. Survey results can vary depending on who does them and how. If both polls had been done in objective ways, one could say just one sizzling summer was enough to change public sentiment.



Should Koreans remain in the vicious cycle by returning to fossil and nuclear energy and suffering from even a hotter summer the following year, however?



Nuclear energy has advantages over coal and oil, at least in the short run.



In short, pro-nuclear energy experts say, nuclear power stations are cleaner and less costly to run than coal- or gas-fired plants as well as relatively safe. How valid are these arguments, however? Nuclear plants, of course, emit far less CO2 and fine dusts, and its unit production cost is lower than fossil fuel stations.



Yet, the disposal of spent fuel and other nuclear waste, which takes not just thousands but tens of thousands of years to reduce their activity by half, has long emerged as a headache in all countries involved. Given the enormous costs for decommissioning worn-out reactors, long-term expenditure is no more economical than coal or gas stations, either.



Most fearsome is the possibility of a nuclear disaster. Officials at Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) have long boasted of their track record of accident-free, nonstop operation. However, their reputation has suffered severe setbacks in recent years because of frequent stoppages, which in part were a result of defective parts and operational hitches.



The Fukushima disaster showed how vulnerable nuclear plants could be to natural disasters. Korea is not entirely free from earthquakes, and the southeastern Gyeongsang provinces house the world's most densely built nuclear plant complex where no fewer than a dozen reactors are running in a region within the radius of 30 kilometers. KEPCO says disasters occur only in movies  just as Japanese officials did before Fukushima.



The proponents of nuclear energy also stress the need to sell abroad Korea's excellent technology to build and run nuclear power stations. "How can Korea export nuclear stations while it stops building and operating them at home?" they ask. The U.S. case may offer an alternative in this regard.



Although America has suspended the construction of new nuclear plants since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, it continued to export parts and components as well as designing and operating technology.



Universities and research institutes have sharply reduced the portion of nuclear power generation while shifting focus to radiation areas, such as radiotherapy, non-destructive inspection, storage of farm produce and security checks, the global market of which amounted to 330 trillion won ($296.5 billion), far larger than the nuclear plant market, and grows 12 percent every year.



Korea's ratio between nuclear plants and other uses of radiation is 82 percent to 18 percent, compared with 25 percent to 75 percent in the U.S. and 54 percent to 46 percent in Japan.



Korea is the world's 10th largest energy user and seventh-largest emitter of carbon dioxide, showing how inefficient and outdated its energy policy is.



According to a Bloomberg report for 2018, 78 percent of energy investment worldwide will be concentrated on renewable energy such as solar and wind power through 2050. As a result, the share of renewable energy will grow from 23 percent now to 64 percent by 2050 while that of nuclear power will be reduced from 20 percent to 19 percent.



The time is long past for Korea to regard the "denuclearization of energy mix not as an issue of short-term demand and supply but as a long-term energy shift. The reasons the pro-nuclear experts cite in opposing the post-nuclear policy, such as power shortages, electricity price hikes and fine dust, are temporary or transient problems experienced by all countries that have to be overcome.



Korea, which ranked at 52nd place out of 55 large energy-using nations concerning the shift to renewables, can ill afford to procrastinate any longer. Next summer will likely be hotter than this one. That should be no reason to backpedal on the nuclear phase-out policy.





Choi Sung-jin is a Korea Times columnist. Contact him at choisj1955@naver.com.

By John J. Metzler





BRATISLAVA, Slovakia The light mist on the Danube River and the morning radiance on the honey-hued buildings of the Comenius University greet each summer day with the optimism of a fresh beginning.



Yet this is August and the memories of the past still dart among shadows and specters in this storied and proud Central European capital, as the dates of 20 and 21 August arrive and passes.



But does anyone remember?



August 1968, now a half century ago, became a political talisman not only for a generation, but another nail in the coffin of Soviet communism. There was rebellious East Berlin in 1953, heroic Hungary in 1956, and now the nonconformist Czechoslovak Socialist Republic.



On the night of 20-21 August 50 years ago, the Soviets and their "fraternal socialist states" invaded Czechoslovakia to re-impose a tougher form of communism. The Soviet-led invasion with more than 250,000 troops and 5,000 tanks marked one of the darkest hours in the country's history. At least 137 civilians were killed during the attack and its aftermath.



In the early chaotic hours of the incursion, Radio Prague sounded the alarm and kept the flicker of freedom alive until it was seized by the Soviets after a bitter street battle.



Indeed the reformist Prague Spring of Alexander Dubcek, was but a mild elixir for a once prosperous land which had known democracy before WWII and the Nazi annexation. Dubcek promised "Socialism with a human face," and lifted press censorship, a clear deviation from Moscow's doctrinaire party line. But Leonid Brezhnev and the Politburo would have none of it. Non-conformism would be dealt with the old-fashioned way.



The world would protest, the U.N. Security Council would meet, and the Soviets would then predictably get away with it. Czechoslovakia, one of the founding members of the U.N. in 1945, would be forsaken. The United States, immersed in perhaps the bloodiest year of the Vietnam War, was in no position to press the issue politically. President Lyndon B. Johnson was a very lame duck that presidential election year too.



Moscow's Pyrrhic victory in Prague was counterbalanced by a renewed awareness of the ferocious stupidity and brutality of the Soviet system as much as the reality that the seeds of deeper dissent and resistance would be planted that summer day.



Clearly the fulcrum of political power rested in Prague the capital; but Bratislava, the country's second city, a stone's throw from prosperous and free Vienna, must have felt doubly cursed and isolated amid crackdowns by the ruling communist party.



Darkness descended on Czechoslovakia for nearly another two painful decades.



But the freedom tsunami of 1989 liberated Czechoslovakia in the peaceful Velvet Revolution. And yes, the country would split in 1993 into the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. Yet, who could have possibly imagined that both states would later be asked to join the European Union (EU) and NATO? Both institutions provide a political insurance policy for regions who are part of the common European cultural tapestry.



Today arrive at the Bratislava train station and see new streetcar trams, financed by the European Union, with adverts for seaside trips to Thailand. Billboards extol South Korean phones. Traffic clogs the streets with new BMW's and KIA's, Volkswagen SUV's built locally, and modern Skodas. Gone are the smoke belching Russian Ladas.



During the socialist system, people would be lucky to visit Bulgaria or the Romanian coast.



Travel to nearby Vienna, Austria, just over an hour by train, is a simple passport free journey. The tedious restrictions of the Iron Curtain days are unknown to the younger generations.



One recalls the famed pictured of a bare-chested man angrily facing a Soviet tank at Comenius University. Indeed Safarikovo Square, the heart of much resistance to the Soviet attack, is part of bustling Bratislava with a glittering Eurovea shopping center just down the avenue.



What is the official view of 1968 today? Pretty low key in Bratislava surprisingly. Both democratic governments seem to have nervous silence in dealing with the August anniversary. The Czech president, a populist who is sympathetic to Putin, tiptoes round the event while conservative political parties call for remembrance.



In Slovakia the country's Memory Institute has organized events but stress there will be no politicians attending. According to the Slovak Spectator newspaper, "This shows that the historical awareness of our society is distorted," adds historian Dusan Kovac.



An independent Czechoslovak Republic emerged in 1918 from the rubble of Austria-Hungary and World War I. In 1938 the country was seized by Hitler following the infamous Munich pact. In 1948, the communists formally seized power. And in 1968 the Soviet invasion.



Now in 2018, does anybody remember?





John J. Metzler (jjmcolumn@earthlink.net) is a United Nations correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He is the author of "Divided Dynamism: The Diplomacy of Separated Nations: Germany, Korea, China."

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If you've ever watched the Late Late Show with James Corden and seen any of their Crosswalk the Musical segments (like The Sound of Music with Allison Janney, Hair with Lin-Manuel Miranda or The Greatest Showman with Hugh Jackman and Zendaya), you might think the police close the intersection down for safety. Chloe Arnold, the show's choreographer, is here to set the record straight: they most certainly do not.

"Though there are police there to oversee and protect it all, it's still very real," Arnold told KPCC's The Frame. "We're not closing the street down. This is in real time."

That means Arnold, her dancers, Corden and any special guests have just 30 seconds -- sometimes 45, depending on the crosswalk -- to do their song-and-dance numbers.

Usually they put them on at Beverly Boulevard and Genesee Avenue outside CBS Television City in L.A., but for the episode that scored Arnold her first Emmy nomination, it was the crosswalk outside the Ed Sullivan Theater in Manhattan.

In that episode, Arnold was tasked with choreographing routines to trimmed down songs from On The Town, Guys and Dolls, the Greatest Showman and Fame. The other four nominees in her category are all from So You Think You Can Dance.

Arnold explained that she and her dancers do a series of time trials with all the props they'll have to carry to see what needs to be tweaked. Everyone has to be able to hit their marks, finish the number, and get out of the crosswalk (with all their props in tow) within the 30-45 second time limit.

"It's truly the example of teamwork makes the dream work," Arnold said. "Because if one person is off, it throws off the whole puzzle. This really is a puzzle."

Late Late Show host James Corden (L) and actor Orlando Bloom practice their "IT Guys" sketch on set with choreographer Chloe Arnold (R). (Terence Patrick/CBS)

Another big challenge for Arnold: keeping a straight face.

"Once James [Corden] steps in, you want to laugh at everything, but what makes what we're doing funny is that we take it very seriously. So I always have to tell the dancers: 'You approach the crosswalk like this is Broadway. Like this is the best thing you've ever done in your life.' And that's what makes it so funny, because people that are driving by are like, Why is there a full-blown production in the street?"

Arnold's path to her Emmy nomination this year started with tap dance lessons at the age of 6. By 14, she was teaching tap to 3- and 4-year-olds, in exchange for her own dance lessons. She credits her teachers Toni Lombre and Debbie Allen with encouraging her to learn other styles of dance too -- including ballet, jazz, swing, hip-hop and modern dance.

But Arnold never lost her love of tap. She and her sister Maud lead an all-female tap company called Syncopated Ladies:

From an early age, Arnold knew she wanted to do dance and choreography for a living -- but when she went to college at Columbia University, she decided to study film.

"What made dance accessible to me, growing up in Washington D.C. with limited resources, was television and film," Arnold said. "These are things that are just more financially accessible than [theater]. ... So for me, I always had dreams from when I was very little, I saw the movie Tap with Gregory Hines and I thought, This is what I want to do one day. I want to put dance on film."

Now she's been doing choreography for television for 14 years. What she loves most about her work on The Late Late Show is that it has the potential to spark a love of dance and musical theater in someone who isn't already a fan, Arnold said.

"People that aren't going to go Let me go watch my dance show, 'cause they already love dance, are sitting at home thinking they're going to watch a late-night show. And next thing you know, they're watching a full-blown production -- and now, the average person that would never have seen musical theater got a taste of it."

The Late Late Show with James Corden airs weeknights on CBS at 12:37am PT.

You made it! Congrats, you read the entire story, you gorgeous human. This story was made possible by generous people like you. Independent, local journalism costs $$$$$. And now that LAist is part of KPCC, we rely on that support. So if you aren't already, be one of us! Help us help you live your best life in Southern California. Donate now.Freely accessible local news is vital. Please power our reporters and help keep us independent with a donation today.

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WE'RE ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS ABOUT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THAT KEEP YOU UP AT NIGHT. IF YOU HAVE ONE, ASK IT HERE.

Good news, Los Angeles! The Alamo Drafthouse is coming to downtown Los Angeles.

DON'T LEAVE! We promise this isn't news from years ago although it probably feels that way.

The prestige theater chain announced that it was coming to Los Angeles back in 2014. It was supposed to open in 2015.

LAist reader Eric wrote in, demanding answers: "When is the L.A. Alamo Drafthouse opening? Every year, they say next year. It's been three years. What is going on?"

There have been several construction delays along the way, according to the theater, but the end may be in sight. Drafthouse announced earlier this month that they had the keys and had finally started construction inside their new location.

A view from the theater level of the new Alamo Drafthouse, currently under construction. (Courtesy Alamo Drafthouse)

The theater is set to be part of the Bloc shopping center in DTLA. According to Drafthouse, the Bloc had been working to get the building up to code.

"We haven't been able to start building out our space until very important fire and safety work was completed," Drafthouse said in a recent construction update.

The top two white spaces are set to be the Drafthouse's lobby and bar. A new staircase, escalator, and elevator leading to the theater's level have been installed, according to Drafthouse. (Courtesy Alamo Drafthouse)

Everything's set then, right? Not so fast.

Drafthouse says they're still sorting out a few "minor" items before heavy construction can begin. If all goes according to plan -- and that's a big "if" -- moviegoers should be able to enjoy an L.A. Drafthouse... soon.

When they say it's gonna happen "soon," when exactly do they mean? Drafthouse says they're aiming for the second quarter of 2019.

Los Angeles film fanatics have longed for a Drafthouse for years, something that could give the Arclight a run for its money with great movies, great presentation, great food, great booze and even a drink and popcorn refill service in the theater. Plus, the Alamo Drafthouse is ruthless about enforcing its anti-obnoxious moviegoer policy.

As they say on their site: "We have zero tolerance for talking or using a cell phone of any kind during films. We'll kick you out, promise."

They also don't allow infants or young children unless they host a special screening to accommodate families. They don't even allow unaccompanied minors, except for teens ages 15 to 17 who are part of the Drafthouse's rewards program. Similar to Arclight, they also don't show paid advertising before films. Instead, they screen a custom preshow video.

Based in Austin, the theater chain has expanded outside of Texas in recent years. They have more than 40 locations, from New York to Newbraska to Colorado. There's even another California location, in San Francisco.

Alamo has faced controversy in recent years after women made sexual assault allegations against two people involved with the company, Devin Faraci and Harry Knowles. They've ended their relationships with both men and earlier this year introduced a code of conduct.

They've also made headlines with special events like women-only Wonder Woman screenings.

Are you excited to check out the L.A. iteration of the Alamo Drafthouse? Let us know. If you have any more questions you want us to look into, ask us here.

You made it! Congrats, you read the entire story, you gorgeous human. This story was made possible by generous people like you. Independent, local journalism costs $$$$$. And now that LAist is part of KPCC, we rely on that support. So if you aren't already, be one of us! Help us help you live your best life in Southern California. Donate now.Freely accessible local news is vital. Please power our reporters and help keep us independent with a donation today.

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Things turned ugly, really ugly, at last week's neighborhood council meeting in Venice. About two hundred people attended the meeting, where city representative Tanaz Golshan had come to explain the concept of Mayor Eric Garcetti's "A Bridge Home" homeless shelter initiative. One such shelter has been proposed in the community.

Within minutes, people were yelling and booing at Golshan. At least one person started chanting "Lock her up!" -- a familiar phrase in current politics, although not one typically directed at city officials.

The Venice Neighborhood Council posted a video of the meeting on its Facebook page (Golshan gets up to speak at about 14:30).

Neighborhood council leaders had to step in several times to restore order as Golshan attempted to explain the process the city is taking to select and run shelter sites and address residents' concerns. Some in the crowd didn't want to hear it.

"Not only do they [homeless people] need housing because it's their right," Golshan says to the audience, (to which some in the crowd yell, "No, it's not!") "but we have found statistically... getting services is most effective for people when they're under a roof."

"Give 'em your house!" one man screams at her repeatedly as a few others applaud.

The confrontation is one example -- although it's not the first -- of the outrage and division that Garcetti's Bridge Housing plan has faced. When the mayor and City Council President Herb Wesson announced plans for a similar shelter in Koreatown in May, residents and business owners there responded with protests and petitions.

The shelter plan was put on hold as city officials scrambled to find a new approach that would address residents' concerns. Roughly a month later, Wesson announced a new site for the shelter had been agreed upon by residents -- although it's arguably not technically in Koreatown.

The city is working on permanent housing solutions for the homeless, a process that can take months. While people wait for that, they end up on the streets. That's where short-term bridge housing comes in.

Unlike typical emergency shelters, these bridge shelters will be open 24/7 and will allow pets, storage for personal belongings and the opportunity for families and circles of friends to remain together. It also will include restrooms, showers, food and security. Residents will have access to case management services and social workers, with the goal of to helping them transition into long-term housing.

Most of the controversy at last week's Venice meeting was over the site Councilman Mike Bonin has chosen for the shelter: a 3-acre former MTA bus yard, located in the heart of Venice between two homeless encampments.

A former MTA bus yard is the proposed site for a short-term Bridge Housing shelter in Venice. (Courtesy Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin's office)

While Venice residents opposed to the shelter drew attention with their raucous tactics, other locals said they were willing to give it a shot. Marie, a local mom, spoke during the public comment section:

"I have a son who's one (year) old and I want him to be safe. But I also want him to grow up in a community that shows empathy and compassion in the face of adversity. And homeless people are part of our community whether we want it or not," she said.

"I'm for it because the homeless people are people too," said longtime Venice resident Jataun Valentine. "I've had people in my family and my neighbors and people I've went to school with that were homeless and some of them haven't gotten themselves together. But if there's no program they'll never get themselves together."

In the most recent homeless count by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), more than 900 people were found to living on the streets or in shelters in Venice -- the highest concentration in Bonin's district.

"I asked people around the district where should we provide relief from encampments with this program and overwhelmingly the answer was Venice," Bonin told LAist/KPCC in an interview before the public meeting.

"People have died on the streets in my district and that's happening on my watch, so I think I have a moral responsibility [to do something]."

(Adriana Cargill/LAist)

Opponents say they worry about their safety and diminishing property values, along with a host of other issues. Last week's meeting was supposed to include a vote on a motion introduced by Will Hawkins, who chairs the homeless committee on the Venice Neighborhood Council.

"What I tried to do with this motion was get ahead of that and make sure that the community was at the table before any plan was put in stone," Hawkins said.

His motion stated that the neighborhood council would support bridge housing if the city signed something called a Community Benefits Agreement, which essentially makes the city legally required to deliver on certain promises, like more police and sanitation support. Mayor Garcetti has committed to this already but many residents are nervous he won't deliver.

Almost no one at the meeting brought up the specifics of Hawkin's motion. Instead, residents focused mostly on Bonin's location choice.

Traditionally, the obstacles to solving homelessness have been lack of funding, lack of political will and lack of new ideas. But, according to some residents, the main issue in this case is misinformation.

"There's been so much subterfuge and so much misinformation out here, are you really listening to us and taking our feedback or is this a done deal?" Alix Gucovsky asked during the public comment section. Many who spoke that night echoed her sentiment.

"The biggest problem with this bridge housing is that there was never a meeting saying what they're gonna do, this is how were going to do it and then let the people of Venice chime in," resident Nick Antonicello said. "That never happened! (Bonin) pushed this down everyone's throat and now it's backfired."

Councilman Mike Bonin has proposed a former MTA bus yard in the heart of Venice be the site of a short-term homeless shelter. (Adriana Cargill/LAist)

Neither Bonin nor Mayor Garcetti were at the meeting that night. Bonin has held one open house with service providers to answer community questions but many residents felt that wasn't enough. Antonicello and others preferred a town hall format where the councilman would have to stand in front of the community and answer questions instead of the more informal format of an open house.

Mayor Garcetti canvassed Venice residents earlier this month and has met with community leaders, although not in a public format. Garcetti has delegated much of the community rollout of the shelter initiative to the representatives of each district.

The lack of inclusion some Venice residents complained about all night was exactly what Will Hawkins was trying to address with his motion at the meeting. But before the vote could begin, it was postponed. A majority of the council decided they didn't have enough information to vote on it. According to Hawkins, there is no plan at this point to revisit the motion.

Legally speaking, the mayor doesn't need community support to build bridge housing on the MTA lot because it's city property. But he's been clear that he wants the community's backing.

"I never dismiss fears," Garcetti told LAist/KPCC. "I think it's really important to understand them and to answer them. One thing we all know is the status quo has failed and... one thing we can't do is just walk away from a solution, and walk away from one that works."

Garcetti said the city has learned a lot of lessons in recent years and this new housing is based on concerns he has had.

"If something was going up in my neighborhood, I'd want more cleaning. I'd want a guarantee of safety. We want these to be safer than today. We want these to be more effective than today. And we want them to lead to a place where we can bring encampments down, reduce criminal activity and help people permanently get out of homelessness," Garcetti said.

For his part, Councilman Bonin says he plans to hold more community events in the coming months.

LAist news editor Ryan Fonseca contributed to this story.

News happens every day. Here at LAist, our goal is to cover the stories that matter to you and the community you live in. Now that we're part of KPCC, those stories (including this one you're on right now!) are made possible by generous people like you. Independent, local journalism isn't cheap, but with your support we can keep delivering it. Donate now.Republican foes of the Affordable Care Act always have taken pains to assure the public that whatever they do, theyll protect people with preexisting medical conditions.

Thats wise, because polls always have shown that the public values that feature of the ACA above almost all others.

The concern is based on bitter experience: Before the ACAs enactment, it was common in the individual health insurance market for applicants to be turned down for coverage over conditions from anemia to varicose veins; the exclusion rules for Blue Shield of California ran to 25 pages. Nor was it uncommon for insurers facing a big claim to pore through the patients medical background in search of an undisclosed prior condition, no matter how trivial.

Pre-existing condition exclusions were common in individual market insurance policies before the ACA. Larry Levitt, Kaiser Family Foundation

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The ACA barred such medical underwriting: Insurers had to accept all applicants and cover their treatment. But the threat to patients with medical histories has recurred, thanks to a lawsuit brought in federal court by Texas and 19 other red states and supported by assorted right-wingers.

The lawsuit seeks to invalidate the ACA as unconstitutional, based on Congress elimination of the individual mandate penalty as part of the tax cut enacted in December. If their wish is granted, the ACAs protections for those with preexisting conditions will go out the window.

Accordingly, congressional Republicans have cooked up what they call a rescue plan. Its billed as the Ensuring Coverage for Patients with Pre-Existing Conditions Act and introduced by Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), with the support of nine other red-state senators.

The measure says that no insurer may reject an insurance applicant based on his or her medical condition or history. But its got a loophole that even the dimmest insurance company could drive a hearse through: It doesnt require that the insurer provide for treatment of the applicants preexisting condition.

That makes the bills guaranteed access to insurance something of a mirage, says Larry Levitt, senior vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation. Levitt observed on Twitter that So-called pre-existing condition exclusions were common in individual market insurance policies before the ACA, and are also typical in current short-term policies. At best, they can impose waiting periods for treatment of those conditions; at worst, they exclude coverage permanently.

Put another way, under the Tillis measure, an insurer couldnt reject a cancer patients application for insurance  but could provide that patient with coverage for everything except cancer. As Levitt puts it, the minimum standards for protecting people with preexisting conditions include no denial of coverage based on health, no surcharging of those patients over the standard premium, coverage of all the ACAs essential benefits, including hospitalization, maternity care and prescription drugs, and no exclusions or waiting periods for specific conditions or treatments.

Every state has a sizable percentage of residents with pre-existing conditions, though Appalachia and the deep South have higher rates. (Kaiser Family Foundation)

The Tillis proposal meets only the first test. It allows insurers to expand the factors for setting premiums beyond the two permitted by the ACA (age and tobacco use) to include gender, occupation and leisure activities  another artifact of the pre-ACA era, when insurers reserved the right to turn thumbs-down on pilots, cab drivers, scuba divers and air traffic controllers.

Whats most insidious about the Tillis proposal is that it authorizes such exclusions by omission. The Texas lawsuit does its damage by invalidating the provisions of the ACA that prohibit those exclusions; the Tillis bill simply fails to reinstate them.

Have any of these conditions? You risk being excluded from treatment by insurers in the individual market if a lawsuit against the ACA succeeds. (KFF)

As a team from the Kaiser Family Foundation documented in an analysis Tuesday, every state has significant percentages of residents with preexisting conditions that could be affected by the Texas lawsuit. No community in the KFF database showed a percentage lower than 20% (Logan, Utah, and Rochester, Minn.); the ratio runs as high as 41% on the Tennessee-Virginia border. The rate rises with age  for those 60 to 64, its 47%.

The Texas lawsuit places the health of those people in the individual market on a knife-edge. The lawsuit has been implicitly endorsed by the Trump administration, which decided in June not to defend the ACA against it and agreed with the plaintiff states that key provisions of the act are unconstitutional.

Trumps action forced the attorneys general of 16 other states, including Californias Xavier Becerra, to intervene to defend the act. Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for next month.

Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com.

Return to Michael Hiltziks blog.Longtime United Farm Workers President Arturo Rodriguez will step down from leadership of the union founded by his father-in-law, Cesar Chavez, the union confirmed Tuesday.

His replacement, Teresa Romero, will be the first woman and first immigrant to lead the labor organization.

Romero, 60, the current secretary-treasurer of UFW, was born in Mexico City and has a background in office management and legal affairs. She came to the U.S. in the 1980s and became a citizen 16 years ago.

In an interview, Romero said immigration reform would be at the top of UFWs agenda, largely because workers who lack documents are terrified and reluctant to speak up about other issues.

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I think a lot of the issues that immigrants are having now, especially women, are being shadowed by their immigration status, Romero said.

I am very proud Im a U.S. citizen and Im very proud of my Mexican and Zapotec heritage; its something thats in me, she said.

Rodriguez, 69, a native of San Antonio, came up through the organizing ranks of the UFW after joining the national grape boycotts as a college student. He married Chavezs daughter, Linda, in 1974, and took over leadership after Chavez died in 1993. Chavez was born in Yuma, Ariz.

The UFW  based in Keene, Calif.  boasted a membership of about 80,000 in the early 1970s. It now reports 10,248 members nationwide, about 85% of them working under collective bargaining agreements, according to U.S. Department of Labor documents.

The vast majority of the states seasonal farm labor force, estimated at 350,000 to 450,000, do not belong to a union. The UFW, the Teamsters and United Food and Commercial Workers are the top organizers.

Romero will inherit the challenges faced by her predecessor and by unions nationwide  increased mechanization and reliance on nonunion contractors, and the whittling of the political power of organized labor.

At its heart, the UFW remains torn between whether it can be both a grass-roots union and a broad social movement operating in the halls of power, said Philip Martin, a UC Davis agricultural economist and farm labor expert.

After Chavezs death, Martin said, Rodriguez shifted the union back toward winning elections and getting contracts and organizing strawberry workers  the latter of which ultimately fell short.

There was a big burst, a big effort at unionizing, but by 2000, then there was a switch toward the Legislature, Martin said.

Martin noted Romeros lack of farmworker background  Rodriguez, likewise, did not come from the fields.

It is worth noting that the UFW does not have union locals, and so therefore does not have a system under which current farmworkers are trained in leadership development with the idea that they will rise within the union, he said.

The union has weathered several bruising battles to avoid being voted out of power by its own members, and has been locked in a decades-long standoff to win a contract with the states largest fruit grower, Gerawan Farming.

The union also was hit last year with a million-dollar judgment to settle claims that its own organizers, who themselves formed a union, had been underpaid. The UFW reported $517,000 in settlements last year, according to federal documents. The union said it had net assets of $3.1 million.

The UFWs decline has been mitigated by recent victories, including a contract inked with Salinas, Calif.-based produce company DArrigo Bros., a decades-long adversary. The contract came after months of personal diplomacy between family scion John DArrigo and Rodriguez.

Romero was selected by the unions national executive board and will take over after Rodriguez steps down Dec. 20, the UFW said in a written statement. She has been with the union for nine years and previously managed a construction company and an immigration law firm, the union said.

Romeros appointment allows her to serve nearly two years before facing election as required under the unions constitution, and it bypasses several members with longer tenures.

We thought this was a good time to do it, Rodriguez said. Were not in crisis. Were in a strong situation, so lets pursue this. It was a democratic process that we went through; all of us had a chance to throw our hat in the ring if we so chose. But in the end we all came to a unanimous decision around Teresa.

Rodriguez would not comment on whether others vied for the position, saying they were part of internal discussions.

Were very excited about what we did and the future that it gives us  having an immigrant woman heading the organization, Rodriguez said.

geoffrey.mohan@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATgeoffmohan

UPDATES:

6:10 p.m.: This article was updated with interviews with Arturo Rodriguez, Teresa Romero and an agriculture economist and farm labor expert.

This article was originally published at 2:10 p.m.Operation Finale is well aware  and how could it not be  that it has a singular and significant true story to tell, and it has done its best to do justice to its source.

As directed by Chris Weitz from a script by Matthew Orton, Operation, which opens Wednesday, details Israels storied capture of fugitive Nazi Adolf Eichmann, one of the key architects of the Final Solution, snatched on a Buenos Aires street in 1960 and clandestinely transported out of Argentina for a landmark Israeli trial.

Though the story has been filmed more than once before, this version is notable for Ben Kingsleys expert work as Eichmann and for how handsomely the proceedings have been mounted by production designer David Brisbin and his team and shot by veteran Spanish cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe.

Just as fortunately, considerable attention has been paid to visual historical accuracy, including shooting at the actual neighborhood bus stop Eichmann used every day. (The line he took before he was abducted is apparently still running.)

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But the efforts of an international cast including stars Oscar Isaac, Melanie Laurent and Nick Kroll notwithstanding, Operation Finale sounds more involving than it actually plays, ending up earnest and acceptable more than compelling.

Despite some undeniably strong moments and Kingsleys engaging performance, director Weitz (About a Boy, The Golden Compass) and company have not succeeded in creating excitement in either dramatic or thriller terms. While the bones of the story pull us in, the low voltage, pro forma execution pushes us away.

Though the Eichmann kidnapping was an Israeli team effort with members of both Mossad and Shin Bet agencies involved, one man actually did the physical grabbing.

His name is Peter Malkin, and (in collaboration with Harry Stein) he wrote a book with a title, Eichmann in My Hands, that is arguably more dramatic than the film on offer.

When we catch up with Malkin (as played by Star Wars regular Isaac) in Israel after an earlier botched mission in Austria, he is clearly in the Mossad doghouse, considered with good reason to be impulsive and self-absorbed.

Operation Finale reveals the reason Malkin is the way he is: Hes obsessed with avenging the fate of his sister Fruma, whose death he imagines in several different ways because he has no idea how it happened.

Eichmann, though nominally in hiding, is introduced reminiscing to a group of sympathetic Argentines about what he did in the war. Our work was paperwork, he blandly insists. Our war was a numerical one.

Star Wars regular Oscar Isaac learns a history lesson in Operation Finale 

Though Kingsley has played any number of dark individuals (his Sexy Beast gangster remains a knockout), the actor manages to do things a little differently here, playing Eichmann as a compelling kind of uber-accountant and conveying an air of quiet but palpable menace.

Operation Finales story proper begins in Buenos Aires when a young woman named Sylvia Hermann (Haley Lu Richardson) flirts with a young man named Klaus (Joe Alwyn) in a movie theater while a scene from Imitation of Life (starring director Weitzs actress-mother Susan Kohner) plays on screen.

Long story short, Hermann finds out from her father Lothar (Peter Strauss) that she is Jewish and also comes to realize that Klaus father is none other than the fugitive Eichmann.

When this information reaches Jerusalem, however, some in Israeli intelligence think its old news. Not so Rafi Eitan (Kroll), one of Malkins superiors, who convinces higher ups about the validity of the mission and puts Malkin on the team.

Also recruited is the fetching Dr. Hanna Elian (Laurent), a composite character whos had bad experiences with Mossad in the past, not to mention a love affair with our hero.

The doctor is needed because, though some members of the team are itching to put him down like a mad dog, the goal of the mission is to sedate Eichmann and bring him back alive to stand trial.

As Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion (Simon Russell Beale, last seen as the sinister Lavrenti Beria in The Death of Stalin) says in a last-minute pep talk, for the first time in our history, we will judge executioners. For the sake of our people I beg you, do not fail.

Fail they do not, but in the hands of Operation Finale it is a near thing. Though the snatch and grab goes off flawlessly (and is one of the films strongest scenes), a situation arises where Eichmanns signature is needed on a document and nothing will do but for Malkin himself to go one on one with the evildoer to attempt to get him to sign.

The two actors differ in age and acting styles, and in theory their battle might have played out like Raymond Massey toe to toe with James Dean in the legendary confrontation in East of Eden. But in cinematic terms it is a one-sided affair.

For while Isaacs Malkin never catches fire, Kingsleys Eichmann fascinates. An accomplished manipulator, slippery as they came, who effortlessly plays mind games with the entire Israeli team, Eichmann gets under everyones skin even though they are on high alert to prevent just that from happening.

One of the problems with Operation Finale is that Isaacs performance is not enough on fire to sustain what becomes the films focus on Malkins journey to find himself and come to terms with the traumas of his past. Yes, Malkin grabbed Eichmann, but the film about how it all went down does not return the favor.

----------------

Operation Finale

Rated: PG-13 for disturbing thematic material and related violent images, and for some language

Running time: 2 hours, 6 minutes

Playing: In general release

kenneth.turan@latimes.com

@KennethTuranJohn McCain was a perennial on Jon Stewarts The Daily Show.

And the Arizona senator often bragged that he held the record for the most appearances on Meet the Press: McCain guested at least 70 times.

Jay Leno, David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers repeatedly joked and sparred with the cantankerous congressman as if he were an old friend or close relative with opposing political views.

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And following his death Saturday at age 81, the memory of McCain generated wall-to-wall news coverage. From Good Morning America to his familiar Meet the Press haunt, networks and cable covered his passing like that of a dignitary or president.

Veteran political reporter and MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell choked up when discussing McCains legacy and greater vision of America. CNNs Wolf Blitzer was uncharacteristically emotional as he interviewed guest after guest about the outspoken senator who publicly challenged the policies of three presidents and the recent direction of his own party.

Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume broke from his networks usual support-Trump-no-matter-what stance in response to a curt tweet from the president offering condolences to the late senators family. The brief post was in lieu of an official statement from the White House.

Still not a kind word about McCain himself, Hume tweeted.

Donald Trump may be our first TV-bred president, but McCain  whose 30-years-plus U.S. senate run was filled with the dramatic twists and turns of an Emmy-winning drama series  cultivated a magnetic on-screen persona well before The Apprentice producer Mark Burnett painted Donald Trump as a competent leader.

Viewers saw McCain as a politician who didnt speak like a politician. He was a D.C. anomaly who forged lasting relationships with anchors, reporters and Americans of all political persuasions. He was quick to anger, even on camera, dropped four-letter words in public that might have ended the careers of his conservative contemporaries and eviscerated unlucky reporters who dared to ask loaded questions when McCain wasnt in the mood.

But he always came back to the table to keep the discussion going, and thats what viewers who fret for our democracy will miss most: a D.C. leader who put conviction above party.

McCain was by no means perfect. He flip-flopped on issues when it suited him, was embroiled in a scandal that he barely survived and made questionable decisions while running for office against Barack Obama in 2008 that he wasnt proud of (running mate Sarah Palin was one of them).

His life played out on television, from his early introduction to a national audience as a captive POW in the 1970s to his early 1980s Senate win, to newscasts on the Keating Five scandal to his run for the Oval Office to a recent documentary on McCains life, HBOs For Whom the Bell Tolls. And when strung all together, these small-screen moments chronicle the life of a public servant who, when swayed, returned to his own moral compass for guidance. Authenticity was his appeal.

He often deviated from talking points beneficial to him or the party in favor of speaking his own truth. One such case has been played across social media and old-timey TV networks since his death: the clip of him at a 2008 town hall meeting correcting a woman who said she couldnt trust Obama because he was an Arab.

No, maam, interrupted McCain. Hes a decent family man. [A] citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and thats what the campaigns all about. Hes not [an Arab].

Im one of many Arab Americans who found his answer problematic  it implied that Arabs arent decent people. Still, I admired McCain for putting his own interests aside and challenging the racist rhetoric being used to demean his African American opponent. I suppose its one more example of a journalist having issues with McCain while still respecting his fearless candor.

His politics could be polarizing, especially to those outside the Republican party. He was a major proponent of the war in Iraq; it was at the root of one of the more heated exchanges he would have with Stewart over the years.

Despite ones political leanings, McCain was still a dynamic guest to watch. Hed often admit his mistakes or shortcomings during interviews and that made him the type of flawed character audiences love.

It must be excruciating now for Trump to see so much love and respect for McCain. Not only was the late senator a vocal critic of the president, his popularity across all types of media undermines a mantra that helped get Trump elected and has provided ratings for Fox News year after year: The liberal media is out to get the right and Republicans cant get a fair shake from the mainstream press.

All one had to do was watch MSNBC in the hours and days following his death to see liberal commentator after liberal commentator mourn his passing. Those who knew him, like Chris Matthews, expressed personal grief. Others bemoaned the loss of a politician who put country before party. Will we ever see that again?

Lets leave the history of who shot first to the historians. I suspect theyll find we all conspired in our decline. John McCain

McCain announced he had cancer a year ago, in July 2017. Even then he wasnt ready to retreat from cameras, or the Senate floor, where he delivered a speech imploring compromise among his peers.

Lets leave the history of who shot first to the historians, he said. I suspect theyll find we all conspired in our decline  either by deliberate actions or neglect. Weve all played some role in it. Certainly, I have. Sometimes, Ive let my passion rule my reason. Sometimes, I made it harder to find common ground because of something harsh I said to a colleague. Sometimes, I wanted to win more for the sake of winning than to achieve a contested policy.

McCain, who was undergoing treatment, hadnt been in Washington for more than six months before his death. But even in his absence, the 5-foot-8-inch agitator was a formidable presence. His last public statement was one of his most direct.

Last month he called Trumps summit in Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin a tragic mistake and one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.

The White House was one of the few D.C. institutions on Monday that did not fly the flag at half-staff, which is customary to do until the deceased is buried, which in McCains case is Sunday. After much criticism, Trump acquiesced, released a statement and ordered that the flag be lowered.

Trumps petulance made the news as usual, but this time as a footnote. The majority of airtime was dedicated to McCain, whose bipartisan cage-rattling, strong opinions and sharp wit made TVs political coverage a more colorful affair.

lorraine.ali@latimes.com

@lorrainealiIts been 291 days since Louis C.K. admitted that he repeatedly masturbated in front of unwilling women.

Since then, the comedian has learned that sexual misconduct is no joke; his behavior torpedoed relationships with several television networks and he was dropped by his management company, his publicist and his booking agent.

But as of Sunday night, C.K. is back, testing the waters with a surprise (and short) stand-up set at New Yorks famed Comedy Cellar.

Perhaps hes ready for a comeback, but are we? Less than a year out from the New York Times and the New Yorkers blistering indictments of Harvey Weinstein, is it time to allow #MeToo perpetrators back into the fold?

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Yes. No. Maybe. Its complicated.

In a perfect world, all humans are redeemable and all actions are forgivable. Some argue that C.K. has already paid for his misdeeds, what with his 10-month timeout and loss of professional opportunities.

But beyond sitting and thinking about what hes done, how has C.K. suffered in the last few months, really? Sure, he was denied opportunities and faced career upheaval, but so did his victims. For years, the comedian denied the rampant rumors that he was a sexual predator, making his accusers out to be liars and inappropriately wielding his power in the comedy community.

If we lived in a perfect world, marginalized individuals would have the same access to opportunities as disgraced comedians. So, no, maybe C.K. shouldnt get a second chance.

Then again, the Louie creator has gone a step further than many individuals exposed by #MeToo: He apologized. In lieu of talking, he admitted to his wrongdoing, he expressed regret and he dedicated himself to listening more.

Thats something. Theres a sense of responsibility there utterly lacking in too many #MeToo offenders. Maybe C.K. isnt a lost cause after all.

But what about other people who have faced accusations as part of the #MeToo movement? Both Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose have been rumored to have comebacks in the making. Casey Affleck told the Associated Press that he had learned a lot from the conversation surrounding #MeToo after being sued for sexual harassment.

Will Matt Lauer be the next to seek #MeToo redemption? (Richard Drew / Associated Press)

As the C.K. redemption controversy bubbled up on Twitter Tuesday morning, Wonkette founding editor Ana Marie Cox suggested that 12-step programs could serve as a helpful template for making amends after sexual misconduct.

Dont apologize and assume thats enough, Cox wrote on Twitter. It never is. Ask (an expert, if not your victims) what you can do to make things right. 

Making amends, after all, is wholly different from apologizing. According to the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, amends are rooted in restoring justice, in action as opposed to mere words.

C.K. cant un-expose himself to unwilling women any more than a bell can be un-rung.

But he could establish a foundation to support female comedians looking for opportunities otherwise denied them. C.K. could work in conjunction with an organization such as R.A.I.N.N. and do outreach on how not to impose on someones sexual autonomy. He could live his life differently and focus not just on rebuilding his career but on building a better, safer community in comedy for women.

Its not enough for C.K. to sit out of the spotlight for a few months, and his words of apology are empty without action to support them.

The owner of the Comedy Cellar said C.K.s Sunday night set consisted of typical Louis C.K. stuff, including racism, waitresses tips and parades.

But thats a lie. Because the heart of C.K.s comedy has always centered around his own experience as a crappy, crude white man. Its disingenuous for C.K. to come back to comedy without openly addressing his own failures and doing the work necessary to heal the hurt hes caused.

Can C.K. be redeemed? Yes.

Is he there yet? No.

Is he willing to do what he has to do to make amends? Maybe.

How are we going to make it through the coming rehabilitation tours? Its complicated.

libby.hill@latimes.com

@midwestspitfireThe education experts at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation used to be after the one big idea that could transform public school education. They tried breaking down large schools into smaller, more intimate communities. They tried using test scores to evaluate teachers.

Now experience seems to have taught them not to impose so much from outside. They want to create networks of schools that will work together, with help from experts, to solve problems  and then share strategies and research. A particular goal is keeping students on track year by year, all the way to graduation.

On Tuesday, the foundation awarded about $92 million in new grants  to 19 organizations in 13 states  that will reach schools in Los Angeles and across the country, but probably will bring with them less radical change and also less controversy than past efforts.

The central aim remains the same: to increase the number of black, Latino, and low-income students who earn a diploma, go to college and graduate with marketable skills.

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And if the new approach sounds less sweeping or laser focused than those in the past, thats partly the point.

Weve come to understand how important context is, said Bob Hughes, the foundations director of K-12 education. One size doesnt fit all.

The Seattle philanthropic institution is known for spending billions to transform public education. But even those billions dont capture the extent to which the foundation has leveraged its influence to campuses in every corner of the country.

One such effort was to refashion large, impersonal middle and high schools into smaller academies. The results, in terms of improved student achievement, overall were lackluster. Later came a teacher-effectiveness initiative, which some critics and supporters characterized as a mission to find and fire bad teachers. Once again, the results were disappointing in terms of improving outcomes for students.

Systems are as important as individual items or actors, Hughes said.

An average person could become a really good teacher, he said, with great materials and training, helped by strong support from parents and the community, working in a safe school environment that meets childrens broader needs.

Great teaching is critical to learning, he said, but a teacher cant do it alone.

Such lessons have come at a price, after schools and school districts across the country reshaped themselves based on the earlier reform thinking. In many cases, they were forced to do so by new state and federal policies and laws. (And in some cases, to be sure, the changes helped students.)

With the new grants, the foundation seeks to support educators doing work that already has shown progress.

The types of grants are varied, so measuring how much they help will be challenging.

A $499,000 grant will go to the KIPP national charter school network, which has schools in Los Angeles. KIPPs leaders grew concerned because only 38% of students who completed their eighth-grade program or entered ninth grade were graduating from college. (For L.A. Unified, it is 12%.) Efforts to improve counseling and post-graduation support are improving these numbers. KIPP also has begun to tackle under-matching, when an Ivy League-caliber student, for example, enrolls in a community college.

A $16-million grant will go to Core Districts, a consortium of large California school systems that includes Los Angeles Unified, the nations second-largest district. Here, the effort will focus on keeping ninth-graders on track for graduation. The work will probably look at multiple factors that thwart students.

Its helping folks learn how to better understand the impact of their lessons and the work theyre doing, said Rick Miller, Cores executive director.

An organization called Teach Plus will use $619,000 to pair teachers and principals at five Los Angeles schools with their counterparts at five Chicago schools to collaborate on improving math skills for eighth-graders, said Sarah Lillis, executive director for Teach Plus California.

A $7.4-million grant in Dallas will go toward improving student writing. Supt. Michael Hinojosa said hes been worried about stagnation in this area. The states writing test, he said, does not measure or develop advanced writing skills, which are central to learning.

Weve had continuous improvement, he said. We need quantum improvement.

The foundation said it expects to hand out $460 million for this work over five years.

howard.blume@latimes.com

Twitter: @howardblume

UPDATES:

4:35 p.m.: This article was updated throughout with staff reporting.

This article was originally published at midnight.Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has volunteered to help break through a stalemate in contract talks between the nations second-largest school system and its teachers union.

The offer comes as United Teachers Los Angeles is conducting a strike-authorization vote, which would allow the union leadership to call a strike without going back to the membership for approval.

We need to make sure teachers are in schools and that children have teachers, Garcetti said Friday in response to a reporters question at an unrelated event. I will do anything that I can to make sure there is not a strike, or, if a strike is called, to directly intervene in negotiations.

Garcetti said hed made the offer to leaders on both sides, and that the broad outline of a deal appears within reach.

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This is a time, I think, in which there can be reasonable increases for teachers, he said.

L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner said he welcomes the offer to convene a meeting with L.A. Unified and UTLA leadership to help resolve this situation and prevent a strike, which will harm students, families and the communities we serve.

In a Monday interview with The Times editorial board, Beutner also suggested that the union was negotiating in bad faith and had been pushing toward a strike from the get-go. As partial evidence, he referred to an opinion piece that ran in The Times on Aug. 23, written by Glenn Sacks, an L.A. Unified teacher and a union representative at his school. Sacks wrote that the union planned to strike Oct. 3.

Union spokeswoman Anna Bakalis said Monday that Sacks assertion that a date had been set was inaccurate.

We have to adhere to the mediation process and that means mediation and then fact finding, she said. That process takes weeks.

On Monday night, the union, responding to the mayors offer, renewed its push to begin formal mediation.

We believe a state mediator can help move the parties toward an agreement, and there is no reason for any delay, said a union statement. Civic leaders should be pressuring the district to follow the law and go into mediation immediately.

The union has pushed for mediation as early in August as possible, and has accused the district of stalling. Beutner wanted a later date, he said, to avoid disruption early in the school year. The start date to begin work with an outside mediator has been set for Sept. 27.

Salary is one part of the division between the district and the union. United Teachers Los Angeles has asked for a 6.5% raise retroactive to July 1, 2016, with the possibility of future raises in a contract that would run through June 30, 2020. The district unofficially has offered 6%, stretched out over a three-year period. Other district employee unions already have settled for about 6%, spread out over several years in various ways, but they could be entitled to additional compensation if the teachers get more.

Strike-authorization votes are a standard pressure tactic and do not preordain a walkout, but district officials appear to be worried. On Thursday  the first day of voting  the district helped coordinate a news conference with parents who spoke out against a strike.

The teachers 69-page proposal covers many areas besides salary, including changes that would add greater protections for teachers who want to hold on to their current assignments at schools and that would result in additional hiring to bring down class sizes and extend nursing and counseling services at campuses.

Garcetti said last week that he empathizes with teachers on such fronts.

For most teachers Ive talked to, its not about the pay  its about class sizes, its about the independence they have, its about their ability to do what they do well. And I think there are a lot of nonmonetary things that the teachers union and the district could agree upon, he said.

But many of the desired changes are expensive. Beutner said hed like to reduce class sizes, but the money isnt there. The teachers entire package would bankrupt the district, he said Monday.

In his remarks, Garcetti said he accepted the districts position that the school systems financial bind is real.

If there is too big of a raise this year, it is true that this district would go off a cliff, he said. You would see larger class sizes, possible layoffs, etc. So I think that its very important to live inside the means that we have.

howard.blume@latimes.com

Twitter: @howardblume

UPDATES:

8:10 a.m. Aug. 28: This article was updated to add teachers union reaction to the mayors mediation offer.

This article was originally published at 6:40 p.m. Aug. 27.The homeless man refused to take down his tent, so the police officers decided to arrest him for resisting them.

As the situation grew increasingly tense, an officer used a Taser on the man, who wore only boxer shorts, even though he was not acting violently and was not likely to be concealing a weapon.

The incident, captured on police video, was described in a report by the Los Angeles Police Departments inspector general that raises concerns about whether some Los Angeles police officers react too aggressively to people they perceive as uncooperative or disrespectful.

The report, presented to the Police Commission on Tuesday, examined more than 100 cases of people taken into custody and accused of resisting arrest.

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In two-thirds of the cases, LAPD officers acted appropriately, Inspector General Mark P. Smith wrote.

But in the remaining third, the report found issues ranging from unnecessary use of a Taser, as in the homeless mans case, to lack of legal cause for stopping someone.

In one instance, officers detained several juveniles for taking photos of themselves flashing gang signs, which was not a violation of the law. The officers also asked for their cellphones  a warrantless search that the report said was not justified.

In another instance, a man who was a possible victim of an assault became belligerent, then complied with an officers order to put his hands behind his back. When he failed to immediately comply with an order to get down on his knees, the officers wrestled him to the ground.

Given the fact that the arrestee had generally been complying with the officers directions, it was not clear why the takedown was conducted or why more attempts at de-escalation did not occur, the report said.

Officers sometimes used profanity or belittled people by calling them names or telling them to shut up or stop talking, according to the report, escalating minor incidents by provoking frustration and protest on the part of the person being detained.

The inspector generals report focused on violations of California Penal Code Section 148(a)(1)  a misdemeanor covering conduct such as resisting an officers attempts at handcuffing, fleeing from officers or refusing to provide information while detained.

The report examined 132 arrests from June 2016 to March 2017 that were captured on in-car or body camera video  about 35% of the total Section 148 arrests during that period.

Nearly half the people arrested were African American in a city that is about 9% black. More than 40% of those arrested were Latino.

A quarter were homeless, 16% appeared mentally ill and 13% appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The LAPD divisions with the highest number of arrests were Southwest and 77th Street  both in predominantly black and Latino South Los Angeles neighborhoods.

The report noted that some residents refer to resisting arrest as contempt of cop because officers can use it against people for being mouthy or having a bad attitude. Officers can also potentially use the offense to provide a justification for unnecessary force, the report said.

Under the federal consent decree that imposed reforms on the LAPD from 2001 to 2013, bookings for resisting arrest received heightened scrutiny. Watch commanders are still charged with evaluating each arrest and recommending training or policy changes to remedy flaws.

In the report, slightly more than 20% of those arrested were initially stopped by police for quality-of-life issues such as drinking, loitering or homelessness. An additional 13% were stopped for suspicious activity and 28% for motor vehicle violations.

The city attorneys office, which typically prosecutes misdemeanors, ultimately filed charges in only 35% of the cases.

Police Commissioner Shane Murphy Goldsmith said she has received complaints from residents about police officers handling of contentious situations.

In addition to the concerns I have already mentioned about disparate impact and bias and particularly the impact on the homeless, it does touch on other issues in terms of important issues of procedural justice and legitimacy and trust  particularly trust in African American communities, Goldsmith said. We can see here that this is a clear area where we can improve.

Melanie Ochoa, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Southern California, pointed to the low rate of prosecution and the high percentage of African Americans arrested. She called on the Police Commission  a five-member civilian board that oversees the LAPD  to cut down on both stops and arrests and to discipline officers who arrest people unnecessarily.

Police Chief Michel Moore noted that the vast majority of police encounters end with people voluntarily complying. He said he supported the reports findings.

Ensuring that our officers tone and their tenor in those engagements are constantly looking to de-escalate and find the ability to gain the willful compliance and cooperation even of an offender where this investigation may lead to their arrest and incarceration, is a point where Im proud of the work our men and women do, Moore said. And where we may fall short, I see those as opportunities for us to improve.

The inspector generals report recommends that the LAPD provide additional training and work with the city attorneys office to ensure that cases comply with legal standards. The report also recommends that the department examine officers use of Tasers so that the weapons are deployed only on people who are violent or pose an immediate threat.

Steve Gordon, a director of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union representing the LAPDs rank and file, said in a statement that officers faced with a volatile situation sometimes speak loudly or use salty language.

Viewing videotape from the safe confines of an office is a lot different than actually policing the dangerous streets of Los Angeles, he said.

cindy.chang@latimes.com

For more news on the Los Angeles Police Department, follow me on Twitter: @cindychangLA

UPDATES:

7:50 p.m.: This article was updated with additional information from the report and comments and was edited throughout.

This article was originally published at 12:10 p.m.When a judge ordered Meach Sovannara to spend 20 years in a notorious Cambodian prison, some feared the Long Beach resident had been handed a death sentence.

Political dissenters rarely see their stories end well in Cambodia, and Sovannara had been banished in 2015 to Prey Sar prison, which human rights activists describe as an overcrowded, hellish lockup where others who have opposed Prime Minister Hun Sen have lived out their final days in misery.

A former teacher and journalist turned political activist, Sovannara was already in declining health due to a head injury he suffered in a car accident shortly before he was convicted. While in prison, he suffered from chronic migraines, high blood pressure, jaundice and diarrhea, relatives said.

Even though his conviction stemmed from a show trial during which no evidence was presented, Sovannara had been convicted of speaking out against Hun Sen in a country where the prime ministers power is absolute. Asked about the chance of Sovannara ever returning to the U.S., a family friend grimly told The Times in 2016 that Meach Sovannara already knows his fate.

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In spite of those fears, Sovannara could now be reunited with his wife and two children as early as next month.

Sovannara was among 14 members of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party who were released from Prey Sar early Tuesday in Phnom Penh, and he might return to the U.S. within two weeks, his wife, Jamie Meach, told The Times through an interpreter.

Sovannaras pending return was met with muted reaction in Long Beachs Cambodia Town, which is home to one of the largest Cambodian populations in the U.S. Homeland politics are a highly controversial topic of discussion in the area, where political disputes over a visit from Hun Sens son caused the cancellation of a Cambodian New Years parade a few years ago.

Charles Song, a career advancement counselor with the Cambodian Assn. of America, declined to weigh in on the political ramifications of the situation. But he said that people are happy for Sovannaras family no matter what side they fall on.

When you have a situation like this, it always brings joy not only to the family but to the entire community, Song said. Im sure theyre going to throw a big party for him when he arrives in the U.S.

In July 2015, Sovannara and 10 others were convicted of various crimes connected to political protests that stemmed from what human rights watchdogs have described as a rigged national election. Experts believe the recent releases of several members of the opposition party, including Sovannara, are part of an attempt by Hun Sen to earn relief from financial sanctions that have been imposed on the country in response to its notoriously corrupt election process.

In the run-up to national elections this year, Hun Sen dissolved the opposition party. His Cambodian Peoples Party later won all 125 seats in the National Assembly.

The releases are part of a systematic effort by the authorities in Phnom Penh to improve their image. They insist it isnt about international pressure, but why else do it? Having taken all 125 seats in the July sham election, its now time to ease the vise theyve used against the real opposition, said Sophal Ear, a professor at Occidental College in Los Angeles and expert on Cambodian politics. In exchange for this, they expect the West to back off on sanctions ... all the while claiming pressure had nothing to do with it.

Several other opposition party members remain jailed in the country, however, including opposition leader Kem Sokha, who was arrested last year.

The State Department did not respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday. In recent months, the Trump administration has stepped up sanctions and visa restrictions against Cambodian officials who undermine democracy, including Hun Sens chief bodyguard.

Sovannara has long served as an activist and journalist in Cambodia, according to his wife.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Sovannara published stories through Radio Free Asia that were highly critical of the government, taking specific aim at misuse of funds and allegations of election rigging by Hun Sens political party, Jamie Meach said.

After Sovannara received death threats over a story, Jamie Meach said, the family fled in 2003 to Long Beach. They were granted asylum in 2004, and Sovannara holds dual citizenship in both the U.S. and Cambodia.

While in Long Beach, the family published a Khmer-language newspaper, the Khmer Post. But with Hun Sen under increased pressure to hold fair elections in 2013, Sovannara returned to Phnom Penh to work with opposition forces.

Hun Sens party retained power after a closer-than-expected election, which drew protests and accusations of vote-rigging. Anti-government protests were held regularly in Phnom Penhs Freedom Park, which was closed after repeated clashes between demonstrators and national police.

During a speech calling for the park to be reopened, Sovannara spoke out against Hun Sen for ceding land to Vietnam during a border dispute. He was later arrested and charged with attempting to incite an insurrection.

Prior to his trial, Sovannara was released on bond and managed to return to the U.S., where he could have stayed to avoid prosecution. But his family agreed that the fight against Hun Sens tyrannical government was too important, so Sovannara returned to Cambodia in 2015, where he remained jailed until this week.

Weve seen, both of us  Hun Sens violations of human rights, his oppressions of democracy, and everything like that, Jamie Meach told The Times in 2016. So I had to, for my own self, I had to sacrifice in order for my husband to help liberate Cambodia.

In a statement, U.S. Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) said he was relieved to hear of Sovannaras release, but also blasted Hun Sens government for continuing to crack down on free speech and demanded the country hold truly democratic elections in the immediate future.

Like too many Cambodians who have tried to stand up for their right to a democratic government under the Cambodian Constitution, Mr. Sovannara and the others were falsely accused and wrongly imprisoned by the totalitarian Hun Sen regime. This token show of mercy cannot erase a legacy of stolen elections, outrageous violations of human rights, including beatings, imprisonment and killings of opposition members, the statement read. The international community cannot accept anything less than full democratization, accountability for past crimes, and systemic reforms.

Times Staff Writer Frank Shyong contributed to this report.

james.queally@latimes.com

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California.

UPDATES:

7:55 p.m.: This story was updated with reactions from residents of Long Beachs Cambodia Town neighborhood, U.S. Rep. Alan Lowenthal and additional details about Sovannaras imprisonment.

3:55 p.m.: This story was updated with comments from Sovannaras wife, Jamie Meach, and additional background about CNRP members jailed in Cambodia.

This story was originally published at 1:50 p.m.About six months ago Reuben Martinez, Maywoods acting city manager, went on stress leave.

His departure happened a week after authorities served search warrants at City Hall and the homes of current and former city officials as part of a possible corruption investigation.

Rumors ensued about Martinezs leave, more so after his employment with the scandal-prone city quietly ended.

Now, a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a city employee in June provides a possible explanation for the former administrators departure.

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In her lawsuit, Rose Vasquez alleged that while she worked as an executive assistant for Martinez she was sexually harassed, threatened and physically assaulted by him.

The 28-page court document also alleges that the mayor and other officials did not intervene even after Martinez had targeted other female workers.

The mayor did nothing. He told them: too bad and that everyone has to deal with defendant Martinez because the city would not fire him, the court document read.

Mayor Ramon Medina, who was found guilty of animal cruelty a week ago, said he could not comment on a pending litigation matter.

The lawsuit is the latest legal problem for the 1.2-square-mile city. It has long struggled with financial issues and political controversies. Seemingly always on the brink of financial collapse, the town played a role in a huge corruption investigation in neighboring Bell.

Maywood officials had hired Bell to manage key city functions, an arrangement that fell apart when that city became entangled in a scandal involving over-the-top salaries for council members and city administrators.

Several southeast Los Angeles County cities, including Maywood, have been mired in municipal corruption for decades.

The collection of small cities along the 710 Freeway  Vernon, Bell, Huntington Park, South Gate, Cudahy  have faced generations of political upheaval, with prosecutors claiming politicians take advantage of electorates who are not always plugged in to whats going on. Some cities have enacted reforms after scandals.

Maywood once had a police department that became a haven for many cops who had been forced out of previous jobs or had brushes with the law. A 16-month investigation by the California attorney general revealed that the culture at the department was permeated with sexual innuendo, harassment, vulgarity, discourtesy to members of the public as well as among officers, and a lack of cultural, racial and ethnic sensitivity and respect.

Two years ago, a state audit found that Maywood was more than $15 million in debt.

Martinez, a former projects manager for Boeing, was hired April 16 as Maywood continued to recover from its financial problems. Martinez did not have experience running a city, and it was later revealed that he was a customer of the mayors mechanic shop, R&M Auto Service.

Martinez could not be reached by phone. He did not respond to text messages seeking comment.

According to the sexual harassment lawsuit, problems between Martinez and Vasquez began in May 2017 when he began asking her out on dates.

He often offered to give plaintiff rides home, take her out for drinks, treat her to dinner, take her to the movies and similar proposals, the lawsuit read.

Vasquez, a single mother, said she tried to keep the relationship professional but eventually accepted car rides and some outings because Martinez was her boss and she worried about losing her job. But his advances grew more brazen and inappropriate with time, according to the lawsuit.

Last June, defendant Martinez came to plaintiffs apartment uninvited. She was upset and told him to leave. He said, Im your boss, its OK, the lawsuit read.

The advances turned physical by August 2017 when Martinez allegedly told Vasquez to pick up computer speakers from the sheriffs substation that was adjacent to City Hall.

When plaintiff arrived, defendant Martinez was in the room alone, the lawsuit read. Defendant Martinez then cornered her, grabbed her aggressively and tried to kiss her. Plaintiff panicked, fought him off and rushed out of the door.

The lawsuit claims that Martinez targeted and pursued other women who eventually left their jobs as a result of it.

One womans boyfriend confronted Martinez due to his sexual advances. Another woman was confronted by Martinezs wife, who became jealous after seeing flirtatious texts to the women, the lawsuit read.

Vasquez, who still works for Maywood, claimed that she had reported Martinezs alleged misconduct to several administrators but nothing was done.

Given everything that had happened, plaintiff was at her breaking point, the lawsuit read. She struggled to sleep or eat and her quality of life plummeted. Her hair started falling out due to stress.

ruben.vives@latimes.com

For more Southern California news, follow @latvives on Twitter.On Saturday, Huzail Hassan was one of the thousands of anxious students across the United States who took the SAT, the college entrance exam thats been a dreaded rite of passage for millions of American high school students since 1926.

As soon as I walked out, I was feeling like I didnt do my best, Hassan said Sunday.

The 16-year-old junior at Etiwanda High School in Rancho Cucamonga said he spent more than 200 hours studying for the exam. He was also taking classes at a local community college.

I didnt really have a break, he said. I just really wanted to do good on the SAT.

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But none of that seemed to matter after he got a text from a friend who told him the College Board had reused an exam from last October and that the answers to the reading test had been leaked online.

I checked on Twitter and so many people had taken screenshots, he said. I looked it up and it was the same exam. It had the exact same questions and it had the answer key.

SAT was leaked in China and South Korea before the test was released. @CollegeBoard please get on this pic.twitter.com/xmFgzJWKNW  :) (@_youareyou_) August 25, 2018

The SAT is administered by the College Board, a nonprofit organization made up of more than 6,000 educational institutions. Officials with the College Board declined to comment on the students specific allegations regarding Saturdays test.

But Zachary Goldberg, the senior director of media relations, said the organization has systems in place to thwart would-be cheaters.

We have a comprehensive approach to test security, and go to great lengths to make sure that all test scores we report are accurate and valid, Goldberg said on Sunday. As part of our approach, after every test administration, we take additional quality control steps before scores are released. If we determine a student gained an unfair advantage, we will take appropriate actions, including canceling test scores.

Millions of high school students around the world take the college entrance exam every year. The test lasts about three hours and is intended to assess whether a student is prepared for college. U.S. colleges have long relied on SAT scores to help them decide which applicants to admit and which to reject.

But in recent years, a series of scandals has called into question the credibility of the College Board and the integrity of its exam.

In 2015, more than a dozen Chinese nationals were swept up in a federal investigation of a Pittsburgh-based cheating ring. Students were accused of participating in a scheme where they paid up to $6,000 for others to take the college entrance exam for them.

It echoed a plot uncovered by federal investigators in 2011 in which students of an elite high school allegedly paid thousands of dollars so that 19-year-old college student Sam Eshaghoff would take the SAT for them.

The severity of the College Boards problems was revealed in a 2016 investigation by Reuters. The news agency found that leaks were not only pervasive, but that the organization continued to administer SAT tests that included questions whose answers were widely available online.

The security breaches and scandals undermined the trust that college officials once had in the College Board. A survey conducted by the National Assn. for College Admission Counseling, or NACAC, found that nearly 60% of four-year colleges had concerns over fraudulent application materials.

In 2016, the association went further by issuing a statement to testing companies, calling on reforms to ensure the security and integrity of college admission tests. Last year, it followed up with those requests in another statement.

Recognize that while the re-use of entire standardized test forms or test questions is a long-standing practice, the proliferation of modern communications technology today has rendered it vulnerable to easy exploitation, the association said in its statement.

The leaks and cheating scandals prompted the College Board to tighten its SAT exam security, and the organization said it would scale back on reusing college entrance exams.

But the new allegations suggest the problem persists.

Hassan and other students who took the test on Saturday now find themselves wondering how many of their fellow test-takers relied on the answers that were posted on a Chinese website. They alleged that the test was taken down after students began complaining about it on social media.

Meanwhile, a petition to invalidate the August test results has begun to circulate.

As a senior in high school the experience of constantly trying to be more involved and better than the next person is already challenging, Diana Dahlan of Los Osos High School said. But to think that after all the work me and my peers have put in, we wont be given a fair shot because of the failure of the College Board to do their job is very disappointing.

Hassan said he was angry with the College Board.

They keep saying were not going to let this happen again, and yet they reused a test, he said. They dont live up to whatever they say.

ruben.vives@latimes.com

For more Southern California news, follow @latvives on Twitter.The Redlands Unified School District has agreed to settlements totaling $15.7 million in connection with lawsuits involving three teachers accused of molesting eight former students.

The large settlement for the district of 21,000 students comes after repeated allegations that school officials failed to alert authorities of suspected sexual abuse by staff of students. The settlements include more than $7 million for one of six victims of Redlands High School math teacher Kevin Patrick Kirkland.

Last year Kirkland pleaded guilty to eight felonies and three misdemeanors for sexually abusing four female students from May 2015 to May 2016. He was sentenced to two years in prison but served only 13 months.

According to attorneys, that single payout to Kirklands victim is the largest pretrial settlement involving a sex abuse allegation against an educator.

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The school district and its insurer in recent years had previously paid out more than $6.5 million to settle claims that students were sexually abused by their teachers, including $6 million for a high school boy who fathered his teachers baby.

According to the suit, Kirkland engaged in sexual acts with dozens of students while administrators dissuaded victims from reporting his actions.

An administrator told one student in 2012 that Kirkland would be disciplined as long as she did not go to the press, according to the lawsuit in San Bernardino County Superior Court. The suit alleges district officials knew of problems with Kirkland dating to 2006. In 2016, the district tried to dissuade a student from reporting the assault to police, according to the suit.

The size of this settlement reflects the immense harm done to our clients and the continuing failure of the Redlands Unified School District to protect students from sexual predators. We have eight perpetrators at Redlands High School in a 10-year period who have been preying upon the students unabated, said Morgan Stewart, an attorney who handled the cases. The administration in charge was the same during each of these incidents, which is telling.

Stewart on Tuesday said the state and the federal governments need to investigate the districts conduct and its years of cover-ups and failure to act on reports.

He said Kirkland, 59, targeted the most vulnerable as a special-needs math teacher by using treats and tricks to groom students.

The school district responded to the announcement in a statement, saying, We hope that this settlement provides a sense of closure and healing for the victims and enables our District to move forward. Regrettably, Redlands Unified is unable to erase the repugnant actions of these individuals.

The district said it would act swiftly on any child abuse actions and had retained a top expert on the issue to advise and train staff.

The settlement costs will mostly be borne by the districts insurer, a school district joint powers authority. Redlands Unified itself is required to pay $383,330.

The settlements also include one for a student who in a lawsuit alleged she was sexually abused as a 15- and 16-year-old by former English teacher Brian Townsley in 2008. Prosecutors opted to not charge Townsley with annoying or molesting a child in 2008. The girl had initially denied being abused by the teacher.

Another former student who received a settlement alleged Daniel Bachman, a former Redlands High theater technician, had sex with her as a minor from 2011 to 2013. Redlands police investigated Bachman, who was in his early 20s at the time. During the August 2015 interview he admitted to having had sexual intercourse with the student, according to a police report filed in the lawsuit. But the San Bernardino County district attorneys office declined to charge him, citing insufficient evidence.

Stewart said the significant sums for the settlements are in part because of a failure by administrators to investigate reports of sexual abuse. He also notes that outgoing Dist. Atty. Mike Ramos once served on the school board and that his office has not charged administrators who police officers believe did not handle the allegations appropriately.

After Laura Whitehurst, a teacher at Redlands and Citrus Valley high schools, was convicted in 2013 for having sex with three boys, including one who was the father of her child, Redlands police referred two administrators for prosecution.

The district attorneys office declined to charge the then-Citrus High principal or the human resources chief with failing to report allegations of child abuse under a state-mandated reporter law.

richard.winton@latimes.com

Twitter: @lacrimesThe Roman Catholic Church went into crisis mode this week after a Vatican official published an 11-page letter alleging that Pope Francis and U.S. Catholic leaders covered up sexual abuse by an American cardinal.

In the unusually detailed and direct letter, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former Vatican ambassador to the U.S., made unsubstantiated claims that Francis and several American cardinals and archbishops had teamed up over the years to protect Theodore McCarrick, who as a cardinal was one of the most powerful figures in the church.

Vigano, who released the letter as the pope was visiting Ireland, blamed church leaders for protecting a widespread homosexual current in the Vatican and said Francis must resign. He also said church leaders had a pro-gay ideology that ran counter to long-standing church prohibitions against homosexual acts.

But church experts say the letters significance may be less about those allegations than about power struggles within the church hierarchy.

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Francis has set a more liberal tone by meeting with gay people and expressing more tolerance for homosexuality than any pope in history, though still hewing to the churchs prohibition on same-sex marriage. Vigano, who was the Vaticans ambassador to the U.S. until 2016, is part of a more conservative wing of the church that has protested Francis leadership, especially on issues of sexuality.

Read a translation of the 11-page letter by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano 

This letter has everything to do with factions in the church that are vying for power and influence, said Massimo Faggioli, a professor of theology at Villanova University who studies the Vatican. You have a convergence of interests that is making this a huge mess in the U.S. Catholic Church.

Viganos long and intimate access to the inner workings of the papacy makes the letter difficult for the pope to brush aside.

Born into a rich Italian family, Vigano eventually became an archbishop in 1992 at the behest of Pope John Paul II. From there, he ascended the churchs ranks, becoming a diplomat for the Vatican, the secretary of the governorate of Vatican City and the Vaticans ambassador to the U.S.

Protesters demonstrate against clerical sex abuse on Aug. 26, 2018, in Dublin, Ireland, as Pope Francis visits the once-fervently Catholic country. (EPA / Shutterstock)

But throughout his rise, he clashed with church officials  including Pope Benedict XVI and Francis  over whether Vatican leaders were supportive of him, his attempts to change church governance and his views of homosexuality in the church.

He has said that by not cracking down on homosexuality within the church, the leadership has contributed to the problem of pedophile priests  a contention that is roundly disputed by liberal Catholic leaders and victims advocates who say sexual orientation has no bearing on whether somebody commits abuse.

In widely publicized leaked church documents in 2012, Vigano was shown appealing to church leadership to discredit anonymously sourced articles in the Italian press criticizing his performance and role in the Vatican. The documents  dubbed VatiLeaks  showed that the leaders refused to defend him.

The documents also showed that Vigano was desperate to not be transferred to the diplomatic position in Washington and protested to his superiors, including Benedicts second-in-command, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

Vigano said in the leaked letters that he was being punished for uncovering corruption in the Vatican. Bertone is among the church leaders Vigano named in his recent letter as co-conspirators in Vatican cover-ups.

In 2015, when Francis visited Washington, Philadelphia and New York, Vigano played a key role in one of the most controversial moments of the trip.

He arranged for the pope  who had until then received widely positive news coverage for saying it was not his place to judge gay people  to meet Kim Davis, a Kentucky county clerk who had become embroiled in national controversy over her refusal to give marriage certificates to gay couples. Vatican insiders said the pope, who shook hands and took photographs with many people during his visit, did not fully understand who Davis was when he posed with her at the ambassadors residence.

The incident, which overtook otherwise glowing reports on the popes U.S. visit, was blamed internally on Vigano and said to be one of the reasons Francis did not ask him to stay in his post upon reaching the retirement age of 75. Catholic officials frequently stay in posts beyond retirement age at the request of the pope.

In his letter released over the weekend, Vigano wrote that Francis and Benedict were aware of sexual abuse by McCarrick, the former cardinal who led churches in the Washington region from 2001 to 2006.

McCarrick resigned in July and was stripped of his title of cardinal after U.S. news outlets reported that he had abused seminarians. Vigano also said that other Catholic figures, including Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, were aware of the abuse.

Wuerl said through a spokesman that he was never told that the Vatican had barred McCarrick from celebrating Mass.

Reaction to the letter varied.

In a statement released Monday, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the allegations must be investigated.

The questions raised deserve answers that are conclusive and based on evidence, DiNardo, the archbishop of Galveston-Houston, said. Without those answers, innocent men may be tainted by false accusation and the guilty may be left to repeat sins of the past.

Also named in the letter was Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, N.J., who said in a statement that the allegations had factual errors, innuendo and fearful ideology. Tobin said there needed to be scrutiny of the claims to help establish the truth.

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, a leader among conservative Catholics, issued a statement praising Viganos integrity but said he could not comment on the letter because it had details beyond his personal experience.

Bishop Joseph Strickland of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, went further. In a letter to church members, he said that the details in Viganos letter are still allegations but as your shepherd I find them to be credible.

Though the U.S. church indicated it will investigate, its unclear what the Vatican will do.

When asked about the allegations after he departed Ireland on Sunday, Francis refused to address them.

I will not say a single word on this, he said. I think this statement speaks for itself, and you have the sufficient journalistic capacity to draw conclusions.

jaweed.kaleem@latimes.com

Twitter: @jaweedkaleem

More national headlinesA former police officer in Texas has been found guilty of murder in the high-profile shooting death of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards  a rare victory for civil rights activists seeking justice for the dozens of unarmed African American men and boys who have been killed by police officers in recent years.

As Judge Brandon Birmingham read the verdict Tuesday against Roy Oliver, who worked in the Dallas suburb of Balch Springs, sobs came from the gallery of the packed courtroom. The last time an on-duty police officer in Dallas County was convicted of murder was in 1973. Oliver could be sentenced to life in prison.

Im just so thankful, Jordans father, Odell Edwards, told reporters. Thankful, thankful.

Daryl Washington, an attorney representing the family, said the verdict meant more than justice for Jordan.

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Its about Tamir Rice. Its about Walter Scott. Its about Alton Sterling, he said, naming victims of police shootings in recent years. Its about every, every African American, unarmed African American, who has been killed and who has not gotten justice.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted a link to a news story about the conviction, saying that Jordans life should never have been lost.

On the night of April 29, 2017, Oliver fired an MC5 rifle into a Chevrolet Impala carrying Jordan and two of his brothers as it pulled away from a high school house party. Jordan, who was struck in the head, died later at a hospital.

Police initially said the vehicle had backed up toward Oliver in an aggressive manner, but body camera video showed the car was moving away from him and his partner. Days after the shooting, Oliver, who had served in the department for six years, was fired.

Jordans stepbrother, Vidal Allen, was driving the car the night of the shooting.

I was very scared, Allen testified. I just wanted to get home and get everyone safe.

Oliver, 38, has said he feared for his life and his partners safety.

I had to make a decision. This car is about to hit my partner, Oliver testified in the trial. I had no other option.

After a weeklong trial, it took the jury one day to reach a verdict.

Jordans death echoes other police shootings involving black boys and men. But no convictions were handed down in most of those cases.

In November 2014, Cleveland police got a 911 call about someone brandishing a pistol near a park  the weapon, the caller said, was probably fake. But in an incident captured on camera, a police cruiser pulled into the park and Officer Timothy Loehmann jumped out and opened fire. Within seconds, 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who had a toy gun, was dead.

Even before Tamirs death, the U.S. Department of Justice had been investigating the Cleveland Police Department. A month after his shooting, it released a report saying Cleveland police displayed a pattern of using unnecessary force.

A year later, a grand jury decided not to indict Loehmann in Tamirs death, saying he had reason to fear for his life.

In September 2016, in Columbus, Ohio, police shot and killed Tyre King, 13, who was carrying a BB gun while running from police. A grand jury declined to file criminal charges against the officer who killed him.

And in May 2017, an Oklahoma jury acquitted an officer who shot and killed Terence Crutcher, 40, as he stood with his hands above his head along a rural highway.

Those cases and others illustrate the difficulty of convicting police officers. The law in most places gives them the benefit of the doubt.

Prosecutors usually must show that an officer knowingly and intentionally killed without justification or provocation. A fear of harm has been successfully used as the justification for many shootings, even when the victim turned out to be unarmed.

The most recent case that ended in a conviction came last year when Michael Slager, a former officer in North Charleston, S.C., was first tried on murder charges in the April 2015 shooting of Walter Scott, an unarmed black man who was stopped for a driving with a broken taillight. But after those proceedings ended in a mistrial, Slager pleaded guilty to a civil rights violation and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The last Dallas County police officer convicted for murder while on duty was Darrell Cain, who shot and killed 12-year-old Santos Rodriguez after forcing him to endure a version of Russian roulette while handcuffed inside a patrol car.

There was no immediate reaction to Thursdays verdict from local or national police groups.

John Fullinwider, a longtime Dallas activist and co-founder of Mothers Against Police Brutality, said Olivers conviction came as a surprise.

I expected to see an angel fly over City Hall before I saw this murder conviction, he said. This is a victory, but we really need independent federal prosecutors in all fatal police shootings.

Lee Merritt, a civil rights attorney who represents the Edwards family, said the conviction was justice for the country.

Weve seen time and time again, no charges, let alone convictions, in these high-profile shootings, he said. It is my hope that this is a turning point in the fight against police brutality against blacks.

Odell Edwards, father of Jordan Edwards, hugs Dallas County District Atty. Faith Johnson after hearing the verdict Aug. 28. (Rose Baca / Pool Photo)

kurtis.lee@latimes.com

Twitter: @kurtisalee

UPDATES:

6:35 p.m.: This article was updated with reaction to the verdict and background on the difficulty of convicting police officers in on-the-job shootings.

This article was originally published at 2:20 p.m.It did not take long, after authorities in Iowa named a suspect in the killing of 20-year-old college student Mollie Tibbetts, for her death to be turned into a political weight.

Seizing on the fact that the 24-year-old suspect police arrested, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, is a Mexican national who authorities said was in the country illegally, many Republicans, from President Trump on down, used the death to advocate for harsher immigration laws.

But Tibbetts family members have struck a different note, even in the emotionally tense days immediately following the confirmation of her death last week, though they have not directly rebuked the president. During the emotional eulogy her father, Rob Tibbetts, gave during her funeral Sunday, he highlighted his positive feelings for the local Latino community.

The Hispanic community are Iowans. They have the same values as Iowans, he said, according to the Des Moines Register. He said that during the nearly six weeks he spent in Iowa while authorities searched for his daughter, he ate at a number of Mexican restaurants.

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As far as Im concerned, theyre Iowans with better food, he said.

The line drew a large applause from the crowd of more than 1,000, the Register reported, and stood in contrast to the heated political debate about immigration as it related to Mollie Tibbetts death. Research has shown that immigrants  both those here illegally and not  are significantly less likely to commit crime than native-born citizens.

Tibbetts disappearance during a jog on July 18 drew weeks of media coverage that culminated with the disclosure Aug. 21 that authorities had found her body in a field. Just hours later, they announced that they had arrested Rivera and charged him with first-degree murder, saying that he had confessed to following Tibbetts and led them to her body. They said that Rivera told them he panicked after Tibbetts warned him that she would call the police as he pursued her, and said his memory was blank until he realized he had put her in his trunk. He then dragged her to a field where he left her face up and covered her with corn stalks, officials said. Rivera is being held in jail in lieu of a $5-million cash bond.

Though law enforcement officials said Rivera was undocumented, a lawyer who represented him at a hearing last week said that he was in the country legally. But the representatives from the farm where he worked said that the state photo ID and Social Security card that Rivera gave them when he applied to the job a few years ago were false.

Attorney challenges whether Iowa suspect in Mollie Tibbetts slaying is in U.S. illegally 

Trump referred to Tibbetts death in a speech he gave on the day of the disclosure that her body was found, and the White House continued to push the sentiment the next day, in the form of statements made by White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and a video of Trump calling for a border wall and saying that Tibbetts had been permanently separated from her family. Republican officials from Iowa, such as Gov. Kim Reynolds and both of the states U.S. senators, have also criticized the countrys immigration laws.

Last week, Tibbetts aunt, Billie Jo Calderwood, released a statement that asked people to remember that Evil comes in EVERY color.

Rob Tibbetts, meanwhile, asked mourners to celebrate his daughter.

Today, we need to turn the page. Were at the end of a long ordeal, he said. But we need to turn toward life  Mollies life  because Mollies nobodys victim. Mollies my hero.The U.S. military may resume the large-scale joint exercises with South Korean forces that President Trump halted two months ago, Defense Secretary James N. Mattis said Tuesday, the latest sign that prospects are dimming for an agreement with North Korea on eliminating its nuclear weapons.

We have no plans at this time to suspend any more exercises, Mattis told a Pentagon news conference. He left open the possibility that future drills, including a major annual exercise next spring, could be halted later depending on the nuclear negotiations.

The shift comes days after Trump instructed Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo to scrub a planned trip to Pyongyang, a setback in the recent thaw between the two adversaries. In a tweet, Trump cited the lack of sufficient progress in the nuclear diplomacy, which has struggled to make headway.

Trump announced a suspension of longstanding joint U.S. military exercises with South Korea as a goodwill gesture after he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June. Trump said he had stopped the war games because they are very provocative, terms used by North Korea in denouncing the drills.

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The president said the training exercises would stop unless and until we see the future negotiation on eliminating Pyongyangs nuclear arsenal is not going along like it should.

The U.S. conducts major field exercises with South Korea each year, one in late summer or fall and one in the spring, as well as several other training events, using computer simulations and tabletop war games.

After the Singapore summit, the Pentagon said it was cancelling a major series of drills known as Ulchi Freedom Guardian, which were scheduled for two weeks in August and involved 17,500 U.S. forces.

Trump and Kim agreed at the summit to work toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, but their written statement provided no details or timeline. A recent United Nations report found that North Korea was continuing to produce fissile material as nuclear bomb fuel and had not stopped any significant nuclear activities.

Mattis said that decisions on whether to cancel future exercises would depend on progress with Pyongyang. Well make decisions on that in consultation with the State Department, he said.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who often advises Trump on foreign policy, said in a tweet Tuesday that the nuclear talks had failed.

I never had much hope for talks with #KJU because I knew #NorthKorea wasnt serious about denuclearization, he wrote. Trump took a gamble & bent over backwards to try & find a peaceful resolution. But this effort, like all the ones before, failed, & Kim Jong Un is 100% at fault.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Tuesday that efforts to salvage the nuclear talks are still ongoing.

The president is very clear-eyed about the challenges and difficulties that lie ahead, Nauert said. Sometimes we move forward, and sometimes we stand right where we are.

The fact that we are having talks, I would call that progress, she said, adding she would take exception with anyone who said otherwise

North Korean state-controlled media has responded to the faltering process by resuming its verbal attacks on the United States after months of positive coverage of Trump.

The U.S. military is plotting to unleash war on North Korea while negotiating with a smile on its face, Rodong Sinmun newspaper, the official mouthpiece of North Koreas ruling workers party said Sunday. It cited extremely provocative and dangerous U.S. military maneuvers in the region.

Trump had justified his decision to halt the military exercises by saying it would save a tremendous amount of money and said he hoped eventually to remove the 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in Korea.

The Pentagon later disclosed that Ulchi Freedom Guardian was expected to cost $14 million, a tiny fraction of the $716-billion defense budget.

Privately, senior military officials warned that the readiness of U.S. forces would be harmed if exercises did not resume by next spring, when a new U.S. commander and new military personnel will have rotated into South Korea.

Pentagon officials long have believed that the yearly exercises deter North Korean aggression and are essential to maintaining readiness given the high annual turnover of U.S. troops in South Korea.

This year, four separate exercises were conducted from early April to late May. One, called Foal Eagle, involved 11,500 U.S. and 290,000 South Korean troops. It was followed by Key Resolve, which used a computer simulation of a possible attack by North Korea to improve headquarters command and control.

Those were followed by Warrior Strike and Max Thunder, the latter an Air Force exercise that originally included sending U.S. bombers from Guam to South Korean airspace. Commanders abandoned that scenario to avoid angering Pyongyang ahead of the summit.

david.cloud@latimes.com

Twitter: @davidcloudLAT

UPDATES:

2:40 p.m.: This story was updated with reaction from Sen. Marco Rubio and a North Korean newspaper.

This story first was published at 8:50 a.m.Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. Its Tuesday, Aug. 28, and heres whats happening across California:

TOP STORIES

Heat waves will grow more severe and persistent, shortening the lives of thousands of Californians. Wildfires will burn more of the states forests. The ocean will rise higher and faster, exposing California to billions in damage along the coast. These are some of the threats California will face from climate change in coming decades, according to a new statewide assessment. The projections come as Californians contend with destructive wildfires, brutal heat spells and record ocean temperatures that scientists say have the fingerprints of global warming. Los Angeles Times

-- Californias coastal water temperatures are breaking records as well. And that might be the cause of a massive fish die-off in Malibu. Warming water temperatures can alter the marine food chain in various ways  bringing about toxic algae that make crabs, for example, dangerous to eat. Researchers are also seeing more warm-water animals, like jellyfish and stingrays, off the coast. Los Angeles Times

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-- The trauma of the wine country fires is still raw for these Santa Rosa teenagers. Press Democrat

-- Remembering Whiskeytown, a beloved local spot destroyed by the Carr fire. Record Searchlight

Gas tax revolt

The GOP might be beleaguered in California, but it might have found one potential issue. Democratic leaders are facing a mutiny by four of the partys congressional candidates who are opposing a recent increase in the California gas tax that has proved unpopular with many voters. The defections could bolster Proposition 6, a Republican-led initiative on the November ballot that would repeal a 2017 law that increased the states gas tax and vehicle fees to fix roads and improve mass transit. Los Angeles Times

Get the Essential California newsletter 

USC student Katherine Ho sang her version of Coldplays song Yellow in Mandarin in the movie Crazy RIch Asians. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

L.A. STORIES

Paper fight: Nine months after a mysterious new company bought LA Weekly, one of the companys owners is suing the rest, alleging they have mismanaged the alternative weekly, pillaged it for their own gain and improperly kicked him out of the management team. David Welch is seeking to dissolve the company, which could leave LA Weekly searching for another new owner. Los Angeles Times

Helping hands: In Studio City, residents are coming together to help the homeless in their midst. Los Angeles Daily News

More flames: A flare-up ignited Monday and charred 150 acres in the Cleveland National Forest where the Holy fire recently burned in Orange County. Los Angeles Times

Save the mall: Crowdsourcing to help save the ailing Westminster Mall. Orange County Register

Changes on Fig: Did the massive makeover of Figueroa Street actually make things better? Curbed Los Angeles

CRIME AND COURTS

Under review: Fullerton Police Chief David Hendricks and another police officer were placed on paid administrative leave Saturday pending the outcome of an investigation, a city official said Monday. Los Angeles Times

Cracking down: BART is beefing up security after a series of crimes that further tarnished the transit systems reputation. Mercury News

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Survey says: Facing a federal indictment for misuse of campaign funds, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) is still the front-runner in the race for the 50th Congressional District  although with a shrinking advantage over Democratic challenger Ammar Campa-Najjar. Los Angeles Times

Fake letter: The FBI and Capitol Police want to talk with Omar Navarro, Rep. Maxine Waters 2018 Republican opponent, about a fake letter he posted to Twitter that falsely indicated the congresswoman wants to resettle tens of thousands of refugees in her Los Angeles district. Los Angeles Times

Whats going on? Can a controversial San Diego County development get a new look from regulators in Trumps Washington? San Diego Union-Tribune

Reversing course: Faced with declining rail and bus ridership, Sacramento might cut fares. Sacramento Bee

Appeal denied: An Assembly committee has rejected former Assemblyman Matt Dababnehs appeal of a legislative investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, upholding the probes original findings that he more likely than not exposed himself to a lobbyist in a hotel bathroom. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

A star is born: After chemistry class on a recent weekday, USC sophomore Katherine Ho described how her rendition of Coldplays Yellow appeared during the climactic scene in the box-office-topping movie Crazy Rich Asians. Los Angeles Times

Novel idea: Can selling stock in newspapers to readers help save them? One Northern California publisher is about to find out. New York Times

Clean lines: A San Francisco museum gets a tasteful upgrade. SF Gate

Looking up: There are hints that the Amazon effect is boosting Whole Foods, which had been losing ground to rivals as organic food went mainstream. In more than 100 places in the United States, the upscale grocer gained foot traffic at the expense of Trader Joes and others. Los Angeles Times

Yum: Finding the Bay Areas best Chinese noodles. San Francisco Chronicle

Taking a U-turn: Why Elon Musks latest scheme unraveled so badly. Wall Street Journal

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles area: Partly cloudy, 81, Tuesday. Partly cloudy, 83, Wednesday. San Diego: Partly cloudy, 79, Tuesday. Partly cloudy, 80, Wednesday. San Francisco area: Partly cloudy, 65, Tuesday. Partly cloudy, 67, Wednesday. San Jose: Partly cloudy, 76, Tuesday. Partly cloudy, 77, Wednesday. Sacramento: Sunny, 80, Tuesday. Sunny, 81, Wednesday. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

Todays California memory comes from Judi King:

I grew up in Lennox, which is under the flight lines near LAX. One year my dad painted our house gray, joking that every time a plane flew over, we got a new coat of paint. My mother was slightly deaf, and every few minutes we had to wait for a plane to pass before resuming our conversation. A happy memory was when the Concorde passed over on its first flight to the United States. Although it was not allowed to travel at supersonic speeds, it was quite a sight as it passed directly over our house.

If you have a memory or story about the Golden State, share it with us. Send us an email to let us know what you love or fondly remember about our state. (Please keep your story to 100 words.)

Please let us know what we can do to make this newsletter more useful to you. Send comments, complaints and ideas to Benjamin Oreskes and Shelby Grad. Also follow them on Twitter @boreskes and @shelbygrad.Being homeless often means camping on a sidewalk or living in a car and suffering the indignity of having to use the street as a bathroom. It also means a good chance of being cited by a police officer for one or more of the above at some point.

Much of what homeless people are compelled to do in their everyday lives by virtue of not having a home violates quality-of-life ordinances in the city of Los Angeles. For example, its against the law to urinate or defecate in public, but what choice do you have if youre nowhere near one of the rare public toilets in the city? Its against the law to sit or sleep on public sidewalks during the daytime, but what choice do you have if youre exhausted and need to rest?

Yet police officers still cite homeless people for this sort of behavior, exposing them to fines of up to $300. That starts a vicious cycle for those with no ability to pay: When they fail to pay or appear in court, the judge issues a bench warrant for their arrest. The next time theyre stopped by a police officer, they could get arrested and jailed  for about a minute, given that the jails are too crowded  but then they go back to living on the streets, where eventually they get cited again. Their lives get caught in an absurd cycle of citation, bench warrant, arrest, jail, more citations, more bench warrants and so on.

Its against the law to sit or sleep on public sidewalks during the daytime, but what choice do you have if youre exhausted and need to rest?

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Ultimately, the warrants and fines can hurt a homeless persons ability to get permanent housing, benefits, social services and employment.

The Los Angeles City Attorneys office runs citation clinics to help homeless people clear their records of citations for minor, nonviolent infractions of the law. Thats terrific. But people need to get their warrants recalled by the Superior Court as well.

L.A. Police Chief Michel Moore recently proposed recalling five- to 10-year-old bench warrants, a smart move that would remove an obstacle to homeless people getting into housing and services while eliminating a headache for the court system. Moore cant do this unilaterally, but after he proposed the idea, City Attorney Mike Feuer started working with representatives of the police and the courts to figure out what the parameters of such a program might be. That includes deciding the sorts of infractions involved and how old the bench warrants would have to be to qualify.

As a model, the group should look at the San Francisco Superior Court system. Three years ago, judges there stopped issuing arrest and bench warrants altogether on infractions (which were never punishable by jail time, anyway) and recalled tens of thousands of outstanding warrants. The warrants were mainly for failure to pay or show up in court on violations of the same types of quality-of-life ordinances in effect in L.A.

The court suspended the fines but still found every person guilty of the underlying infractions, which remained on their records. In other words, people were still held accountable for their violations of the law. But the courts no longer exacerbated the problems that stemmed from their lack of housing.

The Los Angeles courts should recall these warrants as swiftly and sweepingly as San Francisco did  and stop issuing them on minor offenses.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion 

Unfortunately, a wide-scale court recall of warrants doesnt offer judges the opportunity to require a homeless person to obtain counseling and other services in exchange for the relief. This isnt a process like the city attorneys citation clinic, where homeless people deal directly with a city prosecutor to clear their citations in exchange for agreeing to work with a service provider.

But that shouldnt discourage city officials from supporting a plan to clear the overhang of years-old warrants. There are outreach workers on the street every day trying to get homeless people into services. That process continues on various fronts.

Ultimately, the solution to all these legal issues is to get homeless people out of situations that leave them prone to violating these ordinances in the first place. Its almost impossible to prevent people from resting on a sidewalk during the day with a shopping cart full of belongings if we dont provide them with a place to live and store their possessions. Housing and shelter must be our main priority.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or FacebookPresident Trumps announcement Monday that he was replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement with a deal just with Mexico was, like so much of what comes out of the White House, as much posturing as policy.

For starters, there is no deal with Mexico, at least not yet. Theres a preliminary agreement in principle by the two sides to update certain provisions of NAFTA, but Mexican officials said multiple times Monday that they have a non-trivial precondition: Canada must be on board too.

Trump and other administration officials didnt acknowledge as much Monday. Instead, Trump threatened to slap tariffs on more Canadian goods if our neighbor to the north didnt accede to terms in short order.

Second, if Canada does join in, the deal would look a lot like the old NAFTA regardless of what its called. The changes agreed to by Mexico resemble what the Obama administration was pursuing through the Trans-Pacific Partnership  a trade deal with 11 mostly Asian countries that Trump abandoned  just with fewer partners.

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If Canada does join in, the deal would look a lot like the old NAFTA regardless of what its called.

These include such steps as improving the stringency and enforceability of NAFTAs labor standards (the original version didnt have any  they were covered by a side deal); improving protections for copyright, patent and trademark holders; and setting standards for the treatment of content and services delivered online.

Such updates are overdue, although its difficult to judge the actual terms of the new deal because few details have been released.

Third, some of the provisions that have been outlined could do more harm than good to U.S. interests. A key focus for Trump has been increasing incentives in the trade pact for automakers to buy components for and build their vehicles in the United States. To that end, the deal would require that, in order to avoid tariffs, 75% of each vehicle must be produced in the U.S. or Mexico, and that 40% to 45% of the components must be manufactured by workers making at least $16 an hour.

But Jeffrey Schott, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, warned last week that such changes would actually hurt automakers throughout the region. If the proposed NAFTA content rules force North American automakers to switch to higher priced local suppliers, and the added cost is more than the current import tariff, NAFTA will actually benefit importers by giving them a price advantage over North American production, Schott wrote.

Of course, the administration is considering a huge increase in tariffs on cars imported from outside the region, which could offset the increase in costs for those made in North America. But in that case, the burden would fall on car buyers in the U.S., who would see their prices rise sharply. More important, using tariffs to win trade concessions hasnt been a winning strategy in the past, and its even less likely to be sustainable now that the United States isnt as economically dominant as it used to be. There are far more buyers around the world capable of taking Americans place today than there were 30 years ago.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion 

U.S. automakers, like many other manufacturers, adapted to the rise in competition from around the world by switching to global supply chains and, at times, shifting production outside the country. To the Trump administration, thats a uniformly bad thing; any product not made in the U.S. represents a loss of U.S. jobs. But that ignores the other U.S. jobs created by the shift in production  for example, in logistics and product design  as well as the savings for consumers.

There are a few provisions in the deal with Mexico that Canadian negotiators have previously rejected, spelling trouble for the talks to come. One example: The tentative agreement would drop a provision that makes it easier for a NAFTA country to challenge trade barriers imposed by another NAFTA country. This proposal seems designed to let the Trump administration continue to try to bully its trading partners with unilateral tariffs, such as the ones on steel and aluminum imposed in the name of national security.

Rather than threatening and bruising our trading partners, the United States would be better off joining them to raise standards around the world for labor, the environment, intellectual property, the treatment of government-owned businesses and other issues shaping global competition. That means improving NAFTA and embracing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, not undermining or flat-out rejecting multilateral deals. Having picked a global trade fight, Trump needs all the allies he can find.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand FacebookIts hard to believe that less than a year has passed since Bird scooters first appeared on the scene. Unleashed in Santa Monica last September, they and their competitors are now in 30 American cities and counting.

Some people love the electric scooters for the convenience, novelty and plain fun of riding them. Many others dislike them for cluttering streets and making sidewalks unsafe.

Cities are now responding to the scooter takeover with new regulations and increased law enforcement. Santa Monica has banned rental scooters from sidewalks, deployed police to ticket riders and limited the number of operating licenses to a few select firms. Los Angeles has temporarily banned rental scooters altogether while city officials consider how best to regulate them.

Such adjustments are appropriate. But if officials rely only on 20th century tools to integrate these 21st century scooters into their cities, they will miss a big opportunity.

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Information technology is what makes Bird scooters possible: sensors, big data, the internet of things. So far scooter firms have optimized this technology for private gain. The companies could be impelled to use the same technology to help solve the problems their scooters have introduced.

When it comes to traffic laws, cities could require that rental scooters be self-enforcing.

When it comes to traffic laws, for instance, cities could require that rental scooters be self-enforcing. With their GPS tracking and wireless connectivity, the scooters already transmit their approximate location. If they were outfitted with an inexpensive motion sensor and forward-looking camera, scooters could be programmed to detect when they are being driven or parked on a sidewalk rather than a bike lane, say, or if the current riders weight matched that of the person whose drivers license was provided at the time of rental.

Privacy could be protected by keeping customers anonymous, matching riding data to riders only if an infraction is recorded. Each rider could be allowed a few warnings. After that, and with privacy protections, the scooter company could determine the appropriate fine and, if the rider wanted to contest the violation, send him or her an invite to traffic court.

Scooters would still be convenient, but they would be much safer and less disruptive, and the police could spend their time on other things.

Perhaps more important, scooter firms could help cities tackle transit challenges. For example, the last mile problem has proved an enduring one, especially in Southern California: Buses or light rail can take someone across town, but if the walk from the last station to final destination is longer than a few blocks, many people will opt to drive instead.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion 

Scooters could be deployed strategically to address the last mile challenge, and firms could be rated on the extent to which they help solve it. As cities allot resources and limits, such as the number of scooters allowed on city streets, they could give preference to firms that helped most.

The technology required to do most of this is no more complex than that which made scooters a viable business to begin with. Cities simply need to provide the right incentives. Santa Monica has taken a step in this direction by requiring age verification software on scooters.

The rental scooter industry has taken some corrective measures. As part of a save our sidewalks pledge, Bird committed to picking up its scooters each evening, monitoring supply and contributing a portion of company revenue toward developing bike lanes. But firms like Bird could be doing much more.

Pretty soon, this wont be about scooters alone. More disruptive transportation technology is on the horizon, including self-driving cars. These new systems could increase safety, reduce congestion and provide more mobility across the board, provided the technology is harnessed for more than profit.

Robert Lempert is a researcher at the RAND Corporation and a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Tim McDonald is an assistant policy researcher at RAND and a doctoral candidate at the Pardee RAND Graduate School.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or FacebookFifty years ago today, one of the fiercest battles of the 1960s took place not in the jungles of Vietnam, but on the streets of Chicago.

On Day 3 of the 1968 Democratic National Convention, police clashed violently with antiwar demonstrators before a rapt television audience of 90 million Americans. The Battle of Michigan Avenue, as the episode came to be known, in many ways prefigured the culture wars that dominate American politics today.

Protesters had converged on Chicago because the Democratic Party was set to disregard the antiwar presidential candidacies of Minnesota Sen. Eugene McCarthy and the late Robert Kennedy by nominating Vice President Hubert Humphrey, who supported the Vietnam War.

But there was more to the Chicago conflict than Vietnam. Old-guard Democrats viewed the white working class as the backbone of the country and protesters as ungrateful interlopers who didnt appreciate what made America great. Protesters saw the white working class and its hawkish, insular attitudes as part of the problem.

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The violence percolated over the first two days of the convention, and protesters certainly deserved some of the blame for it. They hurled rocks, bottles and garbage at police, as well as insults such as fascist pig, oink, oink and seig heil. But their actions paled in comparison to the violence let loose by police.

The Battle of Michigan Avenue foreshadowed the America we inhabit today: divided, distrustful, aggrieved and entrenched in opposing cultural camps.

According to the Walker Report, an official investigation of the protests conducted by a special commission, the police unleashed unrestrained and indiscriminate terror throughout the week, bloodying not just demonstrators but also medics, seminarians, journalists and other bystanders. The conflict culminated in a 17-minute melee outside the main convention hotel, the Conrad Hilton, just before the Democrats were to nominate Humphrey.

Wielding billy clubs, rifle butts, tear gas and mace, police overtook the demonstrators, some shouting kill, kill as they advanced. At one point, police pushed spectators through a plate-glass window, sending screaming middle-aged women and children backward through the broken shards of glass, as the New York Times later reported.

Some demonstrators fought back with firecrackers, rocks or other makeshift weapons, but the protesters main defense was to chant a refrain: The whole world is watching! The Walker Report ultimately concluded that the event was a police riot.

It wasnt long after the violence ended that a larger battle erupted over its meaning. Protesters thought they had unmasked America as a police state. In a speech to the convention, Connecticut Sen. Abraham Ribicoff immortalized the police violence as Gestapo tactics in the streets of Chicago.

The press condemned Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley for giving his officers free rein to brutalize demonstrators. The pictures and sound of the Chicago Police Department speak for themselves, CBS News President Richard Salant said at the time.

But a large majority of Americans disagreed. In a poll conducted shortly after the convention, 71% said that the police measures were justified and 57% rejected claims that the police used excessive force.

Millions of Americans simply couldnt believe that the police  who defended their communities and reflected their values and way of life  could act in the manner they saw on TV. They didnt call it fake news, but many Americans thought it was.

Newspapers were inundated with letters saying that the TV news cannot be trusted and accusing the press of giving radicals a voice while totally ignoring responsible Americans. TV networks also heard from viewers directly. We got thousands of calls from people saying they didnt believe their eyes, accusing us of hiring cops to beat up kids, said the Washington bureau chief for CBS News, Bill Small.

To some public officials, the press was as culpable and disdainful as the protesters. The intellectuals of America hate Richard J. Daley because he was elected by the people  unlike Walter Cronkite, said the director of public information for Chicagos police. Daley himself derided commentators and columnists, blamed the media for inciting the violence and called the news coverage distorted and twisted.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion 

Perhaps taking their cues from Daley, the police had singled out reporters and photojournalists for assault that week. NBC News anchor David Brinkley said: Theyve had their heads smashed, theyve been sprayed with tear gas, their cameras grabbed and destroyed. Brinkleys partner, Chet Huntley, declared: The news profession in this city is now under assault by the Chicago police. In total, according to the Walker Report, 63 journalists were physically attacked by the police.

Nevertheless, it was the police who earned the publics sympathy. The police had become, as the columnist Joseph Kraft wrote, part of an embattled social group.

The Battle of Michigan Avenue foreshadowed the America we inhabit today: divided, distrustful, aggrieved and entrenched in opposing cultural camps and world views. Then, as now, authorities could attack the free press, and millions of Americans simply refused to believe what they saw.

Leonard Steinhorn is a professor of communication and history at American University.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook.To the editor: Mayor Eric Garcetti now promises to reform Los Angeles Deferred Retirement Option Plan. I am an attorney who has been practicing for more than 40 years, and no matter how many articles I read about the DROP program that somehow pays police and firefighters a pension and a salary over the final five years of their career, even when they stay off the job, I cannot understand the purpose, the operation or the results.

I was particularly shocked to read in the Aug. 25 article, way down in the middle, a former City Hall official say that there had never been a reason to include firefighters in the program because the city has no problem retaining them.

Because of this program and so many others, and even though I am a very left-wing Democrat, I will vote no on any propositions asking for increased taxes for anything. Literally giving away millions of taxpayer dollars for something as inexcusable as DROP cannot be tolerated any longer.

Lawrence Halperin, Los Angeles

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To the editor: The DROP program is an outrage. Thanks to the Los Angeles Times excellent reporting, taxpayers are now aware of what is tantamount to the theft of city funds by a number of those who are here to protect, defend and serve residents.

Where were our City Council members and Garcetti when former City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana urged that this program be eliminated or drastically amended? Where were the basic ethics of our cops and firefighters who have abused this program?

And why did it take Garcetti until this year finally to call for a report on the true costs of this unjustified program?

Jerry Stern, Studio City

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To the editor: Why is no one talking about the physicians who placed these DROP enrollees on disability for extended periods of time? Is the patient satisfaction, have-it-your-way culture catching up to us?

Gregory Morales, Los Angeles

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and FacebookTo the editor: Columnist Steve Lopez asks, Is Los Angeles getting better or worse? No  its just worse.

Lopez cant resist the age-old impulse to be an L.A. booster. Back when Los Angeles was building itself, negative reviews of the city were seen as unpatriotic.

But, lets face it, today its a run-down city. Its certainly not a nice-looking place, with most streets in need of repair. And sidewalks? A complete disaster.

Here east of Hollywood, once a charming place to live, flipped homes are now owned by the upwardly mobile who drive their luxury cars to work over broken and bumpy streets. They must wonder if this is the best that life can offer.

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Bryn Mathieu, Los Angeles

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To the editor: In 2007, the UCLA Anderson Forecast asked a similar question to Lopezs, leading to a publication called Solutions for Our City.

I contributed two chapters to this problem-solving exercise, one on the jobs, housing and education puzzle, and the second on planning for racial diversity. Other chapters addressed traffic, transportation, affordable housing, homelessness, healthcare and more.

It seems the time is right for a 2018 version of Solutions for Our City.

Philip S. Hart, Los Feliz

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and FacebookNewsoms budget proposes $3 million for Alzheimers research, brain task force By Melody Gutierrez Amyloid plaques, shown here in human brains, are a hallmark of Alzheimers disease. (UCLA School of Medicine) Gov. Gavin Newsom will call for the creation of a brain health task force and dedicate $3 million annually from the states general fund to Alzheimers disease research in the budget proposal he will release Thursday, a source close to the administration said. The money for Alzheimers research would target the new grants at understanding why the disease is more prevalent in women and people of color. Former California first lady and Alzheimers activist Maria Shriver pushed for the funding to be included in the state budget. Shriver said in a statement Wednesday that the funding would make California the first state to make understanding our brains a priority. The states former first lady, whose late father Sargent Shriver was diagnosed with Alzheimers, founded the Womens Alzheimers Movement, an advocacy group raising awareness about womens increased risk for developing the disease. In 2011, she wrote a comprehensive assessment on the disease, to which Newsom  then mayor of San Francisco  contributed a portion called What one city is doing. This is personal to me, just like it is to millions of California families, Shriver said. Alzheimers is one of the largest medical, social and economic crises in our state, and of our time. I am so proud that, once again, California is leading the way. Wiping out Alzheimers is going to require bold thinking, and there is no doubt in my mind that California is home to bold thinkers who can make this happen. Facebook

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Gov. Gavin Newsom orders reinvention of troubled California DMV By Patrick McGreevy A line of people stretches around the South L.A. location of a California Department of Motor Vehicles Office on Aug. 7. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday ordered an overhaul of the California Department of Motor Vehicles, which has been plagued by hours-long wait times at field offices, computer crashes and voter registration errors involving tens of thousands of customers. Just a few days after taking office, Newsom appointed a top advisor to a new DMV Reinvention Strike Team to revamp the beleaguered agency over the next six months. By any metric, California DMV has been chronically mismanaged and failed in its fundamental mission to the state customers it serves and the state workers it employs, Newsom said in a statement, adding Its time for a reinvention. The governor appointed state Government Operations Agency Secretary Marybel Batjer to lead the strike team with a goal of modernizing the agency and enacting changes that improve customer satisfaction, employee performance and transparency. Newsom also ordered an accelerated review of initial findings of an ongoing audit ordered last year by Gov. Jerry Brown. The action was welcomed by lawmakers who have been critical of the DMV, including Assemblyman Vince Fong (R-Bakersfield). The egregious management failures of the DMV have been self-evident, which is why I have been calling for new leadership and a comprehensive independent audit of this troubled state agency over and over again as the problems grew significantly worse, Fong said. Last summer, Californians seeking new driver licenses complained of wait times of four to six hours at DMV offices, which the agency blamed partly on snafus caused by a rush of people trying to get Real IDs, a new identification card design required for airline passengers starting in late 2020. Delays were also blamed on computer crashes at DMV offices as the agency struggled to update its aging automation systems. The DMV also admitted that there were an estimated 23,000 errors as people either were unknowingly registered to vote or mistakes were made in their registration status as part of the states new motor voter program. The agency registered to vote as many as 1,500 people with legal U.S. residency but no citizenship. Last month, DMV Director Jean Shiomoto retired from the agency. Legislators were angered earlier this week when the DMV said it needed an additional $40 million to prevent the return of long lines at its field offices. In addition, the agency has been under fire for issuing driver licenses in the last year that do not comply with the federal Real ID standards requiring two forms of identification by applicants. Facebook

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California police unions are preparing to battle new transparency law in the courtroom By Maya Lau Just as a landmark police transparency law is going into effect, some California police agencies are shredding internal affairs documents and law enforcement unions are rushing to block the information from being released. The new law, which begins to unwind Californias strictest-in-the-nation protections over the secrecy of law enforcement records, opens to the public internal investigations of officer shootings and other major uses of force, along with confirmed cases of sexual assault and lying while on duty. But the lawsuits and records destruction, which began even before the law took effect Jan. 1, could tie up the release of information for months or years, and in some instances, prevent it from ever being disclosed. The fact that police unions are challenging this law is on some level not surprising, said Peter Bibring, director of police practices at the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, one of the principal supporters of the new law. They have a long history of fighting tooth and nail against transparency. Read More Facebook

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Secretary of State Alex Padilla begins second term with challenge to ensure every Californian is counted By Jazmine Ulloa Secretary of State Alex Padilla takes the oath of office as his family stands by his side on Monday in Sacramento. (Jazmine Ulloa / Los Angeles Times) Secretary of State Alex Padilla was sworn in for a second term on Monday, saying he would continue the battle to protect the right to vote at a time when voter suppression efforts, online disinformation campaigns and interference from foreign adversaries have polarized the public and threatened to undermine trust in U.S. elections. I am doubling down on our fight here in Sacramento and in Washington, D.C., to defend our democracy, he said. Working on the front lines with so many of you, I know that our collective resolve has never been stronger. But the loudest applause came when Padilla promised to fight back against the Trump administrations changes to the U.S. census, saying he will ensure every Californian gets counted. Padilla, a former state senator and Los Angeles City Council member from the San Fernando Valley, led the cause for a new motor voter registration law in 2015, and a new system for online business registrations. But the programs have had experienced problems: More than 23,000 Californians were registered to vote incorrectly by the state DMV, the agency reported last year. On Monday, Padilla said he would continue to push back against false claims of voter fraud in California and pointed to the states voter turnout as proof that his office was involving more people in the democratic process, a promise he made when he was first sworn in four years ago. More than 12.7 million voters cast ballots in the Nov. 6 midterm election, representing roughly 65% of the states registered voters, the highest number of any midterm election since 1982, according to state certified results. I made that promise based on a shared belief that we are a stronger democracy and a better California when we hear all voices from all corners of California, and when those voices are not just heard but counted, Padilla said. Facebook

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Ricardo Lara, Californias first statewide officeholder to come out as gay, sworn in as insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara on the floor of the state Senate in 2016. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) Ricardo Lara took the oath of office as California insurance commissioner on Monday, pledging action to boost healthcare coverage and combat climate change. Lara, a Democrat from Bell Gardens, is the first elected statewide officeholder in California who has come out as gay. He began his speech in downtown Sacramento by thanking LGBTQ leaders who came before him and celebrated the occasion. Today, because of you, weve shattered the pink ceiling, Lara said. In his inaugural speech, Lara announced the creation of an executive position in his office to address climate change. There is no other industry that has the necessary expertise to ensure that California is prepared to mitigate and reduce risk to our communities and our environment, Lara said. Our planet cant wait. Im ready, and I hope you are too. Lara served as a state legislator and in 2017 introduced a bill to create a single-payer healthcare system in the state. He promised to work with new Gov. Gavin Newsom to expand coverage across California. Lara was sworn in by retired U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who declared unconstitutional Californias Proposition 8 gay marriage ban. State Sen. President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) was on hand for the ceremony along with multiple other state lawmakers. Facebook

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New California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis says she will help expand access to universities in the state New Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, center, is shown in June talking with attendees at the Power to the Polls rally in Sacramento. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) More Californians should be given access to public universities, Eleni Kounalakis said as she took the oath of office Monday to become the states first woman elected lieutenant governor. Kounalakis was given the oath of office by Gov. Gavin Newsom, her predecessor in the job, who pledged they would work together. As lieutenant governor, Kounalakis serves on the University of California Board of Regents and the California State University Board of Trustees, she noted in a speech at her swearing-in ceremony at the main Sacramento Library. In that role, she said, she will be committed to expanding access to affordable public higher education here in our state. Its wise, its smart and it is the best way to address our rapidly changing digital economy. Kounalakis is former president of a development company founded by her father, Angelo Tsakopoulos, and served during the Obama administration as the U.S. ambassador to Hungary. In November, she won her first run for statewide office. Also attending the ceremony were House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Facebook

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California meets Dutch Newsom, who steals the show at his fathers inauguration By Taryn Luna Gov. Gavin Newsom gives his inaugural address while holding his youngest son, Dutch. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) In the California political world, all eyes were on Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday until his 2-year-old son stole the show. Dutch, the youngest of four children in the Newsom brood, climbed onstage in the middle of his fathers inaugural address in a tent outside the Capitol on Monday. The unplanned moment saw the 51-year-old governors big day interrupted by the toddler, bringing levity to the ceremony. Newsom was recounting Gov. Jerry Browns last inaugural speech and reference to the Sermon on the Mount, a biblical story about two men who built separate homes on sand and rock, when Dutch approached his father, a pacifier in his mouth and blanket in hand. Now more than ever we Californians know how much a house matters and children matter, Newsom said, improvising as he scooped the boy into his arms. The governor kissed Dutch on the cheek and held him for several minutes as he continued with the speech. This is exactly how it was scripted, Newsom joked. Newsom eventually put his child down and Dutch walked to the edge of the stage before retreating behind the podium to hide from his mother, First Lady Jennifer Siebel Newsom. The crowd roared. Siebel Newsom was able to briefly divert her son only for him to return to the stage minutes later. She grabbed him again and this time, the crying toddler did not reemerge. When fires strikes, when kids cry and the earth shakes, well be there for each other, Newsom said. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who said the moment humanized Newsom, threw cold water on any theories that Dutchs cameo was planned. No, I know it was not, Garcetti said with a laugh after Newsoms speech concluded. I could see that look of absolute abject terror [on Newsoms face]. Weve all been there. Kids always think its about themselves and theyve proved it. California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) agreed. I worked in early childhood education for 20 years and theres no way you can ever get a child to do anything when you want them to do it, Rendon said. Facebook

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Fiona Ma takes oath as Californias new treasurer By Liam Dillon State Treasurer Fiona Ma. Fiona Ma took the oath of office in Sacramento on Monday as the states 34th treasurer, promising to boost Californias economy. Ma previously served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, in the state Assembly and on the California Board of Equalization. I want to thank everyone for entrusting me with this important job. I understand my role here as your state treasurer is to build that financial wall around California so that we will remain the fifth-largest economy, Ma said in brief remarks. That is my promise to you. California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye administered the oath to Ma. Following the ceremony, Ma held an ice cream social for guests. On Wednesday, she will host a public event in San Francisco to celebrate her swearing-in. State Treasurer Fiona Ma takes the oath of office. (Liam Dillon / Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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Expectations are high for newly sworn-in state schools chief Tony Thurmond Tony Thurmond shakes hands with retired Alameda County Superior Court Judge Gordon Baranco after taking the oath of office. (Melody Gutierrez / Los Angeles Times) Tony Thurmond took the oath of office as Californias state superintendent of public schools on Monday, promising a labor-friendly agenda before the teachers, students and Democratic officials who filled an auditorium at McClatchy High School in Sacramento to watch him being sworn in. We cant close the achievement gap without a great teacher at the head of every class, Thurmond said Monday to applause. We have to make sure we provide quality compensation and support to our teachers and our classified staff and all the educators who support our kids. Thurmond, a Bay Area Democrat who served in the state Assembly, won a hotly contested and expensive race with the help of labor leaders against charter school executive Marshall Tuck. The race took several days to sort out after Tuck held an initial lead in early returns on election night before falling behind thereafter. Thurmond was sworn in Monday by retired Alameda County Superior Court Judge Gordon Baranco. He was joined on stage by labor rights leader Dolores Huerta and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount). Thurmonds former colleagues in the state Assembly took turns praising him and promising to be an ally in improving schools. Many said they expected Thurmond would be a strong leader focused on improving student outcomes. We know we are going to work hard to give you the money you need and the budget you need to fully fund education and our schools so we can put our money where our mouth is and make sure our children have everything they need, Assemblywoman Connie Leyva (D-Chino Hills) said. As state superintendent, Thurmond will oversee the education of 6.2 million students at 10,000 schools. Thurmond was a member of the West Contra Costa County School Board and a Richmond city councilman before he was elected to the state Assembly. Tony is the right man at the right time to fight the federal, Donald Trump, Betsy DeVos anti-child, anti-education, anti-civil and -human rights agenda, U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said. Tony is going to do that for us. Facebook

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State Controller Betty Yee takes oath of office with call for more affordable housing and healthcare State Controller Betty Yee California Controller Betty Yee took the oath of office Monday for a second term, saying she still has work to do addressing problems that include a lack of affordability in housing, healthcare and higher education. A San Francisco native, Yee is the chief financial officer of California  the fifth-largest economy in the world  having first won election to the post in 2014 before winning reelection in November. No region is spared from the widening inequality and increased poverty that plague our state, fueled by the lack of affordable, stable housing, the cost of healthcare and transportation, limited educational opportunities, student loan debt, displacement caused by disasters and more, she said. Yee was administered the oath of office by California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento before an overflow crowd that included state Senate leader Toni Atkins (D-San Diego), state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra and San Francisco Mayor London Breed. As a public official it is about governance that delivers results and stays accountable while upholding the underlying value of dignity for all, Yee said. Facebook

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California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra begins new term promising to fight Trump policies California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra ( (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)) California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra on Monday took the oath of office for a new term, saying he would continue his role as a leading challenger to Trump administration actions that he believes are counter to the states interests. Becerra, a former 12-term congressman, has become a national opposition figure to Trump, having sued the federal government 45 times since he was appointed as the states first Latino attorney general in 2017. Weve been a little busy stopping the dysfunction and insanity in Washington, D.C., from infecting California, Becerra told an audience during a swearing-in ceremony at the California Museum in Sacramento. Whether its the criminals on our streets or the conman in the boardrooms or highest office of the land, Becerra said, the California Department of Justice, well, weve got your back. Becerra won his first statewide election as the states top cop in November, two years after he filled the post vacated when predecessor Kamala Harris was elected to the U.S. Senate. He has peppered the Trump administration with lawsuits challenging federal policies on healthcare, the U.S. census, the environment and immigration. Our state builds dreams, not walls, he said in a direct criticism of Trumps proposal to build a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. Just last week, Becerra led a coalition of 17 Democratic attorneys general in announcing an appeal of a federal judge in Texas that ruled the Affordable Care Act unconstitutional. The ACA has been the law for nearly a decade and is the backbone of our healthcare system, Becerra said last week. This case impacts nearly every American  workers covered by employers, families, women, children, young adults and seniors  so we will lead the ACAs defense as long and far as it takes. Facebook

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California Democratic Party Vice Chairman Daraka Larimore-Hall announces bid to lead group By Christine Mai-Duc Daraka Larimore-Hall. (Dominic Parisi / Courtesy of Daraka Larimore-Hall) Daraka Larimore-Hall, a top official at the California Democratic Party, said Monday hes running to replace former chairman Eric Bauman, who resigned abruptly in November after being confronted with allegations of sexual misconduct. Larimore-Hall, a longtime state party activist and former chairman of the Democratic Party of Santa Barbara County, was one of the party leaders who urged Bauman to resign following the allegations. In an email to supporters announcing his bid, he urged both structural and cultural change at every level of our Party. He also repeated his call for a top-to-bottom investigation of the allegations, the party and its culture. In a Times investigation, 10 party activists and staff members said Bauman made crude sexual comments and engaged in unwanted touching and physical intimidation in professional settings. In order to be where we need to be for 2020, we have to confront the culture of abuse and fear that allowed someone to behave in such a vile way for so long, Larimore-Hall said in an interview. We cant brush it aside or think that our activists or our candidates or our donors are going to forget about this overnight. Larimore-Hall said his first priority would be to fully investigate the allegations and restore rank-and-file confidence in the partys leadership. The second would be to refocus the party on political priorities as the 2020 presidential election nears. The Bauman episode, Larimore-Hall said, threatens to derail the Democrats plans to help defeat President Trump and keep the seven congressional seats gained in the midterm elections. Its definitely a crisis, Larimore-Hall said. But the component parts  the energy, the enthusiasm, the volunteers, the infrastructure  its still there. We just need to direct it toward something. Larimore-Hall was elected vice chairman of the state party in February following Baumans razor-thin victory over Bay Area activist Kimberly Ellis. Ellis has announced another bid for the chairmanship and former state Senate leader Kevin de Leon is also mulling a run. The vote will take place at the partys May convention in San Francisco. Facebook

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Newsom will vow to seize this moment, and swipe at Trump in Monday inaugural address By Melanie Mason Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom and his family attend an Inauguration Family Event at the California Railroad Museum in Sacramento on Jan. 6. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Building on the theme of California exceptionalism that defined his campaign, Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom will depict the state as a guardian of progressive values and a counterweight to President Trump in his inaugural address Monday, according to excerpts of his prepared remarks. What we do today is even more consequential, because of whats happening in our country, read the excerpts obtained by The Times. Peoples lives, freedom, security, the water we drink, the air we breathe  they all hang in the balance. The country is watching us. The world is waiting on us. The future depends on us. And we will seize this moment. The speech casts Californias political stakes in a decidedly national scope, promising an agenda that will unify and be an example to the rest of the country. It contrasts the governing goals of Newsom, a Democrat, with that of Trump, the incoming governors perennial foil. We will offer an alternative to the corruption and incompetence in the White House, the excerpts say. Our government will be progressive, principled, and always on the side of the people. Newsom campaigned on an ambitious and wide-ranging platform, promising sweeping solutions on housing, healthcare, education and other issues that rank among Californians top concerns. In the weeks after his election, he struck a more muted tone, taking pains to emphasize his fiscal caution and need for patience in achieving those goals. The inaugural excerpts indicate a return to lofty pledges. While Newsom will vow to prepare for uncertain times ahead by building budgetary reserves and paying down debt, the prepared remarks quickly turn to a vow to be bold. Newsom has already floated several proposals for his first budget that carry significant price tags, including a nearly $2-billion plan to boost early childhood development for low-income families and a dramatic expansion of paid family leave from six weeks to six months. When asked for a preview of his inauguration speech during a news conference Sunday evening, Newsom predicted pundits would criticize his address as short on specifics. Well, of course, Im at an inaugural, Newsom said. But Ill be very detailed in the budget, a few days later. And then we will architect, in much more nuance and detail, in state of the state. I really see this as three opportunities  to communicate over the next few weeks our agenda, our vision for the state. Times staff writer Taryn Luna contributed to this report. Read More Facebook

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Newsom-hosted benefit concert raises nearly $5 million for wildfire victims By Taryn Luna Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom speaks at a concert to benefit wildfire victims at the Golden 1 Arena in Sacramento on Jan. 6. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) On the eve of the gubernatorial inauguration, Californias political class rubbed elbows in Sacramento for a benefit concert hosted by Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom and headlined by the rapper Pitbull. Newsom told the crowd gathered at the Golden 1 Center on Sunday evening that the fundraiser brought in nearly $5 million for the California Wildfire Foundation, a 501(c)(3) that supports the families of fallen firefighters and communities affected by wildfires. You know, a lot of folks feel anxious about not just politics, but government, Newsom said on stage before introducing the rapper and activist Common. But those firefighters, they are the antidote to the fear and cynicism; they are the manifestation of why government matters and why you should care. Top sponsors, including Salesforce, Kaiser Permanente and other interest groups, paid up to $1 million each to support the cause and curry favor with the new administration. Nathan Click, a spokesman for Newsom, said organizers sold more than 7,000 tickets. Several state lawmakers attended the concert alongside Capitol staff, lobbyists and business types, who mingled on the floor of the arena and offstage in private VIP areas. The rock band X Ambassadors and a duo called the Cold Weather Sons from the town of Paradise, which was destroyed by fire in November, were among several performers who entertained the crowd during the four-hour event. The California Rises concert is the final in a series of festivities held Sunday to celebrate the inauguration of Californias 40th governor. Earlier in the day, Newsom attended a private brunch at Sacramentos Crocker Art Museum and his inaugural committee hosted a free party for families at the California State Railroad Museum at the Old Sacramento Waterfront. Newsoms inauguration is set to begin at 11 a.m. Monday on the steps of the Capitol. Facebook

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Inauguration fever hits Sacramento as Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom prepares to take office By Phil Willon Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom holds his son, Dutch, as he and his family attend an inaugural event at the at the state Railroad Museum Sunday. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Incoming Gov. Gavin Newsom doesnt officially take the oath of office until Monday, but the parties celebrating his inauguration were in full swing all day Sunday. Newsom and his family were mobbed by well-wishers at the California State Railroad Museum at the Old Sacramento Waterfront in the afternoon, where his inaugural committee hosted a free party for families. He just has charisma. Hes able to really connect with people, said Rosielyn Pulmano, an attorney from Elk Grove who came to see Newsom with her husband, two sons and her niece. I think he cares about working Californians and a lot of their issues. Newsom arrived with his wife, documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and their four young children, and the governor-elect spent a good deal of his time wading through crowds, taking selfies with supporters and signing autographs as music boomed in the background. As the family toured the inside of the museums locomotives and the bevy of exhibits, Newsoms two-year-old son, Dutch, was wide-eyed, impressed by all the train cars and seemingly a little overwhelmed by the crowd. Newsom said that for his son, all that was missing from the museum was Thomas the Train, popular fictional locomotive in childrens books and cartoons . If theres one thing I can contribute to Sacramento maybe its getting a Thomas the Train exhibit for the two years olds, Newsom joked when talking with reporters afterward. Newsom said he wanted to include such an event in his inaugural festivities to highlight families and children, whose wellbeing will be among the top priorities of his administration. Youll see that not only as a preamble to the inaugural and the budget that well be submitting next week, but I think itll be a big part of the administration, Newsom said. The museum event followed a private, high-dollar brunch at Sacramentos Crocker Art Museum. A steady rain failed to dissuade as many as 200 guests who sipped wine and dined on chicken and salmon while waiting for a photo with Californias new first couple. Seen at the event were representatives of some of the states most powerful political interests, among them organized labor, healthcare companies and tribal gaming interests. A few other high-profile guests attended, too, including Larry Baer, CEO of the San Francisco Giants, and Erika Jayne, a singer and cast member of the reality TV show The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Im excited to see someone like Gavin  young, vibrant  taking over the state and leading us into the future, Jayne said after attending the brunch with her husband, attorney Tom Girardi. Hes got a lot of great plans. Attendees said the event, which was closed to reporters and held under a tent in the museums outdoor atrium, did not include prepared remarks by Newsom. Among those seen leaving the event were representatives of AT&T, the California Medical Assn., Uber, Kaiser Permanente and the State Building and Construction Trades Council. A fundraising invitation obtained by The Times offered bundled tickets to all of the inauguration events, including those on Sunday and the Monday ceremony, ranging in price from $25,000 to $200,000. The money will be collected by a committee specifically organized to pay for Newsoms inaugural weekend. Sundays festivities are scheduled to end with a benefit concert headlined by Pitbull at the Golden 1 Center, home of the NBAs Sacramento Kings, to raise money for the victims of Californias recent deadly wildfires. Among the attendees at @GavinNewsoms pre-inaugural leadership brunch: Real Housewife of

Bev Hills @erikajayne. Im excited to see someone like Gavinyoung, vibranttaking over the state and leading us into the future. Hes got a lot of great plans. pic.twitter.com/561NHiy2XQ  Melanie Mason (@melmason) January 6, 2019 Facebook

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As Newsom inaugural events begin, he unveils more state budget promises on education and paid family leave Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, seen here last April, will propose new state budget efforts on paid family leave and education subsidies. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Californias incoming governor, who must send his first state budget plan to the Legislature this week, has already signaled a significant new focus on programs to help families and children from infancy to college. Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom campaigned on a platform that included a number of child-focused efforts specifically aimed at helping lower-income families. The price tag for the initial efforts is expected to approach $2 billion  a cost paid out of an unrestricted tax revenue windfall that could be one of the largest in state history. Newsom may also seek help for families through new subsidies paid by California employers. The governor-elect is expected to propose a dramatic expansion of paid parental leave  from six weeks to six months  according to an internal document provided by a source close to the Newsom transition team, first reported on Sunday by the New York Times. The document doesnt offer a full explanation for how the program will be funded, saying instead that the budget will set a goal of ensuring that all newborns and newly adopted babies can be cared for by a parent or a close family member for the first six months. Employers across the state are currently assessed a payroll tax that helps offer a subsidy to parents who temporarily leave their job to care for a newborn. Newsoms plan, according to the document, would pay for some of the new costs by shrinking the mandated cash reserve of the state fund that administers the program, allowing more of the money to be paid in benefits. The increase in paid leave would not all happen at once but instead be phased in over a multi-year period. A task force to help implement the expanded care plan is also envisioned, according to the document. It would determine whether two parents could split the six months of paid leave and whether an extended family member could be enlisted to help care for the child of a single parent over the six-month period. The incoming administrations focus on young children will also include $1.8 billion in new spending on early childhood education programs, with a particular focus on training childcare workers and pushing for more California schools to offer full-day kindergarten. Those costs, according to an overview memo obtained by the Los Angeles Times, are considered to be a one-time expense while leaving the long-term costs of the effort to be determined later. More community college students would get free tuition under a third initiative expected in the new governors budget plan. Newsom will propose spending $40 million to offer a second year of tuition-free college to California students, according to an outline provided by a transition official, first reported by Politico. Students are already eligible for a single year of paid tuition under a plan agreed to by Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers in 2017. The incoming governor embraced the idea of free community college during the 2018 campaign as part of a broader focus on additional investments in higher education. Education is an economic development strategy, Newsom said at a higher education forum last spring. We need to significantly increase the investment from the general fund of this state on higher education. Theres no greater higher return on investment. Whether the proposal would be targeted to students based on a familys financial need is unclear. Many low-income students are already eligible for fee waivers at community colleges. The new governor must submit his full state budget plan to lawmakers no later than Thursday. Facebook

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Gavin Newsom and his family decide Sacramento is the place to be The Old Governors Mansion State Historic Park in Sacramento. Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom will move his family into the mansion. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom and his family will give up the Marin County life and move to the Victorian-style governors mansion in Sacramento after he takes the oath of office Monday. Newsom and his wife, documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, had debated whether or when to relocate to the state capital since his election in November. The couple have four young children and expressed reservations about moving in the middle of a school year. To best serve the people of California while also maximizing family time together, the Newsoms have therefore decided to move to Sacramento, said Newsoms spokesman, Nathan Click. On Monday, they will move into the Governors Mansion  along with their four children, their two family dogs, and their family bunny rabbit  and reside there for the immediate future. The Newsoms currently live in Marin County. Gov. Jerry Brown and his wife, Ann Gust Brown, moved into the grand house in 2015 after it underwent $4.1 million in renovations to update electrical and plumbing systems, as well as to remove lead-based paint and install a fire sprinkler system and other security features. The mansion was built in 1877 and has been home to 14 governors, but before Brown it had not housed a California governor for nearly half a century. The state bought the mansion from a wealthy Sacramento hardware merchant, Albert Gallatin, in 1903 for $32,500. It was one of the few California homes at that time to have indoor plumbing. Facebook

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Newsom announces top labor, business liaisons as he prepares to take office Julie Su will be secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency for Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times) Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom on Friday named two advisors on issues related to the California economy, each recognized for their expertise on business and labor. The incoming governor will appoint Julie Su as secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency and Lenny Mendonca as chief economic and business advisor and director of the Governors Office of Business and Economic Development. Su, 49, has served as state labor commissioner under Gov. Jerry Brown since 2011 and has led an office tasked with the enforcement of Californias labor laws. She won a MacArthur Foundation genius grant in 2001 and previously worked as a civil rights attorney representing low-wage workers. In her new position, Su will be tasked with coordinating the work of several workforce departments in state government, including those that administer unemployment benefits and oversee the relationship between agriculture workers and employers. Mendonca, 57, has been a longtime advocate for rethinking government operations as co-chairman of the nonprofit organization California Forward. Previously, he was partner at McKinsey & Co., a global management consulting firm. While he will be a key advisor to Newsom on the states economy, Mendonca will also lead the office often referred to as Go-Biz, designated as a high-level way to encourage job growth and economic development. In his new role, Mendonca will help ensure that California is rolling out the welcome mat to current and future California businesses and growing a sustainable economy for every Californian, said a statement from the Newsom transition team. Newsom will take the oath of office as governor Monday. He has previously selected key advisors on the state budget, legislative affairs and the executive branchs wide array of agencies and departments. Facebook

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Joshua Groban, aide to Gov. Jerry Brown, sworn in to California Supreme Court By Taryn Luna California Supreme Court Justice Joshua Groban gives remarks after he is sworn into the court by Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday. (Taryn Luna) California Supreme Court Justice Joshua Groban, a lawyer and longtime aide to Gov. Jerry Brown, was sworn into the states highest court Thursday in Sacramento. The ceremony marked Browns fourth appointment to the state Supreme Court and gave the seven-member bench a Democratic majority. We live in a highly chaotic, ever-changing and ever-confusing world, Groban said in prepared remarks at the Stanley Mosk Library and Courts Building. But Im happy to report that Im joining an institution whose fundamental purpose, at core, is to provide stability and consistency amidst this chaotic place we live. I look forward to doing that with a sense of reflection, respect, fidelity to the law and compassion. None of Browns appointees, Groban included, have judicial experience. Groban served as legal counsel to Browns 2010 gubernatorial campaign and joined the administration as a senior advisor to the governor, overseeing the appointments of some 600 judges over the last eight years. Prior to working with Brown, Groban, 45, practiced law for more than a decade. In perhaps his final public appearance before his successor, Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, takes office next week, Brown pushed back on notions that he stacked the court. I dont want this to be known as a Brown court, the governor said before administering the judicial oath of office. First of all, the so-called Brown appointments do not agree with themselves and nor should they. They are individuals. They will differ. Its not anybodys court. The governor called the court a high calling and said Groban possesses the values for the job. Probably, next to my wife, Ive talked to no person as much as Ive talked to Josh Groban, Brown said. I think youve talked to him more, Californias First Lady Anne Gust Brown interjected. I cant tell you what the hell hes going to do, Brown later quipped. I warned him, dont screw up, at least not at first. Facebook

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California campaign watchdog agency seeks law barring use of campaign funds to fight harassment claims Former state Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia). ( (Steve Yeater / Associated Press)) Elected officials accused of harassment or discrimination would be barred from using political contributions to cover their legal defense costs under legislation proposed by Californias campaign watchdog agency. The state Fair Political Practices Commission has agreed to pursue a law change to clear up confusion after an attorney for one former state lawmaker argued political funds could be used in such legal defenses. Commission Chairwoman Alice Germond said putting a prohibition into the law would provide some much needed clarity. As chair, I would like to show the public their lawmakers are held to a standard that is above reproach, Germond said in a statement. People dont give money to campaigns for lawmakers to use it to defend their own bad behavior, so lawmakers shouldnt be able to use it in that manner. The issue came up a year ago when an attorney for former Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) sought a formal opinion from the FPPC after the Senate launched an investigation that later concluded Mendoza likely engaged in a pattern of harassment against female aides. Mendoza resigned in February under threat of expulsion by the Senate. In a Jan. 10, 2018, letter, Cassandra Ferrannini, an attorney for Mendoza, wrote to the FPPC that she believed Mendoza should be allowed to establish a legal defense fund able to defray his legal expenses in defending himself against the allegations. The use of campaign funds for attorneys fees under these circumstances would fall squarely within the scope of legislative matters, since it involves the alleged conduct of a legislator with regard to legislative staff that he supervised, Ferrannini wrote. The commission staff originally issued an advice letter that said Mendoza may use campaign and legal defense funds to defend himself from claims of sexual harassment that arose directly out of his activities or status as a candidate or elected officer. But the panel later rescinded the letter after some members questioned using campaign funds to fight sexual harassment claims. That left uncertainty about what was allowed, which Germond said could be cleared up by a new law. The FPPC is still looking for a legislator to carry the bill, a spokesman said. Facebook

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Californias landmark police transparency law takes effect after court denies police union effort to block it California Supreme Court building (Eric Risberg / Associated Press) A new state law allowing the public disclosure of internal police shooting investigations has gone into effect after the California Supreme Court on Wednesday denied a bid by a police union to block it. The law opens to the public for the first time internal investigations of officer shootings and other major uses of force, along with confirmed cases of sexual assault and lying while on duty. The San Bernardino County Sheriffs Employees Benefit Assn. challenged the law last month, asking state Supreme Court justices to decide that the law only apply to incidents that occur in 2019 or later. The court rejected that request Wednesday, allowing members of the public to seek all applicable records held by police departments. Union president Grant Ward said in a statement that his organization was disappointed with the decision and is now seeking other legal options. We feel this is a statewide issue and should be considered accordingly, Ward said. Last month, the city of Inglewood authorized the destruction of more than 100 police shooting investigations and other records in advance of Jan. 1, when the disclosure law was scheduled to take effect. California law requires police departments to keep such records for five years, and Inglewood City Council voted to destroy records older than that. Mayor James T. Butts has said the decision had nothing to do with the new law. In Los Angeles, Police Chief Michel Moore has said that complying with the new disclosure rules could take hundreds of thousands of hours of work. State Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), the author of the transparency law, has said she has no immediate plans to propose changes to it. Facebook

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Few complaints of racial profiling are sustained by police agencies in California, state panel finds CHP Officer J. Nelson stands outside the office of Gov. Jerry Brown as activists in 2015 support requiring the tracking of police stops. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Law enforcement agencies in California sustain few citizen complaints of racial or identity profiling, according to a report Wednesday by a state panel set up to help reduce bias in policing. The states Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board recommended in its annual report that law enforcement agencies improve training and adopt clear guidelines for tracking and reporting data on who is stopped by officers. The panel said that 453 law enforcement agencies in the state received 9,459 civilian complaints in 2017, including 865 complaints alleging racial or identity profiling. Of the racial and identity complaints that reached a disposition that year, 1.5% were sustained, 14.6% resulted in officers being exonerated and 83.9% of complaints were not sustained or were determined to be unfounded, the report said. A clearer picture of the issue is expected from a 2015 law that requires police agencies to report demographic data on all detentions and searches. The first reports by the eight largest agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, are due to be submitted in April. California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra, whose office oversees the board, said tracking of all detentions and searches will be helpful to understand the scope of the issue. The Boards recommendations will help make our law enforcement agencies more transparent and promote critical steps to enhance, and in some cases, repair the public trust, Becerra said in a statement Wednesday. Facebook

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California housing crisis podcast: What Minneapolis decision to end single-family zoning might mean for California A view of downtown Minneapolis in 2014 (Stephen Maturen / Getty Images) Theres a national movement brewing to roll back zoning rules in cities that only allow one house on a plot of land. The epicenter of that movement is Minneapolis, which passed a plan last month to eliminate single-family zoning citywide and let landowners build duplexes and triplexes on residential property. On this episode of Gimme Shelter: The California Housing Crisis Podcast, we talk about the reasons why Minneapolis leaders took this action, including their desire to combat a history of racial exclusion and spur more housing density to fight climate change. We also debate how Minneapolis decision might affect housing politics in California. Our guest is Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender, who helped shepherd the new zoning rules to passage and a former San Francisco city planner. The episode also crowns 2018s Avocado of the Year  the most ridiculous story exemplifying Californias housing woes  and includes our predictions for the most under-the-radar important themes in housing politics in 2019. Gimme Shelter, a biweekly podcast that looks at why its so expensive to live in California and what the state can do about it, features Liam Dillon, who covers housing affordability issues for the Los Angeles Times Sacramento bureau, and Matt Levin, data and housing reporter for CALmatters. You can subscribe to Gimme Shelter on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, Google Play and Overcast. Facebook

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How young immigrant Dreamers made flipping control of the House a personal quest By Jazmine Ulloa Gabriela Cruz, who was brought to the U.S. illegally when she was 1, couldnt vote, but in the final hours before the Nov. 6 election, she was making one last run to get people to the polls. The sun was setting in Modesto when she found Ronald Silva, 41, smoking a cigarette on a tattered old couch behind a group home. He politely tried to wave her off until she reminded him he had a right that she as an immigrant without citizenship didnt have. It could really make a change for us, said Cruz, 29. Read More Facebook

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Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom will propose almost $2 billion for early childhood programs (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Seeking to frame his new administration as one with a firm focus on closing the gap between children from affluent and poor families, Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom will propose spending some $1.8 billion on an array of programs designed to boost Californias enrollment in early education and child-care programs. Newsoms plan, which he hinted at in a Fresno event last month, will be a key element in the state budget proposal he will submit to the Legislature shortly after taking office Monday, a source close to the governor-elects transition team said. The spending would boost programs designed to ensure children enter kindergarten prepared to learn, closing what some researchers have called the readiness gap that exists based on a familys income. It would also phase in an expansion of prekindergarten and offer money to help school districts that dont have facilities for full-day kindergarten. The fact that hes making significant investments with his opening budget is really exciting, Ted Lempert, president of the Bay Area-based nonprofit Children Now, said Tuesday. Whats exciting is the comprehensiveness of it, because its saying were going to focus on prenatal through age 5. A broad overview document reviewed by The Times on Tuesday shows that most of the outlay under the plan  $1.5 billion  would be a one-time expense in the budget year that begins July 1. Those dollars would be a single infusion of cash, an approach favored by Gov. Jerry Brown in recent years. Most of the money would be spent on efforts to expand child-care services and kindergarten classes. By law, a governor must submit a full budget to the Legislature no later than Jan. 10. Lawmakers will spend the winter and spring reviewing the proposal and must send a final budget plan to Newsom by June 15. Though legislative Democrats have pushed for additional early childhood funding in recent years  a key demand of the Legislative Womens Caucus  those actions have typically come late in the budget-writing season in Sacramento. Quite frankly, to start out with a January proposal that includes that investment in Californias children reflects a new day, state Sen. Holly J. Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) said. The governor-elect will propose a $750-million boost to kindergarten funding, aimed at expanding facilities to allow full-day programs. A number of school districts offer only partial-day programs, leaving many low-income families to skip enrolling their children because kindergarten classes end in the middle of the workday. Because the money would not count toward meeting Californias three-decades-old education spending guarantee under Proposition 98, which sets a minimum annual funding level for K-12 schools and community colleges, it will not reduce planned spending on other education services. Close behind in total cost is a budget proposal by Newsom to help train child-care workers and expand local facilities already subsidized by the state, as well as those serving parents who attend state colleges and universities. Together, those efforts could cost $747 million, according to the budget overview document. An expansion of prekindergarten programs would be phased in over three years at a cost of $125 million in the first year. The multiyear rollout would, according to the budget overview, ensure the system can plan for the increase in capacity. Lempert said the Newsom proposal is notable for trying to avoid the kinds of battles that in recent years pitted prekindergarten and expanded child care against each other for additional taxpayer dollars. The reality is we need to expand both simultaneously, he said. Another $200 million of the proposal would be earmarked for programs that provide home visits to expectant parents from limited-income families and programs that provide healthcare screenings for young children. Some of the money would come from the states Medi-Cal program, and other money from federal matching dollars. Funding for the home visits program was provided in the budget Brown signed last summer; the Newsom effort would build on that. Emphasizing a policy area with broad appeal in his first state budget could reflect Newsoms political sensibility about the challenges ahead. Democratic lawmakers and interest groups will be especially eager to see how Newsom addresses the demand for an overhaul of healthcare coverage in California  especially after a 2017 effort to create a single-payer, universal system fizzled. The path forward on healthcare is complex and costly, making early childhood education a more achievable goal in the governor-elects early tenure. Newsom is likely to face considerable demands for other additional spending. In November, the Legislatures independent analysts projected that continued strength in tax revenues could produce a cash reserve of some $29 billion over the next 18 months. Almost $15 billion of that could be in unrestricted reserves, the kind that can be spent on any number of government programs. Kim Belshe, executive director of the child advocacy organization First 5 LA and a former state health and human services secretary, said the initial Newsom budget proposal suggests the next governor will focus on a comprehensive approach to improving outcomes for children from low-income families. School-ready kids deserve quality early learning, strong and well-supported families, and access to early screening services, Belshe said. Newsom understands the whole child, multifaceted needs of our kids and is clearly ready to lead. Mitchell, the chair of the Senate budget committee, said shes eager to see the details of the governor-elects proposal to determine whether it might signal the beginning of an even broader expansion of early education efforts. Similar efforts have been hindered by a lack of money and ongoing debate over which services to help children 5 and younger need state funding the most. Universal preschool, in particular, has been debated for more than a decade. California voters rejected a ballot measure to fund a full prekindergarten system in 2006. Its clear theres a new movement afoot trying to engage on investment for universal preschool, Mitchell said. How we invest, and how we prioritize that investment, is going to be a great conversation for the coming months. Facebook

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California Politics Podcast: A final conversation with Gov. Jerry Brown No Californian has served longer as governor, signed more laws, granted clemency to more felons or waged more high-profile campaigns than Gov. Jerry Brown. Brown will leave behind a unique legacy when he packs his last belongings for the trip from the governors mansion in Sacramento to his Northern California ranch. His final two terms in office could be his most consequential. The governor reviewed some of the more notable moments from the past eight years in a far-reaching interview with The Times on Dec. 22. This weeks podcast episode includes extended portions of that conversation. Facebook

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A sagging economy could doom a 2020 ballot measure to raise commercial property taxes, Gov. Jerry Brown says Gov. Jerry Brown, at his Colusa County home on Saturday, said a ballot measure to raise commercial property taxes could struggle in 2020. (Randall Benton/For The Times) An effort to remove commercial property in California from the tax limits imposed by the landmark Proposition 13 could be felled by an economic slowdown, Gov. Jerry Brown said. In a Saturday interview with The Times at his Northern California ranch, Brown said liberal activist groups that have successfully placed the proposal on the November 2020 statewide ballot shouldnt read too much into early poll numbers showing support for the plan. That isnt as easy as you think, Brown said. Because youre going to be in a downturn of the business cycle. And youre talking many kinds of business. And the cost of doing business in California is already high. The ballot measure would allow counties to more frequently assess the market value of commercial property in California than allowed under Proposition 13, a 1978 ballot initiative that amended the state constitution to place strict limits on assessing property values and taxation for both homeowners and businesses. An analysis of the new measure, which qualified in October for the 2020 ballot, estimates it could bring in some $10.5 billion a year in new tax revenue. The business community will fight it, Brown said. And the minimum wage, the family leave, the environmental rules  business[es] have left California, thats going to be the big argument. And I think thats something you really have to think a lot about. The governor, who leaves office early next month due to term limits, declined to either endorse or oppose the ballot measure. He said Californias economic health in two years time could be a key factor in how voters weigh the proposal. Well be in a recession by then, Brown said. So its anybodys guess. Facebook

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Inglewood to destroy more than 100 police shooting records that could otherwise become public under new California law By Jack Dolan Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts (Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times) The city of Inglewood has authorized the shredding of more than 100 police shooting and other internal investigation records weeks before a new state law could allow the public to access them for the first time. The decision, made at a City Council meeting earlier this month, has troubled civil liberties advocates who were behind the state legislation, Senate Bill 1421, which takes effect Jan. 1. The law opens to the public internal investigations of officer shootings and other major uses of force, along with confirmed cases of sexual assault and lying while on duty. The legislature passed SB 1421 because communities demanded an end to the secrecy cloaking police misconduct and use of force, Marcus Benigno, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said in a statement. Inglewood PDs decision to purge records undermines police accountability and transparency against the will of Californians. California law says police departments must retain records of officer shootings and internal misconduct investigations for five years. The city of Inglewood, however, had kept records longer than that, including case files of police shootings dating to 1991. State Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), the author of SB 1421, intended for her bill to allow public access to all qualifying records held by a department, no matter the date of the incident. Inglewood City Council approved the destruction of records that have been in the police departments possession  more than 100 cases  longer than required by law. The city staff report and council resolution describing the action makes no mention of the new police transparency law. Instead it says the affected records are obsolete, occupy valuable space, and are of no further use to the police department. It added the traditional method of destroying such records is to shred them. It is unclear whether the records have since been destroyed. A spokesman for the Inglewood Police Department along with Inglewoods city manager, attorney, clerk, four council members and Mayor James T. Butts, a former Santa Monica police chief, did not respond to requests for comment. Inglewoods City Hall is closed the last two weeks of December. The Inglewood Police Department has a reputation for secrecy and using excessive force. In 2008, the departments officers fatally shot four men in as many months, three of whom turned out to be unarmed. The U.S. Department of Justice launched a civil rights probe and found significant flaws in the way the department oversaw use-of-force cases and investigated complaints against officers. Civil rights advocates still question why Inglewood police opened fire on a couple found sleeping in a car in 2016, killing them both. California police have a long history of shredding records to avoid scrutiny of their actions. In the 1970s, the LAPD famously destroyed more than four tons of personnel records after defense attorneys began requesting them as part of criminal cases against their clients. The move resulted in the dismissal of more than a hundred criminal complaints. In response, the Legislature demanded that records be preserved but then took other measures, supported by police unions, to ensure the public had very little access to them, making California the most secretive state in the nation when it comes to police misconduct. Skinners legislation begins to unwind those laws, which have been on the books since 1978. No video or audio of the Dec. 11 council action is available on the citys website and neither are meeting minutes or any record of the decision. A city spokeswoman, Courtney Torres, confirmed that the council had voted in favor of the police records purge, and said all the relevant reasons for the decision were included in the city staff report. The Jan. 1 implementation for SB 1421 has prompted other police officials to act. A police union in San Bernardino is asking the state Supreme Court to determine that Skinners bill only applies to incidents that occur in 2019 or later. Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore sent a letter to Skinner earlier this month warning that complying with the law in regard to older records in the departments possession could take hundreds of thousands of work hours. Facebook

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Federal officials question California DMVs process for issuing Real IDs (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has notified the California Department of Motor Vehicles that its process for providing residents with federally recognized identification cards is not adequate. DMV spokesman Armando Botello said Friday that 2.3 million residents who received Real IDs under the current process will have to submit additional documentation when their cards are renewed in five years but will be able to use them in the meantime. The DMV is developing a way for residents to submit more documentation online or via email to comply with the stricter federal requirement, he said. But some state legislators are upset about delays in notifying them of the problem and say Homeland Security could eventually require additional documentation provided by current holders. The DMV has known for a month that millions of Real IDs theyve been dolling out are potentially invalid, Assemblyman Jim Patterson (R-Fresno) said. The DMVs only hope is that the Department of Homeland Security takes pity on California and gives the DMV more time to fix this mess. Real IDs are a new kind of driver license and identification card that federal law will require legal residents to present when boarding domestic flights or visiting military bases and other federal facilities starting Oct. 1, 2020. The DMV has only been requiring one form of documentation, including a current lease or utility bill, to verify the residence of a card applicant. But the federal government said in a Nov. 21 letter to the agency that two such documents are needed. On Friday, DMV Director Jean Shiomoto released a letter defending the current process but said her agency will start requiring a second document to prove residency in April. In order to minimize confusion among our customers, the CADMV will work to inform individuals who have been issued a Real ID under the current process that their card will be accepted for official federal purposes, even if their renewal occurs after the October 1, 2020, final enforcement date for Real ID, Shiomoto wrote to the federal agency. Legislative officials worry there is still a possibility that those issued Real IDs in the past might be required to present a second document to have their cards designated as compliant. The more complex process for obtaining Real IDs has led to hours-long waits for customers at DMV field offices this year, although wait times have been reduced recently by an increase in staffing. Shiomoto last month announced that she is retiring amid problems with the motor voter registration system and after the governor ordered an audit of her agency in response to the long wait times. On Friday, Assembly Republican Leader Marie Waldron of Escondido blasted the DMV for waiting a month to tell legislators of the problem. This is unacceptable and flies in the face of security for our citizens, which is what Real ID was created for in the first place, she said in a statement. Facebook

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Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom taps Keely Bosler to be his finance director Keely Bosler, the director of the California Department of Finance, will continue in that role under Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom. (California Department of Finance) Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom on Friday appointed Keely Martin Bosler as director of the California Department of Finance, continuing the role she has served under Gov. Jerry Brown since August. Bosler will become Newsoms chief fiscal advisor, and will play a pivotal role in shaping Newsoms spending plan for the state that will lay the foundation for his top policy priorities. Newsom must roll out his first budget plan within days of taking office on Jan. 7. Californias brighter future depends on a strong, stable fiscal foundation, Newsom said in a statement released Friday afternoon. Keely is an accomplished public servant of sound fiscal judgment. She understands that state budgets are more than numbers on a page  they are value statements affecting the fate and future of millions of families reaching for the California Dream. We are fortunate to have her on our team. Prior to being appointed finance director, Bosler served as Browns cabinet secretary for two years and, before that, as the chief deputy director for budget in the Finance Department for three years. Earlier this year, Brown picked Bosler to lead an audit of the Department of Motor Vehicles, which had come under fire for long wait times at DMV field offices and numerous computer problems, including errors in the new motor voter program that registered Californians to vote. As we have discussed, long wait times at the Department of Motor Vehicles do not reflect the high standards of service that Californians expect from their state government, Bosler wrote in a letter in September to DMV Director Jean Shiomoto. The audit is still ongoing, but Shiomoto has since announced she will retire at the end of the year. Facebook

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Californias legislative analyst, after decades of nonpartisan research for lawmakers, calls it a career Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor, who has led the state research unit since 2008, will retire on Dec. 31. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Only five people have led the independent research office of the California Legislature since its creation in 1941. And each of them has had a pretty simple mantra to live by in reviewing public policy proposals and government programs: Call it like you see it. The job of any analyst, to me, is you maintain that nonpartisanship, Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor said. Taylor, 65, will retire from the post at the end of December after a four-decade career with the research team that began, as he likes to tell it, just after the passage of the landmark property tax rollback, Proposition 13, in 1978. He became the leader of the office, with the title of legislative analyst, in October 2008. Two months later, state government found itself in arguably the worst fiscal crisis in its history  a projected shortfall that ultimately grew to $42 billion by the following winter. There were forces beyond our control, Taylor said of that time. But dont underestimate the policy changes that were made afterward. Those changes, most notably a boost in taxes paid by high-income earners and a robust state budget cash reserve fund, have helped lead to successive years of fully funded government services. The state is projected to have some $24 billion in reserves by the end of the current fiscal year. Taylor announced his intention earlier to step down this year. Leaders from both houses of the Legislature select the analyst, who leads a staff of almost five dozen researchers. The office provides in-depth reports on pending legislation, as well as on broader policy topics like education and healthcare, and produces an independent analysis for every proposed ballot measure. A succession of lawmakers and governors alike have praised or panned the work of the Legislative Analysts Office based on their own political worldview. Taylor said his staff is mindful that they work for legislators, but try to ignore the rhetoric that follows the release of a major report. People are going to do what theyre going to do with our information, he said. They dont always like it, but they appreciate that we give them our best advice. Taylor oversaw a transformation in the way the Legislative Analysts Office distributes its information, embracing the release of research reports through social media instead of relying on traditional printed copies and journalist roundtable events. But he said the work of the researchers has remained largely unchanged through the decades. Having an independent take on things, I think, is good for the Legislature, he said. No replacement for Taylor has been announced, which means a short transition for his eventual successor before Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom sends his first budget proposal to lawmakers in early January. Taylor, who lives in the Sacramento suburbs, said he will honor the tradition of his predecessors in stepping away from public policy debates in order to give the new analyst space to lead the team as he or she sees fit. He said he hopes to travel in the coming years and spend time with his children who have moved to the East Coast. Forty years in state government, Taylor said in why he was stepping aside now. Isnt that enough? Facebook

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Gov. Jerry Brown sues to save California sentencing laws By Don Thompson, Associated Press (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown sued Thursday to protect one of his signature actions in office, a voter-approved measure that allows most prison inmates to seek earlier release and participate in rehabilitation programs. His administration filed a lawsuit challenging a pending 2020 initiative that seeks to toughen criminal penalties as part of an effort to roll back reforms adopted by voters within the last decade. Browns lawsuit in Sacramento County Superior Court contends the measure lacked enough valid signatures to overturn a previously approved constitutional amendment. County officials and California Secretary of State Alex Padilla certified the signatures in July but said they were submitted too late to qualify for last months election. The lawsuit names Padilla and the ballot measures official proponent, Nina Salarno Besselman, president of the advocacy group Crime Victims United. Padilla said the measure exceeded the required roughly 366,000 valid signatures, equal to 5% of votes cast for governor in 2014. Browns lawsuit says he used the wrong threshold. It says changing the state Constitution requires 8%, or more than 585,400 signatures. That makes the pending initiative more than 150,000 signatures short, the lawsuit says. Hes wrong, said Jeff Flint, a spokesman for the campaign backing the measure. He predicted a judge will be reluctant to reject a measure that already has qualified for the ballot. The secretary of state told us how many signatures are required, and thats how many we collected, Flint said. Padillas office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The measure would reverse reforms adopted by voters through Proposition 47 in 2014 and Proposition 57 in 2016. Proposition 57 allows most inmates to seek earlier paroles, and Proposition 47 reduced some drug and property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. The combination has helped keep Californias inmate population below a population cap set by federal judges. Corrections department spokeswoman Vicky Waters said the measure gives corrections and parole officials broad discretion to protect our communities and fashion a rational system of rehabilitation and punishment. This new initiative unlawfully seeks to supplant the departments constitutional authority to implement these critical reforms to our criminal justice system. The pending initiative would shorten the list of crimes that qualify for earlier parole and change some theft crimes from misdemeanors back to felonies. It would also increase the number of crimes for which DNA is collected, a list that was limited when some crimes went from felonies to misdemeanors. Those supporting the tougher penalties say easing criminal penalties has increased the number of dangerous criminals on the streets, but those backing the changes say they have helped reduce mass incarceration and rehabilitate convicted criminals. Facebook

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California Supreme Court orders records unsealed in pardon of ex-state Sen. Roderick Wright Former state Sen. Roderick Wright (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times) The California Supreme Court has granted a request to unseal court records involving Gov. Jerry Browns decision last month to pardon former state Sen. Roderick Wright for felony convictions involving lying about living in his legislative district, officials said Thursday. The court order was in response to a request by the nonpartisan First Amendment Coalition, which argued that the public has a right to know what information went into the governors decision to grant clemency to Wright. This is an important victory for public access to court files involving the exercise of executive clemency, said coalition spokesman Glen A. Smith. We are gratified the court has recognized that these decisions should be subject to the same public access rules that apply to other judicial records under California law. The court gave Browns office until Jan. 2 to redact confidential material before giving the court documents that can be released to the public. The court files submitted by the governors office include letters of support for a pardon and an internal review of Wrights case. The court denied a motion to unseal the records of all clemency cases but left open consideration of requests on other individual cases. Browns office is currently evaluating the courts decision, said spokesman Brian Ferguson. The governor argued against unsealing records in a recent court filing that said confidentiality is consistent with historical practice and is supported by state law. In pardoning Wright on Nov. 22, the governor wrote: He has shown that since his release from custody, he has lived an honest and upright life, exhibited good moral character, and conducted himself as a law abiding citizen. Facebook

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California political watchdog agency fines BART, urges prosecution over using public funds for campaign A Bay Area Rapid Transit train leaves the station in Oakland in this 2013 file photo. (Ben Margot / AP) Californias state political watchdog agency on Thursday imposed a $7,500 fine against the Bay Area Rapid Transit District and called for a possible criminal or civil prosecution over allegations the district used public resources to campaign for a 2016 bond measure. The state Fair Political Practices Commission levied an administrative fine against BART for its failure to disclose spending on YouTube videos, social media posts and text messages to promote Measure RR, which authorized $3.5 billion in general obligation bonds. Though the panel lacks authority to seek criminal charges over the misuse of public funds, it also urged county district attorneys in the BART service area and the state attorney general to pursue possible criminal or civil charges over the spending of taxpayer dollars for campaign purposes, Commission Chairwoman Alice Germond said. It is the concept of misusing public funds that I think we all here are very disturbed about, and we want to send a warning and not create a precedent that is a minor, little slap on the wrist, Germond said, adding that the referral to criminal prosecutors would further send a message that this is wrong. Commissioner Brian Hatch also called for the state Legislature to consider granting the FPPC power to go after public agencies that spend taxpayer money on campaigns. Sen. Steve Glazer (D-Orinda) called on the agency to increase the fine to the maximum level of $33,375. The proposed $7,500 fine represents a slap on the wrist for a very serious violation of the law and the publics trust, Glazer said in a letter to the panel. In supporting the fine recommended by the staff, Germond said BART has agreed to pay the penalty. Somebody did something wrong and they have admitted it, she said. A staff report said there were factors in favor of a fine below the maximum. Although the Commission considers BARTs violations to be serious, the absence of any evidence of an intention to conceal, deceive, or mislead; the voluntary filing of the delinquent campaign statement; and the absence of a prior record are mitigating, the report said. Facebook

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California police union seeks state Supreme Court review of new law disclosing internal investigation records Los Angeles Police Department officers. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) A police union is asking the California Supreme Court to block the release of internal officer investigations before a new state law takes effect next year. The San Bernardino County Sheriffs Employees Benefit Assn. filed a petition Tuesday asking justices to rule that only investigations of incidents that occur after Jan. 1 would be available under the law  and not those the department has on file from years prior. The litigation comes after this years passage of Senate Bill 1421, which opens to the public for the first time internal investigations of officer shootings and other major uses of force, along with confirmed cases of sexual assault and lying while on duty. The law goes into effect Jan. 1, and the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department has told the union it intends to make available in response to public records requests all the information it has. The union is very concerned about any plans to retroactively apply Senate Bill 1421, Grant Ward, the unions president, said in a statement. We believe retroactive application violates our members rights and we hope the California Supreme Court will consider the serious issues raised by our legal challenge. The bills author, Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), does not agree with the unions interpretation. She has said her legislation should apply to all the records in a police departments possession because the law simply declared that affected records were no longer confidential. If the record exists, its disclosable, Skinner said. A decision on what records will be available under the law is key to how far-reaching it will be. If the court restricts access to incidents that occurred prior to 2019, those cases will not be subject to public scrutiny. The police union in San Bernardino County is not the only one raising concerns about the law. Earlier this month, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore sent a letter to Skinner expressing concern that his agency would be overwhelmed if the law required the department to disclose older incidents. Even if the law only applied to the previous five years, Moore wrote, it could take nearly 300,000 hours of work to comply with its provisions. The LAPD operates with a guiding principle of Reverence for the Law; as such, we will diligently comply with SB 1421, Moore wrote. We maintain, however, that a retroactive implementation of SB 1421 will be exceptionally burdensome and would require significant reallocation of front-line investigative personnel. Skinner said if complying with the law becomes untenable for law enforcement agencies that maintain records for a long time, she would consider modifications. But she said agencies did not raise this concern during discussion over the bill. SB 1421 went through multiple committee hearings, multiple floor debates, extensive opportunity for all parties to weigh in on concerns with its structure, she said. That was not an issue that was raised by law enforcement at the time. Facebook

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Gov. Brown warns of backlash for Republicans in 2020 if Obamacare repeal is upheld Gov. Jerry Brown at the National Press Club in April. (Alex Wong / Getty Images) Gov. Jerry Brown warned Republicans on Tuesday that repeal of the Affordable Care Act would devastate the partys political chances in the 2020 election. Brown, speaking at a Sacramento Press Club event moderated by Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton and Brown family historian Miriam Pawel, said a federal judges ruling last week to strike down the 2010 law  if upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court  will build such a backlash that the Democrats will not only take over the Senate, theyll win the presidency and will win with the kind of momentum, particularly on the issue of healthcare, that [the law] will be replaced probably with something even better. The governor, who leaves office in less than three weeks, said he did not believe the ruling by a Texas judge would ultimately prevail. I think the decision will probably be overturned, Brown said. Few states have embraced the law championed by former President Obama more than California, both through its healthcare exchange, Covered California, and by expanding access to government-funded services under Medi-Cal. Some 12 million Californians now receive healthcare through Medi-Cal, and Brown said a final ruling affecting the federal dollars that subsidize that care would be a serious blow. California would not be able to afford it without the subsidy, the governor said. Facebook

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Bars in Los Angeles, San Francisco could stay open until 4 a.m. under new bill A bar in Sherman Oaks (acuna-hansen) For the third year in a row, a California lawmaker is trying to keep bars open until 4 a.m. State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) is reintroducing legislation that would allow Los Angeles, San Francisco and seven other cities to extend the sales of alcohol in bars, clubs and restaurants by an additional two hours. Nightlife brings people together, fosters creativity and innovation, supports small businesses, and creates middle-class jobs, Wiener said in a statement. Its time to embrace our nighttime economy and give our cities the tools they need to foster the best nightlife possible. Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a similar bill by Wiener, writing: I believe we have enough mischief from midnight to 2 without adding two more hours of mayhem. Should this years measure, Senate Bill 58, advance through the Legislature, Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom would decide whether to sign it into law. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has endorsed SB 58, saying the city should have more flexibility than it does now. Every community has its own needs, and cities should be able to make informed decisions about what nightlife hours make sense for residents, visitors, and neighborhoods, Garcetti said in a statement. The bill would create a five-year pilot program where Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, West Hollywood, Long Beach, Coachella, Cathedral City and Palm Springs could decide to allow restaurants and bars within their cities to serve alcohol until 4 a.m. with the approval of the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Facebook

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Bars in Los Angeles and San Francisco could stay open until 4 a.m. under new bill A bar in Sherman Oaks. (Acuna-Hansen) For the third year in a row, a California lawmaker is trying to keep bars open until 4 a.m. State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) is reintroducing legislation that would allow Los Angeles, San Francisco and seven other cities to extend the sales of alcohol in bars, clubs and restaurants by an additional two hours. Nightlife brings people together, fosters creativity and innovation, supports small businesses and creates middle-class jobs, Wiener said in a statement. Its time to embrace our nighttime economy and give our cities the tools they need to foster the best nightlife possible. Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a similar bill by Wiener, writing: I believe we have enough mischief from midnight to 2 without adding two more hours of mayhem. Should this years measure, Senate Bill 58, advance through the Legislature, Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom would decide whether to sign it into law. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has endorsed SB 58, saying the city should have more flexibility than it does now. Every community has its own needs, and cities should be able to make informed decisions about what nightlife hours make sense for residents, visitors and neighborhoods, Garcetti said in a statement. The bill would create a five-year pilot program where Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento, West Hollywood, Long Beach, Coachella, Cathedral City and Palm Springs could decide to allow restaurants and bars within their cities to serve alcohol until 4 a.m. with the approval of the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Facebook

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Californias DMV director announces retirement amid problems with motor voter program (Kent Nishamura/Los Angeles Times) The director of the California Department of Motor Vehicles will retire at years end with a number of questions unanswered about the implementation of a major voter registration system and long wait times experienced by customers for much of the past summer. Jean Shiomoto will not continue in her current role as Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom takes office, and announced to staff several weeks ago her intent to retire at the end of the year after 38 years in state service, spokesman Armando Botello said in an email to The Times on Friday. Newsoms transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on who might lead the department in 2019. Shiomoto was appointed DMV director by Gov. Jerry Brown in the fall of 2013, having served in prior leadership roles with the department. DMV officials have been sharply criticized by lawmakers in recent months for delays in serving customers at its field offices across the state. Last week, DMV officials revealed errors in registering California voters for the November election  mistakes that followed a series of problems in the rollout of the states new motor voter registration system. Secretary of State Alex Padilla last week said he had lost confidence in Shiomotos leadership as a result of the voting registration problems. Facebook

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New law could break the stalemate over housing on the site of a near-vacant Cupertino mall By Liam Dillon For more than a decade, developers have tried to build new housing on the site of an all-but-empty mall in Cupertino, a city in the heart of Silicon Valley and home to Apple headquarters. A well-organized group of neighbors, upset about traffic, building heights and the potential loss of the communitys suburban lifestyle, turned away every plan. Now, for the first time, the stalemate might be broken  thanks to a decision made in the state Capitol. In an effort to address Californias housing affordability problem, legislators passed a law last year that requires cities and counties to approve housing projects if they comply with local zoning rules and other standards, forcing some resistant communities to agree to new homebuilding. In September, the city of Cupertino, citing the state law, approved developer Sand Hill Property Co.s proposal to build an office park and more than 2,400 homes where the Vallco Shopping Mall sits. Read More Facebook

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Local government was a last bastion for struggling California Republicans. Not anymore By Mark Z. Barabak Theres no shortage of watery metaphors to describe the disaster that befell California Republicans this midterm election. A blue wave. A Democratic tsunami. But the most apt may be a flood, with the casualties steadily rising as the vote count climbed in the days and weeks following Nov. 6. Eventually half the GOP congressional delegation was washed away, along with the entire slate of statewide Republican candidates. In Sacramento, Democrats claimed 29 of 40 state Senate seats and seized three-quarters of the 80-member Assembly  the largest number since 1883, when Chester A. Arthur was serving in the White House. Read More Facebook

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For the Republicans left in Californias Legislature, fewer lawmakers will have to do more work By John Myers From January to late summer every year, the California Legislature is a perpetual motion machine. And in the new year, the people most likely to struggle in keeping up will be Republicans, vastly outnumbered but still responsible for representing millions of the states residents. There are 22 standing committees in the state Senate, plus at least a dozen more subcommittees or special committees. And after Novembers election, only 11 Republican senators will be left to divvy up the work. To the victors go the spoils. To the vanquished go the extra assignments. Read More Facebook

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Californias DMV failed to finish registering 329 new voters before November election (Los Angeles Times) Officials at the California Department of Motor Vehicles said Friday that the agency failed to send information for 329 new voters to state elections officers in time for the November election, the latest revelation in a string of mishaps regarding voter registration. Secretary of State Alex Padilla responded with a blistering letter, calling on Gov. Jerry Brown or Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom to replace Jean Shiomoto, the DMV director. The Director of DMV has lost my confidence and trust, Padilla wrote. In all, the agency revealed that 589 mailed voter registration records that should have been processed under election deadlines werent sent to Californias secretary of state until late November, including forms from 260 drivers who had intended to update their address on existing voter registration records. The DMV had been instructed to not send registration forms that came in after Oct. 22, but the voters in question had forms that were postmarked before the deadline. In some cases, when the postmark wasnt legible, the agency said, documents inside indicated the voter had intended to finish their registration in time for the Nov. 6 election. The DMV recognizes the pause in transmittals was an error and affected the timing of the registration of the 589 individuals referenced above relative to the November election, Shiomoto wrote in a letter to Padilla on Friday. The pause was due to a misunderstanding on the part of the department, for which we take responsibility. Those who were trying to update their address for voter registration would not have been blocked from casting ballots. But officials said its unclear whether any of the 329 new voters were able to participate in the election. Shiomoto said in her letter that DMV will work with elections officials. The errors were not related to previous DMV mistakes about registering voters, problems associated with the rollout of the states new motor voter law. In those cases, multiple registration forms were sent to local elections offices for some voters, some people were assigned the wrong political party preference and others who are noncitizens were incorrectly placed on the list of registered voters. DMV officials have yet to respond to questions posed by The Times over the last several weeks about who knew of those mistakes and when. Facebook

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Newsom appoints a labor advocate and a former staffer as his chief deputy Cabinet secretaries By Taryn Luna A labor advocate and a San Francisco political operative have accepted positions in Gov.-elect Gavin Newsoms new administration. Angie Wei, a Capitol insider with deep ties to organized labor in California, will serve as a chief deputy Cabinet secretary with a focus on policy development. As a legislative director and chief of staff at the California Labor Federation, Wei has represented more than 1,200 unions and 2.1 million workers in Capitol fights over a host of policy issues, including drug-pricing transparency and paid family leave. The governor-elect also tapped Jason Elliott, a policy advisor to Newsom during his time as mayor of San Francisco and a chief of staff to San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, as another chief deputy Cabinet secretary overseeing executive branch operations. Elliott and Wei will serve under Ana Matosantos, Newsoms previouslyAfter the death of six-term Sen. John McCain, Arizona voters are nominating candidates to replace his seat-mate in a primary contest that lays bare the fissures in a Republican Party dramatically remade by President Trump.

Three Republicans are vying Tuesday to replace Sen. Jeff Flake, who is retiring after his fierce criticism of Trump made his political future in the state untenable. All three, including establishment favorite Rep. Martha McSally, have embraced Trump and distanced themselves from McCain  a sign of how far the late senators status had fallen with conservatives who dominate Arizonas GOP primaries.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, who must name a replacement to fill McCains seat for the next two years, will closely watch the contest. McCain died Saturday after a yearlong battle with brain cancer.

Arizona is one of three states holding elections Tuesday. Voters participating in Floridas primary will tap nominees for governor, a position that will give the winners party an advantage in a key political battleground heading into the 2020 presidential campaign. A diverse Democratic field includes candidates hoping to be the states first female or first black governor. Trump appears to have tilted the Republican race toward Rep. Ron DeSantis, whom he endorsed late last year.

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Trump reiterated his support for DeSantis on Twitter on Monday, calling the congressman a special person who is Strong on Crime, Borders and wants Low Taxes.

In reliably Republican Oklahoma, two GOP candidates in a runoff race for governor have been battling over who is more supportive of Trump.

McCains death has highlighted anew the shift in the Republican Party since he captured the GOP nomination for president in 2008. With a consistently conservative voting record, Arizonans elected McCain to the Senate six times, including in 2016. But his more moderate stance on immigration and his deciding vote last year against Trumps efforts to repeal President Obamas healthcare law turned off many GOP voters.

A national poll from June highlighted the shifting views on McCain. The CNN survey found that 67% of Democrats had a favorable opinion of McCain, while just 33% of Republicans had a favorable view of the GOP senator.

Among those on the Arizona ballot is former state Sen. Kelli Ward, who tried unsuccessfully to unseat McCain in 2016. When McCains family said last week that he was discontinuing medical treatment, Ward speculated in a later-deleted Facebook post that the announcement was intended to hurt her campaign for Flakes seat.

On Monday, Ward tweeted: Political correctness is like a cancer!

Also running for the Senate nomination is former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a controversial immigration hard-liner. Trump spared Arpaio a possible jail sentence last year by pardoning his federal conviction stemming from his immigration patrols.

McSally, a fighter pilot turned congresswoman in the McCain mold, is hoping Ward and Arpaio split Arizonas anti-establishment vote. While Trump hasnt endorsed a candidate in the Senate race, hes spoken favorably about McSally and she has appeared alongside the president at the White House.

The winner of the GOP primary is likely to face Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, who faces only token primary opposition. Sinema announced that she was pausing her campaign Wednesday and Thursday, when McCains body will lie in Arizonas Capitol.

Sinema and McSallys Senate runs also create House openings in Arizona, a fast-growing and increasingly diverse state where Democrats are eager to gain a foothold. McSallys district in particular is expected to be one of the most competitive House races in Novembers general election.

Democrats are also eyeing pickup opportunities in Florida as they try to flip control of the House. One of their best chances is in South Florida, where Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is retiring in a district that should favor Democrats.

Nine Democrats are vying to succeed Ros-Lehtinen, including Donna Shalala, who served as President Clintons Health and Human Services secretary, and Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera, a former city councilwoman who claims she was abducted by space aliens as a child.

Florida also has a pair of marquee statewide races that will be closely watched for signs of how the state might swing in the 2020 presidential election.

Gov. Rick Scott, a close political ally of Trump, is expected to coast through his primary bid for Senate, setting up a showdown with Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. Scotts decision to run for Senate has sparked a scramble for the governors mansion in the nations third-largest state.

Republican Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who has held elected office in Florida since 1996, quickly built up establishment support and raised millions of dollars. But Trumps surprise endorsement of DeSantis in December appears to give the congressman an edge heading into Tuesdays contest.

The Democratic gubernatorial field is the most crowded since 1978, the year Bob Graham eventually won the governors race. Grahams daughter, former Rep. Gwen Graham, is on the ballot this year and has been polling favorably leading up to the primary.

Theres a pink wave building alongside Floridas blue wave, Graham, who would be Floridas first female governor, told supporters in Sarasota on Monday. Womens rights are on the ballot, and were going to make the difference in this years election.

Graham leads a diverse field. Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum could become the states first black governor, and either former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine or billionaire Jeff Greene could be the states second Jewish governor.

Sundays deadly shooting in Jacksonville, Fla., which followed the February massacre at a Parkland, Fla., high school, was on Franklyn Romans mind as the independent voter from Miami said he was leaning toward voting for Greene in the Democratic primary.

I have hopes that hell stand up against the NRA and do what voters need, Roman, a lawyer, said. Its gotten out of hand. The latest example in Jacksonville  when we think its over, something else happens. And Im a gun owner.

In Oklahoma, the race for governor between former Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett and businessman Kevin Stitt could hinge on which candidate voters believe is more loyal to Trump. Stitt has attacked Cornett as not being supportive enough of Trump or his immigration policies, while the former mayor has cast Stitt as a newcomer to Republican politics.Huntington Beach residents shared their excitement and photos on social media Monday morning after watching a gray whale swim near the pier.

Huntington Beach Marine Safety Officer Matt Karl said he learned of the whale sighting through a photo a friend showed him on Instagram. Karl estimated the whale was about 25 feet long.

We see a few during migratory times, Karl said. Its not super uncommon, but its a treat every time it happens.

Gray whales are often seen before winter as they migrate south toward Mexico. They typically return to Alaska in February and March.

Priscella.Vega@latimes.com

Twitter: @vegapriscellaCosta Mesa Mayor Sandy Genis isnt the only candidate in local November elections keeping a close eye on the outcome of a legal challenge to parts of her candidate statement.

Joy Brenner, who is running for Newport Beach City Council, wrote a passage in her own statement that is similar to Genis yet was removed by the Newport city clerk, who said it violated California elections code.

Wendy Leece, a Costa Mesa resident and former City Council member, filed a petition last week aiming to strike roughly a third of Genis statement, alleging that certain portions are false, misleading and improperly reference and denigrate Genis opponent in the mayoral race, Councilwoman Katrina Foley. A hearing is scheduled for Sept. 7 in Orange County Superior Court to determine whether the disputed passages should be deleted.

Brenners advocates say that if Genis prevails and her statement is left unchanged, the passages removed from Brenners statement should be restored.

Candidate statements are printed in the Voter Information Guide, also known as the sample ballot. They are not printed on the final ballot.

Genis statement reads: Costa Mesa residents have the right to clean, open government and decisions free of cronyism. No backroom deals.

Brenners original statement said: We must stop playing partisan politics, which have no place in city governance. Pushed by a political agenda and outside forces, they lead to backroom deals and obscure the publics right to know. No more deals for political cronies. No more staff reorganizations that diminish public services.

This is the candidate statement for Costa Mesa mayoral candidate and current Mayor Sandy Genis, with disputed wording circled. (Daily Pilot)

Newport City Clerk Leilani Brown rejected that portion of Brenners statement, saying it appears to reference other candidates and that the statement should focus only on its author.

Leece made a similar argument about Genis.

Brown, in fact, rejected portions of four council candidates statements, saying all had clearly [gone] beyond what is allowable.

Brown told Brenners District 6 opponent, incumbent Scott Peotter, that she would excise a paragraph saying previous council members had used a loophole in Proposition 13 to finance the $142-million Taj-Ma-City-Hall project without a vote of the people.

Brown told District 3 incumbent and current Mayor Marshall Duffy Duffield that she would remove a reference he made to prior bad decisions of previous councils leading to residential development displacing public waterfront spaces and marine businesses.

And she told District 4 challenger Roy Englebrecht that she would remove his claim that the current council is not addressing any kind of pension reform, not addressing any kind of out-of-control city employee problems and that a council should never treat a city employee like the current City Council treated City Manager Dave Kiff.

This is the original candidate statement for Newport Beach City Council hopeful Joy Brenner, with portions removed by the city clerks office outlined in yellow. (Daily Pilot)

Brenner said Monday that she was disappointed by the edits to her statement but decided not to spend time and energy on a legal challenge and instead focus on her campaign.

She said she was surprised after seeing the similarities to the Costa Mesa case.

Over the weekend, Newport Beach activist Susan Skinner sent an email to Brown saying that if Superior Court Judge Robert Moss rules that Genis statement does not violate the same section of elections code that Brown used to edit Brenners statement, she should restore the paragraphs she removed.

Skinner said Monday that she is not involved with Brenners campaign and that all Newport candidates whose statements were edited should get to undo the changes if Genis prevails.

If Susans points are correct and the judge agrees, then I would be very happy if Leilani chose to accept my original statement as written, Brenner said.

Genis and Leece said in phone interviews Monday that there have been talks aimed at ending their dispute and that they were hopeful an agreement could be reached.

Leece said Genis has agreed to delete some statements, but were still negotiating. She declined to offer details.

Genis said shes open to making a couple of semantic changes, but I stand by what I wrote.

Leece also objected to several other parts of Genis candidate statement, including claims that Genis was the only mayoral candidate to stand up against [the] Orange County Needle Exchange Program in state review and the only candidate to vote to protect single-family neighborhoods from wholesale duplex conversion.

In each case, Leece alleges the assertions are false and misleading because they either misstate Councilwoman Foleys previous votes and public statements or contain inaccurate information.

Genis, though, maintained last week that her statement is accurate and said Leeces petition was simply intended as a distraction to take away from the issues we should be looking at in the campaign.

Along with the mayors position, three City Council seats are up for grabs in Costa Mesa this fall.

City Clerk Brenda Green said Monday that no other candidate statements were requested to be edited during the review period and none have been challenged in the same way as Genis.

luke.money@latimes.com

Twitter @LukeMMoneyThe mission of Glendale-based Ascencia is Lifting People Out of Homelessness. On Aug. 15, bingo filled the bill, more specifically Drag Queen Bingo.

A couple of dozen bingo fans made the trek from Glendale to Hamburger Marys in West Hollywood. There, they were met by some 100 more bingo players who live in and around WeHo. All were looking forward to winning the grand prize  an I Feel Pretty basket full of movie memorabilia, two lawn chairs and a $50 restaurant gift certificate.

With a suggested donation of $20 to play several games of bingo, the event put mucho dollars into Ascencias coffers since the organization received about 90% of the evenings proceeds.

But back to the drag queen part. Calpernia Addams, in full drag, acted as bingo hostess with the mostest. She charmed the audience as she called out bingo numbers and sashayed along side Jeffery Bowman, creator of Legendary Bingo. Bowman did the lions share of the emceeing.

According to Bowman, We do Drag Queen Bingo here five shows a week. A portion of each shows proceeds goes to a different charity.

Ascencias connection with the nights venue was through Noemi Torres, who is an Ascencia board member and lives a block away from Hamburger Marys. She was familiar with Bowmans fund-raising shows and thought Ascencia would benefit from part of the action.

Anjalika Nigram, of Ascencias development office, said the staffs intention was to form a relationship with the West Hollywood community and let people know were here.

Tarry Kang, Ascencias development director, said the city of West Hollywood reserves 10 of Ascencias Glendale shelter beds for WeHo outreach referrals. There, residents have their own bed and access to showers, laundry, case management, financial literacy classes, employment, housing placement support, trauma therapy and psychiatric services.

Ascencias staff has expertise with addiction recovery, mental health care, veterans services and LGBTQ advocacy.

But back to the party. As the evening went on, dinner and bingo games were interspersed with the auction of donated prizes. A favorite was a visit to Magic Castle in Hollywood. Entrance tickets for five went for $350. Bowman was the enthusiastic auctioneer.

West Hollywood restaurant gift certificates were also popular auction items. Restaurants donating to the event included Ago restaurant, Basix Food and Bar, Cafe DEtoile, and Scratch Bar & Kitchen.

The West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce also provided a generous donation.

As music blared and blended into a crescendo of excited voices, the evening ended too soon for many.

Ascencia literature reminds us, On any given night, over 9,000 people are homeless in Glendale, Burbank, northeast Los Angeles and West Hollywood.



Glendalians are flocking to A Noise Withins production of Man of La Mancha, which opened the companys 2018-19 season. Pasadena came calling several years ago and lured A Noise Within away from its previous location in the Masonic Temple on Brand Boulevard in Glendale.

Be that as it may, this is a show not to be missed. Starring as Don Quixote, tilter at windmills, is Geoff Elliot, who is also the companys producing artistic director. His wife, Julia Rodriguez-Elliot, is his producing partner.

This was a first time visit to A Noise Within for La Crescenta resident Suzette Van Sleeuwen. (Ruth Sowby Rands / Glendale News-Press)

La Crescenta resident Suzette Van Sleeuwen made it to a performance on Aug. 18. She posed for a picture in front of the theaters several murals.

Man of La Mancha will run through Sept. 9.

RUTH SOWBY RANDS may be reached at ruthasowby@gmail.com.A private home in La Canada Flintridge was the setting Saturday, Aug. 25, for the American Cancer Society San Gabriel Valley Hope Gala themed Hot Havana Night.

Event chair for the well-attended party was Sindee Riboli. Honored by the organization were Liz Rusnak Arizmendi and Dr. Richard Friedman.

The Nina Lares Band brought the music to entertain the guests. Celebrity hosts invited to participate included Cameron Mathison, Wendy Burch, Shawn King, retired Judge Lance Ito and his wife, former L.A. County police chief Margaret Peggy York. Live and silent auctions are always a big draw at these gala events and Saturday nights attendees could find many things to bid on, including vacation packages, art, jewelry, memorabilia and other unique items.

The American Cancer Society reminds everyone that supporting their mission saves lives by helping people stay well and get well, by finding cures and fighting back against cancer.

***

The Oakmont League had what they call their In and Out Party. It is held before the new club season starts and is designed to honor the outgoing officers and welcoming those stepping into official roles.

This year the party was held at the home of Lydia Trout, immediate past president.

Incoming president Allison Weir was wearing many hats that evening, as she was co-chair of the event, along with Lydia. She was also prepping the food and making sure all the essential things were in order. When this group of women and their significant others get together they always have a good time.

It was a lovely evening on the patio for this late summer party. The menu was hearty Italian prepared by Oakmont members. I understand that Nina Micelli Ratliff, a fabulous Italian cook who was taught by her mother and all the aunties, prepared amazing antipasta.

The feast, prepared by other Oakmont members, included lasagna, meatballs and spaghetti, stuffed shells with Italian sausage, Italian sausages with sauteed peppers and onions, Italian tossed green salad and, of course, hot garlic bread.

And if that main menu didnt fill you up, there were a Midori cheesecake, lemon cupcakes and chocolate chip bundt cake for dessert.

The Oakmont League will begin its new club year in mid-September with lots of activities and philanthropic programs for its members.

Among Oakmont members and guests in attendance were Cathy and Alan Steel, Pam and Ian Spiszman, Allison and Peter Weir, Donna and Frank Sauer, Nina and Larry Ratliff, Judy and Joe Mendicina, Shauna and Ken Lehmann, Jackie and Phil Kubel, Lydia and Brook Trout, Sharon Swinford, Chloe Ross, Liz Reed, Mary Kay Prather, Fernanda Genthon, Carol Eldred, Julie Budimir and Mary Broerman.

***

Get ready for the Ahmanson Theatres production of Aint too Proud  The Life and Times of the Temptations

Music of my past was recreated right in front of my eyes in this production of the story of the incomparable Motown group.

The opening night crowd was electric and included the last surviving member of the original Temptations, Otis Williams. He was given a standing ovation when he was introduced to the audience. Also taking bows were Motown record label founder Berry Gordy and Mary Wilson, one of original members of the Supremes.

I was sitting in a row behind one of my favorite music men, John Legend. He was certainly enjoying this production and at times could barely sit still as he was feeling the beat of the soulful music being performed on stage.

This stage production is so much fun and would be a treat for all theatergoers, Temptations fans and Motown sound aficionados.

JANE NAPIER NEELY covers the La Canada Flintridge social scene. Email her at jnvalleysun@aol.com with news of your special event.Las Vegas summer wind-down this Labor Day weekend features a food truck fest, hot DJ parties and a Hawaiian-style luau where you can cool it on water park rides after filling up on Kalua chicken.

1. Food truck fans can get their fill at the Park's first Food Truck Picnic from 1 to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The Park, which bills itself as the first park on the Las Vegas Strip, is that newish outdoor play place between New York-New York and the Park MGM (the renamed Monte Carlo).

Japanese food meets the burrito at Truk-N-Yaki food truck. It will be one of the offerings at the Park this weekend. Truk-n-Yaki

Expect trucks such as King's Sausage for kielbasa and pierogis, Truk-N-Yaki of Japanese burrito fame, Stripchezze for gooey grilled cheese, Monti's Smokehouse BBQ for pulled pork and tri-tip creations, and others. Pop-up bars for fueling up will be located around the Park. Put down your blanket near the Bliss Dance sculpture and enjoy. Info: The Park

2. Australian model turned DJ Brooke Evers will be spinning at a Labor Day Weekend party at Chateau Nightclub & Rooftop at Paris Las Vegas.

Brooke Evers will be DJing at Chateau Nightclub & Rooftop on Sunday. Paris Las Vegas

It starts at 10:30 p.m. Sunday and also features fellow DJs Romina, Andre Skyy and Bayati.

Tickets cost $20 to $30 per person. Bonus: great views of the Bellagio's fountains from the rooftop perch. Info: Chateau Nightclub & Rooftop

3. If you remember the No. 1 hit songs from the 60s Crimson and Clover and Hanky Panky, head to the Golden Nugget casino-resort to see Tommy James and the Shondells.

James and his band perform 8 p.m. Friday; tickets cost $89 to $119. Info: Tommy James and the Shondells at the Golden Nugget

4. Wet 'n' Wild Las Vegas water park off the Las Vegas Strip is hosting a luau buffet with hula performances on Saturday afternoon. Visitors can enjoy a buffet that includes Kalua pork, teriyaki chicken, coconut shrimp, rice and desserts for $13.99 (separate from admission).

Visitors are welcome to watch Polynesian dance performances at 2:30 and 3:45 p.m. at the Red Rock Bay wave pool stage with a general admission ticket. Online tickets cost $19.99. Info: Wet n Wild Las Vegas, 7055 S. Fort Apache Road, Las Vegas

5. Influence, the pool at the Linq, is one of the citys adult-only pool areas. It has views of the High Roller, and an above-ground pool with see-through windows on each end. (Think Instagram.)

On Saturday, model, actress and social media maven Tori Brixx will DJ with "upbeat tracks with old school jams and even EDM," a news release said.

On Sunday, Grammy-winning rapster Coolio takes over the party at the pool. Rooms with a $50 pool credit start at $138 a night over Labor Day weekend. Info: the Linq

ALSO

travel@latimes.com

@latimestravelThe German government on Tuesday offered to send police reinforcements to the eastern city of Chemnitz where right-wing extremists late Monday clashed with left-wing opponents.

Authorities in Saxony state acknowledged that they were overwhelmed by the extraordinarily large group of 6,000 neo-Nazi demonstrators who battled a group of about 1,500 anti-fascists and migrants.

The far-right extremists were bent on vigilante justice, chasing and attacking foreigners, after a German man was killed in a scuffle with migrants.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday denounced the wave of wanton lawlessness that erupted.

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The tension between Germans and foreigners has long been smoldering in Saxony, a poor state south of Berlin that has become a flashpoint of resistance to Merkels open-door policies welcoming about 1.4 million Syrian refugees over the last three years.

Even though relatively few foreigners and refugees live in the state bordering Poland and the Czech Republic, xenophobic sentiment has made the anti-migrant Alternative for Germany party stronger in Saxony than anywhere else in Germany.

Weve seen video clips of mobs filled with hatred hounding down others on the streets, and I can hardly say it more clearly that this has absolutely nothing to do with a state based on the rule of law, Merkel told reporters in Berlin.

Like many other German leaders and ordinary Germans aghast at the anti-foreigner violence in a country that has for decades worked hard to try to atone for its Nazi past, Merkel said she was pleased that Interior Minister Horst Seehofer had extended an offer to the Saxony state police to send in reinforcements to help try to get the situation under control.

Merkel herself has faced intense protests and rude shouts to resign when campaigning or appearing in Saxony, mainly because of her 2015 decision to allow refugees from Syria and elsewhere stranded in Hungary to travel freely to Germany.

We cannot allow this kind of rioting to take place on any street anywhere in Germany, she said.

The trouble in Chemnitz, about 110 miles south of Berlin, began early Sunday after the stabbing death of the 35-year-old German man. A 23-year-old Syrian and a 22-year-old Iraqi were arrested Monday in connection with the attack, which also left two Germans badly injured and hospitalized, the state prosecutors office in Chemnitz said.

Right-wing groups issued calls on social media for nationalists to march in Chemnitz with backing from an Alternative for Germany member in Parliament, who said that if the state cannot protect its citizens, then they need to protect themselves.

Leftist groups in Chemnitz, as they have in the past, responded with calls for anti-fascist rallies of their own. Hundreds of riot police worked hard to keep the two groups separated but were overwhelmed by the unexpectedly large numbers of demonstrators.

We were surprised by the numbers, and that wont happen again, Michael Kretschmer, governor of Saxony, said in a television interview Tuesday evening. Earlier at a news conference in the Saxony capital of Dresden he had said, Its deplorable that the right-wing extremists instrumentalized this for political purposes.

At least 20 people were injured by pyrotechnic devices and bottles thrown from both sides, police said. A total of 43 citations were issued, including 11 for bodily harm. Police are also investigating nearly a dozen cases of demonstrators who were seen on television broadcasts giving the outlawed Nazi salute, which is punishable by heavy fines and up to three years in jail.

The leader of Germanys vestigial Jewish community, Josef Schuster, said he was alarmed by the continued right-wing troubles coming from Saxony, flourishing in cities such as Dresden and Leipzig.

A frightening large number of people had no compunction whatsoever and based on only rumors joined the call for vigilante justice and hunting down foreigners, said Schuster, who is president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. There have been so many such incidents in Saxony that you cant call this kind of thing an isolated episode anymore.

Kirschbaum is a special correspondent.

UPDATES:

3:05 p.m.: This article was updated throughout with staff reporting.

This article was originally published at 10:25 a.m.This time around, there were no insults, no abruptly canceled meetings, no threats  and no mention of the wall.

President Trumps upbeat announcement in Washington on Monday of a new U.S.-Mexico trade accord was the latest twist in almost two years of economic uncertainty and one of the most problematic periods in U.S.-Mexico relations.

Trump, who began stoking anti-Mexican sentiment well before he was elected, characterizing Mexicans as criminals and rapists while threatening to upend binational trade, took an opposite tack Monday.

He lauded Mexicos brilliant representatives and called Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto  who twice canceled planned trips to Washington amid disagreements about Trumps planned border wall  his friend. Trump also extolled Mexicos terrific president-elect, while applauding the fantastic and incredible new trade agreement between the two nations.

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In Trumps revised narrative, it was Canada, not Mexico, that had been transformed into the continental antagonist. Mexico  denounced by Trump as recently as June as a country that did nothing while drugs and immigrants poured across the U.S. border  was now the good guy.

I like to call this deal the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement, Trump said in a televised telephone call with his counterpart, Pena Nieto. I think its an elegant name.

Trump even seemed to grimace when Pena Nieto voiced Mexicos desire that Canada be included and that the agreement remain a trilateral accord governing more than $1 trillion in annual commerce.

Representatives of Mexicos private industry praised the pact. This accord contains the provisions for just commerce and signals a guarantee of greater investments for our country, said Francisco Cervantes Diaz, president of the Confederation of Industrial Chambers of Mexico.

Despite the talk of cooperation and good feelings, Trump remains hugely unpopular here. Pena Nietos suggestion that the two leaders share a tequila toast to celebrate the new accord  notwithstanding Trumps teetotaler status  drew broad condemnations on social media.

In a Twitter message, journalist Leon Krauze wrote: With all due respect, Donald Trump has inundated millions of Mexicans with anxiety and anguish. He has offended them for years. Lets put aside the shots of tequila when it comes to this man.

For almost a quarter century, since the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect in 1994, Mexico had based much of its economic planning on its partnership with the United States, which represents almost 80% of the nations export market.

Many here feared an outright collapse of Mexicos already underperforming economy should Trump walk away from NAFTA, as he had repeatedly threatened to do. On Monday the Mexican peso strengthened against the U.S. dollar as news of the new trade deal broke.

But there was also a sense that Mexicos leadership was overwhelmed at the sudden infusion of Trump love  and somewhat uncomfortable with it.

Trump continues to insist that Mexico will pay for the border wall, a suggestion widely viewed here as insulting and humiliating.

Mexican officials went out of their way to stress that Mexico was not a collaborator in sidelining Canada.

Nonetheless, Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray conceded that Mexico could live with a bilateral deal if Ottawa and Washington could not work out their differences.

Many questions still surround the new deal, chief among them Canadas prospective inclusion or exclusion. Lawmakers in both the United States and Mexico will have to approve the accord. Details about some crucial issues, such as labor rights, remain largely unknown and are likely to stir heated debate.

Mexicos relatively low wages compared with the United States and its pliant unions have long been major draws for U.S. automotive giants and other global manufacturers.

For Pena Nieto, whose six-year term ends Nov. 30, achieving a new accord was a matter of burnishing a checkered legacy.

But for President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the goal was to resolve a contentious international negotiation before he takes office Dec. 1 with a wide-ranging, transformational domestic agenda.

This is an important development, it gives economic and financial stability, said Lopez Obrador, who last week thanked Trump for holding off on imprudent comments about Mexico in recent weeks, as the difficult trade talks proceeded in Washington.

Lopez Obrador confirmed reports that, at his insistence, the revamped accord removed language that he feared could weaken Mexican sovereignty over petroleum and other natural resources.

Only we Mexicans can decide what we have to do for the management and administration of our natural resources, said Lopez Obrador, who also thanked Trump for agreeing to revised language on energy matters. We recognize the attitude of respect from President Trump.

Cecilia Sanchez in The Times Mexico City bureau contributed to this report.

patrick.mcdonnell@latimes.com

Twitter: @PmcdonnellLATINTRODUCTION:

The European Community treats Agriculture as one of the main Community Policy. However, the Treaty doesnt give any authentic definition of Agriculture. It is having a Common Agricultural Policy in which European Union farmers are getting subsidies. On the contrary, agricultural products defined in the Treaty are stock farming, products of soil and fisheries products of first stage. The Common Agricultural Policy commitment to guarantee prices makes it economically worthwhile to use all available land, with the aid of chemicals, to grow more crops than are demanded by the consumers and the European Union cannot use all of its agricultural products, so it sells them at a very cheap rate to the third nation.

The objective of the Common Agricultural Policy are:

To increase agricultural productivity by promoting technical progress and by ensuring them the rational development of agricultural production. To ensure a fair standard of living for the agricultural community, particularly by increasing the individual earning of the farmers. To assure the availability of supplies. To ensure that the supplies reach consumers at reasonable prices.

OVER PRODUCTION:

The subsidies given by the Common Agriculture Policy to the farmers is causing over production. The European Union cannot use all of its agricultural products, so it sells them on a cheap rate to the third country. This undercuts the local farmers, who cannot compete with the heavily-subsidized imports, and so distorts the market (though the EU is not alone in this, as the US also dumps subsidized agricultural products on the developing markets).

The Common Agriculture Policy is committed for the subsidies to use all its agriculture land which not only leads to overproduction but, in fact, the farmers use chemicals to grow more crops than the demand of the consumers in the society. Excessive chemicals are found in samples of lettuce, tomatoes, apples, peaches. Health Authorities have warned that the residues resulting from excessive pesticide use may pose a public health risk, but also insist that it would require daily exposure to the chemicals to have any significant health impact. Moreover, boycotting local produce will not help and severely penalise those farmers who do their utmost to abide by the regulations in very difficult circumstances. I believe that it would be much more effective if the Authorities were to carry out continuous educational and awareness campaigns. Regular and sporadic inspections and monitoring should improve the current situation.

The Common Agriculture Policy is somehow biased as 70% of its funds are going to only 20% of Europe's farms - predominantly the largest - and leaves nearly three- quarters of EU farmers surviving on less than 5,000 a year. Small farmers account for about 40% of EU farms, but receive only 8% of available subsidies from Brussels.

MEASURES TO RESTRICT PRODUCTION:

For some commodities like milk, sugar, wine and crops has positive incentive on production of higher support prices and direct aids have been limited by the simultaneous use of supply control measures. In the case of milk and sugar, the production response to higher prices is limited by Production Quotas. In the case of arable crops, the production response was reduced by a land, set-aside requirement implemented in 1994 and only finally removed in the context of high World Grain Prices in the 2008 Health Check. In the case of beef and sheep, the coupled premiums were limited to a fixed number of head by the Member States and at farm level. In the case of vineyards, a system of planting right restrictions has been in place since 1976. This introduced a ban on new vineyard plantings in order to limit the production of table wines and prevent structural surpluses, with limited exceptions. The extent of the supply-limiting effect of milk and sugar quotas and vine planting rights could, in principle, be determined by the size of the quota rents these restrictions engendered. In the case of milk and planting rights, rents could be revealed through market trades in quota rights and planting rights, respectively, though these markets tended to be heavily regulated so the market prices probably underestimated the true size of the rents. In any case these rents varied over time depending upon the producers marginal costs and the expected return from product sales.

HOW EFFECTIVE WERE THESE MEASURES IN LIMITING THE SUPPLY?

The impact of the study for the Commission in 2008 on the effects of eliminating the milk quota projected that it would lead to an increase in EU milk production of 5.0% and a 10.3% decrease in the farm milk prices (from the higher level it reaches under the baseline scenario). Earlier studies had suggested a production increase of 3% and a price decline of 22% (Lips and Rieder 2005) and a production increase of 4% and a price decrease of 7%. The Health Check Reform agreed on a gradual expansion of milk quotas in the years leading up to the abolition in 2015. Nonetheless, because of the record high milk prices in the preceding year (2014), EU milk production surged in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the first quarter of 2015 (the last three months of the quota regime) by 7.2%. The sugar quota regime remains in place until 2017. However, an impact study of its abolition also suggested that quota abolition will lead to an increase in EU sugar production and falling imports.

Since the 1990s, the CAP has also encouraged the expansion of farm forestry through the provision of Plantation Grants and Annual Forest Premiums (paid through the CAP Rural Development Pillar 2). The diversion of agricultural land to forestry lowers the supply response observed from the higher agricultural prices. Farm forestry grants were reformulated as one of the accompanying measures in 1992 CAP reform specifically with a view to taking land out of the agricultural production.

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) captured the combined effect on production and consumption of both higher agricultural prices due to government intervention and production constraints which limit the response to these higher prices in its concept and measurement of Effectively De-Coupled Support (OECD, 2001).

A provocative finding in this study is that milk quota liberalisation would reduce EU welfare. This result is explained by the fact that the EU is a significant player in world dairy markets. Increased production and net exports of dairy products after the removal of quotas drives down the world market price below its baseline level. Thus some of the gain from lower EU milk prices accrues to the countries purchasing EU exports rather than to the EU itself. Thus, the quota regime kept world dairy market prices higher than they would otherwise have been, but the welfare effects of this trade distortion depend on the net trade status of the third countries.

The EU has had a policy to encourage Biofuels since 2003. In that year, a new premium for energy crops grown outside set-aside land was implemented under the CAP (these payments were abolished together with compulsory land set aside at the end of 2008 as part of the CAP Health Check). At the same time, the EU set medium-run targets for the percentage of Biofuels to be incorporated into conventional fuels (2% in 2005 and 5.75% in 2010 on an energy basis). A Companion Directive on Energy Taxation allowed Member States to grant tax reductions and exemptions to encourage the use of Biofuels. However, these targets were not mandatory and there was no penalty for non-compliance.

In the EU, Biodiesel (produced mainly from rapeseed) plays a more important role than Bioethanol (produced mainly from wheat and sugar beet). As part of the Energy and Climate Change Package in December 2008, EU leaders committed to a binding minimum target of 10% to be contributed by renewable fuels in total transport fuel in each Member State by 2020. One study suggested that eliminating the Biofuel Mandate in 2020 would result in freeing up to 6% of EU wheat production, about 8% of other cereals production, and about 7% of EU sugar beet production. More than half of the EU vegetable oil production would be used for Biofuels in 2020 under the mandate.

While Biofuels may help the EU meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets, Biofuel production typically takes place on cropland which was previously used for other agriculture such as growing food or feed. Since this agricultural production is still demanded, it may be partly displaced to previous non-cropland such as grasslands and forests. This process is known as Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC). In 2015 new rules came into force that amend the current legislation on Biofuels  specifically the Renewable Energy Directive and the Fuel Quality Directive - to reduce the risk of indirect land use change and to prepare the transition towards advanced bio-fuels. Second- generation Biofuels get a double credit, meaning that Biofuels made out of waste and residue materials will count double towards the goal. More importantly, the Amendment limits the share of Biofuels from crops grown on agricultural land that can be counted towards the 2020 renewable energy targets to a maximum of 7% of transport fuel in the light of concerns about the impact of increased Biofuel demand food prices. These supply management and supply-restricting measures should be taken into account when evaluating and modelling the impact of the CAP on world markets.

Separating payments from the production could be an initiative which will focus more on the production for the market rather than looking up for the subsidies. One-time payment for the agriculture can make farmers to be more focused on using the subsidies on products which is more demanded in market. The question arise that how will the country like Malta will come under the same deeds as the stick rules on agriculture could not be so equal for all the countries of different economic background. But its biggest beneficiary is France and it will not be so easy to make a reform when some country is getting a good benefit from a policy. The strict rules for agriculture goods make the farmers suffer as the production of agriculture goods are vast but the test is not so perfect as the fruits and vegetables are choosing from their ship and size.

WILL THE REFORM SUCCEED?

The European Union needs to focus more on their partners agricultural condition. The strict rules can harm their own partners. Same can be seen in Malta, where the farmers are using huge amount of pesticides. Chemical residues in greens sold in Malta are tested randomly by the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority at a number of different sites every year. Around a dozen, farmers are currently facing charges in the court after they were found to be using more than the legal amount of pesticides on their crops. Health Authorities have warned that the residues resulting from excessive pesticide use may pose a public health risk, but also insist that it would require daily exposure to the chemicals to have any significant health impact. The European Union has regulations on the use of pesticides and maximum residue levels, which are meant to be followed by the farmers in Malta. Adequate use of subsidies on agricultural land and less use of pesticides for the fulfilment of cultivation can make some good changes in the field of agriculture for the European Union.

CONCLUSION:

Conflicting influences in future the European Union Agricultural Policy will also impact on its stance in future International Trade Negotiations. The European Union remains committed to a further significant liberalization of agricultural policies in the context of World Trade Organisation negotiations. It supported the decision to prohibit export subsidies on agricultural goods after 2020 and its most recent tariff offer foresees a significant reduction in its MFN tariffs, larger than that which it agreed to in the Uruguay Round. The European Union continues to pursue an active policy of forging free trade agreements with third countries. In these negotiations, agriculture is often seen as a defensive interest and a brake on the scope of the tariff offers which the European Union can make in these negotiations. The agreements concluded to date have had relatively minor repercussions for the European Union agriculture, apart from the agreement with Canada which is yet to be ratified. Agricultural interests in the European Union have identified concerns in the ongoing negotiations with the United States as part of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement and with the Mercosur countries of South America. These agreements have not yet been finalized and it remains unclear how these agricultural concerns will be reflected in any final texts and whether they might influence the ratification process within the European Union.

By: Navin Kumar Jaggi and Harsh Singh



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Share Prices - Tesla Share Price Stumbles After Elon Musk Abandons Go-Private Plan 28-08-2018 04:06



Stock News headlines are gathered from financial news sources around the web. Views and opinions on each item are from their respective authors and website. They are not opinions of LiveCharts.co.ukStock Market News

UK Economic Data - Global Economy Week Ahead: U.S. GDP Revisions and Other Data 28-08-2018 00:23



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UK Markets - Theresa May announces UK has secured its first post-Brexit trade deal during trip to Africa 28-08-2018 04:14



Stock News headlines are gathered from financial news sources around the web. Views and opinions on each item are from their respective authors and website. They are not opinions of LiveCharts.co.ukCongress president Rahul Gandhi will pay a two-day visit to flood-ravaged Kerala from today. He will be visiting some relief camps and will meet fishermen and party volunteers involved in the relief work.

"I will be in Kerala tomorrow and the day after, visiting flood-hit areas and relief camps in the state. I will also meet with fishermen, volunteers and others who have been working tirelessly & selflessly to help those in need," he tweeted, on last day

Kerala witnessed its worst floods in a century. According to the Home Ministry's National Emergency Response Centre (NERC), 443 people have died in Kerala and 54.11 lakh people in 14 districts have been severely affected. PTIPetron Corp. sought permission from the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday to sell P20 billion worth of peso-denominated fixed rate bonds. Petron disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange the bond issue was part of an earlier shelf registration worth P40 billion approved on October 12, 2016. The board of Petron approved early this month the sale of up to P20 billion worth of peso-denominated fixed-rate retail bonds. The company appointed BDO Capital & Investment Corp and BPI Capital Corp. as joint issue managers, with China Banking Corp. as joint book runner and lead underwriter. Petron officials previously announced plans to invest in a catalytic reforming unit that will pave the way for the company to produce petrochemicals, such as mixed xylene, toluene and xylene for sale to the export market. Petron plans to complete the basic engineering design study on the unit this year and an investment decision by the first quarter next year. The company is in talks with several technology providers, including those in South Korea, Japan and the US, over the petrochemical facility in its refinery complex in Bataan province.Petron plans to build up a hydro treater unit at its 88,000 barrel-per-day Port Dickson refinery in Malaysia that will require investments of about $100 million. Petron reported a net income of P9.5 billion in the first half of the year, up 16 percent from P8.2 billion year-on-year, on higher sales volumes from its Malaysia and Philippine operations. Consolidated revenues increased 32 percent to P273.5 billion from P207 billion on year. We intend to fortify our leadership position as we ride on the continued economic growth of the Philippine and Malaysian markets. We continue to integrate our value chain, build up our supply and logistics capabilities, and roll-out more service stations than our competitors, Petron president and chief executive officer Ramon Ang said earlier. Petron attributed the higher revenues in the first six months to sustained sales volumes and higher prices of crude oil and finished products.A rights group and families of several drug war fatalities have filed a second complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity in connection with the killings linked to his anti-drug campaign. Duterte committed murder over the extrajudicial killings of thousands of Filipinos and inhumane acts for causing great suffering to the victims and their families, the complaint said. The alleged mass murders and rights violations under Duterte are so grievous and so heinous that is of sufficient gravity to justify further action of the Court, the complainants, represented by the National Union of Peoples Lawyers, said. The ICC earlier this year announced a preliminary examination of a complaint filed against Duterte for using killings to control crime. This prompted Duterte in May to withdraw the Philippines from the Rome Statute, which created the ICC. The ICC may only take jurisdiction over the case if the Philippine justice system is unable to prosecute him. Opposition senators who assailed the constitutionality of President Dutertes decision to withdraw the countrys membership from Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court were a no-show during the oral arguments on their petition before the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Senators Francis Pangilinan, Franklin Drilon, and Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, who were supposed to appear in the oral arguments, skipped the first hearing, but they sent lawyer Anne Marie Corominas to explain to the Court why they were not present during the oral arguments on their petition. Earlier, the three senators had filed a petition that they be represented by detained Senator Leila de Lima during the hearing. Lawyers of PCICC from Center Law International urged the Court to issue an order compelling the Executive branch to revoke the notice sent last March for withdrawal of the Philippine governments signature from the Rome Statute. They said the withdrawal violated the 1987 Constitution, which requires Senate concurrence. A treaty requires Senate concurrence and the Rome Statute is a treaty... The unilateral withdrawal is interference, a violation of the separation of powers, lawyer Romel Bagares said.During interpellation, Associate Justice Marvic Leonen was quick to question the legal standing of PCICC in filing the case. Principally it must be shown that there is personal, substantial and direct injury suffered by petitioners to have legal standing. What is your injury? the magistrate asked, to which lawyer Ray Paolo Santiago replied, I have no direct injury as of yet. Leonen pointed out that petitioners are also not victims of crimes against humanity to be able to seek relief from the Court. The oral arguments will continue next week. President Duterte announced last March the governments withdrawal of its ratification of the Rome Statute, a United Nations treaty creating the ICC. The Chief Executive cited baseless, unprecedented and outrageous attacks against him and his administration as the reason for his withdrawal as a state party. The move came after ICC special prosecutor Fatou Bensouda started a preliminary examination on the alleged human rights violations amid the Duterte administrations intensified war on drugs. The Palace said Tuesday it was confident that the cases against the President will notprosper. Again, my fearless prediction is, it will not prosper because of the concept of complementarity, he said. The ICC cannot advance unless the local courts have proven to be unable or unwilling to exercise jurisdiction on these complaints, Roque added. Activists and families of eight drug war victims filed the communication saying Duterte committed murder over thousands of victims of extrajudicial killings.A proposed 320-megawatt wind farm in south-central Montana  including battery storage for its power  is asking state regulators to settle a price dispute with Montanas largest utility, so it can proceed with the project.

Caithness Beaver Creek formally asked the state Public Service Commission this month to set the rate it will be paid by NorthWestern Energy, saying negotiations had broken down with the utility.

Beaver Creek developers say the project on farmland north of Columbus will create 350 jobs during construction, 40 jobs to operate the system and $4 million a year in property taxes for Stillwater and Sweet Grass counties.

By Mike Dennison  MTN News

http://www.kpax.com/story/38971552/large-proposed-wind-farm-with-battery-storage-asks-psc-to-set-rateEducation

Montgomery County Community College will present the spring installment of the interview/talk show program Issues and Insights April 20 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Science Center room 214, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The programs will be simulcast to the Colleges West Campus in South Hall room 216, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Dr. Kolsky will offer a humorous presentation, Carrots, Sticks and Politics: A State of the Nation and the World Message. In this speech, he will provide his interpretation of domestic and international politics and then welcome questions from the audience for discussion. Issues and Insights, is free and open to the public. For information, contact Dr. Thomas Kolsky, professor of political science, at 215-641-6380 or tkolsky@mc3.edu.

Montgomery County Community Colleges STEM Scholars Program will host a STEM Jam! open house April 25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Advanced Technology Center at the Colleges Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The drop-in event is designed for students interested in learning more about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities will include STEM program information and career advising, STEM speakers throughout the day from industry and academia, micro-helicopter and robotics competitive obstacle courses and demonstrations and static models of STEM student and faculty work. For more information about STEM Jam! or STEM programs at MCCC, contact William Brownlowe at wbrownlowe@mc3.edu or 215-641-6644, or Robin Zuhlke at 215-619-7440 or rzuhlke@mc3.edu.

Temple Ambler, located at 580 Meetinghouse Road, presents the following events:

International Club Global Bazaar April 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Ambler Campus International Club invites all students, faculty, staff and the community to celebrate a multitude of diverse cultures, which will be showcased at the organizations Global Bazaar. This family friendly event will highlight cultural traditions and celebrations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South American, North America and Africa through music, entertainment, food and informative displays developed and presented by students at the Ambler Campus. Young visitors will be provided with passports, which they may get stamped at each country they visit. Prizes will be awarded to world travelers who talk to cultural representatives, answer questions about the countries theyve visited and take part in fun-filled activities designed to help them learn about the rich diversity of cultures found throughout the world. Refreshments will be served. The event is free. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail tuc36466@temple.edu.

EarthFest 2011 April 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. More than 75 exhibitors, including the Philadelphia Zoo, The Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Elmwood Park Zoo and the Insectarium, will take part in EarthFest 2011. School students of all ages are invited to attend and develop displays of their own. EarthFest partner the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society also offers its Kids Grow Expo, featuring the Junior Flower Show, as part of the event. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail duffyj@temple.edu.

Annual Spring Plant Sale May 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The plant sale  an Ambler Campus tradition dating back to the early 1900s  will feature woody plants and perennials in portable sizes, hardy trees, shrubs, and vines, native plants that are attractive to wildlife, herbs, and hanging baskets. There will also be numerous special plants for sale to highlight Amblers special anniversary year. Garden books and garden tools will also be available for sale. Students, staff, and volunteers from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture and the Ambler Arboretum Advisory Committee will be available to answer questions. All proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale will support the Ambler Arboretum Fund and the Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society. Information: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

June Homecoming/Louise Bush-Brown Garden Dedication June 5 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. (June Homecoming), Bright Hall Lounge; 2 p.m. (Garden Dedication), Ambler Campus Formal Perennial Gardens. Tickets  June Homecoming: Participant  $18 per person; Sustainer  $25 per person; Benefactor  $40 per person. The 2011 June Homecoming, sponsored by the School of Environmental Design Alumni Association, will include the Alumni Association annual meeting and luncheon. June Homecoming will be followed by the formal dedication of Temple University Amblers Formal Perennial Gardens as the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Gardens. During this 100th anniversary of the campus, Temple University Ambler and the Ambler Arboretum of the Temple University is honoring Louise Bush-Browns many contributions to the history of the campus by formally dedicating the gardens in her honor. During the program, campus Executive William Parshall will welcome guests, Ambler Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey will speak about the Bush-Browns and the history of the garden, and an official ribbon cutting will be held for the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Garden. Following the ribbon cutting, guests are invited to take a tour of the gardens, which will wend their way to the Campus Greenhouse for the School of Environmental Designs annual Plant Auction. Information (Garden Dedication): 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Information (June Homecoming): 215-482-0722. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

Northview Garden Tour and Fundraiser for the Ambler Arboretum June 12 from noon to 5 p.m. Call for reservations. Tickets: $15 per person or $20 at the door. In addition to the gardens of the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University, Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey has a garden oasis all her own right in Ambler  Northview. Visitors will have the opportunity to take self-guided tours throughout the many gardens, where garden experts will be available to answer questions about the various designs. The Ambler Keystone Chapter of the Womans National Farm and Garden Association will also provide tea and refreshments. All proceeds from the tours will support the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University. Information or to register: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

The Senior Adult Activities Center of Montgomery County, 536 George Street, Norristown, will hold the following events:

SAAC Adult Day Care, an alternative to Nursing Home Care is available  for information call 610-275-1960

Volunteers are needed for Meals on Wheels Program (call the number above)

SAACs Fifth Avenue Boutique opens Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Exercise with Theresa will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m.

Dance class is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Tai Chi is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Yoga is held every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.

Line Dancing is held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

Dancing with Joan is held every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

Sculpture Class is held Wednesdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m.

Why Should I Learn Spanish? will be held Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m.

Generations On-Line computer classes for seniors will be held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.  4 p.m.  computers are available during those hours.

Health Living will be held every Tuesday at 1 p.m.

Boomer U will hold the following events. Boomer U is located at 45 Forest Avenue, Ambler. Registration & payment is required for all events: 215-619-8863.

Pilates Class is held Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. First class is free; please bring a mat. For information call 610-291-5376.

Blue Bell School of Dance, 921 Penllyn Blue Bell Pike, Blue Bell, hosts Argentine Tango Classes and a Milonga dance party every Friday evening. Lessons start at 8:30 p.m. followed by dancing at 9:30 p.m. Andrew Conway, master Argentine Tango dancer, instructor and performer and his partner Linda Chase will instruct. All levels welcome and no partner is needed. Refreshments will be served. Fee is $12 per person and includes lesson and dancing. Information: 215-634-1101 or www.amoretango.com.

The Montgomery Hospital Medical Center will offer the following classes:

Childbirth Education Class- all parents are invited to participate, including those who are delivering at

other hospitals. For more information on maternity services or classes, call 610-270-2020.

CPR and First Aid Courses are offered for beginners to experiences health care providers. Call 610-270-2313.

The Ambler SAAC (Senior Adult Activities Center), located at 45 Forest Ave in Ambler will hold the following events:

Tai Chi every Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m.

Yoga is every Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Friday at 10:30 a.m.

Strength and balance training every Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Armchair Aerobics is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Gourmet Weight Wise every Thursday at 12:30.

Fitness Center and Pool Room open daily 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

The Diabetes Education Center will offer day and evening classes each month. Health insurance pays for diabetes education classes. Preregistration is required. Call 610-270-2301.

For Kids & Families

The Ambler Kiwanis Club will host its annual Easter Egg Hunt April 26 at 10 a.m. in Ambler Borough Park, located just off of the intersection of Hendricks Street and Valley Brook Road. Members of the Wissahickon Key Club will assist Kiwanians in hiding thousands of wrapped chocolate eggs in a designated area of the park. Also hidden will be plastic colored eggs, which are redeemed for prizes. Elementary school children are separated by age.

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation will hold its 21st annual Storybook Egg-Stravaganza April 15 fom 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Upper Dublin Township Building. Toddlers and preschoolers love this annual event where photo opportunities with favorite friends abound! Treasures are collected from UDP&Rs assortment of lifesize cutouts of favorite cartoon characters from Disney, Sesame Street, Nickelodeon and other well-known animation. Children can have their picture taken with Bugsy OHare; bring your own camera. And dont forget a basket for goodies! $7 for UD residents; $12 for non-residents. Pre-register at 215-643-1600 ext. 3443.

Splash Week is a free week-long program that teaches children and families basic swimming skills and water safety practices. All YMCA branches will host multiple classes each day from April 11 to 15. For more information, contact the Ambler Area YMCA at 215-628-9950.

Healthy Kids Day is April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day is filled with fun, engaging and artistic activities that cultivate healthy living as part of the YMCAs larger efforts to help more kids and families become physically active. All activities are free and open to the community. For more information, contact the Ambler YMCA at 215-628-9950. No reservation is required.

The Ambler Area YMCA has added several new programs for area youngsters. Classes are held late afternoons or evenings on various weekdays. For more information, visit philaymca.org or call 215-628-9950.

Basic Beading: Ages: 10+. Wednesdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. This class will teach you the fundamentals of wiring and stringing along with how color can be used to create unique and vibrant beadwork design. You will create various jewelry including earrings, bracelets, charm pendants and much more! Supplies will be provided. Bringing your own jewelry pliers or tools would be a plus.

Messin with the Masters: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. Learn about some of the worlds greatest artists. You will be inspired to create your own Starry Night with oil pastels and tempera paints, a tissue paper painted Monet garden, a Picasso head using scraps of paper, a Georgia OKeeffe clay flower bowl and a Rousseau jungle collage.

Super Scientist: Ages: 5-7. Mondays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Well be concocting chemistry experiments such as making slime, mixing potions and having fun with magnet magic. Your budding little scientist will enhance his/her creative thinking and motor skills and to top it off will learn that science can be serious fun.

Wacky Junk Art: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 6 to 6:45 p.m. Why throw it away! Instead join us to make household junk into aliens from outer space, wacky specs, crazy hats, body masks or a recycled train.

Globe Trotters: Ages: 4-6. Tuesdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Youre never too young to start thinking globally. Each week, we explore a new country through crafts, games, music, stories and even some taste-testing. A perfect introduction to our great big world!

Crazy about Crafts: Ages: 5-7, Thursdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Let your childs creative juices flow with our fun arts and crafts projects each week. Fine motor skills and creative thinking skills will be enhanced with this crafty class.

Come out and join the Ambler Area YMCAs Teen and Junior Leaders Club. Participants are given the freedom to plan community service projects year round and truly make a difference in the lives of people in need. Those in Teen and Junior Leaders also attend leadership retreats all along the East Coast three times a year and meet other leaders who are doing the same great work in their respective areas. Dont miss out on this inspiring opportunity. Teen Leaders, ages 13-17, meet every Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Junior Leaders, ages 10-12, will begin in the spring and will meet every Monday. For more information, contact Mike Miles, Teen Director, 215- 628-9950 x 1540 or mmiles@philaymca.org.

Did you know that the new Ambler Area YMCA holds childrens birthday parties at its site for members and non members as well. The Ambler Y does all the work from start to finish and birthday parties include a personalized cake, ice cream, beverage and paper products. Parties are held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and include two party hosts to lead activities, set-up, clean-up and assist with serving. You can have a Splash Party for children ages six to 12 in the new zero depth entry pool with water slide and spray fountains. Up to 25 children have exclusive use of the pool area with 30 minutes in the party room. Sports Parties are offered for kids ages four to 12 with age appropriate activities and games, and sports such as floor hockey, soccer, basketball or dodge ball. Children ages three to five years of age will enjoy parties in the Family Active Center with use of the Moon Bounce and organized activities, such as parachute play and songs. For information, 215-628-9950 ext. 1583.

Community Events at the Ambler Y:

-YAchievers YMCA Achievers is a developmentally based, extracurricular, educational and team mentoring program designed to help students in grades five through 12 prepare for fulfilled livelihoods in college and beyond. Participation is free and all students in this program receive a free YMCA membership. Registration for the 2009 program begins now. You do not need to be a YMCA member to utilize these special services. Call 215-628-9950 to register.

Greater Norristown Art Leagues Childrens Weeklong Summer Art Camps will be held at 800 West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the summer. The cost per session is $125 per student for ages 6 and up. Jo Ann Cooksey Bono teaches an introduction to basic drawing skills and techniques from 10 a.m. until the lunch break each day. In the afternoon sessions, Mary Vogel Lozinak involves the students in hands on projects such as collage, papermaking, T-shirt printing, 3D design and sculpy clay. Fridays Graduation Day includes an art show, awards ceremony and reception for parents, siblings, grandparents and friends. All supplies are included. Students provide their own lunch. A refrigerator is available and the building is air-conditioned. This is the 15th year to run this successful program. Both instructors are professional artists with State Police and Child Abuse Clearances. To register, call Jo Ann at 610-279-1008, or register on-line at www.gnal.org.

Health

Dresher Physical Therapy is hosting an interactive seminar discussing its Golf Assessment Progam April 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at Dresher Physical Therapy, 1075 Virginia Drive, Suite 200, Fort Washington. Physical therapist Chris Miller, certified through the Titleist Performance Institute, will discuss why your body may be the most important piece of golf equipment you invest in and how this can drastically improve your game. $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Call 215-619-4545 to reserve your spot.

The Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, Center on the Hill and Chestnut Hill Hospital will host a Senior Health and Resource Fair April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, 8855 Germantown Ave. The event is free. For more information, call 215-248-0180 or e-mail chseniors@cavtel.net.

The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is hosting Help Yourself to Health, a new six-week workshop for older adults with ongoing health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, heart disease and others. The free workshop will take place at the Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center, 45 Forest Ave. on six Thursdays, May 12 through June 16 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Although there is no charge to participate, registration is required. To register, call 215-619-8863.

The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is sponsoring an eight-week program called A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls. Presented by the Montgomery County Health Department, this workshop will be held on Tuesdays, May 3 to June 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ambler Center, 45 Forest Ave. If you pre-register by April 27, the fee is only $5! Registration at the first class is $10. (Checks should be payable to SAAC and will benefit our Meals on Wheels program that serves homebound seniors.) A workbook will be provided and refreshments will be served. Call 215-619-8863 to register or for more information.

Fort Washington Wellness Center classes are ongoing. There are several offered during lunch or right after work, for your convenience: Boot Camp from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday; Zumba is MWF from 11 a.m. to noon and Friday at 4 p.m.; there are 25 cycling classes; Ashtanga and Vinyasana Yoga and Pilates; and a group Womens Strength Training class M-F from 10 to 11 a.m. Questions, call Cathy DeMarco at 215-641-1245.

Following the success of other local area programs, Impact Sports and Upper Dublin Parks and Recreation are delighted to team up again to offer a spring program for the 2011 season! Upper Dublin area children ages 3-5 years old can attend a Sports Program featuring their favorite sports games; soccer, rugby, hockey, track and field, basketball, and more. The program will start on April 27 and run through June 1. Cost for the program is $85 for the six weeks. The classes will be running 12- 1 p.m.; 1- 2 p.m.; 2- 3 p.m. For more info or to register, call Upper Dublin Township on 215 643 1600 or visit their website a http://www.upperdublin.net.

Spring Aquatic Programs  UDHS Pool:

-Summer is just around the corner  Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool can help get you into shape! Programs begin in March; preregistration is required.

 Shallow Water Aerobics  Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 8-8:45 p.m., $40R/$50NR.

 Adult Swim Instructions  Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 7-8 p.m., $50R/$60NR

-Open Rec Swims are fun for the whole family! Come out on Fridays from 7-9 p.m. or Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and enjoy use of the pool and diving area. Fridays are offered through June 17; Saturdays are offered March 12-May 21.

-Join a growing group of adult lap swimmers and water walkers. Lanes are set aside evenings and weekends for use; lanes are shared. Monday  Thursday from 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Fridays from 7-9 p.m. and Saturdays (March 12-May 21) from 1-4 p.m.

-Private Swimming & Diving Lessons for ages 3-adult are offered at the UDHS Pool through a partnership with the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club (UDAC). Visit the UDAC website for more information, www.udac.us, and click the link to UDHS Private Lessons.

-Looking for local programs for US Masters Swimming (adults) or Water Polo (all ages)? UDAC and UDSD are working together to develop programs that will be offered at the UDHS Pool. Add your name to Interest Lists by emailing slohoefer@upperdublin.net. emails will be sent about clinics and program start dates.

Questions about Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool, group use of the pool or pool rental? Contact Susan Lohoefer, Facility & Community Affairs Manager at slohoefer@upperdublin.net or call 215-643-8800 x8994.

SilverSneakers Fitness Program. The Healthyways SilverSneakers Fitness Program is a result-oriented program that enables older adults to take charge of their health. The program is an innovative blend of physical activity, healthy lifestyle and socially oriented programing. Members of the program are eligible for a free YMCA membership, with use of the pool and exercise equipment, along with customized classes designed for older adults who want to improve their strength, flexibility, balance and endurance. If you are a subscriber to Independence Blue Cross (Personal Choice 65 PPO) or Keystone 65 HMO, Bravo Health, or Health Options Programs (HOP), call the Ambler Area YMCA, 215-628-9950 or Hatboro Area YMCA, 215-674-4545. You can also visit www.silversneakers.com.

Zumba Fitness offers Zumba dance/fitness classes at Academy of Dance and Music/BBAD Studio located at 1524 DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell (behind Sherwin Williams). Classes are offered three times a week: Tuesdays at 6 p.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. For a free trial pass for your first class, email us at info@danceandmusic.biz or call 610-277-2557. For more info, visit our site at www.academyofdanceandmusic.org.

Chestnut Hill Health Systems presents the following Health Education Programs:

FITNESS CLASSES

Golden Yoga: A Breathing, Stretching and Relaxation Class. Fridays, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Lea Auditorium, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. Registration for four classes at a time required. Golden Yoga is Classical Yoga, adapted by the SKY Foundation, to accommodate those who have difficulty getting up and down from the floor. The program includes postures, breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques, all performed while sitting in a chair and standing. Registration required. Call 215-247-3029. Cost: $20 for 4 classes per month.

Tai Chi: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:30  9:30 a.m. Springfield Residence, 8601 Stenton Ave. Classes, for the novice or beginner/intermediate student, are designed to improve balance, power, posture, coordination, flexibility and mental focus. Slow, gentle movements are modified to most everyones abilities. For more information or to sign up for a free introductory class, call 215-882-2804. Cost: $8 per class/paid monthly.

SUPPORT GROUPS

Weight Loss Surgery Support Group: Fourth Wednesday of the month, 7-8 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. Join us for a monthly get-together where well share information for those interested in weight loss surgery, learn from guest speakers discussing current news on issues including lifestyle modification, nutrition and exercise and provide ongoing support for those who have completed surgery. Registration required. Call 215-753-2000.

Breast Cancer Networking Group: Fourth Tuesday of the month 5:30  7 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. A free, confidential support group for women living with a diagnosis of breast cancer designed to provide a forum for sharing information, feelings and concerns associated with breast cancer. Facilitated by Tish Wakefield, LCSW, Oncology Social Worker. Registration required. To register or for more information, call 215-248-8047.

New Moms Support Groups Tuesdays 10:30 a.m.  12 p.m.; contact Jeanine ORourke, MSW or 2:30  4 p.m.; contact Susan Schack, Ph.D Volunteer Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. The Center for Postpartum Depression at Chestnut Hill Hospital is pleased to offer two new support groups to support new moms. Both groups will be run by experienced mental health professionals who really get it when it comes to new motherhood and juggling relationships, extended family, work/family balance and self-care. If you are experiencing new mom challenges that often heighten anxiety and involve hormonally driven depression, join us for an informative and supportive forum to connect with other moms. Infants are welcome. $30 per session (flexible based on need). Registration is required. Call Dr. Schack, 646-265-2484, or Ms. ORourke, 215-206-2931.

Man to Man Prostate Cancer Support Group Third Thursday of the month 8-9 a.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. A networking group for men diagnosed with prostate cancer designed to provide education, support and encouragement. Spouses and partners welcome. Harry M. Baer, MD, Chief, Urology Division, will host Ask the Doctor. Registration required. Call 215-248-8325.

Contact the Senior Center by phone 215-248-0180 or email (chseniors@cavtel.net) with your questions about these programs or any of our on-going activities and classes.

Holy Redeemer HomeCare and Hospice seeks compassionate and emotionally mature volunteers to provide support to local hospice patients and their families in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Volunteers may also assist with pet therapy and administrative work within the hospice department and are requested to have daytime availability. Hospice patient care volunteers visit with patients in their homes or nursing facilities once a week for two to three hours. They provide emotional support and companionship to patients and family members, assist with errands or provide respite for caregivers. Bereavement volunteers support the families of hospice patients following the loss of a loved one, while administrative volunteers assist with typing, mailings and/or filing. Hospice care workers provide a great service to families and loved ones of hospice patients. Many volunteers also report a great deal of personal satisfaction as a result of their services. Patient care and bereavement volunteers complete an application and attend an 18-hour volunteer training program that covers the medical, psychological and spiritual aspects of hospice volunteering. Day and evening training programs are offered. To sign up for volunteer opportunities in Pennsylvania, contact Holy Redeemer Volunteer Coordinator Jean Francis at 215-698-3737 or email jfrancis@holyredeemer.com.

Librarytalk

Upper Dublin Public Library, 805 Loch Alsh Avenue, Ft. Washington, 215-628-8744

www.upperdublinlibrary.org

APRIL CHILDRENS PROGRAMS:

Storytimes: Please register in the library.

o Wee Ones: 0 to 23 months Thursdays and Fridays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m.

o Tiny Tots: age 2. Wednesdays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. and Fridays 11 to 11:20 a.m.

o Jr. Book Lovers: ages 3 to 6. Tuesdays 10:30 to 11 a.m.

o Bedtime Storytimes: 7 to 7:30 p.m. April 20 and 27. Wear your jammies, bring your teddy & hear Miss Barbara read bedtime stories! For ages 3 to 6.

APRIL TEEN PROGRAMS:

North Hills Library Teens April 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. Movie Matinee

APRIL UDPL ADULT PROGRAMS:

NEW! ESL Conversation Group. Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. Interested in practicing your English in a safe and caring environment? Come to our conversation group and improve your skills! Please register with Kay Klocko at 215-628-8744 or kklocko@mclinc.org.

One-on-One Computer Mentoring. Get personalized assistance from experienced computer volunteers! Sign-up for a one-hour session. Limit one session per month. Please register  contact info above.

Book Groups Please register with Kay Klocko 215-628-8744.

o Daytimers: April 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tired of book groups where you all read the same book? Read any fiction or non-fiction book on this months theme: Explorers. Please register.

Meetings:

Annual Meeting of the Friends of UDPL: April 14 at 1 p.m.

Board of Directors: April 20 at 7 p.m.

Blue Bell Library www.wvpl.org Upcoming Events: The Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 650 Skippack Pike (Route 73) in Blue Bell, is diagonally across from the Blue Bell Inn. Call 215-643-1320 or visit their website at www.wvpl.org.

For children and teens at Blue Bell:

* Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian.

* Mondays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages.

* Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Family Movies, new releases, second Saturdays of the month at 1:30 p.m.

* May 14  Despicable Me

* June 11  Alpha and Omega

* Special Events

* April  watch for date of spring/Easter events

* April 14 at 4:30 p.m.  Junior Lego Club for children ages 3 through 5. Parents and caregivers need to stay with children.

* April 14 at 7 p.m.  Jeopardy for ages 11 to 18. Test your book and library knowledge for prizes. Sign up to be a contestant. No sign up to be in the audience. Snacks provided.

* April 16 at 1 p.m.  Adult Mystery Book Group discussing The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie King.

* April 16 at 1:30 p.m.  Childrens event for One Book, Every Young Child celebration. Story and craft for book Whose Shoes?

* April 19 at 7 p.m. and April 26 at 1:30 p.m.- Adult book group discusses The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. Group led by Adam Button.

* April 30 through May 3  Friends book sale with about 10,000 items for sale for children, teens and adults.

* May  sign up for Science in the Summer

* June  sign up for Enrichment Programs for Elementary-Age children

* June  sign up for Summer Reading, all ages

For adults at Blue Bell:

* Daytime Book Discussion Group  fourth Tuesday, Jan  April at 1:30 p.m.

* April 26  The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

* Night-time Book Discussion Group  third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m.

o April 19  The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

* Art Series with Dr. Sheldon Weintraub, docent at The Barnes and speaker at local colleges

o April 27 at 2 p.m. The Art of Looking at Art-Is She Nude or Is She Naked?

*Mystery Book Discussion Group, third Saturday of the month at 1 p.m.; new mystery theme each month; www.wvpl.org/programs

* Yoga on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop-in class.

* Tai Chi on Mondays at 3 p.m. with Dr. Kurt Findeisen. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop in class.

* Philadelphia Museum of Art presents class on their Marc Chagall exhibit, April 13 at 2 p.m.

* Giant Book Sale, April 29  May 3

o Starts with almost 10,000 items for children and adults!

o Held during library hours.

o Preview for members of the Friends of the Library, April 28 at 7 p.m.

o Join the Friends and attend the preview sale. Modest fee to join.

* Blooms at Blue Bell Gardening Series

o May 11 at 1 p.m.  Summer Bulbs by PA Horticultural Society

* Knitting group Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Work on your project or observe and learn. The groups continue year-round in the community room.

* Socrates Cafe discussion group every Monday at 7 p.m. You pick the topic to discuss each week. No sign-up, nothing to read.

* Bridge every Friday at 12:30 p.m. New players welcome.

* Mah Jong every Wednesday at 1 p.m. New players welcome.

*Chess every Wednesday at 7p.m. for adults and teens 14 and older.

* Movie Matinee showing recent releases every Thursday at 2 p.m. April 14: Maos Last Dancer; April 21: Welcome to the Rileys; April 28: Conviction; May 5: Inception; May 12: Inside Job; May 19 The Kings Speech; May 26 The Fighter; June 2 Rabbit Hole; June 9 Black Swan; June 16 127 Hours

* Ongoing like-new, year-round book sale for adults & children during library hours

* Library opening at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday!

Ambler Library, a branch of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 209 Race St., 215-646-1072. www.wvpl.org. All the following events occur at the Ambler Library.

* Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian.

* Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages.

* For adults:

* Beading Group meets the first and third Monday of every month at 1 p.m. Work on your own projects or come to watch and learn.

* Free Family History Lookup with Connie Briggs. Email Connie for an appointment at the Ambler Library. conniebriggs@comcast.net

* Special Events:

* April 14 at 1:30 p.m.  Book Group discusses Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian.

* April 19 at 7 p.m.  Travel to Paris with world traveler Harry Balin. Tea and scones at 6:30 p.m.

* April 21 at 7 p.m.  Art with Sara for children in fourth through seventh grades.

*May 2 at 6:30 p.m.  Discuss the movie Lone Star with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time.

*May 10  Robert Capucci discusses Art into Fashion. Tea and scones served at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m.

*May 12 at 1:30p.m.  Book Group discusses The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman.

*May 17  Tour the gardens of Devon and Southwest England with Lois McMullen. Tea and Scones at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m.

*June 13 at 6:30 p.m.  Discuss the movie Blade Runner with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time.

Meetings and Lectures

The Unisys Blue Bell Retiree Group will meet in the Church on the Mall in the Plymouth Meeting Mall April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Kathy Sacket Young, director/trainer with the North Penn YMCA, will speak on Keeping Fit in Retirement. For more information, contact Membership Committee Chairperson Jerry Feldscher at 610-275-3538 or President Al Rollin at 215-368-4833.

The next FWBA meeting will be April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m.; meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Leon Singletary, Principal, First Contact HR and FWBA Executive Board, will present: Social Media: How to Use It To Get More Business. Lunch is provided courtesy of the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Members are welcome to bring a guest. An RSVP is requested by return email or 215-628-0313.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA is hosting a information sessions over the next few weeks on how to become a Big Brother. The information sessions will take place: April 16 at noon, April 19 at 8 a.m. and April 28 at 6 p.m. All sessions will be held at the groups Norristown Office,t 530 DeKalb St., Norristown. For more information, call 610-277-2200.

The North Penn Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) normally meets on the third Tuesday of each month from now until May. Meetings are held at the William Penn Inn on Route 202 and Sumneytown Pike, Upper Gwynedd, PA. Social hour starts at 5:30 p.m., dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., and the technical program begins at 7 p.m. Cost with reservation is $28 for members. Members without reservations and guests pay $30. Students with reservations pay $15. Reservations may be made by noon on the Monday preceding the meeting by phoning 215-371-1854 or emailing the reservation to northpennima@yahoo.com northpennima@yahoo.com. Information about the North Penn Chapter is available at http://northpenn.imanet.org/.

LeTip, a professional organization of men and women who are dedicated to the highest standards of competence and service meets every Tuesday at Cedar Brook Country Club, 180 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell at 7 a.m. -meeting officially starts at 7:16 a.m. and ends at 8:31 a.m. Our purpose is the exchange of business tips, leads, and referrals. Each business category is represented by one member and conflicts of interest are disallowed. Guests are welcome to visit any of our breakfast meetings.

Every third Thursday of month, Sunrise Assisted Living of Blue Bell (795 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422, 215-619-2777) serves as a satellite site to 148th Legislative district PA congressman Mike Gerber from 10 a.m. to noon. Stop by for help needed with things such as disability placards and license plates, vehicle registration, utilities issues, birth/death certificates,property tax/rent rebates, etc. Notary services arranged by appointment.

The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce is an action-oriented organization dedicated to promoting its members and the economic health of eastern Montgomery county. The Chamber is committed to serving as a catalyst by uniting business, community agencies, government and education to make our county a great place to live and work. For information, call 215-887-5122 or visit www.emccc.org.

Do you have a fear of public speaking? Blue Bell Toastmasters Club can help. We meet from 7 to 9 p.m., on the second and fourth Tuesday at the Marriott Courtyard, located on Route 202, directly across from the Montgomeryville Mall. Learn how to improve communication and leadership skills in a friendly and supportive environment. Guests are welcome. Admission fee: $5. For more info, visit www.bbtoast.org.

The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will hold the following meetings (for reservations to any of the following, email info@PennSuburban.org)

-Breakfast News Network, 7:30-8:45 a.m. at Normandy Farm Hotel (1401 Morris Road, Blue Bell, PA 19422) $15 members, includes full buffet breakfast. Join us for a networking program at Normandy Farm Hotel every Thursday morning for breakfast, business news, informative speakers, and plenty of networking. The cost includes a full breakfast buffet. Copies of the business cards will be made available to those who would like them.

The BNI, Fort Washington Chapter meets every Monday at The Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington for a networking meeting. Meetings are from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Visitors are welcome. The only cost to attend is the cost of your meal. For information or a reservation to attend, please call Luanne Cram at 215-947-7784, or visit our Internet site at: http://www.BNIDVR.Com and click on the menu item Find a Chapter.

For the past seven years, people have enjoyed participating in WVWAs Adopt-a-Tree program. Individuals can support the Association in its reforestation efforts by purchasing native trees to be planted. Supporters can plant their adopted tree or have WVWA volunteers will plant it. Trees cost $30 each. If you would like to volunteer or purchase a tree(s), please contact: Bob Adams at Bob@wvwa.org or call: 215-646-8866 for more information. Check www.WVWA.org for directions and maps.

Sustainable Upper Dublin, http://sustainableupperdublin.org, meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the Upper Dublin Township Building, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington, PA 19034. Please send any questions to suec@sustainableupperdublin.org or call 610-996-6316. To learn more about Sustainable Upper Dublin, view or join the discussion at http://googlegroups.com/group/sustainableupperdublin.

Special Events

The Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard will hold its first nutrition class April 19 at 10 a.m. at the Community Cupboard, 150 N. Main St., Ambler. Lynne Sinclair, a nutritionist from Abington Memorial Hospital specializing in diabetic nutrition, will conduct the class. Topics will include healthy eating, beneficial foods, recipes, making meals with every day foods, and how to use unfamiliar produce. A healthy snack will be provided.The class is is open to all residents in Montgomery County.

The Historical Society of Fort Washington presents The History of Conshohocken April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Clifton House, 473 Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington. Jack Coll will present an illustrated program on the history of the Borough of Conshohocken. Coll is a longtime resident of Conshohocken and a member of the Conshohocken Historical Society. He is co-author with his son, Brian, of the Arcadia Then and Now Series book Conshohocken. He has also done books Conshohocken and West Conshohocken Sports and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian Feast. He has taken many photos for the Conshohocken Record and the Norristown Times Herald. This program is free. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, call 215-646-6065.

Taste of the White House Soiree featuring former White House Chef Walter Scheib will take place April 29 at 6 p.m. at Manufacturers Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington to celebrate HealthLinks 10th anniversary and honor its founders, the Eugene Jackson Family. The evening will heat up with a Chef Meet & Greet, followed by a specially selected presidential menu. Gala tickets are $150 per person. Proceeds benefit HealthLink, a free clinic providing compassionate, quality medical and dental care to uninsured, working adults in Bucks and Montgomery counties who fall in between the health care cracks. Go to http://tasteofthewhitehouse.charityhappenings.org to make reservations online or lend support through sponsorship. For event information, call 267-699-0124 or email jmarushak@healthlinkmedical.org.

The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association will hold an open house at the Evans-Mumbower Mill April 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Mill is at the corner of Swedesford and Township Line Roads in Upper Gwynedd. The open house is free but donations are welcome. For more information, call 215-646-8866 o email info@wvwa.org.

The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce will host Breakfast With Your County Commissioners and State Representatives April 21 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Fort Washington, 432 W. Pennasylvania Ave. Commissioners: James R. Matthews (Chairman), Joseph M. Hoeffel (Vice Chair), State Representatives: Todd Stephens (District 151) and Josh Shapiro (District 153). Register onlineat www.emccc.org. $10 for EMCCC member; $20 for non-members.

Upper Dublins Districtwide Allied Art Show will be held April 27 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the Upper Dublin High School Athletic Complex.

The Rev. Alfred Muli, chaplain at Fort Washington Estates, will be the featured speaker at the Kiwanis sponsored breakfast observing the National Day of Prayer May 5 at 7 a.m. at the William Penn Inn. The breakfast is open to the public ($15). Reservations can be made by calling 215-646-4356 or by emailing georgesaurman@Juno.com.

The Upper Dublin Shade Tree Commission invites people to participate in its spring bare root planting events, sponsored in part by Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Friends of Robbins Park. On April 9, zix trees will be planted at the Evelyn B. Wright Park & Community Pool, 401 Logan Ave., North Hills, at 9 a.m., followed by the planting of 10 trees at Sheeleigh Park, Loch Alsh Avenue and Douglas Street, Ambler, at 10:15 a.m. On April 29, students from Upper Dublin High School will join the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to plant 16 trees in Robbins Park, Butler Pike and Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, to help launch the societys Million Trees campaign. This event will occur in conjunction with Temple Amblers EarthFest. Experienced tree-tenders are sought to assist the students. For more information,contact Ron Ayres at 215-653-0421 or 215-483-4348.

The Friends of the Wissahickon and the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association are teaming up once again to clean the Wissahickon Creek from top to bottom April 30 from 9 a.m. to noon. This spring marks the 41st anniversary of Wissahickon Valley Watershed Associations annual Creek Clean Up, and the second year that FOW has teamed up with WVWA. Volunteers of all ages will clean the creek, the surrounding trails and the many tributaries of the Wissahickon Creek. Armed with bags, volunteers will be assigned to sections of the creek. Following the clean up, all volunteers are invited to WVWAs Talkin Trash picnic in Fort Washington State Park, with food provided by Whole Foods Market of North Wales. The pavilion is located on Mill Road in Flourtown. To help out in Montgomery County, all volunteers must be pre-assigned a section of the Wissahickon Creek to clean. Please contact Bob Adams, WVWA director of stewardship, at 215-646-8866 ext. 14 or bob@wvwa.org. To work with the Friends of the Wissahickon in Philadelphia, meet at the pavilion along Forbidden Drive, a short distance south of the intersection of Forbidden Drive and Northwestern Avenue. Limited parking is available along Northwestern Avenue and other nearby streets. Volunteers are encouraged to bike or carpool to the event. To participate, register at www.fow.org. Contact Kevin Groves with questions at 215-247-0417 ext. 105 or groves@fow.org.

Montgomery County Community Colleges International Club invites the community to the second annual International Festival April 20 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The rain date is April 26. The International Club will transform the outside quad area into multicultural celebration with various performances by dancers, singers and musicians. Artists will share their artwork at various display tables. Activities include games, raffles, Easter egg decorating and henna tattoos. Students will have samples of international cuisine at tables representing different countries and will serve food from various local ethnic restaurants. Throughout the evening, volunteers will accept donations and will raffle gift baskets and prizes to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. Donations of food, international clothes and prizes are needed. Volunteers, including artists and performers, are welcome. For more information or to sponsor an activity, contact Gillian Nel, International Club president, at gnel9277@students.mc3.edu or 267-974-0163.

The Arts and Humanities Division at Montgomery County Community College is partnering with the Philadelphia Writers Conference to host Memoirs Matter: How Life Stories (Including Yours) Can Transform Your Relationship to Literature April 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Advanced Technology Center room 101, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The event is free and open to the public. In the first part of this two-hour seminar, professor and author Robert Waxler will explain how writing his two memoirs affected his life as well as his relationship to literature. In the second part, blogger and workshop leader Jerry Waxler will present a sequence of steps to help writers find their own story. For information, contact Dana Resente at dresente@mc3.edu.

The Maple Glen Garden Club will hold its fourth annual Plant Sale on May 7 from 8 to 11 a.m. Perennials, shrubs, vegetables and native plants grown by the club members will be sold. The club uses the plant sale proceeds to fund community projects, a college scholarship and community plantings. The sale will be held in the 500 block of Coach Road, Horsham, as part of a neighborhood garage sale. Plants will be sold at bargain prices. For more information, email MapleGlenGardenClub@gmail.com.

The Relay for Life Craft Show is looking for local crafters to participate in show, which will be May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Wissahickon High School track, 521 Houston Road, Ambler. There is a $10 entry fee, and 20 percent of sales are donated to the American Cancer Society. Participants will receive a 6-foot table under a tent. For information, contact Joanne at joannescoles@comcast.net or Mindy at mcamsilver@comcast.net.

Spring House Estates is hosting its annual book fair on April 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. and April 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Included will be hardback and paperback used books. Spring House Estates is located at 728 Norristown Road, Lower Gwynedd.

The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will present the Penn Suburban/Hatfield Joint Business Card Exchange April 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Univest Bank Lansdale Area Financial Service Center, 120 Forty Foot Road, Hatfield. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. Join Univest National Bank and Trust Co. for a spring-inspired Business Card Exchange at its newest office in the Hatfield Pointe Shopping Center. Come out and meet members of Univests executive management team while enjoying fine food and beverages.

13th Annual Community Reading Day Kick-off Breakfast Get Together April 26 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the North Wales Area Library, 233 Swartley St., North Wales. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. For more information, contact the chamber office at 215-362-9200 or info@pennsuburban.org. Join presenting sponsor Verizon, chamber staff and fellow members for the Community Reading Day volunteer get together. The Community Reading Day program allows volunteers to read a designated book to second-grade students throughout 38 area public and private schools and present the book as a gift to each class. Even if you are not a volunteer, you are cordially invited to stop by to network, enjoy coffee and pastries.

Ambler Mennonite Church is hosting a Spring Craft Show and Flea Market May 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rain date will be May 28. The community is invited to shop the great craft booths, find some gifts and deals, as well as enjoy home baked goods and tasty lunch specials. Childrens activities are planned. All vendors are encouraged to contact the church at 215-643-4876 or AmblerMennonite@verizon.net. Advertising, signage, customer parking and a shuttle to auxiliary parking at nearby lots for vendors will be provided. 10 foot by 10 foot spaces can be rented for $5 each and tables for an additional $5 each. All proceeds from space and table rentals go toward school kits for children around the world. The church is located at the corner of East Mt. Pleasant Avenue and North Spring Garden Street, Ambler.

The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association presents The Life & Times of Aquatic Insects in the Wissahickon Creek April 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. Join WVWA for a hands-on program. RSVP required: www.wvwa.org or 215-646-8866. WVWA member fee: $5 per person / $15 per family. Non-WVWA member fee: $10 per person / $20 per family.

The photography exhibition Natures Palette by photo-artist Judy Miller will run March 18 to May 19 at the Art in the Storefront gallery, 41 E. Butler Pike, Ambler.

JPRN  Networking For People in Transition & People Who Can Help Them  Unemployment remains high. JPRN, the Jarrettown Professional Relationship Network can help. Are you trying to network your way to a new job? Do you have expertise or contacts that can help people in transition? Is your company or organization looking for people in the area? This is a free outreach program to support those seeking work, involve people with contacts and networking know how, and involve local companies. Meetings held monthly at Jarrettown United Methodist Church, Limekiln Pike.

Pennsylvanias Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) grant program is now open for the 2010-11 heating season. Grants are based on income, family size, type of heating fuel and region. Additional information, such as specific income limits, and applications for LIHEAP grants are available online via the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Access to Social Services (COMPASS) website at www.compass.state.pa.us. Applications are available at most public officals district offices, county assistance offices, local utility companies and community service agencies, such as Area Agencies on Aging or community action agencies.

Begin your holiday shopping at Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation! Entertainment books for 2011, Philadelphia North, are now on sale at $30 each. Regal/United Artists movie tickets are on sale for just $7.50 each, and tickets to the Adventure Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium, and the Philadelphia Zoo are also available. Discounted ski vouchers to area mountains will be arriving in December; call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

RSVP of Montgomery County and the Wissahickon Valley Public Library have partnered again to offer the public their popular free mock interview sessions. The mock interviews are conducted by RSVP volunteers who are retired professionals, some of whom were in hiring positions themselves. Packets of information which include a sample employment application and interviewing tips with mock interview questions are available at the library to pick up prior to a scheduled mock interview or will be sent via email once the interview is scheduled. To schedule your interview, please contact Janis Glusman at RSVP 610-834-1040, ext. 16. The library is also offering a free resume review service. Bring in your current resume and the professional reference staff will assist you with hints and tips on capturing your work history accurately.

Registration for Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation summer playgrounds, Camp B.I.G. and Small Folks, X-Zone, and sports camps has began. Register online at www.upperdublin.net/store, or at the UDP&R office, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington. Call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information.

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Danielles Espresso Cafe presents Mornings at Mondaug Bark Park April 16 and May 21 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Meet fellow dog lovers. These events include complimentary coffee, treats for people and pups and raffles/giveaways.

Upper Dublins Annual Spring Flea Market will be held June 4 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reserve a table, or come and shop. Tables are $15 for UD residents, $20 for non-residents. This successful event occurs rain or shine. Refreshments available. Call 215-643-1600 ext. 3443 to register for a table.

Regal movie tickets available for purchase at Upper Dublin Township Parks & Recreation. Reduced rate: $7.50 per ticket. Some restrictions apply. Call 215-643-1600 x3443.

Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation movie tickets $7.50 Regal Cinemas, United Artist & Edwards Cinemas on sale throughout the year Monday  Friday from 9 a.m.  4 p.m.

Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation Camp Sign-ups for Stony Creek Day Camp  Stony Creek Tracers and Park n Tots. Register on-line at www.whitpaintownship.org OrCome to Township Building with check or Visa MasterCard Monday  Friday from 9 a.m.  4 p.m. For additional information call 610.277-2400 ext. 374

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation offers exciting new programs for the fall:

-Returning favorites include UK Elite Petite Soccer, Tiny Dancers, Kiddie Tennis, Fun-nastics, Messy Playtime, Little Chefs, and more. Babysitters Training will be offered in November and December. Continuing Adult Fitness Classes include Cardio Circuit, Core & More, Yoga, Boxing, and Adult G.Y.M. For more information call 215-643-1600 x3443. Register for programs online at www.upperdublin.net/store.

Music and Theater

The community is invited to a Cantors Concert April 16 at 8 p.m. Congregation Beth Or, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen. Listen and hum-along to the Yiddish, pop tunes and classical music performed by Congregation Beth Ors own Cantor David Green and his special guest, Cantor Irvin Bell, from Temple Beth Israel in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The cantors will be accompanied by Mark Sobol and his Klezmer musicians. Tickets are $18 in advance and $25 at the door. RSVP with payment to Barb Murtha, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen, PA 19002, or call 215-646-5806 ext. 220.

Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse will host the Jameson Sisters May 14. Doors open at 7:30 pm, performance at 8:00 pm. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse is located at the corner of Rte. 202 & Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd. $5 suggested donation. Light refreshment available at a modest cost. For further information, call 215-393-9576 or visit gwyneddmeeting.org/coffeehouse.html.

Celebrate patriotism through song with Gwynedd-Mercy Colleges choir, the Voices of Gwynedd, as it presents Hear America Singing April 15 at 8 p.m. The choir will perform song selections from all over the country, including Georgia on My Mind, New York State of Mind, and a medley including Philadelphia Freedom and Allentown. The performance will end with When the Saints Go Marching In to acknowledge the choirs upcoming tour in New Orleans. Hear America Singing will take place in the Julia Ball Auditorium, located in St. Bernard Hall. Parking is available in lots A, C and D. Admission is free.

The Choristers will present Anton Dvoraks Stabat Mater April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler. The choir will be accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $10 for students and children are free. Tickets will be sold in advance or at the door. For more information, call 215-542-7871 or visit TheChoristers.org

Religious News

The Staircase Gallery at Or Hadash: A Reconstructionist Congregation in Fort Washington will feature the work of Emily Ennuat-Lustine. The artist will be showing paintings and graphics inspired by her own personal spiritual journey and quest for meaning. Some of the works to be shown have been inspired by Biblical Psalms and writings. Her work has been shown at Abington Art Center, Cheltenham Arts Center and Old City Gallery of Jewish Art among others. The exhibition is open Friday evenings starting Feb. 18 after Shabbat services. Gallery hours are: Mondays through Thursdays 10-4:30, Fridays 10-3 and following Shabbat Services and Sundays 10-1. The synagogue is located at 190 Camp Hill Road in Fort Washington. For additional information contact the synagogue office at 215-283-0276.

Reunions

St. Matthews High School Conshohocken Class of 1961 is looking for classmates. For details, contact Greg Marincola at 215-646-2239, 215-740-1296 or gregcola@comcast.net.

Olney High School Class of 1971 is Lloking for classmates for a 40th reunion Oct. 28. For details, contact Judy at ohsclassof71@yahoo.com or 215-870-7572.

Abington High School Class of 1961 is seeking classmates for a 50-year reunion to be held Oct. 14-15, 2011.Visit the website, www.abington61.com, for details or call 215-947-1779.

Overbrook High School class of January 1956 is having a 55 year reunion on May 22, 2011 at the Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia. For information please contact overbrookreunion56@comcast.net

Germantown High School Class Of January 1961 is looking for classmates for 50th year reunion to take place in May of 2011. Please contact: 215-362-9148, 856-577-0659 or samdelcomo@comcast.net

The June 1961 class of Germantown High School is holding their 50th reunion on May 15, which will be a brunch. For further details please contact Linda Dorfman Alten at lindaalten@yahoo.com or call 215-441-8411.

Support

New Life Presbyterian Church in Dresher, will host GriefShare, a special seminar and support group which will run on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., from March 7 through June 6. At each meeting there will be a DVD about the grief process, discussion and reference to a grief workbook. Preregistration is required to secure a place in the group and to purchase a GriefShare notebook (for a one-time fee of $15). The notebook goes along with the 13-week schedule covering such topics as: living with grief, the effects of grief, and stuck in grief. For more information or to register, call: Sandy Elder at 215-884-5149.

PUPS (People Understanding Parkinsons) A self-help group for those adjusting to a new diagnosis or dealing with the early stages of Parkinsons Disease. Meets fourth Tuesday of the month from 1 to 2:30 p.m., at Abington Health Center, Schilling Campus, Willowood Building, 2510 Maryland Road, Suite 251, Willow Grove. For more information or to RSVP, contact Lorna at 215-542-2931.

The North Penn Visiting Nurse Associations Meals on Wheels program is looking for volunteers to pack or deliver meals to the elderly and infirmed. Meals are packed and delivered mornings, Monday through Friday. You can volunteer for as many days per week or month as you would like. Packaging meals requires approximately 2-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves making sandwiches, packaging food into individual serving containers and packing coolers with the meals. Delivering meals requires approximately 1-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves loading coolers into your car and delivering a route of approximately 10 to 15 stops. The Meals on Wheels program is also in need of emergency, winter-weather volunteers to pack and deliver meals in bad weather. North Penn VNA is located at 51 Medical Campus Drive in Lansdale and delivers meals in the Lansdale, North Wales and Blue Bell areas. For more information or to volunteer, please call Bridget, North Penn VNA Meals on Wheels coordinator at 215-855-8296.

Elkins Park Area CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) meets the first Tuesday of every month, 7- 8:30 p.m., at Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital in Elkins Park. For information on CHADD or ADHD, please see our website www.chadd.net/249 or call Claire Noyes at: 215-779-6656.

Center for Loss and Bereavement, 3847 Skippack Pike, Skippack (610-222-4110) www.bereavementcenter.org Offers professional counseling for individuals, couples, children and families dealing with issues of loss and bereavement. Six-week adult support groups: Newly forming young adult grief support group  every other Wednesday, 7  8:15 p.m. (free of charge); Monthly loss of child support  second Mondays, 7-8:15 p.m.; Six-week young loss of spouse/partner  Thursdays, 10-11:15 a.m.; Other groups scheduled as interest is shown for suicide loss support, adult loss of parent, motherless daughters, adult loss of sibling, coping with chronic illness and disability and mens loss of spouse. Nellos Corner Family Bereavement program offers peer grief support groups for ages 4 through teen and their caregivers  Every other Tuesday or Wednesday (free of charge) Local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children also meets at the Center. Registration required. Call for further information.

CHADD is a national organization for children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, providing education, advocacy and support for individuals and their families with AD/HD. Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital, 60 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027, will host children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder on the First Tuesday of each month 7  8:30 p.m. Free, no childcare provided.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphias Kehillah of Old York Road is sponsoring a free Caregiver Support Group for individuals who care for an elderly person with cognitive and/or physical impairments. The group meets at SarahCare Adult Day Care Center, 101 Washington Lane, Suite G-6, Jenkintown, Pa., on the first Wednesday of each month. Patty Rich,Rox United U12 Raiders get tripped up by PalumboLetter to editor: Congress can get this rightAugust 28, 2018 How Media Failures Complicate The Nuclear Talks With North Korea North Korea recently again asked the Trump administration to stick to the three steps agreed upon in the Singapore Statement. The Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin characterizes the North Korean request as "belligerent": Pompeo received the letter from Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of North Koreas ruling Workers Party Central Committee, on Friday morning, and showed it to Trump in the White House, two senior administration officials confirmed. The exact contents of the message are unclear, but it was sufficiently belligerent that Trump and Pompeo decided to call off Pompeos journey ... Reuters amplified the alleged "belligerence" when it headlined: Trump called off Pompeo's North Korea visit after belligerent letter: report WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump called off a visit to North Korea by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after the latter received a belligerent letter from a senior North Korean official just hours after the trip was announced last week, the Washington Post reported on Monday. Reuters must know that Josh Rogin does not do "reporting". He is not a journalist but a neocon shill with a direct line to John Bolton. He publishes his effusions in the Opinion section of the paper, not in its news parts. CNN then entered the frail and reported the real content of the letter: North Korea warns Pompeo denuclearization talks are 'at stake,' sources say: Top North Korean officials warned the United States in a letter that denuclearization talks are "again at stake and may fall apart," sources familiar with the process told CNN. The letter was delivered to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, whose fourth trip to Pyongyang was abruptly canceled, hours before he was scheduled to depart with his new special envoy Stephen Biegun on Friday, sources said. Three sources with direct knowledge of the North Korean position on denuclearization said the letter stated that Kim's regime felt that the process couldn't move forward because "the US is still not ready to meet (North Korean) expectations in terms of taking a step forward to sign a peace treaty." The described demand by North Korea to follow the agreed upon steps is certainly not 'belligerent'. After the CNN reported the real content of the letter Reuters changed its 'belligerent' headline to: North Korea tells U.S. denuclearisation talks may fall apart - CNN but the URL to the piece on the Reuters website still reflects the original headline: https://in.reuters.com/article/northkorea-usa/trump-called-off-pompeos-north-korea-visit-after-belligerent-letter-report-idINKCN1LC2HA. The text though is now heavily modified: WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean officials have warned in a letter to the United States that denuclearisation talks were again at stake and may fall apart, CNN reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

...

The Washington Post reported on Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump called off a visit to North Korea by Pompeo after the latter received a belligerent letter from a senior North Korean official just hours after the trip was announced last week. The "belligerent" Washington Post nonsense was moved down from the headline and first graph to the seventh of nine paragraphs. It should have been deleted or further modified. This incident demonstrates two problems: News agencies like Associated Press, Reuters, AFP or DPA have increased their distribution of opinions and vague reports picked from other media without confirming the content themselves. Reuters first picked the item from an Opinion piece in the Washington Post and then corrected it with the bits it gleaned from a CNN piece. Where are its own reporters? Has Reuters given up on those? This is an abrogation of the original task and purpose of a general news agency.

Websites which more or less automatically re-publish news agency reports do not have an automatic update process which replaces news-agency report with updates or corrections should the agency release any. A search for the "belligerent" Reuters headline finds more than 30 such entries hours after the original was updated and the headline changed. The lack of an automatic update procedure for agency news leaves a large amount of 'official' fakenews alive on the web even when the original piece has been retracted or modified. Back to the North Korea issue. It is obvious that the Trump administration is not willing to follow the agreed upon sequence in the Singapore Statement and Panmunjom Declaration. It wants to proceed with step three, an aspirational North Korean promise to "work towards" denuclearization, before taking step one and two which prescribe the move towards better relations and a peace treaty. Instead of criticizing the unwillingness of the Trump administration to stick to its commitment, U.S. media push the administration further down its belligerent path. A Washington Post editorial today laments that the Singapore negotiations have given North Korea too much. It urges Trump further into the blind alley he already finds himself in: The administrations best hope of rescuing the situation is to return to talking with North Korea about an equitable tradeoff. To start the process of denuclearization, U.S. officials say the Kim regime must provide a complete inventory of its assets  warheads, production facilities and other nuclear infrastructure  and agree to inspections to verify it. Previous negotiations have broken down because of Pyongyangs refusal to take this step, so a full disclosure would provide the first clear signal that Mr. Kim was serious about denuclearization. That, along with a freeze in the production of missiles and fissile materials, could justify U.S. participation in the end-of-conflict declaration the two Koreas are seeking. This is exactly what Trump and his water carrier Pompeo are doing. They demand that North Korea bows to whatever the U.S. wishes without assuring it of a significant quid pro quo. If the U.S. can not even stick to simple agreements, like the Singapore Statement, why should North Korea believe any verbal assurance of vague steps the U.S. might take after it disarms? The only way out of this is for the U.S. to offer and sign a peace treaty that finally brings the Korea War to an official end. There is only one alternatives to that. A return of U.S. strategic maneuvers, which Defense Secretary Mattis just now announced, followed by North Korea with new nuclear and missile tests, possibly combined in a launch towards Guam. The 2020 commission report explains what we can expect to follow from these steps. Posted by b on August 28, 2018 at 15:53 UTC | Permalink CommentsWelcome to Morningstar.co.uk!

You have been redirected here from Hemscott.com as we are merging our websites to provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment research needs.To search for a security, type the name or ticker in the search box at the top of the page and select from the dropdown results.Registered Hemscott users can log in to Morningstar using the same login details. Similarly, if you are a Hemscott Premium user, you now have a Morningstar Premium account which you can access using the same login details.Voted to the top of The Bourbon Reviews Americas 75 Best Bourbon Bars, each year since 2014 and named by Mens Journal as one of the 10 Best Bourbon Bars in America, this historic Miami Valley bourbon house has turned many a Daytonian into a bourbon lover.

According to Whiskey Advocate The Century Bar has built its reputation in the trenches, pouring education with every shot and picking fine private selections of Wild Turkey, Four Roses, and Buffalo Trace. They have the largest bourbon collection in the state of Ohio. Much of that credit is due to co-owner Joe Head, whos passion for bourbon has made him an in demand celebrity at bourbon festivals across the midwest. The bar, which has been open since 1942 had hit a lull in business and as a bartender there Joe knew they needed something to revive business. He talked owner Diane Spitzig into changing the bar from what had become know as a metal bar into specializing in bourbon. Head proceeded to change the bar offerings and the clientele and became Dianes business partner in what has become Daytons most nationally know drinking establishment.

.

In honor of Bourbon Heritage month this September, Joe will be doing three One Man Bourbon Show  blind bourbon tastings.

These will take place here at the Century on Wednesday the 12th ,19th and 26th of September. These will be very intimate, as we are limiting each night to only 12 attendees. The only place you can purchase your tickets is at the Century, located downtown at 10 S Jefferson Street, starting this Thursday August 30th at 3:00 pm. Tickets are $75 per person. Having attended Joes tastings before, I can assure you it will be highly educational in a fun way. Joes storytelling alone is worth the ticket price. But hurry, these tastings will sell out quickly!Sesa sen By

Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: Reliance Jio can take the credit for putting a thought-through consolidation strategy to destabilise the incumbents. Less than two years since rolling out 4G services, the Mukesh Ambani led-company is not far from becoming a numero uno player  not just limited to mobile telephony but in fiber to home space (FTTH) to boot. With the successful completion of the fiber monetisation transaction, Reliance Communication has transferred 1.78 lakh km of fiber to RJio, Rcom said in a statement. With this, Jio will now have a much larger network, controlling 4.28 lakh kilometers of inter and intra-city fiber across the country.

Earlier, the white knight for the Anil Ambani group company has also acquired Rcoms media convergence nodes (MNCs) and related infrastructure assets worth Rs 2,000 crore. As part of a deal signed by the Ambani brothers last year, the big brother will become the sole owner of Rcoms assets which includes more than 43,000 towers, 1.78-lakh route km of optical fiber cable network, 122.4 MHz of spectrum in the 800, 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz bands and 248 MCNs.

Analysts say these assets are expected to expedite RJios bigger plans of large-scale rollout of wireless, FTTH and enterprise service. These assets are crucial for RJio, Indias second largest tower owner, and will help the company to launch its FTTH service in over 30 cities across the country next year, taking on Bharti Airtel, noted a senior telecom analyst. According to the latest TRAI data, the optical fiber-based broadband segment is currently dominated by BSNL (9.24 million), followed by Bharti Airtel (2.19 million) as on April, 2018.

For Jio, the acquisition is also in line with its aggressive customer acquisition strategy. Firstly, the company may immediately disrupt the broadband pricing, forcing bigger rival Airtel to slash rates and secondly, if the company chooses to bundle its wired broadband packs with current 4G packs, the larger mobile services market would also feel the pinch, said the analyst. Clearly, it will help the company to meet its target of 100 million television households in the next 12 months, he added.Chetana Belagere By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Bengaluru police are on the lookout for an interstate gang which is allegedly cheating medical seat aspirants by promising them seats for as much as Rs 30 lakh. In the past 10 days, three people have been cheated of Rs 52 lakh in total. Police, however, claim to have made a breakthrough in the cases and say they will soon nab the accused.

A farmers son from Tamil Nadu was duped of Rs 9.5 lakh by a gang which promised him a private medical college in the city. A case was registered with Cubbon Park police on Friday. Police said Balaji S, a medical seat aspirant, received a call on his mobile from one Rajkumar Tiberwal on August 16. The caller said he will get him a seat in a private medical college in Bengaluru for Rs 20 lakh. Balaji paid Rs 9.5 lakh as advance at Barton Centre in MG Road on August 24.

After this transaction, the accused promised to call him back. However, soon after this, Tiberwals phone was switched off. This is when Balaji realised that he had been duped. Similarly, a Haryana-based businessman was duped of Rs 21.5 lakh by a conman who promised a medical seat for his son at KIMS.

The complainant, Kishan Lal, is a businessman from Karnal in Haryana. Lal met one Bhupender Singh, who runs a consultancy firm Vision Enterprises in New Delhi and asked for a medical seat for his son. Police said, He submitted documents to check whether his son was eligible for a medical seat. After going through the documents, Singh told Lal that he could get a seat for his son at Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences in Bengaluru, and sought Rs 1.5 lakh as processing fee. Lal was also told that the seat would cost himRs 20 lakh.

When Lal came to Bengaluru on August 10, he was asked to pay Rs 20 lakh, which was handed over to the accused in cash at a coffee shop on MG Road.Interestingly, Singh, also gave Lal a letter, which was purportedly from the college. He assured Lal that his son will get a call from the college over the progress of his admission, police added.

Next day, when Lal went to the college authorities, he was told that there is no such seat for his son. Singhs phone was unreachable by now. This is when Lal realised that he had been duped and filed a complaint with Cubbon Park police on August 23.

Police suspect the conmen to be of the same gang since their modus operandi was the same. We have zeroed in on the accused gang and will nab them soon, a senior police officer from Cubbon Park police station confirmed.

Panjagutta Police in Andhra Pradesh have registered another cheating case against two men who promised a medical seat and cheated the aspirant of Rs 21 lakh. The duo - Shashank Shekar and Dinesh Singh - had promised one P Changal Rayudus son a seat in Vydehi Medical College in Bengaluru for Rs 52 lakh. After the payment was made, the father-son-duo came to Bengaluru and realised that they had been duped.

A senior police officer told The New Indian Express, Every year, during the medical seat distribution time, there are many such cases registered. The touts get the names and numbers of MBBS aspirants through NEET registrations and result sheets. It is a large-scale scam and the victims are mostly from other states. There are gangs which have cheated hundreds of students. People have to be extremely careful.Samuel Merigala By

Express News Service

CHENNAI : We dont really remember how we came up with the name The F16s, says Josh, the bands front-man. While it is clear the band wasnt named after the iconic fighter jet, they have been flying high, far and wide across the country, making stops at all the major music destinations, and nuking the trigger points of their loyal millennial fanbase.

When The F16s started out in 2013, they were ahead of their times for Chennai independent music scene. They were synthesising their live output through a MacBook, experimenting with electronica and dubstep overlays when most others were playing covers of their dads favourite songs, or funking around.

It wasnt a conscious decision to experiment with an electronica-driven alternative rock sound, which would become mainstream in the next five years. But they are grateful for the change in listeners music preferences that has helped them churn out lyric-heavy numbers boiling with individual anguish. From incessantly acclimatising audiences with their sound at college competitions, festivals, to stealing rock n roll giant Indus Creeds thunder at the Covelong Point Surf, Music and Yoga festival this year, the five-piece band are on an upward curve. City Express caught up with The F16s.

What is your music about?

Our music stems from basic human emotions. Anger, pain and fear is something everyone feels on a daily basis. Our last album Triggerpunkte (2016)  means trigger points in German. The songs are about trivial things that can push a person to the edge and show who they really are. Our first EP Kaleidoscope (2013) is a little all over the place but it also deals with the individual.

Is it a conscious choice to limit your music to the individual? Is there a censor?

Not really. But there is a censor. At least there should be. You cant say whatever you want and hope to not get your legs broken in this country. We shy away from politically charged music because we dont know enough. However, our next EP Wknd Frnds is about a group and its dynamics.

Is it unnerving to be an independent outfit? What is your revenue model?

Yes, but being independent lets us pick where we want to play and when. We used money from winning competitions to record our EP Kaleidoscope. Live gigs bring us money but production is expensive. So we have opened a crowdfunding portal on our website www.thef16s.com, where fans can contribute to help us.

You have played across the country. Have you run out of destinations?

Yes, its true weve almost exhausted all the venues in the country and we dont want to get into this cycle. We saw the doors that opened up after recording our EP Nobodys Gonna Wait in New York in 2013. Taking our music to other countries and putting ourselves on a global map is definitely on the cards.

Band members

Vocals / guitars - Josh Fernandez

Bass - Sashank Manohar

Guitars - Abhinav Krishnaswamy

Keyboard / Synths - Harshan Radhakrishnan

Drums - Vikram YesudasAditya Chunduru By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Left-wing sympathiser and revolutionary writer Pendyala Varavara Rao's wife Hemalatha, soon after police nabbed her husband, said arrests or searches at their home is nothing new. At the same time, she said Tuesday's raid that followed Rao's arrest was first of its kind.

This is the first time in our life that something like this has happened. They have raided our daughters and sons-in-law who do not know anything and have nothing to do with them. One of my sons-in-law teaches at EFLU, what will he know? Families being targeted is new for us, she said.

According to her, around 20 policemen came in the morning at 8:30 a.m. "All of them spoke in Marathi and to us in Hindi. One of them was a city police SI from the nearby police station. Since my husband was a BP patient, they let me cook rice for him, he ate curd rice," said Hemalatha, adding that no one misbehaved or talked to them rudely.

"He had around 20 cases on his name and is acquitted in all of them. We are used to arrests and searches."

ALSO READ: Bhima Koregaon violence: Outrage over multi-city raids, arrests of rights activists

But, she said, "everytime they knocked on our door, they would tell us Sir needs to be arrested and thats about it. Today they made us sit in one corner and they searched the entire home. Some sarees and clothes were thrown onto a diwan after the raids were over. When asked what was seized or taken, she said, They took cellphones, both of ours and some of his old ones, and a computer hard disk. At the end they made us sign a document listing what they took.

I have no fear about this case, it is a false one and there is no substance in it. But I am afraid of his health, he is 78, and has some issues. But I have full faith in his willpower

After the medical examination at Gandhi hospital in Secunderabad, Rao was produced before a local court at Nampally for a transit warrant. He is to be shifted to Pune for further inquiry.

Rao and wife Hemalatha were supposed to go to Warangal on Tuesday to meet their eldest daughter Sahaja.

Sahaja who rushed to her parents' home in Ashok Nagar upon hearing news reports broke down and maintained All this happened when I was not there, I wish I was here Amma.

Editor of Veekshanam and a close aide of Varavara Rao, G Venugopal, said: He may get bail sometime later. He will be harassed for sometime. Finally, the case is a false one and will not stand the scrutiny of the court." When asked what their plan was, he said, Right now Prashanth Bhushan and Vrinda Grover have moved SC for bail, he said.

Would the family or anyone else travel to Pune? Venugopal said they had lawyers in Pune so they did not decide if they wanted to go. Houses of both daughters have also been raided and we still do not know all the details, he added

Supporters and members of the CPI ML-ND were seen discussing in hushed tones whether Varavara Rao will be treated like professor Sai Baba. They have foisted some false cases and it will go on all the way. This is a politically charged arrest, says CPIML-ND union IFTUs secretary Pradeep.

According to him, the CPIML-ND will soon take up country-wide protests against today's arrests. They also sought Telangana government's intervention in protection of democratic rights.

Meanwhile, Kranti Tekula, a photojournalist with a vernacular media house, earlier said to be arrested in connection with the case came out to media and said he has no role in the case and had nothing to

do.By Express News Service

KOCHI: Kerala should set up urgently a Disaster Response Team of at least 100 people with sufficient equipment, including boats, in all constituencies to handle effectively any future disasters and other emergencies, said Better Kochi Response Group (BKRG).

In a memorandum submitted to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, BKRG said the team should be trained and multi-skilled in handling crisis situations like floods, earthquakes, fire, explosions and mass evacuations.

Such skill development should also be made a part of the curriculum in every school, college and other professional institutions. The Government should fund these training programmes as is being done in other skill development programmes, the memorandum said

BKRG, a Kochi-based voluntary initiative of close to 30 very senior accomplished professionals, with architect S Gopakumar as its president and Shirly Chacko as secretary, made other recommendations too.

Recommendations

1. A total recovery operation plan should be developed by the government using specialists and external consultants.

2. Those whose houses have been damaged either beyond repair or require substantial repairs, the needed support has to be provided by the government/NGOs/local committees.

3. For those who have lost their houses totally or are so badly damaged that they cannot be occupied, some kind of temporary housing facilities - like army dormitories/ barracks/container units with partitions to separate families etc - have to be provided till such time their houses are reconstructed.

4. Sufficient care has to be taken to deal with carcasses of animals and dead bodies of humans in and around the houses which could aggravate the situation.

The government should also issue directives to make it mandatory for all affected family members and all rescue workers engaged in the relief operations to go through a comprehensive vaccination programme to prevent the onset of typhoid, cholera & hepatitis

5. The Health Department should be ready to hold medical camps wherever required in association with IMA/other medical associations.

6. Since the tasks involved are huge, it will be necessary to involve corporates/industry and trade bodies/NGOs and self-help groups in a well coordinated programme of action to achieve the objectives.

7. It is strongly recommended that every house with an approved door number must take a home insurance protecting the owners against natural disasters. This should be made mandatory and the government should facilitate the launch of such a scheme in association with insurance companies.

8. Constant interaction with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) shall be held, complying with the guidelines of NDMA.By Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA:Despite announcing Dasara as State festival, the government has not allotted funds for the conduct of the festival at Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam, Indrakeeladri.

The temple authorities have no other option than making use of donations made by devotees and submit the bills to the government for seeking reimbursement after completion of Dasara celebrations.

According to temple officials, in October 2015, the State government issued a GO declaring Dasara as a State festival. The government has not sanctioned the promised funds of `10 crore till now. This year too, the devasthanam officials have prepared estimations of around ` 2.10 crore for the smooth conduct of the nine-day festivities at the hill shrine from October 10.

Over the years, devotees influx to the temple has doubled and during the Dasara festival, around 5 lakh devotees from various states are expected to visit the temple. To make arrangements for such a large crowd, the temple officials are relying on the funds allocated by the department of endowments rather than waiting for the State governments help.

The State Government has said it will provide autonomous status to Goddess Kanaka Durga temple, the second largest temple after Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) in terms of devotees influx. We have submitted representations to the endowments commissioner seeking autonomous status for the temple, but there was no response from the government, said a temple official on condition of anonymity.By Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (APEDB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Alibaba Cloud India with an objective to leverage the Ali Clouds ET city brain solution for sustainable farming by using smart technologies, integrated traffic management, smart city management, small and medium enterprises and skill development programmes.

The Managing Director of Alibaba Cloud India, Dr Alex Li, and the CEO of APEDB, J Krishna Kishore exchanged the MoU in the presence of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday. The meeting is said to be a follow up Naidus meeting with Alibaba Group heads during World Economic Forum in Davos earlier in January this year.

According to a press release from the Chief Ministers office, Alibaba cloud would help MSMEs to establish their online front and for enabling digital payments systems. The group is also likely to extend cooperation in real time governance as well.

The CM asked the Alibaba officials to conduct further research in cloud storage so that the available resources should be used judiciously. He said technology should be linked to nature for creating wonders. He stressed as creating a positive and a constructive environment is the need of the hour, which would lead to happiness. The staff members of Saptagiri Grameena Bank met CM Naidu and donated one day salary towards Kerala flood relief. The employees handed over a cheque of `14,83,336 for Kerala.By PTI

LOS ANGELES: Alec Baldwin has joined "Joker" with Joaquin Phoenix in the lead.

The 60-year-old actor will play the role of Bruce Wayne/ Batman's father, Thomas Wayne in the origin story of one of DC's most iconic antagonists.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, sources say the script portrays Thomas Wayne as a cheesy and tanned businessman who is more in the mould of a 1980s Donald Trump.

To be directed by Todd Phillips, the film is scheduled to begin shooting in a fortnight.

ALSO READ | Actor Alec Baldwin confident about winning US presidential election

Also starring Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz and Frances Conroy, Warner Bros has set October 4, 2019 as release date.

To be directed by Todd Philips from a screenplay he co-wrote with writer Scott Silver, the film "centres around the iconic arch nemesis and is an original, standalone story not seen before on the big screen.

Phillips' exploration of a man disregarded by society is not only a gritty character study, but also a broader cautionary tale", the studio had earlier said in a statement.

It will be produced by Emma Tillinger Koskoff and executive-produced by Richard Baratta.A Sharadhaa By

Express News Service

Sunil Kumar Desais recently-released poster of his upcoming film Udgharsha, is garnering eyeballs for its unusual design of two set of hands, a knife and a pool of blood. In the mystery suspense-thriller with a tagline, Battle at its peak, the filmmaker says that hands and legs will do the talking in his film or at least in the posters. To be released in Kannada, Telugu and Tamil, the film has a diverse cast that includes Thakur Anoop Singh of Singham 3 fame, Dhansika, who was associated with Kabali, and Prabhakar, who shot into limelight with Bahubali. The film is made under the banner, D-Creations, and has Bollywood music composer, Sanjay Chowdary scoring the music. While Kemparaju is editor of the film, Ravi Varma will perform stunts, and Vishnu Vardhan and P Rajan as the films cinematographer.

Coming from the maker of Tarka, Uthkarsha, Nishkarsha, Sangarsha, Marma, Kshana Khsana, Sunil seems to have figured out the promotional formula. The poster itself is already sending shivers down spines. Currently, at the edit desk, the director says the intention of the posters is to grab attention towards the story and characters, rather than just focussing on the lead pair. I am working on posters that will include only hands, legs, eyes, face shadows. Only in the end will a face to the characters be put on the poster, says the director, who is going along with the films theme. I want to keep the suspense going and keep the audience guessing about whose hands and legs are on the posters, he says.

Only 20 minutes of dialogue in the film

Udgharsha is about a murder mystery that takes place in a resort on New Years Day. A 10-minute incident has been turned into a full-length feature film. In fact, the film has only 20 minutes of dialogue, the rest of the film will contain shots, music and effects. My film mostly runs on visual narration. Characters will have dialogues only in necessary situations, says Sunil, who wants to get rid of the hero-heroine focus concept. For me, every character is equally important, he adds.

Film shot in Madikeri prior to floods

The films to be ready by October, will released in three languages. The initial plan was to release it in four languages, but owing to the floods in Kerala, I dropped the idea of releasing it in Malayalam. While Udgharsha can be treated as a universal subject, technology has given us a platform to release it in any number of languages. The dubbing has been completed in Kannada. We will be going to a dubbing studio in Chennai today, where the Tamil version will be dubbed, which will then be followed with the Telugu version, he says.

While the film has been shot in Hyderabad, Kerala and Bengaluru, incidentally, most of the films shoot took place in portions of Madikeri, which he says, has now vanished. We managed to capture the beauty of Madikeri before the floods hit, he says.By PTI

CHANDIGARH: Lok Insaf Party (LIP) and rebel AAP legislators today demanded that the Punjab government implement a resolution passed by the state assembly asking other states to pay royalty to Punjab for using river water.

Ousted Leader of Opposition Sukhpal Singh Khaira, along with seven other legislators and two members of Lok Insaf Party, held a protest outside the assembly complex, asking the government to implement the resolution.

LIP member Simarjit Singh Bains, his brother MLA Balvinder Singh Bains and eight rebel AAP members said the issue of sharing Punjab water with Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi was raised during the previous Akali Dal-BJP government and the assembly had passed the resolution unanimously to demand royalty from these states.

"From then on, no action has been taken in this regard and AAP and the LIP have decided to push the matter by holding protest," Bains said.

According to the international riparian law, he said, these states have to pay royalty for taking river water.

Bains said Punjab has shared more than 12 million acre feet (MAF) water with Rajasthan since 1965, which amounted to more than Rs 16 lakh crore, but no government has bothered to raise this issue with the state.

"Farmers in Punjab have no other source of income. Punjab government can generate income by charging royalty for its water," he said.

In 2016, Punjab Assembly passed a resolution asking for royalty payment for Satluj-Yamuna water from its neighbouring states, including Rajasthan, giving another dimension to Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal dispute.

The Rajasthan government has refused to pay any royalty citing the 1981 agreement between states in the region.

In accordance with the 1981 agreement, drawn under the Congress rule, the share of water between Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan was revised.

Following the agreement, the total share of Punjab was raised to 4.22 MAF, for Rajasthan it was raised to 8.6 MAF and Haryana's was unaltered at 17.17 MAF.By PTI

MUMBAI: The five activists arrested from various parts of the country today for suspected Maoist links had allegedly funded the 'Elgaar Parishad' conclave in Pune, held a day before the Koregaon-Bhima violence, police said today.

The speeches at the conclave, held on December 31 last year to mark the 200th anniversary of the Koregaon-Bhima battle, had fuelled the violence a day later, they said.

The five were arrested after the Pune police today carried searches in Mumbai, Thane, Hyderabad, Faridabad, Chhattisgarh, and Goa, an official said.

They had allegedly funded the 'Elgar Parishad' conclave, a police official said.

While Vernon Gonsalves was arrested from his residence in suburban Andheri in Mumbai, Arun Ferreira was apprehended from his residence at Charai in adjoining Thane, police said.

Both were also arrested in 2007 for their alleged links with Maoist groups, police said.

After his acquittal, Ferreira completed a law degree and started practice as a criminal lawyer in Mumbai, the official said.

Ferreira, who earlier lived in suburban Bandra, shifted to Thane along with his family a few years ago, the official said.

Also Read | Police targeting Dalit rights activists post Bhima Koregaon violence: CPI-M

Police had alleged that Gonsalves, a former professor in a prominent Mumbai college, was a Maoist central committee member.

Meanwhile, Susan Abraham, the wife of Gonsalves, said the BJP-led government in Maharashtra has "failed to take any action" against right-wing Sanatan Sanstha, which she claimed was behind the killing of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.

"This is an attempt to divert people's attention from the Sanatan case. That is why action is being taken in the guise of combating urban Naxalism," Susan, a Mumbai-based lawyer, told PTI.

The state government has not taken action against right-wing leaders Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote who were behind the Koregaon-Bhima violence, she said.

She claimed that her husband did not incite the Koregaon-Bhima violence, as alleged by the police.

"Police are taking action against people in connection with a fictitious plot of assassination of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," she said.By PTI

PUNE: Pune Police today conducted searches at the residences of prominent activists across the country for their suspected Maoist links, a senior police officer said.

The raids were carried out as part of the probe into the violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon Bhima village following the Elgaar Parishad event held in Pune last year, he said.

Searches are being carried out at the homes of Left-wing activist and poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Chhattisgarh and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha, who lives in Delhi, he said.

Rao's name had cropped up in a letter seized by the police during searches at the premises of one of the five people arrested in June in connection with the Elgaar Parishad event on December 31 last year to commemorate 200 years of the Koregaon Bhima battle in 1818.

residence of #Kurmanath son in law of #Varavararao men in plain clothes deny entry to family members #Hyderabad @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/wqOUR1aFnK  Pinto Deepak (@PintoDeepak1) 28 August 2018

In June, five people were arrested for having close Maoist links after they allegedly made "provocative" speeches at the event, triggering violence at Koregaon Bhima village in the district, according to an FIR registered at the Vishrambaug Police Station after the event.

Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale was arrested from his home in Mumbai, while lawyer Surendra Gadling, activist Mahesh Raut and Shoma Sen were picked up from Nagpur and Rona Wilson was arrested from his flat in Munirka in Delhi in simultaneous raids in June.

Police said probes were being conducted at homes of the five arrested and those who were directly or indirectly connected with them.By Express News Service

LUCKNOW: The Allahabad High Court on Monday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to come clear as to why a panel of three district judges should not be set up in each district for visiting shelter homes and for submitting a status report every month. The order came when a division bench comprising Chief Justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale and Justice Yashwant Varma was hearing the PIL related to the Deoria shelter home case.

Moreover, the court also directed the government to apprise it as to why CCTVs should not be installed at all the shelter homes. The next hearing will take place on September 5. Earlier, the court had taken suo motu cognizance of media reports in connection with the case. On August 8, the court said it would monitor probe in the case, which was exposed at the shelter home. The police had raided the shelter home on the night of August 5, after an inmate escaped and reached a police station to narrate the tale of horror and alleged sex racket being run with the involvement of the management. During the raid, the police had rescued 24 women and 18 others were found missing.

In the Assembly, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said his government had taken action against the Deoria DM, the SP and all those officials found not doing their duty. He added that a CBI inquiry was recommended and a three-member committee was already carrying out the probe till the CBI took over.

The High Court was also monitoring the probe, he said in response to the Oppositions demand of a judicial inquiry.

Adityanath said facts had emerged in the probe indicating that if anyone had to be blamed, then it would be the previous governments. The shelter home got recognition in 2009, and was getting grants till 2017, the CM asserted.Anand ST Das By

Express News Service

PATNA: Notorious gangster Santosh Jha, who was serving a life term for the murder of two engineers and was facing trial in about 20 criminal cases, was shot dead on the premises of a lower court in Bihars Sitamarhi on Tuesday.

Just as Jha, who was lodged in Sitamarhi jail, walked into the premises of the chief judicial magistrates court in police custody, two unidentified assailants fired at him. With bullets hitting him on the head and chest, he lay there in a pool of blood and was rushed to a nearby hospital. He was declared brought dead.

Sitamarhi SP Vikas Burman said one court employee was injured in the firing and that a man believed to be one of the two assailants was arrested on the scene. The man is being questioned, he added.

Sources said Jha might have been eliminated at the behest of gangster Vikas Thakur of Motihari to avenge the murder of his father, Dilip Thakur, by Jhas gang some five years ago.

Despite being lodged in jail since his arrest at Jharkhands Ramgarh on June 11, 2016, Jha had allegedly been running an extortion gang comprising about 40 criminals, said police sources. Jha, who was himself a sharpshooter, was convicted and sentenced to a life term in jail on March 8 last for the murder of two engineers at his behest in 2015.

The two engineers, Brajesh Kumar Singh and Mukesh Kumar Singh, who worked with a road construction company, were shot dead on December 26, 2015 with AK-47 rifles in Darbhanga for not forking out a levy of Rs 7 crore as demanded by Jha.

A resident of Sheohar district, Jha started his criminal life as a Maoist and later formed an outfit called Peoples Liberation Army, known in Nepal as Parshuram Sena, which struck terror in companies engaged in the construction of roads and bridges in northern Bihar. Jhas gang allegedly killed more than a dozen engineers and supervisors of these companies in the last one decade for not paying him levy.

Keen to join politics, Jha had told journalists in August 2016 that he was set to contest Bihars 2015 Assembly polls as a Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) with the help of the partys Jamui MP Chirag Paswan but failed to do so at the last moment.

The premises of lower courts in Bihar have witnessed several firing incidents in recent years. A policeman was shot dead on the premises of a court in Vaishali district on April 3 last. An undertrial prisoner was shot dead on the premises of a lower court at Barh on September 8, 2017. Gangster Babloo Dubey was shot dead on the premises of a lower court in West Champaran in May 2017.

The Opposition RJD and Congress attacked Bihars NDA government over the decline in law and order situation and the security on court premises. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ordered a review of the states law and order situation on September 4.By PTI

AHMEDABAD: Senior NCP leader Praful Patel met Hardik Patel, who has been on fast since August 25 for Patidar quota demand, today at his residence near here and extended his party's support for the cause.

Various political parties, including the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Trinamool Congress, have already extended their support to the 25-year-old quota spearhead.

Apart from quota for Patidars in government jobs and education, Hardik Patel, who heads the Patidar Anamant Andolan Samiti (PAAS), has been demanding a loan waiver for farmers in the state.

"Hardik's fight is not restricted to the Patidar community. It is also for the welfare of farmers and youths. The way he has taken up that cause and raised his voice against the policies of the government, the NCP is proud of him," the former Union minister told reporters.

The NCP leader expressed displeasure over the presence of a large number of police personnel outside Hardik Patel's residence.

"I came here to extend mine as well as my party's support to Hardik. Though I am a parliamentarian and General Secretary of my party, I have to request the police to allow me to meet Hardik. This is shameful. I think everyone has the right to sit on fast in democracy," Patel said.

Meanwhile, Hardik Patel has written a letter to the Gujarat Human Rights Commission (GHRC) requesting the body to "protect the fundamental rights" of his and his supporters.

Hardik Patel urged the Commission to direct the police not to stop his supporters and others from reaching the venue of his fast.

He also accused the police of using "excessive force" to prevent his supporters from coming to the city.

Meanwhile, a team of doctors from Sola Civil Hospital today conducted a medical check-up on Hardik Patel and advised him to get hospitalised.

As per the medical bulletin, Hardik Patel has lost one kg of weight in the last four days.

Doctors cautioned that the fast could adversely impact kidneys of Hardik Patel if he does not take fruits or juice.

Hardik Patel started his hunger strike on August 25, the third anniversary of his mega pro-quota rally in Ahmedabad that had turned violent.

He is demanding a loan waiver for Gujarat farmers and inclusion of his community in the OBC category to facilitate reservation for its members in government jobs and education.

Hardik Patel launched his fast from his residence after authorities in Ahmedabad as well as Gandhinagar refused to allot a place for the hunger strike.

Former railway minister and TMC leader Dinesh Trivedi, representatives of the Lalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Hindustani Awam Morcha of former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi had called on him to extend their support on August 26.

A total of 28 Congress MLAs from Gujarat and Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Kapil Patil from Maharashtra had also visited Hardik Patel.By UNI

SRINAGAR: Suspected militants early on Tuesday morning attacked the residence of senior National Conference (NC) leader and former minister Abdul Rahim Rather in central Kashmir district of Budgam in a bid to snatch the rifles of the security guards.

However, the alert security guards foiled the weapon snatching bid by responding to the attack.

Official sources said that the suspected militants fired at the residence of Mr Rather at village Badipora in Budgam on Tuesday morning.

But, the guards retaliated, forcing the gunmen to flee the spot.

''Mr Rather was not present in the house at the time of the attack,'' they said, adding that no one was injured in the firing.By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Virasam founder and revolutionary writer, Varavara Rao has been arrested by Pune police in Hyderabad today.

Police teams from Pune along with local police conducted searches at the residence of revolutionary writer Varavara Rao, his daughters and others in the city on Tuesday. The searches began at 6 a.m at multiple locations in what is believed to be part of an investigation into the alleged plot to assassinate prime minister Narendra Modi. The Pune police have, however, told Rao that he is being arrested in connection with Bhima Koregaon case.

In June 2018, it had come to light that left-wing extremists were plotting to kill prime minister Narendra Modi during one of his roadshows. This was revealed from a letter seized from one suspected Maoist, Pune police had revealed this to a court. Varavara Rao's name had cropped up in one of the three such seized letters.

ALSO READ: Families being targeted is new for us, says Varavara Rao's wife Hemalatha

More than 20 men from Maharashtra police in plain clothes reached Varavara Rao's residence at Jawahar Nagar near RTC X-roads under Chikkadpally police limits. Only Rao and his wife Hemalatha were present at the home. Though a large number of supporters gathered outside the Siddamshetty Himasai heights apartment, where Rao stays with his wife, no one has been able to contact the couple. Family members who reached outside the building said that the couple is on medication and yet not allowed to have any food since morning.

residence of #Kurmanath son in law of #Varavararao men in plain clothes deny entry to family members #Hyderabad @NewIndianXpress pic.twitter.com/wqOUR1aFnK  Pinto Deepak (@PintoDeepak1) August 28, 2018

It is learned that such raids are going on at residences of Rao's two daughters Anala and Pavana, who are married to journalist Kurmanath and a central university professor Satyanarayana respectively.

One Kranti Tekula, who lives in Nagole, and works as a photographer with a newspaper is also reportedly arrested by Pune police.

Prof Satyanarayana who stays inside the English and Foreign Languages University campus is likely to be arrested soon.

At around 12.30 pm, a police vehicle moved inside the building complex.

Earlier, Varavara Rao had refuted all allegations as false. He was alleged to have arranged funds for the suspected Maoist who was arrested.

Supporters of Virasam Varavara Rao Protest in front of his residence in Hyderabad during his arrest by Pune police. (Photo | Vinay Madapu/ENS)

The Telangana Praja Front (TPF), meanwhile, condemned the unwarranted simultaneous searches and arrest of Varavara Rao.

"CONDEMN THE ILLEGAL SEARCHES!! The residences of VaravaraRao, Kranthi, Kurmanath, Kasim in Hyderabad, Anand Teltumbe in Goa, Goutham Navloka in Delhi, Arun Ferera, Susan, Vernon in Mumbai are raided and searched illegally by Maharashtra, Chattisgarh police today morning...," said a message from the TPF.

According to the latest reports, after a medical examination at Gandhi hospital in Secunderabad, Varavara Rao will be produced before a local court at Nampally. Rao is likely to be shifted to Pune on a transit warrant.

The Pune police are conducting searches at the residences of prominent activists across the country for their suspected Maoist links, a senior police officer told PTI. The raids are being carried out as part of the probe into the violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon Bhima village following the Elgaar Parishad event held in Pune last year, he said.Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: Day after Justice (Retd) Ranjit Singh Commission report was released the opposition Shiromani Akali Dal boycotted the proceedings of the Punjab assembly today. They held a mock session outside the house.

As the debate Justice (Retd) Ranjit Singh Commission report started in the house, the Akali Dal legislators boycotted the house and held a mock session outside the house in protest trying to garner support.

The SAD MLAs were unhappy over the time of 14 minutes allotted to the party to speak on the issue in the house thus the Akali legislators created ruckus and raised slogans also did not relent even after the speaker assured them that sufficient time would be given to everyone to participate in the discussion. Then they staged a walk out and the debate resumed after a small adjournment. Akali Dal MLA leader and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia said that the allocation of 14 minutes to his party was inadequate.

READ HERE: Shiromani Akali Dal MLAs dump sacrilege commission's report outside Punjab Vidhan Sabha

As the debate began Congress MLA Harminder Singh Gill was the first to speak, while comparing the sacrilege incidents in Punjab to the stealing of hair from the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar, Gill talked about how Badals had a hand in granting of pardon to Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim from akal takh and the involvement of Dera Sacha Sauda followers in sacrilege cases. He also spoke of the then chief minister Parkash Singh Badals involvement in the use of police force on protesters at Kotkapura.

Gill demanded serious punishment should be given to the guilty, including Badal and also demanded that a case be registered against Sukhbir Singh Badal for defaming people and further said that strict action be taken against the then DGP Sumedh Singh Saini and other police officers.

ALSO READ: Parkash Singh Badal indicted for police action against anti-sacrilege protesters

Then cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa while also demanding life imprisonment for Badals alleged that Akalis had links with Dera Sacha Sauda and also said that there was clear involvement of Badals in sacrilege and it has been proved.

Both Gill and Randhawa demanded that title Faqr-e-Quom be taken from Parkash Singh Badal.

Congress MLA Navtej Singh Cheema demanded action against the Akalis for running parallel session without permission and showing it live on PTC.

Addressing a press conference outside the assembly, senior dissident AAP leader and MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira accused Sukhbir Singh Badal of concocting the call detail records of politicians to get the attention off the report.

Khaira alleged that the akalis would meet the same fate as Manjit Singh GK met in the US two days back.

Meanwhile Punjab assembly today unanimously passed two bills the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2017 and The Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill that seeks life imprisonment to those who commit sacrilege.

ALSO READ: Dera Sacha Sauda had a hand in Bargari sacrilege, murder of Sikh preachers: Commission report

These bills were originally introduced in the assembly in March 2016 but were withdrawn by the government after the President refused to grant assent.

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh said that the union government had said that it was not possible to consider one religion separately and give separate punishment. As the centre had sought legal opinion and it was said that being a secular country it was not possible to give special punishment for desecration of the holy book of one religion.

Akali Dal MLA and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia said that his party supported the bill, but added that the desecration of Guru Granth Sahib should be treated separately as Guru Granth Sahib has been accepted as a living guru.

Another Akali Dal MLA Gurpratap Singh Wadala said that one should not politicise the issue of religion. "We are again trying to politicise religion, which could have adverse repercussions for Punjab. The Akali Dal was supporting the Bill, he said.By Express News Service

MUMBAI: In a startling revelation, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Tuesday told the Sessions court in Mumbai that the accused in Nalasopara arms haul case also had plans to bombs the Western Music concert - Sunburn Festival in Pune as well as theatres and Belgaum and Kalyan where the Movie Padmavat was released.

The court then granted them the custody of the accused till September 3.

The ATS had arrested Vaibhav Raut, Sharad Kalaskar and Sudhanva Gondhalekar on August 10 in connection with the arms and explosives seized from Nalasopara.

Former Shiv Sena corporator from Aurangabad Shrikant Pangarkar too was arrested in the case last week. The police produced all of them before the Court on Tuesday and pleaded for extending their custody.

Public prosecutor, Sunil Gonsalves told the Sessions Court that information decoded from Sharad Kalaskar's computer brought the fact to light that they were planning to bomb places like the Sunburn Festival in Pune and a show of movie Padmavat in cinema house at Belgaum and Kalyan too were on the list of places to be attacked.

All the accused are Hindu hardliners and they considered these things to be against Hindu culture, ATS told the court.

Some photographs have also been found in the CDs recovered from the accused and they need to be questioned about them as well, the ATS said.

Seized arms and ammunition were brought from states like Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, besides from various parts of Maharashtra and the police needed to find their actual source, it told the court.

The ATS has made a list of targets who were going to be attacked by the accused. Moreover, the agency wants to take the accused to states like Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh for investigations as material to make bombs and weapons were procured from these states.

Among the nine training spots identified by the ATS only two are in Maharashtra, Gonsalves told the Court.

Pangarkar is said to have funded the entire operation and the ATS is looking if there were more sources of funding. The investigating agency also said that it needed to find the people who were providing training in handling of arms and ammunition and also those funding the operation.

After hearing their plea the court extended the custody of the four accused by a week.

Responding to a defence argument against invoking an anti-terror law in the case, the judge said the court could not consider, at this stage, whether the accused attracted the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act as the matter was under investigation.Manish Anand By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will go in a huddle with the chief ministers of the BJP ruled states on Tuesday to take stock of the progress on the Garib Kalyan agenda of the party. The BJP national executive meeting will also be held in the national capital on September 8 and 9.

"The chief ministers' meeting will be held to take stock of the progress made by the states in implementing Centrally sponsored schemes meant to lift the socio-economic conditions of the poor people in the country. Such meetings are being held at a regular interval to ensure that there is a better coordination and focussed approach to expedite the implementation of the Central schemes," said a senior BJP functionary.

Incidentally, the BJP had adopted the Garib Kalyan agenda following the Kozhikode national council meeting of the party held in 2016. The BJP is seemingly seeking to create a core constituency among the beneficiaries of the Centrally-sponsored schemes in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP's much delayed national executive meeting is also now being held in the national capital on September 8 and 9.

The meeting, which had earlier been scheduled for August 18 and 19 had been deferred following the death of the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The BJP's national executive, which is normally held every three months, had last met in September last year.

The meeting will come close on the heels of the Assembly elections in four states - Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Mizoram.

The BJP chief Amit Shah is likely to enlist the support of the party leaders from other states to defend the BJP governments in the poll-bound states.By PTI

NEW YORK: Two Indian nationals were among 19 people arrested by the US border patrol officials in California for entering the country illegally by boat from Mexico.

The US Border Patrol agents working in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) law enforcement partners, arrested 19 people yesterday, a press release from the US Customs and Border Protection said.

Late Sunday night, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) aircraft spotted a panga style vessel enter US territorial waters from Mexico with multiple people on board.

The AMO notified the US Coast Guard and they interdicted the panga approximately 24 kilometres west of Point Loma, California.

A total of 19 people were intercepted, of which two were identified as suspected smugglers. The other 17 were passengers illegally present in the US.

All 19 male illegal aliens were arrested and taken to a nearby Border Patrol station for processing.

Agents determined that two of the passengers were Indian nationals, while all others were Mexican nationals, the release said.

It did not give any details of the two Indian nationals. The suspected smugglers are in the DHS custody and may face human smuggling charges.

Since 2013, the US has admitted more than half a million illegal immigrant minors and family units from Central America, most of whom today are at large in the US.

The DHS considers a person "inadmissible" when they appear at a port of entry without proper documentation for legal entry into the US.

Those apprehended are individuals "caught trying to enter illegally between ports of entry.

In order to protect the US national security, President Donald Trump introduced a controversial 'zero-tolerance policy' for people that enter the country illegally.

Under this, the US prosecuted anyone trying to enter the country illegally, including asylum seekers.

Nearly 2,000 children were separated from their parents, with the adults being shipped to jails and children placed in the custody the Office of Refugee Resettlement between April 19 and May 31 of this year.

The controversial decision however had been reversed by Trump through an executive order following widespread protests against the move.By PTI

NEW DELHI: Congress President Rahul Gandhi today hit out at the government over the arrest of prominent Left-wing activists for suspected Maoist links, saying that in the "new India", there was place for only one NGO -- the RSS.

The Maharashtra Police today raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least five of them as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and the upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year.

"There is only place for one NGO in India and it's called the RSS. Shut down all other NGOs. Jail all activists and shoot those that complain. Welcome to the new India," Gandhi said in a tweet with the hashtag Bhima Koregaon.

Also Read | Two letters by Maoists on plans to assassinate PM Modi, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh led to police action: Officials

Earlier, Congress spokesperson Jaipal Reddy condemned the raids and arrests saying no human rights activists should be arrested without a case.

"I condemn those arrests in unqualified terms. No human rights activist should be arrested. For that matter, no Indian can be arrested without proper case."

Also Read | Not remotely linked to police allegations: Human rights activist Anand Teltumbde

"I defend the rights of everybody, more particularly human rights protesters. They are selfless NGOs, activists, who are obliged to fight the enveloping darkness of dictatorial tendencies," he told reporters when asked about the arrests of some activists by the Pune police.

Near-simultaneous searches were carried out at the residences of prominent Telugu poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Farreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad, and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in New Delhi.

Also Read | Bhima-Koregaon violence: Pune Police raids social activist Sten Swami's residence

Subsequently, Rao, Bhardwaj, Farreira, Gonzalves and Navalakha were arrested under IPC Section 153 (A), which relates to promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place or birth, residence, language and committing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony, said the official.Ejaz Kaiser By

Express News Service

RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) on Tuesday condemned the arrest of human rights lawyer and its general secretary Sudha Bharadwaj.

"The PUCL condemns her arrest. The situation prevailing in the country has made the role of lawyers, particularly those involved in taking up cases of human rights, extremely tough. Those offering legal assistance to the deprived and the subjugated sections of society are facing attacks and even getting arrested", said Lakhan Singh, PUCL president.

Bharadwaj has been fighting for the rights of labourers, farmers, Dalits and women for the last 20 years in the state.

As a lawyer, she took up the cause of Bastar tribals in the High Court and fought against the atrocities faced by them. She was also engaged in issues related to forest rights, land acquisition, environmental rights and against fake encounters in Bastar in HC.

As Bharadwaj was also a visiting professor of the National Law University in Delhi, many law students interned with her and she has groomed several human rights lawyers.

Several organisations in the state held demonstrations against the arrest of Bharadwaj who has been practicing in the HC since 2005 and was also appointed in the Chhattisgarh Legal Aid Union.

"We are appalled by such raids, which is nothing but a targeted crackdown across the country on civil liberties activists who are critical of the government and the Centre, said a statement by Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan.

Other groups that expressed solidarity included Akhil Bhartiya Adivasi Mahasabha, Akhil Bhartiya Kisan Sabha, Dalit Adivasi Major Sangathan, Hasdeo Aranya Bachan Sangarsh Samiti, Chhattisgarh Kisan Sabha Jandhikar Sangathan, Bhooma Bachan Bangash Samiti, Adivasi Vikas Parishad and Dalit Adivasi Manch.Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Adding a new angle to vexed Ayodhya dispute, Iraq's top Shia cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has issued a fatwa ruling that it was against Islam to construct any temple or any other shrine on the land belonging to Waqf properties.

The fatwa is basically seen with reference to the stand taken by UP Central Shia Waqf Board chairman Waseem Rizvi who has been advocating that disputed site in Ayodhya was associated with religious sentiments of crores of Hindus and it should be handed over to them for constructing a grand Ram temple over it and the mosque could be built in some Muslim dominated locality of the temple town.

However, the title suit of disputed land in Ayodhya is pending with the Supreme Court of India and hearing is going on in it. Notably, Al-Sistani, a revered highest religious authority among the Shias world over and heads Shia seminary at Najaf in Iraq, issued the Fatwa in response to a plea of a Kanpur based scholar and educationist Dr Mazhar Abbas Naqvi, who had sought some clarity from the Shia cleric on the issue and directives for Rizvi.

However, the fatwa from Iraq has evoked sharp reactions both from Muslim community and the political circles of UP.

"Shia Waqf Board will work as per the tenets of the Constitution of India. I am not going to buckle down by any such fatwa which I refuse to accept as it is nothing but mounting an international pressure on Shai Waqf Board to back Muslim side in the litigation," said UP Central Shai Waqf Baord chairman Waseem Rizvi.

"This fatwa from Ayatollah Sistani is a part of that tactic. Shia Waqf Board will not be cowed down to any pressure from terrorists or any fatwa issued by who so ever. We are not ready to abide by the cleric's opinion," Rizvi said claiming that the fatwa was issued after the top Shia was misguided by the person who approached him.

"Ram Temple in Ayodhya is a question of faith for Hindus and Shia Waqf Board is concerned about development of the society and the country. Hindu's should get their right and Muslims should refrain from taking away anyone's right. Shia Waqf Board will maintain its stand even if all the Muslims of the world stand to oppose me," added Rizvi.

The UP Shia Waqf Board had cited historical references to Mir Baqi, the person who built the Babri mosque, as being a Shia Muslim and hence the mutawali (caretaker) of the mosque was also the Shia Waqf Board.

Meanwhile, while all the major political parties including the BJP and the SP felt that it was an interference in the internal issue of the country and the courts and countrymen were capable enough to settle it, Muslim religious leaders came out in support of fatwa against Rizvi.

"Waseem Rizvi is a right-thinking man. Al-Sistani is the highest religious authority and he could not be opposed by Shias. Now it's time for Rizvi to fall in line and follow the fatwa issue by the cleric in Iraq," said Maulana Yassob Abbasi, a prominent Shia cleric based in Lucknow.Rajesh Abraham By

Express News Service

KOCHI:Money is pouring into the Chief Ministers Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) from across the world. The CMs salary challenge urging people to contribute a months salary for the flood victims has touched a chord among the global Malayali community. However, the common sentiment that is emerging and one that finds resonance across the board is that the government should be equally transparent about how this money is getting utilised.

This demand for accountability is getting stronger by the hour and many have openly started posting this on the social media, saying they are willing to donate a months salary, provided the state government builds into the system a number of credibility parameters.

There should be a scientifically designed scorecard with proper budgets on various projects, prepared by various departments and experts. Every detail should be put up on the portal, including e-tendering process; who has won the tender and at what price. There should also be timelines for the execution of the projects, said Vivek Govind, partner, Varma & Varma.

According to C J George, MD, Geojit Financial Services, the donation portal of CMDRF gives daily updates on the funds collected. Similarly, it should also provide the details of the fund utilisation so that the entire process does not create a controversy later.

The CMs appeal to contribute a months salary is getting a good response. If the website also shows the details of where the money is spent, itll inspire more people to contribute to the flood-relief fund, he said. Theres every chance the people who contributed their one months salary start asking questions after one year, he felt.

People have right to know where the money has been spent

According to the CMDRF portal, a total of Rs 714. 2 crore has been collected as on Monday.Govind said the public has the right to know where the money has been spent and how much on each project.

There should be a concurrent audit of the projects undertaken through the CM Relief Fund. On big projects, there should also be a monthly audit to ensure that all parameters are complied with. He said there should also be liquidation damages, wherein each project is monitored every 60 days to see if there is delay in execution and a penalty is deducted from the contractor for it.All these details should be available to the public at the click of a mouse, said Govind. George said the government should provide the overseas Malayalees and even wealthy individuals the opportunity to participate directly in the rebuild Kerala exercise.

For instance, the NRKs can be offered a project to build a clutch of houses for the flood-hit people in one ward. Or to meet the educational expense in a family or even buying a cow for a villager. There will be a big participation for such projects where they can directly involve and monitor, he said.

However, the head of a renowned business house said the Communist government would not allow such direct involvement in people-centric activities. The LDF government would always want its direct control over any such activities, he said.Shibu B S By

Express News Service

KOCHI:Having lost out on plenty of business as raging floods pulverised Kerala, the Malayalam film industry is back into action mode. The shoot for some big movies, stalled due to flash floods, resumed on Monday.

Given its meagre success rate at the box-office during the first half of 2018, it will be difficult for Mollywood to rebound in the remaining four months of the year. The film bodies plan to complete the release of movies originally scheduled for August and Onam by September.We hope the crowd will be back at the theatres by the first week of September, said Kerala Film Distributors Association president Ziyad Koker.

Also Read | Armed forces end active rescue operations

We cant predict the exact time needed for recovery as it directly depends on how well these movies perform at the box-office.As per the new schedule, Prithviraj-starrer Ranam and Tovinos Theevandi will be the first two major releases after the floods. They will hit the screens on September 7. Mammoottys Oru Kuttanadan Blog will be released on September 14 along with Biju Menons Padayottam. Fahad Fazils Onam release Varathan will be released on September 20 while Mohanlals Drama  originally scheduled for September  will see light on October 2. According to the film bodies, theatre owners have suffered losses to the tune of Rs 30 crore because of the floods.

Exhibitors pinning hope on biggies to lure cinema buffs back to theatres

The exhibitors are now pinning their hopes on some biggies expected to bring masses back to the theatres.

Big-budget movies like Kayamkulam Kochunni are also rescheduled. As per the initial plan, the movie will hit screens in October. Those movies need a wider release so as to recover the production cost. Another biggie Odiyan, which was actually planned for October, is expected to be released in November, said Koker.

Meanwhile, the shoot for some of the big-budget movies was also affected because of the floods. Mammoottys Madhura Raja, which will see the superstars successful character Raja (Pokkiriraja) return to the screen, resumed its shoot in Cherai on Monday. The movies shoot was stopped 10 days back, with the sets being damaged partially.

Rescheduling after a break itself will result in a minimum loss of Rs 5 lakh to the producer. Along with that, the cancellation on room bookings, the reorganising of the crew, the date clash of the actors... all these will result in additional expenses, said Aroma Mohan, production controller. Kunchakko Bobans Allu Ramendran also began in Thodupuzha on Monday. The movie was originally scheduled to begin on Chingam 1. However, the makers were forced to postpone the shoot after the Thodupuzha region too was affected by floods. The other major locations where shoot was disrupted are Munnar, Wagamon and Ernakulam. The closure of the Cochin International Airport in Nedumbassery has also affected the shoot. Mohanlals Lucifer, directed by Prithviraj, is also progressing in Thiruvananthapuram.Ganesh Neelakantan By

Express News Service

KOCHI:Water is slowly receding, but the paranoia  which steeply rose during and after the latest devastating flood  refuses to die down among the public. Blame games apart, there may not be two opinions that the states approach to tackling the ensuing flood was not exactly foolproof, particularly in sending out alerts.

Also Read | Kerala toll would have been higher if military hadn't helped: CM Pinarayi Vijayan

Looking back, experts believe the impact of devastation could have been much less had not Kerala outright rejected a proposal by the Union Ministry of Water Resources a decade ago to start flood forecast sites at crucial points.

Most states set them up  Karnataka and Tamil Nadu together opened 70 (15 flood forecast and 55 base stations), mainly related to the Cauvery basin and other east-flowing rivers south of Pennar. They have become fully functional.

Though 175 flood forecast sites were in place in 2007-08, the Union ministry decided to add another 100 and entrusted the task of identifying the spots with the Delhi office of the Central Water Commission (CWC). Idukki and Mullaperiyar dams were among the five identified locations, but following Keralas cold response, the slots were distributed among other states.

NE monsoon could be tricky

I dont know why Kerala rejected the proposal. The reason could be political, financial or simply a knee-jerk no to yet another Central interference. We make forecasts (at dams and rivers) after it rains. Naturally, the margin for error has been set very narrowly. Warning, general advisory, regular forecast and inflow forecast are being issued, a highly-placed CWC officer told Express.

The officer said it is important to issue flood alerts far more efficiently during the coming northeast monsoon.For decades, the northeast monsoon is the one that has been making our dams and their catchment areas really rich. Since the dams are already filled, the northeast monsoon could put them under real pressure, he said.

Hourly data of water level in a dam and discharges as well as short-duration rainfall should be made known to the public. Its also important to increase a persons awareness about the water level of a nearby river and correlating the flood of the area. Its also a good idea to have water-level gauge on all important bridges. Gradually, that will help the public. It has happened with people from villages, including in Assam, he added.

While the flood forecast may not be able to prevent inundation as such, it scientifically guides one in his/her decision-making, particularly during micro management, thereby saving lives of thousands and their valuables.Ajay Kanth By

Express News Service

KOCHI:When different units of Navy, Army and Indian Air Force (IAF) were into rescue and relief operations, a team of senior Ministry of Defence (MoD) officers was busy charting the most important operation at Aluva, constantly monitoring the rising waters of Periyar inch-by-inch.

Also Read | Kerala floods: More people leave relief camps, cleaning in high gear

It would have been one of the biggest evacuation missions of the MoD in Kerala. But luckily things remained under control as gushing waters from Periyar did not enter the main campus of Naval Armament Depot (NAD), at Aluva, one of Indian Navys major arms depots in the country.Though a few local residents claimed water had entered the NAD campus, affecting its operation for a couple of days between August 16 and August 20, the MoD officers denied it.

Water didnt enter the NAD main campus even though a few staff quarters and adjacent roads were affected said an officer.Right from day one, when water level in Periyar and its tributaries started to rise following the opening of dam shutters, senior officers of Southern Naval Command were monitoring the situation putting a Naval unit in standby for shifting large cache of arms and staff to safety.Three platoons of Defence Security Corps were put on alert from August 9. Though the junction in front of the NAD at Mannali Mukku was flooded, it did not affect its campus.By Express News Service

GUNTUR: Arrangements are in place for the Nara Hamara-TDP Hamara programme to be organised at BR Stadium in Guntur on Tuesday. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will address the gathering at 3 pm.On the day, the CM will also inaugurate a 100-bed hospital at Vadlamudi village of Chebrolu mandal after interacting with the representatives of a cooperative society of milk producers. He will leave for BR Stadium at 2.45 pm.

Ministers P Pulla Rao and N Anand Babu have said that more than one lakh people would attend the public meeting on Tuesday where the CM would be explaining the welfare schemes that had been implemented in the State. CM Naidu would announce the future courses of action of the welfare schemes that are essential for the upliftment of the people below poverty line, they said.

Meanwhile, TDP State president and Energy Minister Kimidi Kala Venkata Rao has said that the TDP government has been implementing several welfare schemes for the uplift of Muslims in the State.

He along with ministers Prathipati Pulla Rao and Nakka Anand Babu inspected the arrangements for Muslim Minority Convention christened Nara Hamara-TDP Hamara programme at BR Stadium here on Monday. IT and Panchayat Raj Minister Nara Lokesh, Minister for I&PR and Rural Housing Kalava Srinivasulu and other ministers will participate in the programme.

Speaking on the occasion, he said that the TDP government has sanctioned crores of rupees to take up mosque repair works, adding that the government is sanctioning `15 lakh education loan to students who want to study abroad.

Ministers Pulla Rao and Anand Babu said that the CM has allotted `1,050 crore for the uplift of Muslims in the State. They alleged that the previous Congress government allotted only `300 crore for the welfare of Muslims during its 10-year regime. They said that public are extending support to TDPs fight against Centre.Earlier, TDP district president and MLA GV Anjaneyulu and other party leaders took out a rally from TDP office to BR Stadium.

13 parking lots

Guntur Urban SP Ch Vijaya Rao said on Monday that 13 locations have been identified for parking facilities during the Nara Hamara-TDP Hamara event on Tuesday. He asked the police to be vigilant and take necessary steps to ensure hassle-free movement of vehicles in the cityBy Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Raising doubts over the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the rape and murder of B Pharmacy student Ayesha Meera at her hostel in Ibrahimpatnam near Vijayawada in 2007, the victims parents on Monday told the Hyderabad High Court that the evidence in the case was destroyed in the lower court even before an appeal was filed by the accused challenging the verdict of the trial court. Objects like clothes and other material of Ayesha, which were collected by the police from the crime scene, were destroyed. The real culprits would be unmasked if the SIT probes to find out the persons behind destroying the evidence, they said.

Advocate Suresh Kumar, appearing for the parents of Ayesha, made these submissions before the division bench comprising Chief Justice TBN Radhakrishnan and Justice SV Bhatt dealing with petitions filed separately by Syed Iqbal Basha and Shamshad Begum, parents of Ayesha, and Prof Rama S Melkote and two others. The government earlier constituted the SIT headed by Visakhapatnam range DIG Ch Srikanth, and DSPs D Himavathi, Sreelakshmi and Inspector Saheerunnissa Begum of Nunna police station, Krishna district, as its members.

When the matter came up for hearing on Monday, special counsel for Andhra Pradesh Krishna Prakash, appearing for the SIT, submitted a report in a sealed cover regarding the progress made in the ongoing reinvestigation into the Ayesha rape and murder case.

Taking the above submissions into consideration, the bench asked the SIT whether they had sought scrutiny of the material objects (evidence) and the response of the lower court. The bench directed the SIT to find out whether the material objects were destroyed in the lower court as alleged by the victims parents and the response of the lower court. The bench ordered the SIT to probe the case in the said direction and to submit report on the progress made further in the case by next date of hearing.

In reply, the State special counsel sought some time for submitting the progress report. The Vijaywada Metropolitan Court refused give permission to the SIT to conduct a narco analysis test on the accused persons named by the victims parents. An appeal filed before the High Court against the order of the Vijayawada court is still pending. The SIT needs some more time as the fresh probe is dependent on the previous documents of the case, which are 11 years old, he added.

Considering the plea, the bench adjourned the case hearing by four weeks.In January this year, the bench ordered the SIT to investigate the case afresh and said it would monitor it. The court also asked the SIT to report to it if it faced any outside influence during investigation and ordered the State government to initiate a disciplinary action against the then erring investigation officers who probed the case.

On March 31, 2017, the High Court acquitted Pidthala Satyam Babu who was charged with murdering Ayesha. Satyam Babus arrest triggered anger among the public, including the parents of Ayesha, who suspected the role of bigwigs in the murder. It also directed the government to pay ` 1 lakh as costs to Satyam Babu who had spent eight years in prison.

Later, retired Osmania University professor Rama Melkote, journalist K Sajaya and activist V Sandhya Rani filed the PIL seeking court directions to the State authorities to send the erring officials who misled the case investigation before the government constituted apex committee for necessary action. Besides, the victims parents filed a writ petition seeking a court monitored SIT probe or to entrust the case to CBI.By Express News Service

VIJAYAWADA: Seeking its cooperation in manufacturing electric vehicles, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has invited Tata Sons to promote green mobility by introducing e-buses in Amaravati. He also sought the groups cooperation in the development of an industrial park in the capital region and introduction of Vistara air services from Vijayawada and opening Starbucks in Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada.

Naidu, who interacted with several industrialists during his one-day visit to Mumbai on Monday, gave a detailed presentation on the advantages for early investors in Amaravati. He also invited Raheja Group to construct convention centres and malls in Tirupati, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Anantapur.

The Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (APEDB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Retailers Association of India (RAI). As per the pact, the APEDB and the RAI agreed to encourage and partner with retailers to expand and adopt best practices in technology, logistics, warehousing, skill development and infrastructure.

They also agreed to collaborate in promoting Andhra Pradesh as an investment destination in retail and allied sectors. Another MoU was signed by the APEDB with Hikvision India for manufacturing innovative video surveillance products and solutions.

Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said, It is the right time for you to invest in Andhra Pradesh as we are creating the best ecosystem. Early investors will have an advantage as we are offering incentives. Later, once there is development, we may charge the investors, he said, explaining the Real-Time Governance System and the robust applications clearance system in the State. The first international flight from Vijayawada to Singapore will be started on October 2.

Later, Chairman of Welspun Balkrishan Goenka said that the firm was ready to enter into a joint venture in cultivation of organic cotton with AP farmers with purchase guarantee. He assured that farmers would get 33 per cent more yield and more income than minimum support price. The Chief Minister asked the firm to come up with the proposal for scrutiny.

Naidu also met Chairman of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani, Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and the heads of Haldia Group, Piramal, Godrej and other groups.

MoUs and proposals

 APEDB signs an MoU with Retailers Association of India to encourage and partner

with retailers

 Another MoU was signed with Hikvision India for manufacturing innovative video surveillance products and solutions

 Welspun chairman Balkrishan Goenka said it is ready to enter into a joint venture in cultivation of organic cotton with AP farmers with purchase guaranteeHemanth Kumar By

Express News Service

BENGALURU:The trouble within the coalition triggered by Congress leader Siddaramaiahs remark of his intent to return as the CM again is showing signs of a flare-up as JD(S) is seeking to cut him down to size. JD(S) leadership has called him the troublemaker and an irritant.

In a stinging attack, JD(S) state president H Vishwanath accused Siddaramaiah of failing in his role to ensure the smooth functioning of the coalition. Siddaramaiah has been assigned the role of ironing out any differences within the coalition and foster cordial relations between the coalition partners. He has been allotted an office in Vidhana Soudha. But instead of fostering bonhomie, he is causing irritants to the coalition government, he said.

Siddaramaiahs CM remark has triggered speculations of an impending fall of the Kumaraswamy government well before the forthcoming Lok Sabha election. The JD(S) leadership has returned the fire to compel the Congress high command to rein in Siddaramaiah. Accusing Siddaramaiah of blocking Vishwanaths entry into the coalition coordination committee, the JD(S) has decided to take up the issue with Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

Siddaramaiahs frequent pricks threatening the stability of the coalition government have not gone down well with JD(S) leaders H D Deve Gowda and Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy. The party has decided to retaliate by pointing fingers at Siddaramaiah, who is the head of the coordination committee, as the villain.

The JD(S) leadership has decided to show restraint till the Urban Local Body (ULB) elections are over and then take up the issue with the Congress bosses. Speaking to TNIE, Vishwanath said, I will raise the issue with my party supremo Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy after the August 31 ULB polls. Gowda will take it up with Rahul Gandhi to ensure my induction into the coordination committee.

Senior BJP leader and Union minister Ananth Kumar on Monday predicted the fall of the coalition government well ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. There is no need for BJP to do anything as the internal squabbles within Congress and JD(S) will automatically bring down the government, he said.

Siddaramaiah is opposing my induction, says Vishwanath

The developments have caused a worry in the JD(S) camp and Kumaraswamy was cryptic in his reaction as he said, I am aware of the conspiracy to destabilise my government and I also know who is behind it, without taking any names. Vishwanath said, It is evident prima facie that Siddaramaiah is opposing my entry into the coordination committee. I am the state president of JD(S). I along with the new KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao should be inducted into the coordination committee. Though the Congress high command has given its consent, Siddaramaiah is opposing it.

The coordination committee presently comprises Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara, JD(S) Secretary General Danish Ali and AICC General Secretary in-charge for Karnataka K C Venugopal, apart from Siddaramaiah, who is heading it.

With Rahul Gandhi determined to ensure smooth functioning of the coalition government at least till the Lok Sabha election with an assurance that Kumaraswamy would remain the CM for the full term of five years, JD(S) leadership is keen to turn the tables on Siddaramaiah. We cannot allow Siddaramaiah to function as a dominant parallel power centre who could pose a threat to the Kumaraswamy government. It is time Congress high command conveyed this message in no uncertain terms. Siddaramaiah needs to be tamed to ensure stability of the government, said a senior JD(S) minister.

Vishwanaths long-time friend-turned political foe Siddaramaiah has rejected the charge. I am not authorised to decide on the induction of any member into the coordination committee. It is only the Congress high command and top leadership of JD(S) who are empowered to decide the composition of the coordination committee, Siddaramaiah said speaking to reporters in Ballari.

Vishwanaths attack against Siddaramaiah is being seen as a tit-for-tat response from JD(S) against the latter who has stoked speculations of an impending fall of the Kumaraswmay government before the forthcoming Lok Sabha election by asserting that he would return again as CM. Siddaramaiahs claim has triggered a chain reaction within Congress with many legislators and even ministers egging Siddaramaiah on to put his words into action.

Kuruba Vs Kuruba

Deve Gowdas move to appoint Vishwanath, a Kuruba, the community to which Siddaramaiah too belongs,as the JD(S) state president and get him inducted into the coordination committee,is being seen as a smart move to rein in Siddaramaiah. Vishwanath is expected to challenge Siddaramaiahs

every moveBy Express News Service

MANGALURU: Indian National Congress spokesperson, Jaiveer Shergill told media persons here on Monday that Rafale scam is a copy book case of squandering national interests, causing loss to public exchequer and promoting a culture of crony capitalism at the cost of Public Sector Undertaking. Art of deceiving India is the Modi governments mantra in the biggest defense deal of independent India and caught lying, Modi government is indulging in a brazen cover-up exercise, he said.

As per international bid opened on December 12, 2012 during UPA - Congress government, per aircraft price of 126 Rafales comes to Rs 526.10 crore. Eighteen aircrafts were to come in fly away condition from France and 108 aircrafts were to be made in India by PSU, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited with transfer technology. At this price, 36 aircrafts would have cost `18,940 crore.By IANS

Thiruvananthapuram: The death toll in the Kerala floods would have been much higher but for the timely help provided by the military, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said.

The calamity would have been greater if the armed forces hadn't worked for hand in hand with the Kerala government, Vijayan said at a formal farewell function held here on Sunday in honour of Central forces which played a key role in rescue and relief operations.

"We could directly witness the bold initiatives they took to rescue those who were stranded in the flood waters," said Vijayan at the function held at Air Force Station at Shanghumukham.

He appreciated the military and paramilitary forces who saved the helpless, braving adverse circumstances, an official statement said.

"All that we can say is that your services will be kept in mind in the times to come too, with gratitude and appreciation."

The Chief Minister presented citations to Air Marshal B. Suresh, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Air Command, and Rear Admiral R.J. Nadkarni, Chief of Staff, Southern Naval Command, among others.

Air Marshal Suresh said they could act efficiently because of the clear directions were given by the Chief Minister. "He was leading from the front."

The Air Marshal also appreciated the volunteers, fishermen and all those who were part of the rescue and relief activities and saluted the "indomitable spirit of Malayalis".

Hundreds have been killed and hundreds of thousands made homeless in the worst floods to hit Kerala since 1924.By IANS

CHENNAI: Silencing critics who felt the DMK may be tilting towards the BJP, newly elected party President M.K. Stalin on Tuesday launched a stinging attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying his government was trying to saffronize India.

"Come, teach a lesson to the Modi government that is trying to saffronise India," Stalin said in his first address after taking over the Presidential post that was held for five decades by his late father and former Chief Minister M.K. Karunanidhi.

And to cheers from the hundreds of party delegates at the General Council meeting here, Stalin added: "We will oppose any party that wants supremacy of one language."

Stalin said the rights of state governments were being trampled upon and the Modi government needed to be taught a lesson.

He also appealed to the DMK cadres to throw out the "anti-people and spineless AIADMK government" in Tamil Nadu.

Stalin said the DMK won't flinch from the policies of social justice laid down by Dravidian icon E.V. Ramaswamy 'Periyar'.

While declaring that the DMK was not "anti-God", he said the party won't go back on the rationalist policies of Periyar.

Stalin promised that the DMK's new leadership would reflect the views of the party members and supporters.

Confessing that he was not a patch on his late father and did not possess the command over Tamil language like he did, Stalin said: "I have the attitude to try out everything."

From now on, he said he was a different Stalin and would take the DMK and Tamil Nadu towards a new future.u mahesh By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: T Naresh, the father of two children, was making ends meet by working as a construction worker. His life came to an abrupt end after being hit by a biker, who was trying to escape from a pack of stray dogs chasing his vehicle. This is just one example of the seriousness of stray dog menace in various parts of Secunderabad Cantonment Board(SCB).

The SCB, on the other hand, does not seem to be serious about controlling the menace. For, it has hired just one stray dog catching unit consisting of four people to handle more than 3,000 canines. Earlier SCB was completely dependent on GHMC to tackle the problem.

My husband was visiting a shop in the area when a pack of stray dogs attacked a passing motorist. To escape from being bitten he raised the speed and in the melee he knocked down my husband, says Nareshs wife Anitha, a resident of Picket in SCB Ward-4. Naresh suffered serious head injuries and died instantly.

My husband was a daily wage worker and our sole breadwinner, says Anitha.The negligence of SCB authorities is why my husband died.

When contacted, an Elected member from the Ward-4, P Nalini Kiran admitted that the SCB has a serious stray dog menace. She said, We have given many representations to SCB authorities on the issue of stray dogs but there has been no action. We will request authorities to give compensation and job to one of the family members of Naresh.

M Devender, superintendent of Sanitation department, said that till now he did not receive any complaint regarding the accident. He said, The team will catch stray dogs and take them to the veterinary hospital in Bollarum where they will be vaccinated, sterilized and dropped back as per rules.u mahesh By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Though the cost of an LPG cylinder is Rs 847, delivery staff demand an additional Rs 50. If customers refuse to pay, the staff threaten to take the cylinder back - the Chief Ration Officer, Telangana, receives several such complaints every day. There are nearly 700 LPG dealers in the State who engage 15,000 delivery boys to deliver 1.5 lakh cylinders a day to households.

Chief Ration Officer, Hyderabad, Bala Mayadevi, in a review meeting with LPG gas agency dealers had recently instructed them that delivery staff can not overcharge consumers. In case of complaints, strict action would be taken against the agency concerned.

When contacted, Madavi Indane Gas Agency distributor T Ramanuja Rao said the consumer should only pay the amount printed on the cash memo. If the delivery staff is overcharging, they must inform the agency so that action can be taken against the person concerned. We are paying them a salary and they cant charge more than the amount in the receipt, he said. He added that people can give a tip if they wish, but delivery staff can not demand it.

Meanwhile, the delivery staff alleged exploitation at the hands of agency owners. They claimed that despite doing a job that involves a lot of physical labour, their pay is below the minimum wages and devoid of any incentives or benefits.

I am paid `9,000 a month for delivering 30 cylinders on daily basis. Often we have to deliver cylinders in houses on fourth or fifth floors and the buildings dont even have lifts. We are forced to climb stairs with 30 kg cylinder on our shoulders ( weight of LPG in cylinder is 14.2 kg). We dont even have health insurance, said A Venkatesh, a delivery boy.

Another delivery staff D Murali rued that the consumers are complaining to gas agency owners that the delivery boys are demanding the extra amount. Government should make regulations that make it mandatory for gas agencies to provide health insurance to delivery staff, he said. He alleged that recently a delivery staff had died due to heart attack while on work. Who should be responsible when such a tragedy occurs? Murali added.

BPCL launches mobile app to make hassle-free payment

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) launched an Android mobile app on Monday for LPG consumers, which has options of booking cylinders and also for registering request for second cylinder. The app also gives customers the option to pay through credit or debit cards and e-wallets. Speaking to media, C Muthu Swamy, BPCL Coordinator for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh said many complaints were received from consumers regarding payment at the time of delivery of cylinders. Now they can use the app for online payment without any hassles.By AFP

GENEVA: A UN probe has called for Myanmar's military leaders to face justice for alleged genocide and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya, but the road to a tribunal will be long and complex, with China likely to block any prosecution of its ally at the International Criminal Court.

On Monday a damning report by a UN fact-finding mission said members of Myanmar's armed forces, including military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, should be prosecuted for their roles in violently expelling some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims into neighbouring Bangladesh.

ALSO READ | Births, marriages and deaths: Rohingya lives playing out as refugees

Refugees have recounted widespread stories of rape, murder and arson by security forces as they were driven from their homes.

Rohingya refugees burst into tears during a protest march after attending a ceremony to remember the first anniversary of a military crackdown that prompted a massive exodus of people from Myanmar to Bangladesh, at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia on August 25, 2018. (Photo | AFP)

The report was the most serious step towards accountability in the crisis to date but experts warn of major legal and diplomatic obstacles ahead.

What's the quickest route to justice for the Rohingya?

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague. For proceedings to begin, the United Nations Security Council needs to refer Myanmar to the court.

But geopolitics is likely to get in the way with China and Russia -- which last week hosted Min Aung Hlaing -- able to veto any referral.

China has consistently refrained from condemning Myanmar for its treatment of the Rohingya, describing it as an internal matter.

ALSO READ | Rohingya mark 'black day' one year after Myanmar violence

"Rakhine State has very complex historic, ethnic and religious background," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters on Tuesday.

"So how to resolve this problem? Through negotiation and dialogue," she said, adding: "I think that blame on any side, or pressure, does not help resolve anything."

The Security Council is set to discuss Myanmar later Tuesday in New York.

What about Plan B?

If legal moves for the ICC stall at the Security Council, it could consider an ad hoc or mixed tribunal similar to ones created for Rwanda, Yugoslavia, Lebanon and Cambodia.

This would in theory require the cooperation of national authorities in Myanmar.

Another possibility stems from an unprecedented request by the chief prosecutor at the ICC, Fatou Bensouda, to extend its jurisdiction to Myanmar, which has not signed up to the court.

That's "uncharted territory", according to Kingsley Abbott of the International Commission of Jurists, who says the move may be possible because they crisis spilled over into Bangladesh, a member of the ICC.

Rohingya refugees perform prayers as they attend a ceremony organised to remember the first anniversary. (Photo | AFP)

If the court agrees, the prosecutor could launch a preliminary investigation and ultimately issue arrest warrants for Myanmar nationals.

But this would take time, requiring participation from Bangladesh in the investigation and -- somewhat implausibly -- Myanmar to hand over suspects.

Who could be prosecuted?

The court targets individuals, not countries. On Monday the UN probe named six senior members of the armed forces including military chief Min Aung Hlaing.

Investigators argue they bear responsibility because of their direct command over troops that carried out "clearance operations" in northern Rakhine state.

But the ICC cannot forcibly bring suspects from Myanmar, and would have to rely on member states to detain them in the event they travel abroad.

IN PICTURES | Thousands of Rohingya Muslims flood across the border in search of help

This has been problematic in the past.

In December 2017 war crimes judges criticised Jordan for failing to act on the Hague's warrant to arrest Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir.

Could Aung San Suu Kyi face trial?

Highly unlikely. The current calls are aimed at the upper echelons of Myanmar's security forces, and the Nobel laureate has no control over the military.

But the UN probe did call her out for not using her position as leader of the civilian government or her "moral authority" to try to stem the violence.

It also accused her administration of denying any wrongdoing, blocking the UN investigation, and spreading false narratives.

IN PICTURES | Associated Press investigation: Myanmar security force rapes Rohingya women; finds the report

"Through their acts and omissions, the civilian authorities have contributed to the commission of atrocity crimes."

How is this playing out inside Myanmar?

Myanmar has long denied accusations it committed ethnic cleansing or genocide.

It has reserved particular scorn for the ICC prosecutor's request on jurisdiction.

In August the government branded it "meritless" and called for it to be dismissed.

Myanmar says it has also established its own independent commission of inquiry -- a panel critics say is toothless.

The stateless Rohingya garner little empathy inside Myanmar and Min Aung Hlaing's military campaign has enjoyed support from the public, many of whom see it as a defence of the country from militants.By UNI

BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump shared concerns about developments in Syria, especially the humanitarian situation in the region around Idlib, their offices said on Monday after the leaders spoke by telephone.

"Both leaders called for international action to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Idlib Province," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

"Russia is called upon to act in a moderating manner on the Syrian government and prevent a further escalation," Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said in a statement.

Seibert said the two leaders also spoke about Ukraine, the Western Balkans and trade, he said, without elaborating.

Sanders said they sought "renewed efforts to solve the conflict in eastern Ukraine."

The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Moscow, says it aims to recapture the rebel-held enclave of Idlib in northern Syria, a refuge for civilians and rebels displaced from other areas of Syria, as well as jihadist forces.

The region has been hit by a wave of air strikes and shelling this month in a possible prelude to a full-scale government offensive.

Merkel also raised concerns about the situation in Idlib during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin just over a week ago.

Turkey's foreign minister said on Friday it would be disastrous to seek a military solution in the region.

Turkey, which has backed some rebel groups there, is trying to avert an attack by forces loyal to Assad.By AFP

Egypt's highest Sunni Muslim authority has said there can be no justification for sexual harassment, in a country where many people often blame women themselves for the widespread problems they face.

In a statement Al-Azhar blasted all forms of harassment as "a forbidden act and deviant behaviour" and said "the one who carries it out is a sinner".

"Criminalising sexual harassment must be absolute and free from any condition or context," the statement released Monday said.

"Justifying sexual harassment with the behaviour or clothing of the woman is a misunderstanding, for sexual harassment is an assault on the woman and her freedom and dignity," it said.

Some 60 percent of women in Egypt said they had been victims of some form of sexual harassment during their lifetimes in a 2017 report from UN Women and Promundo.

ALSO READ | Egypt ratifies law tightening control over internet

Three-quarters of men and 84 percent of women polled said that women who "dress provocatively deserve to be harassed".

The divisions have been highlighted by a recent debate over a video posted on the internet by an Egyptian woman showing a man making unwanted advances on her in a Cairo street.

The footage of the man parking his car and approaching a woman to go for a coffee went viral and drew wide-ranging reactions online.

Some commentators said it definitely constituted harassment given the hostile atmosphere of the Cairo streets.

But others described the approach as normal given the man made no obscene gestures, and there were even suggestions the woman was at fault as she was welcoming advances by standing in the street.Public debate over harassment intensified in the aftermath of the January 2011 uprising against former president Hosni Mubarak.

The protests demanding Mubarak's ouster centered around Cairo's Tahrir Square, where constant media coverage also highlighted sexual attacks and helped show the public denial of the phenomenon.

Following the 2011 uprising, anti-harassment graffiti spread around downtown Cairo, volunteers organised to rescue women from mob attacks, and more women shared their own stories publicly.

In February 2013, women took to the streets brandishing knives in a symbolic protest against sexual violence.

Authorities directly criminalised sexual harassment in June 2014, days before President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's inauguration, however many women complain that officials still turn a blind eye to the problem.By PTI

HANOI: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today held talks with her Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh and discussed measures to strengthen trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation between the two countries.

Swaraj is in Vietnam on the first leg of her four-day two-nation tour which aims at deepening India's strategic cooperation with Vietnam and Cambodia -- the key countries in the ASEAN region.

"Deepening our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership! EAM @SushmaSwaraj and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh led delegation level talks where trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation were discussed," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

Deepening our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership! EAM @SushmaSwaraj and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh led delegation level talks where trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation were discussed. pic.twitter.com/E21RWCp3fZ  Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) 28 August 2018

Swaraj co-chaired the 16th meeting of the Joint Commission along with the Vietnamese foreign minister.

Earlier, addressing the 3rd Indian Ocean Conference here yesterday, Swaraj said India and Vietnam are connected not only by the common waters but also by a shared vision for peace and prosperity.

Hanoi is, therefore, a particularly appropriate setting to discuss developments in the Indian Ocean and the Indo-Pacific region, she said.

Swaraj said India and Vietnam have agreed to further strengthen cooperation in the maritime domain, including on anti-piracy, security of sea lanes and exchange of white shipping information.

"We also agreed on the importance of the early conclusion of an ASEAN-India Maritime Transport Cooperation Agreement. In this context, we intend to accelerate the establishment of direct shipping routes between the seaports of India and Vietnam," she said.

Yesterday, Swaraj met Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Bangladeshi Planning Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal.

She also held talks with Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.By AFP

THE HAGUE: International judges will hear closing arguments Tuesday in the case against former Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda, accused of war crimes including using child soldiers and sex slaves in his rebel army.

Once known as "The Terminator", Ntaganda faces 13 counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity for his role in a brutal civil conflict in DR Congo's volatile east more than 15 years ago.

The Rwandan-born Ntaganda in September 2015 pleaded not guilty to the charges at the start of his trial before the International Criminal Court.

Prosecutors at the Hague-based tribunal said his rebel army in 2002 and 2003 conducted a reign of terror in the vast central African country's northeast Ituri region, unleashing horrific abuses on local inhabitants.

Ntaganda was central to planning operations for his Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), using child soldiers and coercing women into sexual slavery while attacking civilians on ethnic grounds, prosecutors say.

The charismatic commander, a feared ex-general with a penchant for cowboy hats and fine dining, gave the orders and provided logistics and weapons to his troops, the prosecution say.

At least 800 people were killed by the FPLC as it battled rival militias for control of the mineral-rich area.

Prosecutors single out Ntaganda for allegedly leading a November 2002 attack on the gold mining town of Mongbwalu that lasted six days and left 200 villagers dead.

'Soldier, not criminal'

Ntaganda, aged around 44, during his trial balked at the "Terminator" nickname and told judges he was a "soldier, not a criminal".

"I never attacked civilians, on the contrary, your honours, I protected them," he said.

The first-ever suspect to voluntarily surrender to the ICC, Ntaganda walked into the US embassy in Kigali in 2013 and asked to be sent to the court.

Ntaganda is a founding member of the M23 rebel group, which was eventually defeated by Congolese government forces five years ago.

Fighting in the eastern DRC has left some 60,000 people dead since 1999, exacerbated by the wealth of mineral resources in the region, notably gold and minerals used in electronic products.

This week's hearings will run from Tuesday to Thursday with Ntaganda himself expected to make a statement towards the end of the hearings. It could take months, even years, before the ICC's judges hand down a verdict.

The three-day hearing is set to be followed with interest after the surprise acquittal of another former Congolese leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba.

Initially sentenced to 18 years for war crimes committed by his troops in the Central African Republic, Bemba was acquitted on appeal in June. He has since returned to Kinshasa.

However, Ntaganda's former FPLC commander, Thomas Lubanga, was sentenced to 14 years in jail in 2012. That was the second conviction by the court since it was set up 16 years ago.By AFP

LONDON: Iran's parliament declared its dissatisfaction with President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday, voting to reject his answers after grilling him over the deteriorating economy.

It was the first time Rouhani had been summoned by parliament in his five years in power, and MPs demanded answers on unemployment, rising prices and the sharp depreciation of the rial, which has lost more than half of its value since April.

The lawmakers, who have already impeached his labour and economy ministers this month, were unimpressed.

ALSO READ | Iran lawsuit against US sanctions opens at UN court

In votes at the end of the session, they expressed dissatisfaction with Rouhani's responses to four of their five questions on the economy, which will now be referred to the judiciary for review.

The economy has been battered by the return of US sanctions following President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

Rouhani trod a difficult line, seeking to acknowledge the problems facing ordinary Iranians without admitting to a full-blown crisis.

"It should not be said we are facing a crisis. There is no crisis. If we say there is, it will become a problem for society and then a threat," he told parliament.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks in a session of the parliament while answering questions of lawmakers, in Tehran.

(Photo | AP)

As usual, Rouhani offered no concrete policy proposals, instead saying the answer lay in showing a united front.

"You may talk about employment, foreign currency, recession, smuggling... I think the problem is in people's view of the future," he said.

"The people are not afraid of the United States, they are afraid of our disagreements. If the people see we are united, they will realise the problems will be resolved."

But Rouhani's government -- which staked everything on its bid to attract foreign investment through a more "moderate" approach to relations with the West -- has been badly weakened by the return of sanctions.

Most foreign firms have abandoned investment projects in Iran, and the next phase of renewed US sanctions in November will hit the crucial oil sector.

Palace of wishes

"We will not allow a bunch of anti-Iranians who have gathered in the White House to conspire against us," Rouhani vowed.

But most Iranians blame the government for failing to capitalise on the nuclear deal.

"You created a palace of wishes called the JCPOA," said Mojtaba Zolnour, an MP for the religious centre of Qom, using the technical name for the nuclear deal.

"With one kick from Trump, this palace was demolished, and you didn't have an alternative," he said.

Despite the impeachment of two of his ministers, Rouhani himself is protected by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who said recently that removing the president would "play into the hands of the enemy".

ranian President Hassan Rouhani, left, speaks in a session of the parliament while answering questions of lawmakers, in Tehran.

(Photo | AP)

That may explain the soft line taken by several speakers, with one conservative MP, Hossein Naghavi-Hosseini, emphasising: "We will stand by your government for the sake of protecting the system of the Islamic republic."

But when it came to the votes, lawmakers accepted only one of Rouhani's answers -- related to international banking sanctions, which they agreed were beyond his government's control.

Even after the nuclear deal, major foreign banks continued to refuse to work with Iran, fearing the lack of transparency in its financial sector could lead them into legal trouble.

ALSO READ | Iran's Hassan Rouhani says negotiations with sanctions 'makes no sense'

The only previous time a president has been questioned was in 2012 when parliament summoned Rouhani's controversial predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose erratic, populist style had alienated him from the establishment and further damaged Iran's international standing.

It was after that session that MPs decided they should vote on the president's answers, deputy speaker Ali Motahari explained to ISNA news agency this week, because Ahmadinejad's responses were so "strange" and unconvincing.

Rouhani has even lost support among reformists who had supported him as the best option after their own leaders were either locked up or barred from standing for office.

"What have we done with this nation? We made them miserable and wretched," said leading reformist MP Elias Hazrati as he voted in favour of impeaching economy minister Masoud Karbasian on Sunday.By AFP

ROME: An Italian journalist who says he helped a former Vatican diplomat pen his bombshell allegation of sex abuse cover-up against Pope Francis says he persuaded the archbishop to go public after the U.S. church was thrown into turmoil by sex abuse revelations in the Pennsylvania grand jury report.

Marco Tosatti said he helped Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano write, rewrite and edit his 11-page testimony, saying the two sat side-by-side at a wooden table in Tosatti's living room for three hours on Aug. 22.

Tosatti, a leading conservative critic of Francis, told The Associated Press that Vigano had called him a few weeks ago out of the blue asking to meet, and then proceeded to tell him the information that became the basis of the testimony.

ALSO READ | Pope Francis listens to the wounds of the abused in Ireland

Vigano's document alleges that Francis knew of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick's sexual misconduct starting in 2013 but rehabilitated him from sanctions that Pope Benedict XVI had imposed. The claims have shaken Francis' five-year papacy.

Pope Francis gestures as he answers to a journalist's question during a press conference aboard of the flight to Rome.

(Photo | AP)

Vigano called for Francis to resign over what he said was complicity in covering-up McCarrick's crimes. There is ample evidence, however, that the Vatican under Benedict and St. John Paul II also covered up that information, and that any sanctions Benedict imposed were never enforced.

Vigano has kept largely quiet since the bombshell testimony Sunday, and his whereabouts are unknown. As a result, Tosatti's reconstruction provides the only insight into how the document came about.

Tosatti, a longtime correspondent for Italian daily La Stampa but who now writes largely for more conservative blogs, said after their initial meeting a few weeks ago, Vigano wasn't prepared to go public.

But Tosatti said he called him after the Pennsylvania grand jury report published Aug. 15 alleged some 300 priests in six Pennsylvania dioceses abused more than 1,000 children over the past 70 years, and that a sequence of bishops had covered it up.

Tosatti said he told Vigano: "I think that if you want to say something, now is the moment, because everything is going upside-down in the United States. He said 'OK.'"

ALSO READ | Pope Francis refuses to comment on claim he personally ignored archbishop sexual abuse

The two then met at Tosatti's Rome apartment.

"He had prepared some kind of a draft of a document and he sat here by my side," Tosatti told the AP from behind his desk, pointing to the wooden chair to his right. "I told him that we had to work on it really because it was not in a journalistic style."

Tosatti said he persuaded Vigano to cut claims that couldn't be substantiated or documented "because it had to be absolutely water-proof." They worked for three hours.

Tosatti said he was well aware of the implications of the document and what it took for a Holy See diplomat to reveal secrets he had kept for years.

"They are brought up to die silent," Tosatti said of Holy See diplomats. "So what he was doing, what he was going to do, was something absolutely against his nature."

But he said Vigano felt compelled to publish out of a sense of duty to the Catholic Church and to clear his conscience.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano reads the Apostolic Mandate during the Installation Mass of Archbishop Blase Cupich at Holy Name Cathedral, in Chicago.

(Photo | AP)

"He enjoys a good health but 77 is an age where you start preparing yourself ... he couldn't have a clear conscience unless he spoke," Tosatti said.

Document in hand, Tosatti then set out to find publications willing to publish it in its entirety: the small Italian daily La Verita, the English-language National Catholic Register and LifeSiteNews, and the Spanish online site InfoVaticana.

ALSO READ | Pope Francis 'begs for God's forgiveness' for sexual abuse scandal

All are ultra-conservative media that have been highly critical of Francis' mercy-over-morals papacy.

The English and Spanish publications translated the Italian document and all agreed on a Sunday morning embargo, coinciding with the second and final day of Francis' trip to Ireland, where the Catholic church's sex abuse and cover-up scandal dominated his trip.

Tosatti said Vigano didn't tell him where he was going after the article came out, knowing that the world's media would be clamoring to speak with him.

As Tosatti accompanied Vigano to his door, he bent down to kiss Vigano's ring  a sign of respect for Catholic bishops.

"He tried to say 'No.' I told him 'It's not for you, it's for the role that you (play) that I do it," Tosatti said. "He didn't say anything. He went away, but he was crying."By PTI

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Egypt and meet with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the country's envoy to India said today, and asserted the warmth in ties as expressed by both the leaders exhibits there are avenues for greater bilateral cooperation.

"The Indian Prime Minister has in-principle accepted the invite sent to him by our President and confirmed that he will visit.

But, work needs to be done through diplomatic channels to see the time availability," Egyptian Ambassador Hatem Tageldin told reporters here.

Interacting with the media on the sidelines of an event, the envoy also said that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to visit his country later this year and Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan is expected to attend an international bio-diversity conference there in November.

Earlier, addressing a gathering during a function held here to mark the opening of the first unit in India of Port Said-based paint major Kapci Coatings, Tageldin described the Egypt-India relationship as "exceptional" and said it was important to "explore more avenues of cooperation".

"Indian Prime Minister and our President have met four times since they both came to power in 2014.

And, a fifth meeting is expected to take place in Egypt," he said.

In September 2017, Modi had met el-Sisi in the Chinese port city of Xiamen and held talks with him to strengthen bilateral ties.

"Egypt-India exceptional relationship goes years back to the Non-Aligned Movement and trade routes, which played important roles in cementing trade exchanges and relationships," he said.

The envoy also said that at present, the economic climate is "favourable and much more conducive" for creating further opportunities, especially through initiatives like Make in India, Clean India and Skill India.

"The warmness in relationship expressed by both our leaders paved the way for more cooperation in many fields," he said.

The envoy said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Sameh Shoukry, had met Modi during his India visited in March and extended an invitation letter to him, sent by President el-Sisi.

The ambassador said the trade volume between the two countries reached USD 3.5 billion in 2017.

The combined investment of Indian companies in Egypt stands at 3.5 billion, he said.

"Both governments have taken numerous steps for developing solid base for the bilateral relationship and the business community can take this cooperation further," he said, adding the prospects of enhancing the bilateral ties is extremely encouraging.

Asked on defence cooperation, the envoy said, "India is an important partner in different fields, and there is potential to enhance defence cooperation.

And, that includes areas in defence, security, counter-terrorism, and joint ventures in military production."

The foundation stone for the first unit of Kapci Coatings in India was laid in April 2015 in Bengaluru, the envoy said.

"There were a few issues, including in land acquisition in initial days, but I met the officials of the then Karnataka government, and they facilitated the process.

The company plans to open four more units in India and will invest USD 50 million on these five projects.

From here, they will also explore ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries," Tageldin said.

At present, 52 Indian firms operate in Egypt while three Egyptian companies are in India, he said.By AFP

CAPE TOWN: British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday pledged to prioritise investment in Africa as she started a visit to the continent to seek new trade deals during preparations to leave the European Union.

"By 2022, I want the UK to be the G7's number one investor in Africa, with Britain's private sector companies taking the lead," May told business leaders in Cape Town, South Africa.

The G7 groups major industrialised nations, but does not include China.

ALSO READ | Theresa May to make first visit to Africa as British PM this week

"As prime minister of a trading nation whose success depends on global markets, I want to see strong African economies that British companies can do business with," she said.

"I want to create a new partnership between the UK and our friends in Africa built around shared prosperity and shared security."

Theresa May in South Africa. (Photo | AP)

Her tour of South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya -- May's first to the continent since becoming premier in 2016 -- is seen as an effort to stamp her authority on her embattled premiership.

May is facing pressure at home from so-called Remainers sceptical of her ability to forge trade deals once Britain severs ties with the EU, as well as from Brexiteers fearful she will not deliver a clean break.

"As we prepare to leave the European Union, now is the time for the UK to deepen and strengthen its global partnerships," she said in a statement.By AFP

GENEVA: Three experts working for the U.N.'s top human rights body say the governments of Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia may have been responsible for war crimes including rape, torture, disappearances and "deprivation of the right to life" during 3 years of escalated fighting against rebels in Yemen.

In their first report for the Human Rights Council, the experts also point to possible crimes by rebel Shiite militia in Yemen, who have been fighting the Saudi-led coalition and Yemen's government in a civil war since March 2015.

ALSO READ | Saudi-led coalition accuses United Nations of bias in Yemen

The experts have also chronicled the damages from coalition airstrikes, the single most lethal force in the fighting, over the last year.

They urged the international community to "refrain from providing arms that could be used in the conflict" an apparent reference to countries including the United States and Britain that help arm the Saudi-led coalition, as well as Iran, which the coalition has accused of arming the Houthis.

Kamel Jendoubi, centre, Chairperson of the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen, is flanked by Charles Garraway, left, member of the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen, and Alessandra Vellucci, right, Director of UN Information Service to Geneva, as they inform on the publication of its report on the establishment of facts and circumstances surrounding alleged violations and abuses committed by all parties to the conflict in Yemen, during a press conference, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva.

(Photo | AP)

The experts visited some but not all parts of Yemen as they compiled the report.

"(We have) reasonable grounds to believe that the governments of Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are responsible for human rights violations," the report said. It cited violations including unlawful "deprivation of the right to life," arbitrary detention, rape, torture, enforced disappearances and child recruitment.

Saudi, Emirati and Yemen officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday. On Twitter, Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash wrote that the UAE "must review it, answer its merits and review what it says about the horrors of the Houthis."

Saudi state media later said its coalition had received the U.N. report and forwarded it onto its own lawyers to review before it "will take the appropriate position."

The Associated Press reported last year that the UAE and its allied militias were running a network of secret detention facilities, beyond the control of Yemeni government. In June, the AP revealed that hundreds of detainees had been subjected to sexual abuse and torture.

The U.N. report accused the "de facto authorities"  an allusion to rebel leaders that control some of the country's most populated western and northern areas  of crimes including arbitrary detentions, torture and child recruitment. Human rights advocates have faulted the Houthis for laying land mines and targeting religious minorities and imprisoned opponents.

ALSO READ | At least 22 children killed by coalition air strike in Yemen: UN aid chief

Kamel Jendoubi, a Tunisian human rights advocate who chaired the group of experts, said they compiled a "confidential list" of people suspected of committing international crimes, which was being handed over to the office of the U.N. human rights chief on Tuesday. His team refused to indicate how many or which people or groups were on the list  whether on the government or rebel sides.

"Despite the gravity of the situation, we still note a total disdain for the suffering of the Yemeni people," Jendoubi told reporters in a briefing on the report Tuesday. "This crisis reached its peak with light appearing at the end of the tunnel. This conflict has in effect fallen into the void."

Since March last year, the U.N.'s humanitarian aid agency has said Yemen  already the Arab world's poorest country  is facing the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The report says three-fourths of its population of over 29 million need humanitarian assistance. The war has devastated the country's health system and provided the breeding grounds for the world's largest cholera outbreak last year.

ALSO READ | UN condemns 'shocking' Yemen Al-Tharwa hospital strike in Hodeida

The experts cited some 6,475 deaths from the conflict between March 2015 and June this year, but said the "real figure is likely to be significantly higher." Other groups have estimated that more than 10,000 people have been killed.

Kamel Jendoubi, Chairperson of the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen, informs to the media on the publication of its report on the establishment of facts and circumstances surrounding alleged violations and abuses committed by all parties to the conflict in Yemen.

(Photo | AP)

They also sharply criticized work by the coalition's Joint Incidents Assessment Team, which was set up as a bulwark against possible rights violations. They questioned the JIAT's explanations for the airstrikes that have killed civilians, and challenged its "independence and its ability to carry out impartial investigations."

The experts also said nearly a dozen deadly airstrikes they investigated over the last year "raise serious questions about the targeting process applied by the coalition." They chastised some in-the-field coalition combatants for "routinely" failing to seek information about targets on official "no-strike" lists that should have been avoided.

ALSO READ | 40 children killed in Yemen bus strike: New Red Cross toll

Even getting the experts up and running was an accomplishment for the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council, which passed a resolution creating the team last September. Largely due to the objections of Saudi Arabia and its allies, the council failed several times to authorize a more intrusive investigation into possible war crimes in Yemen. The 47-member body only last fall reached a compromise to bring in the experts.

Also on Monday, the U.N. refugee agency said more than 450 civilians were killed in Yemen in the first nine days of August, making it one of the deadliest periods since the start of the war.

William Spindler, UNHCR spokesman, also called for the protection of thousands of families displaced by the fighting in the vital port city of Hodeida, the main entry point for food in a country teetering on the brink of famine.

Since June, the Saudi-led coalition has waged an offensive to clear the port city of Houthis and restore government control.

Spindler said the offensive has resulted in the displacement of over 50,800 families, according to the U.N. office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA).#Seongnam development scandal Prosecutors seek arrest warrants for 3 key figures in Seongnam development scandal Prosecutors sought arrest warrants Monday for three key figures in an urban development scandal on charges of breach of trust and bribery in connection with a lucrative project in ...

#KBO Heroes beat Bears in KBO wild card thriller, force 2nd game The Kiwoom Heroes defeated the Doosan Bears 7-4 in a South Korean baseball wild card thriller on Monday, scoring three runs in the top of the ninth inning to stay alive for another...Reporter/Columnist

Julie Wurth is a reporter covering the University of Illinois at The News-Gazette. Her email is jwurth@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@jawurth).Reporter

Debra Pressey is a reporter covering health care at The News-Gazette. Her email is dpressey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@DLPressey).One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021Print Version



Home News Sports Social Obituaries Events Letters Boundary County Fair 2018 kicks off:

Opening Ceremony, Fair Royalty, Auction, more August 16, 2018 Shout n Loud, Were County Proud is a fitting theme for this years Boundary County Fair, as county residents were shout n loud at the Fair's Opening Ceremony last night, which included a Baked Goods Auction. Last years auction raised $2,360, which provided two new, much-needed stoves and a dishwasher for the VEC kitchen. Community members were no less generous this year, eagerly bidding on a stream of delicious baked goods starting with a Blue Ribbon winning cake, decorated in the county fairs theme, and ending with a mouth-watering Salted Caramel, Crumble-topped, Apple pieand five other Blue Ribbon and Best of Class winners in between! The total at the end of the auction reached $1,700 which will be used to refurbish the roof on the exhibit hall.



Many fair-goers enjoying the sights and smells abundant at the fair last evening might also have noticed the new paint and repairs made to the buildings and grounds, the lack of dust sifting through the air, and the fresh wood shavings blanketing the arena and pens. The fair board made sure to thank the many amazing people who support the fair through their generous hours of volunteering or monetary donations which help further fairground improvements. In addition, they recognized a few businesses that help behind the scenes, including: Oxford Inc., Idaho Forest Group, and Boundary Tractor, who make the fair a pleasant experience for all in attendance.



The Fair board acknowledged two recently retired members of the fair board, Craig Kelson and Gayle Alexander, for their years of service to the Boundary County Fair. They also honored Don Alexander, who initiated the building of the sheep/pig barn and contributed to it greatly, by voting to name the barn Don Alexander Livestock Pavilion in his memory. In addition, two new fair board members were welcomed and join the ranks of those who make our county fair so special, Stacie Watts and Ben Robertson.



Boy Scout Troop #114 began the opening ceremonies presenting the colors to a crowd of proud citizens standing with hands pressed to hearts, after which Chaplin Len Pine led the prayer, and Jerzie Pluid delivered a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem.



The FFA officers in their crisp blue and gold jacketsa sight that makes every small-town, county-proud heart go pitter patterthen conducted their opening. Miss Shawna Siver, who is President of the FFA chapter and also this years Distinguished Young Woman for Boundary County, spoke about her experience so far as this years winner, stating, the Distinguished Young Woman Program has helped me overcome challenges and see how easy it is to be your best self if you try. She is excited to represent Bonners Ferry at the state DYW event this year.



Many community and state representatives were also in attendance at the opening ceremonies, lending their support, showing their pride, and joining in the applause as last years fair royalty, Brittany Spangler, crowned the new Fair Royalty. Applicants were scored by a group of judges from different statewide county offices and were awarded points based on academics, community involvement, letter of interest written by the student, and letters of recommendation. The 2018 Fair Royalty is as follows: Caleb Petersen (King), Katelyn Hutchinson (Queen), Kira Hull, Mallory McLeish, Michaela Worley, and Crysta McLeish (Princesses).



Katelyn and Caleb will receive a $500 scholarship from the Boundary County Fair board and the 4-H Leaders Association at the time of college enrollment, and the six contestants will also receive $100 from the 4-H Leaders Association.



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A little Prince and Princess of the fair were also selected and announced at the opening ceremonies. Dominic Solum (Little Prince) will be sporting a royal sash and Emma Robertson (Little Princess) a sash and tiara as they explore the fair this year and ride in Saturdays parade. So if you see them, a curtsy or bow would go along nicely with your congratulations.



These wonderful youth were not the only royalty to be hailed in the arena this evening, as the fair board also recognized the Family Fun Night Royalty, Shaylynn Richards (Queen); Riley Petesch (King); Kadyn Chouinard (Prince); and Brooke Petesch (Princess).



The buildings and exhibits at the Boundary County fair are now officially open to explore and enjoy, so load up the family, pull on those old dusty boots so you can walk securely through the pig barn, and come down to the county fair . . . to the smell of elephant ears and corn dogs, mini donuts and Italian sausages, and in all probability, to the sight of a princess . . . or two.





Questions or comments about this article? Click here to e-mail!The show, which has recorded the biggest number of exhibitors compared to previous shows, with organisers running out of space, will see Vice President Retired General Dr Constantino Chiwenga officiating at the Agribusiness Conference on Wednesday to be attended by more than 400 business executives, including President Mnangagwa.All that indicates retribution, lack of freedom in the country. There is no freedom after voting and what Mnangagwa talks about are just words to hoodwink the international community, yet on the ground, you have examples of rising cases of victimisation. Those people have families and that abuse is affecting a lot of people. The abuses are actually on the rise and this is contrary to what Mnangagwa says when seeking recognition, Komichi said yesterday.(Newser)  A federal judge in Seattle on Monday extended his previous ruling that barred uploading instructions for making 3D-printed guns to the Internet, the Hill reports. The existing ban instituted last month was set to expire on Tuesday,per Reuters. Now, the restriction will be in place until the case is resolved. Cody Wilsonfounder of Defense Distributed, which wants to publish the 3D-print gun instructionsargues that the ban conflicts with his First Amendment right to free speech. However, US District Judge Robert Lasnik writes that concerns about Wilson's First Amendment rights are "dwarfed by the irreparable harm the states are likely to suffer" if the ban is lifted.

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In July, 19 states and the District of Columbia sued the federal government over a settlement between the Trump administration and Defense Distributed to allow the publication of the gun-making instructions. In the suit, they say publication of the instructions will result in easy access to guns by criminals, adding that the Trump administration never explained why it settled the case. Gun control proponents are worried that 3D-printed guns will be untraceable "ghost" guns, while others say the threat is overblown. Administration officials have said that it's already illegal to make undetectable, all-plastic guns. (Read more gun control stories.)(Newser)  New York City police are seeking the public's help in identifying a man wanted for questioning in the death of a pregnant reality star and Stanford graduate. Lyric McHenrywho appeared alongside Magic Johnson's son, EJ Johnson, on E!'s EJNYC, per ABC Newswas found unresponsive on a Bronx sidewalk around 5am on Aug. 14 before being pronounced dead at a hospital. Though an official cause of death is pending, the New York Daily News reports a drug overdose is suspected as the 26-year-old, with bruising on her knees, was found with what appears to be cocaine. Over the weekend, authorities released surveillance video of a man in the vicinity at the time who may have left a hotel with McHenry following a celebration of her birthday, reports the Daily News.

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A spokesperson previously said McHenry's family viewed her death as suspicious, per People. The family had no knowledge of her using drugs and didn't know she was 15 to 20 weeks pregnant, as an autopsy revealed, per Refinery 29. "The NYPD is doing a great job and impressive work in respect to our daughter Lyric," McHenry's father, Hollywood producer Doug McHenry, says in a statement. "Now, we appeal to New Yorkers to cooperate with the police in finding this guy." Seen on Aug. 14 wearing a black shirt with a white collar and yellow shoulder stripes and black pants with "cat-like eyes" on the knees, the male is described as having a dark complexion and short dark hair. Anyone with information is asked to call NYPD Crime Stoppers. (Read more New York City stories.)(Newser)  The Denver Police Department is investigating a Thursday death in the city as a suicide, and the deceased is a child. KDVR reports on the death of 9-year-old Jamel Myles; mom Leia Pierce says her son started fourth grade at Joe Shoemaker Elementary School last Monday and took his own life in their home over bullying after just four days. The Denver Channel cites the county coroner's office, which on Monday said Jamel died by hanging around 11pm Thursday.

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Pierce says Jamel told her he was gay over the summer; she says her reaction was a loving and accepting one, and she says he told her "he was gonna tell people [at school] he's gay because he's proud of himself." The Denver Post reports Jamel went to his first day of school wearing fake fingernails, per Pierce. She alleges the reaction was a brutal one, saying Jamel told his older sister that some kids urged him to kill himself, something Pierce says she only learned about after his death. The Washington Post asked the district if it knew of any bullying and got this response from Denver Public Schools: "Our priority right now is to look at all the concerns raised in this case, to keep all our students safe and to do a fair and thorough review of the facts surrounding this tragic loss." (Read more bullying stories.)(Newser)  Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani has been haggling with Robert Mueller about the idea of the president sitting down for an interview, and Giuliani had hoped to have the issue resolved by Sept. 1. That's looking increasingly unlikely now because Giuliani tells CNN he hasn't heard from Mueller's team in about three weeks. The last communication between the two sides is when Trump's lawyers sent their latest counter-offer about the interview on Aug. 8. Since then, radio silence. "I figured we wouldn't hear until after the Manafort trial, but we (still) haven't," says Giuliani. "I have to figure they're planning something." Giuliani professes to have no idea what that might be, suggesting that Mueller might be preparing to issue a subpoena or publish his report, or that the special counsel is simply content to wait until after the midterms to resume negotiations.

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As Giuliani waits for a response, another member of Trump's inner circleRoger Stonepredicts that Mueller "is coming for me," reports the Hill. Stone is so sure of it that he sent an email to supporters requesting donations for his legal defense fund. "Im next on the crooked special prosecutors hit list because I've advised Donald Trump for the past 39 years," he wrote. Stone further tells the Guardian that Mueller "may frame me for some bogus charge in order to silence me or induce me to testify against the president." The newspaper notes one potential area of interest: Stone has acknowledged exchanging messages during the campaign with "Guccifer 2.0," and Mueller thinks Guccifer was actually a front for Russian operatives who stole emails from top Democrats then leaked them. (Read more Roger Stone stories.)(Newser)  President Trump was up early Tuesday with a two-part tweet calling out Google and other sites as biased against him specifically and conservatives in general. Trump said the views of those on the right were being suppressed, suggested this was illegal, and warned that this "very serious situation" will be addressed. Politico notes that Trump seems to be referencing a story in the conservative PJ Media blog over the weekend charging that Google searches were biased and questioning whether the site was deliberately manipulating its algorithm to achieve the effect. The story offered no proof of the latter, however. "Google search results for 'Trump News' shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media," wrote Trump. "In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD."

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Trump complained that "Fake CNN" is prominent while conservative media outlets are nowhere to be found. "Illegal? 96% of results on 'Trump News' are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous," Trump continued. (That's the same percentage cited by the PJ Media story.) "Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!" As Axios notes, the criticism comes ahead of next week's congressional testimony by execs from Google, Facebook, and Twitter on election interference, and the tweets could be Trump's way of shifting the focus "to how he's a victim of social media." They also come after sites cracked down on Alex Jones' InfoWars content. (Read more President Trump stories.)(Newser)  A man who fled at least 10 restaurant dates without paying his bill, earning him the title of "Dine-and-Dash Dater," has finally been nabbed, say law enforcement officials in California. Paul Gonzales, 45, pleaded not guilty Monday to extortion, attempted extortion, grand theft, and petty theft charges, reports Fox News. The LA County District Attorney's Office describes as a two-year scheme in which Gonzalez allegedly targeted women he met on dating websites and apps. From May 2016 to April 2018, Gonzales allegedly chowed down on meals at restaurants in Pasadena, Long Beach, Burbank, and Los Angeles before sneaking away on the pretext of making a phone call or using the bathroom.

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Eight women were left with bills totaling more than $950, while restaurants picked up the check in two other cases, reports NBC Los Angeles. Gonzales also is accused of running out of a hair salon without paying for services, reports WREG. Held on $315,000 bail, he faces up to 13 years in state prison if convicted, the DA's office says. "He doesn't have to worry about any meals now; he's gonna get three square meals a day," one of his alleged victims tells CBS Los Angeles. Gonzales is next to appear in court on Sept. 7. (Read more California stories.)(Newser)  Federal judges on Monday affirmed their earlier decision striking North Carolina's congressional districts as unconstitutional because Republicans drew them with excessive partisanship, per the AP. Acting under an order of the US Supreme Court to re-examine the case, the three-judge panel ruled again in favor of election advocacy groups and Democrats who had sued to challenge the boundaries drawn in 2016. The Greensboro-based court also raised the possibility of directing the GOP-dominated legislature to redraw the maps by mid-September so they could be in effect for the fall elections, or getting an outside expert to do so. The printing of ballots has been delayed while other fall election matters are in court.

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US Circuit Judge Jim Wynn asked lawyers in the case to weigh in by Friday about what should happen next. Any decision demanding new maps for this cycle likely would risk confusion among voters and be appealed by Republican legislative leaders. The groups and individuals that sued alleged GOP mapmakers manipulated the lines of the state's 13 districts in 2016 using political data to ensure Republicans retained a 10-3 majority within the delegation. The same judges in January deemed the map an illegal partisan gerrymander that violated constitutional protections of Democratic voters. But the Supreme Court, which had ruled against plaintiffs in a redistricting case in Wisconsin, asked them to take a second look in June.

(Read more North Carolina stories.)(Newser)  The conflict in Yemen may be a complex international issue, but UN investigators have just found a depressing common denominator: A new fact-finding reports suggests that all parties to the conflict are guilty of war crimes, reports the BBC. That largely means three groups: The Yemen government, the Houthi rebels trying to oust the government, and a Saudi-led coalition trying to prevent the rebels from succeeding because they're seen as a proxy for Iran. The US isn't directly involved in the fighting, but it backs the Saudi coalition and, along with other nations, supplies arms. The UN investigators called on the international community to stop that supply line, reports the Guardian. The 41-page report will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council next month to determine the next steps.

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Despite the severity of the situation we continue to see a complete disregard for the people in Yemen, says one of the report's authors, Charles Garraway. For example, the report accuses the Saudi coalition of ignoring its own "no-strike list" and hitting refugee camps and hospitals with airstrikes. The rebels, meanwhile, are accused of blocking aid to civilians and using weapons indiscriminately in dense civilian areas. Civilians report widespread detentions, along with torture and rape. (The UAE in particular has been accused of running a network of secret detention sites.) Investigators also cite routine disappearances and the recruitment of children into battle. In short, "(we have) reasonable grounds to believe that the governments of Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia are responsible for human rights violations," per the report. (Read more Yemen stories.)(Newser)  In 1845, Sir John Franklin set sail from England in the hopes of discovering and successfully navigating the Northwest Passage. Instead, all 128 crew members aboard the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror ended up dead. Nearly all of them actually survived until April 1848, when they fled ships that had been ice bound and sought help on foot, only to perish on King William Island. Both shipwrecks were uncovered in the past four years, and Gizmodo reports "well-preserved bodies" of some of the dead sailors have been located in graves. But what felled them all remained unknown though there was a theory: lead poisoning. Now, a study published in PLOS One concludes that wasn't it. The theory was born from prior tests on bone, hair, and tissue taken from some sailors' remains, with the thinking being that tin cans and the ships' water filtration systems may have pushed levels upward.

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The Canadian researchers laid out three hypotheses: that the sailors who survived longer would have more lead in their bones, that "bone microstructural features" that grew near the time of death would show higher levels than older tissue, and that the lead levels would be higher than those of other contemporaneous sailors. They then used a high-resolution scanning technique to compare bone and dental remains with those from the Royal Navy cemetery in Antigua and found that none of the hypotheses held upand so, "taken together," the researchers found the lead poisoning theory unsupported. Where does that leave us? One of the researchers tells the CBC things could have just gradually deteriorated. "They would have been starving. They would have had nutritional deficiencies." (Read about Franklin's wife's relentless mission to find her missing husband.)(Newser)  Check your bottle of Children's Advil: Pfizer is recalling one lot of Children's Advil Suspension Bubble Gum flavor because while the label instructions describe dosages in milliliters, the dosage cup is marked in teaspoons. That puts users at risk of overdosing, Pfizer says in a press release. The recall is a voluntary one, and anyone who purchased the lot in question can get a full refund, USA Today reports. More details on how to identify whether your bottle is affected can be found at the FDA's website. (Read more Advil stories.)(Newser)  President Trump on Tuesday accused Google of suppressing conservative views in search results, and the tech giant has responded. It's just not so, says a company statement sent to Business Insider. "Search is not used to set a political agenda and we don't bias our results toward any political ideology," says the statement, which adds that Google is constantly tweaking its algorithms in order to return "high-quality content" when its users search. "We never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment." Related coverage:

What now? Asked whether the White House feels that some kind of regulation is necessary for Google, economic adviser Larry Kudlow didn't rule out the possibility. "We'll let you know. We're taking a look at it," he told reporters, per Politico.

Asked whether the White House feels that some kind of regulation is necessary for Google, economic adviser Larry Kudlow didn't rule out the possibility. "We'll let you know. We're taking a look at it," he told reporters, per Politico. The source: As previously noted, Trump's accusatory tweets echoed a post at the conservative PJ Media blog. Read it here. The site conducted its own unscientific experiment and concluded that 96% of results for "Trump" news come from "left-leaning and anti-Trump media outlets." Examples of those sites were CBS News, USA Today, Politico, and CNN. It said right-leaning sites were poorly represented, including the National Review, the Weekly Standard, and Breitbart. Exceptions it cited include Fox News and the Wall Street Journal.

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Twitter responds: Trump accused tech sites in general of bias, and Twitter's Jack Dorsey denied the charge in an interview with CNN. "Are we doing something according to political ideology or viewpoints? We are not, period," he said. "We do not look at content with regards to political viewpoint or ideology. We look at behavior." But, he added, "I think we need to constantly show that we are not adding our own bias, which I fully admit is left, is more left-leaning."

Trump accused tech sites in general of bias, and Twitter's Jack Dorsey denied the charge in an interview with CNN. "Are we doing something according to political ideology or viewpoints? We are not, period," he said. "We do not look at content with regards to political viewpoint or ideology. We look at behavior." But, he added, "I think we need to constantly show that we are not adding our own bias, which I fully admit is left, is more left-leaning." Big hearing: Trump's accusation comes a week before execs from Facebook, Twitter, and Google return to Capitol Hill to discuss censorship and other issues, notes Axios. Such allegations of bias have circulated for years, says the site's David McCabe, but "nobody has presented strong evidence that the engineers at Silicon Valley companies manipulate algorithms to intentionally disadvantage conservatives because of a personal political bias."

Trump's accusation comes a week before execs from Facebook, Twitter, and Google return to Capitol Hill to discuss censorship and other issues, notes Axios. Such allegations of bias have circulated for years, says the site's David McCabe, but "nobody has presented strong evidence that the engineers at Silicon Valley companies manipulate algorithms to intentionally disadvantage conservatives because of a personal political bias." From the right: This clip on Fox Business may have caught the president's attention, notes Gizmodo. Host Lou Dobbs cites the PJ Media post and accuses of Google of "banning conservatives." Guests Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, aka, "Diamond and Silk," agree. Instead of using a noose, what they're doing is using algorithms and a form of censorship to choke peoples platforms out, and to keep people from doing a search when they want to search for our beautiful president."

This clip on Fox Business may have caught the president's attention, notes Gizmodo. Host Lou Dobbs cites the PJ Media post and accuses of Google of "banning conservatives." Guests Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, aka, "Diamond and Silk," agree. Instead of using a noose, what they're doing is using algorithms and a form of censorship to choke peoples platforms out, and to keep people from doing a search when they want to search for our beautiful president." Tough task: No matter what those on the left or right say, it's "difficult to analyze the idea of bias in Googles algorithms," writes James Vincent at the Verge. "The company uses a number of measures to weight its search rankings, and while the exact formula is not known, factors like an outlets longevity, its reputation, and its ability to fill stories with relevant keywords all play a part." Search results also "differ from market to market, making objective analysis difficult."

(Read more President Trump stories.)(Newser)  "Marcos Rodriguez still finds it hard to be human." So writes Matthew Bremner in a profile of Marcos Rodriguez Pantoja, a Spaniard who has said he lived with wolves for 12 years beginning at the age of about 7. Bremner's piece for the Guardian focuses the least on that period: Rodriguez says he stumbled upon a den and went to sleep with the pups; when the mother returned, he says she fed him some of the meat she had and the rest was essentially history. He describes learning how to set up rabbit traps and use their blood to attract fish; when he was found by police, he was reportedly wearing a deerskin. Those details are as fascinating as they are easy to question: Bremner digs much deeper into the aftermath of Rodriguez's return to civilization and what led to him being in the Sierra Morena mountain range in the first place.

story continues below

After his mother's death and his father's remarriage and amid tough economic times, he was around the age of 6 "sold" to a man and tasked with looking after his goats (Bremner speaks with an anthropologist about the likely nature of the arrangement). Rodriguez says he was brought to the Sierra Morena to apprentice under a shepherd who taught him some survival skills but disappeared one day; wary of returning to a home he said was abusive, he vanished into the mountains, where he says he befriended snakes and feared only wild boar. Life upon emerging was confusing, a maelstrom of "rejection and disbelief" combined with struggles like learning how to speak again. It wasn't until a 2010 film based on him that celebrity came, and with it more confusion: "The intensity of their belated fascination was almost as puzzling as their earlier contemptRodriguez could never understand what was expected of him." Read the full story here. (Read more Longform stories.)Mumbai:

Wadia group-owned budget carrier GoAir is all set to fly international from October, with the first flight to operate on the Mumbai-Phuket route, a source privy to development said.

The bookings for the maiden international flight will commence soon and an announcement to this effect is expected to be made by Thursday, the source said.

The city-based airline, which became eligible to fly overseas more than two years ago when it took delivery of its 20th aircraft, which was also the first Airbus A320 Neo for the airline, will be the fifth domestic carrier to have international operations.

Also Read | AAI prepares specifications for remote air traffic control towers; to invite bids shortly

We will be launching our international operations with a flight to Phuket (Thailand) from Mumbai in October. We have all regulatory approvals in place and the flight is expected to go into the system (bookings) in a weeks time, the source told PTI.

The source said the airline is looking to launch three to four international destinations by March next year, adding the proposed Mumbai-Phuket service will be a daily operations.

GoAir spokesperson was not available for comments.

Thailand ambassador to India Chutintorn Gongsakdi had last week tweeted that, Go Airlines (India) or GoAir has been approved as designate airline to fly to Thailand since August 10.

The airline, which launched its domestic operations in November 2005, was in August 2016 granted rights to operate to nine countries, including China, Vietnam, Maldives, Kazakhstan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, among others.

GoAir had planned to launch services on the international routes in October last year but had to defer the plan due to the grounding of some of the Pratt & Whitney engine-powered Airbus A320 Neo planes owing to engine glitches.

Read More | IGI Airports T3 terminal to replace carpets with hard flooring

We are mulling to have three to four international destinations in our flight network by this fiscal year and Male (Maldives) could be the next destination after Phuket, the source said.

GoAir currently operates over 1,544 weekly flights across 23 destinations with a fleet of 38 Airbus A320 planes, including 19 A320 Neos.

Currently, national carrier Air India, its subsidiary Air India Express, private carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet have international flights. Tata-SIA run Air Vistara also is planning to launch services on overseas routes later this year.

For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Mumbai:

Cash-crunched Jet Airways on Tuesday said it has received an additional equity of $ 300 million in the form of advance lease incentives and borrowings from domestic banks.

The airline, which reported a second consecutive quarterly loss of over 1,300 crore in three months to June, also reiterated that both the airline and its auditors were on the same page and there was no difference of opinion.

The company got an additional equity of $ 300 million from lease incentives and bank borrowings, Jet Airways deputy chief executive officer and chief financial officer Amit Agarwal on Tuesday said during an analysts call post June quarter earnings.

Also Read | Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal feeling guilty and embarrassed about investors losing money

Agarwal, however, did not give the breakup, but said, A large proportion of it came from lease incentives.

The airline had on Monday reported a whopping Rs 1,323 crore of net losses for June quarter due to higher fuel cost, falling rupee and low fares. Total income marginally improved to Rs 6,066 crore, from Rs 5,953 crore a year ago.

Jet Airways had reported a loss of Rs 1,036 crore in March quarter.

The two back-to-back losses forced the airline to draw up a revival plan, which includes capital infusion, a cost reduction programme of more than Rs 2,000 crore over two years, a plan to improve pricing, better inventory management, monetising its Jet Privilege programme and wet leasing some of its small aircraft.

The airline was earlier scheduled to announce the June quarter numbers on August 9. But after the AGM and the board meeting, it informed the exchanges that the board did not consider the accounts as the companys audit committee was headless.

Chief executive officer Vinay Dube said that there was no difference of opinion with the auditors and they continued to audit the companys accounts.

He also clarified that June quarter results were postponed to take a call on the cost-reduction programme.

Dube during the call also said that the companys plan to induct 11 fuel-efficient Boeing 737 Max planes in the fleet by March were on track, adding that three such planes have already been delivered to the airline and two more are expected to join the fleet soon.

Further, the induction of B737 Max will help us achieve the stated 8-10 per cent growth plan, he said.

There are three big ticket items under the comprehensive cost-reduction programme - maintenance cost, where the airline has already renegotiated contracts, sales and distribution cost and fuel optimisation, Agarwal told analysts.

Read More | GoAir to launch international operations; first flight on Mumbai-Phuket route

He also said that the airline could sell and lease back some of the 16 planes which are owned by the airline to mop up funds.

Of these, 10 are Boeing 777s, three Airbus A330s and rest Boeing 737s, he said, adding, the market value of these planes is pegged at around $ 750-800 million.

Clearly there is a large equity sitting and Jet Airways can sell and lease back some of these planes, he added.

Agarwal said the airlines total debt stood at Rs 8,620 crore as on June 30, adding the firm plans to phase out Rs 2,200 crore debt in this fiscal year.

For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Bengaluru trekker, who had been missing since July 25, was on Tuesday found dead in Bhabha Valley in Himachal Pradeshs Kinnaur district, sources said.

Satya Narayan, 46, was last traced at Wangtu Kinnaur district.

Also Read | Heavy rains lash Delhi-NCR, waterlogging disrupts traffic in Gurgaon

Narayans family, after no contact with him for over a month, filed a missing report with the the Kinnaur police on August 24.

Officials said Narayana died in a road accident in which his driver Ramesh was also injured. However, details were not immediately available.

Narayan, who worked with US based multinational company Texas Instruments at Bengaluru, intended to do a 5,500-metre high trek at Gunsarang, which connects Kinnaurs Ropa valley with Spitis Mane village, according to sources.

Also Read | Delhi man with Rs 25,000 salary becomes director of 13 firms; know how

A team of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) had been searching for Narayan who went missing from Wangtu, the sources added.New Delhi:

Violence in West Bengal continued on Tuesday, a day after four people were killed in violence over the formation of gram panchayat (GP) boards, with clashes between the workers of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and opposition parties, leaving more than 30 people, including five policemen, injured. Clashes were reported from two places in North Dinajpur district, police said.

Bombs were hurled and bullets fired in the clashes at Daspara and Itahar GP under Chopra police station limits. The clash at Itahar broke out after Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers allegedly obstructed GP members from the BJP from voting to elect office bearers, the police said.

Also Read | Missing Bengaluru trekker found dead in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur

While thirteen TMC and BJP activists were injured in the clash, five policemen were also injured and a police jeep was torched, the police said.

The clash in Daspara erupted when CPI-M and Congress workers allegedly prevented elected independent members, whom the two parties claimed had contested the panchayat polls with their backing but switched sides to join the TMC after winning, from taking part in the voting, the police said.

TMC workers came to the rescue of the elected independent members, which left 12 people injured in the ensuing violence, the police said, adding that four houses were also set on fire.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh: Seven killed in rain-related incidents in Amethi

The situation was brought under control by the Rapid Action Force (RAF) and the police using a water cannon.

(With inputs from agencies)New Delhi:

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Tuesday decided to provide digital certificates including digital mark sheets, migration certificates and pass certificates through Parinam Manjusha- CBSEs digital academic repository created in collaboration with Digital Locker.

CBSE has over 1,300 schools affiliated to it in Kerala.

Also Read | Appoint full-time principal or face action, UGC warns 21 DU colleges

The decision came in the wake of floods that had ravaged Kerala claiming over 300 lives since August 8, 2018 in the states worst monsoon fury in nearly a century and rendered over one million people homeless.

The digital certificates being provided through Parinam Manjusha/DigiLocker are digitally signed using digital signature of Controller of Examinations of CBSE which made them legally valid digital document as per the IT Act.

The CBSE will re-send login-id and password of Parinam Manjusha/DigiLocker pertaining to students of the year 2016-2018 on their mobile numbers provided with Class X or XII data, CBSE Secretary Anurag Tripathi said in a statement.

Students of 2004-2015, 2016-2018, who did not provide mobile number at the time of Class X/XII data or students who have changed their mobile numbers will have to visit the DigiLocker website and link their Aadhaar to their account to get their digital documents by providing their roll number, class and year of examination.

Also Read | DUSU elections 2018 to be held on September 12

In case if any student finds any variation in his/her document, he/she may contact the CBSE Regional Office Thiruvananthapuram immediately giving roll number, name, class and year.

The CBSE has also extended the deadline for submitting school information at the Online Affiliated School Information System (OASIS) for affiliated schools in Kerala till September 30, 2018.

How to apply for CBSE digital certificates:Mumbai:

Amitabh Bachchan says he is in awe of the current generation of actors like Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao who have honed their craft to such a level that even he gets scared while working with them.

Bachchan said while he is still trying to fine-tune his craft, young actors come prepared on sets.

The new generation of actors like Alia, Anushka (Sharma), Deepika (Padukone), they are such capable actors, you get scared while working with them, kha hee jayenge (theyll eat me up). They are so brilliant.

Also Read | Amitabh Bachchan to give Rs 2.5 crore to families of martyrs, farmers

We took years and years and are still trying to fine-tune our craft but these people, they come first day on the set and know exactly what they are doing. They are so confident, mature, Bachchan told reporters.

The 75-year-old actor said he considers himself fortunate to have worked with two generations of actors.

Look at Sushant (Singh Rajput), Varun (Dhawan), Rajkummar Rao and Kartik Aaryan. I get so obsessed that I write to them and send flowers when I watch their performance.

Read More | BJP resorting to politics of killing, says Mamata Banerjee

I am fortunate that Ive been able to live through the period where I saw Meena (Kumari) ji, Nutan ji, Waheeda (Rehman) ji and now Im getting an opportunity to work with actors like Alia and Ranbir (his Brahmastra co-stars)... Its just unbelievable, he added.

Bachchan was speaking at the launch of the 10th season of Kaun Banega Crorepati. The popular game show will start airing on Sony from September 3.

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Mumbai:

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Tuesday said he would be donating Rs 1 crore to the families of martyrs and an additional Rs 1.5 crore to waive off loans of farmers.

The 75-year-old actor said he wanted to do something for the families of martyrs.

Just yesterday, we got a list of 44 families from the government. We have prepared 112 demand drafts to the value of Rs 1 crore to take care of the families, Bachchan told reporters here.

Also Read | Hrithik one of the most dignified people I have met, says Disha Patani

There is a system in the government. Sixty per cent of the amount has to go to the wife, twenty per cent to the father and twenty per cent to the mother... Like this, we have divided the amount for 44 families of martyrs, he added.

The actor said he was also pained by the farmers suicide and has decided to pitch in.

I have always been bothered by reading about farmers suicides. Many years ago, I was shooting in Vizag and read that farmers who had loaned Rs 15,000, Rs 20,000 or Rs 30,000 and couldnt pay back and were committing suicide... I came back and paid for 40-50 families..."

Read More | No RSS invite for Rahul Gandhi yet; will respond once received: Congress

This time I am paying Rs 1.25 crore to 200 farmers families. I went to my bank and we got a list of all the farmers loans and there were 200 loans and thats what I am paying off, he added.

Bachchan was speaking at the press conference of Kaun Banega Crorepati season 10 in Mumbai on Tuesday.

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Bigg Boss Season 12 is all set to take the Indian TV shows with storm from September 16. Fans have already started speculating the possible contestants for the upcoming season much ahead of its commencement. It was reported that many celebrities from television industry have been approached for the reality show but only one name has been confirmed so far as per the latest reports. Naagin actor Karanvir Bohra has confirmed the news of being approached for the show, sources close to the actor reveals.

Karanvir told Indiaforums.com, Yes, I have been approached for the show. I think I have been the only actor who has been constantly approached since season 1. I feel privileged to be approached by them, but this time also I am not doing the show.

Also Read | Bigg Boss 12: Five SECRET rules of the house

There are even reports that winner of Splitsvilla 7 is all set to enter the Bigg Boss house along with her friend Ryan Peterson as a Jodi. A source revealed, The duo has completed all the initial stages of auditions and other processes. The channel has liked them and they are in the final lot.

Bigg Boss 12 is expected to have six jodis including both celebrity and commoner jodis and a total of 21 contestants. Even the promo of the show has hinted towards Jodi theme this season where Salman Khan is called these couple as Vichitra Jodi.

If sources are to be believed, the jodis who are expected to participate this season include Dipika Kakar-Shoaib Ibrahim, Milind Soman-Ankita Konwar, Danny D-Mahika Sharma and Debina Bonnerjee-Gurmeet Choudhary.

Few facts about the show:

1. Salman Khan is hosting the Bigg Boss since since 4

2. The Bigg Boss house is under surveillance at all times with more than 90 camera.

3. Karanvir Bohra came to limelight with a television series 'Shararat'.

4. Bigg Boss will marke to be the third season to include commoners as contestants.New Delhi:

The Maharashtra Police on Tuesday carried out several raids at multiple locations across the country and arrested a few prominent activists, including Gautam Navlakha and Varavara Rao, for their alleged Maoist links. The arrests were made following the raids at their homes in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence that broke out a day after the Elgaar Parishad event held on December 31, 2017.

Several teams of Pune police raided the residences of activist and journalist Gautam Navlakha in Delhi, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, revolutionary writer Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, Stan Swamy in Ranchi and Anand Teltumbde in Goa.

So far, the police have arrested Varvara Rao, Arun Pereira, Gautam Navlakha, Varnan Gonsalves and Sudha Bhardwaj. It has also got the transit remand of Navlakha till August 30. They all have been booked under sections 153 A, 505(1) B,117,120 B,13,16,18,20,38,39,40 and UAPA, according to news agency ANI.

Read More | Maoist ideologue Varavara Rao arrested for allegedly plotting PM Modis assassination

While investigating the case, the Pune Police had claimed that the speeches made during the Elgaar Parishad event triggered the violence that broke out on January 1 during the celebrations of the two-hundredth anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle in 1818.

This was the second such operations in the last three months. Earlier in June, the Pune police had carried out similar searches and arrested five urban Maoist operatives from Delhi, Mumbai and Nagpur.

From the raids, the police had claimed to have recovered a letter mentioning a plan to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the lines of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Also Read | BJP resorting to politics of killing, says Mamata Banerjee

All the five people arrested by the police in June are lodged in at Yervada central prison in Pune. The police reportedly claimed that todays raids at residences of prominent activists came as a result of the interrogation of these people.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

The multi-city raids at the residences of several civil rights activists and Left intellectuals by the Maharashtra police and subsequent arrests over alleged Maoist links have triggered a massive outrage across the country.

Several prominent lawyers, academics, authors, human rights defenders and opposition leaders condemned the police action and termed it a 'virtual declaration of emergency' in the run-up to 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Amnesty International and several other groups, including People's Union for Civil Liberties, said that the arrests of the activists was a concerted attempt to silence voices of dissent and crush human rights interventions.

The Maharashtra police on Tuesday conducted raids at the residences of several activists and arrested them in connection with the Bhima Koregoan violence that broke out on January 1. The police arrested five noted activists, including Varvara Rao, Arun Pereira, Gautam Navlakha, Varnan Gonsalves and Sudha Bhardwaj, for their alleged Maoist links.

Read More | Maoist ideologue Varavara Rao arrested for allegedly plotting PM Modis assassination



Reactions from noted authors and intellectuals on raids and arrests of activists

Author and historian Ramachandra Guha called the action "absolutely chilling" and demanded the Supreme Court's intervention to stop this "persecution and harassment" of independent voices.

"Sudha Bharadwaj is as far from violence and illegality as Amit Shah is close to those things," Guha tweeted, adding that if Mahatma Gandhi was alive, he would have defended her.

"In the run-up to elections, it is an attempted coup against the Indian Constitution and all the freedoms that we cherish," said another noted author and activists Arundhati Roy.

Roy said that it was as close to the declaration of an emergency as it can get. Another activist Kavita Krishnan also described the action as "undeclared emergency".

Also Read | Bhima Koregaon Violence: Raids at homes of prominent activists across India; several held

JNU student leader Shehla Rashid alleged it was an attempt to "instil fear among those who are vocal about issues" and "to manufacture a narrative and a sense of false enemy to misguide people ahead of the 2019 elections".

(With inputs from agencies)

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Lahore:

A delegation of the Indian Water Commission arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday to hold crucial talks with its counterpart on various aspects of the Indus Waters Treaty, the first bilateral engagement since Prime Minister Imran Khan took office.

Pakistan Water Commissioner Syed Mehr Ali Shah and additional commissioner Sheraz Jamil received the nine-member Indian delegation led by Water Commissioner P K Saxena on its arrival here via Wagah border.

Talking to reporters, Shah said talks between the two countries will be held on water issues on Wednesday and Thursday in Lahore.

Also Read | India giving top priority to building connectivity in neighbourhood: Sushma Swaraj

The talks will be the first official engagement between India and Pakistan since Khan became prime minister on August 18.

The last meeting of the Pakistan-India Permanent Indus Commission was held in New Delhi in March during which both the sides had shared details of the water flow and the quantum of water being used under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty.

India and Pakistan signed the treaty in 1960 after nine years of negotiations, with the World Bank being a signatory.

The treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding their use of the rivers. However, there have been disagreements and differences between India and Pakistan over the treaty.

Shah said Pakistan has raised objections on 1000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnai hydroelectric projects on River Chenab and a detailed discussion will be held during the talks.

We had also raised concerns over construction of dams on Pakistani rivers and India did not bother about it and continued doing the same, Shah said, adding India will reply to Pakistans queries on controversial water projects.

Former Pakistan Indus Water Commissioner Syed Jamaat Ali Shah told PTI that the successive Pakistani governments had given much importance to its water disputes with India.

Read More | Bhima Koregaon Violence: Raids at homes of prominent activists across India; several held

India does not bother Pakistan in this regard. It begins work on building hydro power projects on the Pakistani rivers and the Pakistani government raises objections afterwards. Unless the Pakistani government seriously takes up these matters with India it will not get relief, he said and added that Pakistan also needs to plead its case in the World Bank.

According to an official of Pakistan Water Commission, Pakistan has been raising reservations over the designs of the two projects - 1000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnai hydroelectric projects on River Chenab - and would like India to either modify the designs to make them compliant to 1960 Indus Waters Treaty or put the projects on hold until Delhi satisfies Islamabad.

The two sides will in talks also finalise the schedule of future meetings of the Permanent Indus Commission and visits of the teams of the Indus commissioners, the official said.

Read More | Russia to hold biggest military drills since Cold War

The water commissioners of Pakistan and India were required to meet twice a year and arrange technical visits to projects sites and critical river head works, but Pakistan had been facing a lot of problems in timely meetings and visits.

Pakistan has also challenged the discharge series of River Lower Kalnai at Dunadi for winter months and estimated permissible pondage of 0.38 cubic megametres compared to Indian design pondage of 2.74 cubic megametres. The Lower Kalnai project is on a left bank tributary of Chenab and can have gross storage of about 1,508 acre feet of water.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Alapuzha/Kochi:

Terming the Kerala floods as a very big tragedy, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday assured that his party would bring pressure on the central and state governments to provide compensation which they owe to the affected people.

Visiting the flood-ravaged areas of Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts, he also urged the party workers to actively participate in relief and rehabilitation operations and help the people to make their ravaged houses liveable.

It has been a very big tragedy for all of us. Many many people have lost their lives, many lost their property. I want all of you to know that you are not alone and we are all with you, he said.

Also Read | Rahul Gandhi Kerala visit: Congress chief felicitates fishermen who helped flood-affected people

Arriving in Kerala on a two-day visit this morning, Gandhi spoke to people at relief camps, days after the deadliest deluge in the last 100 years left a trail of destruction and claimed 474 lives in rain-related incidents since May 29 when the monsoon set in over the state.

The government owe you compensation and the government has to help you rebuild your houses. We are in the opposition and it is our job to bring pressure on the government, he told people sheltered in a relief camp in Aluva near Kochi, one of the worst affected areas in the monsoon fury.

Reaching out to the flood affected people, the Congress president said we cannot do very big things as the party was not in power in both the state and the Centre, but promised to extend whatever possible.

He urged the Congress workers and leaders to pressure the governments to get the people compensation. We will also apply pressure on the BJP government in Delhi..., he said addressing people at a relief camp in North Parvoor in Ernakulam district.

Gandhi hailed every Keralite for standing together at the time of the calamity, saying they should be proud of themselves.

Also Read | Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee congratulate new Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president MK Stalin

All religions, all communities, all castes, all regions stood together and fought the tragedy, he added. The Congress party was raising funds so that it can also help people rebuild their houses, he said. Earlier, addressing a programme in Alappuzha the Congress president saluted fishermen who played a key role in rescuing those marooned in the deluge. Claiming that the fishermen community in the country was facing a crisis similar to that by the farmers, he said if the Congress comes to power at the Centre, a separate fisheries ministry would be set up.

At a reception hosted by the Congress in the worst-hit Alapuzha to honour the fishermen community, Gandhi said the Coast Guard should make use of the services of fishermen for rescue operations in the future.

I am proud to say that through all your difficulties... through all your hardships... whenever Kerala needed you... you stood up and gave your best. I salute your commitment to the people of Kerala, he said.

Three thousand fishermen had saved 70,000 lives in the recent floods, he said.

Alleging that the fishermen community in the country was facing a crisis similar to that by the farmers, Gandhi said, the moment the Congress came to power at the Centre, a ministry of fisheries would be set up.

Also Read | Kerala floods: CBDT extends income tax return filing deadline

Gods own army will have its own ministry. So your problems can be looked after and your words can be heard at the national level, he said, adding, I do not want to make fake promises. This is a word of the Congress president.

Along with farmers, fishermen have also helped build the country, Gandhi said and asserted that it was an honour for him to felicitate the fishermen who had saved several lives. Recalling his last visit to the state in the aftermath of Cyclone Ockhi, he said, I came and visited your houses and I must say looking back, I am not happy for the help you had received for the damage (suffered in the cyclone).

Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala and Congress state unit president M M Hassan were among those who accompanied Gandhi.

The Congress chief is scheduled to tour Wayanad and Kozhikode districts on Wednesday.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

As Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra is set to retire on October 2, the Law Ministry has asked him to recommend the name of his successor. Sources in the Law Ministry said that Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has recently written to CJI Misra asking him to suggest the name of the judge who will replace him.

Justice Ranjan Gogoi is the senior-most judge of the top court after the CJI and Misra is likely to recommend his name as the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) which governs the appointment of members of the higher judiciary, says that the appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of India should be of the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office.

The MoP stipulates that the Law Minister would, at an appropriate time, seek the recommendation of the outgoing Chief Justice of India for the appointment of the next CJI. After the recommendations of the CJI, the Law Minister puts it before the Prime Minister, who then advises the President in the matter of appointment.

Read More | Maoist ideologue Varavara Rao arrested for allegedly plotting PM Modis assassination

Whenever there is any doubt about the fitness of the senior-most Judge to hold the office of the Chief Justice of India, consultation with other Judges...would be made for the appointment of the next Chief Justice of India, the document states.

Recently, while responding to a question at the Law Ministrys annual press conference on whether the government would follow the laid-down conventions and procedures to appoint Justice Ranjan Gogoi as the next Chief Justice, Prasad had said that the governments intention on the appointment of the next Chief Justice of India should not be questioned.

He had made it clear that when the sitting chief justice will recommend the name of the senior-most judge of the top court as his successor, the executives will take a call on it.

Also Read | Bhima Koregaon Violence: Raids at homes of prominent activists across India; several held

The speculations over Justice Gogois appointment as the next CJI emerged following an unprecedented press conference by four senior-most judges, including Justice Gogoi, in January 2017 when they had criticised Justice Misra over various issues, especially the manner of allocation of cases to certain benches.

(With inputs from PTI)

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

The Maharashtra Police on arrested Maoist ideologue Varavara Rao for allegedly plotting to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Rao was arrested from Hyderabad and shifted to a government-run hospital for medical examination, according to sources.



Rao, a revolutionary writer, would be produced before a local court in Hyderabad before being shifted to Pune.



The Maoist ideologue was arrested in connection to a letter mentioning Modis assassination, which was recovered by a team of the Pune Police in from the house of one of the five Bhima Koregaon violence accused.

Activist Gautam Navlakha detained (Pic 1) in Delhi and activist Varavara Rao (Pic 2) detained in Hyderabad in connection with #BhimaKoregaon violence case pic.twitter.com/W6k1pYgpqN  ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2018

Also Read | BJP Chief Ministers Council: PM Modi, Amit Shah meet heads of BJP-ruled states; 2019 polls likely agenda

Rao's name was mentioned in the letter that revealed the plan to kill Modi on the lines of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. The letter also mentioned the requirement of funds worth Rs 8 crore to buy an M-4 rifle and four lakh rounds to execute Modi's assassination plot.



However, Rao had strongly denied all the allegations and claimed that all the five people arrested in the Bhima Koregaon violence case were working for oppressed people.

Also Read | BJP resorting to politics of killing, says Mamata Banerjee

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who just returned from a four-day visit to the United Kingdom and Germany, on Tuesday arrived in Kerala to take a stock of the flood-ravaged state. The Gandhi scion is on a two-day visit to the flood-affected areas of Kerala, including Chengannur, Alappuzha and Angamaly on August 28 and 29.

According to reports, the Congress chief reached Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala around 10 am and will leave for Kochi later in the day. During the first day of his visit, Gandhi will also conduct a survey of Aluva, Paravur and Chalakkudy areas.

On day 2, Gandhi is set to pay a visit to Wayanad district and will reach Kozhikode airport by 1.15 pm to leave for Delhi.

Here are the highlights on Rahul Gandhi's Kerala visit:

# 02:54 pm: Rahul Gandhi felicitates KB Jaison from Malappuram. Mr Jaison was seen helping people board a rescue boat.

Congress President @RahulGandhi felicitates Jaisal KP from Malapuram. Mr Jaison was seen helping people board a rescue boat. #RebuildingKerala pic.twitter.com/jGRERONZ87  Congress (@INCIndia) August 28, 2018

# 02:50 pm: Congress President Rahul Gandhi felicitates Rev Bishop Stephan Athipozi and V Dinakaran, three fishermen who were involved in Kerala rescue operation.

# 02:40 pm: The Congress chief addresses the gathering at the felicitation function at Alappuzha, Kerala.

Congress President @RahulGandhi addresses the gathering at the felicitation function at Alappuzha, Kerala #RebuildingKerala pic.twitter.com/yshuijSQyp  Congress (@INCIndia) August 28, 2018

# 02:30 pm: The Kerala Floods reveal two distinct ideas of India. The first is one of love and compassion for all living beings, particularly in their suffering. The second is driven by hate and bigotry that is unrelenting even in the face of suffering, tweeted Rahul Gandhi.

# 02:19 pm: Gandhi attended the felicitation of fishermen involved with rescue operations at Camelot Convention Centre, Alappuzha which started with a moment of silence for the people who lost their lives in the Kerala floods.

Congress President @RahulGandhi attended the felicitation of fishermen involved with rescue operations at Camelot Convention Centre, Alappuzha which started with a moment of silence for the people who lost their lives in the Kerala floods. pic.twitter.com/CMDbEQJynE  Congress (@INCIndia) August 28, 2018

# 01:45 pm: Congress President Rahul Gandhi made way for an air ambulance to take off in Kerala's Chengannur, today.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi made way for an air ambulance to take off in Kerala's Chengannur, today. He is on a two-day tour to the flood affected areas in Kerala. pic.twitter.com/I3j1RBGwBx  ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2018

# 01:15 pm: Rahul Gandhi visits the flood-affected Ezhikkadu colony in Aranmula, Pathanamthitta, Kerala.

# 11:37 am: The Gandhi scion meets the flood-affected at the Relief Camp at the Engineering College in Chengannur, Kerala.

Congress President @RahulGandhi meets the flood affected at the Relief Camp at the Engineering College in Chengannur, Kerala #RebuildingKerala pic.twitter.com/rpF750oPwO  Congress (@INCIndia) August 28, 2018

# 10:55 am: Rahul Gandhi interacted with flood victims at Christian College in Kerala.

Congress President @RahulGandhi visits the relief camp at Christian College in Kerala. #RebuildingKerala pic.twitter.com/N0GGI7fAOD  Congress (@INCIndia) August 28, 2018

# 10:47 am: Congress President Rahul Gandhi visits a relief camp in Chengannur. He is on a 2-day visit to the flood-hit Kerala.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi visits a relief camp in Chengannur. He is on a 2-day visit to the flood-hit Kerala. #KeralaFloods pic.twitter.com/6G6pCqgBo5  ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2018

# 10:27 am: Congress President Rahul Gandhi arrives at Trivandrum airport.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi arrives at Trivandrum airport. He will be visiting flood-hit regions in the state including Chengannur, Alappuzha and Angamaly later today. He will also visit flood-affected areas in Wayanad district tomorrow. #KeralaFloods pic.twitter.com/WlhKWbcuzF  ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2018

Read | RSS likely to invite Rahul Gandhi, Sitaram Yechuri for 'Future of India' event

In early August, Rahul posted a series of tweets and requested the Centre to extend their support for the flood-hit Kerala. He also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare the flood a national disaster.

Expressing his solidarity with the people in Kerala, Gandhi said, "This is a difficult time for the people of Kerala. In relief camps and homes across the state, people are grieving for their loved ones. On this Onam let us pledge to put aside our differences, stand united together and focus on the task of #RebuildingKerala".

"Please declare Kerala floods a national disaster without any delay. The lives, livelihood and future of millions of our people are at stake. Please do not vacillate as the people of Kerala are suffering," he added.

Read | Rahul Gandhis gaffes ahead of LS elections to cost Congress party dear

As many as 357 people have lost their lives and several lakhs were shifted to over thousand relief camps after incessant rains flooded the coastal state this monsoon. The southern state of India has been facing the worst-ever flood in nearly 100 years, leading the Centre to declare it a Level-3 calamity.

The Kerala floods, which have caused a widespread devastation across the state, has faced an initial loss of Rs 20,000 crore with the possibility of a further spike.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

While speculations had been rife that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing group will invite Congress president Rahul Gandhi and CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechuri for its 'Future of India' event in New Delhi, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Monday cleared their stance over the same.

Reacting to the reports of the Mohan Bhagwat party inviting the Gandhi scion, Singhvi said the Congress president has not received an invite to attend an RSS event so far and will respond to questions on the matter only after an invitation is received.

"I do not answer hypothetical, speculative questions... This is purely imaginary at the moment," the party spokesperson said while interacting to reporters.

"I have said to you categorically upon checking that we have received no invitation as I speak," Singhvi reiterated.

Read | Rahul Gandhi Kerala visit: Congress president to take stock of flood-ravaged state

"As and when we receive an invitation, the Congress party receives an invitation, there will be an appropriate (and) proper response and you all will be shared with that response," he stressed.

Earlier on Monday, a source close to the RSS said that the organisation may invite the Congress president to the lecture series. According to Sangh sources, the key focus of its 'Future of India' event is to gather people of different ideologies from across the party line.

Giving details of the September event, RSS prachar pramukh Arun Kumar said the Sangh was for the first time organising a three-day lecture series by Bhagwat on the theme, 'Future of Bharat: An RSS perspective'.

Speculations that Gandhi could be invited came a day after the RSS criticised him for drawing parallels between the Sangh and Islamic radical outfit Muslim Brotherhood.

Read | Sharad Pawars way of choosing prime minister  A formula to keep anti-BJP front hopes alive

Earlier in June, RSS sparked a similar controversy after former president Pranab Mukherjee, in a profoundly loaded political move, attended one of its events in Nagpur. There were reports that the unprecedented step taken by Mukherjee to visit and deliver a speech at the RSS headquarters would further rattle the Congress which has been his party until elected as President about six years ago.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Bengaluru:

Dravidian major DMK has got its new leader  MK Stalin, the longest-serving political apprentice to his father M Karunanidhi who passed away earlier this month. Being coronated as the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party chief to fill in the vacant post caused by the death of his father was easy for Stalin, as he was the preferred political heir to the DMK patriarch. Karunanidhi never made a secret of it, much to the chagrin of his elder son MK Alagiri, whom he later threw out of the party for anti-party activities.



The impact of sibling rivalry that sizzled every now and then was stamped out by Stalin through systematic purging of the party and weeding out of his elder brothers trusted lieutenants from party posts.



Alagiri, known as the South Tamil Nadu strongman, was also defanged by former AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa as police stepped up heat on his henchmen. As many of them were eliminated and shorn of governmental support, the strong man became weaker and weaker.



The fight in Alagiri, however, has not died down and in this, lies Stalins first challenge  to neutralise his elder brother politically  and the biggest one is to bring the DMK back to power and national political reckoning.

More on Stalin: As new era dawns in DMK, Stalin faces new challenge



Although Stalin was running the DMK show for the past two years, for the first time from Tuesday he will be completely on his own. At 65, Stalin, the longest serving political apprentice to the chief of the regional party, has had a ringside view of politics as strategised by his father, who was both practical and flexible. But the Kalaignar was rigid when it came to the interests of the state, party and family but not necessarily in that order.



Stalin would need all the qualities and political acumen of his father as he confronts newer challenges in the state when two of its tallest leaders  Karunanidhi and former chief minister and AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa  are gone.



The current dispensation in Tamil Nadu, led by a combine of two warring AIADMK leaders, but stuck by glue of power, is getting unpopular. But whether Stalin has the capacity to take advantage of the political situation that presents itself or fail like he did in the previous general elections in Tamil Nadu (though fought under the shadow of his father) where the victory margin was very narrow, remains to be seen.



Stalin clearly has a plan  to discredit the AADMK government as a bunch of thieves looting the state and trained his guns against the BJP-led central government. Stalin in his acceptance speech charged the BJP with communalising the country and gave a clarion call to all likeminded parties to come together to defeat the central and state governments.

Also Read : With a succession plan, post-Karunanidhi DMK rallies around Stalin



For Stalin, the challenges are many and the first acid test he faces are two bye-elections in the state, including in the constituency represented by his father Thiruvarur. Another one, Thiruparankundram was necessitated due to the death of sitting AIADMK member.



As charged by Alagiri, Stalin had not only lost 2016 general elections but also RK Nagar bye-poll held after Jayalalithaas death. It was a humiliating defeat for the DMK has its candidate lost deposit in the bye-poll in which rebel AIADMK leader and Sasikalas nephew TTV Dhinakaran emerged as a popular winner.



The two bye-elections are in Dhinakaran territory. Besides, Alagiri has announced his candidature in Thiruvarur as a challenge to his Stalin. DMK leaders are maintaining a stoic silence and apparent indifference as advised by their perception strategist not to give over-importance to him and make him more popular.

Then immediately after the bye-elections, Stalin has parliamentary elections to think of. Going by his opening remarks on Tuesday, he has already indicated his alliance preference  Congress. After the Lok Sabha general elections, Stalin has to turn his attention to the other challenge to bring his party to power.

Also Read: Karunanidhi: Tamil leader who scripted superhit political potboiler



Other than electoral contests, Stalin has the biggest challengeto emerge as a powerful Dravidian leader in the mould of Periyar, Anna and Karunanidhi. Moreover, political space for manoeuvring for him also is limited because of the strong ideological moorings of the Dravidian movement and philosophy. Stalin will have to stick to the core ideals of the DMK and cannot make any compromise with infringement on the rights of the state and dilution of federalism. This also brings the DMK under Stalin in direct confrontation with the BJP and the central government.



Stalin, however, will have to dig deep into the political lessons taught by his father to prepare for the 2019 general elections, and bring flexibility to his seemingly rigid anti-BJP stance at present.New Delhi:

With the admission process in undergraduate engineering courses coming to an end across the country, time to analyse the trend of the demand that prevailed this year. Several public and private technical Institutions struggled to fill up the increased number of vacant seats at the undergraduate level in engineering colleges. Theres need to introspect the current situation of a reduced number of takers for engineering courses, from different perspectives. The fact is, the choices made by the students seeking admission are significantly governed by the available information about the courses and institutions, their family members and peers along with the relevant success stories of such professionals in public domain.

A closer look at the prevailing situation in the country and the public perception indicates an ample number of institutions offering engineering courses, but lack the much-needed quality education. In many cases, the brand value of the institutions created through the accomplishments of their graduating students in the past has started fading fast due to the poor employability of their current graduating students.

The prevailing gap between the demand and supply of technical graduates for few years has led to no employment or underemployment of engineering graduates. Also, professional deficiencies make them unsuitable for suitable employment. This has developed a public perception about almost every institution and the courses offered by them and making engineering aspirants choosy.

Read | DUSU elections 2018 to be held on September 12, nominations open till September 4

In the current scenario, Computer Science-related disciplines are visibly in demand in good institutions, while conventional engineering disciplines like chemical engineering, civil engineering and mechanical engineering are not in the priority of majority of admission seekers. Such trend roots to the ease of placement opportunities available to graduates of computer science and related disciplines. But there should not be any disagreement on the roles of engineering graduates in sustenance and upgradation of civilisation and technology are interdisciplinary and in no case, any engineering discipline can be said to be inferior or not worthwhile. In fact, technological advancements are not possible without the integration of different disciplines of engineering, technology and science.

Therefore, with the lack of knowledge about the potential of every stream of technical education, it is becoming imperative to explore suitable opportunities for educating children in the secondary education system about the relevance of different streams of technical education to make them exploit their potential as per their inherent likings and interests. Also, the trend of higher merit aspirants going for preferred disciplines based on public perceptions and information from colleagues and peers will lead to the situation of poor merit students landing up in so-called less preferred disciplines. This will create another problem of yielding technical professionals having somewhat lesser potential from non-computer science disciplines while for sustainable development and technological advancements, it is imperative to have best technical professionals in every stream of technical education.

Read | UGC bans junk food sale in all campuses of colleges and universities

There is need of best brains in every stream of engineering and technology, and any drift to only selected disciplines will weaken the rest of disciplines which will adversely affect the technological development as a whole. Mere imagination of varying capabilities of technical professionals from different streams shows the frightening situation of difficulties in problem-solving which is always multidisciplinary. Given the current trend, there is a need to find out suitable measures to combat the prevailing menace of technical education getting confined to Computer Science and related disciplines as per the demand of aspirants.

Among different means, the experience sharing by eminent technical professionals will help students realise that the present state of technology is the confluence of the contributions made by different disciplines of technical education and science, which should eventually motivate them in choosing a course of study about which the aspirants are passionate. Also, the synergy in the initiatives by technical education providers and secondary schools for demonstrating various technological developments as an amalgamation of different disciplines of technical education to the school students will open their minds and help in choosing the best-suited stream of higher education along with convincing that no discipline is inferior or superior.

The recent news of a very large number of seats remaining vacant in some technical universities indicates a situation of no takers of a large number of private colleges affiliated to them and also a good number of seats lying vacant in public Institutions after the regular counselling process. Given the no admissions through the admission test counselling, institutions have to resort to direct admissions for their sustenance, and this results in a larger share of admitted students through the direct admission mode having least rigour in the filtration process. Thus, the quality of students admitted through the direct mode is likely to be different from those admitted through the admission test-based counselling process, and this ultimately affects the quality of graduating technical human resource which may not be employable appropriately. Quite a large number of vacant seats even after the completion of prescribed admission process indicate that either there has been a straightforward rejection of certain courses and institutions due to insufficient employment potential or the inappropriate quality of education or there is lack of understanding in executing the choices.

Read | West Bengal textbook depicts Farhan Akhtar as Milkha Singh

In view of the present situation, it is imperative for the countrys governance, the industry and the higher technical education providers to collectively strategies for attracting the best brains in all disciplines of higher technical education for creating a proficient technical human resource to further technological advancement and the civilisation endlessly.

(The writer is founder Vice-Chancellor of Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology, Gorakhpur, UP. He is Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Harcourt Butler Technical University, Kanpur, UP)Islamabad:

Describing Pakistan and China as Iron brothers, Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing on Monday said his country wants to work closely with the new Pakistani government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Jing called on Pakistans new Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and congratulated him on his assumption of office and formation of the new government in Pakistan, the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement.

Also Read | Sushma Swaraj unveils Mahatma Gandhi's bust in Vietnam

Pakistan and China are Iron Brothers and close friends, the statement quoted the Chinese ambassador as saying.

Jing further said his government wants to work closely with the new government of Pakistan to further strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries.

Reciprocating Jings good wishes, Qureshi said Pakistan and China are close friends and strong partners, the statement said.

He said the new government is determined to take strategic cooperative partnership between Pakistan and China to new heights.

Welcoming the upcoming visit of Chinas State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Pakistan in September, Qureshi said he said he look forward to an in-depth exchange of views with him on all matters of mutual interest.

Also Read | Facebook bans Myanmar Army Chief Min Aung Hlaing over rights abuses

Praising the vision of President Xi Jinping for Chinas socio-economic development, he said Pakistan could learn much from Chinese experience in socio-economic development, particularly agriculture, as Pakistan is basically an agrarian economy.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.The High Sharia Appeals Court yesterday decided to hear on September 4, 2018, a Bahraini mans appeal against the decision of the Lower Sharia Court to remove the travel ban imposed on his son.

The boy was earlier denied travelling abroad upon the request of his Bahrain father who is afraid that his Arab wife would leave the kingdom once he is allowed to leave. However, the Lower Sharia Court ruled out that the mother has such an intent. She is said to have been wanting to travel to visit her family with him and hence she filed a lawsuit to have the travel ban removed, it observed.

My client had a baby from her husband in 2013. The latter managed to get a travel ban secured against the kid since three years ago as he was objecting him visiting his wifes family in an Arab country, the lawyer of the kids mother said. Therefore, she decided to file a lawsuit to have the travel ban removed temporarily so she can visit them with the child, Huda Al Saad added.

According to the lawyer, her client has never thought of leaving Bahrain for good with the child, stating that she had already travelled with him and returned only. My client was ready to provide any kind of guarantee to confirm her good faith because she wants to visit her ill mother with her child, she continued.HM the King congratulated the pilgrims on their safe return to Bahrain, praying to Allah the Almighty to bless their Hajj. This came as His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa yesterday received Sharia Court of Cassation judge and Bahraini Hajj Delegation Chairman Shaikh Adnan bin Abdulla Al Qattan at Al Safriya Palace.

Shaikh Al Qattan greeted HM the King on the delegations return to Bahrain at the end of the pilgrimage season and briefed him on the delegations statistics and Bahraini pilgrims health conditions. He also outlined the facilities provided to all pilgrims, including medical and preventive services, highlighting programmes and plans line-up for the coming Hajj seasons.

He commended the delegations dedicated efforts and keenness on following-up and monitoring Hajj contractors performance to ensure best services and facilities for Bahraini pilgrims to perform their rituals easily. Serving pilgrims is a trust, honour and duty which requires all efforts to provide premium services and ensure Bahraini pilgrims comfort, HM the King said. He extended congratulations to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, on the success of this years pilgrimage season.A new batch of 7,600 students have been admitted to the University of Bahrain for the academic year 2018-2019.

All public and private school graduates with an average of 70 per cent and above have been admitted as per the royal directives, said UoB president Dr Riyadh Youssef Hamza.

In a statement, he said that a total of 8,700 students had applied to join the university  of whom 7,600 met the admission requirements, congratulated students who qualified. According to Dr Hamza, the number of freshmen admitted to the University of Bahrain has increased this year by 26pc, compared with last years academic figures.Japan's Empress Michiko gave a piano performance at a music workshop in the resort town of Kusatsu in Gunma Prefecture, north of Tokyo.

The Empress attended the Kusatsu International Summer Music Academy & Festival on Monday. She and Emperor Akihito are on summer holiday in the town.

Empress Michiko performed "The Swan" from Camille Saint-Saens's "The Carnival of the Animals" with renowned French horn player Katerina Javurkova.

The Empress consulted the Czech-born artist about the tempo and loudness.

Javurkova praised her tone and said she was honored to have the precious opportunity to accompany the Empress. - NHKJapan's Defense Ministry will consider deploying the Aegis Ashore land-based missile defense system in areas near Akita and Yamaguchi prefectures, a senior ministry official said Monday.

"We will mull (deployment of the Aegis Ashore system) in Akita and Yamaguchi prefectures, as well as their vicinities," Masaki Fukasawa, deputy director-general of the defense minister's Secretariat, said at a meeting with Akita Governor Norihisa Satake.

Fukasawa's statement is believed to have been made to soften Satake's stance on the deployment, people familiar with the matter said.

The ministry plans to open bidding on Sept. 12 to select companies to conduct geological and water surveys for the Ground Self-Defense Force training areas in the northeastern city of Akita and in Hagi in the western prefecture of Yamaguchi.

During the talks, held at the Akita prefectural government office, Fukasawa told Satake that the ministry will include in its discussions government-owned sites that are outside the SDF's jurisdiction, in case the two areas are deemed unfit to host the Aegis Ashore system from the survey results.Upon surrendering at a police station in Sapporo over the weekend, priest Masahito Nagaoka said, "I came to pay for the crime."

Investigative sources with the Hokkaido Prefectural Police are now revealing the nature of that "crime," which appears to have been the murder of his wife and son followed by the dismemberment of their corpses.

At just past 6 p.m. on August 25, Nagaoka, 60, visited a police station in Toyohira Ward to report that the bodies of two relatives were inside his residence. Officers arriving at the building found a corpse of a male and that of a female in the bathroom.

Both bodies, believed to belong to Nagaoka's 19-year-old son, Chikara, and his wife, 58-year-old Konomi, had stab wounds. According to the investigative sources, the corpses had also been carved into pieces with a knife.

Early Sunday, police arrested Nagaoka on suspicion of abandoning and mutilating a corpse. Police believe the crimes were committed on August 25 and 26.

A colleague at Nagaoka's temple told the network that the suspect had taken a one-week vacation prior to the time of the incident.

In addition to confirming the identity of the bodies, police are investigating the circumstances that led to the deaths of the persons. Police expect to also accuse the suspect of murder. - tokyoreporter.comIt is common for companies to organize various informal events where workers can come with their partners. One of those...A gubernatorial aspirant under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State, Engineer Seyi Makinde on Tuesday declared that...

A gubernatorial aspirant under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State, Engineer Seyi Makinde on Tuesday declared that the promise made by Governor Abiola Ajimobi of the state to rebuild the recently demolished Music House, which houses Fresh FM owned by Mr. Yinka Ayefele, has shown that the governor is treating the state like his personal empire.





Recall that the Governor had on Sunday, while speaking at the 90th birthday reception of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, promised to rebuild the building which was partly demolished by agents of the state government.





But Makinde, while reacting via a statement issued on his behalf by Prince Dotun Oyelade, his media aide, queried the motive behind the Governors move to rebuild the building which the administration had alleged, has contravened town planning law.





The statement entitled, Ajimobi treating Oyo State as his personal empire berated the Governor for saying he will rebuild the house because he does not want his political enemies to use it to attack his administration.





He said, I criticised the recent actions of Governor Abiola Ajimobi in the Fresh FM saga. Ajimobis actions raise questions which need to be addressed by his administration.





Makinde, who remarked that the demolition was carried out due to a claim by the state government that the building contravened town planning law, however said nothing has changed since then to warrant the rebuilding of the house with the state resources by Ajimobi.





He said, The demolition was carried out at day break because of the claim that the buildings contravened town planning laws. This was done despite a court case instituted by Ayefele to stop the planned demolition for which a hearing was fixed for Monday, August 20, the day after the demolition.





The state government initially denied that they authorised the demolition and promised to fish out the perpetrators. However, after condemnation from the masses and sundry interests, governor Ajimobi called a truce on the matter and arranged for a meeting with Ayefele.





Ajimobi has promised that his administration would rebuild the demolished building, Ajimobi said that his administration will take up the responsibility of rebuilding the affected part of the Music House, because he does not want his political enemies to use that to attack his administration.



Former Kano Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has confirmed that authorities have sealed the Eagle Square.

Former Kano Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has confirmed that authorities have sealed the Eagle Square.





Kwankwaso had announced that he would make his presidential declaration for presidency on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday.





The Kwankwaso Campaign Organisation, in a statement expressed disappointment that the Federal Capital Territory Administration(FCTA) suddenly turned down the request earlier approved for some flimsy reasons





It said: In a letter dated August 27th, 2018 and signed by Usman Mukhtar Raji for the Facility Manager and received on August 28th, 2018 barely 24 hours to the scheduled declaration, the Abuja International Conference and Eagle Square, managed by the Integrated Facility Management Services Ltd has reversed itself in respect of approval granted the organizers of the declaration of Senator Kwankwaso.





We at the Kwankwaso Campaign Organisation sees the development as a handiwork of the government in power who will not see anything good in growing our fledgling democracy as no level playing field has been created to allow for viable opposition in the country.





Even at that, earlier Tuesday morning the Abuja International Conference and Eagle Square, managed by the Integrated Facility Management Services Ltd refused us access to inspect the premises demanding us to present a police permit, when actual approval for the use of the Eagle Square has been sought and paid for more than one week to the said declaration.







Apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has alerted the Federal Government that foreigners infiltrate the nations voters register and compromise elections in Nigeria. They also do so during census exercises.The spokesman of the body, Chuks Ibegbu noted that these foreigners cross Nigerias porous borders and register to vote while some of them even contest elections in Nigeria, especially in the North.He called on INEC to investigate and delist such foreign elements from the voters list as well as address the issue of underaged voters in the North.He commended INEC for the measures its taking to ensure free and fair elections in the country and warned politicians to abide by the rules.On growing extortions by security agents in the South East and South South, Ibegbu warned these corrupt security agents to stop the nefarious acts in their own interest lamenting that every police man now wants to be sent to the East to go and extort money from innocent citizens. He asked the people to stop giving bribe to security agents .On the 114 Igbo women recently set free after their arrest and detention at Owerri, Ibegbu noted that the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo had already expressed the views of Ndigbo on that and hope such dastard act will not occur againOn the where about of Nnamdi Kanu , the IPOB leader, Ibegbu noted that by the rule of the doctrine of last place and last encounter, the Army has questions to answer on that.He however re-iterated the position of the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo that Ndigbo should be wiser and not fall into the trench and trap set by adversaries, though they must never be intimidated by anybody.On 2019, he stated that Ohanaeze Ndigbo would consult widely on that but will identify with those ready to restructure Nigeria.Former Federal Commissioner for Information and South-South Leader, Chief Edwin Clark, Tuesday, lampooned the President of United States of America, USA, Donald Trump for describing President Muhammadu Buhari who was his visitor at the White House in April as lifeless.According to Clark, the President of the United States of America has no such right to insult the President of Nigeria, just as he described his statements as very undiplomatic.Speaking with newsmen yesterday in Abuja, Chief Clark who urged Trump to leave Buhari alone and face his many domestic problems, however warned the President of the United States of America against such unguarded statements and called on the people of America to call him to order.According to the Ijaw leader, such statements were capable of causing a rift between Nigeria and the United States of America, adding that no one should be happy that Trump made such remarks about Buhari.The Elder Statesman who noted that Nigerians must rise to defend Buhari anytime he was attacked by his colleagues outside the country because he is the President of the country and the president of everyone in the country, said however that he was not surprised at Trumps statements, adding that this explains why he had always asked the President to in all its ramifications exhibit those characteristics that would portray him as the President of all because any attack on him is a direct affront on every Nigerian.Clark said, Well the statement did not come to me as a surprise because the President of the United States of America is the man who makes anyhow statements, so it did not come to me as a surprise. Iam surprised that Nigerians who think that they should comment on it, to make it political, it is unfortunate. President Buhari is the president of the whole of Nigeria and therefore once he is being attacked and abused by people, his counterparts outside the country, we must defend him, we must reply.It is a diplomatic statement, President Buhari was invited to the agencies of America by President Donald Trump and he went there, they held a press conference together and what makes him victim is that the President of Nigeria is laughed at and that he never wanted to meet someone so lifeless again, thats very silly, and insulting to our own nation and we should regard it as such, this is not local politics, its current terms and President Trump is always like that, he has made similar statements about other countries and when he visited Great Britain, if you know the statement he made about the Prime Minister of Great Britain regarding the meeting of European union.We also heard the statement he made about the chancellor of Germany, the recent one was when he went to Canada and he met the community and that he didnt like the community and he was abusing the prime minister of Canada. Trump can say anything the recent statement was when the US Senator, John Sidney Mc Clain died, everybody felt it in America, he wanted the former President George Bush and Barack Obama to attend his funeral and speak, and said he doesnt want President Trump to attend his funeral thats the type of man we are talking about.Nigerians should unite to defend their President and the problem of Buharis politics and so on should be regarded as local statement, we have the duty to defend Mr. President as Nigerians. So political parties, individuals should not take it as something, that is why we have always stated that Nigeria is one country, Mr. President is a Nigerian and should behave as such, any attack on him by anybody is an attack on Nigerians and the people of this country, so we should not be happy.The President of America made such remarks and unguarded speech about our President, he has no right to do so, it is very undiplomatic and the people of America should call him to order and this is enough to cause a rift between our country and United States of America. So no one should be happy that the US President made such remarks about our President.Namadi Sambo, former Vice President, on Monday declared that he was not running for the presidency in 2019.

Namadi Sambo, former Vice President, on Monday declared that he was not running for the presidency in 2019.





Sambo said this in reaction to some posters on the social media.





In a statement by his Media Adviser, Umar Sani, the former Vice President described those behind the mischievous posters as apparently engaging in political subterfuge to mislead and misrepresent his political endeavours to Nigerians.





He insisted that the posters were the handiwork of mischief makers out to score some cheap political points.





The statement reads, Some political posters surreptitiously being circulated on some social media platforms purporting to emanate from him suggesting that he has signified interest to join the presidential race under the umbrella of our great party the Peoples Democratic Party.





It is instructive to categorically state that the former Vice President is not in the race and has not directed anyone to carry out such political campaigns on his behalf, he believes that the sponsors of the mischievous posters were apparently engaging in political subterfuge to mislead and misrepresent his political endeavors to Nigerians.



U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington, is expected to be summoned by the Federal Government over the comment allegedly made by President Donald Trump about President Muhammadu Buhari in April.The United States Embassy in Abuja has refused to respond officially to a report in the Financial Times of London, where US President, Donald Trump was alleged to have described Nigerias President, Muhammadu Buhari as not only being ailing but also lifeless.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs as at the time of filing this report, kept mum over since the news broke.The FT while reporting the planned meeting between Trump and his Kenyas counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta billed for last Monday, claimed that Trump after meeting with Buhari last April, the first with any African leader told his aides, he never wanted to meet someone so lifeless again.The Monday meeting which according to the report is part of efforts by the Trump administration to foster stronger ties with Africa is hoped would end US neglect of the continent.Already, the White House said Uhuru Kenyattas Kenya was one of closest US security and trade partners in Africa.Donald Trump will welcome Kenyas Uhuru Kenyatta to the White House on Monday for what will be only the second one-on-one meeting the US president has held with a sub-Saharan African leader since he took office last year.The first meeting, with Nigerias ailing 75-year-old Muhammadu Buhari in April, ended with the US president telling aides he never wanted to meet someone so lifeless again, according to three people familiar with the matter, part of the report claimed.However, when contacted, officials of the embassy declined comments on the issue. Calls to the spokesperson at the embassy, Russell Brooks, were not answered and another staff at the embassy who pleaded anonymity refused to also say anything.On the Kenyas President visit, the report said advocates of closer US-Africa ties hope the encounter with the much younger Kenyatta, 56, will breathe fresh life into a relationship with a region that Washington is seen to have neglected as other countries, notably China, develop ever-closer trade and investment ties with the continent.Adding that, Africa has never been high on his radar but if the big guy likes you hell find a way to make things work.Trump is widely criticised for not having an Africa policy. So its in his interest to have something from [meeting Kenyatta] he can present as a win.Coalition of political parties pushing to end President Muhammadu Buharis administration come 2019, has cautioned against plots to illegally impeach the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, warning that such move would trigger unprecedented anarchy on the country.The coalition, which particularly tackled the National Chairman of All Progressive Congress, APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, which it accused of masterminding the onslaught on the leadership of the senate, however, advised the former Governor of Edo state to perish the thought.Speaking with vanguard in an interview in Abuja, the Chairman, Media and Publicity Committee of Coalition of United Political Parties, CUPP, Dr. Damian Ogbonna, insisted that the National Assembly must remain under lock and key until the APC led administration learns how to respect the constitution.Dr. Ogbonna, who is also the National Chairman of the Peoples Progressive Party, PPP, advised Senator Saraki is to go and rest and toss away the keys to National Assembly if the plot to illegally remove him from the office purists.He said, I have no issue with APC seeking to outs Senator Bukola Saraki as Senate President. They can impeach him. But I do have issue with them using unlawful processes to achieve that. They should be very careful. The Executive arm of the government has no business crossing the constitutional protection against the powers of state.They have no business defiling that process simply because they want to outs Senate president that is treasonable. There is no different from using unlawful mean to over throw a government-it is the same thing.If the military undertake a coup, they remove the head of executive and they also remove the leadership of legislature, isnt it? That is the definition of coup. When the executive uses the same brand of lawlessness to overthrow the leadership of the legislature, it is treasonable. That is why mere sacking of former DG DSS, Daura is ridiculous. He should be made to face trial for treason for constitutional breach.So, we should be very careful. There is constitutional procedure for removing a Senate President called 2/3. 2/3 of entire senate, not this ridiculous nonsense we hear from them. They said 2/3 of senators who are sitting, where did you hear that from?Political parties even in our National Executive Council, NEC, cannot change anything by 2/3 of members who are sitting. It is 2/3 of entire members of the National Executive Council, NEC. So, where did they see this in the constitution? If they cant even understand the basic concept of democracy as enshrined in Nigerian constitution then they are incompetent and bunch of gambit.The University don turned politician noted that, But we will advise them, Oshiomhole and his gang to be very, very careful because the political parties cannot sit to watch the anomaly happening. Enough is enough. They should allow the rule of law to thrive.If they have the votes, they can democratically go there to cast their votes. But as long as they are in to use the illegal means to upset the leadership of the National Assembly, my advice to Saraki is to go and rest and toss the keys away until these people wake up on the side of law and order.When they tell us as Nigerians that they are ready to respect the laws of Nigeria, and then they can reopen the National Assembly otherwise, let Saraki toss away the key.A Former military head of state, General Abdusalami Abubakar (retd), has revealed the process that led to former President Goodluck Jonath...

A Former military head of state, General Abdusalami Abubakar (retd), has revealed the process that led to former President Goodluck Jonathan conceding defeat to President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.





The former military leader made the disclosure at the 2018 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, yesterday.





Abdulsalami said that the genesis of Africas political problems was the action of its sit-tight leaders, who amend the constitution in order to perpetuate themselves.





These leaders have the tendency to manipulate very vital democratic organs, particularly the legislature and, sometimes, the judiciary, to suppress any dissenting voice.





Despite all these, Africa is now harvesting an influx of leaders and politicians. The young people who are emerging are more educated and internationally exposed than the current old leaders we have all over Africa.





And these young men and women are trying to make their marks. However, as you know, they are hampered by the high cost of electioneering in developing countries and, indeed, the world, he said.





General Abubakar, gave a keynote address on Political transitions in Africa: Lessons to learn.





He gave credit to Jonathan for not only conceding defeat, but for congratulating President Muhammadu Buhari who was a candidate of the opposition party.





He added, All analyses of political trend in the run up to Nigerias 2015 general elections pointed to above scenario playing out. Very early on, I teamed up with some well-meaning non-partisan stakeholders and elder statesmen to engage the key contestants and party leaders with a view to forestalling such a scenario.





Under the auspices of a peace initiative, we brokered an agreement with leading contestants, in form of a Memorandum of Understanding, for them to accept the outcome of the elections, preach cordiality in relations and conduct peaceful campaigns.





It is gratifying to note that, courtesy of our humble effort and the goodwill extended to it by the contestants and the Nigerian public, the 2015 national elections were conducted peacefully.



Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on media and publicity, says only God knows when Leah Sharibu, the kidnapped Dapchi girl, w...

Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on media and publicity, says only God knows when Leah Sharibu, the kidnapped Dapchi girl, will be rescued.





We had on Monday published a picture and audio of the teenager, who was kidnapped in February, begging the government for help.





Despite the release of the other Dapchi schoolgirls, Sharibu was held back by her captors for refusing to renounce her faith.





When asked to give a time-frame for Sharibus rescue, Adesina said God is the sole determinant of her return.





For how much longer, I think that question can only be answered by God. I believe that God is interested in that young girl and will ensure that she is preserved, Adesina said on a Channels TV programme on Tuesday.





I think when that clip that we have is verified, at least one will be sure that its her and when that is determined, we should all be glad that she is alive.





When will she return? By the grace of God, the government is working on it and we believe she will be back.





Adesina said President Muhammadu Buhari had made a commitment to do anything to rescue the kidnapped girls even if it means paying for their release.





The presidential spokesman said: One thing we should always remember, as Nigerians, is that early in the life of this administration, then it was Chibok girls, the president said that whatever it will take to get the girls back including paying, he would do. Its on record.





He, however, denied reports that the government paid a ransom for the release of the other 110 girls.





That is not confirming that there was payment on Dapchi because the then DG of DSS was categorical the day the girls were brought back and it was in public glare that no a dime was paid for Dapchi girls. On Dapchi, there was no payment, he said.





According to Adesina, reaching out to the Sharibu family is not a presidency matter.



Abia Police Command has impounded a large quantity of military uniforms, allegedly imported from China and stocked at a warehouse in Aba, the commercial hub of the state.The States Commissioner of Police, Mr Anthony Ogbizi, made this disclosure at the Umuahia Central Police Station on Tuesday, while briefing newsmen on the achievements recorded by the command in the fight against crime and criminality within the last two weeks.Ogbizi said that the owner of the warehouse, one Michael Onuoha, was arrested for alleged conspiracy, aiding and abetting the unlawful procurement, importation and possession of the uniforms, which were mainly camouflage.He alleged that the Managing Director of Messrs U.U Iruoha, one Uche Iruoha, popularly called Urchman, shipped the uniforms in a container to Apapa Port, Lagos, from where they were transported to Aba in March.The police commissioner said that Onuoha was arrested on Aug. 16 but that Iruoha was still in China.Brig.-Gen. Abubakar Ibrahim, the Commander, 14 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Ohafia, who accompanied the police boss at the briefing, said that the army was worried over the development.Ibrahim said that it was disturbing that unscrupulous persons wear military uniforms and camouflage to commit crimes.He said that the organisation was collaborating with the police and other security agencies to check the phenomenon and ensure that perpetrators were arrested and brought to book.In a related development, the police also arrested two officials of a new generation bank in Umuahia for alleged conspiracy to defraud a high profile customer of the bank.The suspects, which included a Marketer, Mr Promise Nwangene, and Customer Service Officer, Kenneth Ebereonu, were alleged to have collected the bank account details of the customer, names withheld, including the Bank Verification Number and Automated Teller Machine, which they posted online.The police commissioner said their intention was to begin to steal the N1 million in the account but nemesis caught up with them.He alleged that Nwangene in a bid to pass the information to his accomplice, Kenneth, mistakenly sent it to a WhatsApp group chat, where it was intercepted by a friend of the customer, who alerted the management of the bank.Nwangene told newsmen that they collected the bank details in order to reactivate the account for the owner and that no fraud was intended.He said that he saved the information to be able to access it for the reactivation of the account but mistakenly posted it online.To further diffuse the allegation of fraud, the two suspects said that no money had been removed from the account since July 1, when the information was posted, to date.We would have started removing money from the account or eloped since July 1, if the intention was to commit fraud, they said.Also in police net were a 65-year-old iron bender, Mr Chukwuma Orji, and two others, arrested in connection with the alleged kidnap of Dr. Innocent Iwegbu, a medical doctor with the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia.Ogbizi said that one of the suspects, Ikechukwu Ogbonna, who confessed to the crime, said that Orji, who lived close to the victim, allegedly availed the gang with the information that led to his kidnap.He said that police busted the gang with the assistance of the people of Ohokobe Ndume community, near Umuahia, where the victim was held hostage in a hideout.The gang had demanded N5 million ransom from the relatives of the doctor before he was rescued on Aug. 16.The command also arrested four robbery and rape suspects for allegedly terrorising the Ohuhu communities, near Umuahia, with machete and other dangerous weapons.President Muhammadu Buhari has sympathised with the government and people of Kebbi State on the flood disaster that ravaged 11 local government areas of the state.The Chief Press Secretary to Kebbi Governor, Abubakar Dakingari made the disclosure in Birnin Kebbi on Tuesday.He said the presidents message was read to the affected Koko, Koko/Besse Local Government Area of the state by Governor Atiku Bagudu while addressing victims.According to the statement, President Buhari is deeply saddened by the ordeal of the victims and prayed to Allah to provide succour for all of them.The governor advised people in the flood-prone areas to refrain from construction and building on waterways to prevent future occurrence.The government will embark on clearing and evacuation of rubbish from drainages to ensure free flow of water, Bagudu said.Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, Tuesday, said the recent approbation and reprobation on the concept of restructuring by the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, indicated that he is blinded by the unmerited position of his principal, President Muhahammdu Buhari against the clamour for restructuring and true federalism.The council in a statement by the national president, Pereotubo R. Oweilaemi, Esq., said it was surprised that Osinbajo was speaking from both sides of his mouth on the issue of restructuring.Its words: Osinbajo, earlier said in June this year that the present administration was not opposed to restructuring as being canvassed in many quarters, so it is surprising to us that he is singing a different tune so soon. The Vice President cannot speak from both sides of his mouth.He is quite aware that the importance of restructured Nigeria for the countrys continuous corporate existence is nonnegotiable. Osinbajo should rather convince his boss to accept the clamour for true federalism. That is the only panacea to a secured and economically viable country, the group asserted, it said.IYC asserted that the Vice President while addressing Nigerian community in the USA said Nigerias problem was leadership and not restructuring, and went further to contradict himself while trying to satisfy his masters urge thus:We went to court to contest the idea that every state should control, to a certain extent, its own resources (the so-called resource control debate). We were in court at that time up to the Supreme Court and the court ruled that oil-producing states should continue to get 13 per cent derivation. While we were at the Supreme Court, only the oil-producing states and Lagos were interested in resource control, everybody else was not interested in resource control for obvious reasons.Its words: We cannot comprehend where Osinbajo is standing on the issue of restructuring and true federalism. What IYC wish to tell the world is that Nigerias teething problems are feathered by the internal colonialism of indigenous Nigerians by the major tribes as well as the economic strangulations of the components states.The reason why the Niger Delta region keeps on experiencing crisis is because of the oppressive, obnoxious, inimical and repressive laws that tend to colonise, immaculate and gag the people from having control of their destinies, IYC said.There can be no commensurate solution to heal the wounds of the Niger Delta people of these decades of economic robbery. The only solution lies in the practice of true federalism and resource control where each of the federating states will harness and control the resources in their domains for a competitive and stabilized economy. No leader however good he may be can sufficiently address the grievances of the Niger Deltans except true structural reformation of the country.We make bold to say that even the farmers and herdsmens crisis in the Middle Belt and parts of southern Nigeria is chiefly caused by the quasi-federal system Nigeria is practicing. If states are allowed to have major control of their economies and security the problems of insecurity, even development and unemployment will be addressed, the group asserted.A former Minister of Special Duties and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential aspirant, Alhaji Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SAN, has blamed the recent upsurge in the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Boko -Haram and Niger Delta militants on neglect by President Muhammadu Buhari.The presidential aspirant who address party delegates at Edo State PDP secretariat, ahead of the September 2018 convention, stressed the need to restructure the country, over 50 years after the nation attain independence from Britain in 1960.He lamented that whatever efforts made by former President Umaru YarAdua and Goodluck Jonathan through the amnesty programme was rubbished by Buhari, who declared as soon as he was sworn in that he was going to place emphasis on areas where he got the highest number of votes.He told the PDP supporters which included party chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, the partys governorship candidate in the 2016 election, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu and a host of others that Buharis actions and utterances had only succeeded in further dividing the country.He said: This government is very divisive. The president said that he will only give 5% to those who gave him 5% vote and 97% to those who gave him 97% vote. I have never seen that kind of government and that is the reason for the upsurge in the activities of the MASSOB, IPOB and the Niger Delta ex-militants.It calls for concern that Niger Delta ex-militants from whose land so much of the nations wealth is derived have been abandoned by the federal government. The ex-militants and the separatists only regrouped out of frustration as a result of governments deliberate policy of neglect.Turaki denied joining the bandwagon of aspirants clamouring for restructuring, noting that he had always been an apostle of a restructured Nigeria where peace and justice reigns no matter the difference in tongue and tribe.He said that it will be unfair for the Northern part of the country to hold back genuine agitators from the South who may for instance want state police and local government areas.Turaki added: In 22, out of the 36 states, the police can no longer maintain law and order. Why not allow state police? It is not fair for the Northern part of the country to stop the people of the South from restructuring the country.He slammed Buhari for leading the country to the present economic downturn unlike the PDP which positioned Nigeria as the largest economy in Africa, adding that by not having an economic policy and an economic adviser, he has clearly demonstrated that he lacked the capacity to rule the country.27/08/2018 - Angel Gurria, OECD Secretary-General, welcomes the positive outcome of the trade negotiations, carried out by the representatives of Mexico and the United States, which will be joined by Canada shortly.

The modernisation of the agreement and the announcement made today by both governments will give certainty to the economic agents linked to them and is also a very positive signal internationally. The Secretary-General recognizes the commitment and effort of the political leaders and negotiating teams of both countries.

Related DocumentsBeef Buzz News

NCBA Environmental Counsel Scott Yager Says WOTUS Fight Likely Headed for the Supreme Court

Once you have something like the Waters of the US rule on the books, it is hard to get rid of it. That is what the Trump Administration has discovered as they have worked to scrap the Obama era rule. Scott Pruitt started the process before he resigned as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, but along the way, environmental groups have worked to stop the repeal of the rule and they have recently succeeded temporarily with a ruling from a South Carolina District Court that has put WOTUS back into play in 26 states, including Oklahoma and Texas. Scott Yager is chief environmental counsel for the National Cattlemens Beef Association and says this kind of legal back-and-forth should be expected to continue as the Administration works to kill WOTUS once and for all.





Everyone thought WOTUS was dead, but the reality was, Trumps executive order from 2017 didnt kill WOTUS outright. What it did was set the wheels rolling towards the death of WOTUS, he explained. But the reality were sitting in today is that that hasnt happened yet and it has to be done by the agencies.





According to Yager, both the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers will have to finalize their repeal of the 2015 rule in order to move this process along. Until that happens, the 2015 WOTUS rule will remain on the books- at least for those 26 states affected by the South Carolina Court ruling. In the meantime, many states are appealing to other District Courts to stay the decision. Yager says if this case is ever going to be put to bed, the agencies involved will have to take the issue upon themselves because Congress has been of no help, unable to pass a bill fixing the problem due to staunch Democratic opposition. However, he says be prepared for the environmental groups to obstruct the process every step of the way.





Every piece of this is going to be litigated by the environmental groups. As soon as the Administration finalizes their repeal, theres going to be lawsuits all over that, he said. Ultimately, I believe this issue is going to be decided by a Supreme Court. Hopefully one that has Kavanaugh on the bench.





Listen to Yager discuss the current status of the Administrations effort to repeal and replace WOTUS, with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays, on todays Beef Buzz.





The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.





















Listen to Yager discuss the current status of the Administration's effort to repeal and replace WOTUS

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Beef NewsExultet

Rejoice heavenly powers! Sing choirs of angels! Exult, all creation around God's throne! Jesus Christ, our King is risen! Sound the trumpet of salvation!



Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor, radiant in the brightness of your King! Christ has conquered! Glory fills you! Darkness vanishes forever!



Rejoice, O Mother Church! Exult in glory! The risen Savior shines upon you! Let this place resound with joy, echoing the mighty song of all God's people!



It is truly right that with full hearts and minds and voices we should praise the unseen God, the all powerful Father, and his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.



For Christ has ransomed us with his blood, and paid for us the price of Adam's sin to our eternal Father!



This is our Passover feast, when Christ, the true Lamb, is slain, whose blood consecrates the homes of all believers.



This is the night when first you saved our fathers: you freed the people of Israel from their slavery and led them dry-shod through the sea.



This is the night when the pillar of fire destroyed the darkness of sin!



This is the night when Christians everywhere, washed clean of sin and freed from all defilement, are restored to grace and grow together in holiness.



This is the night when Jesus Christ broke the chains of death and rose triumphant from the grave.



What good would life have been to us, had Christ not come as our Redeemer?



Father, how wonderful your care for us! How boundless your merciful love! To ransom a slave you gave away your Son.



O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam, which gained for us so great a Redeemer!



Most blessed of all nights, chosen by God to see Christ rising from the dead! Of this night scripture says: "The night will be clear as day: it will become my light, my joy."



The power of this holy night dispels all evil, washes guilt away, restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy; it casts out hatred, brings us peace, and humbles earthly pride.



Night truly blessed when heaven is wedded to earth and man is reconciled with God!



Therefore, heavenly Father, in the joy of this night

receive our evening sacrifice of praise, your Church's solemn offering.



Accept this Easter candle, a flame divided but undimmed, a pillar of fire that glows to the honor of God.



Let it mingle with the lights of heaven and continue bravely burning to dispel the darkness of this night!



May the Morning Star which never sets find this flame still burning: Christ, that Morning Star, who came back from the dead, and shed his peaceful light on all mankind, your Son who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription.Graphic Packaging to Acquire Letica Foodservice Assets for $95 Million Letica Foodservice is focused on the production of paperboard-based cold and hot cups and cartons for the growing foodservice market in North America. Aug. 28, 2018 - Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE: GPK), today announced that its subsidiary, Graphic Packaging International, LLC, has reached an agreement to acquire substantially all the assets of the foodservice business of Letica Corporation, a subsidiary of RPC Group PLC (LSE: RPC), for $95 million, subject to standard closing conditions and regulatory review. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018. Letica Foodservice is focused on the production of paperboard-based cold and hot cups and cartons for the growing foodservice market in North America. The company operates two world class foodservice converting facilities in Clarksville, Tennessee and Pittston, Pennsylvania. The business generated $110 million in revenue and converted approximately 40 thousand tons of solid bleached sulfate ("SBS") paperboard in the twelve months ended 6/30/2018. Synergies from the acquisition will be driven by the integration of additional SBS paperboard tons, lower logistics costs, and other cost efficiencies. On a post-synergy basis, the EV/EBITDA multiple for this transaction is expected to be approximately 6.0X. "We are excited to announce the acquisition of the Letica Foodservice assets as it extends our leading position in the growing paperboard-based foodservice market in North America," said President and CEO Michael Doss. "The transaction will further diversify our customer base, enhance our geographic footprint, and provide needed capacity to meet the incremental demand for paper cups resulting from the ongoing shift out of polystyrene foam. The transaction is consistent with the strategy we outlined after the combination with the SBS mill and foodservice assets that closed on January 1, 2018, specifically, our intent to grow our foodservice business organically and through acquisitions and drive higher integration levels for our SBS mills." Graphic Packaging Holding Company, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is a leading provider of packaging solutions for a wide variety of products to food, beverage and other consumer products companies. The company is one of the largest producers of folding cartons and holds a leading market position in coated-unbleached kraft and coated-recycled board. To learn more about Graphic Packaging, please visit: www.graphicpkg.com . SOURCE: Graphic Packaging Holding CompanyJackson Paper to Invest $14 Million in New Corrugated Sheet Feeder Plant in North Carolina Jackson Paper plans to invest about $14 million in its new plant in Morganton, NC, and begin operations in the 2nd quarter of 2019. The new facility will produce more than 1 billion square feet per year of corrugated sheets for sale to corrugated box makers. Aug. 28, 2018 (Press Release) - Jackson Paper Manufacturing Company, North Carolina's largest recycled paper producer, will open a new plant in Burke County, creating 42 jobs. The company plans to invest approximately $14 million in its new plant in Morganton and begin operations in the 2nd quarter of 2019. This new facility will produce more than 1 billion square feet per year of corrugated sheets for sale to corrugated box makers. Jackson Paper is already a strong member of the community in western North Carolina with its Sylva paper mill and headquarters, said Governor Cooper. This expansion into Burke County is evidence of the company's commitment to our state and western North Carolina's ability to deliver the talented workers, infrastructure and climate manufacturers need to succeed. Jackson Paper manufactures 100 percent recycled corrugated medium at its Sylva location. Corrugated medium is used in the production of corrugated sheets. Headquartered in Sylva, North Carolina, Jackson paper supplies paper to corrugated box makers throughout the United States. The company is committed to protecting the natural environment it calls home in western North Carolina. We are extremely excited about expanding our corrugated sheets business into the Morganton area. We greatly appreciate all the efforts of the Governor as well as the state and local governments in helping to facilitate this project and we look forward to a great future in the area, said Tim Campbell, CEO of Jackson Paper Manufacturing. Jackson Paper has first-hand knowledge of the advantages North Carolina offers a manufacturer, including a highly skilled workforce and opportunities for training and pipeline development, project-ready industrial sites and strong infrastructure, said Commerce Secretary Anthony M. Copeland. N.C. Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of N.C. were instrumental in supporting the company's expansion decision. Salaries will vary by position. Once all positions are filled, the total annual payroll impact will be more than $1.8 million. Average wages for the project are expected to be above the Burke County average wage of $34,954. A performance-based grant of $100,000 from the One North Carolina Fund will help facilitate Jackson Paper's project in Burke County. The One NC Fund provides financial assistance to local governments to help attract economic investment and to create jobs. Companies receive no money upfront and must meet job creation and capital investment targets to qualify for payment. All One NC grants require a matching grant from local governments and any award is contingent upon that condition being met. Jackson Paper knows firsthand that Western North Carolina offers everything a manufacturer needs to succeed, said N.C. Senator Warren Daniel. I welcome the expansion into Burke County and look forward to working with Jackson Paper. Burke County has a workforce, infrastructure and business climate that helps strong companies like Jackson Paper grow stronger, said N.C. Representative Hugh Blackwell. Jackson Paper's new plant is an exciting addition to our business community in Morganton. In addition to North Carolina Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, other key partners in the project include the North Carolina General Assembly, the North Carolina Community College System, the Golden LEAF Foundation, Burke County, the City of Morganton and Burke Development, Inc. SOURCE: One North Carolina FundMetsa Tissue Expanding Warehouse at Its Tissue Mill in Krapkowice, Poland Metsa Tissue's mill in Krapkowice produces about 75,000 tons of sanitary paper per year. Products include toilet paper, kitchen towels, paper towels and professional wipes, both for individual customers and industrial use. Aug. 27, 2018 - Metsa Tissue announced that a project to expand the warehouse at its tissue mill in Krapkowice, Poland, is underway and the company expects the project to be completed by the end of 2018. "We expect the demand for hygiene papers to grow steadily in all market segments, said Juha Tilli, Vice President of Away from Home. The advantageous location of the plant in Krapkowice makes it easier to serve customers from Central and Western Europe, and the expansion of the warehouse will ensure quick and reliable deliveries to customers. Pawel Ehrlich, Plant Manager in Krapkowice, added, This investment is good news for our plant as well as a clear signal from the Metsa Group about the further development of the factory. The expansion of the warehouse, which will actually double its capabilities, helps us to be competitive and to operate effectively in the coming years." Metsa Tissue is part of the Metsa Group, one of the largest industrial groups in the world of wood processing. The tissue plant in Krapkowice produces about 75,000 tons of sanitary paper per year. Products include toilet paper, kitchen towels, paper towels and professional wipes, both for individual customers and industrial use. The mill employs about 380 people. Metsa Tissue is a leading manufacturer of tissue papers, baking papers, cooking papers and facial tissues. To learn more, please visit: www.metsatissue.com . SOURCE: Metsa TissueIRAN: Detained Human Rights Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh Refuses to Appear in Court, Begins Hunger Strike

08/28/18

Source: Center for Human Rights in Iran

Sotoudeh Facing Seven "National Security" Charges as Judiciary Continues to Build Case Against Her

Prominent defense attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh has gone on hunger strike and refused to appear in court to protest her unjust detainment in Iran's Evin Prison and the harassment of her family members and associates by security agents.

"In my meeting with Nasrin in prison today [August 26], she gave me the news that because she had refused to appear at a hearing, the assistant prosecutor in the case, Mr. Nasiripour, and two other judicial authorities spoke to her in the Women's Ward and informed her of the new charges," her husband, Reza Khandan. told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).

According to Khandan, Sotoudeh was also informed of three new charges-"urging a referendum," "assisting the formation of home churches" and "organizing protest rallies"-in addition to the five others she was already facing: "insulting the supreme leader," "assembly and collusion against national security," "forming groups against national security" and "propaganda against the state" and "espionage in hiding."

Sotoudeh is appealing the five-year prison sentence that was issued to her in absentia for the fifth charge.

Security agents raided Sotoudeh's home and those of her sister-in-law Fatemeh Khandan and civil rights activist Mohammad Reza Farhadpour on August 18.

"Given that my communications with the authorities have not born any results, inevitably, I will start a hunger strike on August 25, 2018, to protest various detentions and pressures by the judiciary against my family, associates and friends," she wrote in a note posted by Khandan on Facebook.

"Since my detention two months ago, agents of the Intelligence Ministry have not only illegally detained the esteemed physician Dr. Farhad Meysami, but also searched the homes of my family and friends to find pins made to protest forced hijab," she added.

The raid was carried out by three agents of Iran's Intelligence Ministry who had a warrant from Branch 7 of the Revolutionary Court in Evin Prison in Tehran.

Sotoudeh has been detained in Tehran's Evin Prison since June 13, 2018, and is facing national security charges for serving as the lawyer of detainees held on politically motivated charges, including women who have taken off their headscarves in public as a form of civil disobedience.

On August 22, 60 members of the European Parliament called on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to forcefully work for Sotoudeh's "unconditional release."

Seven other human rights lawyers have also been arrested, summoned to court or blocked from taking on clients since February 2018 in a crackdown aimed at disabling defense attorneys from properly defending detainees held on political charges.

Iran has a documented history of harassing and jailing lawyers who have taken on politically sensitive cases.

In 2010, Sotoudeh was sentenced to 11 years in prison for the charges of "acting against national security," "collusion and propaganda against the regime," and "membership in the Defenders of Human Rights Center." An appeals court later reduced her sentence to six years in prison and she was granted early release in September 2013 after serving three years.

In July 2018, the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) sent a letter to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei calling for Sotoudeh's immediate release.Iran's President Rohani Vows To Defeat 'Anti-Iranian' U.S. Policies

08/28/18

Source: RFE/RL

President Hassan Rohani has told lawmakers that Iran will overcome newly reimposed U.S. sanctions and will show "the anti-Iranian officials in the White House" that the measures will fail to reach their goal. Rohani was summoned before Tehran's parliament on August 28 to answer questions about his handling of the economy amid a growing economic crisis, rising prices, and unemployment. However, the lawmakers were not convinced by his answers and referred the case to the judiciary.



Iranian President Hassan Rohani

"The economic problems are critical, but more important than that is that many people have lost their faith in the future of the Islamic republic and are in doubt about its power," Rohani said in his speech, which was broadcast live on television.



"We are not afraid of America or the economic problems," he also said. "We will overcome the troubles."



"I want to assure the Iranian nation that we will not allow the U.S. plot against the Islamic republic to succeed," Rohani added.



"We will not let this bunch of anti-Iranians in the White House be able to plot against us."



Members of parliament asked the president about the government's failure in stemming unemployment, slow economic growth, and the free fall of the country's currency, the rial -- as well as the incapacity to put an end to cross-border smuggling operations.



Rohani told lawmakers that the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) had been called in to help tackling the smuggling.



Lawmakers also inquired about the lack of financial reforms and asked why, more than two years after the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Iranian banks still had only limited access to global financial services.



Members of parliament only found Rohani's answer about the banking satisfactory and referred the rest to the hard-line judiciary.



Iran's parliament has the power to impeach the president, but Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said Rohani should be allowed to serve his entire term through 2021.



"President Rohani promises tighten the belts"

Satire by Sana Hosseinpour, Iranian daily Ghanoon



First Parliamentary Grilling



It is the first time Rohani, who is regarded as a moderate, has been summoned by parliament since he was elected in 2013, and is a victory for the hard-liners who have opposed his economic reforms.



Lawmakers were questioning him about his plans to shore up the rial, which has fallen in value by more than half since April, and rising unemployment.



His appearance comes days after Masoud Karbasian was ousted as economy minister, the fourth member of Rohani's economic team to be removed in recent weeks.



His labor minister was voted out by lawmakers earlier this month and the chief and deputy chief of the central bank were given the axe in July.



The lawmakers have been blaming Rohani and his team for what many economists say is the result of a U.S. decision this year to withdraw from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and reimpose sanctions.



The fall of rial has been partly blamed on those sanctions, some of which were imposed earlier this month and others are due to be reimposed in November.



Most of Rohani's hard-line critics were opposed to the nuclear deal and the rapprochement with the West that it ushered in, and many are now calling on Rohani to step down.



Rohani's hard-line rivals lost to him at the polls in recent years, but some see the current crisis as an opportunity to return to power.



Rohani is believed to still have the backing of moderate conservatives, including powerful parliament speaker Ali Larijani.



Based on reporting by AFP, dpa, and ReutersThe President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says in order for the African continent to meet the aspirations of the African peoples and opens up opportunities for all, priority must be given to key institutions of state.



According to President Akufo-Addo, we must prioritise our budgetary arrangements to ensure that funds are available to strengthen key institutions of state, such as the Legislature, Judiciary, fiscal institutions, amongst others.



In the case of Ghana, the President indicated that, since he came into office, budgetary allocation to Parliament has been increased by 82%, using 2016 as the base year.



The Judiciary, within the same period, has also seen its budget increased by 47%.



It is important that we promote and develop a culture of accountable governance, free of corruption, whereby these bodies see themselves as independent public entities serving the wider public interest, not the temporary conveniences of the governments of the day, he said.



He continued, That is why we have added to our architecture of accountability the Office of Special Prosecutor to hold public officials, past and present, accountable for their stewardship of the public purse.



A well-known anti-corruption crusader and lawyer, indeed, a leading figure of the current opposition in Ghana, is the first occupant of this Office, from whom the Ghanaian people have much expectation in the fight against corruption.



President Akufo-Addo made this known on Monday, 27th August, 2018, when he delivered the keynote address at the 58th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, in Abuja, Nigeria.



Describing the Judiciary as one whose independence is to be guaranteed, the President explained that, in Ghana, the independence of the Judiciary is critical because of its constitutional jurisdiction, the reason why appointments to Ghanas Supreme Court, for example, come from different perspectives.



As Attorney General, from 2001 to 2003, under the Government of His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor, I had the honour of nominating for appointment onto Ghanas Supreme Court, distinguished jurists and academics such as Professor Samuel Kofi Date-Bah, the late Professor Tawia Modibo Ocran, and the late Professor A.K.P Kludze, three judges whose works made such a significant impact on the growth of the Courts constitutional jurisprudence, he said.



President Akufo-Addo continued, I have continued in this tradition, as President, by nominating the immediate past President of the Ghana Bar Association, Nene Amegatcher, the former Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, Professor Emmanuel Nii Ashie Kotey, and two respected Court of Appeals Judges as my first nominees to the Supreme Court.



This blend of persons on the Supreme Court, he said, in my view, will strengthen the development of Ghanas jurisprudence.





Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Featured VideoAs part of its commitment to improving the lives of the less privileged in the society, Wapic Insurance (Ghana) Limited has donated food items, toiletries and school uniforms to the Shelter for Neglected Children a Dream Africa Care Foundation (DACF) project, located at Teshie- Nungua in the Greater Accra Region.



The donation forms part of the companys annual corporate social responsibility initiative, which has the agenda this year, to support the poor, needy and the underprivileged in society.



Handing over the items, the Managing Director of Wapic Insurance (Ghana) Limited, Mr. Adedayo Arowojolu stated that, it is the companys initiative to be responsible for the environment and to purposefully make these children feel important and cared for.



He stated that Wapic is also poised, not only to make these children have hope for the future but also to be part of their future success story.



Every company is expected to be responsible for their environment that is why we have taken this initiative in making these children achieve their dreams. We are happy to be a part of this project and to invest in this project as an organization. We have looked at the operation of Dream Africa Care Foundation and we want to help them fulfil their dreams and objective. As an organization, we have come to show our affiliation and partnership with Dream Africa because we believe we are in this together. We all work together in making our environment and country better he added.



In an interview with gijonline.com, the Project Coordinator of Dream Africa Care Foundation, Prince Jamal Issakar thanked the management and staff of Wapic Insurance (Ghana) Limited for the kind gesture which he described as indeed timely.



"We really appreciate this donation. It will go a long way to help shelter the kids. Wapic has been very helpful to us for the past two years in putting up a school structure at Agbogbloshie. They have over the years supported us with furniture, educational materials and they are here again with these items. It is a very laudable idea and we encourage other corporate organisations to get involved in community projects he said.



Wapic Insurance (Ghana) Limited is a leading Insurance company providing solutions covering general and special risks. The Company is positioned to play a central role in the economic transformation of the country and also serve as a catalyst for rapid economic development of the Ghanaian economy.



Wapics mission is to transform into a diversified financial service institution, delivering value in a sustainable manner to her customers and stakeholders while playing a lead role in the transformation of the Industry.



Wapic has been in partnership with Dream Africa Care Foundation for the last two years and have since been committed to impacting and enriching the lives of the children of Dream Africa Care Foundation.

Source: Hilda Love Dei-Tutu/gijonlinenews.com









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Featured VideoA Deputy Minister for Energy, Joseph Cudjoe has disclosed that government is planning to develop Sekondi-Takoradi and in general Western Region into a modern petroleum production city.



You will notice that when you mention, U.S for oil and gas industry, there is a city you can point to, example Houston. You know that they have consciously developed that enclave for those activities. If you think of UK and Scotland, you can mention a city, Aberdeen. That is the way it works, he said.



Mr. Joseph Cudjoe who is part of a mission was speaking to journalists at the opening of the Offshore North Sea (ONS) Conference in Stavanger, Norway.



He argued that such a unique identification will help attract investors and drive the needed funds into the region.



The Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission(PC), Egbert Faibille Junior also indicated that the commission is creating a platform for local indigenous companies to partner with international firms to expand Ghanas petroleum upstream sector.



The move, according to him, will also help Ghanaian companies to enter into joint venture deals with international companies to meet the requirements needed for foreign companies to operate in Ghana.



He explained that the aim of the commission is to expose Ghanas growing oil sector to multinational companies to collaborate with indigenous Ghanaian companies to create jobs.



We at the Petroleum Commission have organized this trade mission on the back of the ongoing ONS conference which has thousands of delegates from all over the world attending. Our aim is to ensure that each and every one of you the Ghanaian companies that have been selected to come along on this trade mission to get the opportunity to leverage and build the needed synergies and attract the needed necessary investment into Ghanas upstream, he explained.



He pointed out that, the collaboration will also allow local companies assess the needs of international companies on specific needs that are required for joint venture.



Mr. Faibille recalled several complaints from international oil and gas companies that have bemoaned the low capacity of some local companies in meeting international standards.



He was of the view that exposing such local companies to the international world at the early stages of deliberation will equip them on what to look out for.



At the Petroleum Commission, I have been inundated with too many calls; too many request, and indeed too many complaints about lack of contracts in the upstream sector. What we seek to do with this trade mission is to bring Ghanaian companies to such a platform, and at least hold your hand and introduce you to companies that matter, companies that are looking for businesses in Ghana, he stressed.



The Petroleum Commission is collaborating with Norwegian Energy Partners (Norwep) to organise the trade mission that is expected to serve as an attraction to foreign investment, networking for business enterprises and for technology and skills transfer.



The Petroleum Commission, Ghana, is leading 40 Ghanaian companies to Stavanger, Norway, one of the worlds largest exporters of oil, to explore oil and gas production opportunities in the upstream sector to help boost Ghanas sector.



The Commission in June organised the first trade mission to Aberdeen Scotland, which officials say had started yielding some follow-ups by investors in that country.



The Petroleum Commission was invited by Aker Energy and the Norwegian Energy Partners.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoThe Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Petroleum Commission (PC), Mr Egbert Faibille Junior, says the Commissions determination to embark on trade missions with indigenous firms is to create the opportunity to strike partnership deals with their foreign counterparts in the upstream oil sector.



The move, according to him, will also help Ghanaian companies to enter into joint venture deals with international companies to meet the requirements needed for foreign companies to operate in Ghana.



He explained that the aim of the commission is to expose Ghanas growing oil sector to multinational companies to collaborate with indigenous Ghanaian companies to create jobs.



He was speaking at a breakfast meeting held to herald the official opening of the Offshore North Sea Conference and Exhibition in Stavanger, Norway.



Mr. Faibille Jr. made reference to the countrys local content regulation and said any foreign contractor or company wanting to do business in Ghanas upstream sector, had to incorporate a joint venture with a Ghanaian company and should afford that local company, at least 10 per cent equity of the business operation.



It was on the back of this that we seek to escalate and indeed drill down and ensure that Ghanaian companies are better positioned so that it becomes a win-win situation and the investors make maximum profit and the indigenous Ghanaian companies also make maximum profit.



He encouraged the trade delegation to take advantage of the opportunity to build the needed synergies to attract more investment into Ghanas upstream sector.



He added this is not a joy ride, this is a business trip and so our expectation is that before we go back, each and every one of you would have gotten business, because contracts and sub contracts will be awarded and it is on the back of it that you are all here.



"So go to the companies, speak to them, find pairs and companies that operate in your sphere of business and build the needed linkages.



Deputy Energy Minister Joseph Cudjoe, Dr Kofi Kodua Sarpong, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Ms. Alice Torkonoo, General Manager of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority and Mr. Lawrence Apaale, Chief Director of the Ministry of Energy and petroleum are attending the conference together with representatives from over 40 Ghanaian companies.



The meeting was also addressed by Mr Jan Helge Skoken, Country Manager of Aker Energy and Dr Gulbrand Wangen, Director of Africa Mid stream, Norwegian Energy Partners, and the pair, urged the Ghanaian companies to brace themselves for the opportunity.



They also asked that the GNPC and the Commission should sustain the effort at deepening cooperation between Ghana and Norway.



Earlier, Crown Prince Haakon of the Kingdom of Norway, and other high ranking Norwegian government officials had attended the official opening of the 2018 ONS, which is focussing on big energy picture.



Mr Patrick Pouyanne, Chairman and CEO of Total and Lise Kingo, CEO and Executive Director of UN Global Compact, were on hand, to share their thoughts on the current energy perspectives.



Over 1,000 delegates are attending the ONS conference on the theme: Innovate to discuss key trends driving the oil market at present and potential game changers of the future energy landscape.



The Petroleum Commission is collaborating with Norwegian Energy Partners (Norwep) to organise the trade mission that is expected to serve as an attraction to foreign investment, networking for business enterprises and for technology and skills transfer.



The Petroleum Commission, Ghana, is leading 40 Ghanaian companies to Stavanger, Norway, one of the worlds largest exporters of oil, to explore oil and gas production opportunities in the upstream sector to help boost Ghanas sector.



The Commission in June organised the first trade mission to Aberdeen Scotland, which officials say had started yielding some follow-ups by investors in that country.



The Petroleum Commission was invited by Aker Energy and the Norwegian Energy Partners.







Baj Freight





Mr Ato Quagraine and some staff at the Baj Freight stand





Mr. Daniel Oduro of AE Chase Co. Ltd





Petroleum Commission





The Ghana stand





0

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Featured VideoTheresa May, the UK prime minister, has given her speech in Cape Town, saying that she regards the countries shes visiting this week  South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya - as key partners and thriving democracies, typical of 21st Century Africa.



She pointed to the fact that five of the fast-growing economies were in African and the GDP of the continent was set to double between 2015 and 2030.



By 2050 a quarter of the worlds population and the worlds consumers would live on the continent, she said.



However, some of worlds poorest people were in Africa too, so achieving inclusive growth was a challenge, she added.



African leaders have told her the greatest challenge they face is creating jobs.



She says shes proposing a new partnership with African, one built around on shared prosperity.



She announced plans for a 4bn ($5.1bn) programme of UK investment in Africa's economies  to be matched by a similar amount by the private sector.



She also said:



The UK would be back getting a permanent presence for Africa on the UN Security Council

The UK would give back huge sums of money illegally taken from Kenya

The UK would be opening new embassies in Chad and Niger.





The main thrust of her speech was that the UKs investment on the continent, while not as big as other nations, would be over the long-term.

Source: BBC









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 says in order for the African continent to meet the aspirations of the African peoples and open up opportunities for all, priority must be given to key institutions of state.



According to President Akufo-Addo, we must prioritise our budgetary arrangements to ensure that funds are available to strengthen key institutions of state, such as the Legislature, Judiciary, fiscal institutions, amongst others.



In the case of Ghana, the president indicated that since he came into office, budgetary allocation to Parliament has been increased by 82 per cent , using 2016 as the base year.



The Judiciary, within the same period, has also seen its budget increased by 47 per cent.



It is important that we promote and develop a culture of accountable governance, free of corruption, whereby these bodies see themselves as independent public entities serving the wider public interest, not the temporary conveniences of the governments of the day, he said.



He continued: That is why we have added to our architecture of accountability the Office of Special Prosecutor to hold public officials, past and present, accountable for their stewardship of the public purse.



A well-known anti-corruption crusader and lawyer, indeed, a leading figure of the current opposition in Ghana, is the first occupant of this Office, from whom the Ghanaian people have much expectation in the fight against corruption.



President Akufo-Addo made this known on Monday, when he delivered the keynote address at the 58thAnnual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, in Abuja, Nigeria.



Describing the Judiciary as one whose independence is to be guaranteed, the President explained that, in Ghana, the independence of the Judiciary is critical because of its constitutional jurisdiction, the reason why appointments to Ghanas Supreme Court, for example, come from different perspectives.



As Attorney General, from 2001 to 2003, under the Government of His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor, I had the honour of nominating for appointment onto Ghanas Supreme Court, distinguished jurists and academics such as Professor Samuel Kofi Date-Bah, the late Professor Tawia Modibo Ocran, and the late Professor A.K.P Kludze, three judges whose works made such a significant impact on the growth of the Courts constitutional jurisprudence, he said.



President Akufo-Addo said he has continued in this tradition as President, by nominating the immediate past President of the Ghana Bar Association, Nene Amegatcher, the former Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana, Professor Emmanuel Nii Ashie Kotey, and two respected Court of Appeals Judges as my first nominees to the Supreme Court.



This blend of persons on the Supreme Court, he said, in my view, will strengthen the development of Ghanas jurisprudence.





Source: 3news.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Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo, the Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, says Ghana has taken urgent steps to stop the spread of the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Disease as a measure to improve yields for greater returns.



He said about 680,000 hectares of infected farms would be affected although the COCOBOD would begin with an initial 10,000 nationwide with specific focus on the Western and Eastern regions.



The move formed part of a joint action between Ghana and Cote D'Ivoire to cut down 780,000 hectares of cocoa trees infected with the Swollen Shoot Virus to control its spread across the borders.



Mr Aidoo, addressing cocoa farmers from both countries at the launch of the exercise at Pillar 34, a border town in the Western Region, said the leadership of the two countries saw the joint action as an inevitable remedy to the spread of the disease, regarding the high degree of cross-border transfer of the vector.



Though Ghana cuts 10,000 as the first step, Cote D'Ivoire starts with 100,000 hectares and with funding support from the African Development Bank, the two countries are expected to aggressively tackle the menace to enhance sustainable and improved cocoa production for both local and foreign consumption.



Mr Boahen Aidoo said out of about 40 per cent unproductive cocoa tree stock in Ghana, 17 per cent was affected by the diseased, thereby contribute to the reduction in farm yield with its resultant economic harm to farmers.



He implored cocoa farmers to cooperate with trained agriculture extension officers from the COCOBOD to ensure the successful implementation of the programme.



Government is prepared to give some compensation to affected farmers and their landowners for the first three years of the implementation to cushion them over any loss arising from the programme, he said.



They would be provided with free food crops like plantain stocks as an alternative livelihood until the new cocoa seedlings planted reaches the harvest stage.



Mr Boahen called on all stakeholders, particularly landowners, to own the programme and see it as national response to deal with an imminent disaster, which may affect the socio-economic fortunes of the country.



The Director General of Le Conseil du Cafe-Cacao, Mr Kone Ibrahima, lauded the presidents of the two countries for effectively collaborating to nip the disease in the bud.



He recounted how the bond of friendship between the two had grown stronger in recent times, especially in the area of cocoa production.



Ghana and Ivory Coast contribute over 60 per cent of the global market stock of cocoa.



Mr Ibrahima called on the chiefs, opinion leaders, security personnel and farmers to work together to achieve the purpose of the joint venture.



There was a demonstration on the cutting of infected cocoa trees at Pillar 34 and Manzanouan.

Source: Daily Guide









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Featured VideoRector of the Wa Polytechnic, Prof. Emmanuel Marfo Owusu, who was suspended over alleged procurement breaches, has been reinstated by the Wa High Court.



The court in its ruling said Tuesday held that the Polytechnic should have adequately investigated the Prof. Emmanuel Marfo Owusu before suspending him.

Prof. Marfo Owusu was suspended indefinitely by the Polytechnic Governing Board in April 2018 for allegedly refusing to attend an emergency meeting organized on April 4, 2018 in Accra.



He was also accused of some breaches in procurement processes, as well as some issues of financial malfeasance among others



Mr. Marfo Owusu, who denied receiving any invitation from the board to the said meeting at the time, resolved to take the matter to court to seek redress.



Ruling on the matter Tuesday, the court, presided over by his Lordship, Justice Kwasi Boakye stated that the board of the Polytechnic ordered for the reinstatement of Prof. Marfo Owusu.



The court said the rector should have been given an official invitation to the said meeting, prior to the date set for the meeting to take place.



It consequently awarded a cost of GH 5,000 against the Polytechnic for the unlawful suspension. Lawyer of the rector, Alfred Fia Yabuoa told journalists after the court ruling that they were satisfied.







Source: 3news.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Mr Ron Strikker, the Netherland Ambassador to Ghana, has urged concerted efforts to address the menace of open defecation in Ghana.



He said that under the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme, the toilet building component within the Tamale Metropolis had a target of 7,000 latrines in communities by 2020 and with its current record being 2,000 latrines, there was a need to scale up efforts within the next 16 months to be able to meet the target.



He noted that voluntary compliance of residents within the Tamale Metropolis was key towards achieving the open defecation free agenda.



He said The Netherlands Government was committed to supporting Ghana to address challenges regarding sanitation.



Mr Strikker made the remarks during a field visit to the Changli Community within the Tamale Metropolis, after he and Madam Anne- Claire Dufay, Country Representative of the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) in Ghana, paid a courtesy call on Mr Salifu Saeed, the Northern Regional Minister in Tamale.



The visit was to enable the delegation have an overview of the impact of efforts by the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly to attain its open defecation free campaign agenda.



UNICEF Ghana with financial assistance from the Embassy of The Kingdom of Netherlands is currently supporting Ghana to implement an urban sanitation project, from 2015 to 2019.

The project is being implemented at Tamale Metropolis in the Northern Region, Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region and Ho Municipality in the Volta Region; with an objective of increasing access to improved water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in communities and schools.



Mr Strikker noted that despite the fact that the Metropolitan Authorities had set out measures including prosecution, to make Tamale an open defecation free area, the participation of citizens in understanding the need to have household latrines would speed up the process of achieving that goal.



He said that having good sanitation facilities was also a matter of dignity to every citizen of every country, so it was up to the citizens to support initiatives that intend to sanitise the environment.



He said he was impressed with the results of the programme and was therefore, hopeful that all parties would work to ensure the construction of the targeted sanitation facilities by the end of 2019.

Source: GNA









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Featured VideoMinister of Communication, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has revealed that over 27,000 computers documented to have been distributed to the various ICT centres across the country by the erstwhile Mahama administration, cannot be found.



She said documents available at the office of the Ghana Investment for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), show that the computers were distributed within the eight years of NDC administration.



Irrespective of the distribution of the computers, Mrs Owusu-Ekuful, who is on a three-day tour in the Ashanti Region to inspect communication and ICT infrastructure in that part of the country, was greeted by computer-less ICT centres on Tuesday, 28 August.



The minister could not, however, explain whether the computers were not delivered to the centres or were stolen from the facilities after distribution.



For this reason, she said the Akufo-Addo government has changed how the computers are being distributed to schools and ICT centres.



According to her, government will no longer give the computers to MMDCEs or MPs for onward distribution to the schools and ICT centres.



The Ablekuma West MP said the computers will be delivered to the centres by officials of her ministry, so as to ensure that they are successfully delivered channeled to where they are meant to be taken, for installation.



The minister made the revelation when she inspected the Kwamang Community Information Centre in the Sekyere Central District of the Ashanti Region on Day 2 of her three-day tour.



About 20 computers distributed to the Community Information Centre about three years ago, were stolen, according to authorities at the district.



The centre has also been abandoned and currently in a deplorable state.



Mrs Owusu-Ekuful blamed the Mahama administration for the current deplorable state of the ICT centres, saying the previous government left the facilities to rot.



She assured Ghanaians hat all the dilapidated ICT centres across the country will be renovated by the Akufo-Addo government and re-equipped to improve teaching and learning.









Source: classfmonline.com









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Featured VideoMany Ghanaians and watchers especially on the energy sector of the country, continue to hail the eventual appointment of Mr. Peter Amewu as Minister for the Energy ministry.



Even though the energy ministry seems to be one of the hottest and a very delicate sector, majority of the populace believe that the president has clearly shown leadership by replacing Mr. Agyarko, with an equally best person to handle the ministry.



And, for Mr. Andy Nana Yaw Owusu, an aide and Programmes Manager for the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the ruling NPP, the exploits exhibited by the former Lands and Natural resources minister in maintaining greater discipline in combating illegal mining, is a clear indication that he can work effectively at his new office.



In the view of the Programmes Manager, as a result of the leadership of Mr Amewu, majority of the country's water bodies and other natural resources which were polluted as a result of galamsey activities, are fast returning to normal.



"It was difficult but he did it... It took boldness and daring approach to end galamsey which is a highly orchestrated money-making scheme by people in higher places. He has been able to wage that war and succeeded in ending it and this same approach is urgently needed at the energy ministry" the regional chairman's aide said.



However, Mr. Owusu had this advice for Peter Amewu on how to win at the new ministry; he wants him to remain resolved, fair and firm in dealing with all issues while ensuring greater diligence.



"We all know the ministry and the level of tension over there. As a very key and strategic economic sector of the country, he has to be vigilant, assertive...he must carry the kind of discipline he exhibited at his former ministry and ensure he settles in quick."



Andy Owusu says he has high hopes that Mr Amewu will succeed and make the president as well as Ghanaians proud, urging him to live above reproach.





Source: ghananewsreporters.com









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Featured VideoRapper Sarkodie has become the unlikely victim of public outrage against Nigerian music by some Ghanaians.



A post on Instagram promoting a new song by Mr P, a member of the defunct P-Square, has triggered a flurry of insults by some angry Ghanaians.



Their anger stems from the cold reception Nigerian fans gave to Ghanaian artistes who performed at a concert to launch Zylofon Media and Menzgold in Nigeria.



The concert at the Eko Hotels witnessed performances from 2Baba (2Face), M.I, Patoranking, Tekno, Ice Prince, YCee, among others.



Stonebwoy, Shatta Wale, Becca, King Promise, Kumi Guitar, Obibini and Joyce Blessing represented Ghana at the event.



While the Nigerian artistes received loud cheers and support from the Nigerian patrons at the event, the same could not be said about the Ghanaian contingent. It was as if they had just landed from a different planet to perform at the event.



The outcome of that concert has triggered a mass campaign for support your own, a call for Ghanaians and artistes to support the countrys music.



Sarkodies post that New from minister of enjoyment @peterpsquare #AfrobeatsOut Now!!! opened the floodgates of insults, with many accusing him of not supporting Ghanaians.

Source: Daily Guide









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Featured VideoA Taskforce of the Ghana Music Rights Organisations (GHAMRO) was on Sunday, arrested by the police at Ayi Mensah near Madina, while conducting an inspection on outdoor music equipment.



Head of the GHAMRO Taskforce, Yaw Osborne, who disclosed this said his staff who were branded in GHAMRO uniforms and with identity cards, were arrested and detained at the Ayi Mensah police station.



An unnamed person alerted the police about the operations of the taskforce, Osborne said.



Yaw Osborne on Tuesday, told Hitz FM, that the Taskforce was in the process of explaining the Copyright Law 2005, which mandated GHAMRO to license commercial music equipment used for playing music in public, when the team of police officers, swooped on them.



The Chief Operations Officer of GHAMRO, Abraham Adjetey, has visited the Ayi Mensah police station in an attempt to resolve the impasse.



Meanwhile, Director of Public Affairs of the Ghana Police ACP David Eklu says an officer had been detailed to look into the arrest of the GHAMRO Taskforce.













Source: Myjoyonline/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoNDP MP Linda Duncan rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Friday, June 1, 2018. Alberta's lone NDP member of Parliament is calling it quits. Linda Duncan has announced on social media that she will not run in next year's general election. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin TangKAMPALA  A new report has indicated that Uganda and Rwanda are now the emerging favourite destinations in Africa for investment in information and communications technology sector.

Although the leading investor destinations in the ICT sector in sub-Saharan Africa are Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, the three countries have recorded a decline in investment flows.

Uganda and Rwanda are starting to get a slice of the investment that has traditionally gone to Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.

A new report by the GSM Association (GSMA), the global lobby for mobile network operators, titled The Mobile Economy in sub-Saharan Africa, shows that Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa accounted for 76 per cent of total funds raised by startups in the region.

However, the downward trend in the combined share of investments for the three markets, from more than 80 per cent in 2015 and 2016, shows growing investor appetite for other markets, notably Ghana, Rwanda, Senegal and Uganda, the report says.

Last year, 124 tech start-ups across Africa raised $560 million, a 53 per cent increase from the previous year. Of this, sub-Saharan Africa accounted for around $515 million in more than 100 deals.

This underscores the increasing innovation and investor interest in solutions that address the regions starkest social challenges, such as limited access to financial services, education and energy for large swathes of the population, the report says.

Last year, Ugandan solar start-up SolarNow secured a $6 million loan to help reach more customers and expand access to pay-as-you-go solar power.

Apart from the reduction in startup funding, Kenya is also seeing fewer technology hubs being established in the country compared with its traditional competitors South Africa and Nigeria.

In the past two years, Kenya has only seen three new tech hubs established in Nairobi, compared with 32 in Nigeria and eight in South Africa. Uganda has started four new hubs over the same period.

As at June this year, there were 355 active tech hubs across sub-Saharan Africa, up from 239 in 2016.

Nearly half of all the tech hubs in the region are located in four countries  Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa  data from GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator programme shows.

RelatedKAMPALA Ugandan Hollywood star, also film maker and TV producer, Nana Kagga has expressed concern over the declining performance of the Miss Uganda Beauty contest.

According to Kagga, the pageant is not as exciting as it was at its initiation in 1967 or even some years later.

The famous producer said she will help the contestants in the consequent Miss Uganda pageants through reality television series.

She said that the pageants will be televised at every step leading up to the grand finale so that the public is more involved in choosing the beauty queen who will represent the country at the world stage.

Back in the day, the Miss Uganda pageant was one of the most sought after events because it attracted many corporate sponsors and doubled as a tourism attraction and beauty show.

These beauty queens represented Uganda and participated in the worlds search for the most beautiful ladies in the Miss Universe contest.

Miss Uganda failed to conduct a contest for 2017/2018, making the 2016/2017 winner, Leah Kagesa reign for two years.

The pageant returned this year, seeing Quinn Abenakyo, 22, crowned Ugandas beauty queen on August 10 at the Sheraton Hotel.

RelatedMAKERERE  A document in circulation at Makerere University has made damning allegations against the Chairman of the University Appointments Board including corruption and nepotism.

Mr Bruce Kabaasa Balaba is accused of usurping the powers of the Director for Human Resources Mr Andrew Abunyang and in the process unfairly influencing the recruitment processes and undermining staff morale.

Kabaasa runs the affairs of the University with utter impunity, the document reads.

It is very surprising that as academics, we continue to look on as our promotion process has been adulterated by Kabaasa who by the way is bribing his way to become the Chairperson Council on expiry of the current tenure of Dr Etyem, reads the document being circulated on the University Staff e-mail after the staff association, MUASA gave a vote of no confidence to the University Council.

Mr Kabaasa who has sat on the University Council for the last decade is also accused of hindering intellectual progress of the academic staff by stopping them from supervising students from other universities.

Kabaasa crafted a document making it treason for any academic staff to supervise other students other than the Makerere University students. Honestly, given the Higher Education dispensation and new world order, is it fair to criminalize supervision of students from other Institutions of learning?, the writers ask.

Mr Kabaasa has on Tuesday, August 28 refused to comment about the damning allegations against him raised in the document.

He discontinued a telephone conversation when this writer read to him the litany of his alleged transgressions  including sexual abuse allegations, before switching off his phone.

However, MUASA Chairman Dr Deus Muhwezi Kamunyu confirmed that the dossier was on the university staff mailing list.

Yes, the letter was on our [staff] mailing list. I dont know who circulated it to you because we were considering it internal, Dr Kamunyu said.

He, however, noted the issues being raised are the issues we have always raised as we have continued to struggle for our welfare, against corruption and impunity in our employment systems and to create a corruption-free environment.

Ms Ritah Namisango, the university public relations officer (PRO) has labelled the information as chemical saying it is aimed at tarnishing Mr Kabaasa and the Universitys name.

That information should be disregarded. It is not true. The same people [who originated the letter] reported the corruption allegations to the office of the IGG [Inspector General of Government], so if they reported why dont they wait for the IGG to came with a report? Namisango said.

Mr Kabaasa is a subject of a petition dated May 9 by graduate support members of staff to the IGG on gross abuse of office by the chairperson appointments board in which he is accused of having influenced the irregular recruitment of at least 16 personnel, including an acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor. In the petition, the Inspector General of Government (IGG), is implored to investigate the recent recruitment of the director internal audit, deputy university secretary, director legal affairs, director human resources, director estates and works department and the university librarian.

Early this month, Makerere was also steeped in administrative and management disputes that threaten to pile more problems on the already troubled institution.

Media reports revealed an insider accounts point to fraud, abuse of office, nepotism, corruption, conflict of interest, bribery in recruitment processes, among other things, which have left the staff at Ugandas premier university demoralised.

A high ranking Makerere official told this website that stop-gap appointments, a temporary measure of recruiting staff until a post can substantively be filled, are being abused by top officials, who solicit favours, including money, to appoint people in those positions and keep them there, most of the time illegally.

The associations include Makerere University Academic Staff Association (Muasa), Makerere Administrative Staff Association (Masa) and the National Union of Educational Institutions.

On June 1, different staff associations of the university under the Forum for Staff Associations met at the University Guest House and discussed some of the issues touching on the irregular appointment of staff and abuse of the stop-gap appointments.

Makerere administration and the teaching staff has in the recent past been at war over the alleged rot within the management. The Vice-Chancellor Pro Barnabas Nawangwe since issued intimidation letters to members of staff including Dr Deus Kamunyu Muhwezi Muasa chairman for raising their voices on the state of affairs at the university.

Recently Dr Muhwezi ran to the staff e-mail listing to report harassment and intimidation after the VC issued him with a warning letter for his stance on university management matters including illegal appointments and land grabbing among others.

RelatedMAKINDYE  Former Inspector General of Police Gen. Kale Kayihura has on Tuesday August 28 won back his freedom after the General Court Martial granted him bail.

Gen. Kayihura has been in jail for the last 76 days after his arrest by the military from his Kashagama home in Lyantonde on June 13.

Gen. Kayihura was last week charged with three counts including failing to protect war materials and one count of aiding and abetting kidnapping from Uganda of Rwanda nationals while he was an IGP. His lawyers applied for bail but despite the states objections, Maj. Gen. Andrew Gutti, the GCM chairman said the court was satisfied with the ex-IGPs lawyers submissions and granted him bail.

This is a case where the court should not deny the applicant bail. This court considers the fact that he is of advanced age and has never been convicted of any offense. With a clean criminal record, the applicant needs urgent medical attention, Lt Gen. Gutti ruled.

He however set conditions before granting him bail which includes; shs10 million not cash, no travel out of the country without permission from the army leadership and court , restricted movement only within Kampala and Wakiso unless permission from court is sought and must report to court once every first Monday of the month and whenever he is required to do so.

His sureties have been bonded at Aha 5 million each not cash.

Gen. Gutti warned that bail will be cancelled if any of the conditions are breached.

Gen. Kayihuras lawyers from city law firm Kampala Associated Advocates led by former Solicitor General Peter Kabatsi put up a spirited show in their Tuesday morning submissions and presented 11 grounds to secure freedom for the military general.The former IGPs lawyers have told court that their client has a constitutional right to apply for bail, has substantial sureties, he is of advanced age (62) and is the sole bread winner for his family, has a fixed place of abode in Muyenga, Kampala so he is entitled to bail by the courts discretion among others. They also argued he had a medical condition that needed external intervention.

Gen. Kayihura lined up his cousin Entebbe Municipality MP Rose Tumusiime, Maj. Gen. James Mugira and Maj. Gen. Sam Kavuma, the deputy commander of Land Forces of UPDF as his suretites.

The state prosecution led by Maj. Rapheal Mugisha had objected to the bail application, saying the prosecutors were only a served on Monday with Gen. Kayihuras bail application and needed time to file a reply. Maj. Mugisha also objected to Gen. Kayihura being granted bail given the nature of accusations against him.

But the GCM under the command of Gen. Gutti rejected their objections.

Jubilation and tears of joy broke out at the General Court Martial headquarters at Makindye after former Inspector General of Police Gen. Kale Kayihura has been granted bail.

Gen Kayihuras relatives shouted with joy saying Kayihura has done a lot for this country and does not need to be jailed.

RelatedWASHINGTON  A senior member of the US House of Representatives has petitioned the Ugandan Ambassador to the US, protesting the false detention and torture of Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi, aka, Bobi Wine, other Members of Parliament and civilians following the outbreak of violence in Arua Town on August 13.

In a strongly-worded letter to Ambassador Ssebujja Katende, Mr Brad Sherman, a representative of the Democratic Party in Californias 30th District, also condemns the use of live ammunition from police and security forces that has since led to deaths of civilians, including Yasin Kawuma, Bobi Wines driver.

 I condemn the violence that took place on August 13. Mr Kyagulanyi was taken into custody, which led to the death of Yasin Kawuma, Mr Kyagulanyis driver, along with six civilians in Arua Municipality. I call for the release of those detained around the country who demonstrated for Mr Kyagulanyi to be discharged from custody, Mr Shermans August 23rd letter reads in part.

Demonstrations calling for Kyagulanyis release have erupted around the country. They have been met with violence from state police and security forces, who fired tear gas and used live ammunition on demonstrators. Reports have surfaced that 68 protestors have been arrested during the demonstrations as President Museveni has said, in order to send a warning to those who are in the habit of miscalculating, the letter adds.

The congressman also condemns President Museveni for suppressing internal dissent against his regime since the lifting of the presidential age limit from the Constitution.

I am aware that tensions have run high in the country since a bill was passed in December 2017 allowing for the constitutional amendment to eliminate the presidential age limit, essentially granting President Museveni the ability to hold his position for the remainder of his lifetime. Kyagulanyi has stood as one of the most vocal opponents to the constitutional amendment, the letter adds.

I call for the release of those demonstrators that exercised the basic human right of assembly and freedom of expression. I call on the government of Uganda and President Museveni to resolve such matters within the bounds of democracy and uphold those principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Mr Shermans letter adds to the growing number of criticisms both internally and externally over the manner in which the state handled the MPs during the arrest in Arua and how security agencies handled protesters in the aftermath of the violence. The violence in the recently concluded Arua Municipality by-election that left at least one person dead and five nursing gunshot wounds. A number of individuals, including MPs, were arrested and 33 of them have since been charged with treason. The arrest and torture of Mr Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine, the MP Kyadondo East, last Monday sparked off protests in Kampala and surrounding areas.

Last Thursday, Amsterdam & Partners LLP, the London based law firm that is part of Bobi Wines legal team dismissed the charges against the MP as fabricated and vowed to take on the government on an international front.

Last Friday, the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) asked the Judiciary to institute criminal proceedings against police and army officers who were involved in the brutal arrest and torture of civilians, including Members of Parliament, in Arua and Kampala.

On the same day, the Uganda Law Society (ULS) gave government one month to prosecute police and army officers who perpetrated the torture of civilians during the Arua by-election, failure of which the association will prosecute the individuals on a private basis.

The US is a significant development partner for Uganda. This year, the US government offered Uganda Shs1.7trillion ($436m) in development assistance, with the bulk going to the health sector and the rest distributed to areas such as economic development, democracy, human rights, governance, peace and security.

The new funding puts Uganda in the seventh position of top US aid recipients after Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Afghanistan, Kenya and Tanzania.

In the year ending, 2017, Washington offered Uganda $398m (Shs1.4 trillion) and $535m (Shs1.9 trillion) in 2016, according to data by the State Departments Foreign Assistance office, which coordinates the US foreign assistance programmes. The increase in assistance by nearly $39m (Shs140b) highlights Washingtons unchanged stance towards Africa contrary to what several critics anticipated when President Donald Trump assumed office.

President Trump in September hosted select African leaders to a luncheon at the sidelines of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly in New York where he underscored his administrations plan to continue partnering with Africa.

Uganda, according to the Foreign Assistance office, is a key strategic partner for the United States, particularly with regard to regional stabilisation.

Besides working together to resolve regional security threats and conflicts, Washington says its support is critical for enabling democratic institutions to function effectively and fostering more sustainable and equitable national development elements that are essential to both short and long-term stability in the East Africa region.

RelatedNAIROBI  Kenyan Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu has on Tuesday, August 28 been arrested at Supreme Court in Nairobi over alleged corruption.

Judge Mwilu, one of the judges who ruled to cancel Kenyas troublesome 2017 elections, ordering a repeat, was arrested on the orders countrys Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji.

She is being questioned by the police.

After the arrest, the Kenyan DPP Haji released a statement confirming the corruption allegations.

====================Full DPP statement=======================

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Over the last few months, there have been concerted efforts to fight corruption and economic crimes in the country that seriously deny the provision of basic necessities to the citizenry and affect development.

The fight has seen several high ranking officials and entities charged with various offences including asset forfeiture and confiscation. In this regard, the DCI forwarded to me an investigation file relating to the Deputy CJ which I have perused and given directions.

This afternoon, I informed Chief Justice David Maraga of my decision to grant consent for the arrest and prosecution of the Deputy Chief Justice, Lady Justice, Philomena Mbete Mwilu, on criminal charges.

This decision has not been taken lightly, but it is the right decision under the law. Most of us in the office of the Public Prosecutor are indeed officers of the court and the dignity and independence of the Judiciary is dear to us. I believe that judges in a democracy such as ours must be totally free to exercise their judgment in a societal environment that supports and protects them. Indeed, the precepts and principles of the constitution must be our guide at all times.

But the justice system only works if lawyers, prosecutors, magistrates and judges are fair and just. There can be no justice if lawyers, prosecutors,

magistrates, judges and investigators (who are court officials) use their position to enrich themselves at the expense of the Kenyan people.

I believe that the majority of court officials are honest, hardworking Kenyans who have offered their time and talents in the service of their country.

1- The evidence in our possession, reveals that:-

1. Lady Justice Mwilu abused her office for personal gain.

2. Accepted a gift in the form of money in circumstances which undermined public confidence in the integrity of her office.

3. Obtaining execution of a security belonging to Imperial Bank Limited now in receivership by false pretence.

4. Unlawful failure to pay taxes.

5. Conducted herself in disregard of the law.

6. In view of the above, I have concluded that the evidence is sufficient with a reasonable prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest that criminal proceedings should be preferred.

Investigating and punishing wrongdoing is difficult and painful, but it has to be done. Adherence to the rule of law binds and strengthens us as a Nation. Our country is being torn apart by people who have been placed in positions of trust and who in turn abuse this trust. At times Kenyans have failed to get justice because their lawyer is dishonest or the judge is unfair. Those in positions of service must not only submit to the constitutional precepts of integrity, they must exercise wisdom, demonstrate good judgement and lead by the power of their example.

2- Law enforcement decisions must be untainted by partisanship and under my stewardship, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions will adhere fully to the constitution and not the fleeting interests of anyone. The checks and balances in our constitution are meant to establish a healthy tension among the branches of government as each ensures none oversteps its boundaries while keeping within the dictates of our constitution.

In keeping with our constitutional mandate, the ODPP must and will wage an aggressive effort against all forms of corruption. We have a duty to protect the health of our Kenyan people by ensuring that products offered for sale are properly and accurately tested to confirm that they are of good quality and safe to use. We will reinvigorate the efforts to protect the public in areas such as food and consumer product safety.

Our manufacturing companies must be protected from smugglers of fakes and merchants of cheap counterfeits.

All of us must pay taxes so that the government can have the revenue to provide Kenyans with services and to support devolution. Once those taxes are paid, they have to be used only for the intended purposes and not misappropriated by a few people. Taxpayers indeed the Kenyan people have a right to demand accountability.

Over the years, a system of chaos has taken root in our country. Millions of young people are unemployed partly because factories are collapsing or stagnant, stifled by a hostile business environment created by corruption. And when the government puts some money in the National Youth

3  Service to help these young people and give them hope in life, it must NOT be misappropriated.

Families, as well as businesses, are suffering because of the high cost of energy. The country has spent billions of shilling taking power to the people. But if the current levels of corruption continue, Kenyans will not be able to afford energy and our industries cannot compete in the region.

The government is increasingly finding it difficult to implement infrastructure projects for the benefit of Kenyans. The cost of land, driven up by speculators with the help of a few officials at the National Land Commission, has become a heavy stone around the necks of Wananchi.

The message that the President, the Chief Justice and other Leaders have been sending is that this chaotic system needs to come to an end for the sake of our people. We as prosecutors are doing our best to support that vision and will reinvigorate the constitutional missions of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. We have embraced our role in prosecuting crime, in turn protecting Kenyans civil liberties, preserving our environment and ensuring fairness and accountability in the economy.

Our resources are limited. We cannot be everywhere at the same time. For now, we are prioritizing and being strategic in our actions so as to achieve the maximum possible impact in the shortest period. In the fullness of time, wherever there are law breakers, we will be there to take them to court and ensure that they are punished.

We have offices in the 47 counties and in most of them we have cases in court which are progressing well. In Nairobi, the NYS cases will come up for hearing

4  between October and December. Two of the Kenya Power cases will be heard in October. The Kebs, NCPB and National Land Commission cases are in the pre-trial stage.

I am satisfied with the progress we are making on this front and I am happy with the cooperation and teamwork we have established with the Judiciary and the investigators.

Many other cases are under investigation, many more are being assessed by my office and Kenyans should expect fresh investigations and prosecutions on a regular basis.

Thank you

RelatedGangs are a serious problem negatively impacting American culture. And the rise of gang activity as evidenced by the rash of shootings we've seen in major metropolitan areas like Chicago and elsewhere is increasingly threatening the very safety and security of both law enforcement officers and the communities we serve, nationwide.

Every American community in 2018, it seems, is somehow threatened by gang violence.

Richland County, South Carolinaa vast metropolitan area covering 756 square miles and home to Columbia, the capital city, several colleges and universities, the nation's largest military basic-training base, and a population of well-over 401,000is no exception.

The difference is our 'two-fold approach' to gangs.

We have a gang presence hereas do all major urban and metropolitan regions of the countrybut Richland County is simply not conducive to gangs or gang activity.

First of all, as a matter of policy, we do not mention specific gangs by name, nor what gang may be located in Richland County at any point in time. We give gangs and gang members no functional notoriety whatsoever.

I will, however, make an exception with MS-13, the largely West Coast and Central American based gang that has been the subject of countless national news stories over the previous decade.

It was about 10 years ago, that MS-13 attempted to make inroads into South Carolina, specifically Richland County. But they quickly discovered their attempt at establishing a foothold here did not work. Nor will it ever work. The reason being our aforementioned two-fold approach to gangs: Education and enforcement.

Both education and enforcement are given equal weight. Too many law enforcement agencies, I believe, focus too much on one, or the other. We put as much emphasis on educationwhich includes constant community outreach and teachingas we do law enforcement.

In the case of MS-13, they attempted to move into Richland County, an area with a large Hispanic community with whom we had already established deep ties and an unwavering relationship.

We have many Hispanic officers, both patrol deputies and supervisors, who speak Spanish. These officers spend a lot of time in the communities we all serve. We don't wait for the community leadership to come to us. We go to them. We engage in family fun activities with them, as well as school functions and business meetings. Our department hosts Hispanic radio shows. We go to church with our Hispanic neighbors.

Members of the Hispanic community have come to know that when they have issueswhen they report crimesthe Richland County Sheriff's Department is going to do something about it immediately. We are their friends. They are ours. And my saying so is not some feel-good platitude. It's true.

For many members of the Hispanic communities, that has not always been their experience.

Consequently, they have not always trusted law enforcement. Here they trust us, because they have with usand we with theman abiding respect and friendship.

Ten years later, MS-13, which had a presence in Charlotte, (NC)which is about an hour-and-a-half awaywanted to expand their territory into Columbia. When they tried, they ran into usthat 'us' being both the community and law enforcement.

For MS-13 to operate effectively, they have to move into an area where people will look the other way at their criminal activities and otherwise refuse 'to tell on them.'

The communities gave us great information which we processed into good finished intelligence. We responded quickly to every piece of information, and we eliminated the problem before it could establish itself.

Another key component of the education piece is teaching young people about the destructive nature of gang activity and teaching parents how to impress this reality on their children.

Gangs are a result of young people not having parental guidance all the time, and not being involved in positive activities. Children want to be loved and have someone spend time with them. If they don't get a sense that they are valued at home, they will search for it elsewhere. And gangs will only lead to prison or the graveyard.

Sheriff Leon Lott leads the Richland County Sheriff's Department, one of the largest law enforcement agencies in S.C., and one of six regularly featured LE agencies on A&E's top-rated TV series, LIVE PD. In 2010, Lott traveled to Erbil, Iraqat the invitation of the Iraqi governmentto assist in the establishment of, planning for, and training at the first-ever Iraqi female police academy.Key findings from a recent public opinion survey commissioned by the National Police Association were released Monday showing strong support for proactive policing that reduces the number of people committing crimes and the number of crime victims.

Survey participants overwhelmingly said recent media attacks on police and law enforcement have caused officers to be more reluctant to attempt to stop murders and other crimes before they are committed. The survey found participants are concerned law enforcement officers are reluctant to wrestle a criminal suspect to the ground, use a baton, or use any type of force when apprehending a criminal because they fear getting sued or brought up on charges of "police brutality." The vast majority of the survey's respondents support the right of a law enforcement officers to use force to stop a crime in progress, to apprehend a criminal, or to defend themselves from criminal attack.

The majority of respondents rejected the demand by some activists that law enforcement officers not be allowed to carry a gun with over 90% of respondents stating law enforcement should not be disarmed.

Other key survey findings:

The majority think local law enforcement should be able to work with immigration officials to deport dangerous criminals who are not citizens.

Over 80% do not agree with the many politicians who are in favor of voting rights to convicted felons.

A majority of participants think schools should be required to teach children respect for law enforcement officers including how to behave if they are stopped by a law enforcement officer.

Respondents said they would rather have law enforcement in their community prevent crime by stopping suspicious people for questioning than have the police wait until a crime has been committed before taking action.

The polling memo is available online here:

https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/af134e0a/files/uploaded/NPA2018Survey.pdf

The National Police Association is a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a mission of educating supporters of law enforcement in how to help police departments accomplish their goals. To learn more visit us online at NationalPolice.orgTwo officers with the Attleboro (MA) Police Department came under early morning gunfire on Monday, according to WCVB-TV.

The officers had been responding to a man-with-a-gun call and had just begun to approach a man fitting the description of the subject when the assailant opened fire.

Attleboro Police Department Chief Kyle Heagney said that neither officer was struck.

The suspected gunman41-year-old Eric Lindseywas hit by return fire, and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Lindsey has now been charged with two counts of assault with intent to murder, four counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and multiple firearms charges, according to the Bristol District Attorneys Office.

"Their instincts and training took over," Heagney said.Prosecutors in Taos County (NM)citing interviews with the 11 children found to be malnourished and abused at a compound in the New Mexico desert earlier this monthsaid in court documents that the couple who were arrested had targeted an Atlanta hospital for attack.

According to reporting by Fox News, Jany Leveille wanted to "confront 'corrupt' institutions or individuals ... and reveal the 'truth' to these corrupt institutions or individuals," and children interviewed during the investigation said that Leveille had specifically mentioned Grady Hospital as a "corrupt" institution.

Law enforcement officials raided the compound earlier in the month following a joint investigation involving multiple agencies, including Georgia authorities, and the FBI.

Authorities found firearms, ammunition, a makeshift shooting range and underground tunnel on the compound.

The recent court filing said investigators recovered a 10-page, handwritten document titled "Phases of a Terrorist Attack" that included "instructions for the one-time terrorist."BANGALORE, August 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Alliance University a renowned private university located in Bengaluru, has been ranked No. 7 among the best private universities in India. The ranking was published by India Today in its July 2018 issue in a survey done by MDRA.

Located on a sprawling 36-acre campus in Bengaluru, Alliance University presently offers baccalaureate programmes, postgraduate programmes, doctoral degree programmes and several professional certification programmes.

The University having established Alliance College of Engineering and Design; Alliance School of Law; and Alliance Ascent College, is now in the process of establishing many other prominent academic units, viz., Alliance College of Arts and Humanities; Alliance College of Science; Alliance College of Medicine and Dentistry; Alliance College of Education and Human Services; Alliance School of Health Sciences; and Alliance College of Media and Communications. While its oldest professional school, the Alliance School of Business is consistently ranked among the top ten private business schools in India by various ranking agencies, The University is now making headway in all other areas of education as well.

Dr. Anubha Singh, the Pro Vice Chancellor of Alliance University, says, "We, at Alliance University, believe in excelling ourselves in every field. Our staff blend rigor and relevance in their teaching and are ever ready to reach out; our robust industry interactions; research aimed at solving problems of the real world; a plethora of international collaborative arrangements; outreach activities that touch the lives of a wide cross section of society; and an exemplary track record in career counselling and placement facilitation, all combined have earned us this position."

Amit Shetty, an alumni of Alliance University, currently with CBRE, South Asia strongly agrees on the diverse experience provided by Alliance University. He goes on to add, "Here, you are not learning from teachers who teach from through textbooks but who have actually written textbooks."

About Alliance University:

Alliance University is a private University established in Karnataka State by Act No.34 of year 2010 and is recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi. The University is known for its diverse degree courses, state-of-the-art campus, high quality education and excellent placement record, aspires to be among the best universities in the world by the year 2025.

Media Contact :

Mathew Thankachan

[email protected]

+91-8030938100

Alliance University

SOURCE Alliance UniversityNOIDA, India, August 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

In a board meeting of Asian Academy of Arts, a joint decision was taken to constitute and launch a prestigious and a powerful award for the promotion of art and culture after the name of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/655519/AAFT_Logo.jpg )

"An Award titled as Atal Bihari Vajpayee National Award for the Promotion of Art and Culture to be given to all those who have contributed to the promotion of art and culture. This is the first of its kind in the country to mark respect to the great poet and statesman of the Republic of India," said Sandeep Marwah President of Asian Academy of Arts.

A poster was launched and all the members present there recorded their remarks on this historical day of constituting this esteemed award. A series of remarks were kept in the archives of the Academy.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was an Indian politician who served three terms as the Prime Minister of India. He was a member of the Indian Parliament for over four decades; having been elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house, ten times and twice to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house.

He was conferred India's highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna, by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee in 2015. The administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared in 2014 that Vajpayee's birthday, 25 December, would be marked as Good Governance Day.

"Today we are feeling elevated on announcing this award after the name of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The Asian Education Group, Marwah Studios and all the hundreds of organizations associated with us will work for this prestigious award," added Marwah remembering the quotes of former Prime Minister.

The award ceremony will be the part of the most popular Global Literary Festival Noida. The first edition of awards will be handed over during the 4th edition of Global Literary Festival, which has emerged as the second biggest literary festival of the country.

About Asian Academy of Arts

Asian Academy of Arts (AAA) is an initiative headed by Sandeep Marwah, to support the budding and the practitioners of fine and performing arts. AAA has hosted three successful Global Literary Festivals.

For more information, visit: http://www.aaft.com.

Media contact:

Haripriya

+91-0120-4831143

[email protected]

Asian Society of Film & Television

SOURCE AAFT (Asian Academy of Film and Television)NEW DELHI, August 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Blueair to reach out to more than 1000 schools across Delhi , Mumbai , Bangalore and Pune

Focus to create awareness about the negative impact of air pollution on children's mental and physical health and to stimulate innovative thinking on how to curb pollution

In the wake of recent scientific research highlighting the negative effects of air pollution on children's mental and physical health, Blueair, a world-leader in air purification solutions, today launched 'Blueair Champions', a nation-wide campaign to raise awareness of the prevalence and dangers of air pollution among children in India.

Pollution is round the corner phenomenon where most of the cities in India have started witnessing drastic rise in air pollution in last two years. The abnormal spurt in cities like Delhi, Mumbai has led to an increase in multiple health issue across all age groups.

Children are soft targets and are prone to get affected with bad air quickly. The air that a child breathes during its first year is critical for building the immune system and preventing it from developing allergies in the future. Exposure to indoor air pollution during the childhood is also known to have a negative effect on children's respiratory health and cognitive abilities. Breathing clean air on the other hand, can improve learning, physical performance and reduce the risk of asthma and allergies.

The campaign 'Blueair Champions' will reach out as medium to next generation India, will create larger engagement with over 1,00,000 young minds with ideas to curb the menace of this widely spreading issue.

Blueair with these steps will continue its global vision of protecting young generation, supports its mission where it believes Clean air is a human right. Blueair Champions activity will reach out through more than 1000 school engagements in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Pune, and will attract the school children where they will contribute and get appreciation for their innovative thoughts to bring down the pollution levels.

"By investing in children, we are investing in our society," s aid Mr. Girish Bapat, Director South Asia, Middle East & Africa, Blueair AB, Sweden. He further added , "Children are the future of our society and they must be nurtured for a better tomorrow. With an increasing air pollution level and our lack of awareness we are putting ourselves and our children at risk. Children breathe more rapidly than adults, taking in more air in relation to their body weights. This, and the fact that their lungs, brains and immune systems are still developing, make them more vulnerable to air pollution. Blueair has a long-term commitment to improve the health and well-being of children everywhere. Across the world, Blueair is actively working with schools to improve the air quality and educate and inform children and parents about the importance of clean air for children's physical and cognitive development. With Blueair Champions we hope to reach 1 Mn children in India."

A UNICEF report estimates that 17 million babies worldwide - 12 million of them in South Asia - live in areas that record pollution levels six times higher than the international safe limits. These children who are exposed to air pollution face several health issues. The study reveals that, children who are affected from air pollution faced problems of low verbal and nonverbal IQ and memory, reduced test scores, grade point averages among school going children, along with neurological behavioural issues. Several studies have found air pollution linked to harm children while they are still in the womb. Pregnant women who are exposed to even low levels of particle pollution had higher risk for preterm birth.

With a vision to spread a movement of better breathing Blueair with its HEPASilent technology, uses a combination of mechanical and electrostatic filtration that captures 99.97% of harmful particles from the air, down to 0.1 micron in size. Read more about how Blueair air purifiers remove harmful air pollutants http://www.blueair.com

About Blueair

Blueair is one of the world's leading producers of air purification solutions for home and professional use. Founded in Sweden, Blueair delivers innovative, best-in-class, energy-efficient products and services to consumers in over 60 countries around the world. Blueair is part of the Unilever family of brands. http://www.blueair.com

For media queries please contact:

Manaswi Manna

+91-9953885091

[email protected]



Shrinidhi Rao

M: +91-9873550281

[email protected]



SOURCE Blueair"Achieving great progress in business not only depends on high-quality products and brand strength but also in the guidance of corporate culture," said Yu Jun, President of GAC Motor. "Therefore, GAC Motor upon celebrating its 10 th anniversary has decided to update our image with a new brand slogan and a renewed effort to upgrade our corporate culture. Aiming to further, empower, motivate and inspire our workforce to ensure our continued long-term development into the next decade."

The new corporate culture, termed "The Road to Greatness", will be based upon the company's belief that 'if everyone dares to pursue greatness, the world would be a better place'. It will also incorporate a new 'personality' for the brand, which will include the key qualities of intelligence, determination, persistence and innovation under a new brand slogan: "Dare to Dream, Have Courage and Keep Striving". By embracing this new corporate culture, GAC Motor will ensure that it remains true to its ideals of developing original products and "having no fear in the face of difficulties" as it aims to create the "world's car".

"The new corporate culture aims to incorporate humanity, credibility, and creativity," Yu Jun added"Over the next ten years, GAC Motor under our new corporate culture, will aim to put talents, consumers, partners and the community first. Respect each other and each other's culture, uphold honesty and strive forward as we take innovation as the primary driver of growth."

With the mission of creating an enjoyable life of mobility for all, GAC Motor, for the first time in its history, will introduce a set of guiding principles under the anacronym "GREAT", representing: Glory to all; Reject the conventional path; Embrace a higher purpose; Adopt a practical attitude; Transcend the highest standards, and Strive for progress. Under these principles over the coming years, GAC Motor will extend itself to building a world-class brand and a global company.

About GAC Motor

Founded in 2008, Guangzhou Automobile Group Motor CO., LTD (GAC Motor) is a subsidiary of GAC Group which ranks the 202nd among the Fortune Global 500 companies. The company develops and manufactures premium quality vehicles, engines, components and auto accessories. GAC Motor has now ranked the first among all Chinese brands for five consecutive years in J.D. Power Asia Pacific's China Initial Quality Study SM (IQS), demonstrating the company's quality-centric strategy from innovative research and development (R&D), manufacturing to supply chain and sales & services.

For more information, please visit:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GACMotor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gac_motor

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/gac_motor

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180827/2221424-1

SOURCE GAC MotorNEW DELHI, August 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Shiv Nadar University (a comprehensive, multidisciplinary and research-focused institution) yesterday hosted a National Water Conference at India International Centre to discuss issues related to the water crisis in India and identify the potential solutions to address the problem. The implementation of a new policy paradigm with regards to the principles, approaches and strategies for managing water in India was one of the key issues discussed at the conference. The event was attended by Shri Nitin Gadkari, Hon'ble Minister for Water Resources, Government of India as the Chief Guest and high-level policy makers, development & water professionals, researchers, academia and private sector representatives.

Speaking at the conference, Shri Nitin Gadkari said, "The issue of water is the biggest problem in the country. Many states face water stress and are also litigating against each other and as a country we've all been unsuccessful in creating lasting resolutions. It is time that we explore all avenues using technology, to conserve ground water and the government is committed to playing a constructive role in this. We believe that river linking project, could be one of the solutions to the problem that we face. The water storage of rivers also needs to be addressed to reduce flooding and also ensuring that surplus water during monsoons does not get wasted by going into the oceans."

Shri Gadkari ended by stating that we need to manage our surface and ground water in a sustainable manner.

Speaking at the inaugural session, Dr Mihir Shah, Distinguished Visiting Professor, Shiv Nadar University, said, "A holistic and inclusive dialogue has been missing in the context of tackling India's water crisis as we don't have enough people from across sectors talking to each other. Representatives from the government, civil society, academic and most importantly the affected communities need to work together to forge creative solutions through constructive dialogue. This in turn will help create a new policy paradigm - a dedicated programme on participatory and decentralised water management and governance - that is the need of the hour."

Amitabh Kant, CEO Niti Aayog very emphatically stated that communities are the best placed entities to manage water and in his opinion a water management system managed in that manner is the need of the day.

Some of the other speakers at the conference included Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO of Niti Aayog, GoI; Ms Roshni Nadar, Executive Director and CEO, HCL Corporation & Trustee of Shiv Nadar Foundation; Dr Mihir Shah, former member Planning Commission and Distinguished Visiting Professor, Shiv Nadar University; Shri RS Julaniya, Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh; Dr Isher Ahluwalia, Chairperson ICRIER; Dr Rupamanjari Ghosh, Vice Chancellor of Shiv Nadar University; Dr Tushaar Shah, Senior Fellow, International Water Management Institute; Pramathash Ambastha, CEO, Bharat Rural Livelihoods Foundation; Dr. Amarjit Singh, Former Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India and Shri K C Naik, Chairman, CGWB.

The conference encouraged discussion around key areas of India's water crisis including: -

How the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana's vision of proving HarKhetkoPani can be achieved in Indian agriculture.

Groundwater Management and Challenges of Implementing the Atal Bhujal Yojana; and

The Implementation of Mihir Shah Committee Report, which demands a robust and shared understanding of the nature and magnitude of the water crisis in India

Notes to the Editor:

About Shiv Nadar University

Shiv Nadar University (http://www.snu.edu.in), a Shiv Nadar Foundation initiative, is a multidisciplinary, student-centric, research-focused university offering a full range of academic programs at the undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level. Shiv Nadar University's multidisciplinary curriculum provides students a strong foundation in disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, natural sciences, technology and engineering studies, communications and management, while enabling them to gain mastery of a subject of their choosing. Taught by world-class faculty, undergraduate education at the University is designed to develop students with the breadth of vision, knowledge, skills and attitudes required to succeed in the careers of the 21st century. Located on a 286-acre campus in India's National Capital Region, Shiv Nadar University is a private philanthropic institution established in 2011 through an act of the State of Uttar Pradesh. The university was recognized as 'University of the Year', under the category - 'in existence for less than 10 years' at the 3rd FICCI Higher Education Excellence Awards.

About Shiv Nadar Foundation

The Shiv Nadar Foundation (http://www.ShivNadarFoundation.org) has been established by Shiv Nadar, Founder, HCL - a $8.5 billion leading technology and healthcare enterprise. The Foundation's mission is to contribute to the process of national development and social transformation by establishing institutions and undertaking new initiatives in the fields of education and culture. The Foundation is committed to the creation of a more equitable, merit based society by empowering individuals to bridge the socio-economic divide through philanthropy based transformational education.

The Foundation set up the SSN Institutions (http://www.SSN.edu.in) in 1996, comprising the SSN College of Engineering (already a highly ranked private engineering college in India), in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The Foundation has also set up VidyaGyan, a residential leadership academy for meritorious rural children, at Bulandshar and Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh. In addition, the Foundation runs the Shiv Nadar University (http://www.snu.edu.in), an international multidisciplinary university with strong research orientation located in Greater Noida in India's National Capital Region and the Shiv Nadar School (http://www.shivnadarschool.edu.in), a network of progressive urban schools across India aimed to provide children with education that creates lifelong learners. The Foundation has also set up the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (http://www.knma.in), India's largest private philanthropic museum in modern and contemporary art with the vision to take art to the common public.

Media Contact:

Sadaf Khan

[email protected]

+91-9620696668

Head Corporate Communications

HCL Enterprise

SOURCE Shiv Nadar UniversityMUMBAI, August 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Over the years, TiE Mumbai had played a significant role in promoting, mentoring, helping and funding startups in the Greater Mumbai Region. TiE Mumbai represents over 2500 startups in this region. It has successfully connected and mentored over 2000 entrepreneurs and startups over the last few years and over 1000 startups have been successfully connected to investors.

As a part of its ongoing endeavor to assist startups with new opportunities and help foray into different geographies, TiE Mumbai has partnered with Flanders, Belgium and Bahrain and organized separate knowledge sessions to facilitate interested startups in making an informed decision to expand into Europe and Middle East.

"As a part of our global connect program, TiE Mumbai has partnered with Flanders Investment and Trade, Mumbai office - the official agency of the Government of Flanders, Belgium and Bahrain Economic Development Board to create an access to knowledge, markets, funds and talent in those regions. These partnerships present excellent growth opportunities for Mumbai Startups," said Atul Nishar, President, TiE Mumbai.

Flanders, Belgium

Flanders, Belgium is the Hotlink to Europe, home to NATO, the EU headquarters and other major public and private international decision-making centers. Delegates from Fiscal Department for Foreign Investments, Marc De MIL - International Tax Expert, Federal Public Service Finance - Belgium, Ralph MOREAU - Science & Technology Officer, Flanders Investment & Trade. Embassy of Belgium, Singapore and Jurgen MAERSCHAND, Trade & Investment Commissioner, Flanders Investment & Trade, Mumbai interacted with startups to give them a better understanding of Flanders, Belgium's innovative and knowledge-driven economy that presents attractive prospects for Indian startups to set up their business there. They also discussed how Belgium hosts a robust ecosystem supporting startups not only with the Incubators, Accelerators, Research Centers, and Technology Clusters, but also gives organization access to markets, funds, and talent.

"Flanders is a pole of attraction for foreign companies: thanks to its central location in Europe, our strongly developed infrastructure, our innovative clusters and numerous other strengths. We adopt a tailored approach towards potential investors and inform them of the opportunities for their company in Flanders. Innovative clusters are of key importance to Flanders as a knowledge region. We help these clusters in their internationalization process and try to attract foreign investors capable of strengthening the cluster to grow into a major international player," said Jurgen Maerschand, Trade & Investment Commissioner - Flanders Investment & Trade, Mumbai.

Bahrain

Bahrain is a fast-growing hub and test-bed market for India startups looking to leverage the Kingdom's pro-business environment and access to opportunities across the GCC. It was recently mentioned in Startup Genome's 2018 Report as high potential ecosystem for fintech, cloud computing and gaming innovation. Delegates from the Economic Development Board of Bahrain (EDB), Dr. Simon Galpin - Managing Director and Dharmi Magdani - Country Director India shared insights on the opportunities for Indian technology startups in Bahrain, particularly fintech startups, leveraging Bahrain's status as regional financial centre with a world-class ITC infrastructure. Bahrain's startup ecosystem benefits from a pro-business regulatory environment, low tax and operating costs, and a central, connected location with ease of access to India, the GCC and Europe.

Simon Galpin, Managing Director, Economic Development Board of Bahrain (EDB), commented, "We are pleased to collaborate with TiE once again on an engaging and informative event that will help bring the startup ecosystems in India and Bahrain even closer together. Bahrain and India have deeply embedded commercial, trade and cultural ties, which date back centuries, and today this relationship goes from strength to strength. At EDB, we work with many Indian-founded startups who are successfully testing and scaling up from their bases in Bahrain and we look forward to seeing even more collaboration between startups in India and Bahrain in the future."

About TiE

The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), was founded in 1992 in Silicon Valley by a group of successful entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and senior professionals with roots in the Indus region. Since 1992, TiE has been supporting entrepreneurs by offering education, mentorship, networking and funding opportunities. The mission of TiE is to foster entrepreneurship globally through the 5 pillars of TiE: mentoring, networking and education, funding and incubation. Dedicated to the virtuous cycle of wealth creation and giving back to the community. TiE's focus area is to generate enable the next generation of entrepreneurs. There are currently 11,000 members, including over 2,500 charter members in 60 chapters across 17 countries. TiE's mission is to foster entrepreneurship globally through mentoring, networking, and education. Dedicated to the virtuous cycle of wealth creation and giving back to the community, TiE's focus is on generating and nurturing our next generation of entrepreneurs.

For more details, visit: https://mumbai.tie.org/ .



Media Contact:

Jacqueline Patel

+91-9967040369

TiE Mumbai



SOURCE The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE)MUNICH, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The Global ETNA-AF programme is a large and comprehensive single non-vitamin K oral anticoagulant (NOAC) repository of real-world data, as part of the Edoxaban Clinical Research Programme, EDOSURE

Three snapshot analyses from baseline data add to growing evidence of the use of edoxaban in the real-world setting

Data were presented during the ESC Congress 2018

Daiichi Sankyo Europe GmbH (hereafter, "Daiichi Sankyo") today announced results from three analyses of baseline data from patients in the Global ETNA-AF programme describing the use of oral, once-daily edoxaban (known by the brand name LIXIANA) in routine clinical care. The data from 24,431 patients treated with edoxaban, representing 87% of total planned enrolled patients from more than 1,800 centers across 13 countries globally, highlight the broad range of cardiovascular risk factors and patient types being assessed to collect robust information on how edoxaban is being used in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) in real-world settings. The data were presented at the ESC Congress 2018 in Munich.

"Daiichi Sankyo is committed to expanding scientific knowledge about edoxaban through ETNA-AF, which is part of EDOSURE, our robust clinical research programme comprised of more than 10 studies and more than 100,000 patients worldwide," said Hans Lanz, MD, Vice President, Head, Global Medical Affairs, Edoxaban. "The Global ETNA-AF programme will provide valuable information on edoxaban use, safety and effectiveness in a real-world setting that is being collected from these non-interventional studies. This will ultimately enable healthcare professionals to make best use of edoxaban in routine clinical practice."

The Global ETNA-AF programme combines information from non-interventional studies conducted in Europe, East Asia, and Japan, regarding the safety and effectiveness of edoxaban. The regional patient registries were designed to reflect regional needs and local clinical practice, and data were harmonised, transformed, and integrated into a single database. A total of more than 28,000 patients will be included in the Global ETNA-AF non-interventional studies and followed for two years (patients in Europe will be followed for four years). The Global ETNA programme will serve as a large and comprehensive single NOAC repository of real-world data on the use, effectiveness, and safety of patients with NVAF or venous thromboembolism (VTE).

The first snapshot analysis presented at ESC, which reported baseline demographics and patient characteristics in the Global ETNA-AF programme, showed that overall patients were older than those in the ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 clinical trial of edoxaban but had fewer stroke risk factors and more often presented with paroxysmal NVAF.1 The percentages of patients treated with edoxaban 60 mg once-daily and 30 mg once-daily in Europe were 76.7% and 23.3% respectively (N = 13,474).1 The distribution of the edoxaban 60 mg and 30 mg QD dosing was largely consistent with the distribution in corresponding countries from ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48. Patient demographics were similar to ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 in the European region.

The second analysis, which reported on baseline stroke and bleeding risks in the Global ETNA-AF programme, showed that across all regions, the population had a lower stroke risk and higher bleeding risk overall than those recorded in the corresponding countries in the ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 trial.2 Within non-interventional studies, physicians make clinical judgments to treat patients as appropriate. The EMA label requires only one risk factor for treatment and therefore differs from the inclusion criteria of ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 that requires at least two major risk factors for enrolment. Global ETNA-AF enrolled a large proportion of high-risk patients including those with prior stroke, major bleed, intracranial hemorrhage, or CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc score 4; these high-risk patients comprised 38.2% of patients enrolled from Europe.2 In addition, the mean recalculated HAS-BLED score overall in Global ETNA-AF was 2.5  1.13 (Europe: 2.6  1.13).2 In ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48, the mean HAS-BLED score in patients from countries corresponding to Global ETNA-AF was 1.8  1.0.2

The third analysis, which reported on the use of antithrombotic therapy before initiation of edoxaban in the Global ETNA-AF programme, showed that more than two-thirds of patients treated with edoxaban were naive to anticoagulant use before starting edoxaban (17,740, 72.6%).3 In Europe, 17.5% (2,364/13,474) were previously treated with a vitamin K antagonist (VKA) and 8.4% (1,138/13,474) were on another NOAC before starting edoxaban.3

"In comparison to corresponding countries in ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48, patients enrolled in Global ETNA-AF had lower stroke risk scores, and higher HAS-BLED scores," said Raffaele De Caterina, Professor of Cardiology and Director of the Cardiology Institute at G. d'Annunzio University, Chieti, Italy. "This may indicate a shift in the willingness of physicians to treat patients who have a higher bleeding risk, reflecting an evolution in the use of NOACs. Building on the results from ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48, which included patients with moderate to high risk of stroke, these data provide real-world evidence regarding the use of edoxaban for patients with low risk of stroke."

About ETNA-AF

ETNA-AF (Edoxaban Treatment in routiNe clinical prActice in patients with nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation) is a non-interventional post-authorisation safety study (PASS) that combines data from distinct non-interventional studies in Europe, East Asia, and Japan in a single database. A total of more than 28,000 patients will be included in the ETNA-AF registries and followed for two years (patients in Europe will be followed for four years). The primary objective of ETNA-AF is to collect information on the real-world use of edoxaban in regional and country-specific routine clinical practice, including the safety and efficacy profile in non-preselected patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF).4-8

About the ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 Study

ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 (Effective aNticoaGulation with factor xA next GEneration in Atrial Fibrillation) is a three-arm, randomised, double-blind, double-dummy, global phase 3 clinical trial comparing once-daily edoxaban with warfarin in 21,105 patients with NVAF at moderate-to-high risk of thromboembolic events at 1,393 centres in 46 countries. ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 compared two edoxaban treatment strategies, a higher dose arm (60 mg or 30 mg dose reduced) once-daily and a lower dose arm (30 mg or 15 mg, which is not currently approved, dose reduced) once-daily, with warfarin in patients with NVAF for a median of 2.8 years.9

About Atrial Fibrillation

AF is a condition where the heart beats irregularly and rapidly. When this happens, blood can pool and thicken in the chambers of the heart causing an increased risk of blood clots. These blood clots can break off and travel through the blood stream to the brain (or sometimes to another part of the body), where they have the potential to cause a stroke.10

AF is the most common type of heart rhythm disorder and is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality.11 More than six million Europeans are diagnosed with AF, and this figure is expected to at least double over the next 50 years.12,13 Compared to those without AF, people with the arrhythmia have a three to five times higher risk of stroke.14 One in five of all strokes are as a result of AF.12

About Edoxaban

Edoxaban is an oral, once-daily, direct factor Xa (pronounced "Ten A") inhibitor. Factor Xa is one of the key components responsible for blood clotting, so inhibiting this makes the blood thin and less prone to clotting. Edoxaban is currently marketed in Japan, the U.S., South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Canada, Brazil, Germany, the U.K., Switzerland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Austria, Portugal, and other European countries.

About EDOSURE  Edoxaban Clinical Research Programme

More than 10 studies, more than 100,000 patients worldwide

Daiichi Sankyo is committed to expanding scientific knowledge about edoxaban, as demonstrated through our research programs evaluating its use in a broad range of cardiovascular conditions, patient types and clinical settings in atrial fibrillation (AF) and venous thromboembolism (VTE) designed to further build on the results of the pivotal ENGAGE-AF and Hokusai-VTE studies. More than 100,000 patients worldwide are expected to participate in the edoxaban clinical research programme, EDOSURE, which is comprised of more than 10 RCTs (randomised, controlled trials), registries and non-interventional studies, including completed, ongoing and future research. The goal is to generate new clinical and real-world-data regarding edoxaban use in AF and VTE populations, providing physicians and patients worldwide with greater treatment assurance.

The RCTs include:

ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48 (Effective aNticoaGulation with factor xA next GEneration in Atrial Fibrillation), in AF patients at moderate-to-high risk of thromboembolic events

Hokusai VTE (Edoxaban in Venous Thromboembolism), in patients with either acute symptomatic deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE) or both

ENSURE-AF (EdoxabaN vs. warfarin in subjectS UndeRgoing cardiovErsion of Atrial Fibrillation), in AF patients undergoing electrical cardioversion

ENTRUST-AF PCI (EdoxabaN TReatment versUS VKA in paTients with AF undergoing PCI), in AF patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention

Hokusai-VTE Cancer (Edoxaban in Venous Thromboembolism Associated with Cancer), in patients with cancer and an acute VTE event

ELDERCARE-AF (Edoxaban Low-Dose for EldeR CARE AF patients), in elderly AF patients in Japan

ELIMINATE-AF (EvaLuatIon of edoxaban coMpared with VKA IN subjects undergoing cAThEter ablation of non-valvular Atrial Fibrillation)

ENVISAGE- TAVI AF (EdoxabaN Versus standard of care and theIr effectS on clinical outcomes in pAtients havinG undergonE Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI)  Atrial Fibrillation)

In addition, global and regional registry studies will provide important real-world data about the use of edoxaban and other oral anticoagulants in everyday practice, and include:

ETNA-AF (Edoxaban Treatment in routiNe clinical prActice in patients with nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation)

ETNA-VTE (Edoxaban Treatment in routiNe clinical prActice in patients with Venous ThromboEmbolism)

EMIT-AF/VTE (Edoxaban Management In diagnostic and Therapeutic procedures-AF/VTE)

Prolongation PREFER in AF (PREvention oF thromboembolic events  European Registry) in patients with AF

ANAFIE (All Nippon AF In Elderly) Registry in Japan

Cancer-VTE Registry in Japan

EDOSURE is our commitment to adding to the scientific body of knowledge around edoxaban in a variety of AF and VTE patients, including those who are vulnerable.

For more information, please visit: https://www.daiichisankyo.com/rd/pipeline/products/ecrp/index.html

About Daiichi Sankyo

Daiichi Sankyo Group is dedicated to the creation and supply of innovative pharmaceutical products to address diversified, unmet medical needs of patients in both mature and emerging markets. With over 100 years of scientific expertise and a presence in more than 20 countries, Daiichi Sankyo and its 15,000 employees around the world draw upon a rich legacy of innovation and a robust pipeline of promising new medicines to help people. In addition to a strong portfolio of medicines for hypertension and thrombotic disorders, under the Group's 2025 Vision to become a "Global Pharma Innovator with Competitive Advantage in Oncology," Daiichi Sankyo research and development is primarily focused on bringing forth novel therapies in oncology, including immuno-oncology, with additional focus on new horizon areas, such as pain management, neurodegenerative diseases, heart and kidney diseases, and other rare diseases.

For more information, please visit: www.daiichisankyo.com .

Forward-looking statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements and information about future developments in the sector, and the legal and business conditions of DAIICHI SANKYO Co., Ltd. Such forward-looking statements are uncertain and are subject at all times to the risks of change, particularly to the usual risks faced by a global pharmaceutical company, including the impact of the prices for products and raw materials, medication safety, changes in exchange rates, government regulations, employee relations, taxes, political instability and terrorism as well as the results of independent demands and governmental inquiries that affect the affairs of the company. All forward-looking statements contained in this release hold true as of the date of publication. They do not represent any guarantee of future performance. Actual events and developments could differ materially from the forward-looking statements that are explicitly expressed or implied in these statements. DAIICHI SANKYO Co., Ltd. assume no responsibility for the updating of such forward-looking statements about future developments of the sector, legal and business conditions and the company.

References

Koretsune, Y. et al. The Global ETNA-AF registry programme: Snapshot baseline demographics and patient characteristics from 24,431 atrial fibrillation patients on edoxaban. Presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress, Munich , 2018. De Caterina, R. et al. Baseline stroke and bleeding risks in the Global Edoxaban Treatment in Routine Clinical Practice in Patients with Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation programme (Global ETNA-AF): First snapshot analysis. Presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress, Munich , 2018. De Caterina, R. et al. Prior antithrombotic therapy: A snapshot of 24,431 patients from the Global Edoxaban Treatment in Routine Clinical Practice in Patients with Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation programme (Global ETNA-AF). Presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress, Munich , 2018. Edoxaban Treatment in Routine Clinical Practice for Patients With Non Valvular Atrial Fibrillation (ETNA-AF-EU). Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02944019. [Last accessed: August 2018 ]. Edoxaban Treatment in Routine Clinical Practice for Patients With Atrial Fibrillation in Korea and Taiwan (ETNA-AF-KOR-TWN). Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02951039. [Last accessed: August 2018 ]. Edoxaban Treatment in Routine Clinical Practice for Patients With Non-valvular Atrial Fibrillation (ETNA-AF-Hong Kong). Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03247582. [Last accessed: August 2018 ]. Edoxaban Treatment in Routine Clinical Practice for Patients With Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation (NVAF). Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03247569. [Last accessed: August 2018 ]. ETNA-AF-Japan. Available at: https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000019728. [Last accessed: August 2018 ]. Giugliano R, et al. Edoxaban versus warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation. N Engl J Med. 2013;369(22):2093-2104. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute  What is Atrial Fibrillation. Available at: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/af/af_diagnosis.html. [Last accessed: August 2018 ]. Iqbal MB, et al. Recent developments in atrial fibrillation. BMJ. 2005;330(7485):23843. Kirchof P, et al. 2016 ESC Guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation developed in collaboration with EACTS. European Society of Cardiology. 2016;37, 28932962. Krijthe BP, et al. Projections on the number of individuals with atrial fibrillation in the European Union, from 2000 to 2060. Eur Heart J. 2013;34(35):2746-2751. Ball J, et al. Atrial fibrillation: Profile and burden of an evolving epidemic in the 21st century. Int J Card. 2013;167:1807-1824.

Contact

Lydia Worms (Europe)

Daiichi Sankyo Europe GmbH

Edoxaban Communications & Product PR Europe

+49(89)7808751

August 2018, EDX/18/0394

Related Links

http://www.daiichisankyo.com



SOURCE Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited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Batty Over Halloween Celebration Was A Treat! The Central Astoria LDCs 6th annual Batty Over Halloween Celebration held on Sunday, October 24 was a real treat for everyone who came out. Excited...

Invest In Violence Intervention This week U.S. Senator Charles Schumer advocated for at least $5 billion in funding for Community-based Violence Intervention (CVI) programs to be included in the...Rantoul, IL (61866)

Today

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 29F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 29F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.Supreme Court upholds Russian citizens sentence for planning terror attack

 RIA Novosti, Vladimir Pesnya

12:58 28/08/2018

MOSCOW, August 28 (RAPSI)  The Supreme Court of Russia has upheld a 12-year prison sentence of a native of Dagestan Ramazan Ramazanov convicted of plotting a terrorist attack in Stavropol, the courts press service has told RAPSI.

The North Caucasus District Military Court sentenced Ramazanov in May.

The court found that the defendant adhered to an ideology of the Islamic State terrorist organization banned in Russia. He illegally purchased and kept fire arms, ammunition, explosives and other components for making improvised explosive devices. The man planned to use his home-made bomb for committing a terrorist attack in places of mass gathering in Stavropol, according to case papers.

Ramazanov failed to consummate the crime because he was arrested by police on April 22, 2017, the courts spokesperson Alena Katkalo told RAPSI earlier.



Russian Supreme Court upholds sentence for attempt to join ISIS

 RIA Novosti, Vladimir Fedorenko

15:50 28/08/2018

MOSCOW, August 28 (RAPSI)  The Supreme Court of Russia has upheld prison sentence for two residents of Kabardino-Balkaria Region, Viktor Mukhamedov and Shodmon Begnazarov, who were found guilty of attempting to join the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization prohibited in Russia, the press-service of the court has told RAPSI.

Earlier, the North Caucasus District Military Court sentenced Mukhamedov to 11 years in a high security penal colony while Begnazarov received 12 years in prison.

According to investigators, in 2017, the defendants swore loyalty to ISIS seeking to take part in combat against government forces in Syria. A representative of the terrorist organization suggested them to murder a police office using an explosive from a secret stash. However, the defendants were apprehended before they could proceed with their plan.Teen charged with shooting in Moscow region school to stay jailed until December

 RIA Novosti, Maksim Bogodvid

17:17 28/08/2018

MOSCOW, August 28 (RAPSI)  The Moscow City Court has extended detention of a teenager charged with shooting in his school in Ivanteevka (Moscow region) until December 5, the courts press service has told RAPSI.

The defendant is charged with hooliganism committed with the use of explosives and attempted murder. The boy has been found sane.

Earlier, attorney Viktor Zaprudsky said that the teenager repented all what he had done and apologized to victims. According to the lawyer, the boy's parents were ready to be financially liable for their sons actions.

The incident took place in the town of Ivanteevka, 20km northeast of Moscow, on September 5, 2017. According to investigators, a 15-year old student attacked a teacher with an axe, then he opened fire from an air gun and threw several smoke bombs in a classroom.

As a result, the teacher received an open craniocerebral trauma. Three minors panicking jumped out of the window and were injured as well, the Investigative Committee reported.Barrett recently announced its newest offering conversion barrel kits chambered in 300 Precision Rifle Cartridge. Barrett's conversion kits ship with a complete barrel assembly, complete bolt, ZCORR Barrett branded bag, and one 10-round magazine.

In the video below, Chris Barrett demonstrates how to do a barrel swap on the MRAD:



Hornady's 300 PRC was approved earlier this year by SAAMI. Thanks to SAAMI's acceptance of the cartridge, we expect to see more 300 PRC offerings from manufacturers.

Barrett released the following information:

Christiania, TN: Barrett is pleased to offer MRAD barrel conversion kits for the exciting new Hornady 300 PRC, Precision Rifle Cartridge. Barrel Conversion Kits are available in fluted stainless steel and carbon fiber wrapped configurations. Both 300 PRC barrel configurations are 26 in length and utilize a 1 in 8 twist rate to maximize the potential of todays long range precision bullets. The modular design of the combat proven MRAD rifle allows easy reconfiguring of barrel types and cartridge chamberings at the user level. The MRAD rifle is currently in use with the militaries of over 10 nations. We are excited to add the 300 PRC to the list of chamberings available in the MRAD. The performance of the cartridge, even in its pre-production state has impressed professional users and the Barrett team in the MRAD/300PRC systems. Hornadys long range bullets plus the efficient case design are an unbeatable combination in the Barrett rifle, said Chris Barrett, Barretts President. 300 PRC stainless, fluted barrel conversion kit: 18431 300 PRC carbon fiber wrapped barrel conversion kit: 18432 About Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Inc.

Barrett is a family-owned and operated company and the world leader in large- caliber, long-distance, precision rifle design and manufacturing. Barrett products are used by civilians, sport shooters, law enforcement agencies, the United States military and more than 73 State Department approved countries around the world. The Barrett Quality Management System (QMS) has received the prestigious ISO 9001:2015 certification for the design and manufacture of firearms, ammunition, integrated ballistics computers and accessories, and to provide training for those systems.

For more information about Barrett, go to https://barrett.net/.With RIL supplying about 47 per cent of the domestic petcoke production, current dynamics are bound to change.

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) may be disrupting yet another industry, this time as a consumer.

RIL's shift from being a major supplier of petcoke to a consumer may change the way cement companies source their fuel and of what kind.

As part of a larger strategy, RIL has set up a petcoke gasification project where it is likely to use its own petcoke production and also buy more from other producers.

Industry analysts peg the incremental buy at about four million tonnes. With RIL supplying about 47 per cent of the domestic petcoke production, current dynamics are bound to change.

RIL is effectively turning from a supplier to a buyer, said a commodity analyst. An email query sent to RIL on their petcoke requirement and sourcing plans remained unanswered.

One of the most evident impacts that the RIL plan would have is higher petcoke imports.

RIL accounted for 47 per cent of the total domestic petcoke production (13.9 million tonnes) in FY17. A decline in availability due to diversion of petcoke towards RILs gasification project will lead to higher dependence on imported petcoke, said Rahul Prithiani, director, CRISIL Research.

Most of these imports are likely to be made by cement companies.

In the short term, we expect cement players to be increasingly dependent on imported petcoke for clinker production, Prithiani added.

About five to six years back, Indian cement companies started to show a preference for petcoke as a cheaper substitute to coal to fuel their plants.

With a host of reasons at play, and now changes in the domestic demand-supply dynamics, this trend may be up for a reversal.

There is a definite reversal. With the current court order, we will see softening of petcoke imported prices for cement makers for a brief period, but this will again change once RIL moves from being the supplier to the procurer, said a cement analyst with a domestic brokerage firm.

According to CRISIL, usage of coal by cement companies increased marginally in the March 2018 quarter and June 2018 ended quarter due to a spike in petcoke prices.

Depending on the pricing, cement companies are likely to switch between coal and petcoke, Prithiani added.

About half of the Indian consumption of pet coke of about 26 million tons in the last financial year was imported.

Prashant Bangur, joint managing director, Shree Cement, said that one needs to now look at it as a fuel story, and not what type of fuel.

Petcoke is now almost at par with coal in terms of pricing. It does not really matter whether cement makers use petcoke or coal. It will remain dynamic depending on how prices move globally.

"There are other factors, for instance, Chinas import duty on American petcoke may make more of it available for other importers," he said.

RILs move may change the type of fuel, but will not have any financial impact on cement companies, he added.

RILs plan comes at a time when India has new rules imposed on petcoke imports. On August 17, the government banned petcoke imports as a fuel except for use by a few industries, including cement.

Longer term, petcoke consumption of cement companies in India could increase as global demand softens and prices moderate.

"However, given the restriction on import of petcoke for use as fuel, the players are expected to shift to coal for their captive plants, Prithiani said.

Photograph: PTI PhotoRetail investors will soon have to obtain a net worth certificate from a chartered accountant and submit it to their broker, and their trading limits will be decided accordingly.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

The Securities and Exchange Board of India may soon impose limits on the trading positions that retail investors can take, based on their net worth.

Retail investors will have to obtain a net worth certificate from a chartered accountant and submit it to their broker, and their trading limits will be decided accordingly.

Net worth is the sum total of all the financial and non-financial assets of an individual, minus his liabilities.

Retail investors often do margin trading in the equity market, which means that they borrow money from their broker to trade in stocks.

They also take leveraged positions in the derivatives markets, which means that they are able to take positions that are several times bigger than the amount of capital they have in mind.

The restrictions that Sebi plans to bring in are meant to curb such leveraged trading.

"Once such restrictions come in, retail investors will not be able to take very large and risky positions that have the potential to harm them if the bets go wrong," says Ramabhadran Thirumalai, assistant professor of finance at the Indian School of Business.

Many retail investors may not want to undergo the hassle of obtaining a net worth certificate.

Many may also be reluctant to reveal their net worth to Sebi. Hence, the imposition of restrictions may propel more retail investors to invest through mutual funds.

This measure, however, also has a number of potential downsides.

"Such micromanagement at the retail level is unwarranted. Sebi will only end up increasing compliance costs for retail investors without improving anything," says R Balakrishnan, an industry veteran who is now an independent analyst.Compared to a 64 per cent penetration in Brazil (130 million users total) and 53 per cent in China (total 733 million users), India has barely 28 per cent penetration.

Of the digital reach, almost 80 per cent are from affluent segments in urban areas.

How can this change?

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

India has it all, at least on paper. A digital stack endorsed by the government that helps technology companies provide unique digital solutions to the masses, dirt cheap data prices and a plethora of online retail and financial service providers tapping into the opportunity.

Yet, as a report by Bain and Company, Google and Omidyar Network titled Unlocking digital for Bharat: $50 billion opportunity shows, millions are untouched by the internet, those who have access barely use it and a tiny group of 160 million consumers is transacting online.

So what is still holding back the countrys long promised digital revolution?

According to the report, India has the second-highest set of active internet users globally (around 390 million) and has seen the highest velocity of user addition (average 40 million added per year).

Further, mobile data usage (approximately 8 GB/subscriber/month) has reached the levels of developed markets, but these numbers tell just part of the story.

The data does not, for instance, reveal the poor levels of penetration, or draw the red lines around the low transaction levels online.

Compared to a 64 per cent penetration in Brazil (130 million users total) and 53 per cent in China (total 733 million users), India has barely 28 per cent penetration.

Of the digital reach, almost 80 per cent are from affluent segments in urban areas.

Anand Jain, COO and co-founder of CleverTap, a digital marketing firm notes that brands in India are evolving towards a business model that also enables digital transactions.

The numbers dished out on reach and the growing time spent by Indians online hold brands in thrall.

Jain believes that brands that want to maximise their digital potential must work on enhancing trust and transparency.

Taking a cue from the introduction of Cash on Delivery (CoD), which was one of the earliest approaches to building trust, brands should now proactively educate users about data privacy, and security of their transactions, he said.

Brands seem to have taken note and hence the introduction of hassle-free returns and refunds; engagement of multiple payment options, UPI payments and mobile wallet integration are growing too.

But lack of transparency and awareness are still huge bottlenecks, Jain added.

Users dont completely trust online channels and thus continue to drop out of transactions even after spending hours browsing and discovering websites.

Out of 390 million active internet users barely 40 per cent transact online and a third of that number doesnt go beyond their first purchase.

Quite often the experience online is marred by sudden changes in price, opaque product details or failure to keep to the delivery schedule.

Digital India is at a very interesting point -- a large internet user base with significant variations across demographics, and only a small portion actually transacting online.

"While online spends are still low given lower per capita incomes, there is huge potential to unlock value by addressing user concerns at various stages of the digital curve; however, the path wont be easy for businesses and they will have to innovate and be patient to monetise this user base and generate value, said Arpan Sheth, partner, Bain & Company, co-author of the report.

So how can penetration and online spending improve?

Among the suggestions of this report is a large need for public-private partnerships to create more access and awareness among the masses.

Currently there are multiple grassroots level programmes like Googles Internet Saathi programme and Vodafone for Business which help engage communities beyond big cities into the internet ecosystem.

Also expected to change the penetration and usage patterns is the governments BharatNet initiative that plans to enable internet connectivity among gram panchayats in the country.

Meanwhile, brands are pinning their hopes on the promised digital potential of the Indian market. But the question is: how long will hope trump reality?Why did the DMKs newly-anointed president single out the saffron party in his acceptance speech?

Wary of how its alliance with the BJP in the past had cost it votes, the party is determined to steer clear of any harm by association, says N Sathiya Moorthy.

IMAGE: M K Stalin addresses the DMK's general council soon after being elected its president, in Chennai on August 28, 2018. Photograph: Courtesy, M K Stalin's Twitter account

In invoking American civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr, by declaring, I have a dream..., or Enakku oru kanavu ulladhu... in Tamil -- and what that dream was all about, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagams president-elect M K Stalin began well his new and long-awaited innings at the helm of the party, in Chennai on Tuesday.

It may not be as powerful an acceptance speech as what King had delivered in his time decades ago, and more so by his late father, Muthuvel Karunanidhi, but then, Stalin was the first one to accept and acknowledge as much, when he began his speech at his anointing ceremony at the party general council without any ado.

I cannot match him, Stalin declared while referring to Karunanidhis multiple talents, beginning with his spell-binding speeches, but then he added with equal humility that he still had a strong heart, handed down by Periyar and Annadurai, the founding fathers of the Justice Party movement in Tamil Nadu, to take what it needs to.

It is anybodys guess what Stalins speech-writer, if there was one, had in mind, but the King-connect in particular has been left for political commentators to make the link. For sure, most of his party audience and TV-watchers in the state did not make the connection.

Yet, Stalin did spell out a broad spectrum approach of his vision for the party and the state, going up to the nation and the larger world, underlining that the cadres and the second-line too needed to relook at the DMK from a contemporary perspective.

What stood out in his listing of the vision document, if at all it could be called one, was that he reiterated the lesser-acknowledged lines of his late father that we are not against believers (in god), even as we continue to believe in our views.

If nothing else, this line should silence social media critics, who have been sending out meme after meme on the way the Karunanidhi family observed the latters 16th day funeral ceremony in a semi-ritualistic way, and cadres who spread out fruits and flowers at his burial place on the famed Marina sands, alongside the memorial for his political mentor and predecessor Chief Minister C N Annadurai.

However, Stalin did not leave out the kaavi, or saffron, leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from his speech, which did not name any political leadership in the state or elsewhere in the country, for being thrown out. He did target the state government under AIADMK Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy, but without mentioning names.

It was not without reason. A few days ahead of the DMK presidential poll and anointment ceremony, ill-informed sections of the national and regional media had speculated that the DMK was moving closer to the ruling BJP at the Centre ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

This followed the DMKs prior announcement that BJP president Amit Shah would attend a memorial meeting for Karunanidhi, being organised in Chennai, on August 30, at which other political party leaders and chief ministers from various states are scheduled to participate.

Ahead of Karunanidhis hospitalisation and death, the DMK under Stalin as working president had called for a state autonomy meet attended by non-BJP, anti-BJP parties and chief ministers from across the country.

With the likes of Telanganas TRS Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu visiting an ailing Karunanidhi in his home, ahead of his hospitalisation, the DMK leadership understood that the party was suddenly getting into the national big picture after a time.

In changing the character of the August 30 rally from politics to memory for Karunanidhi, the DMK wanted to bring out the multi-faceted qualities of the departed leader, who was one of a kind -- leading a party for full 50 years, living through decades with prime ministers starting from the first one in Jawaharlal Nehru, to incumbent Modi.

In inviting the BJP for the ceremony, as against the original state autonomy conference, the Stalin leadership also wanted to draw a line. In fact, barring the ruling AIADMK in the state, against which the DMK cadres nurse a hurt feeling for denying Karunanidhi a resting place on the Marina, Stalin also wanted to send out a message that he was a different type of Dravidian leader.

In between, Stalin also rushed to Delhi to pay his last respects to late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The fact that Vajpayee did attend the funeral of Union minister Murasoli Maran, long after the DMK had privately informed the BJP leadership of its decision to quit the ruling NDA ahead of the 2004 parliamentary polls, did weigh with Stalin & Co.

The DMK announced Amit Shahs name only after the BJP office at Delhi reportedly informed them of the level of representation by the party. Against this, even while the DMK was planning the state autonomy conference, Rahul Gandhi had reportedly conveyed his inability to be present, given his prior overseas commitments during the period.

Thus, no one in the DMK was surprised when the Congress named Ghulam Nabi Azad to represent the party at the Karunanidhi memorial. What, however, surprised those in the know is the BJPs purported decision to scale down representation, and send Union minister Nitin Gadkari, for the August 30 event.

Incidentally, Gadkari was the last of the Union ministers and BJP leaders to have visited Karunanidhi in hospital, less than 24 hours before the latters death.

Against this background, Stalin, it is said, had to take Modis name in his acceptance speech, if only to send out a message that the earlier announcement about Shahs participation in the August 30 function did not indicate any movement towards an electoral alliance with the BJP.

As may be recalled, the DMK is upset still about Modi not granting Stalin a time even once after the latter had written to him thrice in four months last year, to present some of the pressing development issues of Tamil Nadu, as the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly.

In a way, the BJPs decision to scale down party representation at the Karunanidhi memorial may have helped the DMK silence speculation of an electoral kind.

Otherwise, now, as ahead of election 2004, the DMK is apprehensive about losing the substantial minorities vote-bank, if they were speculated to be considering a BJP alliance.

As the DMK analysis had concluded after the party lost the 2001 assembly polls, the BJP-NDA alliance and participation in the Vajpayee government had cost it dearly.

The DMK also concluded that by crossing over to the rival AIADMK camp under much-harassed former chief minister Jayalalithaa, the anti-BJP Tamil Maanila Congress and the residual Congress parent of the latter had made a difference.

More recently, ahead of the controversial R K Nagar by-election to fill Jayalalithaas assembly seat, PM Modi had paid a courtesy call on ailing Karunanidhi at his home.

According to DMK insiders, that was enough for the substantial minorities votes in R K Nagar to go the way of AIADMK rebel and independent candidate T T V Dhinakaran, swelling his victory margin far ahead of Jayas 2016 figures and pushing DMKs Marudhu Ganesh to the third place, behind AIADMK presidium chairman and local strongman, E Madhusoodhanan.

In the bargain, the DMK also lost its security deposit in the much-watched by-election, where the earlier polling had to be countermanded, following large-scale cash-for-vote charges against the Dhinakaran camp.

N Sathiya Moorthy, veteran journalist and political analyst, is director, Observer Research Foundation, Chennai Chapter.'Can he remain ignorant by saying he was 13 years old?'

'That means Rahul Gandhi must not talk on any subject in this country that precedes his adulthood.'

'He should remain unaware of history and knowledge of anything that has happened.'

IMAGE: Congress President Rahul Gandhi speaks at an interaction with British MPs in London, August 24, 2018. Photograph: PTI Photo

Congress President Rahul Gandhi dug himself into a hole by asserting in London that the Congress party was not involved in the October 31-November 4, 1984 anti-Sikh riots in the wake of then prime minister Indira Gandhi's assassination.

At a meeting with British MPs in London on August 24, Rahul described the violence as a 'very painful tragedy', but insisted that the Congress was not involved.

Senior Congress leader Palinappan Chidambaram tried to stem the damage from Rahul's statement by saying, 'We are not saying the Congress is absolved. The Congress was in office in 1984, nobody is denying that. A very terrible thing happened for which Dr Manmohan Singh has apologised in Parliament. Now you can't hold Rahul Gandhi responsible for that, he was 13 or 14 years of age.'

The Shiromani Akali Dal described Rahul Gandhi's statement as 'rubbing salt into the wounds' of the Sikh community while its ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party, said the Congress president was trying to wash his party's hands off its alleged culpability in the riots.

Even as a controversy swirls over Rahul's statement, Hartosh Singh Bal, political editor, Caravan magazine, spoke to Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf about the 1984 riots on which he has written extensively including an essay in the book 1984: In Memory and Imagination -- Personal Essays and Stories on the 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots.

For a generation which has little idea about the 1984 riots, can you tell us how far the Congress party was involved in it in which 2,733 Sikhs were killed?

Let me correct the terminology. The 1984 riots were not riots as two communities were not clashing, but it was a massacre of Sikhs. They were being pulled out and killed. There was no resistance from their side and there was no counter-violence.

The actual numbers were 3,000 Sikhs died in Delhi. Across the country there were 7,000 deaths.

This figure is from the sources which has been verified and tallied. The massacre was not in Delhi alone, but spread across other states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Bihar. It was widespread.

I have written in Caravan about it. People like Mr H S Phoolka and Manoj Mitta have written about it and they have documented this.

In each pocket of the city prominent Congress leaders led mobs. These leaders include Sajjan Kumar, Jagdish Tytler and Kamal Nath.

My own report, and I have testimony from a senior bureaucrat who said that coordination of this violence was being done by Arun Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi's cousin and right hand man.

During this period he was reporting to Rajiv Gandhi on a regular basis minute to minute and there is no way Rajiv could be unaware of this organised implementation of violence by his senior party member.

Exclusive: Justice G T Nanavati on the 1984 riots here and here

What do you make of Rahul Gandhi's statement that Congressmen were not involved in the massacre, or Chidambaram's point that he was just 13 years old at that time?

Rahul Gandhi was not born in 1947, so is he unaware of what happened in 1947?

Does every politician only rely on eyewitness testimony?

He can't read, or is he illiterate?

Has he not read or heard anything that continuously figures in contemporary politics, that continuous questions are asked to him all the time?

Can he remain ignorant of that by saying he was 13 years old and in school?

That means basically Rahul Gandhi must not talk on any subject in this country that precedes his adulthood.

He should remain unaware of history and knowledge of anything that has happened.

Rahul Gandhi must not talk about the Babri Masjid too.

Rahul Gandhi must not talk about the Gujarat riots. How old was he then? He was too old to remember what happened in Gujarat, but too young to remember what happened in 1984.

Then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi did make a statement, 'Bada pedh girta hai toh (when a big tree falls)...

Rajiv Gandhi in a public speech justified the 1984 violence by saying when a big tree falls the earth shakes, as if the assassination of Indira Gandhi was a justification for the violence that followed.

Subsequently, when the Congress party went to the elections it was on a communal platform.

In some ways it was a model for the 2014 election fought by Modi.

What Modi did with the Muslim community in terms of communal bigotry, Rajiv Gandhi did with the Sikh community.

No Congressman has been convicted yet for the violence...

Obviously, they won't be convicted. They (Congress governments) set up the inquiry commissions.

They handpicked the people who led those inquiry commissions. They ensured no procedure was followed. They allowed no police investigation.

Ranganath Mishra, head of the first inquiry commission, was later rewarded by the Congress party with a Rajya Sabha seat, that too a Congress seat.

No norms of commission were followed. Innumerable commissions were set up and the Congress ensured that none of them functioned, the legal processes did not happen.

The legal processes were directed, controlled and manipulated by the Congress, so obviously there would be no results.

Nine commissions of inquiry were set up to probe the massacre of 1984, weren't they?

Commissions of inquiry in this country are largely meant to suppress the truth than reveal it. They serve political ends to justify.

It is like what has happened with the Special Investigation Team Report on Modi. You read the report, it is meant to bury Modi and not to examine his culpability.

This is what the nine commissions of inquiry (probing the 1984 riots) were about.

Every trick Modi has played, the Congress has played before.

That is where Modi has learnt his tricks on how to subvert and manipulate the truth.

You have written that Girilal Jain, the then editor-in-chief of The Times of India, rationalised the violence, saying the Hindu cup of patience had come full to the brim.

Is that why Sikhs were being targeted?

When communal bigotry is given official sanction, as was the case with the Congress, you have enough endorsers where people come out of their little holes in the ground and express their bigotry in public.

This is what Girilal Jain did. This is what pro-Modi editors are doing today and so are TV anchors.

The same hatred, the vitriol that was coming out against the Sikhs, the same kind of hatred is coming out from the journalists (now) who have no self-respect, but cater to the whims and fancies of the government.

As mourners filed past Indira Gandhi's body on the Doordarshan telecast, slogans like 'Khoon ka badla khoon se' were heard. Should that telecast have been permitted? Was it done intentionally?

These questions are to be asked and reported on. It was absolutely the most absurd thing to do. I can find no other equivalent of it in the use of public media or using an act of violence to provoke reactions.

I guess the only comparable example would be again to take the bodies of those killed in Godhra and march them around in Ahmedabad. That was done by Modi.

As I said, every action has been preceded by the same kind of idiocy by the Congress.

Deliberate manipulation of public opinion -- why call it idiocy? It was deliberate.

Then prime minister Manmohan Singh did apologise for the 1984 violence.

He spoke on behalf of the government. Any violence under its watch, it (the government) must regret.

But where has the Congress party admitted culpability and apologised for its own involvement in the violence? Give me a single instance.

People keep saying Sonia Gandhi did, but she didn't.

Not for a moment did Sonia Gandhi apologise for the 1984 massacre of Sikhs.

The so-called statement which she uttered, I was reporting personally in Punjab then. She never said anything that amounted to an apology.

She never has, the Congress party never has.

Why are the Gandhis not apologising for the violence when Manmohan Singh has?

Dr Manmohan Singh did it on behalf of the government and not the party.

The Gandhis cannot do it because the culpability is personal.Gleaning lessons from Amit Shahs compendium of Chanakya-isms, the Samajwadi Party is keeping its operations low-key and working on an inclusive strategy, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.

After successive victories chalked up by the Opposition in the recent by-elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party, which won three of the four by-polls, has been unusually quiet, except for issuing an occasional statement against the Bharatiya Janata Party or staging a protest cyclothon.

There is yet no word on when the SP will cement its alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party, although the partnership with Ajit Singhs Rashtriya Lok Dal got off the ground after success in the Kairana and the Noorpur by-polls in May.

The apparent dormancy has led the BJP to presume that the grand alliance of the SP, BSP and RLD may not fructify before the Lok Sabha election. Meanwhile, the BJPs mighty election machinery is visibly whirring at top speed.

Theres a grain of truth in the BJPs surmise. Like any opposition party that bestirs into activity months before an election, the SP had premised its approach to the next Lok Sabha election on a victory-by-default-and-not-design proposition. Belatedly, it realised that this will not work against a fired-up BJP.

With a difference, though. As part of a new rule and reworked strategy, the SP will keep its operations low-key and ring up the curtain when it chooses to. It has proved to be a quick learner, gleaning lessons from Shahs compendium of Chanakya-isms.

The BJP changed the character of electioneering in 2014. It injected a high degree of pragmatism. The leaders snagged heavyweights from other parties after promising them the moon, and sewed up strong social alliances with small parties. We will do the same. We have an alliance with the Nishad Party and Mahan Dal (both represent the non-Yadav backward castes). Closer to 2019, we can look at the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, said Udayveer Singh, a close aide of Akhilesh Yadav, the SP president. The Suheldev Party is currently a BJP ally but its president Om Prakash Rajbhar is manifestly restive.

Shah literally brought the SP back to the ground. Booth management -- that entails assembling mundane minutiae at the lowest level of electioneering -- was something that never occurred to Mulayam Singh Yadav or Akhilesh before Shah established that it often yielded a positive verdict.

Rajesh Yadav, another Akhilesh confidant and a legislative council member, explained how the SPs organisation was revamped to respond to the BJPs dare.

He said, Regardless of the number of seats we eventually contest, we are constituting booth committees in all the Lok Sabha constituencies (80). Each unit will have 10 members representing the dominant castes of an area. We have stored the Aadhaar and voter card numbers of voters on the mobile phones used by the booth and district prabharis (minders) so that the information is on hand.

If reconstructing the organisation was a facet of Akhileshs 2019 template, the more fundamental changes concerned the SPs perspectives on Hindu-Muslim equations, diluting the allegation of being excessively pro-minority, recasting its representation to embrace the non-Yadav backward castes that were put off by the preponderance of Yadavs in its rank-and-file, and looking Dalit-friendly.

The Lok Sabha election will not be fought on Hindu-Muslim lines. Our leaders are Krishnas descendants and dont need the BJP to certify that they are true Hindus. Our discourse will stress the problems faced by farmers, youths, traders, women and Dalits under the BJP. If the BJP raises the issue of illegal immigration, we will say where are the 20 million jobs Modi promised, a top office-bearer said.

The Muslims appeared unperturbed by the changed tack. Lucknows influential Sunni cleric and Muslim Personal Law Board member Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahli said: We want the non-BJP opposition to only speak about development, security, education and health, which concern everybody -- a Hindu, a Muslim or a Christian. Anything in the name of religion leads to polarisation.

Zafaryab Jilani, an SP sympathiser and convener of the Babri Masjid Action Committee, said the tweaked approach didnt mean Akhilesh took Muslim voters for granted. Akhilesh is concerned about the growing indifference among the Muslims towards voting. He met community leaders and opinion-shapers, and asked them to re-activate Muslim voters, said Jilani.

As Jilani clarified that the SP should nominate Muslims only in constituencies that had a minority population in excess of 30 per cent, the non-Yadav backward caste leaders were emphatic that their representation should be in direct proportion to their population.

The other aspects of the SPs game plan were keeping the Congress out of the alliance because of its reported inability to transfer its upper caste votes and positioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the centrepiece of its campaign.

Sunil Singh Yadav, regarded as Akhileshs eyes and ears, said, The BJP flaunts Modi as its only asset. Where have his promises of jobs and peace on the border disappeared? When we ask people, have your appointment letters come, they laugh aloud. Judging from the popular response, our anti-Modi campaign cant boomerang.Maharashtra police on Tuesday raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least five of them for suspected Maoist links.

Near simultaneous searches were carried out at the residences of prominent Telugu poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Farreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad, and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in New Delhi.

Subsequently, Rao, Bhardwaj and Farreira were arrested. Although Navalakha was also arrested, the Delhi high court ordered police not to take him out of the national capital at least until Wednesday. According to unconfirmed reports, others whose residences were raided are Susan Abraham, Kranthi Tekula, Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi and Anand Teltumbde in Goa.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and the upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year.

Here are their brief profiles:

IMAGE: Sudha Bharadwaj was arrested for for suspected Maoist links on Tuesday. Photograph: PTI Photo

>> Varavara Rao

Rao has been writing poetry since 1957. Founder member of Virasam (Revolutionary Writers Association), he was arrested in October 1973 under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act. He was released and arrested on more than one occasions between 1975 and 1986 in different cases, including the 1986 Ramnagar conspiracy case in which he was acquitted in 2003 after 17 years.

Rao was again arrested on August 19, 2005 under AP Public Security Act and sent to Chanchalguda Central Prison in Hyderabad. The case was struck down under the Public Security Act on March 31, 2006 and Rao obtained bails in all other cases.

>> Arun Ferreira

An activist based in Mumbai, Ferreira was claimed to be the leader of the propaganda and communications wing of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist in 2007. He was acquitted of all charges in 2014. In his book, Colours of the Cage: A Prison Memoir, published the same year, Ferreira, recounted the details of his imprisonment of nearly five years.

>> Sudha Bharadwaj

Bharadwaj is best known for her work in Chhattisgarh, where she has lived for 29 years and fought for the rights of mine workers in Bhilai, as a member of late Shankar Guha Niyogis Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha.

She began working with the Mukti Morcha in 1986, after witnessing the abysmal working conditions of labourers in West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh during her stint as a student in IIT Kanpur. A civil rights activist and lawyer, Bharadwaj has also been fighting against land acquisition, and is currently the general secretary of the Chhattisgarh Peoples Union for Civil Liberties.

>> Susan Abraham

Abraham, a civil rights lawyer, represented many of those arrested during the June raids by the police in connection with the Elgar Parishad event. The wife of activist Vernon Gonzalves, Abraham was born in Kerala to schoolteacher parents and studied in Zambia.

She has been part of protests against demonetisation, fake encounters and for workers and womens rights. She has written extensively against the rigourous sentences given to DelhiUniversity professor G N Saibaba, activist Prashant Rahi among others, calling it a misuse of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Her name can be seen in the credits of a film, Court, in which she guided filmmaker Chaitanya Tamhane through the intricacies of the law.

>> Vernon Gonzalves

A blog run by his friends describe Vernon Gonzalves as a leader of the Altar Boys and a strong believer of justice, equality & freedom. A gold medallist from MumbaiUniversity and a former lecturer at RuparelCollege and HR College, Gonzalves, security agencies allege, was an ex-central committee member and former secretary of Maharashtra State Rajya Committee of Naxalites. He was charged in around 20 cases and has been acquitted due to lack of evidence, after serving six years in jail.

>> Gautam Navlakha

Navlakha has been associated with Peoples Union for Democratic Rights and is a Delhi-based journalist. He is also an editorial consultant of the Economic and Political Weekly.

He, along with Sudha Bharadwaj, demanded repeal of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. They said, the Act, passed to regulate the activities of unlawful organisations, has been used by the government to curb extremist activities as opposed to unlawful activities.

Navlakha, a frequent traveller to KashmirValley for the last two decades, has also written extensively about alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.

>> Anand Teltumbde

An engineer, MBA and former CEO, Teltumbde is also a leading scholar and activist for Dalit rights. He has authored books on peoples movement particularly about leftist agitations and Dalit rights struggles. He also has a doctorate in cybernetics from MumbaiUniversity. It is no coincidence that he has often argued that reservation for Dalits has, in fact, stigmatised them and consecrated caste in Indias polity.

>> Father Stan Swamy

Human rights activist father Stan Swamy founded the Vistapan Virodhi Janvikash Andolan, a platform that advocates the rights of indigenous people including Adivasis and Dalits. Swamy was among the 20 people against whom a sedition case was filed in July this year, for posting statements against the Jharkhand government for inciting tension over the Pathalgadi movement.

>> Kranthi Tekula

Tekula is a journalist with Namaste Telangana.If all goes well, from December, drones can be used for purpose like mapping, surveying and photography, which till now was illegal due to absence of any guidelines.

India has finally approved guidelines to bring the use of drones under a legal framework.

If all goes well, from December, drones can be used for purpose like mapping, surveying and photography, which till now was illegal due to the absence of any guidelines.

However, following global norms, the government has restricted the use of drones for delivering of goods and food items which may hinder its commercial usage.

Jayant Sinha, minister of state for civil aviation while announcing the policy indicated that this was done keeping in mind the security aspect and the government will be looking to liberalise the guidelines in future.

E-commerce major Amazon has used a drone to deliver a bag of popcorn to an address in rural England, in the first commercial outing for a technology that is the US groups boldest step towards automating deliveries.

"There are opportunities for our aviation sector & for India's startup industry as India is set to become a global leader as far as drone ecosystem is concerned. It's important for us to have a policy roadmap & regulations that support growth of the drone ecosystem, Sinha said.

According to the policy unveiled by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, which will be the regulating agency for such vehicles, drones have been classified into four parts based on their weight.

For the lightest category Nano, a payload of up to 250 grams and flight to a maximum height of 50 feet, have been approved. A user need not seek prior approval for operating a nano drone.

However, for an equipment which is more than 250 gm, the operator has to get security clearance each time the drone is operated.

The government has approved a full digital ecosystem for granting permission for use of drones with an intention to make life easier. Termed a No permission-No Take Off, the software program will enable the user to seek approval from DGCA, home ministry, security agencies, Indian Air Force for all kinds of licence.

"What we intend to do is to connect one police station in a district to the digital system. Any person who intends to use a drone can comply with the norms digitally to seek approval for operating the drone, civil aviation secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey said.

Drone manufacturers, however, said that the government has been conservative in its policy.

An executive of a Bangalore-based drone manufacturer said that any drone intended for commercial use will invariably weigh more than 2 kg and will fall in the bracket of medium to large category needing permission every time it is operated.

Simultaneously,, a blanket restriction on the height limit of 400 feet will be difficult to follow if it is to be used for surveying and mapping.

"With such restrictions the use of drones would remain limited to amateur usage like wedding photography and recreational use only, the person said.

Minister Sinha, however, said that the government will look to liberalise its usage in future terming the current policy as 1.0.

"We will form a task force on the usage of drones and continuously update the regulations in future, he said.

Images: Kind courtesy Pixabay.comOutraged over multi-city raids by Maharashtra police on homes of several prominent activists and subsequent arrests, a number of noted lawyers, academics, authors, human rights defenders and opposition leaders on Tuesday termed the action as a virtual declaration of emergency in run-up to elections.

IMAGE: Arun Ferreira, a human rights activist and lawyer, after he was arrested by the Pune police in connection with Bhima Koregaon violence case. Photograph: PTI Photo

Taking a dig, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said there was place for only one NGO in the new India and it was the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Shut down all other NGOs. Jail all activists and shoot those that complain, he tweeted.

Amnesty International and several other groups including Peoples Union for Civil Liberties called the action a concerted attempt to crush human rights interventions and to silence voices of dissent.

Pune police on Tuesday raided homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least five of them -- poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade unionist and lawyer Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad and Chhattisgarh and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in Delhi.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalit and the upper caste groups at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad on December 31 last year.

A police official said all the five, who were arrested later, are suspected to have Maoist links and had allegedly funded the Elgar Parishad conclave.

Security officials in Delhi said two letters, purportedly exchanged by Maoist leaders indicating plans to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah and Home Minister Rajnath Singh, led to the police action.

Historian Ramachandra Guha called the action absolutely chilling and demanded the Supreme Courts intervention to stop this persecution and harassment of independent voices.

Sudha Bharadwaj is as far from violence and illegality as Amit Shah is close to those things, tweeted Guha, adding if Mahatma Gandhi was alive, he would have defended Bharadwaj.

As a biographer of Gandhi, I have no doubt that if the Mahatma was alive today, he would don his lawyers robes and defend Sudha Bharadwaj in court; that is assuming the Modi Sarkar hadnt yet detained and arrested him too, he tweeted.

Author Arundhati Roy said, In the run up to elections, it is an attempted coup against the Indian Constitution and all the freedoms that we cherish.

Several activists said it was like an undeclared emergency when the rights defenders and dissenters are being raided, arrested, jailed and even killed.

According to unconfirmed reports, raids were also carried out at residences of several other activists including Susan Abraham, Kranthi Tekula, Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi and Anand Teltumbde in Goa.

Condemning the police action, the Communist Party of India-Marxist accused the BJP-led government of attacking the democratic rights of people to shield the real culprits of Koregaon-Bhima violence.

Congress spokesperson Jaipal Reddy condemned the raids and arrests and said, They are selfless NGOs, activists who are obliged to fight the enveloping darkness of dictatorial tendencies.

Roy said, The simultaneous state-wide arrests are a dangerous sign of a government that fears it is losing its mandate and is falling into panic.

That lawyers, poets, writers, Dalit rights activists and intellectuals are being arrested on ludicrous charges... while those who make up lynch mobs and threaten and murder people in broad daylight roam free, tells us very clearly where India is headed, she said.

Roy alleged that murderers are being honoured and protected and anybody who speaks up for justice or against Hindu majoritarianism is being made into a criminal.

She said it was as close to declaration of an emergency as it can get. Another activist Kavita Krishnan also described the action as undeclared emergency.

In a statement, the PUCL said, Such systematic and pre-meditated crackdown on human rights activists is unprecedented and unheard of in a democracy.

Noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan said, Fascist fangs are now openly bared. It is a clear declaration of emergency. They are going after anyone who has spoken against the government on rights issues. They are against any dissent.

CPI-M leader Prakash Karat called it a brazen attack on democratic rights and demanded immediate release of the activists.

In a video message, CPI national secretary K Narayana said, We strongly condemn the arrest of well-known Left intellectual Vara Vara Rao.... Ever since the Modi government has come into power, they are trying to kill intellectuals.

They killed Govind Pansare, Gauri Lankesh and Kalburgi and they have also imprisoned GN Saibaba. They have arrested Vara Vara Rao only with the intention of killing him. Is the PM really that weak, to be killed so easily? he said.

Rights activist Shabnam Hashmi and former Jawaharlal Nehru University leader Umar Khalid also condemned the raids.

JNU student leader Shehla Rashid alleged it was an attempt to instil fear among those who are vocal about issues and to manufacture a narrative and a sense of false enemy to misguided people ahead of the 2019 elections.

A number of prominent youth leaders, activists and authors issued a joint statement, alleging it was an attempt by the BJP to engage in scaremongering and polarise the 2019 elections in its favour.

Several civil society and rights groups will also hold a press conference on Wednesday in Mumbai to condemn the police action.Terming the Kerala floods as a very big tragedy, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday assured that his party would bring pressure on the central and state governments to provide compensation which they owe to the affected people.

Visiting the flood-ravaged areas of Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts, he also urged the party workers to actively participate in relief and rehabilitation operations and help the people to make their ravaged houses liveable.

It has been a very big tragedy for all of us. Many, many people have lost their lives, many lost their property. I want all of you to know that you are not alone and we are all with you, he said.

Arriving in Kerala on a two-day visit on Tuesday morning, Gandhi spoke to people at relief camps, days after the deadliest deluge in the last 100 years left a trail of destruction and claimed 474 lives in rain-related incidents since May 29 when the monsoon set in over the state.

The government owe you compensation and the government has to help you rebuild your houses. We are in the opposition and it is our job to bring pressure on the government, he told people sheltered in a relief camp in Aluva near Kochi, one of the worst affected areas in the monsoon fury.

Reaching out to the flood affected people, the Congress president said we cannot do very big things as the party was not in power in both the state and the Centre, but promised to extend whatever possible.

He urged the Congress workers and leaders to pressure the governments to get the people compensation.

We will also apply pressure on the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Delhi, he said addressing people at a relief camp in North Parvoor in Ernakulam district.

Gandhi hailed every Keralite for standing together at the time of the calamity, saying they should be proud of themselves.

All religions, all communities, all castes, all regions stood together and fought the tragedy, he added.

The Congress party was raising funds so that it can also help people rebuild their houses, he said.

Earlier, addressing a programme in Alappuzha, the Congress president saluted fishermen who played a key role in rescuing those marooned in the deluge.

Claiming that the fishermen community in the country was facing a crisis similar to that by the farmers, he said if the Congress comes to power at the Centre, a separate fisheries ministry would be set up.

At a reception hosted by the Congress in the worst-hit Alappuzha to honour the fishermen community, Gandhi said the Coast Guard should make use of the services of fishermen for rescue operations in the future.

I am proud to say that through all your difficulties...through all your hardships... whenever Kerala needed you... you stood up and gave your best. I salute your commitment to the people of Kerala, he said.

Three thousand fishermen had saved 70,000 lives in the recent floods, he said.

Alleging that the fishermen community in the country was facing a crisis similar to that by the farmers, Gandhi said, the moment the Congress came to power at the Centre, a ministry of fisheries would be set up.

Gods own army will have its own ministry. So your problems can be looked after and your words can be heard at the national level, he said, adding, I do not want to make fake promises. This is a word of the Congress president.

Along with farmers, fishermen have also helped build the country, Gandhi said and asserted that it was an honour for him to felicitate the fishermen who had saved several lives.

Recalling his last visit to the state in the aftermath of Cyclone Ockhi, he said, I came and visited your houses and I must say looking back, I am not happy for the help you had received for the damage (suffered in the cyclone).

Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala assembly Ramesh Chennithala and Congresss state unit president M M Hassan were among those who accompanied Gandhi.

The Congress chief is scheduled to tour Wayanad and Kozhikode districts on Wednesday.

Photographs: Kind courtesy @INCIndia/TwitterIMAGE: Stalin's rise makes him only the second man after his father to be elected as party president. Photograph: @arivalayam/Twitter

From a teen canvassing for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam during polls to facing the dark days of Emergency, and finally taking over the reins of the party his father the late M Karunanidhi presided over for nearly five decades, M K Stalin has seen it all in politics.

The 65-year-old leaders ascent as the DMK chief heralds a new era in the Dravidian party, making him only the second man after his father to be elected as party president.

In 1969, Karunanidhi was elected the DMK president, a post created for him following the death of party founder C N Annadurai.

Although Karunanidhi wanted to name Stalin originally as Ayyadurai, borrowing Ayya from rationalist leader the late E V Ramasamy Periyar who was addressed so, and Durai from Annadurai, he had a change of mind following the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1953. Karunanidhi, an atheist, named his son, who was born the same year, after the Communist leader.

An early bird in politics, Stalin campaigned for the DMK in the 1967 assembly elections as a teen and rose steadily up the party hierarchy.

During the Emergency, he was arrested under the draconian Maintenance of Internal Security Act and was imprisoned.

Stalins MISA days prompted DMK general secretary K Anbazhagan to tell the partys General Council meet on Tuesday how he had to face untold miseries during his incarceration.

Years later, a rewarding political life lay in store for Stalin as he not only headed the DMKs youth wing for the first time in 1984 but also made his debut as a legislator in

1989. He is now a six-time MLA.

As the Mayor of DMK-dominated Chennai Corporation between 1996-2001, Stalin won acclaim for construction of a number of flyovers to ease traffic congestion. However, these were soon to trouble him.

When the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam came back to power in 2001, the government accused Stalin and Karunanidhi of corrupt practices in the construction of the flyovers, resulting in their infamous midnight arrest.

However, the state police later dropped the case for want of adequate evidence.

By 2006, Stalin gained more prominence and made his debut as a minister in his fathers cabinet. He was allotted the municipal administration and drinking water supply portfolios. He was elevated as deputy chief minister in 2009.

Around this time, a succession war broke out between him and elder brother M K Alagiri, who was also gaining prominence and was a union minister.

However, Karunanidhi made it clear that Stalin would succeed him and inherit his legacy.

At the peak of the sibling rivalry, Alagiri was booted out of the party in 2014 by Karunanidhi for alleged anti-party activities, a move seen as clearing the decks for Stalins future elevation.

The party rank and file too sided with Stalin.

Though Stalin officially assumed the reins of the party on Tuesday, he has virtually running it for the past few years as Karunanidhi started keeping indifferent health.

Stalin finalised the partys strategy for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls in which the DMK drew a blank, and the 2016 assembly elections, which it lost to the AIADMK.

Though DMK failed to return a single MP in 2014, it put up a better show under Stalin in 2016, garnering 89 of the 98 seats in the opposition kitty in the 234-member Tamil Nadu assembly.

Stalin also acted in a few Tamil films and television serials in the 1980s.Congress President Rahul Gandhis recent 4-day visit to the United Kingdom and Germany, from August 22 to 25, has created a flutter in India.

From the 1984 anti-Sikh riots to demonetisation, from Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh to the Modi governments policies, Rahul spoke on various issues openly, at times at variance with the truth -- like on the 1984 anti-Sikh violence.

Wherever he went, he took potshots at the RSS, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi who he charged with dividing the people.

While he compared the RSS with the Muslim Brotherhood, he also attacked Modi for his governments Pakistan and China policies.

Rahul also described the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as a "very painful tragedy" and said he was "100 per cent" for the punishment for those involved in any violence against anybody. But, he also said the Congress party was not involved in it.

Here are the top 10 quotes from his various interactions in Germany and the United Kingdom.

IMAGE: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi addresses a gathering at the London-based think-tank during his two-day visit to the United Kingdom. Photograph: Kind courtesy @INCIndia/Twitter'Party getting maximum seats will claim PM's post,' Sharad Pawar declared in Mumbai on Monday.

Declaring that he has no ambition of becoming prime minister, Pawar is holding Rahul Gandhi's hand, reassuring Mayawati and reaching out to Mamata Banerjee, reports Aditi Phadnis.

IMAGE: Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar arrives for an important party meeting in Mumbai, August 27, 2018. Photograph: Arun Patil

What can you say about a man who has never lost an election in his entire life and came close to becoming the prime minister of India at least twice?

That he must be a genius at resourcefulness, possessed of a ruthlessness of spirit and of flexible ideological persuasion?

You could be describing Sharadrao Pawar, one of Maharashtra's most beloved sons and one of India's most respected politicians, mostly accurately.

The indefatigable Pawar is back at doing what he does best: Putting like-minded people in touch with each other, creating opportunities, providing linkages and in the process, making openings where none seem to exist.

This time, he has taken the onus of starting a process to build consensus around a Constitutional amendment that will override the problem of 50 per cent reservation (as laid down by the courts) in order to provide reservation for the Marathas.

He cautions that this needs to be done without messing with reservations for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

In parallel, he is holding talks with top Opposition leaders to bring them together.

Declaring that he has no ambition of becoming prime minister, Pawar is holding Rahul Gandhi's hand, reassuring the Bahujan Samaj Party's Mayawati and reaching out to Trinamool Congress' Mamata Banerjee.

He has also called on M K Stalin and paid his respects to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader M Karunanidhi when he passed away.

What he hasn't done is say anything that could construe as endorsement of Narendra Damodardas Modi-Amit Anilchandra Shah's politics (in fact, he reminded a votary of the Muslims-should-go-to-Pakistan theory that Pakistan was part of India once and on his many visits there, had found people of that country had great affection for people of India).

So it can be safely assumed that Pawar is batting on the side of the Opposition.

Why does this need to be spelt out in such detail?

As a section of the Congress knows, with Pawar, you never can tell.

Look at history. After playing a key role in dethroning Sitaram Kesri as Congress president and inviting Sonia Gandhi to lead the Congress, Pawar left the Congress to form the Nationalist Congress Party along with Tariq Anwar and P A Sangma. The reason?

The foreign origins of Sonia Gandhi.

But immediately after the 1999 Lok Sabha and assembly elections, Pawar had no hesitation in joining hands with the Congress to form a government in Maharashtra and become a minister in the United Progressive Alliance government in 2004, where the dominant party was the Sonia Gandhi-led Congress.

This was just one of the U-turns in his political career that earned Pawar the image of someone who couldn't be trusted at the national level.

And yet, when it comes to dealing with political rivals, Pawar has always been a Congress politician cast in the old mould -- one who does not believe in turning political rivalries into personal feuds. He has never used harsh language against his political opponents even in election rallies.

In fact, he always tried to build bridges with political opponents which is why, despite being in fierce competition for the number one slot in Maharashtra, he used to share an excellent personal rapport with Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.

What is equally undeniable is his record as an administrator.

In his constituency, farmers were encouraged to rear emu and ostrich (the meat being prized in Mumbai's five-star hotels), and grow strawberries and grape amid swaying fields of sugarcane (mushrooms were passe).

Today we recall Maharashtra's Enron experiment with shame. But it was Enron that released India from a taboo of inviting multinationals to invest in the power sector.

Because of his pro-reform convictions, he enjoyed the trust of all big corporate houses in the country. They used to look up to him as a man who could deliver.

In fact, when a feud broke out in the Bajaj family both factions accepted Pawar as arbitrator.

Pawar has seen a lot, done a lot. That is why his intervention in acting honest broker to bring the Opposition together needs to be taken seriously.

The Bharatiya Janata Party might not be quaking at the prospect, but it would do well to take note of Pawar's interventions.May 16, 2018

Uzbekistan's president's meeting with President Donald Trump on May 16, 2018, comes at a time when the Uzbek government has taken steps to improve human rights but needs to translate them into sustainable, structural improvements, 12 human rights organizations said today.

Since assuming the presidency in September 2016 after President Islam Karimov's death, Shavkat Mirziyoyev has ordered the release of at least 28 political prisoners, including 10 journalists, relaxed certain restrictions on free expression, and publicly spoken on the need to rein in the country's feared security services and to end forced labor in the country's cotton fields. Such moves have offered hope that Uzbek authorities could meaningfully improve the country's human rights situation and carry out sustainable reforms. But egregious rights abuses, including internet censorship, politically motivated imprisonment, torture, a lack of competitive electoral processes, and a lack of justice for serious past abuses remain to be addressed.

"At this hopeful time for Uzbekistan, the government should ensure that the modest steps already taken in the right direction lead to enduring and effective human rights protection for all of Uzbekistan's citizens," said Steve Swerdlow, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The US Congress should make clear that reform it can believe in requires sustained concrete changes."

Congress has long sought to address Uzbekistan's severe human rights situation through the conditioning of US military assistance in the Foreign Appropriations Act on efforts to combat torture and release political prisoners. It has also provided special scrutiny of Tashkent's adherence to religious freedom principles through the US Commission on International Religious Freedom.

The organizations are Amnesty International, Article 19, Association for Human Rights in Central Asia, Civil Rights Defenders, Committee to Protect Journalists, Freedom House, Freedom Now, Human Rights Watch, International Partnership for Human Rights, Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Reporters Without Borders, and the Uzbek German Forum for Human Rights.

On May 7, a Tashkent court acquitted three people accused on politically motivated charges of conspiring to overthrow the government. It convicted the fourth defendant, Bobomurod Abdullaev, an independent journalist, but fined him without imposing a prison sentence. On May 12, the authorities also freed a labor rights and political activist, Fahriddin Tillaev, imprisoned since 2013. But thousands of people imprisoned on politically motivated charges, including for extremism (articles 159, 216, 244-1, and 244-2 of the Criminal Code), remain behind bars.

Among them are Andrei Kubatin and Akrom Malikov, scholars; Mirsobir Hamidkariev, a film producer; Aramais Avakyan, a fisherman; Dilorom Abdukodirova, Ruhiddin Fahriddinov (Fahrutdinov), Rovshan Kosimov, and Nodirbek Yusupov, all religious believers; and Aziz Yusupov, the brother of a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist.

Human rights groups urged members of Congress to raise these cases during Mirziyoyev's White House visit and to call on the Uzbek government to immediately release everyone imprisoned on politically motivated charges, providing them with full rehabilitation and access to adequate medical treatment. Members of Congress should once again remind the US administration that human rights should be a core pillar of US foreign policy, including in bilateral discussions with Uzbek government officials.

The groups also said that the Uzbek government should amend its criminal code provisions relating to extremism that are commonly used to criminalize dissent (Articles 159, 216, 244-1 and 244-2), and to bring the criminal code into compliance with Uzbekistan's international human rights obligations.

"We are heartened to see the release of long-held activists," said Nadejda Atayeva, president of the Association for Human Rights in Central Asia. "To ensure lasting change, the repressive legal framework used to persecute and imprison peaceful activists and religious believers on ill-defined charges of extremism for so many years should be changed for good."

In November 2017, Mirziyoyev signed a decree prohibiting the courts from using evidence obtained through torture, and forbidding legal decisions based on any evidence not confirmed during trial. The decree, which came into force in March, states that prosecutors will be required to check whether physical or psychological pressure was exerted on a defendant or their relatives. If enforced, the decree could help prevent torture and other ill-treatment in detention in Uzbekistan.

Uzbek officials have indicated an openness to cooperate with United Nations experts by inviting those who have requested access to the country to visit. The US Congress should urge the Uzbek government to combat systematic torture by allowing the UN special rapporteur on torture to visit the country during 2018, closing Uzbekistan's Jaslyk prison, and ratifying the Optional Protocol to the international Convention Against Torture  all longstanding recommendations by UN bodies, the groups said.

"It is important that Uzbek officials have acknowledged the importance of the work by UN experts and human rights groups," said Kate Barth, legal director at Freedom Now, "but Tashkent should follow through on longstanding recommendations to allow in the UN's expert on the prevention of torture, close the notorious Jaslyk prison, and ratify Torture Convention's Optional Protocol."

May 13 marked 13 years since Uzbek government forces shot and killed hundreds of largely peaceful protesters in the eastern city of Andijan following mass protests connected with the trial of 23 local businessmen on charges of Islamic extremism. The government has never acknowledged the full scale of the killings nor the persecution of witnesses, journalists, and other human rights activists who reported on the events. Hundreds of people convicted in flawed trials after the protest remain in prison and hundreds more who fled the country have been unable to return home.

"Many Uzbeks are inspired by the pace of change in the country, but Uzbekistan can only truly move forward by providing accountability for serious abuses of the past, including for the events in Andijan in 2005," said Muzaffar Suleymanov, program officer at Civil Rights Defenders. "We hope Uzbekistan's international partners will press the Uzbek government to allow a full accounting of what occurred and ensure that Uzbek society can examine those painful events without fear of retaliation."

Link to original story on RSF websiteBelarus journalists fined nearly 50 times already this year

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 17 May 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Belarus journalists fined nearly 50 times already this year, 17 May 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b8504ffa.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

May 17, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) again urges the Belarus authorities to end their growing judicial and financial harassment of independent journalists, who have received at least 48 fines since the start of 2018. Most have been imposed on journalists working for Belsat TV, an exile TV station based in neighbouring Poland.

How far will the authorities go in their use of fines to stifle the few remaining critical journalists in Belarus? In the week ending 14 May alone, no fewer than ten fines were imposed on Belsat TV journalists for "working for a foreign media without accreditation."

The imposition of fines has become common in recent years and keeps on growing. The ten fines imposed in 2016 rose to 69 in 2017 and have already reached 48 in the first four and a half months of 2018  46 of which went to Belsat TV reporters.

The fines are based on an orchestrated vicious circle. Harassment forces independent media outlets like Belsat TV to relocate abroad but, under a 2008 law, journalists can be fined if they work for a foreign-based media without foreign ministry accreditation.

The authorities have rejected Belsat TV's many requests for permission to open a bureau in Minsk and for accreditation for its correspondents. Forced to work illegally, these journalists not only have security problems and difficulty in getting access to official information, but they are now also increasingly being fined.

The fines hurt in a country where the average monthly pay is less than 400 euros. After being fined ten times last year, Belsat TV reporter Kastus Zhukouski has already received eight fines totalling some 2,300 euros in 2018. His colleague, Volha Chaychits, was fined seven times last year and has so far received five fines amounting to 1,700 euros this year.

The police specifically target Belsat TV reporters, according to Belsat TV correspondent Pavel Mazheyka, who was briefly arrested in March while filming an interview at a festival in Minsk and was fined 857 roubles (350 euros) on 14 May.

"Their aim is to punish and intimidate, in order to show that we are under their control, that they can catch us at any time," he told RSF.

"The exponential rise in the number of fines imposed since the start of the year is indicative of a targeted campaign to silence Belsat TV's reporters," said Johann Bihr, the head of RSF's Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk.

"Belarus's international partners must urgently press the authorities to end the judicial and financial harassment of independent journalists. The accreditation requirement for foreign media must be abolished and not extended, as the proposed media law currently under consideration envisages."

The harassment of government critics intensified after a wave of anti-government protests in the spring of 2017 that were covered by Belsat TV and other independent media outlets. Belarus is ranked 155th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteMay 18, 2018  Updated on June 6, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is worried about the arrest of Kyrylo Vychynski, a Ukrainian journalist who heads RIA Novosti Ukraine, the Ukrainian branch of the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. He has been charged with high treason.

Vyshinsky was formally placed in pre-trial detention yesterday following his arrest in Kiev on 15 May, when the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) searched his office and his home. Accused of "subversion by means of information," he has been transferred to the southeastern city of Kherson, where the Crimea in exile prosecutor's office is based.

"The charge of high treason and pre-trial detention are extremely serious measures," said Johann Bihr, the head of RSF's Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk. "The authorities must either precisely explain how the alleged actions constituted high treason or release Kirill Vyshinsky without delay."

Bihr added: "No one can ignore the destructive scope of propaganda in Ukraine in recent years, but Ukrainian and international law must be respected in the course of combatting propaganda."

According to an SBU communique, Vyshinsky participated in "propaganda actions" in support of Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. As evidence against him, the SBU has produced three screen captures of opinion pieces written by other people and published on the website of his media.

The authorities also claim to have established that RIA Novosti Ukraine, which was registered as an autonomous entity in order to circumvent the sanctions that Ukraine placed on Russian state media, is in fact financed by Moscow. According to photos circulated by the SBU, Vyshinsky also allegedly received two Russian medals and Russian citizenship.

Ukraine is not officially at war with Russia, but Ukrainian legislation refers to Russia as an "aggressor state" because of its annexation of Crimea and its support for eastern Ukraine's separatists. Vyshinsky was arrested a few hours before a bridge linking Russia to Crimea was inaugurated with much fanfare.

Vasily Muravitsky, a Ukrainian journalist working for Russian media held since August 2017, is also charged with high treason. Separatists in Donetsk have meanwhile been holding Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondent Stanislav Aseyev since June 2017 for allegedly spying on behalf of Ukraine. And the Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko has been held on a spying charge in Russia since 2016

Ukraine is ranked 101st out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index. Russia is ranked 148th.

Link to original story on RSF websitePakistan authorities block distribution of oldest newspaper

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 18 May 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Pakistan authorities block distribution of oldest newspaper, 18 May 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b850503a.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

May 18, 2018

Distribution of the English-language daily Dawn, Pakistan's oldest newspaper, is being disrupted in much of the country since it published an interview with former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns this latest attack on media freedom.

The interview, which reportedly displeased the Pakistani military, appeared in the 12 May (Saturday) issue and the blocking began on 15 May. According to RSF's information, distribution is being disrupted in most of Baluchistan province, in many cities in Sindh province and in all military cantonments.

The Press Council of Pakistan has notified Dawn's editor that the newspaper breached the ethical code of practice by publishing content that "may bring into contempt Pakistan or its people or tends to undermine its sovereignty or integrity as an independent country."

"The unwarranted blocking of the distribution of one of the main independent newspapers has yet again shown that the military are determined to maintain their grip on access to news and information in Pakistan," RSF said.

"It is clear that the military high command does not want to allow a democratic debate in the months preceding a general election. We call on the authorities to stop interfering in the dissemination of independent media and to restore distribution of Dawn throughout Pakistan."

Last month, the military were said to have given unofficial instructions to cable TV operators to stop carrying the Geo TV network's channels, including Geo News, in most of the country. One of the reasons was the airtime that the network had dedicated to Sharif, who was removed as prime minister by the supreme court in July 2017 in connection with a corruption case.

Pakistan is ranked 139th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteWho persecutes journalists in Afghanistan?

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 18 May 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Who persecutes journalists in Afghanistan?, 18 May 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b850505a.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

May 18, 2018

After journalists were endangered by this week's heavy fighting between the Taliban and Afghan army in Farah, capital of the western province of Farah, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reiterates its concern about the decline in the security situation for journalists and media outlets throughout Afghanistan and lists the country's press freedom predators.

Taliban forces attacked and entered part of the city of Farah shortly after midnight on 15 May after an offensive outside the city that had intensified over a period of several days. The Taliban attack put many local journalists and media outlets in direct danger.

At least 30 journalists are based in the city, working for two TV channels (one commercial, one public), five radio stations, two newspapers and for national media. Farah province was already regarded as one of the most dangerous in Afghanistan.

RSF has tried to help find a solution for the safety of Farah's journalists, working with local journalists' associations and the authorities. "Until now, no attack on media outlets and journalists has been reported," a journalist inside the city told RSF. "Most have found a refuge, while waiting for the city to be secured."

The Afghan authorities meanwhile report that army reinforcements have been sent to the city and claim that the situation is under control.

Mounting death toll

According to RSF's tally, a total of 36 journalists and media workers have been killed since the start of 2016 in Afghanistan in bombings and other forms of violence by the country's two main press freedom predators, the Taliban and Islamic State (Daesh).

Other journalists have been the victims of violence by the police and security services in various parts of the country. Militias working for provincial strongmen and governors also threaten and harass media outlets and journalists.

"We call on the authorities to do their duty to ensure the safety of journalists and respect for the right to inform," said Reza Moini, the head of RSF's Iran-Afghanistan desk. "The government must regulate the militias, which nowadays play a major role in harassment of the media. We also deplore the mistrust and accusatory attitude that the police and military display towards the media and journalists, endangering the freedom to inform. The authorities must end the threats to the media and the impunity for those who attack journalists."

At least 11 dead in a single week

Last month, ten journalists were killed in a single day  30 April. Nine of them were killed in a double suicide bombing in Kabul, the second of which deliberately targeted the media. It was the deadliest single attack on the media since the fall of the Taliban regime in December 2001 and was claimed shortly afterwards by Islamic State.

The tenth journalist to be killed on 30 April was Ahmad Shah, a journalist with the BBC's Pashto section, who was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in eastern Khost province. The police investigated the murder and the province's governor, Hokam Khan Habibi, announced on 10 May that the killers had been arrested and would soon be brought to trial. He also called Shah's murder a "terrorist act" but did not elaborate.

Abdulmanan Arghand, a journalist with the Kabul News commercial TV channel, was gunned down on 25 April in the southern province of Kandahar. RSF learned that the Kandahar police had warned him on 5 March of an imminent Taliban threat against him and his father because of their anti-Taliban activities. Arghand met on 13 and 15 March with the Kandahar police chief (the provincial head of the National Directorate of Security), who confirmed the threat. In a phone message afterwards, Arghand expressed his concern and his dissatisfaction with these meetings.

The Kandahar police chief announced on 26 April that a "Taliban member" had been arrested for murdering Arghand, and the police released a video in which he made a full confession. Taliban spokesman Zbiollah Mojahed nonetheless insisted that the detainee was not a Taliban member and that the Taliban were conducting their own investigation into the Arghand murder. He also denied any Taliban role in the Shah murder.

Threat from unofficial militias

The past year has seen a major increase in attacks on journalists, who are targeted not only by the Taliban and Islamic State, which seek to enforce their hatred of press freedom, but also by the police and army and by the unofficial militias.

These militias act as enforcers for warlords and strongmen in various parts of the countries. They are armed by the government or by ruling politicians and their main job is to resist and combat armed opposition groups, above all, the Taliban. But many journalists say that most of these militias have also become one of the main sources of danger to the media.

Where the forces of the state are either powerless or absent, these militias are the new masters, confiscating land, taxing cars on the main highways and pressuring the media to say nothing. Covering the criminal activities of these groups is out of the question, even for the national media.

In several regions, they even collaborate with those they are supposed to combat, namely the Taliban, especially in Ghor province, where two radio stations were recently destroyed, and in Najrab, a village in Kapisa province, where the head of one of these militias is also a senior member of the parliamentary committee on national security. In some provinces, such as Balkh, it is not uncommon for influential individuals, including the former governor, to have their own private armies.

Ghazni is a good example of the situation now prevailing for journalists. In Ghazni, journalists are harassed by the Taliban, whose presence in the province is growing, by the security forces, which want to control media coverage for security reasons, and by the unofficial militias, which suppress any independent reporting.

"The threat from these armed groups has compounded the threats already imposed by influential politicians, the mullahs, the police and the governor, although they have no official power, legally," a Ghazni province journalist told RSF on condition of anonymity. "It is irresponsible of the government to tolerate the illegal actions of these groups."

The level of impunity is high in the regions controlled by these militias. There has been little progress in the investigation into the attacks on two radio stations in Firuzkoh, the capital of Ghor province  Sedai Edelat (Voice of Justice) on 21 January 2018 and Radio Sarhad (Frontier) on 23 December 2017. Abdlvodod Samim, the journalist who was at Sedai Edelat when it was attacked, was arrested by the police as the main suspect although the station's director and many other journalists insist that he was not involved. The police do not as yet have any other leads.

Harassed by governors, police and army

Three National Directorate of Security agents used force to prevent four journalists  1TV's Farhad Joya, the news agency Khohandej's Nazir Ayoubi, and Firouz Mashouf and Yahya Fouladi from the commercial TV channel Tamadon  from covering an Islamic State attack on a mosque in the western city of Herat on 25 March. Although an official communique condemned the action of these three agents, no measures were taken against them, the journalists say.

When Radio Salam Watandar reporter Erfan Barzegar went to police headquarters in the northeastern province of Takhar on 29 March to do a report on terrorism, he resisted the provincial counter-terrorism chief's attempts to intimidate him, with the result that he was threatened with arrest and imprisonment. It was only thanks to the presence of other officials that he avoided being jailed.

Farhad Tuhidi was beaten by police in Herat on 15 March for trying to cover a road accident for which the military were to blame. After filming a brawl between policemen during the Nowruz (Persian New Year) festivities in Ghor province on 23 March, Radio Salam Watandar's Marouf Seiedi was himself beaten by police officers, with police chief Ziaedin Sagheb's support after Sagheb had arrived at the scene. Ghotbedin Khohi was insulted and hit by special security forces in Meymaneh, Faryab province, on 25 March just for filming a street.

The Coordinating Committee for the Safety of Journalists and Media reported in a statement on 7 April that, of the 1,072 cases of violence against journalists registered during the past 15 years, only 172 had been investigated and, of these, 68 were closed without any action being taken. The investigation into three murders of journalists  in Balkh in 2005, Nangarhar in 2008 and Helmand in 2009  are still open.

Afghanistan is ranked 118th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteMay 19, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Chinese authorities to put a stop to police violence against the press after two attacks against Hong Kong reporters working in mainland China in the past week.

When Chui Chun-ming, a Hong Kong cameraman working for Now TV, tried to talk to a human rights lawyer in Beijing on 16 May, police grabbed him and slammed him to the ground. They then forcibly took him off to a police station where he was held for four hours and made to sign a letter admitting to having "obstructed officials."

Two other Hong Kong journalists, Edward Lui of Commercial Radio and Han Ho-fai of Cable TV HK, were covering the tenth anniversary of the earthquake in the southwestern province of Sichuan on 12 May when they were attacked by men in civilian dress. The assailants tried unsuccessfully to seize Lui's equipment and then beat Han, who had filmed the scene with his mobile phone.

RSF joins the Hong Kong Journalists Association and the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China (FCCC) in condemning these unacceptable attacks.

"This violence is indicative of the contempt in which the Chinese security forces hold journalists," said Cedric Alviani, the head of RSF's East Asia bureau. "We call on the Chinese government to put an end to this deliberate policy of intimidation and harassment of the media."

In its annual report in February, the FCCC deplored the Chinese government's open hostility towards representatives of media outlets that escape its censorship. China continues to be ranked 176th out of 180 countries in RSF's latest World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF website"False information" laws must not be used to silence the media in Kazakhstan

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 22 May 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, "False information" laws must not be used to silence the media in Kazakhstan, 22 May 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b850509c.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

May 22, 2018

IFEX members call on officials in Kazakhstan to review recent civil and criminal actions taken against critical media outlets under the law for 'dissemination of deliberately false information'.

To: Mr. Kozhamzharov K., General Prosecutor of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mr. Asanov Zh., Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mr. Nigmatulin N., Chairman of the Mazhilis of Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mr. Abayev D., Minister of Information and Communication of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The undersigned members of the IFEX network write to express our concern over recent civil and criminal cases brought against members of the Kazakh media, as well as irregularities surrounding the court and police proceedings. We ask that you use your authority to protect the constitutional right of citizens to freely receive and disseminate information by investigating the conduct of the law enforcement and judicial representatives in question, and taking action to rectify violations where necessary. We also ask that you review Kazakhstan's laws that levy disproportionate penalties against journalists and media outlets, due to the threat they pose to critical reporting, to ensure they meet international standards for reasonable scope and proportional punishment.

On 31 March, a judge granted a request by state prosecutors to block the online publication Ratel.kz and prohibit its editor-in-chief, Marat Asipov, from publishing content under this title. Neither the media nor the general public were initially made aware of the grounds for this action. Regardless, the domain ratel.kz and affiliated websites, balborsyk.kz and wildratel.com were instantly blocked. It was later revealed that the site had been taken down for violation of the "Rules for the Registration, Use and Distribution of Domain Names on Kazakhstan's Internet", including publication on the domain name after the death of its original registrant Gennady Benditsky, and for publishing content in Kazakh and English, while its certificate of registration lists only Russian.

On 2 April, in violation of normal procedural rules, police searched and seized documents and equipment from the offices of Ratel.kz and Forbes.kz. Several staff were detained for interrogation and forced to sign non-disclosure agreements. In addition, police reportedly refused to produce a warrant when requested.

These actions followed a claim filed by businessman and former finance minister Zeinulla Kakimzhanov against journalists working for Ratel.kz and Forbes.kz for a series of stories alleging misconduct in his business dealings  a claim that has since been upgraded to a criminal suit accusing the journalists of 'dissemination of deliberately false information' under Article 274 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

We are concerned that the growing pattern of disproportionate, and in some cases, illegal actions taken by the prosecutor's office and the judiciary against Ratel.kz and a number of other media suggests misuse of Kazakhstan's legal system to silence normal criticism crucial to the functioning of a well-ordered democracy. We observe that these actions aimed at censoring media criticism are in flagrant violation of free expression protections under Article 20 of the Constitution of Kazakhstan, as well as Kazakhstan's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Failure to abide by the provisions of these documents would give Ratel.kz strong grounds for submitting a complaint to the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, claiming misconduct in the decisions of judicial bodies in the civil dispute between Mr. Kakimzhanov and journalists of Ratel.kz and Forbes.kz.

We further remind you that Article 274, which formed the basis for Mr. Kakimzhanov's accusation, has itself been criticized by national and international experts alike. For example, following the consideration of Kazakhstan's second periodic review in 2016, the UN Human Rights Committee expressed its concern about legislation and practices " . . . that violate freedom of opinion and expression," including through " . . . broad application of the provisions of the criminal laws including . . . dissemination of knowingly false information to persons exercising their right to freedom of expression."

The application of this article of law, introduced into the Criminal Code of Kazakhstan in 2015, has had severe consequences in the past. On 5 July 2016, Tair Kaldybaev, an Almaty businessman who was sentenced to 4.5 years imprisonment for the dissemination of deliberately false information about Kazkommertsbank, was found hanged in his prison cell on the eve of his appeal date. Kaldybaev had been convicted along with a Kazakh journalist, Guzyal Baidalinova, whose sentence was eventually suspended.

Given the above, we call on your offices to:

- Review the recent activities of the judiciary and police around Ratel.kz and affiliates and ensure that any violations of Kazakhstan's laws and international standards are investigated and appropriately addressed.

- Revisit Kazakhstan's legislation around dissemination of false information with consideration to the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Committee and other experts. We request you to ensure that Article 274 be narrowly defined, so as not to unduly interfere with the normal exercise of freedom of expression rights, including the right to report controversial facts and strongly criticize government and powerful social actors.

Sincerely,

Link to original story on RSF websiteRussian daily ordered to pay disproportionate damages

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 22 May 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Russian daily ordered to pay disproportionate damages, 22 May 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b85050b6.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

May 22, 2018  Updated on May 23, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the disproportionate damages that the Saint Petersburg daily Delovoy Peterburg and three of its journalists have been ordered to pay to a university academic close to President Vladimir Putin, and the secretive way the case was heard.

On 15 May, a court in the Saint Petersburg district of Vasilyevsky Island ordered the newspaper to pay 4 million roubles (55,000 euros) in damages to Vladimir Litvinenko, the rector of Saint Petersburg Mining University, who brought a libel suit over reports about the university's alleged misuse of state funding for the benefit of persons close to him.

The reporters who wrote the offending articles, Nadezhda Fedorova, Irina Pankratova and Natalya Kovtun, were ordered to pay an additional 1 million roubles (13,000 euros) while Transparency International's Russia section, which also published a report on the same subject, was ordered to pay 5 million roubles.

At Litvinenko's request, the case was heard behind closed doors on the pretext of protecting his privacy. After the court issued its decision, the newspaper's lawyers accused the judge of taking no account of their arguments. Delovoy Peterburg and Transparency International say they plan to appeal and are ready to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

Litvinenko is known as Russia's richest university rector and has even appeared in Forbes magazine's latest rankings of the world's richest billionaires. He oversaw Putin's university dissertation in the 1990s and has run Putin's Saint Petersburg campaign for every presidential election since 2000.

"It is hard to believe in the fairness of proceedings from which reporters were barred, and in the impartiality of a judge who ignores the defence's arguments although the reporting covered the activities of a very influential person," RSF said.

"These disproportionate damages awards are designed solely to deter journalists from doing investigative reporting on subjects that are in the public interest. They must be overturned on appeal."

Delovoy Peterburg published its series of articles about the Mining University's alleged misuse of state funding in November 2016, while Transparency International published its report a month later. Litvinenko nonetheless waited until September 2017 to file his suit seeking a total of 65 million roubles in damages, including 30 million (400,000 euros) from Delovoy Peterburg.

Created in 1993, Delovoy Peterburg is one of the leading newspapers in the Saint Petersburg region. After changing hands several times, it has been owned by the oligarch Grigori Beryozkin since December 2017. Shortly after Beryozkin bought it, several former regional officials were appointed to key positions in the newspaper, while its editor, Maxim Vasyukov, resigned in January 2018.

Russia is ranked 148th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index

Link to original story on RSF website"They're arresting me"  Egyptian blogger's last post

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 23 May 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, "They're arresting me"  Egyptian blogger's last post, 23 May 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b85050da.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

May 23, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reminds the Egyptian authorities that they are responsible for the fate of Wael Abbas, a leading Egyptian journalist, blogger and activist who reported at dawn today on Facebook that he was being arrested at his home. His family has had no news of him since then.

"They are in the process of arresting me," Wael Abbas posted at 5 a.m. today. His worried friends have been posting messages of support on social networks ever since but no one has obtained any direct news of Abbas, who is well known for documenting police brutality in Egypt on his blog, his YouTube channel and social networks.

According to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), a Cairo-based NGO, he was taken blindfolded to an unknown location by police, who showed no warrant and prevented him from contacting a lawyer. They seized computers, smartphones and books during the raid on his home.

"The Egyptian authorities are responsible for Wael Abbas's safety," RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said. "They must guarantee his physical and psychological integrity and must quickly provide information about his current status. Our concern about his abduction is all the greater after the recent arbitrary arrest and imprisonment of several Egyptian bloggers."

In recent months, Abbas has been the target of online harassment by pro-government troll armies, which managed to get his Twitter account closed for good. This is not the first time that the security services have harassed him. He was accused of jeopardizing national security under President Hosni Mubarak, who was deposed in 2011.

At least 33 journalists, citizen-journalists and bloggers are currently detained in Egypt, most of them provisionally. Egypt is ranked 161st out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteAlgerian blogger sentenced to 10 years in prison

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 25 May 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Algerian blogger sentenced to 10 years in prison, 25 May 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b85050f4.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

May 25, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the ten-year jail sentence that the Algerian blogger Touati Merzoug received yesterday from a court in the western city of Bejaia after more than a year in pre-trial detention. The sentence is disproportionate and unjustified, RSF said.

Held since 17 January 2017 in Bejaia's El Khamis prison, Merzoug was convicted of "complicit relations with a foreign power" and "inciting rebellion" in connection with the Skype interview he posted on social networks on 9 January 2017.

In this interview, a person identifying himself as an Israeli diplomat said there had been an Israeli liaison office in Algiers in the 1990s. The court also fined Merzoug 50,000 dinars (360 euros).

"We condemn this disproportionate and unjustified sentence," said Souhaieb Khayati, the head of RSF's North Africa desk. "A social network post should not result in such a harsh punishment as imprisonment. We call on the judicial authorities to overturn this blogger's conviction."

Merzoug's lawyer said he would ask his client whether he wanted to appeal.

Algeria is ranked 136th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteConfusion about fate of detained Egyptian journalist Ismail Alexandrani

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 25 May 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Confusion about fate of detained Egyptian journalist Ismail Alexandrani, 25 May 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b8505116.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

May 25, 2018  Updated on May 26, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges the Egyptian authorities to quickly clarify the status of Ismail Alexandrani, an investigative journalist and researcher specializing in the Sinai, after a military spokesman denied that a Cairo military court sentenced him in his absence to ten years in prison on 22 May. RSF reiterates its call for him to be released without delay.

Ismail Alexandrani, who learned about the reported sentence from his wife when she visited him in prison on 23 May, did not attend the 22 May hearing at which, according to certain sources, a total of 20 defendants were convicted (18 of them in absentia) of divulging secrets involving national security in the Sinai Peninsula and belonging to a banned group (the Muslim Brotherhood).

However, when reached by RSF on 22 May, army spokesman Tamer al Refai was emphatic that Alexandrani had not been convicted and that his case was still being investigated.

The day after the reported sentence, prison authorities had not been notified of any change in the status of Alexandrani, who continues to be in provisional detention, as he has since 29 November 2015, when he was arrested on landing at the Red Sea city of Hurghada's airport.

"Has Ismail Alexandrani been convicted without even attending his trial or is he just the victim of a strange judicial mix-up?" said Sophie Anmuth, the head of RSF's Middle East desk. "The confusion and uncertainty is yet another ordeal for this journalist, who has already spent nearly two and a half years in provisional detention just for doing his job to research and share information. Journalists and civilians in general should not be judged in military courts. We call on the Egyptian authorities to clarify his status and free him without delay."

After Alexandrani's provisional detention exceeded Egypt's maximum legal limit of two years last December, his case was transferred to the military justice system.

Alexandrani's real name is Ismail Al Sayed Mohamed Omar Toufic. His choice of pseudonym alludes to his birthplace, the city of Alexandria. As Ismail Alexandrani, he is well known as a researcher and journalist who has specialized in writing about Jihadi groups in the North Sinai. He is also known as a critic of the government and the army's role in politics.

A nominee for the RSF's Press Freedom Prize in 2016, he is a research fellow at the Arab Reform Initiative in Paris and was a visiting fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington. He has reported for MadaMasr, Safir Arabi, Al Jazeera English, the Forum for Arab and International Relations and the French magazine Orient XXI.

At least 34 journalists are currently detained in connection with their work in Egypt, which is ranked 161st out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteJournalist facing jail for transcribing dissident's trial speech

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 25 May 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Journalist facing jail for transcribing dissident's trial speech, 25 May 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b8505134.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

May 25, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns Russia's use of counter-terrorism legislation to charge Victor Korb, a well-known journalist based in Omsk, in southwestern Siberia, for transcribing and publishing the text of a speech that an opposition activist gave at his trial. Korb has not been jailed but is now under judicial control.

The founder of several independent regional media outlets and discussion websites, Korb discovered that he had been charged with "terrorism propaganda and justification" when a dozen masked policemen burst into his Omsk apartment in the early hours of 18 May. In the course of a ten-hour search, they seized all of the computers and electronic devices belonging to Korb and his family, along with files and publication archives.

As he was about to board a flight from Omsk to Moscow two days later, he was detained briefly by police and members of the Federal Security Service (FSB), who gave him two summonses to report for questioning, and told him that he had been placed under judicial control.

According to the documents they gave him, Korb has been charged because he published, on his website in April 2015, a transcript of a speech that the dissident political activist Boris Stomakhin gave at his trial, which was open to the public. For this, Korb is facing a possible sentence of up to seven years in prison.

"Prosecuting a journalist for publishing the text of a speech that was delivered publicly is arbitrary and a perfect example of the absurdity of Russia's counter-terrorism legislation and how it is used," RSF said. "We call on the authorities to drop all charges against Viktor Korb and to return all the confiscated material at once."

Korb is a well-known journalist in southwestern Siberia. He was at the forefront of the pro-democracy movement when the Soviet Union collapsed and created Omsk's first news agency, DO-Info, in 1990. He is nowadays also active as a human rights defender.

Russia is ranked 148th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteMonterrey reporter becomes 5th journalist murdered in Mexico in 2018

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 25 May 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Monterrey reporter becomes 5th journalist murdered in Mexico in 2018, 25 May 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b8505154.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

May 25, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for an impartial investigation into yesterday's murder of Alicia Diaz Gonzalez, the fifth Mexican journalist to be killed in 2018, and condemns what is now an unbearable climate for the media in Mexico.

Diaz, 52, had only just been killed when her sons discovered her body yesterday morning in her home in Monterrey, the capital of the northern state of Nuevo Leon. It bore the marks of multiple blows, along with stab wounds to the back of her neck. As nothing was taken in the attack, everything suggests that she was the victim of a targeted killing.

"All lines of investigation are open," a Nuevo Leon judicial official said.

Previously employed by the El Norte and La Moneda newspapers, Diaz had worked for the El Financiero newspaper since January, covering local business, real estate, taxation and public investment. Colleagues told Agence France-Presse that she did not cover "sensitive" stories.

"Given the initial indications, the Nuevo Leon police and judicial authorities must prioritize the hypothesis that this execution-style killing was linked to the victim's work and they must identify the instigators as soon possible," said Emmanuel Colombie, the head of RSF's Latin America bureau.

"The list of journalists murdered in Mexico keeps on getting longer without any bold initiative by the government. The situation is becoming untenable and Mexico's next president will have the immense responsibility of ending the spiral of violence."

The four other journalists who have been murdered this year in Mexico are Juan Carlos Huerta Martinez on 15 May, Leobardo Vazquez on 21 March, Pamika Montenegro on 5 February and Carlos Dominguez Rodriguez on 13 January.

Ranked 147th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index, Mexico is deadlier for media personnel than any other country not at war.

Link to original story on RSF websiteTwo TV channels shut down, journalists arrested in Somaliland

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 29 May 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Two TV channels shut down, journalists arrested in Somaliland, 29 May 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b8505173.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

May 29, 2018

Reporters Without Borders calls on the authorities in Somalia's breakaway northwestern region of Somaliland to stop harassing privately-owned media outlets that are covering its territorial dispute with its eastern neighbour, Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region. Two TV channels have been closed and several journalists have been arrested.

The Somaliland government announced in a communique today that the two TV channels, SBS and SOMNews, were banned from broadcasting for being "involved in political campaigns" and for not maintaining "the neutrality they are supposed to observe" in their coverage of protests in Las Anod, the capital of the disputed Sool region in the southeastern part of Somaliland.

SBS reporter Mohamed Ahmed Jama Bidhanshe was arrested yesterday while covering one of the protest marches in Las Anod against the Somaliland government.

In recent months, the disputed Sool border region has seen armed clashes with heavy weapons between Somaliland  which proclaimed its independence from Somalia in 1991 but is not recognized by the international community  and Puntland, an autonomous part of the Somali state. The resumption of fighting on the border has increased the pressure on journalists.

Bidhanshe's arrest was preceded on 27 May by that of Bulsho TV journalist Abdirahman Keyse Tungub, who had just done a report in Las Anod about the local population's exasperation with the intensification of the fighting in recent days. The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) condemned Tungub's arrest by the Somaliland's security forces as "a ploy to intimidate the local journalists."

"We condemn the closure of privately-owned TV stations and we call for the immediate release of these two journalists, who were just doing their job," said Arnaud Froger, the head of RSF's Africa desk. "The already deteriorated security environment for journalists covering this conflict has been compounded in recent weeks by growing, unjustified harassment by the Somaliland authorities. The arbitrary arrests and closures must stop and the freedom to inform must be guaranteed."

Bidhanshe was the third journalist to be arrested in the space of two weeks for reporting criticism of the Somaliland authorities. Freelance journalist Adam Jama Oogle was arrested at his home on 14 May after reporting in a Facebook post that the Sool region's inhabitants supported Somali unity. He was finally freed after being held for nine days without charge.

Somalia is ranked 168th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index, one place lower than last year.

Link to original story on RSF websiteEscalation in threat campaigns against Indian journalists

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 30 May 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Escalation in threat campaigns against Indian journalists, 30 May 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b850518a.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

May 30, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is appalled by a campaign of death threats against well-known anti-establishment TV journalist Ravish Kumar by trolls linked to the Hindu nationalist right, which has escalated dramatically in the past month, a year ahead of general elections.

It would seem from Ravish Kumar's revelations last week that fear is now an integral part of the life of outspoken journalists in India. The NDTV anchor reported on 24 May that the threats he has been getting on his phone since 2015 have increased sharply in number and virulence since the end of April.

"It is all well organized and has political sanction," he told The Hindu newspaper.

He said the latest threats included a video message from a former member of the military who said he would shoot Kumar in his office. A message from a person claiming to be a member of the Bajrang Dal, a right-wing Hindu nationalist youth group, included details of Kumar's home address and the route he takes to go to work, and threatened to rape the women in his family as well as kill him.

The many complaints that Kumar has filed with the police in Ghaziabad and Greater Kailash, in the outskirts of New Delhi, have had no effect.

"Everything must be done to protect Ravish Kumar," said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF's Asia-Pacific desk. "It is also high time that the Indian government took concrete measures to stop these waves of threats against journalists who dare to question the authorities. These insidious mass intimidation methods foster a noxious climate of self-censorship that undermines the foundations of Indian democracy. By supporting these actions, the ruling party bears a heavy responsibility in the decline in press freedom in India."

"Republic of Fear"

The start of this wave of threats against Kumar coincided clearly with the publication of his book, The Free Voice, in which he describes the disturbing decline in the Indian media since Narendra Modi became prime minister in 2014.

He writes that the "new India" has become of "Republic of Fear" with the help of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's "IT cell" and its troll army. In the eyes of these BJP "goons," as he calls them, any critical coverage of the government is anti-Modi, anti-Hindu and anti-national, and must be met with death threats.

This is exactly what happened to Rana Ayyub, a freelance woman journalist who was the target of an unprecedented harassment campaign in April. After RSF referred the case to Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, she and four other UN special rapporteurs issued a joint statement last week calling on the Indian authorities to protect Ayyub.

But so far nothing has been done, so RSF wrote today to Prime Minister Modi urging him to take the necessary action and to do everything to identify those responsible for this mass harassment.

Nightmare

Any kind of journalist can now be the target of hate and threat campaigns. Life for film critic Aparna Prasanthi in southern India became a nightmare after she panned Naa Peru Surya, Naa Illu India, a film released at the start of May that lauds nationalist feelings. Her Facebook account was flooded with rape and death threats after her review was published.

India is ranked 138th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index, two places lower than last year.

Link to original story on RSF websiteMay 30, 2018  Updated on June 1, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the distressing simulation of Russian exile journalist Arkady Babchenko's murder, which was done with the aim of unmasking those who wanted to kill him, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) claimed today.

A day after he was reportedly gunned down at the entrance to his Kiev apartment building, Babchenko was very much alive when he appeared at a press conference organized by the SBU today in Kiev.

He said he was told a month ago that Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) was planning to kill him and he had no choice but to cooperate in the SBU's simulation of his death. He apologized to members of his family who were not in the know.

SBU chief Vasil Gritsak said that, thanks to this operation, they were able to arrest the Ukrainian citizen who was recruited by the FSB to organize Babchenko's murder, and to prevent the deaths of 30 other persons who were in the sights of the Russian authorities.

"This journalist's reappearance is a great relief but it was distressing and regrettable that the Security Service of Ukraine played with the truth," RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said. "Was such a scheme really necessary? There can be no grounds for faking a journalist's death."

According to reports confirmed yesterday by the Ukrainian police, the 41-year-old journalist died while being rushed to hospital from the injuries he received when he was shot three times in the back as he was returning to his Kiev apartment.

An outspoken critic of the Russian government since its annexation of Crimea in 2014, Babchenko has often received death threats on social networks. Fearing for his safety after Russian state TV channels launched a campaign against him, he fled to Prague in February 2017 but moved to Kiev a few months later and has been hosting a programme there on the Tatar TV channel ATR since last October.

Ukraine is ranked 101st out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteFormer Cairo correspondent denied entry on arrival in Egypt

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 31 May 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Former Cairo correspondent denied entry on arrival in Egypt, 31 May 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b85051ca.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

May 31, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) deplores the latest sign of Egyptian government mistrust of journalists, its decision to deny entry to French journalist Nina Hubinet last week after questioning her about her coverage of the 2011 uprising and other aspects of her reporting during the five years she was based in Cairo.

Nina Hubinet flew to Cairo on 25 May with the aim of spending a week-long vacation in Egypt but, when her passport was checked on arrival, security officials told her that her name was on a blacklist.

They then questioned her about a story she wrote in 2013 about Egypt's Nubian ethnic minority and about her coverage of the 2011 uprising. They also wanted to known if she planned to see any of the former Tahrir Square protesters she met in 2011. While based in Cairo, she reported for various French-language media including La Croix and Ouest France.

"On what basis does Egypt compile blacklists of unwelcome journalists?" asked Sophie Anmuth, the head of RSF's Middle East desk. "What did these Cairo-based foreign correspondents do wrong aside from doing their job as reporters while there? The automatic mistrust of journalists displayed by the Egyptian authorities is very worrying."

In a Facebook post written after being put on a flight back to Paris, Hubinet made it clear that, while aware of how harshly the Egyptian authorities are currently cracking down on journalists and activists, she had not imagined that they would regard her as a problem, in part because she has not written anything on Egypt since 2014.

The media outlet she reported most for while in Egypt was the French newspaper La Croix. One of her successors as La Croix's Cairo stringer, fellow French journalist Remy Pigaglio, was denied entry to Egypt on his return from a vacation in France in May 2016.Bel Trew, a British journalist working for The Times, was expelled in March of this year.

At least 35 journalists are currently imprisoned in connection with their work in Egypt, which is ranked 161st out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteIndia: Kashmiri reporters assailed by both security forces and protesters

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 1 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, India: Kashmiri reporters assailed by both security forces and protesters, 1 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b85051ea.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 1, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges all parties to respect the work of journalists in northwestern India's Kashmir Valley, where they are now being attacked by separatists at demonstrations as well as by the security forces.

Journalist are used to being targeted by the security forces ever since the conflict in the Kashmir Valley intensified in 2016. It happened against last week in Nowhatta, on the outskirts of Srinagar, when reporters went to cover the Friday prayers sermon for Ramadan in the mosque.

The police deliberately fired on reporters when they attacked protesters outside the mosque and one, photographer Ahmer Khan, was hit by shotgun pellets. He described the police assault as extremely violent.

But the violence against Kashmiri journalists is now also coming from within the ranks of those protesting against the presence of the Indian security forces. Three photojournalists were the collateral victims of clashes between activists and police in Srinagar on 5 May.

Omar Asif of the Kashmir News Service was hit on the head by stone thrown by a protester. Javed Dar, a reporter for the Chinese news agency Xinhua, was hit by a thrown brick. EPA reporter Farooq Javed Khan was hospitalized with a hand injury.

Masarat Zehra, a 24-year-old photojournalist, experienced a more insidious kind of violence two weeks before that. After a photo showing her covering a gun battle was posted online, activists accused her of being a "mukhbir" (Indian army informer) in a social network hate campaign accompanied by misogynistic insults.

"Kashmiri journalists provide an extremely challenging but absolutely fundamental service covering the events affecting the valley," said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF's Asia-Pacific desk. "All parties should respect their work, integrity and right to safety. It is not only wrong for the security forces to target them, but also for activists to threaten or even physically attack them. Journalists should be allowed to cover events impartially. This is an essential condition for resolving the conflict."

There are many examples of reporters being harassed in Kashmir, especially photographers and video reporters. They include Kamran Yousuf, a photographer who was arrested in September 2017 and was held for six months. Freed on bail on 12 March, he continues to be charged with "sedition, criminal conspiracy and attempting to wage war against India." The last of these charges carries a possible death sentence.

French documentary filmmaker Paul Comiti was arrested in December in Kashmir while there to research for a documentary, and was held for several days before finally being released.

India is ranked 138th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index, two places lower than last year.

Link to original story on RSF websiteForced "vacations" for Chinese bloggers ahead of Tiananmen anniversary

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 2 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Forced "vacations" for Chinese bloggers ahead of Tiananmen anniversary, 2 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b850520a.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 2, 2018  Updated on June 4, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the "vacations" under police escort that the Chinese authorities have been arranging for certain bloggers ahead of the 29th anniversary of the massacre of demonstrators in Tiananmen Square on 4 June 1989.

As the world prepares to mark the anniversary, several Chinese bloggers have gone missing or have suddenly "gone on vacation." A similar wave of disappearances happens every year in the run-up to the now completely-censored anniversary of the event in which more 1,000 people were killed.

Hu Jia, who was awarded RSF's Press Freedom Prize in 2007 and the Sakharov Prize in 2008, told the Epoch Times press group that he would be "under soft detention" in Hebei province from 1 to 5 June.

Radio Free Asia reports that the authorities invited political commentator He Depu to take a trip to an unknown destination that began yesterday. Cha Jianguo, who writes for the Independent Chinese PEN Centre, has reportedly been under house arrest sine 28 May after turning down a "vacation" offer.

"We call on the Chinese authorities to put an end to this practice, which prevents foreign journalists from contacting bloggers and thereby deprives them of the sources they need for stories linked to the commemoration of the Tiananmen anniversary," said Cedric Alviani, the head of RSF's East Asia desk.

The Chinese government has long been in the habit of giving dissidents a "trip out of town" under police escort in the run-up to events that could give them forum, such as the Olympic Games, a G20 summit and Communist Party congresses. Because of a lack of transparency and pressure on the victims, it is impossible to know exactly how many people are affected.

One of the world's biggest jailers of professional and non-professional journalists, with more than 50 currently detained, China is ranked 176th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteUgandan tax on social network use will undermine journalism

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 2 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Ugandan tax on social network use will undermine journalism, 2 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b850522a.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 2, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the latest obstacle to news gathering and reporting in Uganda, a new law imposing a daily tax on the use of online messaging services and social networks.

From 1 July onwards, users of WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Skype and similar services will have to pay a daily tax of the equivalent of 5 US cents in order to keep using them. Parliament passed the law on 30 May in response to President Yoweri Museveni declared desire to rein in online "gossip."

Among those penalized by the new law are bloggers and journalists for whom social networks are still a space where they can express themselves more freely than in the traditional media.

"With a fairly unfree media, social media platforms have become the driver of debates on key issues and a space to criticize Museveni's government," Rosebell Kagumire, one of Uganda's most influential bloggers, told RSF. "This tax is a desperate attempt to stifle the voices of Ugandans and restrict access to the Internet."

Another 1 million Ugandans gained access to the Internet in 2017, bringing the overall number of users to 13 million, or about a third of the country's population.

"After Internet cuts and the creation of an Internet surveillance unit, the adoption of this tax, which is unprecedented in Africa, poses a new barrier to the production and dissemination of online news and information," said Arnaud Froger, the head of RSF's Africa desk. "Uganda has created one of sub-Saharan Africa's worst cyber-censorship arsenals."

Last year, RSF condemned the Ugandan government's creation of a special unit consisting of state security officers and IT experts tasked with closely monitoring social networks in order to identify those posting comments critical of the government.

The authorities used supposed security threats and the alleged danger of public opinion being manipulated as grounds for disconnecting social networks several times during the 2016 president election and, a few weeks later, when President Museveni was sworn in for another term.

Regulations restricting Internet use have increased in recent months in the region. In March, Tanzania adopted a law under which bloggers and websites have to pay an exorbitant fee to register with the authorities.

After objections from media associations, Kenya's high court has suspended most of the sections in a law promulgated on 16 May under which journalists convicted of online defamation could be sentenced to up to ten years in prison and fined the equivalent of 42,000 euros.

Uganda is ranked 117th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index, five places lower than in 2017.

Link to original story on RSF websiteZimbabwean minister threatens reporter on live radio

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 3 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Zimbabwean minister threatens reporter on live radio, 3 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b8505244.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 3, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns last week's threats by a Zimbabwean government minister against a journalist during a radio programme and voices concern about the climate of hostility towards the media in the run-up to next month's general election.

Terrence Mukupe, the deputy finance minister and a ruling ZANU-PF party member of parliament, made his threats against Blessed Mhlanga, a reporter for the newspaper NewsDay, during a studio discussion broadcast live by radio SFM, cutting short the discussion.

SFM had invited Mukupe to come and discuss Mhlanga's front page story the previous day that was based on a video recorded at an internal ZANU-PF meeting earlier in the week in which Mukupe said the military would not recognize opposition candidate Nelson Chamisa as president if he won the 30 July general election.

Mhlanga said Mukupe got angry within a few minutes of the start of the radio debate and began attacking him verbally. "I will beat you up, you want to belittle me," he shouted at Mhlanga.

"Such public threats against a journalist are all the more unacceptable when made by a government minister," said Arnaud Froger, the head of RSF's Africa desk. "We call on the Zimbabwean authorities to systematically condemn such attacks and not let them go unpunished. After years of persecution under Robert Mugabe, it is time to recognize that the media and journalists play a key role in the public debate, especially in the run-up to a general election."

In a letter released on 26 May, Mukupe accused Mhlanga of "provocative behaviour" during the discussion. "I am shocked that a minister can lie with impunity over things that happened live on radio and broadcast to the whole country," Mhlanga told RSF. When Mhlanga went to the police to file a complaint about the threats, he found that Mukupe had already made a statement accusing him as the aggressor.

MISA Zimbabwe, an NGO that defends freedom of expression, condemned Mukupe's threats, saying such attacks "undermine the constitutional role of the media in entrenching democracy."

Despite President Emmerson Mnangagwa's promises of a new democracy, attacks on journalists have been frequent, especially on political issues, since Mnangagwa replaced Mugabe in November 2017.

In the past three months, journalists have been threatened by politicians and a photographer was roughed up by supporters of the opposition MDC-T party. In April, a journalist was arrested for taking photos at a meeting between ZANU-PF members and polling station officials during the ZANU-PF primaries.

Zimbabwe is ranked 126th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteAlgerian fixer completes a year in prison

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 6 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Algerian fixer completes a year in prison, 6 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b8505264.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 6, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Algerian authorities to quickly release Said Chitour, a media fixer who completed a year in prison today. His health is deteriorating fast and there is no evidence to justify detaining him.

A fixer and stringer for such international media outlets as the BBC and Washington Post, Chitour was arrested by intelligence agents at Algiers international airport on 5 June 2017.

He is charged under article 65 of the criminal code with "complicit relations with a foreign power," but his lawyers insist that there is nothing in the prosecution's case file to support the charge. His family meanwhile says his physical condition is worsening steadily.

"We are very concerned for Said Chitour and we fear he could suffer the same fate as Mohamed Tamalt, an Algerian journalist who died in prison in December 2016," said Souhaib Khayati, the head of RSF's North Africa desk. "We urge the authorities to free him and to end this senseless ordeal."

Algeria is ranked 136th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteJune 6, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is appalled by the sentence of 12 years in a high security prison camp that Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko has received from a Moscow court at the end of a trial held behind closed doors ever since it began in March.

The only point in the proceedings that was open to the public was the announcement of the verdict and sentence on 4 June. Sushchenko was convicted of espionage.

The Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform's Paris correspondent, Sushchenko was arrested while visiting a friend in Russia in September 2016. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed that he went to Russia to spy for the Ukrainian intelligence services.

During the 18 months he spent in provisional detention, the Russia authorities never issued a public statement about what he was alleged to have done to justify the charge of "gathering confidential information about the activities of the Russian armed forces and national guard." The details of the indictment were classified as a defence secret.

"This harsh sentence was passed at the end of a trial that was held secretly from start to finish," said Johann Bihr, the head of RSF's Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk. "If the Russian authorities cannot produce any credible evidence of this journalist's guilt, they should release him without delay."

Sushchenko's family and the Ukrainian consulate were not notified of his detention until three days after his arrest, when a human rights activist came across him by chance in Moscow's Lefortovo prison.

Sushchenko's lawyer, Mark Feygin, said his client's only hope now was the possibility of being swapped for Kyrylo Vychinsky, a journalist arrested under a treason charge in Kiev last month.

Russia is ranked 148th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteRSF calls for end to legal proceedings against India's Cobrapost

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 6 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, RSF calls for end to legal proceedings against India's Cobrapost , 6 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b85052ba.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 6, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for the withdrawal of the legal actions that many Indian media outlets have brought against Cobrapost, an investigative news website whose undercover reporting has shown that most of India's leading media groups would take money from the ruling party in return for favourable coverage. RSF also urges all of these media groups to respect their staff's editorial independence.

Cobrapost named its undercover investigation Operation 136 in reference to India's ranking in RSF's 2017 World Press Freedom Index. And what it found could explain why this country, the cradle of an exceptionally dynamic press, has fallen so low.

Cobrapost posted an initial series of videos in March and a second series, "Part II," on 25 May. They show Cobrapost reporter Pushp Sharma posing as a right-wing Hindu nationalist activist meeting the owners of 27 leading media groups while carrying a hidden camera.

He offered each of them significant sums of money  to be paid in cash if necessary  in return for favourable coverage of the activities of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the run-up to the 2019 general election. Almost all of these media bosses accepted the offer and most of them promised to set up special teams for this purpose.

After the latest series of Operation 136 videos were released, three of the targeted media groups sent legal notices to Cobrapost and to other independent media outlets, such as The Wire and The Quint, that published stories about the Cobrapost sting on their own websites.

On the eve of Part II's release, the Dainik Bhaskar group managed to get an injunction blocking the publication of any material referring to its directors. The Suvarna News group obtained a similar court order after the release.

"These are temporary injunctions, not takedown orders," Cobrapost editor Aniruddha Bahal told RSF. "We don't get intimidated. It is they who have to worry. Not us." The legal battle is continuing.

"The press groups that have brought legal proceedings against Cobrapost must abandon them at once," said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF's Asia-Pacific desk. "Trying to kill the messenger instead of addressing the problems he reported is a terrible admission of weakness, if not guilt. The editorial independence of journalistic staff is one of the pillars of respect for press freedom."

Bastard added: "Cobrapost's revelations say a lot about the practices of those who run most of India's leading media groups, and about the pressure they put on their journalists. With a year to go to the next general election, it is high time to allow India's journalists to again enjoy the freedom they used to have, so that they can provide the public with more impartial news coverage."

"Self-censorship"

In the Operation 136 videos, Sharma is seen offering media bosses tens of million rupees in exchange for three things: praise of Hindutva, the fundamentalist Hindu ideology that spawned the BJP; coverage discrediting opposition leaders who could pose a threat to Prime Minister Narendra Modi; and promotion of views liable to polarize voters, for example, by exploiting hatred of Muslims.

Only two media groups clearly rejected the offer on ethical grounds. They were Bartaman Patrika and Dainik Sambad, which are both based in West Bengal. All the others agreed readily.

"This is dismal," said Bahal, who launched Cobrapost in 2003. "There is a lot of carrot and stick from the government and a lot of self-censorship as a result. For those who want to expose and investigate, there are just a handful of organizations that would support their endeavour. That is sad."

Open Magazine is the only targeted media that has so far taken measures against those who agreed to the offer of Cobrapost's undercover reporter. Two Open Magazine executives have been sanctioned by its management.

Between the release of the first batch of Operation 136 videos in March and the release of the second batch a few days ago, India fell another two places in the RSF World Press Freedom Index, and is now ranked 138th out of 180 countries.

Link to original story on RSF websiteMotorcycle gunmen slay journalist in southern Philippines

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 7 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Motorcycle gunmen slay journalist in southern Philippines, 7 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b85052da.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 7, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Philippine authorities to do everything possible to find those responsible for the murder of Dennis Denora, a journalist who was shot dead today in Panabo City, in the southern province of Davao del Norte.

The publisher of Trends and Times, a local community newspaper, Dennis Denora was sitting in the front passenger seat of a car shortly after midday when he was shot twice in the head at close range by two individuals on motorcycle who then sped away.

The Panabo City police have not yet been able to establish the motive but the modus operandi and the profile of the victim  described by colleagues at the Davao del Norte Press & Radio-TV Club as a "well-known columnist" and "fearless" newspaper and radio commentator  suggests that he was targeted because of his work.

"Dennis Denora's murder is extremely disturbing and we call on both the Davao del Norte authorities and the presidential task force on media security to conduct a thorough investigation," said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF's Asia Pacific desk.

"The current government keeps on pointing to this task force, created in October 2016, as evidence of its desire to protect journalists but this is the sixth journalist to be murdered since Rodrigo Duterte became president. The authorities must take more concrete measures to guarantee journalists' safety."

Radio journalist Edmund Sestoso was fatally shot in a similar fashion by a motorcycle gunman just over a month ago in the central province of Negros Oriental.

Regarded as one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists, the Philippines fell six places in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index and is now ranked 133rd out of 180 countries.

Link to original story on RSF websiteBangladeshi blogger slain for urging religious tolerance

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 12 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Bangladeshi blogger slain for urging religious tolerance, 12 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b85052fa.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 12, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Bangladeshi authorities to do everything possible to find those behind yesterday's murder of Shahjahan Bachchu, a freethinking journalist and blogger who had been threatened by radical Islamists for years. RSF also urges them to protect all secularist journalists and bloggers in Bangladesh.

Shahjahan Bachchu was ambushed late yesterday afternoon in a pharmacy in Munshiganj, a district just to the south of the capital, Dhaka. After a homemade bomb was exploded outside the pharmacy to create a panic, four or five masked gunmen stormed in, pulled Bachchu out, shot him four times and then fled on two motorcycles. He died on the spot.

A keen poet and editor of the weekly Amader Bikrampur as well as a blogger, Bachchu was well known as an outspoken champion of freethinking, especially on religious issues. His defence of religious tolerance and atheism made him a target of Jihadi groups and Muslim fundamentalists.

He had been getting death threats for years from Sunni extremists, which had forced him to often change his place of residence.

"It is freethinking that is against the victim of this latest act of barbarity," said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF's Asia-Pacific desk. "Shahjahan Bachchu's name has been added to the already long list of so-called 'secularist' journalist and bloggers who have been killed for advocating religious tolerance.

"The culture of impunity surrounding these murders must be brought to a complete end. We call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government to do everything possible to find the perpetrators and instigators of these crimes. The authorities must also establish a mechanism for protecting bloggers who, like Shahzahan Bachchu, receive death threats."

Stalled investigations

Four bloggers known for defending tolerance, free speech and freethinking in their posts  Avijit Roy (the founder of the news website Mukto-Mona), citizen-journalist Washiqur Rahman, freethinker Ananta Bijoy Das and netizen Niloy Neel  were killed in 2015 alone.The young citizen-journalist Nazim Uddin Samad was stabbed and gunned down in April 2016 for defending secularism in his writing.

In all, nearly a dozen bloggers have been killed by Jihadi and fundamentalists groups in Bangladesh in the past decade while many others have fled into exile. The police investigations into these murders have all ground to a halt without any serious arrests being made.

Bangladesh is ranked 146th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteCovering corruption exposes journalists to arrest in Iraq

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 12 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Covering corruption exposes journalists to arrest in Iraq, 12 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b850531a.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 12, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the arrests to which two investigative reporters have been subjected in different parts of Iraq in the past few days in connection with their coverage of corruption, and calls for an end to the harassment of these journalists.

The latest victim was Mostafa Hamed, a reporter based in Fallujah, in the western province of Al Anbar, where he works for the local TV channel Sharqeya. He was arrested at his home at 2 a.m. on 9 June by policemen who did not tell him what he was charged with, and was finally released today without being charged.

According to the information gathered by the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory (JFO), RSF's partner NGO in Iraq, Hamed had been investigating the involvement of Fallujah city hall leaders in a real estate scandal. Sharqeya is owned by Saad al Bazzaz, a local businessman and political rival of Al Anbar's governor, who tried to get the TV channel closed last December.

The other recent victim is Hossam al Kaabi, a reporter based in Najaf, 180 km south of Baghdad, who has repeatedly been harassed in connection with his coverage of an alleged corruption case involving the Najaf provincial airport's former governing board.

What with money, women and threats, every kind of method has been used in an attempt to silence his reporting on the case, he said. The corruption case is however by no means a secret. He has also been the target of dozens of legal actions. The latest method was an arrest warrant, which resulted in his having to pay the large sum of 15 million dinars (10,745 euros) in bail to obtain his release on 6 June.

The warrant was the result of a complaint filed by Najaf airport's former administration four days after Kaabi's main media outlet, the NRT network's Arabic-language channel, was forced to close for financial reasons. Defended by a consortium of lawyers, Kaabi told RSF he is concerned about the outcome because of the lack of judicial independence in Iraq.

"These two arrest warrants highlight the different kinds of difficulties for journalists in Iraq, which not only include being unjustly prosecuted but also the risk of seeing your work used for the purposes of the political rivalry," said Sophie Anmuth, the head of RSF's Middle East desk. "The absurd proceedings against Hossam al Kaabi must be dropped and the authorities must do their duty to protect journalists who are the target of threats."

As Kaabi points out on Facebook, in theory Iraqi law protects the right of journalists to seek information and sources. But in practice, as JFO has often reported, local officials act with impunity when they use judicial pressure and sometimes death threats to pressure journalists who investigate corruption.

Iraq is ranked 160th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteMyanmar bans Radio Free Asia for using the term "Rohingyas"

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 12 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Myanmar bans Radio Free Asia for using the term "Rohingyas", 12 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b850533a.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 12, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the Myanmar government's latest interference in the work of journalists, a ban on local broadcasting by US government-funded Radio Free Asia (RFA) for rightly using the term "Rohingyas" to refer to members of the persecuted Muslim community in Rakhine state, in the west of the country. The ban is officially imposed today, six months to the day after the arrest of two Reuters journalists who had been investigating a massacre of Rohingya civilians.

The last broadcast of an RFA-produced programme in Myanmar was yesterday evening. It was carried by MRTV, a TV channel owned by Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), which was ordered by the authorities to stop transmitting RFA programmes if they continued to use the word "Rohingyas."

"Radio Free Asia will not compromise its code of journalistic ethics, which prohibits the use of slurs against ethnic minority groups," RFA president Libby Liu said.

"We would like to express our solidarity with the RFA journalists who have been working constantly in the field to provide the Myanmar public with freely and impartially reported news and information," said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF's Asia-Pacific desk.

"It is the prerogative of totalitarian regimes to want to impose their 'newspeak' by banning the media from using certain terms  all the more so when the rest of the world uses the term. A prohibition on the word 'Rohingya' is indicative of a desire to rewrite history and reality. In a reminder of the former military government's worst era, this latest press freedom violation has further compromised the transition to democracy begun by Aung San Suu Kyi's party."

Orwellian order

The authorities first announced their Orwellian ban on the word "Rohingyas" in June 2016, two months after the installation of a government headed by Suu Kyi, who was long seen as the embodiment of democratic hopes in Myanmar. The word was to be replaced by the improbable phrase "people who believe in Islam in Rakhine state," the authorities said.

Since then, Myanmar media that want to continue publishing or broadcasting have had to comply with the directive. Those that are critical of the government's policies in Rakhine state, such as the Myanmar Times, use the neutral term "Muslims."

But media that support the government use the discriminatory term "Bengalis," implying that the Rohingyas are just immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh in order to legitimize the ethnic cleansing to which they have been subjected since August 2017. In reality, the Rohingya presence in Rakhine state dates back centuries.

The BBC's Burmese language service announced on 4 September 2017 that its daily programmes would no longer be broadcast by its local partner, MNTV, because MNTV was being pressured by the authorities over the use of the term "Rohingya."

The ban on using the word "Rohingya" is indicative of the scale of the taboo that this issue represents for Myanmar's authorities. Six months ago, just as Reuters was preparing to publish a report about a massacre of Rohingya civilians in the village of Inn Din, two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, were arrested on a charge of possessing official secrets after being lured to a meeting with a police officer and being handed some documents.

Myanmar fell six places in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index and is now ranked 137th out of 180 countries.

Link to original story on RSF websiteSyrian reporter freed after six months as armed group's hostage

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 13 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Syrian reporter freed after six months as armed group's hostage, 13 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b850537a.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 13, 2018

Hay'at Tahrir al Sham, a radical islamist militant group, released the Syrian citizen-journalist Hossam Mahmoud last week after six months in captivity, but still holds his colleague Amjad al Maleh. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) hopes he will be released soon.

Hay'at Tahrir al Sham (also known as HTS) freed Hossam Mahmoud as part of an amnesty on 6 June, after holding him for six months. But HTS continues to hold Amjad al Maleh, who was captured at the same time as Mahmoud, on 10 December 2017, as they were reporting near the northern city of Idlib.

HTS has released other citizen-journalists in recent months. On 24 May, it freed Ahmed al Akhras, who had been arrested on 28 April. And it freed Ali Al Dalati on 28 February after holding him for two months.

Shortly before Mahmoud's release, RSF contacted the local authorities in the Idlib region where HTS operates. They said they were holding neither of these two citizen-journalists and insisted that they did not arrest journalists and were even ready to protect them. Clearly concerned about their international image, the authorities posted a registration form online on 29 April for use by foreign journalists interested in covering the region.

"We call for the immediate release of Amjad al Maleh after the release of other citizen-journalists in recent months," RSF said. "The conditions in which these hostages are held and the mistreatment to which some are subjected constitute acts of torture punishable under international law."

Sources have told RSF that citizen-journalists held by HTS are sometimes subjected to very violent interrogations and beaten with the aim of making them give up being reporters. HTS often accuses those who are not its supporters of doing "media work without permission" or of collaborating with the "ungodly West" if the western media have used their photos.

Despite internal divisions, HTS wants to win the battle for local public opinion and to control the media's reporting.

Like all civilians, journalists are exposed to be possibility of being kidnapped or murdered by any of the armed groups present in Syria. The Syrian and Turkish forces that recently took control of the Afrin region have arrested and intimidated several reporters and photographers.

Seven journalists and media workers have been killed by the Syrian regular army and its allies since the start of the year. Ranked 177th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index, Syria continued to be the world's most dangerous country for journalists last year.

Link to original story on RSF websiteAnother drive to gag the press by Sudan's NISS

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 14 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Another drive to gag the press by Sudan's NISS, 14 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b8505394.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 14, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns another offensive against critical journalists and media outlets by Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), which in the past week has seized entire issues of three privately-owned dailies and interrogated two journalists for covering sensitive issues.

In their latest bid to gag the press, NISS agents confiscated the entire print-run of the daily Al-Tayyar as it came off the press on two days running, on 10 and 11 June, in response to a column by reporter Shamael al-Nur in the 9 June issue in which she said President Omar al-Bashir's resignation would benefit Sudan's economy. The NISS summoned her twice and questioned her closely. "They reminded me that there are red lines and that I should have known the president was one of them," she told RSF.

On 13 june, NISS agents seized Alyoum Altaly newspaper without reason. A week earlier, they already prevented the daily Al-Jareeda from distributing that day's issue until 11 a.m. and restricted its distribution to the capital, Khartoum. For reporting this action, Ahmed Younes, a correspondent for the London-based daily Sharq Al Awsat, was arrested and interrogated by NISS agents for several hours on 7 June. Younes told RSF he was also questioned last month over an article about divisions within the ruling party and was given "strict orders not to cover certain subjects" on pain of losing his press accreditation and being imprisoned. "They talk about 'red lines' but they don't tell us what they are and they vary according to the mood of the investigator at the time," he said.

"The NISS must stop operating as an 'editorial police' that censors journalists and systematically suppresses any critical publication, listing taboo subjects as it pleases," said Arnaud Froger, the head of RSF's Africa desk. "The survival of a free press in Sudan is at stake."

In February, RSF condemned a wave of arrests of journalists and confiscations of newspaper issues by the NISS that had begun the previous month. Issues of the Al-Jareeda and Al-Watan dailies were also seized without reason on 5 and 6 May.

Sudan is ranked 174th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteReporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Serbian and Kosovar authorities to shed all ossible light on Serbian investigative journalist Stefan Cvetkovic's disappearance yesterday near the town of Bela Crkva in northern Serbia.

Cvetkovic's car was found last night with the motor running, the lights on and the driver's door open, but without its driver. His colleagues and family have had no success in their attempts to locate him. According to some sources, the broken bracelet of his watch was found near the car.

Cvetkovic is well known for criticizing Serbian officials and filed a complaint in 2014 accusing several of embezzling public funds. The same year, he also publicly challenged three officials about their role in certain criminal cases.

He has had run-ins with several politicians and has repeatedly reported being threatened. The sensitive cases he has covered include last January's murder of Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic in Mitrovica, in northern Kosovo.

"We stand alongside Serbia's journalists at this difficult moment, and we call on the Serb and Kosovar authorities to do everything possible to shed light on Stefan Cvetkovic's worrying disappearance as quickly as possible," said Pauline Ades-Mevel, the head of RSF's EU-Balkans desk.

Ilir Gasi, the programme director of the Slavko Curuvija Foundation (named after a Serbian journalist murdered in 1999) and a member of the Permanent Work Group for Security of Journalists in Serbia, said he was worried about Cvetkovic's disappearance.

"As far as we can tell, many police forces have been sent there and I honestly hope that Stefan Cvetkovic is alive and well," Gasi said. "It should be said, however, that the security situation of journalists in Serbia has worsened of late. The number of attacks being reported is growing but very few cases are being solved. The biggest ones, such as the killings of Slavko Curuvija, Milan Pantic, and Dada Vujasinovic, are still pending resolution."

Cvetkovic was sentenced to two years and three months in prison in March 2017 on a charge of defaming three officials and "unauthorized publication of documents." RSF issued a press release at the time, condemning the sentence as unfair and disproportionate.

Serbia is ranked 76th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index after falling ten places as a result of the harassment, threats and attacks to which journalists have been exposed.

Link to original story on RSF websiteIndia: Well-known newspaper editor gunned down in Kashmir

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 14 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, India: Well-known newspaper editor gunned down in Kashmir, 14 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b85053d3.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 14, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is appalled by leading Kashmiri journalist Shujaat Bukhari's murder on 14 June in Srinagar, in northern India's troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir, and urges the authorities to do everything possible to find his killers.

The editor of the well-known daily Rising Kashmir and one the region's most renowned journalists, Shujaat Bukhari was shot several times by unidentified gunmen as he was about to get into his car outside his office. The two police bodyguards escorting him were also hit by the shots and one died of his injuries.

Bukhari had been receiving police protection since 2000, when he was the target of an earlier attack.

"Shujaat Bukhari's brutal murder is a major blow for the Kashmiri media community and comes just as the United Nations is calling for an investigation into human rights abuses in Kashmir," RSF's Asia-Pacific desk said. "We urge the local and national authorities to shed all possible light on this horrific crime, which has silenced one of Kashmir's leading independent and moderate voices."

The precise motives for Bukhari's murder are not yet known but it came during a ceasefire for Ramadan that he had encouraged in his articles. In a tweet, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti blamed his murder on separatist "terrorism." No armed group has so far claimed responsibility for the shooting.

India is ranked 138th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index, two places lower than last year.

Link to original story on RSF websiteOpposition media still closed six months before presidential election in DRC

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 14 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Opposition media still closed six months before presidential election in DRC, 14 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b85053ea.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 14, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) joins its partner organization, Journalist in Danger (JED), in calling for the reopening of four opposition radio and TV stations in Katanga province, in the southeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo, that have been closed for years. They should have reopened in January 2017 under the so-called "New Year's Eve Accord" between the government and opposition in December 2016 for holding a presidential election now scheduled for 23 December 2018.

Based in Lubumbashi, the capital of Katanga province, the four radio and TV stations are all still silent. One has been off the air since its closure by the authorities in 2014 and the other three since early 2016.

The station that has been closed the longest is Radio-Television Lubumbashi JUA (RTLJ). Owned by Jean-Claude Muyambo, a former ally of President Joseph Kabila, it was shut down in November 2014 for "failing to respect the legal provisions for privately-owned broadcasters" and for "inciting hatred and insurrection"  charges that its managers say are baseless.

Nyota TV and Radio Television Mapendo were shut down on the orders of communication and media minister Lambert Mende in January 2016 for "non-payment of the annual broadcast fee"  an allegation that is also disputed by the management of the two stations, who say they have proof that they paid all the required frees.

Both of these two stations are owned by Moise Katumbi, a former Katanga province governor and former leading member of the ruling PPRD party who went over to the opposition.

The fourth radio and TV station, La Voix du Katanga, was shut down in March 2016 for allegedly failing to pay the annual fee and not having a licence. It is owned by Gabriel Kyungu wa Kumwanza, a former president of the Katanga provincial assembly who also went over to the opposition.

JED reminds Mende, the communication and media minister, that he announced at a press conference on 2 January 2017 that "all the so-called opposition media that are closed will be reopened within two weeks" with the aim of defusing political tension.

Mende's announcement confirmed what was stated in Point 2 of Chapter V of the "New Year's Eve agreement" signed on 31 December 2016. This point said: "Within 15 days of the signing of this Accord, the minister responsible for the media will restore the signals of the broadcasters that were closed or banned as a precautionary measure or for non-compliance with the law."

JED points out that nothing to this effect has been done in the 18 months since the accord was signed.

The Democratic Republic of Congo continues to be ranked 154th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteUgandan President insults and threatens media in televised address

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 15 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Ugandan President insults and threatens media in televised address, 15 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b850540a.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 15, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the irresponsible and dangerous insults and threats that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni directed at the media in a televised address during yesterday's presentation of the 2018/19 budget.

Uganda's President for the past 32 years, Museveni referred to certain media outlets as "evil" and "stupid" in his address to government officials and members of parliament that was broadcast live.

He singled out the Daily Monitor, Uganda's leading newspaper, threatening to "do something about it" if its journalists keep criticizing the Uganda's growing debt. On 7 April, the newspaper calculated that it would take Uganda 94 years to repay its debt at the current rate.

Last week, the Daily Monitor criticized Museveni's failure to mention Uganda's "unsustainable debt" in his state of the nation address on 6 June. It was one of the "big misses," the newspaper said.

"By hurling abuse at the media in the presence of leading government officials and politicians, the president is legitimizing the use of verbal violence and fuelling a climate of hostility towards journalists who are often subject to arbitrary arrest or physical attack in Uganda," said Arnaud Froger, the head of RSF's Africa desk. "Such comments are dangerous and unworthy of a head of state."

Uganda is ranked 117th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index, five places lower than last year.

Link to original story on RSF websiteReporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for a thorough and independent investigation into the disappearance of Serbian investigative reporter Stefan Cvetkovic, who was found alive and well today after going missing near the town of Bela Crkva two nights ago.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for a thorough and independent investigation into the disappearance of Serbian investigative reporter Stefan Cvetkovic, who was found alive and well today after going missing near the town of Bela Crkva two nights ago.

Announcing at a special news conference that Cvetkovic had been found alive and without any trace of injury, President Aleksandar Vucic said the journalist was currently at the headquarters of the criminal police, who were in the process of verifying his allegations.

Large numbers of police were deployed to search for Cvetkovic after his car was found near Bela Crkva on the night of 13 June with the motor running, the lights on and the driver's door open, but with no sign of the driver.

"We are relieved to know that Stefan Cvetkovic is alive and in good health," RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said. "We now call on the Serbian authorities to shed all possible light on the circumstances and reasons for his disappearance. RSF will follow developments in this investigation with close attention."

An investigative journalist who sometimes also acts as an activist, Cvetkovic has often criticized Serbian officials and in 2014 even filed a complaint accusing several of embezzling public funds. The same year, he also publicly challenged three officials about their role in certain criminal cases.

The sensitive cases he has covered include the murder of Oliver Ivanovic, a Kosovo Serb politician who was gunned down in Mitrovica, in northern Kosovo on 16 January.

According to the Serbian Association of Independent Journalist, he has been the target of many acts of intimidation and violence by criminal gangs and politicians during the past decade and has received many death threats.

Link to original story on RSF websiteYemeni journalist dies just days after release by Houthis

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 18 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Yemeni journalist dies just days after release by Houthis, 18 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b850544a.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 18, 2018  Updated on June 28, 2018

Deploring Yemeni journalist Anwar al Rakan's death as a result of mistreatment while held for about a year by Yemen's Houthis, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges all of Yemen's belligerents to stop trying to restrict news coverage and to free all imprisoned journalists.

Anwar al Rakan died on 2 June just days after being released in an already terminally-ill condition from a Houthi prison. His family did not know he was being held by the Houthis (officially known as Ansar Allah), so no one had been campaigning for his release.

The Houthis continue to hold at least ten journalists and one citizen-journalist captive. But they could be holding many more because they provide no information about any of their activities including, as in Rakan's case, who they have detained and where they are holding them.

The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate quoted Rakan's family as saying he was ravaged by starvation, torture and disease when released. Photos of his emaciated body have circulated on social networks.

"There is no justification for arbitrarily detaining and torturing journalists," said Sophie Anmuth, the head of RSF's Middle East desk. "The Houthis allowed Anwar al Rakan to become fatally ill in detention without providing him with the medical attention he needed and without alerting his family in time. The journalists they are holding, some since 2015, must be freed at once."

Anmuth added: "All of the parties to the war in Yemen, whether the Houthis, Al Qaeda or the Arab coalition, must stop intimidating, torturing or abducting the journalists they dislike."

Rakan's brother told the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate that it turned out he was arrested by Houthi militiamen in Al-Houban province about a year ago after setting off from the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa, for his home province. It seems that the press cards found on him were the reason he was arrested.

Currently experiencing one of the worst humanitarian crises in its history, Yemen is ranked 167th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteIndia: Detained suspect confesses to shooting newspaper editor Gauri Lankesh

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 19 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, India: Detained suspect confesses to shooting newspaper editor Gauri Lankesh, 19 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b850546a.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 19, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) congratulates the authorities in the state of Karnataka, in southwestern India, on the arrest of a man who has confessed to being the gunman in newspaper editor Gauri Lankesh's murder after nine months, even if they have yet to identify the instigators.

Parashuram Wagmore, 26, a member of the far-right Hindu group Sri Ram Sene, is the latest suspect to be arrested by the special team set up by the Karnataka authorities to investigate last September's murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, a well-known critic of Hindu nationalism, in Bangalore, the state's capital.

After Wagmore's arrest on 12 June, the local press reported that he had confessed that he was recruited in May 2017 to kill Lankesh in order to "save my religion" and that he was the gunman on the back of a motorcycle who shot her several times outside her home on the evening of 5 September 2017.

"We hail the arrest of Gauri Lankesh's presumed killer and the efforts undertaken by the local authorities to ensure that this shocking murder does not go unpunished, and we urge the investigators to keep going until the instigators are identified," RSF's Asia-Pacific desk said.

"We also urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to condemn actions and virulent statements by the Hindu nationalist movement that help to foster a climate of hate conducive to physical attacks against critics."

Prime Minister Modi has said nothing about the Lankesh case, despite the progress being made in the investigation. Although the Karnataka police have summoned the head of a local branch of Sri Ram Sene for questioning, the group's founder and national leader, Pramod Muthalik, has denied that it had any role in Lankesh's murder.

In a much-criticized statement, Muthalik nonetheless likened Lankesh to a dog. "Many wanted PM Modi to react after Gauri Lankesh's death," he said. "Why should Modi react if some dog dies in Karnataka?"

India is ranked 138th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index, two places lower than in 2017.

Link to original story on RSF websiteNew Taliban threat against Afghan media

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 20 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, New Taliban threat against Afghan media, 20 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b85054a4.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 20, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the latest Taliban threat against the media in Afghanistan.

A communique was issued after the bombing of "voice of Sharia," a Taliban propaganda outlet in the central province of Ghazni, by US-led coalition aircraft on 10 June:

"Media financed by the occupiers will pay the consequences of the incorrect behaviour towards the Mujahedeen (Taliban) if it does not stop quickly," the communique posted on the Taliban website on 12 June said.

"We once again warn all parties to the conflict, both state and non-state actors, and remind them of their obligations as regards the protection of journalists," said Reza Moini, the head of RSF's Afghanistan desk. "Attacks on civilian targets, including media and journalists, constitute war crimes. We will hold Taliban delegations abroad, including their office in Doha, to account for every Taliban attack on journalists and media."

This is not the first Taliban threat against the media. In a communique issued on 12 October 2015, they described Afghanistan's two biggest privately-owned TV stations, Tolo TV and TV1, as "military targets." The "consequence" came on 20 January 2016 in the form of the suicide bombing of a Kabura production company bus that killed seven Moby Group employees who worked at Tolo TV.

RSF regards the Taliban as enemies of the press. Their goal is to create news and information black holes, and they have done this in the areas they control.

According to RSF's tally, a total of 36 journalists and media workers have been killed in Afghanistan since the start of 2016 in attacks by the Taliban and Islamic State (Daesh), the country two leading press freedom predators.

Afghanistan is ranked 118th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteReporter almost killed in knife attack in northeastern India

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 20 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Reporter almost killed in knife attack in northeastern India, 20 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b85054c4.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 20, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the authorities in the state of Tripura, in northeastern India, to ensure that an almost fatal knife attack on an investigative reporter does not go unpunished and that the reporter is protected.

Suman Debnath, 30, a journalist with various local media outlets who is known for his bold investigative reporting, was nearly killed when he went to a meeting at a petroleum depot in Dharmanagar, a town in the north of the state, late at night on 18 June.

He went there to meet with two men involved in the regular theft of oil from the depot to discuss about the thefts and the trafficking in stolen oil.

But the meeting turned out to be a trap because one of the two men attacked him with a knife and tried to kill him by cutting his throat. Debnath's cries alerted neighbours, who intervened and saved his life. After Debnath had been rushed to hospital, doctors said his life was no longer in danger.

The police arrested one of the two men, but the main suspect got away.

"We firmly condemn this murder attempt," RSF's Asia-Pacific desk said. "We call on the local authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and to take all necessary measures to ensure that this journalist is protected and is able to continue his investigative reporting without putting his life in danger."

Two journalists were murdered in the space of two months in Tripura in late 2017. One, Shantanu Bhowmick, was beaten and stabbed to death. The other, Sudip Datta Bhaumik, was gunned down.

Four journalists have been killed in India since the start of 2018. The latest victim, the well-known Kashmiri journalist Shujaat Bukhari, was shot dead last week.

India is ranked 138th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index, two places lower than last year.

Link to original story on RSF websiteGambian police beat journalist returned from exile

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 21 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Gambian police beat journalist returned from exile, 21 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b85054e4.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 21, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Gambian authorities to identify and punish the police officers who attacked radio station manager Pa Modou Bojang while he was covering deadly clashes between police and protesters in Faraba Banta, a village 50 km south of the capital, Banjul, on 18 June.

The manager of Home Digital FM, Bojang was violently assaulted on the morning of 18 June while he was covering a protest by residents against the mining of sand in the area, which they say is polluting rice paddies. Two people were killed as police tried to break up the demonstration.

Describing his arrest by the police, Bojang said: "I identified myself as journalist with my professional press card but they slapped and beat me anyway. They said, 'you journalists have destroyed this country and if Yahya Jammeh were here, we would have killed all of you.'" Jammeh was Gambia's president from 1994 until his ouster in 2017.

After arresting him, Bojang said the police tried to get him to delete the contents of his mobile phone. "They asked me to format my mobile. I refused. They took my audio recorder."

The police finally released Bojang in the evening but did not return his audio recorder. He was then seen with his shirt spattered with blood in a video interview posted on social networks.

"This kind of police violence against journalists has no place in the new era that began in Gambia after the departure of Yahya Jammeh, one of Africa's worst press freedom predators," said Arnaud Froger, the head of RSF's Africa desk.

"The new Gambian authorities must not only firmly condemn this attack but also investigate the police violence against this reporter, in order to demonstrate a clear intention to put a stop to violence against journalists and to the systematic impunity that those responsible enjoyed under the previous regime."

When reached by RSF, information and communication minister Demba Ali Jawo said: "There is absolutely no justification and it is inacceptable for a journalist doing his work to be beaten or harassed."

The Gambian Press Union (GPU) said: "Authorities should first have instructed the police to under no circumstances use force against journalists."

Bojang returned to Gambia in February 2018 after spending nine years in exile to escape Yahya Jammeh's dictatorial regime. Before leaving, he was arrested twice and was tortured during three weeks in prison on 2008. During Jammeh's 23-year reign of terror, censorship, violence and arbitrary detention drove 110 journalists to flee the country. According to the GPU, nearly 30 of them have returned since the dictator's removal in January 2017.

Gambia is ranked 122nd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index, 21 places higher than in 2017. This was the world's biggest rise in this year's index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteTurkish media in full battle order for Erdogan reelection

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 22 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Turkish media in full battle order for Erdogan reelection, 22 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b8505503.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 22, 2018

Most of Turkey's media have taken exactly the same line in the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary elections that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for this Sunday (24 June). The government's tight grip on the media has resulted in an election campaign that has been totally biased in its favour, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said.

Although economic and social turbulence forced Erdogan to call these elections nearly 18 months early, the turmoil has been almost totally ignored by the main national TV channels, which for the most part are actively campaigning for the president and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to be reelected.

"The death of pluralism and the massive crackdown on Turkey's journalists has resulted in an election campaign with a single voice, one very far from the democratic debate that Turkey needs," said Erol Onderoglu, RSF's representative in Turkey. "Press freedom is a requirement of democracy. It must be restored immediately."

Unlimited propaganda for Erdogan

Ever since Erdogan called the elections in mid-April, the leading print media and the state TV channels have been pumping out endless propaganda in his favour. This is the result of the unprecedented control that the government now wields over the media. The sale of Turkey's biggest media group, Dogan Media Company, to a pro-government conglomerate, Demiroren Holding, in March completed the death of media pluralism in Turkey.

According to the Media Ownership Monitor, a project run jointly by RSF and the Turkish news website Bianet, nine of the ten most-watched TV channels and nine of the ten most-read national dailies are now owned by pro-government businessmen. Nearly 150 media outlets have meanwhile been closed summarily under the state of emergency in effect since July 2016.

Erdogan's already bellicose discourse and his AKP's alliance with the ultra-nationalist MHP party has resulted in a campaign with patriotism as one of the main ingredients, and in opposition candidates being branded as traitors or terrorism's accomplices.

In recent weeks, the daily Sabah has published frequent front-page interviews with families of Turkish soldiers killed or wounded in Kurdish areas of northern Syria that all support President Erdogan. When Erdogan called the election in April, Sabah's front-page headline proclaimed: "To the polls for the motherland! We will vote for the presidential coalition."

AKP everywhere on TV, crumbs for the opposition

Rolling out the TV propaganda is all the easier now that no one any longer ensures that the broadcast media adhere to their obligations to be balanced and impartial. The government stripped the High Council for Broadcasting (RTUK) and the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) of their powers to impose sanctions in 2017. And it has only been in the last week of the campaign that the public broadcast media have had to broadcast the campaign spots of all the different candidates.

As a result, in May, the public broadcaster TRT's news channels dedicated 68 hours to the AKP and less than seven to the CHP, the main opposition party. The other opposition parties got no more than crumbs: 12 minutes for IYI, eight minutes for Saadet, 23 minutes for Huda-Par and two minutes for Vatan. The left-wing, pro-Kurdish HDP, whose leader, Selahattin Demirtau, is in prison, was completely ignored although it won more than 13% of the vote and 80 seats in parliament in the June 2015 parliamentary elections.

Twelve state and privately-owned TV channels, including CNN Turk, Akit TV, A Haber and Ulke TV, stayed riveted for hours to AKP's presentation of its election programme on 24 May. No other party has enjoyed the same favours. It wasn't until 11 June that three leading TV channels provided live coverage of their first opposition rally.

Journalism under state of emergency

A referendum was held last year, but this is the first time Turkey has held elections under the draconian provisions of the state of emergency declared after the abortive coup attempt of July 2016 and extended for the seventh time in April, which have enabled the authorities to sweep away most fundamental freedoms and impose a climate of fear.

According to the figures compiled for Bianet by RSF's Turkey representative, 520 journalists were under threat of imprisonment in connection with their work at the end of 2017. Turkey is now the world's biggest jailer of media professionals, with more than 100 journalists currently detained. Dozens of them have been held for more than a year before being tried.

In February, three leading journalists, Ahmet Altan, Mehmet Altan and Nazl Ilcak, became the first to be convicted of complicity in the coup attempt. Despite a glaring absence of evidence, they were all sentenced to life imprisonment.

President Erdogan is far from being just one other candidate. Under article 299 of the criminal code, "insulting the President of the Republic" is punishable by imprisonment. No fewer than 43 journalists and media workers have been convicted on this charge since Erdogan's elevation from the position of prime minister to president in August 2014.

RSF testifies to international observers

Onderoglu, RSF's Turkey representative, expressed his deep concern to election observers from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on 29 May, and again to observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) today.

Turkey is ranked 157th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteEthiopian government unblocks 264 websites and blogs

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 25 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Ethiopian government unblocks 264 websites and blogs, 25 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b850551a.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 25, 2018  Updated on June 26, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) hails the new Ethiopian prime minister's decision to unblock 264 websites and blogs and urges him to go further by completely overhauling Ethiopia's the most draconian media laws.

The unblocking was announced in a tweet on 22 June by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's chief of staff, Fitsum Arega, who said: "A free flow of information is essential for engaged and responsible citizenry."

Stressing the importance of freedom of expression, Fitsum said the authorities were also unblocking the signals of TV channel Oromo Media Network, and Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT) which had its signals jammed over 28 times since its establishment in 2010. Opposition sites such as Zehabesha.com are among those being unblocked.

"After releasing journalists and bloggers, restoring Internet access and unblocking many online media, the new Ethiopian government seems determined to turn the page on the years of persecution of media personnel," said Arnaud Froger, the head of RSF's Africa desk. The Ethiopian prime minister must now go further by fully overhauling the very repressive legislation on journalists and media outlets, especially the terrorism law, which was only too often used as a pretext for harassing the media."

The restoration of Internet access, especially outside the capital, was one of Prime Minister Abiy's first decisions in April. Several journalists and bloggers were freed under a political amnesty at the start of the year and again in April. The new government has also promised to amend the press laws and the 2009 terrorism law, which was often used to arrest and prosecute journalists critical of the government.

Ethiopia is ranked 150th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteMoroccan court decides to try website editor separately

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 26 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Moroccan court decides to try website editor separately, 26 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b850553a.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 26, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls again for the immediate release of Badil.info website editor Hamid el Mahdaoui after a Casablanca court decided today to separate his trial from the trial of 54 co-defendants who, like him, are charged in connection with last year's so-called "Hirak" protests in northern Morocco's Rif region.

Arrested in the Rif city of Hoceima on 20 July 2017 while covering one of the protests, a peaceful march that was banned a few days before it took place, Mahdaoui is facing up to five years in prison on a charge of failing to report "an attempt to endanger internal state security" to the authorities.

"We are relieved by the Casablanca criminal court's decision to separate Badil.info editor Hamid el Mahdaoui's case from that of the Hirak protest movement," said Souhaieb Khayati, the head of RSF's North Africa bureau.

"The court must now free him. He was there as a journalist and was just doing his job as a reporter by covering news events of interest to the general public. We reiterate our call for the withdrawal of all charges against this website editor, who has no place being in prison. Reporting the news cannot be regarded as a crime."

Morocco is ranked 135th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteEgypt : "A death sentence for Shawkan would tarnish Sisi for ever"

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 27 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Egypt : "A death sentence for Shawkan would tarnish Sisi for ever", 27 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b850555a.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 27, 2018  Updated on June 28, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is concerned to see that few Egyptian media are daring to mention the case of Mahmoud Abou Zeid, the imprisoned Egyptian photojournalist also known as Shawkan, although on 30 June a Cairo court is due to rule on the prosecution's request that he and more than 700 co-defendants be sentenced to death for "terrorist acts."

Is Mahmoud Abou Zeid alias Shawkan's case now one of the many red lines that the government has imposed on the press in Egypt?

UNESCO's announcement in April that it was awarding its prestigious Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize to Shawkan, who has been held since 2013, had big impact in Egypt and the rest of the world, and elicited an irritated reaction from the Egyptian authorities stressing the fact that he is accused of terrorism.

Since then, this already sensitive story has become very complicated for the Egyptian media to cover in any way other than to repeat the absurd charges that Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's regime has brought against the young photographer.

A few days after the UNESCO award announcement, three journalists with Egypt Independent, the English-language online version of the famous daily Al Masry Al Youm, resigned rather than yield to pressure from their editors to publish an editorial treating Shawkan as a terrorist and portraying the award as a political attack on Egypt.

"The fact that a young journalist is today still facing a death sentence just for wanting to cover what proved to be a massacre in 2013 constitutes one of the most appalling attacks imaginable on journalism," RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said.

"It is obvious that Shawkan should be acquitted outright. Giving him a prison sentence would be a shameful attack on press freedom. Sentencing him to death would be act of ignominy that would disgrace Sisi's regime for ever."

RSF #MypicforShawkan campaign censored in Egypt

The authorities have tried to filter information in order to limit media coverage of Shawkan. His family has been subjected to police surveillance and Shawkan himself has been interrogated by national security officials and searched after he managed to smuggle a poem out of prison in which he commented on his UNESCO prize.

The big campaign that RSF launched in support of Shawkan a few weeks ago has been picked up by many international media outlets including Arabic-language ones  except in Egypt, where the campaign has been unable to circulate on social networks or on independent online media outlets, to which access is blocked. They include MadaMasr, Masr al Arabiya (whose editor has since been arrested) and Menassa.

At least 33 professional and non-professional journalists are currently detained in connection with their work in Egypt, which is ranked 161st out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteIndonesia urged to investigate reporter's death in detention

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 27 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, Indonesia urged to investigate reporter's death in detention, 27 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b850557a.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 27, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for an independent enquiry into the death in detention of Muhammad Yusuf, a reporter who was being held in South Kalimantan province, in the far south of the Indonesian part of Borneo, on a charge of defaming a local palm oil production company.

A series of irregularities surround Muhammad Yusuf's death in the town of Kotabaru on 10 June, nine weeks after his arrest because of his coverage of allegedly illegal land seizures linked to the activities of MSAM, a company that operates a huge oil palm plantation in the province.

Yusuf had become well-known for his reporting on the story, writing no fewer than 23 articles for two news websites, Kemajuan Rakyat and Berantas News, from November 2017 to March 2018. He was arrested on 5 April as he was about to fly to Jakarta to meet with the National Commission on Human Rights.

After holding him for more than two months, the police say he was taken from prison to a hospital in Kotabaru on 10 June with chest pains, vomiting and breathing difficulties, and died soon after arrival as a result of a heart attack.

"We call on the Indonesian government and supreme court to guarantee a full and independent investigation and to deploy whatever resources are necessary to ensure that all possible light is shed on this journalist's death," said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF's Asia-Pacific desk.

"The credibility of the rule of law in Indonesia is at stake because of the many doubts surrounding this case. What with his critical reporting, the appearance of collusion and a lack of transparency, there are many reasons for suspecting that Muhammad Yusuf died because of his journalistic work."

Strong suspicions

Yusuf's wife, Arvaidah, had requested his release three times on medical grounds because of concern about his state of health. After his death, she was denied access to the morgue and to the autopsy results. Convinced that his death was "not natural," she has filed a complaint against the police and district attorney, who were jointly responsible for detention.

Many people question the independence of the police and district attorney's office in this matter, inasmuch as South Kalimantan's governor is the uncle of the wealthy businessman who owns MSAM, the company targeted by Yusuf's reporting. According to Tempo, a leading Indonesian news website, bruises on the back of Yusuf's neck can be seen in a video of his body.

All these suspicions prompted the National Commission on Human Rights to announce last week that it was opening an investigation into his death.

Indonesia is ranked 124th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteAfter Mehmet Altan's release, RSF calls for release of colleagues

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 28 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, After Mehmet Altan's release, RSF calls for release of colleagues, 28 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b850559a.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 28, 2018

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) welcomes last night's release of Mehmet Altan, a well-known writer and journalist who had spent nearly two years in prison in Turkey. His release is nonetheless only conditional and depends on the outcome of his appeal.

"Mehmet Altan's release after 21 months of unjustifiable detention is a great relief," RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said. "We now call for his conviction to be overturned and for the immediate release of Ahmet Altan, Nazl Ilcak and all the other journalists held unjustly. This news should encourage the international community to step up its efforts on behalf of Turkey's journalists."

An Istanbul regional court ordered Mehmet Altan's release pending the outcome of his appeal against his conviction and sentence to "aggravated life imprisonment". For the time being, he remains under judicial control and cannot travel abroad.

The court based its decision on last January's ruling by the constitutional court that his continued provisional detention was unjustified. In other words, a binding decision issued by Turkey's highest court has finally been carried out, even if it took six months. The European Court of Human Rights issued a similar decision in March.

The court nonetheless refused to release Ahmet Altan and Nazl Ilcak, although they were sentenced along with Mehmet Altan to life imprisonment on a charge of "trying to overthrow constitutional order." All three were arrested in September 2016 for having criticized the government during a TV broadcast on the eve of the July 2016 coup attempt. A court is scheduled to begin hearing their appeal on 21 September.

Turkey is ranked 157th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index. The already worrying media situation has become critical under the state of emergency proclaimed after a coup attempt in July 2016. Around 150 media outlets have been closed, mass trials are being held and the country now holds the world record for the number of professional journalists detained.

Link to original story on RSF websiteMore harassment of journalists and citizen-journalists in Iran

Publisher Reporters Without Borders Publication Date 29 June 2018 Cite as Reporters Without Borders, More harassment of journalists and citizen-journalists in Iran, 29 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b85055ba.html [accessed 2 November 2021] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

June 29, 2018

Reporters Without Borders condemns the police violence and arbitrary arrests to which citizen-journalists have been subjected during this week's protests in Tehran. RSF also condemns the latest arrest of journalist and blogger Hengameh Shahidi and the continued detention of Mohammad Hossien Hidari, a journalist held illegally for the past two months.

Several citizen-journalists were badly beaten by police and some were arrested while trying to film the demonstrations in Tehran on 25 and 26 June and the accompanying police violence. The demonstrators were protesting against the national currency's devaluation and cost of living hikes.

Speaking on BBC Persian, one of the citizen-journalists said: "I was filming the demonstration with my sister when riot police approached me. They wanted to confiscate my phone but I resisted. One of them hit me with his baton and I fell. People began gathering around us and the police left."

As the national and international media are banned from covering demonstrations, most of the videos and photos of this week's protests that are available on social networks were shot by citizen-journalists, who are being deliberately targeted by the police.

As is usually the case during major street protests, Internet access is being disrupted and connection speeds have been reduced to make it harder to upload video and circulate information about the protests.

Hengameh Shahidi's arrest confirmed

The Tehran prosecutor-general has confirmed Hengameh Shahidi's arrest, accusing her of fleeing to Kish Island in the south of the country. This is denied by her family, who say she was arrested as she left the hospital where she had been treated for a heart ailment

On 15 May, a few days after posting several tweets about her time in detention last year,

Shahidi reported on Twitter that she had been summoned by the Tehran prosecutor's office for culture and media for "insulting the head of the judicial system."

The editor of the Paineveste blog, Shahidi was first arrested on 9 March 2017. Although very ill, she went on several hunger strikes in protest against her detention and against the conditions in which she was held, and was finally released on 29 August 2017.

Mohammad Hossien Hidari, the editor of Dolat e Bahar, a news website linked to the political current that supports controversial former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has meanwhile been held since 22 May.

His family and lawyer still do not know what he is charged with. His website has been inaccessible since his arrest. He was previously arrested on 21 November 2017 after being summoned to the Tehran prosecutor's office for culture and media, and was released pending trial after paying 100 million toman (about 90,000 euros) in bail.

Iran is ranked 164th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

Link to original story on RSF websiteSHELBURNE, Nova Scotia, Aug. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Black Bull Resources Inc. (TSXV:BBS.H) has released its Interim Report including the Financial Statements and Managements Discussion & Analysis for the third fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2017



The Company recorded a net and comprehensive loss for the three-month period of $26,874 versus $39,987 for June 30, 2017, or ($0.00) per share versus ($0.01). Allowing for non-cash operating expense of $1,248 compared to $1,199 for June 30, 2017 the Companys operational cash flow loss was $25,627 versus a loss of $39,788 for June 30, 2018.

On a year to date basis The Company recorded a net and comprehensive loss for the year to date of $88,772 versus $94,708 to June 30, 2017, or ($0.02) per share versus ($0.02). Allowing for non-cash operating expense of $3,596 compared to $3,744 to June 30, 2017 the Companys operational cash flow loss was $85,028 versus a loss of $91,112 to June 30, 2017.

The focus is complete the announced Proposed Change of Business, says Chris Every President and CEO, While the Companys future is uncertain we continue to reduce cash burn.

A complete set of Black Bull's Financial Statements, Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis for the period ended June 30, 2018 have been filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

About Black Bull Resources Inc.

Black Bull Resources Inc. is a Canadian mining company based in Nova Scotia that owns the White Rock Mine near Shelburne. Prior to suspension of operations, the mine produced a unique, bright, white, high-purity quartz, marketed under the Scotia WhiteTM trademark which is used in a range of value-added, specialty products.

The White Rock Property also contains an identified resource of kaolin and mica.

Further detailed information may be obtained from the Companys website www.blackbullresources.com or corporate filings at www.SEDAR.com. For other Company information contact:

Martin MacKinnon CFO

Black Bull Resources Inc.

Tel: 902-499-7183

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains certain forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including without limitation statements regarding the Companys mining properties, development results or future plans, are forward looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, changes in mineral prices, fluctuations in currency exchange rates, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, the capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates, delays in the development of projects, as well as those risk factors discussed or referred to in Management's Discussion and Analysis under the heading "[Risks and Uncertainties]" and other documents filed from time to time with the securities regulatory authorities in all provinces and territories of Canada and available at www.sedar.com.



Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Unless required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.



THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.Greenlawn, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 08/28/2018 --Forensic accounting has witnessed remarkable improvement these days. There was a time when there used to be more of bookkeeping performed in huge ledgers. With newer technology, the scenario has changed a lot. Today, accounting is far more commonly viewed as a business function, and general people also search for the information of the companies they are associated with. Biz Value Appraisers LTD is one such company that ensures cent percent transparency by maintaining in line with the development of IT and other technologies. With the help of the internet, the service has gotten wide strides. Online forensic accounting support services, restricted to a few even a few years ago, are now ending up being the wild business.



The reason is quite apparent. This industry has taken some time to embrace the more recent technology and has not left its passion entirely for the pen and pencil work. Some sector has observed its work now. All these have forced the market to embrace the online forensic accounting in New York City and New York County NY. The use of internet has also simplified the overall booking keeping systems.



At Big Value Appraisers LTD, forensic accountants specialize in forensic analytics which is the procurement and analysis of electronic data to reconstruct, detect, or otherwise support a claim of financial fraud. The main steps in forensic analytics are data collection, data preparation, data analysis, and reporting. Hence, they utilize forensic analytics to review an employee's purchasing card activity to assess whether any of the purchases were diverted or divertible for personal use.



Online forensic accounting can save time by allowing one to exchange info among the other clients and company. The seamless transfer is far more reliable and much quicker. It has powerful connectivity to the sourcing files of the clients' firms and can access anytime any details it requires from its clients' side.



For more information about shareholder oppression in New York City and New York County NY, visit http://www.bizvalueltd.com.



About BizValue Ltd

BizValue Ltd is considered one of the best in the industry of litigation and valuation. The company has a substantial client list and 20 offices all over the USA. The company has also set a benchmark for forensic accounting in New York City and New York County NY.English French German Spanish Italian Dutch

NEWS RELEASE REGULATED INFORMATION

Cost savings for healthcare providers in France, Germany, Italy and Spain of over 300 million

IRVINE, CA, and HERSTAL, BELGIUM - 07.00 CEST, 28 August 2018 - MDxHealth SA (Euronext: MDXH.BR) or the "Company" today announces that a study validating the cost-effectiveness of SelectMDx for Prostate Cancer, a non-invasive 'liquid biopsy' to identify patients at increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer, has been published online by the journal Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases.

The study was designed to reveal the cost-effectiveness of SelectMDx in a population of men with elevated prostate specific antigen (PSA) from France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The model used in the study compared the current standard of care, under which men undergo initial prostate biopsy in the case of an elevated PSA, with a strategy where SelectMDx was used to select men for biopsy based on the probability of them harboring the aggressive form of prostate cancer.

In all four countries included in the study, the simulated use of SelectMDx resulted in notable quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gains and cost-savings. In France, SelectMDx resulted in 0.022 QALYs gained at a cost savings of 1217 per patient. For Germany, the model showed a QALY gain of 0.016 and a cost saving of 442. In Italy, the QALY gain and cost savings were 0.031 and 762. In Spain 0.020 QALYs were gained and 250 costs were saved. The implementation of SelectMDx in the four countries was shown to reduce the number of biopsies for initial diagnosis and prevent unnecessary overtreatment. The annual total cost savings for the healthcare providers in the four EU countries is over 300 million. These results further reinforce the cost-effectiveness of SelectMDx already observed in similar studies in The Netherlands and the United States.

Dr. Jan Groen, Chief Executive Officer of MDxHealth, said: "These health-economic studies in four of the EU member States are important because it demonstrates to healthcare providers and reimbursement agencies in the four EU member States the potential of SelectMDx significantly reduce healthcare system costs compare to the current standard of care avoiding overtreatment and overdiagnosis. Alongside the cost-savings, the data shows SelectMDx to be a better safeguard of patient wellbeing and quality of life, as it avoids the side-effects of invasive treatment."

Dr. Groen continued: "These studies are key to drive reimbursement in the respective EU member States. Implementation of SelectMDx into the clinical pathway for prostate cancer diagnosis in all the EU countries might result in an overall total cost savings for healthcare providers of over 1 per year."

The paper is accessible via the online edition of the journal Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases.



About SelectMDx for Prostate Cancer

SelectMDx for Prostate Cancer is a proprietary urine based, molecular diagnostic test that offers a non-invasive 'liquid biopsy' method to assess a man's risk for prostate cancer. SelectMDx helps identify men at increased risk of harboring aggressive, potentially lethal, prostate cancer who may benefit most from a prostate biopsy and earlier detection. The test helps to reduce the need for MRI procedures and invasive prostate biopsies by up to 50%, thereby improving quality of life and lowering healthcare costs per patient. SelectMDx is available in the US and all EU member states. Since the introduction of the SelectMDx test in mid-2016, over 25,000 patients have been tested and 16 commercial contracts have been signed with US based insurance companies. The test has been included in the 2018 European Association of Urology (EAU) clinical guidelines.

About MDxHealth

MDxHealth is a multinational healthcare company that provides actionable molecular diagnostic information to personalize the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The company's tests are based on proprietary genetic, epigenetic (methylation) and other molecular technologies and assist physicians with the diagnosis of urologic cancers, prognosis of recurrence risk, and prediction of response to a specific therapy. The Company's European headquarters are in Herstal, Belgium, with laboratory operations in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, and US headquarters and laboratory operations based in Irvine, California. For more information, visit mdxhealth.com and follow us on social media at: twitter.com/mdxhealth, facebook.com/mdxhealth and linkedin.com/company/mdxhealth.

For more information:

MDxHealth



Dr. Jan Groen, CEO



US: +1 949 812 6979



BE: +32 4 257 70 21



info@mdxhealth.com



LifeSpring LifeSciences Communication,



Leon Melens



NL: +31 6 538 16 427



lmelens@lifespring.nl Consilium Strategic Communications

Amber Fennell, Chris Welsh & Hendrik Thys

UK: +44 20 3709 5701



mdxhealth@consilium-comms.com













This press release contains forward-looking statements and estimates with respect to the anticipated future performance of MDxHealth and the market in which it operates. Such statements and estimates are based on assumptions and assessments of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which were deemed reasonable but may not prove to be correct. Actual events are difficult to predict, may depend upon factors that are beyond the company's control, and may turn out to be materially different. MDxHealth expressly disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements in this release to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based unless required by law or regulation. This press release does not constitute an offer or invitation for the sale or purchase of securities or assets of MDxHealth in any jurisdiction. No securities of MDxHealth may be offered or sold within the United States without registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or in compliance with an exemption therefrom, and in accordance with any applicable U.S. securities laws.

NOTE: The MDxHealth logo, MDxHealth, ConfirmMDx, SelectMDx, AssureMDx, PredictMDx and UrNCollect are trademarks or registered trademarks of MDxHealth SA. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.

.Vevey and Seattle, 28 August 2018





Nestle and Starbucks close deal for the perpetual global license of Starbucks Consumer Packaged Goods and Foodservice products

Nestle and Starbucks Corporation today announced the closing of the deal granting Nestle the perpetual rights to market Starbucks Consumer Packaged Goods and Foodservice products globally, outside of the company's coffee shops.

Through the alliance, the two companies will work closely together on the existing Starbucks range of roast and ground coffee, whole beans as well as instant and portioned coffee. The alliance will also capitalize on the experience and capabilities of both companies to work on innovation with the goal of enhancing its product offerings for coffee lovers globally.

"This partnership demonstrates our growth agenda in action, giving Nestle an unparalleled position in the coffee business with a full suite of innovative brands. With Starbucks, Nescafe and Nespresso we bring together the world's most iconic coffee brands," said Mark Schneider, Nestle CEO . "The outstanding collaboration between the two teams resulted in a swift completion of this agreement, which will pave the way to capture further growth opportunities," he added.

The agreement significantly strengthens Nestle's coffee portfolio in the North American premium roast and ground and portioned coffee business. It also unlocks global expansion in grocery and foodservice for the Starbucks brand, utilizing the global reach of Nestle.

"This global coffee alliance with Nestle is a significant strategic milestone for the growth of Starbucks," said Kevin Johnson, president and ceo of Starbucks. "Bringing together the world's leading coffee retailer, the world's largest food and beverage company, and the world's largest and fast-growing installed base of at-home and single-serve coffee machines helps us amplify the Starbucks brand around the world while delivering long-term value creation for our shareholders."

Approximately 500 Starbucks employees in the United States and Europe will join the Nestle family, with the majority based in Seattle and London. The international expansion of the business will be led from Nestle's global headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland.

The agreement covers Starbucks packaged coffee and tea brands, such as Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee, TeavanaTM/MC, Starbucks VIA Instant, Torrefazione Italia coffee and Starbucks-branded K-Cup pods. It excludes Ready-to- Drink products and all sales of any products within Starbucks coffee shops.Join the MonDak Heritage Center for the Annual Meeting of the MonDak Historical & Art Society and the Family Trials and Temptations: Skeletons out of the Closet book program by author Lee Lindsey on Sunday, September 9 at 2:00 p.m. at the MonDak Heritage Center, 120 3rd Ave SE, Sidney.

A former Glendive Ranger Review reporter, Lee explores the Richland County homicide case of Loren Sharbono, who was found guilty in 1975 for the murder of his wife. After first declaring the death an accident, authorities later uncovered clues that led them to believe it was a homicide. Lee grew up on a farm in Eastern Montana, and her life intertwined with the murder in multiple ways. Immersed in a tragedy and a trial, she meets a man and finds a life she never dreamed possible. Reflecting on her past she revels in good memories, comes to terms with haunting ones, and lives with lingering bitter-sweetness. Lee will describe her book, her role in the trial, and how she researched and wrote it, as well as answer questions.

The Annual Meeting also features the MDHC Annual Report, board member elections, and refreshments! Free to the public! For more information on the program call 406-433-3500 or e-mail [email protected]Indian shares opened higher on Tuesday to hit fresh record highs after the U.S. and Mexico reached a preliminary trade deal, which would supersede NAFTA.

"We are starting negotiations with Canada pretty much immediately," U.S. President Donald Trump said, helping ease global trade tensions.

The benchmark BSE Sensex was up 86 points or 0.22 percent at 38,780 while the broader Nifty index was up 28 points or 0.24 percent at 11,720.

The rupee opened higher by 14 paise at 70.02 versus previous close 70.16 per dollar.

GAIL, Sun Pharma, Coal India, Cipla and NTPC rose 1-3 percent while Axis Bank, SBI, UPL, Yes Bank and Titan fell 1-2 percent.

Jet Airways shares were trading flat after the airline reported a loss for the second straight quarter.

Telecom stocks like Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular were trading mixed after Reliance Jio overtook Vodafone to become India's second-largest telecom company by revenue market share. Shares of Reliance Industries advanced 0.7 percent.

JBF Industries jumped 5 percent after KKR Jupiter Advisors agreed to buy its petrochemicals unit.

Oriental Bank of Commerce tumbled 2.4 percent on fund raising reports.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Market AnalysisVANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kaneh Bosm BioTechnolgy Inc. (CSE: KBB) (FWB: 8K51) (OTC: KNHBF) (Kaneh Bosm or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive agreement (the Agreement) with Danavian Cannabis Ltd. (Danavian) to acquire 100% of Danavians issued and outstanding shares.



Danavian controls licenses for cannabis cultivation and manufacturing in the Kingdom of Denmark. Kaneh Bosms entry into Denmark mirrors industry peers such as Canopy Growth Corporation, Green Organic Dutchman Holdings, Aurora Cannabis Inc. and CannTrust Holdings.

Danavian has engaged an Israeli cannabis organic cultivation and management company, Sababa Sciences Inc. (Sababa Sciences). Sababa Sciences will provide end-to-end management including the implementation of advanced Israeli agricultural technologies for high quality medical cannabis treatments. Danavian and Sababa Sciences have designed a 55,000 square foot, fully automated greenhouse facility that will meet IMC-GAP, ISO:9001 and European GMP standards. Finished cannabis and cannabis derivatives produced by Danavian will be sold through Denmarks retail pharmacy network.

On January 1, 2018, Denmark legalized medical cannabis following a unanimous vote by the Danish parliament. Since legalization, the Danish government has displayed strong support for cannabis development, in the forms of research grants and tax incentives.

Danavian holds claim to premier European cannabis assets; domiciled in a jurisdiction with a highly skilled agriculture and manufacturing workforce. Davavian also boasts various industry relationships that will complement future development potential throughout Scandinavia. Continued development of Danavians Danish cannabis portfolio will help serve both local and export market demand. Danavian is tactically positioned in immediate proximity to Germany, allowing for direct imports of CBD products, as well as medical cannabis flower.

Eugene Beukman, Chief Executive Officer of Kaneh Bosm states, Kaneh Bosm now holds claim to one of twelve highly coveted Danish cannabis cultivation and manufacturing licences. Denmark has proven to be an environment conducive to the continued development of sustainable and forward thinking cannabis enterprises. The Company looks forward to capitalizing on Denmarks tactical position within the European Union and well funded healthcare system.

The acquisition of Danavian will create material synergises with Kaneh Bosms existing European distribution channels and cultivation capabilities. This Agreement further enhances the Companys vertically integrated, European seed-to-sale aspirations. Danavian and Sababa Sciences plan to apply for local approvals to manufacture and distribute Sababas patented, formulated products.

Under the terms of the Agreement, the Company will issue approximately 37,878,787 common shares of the Company and pay a cash fee of $2,944,820.

The Company also announces it has elected not to conclude its previously announced transaction in Slovenia.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Kaneh Bosm Biotechnology Inc.

Michael Martinz

Michael Martinz

President, Director

mmartinz@kanehbosmbiotech.com

THE CSE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE.

This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words anticipate, continue, estimate, expect, may, will, would, project, should, believe and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. These statements speak only as of the date of this News Release. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks including various risk factors discussed in the Companys disclosure documents which can be found under the Companys profile on www.sedar.comConsumer confidence from France is due on Tuesday, headlining a light day for the European economic news.

At 2.45 am ET, France Insee publishes consumer confidence data for August. The index is seen unchanged at 97 in August.

At 3.30 am ET, Statistics Sweden is set to issue retail sales and foreign trade figures for July. Sales had decreased 1.8 percent on month in June.

At 4.00 am ET, the European Central Bank is slated to issue M3 money supply data. M3 is forecast to rise 4.3 percent on year in July, following a 4.4 percent rise in June.

In the meantime, Italy's consumer and confidence survey results are due.

At 5.00 am ET, Italy's Istat publishes producer prices for July. Prices increased 3.2 percent year-on-year in June.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business NewsFrench stocks held steady on Tuesday after rising notably in the previous session as the United States and Mexico agreed to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

U.S. President Donald Trump also indicated the U.S. would soon begin negotiations with Canada, but suggested that any agreement could be a separate deal. Investors expect Canada too would agree to the new terms to preserve a three-nation pact.

The benchmark CAC 40 index was little changed at 5,479 in opening deals after rising 0.9 percent the previous day.

Automakers paced the gainers, with Renault climbing 2 percent and Peugeot rising 1.4 percent.

Banks BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale were down between 0.7 percent and 1 percent.

In economic releases, France's consumer confidence held steady for the second straight month in August, in line with expectations, survey data from the statistical office Insee showed. The consumer sentiment score came in at 97 in August, the same reading as in the previous two months.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.comThe U.S. dollar drifted lower against its key counterparts in early European deals on Tuesday, as the US-Mexico trade deal to replace NAFTA triggered a sell-off of safe-haven assets.

European shares rose, following positive lead from Asia, amid optimism that global trade tensions are easing after the U.S.-Mexico deal.

President Donald Trump indicated the U.S. would soon begin negotiations with Canada, but suggested that any agreement could be a separate deal.

Trump said that a deal involving all three countries is a possibility, although separate bilateral agreements are also likely.

Investors await U.S. reports on home prices and consumer confidence later in the day for more clues about the .

The greenback declined to a 5-day low of 1.2910 against the pound and near a 4-week low of 1.1700 against the euro, from its early highs of 1.2862 and 1.1663, respectively. The greenback is likely to challenge support around 1.32 against the pound and 1.19 against the euro.

The greenback slipped to 0.9765 against the Swiss franc, its lowest since April 23. The next likely support for the greenback is seen around the 0.96 level.

Pulling away from a 4-day high of 111.36 hit at 11:45 pm ET, the greenback edged down to 111.07 against the yen. The greenback is poised to find support around the 108.00 level.

Extending early slide, the greenback depreciated to 1.2945 against the loonie, a level not seen since June 8. If the greenback falls further, 1.27 is possibly seen as its next support level.

The greenback fell back to 0.6704 against the kiwi, not far from a 6-day low of 0.6712 hit at 8:30 pm ET. On the downside, 0.69 is likely seen as the next support level for the greenback.

The greenback reversed from an early high of 0.7321 against the aussie, easing to 0.7352. Next key support for the greenback is seen around the 0.75 mark.

Looking ahead, U.S. wholesale inventories for July, S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for June and consumer confidence index for August are due in the New York session.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business NewsEuropean stocks were mostly higher on Tuesday as the U.S.-Mexico trade deal helped boost optimism for an easing of global trade tensions, which have been building up for months now.

U.S. President Donald Trump also indicated the U.S. would soon begin negotiations with Canada, but suggested that any agreement could be a separate deal. Investors expect Canada too would agree to the new terms to preserve a three-nation pact.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.1 percent at 385.90 in late opening deals after hitting a two-week higher earlier in the day. The benchmark index rose half a percent in the previous session.

The German DAX was moving up 0.2 percent and France's CAC 40 index was gaining 0.1 percent.

The U.K.s FTSE 100 was rising 0.4 percent and the pound weakened as traders returned to their desks after a long holiday weekend.

The pound hit a one-year low versus the euro after British Prime Minister Theresa May said that leaving the EU with no agreement in place "wouldn't be the end of the world".

Automakers led the surge, with BMW, Daimler, Volkswagen, Renault and Peugeot rising 1-2 percent.

Miners Rio Tinto, Anglo American and Glencore jumped 1-3 percent in London on optimism over improving global trade outlook.

Lloyds Banking Group rose about 1 percent after completing a 1 bn share buyback program.

NMC Health jumped 3.6 percent. The British healthcare provider has denied media reports regarding acquisition of assets in India.

Melrose Industries rallied 2.2 percent. The turnaround group behind the 8bn hostile takeover of engineering group GKN, has put the sale of Ergotron on hold, the Financial Times reported.

Danish brewer Royal Unibrew jumped 4.6 percent after the company achieved the best half-year results in the Group's history.

Lender Sydbank slumped almost 10 percent after unveiling its second-quarter earnings results.

In economic releases, France's consumer confidence held steady for the second straight month in August, in line with expectations, survey data from the statistical office Insee showed.

The consumer sentiment score came in at 97 in August, the same reading as in the previous two months.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.comChinese internet giants Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent have blocked cryptocurrency-related activities on their platforms. The move comes as the regulators in the country are intensifying crackdown on cryptocurrencies.

Internet search engine Baidu has shut down at least two crypto-related chat rooms, known as Post Bar services, including Digital Currency Bar and Virtual Currency Bar. The notice reportedly showed the online forums are temporarily closed in accordance with relevant laws, regulations and policies.

Tencent, which operates social media platform WeChat, has announced the ban on crypto trading. The platform is said to monitor daily transactions in real time and block any suspicious transactions when necessary.

Further, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba-controlled Ant Financial said it will restrict or permanently ban accounts on internet payment app Alipay, if found to be engaged in crypto trading.

It was in September last year that China started its crackdown on digital currencies, banning domestic exchanges and initial coin offerings or ICOs.

Beijing's central Chaoyang district reportedly banned hotels, office buildings and shopping malls in the area from hosting crypto-related events.

As per a state media report, the authorities plans to block access to 124 websites operated by offshore cryptoy exchanges that provide trading services to Chinese citizens.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business NewsSweden's exports and imports grew notably in July from a year earlier, figures from Statistics Sweden showed Tuesday.

The value of exports surged 16.0 percent year-over-year in July and imports by 13.0 percent.

As a result, the foreign trade in goods resulted in neither a surplus nor a deficit in July, at SEK 0.0 billion.

In the corresponding month last year, it was a deficit of SEK 1.8 billion.

Trade with countries outside the EU resulted in a surplus of SEK 7.5 billion, while EU trade showed a deficit of SEK 7.5 billion.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the net trade deficit amounted to SEK 3.1 billion in July, narrowed from SEK 3.4 billion last year.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.Oxford BioMedica plc (OXB.L) said that the European Commission has approved the Novartis CAR-T cell therapy, Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel, formerly CTL019. The approved indications are for the treatment of paediatric and young adults up to 25 years of age with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia that is refractory, in relapse post-transplant or in second stage or later relapse; and for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory (r/r) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) after two or more lines of systemic therapy.

Kymriah, developed by Novartis in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), is a ground breaking one time treatment that uses a patient's own T cells to fight cancer, and the only chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy to receive regulatory approval in the EU for these two distinct B-cell malignancies. Kymriah was also the first CAR-T cell therapy ever approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Oxford BioMedica is the sole manufacturer of the lentiviral vector that encodes the CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor in Kymriah. The Group signed an agreement with Novartis in July 2017 for the commercial and clinical supply of lentiviral vectors used to generate Kymriah and other undisclosed CAR-T products, for which Oxford BioMedica could potentially receive in excess of $100m from Novartis over the next three years. As announced in October 2014, Oxford BioMedica will also receive undisclosed royalties on potential future sales of Novartis CAR-T products.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business NewsSecretary of State Mike Pompeo declared Monday that the United States will "vigorously defend against Iran's meritless claims" in The Hague.

Pompeo was referring to Iran's plea to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) challenging the U.S. decision to abandon the deal on Teheran's nuclear program and to reimpose the sanctions that were suspended as part of that deal.

Monday, oral proceedings before the court in the Hague began on an application for provisional measures filed by Iran for "Alleged Violations of the 1955 Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations, and Consular Rights."

Iranian lawyer Mohsen Mohebi accused President Donald Trump's administration of trying to damage Iran's "as severely as possible" and violating a little-known 1955 friendship treaty.

"Iran's filing with the ICJ is an attempt to interfere with the sovereign rights of the United States to take lawful actions, including re-imposition of sanctions, which are necessary to protect our national security," Pompeo said in a statement. He termed the proceedings instituted by Iran "a misuse of the Court."

Pompeo vowed that the U.S. Government will continue to work with its allies to counter the Iranian regime's destabilizing activities in the region, block their financing of terror, and address Iran's proliferation of ballistic missiles and other advanced weapons systems that threaten international peace and stability.

"We will also ensure Iran has no path to a nuclear weapon - not now, not ever. The United States stands with the Iranian people who are longing for a country of economic opportunity, government transparency, and freedom from oppression," Pompeo added.

In connection with the withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May, the Trump administration laid out two wind-down periods of 90 days and 180 days for U.S. activities involving Iran.

On August 7th, when the 90-day wind-down period expired, the first set of sanctions came into force.

The second phase of "snapback" sanctions is scheduled to come into effect on November 5th. The sanctions will have implications for Iran's oil exports and energy sector, financial institutions conducting transactions with the Central Bank of Iran and Iran's shipping sector.

Trump withdrew from the JCPOA accusing the Iranian regime of exploiting the global financial system to fund its malign activities and of using this funding to support terrorism.

But Iran's President refuted these allegations.

The European Union is against the U.S. sanctions on Iran.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Political NewsThe Swiss stock market dropped into the red in early trade Tuesday and remained there for the majority of the session. The weak performance of the index heavyweights pressured the overall market.

The Swiss Market Index decreased by 0.16 percent Tuesday and finished at 9,084.26. The Swiss Leader Index dropped 0.11 percent and the Swiss Performance Index lost 0.14 percent.

The index heavyweights all finished in the red Tuesday. Novartis declined 0.7 percent, Nestle surrendered 0.3 percent and Roche dipped 0.1 percent.

Julius Baer was among the weakest performing stocks of the session, falling 1.2 percent. UBS decreased 0.2 percent, but Credit Suisse rose 0.1 percent.

The luxury goods companies turned in a solid performance. Swatch Group climbed 1.8 percent and rival Richemont advanced 1.6 percent.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Market AnalysisChinese electric vehicle start-up NIO on Tuesday said it seeks to raise up to $1.32 billion from the initial public offering of its American depositary shares.

The company, backed by Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd, plans to sell 160 million ADS at $6.25 to $8.25. NIO plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol 'NIO' At the higher end of the range, the company will get a valuation of about $8.46 billion.

Nio, a maker of electric vehicles, had filed for its IPO earlier this month. The IPO would be the biggest US listing by a Chinese automaker. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and J.P. Morgan are the joint bookrunners.

The company plans to use the proceeds to develop new products and finance investments in areas including autonomous driving and battery technologies.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business NewsCHATHAM, Ontario, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On August 27th, 2018, South West Ag Partners Inc. of Chatham, Ontario reached an agreement on the sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Veritas Farm Management to Deveron UAS of Toronto, Ontario.



South West Ag Partners and Veritas Farm Management have enjoyed a very beneficial partnership with Deveron UAS for several years. South West Ag Partners constantly focuses on operating its businesses in the most efficient and customer-oriented fashion. The discussions that lead to this transaction with Deveron are consistent with this focus, says Paul Hazzard, General Manager for South West Ag Partners Inc.

The sale includes South West Ag Partners 100 percent share of Veritas Farm Management Inc. This transaction is separate from the pending transaction between Cargill, La Coop federee, and South West Ag Partners. Finalization of the transaction with Deveron will take place upon the completion of definitive agreements and any required regulatory reviews. The sale is expected to close in Q3 of 2018.

Data, analytics and insights have always been the driving factors of our vision in building Deveron as a leading drone data company in North America, commented Deverons President & CEO, David MacMillan. Veritas has built an insights business deeply rooted in understanding the needs of farmers and what can be implemented on the farm today. We look forward to growing our mutual customer base by providing complementary product offerings that are all rooted in increasing yields and reducing costs.

Veritas was born out of the need for better management tools for Ontario farmers. Drone imagery has become one of the tools that allows for better management decisions. This partnership will enable Veritas to continue to develop and deliver measurable solutions to our current and growing geographical footprint of customers, in a way that is easy for farmers to implement. By working with the South West Ag team, Veritas Farm Management has been able to position itself within the Ontario market in a way that is both strategic and unique. This new relationship with Deveron will only enhance our ability to execute for our customers, says Aaron Breimer, Business Manager of Veritas Farm Management Inc.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Aaron Breimer

Business Manager

Veritas Farm Management Inc.

aaron.breimer@myveritas.ca

(519) 401-3039

ABOUT VERITAS FARM MANAGEMENT INC

Veritas Farm Management is a comprehensive farm management service that offers precision ag and farm business solutions to progressive farm and retail customers in southwestern Ontario. Veritas Farm Management is a wholly owned subsidiary of South West Ag Partners Inc. in Chatham, Ontario.

ABOUT DEVERON UAS

Deveron is a leading drone data services company providing powerful data applications and analytics to the agricultural community. Drone data helps farmers reduce costs and increase both yields and profit using sophisticated Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS or drones), sensors, software and analytics. Deverons drone imagery service network allows farmers in North America to obtain on-demand, actionable data so they can make timely production decisions with the use of ultra high-resolution data. The Company is focused on building a standardized network of pilots, drones and sensors to provide data to decision makers in the farming industry.Just days after the death of longtime Arizona Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., Republicans in the Grand Canyon State are headed to the polls on Tuesday to vote in a closely watched GOP primary.

Congresswoman Martha McSally, R-Ariz., is seen as the establishment choice for the Republican nomination in the race to replace retiring Senator Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.

McSally will face off against hardline conservatives former state Senator Kelli Ward and former Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio.

A recent poll conducted by OH Predictive Insights in partnership with the ABC affiliate in Phoenix showed McSally with a commanding lead.

Ward recently made headlines for suggesting the announcement of McCain ending medical treatment was timed to hurt her campaign and was forced to apologize.

The winner of the Republican nomination is likely to face Democratic Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., in the general election.

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, who is tasked with naming McCain's replacement, is facing a primary challenge but is widely expected to win the GOP nomination.

On the Democratic side, state Senator Steve Farley, Arizona State University education professor David Garcia and YWCA leader Kelly Fryer will face off to challenge Ducey.

The outcomes of wide-open gubernatorial primaries for both parties in Florida are also likely to attract attention on Tuesday.

Congressman Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., is expected to have the edge over state agriculture commissioner Adam Putnam in the GOP primary due to his endorsement by President Donald Trump.

Former Congresswoman Gwen Graham, D-Fla., is seen as the favorite over former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, businessman Jeff Greene and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum in the Democratic primary.

The eventual nominees will face off in what is expected to be a tight race to replace term-limited Republican Governor Rick Scott.

Meanwhile, Scott is likely to win the Republican Senate nomination in Florida, setting up a battle with Senator Bill Nelson, D-Fla., that is predicted to be the most expensive Senate race of the cycle.

In the race to succeed term-limited Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, Democratic state Attorney General Drew Edmondson will face the winner of the GOP primary between Tulsa businessman Kevin Stitt and Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett.

Political observers are also likely to keep an eye on the results of several congressional primaries in Arizona and Florida that could impact Democratic efforts to win control of the House.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Political NewsThe Ahmedabad District Cooperative Bank on Monday filed two criminal defamation complaints against Congress President Rahul Gandhi and party Spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala in a court here for their tweets regarding deposits made in the bank after demonetisation.

The complaints pertain to Surjewala's press statement about alleged conversion of over Rs 745 crore in old currency in five days following demonetisation on November 8, 2016.



He had later backed it with Twitter messages on the same. Similarly, Gandhi had posted tweets on the matter.



The court of Additional Metropolitan Magistrate ordered an inquiry under Section 22 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and posted the matter for September 17.





Pointing out that BJP President Amit Shah is a bank director, the Congress leaders had alleged that it was involved in a "national scam" after demonetisation.



Gandhi and Surjewala's tweets on June 22 had targeted both the BJP and Shah.



The cooprative bank and its Chairman Ajay Patel, through their counsel S.V. Raju, contested the allegations in the defamation suits and claimed that the allegations were false and defamatory.



IANS broke the story on June 22 about the bank netting the highest deposits among such cooperative banks of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes that were abruptly demonetised on November 8, 2016.



The information on the matter accessed under the Right to Information Act by a Mumbai-based RTI activist said that the ADCB had secured deposits of Rs 745.59 crore of the spiked notes in just five days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the demonetisation announcement.



On November 14, 2016, five days after demonetisation, all district cooperative banks were banned from accepting deposits of the banned currency from public amid fears that black money could be laundered through this route.SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Smaato, the leading global real-time advertising platform for mobile publishers and app developers, today announced two key strategic hires to manage their expansion in the APAC region.



Alex Khan will serve as Managing Director APAC. As the former Managing Director of Platforms APAC for Oath, Khan brings extensive experience in championing programmatic solutions for in-app publishers, media buyers, and agencies across the region. Smaato is also announcing the hiring of Toby Williams, Senior Director Demand Business Development APAC, who brings a wealth of experience from his time as the Head of Exchange Demand at Oath. Williams will be responsible for building agency and brand relationships within the region. Khan and Williams will be based in Smaatos Singapore office.

Im excited to lead the next phase in Smaatos regional expansion, said Alex Khan, Managing Director APAC at Smaato. Smaatos focus on in-app advertising is particularly well suited to the APAC market, which is experiencing explosive growth in demand from global brands.

As time spent on mobile becomes increasingly concentrated in apps, in-app advertising in the APAC region continues to show impressive growth. There has been a major shift in APACs mobile ad spending over the past two years, which corresponds with a growing preference for apps among consumers. In the first half of 2018, mobile ad spending in APAC was 95% in-app and only 5% mobile web on the Smaato platform.

Smaato has a significant presence across APAC, particularly China. The company, which was sold to Beijing-based Spearhead Marketing Communications Group in 2016, has a data center in China and a growing base of partners and clients in the country. The expansion of the Singapore office is part of a strategy to invest in countries where the company is seeing further growth and more demand for its mobile advertising technology, which delivers high-quality demand to a growing base of 90,000+ apps and traditional mobile websites.

We are honored that we were able to attract two digital marketing leaders to join and help us further expand into the APAC region," said Glenn Fishback, Chief Revenue Officer at Smaato. "Over the last eight years, Smaato has created a great foundation in APAC. We are now uniquely positioned to build upon the successes with these key hires."

About Smaato

Smaato is the leading global real-time mobile advertising platform, connecting 10,000+ advertisers  including 91 of the Top 100 Ad Age brands  with over 90,000 app developers and mobile web publishers. Smaato manages up to 19 billion mobile ad impressions daily and reaches over one billion unique mobile users monthly. Founded in 2005 by mobile pioneers Ragnar Kruse and Petra Vorsteher, Smaato has global headquarters in San Francisco, California, with additional offices in Berlin, Hamburg, New York City, Shanghai, and Singapore. Learn more at www.smaato.com .

Contact:

Emily Riley

914-330-1128The United Nations has invited Samoas business leaders to join the worlds largest corporate sustainability initiative this week.

U.N. Regional Director Simona Marinescu addressed the business community and stakeholders at the monthly U.N. sponsored Chamber of Commerce meeting in Apia.

She spoke to the participants on two U.N initiatives that are aimed at getting the private sector help achieve the international development goals.

In 2000, the United Nations finally realised that without the private sector, it is very difficult to grow fast, and to make nations grow together.

To encourage the private sector to participate, the late Kofi Annan founded the U.N Global Compact in 1998. Since then, nearly 10,000 companies have registered with the Global Compact across 164 countries.

These companies pledge to work towards achieving 17 Sustainable Development Goals (S.D.G's) written by the U.N, which are a call to action to work towards protecting the planet and its people.

Ms. Marinescu said while the U.N. partnered mostly with governments, today they are encouraging businesses to partner with them too.

On behalf of all of you, the I.C.C. [International Chamber of Commerce] adopted these development goals, she said.

Businesses who register with the Global Compact stand to benefit from their partnership with the U.N. as Members can carry the U.N. Global Compact logo and they can expect high facilitated supply of goods and services from U.N. agencies outside of Samoa.

There is a screening process and reporting process annually that deals with credibility and you are by default our partner, she added.

Fundamentally, Ms. Marinescu said registering with the Global Compact is about a full integration of human rights into your business.

Its a very transformative tool. Once you become a member, you are expected to promote responsible business and corporate social responsibility, she said.

Ms. Marinescu encouraged the businesses to take their time reading material available online about the process of joining the Global Compact.

To join the Global Compact, she said it requires commitment from the C.E.O. or equivalent leader to meet responsibilities in four areas - human rights, high labour standards, environmental sustainability and anti-corruption.

Responsible businesses know that good practices in one area do not offset harm in another.

Companies are required to complete online reporting each year to make an annual financial contribution and to align their business with 10 Global Compact principles.

Ms. Marinescu says the lasting benefits of joining the Global Compact far outweigh the work required to join.

You grow your competitive advantage because you are seen in the business community as operating within those 10 principals. Your position in the business sector is highly enhanced, she added.

Membership also increases the members credibility when it comes to future partnerships with the U.N. on any projects.

Local business owner, Faasotauloa Sam Saili said listening to Ms. Marinescu was encouraging and he plans to research the Global Compact further.

My company already meets some of the S.D.Gs through AUS Aid, but I am interested to look into this further, he said.

Faasotauloa said he still needed to know how much of a financial contribution his company would be expected to make and how often the reporting was expected before he made a commitment.Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi is leaving Fiji for his next destination with many wonderful memories of the welcome he received there.

Tuilaepa who is in Fiji for an official visit has had a fruitful couple of days. Welcomed by Fijis Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama, hes had bilateral meetings as well as the opportunity to make a courtesy call to the President of Fiji, Major General Jioji Konusi Konrote.

On Sunday, the Commander of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (R.F.M.F.) Rear Admiral Viliame Naupoto welcomed Prime Minister Tuilaepa during a Guard of Honor at Nausori Airport.

Fijis Prime Minister Bainimarama later greeted Tuilaepa before accompanying him to a traditional welcoming ceremony performed by the members of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces.

At a reception to host Tuilaepa and his delegation, which includes the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Afamasaga Rico Tupai and the Head of Foreign Affairs, Peseta Noumea Simi, Mr. Bainimarama highlighted the importance of the relationship between Samoa and Fiji.

When Fiji and Samoa assume global leadership, when we welcome global gatherings or when we speak in global forums, we speak for Fijians, we speak for Samoans, we speak for Tongans, Tuvaluans, and Solomon Islanders, and we speak for every woman, man and child in the Pacific, said Mr. Bainimarama.

He also thanked the Samoan government for its support and contribution towards fighting the impacts of climate change.

As Commonwealth members, as champions on climate change and oceans preservation, as committed partners in regional security and development, our successes are collective, and our future is shared."

For those reasons, and so many others, I know our nations shall always remain totally and completely committed to each others success.

Tuilaepa commended P.M. Bainimarama and the Fijian government for the ceremonies of welcome accorded to him and his delegation.

Tuilaepa also opened the Research Week at the University of the South Pacifics (U.S.P.), Laucala Campus in Suva where he spoke about the blue continent.

No doubt that all of you are aware that our blue continent is one of the most highly researched and studied corners of our planet, Tuilaepa said.

There is a lot of research that goes unnoticed, unsolicited or does not give or provide advice to our countries.

He said we as Pacific islanders needed to be aware of what was going on around us. The Research Week is from August 27-31.The plan to install parking meters in Apia began over three years ago when a study was done on the western side of Samoas capital city.

The details of the plan were released when the Land Transport Authority (L.T.A.) addressed local business owners and stakeholders on the recently installed parking meters.

L.T.A. Manager for Procurement and Programming division, Toaigaoaloali'i Matthew Wendt, said a 2014 study of the western side of the town center concluded parking meters would discourage long-term parking, which he said was a key cause of congestion in the area.

L.T.A. embarked on their research into suppliers of parking meters and once they found an agreeable price they set upon bringing them to Samoa.

Toaigaoaloali'is presentation was followed by questions from the business community.

Of particular interest were how the L.T.A. planned to enforce the new policy and whether they would consider building parking buildings to account for the increased need, rather than charging for existing parking.

He was also asked if the parking would include a handicapped space.

We are still in the pilot stage and will be adding spaces as requests for them, or as the demand arises, said Taoigailoalii.

Member of the Chamber of Commerce business community, Grant Percival said the parking meters would not do enough to address traffic flow problems.

Mr. Percival said the L.T.A. was not thinking far enough into the future, in terms of their urban planning and urban planning should be taken seriously to prepare for the next generation.The Ministry of Healths Mental Health Unit only has one fulltime psychiatrist to attend to patients suffering from mental illness.

The mental health unit (M.H.U.) is run by Tuifagatoa Dr. George Leao Tuitama, who is the only full time psychiatrist and mental health specialist, and is supported by a team of six senior nurses, two junior nurses, and three medical students. He also works with a consulting psychiatrist who is currently overseas till November.

Between them and their skills, they administer to the psychological, psychiatric, spiritual and emotional needs of their patients.

While Tuifagatoa admits having more staff would make their work easier, he said the team is managing, and has seen no major accidents or problems in the unit in recent years.

He said he and his team see each of their patients at least once a month to review their progress.

Some patients are kept at the M.H.U. until they can be safely returned to their families, while some stay at the Goshen Trust residential facility for an extended period.

Most patients on Tuifagatoas books are with their families in the community and are visited in their homes by the mental health specialist, to ensure they are taking their medications and recovering.

Tuifagatoa said that unfortunately, the supply of medical professionals will never meet the demand.

The bottom line is that almost all the [hospital] units are short. Not matter how many doctors they get they will find demand is still up.

According to Tuifagatoa, family is the most important part of treatment, to ensure a wide net of safety is cast around the patient.

Some [patients] are well enough to go home but they get stigmatized badly by their families and discriminated against, so they cant go home."

As soon as they do, their family chases them away.

People suffering mental illness often commit unkind acts, and this can damage their relationships with their families, added Tuifagatoa.

To try and counter this problem, the unit spends time bringing families in to spend time with their affected loved one, and join their journey towards recovery.

Most of the time when you are treating a patient, you are treating their family too.

Not only this but the unit needs families to help patients comply with their treatment and remain on the path to living a regular life.

When a patient goes home we cant rely on them to take their medication; we rely on their families to support them. Most of the time the treatment relies on how good the support is, Tuifagatoa said.

Faasootauloa Sam Seili is a board member of the Goshen Trust and said during rehabilitation it is impossible for patients to recover without family support.

Its not really the families fault that they dont know what to do because no one is providing the service of educating a family of what a mental health illness is, what are the symptoms, what help is available, he said.

The Goshen Trust attempts to fill that role and guide families towards better understanding and supporting of their loved ones and their mental illness.

However, continuing treatment and care at the Goshen Trust residential facility can often be challenging without a full-time in-house psychiatrist on board.

Faasootauloa said he hopes one day the trust can take on a volunteer actual psychiatrist, or someone who is well qualified in the mental health area.

Very few in Samoa are actually qualified in terms of mental health nursing.

To support Tuifagatoa Dr. George Leao Tuitama and the team, the M.O.H. brings psychiatrists from Australia and New Zealand to review patients at the M.H.U. once or twice a year.A 30-year-old male has pleaded guilty to stealing personal effects valued at over $28,000.

Appearing in the Supreme Court on Monday before His Honor, Chief Justice Patu Tiava'asu'e Falefatu Sapolu, Taeao Luteru of Gataivai Savaii and Pesega has been charged with burglary and theft.

In an application to the Court, the accused submitted that alcohol was involved when he committed the crime on July 28 this year.

Subsequently, counsel Leone Sua-Mailo from the Office of the Attorney General asked the Court to withdraw the individual charges against the defendant.

Your honor, the defendant has pleaded guilty to the charges as specified in the charging document therefore we seek courts leave to withdraw the other individual charges of theft, she said.

But the Chief Justice, in response, asked the counsel to explain why she did not advise the Court earlier of the position of the defendant.

Why didnt you tell me so we wouldnt waste time reading out the other charges and that you were going to withdraw, he said.

Ms. Leone said they handed the charging documents to the registrar to read out.

All the individual charges of theft against the defendant, we seek the Courts indulgence to withdraw all of them, but we are proceeding with the charges as stipulated in the charging document.

Chief Justice Patu granted the application, saying: All the charges that you pleaded guilty to except for the last charges in that were read out from the charging document, the prosecution has requested to withdraw all of those individual charges and the court has granted the application.

When the Chief Justice asked the defendant if alcohol was involved at the time of the offense, he replied in the affirmative and said alcohol was involved.

The Court has noted down your guilty plea to the charges against you therefore you will be referred to the Drugs and Alcohols Court and then report back to the Supreme Court later, said the Chief Justice.

According to the Police summary of facts the victim is a male of Tanumapua by the name of Tanu Muliaina.

On 28 July 2018 the defendant unlawfully entered the home of Mr. Muliaina without a valid reason and committed the crime of burglary.

The stolen goods included 2 firearms, flash light, vehicle light and radio, a lawn mower, petrol, chainsaw, drill hammer, karaoke speaker, compact disc player and spray paint.Ten contestants will be vying for the Miss Samoa Faafafine 2018 crown during the National Faafafine Pageant to be held at Faleata Gym 1 on Friday, 31 August, 2018.

This was confirmed during a press conference at the NXT club, Marina bar on Saturday morning.

According to a press statement, this years theme This is me pays homage to the advocacy work of Samoa Faafafine Association (S.F.A.) in the last decade in Human Rights, H.I.V. /A.I.D.S. awareness, social and environmental justice and charity.

It is a reminder of the essence of our community efforts that is people centered and at the core celebrating people for who they are as citizens of Samoa, stated the press release.

The statement said the theme also reaffirms the foundation of the S.F.A. to be the voice of the voiceless and through small steps contribute to the realisation of inclusiveness for all.

The contestants introduced themselves to members of the media, sponsors and special guests during the press conference as their first public appearance.

Formalities were followed by all contestants and attendees getting free H.I.V. testing with faafafine members from the National Health Services and U.N.D.P. Global Fund, one of the pageants major sponsors, said the statement.

S.F.A. President Alex Sua reminded the contestants of the importance of this years theme and its relevance to all faafafine in Samoa and abroad.

We have talked about H.I.V. /A.I.D.S., diabetes, cyber bullying, sexual violence and so many issues around us, it is time to bring the discussion to us, lets talk about us, Alex said in the statement.

You all will be the voice of every voiceless, faceless faafafine and faatama in Samoa, make sure you become more than contestants this year. You are ambassadors of our community. Go out there and inspire empowerment of our community.

The pageant is also the grand finale of the 3rd I.L.G.A. Oceania regional conference from the August 28  September 1.

This is the first time S.F.A. will host a regional conference and the Miss Faafafine Pageant will conclude a week of networking and dialogue with regional delegates from 17 countries in the Oceania region.

The ten contestants are:

1. Mandy Lemalu Ainuu: Miss J&M Creations

2. Lehara Keresoma: Miss Four Corners Taxi Stand

3. Celine Hunter: Miss Le Polynesian Island Wear

4. Tanu Okesene: Miss FamFriends

5. Malisha Vaifale: Miss Anoamaa Queens Association

6. Sei Vainalei Chen Pao: Miss Samoa Faafafine Victoria

7. Moore Mua Valentino: Miss Aim Global

8. Rubenita Pau: Miss Le Foafoa

9. Barbra Tino Tiufea Vaa: Miss Naricas Creations

10. Ranier Matuaitofiga: Miss House Kaenaird

Tickets are available at the Samoa Stationery and Books Megastore Togafuafua, Samoa Tourism Authority Fale and Aunty Tinas Store, Vaigaga. For more information visit our Facebook page www.facebook.com/sfaincTo mark the 40th Anniversary of the Samoa Observer, a series of selected articles printed over the last 40 years will be re-published in the next two weeks, to show our readers the issues covered by this newspaper over the years and the personalities that made the headlines.





First Published: 01 February 1979

His highness, the Head of State Malietoa Tanumafili II lay the foundation stone for the Bahai House of worship in Samoa at Tiapapata last Saturday afternoon.

And representing the churchs headquarters in Israel was the distinguished Mmme Ruhiyyih Rabbin who is also a renounced writer,

The ceremony was also attended by several government officials and church ministers of other religions among more than 500 others.

In his ceremonial address, His Highness spoke of unity. The unity of religions and races and on how Samoa was founded on God.

Madame Rabbani in her remarks stressed that when the temple was built, people of all religions, as well as those of no religious belief would be welcome.

She said that because there was no clergy in the Bahai Faith, only scriptures from the bible and other sacred Holy Books, including the Bahai writings would be read in the temple.

After the stone laying ceremony, songs were sung by the Bahai choir.

An outstanding sua was served and sasa then took place.

The ceremony was capped with a banquet at the Tusitala Hotel where the guests were entertained with classical Persian music played on the santur.

The dedication ceremony was the highlight of a special Bahai Conference held at the Feiloaimauso Hall in the weekend, a Bahai Minister said in a press statement.To mark the 40th Anniversary of the Samoa Observer, a series of selected articles printed over the last 40 years will be re-published in the next two weeks, to show our readers the issues covered by this newspaper over the years and the personalities that made the headlines.





First Published: 29 March 1979

The Opposition Leader, Hon Vaai Kolone, in his moving address yesterday at the Fono House following the election of Hon Tupuola Efi as Prime Minister, turned defeat into victory.

A self-made man accustomed to challenge Hon Vaai, in his speech was proving possible the impossible. He was showing that a man of dignity could accept defeat as easily as he could victory. Hon Vaai did not hesitate in praising Hon Tupuola Efi and his supporters for the work they have put into the struggle for prime minister.

Devoid of ill-feeling, Hon Vaais memorable speech conveyed nothing but a sincere belief in the parliament of which he is, and has been a member. His is a conviction that the countrys leaders, however mis-branded they might have been, have in common a sincere responsibility for a common cause.

One of the oldest serving politicians, Hon Vaais dedications to his country could not be easily questioned. His message is that the leaders remain unswayed in their responsibilities to their country.

Hon. Vaai in his address, made no hesitation in wishing the new government well. His unswerving good intentions would have done a less dignified man, great service. In a packed house of attentive listeners, Hon. Vaais address was deeply felt. His voice carried authority, a voice unaffected by defeat or even by victory.

He wished the Head of State well and then the Member of the Council of Deputies, Hon. Tupua Tamasese. On Hon. Tupuolas election as Prime Minister, he said You are now at the helm of Samoas boat for the next three years.

Choose your crew well so that Samoa might have a better tomorrow. Hon. Vaai expressed his gratitude for his own supporters. The end of his speech was heralded by a loud applause.To mark the 40th Anniversary of the Samoa Observer, a series of selected articles printed over the last 40 years will be re-published in the next two weeks, to show our readers the issues covered by this newspaper over the years and the personalities that made the headlines.





First Published: 29 March 1979

The Prime Minister, Hon. Tupuola Efi, has made it back by a narrow margin.

He has retained his leadership by polling 24 votes against 23 by Opposition leader Hon. Vaai Kolone, in what has been described as the toughest struggle for Prime Minister this country has ever seen.

After almost five weeks of intensive campaigning, the new Parliament went into its first session yesterday to vote for a prime minister.

In most counts, the intensive campaigning paid off.

Yesterday, the Opposition has indicated it had in its camp 23 Members of Parliament who had pledged faithful support.

At about the same time, Hon. Tupuolass camp said it had 24, members of Parliament.

A 47 member Legislative, the Fono has to choose a Speaker of the House first, then a Deputy Speaker and then the Prime Minister.

In all three separate elections, the Clerk of the House, Feesago Siaosi Fepuleai, calls each member up to the desk where each member casts his vote.

At the end of each election, a count was made and an announcement was given.

From practice, was an accepted that the election the Speaker of House would determine to a good extent which side the scale would tip.

The elected Speaker, as it happened, was a Tupuola supporter. He polled 24 votes against 23 polled by his opponent.

In the general elections on 24 February, 16 new members made it into Parliament. One of the fallen members was the Minister of Education, Lilomaiava Niko.

All the other 7 Cabinet Ministers in the previous government stood firmly behind Tupuola during the intensive campaigning leading up to the election of a Prime Minister.

The campaigning for the prime minister could have been described as far worse than a toughest struggle.

One week before elections, the Opposition issued a public statement alleging that the Prime Ministers party had bribed a member of the Opposition with $1000 for the purpose of buying his support.

The allegation was denied by the Prime Ministers party. There wre also reports made by an Opposition member that telephones belonging to certain Opposition Members were being tapped. Before that, telephones belonging to members of Tupuolas party were reported tapped. The reports were taken lightly because such allegations had been hurled about, and they showed to have no substance after investigations.

But, the Prime Minister chosen would now face the task of choosing his Cabinet Ministers.

In this manner, it would be well to bear in mind Hon. Vaais urging, that those who could help Samoa achieve a better tomorrow, be chosen.

Tupuola Efi, although he has been a politician for several years, was the Prime Minister for the last three years.

In the general elections of 24 February, he retained his seat of Aana Alofi No. 2, with 92 votes against his opponent who polled 26. In 1976 he was unopposed.

Tupuola Efi is the son of the late Tupua Tamasese Meaole, the joint Head of States until his death in 1963.--- Rig Will Move to Tau Prospect to Begin Drilling of Subsalt Portfolio ---

HOUSTON, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GulfSlope Energy, Inc. (OTCQB: GSPE) (GulfSlope or the Company) today announced drilling results for the GulfSlope Energy OCS-G-35589 #1 well on Vermilion Block 378 (VR 378) referred to as the Canoe Shallow Prospect. Based on Logging-While-Drilling (LWD) and Isotube analysis of hydrocarbon samples, oil sands were encountered in the northwest center of the block. The well was drilled to a total of 5,765 feet measured depth (5,700 feet true vertical depth) and encountered no problems while drilling.



A full integration of the well information and seismic data will be performed for further evaluation of the shallow potential of the wellbore and the block, and to define commerciality of these oil pays. The well is being temporarily abandoned with multiple open hole plugs to be set across several intervals. The well is equipped with a mud-line suspension system for possible future re-entry. A deeper subsalt prospect on VR 378, for which the block was originally leased, is not yet drill-ready and is pending further seismic enhancement.

The high-spec Rowan Ralph Coffman jackup rig is expected to be under tow to the Companys Ship Shoal Area, South Addition Blocks 336/351 location by August 31, where drilling will commence on the Tau Subsalt Prospect. This will be the inaugural well in GulfSlopes Phase 1 Subsalt Drilling Portfolio of high potential prospects, which will test Miocene reservoirs beneath thick salt sheets on the shelf in 300 feet to 400 feet of water depth. At a planned depth of 29,860 feet measured depth (26,132 feet true vertical depth), the Tau Prospect exploratory well is projected to drill one of the thickest sub-seafloor geologic sections in Gulf of Mexico history almost five miles below the seafloor.

GulfSlope is the operator of the Tau well with a 20 percent working interest. Delek GOM Investments LLC, a subsidiary of Delek Group Ltd. (Delek) will have a 75 percent working interest and Texas South Energy Inc. will own a five percent working interest.

About GulfSlope Energy

GulfSlope Energy is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on exploring offshore U.S. Gulf of Mexico. To learn more, visit the GulfSlope Energy website at www.GulfSlope.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release are forward-looking statements. The Company can give no assurances that the assumptions upon which the forward-looking statements are based will prove to be correct. Because forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. There are a number of risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. A detailed discussion of possible risks is included in Risk Factors included in the Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 29, 2017. Except as otherwise required by the federal securities laws, the Company disclaims any obligations or undertaking to publicly release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained in this press release to reflect any change in the Companys expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

Contacts

Al Petrie Advisors

Al Petrie

Phone: 504-258-9548

Email: al@alpetrie.comSEATTLE (AP)  Marking another phase in his education agenda, Bill Gates is now taking a more targeted approach to help struggling U.S. schools.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is now funding groups working directly with clusters of public schools in some of the most impoverished regions of the country. Many of those third-party groups already had relationships with the world's largest philanthropy, and some of the grants went straight to a school district and charter schools organization.

The foundation on Tuesday announced the first round of nearly $100 million for 19 program initiatives for middle and high schools in poor communities across 13 states. Gates pledged $460 million over the next five years to fund networks of school programs that help low-income and minority students get to college.

The grants will address the whole scope of what it takes to get those students to college  from academic skills like math and english proficiency, to existential pitfalls like middle school suspensions and the college application process.

It's also another indication that the Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist is trying to be less prescriptive with top-down ideas that have rankled some educators. Critics have said the foundation's work over the past decade has included trial-and-error programs that haven't accomplished as much as hoped to help vulnerable children succeed in school.

"We're not inventing anything in this strategy. We're taking what we learned from research and experience," said Bob Hughes, who leads Gates' K-12 education program.

Letting local and regional forces take the lead marks a departure from the national or system-wide education initiatives that Gates previously supported, including majorly consequential directives over academic standards, teacher evaluations and school sizes.

Here's a look at some of the Gates Foundation's educational funding over the past two decades:

NETWORKS FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT

SINCE 2018 ' $460 Million

Gates is granting money for specific proposals submitted by various groups, public school districts and charter school networks to support and expand programming ideas aimed at helping low-income children.

Among the grantees is the San Diego-based High Tech High Graduate School of Education. The program's provost Ben Daley said the school will use the money to help students navigate what can be an overwhelming college admissions process that includes trying to get financial aid, transferring credits and following up on college acceptance letters.

Daley said that work will be more nuanced than layering more programming on top of what's already offered, so that it can be a "simple, engaging and positive" resource for kids across 30 public, charter and alternative high schools in his region.

"We know if it's just like 'more.' That's not going to work," Daley said.

COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS

1999-2018 ' $1.6 BILLION

The most enduring Gates Foundation program was the Gates Millennium Scholars.

Gates wanted to foster diversity in science-related fields with college scholarship money. More than half of the 20,000 scholarships went to lower-income minority students whose parents hadn't gone to college. Gates also supported recipients when many went on to graduate school with hopes to diversify leadership in those fields.

That program officially ended in 2018, though the scholarship model lives on as the new Gates Scholars program, which is limited to undergraduate studies.

COMMON CORE

2008-2017 ' $280 million

Gates used his money and celebrity to support the Common Core State Standards because he believed it ensured all kids got an equally good education. The academic standards determined what kids should learn, but doesn't set the curriculum or determine how kids learn.

His success was evident when nearly all states initially adopted it, but President Barack Obama's support became politically problematic.

Obama's administration created incentives benefiting Common Core's roll-out, which critics slammed as tantamount to federal overreach. The teachers and parents who also soured on the standards claimed a formulaic approach to education was confusing and detrimental to the learning process.

TEACHER QUALITY AND EVALUATIONS

2009-2015 ' $257 Million

Gates set out to quantify what it takes to be a good teacher and partially funded school districts that were piloting ways to measure and improve teaching. But the idea to tie student test scores to teacher evaluations upset some teachers.

The program ended poorly. An independent Rand Corporation report commissioned by Gates said the endeavor failed to substantially improve the learning process for either teachers or students. Hillsborough County Public Schools in Tampa, Florida was left scrambling financially after the Gates money disappeared.

SMALL SCHOOLS

2001-2009 ' $345 million

Convinced that smaller schools with specific interests could foster better, more motivated learning for the most at-risk students, Gates spent millions testing how to break up the large comprehensive high school model.

But schools struggled with the logistics of multiple academies under the same roof and communities felt disconnected by the changes. The academic gains were in some cases impressive but limited in scope. Gates chalked it up to the financial and political cost of changing traditional schools.

LIBRARY TECHNOLOGY

1999-2007 ' $325 million

Bill and Melinda Gates' first major charitable effort was to install personal computers and internet access in libraries. Then known as the Gates Library Foundation, the initiative was eventually absorbed into their namesake, Seattle-based foundation that is today the world's largest private nonprofit.

The man who led the computing revolution and his wife  a former computer programmer and Microsoft manager  gave money for computers, internet and librarian training.

The library program ensured 10,000 libraries  or 99 percent of all public libraries at the time  across the country had access to the new technology, particularly in low-income communities.Santee has hired an outside firm to help it look over a citizens initiative headed for the 2020 ballot, despite public outcry against the move.

The City Council voted 4-1 on Wednesday , with Councilman Stephen Houlahan dissenting, to hire London Moeder Advisors to look into the Santee General Plan Protection Initiative.

The citizens initiative, backed by Houlahan and environmental activist Van Collinsworth, would allow Santee residents to decide the fate of high-density housing projects that do not comply with the citys general plan.

The initiative seeks to amend Santees general plan to require voter approval for zoning changes that would increase the density or otherwise intensify land uses permitted by city law; or alter or increase Santees general plans land use categories.

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Initiative supporters gathered enough signatures  10 percent, or 3,779 of 32,962 registered voters  to qualify the measure for the ballot. The city could have put it on this years ballot but opted to do a 30-day study on the implications of the initiative. That decision made it too late to get the initiative on the November ballot.

The City Council earlier this month said it was concerned that the measure would change the economy of the city by affecting the ability to collect developer impact fees. Those fees contribute toward community needs, such as parks and fire stations.

The city believes the study will help it look at how the initiative, if it passes, would affect Santees finances, land uses and the citys ability to attract new business and development.

Santee set aside $40,000 from its general fund for London Moeders study. It is expected to report back to the City Council in September. The company is a San Diego-based group that provides real estate advisory services to jurisdictions, estate planners and developers.

According to its agreement with Santee, London Moeder will address how, if voters approve it, the initiative might:

Affect the citys finances;

Create inconsistencies in Santees general plan with the citys housing element and zoning laws;

Affect required regional housing needs;

Alter how the city attracts and retains businesses and employment;

Change uses of vacant parcels of land;

Have consequences on agricultural land, open space, traffic congestion, existing business districts and areas designated for revitalization.

Collinsworth, who represents the group Preserve Wild Santee, told the City Council that the study will not be objective because building industry lobbyists back the London Moeder group.

(They) want to throw out the countys general plan. We already know what (London Moeder) is going to say, Collinsworth said.

Zach Gianino, one of three candidates vying for the District 3 council seat, called spending money on the study political theatrics and said the city should have reached out to San Diego State public affairs/city planning or UCSD urban studies/planning development advisers.

For the past couple of years, weve watched developers come into this chamber and really have their way, Gianino said. Requesting extensions, exemptions and amendments with little to no pushback.  Who are we paying $40,000 to? A real estate advisory firm. Really? I mean a real estate firm? I dont see how a real estate firm could be impartial.

Gary London, senior principal at London Moeder said he understood people questioning the company because it is well known for its work with public agencies in the real estate, building and investment sectors, but said there is no room in the report for our opinions, values or philosophy.

This is just a straight state requirement, strictly research work and analysis speaking to the economic and fiscal impacts (of the initiative). London said.

Santee resident Dan Bickford told the council he was looking forward to the report. He said if the initiative passes it will ultimately bankrupt our city.

This will stop needed business and community projects, he said. It will stop all current businesses from expanding within our city, stop construction of a teen center, a community center, any possibility of a new library, summer concerts, activities that make this city great.

Bickford said he was bothered that petitioners asking for signatures were giving alternative facts in publicly pushing the initiative as a way to alleviate traffic problems along Mast Boulevard and stop a developers plan to build 3,000 homes in Fanita Ranch, above Santee Lakes.

This initiative will do nothing to improve Mast Boulevard traffic, if anything, it will make it worse, Bickford said. Why? Well, there wont be any money to fix Mast Boulevard. Signature collectors also told voters the initiative would stop Fanita Ranch. The initiative will not stop Fanita Ranch. It may delay it, it may change the design but Fanita Ranch will be built.

Collinsworth suggested that instead of having a report done, Santee should look at how Chula Vista and Poway took different paths on growth, infrastructure and finances.

Poway since 1988 has had a general protection plan to allow for managed growth, with voters allowed to weigh in on developments, he said. Chula Vista does not have a general protection plan and has been free to approve every residential development without needing voter approval.

With 267,000 people now living in Chula Vista, the city has not been able to keep up with services and infrastructure needs, raising taxes twice in recent years to pay for them, Collinsworth said.

City Councilman Rob McNelis said Santee and Poway should not be compared because of a variety of different circumstances, including median housing prices and taxes generated. McNelis also advocated for Santee to update its general plan every five years to keep up with a rapidly changing society.

karen.pearlman@sduniontribune.comThe San Ysidro School District has a new chief business official  a position that was eliminated three years ago under the leadership of a former superintendent accused of financial misdeeds.

Marilyn Adrianzen, who has had a lengthy career in school finance, was hired in July to oversee the business services department, which is responsible for ensuring the district is financially sound.

It is a crucial position, especially because the 5,000-student district has been plagued by financial troubles in recent years.

Adrianzen served as the director of fiscal services for the South Bay Union School District since last November. She had held the same position at the Lemon Grove School District for nine years, a period in which she worked closely with San Ysidros new superintendent, Gina Potter.

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Potter was Lemon Groves deputy superintendent at the time. She stepped into the top position in San Ysidro in May.

Marilyn brings a wealth of school finance experience, knowledge and integrity to the chief business official position at San Ysidro School District, Potter said in an email. I am honored to have her on our administrative team. She shares the values we are all working to achieve: (to) provide the best education for our children and maintain the financial stability of our district.

Adrianzen has also held various financial positions with Sweetwater Union, Chula Vista Elementary and Escondido Union school districts, as well as the Metropolitan Transit System and National City and Del Mar.

Adrianzen said she decided to take on the new job because she wanted to support Potter and help the district.

She said her first order of business is to ensure the district has strong protocols and policies in place to safeguard district funds. She noted an accounting firm will be evaluating the districts internal controls.

Her other priorities include educating staff, trustees and parents on the districts budget and other finance matters. She said she plans to build trust by making herself available to answer questions about the districts finances, by having an open-door policy and visiting schools. She said she also plans to keep the school board and parents informed on all financial matters and put together clear presentations on the districts budget.

The goal, she said, is to be as transparent as possible.

Adrianzen is the first permanent chief business official since 2015.

Under the leadership of then-Superintendent Julio Fonseca, the position was dropped after the resignation of Dena Whittington.

Whittington, who had served as the assistant superintendent of business services since 2010, was placed on paid leave for undisclosed reasons in August 2015 and resigned six days later.

In the month before Whittington left, the district created a new position  chief operations officer  and hired Arturo Sanchez-Macias, who, like Fonseca, arrived in San Ysidro from the Bassett Unified School District in Los Angeles County.

When Whittington resigned, Sanchez-Macias took control of the business services department as part of his new job.

Sanchez-Macias resigned in November amid accusations of financial misdeeds against him and Fonseca, who had resigned two months earlier with a controversial separation package.

A state audit completed in June found Fonseca and Sanchez-Macias were each overpaid more than $160,000 in their two-year tenure, mostly in payouts for vacation days and term life insurance.

Fonseca and Sanchez-Macias also were reimbursed for questionable expenses that were not approved in advance, according to the audit. Some of the reimbursements were completed without proper documentation.

The audit concluded there was evidence of fraud, misappropriation of funds or other illegal fiscal activities. The findings were turned over in June to the District Attorneys Office.

In the wake of the leadership instability triggered by resignations of Fonseca and Sanchez-Macias, the district reinstated the position of chief business official. It was filled in the interim by Peter Wong until Adrianzen was hired.

Adrianzen, who started on July 24, will be paid a base salary of $147,000.

Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com

Phone: (619) 293-1876

Twitter: @D4VIDHernandezFrom downtown to Encinitas and everywhere in between, here are the latest restaurants and bars to open around San Diego County.

Amicis Ristobar

Carmel Valley

In mid-June, the former Dolce at the Highlands restaurant in Carmel Valley reopened with a new name and menu. Friends (amici in Italian) of former owner Tony Smith, who died unexpectedly last fall at age 57, bought the upscale Italian restaurant from Smiths widow and refreshed it with a new name, less-formal decor and a lower-priced, more family-friendly menu. Chef Rhoelle Gabriels new menu focuses on shareable plates inspired by the cuisine of Southern Italy, including eggplant parmigiana in a jar. Theres also a new childrens menu. Its open for lunch, dinner and weekend brunch. Read more about the restaurant here.

Pacific Highlands Ranch, 5980 Village Way, Ste. B106, Carmel Valley, 858.847.2740, amicisristobar.com

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Roasted octopus with cannellini beans, a dish on the new menu at Amicis Ristobar in Carmel Valley. The restaurant reopened this month after a name and menu change. (Jim Sullivan)

Blanco Tacos + Tequila

Fashion Valley

Slated for a late September opening, this Phoenix-based restaurant/bar takes over the former California Pizza Kitchen space at Fashion Valley. Blanco specializes in fresh Mexican food served in a modern, al fresco setting with a selection of tequila, mezcal, cocktails and margaritas. The menu will feature 11 varieties of tacos, including grilled avocado, braised short rib, machaca and crispy shrimp.

Fashion Valley: 7007 Friars Rd., Ste. 901, Mission Valley, 619.810.2931, blancotacostequila.com

Blanco Tacos + Tequila. (Courtesy photo)

Casa Rustica

Carmel Valley

A new concept from San Diego restaurateur Johan Engmans Rise and Shine Restaurant Group is this moderately priced Mexican restaurant that opened in late June in the former Crudo by Pascal Lorange space in the Ranch at Pacific Highlands shopping center. Casa Rusticas theme is fun Mex, serving the traditional Baja-inspired dishes found at restaurants in Old Town San Diego and elsewhere. The menu offers items including fajitas, enchiladas and taco plates and specialties like nopales salad and mole chilaquiles. It offers an in-house wine shop and cocktail program, as well as nightly dinner and drink specials. Weekend brunch service is coming soon. Read more about the restaurant here.

13490 Pacific Highlands Ranch Pkwy., Carmel Valley, 858.356.9915, casarusticasd.com

The interior of Casa Rustica, a new Mexican restaurant that opened last week in Carmel Valley. (Jim Sullivan)

Chinatown Bar & Grill

City Heights

Despite its name, this newly-opened neighborhood bar and grill isnt in Chinatown and doesnt serve Chinese food. From the owner of Aero Club, Chinatown specializes in gourmet -pound Angus beef and veggie burgers, buffalo chicken wings, brioche grilled cheese sandwiches, salads and sides. Theres a full bar with 16 beers on tap. The recently renovated building has a new rooftop patio dining deck.

4727 University Ave., City Heights, 619.795.4478, chinatownbarandgrill.com

Chinatown Bar & Grill. (James Tran)

Death by Tequila

Encinitas

Open since mid-July and taking its inspiration from the beachy, local vibe of Encinitas and the fresh, coastal cuisine of Baja, Death by Tequilas menu was created, in part, by celebrity chef and Top Chef alum Angelo Sosa. Accompanying the menu is more than 100 tequila and 30 mezcal selections, along with Tijuana beers, Valle de Guadalupe wines and a cocktail menu that features drinks like the Los Muertos, made with Milagro Silver tequila, lime, mango and chile ash, served on the rocks.

569 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, 760.230.6108, deathbytequila.com

Death by Tequila. (Courtesy photo)

Din Tai Fung

Westfield UTC

This wildly popular Taiwan-based mega-chains San Diego location was originally scheduled to open in late 2017. Its now scheduled for a September opening. Din Tai Fung offers a variety of dumplings and noodles at locations in China, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Malaysia, as well as Dubai, Sydney, Seattle, Los Angeles and Orange County.

4301 La Jolla Village Dr., Ste. 2000, La Jolla, dintaifungusa.com

Grand Ole BBQ Flinn Springs

El Cajon

With a late-August opening, this old-fashioned Central Texas-style barbecue eatery comes from the founder of North Parks Grand Ole BBQ y Asado. The project is a partnership between Grand Ole owner Andy Harris and the Social Syndicate hospitality group, which operates several restaurants and bars in Ocean Beach. The menu will include barbecued meats, steaks, chili, burgers and sides. Its barbecue smoker was custom-built in Texas. Also expect lots of live music at the venues large outdoor space. Check out the July Dish It Up podcast featuring Harris here or wherever you listen to podcasts.

15505 Olde Highway 80, El Cajon, facebook.com/grandolebbqflinnsprings

Grand Ole BBQ Flinn Springs. (Courtesy photo)

Juan Tequila Bar & Restaurant

Gaslamp Quarter

Juan Tequila opened Aug. 3 in the combined spaces of a former bar and pizzeria in the Gaslamp Quarter. The upscale Baja Med-inspired restaurant and bar is owned by Maritza and Daniel Briceno, co-founders of the quick-service El Zarape restaurant brand. The restaurant/lounge is lushly decorated with black brick and wood panel walls, black leather couches and banquettes, chandeliers and rustic tables.

535 Fourth Ave., downtown, 619.458.9455, juantequila.net

Juan Tequila Bar & Restaurant. (Jim Sullivan)

j/wata Temaki Bar

Kearny Mesa

The latest restaurant concept from Junya Watanabe (RakiRaki Ramen), j/wata is a 22-seat sushi bar specializing in sushi hand rolls. The ingredients are made and served one at a time for peak freshness and feature high-quality ingredients like locally sourced fish, specially harvested seaweed, house craft sauces and Watanabes signature sushi rice. The 1,500-square-foot restaurant, which opened in late July, is decorated with custom murals by artist Erwin Papa.

4646 Convoy St., Ste. 103, Kearny Mesa, 858.251.4071, j-wata.com

j/wata Temaki Bar. (Courtesy photo)

Little Italy Food Hall

Little Italy

In mid-July, this $2.3 million food hall opened on Little Italys new Piazza della Famiglia public square, featuring six quick-service dining stands, a bar and an outdoor beer and wine cart. Tenants include Ambrogio 15, a Milanese-style pizzeria; Sam The Cooking Guy Ziens Not Not Tacos, serving tortillas stuffed with nontraditional fare like pastrami and meatloaf; Roast Meat & Sandwich Shop serving roasted proteins with veggies; Wicked! Maine Lobster serving lobster and crab rolls; Mein St. Asian Kitchen serving ramen and Asian-style chicken wings; and Single Fin Kitchen, serving ceviche, poke and sushi from Catalina Offshore Products fishmonger Tommy Gomes.

550 W. Date St., Little Italy, 619.269.7187, littleitalyfoodhall.com

Bartender Christian Johnson at the Little Italy Food Hall Bar. (John Gastaldo)

Lola 55

East Village

This fast-casual restaurant concept, which opened Aug. 22, is the brainchild of restaurateur Frank Vizcarra (Tender Greens) and chef Drew Bent (Puesto, Carnitas Snack Shack). Lola 55 offers an elevated spin on tacos, including mesquite-grilled carne asada, fish, birria and soyrizo/sweet potato. The 3,200-square-foot restaurant was designed by Bells & Whistles and is located in the new IDEA 1 building.

1290 F St., East Village, 619.727.9282, lola55catering.com

Aguachile with local fish, mango habanero broth, cucumber, avocado, red onion, cilantro and tostaditas from Lola 55. (Sam Wells)

Nomad Coffee Bar

downtown

From the owner of North Parks Nomad Donuts come this new lobby coffee bar and take-out cafe, which opened July 16. The new location serves house-made gourmet, globally inspired doughnuts, bagels, bagel sandwiches, cookies and pastries and gourmet coffee drinks. Service is from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily.

701 B St., downtown, 619.431.5000, nomaddonuts.com

Nomad Coffee Bar. (Nancee E. Lewis)

The Patio on 101

Encinitas

On June 20, San Diegos The Patio Group restaurant company expanded its footprint into North County with this indoor/outdoor restaurant and bar in the former Open House Food + Drink location in Encinitas. The family- and dog-friendly patio restaurant serves an American comfort food menu with specialty dishes such as daily seafood specials, ahi poke tacos and happy hour bao bun specials. One of the restaurants two bars, Himmelbergs, is named for owner Gina Champion-Cains late friend Joey Himmelberg. A custom-brewed IPA beer named Himmelbrew is on tap inside.

345 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas, 760.209.1274, thepatioon101.com

The Patio on 101. (Courtesy photo)

Poke It

Hillcrest

San Diegos newest poke restaurant, which opened in June, takes the Hawaiian raw seafood salad known as poke and gives it a Mexican twist. Mexican dishes like tacos, burritos, tostadas and bowls have been adapted with elements of Japanese cuisine by chef Julio Rodriguez. The Chipotle-style build-your-own bar offers options like tuna and octopus burritos, spicy tuna ricetadas, chicken teriyaki riceburgers (meat sandwiched between compressed rice buns) and more.

690 University Ave., Hillcrest, 619.773.6486, pokeitsd.com

Al Pastor Tacos from Poke It. (Sam Wells)

Route 29

Gaslamp Quarter

The Golden State is known for its fresh produce, hormone-free farmed meats and award-winning wines. You can get all three at Route 29, so named for the two-lane highway that winds through Napa Valley. The restaurant, which opened in mid-July, serves than 150 mostly California wines, including 30-plus by the glass. The seasonal and sustainable menu offers vegetable-rich entrees, vegan dishes and specialties like roasted duck confit wings, shiitake-rubbed ribeye and crispy California halibut.

644 Fifth Ave., Gaslamp, 619.235.8144, route29restaurant.com

Route 29. (Courtesy photo)

Tocaya Organica

Gaslamp Quarter and Westfield UTC

This two-year-old L.A.-based organic Mexican restaurant chain opened its first San Diego location July 2 in the Gaslamp, with another scheduled to open in the coming months at Westfield UTC. The Gaslamp locations two-story, 6,000-square-foot restaurants menu, described as a vegan-forward creative twist on Mexican, uses all organic, locally sourced ingredients for its salads, tacos, bowls and burritos. Non-vegans can dress up their dishes with grass-fed beef, free-range chicken and fresh fish. Tocaya serves house-made aguas frescas, as well as margaritas, beer and wine.

Gaslamp: 755 Fifth Ave., 619.343.2898; Westfield UTC: 4545 La Jolla Village Dr., Ste. 2003, tocayaorganica.comChef Travis Swikard, a San Diego native who has spent the last 10 years in New York working with superstar French chef Daniel Boulud, is coming back home to open his first restaurant.

In an interview Tuesday, Swikard, 34, said hes drawn by the regions bountiful fresh produce and seafood as well as the strong culinary influence of Baja. But the married father of two young sons said he was equally drawn back to his hometown to raise his kids here and be near his family.

First and foremost, Im a family man, the West Hills High School grad said. My oldest is 4 years old, and next year hell be going into kindergarten. Its time and place; I didnt think New York City was right for me and my family right now.

After seeing about 60 possible locations in San Diego County to open a restaurant that will serve Cali-Med cuisine, Swikard said, I just havent found the right one yet.

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Its expected to open sometime in 2019.

Swikard, who was culinary director of Bouluds restaurant empire The Dinex Group and had opened the coastal Mediterranean-inspired Boulud Sud, called the French chef a warm and generous mentor.

The guy eats sleeps and breathes hospitality. Hes an incredible chef, but he was born for this business. He walks into a room and he has incredible presence, Swikard said.

Ill really miss working with Daniel, but I really hope to bring a piece of him to San Diego.

Chef Gavin Kaysen, who met Swikard when the latter was a teenager, gave him an internship at El Bizcocho in Rancho Bernardo. Keysen would later also bring Swikard into the Boulud restaurant fold, hiring him as a cook at Cafe Boulud in New York.

Kaysen was also somewhat responsible for Swikard meeting his wife, Mia.

Travis had been in London working for a guy I had introduced him to, and when he came back, he called me up and asked what he should do, where he should go, said Kaysen, who offered him an internship at Cafe Boulud.

His first day, he showed up two to three hours late, he took the wrong train. But the rest of the day went fine and that night he went out (to a bar) with the rest of the chefs. ... The next day, he said to me, I think I met my wife.  And he had.

Kaysen, who left New York to return to his hometown of Minneapolis to open his own first restaurant, said Swikards transition back to San Diego is exciting, but it may also be a challenge.

He hasnt been there in a long time and it wont be easy, Kaysen said. I know what that feels like, and I will be with him every step of the way supporting him. ... Im really proud of him.

He did an amazing job in New York, and he created a beautiful restaurant with chef Boulud, Keysen added. I couldnt be more thrilled to come visit San Diego when (Swikards restaurant) is up and running.

michele.parente@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @sdeditgirlA decade ago at La Jolla Playhouse, Will Power memorably put a hip-hop charge into Greek tragedy with The Seven. Now comes the playwrights often caustic take on Shakespeare: The Five.

Thats not the actual name of Powers just-opened world-premiere Playhouse piece, titled Seize the King. But the fact this adaptation of (or perhaps response to) Richard III has a cast of just five actors playing 21 people  where the Shakespeare original has 50-plus characters  gets at how lean and mean its storytelling style is.

Power, a pioneer of hip-hop theater, has a forceful and distinctive dramatic voice, and with Seize the King he deploys it in the service of a deconstruction so complete it can be hard to recognize Shakespeare in the result.

Thats of course a perfectly valid theatrical strategy, one the Bard himself  that champion of reconceiving and repurposing existing work  mightve applauded.

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But I didnt leave the bristling, compact and highly contemporized Seize the King feeling that the piece necessarily gained more impact or timeliness by setting aside Shakespeares language in favor of modern slang like sloppy seconds, or having characters make jokes about people eating sushi with a fork.

Powers writing possesses a gritty poetry all its own, but it can feel here as if hes pushing a bit too hard to place the grasping, rapacious and morality-free Richard in the here and now, when Shakespeare already did much of the heavy lifting for us back in the 1590s by creating the vivid model of a cretinous leader for all time.

It seems clear, though, that Power had an acute political aim in mind by bringing Englands 15th-century King Richard III  played with prickly wit by Jesse J. Perez  into the modern age. And he mightve felt that the storys of-the-moment aspects simply cried out to be underlined.

In the first scene of the 95-minute, no-intermission show, Power has a one-man chorus lamenting the capacity of evil always to trump virtue / As old black-minded kings of long ago / Resurface in the twisted faces of / Todays emperors and empresses.

Later, the scurrilously ambitious Richard has his confidant Lord Buckingham (Julian Parker, a standout in this role and others) fire up a crowd with such lines as: Immigrants invade while we sit jobless. And on opening night, the show earned its biggest laugh when Richard said: A difference there is between not the whole truth and a lie.

Director (and soon-to-depart Playhouse associate artistic chief) Jaime Castanedas admirably diverse cast makes an art of versatility: All play multiple roles except Perez, who brings an off-kilter magnetism to Richard.

Along with the gifted Parker, Saidah Arrika Ekulona is steely and funny as Queen Woodville (aka Elizabeth); Luis Vega makes for a noble and high-minded but agonized Lord Hastings, who becomes Richards foe; and Jenapher Zheng lends the young would-be king Edward V a wisdom beyond his years, as well as playing Richards wife, Anne Neville, with a cool resolve. (Anne also gets some of costume designer Emilio Sosas splashiest outfits.)

Power sharply pares down and reorders events from both Shakespeare and the saga of the real-life Richard  curiously placing his pursuit of Anne after the death of his brother King Edward IV (Elizabeths husband and young Edwards dad). By that time, Richard and Anne actually had been married more than a decade.

He also has Richard describe Annes appearance in graphically unflattering terms, as if in some weird burlesque of Richards praise of her in Shakespeare as the divine perfection of a woman. (Richards words throughout the play are at times almost perversely ugly.)

Seize the King essentially cuts out Edward Vs younger brother, who was eventually imprisoned in the tower with him, in favor of Richards fixation on making sure Edward never becomes king.

And while Richard is typically described as hunchbacked, Perez plays him with no visible infirmity. Elizabeth, though, suggests his real disability is an impotence that actually unpopulates, the opposite of the purpose. (The real-life Richard  whose remains incredibly were rediscovered beneath a parking lot in 2012  indeed left no lasting royal lineage but plenty of dead bodies.)

Richard Sellers ominous, thrumming percussion from a drum riser in one corner of the Potiker Theatre injects a mood of deep foreboding, and Lauren Helperns glass-floored stage suggests the frail barrier the characters tread between life and death.

The drop-down mic that Richard speaks into near plays end also heightens the feeling of an arena cage match  fitting for Powers words of warning from the final scene:

When he comes back, will thou be ready / Ready to battle, or ready to fold?

Seize the King

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Wednesdays; 8 p.m. Thursdays-Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Through Sept. 16.

Where: Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla

Tickets: $41 and up

Phone: (858) 550-1010

Online: lajollaplayhouse.org

jim.hebert@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @jimhebertGoogle CEO Sundar Pichai was in San Diego this week to announce a partnership with the USO that includes enhanced job search features on Google search and an IT training initiative for transitioning military members and active duty spouses.

Now, typing jobs for veterans in the Google search bar results in an additional search box for a military occupation code, which leads to local civilian job postings that match the skills and training of those military jobs.

Pichai, at a news conference Monday at the new USO headquarters in Liberty Station, said Google was in a unique position to offer transitioning veterans tools to ease a post-military job search, and that military skills were often lost in translation when transferring them to a civilian job.

This is an area where Googles ability to organize information can help, he said. There are 10,000 military job codes out there, yet we lack a way to help recruiters match a veterans experience with a civilian need for their skills.

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Google is also making the new military job search function available to job boards, employers and staffing agencies, Pichai said.

Screenshot of Google search results for jobs for veterans. (Andrew Dyer / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Pichai also announced Google would add a badge on search results and on Google Maps to veteran-owned businesses.

Pichai also announced a new $2.5 million grant to the USO to train active duty members and their spouses for entry level IT jobs.

The Google IT Support Professional Certificate can be earned in about eight months, Pichai said, with about eight to 10 hours of work per week.

It equips you with the skills you need to start a career in IT support in about eight months  no prior experience of college degree necessary, he said. We are making all these services available to the spouses of current service members, too. Spouses make it possible for members of the military to do their important work.

USO President Dr. J.D. Crouch II said the organizations mission was to keep service members connected when in uniform, but that it was also to help their transition.

Weve been around for 77 years, and weve been waiting for this partnership with Google, he said. This program will provide transitioning service members with in-demand technical skills and transferrable soft skills to kick-start their private sector careers and after their military service concludes.

Kylee Durant, the USOs senior director of program development, said Google approached the organization wanting to work with military families. She said she knew any initiative would need to include military spouses.

As a (military) spouse, I struggled continuing a career after moving three times in five years, she said at Mondays news conference. The IT industry offers so much job portability. The future of work is going to be more digital.

Kassandra Kristoff, who works in internal communications at Google, served six years in the Navy as a surface warfare officer. She said the she and her husband  who was also in the military  struggled during their transition our of the military in 2013.

This job search function  I wish that was around when I was transitioning out, she said. This is game-changing for a lot of folks that are transitioning today.

Kristoff said working in tech was similar to the military in that the work environment was fast-paced and required people to think on their feet. She said there were opportunities for transitioning service members but also that transitioning could be difficult.

Its going to be a long, hard process, but continue to have that work ethic...because you never know where that could lead, she said. Just keep at it, and eventually youll land somewhere you really love.

Contact Andrew Dyer via email or Twitter.August 28, 1913 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.

Thursday, August 28, 1913

In 1913 policeman Emery E. Campbell was felled by shots fired by Bill Bremer. Campbell was the first San Diego police officer to be killed in the line of duty.

Here are the first few paragraphs of the story:

POLICEMAN SHOT AND KILLED IN SENSATIONAL FIGHT WITH DRUNKEN BAD MAN

ANSWERS CALL OF DUTY AND MEETS HIS DEATH

Motorcycle Officer E.E. Campbell Is Fatally Wounded by Bill Bremer at Fifth and C Streets.

HIS WIFE PROSTRATED BY NEWS OF HUSBANDS END

Man Who Fired Fatal Shot, Turns Revolver on Self and Inflicts Slight Wound; Believed to Be Smuggler.

Motorcycle Policeman E.E. Campbell was killed at 5:45 oclock yesterday afternoon at the corner of Fifth and G streets across the street from the city hall by Bill Bremer, a roving character, who recently worked as a plasterer in Los Angeles. Bremer then turned the gun on himself but inflicted no damage. The police believe him to be a horse wrangler, smuggler and all round bad man.

Laying on the operating table at the police station last night having his wounds dressed, Bremer moralized on the circumstances that had finally brought him face to face with the gallows, and declared himself ready to pay the penalty for his murderous act.

The crime was committed within fifteen minutes of the time that Bremer had purchased a 3 caliber special Colts at the Cycle & Arms store at Fourth and E streets.

After purchasing the weapon Bremer made some remark about getting some one, and the clerk telephoned police headquarters in a hurry.

First Shot Fatal

Campbell was detailed to go out and bring Bremer in. A clerk of the store had followed Bremer down Fifth street, and when Campbell appeared, pointed him out. Campbell, who was a large man, six fee tall, and weighing over 200 pounds, approached Bremer, who is a short stocky man, from the rear, and seized him by the shoulder.

Without turning his head, Bremer whipped out the revolver, pointed it over his left shoulder, and fired. The first bullet caught Campbell under the left ear, coming out under the right jaw, and severing the jugular.

With bulldog tenacity, Campbell retained his hold, whereupon Bremer fired two more shots, one striking the officer in the cheek and the other in the left shoulder.

Holds On Till Death

With the blood gushing from his mouth and nose in torrents, the indomitable Campbell tightened his grasp on Bremer, and by his greater weight crushed him to the sidewalk, and held him there until F.E. Walker, a former Los Angeles policeman, and Patrolman John Tippitt, Deputy Sheriff James L. Brown and J.S. Hendrix arrived to render assistance.

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.Facing a federal indictment for misuse of campaign funds, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) is still the front-runner in the race for the 50th Congressional District  although with a shrinking advantage over Democratic challenger Ammar Campa-Najjar.

According to a Survey USA poll released Monday, Hunter has an eight-point lead over his opponent, 47% to 39%, with 13% undecided.



For the record: 50th Congressional District race: An Aug. 28 California section story said Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) and Ammar Campa-Najjar are vying to represent the district, which includes the cities of Poway, Ramona, Alpine and Borrego Springs. Poway is in the 52nd District, represented by Scott Peters (D-La Jolla).

In the June primary, the top two finishers were Hunter, with 47%, and Campa-Najjar at 18%.

However, as the field of candidates has narrowed, Campa-Najjar appears to have consolidated support among Democrats and even potentially picked up backing among some swing voters.

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The district, which Hunter has represented since it was redistricted about five years ago, covers much of East San Diego County, including Poway, Ramona, Alpine and Borrego Springs.

Support for Hunter was strongest among Republicans: 77% among polled voters, compared to 7% for Campa-Najjar.

Independents, however, favored Campa-Najjar by 44% to Hunters 41%. About 14% of those with no party preference are still undecided. Democrats support Campa-Najjar 85% to Hunters 8%.

Hunter and his wife, Margaret, were indicted in federal court Aug. 21 for using more than $250,000 in campaign cash for personal purchases.

The couple pleaded not guilty on Thursday. Hunter and his legal team have called the charges a politically motivated witch hunt. According to the poll, 64% of Republicans and 41% of Independents say the charges are motivated by politics.

According to the poll, about 42% of voters polled said they were less likely to vote for Hunter as a result of the charges.

About 41% said the charges against Hunter will not affect their vote, and 11% said they are more likely to vote for him as a result of the indictment.

Hunter  who has reportedly been stripped of his committee assignments  faces dozens of counts, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, falsification of records, and aiding and abetting in the prohibited use of campaign contributions.

Questions about the use of campaign funds have swirled around Hunter since 2016 when the Federal Election Commission and the San Diego Union-Tribune began looking into expenditures such as private school tuition, oral surgery, video games and airfare.

The SurveyUSA poll, conducted for the Union-Tribune and 10News, surveyed 539 registered voters between Aug. 22 to 26 who said they were likely to cast ballots in the 50th Congressional District race.WASHINGTON, D.C., Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) today announced 28 conservation grants totaling a record $6.5 million to restore, enhance and protect the longleaf pine forest in eight Southeast states, benefitting species like the federally endangered red-cockaded woodpecker and at-risk gopher tortoise. The grants will generate $7.9 million in matching contributions for a total conservation impact of $14.4 million.



The grants were awarded through the Longleaf Stewardship Fund, a public-private partnership between NFWF and the U.S. Department of Agricultures Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, International Papers Forestland Stewards Partnership, Southern Company, American Forest Foundations Southern Woods for At-Risk Wildlife Initiative, The Orton Foundation, an affiliate of The Moore Charitable Foundation, founded by Louis Bacon and Altria Group.

The 28 grants announced today will support conservation work in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. Together, the grants are expected to establish more than 17,000 acres and improve more than 335,000 additional acres of habitat across the longleaf pines historical range. Grantees will provide educational and technical assistance related to longleaf restoration to more than 5,300 private landowners, with an anticipated 500 landowners entering into stewardship programs on private lands.

The grants will also support the recovery of several rare species through translocation, captive rearing and reintroduction, including the red-cockaded woodpecker and the gopher tortoise. A complete list of the 2018 grants made through the Longleaf Stewardship Fund is available here.

The Longleaf Stewardship Fund exemplifies what can be achieved for conservation when the public and private sector work collaboratively on a landscape scale, said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO of NFWF. Through investing in critical restoration activities and educating landowners to become stronger stewards of their lands, the Longleaf Stewardship Fund is helping secure the future of one of the worlds most biodiverse landscapes, and the species and communities that rely on it.

The longleaf pine ecosystem once encompassed more than 90 million acres across the Southeast, but it has been reduced to only about 5 percent of its historical range. This fire-adapted ecosystem boasts immense biodiversity, including the indigo snake, reticulated flatwoods salamander and gopher frog, and important game species such as bobwhite quail, wild turkey and white-tailed deer.

Longleaf forests provide a range of additional benefits, supporting forest-dependent economies, military readiness and recreational opportunities for millions of Americans. After experiencing a century-long decline, longleaf forests became the focus of conservation efforts in the late 20th Century when communities, government agencies, nonprofits and private landowners began collaborating to restore longleaf pine and reverse the loss of habitat.

Over the last six years, the effectiveness of the Longleaf Stewardship Fund in restoring and improving the longleaf pine ecosystem cannot be overstated, said Ken Arney, Regional Forester with the U.S. Forest Services Southern Region. This fund is a catalyst for bringing together and leveraging the resources and expertise of public agencies, private companies and other groups resulting in greater on-the-ground outcomes than what can be achieved independently.

Just as longleaf pine forests are home to diverse plants and animals, working together, we bring a diverse group of partners to protect and enhance this unique Southern ecosystem, said NRCS Acting Chief Leonard Jordan. The voluntary work of private landowners plays an important role in managing for healthy longleaf forests that benefit wildlife, natural resources and rural economies.

DoD is delighted that seven military installations in the Southeast region will directly benefit from this years effort to push longleaf conservation forward. said Maureen Sullivan, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Environment, Safety & Occupational Health. DoD and NFWF have a longstanding relationship when it comes to protecting the longleaf pine ecosystem, as protection of this forestland is vitally important to national defense and operation of our military installations in the Southeast. By ensuring the prosperity of longleaf forests, we can promote compatible land uses near military facilities and enhance habitat for at-risk species, thereby allowing our armed forces to continue their training, testing, and operational missions without added restrictions. This year through the Longleaf Stewardship Fund, approximately $5 will be spent by our partners for every dollar DoD spends, resulting in an outstanding collaboration for both conservation and military readiness.

"The Fish and Wildlife Service is proud to be a part of this important long-term effort to restore longleaf pine across the Southeast," said Mike Oetker, acting regional director for the Service's Southeast Region. "Under the Foundation's leadership and the support of an diverse group of partners, we can celebrate another $6.5 million being shared with partners to conserve more than 350,000 acres benefitting At-Risk wildlife like the gopher tortoise and progress on the recovery of other wildlife like the red-cockaded woodpecker."

Our entire business depends on the sustainability of forests, said Tom Cleves, International Papers vice president of global citizenship. By contributing to these 28 conservation grants through our Forestland Stewards partnership, we are making a positive impact on the restoration, enhancement and protection of the longleaf pine forest across the Southeast U.S.

Southern Company is committed to environmental stewardship and to helping restore the iconic longleaf pine ecosystem as we have over the past 15 years, said Southern Company Executive Vice President of Operations Stan Connally. We are pleased that this model program continues to expand public and private partnerships to accelerate the recovery of a once prolific landscapehome to dozens of species at risk.

Families and individuals own nearly 60 percent of the forests across the South, making them key to helping restore needed forested habitat, said Tom Martin, President and CEO of the American Forest Foundation. These individuals care about wildlife and want to do right by the land, but often need support and technical assistance to get the job done. We are proud to be a part of the Longleaf Stewardship Fund to help make this happen and help landowners make the impact they too want to see on the land.

The Orton Foundation is proud to be part of the important public-private partnership that is powering restoration of Americas iconic longleaf pine forests under the leadership of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, said Ann Colley, executive director and vice president of The Orton Foundation, an affiliate of The Moore Charitable Foundation. NFWFs leadership in forging a partnership among such distinguished groups exemplifies the sort of vision that is necessary to restore longleaf pines and make conservation an enduring American value.

Were pleased to be able to provide this support to help the conservation and restoration of the longleaf pine forests, said Elizabeth Becker, Director Corporate Responsibility, for Altria Client Services. Promoting the sustainability of natural resources is a core part of Altrias mission and we take pride in knowing that our contributions are helping to protect the natural resources on which are businesses and communities depend.

Since 2012, the Longleaf Stewardship Fund has invested more than $30.6 million in projects that will establish more than 92,000 acres, improve more than 1.35 million additional acres of longleaf pine forest and benefit the native species that rely on those forests.

The fund combines the financial and technical resources of its funding partners to accelerate the restoration of the longleaf pine ecosystem, while implementing the Range-Wide Conservation Plan for Longleaf Pine as part of Americas Longleaf Restoration Initiative.

About the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

Chartered by Congress in 1984, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) protects and restores the nations fish, wildlife, plants and habitats. Working with federal, corporate and individual partners, NFWF has funded more than 4,500 organizations and generated a conservation impact of more than $4.8 billion. Learn more at www.nfwf.org.

###San Francisco police say they have found human remains in a fish tank inside the home of a man who was reported missing weeks ago.

Police Cmdr. Greg McEachern said Tuesday that investigators discovered the remains Aug. 17 and are awaiting the results of an autopsy and identification of the body.

McEachern said the body was found in the home of 65-year-old Brian Egg, who was reported missing in late July. He said officers visited and left Eggs home three times in early August without making contact with anyone.

Neighbors called police Aug. 14 when they spotted a private crime-scene cleaning company and a stranger outside Eggs home. Responding officers reported a strong decaying odor and cleaning supplies inside.

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Scott Free, one of Eggs neighbors, told the San Francisco Chronicle that he called police after two strangers answered Eggs door.

Its horrifying, Free said. A dead body was in the house this entire time.

McEachern said Lance Silva, 39, and 52 year-old Robert McCaffrey, were arrested Aug. 16 on suspicion of homicide, fraud, theft, identity theft and elder abuse.

McCaffrey was released from jail after the San Francisco district attorneys office said it required more evidence to charge the men, including cause of death and the identity of the body found.

Silva remains in custody for a probation violation.

UPDATES:

8:20 p.m.: This article was updated with information about possible suspects.

This article was originally published at 4:15 p.m.Fullerton Police Chief David Hendricks and a city police captain were placed on paid administrative leave Saturday after the two were involved in an off-duty disagreement at a country music concert, officials said.

Irvine police responded to the Five Point Amphitheater during a Lady Antebellum concert about 9:40 p.m. Friday after receiving reports of a disturbance between two off-duty members of the Fullerton Police Department and two on-duty emergency medical technicians, said Irvine police spokeswoman Kim Mohr.

The two officers  identified as Hendricks and Capt. Thomas Oliveras  left the concert after being asked to do so by Irvine police.

Mohr said no injuries were reported. An Irvine detective is investigating the incident to see if a crime occurred, she said.

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Fullerton City Manager Kenneth Domer said Hendricks and the other officer were placed on leave related to allegations of off-duty conduct outside the city.

This investigation is unconnected to the performance of official duties, Domer said in an email.

Domer said Fullerton Police Capt. Bob Dunn would serve as acting chief of the Fullerton Police Department until further notice.

Domer said the city does not intend to provide further details or comments because of privacy concerns.

javier.panzar@latimes.com

Twitter: @jpanzar

UPDATES:

7:45 p.m.: This article was updated with information about a police captain also being put on leave and details about the incident.

This article was originally published at 3:35 p.m.When Dan and Martina Lewis pledged $2 million as seed money for the Salk Institutes Conquering Cancer Initiative, they werent giving back, they were giving forward.

Yes, Lewis, the retired president of international management firm Booz Allen Hamilton, had earlier been diagnosed with cancer. In his case, chronic myeloid leukemia. He credits discoveries made at Salk with turning his own cancer from a death sentence into a chronic-but-manageable condition.

But Lewis, who was named chairman of Salks board of trustees last November, has actually been involved with the research institution since 2002, four years before his own cancer diagnosis.

He was a member of Salks International Council when Joe Kalman, his longtime corporate mentor, was visiting Lewis at his part-time La Jolla hilltop home. As they viewed the seaside community below, Kalman told him, Some day youll come back here and you need to do something important. If you do, its right over there. And he pointed to Salk Institute.

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Lewis has done just that. In 2012, he and his wife endowed a Salk research chair, now held by cancer specialist Geoffrey Wahl. Lewis also joined the board of trustees.

Bill Brody was president, Lewis recalls, and we were at an event when Tony Hunter and his wife visited our table. It was then he met the Salk scientist whose breakthrough study of cellular switches (tyrosine kinase inhibitors) led to the creation of the cancer drug Gleevec, the drug that saved Lewis life.

From a diagnosis formerly considered terminal, he was able to manage the disease for 10 years on Gleevec. He has been off the medication a year and remains healthy. I was fortunate enough to be able to get on a drug as powerful as Gleevec, says Lewis, 68, who has close friends who havent been as lucky in their battles with cancer.

Last April, former V.P. Joe Biden kicked off Salks Conquering Cancer Initiative targeting five of the deadliest cancers: lung, pancreatic, brain (glioblastoma), ovarian and triple-negative breast cancer. Lewis $2 million is seed money, along with Salks rock star fund, to help attract top-notch researchers.

Im living proof of what investments into Salk can mean for cancer care, he says.

Singer Rod Stewart dedicated one of his songs to the late Sen. John McCain when he performed Aug. 26 in Chula Vista. He is shown here in his Aug. 7 show at Madison Square Garden. (Michael Loccisano / Getty Images)

Concert attendee Danica Goodman Reed recorded Rod Stewarts John McCain tribute song, Rhythm of my Heart, on video at Mattress Firm Amphitheatre in Chula Vista on Aug. 26 and posted it online. (Danica Goodman Reed)

McCain tribute: British rocker Rod Stewart hit an especially responsive chord with his San Diego audience when he sang a tribute to Sen. John McCain Sunday night at Mattress Firm Amphitheatre in Chula Vista.

Midway through his show, Stewart announced he was dedicating his next song, Rhythm of My Heart, to a great American hero. The crowd went wild as a huge portrait of the late Arizona senator, who owns a vacation condo in Coronado, popped up on the giant video screens.

Former Congressman Duncan Hunter (left) and his son, Duncan D. Hunter, were joint guest speakers at the Singing Hills Memorial Parks Memorial Day celebration in 2008 when the junior Duncan Hunter was campaigning for his fathers House seat. (Nancee E. Lewis / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Duncan Hunter redux? Democratic candidate Patrick Malloy has already announced his plans to run again for the 50th District Congressional seat. He predicts Rep. Duncan D. Hunter will win re-election this November then agree to vacate the seat as part of a plea arrangement.

Patrick Malloy officially announced last weekend that he intends to run for Californias 50th Congressional seat in the next election. (Courtesy photo)

In that case, a special election would be called and my name will be on that ballot, says Malloy, who lost to Hunter in the 2016 general election and placed fifth in last Junes primary.

He also predicts the elder Duncan Hunter will be back on that ballot. The current Congressmans father stepped down from the House in 2009 after serving for nearly three decades and after making a brief run at U.S. president.

Malloy told me his speculation stems from observing the senior Hunter become de facto spokesman for his son. I really believe hes going to run again. He misses it, says the real estate agent. He added that when he was campaigning, he often overheard GOP constituents mention how much they liked the older Duncan Hunter.

diane.bell@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1518

Twitter: @dianebellSD

Facebook: dianebell.newsA 25-year-old woman who took part in the robbery of a pregnant woman in Pacific Beach before stealing a San Diego police vehicle and driving it into Mission Bay pleaded guilty Tuesday to several felony charges.

Stephanie Majsterski, who admitted to ``hot prowl burglary, false imprisonment, auto theft and resisting an officer, faces five years in state prison when she is sentenced Sept. 28.

Carolina Souza testified during a preliminary hearing in April that two people -- identified later as Majsterski and James Graham -- came into her residence on Pacific Beach Drive about 9 p.m. on Dec. 14.

Souza said Graham appeared to be concealing a knife as he approached her and demanded money and her car while Majsterski blocked the door.

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When Souza told Graham she didnt have any money, he grabbed a wallet, laptop computer and some other items off the table and left with Majsterski, the victim testified.

As he fled, Graham told Souza to wait in the apartment for 20 seconds before going outside, she said.

``I was terrified,' Souza said. ``I didnt want to leave the apartment. I didnt know where they were.'

Authorities said no knife was found.

San Diego police Officer Alfredo Nafarrete said he left the keys in his cruiser while he and his partner chased Graham and Majsterski on foot, but the SUV was gone when he came back. Graham was arrested but Majsterski escaped.

Rafael Mendoza said he was on a date with a girlfriend on Fiesta Island when a police cruiser drove past them and into the water. The witness said he looked at the driver when she took off running.

Majsterski was arrested a short time later as she tried to sneak off the island as a passenger in another car.

Graham, 41, who has 10 robbery convictions dating back to 2008, was on parole at the time of the Pacific Beach robbery and faces more than 55 years to life in prison if convicted, said Deputy District Attorney Lucy Yturralde. His trial is scheduled for Dec. 4.

pauline.repard@sduniontribune

Twitter: @pdrepardA panel of parole commissioners decided Tuesday that a former character actor who ambushed and repeatedly stabbed his girlfriend 10 years ago at her San Marcos home  nearly killing her  will be granted parole.

Shelley Malil, 53, who is probably best known for a supporting role in the movie The 40-Year-Old Virgin, appeared before a panel of three parole commissioners at a hearing at Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Riverside County.

The panel had convened to revisit a previous ruling, from earlier this year, that Malil should be paroled in part because of assessments that found he posed a low risk of committing violence in the future.

But Gov. Jerry Brown pushed back against that earlier decision, which prompted a review of the case.

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On Tuesday, after hearing comments for more than an hour  including from Malil and the woman he attacked  the panel agreed not to rescind the parole offered to Malil earlier this year. The decision was unanimous.

We find that the evidence supports that finding, Commissioner Brian Roberts said.

Malil will be released in about two weeks and will remain on supervised parole for five years, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

In August 2008, Kendra Beebe was stabbed 23 times at her home not far off San Elijo Road. The flesh on her chin was nearly sliced off, and she said Tuesday that she still carries the scars.

In a text message after the hearing, she said she was shocked at the panels decision, and that the system is broken.

Today, these men had a chance to take real action showing that we, as a society, value women and will protect them, Beebe said, adding that the parole commissioners did not take that opportunity.

For this I am sad, she said. Because of their inaction, I will continue to live in fear.

The Union-Tribune attended the hearing Tuesday at the prison near Blythe, but was not permitted to talk to the inmate, who was led from the room immediately after the decision. His attorney was not available after the hearing, and did not respond to an email request for comment.

In January, Malil told the parole board that the rage that fueled the attack was brought on by alcoholism, jealousy, arrogance and low-self worth. He has taken several self-help courses in prison, earned associates degrees from a correspondence college and participated in Alcoholics Anonymous.

After a panel of parole commissioners OKd Malils release, the governor challenged that decision, arguing in a letter that there remained a lack of explanation as to why Malils rage escalated so far out of control, and resulted in such a prolonged horror.

District Attorney Summer Stephan issued a statement Tuesday saying she is disappointed that Malil will be released back into the community after serving only eight years in prison.

We agree with the Governor that Malil demonstrated uncontrolled rage and lacks an understanding of his crime, Stephan said. The victims have endured tremendous physical and emotional pain. To approve this individual for release, given his violent attack, ignores the very real danger he poses to public safety.

On the evening of Aug. 10, 2008, Beebe was at home, with her young children asleep upstairs. She was chatting with a friend on the back patio when Malil showed up, leaned over as if her were going to kiss her, and instead stabbed her in her torso.

Although he initially said the attack had been self-defense, Malil admitted during the hearing in January that he had grabbed the knife and driven from his Sherman Oaks home to San Marcos, specifically with the intent to annihilate her. He had felt slighted by her a day earlier.

During the attack at Beebes house, Malil also slashed at her with a broken wine glass, and stabbed her with a large knife hed taken from her kitchen. He also tried to smother her with a pillow as she lay bleeding.

A jury in Superior Court in Vista convicted Malil of premeditated attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced in 2010 to 12 years to life in prison.

At the Tuesday hearing, held in a conference room at the prison, attorneys for the District Attorneys Office and for Malil were allowed to make comments, as were Malil and his victims  Beebe and David Maldonado, the friend who was visiting when she was attacked.

His voice shaking, Malil told the panel that he takes full responsibility for everything I did.

The attack, he said, was infinitely inexcusable  and I am sorry.

He spoke of being an emotional time bomb at the time of the attack, of a lack of acting roles due to strikes in the entertainment industry, and of his financial distress  including foreclosure  when the economy melted down in 2008.

Those stresses, he said, were coupled with heavy drinking and an unchallenged domestic violence mindset.

I am fully invested in my rehabilitation, and I never want to create another victim again, Malil told the panel.

He wiped his eyes with a tissue when he was finished speaking.

Attorney Phyllis Shess, representing the District Attorneys Office, stressed to the parole commissioners the level of violence in Malils crime, and that hed had time to rethink his plans on the drive from Sherman Oaks to San Marcos but chose to carry out the attack anyway.

This was a long thought-out, determined effort to wipe Kendra Beebe off the face of the earth, Shess said. He remains an incredibly dangerous person.

Beebe and Maldonado, both of whom participated in the hearing via video conference, said Malil remains a source of fear in their respective lives.

He cant be out here, because we all live in fear of people like this, Maldonado said.

Beebe, who now lives in another state, said she doesnt have the luxury of a day passing without thoughts of the attack. I am still living in fear, Beebe said. I have relieved this night hundreds of times.

She told the panel Malil calmly and methodically butchered me over and over. She added that he also attacked my character at trial.

Hes an actor by trade, and a liar by choice, she said.

Beebe told the panel she believes her ex-husband played a role in the crime, and that Malil has not entirely come clean about it.

Malil has previously admitted that he called Beebes ex-husband before the attack to infuriate her; the pair had had a very contentious divorce.

In 2010, the prosecutor in Malils case said the communication was unusual, but there was no evidence that the ex-husband had played a part in Malils crime.

UPDATES:

5:20 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details.

3:40 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details.

The article was originally published at 12:10 p.m.Ten protesters were charged on Monday with misdemeanors for allegedly rappelling from a downtown San Diego hotel and blocking police during a July demonstration against a federal policy of detaining and separating immigrant families.

All 10, from cities around the country, were charged with trespassing to interfere with a business, while five of them faced an additional charge of resisting or delaying police.

Several chained themselves inside a stairwell leading to the roof, delaying police in reaching those who had rappelled down the side of the hotel, prosecutors said.

The City Attorneys Office on Monday sent letters to the 10 defendants letting them know they were charged, an office spokeswoman said. They will be arraigned in San Diego Superior Court on Sept. 24.

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They dont have to appear in person, but can enter a plea through an attorney or by fax, the spokeswoman said.

On July 2, an estimated 600 people in a Free our future immigration rally marched from Chicano Park in Barrio Logan to the downtown federal building, carrying protest signs and banners.

They blocked access to the federal courthouse for a time.

The City Attorneys Office alleges that 10 people slipped into the nearby Westin Gaslamp Hotel and, while five blocked a stairwell and three watched from the roof, a man and woman rappelled down a hotel wall.

They unfurled a banner that read, Free our families now #stopstreamline.

Operation Streamline is the name given in parts of the country to the Trump administration policy of fast-tracking sentencing in illegal border-crossing cases.

San Diego police arrested those who took part in the activity.

The rooftop actions required a robust public safety response, City Attorney Mara Elliott said in a statement Tuesday.

I sympathize with the protesters message that families should not be torn apart, but do not condone their tactics, Elliotts statement said.

Thousands peacefully protested in San Diego this summer without breaking laws or putting others in harms way. These 10 made a different choice, and will be held accountable.

The 10 men and women, ranging in age from 23 to 33, were from Ohio, Colorado, New Mexico, Washington, D.C. and Brooklyn, N.Y. as well as Oakland and San Francisco.

pauline.repard@sduniontribune

Twitter: @pdrepardThe San Diego County Taxpayers Association has come out against San Diego Unifieds proposed bond measure that voters will see on the November ballot.

The 30-year borrowing measure, which would bring in $3.5 billion through a property tax increase, is the largest bond in the school districts history. It also marks the third time in a decade that San Diego Unified has asked taxpayers for additional funding for capital improvement projects.

The association says theres too much overlap between projects listed in the current plan and those promised in previous measures, among other things.

The groups report, which analyzed nine out of the 11 school bonds proposed throughout the county, says its unlikely the district will be able to successfully execute the projects outlined in the new program based on its track record.

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It is important to note that many, if not all, of the projects that they have outlined as part of the proposed bond measure ... have been or were scheduled to be covered by bond measures passed by voters in the past, the report said.

Andy Berg, volunteer chairman of the bonds campaign, said the bond might use similar language as previous measures but in no way addresses the same issues.

Thats ludicrous. Theres about 70 to 80 more pages in this bond than there was in [previous measures], Berg said. A lot of terminology is overlapping, but that doesnt mean its the same stuff.

San Diego Unified is the second largest school district in the state, serving roughly 126,400 students in preschool through 12th grade under a $1 billion annual operating budget.

District officials say maintaining the more than 200 schools is not a one-time expense. Regular deterioration of facilities districtwide costs about $120 million each year. The average age of all facilities is about 48 years.

Buildings are going to keep getting older regardless, Berg said. That means you have to keep making improvements.

Berg added that other prominent groups and public figures have expressed their support of the bond.

Former executive director of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association and San Diego Unified trustee, Scott Barnett, said the district sets the standard at protecting taxpayers money.

Their bonds are models of sound fiscal management, accountability and transparency, Barnett said in a statement that will appear in the November elections voter guide.

The districts capital improvement projects are already funded by two measures known now as Proposition Z and Proposition S.

Proposition Z, which the taxpayers association also opposed, passed in 2012 as a similar property tax hike. Totaling $2.8 billion, its main purpose was to repair deteriorating classrooms, libraries, wiring, plumbing, bathrooms and leaky roofs, according to ballot language at the time.

The current proposal is known as the San Diego Neighborhood School Repair and Student Safety Measure. Revenue from it would be used for the improvement of student safety, and career-specific classroom upgrades, including repairs to foundations, the removal of health hazards and security equipment enhancements, according to bond language.

San Diego Unified Board of Education trustees voted unanimously in July to place the measure on the November ballot. If passed, all three bonds total $8.4 billion.

The association also says the district has failed to meet projections in its facilities condition index, or FCI, which is a metric used to estimate the conditions and deficiencies of school properties. An FCI lower than about 5 percent means conditions are good and there are few deficiencies. An FCI of 6 to 10 percent is fair and anything greater than 10 percent is poor.

The districts FCI was about 22 percent before 1998, the report said. The district said funds from Proposition S and Proposition Z would lower the FCI into the fair range, but it measured at 18.6 percent in 2017 and 16.9 percent this year, according to the report.

The measure would add 6 cents to property tax bills for every $100 of assessed valuation, or about $300 for a home valued by the county at $500,000.

There are 11 school bonds on the November ballot, including a $150 million proposal for Chula Vista Elementary School District and a $403 million measure for Sweetwater Union High School District. The taxpayers association supports seven out of the nine proposals analyzed in the report. In addition to San Diego Unified, the association opposes the Sweetwater bond.

San Diego Unified board president Kevin Beiser declined to comment. Four other board members did not respond to calls and messages seeking comment.

Data Watch Videos On Now Data Point: Media Mergers 2:58 On Now Jaywalking infractions in San Diego 1:24 On Now Video: Finding the recipe for the perfect burrito 2:09 On Now Video: Where marijuana is legal in the United States 0:53 On Now Report: Correctional system fails women 1:22 On Now San Diego students have larger classes On Now Hierarchy of cuisine prices On Now Pay phones: Is that still a thing? On Now 2016 border apprehensions On Now STD trends, San Diego County

Contact Lauryn Schroeder via Twitter or Email.Pune, India, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The International Liquid Biopsy Market Report immensely promising is not without its challenges, and market growth is anticipated to be hindered by the prohibitive costs which are associated with liquid biopsy. Moreover, prostate and brain cancer may lie dormant for years, and patients may not benefit from early detection in such cases. Lack of awareness and a dearth of well-trained professionals in developing regions are some other challenges posed to the global liquid biopsy market. However, growing collaborations between companies and increased funding from public organizations are expected to open up the market for new entrants and provide ample opportunity. The unmet needs in emerging markets represent massive potential for growth in the foreseeable future.

Market Research Future has released its extensively detailed report on the Global Liquid Biopsy Market which is anticipated to grow at a noteworthy CAGR of 28% during the forecast period which ends in 2022. Largely non-invasive, liquid biopsy offers diagnostic capabilities and represents advancement in human genome sequencing. Valued at USD 3950 Mn at the start of the forecast period, the market is on track to reach an estimated evaluation of USD 17,372.28 Mn by 2023.

The healthcare sector is expanding at a rapid pace, and novel methods of diagnostics have arisen with the increased demand for minimally or non-invasive diagnostic tests. Rising occurrences of cancer and other chronic diseases have increased the demand for accurate diagnostics. Liquid biopsy is painless and non-invasive, particularly when compared to other diagnostic tests. Moreover, liquid biopsy offers real-time detection of diseases with high precision. Other factors driving the global liquid biopsy market are lifestyle changes which lead to increased cancer diagnoses, rising investments in research & development activities, rising geriatric population and the growing expenditure on healthcare. Liquid biopsy carries significant potential for use in diagnoses of cardiovascular diseases and autoimmune diseases.

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Key Players

MRFR has scoped the competitive landscape of the market to reveal various market strategies utilized by leading market players to strengthen their market position. Research & development activities, collaborations, and acquisitions & mergers are some of the most effective strategies being implemented by prominent market players which include Circulogene Theranostics, Exosome Diagnostics, Guardant Health Inc., Agena Bioscience Inc., SAGA Diagnostics AB, RainDance Technologies Inc., Admera Health, Inivata Ltd., Biocept, Inc., Trovagene Inc., and others.

Latest Industry News

MDNA Life Sciences has just announced its exclusive licensing agreement with the Laboratory Corporation of America for a non-invasive liquid biopsy test for the diagnosis of prostate cancer.

Angle plc has announced that its Parsortix system has demonstrated the ability to detect circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in human glioblastoma.

Liquid Biopsy Market Segmentation

MRFR's analysis of the Liquid Biopsy Market segments it on the basis of various pertinent factors which allow detailed insight into the various facets of the global liquid biopsy market. Segmentation of the global liquid biopsy market has been performed on the basis of biomarker types, application, sample, end-user, and region. By biomarker types, the market is segmented to include extracellular vehicles (EVs), circulating tumor DNA (CtDNA), circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and other biomarkers. Other biomarkers include circulating RNA and proteins. The circulating tumor cells (CTC) segment dominates the market in terms of revenue as represented by its 55.48% share. The advancements done for this type of biomarker and its extensive use in diagnostics are responsible for its market position.

By application, the Liquid Biopsy Market is segmented into reproductive health, cancer, and other therapeutic applications. The cancer segment is the largest segment with the highest share of the market due to the rising demand for minimally invasive and accurate tests for cancer diagnoses.

By sample, the market is segmented into urine sample, blood sample, and other sample. The blood sample segment accounts for the most significant segment. However, the urine sample segment is expected to witness considerable growth over the assessment period.

By end-user, the market is categorized into academic & research centers, and other end users.

The global division of the market for analysis includes North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East and Africa.

Unmet Potential Translates to Highest Growth for APAC Region

The Global Liquid Biopsy Market is led by North America which presently accounts for more than one-third of the market. The region has a high concentration of leading market players who are actively participating and contributing to market growth. With a valuation of USD 1,499.10 mn at the start of the forecast period, the regional market is set to grow exponentially. North America is closely followed by Europe due to the similar growth pattern these regions share. Both regions have public bodies who are funding investments in an effort to reduce development costs which will ultimately benefit the global market. A high geriatric population, well-established healthcare sector and high adoption rate of advanced medical processes are some other drivers which impact the growth of these regions positively.

Meanwhile, growing at an impressive CAGR of 28.8%, the Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness the fastest growth among all regions recorded in the report. The region has a high concentration of rapidly emerging markets which are undergoing urbanization and have resulted in huge lifestyle changes, thus leading to increased occurrences of chronic diseases. The presence of a large patient population has been recognized by global market players, and the region is rapidly working toward adopting advanced healthcare practices and revamping existing facilities to meet the growing need for the effective diagnostic test. Unmet needs in this region represent huge potential for future growth.

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Related Reports:

Circulating Tumor Cell Market Research Report- Global Forecast to 2023

Global Circulating Tumor Cell Market Research Report, by Application (Research, Drug Development), Technology (CTC Enrichment, CTC Detection), End-User (Hospital & Clinics, Research & Academic Institutes, Diagnostic Centers) - Global Forecast Till 2023

Biomarkers Market Research Report- Global Forecast to 2022

Global Biomarkers Market Information, by Type (Predisposition Biomarkers, Diagnostic Biomarkers, Prognostic Biomarkers), by Indication (Cancer, Neurological Disorders, Cardiovascular Disorders), by Application (Tests, Therapies, Drug Discovery, Drug Formulation) - Forecast to 2022

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Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Federal court judge Jeffrey T. Miller toured the Tijuana River Valley for several hours on Tuesday to observe pumps and canyon collectors along the border intended to prevent sewage from spilling into San Diego.

The unusual move comes as the result of a contentious legal battle in which Miller must decide whether the Trump administration is doing enough to stop sewage that routinely pours into the United States from Mexico.

The cities of Imperial Beach and Chula Vista, as well as the Port of San Diego, sued the federal government in March, alleging violations of the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

Touring the border on Tuesday in a caravan of sport utility vehicles, Miller was accompanied by more than a dozen people, including a security detail of U.S. Marshals, border patrol agents, attorneys for both sides and the U.S. section of the International Boundary and Water Commission.

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Ive had congressmen and senators but never a judge, said Carlos Pena, operations manager for the IBWC in San Diego, who was on the trip. This is my first time in 30 years with the agency.

The U.S. section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, or IBWC, oversees water-capture basins in five canyons along the border, as well as pumps on the Tijuana River to redirect polluted flows to the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant west of San Ysidro.

Lawyers for the defense have argued that the government isnt legally responsible for the renegade flows that escape their collection systems, pointing out that the situation would be significantly worse without its efforts in recent decades.

Before the federal government spent roughly $344 million to create the diversion and treatment system in the 1990s, millions of gallons of sewage would flow daily down the Tijuana River into San Diego County.

Still, plaintiffs argue that the border infrastructure needs to be dramatically beefed up, as South Bay beaches are routinely closed throughout the year as a result of the sewage flows.

Donning a full-brimmed hat and sunglasses, Miller asked numerous questions of the attorneys and IBWC officials about the workings of the facilities. The groups visited all five canyons and the river, suffering through the foul stench of sewage each time.

He declined to comment for this story, saying it wouldnt be appropriate at this stage in the case.

IBWC officials had trash and refuse removed from the canyons and the river ahead of the judges visit, said Christopher Harris, a border agent in San Diego for 20 years and union representative for the National Border Patrol Council Local 1613.

Its remarkable how much cleanup work has been done in the last few weeks, Harris said during Tuesdays outing. Its amazing how a lawsuit will focus attention on getting things cleaned up.

While this infrastructure diverts the polluted water to the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant west of San Ysidro, rain and other conditions often overwhelm the system, resulting in pollution that has reached as far north as Coronado.

Earlier this Month, Miller heard the first oral arguments in the trial on a motion to dismiss the case. Miller is expected to rule on the motion within weeks.

Earlier this year, state Attorney General Xavier Becerras office and the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board signaled a willingness to join the lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiffs. In May, the two agencies filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the IBWC for alleged Clean Water Act violations in the canyons but not in the Tijuana River.

The two agencies recently met with IBWC officials to discuss the situation and the potential for litigation.

If we decide to file a lawsuit, we will do so jointly and very soon, said Dave Gibson, executive officer of water board.

Twitter: @jemersmith

Phone: (619) 293-2234

Email: joshua.smith@sduniontribune.comGov. Jerry Brown signed a landmark bill on Tuesday to overhaul the states money-bail system, replacing it with one that grants judges greater power to decide who should remain incarcerated ahead of trial.

Today, California reforms its bail system so that rich and poor alike are treated fairly, he said in a statement.

The two-year effort puts the state at the forefront of a national push to change the way courts impose monetary fines and payments on defendants as conditions of their release from jail. Brown last year pledged to work with lawmakers and the states top Supreme Court justice to pass the legislation.

But the historic passage of the bill has been bittersweet for lawmakers, as opponents  including some of the bills most ardent former supporters  argued the final version of the legislation could lead to more people behind bars.

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Senate Bill 10 would virtually eliminate the payment of money as a condition of release. Under last-minute changes, judges would have greater power to decide which people are a danger to the community and should be held without any possibility of release in a practice known as preventive detention.

Jazmine Ulloa writes for the LA Times.Border Patrol and Coast Guard officials worked together early Monday to detain 19 unauthorized immigrants, including two suspected smugglers, aboard a small boat 15 miles off the coast of Point Loma, authorities said.

A Border Patrol helicopter first spotted the panga crossing from Mexican waters into U.S. territory about 11:15 p.m. Sunday, Border Patrol spokeswoman Officer Tekae Michael said. The helicopter crew alerted the Coast Guard, which sent a ship to intercept the suspected smuggling vessel.

The Coast Guard caught up with the panga and detained all 19 passengers around 3:45 a.m. about 15 miles off the coast, Michael said.

Two of the men were citizens of India, while the other 17 were from Mexico, Michael said. Two of the men were suspected of smuggling the others.

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Coast Guard officials turned over the detained men to Border Patrol agents, while the suspected smugglers were turned over to the Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrols parent agency, Michael said. The alleged smugglers could face human smuggling charges.

Twitter: @Alex_Riggins

(619) 293-1710

alex.riggins@sduniontribune.comPresident Trump will nominate Arizona Magistrate Judge Bridget Shelton Bade for an open position on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the White House said Monday.

Trump has largely avoided the 9th Circuit so far in his bid to reshape the judiciary because the Western district includes several states with two Democratic senators who could try to block his choice. In other parts of the country, hes filled dozens of circuit court vacancies in states with Republican senators.

Arizonas Republican senators, the late Sen. John McCain, who died Saturday, and Sen. Jeff Flake, have a history of clashes with Trump, but a White House official  who was not authorized to speak on the record  said Monday that Bade was recommended by the senators judicial selection committee and isnt expected to face opposition.

Flakes office did not immediately return an email seeking comment on Bade. Flake serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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Bade was picked to be a magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court of Arizona in 2012. A magistrate judge is appointed to help U.S. district court judges with their normal duties and are generally responsible for setting bail and other administrative duties. They are not appointed by the president and do not serve life terms.

She previously worked as assistant U.S. attorney for the district of Arizona and in private practice. Bade is a graduate of Arizona State Universitys Sandra Day OConnor College of Law.

The Arizona seat on the 9th Circuit has been empty since Judge Barry Silverman took a reduced workload in October 2016.

About two-thirds of the remaining appeals court vacancies nationwide are on the 9th Circuit, and at some point Trump will turn his attention westward and take on vacancies in states with Democratic senators.

Trumps nominee in Idaho, Ryan D. Nelson, has the support of the states Republican senators and is expected to move quickly.

The remaining five 9th Circuit seats could be a bigger battle.

Three of the open seats are in California, and negotiations with Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris have effectively stalled until after the midterm elections.

Trump nominated a judge over the objections of the Democratic home state senators in Washington, and that nomination is moving forward.

Republican senators moved for a vote on a judge in Oregon, also over the objections of the two Democrats who represent the state. But the nominee was withdrawn at the last minute over concerns about some racially tinged writing from college.

The latest from Washington 

More stories from Sarah D. Wire 

sarah.wire@latimes.com

Follow @sarahdwire on Twitter

Read more about the 55 members of Californias delegationAn Assembly committee has rejected former Assemblyman Matt Dababnehs appeal of a legislative investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, upholding the probes original findings that he more likely than not exposed himself to a lobbyist in a hotel bathroom.

Sacramento lobbyist Pamela Lopez said in December that Dababneh forced her into a Las Vegas hotel suite bathroom during a party in 2016, masturbated in front of her and urged her to touch him. Dababneh denied the allegation but resigned days later, saying the accusation damaged his ability to work effectively in the Legislature.

Preliminary findings by an independent investigator hired by the Assembly Rules Committee substantiated Lopezs allegation in June. The conclusion was based on interviews with Lopez and more than 50 witnesses. Dababneh also participated in the investigation.

Dababneh appealed the conclusion days later, according to documents reviewed by The Times. He argued that he had been denied a fair evaluation of the complaint made against him. The appeal lodged a number of objections to the investigation and its findings, including that Dababneh did not have the chance to respond to evidence against him, and that witnesses who could attest to his character had not been contacted.

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The Assembly Rules Committee denied Dababnehs appeal Friday, according to documents released Monday.

So far, it seems like the process has worked as it should, Lopez said. I was sexually harassed by Dababneh. The Legislature substantiated that claim and then denied his appeal. The Legislature has opined twice that my claim is substantiated.

A spokeswoman for Dababneh, Elana Weiss of public relations firm the Rose Group, said the Assembly investigation lacked transparency.

We received a one-sentence explanation as to why the appeal was denied, Weiss said. We are completely perplexed why the investigation report will not be publicly shared. Mr. Dababneh calls on the Assembly to release the full report because he has nothing to hide. From the beginning, he has always said he welcomed a transparent and open investigation, and thats why he wants the report released immediately.

Two weeks ago, Dababneh filed a defamation suit against Lopez in Sacramento County Superior Court, accusing the lobbyist of making false allegations and intentionally inflicting emotional harm.

Ex-Assemblyman Matt Dababneh, under legislative investigation on sexual misconduct allegations, sues lobbyist for defamation 

Dababneh was one of several lawmakers accused of sexual misconduct last fall, as the #MeToo movement propelled complaints of harassment in California politics into the limelight.

Two other legislators, Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima) and state Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia), stepped down after public allegations of inappropriate behavior. A third lawmaker, Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) had been the subject of two sexual harassment complaints when he stepped down in December, citing health reasons.

California assemblyman accused of forcing lobbyist into bathroom and masturbating 

melanie.mason@latimes.com

Follow @melmason on Twitter for the latest on California politics.

UPDATES:

4:45 p.m. This article was updated with comments from Lopez and Dababneh.

This article was originally published at 3:45 p.m.Albany, NY, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Transparency Market Research (TMR) has published a new report titled,  Fertility Testing Devices Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 20182026. According to the report, the global fertility testing devices market was valued at US$ 420 Mn in 2017, and it is projected to expand at a CAGR of more than 5% from 2018 to 2026. Rise in awareness toward fertility testing and increase in infertility rates are projected to drive the global market during the forecast period. North America and Europe are anticipated to dominate the global fertility testing devices market in the next few years owing to the rise in obesity, improvement in technology, and rise in trends of POC testing. The fertility testing devices market in Asia Pacific is expected to expand at a rapid pace from 2018 to 2026. This is attributed to the increase in population, increase in awareness about fertility testing, and high usage of the testing devices in developed countries such as Japan and Australia. The market in Asia Pacific is projected to expand at a CAGR of between 5% to 6% from 2018 to 2026.

Request to View Sample of Report - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=18689

Increase in infertility rate to drive global market

Increase in infertility rate across the globe is a major factor that is estimated to fuel the global fertility testing devices market during the forecast period. Rise in obesity and fertility-related problems such as PCOS is expected to propel the global market during the forecast period. Furthermore, delayed child bearing due to financial instability, technological advancements in fertility testing devices, and increase in awareness toward fertility testing primarily in developing countries are other factors that are likely to drive the market during the forecast period. However, ever-increasing cost of fertility testing devices, reluctance to undergo fertility testing in several developing countries, and lack of awareness are some factors that are likely to restrain the global fertility testing devices market during the forecast period.

Ovulation prediction kit segment to dominate global fertility testing devices market

The report offers detailed segmentation of the global fertility testing devices market based on product type, gender, distribution channel, and region. In terms of product type, the fertility testing devices market has been segmented into ovulation prediction kits, male fertility testing kits, fertility monitors, and others. The fertility monitors segment has been further sub-segmented into saliva-based monitors and urine-based monitors. The ovulation prediction kits segment is expected to account for a leading share of the global market during the forecast period. Higher share held by the segment is attributed to easy availability of the kits via OTC and online sales. Based on gender, the global market has been classified into female and male fertility monitoring devices. The female monitoring devices segment is expected to expand at a rapid pace during the forecast period, owing to increase in fertility related problems in females. Based on distribution channel, the global market has been segregated into drug stores and pharmacy, gynecology and fertility clinics, e-commerce, and others. The drug stores & pharmacy segment dominated the global market, accounting for more than 40% share in 2017, due to the rise in OTC sales, and trending POC testing of fertility.

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Asia Pacific market to expand rapidly

In terms of region, the global fertility testing devices market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America held a major share of the global market, in terms of value, in 2017. It is projected to dominate the market during the forecast period. The market in the region is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of between 4% to 5% from 2018 to 2026. Rise in awareness about fertility testing, increase in rate of infertility, and easy usage of the systems are likely to drive the market in the region during the forecast period. Europe is projected to follow North America, in terms of share of the global fertility testing devices market, by 2026. The market in the region is anticipated to expand at a significant CAGR from 2018 to 2026. Rise in infertility rates and high health care spending are expected to fuel the market during the forecast period.

The fertility testing devices market in Asia Pacific is anticipated to expand at a rapid pace from 2018 to 2026. The market in the region is likely to expand at a CAGR of more than 5% during the forecast period. Increase in population, rise in prevalence of fertility-related problems such as PCOS, increase in awareness toward fertility testing, and rise in rates of invitro-fertilization are expected to boost the market in the region. Australia, Japan, India, and China are highly lucrative markets for fertility testing in Asia Pacific. The market in China is expected to expand at a notable CAGR during the forecast period due to rise in population and availability of inexpensive prediction kits in the country. The fertility testing devices market in Latin America is projected to expand at a steady pace from 2018 to 2026. Investment by major players is anticipated to propel the market in the region.

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Key players

Key players in the global market are adopting strategies such as mergers and acquisitions, technological developments, and geographic expansion in order to capture significant market position. Major players operating in the global fertility testing devices market include Church & Dwight Co., Inc., bioZhena Corporation, Geratherm Medical AG, SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH, Emay (HK) Limited, Alfa Scientific Designs, Inc., Piramal Enterprises Ltd, Ava Science Inc., and Hilin Life Products.

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Website: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.comHarvey Weinstein is escalating his effort to end Ashley Judds lawsuit claiming he defamed and blacklisted her after she rebuffed his advances.

The pariah producer filed new paperwork Monday claiming Judd has failed to plausibly plead hes the one who trash-talked her to Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson before she was passed over for a role in the blockbuster film franchise.

He also said his alleged harassment of Judd in a Beverly Hills hotel room while she was filming the 1997 movie Kiss The Girls was too minor to plead tangible retaliation.

The single alleged encounter  where Weinstein allegedly asked to give (Judd) a massage, to have her help him pick out clothes, and for her to watch him shower  was neither pervasive nor severe, the new filing in federal court in Los Angeles argued.

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The disgraced movie mogul, who co-founded Miramax with his brother Bob Weinstein in New York in 1979, claimed Judds assertions he blackballed her in Hollywood and harmed her future earnings were inexcusably conclusory, speculative and implausible.

He argued Judd shouldnt be allowed to bypass the statutes of limitations on her claims by saying she only learned of his alleged misdeeds last year, when director Peter Jackson told Stuff magazine he was warned by Miramax to steer clear of Judd and her fellow actress Mira Sorvino, another Weinstein accuser.

I recall Miramax telling us they were a nightmare to work with and we should avoid them at all costs, Jackson told Stuff.

At the time, we had no reason to question what these guys were telling us, but in hindsight, I realize that this was very likely the Miramax smear campaign in full swing, he said.

I now suspect we were fed false information about both of these talented women, and as a direct result, their names were removed from our casting list, Jackson said.

Judd was one of the first women to step forward in a blockbuster expose in the New York Times last October that opened the floodgates to scores of sexual harassment and assault allegations against Weinstein.

She said the Oscar-winning producer lured her to a suite of the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills under the guise of a business breakfast meeting, stripped naked and asked her to watch him shower and engage in massage.

In her defamation and sexual harassment lawsuit filed in April, Judd said she felt cornered and desperate to escape the situation, so she struck a mock bargain with Weinstein, saying he could touch her after she won an Academy Award in one of his films.

Her lawsuit claims Weinstein, 66, lorded the statement over her at subsequent meetings.

The actress, 50, said she later entered discussions for a role in Lord of the Rings and felt close to securing a part before she learned Jackson decided against her.

After Judd and dozens of other women went public with their claims that Weinstein was a serial sex predator, Jackson made the comments that Miramax brass trash-talked Judd and Sorvino.

Jackson, 56, apologized for possibly playing any unwitting role in damage done to the womens careers.

In a prior motion to dismiss Judds complaint, Weinstein argued the statutes of limitations for the case  between one and four years for the stated claims  should stand.

Plaintiff admits she made no inquiries about why she was not cast in the film because she did not want to upset Jackson. Accordingly, her failure to file a timely complaint is due to her own lack of reasonable diligence and not any affirmative misconduct on Weinsteins part, his paperwork said.

Plaintiffs contention that she would have been a bigger star had she been cast in the (Lord of the Rings) films is wholly speculative. Thus, plaintiffs entire complaint fails as a matter of law and should be dismissed, the motion signed by Weinsteins lawyer Phyllis Kupferstein said.

Weinstein has been indicted on rape and criminal sex act charges in New York.

He is free on $1 million bail, and his criminal lawyer said he intends to fight the charges.Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 150 undocumented immigrants working at a Texas-based trailer company Tuesday in one of the largest workplace raids in the last 10 years.

The raid was part of an ongoing criminal Homeland Security Investigation into Load Trail, a trailer-manufacturing business in Sumner, Texas.

The investigation began when HSI received tips that the company had knowingly hired undocumented immigrants, and that the illegal workers were using fraudulent identification documents, ICE said in a press release.

Businesses that knowingly hire illegal aliens create an unfair advantage over their competing businesses, said Special Agent in Charge Katrina Berger. In addition, they take jobs away from U.S. citizens and legal residents, and they create an atmosphere poised for exploiting their illegal workforce.

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The administrative arrests were made as part of a joint enforcement action led by HSI  the federal law enforcement agency responsible for enforcing the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act.

Arrested parties will be interviewed and all illegal aliens encountered will be fingerprinted and processed for removal from the United States, the press release said.

150 administrative arrests were made Tuesday as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into a Texas-based trailer manufcaturer. (Charles Reed/ U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)

Berger emphasized the scope of the raid.

Its a big deal. This is probably one of the larger, single-site worksite operations in the last 10 years, she said.

She said it could take months, or even years for the agency to complete its criminal investigation.

A criminal search warrant was issued but no criminal arrests were made Tuesday, Berger said.

We are still collecting and vetting data, she said, adding that the administrative arrests are just one part of our criminal investigation.

Berger insisted that significant planning went into the operation to make sure the people we are administratively arresting are humanely treated or well-treated throughout the entire event.

Load Trail was founded in 1996 and employs about 500 people on its 100-acre site, according to the companys website.

An ICE report shows that in 2014, the company was fined $445,000 for hiring more than 179 unauthorized workers.

Dennis Perry, a current Load Trail employee, said armed agents moved in from every corner Tuesday.

They drew their guns and told everyone to hit the ground, he told The Dallas News.

He said some workers searched for cover and were tackled.

HSI set up a hotline for detainees family members to identify their detention location, status, and the removal process.A 15-year-old boy who was missing for more than a year after he saw his father shot and killed was found safe late Monday, Ohio police announced.

Jacob Caldwell was last seen on Aug. 21, 2017 in Sugarcreek Township, less than a week after his father, Robert Caldwell, was murdered.

Police Chief Michael Brown said at a press conference Tuesday morning that officers received a very credible tip and searched a local house around midnight Monday., where they found Caldwell living in the basement with four adults upstairs.

Caldwell does not appear to have been held captive, according to authorities.

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His room was in the basement, but he wasnt locked in there, Brown said. Theres no evidence of him being secured or locked in. He could have roamed throughout the house if he wished.

The four adults, who were allegedly associates of Caldwells mother, were surprised to see police at their door, Brown said, but cooperated fully.

He looks okay. He looks healthy. Thin, but he always was thin, Brown said. His demeanor fit what we had been told by his dads side of the family. Quiet, small for his age.

Police have been searching for Caldwell since he went missing, including two trips to his grandmothers house in Kentucky.

We always felt that he was fine, Brown said. We had a feeling, a really strong feeling, that it was a family member that was involved in him being missing.

Billboards went up in the area last week, which encouraged the tipster to come forward, the police chief said.

Caldwell was taken to Greene County Juvenile Detention Center, where hes being held on a previous unrelated warrant.

Brown said police are still looking into pressing charges against the four adults in the home where Caldwell was found.

He wasnt abducted. He was a runaway, he said. We want to go after whoever initiated him taking off that night.

A $15,000 reward had been offered in March for information about Caldwells disappearance.

Robert Caldwell was shot and killed on Aug. 15, 2017, six days before Jacob went missing. According to the Department of Justice, Sterling Roberts cyberstalked Caldwell on his cell phone with the assistance of Tawnney Caldwell, his ex-wife.

The day Caldwell was killed, Roberts allegedly took his illegally owned gun to stalk and murder him, according to the DOJ.

Tawnney Caldwell was charged with obstruction of justice for destroying the contents and data of a cell phone in March. She also faces charges of murder and conspiracy to intimidate and threaten witnesses.

Roberts was also charged with murder. Chance Deakin, Christopher Roberts and James Harmon were charged with aiding and abetting the illegal gun possession, and Chandra Harmon was charged with conspiracy to intimidate and threaten witnesses.A neighborhood in Texas has been consumed with mystery after a security camera recorded a barefoot woman wearing only a T-shirt and what appears to be wrist shackles frantically ringing the doorbell of a home in the early hours of the morning.

The incident, which occurred after 3 a.m. on Friday, was captured by a doorbell cam recently installed at a home in the Sunrise Ranch subdivision, according to the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office. The unidentified woman, seeming somewhat panicked, appears suddenly out the bushes and rings the bell a few times before the seconds-long clip cuts out.

The homes resident later reviewed the footage from a private security system and passed it along to authorities, who are now working to find and identify the woman, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Another homeowner in the area, who did not wish to be identified, said her doorbell rang at least 20 times Friday night, prompting her husband to make his way downstairs and to their front door.

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He walked outside, she told Click2Houston. No one was in sight. It was like she disappeared in thin air.

Since authorities shared the footage  which was also published on the neighborhoods Facebook page over the weekend  theyve received numerous tips suggesting the woman could be a missing person in various cases, some of them as far away as Canada, Montgomery County Sheriffs Lt. Scott Spencer told the Chronicle.

Authorities have not yet been able to link the woman to any missing persons in the database and have gone door-to-door interviewing people in the neighborhood. Theyre also reviewing surveillance footage from nearby businesses.

Social media comments below the video suggest the object around her wrist could actually be a lanyard and not broken cuffs, as many fear to be the case. Spencer declined to speculate on the details of the case and would not confirm whether or not the woman did in fact have shackles on her wrists.

The case is ongoing, he said and theres still a lot to be done.

He also urged residents to be careful when answering their doors, noting the woman could be part of a scheme rather than a victim.

Answer the door but call form the other side of the door, dont actually open the door, he said. Unfortunately the times have changed from yesterday so you have to be very careful.

Anyone with information about the woman in the video is urged to contact the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office at 936-760-5800 and refer to case No. 18A243347.Trump angers vets over raised flag

Re White House flags return to full staff 2 days after McCains death (Aug. 27): The pettiness and ego-maniacal self-centeredness of our president has been recognized by the veterans groups of the country that publicly called for him to lower the flags in Washington again to half-mast after he ordered them raised as, apparently, White House staff and not he personally had ordered them lowered.

The man who bragged in his biography he fought the Vietnam War avoiding sexually transmitted diseases while chasing coeds in Manhattan has disgraced himself again.

Did he think the veterans groups wouldnt notice or care? Disgraceful.

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Ed Karesky

Escondido

The death of Sen. McCain provided all Americans with a preview of Donald Trumps concept of greatness  in the grudging, momentary lowering to half-staff of our Stars and Stripes over the White House.

Sad beyond human expression!

Jack Wormer

San Diego

We have reached a point where we cannot even agree on honoring a former POW and long-time senator, John McCain.

Are vets who voted for Trump proud of their choice? McCain always had their back? Are military organizations, proud of offering their dais to this petty man?

Are we going to divide Arlington into Republican and Democrat sections. Divided we do not stand. God bless John Mccain and God help America!

Jim Smith

San Diego

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.From a young age Matt Cieslak knew he wanted to run his own bar or restaurant, so when the opportunity came up for him to take over Chula Vista mainstay Manhattan Bar, he jump at the chance. Now the bar is celebrating 61 years and earlier this year, Cieslak added a second project to his portfolio  The Elwood.

Both of Cieslaks bars are located on Broadway in Chula Vista landing them in the heart of the trending #SouthBayUprising movement. In this episode of Kiss My Glass, Cieslak discusses the movement, along with the development of Third Avenue, new people experiencing old bars and where he eats and drinks around Chula Vista.

Once the Lions Den, Matt Cieslak transformed the old Chula Vista bar into The Elwood starting in April 2018. (Courtesy photo)

Heres a look at what else youll find in the episode:

#SouthBayUprising

Celebrating 61 years of Manhattan Bar

The development of Third Avenue

Losing weight now in anticipation of The Balboa opening in Chula Vista

Stints at Pizza Port and Blind Lady Ale House

Starting a business from the studs up vs. taking over existing location

Knowing from an early age he wanted to run his own bar or restaurant

Band lineups at Manhattan Bar

New people experiencing old bars

Where Matt eats and drinks around Chula Vista

A need for a really good place to get steak

Future projects

Kiss My Glass is a collaboration between PACIFIC and Facebook group Eating and Drinking in San Diego.

Listen and subscribe to Kiss My Glass and sister podcast Dish It Up wherever you listen to podcasts, including iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Soundcloud.

Keep up

Manhattan Bar: 400 Broadway, Chula Vista, 619.422.6641, manhattanbar91910.comCALGARY, Alberta, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canoe Financial announced today a name change and a new sub-advisor to further strengthen its global equity offering. On August 28, 2018, Canoe Global Equity Income Portfolio Class will be renamed Canoe Global All Cap Portfolio Class and the sub-advisor of the fund will change to Kames Capital on, or about September 30, 2018.



Kames Capital, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aegon Asset Management, offers a high conviction approach to global equities, searching the world for the best investment opportunities across the market cap spectrum. Located in Edinburgh and London, Kames Capital can trace its history back to 1831, and currently has assets under management of $74.9* billion which they manage on behalf of pension plans, financial institutions, endowments and foundations, family offices and wealth managers.

Canoe is a firm that takes pride in our active management and high conviction portfolios. Kames Capital are true stock pickers and they offer a product that complements our line up. Our exclusive relationship with Kames will provide Canadian investors with a flexible and differentiated solution in a crowded global equity space, said Darcy Hulston, President and CEO of Canoe Financial. Canoe Global All Cap Portfolio Class will leverage Kames deep bench of 91 investment professionals to search the world for the best investment opportunities, regardless of location or market cap.

About Canoe Financial

Canoe is one of Canadas fastest growing independent mutual fund companies managing over $4.8 billion in assets across a diversified range of award-winning mutual funds, flow-through limited partnerships and private energy equity products. Founded in 2008, Canoe Financial LP is an employee-owned investment management firm focused on building financial wealth for Canadians. Canoe has expanded from its Calgary head office to across Canada, including offices in Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Montreal. To learn more about Canoe Financial and its investment products, visit www.canoefinancial.com.

About Kames Capital

Kames Capital is a specialist investment management business. From Edinburgh and London the company manages 44.2billion (49.8billion) on behalf of UK and international clients  including pension funds, government agencies, financial institutions, wealth managers, family offices and financial advisers.*

Kames Capital is a multi-award-winning investment manager, with expertise in fixed income, equities, property, multi-asset, absolute return and ethical investing. The company has over 320 employees.*

For more information, visit www.kamescapital.com .

*Source: Kames Capital as at 31 December 2017.

Madison Marmina

Office and Marketing Administrator

416.216.1583

marmina@canoefinancial.comMartin Luther King III speaks at Friendship Park on the 55th anniversary of his fathers I Have a Dream speech The son of Martin Luther King Jr. commemorated the anniversary of his fathers famous I Have A Dream speech by calling for humane treatment of immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees.

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.Virginia Beach, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- StarChase LLC, a leading GPS public safety technology company in the law enforcement and defense market, is pleased to announce Pittsburg Police Department as a 2018 StarChase Center of Excellence (COE) recipient. StarChases COE program celebrates agencies that have made outstanding contributions to improving law enforcement and community safety during high-risk vehicle events and providing multi-jurisdictional impact while also utilizing StarChase technologies. It also identifies agencies that execute innovative and effective public safety programs devoted to addressing crime, mitigating risks, and positively impacting their community.



The COE program is designed to be a collaborative effort between StarChase and law enforcement. As a member, agencies benefit from technology, training, and advocacy; and have ultimately demonstrated they have been a resource for multi-jurisdictional impact. Chosen COE agencies recognize the importance of implementing law enforcements best practices using progressive technology and enhanced officer tactics and training.



Our company recognizes agencies across the country for their commitment to helping address criminal issues, striving to mitigate risks for their agency members and the communities they serve, as well as being a resource for multi-jurisdictional impact. Since PPD led the effort being the first in the State, other California agencies have followed their leadership. We work with so many amazing agencies and PPDs initiative and professional standards exemplify their agencys long-standing devotion to the community they serve, said Bryan Stone, Vice President of Business Development and Sales, StarChase.



The Pittsburg Police Department experienced a significant increase in vehicle pursuits and had to find a way to reduce these pursuits while still doing our part to identify and arrest the individuals who were fleeing from us. StarChase was the answer. I admit I was a bit skeptical at first, but their technology works! This innovative approach has no doubt kept our officers and residents safe and has played a role in lowering crime in our community. We are honored to receive the 2018 Center of Excellence Award from StarChase, said Brian Addington, Chief of Police, Pittsburg Police Department.



The Pittsburg Police Departments overall initiative to regionally address stolen vehicles, and other related crimes, by equipping their force with progressive public safety solutions and training has transferred cooperatively with neighboring departments. The agencys incorporation of new tactics was essential to maintaining public trust and strengthening community relations.



Pittsburg Police Department Mission:



The members of the Pittsburg Police Department are committed to improving the quality of life in this city through professionalism, excellence, and trust. Police Chief Brian Addington trusts that a solid community partnership is the most effective way of making the community safer, and the cooperative working relationship between the Pittsburg Police Department and the people they serve is the strongest it has ever been. The departments highly trained and motivated officers employ the latest in innovations and technology to provide their community with model law enforcement service.



About StarChase:



StarChase provides GPS tracking technology tools and solutions to public safety and government agencies worldwide. Our patented force multiplying technology empowers law enforcement, mitigates risk and protects communities. Technology solutions include multi-platform GPS tagging, tracking and locating technology (TTL), pursuit management, fleet and asset tracking and web based command, control solutions. The company has become a resource for agencies in over 40 states as well as internationally. StarChase is a privately held company based in Virginia Beach, VA.



Learn more by visiting www.starchase.com or follow the company on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.You know The Speech. You know The Man. Here are five things you probably didnt know about I Have A Dream.

Weekly Newsletter The best of The Saturday Evening Post in your inbox! Join

Few words echo through history with the conviction and power of the I Have a Dream speech, given by Martin Luther King, Jr. 55 years ago today. Frequently ranked as the top speech in American history by polls and scholars, the address served as the defining moment of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. King and other organizers mounted the march in support of civil rights legislation initiated by President John F. Kennedy. All of that could be considered common knowledge; here are a few things that you might not know about the speech and the events surrounding it.

The Speech.

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1. It Wasnt Kings First Dream Speech

When you look back at Dr. Kings oratorical history, its obvious that he liked to use dream allusions and imagery. Its not difficult to understand why, as the civil rights struggle is essentially a dream of equality. King used that theme in a speech he gave to the NAACP in 1960 called The Negro and The American Dream in which he called America a dream yet unfulfilled. The speech emphasized that contributions that black Americans had already made and could continue to make and decried institutional racism, noting, The primary reason for uprooting racial discrimination from our society is that it is morally wrong. It is a cancerous disease that prevents us from realizing the sublime principles of our Judeo-Christian tradition. It relegates persons to the status of things. King would use the dream concept in further speeches in North Carolina in 1962 and Detroit in 1963, among other occasions.

2. The Speech Caught the Attention of the FBI

From 1956 to 1971, the FBI ran a series of operations that sought to dismantle domestic political groups. The umbrella name was COINTELPRO, which was derived from Counter Intelligence Program. Although the projects began by targeting the Communist Party in the United States, they expanded widely and involved infiltration, harassment, and, at times, violence directed against groups as diverse as the civil rights movement, feminist organizers, the Black Panther Party, the KKK, Puerto Rican independence activists, and more. King himself was a specific and frequent target of investigations and wiretaps as some people inside the Bureau viewed him as subversive. In Tim Weiners 2012 book, Enemies: A History of the FBI, Weiner offers a quote from FBI director J. Edgar Hoover in the wake of the Dream speech in which he says, We must mark [King] now if we have not done so before, as the most dangerous Negro of the future in this nation from the standpoint of communism, the Negro, and national security. The operation was overtly halted in 1971 after it was exposed by the activist group the Citizens Commission to Investigate the FBI.

3. It Made History in 17 Minutes

The speech itself took King 17 minutes to deliver. It has an official count of 1,667 words. Thats just over six times longer than Lincolns Gettysburg Address, which is widely considered Kings model for I Have A Dream.

4. The Speech Had Other Unshakable Lincoln Connections

The opening of the I Have A Dream speech includes the words Five score years ago, followed by a direct reference to the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, the document that freed all the enslaved people in the south. Slavery officially ended in the United States with the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865. Of course, the speech was delivered at the incredibly appropriate location of the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Today, a marble marker on the steps memorializes the occasion.

5. The Speech Immediately Changed Kings Life

Scholars, journalists, and politicians have long discussed what the speech meant for the overall civil rights movement and what it continues to mean to people today. The immediate aftereffect for King is that it launched him into the stratosphere of political leadership in America. Not that he hadnt already made an enormous reputation for himself, but in the time that followed, King became Times Man of the Year for 1963 and the youngest person awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Though his life was unfortunately ended less than five years after delivering the speech, his legacy has proven immortal. The man is gone, but his dream lives.Weekly Newsletter The best of The Saturday Evening Post in your inbox! Join

Hello, beautiful, the guide says, in the gentlest tone, to the polar bear lumbering toward us. Wed been watching her feed on berry-laden bushes on the muddy shores of Hudson Bay for about 20 minutes before she noticed us and headed over to investigate her audience  a dozen people from all over the world standing awestruck in matching red Gore-Tex jackets.

Whatcha doing sweetie? he tries again as the bear keeps coming, slowly, cautiously.

Our three guides have handfuls of rocks in their hands and rifles slung over their shoulders. But the weapon they use today and most days is sound. At about 40 yards, one of the guides bangs a rock against our metal buggy and the bear jumps back, startled. She veers right and saunters away, looking over her massive shoulder to give us a final backward glance.

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Polar bears are like grizzly bears on Valium, theyre just so calm most of the time. But that doesnt mean they cant have a bad day.

From a predictability perspective, polar bears are like grizzly bears on Valium, theyre just so calm most of the time, says Andrew Derocher, a University of Alberta professor who has been studying the bears for 35 years. But it doesnt mean they cant have a bad day or bad interaction or just change their behavior. And thats always the unknown.

The female wed been watching is one of about 800 bears that come to the western shores of Hudson Bay when the sea ice melts around June and July. They pass the warmer months lounging around, conserving energy, and waiting for the ice to come back in November. When it does, the bears climb back on and spend the winter moving over the frozen bay and gorging on seals.

Thousands of tourists come to northern Manitoba every year to see the bears on the shoreline. The bear-watching industry started in the town of Churchill in the 1980s, when a few American journalists showed up and asked locals to drive them to the town dump to see what were then regarded as giant white rats scavenge in the garbage. After stories started appearing in glossy magazines, locals upped their game to accommodate the surge of tourists flocking to town. Today, one can take day trips in specially outfitted giant trucks called Tundra Buggies, or spend a week among the bears onboard a mobile hotel room, or fly into comfortable, remote lodges. The bears, meanwhile, have a new nickname: the poster children of climate change.

The bear population in Hudson Bay has been declining  as much as 18 percent from 2011 to 2016. All indications are that Hudson Bay is not going to have polar bears in 20 or 30 years, says Derocher. There are so many things changing in the Arctic right now, its hard to predict how bears will respond. Going forward in time, changing sea ice, changing environmental conditions, competition  its not going to be the same as it has been in the past.

Getting There

Its an hour-long flight from Churchill south to Churchill Wilds Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge where we are staying, and along the way, we see a dozen or more bears lounging on the vast beaches below. Our pilot flies along the shoreline, pointing out the white blobs on the mud until we start spotting them ourselves. We land on a dirt strip on the other side of the lodges electric fence, where a few members of the local wolf pack sprawl out in the September sun. As our bags are unloaded, we see a black bear walk into the nearby brush. Business as usual in the wilds of Canadas sub-Arctic.

Over the next few days, we put on our loaner red coats, pull mud-splattered blankets over our laps, and head out in open ATV buggies to look for bears, watch the wolves, and stand in the woods calling moose. Our Cree guide, Albert Butch Saunders, has been hunting, fishing, and trapping around Hudson Bay his entire life. He watches tracks to see where the moose might be, and when our buggies pull over, he pulls a string through a coffee canister, creating a wail that mimics the sound of a female moose. Another guide, Josh Robson, sways and dips in the long grass to impersonate a female moose. Eventually the song and dance works, and a massive bull moose emerges in the autumn mist. He doesnt stick around long once he realizes the deception. Rather, theres just Saunders with a big grin and a bunch of delighted people snapping pictures. Another day, as the buggies come over a crest of a hill, we see six moose running full out in the distance. More delight.

Back at the lodge, we watch wolf cubs frolic in the fall foliage through picture windows. Several scopes are set up for those who want a closer look. A week earlier, guides and guests watched through the scopes as a mama bear, her two cubs glued to her side, fended off a wolf pack. It was terrible, says guide Andy MacPherson of the 30-minute attack. But I couldnt look away. Many wolves in this area starve to death, and taking down a polar bear would be a feast for the pack of 18. The wolves went for the bears neck, but she managed to fling them off and get away with her cubs. The day after we hear the tale of the fight, we see a beautiful black wolf with yellow eyes and gashes along its side. Hes in rough shape and lies down to rest under a tree, watching us watch him. I ask MacPherson which animals he was rooting for during the fight. He just shakes his head: Nature chooses, he says.

The Rules

When were outside the lodges electric fence, we have strict instructions: Be quiet. Stay close to the buggy. Do what youre told. The guides use a careful system of deterrents to keep us and the bears safe. It starts with talking to the animals and progresses to startling them with clanging rocks or loud bangers. The rifles remain on the guides shoulders. If I ever had to shoot a polar bear, Id quit the business, MacPherson tells me. Hes worked around bears for decades, studying how our behavior affects theirs. Every time bears are seeing people, theyre learning, and theyre going to react differently in the future depending on what kind of interaction that was, he says. A negative interaction would be feeding animals  theyre going to come back. A positive interaction could be they come up and theres no reward so you end up becoming part of the background.

All indications are that Hudson Bay is not going to have polar bears in 20 or 30 years.

We climb into the buggies and travel about five miles to find a mother and her cub snuggling together on the mud. After about 20 minutes of watching them, the cub, curious, gets up and starts toward us. Mama dutifully follows. Guides MacPherson and Robson stand in front of us, rocks in hand. Hey there, little guy  hows it going? MacPherson says. At the sound of his voice, the bears stop in their tracks. Eventually the cub, his fur gray with mud, gets bored of the sub-Arctic standoff and sits down. Mama bear stays up, lifting her snout to catch our scent 40 yards away. Meanwhile, Saunders stands with his broad back to all of us, scanning the horizon behind us with his binoculars.

Time to go MacPherson says, and we climb back in the buggies. As we drive off to the safety and comfort of the lodge, mama bear turns her head and watches us leave. I turn my head too, keeping my eyes on the polar bears as we get farther away and mother and cub turn into dots on the gray horizon, and then nothing at all.

Polar Bears and Sea Ice Scientists estimate there are about 26,000 polar bears in the world. The bears have been categorized into 19 different groups, and they live in Arctic regions across five different countries: The U.S. (in Alaska), Canada, Greenland, Russia, and Norway. Most of the bears  about 60 percent  live in Canada, and they all depend on sea ice to get to their main source of food, seals. The four different types of sea ice are faring differently with climate change. Seasonal sea ice, at the southern reaches of polar bear habitat, including the sub-Arctic Hudson Bay, completely melts in the summer, forcing the bears to come ashore. Bears in seasonal ice areas are the most endangered because they have to wait longer and longer for ice to form in the fall to hunt for seals. Polar basin divergent ice forms along shorelines and retreats in summer, so polar bears either have to go ashore and fast until ice returns in the fall or swim longer distances to get to the hunting grounds on the ice. Scientists say these bears are at great risk because of longer swims, longer periods of fasting, and encounters with humans on the shore. Polar basin convergent ice both forms locally and floats down from other parts of the Arctic to collect along shorelines, giving bears plentiful access to seals. The bears that rely on this ice are faring well now, but scientists are worried the ice may disappear within 75 years. Archipelago ice is far in on the islands of the Canadian High Arctic and Greenland, stays put even in the summer, and will likely provide a last refuge for polar bears. Learn more about the science of polar bears at polarbearsinternational.com.

Churchill, Manitoba: Polar Bear Capital of the World About 4,000 years ago, the Churchill area on the western shores of Hudson Bay was used to hunt caribou and seal. In 1717, it became a trading post that passed between British and French control. In 1942, the U.S. military, with Canadian approval, established a military base there that was demolished in the early 1980s, but the airstrip was retained and now serves as the Churchill airport. The town of less than 1,000 is roughly 950 miles straight north of Minneapolis, and there are no roads that go all the way up. You have to fly in. The only rail route to Churchill was washed out in a flood in 2017 and remains unusable while lawyers argue about who is responsible for repairs, the government or the train companies. Once you arrive in Churchill, youll be bombarded with primers on polar bear safety. Take them seriously. Dont go for a walk without a local, and dont be surprised when your young guide wont let you off the mini-bus until shes walked around the vehicle clapping to scare off any bears. Vehicles and front doors around town are kept unlocked in case someone encounters a bear wandering down the street and needs to make a quick exit. Special patrols chase bears out of town with noisemakers, paintballs, and even rubber bullets. Bears that keep coming back are sent to the towns polar bear jail, a former aircraft hangar. Troublesome bears stay until the ice comes and they can be released, or theyre moved far away by helicopter. When you do visit the polar bear capital of the world, youll find more than a dozen different options for accommodations, from small inns and hotels in town to luxury fly-in lodges on Hudson Bay. For more information, visit everythingchurchill.com.

Jennifer Allford is a freelance writer in Calgary, Canada. She writes a monthly lifestyle column in the Calgary Herald and has contributed travel stories to a number of publications, including the Toronto Star, WestJet Magazine, and Travel + Leisure. For more, visit jenniferallford.com.

This article is an expanded version of the interview that appears in the September/October 2018 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.A highly endangered species of bird called the Bahama nuthatch (Sitta insularis) has been rediscovered by two international teams of ornithologists searching the island of Grand Bahama. The finding is significant because the species had been feared extinct following the catastrophic damage caused by Hurricane Matthew in 2016. But it is feared that there could only be two individuals left  placing the species on the verge of extinction.

The Bahama nuthatch is a species of nuthatch endemic to the pineyards of the Grand Bahama island. This bird has a long bill, a distinctive high-pitched squeaky call, and nests only in mature pine trees.

There had been a sharp decline in its population crashing from an estimated 1,800 in 2004 to just 23 being seen in a survey in 2007. The decline likely began in the 1950s due to habitat loss due to timber removal, and more recently due to hurricane damage, storm surges having killed large areas of native forest.

A team of ornithologists from the University of East Anglia, together with experts from Birdlife International and the Bahamas National Trust, set out on a three-month expedition to find this and other endemic Caribbean pine forest bird species.

Meanwhile a second team of scientists, led by Dr. Zeko McKenzie of the University of The Bahamas-North and supported by the American Bird Conservancy, also searched for the bird.

The researchers made nuthatch sightings in May 2018, and the University of East Anglia team was lucky enough to capture the elusive bird on film.

The Bahama nuthatch is a critically endangered species, threatened by habitat destruction and degradation, invasive species, tourist developments, fires and hurricane damage, said Dr. Diana Bell, from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of East Anglia.

We looked for the bird across 464 survey points in 34,000 hectares of pine forest. It must have been like looking for a needle in a hay stack. We played out a recording of the birds distinctive call in order to attract it.

As well as searching for the elusive bird, we also collected environmental data to better understand its habitat preferences and surveyed the extent of hurricane and fire damage.

We were the first to undertake such an exhaustive search through 700 km of forest on foot, said University of East Anglia masters student Matthew Gardner.

We had been scouring the forest for about six weeks, and had almost lost hope. At that point wed walked about 400 km. Then, I suddenly heard its distinctive call and saw the unmistakable shape of a nuthatch descending towards me. I shouted with joy, I was ecstatic!

The University of East Anglia team made six nuthatch sightings in total, and Dr. McKenzies team independently made five sightings, using different methods, in the same small area of forest  including a sighting of what they believe to be two birds together.

The Bahama nuthatch was spotted in a small area known as Lucaya Estates. During the research project, birds were seen and heard in three distinct but nearby locations within this area.

Although the Bahama nuthatch has declined precipitously, we are encouraged by the engagement of conservation scientists who are now looking for ways to save and recover the species, Dr. McKenzie said.

University of East Anglia researchers, however, are less optimistic as the exact drivers of the precipitous decline of the bird are still unclear.

Sadly, we think that the chances of bringing this bird back from the brink of extinction are very slim  due to the very low numbers left, and because we are not sure of the precise drivers for its decline, Dr. Bell said.

But it is still absolutely crucial that conservation efforts in the native Caribbean pine forest do not lapse as it is such an important habitat for other endemic birds.English French

OTTAWA, Ontario, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Skills/Competences Canada (SCC), a not-for-profit organization that actively promotes careers in skilled trades and technologies, is proud to announce that the Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has partnered with Skills/Competences Canada to encourage students to attend the 2019 Skills Canada National Competition (SCNC). The next Skills Canada National Competition will be held May 27 - 30, 2019, at the Halifax Exhibition Centre, marking the Competitions 25th anniversary.



The Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development will be the School Engagement Sponsor at SCNC 2019. Through this partnership, schools will be able to access funding so that teachers and students from elementary to senior high school will be able to attend and participate in the 2019 Skills Canada National Competition. SCNC is a great opportunity to promote careers in skilled trades and technology to youth in Canada and to engage them in interactive activities which showcase these exciting careers. In recognition of

SCNCs 25th anniversary, there will be a variety of related activities as well as special guests and industry celebrities onsite at the Halifax Exhibition Centre.

This event prepares the students of today, for the demands of tomorrow. It gives them the opportunity to experience a wide range of career options so they can make informed decisions about their future, said Zach Churchill, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development. Through this competition students will demonstrate the passion they have for a specific trade or technology, develop skills as critical thinkers and problem solvers, and be positive role models for other students who want to pursue a career in skilled trade or technology.

Through the commitment of its many sponsors and suppliers, Skills/Competences Canada is able to engage Canadas future workforce at SCNC. At the 25th Skills Canada National Competition, over 550 secondary and post secondary students from across Canada will compete for the title of national champion in over 40 skilled trade and technology Skill Areas. Furthermore, approximately 7,500 student visitors will learn about these lucrative careers by participating in over 50 Try-A-Tradea and Technology activities.

The Skills Canada National Competition highlights the importance of having technical and digital skills for todays evolving job market. It is because of partnerships like these that we are able to engage students and peak their interest about careers in skilled trades and technologies and demonstrate why these occupations are great career choices, said Shaun Thorson, Chief Executive Officer, Skills/Competences Canada.

About Skills/Competences Canada

Skills Canada was founded in 1989 as a national, not-for-profit organization with partner Skills Canada organizations in each of the provinces/territories that work with employers, educators, labour groups and governments to promote skilled trades and technology careers among Canadian youth. Its unique position among private and public-sector partners enables it to work toward securing Canadas future skilled labour needs while helping young people discover rewarding careers. Skills Canada offers experiential learning opportunities including skilled trades and technology competitions for hundreds of thousands of young Canadians through regional, provincial/territorial, national and international events, as well as skilled trades awareness programs. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Skills/Competneces Canada is the Canadian Member organization of WorldSkills.

Follow Skills/Competences Canada on Twitter , Facebook , YouTube , Flickr and Instagram .

MEDIA CONTACT: Michele Rogerson, micheler@skillscanada.com , T. 343-883-7545 ext. 509 or 613-266-4771.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3ff0e949-d276-4909-9112-0a0f2197bacfNEW YORK, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The following statement is being issued by Levi & Korsinsky, LLP:



To: All Persons or Entities who purchased Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (Aspen Insurance Holdings or the Company) (NYSE: AHL) stock prior to August 28, 2018 .

You are hereby notified that Levi & Korsinsky, LLP has commenced an investigation into the fairness of the sale of Aspen Insurance Holdings to funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC (the Apollo Funds) for $42.75 in cash per share. To learn more about the action and your rights, go to:

http://www.zlk.com/mna/aspen-insurance-holdings-limited

or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. either via email at jlevi@levikorsinsky.com or by telephone at (212) 363-7500, toll-free: (877) 363-5972. There is no cost or obligation to you.

The Aspen Insurance Holdings merger investigation concerns whether the Board of Aspen Insurance Holdings breached their fiduciary duties to stockholders by failing to adequately shop the Company before agreeing to enter into this transaction, and whether Apollo Funds is underpaying for Aspen Insurance Holdings shares, thus unlawfully harming Aspen Insurance Holdings shareholders.

Levi & Korsinsky is a national firm with offices in New York, Connecticut, California, and Washington D.C. The firm's attorneys have extensive expertise in prosecuting securities litigation involving financial fraud, representing investors throughout the nation in securities lawsuits and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for aggrieved shareholders. For more information, please feel free to contact any of the attorneys listed below. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

CONTACT:NEW YORK, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Value Line Funds, one of Americas oldest mutual fund companies, celebrated a milestone as the Value Line Asset Allocation Fund (Inv: VLAAX/Inst: VLAIX) has reached its 25-year anniversary. Impressive as that is, the Fund also ranks in the top 20% or better for performance in this category for the 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20 year, and since inception periods as of July 31, 2018.



The flexible hybrid Fund, incepted on August 24, 1993, offers financial advisors and their clients a dynamic blend of U.S.-traded equities of all cap sizes, and in high-quality fixed income, with an emphasis on steady performance without undue risk. The Fund boasts a 5-Star Overall Rating from Morningstar, among 683 50-70% Equity Allocation Category Funds, as of July 31, 2018.

Asset Allocation Fund  VLAAX

1 Year 3 Year 5 Year 10 Year 15 Year 20 Year Since Inception Percentile Ranking in Morningstar Category as of 7/31/18 Top 3% Top 10% Top 10% Top 18% Top 8% Top 15% Top 8% # of Funds in Category 766 683 621 439 254 157 65 Avg. Annual Returns (%)

(Expense Ratio 1.12%) 11.98 8.22 8.63 7.82 8.32 7.08 9.66

Value Line Funds was built to create significant value for long-term investors and the Fund has accomplished that goal, said Mitchell Appel, President of Value Line Funds. Over 25 years, the Fund has more than doubled the average value of the Morningstar 50-70% Equity Allocation Category. A hypothetical $10,000 investment in the Fund since inception would be worth nearly $102,000 while the same starting investment in the Morningstar peer category average totaled approximately $49,000 over the same period as of August 24, 2018.*

The Fund is managed by Portfolio Managers Stephen Grant, Jeffrey D. Geffen and Liane Rosenberg. Stephen Grant has been the equity Portfolio Manager of this Fund since its inception. Mr. Grant seeks to own companies with a history of 10 or more years of consistent growth in both earnings and share price.

Advisors appreciate the Funds emphasis on steady long-term growth, comments Thomas Sarkany, Director of Marketing for Value Line Funds. In fact, as of July 31, 2018, over the 1, 3, 5, 10 and 15 year periods, the Fund has provided more upside return (Upside Capture) and less downside (Downside Capture) as compared to its Morningstar category average. By comparison, only 7 other funds out of 254 in this category have accomplished the same. We look forward to continuing this long-term record of success for financial advisors and their clients.

About Value Line Funds

In 1950, Value Line started its first mutual fund. Since then, knowledgeable investors have been relying on the Value Line Funds to help them build their financial futures. Over the years, Value Line Funds has evolved into what it is today  a diversified family of mutual funds with a wide range of investment objectives, available directly to investors or through brokerage firms or financial advisors.

Our family of mutual funds is designed to help investors meet investment goals and includes a variety of equity, fixed income, or hybrid funds. Its never too early or too late to build a diversified investment strategy.

For more information about Value Line Funds, please call your financial advisor or contact the Value Line Funds at 800-243-2729. Visit www.vlfunds.com for information on how to open an account, learn more about any of our funds and view past performance.

The performance data quoted herein represents past performance and does not guarantee future results. Market volatility can dramatically impact the funds short term performance. Current performance may be lower or higher than figures shown. The investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investors shares, when redeemed may be worth more or less than their original cost. Past performance data through the most recent month end is available at vlfunds.com or by calling 800.243.2729. You should carefully consider investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of Value Line Mutual Funds before investing. This and other information can be found in the funds prospectus and summary prospectus, which can be obtained free of charge from your investment representative, by calling 800.243.2729, or by clicking on the applicable fund at www.vlfunds.com . Please read it carefully before you invest or send money.

Value Line Mutual Funds are distributed by EULAV Securities LLC.

Value Line, Value Line Logo, Timeliness, Safety are trademarks or registered trademarks of Value Line Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries. Used by permission.

*Hypothetical growth of $10,000 returns are not adjusted to reflect sales charges or the effects of taxation, but are adjusted to reflect actual ongoing investment expenses, and assume reinvestment of dividends and capital gains. If adjusted, sales charges would reduce the performance quoted.

There are risks associated with investing in small and mid cap stocks, which tend to be more volatile and less liquid than stocks of large companies, including the risk of price fluctuations.

The Morningstar Rating for funds, or star rating is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed products monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods. The Asset Allocation Fund received 5 stars for the 3- and 5-year periods and 4 stars for the 10-year period ended 7/31/18, out of 683, 621 and 439 50-70% Equity Allocation funds, respectively.

CONTACT:

Lisa Aston

Harborside Group

210.378.7173

laston@harborsidegroup.comNEW YORK, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The American Health Council appointed Erin Engel, DPM to its Board of Physicians for her outstanding contributions to the medical field. A podiatrist at Mobile Care Group in Tipp City, Ohio, Dr. Engel provides facility-bound residents with the full scope of podiatric services, including wound care, diabetic foot care, musculoskeletal injury care, neurovascular and dermatological care, post-surgical care and preventative podiatric maintenance. While she has held her current role for three years, Dr. Engel has spent 11 years in the healthcare industry expanding her skills and knowledge in podiatry.



Inspired by her grandparents  who needed podiatric care  Dr. Engel decided to pursue a career in podiatry. After earning a bachelors degree in biology from Wheaton College in 1998, she enrolled at Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine and earned a Doctorate of Podiatric Medicine in 2003. She completed a Podiatric Medicine & Surgery (PM&S) training from the Catholic Health System  Sisters of Charity Hospital in Buffalo in 2005 and the University Hospital Health System in Ohio in 2006.

Dr. Engels career began at Dixie Dooley & Associates, where she served as an associate podiatrist in 2006. After departing from the latter, she founded her practice, Erin B. Engel, DPM, LLC in 2007 and has treated countless patients since. She continued to expand her skills while serving as a private contractor podiatrist for Walnut Creek, Greenbriar and Hawthorn Glen Nursing Homes that same year. In 2010, she accepted a private contractor podiatrist role at Spring Hills Assisted Living of Middletown, where she continues to deliver care to patients. After departing from Walnut Creek, Greenbriar and Hawthorn Glenn Nursing Homes in 2013, Dr. Engel served as an associate podiatrist at Sunshein Podiatry until her departure in 2015. That same year, she began a podiatrist role at Mobile Care Group, where she continues to work in mobile podiatry.

While providing high-quality care to her patients, Dr. Engel dedicated a portion of her time to the Ground Zero rescue efforts. She received the Ground Zero Volunteer Service Award in 2002. The following year, she participated in the Top Medicine and Family Practice Case Presentation and earned a Research Commendation in 2004. She has authored several research projects, including Leiomyosarcoma of the Foot: A Case Study in 2005 and Bilateral Brachymetatarsia of the First Metatarsal: A Case Study, both of which were published in the Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association, the official journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association.

Dr. Engel is a member of several professional associations, including the American Podiatric Medical Association, the Ohio Foot and Ankle Medical Association, the Midwest Podiatry Academy of Ohio and the Christian Medical and Dental Society. She served as a board member of the St. Elizabeths New Life Group from 2008 to 2009 and member and secretary of the Grace Community Church Stewardship Committee from 2007 to 2010. In her free time, she enjoys archery, woodworking, storm-chasing, remodeling, playing the piano and hiking. She also enjoys contributing to animal rescue organizations, local food pantries and nursing homes.

Attributing her success to her faith, her empathy and compassion for others, Dr. Engel is proud to be blessed with a wonderful family, including her husband, three young daughters, a Siamese cat and a German Shepherd. Over the next five years, Dr. Engel would like to see a broad availability of medical services provided to nursing home residents and home-limited patients who otherwise would not qualify for such services.

About the American Health Council:

The American Health Council is the nations only organization with a constituency representative of all sectors of the healthcare industry. From the coasts to the heartland, the American Health Council has drawn Affiliates from major metropolitan hubs and small communities. These Affiliates span generations and have reached different stages of their careers  from recent graduates to retirees. More information about the American Health Council and its mission can be found at: http://americanhealthcouncil.org.

Additionally, the American Health Council strives to provide recognition and support for those individuals and institutions making the difference in patients lives day in and day out. The AHC is honoring Americas Best Doctors and Nurses, as well as the nations best medical universities and hospitals. The American Health Councils Best in Medicine and Best in Nursing awards programs honor the individuals and institutions that have contributed significantly to medicine and nursing, as well as the training and education of physicians and nurses. The most current selections for these honors may be viewed here: http://bestinmedicine.org and http://bestinnursing.org.

For more information, please contact:

Elizabeth Moore

American Health Council

Hauppauge, N.Y. United States

Phone: 1-631-617-6590The signing ceremony took in Beijing, in the presence of Giovanni Tria, Italys Minister of Economy and Finance, Fabrizio Palermo, ceo of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, Giuseppe Bono, ceo of Fincantieri, and Lei Fanpei, chairman of CSSC.

Collaboration to cover oil & gas, cruise ferries, mega yachts as well as cruise

The agreement foresees the parties discussing extending their current collaboration, which counts a joint venture dedicated to the first cruise ships ever built in China for the local market and other related shipbuilding activities in several areas such as: vessels for the oil & gas industry; cruise-ferries; mega-yachts; special vessels; steel infrastructures; marine engineering and equipment procurement.

The cooperation also extends to covering cruise cabins, interior decoration, and the establishment of a reliable supply chain in the cruise market in China.

The parties said they may also extend the scope of the agreement to other areas.

Joint working group

Fincantieri and CSSC will establish a joint working group, composed of six members with appropriate technical expertise, three selected by each side.

This group aims to define the preliminary activities by the end of the year including potential opportunities for each of the areas identified for the collaboration, to analyze the market size and to identify preferential sales channel, to analyse potential partnerships among CSSC and Fincantieri group companies and its network of suppliers.

In February 2017, Fincantieri, CSSC and Carnival Corporation signed a binding agreement for the construction of two cruise ships, with an option for an additional four, at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS) shipyard.

Cruise shipbuilding and shiprepair agreement

The group also signed a letter of intent (LOI) with CSSC and the Shanghai Citys district of Baoshan for the development of the supply chain mainly dedicated to cruise activities, as well as shipbuilding and maritime, and a comprehensive agreement for ship repair and conversions with Huarun Dadong Dockyard (HRDD), the leading Chinese shipyard specialized in ship repair and refitting activities, aimed at serving the cruise ships based in China.

Bono commented: This agreement is a further recognition of our decision to access the great potential represented by China.

New opportunities in China for Fincantieri's supply chain

Bono said, acting as a first mover in the field of shipbuilding, we are able to create new opportunities for small and medium-sized companies in our supply chain, through the successful consolidation of relations with the major [Chinese] groups in this sector, and, at the same time, to continue to do the same in the West, in taking advantage of the booming cruise market there.

A conference session focussing on China's cruise shipbuilding and repair sectors aptly named Made in, and for, China is part of the Seatrade Cruise Asia Pacific 2018 taking place in Baoshan district of Shanghai between October 23-25, 2018.Press Release

August 28, 2018 HONTIVEROS CHALLENGES CAYETANO TO DIVULGE DETAILS OF 50-100 DIPLOMATIC ACTIONS VS. CHINA Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday challenged Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Cayetano to bare the details of the so-called 50-100 diplomatic actions his department made against China. In a Senate budget hearing, Hontiveros demanded transparency and integrity in the government's foreign policy framework and implementation. It was reported that Cayetano claimed in a congressional hearing that the Philippines has filed 50 to 100 protests and/or diplomatic actions against China over the past two years. However, Cayetano failed to provide details regarding the "diplomatic actions" against China. "Can the DFA tell us what is the nature of the 50-100 diplomatic actions? How many were in the form of notes verbal? How many were diplomatic demarches?" Hontiveros asked Cayetano. "Can the DFA give us the exact date and time when these diplomatic actions against China were made? What channels and platforms were used? How many times did the Chinese government responded? What were the nature of China's diplomatic responses?" Hontiveros further queried. Cayetano refused to answer Hontiveros' questions, saying that his office is willing to divulge the details of the "diplomatic actions" only in a closed session. He said that he doesn't want to publicly disclose the foreign affairs strategy of the government. He stressed that the government is taking up actions to address the issue despite the lack of details disclosed to the public. Hontiveros explained that the public is aware of only one instance when the DFA issued a note verbale to protest China's installation of missile systems on three man-made islands in the Spratly Islands and the harassment by the Chinese Navy of Philippine Navy boats resupplying troops on Ayungin Shoal on 11 May. "Transparency makes for good foreign policy. On the contrary, total silence raises suspicion and discourages public confidence. Considering that the Philippine Senate has been granted by the Constitution the power to ratify treaties and in line with its check and balance powers, it has material interest in ensuring that the foreign policy adopted by the Executive is in the best interest of Filipino citizens," Hontiveros said.Press Release

August 28, 2018 Legarda Bats for Strengthened Technical Cooperation with Other Nations Senator Loren Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committees on Finance and Foreign Relations, today urged the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to continue strengthening technical cooperation with other nations. During the briefing on the proposed 2019 budget of the DFA worth Php27.5 billion, Legarda asked the Department to check which countries the Philippines has technical cooperation agreements with and if these have been carried out. "Technical cooperation with other nations is good diplomacy. This exchange of ideas and knowledge benefits both the nations that are in agreement," she stressed. For instance, there is good opportunity for agriculture and trade in Papua New Guinea. Meanwhile, the Philippines, which is known for having good laws such as in disaster and climate change resilience, can lend help to other countries, like Timor Leste, in terms of legislation. The proposed 2019 budget of the Technical Cooperation Council of the Philippines (TCCP) under the DFA is Php3.68 million. Meanwhile, Legarda also stressed the importance of the Philippine government's presence abroad through foreign service posts. To date, there are 85 Philippine foreign service posts--60 Philippine Embassies, 21 Philippine Consulates General, and four Permanent Missions--based in 60 countries. Three posts will be opened this year and the DFA hopes to open or reopen 14 more posts next year. "I believe in promoting our Philippine image and presence abroad. It is but imperative to open more posts, especially where we have an increased number of Filipino workers," said Legarda. In line with this, the Senator also said that it is also important for foreign service officers to learn more foreign languages for better discourse with their counterparts in their area of service. "Learning a new language opens us to new experiences and makes us understand other cultures better. It is our gateway to new ideas, new perspectives, and new horizons," she stressed. Legarda said that for this year, there is Php20 million under the Foreign Service Institute for language training courses. Moreover, there is also Php30 million budget this year for scholarships that can be availed of by foreign service officers for courses offered both in the Philippines and overseas. "These courses and language classes are made available for all government employees to access. We should make the most out of these scholarships and language courses. Learning is indeed a lifelong experience," she added. "All these efforts are aimed towards ensuring that the DFA is able to effectively implement the pillars of foreign policy, namely, preservation of national security, attainment of economic security, protection of the rights of OFWs and the promotion of Philippine culture," Legarda concluded.Press Release

August 28, 2018 Senate approves Filipino Sign Language bill The Senate today passed on third and final reading a bill declaring the Filipino Sign Language (FSL) as an official medium of instruction and mode of communications in the country to promote the rights of deaf persons. Senate Bill No. 1455, sponsored by Senator Paolo Benigno "Bam" Aquino IV, vice-chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture, was approved with 20 affirmative votes, zero negative vote and no abstention. "Let's establish the official language for the deaf, the Filipino Sign Language, to promote the right of the deaf community in the Philippines to their identity, expression and communication," Aquino said. "The use of sign language in the Philippines dates back to 1596. FSL has since evolved to be an effective visual language that is well-researched, based on Filipino culture and history, and even incorporates indigenous elements," he added. Senator Nancy Binay, who introduced and co-sponsored the measure, explained that there was a need to identify and adopt standards that would guide the development and advancement, especially in communication, of the deaf and hard of hearing. "The State should recognize and promote the use of sign languages embodying the specific cultural and linguistic identity of the Filipino deaf," Binay said. Binay said the bill would ensure that Filipinos who are hard of hearing are able to exercise their right to expression and opinion without prejudice to their condition. Under the measure, FSL would become the medium of instruction in educating deaf Filipinos. Specifically, the bill would require that the FSL be taught as a separate subject in the curriculum for deaf learners followed by schools and educational institutions. Similarly, FSL would be used as the official mode of communication used by government in all transactions involving the deaf, through FSL-trained interpreters in various government offices. "This would be particularly helpful in our courts and police stations so that deaf Filipinos have a fair share in our justice system," Aquino said. He added that the bill would make FSL the "means of interpretation in broadcast media, delivering news and information consistently to the deaf community." Once enacted into law, the bill would task the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWP), the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) and other stakeholders to establish a national system of standards and accreditation for interpreting FSL in media. Other co-authors of the bill are Senators Francis Escudero, Loren Legarda, Joel Vullanueva and Juan Miguel Zubiri. (AYA)TORONTO, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (Fairfax) (TSX:FFH and FFH.U), recognizing the shattering scope of the recent floods in Kerala, India, is donating US$1 million towards relief and recovery from those floods, working primarily through the Red Cross.

The extent of the devastation in Kerala, and the damage to the property and lives of the people of Kerala, is almost beyond comprehension. Fairfax wants to stand among all those individuals and companies who are extending themselves to provide support to the people of Kerala, said Prem Watsa, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fairfax.

Fairfax is a holding company which, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance and investment management.Senate OKs Ifugao holiday on Yamashita surrender

The Senate approved on third and final reading a bill which would declare September 2 as a special non-working holiday in the province of Ifugao in commemoration of the surrender of Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita there at the end of World War II.

House Bill No. 5553 was sponsored by Senator Sonny Angara, chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Government, and was approved with 19 affirmative votes, zero negative vote and no abstention.

Angara said the special non-working holiday in Ifugao aimed to mark the surrender of Yamashita, then commander of the Japanese Imperial Army in the Philippines, on September 2, 1945 at Kiangan, Ifugao.

Angara noted that after Yamashita's surrender in Ifugao, the general turned over Camp John Hay in Baguio City to the combined forces of Filipinos and Americans liberating the country.

"For communities to progress, we must also consider honoring and learning from our history and the people who were part of it," Angara said.

Under the bill, the provincial government of Ifugao, the municipal government of Kiangan, along with the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) and the Military Shrines Service (MSS) are tasked to "lead appropriate and meaningful commemorative programs and activities" in relation the event.

Such activities, according to the bill, would "give significance and honor the heroes and heroines who contributed to the Philippines' liberation from the Japanese forces."

Yamashita, who surrendered his forces several weeks after the announcement of Japan's surrender on August 15, 1945, was later found guilty of war crimes and sentenced to death in 1946. (Mae Joy Miranda)Senate commends Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra for winning top prize in Austria

The Senate adopted a resolution today commending the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra (MSJO) for bagging the grand prize in the String Orchestra category at the 12th Summa Cum Laude International Music Festival in Vienna, Austria last July 8.

Senator Grace Poe, who introduced Senate Resolution 808, said MSJO brought honor, pride and joy to the Philippines when it won the top prize during a competition in Austria. She said MSJO "demonstrated that Filipino class was more than capable of matching up against the world's best."

"The Senate of the Philippines has an established tradition of recognizing outstanding Filipino individuals and organizations who have brought pride and honor to the country by excelling in their respective fields," Poe said in her resolution.

"It is but fitting that the Senate commend and congratulate the MSJO for their triumph and for bringing pride and glory to the country," she added.

The MSJO performed five pieces during their 25-minute set and tied up with Israel's Jerusalem Conservatory Hassadna String Orchestra for the top prize. No second prize was awarded.

Canada's Montreal Suzuku String Orchestra won third prize while Singapore's The Nanyang Girls' High School String Orchestra and the UWCSEA String Orchestra won fourth and fifth place respectively.

The MSJO delegation had 84 participants composed of 47 young musicians aged 10 to 23, three teachers and 34 chaperones.

The Summa Cum Laude Festival, established in 2007, is a prestigious annual international music festival held every July in Vienna, Austria. It brings together youth choirs, orchestras and symphonic bands from all over the world.Trans Tasman Resources' marine consent for an offshore iron sands project has been quashed after the High Court found the consenting authority's interpretation of an adaptive management approach was too narrow.

The 35-year consent was granted in August on the casting vote of the chair of a decision-making committee appointed by the Environmental Protection Authority. Among the many conditions was a requirement for two years of monitoring and data gathering before commencement of the project.

"The appeal is allowed and the decision of the decision-making committee is quashed," Justice Peter Churchman said in today's judgment. "The matter is referred back to the DMC for reconsideration, applying the correct legal test in relation to the concept of adaptive management approach."

The appeals were lodged by conservation, fishing and iwi groups after the company was given permission to extract 50 million tonnes of seabed material a year. It would export up to 5 million tonnes of iron sand per year from the ocean floor in the South Taranaki Bight, generating $400 million of export revenue annually.

The decision is another blow for TTR, which had its initial consent bid for the project turned down in 2014 - largely due to a lack of baseline information on the expected impacts of its proposal. There is little baseline environmental data available for much of the country's 4.3 million square-kilometre exclusive economic zone.

Kiwis Against Seabed Mining and Greenpeace today hailed the High Courts decision to uphold their appeal as a victory for the oceans.

This is a victory for the thousands of people who have protested and the 13,000 who made submissions against this awful proposal, a victory for the South Taranaki Bight, the blue whales and the entire New Zealand marine ecosystem, said Cindy Baxter, chairperson of Kiwis Against Seabed Mining.

Seven separate appeals were lodged that were consolidated and heard together. While Justice Churchman conceded there was no error in law on a number of the appeals, "the narrower interpretation of the concept of adaptive management approach, applied by the DMC, is inconsistent with the meaning of that term derived from s 64 of the EEZ act," according to the judgment.

The court said the adopted interpretation was inconsistent with the purpose of the act of "protecting the environment from pollution by regulating or prohibiting the discharge of harmful substances." It was also inconsistent with the obligation that where information available is uncertain or inadequate, a marine consent authority must favour caution and environmental protection. "The error was material and may well have influenced the outcome of the consent application," the court said.

The EPA said it noted the decision and "will now carefully consider the findings and the implications."

Alan Eggers, executive chairman of TTR, wasn't immediately available to comment.

(BusinessDesk)

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Tilt Renewables says its consented wind project at Waverley on the southern Taranaki coast is among three it is focusing on for near-term development.

The Melbourne-based company is advancing an 80-turbine, 336 MW project at Dundonnell in Victoria. That development, the 130 MW Waverley site, and the 300 MW Rye Park project in New South Wales are the firms key near-term focus, chair Bruce Harker said in a presentation for the companys annual meeting today.

While Australias National Energy Guarantee  dropped by former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull a week ago  may be on hold indefinitely, decarbonisation of Australias electricity sector is not, he said.

We remain confident of the opportunity to secure value where our projects are inherently competitive and positioned for opportunity, Harker said.

In New Zealand, we see positive ETS policy developments and, with the upcoming closure of the Huntly steam units, we see near-term opportunity for efficient right-sized North Island wind projects.

New Zealand generators are trying to position themselves for when demand growth warrants construction of the next big generator. Meridian Energy believes that will be after 2020. Last week it said its Maungaharuru project north of Napier is the best, but will need its consents renewed so that it can use larger, more efficient turbines.

Tilt has seven operating wind farms in Australia and New Zealand and a string of development options in both countries.

It runs the Tararua and Mahinerangi wind farms here and has just completed the A$105 million, 54 MW Salt Creek wind farm in Victoria. It is preparing to proceed with the A$600 million, two-year Dundonnell project in the same state.

The firm, now subject to a takeover by major shareholders Infratil and Mercury NZ, plans to make a final investment decision on Dundonnell in the December quarter, chief executive Deion Campbell said.

That will be shaped by the level of uptake achieved under Victorias renewable energy scheme, and confirmation of the projects business case given the renewed uncertainty at the federal policy level.

While Dundonnell is the firms primary focus, Campbell said off-take discussions have started for Rye Park, the Waddi wind and solar project in Western Australia, Waverley and another unnamed solar project.

In an update for shareholders, Tilt said the commissioning of Salt Creek helped push the firms July production to a record of more than 220 GWh.

Output in the four months ended July was 705 GWh, 51 percent more than a year earlier and 10 percent above the long-term average. Tilt noted that production in June last year had been an all-time low.

The shares last traded at $2.28 on the NZX. The Infratil-Mercury offer is priced at $2.30 a share.

(BusinessDesk)

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Fort Lauderdale, FL, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- SanSal Wellness Holdings, Inc. (SanSal Wellness or the Company) (OTCQB: SSWH), a vertically-integrated agribusiness focused on producing full spectrum natural phytocannabinoid-rich industrial hemp extracts, today announced that the Company has launched a new custom formulation under its Veritas Farms brand, that will be available at all ChiroCare of Florida injury and wellness center locations.



This latest Veritas Farms custom blended formulation, a phytocannabinoid-rich cold therapy Cooling Menthol Salve, was specifically developed with the assistance of ChiroCare of Florida CEO Dr. Steven Schwartz to meet the patient therapeutic and recovery needs of chiropractors, physiotherapists, and other professional healthcare providers. The pharmacist formulated cold therapy Veritas Farms Cooling Menthol Salve contains natural whole-plant full spectrum hemp oil, organic beeswax, organic coconut oil, and organic menthol essential oil.

Derek Thomas, Vice President of Business Development of SanSal Wellness, commented, We are excited to have had the opportunity to combine our product formulation expertise with the great doctors and therapists at ChiroCare of Florida to create the new Veritas Farms Cooling Menthol Salve that will help them to provide the best possible outcomes to their patients while treated in their offices or used at home.

Thomas concluded, The Veritas Farms Cooling Menthol Salve is an ideal product to introduce many potential new customers to the amplified benefits of cold therapy and natural whole-plant full spectrum hemp oil. Our recently expanded medical sales team will continue to work closely with other chiropractors, physiotherapists, and healthcare practitioners from across the country to increase awareness and acceptance of our Veritas Farms brand as a trusted source for the highest-quality phytocannabinoid-rich hemp oil products.

Veritas Farms Cooling Menthol Salve is available at all eight ChiroCare of Florida locations, online at www.theveritasfarms.com, and at other select healthcare and retail service providers.

About SanSal Wellness Holdings, Inc.



SanSal Wellness Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: SSWH) is focused on producing superior quality, whole-plant, broad spectrum phytocannabinoid-rich hemp oils and extracts. SanSal Wellness currently operates a 140-acre farm and production facilities in Pueblo, Colorado, and is registered with the Colorado Department of Agriculture to grow industrial hemp. The Company files periodic reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which can be viewed at www.sec.gov.





For additional information, visit www.sansalwellness.com and www.theveritasfarms.com.

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This SanSal Wellness Holdings, Inc. press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, including those with respect to the Companys mission statement and growth strategy, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company's management believes that such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee that such expectations are, or will be, correct. These forward-looking statements involve many risks and uncertainties, which could cause the Companys future results to differ materially from those anticipated. Potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, general economic conditions and conditions affecting the industries in which the Company operates; the uncertainty of regulatory requirements and approvals; and the ability to obtain necessary financing on acceptable terms or at all. Additional information regarding the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements is available in the Companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no obligation to update any of the information contained or referenced in this press release.Pawan Kalyan who has been very active as a politician has paid a visit to the sets ofrecently. That photograph has now surfaced online, thanks to writer Satyanand.

Satyanand is a veteran scriptwriter who has penned many hits for Chiranjeevi. When Pawan Kalyan paid a visit to the sets of Sye Raa while Bollywood's legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan was shooting for the film in Hyderabad, Satyanand took a photo with them.Mumbai : Stating he was happy Congress president Rahul Gandhi has made it clear he was not driven by prime ministerial ambitions, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Monday said the aim should be to vote out the Bharatiya Janata Party and that any party in the Opposition getting the maximum seats after the 2019 polls could claim the top post.

Let elections take place, remove these people (BJP) from power. We will sit together. Whichever party has got more seats can claim the prime ministers post, Pawar, 78, said.

And I am happy that the Congress leader (Rahul Gandhi) has also said he is not in the race for the prime ministers post, he said at a party meeting in Mumbai.

Pawar pressed for forging alliances of anti-BJP parties at state level and favoured picking up the prime ministerial candidate after the election results, as happened after the 1977 and 2004 general polls.

Raising concerns over the alleged instances of EVM tampering, Pawar asked the Election Commission to revert to using ballot papers during polling.

Congress leaders Ashok Gehlot and Ashok Chavan and NCP leaders Praful Patel and Jayant Patil would discuss seat sharing between the two parties in a week or two, he said.

Pawars remarks come a day after the Congress president said he was not driven by an ambition to become prime minister.

I dont have these visions. I view myself as fighting an ideological battle and this change has come in me after 2014. I realised that theres a risk to Indian state, to Indian way of doing things and Im defending that, Gandhi had said.

Lok Janshakti Party leader and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Saturday said that there was no vacancy for the post of prime minister in 2019. The united opposition front should start worrying about the 2024 elections, as Modi faces no challenge in 2014, he had said.

Pawar recalled how parties came together in a post-poll arrangement to dislodge incumbent parties from power in 1977 and 2004. In 1977, Congress tasted defeat and non-Congress parties had come together to form government led by Moraraji Desai. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was formed in 2004 after elections against the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance.

In 2004, no (non-BJP) party had majority. No leader or party was projected (as prime ministerial face). The BJP had then launched a massive India Shining campaign but was defeated, Pawar said.

Similarly, Narendra Modi is a strong competitor (now). But dont worry, the common man of this country is more aware and smarter than us, Pawar said.

The Maratha strongman said he would try to go to each state and make regional parties which are not with the BJP to join us (the opposition alliance).

He noted that Congress is strong in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

In Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajawadi Party headed by Akhilesh Yadav are strong, he said.

Situation is different in each state. Hence, we will have to get along with parties which are strong in each state, the former Union minister added.

hen asked if the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena would be part of the anti-BJP alliance, Pawar said this issue hasnt been discussed.

Pawar said MNS chief Raj Thackeray met him on Sunday and expressed strong views about the alleged misuse of EVMs.

There is substance in what he (Thackeray) says. He insisted the (non-BJP) parties should take a stand on this, Pawar said.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Sanjay Khodke, who was expelled from the NCP in 2014, formally rejoined the party. Khodke was expelled for anti-party activities after he opposed party decision to field Navneet Rana as the candidate from the Amravati Lok Sabha constituency.Johnstown, Colorado, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canyon Bakehouse, a Colorado-based gluten-free bakery, introduces a brand new line of English Muffins. Available in Original and Honey Whole Grain, both feature a crunchy outside and a fluffy pillow of chewy goodness on the inside. The English Muffins add to the growing number of gluten-free breakfast offerings from Canyon Bakehouse, including four varieties of sweet and savory bagels.

English Muffins have been one of the biggest requests from our fans, said Christi Skow, Canyon Bakehouse co-founder and gluten-free mom. They are a breakfast staple that so many people who are gluten free miss and were excited to add them to our breakfast offerings. They are chewy and fluffy with all the nooks and crannies for a perfect crunch!

Boasting four grams of protein per muffin, Canyon Bakehouse Gluten-Free English Muffins are made with all-natural ingredients, whole grains and have no GMOs. For a classic breakfast treat, the Original are delicious toasted with butter, jam or piled high with your favorite breakfast sandwich fixings. And, for a lightly sweet and wholesome taste, the Honey Whole Grain English Muffins are made with sunflower seeds and a touch of honey. Like all Canyon Bakehouse baked goods, they are Certified Gluten-Free, kosher and free from dairy, casein, tree nuts, peanuts, soy and sesame.

Canyon Bakehouse Gluten-Free English Muffins will be available in September 2018 in conventional and natural grocery stores nationwide. The Original English Muffins come in a pack of five and can be found in the freezer section of the grocery store. The Honey Whole Grain English Muffins are packed in the innovative Stay-Fresh packaging, which means they are sealed air-tight and will stay fresh for 90 days after they are packed at the Canyon Bakehouse bakery. Look for them in the ambient temperature bread aisle. The new products will also be available for online purchase at the company website. The suggested retailer price is $5.496.49. A list of retailers is also available on the company website.

To learn more about the new English Muffin offerings and other baked goods from Canyon Bakehouse, please visit us on Facebook and Instagram @canyonglutenfree, on Twitter @CanyonGFree, or online at www.canyonbakehouse.com.

About Canyon Bakehouse

Canyon Bakehouse is a dedicated gluten-free bakery located in Johnstown, Colo. The family-owned bakery opened for business in 2009, recognizing the need for delicious gluten-free products that combine great flavor with soft texture, using only whole grains and all-natural, real food ingredients youd find in your own kitchen. The bakehouse has continued to expand its distribution, including more than 20,000 stores nationwide. The award-winning breads have been featured in Prevention's "100 Cleanest Packaged Food Awards" and Delicious Living's "Best Bite Awards."

AttachmentNew Delhi : The commercial use of drones (unmanned aircraft) across sectors such as agriculture, health and disaster relief under new regulations will come into force from December 1, but delivery of payload, including food items, would not be allowed as of now, the government said on Monday.

All civilian drone operations will be restricted only during day time and flying will be restricted within visual line of sight which usually would be 450 metres, the regulation says.

Except nano drones and those owned by National Technical Research Organisation and central intelligence agencies, the rest would be registered and issued a Unique Identification Number.

The regulation prevents the drones from flying around airports, near international border, near coast line, state secretariat complexes. Besides, they cannot operate in strategic locations, vital and military installations and Vijay Chowk in the capital.

Unveiling the regulations, Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said, Our progressive regulations will encourage a vast Made in India drone industry.

He said the relief efforts in Kerala would have been much more effective had the regulation been in place by now. He said drone market is expected to touch $1 trillion in the coming years.

We are likely to go from travelling in auto rickshaws to air rickshaws. There is a wide range of application of drones, from disaster relief, surveillance, security monitoring, precision agriculture, precision logistics, said Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha.

According to the regulations, drones can be used for taking wedding photographs.

The registration of the drones, permission to fly will be done digitally through the digital sky platform, connected to local police, which will implement no permission, no take off.

Users of the nano drone,which weighs less than 250 gram and flies up to 50 feet, are exempted from securing permission, including from local police. But micro drones flying up to 200 feet and small drones flying over 450 feet and above will have to require police permission.

Users will be required to do a one-time registration of their drones, pilots and owners. For every flight (exempted for the nano category), users will be required to ask for permission to fly on a mobile app and an automated process permits or denies the request instantly.

To prevent unauthorised flights and to ensure public safety, any drone without a digital permit to fly will simply not be able to takeoff, said a government statement.

Asked about the delivery of food items, Sinha indicated the second set of regulations may allow their delivery based on outcome of tests.

While drones can be used for agricultural purpose, they cannot be used for spraying pesticides until specifically cleared. Besides, carriage of explosives, animals and human payload are not allowed.

Suspension and cancellation of licence has been provided in the regulations besides slapping of various sections of the Indian Penal Code for violation and falsification of documents.

The government has identified 23 sites across the country where the drone technology will be put to extensive use to evalute its further usage. A drone task force under his chairmanship will provide draft recommendations for drone Regulations 2.0.The general administration department's circular asks the chief minister, ministers, MLAs, MLCs, civil servants and other staffers to donate the amount from their September salaries.

: The Maharashtra government today issued a circular seeking donation from ministers, legislators and staff of a day's salary to the Chief Minister's relief fund to help flood-affected Kerala.

The circular asked government departments to inform their staffers about the donation and also stated that those unwilling to do so should not be forced.

The circular, however, said that staffers having objections should convey their views to the officials of their departments.

The state government had, on August 18, announced Rs 20 crore financial assistance and also deployed doctors to help Kerala deal with the destruction caused by the floods.

According to the Kerala government, 302 persons have died between August 8-26 due to the floods.RONKONKOMA, N.Y., Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sigma Corporation of America , a leading still photo and cinema lens, camera, flash and accessory manufacturer, today announced its Lens Workshops lineup for September. These educational and practical events hosted by Sigma dealers and lead by Sigma technical representatives will cover various photography genres and help attendees refine their skills with plenty of knowledge, hands-on practice at photo walks and shoots, and a vast Sigma lens collection to try out.



Sigma Lens Workshops September Lineup:

Virginia City Photo Walk with Action Camera Reno

Sigmas Lew Held will lead a photo walk in Virginia City, NV. This mining town was once one of the most important historic places between Denver and San Francisco, and has a lot of interesting photo opportunities to offer.

Agenda:

Friday, September 7 th 10:00am-6:00pm  Historic Photo Walk  Attendees will meet at St. Marys in the Mountains Catholic Church (111 E Street) to explore the historic buildings, antique shops, museums, mines and other prominent sites in Virginia City. Sigma lenses will be available on loan.

10:00am-6:00pm   Attendees will meet at St. Marys in the Mountains Catholic Church (111 E Street) to explore the historic buildings, antique shops, museums, mines and other prominent sites in Virginia City. Sigma lenses will be available on loan. Saturday, September 8th & Sunday, September 9th  Attendees are invited to return to Action Camera Reno for its one-year anniversary sale and print some of their pictures on its instant kiosks, as well as take advantage of a special promotion on Sigma glass.

Action Camera Reno  5890 S. Virginia Street Bldg. 3, Reno, NV 89502

Photo Walk Meetup  111 East St. Virginia City, NV 89440

FREE; Register Here

Travel Photography Workshop at Pro Photo Supply

Sigmas Aaron Norberg, an urban and natural landscape photographer, will lead a two-part travel photography workshop at Pro Photo Supply on September 8, 2018 in Portland, Oregon. The workshop will focus on bringing your artistic vision to life and turning documenting into storytelling.

Agenda:

Saturday, September 8 th 9:00-10:00am  Travel Photography Class  Aaron will dive into image composition and balancing out depth of field and shutter speed to tell engaging stories through your images.

9:00-10:00am   Aaron will dive into image composition and balancing out depth of field and shutter speed to tell engaging stories through your images. Saturday, September 8th 11:00am-2:00pm  Photo Walk at Sauvie Island  Participants will meet at Oak Island Trailhead for a guided photo walk. Sigma lenses will be available on loan to test-drive during the photo walk.

Pro Photo Supply  1801 NW Northrup Street, Portland, Oregon 97209

$25; Register Here

Macro Photography Workshop and Scavenger Hunt at Ace Photo

Sigmas Marc Farb will teach a macro photography class and lead a scavenger hunt photo walk during this fun two-day event.

Agenda:

Saturday, September 8 th 10:00am-1:00pm  Sigma Lens Demo  Marc will present the Sigma lens lineup and answer any questions attendees might have about Sigma glass.

10:00am-1:00pm   Marc will present the Sigma lens lineup and answer any questions attendees might have about Sigma glass. Saturday, September 8 th 1:00pm-2:00pm  Macro Photography Class  In this class, attendees will learn the basics of macro photography and what gear is best for this genre.

1:00pm-2:00pm   In this class, attendees will learn the basics of macro photography and what gear is best for this genre. Sunday, September 9th 10:00am-1:00pm  Scavenger Hunt Photo Walk  Participants will meet at the Lucketts Market for a fun photo walk with Sigma lenses.

Ace Photo  44710 Cape Ct. Suite 122, Ashburn, VA 20147

FREE; Register Here

Astrophotography Workshop at Shutterbug Camera Shop

Aaron Norberg will lead a hands-on astrophotography workshop at Shutterbug Camera on September 10, 2018 in Santa Rosa, CA for a unique opportunity to photograph the night sky using some of the fastest glass from Sigma.

Agenda:

Monday, September 10 th 4:30-6:00pm  Astrophotography Class  Participants will meet at Safari West for a class covering topics such as long exposure, lens options, focusing at night, color correct temperature, ISO options and using a histogram.

4:30-6:00pm   Participants will meet at for a class covering topics such as long exposure, lens options, focusing at night, color correct temperature, ISO options and using a histogram. Monday, September 10 th 6:00pm  BBQ Dinner  A delicious dinner will be provided before heading out to the night shoot.

6:00pm   A delicious dinner will be provided before heading out to the night shoot. Monday, September 10th 8:00-11:00pm  Night Shoot  Attendees will board a special tram to get to an ideal shooting location where they will enjoy a clean shot at the sky with no city lights to affect the view. Aaron will provide Sigma lenses to shoot with and dive into the technique of shooting the starry sky. In the end of the session, participants will get a 12x18 print of their favorite shot.

Safari West  3115 Porter Creek Road, Santa Rosa, CA 95404

$149; Register Here

Street Photography Workshop at San Jose Camera and Video

Sigmas Mike Hill will lead a hands-on workshop covering street photography on September 15, 2018 in Campbell, CA. Mike shoots lifestyle, editorial and travel photography. He is an experienced photo editor and art director who also teaches classes on narrative photography and Lightroom workflow.

Agenda:

Saturday, September 15 th 1:00-2:30pm  Intro to Street Photography  Mike will teach a visual course through the fundamentals of photographing the urban landscape. Attendees will learn how to make visual sense of the streets around them and how to choose the best lenses and camera settings to capture it.

1:00-2:30pm   Mike will teach a visual course through the fundamentals of photographing the urban landscape. Attendees will learn how to make visual sense of the streets around them and how to choose the best lenses and camera settings to capture it. Saturday, September 15th 3:00-5:00pm  Photo Walk Around Downtown Campbell  Attendees are invited to join Mike for a photo walk to apply what theyve learned in his class. They will also have the opportunity to try out a wide array of Sigma lenses available on loan.

San Jose Camera & Video  1600 S Winchester Avenue, Campbell, CA 95008

$49.00; Register Here

Urban Photography Workshop at Glazers Camera

Aaron Norberg will lead a workshop covering the fundamentals of photographing urban environments at Glazers Camera, followed by a photo walk through Lower Queen Anne on September 22, 2018 in Seattle, WA. Attendees will walk away understanding what gear and which settings are best for capturing the urban beauty surrounding them.

Agenda:

Saturday, September 22 nd 1:00-2:00pm  Urban Landscape Lecture  This workshop will kick off with a classroom lecture where Aaron will focus on lens selection and camera settings for urban photography.

1:00-2:00pm   This workshop will kick off with a classroom lecture where Aaron will focus on lens selection and camera settings for urban photography. Saturday, September 22nd 2:30-4:30pm  Queen Anne Neighborhood Photo Walk  Following the lecture, attendees will explore the neighborhood of Lower Queen Anne with Aaron and apply the techniques covered in the classroom. Sigma lenses will be available on loan.

Glazers Camera  811 Republican Street, Seattle, WA 98109

$25; Register Here

Birding Photography Workshop with Milford Photo

Marc Farb will lead a photo walk on how to photograph ducks and other waterfowl at the pond in downtown Milford. Sigma lenses will be available on loan to practice birding photography.

Agenda:

Saturday, September 22nd 9:00am-11:00am  Birding Photo Walk  Attendees will meet at Milford Photo for a quick review of useful settings and arrange for the loaners, eventually heading downtown to capture wildlife around the Milford pond.

Milford Photo  22 River Street, Milford, CT 06460

FREE for the Milford Photography Group members; Register Here

Workshop at Pictureline

Mike Hill will lead a portrait and editorial workshop at Pictureline on September 29, 2018 in Salt Lake City, UT. Participants will learn how to capture great portraits through an engaging narrative.

Agenda:



Saturday, September 29th 10am-2pm  Portraiture and Editorial Photography Workshop  This workshop will start with a morning lecture focusing on how to purposely illustrate subjects and their personality. Mike will cover techniques including using different lenses, incorporating backgrounds, and mastering posing. Then attendees will enjoy lunch provided by Pictureline, followed by a hands-on shoot using Sigma lenses.

Pictureline  305 West 700 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84101

$49.00; Register Here

About Sigma Dealer Workshops

Designed in collaboration with Sigma dealers around the country, the program engages photographers eager to learn new techniques and refine their photography skills through a series of classroom lectures and hands-on workshops. Led by Sigma technical representatives and photography experts, each workshop session hones in on a specific genre of photography such as portraiture, landscape, astrophotography and more. Normally a two-day workshop event, day one will focus on theory and educational best practices such as lighting, gear setup, camera settings, lens focal length and more. On day two, attendees put their newly acquired knowledge to the test with immersive hands-on, real world photo shoots and photo walks. Photographers of all skill levels, from novice to professional, are welcome to join in. The upcoming workshops schedule and details, including registration, cost, special promotions and agenda, can be found on the Sigma Events webpage.

About Sigma Corporation

Craftsmanship. Precision. Dedication. Since 1961, Sigma has been devoted to the pursuit of advancing photographic technology. Unique to the industry, the family-owned business produces its high-quality, award-winning cine and camera lenses, DSLR and mirrorless cameras, flashes, filters and accessories from its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility located in Aizu, Japan.

In 2012, the company introduced the Sigma Global Vision with three distinct lens lines: Art, Contemporary and Sport. Designed for industry camera mount systems including Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Sony and Sigma, each lens is handcrafted and tested in Japan to ensure a high-performance, premium product that is purpose-built to last.

Sigma continues its tradition of imaging excellence with the mirrorless sd Quattro, sd Quattro H and the compact dp Quattro camera line. Leveraging the ultra-high resolution Foveon sensor, the Sigma Quattro cameras are designed to produce the highest quality image with every shot.

For information about Sigma, please visit www.sigmaphoto.com or follow the company on Sigma Blog , Twitter , Instagram , and Facebook .

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d76d1de7-c941-4a08-a1ab-6af50beb93e7

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4065b573-7aca-45b2-8958-aabf46da51d3

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cb3035db-2952-4e97-b450-c0de23a3b54cPage Content

The Minister of Finance, the Honourable Perry Geerlings, met with Mr Quincy Lont, Senior Tax Manager at Meijburg & Co Caribbean and the Practice Leader of the Sint Maarten office, who officially presented the 2018 tax codes of Sint Maarten, as well as the brand-new tax application to the Minister. The tax application provides digital access to the country's comprehensive and up to date tax legislation and is available in the App Store. Minister Geerlings and Mr Lont also discussed the impact recent international tax developments would have on tax legislation in Sint Maarten. Meijburg & Co Caribbean is a KPMG member firm with offices in Aruba, Caribbean Netherlands, Curacao, Rotterdam (Dutch Caribbean and Suriname desk) and Sint Maarten. Over the past several years it has become a tradition to for Meijburg & Co Caribbean to offer an updated publication of the Sint Maarten tax codes to the Minister of Finance.



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context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951

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Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd53e9ea8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd9241d30)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd53e9ea8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd9241d30)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd594a578)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd9241d30)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd9241d30)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd53e9850)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd9102188)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd9102188)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951

/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd5d0a890)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fda51e9f0)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd5d0a890)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fda51e9f0)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd5c9dd28)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fda51e9f0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fda51e9f0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd53e8790)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd5c9d7b8)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd5c9d7b8)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951

/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd5d216d0)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd5ced1e8)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd5d216d0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd5ced1e8)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd5d10a00)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd5ced1e8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd5ced1e8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd53e9c88)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd5c850d8)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd5c850d8)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0System error

error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.

context: ... 21: </%method> 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: </%perl> 28: <table width="90%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 29: <tr> ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25

/usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951

/var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17

/usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149



Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 129 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 160 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd5d6bb68)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd5cd0ee8)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd5d6bb68)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1305 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 958 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd5cd0ee8)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 138 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x7f3fd5d6b5c8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1303 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1295 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 484 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 436 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd5cd0ee8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd5cd0ee8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd53e9a60)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd5c1e5d8)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd5c1e5d8)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0TORONTO, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BE Resources Inc. (TSX-V BER) (BE Resources or the Company) announces that the Company will commence trading on the NEX effective as of the market opening on August 29, 2018.



Effective August 29, 2018, the Companys trading symbol will change from BER to BER.H.

The Company has received notice from the TSX Venture Exchange that the Company had a Tier 2 Continued Listing Requirements Deficiency. The Company has been actively searching for opportunities and synergies with interested parties and has been engaged in discussions to create a value enhancing transaction. Unfortunately an agreement has not been reached by the Exchanges deadline. As a result, its listing has been transferred to NEX.

The Company is continuing to review a number of opportunities and remains committed to concluding a transaction in the best interest of our shareholders, at which time the Company will apply for re-listing on the TSX Venture Exchange.

The Company also announces that it has updated its contact information on SEDAR.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contact Information

BE Resources Inc.

Carmelo Marrelli, Chief Financial Officer

82 Richmond Street East,

Toronto, Ontario M5C 1P1

info@beresources.ca

Tel: (416) 848-0106LAS VEGAS, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today at VMworld 2018 , VMware (NYSE: VMW), a leading innovator in enterprise software, today featured COO Sanjay Poonen hosting several customers discussing their digital transformation journey. Poonen also hosted Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani activist for girls education, Oxford student, and the youngest person ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

It was a privilege to host Malala and our customer guests on stage at VMworld 2018, commented Sanjay Poonen, chief operating officer, Customer Operations, VMware. I'm delighted to announce VMware will be supporting Malala Fund in their work to advocate for girls' education. VMware helps customers across every sector realize the benefits of digital transformation. Through the VMware Foundation, we also enable many nonprofits around the world to scale their impact and achieve more through their digital transformation, contributing Service Learning talent, pro bono expertise and financial resources.

In addition to hosting Yousafzai onstage, Poonen hosted several conversations with customers about their digital transformations. A key takeaway of the session was the economic value delivered to enterprises who are on this journey. Conversations with IT leaders from the Brinks Company and National Commercial Bank of Jamaica centered around the power of software-defined technologies in storage and networking, modern app development, as well as the best way to embrace Hybrid Cloud. Another insightful discussion was about the role of digital workspace technologies in enhancing the end-user experience, both employee and customer, which included tech leaders from DXC and Adobe.

VMware also hosted one hundred high school students from Basic High School and Legacy High School in the Clark County, Las Vegas school district to watch the conversation with Malala. In addition, Dell Technologies announced that it is donating computers to both High Schools to further students access to technology.

About VMworld 2018 U.S.

VMworld 2018 U.S. is the industry's largest virtualization and cloud computing event. With more than 650 unique breakout sessions and labs, and more than 230 sponsors and exhibitors expected, attendees will have unparalleled access to the knowledge and tools they need to master the new cloud landscape and transform their business. To learn more about VMworld, please visit: http://www.vmworld.com/.

About VMware

VMware software powers the worlds complex digital infrastructure. The companys compute, cloud, mobility, networking and security offerings provide a dynamic and efficient digital foundation to over 500,000 customers globally, aided by an ecosystem of 75,000 partners. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, this year VMware celebrates twenty years of breakthrough innovation benefiting business and society. For more information, please visit https://www.vmware.com/company.html.

VMware and VMworld are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and other jurisdictions.

Follow VMworld 2018 on social media for live updates:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/vmworld

Twitter: https://twitter.com/vmworld

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2028037

Google+: https://plus.google.com/115668520412951838265

Media ContactBlow for France's Macron as star minister quits



Paris, Aug 28 (AFP) Aug 28, 2018



Emmanuel Macron suffered a major blow to his authority and green credentials on Tuesday as his popular environment minister resigned live on radio -- without informing the French president beforehand.

Nicolas Hulot, a TV celebrity and one of the most respected members of the cabinet among the public, announced the news on France Inter radio, taking both his interviewers and government colleagues by surprise.

"I am taking the decision to leave the government," Hulot said, explaining he felt "all alone" on environmental issues in a government committed to the same economic model "that is the cause of all the problems".

"I hope my departure will trigger deep soul-searching by our society on the realities of our world," Hulot added.

A government spokesman ripped into Hulot for not taking "the most basic of courtesies" to inform Macron or the prime minister before quitting -- an unprecedented move for a French minister, analysts said.

But Macron responded that Hulot was "a free man" and that he respected his decision.

"I hope I will be able to count on his commitment in another form," Macron said on a trip to Copenhagen.

Hulot, 63, was lured into government last year by Macron but has repeatedly clashed with his cabinet colleagues over policy.

"We're taking little steps, and France is doing a lot more than other countries, but are little steps enough? ... the answer is no," he added, after months of speculation over his role in government.



- Macron's woes pile up -



His departure adds to mounting problems for Macron, who swept to power in May last year promising to end decades of high unemployment and reform the European Union.

Due to slowing economic growth, his government is having difficulties drawing up the 2019 budget which saw Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announce at the weekend that he was dropping targets for reducing the deficit.

At the diplomatic level, Macron is struggling to convince his European partners of the need for a more integrated EU as nationalist governments make gains across the continent.

The president also suffered a major political scandal this summer when a senior security aide was filmed manhandling protesters, and his poll ratings have slumped to their lowest-ever levels.

Hulot's exit also risks undercutting Macron's credentials as a leading campaigner internationally against climate change which has seen him adopt the catchphrase "Make our planet great again".



- Macron's record under fire -



His resignation "will signal to the public that the government isn't doing much" when it comes to the environment, said Daniel Boy, an environmental specialist at political research centre Cevipof.

While Macron claims he is "neither of the left or right", the shock announcement will further erode support from the centre-left after criticism that his economic policies favours the rich, Boy predicted.

While saying he had "profound admiration" for Macron, Hulot made a series of damaging remarks, denouncing the influence of "lobbies" and "targets that we know in advance we won't meet".

The TV star was left disappointed when the government backtracked on a target to cut back on nuclear power, while EU negotiations on pesticides were another source of frustration.

On Monday, the cost of a hunting licence was cut in half -- a final bitter pill for the vegetarian and animal rights campaigner, who faced accusations from fellow activists that he did not hold enough sway over government decisions.

Formerly the presenter of the hit Ushuaia environmental TV programme, Hulot had repeatedly turned down offers to enter government by previous French presidents.

He was widely reported to be close to quitting in February after media reports that he had been accused in the 1990s of rape, which he denied.

Macron's record on the environment is mixed.

Despite Hulot's frustrations, the president has made the battle against global warming one of his foreign policy priorities, hoping to compensate for US President Donald Trump's climate scepticism.

Macron also led efforts at the EU level to reduce the use of the controversial weedkiller chemical glyphosate and has scrapped a proposed airport in western France, partly on environmental grounds.

"Do you do an environmental revolution in one year? The response is no," government spokesman Griveaux said. "I prefer little steps to not moving."

burs-adp/kjl/spmVANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CLC Secretary-Treasurer Marie Clarke Walker will be in Vancouver to speak at the Vancouver and District Labour Councils annual Labour Day rally. Walker will be available to media before and after the rally to speak about the CLCs pharmacare campaign, the value of unions and the significance of Labour Day to working people.



This year, Canadas unions are calling on the federal government to get it right on pharmacare by creating a single-payer, universal pharmacare program for Canada. Find out more at www.aplanforeveryone.ca .

Canada is the only developed country in the world with a universal health care program that doesnt include universal prescription drug coverage, said Walker. Everyone with a health card should have coverage for their prescription medications. We can achieve this with a single-payer, universal pharmacare program.

Who: Marie Clarke Walker, CLC Secretary-Treasurer What: Labour Day Rally Where: Pandora Park, Vancouver When: September 3, 2018, 10:00 a.m.

To arrange an interview on or before Labour Day, please contact:

UN court has no jurisdiction in Iran sanctions case: US



The Hague, Aug 28 (AFP) Aug 28, 2018



The United States told UN judges Tuesday they had no jurisdiction to rule on Tehran's demand for them to order the suspension of debilitating nuclear-related sanctions against Iran.

Iran has argued that US President Donald Trump breached a 1955 treaty with his decision to reimpose the sanctions after withdrawing from a multilateral nuclear accord.

But US State Department lawyer Jennifer Newstead told the court in The Hague that it "lacks prima facie jurisdiction to hear Iran's claims".

But Newstead argued that the United States had the right to protect its national security and other interests.

The treaty "cannot therefore provide a basis for this court's jurisdiction" in the case, she said.

The United States and several other world powers lifted sanctions on Iran under a 2015 accord after years of diplomacy. In return, Tehran made commitments not to seek to build nuclear weapons.

Trump said the 2015 accord did not do enough to curb the threat from Iran. He pulled out of the accord in May and began reimposing sanctions this month.

In the first day of hearings at the ICJ on Monday, Iran's lawyers said the sanctions were threatening the welfare of its citizens and disrupting tens of billions of dollars' worth of business deals.UN points to possible 'war crimes' in Yemen conflict



Geneva, Aug 28 (AFP) Aug 28, 2018



All sides in Yemen's bloody conflict may have committed war crimes, UN investigators said Tuesday, highlighting deadly air strikes, rampant sexual violence, and the recruitment of young children as soldiers.

In their first report, a team of UN-mandated investigators said they had "reasonable grounds to believe that the parties to the armed conflict in Yemen have committed a substantial number of violations of international humanitarian law."

Many of these violations may amount to "war crimes", the report said, pointing to widespread arbitrary detention, rape, torture and the recruitment of children as young as eight to take part in hostilities.

Kamel Jendoubi, who heads the UN's so-called Group of Independent Eminent International and Regional Experts, said the investigators had identified a number of alleged perpetrators.

"A confidential list of these individuals will be presented today to the (UN) High Commissioner" for Human Rights, he told journalists in Geneva.

The devastating conflict in Yemen has left nearly 10,000 people dead since March 2015, when a Saudi-led coalition intervened to fight Huthi rebels closing in on the last bastion of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government.

The UN human rights office said Tuesday that some 6,660 civilians were among the dead, while more than 10,500 had been injured.

The UN has meanwhile described the situation in Yemen as world's worst humanitarian crisis.

The UN expert group, which was created by the UN Human Rights Council last September and which needs that body's permission next month to continue its work, detailed a long line of abuses committed by all parties to the conflict.

"There is little evidence of any attempt by parties to the conflict to minimise civilian casualties," Jendoubi said.

The report concluded that "coalition air strikes have caused most of the documented civilian casualties," pointing to a large number of strikes on residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, detention facilities, civilian boats and medical facilities.

The report said there were "serious concerns about the targeting process applied by the coalition," pointing out that in many cases there were no apparent military targets in the vicinity of the attacks.



- Child soldiers -



The report covers the period from September 2014 through June 2018, and does not address the latest series of deadly strikes that have killed dozens of children in rebel-held areas and sparked international outrage.

The coalition has not confirmed or denied it carried out two air raids last Thursday that the UN said killed at least 26 children and four women south of the flashpoint rebel-held city of Hodeida.

Those deaths came after a coalition attack on a bus in the northern rebel stronghold of Saada early this month killed 40 children, prompting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to call for an independent investigation of attacks targeting civilians in the three-year war.

Children have not only died in air strikes in Yemen.

"Children are the most vulnerable. Poverty, coupled with violence and insecurity render them defenceless and exposed to exploitation and abuse by parties to the conflict," Charles Garraway, a member of the expert group, told reporters.

The experts said they had received "substantial information" indicating that Yemen's government, the coalition-backed forces and the rebels had all conscripted children, mainly aged 11 and up, but some as young as eight.

The report also decried the devastating impact a blockade imposed by the Saudi coalition on Yemen's ports and the Sanaa airport had had on the civilian population.

Jendoubi urged an end to "disproportionate restrictions on the safe and expeditious entry into Yemen of humanitarian supplies and other goods indispensable to the civilian population."

The experts did not delve into the complex web of countries supporting different parties to Yemen's conflict, including the United States, Britain and Iran, but did call on all nations to stop selling arms that could be used in the war.

They also called on all sides to halt hostilities, and urged support for UN efforts to broker a peace deal.

UN-backed talks between Yemen's government and the Huthis are to open in Geneva on September 6 -- a first step toward resuming peace negotiations that broke down two years ago.

"This crisis has reached its peak with no apparent sight of light at the end of the tunnel," Garraway said.US rejects UN court jurisdiction in Iran sanctions case



The Hague, Aug 28 (AFP) Aug 28, 2018



The United States told UN judges Tuesday they had no jurisdiction to rule on Tehran's demand for them to order the suspension of debilitating nuclear-related sanctions against Iran.

Washington cited security concerns in its first legal response to a suit by the Islamic Republic, which is suffering increasing economic chaos.

Iran has argued that US President Donald Trump breached a 1955 treaty with his decision to reimpose the sanctions after withdrawing from a multilateral nuclear accord.

But US State Department lawyer Jennifer Newstead told the International Court of Justice in The Hague that it "lacks prima facie jurisdiction to hear Iran's claims".

She argued that the United States had the right to protect its national security and other interests.

The treaty "cannot therefore provide a basis for this court's jurisdiction" in the case, she said.

Sanctions on Iran had been lifted under a landmark 2015 accord with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. In return, Tehran made commitments not to seek to develop nuclear weapons.

But Trump said the deal did not do enough to curb the threat from Iran.

He pulled out of the accord in May and began reimposing sanctions this month, alarming other signatories to the deal.

In the first day of hearings at the ICJ on Monday, Iran's lawyers said the sanctions were threatening the welfare of its citizens and disrupting tens of billions of dollars' worth of business deals.

The US lawyers held Iran to blame for its economic woes.

They have "deep roots in the Iranian government's mismanagement of its own economy and repression of its own population," Newstead said.



- Oil sanctions coming -



Trump says the sanctions are needed to ensure Iran never builds a nuclear bomb. He accuses it of supporting terrorists.

The Islamic Republic's lead representative in the case, Mohsen Mohebi, branded the sanctions "naked economic aggression".

"The United States is publicly propagating a policy intended to damage as severely as possible Iran's economy and Iranian nationals and companies," Mohebi said.

"Iran will put up the strongest resistance to the US economic strangulation, by all peaceful means."

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday dismissed Iran's claims as "meritless".

The US measures have added to Iran's economic woes, fuelling strikes and protests across the political spectrum.

Iran's currency has lost around half its value since April.

The sanctions target financial transactions and imports of raw materials, cars and aircraft among other sectors.

International companies including French oil firm Total and Germany's Siemens have suspended operations in Iran since Trump's announcement in May.

A second wave of punitive measures is due to hit the OPEC member state in early November, targeting its vital energy sector including oil exports.



- History of litigation -



Iran's lawyers have asked the court urgently to order the suspension of the sanctions pending a definitive ruling.

Newstead argued that Iran had a broader aim to "reinstate sanctions relief" altogether -- a matter she said was beyond the court's remit.

The court adjourned after Tuesday's hearing until Wednesday when Iran will have the opportunity to respond to the US arguments.

The ICJ is expected to take several weeks to decide whether to grant Tehran's request for a provisional ruling. A final decision could take years.

ICJ judgements are binding, final and without appeal.

However, whether any decision will be implemented remains unclear.

Both Iran and the US in the past have ignored ICJ rulings against them.

Despite the 1955 Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations, the two countries have not had diplomatic ties since 1980.

rlp/txw

SIEMENSLithuanian media sign pact with govt to counter hackers



Vilnius, Aug 28 (AFP) Aug 28, 2018



Lithuania's major online media outlets on Tuesday signed an agreement to work with the defence ministry as they try to fend off a growing barrage of cyber attacks, largely blamed on Russia.

Fears are increasing over possible meddling in elections next year in the Baltic EU and NATO state, where hackers have planted fake news stories on media organisations' websites, or crashed them altogether.

Warning that cyberattacks can sow "great chaos in society and in the state", Defence Minister Raimundas Karoblis said Tuesday that the state felt compelled to cooperate with the media to combat the attacks.

Under the agreement media groups will share information and strategies with government, while press representatives will be able to attend meetings of the National Cyber Security Council.

Lithuania's defence ministry has said attacks are becoming "more and more coordinated, complex and refined", while intelligence services say most of the hostile cyber activity can be traced back to Russia.

The national intelligence agency warned in March that "Russian hackers will likely use cyber tools to influence the upcoming elections in Lithuania in 2019", referring to upcoming presidential, local and European ballots.

Lithuanian online media outlets have crashed on numerous occasions in recent years after being subject to so-called distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attacks.

Last year hackers posted a fake news story on the site of the Baltic News Service (BNS) newswire alleging that a group of US troops in Latvia had been exposed to mustard gas.

Hackers also planted a fake news story about Karoblis coming out as being gay on the Tv3.lt news website earlier this year.

Moscow has long objected to Lithuania's drive to join western institutions after it became the first republic to break free from the crumbling Soviet Union in 1990.US military says IS member killed in Libya air strike



Tripoli, Aug 28 (AFP) Aug 28, 2018



The US military said it carried out an air strike Tuesday in Libya, killing an Islamic State member described by a source as a former local leader of the jihadist group.

The US Africa Command said it "conducted a precision airstrike near Bani Walid, Libya, on August 28, killing one ISIS-Libya terrorist," referring to the Islamic State group.

The strike around 170 kilometres (105 miles) southeast of the capital Tripoli was coordinated with the UN-backed Government of National Accord, the US military said.

"At this time, we assess no civilians were injured or killed in this strike," the US African Command (AFRICOM) said in a statement.

A source within the Bani Walid security services said an "unidentified aircraft" targeted a pickup truck around four kilometres from the town.

The attack at 1:00 pm (1100 GMT) killed the driver, Walid Hariba, who the source said was a former IS leader in the city of Sirte.

In June 2015 IS jihadists overran the city, 600 kilometres east of Tripoli, and Hariba reportedly fled when they were ousted the following December.

A hospital official in Bani Walid said they had received Hariba's remains which were later released to the family, confirming his identity.

Despite being driven from Sirte by government forces and allied militias, IS remains active in Libya.

The US military regularly carries out air strikes in the country, and on June 6 said it had killed four members of an IS affiliate near Bani Walid.

Just days later AFRICOM said one "terrorist" had been killed in another such attack 80 kilometres southeast of Bani Walid, in a June 14 operation targeting Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

In March US forces said they had killed Musa Abu Dawud, a high-ranking AQIM official, in an air strike in southern Libya.US support to coalition in Yemen not unconditional: Mattis



Washington, Aug 28 (AFP) Aug 28, 2018



US support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen is not "unconditional," Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday, as he defended America's ongoing role in the war.

The Pentagon chief's comments came the same day as UN investigators said they had reasonable grounds to believe that warring parties in Yemen may have committed a "substantial number" of violations of humanitarian law that could amount to "war crimes."

The US provides weapons, aerial refueling to jets, intelligence and targeting information to the Saudi-led coalition that is fighting Huthi rebels in Yemen.

Last week, the UN said two air raids killed at least 26 children and four women south of the flashpoint rebel-held city of Hodeida.

Those deaths came after a coalition attack on a bus in the northern rebel stronghold of Saada early this month killed 40 children.

"Our conduct there is to try and keep the human cost of innocents being killed accidentally to the absolute minimum," Mattis told Pentagon reporters.

"That is our goal where we engage with the coalition."

But, he said, US support has its limits.

"It is not unconditional," he said, noting that the coalition must do "everything humanly possible to avoid any innocent loss of life, and they support the UN-brokered peace process."

The devastating Yemen conflict has left nearly 10,000 people dead since March 2015, when the Saudi-led coalition intervened to fight Huthi rebels closing in on the last bastion of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government.

The UN human rights office said Tuesday that some 6,660 civilians were among the dead, while more than 10,500 had been injured.

Mattis described the complexity of the war, noting that Huthi rebels have launched weapons from residential areas into Saudi Arabia.

"We have been working with the Saudis and the Emirates doing what we can to reduce any chance of innocent people being injured or killed," he said.

"At no time have we felt rebuffed or ignored when we bring concerns to them," he went on, noting that he had not seen any "callous disregard" from the coalition.

The Pentagon chief added that training given to coalition pilots is paying off.

"We have had pilots in the air who recognize the danger of a specific mission and decline to drop, even when they get the authority," he said.

"We have seen staff procedures that put no-fire areas around areas where there's hospitals or schools."Private army in Afghanistan 'not a wise idea': Mattis



Washington, Aug 28 (AFP) Aug 28, 2018



US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday downplayed the idea of sending private military contractors to Afghanistan to replace American forces.

"When Americans put their nation's credibility on the line, privatizing it is probably not a wise idea," Mattis told Pentagon reporters.

Erik Prince, the former head of a controversial private military firm once known as Blackwater, has repeatedly touted such a plan as a way of reducing the US military footprint in Afghanistan after 17 years of war.

His sister is Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

Currently, about 14,000 US troops are in Afghanistan, providing the main component of the NATO mission to support and train local forces.Texan begins selling 3D gun plans despite judge's order



Chicago, Aug 28 (AFP) Aug 28, 2018



A Texas man on Tuesday began selling digital gun-making blueprints, including for a 3D-printed plastic handgun, despite a judge's order barring the distribution of the material.

Cody Wilson had initially published the downloadable files on his website four weeks ago, after a deal struck with the Donald Trump administration that ended the federal government's efforts to block him.

Wilson's actions caused a political firestorm, and even prompted Trump to tweet that making digital gun blueprints easily available online "doesn't seem to make much sense!"

Multiple states filed a joint lawsuit claiming Wilson endangered public safety. One of the homemade weapons could evade metal detectors and all lacked traceable serial numbers.

A federal judge issued a temporary order on July 31 barring the distribution of the digital blueprints, and on Monday extended that order until the states' lawsuit is adjudicated.

Wilson told a news conference Tuesday that he interpreted the judge's ruling as only barring the free online distribution of the blueprints. He instead began to offer the files for sale, and promised to send physical copies on flash drives or by email.

Visitors to his online marketplace, which was once again active Tuesday, could name their own price for the information.

"Everyone in America who wants these files will get them," Wilson said. "I'm happy now to become the iTunes of downloadable guns, if I can't be the Napster."

Wilson insisted that the digital files had already been available elsewhere online for years, and that barring him from distributing the content was akin to free speech censorship.

"What's at stake in the courts is simply the government is trying to tell you what you can and can't have, what you can and can't download online," he said.

Seattle-based US District Judge Robert Lasnik said in his Monday ruling that free speech rights were "dwarfed" by the harm that Wilson's actions could cause.

"The very purpose for which the private defendants seek to release this technical data is to arm every citizen outside of the government's traditional control mechanisms of licenses, serial numbers, and registration," Lasnik wrote in his ruling.

"It is the untraceable and undetectable nature of these small firearms that poses a unique danger."English French

TORONTO, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CLC Executive Vice-President Larry Rousseau will be in Toronto to take part in the Toronto and York Region Labour Councils annual Labour Day Parade. Rousseau will be available to media before and after the parade to speak about the CLCs pharmacare campaign, the value of unions and the significance of Labour Day to working people.



This year, Canadas unions are calling on the federal government to get it right on pharmacare by creating a single-payer, universal pharmacare program for Canada. Find out more at www.aplanforeveryone.ca .

The cancellation of OHIP+ in Ontario is a perfect example of what weve been saying all along: patchwork coverage that varies from one province to another isnt working for people in Canada, said Rousseau. Single-payer, universal prescription drug coverage is the right way forward and the only way pharmacare will work.

Who: Larry Rousseau, CLC Executive Vice-President What: Labour Day Parade Where: Parade starting at Queen Street West and University Avenue When: September 3, 2018, 9:30 a.m.

To arrange an interview on or before Labour Day, please contact:

English27/08/2018

KOJIC: WE ARE NOT SEARCHING FOR MISSING, BUT HIDDEN PERSONS

BELGRADE, August 27 /SRNA/ - The director of the Republika Srpska Center for the Investigation of War and War Crimes, Milorad Kojic, has said that back in 2004, representatives of the FBiH offered the Serbian side to disclose locations with bodies of missing persons from the Vozuca-Ozren area, but that this has not yet been done, and added that no one from the El Mujaheed Division has answered for grave crimes.



We are still searching for 129 persons /from that area/. We are not searching for missing, but hidden persons, Kojic has said at a press conference in Belgrade on the occasion of the 23rd anniversary of the sufferings of Serbs in Vozuca and on Mount Ozren.



Kojic has said that back in 2004, locations of missing Bosniaks from Srebrenica were disclosed to a commission from the FBiH, and that Bosniaks offered Serbs to disclose locations with bodies of missing persons from the Vozuca-Ozren area.



This has not been done. This means that those people from the FBiH know but do not want to tell us where they are. This is why I say that we are not searching for missing but hidden persons, Kojic has said.



He has said that the ICTY and BiH judicial bodies have not been active enough to prosecute those responsible for crimes against Serbs, including the beheading of Serbs in that area.



When it comes to September 10 /1995/, when Serbs were expelled from Vozuca in an offensive called Farz, this is a difficult fate that befell the Serbian people. The first heads were severed in Vozuca and this was done to Serbs, Kojic has said.



He has said that today the whole world is appalled by that which the Islamic State is doing and by the way they are beheading people, and no one wanted to pay attention to the fact that those same people beheaded Serbs in 1995 the same way.



No member of the El Mujaheed Division has been prosecuted, many still live in the FBiH or in areas bordering with Republika Srpska and represent a danger, but it is obvious that the judicial institutions do not want to prosecute them, Kojic has said at a press conference in Belgrade that was organized by the Zavidovici Homeland Association of Doboj and the Republika Srpska Representative Office in Serbia.



Kojic has said that the Center has been helping the Homeland Association for years to build a culture of remembrance.



Who controls the past, controls the present and creates the future for generations to come. Due to all beheaded Serbs in Vozuca, we do not have the right to forget what happened, Kojic has said.



The president of the Zavidovici Homeland Association, Zoran Blagojevic, has said that that which Kosare is for Serbia, Vozuca is for Republika Srpska.



We will never forget our victims and our missing, Blagojevic has said and expressed the satisfaction with the fact that a great number of young people will take part in the Paths of Exodus march on September 10.



He has said that a solemn academy will be held on September 6 in Doboj on the occasion of the 23rd anniversary of the sufferings of Serbs in Vozuca and on Mount Ozren, which should also be attended by Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik.



Blagojevic has said that the 11th march called Paths of Exodus will be organized on September 10 in memory of killed and expelled Serbs.



He has said that 23 years ago after exodus of Serbs from Vozuca and communities in the valley of the River Krivaja and in a south part of Mount Ozren, the fate of 129 missing soldiers of the Republika Srpska Army and civilians is still unknown.



He has said that 23 years ago in an operation of the so-called Army of BiH, 30 Serbian villages were torched, 1,920 families with 7,680 members were expelled from their homes and 459 Serbian soldiers and civilians were killed.



According to him, 23 years after the exodus of Serbs from Vozuca and communities in the valley of the River Krivaja and in a south part of Mountain Ozren, the fate of 129 missing Republika Srpska Army soldiers and civilians is still unknown.



The Zavidovici Homeland Association of Doboj says that Serbs were expelled from Vozuca in the operation of the so-called Army of BiH called Farz, which lasted from September 10 to September 24, 1995, and was preceded by the NATO bombing and destruction of civilian relays and facilities.



Around 23,000 soldiers of the 2nd and 3rd Corpses of the so-called Army of BiH and the El Mujaheed Division, supported by the NATO rapid reaction force, attacked three light infantry brigades of the Republika Srpska Army. /end/sgCHARLOTTETOWN, Prince Edward Island, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CLC Executive Vice-President Donald Lafleur will be in Charlottetown to speak at the Prince Edward Island Federation of Labours annual Labour Day BBQ on Monday, September 3. Lafleur will be available to media before and after the event to speak about the CLCs pharmacare campaign, the value of unions and the significance of Labour Day to working people.



This year, Canadas unions are calling on the federal government to get it right on pharmacare by creating a single-payer, universal pharmacare program for Canada. Find out more at www.aplanforeveryone.ca .

Canadas unions and workers across the country have been campaigning tirelessly for a national, universal, single-payer pharmacare system. More than 80,000 people across Canada have signed on to this campaign, said Lafleur. A single-payer, universal prescription drug plan would ensure that everybody with a health card has access to the medications they need.

Who: Donald Lafleur, CLC Executive Vice-President What: Labour Day BBQ Where: Joe Ghiz Memorial Park, Charlottetown When: Monday, September 3, 11:00 a.m.

To arrange an interview on or before Labour Day, please contact:



Chantal St-Denis

National Representative, Media Relations

613-355-1962 or cstdenis@clc-ctc.ca



If a fifth face were added to Mount Rushmore, which president would you choose?

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Ronald Reagan

John F. Kennedy

Someone in the Civil Rights or Women's Rights movement would be more appropriate. View ResultsFrench English

MONCTON, New Brunswick, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CLC Executive Vice-President Donald Lafleur will be in Moncton to speak at the Moncton and District Labour Councils annual Labour Day BBQ on Sunday, September 2. Lafleur will be available to media before and after the event to speak about the CLCs pharmacare campaign, the value of unions and the significance of Labour Day to working people.



This year, Canadas unions are calling on the federal government to get it right on pharmacare by creating a single-payer, universal pharmacare program for Canada. Find out more at www.aplanforeveryone.ca .

Canadas unions and workers across the country have been campaigning tirelessly for a national, universal, single-payer pharmacare system. More than 80,000 people across Canada have signed on to this campaign, said Lafleur. A single-payer, universal prescription drug plan would ensure that everybody with a health card has access to the medications they need.

Who: Donald Lafleur, CLC Executive Vice-President What: Labour Day BBQ Where: Centennial Park, 811 St-George Blvd, Moncton When: Sunday, September 2, 12:00 p.m.

To arrange an interview on or before Labour Day, please contact:

Leovegas AB: Authentic Gaming is granted licence and enters into agreement with the UK's largest casino

LeoVegas' subsidiary Authentic Gaming has entered into an agreement with the Aspers Group in the UK, under which Authentic Gaming will provide roulette games via live streaming from Aspers' prestigious casino - the Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford City in London.

This partnership was formed shortly after Authentic Gaming was granted a B2B-licence from the UK Gambling Commission, which gives the company the right the offer its product to operators active in the UK market. Authentic Gaming's existing customers consist of several leading operators, about half which have an opeRating licence in the UK.

"We are proud of this partnership with Aspers, which will allow Authentic Gaming to make its roulette tables available in the UK and other regulated markets in Europe," comments Jonas Delin, CEO of Authentic Gaming. The B2B-license means that we can finally offer our UK product to our existing customers, but also expand our network with new operators as we expect to see greater interest in our product. It is amazing that we now enter Europe's largest live casino market!

Gustaf Hagman, LeoVegas' Group CEO, comments: "Authentic Gaming continues to deliver on its growth strategy and has entered into yet another strategically important agreement. At the end of last year the company signed an agreement with the gigantic Foxwood Resort Casino in the USA, and this is now being complemented with the UK's largest casino."

Authentic Gaming's live casino product has been launched to date on some 115 sites via some 20 operators. Authentic Gaming has licences in Italy, Romania, Denmark and the UK. Read more about Authentic Gaming here: http://www.authenticgaming.com.

While Authentic Gaming is showing favourable development, its performance is not expected to have a material impact on the LeoVegas Group's growth and earnings in the near term.

For further information, please contact:

Gustaf Hagman, Group CEO and co-founder: +46-(0)8-410 367 66, gustaf.hagman@leovegas.com

Philip Doftvik, Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Finance: +46-(0)73-512 07 20, philip.doftvik@leovegas.com

About the LeoVegas mobile gaming group

LeoVegas' passion is "Leading the way into the mobile future". LeoVegas is Sweden's premier GameTech company and is at the forefront of using state-of-the-art technology for mobile gaming. In 2017 the company passed the threshold for being classified as a unicorn, i.e., a start-up valued at more than USD 1 billion. A large part of this success can be credited to an extreme product and technology focus coupled with effective and data-driven marketing. Technology development is conducted in Sweden, while operations are based in Malta. LeoVegas offers casino, live casino and sports betting, and operates two global and scalable brands - LeoVegas and Royal Panda - as well as a local, multibrand operator collectively referred to as Rocket X. The company's shares are listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. For more about LeoVegas, visit www.leovegasgroup.com.

This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: LeoVegas AB via Globenewswire

Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money.

Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists.SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ooma, Inc. (NYSE: OOMA), a smart communications platform for businesses and consumers, today released financial results for the second quarter fiscal 2019 ended July 31, 2018.

Second Quarter Fiscal 2019 Financial Highlights

Revenue : Total revenue was $31.7 million, up 12% year-over-year. Subscription and services revenue increased to $28.4 million and was 90% of total revenue, driven by 19% year-over-year growth in our business and residential subscription and services revenue.

: Total revenue was $31.7 million, up 12% year-over-year. Subscription and services revenue increased to $28.4 million and was 90% of total revenue, driven by 19% year-over-year growth in our business and residential subscription and services revenue. Net Loss : GAAP net loss was $3.9 million, or $0.20 per basic and diluted share, compared to GAAP net loss of $3.6 million, or $0.20 per basic and diluted share, in the second quarter fiscal 2018. Non-GAAP net loss was $0.9 million, or $0.05 per basic and diluted share, compared to non-GAAP net loss of $0.4 million, or $0.02 per basic and diluted share, in the prior year period.

: GAAP net loss was $3.9 million, or $0.20 per basic and diluted share, compared to GAAP net loss of $3.6 million, or $0.20 per basic and diluted share, in the second quarter fiscal 2018. Non-GAAP net loss was $0.9 million, or $0.05 per basic and diluted share, compared to non-GAAP net loss of $0.4 million, or $0.02 per basic and diluted share, in the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA: Adjusted EBITDA was ($0.6) million compared to ($0.1) million in the prior year period.

For more information about non-GAAP net loss and Adjusted EBITDA, see the section below titled "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and the reconciliation provided in this release.

We achieved solid financial results while investing for growth, said Eric Stang, chief executive officer of Ooma. Our focus remains on our three key FY19 strategic initiatives, which are to continue the fast growth of Ooma Office for small businesses, capitalize on our Voxter acquisition to serve larger businesses with custom UCaaS solutions, and extend the Ooma platform to include home security and video monitoring services for residential users. We believe we are executing well on these initiatives and will drive long term shareholder value.

Business Outlook

For the third quarter fiscal 2019, Ooma expects to report:

Total revenue in the range of $31.5 million to $32.0 million.

GAAP net loss in the range of $4.0 million to $4.6 million and GAAP net loss per share in the range of $0.20 to $0.23.

Non-GAAP net loss in the range of $0.8 million to $1.3 million and non-GAAP net loss per share in the range of $0.04 to $0.07.

For the full fiscal year 2019, Ooma expects to report:

Total revenue in the range of $125.5 million to $127.5 million.

GAAP net loss in the range of $15.4 million to $16.9 million, and GAAP net loss per share in the range of $0.77 to $0.85.

Non-GAAP net loss in the range of $3.5 million to $4.5 million, and non-GAAP net loss per share in the range of $0.18 to $0.23.

The following is a reconciliation of GAAP net loss to non-GAAP net loss and GAAP basic and diluted net loss per share to non-GAAP basic and diluted net loss per share guidance for the third fiscal quarter and the fiscal year ending January 31, 2019 (in millions, except per share data):

Projected range Three Months Ending Fiscal Year Ending October 31, 2018 January 31, 2019 (unaudited) GAAP net loss ($4.0)-($4.6) ($15.4)-($16.9) Stock-based compensation and related taxes 2.8-2.9 10.8-11.2 Acquisition-related costs, amortization of intangible assets and income tax benefit 0.2 1.1-1.2 Change in fair value of acquisition-related contingent consideration 0.2  Non-GAAP net loss ($0.8)-($1.3) ($3.5)-($4.5) GAAP basic and diluted net loss per share ($0.20)-($0.23) ($0.77)-($0.85) Stock-based compensation and related taxes 0.14 0.54-0.56 Acquisition-related costs, amortization of intangible assets and income tax benefit 0.01 0.05-0.06 Change in fair value of acquisition-related contingent consideration 0.01  Non-GAAP basic and diluted net loss per share ($0.04)-($0.07) ($0.18)-($0.23) Weighted-average number of shares used in per share amounts: Basic and diluted 20.0 19.9

Conference Call Information:



Ooma will host a conference call and live webcast for analysts and investors at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time today, August 28, 2018. The news release with the financial results will be accessible from the company's website prior to the conference call. Parties in the United States and Canada can access the call by dialing +1 (833) 233-4456, using conference ID Ooma Second Quarter. International parties can access the call by dialing +1 (647) 689-4135, using conference ID Ooma Second Quarter.

The webcast will be accessible on Ooma's investor relations website at http://investors.ooma.com for a period of one year. A telephonic replay of the conference call will be available through Tuesday, September 4, 2018. To access the replay, parties in the United States and Canada should call +1 (800) 585-8367 and use conference ID 9357627. International parties should call +1 (416) 621-4642 and enter conference ID 9357627.

Conference Schedule

We are pleased to participate in the following conferences in coming days. Please check with conference hosts for further details.

Three Part Advisors IDEAS Conference August 30, Chicago, Illinois

ROTH Internet of Things Corporate Access Day September 5, San Francisco, California

2018 Gateway Conference Presented by Liolios September 6, San Francisco, California

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to disclosing financial measures prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), this press release and the accompanying tables contain certain non-GAAP financial measures, including: non-GAAP net loss, non-GAAP net loss per share, non-GAAP gross profit and gross margin, non-GAAP operating loss, and Adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA represents the net loss before interest and other expense or income, income tax benefit, depreciation and amortization and other non-GAAP expenses.

These non-GAAP financial measures exclude non-cash stock-based compensation expense and related taxes, change in fair value of acquisition-related contingent consideration, acquisition related transaction costs, amortization of acquired intangibles and non-cash acquisition-related income tax benefit.

These non-GAAP financial measures are presented to provide investors with additional information regarding our financial results and core business operations. Ooma considers these non-GAAP financial measures to be useful measures of the operating performance of the company, because they contain adjustments for unusual events or factors that do not directly affect what management considers to be Ooma's core operating performance and are used by the company's management for that purpose. Management also believes that these non-GAAP financial measures allow for a better evaluation of the company's performance by facilitating a meaningful comparison of the company's core operating results in a given period to those in prior and future periods. In addition, investors often use similar measures to evaluate the operating performance of a company.

Non-GAAP financial measures are presented for supplemental informational purposes only to aid an understanding of the company's operating results. The non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP and may be different from non-GAAP financial measures presented by other companies. A limitation of the non-GAAP financial measures presented is that the adjustments relate to items that the company generally expects to continue to recognize. The adjustment of these items should not be construed as an inference that the adjusted gains or expenses are unusual, infrequent or non-recurring. Therefore, both GAAP financial measures of Ooma's financial performance and the respective non-GAAP measures should be considered together. Please see the reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure in the tables below.

Disclosure Information

Ooma uses the investor relations section on its website as a means of complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor Ooma's investor relations website in addition to following Ooma's press releases, SEC filings, and public conference calls and webcasts.

Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In particular, statements regarding future economic performance, finances, and expectations and objectives of management constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical facts and generally contain words such as "believes," "expects," "may," "will," "should," "seeks," "approximately," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "anticipates," and other expressions that are predictions of or indicate future events and trends and that do not relate to historical matters. This press release also includes forwardlooking statements regarding the companys execution of its initiative to continue the fast growth of Ooma Office, and its execution of this and other initiatives driving long-term shareholder value. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon information available at the time the statements are made and reflect management's good faith beliefs, forward-looking statements inherently involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from anticipated future results. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, among others: our inability to attract new customers on a cost-effective basis; our inability to retain customers; intense competition; our reliance on retailers and reseller partnerships to sell our products; our reliance on vendors to manufacture the on-premise appliances and end-point devices we sell; our reliance on third parties for our network connectivity and co-location facilities; our reliance on third parties for some of our software development, quality assurance and operations; our reliance on third parties to provide the majority of our customer service and support representatives; our limited operating history; and interruptions to our service. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. We do not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking statements after they are made, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risk factors contained in our annual filing on Form 10Q for the period ended April 30, 2018, filed with the SEC on June 8, 2018. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Ooma as of the date hereof, and Ooma disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

About Ooma

Ooma (NYSE: OOMA) creates powerful connected experiences for businesses and consumers, delivered from its smart cloud-based SaaS platform. For businesses of all sizes, Ooma provides advanced voice and collaboration features that are flexible and scalable. For consumers, Ooma provides PureVoice HD voice quality, advanced functionality and integration with their mobile devices. Oomas groundbreaking home security solution delivers a full range of wireless security sensors and a smart video camera that put consumers in charge of protecting their homes. Learn more at www.ooma.com.

Ooma, PureVoice HD and the Ooma logo are trademarks of Ooma, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. The detailed terms and conditions of Ooma's products, services, and support are fully set forth in the Terms and Conditions, available online under the "legal" tab on the bottom navigation bar of the Ooma Web site.

CONTACT:

Investors

Matthew S. Robison

Director of IR and Corporate Development

Ooma, Inc.

ir@ooma.com

(650) 300-1480

Media

Mike Langberg

Director of Corporate Communications

Ooma, Inc.

mike.langberg@ooma.com

(650) 566-6693

OOMA, INC CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Unaudited, amounts in thousands) July 31, January 31, 2018 2018 Assets Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 16,944 $ 4,483 Short-term investments 31,687 47,307 Accounts receivable, net 3,103 2,858 Inventories 7,601 6,079 Other current assets 3,593 4,397 Total current assets 62,928 65,124 Property and equipment, net 4,858 4,732 Intangible assets, net 3,033 1,292 Goodwill 3,803 1,947 Other assets 2,028 336 Total assets $ 76,650 $ 73,431 Liabilities and stockholders' equity Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 10,189 $ 5,453 Accrued expenses 15,216 14,777 Deferred revenue 15,117 15,556 Total current liabilities 40,522 35,786 Other liabilities 947 577 Total liabilities 41,469 36,363 Stockholders' equity: Common stock 2 2 Additional paid-in capital 134,040 128,081 Accumulated other comprehensive loss (49 ) (84 ) Accumulated deficit (98,812 ) (90,931 ) Total stockholders' equity 35,181 37,068 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 76,650 $ 73,431





OOMA, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited, amounts in thousands, except share and per share data) Three Months Ended Six Months Ended July 31, July 31, July 31, July 31, 2018 2017 2018 2017 Revenue: Subscription and services $ 28,426 $ 25,206 $ 55,738 $ 49,306 Product and other 3,255 2,981 6,165 6,459 Total revenue 31,681 28,187 61,903 55,765 Cost of revenue: Subscription and services 8,818 7,814 17,592 $ 15,563 Product and other 4,090 3,792 7,600 7,588 Total cost of revenue 12,908 11,606 25,192 23,151 Gross profit 18,773 16,581 36,711 32,614 Operating expenses: Sales and marketing 10,499 9,245 19,394 18,399 Research and development 8,443 7,263 16,965 13,884 General and administrative 3,995 3,865 8,447 7,621 Total operating expenses 22,937 20,373 44,806 39,904 Loss from operations (4,164 ) (3,792 ) (8,095 ) (7,290 ) Interest and other income, net 198 169 375 275 Loss before income taxes (3,966 ) (3,623 ) (7,720 ) (7,015 ) Income tax benefit 62  131  Net loss $ (3,904 ) $ (3,623 ) $ (7,589 ) $ (7,015 ) Net loss per share of common stock: Basic and diluted $ (0.20 ) $ (0.20 ) $ (0.39 ) $ (0.38 ) Weighted-average number of shares used in per share amounts: Basic and diluted 19,673,658 18,360,560 19,499,677 18,246,457





OOMA, INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (Unaudited, amounts in thousands) Three Months Ended

Six Months Ended

July 31, July 31, July 31, July 31, 2018 2017 2018 2017 Cash flows from operating activities: Net loss $ (3,904 ) $ (3,623 ) $ (7,589 ) $ (7,015 ) Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash (used in) provided by operating activities: Stock-based compensation expense 2,762 3,120 5,076 6,091 Depreciation and amortization 558 494 1,062 962 Amortization of acquired intangibles 198 81 343 164 Change in fair value of acquisition-related contingent consideration (128 )  (128 )  Deferred income taxes (62 )  (131 )  Amortization and accretion of premiums from investments (61 ) 58 (118 ) 133 Changes in operating assets and liabilities: Accounts receivable, net 444 184 (430 ) 456 Inventories (2,113 ) 153 (2,424 ) (1,001 ) Other assets (121 ) 216 (685 ) 559 Accounts payable and other liabilities 1,176 477 4,015 1,046 Deferred revenue 457 107 509 37 Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities (794 ) 1,267 (500 ) 1,432 Cash flows from investing activities: Purchases of short-term investments (8,579 ) (15,103 ) (13,988 ) (20,544 ) Proceeds from maturities and sales of short-term investments 18,236 15,923 29,762 26,233 Purchases of property and equipment (450 ) (484 ) (855 ) (1,063 ) Acquisition of business, net of cash acquired   (2,402 )  Net cash provided by investing activities 9,207 336 12,517 4,626 Cash flows from financing activities: Shares repurchased for tax withholdings on vesting of restricted stock units (441 ) (203 ) (1,200 ) (503 ) Proceeds from issuance of common stock 478 25 1,644 888 Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities 37 (178 ) 444 385 Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 8,450 1,425 12,461 6,443 Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 8,494 9,008 4,483 3,990 Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 16,944 $ 10,433 $ 16,944 $ 10,433



In early August 2018 the U.S. Department of Defense banned all personnel in operational areas (usually overseas combat zones) from using commercial devices with geolocation capability (GPS). This included cell phones and PSMs (Physiological Status Monitors) like Fitbit. What triggered this was the discovery that a social network for athletes called Strava had developed software that enabled anyone to track users wearing a FitBit or other GPS enabled PSMs. Dedicated (often professional) athletes joined Strava to exchange PSM information and that led to Strava developing features that enabled user locations worldwide. Turns out that intelligence agencies had discovered Strava as well and reported that they could not only detect PSM users anywhere in the world but could often identify these users by name. Turned out that many intelligence and military personnel used their Fitbits while overseas, often secret missions. From January to July 2018 the extent and implications of this became quite clear. The intel agencies quickly (and quietly) ordered their personnel overseas (and often at home as well) to stop using PSMs that made their data accessible to public networks, even ones that were not open to the public. These could be hacked. Now there is a market for secure (encrypted) PSMs for military and intelligence personnel. Actually, work on that sort of thing has already been underway

Since the 1990s the U.S. military has been developing equipment to monitor the physical condition of troops, especially in stressful situations. This is not easy, because stressful usually means combat. There has been a lot of progress since 2001 and the goal of such PSMs was to make them useful (provide needed data), reliable, wearable in combat, unobtrusive (does not interfere with combat activities), sustainable (battery power) and affordable. Commercial devices like FitBit achieved that goal faster and cheaper but FitBit was not military grade gear (secure from eavesdropping and encrypted).

Getting this kind of technology to the point where troops, especially infantry in combat, can use it regularly often takes a decade or more from the first version capable of being actually carried or worn by troops, to one that becomes a regular part of their combat gear. PSMs arent there yet, but they are getting close. Many troops decided to use commercial devices in the meantime, mainly for physical conditioning. But there was still a practical need for such devices rugged enough, and secure enough, to operate in a combat zone.

With equipment like PSM progress comes in stages, often with help from similar technology that is useful in training or becomes standard gear for some civilian occupations. For example, PSMs that measure a lot of the stresses combat pilots experience, including respiration, air supply and quality, G (gravity) forces and various factors contributing to stress or disorientation, are becoming practical. Not so much for every pilot on every flight but for test pilots or for situations where some kind of problem is suspected but the nature and source is vague. Such PSMs were useful in finding out what was causing pilot air supply problems on certain types of jet fighters over the last few years. PSMs were also a practical tool for use in exploring better solutions to handling high-heat situations and the dehydration, disorientation and disabling (and sometimes fatal) effects. PSMs have been used to test new recruits undergoing basic and advanced combat training to see if they are physically able to handle high heat conditions.

PSMs have proven that, like so many other capabilities, some people are better able to cope with heat problems, even if some require additional training and conditioning to do so. Some troops just dont have the capability. PSMs make it possible to get a better idea of what the limits are and who has them to what degree. Such lack of innate physical capabilities has always been an issue in sports, many civilian occupations and the military. For centuries there were tests that became more and more effective at determining who could handle what. Thus the most difficult military jobs (fighter pilot, special operations troops) have a lot of aspirants who never make it through all the training.

Some of the latest PSMs have been easier to wear and durable but they are still expensive and some dont last long in combat. For example, a pill containing a number of sensors, which you swallow and measure internal conditions as the pill passes through the digestive system would be difficult to reuse in combat, especially since these pass through the digestive system within 48 hours. Another PSM that collects numerous bits of data is similar to the chest strap type heart rate monitors that athletes (amateur and pro) have been using for over decade. These capabilities are now built into some watches (FitBit) and items like this have evolved to measure all sorts of stuff. Again, they are OK for many civilian and military uses, but not quite ready for the rigors of sustained ground combat.

Even with the growing number of developing, or very specialized PSMs these devices have been having a growing impact on obtaining practical data that saves lives. In 2008, for example, 1,145 American paratroopers had a 17 g (6 ounce) PSM added to the back of their helmets. They wore the device for over a year (their entire tour of duty in Afghanistan). The tiny sensor package could record 527 different types of movement. In particular, U.S. Army medical researchers were interested in what happens when troops are hit by the blast of an explosion. There had been a lot of that since 2003 because of the wide use of roadside bombs by terrorists. The troops had to download data from the device once a month while the battery lasted six months. This PSM device was the first test of a long-planned effort to equip troops with medical sensors, in order to assist in treatment for battlefield wounds. Sort of like a "black box" for those on the battlefield. These devices will ultimately hook into the battlefield Internet, and alert medics, and medical personnel in general, that someone is hurt, to what extent and where they are. These devices, as the current use shows, are also able to collect precise injury data for research on trends, and the details of the injury process. This makes it possible to build better protective devices (helmets and body armor) and develop more effective treatments.

The goal of a system that would constantly monitor soldier health and make that data available to commanders and medics in real time is still somewhere in the future, as the goal of electronic military health records that be updated automatically and accurately during medical treatment. Once more the developers of military PSMs will find themselves facing competition (and lots of good ideas and user experience data) from commercial PSMs. In this case, there is no large market for something like military PSMs that would be commercially attractive but the commercial PSM developers have proved capable to creating a military grade product if they can do so profitably and that often happens, like with battlefield robots from the folks who created Roomba.The United States continues to cut military ties with Pakistan because of Pakistani refusal to shut down its support of Islamic terror groups that, in effect, do the bidding of the Pakistani military. The latest cuts include training for Pakistani officers in American military schools (alongside American and other foreign officers). Russia immediately stepped in and offered to replace the American training with equivalent Russian training. This is a major loss for Pakistan as their officers gained more useful instruction and more useful contacts (with American and other foreign officers) at the American senior schools.

Pakistan already has a number of defense relationships with Russia. For example, in 2015 India and Pakistan joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and became full members in 2017. India and Pakistan recently sent troops to Russia to take part in SCO joint training exercises. This is the first time Indian and Pakistani troops have jointly participated in counter-terrorism training. These SCO joint training exercises take place every two years. SCO is a regional security forum founded in Shanghai in 2001 by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, and China. The main purpose of the SCO was originally fighting Islamic terrorism. Russia, however, hoped to build the SCO into a counterbalance against NATO. That has not happened as no one has joined since India and Pakistan did. SCO members conduct joint military exercises, mostly for show. They also share intel on terrorists, which is often useful. Iran, India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Mongolia, and Turkey were all favorably disposed towards joining the SCO. These nations were allowed to send observers to meetings.

China has put more emphasis on economic cooperation because greater Chinese economic power means that China is replacing Russia as the principal investor and trading partner throughout the region. Russia does not like to dwell on this, because it means China is expanding its economic and political power. This is particularly true in Pakistan. On paper, China is now the dominant military power in Eurasia, a fact that Russia likes to downplay. Many Russians fear that the aggression China is demonstrating towards India and everyone bordering the South China Sea will eventually be turned towards Russia. As the old saying goes; hold your friends close, and your enemies closer.

China and India have used this mutual SCO experience to improve military relationships and discuss mutual problems (aside from all the Chinese claims on Indian territory). India is willing to talk, if only because Indian military capabilities are falling further behind those of China. That is no secret in China and India has only itself to blame because China has done a better job of creating an efficient manufacturing capability and reducing corruption in the procurement process. Indian military procurement is still crippled by corruption and very ineffective state-owned weapons development and manufacturing organizations. The only thing stopping China from just taking disputed border areas is the Indian nuclear weapons capability. The Indian nukes are also less effective than their Chinese counterparts but not to the extent that there is not a high risk of China suffering heavy losses in a nuclear exchange. So China will continue grabbing bits of Indian territory, bits too small to risk a nuclear war over. China is patient and India gets weaker so China makes the most of the situation.

Speaking of friends and enemies, Pakistan has some bizarre relationships in that department. Consider the Taliban movement, which is a major reason for the Americans cutting aid. Actually, there are two Taliban movements, both of them staffed largely by Pushtun tribesmen (long dominant in southern Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan). Both Taliban movements were founded in Pakistan, one by the military and the other because of the military. The original Taliban was created by the Pakistani military in the mid-1990s (by recruiting Afghan Pushtun refugees) and sending them back home to win, or come close to winning, the civil war that had been underway since the Russians left in 1989. This Afghan Taliban still works for the Pakistani military but by 2007 that inspired the formation of a Pakistani Taliban, recruited from Pakistani Pushtuns, to overthrow the Pakistani government and, as the Afghan Taliban tried to do, establish a religious dictatorship. The Pakistani military declared war on the Pakistani Taliban in 2014 and quickly crushed but did destroy them.

The Afghan Taliban are another matter. Because the Afghan Taliban still have the support of the Pakistani military they are still a threat to the Afghan government and that is mainly because the Afghan Taliban have a sanctuary in southwest Pakistan (Baluchistan), right across the border from Helmand province, where most of the heroin (in the world) is produced. The Pakistan military facilitates getting whatever the Afghan Taliban need from Pakistan and, for a fee, getting the Afghan heroin into Pakistan and out to the world via the port of Karachi.

Meanwhile, the remnants of the Pakistani Taliban hideout in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistani border. A favorite hideout for all sorts of Islamic terrorists, smugglers and outlaws is Nangarhar province where the Afghan military and American forces are constantly seeking out all manner of Islamic terrorists (Haqqani Network, al Qaeda, ISIL and both flavors of Taliban). For example, on August 25th an American airstrike killed the head of the Afghan branch of ISIL. This sort of thing is one reason ISIL has not been able to spread into Pakistan. This is something the Pakistani military would rather not dwell on because Pakistan prefers to insist that Afghanistan and the Americans are not doing enough to suppress Islamic terrorists who are hostile to Pakistan (especially the Pakistani Taliban).

Although a growing number of Afghan Taliban leaders want peace and an end to being manipulated by the Pakistanis the senior Afghan Taliban leader and the Pakistani generals are not inclined to consider peace talks because of all that money from the drug gangs as well as the ability to control (or at least disrupt) Afghanistan. Direct peace talks between Afghan Taliban leaders and the United States, which is now a possibility, are very risky for the Taliban and their Pakistani patrons because the existence of their sanctuaries in Pakistan, while denied by the Pakistani military, are an open secret in Pakistan where it is also obvious that the Pakistan military and its intelligence agency (the ISI) handles these sanctuaries. Those sanctuaries make it possible for the Afghan Taliban to plan and organize attacks on internal enemies (factions that oppose Pakistani control). Peace talks between the Americans and factions of the Afghan Taliban are just one of the problems the Afghan Taliban faces. There has been growing internal unrest, mainly between factions that believe they are serving Pakistan at the expense of Afghans. On an individual basis, more Afghan Taliban veterans are quitting to join ISIL because they see the Afghan Taliban becoming more of a drug gang security force than anything else. Other Taliban veterans just quit. The Afghan Taliban is gradually losing its true believers (in the original goal of establishing a religious dictatorship in Afghanistan) and turning into mercenaries.

Whatever the Afghan Taliban evolves into the Pakistani military will have a major role to play. The Pakistani military does what it wants in Afghanistan, just like it does in Pakistan, where the military is very much above the law and can usually do whatever it wants. That is not a secret because about half the time since Pakistan was created in 1947 the military has openly run the government (after a coup) until popular opposition (and frustration at the task of governing) forced the generals to allow elections again. The Afghan Taliban insist their main goal is to get foreign troops out of Afghanistan but say nothing about suppressing the widely unpopular drug trade. Moreover, terrorism related deaths are overwhelmingly caused by the Islamic terrorists, mainly Taliban and Haqqani Network terror attacks. These men die protecting the drug production that has turned millions of Afghans into addicts and crippled efforts to build the economy and educate the children. Few Taliban really believe they are doing anything good for Afghanistan or the average Afghan.

To maintain control of the Afghan Taliban the ISI calls on another of their protected Islamic terror groups; the Haqqani Network. This group was once a faction in the 1990s Afghan civil war but always had a good relationship with the ISI. Over the last two decades, Haqqani have turned into a criminal gang that also manages terror operations in Afghanistan for ISI. Because of that Haqqani, at the behest of ISI, also became part of the current Afghan Taliban senior leadership. Most Afghans know all about this and are not happy with how the Pakistani military gets away with it.

The Unwanted Bengalis

Its not just Burma that has a problem with unwanted migrants from Bangladesh. Most of these Burmese Moslems are technically stateless because during the colonial period the British needed more workers in Burma and simply offered the jobs to Moslem Bengalis who stayed in Buddhist Burma after the British left in 1948 and now find themselves declared stateless and forced back into Bangladesh. Thus there are at least a million Moslems in Burma who originally (often over a century ago) came from Bangladesh but dont want to return there. They prefer to live in Burma, where most of the population is Buddhist.

India has a similar problem in its northeast tribal territories, especially Assam, where four million Bengali migrants (most of them or their ancestors entered illegally) are being denied citizen status. The tribal locals have long resented the illegal migrants, more so than the legal migrants. India sees this citizenship crackdown as a way of reducing support for local tribal separatist rebels. It wasnt the British who brought the Bengalis into Assam before 1948 but Indian politicians (mainly from the ruling BJP party) who encouraged the illegal migration after 1948 so these new residents of Assam would show their gratitude by registering to vote and do so regularly for BJP candidates. This is an old problem and India passed a law in 1950 making it clear that these Bengali migrants were illegal and not to be considered citizens. Now another law has been passed to enforce the original 1950 who is a citizen act. Bangladesh considers this an unfriendly (to Bangladesh) act. What this really demonstrates is that Bangladesh has long been very poor and very overpopulated. Illegal migrants have long been a problem and one that is not going away.

Islamic terrorism And Other Fatal Distractions

The Pakistani military continues to suppress Islamic terrorist violence in Pakistan while increasing it in Afghanistan and India. In 2014, when the Pakistani army finally decided to shut down sanctuaries for Islamic terror groups not under military control, there were 5,496 Islamic terror related deaths in Pakistan and the Pakistani public was enraged at the military. In 2015 that Islamic terror related deaths in Pakistan dropped to 3,682, then to 1,803 in 2016, 1260 in 2017 and so far in 2018 it looks like these deaths will fall to under a thousand and possibly even below 800. These are low casualty levels not seen in Pakistan since 2003.

India, with six times as many people, has had terror related deaths under a thousand a year since 2012 and most of those have nothing to do with Islamic terrorism. That trend continues, despite increased Pakistani efforts in Kashmir. For 2018 India will have more terrorism related deaths but still under a thousand. In 2017, for the first time in many years, India had more fatalities from Islamic terrorism than from leftist rebels in eastern India. But if you added deaths from tribal separatists in the northeast the Islamic terrorism only accounted for 45 percent of deaths. That trend has reverted to the traditional one in 2018, with Islamic terror related deaths lower. This is mainly because Islamic terror related deaths will not increase much for 2018 while deaths related to the leftist rebels (Maoists) in eastern India are up (mainly among the Maoists and their civilian victims).

The big difference between the Kashmir casualties compared to everything else (communist rebels in eastern India and the tribal separatists in the northeast) is that only the Kashmir Islamic terrorists have outside help. Pakistan has been supporting violence in Kashmir for over 60 years and added Islamic terrorism support in the 1980s. That failed but it did ruin the Kashmir economy and Pakistan continued to get enough Islamic terrorists (recruited and trained in Pakistan) across the LOC (Line of Control) into Indian Kashmir to keep the area dangerous for tourists or investment. Then Pakistan realized that a new generation of Kashmiri Moslems had access to the Internet and Pakistan created a local fan (of Pakistan ruling Kashmir rather than India) that eventually achieved celebrity status. When this young guy got himself killed he was elevated to martyr status and suddenly making the street violence a regular thing and Islamic terrorism fashionable once more, economic recovery became even less likely and casualties increased. For the first time in many years, local recruits for Islamic terror groups were higher than those able to get across the LOC from Pakistan. In the last decade, Indian border security has greatly improved but the LOC is largely in rugged terrain that is thinly populated. So it is not certain death to make the crossing. But with a larger number of active Islamic terrorists on the Indian side of the LOC those getting across from Pakistan have a longer life expectancy. This means more Islamic terrorist violence in Kashmir. While the Islamic terrorists try to confine their attacks to the security forces there are still civilian bystanders getting killed and with more Islamic terrorists active there is more opportunity to murder locals who support the government and dont want to be part of Pakistan.

This Pakistani aggression in Kashmir is pushing the two nations towards war, despite the possibility of both sides using nukes. This has brought more pressure on the Pakistani military to behave but so far the Pakistani generals are resisting the popular pressure inside Pakistan for less violence on the Indian border. The Pakistani generals see Kashmir as a victory for Pakistan, but one that Pakistan cannot take proper credit for because supporting Islamic terrorism and sending those Islamic terrorists into India (and Afghanistan) is a violation of international law. While the Pakistani military denies culpability the evidence has piled up to the extent that most of the world is convinced that the Pakistani military is, indeed, violating international norms and supporting Islamic terrorism.

When it comes to Islamic terrorism it is not all bad news. Consider Bangladesh. Despite the growing popularity (among Moslems) of Islamic radicalism in the last three decades, Moslem majority Bangladesh has been largely free of it. Compared to Pakistan (with a ten percent larger population) Bangladesh still had only six percent as many terrorist deaths as Pakistan during 2017. So far it looks like Bangladeshi terror related deaths will decline even more in 2018, to less than three percent of the Pakistani total and lower than they have been since 2012. That means under 30 deaths a year and 2018 is headed for another record low.

August 25, 2018: Russia is trying to work out a way to get paid for military equipment sold to India. Because of new American sanctions India has not been able to pay Russia since April. Like most international trade, most goods are paid for in dollars. India and Russia are certain they will work something out. In the meantime, these sanctions have made it more difficult for Russia to sell India new weapons systems. From 2007 to 2015 Russia was the largest customer for Russian weapons exports. Now India is just paying Russia for previous sales (spare parts, upgrades and the line). India has made no new weapons purchases from Russia since 2012 and is unlikely to change that in the near future. There was some interest in buying the Russian S-400 air defense system, but this would have been a five billion dollar purchase and with the banking sanctions and bad experiences with the reliability and effectiveness of Russian tech, India has been looking elsewhere (mainly Israel and the West.)

August 24, 2018: In Pakistan, the newly elected prime minister Imran Khan stated his goals; reduce corruption, reduce debt (and constant borrowing to cover budget deficits) and make peace with India by negotiating a deal on Kashmir. What was most telling was what was not mentioned; the dominant political power of the Pakistani military, the militarys use of Islamic terrorists to get Kashmir from India by force and to keep Afghanistan in a constant state of disorder because the Pakistani military prefers it that way. All these unmentioned issues have a lot to do with the high levels of corruption and Indian determination to hang onto Kashmir and deal with the Pakistani use of Islamic terrorists. That has caused Pakistan to become more isolated as more nations agree that for decades the Pakistani military has been supporting and using Islamic terror groups to attack its neighbors. Imran Khan may try to ignore this issue but the rest of the world will not. Imran Khan is believed to be prime minister because the Pakistani generals allowed it to happen and will remove him if the prime minister threatens military wealth, immunity and power. Imran Khan won the elections but did not, as the Pakistani constitution mandates, become the head of a government that actually rules Pakistan.

August 23, 2018: In northwest Pakistan, across the Afghan border in Ghazni province the Afghan Taliban have been waging a major campaign over the last two weeks to gain control of the province. This effort has failed and the Taliban have suffered about a thousand casualties. This is exceptionally high for the Taliban and led to some embarrassing consequences for Pakistan. Among the more than 300 Taliban dead Afghan security forces were able to examine many foreigners (Pakistani, Central Asian and Chechen) were identified. Since the 1990s the Pakistani ISI (military intel) has sent reinforcements recruited in Pakistan to the Afghan Taliban. Officially the Pakistani denies this happens but occasionally evidence becomes so visible that it is difficult to ignore or deny with any assurance of being believed. In addition to the foreign dead left behind the Afghan Taliban took some of their dead with them (as they always try to do to prevent identification) and those from Pakistan were smuggled across the border so their families in Pakistan could bury them. This practice is essential if the Afghan Taliban want to continue recruiting from Pushtun tribes across the border in Pakistan and maintain good relations with those tribes. A growing number of people in those tribes now have smartphones and access to social media sites where they post family news, like recent funerals and who the deceased was. A lot of deaths recently were young men who, gossip indicated, were working in Afghanistan. The pay was good but it was dangerous. But at least the family got the body back and a substantial cash payment.

In addition, a lot of the Taliban casualties showed up in Pakistani hospitals and received treatment. That became news because it was rare for there to be so many casualties like this at once when, officially, there was nothing going on in Pakistan. Those casualties were the result of unexpectedly prompt and effective resistance by Afghan security forces, armed locals and American air support in Ghazni province. This disrupted and defeated the large-scale effort against the city and several rural areas nearby. Ghazni is near the Pakistani border and contains some major heroin smuggling routes into Pakistan. These routes are kept open by the Taliban. Ghazni has long been fought over, because of the heroin smuggling routes. Normally the drug gangs find it cheaper and more reliable to use bribes but because of the growing number of addicts inside Afghanistan the bribes sometimes dont work and the national government often sends down commandos and NDS (Afghan intel) agents to carry out specific tasks which tend to be bribe-proof. Massive intimidation attacks like this often fail, mainly because of the popular anger towards the drug gangs that keep supplying the local addicts. The fact that the Afghan Taliban has always been supported by Pakistan is another incentive to fight back.

Opposing Pakistani meddling in Afghan affairs is a popular issue among most Afghans. One reason Western troops are tolerated in Afghanistan, which has, for thousands of years been hostile to foreigners, is because the Westerners and Afghans are both eager to shut down the drug trade and keep the Pakistanis out. Pakistan sees battles like Ghazni as a success because over 400 Afghans (including security personnel and civilians) were killed and there was a degree of intimidation achieved. Operations like this cost Pakistan little as the Afghan drug gangs supply the cash required. They have no choice because the ISI can deny easy access to Pakistan for needed supplies (chemicals for converting opium into heroin) and secure smuggling routes through Pakistan to the port city of Karachi. It was later discovered that most of the 500 (or more) foreign fighters ISI supplied for the Ghazni battle cane from three known Pakistan based Islamic terror groups known to work for ISI. The most prominent of those with a contingent in Ghazni was the Haqqani Network, whose leader currently runs the Afghan Taliban.

The Afghan prime minister is demanding that his newly elected Pakistani counterpart do something about what happened in Ghazni province. So the official Pakistani response is; it wasnt us. Imran Kahn will eventually meet with his Afghan counterpart but first, he has to meet with leaders of nations that are more important to Pakistan, like Saudi Arabia and China. To Pakistanis, Afghanistan is more than of a potential problem than anything else. But to Afghanistan, and most of the world community, the biggest problem in Afghanistan is not the Taliban or the drug gangs, but Pakistan.

August 20, 2018: Pakistan has agreed to build a walled and restricted residential area near the port of Gwadar to house half a million Chinese working in Pakistan. The Chinese construction work on the new Pakistani Gwadar port facilities are visible to anyone on the ground or flying by and in 2017 it was noticed that some features of the new port and airport facilities are clearly intended for military use. India has long accused China (despite denials) was planning to use Gwadar as a base for Chinese warships and naval aircraft. Pakistan never had a problem with Chinese military using Gwadar as it helps keep local troublemakers out. Pakistan has assured China that there would be no terrorist violence against Chinese working on upgrading the port of Gwadar and land links north to China. Pakistan is willing to pay a high price to get CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) done because it means Pakistan has an ally against Iran and even Western powers that might have some violent disagreement with Pakistan. Best of all China is picking up most of the $55 billion cost. In early 2017 China and Pakistan finally signed the agreement that grants China a 40 year lease on new facilities China is building in the southwestern port of Gwadar. The lease grants China most (over 80 percent) of the revenue brought in by port and free trade zone operations. China usually imports its own workers from China to do most of the work on projects like this. By 2022 China expects to have about half a million Chinese in Pakistan, some of them with their families. The easiest way to provide protection is to have most of them live in a heavily guarded and restricted access area.

Gwadar is a key part of CPEC and it has the misfortune of being in a province (Baluchistan) that does not want to be part of Pakistan. China and the Pakistanis try to ignore this by not reporting on non-Islamic terror attacks on CPEC construction projects. The government has long been accused of suppressing news of tribal separatists in Baluchistan attacking government targets and especially those related to CPEC. The separatists claim they regularly carry out attacks on CPEC construction projects, but most of their attacks are still directed at Pakistani security forces and government facilities.

August 16, 2018: Israel announced that the Israeli Navy has ordered the LRSAM version of the Barak air defense system for Israeli Saar 6 corvettes. LRSAM is a modified naval version of Barak 8 that was jointly developed by India and Israel. Although this project has been in the works since 2006 it encountered problems, mainly on the Indian side, that held up completing the work, and getting the missile into production. The Indian Navy took delivery of the first customized (for India) Barak 8 SAM (surface-to-air missile) systems a year ago. The Israeli manufacturer (IAI) always mentions the Indian joint development, which makes the Indians feel good and encourages more such deals. Despite the problems encountered working with Indian defense officials and contractors, the Israelis have gained valuable experience in how to make projects work in spite of the Indian problems. Both Israel and India recognize this and the Indians are willing to do more business with the Israelis.

August 15, 2018: Five weeks after their launch on a Chinese rocket China has turned control of two Pakistani satellites to a Pakistani ground control center in Pakistan. One Chinese rocket put two Pakistani satellites (PRSS-1 and PakTES-1A) into orbit on July 9th. These photo satellites are primarily for commercial operations as their multi-spectral cameras only have a one meter (39 inch) resolution. Chinese ground control made sure the Pakistani satellites were inserted into the right orbit and that the equipment in the Chinese made PRSS-1satellite was operating properly. This is important because PRSS-1 is built to last for at least seven years. PakTES-1A is a smaller experimental satellite built with the help of a South African firm.

August 14, 2018: The renewed American sanctions on Iran will hurt Afghans working in Iran but will not interfere with the new trade route from Afghanistan, via Iran to the port of Chabahar. The Americans make exceptions for these sanctions and in this case, Pakistan is seen as a larger threat to Afghanistan than Iran. Most of the truck traffic that used to go through Pakistan to the port of Karachi is now using the new route via Iran to Chabahar (built by India and Iran mainly for traffic to Afghanistan and Central Asia). At least $5 billion worth of trade to and from Afghanistan will use Chabahar each year. Pakistan is the big loser here, especially since they had recently increased higher traffic on Afghan goods moving through Karachi. In addition, since mid-January Pakistan has closed the main border crossings to Afghan traffic entering Pakistan. Yet Pakistani goods are allowed into Afghanistan and now the Afghans are considering blocking that and depending on trade links via Iran and Central Asia. This is an undeclared trade war by Pakistan. The main reason is growing trade with India and switching from Karachi to Chabahar for Afghan imports and exports.

Pakistan is willing to discuss improved relations with Iran but in the meantime, Pakistan already has considerable financial and military ties with Saudi Arabia. While many Pakistanis would prefer improving relations with Iran and India and backing away from Saudi Arabia (seen as a close ally of the United States) the reality is that Iran is broke, run by an unstable religious dictatorship facing growing internal unrest and at war with the Sunni Arab world. While Iran and Pakistan share a short land border the Iranians have a long history of hostility towards whoever was running what is now Pakistan. Iran is in a bad position and Pakistan is willing to consider offers from Iran. Meanwhile, Iran and India have developed mutually profitable relations that neither nations want to upset.

August 12, 2018: Over the last two days Indias first locally designed and built nuclear-powered submarine, the 5,000 ton SSBN (ballistic missile carrying sub) INS Arihant, conducted the first test launches for three K-15 SLBMs (Sea Launched Ballistic Missiles.) These are short range (700 kilometer) single-stage missiles. Arihant can carry 12 of them, or four of the larger (two-stage) K-4 SLBMs that have a range of 3,500 kilometers and were test fired successfully from Arihant in 2016. With the successful firing of the K-15s the Arihant will finally complete its sea trials and should enter service before the end of 2018. Meanwhile, in 2015 India announced ambitious plans to build six nuclear attack submarines (SSNs) but admits development and building will probably take at least fifteen years. In 2009 India launched Arihant, after eleven years of planning and construction. By 2015 Arihant was undergoing sea trials and was supposed to enter service before the end of 2015. That was delayed and a major accident in 2017 put Arihant back in the shipyard for repairs. The apparent success of Arihant led to the SSN program, which received some development money but is otherwise stalled. One locally made nuclear sub doesn't change the balance of naval power much for India, which is already dominant in the region but it does show that India can build nuclear subs and six SSNs will make a difference. A shortage of cash and competent procurement personnel has put those plans on hold.

August 10, 2018: Pakistan reports it is nearly halfway done recruiting and training 60,000 new border guards to work on the Afghan border. All 60,000 of these new border guards should be on duty by 2020.

August 1, 2018: Indian military planners are growing more concerned about Chinese aggression, especially a two front war in which Chinese ally Pakistan would actively join in fighting India if there were another conflict between China and India. China uses its economic power to increase its presence, and influence, in nations bordering India, especially Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma and Nepal. This is made possible by the much larger (4.2 times) Chinese GDP ($12.3 trillion compared to $2.9 trillion for India.) China has a lot more cash to invest and trading opportunities to offer. That may account for the relatively lower Chinese spending on defense. China spends $229 billion a year compared to $64 billion for India. More humiliating is that while Chinese spending is 3.6 times what India spends but that China only spends 1.9 percent of GDP on defense while India spends 2.5 percent.HERSHEY, Pa., Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) today held an Analyst Event at its Global Customer Innovation Center (GCIC) in Hershey, Pa., providing an unprecedented glimpse into how its digital growth strategies are fully integrated with its in-store retailing programs. Hosted by CEO Michele Buck and CFO Patricia Little, the day focused on Hersheys consumer-first strategies to growing snacks as physical and digital shopping converges with Doug Straton, Chief Digital Commerce Officer, and Phil Stanley, Chief Sales Officer , leading the discussion.



While the retail environment continues to change how our products are purchased, consumer desire for our brands remains, said Michele Buck, Chief Executive Officer, The Hershey Company. We have the right vision, strategies, organization and talent to drive commercial advantage and our far-reaching digital transformation efforts are an important element to win in the fast-changing retail landscape.

Key insights shared with the analyst community include:

How digital transformation fits into Hersheys innovative snacking powerhouse vision

Detail around Hersheys 5C digital strategy, including the companys emphasis on its consumer-first orientation to deliver on their needs and expectations

An overview of snack shopping behavior, the retail models that exist today and how Hershey is deploying its portfolio to win against each model and trip mission

Hersheys strategy to win search with thumb-stopping, mobile-first content

How Hershey is capturing the opportunity for planned and unplanned purchases as digital shopping grows

The role data plays in developing one-to-one connections with its consumers

To listen to a replay of the Analyst Event, please visit: https://edge.media-server.com/m6/p/jfomywm8

About The Hershey Company

The Hershey Company, headquartered in Hershey, Pa., is an industry leading snacks company known for bringing goodness to the world through its iconic brands, remarkable people and enduring commitment to help children in need. Hershey has approximately 17,000 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 80 brands around the world that drive more than $7.5 billion in annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as Hershey's, Reese's, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher and Ice Breakers and SkinnyPop.

For more than 120 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically and sustainably. Hershey founder, Milton Hershey, created the Milton Hershey School in 1909 and since then the company has focused on giving underserved children the skills and support they need to be successful. Today, the company continues this social purpose through 'Nourishing Minds,' a global initiative that provides basic nutrition to help children learn and grow.

To learn more -

Visit: www.thehersheycompany.com



Follow:

http://www.twitter.com/hersheycompany

https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-hershey-company?trk=top_nav_home

http://www.facebook.com/hersheycompany

http://www.youtube.com/hersheycompany

http://www.instagram.com/hersheycompanyFORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vista Proppants and Logistics , LLC ("Vista" or the Company), today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement with JupiterMLP, LLC (Jupiter) for transloading crude oil from truck to rail at its Pecos, Texas facility. Commercial operations at Pecos, one of the newest additions to Vistas terminal network, commenced on August 15, 2018.



Gary Humphreys, Vista Chief Executive Officer, commented, We are excited to formalize our relationship with Jupiter and begin exporting crude out of the Permian Basin. Vista has a long history of providing innovative solutions to issues that arise for our customers in the marketplace. Todays announcement is yet another example of the significant value provided by our unique vertically integrated logistics network. The strategic location and capabilities of our Pecos facility make it a natural fit for crude-by-rail operations, and we look forward to assisting our customers with their transport needs as takeaway infrastructure for the Permian is further built out over the next couple of years.

Tom Ramsey, Jupiter Chief Executive Officer, further commented, We value our relationship with the Vista team. The crude-by-rail opportunity that their facility provides helps us to accelerate our strategy of moving significant volumes of Permian Basin crude oil to the Gulf Coast while we construct our Jupiter Pipeline and VLCC loading terminal in Brownsville, Texas.

Vista and Jupiter plan to ship crude oil on the Union Pacific Railroad through 2019 and potentially into 2020, depending on pipeline construction timelines and capacity availability. The Company currently anticipates shipping approximately 400,000 barrels per month from Pecos to St James, Louisiana. The amount of crude shipped out of Pecos could be larger than Vistas current estimate, which is dependent on the number of available train slots each month. Union Pacific has indicated they will continually evaluate their mainline capacity and provide additional service as it becomes available.

Vista Proppants and Logistics

Al Petrie Advisors

Wes Harris

Phone: 281-740-1334

Email: wes@alpetrie.com

About Vista Proppants and Logistics

Vista is a leading in-basin provider of frac sand solutions for oil and gas well completions in the most active oil and gas regions of the United States, including the Permian Basin, Eagle Ford Shale and SCOOP/STACK. The Company offers leading E&P and oilfield service companies high-quality sand that is most in demand in these basins with the cost advantages of a regional provider. Through its vertically integrated logistics network of 12 transload terminals throughout Texas and Oklahoma, and fleet of approximately 100 last-mile transport vehicles, Vistas customers benefit from its unique mine-to-wellhead frac sand supply chain solutions and assured security of supply. For more information, visit the Companys website at https://www.vprop.com/ .

About JupiterMLP, LLC

JupiterMLP is a private company that provides Permian Basin producers and gas plants with crude oil and plant condensate logistics and offtake solutions. Jupiter Marketing & Trading is an active first purchaser of both high and low gravity crude and plant condensate in New Mexico and West Texas. Jupiter Transports crude oil and condensate hauling business and strategically located terminals connect the Permian Basin to the Gulf Coast refining markets. In addition to a 675 mile crude oil pipeline that originates in Orla, Texas with additional inject points and offtake points at Pecos, Crane and Three Rivers, the Company is also constructing a crude upgrading, processing and export terminal capable of loading VLCCs on approximately 270 acres of land located in the Port of Brownsville, Texas. The company is also an active seller of refined products in Mexico. For more information on Jupiter, visit http://www.jupitermlp.com .

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e009a071-1e1c-44a4-9a89-af574cefcf74



CALGARY, Alberta, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- West High Yield (W.H.Y.) Resources Ltd. ("West High Yield" or the "Company") (TSXV: WHY) announces that it proposes to complete a non-brokered private placement of units ("Units"). There is no minimum subscription for this offering and a maximum of 2,857,143 Units will be issued at a price of $0.35 per Unit for gross proceeds of up to $1,000,000. Each Unit will consist of one common share in the capital of the Company (a "Common Share") and one-third of one common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each whole Warrant would entitle the holder to purchase one additional Common Share at an exercise price of $0.55 for a period of one year from the date of issuance of the Warrant.



The Company may pay finders fees on all or a portion of the private placement to eligible persons seeking subscribers to the financing, all in accordance with applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange").

The proposed private placement is subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals including the approval of the Exchange. The Company confirms that, as of the date of this press release, there is no "material fact" or "material change" (as those terms are defined under applicable securities laws) related to the Company which has not been generally disclosed.

Assuming the maximum offering is completed, approximately $700,000 of the net proceeds are expected to be used for the continuation of the environmental base line study, environmental assessment study and mine plan and permit application and Industrial Mineral Mine Permit application for the Company's Record Ridge deposit near Rossland, British Columbia and the balance of the net proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes. If the offering is not fully subscribed, the Company will apply the proceeds to the above uses in priority and in such proportions as the board of directors and management of the Company determine is in the best interests of the Company. Although the Company intends to use the proceeds of the offering as described above, the actual allocation of proceeds may vary from the uses set out above, depending upon future operations, events or opportunities.

The Industrial Mineral Mine Permit sought under the Mines Act (British Columbia) will allow for the extraction and sale of up to 249,000 tonnes per annum of industrial rock. The Company is also in the process of developing potential customers with processing facilities and the ability to process the industrial rock. It is anticipated that industrial rock sales will provide cash flows from operations while continued mine plan and permit application efforts are being made.

The Company also announces the release of its financial results and Management Discussion and Analysis for the six months ended June 30, 2018 which have been filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities on SEDAR at www.sedar.com .

About West High Yield

West High Yield is a publicly traded junior mining exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral resource properties in Canada with a primary objective to locate and develop economic gold, nickel and magnesium properties.

For further information please contact:

Frank Marasco

President and Chief Executive Officer

West High Yield (W.H.Y.) Resources Ltd.

Telephone: (403) 660-3488

Facsimile: (403) 206-7159

Email: frank@whyresources.com Dwayne Vinck

Chief Financial Officer

West High Yield (W.H.Y.) Resources Ltd.

Telephone: (403) 257-2637

Facsimile: (403) 206-7159

Email: vinck@shaw.ca

Reader Advisory

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words "expect", "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "objective", "ongoing", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "plans", "intends" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information or statements. More particularly and without limitation, this press release contains forward looking statements and information concerning the terms of the proposed non-brokered private placement of Units, the proposed use of proceeds and the anticipated sales of industrial rock. The forward-looking statements and information are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward looking statements and information because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct.

Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause the results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: general economic conditions in Canada and globally; industry conditions, including governmental regulation; failure to obtain industry partner and other third party consents and approvals, if and when required; the availability of capital on acceptable terms; the need to obtain required approvals from regulatory authorities; stock market volatility; competition for, among other things, skilled personnel and supplies; changes in tax laws; and the other factors. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is given as of the date hereof, and to not use such forward-looking information for anything other than its intended purpose. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.PERTH, Western Australia, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Perseus Mining Limited (Perseus or the Company) (TSX & ASX: PRU) wishes to update estimates of the Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves at each of its West African operations. An executive summary is provided below. Full details of the resource and reserve updates are included in the Companys market release dated August 29, 2018 which is available for download from www.perseusmining.com, www.asx.com.au and www.sedar.com.

Mineral Resources1,2

Project Measured Resources Indicated Resources M & I Resources Inferred Resources Quantity Grade Gold Quantity Grade Gold Quantity Grade Gold Quantity Grade Gold Mt g/t

gold 000

oz Mt g/t

gold 000

oz Mt g/t

gold 000

oz Mt g/t

gold 000

oz Edikan 37.3 1.19 1,445 47.6 1.03 1,588 84.9 1.10 3,025 6.8 1.25 267 Sissingue3 4.2 2.0 265 8.5 1.6 437 12.7 1.7 701 0.9 2.0 61 Yaoure - - - 43.1 1.39 1,930 43.1 1.39 1,930 46.0 1.0 1,500 Total 41.5 1.28 1,710 99.2 1.24 3,955 140.7 1.25 5,656 53.7 1.1 1,830

Notes:

Refer to notes to individual tables of Mineral Resources for each project in the full release. Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources are inclusive of Mineral Reserves. Includes combined Mineral Resources from both the Sissingue and Fimbiasso deposits

Mineral Reserves

Project Proved Probable Proved and Probable Quantity Grade Gold Quantity Grade Gold Quantity Grade Gold Mt g/t

gold 000

oz Mt g/t

gold 000

oz Mt g/t

gold 000

oz Edikan 18.3 1.00 587 26.4 1.15 979 44.7 1.09 1,566 Sissingue Gold Mine 2.9 2.3 219 2.3 2.0 144 5.2 2.2 363 Yaoure Gold Project - - - 26.8 1.76 1,518 26.8 1.76 1,518 Total 21.2 1.18 807 55.4 1.48 2,641 76.6 1.40 3,447

Notes:

Refer to Notes to individual tables of Ore Reserves in respect of each project in the full release. The Company holds 90% of Edikan Gold Mine (EGM), 86% of Sissingue Gold Mine (SGM) and 90% of Yaoure Gold Project (YGP) after allowing for Government equity at mining stage.

Perseuss Managing Director and CEO, Jeff Quartermaine, commented as follows:



In the last twelve months, our Mineral Resource modelling at both Edikan and Sissingue has been proven to be robust with close reconciliation between contained metal forecast by our block models and metal indicated by grade control data at both mines. The demonstrated predictive reliability of our Mineral Resource models is providing a sound basis on which to plan our future.



In this latest Mineral Resource estimate, we have constrained our resource models more tightly than before, using a more conservative gold price without changing the underlying integrity of the models. This resulted in a reduction in reported Mineral Resources across the Group, however, the change has not materially altered our view of what metal is in the ground, nor our view of what amount of metal can be economically extracted as Ore Reserves. This change in reporting is consistent with industry standards and is aimed at continuously improving the transparency and reliability of our reporting as part of our transformation from a single mine company to a multi-mine, multi-jurisdictional operation.



The changes to our Ore Reserves that have been reported today largely reflect depletion by mining at Edikan and Sissingue over the last 12 months. The Yaoure Ore Reserve has not changed from that estimated in preparing the Definitive Feasibility Study for the Yaoure Gold Project which is currently on track to become Perseuss third producing mine in late 2020/2021.



Jeffrey Quartermaine

Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director

August 29, 2018

To discuss any aspect of this announcement, please contact:

Managing Director: Jeff Quartermaine at telephone +61 8 6144 1700 or email jeff.quartermaine@perseusmining.com;

Media Relations: Nathan Ryan at telephone +61 4 20 582 887 or email nathan.ryan@nwrcommunications.com.au (Melbourne)

Competent Person Statement:

Mr Gary Brabham, FAusIMM, MAIG, has compiled and reviewed the consolidated information in this report concerning the Mineral Resources of the Edikan Gold Mine. Mr Brabham is the Group Geologist for Perseus Mining Limited and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the JORC Code 2012 and a Qualified Person as defined in NI43-101. Mr Brabham consents to the inclusion in this report of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears and has approved the inclusion of technical and scientific information in this report. Mr Paul Thompson, who is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and is an employee of Perseus Mining Limited has compiled and reviewed the consolidated information on the Ore Reserves of the Edikan Gold Mine in this report. Mr Thompson has sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he has undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the JORC Code 2012 and a Qualified Person as defined in NI43-101 and consents to the inclusion in this report of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears and has approved the inclusion of technical and scientific information in this report. The Company confirms that material assumptions underpinning the estimates of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves described in Technical Report  Central Ashanti Gold Project, Ghana dated 30 May 2011 continue to apply.

The information in this report that relates to Mineral Resources for Sissingue was first reported by the Company in compliance with the JORC Code 2012 and NI43-101 in a market announcement released on 15 December 2016. This report includes an update for depletion as at 30 June 2018 as well as an adjustment of the model constrained to a US$1,800/oz pit shell. The information in this report that relates to Mineral Resources for Fimbiasso was first reported by the Company in compliance with the JORC Code 2012 and NI43-101 in a market announcement released on 20 February 2017. This report includes an adjustment of the model constrained to a US$1,800/oz pit shell. The information in this report that relates to Ore Reserves for Sissingue and Fimbiasso was first reported by the Company in compliance with the JORC Code 2012 and NI43-101 in a market announcement released on 31 March 2017. This report includes an update for depletion as at 30 June 2018. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affect the information in these market releases and that all material assumptions underpinning those estimates and the production targets, or the forecast financial information derived therefrom, continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company further confirms that material assumptions underpinning the estimates of Ore Reserves described in Technical Report  Sissingue Gold Project, Cote dIvoire dated 29 May 2015 continue to apply.

The information in this report in relation to Yaoure Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimates was first reported by the Company in compliance with the JORC Code 2012 and NI43-101 in a market announcement on 3 November 2017. The Company confirms that all material assumptions underpinning those estimates and the production targets, or the forecast financial information derived therefrom, in that market release continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company further confirms that material assumptions underpinning the estimates of Ore Reserves described in Technical Report  Yaoure Gold Project, Cote dIvoire dated 18 December 2017 continue to apply.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Information:

This report contains forward-looking information which is based on the assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management of the Company believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that such statements are made, but which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made by the Company regarding, among other things: the price of gold, continuing commercial production at the Edikan Gold Mine and the Sissingue Gold Mine without any major disruption, development of a mine at Yaoure, the receipt of required governmental approvals, the accuracy of capital and operating cost estimates, the ability of the Company to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner and the ability of the Company to obtain financing as and when required and on reasonable terms. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all factors and assumptions which may have been used by the Company. Although management believes that the assumptions made by the Company and the expectations represented by such information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking information will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, the actual market price of gold, the actual results of current exploration, the actual results of future exploration, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company's publicly filed documents. The Company believes that the assumptions and expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the Companys ability to carry on its exploration and development activities, the timely receipt of required approvals, the price of gold, the ability of the Company to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner and the ability of the Company to obtain financing as and when required and on reasonable terms. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Perseus does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.Pastor Brien Wahlen recently arrived in Sidney with his wife.

His story is like many. It is not a straight line from boyhood to full-time ministry. In fact, as he tells it, ministry is kind of a late-in-life career.

"This is kind of a late in life career choice," he said.

He compared it to a Jonah comparison, of not initially going where God wanted him but in time accepting the plan. It could easily be said ministry is something that should have come naturally. He father and his grandfather were ministers.

"I was raised in a ministry home," he said.

He added that he has moved to what he believes God wants from us - to make it real.

He comes to Sidney from seminary in Michigan. Prior to attending seminary, he student pastored in Omaha where he met his wife.

He is drawn to ministry by his desire to reach people with the message of Jesus, according to Wahlen. His message is tied to his past, which also helps him connect with people.

He is still at the point of learning what the community's needs are. He is involved with the ministerial association, which is a big help, he says.

He is ministering in four 7th Day Adventist churches: Sidney, Bridgeport, Alliance, and Ogallala.

"I'm a busy guy. I put over 2,000 miles on my car last month," he said.

It is difficult pastoring in four different communities He schedules a community for each day. When he is not at a specific community, an elder of that church leads the worship. He is looking into live-streaming services between the churches.

His wife works as a dental hygienist a few days a week in Ogallala. Their families in in Lincoln and Omaha.

"We're new to the Panhandle area, but we really like it here," he said.

The basic premise of the 7th Day Adventist church is the seventh day of the week, Saturday, is the Sabbath, and therefore the day for worship. As an adventist, they are looking forward to the Second Coming of Christ.Whilst the MYS has the worldwide recognition of representing and displaying a collection of the finest and highest quality superyachts each year; the show works closely with participating superyacht craftsmen to help clients discover a world of luxury. A total of 590 exhibitors will be present across the show offering visitors - whether superyacht owner or future owner - an entire range of luxury specialities to help create their perfect yacht experience.

Visitors of this years MYS will meet some of the finest artisans the superyacht industry has to offer. Whether you want bespoke linens, leather accessories, handmade rugs or crystal sculptures; the MYS offer the very best to complete your perfect superyacht. Although a roundup of craftsmen at this years MYS is for sure an understatement; we take a closer look into just a handful of specialist trades on display

Czech-based Interior designers Crystal Caviar and Preciosa Lighting are just two exhibitors who produce bespoke Bohemian crystal chandeliers specially designed for the superyacht market. Combining traditional craftsmanship with cutting edge technology, they have introduced safe and sea worthy chandeliers suitable for the marine environment and exhibit their creations at the MYS year on year.

Preciosa is pleased to once again cooperate with MYS as its the key event for prestigious maritime influencers worldwide, says Vojta Malina, Vice President of Preciosa Lighting. As in years past, we will be showcasing our technological ingenuity with an interactive lighting installation specifically designed for yachts. Our commitment to the event extends to our partnership of the Upper Deck Lounge as well as being the official designer of the MYS Inaugural Gala Awards, now for the third year in a row.

The luxury product design studio from Copenhagen, Glyn Peter Machin (GPM), will be presenting its exclusive brand of glamorously bespoke and highly sophisticated furnishings, objects and accessories at this years MYS for an amazing 15th consecutive year. GPM will display exterior and interior furniture divided across two custom built stands within the Parvis Piscine tent. The interior furniture will be showcased at the incredible Upper Deck Lounge, that will once again be the place to view exceptional standards in design and craftsmanship. GPM will display their brand-new luxury objects, accessories and a selection of one-of-a-kind pieces of furniture specifically created for the interiors of superyachts and villas. For exteriors, GPM will unveil its diverse design and production talents on a large newly designed 60-sqm stand.

Meanwhile, with safety at the forefront of yacht owners minds; luxury nautical supplier, Stockinger, develop, design and manufacture bespoke safes tailored to their clients needs and personal taste. They offer clients a variety of safe types with customisable options for each safe like colours, sizing, interior trays, watch winders, and more. Stockinger provide the very best security for yacht owners to keep their belongings safe onboard. Each Stockinger safe, cabinet and box is handmade in the utmost quality in either Germany or Switzerland. Creating a single Stockinger safe involves over thirty experts with the importance of ensuring high-design standards as well as quality craftsmanship.

Turin based interior designer, Foglizzo, offers clients high quality customised leather crafts for a luxury finish onboard their superyachts. Spanning three generations, Foglizzos mission is to develop high customised leather for clients. Recently, Foglizzo introduced the Atelier, an artisanal laboratory with the aim to find new creative expressions of leather, where art, innovative technology and traditional craftsmanship combine.

Elsewhere you will find craftsmen from across the globe. British interior design company, Heirlooms Linens produce the finest bed, table and bathroom linens. They combine the highest quality materials and traditional craftsmanship to create products of first class quality and long-lasting beauty. Heirlooms Linens work closely with the client and designers to create linens that perfectly complement their interior concept and colour palette.

German interior designer, OT Oliver Treutlein GMBH, is just one of the leading international carpet designers and manufacturers showcasing products at the MYS. Hand-made from precious natural fibres such as pure silk, cool linen or the finest New Zealand virgin wool, the carpets created at the OT facility are truly unique works of art and perfect for those looking for something special to line their superyacht.

Another German exhibitor is Dornbracht, a family-run manufacturer of high-quality fittings and accessories for bathrooms and kitchens. Dornbracht represent progressive production and innovative design with their premium fittings having won numerous international awards. Continually striving for progress in the areas of technology and production, the family-brand are using the MYS to reach their goal of becoming leading innovators in this sector.

Exhibitions like the MYS not only give craftsmen a platform to celebrate their products, but the opportunity to come face-to-face with the prospective clients. You can find all the exhibitors described above (aside from Stockinger who will be exhibiting in Quai Atoine Ier) alongside many more, in the Parvis Piscine area at the Monaco Yacht Show 2018.Take A Mulligan: The Big 7-0

Here is the $64,000 question. Just exactly how old is old? In my teens, I figured it was about 35 but when I was getting close to that age, it ...PERTH, Western Australia, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Perseus Mining Limited (Perseus or the Company) (TSX & ASX: PRU) ) has released its Financial Report for the financial year ending June 30, 2018 (FY2018 or the Period). The full report is available on www.perseusmining.com, www.asx.com and www.sedar.com.

The Perseus group produced a total of 255,916 ounces of gold in the twelve months to June 2018, 45% more than in the preceding twelve months. The weighted average all-in site costs including the costs of production, royalties and sustaining capital averaged US$1,039 per ounce of gold produced, 22% less than in the preceding twelve months.

In FY2018, Perseus recorded a net loss after tax of $24.9 million or 2.5 cents per share, compared to a net loss after tax of $83.1 million or 7.7 cents per share in the previous financial year. This improved performance is predominantly due to the following:

A 36.5% increase in revenue to $378.1 million, resulting from a 3.9% higher average gold sales price, and 31.4% higher gold sales following the start of commercial production at Sissingue and higher gold production at Edikan.

A 5% decrease in the cost of sales due to a revaluation of stockpiles at Edikan and the start of commercial production at the low cost Sissingue gold mine.

A depreciation and amortisation expense of $119.6 million, representing a 213% increase during the period due to higher rates of mining and processing and higher deferred waste amortisation at Edikan, and the inclusion of the investment in Sissingue within the capital base.

Asset impairment charges and write-offs totalling $28.6 million, including impairment of the carrying value of the Sissingue cash generating unit, mainly due to lower future expected gold prices, the write-off of some capitalised exploration expenditure and impairment of the groups equity investment in Amani Gold Limited.

A foreign exchange gain of $5.7 million, compared to a loss of $11.7 million in the prior year, mainly due to devaluation of the Australian dollar against the US dollar and revaluation of an intercompany loan.

An income tax expense of $5.8 million.

At June 30, 2018, the total value of cash and bullion on hand was $89.8 million, or $46.8 million more than at June 30, 2017. Operating cash flows increased by $67.4 million in FY2018 to $68.3 million, or 6.6 cents per share, as revenue increased and unit costs reduced materially. A total of $119.7 million of cash was invested during the period, including $77.8 million on the development of Sissingue and $16.4 million on exploration.

The Companys net assets as at June 30, 2018 were $714.3 million or $0.69 per share after accounting for cash and bullion on hand as well as interest-bearing liabilities of $85.0 million.

Looking to the future, the financial performance of Perseus is expected to continue to improve on the back of continuing solid gold production and an improving cost structure, due in part to the contribution of the low cost Sissingue gold mine to supplement the improving Edikan gold mining operation. Production and cost guidance for the 2019 financial year is as follows:

Parameter Units Production and Cost Guidance December 2018

Half Year June 2019

Half Year Full Fiscal Year

2019 Group Gold Production 000 ounces 130-150,000 130-150,000 260-300,000 Average All-In Site Costs $US per ounce 950-1,150 925-1,025 925-1,050





Managing Director Jeff Quartermaine Comments:

A look behind the headline numbers reported by Perseus today reveals a company that is continuing to improve in all aspects of the business.



At $137.8 million, our gross profit from operations before depreciation and amortisation is materially better than in the past. This year has seen an increase in non-cash items that have negatively impacted our reported our net after tax earnings. The non-cash depreciation and amortization charge has increased as we mine and process more ore and the results have also been impacted by our decision to carefully examine the carrying value of our assets and in some instances, write down the value of any assets to reflect forecast underlying values.



Our net cash flow from operations has increased by $67.4 million during the year and with cash and bullion on hand valued of $89.8 million at the end of the year we are now in a net cash positive position after the money that we borrowed to build Sissingue has been brought to account. This positive trend of net cash growth is now well established which is important in the context of where we are positioned on our corporate growth trajectory.



We are confident that Perseus is well on track to deliver value to its shareholders. The Sissingue mine which came on stream earlier this year will make a significant contribution to the bottom line when it operates for a full twelve months, rather than three months as was the case this year. Not to be outdone, the Edikan mine is also performing materially better than it has done in the past and is making a solid contribution to free cash flow.



In the coming financial year, we expect to commence development of our third operating mine, Yaoure and when this mine comes on line in early 2021, Perseuss production levels should be in the order of 500,000 ounces of gold per year. Subject to the gold price at that time, this should mean that Perseus will be in a position to generate material amounts of free cash flow and record significant profits.

For further information, please contact:

Managing Director: Jeff Quartermaine at telephone +61 8 6144 1700 or email jeff.quartermaine@perseusmining.com; Chief Financial Officer: Elissa Brown at telephone +61 8 6144 1700 or email Elissa.brown@perseusmining.com Media Relations: Nathan Ryan at telephone +61 4 20 582 887 or email nathan.ryan@nwrcommunications.com.au (Melbourne)

Competent Person Statement: All production targets for the Edikan and Sissingue Gold Mines referred to in this report are underpinned by estimated Ore Reserves which have been prepared by competent persons in accordance with the requirements of the JORC Code. The information in this report that relates to the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimates for the Edikan deposits was first reported by the Company in compliance with the JORC Code 2012 and NI43-101 in a market announcement released on 29 August 2018. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affect the information in that market release and that all material assumptions underpinning those estimates and the production targets, or the forecast financial information derived therefrom, continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company further confirms that material assumptions underpinning the estimates of Ore Reserves described in Technical Report  Central Ashanti Gold Project, Ghana dated 30 May 2011 continue to apply. The information in this report that relates to Mineral Resources for Sissingue was first reported by the Company in compliance with the JORC Code 2012 and NI43-101 in a market announcement released on 15 December 2016 and includes an update for depletion as at 30 June 2018 as well as an adjustment of the model constrained to a US$1,800/oz pit shell which were reported in a market announcement on 29 August 2018. The information in this report that relates to Mineral Resources for Fimbiasso was first reported by the Company in compliance with the JORC Code 2012 and NI43-101 in a market announcement released on 20 February 2017 and includes an adjustment of the model constrained to a US$1,800/oz pit shell which was reported in a market announcement on 29 August 2018. The information in this report that relates to Ore Reserves for Sissingue and Fimbiasso was first reported by the Company in compliance with the JORC Code 2012 and NI43-101 in a market announcement released on 31 March 2017 and includes an update for depletion as at 30 June 2018 which was reported in a market announcement on 29 August 2018. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affect the information in these market releases and that all material assumptions underpinning those estimates and the production targets, or the forecast financial information derived therefrom, continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company further confirms that material assumptions underpinning the estimates of Ore Reserves described in Technical Report  Sissingue Gold Project, Cote dIvoire dated 29 May 2015 continue to apply.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Information: This report contains forward-looking information which is based on the assumptions, estimates, analysis and opinions of management made in light of its experience and its perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors that management of the Company believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances at the date that such statements are made, but which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made by the Company regarding, among other things: the price of gold, continuing commercial production at the Edikan Gold Mine and the Sissingue Gold Mine without any major disruption, development of a mine at Yaoure, the receipt of required governmental approvals, the accuracy of capital and operating cost estimates, the ability of the Company to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner and the ability of the Company to obtain financing as and when required and on reasonable terms. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all factors and assumptions which may have been used by the Company. Although management believes that the assumptions made by the Company and the expectations represented by such information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking information will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, the actual market price of gold, the actual results of current exploration, the actual results of future exploration, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company's publicly filed documents. The Company believes that the assumptions and expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the Companys ability to carry on its exploration and development activities, the timely receipt of required approvals, the price of gold, the ability of the Company to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner and the ability of the Company to obtain financing as and when required and on reasonable terms. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Perseus does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.Shell to take an AET newbuilding shuttle tanker for Brazilian operations

AET has formally agreed its first contract with Brazil Shipping Limited 1 (Shell) to timecharter a newbuilding dynamic positioning (IMO Class 2) shuttle tanker (DPST) in Brazil.

"MISC Group's wholly-owned subsidiary, AET, delivers world class petroleum shipping services and I am delighted to see this re-affirmed with a new contract from Shell. AET's strategy of focusing on high-quality, high-entry, specialist services, such as dynamic positioning, is paying dividends. Developing these niche services adds even greater breadth to MISC Group's four core business segments of LNG Shipping, Petroleum Shipping, Offshore Business and Marine & Heavy Engineering and ensures that we are developing solutions for the evolving energy industry," said Yee Yang Chien, President/Group CEO of MISC Berhad and Chairman of AET. Mark Quartermain, Vice President of Shell Trading and Supply Crude, commented: "Adding AET's dynamic positioning vessel to our operations in Brazil supports our growing deepwater activities. It achieves this by providing us with increased flexibility for our crude trading business, as we look to serve our global customers with Brazil's growing offshore production. We look forward to building upon our relationship with AET to support our crude trading operations." The 152,700 dwt DP2 shuttle tanker will be built by South Korean shipyard for delivery in 4Q20 and, although earmarked for Brazilian waters, the vessel will be capable of operating globally. She will be compliant to IMO NOx Tier III requirements, built to the latest and highest technical standards and installed with a ballast water treatment system. The vessel will be equipped with high-powered thrusters, generators and the latest position reference system fully capable of operating in harsh weather conditions. On signing the contract, Capt Rajalingam Subramaniam, President & CEO, AET, said: "We are fast making our name in the dynamic positioning sector. We have two dynamic positioning tankers (DPSTs) already operating in the Brazilian Basin for Petrobras and another two operating in the North and Barents Seas for Equinor (formerly Statoil). A further two DPSTs are being built for Equinor to operate in oilfields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf of the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and the southern Barents Sea, as well as on the UK Continental Shelf. Our two modular capture vessels in the Gulf of Mexico also have dynamic positioning capability. In addition to today's contract, we have a further four dynamic positioning vessels currently being built to take-up long-term charters for Petrobras. "Shell has chosen to use our shipping services for many years and we were happy when the company opted to charter our two newbuild LNG dual-fuelled Aframax vessels on long-term charter earlier this year. But this is the first time we've contracted with Shell to build and operate a dynamic positioning shuttle tanker. I would like to thank Shell for their confidence in and continuing support to AET. My team and I are proud of this DPST contract award. We have a solid plan to build upon our successes in this portfolio supported with good Heath, Security and Environment (HSE) standards and operational excellence, which will be the cornerstone of our sustainability journey. It is also a further manifestation of our drive to consistently provide better energy-related maritime solutions and services for our global customers," he concluded.



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From 1957 on, our planet began to warm, seismic and volcanic activity began increasing, as did natural disasters and our wildlife began to die, slowly at first but increasing all the time, culminating into the unlivable hell-hole many people are experiencing at the moment.Police are searching for a man who scrawled graffiti about "Nazi Pigs" on FDNY property in Hudson Heights and Washington Heights. The first known act of vandalism occurred around midnight on Sunday, August 26th, when an unidentified man wrote "Nazi Pigs Die" in black marker on a firehouse garage door at Engine 93/Battalion 13 on West 181st Street.

The suspect was back at it again bright and early Sunday morning, when police say he wrote "Nazi pigs" and drew swastikas on the side of four FDNY ambulances and one FDNY communications van parked in front of 501 West 172nd Street.

It's unclear what exactly this guy's deal is. Police describe him as approximately 5'11" and 170lbs. They say he was last seen wearing a maroon T-shirt, blue jean shorts, white cap, black sneakers and carrying a black duffel bag.

The photo here, provided by the NYPD, was obtained from a security camera at 561 West 181 Street. Video distributed by the FDNY and NYPD is below.

Today multiple #FDNY ambulances were vandalized in Manhattan. Fire Marshals and @NYPDnews are asking for assistance to identify this individual. Please call 718 722 3600. pic.twitter.com/Ssh4Nu9U9O  FDNY (@FDNY) August 26, 2018

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.New York State's second primary of the year will be on Thursday, September 13 (not Tuesday, due to Rosh Hashanah). Four candidates are running as Democrats to be the next Attorney General of New York, and WNYC and Cooper Union are hosting what is probably going to be their final debate on September 6th.

The candidates are Leecia Eve, an attorney and current vice president for government affairs at Verizon who has worked for Hillary Clinton (her name was floated when Governor David Paterson was filling Clinton's Senate seat in 2008) and for Governor Andrew Cuomo; Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who made history as NY's first gay member of Congress; Zephyr Teachout, a law professor and former gubernatorial candidate; and Public Advocate Letitia James. A Quinnipiac poll released in July suggests that the race is "wide open" with undecided voters leading at 42%, followed by James at 26%; Maloney, 15%; Teachout 12%; and Eve, 3%.

The NY Times and the Daily News recently endorsed Teachout, who also has backing from gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon, Congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and other progressive groups and politicians. James has been endorsed by Cuomo; Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie; many other politicians; many unions including 1199SEIU and 32BJ SEIU; and Emily's List. The Queens Tribune endorsed Eve.

Fun, if confusing, fact: Maloney is also running for reelection in the 18th District.

In a debate last week, the candidates said that they would consider investigating cases of public corruption, even if it involves Cuomo. The candidates are also debating tonight on NY1.

Attorney General Barbara Underwood is not running. She is finishing out the current term after being elevated from Solicitor General following Eric Schneiderman's resignation after four women accused him of assaulting and choking them.

The September 6th attorney general debate will be moderated by WNYC's Brian Lehrer and former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who now hosts a podcast, Stay Tuned With Preet, and is a professor at NYU Law School. They will be joined by panelists from New York-based nonprofits that belong to New Yorkers for Responsible Lending coalition.The entire staff of a NYCHA development in the Bronx has been reassigned, following allegations that supervisors were hosting rowdy orgies on city property during and after work hours, and in some cases threatening to punish employees who refused to participate.

The illicit sex parties allegedly went on in empty apartments and the groundskeeper's shop at the Throggs Neck Houses. Multiple tenants complained about the bacchanalia, and the housing authority quietly transferred the complex's entire staffaround 40 peopleearlier this month, the Daily News reports.

While housing authority managers initially downplayed the mass reassignment, NYCHA spokesperson Robin Levine on Monday acknowledged "longstanding concerns about management and performance issues at Throggs Neck...coupled with troubling allegations of misconduct." The spokesperson did not respond to Gothamist's questions about whether the allegations included sexual misconduct, or if anyone had lost their jobs as a result of the complaints.

According to Monique Johnson, president of the Throggs Neck Tenant Association, some NYCHA employees were threatened with retaliation from NYCHA higher-ups if they did not participate in the sex parties. She added that workers sometimes earned overtime and claimed to be filling maintenance requests while taking part in the erotic get-togethersparticularly damning accusations for an authority currently embroiled in a lead paint scandal that the city sought to cover up.

Last year, NYCHA admitted that an investigation found traces of lead in at least 78 apartments in the Throggs Neck complex, despite the fact that residents were not told whether their homes had tested positive. "I have absolutely no faith in this agency at all," Johnson said at the time.

On Tuesday, the tenant leader told Gothamist that she was glad the sex parties were getting attention from local politicians and NYCHA, even if her faith in the authority was far from restored. "Their cover has been blown, and too many people are aware of this situation for them not to be held accountable," she said. "But, I'm still concerned about the lead."Over the weekend, some Park Slope cyclists were flummoxed to find a red Subaru Forester parked in the middle of their shiny new bike laneand incensed by a note someone had taped to the vehicle's rear windshield. "Please be understanding," the note implored. "This car predates the bike lane. It was parked here before the city put in the lane (check the paint)." A photo of the errant vehicle circulated on Cyclist Twitter, along with speculation. Whose car is this? What do they mean, "Predate the bike lane"? Who penned that message? Does this driver really believe they have a right to monopolize public city space?

Since then, we've had a few breaks in the case. The offending vehicle, still stationed on 9th Street, belongs to Women's Health Magazine editor-in-chief Liz Plosser, who has had the displeasure of watching the drama unfold remotely. (Disclosure: I've written for Women's Health.) Plosser and the keys to her Subaru are currently out of town.

On Monday evening, one Twitter user shared a screenshot of an Instagram post in which Plosser explained the snafu. She deleted the post Tuesday morning, but we have screenshots.

"A Brooklyn story," the caption read. "Just learned that our car is parked atop a brand new bike line, which the city created 48 hours after we left town for a week-long vacation (naturally with no warning/signage...). We are sandwiched in and the police and tow trucks are not pleased. Our sweet Subaru has become a community board for neighborhood messages, with grumpy cyclists sounding off, and empathetic passersby showing support." A hashtag indicated that Plosser will return home on Saturday.



A screenshot of Liz Plosser's Instagram post (screengrab/Gothamist)

"I never ever would have parked knowingly in a spot where a cyclist lane was going to be created," Plosser told Gothamist Tuesday. "I feel awful about it. I'm a former triathlete, I'm an avid cyclist myself, I hate that we're right now impeding how cyclists are safely moving about the city." Plosser maintains she has no idea who put the first controversial sign on her car, and no idea whether or not it's still up. (Streetsblog reports that someone removed the sign Monday.) Plosser added that she is working with the city to get the car moved before street cleaning on Friday.

According to Plosser, the city had not given residents notice of the bike lane's imminent arrival when she and her family left for vacation on Thursday morning. She'd been out for an early run through her neighborhood and Prospect Park, she explained, and saw no signage announcing the new addition. The New York City Department of Transportation tells Gothamist that "markings at this section were completed on Friday [August 24]. The car should have been moved prior, as DOT posted No Parking signs along 9th Street the day before (right after our 9th Street Press event), and Alternate Side Parking was also in effect that Friday." Plosser says this is news to her: "When I left town on Thursday morning, there were no signs."

On Twitter, some have pointed out that a car owner who leaves town would likely enlist someone to move their car for street cleaning, right? Plosser says she "knew when we left the car that there was a potential that I might get a street cleaning ticket, but it was never my intention to be parked in a bike lane."

How do you leave New York for a week without getting sometime to move your car for you for street cleaning?!  Danny Howard (@dannyman) August 28, 2018

Not only is it illegal to stop, stand, or park in a New York City bike lane, it's also dangerous: Fatal accidents have resulted when rule-breaking cars force bikes into traffic.

"I'm all for cyclists and safe transportation, so this is a big misunderstanding," Plosser says.

The content of the note itself continues to rankle internet commenters, though, and remains the final stone unturned in what cyclist injury lawyer Adam White described to Gothamist as "a little Park Slope mystery": Who wrote it? And "why not post a sign that says 'we will move the car as soon as we return, thanks for understanding,'" as another person pointed out.

Why not post a sign that says "we will move the car as soon as we return, thanks for understanding"? This just looks like a "We ain't going nowhere" proclamation without the context, like some form of civil disobedience for the oppressed NYC car owners.  Nicholas Russo (@clickonnick) August 28, 2018

Plosser emphasized that she does not view this small slice of pavement as her parking right, and that she is working to resolve the situation. Stay tuned for updates to this still-developing story as we get them.A big swarm of bees has gathered on top of a hot dog stand in Times Square this afternoon. Or as real estate agents might put it, the bees have signed a lease on a luxury one umbrella studio with great views of the artisanal Walgreens. Update: The bees have moved to the suburbssee our last update below.

Bees:

Bees are dying at an alarming rate



Also bees:

Lets group in the thousands on top of a hot dog stand umbrella pic.twitter.com/MYvVi4e4X4  Vegeta's Pride (1080p HD) (@xacbranch) August 28, 2018

The NYPD have roped off part of 43rd Street near the scene, and are now in the process of literally vacuuming up the bees, who are assembled en masse on the Sabrett-emblazoned umbrella.

The NYPD is literally vacuuming up the bees @PIX11News pic.twitter.com/mr5AMIn3hw  Katie Corrado (@KatieCorradoTV) August 28, 2018

You can watch a live stream of this bee-autiful police sting as it unfolds below.

A swarm of bees has taken over a hot dog stand in Times Square and we have LIVE VIDEO! https://t.co/GkXzPQvCad  Yahoo News (@YahooNews) August 28, 2018

The city is no stranger to massive bee swarmsan "after-swarm" of bees even took up residence on a bike and a traffic light in Midtown a few years back. Former NYPD bee manager Tony "Bees" Planakis told us at the time that wayward swarms like this are often expats from a nearby beehive. "When a swarm takes place, it's going to take place within 100, 150 feet of the mother hive," Planakis said. "Bees are going to say, 'We're going to go to the closest location and sit there and regroup, we're going to wait for the queen to arrive, and once she does, scouts will go look for a new home.'"

At least New Yorkers bee so happy now:

i am on it do not worry pic.twitter.com/tQ3CUBLO76  darth (@darth) August 28, 2018

the bees are improving times square let them stay  Colin Campbell (@colincampbell) August 28, 2018

Sirens of the apocalypse are a swarm of NYC bees taking over a hotdog stand in Times Square https://t.co/jpxHui6hOH  Sam  Blum (@Blumnessmonster) August 28, 2018

maybe the bees are here to fix the subway  David Sims (@davidlsims) August 28, 2018

[CARRIE V/O]: As Miranda walked through Times Square to meet her honey, she found something even better--an impromptu Bumble date.

MIRANDA: This hot dog tastes like bees  Daniel D'Addario (@DPD_) August 28, 2018

Update: Police Commissioner James O'Neill decided he couldn't help himself:

Fear not, New Yorkers and tourists. Midtown Manhattan is all abuzz about #NYPDs ability to bee  a full-service organization. Right now, were humanely, & safely, handling the @NYPDBees swarm in @NYPDTimesSquare. Just another day in #NYC. @NYPDnews https://t.co/iXlQ79dRpk  Commissioner O'Neill (@NYPDONeill) August 28, 2018

Bee-lieve it or not another swarm of   has made its way to #TimesSquare! I guess the bees love the unbeelievable sights here! pic.twitter.com/pv1UiSdfik  NYPDTimesSquare (@NYPDTimesSquare) August 28, 2018

Update: NYPD beekeeper Darren Mays told Gothamist that his colleague, and the NYPD's only other beekeeper, Officer Michael Lauriano of the 1st Precinct, responded to the swarm. He estimates that it was about 20,000-30,000 bees, which is an "average"-sized swam. Swarms usually occur when the hive is "overcrowded," he said, when "it's hot and humid" like today.

The bees were taken to a farm on Long Island.

Fun fact to the bee-uninformed: Mays, who works in the 104th Precinct and got into beekeeping through a friend ("I thought it was comical), explained that swarms do have a queen bee that leads the other bees to a new location, and there is another queen bee left in the old hive.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin - (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia  Wed, August 29, 2018 00:03 1161 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877035332 4 Inforial Free

With vast natural resources, diverse tourist attractions plus a strategic location, Banten is poised to become the worlds great investment destination.

Banten province is witnessing an upward trend in annual foreign direct investment (FDI). The value of realized foreign investment and domestic investment has been on the increase for the last three years. In 2017, investment flowing to Banten reached Rp 55.82 trillion (US$3.8 billion), higher than the previous year, which stood at Rp 52.23 trillion, with 2,980 projects.

Correspondingly, entering 2018, thanks to the Banten provincial administrations persistence in promoting the regions investment potential, Banten has seen an upward trend in investment. The realized investment for the first semester of 2018, for instance, was recorded at Rp 29.99 trillion, with 2,055 projects, according to the Investment Activity Report (LKPM) obtained by local investment office One-Stop Integrated Services (DMPTSP).

The increase in the realized investment has signified foreign investors growing interest in investing their capital in Banten. Based on the report, realized foreign investment in Banten province for the first semester ranked third after West Java and Jakarta, with an investment value of Rp 21.97 trillion from 1,518 projects. Meanwhile, domestic investment ranked seventh, with investment value of Rp 8 trillion and 537 projects.

The increase in the value of investment annually has proven that Banten has become one of the main investment destinations, for both foreign investment and domestic investment. Even from 2015 to 2017, Banten ranked in five big positions and as of the first semester of 2018, realized foreign investment jumped to the third position in investment destinations in Indonesia.

Relying heavily on the regions potential and geographical location is highly insufficient to boost investment growth. Through the DPMTSP, the Banten government has taken breakthrough steps, which include enhancing the ratio of the ease of doing business, changing the behavior of bureaucrats, establishing a taskforce to settle bottleneck related to business license, ensuring security, et cetera.

To fulfill investors substantial need for a simple, quick and effective service related to business permits, the Banten administration has applied an online one-stop-integrated service, making it unnecessary for investors to repeatedly visit relevant technical agencies to meet the proposed license conditions.

Related to the high demand for a quick and efficient business license process, a significant step has also been taken by enhancing the capacity of officers in charge to enable them to provide better services and to create ease and comfort for prospective investors to start and develop their business.

In this respect, the Banten administration has also obliged all of its regency and town administrations to set a taskforce whose major tasks are to bridge, solve and reduce the obstacles in the investment process, either in the license application phase or the implementation (debottlenecking). The taskforce is expected not only to help the Banten administration monitor the investment process but also to handle the arising license-related issues.

Apart from that, the Banten administration has also set up an integrated licensing program, or online single submission (OSS), to comply with Government Regulation No. 24/2018 on the electronic integrated business services, aimed at providing ease for investment in Indonesia. Under the OSS system, investors can handle nearly all of the licensing process, starting from the making of a corporate deed to obtaining a commercial license.

Investment security for investors

Ensuring comfort and security is a prerequisite for investments. Therefore, the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) has teamed up a mutual work team with the National Police, with the two parties signing a working guideline for the coordination of protection and security for business in 2016. As an investment destination, the Banten administration, in collaboration with the regional police, is always ready to maintain the investment climate.

The Banten provincial government ensures security for the investors, starting from the licensing process, an inventory of the possible security disruptions around the investment activities to quick assistance in the event of a demonstration and unwanted violent actions by thugs.

Investment in tourism sector

Banten Governor Wahidin places the tourism sector as his priority program because Banten has great tourism potential, which includes special economic zone (SEZ) Tanjung Lesung. According to him, it is highly important to manage tourism destinations well and give a good impression to tourists visiting Banten. Currently, the Banten provincial government is focusing on the improvement of road access to local tourist attractions, including the area of Sultan Banten, known as Banten Lama (Old Banten) and Tanjung Lesung Beach.

For this reason, local administration has spurred the acceleration of various strategic national projects (PNS) to boost tourism in Banten, such as the SEZ of Tanjung Lesung, reactivation of the Labuan-Panimbang railway, the development of an 84-kilometer-long Serang-Panimbang toll road and the revitalization of Banten Lama.

The efforts to revitalize Banten Lama have seen much progress following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Banten provincial government and the Serang municipality in July.

For example, a canal in the area, which was formerly a slum and dirty area where illegal businesses operated, has been cleaned up as it will be developed into a water tourism facility. An old mosque has also been revitalized, with its front yard already looking clean, neat and orderly. A bus terminal has also been built close to the house of prayer to provide more tourists with easy access to the site.

The initial phase of the development of Banten Lama is expected to be completed in December. Banten Lama will have a new face as a religious tourism destination and is expected to attract more domestic and international travelers, which will boost investment in tourism and other sectors.

On the other hand, the government is focusing its attention on boosting investment to develop tourism potential. As one of the 10 national priority destinations, the Tanjung Lesung Beach area takes center stage, especially with the area expected to welcome 1 million tourist arrivals in 2019, as the government has targeted.

The Tanjung Lesung area covers an area of 1,500 hectares, with diverse tourism potential, including the beauty of the natural beach, flora and fauna diversity and a wealth of exotic cultures.

Apart from the property and leisure sectors, investors can also take the opportunity to invest in the transportation and logistics sector and other service sectors that support tourism business-related activities in the area.

The Special Economic Zone (SEZ) status for the Tanjung Lesung area is expected to make the area attractive to investors.

The status of Tanjung Lesung Beach area as an SEZ is expected to benefit investors because the area has already provided what investors need: the master plan for long-term development, basic infrastructure such as power supply, a clean water plant, a waste management plant, land with certificates etc, according to Poernomo Siswoprasetijo, president director of PT Banten West Java Tourism Development, a developer of the Tanjung Lesung Beach area.

. (./.)We live in an increasingly complex world, yet we also tend to be increasingly unplugged from the actual experience of everyday life. Far from a foregone conclusion, architects from Indonesia, Taiwan, and the Philippines want global architecture to come down off its pedestal and transform peoples lives by providing additional space to local communities.

This vision of architecture truly resonates with the theme of the 16th International Exhibition la Biennale di Venezia, Freespace, given by curators Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara. To the curators, Freespace describes a generosity of spirit and a sense of humanity at the core of architectures agenda, focusing on the quality of space itself.

Faced with this soaring lack of public space in contemporary architecture, Farrell and McNamara invited the curators of the National Pavilions and Collateral Event to translate Freespace in their participating projects and highlight how architecture can provide free and additional spatial gifts to those who use it and address the unspoken wishes of strangers.

Sunyata  The Poetics of Emptiness

In this regard, the Indonesia Pavilion invites viewers to consider an architecture freed from forms and shapes. To the curatorial team, emptiness, or Sunyata in Indonesian, is comprehended as an active entity; a singularity that functions as a prominent agency in life and at the same time, as a void which demands to be conquered.

Sunyata also hints at a particular design approach based on everyday architectural practices in Indonesia where collaboration between the craftsman and the architect is a common practice. Throughout the archipelago, building practice is a communal activity; it is a project for people and by people. The role of architect or designer in this endeavor is more as a conceptor rather than a project leader or creator who could solely claim the novelty of the design.

The Indonesia Pavilion is, therefore, a chance to revisit this deeply-rooted building practice and reformulate it into a design statement. To this end, Sunyata is departed from an awareness that a similar practice of celebrating emptiness exists in various building practices throughout Indonesia. Emptiness is a concept that strongly rooted in various cultures and religions in Asia.

A post shared by la biennale di venezia 2018 (@venice.architecture.biennale) on Jul 23, 2018 at 7:07am PDT

The interpretation varies. Nevertheless, the understanding is always in the same tone, according to the curating team which won a special mention for its sensitive installation that provides a framework to reflect on the material and form of traditional vernacular structures. Emptiness here is understood as an active entity; a singularity that functions as a prominent agency in life.

Still, the Indonesia Pavilion is aiming neither to document types of void nor to make a history of void in Indonesian architecture. It also has no intention to summarize the richness of diversity of Indonesian architecture. The idea of Sunyata situates a conversation between human and space as the crux of architectural manifestation where the human becomes the main protagonist in the dialogue.

Read also: Indonesian pavilion among highlights of Venice Architecture Biennale: Metropolis

Departed from various references which we can find in various building practices from traditional to contemporary architecture in Indonesia, the pavilion attempts to set an inflection point on opening a discourse on design approach in Indonesian architecture, especially to respond towards grid-based design practice and an in-coming inevitable wave of parametricism as one of the results of the advancements in digital technology.

Living with Sky, Water and Mountain: Making Places in Yilan

The Collateral Event showcases several architectural models developed by Fieldoffice during the completion of their projects, including the Jin-Mei Parasitic Pedestrian Pathway across Yilan River (2005-2008) and Social Welfare Center (1995-2001) from the Guang-Da Lane of Er-Wang Community (2001-2005). (Courtesy of The China Post/File)

The same is true with the work of Huang Sheng-Yuan and his team from Fieldoffice Architects who designed Taiwans Collateral Event at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition. The exhibit, curated by Professor Wang Chun-Hsiung, highlights the true sense of community resulting from the intimate connection between residents and their living environment in Yilan County, northeastern Taiwan.

The exhibition also echoes the singularity of Taiwan architecture on the international stage. Huang believes that architecture should reinforce our sense of the real and the poetics of reality, and consequently, give us an existential foothold in space, time and the continuum of culture.

Curated by Edson Cabalfin at the Artiglierie of the Arsenale in Venice, the Philippine Pavilion features the works of contemporary artist Yason Banal who was commissioned to create a multi-channel video installation. (Courtesy of The China Post/File)

Accordingly, architecture should not only expand the realm of the new, but also reinforce the presence of Taiwanese traditions and the timeless qualities of buildings at large. This fundamental starting point for thinking about architecture shows his concern with residents desires, starting from the planning to the completion of every project, explains Huang.

By promoting architecture freedom and renaissance through dialogue the Collateral Event is for sure fully in line with this years theme -- Freespace. A positive attitude that expands to the exhibition ground designed by Curator Wang Chun-Hsiung. The challenge was to show Taiwan architecture in such a baroque space, notes Wang. In order to show their respect for the local culture, Wang remarks that they used all elements in the room to enhance the viewing experience of international visitors.

The City Who Had Two Navels

A woman visits the pavilion of Indonesia 'Sunyata: The Poetics of Emptiness' as part of the 16th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice, on May 23, 2018. (AFP/Filippo Monteforte)

Curated by Edson Cabalfin at the Artiglierie of the Arsenale in Venice, the Philippine Pavilion features the works of contemporary artist Yason Banal who was commissioned to create a multi-channel video installation that weaved together fragments of historical, modern and contemporary Philippine architecture.

Cabalfin also asked four schools and one organization to participate as exhibitors. Together, they confront the tension between the vicissitudes of the past and the challenges of constructing contemporary subjectivity in a pavilion that highlights two navels that are in constant dialogue: the forces of colonialism and neoliberalism.

The pavilion explores this relationship between the past and the future by focusing on the built environment as an expression of self-determination and as setting for a global and transnational revolution. The Philippine contribution to the Biennale seeks to interrogate architecture and urbanisms ability to empower and transform peoples lives.

The Philippine Pavilion explores this relationship between the past and the future by focusing on the built environment as expression of self-determination and as setting for global and transnational revolution. (Courtesy of The China Post/File)

To Cabalfin, the juncture of these two navels represents an emergent wave of postcolonial anxieties born out of the process of exiting the colonial condition. Through a transnational and transhistorical investigation, the curator argues that the Philippines does not exist in a vacuum, that it is implicated within power relations, and that it is inextricably intertwined with other nations and people.

To address this emerging postcolonial anxiety, the Philippine Pavilion invited future architects, planners, and designers to respond to the two navels and the concomitant architectural and urban issues to develop a Freespace or Pookginhawa that would create new possibilities for renewed life and hope.

The National Pavilions of the Philippines and Indonesia, as well as the Collateral Event of Taiwan open to the public from now until Nov. 25, 2018.Aruna dan Lidahnya (Aruna and Her Palate), a movie about food, friendships and conspiracy, is said to be a dialogue-driven movie as it seeks to prove that such a genre is still engaging to watch.

"I dont think dialogue will ever be boring because theres an urgency in delivering it  Thats the job for actors, to find the sense of urgency about why particular words need to be delivered at a certain time, said Dian Sastrowardoyo, one of the cast members, during a recent interview at The Jakarta Post studio.

Coproducer Muhammad Zaidy said the conversation presented in the film should interest the audience.

Its a challenge from [director] Edwin to the actors and [scriptwriter] Titien Wattimena to develop the film in such a way that the dialogue becomes important and engaging, Zaidy said.

During pre-production, the actors were asked to watch some films, including dialogue-heavy movies, while Dian personally watched Amelie and Sideways to get the feel of having conversations with friends she also read the book to get deeper into Arunas mind.

I can see that shes an introvert because she doesnt really express her opinions, but she thinks about them. It makes her somewhat of a pool of information and imagination for her unconscious mind, Dian said.

Read also: 'Arun and Her Palate' releases trailer, reveals new characters

Edwin, Zaidy and coproducer Meiske Taurisia also discussed other films to strengthen one of its main topics: food.

There was Eat Drink Man Woman and Lunchbox. We mostly discussed what happened in the film, so it wasnt only about food, but also the drama that happened, Zaidy said.

Actor Oka Antara, who plays Farish, described the challenge in his favorite scene, which is when Aruna and Farish argue with each other.

There was a scene featuring a barongsai [lion dance] where Dian and I had to adjust our breath because were following the barongsai. The shooting for the scene lasted from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., Oka said.

For Dian, her favorite scene was when she ate kacang kowa or kacang kuah (nuts drowned in thick gingery sauce, served with fried dough). Although it was a little bit weird I had to act as if it was normal for me. I also had to maintain a poker face in front of Farish, Dian said.

Adapted from Laksmi Pamuntjaks () novel of the same name, Aruna and Her Palate also features Hannah Al Rashid as Nad, Nicholas Saputra as Bono, Desta as Pak Burhan and Sarah Azhari as Mbak Priya.

Scheduled to be released on Sept. 27, Aruna and Her Palate is planned as a single project.

But Id never say there wont be any sequel, said Zaidy. (kes)Indonesias literary scene has suffered a great loss with the death of illustrious short story writer Hamsad Rangkuti on Sunday.



Hamsad died at home aged 75 after being in a coma for three months. He had multiple health problems and suffered a stroke last year. His widow, Nur Windasari, confirmed the news of his death. The late author was buried in Beji cemetery, Depok, West Java, the same day.



Poet Sapardi Djoko Damono remembered Hamsad for his interest in marginalized communities through a viewpoint that he considered to be unusual.



[Hamsad] humanized these marginalized people through humor, and reading his works is interesting because he was also straightforward in his delivery, Sapardi told The Jakarta Post on Monday.



He noted that Hamsads stories were easy to read and it appealed to a wide audience. His observations of marginalized people were also spot-on, because he shone a spotlight on issues affecting them.



Born in Titikuning, North Sumatra, in 1943, Hamsad wrote his first short story,Sebuah Nyanyian di Rambung Tua (A Song in an Old Rubber Tree), at the age of 16.



The author, who was perhaps best known for his short story Maukah Kamu Menghapus Bekas Bibirnya di Bibirku Dengan Bibirmu? (Would You Erase the Trace of His Lips on My Lips with Your Lips?), was known for daydreaming and fantasy, the traits that propelled him to literary stardom, even though his friends used to mock him for mixing reality and fantasy.



In order for people to like your story, you must add a lie to it. This is not a crime. It is beauty. A beautiful lie. Many writers hate this term for it makes literature sound like a crime, and therefore they prefer calling it imagination, Hamsad told the Post in an interview in 2008.



Hamsads imagination landed him numerous awards, including the 2003 Khatulistiwa Literary Award for his short story collection Bibir Dalam Pispot (Lips on the Chamber Pot) as well as the 2008 Southeast Asian Writers Award.



Another notable short story, Panggilan Rasul (The Calling of the Apostle), which was originally sent by Hamsad to the Jakarta-based literary magazineSastra, went unpublished due to the publication being shut down by then-president Sukarno because of its support for the banned Cultural Manifesto.



The manifesto attacked the artistic restrictions imposed by Sukarno who favored leftist intellectuals in Lekra (The Institute of Peoples Culture), which was affiliated with the now defunct Indonesian Communist Party.



The short story was later sent by HB Jassin, an icon in Indonesian literature, to literary magazine Horison, where it was published in the magazines fourth edition. This was a turning point for Hamsad who decided to stay on in Jakarta.



He spent some time in Jakartas underbelly, where he interacted with people on the streets.



His observations can be seen in one of his best works, Ketika Lampu Berwarna Merah (When the Light Turns Red), which depicts the life of beggars and prostitutes living next to the railroad near the Ciliwung River.



The idea to write his award-winning Pispot came to him after overhearing a woman telling fellow passengers in a public minivan about a robbery.



In Pispot, Hamsad tells of an alleged robber who was arrested by the police. He was believed to have swallowed a stolen necklace and was forced to take laxatives but the police could not find any evidence in the chamber pot even after he had relieved himself three times.



The narrator, who had accused the man, felt bad and apologized to the alleged robber and took him to his home, but on the way the man confessed that he had indeed taken the necklace because his child was seriously ill. The jewelry was not found in the chamber pot because every time it came out, the man swallowed it again.



I think the reason why the stories in Bibir Dalam Pispot are timeless is because they tell of the suffering of the poor, which is still a fact of life in Jakarta, Hamsad told the Post.



On Monday, comic expert and pop culture observer Hikmat Darmawan remembered Hamsad as a literary figure who narrated Indonesia through the small mosaics of its people in their day-to-day lives.



These mosaics are indeed very valuable, because they are close to the lives of many in Indonesia.



Hikmat said Hamsads most noteworthy legacy was his time as the editor of Horison during the 1980s and 1990s, taking up the mantle of editor-in-chief in 1986 and leaving the post in 2002.



His painstaking work has contributed a lot to the diversity of Indonesian literature. In an era of lightning-fast media, Hamsads tenacity is needed, at least in spirit, so that Indonesian literature will not be consumed by instant popularity and a culture of packaging with no substance, Hikmat added.



Hamsads affinity for storytelling lives on. As he once said during an interview: I still want to write stories that are lasting. I dont want to write cliched stories. Young writers should know this as well. Youve got to have a story to write, you cant just play with words.Grammy-winning song parody specialist "Weird Al" Yankovic was honoured in Los Angeles on Monday (Aug 27) with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Yankovic, who has scored hits over the past 30 years with parodies such as Like A Surgeon (Madonna's Like A Virgin) and Amish Paradise (Coolio's Gangsta's Paradise), joked about his star being vandalised like that of US President Donald Trump.

"By the way I am sorry I even have to say this, I don't want to even have to ask this but please, please don't pickaxe my star, ok guys? I mean I know it's all the rage these days but that's not cool," joked Yankovic.

"Just please don't do that unless at some point in the future I do something unfathomably monsterous and evil, in which case sure, fine, go ahead," added Yankovic, whose star ceremony was funded by his fans.

Read also: Hollywood's Walk of Fame, the biggest star of all

"I want to sincerely thank all of the generous fans who took out second mortgages on their homes and subsisted on nothing but ramen noodles for years and years just so I could be standing before you here today," said Yankovic.

Radio disc jockey Dr. Demento and actor Thomas Lennon turned out to support Yankovic at the ceremony on Los Angeles' Hollywood Boulevard.

Yankovic scored his first number 1 on the weekly US Billboard 200 album chart in 2014 with his parody album Mandatory Fun and won a grammy in 2003 for best comedy album for Poodle Hat, the first comedy album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart.

Other releases include 2006's gold-certified Straight Outta Lynwood, which reached No. 10 on the Billboard 200. In addition to the music, Yankovic has also written children's books.New York City charter network Success Academy has barely been open a week this school year, but some students are already learning valuable lessons about nepotism and organizational dysfunction.

According to multiple reports, enrollees of a Manhattan branch of the city's controversial charter network were surprised to find their AP Economics class taught by the son of Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz, Culver Grannis Moskowitz.

The younger Moskowitz does not have a college degree, and recently transferred to Columbia University, after two semesters at Haverford College and a gap year. He is the only of Eva Moskowitz's three children who did not go to a Success Academy high school, instead attending the posh Avenues World School in Chelsea, where he apparently ran for class president and recorded some educational raps:

He likely did not take A.P. Economics, as the private high school does not appear to offer it as part of their upper level curriculum (A spokesperson for Avenues did not immediately respond to a request for comment).

Isnt AP supposed to be college-level material? one frustrated parent asked Chalkbeat, which first reported the news. If he hasnt graduated college, how is he teaching college-level material?

Ann Powell, a spokesperson for Success Academy, said that the CEO's son worked as an intern for Success Academy High School of the Liberal Arts-Manhattan over the summer, and "ended up filling in for an economics teacher who quit, and whose replacement is due to start [next] Tuesday." Of the 67 teachers who worked at the Manhattan charter school last year, only 18 are returning this year, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The controversial charter network has earned a reputation in recent years for its exacting work environment and high turnover among employees. At some schools, annual teacher turnover rates frequently exceed 50 percentnearly three times the average at district schools. Earlier this year, both the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer quietly left the company, fueling uncertainty among staff.

"Generally, there's been low morale lately because of how much turnover there's been," one employee told Gothamist. "A lot of things are being put on hold. A lot of teams are short staffed."

Moskowitz is no longer teaching the economics class, the spokesperson said, and is set to begin orientation at Columbia this week. He will continue working as an intern at Success Academy through the semester.



Wiro Sableng, the tale of a pencak silat-trained and hatchet-wielding warrior, is set to hit the big screen in his namesake movie this Thursday, reintroducing the eccentric character adapted from novels written in the late 60s and made popular on the small screen during the 90s.

Under the auspices of Jakarta-based Lifelike Pictures and Los Angeles-based Fox International Production, Wiro Sableng will go back to his roots in the upcoming movie, which tells the genesis story of the quirky character based on the first four books of the series.

"We wanted to make this movie as if no one had seen Wiro Sableng," Sheila "Lala" Timothy, producer and co-writer of the film, told The Jakarta Post.

Before even writing the script for the movie, Lala said, the production team had recreated a new universe that drew from the 185 novels and hundreds of characters throughout the books.

The Wiro Sableng cast and producer gear up for the movie release as actors Fariz Alfarazi (front row, left to right), Vino G. Bastian, Yusuf Mahardika, Dian Sidik (back row, left to right) and Ruth Marini as well as producer Sheila Timothy, Sherina Munaf, Gita Arifin and Teuku Rifnu Wikana pose for a photo. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari)

The movie Wiro Sableng 212, which is slated to be the first part of a trilogy, is set in the 16th century and tells the origin story of the unconventional hero.

Lead actor Vino G. Bastian, who is the son of the original creator of the Wiro Sableng books Bastian Tito, is set to become the lead character his father has created.

"The challenge is, of course, that people will assume that [] I am the most perfect Wiro Sableng, even though thats not necessarily the case," Vino said, referring to the expectations and pressure he faced when taking on the role.

Vino G. Bastian takes on the lead role as the eccentric warrior Wiro Sableng (JP/Wienda Parwitasari)

With no background in pencak silat, the actor set out to train six months ahead of filming, making sure to get every move right, a process that he said was no easy feat.

"And now that I was taught things he had written about before, it turns out that its actually difficult. Really difficult," Vino said.

Read also: Vino Bastian on 'Wiro Sableng' and his father's legacy

Sherina, a former child actress, takes on her first acting role since her debut in Petualangan Sherina (Sherina's Adventure) in 2000. After forging a successful career in music since then, Sherina returns to acting with her role of Anggini, the aspiring warrior assigned to assist Wiro Sableng in his mission.

Sherina reveals her reservations about going back to acting, something she explained as foreign ground after having left it for almost two decades. But producer Lala saw she was right for the role and slowly explained production details to coax her into trying.

Sherina Munaf plays aspiring warrior Anggini. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari)

It wasn't until she saw the concept art of the film and heard the music for the production that Sherina was convinced.

"So, finally there was nothing to be afraid of anymore. I had to be fearless and also not betray the character of Anggini," Sherina said.

The entire cast had physical training and pencak silat practice for their roles, where they would take on fighting sequences choreographed by martial artist and actor Yayan Ruhian, who also appears in the film  as the villain.

212 boasts a star-studded cast that also includes actors Teuku Rifnu Wikana, Fariz Alfarazi, Dian Sidik, Ruth Marini, Gita Arifin and Yusuf Mahardika. (kes)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 28, 2018 08:02 1161 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877004680 1 City Kota-Tua,photo,illegal-fees Free

Residents wishing to have their pre-wedding photo shoots at the newly revamped Kali Besar in Kota Tua, West Jakarta, will not be charged any fees, Jakarta Tourism and Culture Agency acting head Asiantoro stated on Monday.

The announcement came following reports that some thugs had demanded illegal fees at Kali Besar from a couple who wanted to have their pre-wedding photo shoot there.

According to Bylaw No. 1/2015, private pre-wedding [photo shoots] are not charged, Asiantoro said on Monday, kompas.com reported, referring to the revision of Bylaw No. 3/2012 on levies.

He said that a photo shoot would only be charged with levies if the photos are to be used for advertising, only if the photo shoot is done at Fatahillah Park in front of the Jakarta Historical Museum [in the vicinity of Kali Besar], he said.

He said he had made sure that that anyone demanding levies from the residents for doing a private photo shoot were not officials from the Jakarta administration.

On Sunday, Adiputu Harto, 30, said that thugs at Kali Besar area had forced him to pay Rp 500,000 (US$34) for rent fees to do a pre-wedding photo shoot.

I wanted to do my pre-wedding photo shoot at Kali Besar on Aug. 29. [On Sunday] afternoon my photographer surveyed the location, and some thugs came over to him, saying that for pre-wedding shoots he must pay Rp 500,000, Adiputu said. (ami)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 28, 2018 18:55 1161 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087703034a 1 Sports Asian-Games-2018,beers,crackdown,athletes-village,Kemayoran,jakarta,Indonesia Free

The Indonesian Asian Games Organizing Committee (INASGOC) has confiscated bottled and canned beer brought by athletes and officials into the athletes village in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) prohibits alcohol in the village.

INASGOC secretary-general Harry Warganegara said drinking beer was common for some athletes, especially after a competition.

Nevertheless, the practice is forbidden, he said.

"The OCA prohibits [any alcoholic beverages] as well as smoking in the athletes village," Harry said.

INASGOC also prohibits athletes and officials from bringing in food.

As some delegates stayed for more than a week in the village, those who were bored with the meals provided in the facility tried to buy dishes from nearby eateries, said Harry.

Nevertheless, a security check would stop them from bringing the food up into their rooms.

Its a precaution. We dont want to be blamed if something happens, he added.

The village offers a wide range of culinary options, from Indonesian food to Central Asian, Arabian and international dishes.

To cater to all the delegates, especially athletes who are required to conduct doping tests in the evenings, organizers had to extend the dining halls operational hours to 12 a.m. every day. (nkn)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung  Tue, August 28, 2018 21:25 1161 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877033dd6 1 Sports #2018AsianGames,#AsianGames2018,#KPK,#corruption,#ticket,#ticketing Free

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) spokesman Febri Diansyah called on state officials receiving free Asian Games tickets  apart from formal invitations  to report them to the antigraft body at least 30 days after receiving them.

We have received reports that there were certain state officials who requested or received [free Asian Games] tickets. The KPK chairman has said that several state enterprises were required to buy tickets to be given to these officials. This is unethical, he said on Tuesday.

Febri said state officials should have bought their own tickets if they wanted to watch the Asiad competitions. [They should buy tickets] like regular citizens instead of misusing their positions, he added.

Gratuities, as stipulated in Article 12 B of the 2001 Law on corruption, include money, goods, discounts, commission, interest-free loans or free travel tickets, accommodation facilities, tours or medical care, among other things.

The KPK has warned officials to report such tickets through the Online Gratification (GOL) app on Android or iOS or by accessing the gratuity-reporting website, gol.kpk.go.id. The commission will later assess the reports to determine whether the tickets belong to them or are owed to the state.

However, the KPK stated that free tickets would not be counted as a gratuity if they were an official invitation to be present at the event as a representative of a ministry or state institution.

Indonesia is currently hosting the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, South Sumatra. Athletes from 45 countries in the region are competing in 40 sports. Tickets for the events sell for between Rp 75,000 (US$5.13) and Rp 800,000, while tickets for the closing ceremony cost from Rp 500,000 to Rp 2 million. (ris)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 28, 2018 17:42 1161 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087702b9a6 1 National Supreme-Court,Jokowi,Jokowi-administration,forest-fires,Kalimantan,Central-Kalimantan Free

The Supreme Court has received a cassation appeal filed by the government against a Palangkaraya High Court ruling that found President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo liable in the disastrous forest fires in Central Kalimantan.

Court spokesman Abdullah said the Supreme Court's administrative division was still checking the completeness of the appeal dossier, after which it would be handed over to the clerks division to be given a registration number.

"We cannot be sure when [the case will be processed] but it will not be too long, possibly within one month at the maximum," Abdullah said on Tuesday adding that the government would get no privilege from the court in handling the case.

Palangkaraya High Court ruled on Aug. 22 upholding the Palangkaraya District Court's ruling issued in March last year, which sided with environmental activists from Central Kalimantan who filed a citizens lawsuit against the government on the 2015 fires that caused the nations worst-ever haze crisis.

The activists filed the lawsuit against the President and his Cabinet ministers, including the environment, agriculture and health ministers as well as the Central Kalimantan governor and Central Kalimantan Regional Representative Council (DPRD).

In the ruling, the District Court ordered Jokowi to issue a regulation to support the implementation of the 2009 Environmental Protection and Management Law to prevent and control forest fires with the involvement of members of the public.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 28, 2018 15:34 1161 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877025a72 1 Business airplane,ticket,floor-prices,increase,Budi-Karya-Sumadi Free

The government has decided to increase the price floor of airplane tickets from 30 to 35 percent of the price ceiling in response to requests from a number of airlines, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Budi said the government would announce the start of the new airplane ticket price scheme in the near future, pending a dissemination program held by the Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister.

National-flag carrier Garuda Indonesia president director Pahala N. Mansury welcomed the governments decision to increase the airplane ticket price floor, although he previously demanded it be increased to 40 percent.

The [operational] costs have increased significantly. But, at least [with the increase], there will be improvement [in our revenue], Pahala said as reported by kompas.com. He stressed that the increase of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices had long affected the airline.

He said the government had invited representatives from the aviation industry to discuss the issue, although he said he had not received a copy of the governments decision.

Garuda Indonesia was among the aviation companies that demanded the increase of the airplane ticket price floor, as regulated under Transportation Minister Regulation No. 14/2016 on the calculation formula for deciding price ceilings and floors of economic class airplane tickets. (bbn)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Jon Afrizal (The Jakarta Post) Jambi/Jakarta  Tue, August 28 2018

A 15-year-old rape victim who was convicted of abortion can now walk free following a landmark ruling by the Jambi High Court, which acquitted her of all charges on Monday amid intense public uproar.

The panel of judges at the high court, comprising John Diamond Tambunan, Hiras Sihombing and Efran Basuning, had ruled to exonerate the schoolgirl, who was raped by her 18-year-old brother.

The panel of judges stated that [the girl] was proven to have had an abortion, but the action was done under forced circumstances, Jambi High Court spokesman Hasoloan Sianturi said on Monday, adding that the judges would clear her name of any wrongdoing as well as exempt her from all court fees during her legal process.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 28, 2018 12:08 1161 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308770182e4 1 National bandung,Komnas-HAM,eviction Free

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) is advising the Bandung city administration to refrain from continuing a plan to build row houses in Balubur village, Bandung Wetan city, Bandung, West Java, before having a proper mediation with residents.

In October, Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil told the public that he would develop row houses in a 5,000-square-meter area that the city administration claimed to own. The development was intended to improve the village's condition.

The city administration promised that the residents would receive money to rent a house anywhere they wanted until the development was finished and that they would later be able to rent units at Rp 270,000 (US$18.50) per month.

However, residents are refusing the development due to unfair compensation.

"The administration only relied on the land status certificate it owns for the eviction. It did not have a proper public consultation to reach an agreement with the residents and did not do a proper appraisal for the land," Komnas HAM chairman Ahmad Taufan Damanik said in a statement on Monday.

He added that the residents had never agreed to the amount of land compensation or the relocation plan promised by the administration.

Ahmad said the Bandung administration should obey the 2005 law on international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights, which stipulates that a local administration should reach an agreement with the residents, give proper announcements and relocate the residents before an eviction. (ris)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Kharishar Kahfi and Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 28, 2018 17:27 1161 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087702a3bb 1 National KPK,Agus-Rahardjo,Meiliana,TanjungBalai,Medan,North-Sumatra,bribery,graft Free

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators have arrested a judge in Medan, North Sumatra, for alleged bribery.

The judge, Wahyu Prasetyo Wibowo, presided over the blasphemy trial of Tanjung Balai resident Meiliana. The KPK case, however, is unrelated to her trial.

KPK chairman Agus Rahardjo said investigators apprehended at least eight people, including judges and court clerks, during an operation in Medan on Tuesday.

We suspected that an illicit transaction related to a corruption case [handled in the court] had occurred. Investigators are still working to verify information obtained from residents, Agus told The Jakarta Post.

He added that the graft busters also seized an undisclosed amount of cash in Singapore dollars during the operation.

While the antigraft body refused to reveal the identity of the apprehended individuals, Medan District Court spokesman Erintuah Damanik said among those arrested was Wahyu.

On Aug. 21, he sentenced Meiliana to 18 months in prison for blasphemy after she was accused of insulting Islam when she complained that the adzan (call to prayer) at her neighborhood mosque was too loud.

The conviction was widely condemned, including by the countrys two largest Muslim organizations, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, which said the court had gone too far in applying the blasphemy law for an action that could only be seen as mild misconduct. (evi)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Rachmadea Aisyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 28 2018

The talks between Indonesia and Australia on the free trade agreement, known as the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA), will likely conclude soon with new Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison planning to visit Jakarta this week.

Australian National University (ANU) economist and Southeast Asian economy expert Hal Hill said it was important to take note that Morrison chose Indonesia for his first official visit overseas because it meant he was aware of the importance of bilateral relations between Indonesia and Australia.

Even though he [Morrison] has yet to learn and experience a lot of international affairs, he immediately understood Indonesias interests [in Australia], Hill told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a seminar held by SMERU Research Institute on Monday.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Vilnius, Lithuania  Tue, August 28, 2018 08:28 1161 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308770049bb 2 World #Israel,Israel-Palestine-conflict,BenjaminNetanyahu,peace Free

Israel's prime minister says he sees a path to peace with Palestinians through the "normalisation" of relations with Arab states which, like his country, are also facing an emboldened Iran.

"Many Arab countries now see Israel not as their enemy but as their indispensable ally in pushing back Iranian aggression," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with Lithuania's LRT public broadcaster which aired on Monday.

"This has created normalisation which can lead to peace. I believe that if we have peace with the broader Arab world, it will help us get to peace with the Palestinians," he added in the interview taped during his visit to the Baltic state -- the first-ever by an Israeli premier -- that ended on Sunday.

Israel has peace treaties with just two Arab countries, Egypt and Jordan, while others insist on an agreement with the Palestinians as a prerequisite that would pave the way to formal relations.

Earlier this year Saudi Arabian King Salman reaffirmed "steadfast" support for the Palestinian cause after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman signalled a shift in the country's approach.

Prince Mohammed in April said in a magazine interview that Israelis, as well as Palestinians, "have the right to have their own land".

Both Israel and Saudi Arabia have opposed the Iran nuclear deal and pushed for tougher action against Iran's spreading influence in the Middle East.

In July, the Saudis slammed a controversial Israeli law as "perpetuating racial discrimination" against Palestinians by defining the country as the nation-state of the Jewish people.

Arab citizens account for some 17.5 percent of Israel's more than eight million population and have long complained of discrimination.

The Israeli legislation was also condemned by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, comprised of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

At least 171 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire during demonstrations near the border with Israel that began in March amid a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 28, 2018 14:58 1161 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877023290 1 City Jakarta-administration,OK-OCE,anies-baswedan,Sandiaga-Uno Free

The Jakarta administrations plan to reward new members of the One District One Entrepreneurship (OK OCE) program with overseas trips has been left stranded after its founder and departing deputy governor Sandiaga Uno, who had pledged to finance the trip, withdrew from the program.

Sandiaga decided to resign as Jakarta deputy governor to run as Prabowo's running mate in the 2019 election.

The program has been taken over by the city administration, said OK OCE community movement (PGO) head Faransyah as quoted by kompas.com on Tuesday, suggesting that administration would take over funding for the trips.

Sandiaga, a former businessman, pledged during his term as deputy governor to reward the 40,000th OK OCE member with tickets to a religious trip abroad.

If the lucky member was a Muslim, the prize would be a trip to Mecca for umrah (minor pilgrimage), but if the winner was a Christian, it would be a trip to Jerusalem. The winner could also choose any overseas destination for their prize.

Read also: OK OCE members to get home-based business permits

Faransyah also said that the 39,999th and 40,001th members would be rewarded trips to Bangkok, as the OK OCE program was inspired by a popular entrepreneurship program in Thailand called One Tambon One Product. The 39,998th and the 40,002th members would also receive free trips, but to domestic destinations.

Since Sandiaga is no longer actively serving as deputy governor, Faransyah said the city would take over the program, which would mean the trips would also become the administration's responsibility.

We already have the names [of the winners], he added. (vla)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 28, 2018 13:53 1161 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087701d7bb 1 National Papua,separatism,ITE-Law,Facebook,Mimika,Freeport-Indonesia Free

The Mimika Police in Papua have arrested AY, a worker at gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia, for making a video that police have described as hate speech against Indonesia and distributing it on social media.

Mimika Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Agung Marlianto said on Tuesday that AY was arrested at his house at Bumi Kamoro Indah housing complex last Thursday.

[AY] faces charges under Article 45 Paragraph 2 of Law No. 19/2016 on electronic information and transactions, because he deliberately spread information aimed at fueling hatred against an individual or group of people based on their ethnicity, religion or race, Agung said, as quoted by Antara news agency.

AY made a short video of his young son expressing opposition to Indonesia's sovereignty over Papua. The video was then posted on Facebook. The police did not arrest the child.

Conflicts between Papuan residents and police have spiked in the past week, as the country celebrated its Independence Day on Aug. 17.

Read also: Papuans feel differently about Indonesia's Independence Day

A group of Papuan students living in a dormitory in Surabaya, East Java, refused to fly the Indonesian flag ahead Independence Day, resulting in a clash between the students and local residents.

Separately, freshmen from the Jayapura-based Cendrawasih University wore attributes of the Morning Star, the flag used by separatist groups in Papua, on campus and chanted free Papua, as instructed by senior students.

The students were taken to police stations for questioning but were later released as the police did not press charges. (vny)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Manuel Mogato and Martin Petty (Reuters) Manila, Philippines  Tue, August 28, 2018 17:55 1161 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087702c85c 2 World #Philippine,#Duterte,duterte,international-criminal-court,drug-raids Free

Activists and families of eight victims of the Philippines' "war on drugs" filed a complaint on Tuesday with the International Criminal Court (ICC), a second petition accusing President Rodrigo Duterte of murder and crimes against humanity.

The 50-page complaint calls for Duterte's indictment over thousands of alleged extrajudicial killings during his crackdown on drugs, which the activists and families said included "brazen" executions by police acting with impunity.

Critics of the campaign were being "persecuted", they said, and cases filed by victims' families had gone nowhere.

The latest move is led by a network of activists, priests and members of the poor, urban communities that have borne the brunt of a fierce two-year campaign in which police have killed about 4,400 people, causing international alarm.

"Duterte is personally liable for ordering state police to undertake mass killings," Neri Colmenares, a lawyer representing the group, told reporters.

Duterte insists he told police to kill only in self-defence and has lashed out at critics while demonstrating no remorse for the deaths. In a national address last month, he said the drugs war would be remain "relentless and chilling".

Benigno Durana, a national police spokesman, said the only order Duterte gave to police was "to wage war on drugs and criminality within the bounds of the law".

The ICC petition, known as a communication, follows a similar complaint filed in April 2017 by a Philippine lawyer and backed by two opposition lawmakers, into which the ICC in February started a preliminary examination.

Human rights groups believe the death toll could be far higher than the one the police give, and accuse law enforcement of summarily executing suspected drug users and small-time dealers, using only cursory intelligence. Police reject that.

PETITION 'DOOMED'

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the latest petition was "doomed", because the Philippines' was no longer covered by the ICC's Rome Statute.

Duterte unilaterally withdrew in March from the ICC's founding treaty, saying it skirted due process and presumption of his innocence and sought to portray him as a "ruthless and heartless violator of human rights".

He even threatened to arrest ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda if she were to comes to the Philippines to investigate him, and said he would convince other countries to follow him in quitting the ICC.

It was a stark contrast from the early days of Duterte's presidency, when he had routinely disparaged the ICC and dared it to go after him, expressing his readiness to go on trial in The Hague and "rot in jail".

Opposition lawmakers maintain that Duterte's withdrawal from the treaty, which takes effect in March 2019, was illegal because it was done without Senate approval.

They have challenged it at the Supreme Court, which started hearing oral arguments on Tuesday.

Jurist groups say that regardless of how the court rules, Duterte is not protected from a possible indictment because the alleged crimes took place while the Philippines was a member of the ICC, and therefore covered by its jurisdiction.

Duterte also maintains the Philippines never actually acceded to the Rome Statute in 2011, because it was not published in the country's official gazette.

The ICC is a court of last resort that can exercise jurisdiction if states are unable or unwilling to investigate crimes, which Duterte's spokesman said was not the case in the Philippines.

Kristina Conti, another lawyer backing the complaint, said it had been filed before the ICC because as a serving president, Duterte had immunity from legal action.

The ICC prosecutor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment and could not be reached out of normal office hours.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 28, 2018 18:28 1161 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087702f5a9 1 National #Police,police,#Yogyakarta,Yogyakarta,#WhaleSharks,whale-shark,animal-welfare,#AnimalWelfare Free

The Yogyakarta Police are considering punishing three officers who were photographed standing on top of a dead whale shark that was stranded on a beach in Parangkusumo.

The photo, which shows the officers posing with their fists raised, was uploaded by television host Robby Purba on his Instagram account.

In the picture, two officers stand on the back of the whale sharks carcass, while one officer squats on its head.

The picture sparked outrage among netizens and animal lovers, who claimed that what the officers did was inappropriate.

The Yogyakarta Police offered an apology on its official Twitter account @PoldaJogja following the protests.

Regarding the incident of our three officers who were caught on camera climbing on the top of a dead whale shark, we apologize. There was no specific intent behind the incident, it said.

Terkait kejadian tiga Anggota kami yang tertangkap kamera sempat menaiki ikan hiu tutul mati tersebut, kami memohon maaf. Tidak ada maksud tertentu atas peristiwa tersebut.  Polda DI Yogyakarta (@PoldaJogja) August 27, 2018

Yogyakarta Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Yulianto said the police's internal affairs division had launched an investigation into the officers' conduct.

Were currently determining what kind of punishment is appropriate for them, he said on Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.com, adding that the officers deeply regretted their action.

Early on Monday morning, a fisherman found the 4-meter whale shark stranded on the beach.

The animal was still alive at the time it was found by the fisherman but died within an hour.

Yogyakarta Water Police arrived at the scene in the afternoon to help the Yogyakarta Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA) retrieve samples from the fish, as well as to bury it on the beach.

Residents flocked to the beach to see the dead fish, as well as to watch the authorities bury it, which took two hours with the help of an excavator. (ris/ipa)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Moscow, Russia  Tue, August 28, 2018 18:26 1161 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087702e5ac 2 World #Russia,#Syria,Russia,military,Syria Free

Moscow is reinforcing its military presence in the Mediterranean near Syria, Russian media reported Tuesday, as speculation grows that Damascus is planning a Russian-backed offensive on rebel-held Idlib province.

Moscow has accused rebels of planning to stage a chemical attack in the northwestern province that would "provoke" Western strikes on its ally Damascus.

Quoting anonymous sources, the Kommersant daily reported that Russia sent two warships and an additional anti-aircraft missile system to the Mediterranean in August.

Pro-Kremlin paper Izvestia said Russia currently has 10 warships and two submarines in Syrian waters, saying this amounted to Moscow's biggest military presence there since it became involved in the conflict in 2015.

According to Izvestia, Russia plans to send "several more" warships to Syria.

Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov charged that the jihadist group Tahrir al-Sham "is close to committing a very serious provocation in Idlib using chemical weapons".

At the weekend, Russia repeatedly accused Syrian militants of planning the attack in the rebel-held province.

It also accused British secret services of being "actively involved" in the plot.

Moscow's accusations came after US President Donald Trump's national security adviser John Bolton said Washington will respond "very strongly" if Syrian regime forces used chemical weapons to retake Idlib.

In April, the US, France and Britain launched joint missile strikes on Syrian targets in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack in the town of Douma that left scores of people dead.

Russian stuck by its ally Syria and angrily insisted the Douma attack was staged by the White Helmets volunteer rescue service.

Russia, a long-time ally of Syria, launched a military intervention in 2015 to support the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad, a move that changed the course of the war.

Damascus still holds the southeastern tip of Idlib, a strategically important province adjacent to Latakia on the Mediterranean coast that is home to Assad's clan.

More than 350,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since Syria's war started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 28 2018

Dozens of men and women rushed to pick up plastic waste, mostly food and drink containers, while jogging, or plogging, near Bungur Lake in Pondok Ranji in South Tangerang, Banten, on Sunday in a campaign to encourage the community to stop littering.

The plogging race was part of the annual Bungur Lake Festival, a five-day event organized by a committee of residents living near the lake to empower their community composed of 12 neighborhood units and to promote environmental and cultural conservation.

It was the third such festival sponsored by the South Tangerang administration, which has pledged to convert lakes into local tourist spots.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 28, 2018 06:53 1162 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308770030b4 1 City Tanah-Abang-Market,illegal-levies,accusation,viral-video Free

The Police and Tanah Abang Block B Market management have confirmed that no illegal levies were charged at the market in Central Jakarta, despite a viral video appearing to show such activities taking place

In the video, men wearing black uniforms are seen arguing with a Tanah Abang Block B vendor named Tanto on Friday.

The captions in the video, which has been uploaded to multiple social media accounts, say the men claimed to be security officers and wanted to extort Tanto.

One of the security officers was heard saying rent fee during the heated argument, and the latter insisted there was no extra rent fee for doing business there.

Tanah Abang Police chief Adj. Comr. Lukman Cahyono said on Monday that prior to the incident, the market security officers were patrolling the second floor and considered Tanto to have violated the regulations.

They found that the vendor had put [his merchandise] outside of his kiosk area allowed by the market management, Lukman said as reported by kompas.com.

He said the police had set up a mediation with the market management, the security officers and the store owner, in which the latter had confessed that some of his wares had been put outside the area allowed by the management.

Tanah Abang Block B general manager Bevi Linawati said the rent fee that the security officers had mentioned in the video had been misinterpreted.

The recording was only partial, so it seems like [the officers want to charge] an illegal levy, Bevi said.

She said the management had reminded the vendors to keep their wares orderly, and even gave a 50-centimeter leeway for vendors whose wares were placed outside their kiosks. (ami)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Alex Morales (Bloomberg) London  Tue, August 28, 2018 12:45 1161 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877019fb1 2 Business Brexit,UK,Theresa-May,negotiation,EU Free

The UK can still make a success of Brexit if it tumbles out of the European Union without a deal, Prime Minister Theresa May said, striking an upbeat tone as the clock ticks down on Britains departure from the bloc.

Speaking to reporters on the plane as she headed to South Africa on a five-day visit to three African nations, May twice cited World Trade Organization Chief Roberto Azevedo, who told BBC radio last week that trade wasnt going to stop if Britain and the EU failed to strike a deal.

The U.K. last week published 24 documents outlining preparations for such a scenario. "He said about a no-deal situation that it would not be a walk in the park, but it wouldnt be the end of the world," May said, referring to Azevedo. "Ive said right from the beginning that no deal is better than a bad deal."

As Britains scheduled departure from the EU on March 29 draws closer, the government is trying to show that its prepared for all eventualities. Last weeks papers, the first of about 80 that ministers intend to publish, advised pharmaceutical companies to stockpile medicines, exporters to prepare for more red tape and consumers to brace for higher prices on EU goods.

The government is "putting in place the preparations such that if were in that situation, we can make a success of it," May said, reiterating that she still thinks Britain will be able to get a "good deal."

Gloomy Outlook

The premiers remarks contrast with the gloomy outlook from Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond, who in a letter last week to Nicky Morgan, the chairman of Parliaments Treasury Select Committee, said that failure to secure a deal would cut 7.7 percent off projected economic output and add 80 billion pounds to government borrowing by 2033.

In an implicit slap-down to the chancellor, May told reporters thrice that the figures Hammond referred to were the same ones shed described as a "work in progress" in January. Even as officials increasingly say an exit deal may not be finalized until at least November, May said shes still working to get it done by October, with the UK exiting the bloc on March 29 as planned.

Asked whether shell have to reach a compromise with the EU in order to secure the single-market access she seeks for goods but not services, the premier signaled there are some issues on which she wont budge.

"There are certain things that Ive made clear are non-negotiable," she said. "An end to free movement is one of them." Asked if Britains immigration system will look markedly different after Brexit, she replied that "by definition it will, because free movement will end."

May will meet with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Cape Town on Tuesday, before meeting her Nigerian and Kenyan counterparts in Abuja and Nairobi on Wednesday and Thursday.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Jerome Cartillier with Robyn Beck in Phoenix (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States  Tue, August 28, 2018 08:48 1161 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087700595c 2 World #Donald-Trump,Donald-Trump,White-House,flag,John-McCain Free

Donald Trump on Monday bowed to pressure to honor the late John McCain, ordering the lowering of flags across the country to half-staff, as the late senator fired a parting shot at the president in a farewell message to the nation.

Trump's about-face came after he found himself mired in controversy over his rather conspicuous failure to pay tribute to McCain, who died Saturday at 81 after a year-long battle with brain cancer.

When veterans' groups launched appeals for a more fitting salute to McCain, a Navy veteran who was imprisoned for more than five years in Vietnam, the Republican leader -- who had no love lost for the Arizona senator -- blinked.

"Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain's service to our country," Trump said in a statement as he ordered the flag atop the White House and elsewhere to fly at half-staff until McCain's burial on Sunday.

The White House flag was lowered after McCain's death on Saturday -- but it was once again at the top of the flagpole on Monday morning.

Trump's initial silence about McCain underscored the isolation of the US leader and fueled criticism that he is incapable of bringing a divided nation together even as it mourns a man widely seen as an American hero and a political icon.

In Phoenix, where a week of tributes to McCain was soon to get underway, Rick Davis, the two-time presidential candidate's former campaign manager, confirmed that Trump would not be attending the funeral.

The president himself said Vice President Mike Pence would speak at a ceremony honoring McCain at the US Capitol on Friday.

White House chief of staff John Kelly, Defense Secretary James Mattis and National Security Advisor John Bolton would represent the administration at his services, he added.

- 'Tribal rivalries' -

In Phoenix, Davis read a posthumous statement from McCain that did not spare Trump.

"We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe," McCain said.

"We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been," he said -- -- an apparent reference to Trump's plans for a border wall.

"I lived and died a proud American. We are citizens of the world's greatest republic, a nation of ideals, not blood and soil," McCain continued.

"Do not despair of our present difficulties but believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here," he said, adding that the country "will get through these challenging times."

- 'Not a war hero' -

McCain, who served as a senator from Arizona for more than 30 years, clashed repeatedly with Trump even though they were both Republicans, and the president initially paid scant tribute to the senator after his death.

The Washington Post reported that White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, Chief of Staff Kelly and other senior staff had urged a statement be released referring to McCain as a "hero" -- but Trump opted to tweet instead.

"My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain," Trump tweeted. "Our hearts and prayers are with you!"

That had been the extent of Trump's remarks on McCain's passing until the White House statement on Monday.

McCain's remains will lie in state at Arizona's capitol on Wednesday, before a public viewing Friday in the rotunda of the US Capitol -- an honor reserved for the likes of John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and civil rights champion Rosa Parks.

The two men who defeated McCain in his White House campaigns, Republican George W. Bush in 2000 and Democrat Barack Obama in 2008, are expected to deliver eulogies at a Saturday service at the National Cathedral in Washington.

McCain will be buried Sunday at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in a private funeral service.

- Bipartisan praise -

In Washington, McCain's death has been a rare occasion for bipartisan praise for his lifetime in public service.

Tributes have poured in from every living former president, honoring the former Navy aviator for his courage, integrity and decency.

On Capitol Hill, his desk on the Senate floor was draped with a black cloth, and adorned with a bowl of white roses.

The enmity between Trump and McCain dates from the day the real estate tycoon announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination with an attack on Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists.

During the 2016 campaign, Trump said of McCain: "He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured."

In the years since, McCain was Trump's loudest Republican critic, especially as the president disrupted America's long-time alliances.

After Trump met in Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin, McCain called it "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory."Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, August 28, 2018 12:51 1161 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087701a91f 4 Business Wijaya-Karya,Gesit,motorcycle,production,2018 Free

State-owned construction company PT Wijaya Karya (Wika), through PT Gesits Technologies Indo (GTI), plans to produce 50,000 electric motorcycles this year.

Wika president director Tumiyana said in Jakarta on Monday that the electric motorcycle model Gesits, which stands for Garansindo Electric Scooter ITS, would be launched in September.

Next year, we will produce around 100,000 to 150,000 units, he said as quoted by kompas.com, adding that the production target would continuously increase in the following years.

The Gesits is an automatic scooter designed with a 5 kilowatt electric motor that can run for 80 to 100 kilometers (km) on one charge. The charging time is between 1.5 and three hours.

In 2016, Gesits passed a 1,200 km test from Jakarta to Bali with a number of revisions held in 2017.

The motorcycles, produced with 89 percent local materials, are being manufactured at an assembly factory in Cileungsi, Bogor, West Java.

Previously, GTI CEO Harun Sjech said that for the time being, the target market was companies and individuals who had already made orders. (bbn)This summers prolonged heat wave was overwhelming for everyone -- including the local hotel sector, which recorded near full sales as South Koreans sought shelter in the comfort of cool hotels.

While the staycation is nothing new, this years record-breaking temperatures encouraged more vacationers to flock to nearby hotels for a relaxing getaway.

Hotels with swimming pools and dining facilities were especially popular, as a large portion of hotel guests were families with young children, according to industry insiders.

Novotel Ambassador Dongdaemun Hotel & Residences, which opened in July, kicked off to higher-than-expected sales.

In July and August, we were fully booked on the weekends, a hotel representative said. Even on the weekdays, the overall reservation (rate) was over 80 percent.

The hotel has two swimming pools -- an indoor pool and an outdoor pool. The rooftop pool, originally designed for adults, was initially off-limits to children but the hotel relaxed that rule during the peak vacation season in response to the large number of requests from parents.

High-end hotels benefited from the high temperatures just as much as the others. Seoul Shilla Hotel, renowned for its outdoor swimming pool complex, Urban Island, was packed with guests eager to take a dip in the cool water.

All the packages allowing admittance to the swimming pool have been sold out on the weekends since June, a Seoul Shilla Hotel representative said. Only guests who have made reservations specifying swimming pool access are allowed admission to the pools.

July saw a 10 percent increase in the number of local guests, compared with the same period last year.

Read also: Seoul sees one of its hottest nights in century

This summer was exceptionally hot. Even hotels without swimming pools enjoyed high sales, with guests coming to relax (in a cool) air-conditioned room, the Shilla Hotel representative said.

Shilla Stay Mapo, another property that forms part of the same hotel chain, is a business hotel without a swimming pool. In July, reservations at the hotel increased 20 percent on-year.

The high occupancy rate at the citys hotels left some guests less than happy, however. Online reviews included complaints about rooms, facilities and services.

A large number of guests complained about long lines for check-in and breakfast. Though some hotels offered welcome drinks and extra seating in the lobby, this was often not enough to satisfy guests, who felt they were getting less than the high-end service befitting a guest at a luxury hotel.

Also, some complained about unclean rooms and unprofessional staff. As hotels hire inexperienced part-timers during the peak season, service inevitably gets compromised, industry representatives say. But guests argue that hotels are taking in more guests than they can manage.

According to the Fair Trade Commission and the Korea Consumer Agency, from 2015 to 2017, 20.2 percent of complaints filed regarding the hotel, travel and airline industries were made during the vacation season, July to August.Bandung's new tourist destination, Orchid Forest Cikole, was officially inaugurated on Friday.

Its inauguration officiated by Tourism Minister Arief Yahya, the destination seeks to increase tourist visits to the West Java capital, particularly millennial travelers.

A post shared by jejakpetualang (@jejakpetualang180) on Jul 8, 2018 at 12:31am PDT

"One-third of tourists [who come to Bandung] are millennials," said Arief in a statement as quoted by tempo.co on Friday. He added that the place was very suitable for millennial tourists as it combined a breathtaking landscape and Instagrammable decoration.

Orchid Forest Cikole boasts a sea of lush pine trees. Among them visitors will discover many photo spots, such as a rope bridge and selfie stages. Arief said millennials were particularly fond of destinations that looked beautiful on camera such as this place.

Read also: Millennial travelers: Whats trending in 2018

The area is also said to host a co-working space, a glamping and camping area, as well as a natural-looking performance stage. Orchid Forest director Maulana Akbar said that last year the stage hosted an international music festival called La La Fest.

Prior to the inauguration, on Aug. 8 Orchid Forest Cikole signed a memorandum of understanding for a Wonderful Indonesia co-branding partnership with the Tourism Ministry. It later signed an agreement with the Bandung Institute of Tourism (STP) on Aug. 10, which aims to strengthen human resources to further develop digital destinations and nomadic tourism. (kes)Ghosts are memories, and we carry them because those we love do not leave the world.

At first glance, the landscape looks idyllic  the picturesque cliffs and lush grassy hills are the perfect settings for a stroll. The broad beaches caressed by the turquoise waters seem to invite you for a swim and a sunbathe. It really is no wonder that the Isle of Wight, part of the British Isles, is the holiday destination of choice for many Brits. There is, however, one other reason that attracts thousands of people from all corners of the world to the island  it is considered one of the most haunted places on Earth. How did this little piece of paradise earn such a dubious honour?

Credit: Karolina Koziol



The Isle o

f Wight is located on the southern coast of Great Britain - separated by the Solent strait. Its shape is compared to that of a brilliant cut diamond. The island is sometimes referred to as England in a Nutshell due to its very picturesque and varied landscapes, with more than half of the land being listed as protected areas. In the western part of the island lies perhaps its most iconic feature  the beautifully developed chalk formations on the cliffs that run along the entire stretch of coastline. The bays that cut in from time to time land delight with the clarity of

water

and culminate in a row of three distinctive chalk rocks known as The Needles.

Credit: Karolina Koziol

In the sunshine, the Isle of Wight really does appear to be a piece of heaven on Earth, but the island also carries a much darker side. It is said that the island, situated 150 km away from London, is the point of intersection of several sources of energy  an invisible line connects the Isle of Wight with Stonehenge amongst other places, creating a very strong and almost palpable electromagnetic field. There have been reports of people witnessing paranormal activity in hotels, hospitals, castles, ghostly apparitions wandering around the beaches at night or even images of entire ships on the coast. For example, Robin Hill Country Park in Downend is supposed to have ghosts waiting for you on every corner, so enter at your own risk. Some tourist shops on the island sell maps with known haunted spots. The atmosphere of mystery is heightened by the fact that the island is often shrouded in fog.To the Editor: One of the biggest hoaxes, if not the biggest, is that Hillary lost the election because of Russian influence.

That being said, 125 million American citizens have waited over a year for the results of the investigation into Russian influence.

The kicker in all that time is not one single person of the millions who voted has been called by Muellers committee to testify that, yes, they had voted for Trump and not Hillary because of Russian influence.

Just imagine the time and millions of dollars that have been spent on this investigation and not one voter has admitted to being influenced by the Russians.

It seems the only crime committed is holding this investigation about Russian influence in the first place. Or is it serving as a smoke screen to cover up the fact that under Trumps leadership unemployment is the lowest it has been in 20 years?

George Reed

TrentonAmong Spider-Man's logos are one reading CES Letter.

Source: Uncle Rich's Rumour Rag

Ryan Ottley took to Reddit Monday to reveal that he snuck an ex-Mormon reference into Amazing Spider-Man #4, following his resignation from the religion this year.

The bottom right logo is CES Letter, which is a book by Jeremy Runnells, described as:

'one Latter-Day Saint's honest quest to get official answers from the LDS Church on its troubling origins, history, and practices. Jeremy Runnells was offered an opportunity to discuss his own doubts with a director of the Church Educational System (CES) and was assured that his doubts could be resolved. After reading Jeremy's letter, the director promised him a response. No response ever came.'

Someone on Reddit asked Ottley if he could get in trouble for the revelation, but Ottley doesn't seem worried.

He then went into a comparison between the myths of Stan Lee and Joseph Smith, said that the Book of Mormon isn't well written, and explained his love of Spider-Man.Highlights include The Wicked Righteous TP, Feast Or Famine #1, and Eden #3.

Source: Alterna Comics

THE WICKED RIGHTEOUS (TP)

(W) Terry Mayo

(A) Lucas Romero

(C) Chris Hall

(L) Brandon DeStefano

$14.95, 152 pgs, Action, Full Color, 17+

In post-apocalyptic San Diego, four teenage brothers rescue a young girl from a brutal gang of psychopaths and spark a chain of events that attracts an onslaught of unspeakable evil. This is the world of the Wicked and the Righteous... and the children will lead them all.

IF ANTHOLOGY HORROR (TP)

(W/A/L) Various

$14.95, 224 pgs, Horror, Black & White, 17+

"IF"the word itself has helped make the impossible become possible. 2018's anthology features stories with a focus on the suspenseful, the thrilling, the pulse-poundingall things horror! Featuring a vault of creators from across the world, this anthology boasts stories that will leave you sleeping with the lights on.

FEAST OR FAMINE #1 of 3

(W) Dave Swartz

(A) Joseph Cooper

$1.50, 40 pgs, Sci-Fi Action, Full Color, 12+

In a parallel dimension to our own, world-renowned inventors Nicholas Teska and Dr. Albalien Stein have discovered a mysterious signal from deep within the cosmos. Believing it to be from an advanced alien race, the two embark on a journey that will change the very fabric of space and time!

EDEN #3 of 4

(W/A) Eric Henson

(I) Michael Babinski, Robert Doan

(I) Steven Oaks, Ross Hughes

(L) Robert Doan

$1.50, 32 pgs, Sci-Fi Adventure, Full Color, 12+

Neriah and Kla'Tuu embark on a quest to save Christian from certain death. Amidst the chaos, Eden's tyrant (a treacherous being known only as Ghost) gains the advantage. Strange events reveal that someone in the group is more than they appear to be.

CYKO KO! #3 of 3

(W/A) Rob Feldman

(L) Peter Simeti

$1.50, 24 pgs, Superhero/Humor, Full Color, All Ages

The Devil Spider has his eyes and fangs set on destroying the Hall of Judgment! Cyko shuffles up to Mount Shiverest to save the day but ends up getting in hot water with an over-eager pint-sized wanna-be sidekick!

TINSELTOWN #5 of 5

(W) David Lucarelli

(A) Henry Ponciano

(L) HdE

$1.50, 32 pgs, Crime/Action/Noir, Full Color, 12+

It's sudden death in the TINSELTOWN series finale! Abigail uncovers a plot to murder the head of Utopia Studios, but stopping the conspirators may result in her death or the death of someone close to her. Faced with an impossible decision, Abby bites the bullet and risks it all.Highlights include Queen Street and Die Kitty Die Heaven And Hell #2.

Source: Chapterhouse Comics

QUEEN STREET MMPB

(W) Emmanuelle Chateauneuf (A/CA) Emmanuelle Chateauneuf

Meet Aimee, an overworked junior partner at a prestigious law firm in Manila. One storybook romance, four back-to-back flights, and nine years later, in the small of mind but big in spirit town, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, she now lives; still overworked. But as a lower class serial-full-timer and mother to her only child, Melodie, an intelligent and eccentric seven-year-old, whose big personality is only rivalled by her even bigger imagination. Join them and a cast of unlikely characters just as confused and lost, as they stumble blindly for twelve consecutive hours through the beautifully disastrous comedy of Life.

$13.99

DIE KITTY DIE HEAVEN AND HELL #2

(W) Dan Parent, Fernando Ruiz (A/Variant)) Dan Parent (A/CA) Fernando Ruiz

Finding herself in Hell, Kitty is not satisfied with how things are or how the Lord of Hell is treating her! Kitty ultimately works out a dicey plan to get out! Luckily, she has a few tricks up her sleeve that might give her another shot at Heaven!

$3.99My casual, long-term project of watching all the Coen Brothers films in order has stepped up a gear after just one film thanks to finding out that The Big Lebowski is being re-released at the end of September for its 20th anniversary. And if I cant time my retrospective to coincide with everyone elses in that week then really I miss my only opportunity to make any of this appear relevant.



Previous Coen crazies:

Blood Simple (1984)



"Theyve got a name for people like you H.I. That name is called recidivism."

So on to Raising Arizona then, a film that I had not seen before and - to be honest - I have had no interest in seeing despite it being classified as one of the greatest comedies of all time, being often listed as one of the 1001 films you have to watch before you die or whatever, and having a Rotten Tomatoes score of 91%. To be honest, Ive had opportunities to see it, but I have always opted to spend that 90 minutes flicking through Netflix for something else to watch instead.Until now, that is. Was I right to think that the Coens second film isnt for me? Read on to find out. Although, spoiler: yes, I was right. MORE SPOILERS FOLLOW.





While I was surprised by the assured maturity that the Coens delivered in Blood Simple, Im as equally surprised to find the exact opposite here. An obvious, deliberate departure from everything about their first film, this time the Coens offer something wild, anarchic and eccentric, but most of all something that feels wholly immature. This is the directorial debut I was expecting the first time around. You can almost imagine the Coens thinking Fuck you, so-called Hollywood Masters, you absolute squares. Were going to blow your freaking minds and do things with our cameras that youve never dreamed of while they fix their Panaflex Platinum to a skateboard.



It feels showy and crude; it has all the energy and originality that so often makes for an early calling card for a long, credible career, but with the same sense that it would all benefit greatly from more experience. Its great that Joel and Ethan have all this natural talent and raw energy, here, but maybe, in time, they can learn to channel it a little better, maybe take a more studied approach to their filmmaking, and maybe watch fewer Looney Toons cartoons.



Suffice to say that I didnt really get on with this film. It made me feel like my brain fell off a cliff into a canyon and then had a large Nicolas-Cage-shaped anvil dropped on top of it.



But I realise Im on the wrong side of film criticism here, after all *I* dont have a tomatometer score of 91%. So let me get back to what this whole project is supposed to be about: why do I seem to lack an appreciation of otherwise critically lauded films by the Coens? Is it because Im a just a massive cock-trumpet?



First of all, though, its not that I didnt find anything to love about Raising Arizona. As with, Blood Simple, its easy to see how the Coens weave important themes into their narrative and its a film bores dream to have so many echoes of ideas play out in the film, ripe for picking up and showing off to anyone in unfortunate earshot. Or blog-article-shot.



Let me show you what I mean. Imagine the next two paragraphs being read to you by Mark Kermode. Or that twat who presents Grand Designs.



The film starts with a repetition of cycles, as Nicolas Cages repeat offender H.I. Hi McDunnough returns to prison to face Holly Hunters Ed, before serving time, and then being released to commit a crime and go through the whole thing again. This recidivism, as called out in His parole hearing, is a key marker throughout the film, with repeat shots, frames referencing earlier frames and repeating montages. All of this, just to emphasise His self-destructive cycle and highlight the struggle he faces in trying to break free from it and have a normal life instead. Even Eds repeatedly barked orders to Turn right! every time Hi steps up for a mugshot is a direction that, if taken to the extreme and HI keeps following every time he hears it, sees him back to where he started. At the same time, it can also be seen as a plea to literally start doing right; to start abiding by the law.



As the film progresses, and Hi and Ed kidnap lil Nathan Jr from furniture magnate Nathan Arizona, focus turns to His anxiety about becoming a parent. His escaped prison mates, the Snoats Brothers (John Goodman and William Forsythe), are the buddies openly making fun of him for being under Eds thumb. Meanwhile, his boss Glen (Sam McMurray) has the illusion of domestic bliss while brazenly neglecting his kids and then later revealing that he and his wife Dot are swingers, showing Hi that the only way they can seek satisfaction in their long marriage now is through other people. All of this amounts to His nightmares, which then literally manifest into bounty hunter Leonard Smalls who comes to take the baby away because Hi (rightfully) doesnt deserve him. The fact the Smalls reveals a near identical tattoo during their climactic showdown proves that he is a part of himself that Hi has to kill in order to be settled and happy, which ultimately he does and is.







As ideas, these are cleverly played out throughout the film and it is easy to see how the script constructs these moments to play off the themes at every turn. But other key areas are overlooked at this expense. Chief among the problems for me is that fact that Holly Hunters Ed gets completely sidelined.



It seems to me that Raising Arizona struggles in knowing who its protagonist is. Clearly the story is told from His perspective, with him narrating at the start and end, but outside of this logic, the narrative that unfolds presents Hi and Ed as equal partners in the story. The events that happen in this film, happen to both of them, but the focus is always on Hi, despite Ed having an equally interesting arc. She is the moral opposite of her husband; where Hi is a repeated criminal trying to be normal, Ed is the law-abiding police officer resorting to criminal activity and at no point does it feel like that, or the juxtaposition between her journey and His, goes explored. Instead, Ed goes from heartbroken law-woman to lovestruck bride to nagging wife and mother, and she is defined at various points purely by her emotions, her infertility and her annoyance. Maybe, Im judging the film through a more modern lens, but this seems like unfulfilled potential that comes directly as a result of the Coens erratic storytelling here.



Either way, I realise that a screwball comedy probably shouldnt be analysed to this extent, and that I might as well be writing a dissertation on Nicolas Cages hair, but all of this really is for me to try to explain why I just didnt find it very funny. At least not apart from the one thing that the Coens arent directly responsible for: the performances.



In terms of the direction, the camera is frequently let off the leash here, wildly moving around events with abandon as the Coens relish cracking their knuckles on every trick at their disposal. In the scene where Hi sneaks into the quintets room to abduct one of them, everything is exaggerated to represent the perspective of the baby. Oversized props and wide-angle lenses make for a deliberately ill-proportioned outlook, while low angles and an instance where the camera bobs up and down in time with a cuddled baby mimic the infants actual POV. All of this shifts focus from His bumbling attempt at kidnapping mid-dilemma  something that is funny enough on its own  to a more basic Dont Babies Do The Funniest Things.



And dont even get me started on the Snoats emerging from their escape tunnel in a way that simulates childbirth. Its just eye-rollingly crass.







On the plus side, all of the performances are fantastic, and I can see how the Coens have a firm grasp on creating utterly indelible characters brought to life by a superb cast. Holly Hunter would be scene-stealing if that wasnt also true of every person who walked into shot, while Nicolas Cage is brilliantly unrecognisable here. I cant think of any other Nicolas Cage performance that I have watched while forgetting that I was watching a Nicolas Cage performance. This might be the only one.



So I give the film points for being hugely enjoyable in the acting stakes and, really just for seeing the Coens tackle much lighter material after their dramatic debut, but I also recognise that I sound stupidly patronising for saying that. Who cares about what points I give to a film generally regarded by the entire film industry as a classic? The only thing that needs to be said is that it wasnt for me, and as I continue my way through the Coens filmography, hopefully Ill get a sense of why I struggle with this kind of movie from them.



Follow us on Twitter @The_Shiznit for more fun features, film reviews and occasional commentary on what the best type of crisps are.

After just two films, my conclusion is that the Coens rely on an investment in plot rather than characters. Their eagerness to explore the unpredictable, the anything can go wrong philosophy that has been present in both Blood Simple and Raising Arizona so far, means that as an audience we are expected to care about the reactions to events rather than the impacts of them.So, if Hi got caught trying to steal Nathan Jr and was sent to prison again, if Ed left him to be a single mum, if Leonard Smalls claimed the baby back for Nathan Arizona, or if any other hundred possible plot points happened, it would only ever feel like the latest step in an unravelling rope ladder of a narrative with no real emotional anchor. I feel like Im mostly seeing how one scene tees up the next rather than having any sense of where its all headed and what the stakes are in making that happen.Anyway, thats just after two films. See you in whatever the time between now and the re-release date for The Big Lebowski is divided by how many Coen Brothers films there are between Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski. I will find this information in time, I promise. Either way, I know that next up is Miller's Crossing.

remaining of

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.Heathrow airport has blown more than 6bn in interest on its debts over the past 12 years, a Mail investigation has found.

Europes busiest airport spends more than 500m a year on interest payments alone, accounts for Heathrow Airport Holdings show.

Meanwhile its debt pile has risen to 13.4 billion  about the cost of the controversial third runway.

Costly: Europes busiest airport spends more than 500m a year on interest payments alone

Heathrow is planning to spend around 14 billion on the project, but its mammoth debts reveal just how stretched the airport has become.

Airline bosses fear Heathrow may not be able deliver the runway on budget.

While it has paid more than 6 billion in debt interest over 12 years, shareholders have extracted 3.6 billion in dividends.

James Price, campaign manager at the TaxPayers Alliance, said the expansion of Heathrow will be good for taxpayers and good for trade and business.

But he warned against reckless spending and borrowing.

Heathrow makes money by charging landing fees to airlines, which are passed on to passengers  around 22 for each fare.

Airline bosses want Heathrow to guarantee not to increase these to pay for the runway.

But the airport is planning to spend 33 billion on infrastructure in coming decades  including the runway and terminals to serve an extra 52m passengers a year.

Most of the work is due to be completed by 2035, and there is growing concern that the airport will have to raise charges significantly to pay the bills. Heathrow was a listed company until 2006 when it was bought out by a consortium led by Spains Ferrovial for around 16 billion, including 10 billion in cash mostly financed by debt.

Its current owners, who receive dividends, are Ferrovial of Spain, Qatar Holding, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, the Alinda Capital Partners in the US, China Investment Corporation, and Britains Universities Superannuation Pension Scheme.

They have invested more than 10 billion in the airport over the past decade.

Last month, chief executive John Holland-Kaye, 53, said Heathrow was a national disgrace 12 years ago, but was now something to be proud of.

He told BBCs Radio 4 Today programme: We have fantastic investors  exactly the kind of people you would want in a big infrastructure project like this.

Its entirely privately funded and its right that they should earn dividends on the investment they have made. They have rebuilt the airport. Its now something we can all be proud of.

The Civil Aviation Authority regulates how much Heathrow can charge in landing fees and how much investors can earn.

It said Heathrows finances were low risk and stable and that investment-grade debt finance such as Heathrows could be low cost and efficient.

A Heathrow spokesman said: Heathrow is a strong, healthy business with an investment-grade credit rating which we will keep throughout expansion.

Since we were taken private, 90 per cent of the airports operating cash flows have been re-invested into transforming Heathrow into one of the worlds top airports.

Expanding Heathrow will make Britain the best connected country in the world at no cost to the taxpayer. To achieve this, an appropriate return must be provided to private investors and we will work with our regulator to determine the right level.Metro Bank has paid another 2.8m to a firm owned by its chairman's wife in a deal that casts doubt on its claim to be different to rivals.

The cash was pocketed by architecture business InterArch, which belongs to billionaire Metro chairman Vernon Hill's wife Shirley.

It means Metro has handed almost 24m to Mrs Hill's New Jersey company over the past seven years.

Keeping it in the family: Vernon and Shirley Hill with Sir Duffield II

The bank says the payments are for design services at branches, and no other architect could do as good a job. But shareholders and campaigners have slammed the deal.

Luke Hildyard, of the High Pay Centre, said: 'Doling out lucrative contracts to a director's wife's company doesn't do Metro Bank, or British business, any favours.

'Metro Bank has tried to portray itself as a bank that puts consumers first rather than the self-enrichment of bankers.'

The latest 2.8m was given to InterArch for its work during the first six months of 2018.

Hill  a flamboyant former fast-food tycoon always accompanied by his Yorkshire terrier Sir Duffield II  wants to shake up British banking. But he was forced to quit the board of US lender Commerce Bancorp in 2007 following a similar outcry over deals with relations.

Hill, who is not involved in the appointment of InterArch, receives 120,000 a year from Metro to cover trips to London from his US home so he can run the bank.

A Metro spokesman said: 'The audit committee has strong review and benchmarking processes, conducted by authoritative independent third parties, to ensure that the terms are favourable for the bank.'A share-trading frenzy could hand the Treasury a 4billion tax windfall, amid fears that a dangerous bubble is building.

Retail investors encouraged by booming US investments are diving into British stocks for an opportunity to make money.

This has boosted the stamp duty paid every time a share is bought to levels not seen since the eve of the banking crisis.

Retail investors encouraged by booming US investments are diving into British stocks for an opportunity to make money.

So far this financial year the Treasury has raked in 1.3billion from the tax, up 17 per cent on the same period in 2017-18.

If the trend continues, the taxman will pocket 4billion in 2018-19  the biggest pay-out for a decade, at levels not seen since 2007 as the financial crisis loomed, or ahead of the 2000 dotcom collapse.

It will be a boost for Chancellor Philip Hammond as he seeks to loosen the purse strings.

The FTSE 100 soared 0.7 per cent in early trading on Tuesday morning to exceed 7625 for the first time in two weeks.

The index was spurred by strong commodity and banking stocks after the bank holiday weekend.

However, the volume of FTSE 350 shares traded this year is more than 20 per cent higher than in the previous peak years of 1999 and 2007.

Some experts fear this enthusiasm means a crash could be looming. John Higgins, of Capital Economics, fears that US markets could slump 20 per cent next year, with the ripple effect hitting UK shares, too.

Share stamp duty is charged at 0.5 per cent of the value of stocks bought, and is separate to stamp duty on property.British consumers are set to face a long winter this year, as food prices are expected to skyrocket following a year of extreme weather conditions.

Economists have warned that food prices could go up by at least 5 per cent as a result of the heatwave and the Beast from the East.

Extended spells of frigid and baking weather seen over the last year will likely increase household food bills by an estimated 7.15 a month or 85.80 a year, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) says.

The group said this is due to the unpredictable weather having put particular stress on farming costs and yields. Which in turn has caused the prices of some staples to increase by up to 80 per cent.

Extreme weather conditions will increase costs to UK consumers by 45 million per week

The price of wheat for bread rose by a fifth, strawberries by 28 per cent, carrots by 41 per cent and lettuce by 61 per cent.

The farm gate price of carrots rose by 80 per cent, according to European Commission figures used by the economists.

The Cebr said: 'Summer 2018 has been one of the warmest in living memory, with above average temperatures recorded since April and dry spells lasting more than 50 days in parts of the country.

Sun seekers have enjoyed the heatwave, however extreme weather conditions have been blamed for the slump in growth across the economy

'While this has made Britain's weather more conducive to barbecuing, it looks set to raise the price of the food on the grill and the drink in hand.'

In total, the Cebr expects the extreme weather will increase costs to UK consumers by 45 million per week, although the full effects could take up to 18 months to filter through to customers.

Freezing weather at the start of the year was blamed for a slump in growth across the UK economy, with gross domestic product (GDP) falling to 0.2 per cent in the first quarter.

The price of red meat is set to fall marginally in the short run, while domestic dairy yields have also been hit

The Bank of England's figures for the second quarter showed the economy had rebounded, however the hot weather was blamed in part for a slip in the country's services sector in July.

The Cebr says that the production of wheat is a particular concern due to the nation's appetite for derived products.

The majority of the UK's grain is imported from Europe, where record-breaking weather has also hit production, with the harvest expected to be 5 per cent down in 2018.

The impact of the extreme weather is not limited to arable produce, with domestic dairy yields also hit.

The cold weather at the beginning of the year has meant farmers have experienced a weaker harvest than usual

Poor grass growth saw production fall for 11 weeks in a row and the farm gate price of butter rise by just under a quarter since March.

The heat has also seen pig fertility fall, pushing up the price of piglets by 8 per cent.

The Cebr said: 'The price of red meat is set to fall marginally in the short run. This is as farmers look to sell livestock earlier than normal to reduce the burden on grazing land.

'Still, in the longer run, prices are set to rise as feed availability is affected by a weak harvest.'

The group also said that inclement weather in France has hit winemakers in Bordeaux, Champagne and Cognac.Esther Utjiua Muinjangue (L), chairwoman of Namibia's Ovaherero Genocide Foundation and delegation members pose outside Berlin's Justice Ministry on the sidelines of the restitution of remains from Herero and Nama people after 1904-1908 massacres

Indigenous Namibians urged the German government Monday to finally apologise for the genocide of their peoples a century ago, to help "heal the emotional wounds" of Germany's brutal colonial past.

The appeal by representatives of the Herero and Nama people in Berlin came ahead of a ceremony this week where Germany will formally hand back human remains that were spirited away from Namibia after the 1904-1908 massacres.

Esther Utjiua Muinjangue, chairwoman of the Ovaherero Genocide Foundation, said the handover would have been "the perfect opportunity" for a long-awaited apology.

"Is that asking too much? I don't think so," she told a press conference in the German capital.

An official expression of regret would make it possible to "heal the emotional wounds" and find closure, she added.

The German occupiers of what was then South West Africa killed an estimated 60,000 Hereros and 10,000 Nama people after they rose up against colonial rule, in what historians call the first genocide of the 20th century.

Indigenous Namibians have urged Berlin to finally apologise for the genocide of their peoples a century ago during a brutal colonial period past. Germany will this week hand back human remains spirited away from Namibia after 1904-1908 massacres

The German government said in 2016 that it planned to issue a formal apology as part of discussions with the Namibian government on coming to terms with the dark chapter.

The negotiations are still ongoing however.

- 'Pay compensation' -

Crucially, although Germany has acknowledged that atrocities occurred at the hands of colonial authorities, it has refused to pay reparations.

Berlin has argued that its development aid worth hundreds of millions of euros since Namibia's independence from South Africa in 1990 was "for the benefit of all Namibians".

Herero and Nama representatives have rejected this reasoning, and filed a class-action suit against the German government in a US court.

"There has to be compensation," Namibian lawmaker Ida Hoffmann, representing the Nama Genocide Technical Committee, told reporters in Berlin.

The New York judge in the case has yet to rule on whether to hear the lawsuit.

Aside from financial compensation, the plaintiffs also want to be included in the Namibian government's discussions with Berlin aimed at reaching a joint declaration on the massacres.

Germany wants the lawsuit thrown out on the grounds of state immunity for prosecution.

The German foreign ministry said Wednesday's ceremony to return some of the human remains unlawfully taken from Namibia -- including 19 skulls, five skeletons and a scalp -- marked another step in Berlin's reckoning with its colonial history.

The remains were used for discredited "scientific" experiments at the time to prove the racial superiority of white Europeans.

But activists have criticised the handover proceedings, which will see a German minister of state return the remains to a Namibian government delegation at a Berlin church service, as too low profile.

German historian Christian Kopp of the non-governmental group Berlin Postkolonial told AFP that the ceremony should take place "in the German parliament and be accompanied by an official apology".MBABANE  As Their Majesties banned the use of trucks during the annual Umhlanga Reed Dance, the Ministry of Home Affairs has once again prepared 80 buses for this years event.

The ministry allocated 20 buses per region.



This was confirmed by the Celebration Officer James Vilakati in an interview yesterday. Vilakati said the government had hired 80 buses to transport the maidens during the course of the event.

He said there were additional buses, due to the increase of the regiment. If all goes according to plan, maidens will be picked at their various stations from 7am today, he said.

He said the national event always came with benefits to the nation. During a visit to Lobamba yesterday, vendors were found preparing their stalls in readiness for the much anticipated event, which begins with registration at Ludzidzini and Ngabezweni Royal Residences today. Both men and women were found at work along the public road at Mashibhini. Maidens from Lobamba and surrounding areas were also found preparing for the event at Ludzidzini Royal Residence. The maidens were transported to the royal residence from their royal kraals in the buses.MANZINI  Sipho Shongwes extradition case at the magistrates court stalled yesterday.



His two attorneys, Sipho Mnisi and Lucky Howe said they were not prepared for the extradition application, instead they revealed that they had come for the bail application.

The Principal Magistrate, David Khumalo, however, informed the attorneys that he was not ready for the bail application but the extradition case. Your Worship, I would humbly apply that the extradition application be postponed to a soon available date,

Mnisi said



He also requested the court to hear both matters on the same day, September 7, 2018.

However, the principal magistrate objected and said it was impossible for the court to hear both matters on the same day, as the court could not be clouded with such issues.

Khumalo further asked the attorney which application he would prioritise, and Mnisi said it was the bail application as it was more important to the respondent.



A lot could be argued or said on the point of law. The court has also dealt with such matters, it is knowledgeable that points of law take long, the principal magistrate said.

The magistrate further explained that the attorneys and prosecution should be aware that on Mondays, the court dealt with uncontested civil matters and arguments, which would make it impossible for it to also deal with Shongwes applications on the same day.



According to the extradition application filed by Advocate Elizabeth Leonard (nee Jordan), who is the Deputy Director of Public Prosecution for Gauteng, Pretoria Division of the High Court of South Africa, City Sipho Shongwe allegedly did not serve his sentences in full in the neighbouring country.



The application states that Sipho City Shongwe was arrested and slapped with 13 counts in South Africa and was found guilty in eight of the charges. He was acquitted and discharged in the other five counts.MANZINI  The teacher who allegedly assaulted Manzini Police Station commander has been arrested.



The Matsanjeni Primary School teacher, Maxwell Zondinkhundla Myeni, isa alleged to have strangled Manzini Station Commander Raphael Maseko during the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) demonstration last Friday.

Myeni was arrested by a team of five police officers from the Serious Crimes Unit, which were led by Ayanda Stulutulu Dlamini on Sunday afternoon.



The officers arrived at the teachers home situated in Matsanjeni, Lavumisa.

He was bundled into a police van, which ferried him straight to the Regional Police Headquarters, in Manzini.

Myeni was officially charged and instead of being taken to the Manzini Police Station, he was driven to Matsapha Police Station (Esigodvweni) where he was kept in holding cells. Angry teachers packed the police station yesterday demanding for his release. Police officers were seen taking the teacher out of the station using the back door.



Myeni was immediately whisked to the Manzini Regional Headquarters. Information gathered from the police is that the teacher faces various charges relating to contravening the Public Order Act, among others.

Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Khulani Mamba confirmed that the teacher was arrested and faces a series of charges, including the assault of the station commander.



The teacher will make a court appearance at the Manzini Magistrates Court this morning where his matter will be dealt with, Superintendent Mamba said.



When reached for comment, Myenis lawyer, Bonginkhosi Xaba said he met with him (Myeni) yesterday for consultation purposes. Xaba said he was only informed that his client would be charged with offences under the Public Order Act and traffic related charges. He highlighted that the exact charges preferred against his client would be known today during his first court appearance.

Myeni is the Secretary of TUCOSWAs Lavumisa Local Shop Stewards Council.



This was revealed by the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) acting Secretary General Mduduzi Gina in a statement he issued yesterday.

In the statement, Gina said as a federation, they were calling for the unconditional release of Myeni and the observance as well as respect of his rights.



We are calling for the-bringing to book of all the police officers who shot at the unarmed and peacefully gathered members of SNAT, Gina said in the statement.

He said they were also calling upon the authorities to refrain from instilling a climate of violence such as one in which the premises and property of workers were damaged. He said such constitutes a serious obstacle to the exercise of trade union rights under international law.MBABANE  It is back to business for some former Members of Parliament who have crashed out of the national elections race.

Outgoing Mkhiweni MP Gideon Dlamini said he was going back to do business as he had always been a businessman.



Dlamini said he entered the race with the view to win but then he lost and it was unfortunate.

He commended Sigwalaza Magagula who beat him in the race, adding that he was available for assistance.

I am a social worker by profession and could be of great help to those who need me, he said.



Likewise, former MPs Machawe Mavuso and Rodgers Mamba said they were also going back to farming which had always been their way of life.

Mamba said he was going back to do livestock farming which was close to his heart. I did not join the race because I was desperate but wanted to help my community, said Mamba.

He said he would continue to assist the people in the community and advised that they should not be afraid to reach out to him whenever they needed help.



Mavuso, on the other hand, said he would host a thanksgiving party after the Secondary Elections to thank the electorate for supporting him.

He said he felt indebted to do this as he did not pay the people who voted for him but they saw potential in him despite that he had crashed out of the race.

The party is just a way of appreciating the support they have given me, he said.



Mavuso thanked Ekutsimuleni Royal Kraal for supporting him, especially the inkhosikati and princes.

Further, he said whoever wins the elections should not have a problem whenever they lend a helping hand to the community as they had been always doing it.

Mavuso said he would continue to help in the community, especially with the ongoing projects he was involved in.America paid tribute Sunday to John McCain, the Vietnam War hero and two-time presidential candidate with a legendary temper whose personal courage and insistence on treating even his foes with respect earned him near-universal admiration.

McCain died on Saturday, four days shy of his 82nd birthday, following a yearlong battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer. He is survived by his wife Cindy and seven children, three of them from an earlier marriage.

Flags flew at half-mast over the White House and US Capitol in honor of McCain, as organizers announced he will lie in state at the US Capitol Rotunda.

That honor has been accorded to only a few notable Americans, including John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and civil rights icon Rosa Parks.

A memorial service will take place at the massive National Cathedral overlooking Washington on Saturday before McCain is laid to rest according to his wishes at the US Naval Academy in nearby Annapolis, Maryland, on September 2, his office said.

Ahead of the national ceremonies, McCain will lie in state at the Arizona State Capitol Rotunda on Wednesday and a memorial service will take place at the North Phoenix Baptist Church.

"This is a rare and distinct occurrence for a truly special man," said Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, adding: "John McCain is Arizona."

In Phoenix, a succession of ordinary Arizonans left flags or flowers at McCain\s office or a local mortuary to honor the man who represented them in Congress for 35 years.

Former presidents George W. Bush, a Republican, and Barack Obama, a Democrat  his successful rivals in, respectively, the 2000 and 2008 elections  are set to speak at the national memorial service, according to The New York Times.

Media reports earlier this year said the senator had expressly asked that President Donald Trump not be invited. Instead, Vice President Mike Pence is expected to attend.

 \Deepest sympathies\ 

As tributes poured in from the US and abroad, Trump said simply that he sent his "deepest sympathies and respect" to the McCain family.

A rare Republican critic of Trump, McCain had accused the president of "naivete," "egotism" and of sympathizing with autocrats, especially after Trump\s widely criticized appearance in Helsinki alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin.

McCain cast a decisive vote last year that killed Republican attempts to repeal Obama\s health care reforms. The repeal was a Trump priority, and the president never forgave McCain.

The hawkish McCain was an unrelenting critic of Obama\s foreign policy, saying the Democratic president was weak on Libya, Iraq and Syria.

Still, Obama said he and the senator "shared, for all our differences, a fidelity to something higher  the ideals for which generations of Americans and immigrants alike have fought, marched and sacrificed."

Bush, whose tough campaign against McCain in 2000 left both sides bruised, praised the Arizonan as "a man of deep conviction and a patriot of the highest order."

Ordinary Americans also paid tribute, many of them in Phoenix, McCain\s hometown.

"I didn\t agree with him all the time," said Michelle Hasnelle of Phoenix "(but) he was always for the people of Arizona  he was one of us."

McCain spent more than three decades in the Senate, looming large in debates over war and peace and the moral direction of the nation.

As chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, he was a powerful advocate for the nation\s veterans.

 \A great statesman\ 

As a fervent Atlanticist, a persistent critic of authoritarian leaders, and a frequent congressional traveler, he earned respect around the globe.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called McCain "one of the great political figures of our time (who) fought tirelessly for a strong transatlantic alliance." Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was "an inspiration to millions."

McCain "embodied the idea of service over self," according to British Prime Minister Theresa May, while French President Emmanuel Macron saluted "a true American hero."

Across the Pacific, the China Daily referred to him as a "titan of American politics."

Sarah Palin, whom McCain plucked from obscurity to become his 2008 White House running mate, described him as "a fighter, never afraid to stand for his beliefs."

McCain drew criticism from the left for giving a platform to Palin\s right-wing views, which contributed to the rise of the conservative Tea Party movement.

But he also earned respect from liberals for his steadfast opposition to torture and his push for immigration reform.

Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said he would seek to rename a Senate building in his honor.

Praise for McCain however was not universal: Chinese social media users called him an "enemy of China" for his hawkish foreign policy views.

And comments on the US far-right Breitbart website slammed the senator for his key vote against the Obamacare repeal.

McCain had been away from the Senate floor since December, remaining at his Arizona ranch for treatment of glioblastoma  the same form of brain cancer that took the life of another Senate giant, Democrat Ted Kennedy, in 2009.

The son and grandson of four-star admirals, McCain will be buried in the cemetery of the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, on a peaceful hillside overlooking the Severn River.

As a student at the academy, he had a reputation as a rebel, but with a wit and charm that drew people to him.

In 2015, McCain himself revealed the simple epitaph he wanted on his tombstone, which will stand alongside those of naval heroes going back to the 1800s: "He served his country."

SOURCE: AFPYou have permission to edit this article.

Edit CloseFinancial cooperation between the two countries in multiple sectors including tourism, science and technology, education and culture, sports, youth and local government

The Greek and Chinese Foreign Ministers signed a memorandum of collaboration in the framework of China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative in Beijing on Monday, ANA reports.

At a press conference after their meeting, visiting Minister Nikos Kotzias and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi affirmed the close ties between the two countries and pledged to expand their cooperation.

According to official sources, Wang Yi called Greece a "natural partner of China", given Greece's geographic location, comparative advantages and long-term relations of friendship and respect between the two.

Special areas of cooperation the two ministers discussed included the linking of infrastructure, unimpeded promotion of trade, financial cooperation and collaboration between the peoples of the two countries in multiple sectors including tourism, science and technology, education and culture, sports, youth and local government.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Groubani License: CC-BY-SAThe 23rd Euromoney Egypt Conference will return to Cairo on September 4 and 5, and will bring a new format, new speakers and new ideas to talk on the theme of Resilience and Agility.



The conference, being held with the support of the Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation, will focus on topics such as: is the financial sector agile and prepared to adapt?; is the economy sufficiently resilient?; and what are Egypts investment strategies moving forward?



Attending the event, Dr Mohamed Maait, Minister of Finance, will discuss if the economy has turned a corner, giving an update on the budget and prospects for growth.



Dr Amr Talaat, Minister of Communication and Information Technology, will discuss how Egypt is moving towards a digital economy and how this digitisation is evolving.



One of the most important components of a forward looking, agile country is good education, and Professor Tarek Shawki, Minister of Education, will speak on his ambitious plans to transform the sector and create a workforce fit for the 21st century.



Following on from insightful Ministerial interviews the theme will be explored throughout the two days with panel discussions, presentations and special sessions delivered by experts in their fields.



International speakers attending the event include: executive director, Middle East and North Africa (Mena) of ConsenSys, Lina Hediah; head of Middle East and North Africa of Eurasia Group, Ayham Kamel; program leader at the World Bank, Ashish Khanna.  TradeArabia News ServiceBahraini authorities have completed the work on the Riffa Avenue project aimed at easing the traffic coming from the Clock Roundabout, turning east on Muharraq Avenue and heading east on Riffa Avenue, said a report.



This is in line with the directives of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, to develop prompt solutions to increase the flow of traffic throughout Bahrains road network, reported BNA.



The project will improve the vehicle movement across the Southern Governorate, and reduce traffic jams at the Clock Roundabout, stated the report, citing a senior minister.



"The project is within the second roads optimisation package launched in response to HRH Prince the Crown Princes directives to develop urgent solutions to ease congestion at major intersections throughout the kingdom," explained Minister of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning, Essam bin Abdullah Khalaf.



The project included adding a lane to allow turning left from Riffa Avenue to Muharraq Avenue, thus creating two lanes to turn left and providing a commuter island for vehicles heading left and east on Riffa Avenue, he added.



Khalaf pointed out that new traffic signals and lights were installed as part of the project besides painting new road markings, a key element to ensure road safety.



According to him, with the completion of this project, the waiting lines on Riffa Avenue will get greatly reduced by about 45 per cent and the avenues capacity will be up 12 per cent.



The minister pointed out that the project would contribute to easing traffic congestion on Riffa Avenue for those heading to Muharraq Avenue, particularly during peak times.



"It will also serve citizens coming from the Clock Roundabout and heading to Riffa, as it will ensure easy access to commercial outlets and residential areas," he added.Real estate projects worth more than BD2 billion ($5.3 billion) are being showcased by leading Bahraini and Gulf real estate development companies at the Bahrain Property Development Exhibition (BaPDEX 2018), which opened yesterday (August 27).

Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Minister and RERA deputy chairman Issam bin Abdulla Khalaf opened the five-day exhibition at the City Centre Bahrain, said a Bahrain News Agency report.

The third edition of BaPDEX 2018 is organized under the patronage of the Survey and Land Registration (SLRB) president Shaikh Salman bin Abdulla bin Hamad Al-Khalifa.

The minister pointed out the key role of the companies in encouraging real estate investments and support the national economy.

He added that the construction projects reflect the interest of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to achieve the national economic well-being, noting the governments programmes, led by His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, which focus on boosting the non-oil sectors, including the real estate sector.

He paid tribute to the support of the Coordination Committee, chaired by HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, for enhancing the role of non-oil sectors.IKEA Bahrain today (August 28) played host to more than 1,500 guests at the Family Day event held at the stores premises ahead of the the Swedish furniture giant's much-anticipated opening in the kingdom.

The event, which served as an operational test for store, saw IKEA employees family members and those from contracting company and media, get a sneak peek into the store.

It was the first time all departments were running their full range of operations in a live, controlled environment, said the statement from IKEA Bahrain.

Our employees each invited four family members to attend the event before the store officially opens, remarked IKEA Bahrain Store Manager Fatima Gustafson.

To date, all IKEA employees have undergone rigorous training to ensure they perform well. The IKEA Family Day is an opportunity to conduct an operational test wherein we invite people to shop and help us prepare to operate the store in the best way. This will identify if we have gaps in the process, explained Gustafson.

"It is important for us to run smooth operations to take care of our customers and give them a good shopping experience, she said.

From a safety perspective, it will allow us to take care of the store environment so both customers and IKEA store co-workers can be in safe environment, she added.

Gustafson said based on the teams observations, insights and family interactions, adjustments could be made to the processes.

Guests will be able to make themselves feel at home and truly experience the shopping journey at IKEA, with all room settings built entirely from IKEA products, she noted.

Adding to the customers experience, each area in the showroom will have a sales desk where specialists can answer questions or offer home furnishing advice.

"Customers will find that everything in store has price tags that also contain important information about size, colour, craftsmanship, measurements, features and care. Tags on large items will also tell customers where to pick them up in the self-serve furniture area," observed Gustafson.

The IKEA Bahrain store will also include a market hall, where customers can find everything from rugs to linens, picture frames to clocks, kitchen accessories to home lighting and even unique gifts.

:Customers can take a break and relax at the IKEA restaurant where they can enjoy breakfast and beverages both Swedish and local dishes," she noted.

"On their way to the checkout counters, visitors will pass through the self-serve section where they can pick up the flat-packages of items displayed in the room settings. The packages are easy to transport for customers, and help keep prices low through customer involvement," she added.-TradeArabia News ServiceHIMSS Middle East and Elsevier, a global information analytics company specialising in science and health, has announced the call for submissions for the 4th Annual Middle East HIMSS-Elsevier Digital Healthcare Award 2018.



Sean Roberts, vice president for HIMSS Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), said: The award is a showcase for best practices in health and informatics.



The award demonstrates how rapidly transformational information and technology solutions are entering in to common use in the Middle East. We are excited to start receiving submissions, he added.



Since 2013, the HIMSS-Elsevier Digital Healthcare Award has attracted 178 submissions across 29 countries and 99 unique organisations. In total, the projects submitted have impacted over 41 million patients worldwide, said a statement from the company.



This year's award for Outstanding ICT Achievement focuses on institutions who have harnessed information and technology to successfully advance patient care and safety. It follows the success of last year's awards, which saw strong participation from 14 healthcare organisations across the GCC, recognising two first-time winners: Dr Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group, Saudi Arabia (Outstanding ICT Achievement category) and Ministry of Health & Prevention, UAE (Outstanding ICT Innovation category), it said.



First launched in the Middle East in 2015, the award has received 48 submissions from leading public and private organisations in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Egypt and Jordan, including 2017 finalists Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi UAE, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz University Hospital KSA, Dr Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group KSA and Ain Al Khalee Hospital UAE, it added.



Tim Hawkins, managing director for Elsevier Clinical Solutions EMEALAAP, said: "I'm honoured that we are once again partnering with HIMSS to acknowledge an increasingly prominent area of medical practice.



In an ever more pressurised medical environment the winning entry will demonstrate how technology delivers a tangible value to their institution, he added.



Judges for this year's award are: Mariam Almutairi, Takween Tech, Saudi Arabia; Dr Osama ElHassan, head of eHealth, Dubai Health Authority, UAE; John Daniels, global vice president, HIMSS Analytics, US; Tim Morris, product and partnership director, Elsevier EMEALA/APAC.





The deadline for submissions is on September 17, said a statement.



Winners will be recognised on October 10, at the HIMSS Saudi Arabia Conference and Exhibition  during the main programme ceremony and at the HIMSS-Elsevier Digital Healthcare Award dinner to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, it stated.  TradeArabia News ServiceA senior delegation from Kazakhstan recently visited the UAE on a trade and economic mission to further highlight business opportunities and cooperation between the two countries.



The delegation also discussed the participation of Kazakhstan enterprises in the Expo 2020 in Dubai, said a statement.



The mission was organised by the Ministry of Investment and Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic Kazakhstan Atameken and the Chamber of International Commerce of Kazakhstan, it said.



Madiyar Menilbekov, the Consul of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, led the delegation, which included 12 large commodity producers in the field of engineering, construction, light and food industries, it added.



Trade and economic cooperation between Kazakhstan and the UAE is developing from year to year. Nowadays, the entrepreneurial community strengthens already existing ties even more and establishes new business partners in new industries.



According to official data, the trade turnover between Kazakhstan and the UAE in 2017 was $643.06 million (exports - $558.7 million; imports - $84.3 million). In contrast with last years, trade turnover between both countries increased nearly two times.



Therefore, Kazakhstan has great potential to export ecologically clean agricultural products to the UAE.



First, there are meat products and grain legumes (lentils, chickpeas, mung beans, and peas), as well as products like wheat, flour, vegetable oil and honey.



Over 40 oil and gas enterprises, construction companies, leasing and private transport companies, and a number of retail chains took part in trade mission in the UAE.



The emirate business was interested in importing meat, honey, metal structures, equipment for oil and gas preparation, and other goods manufactured in Kazakhstan, it stated.  TradeArabia News ServiceIKEA Bahrain store, which is getting ready to open soon in Salmabad, will have products to match the needs of the local market, says a senior official.

As people move through our Inspiration rooms they will be able to touch and feel products that were created keeping them in mind. Weve truly focused on creating a better everyday life for the many people that will be part of the IKEA family, says store manager Fatima Gustafson in an exclusive interview with TradeArabia.

IKEA Bahrain, the global chains first store in the kingdom, is set up on an area of 37,000 sq m making it the largest IKEA in the region. We are happy to report that we have completed our fit-outs and will be having our family day shortly, she says.

Overall, IKEA Bahrain will boast a 6,200-sq-m showroom, a 6,000-sq-m market hall for accessories, a 5,000 sq-m self-serve area and a 4,000-sq-m full-serve area. The bistro and Swedish food market will take up about 500 sq m of the total area.

The prominent free-of-charge play facility called Smaland will come up on a 220-sq-m area, while the indoor 1,000 parking spaces will be spread over two levels. In addition, there will be 200 outdoor spaces.

The giant complex will also house a 650-seat restaurant, the biggest in the kingdom. Also at our restaurant, we will cater to local tastes and sensibilities by introducing halal beef meatballs and other options like chicken and vegetarian meatballs, adds Gustafson.

Excerpts from the interview:

What is the USP for the store? How different will it be from your other stores in the region or globally?

In simple words, our USP is sustainability at low prices. We want as many people as possible to afford our products. Moving closer to the East simple implementation is impossible, instead, we have to adapt.

Keeping in line with the brands sustainability mission, the design of the Bahrain store features transparent roof hatches, minimised glazed areas, skylights and solvent-free paints. In addition, condensate recovery technologies will optimise water flow in lavatories to save 50 per cent of water consumed and an intelligent lighting control system will automatically control lighting levels to suit the outdoor environment.

On the products side, what are the major areas you will focus? Will there be any products tailored to Arab tradition and tastes?

As a part of our global strategy, we visit thousands of homes every year. Witnessing how people live; talking to them helps us understand aspirations, tastes and preferences, and also the shift taking place in the market.

Armed with this knowledge, weve tweaked our products to match the needs of the market. For instance, we discovered that storage is a major necessity in Bahrain. Weve tried to cater to this by introducing versatile storage solutions and people will discover this as they move through our inspiration rooms. Here customers will be able to touch and feel products that were created keeping them in mind.

How many jobs is the store expected to create initially and in the next few years?

Recruitment at IKEA Bahrain began in September last year. At IKEA we believe in a value-based recruitment policy that is based strongly on providing equal opportunities to all. We're a diverse group of down-to-earth, straightforward people with a passion for home. By the time the store opens, we would have recruited 320 co-workers. Around 60 per cent of the current hires are Bahrainis and of these some are at managerial and group leader levels.

Do you plan to source products in-country or from the region for the store? Where will the majority of the items come from?

In addition to localised products, we have a range close to 8,000 articles. Each article has been created keeping in mind the form, function, sustainability, quality and low price. In order to do so, most of the work is carried out in our hometown of Almhult in Sweden, in close collaboration with our suppliers. We share each others expertise, which strengthens our common knowledge about design, materials development, sustainability and distribution. This allows us to produce better products at lower prices.

However, at the same time, we are excited to collaborate with local suppliers to meet the halal requirements of our customers. This initiative is also in line with IKEAs sustainability efforts aimed at making a positive impact on people and the planet and to also promote the kingdoms economy.

How do you plan to cater to the diverse clientele cutting across nationalities and different strata of society?

Ingvar Kamprad, our founder started IKEA in the late 1940s and he applied the lessons he learned in Smaland to the home furnishings market.

Ingvars innovative idea was to offer well-functioning home furnishing products of good design at lower prices by using simple cost-cutting solutions that did not affect the quality of the products. Ingvar used every opportunity to reduce costs, and he scraped and saved in every way possible - except on ideas and quality. This is how the IKEA Concept began.

It is reported that the complex will also have a 650-seat restaurant. What will be the menu like? Will you cater to Arabic taste? Will there be something for the growing vegetarian clients?

To cater to local tastes and sensibilities the menu will not only include Swedish dishes, but also local favourites such as shawarma. There will also be healthy, organic and vegetarian options to appeal to our diverse customers.

There are already 11 IKEA stores in the Middle East. How important is the regional market for you? What are your plans for further expansion in the region?

Were driven to create homes to love. For us, good design is the right combination of form, function, quality, sustainability and low price. Simply put, IKEA home furnishing is beautiful, functional and affordable. Our stores carry a product range that creates solutions that are both relevant and affordable to consumers in their local market. These solutions contribute to how people live. And more importantly, to how they want to live.

As of July 2018, IKEA has over 418 stores in 49 markets. As is the case in Saudi Arabia, the store in Bahrain will be operated by Ghassan Ahmed Al Sulaiman Furniture Trading Company Limited. Under the Group, IKEA has opened several stores in Saudi Arabia and will even test various formats. We are, of course, excited to open our first store in Bahrain. It will be the largest in the region and we expect that this store will contribute and cater to the current need in the market. - TradeArabia News ServiceAir France and British Airways (BA) will be suspending flights to Tehran next month, carriers citing low profitability as the US reimposes sanctions on Iran, a report said.



According to a report in France24, Air France, which had run connections to the Iranian capital via its low-cost operator Joon, will be axing the route on September 18 and BA would be scrapping the route on September 22.



The last outbound flight to Tehran will be on September 22, and the last inbound flight from Tehran will be on September 23, the British flag carrier added.



British Airways said its decision was unrelated to US President Donald Trumps imposition of new sanctions on Iran, which has prompted many foreign businesses to pull out of the country, the report said.



Dutch airline KLM, part of the same group as Air France, said last month that it was also suspending Tehran flights due to negative results and financial outlook.



The airline said it was in discussions with partner airlines to offer customers rebooking options, or would offer full refunds, it said.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan held a press briefing on the results of the summit of the heads of the founding states of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) that took place at Avaza National Tourist Zone. Representatives of the diplomatic missions and foreign mass media accredited in Ashgabat, as well as Turkmenistans mass media attended the press briefing.

The briefing focused on Turkmenistans initiative on establishing the UN Special Program for the Aral Sea and making it a separate area of UN work. As was reported earlier, the heads of state attending the Aral Sea Summit instructed the Executive Committee of IFAS to hold consultations with the regional states, the UN member states, the United Nations and its structures.

As the Chair of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea for 2017-2019, Turkmenistan will begin implementing these instructions in the near future.

 TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2021The UNDPs commitment to public service excellence lies in a strong belief that those states which invest in their administrative capacities are more likely to deliver on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. With this end in mind, the UNDP Global Centre for Public Service Excellence (GCPSE) published 17 case studies, with each one focused on a different SDG.

The SDGs ultimately aim to end poverty, protect the planet, and provide a prosperous future for all. The case studies feature 17 different countries, detailing the progress made in each of the 17 SDGs (one Goal per country). In doing so, the cases illustrate the critical role the public sector played in making progress on the SDG in each country.

Personal accounts by individuals from countries including Cambodia, Libya, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and others provide inspiring examples of how public service excellence can transform lives. Collaborative efforts between the public sector, private sector, and civil society in many of the stories are timely reminders that close partnerships will be required to achieve the Agenda 2030.Displaced by fighting in Al Hudaydah, Ali Mohammed and his family are sheltering in a school the Yemeni capita Sana'a,  UNHCR/Shadi Abusneida

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is ramping up its response to meet the most urgent protection needs of thousands of families displaced by the fighting in Al Hudaydah, the strategic port city through which 80 percent of all food and aid arrives into Yemen. The offensive to capture the city began in June and has resulted in the displacement of over 50,800 families according to OCHA. UNHCR is calling on all parties to ensure the physical safety of civilians and their freedom of movement and to guarantee safe routes for civilians to leave conflict areas.

The conflict has escalated significantly over the past 3 months, in particular in Al Hudaydah governorate. According to the Civil Impact Monitoring Report, over 450 civilians have lost their lives in Yemen in the first nine days of August alone, making it one of the deadliest periods since the start of the conflict in March 2015. Since then, a total of 6,600 civilians have been killed in Yemen and 10,563 have been injured, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

During focus group discussions with displaced persons from Al Hudaydah conducted in June and July, UNHCR identified a series of protection needs requiring urgent attention. Most prominent among them are the specific needs of children who may be separated from their families, and women, who may be at high risk of sexual harassment and violence either during flight or when living in overcrowded settings. Another common concern is the loss of livelihoods, exacerbated by a decline in purchasing power due to increasing food prices and the decline in value of the Yemeni currency, the riyal.

UNHCR, in coordination with partners, is carrying out in-depth protection monitoring assessments for displaced families in order to identify the most vulnerable and ensure access to protection and referral to specialized services. Over 11,500 displaced families (over 70,000 people) have been assessed country-wide, leading to the provision of a wide range of assistance, including multipurpose cash, rental subsidies and referrals to specialised services.

Vulnerable cases have been referred to UNHCRs Community Centres in Al Hudaydah, Ibb and Sanaa, where UNHCR and partners provide many services, including psychosocial counselling and support, and legal assistance, including help to obtain national IDs which are crucial for accessing services.

The conflict in Yemen is also affecting refugees and asylum-seekers. UNHCR and partners face significant challenges in ensuring a safe environment, adequate protection, humanitarian assistance and access to essential, life-saving services for refugees who may be vulnerable to serious protection concerns such as early marriage, child labour, increased detention and dangerous onward movement, as the crisis has impacted on their resilience and livelihoods.

Yemen hosts over 270,000 refugees, the vast majority of whom (over 256,000) are Somalis. Despite the challenging security environment which makes humanitarian access difficult, UNHCR has continued to help refugees and asylum-seekers in Al Hudaydah governorate. Most of them are Eritreans. They are particularly vulnerable because of the tense situation and changing frontlines and who have limited flight options available to them. Since 2017, UNHCR has also helped 2,135 Somali refugees to return to Somalia through its Assisted Spontaneous Return programme with IOM.

Yemen is currently the worst humanitarian crisis in the world with some 22 million people, 75 per cent of the population, requiring some form of humanitarian assistance and protection. UNHCR is concerned for the civilian population impacted by the conflict, in particular the estimated 2.3 million displaced persons and over one million returnees, as well as the 270,000 refugees and 10,000 asylum seekers in Yemen. To help protect the rights of those forced to flee, UNHCR continues to call on all parties to the conflict to adhere to international humanitarian law, international human rights and refugee law.

For more information on this topic, please contact:Newly arrived Rohingya refugees gather outside a UNHCR transit camp in Bangladesh, November 2017.  UNHCR/Andy Hall

Thank you Mr. President.

Distinguished delegates, Mr. Secretary-General, ladies and gentlemen.

I am honoured by the opportunity to address the Security Council at this critical juncture. I am not here as an expert. I stand before you only as a witness. As someone who has seen and cannot look away.

I went to Bangladesh last March as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, to see what I could contribute in responding to the massive humanitarian needs unfolding there.

Nothing could have prepared me for the extent and depth of the suffering I saw.

An eighteen year old woman who Ill call Laila is chief among my memories. One of the 720,000 stateless Rohingya refugees who fled violence and abuse in Myanmars Rakhine State since last August, Laila fled her burning village with her infant son, Yousuf. As she cradled Yousuf in her arms, she described to me how her husband was forcibly taken from their village and how he has not been heard from since.

How five days later, these same people returned, setting fire to her home and forcing her to flee alone with her baby. She saw her uncle killed by men with knives. She told me: when I saw this, I just ran. She and her son hid in a forest for months, surviving off plants and trees. Her harrowing journey ended in Bangladesh, where her present hardship persists.

Another refugee family took her and Yousuf in, sharing their cramped shelter.

As I sat with Laila, a small child played behind me and I noticed terrible scars on his leg. When I asked how he came by these, his family told me he had been caught in the flames when their home had been torched. Luckily they pulled him free, but the scars will remain: both the physical and the psychological.

If only such stories were atypical. But visiting with refugee families in Bangladesh, I found that they were shockingly routine.

Like you, I have heard the gut-wrenching accounts. Stories of grave torture, of women brutally violated, people who have had their loved ones killed before their eyes. Children who have seen their grandparents locked in houses that were set alight.

I am a mother, and I saw my children in the eyes of every single refugee child I met. I saw myself in every parent. How can any mother endure seeing her child thrown into a fire?

Their experiences will never leave me.

And this is why I am immensely grateful that the Security Council  the principle body responsible for maintaining international peace and security  is working in unison to resolve this crisis.

I am particularly thankful to you, Mr. Secretary-General, for giving a voice to the Rohingya for over a decade, and for continuing to demonstrate exemplary leadership on this matter.

And I must also pay homage to the former Secretary-General, the late Dr. Kofi Annan who has given us a clear and practical vision to resolve the crisis in Rakhine State. A vision shared by this Council and one which the Government of Myanmar has committed to implementing. A vision that, if realized, will ensure that women, men and children of different religions, ethnicities and backgrounds in Rakhine State can thrive collectively.

But as this Council and the UN work with the Government of Myanmar to ensure this, urgent efforts are still needed for the Rohingya in Bangladesh.



Mr. President,

It is important to recall that this is not the first wave of massive forced displacement of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar to Bangladesh in the past 40 years. The scale of displacement is so large and so severe that today there are more Rohingya living in exile than in Myanmar itself.

In 1978, 200,000 Rohingya refugees streamed into Bangladesh, fleeing brutality and widespread abuse. Gul Zahar, a young Rohingya woman, was amongst those who fled.

Fourteen years later, in 1992, another wave of violence forced 250,000 stateless Rohingya refugees to seek safety once again in neighboring Bangladesh. Once again, Gul Zahar was amongst those who fled.

Today, there are 900,000 stateless Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Gul Zahar, now 90-years of age, is sadly amongst them once more.

Four decades following her initial flight, Gul lives in abject poverty in Bangladesh with the sole wish that her great grandchildren will have a better future.

The need for this future to transpire inside Myanmar has never been more urgent.

If we fail to act now, Guls grandchildren, like thousands of others, will be unable to escape this relentless cycle that generations of Rohingya have experienced.



Mr President,

Bangladeshs recent response, receiving over 700,000 refugees in a matter of months and providing them safety, is one of the most visible and significant gestures of humanity in our time. But the needs are vast. The suffering is acute. Much more international support is needed.

Thanks to the efforts of the Bangladeshi government, the host communities, UN agencies, NGOs and the refugees themselves, lifesaving efforts have ensured that the Rohingya refugees have endured the monsoons, largely unscathed.

Yet, as you yourselves have seen, they continue to live in squalid conditions.

With only 33 per cent of the refugee operation funded  amounting to less than 70 cents per person per day  this is not surprising. Rather, it is quite embarrassing.

Many Bangladeshi villagers living nearby, with very little to call their own, have been helping the Rohingya refugees over the past year. If people with so little can step up, why cant we do better?

Refugees need to feed their families. They need clean water and sanitation facilities to wash, to cook, to clean. They need a secure shelter to weather the monsoons and the heat. Their children need an education. Their grandparents need to be cared for.

But they need more than just food and water, informal schools, temporary shelter. They need a future.

In the refugee settlements of Bangladesh today, women who were raped in Myanmar are now giving birth to children. These children, already burdened by statelessness, are likely to carry this stigma for the rest of their lives.

So many women, like Laila, along with their children, continue to be vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

Many are still battling the scars of trauma and injury they received before and during their flight to Bangladesh.

It is imperative that governments, development and humanitarian agencies, the private sector and individuals work in solidarity to find innovative ways to help the refugees and the Bangladeshi host communities.



Mr President,

The focus of all our efforts must be to provide much-needed support inside Bangladesh while working to ensure conditions in Myanmar are conducive to return.

The many refugees that I spoke with consider Myanmar their home but they have real, deep fears about returning there.

The denial of their rights to move; their right to marry; their right to work; their right to health care and education, renders them among the most vulnerable people on the planet.

Refugees move back home when it is safe and secure to do so.

The Rohingya cannot return to the very conditions they were forced to flee.

They cannot settle for half solutions.

They must know that they belong. A clear pathway to full citizenship is essential.

This is not a luxury.

This is not a privilege.

This is a basic right that all of us here enjoy.

A right that the Rohingya do not have.

I implore this Council not to forget this imperative and to support all efforts to make it a reality. In the meantime, to encourage more robust international support required to meet urgent and pressing needs within Bangladesh.



My mind often returns to Laila and her neighbours.

Did she find out what happened to her husband?

Did her shared temporary shelter survive the monsoons?

Did she manage to celebrate Eid last week?

Will her young son Yousuf be able to return home in Myanmar and go to school one day?

Or like Gul Zahar, will he too suffer an endless cycle of fear and forced displacement



Mr. President,

Together, we need to change the future of Laila, of Yousuf, of Gul Zahar and of all the Rohingya living in Myanmar, in Bangladesh and beyond.

There are no short cuts. There are no alternatives.

We have failed the Rohingya before.

Please, let us not fail them again.

Thank you.Taking a bank card to a cash machine in Beirut, Syrian widow Manar Al Sayer taps in a PIN and withdraws a few Lebanese pounds.

Cash in hand, she can now prioritize her monthly spending for herself and her three children, Aseel, six, Abdullah, nine, and Osaima 12.

I allocate this cash assistance so that my children can attend the morning shift at school, she explains.

I use [it] to pay for my childrens school transport and I am very happy that I am now able to pay for something, she adds.

Uprooted from her family home in Homs by shelling in 2012, Manar sought refuge in neighbouring Lebanon the following year. After her husband was killed in a traffic accident, she is now head of the family.

"What we buy is no longer imposed on us."

Once she has taken care of her childrens schooling, Manar can budget for the remainder of the month.

I promised my children to buy them slippers with part of this months cash assistance. So I am going to do that because I have the money, she adds.

The 29-year-old is among millions of refugees and others of concern in scores of countries worldwide who have been able to take greater control of their lives since UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, began expanding cash-based assistance in 2016.

See also: Cash grants offer hope to displaced Yemenis facing eviction

The programme aims to ensure that refugees, asylum-seekers, returnees, internally displaced and stateless people meet their needs in dignity, are protected and can become more resilient.

In the three years between 2016 and 2019 when it ramped up cash assistance, UNHCR - in partnership with governments, UN agencies, NGOs and the private sector  has distributed around $2.4 billion to 20 million vulnerable individuals in more than 100 countries.

With cash now accounting for a greater share of the agencys assistance than traditional in-kind aid, the shift has resulted in significant changes to UNHCRs organisation, with some 5,000 internal and partner staff now trained on cash assistance.

Around 95 percent of the money is disbursed without restrictions, meaning that refugees themselves can choose how they spend it. This benefits the local economy with refugees buying essential goods in local stores and paying for local services.

Before we were restricted to spending the cash assistance in supermarkets. But when they made it available in cash, they gave us the freedom of choice. What we buy is no longer imposed on us, says Manar.

A refugee signs the necessary documents to receive her cash card in Athens, Greece, September 2017. Cash gives refugees the dignity of choice and encourages self-reliance.  UNHCR/Yorgos Kyvernitis

Syrian refugees queue for winter cash assistance at Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, November 2017. The aid allows refugees to buy heating, insulation and warm clothing.  UNHCR/David Azia

A young Syrian refugee holds an ATM card provided by UNHCR inside a distribution point in Tripoli, Lebanon, April 2018. She will use the cash to provide for her daughters, aged four and six.  UNHCR/Diego Ibarra Sanchez

A Syrian family shop for groceries in Kilkis, Greece after receiving cash assistance, February 2017. UNHCR distributed 500 cash cards to 1,200 refugees staying in apartments and hotels in the country's Central Macedonia region.  UNHCR/Yorgos Kyvernitis

Rohingya refugee and single parent Samuda, 35, receives UNHCR cash assistance in Bangladesh, April 2018. She says: "The first thing I'll do is pay off our debts and then we'll use this money to buy food."  UNHCR/Caroline Gluck

While she prioritizes spending on her childrens schooling, other people of concern from Greece to Niger and Somalia are using cash assistance to pay their rent, buy medicines, pay off debts or even start businesses. Flexible and innovatory, the initiative is even helping displaced people living in some of the more remote places where UNHCR works, such as camps in Niger.

In the West African country, UNHCR distributed a total of 5,000 mobile phones to refugees and internally displaced people to respond to urgent needs. Using electronic payments  so-called Mobile Money  it is assisting men, women and children who fled insecurity in neighbouring Mali and Nigers border areas.

An SMS message notifies beneficiaries that they have received their assistance. They can then withdraw the cash at the phone shop  a red phone box-sized booth in the camp  or pay for goods directly with their phones in the local stores.

Weve seen that providing cash instead of goods is one of the best ways to address refugees basic needs here in Niger, says Robert Heyn, UNHCRs associate programme officer for cash-based interventions in the country.

Its more cost effective, it gives refugees dignity of choice and it also has a very positive impact on the local economy. So it benefits the refugees and the host economy at the same time.

"It benefits the refugees and the host economy at the same time.

Refugees in receipt of Mobile Money no longer need to carry cash in their wallet with them, but can access their money whenever they need it, whenever its necessary, and they can also leave money on their mobile money accounts, says Heyn.

The flexibility and security is welcomed by refugees, among them Zeinabu Warekoufaf from Mali. When you have your money in your mobile phone, nobody knows what you have and if somebody takes it from you, he wont know how much you have, she says.

Visiting a shop at the settlement, Zeinabu uses cash to buy sugar, tea and couscous, as well as skeins of brightly coloured wool from which she make cushions to sell. Many of the shopkeepers have increased their revenue since the refugees started getting money and are happy with the arrangement.

UNHCR Niger: Mobile Money gives Malian refugees dignity and freedom of choice

Mobile cash accounts for more than a third of cash assistance globally, and UNHCR hopes that the freedom and security that Mobile Money provides will allow refugees like Zeinabu to leave the camps and integrate into the local community, where they can live in a more independent and sustainable way.

The largest operations to date are in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Jordan, Somalia, Greece, Yemen, Iraq, Egypt, Syria and Turkey, although operations have since rolled out in other countries including Kenya, where it has helped refugees to build their own durable shelters.

See also: Cash for shelter programme empowers refugees and their hosts in Kenya

As a result of UNHCRs cash assistance programme, refugees in countries such as Ethiopia, Rwanda, Zambia and Uganda now have access to formal bank and mobile money accounts, a vital stepping stone towards financial inclusion in their host countries.

The cash-based interventions cover the whole arc of displacement, from helping people uprooted within and beyond the borders of their own countries, to assisting those who opt to return home when conditions are safe enough -- among them thousands of Somalis.

Nearly three decades of civil war in the Horn of Africa country uprooted more than two million people to neighbouring countries. With security at home improving, more than 90,000 refugees have so far returned voluntarily, for whom cash is proving vital as they restart their lives in their still fragile homeland.

Among beneficiaries is mother of five Aisha, 55, who spent 25 years as a refugee in Dadaab, Kenya. On returning to Somalia in early 2017, she used a reinstallation grant of US$200 to set up a small store in Kismayo, selling everything from bananas and watermelons to pens.

"It allows me to cater to most of my family's needs."

It allows me to cater to most of my familys needs, she says of the shop, stocked with items bought from local wholesalers in the country, now getting back on its feet after decades of war and instability.

Others are using their cash grants and assistance to buy land and livestock, or start a business, like 47-year-old Mohamed Noor Omar, who faced an uncertain future in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya after fleeing civil war in his native Somalia in the early 1990s.

He returned to the Somali capital, Mogadishu last year, where he used some of the money to buy a fishing boat. He also partnered with a local man who had an engine to run it.

Out on the water by 6 a.m., he makes US$7 to US$10 a day depending on the catch, and is now looking to improve his business like any other entrepreneur.

That income is enough to meet my basic requirements, says Mohamed, who wants to buy better nets to catch more fish, and an outboard motor that can take him further offshore. That way I can improve my living conditions.

For more information on UNHCR and cash, please see the 2016-2019 UNHCR Implementation Report on the Policy on Cash-Based Interventions.

Reporting by Rima Cherri and Houssam Hariri in Lebanon, Robert Heyn in Niger, and Urayayi Mustsindikwa in Somalia.For the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees who live in Kutupalong settlement in Bangladesh, getting information on available services is key. Now a roving refugee reporter for a community radio station is helping to connect them.

Eighteen-year-old Abdullah, who works for Radio NAF, heads out into his community interviewing his fellow refugees about issues that affect them such as shelter, health and education. The recordings are turned into weekly radio shows at Radio NAF's headquarters in the nearby town of TekNaf.

"At the radio station, my responsibility is to provide advice to people who lack the information that they need to live in the camp," he says.

See also: Rohingya refugees mark a year of suffering and hope

There is no radio reception at the settlement itself, so Abdullah plays the broadcasts at so-called 'listener clubs,' where residents gather around to listen to a recording of the show.

For Abdullah, the radio has given him the chance to serve his community and learn on the job.

At the radio station Ive learnt a lot and Im sharing a lot of important information with my community," he says. "My parents are proud of the work Im doing.BIMSTEC will expand Eco ties, says Nepal PM: Officials draw roadmap of Summit

Kathmandu, Aug 28 (UNI) Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli on Tuesday apprised the Parliament about the 4th Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit going to be held in Kathmandu on August 30 and 31, local media reports said here/

Mr Oli informed the lawmakers about the preparations and importance of the BIMSTEC.

He said that this is the first regional-level summit organised by the new government after the implementation of the constitution and conduction of three-tier of elections, according to a report in 'Kathmandu Post'.New Delhi, Aug 27 (UNI) China on Monday welcomed the joint participation of armed forces personnel from India and Pakistan in the ongoing counter-terrorism drill of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Russia and said peace between India and Pakistan was crucial for "development of the world".

"Both Pakistan and India are important countries in South Asia. A stable Pakistan-India relationship is of great significance to the peace and stability of the region and the peace and development of the world at large," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in Beijing during the briefing.

"We sincerely hope that the two countries can strengthen dialogue and cooperation between them and within such multilateral mechanisms as the SCO, improve their relations and jointly uphold regional peace and stability," the spokesperson said.Pentagon says pulled thousands of photos of Afghans offline to protect their identities 02 Nov 2021 | 2:53 AM Washington, Nov 1 (UNI/Sputnik) The United States has temporarily removed 124,000 photographs and 17,000 videos featuring Afghans who cooperated with American military from public platforms to prevent them from being identified, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday. see more..

UK registers over 40,000 new coronavirus cases 02 Nov 2021 | 2:45 AM London, Nov. 1 (UNI/Xinhua) Another 40,077 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 9,097,311, according to official figures released Monday. see more..

India to reach net zero emission by 2070, PM Modi announces Panchamrit to tackle climate change 02 Nov 2021 | 2:44 AM Glasgow/New Delhi, Nov 1 (UNI) India will reach net zero emission by 2070, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the COP26 Glasgow summit on Monday as he outlined five proposals or Panchamrit to tackle climate change.In his National Statement at the COP26 climate summit, the Prime Minister also outlined a new mantra for sustainable development  LIFE or Lifestyle For Environment, which he said could become a global movement. see more..

Whistleblower Frances Haugen says Meta unlikely to Change while Zuckerberg Still CEO 02 Nov 2021 | 2:36 AM Washington, Nov 1 (UNI/Sputnik) Whistleblower Frances Haugen said during an interview at the Web Summit 2021 in Lisbon on Monday that Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is unlikely to change while Mark Zuckerberg remains CEO of the company. see more..UPDATE: August 29th, 2018 - The identities of the two men involved in an Ontonagon meth bust have been released.

39-year-old James Latvis of Houghton and 29-year-old Thomas Kipela of Ontonagon were charged with delivery of meth when arrested.

According to UPSET, Kipela is being held in Houghton County jail for a probation violation.

Latvis was arraigned in district court for two counts of delivery and manufacture of meth. One of those counts includes a schedule 1, 2 or 3 drug except marijuana or cocaine.

A preliminary exam is scheduled for September 10th.

No dates will be set for Kipela until things are cleared up in Houghton County.

Charges are still being investigated says UPSET.

____________________

Two men are facing meth charges in Ontonagon County.

According to the Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team, the men were arrested Saturday on warrants for delivery of methamphetamine.

The 39-year-old man from Ontonagon and a 29-year-old man from Houghton were taken to the Ontonagon County Jail. Their names are being withheld pending arraignment, and UPSET says the investigation remains ongoing.

Officers from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and deputies from the Houghton County Sheriff's Office assisted UPSET at the scene.UW in the News

State, national and international media frequently feature the University of Wyoming and members of its community in stories. Here is a summary of some of the recent articles:

The Casper Star-Tribune noted that UW will have a significant role in diversifying the states economy, according to Gov. Matt Meads long-awaited 20-year plan intended to break the boom-and-bust cycle that has defined Wyomings economy.

Meads plan for UW is part of the ENDOW (Economically Needed Diversity Options for Wyoming) report, according to The Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported that UW is dealing with residence hall issues as more than 1,700 freshmen are expected for fall classes.

Bethann Garramon Merkle, a UW associate research scientist in the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, was interviewed for an article, titled Scientists child-like drawings of the creatures they study are going viral. Garramon Merkle offered advice in support of scientists drawing their study organisms for the article published in New Orleans Times-Picayune.

The Laramie Boomerang interviewed Debra Hintz, UW director of scholarships and financial aid, on why the average debt of UW graduating students dipped by 11 percent in 2017.

Among UWs releases published on Sheridan Medias website were: UW Department of Anthropology Professor Todd Surovell asking for the publics help in finding possible mammoth fossils near Douglas; and UW Master of Business Administration Program students developing leadership skills through a wilderness camping experience.

Surovell also was interviewed by Wyoming Public Radio about the missing mammoth.

Wyoming Public Radio also interviewed UW economist Rob Godby about the proposed Affordable Clean Energy rule that would give states more power to regulate carbon emissions. Minnesota Public Radio also broadcast the interview.

UW doctoral student Lauren Stantons research was cited in a Mother Nature Network article, titled The most mischievous animals are also the smartest.

Wyo4News published UWs release announcing next months Homecoming schedule, featuring Gov. Matt Mead and first lady Carol Mead as parade grand marshals. The Rock Springs radio station also published, on its website, UW Department of Theatre and Dances vertical dance at Vedauwoo.

A dialogue between notable Wyoming politicians focused on working together in todays political climate, The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported. The panel discussion was part of the UW Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources and Ruckelshaus Institutes 25th anniversary.

< (Scottsbluff, Neb.) published an article quoting Kevin Monteith, assistant professor at UWs Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, about western Wyoming deer herd increases after harsh winters the last few years decimated the numbers.

The Wyoming State Geological Survey and UWs Geological Museum are teaming up for events during Earth Science Week in October, K2 Radio reported.

Natural News quoted UW atmospheric science Professor Bart Geerts, who favored Chinas efforts to generate artificial rain throughout the region of Tibet.

UW Assistant Professor Shane Murphy was interviewed for an Inside Climate News article detailing how wildfires this summer in North America, Europe and Siberia are affecting climate change.

K2 Radio reported that the Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at UW is assisting with a moose study in the Bighorn Mountains.Chu Thi Binh received all of her money lost at Eximbank

Eximbank has just announced finishing the compensation of Chu Thi Binh, repaying her the VND245 billion ($10.8 million) that she previously deposited at the bank. Two months ago, the bank returned VND93 billion ($4.1 million) to Binh. In this last round of compensation last week, the bank paid VND152 billion ($6.7 million).

The representative of Eximbank said that the incident was very complicated and is beyond the capabilities of the bank to resolve on its own, especially while defendant Le Nguyen Hung is still wanted. Eximbank has been collaborating with the investigation agency to clarify responsibility behind this incident.

Additionally, Eximbank has proactively met and negotiated with the client to find a reasonable solution.

I highly appreciate the efforts and goodwill of Eximbank during the negotiations. The two sides negotiated with the legitimate interests of each party at heart, Binh said.

She also committed to continue using the financial services of Eximbank, saying all of the compensated money will be deposited at the bank, according to vnexpress.net.

Earlier in 2013, Binh deposited a total of VND301 billion ($13.3 million) in three saving books. In February 2017, she contacted the bank to withdraw the money when the books reached their maturity, but Eximbank said her deposits were no longer in the system.

She asked to check all saving books and realised that VND245 billion ($10.8 million) had been withdrawn while she was holding the books.

It is alleged that Le Nguyen Hung, former deputy director of Eximbanks branch in Ho Chi Minh City falsified documents to withdraw money from her saving books.

In March 2018, Eximbank offered VND14.8 billion ($650,000) as advance compensation, but Binh declined, asking the bank to repay her in full. The two sides did not reach a consensus until two months ago, when the client agreed to receive the first payment of VND93 billion ($4.1 million) in compensation.Dragon fruit is processed at Cat Tuong Agriculture Processing and Production Company Limited in Tien Giang Province. -VNA/VNS Photo Minh Tri

Wen Xi Chen, economic counselor at the Chinese Consulate General in the city, said Vietnamese enterprises should cooperate with well-known Chinese e-commerce enterprises to open online stores of high-quality farm produce for export to China.

While e-commerce has narrowed the production and consumption gap, and extended consumer markets, traditional sale channels have not updated market information regularly, he said.

To develop e-commerce for agricultural products, logistics service, traceability and human resources should ensure product quality, he added.

Nguyen Hoang Anh, member of the Advisory Council for Reform, who is also vice president of the Digital Agriculture Association (DAA) Viet Nam, said China remained a major market for agricultural products exported from Viet Nam due to similarity of cuisine, culture and geographical proximity.

In 2017, China accounted for 76 per cent of US$3.5 billion worth of fruit and vegetables exports to the country.

Cuisine plays a major role in the life of Chinese, who like eating, know how to eat, and eat well, Chen said.

China in recent years has become the worlds largest importer of agricultural products, accounting for one-tenth of global trade in agricultural products, with an annual average import growth rate of 8.8 per cent.

Experts agreed that Vietnamese enterprises need to pay attention to consumer habits and preferences of the Chinese, and expand sales in this huge market.

However, exports of agricultural products to the Chinese market has become tougher due to higher quality requirements.

Exports have been unstable, mostly based on unofficial channels of MSMEs (micro- and small- and medium-sized enterprises) without attention to traceability and branding of the products.

In addition, exports are often stuck at border gates, causing prices to fall.

Cooperation between the two sides has not been as effective as expected, as enterprises from both countries have not kept their contracts.

In addition, agricultural production in Viet Nam has small scale with unstable product quality and low competitiveness.

Vietnamese exporters have not exploited the market, with most Chinese dealers having to visit Viet Nam to source products.

Viet Nam also lacks long-term strategies for building brand names, while Chinese consumers, especially in big cities, do not have a deep impression of Viet Nams agricultural products.

Vietnamese assume China is a densely populated country and that consumers are not demanding of product quality. The reality is their demand has increased significantly, Chen said.

Vu Tien Hung, head of the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Office in Hangzhou, China, said, Most Vietnamese farm produce exporters lack information about the Chinese market, but few businesses look to the trade offices to seek information, even though its provided for free.

To fully exploit the market, Chen said State agencies must study the market and grasp the development trends.

They should disseminate agricultural policy guidelines for exporters with more attention being paid to market demand.

In addition, agencies should work with agencies such as customs and quarantine authorities of the concerned countries to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese exporters.

The role of financial and credit institutions in sharing risks with farmers in production must also be emphasised.

Advanced processing technology should be used in production as well.

Nguyen Quoc Toan, director of the Department of Agro-product Processing and Market Development under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said to boost exports to China, Vietnamese exporters must meet new standards, requirements, and consumer tastes of the market.

They should also focus on packaging and processing to increase added value for the products.

Exports must be promoted via the main official channels, requiring Viet Nam and China to improve bilateral trade policies for mutual benefit.

There should be close coordination between ministries, embassies, and trade counselors in updating market information and removing obstacles for Vietnamese exporters between the two countries.The opening ceremony of Huntsman's new facility

Huntsmans CEO Asia-Pacific and president of the Polyurethanes business Tony Hankins said, Vietnam is one of the largest and fastest growing countries in the Asia-Pacific. For Polyurethanes, we have been seeing double digit growth rates for a sustained period and fully expect this to continue."

"At the new site, we will manufacture formulated systems for footwear, insulation foam used in construction and cold chain applications, simulated wood for furniture, and automotive applications. These products will be sold in Vietnam, with the balance being exported to Cambodia. The facility will enable Huntsman to collaborate more effectively with its customers based in Vietnam and will also strengthen our strategy of globalising our bolt-on downstream acquisitions, Hankins added.

Scott Wright, president of Huntsmans Advanced Materials business, added, This is the first manufacturing expansion investment outside China for our business in the Asia-Pacific and we see many opportunities in Vietnam to support large-scale infrastructure and construction projects in one of the fastest growing economies in the region. The new plant will give us the capability to efficiently supply customers across the ASEAN region with high-quality electrical insulation, coatings, and adhesive solutions that will ensure projects are implemented successfully."

Peter Jr. Huntsman (right), marketing director of Huntsman

In addition to this facility, Huntsman has a distribution warehouse located in the inland container depot at Long Binh-Dong Nai province, and a site in Hanoi which offers technical services and comprises of warehouse and distribution space and a commercial office.

Huntsman is a publicly-traded global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated and specialty chemicals with 2017 revenues of more than $8 billion. Its chemical products number in the thousands and are sold worldwide to manufacturers serving a broad and diverse range of consumer and industrial end markets. It operates more than 75 manufacturing, R&D, and operations facilities in approximately 30 countries and employs approximately 10,000 associates within four distinct business divisions.The Armenian parliament, by a vote of 68 to 1, today approved a government bill to release 210 million cubic meters of water from Lake Sevan this year for irrigation purposes.

Environmental activists opposed to greater releases from Sevan protested outside the parliament, urging MPs to vote against the bill.

The government had originally planned to release 170 million cubic meters.

Last week, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that his advisers told him a larger release was necessary.Police deployed in the eastern German town of Chemnitz after a 35-year-old man died after a fight on the sidelines of a street festival AFP/Sebastian Willnow

The far-right movement PEGIDA called for demonstrations for a second straight day after a gathering of around 800 people in the ex-communist city of Chemnitz degenerated into chaos, forcing police to call in reinforcements.

Several national media outlets, including the Bild tabloid, reported that some demonstrators shouted "We are the people" and "Get lost" at those they thought appeared to be migrants.

Freelance journalist Johannes Grunert, who reports frequently on the far-right scene, told Spiegel Online he witnessed some protesters using bottles to attack foreign-looking people.

"Such riotous assemblies, the hunting down of people who appear to be from different backgrounds or the attempt at spreading hate in the streets, these have no place in our country," said Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert, stressing Berlin's strong condemnation of the violent protests.

Asked about an apparent call by an MP from the far-right AfD party for vigilante action, Seibert warned that it is the legal system that delivers justice in a constitutional democracy.

AfD lawmaker Markus Frohnmaier had written on Twitter: "If the state can no longer protect the citizen, then people will go on the streets and protect themselves."

Sunday's violent demonstration was triggered by the death of a 35-year-old German national following a "dispute between several people of different nationalities" in Chemnitz.

Two other men, aged 33 and 38, were hospitalised with severe injuries, police added.

Police did not give further details of the dispute, but local media reported that a knife was used in the fight that took place on the sidelines of a street festival.

PROTEST, COUNTER-PROTEST

"If I look at what has happened here on Sunday, I'm horrified," Chemnitz mayor Barbara Ludwig told regional broadcaster MDR.

"The fact that people can agree to meet ... run through town and threaten people is bad."

As outrage grew over the scenes of xenophobic violence by the mostly male protesters, left-leaning activists called for a counter-protest on Monday in the city, hours before PEGIDA supporters were due to gather.

In its call for a demonstration at 6.30pm (1630 GMT), PEGIDA's Chemnitz and West Saxony regional chapter said: "Muster strength from anger and sadness! Only together can we ensure that his death was not pointless."

Saxony state has become a hotspot for racist hate crimes, as misgivings run deep in the region against the arrival of more than a million asylum seekers since 2015.

The state is also the birthplace of the Islamophobic PEGIDA movement, which is linked to the AfD - a party that has scooped up voters who blame Merkel for the migrant influx.

Surveys suggest the AfD is on track to become the second biggest party in Saxony when regional elections are held there next year.

Results of last year's general election show that in Chemnitz itself the AfD has as many voters as Merkel's centre-right CDU.While tourism is booming in the central region, the Paradise resort project has been flying under investors' radars

The Paradise eco resort project spreads more than two kilometres along the coast crossing Quang Nam and Quang Ngai province in the central region.

The developer, privately-held Paradise Investment JSCnow South Chu Lai Investment and Development JSC, expects the project to tap into the growing visitor and investor numbers from Chu Lai Airport in Quang Nam province as well as workers, engineers, and experts working at the Dung Quat and Chu Lai coastal economic zones.

In the current tourism season in the central region, the eco resort has yet to attract any visitors. In the villa area, several French-style villas have not yet been constructed yet, whereas some completed villas are already showing signs of degradation.

Some buildings, once used to host meetings and banquet occasions, have been unused for a long time and local residents have been using this area to breed cattle.

Doan Trung Nam, a resident living near the project, said: When the project is entered the development pipeline, the investor said they will employ local labourers to on it. The project was then halted and left deserted, leaving the affected people struggling to make a living.

Cao Thi Hong, neighbour to Nam, added that some people have been using the unused space in the eco resort for agricultural production or cattle and poultry breeding.

According to Le Tan Khanh, Deputy Chairman of Binh Thanh commune in Quang Ngai provinces Binh Son District, where the project is located, Paradise resort is set to use more than 106ha space in the commune.

The project developer, however, has just completed the first phase of compensation for more than 32ha space.

Regarding the remaining 74ha space, the developer did not cooperate with the commune administration, but has made compensation directly to local households.

At present, 19 out of the 74ha has yet to receive compensation as the developer could not reach a consensus with the households, which is one of the reasons behind the projects delay.

At present, 19 out of the 74ha has yet to receive compensation as the developer could not reach a consensus with the households, which is one of the reasons behind the projects delay.

Another cause is the current financial distress as committed by Phan Van Hai, a developer representative

The developer, therefore, asked the provincial management authorities for support in site clearance and compensation payment for the remaining space that has yet to be handed over to them.

A good news for the project, as unveiled by the project representative, was that several investors from South Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore plan to cooperate to develop a mixed-use development, including condotel and casino components, at the project site.

With respect to the developers proposals, Quang Ngai Party Secretary Le Viet Chu has recently asked the developer to soon make commitments and set the projects targets and land requirements.

The developer was also required to draw up the investment projects revised supplemental planning that fits the actual situation and submit it to the provinces management authorities for consideration.

The Paradise eco resort project was first licensed in 2005 with nearly VND200 billion ($8.8 million) in registered capital.

In late 2017, the projects total investment capital was scaled up to nearly VND8 trillion ($354 million).

The project consists of five components: Paradise in the Fall, Paradise in Summer, Paradise in Winter, Paradise in Spring, and Four Seasons Paradise. At present, work has only been completed at the Four Seasons Paradise component that takes up more than 32ha space, while the other four components are sitting on the drawing board.A view of Tien Cave-an amazing place to discover in the central province of Quang Binh. This year, the province is prioritising projects in tourism - services, high-tech, renewable energy and green agriculture. - VNA/VNS Photo Minh DucA view of Tien Cave-an amazing place to discover in the central province of Quang Binh. This year, the province is prioritising projects in tourism - services, high-tech, renewable energy and green agriculture. - VNA/VNS Photo Minh Duc

Speaking at the investment promotion conference themed co-operation and sustainable development held in the province on Monday, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said the provincewould achieve new development thank to its advantages, along with innovative thinking.

Phuc said Quang Binh was considered a blue diamond of Asia which should be preserved.

Quang Binh Province therefore should have standard planning of its economic sector in order to serve the economy, create connections for common development, he said, adding the Government would always support the provinces development.

Addressing the conference, which attracted more than 700 foreign and domestic firms and investors, the PM said he was impressed by the 71 per cent increase in the number of tourist arrivals in Quang Binh last year and the 110 per cent increase in foreign arrivals.

The PM asked the Transport Ministry to study a plan to upgrade ong Hoi Airport into an international one that allows foreigners to enter and leave the country using e-visas.

The leader said Quang Binh tourism, famous for its caves, along with natural and cultural diversity in Ha Long, Sa Pa, Hue ancient capital city, Quang Nam and the Mekong Delta, will help Vietnam become a tourism magnet beyond ASEAN.

He suggested the province further develop its tourism services while preserving and upholding cultural and natural values, working closely with other localities to move Vietnams tourism forward.

The PM also lauded Quang Binh, together with Ha Tinh and Quang Tri provinces, as examples of overcoming difficulties following the marine environment incident of 2016.

To achieve development goals, the PM urged Quang Binh to not only perform well in State management but also listen to public feedback and continue improving its business environment.

Provincial authorities need to acquire feedback, especially regarding preservation of heritage values, and choose qualified investors to help Quang Binh shine in the worlds tourism map.

The PM requested each business commitment in the province go along with drastic and prompt actions. Hailing Quang Binhs important location in both national and international aspects, he said the province should not neglect its strength in forestry development and high-tech agriculture.

The PM added that the province also holds advantages in developing renewable energy, with about 1,800 hours of sunlight each year and average wind speed of 5.5  6m per second. At the same time, the Government leader reminded the province to pay more attention to poverty reduction, especially among ethnic minority groups.

More than US$7.34 billion committed

The province awarded investment licences and co-operation deals for 66 projects worth nearly VND169 trillion (more than US$7.34 billion) at the conference.

It also handed over a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on co-operation in building Quang Binhs e-government for the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group and the Vietnam Military Industry and Telecoms Group.

The Ministry of Information and Communications also granted a MoU on co-operation in developing Quang Binhs e-government to a representative from provincial authorities.

This year, the province is prioritising projects in tourism - services, high-tech, renewable energy and green agriculture.

It has partnered with McKinsey and Company Ltd, a leading US consultant firm, to build a master plan on provincial socio-economic development.

This has been considered the biggest event in Quang Binh so far the year which was expected to create an investment wave into the locality, said Nguyen Huu Hoai, chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee.

Hoai added that Quang Binh has a strategic location in the East-West Economic Corridor as well as the eastern gateway to the sea of central Laos, northeastern Thailand and Myanmar.

The province also boasts a favourable transport system of road, railway, International Dong Hoi Airport and Hon La Seaport.A dog carried on a motorbike without muzzle in Ha Noi. - VNS Photo Viet Thanh

The tragic story was just the latest in a series of recent fatalities caused by dog bites.

In the middle of July, an eight-month old baby girl living on Doi Can Street in Hanoi died from bites by her own familys 40kg dog.

Dog owners and people living close to dogs are not the only victims. Veterinarians are also vulnerable. In June, a 24-year-old vet had her arm bit by a dog who was being treated at a private clinic in Hanoi. Despite sterilising the bite, the doctor, who had not been vaccinated against rabies, gradually felt the pain from the bite spread through her whole body. Six weeks after being bitten, she died en route to the hospital.

According to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, 43 people died of rabies nationwide in the first seven months of this year. All infected dead people were bit by dogs and scratched by cats and then did not come to healthcare facilities to be vaccinated against rabies. In 2017, 500,000 people were bit and then got vaccinated.

In many cases, the accident could have been prevented if the owners of the dog were more aware of potential dangers. Tightened regulations on dog management in public areas have gained little attention. The regulations approved by the Hanois Peoples Committee require dogs to be registered, leashed or kept in owners living spaces and muzzled when playing in public areas. Dog owners have to pay fines when their off-leash dogs are seized by law enforcement. If off-leash dogs bite people, their owners must pay for the victims medical needs.

Nguyen Duc Long, a dog owner in Hanoi who raises a Western dog breed (Pit bull), said that his dog is very calm and always follows his orders. Western breeds are regarded as more likely to behave aggressively.

I never muzzle him in public areas. He barks at strangers but never bites anyone, he said. Captain Dao Duy Ha, head of the dog training department at the 24 Border Defence School told Thanh Nien (Young People) that dog owners, especially those who own aggressive dogs, must be trained to have more understanding.

Dog breeds such as Pit Bulls and Dobermanns are often trained for fighting so they are very aggressive and tend to attack people, Ha said.

If two dogs bite each other, people around them should not shout or use sticks to interfere. These interferences make the dogs more aggressive and even cause them to turn to attack people, he said.

Nguyen Ha An, a dog seller in Hanois Cau Giay District, said that raising Western dog breeds has become a trend in recent years in big cities. People buy the dogs to follow the trend. Few of them care about the dogs origins and habits. In general, foreign breeds may behave more aggressively as they are less accustomed to the Vietnamese climate.

Dogs of any breed, even those raised by their owners since they were young, might become aggressive, especially mongrels. Mongolian dogs, which are used to cold weather might easily get angry and aggressive in hot weather (as in Vietnam) and when they are kept in narrow spaces, he said.

Ignorance

Besides Hanois regulations, last year the Government issued administrative fines of VND600,000-800,000 (US$26-35) for not muzzling or leashing the dogs in public areas; VND100,000 to VND1 million ($4.5-45) for unleashing the dogs or letting them cause damages to other people. Owners of dogs that attack others will have to compensate the victims.

In spite of these regulations, dogs running freely without muzzles or off-leash dogs can still be easily seen in public areas in Hanoi and HCM City.

A resident living at apartment building B1 on Truong Sa Street of HCM Citys Binh Thuan Street told Thanh Nien that many people living in the area are worried about being bit by un-muzzled dogs and even more worried because they do not know whether the dogs have been vaccinated.

Dog seller Ha An said that there are no police on duty to identify violations, so the existing regulations have not proved effective.

Make a move

This month HCM Citys District 1 became the first district of the citys 24 to re-start the dog management campaign. Since August 15, a patrol team has caught nine un-muzzled dogs off-leash.

The district Peoples Committee chairman Doan Ngoc Hai said strict punishments will be imposed on violating dog owners.

Meanwhile, in the first nine months of this year, Hanoi recorded 5,098 people bit by animals, 87 per cent of whom were bit by dogs. Three people died of rabies, according to the citys Veterinary Department.

The municipal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has asked the local Peoples Committee to step up management on dogs, dog slaughtering and business facilities.Along with this announcement, Sansiri's top projects at the most attractive resorts in Thailand including Hua Hin, Phuket, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, and Bangkok will be brokered by Denzell in its first high-end sales gallery in Ho Chi Minh City.

The sales gallery in Ho Chi Minh City makes Vietnam Sansiri's sixth foreign market

According to Apichart Chutrakul, CEO of Sansiri Group, Ho Chi Minh City is a potential real estate hub with a fairly balanced market outlook, while Vietnam is still one of the top attractions of international businesses.

Successfully launching the sales galleries in key markets such as China, Singapore, and Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City is the Sansiris sixth market. This is an opportunity for Sansiri to strengthen its presence and provide a full service experience for its customers, Chutrakul said.

Kingston Lai, managing director of Denzell Vietnam, said that Denzell is now the only unit in Vietnam authorised to provide Sansiri real estate projects. Vietnamese buyers can now access the latest Sansiri projects on the same day as they are launched in other international markets, such as Hong Kong, China, and Singapore, Lai said.

Vietnamese buyers can now access the latest Sansiri projects at the same time as buyers in Hong Kong, China, and Singapore

According to Lai, Thailand is now considered a good option for investment because of lower taxes, while the average starting price is VND3 billion ($129,000). Rental income is at around 6 per cent per annum at Bangkok's downtown area and 7-8 per cent of the resorts provide exclusive access to Sansiri's newest projects.

In 2017, Sansiri succeeded in increasing sales in the international market, reaching VND6.5 trillion ($287million).

In 2018, Sansiri set a daring plan by introducing 31 new projects totalling at VND44.2 trillion ($1.95 billion), setting a revenue target of VND35 trillion ($1.5 billion). Throughout the launch of Denzell Vietnam, potential customers in Vietnam will no longer need to visit Thailand to invest in real estate.

The Vietnamese government, according to Sansiri, is implementing a plan to privatise many SOEs and boost private investment, which has made Vietnam one of the fastest growing economies in Asia.

Large enterprises, such as Samsung, also invested $17 billion in Vietnam, making the country the second largest exporter of smartphones in the world after China, or Warburg Pincus Investment Fund, which has committed $1 billion to Vietnamese companies.

Statistics from the Tourism Authority of Thailand show that in 2017, Thailand welcomed a total of 35 million visitors, 867,712 of whom were Vietnamese, up 12.5 per cent over the same period in 2016.During a Press conference in Moscow, on 20 August, the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Serguei Lavrov, denounced the instructions issued by the General Secretariat of the UNO to all their agencies, forbidding them to participate in any manner whatsoever in the reconstruction of Syria.

He was referring to a document entitled Parameters and Principles of UN Assistance in Syria, drawn up in October 2017 by the Director of Political Affairs and number 2 of UNO at the time, Jeffrey Feltman [1].

We can read the specific instructions -  The UN will be ready to assist in the reconstruction of Syria only when a comprehensive, genuine and inclusive political transition, negotiated by the Syrian parties in the conflict, is firmly under way .

This text is contrary to the objectives of the United Nations, but defended by its General Secretariat. None of the member states of the UNO were ever involved in its composition, nor even informed of its existence. It corresponds to the point of view of the governments of the United Kingdom and France, but not that of the United States.

Mr. Lavrov declared he had asked the General Secretary, Portuguese Socialist Antonio Guterres, for explanations.

As far as I know, this is the first time that a member state of the Security Council has ever questioned an internal political document of the General Secretariat. Yet the problem is not new. At the end of 2015, Russia learned about a group of internal UN documents known as the  Feltman Plan for Syria  [2]. This concerned a detailed project for the total and unconditional capitulation of the Syrian Arab Republic, even more drastic than the plan imposed on Japan by General McArthur [3].

Moscow then found itself in a very delicate situation. If it made these documents public, the credibility of the UNO in the service of peace would have been destroyed, and Russia would have had to propose new intergovernmental institutions to replace it. Vladimir Putin prudently decided to keep it secret, and to negotiate with Barack Obama to save the UNO.

However, in practice, nothing had changed - Feltman was removed from his functions by Guterres and then produced another document intended to sabotage peace. Today he has been replaced by his US compatriot, Rosemary DiCarlo, who has not invalidated his instructions.

This time, Russia will not accept excuses and delaying tactics. But is Guterres DiCarlos effective superior, or is there a double hierarchy within the UNO, one of them public and favourable to peace, and the other hidden and pushing for war?

At the beginning of the Cold War, the United States thought about how they would be able to survive a Soviet atomic attack which would have killed their President and parliamentarians outright. President Eisenhower therefore nominated a phantom government tasked with ensuring continuity in case such an attack should occur. This secret entity was renewed periodically by his successors and still exists today.

For eighteen years, I have been defending the thesis according to which the United States are no longer governed by their President and Congress, but by this replacement entity. Basing my work on official US documents, I interpreted the attacks of 11 September 2001 as a coup detat operated by this unelected authority. Fearing that I am contesting the democratic ideal, my critics have rejected my work in its entirety, without really discussing it nor even reading it.

We may believe that after George Bush Juniors second mandate and that of Barack Obama, this debate has become obsolete. And yet, during his electoral campaign, Donald Trump denounced the existence of this  deep state  which, according to him, no longer serves the interests of the people, but those of transnational Finance.

Of course, no foreign state has ever taken a public stand about a question which concerns the interior politics and the sovereignty of the United States. Except that last week, President Vladimir Putin took steps in this direction. On 22 August - in other words two days after the public intervention of his Minister for Foreign Affairs against the UNO  while commenting Washingtons sanctions against his country, he declared -  And it is not only the position of the President of the United States which counts. Its the position of the institution which pretends to be the state, the ruling class in the wider sense of the term. I hope that the realisation that this policy has no future will one day become clear to our partners, and that we will then be able to cooperate in a normal fashion  [4].

Yes, you have read that correctly. President Putin is stating that the United States are governed not by one Power, but two. The first is composed of the elected members of Congress and the Presidency, the second is illegitimate and sometimes more powerful.

In the space of two days, the Federation of Russia called into question the coherence of the United Nations and that of the United States.

Unfortunately, those people who have still not analysed the events of 9/11, nor drawn any conclusions about the wars which followed, are still stuck with the official vulgate. They will probably interpret the Russian position as a machination aimed at destabilising the Western democracies.

From Moscows point of view, the war of aggression  by the intervention of jihadist proxies  against Syria must cease, and the unilateral sanctions by the US, Canada and the European Union against Russia must be lifted. The problem that we must all now face is not the defence of democracy, but the danger of war.

Void of any legitimacy, a parallel hierarchy in New York and Washington intends to plunge the world into a generalised conflict.Young Gibraltarians Head for Washington Placements

A group of 14 young people will shortly leave Gibraltar for Washington DC for three month placements with public or private sector entities. They will follow in the footsteps of over 100 Gibraltarians who have participated in the scheme since it was initiated in 2013.

The young people were briefed by the Deputy Chief Minister, Dr Joseph Garcia, on the policy of the Government and connections between Gibraltar and the United States.

Dr Garcia explained the long military connection with the US Navy. He made the point that the first action of US warships outside their shores took place from Gibraltar against Barbary Pirates in the early nineteenth century. He then explained that some 40 US vessels and 4000 sailors were based here during World War One. Gibraltar then became the leading port for the assembly of convoys anywhere in the world.

The Deputy Chief Minister referred to the formation of a Gibraltar-American Chamber of Commerce, AMCHAM. He also gave details of the lobbying work being carried out with US Congressmen.

The internships in Washington are organised through the Department of Education.Call for Multi Disciplinary Artists & Creative Thinkers

Gibraltar Cultural Services (GCS) on behalf of the Ministry of Culture will be organising the Gibraltar 2019 Natwest International Island Games Art Residency at various locations in Gibraltar in June and July 2019.

The art residency is a programme for artists working in any medium, interested in developing their work collaboratively in visual arts, physical theatre, performing arts, literature, or any other form. Towards the end of the residency there will be an exhibition to showcase the work produced throughout the two weeks programme.

GCS will be working alongside artist Alan Perez in this project, to develop work of a collaborative nature and foster creative thinking.

The artist selected to take part from the IGA member islands, will be in Gibraltar from Sunday 23rd June to Sunday 7th July 2019. The artist will be required to pay for their travel expenses to and from Gibraltar, whilst the organisers will pay for accommodation, food, transport and limited materials.

Artists wishing to apply to participate in the art residency are required to be Gibraltarian or resident in Gibraltar and can do so via email on: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Artists are required to submit a CV and statement detailing recent projects, a portfolio with samples of works and a brief description of the artists interest in art.

For further information please contact:

GCS Events Department +350 20067236 and email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Residency director Alan Perez +350 54021156 and email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Closing date for applications is Friday 25th October 2018.Bachelor in Paradise Week 4, Part 1 Season 5 Episode 6 Editors Rating 4 stars * * * *  Previous Next Photo: ABC

There was something sweeping over Paradise. Something deep and primal. Between Jordans expressive pleas for love and Kevin talking openly about going to therapy, I can safely say  THIS. IS. MY. KINK. This is what I want to see on television: Men in tank tops talking about their feelings. Men with stubble giving sensual kisses on a beach while discussing their mental health. I think Im  having fun?!?!?! Have I been duped by Paradise? Am I sympathizing with the toxic forces in my life? Its not all fun and shirtless guys flopping around with feelings. Have you ever watched a man try to make a moral stand while standing up to his nipples in a pool? You cant take an ethical and moral stand while bobbing up and down in an infinity pool. Your moral stand cant also be based on an anti-tattling stance. For every Kevin trying to work through his feelings, theres a Leo.

God. Damn. Leo.

This motherfucker. UGH. CAN WE NOT? I take back everything I ever said about him during The Bachelorette. I was definitely duped by his hair and his eyebrows. Those eyebrows  No! Stay strong! Hes GARBAGE. Hes not smart enough to trick Kendall into buying his line of bullshit but he thinks he is. Thats the worst type of man: one who thinks hes smart. There are men who know theyre smart; there are men who are smart. And then therere men who think theyre smart. Theyre the ones you have to look out for. Lets get into it.

Astrid starts the day by going Lets find out whose life is getting ruined today.

Everyone is waking up in the morning and HOLD ON. Benoit and Jennas date was last night in the timeline of the show? It feels like this Jenna and Jordan have been having drama for approximately three years. Without the Colton and Tia will-they-wont-they, Bachelor in Paradise is going to stretch any little piece of drama for all its worth.

Also, every time they showed Tia, that bitch was ASLEEP. Shes been drained of the anxiety surrounding her relationship with Colton and the only thing left to do is nap. She doesnt have to stay awake and stay vigilant.

Jenna takes each guy aside and when she tells Jordan she has to go talk to Benoit, he assumes that shes going to tell Benoit that shes ending it. She never said that, Jordan, and shes certainly not coming up between very hot makeouts with Benoit to tell him that.

Meanwhile, Chris and Krystal are spooning on an old tire while Chris compliments her butt. Chris is feeling like something can stop their relationsh Oh no, its Connor. Krystal starts doing lip trills to warm up her sexy baby voice. Krystal came to Paradise to meet Connor. Sure, she told Chris earlier that shes into him and he interpreted that to mean she wouldnt accept a date with anyone else. That was before she was reminded that Connor existed.

Krystal goes back and forth between accepting the date from Connor but she looks deep into his abs and says yes. WHAT WAS THIS DATE? Krystal and Connor get buried up to their necks and some sort of indigenous religious ceremony is performed over them. Then Connor growls at Krystal and they make out and he carries her into the ocean. I mean my boyfriend and I did the same thing on our second date but  that was a second date. Connor and Krystal return to Paradise smiling and making out. Chris tries to take Krystal aside and Connor follows them. How are you gonna take some other guys girl on a date and then try to crash their emotional post-date conversation? Thats a chaotic neutral move.

Jordan decides the best plan of action is to confront Benoit. Someone help me do the math on this. He keeps telling Benoit that the words dont match the actions. I mean, Benoits words are matching his actions.

Before the night ends, Kenny sits down with Anneliese and tells her that he cant miss his daughters dance recital. Im not crying. Anneliese is crying. The love of her life (that she started dating yesterday) is leaving and shes BEREFT. But she doesnt have to wait long because Kunil arrives in Paradise the next morning and Anneliese is finally seeing someone shes interested in (besides Jordan and Kenny). Anneliese is able to convince herself that whoever shes looking at is the actual love of her life.

Kunil asks Anneliese on his date and they drive an ATV across a rickety bridge. This bitch had a breakdown due to bumper carrelated anxiety, but she can drive the Nomad from Mass Effect: Andromeda across a rope bridge? SURE. She also says that theyre probably the strongest couple in Paradise and its been the longest time shes since felt these giddy feelings for a guy. SURE.

Also, somewhere in there, John tells Jubilee that hes not feeling her so she leaves. Youre telling me that we lost footage of the purest relationship between two weirdos who are both POC for WHAT? Another confessional of Chris doing an extended goose metaphor.

The next meltdown is Kevin. He tries to tell Astrid that their relationship is going too smoothly, and it would be easier for him to feel comfortable if she had gone out with a few guys before him or since theyve met. If you think about the fact that his last relationship ended because they met on a dating reality show and she was possibly trying to rekindle something with someone else while they were together, his meltdown makes the tiniest bit more sense. Plus, anyone who finds themselves in a healthy relationship after dealing with bullshit can have a bit of a when is the other shoe going to drop meltdown. But thats Kevins issue to sort through. He does admit that he has no one to talk to about it so he tried to talk to Astrid. Hes normally in therapy twice a week but here, theres only Wells and Yuki. Thats not an emotional support system. Astrid genuinely seems to appreciate him and they walk away feeling better. Damn, who expected emotional growth and honesty on Bachelor in Parad

AW FUCK. ITS LEO.

Is there anything else to say about Leo? Kevin slips up and tells Kendall that Leo kissed Chelsea and Kendall is hurt. Kevin thought since Leo was telling everyone about it that Kendall knew. Kendall did not know. She did not.

Kendall lets Leo know that kissing Chelsea isnt okay when hes telling Kendall that hes all-in for her which is totally reasonable and a fair response. Instead of apologizing to Kendall, Leo storms around yelling things like A KISS IS LIKE A HANDSHAKE IN PARADISE. First of all, no.

His next plan is to find the rat. No one ratted you out, you fucking idiot. Kevin just assumed you were upfront about your bullshit. Leo keeps complaining loudly about a tattletale. If youre calling other adults tattletales, youre not emotionally prepared to kiss other people. Kevin decides to put an end to Leos pouting and just tell him he let it slip. Leo is more upset that he didnt get to tell Kendall on his terms. Read: never.

That night, Kendall sits down with Leo to talk about his behavior. Leo gives the following excuses/explanations:

 You ruined my day. (Emotionally abusive)

 You werent divulging your other relationship. (Lie)

 Youre a great actress. (Emotionally abusive)

 I want you to be happy. (Lie)

 I have no idea how youre still single. (What the fuck even is this one?)

 I care about you. (Lie)

Im going to show this exchange to my writing students as an example of changing tactics to get what you want. She isnt guilted by your day being ruined? Tell her you want her to be happy. That doesnt work? Accuse her of faking your connection. That doesnt work? Tell her shes amazing and Arie was an idiot.

After listening to Kendall be on the verge of tears for what I can only assume is hours, Joe steps in. This prompted a 45-minute argument between me and my boyfriend over who would be better in a fight. My boyfriend has his money on South Side Italian Chicago strength.

To be continued John Goodman. Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

While ABC has tried to keep a tight lid on their upcoming Roseanne spin-off The Conners, audiences knew there was always one character who wouldnt be returning: Roseanne Conner, the TV avatar of Roseanne Barr, whose racist tweet swiftly ended her classic 90s sitcoms brief revival earlier this year. So, while hypothetically Roseanne Conner could have been climbing Mount Everest or living it up as a divorcee in Hawaii, a new Sunday Times interview with co-star John Goodman confirms your suspicions: In the universe of The Conners, the familys matriarch is dead.

When discussing how his character Dan would differ in the new show, John Goodman mused, Its an unknown. I guess hell be mopey and sad because his wifes dead. When it comes to Barrs removal from the Roseanne reboot, however, Goodman dismisses the claim that his co-star is racist, despite her describing African-American Obama staffer Valerie Jarrett as Muslim Brotherhood & Planet of the Apes had a baby in a since-deleted tweet. I was surprised. Ill put it this way, I was surprised at the response. And thats probably all I should say about it, he said of her removal. I know, I know, for a fact that shes not a racist.This weeks episode of Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood serves as a public service announcement on the dangers of getting butt injections, a relatively new fad made famous by the likes of Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, and the other famous reality star named Kimberly. The artist formerly known as K. Michelle regrets getting butt injections about as much as I regret knowing what butt injections are. The burden is especially heavy for Kimberly because her doctor says she could be dealing with the ramifications of this procedure for the rest of her life. All Kimberly wants is her health back and she gets surgery to remove as much silicone as possible. This is very graphic, and if Mona Scotts intention is to convince viewers to think twice about ass shots, then I gladly take the pledge #itakethepledgeagainstinjections. In an industry that glorifies dramatic body modification, I appreciate Kimberly showing us the dark sides of surgery that wed only see on reruns of Nip/Tuck. Its all very sad and real and grating. I wish Kimberly a speedy recovery.

In a dance studio, Golden Delicious Apple Watts and Lyrica confide in each other about the men that are (not so) in their lives. Lyrica admits that she misses her husband and wants to work things out. Lyrica needs to speak to her husband. I shouldnt feel like I have better lines of communication with customer service at Spirit Airlines than Lyrica has with A1. Fuji Apple Watts gets a calls from her estranged father, and confides that shes having trouble reconnecting with him because he abandoned her in foster care. She explains, Youve been gone all my life, your daughter is in the streets, whats good?! And then Gala Apple Watts immediately begins to cry, revealing that behind her tough veneer shes hiding deep-seated scars. We can all relate to wearing a mask to keep from being vulnerable so this moment resonates.

After these two emotionally taxing scenes, we head to a random park where Teairra Marie works out in full hair and makeup with her boyfriend who most certainly has a wife. Teairra is not upset with Akbar because relationships are built on trust and Akbar is my man so I have to trust him. Um  NO! NOPE! NYET! NAH! Ladies and gentlemen, we do not need to trust someone just because were dating them. We should date them because we trust them. The only thing we have to do is die and pay taxes. In the words of the Patron Saint of February Pisces, Rihanna, Nothing is promised  available on Apple Music.

At a salon, Brooke and Bridget Kelly get their hair done. Brooke has absolutely beautiful hair and I would rank our villainesss tresses somewhere between Scar from The Lion King and Ursula from The Little Mermaid. This is high praise and her stylist should get a spinoff show. But I digress  Brooke and Bridget Kelly rehash the Marcus drama like the show doesnt open with Last Week on Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood. Then, Bridget Kelly agrees to help Brooke with a special project without even knowing the details. Folks, this is why you dont make a deal with the devil: It never ends well. Paris walks in and shares the Akbar drama. Brooke, dedicated to moving the plot along, offers the gym where Akbars other girlfriend works. I find this entire conversation to be about as organic as a Twinkie.

Outside a pretend video shoot, A1 and Marcus rehash the Brooke drama. There are too many discussions in this episode about what happened in last weeks episode. Marcus states that hes committed to Brooke, whom A1 refers to as a trip to Crazyland. Mind you, A1 is dressed like Mr. Mint from Candyland, so he has no business insulting Brooke. Marcus doesnt care what A1 thinks because hes excited to get Brookes honey bun. Honey buns never expire but if my significant other ever referred to my sex parts as a processed treat, our relationship would surely be over. A1 says that he misses Lyrica because she stood by him when RoccStar, the man she was feeding gossip to, came for him at the showcase. Lyrica and A1 have the most immature love affair. Its like a game of MASH gone horribly awry. Marcus tries to talk A1 out of seeing his wife because (1) hes a bad friend, and (2) while Brooke is crazy she is not a liar. If this is how these men refer to the women they love, Id hate to hear how they speak about the woman they hate. (Spoiler alert: Its not great!)

Speaking of hating women, RoccStar is at some bar trying to figure out how to get Amber Diamond alone. This is predatory rhetoric and I have no respect for a man that cant work with a woman without trying to have sex with her. Did we learn anything from the #MeToo era or are we supposed to pretend that this is acceptable behavior? It is not. RoccStar behaves like a tool. At one point, Shun Love, Amber Diamonds mom and manager hands him $20,000 and RoccStar pretends the stack of cash is a telephone. This raises so many questions, most importantly: Why does this woman have so much cash on her?

At a diner across town, Empire Apple Watts confronts her father for leaving her in foster care. He claims that if she had just reached out to him he would have let her stay at his house. NOPE! Thats not how this works. Its is job as a parent to take care of the kids he made. He offers to pay for group therapy for them, which I see as the bare minimum he could do after decades of neglect. Braeburn Apple Watts says that this experience inspires her to be better, grind harder, and work on her music. I respect that she channels her pain into a productive outlets.

On some deck, Lyrica calmly tells A1, once and for all, that there was nothing between her and Safaree. A1 acknowledges that if she had said this when he first confronted her, all this drama would have been avoided. Hes right. Lyrica hands him a pregnancy test covered in urine and announces her pregnancy. I cannot think of a worse time in a marriage to have a child, but the couple tells themselves that they are in a good place. In fact, they are in such a good place, they are worried about sharing the good news with their family. This is a red flag.

At the studio, RoccStar continues to be a horrible person. Amber Diamond wants people to know her as more than just Sisqos ex-girlfriend which  wait. We didnt know she was Sisqos girlfriend in the first place. Honestly, the only Cisco the kids know is the sound operating system. The problem with Amber Diamond is that she cant sing. The music industry is full of many people who cant sing, thats why producers like RoccStar get paid thousands of dollars to slap Auto-Tune on a track. But instead of being kind, RoccStar gasses Amber Diamond up and tells her she ranks with Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. This is mean. Amber takes this opportunity to complain about her helicopter momma, as if her mother isnt the reason shes in the studio in the first place. Ugh.

At a dress store, Brooke and her intern Bridget Kelly discuss Brookes surprise, which is very obviously an ambush wedding. Bridget Kelly has come to the conclusion that after knowing Brooke for one year, the woman is batshit crazy. I hate that everyone calls Brooke crazy. Brooke is a masterful reality-TV cast member who plays up drama and tension to keep her role on the show. The only thing crazy about her are her edges because they are laid.

Paris goes to the gym and gets trained by Akbars whole other girlfriend, Alessandra. I use the term whole because this man is surrounded by more women than Shaggy. Paris waits to confront Alessandra until Nikki is there because Alessandra can beat her up. This is a fair strategy. But Ill add, why are they confronting this woman at her workplace about something that has nothing to do with them? Why dont they respect that this women has autonomy over her own body and can make thoughtful decisions about her relationship? Why dont they mind their business and get their own story line? But I digress  Nikki finally arrives and we discover that Alessandra knows about Akbars wife, Not Sade, and she doesnt care. This is enough of an explanation for me. But instead, Nikki insults Alessandra, calling her a brainwashed sister-wife. Truly, Nikki and Paris didnt need to meet this woman in the first place especially if they were just going to insult her.

At a lunch, Lyrica and A1 tell the Bentleys that they are getting back together. This is simple because they never legally separated. The Bentleys  A1s brother Floyd (or is it Lloyd?), his sister-in-law, and his mother  absolutely hate the idea of Lyrica and A1 reconnecting because they hate Lyrica. Swears and insults are traded until Lyrica G gets there. Thats when the argument devolves from African-American standoff to food fight. Its a mess literally and figuratively. But stay tuned for next week on LHHH where there will be a not-so-surprising surprise wedding.Matt Lauer. Photo: Chance Yeh/Getty Images

Matt Lauer, who was accused of sexual harassment and fired from NBC in 2017, thinks hes going to be back on television sometime soon. According to Page Six, Lauer was dining at a restaurant in New York City when he told fans that he would be in front of cameras again soon.

Ive been busy being a dad, Lauer reportedly said. But dont worry, Ill be back on TV.

When Lauer was fired from NBC, the network attempted to erase all traces of the former host, going so far as to demolish his office. It is safe to assume that he wont be making any possible comeback at 30 Rock.

Lauer hasnt divulged exact details of his return to television, but this isnt the first time there has been rumors of his return. Earlier in the year, reports surfaced that he was meeting with producers. He is one of many men revealed by the #MeToo movement as sexual predators to attempt to make a return to the public sphere. Charlie Rose, Louis C.K., and Lorin Stein have all reportedly sought avenues back into their former careers.Remarks: This came out in 2021. It has not charted (yet). Amazingly, this is the first time I have posted a song with Brandy in it. The song sounds and loo...

1 day agoJustin Roiland. Photo: Greg Doherty/Getty Images

Hulu, where you can already stream several seasons of Adult Swims Rick and Morty, is cutting to the chase and getting its own new show straight from the source. The streaming service announced today that it has ordered two seasons of a new comedy from Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland called Solar Opposites. The show, which Roiland created with Rick and Morty writer Mike McMahan, is about a family of aliens from a better world who must take refuge in middle America who disagree on whether this is awful or awesome. Roiland will voice the characters Terry and Korvo. Sean Giambrone and Mary Mack will also provide voices. Solar Opposites will premiere on Hulu in 2020, when Rick and Morty will still be airing, since it recently got that massive 70-episode order.From Whats Alan Watching? Photo: CBS

Looking for some quality comedy entertainment to check out? Who better to turn to for under-the-radar comedy recommendations than comedians? In our recurring series Underrated, we chat with writers and performers from the comedy world about an unsung comedy moment of their choosing that they think deserves more praise.

In the 1980s, it was commonplace for networks to air their passed-on pilots as prime-time specials. Wyatt Cenac caught Whats Alan Watching?, a 1989 CBS sketch-sitcom hybrid produced by Eddie Murphy, on one such summer special. Besides giving Alan Sepinwall the name of his blog, Whats Alan Watching? provided early opportunities for the world to see such future luminaries as Fran Drescher and Pauly Shore.

Cenac has been a deadpan voice for New York, and specifically Brooklyn, for years. The city has changed a lot since I lived here as a baby, he once said on This American Life. When I was a baby, everywhere you went it was just colors and shapes everywhere. Gentrification has changed all of that. In my old neighborhood, I remember on the corner there was this amorphous yellow blob. Now its a Chipotle. Its this careful consideration of personal history versus giant institutions and social history that informs Cenacs Emmy-nominated series aka Wyatt Cenac. In the series of shorts, Cenac plays a vigilante crime fighter in Brooklyn equally concerned with babies at bars as he is with serial killers. He says he created the show because vigilante crime-fighting was the closest job he could think of to being a stand-up. Rather than make another Louie, he wanted to branch out. A stand-up has a lot in common with a crime fighter: Youre not only putting on a certain costume and going to work, youre putting on a costume and telling people how to be.

Whats Alan Watching? takes viewers through Alan Hoffstetters (Corin Nemec) evening having dinner with his family and avoiding them by watching TV. Alan flips channels between sketches that include a made-for-TV movie about James Brown in jail, an E! True Hollywood Storystyle biography of Mr. Ed, and cameos aplenty. Shelley Berman, the Smothers Brothers, Alex Trebek, and George Carlin all make appearances. If you think a family sitcom wont have multiple opportunities for horse-fucking jokes, youd be wrong.

What on earth did I just watch?

Are you asking because you didnt watch it, or because you were that blown away?

I was blown away.

Sure. Whats Alan Watching? was a pilot. I was a huge Eddie Murphy fan and found myself, whatever day it came out, parked in front of the television. I got a VHS tape and I recorded it. And I was blown away by it at the time, as a kid, because I dont think Id seen anything like it before. Theres this narrative structure with Alan and his family, but then it keeps cutting away to these things that hes watching on television. Theres almost this Secret Life of Walter Mitty thing where his imagination, sort of through television, is being allowed to run wild. But unlike Walter Mitty, hes not really a player in it. But there are all these bizarre and fun things happening. Like a television movie about James Brown.

Were you as deep into TV as Alan? I found myself really identifying  I made mixtapes as a kid of all my favorite shows on VHS. Did you have that relationship with TV as a kid as well?

Yeah, I loved television. It was the thing that I always wanted to have on, and I would watch anything and everything. At some point my parents started going to church more, and they wanted me and my brother to go with them, and we didnt really have a say in the matter. There were some days where we didnt go to church. The way that I knew we werent going was that I would wake up and I would watch the cartoons on USA Network. It would be Voltron, and I think 2 Stupid Dogs. And if it got to Jem, I knew we werent going to church. And I became the biggest Jem fan because that meant that I didnt have to go to church. So I got so caught up in Jems story: Okay, yeah, I will totally watch this show. I dont know whats going on. But Im in, because it means that I dont have to drink the blood of Christ.

Ellen Cleghorne has a cameo in this, and then did a spot on aka Wyatt Cenac. That must have been a nice full-circle moment.

It was. Getting to work with Ellen Cleghorne was a very cool opportunity, and I was so appreciative that she said yes. She came the morning we were shooting, and she was so great. She brought such a fun energy to what she was doing, and improvised. It was very fun to get to work with her, and just even to talk to her a little bit. We didnt talk too much about SNL and her time there, or the difference of what she went through as a comedian. But just getting to spend time with her and getting to work with her, it was a really cool opportunity to get to do that. And to get to direct her, too.

Eddie Murphy is featured in this show, and he was an executive producer. Was there anything about Whats Alan Watching? that you found particularly Eddie Murphy-y?

Theres a lot of DNA in that show that makes its way into many other Eddie Murphy things  thinking about that James Brown thing, and the prosthetics, knowing that years from now hes going to be making those Nutty Professor movies that play with that same prosthetic stuff. There was an absurdist nature to it that I feel like he maybe doesnt get enough credit for as a comedian. When you look at James Brown, that sketch is James Brown Celebrity Hot Tub. Everything about that sketch is such an absurd idea. Its one thing to just have a James Brown impression; its another thing to then just throw it into a hot tub as a talk show in a hot tub.

Its also just an interesting pilot to look at when you think about the fact that a few years later, Beavis and Butt-Head became a thing that really spoke to the television culture that you and I were talking about earlier  kids sitting on the couch watching television, commenting on it. It doesnt feel that different. It speaks to just how media gets consumed today. Hes flipping through channels in the same way that people run through a Twitter feed. There is a speed to how the character is watching something and moves onto the next thing and watches it and moves onto the next thing. With phones and YouTube, or Twitch, or anything else, its just a new way to flip through the channels.

Something that Whats Alan Watching? got right about that kids channel-flipping experience is how the stuff he actually spends time on arent the things that are actually targeted to him. He was watching documentaries about Mr. Ed. Can you remember anything you saw as a child, a voracious consumer of television, that wasnt for children but you still got obsessed with?

I feel like there were things that were maybe from different eras that I got caught up watching. Old shows like I Love Lucy or Gilligans Island. Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp was a thing that I remember watching and really wanting to understand. Every Christmas some local channel would play this movie Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. It was a movie from the 50s or early 60s, and it was clearly not for me. Not that it was a scary movie  it was just a weird, bad movie. I would find myself occasionally being like Lets see what soap operas are like or Lets watch Remington Steele. I wasnt watching nature documentaries or anything. I think if I was watching any science shows, my mother would have been very happy for me.

Did you watch a lot of SNL as a kid?

I did, but I watched more of the best-of stuff or the episodes that would get played on Nick at Nite. It wasnt until probably I was a teenager that I was able to watch the live show. Prior to that, I had all these years of watching the 70s and 80s versions of it, and I was surprised. Like, I guess theyre still doing this, but its different people and it doesnt have that vintage 70s video look.

Something that I found kind of tonally similar between Whats Alan Watching? and aka was the very careful balancing between how absurd the characters were going to be and how grounded. Your show isnt exactly surreal, its our world but with more vigilantes. How do you make people that are still believable, but also outsized enough to be funny?

aka came out of having taken a lot of development meetings a few years ago, and people saying Whats your Seinfeld? Whats your semi-autobiographical life as a comedian in New York? At the time there were a lot of those shows already on the air. I was thinking we might be at peak television about the mundane life of comedians when theyre not onstage. Was there something else I could think of that was like being a comedian, where who you are at work isnt the same as who you are when youre off the clock  where you tend to work nights, and nobody really understands what your job is like? And the thing that came to mind was vigilante crime fighter. So I was going around pitching that as my semi-autobiographical thing, but Im just cutting and replacing comedian with vigilante crime fighter.

With that as the thought going in, the characters still had to feel like real people. Whether youre a comedian, a vigilante, or you work at Target, you put on a costume of some kind and you present that to people. But who you are in real life, thats where the interesting stories come from. So I tried to really focus on the interesting stories and not get too caught up in the vigilante side of things. You could spend way too much time there and very easily get to a place of feeling too wacky or something.

I wonder if, between aka and Problem Areas, whether youve gained any insight into how you think police should interact with communities.

How do I think police should interact with communities?

Or how communities should police themselves? It seems like theres a lot of trying to figure out justice in your work.

I feel a little bit like youre asking me like, if I were mayor, what would I do? And I dont feel like Im expert enough to talk about the nuances of everything, because its very easy to say We should look at how resources in this city get allocated. And I do feel like thats the first thing that I would want to talk about  resource allocation. In low-income neighborhoods that are considered high crime, the resources sent into that neighborhood are police. Other resources might have just as much, or an even greater, effect at crime reduction and overall neighborhood safety  resources to make sure that the same educational opportunities that are provided to the most affluent neighborhoods are provided to those in the the least. Social services that could perhaps talk to people in the neighborhood, and could deescalate situations that dont require force, and that might nudge people who may need it into seeking treatment and help that comes in other forms than simply arrest. And so for me, I would be curious to see a conversation on resource allocation.

But again, as someone who is not actually involved in how the city spends its money, I dont know if its an easy enough thing that if I became mayor tomorrow, I could say Okay, were going to spend a billion dollars to make sure that the poorest neighborhoods in New York have great trains and buses that are running on time constantly, and have all the streetlights, and the schools are as good as Stuyvesant High School, and there are job-training programs. Its very easy for me to say that as someone who doesnt have access to the citys budget. But I feel like the conversation, before it even gets to fixing policing, needs to be Well, lets look at the decisions that we make as cities and communities. In an impoverished neighborhood where there is a lack of access to the same types of programs and resources that exist in middle-class, upper-middle, and affluent neighborhoods, why arent we talking as much about that? In talking about that, in fixing that, maybe it lessens the need for continually throwing police in as the answer to all of these other problems.

That was great. But I wont make you run for mayor.

Thank you, I appreciate that. I dont want to run for mayor. It feels like its a shitty job. Youre principal of the city.

But the principal is in the pocket of the superintendent. The Simpsons taught me that.

That is true. Thats very true. And this column is about things that are underrated, and The Simpsons is a show that has never had to worry about that. Comedy is in the pocket of Big Simpson.Huntsville Police arrested 22 year-old William Wooden for the shooting death on Monday night.

Woodens is being charged with capital murder, and police say the incident was a result of a domestic dispute.

The victim was identified as 20-year-old Kevin Stewart, who used to date Wooden's girlfriend. Police say Stewart was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head.

The shooting happened on Wade Road near the Owens Cross Roads area around 9 PM. Police say it was a drive-by shooting. Huntsville Police were on the scene until 2 AM collecting evidence.The WAAY31 I-team uncovered a man out on parole, now charged with killing three people, another run in with police before the crime.

WAAY31 discovered Jimmy Spencer had a run in with Guntersville Police. Monday, officers there said one of the women hes charged with killing called them hours before police in another city arrested him.

The Guntersville Police Chief told me Martha Reilford called the police department, not 911, the morning of June 14th. She told police she thought someone at her home was stealing her prescription medication.

Police said in total there were four people at Reliford's home inculding herself, a relative, a man named Jeremy Buckelew, and Jimmy Spencer.

Police said Reilford's relative and Buckelew split when she called the cops but Spencer stayed. He actually waited on the curb and gave police consent to search him and his car.

Police did not find any drugs and they said he cooperated 100%. Martha Reilford chose not to press charges.

Guntersville police said they took notes on the report but did not have any evidence to arrest Spencer. Officers did run Spencer's name through a national data base, but no warrants or anything showed up. They had to let him go.

Later in the day on June 14th, police in Sardis arrested Spencer on drug and resisting arrest charges. The Sarids Police Chief said they ran Spencers name through the same national crime data base and learned he was out on parole, but no warrants or anything like that popped up either.

The chief told me his department notified Spencer's parole officer and state officials, but nothing was done. On June 19th, he was released from the Etowah County Jail on his Sardis charges because the state didn't put a hold on him.

One month later, police say Spencer killed Reilford and two other people in Guntersville.

We are still waiting to get information from the Department of Corrections on Spencer's disciplinary actions against him while in prison.

The state department of corrections granted Spencer parole in November even though he was sentenced to life in prison and had a spotty record as a prisoner. He walked away from a re-entry program weeks after his release. The state was notified but nothing was ever done about it.

The Alabama Pardon and Parole Board says its doing a complete review of the Spencer case.P-40 in RAAF Service Part One - P-40E

Part Two - P-40K/M/N DK Decals, 1/72 scale S u m m a r y : Catalogue Numbers: DK Decals Sets Nos.

72049 - P-40E Kittyhawk in RAAF Service

72050 - P-40 K/M/N in RAAF Service Scale: 1/72 Contents & Media 2 separate sets of decals for appropriate 1/72 Curtiss P-40 kits. Price: Each AUD $27.50 ($25.00 Export) plus postage from Red Roo Models Review Type: First Look Advantages: Accurate decals, well produced. Disadvantages: None noted. Conclusions: Alternative schemes for Curtiss P-40 fighters which will suit any 1/72 kit of appropriate variant.

Reviewed by Ed Russell and Phill Sporton

Xtradecal's 1/72 scale Junkers Ju 87 B/K/R Stuka decals

are available online from Squadron.com F i r s t L o o k Background Well over 800 examples of the Kittyhawk served with the RAAF in the South West Pacific area, making it one of the most numerous single types in the defence of Australia in WW2. Numerous marks were used including P-40E (Kittyhawk IA) P-40K and P-40M (Kittyhawk III), P-40N (Kittyhawk IV). The Decals DK Decals has been producing Australian and Pacific themed decals in 1/72 and 1/48 for some years. Their products have been well researched and produced. These offerings provide two sets of decals with 19 and 20 aircraft per set respectively. There are roundels and fin flashes where appropriate for one model but they are common sizes and there should be no trouble modelling every aircraft from each sheet (if you are mad enough). Most modellers are dependent on the manufacturer for accurate details and colour schemes. In turn the manufacturers will consult (or not!) with people who know about the subject. Obviously some people will have access to much reference material and others not much at all. There is a self-correcting mechanism that those who are most committed to making an accurate model will make more time and will have more information and more ability to correct the mistakes that inevitably occur. There are readily available pictures on the excellent resources of the AWM and ADF-Serials sites and we have compared a few examples from both of these decal sheets with pictures. We hope our review will provide some reassurance that using these decals will lead to an accurate result.

P-40E Kittyhawk in RAAF Service - 72049 Subjects covered on this sheet are: 1. P-40E A29-82, No.2 OTU, 1942

2. P-40E A29-85, No.76 Sq. RAAF, 1942

3. P-40E A29-153, No.75 Sq. RAAF, New Guinea 1943

4. P-40E, A29-96, No.76 Sq. RAAF, New Guinea 1942

5. P-40E A29-78, No.76 Sq. RAAF, New Guinea 1942

6. P-40E A29-138, No.76 Sq. RAAF, Townsville 1942

7. P-40E A29-111, No.75 Sq. RAAF, New Guinea 1942

8. P-40E A29-66, No.77 Sq. RAAF, 1943

9. P-40E A29-75, No.76 Sq. RAAF, 1942

10. P-40E A29-63, No.82 Sq. RAAF, New Guinea 1943

11. P-40E A29-159, No.75 Sq. RAAF, 1943

12. P-40E A29-13, No.75 Sq. RAAF, New Guinea 1942

13. P-40E A29-6, No.75 Sq. RAAF, New Guinea 1942

14. P-40E A29-28, No.76 Sq. RAAF, 1942

15. P-40E A29-142, No.76 Sq. RAAF, F/L K.W. Truscott, New Guinea 1942

16. P-40E A29-114, No.75 Sq. RAAF, 1943

17. P-40E A29-99, No.75 Sq. RAAF, New Guinea 1942

18. P-40E A29-133, No.82 Sq. RAAF, 1944

19. P-40E A29-29, No.2 OTU, 1942 1. A29-82 looks just like the well-known publicity photo 3. A29-153 Grace mimics the pics perfectly (even the A number is in the right spot). That said, Grace displays a common anomaly, she clearly was delivered in British colours and the yellow surround has clearly been over painted with a different shade of brown but the undersides have clearly been completely repainted (most likely in RAAF Sky Blue). 5. A29-78 Bloody Mary The underside is clearly re-painted (likely with RAAF Sky Blue) with overspray on the tail. The pictures dont appear to show demarcation suggesting Earth Brown/Olive Drab. More likely to be plain OD. 6. A29-138 Zombie looks like the pictures. 12. A29-13 For a while at least, this would have been in Olive Drab /Neutral Gray as delivered as A29-6 is depicted. It may have been with or without US ARMY underneath. It may later have had an EB/OD dispersion pattern 13. A29-6 DK have the earliest Kittyhawks like this one in OD/NG. These were redirected from a US order, so thats probably correct. They also have the option of US ARMY lettering underneath However as they were assembled from the crate in Australia these US Army decals were probably not applied. Some will disagree, so its good to have the option. 15. A29-142  Bluey Truscotts plane in British camouflage, it clearly has the standard dispersion pattern of Dark Green/Dark Earth but repainted under surfaces, probably RAAF Sky Blue. Note the photos dont seem to show under wing roundels. 18. A29-133 coded FA-B is interesting: This is the fuselage used for the AWM A29-133 and appears to follow the pictures. 16-19. The two repainted Foliage Green Earth Brown over RAAF Sky examples look good. A29-29 from an OTU is in the standard British delivery Scheme which also looks correct. P-40K/M/N Kittyhawk in RAAF Service - 72050 Subjects covered on this sheet are: 1. P-40M A29-302, No.86 Sq. RAAF, 1943

2. P-40M, A29-325, No.86 Sq. RAAF, 1943

3. P-40N A29-915, No.82 Sq. RAAF, 1944

4. P-40N A29-614, No.82 Sq. RAAF, 1944

5. P-40M A29-361, No.76 Sq. RAAF, New Guinea 1944

6. P-40N A29-1140, No.76 Sq., 1945

7. P-40K A29-182, No.77 Sq. RAAF, New Guinea 1943

8. P-40N A29-481, No.86 Sq. RAAF, 1945

9. P-40N A29-1005, No.75 Sq. RAAF, 1945

10. P-40N A29-1021, No.75 Sq. RAAF, 1945

11. P-40N A29-521, No.75 Sq. RAAF, 1944

12. P-40N A29-1062, No.75 Sq. RAAF, 1945

13. P-40N A29-922, No.77 Sq. RAAF, 1944

14. P-40N A29-806, No.77 Sq. RAAF, 1944

15. P-40N A29-819, No.77 Sq. RAAF, 1944

16. P-40M A29-414, No.78 Sq. RAAF, 1944

17. P-40N A29-545, No.78 Sq. RAAF, 1945

18. P-40N A29-558, No.78 Sq. RAAF, 1945

19. P-40N A29-1177, No.84 Sq., 1945

20. P-40N A29-650, No.1 APU, 1945 1. A29-302 MP-B  The DuPont DE/DG over Sky Grey is in the standard British delivery colours. This aircraft, like many of our P-40s, may have had the undersides repainted RAAF Sky Blue but well have to leave it to the modeller to decide on this one. Note that A29-302 is a P-40M1 not a long tail P-40K as depicted. 2. A29-325  Correctly depicted as a P-40M. There are two nice photos and a colour profile of this book in Pentlands RAAF Colour and Markings Volume 2 (Page 50). Pentland suggests RAF Sky Blue undersides, the photos tend to confirm this. It is suggested that the Spinner is Olive Drab 6 . A29-1140 is a well documented aircraft and DK Decals seem to have it pretty right. 11. A29-521  OD/NG but the rear of the spinner is likely to be in a flight colour  dark red or dark blue. There are pictures with and without the weathering and paint flaking around the nose. 12. A29-1062  OD/NG  Photo below, second in the line up - the white tail is evident. 13. A29-922  OD/NG  The lighter colour (Yellow) is evident on the Spinner and the depiction of the nose art is good. 15. A29-819 This OD/NG P-40N aircraft was coded AM-N and named Cutie Pants 16. A29-414  Foliage Green over Earth Brown P-40N, RAAF Sky undersides, I think I can convince myself of the white leading edges but no tail shot. Note the natural aluminium drop tank. 17. A29-545  The serial would suggest a OD/NG P-40N however, I have little more to add on this particular aircraft. 18. A29-558 - Watch My Form artwork was carried by several P-40 aircraft A29-467 HU-Y, A29-558 HU-N (also P) A29-572 HU-P. The decals are appropriate for 558 without the chalked Lucky 13 carried by 572, a picture of which is included for interest. 19. A29-1177  OD/NG P-40N  Well depicted compared with the photos. 20. A29-650  Overall Natural Metal P-40N  Again accurate to the pictures. C o n c l u s i o n If you are enthusiastic about the wartime RAAF or one of the multitude of P-40 fans these decals will be very much welcomed. They are well researched and printed. Thanks to Red Roo Models for this sample. Text and Images Copyright  2018 by Ed Russell and Phill Sporton

This Page Created on 28 August, 2018

Last updated 28 August, 2018 Back to HyperScale Main PageAdvertisement

By Mike Cooper

Aug. 27, 2018 | PADUCAH

By Mike Cooper Aug. 27, 2018 | 10:54 PM | PADUCAH

The McCracken County Fiscal Court was presented with proposed new tax rates for the upcoming year and also discussed the closing of Tilford Underwood Drive in Lone Oak, at their meeting on Monday evening.



The McCracken County Board of Education requested the closure of Underwood Drive for safety reasons as it intersects property where the new Lone Oak Middle School will be built. They also pointed out it would make traffic flow better for Hendron-Lone Oak Elementary School.



The court requested that the School Board obtain a local traffic study about how many cars use Underwood Drive, both from Bleich Road, and Lakeview Drive, and report back to them at their next meeting on September 10th. No action will be taken by the court on this item until they can see the results of the traffic study.



Several tax rates were presented for discussion. Those rates presented, compared to last year, were:



McCracken County Extension Board-Real Property 3.443/(Last year was 2.904) and Personal Property 9.0936/(Last year was 5.5617). The court was concerned as to why there was such a large increase. More information on this item will be presented at the next meeting.



Concord Fire Department-Real Property 0.75/(Last year was 0.75) and Motorcraft .08/(Last year was .08).



McCracken County School Board-Real Property 53.8/(Last year 52.0), Tangible Property 53.8/(Last year 53.0), and Motor Vehicle and Watercraft 52.9/(Last year 52.9).



McCracken County Public Library-Real Property 6.1/(Last year 5.9), Personal Property 8.41/(Last year 5.9), and Motor Vehicle 5.0/(Last year 5.0).



The court will vote on these tax rates at their next meeting on September 10th.



In other business, the court approved the vouchers claims register from August 13th to August 27th to show county bills in the amount of $482,243.52, and ordered to make cash transfers to pay county bills approved August 27th in the amount of $304,839.13. They also approved eight court orders.



Commissioner Bill Bartleman gave information about a service being implemented by the State, for all 23 halfway houses in Kentucky, which includes the Keeton Correctional Facility in Paducah. The program is called Alert Express, and it will notify as quickly as possible, those that sign up for the service, if there is an escape.Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required.

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Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required.By West Kentucky Star Staff Aug. 19, 2018 | 09:33 AM | MURRAY

The Murray Police Department is hosting Community Night tonight from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at Chestnut Park. Community Night is an event for the community to get together and enjoy a fun evening in the park.

This event, formerly known as National Night Out, has been held over the past few years and continues to grow. There will be an Air-Evac helicopter fly in, inflatables sponsored by Murray State University Town and Gown and the Murray Bank Ice Cream Machine.

Local first responders, including Calloway County Sheriffs Office, Murray Fire Department, Calloway Fire and Rescue, Murray State University Police, and the National Guard will be there to meet and host activities. There will also be several tables with information and activities from local organizations and groups within our area.

The event is free, and all activities are free as well.VIDEO

A New Zealand unit recently gave a traditionally intimidating farewell to visiting U.S. artillery troops in the form of a haka, a chant and dance from the country's indigenous population, the Maori.The Haka is iconic throughout the world. If you are interested in rugby, then you probably know that the All Blacks perform a haka at the start of each of the rugby games. But, did you know why they do it? There are multiple reasons; and it comes back to the fact that the haka is important to the indigenous people of New Zealand; the Maori. It is an important, iconic part of their history and traditions.The first hakas were created and performed by different Maori tribes as a war dance. It is an ancestral war cry. It was performed on the battlefields for two reasons. Firstly, it was done to scare their opponents; the warriors would use aggressive facial expressions such as bulging eyes and poking of their tounges.They would grunt and cry in an intimidating way, while beating and waving their weapons. The second reason they did this was for their own morale; they believed that they were calling upon the god of war to help them win the battle. They were heavily choreographed and performed in time. It gave them courage and strength. This type of haka is called a peruperu haka.Overtime, the haka evolved and it came to be used for more than just battles. It became a way for communities to come together and it was a symbol for community and strength. This type of haka is called a ngeri haka.Unlike the peruperu, the ngeri does not use weapons. Their purpose is different; they are performed to simply move the performs and viewers physcologically, rather than to cause fear. This different goal is reflected in the way that they are performed.Their movements are more free, giving each participant the freedom to express themselves in their own movements. Both males and females can perform a haka; there are special ones that have been created just for women.Williamson, WV (25661)

Today

Partly cloudy skies early then becoming cloudy with periods of rain late. Low 42F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early then becoming cloudy with periods of rain late. Low 42F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%.Nine-year-old Jamel Myles from Denver, Colorado, killed himself after telling his family and classmates that he was gay.

A few days later, his mother found him dead in their home.

Leia Pierce says her son told his older sister that kids at their school told him to kill himself.

The school sent out a letter saying they're providing extra social workers and their crisis team for students, but Pierce says the parents are to blame.

"We should have accountability for bullying. I think the child should. Because the child knows it's wrong. The child wouldn't want someone to do it to them. I think the parent should be held because obviously the parents are either teaching them to be like that, or they're treating them like that."

Through this devastation, Pierce wants to spread awareness about the effects of bullying.Health care was the top issue referenced in campaign advertisements ahead of the US Senate primaries in Arizona and Florida on Tuesday, driven largely by Democratic messaging.

The focus on health care illustrates the Democrats strategy to largely avoid messaging around President Donald Trump's scandals in Washington and instead drive home issues they believe resonate more with voters.

In Arizona's Republican Senate primary, the candidates' efforts to tie themselves to Trump were on full display in TV ads.

Immigration and security have also colored ads in the Arizona race, and entitlements, taxes, and term limits have been points of emphasis in Florida.

Over $42 million worth of TV advertising has blanketed the airwaves in the two states through the week of August 28.

Arizona

A CNN analysis of Kantar Media/CMAG ad data shows how Republicans in Arizona's competitive Senate race have focused on immigration and security issues in their TV advertising, while also emphasizing their pro-Trump bona fides. Those were the top three TV ad themes by spending through the week of August 21 -- "immigration" ($2.45 million), "pro-Trump" ($1.77 million), and "public safety" ($1.58 million).

One of the top ads from Rep. Martha McSally touches on all of these themes, particularly the race to be the most "pro-Trump" candidate. It's a critical issue for McSally, the establishment favorite, and a former Trump critic who is facing a robust Republican primary contest against two outsider candidates -- Kelli Ward and Joe Arpaio -- in the mold of Trump who have adhered to his brand of politics and seized on polarizing immigration issues.

In the spot, McSally says she's "working with President Trump to secure our border and keep Arizona families safe," promising to "crack down on sanctuary cities," "enforce the law," and "build the wall" on the US-Mexico border. The ad features a clip of Trump praising "my friend Martha McSally," and an Arizona Republic piece declaring McSally "Arizona's most reliable vote for the Trump agenda."

Another ad from One Nation, a pro-McSally conservative outside group, also focuses on immigration and security issues. "They illegally cross our border -- criminals, violent gang members, and drugs, putting us all at risk," a narrator says over images of the border and ICE agents, before praising McSally and fellow Arizona Rep. David Schweikert for their efforts on border security issues.

On the other side, Democrat Kyrsten Sinema and liberal outside groups have made health care central to their messaging. Democrats have spent over $3.46 million on "health care" ads, with "taxes" ($1.58 million) and "veterans affairs" ($1.1 million) the second- and third-most discussed topics.

In one of Sinema's ads, she recounts her family's struggle with health care costs. "We were just kids when my dad lost his job. We lost our car, we lost our home, and we lost our health insurance. I know what it's like for a family to struggle to make ends meet," Sinema says in the spot. "Health care needs to be more affordable."

Meanwhile, Red and Gold -- a mysterious super PAC with links to Arizona Democrats that formed close enough to the primary date to avoid disclosing its donors until after the contest -- has been one of the most active outside groups in the race, spending over $1.6 million on a wave of ads targeting McSally that include a number of health care spots. In one of those ads, a couple from Oracle, Arizona, detail their struggle with health care costs.

"Every month I write a check for our health insurance. It's out of control," Kim Schweitzer says in the ad. "It hurts." Larry, her husband, references McSally's vote for the GOP attempt at repealing Obamacare, saying: "Martha McSally voted for this five-time cost increase for health insurance. I mean, I don't know how anyone can afford it. I don't get it, I don't know what Martha McSally is thinking."

Across advertisers from both parties in Arizona, "health care" was the top issue by spending ($4 million), followed by "immigration" ($2.7 million), "taxes" ($2.1 million), "public safety" ($2.1 million), and "terrorism" ($1.77 million) and "pro-Trump" ($1.77 million).

Florida

In Florida, as in Arizona, health care has been the dominant TV ad theme -- though Florida has seen more than three times the amount of TV ad spending so far, despite lacking a competitive Senate primary in a race expected to pit incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson against outgoing Republican Gov. Rick Scott.

Across both parties, candidates and outside groups have spent $14.7 million on ads discussing health care (with $9.7 million of that total devoted specifically to ads about Medicare). Health care ad spending was ahead of "taxes" ($14.1 million), "Social Security" ($7.69 million), and "social issues" ($5 million) and "term-limits" ($5 million).

Broken down by party, Democrats have put the greatest emphasis on health care ($7.98 million), followed by "social issues" ($5 million), "call to action" spots ($2.9 million) and "Social Security" ($2.9 million).

For example, an ad from Senate Majority PAC, a leading Democratic outside group, features an ER doctor listing health care issues and criticizing Scott's policies as governor while praising Nelson's efforts. "We got an opioid crisis, a doctor shortage, seniors struggling to pay for care, but even with all that, Rick Scott vetoed millions in health care funds and refused federal health care funds that would have covered 750,000 Floridians. Bill Nelson took on the insurance companies, forcing them to cover people with pre-existing conditions," Dr. David Woolsey says in the spot.

And an ad from Majority Forward -- a group affiliated with Senate Majority PAC -- also hammers Scott for "veto[ing] nearly $200 million in health care funds" as governor, "slashing home health care for seniors and vaccinations for kids," and "cutting doctors at rural hospitals and treatment for opioid addiction" -- "instead, Scott backed his party and gave tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy," the ad's narrator says.

The Republican tax cuts, and tax policy generally, have been a key theme in GOP messaging in the Florida Senate race. Florida Republicans have spent $11.29 million on ads discussing taxes, while also stressing health care ($6.75 million) and "term-limits" ($5 million) -- a tactic conservatives have seized on to cudgel Nelson, a four-decade veteran of politics.

A top Scott ad hits Nelson over both the longevity of his Washington career and his opposition to tax cuts. "In 1978, the Ford Pinto was the best-selling small car in America, gas was 63 cents a gallon, and Bill Nelson was elected to Congress. Forty years later, a lot of things change, but Bill Nelson is still in Washington," a narrator says over a series of retro images. "349 times, he's voted for higher taxes."

Term-limits and Nelson's lengthy career are another recurring theme. An ad from New Republican PAC -- which has spent over $5 million on the ace so far -- ticks through Nelson's career, starting in 1972 when he was elected to the Florida legislature, and repeatedly criticizes him for liberal tax policies before closing with, "after 45 years, it's time to term-limit Bill Nelson."

The Republican approach to health care messaging in Florida, meanwhile, has been to target Democrats over the long-term viability of Medicare. One of Scott's ads argues that Democratic policies threaten the program's future: "You pay for Medicare your entire career -- your parents paid into Medicare their entire lives -- but Washington is letting Medicare crumble," a narrator says. "Bill Nelson voted to cut $716 billion from Medicare -- no wonder it's going bankrupt."This time last year, the city of Utica had two homicides, and there were three for the entire year. So far this year there have been seven homicides, compared with one in Troy and two in Binghamton.

"Seven, at this point, is high for us," says Police Chief Mark Williams. "It's the non-shooting homicides that are unusually high for us, which usually the lower number every year."

The most recent victim is 17-year-old Stefan Medina, who was shot to death on Elizabeth Street August 19th. He's one of three fatal shooting victims so far this year in Utica. The city's four other homicides included two beatings, a stabbing and a vehicular homicide. There are a few grants that are helping the city get a handle on gun crimes. One concentrates on non-fatal shootings.

"Allows us to have a full time investigator whose only job is to concentrate on non-fatal shootings," said the chief. "And his only job is to focus on those victims, whether they want to cooperate or not, we don't go away. And a lot of times, we're getting cooperation eventually from a lot of these victims."

As for what's driving the homicide rate, the chief suspects it has less to do with what's happening on the streets and more to do with what's happening in the home.

"If you're asking my opinion, I think it's a loss of values I just don't see nowadays that I grew up with."

Arrests have been made in five of Utica's seven homicides so far this year.UTICA, NY-- Veterans in the Greater Utica Area are remembering an American war hero and political legend, Senator John McCain.

"You could count on him to stand on for veterans issues," said Vincent Scalise, a veteran who served in Iraqi and Afghanistan. "You could count on him to stand for not just nilly, willy sending troops anywhere to fight."

Scalise is also the founder and executive director of CNY Veteran's Outreach Center. The center provides services to homeless and at-risk veterans in Oneida, Herkimer Madison Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties. The center serves roughly 250 veterans and their families each month.

For nearly six years McCain was held and tortured as a prisoner of war, his injuries so severe he could never again raise his arms above his head. The long-serving United States Senator, and presidential candidate  died Saturday following a lengthy battle with brain cancer.

Vietnam veteran and Marine, Willie Wilson, of Utica, knows what it's like to deal with a life-altering injury. Wilson was left legally blind after an enemy attack while serving in Vietnam.

"He went through the pain and overcame it," Wilson said. "He had a lot of strength because he never gave up on us, I respect him for serving."

Scalise said he always thought highly of the late senator and has been a longtime supporter. He even volunteered during the Republican's 2008 presidential campaign.

"People in society today could learn from him, that everybody should serve," Scalise said. "It doesn't have to be in the military, it doesn't have to be in politics, but serve somehow, serve your community. I think we need to get back into that."LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)  A section of North 10th street in downtown Lafayette is going green.

The owners of Virtuous cycles also own the residential building next to it, the Pedal In. Their latest investment, the installation of Solar Panels.

The panels being installed over the next few days will generate enough electricity to power both buildings. The south-facing roof of Virtuous Cycles is large enough to install 52 panels.

Those will generate 20 megawatt hours of electricity every year, and excess electricity will be sold back to the grid.

The investment is expected to pay for itself in less than 10 years.

Owner Susan Schechter said her grandchildren's future is what inspired the project.

"I have two grandchildren and predictions are that if we don't stop producing so much CO2, we will have 10 days of 130 degree weather here in Indiana," said Schechter.

Schechter says she hopes more downtown businesses will consider investing in a project like this.

Jefferson Electric's Sean Staley leads a lot of these projects.

"Now the technology has gotten to a point that it is cheap enough and it is good enough that it really does make sense both monetarily and for everything else, saving power and the environment," said Staley.WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)  Purdue President Mitch Daniels is joining current and former lawmakers across the country in recalling stories of Senator John McCain. McCain died Saturday after his battle with brain cancer.

The two republicans first met at a barbecue more than 40 years ago.

Daniels recalled his favorite stories of McCain exclusively with News 18 Tuesday morning. He said through McCain's death, Americans are reminded of the great hero he was.

"John McCain knew that this is a great country, always in need of improvement," said Daniels. "To me, he represents qualities which are in short supply right now."

Mitch Daniels and John McCain first met in the 1970s. Daniels worked as Senator Lugar's Chief of Staff, and McCain represented the Navy in the Senate.

While researching before the interview, we came across Daniels' speech to the 2018 graduating class. It had ideological similarities to McCain's final words released Monday.

"Suddenly, or so it seems, this nation has divided into tribes, made up of people with very different views of true and false, right and wrong," said Daniels in the May 2018 speech.

McCain's final words echoed the same sentiment.

"We weaken our greatness when we confuse our greatness with tribal rivalries.," read Rick Davis, the McCain family spokesman Monday.

News 18's Trevor Peters pointed out the similar mindsets. He asked Daniels if he thought they were talking about the same thing.

"I know we were worried about the same thing. We're not alone these days. I think the problem has become more and more obvious."

Daniels even recalled one of his favorite McCain stories. It was a time the two came together in 2002 when he was in the Bush Administration. Then Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels was alone and under enormous pressure to approve a $400-million Air Force proposal to lease Boeing 737's for "VIP" transports. It didn't look right to Daniels.

"He was the only member of Congress, that I remember, that took the same position," said Daniels. "He saw it as corporate welfare and not a good use of taxpayer dollars. I said, 'John, tell me I'm wrong about this. Because life would be a whole lot easier if I was.' I've got the speaker of the house, I have half the senate, I've got the president calling me saying are you sure we can't work something out! He (McCain) said, you're right, don't let it go. It was the two of us guarding the bridge."

Ultimately the deal was stopped.

Looking back, Daniels said its McCain's honor, principal, willingness to contribute and love of this country that makes John McCain a true patriot.

"I hate that we've lost him, but in losing him maybe he's performing one final great act of national service which is to remind us of those qualities, and how we are always going to need them."

You can find the full interview below:

Q: How did you first meet John McCain?

Daniels: "I did know John McCain since the late '70s, not nearly as long or as continuous as a lot of people. When I first went to Washington, to serve then Senator Lugar, Captain McCain was representing the Navy in the Senate. I got to know him at cookouts and literally learned his story, which I should have remembered through national news, from his own lips at a barbecue one night. Our mutual friend whose house it was, his side kick, told me later that was the first time he'd ever heard John talk about being shot down. He nearly died in the plane. He nearly died in the lake where he landed and was nearly killed by local citizens. Then of course five years of imprisonment and torture that followed. But that's how I got to know him. I came home to Indiana to go into business and he went back to Arizona to pursue politics. Then we got back together when I served in the (George W.) Bush cabinet from 2001 to 2003 and had a lot of interactions then. To me he represents qualities that are in short supply right now. Honor- always trying to do the right thing, even at personal expense. Principal- he freely admitted even in his last days that he was wrong, but then he tried to identify the right thing and then impossible to move, when he did. And Patriotism of the highest variety. John McCain knew that this is a great country always in need of improvement, but that our history has been one of steady improvement. and liberating of people here and elsewhere. I hate that we've lost him, but in losing him, maybe he's performing one final great act of National service, which is to remind us of those qualities. And how we always are going to need them.

Q: In your commencement speech to the Class of 2018, you advised the grads to avoid tribalism, saying Americans have been divided into estranged tribes. In Senator McCains final words released Monday, he said We can not confuse patriotism with tribal rivalries. Similar mindsets. Do you think you and the late senator are talking about the same thing in your two quotes?

Daniels: "I know we were worried about the same thing. We are not alone these days, that problem has become more and more obvious. But the fact John was expressing similar viewpoints gives me confidence that this is as big a dilemma that I think it is. It's worth talking to tomorrow's leaders.

Q: During a 2008 campaign stop at the Indianapolis Airport, Senator McCain called you a "great conservative" and a "great leader." Looking back now, would you say the same about him?

Daniels: "Of course, and more. In our work together, during the early part of this century, we were in a couple very tough fights. I can remember taking the same position. He saw the deal in question as corporate well-fare, not a good use of taxpayer dollars and if not for him, it would be very hard to hold out. We did. Ultimately the deal was stopped. Actually a couple of people, one from the company one from the government, went to jail because of it. But, I'll always remember that as 'vintage John McCain.' I said, 'John tell me I'm wrong about this because life would be a lot easier. I've got the Speaker of the House, I've got half the Senate, I've got the President calling me saying, 'Are you sure we can't work something out?' He said, 'You're right. Don't let it go. If it gets up here, I'll try but I'll get rolled!' It was just kind of the two of us guarding the bridge. Knowing that that's what he thought, gave me confidence that instincts were right."

Q: Was that the Boeing case?

Daniels: "It was, it was."

Q: What can Boilermakers, or Hoosiers in general, learn from Senator McCain?

Daniels: "John McCain famously said, 'I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's.' Americans sometimes are forgetful of how incredibly fortunate we are, what a great country this is, it didn't get here accidentally. A lot of blood was spilled, and he spilled some of it. To try to advance and protect those freedoms. When we dwell on it's imperfections, that's fine because we have to have continuous improvement. But it has been, and his life reminds us of that. And of the sacrifice that somebody has to make from time to time for the rest of us to enjoy it. That honor still means something, that doing the right thing, even if you are alone, it comes a great costs. That's still a principle to be upheld. Again, if his passing has anything positive about it, it's that it's put on display for folks who may not have thought about those things. Greatness of this country. Importance of genuine patritiosm. The willingness to contribute somehow. You don't have to have your body broken in 20 places like he did, but we all owe a great debt. But the only way to repay it is to try make our place better.FRANKFORT, Ind. (WLFI)  The Clinton County Humane Society finds itself in the public eye, once again.

This time it's as they present the budget for a neutering program to Frankfort City Council.

The humane society board of directors has been under fire since the former director, Jim Tate, was fired two weeks ago.

During the meeting, the board of directors came forward to seek approval for its trap, neuter and release budget.

They say they need $20,000 to cover bait, cages and spay and neuter costs.

However, the council said the Clinton County Humane Society didn't have complete data to back up their request, so the vote was put off until next month.

The trap, neuter and release program is extremely important because the feral cat community is enormous, said the former board member Carin Moskovitz. I mean just enormous in this city. Something has to be done.

So many members of the public showed up to the meeting that it had to be moved to a different room.

The council was clear that none of the staffing issues could be addressed by the city council.

Many tried to remark on it during open comment, but in the end the council would only speak to the budget and the spay and neuter program.

The budget meeting will be in three weeks, but the current director said if they could have a civil discussion, he would love to sit down with the community and host an open forum.



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This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Aug 28th, 2018

A member of Labours frontbench ministerial team will visit the region tomorrow to discuss the future of hundreds of tax office jobs and back a local MPs campaign to stop the roles from being moved away from Wrexham.

Staff at Her Majestys Revenue & Customs (HMRC) Wrexham Technology Park site  which is home to a workforce of about 300  face being relocated to either Liverpool or Cardiff as part of government plans to close the towns office by 2021.

In 2015 the then chief executive of HMRC said there were too many expensive, isolated and outdated offices, which makes it difficult for us to collaborate, modernise our ways of working, and make the changes we need to transform our service to customers and clamp down further on the minority who try to cheat the system.

Wrexham MP Ian Lucas has been fighting to keep the jobs in Wrexham and tomorrow he will welcome Labours shadow treasury minister Anneliese Dodds MP for a meeting with HMRC employees represented by the PCS union.

Ms Dodds is conducting a review of the impact of HMRC cuts and office closures for the shadow treasury team. The meeting in Wrexham is one of a series across the UK discuss the issue with affected staff and look at how Labour would reverse the policy to benefit our towns.

Mr Lucas said: The Tory Government likes to see itself as representing market towns, small businesses and local communities. The reality, however, is that its policies are shifting wealth, opportunity and services away from towns to cities.

They are proposing that more than 300 skilled public sector jobs be moved from Wrexham to regional centres in the North West of England or Cardiff. Not only is this unfair on the workforce, but the importance of Wrexham would be diminished by such a move  and the spending power in our town economy would be reduced. These jobs must be kept in Wrexham.

I am pleased that Anneliese Dodds is showing her support as the fight to defend these jobs for our community and others across the UK  continues.

The UKs tax authority announced in 2015 that it intended to close 137 local offices and replace them with 13 regional centres. Staff in the Wrexham office have been told they can move to the regional centres in either Liverpool or Cardiff with no North Wales presence for HMRC.

Ms Dodds has already found that there has been a negative impact in towns where local offices have closed, with many staff not able to shift to commuting to their new regional hub. She is also concerned about the impact of the new hub system on customs preparedness, in the light of additional pressures from Brexit.

A report by Parliaments Public Accounts Committee last year also pointed out how the HMRC plans would be damaging to towns like Wrexham.This will make a real difference to young peoples lives  local art project secures 10k grant

This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Aug 28th, 2018

A local arts project aimed at helping neurodiverse young people has secured almost 10,000 in funding.

The Virtually Learning! project, which will be based at Wrexham Glyndwr University, aims to develop the hidden talents of young people through the use of technology.

The project is the brainchild of Steve Jarvis, a lecturer on the Universitys BA (Hons) Game Art degree.

Steve, who has been teaching for twelve years and who has been at Glyndwr since 2016, is also working on a PhD on neurodiverse talent in North Wales, and has had a long-running interest in developing a project to encourage people with learning differences into the arts.

The whole Virtually Learning! project is about working with neuro-diverse young people, who may have conditions such as autism, and developing their talents, explained Steve.

Some of these people may have disengaged with education because of their previous experiences.

Using immersive technology we will be offering these young people a chance to explore working with Virtual Reality, Digital Art, Game Design and more.

We are aiming to inspire them to explore new careers in the growing digital sector, such as technologists, coders or digital artists.

The initial run for the project is aiming to provide workshops for 100 young people, aged between 11 and 24, at Glyndwr Universitys Regent Street Campus and at the Creative Industries Building at Plas Coch.

It has been funded by a 9,960 National Lottery Awards for All grant from the Big Lottery Fund.

Steve added: We are hoping to launch the project fully in the Autumn term- were currently building the technology suite which will be used to deliver the programme.

I am absolutely delighted we have got to this point, and I am so pleased this project has been made possible thanks to funding from the Big Lottery Fund. This will make a real difference to young peoples lives in North Wales.

Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology Professor Alec Shepley said: Its great news that Steve has secured this funding  he has championed this project from day one and I know it will help offer opportunities to a lot of people who may not have had them before.

Thats exactly the kind of work that we do here at Wrexham Glyndwr University, and its great that Steve has secured Big Lottery Funding to develop fresh links with a section of our community which deserves a voice. I will be following the progress of Virtually Learning! with great interest.

Ruth Bates, Head of North Wales Region, Big Lottery Fund added: When I visited Wrexham Glyndwr University earlier this month I was extremely impressed by how strongly they are connected to their local community.

They clearly have a real commitment to making the most of peoples talents. This project is an excellent example of these attributes both of which are particularly important to the Big Lottery Fund.

Steve is also looking for further sponsors to help develop Virtually Learning! If you are interested, or know someone who can help, he can be contacted on Steve.jarvis@glyndwr.ac.uk.Leaders of major US unions met with President Donald Trump last week to discuss terms of the renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). A new trade pact solely with Mexico was announced by the Trump administration on Monday. The meeting with labor officials last week demonstrated the reactionary alignment of the unions with the America First nationalism of the White House.

A statement by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka issued in advance of the meeting began by praising Trump. From what we have seen up to this point, the AFL- CIO chief declared, it is clear that this administration has made some progress, yet there is more that must be done. Trumka continued, We are meeting with the president to reaffirm what a good deal for working people really looks like, starting with strong workers rights backed up by effective enforcement tools unlike those that have failed in the past and led to the unrelenting outsourcing of work to Mexico...

The talk of workers rights is a cover for the anti-immigrant and nationalist program of the trade union bureaucracy. The new trade deal is aimed at giving US corporations even greater advantage and extracting concessions from Mexico and Americas other trade rivals. It will not lead to any lessening of the war on jobs and living standards of workers in the US, Mexico or any other country but an escalation of that war.

Far from defending workers rights, the unions have spent decades colluding with corporate America to destroy them. In the face of the globalization of capitalist production in the 1970s and 1980s, the nationalist and pro-capitalist unions abandoned any resistance to the employers and in the name of making their own capitalists more competitive, collaborated in the destruction of the jobs and living standards of millions of workers.

While this has been an international phenomenon, nowhere has the transformation of the unions into direct instruments of the employers been more naked than in the United States. Over the past several decades the unions have all but banned strikes while corporate profits and income inequality have reached record levels. In return for their services, the union bureaucrats have been richly rewarded with seats on corporate and government boards and massive payoffs as the corruption scandal in the United Auto Workers shows.

The promotion of rabid nationalism takes place amid escalating social tensions in the US, reflected in the recent teacher strikes and mounting opposition by United Parcel Service workers to a sellout deal accepted by the Teamsters. The unions are attempting to deflect worker anger by channeling it away from the capitalist system and directing it against workers in other countries.

The unions have aligned themselves with the drive by the White House to extract concessions from its NAFTA partners, principally Mexico, in order to bolster American big business. This dovetails with a fascistic campaign by the Trump administration targeting Mexican immigrants, including the forced separation of children from families and Gestapo-style raids on workplaces.

The heads of major unions have generally supported the trade war measures enacted by Trump, including tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. In response to criticism of the administrations trade measures, Trumka tweeted last month, Some in Congress are badmouthing tariffs and grousing about trade wars, but those who failed to act on trade threats or stop trade cheats are part of the problem.

The foul nationalism promoted by the unions is a further demonstration that these are not working-class organizations but tools of the corporations and government. The support for trade war goes hand-in-hand with the unions support for new imperialist wars by the US against Russia, China and other geo-political rivals.

It adds urgency to the call by the World Socialist Web Site and the Socialist Equality Party for a break with the unions and the formation of rank-and-file factory and workplace committees, democratically controlled by workers and based on the methods of the class struggle, not labor-management and collusion. The organizational break by workers from the corporatist unions must be combined with a political break with the nationalist and pro-capitalist outlook of the unions, which have led workers down a blind path.

Trumka has left open the option of endorsing Trumps re-election in 2020. Earlier this month at a breakfast roundtable sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, Trumka said in response to a question that he would not rule out supporting Trump. "I never said we wouldn't consider endorsing him (Trump)," Trumka said. "What I'm saying is we'll consider every candidate who is running and our members will help us decide which one they think will help us most effectively represent the workers of this country."

Joining Trumka at the Tuesday White House meeting were heads of other major unions including Leo Gerard of the United Steelworkers, Robert Martinez of the International Association of Machinists, Teamsters head James P. Hoffa and United Auto Workers President Gary Jones.

Both the UAW and steelworkers union have enthusiastically embraced Trumps trade war measures, with Gerard fully backing US steel tariffs aimed against China, which the USW has demagogically blamed for unfair trade practices. Gerard has heaped effusive praise on Trump, at one point telling an interviewer, Donald Trump was able to see the steelworker agenda, what he did is what we've been fighting for more than 30 years.

For its part the UAW has lined up behind Trumps threatened 25 percent tariff on auto and auto parts imports. At a hearing last month on the proposed tariffs, the UAW was the only organization to take the side of the Trump administration, with automakers, dealers and parts suppliers all opposing trade war measures. Directly blaming Mexican workers for the loss of US jobs, Jennifer Kelly, the UAW representative at the hearing declared, NAFTAs useful, but a job in Mexico is not a job in the US.

On the part of the UAW, the scapegoating of Mexican and other workers outside the US has been standard fare for decades. Since the UAW launched its Buy American campaign in the late 1970s, it has overseen the destruction of hundreds of thousands of auto jobs and the impoverishment of workers, including the imposition of multiple wage and benefit tiers and the spread of temporary part-time workers with few if any benefits or contractual rights.

The UAW has been exposed as a bribed tool of management in the ongoing federal corruption investigation. Court documents reveal that Fiat Chrysler funneled at least $9 million to UAW officials in a scheme to fix contract negotiations and to keep union leaders fat, dumb and happy. Nancy Johnson, a former top aide to UAW Vice President for Fiat Chrysler Norwood Jewell, has implicated former UAW President Dennis Williams in the scandal. She reportedly told federal investigators that Williams authorized illegal payments from joint training centers to pay for union expenses, including travel, lavish meals and designer clothes and shoes and other luxury items.

As for Hoffa, the Teamsters bureaucracy is trying to force through a sellout agreement on United Parcel Service workers that drastically erodes wages and conditions. The union has proposed the creation of a hybrid driver/warehouse worker position that will be paid less than current drivers and will be used to begin the transformation of drivers into part-time workers.

The nationalism promoted by the unions poses extreme dangers for the working class. Anti-immigrant hysteria is being used to divide the working class, pitting native born workers against brutally exploited immigrant workers. At the same time, the logic of trade war points to a catastrophic military conflagration. It goes hand in hand with a massive military build-up by the US and other major powers accompanied by warlike threats by the Trump administration against Iran, China and other foreign rivals of US imperialism. It is being accompanied by an equally reactionary campaign by the Democrats targeting Russia amid claims of Russia interference.

Workers should not be fooled by the nationalist poison promoted by the trade unions in tandem with the Trump administration. The enemies of American workers are not workers overseas but the massive multi-national corporations that are reaping enormous profits off the backs of all workers whether they are in Asia, Africa or the Americas.

The transnational giants cannot be fought on a national basis. Instead, American workers can only defend their jobs, living standards and democratic rights and prevent the outbreak of new catastrophic wars by linking their struggles with their class brothers and sisters throughout the world. The development of such a movement can only be based on a socialist program challenging the capitalist profit system, which is the source of inequality, oppression and war.Conservative-run Northamptonshire County Council (NCC), which provides essential services to 733,100 people, epitomises the obliteration of local government in Britain. It declared effective bankruptcy in February and has a 70 million budget shortfall.

Last week NCC leader Matthew Golby announced that the council would only provide what was absolutely required by law.

The crisis in NCC is a result of the decades-long onslaught, exacerbated since the 2008 financial crash, on the public provision of services by the British ruling elite, resulting in their outsourcing and privatisation for the benefit of big business. The aim is to provide the bare minimum and consign the impoverished to seek support from charities and volunteers.

In a desperate attempt to stave off its crisis, NCC proposed a restructuring that will replace the county council and its seven district and borough councils with two unitary councils.

Even its proponents do not claim the restructure is a financial solution. admitting that it potentially risks only redistributing the existing financial instability of NCC across two new organisations.

In February, NCC became the first UK local authority for two decades to resort to a section 114 notice, preventing all new expenditure and imposing immediate spending controls.

The restructuring proposal followed a week after NCC voted to reduce its services to the bare legal minimum of what we are obliged to deliver in line with our statutory duties. It warned of radical service reductions and efficiencies, saying its financial black hole could reach 180 million within three years.

The core services strategy aims to make 70 million of cuts. All aspects of social provision are at risk. A redundancy programme has been drawn up for the 3,400-strong workforce, but how many jobs will be lost is not finalised.

NCC has already announced plans to close or sell 21 of its 36 libraries, 13 of them containing childrens centres. The decision was ruled unlawful last week by a judge, but experience of library closures nationally suggest this will simply make NCC offload their continued existence onto community-run (i.e., volunteer) services.

NCCs claims that nobody will be endangered by the cuts are not credible as the bulk of its expenditure has been on the most vulnerable. Last year, 300 million of NCCs 441 million budget was spent on adult and childrens social care services.

To reduce this expenditure, the council is reportedly reviewing how to reduce the number of children who are taken into care or placed under a child protection plan, cut support for those with learning disabilities and introduce fees or charges for services for adults.

NCCs contracts with private suppliers, including its Private Finance Initiatives (PFIs) in schools, hospitals and street lighting, are also said to be under review. Reports suggest that by the time NCCs seven PFIs end, taxpayers would have paid around 1.9 billion for building and maintenance projects that cost just 387 million in initial investment.

NCC is desperately attempting to raise cash by selling off its municipal buildings including the flagship head office, One Angel Square, just a few months after the building was formally opened by then Communities Secretary (now Home Secretary) Sajid Javid.

Even the advocates of the proposed restructure admit it will take some years to repay its costs. Colin Copus, emeritus professor of local politics at De Montfort University, said the restructure solves the immediate problem in the same way as if you declare yourself bankrupt and go straight off and set up another company. But it doesnt address the fundamental problems local government is facing.

NCC is not an isolated case. After its insolvency was announced, the National Audit Office reported that up to 15 councils were at similar risk. Conservative-run Torbay council recently became the latest local authority to end all non-urgent spending in response to a projected overspend of 2.8 million this year.

Last month Conservative-run East Sussex County Council, lauded as a model administration, announced plans to cut services to the bare legal minimum. Chief executive Becky Shaw reported that the council had made 129 million of savingsread cutssince 2010, but still faced a budget deficit of up to 46 million by 2021, making some statutory services, like school transport and concessionary fares for older people, financially unsustainable.

Shaws report gives the lie to claims that slash-and-burn policies on social funding improve efficiency. They represent a systematic deprivation of the poorest.

Shaw said that the councils early help services to support families and prevent a surge in child protection cases was now at funding risk, at the same time as rising poverty levels meant an increase in child neglect cases.

The pioneer in the wholesale outsourcing and privatisation of public services is Conservative-run Barnet council in north London. Its 2012 One Barnet Project has become the modeland one followed by NCC in its 2014 announcement that it would outsource 95 percent of its services.

In Barnet last week, a witness reported to the Labour Party-supporting web site Skwawkbox that a woman in her 50s had set fire to herself in a council housing office in Barnet House. She is said to be in a critical but stable condition. The council were referring all questions to the police, who said only that they were continuing their enquiries.

Skwawkbox revealed that even the health and safety arrangements at Barnet House had been outsourced to Capita, that the fire alarms failed to work, and security checksput in place because of earlier suicide attemptsdid not flag up a plastic bottle containing an inflammable liquid.

Skwawkbox notes that neither Barnet, Capita, nor the police have disputed this was a self-immolation.

NCCs Labour councillors formally opposed the cuts, but have done nothing more. Councillor Mick Scrimshaw, insisting the budget would not balance, told media, We are at the vanguard of the austerity project, but blamed stupid local decisions. NCC was warned that the cuts would leave it on the brink of providing illegal services.

Sections of the pseudo-left are attempting to promote a latter-day version of long-discredited municipal socialism. The Socialist Party (SP) has supported local calls for forcing new local elections in Northamptonshire, saying it was vital that candidates adopt a no-cuts budget approach, and support calls for a citizens assembly to discuss a genuine peoples needs budget, while pressuring government to force extra funding.

Their budget template, however, is a 2016 document, which advances setting a legal, no-cuts, balanced budget  through a combination of using reserves and borrowing powers. This, they claim, would enable a balanced budget without cuts for two years, i.e., in the hope a Labour government is elected which would then indemnify councils.

As the example to follow, they resurrect the myth of their predecessors in the Militant tendency in Liverpool who took on the government in far tougher circumstances. What actually took place in 1985 is that, having secured an additional 30 million in loans, Militant carried out what it called an orderly retreat and produced a legal balanced budget. Their capitulation, and refusal to open up a second front with miners fighting for the jobs in the 1984-85 miners strike, paved the way for the rout that swept Militant out of office and the kicking out of its members from the Labour Party in a right-wing witch-hunt.

The SPs 2016 document was in any case produced after Jeremy Corbyn and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell had already issued instructions to Labour councillors not to defy spending cuts. The SPs entreaties had, as we noted, already been repudiated by the leader they were courting.

Their notion of spending reserves on public services until the Corbyn revolution can begin is no more plausible. NCC Labour councillor John McGhee said services should have been kept public, but while we are trying to make these cuts we know we dont have any money in reserves.

The crisis in Northamptonshire and nationally cannot be redressed through reformist nostrums under capitalism. It requires, through the mobilisation of the working class on a socialist programme, the reorganisation of all economic life for social need, not private profit.The Victorian state Labor government announced earlier this month that it was seeking an urgent Federal Court review of a recent decision by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) industrial tribunal to end arbitration in the long-running dispute at Essos offshore Bass Strait gas operations.

The move is the latest attempt by the Labor government, working with the trade unions, to tie the dispute up in the courts and industrial tribunals and prevent any strike action in the strategic sector.

Essos offensive is part of a global restructuring by parent company ExxonMobil, the worlds largest oil and gas corporation. This is designed to further drive up the companys profits which rose by 18 percent to $US3.95 billion in this years second quarter, but fell short of Wall Street expectations. ExxonMobil is locked in a ruthless war against its rivals for market share under conditions of rising oil and commodity prices.

The dispute is over new enterprise agreements (EAs) covering members of the Australian Workers Union (AWU), the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) and the Electrical Trades Union (ETU).

Esso is seeking to tear up longstanding conditions. It is demanding that the 300 workers at the facility accept a 14-day-on, 14-day-off roster, in place of the existing week-on, week-off roster, and the removal of a 75 hours per year cap on overtime.

At the same time it has offered annual pay rises of just 3 percent, barely covering the rise in the cost of living. It has also refused to backdate any pay increase, even though the current agreement expired in 2014, thereby effectively imposing a four-year pay freeze.

The dispute was pushed into arbitration in 2016 after the state government applied to the FWC to prevent a threatened strike at the Bass Strait operations. That FWC decision, immediately accepted and enforced by the unions, banned any further industrial action by workers during the arbitration process, which dragged on until last month.

The FWC then announced that it could no longer arbitrate the dispute because the High Court had deemed limited work bans by AWU members to be unprotected, i.e., effectively illegal. The courts ruling underscored the reality that the courts and industrial tribunals are vehicles of the corporate elite for banning any political or industrial action by workers.

Esso responded to the ruling by renewing an application to the FWC to terminate the current work agreements. If granted, workers could be forced back onto basic industrial awards with inferior working conditions, including a reduction in pay of up to two-thirds.

Numerous companies have used the same tactic of seeking to push workers back to the base award over the past three years, including at Glencores Oaky North mine in Queensland and Griffin Coal in Western Australia. Companies, supported by the unions, then pressure workers to accept concessions in new workplace agreements. Presently, aluminium producer Alco is likewise seeking to terminate agreements in a dispute for new EAs at its Western Australian bauxite mines and refineries.

The Victorian Labor government has opposed the termination of the existing Esso Bass Strait agreement as part of its move to force a resumption of arbitration. Industrial Relations Minister Natalie Hutchins told the media that the government was intervening out of concern for the workers and the states gas supply.

Hutchins claim of concern for workers is a complete fraud. Since coming to office in 2014, Premier Daniel Andrews government has backed the employers assault on workers wages and working conditions.

Last year the Andrews government intervened to close down industrial action by 600 low-paid workers at Dorevitch Pathology to assist the imposition of a retrograde EA. Before that it applied to the FWC to deploy draconian anti-strike provisions against power workers in Victorias Latrobe Valley.

With a Victorian election scheduled for November the governments real aim is to prevent any strikes by the Esso workers that would impact on the states gas supply, especially to major corporations.

The government also fears stoppages in the crucial gas sector could become the catalyst for industrial and political action by other sections of workers who all face similar employer attacks.

Similar concern for big business interests was at the centre of the state governments 2016 application to the FWC made on the grounds that a threatened indefinite strike would cause significant damage to the Australian economy or an important part of it. This is just one of many anti-strike provisions in the Fair Work industrial legislation, drafted by the previous federal Labor government with the support of all the trade unions.

The unions, as anxious as the government to avoid industrial action, said they will apply to join the governments appeal to the Federal Court to reestablish FWC arbitration. This is a continuation of their response in 2016, when they welcomed the government intervention and immediately called off the strike, declaring that arbitration by the independent umpire was the only way to resolve the outstanding issues.

The unions, like the government, are seeking to suppress mounting anger among workers by keeping the dispute within the confines of the FWC and the courts. At the same time union officials are fearful that EA terminations jeopardise their own privileged position at the negotiating table where they bargain away the jobs, wages and conditions of the workers they false claim to represent.

Contrary to the claims of the unions, the FWC is far from a neutral body. It is part of the state apparatus that has been used in dispute after dispute to suppress workers struggles while the unions collaborate in closed-door meetings to broker EA deals to deliver company demands.

If Esso is now opposing FWC arbitration it is only because the process, while it has allowed production to continue unhindered, has not been sufficiently rapid in delivering its demands. An Esso spokesman last week declared: The ministers application [to the Federal Court] is unhelpful because it will only add further delay.

Essos decision to renew its application to terminate the existing EA is a sharp indication of its intent to intensify its cost-cutting drive.

Last year the company effectively sacked 230 UGL contract workers who were employed to carry out maintenance work on Essos Longford gas processing site. Esso demanded that they reapply for their jobs as contractors, with vast reductions in wages and conditions.

The unions have confined opposition from the UGL workers to an ineffectual protest outside the Longford plant. They have allowed the introduction of a new contract workforce and opposed any industrial action by other Esso workers over the job cuts.

As the record shows, at every point the unions have worked to straitjacket the Esso workers in the face of the companys aggression. They are campaigning to divert the widespread hostility among workers to the decades-long destruction of conditions behind the re-election of pro-market Labor governments at the state and federal levels.Last week, French President Emmanuel Macrons government announced a new raft of austerity measures focused on pension cuts, continuing the social attacks of the first year of his term. After trade unions organized token strikes this spring that blocked a class struggle against the privatization of the railways, Macron is stepping up his offensive aiming to destroy basic social rights established at the Liberation from Nazi Occupation in 1945.

While it stresses its determination to go all the way, the government knows it is isolated and unpopular. French and international media are openly expressing their concerns that Macron is weak and facing growing social opposition, on top of which he faces low economic growth.

According to an Elabe poll published last Wednesday, only 16 percent of the population believe that Macrons policies affect the country positively. Only 6 percent believe that Macron and Prime Minister Edouard Philippe are improving their personal situation.

While announcing measures to undermine basic social rights, the government is proclaiming that it will work more closely with the trade unions. Since it wants to show that it is responding to critiques of its isolation, the executive plans  to pay attention to its relations with the trade unions, which the president has promised to  associate more directly to social reforms, Le Monde wrote.

Nothing concrete has been revealed about the social cuts, due to fear of a social explosion that could swamp the union bureaucracies, during what Le Monde called the high-risk back-to-school period.

Macron is imposing deep austerity policies worked out by the European Union (EU). The Cour des Comptes, the institution that oversees the strict implementation of the EU budget diktat, wrote in a memo last week: In 2017, the very limited improvement of the budget deficit [67.7 billion] was the product of a sharp increase both in spending and in tax receipts, due to a spike in economic growth figures. Now, amid a noticeable slowdown of economic activity, it is demanding deep cuts to social spending.

While Frances sovereign debt is very high (96.8 percent of gross domestic product, one of the highest in the EU), Macron hurried to eliminate the Tax on Wealth (ISF) and slash corporate taxes, handing tens of billions of euros over to the super-rich.

According to Le Monde, Macron plans to initially cut roughly 10,000 public sector jobs in 2019 and even more in 2020, as the reforms go into effect. During his election campaign, Macron announced plans to cut 120,000 jobs in the public sector.

The central focus of these attacks, however, is two key sectors of social life that will affect the entire working population: the so-called hospital reform and, above all, pensions. The cut to pensions was discussed and arranged with the trade unions in the first half of the year. La Tribune calls it a systemic reform, while Le Monde calls it the most dangerous for the executive.

The government demagogically claims it is creating a universal system where each euro paid in gives the same rights to all, whenever it was paid in and whoever paid it. In fact, what is being prepared is a complete undermining of the pension system whose current foundations date back to the Liberation, despite various reforms in favor of the financial aristocracy since the 1990s and the aftermath of the Stalinist dissolution of the Soviet Union.

A pension by points is to replace the current pay-as-you-go system. Pensions are to be calculated based on points accumulated in a personal virtual account, and converted into money at retirement. Workers would get no points during periods of unemployment, casual work or work disability. As the official tasked with implementing the reform, Jean-Paul Delevoye, bluntly said: No one gets free points.

Various mechanisms would further slash pension payments. If, for example, life expectancy rises, pensionsthat the state therefore anticipates it would pay out over a longer periodwill be cut.

The social right to a pension of stable and legally guaranteed value would disappear, as the government can now modify the value of a point at its discretion.

Moreover, the legal retirement age, no longer relevant in the points system, is to be eliminated.

Workers are to be forced to work until they have enough points to retire. For millions of workers, this means working indefinitely: the age of 62 is to be retained only as the minimum age for retirement. Delevoye stated, in a points system, the notion of a fixed-length working life disappears. Your number of points allows you to make a personal decision: I have enough points, my pension looks big enough, so I retire. If not, I dont have enough points, I keep working.

The pay-as-you-go pension system, created by the authorities of the National Council of the Resistance (CNR) in 1945, was the cause of the collapse of poverty rates for older workers starting in the 1970spoverty that had been automatic and widespread in previous generations.

Moreover, a pension by points system can pave the way to funding pensions via investment accounts, with workers forced to pay for their own pensions, favoring high earners and the forming of private pension funds. Amid the 2008 crash, many European retirees lost pensions this way.

Macron is not ruling out requiring workers to privately fund their pensions, as Delevoye admitted: In our future universal regime, this will be raised for higher earners  Many scenarios are on the table. Do we need obligatory private pensions? Or individual accounts, possibly by capitalization?

The reform would also undermine reversion pensions, paid to spouses or partners of deceased workers. In 2016, 4.4 million people were dependent on such pensions, over a quarter of Frances 17.2 million retirees.

Another key effect of the reform would be to force retirees to bear the impact of future financial crises by automatically varying pension payments based on availability of funds, without requiring the state and trade unions of going through the motions of negotiating further cuts.

To pass its reform, the Macron government also needs to eliminate so-called special regime pensions, notably in the public service, that were also established after World War II. This would affect some 5 million workers.Virtually unnoticed by the public, German Defence Minister Ursula Von der Leyen presented the armys new policy doctrine in late July.

The 87-page document underscores what the grand coalition and the entire German ruling elite are planning behind the backs of the population: the massive rearmament of the army in preparation for major military operations and the prospect of a third world war.

The centrepiece of the policy doctrine is operational orientationi.e., the preparation of all military and civilian forces for war. The army follows the principle focus on the operation. The armys common thoughts and actions must be directed towards swiftly empowering the army to operate across the full spectrum of its tasks and remain ready to deploy. Operational orientation demands the self-awareness that not only the forces operating abroad, but rather all military and civilian members of the armyirrespective of where they servedo their part, including reservists, states the document on page 11.

This is followed by statements like, Operational orientation demands from all members of the army a high degree of physical and psychological robustness, as well as personal flexibility and mobility, Independent infrastructure, facilities, bodies of troops and capabilities have to be strengthened and made resistance-ready, and The goal is to prepare the army for known and new challenges, risks, and threats across the full spectrum of tasks and levels of intensity.In the fifth chapter, titled Prerequisites for the armys capability profile, it is stated, Conventional attacks on alliance territory are to be expected, especially on its external borders.

The army must be given the capacities to operate in this area. It must have the forces and means at its disposal to deploy after a brief mobilisation to the borders or beyond alliance territory. This must include strategic deployment capabilities. The possibility of an early response to the identification of concrete plans for attacks can be supported by capabilities to respond to emerging crises. Collective defence within alliance territory can range from small-scale operations to an extremely demanding deployment within the framework of a very large operation both within and on the outskirts of alliance territory.

Preparations for waragainst whom?

The Defence Ministry and army leadership do not declare in the new doctrine, which draws on the mad rearmament plans of the 1930s, whom the target of the very large operations will be. Perhaps once again an operation will be directed against Russia, which was invaded by Hitlers Wehrmacht in World War II and targeted for a horrific war of extermination, and which is now encircled and threatened militarily by NATO? Or against the United States, which under President Donald Trump has ceased to be the protective power of the post-war era and is once again a political opponent? Or against Germanys neighbours France and Poland, with whom Berlin (for now) cooperates closely on the military and political fronts, but which have historically been the military targets of German imperialism?

Young people and workers in Germany and around the world have a right to know what is going through the minds of the politicians and generals!

The doctrine leaves no doubt about the fact that the German military, its two catastrophic defeats in the world wars notwithstanding, is once again preparing for major wars. Rapid strike and follow-up capabilities for a very large operation have to be planned. They must be effectual in a hybrid conflict as it develops and escalates across the full spectrum of is effects, in all its dimensions, in a joint, multi-national armed force, and in all types of operations. At the beginning of a very large, high-intensity operation, a huge deployment of readily available forces and equipment is necessary. Provisions to regenerate the personnel and material will be undertaken.

The mad scenario even includes the possibility of a nuclear war. In the section National and alliance defence within the framework of NATO and the European Union, it states, Ultimately, the entire territory of the alliance, its full spectrum of state and social activities, can rapidly become the target of hostile acts. The continued existence of the doctrinal underpinnings and practical possibility of the deployment of nuclear weapons complements this. The army, with its Single Set of Forces, must be capable of deploying for collective defence in all its dimensions within a brief preparatory period, with the full range of its capabilities up to and including large combat-ready units both within and beyond alliance territory.

Other sections of the doctrine recall Goebbelss call for total war. The army must, for example, be able to ensure the deployability essentially of its own facilities without any reliance on third parties and in the face of severe disruptions. Independently of this, the forces and facilities can be deployed as subsidiary support services within a legal framework, particularly with capabilities that cannot be sustained by civilian services, e.g., due to their reliance on volunteers.

In a section with the heading effect, the document states, The control over and security within areas will be secured and sustained by superior effectiveness within the operational leadership. Successful functioning and the control over areas are critical for fulfilling operational goals. The army must be given the capabilities, either alone or as part of an alliance, to achieve effective superiority in all dimensions and across all levels of intensity.

Global wars of conquest and the preparations for waging war on such a massive scale go hand in hand with the German ruling elites desire to assert itself militarily on the world stage. In the section International crisis management, the document states, The requirements range from preventative actions in the face of developing crises to time-limited, highly-tensive rapid response operations and long-lasting stabilisation missions within the framework of security and post-crisis management. This also includes contributions to the struggle against international terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, threats in cyberspace and space, new threats of a different character, as well as the enforcement of embargos and sanctions, and displays of military force to support diplomatic efforts in crisis management.

This is explicitly about enforcing the geostrategic and economic interests of German imperialism. If the security situation in a region or area deteriorates and German interests are affected, the army can respond with a variety of military actions on the low end of the escalation spectrum, including by supporting diplomatic measures. With the presence of military strength in a crisis-ridden region with forces on land, in the air, or at sea, an aggressor can be dissuaded from his plans without the outbreak of an open conflict. Protective operations and convoys in crisis regions serve to safeguard shipping routes, air traffic, and trading routes, and to increase the mobility and response-readiness.

After the German government declared in 2014 that the era of military restraint was over, and in 2016 published a new white paper for the army, it is now openly declaring that Germany will assume a leadership role in future international military operations. The army is committed to developing and putting into practice the principles laid out in the 2016 white paper, and to participate in operations with ad hoc coalitions or to initiate them with partners, including as a lead nation, states the doctrine.

In other words, Berlin intends, just like the United States in its illegal invasion of Iraq, to form future coalitions of the willing to attack and occupy entire countries. In the imperialist language of the twenty-first century, such wars are justified as follows, If an eruption of violence cannot be prevented, a time-limited combat mission to restore peace can be necessary, which can be followed up with a stabilisation mission. Measures to enforce peace are to be selected in such a way that they pursue the long-term goal of stabilisation. The armed forces must be able to enforce ceasefires, including no-fly-zones, demilitarised zones, and zones for civilian protection, and organise the disarmament and repatriation of the conflict parties.

It continues, If necessary, they will assume responsibility for stabilising the area, and protecting civilians and critical infrastructure. To separate conflict parties, the force of a military opponent can sometimes be required. Soldiers deployed to overcome crises and armed conflicts must be capable of engaging in combat at all levels of intensity.  If the country concerned is incapable of securing public order and security independently, the army can temporarily assume responsibility in a cross-department intervention to secure order, the equivalent of which domestically would be led by non-military forces.

The deployment of the army domestically and the return to a militarist foreign policy goes hand in hand with the erection of a police state. With regard to the threats in the global commons, as well as hybrid threats in cyberspace, national and spatial boundaries, as well as the separation of internal and external security, are losing their significance, states the doctrine.

The paper openly declares its support for the deployment of the army domestically and its collaboration with the police and other state agencies. Subsidiary support services in Germany are to be adopted permanently within the framework of departmental agreements, including parliamentary flights, surveillance of oil, the promotion of sport, and export support. In Germany, available forces as well as contributions for support services in case of natural disasters, particularly severe accidents (including due to major terrorist incidents) should be mobilised to provide support during emergencies as well as with official business if requested.

The ruling class knows that it can only enforce its plans, as it did in the 1930s, by establishing an authoritarian terror regime and violently crushing all opposition among young people and workers. It is no accident that the armys new doctrine appears the same week as the latest report from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Verfassungschutz) appeared. The report defended the right-wing extremist Alternative for Germany while labelling the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (SGP) left-wing extremist because it advocates a socialist programme against the existing state and social order which it slanders as capitalist, against the EU, alleged nationalism, and against militarism and imperialism.

Workers and young people in Germany and throughout Europe understand very well what this means. The attack from the Verfassungschutz was aimed at the SGP, but also against anyone opposed to social inequality, militarism and state repressionthe vast majority of the population.

The task now is to mobilise this opposition on the basis of a socialist and internationalist programme. The same ruling class which twice before plunged humanity into the abyss cannot be allowed once again to put their criminal plans into practice. We call on all workers and young people who are concerned by the dangerous developments in Germany and want to oppose militarism, fascism and war to support a socialist counteroffensive and apply to join the SGP.Malcolm Turnbull, who was ousted as prime minister last Friday, last night confirmed he will quit parliament this week, thus stripping the government of its one-seat majority until a by-election can be held in his inner-Sydney electorate. Turnbulls decision underscores the fragility of the Liberal-National Coalition government, as well as the intensity of the rifts tearing it apart.

In a resignation letter to his constituents, made public last night, Turnbull wrote of the shocking and shameful events of last weeka pointless week of madness that disgraced our parliament and appalled our nation.

While Turnbull had threatened, during last weeks turmoil, to leave parliament immediately if he were removed from office, last nights announcement came after two developments that indicated the underlying content of his ouster via backroom machinations.

One was President Donald Trumps rapid endorsement of Turnbulls axing. Less than a day after being installed as prime minister, former Treasurer Scott Morrison received a congratulatory phone call from Trump. Had a great discussion with @realDonaldTrump this morning, Morrison said on Saturday. We affirmed the strength of the relationship between the US and Australia.

Morrison used the call to invite Trump to visit Australia, despite the widespread public hostility towards the US president. Both underlined the strength and depth of our alliance and the unbreakable friendship between Australia and the United States, Morrisons spokesperson said. Both leaders agreed to stay in contact and to meet at an early opportunity.

After Saturdays call, Trump took to Twitter to declare: Congratulations to new Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. There are no greater friends than the United States and Australia!

This exchange, in which Trump made no mention of Turnbull, let alone any pretence of thanking him for his service, sent a clear signal of Washingtons warm embrace, and at least tacit endorsement, of the inner-party coup.

Turnbulls foreign minister, Julie Bishop, also refused to serve in Morrisons cabinet and announced her own departure from parliament. Both were totally committed to the US military and security alliance, on which the Australian ruling class has relied since World War II. They supported a xenophobic campaign over the past two years accusing China of interfering in Australia, and committed to back the US in any confrontation with North Korea or China.

However, they had baulked at sending Australian warships or planes into the South China Sea to directly challenge Chinas territorial claims over reefs there, and two weeks ago Turnbull gave a speech seeking to repair relations with China, the Australian ruling classs largest export market.

The other development was Morrisons rewarding of the key cabinet ministers who either plotted Turnbulls removal or delivered the final blow. In particular, on Sunday Morrison not only retained Peter Dutton, who spearheaded the challenge to Turnbull, as home affairs minister. He gave some of his most senior cabinet posts to three crucial figures in the challenge to TurnbullFinance Minister Mathias Cormann, Jobs Minister Michaelia Cash and Communications Minister Mitch Fifield.

It is now clear, from the bitter recriminations displayed in the corporate media, that if this trio had not publicly declared that Turnbull had lost the support of the majority of Liberal Party parliamentarians, the challenge to Turnbull would have failed. The final vote to oust Turnbull, 45 to 40, itself showed that without those three defectors, no majority existed.

Ultimately, faced with defeat after the trios announcement, Turnbull threw his support behind Morrison last Friday in order to thwart his original challenger, Peter Dutton, who had become the figurehead of the Liberal Partys most rabidly right-wing elements, including those associated with ex-Prime Minister Tony Abbott, whom Turnbull had deposed in September 2015.

By handing back major ministries to the coup architects, and rewarding several others associated with the plotting, Morrison demonstrated that, while the Dutton-Abbott wing has not yet taken full control of the party, they are increasingly dictating its terms and policies. In the final party room ballet, Dutton came close to defeating Morrison, losing by just 45 to 40.

Morrison, an arch-conservative himself, was advanced as the best hope of holding the warring factions together for now. Despite being termed in the media as a moderate, he has a long record of supporting the most right-wing elements, including on military operations to repel asylum seekers, slashing welfare entitlements, boosting military spending and opposing same-sex marriage.

The events of the past few days confirm that the move against Turnbull is part of an ongoing campaign to refashion the Liberal Party into the means to confront both the intense opposition in the working class to the corporate austerity program of the political establishment and those sections of the ruling class that oppose direct conflict with China.

The Dutton-Abbott faction is seeking to build a right-wing base of support by demonising oppressed sections of the population such as immigrants and welfare recipients. Key US-backed figures in the faction, such as former military officers Andrew Hastie and General Jim Molan, are also determined to stoke xenophobia against alleged agents of Chinese influence.

These policies broadly parallel those of the pro-Trump alt-right in the US and the extreme-right and neo-fascist movements that have been given prominence across Europe. As international relations and parliamentary forms of rule break down, preparations are being made to use police-state measures to defend the financial and corporate oligarchy against mass opposition from the working class to social inequality and war.

Turnbull, a millionaire former merchant banker, represents financial and corporate interests that oppose the turn to America First style protectionism and trade war, which could have disastrous implications for Australian capitalism. They also fear that the repressive and divisive policies of the Dutton-Abbott camp could further radicalise workers and youth who already regard the parliamentary elite with hostility and disgust.

Because of this mounting public disaffection, successive governments, both Coalition and Labor, have been unable to carry through the full agenda demanded by the financial elite. Last week Turnbull finally abandoned his signature economic policy of handing multi-billion dollar tax cuts to the largest banks and corporations.

In this political crisis, the opposition Labor Party is positioning itself to return to office, promising the ruling class it will provide a more stable means of implementing savage austerity measures. The Hawke and Keating Labor governments of 1983 to 1996 and the Rudd and Gillard governments of 2007 to 2013 were instrumental in carrying out the deepening assault on the working class.

With Turnbull out of parliament, Labor leader Bill Shorten said Australia was in the zone of minority government. He told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio: The last thing this nation needs is the axe of minority government hanging over the head of the nation.

Liberals need to do some time in opposition to understand how fundamentally people dont like this Why did we go through all of this? Why is Australia called the coup capital of the world of western democracies?

On the core political agenda, however, Labor has no disagreement with the further lurch to the right and whipping up of xenophobia and militarism. Together with the trade unions, Labor supports agitation against foreign workers, helped push through foreign interference laws for use against anyone linked to China or opposition to war, and backs the $200 billion military expansion program currently underway.404

This page could not be found .Amidst the outpouring of praise from all sections of the political establishment for Republican Senator John McCain, who died on Saturday, two statements stand out.

The first was from Vermont senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who tweeted: John McCain was an American hero, a man of decency and honor and a friend of mine. He will be missed not just in the US Senate but by all Americans who respect integrity and independence.

The second was from Democratic Socialists of America member and New York congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who tweeted: John McCains legacy represents an unparalleled example of human decency and American service. As an intern, I learned a lot about the power of humanity in government through his deep friendship with Sen. Kennedy. He meant so much, to so many. My prayers are with his family.

Ocasio-Cortez posted with her tweet the editorial from the Washington Post on McCains death, John McCain, the irreplaceable American, which praised McCain for his work on national defense and deterrence of foreign aggression and for [rising] above party politics to pursue what he honestly saw as the national interest.

What, one is compelled to ask, are these two individuals, who present themselves as figures of the left and even socialists, talking about? What is McCains legacy of human decency and American service? What made him an American hero?

Was his human decency on display when he was dropping bombs on the Vietnamese people, or when he was acting as one of the earliest supporters of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which led to the deaths of one million people? Was his heroism expressed in his call for the bombing of Iran, his visit with Islamic fundamentalist organizations spearheading the CIA-backed civil war in Syria, or his demands, up to his last day, for stepped-up aggression against Russia?

The list of countries McCain advocated bombing is a long one, and there is no war launched by the US that he did not support. Political positions have consequences, and McCain had the blood of many hundreds of thousands of people on his hands. A genuine socialist would not praise his human decency, but demand, were he still alive, his prosecution for war crimes.

The praise for McCain by Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders is a calculated political decision. It reveals everything about the politics of the Democratic Party and the particular role played by these figures and the organizations that promote them.

On the part of Sanders, his declaration of solidarity with McCain is in continuity with his own Democratic Party election campaign in 2016. Sanders proclaimed his support for the foreign policy of the Obama administration, including its wars in the Middle East, and said that a Sanders administration would utilize Special Forces and drone strikesall that and more. After losing the primaries, Sanders endorsed Hillary Clinton, seeking to channel the social opposition reflected in support for his campaign behind the candidate of the military-intelligence establishment.

As for Ocasio-Cortez, her evolution is an example of the general rule of bourgeois politics that the deeper the crisis, the more rapidly political tendencies and individuals are exposed for what they really are. It is only two months since Ocasio-Cortez defeated incumbent Democrat Joseph Crowley in the primary election for the 14th Congressional District of New York.

How quickly this socialist has expressed her fidelity to establishment bourgeois politics! She has moved to distance herself from any association with socialism, backtracked on her previous criticisms of Israel, pledged her support for border security, stood beside Sanders as the latter endorsed the Democrats anti-Russia campaign, and now heaps gratuitous and obsequious praise on one of the most reactionary warmongers in American politics. And there are still two months to go before the election.

At the time of Ocasio-Cortezs primary victory, the World Socialist Web Site wrote that anyone who suggests that her victory marks a shift to the left in the Democratic Party should be told, in no uncertain terms: Curb your enthusiasm! The DSA is not fighting for socialism, but to strengthen the Democratic Party, one of the two main capitalist parties in the United States.

Ocasio-Cortezs comments have drawn criticism from many who backed her campaign. However, those who may have been attracted to the DSA based on the impression that it is a socialist or anti-war organization should draw the necessary conclusions.

The Democratic Party is engaged in a ferociously right-wing campaign in its conflict with the Trump administration. Its focus is not on Trumps fascistic policies or his own warmongering, but on the claim that Trump is insufficiently committed to war in the Middle East and aggression against Russia. The Democrats have utilized the death of McCain as part of a calculated strategy, elevating himalong with figures such as former CIA Director John Brennanas political heroes.

They, along with the corporate media and the Republican Party establishment, are seeking to use McCains death as an opportunity to shift public opinion in favor of war and political reaction.

In the 2018 midterm elections, as the WSWS has documented, the Democrats are running an unprecedented number of former intelligence and military operatives as candidates. The promotion of groups such as the DSA is an integral part of this strategy. The politics of the CIA Democrats, the Socialist Equality Party noted in the resolution passed at its Congress last month, is not in conflict with, but rather corresponds to, the pseudo-left politics of the upper-middle class, as expressed in organizations such as the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and the International Socialist Organization (ISO).

The role of Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders, the DSA and the ISO, is to give a socialist label to politics that is entirely in line with the right-wing, militarist and imperialist character of the Democratic Party.

The elevation of the DSA does not represent a movement toward socialism, but rather a defensive reaction by the ruling class against what it perceives to be an existential danger. The corporate-financial elite is well aware of polls that show growing support for socialism and opposition to capitalism among workers and particularly among young people. The DSA is therefore promoted by the media (the New York Times published yet another prominent article on Sunday boosting Ocasio-Cortez and the DSA) even as genuine left-wing and anti-war publications, above all the World Socialist Web Site, face ever more direct forms of Internet censorship.

The politics of the DSA and the broader pseudo-left has far more in common with the politics of McCain than it does with genuine socialism. There can be no question as to what role these organizations would play if brought into positions of power. A similar path has already been trod by the Left Party in Germany, which has implemented austerity measures and promoted the anti-immigrant policies of the far-right AfD, and Syriza (Coalition of the Radical Left) in Greece, which since coming to power in 2015 has implemented the brutal austerity measures demanded by the European banks.

The Socialist Equality Party is fighting to organize workers and youth on the basis of a socialist program. This means not mild and insincere reformist demands to provide cover for the right-wing, militarist Democratic Party, but the mobilization of the working class, in the United States and internationally, for the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism. The building of such a movement must be based on the exposure of and struggle against figures such as Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders and the treacherous politics they espouse.As the new school year starts, teachers in Washington are joining the fight for living wages and the right to quality public education. Teachers in Longview have been on strike since Thursday and teachers in over 200 districts across the state are still without contracts.

Teachers in Washington face the same conditions as their counterparts throughout the country: large class sizes, stagnant pay, lack of support staff or services for special education. Since the 2008 financial crisis, state, federal and local governments have sought to balance their budgets through savage cuts to public education and other vital social programs even as politicians from both big-business parties handed over billions in tax cuts to corporations like Boeing and Amazon.

Far from opposing these attacks, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and National Education Association (NEA) have colluded with the corporate-backed school reform agenda promoted by Democrats and Republicans.

Last February, teachers in West Virginia revolted in a 9-day strike in defiance of the unions and strikebreaking threats by billionaire governor Jim Justice and the state legislature. They were soon followed by statewide strikes in Oklahoma and Arizona. These struggles had overwhelming support from the public but in each state they ran into a conspiracy between the unions and the Democratic Party to isolate and demobilize teachers. In the end, the unions pushed through deals that did nothing to address the chronic underfunding of education and decades-long deterioration of educators living standards and working conditions.

Arizona teachers were ordered back to work by the Arizona Educators United with none of their demands met. West Virginia teachers have started this school year with no sign of the pension fix the union promised. In Oklahoma, a full 20 percent of districts have shifted to a four-day school week to cut costs.

The chief concern of the unions was to prevent the statewide struggles from coalescing into a common fight across the country against the Democratic and Republican parties and the powerful corporate and financial interests they defend. The walk-outs should be transformed into walk-ins to the voting booth in November, said AFT President Randi Weingarten, a leading member of the Democratic National Committee who makes nearly $500,000 in each year.

But the election of Democrats in November will do nothing to improve education. While handing over trillions to Wall Street and the Pentagon, the Obama administration oversaw a vast expansion of for-profit charter schools, the closure of thousands of schools and the layoff of hundreds of thousands of teachers and other school employees. Governor Jay Inslee oversaw the erosion of public education in Washington while giving Boeing the largest tax cut in US history.

In the present struggle, the unions in Washington are working to keep teachers confined to their own school districts and block a statewide strike. The Washington Education Association has already agreed to contracts for 40 different locals, separating them from the 200 locals still negotiating.

Seattle teachers should vote for a strike action. But experience has shown that the unions are not working-class organizations but tools of big business and the government, which will only betray educators. In 2015, the Seattle Education Association (SEA) sold out the weeklong walkout. Earlier this year, the Teamsters similarly betrayed the strike by 400 Seattle school bus drivers against transportation giant First Student.

Washington educators must take the conduct of the struggle into their own hands. The Socialist Equality Party and the World Socialist Web Site Teacher Newsletter call on educators to:

Elect rank-and-file workplace and neighborhood committees. Teachers, school workers, parents and students must form rank-and-file committees in every school and community to mobilize the widest support for statewide strike action. These committees should outline their own demands, including a 30 percent across-the-board pay increase and full funding for the health care and pension benefits of all school workers, an immediate reduction in class sizes and the restoration of all budget cuts.

Instead of making fruitless appeals to corporate-controlled politicians, these committees should appeal to every section of the working classpublic employees, manufacturing, warehouse, health care, technology, office and Amazon and UPS workersto unite in a common fight for decent living standards and to vastly expand public services.

Prepare a nationwide strike to defend and vastly improve public education. The banks and giant corporations like Bank of America and Amazon operate on a national and international scale, shifting operations to whatever locale offers them the lowest taxes and cheapest labor. Teachers cannot fight on a state-by-state basis but must unite their forces and build support for a nationwide strike to fight the assault on public education. At the same time, educators should reach out to their brothers and sisters in Canada, Mexico and throughout the world who are engaged in the same struggle against the global banks and corporations.

Break with both big-business parties and build a powerful political movement of the working class against the dictatorship of the banks and big business. The Socialist Equality Party is fighting to build a political movement of the working class whose aim is the establishment of a workers government and the reorganization of society to meet human needs, not corporate profit. Workers must reject the lie that there is no money for decent living standards and high-quality education.

The issue is not the lack of resources but who controls the wealth that the working class collectively produces. Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, lives in Seattle and pays no state income tax. Since October 2017, his wealth has increased by over $70 billion, far more than the entire $45 billion 2018 education budget for the entire state. Trillions more are squandered on war, including the $708 billion National Defense Authorization Act approved by the Democrats and Republicans.

If societys priorities are to change, the working classthe vast majority of the populationmust build a powerful political movement to take political and economic power in its own hands and carry out socialist policies.

For a sharp increase in taxes on the corporations and the rich, and the expropriation of the ill-gotten gains of the financial oligarchy. Immediate measures must be taken to promote social equality and a radical redistribution of wealth, including a progressive income tax that places the burden of taxation on the rich and corporate profits, while lowering taxes for the vast majority of the population. At the same time, workers must take hold over the wealth that they create by nationalizing the banks and giant corporations and transforming them into publicly owned and democratically controlled enterprises.

The political lessons of the bipartisan attack on education, and the teacher strikes so far, must be assimilated by teachers in Washington. Workers in the United States and around the world are returning to the road of class struggle. To take this forward, a new leadership and perspective is needed. The Socialist Equality Party and the World Socialist Web Site Teacher Newsletter urge teachers in Washington to contact us to help form rank-and-file committees and mobilize the broadest support in the working class for this fight.Latin America

One-day strike in Uruguay against business emptying of Wages Council

The Uruguayan PIT-CNT labor federation called a 24-hour national strike on August 22 involving the public and private education, health, industry, banking and transport sectors. The federation called the one-day walkout to protest the emptying of the Wages Council, which brings together labor, business and government representatives to negotiate wages and conditions.

Business associations have held fast to their demand that wages be frozen for the next two years. The dairy industry has withdrawn from participation in the Council meetings altogether, claiming that it is in a crisis. PIT-CNT accused business of attempting to reverse accomplishments gained by labor.

Union leaders claimed a high level of adherence to the strike and called it an important landmark.

Uruguayan anesthesiologists resolve to strike over negotiations

On August 22, members of the Surgical Anesthesiologists Syndicate (SAQ) resolved in assembly to strike for two days beginning August 28. The walkout, which will involve more than 2,000 professionals in both public and private health and private sectors, will be aimed at pressuring the Labor Ministry to hold meetings with SAQ representatives regarding its participation in collective negotiations.

At the meetings, SAQ would advocate a specific anesthesiologists subgroup in the framework of the nations Wage Councils.

Chilean national police attack, arrest students protesting youth labor law

Over 200 Chilean students marched August 23 through the capital, Santiago, to protest the so-called Youth Labor Statute being promoted by President Sebastian Pinera, who took office in March. The students are members of the Student Confederation of Chile (CONFECH).

The statute would supposedly regulate part-time jobs for students through work contracts and other means in order to help finance their education. But, as correodelsur.com reported, critics point out that in reality they make them more precarious and they are a form of providing businesses, especially commerce, with a cheap labor force, which would undercut the nonstudent working class.

The law has already passed the lower house and is currently being debated in the Senate. CONFECH calls the scheme McInstability, and students have labeled the proposed statute the McDonalds Law. The protesters carried signs and chanted to that effect as they marched toward the Moneda presidential palace.

When the protesting students reached the Alameda, the principal street leading to the Moneda, they were confronted by the Carabineros, Chiles notorious national police, who attacked them with water cannons and tear gas. Some protesters dispersed, but others confronted the Carabineros. Several dozen were arrested.

Chilean mineworkers strike over company wage offer

Workers at the Andina Division of the National Copper Corporation of Chile (Codelco), located in the countrys Valparaiso region, downed their tools August 13. The walkout followed failed negotiations between bargainers for the company and the 83-member Codelco Andean Division Plant Syndicate (Suplant).

The talks had dragged on for weeks, including 10 days of mediation by the Labor Directorate. Managements last offer was a 7.9 million peso (US$11,951) end-of-conflict bonus, soft credit of 2.3 million pesos (US$3,481) and 700,000 additional pesos (US$1,059). The workers rejected the offer.

Codelco has put a contingency plan in place, involving shift changes and adjustments to guarantee that those workers who are not on strike can work normally, according to cadenaser.com. The company claims that production has so far been unaffected.

Paraguayan educators protest retirement plan

Education workers in the Paraguayan capital Asuncion and other cities held protests against a retirement plan proposed by the Treasury and given parliamentary approval in May. Various unions and organizations called for the action, among them the Workers Unitary Central, the Education Workers Organization of Paraguay, the Classist Syndical Current, the National Secondary Student Federation, the Working Class Confederation and the Paraguayan Episcopal Conference.

The plan created a Retirement Superintendency to handle the funds. Union leaders have claimed that the goal of the project is not to help retired educators, but to use the monies to finance public works and pay off debts, and would not have guaranteed returns. They have referred to a similar scheme in Chileas well as one in Paraguay in the 1990s involving a bank that went brokethat produced detrimental results for workers.

At a protest in front of the National Congress, spokespeople for the coalition, known as the Resistance Tent, urged the Congress to reject the plan and invite the union leaders to debate over risks and benefits.

Colombian taxi drivers protest Uber

Thousands of taxi drivers concentrated in downtown Medellin, the capital of Colombias Antioquia province, on August 22 to protest against Uber, Cabify and other ride-share services. The cabbies accuse the government of looking the other way while what they call informal transport skirts regulations, laws and fees.

The taxi drivers have engaged in discussions with authorities, but have not been satisfied with the results. The taxi drivers have held several anti-Uber protests and stipulated this time not to snarl traffic by driving their cabs to the protests, instead marching with picket signs and chanting.

This time, the mayors office, claiming that the drivers had not complied with their agreement not to block traffic, sent police to prevent them from gathering in front of the citys La Alpujarra Administrative Center. A few drivers who were able to get through tied themselves to some of the buildings pillars and spent the night there.

The United States

Washington state farm workers agree to end strike after reaching undisclosed settlement

Some 65 farm workers at Crystal View Raspberry Farms in Whatcom County, Washington, agreed to return to work August 21 after a two-day strike over claims the company failed to issue paychecks and was demanding production quotas that could not be met given the smoke from wildfires.

The workers were brought from Guatemala and Mexico under temporary H2-A visas and had wanted the organization Familias Unidas to represent them. However, the owner of Crystal View refused and instead negotiated with Wafla, a farm-labor workforce agency that was a party to bringing the workers to Washington state to be exploited picking fruit and vegetables for corporate farms. Wafla did not make available any details from the negotiations.

Teamsters order Coca-Cola workers to return to work without contract

The Teamsters called off an 11-day strike August 19 at four Coca-Cola bottling plants in Alabama, its surrender to the company saying, This will give our members the opportunity to serve the companys customers in the manner and fashion they have been accustomed to over the years.

Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED, which owns the four plants in Mobile, Leroy and Robertsdale in Alabama and Ocean Springs, Mississippi, had twice sought to push through contracts seeking to reduce wages for low-seniority workers by $6 to $8 an hour. But workers rejected both contracts.

The Teamsters effectively isolated the strike from broader sections of workers. Coca Cola UNITED is the largest privately held Coca-Cola bottler, with some 10,000 employees.

Canada

Quebec liquor board workers hold one-day strike

In the second of six planned actions of its kind, workers at the Societe des alcools du Quebec, or Quebec Liquor Corporation (SAQ), staged a one-day walkout last week in a campaign to bring pressure on the board to negotiate a new contract.

A total of 5,500 workers at 400 SAQ outlets across the province are members of the Syndicat des employe(e)s de magasins et de bureaux de la SAQ (SEMB SAQ) who have been sitting on a strike mandate since early this year. Workers have been without a contract since March 2017, with the main issues in negotiations being weekend work and working conditions. The first walkout was held July 17, and this latest action coincides with the launching of the provincial election in Quebec that will take place October 1.

Court blocks limited job action by Montreal transit union

A proposed overtime ban by Montreals transit union, the Societe de transport de Montreal, that was to take effect last week has been postponed after a labor tribunal ruled that the essential service staffing levels proposed by the union were insufficient.

The ban was to begin last week and last until the middle of September, but the timing and duration remain in question. This job action was scheduled after workers voted nearly unanimously in favor of a strike in May of this year over outsourcing of work and overtime, with the union claiming that the employer is seeking to roll back working conditions at all levels.

The union, which had warned the public that the job action would impact mostly bus routes, has appealed for a government mediator to be brought in to help resolve the dispute.JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  Mississippi legislators split late Monday on whether to create a state lottery, leaving uncertainty about what will happen.

Senators voted 31-17 to pass a lottery bill , moments after the House rejected the same proposal. Sixty House members voted against the bill, and 54 voted for it.

The issue is not going away. The bill was held for the possibility of more debate, which gives supporters a chance to try to revive it and pass it in the House.

Mississippi is one of six states without a lottery, and Republican Gov. Phil Bryant has been pushing lawmakers for more than a year to create one. He wants money to help pay for highways and bridges.

Bryant points out that three of the four states bordering Mississippi have a lottery, and Mississippi residents are driving to Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee to buy millions of dollars of tickets each year.

Monday was the third day a special session that Bryant called for lawmakers to try to put more money into transportation at a time when 435 bridges around the state remain closed because of structural problems. Early Monday, both the House and the Senate passed a bill that would give cities and counties some of the sales tax money the state collects from people shopping online. The bill , known as the Mississippi Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2018, goes to Bryant, who has signaled that he will sign it into law.

The lottery foundered in the House after the number of Democrats supporting it fell from 36 on Friday to 18 on Monday. The Senate and House last week passed different versions of a lottery bill, and top lawmakers spent much of Monday working out the differences. The two chambers must agree on a single version before it can go to the governor.

Negotiators removed a provision that could allow video lottery terminals in places like truck stops. The provision was added to the bill during a House debate Friday and is opposed by an unlikely alliance of religious groups and casino operators. Both groups want to limit where legal gambling may take place in the state to current casino sited along the Mississippi River and the Gulf Coast. They also watered down provisions added by Democrats that would have sent more money to education.

Some supporters were left dumbfounded by the shift. Republican Rep. Richard Bennett of Long Beach, who tried to shepherd the lottery bill through the House, said he did not know if the removal of video lottery terminals caused the bill to falter.

House Speaker Philip Gunn opposes a lottery but said he would let the House vote on the issue. He said he does not know what will happen next on the issue in the House.

"Clearly, there's concerns with the bill on a number of fronts," said Gunn, a Republican from Clinton.

Gunn said the sales tax sharing plan is "historic." It is projected to eventually provide $120 million to $130 million a year for infrastructure. Counties could use their share of the money for roads and bridges, while cities could use their share for roads, bridges and water and sewer projects.

"This has been a year and a half of hard work by the House of Representatives to get a plan that provides a steady stream of revenue for roads and bridges. And today we passed it," Gunn told reporters. "The citizens can know that we did our work."

Bryant controls what issues lawmakers may consider in the special session, and he is expected to expand the session agenda to include debate over how to spend $700 million in economic damage payments from BP PLC after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Leaders are discussing dividing that money, giving 75 percent to three coastal counties and 25 percent to the rest of the state.

Gunn said the sales tax sharing plan is "historic." It is projected to eventually provide $120 million to $130 million a year for infrastructure. Counties could use their share of the money for roads and bridges, while cities could use their share for roads, bridges and water and sewer projects.

"This has been a year and a half of hard work by the House of Representatives to get a plan that provides a steady stream of revenue for roads and bridges. And today we passed it," Gunn told reporters. "The citizens can know that we did our work."TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (The News Service of Florida) - Primary elections are being held Tuesday for governor, attorney general, agriculture commissioner, dozens of legislative and congressional seats and hundreds of local offices.

Congressman Ron DeSantis and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam are battling for the Republican nomination for governor. Meanwhile, five Democrats are running in Tuesday's gubernatorial primary as the party looks to win the governor's mansion for the first time in two decades.

Polls have shown former Congresswoman Gwen Graham ahead of former Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum. Businessmen Jeff Greene and Chris King have struggled to gain traction ahead of Election Day.

After voting in the capital city Tuesday morning, Mayor Gillum told reporters the momentum is on his side.

We are extremely excited about today holds. Im very optimistic, quite frankly, that this is going to be a pretty transformational day not only for us and our family, but for the state of Florida," said Gillum. "I think we are going to surprise a lot of people this evening.

More than 1.9 million Floridians voted early or by mail, ahead of Election Day.

Polls will be open until 7 p.m. local time across the state for those waiting until the last minute.TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Today is Primary Day in Florida.

Major parties nominees could be decided this Tuesday, including the race for governor and Tallahassee mayor.

WTXL ABC's Jada Williams is kicking off our election coverage at the Leon County Courthouse, where the polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.

oters will decide on when they go to vote?

Voters will see ballots broken down into three parts: Democrat, Republican and no Party affiliation.

Two of the biggest races voters will vote on are the gubernatorial race and the mayoral race.

Two locals are hoping to become the Democratic candidate for governor: Mayor Andrew Gillum and Gwen Graham.

On the Republican ticket, Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam is in the running.

The mayor's race has been hotly contested with both people previously involved in politics and newcomers vying for the position.

Supervisor of Elections Mark Early says that despite juggling multiple candidates in multiple races, his staff has done a great job this election cycle.

"Elections, like they say, is like a dance," he said. "There's many, many different things going on. But I think we've got a great staff and division here. We know what we're doing. We've done a very good job this year and I'm proud of my staff."

You can find information about your polling place at the Leon County Elections site.TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Florida State University welcomed some of the tiniest members of the FSU family Monday.

The FSU Childcare and Early Learning Program reopened Monday, this time with a new toddler wing.

The completion of the wing represents the final piece of construction of the 15,000 square foot facility, finally joining all ages from as young as 11 weeks up to four years, together under one roof.

"We really did try to incorporate students first so that we could get as many students with children in as possible so that they could find quality care while they're doing their own work," said Shannon Staten, the executive director of the facility. "And that was great, but we also wanted to expand and we couldn't expand out there, the buildings out there were not able to continue to be used for much longer."

With the addition of the new wing, the program can now serve up to 133 children. About 90 started Monday, but the rest will join in October.MIDWAY, Fl. (WTXL) -- We have a new outlook from the National Hurricane Center regarding a tropical wave over western Africa that will soon move into the Atlantic Ocean.

It has a 20% chance of developing in the next five days and it will have a long way to go as it moves mainly west through the next week.

You can catch the forecast on ABC 27 News starting at 5:00 each weekday morning, as well as ABC 27 News at Noon. First Alert Chief Meteorologist Casanova Nurse has your forecast at 5:00, 5:30, 6:00, and 11:00 this evening.

Remember to follow WTXL First Alert on Social Media.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WTXLFirstAlert/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/WTXLFirstAlertSource: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 00:21:08|Editor: Liangyu

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Nepali Minister for Education, Science and Technology Giriraj Mani Pokharel addresses the awarding ceremony in Kathmandu, Nepal, Aug. 27, 2018. Around 160 Nepali students will study in Chinese universities for the 2018-2019 academic year under the Chinese government scholarship program. (Xinhua/Sunil Sharma)

KATHMANDU, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Around 160 Nepali students will study in Chinese universities for the 2018-2019 academic year under the Chinese government scholarship program.

Amid the Awarding Ceremony of Chinese Government Scholarships organized in the capital on Monday by the Chinese Embassy and Confucius Institute at Kathmandu University, admission letters were presented to the students amid the presence of their family members.

The awarded students will study bachelors, masters, and doctor's degrees at Chinese universities in various faculties including engineering, medicine, business, communication and Chinese language, among others.

Addressing the function, Nepali Minister for Education, Science and Technology Giriraj Mani Pokharel said that Chinese scholarship is very important to generate skilled Nepali manpower.

"Chinese high-tech knowledge will enable Nepali students to be capable manpower who can highly contribute to the country's development," Pokharel said.

Stating that cooperation on education sector will enhance people-to-people relationship between the two countries, the minister expressed hope that it will further help Nepal to achieve its goal of "Prosperous Nepal, happy Nepali."

Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Yu Hong said that China has provided more than 6,400 scholarships to Nepali students till date.

Noting that youth exchange programs are an important aspect of China's Belt and Road Initiative, she said the youths can work as a bridge between the two countries.

"It is an opportunity for you to gain knowledge and new skills and to contribute to social development of your country," Yu said.

On the occasion, Nepali students who have received Chinese degrees under scholarship programs shared their experiences and appreciated the Chinese education system and cultural richness.

"Chinese education changed my life and I believe it will change the life of other Nepali students too. Young students should utilize this opportunity," said Sarbottam Shresha, a former student at a Chinese university and chairman of Nepal's Arniko Society, an alumni association of scholars and experts who have graduated from China.

The scholarship winning students will get free education along with free accommodation at renowned universities in China.

Expressing gratitude to the Chinese government, scholarship winning students expressed the hope that the Chinese education would be crucial to shaping up their career.

Devraj Aryal, who will be studying Master's degree in international communications at the Communication University of China, told Xinhua that "I am hopeful that the Chinese degree will enhance my professional career in the future."Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 00:31:09|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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LONDON, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- A pedestrian was mown down by a car in Regent Street here in the early hours of Monday, and four people were injured during a police chase of the vehicle.

The car was being pursued by police at the time of the collision, which happened at about 4:30 a.m. local time (0330 GMT) on Monday, the London-based Evening Standard newspaper reported.

Three people in the car were also injured. A male was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving.

The car smashed into a shoe shop. "The car was in a really bad condition. I can't believe it. It was totally broken," a witness was quoted by the report as saying.

All four people were taken to hospital but their current conditions are unknown.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 03:31:44|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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GENEVA, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- With the landing of a Boeing 787 aircraft at the Zurich International Airport Monday, a new direct flight of Hainan Airlines between south China's Shenzhen and Zurich was officially opened.

The new Shenzhen-Zurich flight, the first of its kind linking China's relatively rich and populated Shenzhen area and Switzerland, was scheduled to fly twice a week, respectively on Monday and Friday.

"The non-stop Shenzhen-Zurich service will bring more convenience to passengers traveling on business and for leisure, offering more opportunities for collaboration between companies in European countries and China," a statement from the Hainan Airlines said.

Geng Wenbing, China's ambassador to Switzerland, said at Monday's launching ceremony that last year nearly 80,000 Swiss passengers traveled to China, most of them from the business sectors.

Also last year, a total of over 1.6 million Chinese travelers stayed inside Switzerland at least one night, and the number is likely to continue to grow this year, he added.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 03:31:45|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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NAIROBI, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- About a decade ago, internet cafes in Kenya were written off following the entrance of smartphones into the East African nation.

The phones became the main gadget through which Kenyans accessed the internet, accounting for 99 percent of the market, according to the Communication Authority of Kenya.

However, despite the onslaught from mobile phones, cybercafes have survived 10 years later.

While their numbers have reduced significantly across the East African nation, a considerable number has remained in operation, defying the smartphones.

And this is because the internet cafes metamorphosed into government service points. The businesses are now the main places where Kenyans access government services, outside state offices.

Some of the government services the East African nation's citizens access through the cafes are applying for tax certificate, filing of tax returns, conducting land searches, buying electricity tokens and application and renewal of driving licenses.

Citizens further apply for visa for those in need of traveling at the cafes, but Kenyan government services are the boon for the internet outlets.

Moses Mutie, who runs a cybercafe on the east of Nairobi, said he no longer worries his business would collapse.

"When smartphones came, I was deeply concerned that my business would die because customers disappeared. Then I took a loan and started a mobile money outlet as a value addition to enable me to pay rent," he told Xinhua in a recent interview.

But as luck would have it for Mutie and other cybercafe operators, several government agencies took their services online.

"The annual filing of tax returns and application for certificates was the biggest boost we got. This stabilized my business," said Mutie who charges less than 1 U.S. cent per minute.

These services ensured the people flock his shop, and being the only one surviving in the estate, Mutie has a monopoly.

More boost came from sale of electricity tokens and the establishment of e-citizen services.

"E-citizen brings all government services at one point. Anyone who wants to apply for passport, pay stamp duty and renew driving licenses, among others, has to log into the portal. They therefore come to cyber," he explained.

June brought a boom to cybercafe operators as it was the deadline when Kenyans were to file their tax returns.

"This place was busy especially the last two weeks of the month. I hired an extra hand and brought in two more computers to handle traffic," said John Njeru, a cybercafe operator in Nairobi's central business district.

Currently, he is assisting businesspersons file their value added tax returns, as deadline issued by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) looms.

"With KRA, as cybercafe owners, we have an agreement with it that we handle things like tax certificate applications. So when people go their offices, they send them to us giving us business," he noted.

The number of internet users in Kenya now stands at 36 million, according to the latest report from the Communications Authority, with majority of people using their phones.

Bernard Mwaso, a consultant with Edell IT Solutions in Nairobi, noted that besides government services, other things that have made the cybercafes survive are low broadband charges following increased competition and services like agency banking and mobile money.

"Charges dropped cushioning the internet cafes owners from things like rising rent since it is hard to increase their charges per minute. The cost of computers is also down," he said.

He added that cybercafe operators have become agents of banks and telecoms thus leveraging on their premises and licenses as the services add value to their business.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 03:46:47|Editor: ZX

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ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian security forces on Monday arrested the recently resigned Somali regional state president, Abdi Mohamed Omer, over human right abuse cases and participation in ethnic and religious centered conflicts in the region.

Mohamed Omer, who resigned from his post earlier this month after deadly violent demonstrations that rocked the regional capital Jijiga and other parts of the region, was arrested on Monday in the capital Addis Ababa by the Ethiopian Federal Police forces, state broadcaster Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) reported.

The former regional head's arrest by Ethiopian police forces came shortly after the Somali regional state council's decision on Sunday to nullify Omer's and six other council member's immunity, attributed to links with the recent violence in the region.

The former regional president was also caught with possession of illegal armaments upon his arrest in his house in Addis Ababa, it was noted.

The Somali regional state has been a hotbed of violent clashes since earlier this month, in which dozens of people were killed as ethnic clashes flared.

Several cities in the region witnessed scenes of deadly violence, which also forced the Ethiopian government to dispatch the military to disperse the conflict.

The Ethiopian federal government has been recently criticizing the former regional president and his administration over allegations of grave human rights abuses in the region.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, speaking last week, also affirmed that the violence in the Somali region is now under control.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 07:02:31|Editor: ZX

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SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. blogging and social networking company Tumblr Monday revamped its guidelines to impose a more explicit ban on terrorism, hate speech and violence on its platform.

Tumblr said while it is committed to protecting freedom of speech, it must draw lines "around a few narrowly defined but deeply important categories of content and behavior that jeopardize our users, threaten our infrastructure, and damage our community."

"Our Community Guidelines need to reflect the reality of the internet and social media today and acknowledge that the things people post and share online influence the way others think and behave," it said.

Tumblr's new policies, which were disclosed Monday, will go into effect on Sept. 10, 2018.

Under the new guidelines, Tumblr will have zero tolerance of content that promotes, encourages, incites acts of terrorism or violence or hatred against individuals or groups based on race, ethnic or national origin, religion, gender, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, disability or disease.

"The internet is being exploited by hate groups to organize, recruit, and radicalize with horrifying efficiency," and that's why it is updating its Guidelines and internal procedures to "address a very real threat to members of the Tumblr community."

The company now introduced a new feature built into the mobile apps, which customers can easily use to report hate speech by clicking an airplane icon on each post.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 10:07:52|Editor: ZX

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BUENOS AIRES, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Argentine government will ask the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to advance a disbursement of 3 billion U.S. dollars in September, Argentine Finance Minister Nicolas Dujovne said on Monday.

The sum is part of a credit totaling 50 billion U.S. dollars under an agreement reached with the IMF in June.

Dujovne told reporters that Argentina's economy will decline 1 percent in 2018. He attributed the contraction to the severe drought during the first quarter of the year.

"The direct impact of the drought has been 1.3 points of the gross domestic product, but if you look at the indirect impacts on machinery, transportation, trade, the drought has taken two points off our growth for this year," he said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 10:27:56|Editor: Liangyu

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KHARTOUM, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Sudan expects to play a bigger role in China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which provides a good opportunity for Sudan to upgrade its infrastructure and promote its economic development through cooperation with China, Sudanese analysts said.

The initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, includes the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road trade routes.

"Sudan agreed to the Chinese initiative from its onset and has declared readiness to be a major partner," Hassan al-Saouri, a political science professor at Al Neelain University, told Xinhua.

He praised the "deeply-rooted historical relations between Sudan and China," which have paved the way for enhancing bilateral strategic cooperation.

The China-Sudan cooperation has been fruitful in the past decades. Thanks to the funding and technological aid from China, Sudan has largely achieved energy independence by establishing its own oil industry. China is also helping Sudan transform its economy via agricultural assistance, including in the field of cotton industry.

China has remained as the biggest trade partner for Sudan for many years, while Sudan has been as a major African trade partner for China.

Al-Saouri said that as Sudan serves as a bond linking the Arab world and African countries, it can play a major part in the BRI.

"If we look into ancient history, we will find that Sudan's eastern ports on the Red Sea coast previously constituted a meeting point for the commercial convoys from China toward Africa," said al-Saouri, who is also the chairman of the Sudanese Society for Political Science.

Through the BRI, China can help Sudan develop railways, roads, and ports, al-Saouri said.

It is the "ancient dream" of the African continent to be linked by rail "from South Africa in the south to Egypt in the north, and from the Red Sea in the east to Senegal on the Atlantic Ocean in the west," he noted.

Abdul-Rahim Al-Sunni, a political analyst at the Khartoum Economic and Political Research Center, said that his country will benefit most from the energy projects within the BRI.

Sudan is earnestly considering establishing its first nuclear power station for peaceful use in cooperation with China, in addition to building solar power farms and more dams for irrigation and electricity generation, Al-Sunni told Xinhua.

Agriculture represents another major field of cooperation between Sudan and China under the BRI, Al-Sunni said.

"Sudan needs the Belt and Road Initiative, which provides opportunities for it ... to promote sustainable development and infrastructure projects," he said.

The Belt and Road Initiative has earned support from more than 100 countries and international organizations.The 72-seater Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft, powered by a mix of biofuel and air turbine fuel, is seen at Delhi Airport in New Delhi, India, Aug. 27, 2018. (Xinhua/Partha Sarkar)

NEW DELHI, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- India's first biofuel-powered plane that aims at cutting down air travel costs was flight-tested Monday.

The 72-seater Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft, powered by a mix of biofuel and air turbine fuel, took off from Jolly Grant airport in the northern state of Uttarakhand's capital Dehradun for the Indian capital after being flagged off by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, officials said.

India will join an elite group of nations like the United States and Australia if the testflight turns out to be a complete success.

"The biofuel for this testflight was developed by Dehradun-based state-owned Indian Institute of Petroleum and agricultural residues, non-edible oils, and industrial and municipal wastes were used for the preparation," an official said.

"There were no passengers on the flight. Only airline and aviation officials were on the flight being operated by low-cost airline Spicejet. Aircraft engineers are also on board to help out the pilots in case of any emergency," he added.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 11:28:06|Editor: Liangyu

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GUIYANG, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Guizhou Province has set a target to become the country's largest tea exporter by 2020, exporting 50,000 tonnes annually.

Combining ecological advantages of high altitude, low latitude, less sunshine and pollution, Guizhou had the country's largest tea plantation area of 478,000 hectares at the end of 2017.

The provincial agricultural commission Monday said it will support local tea companies to expand exports to the overseas markets, including the United States, Europe, Japan, Republic of Korea, and the Middle East. Some exporters will get additional tax rebates.

Meanwhile, it will welcome domestic and overseas tea trading firms to set up processing bases or workshops in Guizhou to boost exports.

Finlays, a subsidiary of John Swire & Sons Ltd, has started construction on a tea processing plant in the county of Sinan in Guizhou with an annual processing capacity of more than 20,000 tonnes.

Local authorities will launch quality inspections and seek to ensure about 33,300 hectares of tea plantation area to meet European quality standards.

Guizhou plans to put into effect stricter standards for four well-known types of local tea leaves in November in a bid to guarantee the export quality. The standards require lower levels of pollutants and residual pesticides than the national standards.

In 2017, Guizhou's tea output stood at 327,000 tonnes with exports reaching 2,852.6 tonnes.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 13:33:24|Editor: Xiang Bo

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SYDNEY, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- An Australian based program which aims to reduce mosquito borne diseases like dengue and Zika worldwide, has been awarded a 38 million U.S. dollars grant on Tuesday to develop and expand their work.

Monash University's World Mosquito Program (WMP) takes a novel approach towards combating mosquito borne diseases, which has gained increased attention following successful trials in the North Australian cities of Cairns and Townsville.

Now the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust have awarded additional funds to the program, taking the total amount to 134 million U.S. dollars to assist in a worldwide rollout.

Counterintuitively the WMP method actually involves releasing more mosquitos, infected with a bacteria called Wolbachia, which then spreads to native populations of the insects.

"What we've found is that when mosquitos have this bacterium inside their bodies the viruses can't grow inside them, and if they can't grow, they can't be transmitted between people," WMP director Professor Scott O'Neill said.

Because of the unusual nature of the program O'Neill believes that both in Australia and abroad it is particularly important to involve communities in the processes of planning, and even deployment.

In recent trials in Townsville, the community was involved in releasing the insects themselves, with packages distributed by the WMP containing mosquito eggs and fish food.

"Community members and school children would put that into a container, add water, and the mosquitos would grow and release themselves," ONeill said.

O'Neill and his team are now preparing for what they expect will be a large influx of demand as their current global programs wrap up, and the results conclusively display the efficacy of the method.

With around 390 million cases of dengue fever every year, the WMP has an immense job ahead of them, however O'Neill remains optimistic and hopeful that they can make a difference.

"We would like to think that we will have a large impact," O'Neill said.

"To be able to eliminate these diseases will take many years but I think this technology can certainly help."Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 13:43:25|Editor: Liu

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TRIPOLI, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Libyan Interior Minister Abdulsalam Ashour said Monday that a cease-fire agreement has been reached in the capital Tripoli, following deadly clashes between government forces and militias.

Ashour told a local TV channel that the agreement was reached after the Tripoli Security Directorate took over positions of the militias in the city.

Southern Libya has witnessed violent clashes since Sunday between forces of the United Nations-backed government and armed militias, which killed five people and injured 33 others, according to the Ministry of Health. Reasons for the clashes remain unknown.

Following the 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has been suffering escalating violence and chaos, as well as political division.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 13:43:25|Editor: Liu

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- The White House said here on Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over phone and discussed issues related to Syria, U.S.-Europe relations and trade.

According to a statement issued by White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders, earlier in the same day, Trump and Merkel discussed the resolution of the Syrian crisis and how to improve the economic relations between the U.S. side and Europe.

"Both leaders called for international action to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Idlib Province (in Syria), and for renewed efforts to solve the conflict in eastern Ukraine," the statement read.

Trump and Merkel "strongly supported ongoing discussions between Washington and Brussels to remove barriers to a deeper trading relationship," the statement added without giving details.

Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker agreed on July 25 to mitigate the transatlantic trade tensions over Washington-launched tariffs.

However, the two sides have so far failed to patch up ties strained over U.S. tariffs on the EU's cars, steel and aluminum.

The U.S.-Europe relationship has also been overshadowed by their differences on the Iran nuclear deal, the Paris climate accord, the status of Jerusalem and the defense spending, among other issues.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 13:48:26|Editor: Liu

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SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. ride-hailing leader Uber Technologies Inc. (Uber) said Monday that it is partnering with Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) on self-driving vehicles as Toyota announced an investment of 500 million U.S. dollars in a new joint project.

Uber said it will supply its proprietary self-driving system to Toyota Sienna Minivans, which will be owned and operated by a new business to be established by Uber and Toyota.

"We're taking our partnership with @Toyota to the new heights. Excited to see what our teams accomplish together!" Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi tweeted Monday.

Japan-based Toyota said the two companies have agreed to cooperate on developing autonomous cars and integrate their respective technologies into purpose-built Toyota vehicles to be deployed on Uber's ride-sharing network.

"This agreement and investment marks an important milestone in our transformation to a mobility company," said Shigeki Tomoyama, president of Toyota Connected Company.

"The deal is the first of its kind for Uber, and signals our commitment to bringing world-class technologies to the Uber network," said Khosrowshahi.

He said his company wants to deploy the world's safest self-driving cars on the Uber network, which could be made possible by its new agreement with Toyota.

Uber will combine its automated driving system with Toyota's Guardian system that monitors the vehicle environment and real-time situation such as lane-keeping, and the technology will be built into Toyota Sienna Minivans that will join Uber's ride-hailing network in 2021.

Uber's new partnership came a few months after one of its self-driving cars killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona in March, which later forced San Francisco-based Uber to suspend a testing project of autonomous vehicles in Arizona and lay off hundreds of employees in the state.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 14:13:31|Editor: Liangyu

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BEIJING, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent a congratulatory letter to the 2018 high-level conference on intellectual property (IP) for countries along the Belt and Road, which opened in Beijing Tuesday.

China has carried forward the Silk Road spirit and proposed to jointly develop the Belt and Road Initiative, which has won wide recognition and seen active participation among relevant countries and the international community and has yielded substantial achievement, Xi said.

"We are willing to continue to work with all parties, under the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, to build the Belt and Road into a road for peace and prosperity, opening-up, innovation as well as connecting different civilizations and carry forward the Silk Road spirit," he said.

Xi emphasized that the IP system plays a crucial role in promoting the joint development of the Belt and Road.

China unswervingly provides strict IP protection, ensures all enterprises' IP rights are protected according to law, and is working to build a favorable environment for business and innovation, he said.

Xi hopes that parties at the conference can enhance communication and cooperation for mutual benefits, push for more effective protection and use of IP rights, and jointly develop the road of innovation to benefit people of all countries.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 15:59:04|Editor: mmm

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Chinese Ambassador to Tunisia Wang Wenbin (L) meets with Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed in Tunis, capital of Tunisia, on Aug. 24, 2018. The upcoming Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be an important opportunity to deepen the Sino-African cooperation, including the China-Tunisia relations, Wang Wenbin said in a recent interview with Xinhua. (Xinhua/Adele Ezzine)

TUNIS, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be an important opportunity to deepen the Sino-African cooperation, including the China-Tunisia relations, Chinese Ambassador to Tunisia Wang Wenbin said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

The Tunisian government attaches great importance to the summit, as Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed will lead a delegation to Beijing to attend the event scheduled on Sept. 3-4, Wang said.

"During my meeting with Chahed on Friday, he said the Tunisian government and Tunisian people fully support the FOCAC Beijing summit and believe it will be a big success," the Chinese envoy said.

Wang noted that the FOCAC Beijing summit would bring leaders of the two countries together to strengthen high-level exchanges, enhance political mutual trust, and promote mutually beneficial cooperation.

He said Tunisia actively supports the Belt and Road Initiative as the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on the initiative in July.

The initiative, proposed by China in 2013, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network that connects Asia with Africa and Europe along the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road.

Wang pointed to the geographic advantage owned by Tunisia, which has signed free trade agreements with European and African countries.

"Tunisia hopes to become a pivot in the Belt and Road Initiative in North Africa, as well as a springboard for Chinese companies to expand their businesses in Europe and Africa," Wang said.

He also highlighted the various fields of cooperation between the two countries, including tourism, infrastructure, trade and people-to-people communication.

Wang said the China-Tunisia ties have enjoyed healthy and stable development since their establishment 54 years ago, which has laid a solid foundation for strengthening the mutually beneficial cooperation.

The 2018 FOCAC Beijing summit will be held under the theme of "China and Africa: toward an even stronger community with a shared future through win-win cooperation."

Leaders of FOCAC members have been invited to attend the summit, as well as representatives of related regional organizations in Africa and international organizations.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 16:09:07|Editor: xuxin

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PHNOM PENH, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen on Tuesday encouraged Chinese entrepreneurs to invest more in Cambodia, saying that their investments were vital for the socio-economic development and poverty reduction of the country.

Hun Sen made the remarks during a meeting with a 42-member business delegation of the Tianxia Chaoshang Economic Conference led by Li Songjian, chairman of Mingyuan Group Limited, according to Sry Thamarong, a minister attached to the Cambodian prime minister.

The prime minister informed them about the four priority sectors -- human resource, road, water, and power -- that the government has mainly focused on, and encouraged them to invest in these sectors.

He also encouraged them to invest in setting up universities.

Hun Sen also praised China for its "no strings attached" aid and investments in the development of infrastructures such as roads and bridges, and hydropower plants in Cambodia.

"China is a friend whom we can trust," Thamarong said. "China helps us sincerely and its assistance has never had any strings attached."

China is currently the largest source of both foreign direct investment and tourists to Cambodia.

Thamarong said the kingdom had attracted fixed asset investment of about 19 billion U.S. dollars from China from 1994 to date.

For tourism, Cambodia received over 1.2 million Chinese tourists in 2017, and was expected to greet up to three million in the next few years, he said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 16:09:07|Editor: xuxin

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JERUSALEM, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Israeli forces demolished early on Tuesday morning the family home of a Palestinian who killed an Israeli in a West Bank settlement in July.

The military's Spokesperson's Unit released a footage showing a bulldozer razing the one-storey home in the Kauber village, north of Ramallah.

The military said in a statement that dozens of Palestinians protested the demolition, hurling rocks, firebombs, and pipe bombs at the soldiers. "The troops responded with riot dispersal means," the statement said, referring to tear gas, stun grenades and rubber-coated bullets.

In the July's attack, the assailant, identified by Israel as 17-year-old Muhammad Tarek Ibrahim Dar Yusuf, entered the settlement of Adam and stabbed to death a man and injured two others. He was shot and killed at the scene.

Israel says house demolitions are an effective deterrent against attacks.

Since Israel seized the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967, it has demolished hundreds of Palestinian homes as a punitive measure aimed at deterring Palestinians from carrying out attacks against Israelis in the future.

In early 2005, Israeli Defense Ministry committee concluded that the measure is ineffective, and Israel ceased to use it.

However, the government renewed the controversial practice in 2015, in the wake of street attacks.

The U.S. administration has denounced the demolitions as "counterproductive" and Palestinians and human rights organizations say it constitutes an unlawful collective punishment that leaves the relatives homeless.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 16:19:13|Editor: mmm

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Guests inaugurate the Punta Sierra wind farm in Coquimbo region of Chile. Aug. 24, 2018. On Chile's windswept coast, a newly inaugurated China-funded wind farm, the first of its kind, is expected to supply clean energy equivalent to 130,000 homes per year. (Xinhua/Wang Pei)

by Cristobal Chavez, Dang Qi

OVALLE, Chile, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- On Chile's windswept coast, a newly inaugurated China-funded wind farm, the first of its kind, is expected to supply clean energy equivalent to 130,000 homes per year.

The Punta Sierra wind farm is "diversifying the grid and making it much cleaner and sustainable," Energy Minister Susana Jimenez said at the opening ceremony last week joined by China's State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) and Chilean government officials.

Since Chile in 2015 adopted the National Energy Policy 2050, the electricity sector has developed quickly, turning the South American country into "a world-class destination for solar and wind energy developers," according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency.

Chile welcomes investment in projects that promote sustainable development, especially when they bring high technology to local communities, Jimenez added.

With its 32 turbines, the wind farm in the country's north-central Coquimbo region is capable of generating 282 GWh a year, helping cut carbon dioxide by at least dozens of thousands of tons.

"Long-term growth ... can only be sustainable with investment that prioritizes our environment, and this wind farm does that," said Economy Minister Jose Ramon Valente.

Punta Sierra is "a good platform for strengthening and speeding up development in Chile," Jiang Yi, vice president of SPIC, said.

SPIC has so far invested nearly 2 billion U.S. dollars in Chile since 2016, becoming the largest private Chinese investor there, according to Jiang.

"Long distances don't separate close friends," Jiang said, adding that close China-Chile cooperation has made the project a reality.

The wind farm is situated in Ovalle, a town some 320 km north of the capital Santiago, and is one of 34 clean-energy projects in different stages of development in Coquimbo.

Coquimbo accounts for 70 percent of Chile's installed wind-energy capacity.

"I want to thank the residents, because without your support, this plant won't operate well," Li Wuji, charge d'affaires at China's embassy in Santiago, said.

Li added that China has been Chile's leading trade partner for the past five years, and the real beneficiary of close bilateral ties is "the average person."Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 16:28:54|Editor: mmm

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By Quan Xiaoshu, Qu Ting & Li Bin

BEIJING, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese neurosurgeon Li Yongjie can still recall the details of the first brain operation he did to treat Parkinson's disease after he returned from the United States 20 years ago.

"It was the first microelectrode-guided stereotactic surgery ever conducted in China. Although there was an assisting team, no one actually knew how to do it except me," says Li, director of the Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery at Xuanwu Hospital, and a pioneer in his field.

Stereotactic surgery was developed from the stereotactic method in the 1940s. The patient's head is fixed in a frame so that a thin electrode can be precisely directed to the target area in the brain through a small hole on top of the skull.

Hoping the advanced technique would take root in China, Li was clear about the significance of the first operation. He didn't sleep well for several nights before the operation, and went over the procedures again and again in his head.

On July 12, 1998, he completed the operation in eight hours, mostly by himself. "I blended and injected the anesthetics, installed the fixing frame on the patient's head, scanned the brain with magnetic resonance, calculated the position of the target spot, and kept on comforting the patient during the operation," he recalls.

It was a success. More patients came to him. By the end of that year, Li and his team had worked out a set of standard procedures and performed dozens of operations each month, each taking only two hours.

"I brought back the operation skills as a seed, and it has grown into a thriving tree," Li says.

The institute now treats more than 30 neurological dysfunctions, including epilepsy, dystonia and chronic pain, making it one of the world's most comprehensive medical institutions in the sector.

CHOOSING ADVENTURE

Li attributes his achievements to China's reform and opening-up, which allowed him to be adventurous and have a say on his own destiny.

Born in 1961 in Datong, north China's Shanxi Province, Li grew up during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). His father, labeled a "rich peasant" who had to be "remolded", urged him to study hard in those chaotic days.

"I was timid and reticent; I had to grow up early and it was lonely," Li said.

China resumed the gaokao, the annual college entrance exam, in 1977. Li was happy to see the nation starting to embrace "the spring of science," which valued education and knowledge.

Good grades gave him confidence. He came top in a provincial physics competition in high school. In 1979, he enrolled at the prestigious Beijing Medical University, now the Health Science Center of Peking University, to study medical science.

"It wasn't really my choice. It was my mother who wanted me to be a doctor," says Li, who took more than five years to agree that it was a worthwhile career. From then on, he was more aware of his inner voice at each decisive moment.

In 1994, Li, with a doctor's degree from Shanxi Medical University, gave up a steady job as a surgeon in Taiyuan, and sold his allocated apartment -- a much coveted goal under the housing distribution system -- to pursue advanced studies at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

"When I was a graduate student, two teachers from the United States had aroused my curiosity of the outside world. They were eloquent and open-minded, and the knowledge and techniques they brought to us were new and advanced," Li recalls.

After China emerged from its long closure and began its reform and opening-up in 1978, many talented young Chinese went to study abroad to expand their horizons and better themselves. At its peak in the 1980s and 1990s, the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) exam drew more than 100,000 students every year, as a pass was required for admission to universities and colleges in the United States.

NEW IDEAS

At Johns Hopkins Hospital, Li first witnessed the marvel of the stereotactic surgery, when it was used to treat a woman suffering from Parkinson's disease.

Just seconds after the surgery, her right hand stopped trembling for the first time in 10 years. She turned her hand over and over, and tears welled in her eyes.

"I determined then to master the technique," Li says.

In 1996, he joined the medical center at Loma Linda University, a leader in the stereotactic field. After more than two years, he finished his apprenticeship, reaping gratitude and happy tears from patients. He also got his green card.

But rather than continue his successful life in the United States, he made an unusual decision -- to return to China.

Work and living conditions in China lagged far behind developed countries in the 1990s. More than 70 percent of Li's classmates from university had gone abroad, but only two came back.

"I had no hesitation as I preferred challenges. In the United States, I could foresee my life beyond retirement," Li says. "I would have regretted not seeing all the changes in China, which was developing at such a great speed."

PASSING ON EXPERIENCE

Under Li's direction, Xuanwu Hospital opened the Beijing Institute of Functional Neurosurgery in 1998. The institute has now treated more than 100,000 patients and performed more than 20,000 operations.

Li is always considering new technologies. Stereotactic surgery has been mostly replaced by deep brain stimulation, a new method to treat movement and neuropsychiatric disorders by sending electrical pulses to specific targets in the brain through implanted electrodes.

His institute has ranked first in the world in the number of implanted neurostimulators for 10 years running.

Li also keeps exploring new treatments. "Whenever we treat a new disease, I do all the research work and carry out the operations at the initial stage. But after the surgery program is established and proves effective, I pass it over to my colleagues and students," he says.

He shares his knowledge and experience. The institute has held 16 training sessions, attended by thousands of doctors from all over the country. "Every time, Li takes the lessons and many of the trainees have gone on to become the pillars of their provincial- or city-level hospitals," says Lu Xiaoli, one of Li's colleagues.

"When I first returned from abroad, we were fighting alone. Even the name of functional neurosurgery was unheard of," Li says. "A lot has changed over the years, and hospitals and medical schools around the country are eager to develop or expand their functional neurosurgery departments."

Li wants to accelerate this progress. In the preface to his Functional Neurosurgery treatise published this year, he estimates that more than 5 million neurological patients in China can benefit from proper and timely surgery.

"Such huge potential demand for medical services cannot be ignored, nor can the historic opportunity to propel the discipline be missed," he writes.

Li is now researching non-invasive surgery, and even considering the utilization of artificial intelligence.

"A human brain has 60 billion to 70 billion cells. If each cell were a star, the brain would be as infinite as the universe," he says. "I would like to take more adventures in it."

(Xia Ke also contributed to this story.)Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 16:29:18|Editor: xuxin

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JERUSALEM, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces have erupted in the West Bank city of Nablus after the Israeli military allowed Jewish worshippers to enter a holy site, the army said on Tuesday.

The Times of Israel reported that five Palestinians were injured. There were no reports of injuries among the Israeli forces.

The incident took place in Joseph's Tomb, a funerary monument outside Nablus holy to both Jews and Muslims, overnight between Monday and Tuesday.

The clashes erupted after about 750 Israeli worshippers entered the site escorted by military troops, border policemen, Israeli policemen, and Civil Administration officials.

Shortly before the arrival of the worshippers, troops entered Nablus "to secure the area," a military spokesperson said in a statement. "While there, the troops identified a Palestinian vehicle speeding toward them. In response, the troops fired toward the vehicle," the statement read.

During the prayers, Palestinians "hurled a firebomb toward Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops who guarded the worshippers' entrance area. No IDF injuries were reported and no damage was caused," the statement added.

Earlier in August, a similar incident occurred when hundreds of Israelis entered Joseph's Tomb under heavy military guard, sparking clashes with Palestinians.

Nablus is part of the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. Israel has kept its control over these lands despite international criticism.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 16:29:18|Editor: mmm

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BEIJING, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The State Immigration Administration (SIA) announced several measures on Tuesday to simplify the process of issuing passports and travel documents to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

From Sept. 1, citizens will be able to apply for or renew passports and travel documents to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan anywhere, regardless of where their household registration is, the SIA statement said.

The processing time will be reduced to seven working days, according to the statement.

Tourists traveling to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in groups can also apply for travel permissions in places other than their household registration locality.

Since its founding in April, the SIA has launched several policies to facilitate cross-border travel, such as shortening the waiting time for citizens to cross the border and offering visa-free access to tourists of 59 countries into Hainan Province.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 16:29:19|Editor: xuxin

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump and his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday pledged to further cooperate in the areas of counterterrorism, security and trade.

According to their joint statement issued by the White House after Kenyatta visited the White House earlier Monday, the two leaders resolved to elevate the bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership, that will include an annual dialogue.

The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to continuous counterterrorism cooperation against extremists.

"To further enhance this counterterrorism collaboration, President Trump welcomed Kenya's decision to join the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS," read the statement.

The two leaders also pledged to deepen defense and security cooperation, "building on the recent acquisition of military equipment made in the United States and committed to further enhancing Kenya Defense Forces' capabilities."

To further boost economic ties, the two leaders agreed to establish a United States-Kenya Trade and Investment Working Group to explore ways to deepen the bilateral relationship.

Moreover, the two governments announced they had established direct flights between Nairobi and New York City set to begin later this year.

On the economic front, Trump and Kenyatta welcomed the proposal by U.S. engineering and construction firm Bechtel Corporation to build a modern superhighway from Nairobi to Mombasa.

Both sides agreed to undertake further consultations to conclude the terms of the financing agreement.

During Kenyatta's trip to the United States, the two nations announced some 900 million U.S. dollars in commercial deals and engagements, according to the statement.

Before their bilateral meeting at the White House, Trump told the media that the roadway will be "record-setting, in many ways."

For his part, Kenyatta later noted that "what's most important and what makes our country survive is the trade and investment partnership" with the United States.

According to an email sent to reporters by the White House, this was Kenyatta's first formal bilateral meeting with Trump. He first visited the White House in 2014, when he met with then President Barack Obama.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 16:34:20|Editor: xuxin

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MAIMANA, Afghanistan, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- At least 28 militants were killed and 13 others injured during the clashes between security forces and Taliban militants in Faryab province, north of Afghanistan on Monday night, a local official said Tuesday.

"A group of Taliban militants attacked the Kohistan district of Faryab province on Monday night and the security forces returned fire which lasted for a few hours, as a result 28 insurgents were killed and 13 others injured," Mohammad Hanif Rezai, army spokesman in northern provinces told Xinhua.

During the clashes, two army soldiers were also wounded, he added.

Taliban militants have not commented on the report so far.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 16:39:21|Editor: xuxin

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SEOUL, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's presidential Blue House said Tuesday that there has been no change made in the scheduled inter-Korean summit, which the two Koreas agreed to hold next month.

Asked about whether to delay the agreed inter-Korean summit, Kim Eui-keum, a spokesman for the presidential Blue House, told a press briefing that there has never been any change.

South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) held high-level talks earlier this month, agreeing to hold the third summit between President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang before the end of September.

The two sides, however, had yet to agree on the detailed schedule for the summit that requires working-level talks for preparations.

The spokesman said if the proper date for the summit is decided upon, working-level affairs can be intensively done.

Kim noted that Seoul will communicate with Pyongyang for the inter-Korean summit, but he declined to elaborate on details.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 16:54:24|Editor: xuxin

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SEOUL, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chung Eui-yong, top national security advisor for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, on Tuesday expressed anticipation for the resumed negotiations between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States in the near future.

Chung made the remarks during a parliamentary committee meeting for the presidential Blue House, saying both the DPRK and the United States had a firm willingness toward talks about the denuclearized Korean Peninsula.

He said current situations were different from the past as top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump had strong wills to implement their agreement reached after their first summit in Singapore on June 12.

His comments came after the cancelled visit by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the DPRK, originally slated for this week.

Chung said negotiations were underway between Pyongyang and Washington over the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, which he called a very important and difficult issue to resolve.

In the course of negotiations, many situations could emerge, Chung noted, adding that certain contractions could be inevitable in the initial phase of negotiations.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 17:09:29|Editor: mmm

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CHONGQING/WUHAN/SHENZHEN, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Local authorities across China have ordered branches of ride-hailing platform Didi Chuxing to ensure the safety of its services after a female passenger was killed last week.

Traffic authorities in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality have ordered Didi's Chongqing office to obtain a certification for its ride-hailing services within a specified time, and share operation data with administrative departments.

Since entering Chongqing in 2014, Didi has failed to obtain its certificate for lawful operation in the city. In addition, the company did not make its data available to the government despite multiple requests from the city's transportation security administration.

Authorities also ordered Didi to remove unqualified vehicles and drivers as well as build a responsive complaints platform to ensure customers' safety.

Didi's Chongqing office said it would report to the headquarters and rectify its problems in a timely manner.

Traffic authorities in central China's Wuhan also inspected nine ride-hailing platforms including Didi on Monday, ordering them to thoroughly inspect their vehicles and drivers, as well as provide accurate and real-time operation data to the city's supervision department.

Authorities in south China's Shenzhen said nearly 5,000 drivers and 2,000 vehicles registered with Didi were not qualified and ordered the company to address the problem to ensure passenger safety.

The city's transport and communications committee has punished eight ride-hailing platforms and fined about 27 million yuan (3.9 million U.S. dollars) since the beginning of 2018.

The Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Public Security, and authorities in Beijing and Tianjin summoned Didi executives for meetings on Sunday, demanding a "comprehensive rectification" on its hitch riding service.

A 20-year-old woman went missing on Friday afternoon after hailing a car from Didi in the city of Wenzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. The driver was caught by police on Saturday morning and confessed to rape and murder.

The incident came after a 21-year-old female flight attendant using Didi was murdered by her hitch driver in the central city of Zhengzhou in May.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 17:19:31|Editor: mmm

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Photo taken on July 27, 2018 shows logo of U.S. National Pork Board on the office building in Des Moines of Iowa state, the United States. U.S. pig farmers are feeling the pinch after the trade disputes initiated by the United States and they are worried about losing their markets, one of the heads of the U.S. National Pork Board told Xinhua in a recent interview. (Xinhua/Wang Ping)

CHICAGO, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. pig farmers are feeling the pinch after the trade disputes initiated by the United States and they are worried about losing their markets, one of the heads of the U.S. National Pork Board told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"We just want our markets back when you have spent many years trying to build up Japan, Mexico and China," John Johnson, chief operating officer (COO) of the U.S. National Pork Board, told Xinhua amid ongoing trade disputes the United States has started worldwide.

"All these are markets," Johnson said.

"We can compete with anybody. We are the lowest cost producer of pigs in the world, have a good supply of safe, affordable pork and we want to market it to the world," he said.

Statistics show that some 60,000 U.S. pig farmers market more than 100 million hogs annually. U.S. pork production generates more than 60 billion U.S. dollars in downstream revenue from the farm, supporting 550,000 U.S. jobs.

However, things began to change early this year. Farmers have been losing money since May and "it's going to get worse," the COO said. He estimated that farmers are losing 18 dollars per head.

"Mexico and Japan are two of our most important customers, and President (Donald) Trump's disrupting things with both of them," Johnson said, noting that Mexico has imposed a 20 percent retaliatory tariff on U.S. pork imports, and satisfying negotiations for U.S. pork into Japan were destroyed due to Trump's decision to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

"I don't think President Trump appreciates how much disruption his tariffs and all his activity in the international trade has caused the farmers," Johnson said.

According to statistics from the U.S. Meat Export Federation, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Canada, China and South America are the top six pork markets by volume for the United States, and they imported more than 880,000 metric tons of pork in the first six months of 2018, accounting for 87 percent of its total export volume.

In the meantime, pig production is expanding in the United States. According to statistics of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. pig crops reached a record 33.2 million heads in March-May 2018, up 4 percent year on year; pig inventory reached 73.5 million by June 1, up 3 percent year on year, marking the highest June 1 inventory ever reported.

"When you get an oversupply, the price drops because there's too much, the tariffs just make that worse," he said. "It's very frustrating."

Johnson does not think the 12-billion-dollar agricultural aid package the Trump administration committed will deliver much support to pig farmers.

"I would be very surprised if any of that money actually gets to the farmers this year," he said. "I think it will be 2019 before any of it actually gets to the farm and we're now going into the lowest price conditions of the year."

Talking of the eased tension between the United States and the European Union and the goal of "zero tariffs," Johnson said he wholeheartedly supports it. But he asked, "how do we get there?"

"There is no plan today on how we get there. There's simply an agreement that we will sit down and talk about this with that as a goal," he said.

"None of these trade agreements move fast. They take years," Johnson said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 17:39:40|Editor: mmm

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MOGADISHU, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- International charity on Tuesday decried sharp rise of evictions of families fleeing drought and conflict in Somalia.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said more than 204,000 people were forcibly removed from their homes this year, nearly double the number during the same period last year, with many people made homeless multiple times.

Evelyn Aero, NRC adviser for information, counseling and legal assistance said in a statement that more efforts are needed despite the government taking note of the crisis.

"These include developing policies and laws on land, improving access to land for displaced families, and strengthening protection for people displaced," she said.

The charity said last year's drought and conflict, plus flooding this April, led to a massive migration to urban areas.

It said displaced families who occupy dilapidated public buildings also risk being forcefully evicted, as many are being rebuilt, noting that most evictions are done without due process, including without prior notice.

According to aid agencies, majority of the victims were women and children who had arrived only months earlier, often after traveling long distances to escape drought and conflict.

Aero called on Somali authorities and landowners to protect citizens' rights to adequate shelter and housing, noting that the displaced families should not be forced from their shelters with nowhere to go.

"They should follow due process, and be given sufficient advance notice to relocate with dignity. These families must be resettled to locations where they can access decent shelter and humanitarian aid. We also urge international donors to increase shelter and housing funding, so more displaced families will have secure homes," said Aero.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 17:44:41|Editor: mmm

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SEOUL, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign ministry urged Japan Tuesday to retract its territorial claims to the disputed islets, called Dokdo here and Takeshima in Japan lying halfway between the two countries.

The ministry's spokesman said in a statement that the defense white paper, unveiled by the Japanese government, repeated its wrongful territorial claims to the South Korean inherent territory of Dokdo.

The statement strongly protested against the claim, urging Tokyo to immediately withdraw it.

Japan has laid territorial claim to the rocky outcroppings through its annual defense white paper for 14 years in a row.

South Koreans regard the claim as Japan's refusal to repent for its imperialist past as the islets were incorporated into Japan's territory during its 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea regained its sovereignty over the islets right after its liberation from the colonial rule.

The foreign ministry said Japan's wrongful, ridiculous claim to Dokdo will never be of any help to build future-oriented relations between South Korea and Japan.

It noted Japan's claim will have no influence on South Korea's sovereignty over Dokdo, which it said is South Korea's inherent territory historically, geographically and by international law.

The ministry summoned Koichi Mizushima, minister at the Japanese embassy in Seoul, to lodge a protest against the Japanese government.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 17:54:48|Editor: mmm

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The new U.S. sanctions on Russia over an alleged poison attack on a former Russian spy took effect on Monday. Some U.S. experts have said that the U.S. sanctions appeared to be milder than the U.S. State Department had previously threatened, perhaps as a precaution.

The U.S. Federal Register said in a notice on Monday that the new U.S. sanctions went into effect on that same day, as the State Department has determined that "the Government of the Russian Federation has used chemical weapons in violation of international law or lethal chemical weapons against its own nationals."

Under the new sanctions, U.S. foreign assistance, sales of defense articles and services, sensitive goods and technology concerning Russia, "any credit, credit guarantees, or other financial assistance" by U.S. government agencies, would be banned.

Meanwhile, the State Department stressed the necessity in the new move to partly waive sanctions in such areas as government space cooperation and commercial space launches, civil aviation and transactions with Russian nationals, wholly-owned U.S. subsidiaries in Russia, and Russian state-owned or state-funded enterprises.

"Right now, the U.S. is completely dependent on Russian space launches to send people to and from the International Space Station. It will be a year or so before America has a missile that can replace the Russian launch capability," Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told Xinhua.

It was also clear that, by including transactions with Russian nationals and state-owned or state-funded enterprises in its waiver list, the Trump administration was attempting to minimize the sanctions' effects and quiet Congress.

The latest U.S. actions were in sharp contrast with the State Department's Aug. 8 threats to punish Russian state-funded companies. Its earlier stated harsh demands on Russia, such as agreeing not to use biochemical weapons on its nationals, providing credible assurance of not engaging in such behavior in the future, and allowing third-party observers to verify Russia's actions on-site, were also left unmentioned this time.

Christopher Ford, assistant secretary of state, said in the notice that "these measures ... will remain in place for at least one year and until further notice," also marking a departure from the earlier U.S. threats that if Russia fails to fulfil the demands, Washington will impose stricter sanctions on Russia three months after the first batch of sanctions was implemented.

Analysts believed that the U.S. efforts to impose milder sanctions were due to the fact that harsher actions would undermine the United States' own interests, and deal a blow to the dialogue between the two nations that had been initiated only a short time ago.

Benjamin Friedman, a foreign policy and defense expert at Defense Priorities, a Washington-based think tank, told Xinhua that the bipartisan enthusiasm in the U.S. Congress tended to sanction Russia more harshly, so the administration may be trying to impose its own milder sanctions to "undercut the case for a new package of legally-mandated sanctions."

Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, aged 66, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping center in Britain's southwestern city of Salisbury on March 4. Britain claimed the pair was exposed to a nerve agent and holds Russia responsible, while the Russian government has denied any involvement.

Russia responded to the new U.S. sanctions in a relatively restrained manner.

The Russian Embassy to the United States said that the sanctions "have no effect on our determination to follow our own course in international relations," when it blasted the U.S. sanctions and described them as "brute pressure,""hostile," "illegitimate" and "one-sided," among others.

It also expressed the desire for talks, without pointedly attacking the Trump administration.

Meanwhile, it stressed that U.S. "political elites seem to ignore the fact that every new 'seizure' of American sanctions 'fever' brings the U.S. close to the point of no return in resolving pressing international issues -- joint fight against terrorism and danger of WMD (weapons of mass destruction) falling into the hands of non-governmental entities."

Also on the same day, the Kremlin was quoted by media as saying that it needed time to assess the impact of U.S. sanctions before considering a retaliatory response, without elaborating any tit-for-tat threats as it usually did.

West said that the new sanctions will aggravate existing tensions in U.S.-Russian relations.

"Putin will take this as additional evidence America is anti-Russia and it may encourage future moves on his part that are anti-America and anti-Europe," he said, noting that Russia has been building alliances with Turkey and Iran, and "the U.S. sanctions will increase Russian friendships with those countries."

In spite of a mutual desire to improve dialogue, the deep-seated mistrust between the two sides remains hard to overcome, given the bilateral differences on Syria, Iran, Ukraine, Georgia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), among others.

(Matthew Rusling from Washington also contributed to the story.)Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 18:04:49|Editor: mmm

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NEW DELHI, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Diplomatic row started between New Delhi and Male over a ruling Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) lawmaker's call to "invade" the island country "in case of rigging during elections" in Maldives, local media reported Tuesday.

The reports said Maldivian Foreign Office summoned Indian envoy Akhilesh Mishra over BJP lawmaker Subramanian Swamy's post.

Local newspaper Indian Express quoting its sources said Male has expressed its displeasure over the tweet and submitted a demarche to New Delhi.

"Maldives Foreign Secretary Ahmed Sareer summoned Indian High Commissioner Akhilesh Mishra Sunday and conveyed Male's displeasure at Swamy's tweet. The Maldives government has also submitted a demarche to the Indian government, where it expressed shock at the statement," the newspaper said.

India's foreign ministry has described Swamy's opinion as his personal.

"The opinion expressed by Swamy in his tweet is personal. It does not reflect the views of the Government of India," the foreign ministry spokesman said.

Last week Swamy took to twitter urging India to invade Maldives in case rigging during upcoming elections takes place in the country.

On Sunday Swamy again posted a tweet over the issue.

The Maldives is set to go to polls next month and Swamy's tweets seem to have escalated tension between the two countries.

Swamy is a lawmaker in the upper House of the Indian parliament.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 18:14:51|Editor: mmm

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ATHENS, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- A Greek Air Force training aircraft crashed in southern Greece on Tuesday morning, leaving one pilot killed, the country's AMNA news agency reported.

The two-seat T-2 plane was conducting a training flight and two pilots were ejected before the plane crashed north of the town of Sparta.

One pilot was killed and the other one was found in good condition, the report said.

In January, a T-2 plane crashed in the same region; both pilots survived.Chinese Ambassador to Tunisia Wang Wenbin (L) met with Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed on Aug. 24, 2018 in Tunis, capital of Tunisia. (Xinhua/Adele Ezzine)

TUNIS, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be an important opportunity to deepen the Sino-African cooperation, including the China-Tunisia relations, Chinese Ambassador to Tunisia Wang Wenbin said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

The Tunisian government attaches great importance to the summit, as Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed will lead a delegation to Beijing to attend the event scheduled on Sept. 3-4, Wang said.

"During my meeting with Chahed on Friday, he said the Tunisian government and Tunisian people fully support the FOCAC Beijing summit and believe it will be a big success," the Chinese envoy said.

Wang noted that the FOCAC Beijing summit would bring leaders of the two countries together to strengthen high-level exchanges, enhance political mutual trust, and promote mutually beneficial cooperation.

He said Tunisia actively supports the Belt and Road Initiative as the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on the initiative in July.

The initiative, proposed by China in 2013, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network that connects Asia with Africa and Europe along the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road.

Wang pointed to the geographic advantage owned by Tunisia, which has signed free trade agreements with European and African countries.

"Tunisia hopes to become a pivot in the Belt and Road Initiative in North Africa, as well as a springboard for Chinese companies to expand their businesses in Europe and Africa," Wang said.

He also highlighted the various fields of cooperation between the two countries, including tourism, infrastructure, trade and people-to-people communication.

Wang said the China-Tunisia ties have enjoyed healthy and stable development since their establishment 54 years ago, which has laid a solid foundation for strengthening the mutually beneficial cooperation.

The 2018 FOCAC Beijing summit will be held under the theme of "China and Africa: toward an even stronger community with a shared future through win-win cooperation."

Leaders of FOCAC members have been invited to attend the summit, as well as representatives of related regional organizations in Africa and international organizations.Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed delivers a speech during his surprise visit to a Chinese Government Training Program Fellowship Reception at the Sheraton Hotel in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, Aug. 24, 2018. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has commended China's support to Ethiopia's human development efforts.

Ahmed made the remarks during a scholarship awarding ceremony last Friday, in which some 220 Ethiopians win scholarships to study in China's major higher education institutions in masters and PhD programs.

"As we all know China is a very good partner for Ethiopia and they are supporting us in human capital development, which is a priority for my government," Ahmed said, adding that "I would like to thank you (Chinese government) for all what you have done for our country."

Ethiopia is the biggest beneficiary of the human resources cooperation under China-aid framework globally. By the end of 2017, the Chinese government has trained 5,655 participants of different professions for Ethiopia under the framework, covering over 20 fields that include education, health and medical services, agriculture, tourism, manufacturing industries, public administration, business management, urban development and poverty reduction, according to figures from the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia.

Ahmed, who noted that Ethiopia was able to send more than 1,000 students to study in China this year alone, also called for further strengthening the support from China's government in Ethiopia's human development endeavors.

"Nothing is impossible. Especially for Ethiopia and China, the sky is the limit," Ahmed said.

"We can go far to develop next generation to take responsibility and to work for their country," he added.

The premier also called on Ethiopians who are set to embark on their education in major Chinese universities to learn "China's experience and wisdom" in the development and other sectors so as to help Ethiopia's ambitions in economic growth.

Ahmed further urged Ethiopian scholarship winners to serve as connecting bridges between Ethiopia and China in strengthening ties after coming back from their studies.

The 220 recipients, who are drawn from 40 Ethiopian federal and regional government academic institutions and industries, will pursue graduate studies in Chinese universities both in social and natural science disciplines, it was noted.

While 54 of the recipients are set to pursue their doctoral studies, the remaining 166 will study their masters, it was indicated.

Tan Jian, China's Ambassador to Ethiopia, also reiterated during the awarding ceremony China's belief that "investing in people through education is the best investment."

Tan, who vowed to deepen the two countries' ties in human resources development, further said that "We developing countries have human resources potential in abundance and the thing is how to exploit this bonanza."Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 18:39:57|Editor: xuxin

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RIYADH, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Saudi-led coalition involved in a war in Yemen announced on Tuesday the interception of a missile shot by Houthi militias towards border city of Najran, Saudi Press Agency reported.

The coalition spokesperson, Col. Turki Al Maliki, highlighted that the missile was shot from Yemen's Omran province and was intercepted and destroyed by Saudi air forces without reporting any injuries.

He said the fresh attack increased the number of missiles fired by the Houthis to 183.

Saudi Arabia has been targeted by such attacks for the last three years since the beginning of the war in Yemen and most of them targeted the border cities and were destroyed without causing any damages.

The coalition has been accusing Iran of supplying the Houthis with weapons and missiles to hinder attempts to reach political solutions in Yemen.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 18:44:57|Editor: xuxin

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by Xinhua writer Xu Haijing

BEIJING, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Scott Morrison, succeeding Malcolm Turnbull, took office last week as the 30th Australian prime minister and later announced his new cabinet.

Marise Payne, upon her appointment as the new foreign minister, told local media of her wish to meet Chinese officials during a United Nations meeting in September.

Payne's gesture showed that Australia's new cabinet has noticed the importance of ties with China, which were on a downward trajectory during the previous administration.

Both as key players in the Asia-Pacific region with no historical grudges or fundamental conflict of interest, China and Australia should enjoy a win-win, complementary relationship and enhance communication.

Economic and trade relations are the cornerstone of China-Australia ties, which have benefited the Australian side with tangible results, long acknowledged by many in the country.

It is also worth mentioning that Australia was able to survive the 2008 global financial crisis and saw no economic recession for over two decades thanks to the critical role of its economic and financial cooperation with China.

Meanwhile, Chinese overseas students, the largest group of foreign students in Australia, bring to the country over 10 billion Australian dollars (7.34 billion U.S. dollars) every year.

More than one million Chinese tourists travel to Australia every year, contributing another 10 billion Australian dollars to the country's economy.

There is still potential and space for win-win cooperation between China and Australia. Both sides ought to further boost economic and trade exchanges and promote regional economic integration.

One of the main factors behind the frayed bilateral ties over the past year is one of perception: instead of being fair and objective about China's fast development, some Australians regard a rising China as a threat rather than an opportunity.

It was an encouraging sign of Australia's willingness to reset its China policy when Turnbull, the former prime minister, delivered a speech on Australia's ties with China in early August, during which he expressed a positive view of China's reform and opening-up policy, bilateral ties and practical cooperation.

Looking to future, it could prove helpful for Australia's new cabinet to adopt a fresh mind-set on China-Australia ties, work to promote mutual trust and cooperation and create favorable conditions for improving China-Australia ties.

Such efforts are undoubtedly conducive to regional peace and stability, not to mention serving the interests and well-being of the peoples of both China and Australia.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 18:44:57|Editor: xuxin

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by Ahmed Shafiq, Abdel Maguid

CAIRO, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The ties between China and Egypt are "at an unprecedented stage" in the history of their bilateral relations, an Egyptian expert on Chinese affairs said.

"I am very optimistic about the Egyptian-Chinese relations, because their future is promising," Hassan Rajab, dean of Al-Alsun College at Suez Canal University, said in an interview with Xinhua.

The Egyptian academic added that the election of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as Egypt's president was a milestone in upgrading relations with China, which was one of the first countries he visited when he took office in 2014.

Sisi is scheduled to participate in the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) slated for Sept. 3 and 4.

The FOCAC Beijing summit will be held under the theme "China and Africa: toward an even stronger community with a shared future through win-win cooperation."

He pointed out that the cooperation between Egypt and China is "fruitful" and received a strong boost after Chinese President Xi Jinping's historic visit to Cairo in January 2016, which upgraded bilateral relations to the level of strategic partnership.

Egypt is the third largest African trading partner with China, as trade volume between the two sides registered at 10.87 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, according to Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry.

While the number of Chinese citizens visiting Egypt hit a record high of 300,000 in 2017, says Egyptian Ministry of Tourism.

Rajab, who is also the director of the Confucius Institute at Suez Canal University in Egypt, praised economic cooperation between Egypt and China and expected more joint projects between the two countries in the near future, such as cooperation in Egypt's new administrative capital which is under construction.

Since late 2016, Egypt has been going through a strict three-year economic reform program, starting with local currency floatation to contain dollar shortage followed by austerity measures, energy subsidy cuts and tax increases.

The liberalization of the Egyptian pound's exchange rate encouraged the International Monetary Fund to support Egypt's economic reform plan with a 12-billion-dollar loan, two thirds of which have already been delivered to the North African country.

"President Sisi follows the Chinese approach to solve many problems in Egypt. For example, China has carried out mega infrastructure projects; Egypt is now building a giant road networks which is a lifeline as more projects will be built on both sides of these new roads," Rajab said.

Rajab strongly praised China's foreign policy, saying it is unbiased and respects the sovereignty of others, adding that China believes in peaceful coexistence and works to maintain world peace.

"The Chinese people, by their very nature, hate wars and conflicts, and China, with its culture and its pursuit of peace, can influence others," Rajab noted.

Rajab said that China is attracting the minds of the world and winning their hearts. "Chinese politics are creating friends and making them grow and develop. What is happening in Africa is a great example."

He also expected the Belt and Road Initiative to succeed, especially as China adopts a win-win approach with any countries, "unlike the United States, which carries the 'America First' slogan."

The initiative, proposed by China in 2013, refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which aim at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road.

The Egyptian academic said that the the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will increase the chances of success of the plan, "because investment in infrastructure would improve people's lives."Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 18:54:59|Editor: xuxin

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SHANGHAI, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai cat owner Xiao Wanqing packed her 28-inch suitcase full of imported cat food and toys at an international pet fair held in Shanghai, and ordered a courier to deliver it to her home.

The 21st Pet Fair Asia, receiving over 140,000 visitors over the weekend, closed on Sunday in Shanghai. Many like Xiao came, bringing big suitcases to buy global pet products.

Xiao tends to trust the quality of imported cat food, as "big foreign pet food suppliers are more established and have good reputations," she said.

More than 1,300 exhibitors set up booths in the 140,000 square-meter exhibition hall.

"My pet dog has a weak stomach, which food do you recommend?" asked Zhang Ran, a middle-age Shanghaier, at Royal Canin's booth.

Based on the professional consultation offered by Li Xi, the company's vet, Zhang immediately ordered 6 kg of digestive dog food for her beloved Bichon Frise.

Zhang said when she got her dog eight years ago, she only knew of two different types of dog food, one for puppies and one for adult dogs. But now, there are more and more choices on the market, and she has to learn about the different types of food designed for different dog breeds.

"China's pet food market has seen more and more products in recent years to cope with the rising demand of middle-class pet owners," said Li.

The company he works for has produced more than a dozen prescription dog foods for the China market, aiming to help dogs with illnesses like liver or intestinal problems.

As Chinese people pursue a more healthy and happy life, they are willing to treat their furry friends equally. Domestic pet food makers are catching up with the trend, said Zhao Haiming, general manager of Pure & Natural, a Chinese pet food brand.

"Our market research finds pet owners in China are more and more well-informed regarding their pet's health, and closely check the ingredients and nutritional elements before buying pet food," said Zhao. "We are developing new products to catch up with consumers' needs."

According to the Pet Industry White Paper 2018 published by goumin.com, a Chinese online pet forum, Chinese dog and cat owners are expected to spend over 5,000 yuan (about 740 U.S. dollars) per pet in 2018, an increase of 15 percent from last year. China's dog and cat market has reached over 170 billion yuan.

Xiao said in addition to cat food, raising her pet has other expenses like grooming, vaccines, and medical treatment. The total spending for her cat is about 10,000 yuan a year.

American company Litter Robot brought an auto-cleaning litter box to the fair, which reduces the frequency of cleaning a litter box to once every few weeks.

The company's salesmen said more than 200 litter boxes are sold via China's e-commerce platforms each month, each costing over 5,000 yuan.

The World Cat Show recognized by the Cat Fanciers' Association, a global organization for preserving pedigreed cats, was also held during the fair.

Qian Zheng, director of the cat zone of Pet Fair Asia, said over 200 pure-breed cats attended the show.

Qian is also a professional breeder of Persian cats.

She said nowadays, it is quite easy to contact professional breeders for consultations through social media. But 10 years ago, there were few. She bought her first Persian cat from a foreign breeder via e-mail.

"At that time, no foreign breeder was willing to sell pure-bred kittens to a Chinese buyer. They didn't believe that we could treat cats with the right attitude and skills, and the rumors about Chinese eating cats certainly didn't help."

Qian said she tried hard to convince the breeder that there was no way she would spend thousands of dollars to buy a cat and not treat it with her best intentions.

Now as one of the most well-known cat breeders in the industry, Qian's Persian cats have won first place in the Persian-bred cat's category at the CFA cat show for two consecutive years.

"Few Chinese pet owners attended the CFA cat show years ago. But now, new faces and new kittens from China appear every year," she said.

She said she owns 20 to 30 Persian cats now. These fluffy little angels cost her 600,000 to 700,000 yuan a year.

According to research by China Agriculture University, the pet industry develops rapidly when a country's GDP per capita is about 3,000 to 5,000 U.S. dollars. China's GDP per capita was about 8,800 U.S. dollars last year.

As Asia's largest trade show for animal supplies and aquariums, Pet Fair Asia started in Hong Kong and moved to Shanghai in 1999, a decision spurred by the growing demands of the market.

Since then, the scale of the fair has grown exponentially, from a 15,000 square-meter space in Shanghai Mart in 2003, to a whopping 140,000 square meters in Shanghai New International Expo Center this year.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 19:00:00|Editor: Xiang Bo

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Photo taken on Aug. 20, 2018 shows U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)

by Xinhua writers Sun Ding, Pan Lijun, Xu Xiaolei

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- "301 is a bed tax," "301 is a toothbrush tax," "301 is a food tax," "301 is a tax on your winter wardrobe..." said Hun Quach, the vice president for international trade at the Retail Industry Leaders Association.

To make her case, Quach, a retail industry representative, brought a basket of supermarket shelf items, and walked the 301 committee through "a day in the life of tariffs."

If enacted, the tariffs "will cut into the budgets of American families, especially lower- and middle-income families who can ill afford to pay more for everyday consumer goods," she said.

Quach is among the over 300 business owners and representatives of industrial associations who attended public hearings held by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) regarding proposed tariffs on approximately 200 billion U.S. dollars of Chinese products.

In an overwhelming message, hundreds of witnesses from a wide range of sectors across the country urged the government to stop slapping tariffs on Chinese imports, which are important for U.S. businesses, employment and consumers.

HIGHER COSTS FOR U.S. CONSUMERS

Since the United States initiated trade tensions with China, Quach has repeatedly appeared at tariff hearings on behalf of over 200 U.S. leading retailers, including household brands such as Walmart, Best Buy and Costco.

This time, she aims to persuade the 301 committee to approve the exclusion of over 650 categories of products from the tariffs list.

Together in this are U.S. bicycle suppliers, who are also feeling the chill of the tariff threats.

"Do you remember how exciting it was to get your first bicycle?" asked Bob Margevicius, who's on the board of directors of the U.S. Bicycle Product Suppliers Association. "It was more than just metal and two wheels, it was a source of freedom, and an entry point to adulthood."

"This is at risk today," said Margevicius. "I'm testifying to preserve this simple pleasure from becoming collateral damage in a trade dispute."

According to figures compiled by the association, the country buys about 15 million complete bicycles, or roughly 94 percent of its total purchase, from China, worth over 1.1 billion dollars annually.

Margevicius feared a devastating blow would be dealt to U.S. bicycle suppliers, as the proposed tariffs would apply to the entire 1.5 billion dollars of complete bicycles, bicycle components and safety accessories.

After announcing additional tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and on 50 billion dollars of Chinese products, Washington threatened last month to slap extra tariffs of 10 percent on 200 billion dollars of Chinese goods, later upping the rate to 25 percent.

According to a recently-released study by the U.S. National Retail Federation, if the 25-percent additional tariffs are slapped on Chinese-made furniture and travel goods, American consumers will pay an extra 6 billion dollars each year.

"GOOD AMERICAN JOBS" AT RISK

Besides pointing out the extra financial burden on consumers, Americans outlined how the measure would hit American companies and lead to layoffs.

John McCann, who represented MEC Aerial Work Platforms, presented one of the most moving testimonies. His California-based manufacturing company makes scissor lifts and boom lifts used in construction and maintenance for a U.S. market worth about 2.6 billion dollars.

He shared several stories. One was about a woman who had never had a full-time job before. But after her husband went to prison, she came to work at MEC. She started by attaching connectors to the ends of wire and cable and rose to become the head of the wire department.

"She proudly tells me she's no longer on welfare, food stamps... and how grateful she is to be able to support her family," McCann said.

Another story was about a young man who was one of five siblings raised in a family of drug abusers. He left home at 14 and lived intermittently with friends or relatives, having no skills or work experience.

"We trained him to operate a forklift. He rose to head a five-man team and now has his own apartment," McCann said.

"The terms used to discuss international trade say nothing about the lives of these men and women who get up every morning to go to work," he said. "Tariffs will cause layoffs. (Lives) will be devastated. The hope and optimism that comes from many of our employees will be gone."

For many employees, MEC is the best job they have ever had, he said. "Those are good American jobs in a small rural community."

Mutual investment and trade cooperation between China and the United States have helped add millions of U.S. jobs, according to a recent report from the U.S.-China Business Council.

U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska also came to testify before the 301 committee. The fishermen in his constituency are baffled by the purpose of the proposed tariffs.

Sullivan said the 900 million dollars of seafood on the list are initially exported from Alaska, processed in China, and then imported by the United States to sell in its domestic and global market. A hike in the tariffs is nothing less than a bullet aimed at Alaskan fishermen.

GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN UNDER THREAT

According to the USTR, the proposed tariffs are a supplemental action in response to what it called China's unfair trade practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation, based on findings in its investigation of China under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a one-sided tool that was created and honed during the Cold War era and has been banned by the World Trade Organization.

Mark Kinzie, director of Logitech, Inc., said there were no practices of forced technology transfer or intellectual property rights infringement by Chinese entities, drawing on his business experiences with Chinese counterparts. His views were widely shared by other representatives.

During the hearings, U.S. officials asked frequently if there's any source of imports that can replace China, if it's possible to reduce dependence on China as part of the supply chain or just simply "could you move production out of China?"

However, the one-sided idea was not well received. "Supply chains are not plug-and-play -- they cannot easily be reconfigured to meet the whims of U.S. trade policy," said Ed Brzytwa, director of international trade at the American Chemistry Council.

"Supply chains do not exist in a vacuum but move with the ebb and flow of market forces," Brzytwa said. "Forcing companies to reconfigure their supply chains would threaten the viability of their businesses."

Speakers representing various industries, including apparel, suitcases and bags, bicycles, semi-conductors and electronics, said that it would take years and a massive amount of capital to move production out of China, let alone moving it back to the United States, which has a high labor cost.

"There are no other more sophisticated supply chains than in China," said Mark Karnes, vice president of strategic planning with Cedar Electronics, the parent company for several automotive and consumer electronics brands.

"The dramatic increases in our product costs are making us less competitive...," Karnes said.

"Any claim that U.S. producers are capable of supplying the market with domestically produced products or those sourced from Korea, the EU (European Union) or anywhere else for that matter ignores economic reality and is simply wrong," said Harlan Stone, co-founder of the American Consumers & Workers Justice Coalition.

Naomi Wilson, director of global policy, China & Greater Asia for the Information Technology Industry Council, which represents companies including Amazon, Apple and Facebook, said the "most egregious long-term impact" of the proposed tariffs would be on "U.S. competitiveness and technological advantage."

"Many of the components on this list are building blocks of future technologies," Wilson said, noting that Internet of things, AI, machine learning, and 5G will all become more expensive.

(Xinhua correspondents Yan Liang, Gao Pan, Zhou Zhou, Liu Yang, Hu Yousong also contributed to the report.)

(Video editor: Zhao Yuchao)Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 19:00:00|Editor: Li Xia

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Myanmar President U Win Myint (C, front) is welcomed after his arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, Aug. 28, 2018. During the visit, U Win Myint will attend the 4th summit of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) in the Nepali capital of Katmandu on Thursday. (Xinhua/Sunil Sharma)

YANGON, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar President U Win Myint left Nay Phi Taw for Nepal at the invitation of Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, official sources said Tuesday.

During the visit, U Win Myint will attend the 4th summit of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) in the Nepali capital of Katmandu on Thursday.

BIMSTEC groups Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan.

Nepal is the current chair of BIMSTEC which was established in 1997.

The third summit of BIMSTEC was held in Myanmar's capital Nay Pyi Taw in March 2014.

A declaration issued at the Nay Pyi Taw summit reiterated firm commitment to alleviate poverty in the BIMSTEC region to ensure dignity, improve the quality of life and well-being of the peoples.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 19:05:02|Editor: xuxin

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HANOI, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- A Lao man was detained by the border guard force of Vietnam's central Quang Tri province on Tuesday when he was transporting 65,800 pills of methamphetamine from Laos to Vietnam.

The 19-year-old detainee confessed that he had been hired to transport the synthetic drug by a 27-year-old man from Vietnam's northern Bac Giang province, and a 19-year-old woman from northern Tuyen Quang province, the border guard force said, adding that relevant Vietnamese agencies arrested the duo for further investigation.

According to Vietnamese law, those convicted of smuggling over 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 km of methamphetamine are punishable by death. Making or trading 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal drugs also faces death penalty.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 19:20:07|Editor: xuxin

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COLOMBO, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena will leave for Nepal to attend the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Co-operation (BIMSTEC), which will be held in Kathmandu, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

Following the conclusion of the two-day summit on Friday, the chairmanship of BIMSTEC will be handed over to Sri Lanka by the current chair Nepal.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the fourth BIMSTEC summit declaration "Towards a Peaceful, Prosperous and Sustainable Bay of Bengal Region" will be adopted in Kathmandu.

Several initiatives under agreed priority sectors will also be reviewed with a view to enhancing inclusive growth and economic prosperity in the BIMSTEC region.

The priority sectors of BIMSTEC cooperation include trade and investment, technology, energy, transportation and communication, tourism, environment and disaster management, poverty alleviation, counter-terrorism and transnational crimes and climate change.

BIMSTEC is a regional bloc grouping India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 19:25:09|Editor: xuxin

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JERUSALEM, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli cabinet minister said on Tuesday that Syria's President Bashar al-Assad will pay a "heavy price" if he chooses to allow Iran to establish a permanent military presence in Syria.

"We did not expect the Iranians to openly wave a white flag," Interior Defense Minister Gilad Erdan told Ynet news site, saying that "the (recent) Iran-Syria military cooperation deal is clearly an excuse to legitimize the presence of Iranian forces in Syria."

"Assad will have a lot more to lose if he allows Israel's greatest enemy (Iran) to establish grounds in Syria," said Erdan, adding that "I think that will get the message across over time."

His remarks came a day after Iran said it had signed a military cooperation deal with Syria to rebuild Assad's army.

Israel has long urged Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump to prevent Iran from gaining a military foothold in its northern neighbor within the framework of a possible peace deal in the war-torn Syria.

During his last week's visit to Israel, U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said that Iran should withdraw its forces from Syria.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 19:55:16|Editor: xuxin

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KAMPALA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- A military court in Uganda's capital on Tuesday granted bail to the country's former police chief facing charges of failing to protect war materials, and aiding and abetting the kidnapping of Rwandan refugees.

Andrew Gutti, chairman of the General Court Martial, released Gen. Kale Kayihura, the former Inspector General of Police (IGP) who has been in military detention for over two months.

In a court session telecast live, Gutti in his ruling restricted the movements of Kayihura to within the capital, Kampala and the central district of Wakiso.

"Accordingly we grant bail to the applicant (Kayihura). Applicant is restricted to stay within the districts of Kampala and Wakiso except with permission of this court," said Gutti.

"The applicant to report to this court once a month; not to travel outside the country without permission of this court and army leadership," Gutti ruled, warning that any default of the conditions will lead to the cancellation of the bail.

Kayihura who spent 12 years as IGP was last Friday charged with two counts of failure to protect war materials, and aiding and abetting the kidnap of Rwandan refugees.

He denied the charges, which attract a maximum sentence of death if found guilty.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 20:30:32|Editor: Li Xia

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Syrian people celebrate at a square in the Daraya suburb, southwest of the capital Damascus, on Aug. 28, 2018. Thousands of Syrians started returning home in Daraya, suburb in the southwestern countryside of the capital Damascus on Tuesday, state news agency reported. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani)

DAMASCUS, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Syrians started returning home in Daraya, suburb in the southwestern countryside of the capital Damascus on Tuesday, state news agency reported.

The move comes after the Syrian government finished the rehabilitation process of the infrastructure in Daraya, which was recaptured by the Syrian army in 2016.

Since then, people were allowed to enter at specific time to check on their belongings and do reparation before the area was announced ready to receive its people.

A few months ago, volunteers took part in the rehabilitation of schools in Daraya.

The rebels and their families evacuated Daraya toward rebel-held areas in northern Syria in 2016 under a deal with the government.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 21:05:45|Editor: xuxin

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DHAKA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Bangladesh Election Commission said on Tuesday that it is planning to hold the country's 11th national election in the third week of December this year as the term of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League (AL) party will end in January, 2019.

Commission Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed told journalists in Dhaka, "The third week of December is an appropriate time for holding the national elections."

"No specific date for elections has yet been fixed."

He said the commission will in a meeting on Thursday decide whether the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be used for the first time in the election.

Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationslist Party (BNP) and its allies have long been opposing the use of EVMs in the national polls for fear that this may create opportunity for vested interest groups to digitally manipulate election results using the electronic voting machines.

AL, which rose to power with a landslide election victory in early 2009 and won its second term in 2014, now eyes for the third consecutive victory.

AL is facing challenges from Khaleda Zia's BNP, which boycotted the 2014 elections.

A total of 21 parties including Khaleda Zia's BNP boycotted the parliament elections as Hasina did not heed their demand for a non-party caretaker government to hold the polls.

BNP has still been demanding parliament polls under a non-party government and release of Khaleda Zia who was jailed in February for 5 years in a graft case.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 21:05:46|Editor: xuxin

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ULAN BATOR, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced Tuesday that its board of directors has approved a loan of 80 million U.S. dollars to help Mongolia's capital transform its shantytowns into low-carbon, climate-resilient and livable eco-districts.

The project will improve the lives of around 100,000 people, including 10,000 direct beneficiary households that will have access to green housing units, Arnaud Heckmann, ADB senior urban development specialist, said.

More than 800,000 residents, over half of Ulan Bator's population, live in the shantytowns with no running water, central heating or sewerage system, and sporadic garbage collection.

They have to burn raw coal and other flammable materials such as plastics and old tires to stay warm and cook meals during the six-month-long winter.

Over the past 25 years, the ADB has implemented about 280 projects and programs in Mongolia worth 1.9 billion dollars in fields such as healthcare, social protection, infrastructure and urban planning.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 21:15:52|Editor: ZX

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Photo taken on Aug. 28, 2018 shows a seminar on the Pacific Islands and the Belt and Road Initiative jointly organized by the Confucius Institute and the School of Economics of the University of the South Pacific (USP) in Suva, Fiji. China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has provided significant opportunities for China and other countries to cooperate in the fields including infrastructure and climate change in the South Pacific region, experts from China and Fiji said here on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Zhang Yongxing)

by Zhang Yongxing

SUVA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has provided significant opportunities for China and other countries to cooperate in the fields including infrastructure and climate change in the South Pacific region, experts from China and Fiji said here on Tuesday.

Jointly organized by the Confucius Institute and the School of Economics of the University of the South Pacific (USP), a seminar on the Pacific Islands and the Belt and Road Initiative was held here on Tuesday with the participation of experts from China and Fiji, students, local Chinese community leaders and representatives of Chinese enterprises.

Wang Yiwei, a professor and director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University of China, delivered a keynote speech on the South Pacific in the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

He said that the Belt and Road Initiative is to seek the way for the global prosperity.

"As the new engine of global economic growth, China brings its advantages in productivity, technology, funding, experience, and development into package and offer. The Belt and Road Initiative is the result of this and China's new phase of all-around opening-up," he said.

Desribed as the longest economic corridor across the globe, Wang said that the initiative has connected Asia-Pacific region, acting as the world economic engine, with the European Union (EU), and would create new opportunities and development space for the continent of Eurasia and formulate an economic radiated area in East Asia, West Asia and South Asia.

He told Xinhua that the goal of the initiative is to optimize allocation of resources and trade, to advance regional economic integration, and to realize the synchronous development of economy and society.

Seeing the initiative as a good thing for the world, including the South Pacific region, Wang said that it has brought tangible benefits to the world through foreign direct investments (FDI), tourists, international capacity cooperation and joint development of the third market.

Stressing that the initiative is a contribution China has made to the world, he said it can link projects into lines, and lines will grow into belts, zones, and economies of prosperity.

"We need a new model for regional cooperation for the 21st century. The economic belt is an innovation in regional cooperation."

Wang believed that the initiative will have a bright future and urged the rest of the world to cooperate with China for common development through the initiative.

Echoing Wang, Neelesh Gounder, a lecturer of School of Economics of USP, said that the initiative offers a "China solution to global and regional economic issues" by promoting connectivity in policy, infrastructure, trade, finance and people-to-people links.

He, along with Wesley Morgan, a lecturer of School of Government, Development and International Affairs of USP, said that China has done a lot in the South Pacific region over the past years and there are significant opportunities for China and the region's traditional partners like Australia and New Zealand to cooperate in the fields such as infrastructure financing and climate change.

For his part, Keshmeer Makun, a lecturer of USP, told Xinhua that the Belt and Road Initiative is China's important initiative in shaping globalization with the rest of the world. Although it is from China, it is open to all countries willing to participate."

The global impetus of the initiative is growing. Multi-lateral and international organisations are calling on countries to strengthen regional cooperation via the initiative, he said.

Pacific island countries have benefited in terms of various infrastructure projects like roads, bridges, ports and hospitals which definitely will bring long term social and economic benefits, he said, adding if all countries work together, the initiative is going to be a game changer in terms of how countries engage with each other in mutually beneficial way.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 21:15:53|Editor: mmm

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By Xinhua writers Zhang Yiyi, Xiang Dingjie

GUIYANG, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Apart from farming tools like insect-killing lamps and sticky worm traps, Wu Daocheng uses a number of "unusual" devices such as cameras and mobile meteorological stations in his kiwifruit orchard in southwest China's Guizhou Province.

These Internet-linked devices are connected to a virtual central desk -- the Xiuwen Agricultural Cloud -- to make a digitalized system of origin tracing. With these new "farming tools," information on the history of the fruit's growth can be displayed on consumers' cell phones by scanning a QR code on marketed fruit.

"All of the information eventually goes into QR codes," said Li.

By scanning the QR code on the fruit, a consumer will receive the location and owner of the plantation, field management information and when the kiwifruit was picked and shipped.

Each scan is also monitored by the cloud platform for market analysis, in areas such as consumers' different taste preferences, which provides useful feedback for growers. Using the data, growers can adjust factors such as sugar content in the planting process based on market demands.

Xiuwen is a kiwi-planting county in Guizhou. With a moderate altitude, mild weather and good soil, the conditions are ideal for growing kiwifruit, known as the "King of Vitamin C." Since the 1980s, local farmers selected quality kiwi strains from wild plants and started cultivation.

Wu, 50, is a veteran kiwifruit farmer in Xiuwen and a supplier to the local firm, the Xiuwen Agricultural Investment and Development Co, Ltd.

"When smart facilities were placed in the orchard by the company last year, I thought they were useless, although I understood consumers would be more assured with the origin tracing system," he said.

He now finds the devices assist with farming in many ways. Since their implementation, Wu has more time for pruning vines, applying fertilizer and picking fruit, helping reduce labor costs and improving his kiwifruit harvest by 30 percent from last year.

On the screen of the central desk, real-time indexes and data are displayed, showing planting information, fertilizer application records and environmental monitoring indexes of specific kiwifruit plantations.

Wu is happy to use the cloud system as a walking advertisement for the kiwifruit from his orchard, as the data can speak to the quality of the fruit.

With 14 years of kiwifruit plantation experience, Wu has contracted 8 hectares of plantation area with an annual output value of over a million yuan (150,000 U.S. dollars).

The total planting area of kiwifruit in Xiuwen has reached 11,133 hectares with 6,600 households involved.

The output value of Xiuwen's kiwifruit industry is expected to reach 3 billion yuan this year.

The big-data system has covered 25 percent of the total kiwifruit planting area in Xiuwen with plans for further expansion.

"The big-data system aims to cover the whole kiwifruit industrial chain, including the planting, warehouse storage and logistics, sorting and packaging, intensive processing, as well as sales," said Li Yang, a representative from the company responsible for the comprehensive agricultural development in the county.

The company introduced a sorting line from the Netherlands last year, which helps grade and pack different classes of kiwifruit based on their weight and levels of sugar and Vitamin C content.

Li said the system helps the company monitor all 500 pesticide residue indicators, which are required to export the fruit to overseas markets including Japan, Russia and Malaysia.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 21:15:55|Editor: xuxin

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BERLIN, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Federation of German Industries (BDI) has warned the federal government on Tuesday against promising citizens long-term pensions increases which would lead to a significantly higher tax burden on companies and workers.

"It is unnecessary to offer half-baked promises on retirement schemes which would have to be tax-financed on the backs of younger generations," BDI director Joachim Lang told the press in Berlin.

Instead, Lang urged the ruling cabinet of chancellor Angela Merkel to make use of record government budget surpluses to reduce taxes in Germany.

"Since the beginning of the economic recovery, which is currently in its ninth year, the volume of tax receipts has grown by 40 percent. The tax burden shouldered by companies even grew by around 60 percent," Lang complained.

As a consequence, Germany was increasingly at risk of falling behind as an international investment destination compared with countries like the United States where legislators had recently lowered corporation taxes. "The time has come to grant our companies some relief in order to ensure investment, prosperity and opportunity," the BDI director argued.

Lang's comments were made shortly after the magazine "SPIEGEL" reported that Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) is preparing to announce fresh taxes as a means to guarantee all German retirees receive a pension level equivalent to 48 percent of their current income. Concrete options mulled to implement a corresponding pledge by the "grand coalition" included lifting value added taxes (VAT) in Germany and re-instating a recently abolished and controversial "solidarity surcharge" worth roughly 20 billion euros per year.

So far, Scholz opposes calls by some demographic experts to raise the German retirement age, rather than spending more public money on the country's rapidly growing cohort of pensioners. The SPD politician has gone as far as to demand an extension of the timeframe in which his ambitious 48 percent ratio applied until 2040. Senior representatives of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Christian Social Union (CSU) and German Social Democrats (SPD) are scheduled to hold preliminary talks on the issue in Berlin on Tuesday night (CET).

However, several prominent academic experts have already voiced sharp criticism against Scholz' only vaguely-outlined proposals. Bernd Raffelhueschen, professor of economics at the University of Freiburg, cautioned that a pension level equivalent to 48 percent of their current income would be "unaffordable and unfair for younger generations."

"Young employees would face an even higher fiscal burden and the acceptance of the pensions system would decline," Raffelhueschen said.

Speaking to the "Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland" on Tuesday, Marcel Fratzscher, president of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) argued that the stabilization of the pensions system sought by Schulz could only be achieved in sustainable fashion if the retirement age rose as well.

"An increase in life expectancy by one year requires an increase in the working life period of eight months in order to stabilize the level of pensions without imposing a greater fiscal burden on young people. This is something which (the government) cannot simply ignore," Fratzscher said.

Nevertheless, Ver.di trade union president Frank Bsirske welcomed Scholz' proposals in the "Passauer Neue Presse" to offer a 48 percent pensions guarantee until 2040. "What is it about (the proposal to stabilize pensions) that is supposed to make citizens feel insecure?" Bsirske asked.

Scholz has described a successful overhaul of the German pensions system as being critical to alleviate citizens' concerns about socio-economic inequality and hence prevent the rise to power of a populist politician in the country. Although his proposals were mainly intended to spark a public debate, the precise outcome of which was still unclear, the ultimate objective thereof was to nip "populist tendencies" in the bud.

Merkel has said that her government will prioritize pensions system reform without intervening in the work of a specially-appointed independent expert commission. The 2020s are set to become a critical period for the German social insurance system when a large number of citizens are expected to retire.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 21:20:56|Editor: ZX

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Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (C, front) listens to Mongolian Foreign Minister Damdin Tsogtbaatar while inspecting the Belt and Road quick access at the Chinggis Khaan International Airport in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, Aug. 25, 2018. (Xinhua/Asigang)

ULAN BATOR, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia has implemented three measures to support the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a senior foreign ministry official said.

The Mongolian Government introduced the measures in November. They are issuing multiple-entry visa for personnel involved in the BRI, allowing them to apply for visa at Mongolia's airport and border crossing, and providing quick access at international arrival and departure, Ariunbold Yadmaa, director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' consular department, told Xinhua on Monday.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi inspected the Belt and Road quick access at the Chinggis Khaan International Airport in Ulan Bator on Saturday during his visit to the country, marking the official launch of the three facilitation measures.

The Chinese Ambassador to Mongolia, Xing Haiming, said Mongolia is a natural partner of the BRI, supporting it and participating in it since it was proposed in 2013.

Mongolia has dovetailed its development strategy with the BRI, Xing said, adding that the initiative will promote Mongolia's development and China-Mongolia relations.File Photo: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump are seen as they pose for a photo at the start of the NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium July 11, 2018. (Xinhua/REUTERS)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- The White House said here on Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over phone and discussed issues related to Syria, U.S.-Europe relations and trade.

According to a statement issued by White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders, earlier in the same day, Trump and Merkel discussed the resolution of the Syrian crisis and how to improve the economic relations between the U.S. side and Europe.

"Both leaders called for international action to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Idlib Province (in Syria), and for renewed efforts to solve the conflict in eastern Ukraine," the statement read.

Trump and Merkel "strongly supported ongoing discussions between Washington and Brussels to remove barriers to a deeper trading relationship," the statement added without giving details.

Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker agreed on July 25 to mitigate the transatlantic trade tensions over Washington-launched tariffs.

However, the two sides have so far failed to patch up ties strained over U.S. tariffs on the EU's cars, steel and aluminum.

The U.S.-Europe relationship has also been overshadowed by their differences on the Iran nuclear deal, the Paris climate accord, the status of Jerusalem and the defense spending, among other issues.File Photo: Young girls with U.S. and Kenya flags wait to greet U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Robert Godec as he visits a President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) project for girls' empowerment in Nairobi on March 10, 2018. (Xinhua/AFP)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump and his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday pledged to further cooperate in the areas of counterterrorism, security and trade.

According to their joint statement issued by the White House after Kenyatta visited the White House earlier Monday, the two leaders resolved to elevate the bilateral relationship to a strategic partnership, that will include an annual dialogue.

The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to continuous counterterrorism cooperation against extremists.

"To further enhance this counterterrorism collaboration, President Trump welcomed Kenya's decision to join the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS," read the statement.

The two leaders also pledged to deepen defense and security cooperation, "building on the recent acquisition of military equipment made in the United States and committed to further enhancing Kenya Defense Forces' capabilities."

To further boost economic ties, the two leaders agreed to establish a United States-Kenya Trade and Investment Working Group to explore ways to deepen the bilateral relationship.

Moreover, the two governments announced they had established direct flights between Nairobi and New York City set to begin later this year.

On the economic front, Trump and Kenyatta welcomed the proposal by U.S. engineering and construction firm Bechtel Corporation to build a modern superhighway from Nairobi to Mombasa.

Both sides agreed to undertake further consultations to conclude the terms of the financing agreement.

During Kenyatta's trip to the United States, the two nations announced some 900 million U.S. dollars in commercial deals and engagements, according to the statement.

Before their bilateral meeting at the White House, Trump told the media that the roadway will be "record-setting, in many ways."

For his part, Kenyatta later noted that "what's most important and what makes our country survive is the trade and investment partnership" with the United States.

According to an email sent to reporters by the White House, this was Kenyatta's first formal bilateral meeting with Trump. He first visited the White House in 2014, when he met with then President Barack Obama.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 21:30:58|Editor: xuxin

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BERLIN, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Several people have been injured in Chemnitz after protestors joined the east German city's second far-right demonstration in as many days on Monday night.

Police Tweeted that some participants in the rally organized by the "Pro Chemnitz" group had injured at least six people by throwing pyrotechnical devices and other objects. Additionally, there were reports of protestors using the Nazi-era Hitler salute, which is banned in Germany.

Despite having known that further demonstrations were likely to take place in the city, police said their staffing levels had initially been insufficient to keep the situation under control. As a consequence, police officers struggled to keep the "Pro Chemnitz" protestors and a simultaneous "Chemnitz nazifrei" (Nazi-free Chemnitz) march to challenge the far-right mobilization, apart on the streets.

Like the first demonstration in Chemnitz on Sunday, Monday's "Pro Chemnitz' event was inspired by the death of a 35-year-old German in a violent brawl in the city. So far, police have arrested a 22-year-old Syrian and a 23-year-old Iraqi national on suspicion of manslaughter who allegedly participated in a fight between several "individuals of different nationalities" at the Chemnitz City Festival.

The incident is already seen to offer further evidence of the dangers of multiculturalism to the society for the country's far-right. Heeding calls from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and other organizations, several hundreds of individuals descended upon Chemnitz in an angry mob on Sunday night chanting "We are the people". They chased and threatened civilians with foreign appearances in what has since been described by some observers as a shocking example of uncurbed lynch justice.

The tumultuous scenes in the Saxony town did not go unnoticed in Berlin. Speaking to the press, Steffen Seibert, the official spokesperson for Chancellor Angela Merkel, expressed dismay at the news of "witch hunts against people with foreign appearances" once again taking place in Germany.

By contrast, AfD parliamentary delegate Markus Frohnmaier praised the initiative shown by individuals who had joined the violent protests. "When the state can no longer protect its citizens, the citizens will go on the streets and protect themselves. It's as simple as that," Frohnmaier tweeted.

For German Social Democratic Party (SDP) politician Burkhard Lischka, the fact that a party like the AfD, which was represented in the federal parliament, could be seen applauding far-right rioters raised serious questions about the rule of law and societal cohesion in Germany. "There is a small right-wing mob in our country which will use any excuse to carry out its fantasies of violence and civil-war like conditions onto our streets," Lischka told the newspaper Rheinische Post.

The Chemnitz marches follow closely on the heels of the so-called "Pegizei" scandal in Saxony in which the state criminal police office stands accused of maintaining close ties with far-right groups and undermining press freedom.

During the latest demonstration of the anti-immigrant Pegida group in the regional capital Dresden, a protestor who was later identified as a member of the state criminal police office, hurled verbal abuse at a team of ZDF journalists filming the gathering. Rather than reigning in the aggressive individual, police proceeded to inspect and temporarily detain the ZDF team over the course of just under an hour.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 21:30:59|Editor: mmm

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MANILA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez lauded anew the Belt and Road Initiative on Tuesday, saying the China-proposed initiative is a "powerful idea" that promotes interconnectivity among world economies.

The Belt and Road Initiative is really a powerful idea. It brings together a lot of major economies in the world to promote free trade and improve access to each other's markets, which is really an engine for growth, Dominguez told Xinhua in an interview.

Already, Dominguez said the Philippines has benefited from the initiative.

Regarding the cooperation between China's Belt and Road Initiative and the Philippines' Build, Build, Build infrastructure program, Dominguez said that there are more cooperation projects in the pipeline, including the Kaliwa Dam or the New Centennial Water Source project that will supply water for the Metro Manila area.

"The dam is really very significant for Metro Manila residents," he added.

He said the Philippines is now working with China for the construction of Iloilo-Guimaras-Negros Bridge in the central Philippines and the Davao-Samal bridge in southern Philippines.

"All these are about connectivity," Dominguez said.

Under the Build, Build, Build infrastructure program, the Philippine government plans to spend more than 8 trillion pesos (roughly 151 billion U.S. dollars) until 2022 into infrastructure projects such as railways, ports, roads and bridges.

Dominguez led a high-level team of Philippine government delegation that visited Beijing last week to discuss cooperation infrastructure projects in the pipeline.

"All the meetings (in Beijing) were extremely productive," Dominguez said.

Lucio Blanco Pitlo, a lecturer at the Chinese Studies Program of Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines, also expressed optimism that Sino-Philippine cooperation will further bloom, saying the Philippines' Build, Build, Build Program can indeed benefit from China's Belt and Roald Initiative.

"I expect both sides to continue cooperation," Pitlo told Xinhua in a separate interview.

He said China had developed tremendous capacity for infrastructure, renewable energy, mechanized agriculture and manufacturing.

"Cooperation in these areas can have a transformative impact on the Philippine economy. It can ease traffic congestion and disperses development outside metropolitan areas, unlock the potentials of the countryside through more efficient farming and faster connection to markets in the cities, ensure access to clean, green and sustainable sources of energy and expand the country's manufacturing sector," Pitlo said.

He added "These will attract capital, create jobs and contribute to food and energy security".

As of July 2018, more than 100 countries and international organizations had signed Belt and Road cooperation documents with China, extending the initiative's scope from the Eurasian continent to Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the South Pacific region.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 21:41:04|Editor: mmm

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CHONGQING/WUHAN/SHENZHEN, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Local authorities across China have ordered branches of ride-hailing platform Didi Chuxing to ensure the safety of its services after a female passenger was killed last week.

Traffic authorities in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality have ordered Didi's Chongqing office to obtain a certification for its ride-hailing services within a specified time, and share operation data with administrative departments.

Since entering Chongqing in 2014, Didi has failed to obtain its certificate for lawful operation in the city. In addition, the company did not make its data available to the government despite multiple requests from the city's transportation security administration.

Authorities also ordered Didi to remove unqualified vehicles and drivers as well as build a responsive complaints platform to ensure customers' safety.

Didi's Chongqing office said it would report to the headquarters and rectify its problems in a timely manner.

Traffic authorities in central China's Wuhan also inspected nine ride-hailing platforms including Didi on Monday, ordering them to thoroughly inspect their vehicles and drivers, as well as provide accurate and real-time operation data to the city's supervision department.

Authorities in south China's Shenzhen said nearly 5,000 drivers and 2,000 vehicles registered with Didi were not qualified and ordered the company to address the problem to ensure passenger safety.

The city's transport and communications committee has punished eight ride-hailing platforms and fined about 27 million yuan (3.9 million U.S. dollars) since the beginning of 2018.

The Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Public Security, and authorities in Beijing and Tianjin summoned Didi executives for meetings on Sunday, demanding a "comprehensive rectification" on its hitch riding service.

A 20-year-old woman went missing on Friday afternoon after hailing a car from Didi in the city of Wenzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. The driver was caught by police on Saturday and confessed to rape and murder.

The incident came after a 21-year-old female flight attendant using Didi was murdered by her hitch driver in the central China city of Zhengzhou in May.

Didi started out in 2012 as a small company, operating a mobile app to help people hail taxis on the crowded roads of China's large cities.

Over the years it has become the country's largest ride-hailing firm with services including private car ride sharing, chauffeur services, and car rentals.

The company has suspended its hitch riding service nationwide since Monday, and two senior executives have been removed from their posts.

Didi said the suspect had no criminal record, had provided authentic documentation and passed a facial recognition test before starting work.

However, it also said it failed to act on a complaint made against the driver on Thursday by a passenger who alleged the driver took her to a remote place and followed her after she got out of the car.

Han Zhipeng, a Guangzhou-based commentator, said that vicious incidents occurring one after another is by no means an accident, it shows the company has ignored passenger safety and social responsibility.

In terms of passenger safety, the self-discipline and self-inspection of car-hailing firms are far from sufficient, said Ou Wei'an, a law professor at Guangzhou University.

Ou added that related government departments should strengthen supervision and punishment on car-hailing services in the future.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 21:41:05|Editor: xuxin

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MOSCOW, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Russia will conduct "Vostok-2018" or "East-2018" drills, the largest military exercises since 1981, next month, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday.

To be held from Sept. 11-15, Vostok-2018 will involve nearly 300,000 troops, about 36,000 military vehicles, and more than 1,000 aircraft from Russia's Eastern and Central military districts, and the Northern Fleet, Shoigu told reporters.

The drills were preceded by a number of preparatory exercises and a large-scale inspection from Aug. 20-25.

Russia conducted more than 8,000 combat training activities last year, including the "Zapad-2017" joint exercises with Belarus in September, involving around 12,700 soldiers.

Russia has been showcasing its military strength as its relations with the United States and other Western countries continue to worsen over Western accusations that Russia was behind the poisoning of a former spy in Britain and ensuing sanctions.

Russia denies the accusations.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 21:46:06|Editor: Li Xia

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Head of the election observation mission of the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Peter Tejler (C) attends a press conference in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on Aug. 28, 2018. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) opened an observation mission on Tuesday here with the aim of monitoring Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) upcoming general elections. (Xinhua/Haris Memija)

SARAJEVO, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) opened an observation mission on Tuesday here with the aim of monitoring Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) upcoming general elections.

Following an invitation from the BiH authorities and under the OSCE's auspices, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) will observe the election process before, during, and after the election day, said head of the mission Ambassador Peter Tejler at a press conference on Tuesday.

"The aim of the mission is to monitor the integrity of the voting process, and give a chance to every citizen to enjoy the universal and equal right to vote, and their votes to be counted and tabulated in the correct way," Tejler said, adding that only in that way can the government's legitimacy be achieved.

The mission will assess whether the process is transparent, and conducted in line with OSCE commitments of honesty, partiality, and secrecy and whether the results are announced honestly and in a transparent matter.

"We will remain independent, impartial, we are here to observe the elections according to the established electoral methodology. The mission will pay particular attention to the implementation of the BiH legislation, vote counting and tabulation," Tejler emphasized.

The mission consists of a core team of 12 election experts, and 22 long-term observers to be deployed across the country.

On election day, an additional 300 short-term observers to monitor the proceedings of elections will be called to observe the polling stations.

Tejler further explained that observers would closely monitor the voter registration process, campaign activities, work of relevant governmental bodies, election-related legislation and its implementation, solving of electoral disputes before, during, and after the elections, and media coverage of the campaign.

The mission will observe the elections for their compliance with OSCE commitments, international standards for democratic elections, and national legislation.

A statement of preliminary findings and conclusions will be issued on the day after the elections.

BiH's general elections are to be held on Oct. 7, 2018. Under one of the most complex electoral systems in the world, 3.38 million BiH voters will elect tripartite members of the presidency, which represents the three major ethnic groups of Bosniaks, Serbs and Croats, and choose the members of state and entity-level assemblies. The total cost of the election will be 8.5 million convertible marks (5.08 million U.S. dollars).Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 22:01:09|Editor: xuxin

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RAMALLAH, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Tuesday denounced the United States for making an "anti-peace" decision to cut 200 million U.S. dollars of financial aid to the Palestinians.

In a statement issued after the weekly cabinet meeting, the PA said that Washington's decision "emphasizes its adoption of the Israeli government's anti-peace agenda and abolishes decades of U.S. foreign policy and the role of former administrations toward the peace process."

Neither "the Palestinian people nor its leadership will accept bargaining on national standards, at any cost," it said.

U.S. President Donald Trump declared last week that his administration will cut nearly all the financial aid which was pledged to spend on projects for the Palestinians in 2017, including the money allocated for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.

The Trump administration claimed that it decided to redirect the aid, which is estimated at over 200 million dollars, to other projects elsewhere.

The Palestinian Authority has boycotted the Trump administration since Washington recognized the disputed holy city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moved the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem in May.

It has stated that it will reject the so-called "deal of century" that the U.S. plans to roll out this year to end the protracted stalemate in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 22:06:12|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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ZAGREB, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- A diving team from Croatia found a safe in the wreckage of "Re d'Italia" near the island of Vis in the Adriatic Sea, Croatian media reported on Tuesday.

The ship sunk in 1866 during the famous Battle of Vis (also known as Battle of Lissa), a naval conflict between Austrian Empire and Italian forces during the Third Italian Independence War.

According to legend, the safe could conceal the gold which was allegedly carried on the ship for the establishment of the Italian authority in Dalmatia, which was part of the Austrian Empire in the 19th century.

"It took us 13 years to get this dive and confirm the finding. We will have to wait a certain time to find out the content," Lorenzo Marovic told morski.hr, the Croatian news portal, about the Adriatic Sea.

Marovic is a diver from the island Vis who discovered the position of "Re d'Italia" while searching for corals in 2005. The ship was found 115 meters under the sea, seven nautical miles north of the island Vis.

After the latest discovery, Marovic will ask Croatian authorities to approve further dives so his team can explore and maybe find out what is in the safe. Morski.hr reports that Marovic could receive a reward of ten percent of the estimated value of tens of millions of euros.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 22:06:13|Editor: mmm

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MANILA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Philippine Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said on Tuesday that a total of 764,094 Chinese tourists visited the Philippines during the first seven months of 2018, making China the second-biggest source market for Philippines' international tourists.

Puyat said foreign tourist arrivals increased by 11.3 percent for the first seven months of 2018 despite the shutting down of world-class resort Boracay in April to make way for a massive clean-up in the island.

Boracay is a premier tourists drawer. Known for its clear water and powdery sand, Boracay is a favorite among the Chinese tourists.

"I was very worried because of the closure of Boracay, that's why I was surprised with the figure from the Philippine Statistics Authority (showing) that despite the closure of Boracay, tourism arrivals increased," Puyat said during a forum hosted by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Puyat said that South Korean nationals ranked the first in the highest number of tourist arrivals in the country from January to July with a 21.76-percent share.

Data from the Department of Tourism showed that the number of South Korean nationals that visited the Philippines has so far this year spiked to 937,227.

This data was 10,000 higher from the South Koreans who arrived in the country in the same period of 2017, numbering 927,227.

China comes the second with 764,094 tourist arrivals and the United States with 649,496 visitors. China and the United States have 17.74 and 15.08 percentage shares, respectively.

Indeed, Puyat said, that arrivals remained high despite the Boracay closure. In a way, she said the closure led to the discovery of other tourist destinations in the country.

She said tourists visited other "alternative destinations" like Cebu, Bohol, Palawan, Bicol, even Siargao in southern Philippines.

Puyat expressed optimism that the government will still hit its year-end arrivals target of 7.4 million.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 22:11:15|Editor: xuxin

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RAMALLAH, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday blasted Israel for continuing to obstruct the peace process by creating obstacles.

Abbas made the remarks while meeting a group of Israeli academics in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestine News Agency WAFA reported.

Abbas reaffirmed that Palestinians are "committed to a just and comprehensive peace based on international resolutions and the two-state solution despite all obstacles and difficulties placed by the Israeli government in the way of achieving peace."

The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has hit a snag since 2014, leading to continued violence and conflicts between the two sides.

The Palestinian leader also stressed the important role the youth can play in peace-making and "the right of the future generations to live in freedom and peace and away from hatred, violence and occupation."

The meeting was organized by the Committee to Communicate with the Israeli Society, a department in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

Ari Shoani, director of the Israeli think tank Peace and Security Association, slammed the Nation-State Law passed recently by the Israeli Knesset, or parliament, which he said "should be cancelled."

On July 19, the Israeli Knesset approved the Jewish Nation-State Law, which constitutionally enshrines the identity of the State of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.

The law prioritizes the rights of Jewish citizens over those of Arab citizens, which account for 20 percent of the population. As a basic law, it can override any ordinary legislation.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 22:11:15|Editor: mmm

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Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan (R) meets with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 28, 2018. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

BEIJING, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan on Tuesday met with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias in Beijing.

Wang said both China and Greece are ancient civilizations with a long history and splendid culture. The two sides share a traditional friendship, deep feelings, close high-level exchanges and solid political mutual trust.

China is willing to work with Greece under the consensus reached by the two leaders, deepen mutual understanding in various fields at all levels, constantly consolidate the foundation of mutual trust in the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership, strengthen the integration of development strategies and promote the construction of the Belt and Road, said Wang.

China is ready to strengthen coordination and cooperation with Greece in major international and regional affairs to jointly address global challenges, promote the healthy and stable development of China-EU relations, and make new contributions to building a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for humanity, he said.

Kotzias said Greece is a sincere partner of China. The Greek side is willing to deepen pragmatic cooperation with China in various fields, strengthen mutual understanding and learning and promote the peace and development of humanity.

Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, also met Kotzias on Tuesday.

Yang said the two sides should take the opportunity of signing the Memorandum of Understanding on Belt and Road cooperation to push the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level.

Kotzias said Greece looks forward to developing closer ties with China and pushing for new achievements in Belt and Road cooperation.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 22:16:19|Editor: xuxin

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MANILA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- At least 13 people were injured in a homemade bomb blast on Tuesday night in southern Philippines, local media reported.

Authorities have not issued any official statement but local media reported that the bomb went off around 8:35 p.m. local time in front of a restaurant on a highway in Isulan, a town in Sultan Kudarat province.

The local media reported that the explosion occurred while residents were celebrating a fiesta.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 22:46:24|Editor: yan

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KIEV, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine is seeking some 3.5 billion U.S. dollars from international lenders this year, a senior official of the country's central bank said Tuesday.

Oleg Churiy, deputy governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, told reporters that Kiev hopes to obtain a tranche worth about 2 billion dollars from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by the end of November.

The IMF aid will pave the way for Ukraine to get 1.5 billion dollars in total from the World Bank and the European Commission by the end of this year, Churiy said.

The cooperation with major international lenders will give a positive signal to private investors, enabling Ukraine to issue a fresh batch of eurobonds with an estimated value of 1.5 billion dollars, Churiy said.

Ukraine relies on international financial aid to service its state debt, of which 3.4 billion dollars should be repaid this year.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 23:01:27|Editor: ZX

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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) meets with World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Director-General Francis Gurry, who is here to attend the 2018 high-level conference on intellectual property rights (IPRs) for countries along the Belt and Road, in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 28, 2018. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

BEIJING, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang Tuesday met with World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Director-General Francis Gurry, who was in Beijing to attend the 2018 high-level conference on intellectual property rights (IPRs) for countries along the Belt and Road.

Li said that IPR protection is the cornerstone of the market economy while protecting IPRs is an inevitable requirement for achieving innovative development.

In the context of a new round of scientific and technological revolution, and in the process of economic transformation and upgrading of developing countries, innovation has increasingly become the first driving force for countries to lead development, said Li.

To protect IPRs is to protect innovation and the enthusiasm of innovative talent, he said.

Li said that China now is in the critical stage of upgrading and improving its economy and will adopt a stricter IPR protection system and further improve related laws and regulations.

IPR violations, once verified, will be severely punished, he said, adding that China will treat all domestic and foreign enterprises equally and provide equal protection.

China will never allow compulsory technology transfers, said Li, noting that if any such case is discovered, China will investigate and deal with it according to law.

Li stressed that China firmly adheres to multilateralism. Countries, big or small, should seek the greatest common interests in international affairs.

China is willing to further deepen its cooperation with the WIPO and will maintain support for the WIPO's work, so as to jointly promote the building of open, inclusive, balanced and effective international IPR rules, and make new contributions to improving global governance on IPRs.

Gurry said that in the past 40 years, China established a high-level IPR protection system, which regards intellectual property as the driving force for innovation and economic development, and treats Chinese and foreign companies equally.

Congratulating the rise of China's ranking in Global Innovation Index 2018, Gurry said he believes the country will make further developments in the future.

The WIPO is willing to further deepen cooperation with China, maintain multilateralism, and jointly meet challenges, said Gurry.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 23:16:32|Editor: yan

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MANILA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- At least one person was killed and 33 others were injured in a homemade bomb blast on Tuesday night in Sultan Kudarat province of southern Philippines, local police said.

Noel Kinazo, the Sultan Kudarat provincial police chief, told Xinhua in a telephone interview that the homemade bomb went off somewhere between 8:35 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. local time in front of a restaurant on a highway in a town named Isulan.

Kinazo said at least two of the 33 injured were critically wounded.

The victims were reportedly brought to a nearby hospital and a clinic.

The explosion occurred while residents are celebrating a fiesta, the police chief added.

An investigation into the incident was underway, he said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 23:16:32|Editor: yan

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ZAGREB, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The European Travel Commission (ETC) has approved funds to Croatian and Slovenian tourism authorities for their joint promotion in China, the Croatian National Tourist Board announced on Tuesday.

The aim of the campaign named "Experience Croatia, Feel Slovenia" is to strengthen the visibility and reputation of the two counties on the Chinese market and present themselves as a European tourist destination.

The value of the campaign is over 200,000 euros (234,500 U.S. dollars), half of which will be co-financed by ETC.

The campaign will be conducted from October 2018 to March 2019, and will include two joint workshops in Beijing and Shanghai, two online training courses for Chinese tour operators and travel agencies in Croatia and Slovenia, as well as advertising in prominent Chinese media.

"I am sure that our investments and planned activities, together with approved European funds, will ensure even better Croatian results on the big Chinese market," said Croatian National Tourist Board director Kristijan Stanicic in the press release.

2018 marks the EU-China Tourism Year. Stanicic said that Croatia will continue to promote itself in China where the Croatian National Tourist Board has opened a new office in Shanghai.

"Around 136,000 Chinese tourists have visited Croatia so far this year, and generated 203,000 overnight stays, which is a 36 percent growth compared to the same period last year," Stanicic said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 23:31:35|Editor: yan

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BERLIN, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- German foreign minister Heiko Maas and his Irish counterpart Simon Coveney have issued a joint warning on Tuesday against a disorderly Brexit, or the withdrawal of Britain from the European Union (EU).

"We want an orderly Brexit, rather than a disorderly one," Maas told press after a meeting with Coveney in Berlin. "This is why we are doing everything in our power to secure an agreement (on the future EU-UK ties)," he added.

Similarly, Coveney said that a disorderly Brexit would "not be in anybody's interest." However, the Irish foreign minister stressed that there was only a small amount of time for negotiations left until London leaves the bloc in March 2019 and said that his country had hence already begun to draw up contingency plans for the worst-case scenario.

After Britain itself, Ireland is widely seen as the country which stands to suffer the greatest economic damage as a consequence of the British referendum decision to leave the EU.

A key sticking point in negotiations is the sensitive situation of the land border between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, an issue on which the British cabinet is also split internally.

Meanwhile, Brussels has shown no inclination of reneging on an earlier pledge to prevent the erection of an Irish land border and has told member states to begin preparing for a "no deal" outcome.

The German Federation of Industry (BDI) has argued that the United Kingdom would be best advised to emulate the quasi-EU membership models of Norway and Switzerland to avert material damage and protect the current rights which its own citizens enjoy throughout the EU.

Norway and Switzerland are both members of the EU Schengen travel area and customs union, abide by its four freedoms of goods, services, capital and people, and are subject to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (CJEU).

So far, London has rejected proposals to opt for a similar arrangement on the grounds that voters had given the government a mandate to "take back control". British Prime Minister Theresa May has instead sought to persuade the EU to accept the vision for a vaguely-defined "bespoke agreement."Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 23:31:37|Editor: yan

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YANGON, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's Yangon International (YIA) has welcomed the arrival of four million passengers in 2018.

Traveling from China's Kunming on board China Eastern Airlines flight MU 2031, a passenger named Daw Khin Phoo Thit was welcomed and awarded 1 million kyats (667 U.S. dollars) at the YIA Terminal 1 on Tuesday afternoon.

The passenger was also awarded 1 million kyats (667 U.S. dollars) worth gift sets which include a two-night stay in Horizon Lakeview Hotel and Resort in Capital city Nay Pyi Taw, a Samsonite travel luggage and other travel-related items.

"We are glad to welcome our 4 millionth passenger today as we cross the second half year of 2018. With our trained personnel and effective equipment, YIA strives towards our goal of being a high performance airport," said Jose Angeja, chief operating officer of Yangon Aerodrome Company Limited which is operating the Yangon International Airport.

"We are trying to show our appreciation to travelers through these types of events together with our airlines partners like China Eastern Airlines," he added.

Chen Jinsong, general manager of China Eastern Airlines (Yangon branch), said that there is a sharp increase of arrivals of Chinese travelers in Myanmar during this year and it is expected to see more visitors from China in Myanmar as Myanmar has relaxed visa restrictions which will take effect on October 1 this year.

The China Eastern Airlines will extend three more trips from Kunming to Myanmar on October 24 this year, Chen Jinsong added, pledging to offer high quality services to the travelers and to serve as a bridge for bilateral friendship and economic cooperation between China and Myanmar.

According to official figures, a total of 5.92 million tourists arrived at the YIA, the largest and busiest airport of the country, in 2017.

Of them, international travelers accounts for 66 percent.

At present, there are 28 international airlines and eight domestic airlines running at the YIA which is expecting to annually receive 20 million passengers.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 23:31:38|Editor: yan

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BERLIN, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Long-standing pressure on Germany's early education system stemming from staff shortages in childcare facilities eased slightly last year, a study published on Tuesday by the Bertelsmann Foundation found.

According to the study, the ratio of pedagogical workers to kindergarten children last year was an average of one to 9.1. The figure marked a slight improvement of an a previously recorded staffing ratio of one to 9.8 recorded by the researchers in 2012.

While welcoming the change, Bertelsmann early education expert Kathrin Bock-Famulla warned that the figure was still far higher than the one-to-7.5 ratio recommended by educational experts. "We know from scientific studies that insufficient staffing levels have a negative impact on the development and education of children," Bock-Famulla told the German press agency (dpa).

Additionally, the study highlighted that there are still large regional discrepancies in the quality of childcare provision in Germany. The Bertelsmann Foundation criticized what it described as the "snail's pace" in improving staffing levels in North Rhine-Westphalia, Berlin, Hesse, Schleswig-Holstein, Saxony and Thuringia in particular.

The Guetersloh-based institute warned that a new "good childcare" law proposed by the federal government would further contribute to the identified regional inequalities in staffing levels as it failed to take differences in the number of children in care into account. "Without uniform federal and legally-binding standards the patchwork situation with regards to childcare quality will remain," a statement by Bertelsmann director Joerg Draeger read.

German family minister Franziska Giffey (SPD) has recently promised to raise the level of federal funding for childcare again from a previously planned sum of 3.5 billion euros (4.10 billion U.S. dollars) to 5.5 billion euros until 2022. Draeger recommended linking the receipt of such financial assistance to the number of children cared for in regional facilities.

"The East German states especially need more financial assistance to be able to catch up on childcare quality," the Bertelsmann director argued.

As a legacy effect of East Germany's socialist history, a larger proportion of children are still placed in nurseries there (51 percent) than in the Western half of the country (29 percent). On the premise that such facilities are adequately staffed and funded, educational experts regularly draw attention to the benefits of early education for the longer-term development of children's social and academic skills, as well the importance of enabling parents to successfully combine a career with raising a family.

Speaking to Xinhua on Tuesday, Bock-Famulla emphasized that the acquisition of linguistic skills by children was likely to suffer when childcare facilities experienced staffing issues. "In these circumstances, communication often only consists of orders given to children rather than more interactive exchanges such as reading a book together," Bock-Famulla said.

The Bertelsmann early education expert added that the latter "proper communication" was hereby "particularly important for the psychological development" of younger children.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-28 23:46:44|Editor: yan

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BANGKOK, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's ban on cigarette smoking at all public beaches is not only meant to reduce waste but also protect visitors' health, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

Department of Marine and Coastal Resources Director General Jatuporn Burutphat confirmed that the smoking ban at the public beaches will certainly deter the littering of wasteful cigarette butts and keep beachgoers from inhaling cigarette smoke.

Besides, the department chief said, cigarette butts contain nicotine and arsenic, among other chemicals, contaminate the water and adversely affect aquatic animals in the sea.

An estimated 100,000 cigarette butts are littered each of Thailand's beaches in a year, according to Jatuporn.

The agency has launched a campaign to keep 24 famous beaches free of cigarette smoke, including Bang Saen beach, Patong beach and Hua Hin beach. Other beaches are yet to follow suit in foreseeable future, he said.

Under the smoke-free campaign, those who may smoke on the public beaches or dispose of cigarette butts at unpermitted spots are liable to a maximum of one year in jail or a maximum of 100,000 baht in fine, or both.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 00:01:53|Editor: yan

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NAIROBI, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan police on Tuesday arrested Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu over corruption allegations.

Mwilu was picked up at the Supreme Court by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) over alleged transactions involving the collapsed Imperial Bank.

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji later told journalists that Mwilu who was taken to DCI headquarters for questioning abused her office for personal gain and received a bribe.

"The evidence in our possession, reveals that Lady Justice Mwilu abused her office for personal gain; accepted a gift in the form of money in circumstances which undermined public confidence in the integrity of her office," Haji said.

He said the Supreme Court judge obtained execution of a security belonging to Imperial Bank Limited now in receivership by false pretense, conducted herself in disregard of the law and unlawfully failed to pay taxes.

"In view of the above, I have concluded that the evidence is sufficient with a reasonable prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest that criminal proceedings should be preferred," said Haji.

Sources close to investigations say they have firm evidence in the investigation that could see charges filed in court at any time.

The director of public prosecution said Kenya is being torn apart by people who have been placed in positions of trust and who in turn abuse this trust.

"The message that the President, the Chief Justice and other leaders have been sending is that this chaotic system needs to come to an end for the sake of our people," he said and vowed to enhance the fight against corruption to the end.

He said public officers in positions of service must not only submit to the constitutional precepts of integrity, "they must exercise wisdom, demonstrate good judgment and lead by the power of their example."

He said that after the DCI forwarded a file relating to Mwilu, he quickly informed the Chief Justice David Maraga of his decision.

"This was out of respect for him and he went ahead and granted consent for the arrest and prosecution," he said. Haji said criminal proceedings would be preferred on Mwilu adding that the decision was not taken lightly.

"It is the right decision under the law. I believe that judges in a democracy such as ours must be free and fair in everything that they do," said Haji.

The DPP said the justice system only works if lawyers, prosecutors, magistrates and judges are fair and just.

"There can be no justice if lawyers, prosecutors, magistrates, judges and investigators (who are court officials) use their position to enrich themselves at the expense of the Kenyan people," he added.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 00:11:54|Editor: yan

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KIGALI, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Experts on climate change have voiced the need to ensure that gender issues in weather and climate adaptation strategies are given much attention in the greater Horn of Africa.

They said this while speaking at the 50th Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook Forum (GHACOF50) that opened Monday in the Rwandan, Capital Kigali.

The small central African country hosts the regional event from August 27 to 28, dubbed; "Promoting Gender Sensitive Weather and Climate Services".

It aims to promote deeper understanding of gender issues in weather and climate adaptation strategies and as well develop consensus regional seasonal climate outlook for the coming months of October to December in the region.

"In the greater Horn of Africa, gender responsive to climate resilience is still low. Little has been done to develop climate change programs that promote gender equality and build an overall resilience," said Guleid Artan, director of IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) Climate Prediction and Application Center (ICPAC).

He added that when adopting climate change adaptation actions, women are often unrecognized yet they are key to the management of natural resources and to promoting sustainable practices.

The two-day meeting has brought together climate scientists, researchers, decision-makers and users from key socio-economic sectors, governmental and non-governmental organizations, development partners and the civil society among other stakeholders.

The forum is expected to formulate mitigation strategies to the implications of consensus regional climate outlook on the key socio-economic sectors in the region and understand the gender-specific impacts of climate, according to organizers.

"Women are often more exposed to the risks of extreme weather and climate change due to less access weather and climate information compared to men," said Assia Alexieva, monitoring and Eealuation officer at the World Meteorology Organization (WMO).

She noted that gender equality is key when it comes to climate change adaptation measures, adding better access to weather-related information and knowledge translates into a better productivity and a better life.

The regional forum will raise awareness and showcase good practices and concrete actions to empower women to produce and use weather and climate services.

Addressing participants, Vincent Biruta, Rwandan minister of environment, said that climate and weather predictions are a concern for all irrespective of gender.

"I encourage African leaders and policy makers to explore ways to improve the quality, packaging and delivery of climate information so that it is gender sensitive and suits the needs of diverse users," he said.

The meeting was organized by the IGAD ICPAC in collaboration with the WMO and the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs).

IGAD is an eight-country trade bloc in Africa. It includes governments from the Horn of Africa, Nile Valley and the Great Lakes region.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 00:16:56|Editor: yan

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TEHRAN, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Tuesday inaugurated its largest wind farm as part of its efforts to increase production of electricity from renewable sources.

The 18-turbine wind farm, located in Tarom county in northern Iran, has a nominal capacity of generating 61 megawatt hours of power annually, local news reported.

The wind farm, built with latest technologies at a cost of 86 million euros (101 million U.S. dollars), was financed by the National Development Fund of Iran, the country's sovereign-wealth fund.

Iran has a comprehensive plan to harness renewable energy and streamline the country's energy mix which mainly relies on fossil fuel power stations.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 00:26:58|Editor: ZX

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BEIJING, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech on Monday reviewing the progress in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation has reaffirmed China's commitment to a path of common development and prosperity as well as improvements in the global governance system, commentators said.

In the speech delivered at a conference held here marking the fifth anniversary of the China-proposed initiative, Xi said the BRI, while offering new cooperation and growth opportunities, answers the call for change in the global growth mode and governance system by providing new options, and leads to a healthier economic globalization.

It aspires to build a community of shared future for mankind with both shared responsibilities and benefits, Xi said.

The remarkable achievements of the BRI in the first five years show it aligns with the interests of both China and the other participating countries, Julio Rios, a senior expert at the Galician Institute of International Analysis and Documentation, a Spanish think tank, said.

He called the initiative one of the best proposals in terms of international vision and global significance, saying: "Many countries have made it a new driver of their economic growth."

Pierre Picard, a China expert at the University of Paris VIII, said the BRI has brought new growth opportunities in regions ranging from Southeast Asia and Central Asia to North Africa, benefiting national development.

The initiative offers development opportunities for Africa, in addition to experiences to learn from, especially for countries like Tanzania that are pursuing industrialization, Honest Prosper Ngowi, an economics professor at the Mzumbe University, Tanzania, said.

"In practice, China's initiative takes into account the interests of all countries," Sergey Lukonin, head of economy and politics of China at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said. The BRI provides a chance for infrastructure construction in countries that do not have the means to develop their own facilities, he said.

Stephen Perry, chairman of Britain's 48 Group Club, praised the BRI as "the transformatory concept of this century," saying the growth potential brought by it lies not only in infrastructure construction but in the following urbanization process.

In addition, it offers a new perspective of shared responsibility and future for humanity in tackling common challenges, he said.

The experts said the inclusiveness and openness embodied in the BRI contribute to the important role it will play in improving the global growth mode, global governance and economic globalization.

The BRI calls for openness and boasts a global vision, said Berthold Kuhn, a China expert at the Free University of Berlin. It is of great significance to the international community and global governance system that China is seeking to expand cooperation within the BRI framework at a time when unilateralism is on the rise, he added.

Sudheendra Kulkarni, ex-chairman of Observer Research Foundation, an Indian think tank, said the BRI is leading to a new type of globalization by remolding the global governance system to be more representative, inclusive, open and fairer.

He said it is important that the initiative is based on extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, combining the roles of the government and market.

Ronnie Lins, director of the China-Brazil Center for Research and Business, said the BRI is prompting countries to increase participation in international cooperation, thus helping optimize global political and economic order.

In his speech on Monday, Xi said the BRI is an initiative for economic cooperation, not a geopolitical alliance or military league. Also, it is an open and inclusive process rather than an exclusive bloc or "China club."

For Serbia's senior diplomat Zivadin Jovanovic, the BRI, in its implementation so far, has proved to be open to all countries and regions. It is by no means an exclusive club or politically binding.

Contrary to exclusiveness and protectionism, the BRI pursues connectivity, not only between lands but between people, he said.

David Gosset, a French expert in international relations and founder of the Europe-China Forum, said the initiative is a historic opportunity for most Europeans.

"Let us co-build the new Silk Roads, they are roads to prosperity and peace," he said.

Hassan Rajab, director of the Confucius Institute at Suez Canal University in Egypt, said China is trying to improve the world order by implementing the initiative. He expects it to succeed, he said, because China has adopted a win-win approach with other countries.

U Khin Maung Lynn, secretary-general of the Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies, said Xi's speech will make people have a deeper understanding of the BRI.

The initiative seeks to make the global governance system better by adopting a new way of thinking and a new approach while highlighting the importance of collaboration and joint participation by different countries for economic globalization, he added.

(Guo Qiuda in Madrid, Han Bing, Ying Qiang in Paris, Liu Kai in Tunis, Li Sibo in Dar es Salaam, Wang Chendi in Moscow, Ren Ke in Berlin, Zhao Xu in New Delhi, Zhang Qichang in Brasilia, Wang Huijuan in Belgrade, Ni Ruijie in Buenos Aires, Li Binian in Cairo, and Zhuang Beining in Yangon also contributed to this report.)Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 00:37:01|Editor: yan

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DUBAI, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- A Dubai court has sentenced an Egyptian man to three years in jail for kidnapping seven Asian housemaids from Dubai International Airport, local media reported Tuesday.

The 29-year-old Egyptian pretended to be the official contact person at the recruitment office in the airport and took the housemaids to a property in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), local daily Khaleej Times reported.

The man then assigned the maids to work for different families, the report said.

The accused also embezzled money from more than four men by showing forged employment contracts.

The Dubai Court of First Instance found him guilty of charges of kidnapping, unlawful deprivation of freedom, fraud and embezzlement and forgery.

A 35-year-old Indonesian housemaid appeared in court to give testimony about the ordeal the victims went through.

Two other Indonesian housemaids, aged 28 and 31, gave similar testimonies to Dubai Public Prosecution.

A 28-year-old Emirati man also gave testimony on how the accused tricked him to pay 12,500 dirham (3,375 U.S. dollars), as a "deposit" which he could get back should the maid not pass one-month probation.

The Egyptian man will be deported upon completion of his jail sentence, the report said.Sorry, this news has been deleted.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 00:47:05|Editor: yan

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ADDIS ABABA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government announced on Tuesday it's restricting use of luxury cars by federal government officials as part of a reform program to stop resource wastage and prevent unnecessary expenditure.

Haji Ibsa, Public Relations Head of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation (MoFEC), said the use of in particular the popular car model "V-8" in urban areas will be banned, reported state affiliated media outlet Dana Broadcasting Corporate.

The use of eight-cylinder V-8 model cars which are known for their high use of oil in urban areas has previously been criticized as a sign of wastage of resources and unnecessary expenditure.

Ibsa said a newly issued directive prevents deputy ministers, speakers of parliament, presidents and deputy presidents of federal high court, commissioners and deputy commissioners from using V8 (8-cyliner)cars in urban areas. The new directive doesn't prohibit the use of luxury vehicles for travel to rural areas.

As per the new directive, locally assembled fuel efficient automobiles will instead be provided to senior government officials to help them conduct official duties in urban areas.

Since assuming office in April, the administration of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has taken several measures to institute good governance and stop the wasteful usage of state resources.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 00:52:05|Editor: yan

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TRIPOLI, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- An airstrike on Tuesday killed an Islamic State (IS) leader in the Libyan city of Bani Walid, some 180 km southwest of the capital Tripoli, a local security source said.

"An unidentified warplane at noon targeted a Toyota vehicle driven by an IS leader called Walid al-Warfalli," a source of the joint security chamber of Bani Walid told Xinhua.

The source said the airstrike was likely carried out by a U.S. warplane "due to the accuracy of the strike that only destroyed the vehicle."

Al-Warfalli was an IS leader in the city of Sirte, some 500 kilometers east of Tripoli, which was under IS control before being recaptured by the government forces two years ago.

"Al-Warfalli is wanted by the Attorney General. An international arrest warrant was issued against him for involvement in terrorists acts," the source said.

The government has not commented on the airstrike.

The U.S. Africa Command in June claimed responsibility for an airstrike that killed four IS leaders in Bani Walid, saying the airstrike was precise and was carried out in coordination with the Libyan Government.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 00:57:06|Editor: yan

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The White House said on Tuesday that Polish President Andrzej Duda will make his first official visit to the White House next month to discuss bilateral ties with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump.

In a statement, the White House said that Duda and his wife will arrive on Sept. 18.

"The visit takes place as Poland celebrates the centennial year of the recovery of its independence and just over a year since President Trump's historic visit to Warsaw on July 5 and 6, 2017," the White House said.

Trump and Duda will "address ways to strengthen the United States-Poland strategic partnership and plan to discuss topics of mutual interest, including trade, military, and security matters," read the statement.

During his visit to Poland last year, Trump hailed Poland as one of the few countries fulfilling their financial obligations and commitments, and "even surpassing it."

Trump also said he strongly supported the Three Seas Initiative and that America was ready to help Poland and other European countries to diversify their energy suppliers so that they would never "be held hostage and dependent on one supplier."

For his part, Duda said that he and Trump talked about regional security, presence of American soldiers in Poland, tightening economic cooperation and U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) transports.

"I hope that a long-term contract for the supply of LNG will be signed soon and that this important raw material will be diversified," Duda said. "Poland may become an LNG hub, and this concept will be also brought up within the framework of Three Seas Initiative."

The Three Seas Initiative is a joint idea of the presidents of Poland and Croatia, which seeks to strengthen ties among countries between the Black, Baltic and Adriatic seas. It brings together 12 countries in Central and Eastern Europe as well as the Balkans, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania and Austria.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 02:02:16|Editor: yan

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WARSAW, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Polish government on Tuesday adopted a draft to launch a voluntary, long-term pension program, which will provide a new retirement-saving option for citizens.

During a press conference, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki introduced the voluntary pension program, which is intended to encourage citizens to start making savings for retirement and to protect low-earners and ensure the financial security of families.

Under the new program, 1.5 percent of the employee's gross wages will be contributed by the employers to an individual retirement saving account each month. Employees will be required to contribute from 0.5 percent to 2 percent, depending on their earnings, and the government will provide a supplementary contribution of 240 zloty (about 65 U.S. dollars) every year.

The program will include about 11.5 million employees and will be introduced in stages, starting in July 2019 from the largest companies, employing over 250 people. In January 2021, it is supposed to be running nationwide.

According to Morawiecki, the Polish state will pay 35-40 billion zloty within 10 years.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 02:22:20|Editor: yan

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CAPE TOWN, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- South Africa is committed to enhancing investor confidence and positioning itself as one of the leading emerging market investment destinations, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday.

The South African government is aiming to generate at least half of all new investment over the next five years from outside its borders, Ramaphosa said at the SA-UK Investor Roundtable in Cape Town on the sidelines of British Prime Minister Theresa May's one-day working visit to South Africa.

"Through my four investment envoys and the efforts of a dedicated division of the Department of Trade and Industry, Invest SA, we are scaling up our investment promotion, facilitation and aftercare services," Ramaphosa said.

Earlier this year, Ramaphosa announced an ambitious investment drive that aims to generate at least 100 billion U.S. dollars in new investment over the next five years. He has dispatched four special envoys to go on a charm offensive around the globe to attract investment.

The investment drive will culminate in an Investment Conference on October 25-27 this year, which will bring together investors both from within South Africa and from other parts of the world, Ramaphosa told guests at the SA-UK Investor Roundtable.

"We are looking forward to welcoming British investors to this conference, both those who have long been invested in South Africa looking to expand their operations and those who would be investing here for the first time," he said.

The UK is one of the largest foreign investors in the South African economy with more than 650 British firms present at the market, according to Ramaphosa.

"We see foreign direct investment as a critical driver of economic growth," he said.

He said his government is working earnestly to bring policy certainty in areas such as mining, telecommunications and energy, hoping to restore South Africa's sovereign ratings, which are currently at junk status, to investment grade status.

"Through my four investment envoys and the efforts of a dedicated division of the Department of Trade and Industry, Invest SA, we are scaling up our investment promotion, facilitation and aftercare services," he said.

South Africa is improving the investment environment by, among other things, ensuring policy certainty and consistency, improving the performance of state-owned enterprises and consolidating fiscal debt, said Ramaphosa.

"Our approach is informed by the understanding that we cannot achieve sustained economic growth or enduring social stability without ensuring more South Africans are able to participate in the productive economy," he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, May pledged that her country will become the G7's biggest investor in Africa by 2022.

She said at the British High Commission in Cape Town that the UK will invest up to 4 billion pound (about 5.2 billion U.S. dollars) in Africa, with a special focus on creating jobs for young people.

May was on her first African tour since taking office in 2016. She will also visit Nigeria and Kenya.

After meeting May, Ramaphosa told reporters that he and May made a renewed commitment to forge a closer partnership between the two countries.

"We have noted with great satisfaction the strong relationship between South Africa and the United Kingdom in wide-ranging areas of cooperation, including energy, science and technology, education, health, arts and culture," he said.

May said she wished to deepen the friendship as the UK was one of South Africa's largest trade partners.

She said her government would continue to fully support the South African drive to attract investment and wanted to see British companies play a central role in this.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 02:27:22|Editor: yan

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VILNIUS, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Turkey remains a reliable partner of NATO and is capable to balance its foreign policy in the region where the country is placed, visiting Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday.

Cavusoglu discussed Turkey's accession process to the European Union (EU) as well as regional and international issues during meeting with his Lithuanian counterpart Linas Linkevicius.

Linkevicius emphasized Lithuania's support for the close Turkey-EU cooperation, which was based on mutual strategic interests and values.

"Lithuania consistently supports Turkey's deeper integration with the European Union, but we need to talk about human rights and freedom of the media in Turkey openly," said Linkevicius.

Relations between Turkey and the EU deteriorated after failed Ankara coup attempt in July 2016.

"Unfortunately, our friends in the EU did not want to understand what we were facing that night and afterwards," Cavusoglu said in Vilnius.

The Turkish foreign minister was also received in Vilnius by President Dalia Grybauskaite.

"In the face of geopolitical security and economic challenges, Europe cannot turn away from Turkey encountering financial difficulties. It is necessary to search for solutions to assist Turkey that makes a strategic contribution in curbing terrorism and migration threats posed to Europe," Grybauskaite was quoted as saying in a statement released by her office.

Turkey is a reliable member of NATO and plays a crucial role in ensuring collective defense of the entire Alliance, said the president, noting that it was very important for the two Allies -- the U.S. and Turkey -- to find ways to ease mutual tension.

"Lithuania consistently supports EU-Turkey dialogue. Turkey needs Europe and Europe needs Turkey in trade, security, migration and other areas," Grybauskaite said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 02:32:22|Editor: Li Xia

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said on Tuesday that the United States has no plans to suspend any more military exercises with South Korea.

In a press briefing, Mattis said that "we took the step to suspend several of the largest exercises as a good-faith measure coming out of the Singapore summit."

"We have no plans at this time to suspend any more exercises," he said, adding that no decisions have yet been on major exercises for next year.

Washington has not made decisions on whether to continue suspending major military exercises with South Korea for next year, he said.

"We are going to see how the negotiations go, and then we will calculate the future, how we go forward," Mattis said.

The Pentagon said on June 22 that it has "indefinitely" suspended two military exercise programs with South Korea to support the agreements between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

According to a statement released by Pentagon spokesperson Dana White, Mattis has indefinitely suspended select exercises, including "FREEDOM GUARDIAN along with two Korean Marine Exchange Program training exercises scheduled to occur in the next three months."

Earlier on June 18, the Pentagon said that it had suspended all planning for the joint military drills with South Korea in August, referring to an annual South Korea-U.S. military exercise slated for August with the full name of Ulchi Freedom Guardian.

Pyongyang has denounced the exercises as a rehearsal for northward invasion and a violation of the spirit of the Panmunjom Declaration issued during the inter-Korean summit in late April.

Trump met with Kim on June 12, when they promised to build new bilateral relations and work toward a "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

After the meeting, Trump said the United States would stop war games with South Korea "unless and until we see the future negotiation is not going along like it should." He also said the drills were "very expensive" and "provocative" "war games."

Last year's Ulchi Freedom Guardian, attended by about 17,500 U.S. military forces, went on for 11 days.

Another major U.S. exercises with South Korea, codenamed Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, took place earlier this spring.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 02:42:24|Editor: yan

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JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Innovation brings more opportunities to all stakeholders and also present challenges like cyber threats which require concerted efforts to combat, said the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) on Tuesday.

The Deputy governor of the South African Reserve Bank, Francois Groepe, said this at the Innovation and Cybersecurity Conference in Johannesburg.

"Innovation generally leads to the expansion of markets and greater efficiencies and could potentially result in lower costs for the end user of financial products and/or services," said Groepe.

"Exponential technology has the ability to threaten the survival of firms that are highly successful today, even if they spend large amounts on innovation initiatives," said Groepe.

He stated that financial institutions must keep pace with what is happening in the technological sphere if they are to remain relevant and are to survive.

"As financial institutions and infrastructure service providers evolve to keep up with the pace of technological change, sophisticated cybercriminals continue to target banking and payment systems, with the potential to disrupt their operations and potentially cause harm to the broader financial system and even the entire economy," he said.

He pointed out that cyber-threats may also undermine innovation just like technological progress and innovation that increase cyber-risk.

All role players should share information about emerging types of cyber-threats and cyber attacks facing the financial ecosystem, he said.

"It is thus essential that these kinds of risks are well understood and that all financial institutions and market infrastructures are secured against cyber attacks," he said.

"The financial services industry should strive to have cyber security practices in place that are agile and responsive to emerging cyberspace activities and developments," he added.

The three-day conference will discuss risk management practices, controls and defense mechanisms that the financial sector should adopt to deal with these cyber-threats and cyber attacks. They will also discuss innovations, cyber security trends, challenges and opportunities.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers' 21st CEO Survey, cyber-threats and the speed of technological change are top challenges which keep chief executive officers awake at night.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 02:47:25|Editor: Li Xia

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GENEVA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Six years after the Higgs boson was discovered, scientists at European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) have at last observed its decaying to fundamental particles known as bottom quarks, a milestone in the exploration of the "God particle," according to a press release by CERN on Tuesday.

The Standard Model of particle physics predicts that about 60 percent of the time a Higgs boson will decay to a pair of bottom quarks, the second-heaviest of the six flavors of quarks. Testing this prediction is crucial because the result would either lend support to the Standard Model, which is built upon the idea that the Higgs field endows quarks and other fundamental particles with mass, or rock its foundations and point to new physics.

The latest finding of the decay was jointly presented Tuesday by the two experiment teams, ATLAS and CMS, at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which is consistent with the hypothesis that the all-pervading quantum field behind the Higgs boson also gives mass to the bottom quark. Both teams have submitted their results for publication.

To extract the signal, the ATLAS and CMS collaborations each combined data from the first and second runs of the LHC, which involved collisions at energies of seven, eight and 13 TeV. They then applied complex analysis methods to the data. The upshot was the detection of the decay of the Higgs boson to a pair of bottom quarks with a significance that exceeds five standard deviations. Furthermore, both teams measured a rate for the decay that is consistent with the Standard Model prediction, within the current precision of the measurement.

"This observation is a milestone in the exploration of the Higgs boson. It shows that the ATLAS and CMS experiments have achieved deep understanding of their data and a control of backgrounds that surpasses expectations," said Karl Jakobs, spokesperson of the ATLAS collaboration.

With more data, scientists will improve the precision of these and other measurements and probe the decay of the Higgs boson into a pair of much-less-massive fermions called muons, always watching for deviations in the data that could point to physics beyond the Standard Model.

"The experiments continue to home in on the Higgs particle, which is often considered a portal to new physics. These beautiful and early achievements also underscore our plans for upgrading the LHC to substantially increase the statistics," said CERN Director for Research and Computing Eckhard Elsen.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 03:02:28|Editor: yan

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YAOUNDE, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Michael Fru, 49, looks proudly at his merchandise exhibited in front of his shop, Fru and Sons Enterprise, in downtown Douala, the most populous city in Cameroon.

Covering a surface area of approximately 10,000 square feet (about 930 square meters), Fru's shop is one of the biggest in town.

The store sells household utensils, furniture, electronics, clothes, shoes, toys, furs and car parts. "Everything you see here is imported from China," Fru said.

In 2008, Fru, then a struggling businessman, forged connections in China, and began travelling to the Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen to buy goods.

He started off with a few thousand U.S. dollars, but now handles 400,000 to 500,000 dollars in orders at a time.

"I travel to China at least six times a year. I have sustained a mutually beneficial relationship with my Chinese partners since 2008," he said, describing China as his "second country."

Fru, one of many Cameroonians who've benefited from a close relationship with China, hopes that the upcoming Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will push bilateral ties to a new high.

Jean Magloire, rapporteur at Cameroon's Ministry of Economy and Finance, said economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has yielded very positive results in the areas of agriculture, technology, infrastructure, health and energy, since 1971, when Cameroon and China established full diplomatic relations.

In March, Cameroonian President Paul Biya was the first African leader to visit China this year. It was the sixth trip to China by the president.

Samuel Bambo, a foreign affairs officer at Cameroon's Ministry of External Relations, said the FOCAC summit in Beijing is more than just Africa-China cooperation talks; it's about sitting down with one of Africa's greatest partners.

President Biya's China visit in March "gave the reassurance of not only a friendly but rich and fruitful Sino-Cameroon relationship that has existed for decades now," he said. "China has been very supportive in the areas of development and is a strategic partner for the quest of emergence of Cameroon by 2035."

During the visit, Biya made it clear that Cameroon is committed to enhancing strategic cooperation with China, and welcomes more investment from China in such areas as industry, agriculture, energy, transportation, social housing, and new technology, Bambo said.

Prof. Kizitus Mpoche, vice-dean of the Faculty of Modern Letters and Social Sciences of the University of Douala, said the sectors highlighted by President Biya are essential to Cameroon.

"Fruitful deals from FOCAC Beijing summit can significantly revamp the country's economy," Mpoche said. "That is why, I think the Belt and Road Initiative is laudable."

Nick Ngwanyam, political scientist and CEO of St. Louis University Institute, says the FOCAC could be a game changer for Cameroon if the country has a mindset geared toward development, integrity and accountability.

"We have to warm up the relationship based on what is at stake and what we want. We want to bring something from FOCAC that will help us move ahead as a nation and as a people," Ngwanyam said.

According to the Cartel of Cameroon Entrepreneurs, known in its French acronym as GICAM, close to 100 Cameroonian businessmen will visit China on the sidelines of the Beijing summit, scheduled for early September.

The businessmen traveling to China intend to seize the opportunity and sign deals with Chinese private companies to "boost our cooperation and create more jobs for the youths back home," said Magloire, the rapporteur at Cameroon's Ministry of Economy and Finance.

For his part, Ngwanyam said signing deals is not enough.

Cameroon needs to learn from the best practices of China, he said. "We have to work with China... to add value to our systems."

"China can give us something that is worth more than dollars," Ngwanyam said.

"We must bring back from China the capacity to create wealth and jobs in Cameroon," he added.The Sick Disease That

Murders Our Kids at School

By Rob Morse. August 26th, 2018

Article Source

Im a consumer of news just like you are. After each mass murder, the news media shouts that attacks on our schools and churches are a growing epidemic. Experts appear on the news and tell us to turn in our guns to make America safer. Once we read past the headlines, then we can see that the media might not be interested in the truth. We are building mass murderers here in the US, and the news media is complicit in killing our kids.

It is easy to blame guns, but that doesnt explain why we have mass murder today. Guns were far easier to get 50 years ago. They were also far more common. You could buy a gun at a gas station or at a hardware store back then. Children, even kids in New York City, brought their guns to school,..yet we didnt see mass murder like we do today. Many public schools even had shooting teams and shooting ranges on campus. The 1960s should have seen the USA buried in dead bodies if guns were the cause of mass murder. That isnt what we saw. .......

Rob Morse' timing could hardly be better as JPFO will soon be submitting a press release on this very subject. It is important to bring exposure to this - the media being overdue to pay attention and curtail their over expansive coverage of mass murder. For far too long they have seemed to almost revel in extended reporting on these events which does little more than gain them air time or copy while almost glorifying a perpetrator. Change is badly needed.

"You don't have to be Jewish to fight by our side."

You just have to love freedom.

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jpfo@jpfo.org

1-800-869-1884

Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership

12500 NE 10th Pl.

Bellevue, WA 98005 USA

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We make the NRA look like moderates

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File photo taken on April 11, 2017 shows military vehicles during the U.S.-South Korea joint Exercise Operation Pacific Reach in Pohang, South Korea. (Xinhua/Lee Sang-ho)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said on Tuesday that the United States has no plans to suspend any more military exercises with South Korea.

In a press briefing, Mattis said that "we took the step to suspend several of the largest exercises as a good-faith measure coming out of the Singapore summit."

"We have no plans at this time to suspend any more exercises," he said, adding that no decisions have yet been on major exercises for next year.

Washington has not made decisions on whether to continue suspending major military exercises with South Korea for next year, he said.

"We are going to see how the negotiations go, and then we will calculate the future, how we go forward," Mattis said.

The Pentagon said on June 22 that it has "indefinitely" suspended two military exercise programs with South Korea to support the agreements between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

According to a statement released by Pentagon spokesperson Dana White, Mattis has indefinitely suspended select exercises, including "FREEDOM GUARDIAN along with two Korean Marine Exchange Program training exercises scheduled to occur in the next three months."

Earlier on June 18, the Pentagon said that it had suspended all planning for the joint military drills with South Korea in August, referring to an annual South Korea-U.S. military exercise slated for August with the full name of Ulchi Freedom Guardian.

Pyongyang has denounced the exercises as a rehearsal for northward invasion and a violation of the spirit of the Panmunjom Declaration issued during the inter-Korean summit in late April.

Trump met with Kim on June 12, when they promised to build new bilateral relations and work toward a "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

After the meeting, Trump said the United States would stop war games with South Korea "unless and until we see the future negotiation is not going along like it should." He also said the drills were "very expensive" and "provocative" "war games."

Last year's Ulchi Freedom Guardian, attended by about 17,500 U.S. military forces, went on for 11 days.

Another major U.S. exercises with South Korea, codenamed Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, took place earlier this spring.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 03:57:36|Editor: yan

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RABAT, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Morocco's Health Ministry announced on Tuesday that no cholera case was reported in the country, stressing that measures have been taken to prevent any possible outbreak of the epidemic.

In a statement issued following the outbreak of cholera cases in neighboring Algeria, the Moroccan ministry recalled that no case of the disease has been reported in the kingdom since 1997, thanks to the fight against water-borne diseases and the progress made in the areas of drinking water supply and sewage treatment.

The ministry said that preventive measures have been taken through the reinforcement of epidemiological surveillance and control measures, particularly at airports that serve passengers coming from countries where cholera cases have been reported, the statement pointed out.

The measures also include support for hospital laboratories in the microbiological investigations and the supply of drugs and equipment for the treatment of diseases, while providing citizens with a hot line for more information.

The ministry also said that it coordinates its efforts with various relevant government departments in the areas of food safety, drinking water and sanitation system.

Algerian health authorities had already confirmed two deaths since the cholera outbreak.

Statistics by Algeria's Health Ministry showed that 56 cholera cases have been confirmed out of 161 hospitalized cases since Aug. 7.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 04:02:37|Editor: yan

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UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- A UN special envoy for Syria has invited a number of countries for joint consultations at the UN office in Geneva on Sept. 14, a spokesman said Tuesday.

The Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has invited Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Britain and the United States for the coming talks, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the daily news briefing.

The special envoy would like to take this opportunity to discuss with senior representatives of these countries the way ahead on the political process pursuant to Security Council resolution 2254 (2015), including the UN effort to facilitate the establishment of a constitutional committee, and the broader dimensions of the effort, said Dujarric.

The Geneva talks would come two days after a scheduled meeting between de Mistura and representatives from Russia, Turkey and Iran on Sept. 11-12.

De Mistura is tasked with picking members of Syria's Constitutional Committee after receiving nominations from the Syrian government and the opposition.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 04:17:39|Editor: yan

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TIRANA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Macedonian government will reduce the retirement threshold for miners by 2019, Macedonian Minister of Labor and Social Policy Mila Carovska said on Tuesday on the occasion of the mining day.

In a meeting with the Mayor of Makedonska Kamenica, Sonja Stamenovska and citizens, Carovska said that with the legal changes under procedure, the Macedonian government will soon meet the demand for miners to reduce the border for retirement.

"As promised, the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy has prepared a legal decision and we expect the government to approve it," underlined Carovska

With new changes, Macedonian miners will be able to retire with 40 years of work for men and 35 years of work for women.

Currently, the retirement age in Macedonia is 64 for men and 62 for women, with a minimum 15 years of pension service.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 04:42:44|Editor: yan

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VALLETTA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis told his Maltese counterpart Joseph Muscat on Tuesday that his country will not accept a European migrant sharing solution to the migration crisis,

Speaking at a joint press conference following their talks, Babis said that while his country was ready to help migration efforts, it was against sharing migrants.

For his part, the Maltese prime minister described his meeting with Babis as "lively and interesting", thanking him for being "straightforward" on the issue.

Muscat said that various solutions to tackle migration needed to be explored, including border controls, but Europe could not just erect walls.

He stressed the need for member states and parties operating in the Mediterranean to abide by the rules and international treatises, noting that migration flows in the central Mediterranean had dropped by 80 percent over the past year.

The Maltese prime minister called for a better understanding between European states despite each having their own reality.

Babis said Europe had to discuss changes to Schengen in order to defend the European continent, while calling for more engagement with African countries to stem migration at source.

Babis arrived in Malta after visiting Italy, another frontline state for migrant arrivals.Winds lash the coastal city of Fajardo as Hurricane Maria approaches Puerto Rico, on Sept. 19, 2017. (AFP Photo)

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Hurricane Maria, which stuck Puerto Rico about a year ago, killed 2,975 people there, according to an independent investigation commissioned by the U.S. territory.

The Puerto Rican government had long put the official death toll from Maria at 64 before sharply raising it to 1,427 earlier this month as it was awaiting a more accurate assessment from the independent study from George Washington University.

"The results of our epidemiological study suggest that, tragically, Hurricane Maria led to a large number of excess deaths throughout the island," said principal investigator Carlos Santos-Burgoa, a professor of global health at George Washington University.

"Certain groups -- those in lower income areas and the elderly -- faced the highest risk."

The study tracked excess deaths related to Hurricane Maria from September 2017 to February 2018, whose authors described it as "the most rigorous study of excess mortality due to the hurricane done to date."

The Puerto Rican and the U.S. federal governments have come under scrutiny over the accounting of the deaths caused by the storm, which struck the island as a Category 4 hurricane in September 2017 and caused widespread destruction and plunged it into a months-long blackout.

Maria, which caused 90 billion U.S. dollars in damages, is ranked as the third costliest cyclone in the United States since 1900.

The death toll is a contentious topic, in part because federal and island governments haven't responded as rapidly to the disaster as they have in other hurricane emergencies.

A separate study of Harvard University earlier this year estimated around 4,600 had died in the three months following the storm.

The U.S. federal government has been heavily criticized for its response to the storm and the island's recovery efforts.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 05:12:50|Editor: Li Xia

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KHARTOUM, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan's major opposition group on Tuesday agreed to sign on a final peace deal after declining to do so earlier on the day, announced Sudan's Foreign Ministry in a statement.

The latest round of South Sudan peace talks ended earlier on Tuesday in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, where South Sudan's government and other political parties signed a final deal on ending the internal conflict.

However, the major opposition group, Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) led by Riek Machar, had declined to sign the deal.

"The Sudanese mediation on Tuesday embarked on intensive talks with the leader of the SPLM-IO Riek Machar, where Machar agreed to sign the final peace deal with initial letters on Thursday, Aug. 30," Sudan's Foreign Minister Al-Dirdiri Mohamed Ahmed said in the statement.

He promised to submit the points which Machar asked to consider to the summit of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development and request a mandate to discuss them.

Earlier on the day, Manawa Peter, SPLM-IO's spokesman, said to reporters that his group refused to sign the deal due to its disagreement with a decision-making mechanism in the executive and legislative body and rejection to establishing a commission to revise the constitution.

Since Aug. 13, Sudan has been hosting the third round of the South Sudan peace talks, with the aim to reach a comprehensive peace agreement to complement two previous deals the parties signed earlier in Khartoum.

On June 27, the South Sudanese rivals signed the Khartoum Peace Agreement on South Sudan, followed by the signing of another deal on security arrangements and power-sharing on Aug. 5.

Earlier, the South Sudanese opposition alliance demanded revision of the administrative division of South Sudan and reconsideration of the number of the 32 states.

In October 2015, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir issued a decree to dissolve the Council of the States, which operated under the administrative division of 10 states, while establishing 28 states.

In January 2017, Kiir issued a separate decree establishing an additional four states, bringing to 32 the total number of states in South Sudan.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 05:22:53|Editor: Li Xia

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COPENHAGEN, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron called for more Danish involvement for a stronger EU defense, during a state visit to Denmark, on Tuesday.

"I believe Denmark is too modest about its European commitment...I think Denmark can do even more in Europe," Macron told a joint press conference with Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen.

The French President said he was keen to further enhance the connection between the two countries in the form of an strengthened military partnership.

Macron also hailed the strong ties between Denmark and France, saying that "our relationship is as strong as it always has been I was told that France has never been at war with Denmark."

For his part, Rasmussen said "we agree that the EU should be as close to citizens as possible, and that citizens should be able to rely on the EU to deliver solutions to problems when they are needed."

Macron is on a two-day state visit to Denmark along with his wife Brigitte Macron, the first such visit by a French president since 1982, at the invitation of Danish Queen Margrethe II.

Earlier on Tuesday, Macron visited the Kastellet citadel in Copenhagen, where he laid a wreath at a monument for fallen Danish soldiers before the meeting with the Danish prime minister.

During the visit, he also held a dialogue with Pia Kjaersgaard, Speaker of Danish Parliament, and with other party group leaders and chairs of relevant committees.

The couple participated in an official gala dinner at Christiansborg Palace late Tuesday.Syrians cycle along a damaged street in Douma on the outskirts of Damascus on April 16, 2018 during an organised media tour after the Syrian army declared that all anti-regime forces have left Eastern Ghouta, following a blistering two month offensive on the rebel enclave. (AFP Photo)

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- A UN special envoy for Syria has invited a number of countries for joint consultations at the UN office in Geneva on Sept. 14, a spokesman said Tuesday.

The Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has invited Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Britain and the United States for the coming talks, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the daily news briefing.

The special envoy would like to take this opportunity to discuss with senior representatives of these countries the way ahead on the political process pursuant to Security Council resolution 2254 (2015), including the UN effort to facilitate the establishment of a constitutional committee, and the broader dimensions of the effort, said Dujarric.

The Geneva talks would come two days after a scheduled meeting between de Mistura and representatives from Russia, Turkey and Iran on Sept. 11-12.

De Mistura is tasked with picking members of Syria's Constitutional Committee after receiving nominations from the Syrian government and the opposition.PARTNERS IN THE DON'T

INSPIRE EVIL CAMPAIGN

JPFO is pleased to officially welcome these fine national organizations to the Don't Inspire Evil campaign. This coordinated effort aims to convince national media to adopt a new, common sense, ethical guideline.

Add your voice to the growing demand that

mass media stops encouraging mass murder:

"Refrain from gratuitous or repetitious portrayal

of mass murderers' names and images."

Accuracy In Media, Don Irvine, President

Americans for Tax Reform, Grover Norquist, President

Bloomfield Press, Alan Korwin, Publisher and CEO

Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Assn., Sheriff Richard Mack, Founder

Crime Prevention Research Center, John Lott, President

David Kopel, Columnist, The Washington Post

Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, Rabbi Dovid Bendory

Second Amendment Foundation, Alan Gottlieb, President

Western Journalism Center, Lori Klein, President

We join with Le Monde, La Croix, and CNN French TV affiliate BFMTV who will no longer publish photographs and names of terrorists "to avoid possible posthumous glorification effects."

We stand with Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin who became world news by refusing to name the perp in an Oregon college incident given saturation "coverage."

We support the work of No Notoriety, a citizen effort to curtail glorification heaped upon the worst elements of society in perverse efforts to increase media revenues.

The well-established link between copycat crimes and excessive exposure of criminal perpetrators by mass media must finally be admitted and broken. Failure to acknowledge these effects is tantamount to complicity in the acts, and the perpetrators know it.

We support adoption of a simple ethical guideline to encourage responsible reporting, and discourage reprehensible behavior by reporters, broadcasters and editors that tends to glorify, promote or encourage mass murderers, jihadis and related criminal activity. Every journalist who fails to take steps to limit the publicity support these heinous villains seek is an ally in the crimes they commit against humanity.

"We must starve terrorists

of the oxygen of publicity

which they seek."

-- Margaret Thatcher

Back to D.I.E. Homepage

Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 05:32:55|Editor: yan

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BAGHDAD, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Iraq will send a delegation to the United States to discuss a deal over financial transactions with Iran after Washington reimposed economic sanctions on Tehran, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday.

"Iran is a neighboring country, and Iraq needs to deal with it in many aspects, including gas and electricity," Abadi told a press conference after weekly cabinet meeting.

He said the Iraqi government had formed a committee under the chairmanship of the Iraqi Central Bank, to review the sanctions (on Iran) and to provide a clear vision of Iraq's needs.

"Iraq is not with economic sanctions against any country, and this is a strategic stand," Abadi said.

On Aug. 7, Abadi said that Iraq will abide by the U.S. sanctions on Iran for the sake of protecting Iraq's interest.

"We are not sympathetic with the U.S. sanctions against Iran, but we will abide by them to protect the interest of our people," he added, citing that non-compliance with the U.S. sanctions will harm Iraqi interest.

Hours before Abadi's comments, the United States reimposed the first round of economic sanctions on Iran, which had been eased under the 2015 landmark nuclear deal, as a result of U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the deal in May.

The sanctions target Iran's trade in precious metals, transactions of U.S. dollars, as well as Iran's auto sector. The second round of U.S. sanctions will take effect in November to include a ban on Iranian oil exports and dealing with Iran's central bank.

Under the 2015 deal, the United States agreed to lift the crippling economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran's agreement to limit its sensitive nuclear activities and allow international inspectors access to its facilities.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 05:42:57|Editor: yan

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BEIRUT, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Prime Minister designate Saad Hariri said Tuesday that Lebanon will not negotiate directly with the Syrian regime on the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland, local media reported.

"We are coordinating with the Russians to secure a voluntary return of refugees to their country with help by the international community," Hariri was quoted by Elnashra, an independent online newspaper, as saying.

Hariri said that Lebanon has offered all the possible help to Syria throughout its crisis and it has welcomed Syrian refugees including those who support the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Hariri, a long-time supporter of the Syrian opposition, announced earlier in August his unwillingness to visit Syria or meet with Assad under any circumstances, even if that would cost him his position.

Hariri is dealing with the refugee crisis by following a strategy drafted by the Russian Defense Ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after a meeting in Helsinki, Finland between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump last month.

According to the strategy, a Russian-Syrian-Lebanese security committee will be formed to facilitate the legal return of Syrian refugees from Lebanon to their homeland.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 05:53:01|Editor: yan

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TRIPOLI, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Libya's anti-illegal immigration department on Tuesday said that 124 illegal immigrants from Mali were voluntarily deported from Libya to their country, within the voluntary return program of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

"Some 124 illegal immigrants from the state of Mali returned to their country via a flight from M'etiga international airport in Tripoli to the capital Bamako," the department said in a statement.

The department said the return was a part of IOM's voluntary return program, which arranges the return of illegal migrants stranded in Libya to their countries of origin.

Migrant shelters in Libya are crowded with thousands of migrants who have been rescued at sea or arrested by the Libyan security services.

Libya has become a preferred departure point for illegal immigrants hoping to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe due to insecurity and chaos in the North African country following the 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 06:13:03|Editor: yan

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DUBLIN, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Ireland's population was estimated at 4.86 million as of April 2018, said the country's national statistics bureau CSO on Tuesday.

This represented an increase of 64,500 people in the country's total population while compared with the estimated figure in April 2017, said the CSO in a press release posted on its website.

Between April 2017 and April 2018, an estimated 90,300 people immigrated to Ireland while the number of people who emigrated from the country stood at 56,300 with a net inward migration of 34,000 people, said the CSO.

The natural increase of the country's population during the above-mentioned period stood at 30,500 people, it said.

The natural increase refers to the number of births after deduction of deaths.

Of all the immigrants in the period mentioned above, 28,400 or 31.5 percent were returning Irish nationals, said the CSO, adding that the number of Irish nationals who emigrated from the country during the period stood at 28,300, accounting for 50.3 percent of the total.

The last population census in Ireland was conducted by the CSO two years ago, which showed that the country's population stood at 4.74 million in April 2016.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 06:43:09|Editor: yan

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UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday that the international humanitarian appeal for the Rohingya crisis "remains significantly underfunded at 33 percent."

Noting that the massive refugee emergency that began one year ago in Rakhine State, Myanmar, has become "one of the world's worst humanitarian and human rights crises," the UN chief said that "the response to the crisis must be a global one."

Speaking at a Security Council meeting to mark one year of the refugee exodus from Myanmar, Guterres said that "much more must be done to alleviate the very real risks to life from current and impending monsoons."

The secretary-general expressed his gratitude to the World Bank and President Jim Yong Kim for mobilizing almost half a billion dollars in grant-based support for Rohingya refugees and host communities.

"The grant-based assistance approved by the Asian Development Bank is also crucial in meeting medium-term needs and providing assistance towards life-saving priorities," he said.

The Security Council on Tuesday afternoon was briefed by the UN chief, the UN Refugee Agency Goodwill Ambassador Cate Blanchett, and UN Development Programme (UNDP) Associate Administrator Tegegnework Gettu on the situation in Myanmar and the Rohingya refugee crisis. The British Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the UN, Lord Ahmad, chaired the meeting.

Britain, this month's president and the lead on Myanmar in the Council, has chosen to hold a meeting on Myanmar to mark the one-year anniversary of the crisis that has led to more than 750,000 refugees fleeing to Bangladesh.Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-29 06:48:10|Editor: Li Xia

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ANKARA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's economic volatility and the currency tumble could affect living standard of millions of Syrian refugees in Turkey, as their vulnerable community would be among the first to suffer from a financial decline.

Over 3.5 million refugees are living in Turkey, more than any other country in the world, after having escaped the conflict that has continued for over seven years in neighboring Syria. The majority of these refugees live in cities and towns around Turkey, but less than 10 percent of them live in formal camps.

Meanwhile, there are at least half a million refugees from other parts of the Middle East and North Africa who also live in the country.

TURKEY'S HUGE EXPENDITURE ON REFUGEES

As of beginning of 2018, Turkey has spent 30 billion U.S. dollars for the refugees it hosts, according to a report from the Turkish parliament. The country comes in second after the United States on a list of most charitable countries in the world.

But many doubt if this could continue as Turkey's economy, the biggest of the Middle East, shows signs of worrying vulnerabilities amid an ongoing row with its NATO ally the United States over the detention of a U.S. pastor on charges of terrorism in western Turkey.

Both countries have imposed trade sanctions on each other and the U.S. President Donald Trump threatened with more severe measures as his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan shows for his part no sign of backing down, branding his country's currency turmoil as an "economic attack" emanating from the United States.

"For the moment, we have not witnessed any budget cuts or project suspensions or delays," Metin Corabatir, an expert on refugee issues and chief of the Research Center on Asylum and Migration, said.

However, he went on, "if the economic stress continues and transforms into a crisis, we can expect that Syrian refugees will suffer from it because most of them work informally in Turkey and they can easily become jobless if their employers go bankrupt."

DECLINE OF PURCHASING POWER

The depreciation of Turkish lira has also impacted many refugees as they have seen their modest income crumble away, reducing dramatically their purchasing power like the same situation for the entire population of Turkey.

As part of an United Nations program, the Turkish Red Crescent Society delivers 120 liras (20 dollars) monthly per person by debit card to some 1.3 million Syrians. Many others work in the black market and are vehemently prone to Turkey's economic trouble.

"Life for the refugees would be even more difficult than it is right now if Turkey sinks deeper in economic trouble," emphasized Corabatir, who also pointed out that this situation would inexorably affect European countries once thousands of refugees hosted in Turkey leave for the wealthier European continent, causing a new wave of immigration, and surely a political crisis in the European Union.

Things are getting tighter by the day for Syrians working in big cities as their power of purchase declines because of regular price hikes.

"We are paid in lira like Turkish workers, but most of us don't have social security, thus no health or social insurance, and employers will get rid of us instantly when the company we work confront financial difficulties," said Mohammed, a 29-year old Syrian from Aleppo who works as a server in downtown Kizilay since 2014 and declined to give his surname.

"Food prices have risen recently because of the lira situation, but I still receive the same salary as the start of this year, so this is a real problem," added the worried Syrian man.

TURKEY-EU COOPERATION

Many of these migrants settled in Turkey because of the deal Ankara struck with the European Union in 2016. Under the deal, the EU agreed to give Turkey around 6.6 billion dollars to assist the refugees to permanently resettle there.

The only good news is that euro has become much more valuable because of the depreciation of the Turkish currency, and Turkey relies heavily on the funds for the refugees.

The refugee deal aimed to relieve Turkey's neighbor Greece of the burden of the migrant crisis and shut down the so-called Balkan route, which saw millions of refugees travel through Macedonia and Serbia to EU countries eventually.

Policymakers in Europe also wanted to disincentivize migrants from making the dangerous Aegean journey by boat from Turkey to Greece, where hundreds drowned on the way.

Turkey and observers fear of a new influx of refugees into Turkish territory, as Syrian leader Bashar Assad vows to recapture the opposition-held northwestern province of Idlib, where there are currently around 2.5 million displaced civilians, according to the UN.

"It is critical that Ankara should negotiate with its international partners over this humanitarian situation and also that the burden be shared," said Corabatir, fearing a catastrophic scenario if hundreds of thousands of new refugees flooded to the Turkish border to travel to Europe.

Erdogan will pay a state visit to Germany late September and the refugee issue should be one of the priorities on the agenda.

The EU is clearly worried that an economic meltdown in Turkey could spark a new migrant crisis on the continent. Turkey's woes resonate particularly in Germany, its biggest economic partner and home to a Turkish community of 3.5 million population.

The feeling in Ankara is the same since the start of the Syrian conflict: the international community should be more involved in the plight of the refugees that Turkey has been hosting with huge budget for several years.

"We have hosted millions of refugees since the start of the Syrian civil war seven years ago, but it is important that the international community also shares the burden as we are confronted with some currency difficulties which will be eventually resolved," a source at Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party told Xinhua.Rohingya refugees walk after crossing the Naf River at the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in Palong Khali, near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, Nov. 1, 2017. (REUTERS Photo)

UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday that the international humanitarian appeal for the Rohingya crisis "remains significantly underfunded at 33 percent."

Noting that the massive refugee emergency that began one year ago in Rakhine State, Myanmar, has become "one of the world's worst humanitarian and human rights crises," the UN chief said that "the response to the crisis must be a global one."

Speaking at a Security Council meeting to mark one year of the refugee exodus from Myanmar, Guterres said that "much more must be done to alleviate the very real risks to life from current and impending monsoons."

The secretary-general expressed his gratitude to the World Bank and President Jim Yong Kim for mobilizing almost half a billion dollars in grant-based support for Rohingya refugees and host communities.

"The grant-based assistance approved by the Asian Development Bank is also crucial in meeting medium-term needs and providing assistance towards life-saving priorities," he said.

The Security Council on Tuesday afternoon was briefed by the UN chief, the UN Refugee Agency Goodwill Ambassador Cate Blanchett, and UN Development Programme (UNDP) Associate Administrator Tegegnework Gettu on the situation in Myanmar and the Rohingya refugee crisis. The British Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the UN, Lord Ahmad, chaired the meeting.

Britain, this month's president and the lead on Myanmar in the Council, has chosen to hold a meeting on Myanmar to mark the one-year anniversary of the crisis that has led to more than 750,000 refugees fleeing to Bangladesh.House Speaker Laszlo Kover has sent a message of condolences to Tsveta Karayancheva, his Bulgarian counterpart, over the bus crash that killed 15 people and injured 27 others in Bulgaria this past weekend.

In his letter, Kover expressed his deepest sympathies with the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to those injured in the accident.

I can assure you, Madame Speaker, that we are with our Bulgarian friends in spirit in these mournful hours, Kover wrote.

The tourist bus was carrying pilgrims returning to Sofia from a weekend trip to a nearby Orthodox monastery.African swine fever (ASF) has been wreaking havoc in Ukraine near the Hungarian border since the middle of 2017. However, Hungarian authorities are still denying that there is an epidemic. They announced the first confirmed cases of ASF only in April 2018, even though wild boars had been dying by the hundreds long before that time.

Atlatszo investigated why Hungary is still in denial about the epidemic as well as how and where the virus entered the country. Atlatszo went as far as Ukraine where they found a pig farm that is hiding a cigarette smuggling operation.

According to the National Food Chain Safety Office (NEBIH), the first case of ASF in Hungary was registered in April, 2018. In May of the same year they registered 9 cases and in June 13 cases were recorded.

In the summer the first two cases of ASF-infected domestic pigs were registered by a local vet. All the domestic pigs in the village were subsequently killed and the area was disinfected.

However, according to hunting associations in the Northeast of Hungary, thousands of wild boars have died in the area. One sure sign of the devastation is that farmers report practically no damage to their crops caused by boars, as almost all of them died. The question becomes: what killed them, if not AFV?

In another example, a local veterinarian, suspecting an ASF infection, ordered all 183 boars in the Lonya wild zoo to be killed last March. According to the official NEBIH examination, none of them were infected with the virus.

However, Atlatszo was able to access NEBIH documents showing that in one Lonya case the examination could not definitely exclude ASF.

At the same time, NEBIH claims that none of the five thousand samples it examined last year were contaminated with ASF.

ASF is highly contagious and incurable. Almost all swine infected die within a few days after exposure. It cannot infect humans or other animals but it is very dangerous for domestic pigs.

The only protection against the virus is quarantine. Therefore, pork trade embargoes are quickly levied against countries where the virus appears, negatively affecting pig farms and agricultural production.

Since Hungary announced on April 21 that ASF appeared in the country, Japan, Russia, South Korea and China all banned Hungarian pork imports.

ASF appeared in Eastern Ukraine in 2012 and spread across the country by 2017. It appeared in the Transcarpathia region, near the Hungarian border, in 2016. That is, ASF reached Hungarys eastern border more than a year ago. As the border is covered with woods wild boars are not prevented from crossing.

According to locals, powerful agricultural barons were behind NEBIHs decision to deny the epidemic for so long.

Atlatszo recently went to Ukraine to investigate how the virus crossed into Hungary. In the region near the Hungarian border, most of the wild boars have already died and domestic pigs have also been infected and quickly killed.

In the Badalo pig farm on the Ukrainian side of the border, ASF appeared last August. Four animals were diagnosed with ASF and the vet ordered all the pigs to be slaughtered. However, according to our sources, the animals that were not yet showing symptoms were not immediately killed but distributed among the farms workers who took them home and slaughtered them themselves.

Some of this meat might have been smuggled into Hungary, a usual practice in the area since pork is much cheaper in Ukraine than in Hungary.

However, this is not the only contact between the Ukrainian pig farm and Hungary: the Badalo pig farm is a hub for cigarette smuggling to Hungary. That is where they keep the supplies and from where they smuggle into Hungary.

This might have been another way for the ASF virus to be transported from the pig farm to Hungarian villages because the virus can live for days on, for example, the tyre of a car. That is, a car from an infected village can easily carry the ASF virus into every neighboring village that it visits.

Cigarettes in Ukraine cost about 30-40 percent less than in Hungary, thus cigarette smuggling is a significant problem in the area. The ASF-infected pig farm is a hub for Ukrainian smugglers transporting cigarettes into Hungary.

Even though ASF has been present in Ukraine near the Hungarian border for more than a year, people there are even more afraid of talking about it there than in Hungary.

When the reporters visited villages in Ukraine near the Hungarian border and started to ask questions about ASF cases and pig farms, people refused to talk. Not much later someone approach them, warning them that they might get into trouble with local strongmen in case they do not stop investigating the case.

Additionally, there is no reliable data about animals killed by the virus. There are many reasons for these two facts, one being that local strongmen and even ordinary people in Ukraine often hunt illegally as hunting regulations are not enforced as strongly as in Hungary.

Also, even though vets have ordered the killing of both wild boar and domestic pigs when the virus appeared in their areas, many of the animals that had not been showing symptoms were slaughtered and processed thus there are many freezers full of potentially ASF-infected pork.

However, butchers no longer buy pork from local growers as the market is now dominated by a Ukrainian agricultural giant.

This opinion does not necessarily represent the views of XpatLoop.com or the publisher. Your opinions are welcome too - for editorial review before possible publication online Click here to Share Your StoryWho has not dreamed of the fairy tales of beautiful Arabian nights? Now this dream is coming to the Central Market Hall, so visitors can admire the thousand years old traditions that characterize the handicraft products.

You can see special Persian carpets, mina, khatam ceramic objects and glasses which are part of the World Heritage.

On August 29 at 2 pm the special guest will be Nora Winkler, who will give a beautiful live concert.



Date and time: 28 - 30 August, 10 am - 6 pm

Venue:

Central Market Hall

1093 Budapest, Vamhaz krt. 1-3.All eyes on Nepal

The BIMSTEC meet is on the watch list of established and emerging global powersThe pro-government Civil Unity Forum (COF) and associated public benefit foundation COKA have proposed that the European Commission should provide financial support for moving migrants back home or to safe zones.

COF-COKA said in a statement that their proposals have been sent to President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker.

The EC has offered to pay 6,000 euros per capita to countries that are willing to accept illegal migrants, which shows that the EU has the money needed to resolve the problem, it said.

COF-COKA proposes that the EU should instead provide 6,000 euros per capita to move the migrants back home or in the case of persecuted people, to the closest safe country. At the same time, Europes borders should be hermetically sealed to all uninvited illegal migrants and it should be communicated that Europe is full and closed.

They added that Frontex, the EU border management agency, and NATO should stop the unlicensed tourist transport boats of human smugglers and NGOs. International organisations, such as the United Nations, should prevent the departure of such boats, COF-COKA said.

The EUs migration policy should demonstrate solidarity by protecting the civilisation of Europes indigenous Christian majority and guarantee their ownership rights in their place of birth, it added.

Countries that want to use illegal migrants to resolve their demographic and labour problems should undertake all related moral, financial and legal responsibilities, the statement said.The start of the school year is not the only thing to look forward to in September. Budapest will once again welcome a well-known American comedian for a live performance - this time it is Anthony Jeselnik!

Jeselniks humor is quite dark and certainly not politically correct. He is known for his ironic misdirection, biting insults and arrogant demeanor  a stage persona of course, as he's really a nice guy ;)

Anthony is maybe best known from the Comedy Central Roasts - including the bits on Donald Trump and Charlie Sheen.

After dozens of sold-out shows in America, his new tour Funny Games is coming to Europe.





His memorable and critically acclaimed show Thoughts and Prayers is available on Netflix.

Anthony Jeselnik will perform in Budapest on September 4th from 8 pm.



Venue: Budapest Congress Center, 1123 Budapest, 1-3, Jagello ut.

Tickets: HUF 5.500-14.500 - available by clicking here

More: www.facebook.com/events/2006051026112169/



Anthony is not traveling alone: the wonderful Mo Welch is the warm-up comedian during the Funny Games European Tour. Here's a little glimpse of her in action:



Education Lab is a Seattle Times project that spotlights promising approaches to some of the most persistent challenges in public education. It is produced in partnership with the Solutions Journalism Network, a New York-based nonprofit that works to spread the practice of solutions-oriented Read moreBIMSTEC Summit: Meeting of foreign secretaries kicks off in Kathmandu

A meeting of senior officials of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) member states has kicked off in Kathmandu on Tuesday.By P.J. GLISSON

[email protected]

WAKEFIELD  Sherri Graham, executive director of the Wakefield Housing Commission, used the public comment section of Mondays Wakefield city council meeting to present council members with a typed report showing the city allegedly owes the commission $87,266.78 due to adjustments in electrical billing rates.

In the last two weeks, I pulled every check, said Graham of the financial analysis she was inspired to undertake after realizing differences in the citys multiplier rates. Grahams concern is over rates specifically charged to Sun...MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis.  Lucille Elizabeth Dolly Ottosen, 75, passed away on Aug. 24, 2018. She was the loving wife of Stephen Ottosen, loving mother of Keven (Karen) Jubeck and proud grandma of Jenna and Hannah Jubeck.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Lawrence and Mary Ann Nelson, of Ironwood, Mich.

She was raised in a house filled with love, and her strong religious faith helped her through lifes challenges. On June 22, 1963, she married her high school sweetheart, Albert Jubeck, though they divorced in the early 1970s. On Dec. 27, 1979, she was remarried to Stephen Ottosen.

Her greatest love was her family. She was always ready to help others, even strangers. She loved the outdoors, flowers and of course, her animals. She made her life working as a cosmetologist.

Visitation will be held Friday, Aug. 31, at St. Anthonys Catholic Church, N74 W13604 Appleton Ave. in Menomonee Falls, from 9 a.m. until time of the Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m. Burial will follow at St. Anthonys Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials to St. Anthonys are appreciated. Schmidt and Bartelt Funeral Home in Menomonee Falls, Wis., is serving the family and can be reached at 262-251-3630.BIMSTEC will expand economic cooperation and connectivity: PM

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Tuesday apprised the Parliament about the 4th Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit going to be held in Kathmandu on August 30 and 31.Coun Perez reiterates warning to barangay leaders involved in drugs

07 Aug 2017 Hits:37 Comments(0)

Liga ng mga Barangay President, Councilor Jerry Perez yesterday reiterated his warning to all barangay officials from using or selling drugs. Perez said he is closely monitoring the activities of all the barangay officials and vowed sanctions against erring leaders. Aqui gane na mio barangay ya quita ya iyo na puesto cunel dos barangay leaders quien mas temprano ya sale positivo na...DrayNow, a Conshohocken firm whose freight-booking and tracking software connects shippers to truckers, says it has raised $5 million in a first-round (Series A) of venture capital fund-raising from Comcast Ventures and Osage Partners, Philadelphia.

The company has built a software platform, DrayNowMarketplace, linking intermodal (freight container) shipping brokers, logistics, and marketing firms, to small trucking companies, through a desktop interface and a mobile app for drivers  so they can shop for available loads, compare rates, and "get paid faster," says cofounder and chief executive Mike Albert.

DrayNow employs 19, and plans to staff up to at least 130 people by 2020, adding customer-service professionals. "Our technology is homebuilt. It is an enabler. But we are operations people  that's the heart of who we are," Albert said. "So we will be here to help customers and truckers when they pick up the phone." He says more than 20 of the 60 load brokers who dominate U.S. container shipping have used the system.

While big national firms such as Cherry Hill-based NFI or West Chester-based Duie Pyle have sophisticated load-tracking and pricing technology, hundreds of thousands of small haulers are struggling to make a profit. Albert says his goal is to level the playing field so independent haulers can survive and compete.

"Most of the truckers are small. They have trouble finding freight in their local markets, they don't have the financial capability to invest in [expensive enterprise software]. There's fewer truckers every year. They can't be forgotten anymore," said Albert. "But unless we can give them the tools to help their business, we will continue this downward spiral. If truckers can find local freight at their fingertips, they can get paid, and they can be home every night." He says his system offers "transparency and status updates" on cargo availability on standard smartphones.

Albert, a Wyomissing-area native, says he's expecting to look for larger offices close to DrayNow's current location near the Spring Mill train station on Septa's Norristown-Philadelphia line, convenient to both city and suburban workers.

A father of six, Albert worked for Penske Logistics, mostly in Michigan, in the 1990s and later for the RoadLink Transportation and Kane Is Able trucking lines before starting a trucking company, TransNoble Logistics, in 2015 with ex-colleagues from RoadLink and Penske.

Shipping and logistics (planning and tracking cargoes) "are an incredibly vital and growing part of our economy. Yet, the intermodal sector of the industry has seen very little technology enabling the matchmaking and operational efficiency it needs," Sam Landman, managing director of Comcast Ventures, said in a statement. "We invested in DrayNow because the team and the technology establishes a much more efficient method for moving freight."

Last year, DrayNow raised about $170,000 from early-stage investment firm Genacast Ventures, another Comcast affiliate. "We met with others in New York and D.C. and a few in California. But I really wanted to have local investment," with funders nearby, said Albert.

He met Genacast's Gil Beyda through consultant Joel Ginsparg. "Gil had to learn a lot about intermodal. He really trusted us as the founders. He was as much about the founding team, as investing in the idea," Albert said. From Beyda, the Comcast Ventures investment and Osage's participation followed.Trying to elude capture, an alleged marijuana grower trespassing on state game lands crawled undetected under a stopped bulldozer that state police were using to look for him last month in Berks County.

After about 30 seconds, state police resumed the search, slowly driving the bulldozer in a 45-degree angle, and in doing so, crushed and killed 51-year-old Gregory A. Longenecker of Reading, when he got trapped under the bulldozer's treads, authorities said.

On Tuesday, Berks County District Attorney John Adams announced that state police search was "reasonable and conducted in a safe manner," and determined that Longenecker's death was an accident.

He said state police had no idea that Longenecker crawled under the bulldozer July 9 as they searched for him in a field off Snyder School Road in Penn Township.

"It is unfortunate that a life was lost and our condolences go out to the Longenecker family," Adams said. "However, I support the actions of the Pennsylvania State Police."

Police previously said Longenecker and another man were tending to about 10 marijuana plants hidden in the field when a when a state Game Commission employee on a bulldozer spotted their parked car at about 10 a.m. on July 9. The car was parked on the field, which is normally only used by Game Commission farmers and their tractors.

To read more of this story click here.

mgamiz@mcall.com

Twitter @mannypantalones

610-820-6595It could be that folks are tired of the traffic to shore points south, or it could be that the Monmouth County borough of Spring Lake has been listed among New Jersey's best places to live. But Realtor Elizabeth Hewson-Judge from Ward Wright Sotheby's says more and more Philadelphians are heading north to Spring Lake. These three properties offer another good reason for the trend: Luxury real estate there has a lot to offer.

2021 Ocean Ave., Spring Lake

$12,295,000

Monthly taxes: $5,188

Tell me all about it: This sprawling, 10-bedroom, 12,045-square-foot oceanfront home features the perfect outdoor entertaining space. It boasts a seating area with outdoor televisions and fireplace, a separate cabana with changing room and shower, an outdoor kitchen with built-in grill, and a saltwater pool and spa. Inside, walls of windows and glass doors offer ocean and pool views.

17 Washington Ave., Spring Lake

$8,900,000

Monthly taxes: $3,020

Tell me all about it: Among the largest homes in Spring Lake, this compound property includes a historic main home as well as a separate, two-bedroom, 1,750-square-foot "beach cottage." We love the wide, wrap-around with its broad awning out front and the saltwater gunnite pool behind the property.

101 Jersey Ave., Spring Lake

$6,250,000

Monthly taxes: $2,219

Tell me all about it: This six-bedroom home features a grand living space with two-story windows and leafy views. We love the custom kitchen with side-by-side Miele refrigerator, dual dishwashers and center island with blue labradorite counters. The home also includes a private elevator, five fireplaces and whole-house music and security systems. The property also boasts a catering kitchen and pantry adjacent to the entertainment room in the lower level, as well as a wine room and multiple porches and decks.Scott Wagner's got some beefs these days. Read more

Republican gubernatorial nominee Scott Wagner came to a Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon this week loaded for bear.

And Baer. More on that in a bit.

Things seemed to start well. He stopped by a press table at the Harrisburg Hilton and commented favorably on the fact that lunch was meatloaf, as opposed to chicken, of which he's had plenty in campaign travels around the state.

I told him, "Yes, we figured the same and so arranged for meatloaf."

Full disclosure, this was a bit of fake news.

But not as much as what was to come.

Wagner said Gov. Wolf doesn't care about senior citizens "choking on school property taxes," which he, Wagner, promises to eliminate.

(To be clear, he promises to eliminate property taxes, not senior citizens.)

He said Wolf hides from the people and the press and is trying to "slither" away from an education fight.

And he lashed out at the media, saying it failed to focus on issues that matter.

It was Wagnerian  with a hint of Trump.

Reading from prepared remarks to an audience of 100-plus and cable TV's PCN, Wagner waded into the settled shallow waters of his education spat with Wolf, claiming he, not Wolf, is "the real education candidate."

As proof, he said Wolf for years refused to approve increases to basic education because Wolf wouldn't sign three straight budgets passed by the GOP legislature that included such increases.

This is twisted thinking.

Wolf didn't refuse increases. He didn't veto those budgets. He allowed them to become law without his signature. And he withheld his signature on grounds they didn't include larger increases for education.

In fact, large increases in school funding were at the heart of Wolf's 2014 campaign. And prominent in his proposed budgets since.

In 2015, Wolf called for a $1 billion bump, $2 billion over four years for pre-K through 12th grade, paid for with new taxes on income, sales, and natural gas.

Over his term, he got about half the new money he sought. And almost all the new taxes were blocked by the legislature, of which Wagner was a member from 2014 until resigning his Senate seat in June.

During his tenure, Wagner said the state spends enough on education and advocated laying off 10 percent of its teachers, claiming "we'd never miss them."

Now Wagner says, if elected, he'll propose $1 billion more in school funding his first year without calling for new or increased taxes.

He'd pay for it "by tightening our belts," zero-based budgeting, selling the liquor stores, welfare reforms, eliminating some corporate tax credits, and (my personal favorite) "other cost-saving plans."

Talk about political deja vu.

How many times have we heard pledges of huge cost savings in these same ways? How many times have government costs dropped?

While we're at it, how many pols promise lower or zero property taxes? How much have property taxes fallen?

Wagner also reprised his attack on Wolf over use of a new state funding formula favoring urban districts at a cost to rural districts IF employed with current dollars.

It's a not-happening issue. I've addressed it. It's been deeply reported by the Inquirer and Daily News.

As to Wagner saying Wolf's hiding his education plan for a second term, if he gets one? That's easy. He'd seek more school funding and, at least, a natural gas tax.

Wagner (rightly) hit Wolf for agreeing to only one debate. There should be three.

And he scolded media for getting "distracted," not covering "things that matter," and "obsessing over everything that I may say."

(I'd say relish rather than obsess. I mean, he does say fun things: global warming comes from body heat and the Earth moving "closer to the sun;" he'll get election help against Wolf from Russia and maybe Paul Manafort.)

And, after drawing attention to my presence, he singled me out: "Cover issues, John, like education, jobs, and taxes with that same vigor."

A longtime colleague, two seats from me at the press table, leaned over and said, "You're horrible."

I was thinking we shoulda served chicken.Chand-led CPN leader Uma Bhujel arrested for arson

Police have arrested Netra Bikram Chand-led Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) leader Uma Bhujel from Balaju in the Capital on Tuesday.Slam! Nora Helmer ends Henrik Ibsen's famed play A Doll's House by slamming the door behind her as she leaves. Many critics believe that she thus started the modern era. But Nora returns 15 years later in Lucas Hnath's A Doll's House, Part 2, at the Arden Theatre Company, Oct. 24-Dec. 9. It's quite a get for the Arden: a Philly premiere of a play piping-hot fresh from Broadway (where it closed only last September). Grace Gonglewski will play Nora, and Steven Rishard is Torvald.

Gonglewski was helping her daughter get ready for school when I reached her. She has never played Nora before, though she has played the lead in Hedda Gabler. "I love Part 2," she says. "It's exhilarating, maddening, and really provocative. Some of my friends who saw it on Broadway went into it saying, 'What can this male writer tell us about feminism?' but came back saying, 'He's really having an argument with himself, taking both sides.' It's lightning-fast, with a breathless quality. I'm looking forward to building on the Arden Doll's House," so razor sharp earlier this year.

Rishard spoke to me from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where he's visiting his son at school there. Is he surprised that Doll's House, almost 140 years after its debut, still packs a feminist punch? "This was a play in which he broke all the molds, becoming the father of realism in one play," Rishard says. "We've all been very slow to learn and to change. There's still a lot to talk about. Both these plays remain incredibly relevant. I'm looking forward to the post-play discussions."Costume renderings of some of the 251 costume "looks" for the Walnut Street Theatre production of "Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn." Read more

Turkey staffing. What would a Theater Beat column be, I ask you, without some mention of turkey leotards? That's right: turkey leotards. They will be in profusion for the Walnut Street Theatre's massively elaborate production of Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn, an all-holidays-at-once musical that runs Sept. 4-Oct. 21. (See what they did there? Started, pretty much, right after Labor Day.)

This thing has 251 costume "looks" themed to the various holidays, from turkeys to Easter bonnets:

Upward of 500 separate pieces are involved. Each of the 24 cast members has to get in and out of at least 12 costumes. Berlin's cute and brilliant conceit was to have an inn that opens only on public holidays, so costume designer Mary Folino, who is also the Walnut Street Theatre's costume shop manager, had to make tons of holiday-themed getups. Thus the turkey leotards.

"This is the biggest show I have personally designed," Folino said. "I started designing this show in April and began construction in June, but full-on production began only on Aug. 1, and I am doing my last fitting  tomorrow. We did 500 fittings in two weeks. It has been pretty crazy." After hearing that I wanted to go lie down.

Please tell us what the turkey leotards look like, though. OK, so for the Thanksgiving-themed number, we are at a 1940s club, Folino says, "and the script calls for ensemble chorus ladies to enter dressed as turkeys, literally singing, 'Gobble gobble,' and the men are dressed as Pilgrims. We needed something you could dance in, and something that gave the feel of a club of that period. So it's a leotard covered in copper sequins and copper beads, and they have an organza ruffled butt like a giant poof on their backside to mimic the fullness of a tail. Plus, they are holding turkey-feather fans. Which you can buy."

I've rarely had so much fun writing a column, y'know? How do you keep track of 500 pieces? Folino has a staff that helps her do that, and she keeps a "design plot," a linear timeline with photos of each costume, character by character, number by number, like a storyboard, only with costumes.

Although she likes the turkey leotards, Folino is proudest of her costumes for "Heat Wave," a number that depicts a singing act's evolution through time, an evolution the costumes change, during the number, to show us. "We do it by internal costume changes," she says, voice sparkling. I gobbled it up.This is a big week for Wes Matthews, 17, of Science Leadership Academy. Monday was his first day as a senior. And Tuesday he will become the Philadelphia Youth Poet for 2018-2019.

He is scheduled to receive the honor at a ceremony at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the lobby of the Central Library of the Free Library of Philadelphia, when he will also give his inaugural reading. "To be given a platform for people my age who care about poetry and what it does, it's very humbling," Matthews said by phone. "This is just the first step. There's more work to be done. I have a sense of responsibility to the city."

Matthews, a two-time Brave New Voices competitor, was also a speaker at the 2016 TEDx in his original hometown of Detroit.

A winner of the 2018 Philly Slam League All-Star Poetry Slam, he has published in the Detroit Free Press, Eunoia Review, Dreginald Magazine, and elsewhere. He is the city's sixth youth poet laureate, succeeding Siduri Beckman (2013-14), Soledad Alfaro-Allah (2014-15), David Jones (2015-16), Otter Jung-Allen (2016-17), and Husnaa Hashim (2017-18). Begun in 2012, the adult and youth poet laureate programs were at first administered by the city but have now found a permanent home at the Center for Public Life at the Free Library.

Beth Feldman Brandt, executive director of the poet laureate governing committee, says that there are a lot of budding poets out there. "Every year," she says, "to see this huge range of young voices amazes us." In this bright crowd, Matthews was a standout, Brandt said, in both his poetry and his vision of the youth laureate position.

"We were all impressed by the complexity of his poems," Brandt said, "how he makes connections, how he even creates new words to get new meanings, which I love."

Raquel Salas Rivera, the present adult poet laureate, will mentor Matthews during his tenure. "Wes has an incredible voice that is very mature, a voice that is very already developed," Rivera said. "It's layered, it's dense. He sounds like an adult poet who has been working for a while."

You can sense that maturity when he writes in "Ode to Vultures":

. . . I've seen many boys

who have nothing but their own pulse to make them men, & by pulse I mean

the neckstrain & drag force visible when someone openeyed dies, their inglorious

shoulderblades becoming inverted land toppling itself down to the sand & nothingness.

Asked what his most recent poem was about, Matthews gives an answer full of that same sense that he's seen a lot: "I've been thinking about the spectacle of black life in America. There's an ironic dichotomy there, in the way black culture is so often uplifted and praised, yet black humanhood is degraded."

"He's very clear in terms of how he views his own work," says Rivera, "and how he sees himself involved in poetry as a form of public outreach. And he's very committed to the city."

Many towns and cities have poets laureate, but Philadelphia's program is unusual in the degree to which honorees work in the community. Like the adult poet laureate, the youth poet laureate is expected to design a community service project and to bring poetry in meaningful, creative ways into the neighborhoods. To hear him talk, you'd have to say Matthews is a natural fit.

"I also have a strong interest in social issues," he says. "Something that recurs in my writing is prison reform, the school-to-prison-pipeline. That's what people don't realize sometimes: Prison reform and education reform are closely connected. I'm hoping I can bring poetry to both spaces."

On the literary side, Matthews says, "I'm thinking about planning a workshop series, and a reading series, inviting well-known readers to come and meet young writers so they feel connected."

Matthews credits his mother, a writer and teacher, for teaching him the pleasures and power of verse. "I started writing in imitation of her," he says. "I enjoyed the expression, and I also liked the way it combined a lot of the things I like a lot. I was always interested in the sonics of language, the way words sound, and how language creates rhythms."

He says he's looking forward to working with Rivera, whose poetry, he says, "has a strong sense of place and people. I like that, and I want my poetry also to be deeply personal and incorporate the things I've always been passionate about. I'm looking forward to working with all the new people I'm going to meet."Louis C.K. attends the Annual Charity Day hosted by Cantor Fitzgerald, BGC and GFI on Sept. 12, 2016 at BGC Partners, Inc. in New York City, N.Y. Read more

Louis C.K. returned to stand-up comedy on Sunday night with a brief, late-night set at a comedy club in New York City, where he performed a surprise set of "typical Louis C.K. stuff" that did not include material about the sexual misconduct he admitted to last year.

As Comedy Cellar owner Noam Dworman told the New York Times, C.K. took the stage at the club around 11 p.m. on Sunday, and attempted to "work out new material" in front of a crowd of about 115 people. Topics in C.K.'s set, Dworman added, included "racism waitresses' tips, [and] parades," the Times wrote. C.K. was reportedly received "warmly," and got a standing ovation prior to the start of his set.

"It sounded just like he was trying to work out some new material, almost like any time of the last 10 years he would come in at the beginning of a new act," Dworman said.

C.K. is the latest Hollywood figure accused of sexual misconduct to mount a return to the spotlight. Earlier this month, Aziz Ansari, who was accused of sexual misconduct in January, this month returned to the stage here in Philadelphia at the Punch Line to work out new material. Ansari, like C.K., did not address the misconduct allegations from the stage. Jeremy Piven, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by eight women, meanwhile, played the Punch Line in July.

Several local comedians asked that the Punch Line cancel Piven's show last month. As comedian Erin Dohony told the Inquirer, allowing Piven to perform showed a level of "indifference" that was "shocking."

>> READ MORE: Philly comedians to Punch Line, Live Nation: Cancel Jeremy Piven's show

"If [Piven] is allowed to make a comeback and convince the public that he didn't do anything wrong, that opens the floodgates for other sexual predators to do the same," Dohony said. "There's no other comic you could think to bring up?"

C.K.'s performance comes 10 months after he was accused of and admitted to sexual misconduct with at least five women, including instances in which he masturbated in front of them without consent. After admitting to the alleged misconduct, C.K. faced backlash that included the cancelation of his production deal with FX, as well as the shelving of I Love You, Daddy, a film the comedian wrote, directed, and starred in that included scenes depicting acts similar to C.K.'s behavior.

Accusers, however, also faced backlash for discussing incidents involving the comedian. Many avoided discussing the incidents with C.K. for years, fearing personal and professional consequences for speaking out.

"I've experienced vicious and swift backlash from women and men, in and out of the comedy community," Rebecca Corry, who said C.K. asked to masturbate in front of her in 2005, wrote in an op-ed for Vulture earlier this year. "I've received death threats, been berated, judged, ridiculed, dismissed, shamed, and attacked."

Dworman has since received complaints about the set online, with one audience member calling him to complain on Monday, the Times reports. The club-goer, who was not named in the Times' coverage, reportedly said he wished he knew about C.K.'s surprise appearance so that could have "decided whether to have been there or not."

Comedy fans online have also chastised the Comedy Cellar for having C.K. perform. Alison Herman, writer of The Ringer, for example, wrote that while she knew the comedian's comeback was inevitable, his appearance in New York still "makes me angrier than I even thought possible."

Others, like comedian Michael Ian Black, expressed support for C.K., despite knowing they would "take heat" for it. As Black wrote, he is "happy to see" C.K. try to make his return, but is not sure "if it's been long enough, or if his career will recover" because "people have to be allowed to serve their time and move on with their lives.

Dworman echoed that sentiment, telling the Times that "there can't be a permanent life sentence on someone who does something wrong," and C..K. was bound to return to stand-up. However, he was surprised that C.K. returned to the stage less than a year after allegations against him surfaced, and acknowledged that "some people will be upset with me" for allowing C.K. to perform.

"I had thought that the first time he'd go on would be in a more controlled environment," Dworman said. "But he decided to just rip the Band-Aid off."Ben Kingsley stars as Adolf Eichmann in OPERATION FINALE, written by Matthew Orton and directed by Chris Weitz, a Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures film Read more

Operation Finale stars Ben Kingsley as Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, the German transportation minister who organized the Final Solution and whose phlegmatic demeanor inspired the phrase "banality of evil."

Kingsley's version of Eichmann, though, is in no way banal. The actor gives him the darting eyes of an animal alert to danger and projects a malevolent intelligence that suggests a cornered and dangerous predator.

The Eichmann of Operation Finale has taken his infamous reputation for attention to detail and applied it to the task of staying anonymous, staying alive. In 1960, he's living off the grid as a factory foreman in a Buenos Aires suburb (no electricity or phone), a remote place where strangers will be noticed.

He's been able to elude an international dragnet, but when his son takes a young woman (Haley Lu Richardson) to a clandestine fascist rally, she deduces the family secret and relays the information to her Holocaust-survivor father (Peter Strauss), who in turn notifies Israeli authorities.

That sets in motion the covert-mission mechanics that drive the first half of the picture  Mossad and Shin Bet agents are assembled and sent to Argentina, where they conduct surveillance on Eichmann, confirm his identity, then concoct and execute a plan to capture him.

These elements are presented in competent fashion by director Chris Weitz (Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Golden Compass), though he's working with a sometimes flat-footed script. Members of the surveillance team conform to archetypes (trigger happy, by-the-book, etc.), and the dormant romance added to spice up the relationship between agents Peter Malkin (Oscar Isaac) and Hanna (Melanie Laurent) is straight out of the Alistair MacLean playbook and also dates to 1960.

The screenplay really strains credulity when it suggests the agents are operating with the approval of Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, but without the approval of Israeli commercial airline El Al, which purportedly demands a consent form from Eichmann (no in-flight meals, no kidnapping).

This MacGuffin exists solely to set up the subsequent battle of wits between Malkin and Eichmann  Malkin trying to cajole a signature from Eichmann, the captive pursuing his own perverse agenda. Eichmann does not want to be judged in Israeli courts and would rather die, and he tries to manipulate Malkin and other agents into making that happen.

Their back-and-forth has echoes of The Silence of the Lambs  captured super-predator projecting power from a place of confinement, prying personal details from his interrogator, taking a sick kind of pleasure in it.

Isaac and Kingsley are game, and their scenes have decent dramatic tension, but of course the outcome is never in doubt, and in the end, Weitz is left to rely on more contrived thriller elements to give the movie a finishing kick, which feels nonetheless like a letdown.

MOVIES

Operation FinaleA Philadelphia law firm has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against a number of opioid manufacturers, alleging that they are responsible for the medical needs of babies exposed to opioids before birth.

John Weston, the attorney at Sacks Weston Diamond who brought the suit Friday on behalf of an anonymous baby boy and his mother, said he believes the case is the first of its kind in Pennsylvania. Lawsuits on behalf of babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome, or NAS, have been filed in several other states, but are not as common as the wave of litigation against pharmaceutical companies, often filed by state and local governments seeking to recover costs related to the opioid epidemic.

"It's basically the same theory as all of the other opioid cases," which allege that pharmaceutical companies sparked the opioid crisis by aggressively marketing opioid pain medications and downplaying their addictive properties, Weston said. "It's just a different group of plaintiffs"  children exposed to opioids in the womb who display symptoms of withdrawal at birth.

"You can argue about who's at fault," he said, "but it's certainly not the kid."

If the suit is successful, Weston said, the class of plaintiffs who stand to benefit would be limited to children whose mothers could prove their own addiction began with prescription opioids.

Though the suit claims that newborns with NAS face long-term adverse health outcomes, questions about lasting harm are far from settled because unbiased studies are hard to do. While the symptoms of newborn withdrawal  such as excessive crying, fever, tremors  go away within days or weeks, some studies suggest opioids can leave children with behavioral, cognitive, vision, and movement problems.

But researchers say the effects of licit and illicit opioids are hard to isolate from the effects of other substances mothers might have used, such as alcohol, and from the impact of factors such as poverty and poor prenatal care.

>> READ MORE: New warning to pregnant women, nursing mothers: Stay off the marijuana

Another obstacle to holding companies liable for children's long-term problems is that many women trying to control their addiction are prescribed milder opioids, either methadone or buprenorphine, that cut cravings without delivering euphoric effects. Abruptly quitting opioids increases the risk of miscarriage, so pregnant women are urged to continue or begin such medication-assisted treatment.

Pennsylvania Medicaid data consistently show that the majority of pregnant women taking prescribed opioids are on buprenorphine or methadone. In Tennessee, which collects data on the sources of neonatal drug exposure, 70 percent of cases were linked to the mothers' medication-assisted treatment in 2017."Don't resuscitate this patient; he has a living will," the nurse told the doctor, Monica Williams-Murphy, handing her a document.

Williams-Murphy looked at the sheet bearing the signature of the unconscious 78-year-old man, who had been rushed from a nursing home to the emergency room. "Do everything possible," it read, with a check approving cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

The nurse's mistake was based on a misguided belief that living wills automatically include "do not resuscitate" (DNR) orders. Working quickly, Williams-Murphy revived the patient, who had a urinary tract infection and recovered after a few days in the hospital.

Unfortunately, misunderstandings involving documents meant to guide end-of-life decision-making are "surprisingly common," said Williams-Murphy, medical director of advance-care planning and end-of-life education for Huntsville Hospital Health System in Alabama.

But health systems and state regulators don't systematically track such mix-ups, which receive little attention amid the push to encourage older adults to document their end-of-life preferences, experts acknowledge. As a result, information about the potential for patient harm is scarce.

A recent report out of Pennsylvania, which has the nation's most robust system for monitoring patient-safety events, treats mix-ups involving end-of-life documents as medical errors  a novel approach. It found that in 2016, Pennsylvania health-care facilities reported nearly 100 events relating to patients' "code status"  their wish to be resuscitated or not, should their hearts stop beating and they stop breathing. In 29 cases, patients were resuscitated against their wishes. In two cases, patients weren't resuscitated despite making it clear they wanted this to happen.

The rest of the cases were "near misses"  problems caught before they had a chance to cause permanent harm.

Most likely, this is an undercount, said Regina Hoffman, executive director of the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, adding that she was unaware of similar data from any other state.

Asked to describe a near miss, Hoffman, co-author of the report, said: "Perhaps I'm a patient who's come to the hospital for elective surgery and I have a DNR order in my [medical] chart. After surgery, I develop a serious infection and a resident [physician] finds my DNR order. He assumes this means I've declined all kinds of treatment, until a colleague explains that this isn't the case."

The problem, Hoffman explained, is that doctors and nurses receive little if any training in understanding and interpreting living wills, DNR orders and Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) forms.

Communication breakdowns and a pressure-cooker environment in emergency departments, where life-or-death decisions often have to be made within minutes, also contribute to misunderstandings, other experts said.

Research by Ferdinando Mirarchi, medical director of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Hamot in Erie, suggests that the potential for confusion surrounding end-of-life documents is considerable. In various studies, he has asked medical providers how they would respond to hypothetical situations involving patients with critical and terminal illnesses.

In one study, for instance, he described a 46-year-old woman who is brought to the ER with a heart attack and suddenly goes into cardiac arrest. Although she is otherwise healthy, she has a living will refusing all potentially lifesaving medical interventions. What would you do, he asked more than 700 physicians in an Internet survey.

Only 43 percent of those doctors said they would intervene to save her life  a troubling figure, Mirarchi said. Because this patient didn't have a terminal condition, her living will didn't apply to the situation at hand and every physician should have been willing to offer aggressive treatment, he explained.

In another study, Mirarchi described a 70-year-old man with diabetes and cardiac disease who had a POLST form indicating he didn't want cardiopulmonary resuscitation but agreeing to a limited set of other medical interventions, including defibrillation (shocking his heart with an electrical current). Yet 75 percent of 223 emergency physicians surveyed said they would not have pursued defibrillation if the patient had a cardiac arrest.

One problem is that doctors assumed that defibrillation is part of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. That's a mistake: They're separate interventions. Another problem is that doctors are often unsure what patients really want when one part of a POLST form says "do nothing" (declining CPR) and another part says "do something" (permitting other interventions).

Mirarchi's work involves hypotheticals, not real-life situations. But it highlights significant practical confusion about end-of-life documents, said Scott Halpern, director of the Palliative and Advanced Illness Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine.

Attention to these problems is important but shouldn't be overblown, cautioned Arthur Derse, director of the Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities at the Medical College of Wisconsin. "Are there errors of misunderstanding or miscommunication? Yes. But you're more likely to have your wishes followed with one of these documents than without one," he said.

Make sure you have ongoing discussions about your end-of-life preferences with your physician, your surrogate decision-maker if you have one, and your family, especially when your health status changes, Derse advised. Without these conversations, documents can be difficult to interpret.

Here are some basics about end-of-life documents:

Living wills

A living will expresses your preferences for end-of-life care but is not a binding medical order. Instead, medical staff will interpret it based on the situation at hand, with input from your family and your surrogate decision-maker.

Living wills become activated only when a person is terminally ill and unconscious or in a permanent vegetative state. A terminal illness is one from which a person is not expected to recover, even with treatment  for instance, advanced metastatic cancer.

Bouts of illness that can be treated, such as worsening heart failure, are considered "critical" not "terminal" illness, and should not activate a living will. To be activated, one or two doctors must certify that your living will should go into effect, depending on the state where you live.

DNRs

Do-not-resuscitate orders are binding medical orders signed by a physician. A DNR order applies specifically to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and directs medical personnel not to administer chest compressions, usually accompanied by mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, if someone stops breathing or their heart stops beating.

The section of a living will specifying that you don't want CPR is a statement of a preference, not a DNR order.

A DNR order applies only to a person who has gone into cardiac arrest. It does not mean that this person has refused other types of medical assistance, such as mechanical ventilation, defibrillation following CPR, intubation (the insertion of a breathing tube down a patient's throat), medical tests or intravenous antibiotics, among other measures.

Even so, DNR orders are often wrongly equated with "do not treat" at all, according to a 2011 review in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

POLST forms

A POLST form is a set of medical orders for a seriously ill or frail patient who may die within a year, signed by a physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner.

These forms, which vary by state, are meant to be prepared after a detailed conversation about a patient's prognosis, goals and values, and the potential benefits and harms of various treatment options.

Problems have emerged with the increased use of POLSTs. Some nursing homes are asking all patients to sign POLST forms, even those admitted for short-term rehabilitation or whose life expectancy exceeds a year, according to a recent article by Charlie Sabatino, director of the American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging. Also, medical providers' conversations with patients can be cursory, not comprehensive, and forms often aren't updated, as recommended, when a patient's medical condition changes.

"The POLST form is still relatively new, and there's education that needs to be done," said Amy Vandenbroucke, executive director of the National POLST Paradigm, an organization that promotes use of the forms. In a policy statement issued last year and updated in April, it stated that completion of POLST forms should always be voluntary, made with a patient's or surrogate decision-maker's knowledge and consent, and offered only to people whose physician would not be surprised if they die within a year.

This column is produced by Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service and a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation. KHN's coverage of these topics is supported by John A. Hartford Foundation,Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the SCAN Foundation.A Delaware woman has died from a rare case of rabies, prompting officials to issue a warning about the disease.

The Kent County woman, who lived alone in a rural area west of Felton, died last week. She was initially treated at a unidentified Delaware hospital in late July for a suspected case of gastroenteritis with vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition quickly deteriorated and she was transferred to a Pennsylvania hospital for treatment, said officials.

"Test results did not confirm the presence of rabies until last week," said Karyl Rattay, director of the Delaware Division of Public Health.

Officials declined to provide any more information about the woman or where she was treated, citing privacy concerns.

Rabies is a viral disease that is spread to people from a bite or scratch of an infected animal. The disease affects the central nervous system, causing inflammation of the brain and death. The rabies vaccine prevents the disease when it is administered shortly after exposure to a rabid animal.

>> READ MORE: South Jersey woman strangles rabid fox that bit her

Officials said the risk of human-to-human transmission of rabies is extremely low, but they are assessing hospital staff who may have had contact with the woman, as well as anyone who had direct contact in the two weeks before she started showing symptoms.

"The source of the disease has not been identified," Rattay said, adding that the "source animal" is likely dead by now. The woman owned a cat, which was previously vaccinated and is being held for observation. Several feral cats in the area were trapped and held for observation out of an abundance of caution.

Human cases of rabies are very rare, though once symptoms appear, the disease is almost always fatal. The last human case of rabies in Delaware was in 1941, when a young boy from Newport died after being bitten by a stray dog, officials stated.

>> READ MORE: Almost all Philly dog owners are lawbreakers.

There have been 23 cases reported in the United States between 2008 and 2017, none in Pennsylvania. In 2011, a 73-year-old woman died in New Jersey after she was bitten by a rabid dog in Haiti. A Florida woman died of the disease earlier this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The fact is, everyone, whether in rural Kent County or inner-city Wilmington, needs to be aware of the contact risk rabies presents in our state," said Rattay. Pets should be vaccinated, people should avoid petting stray animals even if they appear friendly, and animals should not be allowed to roam free. Anyone who is scratched, bitten, or comes in contact with animal saliva needs to seek treatment immediately, she said.

Across the country, about 60 to 70 dogs and 250 cats contract rabies every year. Nearly all the animals are unvaccinated and become infected after contact with wildlife. Yearly, between 30,000 to 60,000 people receive the rabies vaccine after possible contact with the virus, the CDC reported.

Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware require that all dogs and cats receive the rabies vaccine. Delaware also requires that pet ferrets get the shots.

In Delaware, there have been nine confirmed animal cases of rabies since January; three foxes, three raccoons, one cat, one dog, and one horse. In 2017, there were a total of 18 confirmed animal cases, officials said.

In Pennsylvania, there have been 53 reported rabies cases in animals between January and March. The majority of those were in raccoons. Since 2001, the state has distributed an oral rabies vaccine in bait form that is intended for wildlife  specifically raccoons  in hope of preventing the disease from spreading. In New Jersey, there have been 81 reported animal cases of rabies, mostly in raccoons.

Delaware officials ask that anyone who has come in contact with an animal that might have rabies contact their health care provider or call the DPH Rabies Program at 302-744-4995 or 1-888-295-5156 after hours, the Department of Agriculture at 302-698-4630, or email rabies.hotline@state.de.us.

Delaware officials asked that anyone with questions contact their health care provider or call the DPH Rabies Program at 302-744-4995 or 1-888-295-5156 after hours, the Department of Agriculture at 302-698-4630 or rabies.hotline@state.de.us.Kate McClure and Mark D'Amico, the New Jersey couple who led a $400,000 fundraising campaign for homeless veteran Johnny Bobbitt, appeared the Megyn Kelly Today. Read more

Editors Note: On Nov. 15, 2018, the Burlington County Prosecutors Office announced that the three central figures in this story had been arrested and charged with second-degree theft by deception and other offenses. Prosecutors concluded that their dramatic tale of rescue and redemption had been completely made up. Story detailing the findings can be found here.

The Burlington County couple who led a $400,000 fund-raising campaign for a homeless man say they will open their books to a forensic accountant to disprove his claim that a large amount of the donations may have been mismanaged over the last 10 months.

In an interview on Megyn Kelly Today Monday morning, Mark D'Amico said he and his girlfriend, Kate McClure, will "absolutely" allow an accountant to look through financial statements to determine how the funds were used and how much money remains.

Johnny Bobbitt, 35, homeless and struggling with addiction, has alleged that D'Amico, 39, and McClure, 28, took some of the donations for their personal use and refused to show him financial records. The couple started the fund-raising campaign last fall after McClure ran out of gas near where Bobbitt was panhandling, under an I-95 ramp in Kensington. Bobbitt used his last $20 to help McClure, who in turn started a GoFundMe page to get him a home.

Jacqueline Promislo, one of two Cozen O'Connor attorneys representing Bobbitt pro bono, said D'Amico canceled a meeting Monday morning to discuss how the donations were spent.

"We also asked D'Amico for an accounting of the money spent, in writing, and he did not respond to that request," Promislo said Monday. She said D'Amico "wrote [in an email] that he would meet once and be done, and only if Johnny was there."

The attorneys said last week that if the couple refused to meet with them, the firm would consider filing a lawsuit.

Bobbitt has said, and D'Amico and McClure have confirmed, that he began living on the streets again when D'Amico told him in June that he had to leave the Florence property that the McClure family owned and where Bobbitt was staying.

In recent days, Bobbitt, Promislo said, has started a new addiction treatment program and is now staying in a hotel. She declined to identify the program or the hotel.

"To be clear, the money raised for Johnny was for him to have a home," Promislo said.

D'Amico, during a 10-minute interview with Megyn Kelly on NBC, said: "We're in the process of having everything looked over by our lawyer. He has his separate lawyer, and he will have his own trust, and it will be out of our hands."

Of the $400,000 raised, D'Amico said, "well over" $150,000 remains. The couple last week told a reporter that they had roughly $200,000 left.

There were troubles from the start, D'Amico told Kelly. The couple initially tried to open a bank account for Bobbitt, but hit roadblocks when trying to get the required documents in order.

"He had no documents, no ID, no birth certificate, nothing," D'Amico said.

D'Amico told Kelly the money was placed into "our account." The couple bought Bobbitt a new camper that they put in McClure's name and parked on the McClure property.

"If he needed anything, he had it," D'Amico told Kelly.

But soon, he said, "red flags" began to appear as Bobbitt fell back into a drug habit.

D'Amico told Kelly the two gave Bobbitt $25,000 in December, which he spent in 13 days on drugs in addition to sending money to his family and paying overdue legal bills.

The couple tried to persuade Bobbitt to enter rehab facilities, McClure said, but became wary of giving him money.

"Every dollar he ever touched was used for drugs," D'Amico said.

In April, D'Amico told a reporter that the remaining GoFundMe money had been put into two trusts for Bobbitt. Last week, D'Amico told the same reporter that the trusts were never created. The couple repeatedly have refused to show a full accounting of how the money was spent.

In a story published last week, Bobbitt said he did not have access to the money donated to him. He has admitted that he spent some of the money D'Amico and McClure gave him on drugs, but expressed concern over the money because McClure, a receptionist for the New Jersey Department of Transportation, had a new BMW, the couple took several vacations, and D'Amico, a carpenter, appeared to gamble more than he worked.

The couple have said they did not spend Bobbitt's money on the car or vacations. D'Amico said he used $500 of donations to gamble at SugarHouse Casino, but immediately returned the money with his winnings.

McClure tearfully told Kelly her family has received death threats since the news broke that Bobbitt was homeless again.

Its so hard to deal with  when we know we did a good thing, McClure said. I still believe we did a good thing, and Id do it all over again.Former Pennsylvania state Treasurer Rob McCord had been charged with two counts of attempted extortion. Read more

HARRISBURG  Former Pennsylvania Treasurer Rob McCord was sentenced to 2 years in prison Tuesday for attempting to use his public office to strong-arm political contributors during his failed gubernatorial campaign in 2014.

McCord, 59, was tearful as he addressed U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III shortly before the sentence was announced. The former treasurer, who will report to prison in late October, also must pay a $5,200 fine.

"I do want to apologize again  I want to apologize to the people of Pennsylvania, to the court, to my really great colleagues at Treasury," McCord said, his voice cracking as he addressed Jones and a courtroom packed with friends and family, including his two sons.

"I broke the law," the Democrat from Montgomery County said, adding that what he did "was not only illegal, it was wrong. I feel horrible remorse about that."

In handing down the sentence, Jones described McCord as "dichotomous" and a "paradox"  a man capable of much good, but who became so fixated on his quest to become governor that he was willing to abuse his power.

"What I see before me is that, unfortunately, Mr. McCord, you used your position as treasurer to further what really became an obsession, an avaricious ambition to become the governor," Jones told McCord, who bowed his head slightly as he listened.

Added Jones: "When an individual's ambition trumps his or her good judgment and their otherwise good character, that's when crimes happen.  You were almost hysterical to raise funds.  It trumped any fiber of reasonable judgment that you had left."

McCord's 30-month sentence appeared to bring to an end what once was described as the most ambitious public corruption probe to come out of Harrisburg in years, a probe that also ensnared another former state treasurer, Barbara Hafer, as well as the onetime chief of staff to Gov. Rendell, John Estey. The investigation spanned years, as onetime top political figures including McCord agreed to secretly wear recording devices for conversations with other insiders.

The question before Tuesday's sentencing was how strongly federal prosecutors would advocate for McCord to receive credit for that cooperation, which also included a turn as the star government witness in the pay-to-play trial last year of a Chester County businessman.

In the end, they did request leniency. But they tempered the request by noting that McCord had not fully owned up to the impact of his "corrupt actions" on his decision-making as a public official.

"He corrupted a watchdog agency," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Consiglio. U.S. Attorney David J. Freed put it this way: "McCord's official actions to benefit his friends and punish his foes compromised the integrity of the Treasury and directly damaged the citizens of Pennsylvania."

After Tuesday's hearing, a visibly relieved McCord hugged his friends and family, but did not speak to reporters. He is expected to turn himself in to federal authorities Oct. 29.

His lawyer, Robert E. Welsh, has said that McCord in recent months has been living in North Carolina, taking classes and teaching yoga. McCord also is studying to become a marriage counselor, according to testimony at Tuesday's hearing.

Prosecutors had recommended that McCord receive a prison sentence of 37 to 46 months, a reduction from the federal guidelines, citing his cooperation. But Welsh had argued that McCord deserved more credit, noting he took responsibility for his misdeeds and agreed to cooperate in other cases.

"That is a really, really difficult decision," Welsh said, noting that the type of cooperation McCord provided would lead to his being "reviled and hated."

In addition, Welsh said, it is important for authorities to provide incentives for future cooperating witnesses.

McCord abruptly resigned his position and pleaded guilty in 2015 to attempted extortion. A year earlier, federal authorities had secretly recorded him attempting to shake down campaign donors for contributions in the 2014 primary for governor. In one instance, he threatened the managing partner of a Philadelphia law firm if it did not make a sizable contribution to his campaign.

"At the very least, I'm still gonna be the freakin' treasurer," McCord told the partner in a conversation recorded by federal agents or cooperating witnesses, the court records show.

McCord agreed to cooperate after prosecutors confronted him with his own words captured in 2,000 wiretapped conversations. For several weeks in late 2014, McCord, for the FBI, secretly recorded conversations with Richard Ireland, a wealthy Chester County businessman and Republican campaign donor. Federal prosecutors charged Ireland with attempted bribery.

But McCord's erratic and unpredictable performance as a key government witness during Ireland's trial last year dealt the investigation its harshest blow and was cited by Jones in his unusual decision to throw out the case mid-trial.

"That wasn't my first rodeo either, and what I saw clearly indicated to me that for whatever reasons  [McCord] was not entirely forthcoming in his testimony," Jones, who presided over the Ireland trial, said Tuesday.

Prosecutors had accused Ireland of attempting to bribe McCord with campaign donations, as well as a promised job in the private sector, in exchange for help in landing state contracts.

But McCord was reluctant to admit he had done anything wrong, insisting he never thought that his dealings with Ireland involved a "this for that" arrangement.

McCord had faced a range of 57 to 71 months in prison under federal guidelines, according to recent court filings.

Five character witnesses testified on behalf of McCord, including his older brother Geoffrey Sayre-McCord, who teaches philosophy at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Sayre-McCord said that his brother accepted responsibility without excuse, whereas many public officials cover up their bad acts.

"I've watched him deal with the calamitous effect of his own actions," Sayre-McCord said, including the collapse of his marriage and his professional life.

But he said his brother hasn't been "moping and dealing in self-pity  He has found a path" that includes working to help others.

Jones, in sentencing McCord, closed with these words: "There is redemption. I think you understand that now. I think you've achieved some measure of that."Congress pressures Centre to ease taxes

Claiming that they have not imposed high taxes at their local levels, mayors and deputy mayors close to the Nepali Congress party have demanded that the federal government decrease the excessive taxes being imposed at the centre.Gloria Byars, center, walked inside Philadelphia City Hall in May 2018 for a prior hearing before Orphans' Court Judge John Herron. At right was her attorney, Sharon Alexander; at left was an assistant. Read more

A Delaware County woman accused of financially exploiting elderly people for whom she served as a court-appointed guardian failed to come to a Philadelphia City Hall courtroom on Tuesday for a hearing on how she spent a Northeast Philadelphia woman's funds. Her attorney also didn't appear.

Gloria Byars, 57, of Aldan, had been removed as guardian of about 100 elderly clients in the region after past convictions for fraud, passing bad checks, and forgery came to light.

Orphans' Court Judge John Herron said at the hearing Tuesday that Byars must repay about $35,000 to the estate of Estelle Segal.

The judge was angry that Byars did not come to the proceeding, and said he was "frankly shocked" at the absence of her lawyer, Sharon Alexander. "I don't understand a practicing lawyer intentionally failing to appear at a hearing and failing to ask for a continuance," he said.

Herron held the hearing with lawyer James Tyler, who was appointed as Segal's executor after her February death.

Byars' record was chronicled in a March 30 Inquirer and Daily News article highlighting a lack of state requirements, including background checks, for guardians who manage the affairs of people deemed incapacitated. The article featured the case of a Fox Chase couple, Edmund and Margareta Berg, for whom Byars also had been appointed guardian.

Herron in May had ordered Byars to pay $63,079 to the Bergs, including $34,112 for improper expenditures. Byars has not paid any of that money. Despite that order, Byars spent tens of thousands of dollars on a July 14 wedding reception at the Manor House at Prophecy Creek Park in Ambler.

Byars already was married to Leon DeShields, 57, and had asked guests to a "vow renewal," according to the invitation. Copies of the Manor House bills obtained by the Inquirer and Daily News show the planned reception for 163 adults and 34 children cost about $35,000 for meals, hors d'oeuvres, a shrimp-and-clam station, a dessert station, a patio tent, and facility charges.

Heidi Austin, a niece of the Bergs', said she was "disgusted" to learn about the reception.

"It has been a challenging year and a half, and still the woman is free to spend all the money she stole from the elderly," Austin wrote in an email. "My uncle just turned 90, and I would at least like to tell him that there is justice in this world before he leaves it."

Austin discovered Byars' fraudulent past and through an attorney brought it to Herron's attention. As a result, Philadelphia now requires that a state criminal history report be submitted for proposed guardians.

The new requirements mirrored recommendations proposed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's Orphans' Court Procedural Rules Committee. In June, the justices approved new statewide rules requiring background checks; they take effect next June.

At Tuesday's hearing, Tyler said that Byars' lawyer had emailed him Aug. 16 and said she was aware of the hearing date but was going to be out of the country.

In his review, Tyler said he found that Byars had not accounted for $35,405 that she had spent of Segal's funds.

"Essentially," the judge said in court, it appears that Byars "converted [the $35,405] to her own uses and purposes."

Byars has not been criminally charged in any guardianship cases. Herron earlier this year referred the Segal and Berg matters to the District Attorney's Offices in Philadelphia and Delaware County. The office of State Sen. Art Haywood (D., Montgomery-Phila.) referred another case to the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office.Police Commissioner Richard Ross said Tuesday, August 28, 2018 at a press conference that a Philadelphia Police homicide detective is under internal investigation for allegedly calling a colleague a "filthy savage" and a "grotesque, primal animal" in a letter hung inside the Homicide Unit. Read more

A Philadelphia police homicide detective is under internal investigation for allegedly calling a colleague a "filthy savage" and a "grotesque, primal animal" in a letter about leaving leftover food beneath a work station, a situation that devolved into a series of racially charged insults, Police Commissioner Richard Ross said Tuesday.

Ross said the letter, written by a white homicide detective and 22-year veteran of the force, was taped above a trash can in the Homicide Unit in recent days. It was not addressed to any specific officer, Ross said, but other members of the unit, concerned about the language in the letter, made copies and shared it among colleagues.

Among other insults, the letter says: "As I'm sure you were not burdened by significant schooling, and were birthed to an alcoholic, absent father and a rancid whore of a mother, you are simply ignorant of the fact that you are little more than an upright animal," according to a copy obtained by the Inquirer and Daily News.

"The tone and the tenor of the letter raise questions about whether racial bias or inappropriate biases  were involved with the message," Ross said at a news conference. "Some of the references in the letter are very troubling."

Rochelle Bilal, president of the Guardian Civic League, an organization that represents black officers, said Tuesday that she believed the letter's language was "basically geared toward the stereotype of black people and black families."

"Anybody in this institution of service to the community that makes any of these statements like this shouldn't be on the job," Bilal said Tuesday.

John McNesby, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, said of the letter: "There's no place for that. If you have a problem with somebody  you should address it personally."

The commissioner's announcement came about eight months after a group of black narcotics officers sued the Police Department over allegations of racial discrimination. And two years ago, the department came under intense scrutiny when photos of an officer's tattoo  which critics said resembled a Nazi eagle  surfaced on social media.

Ross said the situation Tuesday was "totally different" from the narcotics lawsuit at least. Still, he said the Police Department administers training intended to enable officers to recognize their own biases in order to avoid acting on them. He also acknowledged that the letter contained phrases that "cause me deep concern."

"We do have a higher standard that we have to live up to," Ross said. "And so, when people want to hold us to a higher standard, I think they're right to do so."

Bilal shared with the Inquirer and Daily News a copy of the letter, which she said she received Tuesday. It is addressed only to "fellow coworker" and is signed by Detective Jimmy Crone. It begins by complaining about leftover ribs in a wastebasket beneath a work station, but in the next sentence says: "Now, in that I have a sense of etiquette and social fluency instilled in me from my upbringing by traditional, caring parents, I am offended by this."

After insulting the unnamed colleague's parents and education level, the letter says: "I am not in any manner trying to embarrass you, just the opposite; I'm here to offer my guidance and assistance in helping you make the difficult transition from a grotesque, primal animal to tolerable coworker."

Crone could not immediately be reached for comment.

Ross said that Crone admitted writing the letter, but that it was not clear if Crone knew who had created the mess that evidently enraged him. The commissioner did say he was "perplexed" that a seemingly mundane office dispute would generate such rancor from a seasoned detective.

"I just think the language [of the letter] did not, in any way, fit the offense," Ross said.

He said black members of the Homicide Unit  which he described as about 50 percent African American  were offended by the letter's wording, "some of which historically has references to African Americans in particular."

The commissioner said Crone was generally well-respected and did not appear to have been the subject of many complaints during his two-decade career, 12 years of which he has spent in homicide. Among his assigned cases during that time, news reports show he helped to investigate a faith-healing couple charged with allowing their infant son to die instead of seeking treatment, and a 25-year-old man charged with killing two women  one of whom was known as "Grandma"  over their alleged drug stash.

Ross said Crone would be placed on administrative duty pending an investigation by Internal Affairs.

Correction: An early version of this story incorrectly reported that an officer who had been criticized for a tattoo was still on the police force. That officer resigned in March, according to Police Commissioner Richard Ross.Bernard Dawkins, 68, awaiting breakfast in the courtyard of St. Francis Inn Ministries in Kensington. Read more

Hungry people, experts will tell you, are always silent.

On Tuesday, they lined up in a quiet queue in the courtyard of St. Francis Inn Ministries in Kensington, awaiting breakfast under a sapping morning sun.

Many of them were sharp and savvy from living on the street, but they nevertheless were unaware of some rare good news for people in poverty:

General Assistance, a program that helps Pennsylvania's most vulnerable residents with a small monthly grant of around $200, is being reinstated this fall, six years after it was cut.

Because the money has been gone so long, the very people it was meant to help were surprised to learn that some relief might soon be available.

"I did not know," said Bernard Dawkins, 68, of Frankford, who said his life of drugs, alcohol, and violence made him homeless until various agencies took him in. Rehabilitated, Dawkins, a former Sharon Hill bulldozer operator, said the state needn't send him any money.

"I'd appreciate the cash, but I have all the help I need. I burned my house down," he said, speaking metaphorically. "But I have respect for life now, and I feel blessed. Give my share to somebody else."

Advocates say it isn't surprising that people are in the dark about a revised program to help the poor, especially during a time when Congress and President Trump talk about cutting food stamps and other benefits.

General Assistance was eliminated by the administration of Gov. Tom Corbett in 2012. Statewide, around 68,000 people received the benefit, 35,000 of them living in Philadelphia.

Administration officials said the cut was needed to save money. Advocates countered that because the state was getting back just $150 million out of a then-$28 billion budget, the jettisoning of General Assistance was more likely based on bias against those in poverty.

"People like to believe need doesn't exist, and that people are playing the system all the time, which is inaccurate," said Ann Sanders, public policy advocate at Just Harvest, an antihunger organization in Pittsburgh.

READ MORE: Baer: A case for Philly's neediest cases

Several people and entities sued the state in 2012. Community Legal Services of Philadelphia argued the case, saying the legislation that cut General Assistance was rushed into law, violating the state constitution, which requires a more deliberative process.

In June, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court sided with CLS in a 7-0 decision. The state will restore General Assistance as a result, possibly by the end of September.

General Assistance was designed for those who are not eligible for most other programs  "the most vulnerable people of the commonwealth," according to CLS attorney Michael Froehlich, one of the lawyers who brought the case.

General Assistance aids disabled or sick adults without children, survivors of domestic violence without minor children, adults caring for the sick or disabled, adults participating in alcohol and other drug treatment programs, and children living with an unrelated adult.

Many people on General Assistance were awaiting approval of SSI or Social Security disability payments. If people were approved, the state would be reimbursed for paying out General Assistance.

For many people, such as those in treatment programs, the payments don't exceed nine months in a lifetime.

Cutting General Assistance was "morally reprehensible," said Jeannine Lisitski, executive director and president of Women Against Abuse, an organization that advocates against domestic violence and that houses women fleeing abusive partners.

"We took General Assistance away from the poorest of the poor," she said. "It's going to be great to get it back."

Liz Hersh, director of the Philadelphia Office of Homeless Services, said that even though the money is meager, it helps people pay friends or relatives to rent a bed or couch in an apartment, keeping them off the streets. She said that ending it had been "cruel."

When General Assistance was eliminated, the results were quickly evident, said Mike Dahl, executive director of Broad Street Ministry in Center City, which helps people in poverty and those experiencing homelessness.

"It felt like a war on the poor," he said. "When GA was cut, the number of people seeking assistance went up. We ended up being the safety net below the safety net.

"When government pokes holes in that net, we get busier."

In some cases, the end of General Assistance meant increased costs to state and local governments in services for the homeless and incarcerated, wrote Diana Polson, policy analyst at the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, a progressive think tank in Harrisburg.

As welcome as the return of General Assistance is, "It's surprising how no one is asking me about it," said Karen Pushaw, a longtime employee at St. Francis Inn. "I might put out some fliers."

A spokesman for the state Department of Human Services, which will administer General Assistance, said information about the program is available on the agency's website, and at county assistance offices throughout the state.

The help can't come soon enough for some people.

"I wasn't aware of General Assistance," said Craig Jones, 62, an injured construction worker on a limited income who was awaiting breakfast at St. Francis Inn on Tuesday. "But I could use the help. It could be my last resort."

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. See all of our reporting at https://brokeinphilly.org.Keyri, right, puts her arm around her younger sister, Yoselin, shortly before leaving for the first day of school on Monday. Her brothers stand nearby at the Church of the Advocate, where the family lives in sanctuary. Read more

The morning sky is brightening to pale blue when the four Hernandez children leave the safety of the Church of the Advocate and file into a waiting Ford van.

Their mother stays behind. And when the last door shuts, the kids turn quiet.

They aren't alone for the ride. An adult friend is driving, and another comes along for support. So does a city councilwoman.

But their first day of school is different from those of other students, their jitters about a new term fused with uncertainty over what could happen in the next half-hour.

All four  Edwin, 9; Yoselin, 12; Keyri, 13; and Fidel, 16  face standing deportation orders, as does their mother, Carmela Apolonio Hernandez. For nearly 10 months, they've lived in sanctuary in the North Philadelphia church, blocking a forced return to Mexico that Hernandez says could get them killed by gangsters.

For these four children, heading to school does not mean a brisk stroll across city sidewalks or hanging with friends at the bus stop.

It's 25 minutes of exposure and vulnerability, a risky ride from church to school in a city where federal immigration authorities are especially aggressive, in a country where the government is detaining and deporting undocumented people.

If agents were going to move against the children, the streets would be a place to do it.

"I'm a little nervous leaving sanctuary," Keyri says, "but I'm sure everything will be OK."

Risk of deportation part of life

Somewhere down the block from the Episcopal church, the chug of an idling school bus breaks the Monday morning calm. The streets around 18th and Diamond Streets begin filling with traffic and Temple University students.

Gathered outside a church door, waiting to join 200,000 students headed to school in Philadelphia, the siblings talk about class schedules and favorite subjects. Keyri half-dances across the concrete, then playfully smacks Yoselin on the shoulder. Fidel stretches. Edwin holds close to his mom.

"Being at risk of deportation," Hernandez says, "is part of their lives. They know they have to go on and live their lives They tell each other not to be afraid."

The family came to America in 2015, after Hernandez and her eldest daughter were assaulted by the same drug criminals who murdered her brother and two nephews. In mid-December, with their petition for asylum denied and deportation imminent, Hernandez took her family into sanctuary.

In the meantime, she says, her children's lives can't stop while the family presses its legal case.

Hernandez, 37, sent the children to school in January, asserting their right to education and challenging Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE. The Philadelphia school system has been welcoming and has followed the law, which guarantees public education to all children, regardless of status.

Fidel and Keyri attend one school, Edwin and Yoselin another. The challenge is getting there. (The Inquirer and Daily News agreed not to name their schools as a condition of traveling with them.)

While ICE guidelines dissuade agents from taking action at designated "sensitive locations," such as churches, schools, and hospitals, the agency asserts the right to detain undocumented immigrants anywhere, anytime.

Arrests have occurred near churches and schools, if not on the grounds, and agents have stopped cars and detained undocumented immigrants riding inside.

A spokesperson for the agency declined to comment on the children's return to school.

Philadelphia is a "sanctuary city," where the local government strives to treat undocumented immigrants the same as everyone else. But that offers no protection from federal authorities, who arrested 156 undocumented migrants during two sweeps in September and May.

>>READ MORE: In Philly and across the nation, more immigrants take church sanctuary to block deportation

The Hernandez family, supporters say, has two advantages: the publicity surrounding their life in sanctuary and the backing of elected officials.

"Visibility and public support act as a shield," said Jasmin Delgado, a leader of the Sanctuary Advocate Coalition, which formed to help the family. "It's in the shadows that ICE acts with impunity."

Two facts about sanctuary: It's hard on people who claim it. And it can work.

Javier Flores Garcia spent almost a year inside Arch Street United Methodist Church in Center City, walking free in October 2017 after being granted "deferred action." That status allows him to live in the United States while awaiting a visa.

Last week, a Colorado woman ended 10 months in sanctuary after being assured by ICE she was not a priority for deportation to Mexico. Sandra Lopez's departure followed a Supreme Court ruling that opened a new route for her to pursue legal status.

>>READ MORE: In an ICE lobby in Center City, a microcosm of immigration battles

Hernandez's children have briefly left the church at times. Keyri has spoken at public, pro-immigrant rallies. And on Friday, all four met with Democratic Sen. Bob Casey at his Philadelphia office, asking him to help their family.

Hernandez is confined to the church.

Lately, she's been sick  with allergies, headaches, joint pain, an ear infection. Some illness might be caused by stress, she said. She sees her children growing up and older in sanctuary.

On the way to school, excitement and uncertainty

The van heads south and then east, past rowhouses, past children walking to school, past people for whom the ability to roam is a given.

In a back seat, Councilwoman Helen Gym, an ally from the start, talks with Delgado about what the children may need from the School District, such as translators. If the siblings are harassed in any way, Gym says, Delgado should contact her immediately.

Fidel and Keyri are first to be dropped off, and Gym and Delgado go inside, too, to make sure all is well. Fifteen minutes later, the van pulls over again, and Edwin and Yoselin hop out, eager to start the day.

The morning ends with all four safely in class.

The plan for coming weeks is for the children to travel by school bus, boarding directly outside the church and exiting at the doors of their schools. A team of advocates will be on call, ready to move quickly to the children if the bus breaks down or meets trouble.

Hernandez's children say that they've made friends at school. That they look forward to the time when going to class won't mean taking a risk. When they can legally live in America.

"I have a birthday wish," says Keyri, who turns 14 next Wednesday. "To no longer be in sanctuary when my birthday comes."DUBLIN  Pope Francis has long faced criticism from traditionalists  a group that includes academics as well as cardinals  who say the church is too willingly following the whims of the anything-goes modern age.

Much of the dissent has remained within the Vatican's walls, as Francis' opponents worked to stonewall reforms. A few high-ranking church leaders have questioned him publicly about his teachings. But the simmering opposition has suddenly exploded across the Catholic world, with a former Vatican ambassador accusing the pope of covering up sexual abuse  and demanding that Francis step down.

The accusations came in a 7,000-word letter written by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano that could be viewed as an act of courage or unprecedented defiance. Either way, it sheds light on the opposition movement, and particularly its insistence that homosexuality within the church  and Francis' inability to keep it at bay  is to blame for the sexual abuse crisis.

Defenders of the pope note that the letter was published at perhaps the most challenging point of Francis' papacy, when abuse scandals in the United States, Chile, Australia and elsewhere are embroiling members of the church hierarchy.

"We are a step away from schism," said Michael Sean Winters, a columnist for the National Catholic Reporter. "I think there is a perception among the pope's critics that there is vulnerability here  on the part of the pope and in the Vatican generally."

The document alleges that Francis, as well as predecessor Pope Benedict XVI, had known for years about abuse allegations against Theodore McCarrick, who last month became the first cardinal in nearly a century to resign. Francis, asked about the accusations on Sunday, did not directly respond to them, saying that the document "speaks for itself."

The author, Vigano, a 77-year-old who is two years into retirement, is described by acquaintances as shy and quiet, but he has a history of advocating for right-wing causes. During the pope's U.S. visit in 2015, he orchestrated a meeting between Francis and a conservative county clerk who defined a federal order to issue same-sex marriage licenses. In Italy this year, he spoke briefly at a gathering of dissenters that included Cardinal Raymond Burke, perhaps the most prominent anti-Francis figure.

"All of the traditionalist outlets have given Vigano's letter a great echo, because that was the voice that they were waiting for," said Roberto de Mattei, president of the conservative Lepanto Foundation and a critic of Francis. "At last a bishop has spoken. This explains the consensus from the world of critics. Vigano was not a leader [of the group]. But he joined critical voices that already existed."

Francis has used more inclusive messages about gays and divorced Catholics at a time when the religion is losing its hold across the Western world. But some conservatives feel that Francis  who has made no concrete changes to church teaching on homosexuality or the role of women in the church  risks undoing the credibility of a religion that is based on immutable ideas and principles.

In the letter, Vigano goes into detail about years of failures to act within the Vatican bureaucracy, and he describes "dismay and sadness over the enormity of what is happening." He mentions "homosexual networks" within the church and quotes an academic who cites such networks as a core reason for clergy abuse.

"The seriousness of homosexual behavior must be denounced," Vigano wrote.

With his letter, Vigano became the torchbearer for the argument, shared among a group of Catholic conservatives, that sexual abuse stems from an overabundance of priests with homosexual feelings. They charge that Francis, who describes abuse in terms of power and clerical narcissism, fundamentally misunderstands the issue, jeopardizing the church's ability to address the scandals.

In an interview published Monday by the conservative Italian newspaper La Verita, Burke said that "homosexual culture" had found "roots inside the church and can be connected to the drama of abuses perpetrated on adolescents and young adults."

That view has little hold in the mainstream and has been roundly dismissed by researchers and other outsiders, who say that sexual abuse results from a complicated combination of factors including church secrecy, the training and sexual development of young priests, and the profound power gap between clergy and young parishioners. Those who want to see dramatic change in the church sometimes criticize the requirement for celibacy. Scores of girls have also been victimized, though less frequently than boys.

"A lot of this is homophobia," said Father James Martin, an American Jesuit who has advocated for the church to welcome LGBT members with more compassion. "I think they're using abuse to beat up on gays."

For traditionalists, Martin's invitation from the Vatican to speak last week in Dublin at a massive World Meeting of Families event was proof of how Francis is gradually eroding church teachings on sexuality. Before Francis landed in Dublin, a group of 400 dissidents met for two days at a hotel for what one organizer called a gathering to promote "the authentic teachings of the Catholic Church." And in Madison, Wisconsin, responding to the church's sex abuse crisis, Bishop Robert Morlino wrote in a letter to Catholics in his diocese that "it is time to admit that there is a homosexual subculture within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church."

Last week, Francis had released a letter to Catholics acknowledging "crimes" committed by the church. LifeSiteNews said the letter was facing criticism from "faithful Catholics" for "ignoring the underlying issue of rampant homosexuality in the clergy." LifeSiteNews was one of the two conservative outlets that initially published Vigano's letter.

Though Francis did not directly address the claims in the letter, he delivered a message Sunday night to reporters on the papal plane that seemed ready-made to roil his critics. Asked by a reporter what a parent should say to a child who comes out as gay, the pope said: "Don't condemn. Dialogue, understand."

"I'll never say that silence is a remedy," Francis said. "To ignore a son or daughter with homosexual tendencies is a lack of paternity and maternity. You are my son, you are my daughter as you are! I'm your father, mother. Let's talk!"

The Washington Post's Stefano Pitrelli in Moena, Italy, contributed to this report.On Aug. 17, Christina Carlin-Kraft took a Lyft into Philadelphia for a night out at a Center City hotel.

She woke up in her Main Line apartment the next morning, her memory hazy and her belongings raided, according to statements she gave to police in Lower Merion. Four days later, she was found strangled in that same apartment.

>>READ MORE: Slain Ardmore model's father says she was the 'brightest light that ever lived'

As police continue their search for her killer, paperwork filed in Montgomery County sheds new light on how the model encountered the Southwest Philadelphia man being sought for the burglary.

In an arrest warrant filed Aug. 21, Lower Merion police submitted multiple criminal charges against Andre Melton, 31, including burglary, criminal trespass, and receiving stolen property.

That warrant describes Carlin-Kraft's fragmented account of the night before the burglary, as told to detectives.

She told them she had taken the ride-share to the Sofitel hotel in Center City on Aug. 17. The 36-year-old's final memory of the evening, she told police, was ordering an espresso martini at the hotel's bar. After that, she remembered nothing.

She told police she woke up the next morning in her Ardmore apartment and "had no recollection of what occurred." She was wearing the same clothes as the night before and felt "extremely sick," according to the warrant.

Then she noticed several personal items missing, including purses, jewelry, and her credit cards. She told police that she "did not give anyone permission to enter her residence or permission to take her property."

Surveillance footage from her apartment building shows Carlin-Kraft returning to her second-floor apartment at Cambridge Square, 120 Sibley Ave., early on Aug. 18 with a man, according to the warrant. She seemed unsteady on her feet, and he supported her as she walked.

At one point, Carlin-Kraft fell, and the man picked her up from behind and helped her to an elevator. Surveillance shows the man later coming back down on the elevator, carrying a box police believed contained Carlin-Kraft's belongings.

A major break in the case came when police checked Carlin-Kraft's credit-card statements and saw that her Wells Fargo card had been used just before 3 a.m. on Aug. 18 at a Wawa in Glenolden, Delaware County. The card was also used at a Royal Farms in the same town on Aug. 19.

Surveillance footage from the Royal Farms showed two males using the card, one of whom matched the physical appearance of the man seen walking with Carlin-Kraft into her apartment. It was unclear who the other male was.

Investigators from Lower Merion took both sets of surveillance footage and showed them to a "trusted law enforcement source," who identified the man as Melton.

Detectives served the warrant on Aug. 22 at Melton's address on the 6500 block of Theodore Street in the Elmwood section of Southwest Philadelphia. There, they recovered the items that Carlin-Kraft had reported stolen days earlier, including designer purses, jewelry, and a Gucci belt, according to a law-enforcement source. Two other people at the home, a man and woman, were arrested and charged with narcotics possession, the source said.

Melton has only been charged in the burglary of Carlin-Kraft's apartment, and it was unclear Tuesday whether the burglary was tied to her slaying.

Police have said they are seeking a second, unidentified man who entered Carlin-Kraft's apartment building with her early on Aug. 22. Surveillance footage shows the two walking together into the building. The two had met in Philadelphia, near Broad and Locust Streets, and had taken a ride-share back to Carlin-Kraft's apartment, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office. Officials would not disclose which ride-share service was used.

Later that day, about 9:15 p.m., investigators found Carlin-Kraft's body in her bedroom during a wellness check.

Surveillance footage, however, does not show the man leaving the building. Investigators believe he may have left by jumping over the balcony connected to her apartment.

Anyone with information on either suspect was asked to call Montgomery County detectives at 610-278-3368 or Lower Merion police at 610-649-1000.It's a rare papal slight that receives a public airing  and this one was aimed directly at Philadelphia's Archbishop Charles J. Chaput.

But Pope Francis' purported reproach of the region's top Catholic as too "right-wing"  as stated this weekend in a public letter penned by one of the pontiff's most vocal critics  offered more than just an unusual glimpse into the Vatican's dirty laundry.

It underscored a widening rift between the church hierarchy's conservative and liberal wings, and suggested evidence of a flinty relationship between two men who may best epitomize both sides.

In public, Chaput, an unswerving traditionalist, and Francis, embraced by liberals as a Vatican "change agent," have professed mutual admiration  most notably as the two stood side by side during the pope's visit to Philadelphia in 2015.

And yet their public pronouncements have put them at apparent odds on issues ranging from same-sex relationships to divorce and the church's role in politics.

The perception of a split between the men has so often garnered attention that Chaput complained to the Washington Post in 2015 about the tendency to pit him as Francis' foil.

It "is a great narrative," he said, "except that it's not true."

Yet Saturday brought more confirmation of a divide.

In a published letter, the Vatican's former top diplomat to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a staunch Francis critic, called on the pontiff to resign, alleging that he and his predecessor, Benedict XVI, had long known about the sexual misconduct of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, who was forced to step down this summer amid scandal.

In an unrelated passage tucked into the 7,000-word memo, Vigano recounted a five-year-old exchange in which Francis allegedly took a swipe at Chaput.

"The bishops in the United States must not be ideologized," Vigano said Francis told him at a 2013 gathering of papal ambassadors in Rome. "They must not be right-wing, like the archbishop of Philadelphia."

Vigano wrote that Francis also said bishops should "not be left-wing" either, adding, "And when I say left-wing, I mean homosexual."

Francis has not denied Vigano's characterization of his remarks. He sidestepped questions from reporters aboard the papal plane Sunday as he was returning from Ireland, saying he would not dignify the former diplomat's letter with a response.

"I will not say a single word about this," he said. "I believe the statement speaks for itself."

Chaput, meanwhile, declined to respond directly, saying through a spokesperson that Vigano's claims were "beyond his personal experience." But he vouched for the former ambassador's character, saying he "found his service to be marked by integrity to the church."

Those words might hardly seem inflammatory to most lay people, but longtime Catholic Church observers saw hints of palace intrigue.

"We know that Archbishop Chaput had words of praise for Bishop Vigano," said Massimo Faggioli, a theology professor at Villanova University. "And that is surprising, given that Vigano put pressure on the pope to resign. One would expect a bishop to say that no one has the right to ask the pope to resign."

Chaput and the pontiff first met at 1997's Synod for Bishops for America in Rome, when Francis was Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires. The paths their careers have taken since have increasingly put them at odds, at least in tone if not on issues of doctrine.

Both men, observers say, view the Catholic Church as at a crossroads. They differ on which path to take.

Francis, since his election in 2013, has warned church leaders away from engaging in politics, and advocated opening the Catholic tent to better engage with a changing world  a vision perhaps best crystallized by his response to reporters' questions that same year on his views about participation by homosexuals in the church.

"Who am I to judge?" the pontiff replied.

Chaput, meanwhile, has emerged as one of conservative Catholicism's leading voices in America  an unapologetic culture warrior who has thrown himself into political debates on same-sex marriage and abortion with relish, strongly arguing against both. From the pulpit, he has advocated for strict adherence to traditional doctrine, fearing that accepting loosening public mores without a fight could set the church irrevocably adrift.

"Stuffing your Catholic faith in a closet when we enter the public square or join a public debate isn't good manners," he told a room full of Catholic lawyers in Harrisburg in 2006. "It's cowardice."

Despite their differences in approach, Chaput has never publicly criticized the pontiff and has said they agree on fundamental church teachings against gay marriage, abortion, euthanasia and contraception.

In a 2013 interview with the National Catholic Reporter, he said the pope's seemingly more permissive statements have been misinterpreted by people who "want to use [him] to further their own agendas."

And yet, Chaput's approach and Francis' vision have appeared at times to be at directly odds.

For instance, when Francis in 2016 issued a pronouncement that appeared to give bishops more latitude in deciding whether to give Holy Communion to divorcees or those in same-sex relationships, Chaput four months later issued a decree insisting that Catholics in "irregular" sexual relationships should still be denied within the Philadelphia Archdiocese.

Two years prior, when the pope convened a meeting in Rome to encourage more open debate on the church's stances on controversial social issues, Chaput, in public remarks, worried that it left an impression of uncertainty. "I think confusion is of the devil," he said.

Some church watchers cited that apparent difference in worldviews to explain Francis' passing over Chaput when he named 17 new American cardinals in 2016. The five previous archbishops serving the Philadelphia Archdiocese had all been elevated to cardinal.

For all the public discussion of their differences, Philip Cunningham, a theology professor at St. Joseph's University, said he sees the divide as more one of style than substance.

"Chaput's way of doing theology and relating to the traditions is with a different style, and with a different set of priorities, than the pope," he said. "They're not mutually exclusive by any means, but they are different."Q: Did John McCain "hide the fact that he 'accidentally' killed 134 American sailors"?

A: No. He wasn't responsible for the fatal 1967 accident aboard the USS Forrestal.

FULL QUESTION

John McCain  Did his plane fire missile and kill U.S. soldiers aboard ship?

FULL ANSWER

In the days following the death of Sen. John McCain on Aug. 25, numerous readers have inquired about a claim that the Arizona Republican was responsible for the deaths of more than 100 sailors aboard the USS Forrestal. He wasn't.

The recycled falsehood distorts the facts about that July 1967 disaster off the coast of Vietnam, which we wrote about in 2008 when McCain sought the presidency. There is no evidence McCain was responsible for the accident, which claimed 134 lives, injured an additional 161, and almost killed McCain.

A website known for promulgating fictitious stories repeated the claim nonetheless  falsely citing a decade-old Washington Post fact-checking report as evidence.

"John McCain fudged his navy record and desperately tried to hide the fact that he 'accidentally' killed 134 American sailors, according to the Washington Post," begins the Aug. 27 story on Your News Wire. The piece was published two days after McCain's death, and the same or similar deceptions were posted on other websites.

In reality, the 2008 Washington Post story never said McCain was responsible for the accident. The most critical part of the piece actually centered on a nonfatal 1960 plane crash from when McCain was in flight school in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The Post story challenged a statement made in McCain's autobiography that the 1960 crash was due to engine failure. An official Navy report that was obtained by the Los Angeles Times found that wasn't the case.

Investigators determined that McCain was watching instruments in his cockpit that indicated the position of his landing gear and had lost track of his altitude and speed. The Navy report concluded: In the opinion of the board, the pilots preoccupation in the cockpit . . . coupled with the use of a power setting too low to maintain level flight in a turn were the primary causes of this accident. Los Angeles Times, Oct. 6, 2008

Years later, in July 1967, McCain was aboard the carrier USS Forrestal when a missile that was fired accidentally from an aircraft hit another plane, sparking the deadly fire and explosions.

It wasn't clear whose plane the missile struck. McCain said the missile hit his plane, but records indicated that it likely struck the plane that was next to his. Still, there is no credible assertion that McCain, then a lieutenant commander, was to blame for that accident.

As we wrote in 2008, the official Navy investigation into the disaster showed the rocket actually misfired from the other side of the flight deck. James M. Caiella, a writer and editor who researched the event and obtained records from the Navy, told us then that "there is no possible way John McCain could have caused the fire on board the Forrestal."

The Post story made that point as well. After mentioning the 1967 disaster  and the episode months later in which his plane was shot down and he was captured by the North Vietnamese  the article notes that "U.S. Navy records make clear that no blame can be attached to McCain for either of these incidents."

The Navy awarded McCain the Silver Star for his "conspicuous gallantry" while he was imprisoned for nearly five and a half years. He also received the Distinguished Flying Cross, three Bronze Stars, two Purple Hearts, and the Prisoner-of-War medal.

Editors note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk false stories shared on the social media network.James Joseph Orlow, 82, of Ardmore, an immigration lawyer in Philadelphia for a half-century, died Thursday, Aug. 23, of cardiac arrest at Lankenau Medical Center.

He was a partner in various law firms for 57 years, but the high point of his career was in 1983, when he became a partner in Orlow, Fuller, Rubin & Steele, a firm with offices in five cities, including Philadelphia.

In numerous cases, especially during the 1980s, Orlow Fuller challenged the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service on behalf of a client. The federal agency is now U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Starting in 1965, Mr. Orlow limited his practice to immigration and citizenship issues, and frequently accepted very complex referral cases from other lawyers, according to an online biography.

He never retired, his family said. "He was negotiating to identify the next generation of immigration lawyers," said son Daniel.

Both of his parents, Abram Orlow and Lena Orlow Ginsburg, had been immigration lawyers in Philadelphia. Their law firm, Orlow & Orlow PC, was founded in 1928. Both served as president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, as their son would do in 1974.

Even at age 82, Mr. Orlow maintained an active practice, representing clients in immigration court, and continuing to mentor new leaders, said the Immigration Lawyers Association.

"All of us in the Philadelphia chapter have at least one 'Jim story' of how he helped strategize an impossible case, taught an important lesson, or just encouraged us to keep up the fight against injustice," the group wrote in a statement.

Born in Philadelphia, Mr. Orlow graduated from Central High School in 1952. He received a bachelor's degree in economics from the Wharton School in 1956 and a degree from the Harvard Law School in 1959.

That same year, he enlisted in the Navy. He served in the Judge Advocate General's Corps, the law arm of the Navy, and attained the rank of captain. He was based at Port Deposit, Md., and later at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.

He was a longtime board member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Mr. Orlow enjoyed woodworking and model trains. He sailed in the Chesapeake Bay, serving as captain of a charter boat for a family cruise.

"He taught us a lot, not just how to plot a course and tie knots, but how to work as a team," his children said.

He was a longtime member of the Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El Chavurah Minyan in Wynnewood, a lay-run group within the synagogue.

Mr. Orlow was very reserved. "He did not express emotions easily with words, but he had a fantastic twinkle in his eye," his children said. "He had a way of looking at people and connecting."

During the Vietnam War, he was active in Narberth Neighbors for Peace and conducted training sessions on how to file for conscientious objector status.

In addition to his son, Mr. Orlow is survived by his wife, Eva Katz Orlow; children Arielle O. Hendel, Michael Paasche-Orlow, and Rabbi Avi Orlow; 14 grandchildren; and a niece and nephew.

Services with full military honors were Sunday, Aug. 26.

Memorial donations may be made to the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society of Southeastern Pennsylvania, 2100 Arch St., Philadelphia Pa. 19103, or via www.hiaspa.org.Dahal cancels Lucknow visit fearing criticism

Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Co-Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has cancelled his visit to the city of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh state of India. The NCP co-chair was scheduled to take part in a programme Hindustan Shikhar Samagam organised by Hindu daily Hindustan on August 31.The casket of 7-year-old Kayden Mancuso is carried to the hearse after the funeral services at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Lower Makefield Township, PA on Saturday August 11, 2018. Read more

Last week, Gov. Wolf asked Pa.'s Judicial Conduct Board to review decisions by the Bucks County judge who let the father of Kayden Mancuso have unsupervised visits with the 7-year-old girl in the weeks before he fatally beat her and killed himself. Additionally, Mancuso's relative is calling for the judge's removal, an outcry supported by 37,000 petition signers.

Two words shout out against such responses: judicial independence.

We live in a country where the judiciary is under attack, with cries from the President that "our legal system is broken" and judicial decisions put our country "in peril." But Americans want and need judges to make tough decisions without looking over their shoulders. And we want lawyers to be able to go into court on new cases without fearing that the judge will make a harsh decision to look tough and appease critics.

Judicial misconduct warrants sanctions. That includes lying, stealing, doing favors; not showing up for work; or being racist, sexist or otherwise hostile to discrete populations. Such actions warrant punishment and some may require removal. But an unwise decision  if this indeed was one  is not misconduct.

Can we know that the judge's decision was wrong, except using hindsight?

In the case of Kayden Mancuso's tragic death, evidence was offered that her father had committed abusive acts toward adults in his past, and suffered from depression. Data do support the assertion that these behaviors indicate that children in the home may be at risk, but that is just one of 16 factors the law requires a judge to weigh. Is a judge wrong if the risk is 1 percent versus 15 percent, or if the father has been with this child without violence, or if the spousal abuse occurred years earlier? Unless the science is clear, the numbers are compelling, and the law makes this the main factor, the judge's decision is not misconduct.

What is needed here? From the worlds of airplane accidents and medical errors, the judiciary needs what are termed "just culture" reviews and "root-cause analysis." In plain English, that means studying whether and why the judge's decision was clearly wrong and unjustified, all without punishment; assessing what information should have been considered and how it should have been weighed; and learning how to ensure that the risk of such harm is reduced if not eliminated in future cases.

That may mean more judicial education, both generally and using cases like this as studies; more resources to educate and periodically update judges on reliable social science; and/or a recalibration of the law that weighs more heavily the history of intimate partner violence when determining custody and visitation.

We must protect our children, but not in a way that fails to protect the institution of an independent judiciary.

Jules Epstein is professor of Law and Director of Advocacy Programs at Temple Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia.The lack of affordable housing is one of the city's thorniest problems. In recent years, City Council established a land bank, debated an inclusionary zoning bill, and passed a construction tax that is waiting to be signed on Mayor Kenney's desk that would provide funds for affordable housing. A new study suggests that as difficult as it is, many landlords are making the situation even worse.

A new Urban Institute study, published last week, tested whether landlords in five cities including Philadelphia are willing to accept recipients of the Housing Choice Voucher program, also known as "Section 8," as tenants. Through the program, eligible families pay only 30 percent of their annual income on rent  the definition of "affordability"  and the federal government supplements the rest. Researchers called landlords to see whether they accept vouchers; two-thirds refused.

Housing vouchers allow low-income households to choose where to live  at least theoretically. It can be an effective way to ensure diversity in neighborhoods and allow low-income families to take advantage of higher-quality education options that richer neighborhoods provide.

However, the reality is another story: In cities all over the country, voucher holders find themselves clustered in poor areas, known as "voucher submarkets." That's the result, in part, of landlords discriminating against voucher holders, which is illegal under Philadelphia's fair housing ordinance. The city's law on discrimination in rental markets is enforced by the Philadelphia Fair Housing Commission. However, the process of enforcement is dependent on tenants complaining.

There are reasons for landlords to not want to rent to voucher holders. When renting to a voucher holder, landlords enter into contract also with the Philadelphia Housing Authority and subject themselves to housing code inspections.

In 2016, Philadelphia was one of the first localities in the country to release an assessment of its fair housing efforts as required by the Obama-era Affirmatively Further Fair Housing rule. Under the AFFH rule municipalities that don't follow a fair housing plan would risk losing funding. The future of the rule is unclear. In his first month in office, HUD Secretary Ben Carson delayed the implementation of the rule beyond 2020.

The new study is an important reminder that regardless to implementation of federal rules, Philadelphia must be vigilant about enforcing fair housing law.

According to the Pew Philadelphia Research Initiative, in 84 percent of neighborhoods in Philadelphia, one racial group has an absolute majority. The gap in median income between the richest and poorest zip codes in the city is more than $80,000. These gaps also translate to a life expectancy gap of more than 20 years between neighborhoods. Multiple studies have shown that moving children from growing up in high poverty neighborhoods to neighborhoods with low poverty is a game changer  contributing to their lifelong health, education, and economic success.

Discriminating landlords should not have the power to prevent mobility in our city. Vigilance in enforcement of fair housing laws and ensuring that all units are up to code so that landlords won't have an excuse to discriminate against voucher holders should be an integral part of any plan for affordable housing in the city.WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump called off a visit to North Korea by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after the latter received a belligerent letter from a senior North Korean official just hours after the trip was announced last week, the Washington Post reported on Monday.

The Post quoted two unnamed senior US administration officials as saying the letter came on Friday from Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of North Koreas ruling Workers Party Central Committee, who led previous rounds of talks with Pompeo.

The newspaper said the exact contents of the message were unclear, but it was sufficiently belligerent that Trump and Pompeo decided to call off the journey.

The planned trip had been announced the previous day for this week and Pompeo had intended to introduce a newly named special envoy, Stephen Biegun, to his North Korean counterparts.

The White House referred queries on the Washington Post report to the State Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In cancelling Pompeo`s trip, Trump publicly acknowledged for the first time that his effort to get North Korea to denuclearise had stalled since his June 12 summit with its leader, Kim Jong Un

On Sunday, North Korea`s state media accused the United States of "double-dealing" and "hatching a criminal plot" against the country, but did not mention Pompeo`s cancelled visit.

US intelligence and defence officials have repeatedly expressed doubts about North Korea`s willingness to give up its nuclear weapons and did not expect Pompeo`s trip to yield positive results.PATNA: Gangster Santosh Jha was shot dead inside the court premises in Sitamarhi in Bihar on Tuesday. Jha had been brought to court by the police for hearing in a case. He was shot at by an unidentified man while he was entering the court premises. Jha was accompanied by a policeman who was walking behind him.

The unidentified man fled the scene soon after he opened fire.

"One person has been arrested and interrogation is underway. A court employee has been injured and Santosh Jha has been killed. 2-3 are expected to be involved in the firing," Sitamarhi Superintendent of Police Vikas Burman told news agency ANI.

Santosh Jha, a history-sheeter, was lodged in jail for his alleged role in the killing of the two engineers on December 26 in Darbangha in Bihar for extortion. The dreaded gangster had been serving a life sentence for the murders.

The engineers of the private road construction company -- Brajesh Kumar and Mukesh Kumar -- were shot dead by unidentified assailants on Darbhanga-Kusheshwarsthan State highway in Darbhanga district on December 26. Non-payment of levy was said to be the motive behind the murder.

The Darbhanga killings had triggered widespread criticism and the BJP had raised the issue of deteriorating law and order situation in Bihar under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.NEW DELHI: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday lashed out at the Narendra Modi government claiming that the Centre is blocking his visit to Moscow. The Delhi Deputy CM is scheduled to visit Moscow to speak at the World Education Conference on the education reforms in Delhi.

In a series of tweets, Sisodia said: "I was invited to speak about Delhi Education reforms at the World Education Conference, Moscow. I was supposed to leave tonight but it's unfortunate that Govt of India has not given permission. It's pending 'under process' for last 10 days."

I was invited to speak about Delhi Education reforms at World Education Conference, Moscow. I was supposed to leave tonight but it's unfortunate that Govt of India has not given permission. It's pending 'under process' for last 10 days.

1/2  Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) August 28, 2018

Delhis education reforms hv been getting international press coverage in past few months. Its unfortunate that PM Modi doesnt want this to reach int. platforms.

Sir! Delhi is also part of India! If our schools get international recognition, its a matter of pride for India!  Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) August 28, 2018

"Delhis education reforms have been getting international press coverage in past few months. Its unfortunate that PM Modi doesnt want this to reach int. platforms. Sir! Delhi is also part of India! If our schools get international recognition, its a matter of pride for India," he tweeted.

Hours later, Sisodia tweeted that he had given the permission by the Centre to attend the conference. "Finally, GoI gave permission which was pending since 10 days, for World Edu. Conf, (sic)" he said in a tweet.

"It would be my privilege to represent India's knowledge legacy in front of world's edu. ministers & help them know- how it can help in making the world a better place to live (sic)," Sisodia added.

The Delhi government has been taking a series of steps for the betterment of education in the national capital. Just recently, Sisodia, who also holds education portfolio, had said that all government schools would be free up to Class 12.

"Education in all govt schools would be100% free upto class 12th. Though there was no fee upto class 8th but still a nominal fee was being charged from class 9th onward. Today it was decided to scrap this fees also," he had said.

He had also said that the Alumni Association of govt school students will be launched soon. Under the project the government will be inviting alumni to work for uplifting of schools.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had also said that educational institutions in Delhi should strive to be among the top 10 institutes of the world. He also assured that his government will provide the institutes with funds to achieve that aim.

"No Indian institute figures among the top 10 institutes of the world. It is our dream that at least one college or university from Delhi makes it to the top 10 list, he said.DELHI: A six-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by a school van driver in Delhi's Palam Village.

The incident came to light last Thursday after the victim told her mother that the driver of the van molested her.

The family immediately approached the school but claims that the authorities refused to hear their complaints and also started threatening.

The victim's family then approached the area police station and filed a complaint.

A case under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) has been registered. An investigation has been launched.

Earlier this month, a Class 2 student of New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) school was allegedly raped by an electrician inside the institute's premises. The incident took place in central Delhi's Gole Market area.

Ram Asre, 37, has been identified as the accused. He has been working in the school for around a month and is a permanent electrician employed with the NDMC, the police told news agency PTI.NEW DELHI: Hours after he alleged that the Central government is not allowing him to travel to Moscow for the World Education Conference, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday said that he has 'finally' got the permission. "Finally, GoI gave permission which was pending since 10 days, for World Edu. Conf, (sic)" he said in a tweet.

"It would be my privilege to represent India's knowledge legacy in front of world's edu. ministers & help them know- how it can help in making the world a better place to live (sic)," Sisodia added.

Earlier in the day, he had lashed out at the Narendra Modi government alleging that the Centre is blocking his visit to Moscow. In a series of tweets, Sisodia had said that it's unfortunate that the government is not giving him permission to attend the conference and speak about the reforms brought by the AAP government in the education sector in the national capital.

"I was invited to speak about Delhi Education reforms at the World Education Conference, Moscow. I was supposed to leave tonight but it's unfortunate that Govt of India has not given permission. It's pending 'under process' for last 10 days," he had tweeted earlier in the day.

"Delhis education reforms have been getting international press coverage in past few months. Its unfortunate that PM Modi doesnt want this to reach int. platforms. Sir! Delhi is also part of India! If our schools get international recognition, its a matter of pride for India," he had tweeted.

The Delhi government has been taking a series of steps for the betterment of education in the national capital. Just recently, Sisodia, who also holds education portfolio, had said that all government schools would be free up to Class 12.

"Education in all govt schools would be100% free up to class 12th. Though there was no fee up to class 8th but still a nominal fee was being charged from class 9th onward. Today it was decided to scrap this fees also," he had said.

He had also said that the Alumni Association of govt school students will be launched soon. Under the project, the government will be inviting alumni to work for uplifting of schools.Ahmedabad: Senior NCP leader Praful Patel met Hardik Patel, who has been on fast since August 25 for Patidar quota demand, today at his residence near here and extended his party's support for the cause.

Various political parties, including the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal, and the Trinamool Congress, have already extended their support to the 25-year-old quota spearhead.

Apart from quota for Patidars in government jobs and education, Hardik Patel, who heads the Patidar Anamant Andolan Samiti (PAAS), has been demanding a loan waiver for farmers in the state.

"Hardik's fight is not restricted to the Patidar community. It is also for the welfare of farmers and youths. The way he has taken up that cause and raised his voice against the policies of the government, the NCP is proud of him," the former Union minister told reporters.

The NCP leader expressed displeasure over the presence of a large number of police personnel outside Hardik Patel's residence.

"I came here to extend mine as well as my party's support to Hardik. Though I am a parliamentarian and General Secretary of my party, I have to request the police to allow me to meet Hardik. This is shameful. I think everyone has the right to sit on fast in democracy," Patel said.

Meanwhile, Hardik Patel has written a letter to the Gujarat Human Rights Commission (GHRC) requesting the body to "protect the fundamental rights" of his and his

supporters.

Hardik Patel urged the Commission to direct the police not to stop his supporters and others from reaching the venue of his fast.

He also accused the police of using "excessive force" to prevent his supporters from coming to the city.

Meanwhile, a team of doctors from Sola Civil Hospital today conducted a medical check-up on Hardik Patel and advised him to get hospitalised.

As per the medical bulletin, Hardik Patel has lost one kg of weight in the last four days.

Doctors cautioned that the fast could adversely impact kidneys of Hardik Patel if he does not take fruits or juice.

Hardik Patel started his hunger strike on August 25, the third anniversary of his mega pro-quota rally in Ahmedabad that had turned violent.

He is demanding a loan waiver for Gujarat farmers and inclusion of his community in the OBC category to facilitate reservation for its members in government jobs and education.

Hardik Patel launched his fast from his residence after authorities in Ahmedabad as well as Gandhinagar refused to allot a place for the hunger strike.

Former railway minister and TMC leader Dinesh Trivedi, representatives of the Lalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Hindustani Awam Morcha of former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi had called on him to extend their suppport on August 26.

A total of 28 Congress MLAs from Gujarat and Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Kapil Patil from Maharashtra had also visited Hardik Patel.New Delhi: A 46-year-old trekker, who went missing from Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur last month, has not been found yet. A team of four Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel and two police personnel are conducting a search operation.

Sathyanaryan Venkatachari, a solo trekker from Bengaluru, Karnataka, had gone missing in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh nearly a month ago. His last known location was in Wangtu on July 25.

Earlier in the day, it was reported that Venkatachari's body was recovered by the ITBP personnel as they found a body in Nichar tehsil of the district and thought it to be of the missing trekker. However, the body was later ascertained to be of someone's else.

Venkatachari's family had filed an online missing person report with the Kinnaur Police on August 24 after he did not return home for over a month since he last went missing.

A PTI report said that missing trekkers wife Anuradha and family friend Kishor Reddy approached Kinnaur on Sunday and met Superintendent of Police (SP) Sakshi Verma before filing the missing person report. Besides seeking help from police, the trekker's family and friends had also sought help from local trekkers and travel agents in tracking Venkatachari,

They had also approached the Indo-Tibet Border Police (ITBP), which has a large base in the tribal district and was recently involved in the rescue of 22 trekkers, for help.

Venkatachari used to work at a Bengaluru office of a US-based multinational company Texas Instruments. He had set out on a 5,500-metre high trek at Gunsarang, connecting Ropa valley in Kinnaur with Mane village in Spiti district. He was then supposed to meet his friend and trekker Vikram Malik in Manali on August 2 and undertake a trek to Pangi in Chamba. He called Malik last on the same day when he called his wife and after that went incommunicado, said the report.In an operation that spanned five states, police on Tuesday raided multiple locations and detained prominent activists as part of the probe into the Bhima Koregaon violence at the turn of the year.

The arrests have elicited strong reactions, with a number of prominent faces accusing the government of targeting dissenters.

Here are 10 things to know about the arrests:

1. Police carried out raids in Pune, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Ranchi and Delhi. The raids centred around members of the Elgar Parishad, and their alleged links to Maoists.

2. Left-wing activist and poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Ranchi and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in Delhi were among those who were raided by multiple police teams.

3. These activists have been detained for allegedly making 'provocative' speeches which police claim sparked the violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon Bhima during a large gathering by Dalit organisations to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle Koregaon, between the British and the Maratha Confederacy. Dalit organisations commemorate the defeat of the Maratha Confederacy, fighting as some of them did on the British side.

4. Varavara Rao was arrest for his role in an alleged conspiracy to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and other senior members of the government.

5. These raids, police said, were carried out on the basis of information provided by activists arrested earlier.

6. All the arrested activists have been booked under sections 153 A, 505(1) B, 117, 120 B, 13, 16, 18, 20, 38, 39, 40 and UPA, reported news agency ANI.

7. The arrests and raids have drawn sharp reactions from opposition parties. "There is only place for one NGO in India and it's called the RSS. Shut down all other NGOs. Jail all activists and shoot those that complain. Welcome to the new India. #BhimaKoregaon," tweeted Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.

8. "These constitute a brazen attack on democratic rights and civil liberties. The CPI-M demands withdrawal of the cases against these activists and their immediate release," said senior CPM leader Prakash Karat.

9. A statement from the CPM read, "Ever since the Bhima Koregoan violence against Dalits, the Maharashtra Police along with central agencies has been targeting Dalit rights activists and lawyers who have been taking up their cases."

10. Writer Arundhati Roy too reacted. "The arrests are a dangerous sign of a government that fears it is losing its mandate and is falling into a panic. That lawyers, poets, writers, Dalit rights activists and intellectuals are being arrested on ludicrous charges," she said.Enduring importance of Darnal

Suvash Darnal was an ardent and effective spokesman against caste discriminationNEW DELHI: Former Union Finance Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Tuesday moved a special court over the alleged leakage of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chargesheet against him in the Aircel-Maxis case.

Filing his plea before the special Delhi court, the Congress veteran stated that the CBI chargesheet was allegedly leaked to the media.

Chidambaram alleged that the "CBI is not interested in a fair trial" in the case.

Aircel-Maxis Case: Congress leader P Chidambaram approaches a special court in Delhi against CBI for leaking charge-sheet to the media. P Chidambaram through the application says, "CBI is not interested in a fair trial." (File pic) pic.twitter.com/61oubI6mKO  ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2018

Defending himself in the case, Chidambaram had on Monday accused the CBI of allegedly leaking the chargesheet to the media ''for a media trial".

He reiterated that he had approved the deal on the basis of an FIPB proposal.

"The CBI leaks its chargesheet to one newspaper because it wants a trial by the media. Fortunately, under our legal system, the trial can take place only in a court of law," Chidambaram said on Twitter.

CBI's chargesheet has not been given to the persons named therein. Yet it is leaked to one servile newspaper which publishes it in instalments!  P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) August 28, 2018

"It is the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) that decides if a proposal falls within the competence of the Finance Minister. The FIPB put up the proposal to me and I approved it along with 20 other proposals," the senior Congress leader added.

The remarks from Chidambaram came after a leading daily claimed citing the CBI chargesheet that the Congress leader did not grant FDI approvals "mechanically" but there was "due application of mind" and that he used to raise queries but he "deliberately ignored prevailing guidelines while deciding the Aircel-Maxis case" to avoid sending it to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

On August 24, the Enforcement Directorate had quizzed Chidambaram in the Rs 3,200-crore Aircel-Maxis deal case.

Chidambaram's son Karti is also one of the accused in the Aircel-Maxis deal.

Responding to Chidambaram's plea, the special court had issued a notice to the CBI and sought its reply in this regard.

The court also posted the matter for hearing on October 8.Congress president Rahul Gandhi has lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre over raids and arrests of activists on Tuesday. Accusing the government of jailing all activists, the Congress chief said, Welcome to the new India.

Attacking the government over raids conducted by police personnel across five states on the homes of various civil and human rights activists in connection with Bhima Koregaon violence, Rahul Gandhi said that there was place for one NGO in India and its called RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh).

There is only place for one NGO in India and it's called the RSS. Shut down all other NGOs. Jail all activists and shoot those that complain. Welcome to the new India. #BhimaKoregaon  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 28, 2018

Taking to microblogging site Twitter, the Gandhi scion said, There is only place for one NGO in India and it's called the RSS. Shut down all other NGOs. Jail all activists and shoot those that complain. Welcome to the new India. #BhimaKoregaon.

Several prominent activists - P Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha, Sudha Bhardwaj and her daughter Anu Bhardwaj, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves - were detained by the police on Tuesday for their alleged links with Maoists.

The arrest took place after police conducted multiple raids across five states in Maharashtra, Goa, Telangana, Delhi and Jharkhand as part of the probe into the violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon Bhima village following an event held in Pune last year.

The move was criticised by several political parties, lawyers, activists, academics and authors. The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) reiterated that the police have been targeting Dalit rights activists and intellectuals after Bhima Koregaon riots.

"These constitute a brazen attack on democratic rights and civil liberties. The CPI-M demands withdrawal of the cases against these activists and their immediate release," Senior CPI-M leader Prakash Karat said.

"The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) strongly protests the raids conducted by police authorities on the homes of various civil rights and human rights activists and Left intellectuals," the party said in a statement. "Ever since the Bhima Koregoan violence against Dalits, the Maharashtra Police along with central agencies has been targeting Dalit rights activists and lawyers who have been taking up their cases. False charges have been levelled and the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act invoked," it said.

Award-winning author Arundhati Roy too condemned the arrests of activists and called the act a 'dangerous sign of a government.' "The arrests are a dangerous sign of a government that fears it is losing its mandate and is falling into a panic. That lawyers, poets, writers, Dalit rights activists and intellectuals are being arrested on ludicrous charges," she said.

Noted historian Ramachandra Guha called the action "absolutely chilling" and demanded the intervention of the Supreme Court.New Delhi: As all eyes are on the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah and 15 other chief ministers of the party will on Tuesday attend a meeting in Delhi.

In the meeting, the top brass will take stock of works going on in states ruled by the party and issues them directions. The upcoming assembly elections in three states and the Lok Sabha polls are also likely to be part of the discussion in the day-long meeting.

Assembly polls are due in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, all ruled by the BJP, later this year.

The agenda of good governance and running pro-poor policies has been a key feature of the chief ministers' meetings, which have been taking place regularly since PM Modi took over as prime minister in 2014.

BJP's deputy chief ministers in different states will also attend the meeting.

(With inputs from PTI)NEW DELHI: Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy's controversial tweet urging the Government of India (GoI) to 'invade' Maldives in case of 'rigging during elections' in the island nation has triggered a diplomatic tussle between the two countries.

According to reports, the Maldivian Foreign Office had summoned Indian envoy Akhilesh Mishra after Swamy's call to 'invade' the island country' to protect the Indian citizens in Maldives.

However, the same could not be confirmed by the official channels.

The Maldives is set to go to polls next month and Swamy's latest tweets have added fuel to already strained India-Maldives ties.

Though the Centre has distanced itself from Swamy's statement, the BJP MP is adamant that the Centre should invade the Maldives if Indians living there suffer due to rigging in elections there.

''Indian citizens in the Maldives can't be ill-treated. It's my opinion that India has the responsibility to protect its citizens for which invasion is necessary,'' Subramanian Swamy said on the controversy over his tweet that 'India should invade the Maldives if rigging of election takes place'.

Indian citizens in Maldives can't be ill-treated. It's my opinion that India has responsibility to protect its citizens for which invasion is necessary.I don't represent the govt:Subramanian Swamy on his tweet that 'India should invade Maldives if rigging of election takes place' pic.twitter.com/bPXukmiOZW  ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2018

However, the BJP Rajya Sabha MP said that he 'doesn't represent the govt.'

Distancing itself from the controversy, the Centre on Sunday said that such an opinion is personal of Swamy and not the view of the government.

In response to a query on Swamy's comments, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, "The opinion expressed by Swamy in his tweet is personal. It does not reflect the views of the Government of India."

Swamy's controversial tweets came days after former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed expressed apprehensions that the forthcoming September 23 presidential elections in his country may be rigged by incumbent President Abdulla Yameen's party during a meeting with him in Colombo recently.

Swamy then tweeted, "India should invade the Maldives if rigging of election takes place."

Why is the present Govt of Maldives upset by my If then statement that if Maldives Sept 24th general election is rigged then India should invade that nation? Already Indians in that nation are fearing reprisals. We have to protect our citizens.  Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) August 26, 2018

Tensions between India and Maldives had escalated after New Delhi criticised the Yameen government for imposition the Emergency and urged it to restore the credibility of the electoral and political process by releasing political prisoners.

The Government of India had last month expressed concern over conducting elections in the absence of democratic institutions, including Parliament and the judiciary, and urged the incumbent government to work in a free and transparent manner so as to people's faith in the electoral system.

India had said it wanted "credible restoration" of the political process and the rule of law in the island nation before the elections were conducted.

(With Agency inputs)Chennai: Shortly after MK Stalin's elevation to the post of party president, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) General Council passed a resolution, urging the Centre to confer 'Bharat Ratna' to former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi. The DMK patriarch breathed his last on August 7 in Chennai Kauvery Hospital.

Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award conferred irrespective of race, occupation, position, or sex in recognition of some exceptional service or performance of the highest order. The development comes at the party's General Council meeting which was held at DMK's headquarters in Chennai.

At the meeting, Stalin was elected as the president of DMK. The election of Stalin as the DMK's second president was fairly a smooth affair as all the 65 district secretaries of the party proposed his name for the top post and his is the only nomination. He had submitted his nomination on August 26 and has become the second president of the party, a post which was held by his father Karunanidhi for 49 long years.

Stalin was serving the party as its working president since January 2017 after Karunanidhi's health did not permit him to preside over the affairs of the party. His elevation as the party supremo became a necessity after Karunanidhi passed away.

Karunanidhi had already named Stalin as his political heir. The transition of power was formalised when Stalin was made the working president of DMK after Karunanidhi's health did not permit him to preside over the affairs of the party.A nine-member Indian delegation arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday to hold talks on Indus water treaty with Pakistani authorities. The talks have been scheduled for August 29 and August 30. The Indian delegation is led by Water Commissioner PK Saxena.

The delegation was welcomed at the border by Pakistans water commissioner Syed Mehr Ali Shah. The talks are slated to be held at the Lahore headquarters of National Engineering Services of Pakistan.

The last meeting of the Pakistan-India Permanent Indus Commission was held in New Delhi in March during which both the sides had shared details of the water flow and the quantum of water being used under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty.

This is for the first time when authorities from both the countries will discuss Indus water treaty since Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan became the Prime Minister of the neighbouring country.

India and Pakistan signed the treaty in 1960 after nine years of negotiations, with the World Bank being a signatory.

The treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding their use of the rivers. However, there have been disagreements and differences between India and Pakistan over the treaty.

This comes months after a Pakistani delegation raised concerns about the treaty with the World Bank in May. The World Bank had said that it had failed to reach an agreement with the Pakistani delegation over the same.

During the meetings, held at Pakistan's request to discuss issues regarding the Indus Waters Treaty and opportunities within the treaty to seek an amicable resolution, "several procedural options" for resolving the disagreement over the interpretation of the treaty's provisions were discussed, the bank had said.

"While an agreement on the way forward was not reached at the conclusion of the meetings, the World Bank will continue to work with both countries to resolve the issues in an amicable manner and in line with the treaty provisions," the Bank had said in a statement at the end of the talks.

(With PTI Inputs)Noted historian Ramachandra Guha on Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government over the arrest activist Sudha Bhardwaj, saying that if Mahatma Gandhi was alive today, he would have defended the activist in the court himself. He added that the Mahatma would have done so if Modi Sarkar hadnt yet detained and arrested him too.

Implying that the Modi government would have arrested Mahatma Gandhi as well, Ramachandra Guha wrote on microblogging site Twitter: As a biographer of Gandhi, I have no doubt that if the Mahatma was alive today, he would don his lawyer's robes and defend Sudha Bharadwaj in court; that is assuming the Modi Sarkar hadn't yet detained and arrested him too.

As a biographer of Gandhi, I have no doubt that if the Mahatma was alive today, he would don his lawyer's robes and defend Sudha Bharadwaj in court; that is assuming the Modi Sarkar hadn't yet detained and arrested him too  Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) August 28, 2018

Sudha Bhardwaj was arrested on Tuesday from Faridabad in Haryana as the Maharashtra Police raided the homes of various prominent Left-wing activists in several states for suspected Maoist links.

Reacting to the action by authorities, the Congress party said that Prime Minister Narendra Modis new India is nothing but a dictatorship wrapped in expensive advertising.

The draconian arrests of Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Fereira and Vernon Gonsalves & other human rights activists further substantiate the anti-democratic actions of the ruling govt. PM Modis New India is nothing but a dictatorship wrapped in expensive advertising. #BhimaKoregaon  Congress (@INCIndia) August 28, 2018

The party tweeted, The draconian arrests of Sudha Bharadwaj, Arun Fereira and Vernon Gonsalves & other human rights activists further substantiate the anti-democratic actions of the ruling govt. PM Modis New India is nothing but a dictatorship wrapped in expensive advertising. #BhimaKoregaon.

The police had sought the transit remand of the activists but was denied the same by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

"It is directed that in case the detenue is produced before the Ilaqa Magistrate/Duty Magistrate/Chief Judicial Magistrate, Faridabad, the orders granting transit remand will be passed after going through the contents of the FIR and recording a finding that the provision of Sections 41 and 50 of the Criminal Procedure Code have been compiled with," the high court said.

"Till then, the detenue, Sudha Bhardwaj, shall be kept at the place, that is her home at Badarpur in Haryana, from where she was arrested under the supervision of Police Station Surajkund," said Justice Arvind Singh Sangwan, who heard the habeas corpus writ petition.

The next date of hearing has been fixed for August 30. The counsels representing Bhardwaj pleaded that her client was a human rights activist and was taken into custody by the Maharashtra Police, and was taken from her home at Badarpur border in Faridabad.By Vishal Pandey

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has assured that peace would prevail in the state. Speaking to Zee Media, the Governor said that people of Jammu and Kashmir need to be assured that neither they, nor we are aliens, we are friends.

He said that his priority as the Governor would be to reach out to people and win their trust. I am not going there to do any politics. I am going there to make an environment of peace, said the J&K Governor.

According to Satya Pal Malik, the basic problem is that people do not trust the government. People now do not trust Hurriyat also. The need of the hour is to restore the trust of people, he further said.

Talking about the issue of stone pelting, the newly-appointed Jammu and Kashmir Governor said that there is no set formula to end the same. He said that the authorities first need to understand as to why the youth resorts to stone pelting.

Earlier there was a section that paid money to them for stone pelting. But after raids by Enforcement Directorate, there has been decline in it. We would solve issues because of which the youth are angry. We will give them jobs, promote sports, music and arts. Why would there be stone pelting if we fulfil the aspirations of the youth, he said.

He further said that it was not his job to deal with the separatists. People should have so much faith that they do not get influenced by the separatists.

People of Jammu and Kashmir have now understood that they will not get any benefit by siding with Pakistan. They are angry with us also, but we will remove that anger. We will tell them that well do whatever benefits them, said the Governor.

Malik said that he would make attempts to ensure that people of the state do not get influenced by Pakistan. He further urged the people to participate in panchayat elections, as it would empower them.Hanoi: Establishing a peace and stability for economic prosperity in the Indian Ocean region is a top priority for India's foreign policy, said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday.

Swaraj, who is currently on a four-day two-nation tour of Vietnam and Cambodia, reached met Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh to hold bilateral talks.

Deepening our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership! EAM Sushma Swaraj and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh led delegation level talks where trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation were discussed, tweeted Raveesh Kumar, MEA spokesperson.

Deepening our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership! EAM @SushmaSwaraj and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh led delegation level talks where trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation were discussed. pic.twitter.com/E21RWCp3fZ  Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) August 28, 2018

"There can be no doubt that the Indian Ocean is at the centre of the emerging ?Age of Asia'...This region is host to the world's busiest waterways and three-quarters of that traffic is headed for destinations beyond our region," Swaraj said while addressing the Third Indian Ocean Conference here.

"As an important trade and energy waterway, carrying half the world's container shipment, one-third of its bulk cargo traffic and two thirds of oil shipments, the Indian Ocean clearly assumes importance well beyond its immediate shores and its littorals," she said.

"Nurturing a climate of peace and stability in this region is therefore an important priority for our foreign policy," the EAM added.

Swaraj emphasised that India and Vietnam are connected not only by the common waters but also by a shared vision for peace and prosperity. Swaraj's comments assume significance in the wake of China increasing its footprints in the Indian Ocean, which figures prominently in President Xi Jinping's ambitious 'One Belt, One Road' initiative to build a new Silk Route.

India is opposed to the 'One Belt, One Road' initiative as it includes the China Pakistan-Economic Corridor (CPEC) which transverses through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. China has stepped up activities in the Indian Ocean where it is building ports and other infrastructure in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

With PTI inputsNew Delhi: The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) along with several other political parties, lawyers, academics and authors on Tuesday criticised the arrests of various activists over suspected Maoist links. Strongly protesting the raids conducted by police authorities on the homes of various civil and human rights, the polit Bureau of the CPI(M) alleged that the police have been targeting Dalit rights activists an intellectuals after Bhima Koregaon riots.

"These constitute a brazen attack on democratic rights and civil liberties. The CPI-M demands withdrawal of the cases against these activists and their immediate release," Senior CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat said today.

"The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) strongly protests the raids conducted by police authorities on the homes of various civil rights and human rights activists and Left intellectuals," the party said in a statement. "Ever since the Bhima Koregoan violence against Dalits, the Maharashtra Police along with central agencies has been targeting Dalit rights activists and lawyers who have been taking up their cases. False charges have been levelled and the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act invoked," it said.

Award-winning author Arundhati Roy too condemned the arrests of activists and called the act a 'dangerous sign of a government.' "The arrests are a dangerous sign of a government that fears it is losing its mandate and is falling into a panic. That lawyers, poets, writers, Dalit rights activists and intellectuals are being arrested on ludicrous charges," she said.

Noted historian Ramachandra Guha called the action "absolutely chilling" and demanded the intervention of the Supreme Court to stop this "persecution and harassment" of independent voices. "Sudha Bharadwaj is as far from violence and illegality," tweeted Guha.

"Fascist fangs are now openly bared," tweeted lawyer Prashant Bhushan. "It is a clear declaration of emergency. They are going after anyone who has spoken against the government on rights issues. They are against any dissent," Bhushan said.

The police conducted raids in Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi, Goa and Hyderabad and arrested some of the activists like Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao and journalist Gautam Navlakha. The police also took in its possession laptops, mobiles and some papers from the homes of those raided.

On January 1 this year, violent clashes broke out between the Dalits and right-wing Hindutva groups in Bhima Koregaon on the outskirts of Pune where the former had gathered in large numbers to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle in which the Peshwas were defeated by a British Army that had Mahar soldiers.Explain Bista travel ban, PM tells ministry

Following widespread criticism, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Monday sought written clarification from the Ministry of Home Affairs as to why former Maoist child soldier Lenin Bista was barred from travelling to Thailand for attending a workshop.COCHIN: Kerala is reeling from its worst floods in a century that has left over 320 people dead and several homeless. The Centre has declared this calamity of 'severe nature'.

The extent and severity of Kerala floods can be observed in the recent images released by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

The first satellite image was taken on February 6, 2018.

Image 1

The second satellite image, taken on August 22, 2018, shows the extent of the flood.

Image 2

The Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat 8 satellite acquired the left image (bands 6-5-3) on February 6, 2018, before the flood (Image 1). The Multispectral Instrument on the European Space Agencys Sentinel-2 satellite acquired the right image (bands 11-8-3) on August 22, 2018, after flood water had inundated the area (Image 2). The images are false-color, which makes flood water appear dark blue. Vegetation is bright green, writes NASA's Earth Observatory.

Several rivers throughout the region spilled over their banks. Water from the Karuvannur River ran through 40 villages, and washed away a 2.2 kilometer (1.4 mile) stretch of land connecting two national highways. Elevated water levels along the Periyar River displaced thousands of people,it added.

A fortnight of the devastating deluge, over 3.26 lakh people are still in relief camps across Kerala.

As per the latest government update on the flood situation, 322 people have lost their lives in the monsoon fury since August 8.

The Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), which suffered an estimated loss of over Rs 220 crore due to floods, is expected to resume full scale international and domestic operations from 2 pm on Wednesday, August 29.

A release from the chief minister's office said work of burying carcasses were nearing completion and four lakh birds and more than 22,000 small and big animals have been buried.New Delhi: Several prominent activists -- P Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha, Sudha Bhardwaj and her daughter Anu Bhardwaj, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves were detained by the police on Tuesday for their suspected Maoist links. The arrest took place after police conducted multiple raids across five states in Maharashtra, Goa, Telangana, Delhi and Jharkhand as part of the probe into the violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon Bhima village following an event held in Pune last year.

According to several media reports, the raids began early on Tuesday. Raids were conducted at Mumbai, Ranchi, Hyderabad, Faridabad, Delhi and Thane. All the accused have been booked under sections 153 A, 505(1) B, 117, 120 B, 13, 16, 18, 20, 38, 39, 40 and UPA, said news agency ANI.

Varavara Rao was arrested from Pune. Raids were conducted at his residences in Hyderabad and Telangana. Varavara's name had cropped up in a letter seized by the police during searches at the premises of one of the five people arrested in June in connection with the Elgar Parishad event on December 31 last year to commemorate 200 years of the Koregaon Bhima battle in 1818.

Gautam Navlakha was arrested from Delhi and was produced before Saket court. He was produced before the Saket police following which the police got his transit remand till August 30. However, shortly after the transit orders, a plea was filed in the Delhi High Court following which the court stayed his transit remand to Pune. As per the court's direction, Navlakha would be put under the house arrest until the case is heard by Wednesday.

Renowned Human Rights activist and lawyer Sudha Bhardawaj was picked up from Faridabad and produced before a local court by a team of Maharashtra police. Her daughter Anu Bhardwaj was also taken into custody from her Badrapur residence in Delhi.

Arun Ferreira was detained from Pune and activist Vernon Gonsalves was detained from Mumbai.

Raids were conducted at Stan Swamy's residential premises at Ranchi. But he wasn't arrested.

Civil rights activist Anand Teltumbde's residence in Goa was also raided by the police, however, the cops were unable to trace him. All the accused, including Navalakha, who have been remanded by the court will be taken to Pune.

In June, five people were arrested for having close Maoist links after they allegedly made provocative speeches at the event, triggering violence at Koregaon Bhima village in Pune, according to an FIR registered at the Vishrambaug Police Station after the event.

Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale was arrested from his home in Mumbai, while lawyer Surendra Gadling, activist Mahesh Raut and Shoma Sen were picked up from Nagpur and Rona Wilson was arrested from his flat in Munirka in Delhi in simultaneous raids in June. Police said probes were being conducted at homes of the five arrested and those who were directly or indirectly connected with them.NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has announced some relief to taxpayers in flood-hit Kerala. With just three days left for the filing of Income Tax returns, taxpayers in Kerala will receive a deadline extension till September 15.

The Centre had earlier extended the July 31 deadline for the filing of I-T returns to August 31. This revised deadline holds true for the rest of the country. However, CBDT observed in a statement on Tuesday the disruption to life in Kerala, caused by the worst floods in close to a century.

The deadline for the filing of Income Tax has begun to matter more from this year considering the government has introduced a late fee. The late fee has been fixed at Rs 1000 for those with annual income of less than Rs 5 lakh per annum and Rs 5000 to Rs 10000 for those with incomes over Rs 5 lakh.

"In view of the disruption caused due to severe floods in Kerala, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) hereby further extends the "Due Date" for furnishing Income Tax Returns from 31st August, 2018 to 15th September, 2018 for all Income Tax assessees in the State of Kerala, who were liable to file their Income Tax Returns by 31st August, 2018," read the statement.

This is not the only relaxation in the taxation filing deadlines that has been extended to flood-hit Kerala. On August 21, the Ministry of Finance had announced relaxations in the deadline for the filing of GST returns for taxpayers in not just Kerala, but also in the Kodagu district of southern Karnataka.

The worst flooding in nearly a century has caused widespread damage to Kerala's infrastructure and material wealth. The state government has said a preliminary estimate of the losses caused by the floods amounted to a whopping Rs 20,000 crore.

Relief operations are still underway in some parts of the state, which is seeing some pockets still in the darks thanks to the disruption of electricity supply. Efforts are presently underway to prevent the outbreak of diseases that are commonly associated with tropical flood-hit regions.Dehradun: At least two persons died and 21 injured after a a bus fell into a gorge near Pawki Devi in Tehri Garhwal on Tuesday morning. Thirteen, out the 21 injured, are in a critical condition.

2 dead, 21 injured, 13 critically injured after a bus fell in a gorge near Pawki Devi in Tehri Garhwal, earlier today. #Uttarakhand pic.twitter.com/iNZEpZezRj  ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2018

The injured have been rushed to the hospital.

Earlier in the day, three members of a family died when the vehicle they were travelling in was washed away by the strong water currents in an overflowing river near the Jim Corbett National Park, said reports on Tuesday. According to police, the victims were on their way back to Delhi from their native village Bainjaro in Paudi Garhwal on Monday when the incident occurred. The police said that due to the torrential rain in the region, the river in the Paniyali causeway is overflowing.KOLKATA: Launching a scathing attack against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Centre, West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise will not be allowed in the state. She added that the BJP will be wiped out in the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

"We will not allow NRC exercise in Bengal. They (BJP leaders) are challenging us. If we are challenged, we will give them a fitting reply," she said.

Referring to the recent panchayat polls in the state, she alleged that the party is resorting to politics of killing in the state.

"The BJP won just a few seats in erstwhile Maoist hotbed of Jangalmahal by resorting to politics of killing. The former CPI(M) goons are now working for them," she said at a rally here on the occasion of Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (students' wing) foundation day.

The chief minister also said that she would not "tolerate" if a citizen is wrongfully tagged a foreigner here.

"We are Bengal tigers, we will not tolerate if an Indian citizen is dubbed a foreigner," she asserted.

Banerjee has been a vocal critic on Assam's National Register of Citizens (NRC) draft, calling it an attempt to isolate Bengalis, Biharis and Hindus out of the state.

"West Bengal will suffer because of this. There will be huge ramifications of this (Assam NRC). Where will these 40 lakh displaced persons stay? Bangladesh won't take them back," Banerjee had said after the release of the historic Assam NRC document, that had names of 40.07 lakh applicants missing.

With agency inputsA day after four people were killed amid the formation of panchayat board across West Bengal, violence continued unabated even on Tuesday. Massive clashes were reported in Howrah and North Dinajpur district of West Bengal. Itahar and Daspara in North Dinajpur district also remained on the boil with three party cadres  TMC, Congress and BJP clashing with each other.

Party cadres hurled crude bombs, pelted stones at each other. Police rushed to the spot to control the situation but was instead attacked by the agitated crowd. They hurled stones at the police injuring several policemen in the attack. Party cadres even torched a police vehicle in Itahar. In retaliation, the police had to resort to tear gas shelling and lathicharge.

In North Dinajpurs Itahar, there are a total of 25 seats. Of the total 25, BJP bagged 13 seats and TMC managed to secure 12 seats and in Daspur gram panchayat all 13 seats were won by TMC.

On the other hand, clashes broke out once again in Howrahs Uluberia area over the formation of panchayat board. BJP cadres clashed with the TMC and the situation remained tense for the second consecutive day in Uluberia. In Uluberia's Tulsiberia gram panchayat, out of the total 18 seats, BJP secured 10 seats, TMC secured 7 seats and one independent candidate later joined TMC.

While addressing a gathering at a TMC Chhatra Parishad foundation day program, party supremo Mamata Banerjee claimed that outsiders from Jharkhand were creating unrest in the panchayat board formation.

"BJP is helping outsiders from Jharkhand to enter into Bengal and create an environment of unrest. BJP believes in the idea of political murders. They killed a veteran TMC leader in Jhargram. We are not going to take this lightly, said Banerjee.

Hitting back at the state government, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh alleged that their party cadres were being attacked by TMC in most of the districts. The panchayat board formation is not taking place in a fair manner. We will not allow the formation of the boards till we are given an assurance that the process will take place in a fair manner, said Ghosh.

Meanwhile, the formation of panchayat board was postponed in Purulia after two BJP members were killed amidst violent clashes. The district magistrate of Purulia district issued a special order postponing the formation of the board comprising 32 seats. Clashes had erupted between party cadres of the BJP and TMC over panchayat board formation at Purulias Raghunathpur and Joypur on Monday.

Two people were left dead whom the BJP claimed that they were BJP members. Five others were seriously injured in the clashes. The two deceased were identified as Niranjan Gope and Damodar Mondal.

In a similar incident, two TMC members were killed in a factional feud over panchayat board formation in Malda district. Two factions of TMC hurled crude bombs and pelted stones at the each other. Violent clashes left two dead. The deceased were identified as  Salam Sheikh and Azhar Sheikh. Besides these two, a three-year-old child suffered splinter injuries and is currently undergoing treatment at the Malda Medical College and Hospital.Type 001A, China's first combat-ready aircraft carrier, started its final sea trial on Sunday. The sea trial are expected to last for a year after which the 65,000-tonne Type 001A aircraft carrier at present will join China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLA Navy).

According to South China Morning Post, Type 001A was towed by tugboats out of the Dalian shipyard in northeast province of Liaoning on Sunday, just three months after its maiden sea voyage. The aircraft will undergo trial in Yellow Sea along with China's most advanced and biggest destroyer - Type 055 guided-missile destroyer. The missile destroyer is expected to be the aircraft carriers escort.

Chinese military experts expect the aircraft carrier will most probably join the PLA Navy by October 1, 2019 for the 70th anniversary of the Peoples Republic of China. "This time the focus will be on testing the endurance of the new aircraft carriers propulsion system. The communications, command, damage control, lift operations and weapon systems will also be examined," Hong Kong-based military expert Song Zhongping told South China Morning Post.

Military expert Song Zhongping told the Global Times that the aircraft carrier's second sea trial will test and lay emphasis on improving and finding solution to issues that came to light during the first sea trial during held from May 13 to 18. The focus will on testing the carrier's power systems along with heavier payloads, command, communication and damage management systems.

Naval expert Li Jie expects the aircraft carrier to test take-off and landing operations for helicopters and the J-15 fighter jet. Li pointed out that unlike Liaoning, which is Type 001 aircraft carrier commissioned into the PLA Navy and is used for as a training ship, the Type 001A is a combat ship and must test all its equipment and personnel. He added that the J-15 fighters are most likely to practice touch-and-go take-offs and missed-approach flights on the deck. The radars, navigation system and main weapons will be put through rigorous tests.

China is eyeing blue-water naval capabilities and its leadership wants to operate at least four aircraft carrier groups to project power thousands of kilometres away and to also ensure that its business interests are protected. China is also building at least four 12,000-tonne Type 055 missile-destroyers to serve as escort ships for its aircraft carriers.

China claims its next generation aircraft carriers will use the advanced electromagnetic aircraft launch system in place of the ski-jump on the Type 001A warship. Its Type 055 destroyers will carry air defence, anti-missile, anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons as well as the rail gun.YANGON: Facebook said on Monday it was removing several Myanmar military officials from the social media website and an Instagram account to prevent the spread of "hate and misinformation" after reviewing the content.

It also said it removed dozens of accounts for engaging in a campaign that "used seemingly independent news and opinion pages to covertly push the messages of the Myanmar military".

Facebook`s action means an essential blackout of the military`s main channel of public communication, with pages followed by millions of people in a country where the social media giant is virtually synonymous with the internet.

The move places further pressure on the generals, coming hours after United Nations investigators said the army carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Muslim Rohingya with "genocidal intent". Their report said the commander-in-chief of Myanmar`s armed forces and five generals should be prosecuted for orchestrating the gravest crimes under law.

"Specifically, we are banning 20 Burmese individuals and organizations from Facebook  including Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and the military`s Myawady television network," Facebook said in a blog post.

"We`re removing a total of 18 Facebook accounts, one Instagram account and 52 Facebook Pages, followed by almost 12 million people," the Menlo Park, California-based company added.

It is the first time Facebook has imposed such a ban on a country`s military or political leaders, the company later said it response to a query from Reuters.

Facebook spokeswoman Clare Wareing said by email that the site took this step "since international experts, including a UN-commissioned report, have found evidence that many of these officials committed serious human rights abuses in the country".

Colonel Zaw Min Tun, an official in the military`s public information unit, told Reuters he was not aware the pages had been removed. He declined to comment further.

Government spokesman Zaw Htay was not immediately available for comment. He was quoted by local media as saying Myanmar had asked Facebook for further details on the reasons for the ban.

A preview of Min Aung Hlaing`s Facebook page was still accessible immediately after the announcement and showed it had been "liked" by 1.3 million people. When Reuters attempted to return to it later it had been removed.

HATE SPEECH

Earlier this month, Reuters published an investigative report about how Facebook had failed to combat a campaign of hate speech against the Rohingya and other Muslims.

The piece - which found more than 1,000 posts, comments and images attacking Muslims on the platform - demonstrated that Facebook, despite repeated warnings, had devoted scant resources to controlling the problem in Myanmar, where it is the dominant social media force. (For the Reuters investigation on `Why Facebook is losing the war on hate speech in Myanmar.

Facebook said a day after publication of the investigation it had been "too slow" to address hate speech in Myanmar and it was acting to remedy the problem by hiring more Burmese speakers and investing in technology to identify problematic content.

The U.N. investigators highlighted the role of social media in Myanmar in Monday`s report. "Facebook has been a useful instrument for those seeking to spread hate, in a context where for most users Facebook is the Internet," said the report.

Facebook said it took the step "since international experts, including a U.N.-commissioned report, have found evidence that many of these officials committed serious human rights abuses in the country", Wareing said. "And we want to prevent them from using our service to further inflame ethnic and religious tensions."

Min Aung Hlaing has built a substantial social media profile in Myanmar, with the commander-in-chief`s page sometimes updated several times a day.

Some of the military`s Facebook posts from last year included detailed accounts of clashes with Rohingya militants, often accompanied by pictures.

A year ago, government troops led a crackdown in Myanmar`s Rakhine State in response to attacks by Rohingya insurgents on 30 police posts and a military base.

As a result, some 700,000 Rohingya fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, according to U.N. agencies, bringing stories of rape, arson and arbitrary killings.

Myanmar has denied allegations made by refugees, saying its troops engaged in lawful counterinsurgency operations against Muslim militants.

Last week, Facebook - along with Twitter Inc and Google`s Alphabet Inc - removed hundreds of accounts tied to an alleged Iranian propaganda operation. Facebook also said it had removed pages that the U.S. government had previously named as Russian military intelligence services.

Russia and Iran rejected Facebooks accusations.

Facebook said the removal of accounts covertly pushing Myanmar military messages was similar to what the company had done in the previous two cases.

"This is part of our effort to identify and disable networks of accounts that mislead others about who they are. We ban this kind of behaviour because we want people to be able to trust the connections they make on Facebook," said Wareing.Washington: North Korean officials have warned in a letter to the United States that denuclearization talks were "again at stake and may fall apart", CNN reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The letter was delivered directly to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and stated that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un`s government felt that the process could not move forward.

"The US is still not ready to meet (North Korean) expectations in terms of taking a step forward to sign a peace treaty," CNN reported, citing sources.

The 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving US-led UN forces technically still at war with North Korea. The North has long made clear that it sees an official end to the state of war as crucial to lowering tensions on the Korean peninsula.

The United States has been reluctant to declare an end to the Korean War until after North Korea abandons its nuclear weapons programme.

The Washington Post reported on Monday that US President Donald Trump called off a visit to North Korea by Pompeo after the latter received a belligerent letter from a senior North Korean official just hours after the trip was announced last week.

CNN reported that the letter was sent by the former head of North Korea`s spy agency, Kim Yong Chol, but it was not known how it was sent. The Washington Post said North Korea had been increasingly communicating through its UN mission.

CNN reported that the letter also mentioned that if a compromise could not be reached and the nascent talks crumbles, North Korea could resume "nuclear and missile activities".

On Sunday, North Korea`s state media accused the United States of "double-dealing" and "hatching a criminal plot" but did not mention Pompeo`s canceled visit. The Washington Post said the exact contents of the message were unclear, but it was sufficiently belligerent that Trump and Pompeo decided to call off the planned trip.

The trip had been announced the previous day for this week and Pompeo had intended to introduce a newly named special envoy, Stephen Biegun, to his North Korean counterparts. The White House referred queries on the Washington Post report to the State Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In cancelling Pompeo's trip, Trump publicly acknowledged for the first time that his effort to get North Korea to denuclearize had stalled since his June 12 summit with its leader, Kim Jong Un.

US intelligence and defense officials have repeatedly expressed doubts about North Korea`s willingness to give up its nuclear weapons and did not expect Pompeo's trip to yield positive results.Islamabad: Pakistan wants to "move on and improve" its relations with Washington by putting behind the controversy over the content of handout of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's phone call to Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told lawmakers on Tuesday.

Controversy erupted after the US State Department spokesperson in a statement said that Pompeo during his conversation with Khan raised the importance of Pakistan taking "decisive action" against all terrorists operating in Pakistan and its vital role in promoting the Afghan peace process.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry took exception to the statement saying, that factually incorrect statement was issued by the US State Department on phone call between Prime Minister Khan and Secretary Pompeo.

Qureshi while addressing the Senate, the upper house of Pakistan's parliament, in response to a query by former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani about the controversy over the telephonic talks.

The foreign minister said that he knew the US position about the talks between Pompeo and Khan but he was also aware what US said in the readout was contrary to the facts.

He, however, struck a positive note by saying Pakistan expects that the visit by the top US diplomat, on September 5, would improve the bilateral relations with the US. The US has long been frustrated with Pakistan's overt and covert support to the Afghan Taliban and other terror groups, forcing the Trump administration to warn Islamabad and slash military aid to the country.

"We want to move on and improve the relations," he said.

He once again said that conservation between Khan and Pompeo was cordial and constructive in nature.

Qureshi said that national security and foreign policies were interlinked and "we should demonstrate unison on them" as unity will give strength to the nation. He also assured that guidance will be taken from parliament in formulation of foreign policy.

Govt announces 2-day holiday for valley schools during BIMSTEC

The government has announced two day holiday for schools inside Kathmandu valley in view of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit being held on August 30 and 31.WASHINGTON: The White House lowered its U.S. flag to half-staff, raised it back up and on Monday lowered it again after the death of Senator John McCain, in an unusual and confusing break with protocol on the passing of a national leader.

McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam, longtime U.S. senator from Arizona and 2008 Republican presidential nominee, died of brain cancer on Saturday at age 81. That prompted many Americans to lower flags to half-staff, a traditional gesture of honor.

But President Donald Trump, who had clashed with fellow Republican McCain over various issues and said during his campaign that the senator was "not a war hero," wavered in his approach to what presidents normally treat as a gesture of courtesy and respect.

Trump`s White House lowered its flag on Saturday, then raised it back following the minimum period under law. Trump also delayed issuing the customary proclamation for flags to remain at half-staff for longer than the two-day minimum.

Finally, under pressure from veterans and members of Congress, Trump said in a statement later on Monday that he respected McCain`s service to the nation and had ordered flags to half-staff.

In a letter to Trump on its Facebook page, the American Legion veterans group had urged the White House "to follow long-established protocol following the death of prominent government officials." The Legion described McCain as a "cherished member."

After a day of ignoring shouted questions about McCain, Trump broke his silence during a gathering of evangelical leaders at the White House on Monday evening.

"Our hearts and prayers are going to the family of Senator John McCain ... and we very much appreciate everything Senator McCain has done for our country," he told the religious leaders.

Through most of Monday, confusion reigned across the federal government, with flags flying at half-staff over the U.S. Capitol and at hundreds of national parks, but at full-staff over the Pentagon and the US Supreme Court.

The US Department of Homeland Security had issued a government-wide notification after McCain`s death to lower flags at U.S. facilities but rescinded it on Monday, leaving the decision to staff at individual sites, according to an official.

`SOMEWHAT SHOCKING`

Presidents normally follow Congress` lead on the death of a prominent lawmaker and order flags lowered until sunset on the day of burial. Critics of the president saw his reticence as a final slight against McCain.

"I doubt you could find a comparable situation where the president doesn`t order the flag flown at half-mast until the funeral," said John Lawrence, history professor at the University of California`s Washington Center.

"The disparity between the Congress and White House policy is obviously noticeable and somewhat shocking."

McCain was a frequent Trump critic and his family has said he did not want the president to attend his funeral.

A family spokesman issued a farewell statement from McCain in which he said of the United States: "We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries ... We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been."Russia has started preliminary work on the development of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to replace the increasingly decrepit Soviet-era Admiral Kuznetsov, which recently entered into a two-year overhaul. However, the Kremlin has not made the decision to actually buy a new flattop.

Russia has started work on the potential future carriers nuclear propulsion system in anticipation of the day that the Kremlin does make a decision on building such a warship. "Today, an engine has been launched [the research work on its creation has been launched] and today we are working precisely on this issue, Russian Navy shipbuilding chief Rear Adm. Vladimir Tryapichnikov told the state-operated Star TV channel according to TASS . Some concept will be approved in the near future. Of course, this is expensive but such a ship should be built."

But while Tryapichnikov might believe that Russia should build a new aircraft carrier, he concedes that the decision to go ahead with the construction of such a vessel is a decision for the future. "Such a decision will be made in the near future," Tryapichnikov said.

According to TASS, the Russian Navy wants a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier displacing no less than 70,000 tons by the late 2030s. However, Russias chances of designing and building a carrier by then are extremely small. Soviet-era carriers were built at Nikolaev in what is now an independent Ukraine, though Russia is slowly assembling the shipbuilding capacity in the Russian Far East to handle the construction of vessels of that size.

When we build new shipyards and a huge dry dock in the Far East, if there is such a contract, it will be possible to create an aircraft carrier having a displacement of 110,000-115,000 tonnes, Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin said on the Rossiya-24 new channel last year according to TASS . We will be capable of doing that starting from 2020."

The Russians are building a 114-meter374 feetwide dry dock at the Zvezda shipyard in the Russian Far East that might one day build such a large aircraft carrier. Rogozin noted that while the shipyard would be physically capable of building an aircraft carrier, the question if Moscow needs such a large warship would be up to the Russian militarys general staff. "We now have no restrictions regarding the tonnage of civil or naval ships we may choose to build there," Rogozin said.

Analysts in Russia told The National Interest that while it is true that Moscow is building a massive new shipyard in the Far East, the project is not a military development. Rather the project is a commercial venture with significant foreign investment from South Korea, which could complicate any attempt to build a military vessel at those shipyards.

Moreover, simply possessing the physical infrastructure to build an aircraft carrier does not mean that Moscow has the technical knowledge to build an 115,000-ton warship. Russia has never built a warship of such size and complexity before in its entire history.

The only comparable vessels constructed during the Soviet-era were the much smaller roughly 55,000-ton Kuznetsov-class carriers. Even Ulyanovsk, a nuclear-powered carrier that was scrapped after 20 percent of construction was completed in 1992, was expected to displace no more than 85,000-tons. Thus, Moscow would have to relearn many of the techniques needed to build such a vessel.

In any case, Russia is a Eurasian landpowerMoscow does not really have a need for a very large and very expensive aircraft carrier. A more likely scenario is that the Kremlin will invest in a large-deck amphibious assault ship that can be used to project power in Moscows immediate periphery.

Read the original article here.

Related video:One of the bloodiest battles in the ongoing war, which took place in August 2014 claimed lives of 366 Ukrainian soldiers; hundreds were wounded, captured or gone missing

Eleven fighters of the Ukrainian military, participants in the 2014 battle of Ilovaisk are still in captivity of Russian mercenaries. Oleksiy Nozdrachev, the head of the Civil and Military Cooperation Department of Ukraine's Armed Forces said that at a press conference in Kyiv - as quoted by Interfax news agency.

'We know that 128 people ened up in captivity. If I'm not mistaken, eleven servicemen and Interior Ministry workers who participated in Ilovaisk are so far in captivity', Nozdrachev said.

He added that currently, 84 people are considered missing in action. That includes bodies and body parts that so far cannot be recognized.

According to the official, 366 fighters of government forces deceased in the battle; 150 of them served with the Ukrainian army. Earlier, military prosecutor's office confirmed that 429 fighters were wounded in action; hundreds have gone missing.

Ilovaisk, currently held by the Russian militants, is located in Donetsk sector of the combat area in eastern Ukraine. In middle August 2014, it was under control of the Ukrainian troops. In late August, Ukrainian forces - the army, the volunteer battalions of the Interior Ministry, the National Guard and others - engaged the enemy, as pro-Kremlin mercenaries and the regular Russian troops went for a major attack to reclaim the city. Soon after the units of the regular Russian army arrived (August 23-24, 2014, - 112 International), Ukrainian troops ended up in a trap, surrounded by the enemy. On August 29, Russian leader Putin asked the militants to let Ukrainian soldiers out, leaving a corridor for them - on the condition that they leave disarmed. On August 30, the government troops began to move out, but the militants attacked them, killing and wounding many people.

The battle of Ilovaisk became one of the bloodiest fights and one of the bitterest losses of the Ukrainian military in the ongoing Donbas conflict.Since Tuesday morning, the pro-Kremlin militants attacked Ukrainian positions five times. The enemy used mortars, grenade launchers and machineguns. The Joint Forces Operation HQ reported that, adding that the Ukrainian forces took no casualties.

Illegal armed gangs landed the adjusted fire, using 82 mm mortar during the attack on Novomykhailivka. Krymske, Popasna and Krasnohorivka took some fire as well.

Earlier, on August 27, two Ukrainian soldiers were injured in Donbas conflict zone. The enemy opened fire 26 times, including four times from Minsk-banned weapons.

Russian occupants fired at the Joint Forces positions near Stanytsia Luhanska, Krymske, Zolote, Luhanske, Avdiivka, Novomykhaylivka, Krasnohorivka, Hnutove, Pavlopil, Lebedynske, Vodyane and Shyrokyne. The militants used mortars in Luhansk sector near Krymske, in Svitlodarsk  near Luhanske, in Mariupol sector  near Hnutove and Lebedynske. The enemy used tanks near Lebedynske.All the checkpoints on the contact line in the Joint Forces Operation zone are working in a routine mode

Open source

Under the decision of Joint Forces Commander Maiorske checkpoint resumes work since 6 am, as the press office of Ukraines Border Guard Service reports.

At the moment all the checkpoints on the contact line in the Joint Forces Operation zone are working in a routine mode according to the summer schedule.

Earlier, on August 24 the representatives of the Joint Forces Operation Headquarters informed that Maiorske checkpoint stoped working due to regular shelling.

Before, on August 23 Maiorske checkpoint was attacked from snipers rifles at around 4 pm.

Related video:Bratislav Zivkovic served with the Russian military contingent, which annexed Crimea in 2014, and then joined the pro-Kremlin militants in eastern Ukraine

Bratislav Zivkovic, the commander of the Chetnik paramilitary force in Serbia, has been arrested on suspicion of organizing a group of Serbs who joined Russia-backed separatists in their war against Ukraine's government, RFE/RL reported that citing Serbia's Interior Ministry.

"The suspect will be detained for up to 48 hours and he will be brought to the competent prosecutor's office along with the criminal charges, the ministry told RFE/RL.

Zivkovic is under investigation in Ukraine for participating with six Serbians on the side of the separatists. Ukraine's prosecutor-general Yury Lutsenko is investigating charges that the Serbians participated in separatist attacks on government forces in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as part of an extreme right-wing organization called Unite Continentale.

Zivkovic, 42, is also reported to have joined Russian forces that took control of Crimea when Moscow illegally annexed Ukraine's peninsula in 2014.

Earlier, it was reported that the group of the mercenaries from Serbia arrived in occupied Donbas and joined militants of Donetsk Peoples Republic (DPR). The group was headed by Deian Berych with the codename Deki that came to Donbas for many times and fought as the member of the militants groups.Open source

Ukraines National Bank expects another tranche from the International Monetary Fund within EFF program till the end of autumn, as Oleh Chury, Deputy Head of the Central Bank, stated during the roundtable, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

Our prediction is the following  we will manage with the IMF and we expect to receive a tranche will the end of autumn in the amount of $2 billion, Chury said.

In early summer Yakiv Smolii, NBU Head, predicted that Ukraine can receive the fifth tranche from the IMF till autumn.

Earlier, former Finance Minister of Ukraine Oleksandr Danylyuk stated that he did not doubt that IMF will send another tranche, stressing that we have to do that in June.

Moreover, the representatives of the National Bank stated that Ukraine might receive another tranche from the IMF in autumn.

Related video:Ukraine's special representative for humanitarian issues in the Tripartite Contact Group Viktor Medvedchuk in the framework of the "A Big Interview with a Big Politician" project on "112 Ukraine" TV channel spoke on the prisoners exchange, the scandal with the film about Vasyl Stus, US sanctions, and the conditions on which Ukraine could return Donbas

Pavlo Kuzheev, journalist: Our meeting takes place in Kyiv. How often do you come to Ukraine, and where did you come from?

Viktor Medvedchuk: I had vacations, so now I came to Kyiv and started working. I rarely leave Kyiv. I leave Kyiv only on business. I visit Minsk, Moscow, the EU countries but in general, I spend my time only in Kyiv. I work here and do what I consider necessary.

You seem to be the only person who can fly directly from Ukraine to Russia.

Yes, that is true. I really fly directly to Moscow, Sochi, where I have meetings with the leadership of the Russian Federation on those issues that fall under the interests of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, and those interests that need to be defended, despite the nature of the relations, which, unfortunately, have been built between our countries.

The Ukrainian government is going to stop the railway passenger communication with Russia and introduce a number of other restrictions. Minister of Infrastructure Omelyan said that he had signed a historical document: Only bears will go to Moscow, just like in the old days.

You know, I have publicly assessed Mr. Omelyan, a man who has accidentally come to this office, like 80% of Cabinet members who also occasionally serve there, pretending they represent the government and solve Ukraines problems. This person is limited in his views. And in fact, how it relates to the interests of the people? Strangely enough, in the last few days, the media has been talking a lot about the passenger traffic between Moscow and Dnipro, Moscow and Kharkiv, Kyiv and Lviv, about the popularity of these trains, and how many people travel to Russia. Therefore, if we ignore the interests of people (this became one of the rules of Ukraines government and the Ukrainian authorities), it might be prohibited. They can forbid the air communication too. I am convinced that it does not depend on him [Omelyan  Ed.]. It depends on the mutually respectful decision, and some sober thoughts might be a voice there, which would pay attention to the peoples interest: if some people go there, probably, not for a field trip. Not only those who go for work there, because here Omelyan and his colleagues have not created proper conditions for finding a job. People go to visit their relatives, close friends, etc. Therefore, no matter how much power trying to make the Russian and Ukrainian peoples enemies, no one would be able to do this, neither here nor there.

I believe that these misunderstandings, which have occasionally come to the government, would go to oblivion, and normal people would restore relations between the fraternal peoples. And in the future, these relations would be built in a different situation and would be of a different nature.

Ukrainian frontier guards report numerous cases of stopping Ukrainian and foreign vessels under Ukrainian and foreign flags in the Sea of Azov. They are examined, the team is identified. Poroshenko believes that this is done in order to block Ukraine in the Sea of Azov, to escalate the tension, and to conduct an attack on Mariupol, where the export of ferrous metallurgy products of Ukraine is carried out. He also speaks about an attack on other ports of the Sea of Azov.

I do not share this critical assessment of Ukraines president. Moreover, I am familiar with this situation. The talks on the stabilization of the situation in the Sea of Azov are ongoing. And if we talk about the reasons, it is worth remembering that the Sea of Azov is an internal sea of two states  Russian Federation and Ukraine. According to the principles and content of these agreements, the verification of the vessels should take place. You might remember that a few weeks ago the frontier service said: Well, Russia has the right for checking. So it checks. Let us remember about the detention of a vessel called "Nord," about sailors who are not in custody, but cannot go to the territory of the Russian Federation.

Ukraine is already negotiating with Western partners to impose sanctions on the Black Sea ports of the Russian Federation.

You know, the sanctions policy and its popularization by Ukraine with the help of Western countries is the main direction of Ukraine's policy. Speaking about its correctness, I personally face its consequences. Ukraine has joined the EU sanctions, and Russia has imposed anti-sanction. Who suffered from it? First of all, Ukraine. How? Its exports fell. Despite all the actions taking place, we are losing products markets, this concerns the Russian Federation and the CIS. And despite the fact that we have lost 46% of exports since 2014, Russia is Ukraines main importer, in the first half of 2018, 15% of all imports have come from Russia. This is the first place. 8% of the Ukrainian products go to Russia. This despite the fact that there was a fall, and it happened at the expense of the Russian and CIS market.

June 22, sanctions against the Russian Federation in connection with the Skrypal case have come into force. A few days ago, the US Congress announced the text of new anti-Russian sanctions, proposing a ban on operations and freezing property in the United States. It is about Sberbank and Gazprombank. What is the reaction of the Russian business community? Are they scared?

I did not feel any fear. Any sanctions have their consequences, it is just a fact. These are restrictions on trade and economic relations. Even in 2014-2015, the situation was different. Yes, there were additional artificial problems. Did Russia overcome them? Judging by its todays economy, yes it did. It is difficult from these sanctions - yes, it is difficult. We are constantly looking for assessments and evaluate someone, but not ourselves. We believe that if Russia is in a worse situation, it will be better for Ukraine, but it does not turn out so. Despite the sanctions. You gave me this example, and I will give you another one. The US demanded to stop the trade between Ukraine and China on the sale of jet engines for military aircraft and rescue service. How so? What China has to do with it? This is the final destruction of our aircraft industry. Maybe we should stop selling engines to China or the countries of the Asia-Pacific region and become an agricultural country? The US is now seeking it from the economy and the government, with respect to which Washington has introduced external management. This affects both the sovereignty and independence of the country.

You are under the US sanctions, right?

Of course.

"Ukrainian choice" claims that with these sanctions Viktor Medvedchuk feels great and considers these actions of the US a high evaluation of his activity in the fight against external management, which the US introduced in Ukraine. Nevertheless, your assets are frozen, financial operations are banned.

First, I never had any assets in the US. Secondly, I have never had any economic relations with business (in matters of business) with this country. Although I have been engaged in business since 2005 when I left the civil service. I have a long relationship with the Americans. And this story did not begin in 2014. And not with the "Ukrainian choice." This story began in the 2000s when the US accused Ukraine of selling Kolchuga to Iraq (passive sensor is an ESM system developed in the Soviet Union and manufactured in Ukraine  Ed.) - there was such a means of protection against flying objects. Was allegedly selling. The authority of Ukraine was immediately lowered. Remember the summit in Prague, when the alphabet was changed not to let the president of Ukraine sit next to the US president. Then President Kuchma appointed me, and I was the head of the Presidents Administration, chairing the state commission to investigate the Kolchugas sell. The "Topaz" plant, which is located in Donetsk, have released 45 copies and a pilot one. The Commission, which I headed, has checked each copy. To whom did we sell them? To the Chinese, to the other countries, to Russia. Then we have proved that these charges were groundless, and the Americans blatantly lied and accused Ukraine. But the most interesting is that the first person who publicly accused Ukraine of selling Kolchuga was then the deputy head of the US diplomatic mission in Ukraine, and today the US ambassador to Ukraine. Therefore, relations with Americans have a long history.

Let us speak about the incident about your influence on the life of Ukrainian dissident Vasyl Stus. This film should be released in 2019, and according to the filmmakers, the Medvedchuk administration called the producers and said to remove Stuss trial scene from the film, where Medvedchuk was Stuss lawyer

I did not even know about making the film about Stus. Even now I am not interested in it. I have already read the analysis, and the first thing I read about this film was an interview of Stus's son who said that this film was just ridiculous for him. I am not sure about the films value for the history, for the fate of the poet himself.

This is a provocation, one of the stages of what the Americans are doing today. We have proofs of it. I mean, they are constantly provoking. It consists of a series of things, as Medvedchuk is currently a public figure, today Medvedchuk takes part in the public policy, and Medvedchuk is an enemy for them. I do reiterate that I am their enemy. I will do everything possible to make Ukraine independent and sovereign without US influence and control. This is another provocation that unfortunately could be witnessed today. But we will deal with it. Speaking about Stus's affair, which took place 38 years ago, I am really glad that for 38 years the Americans have not found anything new. History is misinterpreted.

I have fulfilled my official duty. I have not broken the law, and during Ukraine's independence, numerous lawyers commissions have established my right, I was right as a lawyer. In this regard, for five times I have been re-elected as a president of the Union of Lawyers of Ukraine (1990  2005). I am clear on my colleagues. I am clear before my fate and Stuss life path, I did everything I could. If he did not fight against the Soviet authorities, he would not be a fighter for Ukraines independence. Levko Lukyanenko was once asked, "Is he illegally sentenced?", he replied: "Why? He is legally convicted." Soviet laws fought against those who opposed Soviet power. They simply did not consider this power legitimate. And I, for example, considered the Soviet power to be legitimate. And I was a Soviet citizen. And today I do not revise this position for myself. What Stus did was on his conscience. The actions of the organs and the court were on their conscience. And Medvedchuk as a lawyer was protecting him. It did not work out. It happens. Especially in the system, when it comes to a person who advocates the overthrow of the Soviet state. And how should the Soviet government act? Unfortunately, he died after five years of serving his sentence in the colony. And it is ridiculous to accuse Medvedchuk of bringing him to his death. It sounds absurd. For normal people this is obvious.

Let us talk about the Minsk protocols. Is alive or dead?

This is a really complex topic. Let us start with a strategically important question. After all, Minsk agreements are considered to be non-alternative in the whole world, except for Ukraine. Although the President reiterates that they are uncontested, but this idea is voiced for the external side rather than for the internal one because everything that is done by the authorities is done in one context - ignoring and not implementing the Minsk agreements.

The Americans believe that the agreements were the only way out in 2014-2015, it was necessary to stop active hostilities. And they played their part then, and they can play a role further so that everything will end with what is called the return of Ukraine to Donbas and Donbas to Ukraine. This is my formula; this is how I called it. I do not advise calling the Minsk talks dead or alive. This is wrong not only in a diplomatic context; it is also wrong because there are no other agreements.

The realities are such that the decisive factor in the Russian-Ukrainian processes is the decisions of the Russian president. You mentioned a direct dialogue, but what kind of direct dialogue are we talking about, if without a call from the Kremlin, the figures are incapable of taking independent steps?

So we need to arrange a call. I have contacted in December 2017, when there was a dead end with an exchange. I went to Putin and said, dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, please contact the heads of the republics to make an exchange of those who are prepared from both sides. He called them. So this is a confirmation of my rightness. He has contacted Pasechnik (Luhansk Peoples Republic leader), Zakharchenko (Donetsk Peoples Republic leader), talked to them, and they agreed. I am not a dreamer. I know that this is possible, not in theory, but in practice.

Is the Kremlin already eyeing those who announced their participation in the presidential election?

At the last meeting with Mr. Putin, we did not discuss this issue. If they were eyeing, this would be the subject of our conversation. Such conversations have not been conducted yet.

What are you doing to return Sentsov to Ukraine?

Negotiations on the release of citizens of Ukraine under investigation or convicted in the Russian Federation have not been stopped in recent years - it is a permanent subject of the negotiation process. As for Sentsov and the aggravation of the political situation, in one of my recent interviews I say that through pressure, rash statements, criticism of the Kremlin, Ukrainian politicians are doing everything not to get Sentsov back.

This is just my opinion. I can say that I do not know who is currently negotiating on Sentsovs issue, several months ago, I was conducting these negotiations. And different options were discussed. Today I see that these negotiations are not being conducted.

You say that there are no decision-makers in the Minsk process. Does not it mean that Minsk format has died?

No. A great job is done in terms of the Minsk process, in this case, taking into account the fact that I work in the humanitarian subgroup for exchange. This means the reconciliation of the lists, verification, the search for persons, the establishment of documents. This is a big work.

How would you formulate Ukrainian national idea? Or maybe you have already formulated it.

This is a good question. It has been formulated. The theme of my doctoral thesis was "Ukrainian modern ideas and topical issues of state building." This was the title of my monograph and my thesis.

Read the original text at 112.ua.Four years after their plan to transport Russian gas via the South Stream pipeline collapsed, the Bulgarian government is angling yet again to shuttle Gazproms immense reserves from Turkey to Europe and has just expanded its Trans Balkan pipeline with this purpose in mind. But the EU is worried that one of its newest members is unprepared to undertake such a project and wont disburse the gas fairly. More significantly, it frets that Sofia, which held the EU Council Presidency for the first half of 2018, is moving away from Brussels and back towards its former Soviet overlord.

Bulgarias new hope to get a piece of Russias lucrative gas sales lies with Turk Stream, an 11.4 billion project to send Russian gas to Europe through Turkey, bypassing Ukraine. The first line of the project, already complete, serves local consumers; the second will send over 15 billion cubic metres of gas on to southeast and central Europe. Russia already sends gas to Turkey via Bulgaria, but the line runs through Ukraineif Moscow cuts Kiev out of the loop next year as its hoping to do, Bulgaria risks losing around 100 million a year in transit fees. Its hoping to replace these with Turk Stream 2, and is lobbying Gazprom and Turkish officials to run the line through Bulgarias Black Sea port of Varna rather than through Greece.

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has expressed confidence that Moscow will give the green light to the rerouting as long as Bulgaria can find a reliable means to send the gas on to the rest of Europe. Sofia has already talked with Brussels about splitting the gas between trade and transit, sending some of the supply straight on to central Europe and selling the rest at a gas hub at Varna  partially funded by EU money  against at least two rival sources, likely from Greece and Azerbaijan. Because Brussels wants to ensure the European gas market is diversified and competitive, it has tentatively agreed to support the gas hub.

Yet some officials point out that Bulgaria still fails to meet the EUs conditions for being a gas trading hub, and its recent record on energy is far from impeccable. Sofia has yet to fully implement EU energy directives by opening up its cross-border pipelines with Greece and Serbia, and the country has faced criticism for diverting billions in potentially non-compatible state aid to coal-fired power plants.

Against this backdrop, critics fear Bulgaria will simply abandon the trading hub project and send all the Turk Stream gas straight to Europe in order to collect the huge transit fees. After all, this was the plan when South Stream was still in the cards. Worryingly, EU sources say that as long as Bulgaria follows the blocs internal energy market rules, theres little they can do to stop this.

Gazproblem

One of the main reasons Brussels wants to ensure diversified energy supplies is the hold Gazprom has over Eastern Europe. The EU waged a seven-year antitrust battle to curb Gazproms price dominance in Russias former satellites, and Moscows aggressive recent history makes officials particularly jittery about outages. The EU openly states that its energy supply strategy was framed by concerns surrounding the delivery of Russian gas via Ukraine.

Yet Gazprom remains the sole exporter of gas to Bulgaria. For the EU, which is currently helping the Baltic States decouple themselves from the old Soviet power grid, Sofias plan to increase its reliance on Russian energy is an obvious setback  and could be interpreted as a rejection of the very policy designed to protect it.

This all comes just weeks after Bulgarian President Rumen Radev personally backed resuming construction of a second nuclear power plant in Belene, a project started in the late 1980s, frozen in the 90s, restarted in the 2000s and put on hold in 2012 amidst mounting EU pressure to loosen ties with Moscow. Bulgarias former energy minister Traicho Traikov has suggested the plant will hemorrhage money and block new technologies, yet Radev insists Belene, which Russian state nuclear company Rosatom has already expressed interest in, has a future.

This is part of a wider charm offensive by Radev, who has ignored the international storm surrounding election-meddling and spy-poisoning to strengthen Sofias relationship with the Kremlin. Bulgaria was Moscows most loyal satellite during the Cold War era but has since strived to assert its independence, ejecting three Russian diplomats at the turn of the millennium and joining NATO. Radev was elected in 2016 on a pledge to rebuild bridges with Moscow, a promise hes lived up to so far. If the EU wants to maintain sanctionson Putin, he appears indifferent.

Radev has at least pledged continued loyalty to Bulgarias NATO allies, and the parliament has approved plans to replace the rusting Soviet MiGs with new planes from Western allies. In a worrying sign of the treatment accorded to Western investors, however, Sofia took the unprecedented step of referring to Brussels the power purchase agreements used to buy energy from two US companies, ContourGlobal and AES. Bulgarian officials insist this decision is about liberalising its energy market, yet when you set it against the choice to restart construction on Belene, its easy to see why critics fret about Sofias priorities.

Having given Bulgaria the Council Presidency and talked up its Schengen accession, there is little more the EU can do to guide Bulgaria away from Moscow. Perhaps it could try the stick rather than the carrot, getting tough on Sofia over its illegal subsidies and pointing out that EU membership comes with certain obligations.

But at the end of the day, the EU remains constrained by its own rules. If Bulgaria follows the blocs own legislation, the EU may be forced to stand back and watch as Radev and Borissov push a Russo-centric energy policy. After months of maintaining a coherent front against Putin, Brussels bureaucrats might reflect that their copious rulebook can hinder unity as much as help it.

Read the original article here.

Related video:Open source

"Lithuania! 100 years of its proclamation of independence!" says a banner, painted with the national flag colors at the entrance to the town of Vistytis, located in the triangle between Lithuania, Russia, and Poland. In the 20th century, Lithuania has experienced a lot of violence, primarily from the German and Russian sides. In 1991, Lithuania has become independent again; however, Russia is only 20 meters away from Vistytis. 400 residents of Vistytis are watching the formidable lights of the Kaliningrad enclave. In February, Lithuanians found Russian Iskander missiles, which can be equipped with nuclear warheads, in Chernyakhovsk, located 60 km to the west. Of course, they are not visible from Vistytis, but the awareness of the military potential and the historical experience of communication with Russia is enough for the inhabitants to be scared.

Russia does not play any role in the daily life of Vistytis. There is no border crossing, and the Russian border crossing point is hidden behind a high fence. Due to the proximity of the border, swimming in the Vistytis Lake is allowed only near the town. Buoys mark the Russian border, and the signs on the shore warn against accidental crossing of the border. Apparently, it will require a long bureaucratic design, but it is not dangerous.

If you go further towards Kybartai, the road comes close to the border with Kaliningrad, which Lithuania recently fortified on its side with a two-meter fence with barbed wire. The construction of this fence began in 2017 and was completed in six months, and by 2020 it should be fully equipped with CCTV cameras. According to official data, it is a matter of protection against smugglers and migrants. At the same time, in the face of a tense geopolitical situation, Vilnius also wants to give Lithuanians a sense of security.

Since the aggression of Russia in the east of Ukraine in 2014, the country is deeply distrustful of Russia, fueled by Putin's verbal threats against various Baltic countries. Therefore, 1,000 NATO soldiers have deployed in Lithuania. Russia is constantly trying to discredit them. For example, fake news about the Rukla NATO military base spreads among Lithuanians. In February 2017, a NATO soldier allegedly raped an underage Lithuanian girl. Such information was distributed in e-mails from Russia, which then were actively used by the Russian sites. And recently information about a serious accident was spread, allegedly provoked by NATO armored personnel carrier. Both reports were immediately refuted. In both cases, it is obviously a question of the Russian misinformation campaign.

Therefore, security measures are tough in the border area. The author was stopped for verification near Kybartai (Kaliningrad is located about a kilometer to the west), two Lithuanian border guards asked to show the documents, then long telephone checks began. Young border guards are friendly, although they say on point. One of them said goodbye in Polish, however they spoke Russian before. There is also border control in the opposite direction.

In the north-east of Kaliningrad the border is formed by the Neman river. Here, both Lithuania and Russia so far refrain from fences with barbed wire. The river flows towards the Baltic Sea, and it all is allowed to swim before dark, says a resident of Sovetsk (formerly Tilsit). Only with the onset of darkness it is recommended to refrain from walking along the embankment because of Russian checks. "When the water level is low, you can go to Lithuania," says the man.

Here, bilateral relations are more pragmatic than at the national level. In 2017, the Lithuanian government provided almost 20 million francs for the cooperation with the border territories in Kaliningrad. The funds are directed, among other things, to the Lithuanian minority communities or to Lithuanian monuments. Sovetsk City Museum has benefited from this, it has provided a hall for Lithuanian exchange projects. And the tourist brochures printed in Lithuania are oriented to tourists on both sides of the Neman. But only a few tourists from Lithuania find their way to Sovetsk, which connects the old steel bridge with Lithuania.

Still, 1000 members of the Lithuanian minority live in Sovetsk, and 9 800 people, or 1% of the population reside in all Kaliningrad. Although there are no Lithuanian schools here, Moscow allows Lithuanian lessons in some schools. In recent years, according to the Ministry of Education, in Vilnius it has become more difficult to obtain a work permit for seconded teaching staff. Lately, there have been many refusals on the visa. Geopolitical difficulties now lie also on the shoulders of the Lithuanian minority.

Paul Fluckiger

Read the original text at Neue Zurcher Zeitung

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or 112.International and its owners.Kanchanpur District Court remands Bam sisters to judicial custody

The Kanchanpur District Court on Monday remanded Roshani Bam and her sister Babita to six days of judicial custody as they are being investigated in connection to the rape and murder of Nirmala Panta.Simplified taxation became the necessary concession that allowed Ukrainians to live through the troublesome decade of the 1990s. Now, some are wondering what to do with this group of taxpayers. Should the mechanism remain in place? If it shouldnt, what could it be replaced with?

Whenever somebody begins discussing what economic reforms Ukraine needs, it is often claimed that the Ukrainian government should cut taxes, which would lead to an economic miracle. There is also the idea of establishing an offshore zone in Ukraine. At the same time, they don't seem to notice that Ukraine already has an offshore zone, which is called the "simplified tax system".

Obviously, the emergence of simplified taxpayers in Ukraine was a necessary measure. When President Kuchma was setting up the mechanism of simplified taxation in the mid-1990s, it was pretty much a life saver for many Ukrainians. At the time, the country had an abundance of unemployed citizens who could not get hired, nor could they set up their own businesses in the absence of concessions. Hence, simplified taxation became the necessary concession that allowed Ukrainians to live through the troublesome decade of the 1990s, three crises and two revolutions, along with many other adventures. Now, however, some are wondering what to do with this group of taxpayers? Should the mechanism remain in place? If it shouldnt, what could it be replaced with?

European Union member states do not offer their citizens the kind of concessions that Ukrainian simplified taxpayers enjoy. This is why may European businessmen are shocked when they hear about Ukrainian concessions. It is not rare that while setting up businesses with foreign capital in Ukraine, they engage their own simplified taxpayers, which allow them to obtain higher margins of profit in the course of their operations in Ukraine.

I will let you be the judge of this: where else in the world one may pay taxes of 0.6-0.7% on trade turnover while simultaneously be exempt from paying value-added tax? Even if VAT is to be paid, that still amounts to a tax burden of around 3%. It is hardly surprising that many simplified taxpayers use their concessions to launder money for businesses operating under the general taxation system. It was no longer a secret that the majority of the goods and services turnover in Ukraine is performed by simplified taxpayers. Their share in the total volume of goods sold in Ukraine in 2017 was 68%. That being said, Ukrainian simplified taxpayers paid a total of around UAH 10 billion in tax payments, which makes up a modest 4% of all tax revenue in the Ukrainian state budget. Whoever argues that Ukraines economy has a large shadow economy is right  we do have an extraordinarily large shadow economy thanks to, or rather because of, our domestic offshore zone  the simplified taxation system.

By signing the agreement on association with the European Union, Ukraine has accepted the obligation to bring the national legislature in line with the European laws on taxation. Although there is no simplified taxation system in Europe, there really is a small share of small-scale entrepreneurs, who, despite various restrictions regarding the nature of their operations and the number of employees they hire, are allowed to choose whether they want to pay taxes as a corporation or as an individual. Everything is simple and straightforward. If someone sells goods at a market, whether alone or with the help of a hired assistance, if someone owns a restaurant, a barbershop or a hostel, he or she has the right to file his tax payments as an individual, which exempts him from the liability to pay VAT and turnover tax. However, there is a limit on the total income amount. This is very similar to our simplified taxpayers that operate as part of the first category. These are the people that could be exempt from paying VAT and other taxes payable by corporations. As of right now, the simplified taxpayers of the first category are paying only 0.7% of their turnover, as well as the unified social tax for themselves. That is arguably what should remain in place, that would be similar to the way it is in Europe. When it comes to simplified taxpayers included in the second category, they are indeed responsible for most of the money laundering. The third category of simplified taxpayers should be transferred to the general taxation system. But in order for that not to appear just as a stick, it would be appropriate to lower VAT payable by corporations from 20% to 18%. This would certainly be a great incentive for Ukrainian businesses.

Obviously, simplified taxpayers would object to any reforms, it is far easier to launder money for big corporations and to complain about taxes, oligarchs and all those who are standing in their way. But the problem is that as long as there will be simplified taxpayers of the second and third categories, there will be no real investors coming to Ukraine from overseas. There have been numerous instances of foreign entrepreneurs that were willing to operate in Ukraine and were operating legally and paying taxes here, but were forced out of the market by our domestic competitors who are laundering money through simplified taxpayers and, therefore, are able to lower their prices and thus increase profits. In the end, encouragements and ratings do not seem to help.

Of course, if simplified taxpayers of the second and third categories are offered an opportunity to be transferred to the general taxation system, many of them would simply shut down their operations. Because they are not willing or able to operate legally, and actually they didnt create a revolution to pay taxes like European businesses do. Thus, there might be an unemployment issue, but that is only in the short run. A reform of the simplified taxation scheme is like an operation for a patient who has cancer. At the beginning, the patient feels weak after the operation, but he gets better over time. But if no operation is performed, the patient simply dies. That is the case with our simplified taxation system. Surely, one could leave the issue as it is, but then the shadow economy would only flourish and all of Ukraines businesses would have to seek assistance from simplified taxpayers to launder their money. Another option is to create a policy similar to the European one, and it is certain to cause complaints and outrage in the short term. But after some time, it will become clear that it is better to operate like they do in the EU. I let you decide for yourself which option works better for you.When Angela Merkel receives Vladimir Putin on Saturday at Meseberg palace, a baroque German government retreat outside Berlin, the two will have a lot to talk about.

They could discuss claims of Russian interference in the US presidential election, or argue over allegations that Moscow ordered the poisoning of former Russian spies in the UK.

Instead, the German chancellors spokesman said, she and the Russian president will chew over three gristly topics: Syria, Ukraine and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

Perhaps the most significant fact is that the one-on-one meeting  Putins first in Germany since 2013  is taking place at all.

The meeting is a chance to normalise the German-Russian relationship at a working level without giving up fundamental differences, suggests Stefan Meister, Russia analyst at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP).

The two leaders are wily foxes of the international scene who have known each other in office since 2005, and have a wary relationship shot through with grudging respect for the others staying power.

Their long-running battle of wills and wits is most in evidence in the unresolved Ukraine conflict, which has claimed at least 10,000 lives since 2014. Along with its EU partners, Germany deplores the annexation of the Crimean peninsula, and is critical of Russian troops reportedly fighting alongside the pro-Russian separatists in control of Ukraines eastern regions.

Given how often the regional ceasefire she helped broker has been broken, Merkel hopes to at least prevent an escalation of tensions there  both on land and on the Black Sea between the Ukrainian and Russian navies.

Post-war order

On Syria, German foreign policy experts see a growing acceptance in Berlin that President Bashar al-Assad, supported by Russia, will be part of the post-war order in that country. Berlin has an interest in expediting the search for stability in Syria and allowing an estimated 500,000 Syrian refugees in Germany to return home.

In Meseberg the German leader will also sound out her Russian visitor on his efforts to exploit US tensions with Turkey to bring the Nato member into the Russian camp.

On Nord Stream 2, the planned second undersea gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, Merkel still has Donald Trumps broadside ringing in her ears; the US president said the project has made Germany an energy hostage of Russia.

Its not a new claim, and reflects fears in Poland and Ukraine that the pipeline will allow Russia bypass them, avoid much-needed transit fees and allow Moscow play politics again with energy.

After Trumps broadside Merkel is extra-sensitive to perceptions of sweetheart deals at others expense, and may press Russia to agree fixed gas quotas through older pipelines to calm their mutual neighbours.

In efforts to normalise Russian-German relations in difficult times, Trump has proved an unexpected catalyst. Washingtons retreat from the Iran nuclear deal, and its sanctions against Tehran, has put Russia and the EU on the same side of that argument, supporting Tehran alongside China.

And then there are new US sanctions against Russia that will come into effect next Wednesday, with further penalties likely unless the White House sees more engagement from Moscow over the poisoning in Britain of the Russian former spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter.

Given that looming threat Putin may offer his German host something to secure a quid pro quo to soften any sanctions blow to an already fragile economy, amid popular dissent in Russia over pension reforms.

German firms

At the same time Berlin has no interest in additional Washington action against Russia given the potential collateral damage to German firms involved in  or supplying to  the consortium building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia.

After years of estrangement there is growing agreement that the current Oval Office occupant has concentrated minds in Berlin and Moscow. At her last meeting with Putin in May, Merkel underlined her strategic interest in good German relations with Russia.

Obvious policy differences, the source of what she called open exchanges, did not mean the two countries did not have areas in which we are completely of one opinion, she said.

And there is one point on which the German and Russian leaders are in complete agreement. Both want to send out a signal to Washington, says Meister of Berlins DGAP, that they will not allow themselves be blackmailed by US president Donald Trump.

Read the original text here.Trust in democracy, refusal from hatred and self-sacrifice in the name of others deserve recognition of the free world, - former Polish leader

Open source

Lech Waesa, the Polish leader in 1990-1995, the holder of Nobel Peace Prize offered to nominate Ukrainian movie maker and political prisoner Oleg Sentsov for this prize.

The respective announcement was spread via the press service of the Polish Cinema Academy.

'Sentsov supported Euromaidan, stood for Ukraine as part of democratic Europe. He peacefully protested against the annexation of his native Crimea by Russia, and then he was arrested by Russian special services. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison due to the unfair trial, in spite of the fact that the witness recalled his testimony, given under pressure', reads the message.

He also recalled that more than a hundred days ago, Sentsov announced a hunger strike, demanding to release Ukrainian political prisoners from Russia.

As is known, Oleg Sentsov, the Ukrainian political prisoner, has been starving in Russia penal colony of Labytnangi for 100 days now. He annoiunched hunger strike in May 2014, demanding to release him and the rest of Ukrainian political prisoners illegally held by the Kremlin. Sentsov already survived three health crises; the medics warn that the fourth one, which might involve the breakdown of the body's internal organs, could begin anytime.

The native of Crimea, film director and political activist, Sentsov was illegally detained in Crimea in 2014, then taken to Russia. They judged him and sentenced him to 20 years of imprisonment at a high-security penal colony. The prosecutors charged Sentsov with preparing terrorist acts in the occupied Crimea. Sentsov denies his guilt. Ukraine's government, common citizens and the international society - politicians, artists, public figures - urge the Kremlin to release him.He got the similar answer on the request to speed up the consideration of the appeal of Sentsovs mother about the pardon of the son

Klyment, the Archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea got the refusal from the Russian authorities to pardon political prisoner Oleg Sentsov. Crimean Human Rights Group reported this citing the response of the commission of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug for the personal appeal of Archbishop Klyment to the president of Russia.

The document says that Ukrainian political prisoner Oleg Sentsov should appeal to President of Russia Vladimir Putin with the proper request in the written form and pass it to the administration of the prison to start the procedure of the pardon, the message said.

The officials refer to the order of the Russian president dated December 28, 2001 On the commission on pardon at the territories of the members of the Russian Federation.

On the results of the consideration (the appeal, verdict and characteristics of detainee), the conclusion on the feasibility of the pardon is made and it is passed to the governor of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The governor makes the submission to the president of Russia on the feasibility of the pardon of the particular prisoner, the document said.

A month ago, Archbishop Klyment asked the Russian leader to pardon Oleg Sentsov, Volodymyr Balukh and other political prisoners from Ukraine who currently serve time in Russia.

As is known, the native of Crimea, film director and political activist, Sentsov has been serving time in the Russian penal colony in Labytnangi since May 2014. This spring, he announced a hunger strike, demanding to release all Ukrainian political prisoners, illegally held by the Kremlin.

Oleg Sentsov was illegally detained in Crimea in 2014, then taken to Russia. They judged him and sentenced him to 20 years of imprisonment at a high-security penal colony. The prosecutors charged Sentsov with preparing terrorist acts in the occupied Crimea. Sentsov denies his guilt. Ukraine's government, common citizens and the international society - politicians, artists, public figures - urge the Kremlin to release him.

Sentsov enjoys the wide support of the many in Ukraine and abroad. Rallies, where participants urge to release him, are held worldwide - in Ukraine, Russia, the EU and the U.S.

Related video:It will be the biggest drills in the last four decades

Open source

Next month Russia will hold the military drills East  2018 that is the biggest one in the last four decades. Russias Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu claimed that 300,000 soldiers, 36,000 hardware units and more than 1,000 aircrafts will be involved as Interfax reported.

Totally, about 15 special exercises on troops support will take place.

Shoigu added that at the same time, the president can announce the sudden check of the readiness of the troops.

Also, Russias Defense Ministry claimed that East  2018 drills will become the biggest in Russia since 1981, when West  81 drills of the army and fleet of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact countries took place.

The drills will be held from September 11 to September 15 at the great number of the firing ranges of the Central and East military districts. The Airborne Forces, Pacific and Northern Fleets will also participate.

The military exercise West-2017 was held in Belarus on September 14-20. During the drills, on September 16, two Russian military aircrafts Il-76 invaded the airspace of Lithuania. Later on, NATO confirmed that the claimed numbers of military participating in the drills, given by Russia and Belarus, were false, although it would take time to give precise estimates.

Related video:In the nearest future, Ukraine will sing the proper agreement with Ukraine

Open source

The terms of the receipt of the tranche of the macro-financial aid in the sum of 1 billion euro from the EU by Ukraine are agreed. In the nearest future, the sides will sign the agreement. Mykola Tochytsky, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the EU claimed this as Interfax-Ukraine reported.

There is the progress, there are the terms. I cannot disclose them to you yet until the agreement is signed, he said.

At the same time, Tochytsky expressed the hope that such agreement will be signed in the future.

Earlier the Council of Europe has approved the allocation of one billion euro of the macro-financial aid to Ukraine.

As we reported the European Commission has decided to allocate another package of macro-financial assistance (MFA) worth up to 1 billion to Ukraine for the support of the countrys effort to implement structural reforms and stabilize its economy.

On May 29, the Ambassadors of the EU countries on the behalf of the EU Council approved the agreement with the EU Parliament on the parcel of the macro-financial aid to Ukraine.

Related video:Kyvi will turn to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, - Ukraine's permanent representative in the UN

Ukraine intends to raise the issue of Russias interference in the Ukrainian waters of the Sea of Azov and actions in the occupied Crimea by turning to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Ukraines permanent representative in the UN Volodymyr Yelchenko said that the next session of this authority is slated for late 2018.

According to the Ukrainian official, this question is already often mentioned in Ukraines lawsuits against Russia, when it comes to the UN International Court.

Earlier, Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry reported that it developed the complex of the measures as the response to the actions of Russia on the blocking of the navigation in the Sea of Azov and Black Sea. Volodymyr Omelyan, the Minister of Infrastructure claimed this as 5 TV Channel reported.

"We have a few quite weighty strikes in the response. I hope, the Cabinet of Ministers will support these countermeasures," he claimed. The minister also noted that it is premature to disclose these measures; however, the restriction of the passenger traffic with Russia is one of them.

Earlier, Sergiy Hayduk, the former commander of the Ukrainian Navy and the vice-admiral, suggested setting a mine barrier in the Sea of Azov to secure Ukraine against Russias possible attack.

Earlier, Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, during one of his speeches said that he did not exclude the fact that Russia is preparing an attack at Mariupol. Besides, as of July 15, Russian had detained 148 vessels in the Sea of Azov for inspection.

Due to this, Poroshenko entrusted the Defence Minister, the Head of the General Staff and Ukraines Navy command to take relevant measures to stop the Russian provocations concerning the blockage of the vessels entering to the Ukrainian ports in the Sea of Azov.It is reported that the denunciation of the treaty will allow Russia to proclaim the territorial dispute

Open source

There is no issue about the denunciation of the treaty on the Azov Sea with Russia. Olena Zerkal, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine claimed this as ministrys Twitter reported.

The denunciation of the treaty on the Azov Sea with Russia is out of question as it will allow Russia to proclaim the territorial dispute. For us it is the security issue, so we use the available tools to settle this issue, Zerkal noted.

Earlier, Sergiy Hayduk, the former commander of the Naval forces and the vice-admiral, suggested setting a mine barrier in the Sea of Azov to secure Ukraine against Russias possible attack.

Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, during one of his speeches said that he did not exclude the fact that Russia is preparing an attack at Mariupol. Besides, as of July 15, Russian had detained 148 vessels in the Sea of Azov for inspection.

Due to this, Poroshenko entrusted the Defence Minister, the Head of the General Staff and Ukraines Navy command to take relevant measures to stop the Russian provocations concerning the blockage of the vessels entering to the Ukrainian ports in the Sea of Azov.

Related video:The law does not provide the further increase in the share of the Ukrainian-language product in the radio market

Open source

Today, the final state of the implementation of the quotas for the Ukrainian-language songs and programs at radio begins in Ukraine as the transitional provisions of the proper draft law #1421-VIII reported.

From this day, the share of the Ukrainian-language songs should be 35% instead of 30% as it was earlier. The quota should be kept for 24 hours in the intervals: 7:00  14:00 and 15:00  22:00.

The percent of the programs at the state language should male not less than 60%. The issue is about the news, analytics and entertaining programs.

As we reported the Ukrainian media that broadcast to the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as to the territory of the annexed Crimea, will conduct 75% of their broadcasting in October this year in the Ukrainian language. The member of the National Council of Ukraine on TV and Radio Broadcasting Serhiy Kostinsky told about it.

Also, the volume of Ukrainian-language broadcasting content on TV became 98% after language quotas were adopted that is 23% more than the established quotas required.

In accordance with the law "On Amending Certain Laws of Ukraine on the Language of Audiovisual (Electronic) Media," all TV channels are required to observe a quota of 75% of Ukrainian-language broadcasts during the week between next hours 07:00 -18:00 and 18:00-22:00 on nationwide TV channels. For regional TV channels, the quota is reduced to 60%, although in the first reading this figure ever reached 50%. But this was not applied to news.

Related video:Land revenue data goes digital

The Department of Land Reforms and Management has completed digitising data of 29 Land Revenue Offices (LROs) from the 131 offices in the country.Open source

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will arrive in Ukraine in autumn. President Petro Poroshenko said that during his meeting with leaders of Ukraine's diplomatic institutions.

'In early November, Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel will visit Ukraine. This is a very bright evidence of special attention of our German partners and Berlin to development of mutually beneficial partnership with Kyiv', Poroshenko said.

Previously, Merkel stated Ukraine and Georgia have 'the clearest European perspective'. 'As for Germany's policy towards Eastern Europe, it's not a new initiative. Heiko Maas only stressed that good relations with Russia are very important, since it is a neighbor of the European Union, but on the other hand, we need a clear policy, how everything should be formed with regard to Eastern Europe, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, but Georgia and Ukraine are exactly the countries, which have the greatest European perspective, "she said.

Related: Merkel and Putin may seek a detente amid the Trump effect

In 2017 the Ukrainian parliament passed a law restoring the country's course towards NATO membership as a strategic goal of foreign and security policy. In turn, NATO began a discussion on the possibility of providing an Action Plan on Ukraine's membership in the Alliance.

Related: Merkel: Ukraine and Georgia have greatest European perspective

Related: Merkel, Niinisto discuss conflict in UkraineThe victim was dismembered. She had two kids

37-years-old Ukrainian Yaroslava Nenastina was found dead in Puebla, Mexico this week, as TSN reports.

This week a Ukrainian Yaroslava Nenastina, who went missing on August 10 in San Pedro Cholula, was found dead in farmland, the message says.

After the investigation, the police found and arrested the suspected murder, who will face the court. According to the investigation, the murder might be a Mexican named Alfonso.

He found the victim in a Mexican shop. Then they went to his apartment where he killed the woman, dismembered her and hid evidence leaving the remains in the field. But the clothes and distinguishing marks (tattoos) of the victim helped to identify and the alleged murder.

The Ukrainian was born in Kyiv, lived in Mexico for around 20 years and had two children  a 10-years-old boy and a 13-years-old girl.

Related video:American senator John McCain took offense to Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian President, for the offer to postpone the visit to Shyrokyne due to the artillery attacks performed by the militants in December 2016. The Head of the State said it in Avdiivka on August 26, Svyatoslav Tseholko, the Spokesperson of the President, posted a video on Facebook.

Poroshenko recalled the visit to Shyrokyne on December 31, 2016. According to him, John McCain postponed his visit to Georgia and said: My place is here.

10 km away from Shyrokyne my presidential security service informed that the enemy opened fire at the place of our destination. I told him: Listen, you are an American senator, you dont have to be there. I, as a president, have to be with my soldiers. It was the first time John was upset with me. For me thinking to propose him that. Moreover, we have a few great pictures of him and our soldiers. He said: Russia will pay a huge price for a completely irresponsible war. He dedicated all his life to protect Ukraine and Ukrainians, Poroshenko said.

Earlier, on December 31, 2016 Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, and John McCain, an American senator, visited Shyrokyne near the demarcation line.

Related video:The last visit of the U.S. Special Envoy to Ukraine took place in May 2018

Special Envoy of the U.S. to Ukraine Kurt Volker responsible for the settlement of the situation in Donbas will visit Ukraine in September as Voice of America reported.

The next visit of Kurt Volker to Ukraine is planned for September 13-16, the presenter said.

The U.S. Special Envoy noted that Vladislav Surkov, the affiliate of the Russian president did not confirm the feasibility of the next meeting.

The last visit of the U.S. Special Envoy to Ukraine took place in May 2018.

The last meeting between Volker and Surkov took place on January 26, 2018, in Dubai. Surkov claimed that the American proposal on deploying UN peacekeepers in Eastern Ukraine that has been presented by U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker seemed attainable.

Earlier Volker claimed that Ukraine should extend law on the special status of Donbas. He admitted that the law was adopted, but never actually implemented. However, he stated that the U.S. does not support the idea of the holding of any kind of the referendums in occupied Donbas as it will not be legitimate.

Related video:Most of the Crimean Tatar schools are also closed on the peninsula

There are no Ukrainian schools left in annexed Crimea, as Leonid Kuzmin, the member of the Ukrainian Culture Centre in Crimea, told Radio Krym.Relii.

None of seven schools, which were there before the occupation, are left. All the schools were switched to Russian or to a mixed language of education with classes in Ukrainian. Yet, most of the classes are in Ukrainian, Kuzmin said.

At the same time, one of the members of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People Bariyev added that there are only seven schools with Crimean Tatar language left among 16.

Official data of the so-called Ministry of Education, Science and Youth of Crimea says that in 2017-2018 there were seven municipal educational institutions with Crimean Tatar language of education, four with Russian and Crimea Tatar languages and five institutions which changed the status of a school with Crimean Tatar language of education to general education institution, which means without language of education defining, Bariyev said.

Russian authorities in Crimea minimized the hours of the Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian languages in general education schools. The representatives of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People stated that the authorities prevent Crimean Tatars from a possibility to learn mother tongue in schools.During the visit, the president will also meet the UN Secretary-General and Chairman of the UNGA

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko will address the meeting of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on September 26. Volodymyr Yelchenko, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to UN claimed this as 112.ua reported.

As for today, Poroshenko has conditionally such time-frame: from September 24 until September 27. Of course, it will be confirmed. On September 26, our president will address the UNGA right after the lunch break, Yelchenko claimed.

Poroshenko will also talk about Holodomor during the speech.

I think the president will definitely remember Holodomor issue as this year marks the 85th anniversary of this tragedy. During this session we will try to prepare and adopt the special declaration at the UNGA dedicated to this event, Yelchenko said.

Also, the president will meet the UN Secretary-General and Chairman of the UNGA.

Moreover, the president will meet the UN Secretary-General and Chairman of the UNGA. This year it is the Foreign Minister of Ecuador. Today all bilateral meetings are negotiated. I think, there will be a few dozens of meetings, Yelchenko claimed.

Towards the plans of the Ukrainian delegation on the future initiatives, Yelchenko announced a few unpleasant surprises for the Russian delegation.

We prepare a number of the initiatives to the UNGA and I cannot disclose them. You know, our powerful northern neighbor just waits for this. But as I said in the last year and a year before, a few unpleasant surprises are waiting for them. They concern Crimea, Donbas, issues with the conditional name Militarization of Crimea, he said.

Ukraines representative to the UN also added that the issue of the political prisoners will be raised at the resolutions.

A few new elements will be at the current resolutions, the most important of them is the issue of the political prisoners detained in Crimea and Russia. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these 70 people from our hostages list are the citizens of Crimea, beginning, of course, with Sentsov, Yelchenko said.

The 73rd UN General Assembly will open on September 18.

According to the speaking program published in the headquarters of the World organization, the plenary meeting of the high level is to be held on September 24. It will be dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of one of the most famous fighters for human rights Nelson Mandela.

The speeches of the leaders of the countries and heads of the delegation will begin on September 25 and will last until October 1.

Earlier we reported that Poroshenko plans to visit New York in September and take part in the meeting of the UNGA.

Related video:A greasy mud with a yellow shade appeared on metallic objects, roofs and leaves on the trees

Open source

An unknown substance was discharged in the air in the North Crimea, as Ihor Mikhaylichenko, so-called Vice-Premier of the peninsula, said, RIA News reported.

An unknown substance was discharged in Armyansk. A greasy mud with a yellow shade appeared on metallic objects, roofs and leaves on the trees, Mikhaylichenko told the journalists.

According to him, an expert team of Ministry of Ecology and natural resources of Crimea, of interregional directorate of Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Nuclear Oversight of Russia, and the representatives of the Prosecutors Office arrived at the site.

Necessary samples were gathered to conduct relevant analysis. The origin of the substance is not defined. We are waiting for the results of the analysis, Mikhaylichenko said.

Related video:

Ukraine news on 112.internationalServing God with all of our hearts no matter where we areNepal, India discuss oil and gas co-operation

Nepal and India on Tuesday held a meeting on a range of bilateral trade related issues including oil and gas co-operation between the two countries.Chandan Kumar Mandal is the environment and migration reporter for The Kathmandu Post, covering labour migration and governance, as well as climate change, natural disasters, and wildlife.Officials swoop on Balkhu veggie market

Officials of the Department of Supply Management and Protection of Consumers Interest swooped on the Balkhu Fruits and Vegetables Market on Monday in a crackdown on cartels in the vegetable business.New-born baby's hand amputated after month-long treatment, relatives cry foul

Relatives of a newly-born baby have blamed severe negligence by doctors after the babys hand had to be amputated following infections during a month-long treatment.Silver Heritage building casino resort in Jhapa

Australian-listed boutique casino operator Silver Heritage Group has moved to start another casino-cum-resort in Jhapa in eastern Nepal.Summit week: Foreign secretaries meet today

A meeting of senior officials of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) member states begins in Kathmandu on Tuesday.Shakya is the founder CEO of beed, an international management consulting and advisory firm. He is the author of Unleashing Nepal and Unleashing The Vajra.Work till you drop

Increasing retirement age is a question that calls for proper deliberation1. Yes. If a city of 150,000 cant provide safe drinking water for 10 days, a probe is needed.

2. Yes. Not only should there be a state investigation, but customers should get a rebate.

3. No. The city will be working with TCEQ to develop an after-action plan. That will suffice.

4. No. The whole episode was just an annoyance. An outside investigaton is unnecessary.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say without knowing more details about the issue.

Vote

View ResultsBy Damali Mukhaye.

The family of the kyandondo east legislator Robert Kyagulanyi also known as Bobi wine says it is waiting for a medical report from Rubaga hospital where he is currently admitted before he can be flown out to London for further treatment.

Bobi wine and 32 people others granted bail by the Gulu High court that was presided over by Justice Stephen Mubiru.

These are battling treason charges following their arrest in the Arua by election fracas.

His spokesperson Richard Kalema tells KFM that Bobi Wine will in the coming three days be taken to the London Royal hospital for further treatment after the report is out.

Yesterday the Opposition Democratic Party president Nobert Mao revealed that his party was in touch with the London Royal Hospital where Bobi Wine and Mityana Municipalitys Francis Zaake would be taken for treatment.

Bobi Wine who left Gulu town in an ambulance arrived at Lubaga Hospital at about 10pm.

He was checked in Clinical Ward 1 which is next to the ward where Francis Zaake has been receiving treatment for two weeks.

Related Stories..

Bobi Wine admitted at Rubaga hospital

Bobi wine and Zaake to be flown to London for treatment

Bobi Wine, Kasiano and 10 others granted bailBy Ruth Anderah.

The jailed former Inspector General of Police Gen.Kale Kayihura is expected to re-appear before the General Court Martial this morning for hearing of his bail application.

Gen. Kayihura was last week Friday 24th August charged with three counts relating to failure to protect war materials and aiding/abetting kidnapping of Rwandan Refugees.

Prosecution led by Maj Raphael Mugisha states that between the years 2010 and 2018, Gen Kayihura allowed the issue of arms and ammunitions to Boda-Boda 2010 patron Abdullah Kitatta, a person unauthorized to own a firearm.

In the second count, Kayihura is charged with failing to supervise and ensure accountability for arms and ammunitions he issued to specialized units under the office of IGP including Flying squad unit, specialized operations unit, witness protection unit and the Crime Intelligence Directorate of the police.

The former IGP has also been charged with aiding and abetting his junior soldiers to kidnap 3 Rwandan exiles, refugees and Ugandan citizens to Rwanda and denied all the 3 charges.

These are; Lt. Joel Mutabaazi, Jackson Kaleemera and Sgt Innocent Kaliisa.By Ruth Anderah.

Former Inspector General of Police Gen Kale Kayihura has been granted bail by the General Court Martial in Makindye.

The general was last week charged with three counts relating to failure to protect war materials and aiding/abetting the kidnap of Rwandan Refugees.

Through his team of lawyers led by Peter Kabatsi, Kayihura says he is still a serving General of the UPDF, of advanced age of 62 years, a lawyer by profession and that he has a permanent home on Sekindi road in Makindye division.

In his affidavit supporting his bail application, Gen Kayihura says he has no known record of a criminal offense anywhere in the world until last Friday when he was charged with failure to protect war materials and aiding kidnap.

General Kayihura through his lawyer Peter Kabatsi further says his current medical condition needs external intervention having been in illegal detention for the at least 76 days.

Kayihura presented sureties to court among them was Maj. General Samuel Kavuma the deputy commandant of Land forces, Maj. General James Mugira who is the managing director of National Enterprises and his cousin the Entebbe municipality MP Rosemary Tumusiime

In his ruling the chairman of the court Gen Andrew Gutti granted Kayihura a non cash bond of shs 10M and his sureties to execute a non cash bond of shs 5M.

Gutti has also restricted Kayihura from travelling abroad and while here in Uganda, his movement is only restricted within Kampala and Wakiso unless permission is granted by court and the army leadership, since he is a serving soldier.The Gemeral is also required to report to the court every 1st Monday of every month.

His sureties were also warned that bail will be cancelled if any of the bail conditions were breached.

Related Stories.

Museveni  Kayihura crippled police

Speaker stops parliament from debating Kayihura arrest

UPDF refutes Kayihura arrestBy Ssebuliba Samuel

The newly elected Member of Parliament for Arua Municipality Kassiano Wadri has vowed to appeal against the court ruling that has barred him from his constituency for a period of three month.

While releasing 33 suspects including four members of parliament yesterday, the Gulu High court judge Joseph Mubiru said that Wadri will not be allowed to access his constituency for three month because his presence can jeopardize police investigations.

Wadri now says he cannot stay away from his people for all this period, and thus he is planning to run back to court to secure his total freedom.

He says that he is a duly elected member of parliament, who was elected to serve his people.By Ritah Kemigisa.

Police in Nansana have arrested a 23 year old Makerere University student for allegedly faking her own kidnap and demanding a five millions ransom from her friends.

The student has been identified as Jane Francis Nampijja, a resident of Nsumbi, Kyebando Nansana Municipality, Wakiso District.

Nampijja allegedly disappeared from home on Saturday morning and sent messages to all friends using her phone, claiming that she was in the hands of kidnappers and that they were demanding a ransom.

Her relatives immediately reported the matter at Nansana Police Station but following police intelligence, Nampijja was located and and found at Mark Cottages where she had rented a room.

According to the Kampala metropolitan police commander, she has now been arrested and is currently detained at Nansana Police station.

She said the ransom money was intended to facilitate her planned outings with friends.13:35 | Beijing (China), Aug. 28.





During this official visit he said Peru presented 52 investment projects to members of the National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China (NDRC) , the Asian Giant's economic planning agency.





"This visit has been fruitful. China has evinced interest in investing in Lima Metro lines 3 and 4. The country has a vast experience in infrastructure development and might perfectly compete for these projects ()," he told Andina news agency.





According to the diplomat, Chinese authorities' interest in different development-related initiatives in Peru makes it possible to determine the areas in which investment can be encouraged in the following years.





The abovementioned projects were selected by State-run Private Investment Promotion Agency (ProInversion) to cover fields of infrastructure , mining, manufacture, energy, connectivity, industrial parks, among others.





transportation of Likewise he continued Peru has a vast coastline, so additional ports are needed to enhanceof minerals and commercial exchange





He explained the NDRC will pick projects that are of interest to China, put them on a priority list, and promote them so that Chinese firms can participate in tenders issued by the Peruvian State.





"We've also discussed a future cooperation to develop clean technologies, as well as solar and wind energy ()," he added.













The diplomat told Chinese authorities that Peru is experiencing an economic recovery , which will lead to sustained growth over the next months and years.





(END) SMA/VVS/RMB/MVB

Peruvian Foreign Affairs Minister Nestor Popolizio stressed the promising results of his trip to China, noting Chinese authorities' interest in Lima Metro lines 3 and 4.Published: 8/28/2018Bilingual Preschools

Leveraging language

by Sabine Bickford

From the August, 2018 issue

American immigrants have long turned toward early immersive language programs for their children as a way to preserve a connection to their heritage. More recently, other parents have caught on to the benefits.



Jessica Carter is director of the Manzanitas Spanish Immersion Preschool on Packard near Eisenhower. A mile east on Packard, just past Platt, May DeLosh directs May's Chinese/English Bilingual Preschool.



PreK kids, both directors explain, are at a prime position to learn a new language and gain the benefits.



"After twelve years old, you could have a hard time learning tones," says DeLosh. Chinese is a tonal language, and she says that mastering tones early can also help children with music and math.



The schools encourage kids to learn through play, and let them speak whatever language feels most comfortable. "If they need water," says Carter, "or to go to the bathroom, or a hug, they can tell us those things in English and we'll just repeat it in Spanish."



Both schools also are seeing more students who have no family connection to the language. DeLosh estimates only 25 percent of her students have Chinese heritage, while Carter estimates that hers are equally divided between families with and without a native speaker at home.



Both directors say they'd like to see more immersive and multilingual preschools, and better language education for American children. "The most important goal is that we get kids exposed to this valuable language," says DeLosh. "I think everyone should go to an immersion program like ours!" Carter agrees.



[Originally published in August, 2018.]







Russia and the United States are planning to step up research in the Bering Sea and the Arctic beginning in 2019, Rosrybolovstvo website says following the 29th session of the Russia-US intergovernmental fisheries advisory committee.

"Overall, Russia and the United States confirmed their commitment to step up their coordinated research in the Bering Sea and the Arctic to assess the state of aquatic biological resources in 2019 and beyond," the report reads.

In addition, the parties reviewed the results of the study of marine biological resources and shared the results of research on the status of populations of Bering Sea pollock. It was noted that when discussing fisheries regulation, the United States welcomed Russia's proposal to exchange information on salmon by-catch during pollock fishery. The meeting participants also presented estimates of the reserves of a number of other biological resources in the parties' respective areas in the Bering Sea.

The participants focused in particular on cooperation to prevent illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and compliance with corresponding intergovernmental agreement.

On a separate note, the parties discussed prospects for scientific cooperation in the Arctic region in the context of the planned signing of an agreement on preventing unregulated fishing on the high seas in the central part of the Arctic Ocean.

In addition, Russia and the United States discussed trading in fish and seafood in connection with the US initiating a process of certifying foreign fisheries as part of implementing the law on protecting marine mammals. The parties agreed to continue consultations.YEREVAN, AUGUST 28, ARMENPRESS. US President Donald Trump cancelled the visit of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to North Korea after the latter received a belligerent letter from a senior North Korean official just hours after the trip was announced last week, Reuters reports citing The Washington Post.

The Post quoted two unnamed senior U.S. administration officials as saying the letter came on Friday from Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of North Koreas ruling Workers Party Central Committee, who led previous rounds of talks with Pompeo.

The newspaper said the exact contents of the message were unclear, but it was sufficiently belligerent that Trump and Pompeo decided to call off the journey.YEREVAN, AUGUST 28, ARMENPRESS. In case of considering the issue of Azerbaijans membership to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Armenia will use its right to veto, Armenian foreign ministrys acting spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan said during todays press briefing, commenting on rumors about Azerbaijans possible membership to the CSTO and EAEU, reports Armenpress.

Such discussions really are taking place within analytical circles, but these discussions in such circles are being held based on alleged information. I will express the official position of Armenias foreign ministry. If such issue is considered, Armenia will use its right to veto, she said.

The acting spokesperson clarified that the decisions in the CSTO and EAEU are being made based on consensus. We have expressed our stance on this matter, and that stance doesnt give rise to double comments. That stance has been clearly raised by foreign minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, she said.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, AUGUST 28, ARMENPRESS. The launch of process on replacing the Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) by Armenia has been followed by a stage of consultations in different platforms of the organization, Armenian foreign ministrys acting spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan told reporters at a briefing, asked at what stage is the replacement process of the CSTO chief, reports Armenpress.

Consultations are being held in accordance with the existing rules of procedures aimed at finding consensus solutions, as well as clarifying these rules of procedures, she said.

Asked whether a representative not from Armenia will be appointed CSTO Secretary General, the MFA acting spokeswoman reminded that during the CSTO summit n 2015 6 member states of the organization made a decision based on consensus according to which the representatives of member states can be appointed as CSTO chief by rotation, according to the Russian alphabet. According to this procedure, Armenia has fixed the position of the CSTO Secretary General for three-year term and accordingly has presented its candidate, and all decisions in the CSTO are being made based on consensus, Naghdalyan said.

Armenia proposed the partner states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to start a process of replacing the Secretary General. The Special Investigative Service of Armenia has charged CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov over the 2008 March 1 case under the Article 300.1 part 1 of the Criminal Code for breaching the constitutional order of the Republic of Armenia in conspiracy with others. Khachaturov was serving as deputy defense minister of Armenia in 2008.

On July 27 the Special Investigative Service filed a motion to remand Khachaturov into custody. The court approved the motion. But on July 28, Yuri Khachaturov has been released on bail.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, AUGUST 28, ARMENPRESS. The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) will not nominate a candidate for mayor during the upcoming Yerevan City Council elections, Vice Speaker of the Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov told reporters, reports Armenpress. He clarified that they see more important foreign and domestic issues in the post-revolutionary situation, than the local-self governance elections.

Our decision not to participate in the Yerevan City Council elections is linked with several factors, the first one is that today is a post-revolutionary situation in Armenia, the main theatrical stage is the Parliament, and there are more important foreign and domestic challenges for Armenia, than the local self-government elections, Sharmazanov said.

Commenting on the view according to which when their party was in power, he was calling on the opposition to participate in the local self-government elections, Sharmazanov said not always his opinion is a majority in the party. The political figures can change their opinion in case of the change of the situation. Perhaps now there are more serious issues in the political field than these elections, he said, adding that they havent discussed yet whom they are going to support during the upcoming elections.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, AUGUST 28, ARMENPRESS. The key achievement of German Chancellors recent visit to Armenia were the talks aimed at deepening the bilateral relations, Armenian foreign ministrys acting spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan said during todays press briefing, reports Armenpress.

During the visit, during the Armenian-German meetings at different levels the officials constantly talked about the bilateral commitment to deepen and develop the relations. Certain agreements have been reached on this direction, she said.

Anna Naghdalyan said the next important factor of the visit was the reference to the Armenia-EU agenda issues. Within this framework the issue of visa liberalization has been discussed over which we have received the concrete assurances of the German side, she added.

The MFA acting spokeswoman said the Armenian side is going to present concrete proposals and programs for the development of the bilateral relations.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, AUGUST 28, ARMENPRESS. The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) is ready to cooperate with all political forces, including 2nd President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan, Vice Speaker of the Parliament, RPA spokesperson Eduard Sharmazanov told reporters in the Parliament, reports Armenpress.

The RPA is a consolidated political force. We are ready to cooperate with all political forces, including Robert Kocharyan. As a state, political figure Robert Kocharyan has much to say and do in Armenias political field. This is my private opinion, he said.

Sharmazanov thinks that Kocharyan will engage in politics, moreover, he is already engaged in politics.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, AUGUST 28, ARMENPRESS. The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Faroe Islands have opened a new page for cooperation, the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) told Armenpress.

The EEC and the government of Faroe Islands have signed a memorandum of understanding. The document has been signed by EEC minister in charge of Integration and Macroeconomics Tatyana Valovaya and minister of foreign affairs and trade of the Faroe Islands Poul Michelsen.

The agreement is a result of long-term talks between the EEC and the Faroe side which reflects the commitment of the sides over complete cooperation.

From 2010 to 2017 our trade turnover increased almost 20 times and reached 393.2 million USD. These are perfect figures. But I think that the markets of the EAEU remaining member states, except Russia, are not sufficiently examined by the Faroe Islands. Within the frames of the memorandum we are creating a joint working group which will allow to intensify our contacts with all states of our Union, the EEC minister said.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, AUGUST 28, ARMENPRESS. On August 28, in accordance with the arrangement reached with the authorities of the Republic of Artsakh, the OSCE Mission conducted a planned monitoring of the ceasefire regime on the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Artsakh and Azerbaijan, at the Omar pass, Artsakhs foreign ministry told Armenpress.

From the positions of the Defense Army of the Republic of Artsakh, the monitoring was conducted by Field Assistant to the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office (CiO) Ghenadie Petrica (Moldova) and staff member of the Office of the CiO Personal Representative Martin Schuster (Germany).

From the opposite side of the Line of Contact, the monitoring was conducted by Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, his Field Assistant Mihail Olaru (Moldova) and Personal Assistant Simon Tiller (Great Britain).

The monitoring passed in accordance with the agreed schedule.

From the Artsakh side, the monitoring mission was accompanied by representatives of the Republic of Artsakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, AUGUST 28, ARMENPRESS. The Police of Armenia deny the media report according to which Police Chief Valeri Osipyan is going to resign in October, reports Armenpress.

The Police issued a statement which says: One of the media outlets reported that Police Chief Valeri Osipyan is going to resign in October. We announce that the Police Chief continues working normally and has many long-term programs which are being and will be implemented in the predetermined timeframes. As for the Police Chiefs plan to settle in Europe, we just want to state that today our compatriots return to home from Europe, and such stories are just ridiculous. We urge to refrain from misleading the reader with inaccurate news.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, AUGUST 28, ARMENPRESS. Armenias President Armen Sarkissian and Speaker of the Parliament Ara Babloyan had a meeting on August 28, the Parliament told Armenpress.

Speaker Babloyan came up with the proposal to meet earlier with the statement made on the countrys domestic political situation.

Ara Babloyan informed the President that during yesterdays meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan they stated that all steps aimed at solving the issues should be in accordance with democratic standards and in an atmosphere of political dialogue, negotiations and discussions.

President Armen Sarkissian highlighted the importance of the Constitution and reaffirmed his stance according to which the issues are solved at best through dialogue and talks, and the sides respect the agreements reached during these talks by consistently taking actions directed for these agreements, learning lessons and recording success.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, AUGUST 28, ARMENPRESS. The Eurasian Week forum will be held in Yerevan from October 22 to 24 within the frames of which the jewelry producers and suppliers and the representatives of the leadership will jointly discuss new digital solutions for the protection of the jewelry market, reports Armenpress.

The idea of creating a jewelry holding company in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the development prospects of the Eurasian jewelry distribution network will also be discussed.

The discussions titled Jewelry industry upload from workshop to brands will be dedicated to the development of jewelry distribution network in markets.

The discussions will also focus on how to organize the export of jewelry products from the EAEU member states to the global market.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, 28 AUGUST, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 28 August, USD exchange rate down by 0.08 drams to 482.73 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 4.16 drams to 565.04 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.01 drams to 7.17 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 2.94 drams to 623.06 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 3.08 drams to 18588.46 drams. Silver price down by 0.04 drams to 226.9 drams. Platinum price down by 2.02 drams to 12198.82 drams.Lawyers for Argentine ex-president Cristina Kirchner said Tuesday they will call in human rights observers to counter "violations" by prosecutors investigating her for corruption. Her defense team plans to ask the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights to send observers to examine the investigation led by prosecutor Claudio Bonadio. Lawyer Gregorio Dalbon said the investigation into the former president "is violating all legal procedures." A key complaint is the refusal to allow one of her lawyers to be present at a search of her home last week. Raids were carried out at three Kirchner residences in Buenos Aires and Patagonia after the Senate voted to temporarily suspend Kirchner's immunity. "Human rights and due process have been subjugated in one way or another," Dalbon told AFP. Now leader of the opposition in the Senate, 65-year-old Kirchner was president from 2007-2015. She is the highest-ranking official being investigated in the so-called corruption notebooks case, which has already ensnared dozens of former government officials and top businessmen. Prosecutors believe a total of $160 million was paid by business leaders to Kirchner and her supporters in return for state contracts during a 10-year period from 2005-2015. Kirchner is being investigated in five other cases. She remains hugely popular and claims her political opponents are trying to derail a possible run for the presidency next year. Argentine Federal Police officers raid ex-president Cristina Kirchner's vacation home as part of the so-called corruption notebooks case, in El Calafate, Santa Cruz province, on August 25, 2018.A 32-year-old French man has had to be restrained due to his erratic behaviour on a flight from Bali to Perth, which was diverted to Port Hedland where he was taken into custody, police say.

A 29-year-old French woman who was travelling with the man was also allegedly being disruptive and was detained by police.

The flight continued to Perth, where federal police spoke to the crew and passengers who witnessed the incident, and the investigation is ongoing.

A Melbourne homeowner has given new meaning to the term fire sale after his last minute decision to create ambience at his open house inspection ended in disaster.

What should have been a routine inspection filled with prospective buyers and curious neighbours quickly became an emergency scene filled with firefighters after the owner turned to his fireplace to set the mood on Saturday afternoon.

(The owner) thought he would set a bit of ambience but I think he got a bit more than he bargained for in the end, Greg Hocking, from Greg Hocking Real Estate, told Yahoo7 News

As one interested party made their way through the four-bedroom house in Fraser Street, Middle Park, they noticed smoke filtering through the roof tiles.

The Middle Park home went up in flames during the middle of Saturdays inspection. Image: Supplied/Greg Hocking

The recently renovated home had a price guide range of $2.3 to $2.41 million.

Everyone inside the house was quickly evacuated to the street as fire crews from Windsor and South Melbourne stations raced to the scene.

By the time they arrived the home was fully alight. Crews with breathing apparatus attacked the blaze from inside the property, with Mr Hocking saying their heroic efforts saved the house from being completely destroyed.

The top floor of the home was completely engulfed in flames, resulting in extensive damage to a bedroom, the roof and ceiling.

Firefighters inspect the damge after controlling the blaze. Source: Metropolitan Fire Brigade

There was considerable damage to the upstairs of the Middle Park home. Source: Metropolitan Fire Brigade

I told the vendor it couldnt have happened at a better time  there was no-one asleep in the house and everyone had ample time to get out fairly quickly, Mr Hocking said.

The homeowner is hoping repairs on the house will be completed within the next couple of months before it returns to the market.

Metropolitan Fire Brigade said the incident is a timely reminder for homeowners to make sure their chimneys and fireplaces are free of any obstructions.Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday condemned violent far-right protests that degenerated into attacks against foreign-looking people, saying "hate in the streets" has no place in Germany. After the fatal stabbing of a German man, 35, allegedly by a Syrian and an Iraqi, thousands of protesters marched in the eastern city of Chemnitz for two straight days, some chasing down people they believed were immigrants. Police reported assaults by extremists against at least three foreigners on Sunday, while investigations were opened in 10 cases of the protesters performing the illegal Hitler salute. At least 20 people were injured on Monday as pyrotechnics and other objects were hurled by both far-right demonstrators as well as anti-fascist counter-protesters in the city. "What we have seen is something which has no place in a constitutional democracy," Merkel told journalists. "We have video recordings of (people) hunting down others, of unruly assemblies, and hate in the streets, and that has nothing to do with our constitutional state." Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said federal police were ready to provide back-up for overwhelmed officers in Saxony state, where Chemnitz is located. But there was little sign of the marches spreading further Tuesday, with a right-wing demonstration in the state capital Dresden attracting just 50 people, according to regional newspaper Saechsische Zeitung. - 'Pogrom sentiment' - The ugly scenes of mostly white men, many of them extremist football hooligans, hurling abuse at people they deemed to be foreigners, have deeply alarmed Germany. "Of course history is not repeating itself, but that a far-right mob is on a rampage in the middle of Germany and the authorities are overwhelmed, is reminiscent of the situation during the Weimar Republic," said Spiegel Online. The Weimar years were marked by the formation of paramilitary groups, such as the Sturmabteilung or SA, which eventually helped the Nazis to power. Josef Schuster, who chairs the Central Council of Jews in Germany, also voiced his alarm, saying it is "now the duty of citizens to counter the far-right mob". Anetta Kahane of the anti-racism Amadeu Antonio Foundation told news channel NTV that, while people have the right to demonstrate, "what happened in Chemnitz went beyond that -- it was incitement to hatred and the propagation of pogrom sentiment." The circumstances that led to the death of the German man remain unclear, but the far-right quickly mobilised Sunday as word spread online that the key suspects were foreigners. Saxony's interior minister Roland Woeller said hooligans from across Germany, including as far as the western states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, had travelled to Chemnitz for the marches. State premier Michael Kretschmer warned that a false claim that the man was stabbed while defending a woman was circulating online, as he urged the population to seek credible news sources. He also stressed that the nationalities of the suspects were "absolutely no reason to cast general suspicion on all foreign-born citizens". - 'Nothing more dangerous' - Saxony state, where Chemnitz is located and which is the birthplace of the Islamophobic PEGIDA street movement, has repeatedly come under intense scrutiny as a hotbed for hate crimes. The state is at the heart of misgivings over Germany's decision to welcome more than a million asylum seekers since 2015, many from war-torn Syria and Iraq. Railing against the newcomers, the far-right AfD party has made significant gains in Saxony and is poised, according to the latest polls, to become the second biggest party in its regional elections next year. Critics warned that the authorities have for years failed to take the far-right threat seriously. "The state can never allow our streets to be overrun by far-right mobs," said Bild daily, adding that at the same time, Berlin needs to promptly deport criminal foreigners. "For too long, nothing has been done. That's why confidence in the state is crumbling. That's why racists like in Chemnitz think they can do what they want. Nothing could be more dangerous for our country." Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung noted that "where such hunting down of foreigners is possible, the rule of law has abdicated," while Die Welt daily warned that "the rule of law and police now face a test". "There cannot be a zone of violence, there is no such thing as partial security," said Welt. Protests flared for the second day in the eastern German city of Chemnitz following the death of a 35-year-old German national Saxony, the far-right AfD party's German stronghold: map with 2017 election results and opinion polls. Images of mostly white men hurling abuse at people they deemed to be foreigners, have deeply alarmed Germany The German state of Saxony, where Chemnitz is located, is the birthplace of the Islamophobic PEGIDA street movementIran's parliament declared its dissatisfaction with President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday, voting to reject his answers after grilling him over the deteriorating economy. It was the first time Rouhani had been summoned by parliament in his five years in power, and MPs demanded answers on unemployment, rising prices and the sharp depreciation of the rial, which has lost more than half of its value since April. The lawmakers, who have already impeached his labour and economy ministers this month, were unimpressed. In votes at the end of the session, they expressed dissatisfaction with Rouhani's responses to four of their five questions on the economy. In the coming days, they will decide whether the government's failures on these issues amount to a breach of legal obligations and should be referred to the judiciary. The economy has been battered by the return of US sanctions following President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. Rouhani trod a difficult line, seeking to acknowledge the problems facing ordinary Iranians without admitting to a full-blown crisis. "It should not be said we are facing a crisis. There is no crisis. If we say there is, it will become a problem for society and then a threat," he told parliament. - 'Afraid of our disagreements' - As usual, Rouhani offered no concrete policy proposals, instead saying the answer lay in showing a united front. "You may talk about employment, foreign currency, recession, smuggling... I think the problem is in people's view of the future," he said. "The people are not afraid of the United States, they are afraid of our disagreements. If the people see we are united, they will realise the problems will be resolved." But Rouhani's government -- which staked everything on its bid to attract foreign investment through a more "moderate" approach to relations with the West -- has been badly weakened by the return of sanctions. Most foreign firms have abandoned investment projects in Iran, and the next phase of renewed US sanctions in November will hit the crucial oil sector. "We will not allow a bunch of anti-Iranians who have gathered in the White House to conspire against us," Rouhani vowed. - 'Palace of wishes' - But most Iranians blame the government for failing to capitalise on the nuclear deal. "You created a palace of wishes called the JCPOA," said Mojtaba Zolnour, an MP for the religious centre of Qom, using the technical name for the nuclear deal. "With one kick from Trump, this palace was demolished, and you didn't have an alternative," he said. Despite the impeachment of two of his ministers, Rouhani himself is protected by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who said recently that removing the president would "play into the hands of the enemy". That may explain the soft line taken by several speakers, with one conservative MP, Hossein Naghavi-Hosseini, emphasising: "We will stand by your government for the sake of protecting the system of the Islamic republic." But when it came to the votes, lawmakers accepted only one of Rouhani's answers -- related to international banking sanctions, which they agreed were beyond his government's control. Rouhani has even lost support among reformists who had backed him as the best option after their own leaders were either locked up or barred from standing for office. Leading reformist Mostafa Tajzadeh, who has spent several years in jail for criticising the system, said Rouhani's parliament appearance was a missed opportunity. "By explaining the reasons for the country's problems, Rouhani could have taken a big step towards increasing public awareness," he wrote on Twitter. "Parliament's negative votes shows that failing to disclose the facts will only embolden our rivals and disappoint the people." The only previous time a president has been questioned was in 2012 when parliament summoned Rouhani's controversial predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose erratic, populist style had alienated him from the establishment and further damaged Iran's international standing. It was after that session that MPs decided they should vote on the president's answers, deputy speaker Ali Motahari explained to ISNA news agency this week, because Ahmadinejad's responses were so "strange" and unconvincing. Iran's parliament has expressed dissatisfaction with President Hassan Rouhani's answers to its questions over his handling of the deteriorating economy just two days after impeaching his economy minister It was the first time that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had been summoned by parliament in his five years in power but as usual he offered no concrete policy proposals, instead saying repeatedly that the answer lay in a show of unity Iranian lawmakers gesture during President Hassan Rouhani's answers to the their questions in which he sought to shift the blame for the deteriorating economy to Washington even though most Iranians blame his government

Former foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop has revealed her one regret after failing in her bid to become the new prime minister in a leadership spill that caused chaos in parliament last week.

After she was beaten by new prime minister Scott Morrison in the Liberal leadership spill last week, Ms Bishop announced she would quit and return to the backbench in parliament.

Today in a press conference Ms Bishop said she had to make rapid decisions following the leadership spill without giving them proper consideration.

She admitted she did not get the chance to talk directly to those who would be most impacted by the life-changing choices she had to make.

Julie Bishop says she did not speak to those who would be most affected by her decision. Source: AAP

The chain of events that unfolded last week was at such a rapid pace that I had to make a number of what some might say were life-changing decisions without giving them my usual due regard for the consequences, she said in a press conference in Canberra on Tuesday.

While Im very comfortable with the decisions that I have made, there were a number of people who I didnt speak to directly, who were those most affected by them.

Ms Bishop served as the deputy of the Liberal Party under three leaders, and has not ruled out vying for the leadership position again in the future.

Its far too early to even contemplate what I might do, she said.

But I will certainly have plenty of time to consider my options and reflect on what has been an extraordinary time.

There was speculation Julie Bishop (right) would leave parliament alongside friend and former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull (left). Source: AAP

The 62-year-old bucked widespread speculation she would immediately leave parliament alongside good friend Mr Turnbull.

But she said she had the overwhelming support of her constituents and was optimistic about my future, whatever it may hold.

Ms Bishop said she wanted to move on from last weeks leadership spill drama.

I dont think that it is going to assist the new government if I pontificate on those issues, she said.A teenage learner driver has died after her car stalled on a level crossing during a test and the instructor jumped out, leaving her to be hit by an oncoming train.

The 18-year-old, who police named only as Angelika, later died in hospital but her examiner escaped unhurt in the village of Zaskale in southern Poland

Eyewitnesses said the driving instructor did nothing to help the girl even after the crash as she lay dying in the wreckage of the car.

A learner driver has died in Poland after her car stalled on a level crossing and the instructor jumped out, leaving her to be hit by an oncoming train. Source: CEN/Australscope

The horrific accident was captured in the background of CCTV security camera footage from a workplace close to the railway lines.

It shows the red Suzuki Baleno come to a halt on the unmanned level crossing and the examiner jump out just before the train smashes into the car.

The 62-year-old man, whose name has not been released, got out after Angelika stalled the engine in the middle of the crossing and could not get it going again.

He was still walking away from the car when the train, between the towns of Nowy Targ and Zakopane, arrived and smashed into the vehicle.

When we ran to the wreck, the girl was strapped in and the instructor stood nearby and did nothing, eyewitness Rafal Kwak, 40, said.

I wanted him to give me a first aid kit but he couldnt find it. She was still breathing, but she was very wheezy, she was getting weaker. She was disappearing before our eyes.

Another witness, 39-year-old Michal, said: The girl had a big head wound, her blood was everywhere, we tried to stop it. I heard her heavy breathing, fading in front of us.

Another onlooker, who declined to be named, said: The examiner escaped at the last minute, the girl, unfortunately, didnt. She tried to move but was half a metre away from surviving, she was already starting to move the car.

Story continues

The 18-year-old, who police named only as Angelika, later died in hospital but her examiner escaped unhurt. Source: CEN/Australscope

He added that the train driver had been sounding his horn for several seconds: Then I saw the train pushing the car along the tracks in front of me.

Angelika suffered multiple injuries and was rushed by ambulance to a hospital in Nowy Targ where she died later that day. The train driver and his passengers were unhurt.

The video of the tragic accident was later shared on Facebook where online commentators were almost unanimous in condemning the driving instructor.

The examiner is obliged to ensure safety during the exam. In my opinion, this is the examiners fault solely and exclusively! You can see the oncoming train here, one post said.

I dont understand he got out of the car and wanted to stop the train? Let him be responsible for what he did, another said.

An investigation into the accident has been launched by the District Prosecutors Office in Nowy Targ.

 Australscope

A Spanish towns alternative to the Running of the Bulls has left one man seriously injured.

A 29-year-old was rushed to hospital with a severe head injury after the Running of the Ball festival in Mataelpino near Madrid on Sunday.

He was crushed against a metal barrier whilst participating in the event.

The festival was created as an animal-friendly alternative to the annual Running of the Bulls event in Pamplona, which has killed 15 people.

Now helmets for participants are being considered to make the Running of the Ball festival safer.

The Running of the Ball event near Madrid on Sunday. Source: Storyful

The latest incident comes after two people were seriously injured in the event last year after being crushed against a metal barrier by a 300kg resin ball.

We have talked to some brands to try to get sponsorship for the use of helmets, Mataelpino mayor Javier de los Nietos told Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

We havent done it earlier because we didnt want people to be overconfident and think that nothing will happen if the ball hits them.

Participants in the festival run away from a ball that weighed 250kg this year. Source: Storyful

The Telegraph reports witnesses said the 29-year-old man froze as the ball approached him.

People who are used to bulls know they cant just stand still in front of them because they could be gored. But with the ball some people think that nothing will happen to them, but this is not the case. If they get a direct hit, it can be serious, de los Nietos said.

During the Running of the Ball festival, participants run through a passageway created by metal barriers, escaping a ball that this year reportedly weighed 250 kilograms.Melbourne shivered through its chilliest night in over a year, as overnight temperatures dropped to the coldest the city has seen in 13 months.

Commuters battled to scrape the frost off their windscreens as they woke, after temperatures dipped to 1.9 degrees overnight.

Frost blankets the gardens at Broughton Hall and Muskers Nursery, West Gippsland this morning  just over an hour from Melbourne. Source: thegardenatbroughtonhall / Instagram

While the city slept, it was even colder in the suburbs and on the citys fringe.

The temperature at the airport dipped to a 13-month low of -0.4, and the eastern suburb of Scoresby froze to a three-year low of -1.4, according to Sky News Weather.

 An overnight minimum temperature in #Melbourne of 1.9C, that's the chilliest morning we've had this year. Looking likely to be even colder tomorrow 

check out the forecast https://t.co/TQpwJXk0Gq  Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) August 27, 2018

A Yarra Valley woman captured a picture of heavy frost this morning, which she shared on Instagram.

Over in Coldstream, north east of the city, it was a chilly -3 at 7am Tuesday.

Last night, the Bureau of Meteorology released a severe frost warning for most of the state, with the Gippsland region expected to cop severe frost.

A frost warning has been issued for all districts in #Victoria apart from east Gippsland, with a severe frost warning for the north east district. https://t.co/5AEXK8NIs7 @VicFarmers pic.twitter.com/Oy4aHbSY5N  Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) August 27, 2018

Its a cold start and even colder tomorrow morning, said 7 News Melbourne meteorologist Jane Bunn.

Story continues

She predicted widespread frost, local fog, then a mostly sunny day, for the rest of Tuesday, with light winds and a maximum temperature of 13.

Another freezing blast is forecast for Melbourne on Wednesday before the sun comes out to reach a top of 15.

It changes on Thursday. No more cold starts, Ms Bunn said.

Rain is expected for Thursday and Friday, before easing to showers over the weekend, to bring in the first day of spring on Saturday.Serena Williams made a triumphant return to the US Open on Monday, opening her bid for a record-tying 24th Grand Slam title with a 6-4, 6-0 first-round victory over Magda Linette. Williams, a six-time champion at Flushing Meadows, missed last year's edition as she gave birth to daughter Olympia on September 1. She was all-business on her return under the floodlights on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court, where she has lifted the trophy six times. Linette, the world number 68 from Poland who was facing Williams for the first time, held her own in the early going. But Williams broke her in the seventh game of the opening set to gain the upper hand and from there the American superstar rolled. The first set was tight," Williams, seeded 17th, said. "It was my first match back here in New York so that wasn't the easiest. "Once I got settled I started doing what I'm trying to do in practice. "I think I'm getting there," added Williams, who reached the final at Wimbledon only to fall short of matching Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 major titles. She didn't face a break point in the 70 minute match, but as her momentum built her emotions burst out with fist-clenched shouts of "come on". After Williams held serve from deuce for a 5-3 lead, Linette would hold to force Williams to serve out the set. From there, it was all Williams as she raced through the second set in 28 minutes. She next faces Germany's Carina Witthoeft, with a possible third-round clash with 16th-seeded sister Venus in the offing. Serena Williams celebrates her victory over Magda Linette in the first round of the US Open on Monday.What was supposed to be a night of birthday fun has ended in tragedy after four teenagers pushing a stalled car were struck and killed by a SUV.

Cara Selby was hosting a sleepover for her daughter on Saturday night but when her car broke down just a block away from their Indianapolis home, four of the girls hopped out of the car and started pushing.

Moments later, an SUV being driven by a 24-year-old woman struck and killed the girls Neveah Law, 14, Jenna Helton, 14, Brittany Watson, 15, and Martin Martinez, 16.

Four other teenagers, including Ms Selbys daughter, Victoria Valdivia, were injured and flown to hospitals in Indianapolis and Louisville, Kentucky, while the fourth was treated at a local hospital.

Nevaeh Law (left), Jenna Helton (centre), and Brittany Watson (right) were all killed in the accident. Images: Seymour Tribune

The teens were killed while pushing Ms Selbys car, just one block from her house in rural Cortland. Image: Google Maps

Ms Laws heartbroken mother, Torre Collins of Seymour, urged parents to hug their children tight and hold them close because they might be gone in an instant.

Mine walked out the door and will never be coming home to me, she told The Seymour Tribune .

Mr Martinezs mother, Terri, said she learned of her sons death while on vacation in Florida, and she hasnt had time to process anything that has happened.

Its way too soon for him, she said.

He was too sweet and would do anything for anyone.

Jackie Watson, mother of Brittany Watson who was killed in a car wreck, comforts Madaline Kerkhof, sister of crash victim Naveh Law, during a prayer vigil at Seymour High School Sunday. Image: AP

The community gathers for a prayer vigil at Seymour High School Sunday. Image: AP

Hundreds of people filled a southern Indiana high school parking lot for a vigil honouring the teens killed in the freak accident.

Mourners at Seymour High School and Brownstown Central High School embraced and shed tears while others lit candles, released balloons and left messages on cards.

The crash is still under investigation and the driver of the SUV  a 24-year-old woman  hasnt yet been charged, the sheriffs department told CNN.A Turkish teacher in Mongolia who was the victim of a suspected kidnapping attempt has asked a United Nations agency to arrange asylum, his lawyer says. Veysel Akcay was seized last month from outside his home and bundled onto a small passenger jet, which Mongolian authorities grounded for eight hours until he was freed. The 50-year-old is associated with US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating a botched 2016 coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In a letter written by his lawyer and seen by AFP Tuesday, Akcay calls on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to intervene and let him leave Mongolia so he may seek asylum. "Initial encouraging steps by the government of Mongolia have been subsequently followed by actions, which have clearly exposed Mr Akcay to the imminent risk of illegal transfer to Turkey," the lawyer wrote, adding that Akcay had twice in the past week been stopped from leaving the country. Mongolian authorities said Friday that Akcay -- who has not been arrested for any crime -- has been barred from leaving the country but did not give a reason. "We are unable to comment on the case as of this moment," said a spokesperson from the Ulaanbaatar prosecutor's office which requested the travel ban. Colleagues say Akcay has been worried about his safety and did not show up for work on Tuesday. He heads a school in Mongolia allegedly linked to Gulen but teachers there denied the connection when asked by AFP. The aborted coup in July 2016 was blamed by authorities on the Gulenist movement -- a group outlawed as "terrorist" by Turkey -- and prompted the biggest purge in the country's modern history, including the detention of some 80,000 people. Gulen denies any links to the coup bid and insists he leads a moderate Islamic group. Turkey's intelligence agency has carried out operations against suspected Gulen supporters in places such as Kosovo, Gabon and more recently, Ukraine. Ankara last month rejected accusations that it was behind the foiled kidnapping attempt in Mongolia. Students hold up banners in support of their teacher, Akcay, at the airport in Ulaanbaatar in JulySeveral UN Security Council ambassadors on Tuesday voiced concern over the fate of civilians in the rebel-held Syrian province of Idlib, as Damascus appears ready to militarily re-take the region. Following a council meeting on the humanitarian situation in Syria, Western nations warned of the dire consequences of an attack by the government of Bashar al-Assad. "There are alarming signs of a pending military offensive in northwestern Syria," said Carl Skau, Sweden's ambassador to the Security Council. "Increased military escalation," he warned, "would have catastrophic consequences and can lead to a humanitarian disaster." The strategically important northwestern province of Idlib borders on Turkey and is the last holdout of rebels in Syria. John Ging, a senior official with the UN Humanitarian Affairs office, said that observers have seen a "serious deterioration of the humanitarian situation" in northwestern Syria in the past weeks. The Security Council's engagement is "critical" to de-escalate tensions in Idlib, and "to ensure safe, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access, and to ensure the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure," he said. Anne Gueguen, the French deputy ambassador, said that her country is "very concerned" over the signs of a large-scale Syrian offensive in Idlib, recalling that any use of chemical weapons will mean military response from Washington, Paris and London. "The lives of 2.2 million people are at stake," Gueguen said. She said that the bombing "that has intensified in recent weeks must stop immediately." British ambassador Karen Pierce, who described the situation in Idlib as "dire," warned that there will be "no reconstruction assistance until there is a credible and ongoing political process" in Syria. - 'Deeply concerned' - Washington, in turn, is "gravely concerned about the threats to civilian lives should the regime and its allies undertake a wider offensive in Idlib province," said Kelley Currie, with the US diplomatic mission at the United Nations. The United States "is also deeply concerned that the regime may again use chemical weapons against civilian populations as part of its assault on Idlib, with devastating consequences for humanitarian conditions on the ground and further eroding the international regime prohibiting the use of chemical weapons," she said. Russia's envoy, however, defended the Syrian government's right to regain control over the restive province. "The situation in Syria is stabilizing," said Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, adding that the Assad regime "has given security guarantees ... for a return of refugees." Nebenzia criticized what he described as "the passive position" taken by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees on this issue. "We need to decouple moderate groups from terrorist groups" in Idlib, he said. More than 350,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since Syria's war started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests. A young boy peeks out of a tent in a camp near the border with Turkey for people displaced by violence from the Syrian provinces of Idlib and HamaAll sides in Yemen's bloody conflict may have committed war crimes, UN investigators said Tuesday, highlighting deadly air strikes, rampant sexual violence, and the recruitment of young children as soldiers. In their first report, a team of UN-mandated investigators said they had "reasonable grounds to believe that the parties to the armed conflict in Yemen have committed a substantial number of violations of international humanitarian law". Many of these violations may amount to "war crimes", the report said, pointing to widespread arbitrary detention, rape, torture and the recruitment of children as young as eight to take part in hostilities. Kamel Jendoubi, who heads the UN's so-called Group of Independent Eminent International and Regional Experts, said the investigators had identified a number of alleged perpetrators. He told journalists in Geneva that a "confidential list" of these individuals would be presented Tuesday to the UN High Commissioner" for Human Rights. - 'World's worst humanitarian crisis' - The devastating conflict has left nearly 10,000 people dead since March 2015, when a Saudi-led coalition intervened to fight Huthi rebels closing in on the last bastion of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government. The UN human rights office said Tuesday that some 6,660 civilians were among the dead, while more than 10,500 had been injured. The UN has already described the situation in Yemen as world's worst humanitarian crisis. The UN expert group, which was created by the UN Human Rights Council last September and which needs that body's permission next month to continue its work, detailed a long line of abuses committed by all parties to the conflict. "There is little evidence of any attempt by parties to the conflict to minimise civilian casualties," Jendoubi said. The report concluded that "coalition air strikes have caused most of the documented civilian casualties," pointing to a large number of strikes on residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, detention facilities, civilian boats and medical facilities. The report said there were "serious concerns about the targeting process applied by the coalition," pointing out that in many cases there were no apparent military targets in the vicinity of the attacks. - Child soldiers - The report covers the period from September 2014 to June 2018, and does not address the latest series of deadly strikes that have killed dozens of children in rebel-held areas and sparked international outrage. The coalition has not confirmed or denied it carried out two air raids last Thursday that the UN said killed at least 26 children and four women south of the flashpoint rebel-held city of Hodeida. Those deaths came after a coalition attack on a bus in the northern rebel stronghold of Saada early this month killed 40 children, prompting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to call for an independent investigation of attacks targeting civilians in the three-year war. "Children are the most vulnerable. Poverty, coupled with violence and insecurity render them defenceless and exposed to exploitation and abuse by parties to the conflict," Charles Garraway, a member of the expert group, told reporters. The experts said they had received "substantial information" indicating that Yemen's government, the coalition-backed forces and the rebels had all conscripted children, mainly aged 11 and up, but some as young as eight. The report also spoke of the devastating impact a blockade imposed by the Saudi coalition on Yemen's ports and the Sanaa airport had had on the civilian population. Jendoubi urged an end to "disproportionate restrictions on the safe and expeditious entry into Yemen of humanitarian supplies and other goods indispensable to the civilian population." The experts did not delve into the complex web of countries supporting different parties to Yemen's conflict, including the United States, Britain and Iran, but did call on all nations to stop selling arms that could be used in the war. They also called on all sides to halt hostilities, and urged support for UN efforts to broker a peace deal. UN-backed talks between Yemen's government and the Huthis are to open in Geneva on September 6 -- a first step toward resuming peace negotiations that broke down two years ago. "This crisis has reached its peak with no apparent sight of light at the end of the tunnel," Garraway said. The devastating conflict in Yemen has left nearly 10,000 people dead since March 2015 Deadly strikes have killed dozens of children in rebel-held areas and sparked international outrage The UN has described the situation in Yemen as world's worst humanitarian crisis Thousands of Yemenis vented anger against Riyadh and Washington at a mass funeral in the northern Yemeni city of Saada for children killed in an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition early in August Map showing territorial control in YemenUS cardinals defended themselves Monday against accusations of a Catholic Church cover-up on sex abuse detailed by a conservative bishop who has called on Pope Francis to resign. Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, a progressive, expressed "shock, sadness and consternation" at the wide-ranging allegations, which he said "cannot be understood as contributing to the healing of survivors of sexual abuse." "Together with Pope Francis, we are confident that scrutiny of the claims of the former nuncio will help to establish the truth," Tobin said. Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a former Vatican envoy to the United States, said Saturday he had told Francis of the allegations against prominent US cardinal Theodore McCarrick in 2013. Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington -- who himself faces calls to resign for covering up abuse while formerly bishop of Pittsburgh -- denied any knowledge that his predecessor had been either sanctioned or accused of abuse. "During his entire tenure as archbishop of Washington no one has come forward to say to him, 'Cardinal McCarrick abused me' or made any other like claim," said a statement from his archdiocese. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the questions raised by Vigano "deserve answers that are conclusive and based on evidence." DiNardo said he was "eager" to meet the pope "to earn his support for our plan of action" that would make reporting of abuse and misconduct by bishops easier, and improve procedures for resolving complaints against bishops. Vigano, who was a papal nuncio in Washington between 2011 and 2016, claimed Francis ignored his warnings about McCarrick and lifted allegedly previously imposed canonical sanctions. In July, the pontiff accepted the resignation of McCarrick, now 88. He has been accused of "gravely immoral" behavior with seminarians and priests. Vigano's claims have raised speculation of a campaign against the pontiff by conservatives in the Church. The United States is home to the fourth-largest Catholic population in the world, after Brazil, Mexico and the Philippines. Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano (L), a formerVaticanenvoy to the United States, says he told Pope Francis of sex abuse allegations against prominentUScardinal Theodore McCarrick in 2013Back against the wall or holding all the cards: Analysts were split on Canada's position in continental trade negotiations after US President Donald Trump announced a breakthrough deal with Mexico on Monday. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland immediately interrupted a trip to France, Germany and Ukraine and headed to Washington to resume trilateral negotiations to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a "constructive conversation" with Trump on the progress with Mexico, the prime minister's office said. The leaders now "look forward to having their teams engage this week with a view to a successful conclusion of negotiations." But in the announcement with Mexican officials, Trump took a hard line and said Ottawa would be left on the sidelines. Trilateral talks started a year ago at the behest of Trump, who railed against the original 1994 pact calling it a "ripoff" and a "disaster," but now seems eager to close a new deal before the US midterm elections in November. Mexico's outgoing government also is keen to have a deal in place before handing off to incoming President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on December 1. Lopez Obrador called for a three-way trade deal, saying "it's important that Canada also be included." US and Mexican officials met separately over the past five weeks to hammer out key bilateral issues before announcing the agreement that updates provisions on financial services, labor and e-commerce, and importantly the auto trade. "Canada is (now) going to be presented with more of a take-it-or-leave-it offer," CIBC Economics analyst Avery Shenfeld said. Although the Mexicans have insisted on a deal that includes Canada, "by saying Canada could be left out, the US is threatening to take a tough line in those talks," he noted. University of Ottawa professor Patrick Leblond told AFP, "President Trump wanted to get a win quickly, at least publicly. And he thinks this will put pressure on Canada to get a deal. "The big question is what do the Americans want from Canada to reach a trilateral deal," he said. Trump said he would not stand for continue high tariffs on US dairy products, and threatened to simply keep Canada out and impose tariffs on autos. Leblond said it would be political suicide for Trudeau's Liberal administration, with one year before a general election, to give in to US demands for significantly greater access to Canada's protected dairy market. "If they want Canada to ditch (dairy) supply management, I don't see how the Liberals could sell that to Canadians in an election year," he said. "It's too much of a risk politically." The opposition Conservatives also sounded alarms. "I am troubled that despite the fact that NAFTA grew out of the Canada-US free trade agreement, Mexico appears to have usurped our role as the key US trade partner," lawmaker and trade critic Erin O'Toole said. Conservative leader Andrew Scheer tweeted that "Canada is on the outside looking in while Canadian jobs hang in the balance." He blamed Trudeau, saying "his economic failures have ruined Canada's bargaining position and jeopardized thousands of jobs." - 'Good start' or 'catastrophic' - But Jerry Dias of the Canadian auto workers union said what's on the table "is a good start" and "significant." He pointed to labor and rules of origin provisions broadly outlined in the Mexico-US deal that he said Trudeau's negotiators are seeking. "A lot of people are viewing this as a negative but I don't see that at all," he told AFP. "Canada has been leading the charge for raising Mexican workers' standard of living." The US-Mexico agreement has tougher new protections for collective bargaining, and requires 40 percent of autos receiving duty-free treatment to come from factories where workers make at least US$16 an hour. "Mexico made a quantum shift from where they were thanks, I think, to their new president who argued that NAFTA was terrible for Mexican workers who got the jobs but not the pay," he said. University of Laval professor Louis Belanger agreed, explaining that the US-Mexico issues were obstacles to reaching an accord and needed to be resolved separately before trilateral negotiations could continue. But he said a quick conclusion to trilateral negotiations appears unlikely. "What has happened is not that the Americans or the Mexicans have decided to go faster between them, it's just that over the last few months, the Americans have arrived at the negotiating table with requests that specifically targeted Mexico, especially with respect to their proposals in the auto sector," Belanger said. He added that Canada must "try to take advantage of the situation and the time that is running out to pull even more concessions or hope that the Americans will abandon a number of their demands." "The catastrophic scenario" for Canada, Belanger said, would be for the Trump administration "to quit NAFTA and sign a partial agreement with Mexico." A truck loaded with new cars drives next to the US/Mexico border fence at the Otay commercial Port of entry in Tijuana, Mexico on August 27, 2018The United States told UN judges Tuesday they had no jurisdiction to rule on Tehran's demand for them to order the suspension of debilitating nuclear-related sanctions against Iran. Washington cited security concerns in its first legal response to a suit by the Islamic Republic, which is suffering increasing economic chaos. Iran has argued that US President Donald Trump breached a 1955 treaty with his decision to reimpose the sanctions after withdrawing from a multilateral nuclear accord. But US State Department lawyer Jennifer Newstead told the International Court of Justice in The Hague that it "lacks prima facie jurisdiction to hear Iran's claims". She argued that the United States had the right to protect its national security and other interests. The treaty "cannot therefore provide a basis for this court's jurisdiction" in the case, she said. Sanctions on Iran had been lifted under a landmark 2015 accord with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. In return, Tehran made commitments not to seek to develop nuclear weapons. But Trump said the deal did not do enough to curb the threat from Iran. He pulled out of the accord in May and began reimposing sanctions this month, alarming other signatories to the deal. In the first day of hearings at the ICJ on Monday, Iran's lawyers said the sanctions were threatening the welfare of its citizens and disrupting tens of billions of dollars' worth of business deals. The US lawyers held Iran to blame for its economic woes. They have "deep roots in the Iranian government's mismanagement of its own economy and repression of its own population," Newstead said. - Oil sanctions coming - Trump says the sanctions are needed to ensure Iran never builds a nuclear bomb. He accuses it of supporting terrorists. The Islamic Republic's lead representative in the case, Mohsen Mohebi, branded the sanctions "naked economic aggression". "The United States is publicly propagating a policy intended to damage as severely as possible Iran's economy and Iranian nationals and companies," Mohebi said. "Iran will put up the strongest resistance to the US economic strangulation, by all peaceful means." US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday dismissed Iran's claims as "meritless". The US measures have added to Iran's economic woes, fuelling strikes and protests across the political spectrum. Iran's currency has lost around half its value since April. The sanctions target financial transactions and imports of raw materials, cars and aircraft among other sectors. International companies including French oil firm Total and Germany's Siemens have suspended operations in Iran since Trump's announcement in May. A second wave of punitive measures is due to hit the OPEC member state in early November, targeting its vital energy sector including oil exports. - History of litigation - Iran's lawyers have asked the court urgently to order the suspension of the sanctions pending a definitive ruling. Newstead argued that Iran had a broader aim to "reinstate sanctions relief" altogether -- a matter she said was beyond the court's remit. The court adjourned after Tuesday's hearing until Wednesday when Iran will have the opportunity to respond to the US arguments. The ICJ is expected to take several weeks to decide whether to grant Tehran's request for a provisional ruling. A final decision could take years. ICJ judgements are binding, final and without appeal. However, whether any decision will be implemented remains unclear. Both Iran and the US in the past have ignored ICJ rulings against them. Despite the 1955 Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations, the two countries have not had diplomatic ties since 1980. Jennifer Newstead, a lawyer for the US State Department, told the ICJ that the country had the right to protect its national security Iran'slead representative in the case,Mohsen Mohebi, branded the sanctions "naked economic aggression" Iran's currency has lost around half its value since April Trump pulled out of the accord in May and began reimposing sanctions this month, alarming other signatories to the dealU.S. Rep. John Katko has a double-digit lead over Democratic challenger Dana Balter in the 24th Congressional District race, according to a new Spectrum News/Siena College poll of 513 likely voters released Monday night.

Katko, R-Camillus, leads Balter, D-Syracuse, by 15 points, 54 to 39 percent. He's supported by a vast majority of GOP voters (86 percent) and even 21 percent of Democrats. Balter is backed by 72 percent of Democrats and 9 percent of Republicans.

Katko fares better than Balter with independents (51 to 40 percent) and men (63 to 32 percent). Among women, the two candidates are running even at 45 percent.

Balter leads by 32 points, 62 to 30 percent, in the city of Syracuse, a Democratic stronghold. However, Katko has the advantage in the rest of the district. In the rest of Onondaga County, he's up by 14 points, 53 to 39 percent. In Cayuga, Oswego and Wayne counties, he outpaces Balter by 35 points, 65 to 30 percent.

Voters under 55 prefer Katko, 51 to 41 percent. The GOP congressman's lead among older voters (55 and up) is 18 points, 56 to 38 percent.

The survey was conducted Aug. 20-23, according to a news release. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.7 percent.

Siena pollster Steve Greenberg noted that while Katko has a lead in the poll, voters are split (47 to 45 percent) on whether Republicans or Democrats should control the House of Representatives. And nearly half of 24th district voters say they disapprove of Donald Trump's job as president.

"As we approach Labor Day and the race heats up, Balter has her work cut out for her," Greenberg said. "Katko is better known and gets a lot more support from Democrats than Balter gets from Republicans, and he has a double-digit lead with independents."

The Spectrum News/Siena College poll is the first public survey released in the 24th district race. A poll conducted on behalf of Speak Out Central New York, a Democratic-leaning group, found Balter leading Katko by 4 points. But that poll is considered an outlier. Internal polling, reports indicate, show Katko with an "impressive" lead in his second re-election bid.

Jeff Bishop, Katko's campaign manager, believes the poll is a reflection of the congressman's work as an "independent and accessible representative."

"He has worked to deliver results for his community and looks forward to running on that record in November," Bishop said.

Balter's campaign explained that the Spectrum News/Siena College poll before the Democratic primary in June had Juanita Perez Williams, Balter's opponent, leading by 13 points. Balter won the primary by 25 percentage points.

They also pointed out that the poll was conducted before the release of Balter's first television commercial of the general election campaign.

"These numbers will change as soon as voters learn about Katko's record of voting to raise taxes on New York's working families while delivering a massive tax cut to his corporate campaign donors," said Joe Farrell, Balter's campaign manager.

Katko was first elected to Congress in 2014. He won another term in 2016. In both races, his margin of victory was at least 20 points.

Democrats expected to pick up several House seats this year, and Katko is a target. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House Democrats' campaign arm, named Balter to its Red to Blue program that assists Democratic challengers against GOP incumbents.

National Democrats didn't support Balter until after the June primary. Their preferred candidate was Juanita Perez Williams, who lost to Balter by 25 points in the race for the Democratic nomination.

Despite Democratic gains expected this year, Katko is favored to win re-election. Cook Political Report, a leading political forecaster, listed him as one of five GOP congress members "defying the blue wave." Cook rates the 24th district race as "likely Republican."

"We will continue to watch this district which has frequently flipped parties but for now, advantage Katko," Greenberg said.

Love 10 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 5A year after record flooding along Lake Ontario, President Donald Trump will nominate a former New York state assemblywoman to serve on the embattled International Joint Commission.

The White House announced Monday that Trump intends to nominate Jane Corwin, a Buffalo-area businesswoman who served four terms in the state Assembly, to the U.S.-Canada organization tasked with overseeing Lake Ontario and other shared waterways between the two countries.

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Corwin will be designated as U.S. section chair.

Corwin grew up in western New York and worked for her family's company, The Talking Phone Book. She earned a bachelor's degree at the University at Albany and a Master of Business Administration degree at Pace University.

She worked on Wall Street before returning to western New York to work for The Talking Phone Book. The company was sold in 2004. Four years later, she ran for state Assembly. She won a four-way Republican primary and went on to win the general election with 72 percent of the vote.

In 2011, she was the Republican nominee in a special election for Congress after ex-U.S. Rep. Chris Lee's resignation. She lost the race to Kathy Hochul, New York's current lieutenant governor.

Corwin remained in the state Assembly. But after four terms in office, she announced in 2016 she wouldn't seek re-election.

The International Joint Commission consists of six members  three each from the U.S. and Canada. Both countries select a commissioner to serve as section chairs.

Along with Corwin, Trump plans to nominate Rob Sisson and Lance Yohe to the commission. Sisson, of Michigan, leads ConservAmerica, a Republican group that supports environmental protection. Yohe, of North Dakota, is executive director of the Red River Basin Commission.

The current U.S. members of the International Joint Commission, Lana Pollack and Rich Moy, were appointed by former President Barack Obama. Pollack is U.S. section chair. One of the American seats on the panel is vacant.

There have been bipartisan calls for a change in leadership at the commission after the 2017 floods along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. Record water levels affected communities mainly along the lake's southern shore. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, and Republican U.S. Rep. Chris Collins are among those who have said the current commissioners should be replaced.

The criticism of the commission stems from its defense of Plan 2014, a water management strategy developed for Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River that the bi-national panel adopted in 2016. Some elected officials and residents believe the plan is to blame for the record-high water levels last year that damaged homes and led Trump to approve a major disaster declaration for counties affected by the flooding.

The commission maintains it was excessive rainfall, not Plan 2014, that caused the flooding along Lake Ontario last year. Despite the commissioners' comments, elected officials and other stakeholders have called on Trump to withdraw the U.S. from Plan 2014.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1AURELIUS  You only have four minutes to confirm or deny your suspicion.

Youve tried to talk with your child about drug and alcohol use, but conversations havent been enough. So you decide to take a peak in their room. Do you know what to look for?

Parents and adults were presented this dilemma Thursday night at a Hidden Mischief event presented by the Prevention Network and hosted by the Cayuga County Drug Free Community Coalition at Fingerlakes Mall. The Prevention Network set up a model bedroom with over 50 hidden drug and alcohol paraphernalia items that may be indicators a child or teen is using drugs or alcohol.

Elizabeth Toomey, the team coordinator for prevention education at Prevention Network, encouraged parents to have conversations with their child before searching through their room. But she explained that the simulation was to prepare them in the event that they might need to. She asked guests to imagine that their teen just hopped in the shower, and she set a timer for four minutes to allow them to search.

The first handful of adults to go through the simulation Thursday entered the model bedroom with clipboards to note the items they might find. Then they began hunting.

Some opened drawers, looked under the bed, peaked behind posters on the walls, and shook out piles of dirty laundry. Others dug through backpacks and duffel bags, shook water bottles and flipped through the pages of books.

When the time was up, one participant told Toomey she found 16 items. Toomey said that at the last "Hidden Mischief" event Prevention Network held, people found an average of 12 items.

Following the search, Kevin Trease, a Prevention Network prevention educator, sat the adults down as he revealed and explained most of the objects hidden in the room. While some signs of drug use were more obvious, such as empty bottles of alcohol hidden under the bed, others were harder to spot. Small baggies of drugs were hidden nearly everywhere: taped to the bottom of rugs, hiding inside stuffed animals, wallets and pillowcases, and behind art on the wall.

An even more subtle way that teens are hiding drugs these days, Trease explained, is a stash can. In the model bedroom, there were more than three different stash cans alone  one posed as a can of Pringles, one an Arizona iced tea can and another a disposable plastic water bottle with a typical blue label in the middle. The stash cans look just like the real products, with the same logos and nutritional information and all, Trease said. The difference, however, is that all of these objects unscrew at a discreet seam and reveal a secret compartment inside where teens can store drugs. Although they're often marketed for hiding jewelry or money, Trease noted that most of the time, stash cans also come with small, smell-proof bags inside.

A typical soda can may also have a drug-related purpose, Trease explained as he pulled a dented can from the bedroom's trash. He said that by simply poking a few holes in a can and denting it, a teen can make a homemade pipe. You can put marijuana, for example, over the holes where the can is dented, light it and then smoke through the cans opening.

Another item Trease warned participants about children hiding in the trash were tampons. He explained that the trend of soaking tampons in alcohol and inserting them is resurgent  and dangerous, as the alcohol goes directly to the users bloodstream. Another way teens are accessing alcohol is by making what they call purple drink, Trease said. Purple drink is often a combination of NyQuil, or another cough medicine, with soda and candy to mask the bitterness.

Toomey added that an obsession with the color purple may also indicate that a teen is a user of purple drink. Something Prevention Network has discovered recently, she added, is high school students who paint just a particular fingernail purple to signify to others that they are a user.

Plenty of other paraphernalia was scattered throughout the simulation room: rolling papers easily hidden among mascara or markers, a computer mouse that doubles as a drug scale, a silicone Pokemon ball that splits in half to make a bowl for dabbing marijuana, and a bracelet that conceals a pipe. Toomey explained that she was excited to see sailor bracelets, popular when she was a young girl, regaining popularity recently. But then it came to her attention that what looked like a bracelet could turn into a one-hit pipe when unclasped from a teens wrist, she said.

"We don't want to overwhelm people," Trease said as he finished revealing the 59 drug- or alcohol-related objects hidden in the room. He explained that its unlikely any one child would have so many different hiding techniques, but the goal of the simulation is helping parents become aware of all the potential indicators for which they can keep their eyes open.

About 20 adults went through the room simulation on Thursday. JoLynn Mulholland, the project coordinator of the Drug Free Community Coalition, explained that since this was the first time it has hosted Prevention Networks Hidden Mischief," the coalition hopes to get feedback and hold more events in the future.

Although he hasnt had any issues with his two teens, John Danczak, of Auburn, said he attended the event because he thought it would be a good learning opportunity.

"I thought it was very enlightening.  I wish there was a little more time," Danczak said, explaining that he previously felt uninformed and even naive to the drug use culture among young people.

"I wish more people were here to see this," he added.

Staff writer Megan Ehrhart can be reached at (315) 282-2244 or megan.ehrhart@lee.net. Follow her on Twitter @MeganEhrhart.

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Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.A First Responder Festival will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, at Fleur De Lis Brew Works, 3630 Route 414, Seneca Falls.

Attendees will be able to meet volunteers and staff, and learn about the education and training involved in becoming a first responder.

Several local departments will participate in the event, including Seneca Falls Police, Fayette Fire, North Seneca Ambulance, South Seneca Ambulance, Mercy Flight Central, Seneca County Sheriff and New York State Police, Troop E. Each will bring something unique to the festival: Mercy Flight will bring the on-duty helicopter, weather permitting, Troop E will have a K-9 and Fayette Fire will demonstrate an extrication.

For more information, visit fleurdelisbrewworks.com.

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0A memorial service is planned Saturday for an Auburn native who authorities said was strangled to death last week by one of his sons in New Hampshire.

Francis Colella Jr., 69, most recently was living in Georgia, but spent much of his life working as an electrician in central New York, according to an obituary submitted Tuesday by Pettigrass Funeral Home of Auburn.

According the New Hampshire Attorney General's Office, Jeramie Colella, 44, of Dover, New Hampshire, was arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of his wife, Joannna Colella, 43, and his father, Francis Colella Jr. The victims' bodies were found in Jeramie and Joanna's Dover residence on Aug. 20.

The attorney general's office said an autopsy determined that the victims were killed by manual strangulation. Jeramie Colella pleaded not guilty to the charges last week in a New Hampshire court.

Francis Colella Jr. was born in Auburn in 1949, and graduated from Central High School in 1967, according to his obituary. He studied at the University of Hawaii and at Cayuga Community College. He owned a television repair shop called Intrepid Electronics before working as an electric engineer at Nucor Steel and New Process Gear.

Francis' wife, Helga, died in January after battling cancer. The couple were married in 2004 in Hawaii.

"Following the loss of Helga, he began his trek to visit loved ones in New York and contemplate the next step of his journey visiting family members and friends across the country," the obituary states. "The week before his death, he was able to connect with many family members at the annual family reunion in Auburn. Until his last day, he showed compassion and unwavering commitment to being there for those who needed him the most."

Authorities have not publicly provided information about the motive in the criminal case and said the investigation is continuing. People with information can contact Detective Sgt. Mark Nadeau at (603) 742-4646 or m.nadeau@dover.nh.gov.

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 38 Angry 7OWASCO  A farmworker has come forward to say he is being housed in a structure on a dairy farm in Owasco that has been cited by both the town of Owasco and Cayuga County Health Department as not fit for occupancy.

During a protest in front of Melrose Farm Tuesday, Rebecca Fuentes, the lead organizer of the Workers' Center of Central New York, read a letter written by an unidentified employee who stated he has been working at Melrose Farm since February 2018, shortly after town and county health officials issued violations against the farm's owner, Joseph Tidd.

In his letter, the worker wrote that Tidd provided him with housing on the farm, where he works 60 hours a week. When there was an expected inspection by Owasco code enforcement officer J. Patrick Doyle, Tidd would tell him and the other workers to leave the house, and then Tidd would remove the workers' mattresses, put them in a trailer and haul them away from the farm until the inspection was over.

The worker said the mattresses would be returned "very dirty, as the trailer they use is the same where they put the food for the cows." The worker said this has happened twice since he began working at the farm.

"Besides this there are a lot of cockroaches and other bugs in the house," the worker wrote. "The house is not a good place to live and something needs to be done."

Crispin Hernandez, an organizer with the workers' center, provided a written account of living conditions he observed on the farm when he visited on Aug. 18 with another volunteer to do outreach for the employees. Hernandez said the worker told him the same thing he wrote in his letter and he witnessed first hand the mattresses on the floor and dirty living conditions.

Hernandez said he has been doing outreach at the farm since last year "and I can say nothing has changed." Hernandez said the worker told him that there are four people living in the building, though he did not witness all of them at the residence while he was there. Hernandez and the worker also wrote in their letters that Tidd has put a sign outside the structure identifying it as an office.

According to a violation notices sent to Tidd in early February by Doyle, Tidd never applied for or obtained a permit to build the structure where he was housing his farm workers, nor was there any record of electrical inspections or certificates on file with the town. Tidd was never issued a certificate of occupancy for the structure. Another letter from Doyle stated a trailer Tidd was using to house other workers was not safe for year-round permanent occupancy.

A separate letter issued by the Cayuga County Health Department cited Tidd for not having an acceptable septic system for the structure. According to the health department's letter, human waste is directed to a manure lagoon on the property.

Tidd was given a month or more to fix the violations outlined in the violation letters or face fines or legal action. Six months later, Fuentes said, nothing has changed but Tidd has not been fined by either agency.

"He was given a chance," Fuentes said. "Because of these violations, he should have been fined and he has not been fined. He has been given a lot of opportunity. Unfortunately this is what's happening now and we think the only way this is going to change is if he is fined."

When contacted by The Citizen in July, Owasco Town Supervisor Ed Wagner and Cayuga County Environmental Health Director Eileen O'Connor both said further action was not taken against Tidd because inspections by Owasco code enforcement showed the structure was unoccupied and therefore not a violation.

But Fuentes, Hernandez and several other volunteers also met with Cayuga County Public Health Director Kathleen Cuddy and Wagner Tuesday to give them the letters written by the anonymous farm worker and Hernandez. Cuddy and Wagner both assured the group that they would continue to investigate the situation, which Fuentes called "sad."

"Obviously we understand that he has a business and he needs workers but that doesn't mean he should disregard the law," she said. "We represent the interest of the workers."

In addition to the violations from local agencies, Melrose Farm is currently being investigated by the state Department of Environmental Conservation for violating clean water regulations.

In May, a DEC spokesperson told The Citizen that the agency was investigating the farm "for potential violations of New York State Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) requirements." On Tuesday, the DEC confirmed that it is still "pursuing the owners of Melrose Farm to address permit violations." CAFO regulations are in place to "ensure proper management of nutrients while increasing water quality protection," according to the DEC's website.

Employees have also accused Tidd of not paying them the wages they were owed.

In February, a former employee at Melrose Farm, Lady Mazariegos, said Tidd had not paid her all of her wages over several weeks. Fuentes said she has also been helping another former Melrose Farm worker, Estela Calderon, file a complaint with the state Department of Labor against Tidd, claiming he owes her wages. Calderon used to work at the farm with her teenage daughter Selena Hidalgo-Calderon, who was found dead on a farm in Wayne County in May. Hidalgo-Calderon's young son Owen is still missing. Authorities believe the young mother was killed by her boyfriend.

The state Department of Labor did not respond to The Citizen's request for more information about any complaints against Melrose Farm or Tidd.

Tidd declined to comment Tuesday when asked about the allegations against him, though he did say, "I work on a daily basis with town of Owasco."

Staff writer Natalie Brophy can be reached at (315)282-2239 or natalie.brophy@lee.net. Follow her on Twitter @brophy_natalie.

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Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.RENO, Nev.By his own assessment, today was a great day for Dennis Hof, owner of several brothels throughout the state of Nevada. For one thing, U.S. District Judge Richard F. Boulware II, an Obama appointee, ordered the Nye County Licensing Board to rescind its closure of Hof's Love Ranch South brothel outside of Crystal, Nevada, for alleged failure to pay its license fee. For another, there's a very good chance that Hof will win his lawsuit against former County Commissioners Andrew "Butch" Borasky and Dan Schinfofen of the County Licensing Board for having overstepped their legal authority under 42 U.S.C. 1983 in ordering the brothel's closing.

"Right won out over might!" Hof declared. "The three stooges of Nye County, Lorinda Wichman, Dan Schinhofen and Butch Borasky, tried to put me out of business in the federal courts, and I'm like, no, this isn't gonna work at allso we're opening up the Love Ranch tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock."

Hof, who appeared in Judge Bouleware's courtroom this morning with his attorney, renowned First Amendment advocate Marc Randazza, secured an overturning of the closure order after a county employee testified that what Hof did was far from unusual.

"Sure, I paid the bill late, but what they didn't say, and it came out in court today, is, for 20 years, nobody has paid the fee on time," Hof told AVN. "What's supposed to happen is this: Let's say we're talking about the third quarter, which begins July 1. That bill that they send out to you should have gone out in mid-May so you can pay it by June 1. They want you to pay a month in advance, but they don't ever send the bills out until like the second or third week of June, so everybody's always late, but that's just the way they've done it for 20 years, and that's what a county employee told the judge. And he's like, 'Why are you coming after Dennis when everybody in the county's paying late because you send the bills out late?'"

All in all, Hof's interactions with county government have gone pretty much in his favorat least, once he files suit against them. Take that petition to get all of the Nye County brothels closed, supposedly to help prevent human traffickingwhich, of course, doesn't happen there.

"This Lorinda Wichman is the one that mouthed off about it at a county commissioner meeting, but really, everybody knows it's really about me running for office and these two county commissioners, Schinhofen and Borasky, were for the guy I was running against, so they started doing terrible dirty things to me and I've got four federal lawsuits against the county and them personally, and I'm gonna win all of 'em," Hof predicted.

And what suits are those?

"There's one First Amendment action we've got against Nye County and Dan Schinhofen; another one is over some signs, political signs, and that one actually went in front of the same federal judge [Boulware] and he was like, 'No.' They impounded my signs that were against this guy Schinhofen. I had signs that said, 'Dirty Dan Schinhofen' and all that, so they impounded the signs and the judge had a special hearing on a Saturday night at 7 o'clock, which is unheard-of, and he said, 'No, I want the sign back there by 8 o'clock tomorrow morning or I'm going to find somebody in contempt of court.'

"Another one is against Butch Borasky," Hof continued. "Now, Butch Borasky, at a county commissioners' meeting, and this is just designed to make me look bad in the press so I wouldn't win the election, said, 'You know, it's just a premonition but I'm pretty good about these things. If I end up dead, get hit by a car, get hit by a rock, end up dead, go to Dennis Hof, he probably did it.' So that bought him a federal suit. It's totally defamatory. So it's a great day for us. The hookers are happy; they're going back to work. My big concern about this was the 40 families that work for me, that I need to take care of, and now they can go back to work and I'm thrilled to death. Right won out over might, and Nye County just gets shown to be more corrupt every day."

Some have suggested that Hof run for county commissioner, but he had bigger plans, namely a run for the state legislature, and the June election gave that prospect a big boost in several ways.

"The campaign's coming along real good," Hof said. "I won the Republican primary. A Democrat has never won in that district, so I just think it's gonna be a walk in the park in November. We're taking this seriously but we know we're gonna win. And these county commissioners are out; they got voted out in June because they were against me and they caused me so much damage that Schinhofen lost to the person that I wanted in there, Deborah Strickland, and Borasky was running for Treasurer and he didn't even get close because of all the dirty shenanigans he did to me. Schinhofen was so upset, he claimed he had five months to get even with me, and that came out in court."

But as far as Hof is concerned, becoming a Nevada Assemblymember will be just a first step in his political ascendancy, and it's partly due to the one open porn fan in Donald Trump's close circle.

"I'm gonna run for governor," Hof declared. "Roger Stone, Trump's advisor, wants me to run for governor, and I'm probably gonna do it."

Anyone remember when adult star Mary Carey was running for governor of California in 2003? One of her ideas to make money for the state treasury was to set up a webcam in the governor's (her!) bedroom, and citizens could subscribe to watch Mary get off. Well, think of what Hof could do as Nevada Governor, in a state where prostitution is legal in all but four counties!LOS ANGELESThe Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) on Monday announced its return to Amsterdam for the annual Webmaster Access industry conference, set for September 7-10, at the Hilton Doubletree Hotel.

Uniting adult webmasters from around the world, Webmaster Access ranks among the biggest shows targeting the European market and incorporates the local installment of the Traffic Dinner, an annual GFY Party, as well as several LGBT-oriented GAYVN sessions  bringing together a diverse group of adult website operators and service providers.

The promoters of Webmaster Access graciously provided the association with complimentary hotel accommodations and free registration for this popular event, along with sponsor banner placement, a table at the Meet Market, and an ad in the show guide, for which ASACP is extremely grateful.

ASACPs mission without question is one of the single most important endeavors in our industry, says AVN Media Network CEO Tony Rios. Were proud to support their incredible efforts to protect children worldwide and we encourage our Webmaster Access attendees to connect with Tim at the show.

ASACPs Executive Director Tim Henning will attend the event, where he will educate stakeholders about the need to protect children online and how ASACP services such as the Restricted To Adults (RTA) website meta-label, Best Practices and its Code of Ethics help enable this endeavor.

Webmaster Access attracts adult website operators and their affiliates from across the globe, Henning says. These events draw many professionals that may not travel to U.S.-hosted events, providing the association with a great opportunity for reaching the widest audience possible with our message of child protection and corporate responsibility.

At noon on Saturday, Sept. 8, in the venues Leeds 1 room, Henning will moderate a seminar entitled, The State of Age Verification: Compliance and Vigilance, offering the most up-to-date information about age verification for adult sites and revealing how attendees can prepare their business for the markets new reality.

In addition to Henning, Alastair Graham from AgeChecked, Vince Charlton from AdultWork, Verimes Rudd Apsey, David Cooke from AgeID, and AVSecures Stephen Winyard, will be on hand to lend their expertise and insights on adults most pressing issue today.

The U.K.s Digital Economy Act impacts all adult websites, requiring age-verification solutions that also comply with the latest privacy laws. This session will help businesses find their way through this complex maze, helping them run safely into the future, Henning explains. The need to protect children and doing the right thing is a message that ASACP will carry across Europe, beginning at Webmaster Access in Amsterdam.

For more information, or to schedule a meeting in Amsterdam with Henning, email [email protected]Images | kazinform

The premiere of the ballet Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will take place on November 19 and 20 at Astana Opera under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Sports. The Hungarian production team offers the capitals audience unusual choreography, music in the style of American musical, unique sets reminiscent of famous cartoons, as well as spectacular special effects. Choreographer Gyula Harangoz Jr. spoke about the special features of this ballet, the Astana Operas press service said.

Your ballet Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is equally loved by both children and adults. Could you please share the secret of such popularity?

I guess it is because I did not try to make a ballet, but a theatrical performance. You do not have to be a ballet fan to enjoy this show and you can be 4 years old or 90 years old, you can follow and enjoy the actions on a level adequate for you. This is not the kind of show, where the parents accompany their children for their sake and are bored during the performance, but they themselves equally enjoy the show.

Many people say that the ballet resembles an animated film due to the frequent change of scenery and the feeling of frame-by-frame. Did you use this technique intentionally?

Yes, I did it on purpose and I based the show on the Walt Disney animated film, not on the written fairytale. I chose a composer and a stage designer, who used to work with musicals, on purpose, because, if I want to reach a wider scale of audience, I have to work more or less the way how the musical makers work nowadays. You could not call this ballet a musical because nobody sings in it, but you can call it as a dancical.

Tell us about how you choose ballet dancers for their roles. What characteristics do you primarily concentrate on?

The leading roles are easier to choose, because all dancers must have good classical technique. That being said, Snow White should be cute, the Prince  handsome and a good partner, the Huntsman  a good character and a very good partner, the Queen should be pretty, have a very evil character, and Dopey should have excellent technique and a character, which can be loved by the audience. All the other dwarfs should have their own character and I am looking for dancers who do not just look like, but can play the character they are supposed to dance onstage.

Tell us about the music for the performance.

Due to the fact that I wrote the libretto and we made the music together with the composer Tibor Kocsk, on each rehearsal, I explained to him what the next scene is, how long it is and what is happening in this scene. After that I began to dance the rhythm. He picked it up and improvised a melody to it. Then he worked out that sequence at home for the next rehearsal, where we finally fixed it. It is the reason why all the actions in the ballet fit the music perfectly. The reason why we have so many different types of music is because for each character, I preferred to choose a certain musical character, for example, more classical for the main roles, more folk music for the corps de ballet, more contemporary for the small helper of the Queen. At this rate, with the different kinds of music, we could empathize with each character onstage.

Will there be any special aspects and considerations, particularities in the Kazakh production or will it be exactly the same as elsewhere?

Minor changes could be everywhere, but to make that decision I have to get to know the dancers better and work with them for a while.











The Cornish Bakery has been shortlisted for Employer of the Year in The Lloyds Bank National Business Awards.

The shortlist was finalised after more than 1,000 registrations were assessed. Sarah Austin, brand director of The Lloyds Bank National Business Awards, said: All entries faced a rigorous judging process, finalists should feel incredibly proud.

Despite it being a challenging time for retail, with the uncertainty of Brexit and essential shopping being done online, The Cornish Bakery has gone from strength to strength, according to founder Steve Grocutt. The business has 45 sites across the UK and has recently opened in Fowey, York, Keswick and Southwold.

Finalists for the business awards must now make presentations to a panel of judges and leading business luminaries. The winners will be revealed on 13 November.Sussex baker Turners Pies has expanded its business by opening a new shop in Worthing.

The latest addition brings the total number of stores to four, with existing premises in Chichester, Rustington and Bognor Regis.

Phil Turner, managing director at Turners Pies, said the new store would cater to the increasing demand for the business offerings. These include an award-winning steak and ale pie that in March was voted Supreme Champion at the British Pie Awards, with judges giving it a score of 99 out of 100.

The Turner family have been producing traditional pies since 1933, when Eva and Reginald Turner started a business catering for a hotel in Bognor Regis. Generations later, Phil Turner said the team were looking forward to being part of the Worthing community.

Turner said: Were delighted to open the latest shop here in Broadwater Street West and have been overwhelmed with the warm welcome weve had from everyone. Weve already encountered a lot of positivity.

The business also runs a Pies by Post service for those unable to make it to one of the four stores.Lidl Ireland has launched a pop-up bakery in aid of its charity partner Jigsaw, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health.

The concept, called The Bakery, kicked off on 21 August and is running for four weeks in four locations across Ireland  Rathmines and Dun Laoghaire in Dublin, Limerick and Cork.

A selection of Lidls baked goods will be on sale at all four locations. These are: Chocolate Doughnut, Jam Filled Doughnut, Butter Croissant, Danish Maple and Pecan Plait, Chocolate Twist, Premium Muffins, Toffee Yum Yum, Danish Pastry and Double Chocolate Chip Cookie.

The Bakery will also be hosting a series of ticketed events in the evenings that support mental wellbeing including laughter yoga, singalong socials and acoustic music sets. All proceeds from the events will be donated to Jigsaw. In addition, one cent from every bakery item purchased in Lidl Irelands 156 stores nationwide will be donated to Jigsaw.

Jigsaw provides free, confidential and professional support to young people between the ages of 12 and 25 in 13 locations nationwide. Lidl Ireland recently launched a three-year partnership with the charity, which saw the retailer pledge to donate 1 million to it during the partnership.

Lidls pop-up The Bakery provides a safe space to relax with a cup of tea, some tasty treats and to speak about youth mental health or even lend an ear to someone who needs it most, said The Bakery ambassador Maria Walsh.

Youth mental health is something I am hugely passionate about and we all have a role to play in this. Make sure to pop down to your local pop-up and take part in the fantastic evening activities, which are sure you leave you feeling good inside  all in aid of youth mental health.Judges say ballot language doesn't accurately describe effect of amendments; appeal likely

In an unusual order likely to be appealed, a majority of a three-judge Superior Court panel removed two constitutional amendments from the Nov. 6 ballot. The court ruled the language drafted by the Republican-led General Assembly would mislead voters.Judges Forrest Bridges, a Democrat, and Thomas Lock, unaffiliated, ruled ballot language describing constitutional amendments involving separation of powers and filling judicial vacancies didn't accurately describe the intent or consequences of the amendments. They granted a preliminary injunction Tuesday, Aug. 21, to keep them off the ballot.Judge Jeffery Carpenter, a Republican, dissented, and will file a separate opinion.The full panel agreed voters could understand the ballot language for constitutional amendments requiring photo ID to vote and capping the income tax rate, and left them on the ballot.The panel didn't consider the N.C. Conference of NAACP's contention that the General Assembly was a usurper legislative body unconstitutionally seated through racial gerrymandering. The court said it didn't have jurisdiction to make such a ruling, and even if the group's arguments were correct, implementing the ruling would cause chaos.Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, and the Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement were named as defendants in lawsuits brought by Gov. Roy Cooper, and separately by the NAACP and Clean Air Carolina. Though named a defendant, the elections board sided with Cooper and the NAACP.Pat Ryan, a spokesman for Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said in a written statement.Ryan said.Cooper's office praised the decision.The order made clear the judges knew of the precedent they could be setting.the order said.While acknowledging laws passed by the General Assembly should be considered constitutionally valid, and the legislature has the authority to determine the time and manner to present constitutional amendments to voters, the panel referenced previous court rulings that led to their split decision.The order said part of the ballot language describing establishment of a new Bipartisan Board of Ethics and Elections was not completely accurate or articulate, but it was not sufficiently misleading to violate constitutional requirements.But, the panel majority said, wording stating the amendment would clarify the appointment authority of the legislative and judicial branchesPlaintiffs contend thousands of appointments to hundreds of boards and commissions would shift power from the governor to the legislature. The order said the amendment substantially realigns appointment authority without mentioning how it affects the executive branch and makes significant changes to the governor's duty to exercise his powers without mentioning it.Blog Archive Nov 01 (1) Oct 31 (4) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (5) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (3) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (3) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (5) Oct 17 (2) Oct 16 (3) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (3) Oct 08 (4) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (4) Sep 30 (4) Sep 29 (5) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (2) Sep 26 (3) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (4) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (5) Sep 20 (3) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (4) Sep 17 (4) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (3) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (4) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (5) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (3) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (3) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (4) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (4) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (3) 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(6) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (5) Aug 25 (4) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (7) Aug 22 (4) Aug 21 (6) Aug 20 (3) Aug 19 (7) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (4) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (6) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (4) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (3) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (3) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (5) Jul 28 (5) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (6) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (3) Jul 23 (6) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (6) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (3) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (6) Jul 15 (4) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (4) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (3) Jul 10 (5) Jul 09 (4) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (3) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (4) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (5) Jun 11 (5) Jun 10 (6) Jun 09 (5) Jun 08 (4) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (4) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (3) May 28 (5) May 27 (3) May 26 (4) May 25 (3) May 24 (6) May 23 (4) May 22 (5) May 21 (5) May 20 (4) May 19 (5) May 18 (6) May 17 (6) May 16 (4) May 15 (4) May 14 (5) May 13 (4) May 12 (3) May 11 (4) May 10 (5) May 09 (2) May 08 (4) May 07 (4) May 06 (4) May 05 (4) May 04 (4) May 03 (3) May 02 (3) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (5) Apr 26 (5) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (6) Apr 23 (6) Apr 22 (5) Apr 21 (6) Apr 20 (4) Apr 19 (4) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (5) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (8) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (3) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (6) Apr 07 (5) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (3) Apr 04 (4) Apr 03 (6) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (3) Mar 31 (7) Mar 30 (6) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (5) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (8) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (6) Mar 20 (5) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (4) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (5) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (5) Mar 13 (6) Mar 12 (4) Mar 11 (4) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (7) Mar 08 (4) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (4) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (4) Mar 03 (6) Mar 02 (3) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (7) Feb 27 (6) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (5) Feb 24 (8) Feb 23 (7) Feb 22 (8) Feb 21 (7) Feb 20 (7) Feb 19 (7) Feb 18 (5) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (6) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (5) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (7) Feb 11 (6) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (6) Feb 07 (5) Feb 06 (5) Feb 05 (4) Feb 04 (4) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (5) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (3) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (4) Jan 27 (3) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (4) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (5) Jan 22 (7) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (6) Jan 19 (3) Jan 18 (6) Jan 17 (5) Jan 16 (7) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (7) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (4) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (7) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (5) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (4) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (6) Dec 31 (5) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (7) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (6) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (5) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (3) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (4) Dec 17 (6) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (4) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (7) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (3) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (6) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (4) Dec 04 (7) Dec 03 (6) Dec 02 (4) Dec 01 (4) Nov 30 (6) Nov 29 (4) Nov 28 (4) Nov 27 (7) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (4) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (5) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (5) Nov 17 (6) Nov 16 (7) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (5) Nov 13 (5) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (7) Nov 10 (6) Nov 09 (7) Nov 08 (4) Nov 07 (9) Nov 06 (7) Nov 05 (7) Nov 04 (7) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (6) Nov 01 (6) Oct 31 (7) Oct 30 (6) Oct 29 (7) Oct 28 (4) Oct 27 (7) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (3) Oct 24 (6) Oct 23 (10) Oct 22 (6) Oct 21 (5) Oct 20 (5) Oct 19 (5) Oct 18 (4) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (5) Oct 15 (6) Oct 14 (7) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (5) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (6) Oct 09 (8) Oct 08 (6) Oct 07 (5) Oct 06 (4) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (5) Sep 30 (6) Sep 29 (5) Sep 28 (5) Sep 27 (6) Sep 26 (7) Sep 25 (6) Sep 24 (6) Sep 23 (6) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (5) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (6) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (7) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (7) Sep 09 (7) Sep 08 (7) Sep 07 (6) Sep 06 (5) Sep 05 (3) Sep 04 (6) Sep 03 (7) Sep 02 (6) Sep 01 (6) Aug 31 (5) Aug 30 (5) Aug 29 (4) Aug 28 (5) Aug 27 (5) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (8) Aug 24 (5) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (7) Aug 21 (7) Aug 20 (6) Aug 19 (7) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (4) Aug 16 (6) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (6) Aug 09 (6) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (4) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (6) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (5) Aug 01 (5) Jul 31 (7) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (7) Jul 27 (6) Jul 26 (4) Jul 25 (3) Jul 24 (5) Jul 23 (4) Jul 22 (4) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (5) Jul 18 (5) Jul 17 (5) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (3) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (5) Jul 12 (6) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (4) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (4) Jul 07 (7) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (3) Jul 03 (5) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (4) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (5) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (3) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (3) Jun 21 (3) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (4) Jun 17 (5) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (7) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (5) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (6) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (5) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (5) Jun 03 (5) Jun 02 (5) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (4) May 30 (5) May 29 (5) May 28 (5) May 27 (8) May 26 (7) May 25 (7) May 24 (5) May 23 (2) May 22 (5) May 21 (4) May 20 (5) May 19 (5) May 18 (5) May 17 (5) May 16 (7) May 15 (7) May 14 (7) May 13 (5) May 12 (6) May 11 (8) May 10 (4) May 09 (6) May 08 (10) May 07 (8) May 06 (5) May 05 (6) May 04 (7) May 03 (7) May 02 (8) May 01 (6) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (10) Apr 27 (6) Apr 26 (5) Apr 25 (8) Apr 24 (7) Apr 23 (8) Apr 22 (6) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (10) Apr 19 (7) Apr 18 (7) Apr 17 (8) Apr 16 (5) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (9) Apr 13 (11) Apr 12 (8) Apr 11 (5) Apr 10 (10) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (5) Apr 07 (9) Apr 06 (10) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (7) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (5) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (7) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (8) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (7) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (8) Mar 17 (8) Mar 16 (3) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (6) Mar 12 (6) Mar 11 (7) Mar 10 (6) Mar 09 (8) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (9) Mar 04 (7) Mar 03 (6) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (7) Feb 28 (8) Feb 27 (7) Feb 26 (4) Feb 25 (9) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (6) Feb 22 (7) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (5) Feb 18 (5) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (4) Feb 15 (5) Feb 14 (8) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (4) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (6) Feb 09 (7) Feb 08 (6) Feb 07 (6) Feb 06 (6) Feb 05 (5) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (10) Feb 02 (9) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (8) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (9) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (5) Jan 26 (6) Jan 25 (7) Jan 24 (6) Jan 23 (6) Jan 22 (5) Jan 21 (7) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (5) Jan 18 (5) Jan 17 (5) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (5) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (5) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (3) Jan 07 (5) Jan 06 (5) Jan 05 (6) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (3) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (3) Dec 29 (3) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (5) Dec 25 (6) Dec 24 (7) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (6) Dec 19 (10) Dec 18 (9) Dec 17 (10) Dec 16 (8) Dec 15 (4) Dec 14 (6) Dec 13 (10) Dec 12 (6) Dec 11 (5) Dec 10 (6) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (8) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (6) Dec 04 (7) Dec 03 (7) Dec 02 (6) Dec 01 (9) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (9) Nov 28 (7) Nov 27 (6) Nov 26 (7) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (4) Nov 22 (7) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (8) Nov 18 (12) Nov 17 (8) Nov 16 (6) Nov 15 (4) Nov 14 (11) Nov 13 (11) Nov 12 (9) Nov 11 (6) Nov 10 (9) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (7) Nov 07 (7) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (8) Nov 04 (6) Nov 03 (5) Nov 02 (7) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (7) Oct 30 (6) Oct 29 (7) Oct 28 (4) Oct 27 (7) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (7) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (7) Oct 22 (7) Oct 21 (6) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (7) Oct 18 (6) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (8) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (6) Oct 13 (7) Oct 12 (5) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (8) Oct 09 (8) Oct 08 (7) Oct 07 (7) Oct 06 (7) Oct 05 (8) Oct 04 (6) Oct 03 (8) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (10) Sep 29 (7) Sep 28 (10) Sep 27 (10) Sep 26 (11) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (6) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (5) Sep 21 (8) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (6) Sep 18 (6) Sep 17 (7) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (6) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (7) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (10) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (3) Sep 08 (8) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (7) Sep 05 (8) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (6) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (3) Aug 31 (6) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (4) Aug 28 (5) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (5) Aug 25 (9) Aug 24 (7) Aug 23 (8) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (9) Aug 20 (8) Aug 19 (7) Aug 18 (6) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (8) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (6) Aug 12 (5) Aug 11 (7) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (9) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (5) Aug 05 (6) Aug 04 (6) Aug 03 (7) Aug 02 (8) Aug 01 (3) Jul 31 (6) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (8) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (6) Jul 26 (9) Jul 25 (9) Jul 24 (7) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (7) Jul 21 (9) Jul 20 (6) Jul 19 (9) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (2) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (7) Jul 14 (7) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (4) Jul 10 (7) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (6) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (8) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (6) Jun 30 (4) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (5) Jun 27 (6) Jun 26 (6) Jun 25 (7) Jun 24 (4) Jun 23 (5) Jun 22 (7) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (6) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (6) Jun 17 (5) Jun 16 (6) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (7) Jun 12 (8) Jun 11 (5) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (7) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (5) Jun 06 (7) Jun 05 (5) Jun 04 (6) Jun 03 (5) Jun 02 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (7) May 30 (4) May 29 (5) May 28 (1) May 27 (5) May 26 (8) May 25 (5) May 24 (8) May 23 (8) May 22 (7) May 21 (5) May 20 (6) May 19 (9) May 18 (5) May 17 (9) May 16 (7) May 15 (5) May 14 (11) May 13 (6) May 12 (13) May 11 (5) May 10 (7) May 09 (7) May 08 (8) May 07 (9) May 06 (6) May 05 (5) May 04 (2) May 03 (6) May 02 (7) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (5) Apr 29 (7) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (6) Apr 26 (10) Apr 25 (7) Apr 24 (5) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (6) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (10) Apr 16 (6) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (10) Apr 10 (6) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (10) Apr 07 (6) Apr 06 (6) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (4) Apr 03 (5) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (6) Mar 31 (5) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (8) Mar 27 (7) Mar 26 (9) Mar 25 (11) Mar 24 (10) Mar 23 (6) Mar 22 (8) Mar 21 (3) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (2) Mar 18 (9) Mar 17 (7) Mar 16 (6) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (6) Mar 13 (6) Mar 12 (10) Mar 11 (7) Mar 10 (8) Mar 09 (6) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (6) Mar 06 (7) Mar 05 (6) Mar 04 (10) Mar 03 (2) Mar 02 (8) Mar 01 (9) Feb 29 (11) Feb 28 (8) Feb 27 (6) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (8) Feb 24 (9) Feb 23 (12) Feb 22 (10) Feb 21 (11) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (5) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (9) Feb 16 (10) Feb 15 (8) Feb 14 (9) Feb 13 (8) Feb 12 (9) Feb 11 (7) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (7) Feb 08 (9) Feb 07 (7) Feb 06 (10) Feb 05 (10) Feb 04 (6) Feb 03 (8) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (6) Jan 31 (10) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (9) Jan 27 (7) Jan 26 (8) Jan 25 (8) Jan 24 (7) Jan 23 (6) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (10) Jan 19 (8) Jan 18 (6) Jan 17 (7) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (8) Jan 13 (8) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (6) Jan 09 (8) Jan 08 (4) Jan 07 (5) Jan 06 (6) Jan 05 (9) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (7) Jan 02 (6) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (9) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (2) Dec 27 (8) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (6) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (6) Dec 22 (8) Dec 21 (8) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (8) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (8) Dec 16 (7) Dec 15 (9) Dec 14 (7) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (4) Dec 11 (5) Dec 10 (6) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (5) Dec 04 (4) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (7) Dec 01 (7) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (5) Nov 28 (6) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (8) Nov 23 (2) Nov 22 (6) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (5) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (4) Nov 16 (6) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (5) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (2) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (4) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (5) Nov 04 (6) Nov 03 (6) Nov 02 (5) Nov 01 (5) Oct 31 (6) Oct 30 (6) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (5) Oct 25 (8) Oct 24 (7) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (7) Oct 21 (5) Oct 20 (5) Oct 19 (5) Oct 18 (6) Oct 17 (3) Oct 16 (2) Oct 15 (2) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (6) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (3) Oct 10 (6) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (5) Oct 07 (6) Oct 06 (6) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (4) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (8) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (6) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (9) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (4) Sep 24 (5) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (6) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (4) Sep 19 (5) Sep 18 (7) Sep 17 (6) Sep 16 (7) Sep 15 (4) Sep 14 (8) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (7) Sep 11 (8) Sep 10 (5) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (8) Sep 07 (5) Sep 06 (6) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (5) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (4) Aug 31 (5) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (5) Aug 28 (5) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (3) Aug 25 (7) Aug 24 (6) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (6) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (5) Aug 19 (5) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (7) Aug 14 (8) Aug 13 (8) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (6) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (4) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (6) Aug 06 (7) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (6) Aug 01 (6) Jul 31 (4) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (6) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (3) Jul 25 (6) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (4) Jul 22 (5) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (2) Jul 19 (4) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (8) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (5) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (5) Jul 12 (4) Jul 11 (7) Jul 10 (5) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (10) Jul 02 (4) Jul 01 (2) Jun 30 (3) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (4) Jun 27 (3) Jun 26 (6) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (3) Jun 23 (3) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (3) Jun 18 (3) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (3) Jun 14 (4) Jun 13 (3) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (2) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (2) Jun 08 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(6) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (3) Dec 05 (3) Dec 04 (4) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (3) Dec 01 (4) Nov 30 (2) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (3) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (3) Nov 25 (5) Nov 24 (4) Nov 23 (6) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (2) Nov 19 (5) Nov 18 (7) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (4) Nov 15 (6) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (4) Nov 11 (3) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (3) Nov 07 (2) Nov 06 (2) Nov 05 (2) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (2) Oct 31 (3) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (3) Oct 25 (2) Oct 24 (2) Oct 23 (2) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (2) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (3) Oct 18 (2) Oct 17 (2) Oct 16 (2) Oct 15 (2) Oct 14 (4) Oct 13 (2) Oct 12 (3) Oct 11 (2) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (4) Oct 07 (4) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (5) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (6) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (3) Sep 28 (3) Sep 27 (7) Sep 26 (4) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (5) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (3) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (3) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (7) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (4) Sep 13 (3) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (5) Sep 09 (7) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (2) Sep 06 (7) Sep 05 (4) Sep 04 (4) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (2) Sep 01 (2) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (3) Aug 29 (3) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (3) Aug 26 (4) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (3) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (4) Aug 21 (4) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (2) Aug 16 (2) Aug 15 (5) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (10) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (5) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (5) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (5) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (3) Jul 27 (3) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (5) Jul 23 (5) Jul 22 (7) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (5) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (5) Jul 16 (5) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (3) Jul 12 (2) Jul 11 (2) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (2) Jul 08 (2) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (2) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (3) Jul 02 (2) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (6) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (6) Jun 27 (6) Jun 26 (6) Jun 25 (6) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (4) Jun 19 (5) Jun 18 (8) Jun 17 (6) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (4) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (5) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (3) Jun 05 (3) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (4) May 31 (2) May 30 (2) May 29 (2) May 28 (2) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (3) May 24 (2) May 23 (2) May 22 (3) May 21 (5) May 20 (4) May 19 (2) May 18 (3) May 17 (3) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (5) May 13 (3) May 12 (4) May 11 (3) May 10 (4) May 09 (4) May 08 (4) May 07 (3) May 06 (2) May 05 (3) May 04 (4) May 03 (2) May 02 (3) May 01 (3) Apr 30 (3) Apr 29 (4) Apr 28 (2) Apr 27 (3) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (2) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (2) Apr 22 (2) Apr 21 (4) Apr 20 (4) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (7) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (10) Apr 15 (5) Apr 14 (3) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (7) Apr 08 (4) Apr 07 (7) Apr 06 (4) Apr 05 (7) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (5) Mar 31 (5) Mar 30 (5) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (6) Mar 27 (5) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (6) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (5) Mar 22 (5) Mar 21 (4) Mar 20 (3) Mar 19 (6) Mar 18 (6) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (5) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (5) Mar 11 (4) 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Apr 23 (1) Apr 22 (1) Apr 19 (1) Apr 18 (1) Apr 12 (1) Apr 11 (1) Apr 09 (1) Apr 07 (1) Apr 05 (1) Apr 01 (1) Mar 30 (1) Mar 27 (1) Mar 25 (1) Mar 22 (2) Mar 19 (1) Mar 18 (1) Mar 16 (1) Mar 15 (2) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (1) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (1)Three resolutions urged governor and General Assembly to find way to include African-American experience and history of slavery alongside war memorials

The N.C. Historical Commission said it is hamstrung by state law and a legislature that won't allow controversial Confederate monuments on the old Capitol grounds in Raleigh to be moved.But on Wednesday, Aug. 22, the commission adopted three resolutions to protect the objects of remembrance in the wake of vandalism to other Civil War statues, while seeking to add more inclusive historical tributes. Legislative leaders said they were ready and willing to implement the recommendations.Commission members reflected on the sharp edges of a decades-long, intractable debate. Strident opponents of Confederate monuments view them as a detestable anachronism honoring a dark period of slavery, secession, and war. Ardent supporters believe they reflect valor, heritage, family history, and fallen ancestors.The meeting was held amid heavy police presence throughout the state government complex. Silent Sam, UNC-Chapel Hill's monument to student soldiers who fell in the Civil War, was toppled by vandals two days earlier. One year ago, a Confederate soldier monument at the old Durham County Courthouse was torn down.One woman protester briefly disrupted an earlier meeting of the Confederate Monuments Study Committee, which voted to recommend the resolutions to the full commission. She was quickly detained and removed.At issue are three Confederate monuments - one to the Confederate Dead of North Carolina, another to the North Carolina Women of the Confederacy, and a third to Henry Lawson Wyatt, a North Carolina soldier and the first Confederate casualty of the war.Gov. Roy Cooper petitioned the commission to remove them from the State Capitol and display them instead at the Bentonville Battlefield in Johnston County. That is the site of the state's largest Civil War battle. The General Assembly passed Senate Bill 22 in 2015 barring removal, relocation, or alteration of monuments, memorials, and works of art owned by the state without approval of the commission. It limited removal to a few specific circumstances.The commission passed the resolutions with little discussion. Each calls for varying degrees of action. Most of the debate took place in the study committee.One resolution simply states the commission considers the three monuments an overrepresentation and over-memorialization of a difficult era in North Carolina history. It passed unanimously.Another said the commission is unable to recommend removal because of the legislative prohibition. It states a preference forIt passed 9-2.The third resolution passed 10-1. It called for aA second provision says the monuments should acknowledge slavery caused the Civil War. Another provision directs the N.C. Department of Natural & Cultural Resources to raise funds to erect additional monuments on Capitol Square to memorialize African Americans' accomplishments and contributions. The resolution urges the governor and General Assembly to work together to add those monuments without delay.Cooper said in a written statement.Cooper said.Cooper said.Cooper said.Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, and House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, also issued statements after the meeting.Berger said.Moore said.During the study committee meeting, member Valerie Johnson, chairwoman of the N.C. African American Heritage Commission, said the keeping the monuments on public grounds promotes the continuing ideology of white supremacy. Relocating themshe said.or by toppling its monuments, said commission member Chris Fonvielle. History should be used to teach and inspire, not to wage cultural warfare against one another, he said.President Trump is the world's worst client. He speaks when he should shut up; he doesn't listen to his lawyers; he takes action that exacerbates legal difficulties. The most irritating aspect of this unfortunate tendency is that Trump actually has a couple of robust legal defenses with regard to the accusation that he violated campaign finance law by paying off his paramours. Those defenses come in two forms.1. Trump Didn't Intend To Break The Law. Under the law, criminal liability for campaign finance violations attaches only if you intended to violate the law. This requires a certain level of baseline knowledge of the law. But Trump could easily say that he relied on his attorney, Michael Cohen, to know the law - he's not a lawyer. Now, Trump was intimately involved, according to Cohen, with setting up the structure for the passage of the cash. But there's no evidence of that so far, other than Cohen's testimony. Jan Baran, a GOP finance lawyer, explained to Politico:Baran pointed out that even players in the field aren't sure whether Trump's payoffs were even governed by campaign finance law, given that they could be construed as personal expenditures.2. Trump Didn't Break The Law. This is the case made by former FEC chairman Bradley Smith, who argues that Trump's payoffs to the ladies were actually personal expenditures. Writing in The Washington Post, he stated:However, regardless of what Cohen agreed to in a plea bargain, hush-money payments to mistresses are not really campaign expenditures. It is true thatandare defined in the Federal Election Campaign Act as anythingand it may have been intended and hoped that paying hush money would serve that end. The problem is that almost anything a candidate does can be interpreted as intended tofrom buying a good watch to make sure he gets to places on time, to getting a massage so that he feels fit for the campaign trail, to buying a new suit so that he looks good on a debate stage. Yet having campaign donors pay for personal luxuries - such as expensive watches, massages and Brooks Brothers suits - seems more like bribery than funding campaign speech.In other words, Trump's attempts toisn't enough to label an action a campaign finance issue. The counterargument would be FEC language regarding the applicable test:In other words, it's only a personal expenditure if Trump would have paid for it regardless of the context. Trump may have a defense here: he pays off women all the time. Then he'd have to show evidence that's true.No matter what, Trump doesn't help himself by talking here. He has lawyers for this. He should use them. But Trump's biggest problem is his own ego. If he just admitted that he doesn't know the law and delegated it to Cohen, or states that he pays off women for sex on a routine basis - both of which are both credible and likely true - he'd be off the hook. But does he have the humility to recognize it?Tuesday, August 28, 2018

From BreakingNews.ie:

Tusla has refused repeated requests from the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI) for access to certain adoption records it holds.

Tusla is the largest repository of adoption records in the country, holding around 70,000 records from former adoption societies. A further 30,000 are held by the AAI, and some 50,000 are held by accredited agencies.

As the regulatory body for adoption in Ireland, the AAI has the power to inspect and copy all records held by bodies accredited under the Adoption Act 2010.

However, despite holding almost 50% of all adoption records in existence, Tusla is not an accredited body under the act and the AAI has no power over how it holds these records.

Read more here.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/family_law/2018/08/ireland-repository-refuses-release-of-70000-adoption-records-.htmlBaylor University infiltrated sexual assault survivor support groups, reports PR Week, using an employee to keep tabs on survivors and provide "PR strategy and talking points" to influence proceedings. Baylor, a private Christian university in Waco, Texas, faces a Title IX lawsuit.

One source familiar with the matter identified the "mole" as Matt Burchett, director of student activities at Baylor, whose job is to coordinate student pursuits such as picnics, parties, and demonstrations. The source said Burchett, acting as a liaison with university officials, played damage control on their behalf. 

When these groups organized on campus to comfort each other and demand action from former chancellor Kenneth Starr, "[Burchett] would coordinate with them, befriend them, and pretend he was helping them organize vigils and demonstrations [about] sexual assault," the source added.

Burchett would pass on what he learned to school officials, the communications department, and [PR firm] Ketchum, the source added.Senator John McCain, who died on Saturday at age 81 from an aggressive form of brain cancer, wrote a farewell letter to America. The letter was read by family spokesman Rick Davis this afternoon.

Full text:

My fellow Americans, whom I have gratefully served for sixty years, and especially my fellow Arizonans,

Thank you for the privilege of serving you and for the rewarding life that service in uniform and in public office has allowed me to lead. I have tried to serve our country honorably. I have made mistakes, but I hope my love for America will be weighed favorably against them.

I have often observed that I am the luckiest person on earth. I feel that way even now as I prepare for the end of my life. I have loved my life, all of it. I have had experiences, adventures and friendships enough for ten satisfying lives, and I am so thankful. Like most people, I have regrets. But I would not trade a day of my life, in good or bad times, for the best day of anyone else's.

I owe that satisfaction to the love of my family. No man ever had a more loving wife or children he was prouder of than I am of mine. And I owe it to America. To be connected to America's causes  liberty, equal justice, respect for the dignity of all people  brings happiness more sublime than life's fleeting pleasures. Our identities and sense of worth are not circumscribed but enlarged by serving good causes bigger than ourselves.

'Fellow Americans'  that association has meant more to me than any other. I lived and died a proud American. We are citizens of the world's greatest republic, a nation of ideals, not blood and soil. We are blessed and are a blessing to humanity when we uphold and advance those ideals at home and in the world. We have helped liberate more people from tyranny and poverty than ever before in history. We have acquired great wealth and power in the process.

We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe. We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been.

We are three-hundred-and-twenty-five million opinionated, vociferous individuals. We argue and compete and sometimes even vilify each other in our raucous public debates. But we have always had so much more in common with each other than in disagreement. If only we remember that and give each other the benefit of the presumption that we all love our country we will get through these challenging times. We will come through them stronger than before. We always do.

Ten years ago, I had the privilege to concede defeat in the election for president. I want to end my farewell to you with the heartfelt faith in Americans that I felt so powerfully that evening.

I feel it powerfully still.

Do not despair of our present difficulties but believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here. Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history.

Farewell, fellow Americans. God bless you, and God bless America.Not a good day for the President's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

The Kushner family real estate company was fined $210,000 by New York City regulators Monday, after an Associated Press investigation revealed it "routinely filed false documents with the city claiming it had no rent-regulated tenants in its buildings when, in fact, it had hundreds."

From AP:

Separately, a watchdog group said Monday that former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen has engaged in the same practice, perhaps in a more brazen way, by telling the city that buildings he owned were empty, though tax records showed they were filled with tenants, many rent-regulated.

The city's buildings department fined the Kushner Cos. for filing 42 false applications for construction work on more than a dozen buildings when presidential adviser Jared Kushner ran the business. The AP report showed that the false paperwork allowed the Kushners to escape extra scrutiny designed to stop landlords from using construction to make living conditions for low-paying, rent-regulated tenants unbearable and get them to leave.

The Kushner Cos. said it relied on "third party consultants" to prepare its applications for construction permits and the errors "have been corrected or will be."

"In no case did the company act in disregard of the safety of our tenants," said spokeswoman Christine Taylor. "We look forward to presenting the facts before an administrative law judge and until then no amount is due."Roger Stone's Instagram sure is weird.

In an Instagram video he posted today, longtime Trump consigliere Roger Stone said that a Ronan Farrow story soon to be published in The New Yorker reports that Stone explicitly told Donald Trump in October 2016 that WikiLeaks had obtained and was preparing to dump John Podesta's emails.

Here's Ronan's response.

A quick reminder that I don't comment on reporting I haven't published, and if you're reading about my work from secondary sources you're often not getting the full or correct storyespecially in cases where parties have an interest in downplaying or otherwise spinning.  Ronan Farrow (@RonanFarrow) July 27, 2018

Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) said on 'All in With Chris Hayes' tonight that he'd believe Roger Stone as far as he could throw him, which sounds sensible, and pointed out the wiggle words Nixon's dark political prankster uses here to evade truth, and consequences.

Watch the denial video below.

[via @NatashaBertrand]

Roger Stone's latest pitch to his email list of supporters boils down to this: Donate right now because, literally, I am the next guy to get indicted. pic.twitter.com/sWAx2BQtSJ  Marshall Cohen (@MarshallCohen) August 26, 2018

So Roger Stone is Andy Rooney combined with Lloyd Kaufman right?  Ken Reid (@KennethWReid) August 28, 2018Over the course of my life, recently departed Senator John McCain has had me both cheering, and screaming, but he was absolutely due the same trappings as any other sitting US Senator who kicks the bucket.

Via Talking Points Memo:

According to people familiar with the situation who spoke to the Wall Street Journal, Trump thought the reporting on McCain's passing, just one day after his family announced he would stop seeking medical treatment for his brain cancer, was "over-the-top and more befitting a president," in WSJ's words.

We all doubt Trump knows what befits a President. Trust us, Donald, people are gonna celebrate when you go.Oopsy.

This lowered Toyota FR-S got stuck on a speed bump earlier this month at the Clean Culture ATL car meet in Duluth, Georgia. A bunch of folks stepped in to help the driver get his ridiculously low vehicle unstuck.

Dumb question: How does this guy drive around town?

(Digg)Tuesday, August 28, 2018

The Washington Post (Mar.28, 2018): Utah's 'free-range parenting' law said to be first in the nation, by Meagan Flynn:

Lenore Skenazy reinvigorated debates about best parenting practices when she decided to let her 9-year-old ride the New York City subway alone (with a map, MetroCard, and cash) to instill in him independence in 2008. After the court of public opinion contested whether she was a terrible or great parent, Skenazy wrote a book on her philosophies and coined the term "free-range parenting."

The idea was to let her child engage in "various activities without stifling supervision." Unforunately, many parents who subscribe consciously or not to Skenazy's "free-range" style have encountered the scary side-effects of leaving their children without supervision: interference from child services or the police.

A mother in Chicago allowed her 8-year-old to walk their dog around the block. After the girl arrived safely home, the police stopped at their home upon receiving an anonymous tip about a child walking alone. The investigations that ensue in these scenarios are looking for child neglect. And even if the parents under investigation are cleared by officials (whether child services or the police), they have to endure "invasive and stressful" investigations that can not only be humiliating but are often considered a waste of time and resources. "Experts say that the problem stems from vague laws that often ensnare well-meaning parents who are trying to give their children freedom or responsibility."

A sociology professor at the Univesity of Illinois at Chicago, Barbara Risman, also notes that the expectation that mothers keep "a constant eye on their children" doesn't often extend to fathers:

This shaming mechanism underlies the cultural logic that women should spend all their time making sure their children are never alone. The opposite is true of dads. No one presumes fathers have a moral responsibility to take care of (their children). When they do, they get praise and positive reinforcement.

Child abuse and neglect laws can be vague, defining neglect, for example, as leaving a child under 14 "without supervision for an unreasonable period of time without regard for the mental or physical health, safety, or welfare of that minor." Those charged with investigating a report of neglect generally find it important to thoroughly explore every allegation.

Society is pushing back, though, against what it considers unreasonable surveillance of reasonable parenting. The free-range parenting concept has now translated into law in Utah. State Senator Lincoln Fillmore (R) sponsored the measure, which exempts a range of activities children of a "sufficient age" can do without supervision from the definition of child neglect. These activities include walking, running, or biking to and from school or recreational facilities as well as playing outside or staying inside at home unattended. While the bill was in committee earlier this year, Fillmore told Fox 13:

As a society, weve kind of erred, as our pendulum has swung for childrens safety, a little bit too much to the side of helicopter parenting, right? We want kids to be able to learn how to navigate the world so when theyre adults theyre fully prepared to handle things on their own.

Skenazy, too, has remained involved in the conversation. Arkansas attempted to pass a similar bill last year. It failed in committee from fears of child abduction. Skenazy wrote: Why give kids freedom  why give parents freedom  when you can take it away so easily and say youre championing safety in the process?

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/reproductive_rights/2018/08/moms-throughout-country-under-investigation-while-utahs-free-range-parenting-law-said-to-be-first-in.htmlThe Information reports that Google's self-driving automobile division is having trouble making progress. Among the key problems: its vehicles have trouble turning left at intersections.

The article is paywalled, but Amir Efrati sums it up: "The truth about Waymo in suburban Phoenix starts here, at a T intersection at East Fairview St. and South 56 St., the closest one to Waymo's vehicle depot in Chandler. Waymo's vans sometimes have trouble finding a gap in traffic to turn left, frustrating people who say they get stuck behind them."- A Canadian bride wanted a once-in-a-lifetime wedding

- She therefore asked her friends to contribute R17,000 to attend

- When they refused, she cancelled the wedding and criticised them in a Facebook post

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See first" under the "Following" tab to see Briefly News on your newsfeed!

A Canadian bride angrily called off her wedding recently after her friends refused to pay a whopping R17,000 to attend it.

A Twitter user, @0lspicykeychain, shared the incredible story on her profile, Briefly.co.za learned.

The unnamed bride announced the cancellation in a Facebook post, whose screenshots @01spicykeychain shared.

READ ALSO: Zodwa Wabantu is sick of people calling her future hubby a "Ben 10"

The bride-to-be also announced that she had broken up with her groom-to-be just four days before their wedding.

She would embark on a two-month backpacking trip in South America "to explore her soul" and rid herself of "toxic energy."

She and her boyfriend had been together for over four years and have a son together. She revealed that her engagement ring cost almost R50,000 and that her dream wedding would cost R600,000.

To raise this staggering amount, she asked her friends and family to contribute R17,000 each to her invite-only wedding. Those who didn't contribute wouldn't be invited.

However, despite a few pledges, many of her friends simply found the amount too high. They therefore declined to pay it.

The last straw for the bride came when the groom offered her a cheaper wedding in Las Vegas, which she considered an "insult." She therefore broke up with him. She wrote:

I mean, seriously people, what is [R17,000]? Clearly not a lot. It would be quite manageable and within a budget. I just wanted to be a Kardashian for a day.

READ ALSO: Government accused of coal conspiracy on farm chosen for expropriation

Social media users were left stunned by the bride's demands and attitude in general.

Watch 5 "miracles" by African pastors in the video below from our Briefly - South Africa YouTube channel.

Do you have a story to share with us? Inbox us on our Facebook page and we could feature your story.

To stay up to date with the latest news, download our news app on Google Play or iTunes today.

Source: Briefly.co.zaNews / National

by Staff Reporter

RENEWED illegal economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the United States will not deter an increase in agriculture productivity through land utilisation to ensure food security at household level, Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement Minister Perrance Shiri has said.Minister Shiri said farmers must ignore the sanctions and remain focused on transforming the agricultural sector.He said sanctions should not be used as a leverage to cause farmers to under-perform and underutilise land."Sanctions have nothing to do with our farming and productivity so we should free ourselves in that sector," said Minister Shiri."We can perform better even when we have sanctions. We have land, water and other resources that would enable us to enhance productivity."Minister Shiri said Government was looking for more cotton farmers to benefit from the input support scheme and contract farming to enhance cotton productivity in the country.He said Zimbabwean cotton was in high demand in Europe adding that it has been rated the best in the manufacture of denim wear.Minister Shiri said there was an acute shortage of cotton farmers in the country to meet the demand."I was in Turkey recently and was talking to the textile industries," he said."I was informed that Zimbabwean cotton was the best in making clothing material for jeans. Our cotton is on demand in Europe and we need to produce more cotton."We have a shortage of farmers. We are looking for farmers who are willing to grow cotton so that we meet the demand."Minister Shiri said there was need for reorientation of farmers to be more innovative and business minded.He said farmers should start exploring European markets and take advantage of the country's open for business mantra."There are a lot of opportunities in farming that we need to take up as a country we will be able to generate foreign currency from exports," he said."Even our beef is on demand in Europe. It is up to us to explore these opportunities. South Africa generates a lot of money for the exportation of fruits, why can't we do the same."News / National

by Staff Reporter

HARARE - MDC "rebels" who left the 18-year-old party now under Nelson Chamisa's leadership seem to be warming up to Zanu PF leader President Emmerson Mnangagwa after several of them graced his inauguration where they heaped praises on him while calling for unity of all Zimbabweans.Among the notables who attended the inauguration are former Mabvuku-Tafara constituency MP James Maridadi, former MDC spokesperson Obert Gutu, former MDC vice president Thokozani Khupe and Eddie Cross, who resigned from MDC just before the July 30 harmonised elections.Khupe is now leading her own political outfit, which broke away from the Chamisa-led camp, following the death of the founding leader Morgan Tsvangirai. She is deputised by Gutu.Chamisa and Khupe have been embroiled in a fight to take control of the MDC party, leading to a split, amid accusations the Khupe-led camp was being used by Zanu PF to split the vote.Chamisa, who challenged the presidential results announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec), did not attend the inauguration.Cross described the court process as an "expensive and time wasting deviation" for the country.He said Mnangagwa had made strides in improving the country."The new president has already; to some extent set the pace. He arrives at work early in the morning, leaves late, he has put new leadership in all branches of the armed forces, is completely revamping the CIO and the police service, he is re-training the entire police force to restore public faith after years of belligerence and corruption."He fired 13 permanent secretaries this past week, many of whom had thought that the description 'permanent' meant just that, jobs for life no matter what."He has dismissed the prosecutor general because he was not doing his job and has replaced him with someone who I think is an outstanding individual and legal mind," Cross said.Chamisa's other erstwhile partners also seem to be warming up to Mnangagwa, whom they have been fighting for 17 years."Congratulations to His (Excellency) @edmnangagwa President of Zimbabwe. This citizen has great expectations of you."It's up to you - 'a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood leads on to fortune; omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows & miseries," former MDC Harare West MP Jessie Majome, wrote on her Twitter account.Opinion / Columnist

The much anticipated 2018 watershed harmonised elections in Zimbabwe have come and gone. The biggest losers in this election were the electorate. They are losers because most voters don't know what happened to their vote. There is no one to account to what happened to the people's votes.The custodians, the keepers and those responsible for the people's votes, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), cannot give a transparent and accurate account of what happened to the people's votes. ZEC cannot give a clear account of how people voted. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission couldn't account for the most crucial presidential vote result. The contentious result needed the intervention of the Constitutional Court to settle the contentious and disputed result. It needed the intervention of the highest court in the land to legitimise the winner.The main opposition, the MDC Alliance, made their supporters believe that their candidate, Nelson Chamisa had won the Presidential vote according to how people had voted. But the result that was announced by ZEC on the wee hours of the 3rd of August made the incumbent Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa of Zanu PF the winner. ZEC announced that Emmerson Mnangagwa had crossed over the line to avoid a run-off with his nearest rival Nelson Chamisa with a mere thirty-one thousand votes only. This announcement was preceded by violence and demonstrations by opposition activists and supporters on the 1st of August protesting at the delay of announcing the Presidential vote result and the National Assembly result that opposition supporters' thought didn't reflect the way people had voted. The supporters were incensed by the pattern in which the results were being announced and thought that this was being deliberately done by ZEC to justify rigging and manipulation of the actual vote.The government reacted to the protests with brutal force and heavy handedness which resulted in the death of at least six people. The government used the army instead of the Zimbabwe Republic Police which is professionally trained to deal with civil unrest than the army. This shooting of innocent civilians was condemned by the international community and all who care about human life. There was no justification to deploy the army on the streets of Harare as the demonstration wasn't neither too violent nor too big for the police to deal with. The only justification from one senior Zanu PF member was that the police voted for Nelson Chamisa and were therefore MDC sympathisers.Election results are meant to be celebrated by winners and bring despair to the losers which is a natural reaction. But in Zimbabwe, elections are about life and death. Zimbabwe's elections have always been characterised by violence before or after the actual voting. They have always been a subject of dispute between the main opposition MDC and Zanu PF since 2002. Elections in Zimbabwe has always meant the spilling of innocent blood before or after. This has meant that elections in Zimbabwe has always been subject to international scrutiny. As the pre and post-election environment has always not passed international standards of transparency, fairness and credibility in the previous elections, this recent election offered Zimbabwe the opportunity to prove that Zanu PF has moved on since the fall of Mugabe. But this election unfortunately has failed to pass that test and it proves that Mugabe may have gone but the system that is Zanu PF is still intact. The leopard unfortunately hasn't changed its spots. This unfortunately means that Zimbabwe will and shall remain under sanctions and international isolation because Zanu PF has failed to change and will not stop meddling in the running of elections. The system called Zanu PF needs to be dismantled for the country to be able to move forward and hold a free, fair and transparent election.The fact that the election result was disputed, and it needed the intervention of the Constitutional Court to legitimise the "winner", proves that those entrusted to conduct the elections have failed to exercise their authority and complete their given constitutional mandate in a transparent credible manner. There were a lot of obvious noted irregularities that emanated from the way the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission conducted this election. Only God knows how ZEC got away with this fraud from the court scrutiny. A personal scrutiny of the way ZEC conducted the elections shows that any competent independent court would not have let ZEC escape with this mess that they caused and the fraudulent way they came up with the winner of this election. This made me think that Stalin was right when he said, It's not the voters that decide the winner but the person who does the counting'. And ZEC in cahoots with the Constitutional Court have proved this quote right.Mnangagwa is now indebted to the people who counted the votes and those who validated the fraud committed by those who counted the votes. We will soon find out that Mnangagwa doesn't care about the electorate because he knows that the people didn't vote for him. You will soon find out that Mnangagwa is a person who indicate right and turn left. Mnangagwa is going to be a leader who says what you want to hear in public but in private he will be saying and doing another. Don't forget the influence of Chiwenga and the army. Mnangagwa is only going to please Chiwenga, the Zimbabwe National Army, ZRP and ZEC because these are the people and organisations that brought him and kept him in power and will always be indebted to them. The Constitutional Court judges will also want to be rewarded for legitimising an illegality. Mnangagwa will obviously now start purging his known and perceived enemies both within and outside Zanu PF to tighten his grip on power. Mnangagwa is also going to cause harm and untold suffering to the generality of Zimbabweans as a punishment for rejecting him at the ballot box.Mnangagwa for the next five years is going to be using all state apparatus at his disposal to force his perceived enemies and opposition party leaders, activists and supporters into submission and silence them.The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has surely thrown Zimbabweans under the bus to be run over for the next five years and unfortunately the Constitutional Court has shamelessly been used to endorse the process that will confine Zimbabwe into the economic doldrums. Only God's hand is needed to get us out of this one.BY FRAZER MUZONDOROHR/MDC ACTIVIST.One of Canada's former top immigration officials says so-called passport babies are a genuine problem in some Canadian locales and closing a loophole being exploited by pregnant foreign tourists is required to curtail the fraudulent practice.

But Andrew Griffith, a former director general at Citizenship and Immigration, said that a policy resolution passed by Conservatives this weekend to end the practice of giving citizenship to anyone born in the country may be akin to "using a hammer to squash a fly."

Delegates at the Conservatives' policy convention in Halifax endorsed a resolution to end the policy of birthright citizenship, with backers contending too many foreigners are travelling to Canada solely to give birth to secure status for their children.

Party members voted to call for a key section of Canada's nationality law to be rewritten, endorsing a policy that would remove citizenship rights for children born in Canada to non-Canadian (or non-permanent resident) parents. The resolution is, however, non-binding on a future government.

"It's basically using fraud to get citizenship for a child. People are coming on a visa under false pretences and just coming for the opportunity to provide citizenship for their kid. I can understand the motivation, but it's really not what the policy was designed for and it's a form of fraud and misrepresentation," said Griffith in an interview with CBC News.

Proponents of the change, introduced by delegates from Newfoundland and Labrador, said such a move is necessary to crack down on foreigners travelling here for the sole purpose of securing perks and privileges for their children that come with being Canadian.

The change would upend a section of Canadian law that has been largely intact since the advent of a distinct Canadian citizenship decades ago.

Conflicting statistics

Canada  along with some other nations in the Americas, including the U.S.  is among a few developed countries that grant citizenship to any child born on its soil, regardless of the immigration status of their parents.

Story continues

There are a few exceptions, notably the children of foreign diplomats are excluded, but generally the principle of jus soli, Latin for "right of the soil," is applied.

Some have suggested this is a solution looking for a problem as, according to Statistics Canada, just 313 babies were born in this country in 2016 to non-Canadian mothers, out of the 383,315 children born here that year.

But other data suggests the phenomenon is more common. Richmond Hospital in Richmond, B.C., a city near Vancouver, recorded 383 births to non-resident mothers in 2016-17  representing 17.2 per cent of all births at the hospital.

Last year, the number rose to 469, or 22.2 per cent of all births  according to statistics provided by the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority to CBC News. The authority said the majority were to Chinese nationals.

"It's arguably crowding out [hospital] space and facilities for residents of Canada. So, there's a real issue there in Richmond, B.C. and other localities," said Griffith.

But Griffith questioned whether the Conservative solution is workable, noting former Conservative citizenship minister Jason Kenney pursued a policy change while in government only to find the numbers relatively small and the cost to provinces  which issue birth certificates  prohibitive.

"I don't want to see [birth tourism] happen, but on the practical side as to what you do about it, abolishing birthright citizenship is using a hammer to squash a fly, because if the numbers are small ... do you really want to inconvenience literally millions of Canadians to address a relatively small problem? Are there other ways one can address the issue?"

Griffith suggested hospitals could require higher deposits from non-residents to cover medical expenses, or there could be changes to how visas are granted to pregnant women to allow border officials to refuse entry if they suspect a person is travelling to Canada to give birth.

He also said the clear discrepancy between StatsCan data and information supplied by just one B.C. hospital suggests the government needs to "get its act together ... to get a real handle on what exactly the numbers are."

B.C. 'birthing houses'

The South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's newspaper of record, has also documented a rise in the number of "birthing houses" in B.C. that host pregnant tourists looking to give birth to a Canadian baby.

Baoma Inn, one of the so-called B.C. birthing houses, posted a picture of a baby alongside a Canadian passport

That paper found dozens of such houses catering to pregnant foreign women who come to B.C. specifically to give birth to Canadian citizens.

"Can't we do some regulation around these birthing houses? Or ban them?

"It is an abuse of the system, it's an abuse of the policy but I think the measures need to be more focused and targeted rather than just wholesale change," Griffith said.

Conservative B.C. MP Alice Wong, who has introduced a petition in Parliament on the issue, railed against the current policy, saying "passport babies take away the resources from our system."

"It is dangerous to the mother and the child themselves. The Liberals support it. They do not support a fair citizenship system  we should fight for our own babies," she told the convention Saturday.

Another delegate said citizenship should only be inherited from a Canadian parent.

"Justin Trudeau would tell you that Canada has no nationality and I think everybody here would disagree with that. I think our nationality runs in our culture, our land, our blood from Juno Beach to Vimy Ridge. We have a culture, we have a nationality, there's no reason to arbitrarily hand out citizenship to whoever happens to be on vacation here," the delegate said.

Liberal officials were quick to pounce on the Conservative resolution, suggesting it could allow future governments to strip immigrants of their status.

Stripping citizenship?

Gerald Butts, the prime minister's principal secretary, said it was "remarkable ... they committed to give the government the power to strip people born in Canada of Canadian citizenship," while linking to a series of tweets from a Somali refugee who was born stateless.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh went even further, "unequivocally" condemning the "division and hate being peddled by @AndrewScheer & the Conservative Party of Canada."

Conservative Alberta MP Deepak Obhrai also spoke out against the change, suggesting a birthright ban could be open to abuse.

"Any person who is born in Canada by law is entitled to be a Canadian; we cannot choose who is going to be a Canadian and who is not going to be a Canadian," he said at the convention. "This is a fundamental question of equality."

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer defended the adoption of the resolution Monday.

"Conservatives recognize there are many Canadians who have been born in Canada by parents who have come here to stay and have contributed greatly to our country. I will not end the core policy that facilitates this. Unlike Justin Trudeau, I will safeguard it against abuse. A Conservative government will restore order, fairness, and compassion to Canada's immigration system," he said in a statement.

Howard Anglin, a top legal adviser and deputy chief of staff to former prime minister Stephen Harper, said the Liberals were whipping up fear among immigrants for political purposes.

"Here we see openly the beginning of a plan to mischaracterize another policy proposal, which would align us with virtually all our peer countries and allies (and which, of course, is not yet in an election platform) to stoke fear and alienation in ethnic communities," he tweeted.

"No one will be stripped of citizenship, which is what [Butts's] tweet said. It's not retroactive. The proposal is that children of tourists, visitors, & others temporarily in the country or here illegally, will no longer automatically become citizens (just like in our peer countries)."

But Janet Dench, executive director of Canadian Council for Refugees, said Monday there is no meaningful data to suggest "birth tourism" is an actual problem and that if the measure came into force, "the vast majority of people affected would not at all be people who come for birth tourism reasons."

Dench told The Canadian Press it would impact many women who give birth in Canada while they are waiting for permanent residency status, refugee claimants and others in limbo.The Canadian Coast Guard is trying to determine the source of a slick in Halifax harbour.

What appeared to be a patch of oil was visible on the water's surface close to Bishop's Landing along the Halifax waterfront on Monday.

Alexandra McNab, a spokesperson for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, said in a statement members of the Coast Guard Environmental Response group have been in the area since the morning and are monitoring the patch.

She said at this point, they're calling it a "mystery sheen."

Tiffany Chase, who speaks for Nova Scotia Power, said the utility is confident the sheen is not related to an oil leak earlier this month at the Tufts Cove generating station.

On Aug. 2, about 5,000 litres of bunker C fuel leaked into the harbour on the Dartmouth side. An additional 9,900 litres leaked into a containment trench and another 9,400 litres entered the cooling water system of one of the utility's generators.

"We monitor our site daily and we have not observed sheen outside of our containment booming," Chase said Monday in an email.

Read more articles at CBC Nova ScotiaThe B.C. school district responsible for the community school on Hornby Island says it's working to determine a plan for the start of the school year after a fire burned at least one third of the school early Sunday.

Firefighters from Hornby Island Fire Rescue and Denman Island Fire Rescue battled the blaze for 12 hours at the Hornby Island Community School.

The fire began sometime after 2 a.m. PT and destroyed the front part of the building. The middle section suffered fire and smoke damage and the back of the building has moderate smoke damage.

"The Board of Education is shocked and saddened that one week prior to the start of the new school year at the news of a devastating fire that has damaged the Hornby Island Community School," said Comox Valley school district chair Janice Caton in a release.

Hornby Island lies just off the east coast of Vancouver Island, around 100 kilometres northwest of Nanaimo.

Hornby Island's volunteer fire service used all five of its trucks and 16 firefighters to battle the blaze.

Lots of help

It also asked for help from firefighters from nearby Denman Island. BC Ferries activated one of its ferries to go from Hornby Island to Denman Island around 4:30 a.m. and pick up seven more firefighters plus two trucks from the Denman Island Fire and Rescue.

Hornby Island fire chief, Doug Chinnery said work on the fire was a community effort.

Several groups provided assistance including Denman Island firefighters, BC Ferries, BC Ambulance and a contractor on the island, Chinnery said.

'Community support incredible'

Local residents are dismayed about the damage, but thankful for everyone who worked to keep the school from completely being destroyed.

"My childhood elementary school just burned," wrote Brittany Jenna Andrews in a Facebook post.

Chinnery says residents brought food at the fire hall, which is down the road from the school.

"People just bringing by fresh baked cookies and all sorts of food has come here," he said. "The community support has been absolutely incredible.

Story continues

Chinnery says he does not know how the fire started. Investigators from Courtenay and the RCMP are expected on Monday.

Meanwhile the school board says it will determine a plan for the school year.

Canton said all updates will be posted on the district and school websites.By James Pomfret HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong's leading youth pro-democracy party, Demosisto, accused Chinese State Security agents of using "scare tactics" to intimidate two activists briefly detained for questioning earlier this year during visits to the mainland. The Ministry of State Security couldn't be immediately reached for comment on the two incidents, while the Hong Kong government's Security Bureau gave no immediate response to a Reuters request for comment. Demosisto withheld the names of the two party members, one of whom subsequently quit the party. One was held for questioning for five hours during a visit to a city in China's southern Guangdong province earlier this month, and the other was questioned in March during a trip to another city in the same province. "We're not just talking about a simple dialogue with no harm or no threat, we're talking about our members being detained with a hostile attitude," said Nathan Law, a founding member of Demosisto and an elected lawmaker who was disqualified from public office by authorities last July. "It's definitely a scare tactic," he told reporters. The activist held in the most recent incident had recounted how an agent had described Demosisto's advocacy of Hong Kong's right to self determination and greater autonomy as being akin to "inciting subversion". A copy of China's national security and counter-espionage laws was placed on the table during the interrogation, and the activist was persuaded to sign an "apology letter" before being released and allowed to return to Hong Kong. In the incident in March, a Demosisto member was picked up in Guangzhou city and taken to a room in a hotel for questioning, before being allowed to return home. "What we are afraid of is (that) under this kind of hardline of President Xi (Jinping), this kind of situation will be more common in future," said Demosisto leader Joshua Wong. In recent years, pro-democracy groups in Hong Kong have decried what they see as China's Communist leaders' increased suppression of civil liberties and democratic reforms. Earlier this month, China's Foreign Ministry publicly rebuked Hong Kong's Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC) for inviting a pro-independence activist, Andy Chan, to give a speech at the club. Calls have since grown from Chinese officials and pro-Beijing politicians for the city to enact tough new national security laws known as Article 23 legislation. Hong Kong reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997 under a so-called "one country, two systems" arrangement which guarantees a high degree of autonomy. Hong Kong-born citizens are allowed to travel freely into China on special "re-entry" permits, but many vocal critics of Beijing, and prominent democrats, are often barred from entering. (Reporting by James Pomfret; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)By Tim Kelly TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan said on Tuesday North Korea still posed a dire threat to its security despite a halt to ballistic missile tests and a pledge by leader Kim Jong Un to denuclearize the Korean peninsula. "North Korea's military activities pose the most serious and pressing threat our nation has faced," said an annual white paper published by Japan's Ministry of Defence. The document outlines security concerns about nuclear-armed North Korea, China's growing military might and territorial ambitions, and Russia's intent to rebuild its power that paint a picture of Japan surrounded by potential adversaries in East Asia. The latest security assessment also comes after U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly canceled a planned fourth trip by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Pyongyang this week as part of a fresh bid to push North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles following the unprecedented summit between Trump and Kim in Singapore in June. Trump hailed his meeting with Kim as a success and agreed to halt joint military exercises with South Korea. The North Korean leader reiterated an earlier pledge to work towards removing nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula. However, negotiations have since ground to a halt with Washington demanding tangible steps and Pyongyang asking for U.S. concessions first. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said since the Singapore meeting that his country would not change its military stance towards its belligerent neighbor until it saw concrete, irreversible and verifiable steps towards disarmament. "We need to keep a careful watch on North Korea to see what concrete action it takes to abandon its nuclear weapons and missiles," the Japanese defense paper said. It noted that North Korea had conducted three nuclear tests and fired 40 ballistic missiles since the start of 2016, some of which have passed over Japan. North Korea has derided Abe's government as a "cult" bent on derailing Pyongyang's diplomatic outreach in recent state media comments. State-run newspapers, which once slammed Trump, have recently switched to praising the U.S. leader. Japan said last month it planned to buy two Aegis Ashore air defense radar tracking stations from the United States to bolster its defense against North Korean missiles. The equipment, which will be deployed along with interceptor missile batteries, could also be turned against any potential threat from China from 2023 onwards. "As Chinese power grows, its military strength is rapidly burgeoning," the white paper said. Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the China content in the report was "extremely irresponsible". China hopes that Japan is not looking for excuses to expand its own military, and should do more to increase mutual trust between the two countries and to protect regional peace and stability, Hua told a daily news briefing. (Reporting by Tim Kelly; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Editing by Paul Tait and Darren Schuettler)Have writer's block? Hopefully this resource will help librarians identify publishing and presentation opportunities in library & information science, as well as other related fields. I will include calls for papers, presentations, participation, reviewers, and other relevant notices that I find on the web. If you find anything to be posted, please drop me a note. thanks -- Corey Seeman, University of Michigan(cseeman@umich.edu)Road closures continued on the island of Hawaii following torrential rains brought by Hurricane Lane as crews worked to free unstable materials endangering roadways on August 25.

A section of Highway-19 in OOkala, Hawaii, was closed but later reopened, as Hawaii Department of Transportation crews freed a large boulder, sending it tumbling to the roadway below. Credit: Hawaii Department of Transportation via StoryfulBERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump share concerns about developments in Syria, especially the humanitarian situation in the region around Idlib, Merkel's spokesman said after the two leaders spoke by telephone. "Russia is called upon to act in a moderating manner on the Syrian government and prevent a further escalation," Steffen Seibert said in a statement on Monday evening. Seibert said the two leaders also spoke about Ukraine, the Western Balkans and trade, he said, without elaborating. The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, backed by Moscow, says it aims to recapture the rebel-held enclave of Idlib in northern Syria, a refuge for civilians and rebels displaced from other areas of Syria, as well as jihadist forces. The region has been hit by a wave of air strikes and shelling this month in a possible prelude to a full-scale government offensive. Merkel had also raised concerns about the situation in Idlib during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin just over a week ago. Turkey's foreign minister on Friday said it would be disastrous to seek a military solution in the region. Turkey, which has backed some rebel groups there, is trying to avert an attack by forces loyal to al-Assad. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Toby Chopra)What is the modern-day threshold for prosecuting war crimes and genocide?

The crimes perpetrated against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar have made that as much of a legal question as a fraught political one.

The UN fact-finding mission that interviewed nearly 900 Rohingya eye-witnesses concluded in a damning report Monday that the threshold had been met.

It said there is evidence that Myanmar's top military brass, including the commander in chief, had "genocidal intent," and should stand trial  either before the International Criminal Court, or a special tribunal.

It implicates Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's de facto leader, for her silence in the face of atrocities committed during a a coordinated offensive by the military on the Rohingya minority in the Buddhist-majority country last year.

Ten thousand dead, it adds, was a "conservative" estimate.

Legal politics

Myanmar vehemently disagrees. And because the country isn't party to the ICC statute, the United Nations Security Council must refer the case to the court if it is to hear it.

This is where politics factors in: Russia and China have indicated they would veto any plans to bring an ally and a business partner before the international court.

It is partly the reason why the United Kingdom, the UNSC's lead on Myanmar, said a reference to the court "would not be productive," to "ensure accountability" or to persuade Myanmar to repatriate refugees. The U.K.'s representative made these statements despite concurring that the panel has provided "yet more damning evidence of [the Myanmar military's] culpability."

A year after some 700,000 traumatized people fled across the border to Bangladesh  the report is the most complete record yet of the evictions, murders and gang rapes members of the Rohingya community endured at the hands of Myanmar's military.

Despite that detailed evidence, on top of a trove uncovered by other investigators, human rights groups and the victims themselves: the Security Council is a dead end, the legal threshold trumped by political considerations.

Story continues

"This report is unequivocal about what took place and what must be done about it," said Mark Farmaner of Burma Campaign U.K., a human rights group.

As the lead on Myanmar, Britain, he added, should push to implement its recommendations. "All they said is they'll discuss it, not that they support the recommendations or that they will push for the UNSC to implement them."

So will anyone ever appear in court to answer to such serious charges?

Back door to prosecution?

There may be another option for getting the case before the international court that relies more on legal arguments instead of political ones.

Earlier this year, the ICC prosecutor asked for a ruling on whether the court has jurisdiction to look at the very narrow issue of deportation: whether Myanmar forcibly evicted all those Rohingya people to Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is party to the ICC statute, so in theory, the court would have jurisdiction, said Payam Akhavan, a Canadian former UN prosecutor at The Hague who recently visited Rohingya refugee camps to advise on a potential ICC case.

"If the response is positive, then the Prosecutor can initiate an investigation and in due course issue arrest warrants against members of the Myanmar leadership that bear responsibility for the ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya."

Myanmar has argued against the court's jurisdiction. The country "also sought to downplay the ethnic cleansing by saying that it is willing to allow for the repatriation of refugees," Akhavan said.

But repatriation won't be simple, he added, given longstanding discrimination against the Rohingya inside Myanmar.

It is a point that the panel report emphasizes.

"The gross human rights violations and abuses committed . are also shocking because they stem from deep fractures in society and structural problems that have been apparent and unaddressed for decades," said the report.

UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres told a meeting of the Security Council Tuesday that the report's findings show abuses that "undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law."

"I believe this report's findings and recommendations deserve serious consideration by all relevant United Nations bodies," said Guterres.

The panel, and many refugees, insist there can be no return until fundamental changes are made in how they are treated.

In the meantime, that underscores the monumental challenge of caring for nearly a million traumatized people living in difficult conditions in Bangladesh.

More pressure on everyone

While the report may not immediately deliver justice, or end their wretched exile, it could be the Rohingya population's best chance at persuading the international community not to avert its eyes to their challenges both inside and outside of Myanmar.

"The report adds great weight to the issues of accountability and responsibility. And puts more pressure on everyone," said Bob Rae, the Canadian government's special envoy to Myanmar, who will be in New York on Tuesday as the Security Council convenes to discuss the matter.

That will undoubtedly mean fresh appeals for funding to alleviate the harrowing conditions in which refugees will continue to live for the forseable future.

It will also mean pressure on countries like Canada, which have used a phased approach that focused sanctions on lower rungs of the military, to aim higher, at the army commander, or perhaps at Aung San Suu Kyi herself.

That too is a political question, and countries will have to decide for themselves whether the threshold has been met for that.Progressive Conservative Leader Blaine Higgs says he'll refund any carbon-tax revenue to New Brunswickers if he is premier and if Ottawa ends up imposing its own pricing regime on the province.

Campaigning in Moncton on Monday, Higgs repeated his promise to join a legal challenge by the Ontario and Saskatchewan governments aimed at killing the federal plan.

But he said if that doesn't work, he'll make sure New Brunswickers aren't taxed more.

Premier Brian Gallant's Liberal government originally promised a revenue-neutral carbon tax system  a phrase that usually means other taxes are reduced to offset the tax consumers would pay on fossil-fuel consumption.

Gallant later abandoned that promise and is now using carbon-tax revenue to fund environmental programs.

"The original concept  we're sticking with it," Higgs said. "Taxpayers were told it would not add to their bottom line. Gallant and Trudeau have drifted away from that. Well, we're bringing it back.

"If we're not successful [in the legal challenge], we will indeed make it revenue neutral. Which means taxpayers of this province will not have increased taxes as a result of the federal government imposing it."

Since April, 2.3 cents of New Brunswick's 15.5-cent-per-litre gas tax has been shifted into a climate fund to be spent on environmental initiatives.

That share will increase every year over five years to 11.64 cents, but with no net increase to what consumers pay at the gas pumps.

Higgs said Monday that Gallant designed his tax that way "to avoid talking about it during the election cycle."

Gallant claims shifting a portion of the gas tax meets the federal requirement for a provincial carbon price.

But federal environment minister Catherine McKenna, a fellow Liberal, has hinted that it does not. She said her national plan requires putting an additional cost on carbon dioxide.

Ottawa has vowed to impose its own more onerous regime on provinces that don't meet its requirements, though it won't say until later this year whether it considers New Brunswick offside.

Story continues

Higgs estimated a 12-cent-a-litre carbon tax on top of the existing gas tax would cost a New Brunswick family $1,200 a year.

Saskatchewan has already launched a constitutional challenge to Ottawa's power to impose its system. Ontario announced last month it will join the case, and Higgs said he will too if he becomes premier.

Ottawa plans to impose its system on recalcitrant provinces at the start of 2019. If the legal challenge fails, Higgs said, the federal government will collect the money "but Ottawa has an obligation to refund it," he said Monday. "That's part of the federal plan."

Higgs said if the money is returned to the New Brunswick government, "we will disburse that in the way of reduced taxes in other areas."

But McKenna has hinted she will not return the money to dissenting provincial governments and will instead bypass them by sending rebates directly to taxpayers in those provinces.

Higgs's rebate promise is "not within his control and it's a gamble," said Liberal campaign spokesperson Greg Byrne. "There is no guarantee that the federal government will provide the province with that money."

Byrne said if Higgs scraps Gallant's system, it'll be more likely that Ottawa will impose its regime  with no guarantee the rebates will be possible.

Byrne said the Liberals are confident McKenna will accept Gallant's system and not bring in its own tax on New Brunswick.

He also pointed out Manitoba has opted not to challenge the federal plan because of a legal opinion that it won't succeed.

"Right out of the gate, [Higgs is] going to spend taxpayers' money on a multi-million dollar lawsuit with little chance of success."

Higgs could avoid the long and expensive legal battle by simply adopting his own version of a carbon tax with offsetting tax cuts in other areas.

But he said he opposes that on principle.

"Why set up something just for the sake of setting it up? That's more bureaucracy to collect money and then refund it. Why collect it to begin with?"

Jason Kenney, leader of Alberta's United Conservative Party, joined Higgs at the morning announcement in Moncton and said the New Brunswick PC leader should try to turn the election into a referendum on the carbon tax.

"Everywhere the carbon tax is put to the voters, they say no," said Kenney, who hopes to win next spring's Alberta election. He's also promising to join Saskatchewan's legal fight.

Higgs said his promise to fight the tax will be "a main pillar" of his campaign leading to the Sept. 24 election.

He was less clear on how a PC government would tackle climate change in the absence of a carbon tax.

He said he would ensure the province continues to meet or exceed emissions reduction targets, including those in the Paris climate treaty, and would also increase New Brunswick's green-energy capabilities.

"We will do our part on climate change," he said.

But he also said his tax cuts to offset a federal carbon price might include a reduction to the gas tax or to other energy consumption taxes  measures that would make it even less expensive to burn carbon dioxide.

Green Party Leader David Coon, launching his campaign platform in Fredericton, condemned Higgs and the Liberals for "squabbling" about carbon pricing rather than taking real action.

"The Tories have no plan whatsoever," he said. "We need an actual real plan that is going to help propel the green energy transition in New Brunswick and that protects the people of this province from the effects of climate change. I don't see a plan."

The deadline for New Brunswick to submit its pricing plan to Ottawa for approval is Sept. 1. Byrne would not say Monday whether that has happened.

"We'll probably have more to say about that in the near future," he saidMore than 1,000 residents of a Parliament Street apartment tower that was seriously damaged by a six-alarm fire were supposed to gain access to the belongings they left behind on Monday, however the scheduled event quickly turned into a protest.

Many of the residents  who have been told it could be months before they're allowed to move back in  are angry that their landlord is demanding they sign a legal form before entering the building in Toronto's St. James Town area.

The two page document, if signed, would prevent residents from suing the management company if they get injured while inside the building.

Many suggested they're concerned that signing the document would block them from taking any future legal action against the property manager.

However, the general manager of the property management company, Doug Sartell, said the waiver only applies to the process of going into the building to get their belongings.

"The waiver form applies only to this process, nothing else, you're not waiving your rights," Sartell said to the crowd of residents who began protesting the legal form Monday afternoon.

"You want to sue us because your steaks got spoiled? That's not part of this, you're entitled to do that...This waiver is strictly and expressly for the entry into the building."

'We want you to get in safe'

Sartell said he thinks the protests were the result of a miscommunication and that the property management is just trying to protect itself from anything bad that could happen.

"We want to get you in safe, and get you out safe, but if you decide you got to bring a 60-inch TV down the stairs and you slip and fall that's on you  it's that simple," he said.

The residents of 650 Parliament Street were forced from their homes on Tuesday after a massive electrical fire in the basement.

According to Toronto police, the building is still not secure and has yet to be deemed safe, but the property management is making an exception to allow people to go in to get some necessities.

Story continues

Many residents who signed the waiver to go into their units gathered clothes, toiletries, medication and documents they didn't have time to grab when the fire displaced them from their homes almost a week ago.

Residents who lived on higher floors said they were exhausted and couldn't take as much as they needed because they didn't think they could carry it all safely.

Sartell said the management company has been doing everything they can to help residents get into the building safely and easily.

"We had 25 security guards here this morning, I had electricians working all weekend and we have a working elevator in here for you," he said to the crowd, pointing out the elevator wasn't working until later in the afternoon after a brief pause when nobody was allowed in the building.

'We will not sign your papers'

But some residents were not happy.

"We will not sign your papers," one building resident screamed amid the fray.

Other residents, who have been told that they won't be able to move back into the building for months, have criticized how the situation has been handled.

Lucy Troisi, the councillor for the neighbourhood, said she is trying to "make the community calm and give them as much info as possible."

Troisi said her office has arranged for the local legal aid to come and speak to residents who still have questions and reservations about the legal document. She also said she has set up a website for residents to get more information than they have been throughout the first week of being taken out of their homes.By Abdul Qadir Sediqi KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan officials said on Monday a Tajik or Russian aircraft had bombed a northeastern Afghan border district during a clash between gunmen and Tajik border guards, but officials in both Tajikistan and Russia denied that they had done so. Cross-border clashes are rare on Afghanistan's border with Tajikistan, compared, for example, with fighting along Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan. The air attack followed a clash between gunmen and Tajik border guards in Durqad district of Takhar province, two Afghan officials said. Khalil Asir, a spokesman for Takhar provincial police, said eight Taliban were killed and six wounded in the air strike after a clash in which two Tajik border guards were killed. "It was not clear if it was a Russian or Tajik aircraft," he said. Jawed Hejri, spokesman for Takhar provincial governor, also said it was not clear where the aircraft came from but he said the six people killed in the clash with Tajik border forces were drug smugglers. An Afghan defense ministry spokesman declined to make any immediate comment. A spokesman for Tajik border guards in Dushanbe said Tajikistan had not carried out any bombing and did not confirm the death of two border guards. However, the official, who declined to be identified, said three Tajik forestry workers had been attacked by intruders from Afghanistan. Two were killed while the third escaped. The official declined to give any more details. Russia said its military aircraft had not conducted any operations near Afghanistan's border with Tajikistan, the RIA news agency cited the defense ministry as saying. Much of the porous Afghan-Tajik border is in mountains and difficult for Tajik authorities to police. Afghan government officials say Russian forces, including aircraft, help Tajikistan with security against the Taliban and other militant groups. At the same time, drugs from Afghanistan are smuggled to the outside world through Tajikistan. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said there had been a clash, and an air attack, but it was between drug smugglers and Tajik border guards and the aircraft bombed a forested area used by smugglers. "Taliban fighters have no permission to clash with neighbor countries," he said. Lieutenant-Colonel Martin ODonnell, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said U.S. forces did not conduct any strikes in the area. A retired Afghan air force general, Atiqullah Amarkhel, said those responsible for the air attack should be identified. "Afghanistan has no control over its air space due to a lack of facilities. U.S. forces should follow up the case," he said. (Additional reporting by Sardar Razmal in Kunduz, Andrey Ostroukh in Moscow, Nazarali Pirnazarov in Dushanbe; Writing by Rupam Jain; Editing by Michael Perry, Robert Birsel)By Ginger Gibson and Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Google's search engine of promoting negative news articles and hiding "fair media" coverage of him, vowing to address the situation without providing evidence or giving details of action he might take. Trump's attack against the Alphabet Inc unit follows a string of grievances against technology companies, including social media Twitter Inc and Facebook Inc, which he has accused of silencing conservative voices, and Amazon.com Inc, which he has said is hurting small businesses and benefiting from a favorable deal with the U.S. Postal Services. He frequently berates news outlets for what he perceives as unfair coverage. Google denied any political bias, saying in a statement that its search engine is "not used to set a political agenda and we don't bias our results toward any political ideology." Trump said in several tweets on Tuesday that Google search results for "Trump News" were "rigged" against him because they showed only coverage from outlets like CNN and not conservative publications, suggesting the practice was illegal. "I think Google is really taking advantage of our people," Trump said on Tuesday in the Oval Office. "Google, and Twitter and Facebook, they are really treading on very, very troubled territory, and they have to be careful. It's not fair to large portions of the population." Facebook declined to comment. Twitter did not comment when asked for a response. In congressional testimony, both companies have denied engaging in partisan censorship. Neither Trump nor the White House detailed how or under what legal justification they would use to probe Google. Trump's economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, later told reporters that the White House was "taking a look" at Google, saying the administration would do "some investigation and some analysis," without providing further details. Earlier this summer, the new Republican chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Joseph Simons, said the agency would keep a close eye on big tech companies that dominate the internet. In a previous investigation, the FTC decided that Google was likely justified in developing a search function that harmed other companies. In June Representative Keith Ellison, a Democrat, asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Google's alleged anticompetitive behavior in the online search and advertising markets. Congressional sources cautioned that it may be difficult for Trump to find a way to probe Google about news search results, and that Congress is unlikely to pass any applicable laws. U.S. member of Congress Ted Lieu, a Democrat, said in a tweet directed at Trump that such restrictions on Google would violate the U.S. Constitution: "If government tried to dictate the free speech algorithms of private companies, courts would strike it down in a nanosecond." Shares of Alphabet closed down 0.8 percent at $1,245.86. TRUMP'S CRITICISM OF MEDIA While the exact science behind Google searches on the internet is kept secret, its basic principles are widely known to be generated with a variety of factors measured by the company's algorithms. The factors Google uses to determine which websites appear first in search results include how often that page is linked to on other sites, the use of keywords, the popularity and respectability of the news site, and personal browsing history of the person conducting the search. Highly trafficked and cited websites like CNN.com and NYTimes.com, two of the most Trump's most frequent targets, often appear first in search results. Trump's accusation of bias on the part of Google comes as social media companies have suspended accounts, banned certain users and removed content as they face pressure from the U.S. Congress to police foreign propaganda and fake accounts aimed at disrupting American politics, including operations tied to Iran and Russia. Companies such as Facebook and Twitter have also been pressed to remove conspiracy driven content and hate speech. Tech companies have said they do not remove content for political reasons. Some Republican U.S. lawmakers have also raised concerns about social media companies removing content from some conservatives, and have called Twitter's chief executive to testify before a House of Representatives panel on Sept. 5. Earlier this month, Alphabet's YouTube joined Apple Inc and Facebook in removing some content from Infowars, a website run by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Jones was also temporarily suspended on Twitter. (Reporting by Susan Heavey; Additional reporting by Ken Li in New York and Chris Sanders in Washington; Editing by Frances Kerry and Richard Chang)What motivates young couples to pick up and move from their families and comfort zones to an unfamiliar placewithout convenient access to Jewish resourcesto build a community from scratch?

Its the Rebbe, theyll all tell you. They want to fulfill his vision of reaching every Jew, making Judaism accessible even in the far corners of the earth, and making the world a better place. Some emissaries were personally and directly sent to cities by the Rebbe himself. Some have established their centers after the Rebbes passing in 1994 but remember the experience of living in his presence.

But now a new crop of emissaries who were born after 1994 are heading out to fill positions. The first couple among these are Rabbi Zalmy and Mushka Dubinsky.

Joining Chabad in Raleigh, North Carolina with their one-year-old daughter, theyll be developing a community for the capital citys young Jewish professionals. Without personal memories of the Rebbe, they are nevertheless inspired by his teachings and by what theyve gleaned from an older generation. Honestly, I feel connected to the Rebbe, says Mushka, Ive met him through his teachings.

Raleighs at the opposite coast from Zalmy and Mushkas native California. The historic and up-and-coming city is known for its educational opportunities with Shaw University and North Carolina State University among the colleges calling the area home. The southern metropolis also boasts one of the worlds greatest technological research parks where companies like Lenovo, Sony Ericsson, and IBM maintain headquarters. The couple plans on connecting with those studying and working in these places, and are partnering with the local Jewish Federation to reach the citys young professionals.

As one of the fastest growing cities in the United States, the Dubinskys say they meet new Jewish people every day, and there are sure to be even more moving in. They will be offering a wide range of social and spiritual events so everyone can find something of interest to them, says Zalmy.

Mushka credits her parents, Rabbi Zalman and Bassie Marcus, Chabad emissaries in Mission Viejo, California for inspiring her to live this life. Interestingly, Bassie Marcus credits Raleighs representatives Rabbi Pinny and Helena Herman, for inspiring her move to Mission Viejo. I was a young teenaged counselor in their Gan Israel summer camp and it was there that I fell in love with the idea of shlichut, Marcus recounts. Its amazing for me to see my own daughter moving back to the area! Mushkas experiences in her home Chabad center, coupled with Zalmys years of Jewish outreach experience in Los Angeles, Iowa, Maryland, Amsterdam and London, will serve them well as they lay new roots.

Were passionate about connecting Jews to Judaism, the rabbi explains. Its our life, Mushka agrees.

The couple is committed to perpetuating the Rebbes legacy which they say is as relevant today as ever. Prior to leaving for their new home, Zalmy and Mushka visited the Rebbes resting place to pray for his blessing.

The Dubinskys young daughter at the resting place of the Lubavitcher Rebbe before their departure for North CarolinaPhoto - from Vicki Nunn

One would not have seen any secular or religious news in the past two years not to ask the question - is religious persecution closing in?

I found these remarks interesting. "A genuine persecution of Christians does appear to be on the horizon. Anti-Christian sentiment has been growing exponentially in recent years. Losing jobs, losing standing in society, losing tax breaks for Christian businesses, fines for businesses and individuals, even some arrests ... all those things are already starting to happen."

Christians and conservatives of all stripes are being pushed out of the public square, silenced and openly discriminated against, as described by Princeton Professor Robert George in his famous 2014 speech. (How Bad Will It Get? Bracing for Religious Persecution in the West, lifesitenews.com)

We know the obvious places for persecution.The situation in Russia does not surprise. New anti-evangelism laws in Russia, bans discussion of the faith outside churches or in government legislated places.

Donald Ossewaarde, a Baptist minister and his wife Ruth fled to America after they were confronted by police, and accused of "unlawfully conducting missionary activity."Their crimes were holding Bible meetings in their home and posting public notices inviting people to their studies.

But that's Russia, you say. OK! What about Canada? Last year the city of Toronto caused a storm when they refused a prominent Christian group permission to hold their annual music festival in a public space.

A city official Natalie Belman told the group singing the name of Jesus was tantamount to "proselytizing' which she said is against city policy.

"If you're praising Jesus, 'praise the Lord,' and 'there's no God like Jehovah,' that type of thing, that's proselytizing," she said. The city had serious concern over the song "Days of Elijah" because of the line 'There's no God like Jehovah.'

And America? Just a few weeks ago a liberal magazine advised the Republican Party they must 'dump' Jesus in the coming elections. The advice ignores the 70 percent of the US population who identify as Christians. However the advice was said to help the politicians reach agnostics, atheists and the 'believe-in-nothing' group said to be 22.8 percent and growing. (Be interesting to watch this)

The Bible

Ken Ham is the President and CEO of Answers in Genesis. He suggested the Bible may soon be banned in the Western world. He told how prison chaplains were being forced to resign because they quoted bible verses.

"This is an alarming example of how quickly Christians are losing religious freedom across the West. In this case, it wasn't even acceptable for this chaplain to use God's Word during a chapel service  a completely voluntary service where those attending would expect to hear from God's Word. It won't be long before we see this happening in other countries, including America," Ham said.

His forecast was accurately prophetic. The America Library Assn. last year announced the Bible was among their Top Ten Banned Books of 2015. The Bible was listed as No. 6.

Just last August the Red Cross instructed reserve City Marshall Clay Higgins, he could not pray with flood survivors, in Louisiana. He planned to pray for a man who just lost his home. Instead the officer was asked to leave the shelter. At some point during the visit a volunteer approached Higgins and mentioned there was a problem.

"He said the Red Cross had an issue with me being there," Higgins said. "So I asked him what the problem was. He looked down at my Bible and he gestured and said, 'They have a problem with that.'"

Last March a Bondi public school principal banned 'Easter' from the Easter Parade. The same restrictions were attempted in 2011 but that caused an outrage. This year the parents have been too scared to comment, according to a report by The Australian.

Charlie Brown

Last year in the Kentucky (USA) school district 'Charlie Brown Christmas' had to be performed with no Bible passages and no Jesus.

The Kentucky school district ordered all references to religion in class time and during activities banned.

We know there are many nations closed to the gospel.

Gideons International have a list of countries where they are not allowed to operate:

Afghanistan, Algeria, China (People's Republic), Comoros, Djibouti, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Yemen.

The nations we regard as democracies are cause for serious concern. We have reason to turn to the Bible and to Jesus for wisdom in the face of this challenge.

In the gospel of John, Jesus warns His disciples the world's alienation for Him actually reveals how alienated they are for God and His Kingdom. (John chapter 15, verses 1-17)He follows by saying that this animosity will turn on believers. There is a Kingdom which worships and adores Jesus, and there is a world in ferocious animosity to His divine nature and wisdom.

We are instructed the 'we are not of this world.' (John chapter 17, verse 16)

The Bible is clear. The more we are like Jesus and the more we share His name the greater target we become.

In the midst of this climate stronger Christians must stand with and encourage the newbies. Christian parents in particular must be role models to their children and guide them through the turbulence of our present times.

Years ago Bob Dylan sang 'You gotta serve somebody."

Even earlier Joshua said it very accurately. "But if you refuse to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua chapter 24, verse 15)

The temptation is to live as a worldly Christian.The clear distinction is starting to be revealed and none can ignore it.

Ron Ross is a Middle East consultant for United Christian Broadcasters (Vision FM). Previously he was radio news editor for Bridges for Peace in Jerusalem, Israel.

His career started at WINTV (Email: ronandyvonne@mac.com)The fourth edition of Asian electoral stakeholders forum (AESF-IV) was held Colombo, Sri Lanka to discuss the state of elections and democracy in the region. This was for first time AESF was held in South Asia. It was jointly organised by Election Commission of Sri Lanka and Asian network for free elections (ANFREL).

AESF-IV

The theme of AESF-IV was Advancing Election Transparency and Integrity: Promoting and Defending Democracy Together. It was attended by more than 250 delegates from 45 countries. India was represented by Chief Electoral Officer of Maharashtra Ashwini Kumar and NGO.

It covered wide array of crucial election issues like current state of democracy in Asia, common electoral challenges in the region, and various good practices employed to make elections better. It culminated with endorsement of landmark document, urging election stakeholders from within Asia and beyond to promote and defend democracy in the region.

Asian electoral stakeholders forum (AESF)

ASEF is the largest gathering of election management bodies (EMBs) and civil society organizations (CSOs) in Asia. It is being held in order to secure the broad establishment of democracy and security when holding elections within the region.

It provides opportunity for Asian election commissions, election observers, non-government organizations (NGOs) and interstate bodies to gather and discuss state of elections and democracy in the region. It also provides platform for institutionalizing capacity building efforts to pave the way for more meaningful and credible election through cooperation among stakeholders.

Previous AESF gatherings were instrumental in setting benchmarks and guidelines on conducting truly democratic elections which respect internationally recognized human rights and election principles and norms. The first AESF was held in Thailand in 2012 and had endorsed Bangkok Declaration on Free and Fair Elections. The second AESF was held in Dili, Timor Leste in 2015 and had established Dili Indicators of Democratic Elections. The third AESF was held in 2016 in Bali, Indonesia which had framed Bali Commitment: Eight Keys to Electoral Integrity.Nepal: Kailali faces threat of floods from four rivers

August 28,2018 | Source: Relief Web

Most of the areas in the southeastern part of Kailali district are at a risk of being inundated, following the incessant rainfall that the country has been receiving since Thursday. Locals said that the waters of rivers Kandra, Kanda, Bandra and Mohana could enter surrounding settlements, thereby risking the lives of the people who reside along the riverbanks in Bhajani, Kailali and Janaki municipalities.



Hemanta Hamal, a local of Lalbojhi in Bhajani-5, said more than 100 houses in ward no 5 of Bhajani are under threat of being swept away by the floodwaters of the Kandra River. The river has already eroded farmlands of so many, he said, adding that a majority of the settlements of Bhajani will be flooded if the rainfall continues. People of Bhajani-3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 said they have been spending many sleepless nights because of the flood threat. Police Inspector of the Area Police Office in Bhajani Rajendra Chand said they have requested locals in the risky areas to stay alert. Another local Lal Bahadur Saud of Lalbojhi said many down stream settlements of Kailali will be inundated if the rainfall continues at this pace for the next two or three days in Chure.  If Lalbojhi gets inundated, flood victims can only be rescued by helicopters, said Saud.



Many of the families living near the settlements of Mohana and Kandra Rivers have already been displaced due to the flood threat. Each year, people of Lalbojhi Village shift to safer locations. Only families who have no other place to go are left here, said Bhalamansa Sewakram Chaudhary, of Lalbojhi. Floodwaters in these areas sweep away around a hundred bighas of crops planted in the farmlands and erode around 20 to 30 bighas of farmland every year. Meanwhile, Chief District Officer Baburam Shrestha said the Emergency Information Unit has been measuring the water flow of the rivers. Shrestha said they issued an alert, advising the general public to stay safe in torrential rains.



Senior citizen swept away in Kamala River



Sindhuli: A 65-year-old man of Totara in Dudhauli Municipality-2, Sindhuli, drowned while crossing the flooded Kamala River, on Friday. Police said the body of Malesi Dunuwar, who had gone to graze his cattle in Nipane forest, was found in the river on Saturday. In Nawalparasi, 50-year-old Mal Singh Mahato of Hegauli in Kawasoti Municipality-14 died after being swept away by the Kerunge stream, on Friday. Police said Mahato had gone to the stream to fish.



Landslide obstructs Prithvi Highway



Dhading: Prithvi Highway was obstructed for four hours following a landslide at Galchhi, in Dhading district, on Saturday. Traffic Police In Charge Gajuri Hemraj Ghimire said two loaders and dozers were used to remove the landslide debris from the road section. The road section was blocked for four hours due to a landslide in the same area on Friday.Aside from their involvement in terror-related crimes, the attack on the ambush, which is located in Al-Khasos city in Qaluybia governorate, resulted in the death of a police officer and also left others injured.





The court also sentenced 2 defendants to life in prison (25 years), a minor to 15 years of intensive imprisonment and another defendant to 5 years in the same case that is known in the media as "Khosous Ambush."





Back in 2017, there were initially 12 accused of the crime; however, those facing death penalty are Islam Mohamed, Mohamed Sabri, Mohamed Nasar, Ibrahim Abd El-Daher, Abd ElRahman Mostafa and Mohamed Mahmoud Hesham.





According to the investigations, the 1st defendant in 2016 established and lead a terrorist group contrary to the provisions of the law that was aimed at disrupting and preventing state institutions and public authorities from fulfilling their duties.





This group also aimed to change the regime by force, by attacking police authorities and armed forces.





The other defendants also joined this terrorist group and they were taught how to use firearms to assassinate policemen.





The investigations revealed that the defendants, from 1st to 5th, 9th, 11th and 12th provided the group with the necessary funds, firearms and explosives so that they can carry out terrorist attacks.





With respect to the crime of assassinating a police officer at a special police unit, the defendants all participated in the assassination of Moustafa Mohammed Amin, a police sergeant, as he was at the special police unit when the incident occured.





The 3rd defendant also took footage of the assassination as it happened.





In June, the court presided by Judge Shaaban Al-Shamy, referred the case to Grand Mufti, Egypt's top religious body authorized to issue Islamic rulings on the execution of the 6 convicted.

 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com



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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

egypttoday.com, August 28, 2018Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has cancelled his proposed visit to the US, Israel and Canada next month in view of the BJP National Executive meeting and NITI Aayog Summit.

New Delhi: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has cancelled his proposed visit to the US, Israel and Canada next month in view of the BJP National Executive meeting and NITI Aayog Summit.

The Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways, Shipping and Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari has cancelled his proposed official visit to Israel, Canada and the US next month, the minister's office said on Tuesday.

The visit has been cancelled in view of the forthcoming Mobility Summit by Niti Aayog and BJP National Executive Meeting. Both the events are scheduled in New Delhi on September 8 and 9, 2018.Sunday was the cutest day of the year as along with Rakshabandhan, all sisters tied rakhi to their brothers. Coming out of the unusual, Alia Bhatt tied rakhi to Karan Johars son Yash.

Arjun Kapoor, often known for his humour, and ways of troubling his co-stars, went on to comment that Yash isnt really that excited.

For the uninitiated, Arjun made news during 2 States when he claimed that he really likes kissing his co-star Alia.

So on his recent comment, Alia gave her comeback by asking him to get lost, claiming that Yash is just playing it cool.

Later on Monday Anushka Sharma and Varun Dhawan unveiled their movie Sui Dhaaga: Made In Indias first song Chaav Laaga in Jaipur.

Jaipur mein sab badiyaa hai cyu in the theatre 28 th sept love from mauji and mamta pic.twitter.com/POASxY9yS7  Varun MAUJI Dhawan (@Varun_dvn) August 27, 2018

The two roamed around in a car too made of Sui Dhaaga and went totally desi as the jointly posed in a namaste.

This time Arjun took to Twitter to announce that Varun is such a good friend that he was actually promoting Namastey England along with Sui Dhaaga.

I love it when friends come together to market other peoples films (unknowingly)... @SuiDhaagaFilm promotes @NamasteEngFilm !!! Thanks @AnushkaSharma & @Varun_dvn 28th sept Sui Dhaaga 19th Oct Namaste England Baaki toh waise #sabbadiyaahai !!! pic.twitter.com/HgIl5qRPmj  Arjun Kapoor (@arjunk26) August 27, 2018

Coming to Namastey England, the film is facing some hurdles again since director Vipul Shah, according to a report on Mumbai Mirror, has once again been hospitalized.

A source told the daily, The release date was pushed from December 7 to October 19 at Vipuls behest as he had wrapped up filming ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, bang in the middle of a hectic post-production, he ended up in the hospital. But Vipul is determined to have the film ready as per schedule, so he is working from the hospital. Special permissions have been taken from the doctors as hes keen to have the final cut of the trailer and the edit of the film ready on time.

While the rumour is abuzz that Arjun might collaborate with Ekta Kapoor again after Half Girlfriend, he is currently busy shooting for Rajkumar Guptas Indias Most Wanted.

He was shooting for the film in Spain, where he managed to spend time with sister Rhea Kapoor and get clicked by her boyfriend Karan Boolani.

The actor however might only have to stress about managing both work and family since he reportedly got a days rakhi break too.

A source told DNA, Arjun was initially supposed to leave for Nepal on Sunday, but he left on Monday morning. Raj Kumar ensured that the actor celebrated the festival with his family. He told his team to work their schedule around so that he could stay back an extra day.

After shooting for a few days in Mumbai, the filmmaker and the crew felt at ease with the Kapoor scions working style. They saw his dedication during the shooting schedule. They also realised he is quite close to his family. So, the director reduced a days shoot from the Nepal schedule knowing the 2 States actor would make it up, the source added.Two years ago, the fate of the Rohr Chabad House at University of Wisconsin hung in the balance as the local planning commission debated whether or not to allow the Chabad House to expand. In 2012, Rabbi Mendel and Henya Matusof, directors of Chabad at UW, had purchased an old house adjacent to their own, planning to demolish and replace it with an extension to their existing property. The planning boards concerns centered on the historic nature of the 1883 home, which was vacant and in a state of disrepair.

After hours of testimony on both sides, the board was persuaded by students who spoke of the Chabad House as an oasis of stability and positive values amidst a frenetic campus life. With an estimated Jewish student population of 4,000, Chabad at UW clearly fills an important need for students. The board voted in favor of the expansion plan, and two years later, the Chabad House celebrated its Grand Opening on Sunday, August 26.

The new construction gives students 10,000 sq. feet of space over the current 4,000, with an assembly hall large enough for 250, a commercial kitchen and other facilities. The $4 million project gained major support from the Irwin A. & Robert D. Goodman Foundation, the Rohr Family Foundation, and local donors.

At the opening event this Sunday, August 26

Visit from Baby Rabbis Leads to Lasting Friendship

One of the lead gifts came from Madison area resident Eileen Bruskewitz in honor of her late parents, Albert and Vivian Edelman. Twelve years ago, when Vivian was gravely ill, Bruskewitz, who was then Dane County Supervisor, realized she needed to line up a rabbi in case funeral arrangements were needed. Before she made any connections, her doorbell rang, and to her amazement, there stood two baby rabbis! Young rabbinical students from Chabads student visitation program had come to reach out and get to know the family.

The rabbis had no idea of her situation, and Vivian lived for another six years. But the providential encounter with the baby rabbis led to a warm and close relationship between Bruskewitz and the senior Chabad emissaries in Madison, Rabbi Yona and Faygie Matusof.

Bruskewitz also became a frequent guest at Chabad UW. Seeing their overflow crowd at Shabbat dinners and other events inspired her to help them expand. Theyve got so many students crammed together, and they hate to turn anyone away. Every time they set up in advance, they still end up bringing in another table, another ten chairs, and then another table and ten chairs!

Shira Forester, a UW senior majoring in Rehabilitation Psychology and vice-president of the Chabad student board, also lamented the occasions when the number of guests exceeded the amount of space. Its going to be a huge change from last year, when Chabad events were held in temporary locations during construction, she said. It will be amazing to have even the really big events like the Mega Challah Bake, Pesach Seder and High Holiday dinners in the new building. Now that there is more room at the table, the student board plans to launch a drive to involve upperclassmen as well as new freshman with Chabad.

Students away from home often crave the family feeling that Chabad House provides. Michael Jacob Cera, a senior majoring in finance and economics, and president of the student board says Chabad provides students with a place they can feel safe and welcome in a family. The expansion will allow for more students to join and deeper connections to be formed.Based on a tip-off, Tondiarpet police arrested seven men identified as R. Ravichandran (52), G. Sathya (28), T. Selvaraj (36), V. Suresh (34), C. Rajkumar (32), M. Kumar (46) and V. Velu (47) near the railway track behind roundtana bustop in Tondiarpet on early hours of Monday.

Chennai: In two different cases, city police detected and seized the supply of banned gutka and tobacco products here on Monday.

Based on a tip-off, Tondiarpet police arrested seven men identified as R. Ravichandran (52), G. Sathya (28), T. Selvaraj (36), V. Suresh (34), C. Rajkumar (32), M. Kumar (46) and V. Velu (47) near the railway track behind roundtana bustop in Tondiarpet on early hours of Monday.

The contraband weighing d around 8.35-kilo worth Rs 6 lakh was seized from them, said police. An investigation also revealed that the seven men smuggled the ganja products from Andhra Pradesh and had planned to sell them to colleges in Chennai.

Koyambedu police got information that gutka products are being delivered to parcel agencies around Koyambedu and from there distribution to Chennai is going on Koyambedu police raided the private parcel agency and seized two mini lorries of banned gutka products worth `11 lakh and arrested the peddlers Vijayakumar of Tambaram, Anwar of Virudhachalam and Munna Ram of Rajasthan, The accused were remanded in judicial custody in both the cases and a total of Rs 17 lakh worth gutka products were seized from them.Sushma Swaraj co-chaired the 16th meeting of the Joint Commission along with the Vietnamese foreign minister. (Photo: Twitter | @AmbHanoi)

New Delhi/Hanoi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday held talks with her Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh and discussed measures to strengthen trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation between the two countries.

Swaraj is in Vietnam on the first leg of her four-day two-nation tour which aims at deepening India's strategic cooperation with Vietnam and Cambodia -- the key countries in the ASEAN region.

"Deepening our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership! EAM @SushmaSwaraj and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh led delegation level talks where trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation were discussed," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

Deepening our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership! EAM @SushmaSwaraj and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh led delegation level talks where trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation were discussed. pic.twitter.com/E21RWCp3fZ  Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) August 28, 2018

Swaraj co-chaired the 16th meeting of the Joint Commission along with the Vietnamese foreign minister.

Earlier, addressing the 3rd Indian Ocean Conference in Hanoi on Monday, Swaraj said India and Vietnam are connected not only by the common waters but also by a shared vision for peace and prosperity. Hanoi is therefore a particularly appropriate setting to discuss developments in the Indian Ocean and the Indo-Pacific region, she said.

Swaraj said India and Vietnam have agreed to further strengthen cooperation in the maritime domain, including on anti-piracy, security of sea lanes and exchange of white shipping information.

Also Read: Peace in Indian Ocean a priority for Indian foreign policy: Sushma Swaraj

"We also agreed on the importance of the early conclusion of an ASEAN-India Maritime Transport Cooperation Agreement. In this context, we intend to accelerate the establishment of direct shipping routes between the sea ports of India and Vietnam," she said.

On Monday, Swaraj met Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Bangladeshi Planning Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal. She also held talks with Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.Japans ultra-efficient shinkansen train network connects cities along the length and breadth of the country. (Representational Image)

Tokyo: A Japanese rail company has defended a safety exercise that requires employees to sit beside tracks in tunnels as bullet trains speed by at 300 kilometres an hour.

JR West told AFP it has no plans to alter the exercise despite complaints from some employees.

About 190 staff working on safety maintenance for Japans famed shinkansen bullet train have undergone the training, a company spokesman said. The training aims to teach our maintenance staff the importance of every part of their jobs, he told AFP.

We pay close attention to safety while doing the training, he added, while acknowledging complaints from some staff members.

We will continue this training while ensuring it serves a purpose and is done safely. JR West introduced the training in 2016 after an accident in August 2015 in which part of the bullet trains exterior fell off, the spokesman said. The purpose of the drill was reportedly to impress on the staff how fast the train moved and therefore how seriously they needed to take their jobs.

But it has proved unpopular with some employees, local media reported. It was a horrible experience, the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper quoted one employee as saying.

Another described the experience as just like a public flogging, the Mainichi daily reported.

Japans ultra-efficient shinkansen train network connects cities along the length and breadth of the country.

Despite the huge volume of passengers it serves, the network operates with an enviable punctuality rate. It also has an unparalleled safety record, with no one ever having been killed in a crash in its half-century of service.Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing said his government wants to work closely with the new government of Pakistan to further strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries. (Photo: File)

Islamabad: Describing Pakistan and China as "Iron brothers", Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing on Monday said his country wants to work closely with the new Pakistani government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Jing called on Pakistan's new Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and congratulated him on his assumption of office and formation of the new government in Pakistan, the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement.

"Pakistan and China are 'Iron Brothers' and close friends," the statement quoted the Chinese ambassador as saying.

Jing further said his government wants to work closely with the new government of Pakistan to further strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries.

Reciprocating Jing's good wishes, Qureshi said Pakistan and China are close friends and strong partners, the statement said.

He said the new government is determined to take the strategic cooperative partnership between Pakistan and China to new heights.

Welcoming the upcoming visit of China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Pakistan in September, Qureshi said he said he looks forward to an in-depth exchange of views with him on all matters of mutual interest.

Praising the vision of President Xi Jinping for China's socio-economic development, he said Pakistan could learn much from Chinese experience in socio-economic development, particularly agriculture, as Pakistan is basically an agrarian economy.Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain.

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For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here.Lunaticoutpost.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program , anaffiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.Amazon, the Amazon logo, MYHABIT, and the MYHABIT logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.Don't be a pest to the forum.No profanity in thread-titles or usernamesNo excessive profanity in postsNo Racism, Antisemitism + HateNo calls for violence against anyone..This website exists for fun and discussion only. The reader is responsible for discerning the validity, factuality or implications of information posted here, be it fictional or based on real events. The content of posts on this site, including but not limited to links to other web sites, are the expressed opinion of the original poster and are in no way representative of or endorsed by the owners or administration of this website. The posts on this website are the opinion of the specific author and are not statements of advice, opinion, or factual information on behalf of the owner or administration of LunaticOutPost.Com. The owners or administration of this website can't be hold responsible for content hosted on sites that posters link to in; including, but not limited to, posts, signatures, private messages and such. This site may contain content not suitable for minors and if you feel you might be offended by such content, you should log off immediately.This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Users may make such material available in an effort to advance awareness and understanding of issues relating to civil rights, economics, individual rights, international affairs, liberty, science & technology, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.In accordance with industry accepted best practices we ask that users limit their copy / paste of copyrighted material to the relevant portions of the article you wish to discuss (no more than 50% of the source material) provide a link back to the original articleIf you are a legal copyright holder or a designated agent for such and you believe a post on this website falls outside the boundaries of "Fair Use" and legitimately infringes on yours or your clients copyright please contact [email protected] This website is owned by :Marco ZwaneveldDrijfriemstraat 522516 XR The HagueNetherlands.I will not rent, sell, share or otherwise disclose your personal information to any third party.We might contact you from time to time regarding your purchases or the services (like forums and announcement lists) you have subscribed to.Some of the 3rd party advertisers on lunaticoutpost.com may use cookiesto track peformance and/or to serve relevant ads.If you wish to read more and/or opt out of such cookies, please visit: http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/The government expects SAEZs like North Van Phong will give a big boost to FDI attraction. Photo acquired by VnExpress

The Law on Special Administrative and Economic Zones, once approved, will create a crucial legal platform for special zones to develop.

The National Assembly (NA) said last week it would not consider a bill on the special administrative and economic zones (SAEZs) of Van Don, North Van Phong, and Phu Quoc in October as previously scheduled.

It said the bill needs further consultation with the public, organizations, experts and scientists, and can be taken up at later.

The establishment of these special economic zones reflects the governments determination to attract new domestic and foreign investment.

The following are the key points in the draft Law on SAEZs:

Investment in special economic zones

With respect to special economic zones, the Government has prioritized different areas for development in each zone.

In Van Don, the priority areas are technology, supporting industries, tourism and culture, airports, seaports, and trade.

In North Van Phong, they include information technology, electronics, precision engineering, seaports, hotels, tourism, businessfinance.

In Phu Quoc, the priorities are travel, hotels, trade, conferences, exhibitions, asset management, healthcare, education, and research and development.

In the SAEZs, strategic investors shall be entitled to numerous incentives.

Strategic investors are those with proven financial and management capacity and who can provide a written committment to apply and transfer advanced, new and clean technologies, will train and develop human resources, carry out investment in the SAEZs on a long-term basis and invest in the following projects in SAEZs.

Firstly, a minimum investment in services, tourism and amusement complex with casino services of VND45 trillion (about $2 billion), and the disbursement schedule shall be as agreed upon by the investor but not exceeding eight years from the issuance of the Investment Registration Certificate (IRC).

Secondly, a minimum investment in infrastructure in line with the plans of SAEZs of VND12 trillion (about $515 million) with the disbursement schedule not exceeding five years from the issuance of the IRC.

Thirdly, a minimum investment in production and priority sectors of VND6 trillion (approx. $257.5 million) with the disbursement schedule not exceeding three years from the issuance of the IRC.

Fourthly, a minimum investment in other business lines that have a great influence on socioeconomic development or generate added value of VND6 trillion (approx. 257.5 million) with the disbursement schedule not exceeding three years from the issuance of the IRC.

Regarding procedures for investment and business registration in the SAEZs, foreign investors would not have to obtain decision on investment policies, except in the case of public investment projects, those under the authority of the NA and/or casino businesses.

For projects that require decision on investment policies, procedures shall be in accordance with the 2014 Law on Investment and guiding regulations.

The peoples committee chairman shall issue the investment decision within one working day from the receipt of the decision from competent authorities in respect of a project.

Investors qualifying as strategic investors shall be entitled to preferential treatment in investment procedures, site clearance, compensation procedures, and selecting projects involving more than two investors.

For projects located in the SAEZs, the business registration shall be carried out at the public administrative center, which shall govern the three SAEZs, instead of the peoples council. This will simplify administrative procedures leading to efficiency.

Investment incentives

The foreign investors shall be entitled to land allocation from the Government for implementation of their investment projects. For investment projects that are in line with specialized industries in the SAEZs, the land lease terms shall not exceed 70 years subject to the peoples committee decision and could be longer but not more than 99 years for projects subject to the Prime Ministers decision as per the 2014 Law on Investment.

Investors could be exempted from land and water surface rent from 15 years to the project implementation period, depending on the nature of the project.

Tax treatment

Foreign tourists shall be entitled to buy duty-free goods at tax-free zones in Van Don and North Van Phong with duty-free quotas for luggage for each entry according to the laws on import and export duties. Vietnamese tourists residing in the SAEZs for more than 24 hours will be able to purchase tax-exempt goods in a tax-free zone.

Imported machines, equipment, vehicles and materials for creating fixed assets for the projects shall be exempt from import tax.

Items imported for the operation of specific projects in SAEZs should be ones which cannot be manufactured in Vietnam and may be exempt from import tax for seven years from the operational date.

Additionally, those projects shall also be entitled to a special corporate income tax rate of 10 percent for 15 years, tax exemption for the first four years and a 50 per cent reduction for the succeeding nine years.

Settlement of disputes

A dispute between investors in these SAEZs, where there is at least one foreign investor holding at least 51 percent or more of the capital, shall be settled by Vietnamese arbitration or court or foreign/international arbitration.

The foreign investors could also take the disputes to a foreign court for settlement, except in those cases which are subject to the authority of Vietnamese courts.

A dispute between a competent state agency and a foreign investor shall be settled by Vietnamese arbitration or Vietnamese court unless otherwise agreed by both parties or prescribed in relevant international treaties.

Practical issues in Vietnam

To assure national development as well as foster economic growth, the Vietnamese government aims to create a sustainable environment for investment and open market entry for foreign investors to invest their capital in the Vietnamese industrial sector.

The SAEZs are established under the form of a miniature setup with special administrative institutions, where all forms of business activities are permitted to be set up.

In the initial period the government will provide foreign investors with a number of specialized incentives to attract foreign investment.

There are some preferential treatments that cause concern in society at the moment. Accordingly, the Government has clarified that though it is essential to develop the nations economy, the countrys independence, sovereignty, freedom and national interest shall take priority.

Keeping in view various concerns expressed by the public, the Government has come forward and considered these opinions and made key changes to the proposed SAEZ Law to ensure a sound legal framework and transparent policies for investment in SAEZs.

*Vaibhav Saxena is a legal consultant at VILAF law firmA Vietnamese fishing boat on Sabah waters, Malaysia in a file photo by AFP.

Malaysian authorities have detained 36 Vietnamese fishermen in a crackdown on foreign vessels for allegedly illegal fishing in its waters.

The Star quoted Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) regional director Che Adnan Md Isa as saying that the boats were spotted illegally entering waters off the Tanjung Kubong coast at the northern tip of Labuan Island, at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

The detained Vietnamese fishermen, aged between 19 and 57, had valid identification documents but the boats' fish holds had been modified into diesel storage units, the agency said.

The fishermen have been taken to a detention center in Labuan for further action.

The seizure of the Vietnamese fishing boats is part of a large-scale crackdown by the Malaysian government on encroachment and/or illegal fishing activities by foreigners.

Hundreds of Vietnamese fishermen have been charged with fishing violations in foreign waters in recent years.

Indonesian authorities last week destroyed 125 foreign vessels, including 86 from Vietnam at 11 different locations in the country as part of greater efforts to prevent illegal poaching in its waters, The Star Online reported.

Vietnamese authorities have been trying to raise awareness about maritime boundaries and international maritime laws among Vietnamese fishermen.

They have also increased the frequency of patrols to try and prevent potential violations.Monsanto's return to Vietnam is already a harsh and ironic reality.

Monsantos controversial present is very much tethered to its dark past. And nowhere is this manifest more than in Vietnam, a country that has borne the brunt of the toxic defoliant it produced and is now facing the growing threat of its infamous weedkillers.

Vietnam has embraced a very perplexing relationship with Monsanto, crystalized in the unfortunate irony of allowing the former Agent Orange maker and current producer of the controversial genetically modified organisms (GMOs) back into the country, for all practical purposes, with a clean chit.

While Monsanto has repeatedly and consistently denied responsibility for the deaths and other forms of suffering, lasting generations, that have been caused by Agent Orange, there is evidence that the company knew that dioxin, a key ingredient, was toxic.

Now, with glyphostate, the active ingredient in the weed killer Roundup that the biotech giant plugs for use along with its GMO seeds, fears about causing cancer in humans have risen again.

Monsanto has bridled at these charges, maintaining that the weedkiller is safe for public use. The debate had dragged on, pitting some seasoned scientists against environmental groups worldwide. Until recently.

On August 10, the very day that the U.S. Army began spraying millions of gallons of Agent Orange over large swathes of southern Vietnam, 57 years ago, a San Francisco jury found Monsanto liable in a lawsuit filed by a school groundskeeper who said the companys weedkillers, including Roundup, caused his cancer.

The court ordered the company to pay $289 million in damages. The case of the groundskeeper was the first lawsuit to go to trial accusing Roundup and other glyphosate-based weedkillers of causing cancer. More than 5,000 similar lawsuits await across the U.S.

On the other side of the Pacific, the court ruling should have compelled Vietnam to swing into action, at the very least putting an immediate ban on the commercial use of glyphosate in the country, pending further trial outcomes.

But in fact, it has appeared to have gone the other way. Agriculture officials were quoted by the Tuoi Tre newspaper as saying recently that a ban on glyphosate would not be possible without "adequate information."

It turns out, ironically, that while the product could have been approved without "adequate information," it now cannot be banned for the very same reason. It is difficult to pin down what kind of "information" Vietnam is looking for in this regard. But it is already crystal clear that the San Francisco court ruled that Monsantos Roundup and related glyphosate-based brands posed substantial danger to people using them.

Let us not forget how the court verdict also opened a can of worms, laying bare the entrenched pattern in which Monsanto was found to have suppressed and manipulated scientific literature, silenced critics, and browbeat and connived with regulators. The verdict also pointed to "clear and convincing evidence" that Monsantos officials acted with "malice or oppression" in sidestepping the required warning of the risks of its herbicides.

Monsanto has also turned to the backing of an EU watchdog, the European food safety authority (Efsa), which said the weedkiller is safe for public use. But the Guardian revealed last September that the Efsa report also copied and pasted analyses from a Monsanto study, fitting well with the pattern employed by Monsanto to peddle its own version of science.

It is in this context that no more "information" is needed to merit immediate action from Vietnam. Given its ugly history and controversial present, the presumption of innocence must be upended for Monsanto: The biotech giant is guilty until proven innocent.

An immediate ban on glyphosate must be enforced. The onus must be on Monsanto, which has been merged with the German conglomerate Bayer following a $62.5 billion acquisition, to produce independent studies proving that Roundup does not present any cancer or health risk.

On the Agent Orange front, Monsanto has continued to refuse to compensate its Vietnamese victims, thanks ironically to the double standards of another American court.

In 2004, the Vietnamese government endorsed a class action lawsuit by the NGO Vietnamese Association of Victims of Agent Orange in a New York court against Monsanto, Dow Chemical and more than 30 manufacturers of the toxic defoliant.

That was the same court that heard the only previous lawsuit brought against Agent Orange manufacturers by American war veterans. The original lawsuit ended in 1984, when Monsanto and several other American chemical companies reached a settlement with the plaintiffs, paying $180 million to 291,000 people over 12 years.

But when it came to the Vietnamese lawsuit, Jack Weinstein, the same judge who heard the 1984 case, sided with the chemical companies and dismissed the case, claiming that supplying the defoliant did not constitute a war crime. That ruling has enabled Monsanto to continue to refuse compensating Vietnamese victims, rendering any condemnation against the company in this regard nothing but mere political rhetoric.

When it comes to denouncing the perpetrators behind the Agent Orange crime, Vietnam has rarely singled out Monsanto. Hanoi has instead focused on urging all American actors involved to make reparations for its victims, now at an estimated 3 million.

But some headway has been made.

After the San Francisco ruling, Vietnam's Foreign Ministry reiterated its demand that Monsanto and other U.S. firms compensate Agent Orange victims. "This case is a precedent that dismisses previous arguments that the herbicides supplied to the U.S. Military by Monsanto and other American chemical companies during the Vietnam War are not harmful to people's health," deputy Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nguyen Phuong Tra said last week.

In April last year, an informal international tribunal also accused Monsantos deadly product of causing "serious harm to the health of people, including the risk of causing death, and [producing] severe and irreversible damage to the environment." Vietnam later welcomed the verdict, calling on Monsanto to take "remedial action" to address the Agent Orange consequences.

But such efforts to indict Monsanto would be derailed if other Vietnamese institutions continue to unhelpfully lend credence to the companys charm offensive here in the country.

Last December, for the second year in a row, Monsanto was honored as one of the top 10 "sustainable businesses" in Vietnam by an influential local business advocacy group for its "efforts in sustainable development, especially in improving agriculture and communities lives."

The Vietnam University of Agriculture  the countrys leading agricultural institution  has continued to accept Monsantos $70,000 worth of scholarships over a five-year period, enabling the company to burnish its image in the local media.

Even if it has happened unwittingly, such acquiescence must stop.

It remains to be seen whether the San Francisco settlement will reignite debates about whether Monsanto should be held financially liable for Agent Orange, supplied at the behest of the U.S government during the Vietnam War. But before that ever happens, it is now time for Vietnam to make concerted efforts to hold Monsanto to account for other actions it has, and is taking.

Monsantos return to Vietnam already is a harsh and ironic reality already.

The irony would become even more difficult to stomach IF Vietnam became the carpet under which the company is able to sweep its Agent Orange dirt; and IF it is allowed to make a killing with yet another toxic product shunned by many countries.

*Dien Luong is a journalist who lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City. The opinions expressed are his own.Activists and families of drug war victims display placards during a protest against the war on drugs by President Rodrigo Duterte in Quezon city, Metro Manila in Philippines, August 28, 2018. Photo by Reuters

Activists and families of eight victims of the Philippines war on drugs filed a complaint on Tuesday accusing President Rodrigo Duterte of murder and crimes against humanity.

The 50-page complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC), the second petition against Duterte, calls for his indictment over thousands of alleged extrajudicial killings during his crackdown on drugs, which the activists and families said included brazen executions by police acting with impunity.

Critics of the campaign were being persecuted, they said, and cases filed by victims families had gone nowhere.

The latest move is led by a network of activists, priests and members of the poor, urban communities that have borne the brunt of a fierce two-year campaign in which police have killed about 4,400 people, causing international alarm.

Duterte is personally liable for ordering state police to undertake mass killings, Neri Colmenares, a lawyer representing the group, told reporters.

Duterte insists he told police to kill only in self-defense and has lashed out at critics while demonstrating no remorse for the deaths. In a national address last month, he said the drugs war would be remain relentless and chilling.

Benigno Durana, a national police spokesman, said the only order Duterte gave to police was to wage war on drugs and criminality within the bounds of the law.

The ICC petition, known as a communication, follows a similar complaint filed in April 2017 by a Philippine lawyer and backed by two opposition lawmakers, into which the ICC in February started a preliminary examination.

Human rights groups believe the death toll could be far higher than the one the police give, and accuse law enforcement of summarily executing suspected drug users and small-time dealers, using only cursory intelligence. Police reject that.

Petition 'doomed'

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the latest petition was doomed, because the Philippines was no longer covered by the ICCs Rome Statute.

Duterte unilaterally withdrew in March from the ICCs founding treaty, saying it skirted due process and presumption of his innocence and sought to portray him as a ruthless and heartless violator of human rights.

He even threatened to arrest ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda if she were to comes to the Philippines to investigate him, and said he would convince other countries to follow him in quitting the ICC.

It was a stark contrast from the early days of Dutertes presidency, when he had routinely disparaged the ICC and dared it to go after him, expressing his readiness to go on trial in The Hague and rot in jail.

Opposition lawmakers maintain that Dutertes withdrawal from the treaty, which takes effect in March 2019, was illegal because it was done without Senate approval.

They have challenged it at the Supreme Court, which started hearing oral arguments on Tuesday.

Jurist groups say that regardless of how the court rules, Duterte is not protected from a possible indictment because the alleged crimes took place while the Philippines was a member of the ICC, and therefore covered by its jurisdiction.

Duterte also maintains the Philippines never actually acceded to the Rome Statute in 2011, because it was not published in the countrys official gazette.

The ICC is a court of last resort that can exercise jurisdiction if states are unable or unwilling to investigate crimes, which Dutertes spokesman said was not the case in the Philippines.

Kristina Conti, another lawyer backing the complaint, said it had been filed before the ICC because as a serving president, Duterte had immunity from legal action.

The ICC prosecutors office did not immediately respond to a request for comment and could not be reached out of normal office hours.A combination of three photographs shows the U.S. flag atop the White House flying at half staff Sunday morning August 26 in honor of the death of Senator John McCain (L), back at full staff less than 24 hours later on Monday morning August 27 (C) and then back down to half-staff Monday afternoon (R) in Washington, U.S., August 27, 2018. Photo by Reuters

The White House lowered its U.S. flag to half-staff, raised it back up and on Monday lowered it again after John McCain's death.

McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam, longtime U.S. senator from Arizona and 2008 Republican presidential nominee, died of brain cancer on Saturday at age 81. That prompted many Americans to lower flags to half-staff, a traditional gesture of honor.

But President Donald Trump, who had clashed with fellow Republican McCain over various issues and said during his campaign that the senator was not a war hero, wavered in his approach to what presidents normally treat as a gesture of courtesy and respect.

Trumps White House lowered its flag on Saturday, then raised it back following the minimum period under law. Trump also delayed issuing the customary proclamation for flags to remain at half-staff for longer than the two-day minimum.

Finally, under pressure from veterans and members of Congress, Trump said in a statement later on Monday that he respected McCains service to the nation and had ordered flags to half-staff.

In a letter to Trump on its Facebook page, the American Legion veterans group had urged the White House to follow long-established protocol following the death of prominent government officials. The Legion described McCain as a cherished member.

After a day of ignoring shouted questions about McCain, Trump broke his silence during a gathering of evangelical leaders at the White House on Monday evening.

U.S. Senator John McCain speaks after being awarded the 2017 Liberty Medal by former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden at the Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 16, 2017. Photo by Reuters/Charles Mostoller

Our hearts and prayers are going to the family of Senator John McCain ... and we very much appreciate everything Senator McCain has done for our country, he told the religious leaders.

Through most of Monday, confusion reigned across the federal government, with flags flying at half-staff over the U.S. Capitol and at hundreds of national parks, but at full-staff over the Pentagon and the U.S. Supreme Court.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security had issued a government-wide notification after McCains death to lower flags at U.S. facilities but rescinded it on Monday, leaving the decision to staff at individual sites, according to an official.

'Somewhat shocking'

Presidents normally follow Congress lead on the death of a prominent lawmaker and order flags lowered until sunset on the day of burial. Critics of the president saw his reticence as a final slight against McCain.

I doubt you could find a comparable situation where the president doesnt order the flag flown at half-mast until the funeral, said John Lawrence, history professor at the University of Californias Washington Center.

The disparity between the Congress and White House policy is obviously noticeable and somewhat shocking.

McCain was a frequent Trump critic and his family has said he did not want the president to attend his funeral.

A family spokesman issued a farewell statement from McCain in which he said of the United States: We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries ... We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been.Ukraine boosts steel output in July, slides to 13th place in WSA's rating

All the 64 countries ranked by the WSA increased steel output by 5.8% in July 2018 y-o-y, to 154.576 million tonnes.

If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+EnterUkraine's property fund puts 210 small-scale privatization facilities up for sale

Most of the facilities are located in Vinnytsia, Poltava and Lviv regions.

If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+EnterUkraine prepares for talks on FTA with Britain

The Ukrainian side seeks to sit down with the British side for full-fledged negotiations.

If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+EnterUsername: Password: or Register Thread Rating: 2 Vote(s) - 3 Average

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S. Africa Min. of Education: survived thousands of years without it..not for Africans Loud Sneeze

lop guest

User ID: 397577

08-28-2018 03:31 AM











Post: #1 S. Africa Min. of Education: survived thousands of years without it..not for Africans

Advertisement



Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga will on Thursday release a ministerial task team report into the possibility of introducing history as a compulsory subject from grades 10 to matric.

In 2015, the department held an inaugural round table where the task team lead by Professor Sibusiso Ndlovu was established.



The ministerial task team was given terms of reference to conduct a comparative international study on how best to implement the introduction of history as a compulsory subject at South African schools in grades 10, 11 and 12.

Now the team will report back after completing comparative studies and research in countries including Russia, China, Zimbabwe and Rwanda.



The Basic Education Departments Elijah Mhlanga says: And making sure that our history books reflect correctly a true story of South Africa.



Motshekga says she believes teaching history has a number of positive effects especially in a country like South Africa, such as contributing to nation building, social cohesion and cultural heritage.

Yes, education is not as important as everyone thinks. Africans have survived thousands of years without it. It is not for Africans, it came with the whites,

However, our people might need to know about the history of South Africa and the world. Minister of basic education Angie Motshekga told journalists on Thursday.

<<<<



http://newsupdatessa.site/education-is-n...education/ >>>Whites forced education down our throats, its actually not our thing, Minister of Basic EducationBasic Education Minister Angie Motshekga will on Thursday release a ministerial task team report into the possibility of introducing history as a compulsory subject from grades 10 to matric.In 2015, the department held an inaugural round table where the task team lead by Professor Sibusiso Ndlovu was established.The ministerial task team was given terms of reference to conduct a comparative international study on how best to implement the introduction of history as a compulsory subject at South African schools in grades 10, 11 and 12.Now the team will report back after completing comparative studies and research in countries including Russia, China, Zimbabwe and Rwanda.The Basic Education Departments Elijah Mhlanga says: And making sure that our history books reflect correctly a true story of South Africa.Motshekga says she believes teaching history has a number of positive effects especially in a country like South Africa, such as contributing to nation building, social cohesion and cultural heritage.Yes, education is not as important as everyone thinks. Africans have survived thousands of years without it. It is not for Africans, it came with the whites,However, our people might need to know about the history of South Africa and the world. Minister of basic education Angie Motshekga told journalists on Thursday.<<< LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 454886

08-28-2018 03:46 AM











Post: #2 RE: Education Minister in S. Africa: education is not as important as everyone thinks

He's not so smart is he? LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 258502

08-28-2018 03:57 AM











Post: #3 RE: S. Africa Min. of Education: survived thousands of years without it..not for Africans

Yes, education is not as important as everyone thinks. Africans have survived thousands of years without it. It is not for Africans, it came with the whites,





this is satire right? lol VinnyBob

Registered User

User ID: 442298

08-28-2018 04:14 AM



Posts: 469









Post: #4 RE: S. Africa Min. of Education: survived thousands of years without it..not for Africans

Loud Sneeze Wrote: (08-28-2018 03:31 AM) >>>Whites forced education down our throats, its actually not our thing, Minister of Basic Education



Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga will on Thursday release a ministerial task team report into the possibility of introducing history as a compulsory subject from grades 10 to matric.

In 2015, the department held an inaugural round table where the task team lead by Professor Sibusiso Ndlovu was established.



The ministerial task team was given terms of reference to conduct a comparative international study on how best to implement the introduction of history as a compulsory subject at South African schools in grades 10, 11 and 12.

Now the team will report back after completing comparative studies and research in countries including Russia, China, Zimbabwe and Rwanda.



The Basic Education Departments Elijah Mhlanga says: And making sure that our history books reflect correctly a true story of South Africa.



Motshekga says she believes teaching history has a number of positive effects especially in a country like South Africa, such as contributing to nation building, social cohesion and cultural heritage.

Yes, education is not as important as everyone thinks. Africans have survived thousands of years without it. It is not for Africans, it came with the whites,

However, our people might need to know about the history of South Africa and the world. Minister of basic education Angie Motshekga told journalists on Thursday.

<<<<



http://newsupdatessa.site/education-is-n...education/

"Liberalism is a mental disorder" VinnyBob

Registered User

User ID: 442298

08-28-2018 04:16 AM



Posts: 469









Post: #5 RE: S. Africa Min. of Education: survived thousands of years without it..not for Africans

Remember, Science is "white ideas" they will have African witchdoctor science, to figure out how to starve themselves while confiscating white farmers land. "Liberalism is a mental disorder" VinnyBob

Registered User

User ID: 442298

08-28-2018 04:21 AM



Posts: 469









Post: #6 RE: S. Africa Min. of Education: survived thousands of years without it..not for Africans

VinnyBob Wrote: (08-28-2018 04:16 AM) Remember, Science is "white ideas" they will have African witchdoctor science, to figure out how to starve themselves while confiscating white farmers land.

I'm pretty sure eating albinos has something to do with it all. I'm pretty sure eating albinos has something to do with it all. "Liberalism is a mental disorder" Loud Sneeze

lop guest

User ID: 397577

08-28-2018 05:34 AM











Post: #7 RE: S. Africa Min. of Education: survived thousands of years without it..not for Africans

LoP Guest Wrote: (08-28-2018 03:57 AM) Yes, education is not as important as everyone thinks. Africans have survived thousands of years without it. It is not for Africans, it came with the whites,





this is satire right? lol

Nope.



The problem being....... She is just saying what everyone knows regarding the mentality there.

The "education is not as important as everyone thinks" part is of course purest ignorance, but the other parts, well......isn't she just voicing what is the standard among her constituency? Nope.The problem being....... She is just saying what everyone knows regarding the mentality there.The "education is not as important as everyone thinks" part is of course purest ignorance, but the other parts, well......isn't she just voicing what is the standard among her constituency? Loud Sneeze

lop guest

User ID: 397577

08-28-2018 05:56 AM











Post: #8 RE: S. Africa Min. of Education: survived thousands of years without it..not for Africans

Should work out well as they steal the farms from the whites.



Who needs the white man's education to manage agriculture? After all we can see things worked out when they stole the farms from the whites in Zimbab- ...ooooooh. Loud Sneeze

lop guest

User ID: 397577

08-28-2018 06:50 AM











Post: #9 RE: S. Africa Min. of Education: survived thousands of years without it..not for Africans

http://lunaticoutpost.com/thread-54973.html LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 434938

08-28-2018 08:18 AM











Post: #10 RE: S. Africa Min. of Education: survived thousands of years without it..not for Africans

Yep. Theyll be living in mud huts and running from lions within 5 years. They wouldnt have anything if it werent for whites providing an upgrade.

Bunch of dumbass spear chuckers. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 441749

08-28-2018 08:43 AM











Post: #11 RE: S. Africa Min. of Education: survived thousands of years without it..not for Africans

Please tell me this is fake news... ????



If not, that's the dumbest fucking shit I've heard in MONTHS. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 459070

08-28-2018 11:19 AM











Post: #12 RE: S. Africa Min. of Education: survived thousands of years without it..not for Africans

I agree with the genocidal trash....educators havnt existed in generations..world only has union commie conditioners and recruiters now LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 459294

08-29-2018 12:26 AM











Post: #13 RE: S. Africa Min. of Education: survived thousands of years without it..not for Africans

LoP Guest Wrote: (08-28-2018 03:57 AM) Yes, education is not as important as everyone thinks. Africans have survived thousands of years without it. It is not for Africans, it came with the whites,





this is satire right? lol

I guess context is relevant, the SA education system teaches Africans how to serve whites and the requirements to live in a westernised world.



None of what they learn was in any way relevant to their lives prior to being invaded. The education system is built for whites to serve whites. I guess context is relevant, the SA education system teaches Africans how to serve whites and the requirements to live in a westernised world.None of what they learn was in any way relevant to their lives prior to being invaded. The education system is built for whites to serve whites.















Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has named Steve Biegun as special representative for North Korea. He will direct U.S. policy towards North Korea and lead efforts to achieve President Donald Trumps goal of the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea, as agreed to by Chairman Kim in Singapore.

As special representative, Mr. Biegun will lead negotiations and spearhead diplomatic efforts with American allies and partners.

Mr. Biegun has had an extensive career in foreign policy and in tough negotiating settings, said Secretary Pompeo. This will place Mr. Biegun in good stead as his primary task will be to use diplomacy to resolve the North Korean security threat once and for all.

In remarks, Mr. Biegun acknowledged the challenges ahead, The issues are tough, and they will be tough to resolve. But the President has created an opening, and its one that we must take by seizing every possible opportunity to realize the vision for a peaceful future for the people of North Korea.

This begins, said Mr. Biegun, with the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea. . . .I will work closely with my colleagues here at the State Department and throughout the U.S. Government, as well as our allies and partners around the world, to achieve our shared goal of a safer and more peaceful world.

Secretary Pompeo expressed his confidence in Mr. Biegun saying he is eminently qualified for the task and clear-eyed in the challenge before us. Im fully confident that he will be able to lead our mission in ensuring a secure future for the American people and  we hope  a far brighter future for the people of North Korea.The URL has been copied to your clipboard

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On recent visit to Brazil Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis emphasized the shared values of the hemisphere's two largest democracies, - the U.S. and Brazil.The Transportation Department and Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. are open to an out-of-court settlement over a multibillion-peso compensation claim, stemming from the governments refusal to approve toll adjustments since 2011. Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said the government was in talks with MPTC, the toll road unit of the Metro Pacific Investments Corp., to resolve the compensation claim for failure to increase the toll at North Luzon Expressway and Manila-Cavite Expressway. We are asking a gradual implementation of toll adjustments and if theres a possibility to terminate the arbitration case, which is expensive, Tugade said during an economic forum organized by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines at Ayuntamiento de Manila in Intramuros, Manila. MPTC president and chief executive Rodrigo Franco said his company was supporting the position of the government to find a mutual acceptable way of settling the issue on toll adjustments. We already considering that if we agree on adjustment it would be on a staggered basis. We are also committed to terminate the arbitration case, he said. NLEX and Cavitex Infrastructure Corp. each issued a notice of arbitration and statement of claim to the government, through the Toll Regulatory Board in April 2016 to obtain compensation amounting to about P3 billion for North Luzon Expressways and P877 million for Cavitex. The two tollway operators filed the notice of arbitration after TRBs inaction on the toll adjustments which were due since January 2011 for NLEX and January 2012 for Cavitex.MPTC earlier said foregone revenues from the governments failure to adjust tariff already exceeded P8 billion. MPIC, the parent company, earlier committed to spend about P122.7 billion in the next five years to build highways and toll roads around the Philippines. MPIC said the amount would depend on the satisfactory resolution of various overdue tariff adjustments, now ranging between 20 percent and 48 percent on different parts of the network. It said without the governments approval for toll adjustments, further investment would be delayed. MPTC reported a core net income of P2.3 billion in the first six months, up 12 percent from P1.2 billion a year earlier. Average daily vehicle entries for NLEx, Manila-Cavite Expressway and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway rose 9 percent to 480,711 in the six month period from 440,904 entries a year ago.First stop of Dan Bilzerian's visit at shooting range (video)

Famous American-Armenian millionaire Dan Bilzerian, who is famous as Poker King arrived in Artsakh on August 28. The internet star visited Artsakh accompanied by his family members and friends. His first stop was at the shooting range, where he shoot from different kind of weapons. In an interview with ARTSAKHPRESS, Bilzerian said that everything is wonderful in Artsakh and he just wanted to visit his Motherland and spend nice time. Speaking about military registration in Armenia, Dan Bilzerian said, I have military experience, and its a great honor for me to serve my experience to my Motherland. After the shooting Dan Bilzerian visited "We are our Mountains" monument. Dan Bilzerians father Paul Bilzerian said that his ancestors migrated to the USA after the Armenian Genocide from Western Armenia. "Artsakh has a great history and I am very glad that I am here with my sons. I would like there should be no war in Artsakh and the Azerbaijanis should understand and recognize that his is an Armenian land," Paul Bilzerian said. Dan Bilzerians brother Adam Bilzerian said that he feels very well in Artsakh, since he is an Armenian and has an Armenian surname. "Here everything is wonderful. But its very bad that the Azerbaijanis try to permanently pose danger here," Adam Bilzerian said.Ameriabank has Raised USD 17.5M Tier 2 Capital

UNIGHT TO UNITE. UCOM CELEBRATED ITS REBIRTH

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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

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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

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UCOM hosted interns of Russian CBOSS corporation for a month

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Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group

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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

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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Ukraine's health ministry recommends local authorities to bring Affordable Medicines program in line with healthcare reform conditions

Ukraine's Health Ministry has recommended local authorities to bring the implementation of the Affordable Medicines cost reimbursement program in line with the conditions of the healthcare reform.

The ministry sent the respective letter to heads of healthcare departments of regional administrations and the Kyiv City Administration.

The ministry said that according to Ukrainian legislation, municipal non-commercial enterprises that were reorganized are not budget fund managers, as they are not budget-funded institutions.

"Local authorities should determine regional, district, public administrations and merged territorial communities as budget funds managers within one month," the ministry said in the letter.

The ministry said that this should be done in the regions where ultimate funds managers are reorganized healthcare institutions providing primary care.

The new budget funds managers are to resign agreements with pharmacies participating in the Affordable Medicines program.The United Kingdom is ready to talks with Ukraine on the bilateral free trade agreement that would regulate trade and economic relations after Brexit, Ukrainian Ambassador to Great Britain Natalia Halibarenko has said.

"We want full-featured negotiations and look at the ambitious agreement. At first there was no understanding ... now there is a positive signal. The ambitious goal of the British is that we have the text of the agreement by the middle of next year. I have here," Halibarenko said during the press club of the 13th meeting of heads of foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine in Kyiv on Tuesday.

According to her, the Ukrainian side should form a negotiating group and begin the process of coordinating positions.

Halibarenko added that the current trade and economic relations between Ukraine and the United Kingdom in the framework of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement will be valid until the signing of the bilateral agreement.Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, who planned to visit Ukraine on August 27 through August 29, has cancelled her visit over urgent talks, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said.

"It's really a pity that Chrystia Freeland has postponed her visit because of the need for urgent negotiations. Good luck to you @cafreeland and see you soon!" the Ukrainian minister of foreign affairs wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

In turn, Ambassador of Canada to Ukraine Roman Vashchuk said that Freeland canceled her visits to Kyiv and Paris over the talks about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

"Over the urgent events and talks about #NAFTA, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland postpones visits to Kyiv and Paris and will travel to Washington," the ambassador wrote in Twitter.

During the visit to Ukraine it was planned that Freeland meets the leadership of the state and heads of several ministries and participates in the 13th plenary meeting of heads of foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine.Russian-backed militants have launched 26 attacks on positions of Ukrainian troops in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area in Donbas in last day, with two wounded in action (WIA), the press service of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) has reported.

"The enemy opened fire 26 times on the positions of our troops, including four times with weapons banned by Minsk agreements... The militants opened fire from 120-mm and 82-mm mortar shells, tanks, grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms. Two Ukrainian defenders were injured," the JFO staff said on Facebook on Tuesday morning.

The enemy shelled Ukrainian positions near such populated localities as: the villages of Stanytsia Luhanska, Krymske, Zolote, Luhanske, Avdiyivka, Novomykhailivka, Krasnohorivka, Hnutove, Pavlopil, Vodiane, and Shyrokyne.

According to Ukrainian intelligence, three enemy troops were eliminated, another four were wounded in the past day.The 37-member Quezon City council has approved a resolution giving Mayor Herbert Bautista the green light to extend P6.3 million in aid to the Philippine Red Cross to defray the accident and health insurance for members of the citys Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of the Philippines. District 2 Councilor Godofredo Liban II authored City Resolution 7462 in response to a Department of Interior and Local Government circular that would form part of Bautistas capability to build a program to ensure health benefits and priority to blood donors in case of emergency. Under the agreement, the Philippine Red Cross will provide accidental and medical assistance benefits to members and insurance coverage for one year, and build up Red Cross youth councils in each school and district of Quezon City. It is a form of good governance to utilize the resources and funds of the City as efficiently and as effectively as possible to finance the delivery of basic services, and the enhancement of various social and economic activities for the prosperity and progress of the people of the City, the resolution read.Meanwhile, councilors also passed a resolution urging Bautista to allocate an office space within the city hall compound for the Parents-Teachers Association of Quezon City. The creation of division office within the compound of Quezon City hall shall foster a streamlined communication and cooperation between the city government, the parents and teachers of Quezon City for the best interest of our students and their future, City Resolution 7474 read.Ukraine asks Council of Europe to help with selection of judges for anti-corruption court

Ukraine addressed the Council of Europe seeking to receive assistance in selecting judges for the anti-corruption court, Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe Dmytro Kuleba has reported.

"We have sent an official request to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe asking that the Council of Europe takes part in the selection of judges of the new anti-corruption court," Kuleba said during the press club of the 13th meeting of heads of foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine in Kyiv on Tuesday.

He said that the request was sent to the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) and the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO).Visa regime with UK could be achieved in several year, no dialog today

The United Kingdom is not ready for facilitating the visa regime with Ukraine, but the U.K. admits that there are problems, Ukrainian Ambassador to Great Britain Natalia Halibarenko has said.

"The bad news is that there is no dialogue about simplification [of the visa regime]... But we are not ready to confine ourselves to improving the service and will continue to press ahead," the ambassador said at the press conference of the 13th meeting of heads of foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine in Kyiv on Tuesday.

"I understand the desire of the British side not to solve the issue of visa policy point-to-point. We would like to move now. In due time, the U.K. unconditionally supported the introduction of a visa-free regime with the EU and Ukraine. So let's make such a document - a roadmap indicating the stages," she said.

The ambassador expressed her confidence that in several years the visa regime for travel of Ukrainian citizens to the U.K. will be simplified.

According to the diplomat, the British side recognizes the presence of many problems in the visa practice.

"Previously, the Foreign Office "nodded" to the Home Office that it was not ready to conduct a dialogue, but now we have a situation that the two agencies have a common position," the diplomat said.

According to Halibarenko, the U.K. informed Kyiv that it is ready to work on improving the service and striving to reduce the time for issuing visas.Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will speak at the session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on September 6, Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Volodymyr Yelchenko has said.

"The president's visit to the UN General Assembly is being prepared and is scheduled. It has a provisional time frame from September 24 to September 27. This will still be confirmed. On the 26th, he will deliver a speech at the General Assembly, immediately after lunch," he said during the press club of the 13th meeting of heads of foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine in Kyiv on Tuesday.

The diplomat said that in his speech the president will raise the issue of unfolding the UN peacekeeping mission in Donbas and the Holodomor issue.

Yelchenko added that Poroshenko will hold, in particular, a bilateral meeting with the UN Secretary General, as well as with the President of the UN General Assembly.

He also announced the initiatives that, according to him, would not please the Russian delegation in the UN.

"Several unpleasant surprises will be for hem [the Russian delegation]. This concerns Crime, Donbas and the issue of militarization of Crimea. When you [the Russian side] hear this, you would be unpleasantly surprised," Yelchenko said.

Earlier Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States Valeriy Chaly said that Poroshenko plans to visit New York in September and take part in the meeting of the UN General Assembly. No bilateral meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump is planned today.Ukraine's Ukroboronprom Concern has dismissed Director of Lviv Armor Vehicle Factory (LAVF) Roman Tymkiv.

According to Ukroboronprom's press service, the concern's head fired Tymkiv on August 28, 2018.

"During Tymkiv's tenure as LAVF head bad decisions resulting in delayed repairs of military equipment were made. Some resulted in LAVF being obliged by court order to pay fines to a customer for tardy repairs," Ukroboronprom's press service said.

"According to his contract, Tymkiv as LAVF director was responsible for fulfilling orders in a timely matter. Failure to observe conditions of contracts is the reason for his dismissal," the press service said, recalling that during the summer of 2017 Tymkiv was suspended as LAVF director "making it impossible to dismiss him until the suspension ended."

Tymkiv was appointed LAVF director in September 2015 after winning a competition by Ukroboronprom for the job. Prior to that, he headed an enterprise as acting director.

On July 14, 2017, National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) detectives under the direction of Ukraine's Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) detained a group of persons involved in shady purchases of tank engines. The group included Tymkiv. Kyiv's Solomyansky District Court ordered his arrest, setting UAH 2 million bail. On July 18, Tymkiv posted the bail and was released.

On July 12, 2018, SAPO said it had concluded its pretrial investigation and sent to the Solomyansky District Court an indictment in a criminal case involving overpayment for engines by LAVF and Defense Ministry officials. SAPO's investigation established that after winning a tender for delivering 40 tank engines, LAVF delivered used engines acquired from LLC Bullet Line. The investigation showed these engines were sold in 2008-2009 on the domestic market as excess property belonging to the Defense Ministry. In SAPO's opinion, losses to the government from the deal amounted to UAH 14 million.

LAVF informed the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency that Viktor Androshchuk has been acting director of the factory since July 2017.

As part of Ukroboronprom since 2011, LAVF is among the key enterprises of Ukraine's armor producing industry. The factory upgrades the T-72B tank, as well as Dozor-B, a new armored combat vehicle that can be used in military operations conducted in urban conditions and corresponds to the third class of protection under NATO's STANAG (standardization agreement) standard.Groysman calls on leaders of foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine to contribute to fight against smuggling

Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman has called on the leaders of foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine to contribute to the fight against smuggling.

"Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman has urged the heads of diplomatic institutions of Ukraine abroad to join the campaign announced by the government dubbed "Ukraine without smuggling" by prompt response to cases of illegal actions and by providing information on the movement of goods taking into account their present price," the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers said on the results of the meeting of the premier with heads of foreign diplomatic institutions in Kyiv on Tuesday.

Groysman, in particular, asked the diplomats to respond to the requests of the State Fiscal Service, customs office, law enforcement system and facilitate the rapid receipt of information from international partners.President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko declares that Ukraine is legally ready to terminate the treaty on friendship, cooperation and partnership with Russia, concluded in 1997, and expects the relevant documents from the Foreign Ministry.

"Today we have approached sufficiently prepared and legally protected to the next step: the termination of the treaty on friendship, cooperation and partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, which through Moscow's fault has long become an anachronism," Poroshenko said at a meeting with heads of foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine in Kyiv on Tuesday.

"Already in the near future, I expect the necessary documents from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to begin the implementation of this process," the president said.The European choice unites Ukraine, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.

"It is very important that in the critical conditions of these four years the Ukrainians have not lost the firm hope, support and confidence in the European vector of development of our state. Ukraine is no longer split, and the European choice unites Ukraine," Poroshenko said at a meeting with leaders of foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine in Kyiv on Tuesday.

In this regard, he recalled that he intends to initiate amendments to the Constitution, "which will anchor the European and Euro-Atlantic choice of our state." According to the head of state, this step is needed not only for Ukraine, but for the whole of Europe, as it is about turning the largest European state into a "space of new European growth."

"I want to draw your attention to the fact that before the Independence Day, it was clearly stated by American partners and the German Federal Chancellor that the doors to both the European Union and NATO are open for Ukraine. Even some time frames were identified," Poroshenko said.Poroshenko wants to create coordinating body for formation of Ukraine's claim to Russia for compensation of damage caused

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko calls for the creation of a coordinating body for the formation of Ukraine's consolidated claim to Russia to compensate for the losses caused by the aggression of the Russian Federation.

"I insist on the soonest creation of a coordinating body for the formation of a consolidated claim of Ukraine to Russia to compensate for the losses caused, as stipulated in my law on the de-occupation of Donbas," Poroshenko said at a meeting with heads of foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine in Kyiv on Tuesday.Kyiv will retake Crimea and the parts of Donbas it does not currently control using political and diplomatic methods, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.

"I say once again: we seek to regain Crimea and part of Donbas politically and diplomatically, but Ukraine has already benefitted from the Minsk agreements [on settling the conflict in Donbas]," Poroshenko said in Kyiv on Tuesday at a meeting with the heads of Ukraine's diplomatic missions abroad.

"We'll struggle, and we'll liberate each piece of our land, including in a political and diplomatic way, where the main burden lies on your shoulders. But we'll be reinforcing our military capability, as we have an aggressor country next to us that's capable of challenging European and global security," he said.The conservative Assembly of Experts (AE) has lambasted President Hassan Rouhanis government for its economic performance, disclosing that Rouhani rejected the assemblys invitation to come forward and present a report concerning Irans economic problems to the influential body.

However, according to the governments official news agency, IRNA, Ahmad Khatami representing the Assembly, who was speaking at a press conference on August 27, maintained he was unaware of the reasons for the rejection.

Insisting that no one at the AE is trying to catch someone red-handed," the senior cleric noted that the heads of two other powers of the government -- brothers Ali and Sadeq Larijani, heads of the parliament and the judiciary, respectively -- have accepted a similar invitation.

Rouhani (since 2007) and Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani (since 1998) are members of the Assembly of Experts.

According to the Iranian Constitution, the AE is the deliberative body empowered to designate and dismiss the supreme leader of the country, while supervising his performance.

Nonetheless, the it has not issued even a single report on the performance of the current leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, so far. Instead, it has repeatedly issued statements concerning political, economic, and other governmental affairs.

Khatami said that the AE is scheduled to debate the peoples livelihood and Irans economic situation at its next sessions on September 4-5.

Iran's economic situation has deteriorated in recent months, as renewed U.S. sanctions have created uncertainty, leading to capital flight from the country and the devaluation of the currency.

This has led to intermittent protests, with people openly calling for regime change.

The conservative clerical and military wings of the regime are scrambling to deflect public anger and increasingly attack the executive branch led by Rouhani for the economic mayhem.

Nearly three weeks ago, the AE called upon the heads of the executive, judicial, and legislative branches to be accountable for the current economic woes of the country.

Khatami has argued that, based on its internal bylaws and regulations, the AE has the authority to debate the internal and international developments, particularly the political, social, economic, cultural, managerial, and intelligence affairs."

Earlier, on May 13, the AE issued a controversial statement, calling upon Rouhani to publicly apologize for ignoring the red lines and not achieving necessary guarantees during the talks that led to the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA) or Tehrans nuclear deal with world powers.

However, the statement was followed by such a widespread negative reaction from AE members that the influential bodys secretariat was forced to admit the statement had been issued by the chairman of the body, 91-year-old Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, and not the whole assembly.

Attacks against Rouhani and his governments performance, particularly in the economic sector, gained momentum on August 16, when a protest rally was held at Qoms seminary. The participants in the unprecedented rally carried banners that implicitly threatened Rouhani with death.

Nevertheless, the supreme leader has refrained from reacting to the development.

Khatami blamed the government for not being able to control skyrocketing prices and tacitly admonished Rouhani for illegally raising taxes up to 60 percent. However, he stopped short of saying which taxes exactly.

Two of Rouhani's ministers have already been impeached by parliament, as the full force of ayatollah Khamenei's conservative allies is bearing down on the government.President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria has arrived in the Swiss city of Geneva Monday for medical routine checkup which he has been regularly going through since suffering a stroke in 2013.

The checkup announced by the state-run APS takes place amid growing speculation and tension in the North African country over the Presidents alleged desire to run for next year elections despite his frail health condition.

Bouteflika in powers since 1999 suffered a stroke in 2013 that affected his mobility and speech ability. Glued to wheelchair since then, he made rare public appearances.

The ailing President has been shuttling between France and Switzerland for medical checkups. His health condition has led many politicians in the opposition to qualify him unable to run the country, left at the mercy of corrupt officials and business people in his entourage.

As April 2019 elections near closer, growing voices have called on the President to renounce running but in April this year the secretary general of the ruling National Liberation Front, Djamel Ould Abbes, threw the partys support behind Bouteflika.

The outgoing president has not yet made comments about his plans to run for a fifth term.

Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia and his Rally for National Democracy (RND) in June said they will rally behind Bouteflikas candidacy should he run.Ankara, August 27, 2018 (AFP)

The presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey will meet next week for their third tripartite summit seeking an end to the Syrian conflict, Turkish state television said Monday.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will travel to Iran to meet his Russian and Iranian counterparts Vladimir Putin and Hassan Rouhani on September 7, state-run TRT Haber television said.

Private NTV television added the summit would be held in the northern Iranian city of Tabriz.

A Turkish presidential official contacted by AFP could not immediately confirm the reports. However, the presidency has invited Turkish journalists to cover a trip by Erdogan to Iran on September 7.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the tripartite summit was being prepared but did not confirm the date or venue.

"It could take place in Tehran. This option is being examined. We will make the appropriate announcement once all the nuances have been harmonised through diplomatic channels and when everything is ready," he added.

Erdogan had previously indicated that he planned to host a summit on Syria on September 7 in Istanbul with Putin and also French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

But press reports over the last few weeks have suggested that such a meeting was increasingly unlikely and was set to be replaced by the latest three-way summit between Iran, Russia and Turkey.

The three leaders have previously met in the Russian resort city of Sochi and the Turkish capital Ankara.

Ankara, Moscow and Tehran are backing peace talks based in the Kazakh capital Astana which they insist are aimed at reinforcing, rather than undermining, a UN peace process in Geneva.

Iran and Russia are the main allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and their military interventions in Syria are widely seen as tipping the balance of the seven-year civil war in the regime's favour.

Turkey has backed rebels seeking to oust Assad but since late 2016 has been working increasingly closely with Iran and Russia to bring peace to Syria.

A major item on the summit agenda is expected to be the rebel-held northwestern Syrian province of Idlib which Assad wants to recapture, to crown a string of military successes.

But Turkey has said a military operation to take Idlib risks provoking a humanitarian "catastrophe", warning that 3.5 million people are crammed into the region.Iranian lawmakers grilled President Hassan Rouhani over his economic performance in a special session of parliament August 28.

Rising unemployment, the spiraling devaluation of the national currency, a surge in smuggling and other economic crimes, renewed sanctions against Irans banks, and the countrys general economic decline were all on the agenda at Tuesdays session.

Iranian media reports lawmakers seemed generally unimpressed with Rouhanis answers to their questions about his administrations economic policy.

The dissatisfaction with Rouhanis economic performance is so deep, some of parliaments questions could be referred to the judiciary for investigation. It is uncertain yet if MPs will pursue such and investigation, but if they do it would mark the first time an Iranian president has had to answer to judges about his economic policy.

The embattled president has been under pressure for the last eight months to dismiss his economic team amid the countrys worsening economic crisis.

Under a barrage of criticism at the session, in his speech Rouhani focused on overcoming the sanctions reimposed by the U.S. after its withdrawal from the nuclear deal, promising to defeat the anti-Iranian officials in the White House.

Rouhani also took aim at his hardline critics, insinuating they are out of touch with the desires of average Iranians, saying, The economic problems are critical, but more important than that is that many people have lost their faith in the future of the Islamic Republic and are in doubt about its power.

The president defended his administration's efforts to combat smuggling and fighting sanctions and unemployment, and called on parliament to ratify the the bills before it that would facilitate Iran's joining the international campaign against money laundering and financing terrorism, which he says would improve the position of Iranian banks on the international stage.

Speaking on the dramatic devaluation of Iranian currency, the rial, and the rising rate of exchange of foreign currency, Rouhani said "social, psychological, and foreign relations issues affect the rate of exchange more than economic reasons."

Rouhani also blamed the massive protest demonstrations in over 100 Iranian cities in December 2017 and January 2018 for exacerbating Iran's economic problems.

Hardline MP Mojtaba Zolnour accused the administration of narcissism" and not having a plan to tackle economic problems. He also charged Rouhani with being unprepared to deal with the aftermath of the U.S. pull-out from the nuclear deal.

The sharp criticism of the president has no doubt disappointed Rouhanis supporters, among them some moderate clerics who would like to see him succeed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as Supreme Leader when the 79-year-old hardliner dies.A 21-year-old Iranian student and human rights activist, Parisa Rafiei, has been sentenced to seven years by Branch 26 of Tehrans Revolutionary Court, her lawyer has disclosed.

Speaking with the state-run Iran Students News Agency (ISNA), Saeid Khalili said her client was tried for assembling and collusion intended to commit a crime against the countrys security, propaganda against the regime, and disturbing public order.

Khalili tweeted that the unjust verdict was issued againstRafiei for joining a demonstration in December 2017 voicingstudents demands and similar charges.

Khalili said she hoped the court of appeals verdict would lead to Rafieis acquittal.

A student of fine arts at Tehran University, Rafiei was detained by Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) intelligence agents on February 25 and released on March 19 on bail.

Earlier, Rafieis aunt, Safieh Qarabaghi, had cited agents responsible for her nieces detention as saying, Since Parisa has rejected cooperation with IRGCs Intelligence Organization, she should be deprived of her rights.

Along with Rafiei, dozens of other students rights activists have been sentenced in recent weeks.

A student at Tabriz University and one of the students arrested for joining last Decembers widespread protest rallies, Roya Saghiri, was taken to the citys prison on August 25 to serve her 23-month term.

Saghiri, who had publicly opposed compulsory hijab, published her own verdict on July 11 on her Instagram account.

The court of appeals judge upheld the primary courts verdict, finding her guilty of propaganda against the regime and insulting the states highest authorities.

The charges, vaguely defined, are usually used for political and human rights activists who have been recognized as anti-Islamic Revolution and anti-state dissidents by intelligence and judicial officials.

According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), 24-year-old Saghiri had previously been sentenced to eight months for propaganda against the state and another 15 months for insulting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by the second branch of the Revolutionary Court in Tabriz.

The trial of 25 students detained during the nationwide protests against the establishment has been held, the cultural deputy of the Science Ministry, Majid Sarsangi, reported on August 25.

Twenty more students are still awaiting their trials, he added.

In a statement published on July 23, 68 students associations insisted that the people of Iran are suffering from a myriad of dissatisfaction among people, and warned, Authoritarian rhetoric intended to justify the countrys shortcomings has directed Iran to a precarious route.

Referring to an earlier protest statement issued by 63 students associations, the new statement said, Totalitarian elements not only proved their reluctance to address students demands, but they stepped further and sentenced a students rights activist, Ms. Fereshteh Tousi.

Thirty-year-old Tousi was sentenced by a Tehran court to 18 months in prison on July 3 on charges of propaganda against the state for organizing a ceremony commemorating the national students day at Allameh Tababai University in December 2016.

Since last March, 125 university lecturers and dozens of students associations have called upon President Hassan Rouhani to intervene to protect student rights.

During his presidential campaigns (2013-2017), Rouhani repeatedly promised to create a safe environment for students to freely voice their demands, concerns, and criticism.

Rouhani, who ran under the promise of citizens rights, should direct the ministries under his supervision to halt these abuses against university students, said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. These are the young people who are so often extolled as essential to the countrys future economic success.

The uprising against corruption, poverty, and unemployment that broke out in December in the Shiite holiest city in Iran, Mashhad, soon turned into widespread demonstrations against the establishment and its highest authorities. The demonstrations continued for 11 days across the country, leaving at least 25 dead and more than 5,000 arrested.Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

Trend:

Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have 94 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said August 28.

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, Aug. 28

Trend:

The OSCE monitoring held in the direction of Azerbaijans Goygol district at the line of contact between the troops of Azerbaijan and Armenia on Aug. 28 passed without incidents, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Aug. 28.

The monitoring was held under the mandate of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative.

On the Azerbaijani side, the monitoring was held by Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk, his field assistants Mikhail Olaru and Simon Tiller.

On the Azerbaijani territories, occupied and controlled by Armenian armed forces, the monitoring was held by Gennady Petrica and Martin Schuster, field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative.

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, Aug. 28

Trend:

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed an order regarding the construction of the Chukhuryurd-Sis-Galeybughurd-Kechmaddin-Galaderesi road in Shamakhi district.

Under the presidential order, the Azerbaijan Highways State Agency is allocated 7.9 million manats for the construction of the road connecting four residential areas with a total population of 2,000 people.Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

Trend:

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed an order on the construction of a new kindergarten in the city of Ismayilli.

Under the presidential order, 1.5 million manats were allocated to the Ismayilli District Executive Authority for the construction of the kindergarten for 100 children.Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Visit to Azerbaijan will be the basis for further deepening of bilateral relations, the Member of Azerbaijani Parliament Sadagat Veliyeva told Trend.

Veliyeva noted that Germany is one of the strongest countries on the European continent.

"In particular, the geopolitical and geo-economic processes taking place in the world over the recent period create an opportunity for such states as Germany to implement plans to expand and deepen cooperation and partnership relations in various regions. Of course, Merkel's visit is no exception from this point of view," Veliyeva said.

The Azerbaijani MP noted that over the past 15 years, the GDP of the Azerbaijani economy has tripled, and $250 billion has been invested in the country.

"Azerbaijan has risen to 35th place in the competitiveness rating of the World Economic Forum. Our country continues to make a special contribution to the energy security of Europe. Also, the transit and communication infrastructure of Azerbaijan creates favorable conditions for the implementation of promising energy projects," Veliyeva said.

The Azerbaijani MP noted that the EU accounts for 50 percent of the total trade turnover of Azerbaijan.

"From this point of view, the EU member states prevail among foreign countries investing in the economy of Azerbaijan," the Azerbaijani MP said.

The Azerbaijani MP also added that in 2017 the EU's share in Azerbaijan's foreign trade amounted to 42 percent, reaching $9.4 billion.

"In the first four months of 2018, this figure amounted to 15 percent and $3.7 billion. During the period of independence, about $ 25 billion was invested in the economy of Azerbaijan by the EU countries. More than 1,500 companies from the EU member states operate in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is the main trading partner of Germany in the South Caucasus," Veliyeva said.

The Azerbaijani MP noted that during the meeting with businessmen, President Ilham Aliyev and Angela Merkel said that the strategically important location of Azerbaijan, which has borders with Iran and Russia and has established close relations with Turkey, makes Baku very important for the diversification of Europe's energy supply.

All this testifies to the importance that official Berlin attaches to close cooperation with Baku.

Veliyeva added that the deepening of relations between Azerbaijan and Germany is of particular importance for South Caucasus and Europe.Details added (first version posted on Aug. 25 at 13:29)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 25

Trend:

Following the expanded meeting, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Angela Merkel held a joint press conference.

President Ilham Aliyev and Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel addressed the press conference.

Statement by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev

- Dear Mrs. Chancellor,

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen!

First of all, Mrs. Chancellor, let me sincerely welcome you to Azerbaijan. Welcome to our country! This is the German Chancellor's first visit to Azerbaijan. This is a historic visit. We attach great importance to this visit. I am confident that German-Azerbaijani relations will develop rapidly as a result of this visit and that this visit will give a major impetus to our relations.

We have had a very open and constructive discussion on many issues on our agenda today. I am sure that the negotiations and the exchange of views held will create a good basis for further cooperation.

I have informed Mrs. Chancellor about the issues of regional security, in particular the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. As is known, the territories of Azerbaijan recognized by the international community have been under Armenian occupation for many years. As a result of this occupation, more than a million Azerbaijanis have found themselves in the position of refugees and internally displaced persons on their own land. The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions in connection with the conflict.

These resolutions state that Armenian armed forces must withdraw from the occupied lands immediately and unconditionally. Unfortunately, Armenia ignores these resolutions and does not fulfill them. The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan must be restored and the conflict must be resolved on the basis of these principles.

We have also exchanged views on other issues today. The turnover between us is growing. We will meet with representatives of business circles of Germany and Azerbaijan today. Companies from Germany are involved in many projects in Azerbaijan, and I am sure that their activities here will further expand after this visit as there are great opportunities for that. Azerbaijan is successfully pursuing the policy of economic diversification. Major investments are made and the investment climate is very positive. Over the past 15 years, Azerbaijan has received investments in the amount of $250 billion, about half of which is foreign investment.

Of course, energy security issues are the focus of attention. Azerbaijan is playing a role in this sphere and contributes to the energy security of Europe. In particular, the creation of the Southern Gas Corridor is perceived as a historic event. This is a very large-scale project, a project requiring investments of $40 billion, and it is being successfully implemented. The official opening of the Southern Gas Corridor took place in Baku in May this year.

Mrs. Chancellor and I have also exchanged views on democracy and the protection of human rights, and intend to continue our cooperation in this field. The European Union-Azerbaijan relations were also discussed, and we are very pleased with the way these relations have developed. A document on the priorities of the partnership between the European Union and Azerbaijan was signed this year, and work on the comprehensive agreement has been very constructive. I do hope that the negotiations are successfully concluded in the near future and a new period of cooperation between the European Union and Azerbaijan starts.

In short, these and other issues, including those related to the regional situation, have been discussed today. This shows that the relationship between us is quite sincere and friendly, and this visit will play a major role in strengthening these relations.

Dear Mrs. Chancellor, once again welcome!

Statement by Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel

- Dear Mr. President!

Thank you for the warm welcome. I also want to thank you for the comprehensive discussion today. This is my first visit to Azerbaijan as Federal Chancellor, and this has been the first opportunity to openly discuss the relations between our countries and to continue to develop our cooperation.

Azerbaijan marks the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. Azerbaijan is a state with its own traditions.

Our bilateral relations are characterized by the fact that Azerbaijan is our largest and most important trading partner in this region. We have a chamber of foreign trade in Azerbaijan, with 150 German enterprises operating here. Azerbaijan, in its turn, is interested in diversifying its economy, and Germany can make a serious contribution to this area. Today's joint business forum will also serve this goal, and we will talk about the details there.

Azerbaijan is a strong factor in the energy diversification of the European Union, and the opening of the Southern Gas Corridor will play a major role in Europe's energy supply. We highly appreciate the opening of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway in Azerbaijan. This will expand trade ties with Europe and facilitate the exchange.

We have had a very frank discussion about the internal situation in Azerbaijan, about human rights. Although our positions on some issues did not always coincide, we have talked about the importance and desirability of building a secular state and creating open democratic conditions.

We have openly talked about the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. I have once again stressed that Germany is interested in resolving this conflict and we will contribute to this within the framework of the Minsk Group. The formation of a new government in Armenia may lead to an improvement in the situation in this area, may give impetus to the negotiations, and Germany can also participate in that. We have also talked about the security of the region. The geographical location of Azerbaijan is very interesting, as on one side it is surrounded by Russia and on the other by Iran, and has connections with Turkey. We agree with the view that conflicts must be resolved peacefully, through talks, and all the conflicts existing in this region must be resolved in peace.

There are suitable conditions and foundations for intensifying our further dialogue. Even when opinions differ at times, it is necessary to talk about this and exchange views. The opinion of the other party must be carefully listened to. So I want to thank you for the discussion. Thank you very much.

Then President Ilham Aliyev and Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel answered questions from journalists.

Mihaela Kufner (Deutsche Welle): President Aliyev, you have talked about development in the relationship. Opposition leader Ilgar Mammadov was recently released from custody. Many investigative journalists, including Afgan Mukhtarli, still remain in prison. This is why the Council of Europe criticizes you. Given the close economic cooperation with Germany and the European Union, as you have just mentioned yourself, and based on the commitments you have assumed as Afghanistan, in the Council of Europe, will you begin to take further steps towards human rights standards? Did the German Chancellor speak to you about these specific cases?

Mrs. Federal Chancellor, you also represent European values here. This is currently the topic of heated discussions in Brussels. What standards do you use in treating the partner country of Azerbaijan in this context? You mentioned that Germany would intensify its efforts in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Could you please spell out how this will be happening? Of course, I do not mean the conflict, but its settlement.

President Ilham Aliyev:

- First of all, I should note that Azerbaijan is a country committed to democratic values. There are all democratic institutions in Azerbaijan, all freedoms are guaranteed, including the freedoms of speech and of the media. There are hundreds of print media in Azerbaijan, including many opposition publications. In other words, no-one is persecuted in Azerbaijan, no-one is punished for criticism and for different views. The freedom of assembly is also guaranteed in Azerbaijan, and any political force can take advantage of these opportunities.

As you know, presidential election took place in Azerbaijan this year. Both in the run-up to and after the election, the opposition held numerous actions and rallies  freely and without any obstacles. The issue is that no more than a thousand people showed up for these rallies. This is probably a sign of the level of respect the opposition enjoys, but there are no restrictions.

Azerbaijan is committed to democratic values and human rights. The Council of Europe criticizes not only Azerbaijan but also many countries. We take this criticism normally. If the criticism is justified, of course, we draw the right conclusions. If we believe that this criticism is unfounded, biased and based on double standards, then, of course, we openly express our opinion. I mentioned in my opening remarks that issues related to human rights and democratic development were openly and constructively discussed with Mrs. Chancellor, and these issues will be discussed in the future.

Our agenda is quite extensive, and all the issues being discussed are of equal importance  energy, transport, trade, regional security, including democratic development. Issues of democracy cover a large portion of the new agreement being negotiated between the European Union and Azerbaijan today. This is our conscious choice, no-one coerced us into making this choice. Azerbaijan will continue to develop successfully as a modern and democratic country. Our political and economic reforms will complement each other and take Azerbaijan to a higher level.

Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel:

- There is no gradation in democratic values for us. We have a clear understanding of what democratic values are. This discussion is under way both in bilateral frames and within the Council of Europe. I would also like Azerbaijan to conduct a dialogue on the issue of organizing elections. We discussed these issues in detail today. Our standards are always the same and they are evaluated from the standpoint of prospects.

We will continue our work in the Minsk Group in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. This time I visited both countries and have therefore developed a clear idea of how urgent a resolution of the issue is and how it should be resolved. We will step up our efforts. All parties must get involved in order to find a solution, and we will contribute to this.

Elshan Rustamov (1News): Armenia has been keeping Azerbaijani lands under occupation for many years and has committed crimes against our people. As a result of the horrific act of genocide perpetrated by the Armenians in the Azerbaijani city of Khojaly, more than 600 civilians, including over 60 children, were brutally killed. As a result of Armenia's aggression, about 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory is occupied. More than a million of our compatriots have found themselves in the position of refugees and internally displaced persons. Their property and homes have been looted. The fundamental human rights of these people have been flagrantly violated. The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions demanding an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from Azerbaijani territories. However, Armenia flouts and does not fulfill them. Why havent any sanctions been imposed on Armenia yet?

Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel:

- As I said earlier, we are working on a solution. I am very glad that there is at least some calm now. In other words, people do not suffer there at present, and Germany will certainly continue its efforts on the basis of the decisions of the UN Security Council and will try to find a way to resolve the issue in order to improve the situation for the people in the affected regions.

Christian Wilp (RTL/n-tv): My question is for both Mr. President and Mrs. Chancellor. Mr. President, you spoke about a gas pipeline that will extend from Azerbaijan to Europe  the Southern Gas Corridor. Are you in favor of increasing the capacity of this pipeline and extending it to Turkmenistan via the Caspian Sea? Mrs. Chancellor, what do you read into this issue? I would also like to address another question to Mrs. Chancellor related to the current situation. Italy was threatening that if the refugees arriving in Italy were not spread across the European Union, it would reduce payments to the European Union. What do you think about that? Where will this lead to? And since we are talking about the topic of refugees in connection with the year of commitments in Germany, what do you think about the refugees in the country?

President Ilham Aliyev:

- All work related to the Southern Gas Corridor in Azerbaijan is progressing on schedule. The Southern Gas Corridor is a giant international project consisting of four components  the development of the Shah Deniz-2 gas condensate field, the South Caucasus pipeline transporting Azerbaijani gas through Georgia, the TANAP pipeline transporting Azerbaijani gas to Turkey, and the fourth component TAP, or the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline. Three of the four components have already been implemented. The opening of TANAP took place in June this year. The remaining part is under construction.

I do hope that there are no problems there either, and Azerbaijani gas will be delivered to European markets via a 3,500-km pipeline on time, i.e. in 2020. Thus, a very valuable contribution will be made to the energy map of Eurasia. Azerbaijan will therefore resolve all the issues related to energy security. After all, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline built in previous years delivers Azerbaijani oil to the Mediterranean Sea. The Baku-Supsa pipeline leading to the Black Sea was built upon our initiative. The Baku-Erzurum gas pipeline has been built, and we will meet all our objectives by this fourth project.

As for Azerbaijans transit capacity and our attitude, of course, every country wants more cargo to pass through its territory. At present, we are delivering oil from Turkmenistan to world markets via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and also transporting dry cargo from Central Asia through the territory of Azerbaijan via the recently commissioned Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.

Of course, the construction of the Trans-Caspian pipeline should be of more interest to the owner of gas and transit countries should not show initiative here. Just as we have done as the owner of gas  we started the construction of a 3,500 km pipeline and allocated large financial resources. Therefore, if there is a decision in the eastern part of the Caspian Sea to deliver gas to world markets via the territory of Azerbaijan, we can certainly consider this with great interest and make a decision then. But this decision should not come from us, but from the opposite side.

Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel:

- As you know, discussions are currently under way in Brussels on the distribution of refugees in Europe. All countries are expressing their views. We have time until the end of August, and I do hope that we can succeed during this time. These negotiations are not so easy. Regarding your second question, let me say that we are continuing the negotiations, are ready to get acquainted with all the positions and after that a decision will be made on the principal issues.

Sevil Mikayilova (Trend news agency): Azerbaijan accounts for about 70 per cent of Germany's trade with South Caucasus countries. At present, Azerbaijan is carrying out very serious reforms in the economic sphere. Special attention is being paid to economic diversification. Industry and non-oil industry, agriculture, infrastructure, tourism, and the ICT sectors are developing fast. President Ilham Aliyev and you will meet with business people from Germany today. What type of work do you think German business people would like to do in the areas I have mentioned, and what are their plans?

Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel:

- I have come here with a business delegation. Companies have different proposals. I can note that there are projects in construction and infrastructure spheres, as well as in the field of building materials. We can work together in the agricultural sector, in the field of technologies for agricultural machinery, as well as digital and educational fields. In addition, a German company is involved in the preparation of documents related to security  passports, identity cards and banknotes. There is very broad choice here. We can participate in all the areas Azerbaijan is interested in. As I have already mentioned, there are already 150 of our enterprises operating in Azerbaijan. We invite other German companies to come here.Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

Trend:

Swans fountain complex, one of the historic landmarks of the Baku boulevard, has been inaugurated after major renovation.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and first lady, president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva attended the opening of the complex.

Built in 1960, Swans complex was replaced with a marble fountain installation when the Baku boulevard underwent major reconstruction in 2007.

The historic complex was restored on the initiative of the first lady, president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva.

Executive Director of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Anar Alakbarov informed President Ilham Aliyev and first lady Mehriban Aliyeva about the restoration of the complex.

The project, which was implemented with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, saw the construction of a pool, 16 fountain poles, and seven swan statues in the complex.

President Ilham Aliyev and first lady Mehriban Aliyeva also toured the Small Venetian Town at the Seaside National Park.Emirati authorities Monday dismissed reports of a drone attack on Dubai airport by Yemeni Houthi rebels fighting the international coalition shoring up the regime of President Mansour Hadi in Yemen.

The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) debunked claims by the rebels that a Sammad-3 drone had hit the worlds busiest airport, reported state-run news agency WAM.

The rebels media had reported the attack earlier without providing evidence of damage on the airport.

The GCAA said that the air traffic at the airport operates business as usual.

The UAE and its regional ally Saudi Arabia have been fighting Iran-backed rebels in Yemen in a move to restore the authority of President Hadi who lost capital Sanaa and much of the northern Yemeni territory to the Shia rebels.

The rebels have repeatedly launched missiles on Saudi Arabia. Though most missiles have been intercepted, they have killed two expats this year and caused a relatively significant damage.Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

Trend:

In accordance with the combat training plan for 2018, approved by the Minister of Defense, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov, the Air Force conducted training flights, the ministry said in a message Aug. 28.

During the training flights, planes and helicopters fulfilled the tasks of destroying the targets.

Aviation crews also played tactical episodes to workout tasks to support land forces from the air, destroy command posts, armored vehicles and troops of the imaginary enemy, as well as conduct aerial reconnaissance.Details added (first version posted at 15:11).

Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

Trend:

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and first lady Mehriban Aliyeva have attended the opening the Baku Book Center established on the initiative of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

The head of state and the first lady cut the ribbon symbolizing the inauguration of the center.

Director of the Baku Book Center Gunel Rzayeva informed President Ilham Aliyev and first lady Mehriban Aliyeva about the conditions created at the center.

Located at the intersection of Uzeyir Hajibeyli and Gogol streets in Baku, the center covers a total area of 2500 square meters. Bestsellers from the world literature series, unique art albums, guidebooks for tourists, books on music in Azerbaijani and other languages, notes will be on sale at the center. The center will also feature more than 10,000 books in different genres and languages, including in Azerbaijani, Russian, English, German, French, Spanish and Arabic.

Guests of the Baku Book Center will also be able to get Azerbaijan-related souvenirs of the national brand "I love Baku" and products of "Azermarka".

The center will regularly hold presentations of books, meetings and master classes with celebrated writers, poets as well as figures of culture and art. The center will also host reading days, language courses and other events involving famous people in order to boost childrens and young persons` interest in reading and writing. The Baku Book Center will have its website in three languages where readers will be able to order books online.

President Ilham Aliyev and first lady Mehriban Aliyeva viewed advance copies of Nizami Ganjavi's "Iskendername" poem published in 1941 and Dubrovin's "Zakavkazye" work of 1866.

President Ilham Aliyev and his wife Mehriban Aliyeva wished the Baku Book Center success in future activities.Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

By Anvar Mammadov  Trend:

The Azerbaijani food company Seba OJSC has been admitted for the listing on the Baku stock exchange (BSE), the stock exchange said in a statement Aug. 27.

The companys shares will be quoted in the alternative market, the message says.

In total, 2,395,296 shares with the primary trading value of each share amounting to two manats have been registered for trading.

Seba OJSC company was established in 1996 through reconstruction of material and technical base of Devechi poultry farm which was put into operation in 1981. The Devechi poultry farm successfully passed the privatization process in 1997 in accordance with the first state privatization program.

The work for restoration of the existing production facilities, installation of up-to-date equipment, repair and adjustment of the existing machines and plants, and so on was started at the poultry farm in January 2002, and the enterprise was set ready within six months to produce the finished products.

The company was granted a loan in the amount of 13 billion manats, which was aimed at restoring the production activity. The experienced and qualified personnel, who previously worked at the same enterprise, were involved in the production activity.Tehran, Iran, August 28

Trend:

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the country is facing sensitive economic conditions at the current juncture, stressing that all problems could be tackled through national unity.

The only way to solve problems is unity among the three branches (legislative, executive and judicial), Rouhani said on Tuesday, while speaking before the country's parliament.

Rouhani was attending a parliamentary session to answer lawmakers' questions about his handling of the economy, amid rising prices and unemployment, Tasnim news agency reported on August 28.

Following Iran's growing economic difficulties and the collapse of the Iranian rial, the parliament summoned Rouhani for the first time on Tuesday. Lawmakers questioned the president on topics including the rial's decline, which has lost more than half its value since April, weak economic growth and rising unemployment.

The president said enemies are seeking to create chaos in the country and make people hopeless about the future, calling on all to maintain their unity in face of the plots.

"The economic problems are critical, but more important than that is that many people have lost their faith in the future of the Islamic Republic and are in doubt about its power," the president said.

This is what the enemies are looking for, he said, stressing, "We are not afraid of America or the economic problems. We will overcome the troubles."

Rouhani further vowed to overcome newly reimposed US measures against Tehran, sanctions that he said will only serve to unify the nation.

It was the first time the parliament summoned Rouhani, who is under pressure over Iran's growing economic difficulties.

Lawmakers questioned Rouhani on topics including the rial's decline, which has lost more than half its value since April, weak economic growth and rising unemployment.

The president failed to convince the lawmakers on unemployment, currency crisis, smuggling, and recession.Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Aug. 28

By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:

The Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan (UIET) and the Kyrgyz Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs have signed an agreement on cooperation, the UIET said in a message on Aug. 28.

The document will create a basis for interaction between businessmen of the two countries, and this will help strengthen the business partnership and expand mutual trade.

Significant contribution to the development of economic cooperation will also be made by a document on eliminating double taxation and preventing tax evasion, and this will create favorable conditions for trade and establishment of joint ventures, the message said.

It was earlier reported that Turkmen entrepreneurs are ready to consider the possibility of joint extraction and processing of mineral resources in Kyrgyzstan.

This was announced during the Ashgabat meeting of the Turkmen-Kyrgyz Intergovernmental Commission on trade, economic, scientific, technical and humanitarian cooperation.

Chairman of the UIET and the Intergovernmental Commission from the Turkmen side Alexander Dadaev also spoke about cooperation in the agro-industrial sector and in the field of establishment of processing enterprises.

Following the meeting, an agreement was reached to support the establishment of joint ventures focused on the markets of the European Union, the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and China.

Turkmenistan holds a key position in the region for natural gas supplies. China is a major importer of Turkmen gas.

Ashgabat and Bishkek are involved in a major project to deliver Central Asian gas to China, primarily from Turkmenistan. China's CNPC company has been purchasing natural fuel in the region since 2009, after launching the first two gas pipeline branches (A and B) beginning from Turkmenistan and passing through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

The third branch (C) was put into operation recently, which also runs along the same route. A project is being developed currently for the construction of an additional fourth branch (D)  along new transit route - through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.Details added (first version posted on 12:37)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:

Azerbaijans Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population has signed a memorandum of cooperation with the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of Azerbaijan.

The memorandum was signed by Azerbaijans Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population Sahil Babayev and Ulvi Mehdiyev, the Chairman of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of Azerbaijan.

The memorandum envisages creation of the necessary infrastructure for the agency and the centers for sustainable and operative social security, training of personnel, use of information and communication technologies, creation and improvement of e-services, information systems and reserves in the spheres of labor, employment and social protection, as well as their integration into the e-government website.

At the same time, the memorandum covers such spheres as attracting young people with disabilities to volunteer activities for financial and moral stimulation of their work, carrying out joint activities to improve the welfare of socially vulnerable groups of people, as well as using the ASAN radio capabilities to conduct educational work among the population.

We pay special attention to cooperation with the ASAN service (state agency for public services to citizens of Azerbaijan) in the process of forming the Agency and the centers for sustainable and operational social security, said Sahil Babayev. We also plan to jointly conduct another project - Elderly Volunteers, which will be aimed at returning pensioners living in social service centers to the labor market. This memorandum will make it possible to create a wide range of opportunities in these areas.

In turn, Ulvi Mehdiyev noted that the signed memorandum will give impetus to cooperation between the two structures in the implementation of socially oriented projects.

The memorandum implies attracting young people with disabilities to work in Azerbaijans centers for simplified support to family businesses (ABAD), providing employment for persons with disabilities in ASAN Hayat complexes, Mehdiyev said.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Anvar_MammadovBaku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

By Matanat Nasibova  Trend:

Azerbaijans wine producer Sharg Ulduzu LLC intends to expand the export of cognac products to China, head of the company Asgar Alirzayev told Trend Aug. 28.

Azerbaijani wine products are in great demand in China's consumer market, he said. Dry red wines are in great demand.

"Our Shanghai partners have recently proposed us to expand the supply of Azerbaijani cognac products, he said. So, we plan to increase exports of our products to this country. Previously, small volumes of this type of alcoholic products were supplied to China as wines were in demand. But we will try to meet the demand of our Chinese partners. I expect that Azerbaijans "Agdam" cognac will be available in the Chinese consumer market. Presently, it is actively promoted in the markets of Russia, Belarus and the Central Asian countries."

"Raw materials are processed for 7 tons of brandy alcohol per day in the workshop by using Germanys equipment, from which about 700 liters of cognac are obtained," Alyrzayev said.

In foreign economic activity China is the fourth partner of Azerbaijan in terms of trade turnover.

In 2017 Azerbaijan exported wine products worth $6 million. Azerbaijani wines worth $1 million were supplied to China.

The export of Azerbaijani wine products for the first half of 2018 exceeded $4 million, which is 80 percent more than in the same period of 2017.

Azerbaijans wines are mainly supplied to Russia (85 percent), China (7 percent), European countries, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan.

According to the State Program for the Development of Winemaking for 2018-2025, approved by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the country plans to increase wine exports fivefold by 2025.

Sharg Ulduzu LLC was established in 2002.Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

By Ilkin Shafiyev - Trend:

Some 72 percent of the territories along the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) are reinstated, TAP AG consortium said Aug. 28.

"Reinstatement activities are in full swing. More than 550 kilometers or 72 percent of the territories along the route are reinstated to at least original condition," the message reads.

TAP project, worth 4.5 billion euros, is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union (EU), and has already attracted 1.5 billion euros from the European Investment Bank (EIB), which approved the loan in early February 2018.

Connecting with the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) at the Greek-Turkish border, TAP will cross Northern Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea before coming ashore in Southern Italy to connect to the Italian natural gas network.

The project is currently in its construction phase, which started in 2016.

Once built, TAP will offer a direct and cost-effective transportation route opening up the vital Southern Gas Corridor, a 3,500-kilometer long gas value chain stretching from the Caspian Sea to Europe.

TAP shareholders include BP (20 percent), SOCAR (20 percent), Snam S.p.A. (20 percent), Fluxys (19 percent), Enagas (16 percent) and Axpo (5 percent).

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @IlkinShafiyevBaku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

Trend:

Kazakhstans future growth depends on reforms that provide a level playing field for the private sector and support economic diversification, according to a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) Country Diagnostic Study launched on Aug. 28.

The study Kazakhstan: Accelerating Economic Diversification identifies the most binding constraints to growth and provides in-depth analysis of structural reforms that will bring the country to its growth potential. The report finds that consistent and successful reform efforts can add an average of 1.2 percentage points per year to Kazakhstans gross domestic product.

Kazakhstan needs to accelerate structural reforms to support the countrys economic diversification, said ADB Country Director for Kazakhstan Giovanni Capannelli. These reforms include improving the countrys business climate, enhancing competitiveness, and increasing private sector participation in the economy.

Future growth will depend on identifying sectors in which Kazakhstan has a strong growth potential, according to the study. These include food processing, basic metals, and chemicals. In agriculture, redirecting subsidies toward investment in infrastructure, improving access to finance, and promoting innovation can substantially boost productivity.

Greater investment in infrastructure is essential to provide a link to unexploited markets, decrease transport costs, and support the production of tradable goods.

Transit trade has a large growth potential, while increasing the efficiency of transport infrastructure can generate additional growth from other tradable sectors such as manufacturing, the report said.

ADB began supporting Kazakhstan in 1994 and has since approved over $5 billion in sovereign loans, nonsovereign loans, and guarantees. ADB operations in Kazakhstan are helping open up transport routes, foster private enterprise, address inequalities, promote inclusive growth, and deliver knowledge products and services.

ADB also contributes to Kazakhstans participation in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) program.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members - 48 from the region. In 2017, ADB operations totaled $32.2 billion, including $11.9 billion in cofinancing.Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

Trend:

The national Bank of Kazakhstan has developed a strategy of cybersecurity of the financial sector for 2018-2022, "Kursiv" reported.

The rules are introduced within the framework of this project, which on the one hand will complicate the life of bankers, and on the other hand will ensure the safety of customers.

The new rules of the National Bank for information security in banks and organizations providing certain financial services will come into force on December 1 this year.

"One of the main innovations is that the national bank requires banks to have information security management systems. This refers to the presence of compliance with certain requirements. Banks are expected to have certain procedures, policies, and regulatory actions to maintain information security management systems," Boris Mazets, Senior Manager at PwC Kazakhstan company said.

Now the board of directors, management board, risk management department, human resources department, compliance control department, legal department will be responsible for compliance with the rules and requirements of information security.

"An important point is the creation of a collegial body. What does that imply? There must be a certain body, certain procedures of that body. The staff responsible for information security should come together and all meetings should be on the record. Once a quarter, this body should meet to assess the risks, I think," Mazets said.

The rules regulate the introduction of certain procedures for incident management, notification about incidents by the National Bank. In addition, according to the new requirements of the national bank, all information about incidents should be stored for at least 5 years.

"It is required to ensure functioning of the information security department separately from the IT department. The information security department must be subordinated to a member of the board who does not manage the IT department. They can be supervised by any security service, or the chairman of the board of a second-tier bank", Mazets explained.A group of U.S. Congressmen has called on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to pressure Saudi Arabia for the release of all civil rights activists languishing in prison, whose detention has been openly criticized by Canada.

An unprecedented diplomatic row broke out between Saudi Arabia and Canada early this month after the North American Country called for the release of all civil rights activists locked up in the kingdom.

Prominent Saudi activist and former laureate of the departments International Women of Courage Award, Samar Badawi is among the detainees.

Riyadh vehemently condemned Ottawas criticism and took several measures including recalling its ambassador, expelling the Canadian envoy, freezing new trade and business ties between the two countries and ordering a pullout of 16,000 Saudis including thousands of students studying in Canada.

The U.S. has refused to meddle in the spat despite Canadas expectations.

In their letter to the Secretary of State, 32 members of the U.S. congress have criticized the State Department mild stance in the diplomatic spat arguing that the response is insufficient.

We urge you to uphold our nations fundamental values and stand with Canada to deploy all diplomatic tools at your disposal to secure the release of Ms. Badawi and all imprisoned human rights advocates, the Congressmen said in the letter.

The lawmakers who authored the letter include newly elected Congressman Keith Ellison  the first Muslim to enter the powerful institution.

Monday, Canadas Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland whose tweet sparked the diplomatic showdown called on Germany to join the North American country in defending the activists.

Freeland, addressing diplomats at the annual gathering of foreign ambassadors based in the German capital, Berlin, insisted that Canada will always stand up for human rights even when we are told to mind our own business  and even when speaking up brings consequences, Reuters reports.

She added: We count on and hope for Germanys support.

Germany has been cautioned to condemn the Saudi kingdom as it struggles to defuse a diplomatic dispute that erupted in November after former German top diplomat Sigmar Gabriel accused the kingdom of adventurism in the Middle East in reference to its role in Qatars isolation and in the Yemen conflict.

Because of the criticism, Saudi authorities have barred German healthcare firms from public tenders. Riyadh also protested by recalling its envoy in Berlin.Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

Trend:

Bishkek city hosted a meeting of Kyrgyz Deputy Interior Minister Kursan Asanov with Irans Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Ali Mojtaba Rouzbehani, Kabar news agency reported.

The parties discussed practical steps of signing a draft agreement between the governments of the two countries on cooperation in the sphere of ensuring security, as well as law and order.

As part of the agreement, practical interaction will be carried out on cooperation in the field of countering international terrorism, illicit arms trafficking, cybercrime, etc.

Kursan Asanov thanked the guests for their cooperation and also expressed confidence in the further strengthening of constructive interaction.Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

Trend:

The "Trade and economic mechanisms and humanitarian directions of the Kyrgyz-Russian interregional cooperation" panel discussion has taken place in Bishkek, Kabar agency reported.

The event was attended by representatives of state bodies and the expert community of Kyrgyzstan.

The panel discussion covered such issues as analysis of existing programs, decisions and agreements at the level of the regions of Kyrgyzstan and Russia: the search for best practices, as well as potential areas of trade and economic cooperation of specific regions of Kyrgyzstan and Russia: agriculture, labor migration, investment.

Political Scientist Denis Berdakov noted that, 2018 is the year of "regional development" in Kyrgyzstan, within the framework of which the programs for the development of each region, city, village should be worked out with a clear vision of medium-term and long-term goals of improvement of quality of life of the population.

"The Russian Federation is the main consumer of agricultural products of Kyrgyz villages, and the great number of workers from the regions of Kyrgyzstan set out to Russia in order to get paid seasonal work, whose remittances provide consumer demand in the regions of Kyrgyzstan. Taking this into account, it is extremely productive to analyze the existing trade, economic, educational ties of the regions of Kyrgyzstan with regions of Russia and on the basis of best practices, as well as taking into account the specifics of each region (what it produces, what demographic situation it has, what are its needs) and partnership links in the area of industrial cooperation, to establish long-term programs of interregional cooperation at the level of regions, cities, regions of the two countries," he said.

The event was organized by the "Eurasians  New Wave" Foundation.Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Aug. 28

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

The OSCE Mobile Training Team delivered an interactive course on identifying foreign terrorist fighters for officers of Turkmenistans border and migration services in Ashgabat, the Ashgabat office of the OSCE said in a statement.

The deployment of the Training Team was organized by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department.

The training program included such issues as regional and national legal frameworks, the effective use of Interpol databases, risk analysis and management in the identification of potential foreign terrorist fighters at borders, in compliance with international human rights standards.

Identification, current location and flow of returning foreign terrorist fighters remain an absolutely critical priority for international community nowadays, said the Officer-in-Charge at the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, Natasa Rasic.

To better detect foreign terrorist fighters we need to improve border screening, check passenger data, collect biometrics, and share information, she said.

The training participants discussed the importance of risk analysis models applied to identify potential foreign terrorist fighters at the borders, as well as trends and current cases. The practical exercises on the detection of forged documents were conducted as well.

The training sessions were conducted by members of the OSCE Mobile Training Team from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Georgia, Romania and Ukraine as well as experts from INTERPOL, the United States of America and the OSCE.

The OSCE Mobile Training Team was established by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department in 2016. It is composed of seventeen selected border and counter-terrorism experts from OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation.Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Aug. 28

By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:

The United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) is a long-standing and reliable partner of founders of the International Fund for saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) on water and environmental issues, special representative of the UN secretary-general for Central Asia, head of the UNRCCA Natalia Gherman said, the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported Aug. 28.

The diplomat noted that the UN and the UNRCCA highly appreciate the results of the recent summit of heads of the IFAS founding states in Avaza resort in Turkmenistan.

One of the important outcomes of the event is the joint communique of the summit, expressing the common political will of the parties and confirming their readiness to continue constructive partnership, according to the report.

The UNRCCA supports the proposals of the Turkmen side on a systematic approach to regional cooperation based on a legal mechanism that takes into account the interests of all countries of the region in the issue of integrated water resources management, and is also ready to actively join promotion of the water diplomacy initiative, the report said.

Turkmenistan once proposed to open a regional center for technologies in Ashgabat related to climate change in Central Asia and develop the UN Aral Sea Program and the UN Water Strategy.

Turkmenistan borders Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Afghanistan and uses water resources coming in accordance with agreed quotas from four trans-boundary rivers, namely, Amu Darya, Tejen, Atrek and Murgab.

Turkmenistan has a problem of the Aral Sea ecology, which is most noticeable in the northern region. In the Dashoguz region there were problems with the provision of drinking water and the fight against salinization of cultivation lands.Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

Trend:

On the eve of the 27th anniversary of Uzbekistan's independence, the country's authorities will not impose restrictions on the admission of Tajik citizens through their border crossings, Tajik news agency Asia Plus reported citing to the Tajik authorities.

"Presently, all checkpoints on the Tajik-Uzbek border are working in regular mode and citizens are allowed to enter Uzbekistan without any restrictions," the source said.

The Independence Day of Uzbekistan is celebrated on September 1.

In previous years, on the eve of the Independence Day Uzbek authorities imposed restrictions on foreigners visiting the country and the checkpoints were strengthened by additional forces.

Tajikistan used to be notified of restrictions on the citizens' movement a month before the celebration of the Independence Day.Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

Trend:

Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Li Yong has invited Uzbekistan to consider the possibility of signing a standard basic agreement on cooperation with the organization, Ozbekiston TV channel reported.

Yong noted that UNIDO is interested in significant expansion of the organizations activities in Uzbekistan through the implementation of industrial projects.

He stressed that the document will serve as a legal basis for the provision of services for the development of industrialization and facilitates the implementation of technical assistance projects of UNIDO in Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan is the first of countries in the post-Soviet space, which is invited to sign this agreement.

Yong stressed that if the UNIDO Office is established in Uzbekistan, the Office may acquire the status of a regional center for Central Asia.Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

Trend:

Uzbekistan and Russia intend to create wholesale distribution networks and hubs in the border areas.

Uzbekistan and Russia plan to implement a project for establishment of wholesale distribution networks and transport and logistics hubs in the border areas of the two states, Podrobno.uz reported.

The move comes following the results of negotiations held in Tashkent between the Minister of Economic Development of Russia Maxim Oreshkin and Minister of Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan Jamshid Khodjaev.

"Maxim Oreshkin supported the proposal to establish wholesale distribution networks and transport and logistics hubs in the border areas of Uzbekistan and Russia. This will provide favorable conditions and special tariffs for the transportation of goods, in particular through the territories of transit countries," the Ministry of Foreign Trade said in a statement.

In addition, this project will provide an opportunity to create an effective logistics network to meet the needs of business entities in provision of transport and logistics and freight forwarding services, as well as to develop optimal schemes of cargo transportation and logistics chains.

At the end of 2017, the volume of mutual trade between Uzbekistan and Russia exceeded $4.8 billion (growth of 14.8 percent), where the share of exports amounted to $2.1 billion (+17.2 percent), imports  to $2.7 billion (+12.9 percent).

In January-July 2018, the trade turnover amounted to $3.2 billion (+24 percent), with a share of exports amounting to $1.1 billion (+1.4 percent), imports  to $2 billion (+41.3 percent).Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

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Uzbekistan will host the first international investment forum in tourism on November 19-21, Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Aziz Abdukhakimov said.

The conference hall of the Uzexpocenter will be the venue for the upcoming discussions. It is expected that the forum, along with domestic entrepreneurs, will be attended by representatives of international financial institutions, potential foreign investors, international tourism organizations, leading tourism companies, experts and specialists.

The forum participants will be familiarized with investment projects in the tourism sector, in particular they will be provided with information about the Charvak free tourism zone, the tourism zones of Samarkand and Kadimiy Bukhoro (Ancient Bukhara), as well as small tourism zones in Surkhandarya.

The number of tourists visiting Uzbekistan in 1H2018 increased by nearly two times compared to the same period of 2017.

In total, 2,688,962 foreigners visited Uzbekistan in the first 6 months of this year.

The number of travelers from countries for which Uzbekistan introduced a visa-free regime has significantly increased. For example, 31,966 tourists arrived from Turkey in the first 6 months, which is 95.6 percent more than in 2017. The number of travelers from Japan (68.1 percent), Israel (86.2 percent), Indonesia (by more than three times), Singapore (by more than 2.5 times) significantly increased as well.Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

Trend:

Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan will hold political consultations between the two countries foreign ministries at the level of deputy foreign ministers, the press service of the Uzbek Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

On August 28, 2018, a delegation of Kazakh Foreign Ministry headed by the country's Deputy Foreign Minister Galymzhan Koishybayev will arrive in Tashkent.

The sides will consider the current state and prospects of bilateral relations, issues of regional cooperation, as well as interaction as part of international structures.Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

Trend:

The Fund for Supporting Export of Small Businesses and Private Entrepreneurs of Uzbekistan has got registered its representative office in Latvia.

The representative office of the Fund will conduct market research and find foreign partners.

The Fund's office in Latvia will promote brands of Uzbekistan and organize participation of entrepreneurs of Uzbekistan in international exhibitions, fairs, tenders and other events.

The office will assist in obtaining international certificates, licenses and other permits.

Moreover, the representative office will assist in the opening of trade houses in Latvia.President Emmanuel Macron of France Monday opposed Syrian leader staying in power, arguing that a return to normalcy following the ouster of the Islamic State group (ISIS) will be a grotesque error.

We can see those who would like to return to normal as soon as the war against Daesh (the Islamic State group) is finished: Bashar al-Assad would stay in power, the refugees will return and Europe and few others would help with reconstruction, Macron said in an address before Frances ambassadors.

Such a scenario would be a grotesque error, he insisted.

The anti-Assad comment followed Russian President Vladimir Putins call to Europe on August 18 for Syrias reconstruction.

Russias intervention in 2015 in the Syrian seven-year conflict has helped turn the tide in favor of Al Assad.

With Russias support, the Syrian army repelled rebels and ISIS to Idlib province, now seen as the last resistance stronghold out of government forces control.

Macron also warned that the Syrian regime is preparing a fresh humanitarian crisis as it gears up to launch an assault on Idlib.

The situation is alarming because the regime is threatening to create another humanitarian crisis in Idlib province and until now has shown no desire to negotiate the slightest political transition, he said.

This means reinforcing pressure on the regime and its allies, and I expect Russia and Turkey to take account of their roles and the commitments they have made, he added.

Macron who came to power in May last year has shifted Frances foreign policy in Syria stepping aside from direct support for the opposition, which enjoyed French backing at the time of Macrons predecessor, Francois Holland.

The French President however stressed that he never made Bashars removal a condition for Frances humanitarian assistance to millions of people displaced by the conflict.Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

Trend:

Uzbekistan and Russia have discussed promising areas of bilateral trade and economic cooperation and a new format of cooperation between governments of the two countries.

Minister of Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan Jamshid Khodjaev and the Minister of Economic Development of Russia Maxim Oreshkin have held talks in Tashkent.

The parties discussed the preparations for the upcoming events-the meeting of the intergovernmental commission, the visit of representatives of the regions of Uzbekistan to the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, as well as the interregional forum, which will serve as a meaningful and qualitative content of the "economic block" of the agenda of the meetings of the leaders of the two countries.

The parties discussed the draft five-year Program of economic cooperation and considered the concept and scenario of the interregional forum of Uzbekistan and Russia.

During the talks, Jamshid Khodjaev proposed to intensify cooperation with Russias specialized agencies of the national export support system ("Russian export center", "Roseximbank" and the Russian Agency for Export Credit and Investment Insurance (EXIAR)), as well as to establish partnership relations between banks of Uzbekistan and State Corporation "Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank)" of Russia.

Maxim Oreshkin supported the proposal to establish wholesale distribution networks and transport and logistics hubs in the border areas of Uzbekistan and Russia. This will provide favorable conditions and special tariffs for the transportation of goods, in particular through the territories of transit countries.

In addition, this project will provide an opportunity to create an effective logistics network to meet the needs of business entities in provision of transport and logistics and freight forwarding services, as well as to develop optimal schemes of cargo transportation and logistics chains.

During his stay in Tashkent, Maxim Oreshkin also met with Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov and Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Kuchkarov.Tehran, Iran, Aug. 28

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Iran and China explored investment opportunities in the Islamic Republics LNG (liquefied natural gas) industry, a report said.

According to the report carried by Shana news agency on August 28, Irans Research Institute of Petroleum Industry, Aryana Petro Tavan (APT) Co. and China Fortune Holdings participated in a conference on cryogenic air separation and mini-LNG in Tehran on Tuesday.

During the conference, the Chinese firm discussed business opportunities in Irans small-scale liquefied natural gas projects.

Production capacities of small-scale LNG plants vary from 2,000 to 500,000 tons a year. By comparison, a typical large-scale plant has a production capacity between 2.5 and 7.5 million tons of LNG per year.

With limited production capacity, mini-LNG plants are suitable for the supply of small amounts of liquefied gas to far-flung regions using tanker trucks.Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

Trend:

Irans administration has removed ban on export of tea, the head of Iran Tea Organization, Habib Jahansaz, said.

Under the new regulation, ban will be implemented only for re-export of tea, Jahansaz said, Young Journalist Club reported on Aug. 28.

He further said that over 88,000 tons of tea, worth 180 billion rials have been purchased from Iranian farmers so far.

He added that the government has paid 66 percent of the farmers money and the rest will be cleared gradually.

He forecast that 110,000 tons of fresh tea leaves will be purchased from farmers in the current year.

Tea is cultivated in Irans northern provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran, where 50,000 families earn their living from tea farming on more than 25,000 hectares of fields.

About 95 percent of tea orchards in Iran are rain-fed.

About 110,000 tons of dried tea are consumed in Iran every year.

Iran imports tea from India, the UAE, Sri Lanka and Kenya.Baku, Azerbaijan, August 28

Trend:

Irans Tabriz Refinery is negotiating with Chinese and Russian companies to attract investment for a project to improve the quality of its products.

Talks are underway with the companies for a project, worth $1.5 billion, to produce products compatible with the Euro-5 emission standard, Gholamreza Bagheri, managing director of the refinery, said.

The investment will also increase the refinerys output, Bagheri said, IRNA news agency reported.

He further said that the refinery has invested over 500 million euros so far for various eco-friendly plans, including sulfur granulation Project and high-quality gasoline production as well as asphalt production unit.

Some 5 million euros also is invested for a project to curb associated petroleum gas (APG) from flaring, he added.

APG is a form of natural gas found with deposits of petroleum. It is often released as a waste product from the petroleum extraction industry. When it is burnt off as gas flares, it is referred to as flare gas.

Earlier in 2017, Irans Oil Design and Construction Company (ODCC) and South Korean SKEC signed a preliminary agreement related to the upgrade of Tabriz refinery, worth 1.6 billion euros.

At that time it was announced that the companies would establish a consortium, with the intention of purchasing new equipment, redesigning and upgrading the refinery, with the goal aimed at the decrease in final production loses from the current 20 to the expected 2 percent as well as improving the quality of other products like gasoline and diesel.

The refinery was also negotiating with Japans JX Nippon Oil & Energy Company on reducing the complex's mazut output from the current level of 28 percent to 10 percent.

Capacity of the Tabriz refinery is at 110,000 barrels per day. It produces 4.1 million liters of fuel oil per day (ml/d), 3.5 ml/d of gasoline ((half of that is compatible with Euro-4 standard)), 1 ml/d of kerosene, 6 ml/d of diesel, 0.3 ml/d of LPG and other products.

Analysts believe that due largely to the high production of mazut in refineries, most refiners will go bankrupt unless they receive financial backing from the government.

Moreover, many refineries need huge investments to upgrade their aging infrastructure and employ state-of-the-art technology to convert mazut into byproducts with higher value added.

Reportedly Iran ranks 9th in the world in terms of gasoline production and 13th in gas oil output, meanwhile it is the world's third major mazut producer, which indicates low performance of the country's refineries.Tehran, Iran, August 28

Trend:

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has appeared before the country's parliament to answer questions on his government's handling of Iran's economic struggles.

Following Iran's growing economic difficulties and the collapse of the Iranian rial, parliament has summoned Rouhani for the first time.

Lawmakers questioned Rouhani on topics including the rial's decline, which has lost more than half its value since April, weak economic growth and rising unemployment, according to state TV on August 28.

The Iranian president is facing a growing backlash since US President Donald Trump pulled out from the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers in May and said he will reimpose sanctions that seek to throttle Iran's economy, including its lifeblood oil exports.

According to ISNA, lawmakers wanted Rouhani to explain why, after more than two years of signing a nuclear deal, Iranian banks still only have limited access to global financial services.

Rouhani's summons comes amid further shows of public discontent over high prices, water shortage, power cuts, and alleged corruption in the Islamic Republic.

On Sunday, Irans parliament sacked the minister of economic affairs and finance amid a deterioration in the economic situation.

The sacking was the latest in a continuing shakeup of top economic personnel. In early August, Iranian lawmakers voted out the minister of labor and last month President Hassan Rouhani replaced the head of the central bank.Tehran, Iran, August 28

Trend:

Iranian President Hassan Rouhanis explanations about his administrations handling of the countrys economic struggles failed to convince lawmakers on Tuesday and the Judiciary will decide about it.

Following Iran's growing economic difficulties and the collapse of the Iranian rial, parliament summoned Rouhani for the first time on Aug. 28, Iranian media outlets reported.

Lawmakers questioned the president on topics including the rial's decline, which has lost more than half its value since April, weak economic growth and rising unemployment.

The president made two speeches at the parliament in an attempt to answer lawmakers questions and convince them but failed to do so.

The parliament raised five questions, whose main topics included failing to curb smuggling, continuation of sanctions on Irans banks, unemployment rate, and economic recession.

After Rouhanis remarks, the MPs voted for each of the questions. The parliamentarians did not find the presidents replies convincing, except for the one to the question about the continuation of sanctions on the countrys banking sector.

According to the law, the issue will be referred to the countrys judicial system to make the final decision about it.Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had constructive talks with US President Donald Trump on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) after the announcement of a new Mexican-US trade deal, the prime ministers office said in a statement on Tuesday, Sputnik reported.

The Prime Minister had a constructive conversation today with President Trump regarding the North American Free Trade Agreement. The leaders welcomed the progress that has been made in discussions with Mexico and look forward to having their teams engage this week with a view to a successful conclusion of negotiations, the statement read.

On Monday, Trump told reporters that the United States and Mexico had reached a new trade agreement that will replace the current NAFTA pact.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer expressed hope on Monday that Canada will join the new trade agreement between the United States and Mexico.

The White House said Tuesday that Justin Trudeau has congratulated Donald Trump on the announcement of a new US-Mexican trade deal.

This afternoon the President spoke with Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada, who congratulated the President on the announcement of a US-Mexico trade agreement. The leaders discussed US-Canada trade and agreed to continue productive conversations, the statement read.

Trump said earlier his administration will begin trade talks with Canada immediately, but he also suggested that imposing tariffs on Canadian cars could be a better option.

"I think with Canada, frankly, the easier thing we can do is tariff their cars coming in, it's a tremendous amount of money and it's a very simple negotiation," Trump said. "I think we'll give them a chance to probably have a separate deal or perhaps we'll put it in to this deal."

Ottawa, Mexico City and Washington have been engaged in talks over the modernization of NAFTA for exactly a year at Trumps initiative. Trump has threatened to withdraw the United States from NAFTA if a better agreement is not renegotiated. The agreement has been in place since 1994.French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Monday asked his ministers to prepare contingency measures in case of a no-deal Brexit, Reuters reported.

France hopes Britain will reach a deal with its European Union partners on its exit from the bloc but needs to be ready if not, Philippes office said in a statement.

In a government meeting convened to discuss this, Philippe tasked ministers to prepare contingency measures that would be necessary ... to mitigate the difficulties linked with this unprecedented challenge, it said.

Measures would include facilitating the stay of British citizens currently living in France and ensuring smooth border controls, the statement said.

The government will ask parliament in the coming weeks to allow it to adopt them by decree.

France will also need to take measures to take stock of Brexit even if there is a deal, the statement said, without giving details.

President Emmanuel Macron said earlier on Monday that preserving EU unity was more important than forging a close relationship with post-Brexit Britain.

Britain is due to leave the EU in March 2019.A total of 373 people have been arrested so far at the 2018 Notting Hill Carnival in the UK capital, the Metropolitan Police of London said on Tuesday and noted that the number of detainees is expected to rise, Sputnik reported.

Monday night was marred by the news of a non-life threatening stabbing  36 offensive weapons were taken off the streets by my officers and 373 arrests were made over the course of the weekend, which we expect could rise, Commander Dave Musker said, as quoted in statement.

Moreover, 30 police officers were injured during the large-scale event, according to the statement. More than one million people attend the Notting Hill Carnival in West London annually. The event is notorious for increasing the criminal rate in the district.French Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot announced his resignation on Tuesday, citing disappointment with the lack of progress on climate and other environmental goals, Reuters reported.

Hulot said his decision, taken on Monday night, was the result of an accumulation of disappointments over the inadequacy of steps to tackle climate change, defend biodiversity and address other environmental threats.

A former TV presenter and green activist whose cabinet portfolio included energy, Hulot said on France Inter radio that he had not yet informed President Emmanuel Macron of his decision to resign.

Hulot consistently scored high in popularity polls and his departure will be a blow to Macron, whose own ratings are plumbing new lows.

Shortly after his announcement, government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said he regretted Hulots exit.

I dont understand why he is stepping down when we had many successes in the first year that are to his credit, Griveaux told BFM Television. He didnt win all his battles but thats the way it goes for ministers.

Its a blow from which well recover, Griveaux added.

Hulot, who had been frustrated over the governments resolve to reduce Frances reliance on nuclear power, announced his departure after the government said it would relax hunting laws, a measure aimed at boosting Macrons appeal in rural areas.

In his radio interview, however, he emphasized the inadequacy of mini steps taken by France and other nations to slow global warming and avert a collapse of biodiversity.

I dont want to create the illusion that we are facing up to it, he said.The upcoming Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be an important opportunity to deepen Sino-African cooperation, officials said on Monday.

The summit themed: China and Africa: toward an even stronger community with a shared future through win-win cooperation, will be convened in Beijing in Sept 34.

African leaders, representatives of African and international organizations will participate in the summit.

The objectives of FOCAC include equal consultation, enhancing understanding, expanding consensus, strengthening friendship and promoting cooperation between African countries and China.

Over years, the FOCAC has become a model of South-South cooperation and a banner of international cooperation with Africa since its establishment in 2000.

In recent years, China has entered a new era with the rapid development of direct investments in African countries. Some enterprises are involved in expanding market share, locating closer to the end consumer, or seeking natural resources.

Xi Jinping in 2015 announced a $60 billion funding support for Africa at the FOCAC Summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Trade volume between China and Africa increased by 17 times between 2000 and 2017. Chinas investments in Africa have also grown significantly.Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

Trend:

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier discussed bilateral relations and regional issues over the phone, Turkish media reported.

Erdogan and Steinmeier also exchanged views on economy, trade and investment, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.

They also discussed latest developments in Syria, particularly in Idlib, the source said.

They agreed to arrange a meeting between Turkish and German foreign, finance and treasury ministers.

The two leaders also exchanged views on Erdogans visit to Germany in September.Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and his U.S. counterpart James Mattis discussed bilateral defense relations in a phone call Monday, presidential sources said, Turkish media reported.

Akar and Mattis also exchanged views on the current situation of bilateral relations between Turkey and the U.S., Syria and the fight against terrorism, the sources added.Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

A passenger bus collided with a truck in Istanbul, as a result of which 13 people were injured, according to preliminary information, Turkish media reported Aug. 28.

The injured were taken to the nearest hospitals.

All of the injured are citizens of Turkey. Their condition is currently assessed as fair.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizogluBaku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Turkish Armed Forces will continue fighting terrorism, Turkish Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar said, Turkish media reported Aug. 28.

Akar noted that the protection of national interests, preservation of the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Turkey is priority for the countrys Armed Forces.

He also stressed that the people of Turkey trust their army.

The conflict between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) terrorist group, which demands the creation of an independent Kurdish state, has lasted more than 25 years, claiming more than 40,000 lives. The PKK is recognized as a terrorist organization by the UN and the EU.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizogluBaku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Relations between Turkey and Russia are not an alternative to relations between Ankara and Washington, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, Turkish media reported Aug. 28.

He said it is no secret that there are real problems between the US and Turkey at present.

Cavusoglu also noted that Ankara, as before, supports the normalization of relations, and expressed his confidence that all problems can be solved through dialogue.

"The US must understand that it is impossible to achieve any results through threats," he said.

Regarding the purchase of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), Cavusoglu said this is a necessity for Turkey.

"At one time, the US refused to sell American SAMs," he said.

The day before, the US and Turkish diplomats held talks on the normalization of relations, as well as discussed the purchase of the Russian S-400 SAMs by Turkey.

Other details of the meeting were not reported.

Relations between Washington and Ankara have recently deteriorated because of the US pastor Andrew Brunson detained in 2016 by Turkey.

This is while US President Donald Trump said he authorized doubling tariffs for aluminum and steel from Turkey up to 20 percent and 50 percent, respectively. This decision caused the fall of the Turkish lira to the historic low.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizogluBaku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

An armored personnel carrier has overturned in Turkeys Sirnak province, Turkish media reported Aug. 28.

As a result of the incident, two Turkish servicemen were killed and seven were injured.

All the injured were taken to a military hospital.

The condition of five of the injured servicemen is assessed as critical.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizogluKYODO NEWS - Aug 28, 2018 - 19:59 | World, All

A Japanese man released by North Korea after being detained for an unknown reason returned to Tokyo via Beijing on Tuesday following Pyongyang's decision to deport him.

Tomoyuki Sugimoto, who visited North Korea as a tourist, had been held for a criminal investigation until the country "decided to leniently condone him," the state-run Korean Central News Agency said in an English-language report on Sunday.

The nature of the alleged illegal activity was not specified. Pyongyang decided to release him "on the principle of humanitarianism," KCNA said.

According to Japanese government sources, Sugimoto is 39 years old.

The development comes as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is looking to find a path to a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Foreign Minister Taro Kono said at a press conference on Tuesday the government is planning to question the man, who was taken into custody earlier this month but declined to elaborate further on the issue, including the North's intention.

A Kyodo News reporter spoke to Sugimoto on the plane to Beijing from Pyongyang on Tuesday morning, during which he confirmed his identity. The plane was operated by North Korea's national flag carrier Air Koryo.

At Pyongyang airport, Sugimoto boarded the plane and sat in an economy-class seat with other tourists and businesspeople. Clad in a black hat, dark glasses and black pants, he kept his eyes lowered most of the time aboard.

During the flight, Air Koryo staff kept a close watch on Sugimoto from behind. He had a cup of tea but no in-flight meal.

(Tomoyuki Sugimoto)

The plane had many Japanese aboard, including university students who had participated in exchange events with North Korean students in Pyongyang in August.

Once Sugimoto arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport, a throng of waiting reporters surrounded him.

Japan has been investigating why Sugimoto was detained, while continuing to communicate with North Korea through a diplomatic channel in Beijing, a source close to the matter said. Tokyo and Pyongyang have no diplomatic relations.

A Japanese government source said earlier this month that a man thought to be a videographer in his 30s from Shiga Prefecture in central Japan was detained in North Korea.

The man may have been suspected of videotaping a military facility when he visited the western port city of Nampo with a tour group, the source said.

The man was visiting North Korea on a tour arranged by a China-based travel agency, the source said, adding that there is unconfirmed information about him having visited the country in the past.

North Korea deported Sugimoto after a relatively short detention period -- three weeks -- while Tokyo urged Pyongyang to release him.

But many analysts are skeptical Sugimoto's release will pave the way for a summit between Abe and North Korean leader Kim, given that Pyongyang has stepped up criticism of Tokyo.

Although Abe has said tackling the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s is his "life's work," Pyongyang has repeatedly said the issue has been "resolved," showing no intention of holding dialogue with Tokyo on the matter.

The Japanese government has requested that all its citizens refrain from traveling to North Korea, as part of sanctions against the country for developing and testing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in defiance of international warnings.

In 1999, a Japanese newspaper reporter was taken into custody in North Korea on spying charges and detained for about two years.

A Japanese trader was detained in 2003 on suspicion of smuggling drugs. It took around five years and three months before he was allowed to leave North Korea.KYODO NEWS - Aug 28, 2018 - 19:08 | Feature, All

Japanese student peace ambassadors on Monday called for the abolition of nuclear weapons at a government reception in Geneva.

The 20 high school student ambassadors shared stories of the victims of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 in World War II in front of about 60 foreign diplomats at the event organized by the Japanese delegation to the Conference on Disarmament.

Sawa Yamanishi, a 17-year-old from Nagasaki Prefecture, said in a speech in English that her grandmother, who survived the Nagasaki bombing but lost friends, expressed hope of not letting others endure similar suffering.

"I don't want many people to be tortured as so many were 73 years ago," said Yamanishi.

Nemi Kubota and Riko Shitakubo, both 16 from Hiroshima Prefecture, introduced the activities of the student ambassadors, who submit signatures opposing nuclear weapons to the United Nations every year in August.

(Sawa Yamanashi gives a speech)

High school student ambassadors, candidates for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, delivered speeches at the Conference on Disarmament between 2014 and 2016 but did not have a speaking opportunity in 2017 due to opposition from China and other countries. An organization dispatching the students decided not to request a chance this year.

Michael Moller, secretary general of the Conference on Disarmament, hailed the effort by the student ambassadors, saying the participation of young people around world in the nuclear disarmament move is important.

Diplomats from nuclear powers such as Russia and France as well as those from countries including Brazil and the Netherlands attended the reception and exchanged views with the students.

The high school student peace ambassador program was launched in 1998 after two high school students in Nagasaki, alarmed by nuclear tests by India and Pakistan earlier that year, visited the United Nations headquarters in New York to bring signatures calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

The student ambassadors are expected to submit signatures collected from about 110,000 people to the secretariat of the Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday.A vital issue is the learning gap caused by the lack of physical school experience for such a long period.Scores of British holidaymakers in Egypt have cut short their holidays and returned home, as claims circulated of food poisoning and poor hygiene standards at the hotel where a British couple died under mysterious circumstances last week.

According to a spokeswoman of the UK tour operator Thomas cook, about half the Britons at the hotel had chosen to cut their holidays short and the rest took up offers of rooms at other nearby hotels.

Thomas Cook customers arriving at Manchester airport last weekend complained of vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhea during their stay in the North African country.

Egyptian authorities and Thomas Cook operator are trying to establish how John and Susan Cooper, from Burnley, Lancashire died.

Mr. Cooper, a 69-year-old building firm boss, died in his hotel room last week. His wife, 64, passed away in hospital several hours later.

Egypts tourism ministry and the preliminary medical report by the Red Sea governorate said the couple, died of natural causes, with no suspicion of criminal activity.

The number of tourists visiting Egypt during the first quarter of 2018 has increased by 30 percent compared to the previous year.

The government attributed the increase to the latest campaign to promote tourism in Egypt. However, last weeks incident will see a sharp drop of these numbers, experts say.Namibia will hold a national land conference October 15 to discuss policies that will accelerate the land reform program, President Hage Geingob said on Sunday.

The government of the southern African nation seeks to ease political and ethnic tensions over the transfer of wealth to its majority black population. President Geingob urged citizens to participate in land expropriation talks in order to avoid chaos.

According to Geingob, the October conference will find peaceful and sustainable solutions to the challenges of inequality, landlessness and outstanding pains of genocide.

The forum would address the willing-seller, willing-buyer principle, ancestral land claims for restitution, expropriation in public interest with just compensation, urban land reform and resettlement criteria.

Land reform, an emotive political and economic topic in Namibia, is mainly designed to buy off 43% of its white-owned land and redistribute it to disadvantaged black Namibians by 2020, in line with the nations constitution and in exchange for compensation.

The former German colony was governed by South Africas white-led government from 1920s until the Namibian War broke out, and the country gained independence in 1990.

From 2000 and over a 15-year period, the government forcibly evicted some 4,800 white farmers from their land. An estimated 7 million hectares were seized.External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has reached Vietnam's capital Hanoi in the first phase of a five-day trip to Vietnam and Cambodia. The purpose of Sushma Swaraj's five-day visit to Vietnam and Cambodia is to deepen India's relationship with two important ASEAN regions. Sushma Swaraj and Vietnam's foreign minister Pham Binh Minh has signed MoUs that is Memorandum of understanding between the two countries in Vietnam's Hanoi, today.

Foreign Ministry spokesman tweeted that his act is accelerating the East policy. He wrote in the tweet that the trip will be helpful in continuing our high level high-level Southeast Asian countries. It was informed in the tweet that Swaraj was received by the Ambassador P Harish, Indian children and senior officials of the Foreign Ministry of Vietnam and Indian children presented him with flowers. India's relations are in progress with two important countries of powerful ASEAN group Vietnam and Cambodia.

In Vietnam, Sushma will co-chair the Joint Commission's 16th meeting with her colleague, Pham Bin Minh. He will also meet Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Shuwan Fuk. Sushma Swaraj will inaugurate the third edition of the Indian Ocean Conference today.

A statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs has stated that this visit is a comprehensive discussion on a broad global, regional and bilateral issues with a political leadership and to pursue our strategic exchange with these countries and ASEAN. Will provide the opportunity.

Also Read:

For 'Pravasi Bharatiya' Relief is just 1 tweet away : Sushma Swaraj in Vietnam

Supreme Court issues a notice to WhatsApp, IT and Finance ministry seeking report within four weeks

Permanent Indus Water Commission scheduled to meet on 29-30 August in LahoreMon., Nov. 1, 7 p.m.

Free

Nature, Science & Environment

Learn about the world of falconry from licensed falconer, Audrey Sohikian. She will also have a live raptor present during her presentation! Audrey will be discussing the following topics: -What is falconry?-Raptors used for falconry and how they hunt-Rules and regulations-How to become a falconer-How to train a raptor for falconry-Ethics of falconry-Falconry's role in conservation This presentation will be on Zoom and can be viewed at home or in-person at the library. If you would like to attend on Zoom, please email Sarah at ssnyder@jaxpl.org for link. 217-243-54356 Reasons to Invest in Denbury Resources (DNR) Stock Now The oilier nature of Denbury Resources' (DNR) volume mix positions it to benefit from the strengthening oil prices.

Denbury Resources Inc. DNR looks compelling at the moment. Given the companys strong fundamentals as well as positive estimate revisions, it seems like this is the right time to add the stock to your portfolio.

It is a growing exploration and production (E&P) company engaged in the acquisition, development, operation, and exploration of oil and natural gas properties in the Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States. Moreover, the company has ample liquidity and no near-term maturities. Notably, It currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), which means the company is poised to outperform the market.

What Makes the Stock a Solid Bet?

Low-Risk Business:

Denbury is one of the leading oil producers in Mississippi, with properties in Louisiana, Alabama and Southeast Texas as well. The company has a relatively low-risk business model as it produces oil by applying tertiary recovery techniques to mature fields. Moreover, with its in-house CO2 reserve base, Denbury has a significant competitive advantage in acquiring and exploiting mature oil reservoirs.

Oilier Production:

At the end of 2017, Denburys total proved reserves were 260 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBOE), of which 97% was oil. The figure was higher than that of 2016. Moreover, during the second quarter, its total production averaged 61,994 barrels of oil equivalent per day (Boe/d), with approximately 97% oil. The oilier nature of Denburys volume mix positions it to benefit from strengthening oil prices, which has come a long way from the historical lows  below $30 per barrel  in 2016. Notably, oil price is hovering above the $65 per barrel level for the last few months now.

Bottom-Line Prospects:

Denbury reported second-quarter 2018 earnings of 13 cents (excluding one-time items), beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 10 cents and also improving from breakeven results in the year-ago quarter. In the each of the last four reported quarters, the company beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate and delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 162.9%.

Story continues

Denbury Resources Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Denbury Resources Inc. Price and EPS Surprise | Denbury Resources Inc. Quote

Positive Earnings Estimate Revisions

We believe the positive trend will continue in the coming quarters as well. Over the past 30 days, two analysts have upwardly revised earnings estimates for the third quarter of 2018, while none have decreased the same for Denbury. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current quarter has been revised upward from 8 cents per share to 10 cents, which is 150% higher than year-ago quarters figure of 4 cents. Moreover, for the whole year 2018, the bottom line is expected to surge 235.7% to 47 cents.

Operating Cash Flow to Surge:

Denbury plans to grow its business with the help of its cash flow. In the trailing 12 months, the company recorded net operating cash flow of $436 million. Denbury expects its net cash flow from operations for 2018 to be in the range of $430  $480 million, conservatively assuming oil prices at $55 per barrel.

Impressive Industry Outlook:

The industry, to which Denbury belongs, currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 116 out of 256 (top 45%). Studies have shown that 50% of a stock's price movement is directly tied to the performance of the industry group that it belongs to. In fact, an average stock in a strong group is likely to outperform a great stock in a poor industry. Therefore, taking industry performance into account becomes a necessary measure.

Price Performance:

Denbury has surged 441.9% in the past year, widely outperforming the 24.9% collective growth of the stocks belonging to the industry.

Other Stocks to Consider

Investors interested in the energy sector can also opt for other top-ranked stocks like McDermott International, Inc. MDR, Subsea 7 S.A. SUBCY and Canadian Natural Resources Limited CNQ. While McDermott and Subsea sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Canadian Natural carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Houston, TX-based McDermott is an equipment provider for energy companies. The companys top line for 2018 is likely to improve 145% year over year. In the last four reported quarters, the company delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 101.7%.

Luxembourg-based Subsea is an oilfield service providing company. In the last four reported quarters, the company delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 318.6%.

Calgary, Canada-based Canadian Natural Resources is an upstream energy company. The companys top line for 2018 is anticipated to improve 41.3% year over year, while its bottom line is expected to increase more than 200%.

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Zacks Investment ResearchBank of Hawaii Corporation BOH can be a solid bet now, given its robust revenue growth aided by solid loans and deposits balance. The banks strong capital position will likely support its capital-deployment measures. However, its expanding cost base remains a key concern.



Bank of Hawaiis revenues witnessed a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.2% over the last five years (2013-2017), with the uptrend continuing in the first six months of 2018 as well. This upside primarily stemmed from increase in net interest income on the back of rate hikes. Non-interest bearing deposits, which constitute about 32% of total deposits, will boost the companys interest income, as well as the net interest margin (NIM) going ahead.



The bank has been experiencing an increasing trend in loans and deposits balances for quite some time. Loans and deposits witnessed a CAGR of 12.6% and 5.8%, respectively, over the past five years (2013-2017). Also, the trend continued into first two quarters of 2018. Strong deposit balances are expected to help the company generate higher loans and meet other general business purposes.



The companys shares have gained 7.1% over the past year compared to the industrys rally of 23.7%. The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).









However, Bank of Hawaiis soaring expenses remain a major concern. Costs rose at a CAGR of 3% over the last four years (2014-2017), with the trend continuing in first-half 2018 as well. Salary expense remains the major factor for such increment.



Further, the stock is overvalued in comparison to its industry peers. Its current price/book and price-earnings (F1) ratios compare unfavorably with the respective industry averages.



Some better-ranked stocks in the same space are Bank of Commerce Holdings (CA) BOCH, Northrim BanCorp Inc NRIM and SVB Financial Group SIVB. All three stocks flaunt a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.



The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Bank of Commerces current-year earnings has been revised 8.8% upward in the past 60 days. Its shares have rallied 18.8% over the past year.



Northrim BanCorps earnings estimates for 2018 moved 15.4% upward, in 60 days time. Its shares have gained 49.6% in a years time.



Over the past 60 days, SVB Financials 2018 earnings estimate moved 7.6% north. In the past year, the stock has surged 99.7%.



Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest Strategies



It's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +21.9% in 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +115.0%, +109.3%, +104.9%, +98.6%, and +67.1%.



And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 19X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation.



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To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment ResearchBritish Prime Minister Theresa May is traveling to South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya this week on her first African tour to deepen and strengthen partnerships as the UK prepares to leave the EU in 2019.

The trip comes at a time of enormous change across Africa with a unique opportunity, as the UK moves towards Brexit, for a truly Global Britain to invest in and work alongside African nations, with mutual benefits, Downing Street said in a statement.

The trip will focus on a renewed partnership between the UK and Africa, and will seek to maximize shared opportunities and tackle common challenges, the statement said.

The Prime Minister will be accompanied by a 29-strong business delegation as part of a trade mission aimed at boosting post-Brexit fortunes. Security will also feature high on her agenda, with the threat of Boko Haram in West Africa and Al-Shabaab in Somalia and Kenya.

Theresa May is expected in South Africas legislative capital Cape Town this Tuesday. She will meet young people, before delivering a keynote speech on trade and how UK private sector investment can be brought into Africa.

After a bilateral meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the PM is also expected to visit Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned.

On Wednesday, Mrs. May will meet President Muhammadu Buhari in the Nigerian capital Abuja, just four months after they held talks in London. The Premier will later travel to Lagos on Wednesday evening to meet victims of modern slavery.

Mrs. May is also expected to meet Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday before visiting British troops and a business school in the East African nation. A state dinner hosted by President Kenyatta will conclude the trip.

Theresa May is the first UK prime minister to visit Kenya in more than 30 years.Asian stocks advanced on Tuesday

Investing.com - Asian stocks advanced on Tuesday as U.S. stocks climbed to fresh all-time highs overnight after the Trump administration sealed a bilateral trade deal with Mexico.

U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled details of the agreement that he says will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The new deal is expected to last 16 years and will be reviewed every six years pending its approval by Congress, according to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

In Asia, Chinas Shanghai Composite and the Shenzhen Component both rose 0.1%, while Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index also gained 0.3% as investors await Chinas official factory PMI due Friday.

South Koreas KOSPI added 0.4% after its government proposed the largest expansion in fiscal spending in a decade for the year 2019.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance revealed on Tuesday in its budget proposal for 2019 that total spending will increase 9.7% to 470.5 trillion won ($420.27 billion), the biggest jump since a 10.6% increase in 2009.

Spending on welfare, health and jobs will account for 162.2 trillion won, up 12.1% from this year, according to the proposal.

"Thanks to higher revenue from robust tax collection, we're expanding the size of fiscal expenditure to add jobs, and to boost the dynamism of the economy," finance minister Kim Dong-yeon said at an embargoed news briefing.

Elsewhere, Japans Nikkei 225 rose 0.5%. Toyota Motor Corp (T:7203) was in focus after the automaker said it will invest $500 million in Uber to jointly work on developing self-driving cars. As part of the pact, Toyota will manufacture Sienna minivans equipped with Ubers self-driving technology, and another company will operate the fleet, according to reports citing people familiar with the matter.

Down under, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 traded up by 0.7% as it continued its recovery from last week's political turmoil.

Related Articles

China raises yuan mid-point most in 15 months, spurs dollar buying

Asian markets cheer U.S.-Mexico trade deal

FCC report found no 'favoritism' on proposed Sinclair deal* Blackmores FY net profit A$70 mln vs A$59 mln previous year

* Domestic sales flat, China sales up 22 pct

* Company is taking on daigous by selling to China direct

* Shares up 10 pct, the most since Oct 2017 (Recasts with share reax, adds analyst comment)

By Byron Kaye

SYDNEY, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Australian vitamin maker Blackmores Ltd said on Tuesday annual net profit jumped nearly a fifth, sending its shares up the most in 10 months, as a strategy of sidestepping Chinese shopping agents and selling direct to the mainland paid off.

The result suggests the company's decision to take control of its China exports and sell direct, bypassing Chinese shoppers who buy its pills in bulk locally for resale back home, is at last having the desired effect of maximising margins.

The first year Sydney-listed Blackmores took on those so-called "daigou" shoppers by going direct, fiscal 2017, the company's annual profit plunged.

The A$2.7 billion ($2 billion) company quarter-owned by Marcus Blackmore, son of company founder Maurice Blackmore, said 2017-18 net profit bounced 18.6 percent to A$70 million, almost all the growth due to surging China exports.

The result was in line with analyst forecasts although short of Blackmores' A$100 million annual profit in financial year 2016, before the company ramped up its non-daigou China business.

Blackmores shares were up 10 percent in morning trading, the biggest daily advance since October 2017, while the broader market was up less than 1 percent.

The company's "strong growth in China offsets a flat domestic market", Morningstar analyst Chris Kallos said.

Investors were also optimistic about a new partnership between Blackmores and Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, and about its rising sales to Asia outside China, Kallos added.

Blackmores did not give details of its partnership with Alibaba except to say that it "demonstrates our shared vision to grow our presence on Alibaba's platforms ... over the coming year".

Story continues

"Our vision for China is not limited to e-commerce sales, and we're actively building an offline business," said Chief Executive Richard Henfrey in a statement.

Sales to China rose 22 percent to A$143 million, the company said in a statement.

Blackmores said it would pay a final dividend of A$1.55 per share, up from A$1.40 the previous year.

($1 = 1.3669 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Byron Kaye in SYDNEY and Aaron Saldanha in BENGALURU; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Stephen Coates)By Rod Nickel

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Parched pastures and crops in Western Canada are driving up cattle-feeding costs, and farmers and analysts expect the changing economics to stem a recent stampede of U.S. cattle being brought over the border.

Canada imported 65,035 head of cattle from the United States from January through June, nearly double the pace of a year earlier when imports of U.S. cattle were at their highest level in 16 years, according to Statistics Canada. Most were young cattle to be fattened on feedlots.

But dry Canadian conditions that have curtailed hay supplies are making it cheaper to fatten cattle in the United States. A drop-off in the supply of Canadian cattle would amplify concerns for feedlots and packers in Canada, where the country's herd has declined steadily.

Canadian government data on cattle imports lags about two months, so a reduction in U.S. supplies may not be publicly reported until well into autumn.

Rainfall in the past two months has fallen well below normal on the Canadian Prairies, with southern Alberta collecting less than 40 percent of average amounts, according to the federal agriculture department.

With limited supplies of feed grains in Western Canada, and a big U.S. corn crop on the way, it will soon make more sense to fatten cattle in the United States, said Rick Paskal, president of Van Raay Paskal Farms in southern Alberta.

"There's an old farmer's tale, that you don't haul the feed to the cattle, you haul the cattle to the feed. Its going to be tough to hold these cattle in Canada."

Charlie Christie, who runs a 400-cow ranch and feedlot near Trochu, Alberta, said he expects dry conditions to curb numbers of U.S. cattle being moved to Canada and also cause more Canadian calves to be sent to the United States.

An early surge of Canadian calves sold to feedlots this fall, as ranchers limit exposure to soaring feed costs, may leave supplies ample for now, said Brian Perillat, senior analyst at Canfax, a market analysis firm. Some ranchers are also culling their herds more than usual, putting more cattle on the market this year.

Story continues

But longer-term, the Canadian herd's decline raises concerns about how to compete with the expanding United States numbers, Perillat said.

Canada, the sixth-largest beef exporter, had 11 million head of beef cattle as of July 1, a number that fell for the 13th straight year, according to Statistics Canada. But Canada will likely slaughter the most cattle in eight years in 2018, Perillat said, as the larger numbers of U.S. imports work through the supply chain.

A new plant, Harmony Beef, opened in Alberta last year, while Cargill Ltd and JBS USA operate larger plants.

Montana and Wyoming feedlots face similar high feed costs due to dry weather as Canada, so more cattle may end up further south in Texas, Kansas and Nebraska, said John Ginzel, analyst at The Linn Group in Chicago.

The U.S. cattle herd will this year reach nearly 133 million head, its largest level in 10 years, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data. (Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba Editing by Frances Kerry)Chinese search giant Baidu has made moves to block crypto related content on its online portals, according to China Times.

The Beijing based media outlet, reported on Sunday that the search giant plans to restrict or place an outright ban on crypto related topics on the firms Reddit-like online form, known as Baidu Tieba.

At the moment, the sub-forums dedicated to digital currency and virtual currency appear to be unavailable to users. Searching for those keywords also triggers a statement on the forum that reads, This forum is temporarily closed due to relevant laws, regulations, and policies. Surprisingly, other sub-forums with ties to cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ethereum remain active on the forum as of press time.

A Baidu Tieba representative said the closure of the subforums could be linked to the company suspecting topics related to initial coin offerings (ICOs) and cryptocurrency speculation were being discussed.

The representative went on to justify the closure by adding the same with why WeChat did it, referring to the move by Tencent to block several crypto media on its WeChat messaging platform in a sweeping move to ban all posts about ICOs and crypto trading on its platform.

At the time of the ban, newly enacted rules from the Chinese government had been blamed as reasons for the closure.

Another Chinese company that has taken a hard stance against cryptocurrency is Alibaba who has vowed to continue monitoring and suspending accounts using Alipay, their mobile payment applications to conduct over-the-counter trading of cryptocurrencies.

Last week, WeChat Pay also released a statement last week prohibiting users from sending or receiving funds related to cryptocurrencies on its social media platform.

We expect to firmly establish a risk prevention awareness, and actively cooperate with the government to maintain financial order and social stability, the company noted in a press release.

Featured image from Shutterstock.



The post Chinese Search Giant Baidu Joins Tencent and Alibaba in Cryptocurrency Blockade appeared first on CCN.

Thanks to climate change, Californias fires will only continue to get worse in the coming years, according to Californias Fourth Climate Change Assessment, released Monday by the Golden State governors office.

California wildfires, including the Mendocino Complex Fire and Carr Fire, have broken records in 2018. And due to the impacts of climate change, the number of these types of large fires will increase by 50% by the end of the century, and the amount of land that burns each year will increase by 77%, according to the new report.

Californias weather woes will not be limited to wildfire destruction. Exacerbated conditions already starting to show up across the state, such as sea level rise eroding beaches and impacting public shoreline access, as well as critical water shortages and major droughts plaguing Central Valley farms, will worsen as global warming becomes more severe.

If greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate, a number of trends may worsen significantly by the year 2100. Average daily temperates are projected to rise as much as 5.6 to 8.8 degrees Fahrenheit. Fires consuming at least 25,000 acres will occur 50% more often. By 2055, the cost of wildfire insurance is estimated to rise by 18%. And by 2050, drinking water supplied by mountain ice pack is anticipated to decrease by two-thirds.

The Trump administration has been criticized for environmental and emissions policy deregulation that worries scientists already observing the impacts of climate change on weather patterns and natural disasters like mega-fires and years-long droughts.

California governor Jerry Brown took direct aim at President Trump in his prepared statements about the report via Twitter.

In California, facts and science still matter. These findings are profoundly serious and will continue to guide us as we confront the apocalyptic threat of irreversible climate change. https://t.co/a8XjR4V6sC  Jerry Brown (@JerryBrownGov) August 27, 2018

In California, facts and science still matter, Brown wrote. These findings are profoundly serious and will continue to guide us as we confront the apocalyptic threat of irreversible climate change.Upcoming Presidential Election- Dilemma for the Georgian Dream?

By Vladimer Napetvaridze

On August 21, Georgian Dream held a meeting to discuss the forms of party's participation in upcoming presidential elections. The ruling party has not yet nominated their candidacy, but the members of the majority were actively discussing to support the independent candidate Salome Zourabichvili.The Georgian Dream members openly stated that even though they have many candidates capable of winning the elections in the first round, the party says it will not nominate its candidate for 2018 presidential elections, because it would be better for democracy, besides, it could cause the wrong public opinion about the importance of the president's institution. Therefore, the party members discussed an option to support an independent candidate.Even though the legislation can reduce the president's power when the population elects he/she, he/she acquires political weight, and consequently, a significant influence on the political processes. Therefore, the statements that the upcoming election has no vital importance for the ruling party can't be entirely accurate.Besides this, the next election has additional significance. It can be considered as a mini rehearsal of the upcoming Parliamentary election 2020. If a candidate nominated or supported by the Georgian Dream will be defeated by the opposition candidate, it could be a severe damage to the rating of the party, because it will be the first case for the Georgian Dream to lose an election after coming into the power, accordingly upcoming presidential election could be a good indicator of public attitude changes towards the ruling team. Due to this, the leadership of the party has decided to discuss the party's position for the upcoming elections once again.At first sight, Zourabichvili's candidacy seemed to be the most acceptable for the party, although she was associated with the Georgian Dream. Since in 2016 the party did not nominate a candidate in Mtatsminda election district and expressed its support to Zourabichvili, she is not formally connected to the Georgia Dream. Besides, she is a well-known and respected person for the Georgian society. However, something has changed, and the ruling party isnt sure anymore, that supporting the independent candidate would be the best option. Two weeks after nominating her candidacy, Zourabichvili held several meetings with the population. One of them was offensive to representatives of the press, where she told reporters to shake their brains. It could be the reason why Georgian Dream isnt sure that even in case of their support, Zourabichvili will win the elections, and that would be significant damage to the Georgian Dream's image.Facebook FB recently announced that it has removed several accounts related to Myanmar military officials, in line with its efforts to curb spread of hate and misinformation on its platform.



This comes after a UN report claimed that several Myanmar military officials, including senior general Min Aung Hlaing, were responsible for carrying out grave human right abuses against the minority Muslim community in the country.



The U.N. authorities have reportedly accused Facebook as it has been used as the key platform for spreading hate and misinformation that triggered riots and abuses, per Reuters.



The social media giant admitted that it was slow to act in preventing the issue.



In this connection, the company announced that it has removed 18 Facebook accounts, 52 Facebook pages and one Instagram account, followed by at least 12 million people.



Additionally, Facebook also removed 46 pages and 12 accounts involved in spreading independent news and opinions supporting Myanmars military opinions.



Facebook Faces Flak for Data Privacy Issues



Facebook is under considerable pressure from regulatory bodies for the way it deals with fake news and the manner in which customer data is collected and shared on its platform.



The Russian interference in 2016 U.S. Presidential elections, the Cambridge Analytica scandal that impacted 87 million subscribers, and rapid proliferation of fake news and terrorism related content have severely tarnished Facebooks image.



Additionally, the social media giant has received warning from the Indonesian government that if any allegations similar to the Cambridge Analytica data breach surface during the upcoming elections, the application will be stopped in the country.



Moreover, Facebook along with Twitter TWTR and Alphabets GOOGL Google have also come under pressure after influential political campaigns related to Russian and Iranian propaganda were spread on the platforms.



Facebook, Inc. Revenue (TTM)

Story continues

Facebook, Inc. Revenue (TTM) | Facebook, Inc. Quote



Can Facebook Curb These Practices Completely?



Facebooks efforts to plug security loopholes as well as limit fake news will eventually boost trustworthiness. Although the companys focus on building a strong community can hurt engagement over the next few quarters, the steps will expand user base over the long run.



Moreover, Facebook is undertaking a number of initiatives by investing heavily both in technology and on personnel to curb such practices and to improve security of the platform



We believe the initiatives by the social media giant to restrict the spread of hateful content and misinformation on the platform will boost user confidence, thereby positively impacting the top line going forward.



Facebook currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).



Stock to Consider



A better-ranked stock in the broader computer technology sector is Vishay Intertechnology VSH, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks Rank #1 stocks here.



Long-term earnings growth for Vishay is projected to be 9.2%.



Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest Strategies



It's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +21.9% in 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +115.0%, +109.3%, +104.9%, +98.6%, and +67.1%.



And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 19X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation.



See Them Free>>



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



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Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Twitter, Inc. (TWTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. (VSH) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment ResearchPresident Donald Trump's trade agreement with Mexico is a good step forward, says Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind.

However, the president needs to strike a deal with China to really provide some relief to farmers, she says.

President Donald Trump 's trade agreement with Mexico is a good step forward but he needs to strike a deal with China to really provide some relief to farmers, Rep. Jackie Walorski , R-Ind., told CNBC on Monday.

The new deal between the U.S. and Mexico paves the way to replace NAFTA, the current agreement between the two countries and Canada .

"While the farmers are happy and optimistic, as am I, we still have a couple more places to go here before we can say that we really won this battle and put our farmers on top," Walorski said on " Power Lunch " shortly after the deal was announced.

"The retaliatory actions that China has taken are still going to be an impact," she said. Trade tensions continue to escalate between the U.S. and China. Last week, both countries implemented another round of tariffs on $16 billion worth of each other's goods.

Meanwhile, there were no major breakthroughs after U.S. and Chinese officials met last Wednesday and Thursday.

The two countries have now targeted $50 billion of each other's goods and threatened duties on most of the rest of their bilateral trade.

Walorski was among the 20 GOP lawmakers who signed onto a recent letter to Trump from House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady and Trade Subcommittee Chairman Dave Reichert. That letter urged Trump to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"Let's just strike a deal. A deal that's fair," Walorski told CNBC.

Farmers have been particularly hard hit by China's retaliatory tariffs, which have targeted things like soybeans and pork. In July, Trump said China is "being vicious" by targeting U.S. farmers on purpose.

Walorski, who met with Indiana farmers on Monday, said she is "grateful" to Trump for making progress with Mexico.

Story continues

However, farmers "need to know that very, very quickly they can kick up this production and they're going to be certain of what the details are of that bill." That said, Walorski insists the agricultural community is still supportive of Trump.

"They believe in the president's plan. They believe in his policy," she said. "They're just fearful of the uncertainty but this is a good step forward."

 CNBC's Fred Imbert and Reuters contributed to this report.





More From CNBC

When you step outside in the morning and take a nice deep breath you might feel refreshed and energized. Of course, if youre in the middle of a major city all you might smell is car exhaust and sewer fumes, and a new image released by NASA shows that whatever is hiding in a breath of fresh air can vary wildly from place to place.

The image, which was captured and pieced together by a number of NASA satellites, shows just how massive the clouds of tiny particles that cover our planet really are. Its a map of aerosols  no, not exactly the kind that makes your spray-on deodorant possible, but sort of.

Don't Miss: Amazons Fire TV Stick was just discounted for the first time since Prime Day

If you have ever watched smoke billowing from a wildfire, ash erupting from a volcano or dust blowing in the wind, you have seen aerosols, NASA explains in a new blog post. Satellites like NASAs Earth-observing satellites, Terra, Aqua, Aura and Suomi NPP, see them as well, though they offer a completely different perspective from hundreds of kilometers above Earths surface. A version of a NASA model called the Goddard Earth Observing System Forward Processing (GEOS FP) offers a similarly expansive view of the mishmash of particles that dance and swirl through the atmosphere.

These tiny particles are made up of all different kinds of material. The wispy blue swirls over the ocean are salty sea spray kicked up by winds, while the bright red brush strokes are black carbon leftovers carried aloft by wildfires or created by vehicles or industrial factories. The purple areas are what NASAs instruments have determined to be dust.

Much of the material you see in this image flies high above our heads, and while those directly below the clouds might not end up breathing it in  at least not immediately  these particles have to come down somewhere. Weather patterns can push clouds like these much closer to the ground, affecting air quality and causing problems for those with respiratory illnesses.

Story continues

BGR Top Deals:

Trending Right Now:

See the original version of this article on BGR.comICON (ICX) and WanChain (WAN) have recorded massive 23 percent gains again in the past 24 hours, becoming the two best performing assets in the global crypto market for two days straight.

The valuation of the crypto market increased from $213 billion to $214 billion on August 27 as some major cryptocurrencies like EOS and IOTA saw fairly large gains in the range of 4 to 15 percent.

Volume is the Issue

Throughout the past week, despite the strong performance of the crypto market, analysts expressed their concerns regarding the decline in the volume in major digital assets. Specifically, the volume of Bitcoin, which hovered around $4.5 billion last week, has fallen below $3.5 billion.

Ethereum, EOS, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, and other major cryptocurrencies have also seen a large drop in their daily trading volume. Most notably, Ether, whose volume surpassed $2 billion last week, has dropped to $1.3 billion.

Meanwhile, the volume of Tether (USDT), a stablecoin pegged to the value of the US dollar, has increased from $1.5 billion to $2 billion, suggesting that a large portion of investors are still relying on USDT to hedge the value of their cryptocurrencies.

As such, as some traders have suggested, it is more likely for Bitcoin to drop from the $6,700 mark than break out of the $6,850 resistance level. If the volume of Bitcoin had been higher in the $4.5 billion region, the same trend would have signaled a short-term surge in the price of Bitcoin.

Barring the price action ambiguity surrounding London open, BTC looks prime for a drop, maybe a wick above $6,771 is possible. There has been a healthy distribution (wyckoff cycle) over the past few days every time BTC was above $6,700. Next couple of days would be interesting, one trader known as Crypto Brahma said.

What About Tokens?

Throughout August, tokens have heavily depended on the performance of Bitcoin. Traditionally, tokens have replicated the price trend of Ethereum and EOS with intensified movements on the upside but due to the lack of momentum in Ether, tokens have relied on the price movement of Bitcoin.

Story continues

If the Bitcoin price fails to sustain momentum at the $6,700 mark which is likely due to its low volume, it is highly likely for tokens to drop against Bitcoin in the next 24 hours.

Even if the Bitcoin price remains stable in this price range, given the massive gains demonstrated by tokens against Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the US dollar, a minor retraction is due.

But, some tokens like ICON, Ontology, and WanChain, which have seen a spike in their volume with ICONs daily trading volume on Binance rising from 800 BTC to 5,000 BTC within a two-day period, may require the price of Bitcoin to fall by at least 2 to 3 percent in order to see a trend reversal and drop to their previous lows.

Featured image from Shutterstock. Charts from TradingView.



The post ICON Records 23% Gain Again While Crypto Market Sees Gloomy Forecast appeared first on CCN.

Three-dimensional transportation networks could be a reality with flying cars hovering over Tokyo in a decade, as the worlds biggest innovation giants team up with the Japanese government to develop the technology.

According to a Bloomberg report, Japan has brought together an initial group of 21 organizations in a government-led setup to shape the first generation of flying cars. Aerospace giant Boeing Co. (BA) and transportation giant Uber Technologies will be primary partners of the high-tech project.

Companies that are also part of the group include Airbus SE, Cartivator (a Toyota Motor Corp.-funded start-up), Japan Airlines Co. JAPSY, ANA Holdings Inc. ALNPY, Yamato Holdings Co., NEC Corp. and others, as stated by Japans trade ministry in Tokyo on Aug 24. Delegates from the concerned companies will assemble on Aug 29 to devise a strategy this year, according to the statement.

Although Japanese automakers are yet to announce any plans of developing flying cars, it is anticipated that they will take part in their governments initiative soon. As the futuristic technology of flying cars could become a necessity in a decade, betting on shares of the companies that might play a key role in converting this science fiction into reality could be a wise decision.

Flying Meets Driving

Flying cars are the ultimate solution to urban traffic congestion and therefore could be attractive to modern-day travelers who are tired of being stuck in traffic. This innovation will bring airborne taxis, flying recreational vehicles and passenger drones. This new industry will combine aerospace, technology and auto companies.

Japan, a nation that has lagged the world in self-driving cars and electric vehicles, is racing to develop the necessary aircraft technology and infrastructure to accommodate airborne vehicles. With the government actively participating in the initiative, the new industry is expected to set safety standards for flyers and gain approvals from numerous regulators soon.

Story continues

Japans Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Aug 24 that it plans to request $40.4 million in funds as part of the governments fiscal 2019 budget to develop the required technology.

The Asian country has chosen to work with top companies that are already working on the required technology. Uber, for instance, will invest $23.5 million over the next five years in a new facility in Paris for the advancement of Uber Elevate, the companys initiative to develop flying cars. Boeing and Airbus are working on their aviation innovations that can equip vehicles with vertical landing and take-off options.

Apart from Uber, Boeing and Airbus, other top companies that are working on the technology include Daimler AG DDAIF, Volkswagen AG VLKAY and Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd.

Germanys eVolo, Chinas EHang and Slovakias AeroMobil are some of the privately-held companies that are working on the concept of flying cars.

Stocks to Watch

The vision of this new industry puts some of the leading aviation and auto companies on the map that could gain the most from it. Therefore, monitoring these stocks and investing in them at the right time could ensure solid returns.

The Boeing Company BA is the worlds largest aerospace company and a leading manufacturer of airplanes, jets, missiles and defense, security and space systems.

Boeing carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Its shares have gained 20% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has seen an upward revision of 0.2% for the current year in the past four weeks.

Airbus Group EADSY manufactures military equipment and airplanes and carries a Zacks Rank #3. The companys shares have gained 27.2% year to date.

You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Toyota Motor Corporation TM manufactures, sells, repairs and leases passenger cars, boats, trucks, airplanes and more in Japan and abroad. Toyota Motor holds a Zacks Rank #3. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has seen an upward revision of 0.1% for the current year.

Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest Strategies

It's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +21.9% in 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +115.0%, +109.3%, +104.9%, +98.6%, and +67.1%.

And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 19X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation.

See Them Free>>





Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



The Boeing Company (BA) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Airbus Group (EADSY) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Daimler AG (DDAIF) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Volkswagen AG (VLKAY) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Toyota Motor Corporation (TM) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



Zacks Investment ResearchJapan bitcoin mining

GMO Internet, a leading Japanese bitcoin mining firm, has informed investors that it has stopped mining bitcoin cash, documents purportedly distributed by the company show.

Those documents, made public by The Bitcoin Knowledge Podcast host Trace Mayer, indicate that the Tokyo-based GMO mined 0 BCH in July, down from a high of 287 in February.

Why would GMO Internet switch all mining capacity to $BTC from $BCH? Only ~$37,867 for one hour 51% $BCH attack? Does DARI ratio account for block maturation times? Nov fork? What could possibly happen with this $9B testnet? Sure is fun to watch!   https://t.co/2P55FNxK23 pic.twitter.com/hZLx2hDUk6  Trace Mayer (@TraceMayer) August 24, 2018

However, its possible GMO will resume mining BCH if its profitability increases in the future. The firms bitcoin cash mining operation has been highly-sporadic, and it also mined 0 BCH in April before mining 37 and 62 BCH over the next two months.

GMOs bitcoin mining operation, however, has been characterized by a steady increase in BTC revenue. In July, GMO mined 568 BTC  worth $3.8 million at the present exchange rate  up from 528 the month prior and just 21 in Dec. 2017.

Earlier this year, GMO said that it hoped to scale its mining operation to 3,000PH/s by December. However, that now seems unlikely, as declining cryptocurrency profits have squeezed miner profit margins and reduced the incentive to invest in new hashpower. Indeed, GMO mined with 384PH/s in July, which made it the first month this year that it did not bring new devices online.

Story continues

In June, GMO unveiled the B2, first bitcoin mining chip wholly-developed by a Japanese company. The device, which also featured the worlds first 7nm chip, quickly sold out. GMO is now accepting preorders for the B3, which the firm claims can achieve a hashpower as high as 33TH/s, compared to the 14TH/s offered by the Antminer S9, Bitmains flagship mining rig.

Bitmain, as CCN reported, is currently planning the cryptocurrency industrys largest-ever initial public offering (IPO). However, the China-based firm, which once had a market share as large as 85 percent, is facing increasing competition from GMO and others, leading market research firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. to speculate in a recent report that the ASIC designer has lost its competitive edge.

I respect Bitmain, GMO CEO Masatoshi Kumagi said in June, perhaps presciently, but we will top them.

Featured Image from Shutterstock



The post Japanese Bitcoin Mining Firm GMO Stops Mining Bitcoin Cash appeared first on CCN.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus A.Dapkiunas visits Shanghai

28-08-2018

On August 27-28, 2018 within the framework of the visit to Shanghai of the Belarusian delegation of high government officials to study experience of economic reforms and development strategy of China, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Andrei Dapkiunas, held a number of meetings with representatives of government agencies and business community of China.

A.Dapkiunas met with the representatives of the Administration of the Shanghai Free Economic Zone and ZTE Corporation, one of the world's largest manufacturers of telecommunication equipment.

At the meeting with the Deputy President of the Administration of the Shanghai Free Economic, Zone Lu Fangzhou, the sides discussed the experience of the Shanghai Free Economic Zone and the Chinese-Belarusian Industrial Park Great Stone, the ways of bringing new residents to the park and the zone, the development of free economic zones, as well as maximising the residents contribution to the economy of Belarus.

During the meeting with the Vice President of ZTE Corporation, Yu Hai, the parties discussed the experience of the corporations activity in Belarus and ZTE advances in elaboration of breakthrough telecommunications solutions that could be used in government, health care, transport and communications.

Background Information: ZTE is one of the three worlds largest patent holders in the field of telecommunications, allocates one tenth of its budget and 30 thousand of its staff to research and development. The corporation is a resident of the Chinese-Belarusian Industrial Park Great Stone.

The Deputy Minister underlined the importance of complementing the current cooperation between ZTE and Belarus in the field of R&D and innovation with manufacturing activity within the Chinese-Belarusian Park Great Stone.

In the context of the Belarusian exporters preparation for the first China International Import Expo in Shanghai in November 2018, A.Dapkiunas held a meeting with the Vice Director-General of China International Import Expo Bureau and Vice Chairman of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, Zhong Xiaomin.

The interlocutors discussed the progress in preparing for the main exhibition event of the year in China. The Deputy Minister noted that in Belarus special attention is paid to assuring the high quality and attractiveness of the national pavilion at Shanghai Import Expo. The Shanghai Import Expo is seen as an exceptional opportunity for a significant increase in export of Belarusian goods and services to the Chinese market.

The Belarusian diplomat spoke of the recent intensification of the comprehensive cooperation between the Belarusian capital and Shanghai, preparation for the visit of the mayor of the capital of Belarus to the Chinese metropolis and the signing of an agreement on the establishment of twin city relations between Minsk and Shanghai.

   

print versionJohn McCain's Funeral Is This Week. Here's How He's Being Honored in Arizona, D.C., and Maryland

Plans for Senator John McCains funeral will include events in three states over five days with tributes from two former presidents and one former vice president.

Senator McCain died on Saturday after a battle with cancer. He was 81. Political allies and opponents alike paid tribute to the Vietnam War veteran, former prisoner of war, and six-term senator. His memorial events will take place between Wednesday and Sunday of this week.

Here is the schedule of events:

Wednesday

McCain will lie in state in the Arizona State Capitol, the state he served for decades in the U.S. Congress. Wednesday would have been the late senators 82nd birthday. There will be a private ceremony at 10 a.m. local time followed by an opportunity for the public to pay their respects between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Thursday

Family and friends of the senator along with some national political figures will celebrate his life at the North Phoenix Baptist Church at 10 a.m. Pacific Time on Thursday. A motorcade will bring McCain from the capitol to the church, and former Vice President Joe Biden will reportedly pay tribute to his longtime colleague and sometimes rival. The service will be available via livestream.

Following the memorial service in Phoenix, McCain will be flown to Marylands Joint Base Andrews, where he will be met by armed forces body bearers.

Friday

McCain will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol rotunda, an honor reserved for the most eminent citizens. He will be the 13th former senator to have received the honor. As in Arizona, a ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. Eastern Time followed by a public visitation period from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. The ceremony will be broadcast live.

Saturday

A procession from the Capitol will pass the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the way to the National Cathedral, where a memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. ET. Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush have reportedly been asked to speak at the memorial. Vice President Mike Pence will attend as well, but McCains family reportedly asked President Trump not to attend the funeral. The memorial service will be available via livestream.

Sunday

McCain will be laid to rest at the cemetery of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Hell lie alongside his longtime friend Adm. Chuck Larson overlooking the Severn River.Legg Mason LM has agreed to the settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to pay about $34.5 million for resolution of allegations related to the Libyan bribery case. Per the SEC charges, the company violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the bribery case.



Moreover, the term cooking was used by the middleman for making the Libyan government officials investments including bribes, per the SECs order.



Companies must take adequate steps to identify and mitigate the risks of bribery and corruption present in their global business. Those risks are particularly acute when, as here, agents and middlemen are used as part of a companys efforts to obtain business with government clients, said Charles Cain, chief of the Enforcement Divisions FCPA Unit.



Brief on the Fraud



During the period between 2004 and 2010, Legg Mason through its subsidiary, Permal Group Ltd., is said to have partnered with Societe Generale SCGLY in order to obtain business in Libya. Both companies paid bribes through a Libyan broker on the 14 investments made by the government entities, for which a commission of 1.5-3% of the nominal amount of the investments was paid to him.



Of the 14 cases, Legg Mason benefited from seven such transactions, from which it earned profits of about $31.6 million. Middle and lower level employees of Permal are expected to have been involved in the fraud.



Notably, the SEC investigations revealed that two employees of the Legg Mason subsidiary, even though being aware of the bribes by 2006, carried on working with the intermediary.



Settlement Terms



Per the settlement, Legg Mason would pay about $27.6 million as the disgorgement of gains, along with $6.9 million as interest to the SEC, for violating the internal accounting controls provision of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.



"We do not expect the payment to have any impact on future investment and operations. We are pleased that this matter with the SEC is now concluded," a spokeswoman for Legg Mason noted.



However, spokeswoman for the SEC refrained from commenting on the matter.



This June, Legg Mason also announced a similar settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and has agreed to pay about $64 million, which included a $32.6-million penalty and $31.6-million disgorgement. However, per settlement terms, disgorgement of $31.6 million was to be credited against disgorgement paid to other law enforcement authorities within the first year of the agreement.



This Maryland-based investment management firm accrued the aggregate amount of settlements with the DOJ and the SEC to be nearly $71 million.



On the other hand, in June, Societe Generale agreed to pay about $585 million to the French and U.S. authorities to resolve the allegations related to the issue.



Conclusion



Legg Masons clean image remains at its advantage. Also, it is committed toward improving its performance through inorganic growth strategies. Further, the company's focus on expanding product offerings for its customers bodes well for the long term.



Currently, Legg Mason carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Shares of the company have lost around 23.7% year to date compared with the 9.4% decline recorded by the industry.

Story continues







Stocks to Consider

Ameriprise Financial, Inc. AMP has been witnessing upward estimate revisions, for the last 60 days. In the past year, the companys share price has been up more than 4%. It currently carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



Lazard Ltd LAZ has been witnessing upward estimate revisions, for the last 60 days. Additionally, the stock has climbed nearly 16.2%, in the past year. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.



Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest Strategies



It's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +21.9% in 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +115.0%, +109.3%, +104.9%, +98.6%, and +67.1%.



And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 19X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation.



See Them Free>>



Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



Societe Generale Group (SCGLY) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Lazard Ltd (LAZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (AMP) : Free Stock Analysis Report



Legg Mason, Inc. (LM) : Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.A preliminary version of a new US-Mexico trade deal is complete.

NAFTA News: 14 Things to Know About the Preliminary US-Mexico Trade Deal

Source: Shutterstock

Here are a few things to know about this new US-Mexico trade deal.

The new US-Mexico trade deal will be replacing NAFTA, which is almost 25 years old.

This new deal is going by the name The United States-Mexico Trade Agreement.

President Donald Trump says the name is changing from NAFTA because there are negative connotations with that deal.

Unlike NAFTA, this new US-Mexico trade deal doesnt include Canada.

However, President Trump says that Canada is welcome to engage the US in fair negotiations.

Canada says that it is waiting for the bilateral issues between the US and Mexico to resolve before it joins in on talks.

President Trump has been pushing to create separate deals between the US and Mexico, and the US and Canada.

While this may be President Trumps goal, both Canada and Mexico are interested in keeping an agreement similar to NAFTA between all three countries.

This new deal between the US and Mexico will last for 16 years.

There will also be a review of the deal every six years.

The new agreement keeps the current steel and aluminum tariffs.

It also requires that a certain amount of steel and aluminum come from North America.

One thing to note is that the agreement doesnt place a limit on the import of light vehicles from Mexico.

The deal needs approval from Congress before it can go into place.

You can follow these links to learn more about the new US-Mexico trade deal.

InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips

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As of this writing, William White did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

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The post NAFTA News: 14 Things to Know About the Preliminary US-Mexico Trade Deal appeared first on InvestorPlace.Aug 27 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

- Uber is receiving a new $500 million investment from Toyota Motor Corp, which would value the company at $72 billion, to provide its self-driving technology to a fleet of Toyota minivans which may be operated by the Japanese automaker or a third party. https://nyti.ms/2wp5FWE

- The internal investigator for the Federal Communications Commission has found that the agency's chairman, Ajit Pai, did not give preferential treatment to Sinclair Broadcast Group in the company's effort to merge with Tribune Media Co . https://nyti.ms/2wi4WHy

- U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States and Mexico had reached an accord to revise key portions of the North American Free Trade Agreement and would finalize it within days, suggesting he was ready to jettison Canada from the trilateral trade pact if the country did not get on board quickly. https://nyti.ms/2LyheAf (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)telegram russia ban

Russias telecommunications watchdog said that it will consider reversing the ban on messaging service Telegram if the company submits to a court order requiring it to share its encryption keys with federal law enforcement.

Russia-based news outlet RT reports that Roscomnadzor (RKN), which began blocking local access to Telegram after the company refused to comply with that court order, said that it will rescind the ban once Telegram makes its encryption keys available to the Federal Security Service (FSB), which alleges that it needs the ability to decrypt messages to fight terrorism.

That ban, as CCN reported, came on the heels of Telegrams $1.7 billion initial coin offering (ICO), which was conducted over two private funding rounds. The company appealed the ban to the Russian Supreme Court, who sided with the FSB and upheld the order in a ruling delivered earlier this month.

Nevertheless, Telegram has not given any indication that it will update its stance in response to the Supreme Court ruling or RKNs offer.

[Telegram] never denied that the authorities have a right and even an obligation to fight terrorism. On the contrary, we suggested the only civilized way to do it  a court order in exchange for a disclosure. A disclosure not of the content of the messages even, but only of an IP address or a telephone number. The balance must be found between national security and privacy, Pavel Chikov, Telegrams lawyer, said in an interview to the Durov code program according to RTs report.

Responding to the ban, Telegram founder Pavel Durov created a Digital Resistance initiative through which he has provided bitcoin grants to individuals and organizations who provide proxy and VPN services that allow users to bypass the government ban.

Iran also levied a ban on Telegram following the token sale, with at least one high-ranking official warning that the companys new cryptocurrency could be used to undermine the national currency of Iran and funnel money out of the country.

Featured Image from Shutterstock



The post Russia May Unban Telegramif it Shares Encryption Keys with the FSB appeared first on CCN.

@alextdaugherty

Ron DeSantis is talking like a candidate in general election mode.

The Republican congressman who has held a commanding lead in most polls since President Donald Trump first endorsed him over agriculture commissioner Adam Putnam in Tuesday's GOP gubernatorial primary bristled at one outlier survey that suggested the race could be closer than many predict.

"I think it'll be fun to see which polls are worth anything or not," DeSantis said outside Versailles Cuban restaurant on Monday. "If you have some college kid do a poll that says all the sudden the race has changed dramatically, I wouldn't put much stock into it."

DeSantis was referring to a recent Florida Atlantic poll which showed a virtual tie between the pair, despite most other polls in the race showing DeSantis with a comfortable lead.

"If you look at the most recent St. Pete polls that are out I'm winning like 75 percent of the Hispanic vote and a large part of that is Miami-Dade County," DeSantis said. "The reason is because I've been a leader on key issues in the community. I'm leading in the House, I'm the number one advocate for getting an indictment for Raul Castro for the Brothers to the Rescue (shootdown) from 1996, he was never held accountable for that, he masterminded it."

DeSantis arrived about an hour late and addressed about 50 supporters wearing Make America Great Again hats for five minutes, hours after Trump tweeted his support. Rep. Matt Gaetz and DeSantis' wife Casey were also on hand.

"Congressman Ron DeSantis is a special person who has done an incredible job," Trump tweeted. "He is running in Tuesdays Primary for Governor of Florida.Strong on Crime, Borders and wants Low Taxes. He will be a great Governor and has my full and total Endorsement!"

DeSantis didn't stick around long, even eschewing the traditional cafecito that so many politicians guzzle down for the cameras.

"He didn't get the cafecito, that's the money shot," Versailles owner Felipe Valls said. "But he's been here before."This is a digital reconstruction of a rosehip neuron from a human brain. (Tamas Lab, University of Szeged)

A gene-by-gene, neuron-by-neuron search has turned up a new breed of brain cell that may serve as a fine-scale volume control for neural activity in humans.

The novel type of brain cell, known as a rosehip neuron, is described in a study published today by Nature Neuroscience.

Its very rare, and you only see it, so far, in a human, study co-author Ed Lein, an investigator at the Seattle-based Allen Institute for Brain Science, told GeekWire.

Leins group at the Allen Institute and a Hungarian research team at the University of Szeged, headed by Gabor Tamas, narrowed in on the neurons using two different lines of inquiry.

Tamas team uncovered the neurons as they sifted through samples taken from the brains of two men in their 50s who had died and donated their bodies to science. Researchers found the rosehip neurons in the outermost layer of the human neocortex, known as Layer 1. That layer is proportionately thicker in humans than in other species, and its thought to play a key role in human consciousness.

The neurons were given the rosehip name because each cells central axon had the bulbous look of a rose after it has shed its petals. Theyre inhibitory neurons, which means they can tamp down electrical impulses coming in from other brain cells.

In a news release, Tamas compared inhibitory neurons to the brake pedals in a car, and said that rosehip neurons appear to be a specialized kind of brake. This particular cell type  or car type  can stop at places other cell types cannot stop, he said. The car or cell types participating in the traffic of a rodent brain cannot stop in these places.

A rosehip neuron (top of image) forms synaptic connections with a pyramidal neuron (bottom of image) in a different part of the brain (Tamas Lab, University of Szeged)

Lein added another analogy, comparing the neurons to the customized volume controls on a stereo sound systems equalizer.

He and other researchers from the Allen Institute zeroed in on the rosehip neurons using genetics: In collaboration with neuroscientists from the J. Craig Venter Institute and other research centers, they looked for gene expression patterns that distinguished different types of brain cells in humans and in mice.

Story continues

There was at least one type of brain cell that had no analog in the mouse brain, and when Tamas visited the Allen Institute to discuss his research, the researchers from Hungary and Seattle realized they were aiming at the same target.

It was a really great match, Lein said.

Study co-author Rebecca Hodge, a senior scientist at the Allen Institute, said combining classical neuroscience with genetics gave a boost to the discovery process.

Alone, these techniques are all powerful, but they give you an incomplete picture of what the cell might be doing, she said. Together, they tell you complementary things about a cell that can potentially tell you how it functions in the brain.

The researchers dont yet know the precise role that rosehip neurons play in the human brain, other than that its an inhibitory role. And they cant yet say whether or not rosehip neurons are in the brains of other species, such as apes and other primates. It has not been described in the literature, Lein said.

In any case, the discovery demonstrates that mouse studies cant possibly provide a complete picture of how the human brain works.

Many of our organs can be reasonably modeled in an animal model, Tamas said. But what sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom is the capacity and the output of our brain. That makes us human. So it turns out humanity is very difficult to model in an animal system.

Going forward, the researchers plan to intensify the search for specialized cell types in human brain tissue. Theyll also try to examine a wider spectrum of brain tissue, including postmortem samples from patients with neuropsychiatric disorders, to see whether disease affects the function of rosehip neurons and other specialized cells.

But Lein doesnt expect any one single cell type to be the defining element for consciousness or humanness.

Theres not going to be a magic-bullet cell type, any more than theres a magic gene for humanity or for the most complex diseases, he told GeekWire. This is one small suggestion that theres going to be lots of specialized circuits in the human brain.

Lein, Tamas and Hodge are among 34 authors of Transcriptomic and Morphophysiological Evidence for a Specialized Human Cortical GABAergic Cell Type. The principal authors are Eszter Boldog, Trygve Bakken and Rebecca Hodge.

More from GeekWire:TechnipFMC (FTI) Secures Olefins Plant Contract in Vietnam TechnipFMC (FTI) intends to execute the project awarded by Long Son Petrochemicals with the help of its offices in Houston, Rome and Kuala Lumpur.

TechnipFMC plc FTI recently secured a contract in Vietnam from Long Son Petrochemicals Co., Ltd. for constructing and commissioning of the first plant in the nation, which will process molecules called olefins, a synthetic fiber. Olefins are primarily used to create plastics.

TechnipFMC plans to carry out licensing, engineering, construction and commissioning of the Long Son Island-based plant with its South Korean partner, SK Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd. The contract is expected to be worth in the range of $500 million to $1 billion. TechnipFMC considers a contract in the said range to be a large one.

Notably, the deal further solidifies TechnipFMCs position in Vietnam as a leading oilfield equipment provider for onshore projects. The company has been involved in the development of the Dung Quat Refinery  the countrys first oil refinery  apart from the Phu My Fertilizer Complex.

TechnipFMC will use its low-cost and energy efficient proprietary ethylene technology for the project, which incorporates Ultra Selective Conversion (USC) furnaces and Heat-Integrated Rectifier System. The company intends to execute the project with the help of its offices in Houston, Rome and Kuala Lumpur. The construction work for the project is expected to last for 53 months.

The plant  which will be constructed in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province of Vietnam  will be able to switch between liquefied petroleum gas and naphtha to create up to 1.6 million tons of olefins a year. It will address the increasing demand of petrochemical products in the country and reduce its dependency on imports.

Price Performance

London, U.K.-based TechnipFMC has gained 20.2% in the past year against the 3.1% decline of its industry.

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

Currently, TechnipFMC has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Investors interested in the energy sector can opt for some better-ranked stocks like McDermott International, Inc. MDR, Subsea 7 S.A. SUBCY and Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. HLX, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Story continues

Houston, TX-based McDermott is an equipment provider for energy companies. The companys top line for 2018 is likely to improve 145% year over year. In the last four reported quarters, the company delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 101.7%.

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Zacks Investment ResearchPresident Donald Trump said he would terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement and sign a new trade accord with Mexico, potentially leaving Canada out of the bloc.

Trump announced the agreement with Mexico in a hastily arranged Oval Office event Monday with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto joining by conference call. Pena Nieto said he is quite hopeful Canada would soon be incorporated in the revised agreement, while Trump said that remains to be seen.

Trump said he would speak with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a little while and hoped to begin negotiations with him almost immediately.

As he announced the move, Trump said he would drop the name Nafta from the accord because of its unpopularity.

Were going to call it the United States/Mexico Trade Agreement, he said. Nafta has a bad connotation because the United States was hurt very badly by Nafta for many years.

The president hailed the Mexico agreement as a big day for trade.

The peso rose ahead of Trumps remarks. U.S. stocks also advanced, with auto suppliers and rail companies among the top gainers.

There is no deal reached yet with Canada, people familiar with the agreement said. The northern neighbor has been on the sidelines of the talks since July as Mexico and the U.S focused on settling differences.

A spokesman for Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland issued a statement on Monday that warned against jumping to conclusions. Canadas signature is required, spokesman Adam Austen said in an email. We will only sign a new Nafta that is good for Canada and good for the middle class and we will continue to work toward a modernized Nafta.

Nieto said in a tweet on Monday that he spoke with Trudeau and stressed the importance of Canada rejoining Nafta talks.

Bilateral Pact

Still, an accord between the U.S. and Mexico is the biggest development in talks that began a year ago, punctuated by Trumps repeated threats to quit altogether. Significant breakthroughs came during the past several days of bilateral talks on automobiles and energy. The three countries trade more than $1 trillion annually, much of it under the pact.

Story continues

There is one difference left to iron out, Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo told reporters early on Monday as he entered the Washington office of the U.S. Trade Representatives office where negotiations are going on. He declined to identify the issue.

Canada Approval

Talks to update Nafta began a year ago, but in recent weeks have been held between just the U.S. and Mexico. The U.S. president says the deal has led to hundreds of thousands of lost American jobs, and he promised to either change it to be more favorable to the U.S., or withdraw.

The U.S. push to finish Nafta talks comes at the same time its in a spiraling trade war with China, and has threatened to place tariffs on cars imported from major manufacturing centers in Asia and Europe  efforts that have created new uncertainty for many businesses and investors.

Talks between the U.S. and Mexico had focused largely on cars. The U.S. wanted to bring back auto manufacturing jobs that had gone to Mexico. The countries are said to have agreed that automakers who dont comply with the new Nafta rules will pay a 2.5 percent tariff, the same as they would if they skirted the existing Nafta, while any new Mexican plants wouldnt have a guarantee. That could potentially expose them to U.S. auto tariffs of between 20 percent and 25 percent, which Trump is considering under national security grounds. The new rules would also likely require key components to have more domestic content.

Jesus Seade, the Nafta representative for Mexican president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has predicted that the nations will agree on a softened version of a so-called sunset clause, an automatic expiration after five years  a key U.S. demand. The recent push for a deal is in part to have it signed before the new president takes office in December.

That would be essential, as the sunset clause was a major sticking point  erupting, for instance, at the Group of Seven summit in June. Other key issues are Chapter 19 anti-dumping panels, which the U.S. wants to kill but which may be a deal-breaker for Canada, as well as Canadas protected dairy sector, which Trump is targeting to dismantle.

How quickly Canada will rejoin talks remains unclear, Canadas Freeland is in Europe this week. Even once Canada agrees, any Nafta deal between the three countries would have to be ratified. Timelines set out under U.S. trade law mean that would almost certainly be done by the next U.S. Congress, raising the prospect of further hurdles.President Donald Trump decided against releasing a statement from the White House celebrating John McCains life and achievements after his death over the weekend, according to a new report.

Trump was presented with a statement over the weekend that touched on McCains heroic military career and his accomplishments as an Arizona senator, but ultimately decided he didnt want to release it, The Washington Post is reporting, citing sources. Instead, Trump told his aides, including Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Chief of Staff John Kelly that hed publish a tweet.

My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain, that tweet read. Our hearts and prayers are with you!

My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2018

McCain died on Saturday at 81 years old following a bout with brain cancer. Soon after his death, former presidents, lawmakers, and others all issued statements praising McCains accomplishments. His funeral will be held over several days this week. Former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush will reportedly speak at his memorial service on Saturday.

According to reports, the family has asked Trump not to attend the funeral.

Trumps remarksor lack thereofcame after the president and McCain sparred on a variety of topics over the last few years. McCain was a major Trump critic who feared the president isnt right for the country. Trump, meanwhile, said in 2015 that McCain wasnt a war hero because he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He also tweeted insults about the senator on several occasions.

McCain, whos remembered by most as an American hero, will be laid to rest at the U.S. Naval Academys cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland on Sunday.President Trump announced Monday that officials have finalized a bilateral trade deal between the U.S. and Mexico that would replace NAFTA, with Canada possibly joining later pending negotiations. Photo: Getty Images

U.S. President Donald Trump said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should expect a call very soon to discuss the future of trade on the North American continent.

If theyd like to negotiate fairly, well do that, he told reporters at an Oval Office press conference on Monday. The easiest thing we can do is to tariff their cars coming in. Its a tremendous amount of money, and its a very simple negotiation. It could end in one day.

Trumps renewed threats against Canada were coupled with news that the United States has inked a breakthrough preliminary agreement with Mexico, resolving thorny issues such as auto sector labour and foreign content in vehicles.

The development puts Canada in the spotlight after its five-week summer vacation during bilateral talks between the other NAFTA partners.

(It) is definitely good news for Mexico and the U.S., but could be good or very bad for Canada, Capital Economics Chief U.S. Economist Paul Ashworth wrote in a note to clients on Monday afternoon.





The good

The agreement is evidence that Trumps trade delegation is willing to negotiate in good faith, and even accept some concessions on key issues.

Under the deal, the amount of NAFTA-made content required for vehicles to qualify as tariff-free rises from the current 62.5 per cent to 75 per cent. The U.S. had originally pushed for 85 per cent.

Story continues

Canadas auto plants stand to benefit from rules requiring up to 45 per cent of vehicle content from factories where workers earn at least US$16 per hour. The average wage for Mexican workers in car assembly plants is under $8 per hour, and under $4 per hour for workers in parts plants, according to the Center for Automotive Research.

Canada shouldnt have a problem signing on to this, Ashworth said.

The U.S. also appears to have softened its demands for a sunset clause, a provision that Canadian negotiators have flatly rejected in previous rounds of negotiation.



Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer appears to have weakened U.S. demands that the new deal should include an automatic five-year break clause, under which the agreement would need to be explicitly renewed by the legislative bodies in each of the three countries, Ashworth said. Rather than scrapping the existing investor state dispute tribunals, the latest agreement would exempt some industries, but allow the existing system to continue covering industries like energy, mining and telecoms, where firms bid for government permits and licenses.

The bad

In addition to sabre-rattling about tariffs that would punish Canadas auto sector, Trump once again took aim at another of his favourite targets  the countrys heavily protected dairy industry.

They have tariffs of almost 300 per cent on some of our dairy products. We cant have that. Were not going to stand for that, he said.

Ashworth expects Canada will be less accepting of U.S. demands for sweeping reforms to its dairy market, given the political sensitivity of the issue ahead of the federal election due in October 2019.

Trudeau and his ruling Liberal party will be concerned about a backlash from rural voters if they cede too much ground to the U.S. That said, there is some wiggle room, and Canada made concessions on this topic in the TPP agreement, he said.

While neither of Trumps threats against Canada are new, Ashworth notes the U.S. president has upped the pressure by triggering the six-month NAFTA termination notice.

Trump is working straight from his Art of the Deal playbook, he said. Canada has been frozen out of those bilateral (U.S.-Mexico) talks in recent weeks, and will now be under heavy pressure to give ground.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.machu pichu willian-justen-de-vasconcellos-667258-unsplash

Volunteering abroad seems like the best of both worlds: You get to travel the world, while also feeling like youre helping others. Thats what I thought, too, when I went on a volunteer trip to a special-needs orphanage in Peru, near Machu Picchu.

However, I can now say with confidence that these kinds of trips arent all theyre cracked up to be. The volunteer tourism industry is worth billions of dollars, and the volunteer companies involved are profiting off of the volunteers while also making them believe that they are necessary.

Theyre not.

Read More: The Best and Worst US Vacation Cities for Your Wallet

It Hurts the Communities

When volunteers flock to a country to help, citizens of those countries will often forgo health insurance. Why? Because they know volunteers are bound to come in and help out for free. This is an incredibly dangerous situation and leaves the citizens relying on volunteers 100 percent.

Money Is Going to the Wrong Place

Volunteer trips with for-profit agencies can run into the thousands for a two-week trip. Instead of spending $2,000 on a volunteer trip where none of the money is going back into the community, put your dollars straight to work with reputable organizations. There are plenty of organizations (like Doctors Without Borders) that have experienced and qualified people on the ground, working full-time in these communities.

Not Doing It for the Right Reasons

Dont get me wrong, I love helping. But, its certainly more alluring to go on a volunteer trip when you can tell all your friends and family back home how much youre helping out, right? To this day, I have so much shame for taking photos with the children and posting these photos on Facebook. I feel like I didnt do enough even to earn the right to take any kind of photo, let alone of the children. These children are not a tourist attraction.

More on Volunteering: How to Be an Awesome Human Being  Without Spending a Dollar

Story continues

Some Work Is Even Unnecessary

Many volunteer organizations love to give the idea that volunteers are helping and that they are necessary for communities in need. However, lots of the jobs these organizations have volunteers doing are not needed. The jobs are created to give the illusion that good is being done. And this illusion helps volunteer companies profit off of the volunteers.

Taking Away Jobs

Volunteers think they are doing good by working on special projects, but little do they know, they are taking away jobs. Though I believed I was of great help at that orphanage, I cannot help but think I took someone elses job that needed it way more than I did. The leaders of the orphanage had to spend a lot of time training and overseeing us, too, which meant they had less time for their own work. It wasnt even a worthwhile investment on their part, as I left after just a few short weeks.

Check Out: The Shocking Net Worth of Humanitarian, Actress and Director Angelina Jolie

My Advice to You

If you do decide to go on a volunteer trip, I believe you should do diligent research first. Find a reputable company that is not profiting off volunteers. Seeking out an ethical volunteer organization may take some extra work, but it is worth it for the community you visit. Learn from my mistakes and make responsible decisions when trying to help others.

Read More: How I Make My Money Match My Morality

More From Our Smart Money Squad:

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Why I Would Never Go on a Paid Volunteer Trip Again@alextdaugherty

Fred Guttenberg wasnt happy with Wells Fargos decision to keep banking with the gun industry after the Parkland shooting, in which his daughter Jaime was one of the 17 people killed, but he was willing to continue talking when the banks CEO told him they wanted to remain politically neutral.

Then came the banks decision to shut down Florida Agriculture Commissioner candidate Nikki Frieds campaign account due to the financial support she received from the medical marijuana industry.

Guttenberg, angrier still with what he perceived as the banks hypocritical stance, emailed Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan asking him to reconsider their gun policy now that they waded into marijuana politics.

He didnt get a response.

And the final straw came Monday night, when CNN reported that Bloomberg News reassigned a reporter who covered Wells Fargo after the banking giant complained about the reporters coverage of Wells Fargos ties to the gun industry.

I think people ought to move their accounts. Weve seen what Wells Fargo will do to consumers in the past and now we see what they do to those who disagree with them, Guttenberg said in an interview. I could have gone public multiple times. When I read today that theyre actually seeking to punish people for covering their bad behavior when it comes to guns, now Im going to go public because Im angry.

Guttenberg, a vocal proponent of increased gun control measures who is working to elect lawmakers who agree with him on the issue, said the Wells Fargo CEOs behavior is different than others hes confronted in public, like Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

Senator Rubio, he and I have had many private conversations because maybe one day well try to come together, Guttenberg said. It became a problem to me when it became clear [Wells Fargo was] lying. I went public when they actually took action against someone.

Read more here.A flight attendant works in the newly opened JetBlue office in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Sept. 1, 2017. JetBlue opened an office in Cuba joining a small but growing list of American companies with a presence on the island despite a policy review by the Trump Administration that could curtail their activities. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)The official placard marking the office of Arizona Sen. John McCain is seen in the Russell building on Capitol Hill in Washington. McCain, a Vietnam War hero, two-time Republican presidential contender and towering figure in Congress during six terms as an Arizona senator, died Saturday at age 81 of brain cancer.An inmate at the El Paso County jail gave birth into an isolation cell toilet last year after her calls for help went unheeded by jailers, according to a claim letter by an attorney for the childs guardians.

The childs guardians are threatening to sue Sheriff Bill Elder for $387,000 in damages, accusing him of willful and wanton neglect and his employees of ignoring the medical needs of Madilynn Taylor Hemphill and her child, according to the claim letter received by the county July 9.

Hemphills daughter now suffers from developmental delays after she contracted a urine-based E. coli infection that put her in the hospital for three months after the delivery, wrote Denver attorney Sean Olson, whos representing the childs guardians, Alynne Hemphill and Vance Hemphill.

Jacqueline Kirby, a spokeswoman for the Sheriffs Office, declined to comment on the claim, saying the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

Kirby also declined to provide information about the jails policies and procedures for caring for pregnant inmates.

The claim marks the latest complaint about inmates struggling to access health care at the jail, which switched to a new medical contractor last year. The letter also came roughly a month before the Sheriffs Office announced a record of about 1,840 inmates in the crowded facility.

Madilynn Hemphill, a 27-year-old drug addict, was nine months pregnant and being held on suspicion of a felony drug possession charge when she went into labor in October, Olson said in the letter.

The child, referred to by the initials W.L.H. in the claim, fell into the toilet and inhaled toilet water. When she was removed from the toilet, she had water in her lungs and had stopped breathing. Jail staff eventually resuscitated her and took her from her mothers cell, the letter states.

As a result of the infection, the child required a respirator and feeding tube. The family still does not know the full impact of the babys hospitalization on her long-term health, according to the letter.

Just a day before the birth, sheriffs officials had met with representatives from the jails for-profit health care provider, Miami-based Armor Correctional Health Services, to discuss a backlog of requests that had left more than 300 inmates without access to prompt medical care and a laundry list of other issues that the contractor was having roughly three months into its multimillion-dollar agreement with the county.

The company responded by saying in a letter to the county that the problems, discovered during a national accrediting organizations audit of the jail, were left over from its predecessor.

In December, the National Commission on Correctional Healthcare opted to put the jail on probation for several critical violations of standards; however, the organization chose to renew the jails accreditation last spring after medical staff reported they had fixed the problems.

Madilynn Hemphill remains in the jail, according to an online database. Olson, the Hemphills attorney, was unable to provide further details about her childs condition.

In August 2017, Madilynn Hemphill was arrested on suspicion of felony drug possession and drug paraphernalia possession, according to court records.

The drug paraphernalia count was later dismissed, and she pleaded guilty to the felony drug possession last fall.

She was sentenced Aug. 23 to a year in prison and two years on probation.

She also was sentenced to a year in prison after pleading guilty to another count of felony drug possession in March, court records show.City Editor

Tom Roeder is the Gazette's City Editor. In Colorado Springs since 2003, Tom has covered the military at home and overseas and has covered statehouses in Denver and Olympia, Wash. His main job, though, is being dad to two great kids.The majority of Colorado Springs City Council members said Monday that they want to change the citys code to require themselves and future council members to publicly vote whether to approve high-dollar lawsuit settlements.

That practice is done in closed executive sessions, in apparent violation of Colorados Open Meetings Law. The council has approved at least seven high-dollar settlements in closed meetings since 2013, totaling about $5.4 million, The Gazette has reported.

The council asked City Attorney Wynetta Massey in June to offer recommendations that would bolster transparency with expensive settlements.

Massey and Tracy Lessig, an attorney for the city, told the council Monday afternoon it can either change the councils rules or city code to publicly vote whether to approve settlements above $100,000. The two recommended changing the councils rules.

This is how this council has decided that they would like to conduct their business. Another council could come in and decide that the way we were conducting settlements before is the appropriate way to conduct settlements, Lessig said.

But most on the council said they want to change the citys code instead.

I want it to be permanent, Councilman Bill Murray said.

A code change would ensure future councils would vote publicly whether to approve settlements, Council President Richard Skorman said.

This is a strong recommendation from this council, Skorman said. I think we need to err on the side of being as transparent as possible.

Massey and Lessig also recommended that even with a code change, the council should still enter into executive sessions to discuss the specifics of a given lawsuit. Then the group would meet in public to vote whether to approve the settlements.

If a tentative settlement is already reached, pending council approval, then that public vote could mention the amount, Lessig said. But if such an agreement hasnt been reached yet, that dollar amount wouldnt be public until the settlement is finalized, so as not to risk taxpayer dollars.

The critical piece here is that the public votes will allow us to voice dissension and disagreement with the settlement, Murray said. A private, executive session vote does not allow us to express to the public that we dont agree with it.

That dissent will have to come in the form of a vote against the settlement, rather than public comments from the dais, Lessig said, because vocal opposition to a case that has not yet been settled could jeopardize the entire case.

Despite legal experts and legislators calling the current practice a clear violation of the states open meetings law, Massey has defended the closed-session policy as legal and appropriately transparent.

The City Attorneys Offices written recommendations to the council say the city is not subject to the State Open Meetings Law.

But Steve Zansberg, a First Amendment attorney who represents The Gazette said that notion is absolutely mistaken.

The city charter statute cited by Massey adopts the open meetings law as it was written in 1993, which she says allows for the current practice.

Colorado Statutes as now existing applying to open meetings of local governments shall apply to the meetings of the City Council and its boards and commissions, the charter says.

Asked to clarify, Massey acknowledged the adoption of the 1993 law and said the city is not subject to any amendments  approved since 1993.

But even that 25-year-old version of the law prohibits the council from voting or adopting a final position behind closed doors, Zansberg said.

And the city of Colorado Springs is bound by that provision of the Open Meetings Law, he said.

While some on the council, and in the public, might disagree about settlement practices, Councilman Tom Strand said the conversation on the topic has been healthy.

I dont think weve done anything wrong, Strand said. The reality is that were trying to save money for this community or were trying to save somebodys reputation. Were not trying to walk away from public exposure.

Massey said her staff needs until about October to draft code changes.

conrad.swanson@gazette.com @conrad_swansonLimbaugh Canyon  where Palmer Lake, Colorado, mountain biker Tim Watkins was found shot and buried almost a year ago  is again the site of an active investigation that could be related to his death. The trail running through the canyon west of Mount Herman was closed at 6 a.m. Wednesday by El Paso County Sheriffs deputies for an active investigation.White supremacist and neo-Nazi propaganda  from flyers to stickers and graffiti  has been spotted across the Pikes Peak region over recent months, mirroring a statewide increase in extremist and anti-Semitic incidents in public spaces, the Anti-Defamation League says.

Stickers advertising a white supremacist group were reported Thursday morning on light poles along North Academy Boulevard between East Woodmen Road and Interstate 25, city officials say.

Colorado Springs Code Enforcement staff removed the stickers and is on the lookout for the same conditions citywide, city spokeswoman Kim Melchor said.

Distributing flyers or posting stickers isnt a crime unless they target an individual or business, but no one is allowed to attach signs to light poles, said police Sgt. Brian Frahm.

And, Frahm said, We dont want to have anything up that can alarm anybody. Were not going to just ignore it. Anytime we get hate stickers or white supremacist groups or any hate group for that matter, were going to look into it and make sure that the proper units are notified and aware of the situation.

Since the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., a year ago, when a counterprotester was fatally rammed by a vehicle, fewer public alt-right events have been reported, said Jeremy Shaver, senior associate director for the ADLs Mountain States region.

The hate community fractured. Some groups disbanded, and other prominent leaders went underground. Many groups shifted their focus to online activity and posting flyers, Shaver said. Many seem to believe the time is right to recruit and get their message out, he said.

Brad Sherman, who has lived in Colorado Springs for nearly a decade, told The Denver Post that he saw a large swastika painted on Briargate Trail while walking his dogs this week.

The trail is my quiet place to relax from my day, Sherman told The Post. To see a swastika in the middle of it is fairly upsetting.

Melchor confirmed the report and said the citys Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services maintenance team quickly removed the derogatory symbols on Aug. 23.

Some of the local propaganda, including stickers and flyers, has been claimed by or advertises two groups, Identity Evropa and Patriot Front. Both are classified as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

In response to a request for comment, Identity Evropa spokesman Sam Harrington disputed that classification.

America is being replaced as a result of mass immigration and globalism, Harrington said in a written statement. Identity Evropa is a peaceful activist movement for European Americans seeking to truly restore America.

The SPLC can point to neither a statement nor action from a current representative to justify their claims. Advocacy of supremacy, violence, or illegal activity is not permitted in our movement.

Shane Warren said he saw Patriot Front flyers July 21 while running along the Sand Creek Regional Greenway between Stetson Hills and Dublin boulevards.

He said he saw the first flyer out of the corner of his eye and didnt think much of it until he saw the reference to blood and soil, a Nazi slogan.

Im enough of a history buff that I damn well know what that means, Warren said. I stopped dead and went back and looked at it and pulled it down. And then the further I ran, the more of them I saw.

He said he tore down the flyers and destroyed them because that sh  is horrific. This is a pretty diverse neighborhood, and I have a lot of friends and neighbors, not to mention kids, who dont need to be involved in that sort of thing.

Patriot Front tweeted Tuesday that stickers had been posted in Manitou Springs. One depicts the U.S. next to the words NOT STOLEN  CONQUERED. Another, stuck on a newspaper stand for the Colorado Springs Independent, declares the publication to be fake news.

AMERICA, a third says, REVOLUTION IS TRADITION.

The ADL reports a statewide increase in white supremacist and anti-Semitic propaganda. Through Friday, the organization had tracked 36 such incidents in Colorado this year, including distributions on eight college campuses.

Before 2015, the state had seen a decline in hate crimes, but 2015 and 2016 saw an uptick, Shaver said.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation reports 104 hate crimes statewide in 2016, the most recent data available. In 2015, 107 were reported; 2014 saw 95 reported; 2013 had 129 reports; and in 2012, 167 were reported.

In February, Identity Evropa flyers were found on the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs campus, says the ADLs hate, extremism, anti-Semitism and terrorism map.

A Patriot Front banner was hung near Interstate 25 and Baptist Road in early July, and Identity Evropa stickers were posted in Dorchester Park in June, Shaver said.

The ADL has reported nine incidents  four anti-Semitic and five white supremacist  in Colorado Springs, plus one in Monument, in 2017 and 2018.

In August 2017, a swastika and other anti-Semitic messages  including the words sig (sic) heil for sieg heil, a Nazi greeting  were found spray-painted on Temple Beit Torah, 522 E. Madison St. Nearby cars, homes and buildings also were vandalized.

Im deeply saddened, and yet Im not surprised, Rabbi Steven Kaye said at the time. Those who are insensitive to people who are different recently have become more vocal, he said.You get what you pay forFILE - This March 1, 2017, file photo shows an exterior view of the headquarters of Uber in San Francisco. Toyota will sink a half-billion dollars into Uber and work jointly with the ride-hailing giant to develop self-driving vehicles, a person briefed on the matter said Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 16, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kaneh Bosm BioTechnology Inc. (CSE: KBB)(FWB: 8K51)(OTC: KNHBF)(Kaneh Bosm or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive agreement (the Agreement) with Aricannabis BioTech Corp. (Aricannabis) to acquire 100% of Aricannabis issued and outstanding shares.



Aricannabis works on an exclusive basis with NuCare Health ("NuCare") to provide Cannabis products to over 2,800 independent and corporate pharmacies across South Africa. NuCare also provides their medical partners with the following:

Access to innovative consumer products;

Strategic partnerships with key suppliers;

Management of channel pressure; and

Educational and training resources.

Eugene Beukman, Chief Executive Officer of Kaneh Bosm, states, This agreement provides the Company with access to robust client partnerships. This is strategic and significant given Kaneh Bosms existing licence to cultivate, manufacture, supply, hold, import, export and transport cannabis and derivative products in the Kingdom of Lesotho, Africa. This acquisition reflects the Companys strategy to establish itself as the first vertically integrated pure cannabis play with a true international footprint.

The alignment of Kaneh Bosms existing African cultivation capabilities and distribution channels, complemented by these new established marketing and distribution channels, will augment the Companys African seed-to-sale objectives.

Under the terms of the Agreement, the Company will issue 2,000,000 common shares to the shareholders of Aricannabis.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Kaneh Bosm BioTechnology Inc.

Michael Martinz

Michael Martinz

President, Director

mmartinz@kanehbosmbiotech.com

THE CSE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS RELEASE.

This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words anticipate, continue, estimate, expect, may, will, would, project, should, believe and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. These statements speak only as of the date of this News Release. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks including various risk factors discussed in the Companys disclosure documents which can be found under the Companys profile on www.sedar.com.English Latvian

Riga, Latvia, 2018-08-28 13:39 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ABLV Bank, AS in Liquidation (hereinafter  the Company) has signed an advisory agreement with Superia, AS on assessment of strategic options for potential sale of the Companys mortgage loans portfolio.

The assessment will cover analysis of various strategic options to decide on the most efficient that would maximise value of proceeds to be used to satisfy the claims of the Companys creditors.

As at 30 June 2018, the mortgage loans portfolio of ABLV Bank, AS in liquidation amounted to EUR 292 million.

Superia, AS is an independent financial advisory having offices in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. The company specialises in providing corporate clients, governments, and investors with independent financial advice on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, privatisations, capital raising, and corporate restructurings.VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ceylon Graphite Corp. (Ceylon Graphite) (TSX-V: CYL) (OTC: CYLYF) (FSE: CCY) is pleased to announce the discovery of two new large untapped natural graphite veins, one 28 cms wide at 66.8 meters and another 10 cm wide at 71.5 meters at its K1 site in the Karasnagala area in Sri Lanka. Coordinates of the drill location are E-133102, N-211423. The drilling azimuth is 0 and the dip is 70 degrees.



These veins were discovered in the normal course of drilling at the K1 site and samples from the discovery have been sent to the Sri Lanka Governments Geological Survey and Mines Bureaus laboratory for testing.

Ceylon Graphite now has 6 large sized veins at its K1site. The Company anticipates that there are additional similar sized or larger veins at lower depths and continues to actively pursue its aggressive exploration and production plans for the K1 site. The Company expects to receive its mining license for K1 shortly.

Its a great way to start the week with the discovery of the two new large veins and several smaller veinlets of graphite at K1, said Bharat Parashar, Chief Executive Officer. This discovery coupled with the veins we discovered earlier in the year clearly demonstrates a large resource base at K1. Along with the continuing robust exploration program we are also positioning the site to start commercial production of some of the purest naturally occurring graphite on the planet.

Graphite from this site will likely be of the same high quality as verified in recent testing.

Qualified Person



Robert Marvin, P. Geo (ONT) is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the geological information provided in this news release.

About Ceylon Graphite Corp.

Ceylon Graphite Corp, is a public company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (CYL:TSX-V), that is in the business of exploration and development of graphite mines in Sri Lanka. The Government of Sri Lanka has granted the company exploration rights in a land package of over 120km. These exploration grids (each one square kilometer in area) cover areas of historic graphite production from the early twentieth century and represent a majority of the known graphite occurrences in Sri Lanka. Graphite mined in Sri Lanka is known to be some of the purest in the world, and currently accounts for less than 1% of the world graphite production.



FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking information as such term is defined in applicable securities laws, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. The forward-looking information includes statements about Ceylon Graphites grids, Ceylon Graphites plans to undertake additional drilling and to develop a mine plan, Ceylon Graphites Mining License application and to commence establishing mining operations. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to Ceylon Graphite, including the assumption that, the drilling exercises will confirm the presence of high quality graphite, sufficient financial resources will be available, the records from the drilling exercises prove to be accurate, there will be no unanticipated delays or costs materially affecting Ceylon Graphites exploration, development and production, there will be no material adverse change in metal prices, all necessary consents, licenses, permits and approvals will be obtained, including various Local Government Licenses and the market. Investors are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. Risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking information include, among other things, an inability to reach a final acquisition agreement, inaccurate results from the drilling exercises, a failure to obtain or delays in obtaining the required regulatory licenses, permits, approvals and consents, an inability to access financing as needed, a general economic downturn, a volatile stock price, labour strikes, political unrest, changes in the mining regulatory regime governing Ceylon Graphite, a failure to comply with environmental regulations and a weakening of market and industry reliance on high quality graphite. Ceylon Graphite cautions the reader that the above list of risk factors is not exhaustive.

These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, Ceylon Graphite does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com )

Further information regarding the Company is available at www.ceylongraphite.com

Bharat Parashar, Chairman and & Chief Executive Officer

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

info@ceylongraphite.com

Corporate Communications

(604) 559-8051Highlights



Near-surface gold mineralisation intersected in recconnaisance RC drill program

3.2 metres true width at 11.4g/tAu

Potential new discovery adjacent to Basari Resources Makabingui Project

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Thor Explorations Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: THX) (Thor or the Company) is pleased to announce it has drilled a potential discovery hole at a new prospect called Maka South located in the north east of the Douta Permit on its Douta Gold Project in south-east Senegal. The hole was drilled as part of a 1,000 RC metre reconnaissance reverse circulation (RC) program on a number of previously defined drill targets by soil geochemistry in the Maka area of the licence.

Drillhole DMRC012 on the Maka South Target intersected 4 metres true width at 9.2g/tAu from 18m downhole (Table 1). In addition to this result, seven other RC holes intersected anomalous gold mineralisation including 1m at 3.59g/t Au in drillhole DMRC013 (Appendix 1) on other targets in the area.

These first pass drill results are considered to be significant as they are located adjacent to the nearby Makabingui Gold Project comprising total resources of 11.9 million tonnes at 2.6g/t Au for a contained 1 million oz Au in an area of the Douta Permit that has received very little exploration attention to date.

Segun Lawson, President & CEO, stated: "A second prospect in the Douta permit further strengthens managements assessment of the prospectivity of Thors Douta Permit as a whole. In addition to this, we are still looking forward to receiving the pending results from approximately 4,000 metres of RC drilling that were drilled at Makosa prior to the start of the rainy season in July. We will be in a good position to evaluate our options on the Douta Permit as a whole following the rainy season.

Table 1: Significant Drillhole Intersection

HOLE ID Easting Northing RL Total

Depth

(m) Azimuth Dip From

(m) To

(m) Downhole

Interval

(m) True

Thickness

(m) Average

Grade

(Aug/t)

AAS DMRC012 185324 1447895 126 80 150 -50 18 22 4.00 3.2 11.4 Includes 20 22 2.00 1.6 20.1 and 43 44 1.00 0.8 1.1

50gm Fire assays (AA-26) were carried out by ALS Bamako, Mali. Thor adopts industry standard QAQC sampling and QAQC protocols.

The Douta Gold Project, Senegal (Douta) is located in the prospective, gold-endowed Birimian Greenstone belt in south east Senegal, West Africa. Douta lies within 5 kilometres of Randgolds 3.6Moz Massawa resource. Gold mineralisation at Douta is considered to be controlled by the Main Transcurrent Shear Zone (MTZ), a regionally significant crustal structure (refer to Figure 1).

To date, diamond and RC drilling have been used to delineate gold mineralisation at the Douta Project in Senegal. A total of 13 diamond holes for 1,531m and 24 RC drillholes for 2,000m were completed over the Makosa Prospect and 7,800m of the planned 8,000m have been completed in the 2018 RC Program over a strike length of approximately 2.2km (refer to Figures 1 and 2).

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/afcef046-d111-419c-82f9-23c250ada0bb

In addition to the drilling carried out at Makosa, Thor carried out a 1,000 metre scout drilling program on three drilling targets in the Maka Area that had been delineated by previous drill target generation that included soil geochemistry carried out by the Company.

The Maka South prospect has now been prioritised for follow up exploration work following the drilling of the potential discovery hole (refer to Figure 2).

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7854daee-3bac-4b24-a4a0-ff837d71280a

QUALIFIED PERSON

The above information has been prepared under the supervision of Alfred Gillman (Fellow AusIMM, CP), who is designated as a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approves the content of this news release. He has also reviewed QA/QC, sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information.



About Thor

Thor Explorations Ltd. is a Canadian mineral exploration company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties located in Nigeria, Senegal and Burkina Faso. Thor holds a 100% interest in the Segilola Gold Project located in Osun State Nigeria, a 70% interest in the Douta Gold Project located in south-eastern Senegal, and a 49% interest in the Bongui and Legue gold permits located in Hounde greenstone belt, south west Burkina Faso. Thor trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "THX".



THOR EXPLORATIONS LTD.

Segun Lawson

President & CEO

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This press release does not constitute an offer to purchase securities. The securities to be offered in the offering have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the benefit or account of, a U.S. person, except pursuant to an available exemption from such registration requirements.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, the information presented constitutes forward looking statements within the meaning of certain securities laws, and is subject to important risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the completion of the acquisition of the Segilola Gold Project and the use of the proceeds of the private placement. The words may, could, should, would, suspect, outlook, believe, anticipate, estimate, expect, intend, plan, target and similar words and expressions are used to identify forward-looking information. The forward-looking information in this news release describes the Companys expectations as of the date of this news release and accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. While the Company may elect to, it does not undertake to update this information at any particular time.

APPENDIX I: Table of Results: 2018 RC Drilling Program

HOLE ID Easting Northing RL Total

Depth

(m) Azimuth Dip From

(m) To

(m) Downhole

Interval

(m) True

Thickness

(m) Average

Grade

(Aug/t) DMRC001 187994 1450949 141 80 130 -50 72 73 1 0.8 0.36 DMRC002 187963 1450982 142 80 130 -50 40 41 1 0.8 0.47 and 41 42 1 0.8 0.61 and 44 45 1 0.8 0.31 and 54 56 2 1.6 0.69 Includes 55 56 1 0.8 1.05 DMRC003 187482 1449911 171 80 130 -50 78 80 2 1.6 0.33 DMRC004 186550 1449625 157 80 150 -50 64 65 1 0.8 0.19 DMRC005 186546 1449560 123 80 150 -50 23 24 1 0.8 0.2 DMRC006 186831 1449365 153 80 150 -50 No Significant Result DMRC007 186809 1449437 161 80 150 -50 No Significant Result DMRC008 186017 1449440 149 80 150 -50 49 50 1 0.8 0.81 and 52 54 2 1.6 0.33 and 74 75 1 0.8 1.29 DMRC009 185997 1449485 154 80 150 -50 64 65 1 0.8 0.2 DMRC010 185913 1449276 143 80 150 -50 No Significant Result DMRC011 185859 1449308 145 80 150 -50 No Significant Result DMRC012 185324 1447895 126 80 150 -50 16 18 2 1.6 0.26 and 18 22 4 3.2 11.4 Includes 20 22 2 1.6 20.05 and 43 44 1 0.8 1.13 DMRC013 185289 1447289 134 80 150 -50 50 53 3 2.4 0.51 and 56 61 5 4 0.78 Includes 57 58 1 0.8 1.3 Includes 60 61 1 0.8 1.34 and 63 68 5 4 0.3 and 69 76 7 5.6 0.96 Includes 73 74 1 0.8 1.17 Includes 75 76 1 0.8 3.59 DMRC014 186542 1450603 145 108 150 -50 No Significant Result

NOTES:

Intersections and grades calculated at 0.5g/tAu cut off, 2m maximum internal dilution

Included intervals calculated at 1.0g/tAu cut off with maximum 2m internal dilutionBlooming Prairie, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A sold-out crowd got an eyeful at Elko Speedway Saturday night.

Action-packed races, a reality stars debut and Ricky Rudes second straight a-main feature win kept everyone on the edge of their seats during the Bandit Big Rig Biodiesel 20.

The action on the track was some of the best weve seen, Bandit General Manager Jason Johnson said.

At the end of the night, Rude kept his points lead thanks to another feature win in the #14 truck.

I just shut my eyes half the time, Rude said, laughing. Its great to be here in Minnesota. All these great fans here came and packed this place and it was a great event.

Dave Sparks, aka Heavy D from Discoverys Diesel Brothers, drove the #51 truck and made quite the impression during his Bandit debut.

That was some of the best driving Ive seen from our rookies, Johnson said. He can sure wheel a truck.

Sparks won three straight rounds during the Foodliner Bandit Shoot Out, only to fall to Jon Lisenbee (#7) during a dynamic duel.

The track was slick and we slid up and got together. Rubbed hard and put on a good show for the fans, Lisenbee said. (Dave) did a phenomenal job tonight.

Sponsor Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council raved about the event.

I dont often get hyped about an event we sponsor, but this one knocked it out of the park, MSR&PC Marketing Director Cathy Riley said. This audience loved what they saw.

The Bandits now turn to Anderson Motor Speedway in Williamston, South Carolina, where they will run Saturday, Sept. 15.

Its going to be a blast, Johnson said. Anderson is the last event before our season finale at Myrtle Beach Speedway Sept. 29.

Tickets for the two remaining Bandit events can be purchased online.

About Bandit Big Rig Series

The Bandit Big Rig Series returns big rig tractor truck racing to the short track in the United States. The series was designed to be affordable and accessible for anyone wishing to put together a race team.

For additional information, please contact Jason Johnson at (507) 676-1987, or email jason@banditseries.com.

About Minimizer

Leveraging more than 30 years of manufacturing expertise at its state-of-the-art facility in Blooming Prairie, Minnesota, Minimizer is not only the leader in poly semi truck fenders - we invented the category. Minimizer poly fenders and integrated bracket kits are nearly indestructible and are guaranteed for life.

Our research and development team constantly tests and tortures each of our products to make sure what goes on, in or is used to fix the truck meets the rigors of our tough industry.

We also manufacture industry-leading light kits, mud flaps, tool boxes, work benches and other accessories. Our most recent innovations include the worlds ONLY custom molded floor mats for semi trucks, as well as the revolutionary whole body health Minimizer Truck Seat System.

Minimizer has been family owned and operated for three generations. The company manufactures its products in the USA and makes everything tough enough to please tough people in a tough industry.

AttachmentsCRESTWOOD, Ill. , Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canna Care Docs, one of North Americas largest and longest-running group of medical cannabis evaluation and education centers, today released a statement on the passage of Illinois Senate Bill 0336, more commonly known as the Alternative to Opioids Act. After being sent by the State Senate on June 29, earlier today Governor Bruce Rauner signed the bill into law.

The new law will now allow for Illinois residents who are suffering from debilitating medical conditions to have greater access to medical cannabis  in particular as an alternative to opioids. According to the Illinois Department of Human Services, the number of opioid-related fatalities in the state had risen by 116% from 2006 to 2016. Senate Bill 0336 works to allow physicians to more easily integrate medical cannabis into a patients treatment regimen by removing regulatory burdens on both patients and healthcare practitioners.

After assisting more than 270,000 patients at Canna Care Docs with the introduction of medical cannabis into their treatment plans, we know the life-changing value that this medicine brings to those struggling with extreme pain and other life-crippling ailments, said Stephanie Gluchacki, President of Canna Care Docs. Governor Rauner has just given all patients in Illinois an alternate path towards healing, removing the heavy reliance on addictive opioids and other pain medication in exchange for a more natural and effective treatment option.

The Bill removes much of the red tape that both physicians and patients in Illinois have been challenged by since the states legalization of its medical cannabis program in November of 2015. The new law expedites the medical cannabis evaluation process, removing the previous need for patients to submit to background checks and fingerprinting.

At Canna Care Docs, we pride ourselves in providing the most comprehensive medical cannabis evaluation and education program to patients throughout the US, said Sam Franzone, Operations Manager for Illinois, Canna Care Docs. We look forward to continuing to serve the people of Illinois out of our Crestwood care center and are excited to be opening our Morris and Highland Park locations very soon.

Canna Care Docs operates 26 medical cannabis evaluation education centers serving 12 states within the US.

For more information, please contact:

Dan Thompson

Chief Marketing Officer  Sail

1.416.670.9316

dan.thompson@mvctech.ca

About Canna Care Docsenigma123 wrote:

The GMAT is scored on a scale of 200 to 800 in 10 point increments. (Thus 410 and 760 are real GMAT scores but 412 and 765 are not). A first-year class at a certain business school consists of 478 students. Did any students of the same gender in the first-year class who were born in the same-named month have the same GMAT score?

(1) The range of GMAT scores in the first-year class is 600 to 780.

(2) 60% of the students in the first-year class are male.



GMAT Tutor in Montreal



If you are looking for online GMAT math tutoring, or if you are interested in buying my advanced Quant books and problem sets, please contact me at ianstewartgmat at gmail.com Signature Read More

Bowtie's solution above is perfect, but I'll go into a bit more detail in case it's unclear:This question (and another I responded to yesterday) is based on something called the 'pigeonhole principle'. That principle is usually explained as follows: if a postal worker has 4 envelopes which she will place in 3 pigeonholes, then it must be true that (at least) 2 envelopes will end up in the same pigeonhole, since even if the first 3 envelopes go into different pigeonholes, the 4th will need to go in a pigeonhole already containing an envelope. Changing the numbers to mimic the question above, say you have 20 people who take a test consisting of 19 questions. Then it must be true that two people answered the same number of questions correctly, since even if the first 19 people all had a different number of correct answers, that uses up all of the possibilities from 1 to 19, so the last person would need to have answered the same number of questions correctly as one of the first nineteen people.We have a similar situation here. From Statement 1, there are only 19 possible GMAT scores in the class. So if we know we have 20 students of the same gender who were born in the same month, we could then be sure that (at least) two of them must have the same GMAT score. We have 478 students in total. At least half of these, or 239 students, must be of the same gender (you couldn't have less than 239 men *and* less than 239 women in the class). Further, it is impossible that there are only 19 students of the same gender born in *every* month of the year (since then you'd only have at most 12*19 = 228 students of that gender), so we must have at least 20 students of the same gender born in the same month. So two of these students must have the same GMAT score, and the answer is A._________________President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday met US president Donald Trump at the White House, becoming only the second African leader to land the invite.

Uhuru and First Lady Margaret Kenyatta were received by Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at the South Portico, before briefly posing for pictures for the waiting press.

The four proceeded for a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office before addressing the media with short statements. They however did not take any questions, with Trump particularly bombarded with questions about Senator John McCains death.

Uhuru and Trump then joined their aides in the cabinet room for expanded talks.

.@FLOTUS Melania and I were honored to welcome the President of the Republic of Kenya, @UKenyatta and Mrs. Margaret Kenyatta to the @WhiteHouse today! pic.twitter.com/ZU5MovNKt8  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2018

Here are the pictures from the visit.Charles Nyachae, the recently appointed Judge of the East African Court of Justice is battling allegations that he is a deadbeat dad after allegedly impregnating a college girl after a one night stand.

Esther Wamuyu Macharia, 25, alleges that the 60-year-old Nyachae has neglected her and their three-year-old daughter.

According to a chain of text messages seen by The Nairobian, Nyachae was ready to take responsibility were it not for what he perceived as blackmail and threats of exposure from Wamuyu whom he accused of taking advantage of his position in society.

The daily reports that Wamuyu was demanding Sh100,000 monthly upkeep until their child reached 18 or a Sh20 million one-off payment, while Nyachae was only willing to part with Sh26,000 for school fees.

Before his February appointment, Nyachae was the chair of the Commission of Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) while Wamuyu was a campus student now turned businesswoman in Nairobi.

The two met in January 2014 in Kisii County at a hotel where Wamuyu was working as a part-time receptionist. She was also a student at Kisii University, taking criminology and security studies.

Nyachae had checked in for a meal with friends around 9 pm when he met Wamuyu at the hotel.

When he was leaving with his security, he stopped and greeted me then asked for my contacts and gave me a Sh3,000 tip, recalls Wamuyu adding that Nyachae resurfaced after a month when he texted me that he was around but we didnt meet that night.

Wamuyu claims that Nyachae invited her at the tail end of February 2014 when they spent the night romping at a different hotel in the county before parting ways.

He was a generous and loving gentleman. That night we shared a lot. It was a one night stand that made me conceive. I shared the news three months later but he never responded, alleges Wamuyu, adding that Nyachae never supported me emotionally or physically during the pregnancy having decided to bear the burden alone until 2015 when he responded. I only asked him to support this child without much argument.

Wamuyu says she was forced to terminate her studies and move to Juja where she holed up with her parents after giving birth.

She says that Nyachae supported them, sending Sh20,000 in intervals for two years until October 2017. But matters came to a head when she requested for Sh200,000 to move out of her parents home and resume her studies.

Nyachae started refusing to pick my calls and even answer my text messages. We meet around three times in Nairobi to plan how he would take me back to school but he changed his mind the last minute.

******************************************

Here is part of the conversation between Nyachae and Wamuyu seen by The Nairobian on diverse dates for more than a year.

Wamuyu: I should have listened to you from the start, I would have thought otherwise about giving birth to her, none of this would have happened. Im not here for your money rather just helping me raise her.

Nyachae: What am I supposed to think when you are blackmailing me about headlines? What if it was just some Kamau or Otieno somewhere you wouldnt threaten me with headlines.

Wamuyu: Its okay, I have really messed up your life from the day M***I was born. I have never wanted to put you in any blackmail situation, if you were normal person, I would be married to you since we would take in the worse and bad life in one home.

Wamuyu: Its official blackmail, if you wont have sent the money by Tuesday wait

Nyachae: Thats fine, I just opened my phone. I was planning to call you and tell you what I had in mind because your last couple of text messages seemed reasonable. But if its officially blackmail so be it. I hope you will find it helpful.

Wamuyu: Instead of me begging you so much simplicity of me (sic) is to bring the child to your office, that way text or call you any longer.

Nyachae: I have told you many times dont threaten me, Im trying to progress this matter to a solution as we agreed. I even gave you access to my lawyer so that we can expedite. I you dont like it then you can decide what you think is good for you, you decide dont just threaten me. Dont even wait for end of March. You should carry out your threat.

Wamuyu: You are truly unfair because you want me to sign a formal agreement for the childs upkeep and school fees to buy silence so that I can never ask for additional even when she grows up. Then your lawyer says we go to court, why hire him thought it was to remain out of court. If you tell him everything from me, clearly showing him what I communicate to you, my simple question is who does the childs DNA match, yours or his (lawyer)? You better act like a father and man.

Wamuyu: Now even the money for Januarys upkeep has piled up with the rest

Nyachae: I dont need that kind of rubbish today! You are the one full of madharau all the time, communicating to me like Im child. Did I not try calling you yesterday as I had said and you didnt pickdont know what makes you think you have the right to disrespect me.

Nyachae continues: Its my birthday today and I intend to have a peaceful day! Nobody even you is going to stress me today.

Wamuyu: At what time did you call, send your call log via Whatsapp and clarify your lie.

Nyachae: You dont have monopoly of anger Wamuyu.

Wamuyu: Honestly, I might not have monopoly of anger but simply your response sometimes is just disturbing and then you know how to punish my feelings by answering when you feel like. Kindly lets talk about this issue, please I beg of you.

Nyacahe: I have no wish to exchange bad text messages.

Wamuyu: Hey, good morning I wanted to kindly request you, if possibly by the end of March we will have solved this issue and found a solution. I will be happy, plus I was requesting you to inform me in case you change your number once you move to Arushayou do take care of yourself once you are there. In case you are moving out of Kenya.

Nyachae: Hiyo ni sawasawa.Thirdway Alliance Party leader Ekuru Aukot is not desperate to shake hands with President Uhuru Kenyatta, the former presidential aspirant has declared.

Speaking on Monday, Aukot, who appears to be struggling with irrelevancy, claimed that other leaders are desperate for Uhurus handshake.

We are not desperate to shake the hand of President Uhuru Kenyatta, but there are people who are clearly desperate, he said.

He, however, encouraged the president to reach out to those desperate to greet him so that they dont threaten the peaceful co-existence of Kenyans.

In the interview with Citizen TV, Ekuru said he fully supports the handshake between Uhuru and ODM leader Raila Odinga.

For the record, we were the first party that congratulated them, he said.

If this is an agreement between two individuals, let it not be an imposition on the public because it offends Article 201 of the Constitution on prudent use of public funds.

He noted it is time both leaders acknowledge there were wrongs committed during last years electioneering period and in the past.

Aukot further called on the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission report to be implemented as there are already existing findings on what ails the country.

He, however, said the Building Bridges task force should be disbanded because it undermines other institutions.

Aukot also said he supports Uhurus fight against corruption and demolition of buildings on riparian land.

On the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission(IEBC), Aukot said he supports Chairman Wafula Chebukati for locking out Deputy Vice Chair Connie Maina and Commissioner Margaret Mwachanya who resigned.

Those commissioners are disgraceful, they have failed the integrity test. They are shameless, he said.

The self-imposed Opposition leader added Thirdway Alliance will play its rightful role as an opposition party in critiquing the government.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East African Powerhouse group Elani is back with another release barely three weeks after making its highly anticipated comeback.

Dubbed Mahindi, the track was written in 2014 right after the lengthy hunger and drought that struck the country. It was off the trios album Barua Ya Dunia but it never quite hit the spot and that must be why Elani have decided to revive their stand against the politics of food.

On their Youtube page, Elani write: According to Kenyas National Food and Nutrition Security Policy (2012), more 10 million Kenyans suffer from chronic food insecurity and poor nutrition. Between 2 and 4 million people require emergency food assistance at any given time.

Nearly 30% of Kenyas children are undernourished and micronutrient deficiencies are widespread. The Constitution of Kenya recognizes that each one of us has a right to adequate food. Despite our constitutional commitment, national legislation, policy and practice fail to implement and monitor solutions to food security.

The band adds: We need to change the course of action from chronic hunger, industrial agriculture, and food aid, to a discussion about food rights and accountability. We cannot let our people starve to death and not raise our voices against it. Life and death. We cannot be quiet about it. And its time we discuss it.

Let this song spark a conversation and open up the minds and hearts of all Kenyans to speak out against this chronic food security problem that is crippling our nation.

Click play below.Also known by such names as the Great Tehran Penitentiary, Tehran Central Prison, and Hassanabad-Qom Prison, Fashafuyeh Prison is located approximately 32 km south of Tehran. Accusations of human rights abuses have been leveled at Fashafuyeh Prison since it was created in 2012.

According to Fatourechi, Drawing attention to conditions of the ordinary prisoners in Fashafuyeh is an urgent and immediate necessity. No one in Iran is more oppressed and vulnerable. They exist in the epitome of inhumane conditions and are victims of a twofold oppression. To bear this, even for one day, is beyond the power of the human spirit and will undoubtedly cause permanent trauma to their body and soul. Every day, the number of cases like these only multiply.

Looking back at the prison quarantine that he and every other new prisoner endures for some four days, he writes, Among inmates, the colloquial name for the quarantine ward is Hell The prisoners said the difference in living conditions between the tip and quarantine wards are analogous to those between a bedroom and a toilet.

This wasnt the first time Fatourechi experienced Fashafuyeh Prisons quarantine. In his comparison of the current conditions with his previous experiences, he writes, Having witnessed the quarantine ward on three different occasions in the 90s and 2000s, I can definitively corroborate their accounts of how grave the conditions in Fashafuyehs quarantine ward really are. He explains, In a routine four-day quarantine period, the prisoner, regardless of crime or sentence, is deprived of potable water, ventilation, toilets, cigarettes, and digestible food (there is cold, half-baked pasta, and cold, uncooked yellow rice).

His describes the quarantine area, The toilet is a hole on the floor of a 2 foot by 2 foot area, without light or running water, separated by a curtain from the wards beds and 10 foot by 10 foot cells, known as Physicals, that house between 26 and 32 prisoners. The living conditions in the physicals are so inhumane that quarantined inmates call them the Exile. He continues, Quarantine cells have three-tier bunk beds and two blankets spread on the floor. Two glassless skylights are all they have to regulate temperature. There is no running water between 4 p.m. and 7 a.m., and the only light glows from a 100-watt fluorescent bulb. Should it burn out, the prisoners say, only God could make someone replace it.

There is an incredible daily influx of new prisoners Fatourechi says. Every 24 hours or so, more than 40 new prisoners are brought to the quarantine ward, while a maximum of ten [prisoners] leave the ward each day. He adds that more than 80 percent of the quarantine inmates are intravenous drug addicts and homeless people unable to stand on their own feet who belong in a hospital, not a prison.

The detainees unlucky enough to have a bunk  the floor sleepers  are usually Afghans and intravenous addicts writes Fatourechi, and they are similar to those in coffins, the coffin-sized cells reserved for political prisoners in the 1980s that were barely large enough to lie down in. He writes that the floor sleepers are sometimes pushed to spending the night beneath the beds of other inmates. Coined as coffin sleepers, it is typical for other inmates to sit on the floor next to their sleeping enclosure, restraining their movement and blocking their access to light and air. Additionally, The stench of sweat and infected wounds is unbelievable. Many inmates are detoxing from drug addictions and are in no state to be taken to the so-called bathroom to wash up, which thickens the stench.

Drug addicts, theft convicts, dirty ones and Afghans are treated like livestock from the moment they step foot in the ward.

The situation of the poor families of the inmates Fatourechi describes as, Another deplorable element of Fashafuyeh He writes that, Families of prisoners sit in the desert outside, and no one knows who is incarcerated in the prison (either that or they dont reveal to the families what they know). This is critical when Fashafuyeh prisoners come from poor families who can only come by taxi, at a cost between 1-1.5 million rials, which is approximately $10 to $15 USD.A new group has arisen, called Justice for Victims of 1988 Massacre in Iran (JVMI), who seek to bring attention to the victims and survivors of this massacre, and to bring justice to those who participated in the killings. The victims were hurriedly buried in unmarked mass graves, and many of those who served on the Death Commissions sentencing thousands of people to mass executions, still hold high positions of the current Iranian regime.

Political prisoners affiliated to the main opposition group Peoples Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI or MEK) were targeted by Khomeinis decree, which reads: As the treacherous Monafeqin [PMOI] do not believe in Islam and what they say is out of deception and hypocrisy, and as their leaders have confessed that they have become renegades, and as they are waging war on God, and. It is decreed that those who are in prison throughout the country and remain steadfast in their support for the Monafeqin [PMOI] are waging war on God and are condemned to execution.

So ruthless was the decree that the Chief Justice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, sought clarification. Khomeinis response was more ruthless still. (I)f the person at any stage or at any time maintains his [or her] support for the Monafeqin [PMOI], the sentence is execution. Annihilate the enemies of Islam immediately. As regards the cases, use whichever criterion that speeds up the implementation of the verdict.

The Death Commissions consisted of a three member panel  a religious judge, prosecutor, and Ministry of Intelligence  who had the responsibility to implement his order of executing all political prisoners remaining loyal to their belief and political affiliation.

The hearings were simple. The prisoners were called in one by one and asked if they still supported the PMOI. If their answer was yes, they would be executed. If the prisoners avoided expressing support for the PMOI, they had to pass other tests, like agreeing to make a confession on television against the PMOI, or asked to cooperate with the regime against other prisoners who remained loyal to the PMOI. If they refused, it could automatically lead to an execution sentence.

Hanif Jazayeri at the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), who works tirelessly to bring attention to the uprising against the regime, provided testimony from Mostafa Naderi, a former political prisoner and survivor of the 1988 massacre.

Authorities arrested Naderi in 1981 for supporting the MEK by handing out their publications. He says that officials interrogated and tortured him for eight days, including beating, lashing with cables, hanging from the ceiling and other forms of torture. Naderi was held at Gohardasht and Evin prisons, in solitary confinement, for five years, which is where he was when the massacre began.

According to Naderi, The regime started to separate the prisoners based on their sentences and political belief two years before the start of the massacre. Prior to the start of the massacre they were repeatedly saying that we will solve the problem of political prisoners and will not allow any of you to get out of the prison alive.

And in 1988, the regime took the opportunity to start the massacre. I heard the news of executions while in solitary confinement, through communicating in Morse code with my adjoining cell. Personally I witnessed that none of the 250 prisoners in the top section of Ward 3 of Evin Prison survived. From about 200 prisoners in Evin Ward 3s lower section, all but two were executed.

At the time I was in solitary confinement, they used to take the prisoners to the so-called court and then bring them back to the solitary cells. There were about 500 to 600 solitary cells and all of them were filled with prisoners. They took them away and executed them, and their personal belongings were placed in a bag in front of their cells. They took me away for interrogations a couple of time. But I was never taken to their so-called court.

Suffering from kidney failure as a result of his torture, Naderi remained unconscious at the prison hospital, and thus escaped the Death Commissions.

When they were clearing out the wards, they apparently did not have enough time to check the list of names. They took the prisoners away ward by ward. Naderi says, As I heard later, it was in the court that they asked the prisoners name because the trials were not based on the sentences or the crimes or anything else.

He continues, Finally, when we returned to the ward, I just realized that they had executed all the prisoners and as far as I know and the statistics that I collected from other prisoners and their wards, there were about 12,000 prisoners in Evin Prison of which only 250 survived the massacre.

Hossein-Ali Montazeri was Khomeinis designated successor, until he rebelled against the executions. He sent numerous letters to the Supreme Leader to express his opposition to the massacre. His acts of conscience led to his life-long house arrest. He died in 2009.

However, in August 2016, an audio tape of Montazeri during a meeting with regime officials was released. On the audio tape, Montazeri is heard telling the members of the Death Commission, Hossein-Ali Nayyeri, the regimes sharia judge, Morteza Eshraqi, the regimes prosecutor, Ebrahim Raeesi, deputy prosecutor, and Mostafa Pourmohammadi, representative of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), The greatest crime committed during the reign of the Islamic Republic, for which history will condemn us, has been committed by you. Your (names) will in the future be etched in the annals of history as criminals.

The audiotape makes it clear that officials on the Death Commission continue to hold high positions in the current Iranian regime. For example:

 Mostafa Pourmohammadi was until recently the Minister of Justice in Hassan Rouhanis cabinet

 Hossein-Ali Nayyeri is the current head of the Supreme Disciplinary Court for Judges and deputy head of the national Supreme Court

 Ebrahim Raeesi until several months ago was the clerical regimes prosecutor. Recently he was appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as the head of the Astan Qods-e Razavi foundation, which is one of the most important political and economic powerhouses in the clerical regime. It appropriates public funds in order to financially support some of the regimes aggressive behavior, including the war in Syria

Montazeri can also be heard saying, The Mujahedin-e Khalq are not simply individuals. They represent an ideology and a school of thought. They represent a line of logic. One must respond to the wrong logic by presenting the right logic. One cannot resolve this through killing; killing will only propagate and spread it.

Until the summer of 2016 the massacre was a taboo subject, but now Iranian society has changed, as the Iranian people continue to stage protests against the oppressive regime. In fact, on August 2nd, 2017, Amnesty International published a report that pointed to a campaign by Irans younger generation to seek an inquiry into the mass killings of political prisoners in 1988.

The report said, Human rights defenders targeted for seeking truth and justice include younger human rights defenders born after the 1979 Revolution who have taken to social media and other platforms to discuss the past atrocities, and attended memorial gatherings held at Khavaran. It adds that there has been a chain of unprecedented reactions from high-level officials, leading them to admit for the first time that the mass killings of 1988 were planned at the highest levels of government.

Challenging a Revolutionary Guard, a student from Tabriz University challenged accused, Your theory and your discussions defend the horrific, inhumane, illegal and irreligious massacres of 1988.  We will neither forgive, nor forget your betrayals and crimes. Our people will avenge the pain and grief of the mothers [of the martyrs] of our nation.

Several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have asked UN High Commissioner Zeid Raad Al Hussein to support an internal investigation into the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran.

The regime had stopped destroying the mass graves in 2017, due to fear of uprisings from the families. Now it appears that the regime has decided finish the job.

In July 2018, family members of victims found people destroying the graves, when they went to visit the mass grave in Padadshahr District last July.MEK never voted for the constitution of Mullahs, which was based on Velayet-e-Faqih (Absolute clerical authority) and in clear contrast with democratic values. Their resistance irritated Khomeini to the extent that he went against his own words and interfered with the presidential campaign of Massoud Rajavi, who was supported by many freedom-seeking individuals and organisations at the time. Khomeini even ordered a Fatwa against MEK, who he described as worse than unbelievers, leading to countless deaths that are still happening today!

Whilst Khomeini was trying to stabilise his own dictatorship in Iran, he was putting a lot of pressure on MEK to get join in fighting the people of Kurdistan as well as in various other religious matters; but once again, MEK refused to cooperate, and instead, united with the freedom-seeking people of Kurdistan, in their defence. Hearing another no from MEK, infuriated Khomeini, but that didnt stop MEK from continuing their support for the people of Iran, and their fight against Mullahs interference in the Middle East.

On 20th June 1981, MEK organized a demonstration in which half a million people participated and protested peacefully in Tehran against Khomeinis regime, which once again angered Khomeini, so he ordered the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) forces to shoot at defenceless protesters leading to a bloodshed.

To maintain their values, which mainly revolve around independency and democracy, MEK have had to cross a very difficult path that was set for them by Mullahs. They are now proud to have come out of so many challenges successfully and to declare themselves as the regimes greatest and oldest democratic alternative to the world.

MEK founded the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in 1982. Back when Khomeini was stubbornly continuing war with Iraq, and shortly after Iraqs retreat, NCRI signed a peace deal with Iraqs government which was welcomed by many Iranians and international societies. Four years later, NCRI moved to Iraq and formed its National Liberation Army there, which got Khomeinis skin so bad that after 2 years, he ended up accepting the Resolution 598! He knew that not complying would have meant an end to his regime! Which itself proved just how right MEK were.

Its now been 4 decades since, and the stand-off between Mullahs and MEK continues. During this time, 30 thousand political prisoners have been executed, just for being Mojahedin-e-Khalq (which is another term for MEK) and for saying no to the dictatorship of Mullahs.

These 40 years mark the many attempts of the regime to silence its opponents both in and out of the country, using all kinds of negotiation tactics and empty promises. They also mark the cruel threatening, imprisonment, torture, and execution of many Iranians; along the masks of moderation and reformism that this regime has constantly been wearing as well as its pretentious humanitarian activities via its so called not-for-profit organisations. The only force that has ever remained honest and loyal to Iranians, which the regime has always found threatening, has been the NCRI; which is now the hope of not just many Iranians but also the world. In fact, the string of protests witnessed across Iran since last year, is the fruit of NCRIs persistence and hard work over the years.

Despite all of regimes many attempts to terrorise MEK (via bombs, missiles, and war), or their colonial conspiracies, or them listing MEK as terrorists, or imprisoning, torturing and executing MEK endlessly, MEK have never stopped fighting for freedom.

Now that these 40 years are coming to an end, we can see how tough NCRI has really been as it still keeps its eyes on subverting this thousand-faced regime of Mullahs; its not too long now before victory is achieved and the tables turned!

-

Abdolrahman Mahabadi, political analyst and writerMombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho has told President Uhuru Kenyatta not to worry about losing friends in the ongoing fight against corruption.

Speaking during a funds drive in Maralal, Samburu sub-county over the weekend, Joho said that he was among Uhuru Kenyattas new-found friends as he seeks to end graft in the country.

I like how President Uhuru Kenyatta is dedicated to fighting corruption, said Joho.

He said he was ready to lose some friends and I encourage him to do so because we are his new-found friends.

He added: I am your loyal friend because I stand for justice.

The governor also called for the hastening of the lifestyle audit process, saying what belongs to the public should be returned immediately.

People should undergo lifestyle audit, if you own an aeroplane, how did you acquire it? period.

There is no person who cannot account for his wealth and if the property belongs to mwananchi it should go back to mwananchi, he said.

Meanwhile, Joho has hinted at working with Baringo Senator Gideon Moi in the 2022 succession following his courtesy call to retired President Daniel Moi at his Kabarak home in Nakuru County on Saturday. He said their agenda is to unite all Kenyans irrespective of their political affiliation and tribes.

We had some talks with the retired president Moi on Saturday and I must tell you that it has helped in my journey to unite Kenyans because that is what he insisted that I should do and I will not let him down, said Joho.

I was fortunate to hear his wisdom on some national issues and thanked him for his time at the helm of this country.After four decades of repression and human rights abuses in Iran, she urged the UN Security Council to prepare for the prosecution of the regimes leaders, many of whom are responsible for the massacre.

The clerical regimes reaction to dissent, even inside prisons under their own control, is mass execution. she said.

She continued, Any legitimate protest or demonstration is repressed by detention and torture of participants.

In the uprisings last December and January, what was the protesters demand and what did they do wrong to be tortured to death?

The bodies of a number of them were handed over to their families, telling them that they had committed suicide while in detention.

The regime commits the crime and yet blames the victims of torture and massacre as culprits and criminals.

According to Mrs. Rajavi, the regimes spies should be expelled from western countries, and their embassies closed. All relations terminated with a regime that uses diplomatic resources to promote state-sponsored terrorism should be terminated.

The NCRIs president-elect also discussed the Peoples Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and how it is playing an increasingly important role in organizing the protests and the resistance against the regime.

The time has come for the world community to stand by the people of Iran in their uprising against the religious fascist regime ruling Iran and recognise their determination for regime change, she asserted. The resistance units in Iran follow the footsteps of those men and women who said no to the regime and were massacred in 1988.

She also pointed out that, The clerical regime is beleaguered by the eight-month-long uprisings, by the growing role of the PMOI and resistance units in organising and leading the revolts, and by the consequences of a plummeting and drowning economy.

Former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Rhode Island, Patrick Kennedy added, This is not an Iranian issue this is a human rights issue because if it can happen in Iran in a modern era it can happen anywhere in the world where people do not stand up for human rights and for those who suffer.On Tuesday, August 21, Maas wrote an op-ed in the German daily paper Handelsblatt, in which he defended the flawed Iran nuclear deal, promised to work to evade these sanctions, and proposed the creation of an independent financial transaction system that did not include the US.

He wrote: It was right to protect European companies legally from sanctions. It is therefore essential that we strengthen European autonomy by establishing payment channels independent of the US, a European monetary fund and an independent SWIFT [payments] system. The devil is in thousands of details. But every day that the Iran [nuclear] agreement lasts is better than the potentially explosive crisis that threatens the Middle East otherwise.

The US wants to cut Iran off from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication(SWIFT) as part of their sanctions, which are designed to cripple the economy and force Iran to return to the negotiating table for a new nuclear deal. This new deal would address the other malign behaviours exhibited by the mullahs, like its ballistic weapons programme, human rights abuses, and its proxy warfare across the Middle East.

Donald Trump pulled the US out of the nuclear deal in May, citing evidence that Iran still had an active nuclear programme.

The very next day, German Chancellor Angela Merkel rebuked Maas for the article and confirmed that it did not represent German policy on Iran.

Merkel said: On the question of independent payment systems, we have some problems in our dealings with Iran, no question, on the other hand we know that on questions of terrorist financing, for example, SWIFT is very important.

Rather than acknowledge that the leader of his country was publically coming out against him and keep a dignified silence, Maas decided to go even further in his defence of the malign mullahs and the nuclear deal that enriched them greatly.

Thus, other people came on board to criticise Maas, particularly for what was seen as anti-Semitic pandering, and call for greater worldwide unity over the response to Iran and the dangers the Regime poses to the Middle East and the world at large.

Dr. Elvira Groezinger, the head of the German section of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, said: Our German foreign policy as part of the foreign policy line of the European Union ignores the facts that Rohani is not a moderate president Human rights are violated there while the Sharia is being just as strictly implemented as before, and Iran is still inciting terror acts by radical Shiite Moslems, thus fueling the conflicts in the Middle East.

Deidre Berger, head of the Berlin office of the American Jewish Committee, said: The lifting of sanctions has not brought political reform, economic progress or civil liberties. To the contrary, Iranians protest throughout the country that the regime has diverted the funds to pay for wars and terrorism. Europe should stop trade with Iran until the mullah regime takes concrete steps to stop its global terror campaign and respect human rights.Surrounded by the sea and covered by forested mountains and hills, Japan is a nature lover's paradise. For such a small archipelago, the country offers a boundless array of diverse ecosystems, and its national parks are the gateway to discovering a wide range of unique natural sights. This month, we take you on an adventure through some spectacular national parks, from the majestic Japan Alps down to the cultural treasures of the Sanin and Sanyo regions, then further south to the rugged beauty of Okinawa. Whether you are looking for breathtaking mountain views, a close-up experience with flora, fauna and marine life, or just want to cool off under a waterfall, we present some unforgettable locations to inspire you for your next trip!On 22 August, New Zealand's Minister of Defence Ron Mark announced the purchase of the 85-metre Edda Fonn, a 15-year-old offshore support vessel from Norwegian firm stensj Rederi AS, as the replacement for decommissioned dive tender HMNZS Manawanui and hydrographic survey ship HMNZS Resolution.

On 22 August, New Zealand's Minister of Defence Ron Mark announced the purchase of the 85-metre Edda Fonn, a 15-year-old offshore support vessel from Norwegian firm stensj Rederi AS, as the replacement for decommissioned dive tender HMNZS Manawanui and hydrographic survey ship HMNZS Resolution.

Image of what the future HMNZS Manawanui will look like.

The new ship will be renamed HMNZS Manawanui, the fourth RNZN ship to bear that name. The former Manawanuis home port was Whitianga.

Gisborne was chosen as the home port for the new Manawanui because it was the home port of HMNZS Resolution and HMNZS Monowai. Resolution paid a final visit to Gisborne before she was decommissioned on 27 April, 2012.

The practice of home ports relates to the awarding of charters to individual ships and the name of the ship. HMNZS Resolution had a charter with Gisborne, which gave permission for the ships company to conduct formal parades in the district.

Ships such HMNZS Otago and HMNZS Wellington would automatically have Dunedin and Wellington respectively as their home ports.

Commander Matt Wray, a Hydrographic Survey officer and the last Commanding Officer of HMNZS Resolution, said a ships visit to its home port was an occasion the ships company looked forward to.

Gisborne always made Resolution welcome and it is wonderful the Navy is reconnecting with the district after six years. I said to the Mayor, Meng Foon, when the Resolution had its last visit that the Navy wont forget Gisborne, Commander Wray said.

Its really pleasing for me to see our traditional link with Gisborne renewed with the hydrographic trade, and now the diving trade.

The Edda Fonn was chosen as the most suitable option from a list of 150 vessels reviewed.

The Ministry of Defence procurement team has had an excellent relationship with the owner, stensj Rederi AS, which will undertake the first RNZN-required modifications before the ship sails for New Zealand in March 2019.

Once commissioned in New Zealand, HMNZS Manawanui will have final modifications and be in service by November 2019. The budget for the project is $103 million.

Mr Mark described the vessel as a great addition to the RNZN, filling capability gaps in diving, salvage and hydrography.

It will be in service three years earlier than a purpose-built ship would have been."Building Emorys African American Collections: Highlights from the Curatorial Career of Randall K. Burkett, an exhibition opening Sept. 13 at Emorys Woodruff Library, will feature treasures from collections and Burketts stories of their discovery and acquisition.

In his 21 years at Emory University, Randall K. Burkett has been a driving force in acquiring African American collections of rare books, manuscripts, serials, photographs and print ephemera for the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library. A new exhibit, Building Emorys African American Collections: Highlights from the Curatorial Career of Randall K. Burkett, opens Sept. 13 at Emorys Woodruff Library, featuring treasures from those collections and Burketts stories of their discovery and acquisition.

We have one of the most extensive archives of African American history and culture among major research universities, Burkett says. "I've been fortunate to build relationships with wonderful peopleauthors, artists, leaders in their fields, and familieswho were looking to place their papers with a library that would preserve them and open them to academic researchers and the public. And that place is the Rose Library at Emory.

Hired in 1997 as Emorys first curator for African American collections, Burkett and his library colleagues sought to ensure the African American voice is represented in the librarys collections and have given priority to African American-authored and African American-published materials.

Randall Burkett is the consummate curatornot only in his own collecting, but also in amassing Emorys capstone collection of Black Print Culture, a field he helped pioneer, says Kevin Young, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and University Distinguished Professor at Emory.

Young, former curator of literary collections at Emorys Rose Library, says the impact of Burketts time at Emory is matched only by his expertise and good humor, all of which have helped make the archives more diverse and inviting.

Burkett played a key role in securing many important acquisitions, including the papers of Alice Walker and Pearl Cleage, historian Carter G. Woodson, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the extraordinary gift by Camille Billops and James Hatch of their priceless collection of rare books, manuscripts, photographs and oral histories documenting the African American experience that would otherwise be lost to history.

The Rose Librarys African American collections focus on six principal collecting areas: civil rights movements, black print culture, blacks and the Left, African American literature and the arts, expatriate literary and culture figures, and African Americans and sports.

Among the Rose Library materials highlighted in the exhibition:

Photos from the Langmuir African American Photograph Collection

A sword that belonged to William H. Scott

A signed Phillis Wheatley

An original copy of Walkers Appeal, in Four Articles: Together with a Preamble to the Colored Citizens of the World, by David Walker (Boston, 1829). This rare first edition of the most radical demand for freedom of enslaved Africans was formerly owned by W. E. B. Du Bois;

A crystal ball and a handwritten page of spells from the papers of Mamie Wade Avant

A ticket stub to the historic fight between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling on June 22, 1938.

The Langmuir collection changed the trajectory of my teaching and my scholarship, says Kimberly Wallace-Sanders, associate professor of American and African American Studies at Emory. Sometimes my students pointed out details in the photographs that I had not noticed before and that was wonderful! Having unlimited access to the digital collection was an amazing experience for me as a researcher."

The Schatten Gallery is on Level 3 of the Woodruff Library, which is located on the Emory University campus at 540 Asbury Circle in Atlanta, 30322. Parking is available in the Fishburne deck.- Heart Evangelista shared that she has been working on her own clothing line

- She revealed that shes been working for it for a long time now

- The Kapuso actress has recently became Seqouia Paris endorser

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed

Want a taste of Heart Evangelistas fashion sense? The Kapuso actress and fashion inspiration, has confirmed that she has been working on her own clothing line for a long time now.

On Instagram, Heart created a question-and-answer spree with her fans.

A netizen asked Heart if she has plans on having her own clothing line. The netizen said, Will you consider creating a clothing line? We all need a sense of your style,

To which Heart replied with, YesIve been working on it for a really long time now,

Photo grabbed from Heart Evangelista's Instagram stories

This is a great news for those who want to step up their fashion game.

In a previous post by KAMI, Heart has revealed that she became Sequoia Paris new brand endorser. Sequoia is a French brand which specializes in luxurious bags.

In addition, Heart was spotted hanging out with Crazy Rich Asians author, Kevin Kwan, in Paris. In the best-selling authors Crazy Rich Couture' feature in Harper Bazaar, he included Heart and invited her to the Paris couture week.

According to Kwan, Heart Evangelista is really the darling of the Philippines,

POPULAR: Read more about Heart Evangelist here!

Try Not To Get Scared Challenge: Can YOU handle it? Do you like watching scary movies or is it something you would rather avoid at all costs? Today, these brave strangers from The Philippines are watching Attic Panic. Some of these individuals are braver than others. Watch this adult reaction and find out.  on KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: Kami.com.ph- It has been recently reported that Sheena Halili just got engaged

- Her celebrity friends Maine Mendoza, Chariz Solomon and Arny Ross congratulated her

- They even enjoyed the party right after the engagement

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed

After her romantic engagement, Kapuso actress and StarStruck alumna Sheena Halili has been congratulated by her celebrity friends.

In a tweet by Dabarkads Maine Mendoza, she said, Congratulations, friend! I am SOOOOO happy for you! This is it!!!! I pray nothing but the best for you and Jeron. Stay happy, @mysheenahalili!

Maine and Sheena worked together in the teleserye Destined To Be Yours and started to be friends since then.

In a series of photos Arny posted on Facebook, Sheenah along with her fiance and friends, had a party for their engagement.

Even Bubble Gang stars Arny Ross and Chariz Solomon were very happy for the newly engaged couple.

In a recent post by KAMI, Sheena Halili has recently been engaged to her boyfriend, Atty. Jeron Manzanero. Their romantic engagement happened at Promenade Theater Mall.

POPULAR: Read more about Sheena Halili here!

Using free basics app to access internet for free? Now you can read KAMI news there too. Use the search option to find us. Read KAMI news while saving your data!

Try Not To Get Scared Challenge: Can YOU handle it? Do you like watching scary movies or is it something you would rather avoid at all costs? Today, these brave strangers from The Philippines are watching Attic Panic. Some of these individuals are braver than others. Watch this adult reaction and find out.  on KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel!

Source: Kami.com.phMore than 850,000 foreign tourists visited Kyiv in the first half of 2018 against 660,000 tourists over the same period in 2013.

Head of Kyiv City State Administration's (KCSA) tourism department Anton Taranenko says the number of foreign tourists visiting the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv has grown significantly since 2013.

Read alsoNumber of foreign tourists visiting Kyiv almost doubles in three years

"This year we've reached the figure reported in 2013, the peak of the tourist season in Ukraine. After [UEFA] Euro 2012, the country and the city became the most popular destination for European tourists. A record number of foreign tourists was registered then, that is 1.8 million, and about 2.5 million domestic tourists. Now, we have more than 850,000 foreign tourists in the first half of 2018 against 660,000 tourists [over the same period] in 2013. So, we believe that this year we will either reach the indicators of 2013, or even exceed them," he said at a briefing on August 27.

According to the official, the flow of tourists increased this summer, setting a record over the past four years.

"This summer, the situation in hotels and other establishments of the hospitality sector is much better than in the past years. The hotel occupancy rate from May to September is 45-50% on the average. Hostels and three-star hotels are filled approximately by 90%, while the occupancy of four-star hotels is 65-70%. At the same time, six five-star hotels are filled by 50-55% on the average. This is indicative in recent years. We can state the fact that there are much more tourists this year," he said.

Taranenko added that a traditional business travel season begins in Kyiv in September.

"Ordinary tourists come from May to October, whereas business tourists travel from September to May," the Kyiv official said.

According to Taranenko, tourists are mostly traveling from Belarus through Kyiv to the Black Sea coast in Odesa (Zatoka) and Kherson regions.

"The number of tourists from Israel grows every year. Thanks to the re-launch of cruise services in Kyiv, they are coming from the U.S. and Germany. Turkey is in the top five countries. The tourist flow from Italy, France, and Great Britain is growing as well," Taranenko added.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the capital over the past year received almost UAH 25 million (US$897,666) in tourist fee. Given the increased number of tourists, the city is expected to receive UAH 30 million (about $1 million) in tourist fee this year, Taranenko said.British Prime Minister, Theresa May, will this week make her first visit to Nigeria, as part of efforts aimed at boosting post-Brexit trade ties.



May, joined by several ministers and 29 business representatives from various industries, will also visit South Africa and Kenya during the three-day trip, Downing Street said Monday.



She will be the first British prime minister to set foot in Kenya since Margaret Thatcher in 1988.



"As we prepare to leave the European Union, now is the time for the UK to deepen and strengthen its global partnerships," May said in a statement.



"Africa stands right on the cusp of playing a transformative role in the global economy," she added.



"As longstanding partners, this trip is a unique opportunity at a unique time for the UK to set out our ambition to work even closer together."



The delegation will land in Cape Town on Tuesday, where May will meet South African President Cyril Ramaphosa as well as business leaders and young people.



She will use a speech on the opening day to set out how Britain can bolster its partnership with Africa, "particularly by bringing the transformative power of private sector trade and investment from the UK", her office said.



May will present Ramaphosa with the bell from the troopship Mendi, which sank in the English Channel in 1917 drowning more than 600 mainly South African troops set to join the Allied forces fighting in World War I.



It was the worst maritime disaster in the African country's history, and has become a symbol of its WWI remembrance.



The prime minister is also expected to visit Robben Island where former president Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for decades to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth.



May will then head to Nigeria on Wednesday for meetings with President Muhammadu Buhari in the capital, Abuja and later on, visit Lagos.



On Thursday she will meet Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, shortly after his return from seeing US President Donald Trump in Washington and before he travels to China to meet President Xi Jinping.



The prime minister will then see British troops in training action and tour a business school, before concluding the trip at a state dinner hosted by Kenyatta.



Among those joining May are representatives of the London Stock Exchange, the Scotch Whisky Association and manufacturing firm JCB.









CHANNELS TVFather Charged with Murder for Crash that Killed Young Daughter

A Lancaster father has been charged with driving under the influence when he crashed, killing his 4-year-old daughter and injuring his two other children, the Los Angeles County District Attorneys Office announced.

Kendrick Trevon Harris (dob 9/27/89) faces one count of murder, two counts each of driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage causing injury and driving with a .08 percent blood alcohol content causing injury and three counts of child abuse.

Deputy District Attorney Alberto Jimenez said charges include allegations that Harris caused great bodily injury to one child and willfully caused and permitted another child to suffer great bodily harm and death.

Arraignment was scheduled today but continued to Sept. 25 in Department A01 of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Antelope Valley Branch. Case MA074251 was filed on July 10.

The defendant was allegedly driving under the influence with his children ages 4, 5 and 9 in the back seat of the vehicle on July 3, the prosecutor said. At the intersection of Avenue K and 20th Street East, Harris crashed into a pole, killing victim Kilee H.

His two other children were injured but survived, the prosecutor added.

Bail is set at $2.25 million. Harris faces a possible maximum sentence of 15 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged.

The case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, Lancaster Station.

ADVERTISEMENTNNPA Official Statement on the Passing of Senator John McCain

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) extends sincerest condolences to the family of Senator John McCain. Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr, President and CEO of the NNPA emphasized, John McCains integrity and courage were his greatest virtues. His national leadership example is still needed today not only in the U.S. Senate, but also in every state, city and town across America.

Dorothy Leavell, Chairman of the NNPA and publisher of the Crusader Newspapers, stated, The death of Senator John McCain reminds us that none of us are immortal, but his life was one of service and love for his country. Giving of ones service until the end speaks volumes of his integrity and he fulfilled the call from our maker to be of service to others.

Cloves Campbell III, former Chairman of the NNPA and publisher of the Arizona Informant observed, Senator John McCain will be remembered in the African American community of Arizona as a national statesman who grew and evolved particularly in his later years as an elected official who transcended partisan politics and who eventually did what he thought was the right thing to do rather than to be confined to political party loyalty. That is why he voted pivotally to save the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) at a time when most Republicans were voting to end the ACA.

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His acts of service in war, where he was held captive, and then at home, was one of dignity, respect and care in the United States Senate far surpassing many others in similar circumstances, concluded Leavell.

Above all, he put partisanship aside to make decisions that were in the best interest of all of the citizens of the United States and usually without much fanfare. We shall remember him and miss his brand of high character in the Senate. We add our condolences to his family and our country as a whole. Rest in peace (RIP) dear Senator.Photo of the Day: Real Life Hidden Figure Katherine Johnson Turns 100, Honored with Statue

NSTITUTE, W.Va. (AP)  West Virginia State University has honored NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson with a bronze statue and scholarship dedication on the eve of her 100th birthday.

Six of Johnsons grandchildren revealed the statue during a ceremony Saturday on the West Virginia State campus in Institute.

Today the University community gathered to dedicate a statue and scholarship in honor of our amazing alum Katherine Johnson. The statue will serve as a source of inspiration to current and future students of all that is possible through dedication, hard work and perseverance. pic.twitter.com/iFOqxnr1eH  WV State University (@WVStateU) August 25, 2018

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The university also awarded a scholarship in Johnsons name to two students majoring in science, technology, engineering and math.

Johnson turned 100 on Sunday. She graduated from the school in 1937 at age 18 with bachelors degrees in mathematics and French.

Johnson and three other women crunched numbers at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. They worked in the pre-computer age, calculating rocket trajectories and orbits for the earliest American space flights.

Johnson was featured in the book and 2016 film Hidden Figures.Prosecutors Against Gun Violence Co-Chairs to Congress: Address Dangerous Downloadable 3D Printed Guns Now

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., co-chairs of Prosecutors Against Gun Violence, today released the following joint statement urging Congress to take action to stop the proliferation of downloadable guns:

The Trump Administrations decision to grant a private company the ability to distribute downloadable, do-it-yourself 3D gun code online poses a highly disturbing threat to public safety. As time is of the essence, we call upon Congress to act immediately to overturn this grievous decision.

There is legislation to address downloadable guns waiting for action in Congress. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL-22) have introduced a bill (S. 3304/H.R. 6649) that would make it illegal for anyone to upload 3D-printable gun code. And Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI-1) have introduced legislation (S. 3300/H.R. 6643) to bar anyone from making a 3D-printed gun

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If this administration refuses to act to keep untraceable, 3D-printed firearms out of the hands of people with dangerous histories, Congress must step up and enact commonsense legislation to do just that. The threat of 3D-printed guns to public safety and law enforcement is too great. We cannot stand idly by and allow untraceable and easily undetectable weapons to proliferate in our communities. Congress must act now.WATCH: Mourners Begin to Say GoodBye to Aretha Franklin

DETROIT  The regal presence Aretha Franklin exuded in life was captured at her viewing on Tuesday, with the late Queen of Soul in a gold-plated casket dressed completely in red, including high-heeled pumps, proving, as one person put it, that she was a diva to the end.

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As Franklins powerful vocals from classic gospel performances were piped through the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer looked as if she was preparing for one more performance. She wore earrings, red lipstick and red nail polish, and her hair was cut short. Her dress  with its ornamental elements and sheer netting fabric  was reminiscent of an outfit she would wear onstage and something she would have selected for herself, her niece, Sabrina Owens, told The Associated Press.

Photo Credit: The Associated PressJapan and China are expected to discuss reinstating their currency swap pact at their financial dialogue to be held in Beijing on Friday, informed sources said Tuesday.

The two countries will also exchange opinions on the intensifying trade row between the United States and China, the sources said.

The Japan-China financial dialogue will be the first since May 2017. The upcoming talks will be attended by Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso and his Chinese counterpart, Liu Kun, among other participants.

The meeting is apparently intended to lay the groundwork as well for a summit between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping that may take place in October.

In their talks held in Tokyo in May, Abe and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang agreed to bring back the two countries' currency swap pact at an early date.From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

Scientists in Australia say they have developed the worlds first blood test to find a deadly skin cancer in its early stages. They say the test could save thousands of lives each year.

Currently, to check for all kinds of skin cancers, doctors examine or remove a small piece of patients skin. But researchers say the new blood test can detect one of the deadliest kinds of skin cancer, melanoma, sooner than other methods.

In a trial involving about 200 people, the blood test found early stages of melanoma in more than 80 percent of cases.

Professor Mel Ziman is the leader of the Melanoma Research Group at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia. Her group conducted this trial.

If a thin melanoma is identified early and its removed, you have a 98 to 99 percent chance of five to ten years survival.

Researchers explain that the sooner doctors find melanoma, the better. They say that if a thin melanoma is identified early and removed, patients have a 98 to 99 percent chance of surviving for the next five to ten years.

However, survival rates from melanoma drop sharply if the skin cancer is in later stages and has spread to other organs.

What is melanoma?

The World Health Organization says about 132,000 people are diagnosed with melanoma every year. Australia and New Zealand have the highest rates.

The website for the Melanoma Institute Australia says that in 2014, more than 1,400 Australians died from melanoma. And in 2017, that number rose to more than 1,800.

How do we get melanoma?

We get melanoma mainly by exposure to ultraviolet radiation. Patients often have had a lot of exposure to the sun and a history of sunburn.

On its website, the WHO says decreasing ozone levels is making the problem worse. The site adds that "as the atmosphere loses more and more of its protective filter ... and more solar UV radiation reaches the Earth's surface, more people will get skin cancer."

How does the blood test work?

The new blood test works by detecting something called auto-antibodies. The website for the National Cancer Institute in the United States defines auto-antibody as an antibody made against substances formed by a persons own body. The body naturally forms auto-antibodies when cancerous cells start to appear.

In a statement to the press, Ziman explains that with melanoma, the human body makes these auto-antibodies very early. She says the new blood test takes advantage of that fact. However, she warns, melanoma is very hard to diagnose.

Researchers are planning more tests for the Australian blood test. They say they hope to improve its accuracy to 90 percent. The blood test could be available within five years.

Researchers have said the test will not detect other types of skin cancers. It will only find melanoma.

Other health experts say the results of the trial should be considered with care. They urge people to keep checking their skin for early signs of skin cancer.

Ziman says she hopes the new blood test will lead to more people checking their skin. She says that if the new blood test is available at a persons yearly check-up, patients might get skin examinations more often. And more examinations might lead to more early detections of melanoma.

So thats what we are hoping to achieve is that people will feel more comfortable going for skin checks. So, it will just up the number of people that are aware and able to get their melanoma identified earlier."

And that's the Health & Lifestyle report. I'm Anna Matteo.

Phil Mercer reported this story for VOA News in Sydney. Anna Matteo adapted it for Learning English, using other news articles as well as several health and cancer-related websites. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor.

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Quiz - New Blood Test Finds Deadly Skin Cancer Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

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Words in This Story

detect  v. to discover or notice the presence of (something that is hidden or hard to see, hear, taste, etc.)

trial  n. a test of the quality, value, or usefulness of something

diagnose  v. to recognize a disease, illness, etc., in (someone)

ultraviolent  adj. used to describe rays of light that cannot be seen and that are slightly shorter than the rays of violet light

radiation  n. energy that comes from a source in the form of waves or rays you cannot see

ozone  n. a form of oxygen that is found in a layer high in the earth's

take advantage of  verbal phrase to use to advantage : profit by

accuracy  n. freedom from mistake or errorPope Francis said Sunday that he had read the letter from a former Vatican official that calls for the Roman Catholic Church leaders resignation. However, the Pope told reporters he would not say a single word about the letters contents. He said the letter speaks for itself.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano wrote the 11-page document and had released it to Catholic media groups earlier in the day Sunday.

In the letter, Vigano accuses Pope Francis of having known for years about sex abuse reports involving former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of the United States.

Last month, the Pope accepted McCarricks resignation following the release of evidence that he had abused a child. It was the first resignation of a Cardinal in connection with sex abuse claims.

Vigano wrote that the Pope must acknowledge his mistakes. He also said Francis should resign to honor the Churchs policy of rejecting abuse or hiding of abuse.

Vigano served as the Vatican Ambassador to the United States from 2006 to 2011. He said he told Francis about the accusations against McCarrick in June 2013.

Vigano wrote that the current Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, also received information from the Vatican about McCarrick. Wuerls spokesman denied the accusation.

The letter was released during the Popes two-day trip to Ireland. Pope Francis opened a service Sunday in Dublin by asking for forgiveness for the scandal and betrayal felt by victims of sex abuse by Catholic clergy.

Organizers had been expecting a crowd of 500,000 people, but only about 200,000 gathered. Among them were protesters of the Catholic Church. Demonstrator Maggie Lawler expressed dissatisfaction with the Popes message.

Apologies don't really go far enough. There needs to be accountability. People need to answer questions, they need to stand up, be responsible for their actions.

Protester Elaine Murphy agreed with Lawler. She described Francis apology Sunday as empty.

The Pope also met privately in Ireland with a group of abuse victims.

Im Caty Weaver.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

acknowledge - v. to say that you accept or do not deny the truth or existence of (something)

scandal - n. an occurrence in which people are shocked and upset because of behavior that is morally or legally wrong

American Senator John McCain will be buried at the U.S. Naval Academy where he began his military service more than 60 years ago.

The former Navy pilot, prisoner of war, congressman, presidential candidate and senator died at the age of 81 after a yearlong battle with brain cancer.

A private burial service next Sunday will bring to a close nearly a week of events to honor McCain.

McCain will lie in state Wednesday at the Capitol building of his home state Arizona. A funeral will be held Thursday. Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will speak at the service.

On Friday, McCain will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol, where the public can pay their respects. On Saturday, his body will pass the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and arrive for a funeral at the Washington National Cathedral.

Former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the two men who defeated McCain in his campaigns for the presidency, are expected to speak at the service.

McCain-Trump clashes

U.S. President Donald Trump is not expected to attend any of the services. Two administration officials told the Associated Press that McCains family had asked Trump not to attend.

McCain and Trump had clashed several times in the past.

In 2015, as a presidential candidate, Trump questioned McCains public image as a war hero who was imprisoned by the North Vietnamese. Trump said, Hes not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who werent captured.

McCain later condemned Trumps policy toward Russia. He called Trumps joint press conference earlier this year in Finland with Russian President Vladimir Putin one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.

The Washington Post reported that Trump rejected the publication of a statement members of his administration wrote to praise McCain. The president sent out a Tweet instead. It said, My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you.

The American flags at the White House were lowered to half-staff to honor McCain. That means the flags were lowered to half of the usual height.

The U.S. Flag Code notes that flags are to be lowered to half-staff on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress. However, presidents often sign proclamations to extend that period of time.

By Monday morning, the flags at the White House were back to full-staff. A leading veterans group sharply criticized the move.

Later in the day, Trump released a statement.

It read, I respect Senator John McCains service to our country and, in his honor, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment.

Worldwide tributes

Words honoring McCain came in from around the world.

From Vietnam, Tran Trong Duyet said, When I learnt about his death early this morning, I feel very sad. I would like to send condolences to his family. I think its the same feeling for all Vietnamese people as he has greatly contributed to the development of Vietnam-U.S. relations. Duyet ran the prison that kept McCain after his plane was shot down over Hanoi during the Vietnam War.

Many Vietnamese paid respects to the senator at the U.S. Embassy. They included Vietnams Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh. Others left flowers at Truc Bach Lake where McCain crashed his plane.

French President Emmanuel Macron commented on Twitter. He said that McCain was a true American hero. He devoted his entire life to his country.

Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, praised McCains support for the Jewish state. He said, it came from his belief in democracy and freedom.

And Germanys chancellor, Angela Merkel, called McCain a tireless fighter for a strong trans-Atlantic alliance. His significance went well beyond his own country.

Im Ashley Thompson.

Hai Do adapted this story for VOA Learning English from AP News stories. Mario Ritter was the editor.

Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

proclamation - n. an official statement or announcement made by a person in power or by a government

interment - n. the act of burying a dead person

condolences n. expressions of sympathy and sadness especially when someone has suffered the death of a family member or friend

contribute v. to help to cause something to happen

devoted adj. to have a strong love or loyalty for something or someone

entire adj. complete or full: not lacking or leaving out any part

significance - n. the quality of having notable worth or influenceUnited Nations investigators are accusing the military in Myanmar of carrying out numerous crimes last year during its campaign against Rohingya Muslims.

Myanmars armed forces carried out mass killings and rapes of Rohingya with genocidal intent, the U.N. investigators said. They added that the commander-in-chief and five generals should be tried under international law for the most serious crimes.

In a report, they urged the U.N. Security Council to set up a court to try suspects or send their cases to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. They said that the Security Council should restrict arms to Myanmar and order targeted sanctions to punish individuals most responsible for crimes.

The investigators blamed Myanmars de facto leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, for failing to use her moral authority to protect civilians. They said her government was partly to blame for the crisis. It accused the government of letting hate speech continue, destroying documents and failing to protect minorities from crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The report also criticized Facebook for letting the worlds largest social media business be used to spread violence and hatred. The company reacted on Monday by announcing that it was blocking 20 Myanmar officials and groups found by the U.N. to have committed or enabled serious human rights abuses.

A military spokesman, Major General Tun Tun Nyi, said he could not immediately comment on the U.N. report. He spoke to the Reuters news agency. The Myanmar government was sent a copy of the report before it was made public.

One year ago, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attacked 30 Myanmar police stations and a military base. To answer the attacks, government troops launched operations against suspected rebels and their supporters in Rakhine state. About 700,000 Rohingya fled the area to escape the violence. Most are now living in refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh.

The U.N. report said the military action, which included setting fire to villages, was disproportionate to actual security threats.

The U.N. panel said the crimes were similar in nature to genocidal crimes in other countries.

Myanmars government has rejected most claims of violence made against the security forces by refugees. The government has built centers to help refugees return to the country, but U.N. aid agencies say it is not yet safe for them to do so.

Moral authority

The United Nations defines genocide as acts meant to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group in whole or in part. Such a designation is rare, but has been used in countries such as Bosnia, Rwanda and Sudan.

The U.N. panel also said there was enough information to support the investigation and prosecution of senior officials in the (army) to determine if they were responsible for a genocide.

The head of the panel is Marzuki Darusman of Indonesia. He said that the commander-in-chief of Myanmars military, Min Aung Hlaing, should resign until there is an investigation into his part in the violence.

The list of generals also includes Brigadier-General Aung Aung, commander of the 33rd Light Infantry Division, which directed operations in the village of Inn Din, where 10 Rohingya captive boys and men were killed.

Those killings were discovered by two Reuters reporters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. They were arrested last December by the government for violating Myanmars Official Secrets Act.

A ruling in their trial was expected on Monday, but has been postponed until September 3.

In April, seven soldiers were sentenced to 10 years in prison for taking part in the Inn Din killings.

Oppression from birth to death

The U.N. investigators spoke with 875 suspected victims and witnesses in Bangladesh and other countries. They examined documents, videos and satellite images.

Years of state-sponsored discrimination against Rohingya had resulted in oppression from birth to death, the report said.

The Rohingya see themselves as native to Rakhine state. They are considered migrants by Myanmars Buddhist majority and are denied citizenship.

In March, the panels members had accused Facebook of permitting it to be used to support violence. The report said the social media company should have acted quicker.

On Monday, Facebook said in a statement: The ethnic violence in Myanmar has been truly horrific. Earlier this month, we shared an update on the steps were taking to prevent the spread of hate and misinformation on Facebook.

Im Jonathan Evans.

The Reuters news agency reported this story. Susan Shand adapted the report for VOA Learning English. The editor was George Grow.

Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

intent  n. the thing that you plan to do or achieve

sanctions  n. an action that is taken or an order that is given to force a country to obey international laws by limiting or stopping trade with that country, by not allowing economic aid for that country

de facto  adj. actual; in reality

authority  n. the power to influence opinions or behavior

disproportionate  adj. having or showing a difference that is not fair, reasonable, or expected

panel  n. a group of people who answer questions, give advice or opinions about something, or take part in a discussion for an audience

designation  n. the act of officially choosing someone or something to do or be something

migrant  n. someone who moves from place to place, usually to find work

update  n. current information; an up-to-date version or reportPlease enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue.

The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website:

We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service.Faced with plunging U.S. orders, surgical glove maker Ren Jiding is hunting for new markets amid Chinese government calls to reduce reliance on the United States. But none can absorb the 60 percent of his sales that went to American customers last year.

Other countries import much less than the United States, said Ren, a co-owner of Hongyeshangqin Medical Science and Technology Co., Ltd. in the eastern city of Zibo.

From medical products to smartphone chips to soybeans, Beijing is responding to President Donald Trumps tariff hikes by pushing companies to trade more with other countries. But there are few substitutes for the United States as an export market and source of technology for industries including telecom equipment makers Chinese leaders are eager to develop.

Beijing has announced tariff cuts and other changes while rejecting U.S. demands to scale back plans such as Made in China 2025, which calls for state-led creation of Chinese champions in robotics, biotech and other fields. American leaders say those violate Beijings market-opening promises and might erode U.S. industrial leadership.

The response highlights the cost the ruling Communist Party is willing to pay in lost sales and jobs to stick to plans that are fueling conflict with Washington, Europe and other trading partners.

China sees its technology and industrial policies as fundamental to its growth, Tianjie He of Oxford Economics said in an email. It is thus hard to see Chinas leadership committing to significant changes.

Trump has raised duties on a total of USD50 billion of Chinese imports including ultrasound scanners and industrial components that Washington says benefit from improper policies. China retaliated with similar penalties.

The U.S. is poised to raise duties on $200 billion of imports including the gloves made by Rens company. Beijing has issued a list of American goods for retaliation.

The impact on China is small and is containable, at least for the time being, said Vincent Chan of Credit Suisse. He said the worst case outlook if all threatened U.S. tariff hikes go ahead would cut Chinas growth by 0.2 percentage points this year and 1.3 percent in 2019.

Chinese leaders have tried to cushion the blow to their own economy by targeting American goods its importers can get from other countries  soybeans from Brazil, gas from Russia, cars from Germany and fish from Vietnam.

Beijing has promised to use revenue from the higher tariffs to help struggling exporters and has ordered banks to lend more freely to them.

The biggest jolt so far came from Beijings cancellation of orders for soybeans, the biggest American export to China at $21 billion last year. That hammered farm states that voted for Trump in the 2016 election. It also pushed up prices for Chinese farmers that use soybeans for animal feed and food processors that crush them for cooking oil.

That could be a windfall for Brazil. But China already is its top market and consumes two-thirds of the global supply. Chinese total imports last year of 95 million metric tons were 50 percent more than the South American giants entire exports.

The Chinese can talk all they want about finding other sources of soybeans, but 80 percent come from the United States, Brazil and Argentina, said Michael Cordonnier, president of Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc., a U.S. research firm.

If you want to import soybeans, it generally must be from one of those three countries, said Cordonnier in an email.

Regulators also cut import duties on automobiles on July 1 but raised them on vehicles from the United States. That helps luxury brands that import from Germany and Japan.

Replacing markets for Chinese exporters that support tens of millions of jobs will be harder.

The United States bought $430 billion of Chinas exports last year, or 20 percent of the $2.2 trillion total. The No. 2 market was the 28-nation European Union at $370 billion.

We cant afford to lose the U.S. market, said David Hu, general manager of Sinohood Bags Factory Ltd. in the southeastern city of Yiwu.

Americans bought 40 percent of his canvas tote bags last year, including the most profitable customized versions with Christmas and other designs.

What we export to Europe is lower-end products with lower prices, said Hu. We could explore the Indian, Vietnamese or Philippine markets. But the prices they offer would be too low.

Chinese officials point to potential markets in the Belt and Road, a multibillion-dollar initiative led by President Xi Jinping to boost trade by building ports, railways and other infrastructure across Asia to Europe.

That has brought a flood of contracts to Chinese state-owned builders but complaints about costs have hurt its appeal. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia announced this month the cancellation of plans for Chinese-built projects including a $20 billion rail line.

There is potential for development in areas such as central Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa and South America. But their problems are development imbalance and economic instability, said Li Yong, a senior fellow at the China Association of International Trade, an industry group.

Local officials have met with exporters to exhort them to diversify markets, according to the state press.

Authorities in the central city of Jingzhou visited exporters to help with customs forms, financing and other details, the website China Industry and Commerce News said.

Ren, the surgical glove maker, said his 300-employee company was looking at Europe and developing countries but demand was sluggish.

Some companies are confident of keeping their U.S. market share. That reflects the possible success of official efforts to develop higher-tech goods instead of competing on price alone.

The general manager of Yihua Electronic Equipment Co. in southern Chinas Guangdong said the tariffs should not affect sales of its digital soldering guns, one fifth of which are sold to the United States.

With the 25 percent tariffs, ours still are cheaper than similar German- or Japanese-made products, said the manager, who would give only his surname, Gou. We are not producing something like shoes and clothing that could be easily replaced.

Trumps pressure is likely to backfire by encouraging Beijing to throw even more resources at nurturing its own technology creators.

Chinas search for non-U.S. suppliers could help companies such as Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek Inc. But redesigning a phone or network gear and then gaining regulatory and customer approval can take a minimum of three to five years.

For now, said He of Oxford Economics, China remains technologically dependent on the U.S. Joe McDonald, Beijing, APThe Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) 2018/2019 Degree Program Student Orientation Ceremony was held last week.

President of IFT, Fanny Vong, welcomed 512 new students. Career opportunities in tourism and hospitality continue to expand. The tourism industry is growing worldwide and that translates into rewarding careers, particularly in Asia, Vong said in her speech. In China, the soon-to-be unveiled development plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area will play a pivotal role in unlocking even greater tourism growth.

In addition, IFT held its first national flag raising ceremony on campus to strengthen the sense of national identity and foster the love for the motherland. More than 400 participants attended the ceremony, which was not mandatory.

On the sidelines of the ceremony, Vong said that IFT will launch its first masters degree in 2019.

All the designs for the masters degree in hospitality management are ready, and we will try to deliver the design to the relevant department as soon as possible. In 2019, we will launch our first masters degree, said Vong. The first masters degree will be a hospitality management degree. There is a huge demand for hospitality management. Macaus hotel industry is developing very well and there are many high-class management personnel. I believe that many people from the industry and from the society will be interested in this degree.

Besides planning to launch the masters degree in hospitality management, IFT also plans to launch a masters degree in cuisine.

Macau is a gastronomy city; besides [good food], Macau also needs to do research about cuisine, said Vong.

Previously, IFT had offered cuisine courses. According to Vong, these courses have been popular.

This year, students who have been admitted to the courses have performed very well in both their graduate exams and college entrance exams. I am really confident in those students who are majoring in cuisine, said Vong.

The IFT president said that these students are in high demand by local companies.

Regarding the masters degree in cuisine, Vong said that each class plans to accept 25 to 30 students.

The cuisine masters degree will not focus on cooking skills but cooking related theories.

The masters degree in cuisine does not talk about the practice, but it is more about the theory, said Vong.

In addition, the IFT president said that the institute is currently looking for a place near the old campus of the University of Macau to open a cuisine center.

Conman spends millions on gambling hubs

A former professional poker player will face a 12 year prison sentence over his participation in a fraud of AUD76 million, in which millions were spent on gambling junkets in Las Vegas and Macau.

The court described the offences of convicted conman Bill Jordanou as prolonged fraud of breath-taking proportions.

The 60-year-old will serve nine years before he is eligible for parole.

His co-accused, Robert Zaia, 54, was also sentenced after pleading guilty to the massive scam, which involved the use of fraudulent documents to obtain loans on behalf of clients, usually for property developments.

A report issued by the Sydney Morning Herald stated that the funds were siphoned from clients accounts without their consent and transferred between accounts to avoid suspicion.

Police have been unable to trace most of the money that had been stolen, yet they noted that millions were spent on jewelry, luxury cars and on gambling junkets in the gambling hubs Las Vegas and Macau, among others.

Australias Commonwealth Bank approved over AUD58 million in fraudulent loans. Although they were aware of the scam in 2007, the case was only referred to the police in 2011.The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Macau), Luso Bank, and the Bank of China, Macau Branch will distribute special bonds worth 5 billion renminbi (RMB) issued by the government of Guangdong Province.

A statement from the Macao Monetary Authority (AMM) said the bonds will also be marketed by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Bank of China, the Agricultural Bank of China and the China Construction Bank, all from mainland China, which will later launch products for management of personal fortunes among Macau residents.

The Land Reserve Special Bond for the Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau Greater Bay Area, launched on 16 August, are the first project in which institutions financial institutions from Macau are involved in distributing local bonds from the Chinese mainland.

According to the AMM, the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) is also the first region outside mainland China, with local financial institutions involved in the distribution of this type of bonds for cities in China.

In the future, the three banking institutions from Macau will market these bonds to the residents of Macau in the form of wealth management products, thus allowing residents to participate in the Guangdong  Hong Kong-

Macau Greater Bay investment projects.

The funds raised will be used for projects of the Land Reserve of the Guangdong  Hong Kong-

Macau area in the cities of Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan and Zhongshan.

Macaus financial institutions invested in the bonds following the establishment of the Guangdong-Macau Cooperation and Development Fund in May of this year. MDT/MacauhubMalaysian police authorities formally charged billionaire fugitive businessman Jho Low with money laundering on Friday, saying that the charges would facilitate his arrest overseas.

Simultaneously, a court in the country issued arrest warrants for both Low and his father, who are accused of being connected to the controversial 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal that saw billions of US dollars disappear.

Low now faces eight charges of money laundering while his father, Low Hock Peng, faces one.

The charges cover approximately USD260 million in funds that Low is accused of receiving between December 2013 and June 2014. His father is accused of transferring $56.5 million to his son in February 2014.

Each account of money laundering carries a maximum fine of approximately USD1.2 million, a jail term of up to five years, or both.

Low, who was last said to be seeking refuge in mainland China after fleeing Hong Kong and Macau in turn, has proved difficult to track down. Malaysian police authorities said on Friday that the charges would help pressure other countries into extraditing Low, but did not specify whether or not they were referring to mainland China.

Cited by the Wall Street Journal, a spokesperson for the Malaysian billionaire said that Low maintains his innocence. He is refusing to accept extradition back to Malaysia as it is where his guilt has been predetermined by politics and where he would not receive a fair trial.

Last week, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said that he believed Low was probably in China but admitted that he did not raise the issue during his recent state visit to Beijing.

Chinas Foreign Ministry said that they have no information on the case but were willing to cooperate with Malaysia on such judicial matters.

The 1MDB, a state development fund established in 2009, is embroiled in a scandal that saw billions of dollars go missing, and partly led to the downfall of the Malaysian government.Ostrich skin ready for tailoring, huge flat-screen TVs, Neo-Viagra and a cure for cancer? North Koreas official shoppers guide is glossy and full of testimonials from satisfied customers and phone and email contact information for the dozens of companies pitching their latest products  though good luck reaching any of them.

The 2018 Korea Commodities catalog, produced by the Norths Committee for the Promotion of International Trade, reflects a side of North Korea often lost in the shadow of its nuclear weapons. Leader Kim Jong Un and many other North Koreans firmly believe their country needs to make more and better consumer goods and sell them to the outside world if it is ever going to have a strong  or even sustainable  economy.

More goods with the made in North Korea label are available than ever before, though international sanctions mean most cant be sold abroad.

A look at what North Korea sees as some of its most promising products:

ENERGY DRINKS AND CHEESE-FLAVORED ESKIMO PIES

Coke and other foreign brands are relatively rare and expensive in North Korea.

But the O-Il General Processing Factory has tried to fill the gap.

A surprising amount of shelf space in Pyongyang grocery stores, and increasingly stores elsewhere, has been taken over by sugary soft drinks, much of which is produced by O-Il and other well-known brands. Air Koryo, the countrys flagship airline, also has its own line of drinks.

O-Il, which means May Day, has 12 pages in the 207-page 2018 commodity catalog introducing its line of nine energy drinks. Two are sold in plastic bottles shaped like barbells. A happy boy is shown lifting them over his head, while a rainbow-colored list of the drinks benefits includes the stimulation of growth in height and greater spiritual exertion.

O-il also produces dozens of yogurt and milk-flavored drinks, fruit juices, tea, jellies and dozens of flavors of ice cream cones, popsicles and ice cream sandwiches, collectively known here as Eskimo. Theres chocolate and strawberry, of course, but also cheese, fermented bean and lactobacilli. One of O-Ils latest offerings is Hydrogen Water, which it calls the wonder health water of the 21st century.

With an antioxidant power 176 times that of vitamin C, 431 times vitamin E and 863 times more than coenzyme Q10, its ad claims, the hydrogen water is effective in avoiding mental and physical fatigues, retarding the aging process, neutralizing all kinds of poisons, preventing radioactive and oxidant damages, improving immunity, fighting cancer and treating arteriosclerosis through purification of blood.

MIRACLE CURES FOR CANCER?

Traditional Koryo medicines dating to ancient times are widely used in North Korea, in part because of the scarcity of modern Western medicines, and have long been popular with Chinese tourists.

North Korea sees big potential for exports. Leading the charge is the Pugang Pharmaceutic Co., Ltd, a pioneer both in making health supplements and in using advertising to sell them, a tricky undertaking given that such capitalist practices are still officially frowned upon. Posters for its best-known product  Royal Blood-Fresh  can be seen in department stores in Pyongyang and at souvenir shops catering to foreigners. Its also featured in infomercials on Air Koryo flights from Beijing.

So what is it? According to the catalog, Royal Blood-Fresh is a supplement made primarily from beans thats recommended for long flights to help prevent or cure deep vein thrombosis. Posters targeting foreign tourists say, Fly safe with Royal Blood-Fresh and Who says you cant grow younger and cleverer?

Another heavily hyped supplement is Pugangs Kumdang-2 Injection, a vegetable-based medication its producer says is exported to a dozen countries. It caused a buzz in the Western media a few years ago when it was advertised as an effective treatment for both cancer and tuberculosis, with no side effects, no less.

Some of the best testimonials in the catalog come from the medicines section.

When I was diagnosed at the hospital, I knew I had a tumor of 34 centimeters in size in the left lung, reads a testimonial for the Tongbong Anticancer Drug by satisfied customer Ri Kum Jon, identified as a Pyongyang resident. After I took three cartons for three months my appetite returned to normal  and more  I got weight by 3 kilograms. The tumor was killed  I had cured cancer using the single remedy of Tongbong Anticancer Drug. It is the greatest of the elixirs that brings life back to people.

BOOM BOXES, CEMENT BAGS AND NANODIAMONDS

Sony, Samsung and Huawei dont need to lose any sleep over it, but North Korea has several brands of electronics.

The Hana Electronics Trading Co., which began in 2003 as a joint venture with Phoenix Commercial Ventures in Britain, is one of the best known. It is promoting karaoke boom-boxes, flat-screen TVs and DVD players. Other well-known brands, like Achim and Pyolmuri, are pitching TVs  3D compatibility appears to be a hot extra these days  along with laptops and tablets.

Its unclear if the products are fully produced in North Korea or just assembled and rebranded.

But they do basically work.

Some of the guidebooks ads  for bags of cement, for example, and medicinal stone tiles for use in saunas  are clearly directed at industrial buyers.

But it also has sections for lipsticks and skin creams by the Pyongyang Cosmetics Factory, lingerie from the Korea Ponghwa General Group, herbal toothpaste, brassware and Neo-Viagra-Y.R., which is touted as the best sexual function activator at the moment.

The Kangan Trading Co. is advertising nanodiamonds, useful for quantum computers and for chemotherapy.

Purity: 99-plus percent. Eric Talmadge, Pyongyang, APA local small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) that has been partnering with Sands China for some ten years has told of its massive growth and changes the local firm has undergone since its partnership with the gaming operator.

Digital Color Advertising & Production Co. Ltd., established in 1998, is a professional printing and advertising company, well-equipped with various types of large environmental format printers, along with large-scale cutters in a bid to maintain a fast and diversified service in a one-stop-shop to meet the needs of their clients.

The company  which currently has more than 30 full-time workers  provides services mainly in internal media production and service to SCL properties including light box films, wall banners, lamp posts, billboards and tower wraps, among many others.

With Sands Chinas commitment to supporting local enterprises, Patrick Wong, director of the local firm, explained how such assurance brought significant changes in terms of how his business ran.

Acquiring a series of referrals from the gaming operator, Wong remarked, we have benefited from these referrals and have seen our profits rise. We can contribute more by purchasing the right equipment to service promotion items for other enterprises.

According to Wong, along with the expansion of Sands China over the last decade, the local printing company has expanded its global vision in the business, seeing higher turnover.

That is why we have invested more to improve in our hardware and software, said the director.

We have globalized our vision [due to] the long-term business relationship that we have with Sands China, Wong remarked.

The company, which has increased its offices to three, has invested millions in eco-friendly printing machines, as inspired by Sands Chinas global sustainability strategy.

The local firm are keen to adhere to the companys environment standards.

We are always learning from Sands Chinas procurement team. We have received training to improve management skills and we follow Sands Chinas guidelines on corporate social responsibility, said Wong.

Thus, we offer good benefits to our staff and provide them with a better working environment. We bought environmentally-friendly printers instead of old style ones to also safe-guard their health, he added.

Supporting local SMEs is part of Sands Chinas supplier relationship management strategy. The strategy guides the companys long-standing effort to support local suppliers, whom it views as strategic partners.

Thus, the gaming operator offers selected companies a series of training courses, particularly to improve business management skills.

Wong recollected that Sands Chinas procurement team would regularly visit the office to maintain a close relationship with the local company.

They encouraged us to keep high standards in the company. The way we provide our services is similar to Sands China, which values and prioritize efficiency and quality, the director said.

Through the series of training courses and programs tailor-

made for SMEs, the company owner explained that Sands China services a platform to expand the horizons of SMEs in the city  giving them additional opportunities to reach out to other clients.

The array of programs benefit SMEs by giving them direct access to business opportunities with customers.

We usually cannot get in touch with overseas vendors but by participating in the events at The Venetian Macao, we can make contact with other companies, which allows us to expand our business, said Wong.

The director implied that he is willing to send more of his staff to attend the Sands Procurement Academy, which is specifically geared toward local SME enterprises.

With the academys tailor-made practical training modules that help develop suppliers by sharing business knowledge and skills, the director believed that such programs would significantly benefit his team members.

In the program, Sands China encourages them to gain experience and build capability to work with large-scale international organizations.

Our staff needs training not only for our company but also for our clients in order to meet their standards, Wong said.

The academys coursework is facilitated by lecturers with various areas of expertise, and covers seven topics: effective warehouse operations, quality assurance, logistics management, procurement processes and system overview, procurement contracts, supplier code of conduct, and 8D problem solving.

Wong also praised the gaming operators procurement team, highlighting that the team had encouraged the company to continually excel in the products and services they provide.

They have well-regulated policies and an organized team. We love working with them as they have such strong and good management, Wong said.

They have also helped us to learn about international regulations including compliance and similar matters, he added.

The SME  which only operated with three employees a decade ago  provides services to all Sands China properties and is looking forward to the gaming operators expansion with The Londoner.

This article is sponsored

by Sands China Ltd.Taipei MRT stations have begun to broadcast instructions in Japanese, an addition to Mandarin, English, the Taiwanese dialect and Hakka.

The Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation announced that Japanese will be added on the Taipei metro with a trial period at 13 stations near tourist hotspots, where passengers take elevators, escalators and trains.

Forty-seven percent of the 3.47 million Asian tourists that visit Taiwan each year come from Japan.

The next largest group of tourists come from Southeast Asia, at 14 percent, followed by Hong Kong and Macau at 11 percent, and South Korea at 8 percent.

Taiwans latest visitor statistics showed that there had been a decrease in the number of tourist arrivals from Hong Kong and Macau in May, which was down by 4.33 percent.

Currently, the Taipei Metro website provides information in Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean, while its MRT station ticket machines provide services in 11 languages, including Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, German, French, and Spanish.

Netizens on the popular Taiwanese online forum PTT were supportive about the news, yet others complained that having five languages made the announcements drag on for too long, as cited in Taiwan News.Thai authorities this week are expected to step up their investigation of a financial scam involving the alleged theft of about USD25 million worth of bitcoins from a Finnish investor who police say was bilked with promises of high returns from investments in a casino in Macau and in another cryptocurrency.

The case, which surfaced with the arrest in a shopping mall parking lot of a young soap opera actor suspected of colluding with his sister and brother, has prompted Thailands central bank to warn investors against bitcoin-related scams, underscoring the challenge for regulators trying to keep up with fast-growing cryptocurrency markets.

Police have issued arrest warrants for several other people, including actor Jiratpisit Jaravijits elder brother, Parinya Jaravijit, who has left the country. Police have indicated they will question more suspects this week. Yesterday, they questioned the siblings parents about money they had received in their bank accounts suspected of having come from the alleged scam. Jiratpisit turned himself in yesterday to formally hear fraud charges.

Court documents say the siblings and others are suspected of conspiring to commit fraud and engage in money laundering with 5,564.4 bitcoins  worth roughly USD25 million at the time  obtained from 22-year-old Finnish investor Aarni Otava Saarimaa.

The police arrest warrant says Saarimaa and a Thai business partner, Chonnikarn Kaewsalee, filed a complaint in January over having not received any return on the promised investment.

Saarimaa did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

According to court documents cited by Thai newspapers, Parinya Jaravijit and an associate convinced Saarimaa and his partner to transfer their bitcoins to an e-wallet of one of the suspects on several occasions, promising the funds would be invested in a company called Expay Software Co. and in a new cryptocurrency, called Dragon Coin, to be used at a casino in Macau.

The documents say that the three, along with a prominent local stock investor, were supposed to have formed a partnership.

Instead, the bitcoins were cashed into Thai baht and deposited into 51 bank accounts belonging to seven people, with some of the money used by the Jaravijits to buy land in and near Bangkok, the court documents say.

Police and financial documents showed that in some cases Saarimaa did gain ownership of shares in those companies. But he complained to police that he did not obtain the investments or returns promised to him. The status of the promised investments in Dragon Coin remains unclear.

The Thai government has stepped up efforts this year to control the largely unregulated field of digital currency.

In March, it enacted a decree aimed at imposing controls and stipulating rules on taxation of bitcoin transactions. But experts say there are loopholes and its been loosely enforced.

Anti-money laundering officials say bitcoin are attractive for scams because encrypted transactions can be hard to trace, although officials have emphasized that this case did not involve that kind of cybercrime.

In every investment, its very important to understand what type of asset you are investing in and what types of risks are associated with that asset, Veerathai Santiprahhob, Thailands central bank governor, told reporters after the case became public. Its crucial that anyone who wants to invest in high-risk assets such as digital currencies and bitcoin educate themselves and fully understand it. MDT/APFrench President Emmanuel Macron has called for trade discussions to be held between the U.S., Europe, China and Japan in November in Paris.

In a speech to French ambassadors yesterday, Macron said world trade rules arent currently working but unilateralism and trade war is the worst response.

He proposed to organize a meeting on the issue on the margins of World War One commemorations on Nov. 11 in Paris, since he has invited dozens of world leaders to the event including U.S. President Donald Trump, who said he would come.

I think we can build a fairer and more efficient system. I think we should not give in to ones hegemony and everyones division, Macron said in a reference to Trumps trade policies to impose tariffs on countries like China.President Donald Trump said he intends to terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement and call its replacement the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement  a name that would exclude the third NAFTA partner, Canada.

Trump made the comments after announcing an understanding with Mexico that could lead to an overhaul of the 24-year-old trade pact, which Trump has called a job-killing disaster.

Details of the U.S.-Mexico agreement were expected to be unveiled today [Macau time].

The president says he will be calling Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trump says, If theyd like to negotiate fairly, well do that. He also threatened to tax Canadian auto imports to increase the pressure on Canadas government.

Trump says: We could have a separate deal [with Canada] or we could put it into this deal.

U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lightizer and Mexican Secretary of Economy Idelfonso Guajardo walked together into the White House without talking to reporters. The delegation also included Jesus Seade, a World Trade Organization veteran tapped by Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as his future chief trade negotiator.

A big deal looking good with Mexico! Trump tweeted yesterday. Earlier, Guajardo told reporters, There is one very important issue to finish.

U.S. and Mexican negotiators worked over the weekend to narrow their differences.

There likely will be a deal today, said Daniel Ujczo, a trade attorney with Dickinson Wright PLLC who has followed the NAFTA talks closely.

Once they reach an agreement, the third country in NAFTA  Canada  would be brought back in to finalize a revamp of the 24-year-old pact. But the countries still must resolve difficult issues, including U.S. complaints about Canadas protection for its dairy farmers and the way disputes are resolved under NAFTA.

Adam Austen, a spokesman for Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, said: Canada is encouraged by the continued optimism shown by our negotiating partners. Progress between Mexico and the United States is a necessary requirement for any renewed NAFTA agreement.

Austen said the Canadians had been regular contact with the NAFTA negotiators.

We will only sign a new NAFTA that is good for Canada and good for the middle class, he said, adding that Canadas signature is required.

NAFTA reduced most trade barriers between the three countries. But Trump and other critics say it encouraged U.S. manufacturers to move south of the border to exploit low-wage Mexican labor.

Talks to overhaul the agreement began a year ago and have proven contentious.The Trump administration wants a higher percentage of auto production to come from within the NAFTA bloc before qualifying for duty-free status.

Talks have also been stymied by the Trump administrations insistence on a sunset clause that would end NAFTA in five years unless all three countries agreed to continue it. APA

top Chinese leader has called for advancing anti-separatism efforts in Tibet, in a sign of continued high-pressure tactics in the Himalayan region.

Wang Yang, the ruling Communist Partys No. 4 ranking official, was quoted yesterday in state media as stressing the importance of tight control over Tibets Buddhist institutions, urging preparedness and precautions for danger in times of safety.

Religious figures must be courageous to battle all separatist elements in the name of preserving national unity and social stability, Wang was quoted as saying in Tibets regional capital of Lhasa during a visit there on Sunday.

Beijings forces occupied Tibet shortly after the 1949 communist revolution and security there has been ratcheted up significantly in the decade since anti-government protests spread through Tibetan areas in 2008.

The tactics in Tibet are largely aimed at reducing the influence of the regions spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India. China claims Tibet has been part of its territory for more than seven centuries and regards the Dalai Lama as a dangerous separatist.

Many Tibetans insist they were essentially independent for much of that time.

Wang has broad responsibility for religious policy as head of the governments top political advisory body. In his comments Sunday, he also echoed Beijings calls for the sinicization of religion, shorthand for adherence to the dictates of the officially atheist party.

Among recent tightening security measures in Tibet, students were required to sign agreements to not take part in any form of religious activity during the summer school holidays.

Young Tibetan monks have also reportedly been forced to leave one of the biggest monasteries in a Tibetan region of western China as part of a drive to replace monastic life with secular education.

Recent months have also seen sweeping crackdowns on traditional Muslim culture among the Uighur ethnic minority group in the northwestern region of Xinjiang and among Christians in eastern China. APThe Kuwaiti Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has warned that sanctions may befall private carrier Wataniya Airways by September 6 if the airline does not improve its services after customers repeatedly complained about flights delays and cancellations.

The DGCA threatened to revoke the airlines license if the company fails to address complaints.

The warnings came Sunday after lawmakers and the Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheik Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah sounded the alarm when the airline passengers were stranded Saturday in Istanbul, Baku, and Sarajevo over lack of aircrafts, Gulf Business reports.

The Crown Prince on Saturday evening instructed the government to fly back home citizens affected by Wataniya flights cancellations. The lawmakers on Sunday requested explanation for the cancellations and demanded compensation for affected passengers, according to the media.

The airline argued that it was short of aircrafts in view of a larger summer rush for flights than expected. It however reassured the DGCA that it will amend the situation.

Wataniya Airways returned to business in July 2017 following a six-year hiatus. The firm currently operates four A320 family aircraft on routes that cross the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe.

In July, it signed, via its exclusive aircraft provider Golden Falcon Aviation, an order of 25 Airbus A320neo jets worth around $2.8bn at list prices.Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A trio of researchers from Beijing Normal University, Yale University and Peking University has found a link between air pollution and human cognitive decline. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Xin Zhang, Xi Chen, and Xiaobo Zhang outline their study and what they found.

Most everyone knows that air pollution can cause physical ailments, particularly those associated with the lungs, but new evidence suggests it can also cause mental harm. In this new effort, the researchers have built on the findings of other studies that have suggested air pollution can cause cognitive decline.

The study by the trio consisted of carrying out math and verbal testing of 25,000 people living in 162 counties in China and then comparing those results with air pollution conditions. The researchers noted that the tests were given to people of both genders from teens to geriatrics.

In looking at their results the researchers report finding that the higher the levels of pollution the lower the test scores as people grew older. They note that the biggest impact was on males, especially those with less education. The researchers suggest this was likely because less educated men work outside more in China and are thus more exposed to polluted air. They note also that the fact that the decline was seen as progressive over time is a strong indicator of air pollution being the cause, rather than other sources. They suggest their findings offer additional evidence of long-term exposure to air pollution causing a decline in cognitive abilities. They note also that they found some evidence of an increase in the rate of neurodegenerative diseases.

The researchers acknowledge that they do not know how pollution might be causing cognitive decline, but suggest it might have some impact on white matter in the brain, considering the role it plays in coordinating communications between brain regions. Also, it is not clear which air pollution constituent might be to blame. In their study, the researchers tested only for nitrogen, sulfur dioxide and particulates smaller than 10 micrometers in diameter. That left out a whole segment of possibilities including carbon monoxide, ozone and larger particulate matter.

Explore further Study finds association between air pollution and cognitive decline in women

More information: Xin Zhang et al. The impact of exposure to air pollution on cognitive performance, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2018). Xin Zhang et al. The impact of exposure to air pollution on cognitive performance,(2018). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1809474115 Abstract

This paper examines the effect of both cumulative and transitory exposures to air pollution for the same individuals over time on cognitive performance by matching a nationally representative longitudinal survey and air quality data in China according to the exact time and geographic locations of the cognitive tests. We find that long-term exposure to air pollution impedes cognitive performance in verbal and math tests. We provide evidence that the effect of air pollution on verbal tests becomes more pronounced as people age, especially for men and the less educated. The damage on the aging brain by air pollution likely imposes substantial health and economic costs, considering that cognitive functioning is critical for the elderly for both running daily errands and making high-stake decisions. Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

 2018 Medical XpressCredit: University of Rochester Medical Center

A clinical trial of more than 1,000 patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) found that the drug ranolazine (commonly used to treat chest pain; brand name Ranexa) was safe but didn't significantly decrease the likelihood of the first occurrence of ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation or death in this high-risk population. The study was published recently in JACC, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center launched the National Institutes of Health-sponsored trial in 2011 after previous studies suggested ranolazine might cut the incidence of arrhythmias. A limited number of anti-arrhythmic therapies have been developed and tested over the past 25 years, leaving doctors and patients with older treatment options that often come with substantial side effects.

The trial, which was conducted at 95 centers in the United States and Canada, did reveal a bright spot for ranolazine: the drug lowered the number of recurring episodes of ventricular tachycardia, a fast, abnormal heart rate that begins in the ventricles (lower chambers of the heart) and can cause dizziness, lightheadedness, palpitations or loss of consciousness. The results suggest that there could be a potential role for ranolazine in patients with ICDs who can't tolerate other drugs or aren't eligible for ablation, a procedure that attempts to correct faulty heart rhythms.

"This drug is already on the market to treat chest pain, and while it didn't provide the revolutionary results we had hoped for, I think there's a place for it in the toolbox of treatments for select patients," said Wojciech Zareba, M.D., Ph.D., lead study author and professor of Cardiology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. "Ventricular tachycardia is the most common arrhythmia that individuals with ICDs experience. This drug could be an option for patients who haven't had success with other therapies."

The double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial included 1,012 individuals with cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle that makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood throughout the body. All participants had ICDs and were at high risk for ventricular tachycardia (VT) and ventricular fibrillation (VF), irregular heart rhythms that are associated with increased hospitalizations and death.

The average age of participants was 64 years and 18 percent were women. Half received 1,000 mg of ranolazine orally twice daily and half received a placebo pill. Approximately 34 percent of patients who took ranolazine experienced ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation or death, compared to 39 percent of individuals in the placebo group. Though the number in the ranolazine group was lower, the difference between groups was not large enough to be considered "significant" or meaningful.

Upon further analysis, the researchers found that the risk for recurrent ventricular tachycardia was 30 percent lower in patients randomized to receive ranolazine compared with placebo.

Mehmet Aktas, M.D., associate professor of Cardiology and a member of the UR Medicine Heart & Vascular team enrolled 20 patients at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

"Through this trial we learned that ranalozine can be administered safely in patients with life threatening abnormal heart rhythms and that it can be given concomitantly with other commonly used antiarrhythmic drugs," said Aktas. "This trial provides clinicians with one more treatment option for patients who have recurrent lethal arrhythmias, which is huge given that this is a very sick population for which we often have limited therapies."

A major limitation of the study was that nearly half of the study participants discontinued the study drugs (both ranolazine and placebo).

The trial, dubbed RAID (Ranolazine in High-Risk Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator Patients), was funded with a $9.5 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health. Gilead Sciences, Inc., the biopharmaceutical company that markets ranolazine, donated the drug and placebo needed for the trial.

Explore further Ventricular tachycardia reduced in patients with defibrillators(HealthDay)The demise of the National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC) in July 2018 is likely to impact evidence-based health care around the world, according to an Ideas and Opinions piece published online Aug. 28 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Zachary Munn, Ph.D., from the University of Adelaide in Australia, and Amir Qaseem, M.D., Ph.D., from the American College of Physicians in Philadelphia, address the disappearance of the NGC, which was created in 1998 and served as the repository of practice guidelines meeting minimum quality criteria. By June 2018, more than 2,000 guideline summaries were available and could be searched by different criteria.

The authors state that the demise of the NGC is a tremendous setback for achieving evidence-based health care that may be felt around the world. Although critics argue that guidelines are often driven by vested interests and may fail to reflect patients' interests, they should not override a clinician's judgement about what is best for a specific patient, but rather help provide the best care for most patients. The loss of the NGC leaves a gap in the ability to access trustworthy clinical guidelines; it is hoped that the ethos and work of the NGC will be continued by another group.

"Perhaps the biggest challenge facing health care professionals today is providing evidence-based, cost-effective, high-quality care that will optimize patient outcomes. Easy access to trustworthy guidelines can help them meet this challenge," the authors write. "In addition to providing this access, the NGC played a major role in motivating guideline developers to adhere to accepted standards for developing good-quality guidelines. The decision to discontinue the NGC's funding is a step backward in evidence-based medicine that eventually will affect the quality of care provided to our patients."

Explore further National Guideline Clearinghouse offline due to funding cuts

Copyright  2018 HealthDay. All rights reserved.The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), with support from U.K. Aid, distributes clean water and information about cholera to prevent outbreaks of the disease in Yemen. Humanitarian teams in Yemen are targeting areas identified by a NASA-supported project that precisely forecasts high-risk regions based on environmental conditions observed from space. Credit: UNICEF

For the first time ever, measurements from NASA Earth-observing research satellites are being used to help combat a potential outbreak of life-threatening cholera. Humanitarian teams in Yemen are targeting areas identified by a NASA-supported project that precisely forecasts high-risk regions based on environmental conditions observed from space.

"By joining up international expertise with those working on the ground, we have for the very first time used these sophisticated predictions to help save lives and prevent needless suffering for thousands of Yemenis," said Charlotte Watts, chief scientist with the United Kingdom's Department for International Development.

Cholera is a disease caused by consuming food or water contaminated with a bacterium called Vibrio cholerae. The disease affects millions of people every year, resulting in severe diarrhea and even death. It remains a major threat to global health, especially in developing countries, such as Yemen, where access to clean water is limited.

Starting this spring, the British government and international aid groups in Yemen began using these new cholera forecasts to target their work in reducing cholera risk. That work includes promoting good hygiene to prevent the spread of the water-borne disease and distributing hygiene and cholera treatment kits. The results to date suggest the forecast model has the potential to fundamentally change how the international community addresses cholera.

A new modeling approach using satellite data will likely to enhance our ability to develop cholera risk maps in several regions of the globe. Credit: NASA/Ryan Fitzgibbons

The research on forecasting cholera outbreaks funded by NASA's Applied Sciences Program is being led by hydrologist and civil engineer Antar Jutla at West Virginia University, Morgantown, along with Rita Colwell and Anwar Huq, microbiologists from the University of Maryland, College Park.

The NASA forecast tool divides the entire country of Yemen into regions about the size of a typical U.S. county, and predicts the risk of cholera outbreaks in each region. To calculate the likelihood of an outbreak, the science team runs a computer model that combines satellite observations of environmental conditions that affect the cholera bacteria with information on sanitation and clean water infrastructure.

The forecast tool analyzes a variety of NASA satellite observations, including precipitation data from the Global Precipitation Measurement mission, air and ocean temperatures from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments on NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites, as well as measurements of phytoplankton concentrations in nearby coastal ocean areas.

In 2017, the model achieved 92 percent accuracy in predicting the regions where cholera was most likely to occur and spread in Yemen that year, even identifying inland areas that are not usually susceptible to the disease but suffered outbreaks. The Yemen cholera outbreak was the world's worst in 2017, with more than 1.1 million suspected cases and more than 2,300 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

Predicted cholera risk based on analysis and satellite data in Yemen, June 2017. Blue color indicates low risk of cholera while red color indicates high risk of cholera. Credit: West Virginia University/Antar Jutla

"The model has done an excellent job in Yemen detecting triggers of cholera outbreaks," said Jutla, "but there is still a lot of work we need to do to have this forecast model give accurate predictions everywhere."

International humanitarian organizations took notice. This January, Fergus McBean, a humanitarian adviser with the U.K.'s Department for International Development, read an article about the NASA-funded team's 2017 results and contacted them with an ambitious challenge: to create and implement a cholera forecasting system for Yemen, in only four months.

"It was a race against the start of rainy season," McBean said.

The U.S. researchers began working with U.K. Aid, the U.K. Met Office, and UNICEF on the innovative approach to using the model to inform cholera risk reduction in Yemen.

The actual number of cholera cases in June 2017. The red area represent reported cholera cases. Credit: West Virginia University/Antar Jutla

In March, one month ahead of the rainy season, the U.K. international development office began using the model's forecasts. Early results show the science team's model predictions, coupled with Met Office weather forecasts, are helping UNICEF and other aid groups target their response to where support is needed most.

"This ground-breaking initiative is a testament to the importance of interdisciplinary and multi-agency efforts to improve disease preparedness and response," said John Haynes, program manager for health and air quality applications in NASA's Earth Science Division, at the agency's headquarters in Washington.

McBean believes in this new approach. "We are confident acting on the model's predictions this year. We know that acting early is a more effective way of operating and is likely to result in a much better outcome for people."

Colwell, who compared the 2017 Yemen results to passing the first stage of a three-stage drug trial and discovering the drug is saving the lives of a particular type of patient, said that the science team's next step is to create global risk maps for cholera. In the same way meteorologists issue severe storms warnings, these risk maps and forecasts would allow people to prepare for and prevent outbreaks.

Explore further UN warns of a possible new cholera epidemic in YemenUTHealth's Henry Wang, M.D., displays a newer type of emergency breathing tube that could save thousands of lives. Credit: Rob Cahill, UTHealth.

A new study showed that a change in the type of breathing tube paramedics use to resuscitate patients with sudden cardiac arrest can significantly improve the odds of survival and save thousands of lives. More than 90 percent of Americans who experience sudden cardiac arrest die before, or soon after, reaching a hospital.

"During resuscitation, opening the airway and having proper access to it is a key factor for the survival of someone who goes into cardiac arrest outside of a hospital," said George Sopko, M.D., M.P.H., program director in the NHLBI's Division of Cardiovascular Sciences and coauthor of the study. "But one of the burning questions in prehospital emergency care has been, 'Which is the best airway device?'"

Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, this study is the largest of its kind to test oxygen delivery methods used by firefighters, emergency medical service (EMS) providers and paramedics. It is the first to show that a particular airway intervention can positively affect patient survival rates. The findings were published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"This study demonstrated that just by managing the airway well in the early stage of resuscitation, we could save more than 10,000 lives every year," said Sopko.

EMS providers treat the majority of the 400,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests each year. For more than three decades, their standard-of-care technique for resuscitation has been endotracheal intubationthe insertion of a plastic tube into the trachea to maintain an open airway. They use this technique in hopes that mirroring the care given by in-hospital physicians will produce better patient outcomes.

"While identical to techniques used by doctors in the hospital, intubation in these severe and stressful prehospital settings is very difficult and fraught with errors," said Henry E. Wang, M.D., professor and vice chair for research in the Department of Emergency Medicine at McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Wang was the study's lead author.

Today, however, new devices such as laryngeal tubes, offer simpler alternatives to opening and accessing an airway. These tubes are easier to use, and the trial showed that cardiac arrest patients treated with this alternative had a higher survival rate.

Usually caused by a heart attack, sudden cardiac arrest occurs when theheart suddenly or unexpectedly stops beating, cutting off blood flow to the brain and other vital organs. The vast majority of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur at home, and only about 10 percent of people survive, according to the American Heart Association.

The Pragmatic Airway Resuscitation Trial was a multicenter research study conducted by the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium. It compared survival rates among 3,000 adults with cardiac arrest who were treated by paramedic crews from 27 EMS agencies, in Birmingham, Alabama; Dallas-Fort Worth; Milwaukee; Pittsburgh; and Portland, Oregon. Approximately half of the patients received the newer laryngeal tube treatment, while the other half received traditional endotracheal intubation.

Overall, patients in the laryngeal tube group had significantly better outcomes. For instance, 18.3 percent of patients survived three days in the hospital and 10.8 percent survived to reach hospital discharge. For the group with traditional endotracheal intubation, the survival numbers were 15.4 and 8.1 percent, respectively. Also, the proportion of patients surviving with good brain function was higher in the laryngeal tube group.

Explore further Researcher reveals results of study on emergency breathing tubes

More information: H.E. Wang et al. Effect of a Strategy of Initial Laryngeal Tube Insertion vs. Endotracheal Intubation on 72-Hour Survival in Adults with Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Journal of the American Medical Association. August 28, 2018. Journal information: Journal of the American Medical Association H.E. Wang et al. Effect of a Strategy of Initial Laryngeal Tube Insertion vs. Endotracheal Intubation on 72-Hour Survival in Adults with Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Randomized Clinical Trial.. August 28, 2018. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2018.7044For picture posts from 2010 and earlier, see the Earlier Picture Posts PageScott County, AR- An assistant principal in Arkansas is in hot water  and handcuffs  after admitting to an ongoing sexual relationship with an underage student, according to local cops.

Jessica Williams, 37, an assistant principal at Waldron High School, faces up to five counts of first-degree sexual assault and one count of evidence tampering after police busted her for preying on a 16-year-old boy, authorities said.

Investigators launched the probe Monday afternoon an anonymous letter detailing the alleged affair was left at the Waldron school districts central office, according to a statement from the Waldron Police Department.

Pressed about the issue, the student told officers he and Williams had been seeing each other since early in the summer, and confessed that they had been sharing racy photos, according to the statement from police.

When cops and school officials interviewed Williams at the school office, she quickly caved, admitting to sexual activity with the teen on several occasions, police said.

Williams was arrested on the spot and booked at the Scott County Jail, police said.

The detective and the school resource officer interviewed both the school administrator and the victim yesterday, and both admitted to the relationship, Waldron Police Chief Jeremy Hunt told Channel 5 News.

Williams was ordered held Tuesday on $100,000 bond, Channel 5 reported.

The arrest came just one day after the start of classes at Waldron High School.

It was not immediately clear whether Williams had secured a defense attorney.

Representatives of the Waldron Public Schools District did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Oxygen.com.Hastings, MN - A Minnesota man is facing charges after police said he inflicted life-threatening injuries on his 13-day-old son.

Michael Herkal, 32, has been charged with first-degree assault and malicious punishment of a child.

Police responded Sunday to the Herkal residence after receiving a 911 call about an infant who was not breathing, according to the complaint filed in the Dakota County court. When police arrived, they observed that the infant was turning blue and purple and a pulse could not be detected. As officers attempted to revive the child, they noticed bruises on the child's body, the complaint said. The infant was transported to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a skull fracture and blood on his brain. The child is not breathing on his own and is not expected to survive, authorities said.

The infant's mother told police said she had gotten in an argument with Herkal earlier in the day, and had left the infant in the custody of Herkal, according to the complaint. Herkal attempted to call the infant's mother twice before calling 911, the complaint noted.

Authorities said Herkal gave varying stories about how the child was injured, at first blaming his toddler son, claiming the older child pulled the newborn off the sofa. Later, while giving a statement at the Apple Valley Police Department, Herkal changed his story, claiming that the baby has slipped while he was changing the baby's diaper.

The complaint said that a forensic examination of Herkal's cellphone found the following Google searches:

"Someone threw a baby on the floor"

"Baby breathing hard"

"Noisy baby breathing: What's normal and what's not"

"Babys butt is blue"

"Babys butt is blue s[p]anking"

Herkal is being held at the Dakota County Jail. If the baby dies, Herkal could face murder charges, KARE11 reported.Many South Africans are not aware that the government has its own systems to intercept and monitor communications in the country.

This was highlighted in a recent interview with Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub, who explained that the South African governments interception and monitoring centre was established 15 years ago.

The planning for this centre started shortly after the attacks in New York on 11 September 2001 as a measure to fight terrorism in the country.

Legislation was put in place for the government to snoop on citizens, and operators were forced to install equipment which provided the government with access to their networks.

This equipment makes it possible for the interception and monitoring centre to spy on citizens without any cooperation from telecoms operators.

RICA legislation

The legislation which governs the interception and monitoring of communications is the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act (RICA) of 2002.

According to the Act, interception of local communications without a judges permission is forbidden.

To get permission to monitor a users communications, the state needs to prove that a serious offence has been, is being, or will probably be committed.

Another route is to show that there is an actual or potential threat to public health or safety, national security, or compelling national economic interests.

Concerns have been raised about whether these strict guidelines are followed by the government before they intercept information.

Shameel Joosub interviewJulie Poteet Robertsons business, IN the Moment Creative Services, offers a wide range of services  from experience/event/portrait photography to graphic design, event creative services (chalkboards, signage and invitation design), illustration/rendering, brand environment design and strategic creative marketing.

Poteet Robertson said she especially enjoys creating graphic photography  a process where she turns her photography into graphic artwork using her computer.

Its a digital technique to create artwork, she explained. Its kind of a merging of all my skill sets. It gets me working with brands in a unique and interesting way.

1. Which three people would you most like to have dinner with?

Georgia OKeeffe  betting she was a pistol, Anthony Bourdain, another pistol and well-traveled world humanist, and gratuitously, Gerard Butler... serious lifelong crush.

2. What job would you like to try/not try?

Try: I am curiously fascinated by cake decorating.

Not try: Accounting. I have a creative brain and am eternally grateful for those types I hire to support me in those capacities, because numbers create anxiety in my brain.

3. What was your childhood ambition?

I have always loved horses, so maybe being a cowgirl.

4. What was your first job?

I worked in a floral shop in Denver... I still love that distinct fresh smell of a florist shop.

5. How did you get into this business?

Once I discovered art in junior high school, I was hooked, but I was overwhelmed at the idea of how I might make money doing it. I ended up as a nanny in Vail before realizing that I really belonged in art school.

My creative career has taken me from San Diego designing signage, to Boulder designing retail spaces and sporting venues, to Denver designing art installations, to Chicago designing McDonalds restaurants and to San Francisco where I designed national programs for Visa. I chose a freelance design career 16 years ago to give myself some freedom to care for my daughter.

I now freelance for the wine industry at a creative marketing agency on Mare Island (Affinity Creative Group) and every so often for (wine professionals) Andrea and John Robinson.

I have also been creating my own artwork inspired by the years I have spent here in our sensory Napa Valley. I create art for peoples homes and for wineries and produce custom branded wine club gifts and products for local wineries.

6. What is the biggest challenge your business has faced?

I would have to say the fires. While it was a coming together of our amazing community, it has certainly been a force to overcome.

7. Whats on your to-do list?

I am working to launch my art website to reach a larger global community of wine lovers (INtheMomentWineCountryArt.com) and I am poised to expand my B2B art business into Sonoma, Paso (Robles) and other wine regions.

8. What is one thing you hope to accomplish in your lifetime that you havent yet?

I have always been inspired to encourage young artists. Everything in this world requires design and/or creative problem-solving.

9. Whats something people might be surprised to know about you?

I havent done it in years, but I really love to fly fish. I dont care so much if I actually catch a fish ironically, but I really love feeling the energy of the river standing there in waders, and being perfectly present in having to figure out what insects are hatching on the river so as to know what to bait my line with. I suppose it would be classified as an active meditation.

10. If you could be anywhere right now, where would you be?

Diving in Roatan off the coast of Honduras. It is an amazing world that so few get to experience.

To reach IN the Moment Creative Services call 707-227-7567.

The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.St. Helenans gathered Sunday afternoon to congratulate the Menegon family on the 140th anniversary of Steves Hardware, which the Menegon family has owned for more than 60 years.

One of those attending was Congressman Mike Thompson, who lives in St. Helena. He presented a signed Certificate of Congressional Recognition for Steves being in business for 140 years. There were free raffle tickets for great prizes and pulled pork sandwiches and sides prepared by St. Helenas Sorensen Catering, compliments of Steves Hardware.SACRAMENTO  Skies have been sooty over the state Capitol for weeks, soiled by Northern California wildfires. Its a daily reminder for legislators and Gov. Jerry Brown about what their top priority should be.

Its to enact laws that vastly improve Californias ability to prevent wildfires, and to douse them before they roar out of control.

Governments No. 1 responsibility, after all, is public safety.

From The Times news bureau on the 17th floor of an office building near the Capitol, one normally can clearly see intriguing Mount Diablo 54 miles to the southwest. But we havent spotted it since mid-July because a dirty blanket of smoke has covered everything between us and the San Francisco Bay Area.

So far this year, wildfires have blackened 1.1 million acres in the state, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. A hellish Mendocino Complex fire burned across four counties and became the largest in state history, charring 422,000 acres.

Wildfires this year have destroyed or damaged nearly 2,200 structures, mostly homes, and killed at least 12 people.

And we havent even reached what traditionally has been Californias peak fire season, September and October, when devilish Santa Ana winds whip up blazes that scorch the Southland.

Fire season has become almost year-round in California, were told by experts. They say this will be the new normal because of global warming, aggravated by the recent four-year drought that parched woodlands and turned vegetation into kindling.

Therefore, the Legislature needs to pass bills that substantially improve Californias fire prevention and firefighting capabilities beyond modest steps taken in the current state budget. Lawmakers and the governor have been working on it, but are still debating.

Now time is running out. They face a Friday midnight deadline for adjournment of the two-year legislative session.

The expectation is that were going to have legislation thats meaningful and productive, says Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), who sits on a two-house conference committee that is writing the Legislatures centerpiece bill. Everyone wants to see this happen.

For Jackson its personal, as it is with several legislators touched by fire. Decembers Thomas fire, which until this summer was the largest in state history, stopped one mile short of her Santa Barbara home.

More from George Skelton

We were evacuated for six days, she recalls. We breathed smoke for 40 days. I had trouble breathing. It took quite a lot of time to be able to breathe normally.

Jackson has four bills awaiting action on the Assembly floor.

One would allow homeowners and businesses to use property tax payments to finance replacement of fire hazards such as wood shingle roofs. People already can do that to pay for energy or water efficiency upgrades.

Another measure would assure that homeowner insurance policies cover mudslides, such as the ones that devastated Montecito after the Thomas fire.

Jackson also has a bill to prod federal, state and local agencies into closer cooperation on forest management. And one of her proposals would allow counties to automatically enroll all residents in a mobile phone emergency alert program. Now people must voluntarily sign up.

Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), whose district was charred last year by the wine country fires, has a bill on the Assembly floor to require a statewide, uniform alert system to warn citizens of rampaging wildfires. Hed use not only cellphones, but landlines, television, radio and electronic billboards  like Amber Alerts.

We have the technology, McGuire says. Now we need the will to get this legislation passed. We still have some fight in front of us.

Coverage of California politics

The Legislatures big bill  its most comprehensive  is the conference committees product. A co-chairman is Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa), another wine country lawmaker who is under hometown pressure to produce. On Friday, he proposed an outline of legislation.

For weeks, the committee has focused on private utilities efforts to reduce financial liability when fires are ignited by their equipment, such as falling power lines. The utilities finally gave up, but Dodds proposal offered a little help.

Under the plan, the California Public Utilities Commission could allow a utility to raise customer rates to repay long-term bonds sold to finance liabilities from a catastrophic wildfire.

Dodd and committee members asserted they empathized with ratepayers, but needed to protect utilities from bankruptcy. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has warned it could go bankrupt because of billions of dollars in wildfire liabilities.

We want to protect ratepayers, but we dont want the utilities to go broke, Assemblyman Chad Mayes (R-Yucca Valley) said. Theres a balance.

Lawmakers repeatedly insisted they werent bailing out the utilities. But ratepayer interests werent buying it.

This looks like a bailout, smells like a bailout and certainly feels like a bailout, Michael Shaw of the California Manufacturers and Technology Assn. told the committee.

The proposed legislation has a lot of other meat in it.

Theres regulatory streamlining for landowners who want to remove dead trees and flammable underbrush. Theres also financial incentives for burning wood waste in biomass energy plants.

The state would spend $250 million annually from its greenhouse gas reduction fund for forest management.

And theres money to more quickly move firefighters, helicopters and other equipment into blazes when they first erupt in an effort to douse them early.

Legislators will probably pass some modestly significant stuff.

Theyre starting to see the light through the soot.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Local senior advocates are expressing concern that a fledgling team effort by Napa and Solano counties to rescue local senior services might be headed in a wrong direction.

Napa County had been in line to be the lead administrator for a reformulated Area Agency on Aging, a function that includes appointing an agency director. But last week, county officials said that Solano County could take on the role instead.

That took local senior advocates by surprise, especially given their impression that Solano County didnt want the job. They voiced their thoughts Monday at a meeting of the Napa County Commission on Aging.

I would just be interested to know if Solano County is going to be approaching their role with enthusiasm and dedication and inspiration, Commissioner Naomi Dreskin-Anderson said.

Napa and Solano counties are trying to rescue the Area Agency on Aging after the recent financial meltdown of a nonprofit group that filled the role. That would keep federal and state money flowing to such programs as Meals on Wheels and senior transportation.

The boards of supervisors from both counties are to vote Tuesday, Aug. 28, on a draft joint powers agreement for the new Area Agency on Aging to submit to the state. Among the responsibilities the counties would assume is creating and implementing a plan to meet the needs of seniors.

I think our concern is the advocacy, the enthusiasm, the dedication, not the delivery of services, Commissioner Heather Stanton said. That advocacy is critical.

Several commissioners said Napa County has unique needs that they wouldnt want to see overlooked under Solano County administrative leadership. Commissioner Terri Restelli-Deits said Napa County has one of the highest percentages of frail elderly residents in the state.

I just want to make sure our elders are cared for, Restelli-Deits said. I have concerns about how this plays out.

Commissioner Kristi Lesnewich said she wants an Area Agency on Aging that is a senior advocate.

I am so concerned if it goes to Solano, a lot of that is going to be diluted out, she said. I think if it can be in Napa, I just think we have a stronger voice for our seniors.

At the Aug. 21 Napa County Board of Supervisors meeting, Napa County Executive Officer Minh Tran addressed why Solano County should be the administrator.

For me, the main reason for the change was the recognition of the effectiveness of delivery of service, Tran said. Seventy-five percent of the beneficiaries or clients are actually residing in Solano County. Napa County only has 25 percent of the population.

Assistant County Executive Officer Mary Booher told commissioners that the proposed governing body for the reformulated Area Agency on Agency would have equal representation from each county.

The Oversight Board is to have seven members. Each county would choose a supervisor, a city councilmember and a resident more than 60 years old. Each county would also appoint a member at large, but only one could vote, with that role alternating between the counties every year.

Whatever happens, the 15-member Napa County Commission on Aging is apt to be watching. Stanton said the previous version of the Area Agency on Aging didnt have a Napa telephone number until a few years ago and shes afraid this might happen again.

If this moves forward as it is now proposed, I think this commission is going to be on top of it, Stanton said. I mean really on top of it. Because we have some very serious apprehensions about the (direction) this is taking.

All of this comes in the wake of the demise of the Area Agency on Aging Serving Napa & Solano Counties. This nonprofit group had been the local, state-recognized Area Agency on Aging since 1981, but in April decided to surrender the role.

The California Department on Aging recently released an audit on the Area on Aging Serving Napa & Solano Counties that is a window into the nonprofits fiscal owes.

The nonprofit couldnt show it properly allocated $545,000 in federal money over two years, but the money still went to eligible senior services. For that reason, the California Department on Aging will not seek to recover the money, the audit said.

In April, the Area on Aging Serving Napa & Solano Counties told the state it was having trouble providing financial statements for 2016-17, the audit said.

We have no fiscal officer, our auditing firm quit today so I am trying to hire another nonprofit locally to help us get our books in order because they have not been reconciled since the last audit ending 6/30/16, the nonprofit said in an email to the state.

The nonprofit in closeouts reported spending $4.1 million in 2015-16 in money awarded by the California Department on Aging. In reality, it received $2.28 million and spent $2.29 million, the audit said.

Similarly, for 2016-17, it reported spending $4 million. It actually was awarded and spent about $2.4 million.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.Brittany Wong has a vision for her future, and it definitely involves helping people see better.

This 22-year-old graduated from Duke University on May 13, earning two degrees: a B.S. in Neuroscience and a B.A. in French studies, plus a chemistry minor.

She plans on entering medical school to become a doctor  most likely in ophthalmology.

Come September, Wong will begin a particularly eye-opening experience. Wong, who lives in Napa, has been awarded a Fulbright study and research award.

In early September, shell travel to Geneva, Switzerland, where she will live and study for one year.

At the ophthalmology department at the University of Geneva, Wong will work with a team of scientists on a year-long research project. The group will study age-related macular degeneration, a leading worldwide cause of adult vision loss.

Hearing the news that shed been chosen for the Fulbright, Won said she was both surprised and excited.

It really didnt set in for a long time, she said. It still is quite insane that my job for the next year will be to do research in Switzerland.

The Fulbright is widely considered one of the most prestigious scholarship programs. It awards approximately 8,000 grants annually.

Established in 1946, Fulbright alumni have won Nobel Prizes and Pulitzer Prizes, served as heads of state or government in their home countries and have been elected to the U.S. Congress.

Im very excited but also definitely nervous moving to a different country, Wong admitted. There will definitely be a learning curve.

While she does speak French, Wong anticipates challenges with a new culture, daily routines, different currency, weather, food and more.

Plus, shes never lived that far away from her home in Napa for that long.

Wong doesnt seem afraid to challenge herself.

She was born at Travis Air Force Base, where her father was serving in the military at the time, and grew up in Napa.

As a high school student, she decided to enroll at a private high school in Oakland called the College Preparatory School.

Fortunately, her mother, Velarie Wong, a food scientist, works in the same area. The two made the drive every work and school day for four years. Her father, Dr. Andrew Wong, is a cardiologist in Napa.

During her junior year in high school, Wong was named Napa Valleys Distinguished Young Woman 2014. The program was formerly called Junior Miss.

After graduating from high school, she enrolled at Duke in North Carolina. Until then, shed never lived in the southeast U.S. before.

I wanted to go outside my comfort zone, she said of choosing to attend Duke.

It was a good choice for me in terms of personal growth and maturation, Wong said. I enjoyed it.

Wong described the Fulbright application process as extensive.

There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work and hoops to jump through, she said.

First of all, Wong had to find the organization or business that would sponsor her for the program. The University of Geneva is serving that role.

Ophthalmology has been a key interest of Wongs for many years. While in high school, Wong volunteered at the Eye Care Center of Napa Valley and in the operating room at Queen of the Valley Medical Center.

She shadowed Dr. Richard Beller, an ophthalmologist at the Eye Care Center, for several years during high school.

He is the mentor who initially inspired me to pursue a career in medicine, she said.

My experiences interacting with Dr. Bellers patients with age-related macular degeneration were what prompted me to seek research opportunities at Duke and UC Davis, and next in Geneva.

Ultimately, she hopes to do both surgical and clinical research work. That would be an incredible job, she said.

The Fulbright grant comes at the perfect time for Wong.

She already planned to take a year off between college and medical school, for a change of pace.

Because medical school is ahead of her, she anticipates that Ill be in academia for a long time.

The Fulbright program offers her a chance to do something different and to be in the real world for a bit, she said.

Ive been a student for nearly all my life, she said. I thought itd be helpful to have a bit of life experience myself.

Besides working at the university in Geneva, I wanted to work on my cultural competency and I thought itd be a fascinating experience to be aboard.

The Fulbright grant provides Wong about $1,900 per month. That amount is meant to cover her living expenses in Geneva.

Shes already secured housing nearby and will open her first Swiss bank account.

As she prepares to move to Geneva, this summer Wong is doing something shes hardly ever done before: taking the summer off from school or work.

This is my first summer in a long time when I havent had something organized, which has been nice, but odd, she said.

Usually my summers are really busy.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.Californias top emergency services official has lambasted the federal governments handling of the October wildfire cleanup, saying poor oversight allowed contractors to cause unnecessary damage to many burned properties in the North Bay.

Mark Ghilarducci, director of the state Office of Emergency Services, sent a sharply-worded letter to the Army Corps of Engineers last week highlighting a range of issues he said were caused by federal contractors.

Problems identified by Ghilarduccis office include obvious over-scraping of properties, damaged driveways and sidewalks, damaged wells and septic tanks and even lingering contaminated ash and fire debris in more than a dozen instances, he said.

The corps oversaw the $1.3 billion government-sponsored cleanup program, which removed 2.2 million tons of debris in Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Lake counties.

The cleanup was declared completed in June, but hundreds of fire survivors still had issues with the way their properties were cleared. And Sonoma County leaders have struggled to get to the bottom of the lingering complaints in recent months.

Federal subcontractors in some cases didnt follow basic measures such as putting protective material over a driveway, a misstep that likely constitutes a breach of contract between the corps and its contractors, Ghilarducci said. Contractors also took far more soil than was necessary from hundreds of properties, he said in the letter, which was first reported by KQED.

Given these subcontractors were paid per ton of soil removed, it is probable this over-excavation was an intentional effort to capitalize on this tragedy by defrauding the government, Ghilarducci wrote. (The corps) allowed this to occur.

Army Corps spokesperson Mike Petersen defended the debris removal, saying some amount of incidental damage was an unfortunate but unavoidable consequence of such a massive cleanup effort.

Inherent in this work is the use of heavy equipment ... going over suburban roads not meant to carry the weight of 40-ton excavators that are clearing fire debris, he said. Its a huge mission and were proud of the work our folks did.

Corps officials are reviewing Ghilarduccis letter and will respond soon, Petersen said.

The letter was dated Wednesday, one day after Ghilarducci met with officials from Sonoma County and Santa Rosa, as well as representatives of the North Bay state legislative delegation and the offices of Congressmen Mike Thompson and Jared Huffman to discuss the debris removal problems.

County supervisors and staff members have been particularly vocal about the cleanup issues. Theyve pressed for more details about why some complaints were rejected and called on Ghilarduccis office to do more to resolve the matter.

This letter is just awesome, because this is exactly what we were talking about, that these fire survivors were victimized because of the negligence in the hiring of these contractors by the Corps of Engineers, said Supervisor Shirlee Zane, who went to Sacramento for the meeting with Ghilarducci last week. I couldnt be more overjoyed that this letter was sent.

More than 600 burned properties in Sonoma County filed complaints about over-excavation, of which 283 were deemed eligible for the states backfill program and 318 have been declared ineligible, according to deputy county administrator Michael Gossman, who runs the Office of Recovery and Resiliency. A handful are still being reviewed, he said.Two years ago, nearly two-thirds of California voters supported a ballot measure to crack down on legislative trickery.

For decades, state lawmakers had dodged the public by secretly drafting important bills and then quickly jamming them through both legislative houses. They became known as mushroom bills because they sprouted in the dark of night.

Proposition 54, backed by a wide array of civic groups and with $10.7 million in campaign financing from wealthy Stanford University physicist Charles Munger Jr., sought to curb mushroom bills by stating, No bill may be passed or ultimately become a statute unless the bill with any amendments has been printed, and distributed to the members, and published on the Internet, in its final form, for at least 72 hours before the vote.

Capitol politicians despise Proposition 54 and have tried to work around it. But what happened last week on a highly controversial measure to outlaw cash bail may take the cake.

Senate Bill 10 had sat in limbo for nearly a year while lobbyists for the interest groups involved, such as bail bond agents and criminal-justice reformers, negotiated among themselves and with legislators, Gov. Jerry Browns office and state Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye.

Suddenly, on Aug. 16, the dormant bill, carried principally by Sen. Bob Hertzberg, a Van Nuys Democrat, was revived in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and passed. A day lateron a Friday afternoonmajor amendments to the bill were submitted to the Assembly clerks office.

However, the official records pertaining to SB 10, including the bill itself, say the amendments were adopted the following Monday, Aug. 20, just before the Assembly approved it on a 42-31 vote. A day later, the Senate gave final approval, sending the bill to Brown for certain signature on a 26-12 vote.

Hertzberg and others contend that the 72-hour rule was obeyed by submitting the amendmentsessentially an entirely new billto the Assembly clerk on Aug. 17. However, the amended bill was not truly available to the public until Aug. 20, the day of the Assemblys vote.

The process mayor may nothave adhered to the letter of the 72-hour requirement, but it certainly violated its spirit of giving the public time to examine and react to pending legislation.

Why the rush?

The revised measure, largely reflecting wishes of Cantil-Sakauye, does away with cash bail, but it provides judges with wide discretion in deciding who may be released from custody while awaiting trial and creates a massive new bureaucracy to evaluate defendants.

The changes alienated many bail reformers, including the American Civil Liberties Union and California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, which said, We believe there is a substantial likelihood that more people will be incarcerated pretrial than under current law.

Legislative leaders were clearly concerned that the opposition, an odd-bedfellows alliance of bail reformers and bail bond agents, could, if given several days to work on wavering legislators, peel away enough votes to block passage. So they wanted to move quickly.

Legislative leaders also faced heavy pressure from unions, particularly the Service Employees International Union, to pass the bill because the new bureaucracy it would create would mean thousands of new unionized civil-service workers.

By stretching Proposition 54s rules, the tricky timing of SB 10 could create a new template for writing more mushroom bills. A challenge in court from Proposition 54 backers could test its legality. But the judges who would decide such a case also are principal interests in the bill.

CALmatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how Californias state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.Californians interested in keeping this states toughest-in-the-world standards for automotive smog pollution heaved a sigh of relief just over one year ago, when the federal Environmental Protection Agency reversed an earlier decision to impose new national ozone standards on all cars sold in America.

That relief turns out to have been premature.

For on the same day this summer that the petulant and thin-skinned President Trump began revoking security clearances from former government officials who have criticized him, his EPA also announced plans to end Californias authority for setting its own smog standards.

That will take some doing, of course, because the federal Clean Air Act signed by the late Republican President Richard Nixon in 1970 specifically gives California that power. Yes, the state must get EPA waivers to take particular actions, but the landmark law makes that virtually automatic.

And 13 other states now regularly adopt Californias anti-smog regulations soon after they become effective here, with Colorado poised to make it 14. All those states are joining California in resisting the EPAs latest threat. Many foreign countries with smog problems  Greece, France and Germany, for three examples  have also adopted most California regulations.

Of course, every time California proposes a new regulation, car makers like General Motors, Toyota and Daimler-Benz claim their sales will drop due to costs of the change. But more than 2 million cars and trucks were sold in California last year, a record. And sales in the other states using California rules are also solid. Still, Trump aides argue they would be even better if prices were cut via less regulation.

When President George W. Bush tried to deny a waiver for greenhouse gas regulation in early 2008, he lost in court. But todays U.S. Supreme Court has a different  largely anti-regulation  majority, so theres a possibility Trump could ultimately win on this issue, despite what the law says. The best hope for California and its cohort of cooperating states is to keep their lawsuit going for at least two years, betting Trump will lose in 2020.

Over the decades, Californias unique authority produced the first primitive smog control devices, catalytic converters, hybrids like the strong-selling Toyota Prius, plug-in hybrids, electric cars and the current first generation of super-clean hydrogen-powered vehicles. Just as important has been a steady reduction in automotive smog, allowing residents of many urban areas once covered with murky brown air to see nearby mountain ranges and breathe significantly cleaner air.

Now the EPA threatens to revoke Californias authority to limit carbon emissions from tailpipes and force car makers to sell specific percentages of zero-emission vehicles here, thus reversing major advances.

Trump, with support from a few automakers, wants uniform national smog standards, despite the Clean Air Acts recognition that California smog problems are unique and more serious than any other states.

For sure, if the new Trump plan goes forward, it will slow the pace of automotive cleanups long set by Californias Air Resources Board.

One serious question, since automaker warnings of diminished profits and sales due to smog regulation have never panned out, is whether Trump is merely being vengeful in going after California despite his Republican Partys longstanding support for states rights.

After all, this state voted against him by about 3 million votes in 2016 and he remains abysmally unpopular here. The suspicion that hes merely seeking revenge by trying to reduce the quality of life here is fueled by his consistent targeting of any person or country that dares criticize or oppose him.

No, say supporters of his proposed change. The administration is fulfilling its commitment to reinstate midterm evaluation of future fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards, said Mitch Bainwol, head of the Alliance of Automobile Makers, which includes GM, Fiat-Chrysler, Ford, Mitsubishi and Daimler-Benz, among others.

The bottom line: Scaling back todays rules would put America far behind other countries in seeking reduced dependence on oil and gasoline. Germany and France, for example, will ban sales of all gas-powered cars with the next two to three decades.

Which makes the proposed Trump move not only counter to the Clean Air Act, but also would move America backward environmentally while making it a less healthy country to live in than it is today.

Thomas D. Elias writes the syndicated California Focus column. He is author of the book, The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Governments Campaign to Squelch It.Sen. John McCain, who died at his Arizona ranch over the weekend, penned an op-ed in the Economist at the end of last year defending the "liberal world order."

The Republican politician was an inveterate internationalist, a staunch advocate of the post-World War II norms and institutions he believed were essential to American leadership and global prosperity. But with the rise of President Donald Trump, the growing strength of right-wing populism in Europe and the resilience of illiberal powers elsewhere, McCain feared a great unraveling.

"They have turned inward economically and prioritized protectionism over integration," McCain wrote, referring to Trump-style populists on both sides of the Atlantic. "They have warmed to authoritarianism and embraced strongman politics. Most troubling, they seem to have given up on the very idea of liberalism itself, betraying the underlying will that is necessary to maintain any world order."

The flood of hagiographic eulogies that poured in from Washington and around the world this weekend hailed both McCain's will and idealism. The senator's moral convictions, selfless patriotism and belief in decency, some argued, stood in stark contrast to the habits and instincts of the current occupant of the White House. McCain's spirit, wrote Post columnist Max Boot, remains "desperately needed at a time when his party has embraced an amoral, narcissistic demagogue who fawns over tyrants and flirts with isolationism and protectionism and white nationalism."

As the Washington establishment mourned McCain's passing, it became clear that it was mourning not just a man's death, but the waning of the world he seemed to represent. The global vision championed by McCain seems to be in profound retreat. Trump has systematically chipped away at the transatlantic alliance since coming to power, with officials in Europe now calling for a future untethered from an unreliable Washington.

With social inequality deepening, populations on both sides of the pond are increasingly skeptical of the merits of unfettered free trade and open markets - central tenets of McCain's worldview. And there's a broader apathy toward the universal values preached by the Arizona senator, whose full-throated appeals to democracy and rule of law were shrugged off by Trump.

Readers of this column have likely noticed our frequent invocations of the "liberal order" or the "international order" over the past two years. They serve as a shorthand for what Trump seems to resent - a catchall concept that encompasses everything from multilateral institutions like the European Union to principles of free trade to political support for immigrants and refugees.

But analysts on both the right and the left argue that this imprecision tends to obscure valid criticism of the West's political status quo. It leaves unchallenged the Cold War-era logic that calls for a planetwide American military footprint and an American-dominated economic order; for the sake of an airy cosmopolitanism, it minimizes the ways in which globalization triggered financial crises and made life harder for the working poor in many societies.

International affairs academic Stephen Wertheim pointed to this tension in a recent essay. American advocates of the "liberal order" - including dozens of prominent scholars who published a full-page open letter in the New York Times in July in support of the international order and its institutions - cling to a "faceless, agentless" project that requires an unspoken faith in American primacy. Moreover, their rallying around a technocratic "international system" does little to check the xenophobia of Western populists.

"Despite claiming a seven-decade pedigree, the defense of the 'liberal order' is surprisingly vulnerable to attack from each side," Wertheim wrote, "for it offers a nationalism that dares not to speak its name, and an internationalism afraid to walk the talk."

In McCain's case, his embrace of the "liberal order" ultimately hinged on a belief in American exceptionalism and, by extension, hegemony. His support for bloody, ill-fated wars - most notably the 2003 invasion of Iraq - and his cheerleading for further interventions in the Middle East may be remembered long after we forget his advocacy for human rights. And McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his 2008 running mate prefigured the intolerant, ultranationalist politics that fueled Trump's ascent and the assault on the "liberal" norms McCain claimed to uphold.

McCain was not insensible to the need for reform and evolution. "At times we tried to do too much, and at others we failed to do enough," McCain wrote in the Economist, offering a vague mea culpa. "We lost touch with many of our people and were too slow to recognize and respond to their hardships." In his piece, McCain pointed to the power of the Marshall Plan, hoping to summon the spirit of a decades-old American triumph.

But the United States accounted for about half of the world's gross domestic product at that time; now that figure is only about one-seventh. The growth of other countries' economies doesn't mean that the United States is losing - as Trump would contend - but it does put McCain's triumphalism in context. The world leaders who have loudly defended the "liberal order" in the face of Trump's attacks did so not in honor of a Pax Americana but because they understand how their nations have benefited from a system underwritten by Washington.

"Far from dismissing the order as a mere euphemism for U.S. hegemony, they see their own national interests at stake in it," wrote Mira Rapp-Hooper and Rebecca Lissner in Foreign Affairs. "They also recognize that those interests cannot be protected without a powerful - and committed - United States. Even China, the order's most formidable challenger-in-waiting, finds value in selectively embracing its tenets."

But "a new approach," the academics argue, has to reckon with a changing world where Americans reconsider the hubris of its "post-Cold War U.S. grand strategy."

Wertheim separately points to surveys that suggest younger Americans are less committed to principles of American exceptionalism or interested in U.S. global military superiority, both mainstays of McCain-style internationalism. If those attitudes become more prevalent in the years ahead, McCain's death may mark an end of an era in ways his friends and allies have yet to admit.

Ishaan Tharoor writes about foreign affairs for The Washington Post. He previously was a senior editor and correspondent at Time magazine, based first in Hong Kong and later in New York.It my pleasure to support Amy Martenson for the position of Napa Valley College Board of Trustees.

I worked with Amy for five years, while she was the school counselor at Valley Oak High School and I was facilitating drug and alcohol prevention groups on campus for the Wolfe Center. I regularly collaborated with Amy to do outreach to students to give them an opportunity to refer themselves to these groups and to track their progress, discussing any issues as they arose.

I observed Amy to be professional, conscientious and compassionate and a person of great integrity. She is also an effective and caring communicator. I discovered that Amy was a person I could rely on to meet her commitments to both students and her colleagues.

Working with at-risk students means working with a very diverse population culturally and socioeconomically, and in terms of students interpersonal functional ability. Amy always cared for and worked to inspire youth who came from very difficult home environments. She worked to not only keep her students engaged with their education but would also help meet other, more basic needs like food, clothing, and shoes for her students.

She would provide a compassionate, non-judgmental space to help students work through any emotional issues they were experiencing. For some of the students, Amy was more than a guidance counselor; she was a trusted friend.

In addition, as a high school counselor, part of Amys job was to inform students about their options after high school, including programs at Napa Valley College, and to help students transition. As a result, Amy has firsthand knowledge of the programs and services that are available and the barriers to students accessing them, and she brings that knowledge with her to the Board.

From my experience working with various boards, sometimes board members lose sight of the population they are supposed to serve, allowing personal ambitions and/or special interests to get in the way. With Amy as your representative on the Napa Valley College Board, you can be assured that she will always put the best interests of students first.

I believe Amy Martenson is an asset to the Napa Valley College Board and should be reelected to serve the community and the college for four more years.

James Nicolis

VallejoNapa High Grizzlies is just a name but growing up in Napa and being known as the Indians was/is something to be proud of.

Many years ago when the natives of this land walked here, they fished, hunted and provided for their families, they traded with other tribes for goods they could use and, yes, fought for their land.

Fast-forward 150 years ago then came the people who would change this area, the people like General Vallejo and George Yount who raped, murdered and enslaved the native people of this area. Why not change the city of Vallejo name or Town of Yountville's name?

The name change at Napa High is just another way of saying native people are not worthy to be put up in the forefront of our community and that is disrespectful to all natives.

Really, the "Indians" logo is a true warrior who respected and fought for this land, but as they did 150 years ago, let's take it away. Shame on Napa once again for bowing down to these few who made this happen.

Rolando Solis

NapaTuesday, Aug. 21

0311 -- Neighbors were reportedly yelling at each other on Pope Street.

0819 -- A caller observed several cars near Pope/College and Hunt/Monte Vista passing school buses that had their stop signs out and lights flashing.

0916 -- A car was parked in the middle of the road near Grove/Hunt.

0934 -- A puppy was attacked and bitten by two other dogs on Stockton Street. The other dogs owner came out of a house and brought them inside, but the puppys owner hadnt been able to contact them.

1246 -- Someone found a wallet and turned it in at City Hall.

1357 -- St. Helena police covered the railroad police during an arrest near Zinfandel Lane.

1452 -- A tree branch was down on Adams Street.

1800 -- Two young girls, ages 12 and 13, at an Adams Street restaurant were approached by a man who tried to start a conversation with them, saying they had nice bodies and that he could set them up with his son who is in high school. He told the girls his name and where he lives in St. Helena. The girls werent interested, and nothing else happened.

2355 -- Medical aid for a fall victim with a possible broken ankle on Mariposa Lane.

Wednesday, Aug. 22

0120 -- Medical aid for person with shortness of breath and a racing heart on Hunt Avenue.

0952 -- A dog was running loose near Spring/Allyn. Its owner picked it up before police arrived.

1000 -- A Tainter Street property owner asked police for extra patrol in the evening due to homeless people sleeping in a carport and front porch, even though theyd been asked to leave.

1214 -- A caller asked for help locating a car that was supposed to have been delivered from Florida but hadnt arrived.

1257 -- Report of a problem involving the sale of a car and a possible repossession. Police determined it was a civil matter.

2105 -- A large dog was loose on Dean York Lane.

2132 -- Report of a reckless driver in a Ford Focus speeding toward Angwin on Deer Park Road.

2306 -- Report of four drunk people in front of a house on Tainter Street.

Thursday, Aug. 23

0812 -- Tessa, a gold-colored dog that looks like a lab, was reported missing from Crinella Drive.

0836 -- Report of loud leaf blower on Main Street.

0846 -- Report of an ongoing problem with cars parking close to the corner of Madrona/Stockton and making it hard for drivers see around the corner.

1041 -- Report of a reckless driver running other cars off the road and passing illegally near Main/Charter Oak and near Library/Adams.

1106 -- A pit bull was running loose at Mennen Park near Voorhees Circle.

1141 -- A caller requested extra patrol at Main/Charter Oak because cars were failing to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk.

1212 -- A man helped an elderly woman cross the street near Main/Spring, but she seemed to be struggling so he asked police to check on her.

1230 -- Report of a wide load trailer shedding large chunks of insulation as it headed north from Rutherford to St. Helena, guided by a pilot car.

1321 -- A black pug was reported missing from West Zinfandel Lane.

1431 -- Police were asked to check on a woman with luggage sitting outside a Main Street business.

1504 -- Non-injury accident on Main Street.

1703 -- Police took a report on a car accident on Main Street north of Pine Street. One person complained of chest pains.

1901 -- Medical aid for a fall victim on Voorhees Circle.

2103 -- Report of a dog barking constantly in the evening, possibly on June Lane.

Friday, Aug. 24

0215 -- A bouncer at a local bar said an intoxicated man was getting into a truck and preparing to drive away. Police gave the man a ride home.

0230 -- A man asked for a ride home because hed had too much to drink. There were no Ubers or taxis available.

0450 -- Report of two suspicious men speaking in hushed tones in a car on Vineyard Avenue.

0738 -- Report of a Pod storage container creating a visibility problem and a traffic hazard near Allyn/Spring.

1015 -- Report of possible sexual battery that occurred 3-5 years ago on College Avenue.

1050 -- Guests at a short-term rental on Tainter Street had reportedly been noisy last night from about midnight until 1 a.m.

1114 -- Medical aid for a person feeling ill on Vineyard Avenue.

1229 -- Report of a dead raccoon in the southbound lane of Silverado Trail near Pope Street.

1412 -- Non-injury accident on Main Street at the Sulphur Creek bridge.

1437 -- Non-injury accident near Main/Vidovich.

1437 -- A wooden post near the Crane Park volleyball courts was smoldering. The caller poured water on it and it stopped. Someone might have left a lit cigarette there.

1517 -- A teacher asked for help enforcing a bus zone on Adams Street. Theres been an ongoing problem with a silver Chevy Spark parking there and blocking the school bus.

1524 -- Report of a possible drunk driver near Silverado/Taplin.

1620 -- Report of a dad violating a restraining order by calling his daughter multiple times. Hes currently in custody in Florida.

1630 -- Medical aid for a fall victim on Edwards Street.

1651 -- A callers son was attacked after school on Hillview Place. The boy declined medical attention.

1804 -- A Samsung smartphone was found in the mens bathroom at Lyman Park.

1816 -- Report of a suspicious man driving a Chevy pickup on Spring Mountain Road with a frightened-looking woman in the bed of the truck. Police checked the area.

2049 -- A small, light-colored sedan ran into a fence on North Crane Avenue and then drove away heading south.

2052 -- Report of two cars speeding on Mitchell Drive.

Saturday, Aug. 25

0059 -- Report of suspicious men near Community Drive.

0856 -- Non-injury lift assist on Fulton Lane.

0936 -- Police received a secondhand report of a mountain lion sitting at the lower reservoir.

1045 -- A baby stroller was found near the bed of Sulphur Creek close to Charter Oak Avenue.

1226 -- A man knocked on the door of a Kearney Street home Friday night while the babysitter was there. He claimed to be with immigration, and the homeowner was concerned about possible malicious intent. ICE confirmed they had not been in the area.

1234 -- Police assisted with the playground construction on College Avenue.

1338 -- Report of a possible drunk driver weaving on northbound Silverado Trail.

1640 -- Report of many cars speeding on South Crane Avenue.

1805 -- Report of a man being attacked by a dog while having seizures on Stockton Street. Police took a report.

1915 -- Two hens were wandering around Crinella Drive. The driver secured them inside a gate.

1921 -- Report of a loud party on Springbrook Court, with offensive music playing.

1943 -- Medical aid on Voorhees Circle.

2012 -- Report of a possible drunk driver on Highway 29 near Deer Park Road. Police arrested the 61-year-old Ohio man on suspicion of DUI.

2045 -- Report of another possible drunk driver on Highway 29 near Deer Park Road.

2102 -- Report of a possible drunk driver tailgating and passing illegally on Main Street.

2108 -- Report of a possible drunk driver towing a jet ski near Main/Grayson.

Sunday, Aug. 26

0042 -- An officer contacted an Uber driver sleeping in a car near Main/Grayson.

0054 -- An officer provided light while a motorist changed a flat tire near McCormick/Dowdell.

0245 -- Report of a black car with its headlights on for five hours near Pratt/Park. Police were unable to find its owner.

0249 -- Police checked on a car parked in the middle of the road near Main/Charter Oak.

0938 -- Report of two German shepherds barking constantly at Meily Park.

1051 -- Report of three unattended dogs outside the Wappo Park dog park.

1703 -- Report of an ongoing problem with construction work occurring on Chiles Avenue outside the allowed hours.

1716 -- Report of a sewer leak oozing on and near the sidewalk on Allyn Avenue.

Monday, Aug. 27

0750 -- An officer followed up on reports of dogs barking on Doris Court.

0930 -- Report of an ongoing problem with the same people with the same people driving recklessly in the Main/Crinella/Park area.

0949 -- A large concrete block fell off a truck near Main/Dowdell.

1054 -- Report of a dog crying and howling, possibly in distress, on Madrona Avenue. Police made sure everything was OK.

1511 -- A caller requested extra patrol on Allyn Avenue due to semi trucks and regular cars speeding on Allyn Avenue, especially between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

1536 -- Police picked up a loose chihuahua that was growling at people on Spring Mountain Road.

1622 -- Non-injury hit-and-run on Pope Street.

1639 -- A non-injury hit-and-run occurred Sunday on Main Street.



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Opinions and views expressed in this blog are personal views of the Author and does not involve organisations and companies being serviced by the Author as part of his profession as a Strategic Communications professional.In a series of tweets, the president praised Scott by saying he's doing a "fantastic job as Governor!" and that "Jobs are pouring into the State". "Vote for Rick on Tuesday!" "I love Florida. I fully endorsed Ron in tomorrow's election", says Trump, who goes on to call DeSantis a "solid conservative" who has supported him on a border wall with Mexico, tax cuts, military spending and veterans issues.

Scott's victory in the GOP primary is a "foregone conclusion", according to theTampa Bay Times, which notes that the governor faces a primary opponent who is on the ballot in multiple states and hasn't run a visible campaign in Florida.

Among the 47 percent of Democratic primary voters still planning to vote, Graham leads here as well with 31 percent while Gillum follows with 23 percent, Levine with 21 percent, Green with 10 percent and King with 3 percent.

St. Pete Polls took a poll of likely Democratic primary voters for Florida Politics which shows Graham in control of the primary which is Tuesday. Bill Nelson in the general election. "He will be a great Governor and has my full and total Endorsement!" DeSantis is running against fellow Republican Adam Putnam, current agriculture commissioner.Actress-director Asia Argento has lost her place as a judge in X Factor Italy amidst allegations that she sexually abused a former child actor who once appeared in a movie with her.

Variety reports that Sky Italia and FremantleMedia Italia, who broadcast and produce the show, have chose to remove Argento from the live portion of the talent show, in spite of the fact that the already filmed audition episodes, in which Argento is present, will air when the new series starts on September 6.

According to media reports, Sky Italia and FremantleMedia Italia made a decision to sack Argento from the live portion of the talent show, which starts airing on 6 September, reported Variety website. However, there has been public criticism of Argento's position within the show and cries for her to be fired in Italy.

Argento admitted that she paid the money to Bennett by way of her ex boyfriend, the late Anthony Bourdain, but denied any sexual encounter with the young man who played her son in a movie when he was just four-years-old.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the star will specifically not appear on the upcoming live portion of the competition, which will begin with a new host on October 25. There is no official statement from the show's broadcaster and producer yet. When the report first came out, Sky Italia and FremantleMedia Italia commented publicly in a statement, noting that they had picked Argento to be a judge because of musical skills and ability to manage a television role. Bennett was 17 at the time, one year shy of the state's legal age of consent, and Argento was 37.

In a statement obtained by journalist Yashar Ali, she denied ever having "any sexual relationship" with Bennett and claimed Bourdain had urged her to agree to a settlement to end any "long-standing persecution". However, Argento denies the payment was related to sexual assault.

Harvey Weinstein was accused of rape by Lysette Anthony and Italian actress Asia Argento, who has since been accused of sexual assault. In an emergency, call 000.Kasich, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination against Trump in 2016, represented the district before Tiberi.

But when he steps into battleground OH, he is entering a state, and a Republican Party, deeply divided by his presidency.

It's official, Troy Balderson of Zanesville is the victor of the Congressional special election that was held on August 7th.

The Republican candidate maintained a razor-thin margin over his liberal opponent; beating O'Connor by 1,680 votes or 0.8%.

Balderson declared victory on August 7 despite the close margin, thanking the President for his help throughout the campaign. Pat Tiberi (TEE'-behr-ee), who retired in January.

The tight race was a test of voter sentiment before November's midterm elections, in which many models and experts are predicting a "blue wave" of Democratic wins.

President Donald Trump sought to unite Ohio's fractious state Republican Party on Friday, bitterly complaining about "negative, nasty" Democrats and warning that the Democratic contender for governor would "destroy your state".

With Balderson's victory, Republicans will continue control of a district that has been in their hands for nearly 40 years.

But Balderson and O'Connor will face each other again in November for a full term.

Republicans had seized on O'Connor's comments on MSNBC about whether he would support Democrat Nancy Pelosi for speaker, accusing O'Connor of telling swing voters he would vote against Pelosi for speaker - even though he'd support her if the party needed him for Pelosi to get 218 votes.Dear Newsie Readers,

Newsie has now permanently ceased it's services as of Friday 20th December 2019.

Newsie has been an owner-funded operation since day one.

Coming up to three years old, while we still firmly believe Newsie has a place in the New Zealand media landscape, the cost in both time and money has become too burdensome for the owners to continue alongside other ventures.

With the current government looking to restructure public broadcasting, and seemingly supporting NZME buying a ring-fenced Stuff, the time seems right to call it a day.

Should it happen, the combination of NZME and Stuff will ensure New Zealands national media will die a death by a thousand opinion-based articles.

Newsie has always tried to stick to balanced news, to inform readers of the facts of a situation, amid being largely ignored by government. Hopefully, one day someone else will take up the challenge to fight the good fight.

The good news, however, is that there were no job losses as a result of Newsie closing. Thanks to careful structuring, everyone involved in Newsie will retain their current positions.

We hope you all have a happy Christmas and new year. Stay safe, and stay out of the news.

The team at NewsieFor a referendum to require the attendance of at least 34%.

Almost 11.7 million Colombians cast ballots overwhelmingly in favor of seven initiatives proposed to stamp out corruption in the upper echelons of power, failing to draw the 12.1 million voters needed to pass the initiatives, according to quick-count results from over 99 percent of polling stations.

The outgoing comptroller general, Edgardo Maya, said recently that corruption was costing the country more than $15bn a year.

There are seven proposals being put forward, including a three-term limit for senators, publicising government budgets and elected officials' assets, as well as reducing congress representatives' salary from 40 to 25 times the minimum wage.

The vote came only 11.6 million people - less than a third of voters.

Voters also backed limiting monthly salaries for lawmakers and other high-ranking officials to the equivalent of 25 minimum salaries, or almost $6,600. Lawmakers now earn more than $10,500 per month, compared with a minimum wage of about $260.

Duque, in office only since August 7, was in favor of the measure even though it had only had lukewarm support from members of his rightwing party, the Democratic Center, which have a majority in the senate. A faux reggaeton video starring politicians encouraging people to vote yes was widely shared on social media this week.

Uribe, whose administration was dogged by corruption probes, is now under investigation by the Supreme Court for alleged witness tampering and bribery.

"We were 5 cents short, but change is unstoppable and here there was a shaking of the traditional political class", said Green Party Senator Angelica Lozano, who also supported the measure.

Colombians "want genuine changes to the political practices and to corruption", she told reporters.

"Yes" lawmakers will present a suite of laws based on the seven measures this week, the campaign said.

While the measures have been opposed by some lawmakers, including former President Alvaro Uribe, newly inaugurated President Ivan Duque stands to benefit from today's vote regardless of the result.

"Together we'll defeat those who ransack public resources, together we'll build the future that Colombia deserves", he said.North Korea Bitcoin Youbit

Sanctions-hit North Korea is planning to host its first-ever international conference focusing on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology in October.

According to Radio Free Asia, the event will be held in the hermit kingdoms capital of Pyongyang and will stretch for two days beginning October 1.

Per various reports, the conference is expected to attract blockchain and cryptocurrency experts from all over the world. No information was provided on how this is expected to be pulled off given that the country has an underdeveloped conference tourism industry and the fact that some countries such as the United States have banned their citizens from traveling to North Korea except in special circumstances.

The event is scheduled to conclude with a meet-and-greet with the business leaders of North Korea. Sources told Radio Free Asia that the goal behind hosting the conference was to demonstrate the technological capabilities of the Asian country.

Creative Solutions

This comes at a time when a report compiled by Korea Development Bank, a state-run financial institution in South Korea, has claimed that evidence had emerged of a small-scale cryptocurrency mining operation being run by the North Korean regime last year between May and July. However, according to Yonhap News Agency, the initiative is said to have failed though the reasons were not provided.

The Korea Development Bank report seems to confirm conclusions drawn earlier that the hermit kingdom could be eyeing cryptocurrencies as a way of evading sanctions imposed on the country or as a way of financing the regime of King Jong-un, the countrys ruler.

Going Rogue

In February this year, CCN reported that South Korean intelligence officials had told the countrys parliament that North Korean state-sponsored hackers had stolen billions of won in cryptocurrency last year by hacking exchanges. During a briefing a member of the countrys parliamentary intelligence committee, Kim Byung-kee, alluded to the fact that the hackers obtained the private information of cryptocurrency exchanges as well as the private information of their clients through phishing.

Story continues

North Korea sent emails that could hack into cryptocurrency exchanges and their customers private information and stole (cryptocurrency) worth billions of won, Byung-kee disclosed at the time.

Known Bad Actor

This was not entirely a new development. In September last year, for instance, cybersecurity company FireEye had warned that state-sponsored hackers from North Korea had targeted cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea with a view of stealing bitcoin as well as other digital assets. As CCN reported then, these efforts were aimed at evading sanctions as well as obtaining funds meant to sponsor the regime. And just as the intelligence agency of South Korea had pointed out, the FireEye report indicated that the attacks on the exchanges had been preceded by spear-phishing campaigns.

Featured image from Shutterstock.



The post North Korea to Host its First-Ever International Crypto Conference: Report appeared first on CCN.

The White House flag had been at half-staff since Saturday evening following McCain's death, but it was returned to full-staff early Monday morning until a reversal in the afternoon.

While in office, Trump criticized McCain again for voting against a Republican push to repeal the Affordable Care Act a year ago.

While flags remained at half mast at the Capitol, the Washington Memorial and elsewhere, the White House flag was raised on Monday.

The president, who, in comparison to the outpouring of tributes for McCain, has sent only a relatively barren tweet and statement since McCain's passing, was invoked more candidly by Sen. As I'm certain you are aware, he served five and a half years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam and retired from the US Navy at the rank of Captain.

"The media quickly ran with a false narrative that I was being insensitive to Senator McCain at a time when he found himself in dire straits", Ward said at the news conference.

Pham Gia Minh, a 62-year-old businessman who signed the condolence book at the embassy, said he witnessed Vietnamese civilians being killed by the United States bombings of North Vietnam, including the Christmas bombing of Hanoi in 1972, but he admired McCain for overcoming the hard past to build better ties between the two countries.

In his proclamation, Trump said that the USA flag will be flown "at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds" as well as at all military posts and naval stations across the United States and around the world, including "all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions".

The proclamation affects the flag atop the White House and all public buildings, as well as military installations and embassies.

"We saw our political battles, even, as a privilege, something noble, an opportunity to serve as stewards of those high ideals at home, and to advance them around the world", Obama wrote. McCain had missed over 170 votes. that Jeff Flake had chosen to go to Zimbabwe rather than to confirm judicial nominees that we need to do the business of the country.

President Donald Trump on Monday issued a formal statement honoring the late Sen. McCain will be buried Sunday at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in a private funeral service. McCain asked for Trump not be present at his funeral. I will always treasure the constant friendship he showed to the people of Israel and to me personally.

President Reuven Rivlin called McCain a "great leader, a defender of his people, a man of strong values, and a true supporter of Israel".i know she's too rich as it is, but if i was a musician i would be so irritated if i didn't own my publishing. just on principle

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not many artists do or ever will

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yeah, entertainment law is next level lol. like even if you fully wrote, produced, performed and recorded something, legally someone can say it does not belong to you. weird.

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a lot of times the labels give them money for studio time, producers, etc. it's messed up but you have almost no leverage as a new artist and then its too late.

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I'm surprised she hasn't just bought out the entire label by now.

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For real

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She should def negotiate to own her masters, take that shit and run girl. Start your own label you're rich af!

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Would her dad sell his 3% of the label he bought before she was signed?

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They don't say. At the end of the article they share another quote from an unnamed source that says "it's like family" between Taylor and the label/label head Scott Borchetta, so I assume part of whatever negotiations or meetings are happening, that stake that her dad has in that label is part of the conversation

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She's far too smart to leave the label, like that would be the craziest move possible - she has full control already. If it ain't broke don't fix it, Taylor!

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Yeah I always got the feeling Scott Borchetta has a vote of loyalty from Taylor. He was the first person to offer her creative control over the music she wanted to release when she was a teen and it seems like he's treated her well in the meantime.

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A [Toby Keith]: Yeah. Oh, yeah. No question. I own a piece of the label she's on. If I just took the royalties I had off of that, I wouldn't have to do anything else. A bunch of people could live off that.



http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-toby-keith-ott-0812-20160808-story.html# Q: If you never made another album and never got another royalty of your own, could you live off Taylor Swift money?A [Toby Keith]: Yeah. Oh, yeah. No question. I own a piece of the label she's on. If I just took the royalties I had off of that, I wouldn't have to do anything else. A bunch of people could live off that.

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Ugh, he would. I will never not hate him, the Dixie Chicks BS will never be forgotten.

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Truly THE WORST.

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we're going to have some sony/michael jackson battles with this...

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Doesnt her dad have some sort of stake/role with the label? I assumed thats why she stayed/will stay because she has more pull than most through that and just her general success now.

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Her dad only owns 3% iirc and if he could negotiate with her to sign over the masters, he'd stand to make much more if she started her own label but probably not if she just moved to a different one.

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3% doesn't sound like a lot but Toby Keith owns slightly more and is worth $500,000,000.

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U can call 3% too much or too little without knowing how pulverized are the shares tho

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She's gonna start her own lowkey label for TS7: Back 2 Country. "Yeah I just wasn't interested in doing the mainstream thing anymore and of course I love Big Machine and all the work we've put in together, but I'm really excited for this new thing" etc.

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Lol I can see this.

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And with her industry connects, she's def gonna try and sign a bunch of young ingenues to open for her on her tours.

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Owning catalogues is such an uphill battle for artists. Hope she can get it.



But damn, shes really like no other. Shes really a businesswoman first and foremost

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Yeah I don't have any truck with her image-making tactics but I have mad respect for her business skills.

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Why not just retire and enjoy the wealth? I guess the ego needs to be fed

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Maybe she likes working lol?

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perhaps. it's been said that boring people bore easily

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she's a creative type, they say they'd do this for pennies.

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I mean this could be said of every successful celeb



Celebrity types crave the attention and validation of fame, it's not just about the money

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Probably because it would be boring af. If anything shell just become a writer for other artists and continue to work.

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what even is this comment? not working sucks, and I can't even imagine it on that large of a scale. plus, believe it or not, some people enjoy their jobs and working in general?

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"Taylor could face a struggle over ownership of her old catalogue. As it stands now she does not own the masters to her albums. If she decides to leave Big Machine Records she will have to negotiate for ownership of these masters and, since it is assumed that 80% of the labels revenue is thanks to Taylor's music, it will be a tough fight."





For as calculated and business savvy as Taylor is I'm actually surprised she doesn't own her own publishing?



Que paso Taylor?

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oh wow, how dumb of her team.

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80% of the label's revenue is thanks to Taylor's music



She is so rich I makes want to cry. 

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Yeah I remember looking at their rosters years ago and she is one of the biggest artist on the label.



I think the head of label Scott Borchetta, one time even said how lucky he was to have signed her.

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Well, she was only 15. She'd never sign that today. She likes money too much.

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Owning the masters is different from publishing. Masters are the first recordings of a song that you use to make the final song, and typically labels own that. Publishing is about songwriting. Labels typically own the masters until the artist leaves the label and either they leave without ownership of their old music or they negotiate them away from the label. Since Taylor was only 15 and no one knew she'd become as big a success as she has, the label wasn't going to allow have ownership of them when she first signed.



But since Taylor has written/co-written every single song she's released and recorded, she does have a say in how to license it. If she leaves her current label on bad terms or without her masters, they would still need her permission as a songwriter to do anything with her old music besides letting it be streamed



Edited at 2018-08-28 02:15 am (UTC)

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I thought the same thing at first, but she probably wasn't as business-savvy as a 15yo as she is now. I doubt she'd sign the same deal now; if she moves to another label I'm sure she'll insist on ownership of her work.

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ooh, this is really smart.

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This is actually super exciting. IDC for Taylor or her music, but I am always here for the signed pop stars breaking free. Madonna got a huge deal (iirc biggest ever?) when she was a free agent, Robyn went her own way and became flawless, it's a real time to shine. And there probably couldn't be a better moment for Taylor for this to happen.

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I can't see her leaving. But she does have the money and power to start her own label. Would she ever sign women to her label is the question?



Edited at 2018-08-28 02:01 am (UTC)

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I don't see the upside of staying. She'll eventually be replaced by a "new" Taylor Swift and her career sales decline. Taking control now means she has a few years to make some hits she fully owns and start managing new acts.

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Shes a mess but Im always interested in watching her calculations, and this is gonna be especially fascinating. Shes one of very few artists I can think of who are so methodically involved in literally every aspect of their careers. To the point where, even when it misfires (arguably most of Reputation era, at least in terms of public perception), its supremely gratifying to watch? Feels as close as you can come to seeing the protag in a shitty network drama be like ridiculously omniscient in their plotting & always one step ahead. Except instead of a writers room she just has good lawyers



Beyonces another one who comes to mind. Maybe Adele if she were less boring, and Rihannas been getting there w all her business ventures and the way she swerved ANTI into a mega success when those early days seemed rocky (shoutout to the samsung antidiarrhea giveaways)

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Beyonce does not move albums to make any power moves like this. She definitely learned her lesson with Everything Is Love too. Taylor is the only artist that can pull this shit right now and get what she wants.

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Hello from the other side of the pond.

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I mostly meant that Bey's one of the other few artists who's devoted to maintaining total, methodical control of her entire career+image. And I do agree that Beyonce prob learned a lesson with Everything is Love and that her strategies will shift, but imo prior to that her albums were pretty clearly orchestrated to be power moves on a grander scheme? Self-titled will go down as one of the original disruptors of the streaming era, and then Lemonade w its visual component was a (briefly) huge game-changer for Tidal...



They're both planners and incredibly shrewd businesswomen, but are operating in different currencies. Just think Taylor's is a little more obvious and casually legible

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LinkIn a disclosure that might not necessarily be good news for Indian economic and government planners, energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie said last week that India will pass China as the country with the largest demand for oil by 2024, accounting for about 30 percent of total global oil demand growth.

Sushant Gupta, a research director for energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie said that this would create substantial problems for the countrys refining sector. "This is clearly an uphill task, unless domestic refiners can commit to their planned capacity additions," Gupta said in statements to UPI.

The report added that if India can't find ways to produce its own gasoline, it will have to look to more imports. Countries with spare capacity are in the EU or the U.S., though Wood Mackenzie said the trade distances could create concerns for a growing India.

Indias oil imports are already spiking with most of its crude oil coming from OPEC producers. Much of this procurement is made, according to many analysts, to curry political favor with these nations since large number of Indian expats work in various middle eastern nations.

Last month, Iraq bypassed Saudi Arabia to become Indias largest crude oil supplier. The Economic Times said that Iraqs rise in supply (with crucial ramifications for Indias crude mix) is mainly attributed to Indian refiners growing hunger for heavier grades of crude and Saudi Arabias decision to over-confirm on output cuts decided in the January 2017 OPEC meeting. Indias crude oil imports in terms of value rose 25 percent to $87.8 bn in 2017-18.

Turning to gas

To offset both its over reliance on coal as well as oil to fuel India's transportation and industrial sectors, India has been making a pivot to natural gas and renewables. India is currently the worlds fourth largest LNG importer after Japan, China and South Korea. Related: Is This As Good As It Gets For U.S. Refiners?

Earlier this year, the government said the country would more than double the share natural gas played in its energy mix to 15 percent by 2022 which will require a huge increase in imports and the construction of more LNG terminals. India has four LNG receiving terminals and imports around 20 million tonnes of the super-cooled fuel a year.

Over the next seven year the government plans to build another 11 terminals which would raise Indias LNG import capacity to more than 70 million tonnes per year. It would be one of the fastest gas import expansions since China embarked on its huge gasification program last year. India is currently the worlds fourth largest LNG importer after Japan, China and South Korea.

Solar ambitions

In July, Indian power minister RK Singh said in comments made at an energy conference in Spain that New Delhi intended to launch a tender for 100 GW (100,000 MW) of solar power, around 10 times the size of the largest current solar tender in the world.

His disclosure came just two weeks after Tokyo-based SoftBank Group announced it would invest between $60 billion to $100 billion in solar power generation in India. Last year, India bypassed Japan to become the world's third-largest market for solar power, after China and the U.S.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already called for generating 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022, which is nearly 30 times what the country had only three years ago. Modi also set a goal of reducing India's oil and natural gas import dependency to two-thirds by 2022 and to half by 2030. Related: Which Refiners Win From Strict Fuel Regulations?

Coal still accounts for nearly 60 percent of India's power mix needed for electricity generation, while wind provides 10 percent and solar 5 percent, according to government figures. India installed 20 GW of solar power by the end of December, nearly doubling its capacity from a year earlier.

Indias power demand has grown in lock-step with is economic growth, which posted an average annual rate of approximately 11 percent between 2004 and 2014, according to the US Energy Information Administrations (IEA) latest analysis of Indias energy sector. The country has also posted a GDP growth rate of more than 7 percent each of the past three years.

Whats next?

Going forward, India will have to play a delicate geopolitical balancing act as it procures more crude oil from middle eastern supplies, African producers and the U.S. It has already indicated it would trim Iranian crude oil imports by as much as 50 percent under pressure from Washington as sanctions on Irans energy sector are set to take place in Nonmember.

The impact of sanctions is already driving up the price of oil imports for India. A Live Mint report said last month that as India explores alternative supplies, import costs are likely to rise as Iran offers extremely competitive terms, which include, among others, free shipping and extended credit terms of about 60 days.

By Tim Daiss for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:The fracking revolution in the U.S. has considerably changed the global oil market and the strategic calculations of market participants. The initial entry of shale oil producers caused a crash in prices due to the sudden flooding of the market in 2014. The steep decline in prices led to a landmark deal between the largest oil producers. The agreement to reduce production by 1.8 million barrels per day significantly raised prices to a more sustainable level to the benefit of producers.

Currently, the world is facing several risks that could again significantly impact the price of oil, only this time, not a downward revision but upward. Obviously, lower prices are favorable to consumers for whom the sharp decline in 2014 was profitable. However, the looming perfect storm of geopolitical and technical problems threatens to destabilize the market.

Internal trouble in several regions has decreased supply. The civil war in Libya and unrest in Venezuela has taken hundreds of thousands of barrels per day off the market. President Trumps confrontational policy towards Iran and the imposition of sanctions risks tightening the global oil market even further.

In the past, shale producers have proven to fill some of the gap left by others. The relative efficiency and speed with which shale producers are able to increase or decrease output, has made them extremely reactive to prices. However, trouble looms ahead as a problem independent from oil production itself risks derailing some of the prospects: transportation bottlenecks.

The Permian shale is one of the most productive areas globally with a production of 3.5 million barrels per day. To put that into perspective, it is comparable to the average daily oil production in the United Arab Emirates. However, the inland position of the production area requires significant pipeline infrastructure to export to international markets and refining facilities on the Gulf of Mexico. Road transportation is not an option as it is too expensive, costing on average between $12 and $18 dollars per barrel for a two-way trip. Related: Saudi King Stepped In To Call Off Aramco IPO

Several companies, however, have already made plans for additional pipelines. One of those is Epic Midstream Holding. The company intends to build its first pipeline in the Americas from the Permian base towards Corpus Christi. The pipeline was designed to carry 440,000 barrels per day, which was more than sufficient during the planning stage. The enormous production growth in the Permian, however, has prompted the company to reconsider its capacity. Plains All American Pipelines and Philips 66 are considering the same with a total capacity of 1.8 million barrels.

(Click to enlarge)

The investment in infrastructure is a welcome development for producers, but their patience is also being tested. Obviously, construction will take some time, with most pipelines set to become operational in 2019 or 2020. In the meantime, producers are expected to curtail the rapid development of additional wells as there is no capacity to transport those extra barrels.

The IEA, for its part, predicts U.S. oil production to grow by 1.7 million barrels in 2018 and 1.8 million in 2019 in its June Oil Market Report (110,00 less than in its previous report). The bulk of the growth should come from the largest and most productive field: the Permian basin. The downward revision of the IEA acknowledges the production constraints due to bottlenecks. Related: Can The U.S. Bring Iranian Oil Exports To Zero?

Traditionally OPEC members spare capacity has prevented major price swings. However, the more members pump oil to compensate for reductions in other regions, e.g. Iran and Venezuela, the less capacity remains to utilize during a later stage. Saudi fears of Iranian domination of the Middle East has led to increased support in Riyadh for Trumps goal to reduce Iranian export of oil zero barrels per day.

President Trump vehemently detests the Iran Nuclear Deal its predecessor made. However, domestic issues currently weigh more than Iran as midterm elections loom. Rising fuel prices could hurt Republican support and the administration is aware of this fact, which could explain Washington U-turn towards its policy regarding waivers on the import of Iranian crude.

The administration seems aware of the impact the absence of Iranian oil could have on the global oil market which already is tight with limited available spare capacity.

By Vanand Meliksetian for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:Oil prices have held onto gains in the last few trading sessions. Brent is still holding its own above $76 per barrel, finding support from a weaker US dollar and hopes that the US and China will soon resolve their trade conflict, Commerzbank said in a note.

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

- More than 30 percent of global maritime oil trade, or about 15 million barrels per day, passes through the South China Sea. Of course, most of that oil has to first traverse the Strait of Malacca, one of the most vital chokepoints in the global oil trade.

- Three importers  China, Japan and South Korea  account for a combined 80 percent of the oil flow that passes through the South China Sea.

- China, in particular, saw 90 percent of its maritime oil imports pass through the South China Sea.

Market Movers

 Sinopec (NYSE: SNP) reported best quarter in years, driven by both strong upstream and downstream figures. Net Income in the first half of 2018 was up more than 50 percent compared to a year earlier, and at over $6 billion, its the best first two quarters ever for the company since its initial listing nearly two decades ago.

 Enbridge (NYSE: ENB) has agreed to buy the rest of Spectra Energy Partners (NYSE: SEP) for $3.3 billion in an all-stock deal. Enbridge already owns 83 percent of Spectra.

 BP (NYSE: BP) is considering selling some of its older U.S. oil and gas assets so that it can focus on its high return assets that it acquired from BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL) for more than $10 billion.

Tuesday August 28, 2018

More OPEC output in July. OPEC cut its compliance rate with the production curbs from 120 percent in June to just 109 percent in July, which means the group has added more barrels onto the market.

India hit by rising oil prices. India will take over from China as the largest source of demand growth in the global oil market by 2024, and between now and 2035 India will add around 3.5 million barrels per day in demand, a third of the global increase over that timeframe, according to Wood Mackenzie. However, in the short run, rising oil prices and a weakening rupee could undercut Indias oil consumption. "Due to India's heavy reliance on imported oil and gas, the impact of rising world oil prices has significantly increased the oil import bill. This is the key factor that is driving the deterioration in India's trade position, with July's trade deficit hitting a five year high," IHS Markit Asia-Pacific Chief Economist Rajiv Biswas, said in an email to CNBC. Related: The Permian Could Soon Have Too Much Pipeline Capacity

U.S. and Mexico reach preliminary trade deal. Overcoming some outstanding issues, the U.S. and Mexico said they have reached a deal on a revised NAFTA trade deal, although President Trump wanted to call it the U.S.-Mexico Trade Agreement, not NAFTA. One of the sticking points was the issue of granting too much power to international oil and gas companies as part of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement chapter, which gives companies the right to sue governments if policies impact profits. The energy industry says that authority increases certainty and leads to higher investment while the incoming Mexican government, and members of the Trump team, were concerned about the provision, though for different reasons. The partial agreement reached on Monday softens this mechanism.

Saudi king scrapped Aramco IPO. According to Reuters, the Saudi king had the final word on scrapping the Aramco IPO. The main concern was that a public offering would open up the company to too much transparency, a problem since the details of Aramcos operations and financial health are a closely guarded state secret.

European natural gas prices diverge from oil. Natural gas prices in Europe have historically been closely linked to crude oil prices. However, the correlation has fallen apart in the past few months, due to regional factors related to the European gas market, such as surging prices for carbon, depleted inventories and hot weather requiring more power demand. The end result is sharply higher natural gas prices at a time when crude oil prices fell. Gas has become its own market, it is driven by forces which are very distinct from oil, Muqsit Ashraf, managing director and global lead for energy for Accenture Strategy, told Bloomberg.

Egypt pays more for oil and gas independence. Egypt has inverted the petrostate model, the Wall Street Journal writes. Unlike Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing countries, where oil production funds a generous social safety net, Egypt has done something of the reverse. Egyptians are paying elevated prices to international oil and gas companies in order to attract their investment. The Egyptian government has set high domestic prices for oil and natural gas, making Egypt attractive to outside companies. Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A), BP (NYSE: BP) and Eni (NYSE: E) have poured billions into the country. Egypt could soon be a net exporter of gas and even has dreams of setting up an Eastern Mediterranean gas hub. But if it does so, it will be financed by ordinary Egyptians.

Totals Iran exit gives China opportunity. Total SA (NYSE: TOT) has withdrawn from Iran amid the threat of U.S. sanctions. That gives China an opportunity to take on a greater role in Irans South Pars gas field, the largest natural gas field in the world. Chinas CNPC already has a stake in the project.

Related: Is This As Good As It Gets For U.S. Refiners?

North Sea revival due to new management. Since 2010, oil fields that were handed over to new management in the North Sea have seen higher growth in reserves compared to the average, according to Rystad Energy. In the past decade, the oil majors have discarded a lot of oil projects, selling them to smaller companies that have managed to revive older fields. Industry insiders say that the oil majors have both capital and attention allocated elsewhere, and smaller companies that are hyper-focused on just a handful of assets in the North Sea can produce better results.

ExxonMobil wants renewables in Texas. ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) sent out a request for proposals for solar and wind projects, looking to secure power for 12, 15 or 20 years, according to Bloomberg. The company wants projects with between 100 and 250 megawatts for delivery in Texas. I have never seen an oil and gas company doing a corporate PPA anywhere near that size, said Kyle Harrison, a New York-based analyst at Bloomberg NEF. If youre seeing the biggest oil and gas companies going out and making investments in clean energy, it shows that renewables are cost-competitive.

Oilfield services firms see stocks rise along with rig count. The U.S. rig count has climbed by more than 100 over the past year and the share prices of more than a dozen oilfield services companies have seen the benefit.

By Tom Kool for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:Saudi Arabias King Salman has demanded that the initial public offering of Saudi Aramco be called off, stepping in to shelve the plans of his heir apparent, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for what was tipped to be the worlds biggest IPO ever, Reuters reports, citing three sources with ties to Saudi government insiders.

Last Wednesday, reports emerged that Saudi Arabia had called off its highly anticipated, US$100-billion IPO, Reuters sources said, with even plans to list the state-run oil company on its domestic bourse, Tadawul, being scrapped. The listing was expected to be the worlds largest IPO, and the Saudis pegged a large part of the Vision 2030 economic agenda on proceeds from it.

Saudi Arabia immediately denied the reports that the listing was canceled, with Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih saying in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency:

The Government remains committed to the IPO of Saudi Aramco at a time of its own choosing when conditions are optimum. This timing will depend on multiple factors, including favorable market conditions, and a downstream acquisition which the Company will pursue in the next few months, as directed by its Board of Directors.

According to one of Reuters sources, Saudi King Salman held consultations with family members, oil executives, and bankers in early June. The main concern over listing Aramco was reportedly that an IPO would require full disclosure of finances and reserves of the Saudi state oil giant. Related: Which Refiners Win From Strict Fuel Regulations?

Later in June, the King sent a message to his administrative officethe diwandemanding the IPO be called off, the sources told Reuters, with one source noting that King Salmans decision is final.

According to the sources, despite the Aramco IPO halt and a blow to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans economic reform agenda in which the oil giants listing was a key point, MbS remains the favorite son and heir with vast powers over various policies.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:European natural gas pricing is amongst the highest seen in recent years, as unseasonably high demand and the long-term ramifications of the pan-European cold snap are priced into the European market.

Whilst analysts and traders alike anticipate a strong demand ahead of the coming heating season (Bloomberg), this article is primarily concerned with the overall tightness of the European natural gas market.

In contrast to previous years, the Day Ahead price across European hubs has remained strong throughout the summer months, largely due to the previous uncharacteristically cold winter. The past European heating season was amongst the coldest in recent history, with European domestic gas demand responding accordingly, draining natural gas storage facilities throughout Europe. When temperatures eventually recovered, natural gas demand remained robust throughout Europe in order to replenish the storage which had been depleted throughout the cold weather, providing an unseasonably bullish sentiment across the European market.

Following this, a pan-European heatwave exacerbated demand throughout July and August, although European LNG still traded at a substantial discount to Asian LNG pricing. The determination of wholesale market prices of natural gas within Europe has historically been driven by two factors; European LNG imports and flexible oil-indexed pipeline gas from Russia and Norway above take or pay levels. Whether LNG imports or Russian gas acts as a price setter within Europe is typically dependent on Asian hub prices. As a rule of thumb, as Asian and European hub pricing diverges, LNG cargoes are drawn away from Europe by arbitrageurs, leaving Russian and Norwegian pipeline gas, indexed to oil or oil products, to act as the price setter. Conversely, weakness in Asian hub pricing pushes LNG cargoes into Europe, displacing pipeline gas as the price setter for marginal supplies in Europe.

Therefore, as Asia has presented a lucrative arbitrage opportunity over the previous months due to Chinese LNG demand, European natural gas markets have been uncharacteristically tight in comparison to previous cooling seasons, with a market expectation of tightness leading into the coming European heating season. Related: Can The U.S. Bring Iranian Oil Exports To Zero?

In order to dynamically assess the tightness of the European natural gas market, this article observes the harmonisation of price returns within the European natural gas market. This is made possible through generation of a connection density term based on price returns of 12 European Day Ahead hubs. From this, a rolling window estimator is applied, assessing the degree of price harmonisation, and therefore the tightness of the European market, at each point in time.

(Click to enlarge)

Figure 1: A Connection Density time series of European daily day ahead prices.

As shown in Figure 1, the connection density term increases substantially throughout the heatwave, driven by a perfect demand storm within Europe. A number of concomitant factors such as Asian LNG demand, uncharacteristically warm temperatures, and pressure on power generators to reduce coal usage, have firmed day ahead gas prices, increasing competition, harmonising prices, and ultimately tightening the European gas market. Related: Indias Thirst For Oil Is Outpacing China

The increasing tightness within the European market has the secondary effect of dampening price volatility, as displayed by the 30-day average volatility metric (Figure 1), which visually holds a negative correlation with the connection density term. This negative relationship can be expected to hold within the tight market conditions anticipated into the European heating season.

(Click to enlarge)

Figure 2: Causality amongst European gas prices at the highest (upper image) connection density (20/07/2018) and lowest (lower image) connection density (03/07/2018).

As Figure 2 shows, there is a substantial range in price harmonisation within the European natural gas market across the sample, with higher marginal prices often leading to increased competition in the pan-European day ahead market.

Fundamentally, the extreme weather experienced across Europe throughout the year has driven natural gas prices, and the tightness of the market, to multi-year highs. According to traders and analysts, the bullish price sentiment shall continue into the coming heating season, increasing competition within the European market, ultimately driving the market toward the EU objective of one market for natural gas within Europe.

By David Woroniuk for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:Irans crude oil and condensate exports are set to drop to a total of 64 million barrels this month, or 2.06 million bpdthe first time that monthly crude and ultra-light oil shipments out of Iran will have fallen below 70 million barrels since April 2017, according to preliminary trade flows data by Thomson Reuters Eikon.

The August shipments of Irans crude oil and condensate are on pace to average 2.06 million bpd, which compares with a peak of 92.8 million barrels, or 3.09 million bpd, for April this year, the month before the U.S. withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and reinstated sanctions on Tehran. The first round of U.S. sanctions kicked in earlier this month, while the sanctions on Irans oil exportswhich the U.S. targets to bring to zerowill snap back in early November.

The key Iranian customers have all scaled back loadings in August, with top client China expected to see 18.4 million barrels coming in from Iran this month, down from the highest monthly volume this year, 24 million barrels set in July, Reuters data showed.

Irans exports to India plunged to 8.2 million barrels, down from more than 20 million barrels in the previous months, according to the data, but the destination of some 11 million barrels of Iranian oil is yet to be identified, so Indian imports may be higher than 8.2 million barrels this month. Japan is cutting imports for a second consecutive month, while also for a second month in a row, South Korea is not importing Iranian oil.



Related: Which Refiners Win From Strict Fuel Regulations?

Between August 1 and 16, Irans exports plunged by 600,000 bpd compared to July loadings, Platts preliminary tanker tracking data showed earlier this month. Iranian oil exports averaged 1.68 million bpd in the first half of August. This compares to average exports of 2.32 million bpd in the whole month of July, and to 2.10 million bpd in the first 16 days in July, according to S&P Global Platts estimates.

Aiming to retain its current customers, Iran is slashing its official selling prices (OSPs) for its flagship crude grades to multi-year lows compared to similar varieties of the Saudi crude grades.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:August is coming to an end, but the scorching heat sure isn't.

Environment Canada has issued a heat warning for the Montreal area, forecasting on Monday morning that "warm and humid conditions" will settle over southern Quebec and likely persist until Wednesday.

The start of the work week will bring back temperatures in the high 80s and low 90s, as well as humidity. "Overnight low temperatures will be in the low twenties providing little relief from the heat".

London, Sarnia, Chatham-Kent, Windsor and Middlesex, Elgin, Lambton, Oxford, Huron and Perth counties are all under a heat warning from the national weather agency.

Montrealers are advised to avoid outdoor activity during the hottest parts of the day and to stay cool and hydrated.

Those at the greatest risk of heat-related illness are young children, pregnant women, elderly people, and those with chronic illnesses.

Residents are reminded never to leave people or pets inside locked vehicles.

Tuesday will reach 31 C in London and Wednesday's daytime high will peak at 29 C, Environment Canada says.The biggest financial services group in Norway and a major lender to the oil and gas sector, DNB, expects more restructuring in the industry ahead, but on a smaller, more limited scale in a few segments, amid improved outlook on the industry, DNBs chief executive Rune Bjerke told Reuters on Tuesday.

We see some restructuring ahead, but to a very limited level. We have been through most of the cases where we have been involved as a bank, Bjerke said in an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of an oil industry conference in Stavanger, Norway.

The oil industry went through a lot of restructuring and consolidation after the oil prices crashed in 2014 and stayed lower-for-longer for three years, as companies tried to overcome the oil price slump with restructuring and mergers and acquisitions deals.

According to DNBs chief executive, the industry is likely to further consolidate, but deals now will be more event-driven.

The Norwegian bank has reduced some of its exposure to the oil sector, by US$12 billion (100 billion Norwegian crowns) over the past few years, Bjerke said, noting that We are more or less done with the rebalancing.

The most restructuring ahead is expected in the two markets that are still in overcapacity: rigs and offshore supply vessels, according to DNBs top executive.

These are the two sectors where we are not through it yet, Bjerke told Reuters.

Last month, the chief executive of offshore rig provider Seadrill, which emerged from Chapter 11 in July, told Reuters that the drilling market could improve with the help of consolidation among smaller offshore rig firms.

Anybody with the fleet of less than 10-15 rigs probably needs to be consolidated ... All who dont have scale are candidates for consolidation, Seadrill chief executive Anton Dibowitz told Reuters in an interview in early July.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:The United States and Mexico reached on Monday a preliminary U.S.-Mexico trade agreement that would be the starting point to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), with Canada also joining talks this week.

U.S. President Donald Trump hailed the agreement as an incredible deal for the workers and for the citizens of both countries.

Were going to call it the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement, and well get rid of the name NAFTA. It has a bad connotation because the United States was hurt very badly by NAFTA for many years, President Trump said.

After the deal with Mexico was announced, Canadas Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke on the phone with President Trump. The leaders welcomed the progress that has been made in discussions with Mexico and look forward to having their teams engage this week with a view to a successful conclusion of negotiations, Trudeaus office said in a statement.

While the full text and details of the U.S.-Mexico deal have not been published yet, officials from both countries told S&P Global Platts that the new agreement would not significantly change the so-called Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism that gives protection to foreign companies that have invested in the oil and gas industry. The trade deal is expected to provide security for U.S. companies that invest in Mexicos energy sector, which outgoing President Enrique Pena Nieto opened up for foreign investment in 2013, ending 70 years of state monopoly.

Mexicos incoming president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who takes office in December, has been critical of the energy reform and has vowed to review the contracts that foreign firms have already signed with Mexico.



Lopez Obrador welcomed the deal and said, as quoted by Reuters:

We are satisfied because our sovereignty was saved. Mexico reserves the right to reform its constitution, its energy laws, and it was established that Mexicos oil and natural resources belong to our nation.

The president-elects designated chief NAFTA negotiator, Jesus Seade, who took part in the latest round of talks with the United States said that Pena Nietos negotiators and the United States agreed to change language in the draft about energy that had been cut and paste from the text of the Mexican energy reform, but still preserved the same ideas and was consistent with the energy reform.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:Frances Environment Minister, Nicolas Hulot, is calling it quits, citing an accumulation of disappointments in his government with regards to meeting climate change goals, Hulot explained in on live radio broadcast.

Hulots bold move shines a light on French President Emmanuel Macrons effortsor lack thereofto combat climate change, after the government under Macron relaxed hunting laws in the country. The relaxation of those laws may garner favor for Macron from rural voters, and appeals to Frances powerful hunting lobby.

Hulot and Macron together had met with the hunting lobby to discuss the proposed overhaul on Monday, which would make it easier for hunters to obtain hunting licenses and includes more species that can be lawfully killed.

Speaking about the countrys efforts to maintain biodiversity and strides toward reaching stated climate goals, Hulot referred to the measures as merely mini steps during the radio broadcast that rung in the end of his government career. I cant lie to myself anymore, Hulot added.

Despite Hulots public denouncement of Frances climate change efforts, electricity generation from renewable and nuclear power sources in France jumped in June, squeezing out fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gasFrances grid operator RTE said earlier this month.

In what many considered a toothless grand gesture, French legislature passed a law late last year that prohibited all oil and gas exploration and production within its borders and territories by 2040, which is when some are expecting oil to reach its peak demand. The law called for no new licenses to be issued or renewed for the exploration of oil and gas.

Hulots abrupt departure blindsided the government, including Macron, who was on a trip to Denmark at the time, and may upset Macrons rather tenuous relationship with both the right and the left, according to the Guardian.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:" " Two Yaohnanen tribesmens show framed pictures of their 2007 visit with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Christopher Hogue Thompson, Used Under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 License

In Vanuatu, a South Pacific island nation that's a three-hour or so flight east-northeast of Sydney, Australia, the mystic figure known as John Frum is alive. Well, as much as he's ever been alive. He is not alone. John Frums, some will argue, "live" all over the world. Even in places you wouldn't expect.

On the tiny island of Tanna in the Vanuatu archipelago  overall population about 250,000  a vocal lot of locals still worship John Frum, a mythical personage often depicted as a white American World War II soldier (though he has been described in different ways). Every year on Feb. 15, Frum followers celebrate John Frum Day.

They raise the U.S. flag. They march in formation with rifles made of bamboo. Older islanders dress in military outfits, complete with medals. Years ago, they carved airstrips out of the jungle, complete with fake planes.

They honor John Frum and prepare for his return and the good times  and material things that will come with it.

All this, it should be noted, for someone that outsiders believe sprung from the minds of elders high on kava, a local plant with slightly psychoactive properties.

Frum followers are leading examples of what many anthropologists label a "cargo cult," which is in itself a kind of moving target of a term that scientists now struggle to accept. The term has been used largely for groups in the Pacific, those in less-developed societies conducting what are seemingly strange and primitive rituals. The label is still used, but not as much. Calling something a "cult," after all, is a tad pejorative. Even the word "cargo" may not represent what it once did.

However the groups are tagged, they persist, some to the point that they have become legitimized parts of society. And they're not all relegated to the jungles of faraway islands.

"It's not just something that's in Vanuatu or New Caledonia or New Guinea. It's not just the 'primitive' spots," says John Edward Terrell, the Regenstein Curator of Pacific Anthropology at the Field Museum in Chicago. "That's why I argue that Trumpism is a 'cargo cult.' It's right here at home."

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The Granddaddy of Cargo Cults

The term "cargo cult" originated in 1945 with the John Frum movement, which began in the early part of the 20th century. The Frum movement gained followers during and after World War II when islanders, seeing cargoes of food and goods that American soldiers brought, went full-in (probably after a night of sipping kava drinks) on the idea that an American savior would reappear after the war, bringing gifts of "cargo."

"John promised he'll bring planeloads and shiploads of cargo to us from America if we pray to him," a village elder told Smithsonian Magazine in 2006. "Radios, TVs, trucks, boats, watches, iceboxes, medicine, Coca-Cola and many other wonderful things."

More than cargo, though  and one reason that anthropologists avoid using the term "cargo cult"  the promise of John Frum then, and now, is to throw off the yoke of colonials who for years pushed strange religions and customs on a people rich with their own history and kastom. The followers of Frum at one time were told by their leaders (who, ostensibly, heard from John himself ... again with the kava) to stop listening to the missionaries and to "drink kava, worship the magic stones and perform our ritual dances," according to what a village leader told Smithsonian.

That desire for more than just cargo  for a better, more authentic life  has paid dividends on the island, even as worshippers await the return of their man. The John Frum Party is now represented in the Vanuatu parliament.

The Frum movement is not the only "cargo cult" still active in the Pacific. Also on Tanna, a small sect worships the United Kingdom's Prince Philip, believing the Duke of Edinburgh (and husband to Queen Elizabeth II) is a divine being. Several other groups have been ID'd as "cargo cults" in Papua New Guinea and elsewhere.

"It is a social phenomenon; you have to be able to, in a sense, tell it to other people," Terrell says. "People can connect with the idea that, 'It's all going to get better if we do X or Y.'"

Advertisement

What Cargo Cultists Want

These "revitalization movements," as famed anthropologist Anthony F.C. Wallace more tastefully called them, are no different than what many cultures throughout the world experience throughout history. The people in these crusades want what we all do  a better life.

Wallace spelled out five phases in the development of these movements; Terrell has boiled them down here, from the point of view of those experiencing it. (We've shrunk them even more.)

Once, life was good. We were happy. Things got worse, and we got a little less happy and more restless. It got really bad, and we started looking for ways to make things better. "Disillusionment and apathy became common." Somebody with what Wallace called a "vision dream"  gained in any number of ways, tangible or intangible, of this world or beyond it  suggested a better way. Converts were made. More people, seeking a better life, joined in. A movement was born. The movement lives until the dream is realized or dashed.

Advertisement

How Cargo Cults Relate to Today's World

The idea of people wanting to improve their lot, and waiting on someone to help them do it, should not be, Terrell suggests, some strange concept. Entire religions  not just John Frum  are based on it. Whole societies turn on it.

Unhappy? Looking for more meaning in your life? Want to return to a happier time? A, shall we say, "greater" time?

Donald Trump, anyone? Brexit, perhaps? The Arab Spring? Russia under Putin?

It turns out that the "cargo cults" of Vanuatu aren't all that different from the rest of the world when it comes to what they want.

"I don't think it always has to be about 'How it had been was much better, and if we can only get back, we'll all be fine,'" Terrell says. "But Trumpism clearly does [that]. I don't think it's any exaggeration that Trumpism has all the earmarks of a cargo cult.

"It's about the power of belief. And the power of persuasion."

NOW THAT'S INTERESTING Anthropologist Lamont Lindstrom explains the early labeling of "cargo cults" this way: "Any sort of woeful or forlorn desire for material goods or other coveted objective, joined with a seemingly irrational program to obtain this, can be blasted as a wrongheaded cargo cult." Whether it's stories about John Frum followers in Vanuatu or Trump followers in Iowa, Lindstrom says, they all rest on this basic human trait. "Cargo stories are desire stories. They function to remind us how modern, consumerist desire operates. This is desire  for things as for others  that is never sated."Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano via Facebook

PASAY CITY, Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano faced his former colleagues on Tuesday (August 28) in the Senate during the deliberations on the P27.4B proposed budget of his agency for next year.

During the session, Cayetano disclosed the proposed joint exploration between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea that is likely to happen next month.

If we can get oil and gas in that area, the 60-40 of Malampaya and follow the Philippine Constitution, it is an implementation of our rights under UNCLOS, the Secretary said.

He said they are likely to release next month the framework of the proposed joint exploration.

However, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon suggested a thorough scrutiny of the draft agreement on the joint exploration citing constitutional implications.

The senators want the DFA to submit a written briefing on the issue.

The DFA, meanwhile, asked for an audience with the senators in a closed-door meeting to discuss sensitive issues regarding the countrys diplomatic protest against China and other matters involving the West Philippine Sea.  Marje Pelayo (with reports from Nel Maribojoc)

The post Cayetano reveals PH-China joint exploration plan in West Philippine Sea appeared first on UNTV News.President Rodrigo Duterte. PCOO/Simeon Celi

QUEZON CITY, Philippines  President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday (August 27) denied rumors that his trip to Israel next week is for medical reasons.

Kung operahan nila ang utak ko doon, mas maganda. Wala namang problema, the President said in jest in response to claims by opposition lawmakers, particularly Magdalo Representative Gary Alejano who, on Friday, alleged in his tweet that the President is flying to Israel to seek medical help.

As the first Philippine leader to visit Israel since ties were established in 1957, President Duterte said the purpose of the trip is primarily to check on the conditions of Filipino workers in the country and expand bilateral cooperation.

The President expressed concern over the growing tensions in the region that could affect Filipino workers there.

(Ill be) there because of the 28,000 Filipinos. And its getting hotter there. And also on the Lebanese front, there is something brewing there. And in Jordan, we have 48,000 Filipinos. Thats why I am bringing Cimatu to prepare for that eventuality and just in case of war breaks out there, he said.

Also, President Duterte in his remarks said he would bring a group of retiring police and military officers with him to Israel.

I would be going there with some of the retiring military and police officers. That is my gift to them for serving the country well, he said.

The Philippines has been known in history for opening its doors to give refuge to around 1,300 Jews fleeing the Holocaust during the Nazi regime.  Marje Pelayo (with reports from Rosalie Coz)

The post Duterte on Israel trip: Not health reasons but OFW concerns appeared first on UNTV News.International Criminal Court; President Duterte via PCOO

QUEZON CITY, Philippines  President Rodrigo Duterte is again facing a lawsuit over his administrations alleged human rights violations in line with his campaign against illegal drugs.

Through the National Union of Peoples Lawyers (NUPL), surviving families of victims of drug-related killings and Rise Up for Life and Rights filed a communication and complaint against President Duterte to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday (August 28) for committing crimes against humanity.

The group alleged that the 4,410 deaths under the Duterte administrations banner program Oplan Double Barrel and its succeeding versions, and his very own public pronouncements inciting the killings are more than enough proof of the widespread and systematic attacks against civilians.

The group said they have decided to elevate the matter to the ICC because of the Presidents immunity to prosecution in Philippine courts and the families are losing confidence in the local justice system.

They hope that the ICC will take immediate action on their call to prosecute Duterte for his crimes against the people especially the poor.

Asked about the complaint, Malacanang through Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Tuesday said the communication does not mean anything and so it wont prosper.

Anyone can file a communication. Even the Pope has a communication against him. So that doesnt mean anything, Roque said.

Again, my fearless prediction is, it will not prosper dahil nga doon sa konsepto ng complimentarity. Hindi po dapat gumalaw ang ICC, unless local courts have proven to be unable or unwilling to exercise jurisdiction on these complaints, he explained.  Marje Pelayo (with reports from Joan Nano and Rosalie Coz)

The post Malacanang shrugs off latest ICC complaint vs. Duterte appeared first on UNTV News.Still image of disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea taken from US Navy surveillance video May 21, 2015. REUTERS/US Navy

QUEZON CITY, Philippines  The Philippine Constitution bars the installation of nuclear weapons anywhere within the countrys territory.

Therefore, according to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, a nuclear facility in the West Philippine Sea will definitely constitute a violation of the law.

This was his response to the concerns of the United States government on the possibility that China might establish its nuclear weapon on its artificial islands in the West Philippine Sea.

Lorenzana added that since the Philippines has no plans of attacking China, the latter has no reason to establish such armament.

The Secretary said all issues pertaining to the territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea are encouraged to proceed in a peaceful manner so theres no reason for China to militarize the said territory.

If in case the Chinese government pushes through with the nuclear facility in West Philippines Sea, Lorenzana said the Philippines will take every legal action to counter it.  Lea Ylagan / Marje Pelayo

The post PH to protest Chinas nuclear facility in West Philippine Sea  Lorenzana appeared first on UNTV News.All sides in Yemen's bloody conflict may have committed war crimes, UN investigators said Tuesday, highlighting deadly air strikes, rampant sexual violence, and the recruitment of young children as soldiers. In their first report, a team of UN-mandated investigators said they had "reasonable grounds to believe that the parties to the armed conflict in Yemen have committed a substantial number of violations of international humanitarian law". Many of these violations may amount to "war crimes", the report said, pointing to widespread arbitrary detention, rape, torture and the recruitment of children as young as eight to take part in hostilities. Kamel Jendoubi, who heads the UN's so-called Group of Independent Eminent International and Regional Experts, said the investigators had identified a number of alleged perpetrators. He told journalists in Geneva that a "confidential list" of these individuals would be presented Tuesday to the UN High Commissioner" for Human Rights. - 'World's worst humanitarian crisis' - The devastating conflict has left nearly 10,000 people dead since March 2015, when a Saudi-led coalition intervened to fight Huthi rebels closing in on the last bastion of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government. The UN human rights office said Tuesday that some 6,660 civilians were among the dead, while more than 10,500 had been injured. The UN has already described the situation in Yemen as world's worst humanitarian crisis. The UN expert group, which was created by the UN Human Rights Council last September and which needs that body's permission next month to continue its work, detailed a long line of abuses committed by all parties to the conflict. "There is little evidence of any attempt by parties to the conflict to minimise civilian casualties," Jendoubi said. The report concluded that "coalition air strikes have caused most of the documented civilian casualties," pointing to a large number of strikes on residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, detention facilities, civilian boats and medical facilities. The report said there were "serious concerns about the targeting process applied by the coalition," pointing out that in many cases there were no apparent military targets in the vicinity of the attacks. - Child soldiers - The report covers the period from September 2014 to June 2018, and does not address the latest series of deadly strikes that have killed dozens of children in rebel-held areas and sparked international outrage. The coalition has not confirmed or denied it carried out two air raids last Thursday that the UN said killed at least 26 children and four women south of the flashpoint rebel-held city of Hodeida. Those deaths came after a coalition attack on a bus in the northern rebel stronghold of Saada early this month killed 40 children, prompting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to call for an independent investigation of attacks targeting civilians in the three-year war. "Children are the most vulnerable. Poverty, coupled with violence and insecurity render them defenceless and exposed to exploitation and abuse by parties to the conflict," Charles Garraway, a member of the expert group, told reporters. The experts said they had received "substantial information" indicating that Yemen's government, the coalition-backed forces and the rebels had all conscripted children, mainly aged 11 and up, but some as young as eight. The report also spoke of the devastating impact a blockade imposed by the Saudi coalition on Yemen's ports and the Sanaa airport had had on the civilian population. Jendoubi urged an end to "disproportionate restrictions on the safe and expeditious entry into Yemen of humanitarian supplies and other goods indispensable to the civilian population." The experts did not delve into the complex web of countries supporting different parties to Yemen's conflict, including the United States, Britain and Iran, but did call on all nations to stop selling arms that could be used in the war. They also called on all sides to halt hostilities, and urged support for UN efforts to broker a peace deal. UN-backed talks between Yemen's government and the Huthis are to open in Geneva on September 6 -- a first step toward resuming peace negotiations that broke down two years ago. "This crisis has reached its peak with no apparent sight of light at the end of the tunnel," Garraway said.Back against the wall or holding all the cards: Analysts were split on Canada's position in continental trade negotiations after US President Donald Trump announced a breakthrough deal with Mexico on Monday. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland immediately interrupted a trip to France, Germany and Ukraine and headed to Washington to resume trilateral negotiations to rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a "constructive conversation" with Trump on the progress with Mexico, the prime minister's office said. The leaders now "look forward to having their teams engage this week with a view to a successful conclusion of negotiations." But in the announcement with Mexican officials, Trump took a hard line and said Ottawa would be left on the sidelines. Trilateral talks started a year ago at the behest of Trump, who railed against the original 1994 pact calling it a "ripoff" and a "disaster," but now seems eager to close a new deal before the US midterm elections in November. Mexico's outgoing government also is keen to have a deal in place before handing off to incoming President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on December 1. Lopez Obrador called for a three-way trade deal, saying "it's important that Canada also be included." US and Mexican officials met separately over the past five weeks to hammer out key bilateral issues before announcing the agreement that updates provisions on financial services, labor and e-commerce, and importantly the auto trade. "Canada is (now) going to be presented with more of a take-it-or-leave-it offer," CIBC Economics analyst Avery Shenfeld said. Although the Mexicans have insisted on a deal that includes Canada, "by saying Canada could be left out, the US is threatening to take a tough line in those talks," he noted. University of Ottawa professor Patrick Leblond told AFP, "President Trump wanted to get a win quickly, at least publicly. And he thinks this will put pressure on Canada to get a deal. "The big question is what do the Americans want from Canada to reach a trilateral deal," he said. Trump said he would not stand for continue high tariffs on US dairy products, and threatened to simply keep Canada out and impose tariffs on autos. Leblond said it would be political suicide for Trudeau's Liberal administration, with one year before a general election, to give in to US demands for significantly greater access to Canada's protected dairy market. "If they want Canada to ditch (dairy) supply management, I don't see how the Liberals could sell that to Canadians in an election year," he said. "It's too much of a risk politically." The opposition Conservatives also sounded alarms. "I am troubled that despite the fact that NAFTA grew out of the Canada-US free trade agreement, Mexico appears to have usurped our role as the key US trade partner," lawmaker and trade critic Erin O'Toole said. Conservative leader Andrew Scheer tweeted that "Canada is on the outside looking in while Canadian jobs hang in the balance." He blamed Trudeau, saying "his economic failures have ruined Canada's bargaining position and jeopardized thousands of jobs." - 'Good start' or 'catastrophic' - But Jerry Dias of the Canadian auto workers union said what's on the table "is a good start" and "significant." He pointed to labor and rules of origin provisions broadly outlined in the Mexico-US deal that he said Trudeau's negotiators are seeking. "A lot of people are viewing this as a negative but I don't see that at all," he told AFP. "Canada has been leading the charge for raising Mexican workers' standard of living." The US-Mexico agreement has tougher new protections for collective bargaining, and requires 40 percent of autos receiving duty-free treatment to come from factories where workers make at least US$16 an hour. "Mexico made a quantum shift from where they were thanks, I think, to their new president who argued that NAFTA was terrible for Mexican workers who got the jobs but not the pay," he said. University of Laval professor Louis Belanger agreed, explaining that the US-Mexico issues were obstacles to reaching an accord and needed to be resolved separately before trilateral negotiations could continue. But he said a quick conclusion to trilateral negotiations appears unlikely. "What has happened is not that the Americans or the Mexicans have decided to go faster between them, it's just that over the last few months, the Americans have arrived at the negotiating table with requests that specifically targeted Mexico, especially with respect to their proposals in the auto sector," Belanger said. He added that Canada must "try to take advantage of the situation and the time that is running out to pull even more concessions or hope that the Americans will abandon a number of their demands." "The catastrophic scenario" for Canada, Belanger said, would be for the Trump administration "to quit NAFTA and sign a partial agreement with Mexico."With the coming midterm elections firmly in mind, conservative pundits and politicians, from Trump on down, claimed that Tibbetts' killing is proof that "illegal immigrants" pose a threat to USA citizens and shows the need for a further crackdown. "But we need to turn toward life - Mollie's life - because Mollie's nobody's victim". "It's because we see ourselves in Mollie".

The rhetoric has spilled over from political pundits to social media where, in addition to heated discussions, multiple memes have been circulating blaming immigration laws for Tibbetts' death. Yes, that man is an immigrant to this country, with uncertainty as to his legal status.

Authorities say a 24-year-old suspect, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, led investigators to her body in a cornfield last week about 12 miles (19 kilometers) southeast of her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa. She was studying at the University of Iowa. The college sophomore graduated from Brooklyn-Guernsey-Malcom High School, which is only a short walk from where she lived with her mother and two brothers up until her tragic and premature death.

With the midterm elections expected to produce resounding Democratic victories, Republicans nationwide have attempted to cast Tibbetts' death as the result of flawed immigration policies.

That's when she grabbed her phone and threatened to call the police, The Des Moines Register reported from court documents.

"That felt good. That's what Mollie would have done", he said. "He is a man who, because of his sense of male entitlement, refused to allow Mollie the right to reject his advances - the right to her own autonomy".

"The Hispanic community are Iowans".

Rob Tibbetts urged congregants to remember his daughter's passion for life and her desire to help others. That creates a selection bias effect: If immigrants are trying to come to the U.S.to find a better job or escape crime and violence in Latin America, they're simply much less likely to be interested in committing crimes over, say, finding work or creating a safe environment for their children. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole, if convicted.

"[Tibbetts] was killed by a terrible person that came in from Mexico, illegally here, found by [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], our great ICE who's abused by the Democrats and the left, and without them you might not be sitting here so comfortably right now", Trump told "Fox & Friends" host Ainsley Earhardt during an interview that aired Thursday. "I don't want her death to be used for more prejudice and for more discrimination, and I don't think she would want that, either". We're building the wall.

"You do not get to use her murder to inaccurately promote your "permanently separated" hyperbole", she wrote. You do not have permission to callously use this tragedy to demonize an entire population for the acts of one man.Cornells Elephant Listening Project tracks African forest elephants with acoustic sensors. Credit: Ana Verahrami 17

Cornell's Elephant Listening Project tracks African forest elephants with acoustic sensors, but the forests are so remote and the sound files so huge it takes months to collect and analyze the data  too long to rescue the animals from poachers or other threats.

Now scientists can learn critical information about the elephants' habits and patterns in a fifth of the time. A startup, Conservation Metrics, developed a tool that uses artificial intelligence to distinguish the low-frequency, long-duration elephant calls from other rainforest sounds.

The Elephant Listening Project's 50 sensors, installed throughout a 580-square-mile area of Nouabale-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo, generate 7 terabytes of data every three months  the equivalent of 2 million iTunes songs. New developments in machine learning and deep neural networks make it possible to analyze these enormous files faster and with much higher accuracy, so scientists can alert park managers about red flags in time.

"A key thing this collaboration will do is speed things up, so we can show the people who manage the national park that we can provide information that will make a difference," said Peter Wrege, director of the Elephant Listening Project (ELP), part of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. "If it takes us a year to figure out what elephants are doing in the forest, it's already too late."

The number of forest elephants in central Africa has plummeted  from an estimated 100,000 in 2011 to fewer than 40,000 today. Their vast range and the thick rainforest canopy make them extremely difficult to track by land or air. (Forest elephants are a distinct species from the more populous, though also endangered, savanna elephants.)

Forest elephant cooling down in the Central African Republic. Credit: Ana Verahrami 17

In 2014, scientists learned 25,000 forest elephants had been slaughtered by ivory poachers in Gabon's MinkebeNational Park, in between visits to the park to count them. Before anyone realized those elephants were in danger, they'd been wiped out.

That makes it imperative to develop a system to track elephants in as close to real time as possible. Using the data from acoustics, Wrege and his team can create maps showing the elephants' habits. For example, a recent map revealed large numbers of elephants congregating in an area adjacent to a logging site and close to roads, making them highly vulnerable to poachers.

"What the Elephant Listening Project is doing in terms of working with collaborators on these sites in Africa is really impressive, but the logistics are really hard," said Matthew McKown, CEO of Conservation Metrics, which recently received a two-year Microsoft AI for Earth grant for this work. "It's a truly ambitious project, and it's the first time we're actually realizing the potential of these automated monitoring approaches."

Before using Conservation Metrics' new tool, it took ELP six to eight weeks to run the sound data through its five computers. Samples of data then needed to be analyzed by hand to test the accuracy of the computer version; the entire process took around three months.

Conservation Metrics was able to analyze the data in 22 days, and McKown hopes it can soon be done far faster. Part of the grant from Microsoft includes access to Azure, its powerful cloud server; once his team develops compatible software, it could potentially complete the analysis using Azure in a single day.

Forest elephants in the Central African Republic. Credit: Ana Verahrami '17

The sensors' sound files are currently stored on memory cards that need to be collected by workers in the park on foot, transported 500 miles to the city of Brazzaville and express mailed to Ithaca. Eventually, ELP and Conservation Metrics hope to create a way to run the artificial intelligence tools directly in the African forests; then the numbers of elephants in each area could simply be texted to the United States.

"It's years away, but if you look at the technology that is being developed for commercial purposes, it seems feasible, whereas a few years ago we would have just said it was a dream," McKown said.

Wrege said his hope is that acoustic monitoring can become fast and effective enough for park managers in Africa to appreciate its value.

"Acoustics isn't going to stop the poaching, but I do think it offers maybe the only way we can get information regularly enough," he said. "It's daunting, but it's worth it, and it can be done. We just have to keep at it."

Explore further Shocking recording of elephant slaughterArtist's impression of Cheops, ESA's Characterising Exoplanet Satellite, in orbit above Earth. In this view the satellite's telescope cover is open. Credit: ESA / ATG medialab

Two plaques etched with thousands of miniaturised drawings made by children have been unveiled in a dedicated ceremony held today in Switzerland.

Three years ago, thousands of children were inspired by the study of planets beyond our Solar System and translated their imagination into beautiful drawings, which feature a variety of planets and other cosmic settings. Out of the many excellent entries, over 2700 were selected to fly on ESA's Characterising Exoplanet Satellite, Cheops.

Cheops will make high-precision measurements of stars, monitoring the small changes in brightness due to the transit of a planet across the star's disc, in order to determine the planet's size. Combined with known information about the planet's mass, Cheops will enable the density of the planet to be calculated, and as such determine if it is a rocky, icy, or even a water-world for example  a first step to characterise exoplanets.

"Cheops is ESA's first small-class science mission and its task is big. The first step characterisation of the Earth-to-Neptune size planets that Cheops will target is an essential step to piecing together what these planets are made of, and towards the long-term search for habitable worlds beyond our own Solar System,"says Jan Worner, ESA Director General.

Cheops plaques unveiled. Credit: European Space Agency

"This unique satellite, the product of European collaboration, has already inspired the young generation, seen in the drawings engraved on the plaques unveiled today as Cheops begins its final stages of preparations before moving to the launch site."

While the satellite was being assembled earlier this year, a team at the Bern University of Applied Sciences in Burgdorf, Switzerland miniaturized the drawings and engraved them onto two titanium plates. Each plaque measures nearly 18 cm across and 24 cm high.

The spacecraft has recently completed a series of tests at RUAG Space in Zurich, Switzerland, and today was presented to media and invited guests with the two plaques now attached.

Cheops plaques. Credit: G. Bucher  Bern University of Applied Sciences

Cheops will soon travel to ESA's technical centre in the Netherlands where the satellite will undergo acoustic and radio-frequency compatibility tests during September, concluding the environmental test campaign. The spacecraft will then return to Airbus Defence and Space, Spain for final tests before shipment to Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

The satellite, which is implemented as a partnership between ESA and Switzerland, is on track to complete all planned test activities by the end of the year.

Once in Earth orbit Cheops will begin to characterise some of the many extrasolar worlds already discovered, many of which are similar to those depicted in the inspired artwork that will fly into space with this exciting mission.

Explore further Image: The integrated Cheops satelliteCredit: University of Surrey

Patients living with bipolar disorder and depression will soon be able to use a unique wearable sensor to safely monitor their lithium drug levels.

In a study published by the journal ACS Sensors, researchers from the University of Surrey detail how they produced what is believed to be the world's first fibre-based sensors which are ready-to-use to test lithium levels after production. Unlike current sensors on the market that are not wearable, there is no need for pre-conditioning of the sensor in solution for hours beforehand or on a daily-basis.

Lithium is an antipsychotic drug used to treat mood conditions such as bipolar disorder and depression. The drug must be carefully monitored when given to patients, as the wrong dose could prove to be highly toxic. Lithium levels initially need to be checked five to seven days after the first dose, followed by weekly checks until levels stabilise between two dosesafter which levels are typically monitored every three months.

The new miniature sensors were shown to quickly and accurately detect lithium concentration levelsfrom clinically effective, to toxic concentration limits. The sensor is able to detect lithium concentration in the blood even if there is a high concentration of sodium.

Dr. Carol Crean, Senior Lecturer in Physical and Material Chemistry at the University of Surrey, said: "We believe that our new sensors will help many people across the world living with mood disorders, such as bipolar and depression. Our sensors will give those who are receiving treatment the opportunity to monitor their lithium levels with a stable and easy to use wearable sensor. They will give people a real alternative to the currently available invasive blood samples, making monitoring their lithium levels as easy as putting on a t-shirt."

According to the Mental Health Foundation, there were four million cases in the UK of mood disorders, including bipolar and depression, and major depression is thought to be the leading cause of disability worldwide.

Explore further Lithium treatment for bipolar disorder linked to lowest risk of rehospitalisation

More information: Mona N. Sweilam et al, Fabrication and Optimization of Fiber-Based Lithium Sensor: A Step toward Wearable Sensors for Lithium Drug Monitoring in Interstitial Fluid, ACS Sensors (2018). Journal information: ACS Sensors Mona N. Sweilam et al, Fabrication and Optimization of Fiber-Based Lithium Sensor: A Step toward Wearable Sensors for Lithium Drug Monitoring in Interstitial Fluid,(2018). DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.8b00528Cancer researchers struggle to identify tumor cells that are interspersed within nonmalignant tissues because tumor cells exploit the tissue environment and monopolize available resources to continue growing. Researchers attribute cancer cell's ability to use cell signaling and metabolic pathways that override normal cell growth restrictions to complicated chemical exchanges between tissue and tumor cells. A new approach shows promise to begin analyzing cell-to-cell interactions in this complex environment. The researchers discuss their work in Biointerphases. In this image, an islet tumor region shown with normal staining and with the time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. Fatty molecules appear in red, iron and other blood-related components are green, and surrounding tissue is blue. Credit: Dan Graham and Blake Bluestein

Cancer researchers struggle to identify tumor cells that are interspersed within nonmalignant tissues because tumor cells exploit the tissue environment and monopolize available resources to continue growing. Researchers attribute cancer cell's ability to use cell signaling and metabolic pathways that override normal cell growth restrictions to complicated chemical exchanges between tissue and tumor cells. A new approach shows promise to begin analyzing cell-to-cell interactions in this complex environment.

Researchers at the University of Washington have demonstrated a new technique for mapping the flow of biomolecules in and around solid tumors. In a special issue of Biointerphases that is highlighting women in the field of biointerface science, the group uses time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) to observe how molecules move and how tumors send signals to their microenvironment and sap local tissue of resources.

"People are going to see that this TOF-SIMS technique, when combined with knowledge of tumor cell behavior, will allow researchers to understand what's happening on the chemical molecular level," said Lara Gamble, an author on the paper. "Are there certain molecules, lipids or fuels that tumors suck away from regular tissues to help them grow?"

Tumor cells can draw in lipids from neighboring cells to help build bigger membranes and provide energy for bloated tumor cells. Blood vessels can become disrupted, leaving "blood lakes" inside tumors that some researchers believe feed the growing tumor.

Various methods have been developed for identifying where a tumor is and how it utilizes connective tissue like blood vessels to sustain its growth, but, until recently, little has been understood about what kinds of signals tumors use to achieve this. To address this question, Gamble and her colleagues use TOF-SIMS to blast nanoscale regions of a tumor so parts leave the sample and enter a mass spectrometer. This device then separates and counts molecules based on their molecular weight.

Scanning areas of 800 nanometers or less, the approach generates a map for where any particular molecule is present in a tumor sample. One square millimeter is reported to take about an hour and a half to map.

The group tested their technique on an inducible mouse model of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumorigenesis that is well-established as a model for studying the interaction between oncogenes and tumor suppressors, which together generate highly aggressive cancers.

When mapped, the mouse tumor microenvironments showed significant changes in metabolism. The ToF-SIMS technique was able to identify alterations to the normal flow of a wide variety of molecules ranging from larger lipids and nucleotides down to single ions.

Next, Gamble and her group plan to use their technique on earlier time-points of tumor induction in an attempt to chart out a series of chemical signals that tell the story of pancreatic tumor growth.

"We're also looking to see if the there's cross-talk between tumors," Gamble said. "We would like to identify the molecules that could both initiate and maintain tumor growth."

Explore further Cell surface protein plays an integral role in tumor growth and sustenance

More information: "Analysis of the Myc-induced pancreatic  cell islet tumors microenvironment using imaging ToF-SIMS," Biointerphases, DOI: 10.1116/1.5038574 "Analysis of the Myc-induced pancreatic  cell islet tumors microenvironment using imaging ToF-SIMS,"Mt Gambiers Blue Lake was created by a huge volcanic eruption. Credit: www.shutterstock.com

Spectacular images of recent volcanic eruptions in Hawaii are a little disheartening  especially given news reports suggesting there is a sleeping volcano under Melbourne that could awaken and erupt at any moment.

Understanding the geological differences between Melbourne and Hawaii is really helpful in working out how we can keep an eye on future risks in Australia.

The Newer Volcanics Province

Victoria and South Australia do host an active volcanic field, called the Newer Volcanics Province (NVP). This is not a single volcano with a large single chamber of molten rock (magma)the common image of a volcanobut a widespread field of multiple small volcanoes, each with a small volume of magma.

Melbourne lies at the eastern end of the NVP, and the most recent eruptions in this area occurred over a million years ago.

Mt Gambier in southeastern South Australia represents the western margin of the volcanic field and the most recent eruptiononly 5,000 years ago.

Between Melbourne and Mt Gambier there are more than 400 small volcanoes that erupted over a period of 6 million years.

The NVP was most active between 4.5 million to 5,000 years ago and volcanologists consider the field to still be "active" with the potential for future eruptions.

We do not know when the next eruption will take place.

Location of the Newer Volcanics Province in southeast Australia showing the extent of lava flows and the different types of volcanoes. Credit: Julie Boyce 2013

The NVP is located within a tectonic plate  and not along a plate edge like the Ring of Fire volcanoes (for example, Mt Agung on Bali).

Tectonic plates are large slabs of rock made up of the Earth's crust and uppermost part of the mantle (the lithosphere) which form the outer shell of the Earth, and move around slowly relative to each other.

Volcanoes act in different ways

While Kilauea volcano in Hawaii is also located within a tectonic plate, it has several key differences with the NVP in Southeastern Australia.

Magma source and volume

While Hawaii sources large volumes of magma from deep within the Earth, the NVP only receives small amounts of magma from just below the Earth's crust.

It's worth noting here that the makeup of the magma is similar in both locations, with both erupting runny basalt  a type of rock low in silica, and high in iron and magnesium.

We suspect that in Australia's NVP, magma can move very fast from its source to the surface (on a time scale of days). This can bring rock fragments of the mantle (xenoliths) to the surface as the magma moves too fast for them to melt.

Volcanoes of the Newer Volcanics Province (a) Mt Napier, SE of Hamilton (b) The Noorat complex (c) The Mt Gambier Volcanic Complex, near Mt Gambier (d) The Mt Schank Volcanic Complex, near Mt Gambier (e) Purrumbete volcano, near Camperdown (f ) Tower Hill volcano, near Warrnambool (g) The Red Rock Volcanic Complex, near Colac. Credit: Ray Cas and co authors

Eruption frequency

Hawaiian volcanoes can erupt numerous times, but NVP volcanoes are largely monogeneticthat is, each only erupt once or over a restricted period of time.

Crust thickness

Hawaii is located on the oceanic crust of the Pacific Tectonic Plate, which is a thin (around 7 km) layer of material that is dense and rich in iron. The magma can rise through this crust quite easily.

In contrast, the NVP is located on continental crust which is much thicker (about 30km), richer in silica and much less dense. Magma finds it much harder to travel through this kind of material.

Water adds danger

The explosivity of a volcanic eruption can depend on availability of water.

"Dry" eruptions  where magma has little-to-no interaction with ground water or water on the Earth's surface  typically produces mildly explosive eruptions such as lava fire fountains, showers of lava fragments and lava flows.

The most explosive, hazardous eruptions form where rising magma interacts with ground water, surface water or sea water. These "wet", (phreatomagmatic) eruptions can produce deadly, fast moving, ground-hugging currents of gas and volcanic material  called pyroclastic surges, and send abundant fine volcanic ash into the atmosphere.

Fragments of the mantle (xenoliths) in a volcanic bomb erupted at Mt Noorat, brought to the surface by ascending magma. Credit: Ray Cas

The Australian Mt Gambier eruption 5,000 years ago was a "wet" eruption, and had a volcanic explosivity index of 4 on a scale of 0-8 (where 0 represents a lava eruption, 1 a spectacular lava "fire" fountain as recently witnessed in Hawaii, and 8 represents a catastrophic explosive super-eruption).

The accompanying ash column is estimated to have reached 5km to 10km into the atmosphere.

On Hawaii explosive eruptions are rarer because the magma has a low gas content and groundwater aquifers are not as large as in the NVP. However, when lava flows into the sea there are often phreatic or steam explosions which can be hazardous to nearby spectators.

There's a lot we don't know

Another important factor relates to how we keep an eye on volcano risk at the two sites. Kilauea on Hawaii is extremely well monitored, and tracking magma moving underground has helped predict eruptions.

In contrast, the NVP is less well monitored, likely because there is no present volcanic activity, and it's a huge region.

However, warning signs of an eruption are likely to be similar in the NVP to those on Hawaii  small earthquakes, minor uplift and/or subsidence of the ground, changes in ground temperature and gas or steam rising out of the ground.

Also, based on present knowledge of the NVP, there is no clear eruption pattern we can use to try to predict when or where the next eruption will be.

If the NVP were to erupt, significant impacts on our lives would likely occur. These may include:

the closure of surrounding roads by lava flows and ash fallout

volcanic ash and rocks loading roofs of local buildings

contamination of water reservoirs by ash

damage to machinery and electricity infrastructure by infiltrating ash respiratory problems for people prone to asthma, and

disruption to air traffic across southeastern Australia due to drifting ash clouds driven by prevailing south-westerly winds.

Further scientific research is required on active volcanic fields such as the NVP to know how fast magma travels from its source to the surface, how much warning we might have before an eruption, and how long an eruption and its impacts might last.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.Subordinate naked mole-rats and queen's pups. Credit: PNAS

A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in Japan has found evidence suggesting that female worker naked mole rats become more maternal after consuming their queen's feces. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes their study of the unique mammals and what they found.

Naked mole rats are burrowing rodents that live in eastern parts of Africa. They are unique not only because they have no fur, but also because they are blind, and they are the only known mammal to be eusocialexisting in an advanced social structure in which a single female produces all the offspring. With naked mole rats, the single reproducing female is called the queenfemale subordinates that care for her offspring have underdeveloped ovaries and thus cannot reproduce. In this new effort, the researchers wondered what mechanism might be involved in compelling the subordinates to exhibit maternal behavior. Since they have no way to produce the hormones often associated with such care, it has been unclear what drives their maternal instincts.

Noting that naked mole rats have been known to eat their own feces, the researchers wondered if they might be eating the queen's feces, as well. If so, they might be absorbing some of the hormones she produces through their digestive systems. To find out, they fed groups of different captive female worker mole rats different kinds of pellets. Some got pellets with fecal material from a pregnant queen, others got the same only from a queen that was not pregnant. And some got pellets without any fecal material from the queen, while others yet got pellets that had been enhanced with the hormone estradiolwhich is naturally produced by the queen.

In studying the behavior of the naked mole rats, the researchers found that the ones who got the fecal material from the pregnant queen or the added estradiol were more attentive to offspring. They suggest this indicates that hormones derived from consuming their queens' feces drive the behavior of the subordinate female workers. They note also that just a few subordinate females spend time with the queen, likely making them the primary caregivers of the young. But they suggest that others eating their feces might be getting some of the hormones, too, influencing them to lend a helping hand, as well.

Explore further Naked mole rat found to defy Gompertz's mortality law

More information: Akiyuki Watarai et al. Responses to pup vocalizations in subordinate naked mole-rats are induced by estradiol ingested through coprophagy of queen's feces, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2018). Akiyuki Watarai et al. Responses to pup vocalizations in subordinate naked mole-rats are induced by estradiol ingested through coprophagy of queen's feces,(2018). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1720530115 Abstract

Naked mole-rats form eusocial colonies consisting of a single breeding female (the queen), several breeding males, and sexually immature adults (subordinates). Subordinates are cooperative and provide alloparental care by huddling and retrieving pups to the nest. However, the physiological mechanism(s) underlying alloparental behavior of nonbreeders remains undetermined. Here, we examined the response of subordinates to pup voice and the fecal estradiol concentrations of subordinates during the three reproductive periods of the queen, including gestation, postpartum, and nonlactating. Subordinate response to pup voice was observed only during the queen's postpartum and was preceded by an incremental rise in subordinates' fecal estradiol concentrations during the queen's gestation period, which coincided with physiological changes in the queen. We hypothesized that the increased estradiol in the queen's feces was disseminated to subordinates through coprophagy, which stimulated subordinates' responses to pup vocalizations. To test this hypothesis, we fed subordinates either fecal pellets from pregnant queens or pellets from nonpregnant queens amended with estradiol for 9 days and examined their response to recorded pup voice. In both treatments, the subordinates exhibited a constant level of response to pup voice during the feeding period but became more responsive 4 days after the feeding period. Thus, we believe that we have identified a previously unknown system of communication in naked mole-rats, in which a hormone released by one individual controls the behavior of another individual and influences the level of responsiveness among subordinate adults to pup vocal signals, thereby contributing to the alloparental pup care by subordinates. Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

 2018 Phys.orgWilliam & Mary geologist Nick Balascio is part of a team of climate scientists, archaeologists and students working to understand the impact of environmental change on Viking society. Leah Marshall 19 (left), Balascio (center), and Stephen Wickler of Troms University survey a fjord inlet on the island of Vestvagya. Credit: Nick Balascio

Popular culture portrays Vikings as violent marauders who raided the coasts of Europe with impunity, but new research indicates the Vikings were vulnerable to at least one threat: a changing climate.

William & Mary geologist Nick Balascio recently returned from Norway. He's part of a team of climate scientists, archaeologists and students who are working to understand how environmental changes impacted Viking society during the Iron Age.

The research team, a collaboration among William & Mary, Columbia University, Troms University and the Lofotr Viking Museum, set its sights on the Lofoten Islands. The string of islands along the northern coast of Norway developed from small agricultural outposts to prominent Viking power centers during the Iron Age. The team plans to use biogeochemical markers left in lake sediment to chart environmental changes and reconstruct human activity patterns on the islands.

"In some of these coastal regions, you can see the Vikings were moving their harbors because of sea level change," Balascio said. "Having access to a harbor was especially vital, because fishing was one of their main resources. If sea level change was affecting harbor access, the chieftains would have had to figure out a way to maintain trade and power."

The Lofoten Islands are located above the Arctic Circle, which makes the region a particularly interesting case study for researching climate change, Balascio said. The Vikings were able to develop an agricultural settlement right at the edge of where agriculture was possible. The Vikings also relied on access to the ocean, as cod was one of their main trading commodities. Those two factors led Balascio to look for evidence of environmental fluctuations, because even the slightest change would have greatly affected Viking civilization.

Moussa Dia 18 and Billy DAndrea of Columbia University prepare to collect a sediment core on Indrepollen, a Viking Age harbor location. Credit: Keving Krajick

"Right near the end of the Viking Age, we're still trying to pinpoint the exact chronology, you see the abandonment of all these Viking boathouses," Balascio said. "Likely they were relocating to another part of the coast, because the sea level was lowering."

Unlike sea level rise, which climate scientists see as a major threat today, the Lofoten Islands were experiencing a relative drop in sea level. As glacial ice melted, its weight was lifted from the land, causing the Earth's crust to rise. In fact, the land was rising so fast entire Viking chiefdoms were left without a way to access the ocean, Balascio explained. Ports became landlocked, because the harbor had literally risen out of the sea.

Due to the particular geology of the region, changes in climate caused the relative sea level to fall over the past 10,000 years, Balascio said. It's not that the water was drying up, it's that the land was heightened. Glaciers once made up a large amount of the arctic landmass. As they melted, the pressure removed from the Earth's crust caused the land beneath it to rise.

Picture getting up from a mattress after lying down. The indentation left by your body will rise until the mattress gets back into its original form. Though much of the arctic ice melted long ago, the land it once covered is still rebounding from its ice-age burden. This ongoing adjustment of the Earth's crust is called glacial isostatic adjustment.

"The land surface has been rebounding over the last few thousand years since the ice left," Balascio said. "Most Viking Age boathouses are at least two meters above present sea level, because the sea level was actually falling. It's not necessarily the same thing that's happening today, but it is a clear example of how sea level change had an influence on a civilization."

Eve Pugsley 18 recovers a sediment trap from Indrepollen. Credit: Keving Krajick

Balascio took his first research trip to Norway as a Ph.D. student in 2007. For the better part of the past decade, he has wanted to return and build on his early work there. Last year, he received funding from the National Science Foundation to go back to Norway. His current research is primarily focused on using biomarkers in lake sediments to chart environmental and societal changes during the Iron Age (c. 500 BC-AD 1100).

"A main objective is to test the hypothesis that climate variability and sea-level variations had an impact on patterns of human settlement," he said.

The team began fieldwork last year, with two undergraduate geology students Moussa Dia '18 and Eve Pugsley '18 coming along to help collect samples. This summer, on a return trip, Leah Marshall '19 joined the field crew. The experience was hardly a vacation.

"We work on these little, inflatable rafts to collect lake sediment," Balascio said. "It's exciting, but it's also really uncomfortable."

Lofoten island lakes were created by glaciers, Balascio explained, which means they are extremely deep  anywhere from 60 to 150 feet. While they are lakes today, they were once harbors that led to out to the ocean. The sediment the lakes contain holds the key to understanding that transition. The field crew is responsible for coring the lakes, taking long tubes of sediment from the lake floor. The core tubes are lowered over the sides of inflatable rafts with ropes, filled with sediment and hoisted back up from the depths.

Members of the research team carry a boat and coring equipment to a lake on the north side of the island Vestvagy in Norways Lofoten Islands. From left to right: Lorelei Curtin of Columbia University, Moussa Dia '18, Eve Pugsley 18, Stephen Wickler of Troms University and Nick Balascio. Credit: Keving Krajick

"That's the most challenging thing, just working on lakes that are that deep," Balascio said. "We have to recover the cores intact and we're not on big vessels. We're on these tiny rafts."

Back in the lab at William & Mary, Balascio's students Dia, Pugsley and Marshall have helped analyze the samples to try to piece together a historical record where one doesn't exist. Much of what remains of Viking history was passed down through folklore, Balascio said, so his students are using geochemical analysis to try to build an environmental and archeological narrative.

"We're analyzing sediments, trying to provide chronologic information and context through radiocarbon dating," Balascio said. "When you go back in time, the records get more scarce. You are limited in the information you have, because there are no written records."

The sediment analysis is still in its early stages and Balascio expects it to be at least another year before he has a clear picture of how the Vikings responded to climate change. Even at this nascent stage, Balascio says he is already starting to get a sense of how people lived in one of the harshest environments on Earth.

"It's a good reminder that people have been responding to and adapting to climate change for a long time," Balascio said. "It's not something that's necessarily new or happened in the last 150 years with global warming. This is something that civilizations have dealt with for a very long time."

Explore further Coring Arctic lakes to study VikingsThe Mount Rinjani crater in Lombok, Indonesia. Credit: Monash University

In recent weeks, the volcanic island of Lombok, in Indonesia, has been battered by a series of powerful earthquakes, each greater than M6 and each located deep beneath Lombok's volcanic complex. The very presence of the volcano naturally leads to public concerns that these earthquakes are in some way related and we could expect an eruption to follow.

Lombok, a popular tourist destination for many Australians, shot to worldwide attention when two devastating quakes killed nearly 500 people (the first M6.4 on 29 July and the second almost M7 on 5 August). Pictures were seen on Australian media of clearly distressed Aussies queuing at the airport to get out as quickly as possible.

The reality on the ground, however, was far worse, with reports of more than 350,000 people displaced by the quakes. On 19 August, two more large earthquakes rocked the island, the first M6.3 and the second even larger at M6.9.

For those who live through earthquakes, the greatest anxieties often come from the long, drawn-out period of aftershocks that follow the main event. Many Indonesians have been living in makeshift shelters, uncertain of whether their homes are structurally stable, and painfully aware that fresh, damaging quakes happen any moment.

In the ring of fire

Lombok is perhaps not as well-known as its western neighbour, Bali, but remains a beautiful destination of choice. This island, like many of the Indonesian archipelago, lies on the infamous ring of fire. Just south of Lombok, tectonic plates are colliding at some of the fastest rates in the world (greater than 7cm per year), in a process known as subduction, where one plate slides under the other deep into the mantle. It's the stresses from subduction that causes many earthquakes to occur, and it's the heating up of the subducting plate and subsequent melting that leads to many volcanoes on the overlying plate.

As a result, Indonesia is used to both earthquakes and volcanic activity. On Lombok, the Rinjani volcanic complex rises on the northeastern side of the island, and indeed its natural beauty is one of the features that attracts tourists to the island.

Unfortunately, this particular volcanic complex also has some infamy. Mount Samalas, which is part of the complex, is thought to have erupted in 1275 with an explosion more powerful than Krakatoa  possibly triggering the northern hemisphere's Little Ice Age.

The question of whether the earthquakes could signify a pending volcanic eruption is no small matter. We have no reliable method of predicting when a volcanic eruption or an earthquake will occur, due to the complexity of the Earth.

Nonetheless, we can look for clues. Earthquakes have been known to trigger or at least predate small eruptions.

Some concentrated sequences of earthquakes are also thought to track the movement of molten rock through the Earth. In this case, the earthquakes are somewhat unusual. In a standard earthquake sequence we expect the first earthquake, the mainshock, to be followed by a series of aftershocks of smaller magnitudes that tail off with time.

However, here, the first M6.4 earthquake was followed by a larger M6.9 earthquake, and a fortnight later two other earthquakes of similar magnitude. Each of these earthquakes was at different depths within the crust but at roughly the same location, on the northeastern side of Lombok, almost directly beneath Rinjani.

Key indicators

Thankfully, before anyone leaps to conclusions, we can use some of the outstanding global datasets that geoscientists collect to infer whether these earthquakes are indicators of magma rising into Rinjani.

First of all, there's no obvious vertical time progression of seismicity that could indicate rising magma. Instead, the aftershocks from this earthquake sequence appear to be migrating laterally away from Lombok towards the east and the neighbouring island of Sumbawa.

Secondly, we can examine seismic signals from the earthquakes and determine how much fault slip is occurring relative to fault opening, using what scientists refer to as moment tensor solutions. This isn't an exact science, but if magma were triggering the earthquakes we may expect to see some component of opening on the faults. In this case the moment tensor solutions seem to show the faults were mostly purely slipping.

Finally, the orientations of the faults hosting the earthquakes and the direction they slipped in are all consistent with the regional stress state caused by subduction, and could easily just be stress-triggered events rather than anything to do with magma.

For the moment, this series of earthquakes remains an alarming but mysterious sequence. The key thing now is for the local and international authorities to be allowed to carefully monitor the situation.

We have a number of tools at our disposal that help. These include looking for increases in gas emissions at Mount Rinjani, and using instruments such as tiltmeters to check whether ground deformation is occurring.

We hope these events will indeed die down and life for the locals can return to normal, with the support of the Indonesian government and international aid, including Australia's. One day I hope to visit Lombok and climb its mountains, to see one of the Earth's great wonders sleeping.

Explore further Why multiple earthquakes are rattling one Indonesian islandCredit: CC0 Public Domain

A new mathematical model for malaria shows how competition between parasite strains within a human host reduces the odds of drug resistance developing in a high-transmission setting. But if a drug-resistant strain does become established, that same competition drives the spread of resistance faster, under strong selection from antimalarial drug use.

"It's basically a numbers game," says Mary Bushman, who developed the model for her Ph.D. thesis in Emory University's Population Biology, Ecology and Evolution Graduate Program. "When you already have multiple strains of malaria within a population, and a drug-resistant strain comes along, it will usually go extinct simply because it's a late-comer. Whichever strain is there first has the advantage."

PLOS Biology published the findings, a computational framework that modeled a malaria epidemic across multiple scales: Transmission of parasites from mosquitos to humans, and the dynamics of parasites competing to infect blood cells while they also battle the immune system of a human host.

After creating the model, Bushman ran simulations tracking malaria in a population for roughly 14 years. The simulations included 400 theoretical people who were randomly bitten by 12,000 mosquitos that were infected with malaria parasites classified as either drug resistant or drug susceptible. Various levels of treatment with antimalarial drugs were also part of the simulations.

"Our model holds strong relevance for infectious diseases beyond malaria," says Jaap de Roode, an evolutionary biologist at Emory and senior author of the paper. "We hope this research gives others a method to look at disease dynamics across scales of biological organisms to learn how drug resistance develops in a range of pathogens."

The study's authors also include Emory biologist Rustom Antia (a specialist in infectious disease modeling) and Venkatachalam Udhayakumar, a malaria expert from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria.

The researchers are now working to develop their specific model for malaria into a generalized software tool for infectious diseases. "Computer models can sometimes give you insights that would be too difficult to get in a real-world setting," says Bushman, who is now a post-doctoral fellow in the Antia lab.

Malaria occurs in poor, tropical and subtropical areas of the world, although most of the global death toll consists of children from sub-Saharan Africa. People infected in this high-transmission area often have multiple strains of the parasite and, by the time they have reached adulthood, they have usually developed partial immunity.

"It's a baffling disease," Bushman says. "Malaria has been studied for more than 100 years, much longer than most diseases, but there is still a lot that we don't understand about it.

Malaria is caused by several species of Plasmodium parasites that are transmitted to humans by mosquitos. Plasmodium falciparum, the most common malaria parasite on the continent of Africa, is the one responsible for the most malaria-related deaths globally.

P. falciparum has developed resistance to former first-line therapies chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. Resistance has also emerged in Southeast Asia to the third and last available treatment, artemisinin combination therapy, or ACT.

One of the mysteries about malaria is why drug-resistant strains tend to emerge first in low-transmission areas, like Southeast Asia, and not appear until much later in Africa, where transmission is high.

Previous research led by de Roode and Bushman showed that when people are co-infected with drug-resistant and drug-sensitive strains of malaria, both strains are competitively suppressed.

For the current paper, the researchers wanted to get a more detailed understanding of these dynamics. Some evidence had shown that within-host competition could suppress resistance, while other studies showed that it could ramp resistance up.

"It was a little bit of a puzzle, why the findings were conflicting," Bushman says.

The new model, driven by evidence for how malaria parasites work within the immune system and the blood cells they infect, provided a solution to the puzzle.

"Some previous models were based on the assumption that when you put two strains of malaria into a host, they split 50-50," Bushman says. "But our model showed that the system is asymmetrical. When you put two strains in a host they virtually never split 50-50."

The late-comer will usually go extinct, which explains why in high-transmission areas drug resistant strains are at a big disadvantage. But in low transmission areas, such as Southeast Asia, a drug resistant strain has a better chance of arriving first in a host and getting established.

The new model also showed how once a drug-resistant strain becomes established in a high transmission area, it will spread much faster than it would in a low transmission area.

"The distinction between establishment and spread just jumped out of the data," Bushman says. "Our model validated both sides of the argumentthat within-host dynamics of competing parasites could both repress and accelerate the spread of resistance. The phenomena are occurring at different stages of the process so they both can happen."

The results offer a new explanation for why chloroquine resistance arrived relatively late in Africa, appearing in Kenya and Tanzania in 1978, but then spread rapidly across the continent.

More information: Bushman M, Antia R, Udhayakumar V, de Roode JC (2018) Within-host competition can delay evolution of drug resistance in malaria. PLoS Biol 16(8): e2005712. Journal information: PLoS Biology Bushman M, Antia R, Udhayakumar V, de Roode JC (2018) Within-host competition can delay evolution of drug resistance in malaria. PLoS Biol 16(8): e2005712. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2005712Schematic illustration of charge carriers confined within a TMD flake comprising different thicknesses. Charge carriers in the ground state (blue) can be excited upon resonant light excitation to a higher state (pink). Credit: ICFO/Fabien Vialla

Semiconducting heterostructures are key to the development of electronics and opto-electronics. Many applications in the infrared and terahertz frequency range exploit transitions, called intersubband transitions, between quantized states in semiconductor quantum wells. These intraband transitions exhibit very large oscillator strengths, close to unity. Their discovery in III-V semiconductor heterostructures depicted a huge impact within the condensed matter physics community and triggered the development of quantum well infrared photodetectors as well as quantum cascade lasers.

Quantum wells of the highest quality are typically fabricated by molecular beam epitaxy (sequential growth of crystalline layers), which is a well-established technique. However, it poses two major limitations: Lattice-matching is required, restricting the freedom in materials to choose from, and the thermal growth causes atomic diffusion and increases interface roughness.

2-D materials can overcome these limitations since they naturally form a quantum well with atomically sharp interfaces. They provide defect-free and atomically sharp interfaces, enabling the formation of ideal QWs, free of diffusive inhomogeneities. They do not require epitaxial growth on a matching substrate and can therefore be easily isolated and coupled to other electronic systems such as Si CMOS or optical systems such as cavities and waveguides.

Surprisingly enough, intersubband transitions in few-layer 2-D materials had never been studied before, neither experimentally nor theoretically. Thus, in a recent study published in Nature Nanotechnology, ICFO researchers Peter Schmidt, Fabien Vialla, Mathieu Massicotte, Klaas-Jan Tielrooij, Gabriele Navickaite, led by ICREA Prof at ICFO Frank Koppens, in collaboration with the Institut Lumiere MatiereCNRS, Technical University of Denmark, Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, CIC nanoGUNE, and the National Graphene Institute, report on the first theoretical calculations and first experimental observation of inter-sub-band transitions in quantum wells of few-layer semiconducting 2-D materials (TMDs).

In their experiment, the team of researchers applied scattering scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) as an innovative approach for spectral absorption measurements with a spatial resolution below 20 nm. They exfoliated TMDs, which comprised terraces of different layer thicknesses over lateral sizes of about a few micrometers. They directly observed the intersubband resonances for these different quantum well thicknesses within a single device. They also electrostatically tuned the charge carrier density and demonstrated intersubband absorption in both the valence and conduction band. These observations were complemented and supported with detailed theoretical calculations revealing many-body and non-local effects.

The results of this study pave the way towards an unexplored field in this new class of materials and offer a first glimpse of the physics and technology enabled by intersubband transitions in 2-D materials, such as infrared detectors, sources, and lasers with the potential for compact integration with Si CMOS.

Explore further Building a bright future for lasers

More information: Peter Schmidt et al. Nano-imaging of intersubband transitions in van der Waals quantum wells, Nature Nanotechnology (2018). Journal information: Nature Nanotechnology Peter Schmidt et al. Nano-imaging of intersubband transitions in van der Waals quantum wells,(2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41565-018-0233-9Brech, who police have described as an outdoor survival expert, was an instructor at the summer camp in The Netherlands where Verstappen went missing in 1998.

Nicky's mother Berthie Verstappen breaks down in a press conference. In 2013, a Dutch prosecutor ordered two new DNA sampling investigations: the voluntary sampling of Dutchmen based on familial profiling, and the obligatory sampling of 1500 men of special interest to the case.

Extradition proceedings for the former scout master and playgroup worker are under way.

Jos B., the main suspect in the case, disappeared in April this year.

When Brech - said to be a survival expert who could hide out in remote locations - disappeared from the country without saying a word to his family or friends an worldwide arrest warrant was issued.

Nicky Verstappen, the freckle-faced schoolboy, was adopted as a symbol of an unfathomable, faceless threat to our children.

A European-wide warrant for Brech's arrest was issued on June 12. He was stopped by police and later interviewed, but had been thought to be an innocent passer-by. His name didn't turn up again until his relatives handed over some of his items when they reported him missing last April.

Nicky Verstappen, 11, was found dead near a campsite in the southern Dutch province of Limburg on August 10, 1998.

He is described as a survival specialist capable of enduring long periods in the wild.

'We found traces of DNA on his personal belongings. "We hope there'll be quick answers now to all the questions we have", she said.

National Court Judge Carmen Lamela issued a ruling Monday sending 55-year-old Jos Brech to prison without bail until the Spanish government gives the final approval for his extradition. He was living in a tent near a large house which was used as "a sort of commune". "It's a sort of commune where I had lived for ages too", the man told the Telegraaf newspaper.

Police at the time mounted a massive search closely followed by Dutch media and the public, but the killer remained on the lose - until advanced DNA testing earlier this year led officers to Brech.Gold nanoparticles tethered on a BSA-protein-protected gold surface via hairpin-DNA are moved reversibly using electric fields, while monitoring their position and DNA conformation optically via changes of its plasmon resonance (by color). Credit: University of Jyvaskyla

Researchers at University of Jyvaskyla (Finland) and University of Tampere (Finland) together with BioNavis Ltd (Finland) have developed a novel nanoactuator system, where conformation of biomolecule can be tuned by electric field and probed using optical properties of gold nanoparticle.

Over the past decades, nanoactuators for detection or probing of different biomolecules have attracted vast interest for example in the fields of biomedical, food and environmental industry. To provide more versatile tools for active molecular control in nanometer scale, researchers at University of Jyvaskyla and University of Tampere have devised a nanoactuator scheme, where gold nanoparticle (AuNP) tethered on a conducting surface is moved reversibly using electric fields, while monitoring its position optically via changes of its plasmon resonance. Forces induced by the AuNP motion on the molecule anchoring the nanoparticle, can be used to change and study its conformation.

"Related studies use either organic or inorganic interfaces or materials as probes. Our idea was to fuse these two domains together to achieve the best from the both worlds," says postdoctoral researcher Kosti Tapio.

More possibilities to study molecules

According to the current study, it was shown that AuNPs anchored via hairpin-DNA molecule experienced additional discretization in their motion due to opening and closing of the hairpin-loop compared to the plain, single stranded DNA.

"This finding will enable conformational studies of variety of multiple interesting biomolecules, or even viruses," says Associate Professor Vesa Hytonen from the Protein Dynamics Group from the University of Tampere.

Besides studying the structure and behaviour of molecules, this scheme can be extended to surface-enhanced spectroscopies like SERS, since the distance between the particle and the conducting surface and hence the plasmon resonance of the nanoparticle can be reversibly tuned.

"Nanoparticle systems with post-fabrication tuneable optical properties have been developed in the past, but typically the tuning processes are irreversible. Our approach offers more customizability and possibilities when it comes to the detection wavelengths and molecules," states Associate Professor Jussi Toppari from the University of Jyvaskyla.

The research was funded by the Academy of Finland (OMAprogrammable materials) and the Finnish Cultural Foundation (the Central Finland Regional Fund). Authors thank BioNavis Ltd for equipment and essential expertise in the SPR analysis.

Explore further High-resolution imaging of nanoparticle surface structures is now possible

More information: Kosti Tapio et al. DNA-nanoparticle actuator enabling optical monitoring of nanoscale movements induced by electric field, Nanoscale (2018). Journal information: Nanoscale Kosti Tapio et al. DNA-nanoparticle actuator enabling optical monitoring of nanoscale movements induced by electric field,(2018). DOI: 10.1039/C8NR05535A

Provided by University of JyvaskylaCredit: Leaflet/Wikipedia/CC BY-SA 3.0

To generate renewable energy takes more space than one might think. New research by environmental scientist Paul Behrens and master's student John van Zalk shows how much space is needed for nine specific types of energy. Biomass, hydro and wind, while vital, take up the most space. Natural gas and nuclear take least. Publication in Energy Policy.

Different fuel types need different amounts of space, and renewable energies generally need more space than fossil fuels. One way to compare them is to use the concept of power density  the average electrical power produced in one horizontal square metre of infrastructure. For the first time, researchers at the University of Leiden, Netherlands, gathered 177 estimates of U.S. power densities across the scientific literature and compared the power density for nine specific energy types. The results can be applied to other countries as well.

More space, but less polluted

They found that power densities can vary by as much as 1000 times, with biomass the lowest (at 0.8 W/m2) and natural gas the highest (at 1000 W/m2). Solar and wind power needs around 40-50 times more space than coal and 90-100 times more space than gas. "However, the production of fossil fuels is a very dirty business," says Paul Behrens, environmental scientist at Leiden University. "So, while renewable energies take up more space, that space will be less polluted, and can be developed for multiple uses such as farming around the base of wind turbines."

Rooftop solar

The analysis also found that solar power densities are continuously increasing over time, with research suggesting that new three-dimensional designs could reach over three to five times today's figures by the middle of the century.

With an increasing population, and the need for food and housing, land will be at a premium moving into the middle of the century. "The very low power densities of biomass make it a difficult sell, especially since the land on which it is produced can sometimes be used for growing food instead," Beherens says. "To avoid competition, rooftop solar will be the best betproviding clean power that doesn't compete with other land uses. Offshore wind will help, and future technologies such as algae farms may be another option to avoid land competition."

To investigate where the impact would be felt most intensely, the authors applied their power densities to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Renewable Electricity Futures Scenarios. Despite a near tripling in land used by the power sector in southern states, the northeast would experience the greatest visible change with over 10 percent of land devoted to energy generation in nine states.

Explore further New wind turbines show high efficiency in low winds

More information: John van Zalk et al. The spatial extent of renewable and non-renewable power generation: A review and meta-analysis of power densities and their application in the U.S., Energy Policy (2018). Journal information: Energy Policy John van Zalk et al. The spatial extent of renewable and non-renewable power generation: A review and meta-analysis of power densities and their application in the U.S.,(2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2018.08.023UCLA researchers created 3D models that gave them the first-ever atomic-level view of the entire shape of a protein complex called PTEX. Credit: Chi-Min Ho and Dan Weisman/UCLA

Researchers from UCLA and Washington University in St. Louis have discovered the previously unknown mechanism of how proteins from Plasmodium parasiteswhich cause malariaare exported into human red blood cells, a process that is vital for parasites to survive in humans. The finding could pave the way for new treatments for malaria.

In the study, published today in Nature, researchers reveal the atomic structure of the Plasmodium translocon of exported proteins, or PTEX, the protein complex that transports these malaria proteins into the red blood cell. The research also provides the first direct evidence of the proteins moving through PTEX.

"For many years, scientists hypothesized that PTEX was responsible for transporting these malaria proteins," said Z. Hong Zhou, a professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics and director of the Electron Imaging Center for Nanomachines at the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, who led the study. "We just never knew how it worked, until now."

Malaria is an infectious disease transmitted to people through the bites of infected mosquitos. It affects more than 200 million people annually, causing nearly a half-million deaths each year.

When a human is bitten, Plasmodium parasites invade human red blood cells and take a part of the red blood cell membrane to build a protective compartment, or vacuole, around itself.

"Normal red blood cells are too simple to provide enough nutrients to support the actively growing parasites," said Chi-Min Ho, a UCLA graduate student and first author of the study. "Each parasite is essentially living in an empty warehouse and has to produce hundreds of malaria 'effector' proteins to remodel the red blood cell into a home."

PTEX acts as a gatekeeper; without it, effector proteins become trapped in the vacuole. Ho and her colleagues wanted to learn exactly how PTEX is involved in transporting the proteins out into the red blood cell.

To find out, the Washington University researchers first grew malarial parasites in human blood in a laboratory. At UCLA, Ho extracted PTEX from the parasites, and rapidly froze them at 190 degrees below zero Celsius. From there, she took images of the PTEX particles using a method called cryoelectron microscopy, or cryoEM. In the technique, scientists use an electron microscope to hit the subjectin this case, PTEX particleswith an electron beam, and capture the resulting 2-D images with a specialized camera.

Ho then used computer algorithms to combine the 2-D images into high-resolution 3-D models, giving the team the first-ever view of the entire shape of PTEX at an atomic level. They discovered that PTEX is made up of three proteins that act like a molecular machine.

"The first PTEX protein is the engine that powers transport; it unfolds the parasite proteins and threads them through the remaining two PTEX proteins," said Pascal Egea, a research scientist at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA who co-led the study. "The middle protein is like an adapter that connects the engine to the last protein, which is shaped like a funnel, allowing passage to the red blood cell."

In looking closely at the 3-D models, the team made an even more exciting discovery.

"When we harvested the parasites, they were right at the point of their lifecycle where they were actively transporting the effector proteins out into the red blood cell," Ho said. "We were delighted to find unfolded proteins trapped inside PTEX. This provided us with direct proof that PTEX is directly responsible for exporting effector proteins."

With the ongoing race against the rise of drug-resistant malaria parasites, the scientists hope that their findings could help drive the development of urgently needed new drugs that target PTEX and prevent it from functioning properly.

For Zhou, finding new treatments for malaria is a very personal mission.

"My mom almost died of malaria when I was a child," he said. "It's very gratifying that our research could lead to new lifesaving treatments for malaria."

Explore further EXP2 protein helps deadliest malaria parasite obtain nutrients during infection

More information: Chi-Min Ho et al. Malaria parasite translocon structure and mechanism of effector export, Nature (2018). Journal information: Nature Chi-Min Ho et al. Malaria parasite translocon structure and mechanism of effector export,(2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0469-4Human rights groups and other advocacy organizations Tuesday urged Google to abandon any plans to craft a censored version of its search engine that could pass muster with regulators in China.

A reported Dragonfly project, which Google has not publicly confirmed, "would represent an alarming capitulation by Google on human rights," argued a letter signed by 14 groups including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Reporters Without Borders.

Google employees and whistle-blowers speaking out against the project should be protected by the Silicon Valley-based company, the groups said.

"Google risks becoming complicit in the Chinese government's repression of freedom of speech and other human rights in China," the letter read.

"Google should heed the concerns raised by human rights groups and its own employees and refrain from offering censored search services in China."

Cynthia Wong of Human Rights Watch said Google "has failed to explain how it will shield users from the Chinese government's efforts to monitor and suppress dissent."

Google withdrew its search engine from China eight years ago due to censorship and hacking but it is now working on a project for the country codenamed Dragonfly, an employee told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The search projectwhich works like a filter that sorts out certain topicscan be tested within the company's internal networks, according to the worker.

Although Google has not commented publicly on the plans, some reports said the company has described the effort as exploratory.

"We provide a number of mobile apps in China, such as Google Translate and Files Go, help Chinese developers, and have made significant investments in Chinese companies like JD.com," spokesman Taj Meadows told AFP when news of Dragonfly broke early this month.

"But we don't comment on speculation about future plans."

US internet titans have long struggled with doing business in China, home of a "Great Firewall" that blocks politically sensitive content, such as the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and The New York Times website are blocked in China, but Microsoft's Bing search engine continues to operate.

Other organizations signing the letter include Access Now, Article 19, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Human Rights in China, International Service for Human Rights, PEN International, Privacy International and Witness.

 2018 AFPBlock diagram of semantic cache service. Credit: IBM

The availability of high-resolution, inexpensive sensors has exponentially increased the amount of data being produced, which could overwhelm the existing Internet. This has led to the need for computing capacity to process the data close to where it is generated, at the edges of the network, in lieu of sending it to cloud datacenters. Edge computing, as this is known, not only reduces the strain on bandwidth but also reduces latency of obtaining intelligence from raw data. However, availability of resources at the edge is limited due to the lack of economies of scale that make cloud infrastructure cost-effective to manage and offer.

The potential of edge computing is nowhere more obvious than with video analytics. High-definition (1080p) video cameras are becoming commonplace in domains such as surveillance and, depending on the frame rate and data compression, can produce 4-12 megabits of data per second. Newer 4K resolution cameras produce raw data on the order of gigabits per second. The requirement for real-time insights into such video streams is driving the use of AI techniques such as deep neural networks for tasks including classification, object detection and extraction, and anomaly detection.

In our Hot Edge 2018 Conference Paper "Shadow Puppets: Cloud-level Accurate AI Inference at the Speed and Economy of Edge," our team at IBM Research  Ireland experimentally evaluated the performance of one such AI workload, object classification, using commercially available cloud-hosted services. The best result we could secure was a classification output of 2 frames per second which is far below the standard video production rate of 24 frames per second. Executing a similar experiment on a representative edge device (NVIDIA Jetson TK1) achieved the latency requirements but used up most of the resources available on the device in this process.

We break this duality by proposing the Semantic Cache, an approach that combines the low latency of edge deployments with the near-infinite resources available in the cloud. We use the well-known technique of caching to mask latency by executing AI inference for a particular input (e.g. video frame) in the cloud and storing the results on the edge against a "fingerprint", or a hash code, based on features extracted from the input.

This scheme is designed such that inputs being semantically similar (e.g. belonging to the same class) will have fingerprints that are "near" to each other, according to some distance measure. Figure 1 shows the design of the cache. The encoder creates the fingerprint of an input video frame and searches the cache for fingerprints within a specific distance. If there is a match, then the inference results are provided from the cache, thus avoiding the need to query the AI service running in the cloud.

We find the fingerprints analogous to shadow puppets, two dimensional projections of figures on a screen created by a light in the background. Anyone who has used his/her fingers to create shadow puppets will attest that the absence of detail in these figures does not restrict their ability to be the foundation for good storytelling. The fingerprints are projections of the actual input that can be used for rich AI applications even in the absence of original detail.

We have developed a complete proof of concept implementation of the semantic cache, following an "as a service" design approach, and exposing the service to edge device/gateway users via a REST interface. Our evaluations on a range of diverse edge devices (Raspberry Pi 3/ NVIDIA Jetson TK1/TX1/TX2) have demonstrated that the latency of inference has been reduced by 3 times and the bandwidth usage by at least 50 percent when compared to a cloud-only solution.

Early evaluation of a first prototype implementation of our approach showcases its potential. We are continuing to mature the initial approach, prioritizing on experimenting with alternative encoding techniques for improved precision, while also extending the evaluation to further datasets and AI tasks.

We envisage this technology to have applications in retail, predictive maintenance for industrial facilities, and video surveillance, among others. For example, the semantic cache could be used to store fingerprints of product images at checkouts. This can be used to prevent store losses due to theft or mis-scanning. Our approach serves as an example of seamlessly switching between cloud and edge services to deliver best-of-breed AI solutions on the edge.

Explore further A new coded caching scheme to improve online video delivery

More information: Shadow Puppets: Cloud-level Accurate AI Inference at the Speed and Economy of Edge. Shadow Puppets: Cloud-level Accurate AI Inference at the Speed and Economy of Edge. www.usenix.org/conference/hote  esentation/venugopal

This story is republished courtesy of IBM Research. Read the original story here.A self-powered sensor developed at the University of Waterloo could allow doctors to remotely monitor the recovery of surgical patients.

The small, tube-like device is designed to be fitted to braces after joint surgery to wirelessly send information to computers, smartphones or smartwatches to track range of motion and other indicators of improvement.

"That data would be continuously collected, so it would be as though the physician or physiotherapist was always there, always observing the patient," said Hassan Askari, an engineering doctoral candidate at Waterloo.

The same sensor could also be used in a variety of other ways, including in the tires of autonomous vehicles to detect and respond to icy roads.

A prototype built and tested by the researchers combines electromagnetism and triboelectricity, a relatively new energy harvesting technique that involves bringing different materials together to produce current.

When bent or twisted, the device generates enough electricity for sensing and powering electronic circuits for processing and wireless signal transmission.

"The aim was to develop a sensor that works without having a battery attached to it," said Askari. "It is its own power source."

That makes the device well-suited for applications that put a premium on reliability and where it would be difficult or expensive to replace worn-out batteries.

Askari estimated the sensorsabout six centimetres long and one centimetre widecould be commercially manufactured for $5 to $10 each.

Research is now focused on making them smaller and more sensitive using triboelectricity alone. Software is also being developed to process signals for the tire application.

When attached to the inside of tires, they could sense changing road conditions and instantly send information to control systems to enable self-driving vehicles to make adjustments.

"Based on the forces, the interaction between the road and the tires, we could actually detect ice or rain," said Askari. "That is extremely important information for autonomous driving."

Askari collaborated at Waterloo with fellow Ph.D. student Ehsan Asadi, and engineering professors Amir Khajepour and Mir Behrad Khamesee, as well as doctoral student Zia Saadatnia and professor Jean Zu at the University of Toronto.

A study detailing their work appears in the journal Sensors and Actuators A: Physical.

Explore further New method of measurement could lead to cheaper, more accurate sensors

More information: Hassan Askari et al, A flexible tube-based triboelectricelectromagnetic sensor for knee rehabilitation assessment, Sensors and Actuators A: Physical (2018). Hassan Askari et al, A flexible tube-based triboelectricelectromagnetic sensor for knee rehabilitation assessment,(2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.sna.2018.05.016Map showing the months suitable for the transmission of Ross River virus based on current monthly mean temperatures. Credit: Shocket et al., 2018

Scientists have built a model that predicts how temperature affects the spread of Ross River virus, a common mosquito-borne virus in Australia, according to a report in the journal eLife.

The research demonstrates the importance of using temperature to predict epidemics of mosquito-borne diseases and could help public health bodies prepare for the impact of climate change on the spread of tropical diseases worldwide.

"Scientists are realising that warmer temperatures mean longer mosquito seasons and mosquitoes entering new regions where it was previously too cold for them to survive," says senior author Erin Mordecai, Assistant Professor in Biology at Stanford University's School of Humanities and Sciences, US. "Warm temperatures also speed up the biological processes that help mosquitoes spread viruses. But working out the precise effect of temperature on different stages of mosquito growth and spread of viruses is tricky, because so many factors are involved."

Australia and the Ross River virus (RRV) offer an ideal opportunity to study the effects of temperature on disease transmission. RRV infects between 2,000-9,000 people each year in Australia and causes long-term joint pain and disability. Most people live in cities ranging in latitude from the north to the south of the country. Each season, as the temperature rises, RRV epidemics move from the subtropical north to temperate south.

The team used two species of mosquito most responsible for RRV outbreaks in Australia to build a model using laboratory data on traits such as mosquito growth, survival, bite rate and infectiousness in response to different temperatures. "Our model correctly predicted that RRV is endemic across tropical Northern Australia year-round, and is seasonally epidemic in the cooler regions of Southern Australia," explains Sadie Ryan, Associate Professor of Medical Geography at the University of Florida, US, and second author of the study. "When human population data was added into the model, its prediction of seasonal patterns matched recorded human cases of RRV."

The model determined that the optimal temperature for RRV spread was 26C (80F) and transmission would be limited at temperatures below 17C (63F) and above 32C (89F), which matches current patterns of disease. Mosquito lifespan was the most important temperature-dependent factor limiting transmission, and fertility and survival were prohibiting factors at temperatures that were too low or high for transmission. As transmission is limited by temperatures that are too cold and too hot, it may increase in some locations as a result of climate warming, while decreasing in others.

"Our study provides strong evidence that temperature drives infection patterns at the continent-wide and seasonal levels," says first author Marta Shocket, Postdoctoral Scientist in Stanford's Biology Department. "In the short term, our work will help researchers build better statistical models for RRV which can be used to make more specific predictions based on climate change. In the long term, it should help mosquito control agencies better plan for the future and may provide further evidence of the need to combat climate change."

Explore further Researchers analyze what a warming planet means for mosquito-borne diseases

More information: Marta Strecker Shocket et al, Temperature explains broad patterns of Ross River virus transmission, eLife (2018). Journal information: eLife Marta Strecker Shocket et al, Temperature explains broad patterns of Ross River virus transmission,(2018). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.37762In this April 25, 2018, file photo journalists and visitors look at the Jaguar electric-powered I-Pace model showcases at the China Auto Show during the media day in Beijing. While Tesla grapples with internal issues like production delays, a sometimes-erratic CEO and a recent about-face on whether to go private, its rivals are moving aggressively into the luxury electric vehicle space. Jaguar Land Rover has the I-Pace. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

While Tesla grapples with internal issues like production delays, a sometimes-erratic CEO and a recent about-face on whether to go private, its rivals are moving aggressively into the luxury electric vehicle space.

In the next few days, German competitors Mercedes-Benz and Audi, the luxury arm of Volkswagen, are both showing off production-ready electric sport-utility vehicles aimed at Tesla's Model X.

Meanwhile Jaguar Land Rover offers the I-Pace electric SUV while further out, Porsche is taking on Tesla's Model S high performance luxury car with the Taycan, expected to reach the market in late 2019.

The established carmakers have multiple motives. They need zero driving emissions vehicles to meet tougher greenhouse gas limits coming into effect in Europe in 2021. Diesel is in the doghouse. And China, a major market, is pushing hard for more electrics.

But the new models will also aim to win back some of the luxury customers drawn away by Tesla's electric vehicles at a time when the company is consumed by multiple distractions . Its CEO, Elon Musk, took to Twitter on Aug. 7 to abruptly announce he had secured funding to take his company private, only to turn around 17 days later to say that Tesla would remain public . The electric carmaker is also facing financial pressure, with a $230 million debt payment that's due in November on top of the $920 million that must be paid off three months later. And it has only recently hit production targets for its Model 3 mass-market vehicle.

In this July 8, 2018, file photo, a 2018 Model X sits on display outside a Tesla showroom in Littleton, Colo. While Tesla grapples with internal issues like production delays, a sometimes-erratic CEO and a recent about-face on whether to go private, its rivals are moving aggressively into the luxury electric vehicle space. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

In the meantime, its rivalswho had emphasized diesel and hybridsare finally rolling out the leading edge of what they say will be a slew of all-electric models. Their latest offerings are "the vanguard" of more to come, said Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen.

"By 2020, Tesla must stabilize itself or be overtaken," he said.

The new entrants challenge what has been one of Tesla's key selling points: range. The EQC sport utility crossover from Daimler AG's luxury brand Mercedes, for instance, should go up to 500 kilometers (300 miles) on a single charge. That's comparable to Tesla's SUV, the Model X, which has a range of up to 295 miles. The EQC, to be unveiled outside of Stockholm on Sept. 4, is the first in the Mercedes EQ sub-brand that bundles the company's efforts in electric, connected and autonomous driving. Media representatives didn't provide a price ahead of the unveiling.

Volkswagen's Audi will show off its e-tron in San Francisco on Sept. 17. It offers more than 400 kilometers (248 miles) on a single charge. The company says the e-tron should be able to use high-speed charger facilitiesif they're availableto charge in less than 30 minutes. The German price will be around 80,000 euros ($93,000) and it should go on sale near the end of the year in Europe, and next year in the U.S.

The Porsche Taycan will also pose a stiff challenge to Tesla's Model S in terms of range: Porsche claims it can load enough power for 400 kilometers (248 miles) in just 15 or 20 minutes. The company hasn't announced a price. The I-Pace, whose price starts at $69,500 before local and federal incentives, offers 292 miles (470 kilometers) under the tougher European Union standard. The Model S, meanwhile, has a range of up to 335 miles.

In this May 27, 2018, photo a 2018 Model X is plugged into a charging station at a Tesla dealership in Littleton, Colo. While Tesla grapples with internal issues like production delays, a sometimes-erratic CEO and a recent about-face on whether to go private, its rivals are moving aggressively into the luxury electric vehicle space. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

The starting price for Tesla's Model X is around $80,700 while the Model S is around $74,500.

Not that Tesla is standing still while the competition laps it. Musk has said the company intends to develop a Model Y, a small SUV to be unveiled in the first half of next yeara growing sales category that other carmakers have been piling into as fast as they can.

But Tesla's ambitions go way beyond the luxury electric vehicle market. That's the whole point of the Model 3, which is aimed at the mass market with a starting price of $35,000 and an EPA range of 310 miles. But there, too, the company must go head to head with rivals. They include the BMW i3 with a starting price of $44,500 and an EPA range of 114 miles; the Nissan Leaf with a starting price of $30,000 and an EPA range of 151 miles; and the Chevrolet Bolt with a starting price of $37,495 and an EPA range of 238 miles. Nissan promises a longer range version of the Leaf for 2019 and in 2020, Volkswagen plans to launch a compact version of its all-electric ID lineup.

Tesla's Supercharger network has a big advantage over competitors. The company's website says it has 1,332 fast-charging stations with 10,901 charging units worldwide. Electric cars made by other manufacturers can't use Tesla stations and public and private charging stations are sporadic. European carmakers are rolling out their own fast-charging highway network through a joint venture, but only a few stations are up and running.

Chris Hopson, manager of North American light vehicle forecasting for IHS Markit, said that established manufacturers are going electric not just in response to Tesla, "but because of a whole host of other things, with Tesla in mind." New electrics serve "not just to alleviate some of sales going to Tesla but to also to grab hold of the ongoing trend globally toward electric vehicles."

In this June 24, 2018, file photo Tesla CEO and founder of the Boring Company Elon Musk speaks at a news conference in Chicago. While Tesla grapples with internal issues like production delays, a sometimes-erratic CEO and a recent about-face on whether to go private, its rivals are moving aggressively into the luxury electric vehicle space. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)

The electric push also comes in the wake of Volkswagen's 2015 diesel scandal. The company's illegal rigging of vehicles to cheat on emissions testing helped turn consumers off diesels. Falling diesel sales numbers make it harder for European car makers to meet lower fleet emissions requirements coming into force in the EU in 2021.

China is also pushing for more electric vehicles through regulation, requiring carmakers to ensure 10 percent of their fleets are electrics in 2019. Regulations limit foreign brands to about 4 percent of the market, with Tesla owning half that. Other carmakers such as BMW, Ford and GM work with local partners.

Analysts James J. Albertine and Derek J. Glynn said they do not see competition as a threat to Tesla, "but a validation of electric vehicle technology that will grow the global electric vehicle demand pie, of which Tesla is likely to maintain a significant share."

Explore further GM says will be first to profit from electric cars

 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.Paleogeographic scenario for the Jiachala Formation. a) Jiachala Formation, b)&c) other trench deposits to the west. Credit: Science China Press

The Jiachala Formation, which was fed largely from the Gangdese arc, has long been considered to comprise syn-collisional foreland-basin deposits based on the reported occurrence of Paleocene-early Eocene dinoflagellate cysts and pollen assemblages. Because magmatic activity in the Gangdese arc continued through the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene, this scenario is incompatible with U-Pb ages of detrital zircons invariably older than the latest Cretaceous.

In order to solve this incongruence and constrain the depositional age and tectonic setting of the Jiachala Formation, a new study was carried out with stratigraphic, sedimentological, provenance analysis including sandstone petrography, detrital zircon U-Pb age and Hf isotopic data. Paleontological analysis was conducted by Prof. Xiumian Hu's group at Nanjing University.

According to this research, the Jiachala Formation was originally deposited on a submarine fan in the trench environment at the active southern margin of the Asian plate. Sandstone petrography, detrital-zircon U-Pb ages and Hf isotope ratios indicate provenance from the Gangdese arc and the central Lhasa terrane. Because magmatic activity in the Gangdese arc was virtually continuous, the youngest population of detrital zircons contained in the Jiachala Formation constrain its depositional age as Late Cretaceous (~88-84 Ma). What's more, based on the U-Pb age spectra of detrital zircons and sandstone petrography, there are no Paleocene-Eocene units similar to the Jiachala Formation that compare well with Upper Cretaceous exposed within and close to the Yalung Zangbo suture zone (Figure 1).

Integrated geological information indicates that the Jiachala Formation accumulated in the Neo-Tethyan trench during subduction of oceanic lithosphere (Figure 1).In summary, this research gives a new interpretation about the Jiachala Formation and enriches the case study of the arc trench system of the active Asian continental margin.

Explore further Cambrian Sixtymile Formation of Grand Canyon yields new findings

More information: Hanpu Fu et al, Upper Cretaceous trench deposits of the Neo-Tethyan subduction zone: Jiachala Formation from Yarlung Zangbo suture zone in Tibet, China, Science China Earth Sciences (2018). Journal information: Science China Earth Sciences Hanpu Fu et al, Upper Cretaceous trench deposits of the Neo-Tethyan subduction zone: Jiachala Formation from Yarlung Zangbo suture zone in Tibet, China,(2018). DOI: 10.1007/s11430-017-9223-5Top left panel: Gaia proper motion cut applied to the NGC 752 field, along with WD candidate values. Top right: Gaia parallaxes for proper motion-selected stars, along with the WD candidate value. Bottom left: SED from GALEX, PanSTARRS, and 2MASS photometry. Bottom right: Color-absolute magnitude diagram for proper motion and parallax-selected NGC 752 member stars (green), and nearby white dwarf stars (red) using Gaia DR2 parallaxes (Gaia Collaboration et al. 2018). Purple and black points are cluster and white dwarf stars whose combined light can reproduce the photometry of the suspected binary (circle). Credit: Buckner and Sandquist, 2018.

Using data provided by Gaia satellite, two American astronomers have discovered a white dwarf-main sequence binary in the open cluster NGC 752. It is the first white dwarf found in this cluster. The finding was detailed by researchers in a paper published August 17 on the arXiv pre-print repository.

ESA's Gaia satellite is a space mission designed for astrometry purposes, mainly to chart a 3-D map of the Milky Way galaxy. The Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2), published in April 2018, provides high-precision measurements, including positions in the sky, parallaxes and proper motions for more than 1 billion sources in our galaxy. The release contains observational data collected by Gaia in a timespan of nearly two years  between July 25, 2014 and May 23, 2016.

Recently, Andrew Buckner and Eric Sandquist, both from San Diego State University, have analyzed the DR2 catalog searching for new stars in NGC 752. Discovered in 1783 and located some 1,300 light-years away from the Earth, NGC 752 is one of the nearest open clusters to the sun. With an estimated age of about 1.5 billion years, the cluster is old enough to host white dwarfs. However, no such objects have been so far detected in this stellar group.

DR2 allowed the researchers identify and pinpoint the position of a new binary, consisting of a main-sequence star and apparently the first white dwarf in NGC 752. The study was complemented by data available in the GALEX, 2MASS and Pan-STARRS surveys.

"Using Gaia Data Release 2 (Gaia Collaboration et al. 2018), we searched a field of radius 2.5 degrees and selected members based on proper motions and parallax. The combination of a proper motion cut and a parallax cut is very effective at eliminating field stars from the sample. After correcting Gaia magnitudes for parallax and extinction, we identified an object that fell nearly midway between the main sequence (MS) and white dwarfs (WDs) in the color-absolute magnitude diagram, and could plausibly be a WD-MS binary," the astronomers wrote in the paper.

According to the study, the studied object's spectral energy distribution shows evidence of two peaks. This is indicative of the existence of two objects at very different temperatures. The newly detected binary resides approximately 0.56 degrees from the cluster center, which is within the cluster's halo on the sky.

The researchers found that the main-sequence star in the binary is most likely near the K/M spectral type boundary with an absolute magnitude of 10.5. When it comes to the white dwarfit has an absolute magnitude of 13.6. Moreover, the astronomers noted that the white dwarf probably has an temperature near 6,750 K.

The study conducted by Buckner and Sandquist reveals only basic information about the newly identified binary. Therefore, the researchers underlined that photometric and spectroscopic velocity monitoring is needed to help clarify the real nature of the system. Such observations could also disclose whether or not there has been strong gravitational interactions between the both stars in the past.

Explore further First polluted white dwarf found in Gaia DR2

More information: Discovery of a White Dwarf-Main Sequence Binary in Open Cluster NGC 752, Discovery of a White Dwarf-Main Sequence Binary in Open Cluster NGC 752, arxiv.org/pdf/1808.05718.pdf

 2018 Phys.orgGlobal stocks edged up Tuesday as the USA and Mexico neared a deal to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement, but investors remained cautious because of the possibility of Canada being excluded from the trade bloc.

"We've seen some developments between the United States and Mexico - hopefully they're going to start spilling over now", Reimers added. But the countries still must resolve hard issues, including USA complaints about Canada's protection for its dairy farmers and the way disputes are resolved under NAFTA.

The new deal would require that 75 per cent of vehicle content be made in the US or Mexico, according to a USA fact sheet. "I like to call this deal the United States-Mexico trade agreement".

Though the United States and Canada have traditionally enjoyed good trading relations, some 75 percent of Canada's exports are reportedly bound for the U.S. with only 15 percent of American exports destined for Canada. "Canada's signature is required", spokesman Adam Austen said.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto spoke to Trudeau on Monday and urged Ottawa to rapidly rejoin the talks with the goal of getting a final NAFTA rewrite this week. The leftwing government of Canada, the other member of NAFTA, had refused to negotiate seriously, perhaps believing their friends in the progressive commentariat predicting Trump's demise. "It's not part of a negotiating strategy", said one administration official.

The U.S. president also threatened America's northern neighbor with penalties if there is no agreement.

The deal with Mexico and Canada's likely about-face puts pressure on Europe to level the playing field for trade or face higher tariffs.

"We will only sign a new NAFTA that is good for Canada and good for the middle class", said the Canadian foreign ministry in a statement, indicating Ottawa's willingness to "continue to work toward a modernized NAFTA".

Officials said they hope Canada will agree to the terms by Friday, when the White House plans to formally notify Congress that Trump will sign the deal in 90 days. His sentiments were echoed by Vice President Mike Pence who said "The U.S. -Mexico Trade Agreement is a win for American ranchers, manufacturers and auto workers".

Toughen rules for textile supply chains to push countries toward producing more apparel domestically.

"It is our wish, Mr. President, that now Canada will also be able to be incorporated in all this", he said on the phone.

"Essentially what this [deal] seems to do is update the 24-year-old agreement with respect, particularly, to the manufacturing sector, particularly when it comes to cars, an area that was decimated in many respects because of NAFTA", Halkett said. Freeland will arrive for talks, with Lighthizer wielding the deal he already has in hand with Mexico as new leverage.

Congress will have to approve the deal. "This doesn't look good for the region". The more immediate question, though, is whether Trump really can seal a two-way deal with Mexico and shrug Canada off.

Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, which represents General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, said the group was optimistic about the new deal, though it was still reviewing the details. Those changes are meant to encourage more auto production in the United States. The White House told Congress a year ago that it would renegotiate NAFTA, but never said it would start talks on an entirely new deal.

He also said he wanted to get rid of the name Nafta, which he said has "bad connotations".Of the 2.3 million Venezuelans living overseas, more than 1.6 million have fled the country since the crisis began in 2015, according to the UN. They're trying to escape from the economic crisis, which the country lacks food, medicine and other vital goods.

"It remains critical that any new measures continue to allow those in need of worldwide protection to access safety and seek asylum", UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said on Thursday.

What is happening in Peru?

"Requiring passports from a nation that doesn't have them and whose government doesn't facilitate issuing them only fuels irregularity", said Christian Kruger, the head of Colombia's migration agency.

Many Venezuelans have been looking to start a new life in Peru - which has one of the region's fastest growing economies - travelling there via Colombia and Ecuador.

"We're sorry for the Venezuelan people, but they are taking a job away from a Peruvian", said Giannella Jaramillo, who runs a clothes stall in Aguas Verdes, a town bordering with Ecuador. On August 16, the government of Ecuador announced that it would now only be able to accept Venezuelans in the country if they have a passport, although it was enough for the citizens of Venezuela to show only a national identity document before crossing the border.

"We are going to continue as long as we can", said the minister, whose country is being crossed by tens of thousands of Venezuelans seeking to join relatives and take up work opportunities in Peru, Chile and beyond.

Peru's citizens largely supported the move, though, anxious about the impact that the 400,000 Venezuelans already in the country would have.

The pace of departures has accelerated in recent days, sparking a warning from the UN.

Venezuelan migrants wait at the Binational Border Service Center of Peru, on the border with Ecuador, in Tumbes, Peru August 25, 2018.

Joel Millman, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) - a United Nations agency - said increasing border restrictions coupled with an outbreak of violence on the Brazilian border last week, was an early warning sign that the region was in need of help.

"This is building to a crisis moment that we've seen in other parts of the world, particularly in the Mediterranean", he told a news briefing. However, Chiara Cardoletti of the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR), said other countries in the region had welcomed Venezuelans and were helping to "avoid a situation like the one we have seen in Europe". "What we are seeing is a continent that has opened its doors to people who are fleeing and who need support", she said.

Ms Cardoletti added that Colombia had registered more than 450,000 Venezuelans and given them regular status.

The stricter entry requirements come a week after a similar measure by Ecuador, which began requiring Venezuelans to present a passport.

Colombia already had similar laws requiring immigrants to have passports to enter.

However, on Friday, a judge found that requiring Venezuelans to carry valid passports broke regional agreements on freedom of movement.

At one border crossing, Peruvian officers handed out balloons to exhausted children, but many Venezuelans feared it would be a different story once the new rules come into force.

But after the border restrictions went into effect at midnight, some Venezuelans, including engineering student Edison Rivas, gave up hope of reaching Peru.In part two of this video series, Betty Lane, age 80, shares her thoughts on life and work from her experiences with the Hill House and community.

I am excited about being 80 years old. It allows me to do all the things that maybe I couldnt do when I was younger. I can take all of those skills that I learned and really put them to use, teaching younger people. Im not held by restrictions and guidelines and bosses telling me you cant do that. I am free, and if I understand I am free, then I can create what I want to create

Most people forget when they were kids; they were like, Oh, Id like to do this and I want to be this and that. They get hung up in some jobs and forget all about what they wanted. But lets go revisit and do some of those things. Hey, Im excited. I plan on being 100

Do not go sitting in a chair playing cards and forgetting about who you are and why youre here. Did you ever think about why youre here on this planet? You came here to experience what life is about

Most people, when they get 80, feel its time to give up, go to sleep or let their sicknesses overtake them. You have a choice. And I think that the choice should be that youre setting an example for the younger people. In my neighborhood, they call me the mayor. They see me out there doing things. That energy comes from within you; it comes with the feeling of wanting to be, wanting to live

You should still have dreams and visions.You should still have things that you want to do. Right now I am trying to help to create a community that is beautiful, to create a space where everybody would love to live.10 hours ago

American Water Works is a Strong Buy as Profits Continue to Flow

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) will deliver its third-quarter earnings report after the market closes on November 2. The third quarter has historically been the companys strongest quarter and this year appears to be no exception. The consensus opinion of analysts is for the utility giant to post earnings per share (EPS) of $1.52 cents on revenue of $1.21 billion.

Read ArticlePresident Uhuru Kenyatta is touring the United States where he is expected to be hosted by his USA counterpart Donald Trump at White House.

Kenya's Ambassador to the US Robinson Githae said that the visit is expected to increase trade investment Africa particularly in Kenya.

"We have a tremendous relationship with Kenya, we have terrorism, a lot of trade, getting bigger and bigger all the time", stated President Trump.

Advocates of closer US-Africa ties hope his encounter with the younger, more urbane Mr. Kenyatta, 56, will breathe fresh life into a relationship with a region that Washington is seen to have neglected as other countries, notably China, develop ever-closer trade and investment ties with the continent. And we are working very hard to improve security right now.

"Trump likes chemistry", said a person in touch both with senior United States administration officials and the Kenya delegation preparing for Monday's meeting.

They cited the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) as one of the key initiatives whose effect will be enhanced through the milestone.

After discussions in the Oval Office, they were joined by their delegations for bilateral talks in the Cabinet Room.

Similarly, First Ladies Melania Trump and Margaret Kenyatta held separate private talks in the Diplomatic Reception Room in the West Wing of the White House.

State House Spokesperson Kanze Dena indicated that on the sidelines of the visit, President Uhuru is expected to hold meetings with business leaders in the U.S. to lobby out for Kenya as a suitable investment destination.

Vanguard had reported that Kenyatta would on Monday meet Trump at the White House to discuss issues affecting his country.

Earlier, Mr Kenyatta had met businesspeople and under the umbrella body Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU), and signed investment deals worth billions of shillings."They're going to work on that very hard", Trump said.

"What has happened is not that the Americans or the Mexicans have made a decision to go faster between them, it's just that over the last few months, the Americans have arrived at the negotiating table with requests that specifically targeted Mexico, especially with respect to their proposals in the auto sector", Prof.

Trump said Monday during an Oval Office event that he'll be calling the emerging agreement the "United States-Mexico Trade Agreement". "And, frankly, a tariff on cars is a much easier way to go, but perhaps the other would be much better for Canada".

USA and Mexican negotiators worked over the weekend to narrow their differences.

On automobiles: The new agreement would ensure that 75 percent of automobile manufacturing parts be made in the NAFTA region, up from the current 62.5 percent. The deal resolves several thorny debates between the us and Mexico including how much of a car's content needs to be made in the region to qualify for tariff exemption, the minimum wage for some autoworkers and how to treat Mexico's energy sector, which was closed to USA investment when NAFTA was first drafted.

Before the administration began negotiating a new NAFTA a year ago, it had notified Congress that it was beginning talks with Canada and Mexico. After six years, the countries would review the agreement and decide whether it needed to be updated or changed.

On auto manufacturing, which had been one of the stickiest issues, cars would qualify as tariff-free only if they used more local steel and more local parts and were assembled by higher-paid workers. However, he added later that "one way or the other, we have a deal with Canada".

The deal included measures to boost the automotive industry in the US. "The announcement on a preliminary agreement with Mexico is a critical step in the right direction". Trump also threatened to tax Canadian auto imports to increase the pressure on Canada's government.

"It will probably raise auto prices".

The U.S. also appears to have softened its demands for a "sunset clause," a provision that Canadian negotiators have flatly rejected in previous rounds of negotiation. So the prospect of a trade war between the two countries has not yet gone away.

But after a year of intense negotiations to salvage NAFTA, US and Mexican negotiators are keen to seal a new deal before Pena Nieto hands power to President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on December 1.

Mr. Trump's announcement includes plans to wrap up negotiations between the U.S., Canada and Mexico by Saturday at the latest.

Meetings between Chinese and United States officials in Washington last week made little headway, setting the stage for the United States to push ahead with the next round of tariffs on up to US$200 billion (S$272.83 billion) worth of Chinese goods.

A senior administration official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said yes: The administration can tell Congress it had reached a deal with Mexico - and that Canada is welcome to join. The U.S. and Mexico are hoping to get a final deal signed before Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto leaves office on December 1.

"We'll get rid of the name NAFTA".

John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican and chairman of the subcommittee on global trade, said in a statement the Mexico agreement is a "positive step", but he added that Canada needs to be party to a final deal.

"It is our wish, Mr. President, that now Canada will also be able to be incorporated in all this", he said on the phone.

NAFTA, which came into effect at the beginning of January 1994, lifted tariffs on virtually all goods traded among the US, Canada, and Mexico. "So, we'll start that negotiation imminently". "This is really about narrative: The midterm elections are coming and the Trump people have to reassure their base that the strategy is working".The president seemed to have forgetten the color order of the USA national flag which consists of 13 red and white alternating stripes and 50 white stars on a blue field.

Donald Trump has been mocked for forgetting the colours of the American flag during a visit to a children's hospital this weekend.

The original picture was taken from a tweet shared by Alex Azar, Secretary of Department of Health & Human Services, and showed Trump with a freshly colored blue-striped flag in front of him.

When cameras zoomed in on Trump's coloring of Old Glory, they saw the president had started of right, coloring the first horizontal stripe red and contiuning wih white, but on the third he had become confused and painted it blue.

Twitter users suggested that trump really wanted to draw the Russian flag, however, noting that he has failed to do even that.

"Every immigrant or the people from [Trump's so-called] "S***hole Countries" know better", commented another netizen, Roger Lutz (@sxmroger).

While some were not impressed with Trump's faux pas, others found the incident hilarious.

Eagle-eyed Twitter users were quick to notice the flag Trump colored in looked closer to the Russian flag than it did to the United States'.

A photograph depicting Trump sitting down with children having fun with coloring books perfectly captures his intellectual deficit.

Some of his supporters said that Trump probably purposely colored the flag's stripe blue to commemorate fallen law enforcement officers.

What do you call a septuagenarian who thinks the American flag has a blue stripe?Automobile stocks soared and financial markets firmed on the expectation that Canada would sign on to the deal by the end of the week and ease the economic uncertainty caused by Mr Trump's repeated threats that he would ditch the 1994 accord.

NAFTA was created 24 years ago, making trade easier between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, but President Trump and other critics say that it has encouraged American manufacturers to move to Mexico because of cheaper labor.

"President Trump announces US-Mexico trade deal".

"The Americans are clearly trying to spin this as a deal they've reached with Mexico, and Canada can take it or leave it", said Avery Shenfeld, chief economist with CIBC Capital Markets.

USA business groups are encouraged by progress on a replacement for Nafta but have concerns about provisions such as weakening protections for investors and don't want to see separate deals with Mexico and Canada. Trump says negotiations with Canada have yet to begin and is calling on the country to negotiate fairly.

Officials said they hope Canada will agree to the terms by Friday, when the White House plans to formally notify Congress that Trump will sign the deal in 90 days.

"Canada is encouraged by the continued optimism shown by our negotiating partners", said a spokesperson for Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland.

The development puts Canada in the spotlight after its five-week summer vacation during bilateral talks between the other NAFTA partners. "Canada's signature is required".

During the brief announcement, he spoke by telephone with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, who offered congratulations on the new pact, adding, "Canada will be incorporated in all this".

"This is something very positive for the United States and Mexico", Pena Nieto replied, saying he is looking forward to toasting Trump with tequila to celebrate, expressing to his American counterpart that he is "really grateful and greatly recognize and acknowledge your political will in all of this".

Mr. Pena Nieto said Mr. Lopez Obrador and Mr. Trump would all toast with a shot of tequila at a signing ceremony for the deal.

There is one difference left to iron out, Mexican Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo told reporters early on Monday as he entered the Washington office of the US Trade Representative's office where negotiations are going on.

The President called it "one of the largest trade deals ever made".

. A draft fact sheet specified the content would be made in the United States and Mexico. The three countries trade more than US$1 trillion annually, much of it under the pact.

Trump said Monday that he hopes Canada will join the deal by Friday, a move which seemed meant to bring Canada, to the table quickly and limit the country's ability to press its own concerns.

It would also include a periodic review of the agreement to allow countries to address problems every few years, something the current NAFTA lacked. The Trump administration wants a higher percentage of auto production to come from within the NAFTA bloc before qualifying for duty-free status.

The president hailed the Mexico agreement as "a big day for trade".Real estate is the real driver of the Chinese economyaccounting for some 30 percent of GDPbut Chinas red-hot real estate market remains a major challenge for Beijing as it tries to maintain economic growth in the face of escalating trade wars with the U.S.

The Chinese government has constantly switched between easing and tightening policies in a bid to keep the sector growing, but there a big dilemma: The industry defies regulators who have been trying to cool housing prices for years. And now, theres a very real risk that a drop in prices could lead to a sharp slowdown in real estate growth and end up hurting the economy.

Despite reforms in recent years, theres little question that Chinas real estate sector is in bubble territory.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, domestic property prices have been rising for more than three years--the longest streak in a decade. The 100 City Price Index by SouFun Holdings Ltd has climbed 31 percent since the beginning of 2016 to nearly $202 per square foot, about 38 percent higher than the median price of house in the U.S. despite the fact that wages are 7x higher in the States.

(Click to enlarge)

Source: CNBC

Governments Misguided Response

That has put home ownership beyond the reach of most. Worried about the unfolding situation, some cities have slapped a ban on corporate purchases of residential properties to limit speculation. While that's a good move for controlling risk, the next one isnt  Related: Investors Grow Weary Of Chinese Tech ETFs

China's State Council has hatched a plan to encourage more rentals. Part of the plan is to offer tax breaks to developers to encourage them to rent out more instead of selling.

But thats a misguided plan for several reasons. First off, rental yields in China are too low to lure developers to rent. Yields in big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai currently hover around 1.5 percent, way lower than three percent in the U.S. and four percent in Canada.

The big problem is that wages in the country have been unable to keep up with the credit-fueled rise in property prices. Thats not something that tax breaks can fix.

Worse still, developers are heavily weighed down with debt, much of it short-term. Many are paying 7-8 bond yields with debt-to-equity ratios of averaging an astronomical 380 percent. Encouraging them to rent out their housing inventory is a big money-losing trade because renting to consumers for a 1.5-percent yield while paying cost of capital as well as debt and equity cost would mean losing 8.5 percent. Actively encouraging that is not standard economic procedure.

The problem is further compounded by how rental agreements are structured in the country. Typically, renters borrow money from banks and make a one-time upfront payment to developers that covers around five years. Although the upfront payment provides some short-term cash flow relief for the developers, all it does is simply delay debt repayments and shrink the loss on unsold inventory.

Related: Social Media Giants Crack Down On Global Info War

Underlying all this is the fact that the Beijing government is wary of allowing property prices to decline in any meaningful way because politically, homeowners have come to expect property values to always increase.

In fact, any kind of reforms that threaten this dynamic has in the past led to public protests. A reset in housing prices would also pose a serious financial risk given that household lending now makes up 22 percent of assets for financial institutions.

But eventually somethings got to give, and the economy could find itself in much bigger trouble than the ongoing trade war challenges as the housing market goes through a big correction.

By Alex Kimani for Safehaven.com

More Top Reads From Safehaven.comAs U.S. mid-term elections near, social media giants say they have discovered and banned hundreds of accounts, groups and pages linked to Russia and Iran in a move intended to (belatedly) guard against political interference.

Google has banned more than 80 YouTube channels allegedly connected to attempts by Russia and Iran to spread misinformation, with 39 channels said to be tied to Iran and 42 to Russia. Specifically, Googles chief of global affairs, Kent Walker, said the channels were connected to IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) or the Russian government.

Walker did, however, note that the banned Russia-linked channels had only garnered 1,800 views, while the Iranian-connected channels had hit just under 13,500 views before being banned.

Both Facebook and Twitter have also chimed in. Facebook says it has suspended hundreds of social networking and Instagram photo-sharing accounts, deleting a total of 652 accounts linked to Iran and Russian and described as coordinated influence campaigns disseminating politically charged content.

Facebooks internal investigation said it showed that many accounts were linked to what appears to be a parent account created by Russia's Internet Research Agency (IRA), which is said to be a troll farm also used to influence the 2016 elections.

Twitter has suspended 284 accounts believed to be engaging in coordinated manipulation, and Microsoft has said it discovered and disabled fake websites attempting aiding a hacking group allegedly connected to the Russian government with the intention of gaining access to visitors computers.

Prior to the social media crackdown last week, cybersecurity group FireEye released a report detailing an Iranian influence operation. Related: U.S., Mexico Wrap Up NAFTA Talks On A Positive Note

FireEyes report, however, noted that the accounts it investigated did not seem to have been designed with the explicit intention of influence U.S. mid-term elections.

FireEye said it had identified a suspected influence operation that appears to originate from Iran, aimed at audiences in the U.S., U.K., Latin America, and the Middle East [] leveraging a network of inauthentic news sites and clusters of associated accounts across multiple social media platforms to promote political narratives in line with Iranian interests. These narratives include anti-Saudi, anti-Israeli, and pro-Palestinian themes, as well as support for specific U.S. policies favorable to Iran.

(Click to enlarge)

Source: FireEye

But when it comes to mid-term elections, its too little, too late.

Last week, Facebooks former security chief Alex Stamos told reporters the social media crackdown on foreign political influencers was a day late and dollar short where it concerns this years mid-term elections, but these belated moves may help to save the 2020 election.

Related: Emerging Market Currency Crisis Weighs On Gold Prices

The United States has broadcast to the world that it doesnt take these issues seriously and that any perpetrators of information warfare against the West will get, at most, a slap on the wrist. While this failure has left the U.S. unprepared to protect the 2018 elections, there is still a chance to defend American democracy in 2020, Stamos said.

But its a difficult war to fight, while simultaneously trying to protect democracy.

Regardless of how you feel about the tech platforms, eradicating misinformation while preserving free speech is a monumental challenge, Renee DiResta, director of research at New Knowledge and a Mozilla fellow on media, misinformation and trust, wrote for WIRED magazine.

Its a war that no one knows how to fight from a defensive perspective, and its going to require some fast-learning because todays major global battles arent taking place in the physical realm.

By Michael Kern for Safehaven.com

More Top Reads From Safehaven.comYemen has been devastated by a conflict that escalated in early 2015, when the Houthis seized control of much of the west of the country and forced President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee overseas.

Saudi Arabia is leading a Western-backed alliance of Muslim Arab states trying to restore the internationally recognised government of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, ousted from the capital Sanaa by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in 2015.

In their first such report, they allege Yemeni government forces, the Saudi-led coalition backing them, and the rebel Houthi movement have made little effort to minimise civilian casualties.

The coalition's air and naval blockade may also be a war crime, they warn.

The coalition's additional inspection procedures at Hodeidah port have had a "chilling effect on commercial shipping", although no United Nations or coalition searches had discovered weapons being smuggled into Yemen where 8.4 million people are on the brink of starvation, it said.

"This is the second time in two weeks that an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition has resulted in dozens of civilian casualties", said Mr Lowcock, noting that "an additional air strike in Al Durayhimi on Thursday resulted in the death of four children".

The experts also said almost a dozen deadly airstrikes they investigated over the a year ago "raise serious questions about the targeting process applied by the coalition". Strikes that fail to spare people or structures protected by worldwide humanitarian law would be unlawful violations.

The governments of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen may have been responsible for war crimes including rape, torture, disappearances and "deprivation of the right to life" during more than three years of fighting against rebels in Yemen, three UN experts have said.

There was no immediate reaction from those governments, which received an advance copy of the report from the United Nations.

Even getting the experts panel, headed by Tunisian expert Kamel Jendoubi, up and running was an accomplishment for the UN-backed Human Rights Council, which passed a resolution creating the team last September.Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.Like most websites we use cookies. This is to ensure that we give you the best experience possible. Continuing to use SciDev.Net means you agree to our use of cookies. If you would like to, you can learn more about the cookies we use here"We could have a separate deal or we could put it in the same deal", Trump said.

Canada - which Trump had previously threatened with possible tariffs on cars coming to the U.S. - was notably absent from the agreement.

Potentially more consequential is the pending non-NAFTA-related decision about whether the United States will slap high tariffs on imported autos in the name of national security, something the administration has threatened.

"[The trade war initiated by the U.S. was intended] to contain China's continuous development, to stop China's socialist modernisation, to curtail China from rising to become a socialist modern power. and to thwart China's plan of becoming a powerful country by the middle of this century", Chen said.

Negotiations among the three partners, whose mutual trade totals more than $1 trillion annually, have dragged on for more than a year, putting pressure on the Mexican peso and the Canadian dollar. "We must gain control over core creativity, core technologies and core components", she said.

All three countries are critical for businesses with supply chains that span the North America. "It has a bad connotation because the United States was hurt very badly by NAFTA for many years", President Trump said.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto was on speakerphone and says he hopes NAFTA partner Canada will eventually be incorporated into the deal.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland is headed to Washington to resume NAFTA talks.

The US-Mexico NAFTA deal opens the door for Canada to immediately rejoin the talks and is a major step forward in updating the accord.

Mexico's president stressed that he, too, wants Canada included in the deal.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the agreement was "absolutely terrific" and would modernize a trade deal that had "gotten seriously out of whack". Congress approved the NAFTA; they would have to approve US withdrawal, and change a whole slew of USA laws that implement the trilateral agreement.

"There will be elements of this understanding which I think Congress will seriously question, as will the Canadians, so I think we're still a fair distance away from a new NAFTA 2.0", said Gary Hufbauer, senior fellow and trade specialist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Negotiations on rewriting the three-country NAFTA agreement began about a year ago.

The US presidents said he meant to terminate NAFTA while he pursues trade deals with Mexico and starts negotiations with Canada.

Trump has frequently condemned the 24-year-old NAFTA trade pact as a job-killing "disaster" for American workers.

All told, the deal is not necessarily fatal for the country's prospects of remaining in the trade pact, whatever its new name.

Nor will the Canadians be concerned about Mexico agreeing that for 40 per cent of content in autos, workers be paid $16 an hour, virtually tripling the cost of Mexican labour.

One sticking point for Canada is the USA effort to dump the Chapter 19 dispute resolution mechanism that hinders the United States from pursuing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases. That could even be good news for auto workers in Canada and the U.S. Trump has already rebranded it the "United States-Mexico trade agreement".

Some Japanese automakers could face a similar challenge, but their responses on Tuesday were mostly positive. "Ideally Canada will be in; if not, we will notify Congress of a bilateral trade deal with Mexico".

Negotiations between the United States and China have been stalled since May, when Mr Trump put a stop to a deal for China to buy more energy and agricultural goods to narrow the trade deficit.

"Global trade tensions have undoubtedly been the most significant source of risk in 2018", said Hussein Sayed, chief market strategist at FXTM, told Reuters.

The United States relented on its demand for an automatic expiration for the deal, known as a "sunset clause".

"That good deal by the way has to include, among other things, intellectual property rights but also it's got to include the dairy farm stuff", Kudlow said in an interview with Fox News Tuesday.

Mexico agreed to eliminate dispute settlement panels for certain anti-dumping cases, a move that could complicate talks with Canada, which had insisted on the panels.

Trump was quick to proclaim the agreement a triumph, pointing to Monday's surge in the stock market, which was fueled in part by the apparent breakthrough with Mexico.Chinas top state leader in charge of Hong Kong affairs has urged the local government to act in accordance with the law to deal with a pro-independence party, even as the citys leader ruled out immediately laying the groundwork to enact national security legislation.

Security minister John Lee Ka-chiu on Tuesday said Vice-Premier Han Zheng had himself raised the issue with a 120-strong delegation of law enforcement officials from the city, telling them Beijing would show zero tolerance for independence advocacy and any attempt to threaten its sovereignty in Hong Kong.

Lee is currently deciding whether to act on an unprecedented proposal from police to ban the Hong Kong National Party (HKNP) as a threat to national security. The party has until September 11 to submit arguments to justify its existence.

I did not mention a particular case when introducing our work in Hong Kong, Lee said. But indeed, when the vice-premier touched on the problem of Hong Kong independence, he told us to act in accordance with the law when dealing with the HKNP case.

Lee said he would act strictly in accordance with Section 8 of the Societies Ordinance, which authorises the security minister to ban a society if he deems it necessary in the interests of national security or public safety, public order or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.



This came as Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said there was no need for the city to follow neighbouring Macaus example in setting up a national security committee.

The Macau government, which introduced its own legislation against offences such as treason, secession, sedition and subversion back in 2009, announced on Monday it would set up a panel next month to oversee its policies protecting national security.

Our primary responsibility is to find the right opportunity and create the necessary conditions for us to put into effect the local legislation, before we need a committee to ensure the legislation is being effectively enforced, Lam said.

Story continues

Like Macaus mini-constitution, Hong Kongs Basic Law, under Article 23, requires the local administration to enact its own national security laws.

Hong Kong has not yet taken this step, Lam noted. She acknowledged that Hongkongers were worried about such laws in the city, but reminded them the task cannot be avoided.

Some works are in progress, so it is a question of when to launch [Article 23], she said.

The last attempt by the government to introduce the legislation in 2003 was shelved after half a million citizens took to the streets in protest, worried about losing their civil liberties.

Lee also stressed the government would not evade its constitutional obligation to eventually act on Article 23.

Independence advocacy became the talk of the town earlier this month when the citys Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) hosted a talk by HKNP leader Andy Chan Ho-tin, who declared that breaking away from China was the only solution for Hong Kong.

Zhang Xiaoming, who heads the State Councils Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, said Chan and the FCCs actions had exposed Hong Kongs inadequacies in upholding national security.

Those actions also led to renewed calls for Article 23 legislation from the citys pro-Beijing camp, although Zhang stopped short of urging officials to get moving on it.

Chan on Tuesday accused Han of meddling in local internal affairs and putting pressure on the government ahead of its decision on the proposed ban.

The central government has always warned other countries not to intervene in Hong Kong's affairs, but now Beijing is doing exactly what it has opposed, he said.

Chan expected his party to be banned in the end, calling it a political decision after all.

This article Act in accordance with law, Chinese government tells Hong Kong leaders as independence row rumbles on first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.Fourteen Cambodia opposition supporters jailed for insurrection were released Tuesday, the largest pardon since Premier Hun Sen extended his grip on power in an election that turned the kingdom into a one-party state. The main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was dissolved months before the July election, giving Hun Sen's ruling Cambodia People's Party a clean sweep of seats in parliament, and many CNRP members and government critics were rounded up in a crackdown on dissent. The 14 released Tuesday from Prey Sar prison in Phnom Penh were pardoned by the Cambodian king for convictions that carried between seven and 20 years behind bars. Their pardons came after they all apologised to Hun Sen in letters. They were arrested in 2015 and charged with insurrection after clashes that left dozens of security officers and protesters wounded. "We could work together. We may argue when it comes to politics, but we shouldn't kill each other," Meach Sovannara, a former press officer who had been sentenced to 20 years, said in a Facebook Live broadcast after he was released. Last week Cambodia's strongman ruler said more pardons were likely, but rejected suggestions he was bending to international pressure following his one-sided election win. Analysts have said Hun Sen could use pardons and the kingdom's pliant courts to help deflect criticism, as he has in the past, after July's vote was widely decried as a sham. The US widened travel bans on the country after the vote but Cambodia's main concern is its tariff-free access to European garment markets, where sales fuel the country's largest industry. Land rights activists and a former lawmaker have also been freed in recent days. But the pardons have yet to include the CNRP's co-founder Kem Sokha, who was arrested before the party's dissolution last November and thrown in jail on treason charges.China is keeping a wary eye on the United States and the European Union  its two biggest trade partners  as they try to pressure Beijing to make changes, diplomatic sources and observers said.

Amid an escalating trade war, Washington wants Beijing, among other things, to stop subsidising its industrial development and technology sectors and to significantly lower market barriers.

Chinese consumers demand bigger tax cut as living costs skyrocket



Its discontent over Chinas slow progress on reform in these areas is shared in Europe, though the EU has opposed the US approach of using tariffs to force Beijing to change.

The Chinese government keeps a wary eye on EU-US relations, a European diplomat said on condition of anonymity. They know that pressure on China would rise immensely if they joined forces in trade issues.

To avoid such a situation, the Chinese side is trying much harder than before to accommodate European concerns. China seems to be more and more aware that the countrys lack of will to fully embrace an open, market-oriented economy since its accession to the WTO wont be sustainable.

Watch: Are Chinese consumers less willing to buy American goods?



Talks between Washington and Beijing concluded on Thursday with no concrete steps towards ending the trade war. The following day, the US met the EU and Japan in Washington to discuss how to upgrade the World Trade Organisation rules, in an apparent move to apply more pressure on China.

The hard line and high pressure of Trump could force China to change

European diplomatic source

The US Trade Representative will also hold a hearing on October 3 about Chinas commitments to the WTO. The USTR said earlier this year that it was a mistake for the US to allow Beijing to join the WTO, while US researchers have warned that the White House may revoke the countrys most favoured nation status, which could lead to much higher tariffs being imposed on China.

Some European firms and diplomats say that, to some extent, US President Donald Trumps high-pressure tactics may prove effective  even if they do not agree with them.

Story continues

Just think about how little China did in its market openness commitment during the [Barack] Obama administration, another European diplomatic source said.

We dont agree with the tariff approach, but Trump does have a point regarding US concerns about China. The hard line and high pressure of Trump could force China to change, he said.

Beijing would eventually be forced to make compromises, including taking concrete steps on market access and reducing overcapacity, he said, as well as measures to ward off threats to social stability.

He added that China was nervous about the EU and US working together, and needed to move closer to its neighbours and key trading partners. The ball is in Chinas court at the moment, he said.

Adam Dunnett, secretary general of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, said that Beijing had made progress on opening its markets but had not caught up with the pace of Chinas economic growth.

Every country has its own path for development but the tipping point comes when it starts to affect other economies negatively, Dunnett told a seminar organised by the Centre for China and Globalisation in Beijing on Thursday.

At the heart of the conflict is Chinas state-led economic model, which is problematic under the global trading system.

The global trading rules are based on assumptions that market economies are more efficient than state-led economies and that countries benefit from the free trade due to the principle of comparative advantages, said Timothy Stratford, a former assistant US trade representative.

However, China is trying to develop many key sectors of its economy through state intervention and has also set a goal to be self-sufficient in certain key sectors such as semiconductors.

These policies, and geopolitical considerations, constrict the space for the normal trade rules to operate, said Stratford, now managing partner of law firm Covington & Burlings Beijing office.

While the latest negotiations were under way in Washington, the US and China imposed 25 per cent tariffs on another US$16 billion of each others products on Thursday  raising the total amount of imports from each side that are now subject to duties to US$50 billion. That came after Trump earlier reiterated his threat to slap a 25 per cent tariff on every car imported from the EU.

Still, Chinese analysts saw little likelihood of the EU and the US joining forces against China.

Lu Xiang, a US specialist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the structural conflicts in trade between Washington and Brussels were larger than those between China and the US.

Trumps wishful thinking is to force Americas trade partners, one by one, into submission, Lu said. If China falls [in the trade war], then it would be the turn of the EU and Japan.

Watch: Trade war fears for Chinese pork



Wang Yiwei, head of the Centre for EU Studies at Renmin University of China, said that Beijing was opening up too slowly for the West, and that the lack of fairness in its markets had made Europeans feel that China was winning twice  rather than the win-win situation it often touts.

Also, Chinas rise up the production chain is challenging the technology dominance of the US and the EU and their power to make rules  and they are growing wary of Chinas influence, he said.

Wang added that China was still attractive to foreign companies, but that it needed to speed up reform and adjust its strategy by forging more alliances rather than creating enemies.

China says it will keep striking back at unreasonable US tariffs



China has warned the EU not to stab us in the back, yet it has also tried to find common ground with Europe to defend the rules-based trading system with the WTO at its centre.

In the latest China-EU summit held in Beijing last month, disputes were set aside and the two sides released a communique  a sharp contrast with the talks held in previous years.

Offers for more talks on a bilateral investment treaty, the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment, were also exchanged during the summit. Details of the Chinese offer are not known, but the EU embassy in Beijing said that both sides would meet after the summer to seek technical clarification.

The embassy said the European offer was ambitious and also provided important transparency with a detailed listing and legal citations of the existing measures at all levels of government.

We only hope to see a similar level of ambition in terms of the sectorial coverage, level of openness and transparency in Chinas first offer to us. We need to bear in mind the significant disparity in our current levels of openness, which we seek to rebalance, the embassy said.

This article China keeping wary eye on US and EU as trade pressure mounts 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:An outbreak of African swine fever in China may spread to other parts of Asia, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization warned Tuesday, as the world's largest pork producer scrambled to contain the disease. China has culled more than 24,000 pigs in four provinces to stop the disease from proliferating, the FAO said in a statement. The first outbreak was reported in early August. The FAO said the cases have been detected in areas more than 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) apart, meaning it could cross national borders. "The deadly pig virus may spread to other Asian countries anytime," the FAO said. The "diverse geographical spread of the outbreaks in China have raised fears that the disease will move across borders to neighbouring countries of Southeast Asia or the Korean Peninsula where trade and consumption of pork products is also high," it added. China reported its first case of the disease in northeast Liaoning province earlier this month. Last week, the eastern city of Lianyungang announced it had culled 14,500 pigs in an attempt to check the disease's spread. "The movement of pig products can spread diseases quickly and, as in this case of African swine fever, it's likely that the movement of such products, rather than live pigs, has caused the spread of the virus to other parts of China," explained Juan Lubroth, FAO's chief veterinarian. African swine fever is not harmful to humans but causes haemorrhagic fever in domesticated pigs and wild boar that almost always ends in death within a few days. There is no antidote or vaccine, and the only known method to prevent the disease from spreading is a mass cull of the infected livestock. In a report to the World Organisation for Animal Health, Beijing said an emergency plan had been launched and control measures taken to halt the spread of the disease. The FAO warned in May of the risk of the spread of African swine fever from Russia. Around half of the world's pigs are raised in China, and the Chinese are the biggest consumers of pork per capita, according to the FAO.Downloads of mobile apps which enable users to directly contact police and conduct a video call with officers have surged in China, days after another female passenger on Didi Chuxings ride-hitching service was allegedly raped and killed by her driver.

The rush to download those apps has intensified amid calls by Chinese authorities for greater oversight of ride-hailing operators, following public outrage over the second reported murder in three months of a female passenger using Didi, the worlds largest ride-hailing services provider.

The National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement on Monday that various government agencies will coordinate the regulation of those operators, while expanding use of the countrys nascent social credit system across the transport sector.

Didi, which completed a record 7.4 billion rides for 450 million users last year, suspended on Monday its carpool-like hitch service, which allows Didi-registered private car owners to give a lift to passengers travelling the same way.

Didi rocked by second passenger killing in three months despite additional security measures

Police in Leqing city, in Chinas eastern Zhejiang province, said on Saturday they found the body of a 20-year-old female surnamed Zhao, and arrested a Didi driver who confessed to her rape and murder. The victim had sent a message to her friend a day earlier asking for help before she went missing.

That incident has prompted many people in China to download free smartphone apps to directly communicate with police. An app called Gongan 110, which translates to Police 110 in English, ranked on top of a list of free apps downloaded from Apples online App Store in China on Monday.

Developed by Hebei Canglin Shishang Technology, Gongan 110 allows users to directly make video calls and send text messages to police officers. Its video call function, however, is not available in Beijing, the nations capital.

Meanwhile, police have detained two men accused by Chinese social media users of making offensive remarks about the 20-year-old passenger who was killed last week, according to a Reuters report on Tuesday.



Story continues

Police in the southern city of Shenzhen said they arrested a 22-year-old man who posted comments in a chat group on Tencents messaging service QQ. The group has over 1,000 members and calls itself the Shenzhen Didi Exchange Group.



The mans comments incited the righteous indignation of netizens and has caused a seriously adverse social impact, Shenzhen police said in a statement on Monday.



A 29-year-old man was arrested separately in the central city of Wuhan after he made comments in a QQ group named the Wuhan Didi Official Group, Wuhan police said on their official Twitter-like Weibo account on Monday.

Under Chinas internet rules, users who spread rumors or make defamatory comments can be arrested or even sent to jail.

Another popular free app being downloaded from the App Store is Beijing 110, developed under a commissioned project by the Beijing police. It can automatically share a users location with the police, as well as provide information on the direct line and address of the nearest police station a user can reach.

I hope those who passed away using the Didi service could have downloaded [Gongan 110] to protect themselves, an anonymous user wrote in a review on Apples App Store on Sunday.

While the review section was mostly dominated with complaints about registration failure and other bug reports, another anonymous user urged people to be vigilant about safety. Now is time to call police via live streaming  Everyone has responsibility to guard public security, the user wrote.

An investor listed by Canglin Shishang Technology, based in northern Hebei provinces capital of Shijiazhuang, did not immediately respond to calls.

The latest incident has put the countrys fast-expanding ride-hailing sector under a cloud, as Didi pursues an initial public offering next year and seeks further investments in new businesses, such as its automotive solutions unit.

Didi counts hi-tech giants Apple, Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings among its biggest shareholders. Didi has a valuation of US$56 billion, based on its latest venture capital funding round last year. Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.

On Monday, Alibabas AutoNavi announced the halt of ride-pooling bookings on its platform due to security concerns. Launched in March, the service was only available in Chengdu, the capital of southwestern Chinas Sichuan province, and in Wuhan, capital of the central province of Hubei.

Didis financing plans may slow as it eyes IPO in 2019

Public anger about the Didi case and the safety of ride-hailing ran high on Chinese social media over the weekend. It was the top trending topic on several news and microblog websites, with posts relating to the case having been read or reposted nearly 1 billion times on Chinese microblogging service Weibo.

Amid the public outcry, Peoples Daily, the mouthpiece of Chinese Communist Party, criticised Didi on Weibo for being impertinent in failing to prevent the latest killing committed by one its registered drivers.

No matter how timely the apology is, it can only look cheap without capability for correction, Peoples Daily said.

Didi to invest US$1 billion in one-stop car services business

On Sunday, Chinas police and transport ministry said in a statement that Didi had unshirkable responsibility for what happened to the passenger based on the investigation. It asked Didi to conduct a revamp of its hitch-riding service.

In May, another woman, aged 21, was raped and killed in Zhengzhou, in central China, allegedly by an unregistered Didi driver whose body was later found in a river.

Didi did not immediately respond to inquiries.

The companys ride-hitching service, which was introduced three years ago, became a popular option for people who were unable to get a train ticket or afford more expensive air fares during Chinas Lunar New Year. About half of the trips were between 30 and 100 kilometres, or one to four hours drive, according to Didi in February.

Didi Chuxing says it employs 3.9 million retired soldiers as drivers, easing Chinas jobless veterans problem

Didi remains the countrys largest ride-hailing platform with a penetration rate of 15 per cent as of August 20, according to third-party statistics provider Jiguang. It was followed by DiDa Chuxing and Ucar.

Still, a ride-hailing rival made sure the public knew what it was doing to ensure the safety of its passengers. Ucar posted on its public account on social-media platform WeChat on Monday an advertisement highlighting that the company owns its car fleet and that only one in eight drivers pass its qualifications, which ensure a minimum of three years driving experience.

This article Chinese downloads of police apps surge after latest Didi ride-hitching death 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:Former Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda was a dreaded commander whose troops slaughtered civilians with machetes and disembowelled pregnant women, the International Criminal Court (ICC) heard on Tuesday. In their closing statements against the man nicknamed "The Terminator," prosecutors described how his rebel army conducted a reign of terror in Ituri, in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2002 and 2003. "A lot of people were executed by hand, with machetes," ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda told a three-judge bench at the Hague-based tribunal. "Some of them were disembowelled, even pregnant woman as well. They took the foetuses out of the women," Bensouda said, quoting a witness's testimony during the trial. Prosecutors showed gruesome pictures they said depicted the aftermath of one such an attack allegedly carried out by Ntaganda's troops. One of the frames showed a heap of bodies, with the corpse of a man on top, his hands tied behind his back and his throat slit. "No one was ever punished for the crimes committed," by Ntaganda's troops, prosecutor Marion Rabanit told the court. Ntaganda faces 13 counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity for his role in the brutal conflict that devastated the DR Congo's east more than 15 years ago. "The evidence has proven beyond all reasonable doubt that Bosco Ntaganda is indeed guilty of the crimes charged against him," Bensouda added. - Sex slaves - Ntaganda, dressed in a black suit, dark-blue shirt and striped black tie and with a pencil moustache, listened intently with his glasses perched on his nose and occasionally taking notes. The Rwandan-born former rebel chief pleaded not guilty to the charges at the start of his trial in September 2015. On Tuesday, prosecutors said Ntaganda was central to planning operations for the Union of Congolese Patriots and its military wing, the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC). Known as a charismatic commander with a penchant for cowboy hats and fine dining, prosecuters said Ntaganda used child soldiers younger than 15 years, coerced women soldiers into sexual slavery and attacked civilians on ethnic grounds. Ntaganda also "personally committed crimes," Bensouda said. "He persecuted and attacked civilians, he murdered them, pillaged their goods, destroyed their churches and hospitals," in a bid to rid Ituri of Lendu and other inhabitants who were not from the Hema ethnic group, she said. At least 800 people were killed by the FPLC as it battled rival militias for control of the mineral-rich area. - 'Soldier, not criminal' - The soft-spoken Ntaganda during his trial balked at the "Terminator" nickname however and told judges he was a "soldier, not a criminal". Ntaganda wants to present himself as a "human being", his lawyer Stephane Bourgon told AFP. He said his client was likely to make a statement during the closing arguments. The first-ever suspect to voluntarily surrender to the ICC, Ntaganda walked into the US embassy in Kigali in 2013 and asked to be sent to the court. Ntaganda is also a founding member of the M23 rebel group, which was eventually defeated by Congolese government forces five years ago. More than 60,000 people have been killed since violence erupted in the volatile Ituri region in 1999, according to rights groups. This week's hearings will run from Tuesday to Thursday. It could take months, even years, before the ICC's judges hand down a verdict. The three-day hearing was followed with interest after the surprise acquittal of another former Congolese leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba. Initially sentenced to 18 years for war crimes committed by his troops in the Central African Republic, Bemba was acquitted on appeal in June. He has since returned to Kinshasa. However, Ntaganda's former FPLC commander, Thomas Lubanga, was sentenced to 14 years' jail in 2012. That was the second conviction by the court since it was set up 16 years ago to try the world's most horrific crimes.Two weeks after Singapore permanent resident Avijit Das Patnaik raised the ire of an entire country with a controversial post on Facebook, his employer DBS Bank has since let the man go following internal investigations by a disciplinary committee. A major conclusion to the saga that started on Aug 14, when Patnaik shared an image on social media of a black t-shirt with a graphic of the Singapore flag being ripped apart to reveal an Indian flag underneath.

On one hand, its a surprising move. The banking giant already issued a non-official statement (more of a reply to a Facebook complaint, really) that the man  a member of DBS Singapores Consumer Banking Operations Team  had been counseled and that was that. On the other, it should have been expected  the backlash against DBS for allegedly not taking the issue seriously was so overwhelming that higher-ups probably felt that the matter could not be left alone. Honestly, some folks were so upset about the whole thing that they threatened to withdraw all their savings in their DBS/POSB accounts and find another bank to utilize.

Today, DBS announced in a Facebook post that Patnaik is no longer with the bank as of Aug 24, but its unclear if he voluntarily left or was let go.

DBS strongly disapproves of such actions by our employees. At the same time, it is fair and right that all employees are given the benefit of due process.

Phir Bhi Dil Hai

Photo: Facebook screengrab

It was the day before Indias Independence Day that Patnaik posted the image on the Singapore Indians and Expats Facebook page. The post obviously went viral, with netizens crying out that the man showed the utmost disrespect to his host country. Comments often veered into xenophobic and racist territory, while the harassment has been so overwhelming that Patnaik had to take down his Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.

The police even launched investigations into the case  under the Singapore Arms and Flag and National Anthem Act, it is an offense to apply the image of the flag as part of any costume or attire.

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Patnaik clarified to The Straits Times that he was not the one who designed the image, stating that he came across the picture on various social media accounts first before sharing it. The man  a Singapore resident for a decade  also apologized, stating that he did not mean to cause offense.

But even after the man was assured to be no longer with the bank, some netizens continued to question DBS over other details. Classic case of damned if you do, damned if you dont.

Facebook screengrab

Facebook screengrab

Facebook screengrab

Facebook screengrab

The post DBS employee who posted picture of Singapore flag being torn apart no longer with the bank appeared first on Coconuts.A Hong Kong-based labour rights group has denied a report by Chinas state news agency Xinhua, which said it helped orchestrate an ongoing strike on the mainland where about 80 workers and student supporters were arrested.

Worker Empowerment, a social group fighting for labour rights on the mainland and registered in Hong Kong, issued a statement on Monday in response to an investigative report published by Xinhua on Friday.

Worker Empowerment did not organise or finance the workers of [Jasic Technology] or their supporters, the group said in its statement.

In the 3,600-word report last Friday, Xinhua alleged Worker Empowerment was supported by a Western NGO and had financed a Shenzhen labour rights group that had helped some of those involved in the strike.

Worker Empowerment did not organise or finance the workers of [Jasic Technology] or their supporters

Worker Empowerment statement

All the centres funding was actually financed by Worker Empowerment, an overseas organisation supported by a Western NGO, the report read, using the words jingwai zuzhi  literally translated to overseas organisation  to describe the Hong Kong group.

It is a term state media has used before to refer to non-mainland organisations.

The conflicts started in mid-July, when several workers founding a new labour union in the Shenzhen Jasic Technology had been laid off and some were beaten by strangers and security staff.

The workers were trying to negotiate with the company about an earlier dismissal of a worker called Yu Juncong, as well asking for better working conditions, ranging from safer production houses and timely full payment of salaries and welfare.

Later in July, some students from more than 20 universities on the mainland  including the top schools Peking University and Tsinghua University  joined efforts to voice support for the workers after 29 protesting workers and their supporters were arrested.

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The dispute reached another height earlier this month when Shen Mengyu, a master's degree holder-turned factory worker as well as labour rights leader in Guangzhou, was forcibly taken to Shenzhen and kept under house arrest.

Early on Friday morning, police in riot gear raided a private residence at the northeast border of Shenzhen where about 40 students and other supporters of the workers were staying, according to a report by Reuters.

On Friday midnight, Xinhua published a 3,600-word report on whether some forces are using the workers to make trouble.

The report said worker Yu Juncong sought help from Fu Changguo, a staff member at the Migrant Workers Centre, a labour rights group in Shenzhen after Yu was dismissed for absences from work and fighting with people.

When Yu and a few others were creating disturbances at Jasic company and local police branches, Fu was constantly reposting seditious words, videos and internet links in several chat groups, instigating group members who were previously not involved to go to the protest sites or to make online donations, the Xinhua report said.

The report said the Migrant Workers Centre was an illegal organisation without proper NGO registration on the mainland.

Two members of Worker Empowerment had been providing regular training and consulting for the centre, including coercing a small number of workers to take radical action, according to the report.

The report also quoted Fu saying that money covering the centres operational costs from Worker Empowerment would first be sent to a personal account held outside the mainland by the centres founder Huang Qingnan and then transferred to Fus account on the mainland.

In its statement issued on Monday, Worker Empowerment said it had learned that Fu and Huang had been detained by the Shenzhen police for picking quarrels and making trouble since August 10 and 13 respectively. The duo was not allowed to meet their lawyers, according to Worker Empowerment.

Since the end of July, current and former staff of the Migrant Workers Centre have been summoned and questioned by local police regarding the Jasic workers actions. These staff members have repeatedly told the police that the centre had nothing to do with the actions and the centre did not participate in organising the Jasic workers, the Hong Kong-based labour group said in the statement.

It added: Worker Empowerment is honoured to have participated in their [mainland NGOs] services for the society, and to have made humble contributions to resolve labour disputes through labour policy studies and educational activities. These have never been called illegal overseas activities by the mainland authorities.

A spokesman for Worker Empowerment said the group knew the Migrant Workers Centre in Shenzhen and declined to comment on whether the group had been providing training or funding for the centre.

We have sent our statement to the public security authorities and the procuratorates of Shenzhen and Guangdong, the spokesman said.

Shenzhen police have not responded to inquiries sent from the Post.

This article Hong Kong labour rights group denies mainland Chinese media report claiming it helped organise Jasic Technology strike first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.A 21-year-old Hong Kong woman who was hoping to land her first job in the beauty industry ended up with a complete stranger for a husband in mainland China, falling victim to an apparent scam.

Recounting her experience, the woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said she applied for a make-up artist apprenticeship in May but was later convinced to switch to wedding planning, for which she was required to play the role of a bride and sign a marriage certificate.

No money was involved.

My biggest loss was having a marriage record, the victim said.

She said the make-up artist job, which was posted on Facebook, offered a monthly salary of HK$14,000 (US$1,800) with free training and required no work experience. But the scammers told her a wedding planner could earn a higher salary depending on the commission.

It was then arranged for the woman, who had an interest in wedding planning, to take a free training course in Hong Kong in June. A week later she was required to pass a wedding planning exam in Fuzhou, Fujian province, which included a mock marriage to a man of a similar age, she said.

She and her husband signed a document at a local government office and were officially married.

The syndicate told the victim there would be no problem because they knew the mayor.

They said they would void [the marriage record] afterwards, she said.

When the woman returned to Hong Kong, her friend convinced her it was a scam.

She said she sought help from the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) after police in the city seemed reluctant to handle the case.

The womans former high school teacher later helped her collect evidence on the mainland. They revisited the government building in Fuzhou and found the wedding document she signed and another from a Hong Kong law firm, falsely signed in her name declaring she was single.

Tong Kang-yiu, director of the FTUs rights and benefits committee, believed the woman was just one of many victims of the racket. We hope that by sharing this case, those who havent realised they were scammed will be aware, Tong said.

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He declined to speculate on whether the motive for the scam was to let the victims husband settle in Hong Kong.

The police failed to handle the case instantly. We need to give the police more pressure to take this problem seriously, he said. We handed the case to the police for investigation. We are still waiting for advice from lawyers for further action.

Mainland residents with a spouse in Hong Kong can apply for a one-way permit to settle in the city. The issuance of permits is capped at 150 per day.

Sung Siu-kin, vice-director of the Hong Kong Beauty and Fitness Professionals General Union, said youngsters should familiarise themselves with companies backgrounds when looking for jobs.

Three ringleaders of a syndicate that lured young Hongkongers into sham marriages were found guilty of fraud in the District Court last Friday. The trio were convicted of conspiracy to defraud and will be sentenced next month.

This article Hong Kong woman marries stranger in mainland China after being duped in job offer scam first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.BEIRUT (Reuters) - Iran expects the remaining partners in its nuclear agreement to act quickly to preserve it, President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

Rouhani made the comments in a phone call to French President Emmanuel Macron, IRNA said

"Iran has acted upon all its promises in the nuclear agreement and, with attention to the one-sided withdrawal of America ...expects the remaining partners to operate their programs more quickly and transparently," he was quoted as saying.

(Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh; editing by John Stonestreet)Syrian President Bashar al Assad meets with Iranian Defence Minister Amir Hatami in Damascus Syrian President Bashar al Assad meets with Iranian Defence Minister Amir Hatami in Damascus,Syria in this handout picture provided by Syrian Arab News Agency on August 26, 2018. SANA/Handout via REUTERS

LONDON (Reuters) - Iran will maintain its military presence in Syria despite U.S. pressure for its withdrawal, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday, revealing more details about a military cooperation deal that Tehran and Damascus signed this week.

Iranian Defence Minister Amir Hatami visited Damascus on Saturday for talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and senior military officials. He signed a deal for military cooperation in a meeting with his Syrian counterpart, but details of the accord were not revealed.

"The continued presence of Iranian (military) advisers in Syria was part of this military cooperation agreement between Tehran and Damascus," the state news agency IRNA quoted Tehran's military attache to Damascus, Abolqassem Alinejad, as saying.

"Iran will help Syria in clearing minefields in different parts of the country... Iran will help Syria to rebuild the military factories that were damaged in the war," Alinejad said.

Irans Revolutionary Guards have sent weapons and thousands of soldiers to Syria to help shore up Assad during the seven-year-long civil war there.

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton reiterated last week Washington's call for Iran to remove all its forces from Syria.

The United States has reimposed economic sanctions against Iran partly over its involvement in conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Yemen as well as over its nuclear and missile programmes.

Israel has also long called for its arch foe Iran to withdraw from its neighbour Syria. The Israeli air force has carried out scores of air strikes against Iran's allies there.

"The pact between Syria and Iran for rehabilitating the Assad army is an excuse and a facade meant to grant legitimacy to the Iranian forces remaining in the area," Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan told Ynet TV on Tuesday. "But as far as we are concerned, no machinations keeping the Iranians in the area will be acceptable."

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A senior Israeli official said in an anonymous statement to reporters that Israel's military "will continue to act with full determination against attempts by Iran to transfer military forces and weapons systems to Syria".

Iran has repeatedly said its military presence in Syria is at the invitation of the Assad government and that it has no immediate plans to withdraw. More than 1,000 Iranians, including senior members of the elite Revolutionary Guards, have been killed in Syria since 2012.

The Guards initially kept quiet about their role in Syria. But in recent years as casualties have mounted they have been more outspoken, framing their engagement as an existential struggle against Sunni Muslim fighters of Islamic State who see Shiites that form Iran's majority as apostates.

(Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin, additional reporting by Dan Williams in Jerusalem,; Editing by Gareth Jones and Peter Graff)After first announcing plans to launch a spin-off low-cost carrier in South America last year, the latest news is that Norwegian Air Argentina is set to take off this fall.

In an interview with Argentinian news site Infobae, Norwegian Air Shuttle CEO Bjorn Kjos said that tickets will go on sale beginning Sept. 4 and that the first flight will launch Oct. 16.

Norwegian Air's entry into South America follows a recent move in Argentina that saw the government scrap minimum prices for domestic airfares as of Aug. 15 -- a move aimed at making air travel more affordable and the industry more competitive, as well as boosting tourism.

Overall, Norwegian Air Argentina will operate 153 routes from its Buenos Aires hub, including 73 domestic and 80 international flights to cities in South America, North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania and Africa.

Over the next 12 years, the airline aims to build a fleet of more than 60 aircraft in Argentina.

Currently, the main carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle operates direct flights between London and Buenos Aires four times a week. Due to high demand, the airline says they will be upping the frequency to daily as of Dec. 1.Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque | PCOO

PASAY CITY, Philippines  Senator Panfilo Lacson questioned President Rodrigo Dutertes plan of bringing retiring military and police officials to his trip to Israel.

Lacson argued that every official presidential trip abroad must have a purpose better than just being a gift to anyone in government.

The reason is plain as it is simple  government officials are always expected to serve their best. Rewards for the more deserving come in the form of promotions, awards, even a pat on the back, he added.

But Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque was quick to clarify the matter, saying that the President is up for the expansion of defense and security cooperation thats why he is tagging along military and police officials to meet with their Israeli counterparts.

Roque added that the President is particularly concerned about measures to counter extremism and terrorism.

Malacanang also clarified that only active military at police personnel will be joining the President in the trip so it is the government who will shoulder their travel expenses.

The Palace assured that the trip will be worthy of government spending.

Its always cost benefit. And of course, in the end, the benefit outweighs the cost, Roque said.  Rosalie Coz / Marje Pelayo

The post Malacanang defends Dutertes delegation of military, police officials to Israel appeared first on UNTV News.LIMA (Reuters) - Brazil said it was sending armed forces to keep order near the Venezuelan border area, while Peru declared a health emergency, as a regional crisis sparked by thousands of Venezuelans fleeing economic collapse escalated on Tuesday.

In Brazil, where residents rioted and attacked Venezuelan immigrants in a border town earlier this month, President Michel Temer signed a decree to deploy the armed forces to the border state of Roraima. He said the move was aimed at keeping order and ensuring the safety of immigrants.

Peru, meanwhile, declared a 60-day health emergency in two provinces on its northern border, citing "imminent danger" to health and sanitation. The decree, published in the government's official gazette, did not give more details on the risks, but health authorities have previously expressed concerns about the spread of diseases such as measles and malaria from migrants.

The exodus of Venezuelans to other South American countries is building towards a "crisis moment" comparable to events involving refugees in the Mediterranean, the United Nations said this week.

Temer blamed the socialist Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro for the migration crisis.

"The problem of Venezuela is no longer one of internal politics. It is a threat to the harmony of the whole continent," Temer said in a televised address.

Top immigration officials from Peru, Colombia and Brazil met in Colombian capital Bogota for a summit to discuss how to cope with the influx.

There are close to 1 million Venezuelans now living in Colombia and more than 400,000 in Peru, the countries said in a joint statement after the meeting on Tuesday. Just 178,000 of those in Peru have legal permission to stay or are being processed.

In an attempt to track arrivals and distribute aid, Colombia and Peru said they would share information about migrants in a database.

Maduro has warned migrants they face difficult conditions abroad and invited them to return home. On Tuesday, Venezuela said it had repatriated 89 citizens who had migrated to Peru but sought to return after suffering "humiliation and cruel treatment."

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Oscar Perez, an activist who works with Venezuelan migrants in Peru, said the repatriation was a publicity stunt by the Venezuelan government.

An official at Peru's Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the repatriation, saying the country was focussed on regional solutions to address the situation.

This month, Peru and Ecuador began requiring passports instead of national ID cards from Venezuelan migrants. Peru has also tightened deadlines for Venezuelans to sign up for a temporary residency card that lets them work in the country legally.

On Saturday, the first day Peru imposed its passport rule, the number of Venezuelan migrants entering the country fell by more than half to 1,630, according to Peru's immigration agency. But hundreds more without passports entered the country by seeking asylum.

Foreign ministers from Ecuador and Colombia, and possibly Peru and Brazil, will meet to discuss Venezuelan migration in Ecuador next week, said Christian Kruger, the head of Colombia's migration agency.

(Reporting By Mitra Taj in Lima, Additional Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta in Bogota, Vivian Sequera in Caracas and Anthony Boadle in Brasilia, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)The price of oil will rise if trade in Iranian crude is halted as a result of US sanctions, China Petroleum and Chemical (Sinopec), the worlds largest oil refiner said on Monday. The company has refineries especially designed to process oil from Iran, the worlds fifth-largest producer.

If global trading of Iranian oil is stopped, the impact on oil prices is obvious  [and] it will hurt our commercial interests, Huang Wensheng, Sinopecs vice-president and company secretary, told the media on Monday, a day after the company unveiled a record high interim profit. We are very concerned and have been communicating with relevant authorities in a bid to avoid potential risk, he said.

The state-backed refiner processed 239 million tonnes (about 1.7 billion barrels of oil) last year, of which more than 85 per cent was imported. Some of its refineries, built many years ago, are designed especially to process Iranian crude, and such plants have long-term supply contracts with Tehran, said Huang.

The Trump Administration announced in May it would withdraw the US from a nuclear deal struck between Iran and six world powers three years ago aimed at limiting Tehrans nuclear capabilities in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions. Washington will reimpose sanctions against Tehran on November 4, and wants other countries to stop importing Iranian oil by then.

Companies that continue to trade with Iran could be at risk of being locked out of the US market and banking system under so-called secondary sanctions.

Iranian exports have fallen for the third consecutive month, and we expect this drop to continue sharply in the coming months, as sanctions come into effect, Sanford Bernstein, a senior analyst at Nick Green, said this month.

Opecs spare capacity is likely to be insufficient to fill the possible supply shortage from Iran and other disruptions, potentially leading to rising oil prices, said Bernstein.

China imported 31 million tonnes of crude from Iran last year, making up 7.4 per cent of its total fuel imports.

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Shares in Sinopec surged by 5.1 per cent on Monday to close at HK$7.9 after it declared an interim dividend 60 per cent higher than last years. The company unveiled a 51.8 per cent year-on-year increase in net profit to 42.4 billion yuan (US$6.2 billion) for the years first-half.

This article Sinopec, worlds largest oil refiner, wary of secondary US sanctions on Iranian crude importers 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:South Sudan rebel chief Riek Machar on Tuesday refused to sign a final peace deal with the government, in a setback for a regional drive to end nearly five years of brutal civil war. Machar and President Salva Kiir have held weeks of talks in Khartoum in search of a comprehensive peace deal to end the conflict, which has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions since 2013 in the world's youngest country. The warring parties have already inked several agreements, including a permanent ceasefire and a power-sharing deal that sees Machar returning as first vice president in the government. But on Tuesday the rebel leader refused to sign the final peace deal even as Juba inked it. "The main South Sudanese opposition groups, including the SPLM-IO (Machar faction), refused to sign the final document demanding that their reservations be guaranteed in it," Sudanese Foreign Minister Al-Dierdiry Ahmed, who is mediating the talks, told reporters. Officials said the rebel groups had differences over the functioning of a proposed transitional government, how many states the country should be divided into and on the writing of a new constitution. "For the first time, the opposition told us that it will not sign," Ahmed said, showing the draft text to reporters and diplomats who had gathered for what was expected to be a preliminary signing ceremony in Khartoum. The rebel groups' refusal to ink the document is a setback to the latest peace push led by regional East Africa bloc IGAD. "This is the final document which had been arrived at after consultations between all South Sudanese parties," Ahmed said. "South Sudan will not have peace unless these groups sign." - 'Unfortunate development' - The rebels said they were surprised that the mediators had drafted the final deal despite several outstanding issues that had to be resolved. "This is an unfortunate development that will not reflect well on the impartiality of the mediators and will throw doubt into the whole process," the rebels said in a joint statement. "We therefore urge the mediators to allow the parties to resolve these critical matters of contention." The rebel groups said they were still ready for negotiations. The Sudanese minister said the opposition's refusal to sign spelt the end of the current Khartoum round of talks. "This was the last round of negotiation," Ahmed said, adding that the mediators will submit the text to IGAD, although it was unclear when the bloc's leaders would meet to discuss it. Earlier this month, Kiir and Machar signed a power-sharing deal that will see the rebel leader return to the government as the first of five vice presidents. That accord was to pave the way for a final peace deal and the formation of a transitional government that will hold power until elections are held. But international backers of the peace process had raised doubts about whether the deal would stick given the depth of animosity between South Sudan's leaders which dates back to the 1990s when Machar first broke ranks at the height of the war for independence from Khartoum. "Considerable challenges lie ahead, and we are concerned that the arrangements agreed to date are not realistic or sustainable," the United States, Britain and Norway said in a joint statement on August 10. "Given their past leadership failures, South Sudanese leaders will need to behave differently and demonstrate commitment to peace and good governance," they said. South Sudan finally became independent from Sudan in 2011, but a little over two years later a fresh war erupted pitting Kiir against Machar, his former deputy. The conflict has seen widespread rape and murder of civilians, often along ethnic lines, and uprooted roughly a third of the population. A succession of peace deals have been signed between the two leaders only to be broken, most recently in December. Each time, the two sides have traded blame for the breakdown and the resulting bloodshed.Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) personnel. (Yahoo News Singapore file photo)

He was born and raised in Thailand, and graduated from Thammasat University Bangkok. Ekawit Tangtrakarn, a 24-year-old Thai national whose mother is Singaporean and whose father is Thai, even served three years in the Royal Thai Army.

But on Tuesday (28 August), Ekawit, who was also a Singapore citizen until he was 22, pleaded guilty to one count of remaining outside the Republic without a valid exit permit between 17 April 2010 and 16 October 2015 in the Singapore State Courts. Ekawits actions are a breach of the Enlistment Act.

Another charge under the same section, but relating to the period between 17 October 2006 and 16 April 2010, was taken into consideration for his sentencing.

This is the first case of its kind where a National Service defaulter coming back to face charges was not liable for NS at the time of the charges for the sole reason that by then, he was no longer a Singapore citizen or permanent resident, according to the prosecution.

The charge comes about because Ekawit did not fulfil his National Service obligations, even though he ceased to be a Singapore citizen in 2015. Ekawit was registered as a Singaporean citizen by his mother when he was one even though the family had moved to Thailand before he was born.

Ekawit was no longer a Singapore citizen as from 17 October 2015, when he didnt take the Oath of Renunciation, Allegiance and Loyalty (Oral) within 12 months from the age of 21.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Mansoor Amir asked the court for a sentence of nine weeks for Ekawit, as a key sentencing consideration is general deterrence for this and all NS defaulter cases.

The accused only returned to Singapore when he was no longer liable to serve since he is no longer a Singapore citizen, said the DPP. After being classified as an NS defaulter, he was advised on two occasions to return, but chose to pursue his university studies instead.

DPP Mansoor noted that while the usual sentence should have been 14 weeks, the prosecution was willing to give Ekawit a five week discount as he had voluntarily surrendered himself.

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Ekawit Tangtrakarn, 24, leaving the State Courts after pleading guilty. (PHOTO: Wan Ting Koh/Yahoo News Singapore)

In Ekawits defence

Ekawits lawyer, S Radakrishnan, said that his client had no reason to believe that he would still be liable to serve in the armed forces of a country that he did not really understand or had links to.

For all intents and purposes, (Ekawit) was born, lived, studied, served national service and found a job in Thailand, and identifies as a Thai national. He has spent his entire life to date residing in Thailand, said Radakrishnan.

He has never received any benefits from any social, economic, or educational services rendered by the Singapore government or its statutory boards.

Apart from short visits to his grandmother who lives here, Ekawit never lived in Singapore long enough to comprehend the gravity of the charges he is facing now, added the lawyer.

Ekawits mother Genevieve Lim was the only one who kept in touch with the Central Manpower Base (CMPB), a unit under the Ministry of Defence that oversees National Service enlistees.

When Ekawit was seven years old, she flew to Singapore and informed CMPB that her son wished to renounce his Singapore citizenship. However, she was told that he could only do so at the age of 21.

According to Radakrishnan, Lim also flew to Singapore when Ekawit was 14, to apply for an exit permit for him. However, she was unable to afford the S$75,000 bond that was required to secure the exit permit.

Ekawits father, the sole breadwinner of the family, only earned a monthly salary of 25,000 Baht (S$1048.03), the lawyer told the court. The family could not find anyone else to execute the bond on their behalf.

Radakrishnan added that Ekawit voluntarily surrendered himself and decided to travel to Singapore personally to assist in investigations and face the charges bravely as he had genuinely wished for the matter to be resolved.

Ekawit, who works as an application engineer in Thailand, wishes to continue his life there and has no intention of obtaining Singapore citizenship in the future.

Radakrishnan therefore asked for a hefty fine, as a jail sentence would be manifestly excessive.

The prosecution responds

When asked by Judge John Ng if the prosecution was disputing that Ekawit was a Thai national from the day he was born, DPP Mansoor said no. However, at the material time of the offences, Ekawit was a Singapore citizen.

And it was untrue that Ekawit had not benefited from being a Singapore citizen, as Ekawit had used his Singapore passport to travel in and out of the country on one occasion.

Ekawits mother was also reminded on two occasions by CMPB via email  in 2006 and 2007  to apply for an exit permit for her son without paying the bond first. Over the years, Lim remained in regular contact with CMPB, which gave both advice and warnings to her.

In an email exchange in 2006, when the accused was 12, Lim said that she had informed her son about the implication and the duties he would have to perform if he wished to hold on to his Singapore citizenship. Having understood the situation, Ekawit decided to continue his education in Thailand.

But in another exchange in 2007, Lim told CMPB that her son had asked how he could serve in an army which he had no loyalty for.

Further, said the DPP, his insubstantial connection to Singapore is not a mitigating factor. If this was so, others would be able to evade NS simply by saying they had no connection to Singapore.

The fact that Ekawit served in the Thai army is irrelevant: what matters is that he was not here to serve NS when required to, added Mansoor.

The DPP also noted that one of the reasons Ekawit returned to the Republic to resolve his NS offences was to avoid any trouble should he need to travel Singapore in the future for work.

Judge Ng told the court, (This is) not a simple, not an easy case. He adjourned the case to 18 September, when Ekawit will be sentenced.

Under the Enlistment Act, all male Singapore citizens and permanent residents aged 13 and above are required to apply for an exit permit if they have stayed overseas from a young age or study overseas. This is to ensure that they return to Singapore to fulfil their NS obligations, according to the CMPB website.

For the charge of remaining outside of Singapore without a valid exit permit from when he was 16 to 21 years old, Ekawit can be fined up to $10,000 or jailed up to three years, or both.

A perennial hot button issue, the subject of NS defaulters was revived recently when it was revealed that Kevin Kwan, the author of bestselling novel Crazy Rich Asians, defaulted on his national service.

Like Ekawit, Kwan, who migrated to the United States at the age of 11, also stayed overseas without a valid permit and is wanted for defaulting on his NS obligations, according to Mindef.

Related stories:

Ben Davis has no commitment to serve Singapore or national interests: Ng Eng Hen

Senior Counsels son jailed four months for NS evasionA man walks past a TV broadcasting a news report on the dismantling of the Punggye-ri nuclear testing site, in Seoul A man walks past a TV broadcasting a news report on the dismantling of the Punggye-ri nuclear testing site, in Seoul, South Korea, May 24, 2018. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Files

WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean officials have warned in a letter to the United States that denuclearisation talks were "again at stake and may fall apart", CNN reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The letter was delivered directly to U.S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and stated that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's government felt that the process could not move forward.

"The U.S. is still not ready to meet (North Korean) expectations in terms of taking a step forward to sign a peace treaty," CNN reported, citing sources.

The 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving U.S.-led U.N. forces technically still at war with North Korea.

The North has long made clear that it sees an official end to the state of war as crucial to lowering tensions on the Korean peninsula.

The United States has been reluctant to declare an end to the Korean War until after North Korea abandons its nuclear weapons programme.

The Washington Post reported on Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump called off a visit to North Korea by Pompeo after the latter received a belligerent letter from a senior North Korean official just hours after the trip was announced last week.

CNN reported that the letter was sent by the former head of North Korea's spy agency, Kim Yong Chol, but it was not known how it was sent. The Washington Post said North Korea had been increasingly communicating through its U.N. mission.

CNN reported that the letter also mentioned that if a compromise could not be reached and the nascent talks crumbles, North Korea could resume "nuclear and missile activities".

'PLOT'

On Sunday, North Korea's state media accused the United States of "double-dealing" and "hatching a criminal plot" but did not mention Pompeo's canceled visit. (nL2N1VI1WU)

The Washington Post said the exact contents of the message were unclear, but it was sufficiently belligerent that Trump and Pompeo decided to call off the planned trip.

Story continues

The trip had been announced the previous day for this week and Pompeo had intended to introduce a newly named special envoy, Stephen Biegun, to his North Korean counterparts.

The White House referred queries on the Washington Post report to the State Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In cancelling Pompeo's trip, Trump publicly acknowledged for the first time that his effort to get North Korea to denuclearize had stalled since his June 12 summit with Kim in Singapore.

U.S. intelligence and defense officials have repeatedly expressed doubts about North Korea's willingness to give up its nuclear weapons and they had not expected Pompeo's trip to yield positive results.

A South Korea presidential spokesman said he was not in a position to comment on the authenticity of the letter but acknowledged that talks between Washington and Pyongyang were in a stalemate.

"With North Korea and the U.S. remaining stalemated, there is a even bigger need for an inter-Korea summit," Kim Eui-kyeom, a spokesman for the presidential Blue House told a briefing.

South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said this month his planned third summit with North Korea's Kim next month would be another step towards the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula and an end to the Korean War.

(Reporting by Mekhla Raina in BENGALURU, David Brunnstrom and Matt Spetalnick in WASHINGTON, Cynthia Kim in SEOUL; Editing by Peter Cooney, Robert Birsel)Mother of three Rosemary Ginam is entering into her 43rd day behind bars, despite no having any actual charges pressed against her.

Rosemarys lawyers, husband and family maintain that she is innocent, and merely being used as a scapegoat by her former employers who are being accused of fraud relating to non-existent travel packages they sold to over 30 would-be holidaymakers.

Dulcet Travel and Tours first came on police radar in July of this year, after angry consumers accused them of selling discount travel tours that never came to fruition. While Rosemarys role in the alleged scam is unclear, she was an employee of Dulcet, and after a litany of reports were lodged against the company, she was unceremoniously arrested in front of her Kajang home July 17. Her children were present when their mother was cuffed, and she has been in holding ever since.

Breaking the story, local outlet The Star have detailed that Rosemarys husband, Hasan Jambai, has now filed his own report, in conjunction with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam).

Legally, authorities are only allowed to keep suspects linked to cheating cases for seven days in remand. However, Rosemarys lawyers explain that police have been refreshing her remand order every few days, and moving her to different stations around the country.

The Star reveals that since her mid-July arrest, she has been taken to police stations in Kuala Lumpur, Perak, Penang, Melaka, Terengganu and Negeri Sembilan.

She is currently being held in a Putrajaya lock-up under a new remand order until tomorrow, August 29.

Not mincing words, her lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan says:

There is a term for this. It is called a roadshow or tukar gari, and it is a clear violation of her fundamental human rights by the police to hold her without trial.

Dun dun.

The post Woman held in police remand without charge for 42 days appeared first on Coconuts.President Xi Jinping on Monday defended his new Silk Road plan, saying it was not about creating a China club, while calling for balanced trade with partner countries amid a growing backlash against his global infrastructure push.

Analysts said Xis remarks  made at a seminar in Beijing to mark the five-year anniversary of his signature Belt and Road Initiative  indicated that China was adjusting its tone and strategy to address rising concerns over its global ambitions and fears of debt trap diplomacy.

The comments came after new Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad called off a major China-backed railway project last week. The recent change in leadership in Pakistan could also see a potential pullback on agreements for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship, multibillion-dollar belt and road project.

The Belt and Road Initiative is an economic cooperation initiative, not a geopolitical or military alliance, Xi said at the seminar. It is an open and inclusive process, and not about creating exclusive circles or a China club.

The strategy aims to build a sprawling trade and infrastructure network spanning Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America. Over the last five years, China has invested more than US$60 billion in countries along the route, and trade volume between them has reached 5 trillion yuan (US$734.29 billion), Xi said, adding that more than 200,000 local jobs had been created in those countries.

Xi said the overall design of the plan had been finalised and Beijing now needed to fine-tune the details and build a comprehensive system to carry it out, with a focus on high-quality projects.

We need to pay attention to providing fuel in snowy weather, prioritising the needs of the other party and implementing projects that will benefit the local people, he said.

Xi also called for more efforts to achieve a trade balance with countries along the new Silk Road, and to strengthen risk prevention efforts.

Story continues

Pang Zhongying, a foreign affairs specialist at the Ocean University of China, said Beijing was seeking to change tack and address growing fears worldwide that it is using the massive infrastructure push to gain political influence.

China is facing enormous challenges with these reactions from the international community, Pang said. Xis speech shows that [the leadership] has reflected on these developments and has made adjustments  and is trying to tone down its rhetoric.

The escalating trade conflict with the United States and uncertainties over its belt and road projects in important countries such as Malaysia and Pakistan have also pushed China to adjust its approach to the initiative, Pang said.

Moon Heung-ho, a professor at the Graduate School of International Studies at Hanyang University in Seoul, said Chinas increasing clout remained a big worry for other countries.

Beijing has failed in its peripheral diplomacy, as its neighbouring countries are still worried about the implications of Chinas rise, Moon said.

There has been some assertiveness in the belt and road projects and a lack of value-sharing and harmonisation among neighbouring countries, he said. China must now spend some time building trust with those countries  otherwise the strategy will be nothing more than diplomatic rhetoric.

Senior officials in the ruling Communist Party are already following Xis lead. Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Ning Jizhe, vice-chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said China should not shy away from the challenges but should improve how it approaches belt and road projects.

With some countries still doubtful about the belt and road and Chinese companies facing difficulties investing and operating overseas, we need to objectively and rationally view our achievements and challenges, Ning said. We should not avoid the challenges, nor should we exaggerate our problems  we need to constantly improve our working methods.

Mondays seminar was chaired by Vice-Premier Han Zheng and attended by NDRC head He Lifeng, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, city and provincial chiefs from Shanghai, Zhejiang, Chongqing and Sichuan, as well as corporate leaders such as Li Shufu, chairman of carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. Vice-Premiers Liu He and Hu Chunhua, Politburo member Yang Jiechi and Finance Minister Xiao Jie were also at the meeting.

Additional reporting by Lee Jeong-ho

This article Xi Jinping says belt and road plan isnt about creating a China club 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:Algerias ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika flew to Switzerland for medical treatment in a context where cholera cases were found in the country.

The medical trip has been described by angry Algerians on social media as an indication of a lack of trust in Algerian hospitals, which are struggling to contain the outbreak of cholera after dozens were contaminated by polluted water.

Bouteflikas medical check-ups in Switzerland were confirmed by the state-run news agency APS.

Bouteflika has been frail since suffering a stroke in 2013, which weakened his mobility and forced him to work from his residence in Zeralda, west of Algiers.

Bouteflika has since travelled abroad several times to undergo medical examinations in Paris, the southeastern French city of Grenoble and in Geneva.

Despite being confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak, preparations are underway for Bouteflikas fifth term.

In April, the secretary general of his National Liberation Front, Djamel Ould Abbes, asked him to run for re-election.

And in June, Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said his Rally for National Democracy (RND) party would support the president continuing his mission and his sacrifice in the service of Algeria.The sun had just set in a wall of red and I thought for a moment that the mountains were alight.

I liked being alone. I could hear the muffled voices of people preparing or sharing evening meals. I could see the flicker of torchlight through open doors and windows. A couple of stores had their own generators lighting the vicinity and the night.

That night it seemed I was the only person in the small town as I walked around in the cool of the evening on paved roads. The town seemed deserted, it was quiet and at peace.

I was in beautiful Kandep a few days ago; lost in thought, unaware of what was happening in other parts of the district, Enga Province, Papua New Guinea or the world.

Above me, a billion stars began to appear, twinkling in the silence. I was transfixed as I stood on Manget Kungu overlooking Kandep town, delighting in the peace and beauty of the night.

A full moon rose in its full glory over the horizon and floated past Lungu Kana, over the Patuli swamps and beyond towards Magarima and the incongruous technology of the PNG liquefied natural gas project.

I enjoy these nocturnal walks watching the moon move through its shapes as the month passes, transforming from full into a menanenge (pigs tusk) as we describe it in the Enga language, then to other shapes.

Soon the month of August will give way to September, forever special as our independence month.

The night sky has been like this for millennia. Our ancestors saw this beauty. Our very fathers looked upon it. And now we witness it. How many of us appreciate these natural wonders?

This beauty will continue to be displayed in the heavens as God intended it to be.

We mortals are not the sun, the moon or the stars  just the flowers, to bloom but once, to wither and return to the dust at our feet.

The Kandep that continues to shock

It was on the edges of Kandep town that much of the past and present violence has broken out

During the day that followed that night, there was an election-related court case on in Port Moresby between two political opponents from Kandep  Alfred Manase and Don Polye.

I hoped the final outcome would be peaceful and that supporters on both sides would accept the courts decision and not resort to the violence of the last 15 years.

During this protracted war, more than 100 people were killed and property worth millions destroyed. I didnt want this to happen again. I hoped the people who read my writing and talk about it to each other would realise that life is too precious,

We only live once and we have to enjoy it.

But there has been trouble in Kandep these last few days.

First two houses belonging to two supporters of Don Polye were burned down at Lungutenges village  on the very edge of Kandep town where the previous piece was written.

The two supporters had allegedly testified in court that the 2017 national election was not conducted properly.

Then on Sunday two brothers from nearby Patuli village were chopped to death. The village is also located on the edge of Kandep town.

They were killed by some men from the Kapus tribe on whose land Kandep High School is located at Kokas. It was alleged a woman married to a Kapus man was having an affair with a man from the Alitip Komai tribe.

This savage violence broke out before a village court sitting began to deliberate on the case.

Yesterday police and soldiers were deployed to Kandep to stop the fighting. Today the two brothers will be buried and I am in Wabag sending this.

The fighting erupted again and another young man has been killed.

There is a Kandep I love and a Kandep that daunts me. Sometimes I feel the same about my country.Mauritanias President Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz has called for banning opposition MPs from entering the parliament, labelling them as intruders and extremists.

He said in an address to his party members, the Union for the Republic, in the northern locality of Akjoujt, that the presidential elections take place with the participation of intruders with ideas and methods alien to Mauritania, in addition to extremists backed by foreign parties.

The president was reported by the Mauritanian news agency as saying that the opposition has asked in 2008 to starve the Mauritanian people.

He urged voters to give his party a landslide victory to prevent extremist parties.

The opposition fears that the Mauritanian President is planning to stay in power for a third term.The silver lining of fake news

Posted on 28 August 2018 by Guest Author

This is a re-post from ClimateSight

What exciting times we live in! The UK is stockpiling food and medicine as it charges willingly into a catastrophe of its own choosing. The next Australian prime minister is likely to be a man who has committed crimes against humanity. And America has descended so far into dystopia that it cant even be summed up in one pithy sentence.

I spend a lot of time wondering how future generations will look back upon this period in history. Will there be memorial museums on Nauru and at the US-Mexican border, pledging Never Again? Will the UKs years in the European Union be heralded as a golden age for the country? And what will the history books say about Donald Trump?

When I imagine these future historians, giving their seminars and writing their books and assigning their students essays, there is one overarching theme Im sure they will focus on. One puzzling phenomenon is at the root of so much of the madness we face today. Our future historian might title such a seminar Widespread public rejection of facts in the early 21st century. Or, if you wish to be so crass, Fake News. A distrust of experts, and of the very idea of facts, now permeates almost every part of public life  from science to economics to medicine to politics.

Climate change used to be the sole target of this. Ive been wrestling with fake news on climate change for more than ten years now. And I used to get so frustrated, because my friends and family would read dodgy articles in respectable newspapers written by fossil fuel executives and believe them. Or at least, consider them. Reasonable people heard debate on this issue and assumed there must be some merit to it. Both sides of the climate change debate have good points to make, they would reasonably say.

Its different now. Denialism has spread into so many topics, and received so much attention, that reasonable people are now well aware of its existence. You guys, did you know that there are people who dont believe in facts?! is the gist of so many dinner conversations around the world these days. And the exhausted climate scientists sit back, twirl their spaghetti around their fork, and say Yes, yes we know. So youve finally caught on.

This is the weird silver lining of fake news: reasonable people now take climate change more seriously. When they read bogus stories about global cooling and natural cycles and scientific conspiracies, they just say Aha! These are the people who dont believe in facts. Its like the dystopia of 2018 has inoculated many of us against denialism. More and more people now understand and accept the science of climate change, even while those who dont grow louder and more desperate. Climate change deniers still exist, but it seems that their audience is shrinking.

(Of course, this doesnt mean were actually doing anything about climate change.)

***

PS I am now Twittering, for those of you who are so inclined.This article originally appeared in Vulture.

Before Crazy Rich Asians steers into its third act, Rachel Chu, the Asian-American protagonist living the fish-out-of-water experience in Singapore at the invitation of her boyfriend, Nick Young, meets with her college friend Peik Lin for some much-needed girl talk. Seated side by side against the bright Peranakan-style shop houses, the two go over the latest development in the psychological warfare being played by Nicks mother, Eleanor, who has declared that Rachel will never be enough for her son. Rachel begins to admit defeat, and says she intends to skip the very wedding shes flown over 9,000 miles to attend. I dont want to cause any drama there, I feel like I should just  sit it out, Rachel says with a sigh, the emphatic professor of economics now wracked with insecurity.

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Peik Lin, refreshingly brash, calls bullshit. Throughout the film, Peik Lin is Rachels lone ally. She reframes Eleanors conduct for Rachel in terms that her game-theory-minded brain understands well, likening the situation to a game of chicken. Shes coming at me, thinking Im gonna swerve like a chicken, Rachel realizes. But you cant swerve, Peik Lin interjects, throwing up her left index finger. You gon roll up to that weddin and be like bawk bawk, bitch. She switches to her right hand, head and finger bobbing side to side.

This moment is not exactly representative of the character, nor Nora Lums performance, but its dead-center placement in the trailer has become the outsize evidence of both those things, both before and after the movies release last week. For some, Peik Lin provides the opportunity to finally discuss some nagging notes in Lums resume, particularly the rising stardom shes accumulated as Awkwafina, her bold, ratchet-adjacent stage ego who first went viral rapping a Mickey Avalon cover called My Vag (My vag, a Beyonce weave /Yo vag, a polyester Kmart hairpiece). Since then, her persona has veered too close to black aesthetics for comfort, including her recent role as Ocean 8s Constance, a scrappy, die-hard hustler from Queens much like herself, as she told The New Yorkers Jiayang Fan. (On Peik Lin: Im not like her at all, she told Fan.) Sliding in and out of a grammar that speeds past certain consonants, utilizes the habitual be, and takes on a twang with danks and struggles aplenty, Awkwafina has inspired the resurrection of that dreaded portmanteau reserved for nonblack people with black voices, hardly seen since Iggy Azalea could claim song of the summer: blaccent. Peik Lins flirtation with black vernacular, along with the characters general swagger, clinches the case, and another buzzword enters the frame: appropriation, a word that now commonly connotes knowing, cultural theft.

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Appropriation is a tricky thing in the 21st century, yet it has somehow grown only more cliched in public conversation. Ever since Miley Cyrus the minstrel twerked up on Robin Thicke (another minstrel) onstage at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, the simple observation of appropriation has proven enough to serve as an analysis of the appropriative gesture itself. The very fact that something cultural now resides in two places at oncein the traditions and communal enclaves of black folks; on the body of a white or nonblack person(allegedly) implicates the latter as the thief who cherry-picked from outside for material gain.

It is not just an interracial matter, revived whenever a white rapper hits the Billboard charts or Nicki Minaj dips into Orientalist aesthetics, but an intra-racial, intercultural, cross-cultural, cross-regional, and diasporic one as well. In March, Craig Jenkins and Frank Guan had a conversation about appropriation on Vulture to discuss the Bruno affair, inspired by writer Seren Senseis argument that Bruno Mars parlays musical traditions that dont belong to him into mainstream success, afforded him by his brown-but-not-black skin. Jenkins mentions Drake, who has similarly been semi-seriously accused of borrowing from the diaspora when it suits him. The dialogue between Issa and Molly on Insecure has attracted skepticism about the veracity of Raes and Yvonne Orjis blaccents, The Atlantics Hannah Giorgis noted. Meanwhile, vernacular invented by black and brown queer folk has become commonplace in the vocabularies of straight, cis individuals of color, as well as white people.

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What can explain the ease with which the knowledge and creations of close-knit communities become circulated as profitable products in the arms of others, if not a deliberate and concentrated pickpocketing from one person to another to another? The flow of money and celebrity and canonicity supports the deduction, which is why the true observation that everybody appropriates can never and will never hold water (until, like, the end of white capitalism, a.k.a. the world). It is not by accident that people in power acquire cachet and adoration (and more power) when they don facsimile costumes of the people kept from power. And yet, power doesnt often propagate itself so plainly in popular culture. We see its influence in what ends up valued and not valued, but more often, appropriation goes undetected. A white person may be just as likely to learn black lexicon from another white person who learned it from a Twitter user who often retweets Rihanna-related content. In the year 2018, its hardly, if ever, a straightforward route from A to B.

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Its interesting that nobody makes the claim of appropriation until somebody feels that something inappropriate is happening, theorist Homi K. Bhabha remarked last year in an ArtForum roundtable on the topic of appropriation. And indeed, appropriation only gets called by name belatedly, once enough witnesses have been called in to the scene of the performance, not the crime. We see Kim Kardashian smugly regal on the red carpet in Fulani braids, but we are not privy to the exact moment she was inspired to crown herself in African style. Was it another bout of Bo Derek cosplay? Had she seen it on Instagram? Did a naive stylist drip the poison in her ear, assure the mother of three black children that the braids squeezing her scalp looked absolutely fabulous?

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Beside the Kardashians, there is our very regular, everyday intake of the words, styles, and sounds that surround us, intensified by digital connections that make the world seem smaller and larger at the same time.Unlike citation or quotation, Bhabha continues, methods of true, time-limited borrowing, appropriation assumes a proprietorial sense. The question is: Who owns what?

But in the language of ownership, there is the danger of reinscribing the very repugnant simplicity one would seek to undermine, as if any part of any culture among people of color was coherent enough to be lifted and moved from one place to another without being changed (or losing parts of itself) in the process. A poem of such poor quality as Anders Carlson-Wees How-To, published then apologized for in The Nation, for example, never would have been published in the first place by somebody as poor and black and disabled as the speaker he aims to inhabit. And the charge of a blaccent in Crazy Rich Asians uncomfortably invigorates the contradiction. On one hand, yes, anyone truly familiar and fluent with a black vernacular can sense a tremendous reach has occurred. Breaking down an essay by Carvell Wallace that critiqued Meghan Trainors strange enunciative choices, writer Kara Brown notes that the diagnosis involves a calculus that is mostly instinctive. It is a feeling, an informed suspicion better felt in the bones than cross-referenced with a grammarian, not because black languages lack their own grammar, but because, so writes linguist J. L. Dillard in the landmark 1972 study Black English, We could diagram Black English, but we would know no more about it afterward than we did before. Either you know, or you dont.

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On the other hand, Awkwafinas antics dont, to me, conjure blackness any more than Ed Sheerans bars. Is a blaccent an evocation of blackness, or of something elsepower, imperialism, commerce, the digital age? Maybe blaccent shouldnt function so metonymically, and maybe it shouldnt imply blackness at all (blackness has enough to contend with), but that something else instead, indicting not an individual instance of theft but a global phenomenon that makes it impossible to know whether a nonblack millennial from Forest Hills studied black culture like a textbook or grew up with the same media as most of us, where blaccents in the mouths of white, snappy performers has been autonomous and apart from the actual speech patterns of black people since America had a theater tradition to call its own.

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Consider the many adolescents, now men, whove forged a personality around Pineapple Express and adore Post Malone, the way some young women have developed a shtick around Broad Citys fictional Yas Kween Ilanathere are blaccents built from blaccents, but maybe not from blackness itself. A certain millennial cool-kid identity is already predicated on basic appropriations that get overlooked when every case becomes exemplary, instead of evidentiary. Its all very messy, and power makes it messy, but treating the blaccent as something authentically black and stolen doesnt make it any clearer. There isnt a relatable white girl inserted into the middle of Crazy Rich Asians, writes BuzzFeeds Alison Willmore, yet theres a whole genre of relatable white girl quirkiness that Awkwafinas Peik Lin sources from. And while she successfully imitates something, its not black language.

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In conversations around Awkwafinas blaccent, the actresss regional and musical background has been used to both defend and attack hershes either the most shrewd opportunist or the most down chick her side of the color line. These extremes of opinion arent helped by the way certain profiles borderline fetishize the Awkwafina backstory, as if the idea that an Asian-American woman who grew up in Forest Hills (or literally anywhere in the country) loves rap is too absurd to be true. (Perhaps that is par for the genre, making everyday stories unusual, and perhaps thats par for celebrity, too.) A recent Rolling Stone profile describes her delivery in Crazy Rich Asians as Miley Cyrus-meets-New Jersey patois, an incoherent mishmash that feels nonsensical, selected for the sheer fun of it.

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Returning to the film, culture clashes are at the core of Crazy Rich Asians: namely, the invisible hyphen that ought, according to Eleanor, to exclude Rachel from the Youngs. And Rachel is not the only one in the story who underscores the plain fact that there are a million and one ways to be Chinese. The cinematic universe of Crazy Rich Asians comes together through a compilation of both banal and conflicting intra-cultural exchanges, disturbing any sense of what might constitute authenticity in this age.

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When we first meet Peik Lin, she is running, arms outstretched in Stella McCartney pajamas, with a hug and extended Whaddup? Rachel compliments her look and Peik Lin cocks a hip with a fast, twangy, I know some things never change right? They sit down for lunch, and language, always there but not always marked, enters the conversation because of an accent. Not Auntie Neenas, Peik Lins mom, whose lah and ai-ya pass without explanation (either you know, or you dont). It is Wye Mun, Peik Lins dad, played by the instantly recognizable Ken Jeong, who approaches Rachel at the table speaking hesitant English, and not too convincingly. I dont have an accent, he tells Rachel with a laugh, which is really to align his accent with hers and Peik Lins and a presumed American audience. Peik Lins younger siblings are eating chicken nuggets, drawing back to a memorable line from Kevin Kwans novel about starving children in America. Her dad dubs her Asian Ellen and Peik Lin rolls her eyes while an older family member laughs. Wye Mun urges his son, P.T., to flirt with Rachel; informed that Rachel is already spoken for, he, like his daughter, is quick with the comeback: I dont see no ring on her finger.

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Though the film as a whole draws us into a community understood to be very local and small, the world and America intrudes unspectacularly. P.T. conspicuously snaps a photo of Rachel, presumably to share with a similar fast-moving, far-reaching social network dramatized in the films first few minutes. A network that speaks in memes and hashtags, that knows and recites American pop-culture phenomenon thanks to Americas aggressive, imperialist export of its own values. This is not cause for celebration any more than other colonial matters pushed to the margins or overlooked altogether in the film: Singapores minorities, Malay and Indian peoples, and the working class who prepare the food and set the arrangement lingered over by the cameras eye. Writer Connie Wang carefully maintains the rhetorical difference between a story told for Asians or for Asian-Americans; Crazy Rich Asians is the latter, framed by our American cultural baggage. That baggage includes the blaccent as a matter-of-fact comedy heuristic.

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There is another moment where accents are made explicit, midway through the large family and etcetera gathering at Nicks ah-mas estate. Nick and Eleanor are in his old room; both are talking around each other. She prys gently, insinuating what might be insinuated by Nicks decision to bring Rachel to Singapore to an event surrounded by so much family. Nick smiles. When theres something to say about Rachel and me, youll be first to hear, he tells her. Some things, I need to figure out on my own. Eleanor shakes her head. Is that an American accent Im hearing? Nick only smiles, unbothered by the slippage he probably didnt notice.

See also: Crazy Rich Asians Proposal Scene Was Changed at the Last MinuteLouis C.K. returned to the stage for what seems to be the first time since he admitted to masturbating in front of unwilling women last November, performing an unannounced set at New Yorks Comedy Cellar, the New York Times reports.

According to Noam Dworman, the owner of the Comedy Cellar, the comedian performed a 15-minute set in front of a receptive audience of about 115 people, who gave him an ovation before taking the stage. The set covered typical Louis C.K. stuff, which presumably didnt include his retroactively creepy jokes about masturbation. Comedian Mo Amer, who also performed that night, described the set as like, classic Louis, really really good. One customer later called to complain that Louis C.K.s appearance was unannounced, but Dworman said he otherwise received positive feedback.

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Although rumors of sexual misconduct had dogged Louis C.K. for years, his career hit the rocks last November, when five women accused him of making them watch or listen to him masturbating. Specifically, as Slates Marissa Martinelli wrote at the time:

Two of C.K.s accusers are the comedy duo Dana Min Goodman and Julia Wolov, who say that at the 2002 Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, C.K. invited them to his hotel room, took off his clothes, and masturbated in front of them. Goodman and Wolov also alleged that C.K.s manager, Dave Becky, seemed unhappy when they spoke openly about the alleged incident afterward and that the pair have avoided working on projects that Becky is involved in as a result. Abby Schachner told the Times that in 2003, she called Louis C.K. to invite him to a show and that he began describing his sexual fantasies instead. Schachner alleges that she could hear him masturbating while they spoke over the phone. Rebecca Corry accused C.K. of inviting her back to his dressing room so that he could masturbate in front of her while working on a television pilot in 2005. Courteney Cox and David Arquette, the shows executive producers, confirmed to the Times that they were aware of the incident. What happened to Rebecca on that set was awful, Cox reportedly wrote in an email. Another woman, speaking on the condition of anonymity, alleged that C.K. also repeatedly asked her to watch him masturbate while working at The Chris Rock Show in the late 1990s.

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Lous C.K., who had denied the accusations in the past, released a statement the next day confirming the womens stories while, as Christina Cauterucci argued, set[ting] the stage for his rehabilitation tour. In his statement, C.K. said he would step back and take a long time to listen without being clear about how long, exactly, he had in mind. Now we know the answer: 289 days.

There cant be a permanent life sentence on someone who does something wrong, Dworman told the Times, later adding, I didnt think it was going to happen as soon as it did.This article contains spoilers for Sharp Objects and Big Little Lies.

Sharp Objects arrived in a defensive crouch. When the Southern Gothic miniseries debuted in early July, its creators strived to distinguish their project from Big Little Lies, which had wrapped up its accolade-collecting spree just six months ago with four Golden Globe wins. Like a little girl bristling in her high-achieving older sisters shadow, Sharp Objects struggled to avoid comparisons to its predecessor, despite sharing a network (HBO), a director (Jean-Marc Vallee), movie-star wattage, themes of female trauma and familial violence, and origins in best-selling novels by female authors deeply fascinated by competitive femininity. To interviewers, Sharp Objects creator Marti Noxon repeatedly compared her miniseries to True Detective, for instance. The shows embrace of male-prestige-drama tropes sometimes feels like an attempt to fend off the early dismissals that greeted Big Little Lies, largely from male critics, for its female subject matter.

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The impulse is certainly understandable. Shows about womens experiences tend to be treated interchangeably and homogeneously, while prestige dramas about men engaging in criminal violence are parsed for their differences. But Sharp Objects finale, which aired Sunday, proved that the unwanted comparison with Big Little Lies is not only defensible, but constructive. Both center on largely affluent white women who are confronted with cycles of violence playing out right before their eyes. Both are shot in Vallees intimate, impressionistic style, which evokes the claustrophobia and sensorial confusion of violence among family members. In Big Little Lies, domestic abuse victim Celestes (Nicole Kidman) greatest horror is not her own injuries but the realization that one of her first-grader twin boys has learned from their father, Perry (Alexander Skarsgard), how to hurt his female classmates, then intimidate them into silence. When Perry prevents Celeste from leaving him, her friendsamong them his rape victim Jane (Shailene Woodley)kill him in self-defense and make his death look like an accidental fall. The efforts of Celeste and the women around her to end the cycle of misogynist violence by killing Perry gave Big Little Lies a sense of narrative tidiness and emotional resolution that makes the upcoming second season feel rather unnecessary. (Sharp Objects creators are, at least for now, insistent that the series is one and done.)

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Violence haunts nearly every aspect of Sharp Objects: Camille (Amy Adams) returns home to suburban Missouri to investigate the murders of two teenage girls. The towns primary industry of pig slaughtering is overseen by her socialite mother, Adora (Patricia Clarkson), who, Camille discovers in the penultimate episode, is responsible for the death of her younger sister Marian (Lulu Wilson) years ago via poison. (Adora suffers from Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a condition that allows her to feel needed and respected by feeding her daughters toxic substances and then nursing them back to health.) Adora, who survived a difficult mother of her own, is naturally blamed and jailed for the two recent murders, until a twist in the miniseries final seconds reveals the girls true killer: Camilles 15-ish half-sister Amma (Eliza Scanlen), whose dollhouse-shes-too-old-for features a bedroom floor tiled with teeth pulled from her victims. When Amma discovers that Camille has discovered the truth, the teen says with a sheepish smile, Please dont tell Mama. A rapid midcredit montage, set to Led Zeppelins In the Evening, shows how Amma pulled off the killings, with at least one of the crimes abetted by her two female friends.

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The finale, then, brings to the forefront the theme of cyclical violence, which had been lingering over the show but is revealed to have been the foundation of the miniseries narrative. Earlier, we see Camille covered in scars born from self-harm, the entirety of her limbs and torso rendered into a canvas for her pain. In contrast, Ammas aggression is projected outward, like her mothers. Sharp Objects ends on a gaping wound, which certainly fits its languid, atmospheric, lethargically plotted run.

In Gillian Flynns book, Camille visits Amma in prison. But the miniseries simply ends with the most promising plot development in all eight episodes. It cuts to black just as its protagonist is in a room alone with her sister, whos been revealed as a vulpine predator. That leaves open the miniseries most interesting questions: what Camille will do about the history of violence in her family, what she can do about it, what calculations shell undertake to do something (or maybe nothing) about her nightmarish legacy. For a show that was supposed to be about the aftershocks of violence and trauma, then, it disappointingly suggests that the fact of Ammas violence is more compelling than how to survive and/or deal with it. Its gimlet-eyed curiosity about the damage women can wreak initially felt fresh. Its too bad thats all Sharp Objects was interested in.Like any good espionage story, the Trump-Russia affair has featured numerous European shenanigans, from Clintonite Cody Shearer scurrying around Europe chasing damning information about Donald Trump to Michael Cohens maybe/maybe-not trip to Prague in 2016and now, the Atlantic reports, House Intelligence Committee chair Devin Nunes trip to London to try to learn more about former British spy and Trump dossier author Christopher Steele.

Nunes was looking for more information to back up the House Republicans assault on the credibility of Steele and their effort to reveal unsavory connections between him and officials in the FBI and Department of Justice, especially DOJ official Bruce Ohr, who is a central figure in the right-wing case against the Trump-Russia investigation. Unfortunately for Nunes, the Atlantic says, officials at MI6, MI5, and the Government Communications Headquarters (the British equivalent of the National Security Agency) didnt want to meet with him.

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Those meetings did not pan out, the Atlantic reported. The people familiar with his trip [said] that officials at MI6, MI5, and GCHQ were wary of entertaining Nunes out of fear that he was trying to stir up a controversy.  Nunes instead met with Madeleine Alessandri, the deputy national security adviser for Theresa May.

Reuters reported that representatives of the British agencies initially considered meeting with Nunes during the trip which took place in recent weeks, but that scheduling difficulties made it impossible.

Two Nunes staffers traveled to the U.K. last year to try to interview Steele himself, but were similarly unsuccessful.

Read more from Slate:

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 Two Years Into His Presidency and Donald Trump Still Doesnt Use Computers

 Louis C.K. Performed Stand-up Sunday for the First Time Since Admitting Sexual Misconduct

 Kelli Wards Pro-Trump, Anti-McCain Forces Have Won in Arizona, Even if She LosesPresident Emmanuel Macron of France announced Monday that a summit on the Mediterranean will be held in the early summer of 2019 in Marseille, south-eastern France, to find the thread of a Mediterranean policy.

Ten years after the Union for the Mediterranean, we must find the thread of a Mediterranean policy, said the president during his annual speech before the ambassadors of France.

This indispensable policy will be different and should include all civil societies, he said, adding that the summit will be an opportunity to talk about youth, mobility, energy, university exchanges between the two shores of the Mediterranean

President Macron who said Africa is our Mediterranean neighbor, pleaded for a more inclusive Mediterranean policy that will, he said, undoubtedly help consolidate the Maghreb.

The Union for the Mediterranean, UfM, was launched in 2008, at the initiative of former President Nicolas Sarkozy, by the countries of the European Union and 15 Mediterranean countries from North Africa, the Middle East or southern Europe that are not members of the EU.

Yet, this organization quickly lost its influence, especially in the context of the Arab Spring.

Since his election in May 2017, Emmanuel Macron visited Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. On Monday, he announced a visit to Egypt in the coming months.

In his speech, President Macron also referred to the situation in Libya, saying his country is determined to make progress on the Paris agreement providing for the organization of elections in December.

The coming months will be decisive as regards a return of stability in the country, he said, insisting that the restoration of Libyan sovereignty and the countrys unity is an essential component of the stabilization of the region.

According to the French President the Sahel issue will not be solved until the stability of Libya is secured.

Outlining Frances Africa policy, he said the African continent is an ally to invent the great balances of tomorrow and that we will never succeed in winning our challenges without Africa.

In this context, he underlined the strategic bilateral as well as the multilateral importance of Frances relationship with Africa, underscoring that it is more particularly with Africa that we must re-establish the new contemporary coalitions.A three-judge panel ruled Monday that North Carolinas congressional districts amount to an unconstitutional gerrymander, siding with plaintiffs Common Cause and the League of Women Voters of North Carolina, marking the latest federal ruling against the Republican-controlled legislatures drawing of the states congressional districts first along racial and then partisan lines. In January, the panel determined the gerrymandering amounted to a violation of the Constitutions equal-protection clause and ordered the state to redraw the entire map before the midterm elections, the first time in American history a court demanded the total overhaul of a state-drawn electoral map. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, quickly intervened blocking the lower court ruling, ordering it to wait to reconsider the case until a similar case before the highest court was decided, making it seemingly impossible for the districts to be redrawn more fairly before the November election.

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Once the Supreme Court had cleared the way, the judges for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, in their ruling, indicted an openness to taking extraordinary measures to ensuring fair elections in the state, as soon as November, despite the fact that the primaries have already concluded. (I)t may be possible for the State to conduct a general election using a constitutionally compliant districting plan without holding a primary election. Or, it may be viable for the State to conduct a primary election on November 6, 2018, using a constitutionally compliant congressional districting plan, and then conduct a general election sometime before the new Congress is seated in January 2019. the panel wrote.

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The statehouse Republican in charge of redistricting, Rep. David Lewis, justified the map after its creation, saying: I think electing Republicans is better than electing Democrats. So I drew this map to help foster what I think is better for the country. During a hearing on the new maps, Rep. Lewis said the districts were drawn to give Republicans 10 seats and Democrats three seats because they couldnt figure out a way to draw an 11-2 map, according to the News and Observer. It worked: Republicans won 10 seats in November 2016, and Democrats won three. The extreme congressional tilt towards the GOP runs counter to the states politics that are trending more Democratic, making it a tossup at the presidential level, with Obama winning the state in 2008 before losing it to Mitt Romney in 2012; Trump narrowly edged Hillary Clinton in 2016. Both of the states senators are Republicans, but the two highest statewide offices, the governor and state attorney general, are both Democrats.

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The ruling sets up a delicate tactical question for the Supreme Court, which has never ruled a partisan gerrymander to be unconstitutional, passing up three separate opportunities to do so in its last term, the New York Times reports. With the retirement of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the court is now divided between four conservatives who have expressed skepticism about the courts ability to tinker with political maps, and four more liberal justices who have argued that it has that ability. Five justices must vote to hear a case, meaning that a 4-4 vote would leave the lower courts ruling intact.Before former Trump campaign head Paul Manafort was found guilty on eight counts relating to bank and tax fraud last week, the Wall Street Journal reports Manforts legal team was actively negotiating a deal with prosecutors on a second set of charges set to go to trial in September, including charges of obstruction of justice, Manaforts failure to register as a foreign agent, and conspiracy to launder money. The two sides were unable to come to agreement to avoid another trial because of issues raised by Special Counsel Robert Mueller himself about the potential agreement, according to the Journal. The exact details of Muellers objection remain unknown.

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The negotiations, however, are an indication that Manafort is warming to the idea of cooperating with prosecutors after, for months, refusing to play ball with Muellers team. In the upcoming Washington, D.C. trial set to begin on Sept. 17th, prosecutors accuse Mr. Manafort of not registering in the U.S. for his lobbying work for the Ukrainian government between 2008 and 2014, and of conspiring to launder millions of dollars in income from that work to hide it from U.S. authorities, according to the Journal. In June, prosecutors added charges accusing Mr. Manafort of trying to influence the testimony of potential witnesses. That prompted Judge Jackson to send Mr. Manafort to jail as he awaited trial.

Prosecutors told the court last week they anticipated it would take 10 to 12 days to present their case against Manafort; Manaforts defense team said their defense would likely take three or four days.This story is being co-published with the Appeal, a nonprofit criminal justice news outlet.

Jeffrey Deskovic spent 16 yearsfrom the age of 17 to 32locked up in New York prisons for a 1989 rape and murder he did not commit. Despite potentially exculpatory DNA and hair evidence, the prosecution forged ahead with its case, according to a civil lawsuit later filed on Deskovics behalf.

Of the 250 exonerations in New York since 1989, at least a third involved allegations of official misconduct by police, prosecutors, or other officials. In the case of prosecutors, that misconduct could include using witnesses known to be unreliable or hiding evidence from the defense. Yet disciplinary action against prosecutors is virtually nonexistent. An Innocence Project survey published in 2016 identified 148 cases of prosecutorial misconduct in New York over a five-year period; no prosecutors involved faced sanctions.

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Thats the problem that Deskovic, who was released in 2006, and other exonerees and advocates were determined to solve when they lobbied state legislators to create a watchdog entity to investigate misconduct in criminal cases. On Aug. 20, their work paid off when Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the countrys first commission on prosecutorial conduct into law.

But while few doubt the benefits of having such a commission, some criminal justice experts say its too soon to celebrate.

I feel ecstatic that the bill has become law; it has been a really long and hard fight, said Deskovic, who now runs a foundation to help wrongfully convicted prisoners. Had there been oversight on the prosecutor in his case, I believe I would have been found not guilty, he said. I would have finished high school, gone to the prom. I wouldnt have suffered the psychological impact of incarceration or the difficulties acclimating back to society.

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Cuomos decision to establish this commission defied the powerful District Attorneys Association of the State of New York, which aggressively lobbied against the bill and continues to threaten to sue over its constitutionality. Enacting this legislation sends a stern message to line prosecutors and elected district attorneys that they must play fair. (Notably absent from the choir of support for the commission were two New York City district attorneys often touted as reformers: Brooklyns Eric Gonzalez and Manhattans Cy Vance. Neither responded to requests for comment.)

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The State Commission on Prosecutorial Conducts 11 members will be appointed by the governor, state legislative leaders, and the chief judge of the Court of Appeals. They have the power to initiate investigations and to subpoena evidence and documents from prosecutors and witnesses. If they find wrongdoing, the panel will recommend sanctions against the prosecutors ranging from a warning to termination, which the governor can impose or dismiss. When allegations are confirmed, information from the investigation will be made public, a measure important to outside advocates and journalists (an amendment to exclude sensitive information such as the names of whistleblowers is expected to be enacted).

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I think its groundbreaking legislation, said Rebecca Brown, director of policy at the Innocence Project. I hope this begins to move other states to follow.

But while few doubt the benefits of having a commission on prosecutorial misconduct, some criminal justice experts say its too soon to celebrate. Commission members will be given the power to investigate alleged bad actors, for instance, yet the efficacy of that power will most likely depend on who holds it. Who those appointees are really matters, said Nick Encalada-Malinowski, civil rights campaign director for the nonprofit Vocal New York.

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The bill mandates that the commission include prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges. But to be fully representative, Encalada-Malinowski said, it should also include someone who was wrongly convicted. You want the people who are actually making the complaint to be treated in a fair way, he said.

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And while New Yorks model is a step toward reining in foul play, misconduct is only defined by current standards, which most advocates agree arent strong enough. Prosecutors make thousands of decisions every day that have enormous impact on the lives of our clients and the cases that they have open, said Scott Hechinger, director of policy at Brooklyn Defender Services. A lot of these decisions would not be considered within the jurisdiction of this commission, but I consider [them] misconduct, especially given the power of prosecutors.

Under New York law, for instance, prosecutors are allowed to wait until the eleventh hour to disclose evidence against the defendant; to request exorbitant bail, which makes low-income defendants more likely to accept a plea deal; and to wield enormous discretion in choosing which cases to prosecute and what charges to set. These are all powers that greatly affect the course of a case.

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Whats missing from the current debate, explained John Pfaff, author of Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration and How to Achieve Real Reform, is a broader look at how regular practices should be reformed. [The commission] focuses on misconduct, Pfaff said. There has been no reform yet that directly addresses prosecutorial conduct.

Misconduct is obviously awful and needs to be stopped, Pfaff said. But my general sense about what drives mass incarceration is less misconduct and more about prosecutors making decisions that are publicly legal but unnecessary. Pfaff gave the example of a person who is arrested for a fistfight. This person is guilty: He punched someone in the face. By charging him, there is not misconduct, but does this person need to go to prison? One prosecutor may think yes, another no, resulting in disparate charges and punishment. Beyond the commission, which he supports, Pfaff thinks there should be more consistent charging practices that would be transparent and open to public scrutiny.

New Yorks commitment to curbing bad-acting prosecutors is a huge, important step forward, Pfaff said. But my hope is there will be more regulation of the day-to-day ways prosecutors work.

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 It Is Now Even Harder for Trafficking Survivors to Get VisasNorth Carolina Republicans on Tuesday abandoned their effort to rig a state Supreme Court race, declining to appeal a ruling that prohibited them from changing the rules to disadvantage a specific candidate.

The tumult over North Carolinas upcoming state Supreme Court election began in 2017, when the GOP-controlled state legislature abolished judicial primaries. Republican Justice Barbara Jackson is running for reelection in November, and GOP legislators hoped to shield her from competition. At the same time, they assumed multiple Democrats would run against each other in the general election, splitting the progressive vote and giving Jackson a smooth path to victory.

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That didnt happen. Instead, Democrats coalesced around a single candidate, civil rights lawyer Anita Earls. Jackson, on the other hand, drew a Republican challenger: Chris Anglin, a Raleigh attorney. Anglin was a registered Democrat until he filed for the race as a Republican; he calls himself a constitutional Republican who wants to stand up for the independence of the judiciary and object to the constant attack on its status as a coequal branch of government. Regardless of whether Anglin is a spoiler, a genuine protest candidate, or both, he played by the rules, and secured a spot on the November ballot as a Republican running against Jackson and Earls.

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So Republicans changed the rules. During a hastily called special session, GOP legislators passed a law to strip Anglin of his party affiliation on the ballot. Anglin sued, and a state court blocked the law as a violation of his due process and associational rights under the North Carolina constitution. Speaker of the House of Representatives Tim Moore and President Pro Tempore of the Senate Phil Berger appealed, but an appellate court unanimously declined to reverse the ruling. Rather than appeal to the state Supreme Courtwhere Democrats currently hold a 43 majorityMoore and Berger gave up on Tuesday. In a court filing, they announced that they would drop the appeal in the interests of allowing the state elections board to finalize the content to appear on the ballot and avoid unintentionally furthering voter confusion.

In a statement, Anglin declared that he was pleased his suit exposed legislative leaderships naked grab for power, and hoped to be a voice for disaffected Republicans and others concerned about assaults on the judiciary. He has little hope of winningbut because he will be listed as a Republican, he may siphon voters away from Jackson, helping Earls triumph in November. And futile as his candidacy may seem, Anglin appears to have made the point he was seeking to drive home from the start: Politicians who meddle with the judiciary might wind up getting burned themselves.A former cop from a Dallas suburb was found guilty of murder Tuesday in the 2017 shooting of an unarmed black teenager.

The white former Balch Springs police officer, Roy Oliver, shot 15-year-old Jordan Edwards in April of last year after responding to a call about a noisy house party and then hearing gunshots and firing into a car that Edwards was riding in.

Oliver tried to argue that he was trying to defend his partner, who was going to get hit by the car, but even his partner testified that he didnt feel like the driver was trying to hit me, according to the Washington Post.

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The jury found Oliver not guilty on two counts of aggravated assault.

This case is not just about Jordan, its about Tamir Rice, its about Walter Scott, its about Alton Sterling, its about every African American  who has been killed and has not gotten justice, the Edwards family attorney said.

Any convictions at all for officers shooting someone on duty are rare, especially convictions for murder. Since 2005, only 33 law enforcement officers have been convicted of a crime resulting from an on-duty shooting where someone was killedand Oliver is only the second to be convicted of murder, NBC News reported.Shortly before the American Civil Liberties Union filed a brief in support of the National Rifle Association on Friday, David Cole, the ACLUs national legal director, sent out a short email to staff. Cole explained that he felt that New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo had explicitly target[ed] the NRA based on its constitutionally protected political advocacy by advising banks and insurers not to do business with the pro-gun group. If the state can penalize gun promotion advocacy groups by threatening their service providers, Cole continued, it can do the same to other groupsincluding Black Lives Matter. Thus, the ACLU had decided to urge the courts to carefully scrutinize whether Cuomo has tried to unconstitutionally punish the NRA based on hostility to [its] viewpoint.

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Within hours, the organizationwide listserv had lit up. Staffers at both the national office and state affiliates wrote back to register their frustration with Coles decision. The ACLU of New York sent out a statement on Monday explaining why it had declined to support the national offices position. Some attorneys vigorously defended the groups brief; others cautiously endorsed it, while complaining that its authors had failed to seek input from other stakeholders before committing to a contentious stance. Privately, some litigators fumed, concerned that the organization had needlessly tarnished its reputation by devoting limited resources to help the NRA, a formidable lobbying group with the means to defend itself.

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Fridays brief marks the third time in about a year that the ACLU has come to the defense of conservative expression and incurred backlash among its own staffers. That fallout illustrates a fierce dispute within the organization over who deserves its aid during this violent moment in American history, as a resurgence of xenophobia and racism threatens vulnerable people across the country. The rift is not only a conflict over resource allocation or bad publicity. It is a fight over the true definition of civil libertarianism in the Trump era. In the fierce backlash to the NRA decision, those who favor standing up for the marginalizedwhile letting the powerful fight their own battlesseem to be winning.

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The ACLU s decision to fight for the NRA s free expression would appear to be at odds with its ostensible shift in priorities.

In one sense, the internal debate over the NRA brief shows the ACLU at its best. In line with its free-speech credo, the organization tolerates and even fosters a commendable amount of dissent in its ranks. We not only take great pride in the diversity of our employees, but also the diversity of their own viewpoints and opinions, Cole told me. So, on Monday, with Coles assent, three members of the New York Civil Liberties Union sent a companywide email explaining why they did not join the NRA brief and urged the national office not to file it. The emailwhich was signed by Art Eisenberg, legal director; Chris Dunn, associate legal director; and Donna Lieberman, executive directorlaid out a series of key objections.

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First, Eisenberg, Dunn, and Lieberman asserted that the NRA case does not present any novel legal issue worthy of the ACLUs attention. Instead, it turns on a fact-intensive inquiry regarding information that is deeply contested. The lawsuit alleges that Cuomo penalized the NRA by exhorting insurers and financial institutions to cut ties with the group because of its pro-gun advocacy. But the state has been investigating the NRAs Carry Guard insurance products, which indemnify members who fire guns in self-defense, since 2017. In 2018, the New York Department of Financial Services fined Lockton Affinity, the company that administered Carry Guard, $7 million for illegally covering criminal shootings and operating without a license. It also fined Chubb, the insurance giant that underwrote Carry Guard, $1.3 million for financing these unlawful practices.

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If Cuomo really implored financial institutions to drop the NRA because he dislikes the groups pro-gun expression, then he violated the First Amendment by retaliating against political speech. If, on the other hand, he issued his warning because the NRA was engaged in financial wrongdoing, then his actions were perfectly lawful. The Carry Guard fines, which ended in settlements from both Lockton Affinity and Chubb, point toward the latter possibility.

Eisenberg, Dunn, and Lieberman argued that they suspect [the NRA] has contrived a First Amendment legal claim for its own political purposes.

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Second, Eisenberg, Dunn, and Lieberman noted that the NRA has enormous resources and is fully able to present its First Amendment claim and litigate the case. They further contend that, in light of the ACLUs own limited resources, the organization should distinguish between groupslike the NRAthat have enormous resources at their disposal and those that do not, such as Black Lives Matter. They added that we are mindful of the impact that defending the NRA may have on our work with important allies.

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A number of staffers made this final point in starker terms, directly criticizing Coles analogy between BLM and the NRA. One litigator at a state affiliate wrote to the listserv: While I do respect the reasons others posit for taking this case on, I dont respect the continued refusal of privileged decision-makers to recognize how deeply problematic it is to use BLM as a shield for actions that support white supremacy, particularly [from] an organization that enjoys the immense level of privilege we do.

Another attorney at a state affiliate also argued that BLM was being used as a shield and added, Comparing BLM to the NRA is a false equivalence. Show me one BLM rally/march/protest where a bunch of people of color are allowed to run around with guns hoisted on their hips. Cole told me he did not mean to equate the NRA and BLM but rather to point out that if a governor can get away with this against a well-resourced group like the NRA, then groups with fewer resources, like BLM, could also be targeted.

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The ACLU has struggled with this problem before. In August 2017, it helped white nationalists secure a permit to hold an armed demonstration at a downtown Charlottesville park. After white-nationalist demonstrators attacked counterprotesters and a man with ties to neo-Nazi groups allegedly killed Heather Heyer with his car, the ACLU was condemned for supporting the free-speech rights of the white supremacist rallygoers. Myriad ACLU members lodged complaints about the incident, and the organization decided to stop representing protesters who planned to carry loaded firearms. That same month, the ACLU defended white-supremacist troll Milo Yiannopoulos right to advertise his book on D.C.s metro system. In response, staff attorney Chase Strangio issued a sharp statement denouncing his organizations involvement.

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Strangio was one of the first ACLU attorneys in the listserv discussion to dispute Coles characterization of the NRA case, writing that a comparison between the NRA and BLM fails to account for the very different ways these groups face discrimination and violence and access power. On Monday, he told me that I am always questioning who has access to power and am wary of any suggestion that somehow a principled defense of the powerful will benefit the disempowered. I just have not seen our system work that way.

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Most of the ACLU staff members I spoke with echoed Strangios belief that by rushing to aid the NRA, the organization had failed to learn the lessons of last year. The events of Charlottesville prompted a long-overdue internal discussion about how to balance our First Amendment advocacy with our work advancing other constitutional principles, like equal protection, and serving coalitions working with marginalized communities, one ACLU attorney told me. In that context, this decision feels like a step backward. A state affiliate attorney told me that our choices reflect little understanding of how power and privilege work in the real world.

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The ACLU had, in fact, previously moved toward incorporating what one staff attorney described as power analysis into its free speech litigation. In June, the Wall Street Journal published a leaked internal memo that sought to address potential conflicts between the organizations values and priorities. In choosing which cases to take, the memo said, ACLU attorneys would consider structural power dynamics as well as the impact of the proposed speech on marginalized communities and the extent to which the speech may advance views that are contrary to our values.

The ACLUs decision to fight for the NRAs free expression would appear to be at odds with its ostensible shift in priorities. At bottom, the quarrel over Fridays amicus brief is a debate over what civil libertarianism means in 2018. Does it require absolute fidelity to neutral principles like freedom of speech? Or does it require certain principles to yield in the face of renewed and devastating daily assaults on the equal-protection rights of marginalized groups across the country? The ACLU has long boasted that it defended Nazis in the 1970s. At the time, American Nazis seemed like vile but mostly harmless bigots. Today, both the president and his allies have embraced key elements of their white-supremacist ideology to varying degrees. And modern racists are able to demonstrateand commit mass murderwith a terrifying arsenal of firearms, thanks in large part to laws promoted by the NRA.

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In the real world, an ACLU litigator wrote on the listserv on Friday, where our black allies live all the time, the single thing that is most impeding the speech of vulnerable communities is the fear of violence and targeting  every single day, everywhere. The NRA has contributed to that horrific reality, helping to create an epidemic of gun violence that has disproportionately affected communities of color. Does the ACLU have an obligation to defend the NRAs speech when that speech contributes to the oppression of communities whose lives and liberty the ACLU strives to safeguard? A growing number of civil libertarians in Donald Trumps America have concluded that it does not. And as widespread pushback over the NRA brief proves, the ACLU may soon abandon its adherence to formal neutralityand adopt a vision of liberty that openly favors the oppressed over the oppressors.Later this year, North Carolina will probably hold its first truly free and fair election since 2010. It may also be the states last.

Over the last few weeks, state and federal courts have issued a series of rulings striking down North Carolina Republicans brazen attack on democracy and the franchise. In the most important of these decisions, a federal district court held on Monday that the states notorious partisan gerrymander is unconstitutional and should not be used in the 2018 election. Because the U.S. Supreme Court is currently short-staffed, the justices may well split 44 on an emergency appeal, compelling Republican legislators to comply with the lower-court order. But once Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed, he would likely provide the fifth vote to lock partisan gerrymandering claims out of federal courts for good. The impending election may thus be North Carolina voters best and only chance to end the GOPs illegitimate entrenchment of power in their stateat least temporarily.

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No one seriously argues that North Carolina Republicans did not create a partisan gerrymander when they redrew congressional districts in 2011. The current lines were drawn in 2016 after a federal court invalidated part of the previous map as a racial gerrymander.

(Later, the Supreme Court affirmed that decision, holding that the contested districts violated the Equal Protection Clause.) In response, Republican legislators in charge of redistricting hired a consultant, Tom Hofeller, who helped them draw their earlier unconstitutional map. Alert to the legal perils of carving up the state by race, map-makers decided instead to draw districts along partisan lines. Republicans therefore directed Hofeller to examine political data and make reasonable efforts to give the GOP a strong partisan advantage whenever possible.

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It worked. Despite the states roughly even split between Democrats and Republicans, GOP candidates won 10 out of states 13 congressional seats in the November election. Voting rights advocates filed a new lawsuit on behalf of the state Democratic Party, as well as voters who alleged that the revised map still infringed upon their constitutional rights. In January 2018, a three-judge federal district court agreed, but in June the U.S. Supreme Court sent the case back down after sharpening the standard for who, exactly, has standing to bring these claims in court.

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On Monday, the same district court found that both the Democratic Party and individual voters did, indeed, have standing. It then held, once again, that the states partisan gerrymander ran afoul of the U.S. Constitution by diluting Democratic votes to dictate the outcome of election. There is abundant evidence that Republicans drew congressional districts with the express purpose of disadvantaging Democrats: One map-maker, Republican Rep. David Lewis, declared, I think electing Republicans is better than electing Democrats. So I drew this map to help foster what I think is better for the country. Lewis also admitted that he gave Democrats three seats because he couldnt figure out how to give them fewer. In addition to these smoking guns, the court examined oodles of dataincluding mangled districts that split up cities and countiesindicating clear partisan intent.

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No one seriously argues that North Carolina Republicans did not create a partisan gerrymander when they redrew congressional districts in 2011.

The court held that this gruesome gerrymander violated the First and 14th Amendments of the Constitution, as well as the Elections Clause. Republicans, the court explained, had diluted the power of Democrats votes, acting with invidious partisan intent that infringed upon these voters equal protection rights. Moreover, Republicans had targeted and punished voters on the basis of their affiliation with the Democratic Partyviewpoint-based discrimination that violates the First Amendments free association guarantee. Finally, Republicans exceeded the authority delegated to them by the Constitution to regulate the times, places, and manner of congressional elections. GOP map-makers, the court wrote, had not merely regulated the manner of these elections; it attempted to dictate electoral outcomes by favoring candidates of one party and disfavoring candidates of anotheran unconstitutional manipulation of our democratic system.

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This ruling was predictable in light of the courts January decision, which reached the same conclusions. But it ended with quite a surprise: Although the November election is about 70 days away, the court aimed to have new maps drawn up by then. It noted that Republican legislators have repeatedly proved they cannot be trusted to draw lawful maps and questioned whether they deserve another bite-at-the-apple. Still, hesitantly, it asked the Legislature to explain why it should be afforded an (additional) opportunity to draw a remedial plan. The court also announced that it will appoint a special master to draw an alternative map that the state can use in November if the legislature cannot or will not draw constitutional districts.

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Ironically, the court might not have tried to secure a new map for the impending election of North Carolina Republicans hadnt broken several different laws in order to manipulate the outcome of Novembers electionsthereby triggering lawsuits that brought the preparation of ballots to a grinding halt. First, legislators passed a law that stripped state Supreme Court candidate Chris Anglin of his Republican affiliation to protect the GOP incumbent from competition. Anglin sued, and a state court temporarily halted the printing of ballots. The court later blocked the law as unconstitutional.

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Days later, a different state court again delayed ballot printing while it considered a challenge to six constitutional amendments that Republican legislators hope to include on the November ballot. These amendments would radically restructure state government, stripping power from the current Democratic governor while suppressing voting rights by hobbling the state election board and mandating voter ID. Opponents say Republicans wrote ballot summaries designed to mislead voters about the nature of the amendments. The court eventually ruled that two descriptions were, indeed, illegally deceptive.

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All this tumult has prevented election officials from finalizing, let alone printing, the November ballots. And the federal district court cited this indefinite pause as justification to mandate new districts before the election. Any order this Court enters impacting the November 6, 2018, election, the court wrote, would not seem to impose additional burdens on the States electoral machinery. Put differently, the November ballot is still a work in progress, so the court might as well impose new districts before the dust settles.

Typically, at this point, North Carolina Republicans would file an emergency motion with the U.S. Supreme Court, which would place the district courts ruling on hold by a 54 vote. But right now the court has only eight members, and its evenly split between liberals and conservatives. As election law expert and Slate contributor Rick Hasen has pointed out, if the court deadlocks 44, the district court order will stand. So long as no liberal justices defectand theres a possibility one might, though not a strong oneNorth Carolina may have fair districts in the 2018 election. (Because ballots must be printed in September, Republicans cannot simply wait until October to appeal.)

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But that may prove to be the last gasp of robust, competitive elections in the state. In 2019, SCOTUS will probably hear a proper appeal of the district courts decision. At that point, if Judge Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed, he will almost certainly join the conservatives to rule that federal courts may not invalidate partisan gerrymanders. Republicans are poised to retain control of the state legislature in 2018 due to a different gerrymander that is only partially fixed. If they do, they may seek to re-implement the old heavily biased congressional maps as quickly as possible, perhaps even in advance of the 2020 election. Put simply, if voters dont break Republicans grasp on their state Legislature, the GOP may wind up regaining its stranglehold on congressional districts.

So, in November, voters will have a chance to oust the Republican legislators who illegally entrenched their own power. They may not get another shot.In his opening remarks on Tuesday morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell listed various ways the body should provide a lasting tribute to John McCain.

One idea would be to rename the Armed Services Committee room after him. The late Ted Kennedy, McConnell explained, got a room too. Or they could hang his portrait in the Senate Reception Room. Only a few senators, including McConnells idol Henry Clay, have received such an honor, he noted. Portrait hangings are meaningful! McConnell further announced that he would put together an official, bipartisan group of senators to determine the appropriate commemoration.

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What McConnell did not mention in the list of ideas, however, was the resolution introduced by Sens. Chuck Schumer and Jeff Flake to rename the Russell Senate Office Building, currently named after the late, powerful Georgia Sen. Richard Russell, after McCain. He had reason not to.

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Other Republicans were surprised to find themselves in agreement with the Senate minority leader.

Its become apparent enough over the past day that this might not go over so well with segments of the Senate Republican conference, particularly those from the South. For some senators, renaming the Senate Office Building would not just be about honoring McCain but about stripping an honor from Russell, a famed segregationist. This sort of renunciation of troublesome history is anathema in Trumps GOP, where battles to save Confederate monuments from progressive demands that they come down have become almost commonplace. Were the Schumer-Flake resolution to linger in the ether as the only available option out there, with pressure to act upon it growing, it might blossom into an ugly fight with racial dimensions that McConnell doesnt want to deal with. So McConnell did what government leaders do when what seems like an uncontroversial measure at first displays symptoms of future ugliness: He kicked it to a group for further study.

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Its not that Republicans are uniformly against renaming the building. Flake and other departing senators are on board. Im fine with it, Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker told me Tuesday. Utah Sen. Orrin Hatchs office said Monday that its a worthy goal and he looks forward to working with the majority leader to accomplish it.

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Other Republicansincluding some who were staying in the bodywere surprised to find themselves in agreement with the Senate minority leader. I would say this is an idea of Chuck Schumers I actually like, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson told me. I think its certainly deserved, and Im certainly not opposed to it.

As for the rest? They wont say that naming the building after John McCain is a bad idea, just that naming a room or hanging a painting might be better. Somehow.

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I think theres a number of ideas that have been suggested, South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds said. I do like the idea of following almost like a regular order, where we get a bipartisan committee to really kind of look through all the different ideas that are out there, and then come up with a plan that would have good solid bipartisan support.

I asked him what the argument was against renaming Russell for McCain.

Oh I dont think theres an argument against it, he said. I think its just a matter of, rather than just taking the first [idea] that pops, lets put that into the mix with everything else, without prejudice, and look at all the different ideas.

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But, again, there is an argument against it. It has nothing to do with giving McCain a building. It has to do with taking one away from Russell.

Richard Russell was a leader of segregationist Democrats who obstructed civil rights legislation for years. He was, as even his 76-year-old niece, Sally Russell, told the Washington Post, a racist. But he was also, she went on, much more than that, citing his authorship of the National School Lunch Act, support for New Deal programs, and his leading voice in foreign affairs as longtime chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

These were some of the same arguments that current Georgia Sen. David Perdue made to reporters on Tuesday in explaining why he believed that Russell absolutely deserves to still have his name on the building. (Even though, he made clear, that this position doesnt say anything about his feelings on John McCain.) It was interesting listening to a conservative Republican try to run through the domestic achievements of a Democratic giant without implying that he liked any of those actual positions.

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He was a big supporter of the Great Society, the War on Poverty, Perdue said. We all know that those things failed, but he was a big champion of them. Russell wasnt actually a big champion of those programs. Would that make Perdue like him  less? More?

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One thing was clear, at least.

This renaming thing, because of one issue,decades of leading legislative resistance to civil rightsis somewhat troubling, he said.

This is how the issue could get ugly: If a very real debate about renaming a monumentin this case, the building in which many of them workto a racist reached the Senate floor as the Senate is unifying in grief, some Republicans would feel compelled to defend said racist.

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I think we ought to be careful what we do, Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby told reporters. There are a lot of ways to honor people. I never thought it was a good idea to name [something for] somebody who was a historical figure  and then change it to something else because times change.

This would mean the debates over erasing history and seeking to undo honors bestowed upon avowed white supremacists spilling into highly public view on the Senate floor over what should be the unifying issue of honoring a Senate legends passing. For now, it will be had in the comfort and privacy of a task force instead.Some say last weeks cancellation of Secretary of State Mike Pompeos trip to Pyongyang signaled a breakdown in the U.S.North Korean disarmament talks, but this misses three much larger points, which go way beyond Korea and speak to the failings of President Trumps foreign policy as a whole.

First, the talks were never going anywhere to begin with; there is nothing to break down.

Second, the Trump administrations policy on North Korea is in complete chaos.

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Third, the reason its in chaos is that Trump himself has no idea that it is in chaos, or that the talks have been moribund from their beginning, or that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is taking him for a ride and everyone knows it, except Trump.

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Our story begins on Friday, when Trump tweeted:

I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018

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This jolted close observers. The day before, Pompeo had hired Steve Biegun, a Ford Motors executive who had worked in George W. Bushs National Security Council, to be his special envoy to North Korea. The trip was to be their maiden voyage as a team. But then North Koreas chief negotiator (and former top spy) Kim Yong-chol sent Pompeo a belligerently toned letter, which suggested to the secretarywho persuaded Trumpthat a trip would be pointless. Hence Trumps tweet.

If that had been Trumps only tweet, it might have been a shrewd move. In past negotiations, North Koreans get cranky as a way of testing their interlocutors; a piss-off note from Trump might have compelled a concession, even if just a superficial one.

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But Trump didnt stop there. He proceeded to blame the lack of progress not on the North Koreans but rather on the Chinese, who, because of our much tougher Trading stance, are not helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were.

Finally, Trump added:

...Secretary Pompeo looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future, most likely after our Trading relationship with China is resolved. In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018

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If Kim had been concerned for a moment that his bluff had been called and that the Americans were about to get tough, Trumps final tweet allayed his worriesand perhaps made him laugh. It assured Kim that he can continue stalling on disarmamentthat he can do almost anything he wantswithout facing any punishment because, like other autocrats who have learned the art of dealing with Trump, hes bamboozled our narcissistic president into thinking that the two of them are friends.

At their June summit in Singapore, Trump and Kim signed a one-page joint statement, which Trump hailed as a pledgehe later even called it a contractto denuclearize North Korea. In fact, as anyone who has ever read an international communique could tell (a group that clearly did not include Trump), it was nothing of the sort.

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A few weeks before that summit, Trump tweeted that he was canceling it, in response to a typically nasty North Korean press releasethen put it back on the calendar after Pyongyang officials put out a very nice statement, as Trump described it. That was no doubt the first signreinforced by his latest cancellation with warm regardsthat Trump is a pushover.

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Not only does Kim seem to know thisso does practically everyone in the Trump administration.

Daniel Sneider, lecturer on Asian studies at Stanford University and a seasoned international journalist, reported this week that U.S. officials who are working this issue have the following aims: to contain Kim so he doesnt expand his nuclear arsenal, to contain Chinese President Xi Jinping so he keeps enforcing economic sanctions against Kims regime; to contain South Korean President Moon Jae-in so he doesnt rush forth with massive economic projects in the North before Kim makes good on nuclear disarmament, and, most important, to contain their own boss, President Trump, from giving away the store.

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Kim has bamboozled our narcissistic president into thinking that the two of them are friends.

At the summit in Singapore, Kim asked Trump to suspend Americas joint military exercises with South Korea, and Trump obliged himwithout first consulting South Korea, Japan, or his own secretary of defense, Jim Mattis, who were all surprised by the move. At a press conference today, Mattis said, We have no plans at this time to suspend any more exercises.

Of course, the key words here are no plans at this time. Mattis didnt have plans to suspend the last exercise either. Mattis may have lots of plans; Trump makes the decisionsif he becomes aware of the plans. This may be one reason Mattis is keeping a low profile these days: He doesnt always want Trump to know precisely what hes doing.

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The same is true of the officials working North Korean policy. Their No. 1 goal, at the moment, is to keep Trump from having another summit with Kim. This is what terrifies them about Trumps final tweet. (I look forward to seeing him soon!) None of these officials, including Pompeo, wanted Pompeo to make the trip to Pyongyang. They knew it would go nowhere, and they knew Trump would infer from the failure that only he could solve the problem by sitting down with his friend Kim and asking him, as a favor, to help break through the logjam.

This is how Trump thinks international politics works. Back in June, when he proposed letting Russia back into the G-8, he explained his thinking: If Vladimir Putin were sitting next to me at a table  I could say, Would you do me a favor and get out of Syria? Would you do me a favor, would you get out of Ukraine?  Soon after this bizarre remark, Trump held his infamous summit with Putin and, whatever else happened (this remains a mystery), no such favors were granted.

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We dont know what other concessions Trump made in his one-on-one session with Kim in Singapore (or, for that matter, his one-on-one with Putin in Helsinki). Kim claims that Trump said he would sign a peace treaty, ending the 195053 Korean War (which has been in a state of cease-fire these past 65 years, but not a formal peace). As a result, ever since, North Korean negotiators have demanded a treaty before they take any steps to dismantle their nuclear arsenal. Pompeo rejected that demand the last time he was in Pyongyang. According to Sneiders account, Kim Yong-chol, the North Korean negotiator, held up a cellphone and taunted Pompeo, saying, Why dont you call your president.

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Before Trump canceled the meeting, Pompeo had planned to offer Kim a deal: The United States would declare a willingness to negotiate a peace treaty if North Korea declared the number and location of its nuclear facilities. Pompeo was going to do this without first having his negotiators test it on their counterparts. U.S. officials now say Kim would have rejected it. He would probably reject any offer, knowing that Trump would respond by offering more.

The way Kim is believed to see it, Trump wants a dealwants to be seen as a peacemakermore than anything, especially before the 2020 (or even this years midterm) elections. If Trump had read his own book, much less written it, he would know that you should never appear to want a deal too eagerly. He is violating that basic principle.

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Pompeo is proving to be a better secretary of state than his hapless predecessor, Rex Tillerson, in the sense that he sees the value of filling his departments empty slots with competent people and letting them do their work.

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But Trump keeps undercutting their efforts, and Pompeoan ambitious ex-congressman who got this job by kowtowing to Trumps political needs while he was CIA director and who is too keen to maintain his access to the White Housewill go only so far to rein the boss in. He convinced Trump to call off the trip, but he is too cowed to tell Trump that his policy, his understanding of the joint statement, and his view of Kim are all wrong.

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Meanwhile, national security adviser John Bolton, who came into office with a clear record of wanting to bomb North Korea (and Iran), seems to be sitting back, waiting for the roses to wilt and for Trump to realize that Kim is not a friend and will never disarm, before pouncing into action.

For the moment, though, Trumps reality is whatever reality that grooms and praises Trump. Hes not interested in any other reality. He thinks the polls show that hes popular. He thinks the leaders of the world respect him. At 10:02 on Tuesday morning, he Googled Trump and news, saw that almost all the entries were unfavorable, inferred that the search algorithm was RIGGED, and tweeted that regulations should be considered.

Meanwhile, the real world follows its own dynamics, Trump is steadily divorcing himself from reality, but, as president, he still has an oversize impact on what really happens. Thats the danger. The pity, and potentially the tragedy, is that many of those around him know this and are doing little about it.In closing arguments in a drug crime case at the U.S. District Court in New York, defense attorney Kafahni Nkrumah tried out President Trumps argument that associates who testify against a defendant in exchange for lenient treatment almost ought to be illegal. It did not work.

The Associated Press reported that judge Gregory Woods scolded Nkrumah and told him that the argument was ought of line. Nkrumah tried to argue that it was legitimate to bring up Trumps opposition to flippers because it is concerning cooperators and peoples opinions of cooperators, the AP said. I believe that the presidents opinion of cooperators is just as pertinent as anyone elses.

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Woods said referencing Trumps comments was politically charged and a polemic issue that need not be introduced into this case.

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Nkrumahs client, Jamal Russell, ended up being convicted on a drug charge but got off on his weapons charge, the AP said. The cooperating witness testified against Russell on the drug charge, the AP said.

Trump made his argument against cooperating witnesses in criminal cases during an interview with Fox News after Michael Cohen pleaded guilty as part of a deal with federal prosecutors in New York and after Paul Manafort was found guilty by a jury in Alexandria, Virginia, on bank and tax fraud after he didnt reach a deal with Robert Muellers team that may have spared him from the full brunt of their prosecutorial energies.

Its called flipping and it almost ought to be illegal, Trump said on Fox. You get 10 years in jail. But if you say bad things about somebody, in other words, if you make up storiesthey just make up lies.I am not a sheep, I have my own mind

I have had enough of being told what and how to think

Whilst we are still allowed the remnants of free speech,

I will speak out.



I also reserve the right to discuss less controversial matters should I feel the urge.After Mondays phone call between Donald Trump and outgoing Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, in which the two announced a new, bilateral trade agreement that could replace NAFTA, it is now clear that the Mexican government has become the gift that keeps on giving for Trump.

Just two years ago, in August 2016, when the then-candidates campaign was in the doldrums, Pena Nieto invited Trump to visit Mexico City. Around the second week in August, most forecast models gave Hillary Clinton an 85 percent chance of winning the election. It was in that context that, for some unfathomable reason, Pena Nieto decided to hand Trump a political victory that helped him revive his bid for the presidency, despite that fact that Trump had turned Mexicoand Mexicans on both sides of the borderinto his go-to villain from the very beginning of his campaign.

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Two years later almost to the day after Trumps visit to Mexico, Pena Nieto has clearly not learned his lesson.

Not only did Pena Nieto invite Trump to Mexicos capital: He treated him as if he were already a head of state. The meeting between the two men was held in the presidential residence, with a joint statement and an impromptu press conference to top things off. Trump took full advantage of his gullible host and the opportunity to appear presidential. Ever the performer, he took to the podium and spoke with authority, reading a carefully prepared statement, grabbing the lectern tightly. When a reporter inquired about his proposed border wall, a contentious issue during the campaign, Trump said he had discussed the project with Pena Nieto but had not gone into details as to which country would pay for its construction. Mexicos president looked on, perplexed, incapable of even the slightest retort. The men then shook hands, and Trump flew back north. A few hours later, dressed exactly as he had been in Mexico, Trump spoke warmly about his visit with Pena Nietoa man I like and respect very muchand then proceeded to give one of his most aggressive anti-immigration speeches of the whole campaign. Of course, Trump said, Mexico would pay for the wall.

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Pena Nieto tried to set the record straight on Twitter, but it was too late. Trump had won. Since then, Pena Nietos weakness has cost him dearly. After the meeting, his own approval rating took a 5 point dip from which it never recovered. Time and time again he tried to contain Trumps anti-Mexican rhetoric, even canceling a trip to the White House over Trumps stubborn insistence that Mexico would end up footing the walls bill. To no avail: As is his wont, Trump used Mexico, and its government, as a convenient punching bag.

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Until he needed a little help from his friends, that is.

Two years later almost to the day after Trumps visit to Mexico, Pena Nieto has clearly not learned his lesson.

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With Donald Trump again in trouble heading into an election, the Mexican president has come to the rescue, once more granting Trump a completely gratuitous political victory that the American president can tout as an accomplishment to improve his partys chances in November. This time, the topic at hand was not immigration but the long, grueling renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. But if the issue was different, the humiliating circumstances were eerily similar.

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For the past couple of months, especially after Mexicos July 1 presidential election, which Pena Nietos party lost, negotiations over the massive trade agreement have switched gears, with the Trump administration increasingly interested in reaching a deal. Canada has stood its ground on automobiles and other crucial issues. In sore need of a grand gesture that could both force Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus hand and give the U.S. president something to cheer about on trade with barely two months to go until the midterms, Trump went searching for another round of political theater.

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At the same time, the Mexican delegation, which recently took on a representative appointed by Mexicos next president, has become the more willing partner. Whether this is because Pena Nieto doesnt want any loose ends on his record or doesnt trust his successor to finish the job is unclear. But whatever the reason, its an unexpected parting gift to a U.S. counterpart who has given him little in return.

On Monday morning, Trump sat in the Oval Office to announce the end of NAFTA and the beginning of a new, bilateral deal with Mexico that the president called the United StatesMexico Trade Agreement, excluding Canada. Operators then patched through Pena Nieto, from Mexico City. On speakerphone and through an interpreter, the Mexican president congratulated Trump and thanked him profusely. I am very grateful, Mr. President, he said.

I want you to know that I truly appreciate your government and your political will in particular. Pleased, Trump nodded along. Youve been my friend, Trump said. Its been a long time since I traveled to Mexico, where we got to know each other quite well. We actually had a good meeting. Some people werent sure if it was a good meeting, but I was. Pena Nieto jumped right in: We should toast with tequila to celebrate our understanding. (No one, apparently, informed him that Trump is a teetotaler or, for that matter, that his prospective drinking buddy has enacted policies that have sunk millions of Mexicans into despair.)

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Despite its pomposity, though, the announcement itself was an informal proclamation of an incomplete deal. Among other things, the bilateral compromise appears to call for higher labor standards and increases the requirements of origin for automobiles produced in North America, but these breakthroughs make the most sense with Canada as a partner, not without it. Like that meeting in Mexico, Mondays phone call itself was completely unnecessary, a Trumpian mise-en-scene of which the Mexican government was, once again, an eager partaker. This is the latestand perhaps the lastexample of President Pena going to extreme to placate President Trump and his photo-op obsession, Dan Restrepo, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, told me in an email. Others point to the fact that the supposed bilateral agreement that merited such a lovefest between Pena Nieto and Trump on Monday faces long odds of passing Congress. Former Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Arturo Sarukhan mourned the possible demise of the North American economic powerhouse made possible by NAFTA. Some voices also expressed concern and disbelief over Mexicos apparent complicity in Trumps strong-arm tactics to bring Canada back to the table.

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Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce Michael Camunez told me he was surprised and disappointed to see Mexico take part in the Oval Office press conference, especially after making strong statements previously that they would not participate out of deference to Canada. The fact that Pena Nieto joined the conference on speakerphone, under the current circumstances, also stunned Camunez. It gave the impression that, once again, he had been played by Trump, much like Trump played him, as a candidate, upon hijacking his invitation to visit Mexico only to snub the president hours later in Arizona, he said.

Before both presidents hung up Monday morning, Enrique Pena Nieto again congratulated Trump. This is all for the best of two friendly countries, he said. I send you an affectionate hug, Pena Nieto concluded. A hug from you would be very nice, Trump replied.

Indeed, it has been.The foxes are drawing up plans for a lovely new henhouse.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that big tech companies are lobbying the Trump administration to start outlining a federal privacy law. The law would supersede state laws, including the landmark privacy bill that California passed in June, to create a single national framework for protecting peoples information. We are committed to being part of the process and a constructive part of the process, one top tech industry lobbyist told the Times. The best way is to work toward developing our own blueprint.

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A national consumer privacy law is exactly what we need, as Facebooks Cambridge Analytica scandal helped make clear. And the tech companieswhich include Google, Facebook, IBM, and Microsoft, according to the Times Cecilia Kangare smart to push for one, after years of opposing regulations that could constrain the data harvesting and targeted advertising on which their businesses rely. They understand that the political ground has shifted, and that federal privacy legislation is now a likelihood, if not an inevitability. Good for them.

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That doesnt mean they should be the ones writing it.

Social media companies and data brokers have spent the better part of a decade building disconcertingly detailed profiles of pretty much everyone who uses the internet (even if you dont use their service). And in many instances, theyve been shockingly careless with the personal information they collect. Cambridge Analytica, the political consultancy that took advantage of Facebooks lax privacy policies to obtain profiles of tens of millions of voters without their knowledge or consent, is only the most infamous recent example. Google keeps tracking peoples location even after theyve asked it not to. Wireless carriers quietly handed shady third parties access to real-time location data that users have no way of turning off. AOLs release of personal identifiable search data in 2006 is a good reminder that internet companies have been violating users expectations of privacy since the days of dial-up.

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Good intentions are not the answer. We know this because of all the companies that have failed to safeguard peoples information even when they had a vested interest in doing so. Think of the data breaches at Yahoo, Target, Equifax, and LinkedIn, to name just a few.

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Meaningful consumer privacy laws, like the European Unions General Data Protection Regulation, attach hefty fines to breaches, to make sure companies are properly incentivized to take data security seriously. They also require anyone who collects or shares peoples data to make clear what theyre doing, in plain language, and give people a chance to opt out. For too long, companies have defended their intrusive data practices by appealing to abstruse privacy policies that only lawyers can deciphernot to mention the canard that all their users know the terms of these free services that run on their data.

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Californias privacy law, the toughest passed in the United States so far despite being weaker than the ballot measure initially proposed there, goes somewhat easier on some key points, including the fines, than does Europes GDPR. But apparently not easy enough for the liking of the technology industry.

As the Times makes clear, tech companies arent lobbying for a federal privacy law because they want stricter standards. Theyre doing it because they fear stricter standards, both at the state and federal level. And they want a law that explicitly pre-empts the California regulations.

First of all, many tech companies view the California law as too tough already, even though some big ones, including Facebook, eventually signed on to support it. According to the Times, Facebooks top lobbyist warned his colleagues in the industry trade group in May that Californias privacy proposal posed a threat to the industry, and suggested that they defend themselves by making privacy a priority. (A Facebook representative clarified to me that the company had opposed Californias initial ballot measure but supported the compromise legislation that followed. Facebook is working with policymakers to craft privacy legislation that protects consumers, ensures people are in control of their information, and promotes responsible innovation, the company said in a statement.)

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Then theres the likelihood that other states would follow Californias lead, crafting privacy laws of their ownsome perhaps weaker, others stronger. The industry is right to fear a crazy quilt of state regulations, and right that a federal solution makes more sense. But tech leaders also smell an opportunity to roll back even the reasonable provisions of Californias legislation (which their lobbyists are also working to edit at the state level). As my colleague April Glaser pointed out in June, state laws like Californias have a way of becoming the de facto standard for the country. A weaker federal law would amount to an end run around Californias process.

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And why should tech companies expect a federal law to be weaker? Its not hard to guess. Between a Republican president and a Republican-controlled Congress, the industry has a better chance to write its own rules now than it is likely to have in the foreseeable future. The Times reports that three industry groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are planning to pitch voluntary standards as part of this approach instead of legal mandates. In exchange, the Times adds, they would insist that the federal statute nullify Californias rules.

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Voluntary standards arent the solution; theyre the problem with companies that largely have been allowed to regulate themselves since their inception. And if thats what the technology industry has in mind, then what its really pushing for isnt a privacy law at all. Its more like a law against privacy lawsa bulwark against state legislation, or future federal legislation, that carries serious penalties for violations.

If hiding behind Trump to defend the status quo is Big Techs idea of supporting privacy regulations, we might all be better off if it kept opposing them instead.In August of 2017, I was diagnosed with Lyme disease. To be honest, I was surprised it took as long as it did for me to finally join the growing list of those whove contracted the nasty illness. I teach forestry to undergraduate college students, which means Ive spent the better part of the past 25 years roaming through the woods of New England. During this time, Ive killed legions of ticks that I found crawling up my pant legs, over blaze-orange hunting vests, or down my collar. Ive dug out dozens more that evaded my clothed inspections, not discovering them until several hours after they had embedded their evil little blood-sucking heads beneath my skin. But Ive been fortunate, despite the persistent army of arthropods that continues to grow in numbers and expand into new territories. And incidences of Lyme disease recorded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have significantly increased over the past 20 years, yet I had managed to avoid contracting Lyme until just last year.

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I moved to Maine in the early 1990s and started spending a lot of time in the New England woods. Over these almost three decades, Ive noted some significant changes to the Northern forest, the woodlands mainly characterized by beech, birches, and maples that extend from Maine to New York. Some changes are stark and troubling, such as the widespread decline in moose populations throughout the region. Some are exciting, though ephemerallike seeing a pair of Louisiana waterthrushes nest for two consecutive summers in a streambank in my backyard. But then there is an overarching enormous change, initiated by Wall Street and largely invisible to the general public, which is having significant impacts on our Northern forest and which, I suspect, caused my Lyme disease.

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The pattern of land ownership in the United States is starkly different between Eastern states and Western states. The Western states contain an extensive amount of public land: national parks, forests, and wildlife reserves. Our Eastern forests, however, are mostly privately owned. Through most of the latter half of the 20th century, the biggest landowners east of the Mississippi were private companies, more precisely, paper companies. Companies such as Great Northern, Champion, and International Paper owned millions of acres all throughout the East, which were managed for a steady harvest of wood fiber to make paper. But by the mid-1990s, it made less and less financial sense for the companies who owned paper mills to also own vast acreages of forest land.

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The difference in forest management between a paper company feeding its mill and a financial investor looking to capitalize on selling real estate is significant.

In 1981, paper companies owned and managed nearly 60 million acres in the U.S., an area larger than the entire state of Utah. But by 2005, that number had declined by 60 percent. This sell-off was induced by a financial accounting change during the late 1980s, specifically, in how Wall Street auditors thought timberlands should be valued. For several decades, timberland was cheap and of relatively little value, beyond what could be used to make two-by-fours or reams of paper. However, these auditors starting changing their assessments from accounting for just the raw natural resources on the land toward including the real estate potential of these forests. The result was that paper companies found themselves sitting on several million dollars of value that they had never realized they had, and the taxes on their newly revalued land were also going up. Coupled with the Tax Reform Act of 1986, the effective tax rate doubled for corporate timberland. All of this swirled together to mean that paper companies really had no choice but to take their windfall profits and get out from under a crushing tax burden. So, they started selling their forest land, mostly in large quantities and over a relatively short period of time. The Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences outlines in great detail just how profound this shift in ownership was in the Northeast, in a report prepared in 2005.

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Through sales and resales of the same acreages over about 25 years, paper companies steadily divested themselves of nearly all the acres of forest they had owned in the Northeast. The buyers of these acres consisted of a few different types, but in general the major type of purchaser would be the financial forestland investorcompanies such as Plum Creek, Hancock Timber Resources Group, and Timbervestwhich purchased the land with the understanding that the greater value of the resource was in its potential as developable real estate. These companies often negotiated supply contracts with some of the paper companies that sold them the land and kept feeding the mills in the short term.

The new financial forestland investors generally fell into two categoriestimberland investment management organizations and real estate investment trusts, entities that first arose in the 1970s and then grew expansively as unprecedented amounts of forestland came up for sale. Presently, throughout the U.S., the largest private landowners are almost all TIMOs or REITs. While it might be tempting to believe that removing forestland from paper companies, primarily interested in growing trees to feed the mill, would result in improved conservation practices, this isnt necessarily the case. Instead, these new owner types primarily saw forestland as a much more valuable resource and one that did not require more active forest management. The business models of these financial forestland owners were no longer guided by the relatively small profits that come from supplying fiber to paper mills and became increasingly tailored to the highest-value use of the land: real estate and development potential.

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The difference in forest management between a paper company feeding its mill and a financial investor looking to capitalize on selling real estate is significant. For good or ill, paper companies were in the business of cutting trees and keeping their lands in maximally productive states. This meant they were continuously cutting a lot of trees and that the new seedlings that followed would be managed for rapid growth of select species. Undesirable tree species and invasive vegetation were carefully managed, meaning they were cut, girdled, or treated with herbicide. The Society of American Foresters, established by Gifford Pinchot more than 100 years ago, developed the modern science of forest management, and this approach works very well when the desired outputs are a long-term supply of forest products. But as fewer and fewer acres fell under active management, more and more acres were left to natural processes. In most areas, this meant dramatic changes in species composition and age classes. Perhaps the most acute change has been the rapid spread of invasive plant species in the Northern forest.

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Biologists have long been concerned with the increasing prevalence of invasive species across all ecosystems, as they outcompete native species and disrupt their abundance and distribution. Several freshwater fisheries in the Midwest are overrun by introduced Asian carp. Zebra and quagga mussels, native to Eurasia, are now firmly established throughout the Great Lakes, threatening the entire food web in Lake Michigan. The Japanese vine, kudzu, has blanketed millions of acres in the Southeastern U.S., dramatically reducing biodiversity where the thick, dense vines prevent most other plants from photosynthesizing. In the Northeast, our chief concerns among invasive species are garlic mustard, common buckthorn, four varieties of honeysuckle, and Japanese barberry, all of which harm native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous vegetation. The initial concern with most invasives is that they outcompete native species. For invasive plant species, this means some or all of their fruiting, seeding, photosynthetic, and growth strategies are more successful when compared with native plants.

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Another, less-considered threat of invasives is their ability to actually benefit secondary species. The framing of invasive species as the sole winner pitted against all other native, losing species is not accurate: While extremely successful invasive species do harm many other species, they can also bring benefits to others as well. And indeed, this is what has happened with the spread of Japanese barberry in the northeast.

Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii), a small thorny shrub rarely growing taller than a few feet and sporting bright red, Tic Tacsize berries, is dense in the woods behind my house and widespread across millions of acres of the Northern forest. This barberry was imported, cultivated, and widely planted as an ornamental shrub in the U.S. up into the 1990s. However, after pushing its way beyond backyards into our woodlands and outcompeting native shrubs and tree species, it has been a target for eradication of plant ecologists and forest managers alike. It is now illegal to import, sell, or trade this species in Massachusetts.

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Japanese barberry has been bad for several plant species in New England. But it has been a great boon to ticks. In fact, ticks have responded exceptionally well to certain conditions brought on by the reduced amount of forest management throughout New England woodlands. They primarily benefit from increased woody ground cover for both questing surfaces (the elevated twigs and leaves that come into contact with the legs of passing deer, coyotes, or unsuspecting humans) and for an improved micro-climate: increased humidity on the forest floor. As Carl Zimmer recounted in his 2013 article for Outside magazine, The Rise of the Tick, the barberry plant creates an excellent habitat that is conducive for ticks to find new hosts and to find shelter and multiply.

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Just after July 4, 2017, as I tossed around in bed at night, I found myself picking at a sore, itchy spot on my left hip. Half-asleep, I continued to dig and pick without satisfaction until I woke up enough to realize that I was probably doing battle with a stubborn tick. So, I made my way to the bathroom, where I could get a hand mirror and get a better look at what small thing had roused me from my sleep. Like the Princess and the Pea, it was just a tiny critter but clearly a tick and fully embedded in my hip and providing enough discomfort to wake me up. Living where we do (a log cabin in the woods of Vermont), weve got a range of tick removal devices, but with just enough purchase from my middle fingernail, I was able to pry it free. I gave it a satisfying squish on the bathroom vanity before dropping it in the wastebasket. And like the countless other ticks I had encountered over the years, the particular memory of this one would surely have faded into some generic suite of encounters with all ticks except for the residual bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, left behind in my bloodstream.

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For the past three decades, this forest has been divided and subdivided into no fewer than 17 different landowners

A five-day-long fever, weakness, loss of appetite, and just generally feeling like crud combined with my complaining were enough for my wife to demand that I go see our doctor. After a series of blood tests and ultimately a positive diagnosis for Lyme, I was put on a prescription of doxycycline. And since this was my first contraction of Lyme, and since we caught it pretty early, and since I responded well to the antibiotics, Im happy to say that Im Lyme-free now. But honestly, Im just waiting for my next bout, which Im sure will come, as I have no plans to avoid wandering around the beautiful forests and fields of Vermont. Nor is there any indication that preferred tick habitat will be diminished in the near term.

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Of course, ticks and Lyme disease both existed in the Northeast long before the large transfer of property from paper companies to financial forestland investors. There is no way I will ever know if this specific tick came into existence thanks to the newfound abundance of Japanese barberry or not. What is known is that the woodlands behind my house were part of a 1,000+ acre, single-owner, contiguous forest that was under active forest management until 1989. For the past three decades, this forest has been divided and subdivided into no fewer than 17 different landowners; forest management has been essentially abandoned, and invasive species have moved in. Also, its nice to have someone or something to blame for ones misfortune, and Wall Street is often a convenient villain.

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But as many past or chronic sufferers of Lyme will agree, this isnt just my personal tale of woe. Incidents and reports of Lyme disease have been dramatically increasing throughout the Eastern U.S. and most particularly in the Northeast, over the same time period during which paper companies active land management has been replaced by the more passive management of the TIMOs and REITs.

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It might be tempting to shrug off the increase in Lyme disease reports with a corresponding decrease in actively managed forest lands as a specious, inverse correlation. But these two variables are very clearly tied to a shared third variable: the epidemic spread of Japanese barberry. That our Northern forest is so different is not, in and of itself, a bad thing. Change is inevitable and necessary to all natural processes. What we often lose sight of are wide-ranging changes from seemingly innocuous events. Why should it matter who owns forestland as long as it stays as a forest? It matters because how that forest is tended affects human health and well-being as certain as it affects both the tallest trees and the tiniest arthropods.The 2016 U.S. election was a cacophony thanks in no small part to social media platforms like Facebook, where campaigns, dark-money groups, and Russian government operatives could pour hundreds of millions into online ads. Those ads were often hypertargeted to peoples precise interests, like the civil rights movement or whether a user worked at a mosque. Some ads were tailored for single mothers or men interested in the military, and the text of those ads would be fine-tuned to ensure that whoever saw them would be likely to react emotionally and even act. Some of those actors include voter-targeting firms like Cambridge Analytica, now notorious because it may have used wrongfully harvested Facebook data on millions of users for its clients Ted Cruz and then Donald Trump. All of this voter targeting has the potential to be extremely manipulative: Some of the Russian ads discouraged black people from voting.

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Online political ads in the U.S. arent legally required to include information within the ad about who pays for them in the same way ads in print, radio, and television do. And although Facebook has started including information about what pages paid for the ads you see and a little information about the money spent on the ad and how it was targeted, researchers and journalists are still largely in the dark about how political-ad buyers use Facebooks targeting tools to reach, and potentially manipulate, voters with more nuanced categories, like a persons profession or level of education. All of which is why Slate is joining a collaboration led by nonprofit newsroom ProPublica, which has built an easy-to-use tool that collects the political ads that target Facebook users. The effortthe Facebook Political Ad Collectorhas already gathered nearly 60,000 ads and put them in a searchable public database.

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This tool has already helped expose all kinds of shadowy and abusive targeting practices, but theres still more to find. And thats where you could come in. Were asking our readers to download a simple browser extension that will scrape all the political ads that appear in your Facebook feed. This tool is built with ironclad privacy protections to ensure that none of the information scraped is personally identifiable in any wayonly the ads are collected.

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Facebook recently announced it was eliminating about 5,000 ad categories this fall to prevent misuse by advertisers attempting to exclude certain racial, ethic, or religious groups. Its not clear what all those categories are, nor is it clear that removing the ability to exclude groups will prevent advertisers from targeting others. No matter what, the companys recent history in this area demands more scrutiny. If you look at the ad-targeting information tied to the Russian disinformation ads that Facebook disclosed as part of an ongoing investigation in Congress earlier this year, it was clear that many of the ads were targeted to people interested in certain figures and events, like Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad al-Baqir, or the black American civil rights movement. Other ads are tailored to reach people who are members of certain groups, which could suggest information like their race, economic status, or religion. More research is needed to understand just how political ads fine-tuned to our precise interests and demographics can manipulate usand influence how we decide to vote.

With more and more electioneering happening over Facebook, its harder than ever to keep politicians, their surrogates, and Facebook accountable. Which is why we hope youll join us by downloading this easy browser extension. Download it for Chrome or Firefox now.Trumps tariffs have little impact on investments in Slovakia

Americans still perceive Slovakia as a successful reform and integration story.

Volkswagen Slovakia exports every fifth car it produces to America. (Source: SME)

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Today, the United States belongs among the largest investors in Slovakia, falling just behind Germany, France and South Korea.

While the investments of the worlds strongest economy are still subject to enlargement and creating new jobs in Slovak regions, US President Donald Trump is carrying out a trade war with several countries around the world, which could stifle the boom in the near future. However, analysts do not expect the trade war to have a significant impact on the Slovak economy.

On the contrary, Slovakia could profit from the trade union as it is a member of the EU, said Boris Tomciak, an analyst with the Finlord company.

Read also:

Read also: US companies bear added value Read more

The companies from western Europe may be interested in investments in Slovakia in an effort to reduce costs, Tomciak told The Slovak Spectator, adding that US companies are more interested in western Europe than central Europe.

The only items that can be affected by the tariffs are the most important exports of major business partners in the automotive and engineering sectors, according to Tomas Meravy, an analyst with the MESA 10 think tank.

Trade deficit and tax reform

The trade war between the US and other parts of the world centres around tariffs on various foods and services, which were introduced because the US economy has long been subject to the current account deficit, or greater import of goods and services than export. President Donald Trump first pledged to solve this problem during his election campaign, said Meravy.

28. Aug 2018 at 6:30 | Peter AdamovskyMore than 200 nationalities live in Bratislava today.

There was a saying in Bratislava before the World War I that every true Presporak spoke Slovak, German and Hungarian. Multicultural character of this city had been gone for several decades but current development suggests that this genius loci is making its comeback.

Bratislava was a vibrant and multicultural city from its early origins. The Bratislava Castle was a significant seat of the Celts who were in close contact with the Romans. Modern Bratislava was founded by Germans in the middle of the 13th century. The capital city was at the intersection of regional migratory routes from Eastern and Western Europe and that was the reason why for almost its entire history was Bratislava a place where many cultures and nationalities lived and prospered together.

It was also at that time when Jews were coming to the city. Roma, Hungarian, Croatian and Serbian communities have also gradually settled in Bratislava.

The multicultural past

Every part of the city had its own community. Podunajske Biskupice was home to mostly Hungarian citizens, Prievoz was inhabited by Germans, Karlova Ves had a mixture of Slovak and German residents and Devinska Nova Ves was home of Croats.

A census from 1850 shows that 75 percent of Bratislava's residents were German, 17 percent Slovak, 7 percent Hungarians and 1 percent other nationalities. However, in 1910, the Hungarian population made up to 40 percent and around 40 percent of Germans. The rest were minorities of Slovaks and other nationalities.

Everything changed after first world war when Bratislava became part of newly formed state of Slovaks and Czechs, Czechoslovakia, after which came the saddest period of the city, when during second world war was Bratislava completely stripped of its multicultural character. Thousands of Jews were sent to death camps, almost all Germans fled the city after the end of the war and many Hungarians chose to flee Bratislava or changed their names and became Slovaks so they would fit in. After this came a period of time when Slovaks were a majority in Bratislava and this period lasted until the fall of socialism in 1989.

 and present

Today there are more than 200 nationalities living in Bratislava. This newly formed vibrant society created the bedrock for unprecedented prosperity and cultural enrichment for locals that made Bratislava most attractive for Slovaks to live in. As a result, Bratislava became the fastest growing city in Slovakia.

However, the recent rise of extremism in Slovakia led to growing tensions with fatal consequences. Young Filipino Henry Acorda was murdered by a radical Slovak when defending two women on Obchodna street. This terrible act led to public gatherings where Bratislavans paid tribute to Henry. Local activists created campaigns addressing local authorities to prevent violence against minorities and preserve the multinational character of Bratislava.

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Read also: Bratislava called for justice for Henry Acorda and an end to violence Read more

New diverse communities have been developing in Bratislava for decades. They proved to be not only enriching in terms of economy but also in culture and cuisine. They became an integral part of Bratislava and they define its contemporary character. Bratislava would not be the same without them.

A positive example

In the streets of this city, you will encounter the Hungarian, Jewish, German, Bulgarian, Serbian, Ukrainian, Syrian, Mexican, Italian and Vietnamese communities. They have their associations, periodicals, cultural institutions and TV stations.

They also make the community stronger democratically as they too can vote in the local election where they can decide who will be the next deputy or mayor. All of that is beneficial for Bratislava and its residents as it creates a more connected society capable of a higher quality of life where various communities develop and thrive.

The multicultural character of Bratislava could be a positive example for the rest of the country, where most of the Slovaks who lack the experience to coexist with foreigners have the opportunity to live in the same neighbourhood with people of other nationalities. Perhaps, this will make us understand that despite our difference in looks, we are all human beings caring about our families and communities.

This text is part of the Migration Compass project of the Human Rights League in cooperation with the Interior Ministry. For more information about the project visit www.hrl.sk.

28. Aug 2018 at 15:45 | Tomas KrissakAeromobil has a new investor

The breakthrough, unique project of a Slovak inventor and an advertising mogul has found a new investor, a Hungarian businessman.

AeroMobil, the hybrid car-airplane design, has acquired a new investor, the Hungarian entrepreneur Zoltan Varga, the company informed the SITA newswire. The first investment for the company developing a flying car came from IPM Growth during the first half of 2017. Since then, it has also attracted further investors.

Past investments

Also in 2017, AeroMobil announced that it acquired a financial investment from private investor, Patrick Hessel  the founder and CEO of the c2i company specialising in the production of parts for the aviation and automotive industries.

"My investment will enable the company to transit to the production of the latest model and its prototypes, Patrick Hessel wrote in a press release, as quoted by the Hospodarske Noviny (HN) daily. The AeroMobile team is absolutely unique and has major potential to achieve a global change in passenger transport, he added.

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Read also: Slovak AeroMobil starts taking pre-orders for its flying car Read more

Patrick Hessel joining the project was partially the moment when the inventor, design engineer and co-founder (with Vauclik) of the project, Stefam Klein, left  as Hessel had bought most of his shares. Currently, Klein is developing a new model: AirCar.

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Read also: Flying car crashed at Nitra Airport, driver/pilot parachuted Read more

Since the initial investment, AeroMobil has so far achieved several milestones, according to the company. After the testing and production phase of the AeroMobil 4.0 STOL (short take-off and landing), they introduced their AeroMobil 5.0 VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) concept  one of the first and only electric flying cars to allow flexible door-to-door travel on one vehicle. Another co-founder of AeroMobil, Juraj Vaculik, in charge of promotional and managerial issues, told SITA that besides this investment, the companys aim is to have the vehicle ready for testing in the coming months so that it can get to its first customers in the coming years.

Obstacles to be overcome

Although originally, AeroMobil had planned to produce its vehicles already in 2017, now they foresee 2020 as the timing to enter the market. Until then, however, several obstacles have to be handled  apart from many technology and construction tasks, this involves mostly the mighty legal regulation, the HN daily wrote.

Read also:

Read also: AeroMobils new concept for flying car enables vertical take-off and landing Read more

AeroMobil is a hybrid vehicle, moving on the ground as a regular car but also able to fly. Masterminded by Klein, who arrived with the idea as early as in 1990 but worked through several prototypes and models, and later involved Vaculik as the business partner, the project aimed at producing AeroMobils on a series basis (with the starting price of 1.2  1.5 million) is unique worldwide, the daily wrote.

Who is Zoltan Varga?

Zoltan Varga, a famous Hungarian media mogul and multi-millionaire, is the man behind the success of the Hungarian low-cost airline, WizzAir.

Read also:

Read also: Slovak flying car gets attention Read more

"New investors entering a project is always a crucial strategic decision, as it has long-term impact on the functioning and success of the company, Vaculik commented on the step for HN.

28. Aug 2018 at 14:06 | Compiled by Spectator staffMost-Hid wants more rights for foreigners

The junior coalition party wants the right to turn to court for failed visa seekers so that Slovak law complies with that of the EU.

The Most-Hid party, the junior coalition partner (together with the ruling Smer and the Slovak national party-SNS) wants failed visa applicants to have the right to legal action.

Most-Hid MPs Peter Kresak, Peter Antal and Katarina Csefalvayova have submitted the proposal slated for debate in parliament at the September session.

The provision in the law on foreigners that prevents failed applicants for a Schengen visa from turning to court should be removed, they opined, as quoted by the Sme daily. Their amendment seeks to harmonise Slovak legislation with the laws of the European Union.

The current law on the stay of foreigners stipulates that a Schengen visa is granted by a diplomatic mission or consular office of Slovakia located abroad, after a previous stance of the Interior Ministry. This ministry can also agree with the Foreign Ministry on some exemptions when the representation office can grant a Schengen visa even without the stance of the Interior Ministry.

A third-country citizen can appeal against a visa refusal  within 15 days from when the administrative body issued the decision. This appeal has no extension effect, however. The representative office can decide itself if it complies with the appeal, or  if it does not decide  send it to the Foreign Ministry within five days. Then, the ministry decides, according to TASR.

What the problem is...

Most-Hid points out that according to the Treaty on the European Union, members state are obliged to set sufficient tools for securing effective legal protection in spheres to which EU law applies. The decree on visa code puts the obligation on members states to enable visa applicants to file an appeal against refusal, abolishing or revoking a visa. The right of court appeal against refusal to grant visa was also confirmed by the EU Court of Justice on December 13, 2017 in the El Hassani case.

 and why the EC has launched legal proceedings

As it still does not apply in Slovakia, the European Commission has launched a proceeding against this country for failure to fulfil its duty  in February 2013. In May 2017, the EC filed a motion with the EUCJ in May 2017 against the Slovak Republic.

The amendment drafted by Most-Hid should thus scrap from the law the provision which has prevented, in Slovak legislation, courts from re-evaluating a decision on refusing a Schnegen visa application, TASR wrote.

28. Aug 2018 at 14:18 | Compiled by Spectator staffThere is so much happening in Denver that it cant all possibly be contained within Denver. Thats why Greg Pierce and Shelley Flood looked west to Arvada to find the home for their new roastery and cafe. There they found a perfect and truly unique space for their dream shop: a red grain silo. Well, kind of. The namesake for Red Silo Coffee Roasters isnt technically the home for the operation but still stands on the 19th century farm upon which Pierce and Flood opened their cafe.

But the silo was inspiration for more than just a name. Pierce and Flood want Red Silo like a farmhouse, a gathering place for friends and family, as Flood says. And I have to say, its a pretty unique setting. Id be hard pressed to not take my coffee to go and try to sneak in into the old grain tube. Red Silo in a red silo. I cant think of anything more fitting.

As told to Sprudge by Shelley Flood.

For those who arent familiar, will you tell us about your company?

Red Silo was founded by two long-time friends with a passion for great coffee and entrepreneurship. Greg Pierce and Shelley Flood have worked together on new construction and design projects for more than 20 years. Their latest project, a mixed use commercial campus, located just 20 minutes west of Denver, seemed to be the perfect location to launch their latest idea a craft coffee shop and Red Silo was born.

Can you tell us a bit about the new space?

Red Silo is located on what used to be a family farm plot back in the late 1800s. The red grain silo is all that is left of that legacy and became the namesake for the cafe and roastery. Aside from providing a fantastic craft coffee experience, our goal is to become a hub for our local community. Our space embodies the farmhousea gathering place for friends and family. We look forward to people connecting and conversing at Red Silo. Interestingly enough, we do not plan to offer wi-fi in our cafe. We really want to encourage a community connection, not just be another internet cafe.

In addition to this beautifully designed space, featuring both soft seating, an outdoor area (boasting a lovely view of our turn-of-the-century silo), and plenty of cafe seating, we have included a reservable Community Room which will be available for gatherings, meetings, parties, and the like. This space will feature a huge farm-table and will also host full audio/visual capabilities for state-of-the-art meetings etc. We have also replicated the Red Silo inside the cafeit houses our roaster and will be a constant reminder to the family and community connection that the silo symbolizes for us.

Last but not least, Red Silo has a full coffee education lab, which will be utilized not only for quality control and employee training but for fun coffee education classes for our customers as well.

Whats your approach to coffee?

While we have always had a passion for a really great cup of coffee, we are relatively new to the craft coffee industry. We have spent the last two years visiting every craft coffee shop we can find, meeting baristas, roasters, other cafe owners, and gaining knowledge from the very best in the industry. What we have learned is this: coffee truly is a love language. People are passionate about their coffee, and so are we! We look to push the bar forward in everything we do. We like to try the new and interesting and put our own twist on it. We love the experimental (empirical??) side of craft coffee, just trying out new blendsor a different roastor crafting a new specialty drink.

Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?

We have the gambitSynesso MVP espresso machine, Mahlkonig EK43, Peak, Tanzania grinders, Marco Dual SP-9, BUNN Trifecta (for tea), Curtis GemX brewer and tea brewer, Kegerator for Nitro Coffee, Cold Brew, Nitro Tea, Kombucha, and other tasty bevs. 10kg Proaster roaster and sample roaster.

Whats your hopeful target opening date/month?

September 15 (fingers crossed)

Are you working with craftspeople, architects, and/or creatives that youd like to mention?

The space was designed by both owners, Greg Pierce and Shelley Flood.

Thank you!

Thanks for considering us. We are so excited to share our space with you!

The Build-Outs Of Summer is an annual series on Sprudge. Live the thrill of the build all summer long in our Build-Outs feature hub.Far-right protesters jeer at members of antifa during protests organized by the far-right group the Proud Boys, in Portland, Oregon, this August. Photo: Kainoa Little/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The handful of anti-Trump conservative intellectuals have found themselves split into two camps. One, recognizing the deep rot within their movement, have argued that Republicans need the shock of electoral defeat in order to shake free of the authoritarian and racist elements that have overtaken them. The other faction persists in a state of denial, believing that a few bad apples shouldnt spoil things for the rest of them.

Columnist Ben Shapiro is a member of the second camp. Shapiro is commenting on the news that the conservative Claremont Institute shut down a white-supremacist LISTSERV. Shapiro does not reflect on why the Claremont Institute attracted so many white supremacists in the first place. Given that it published a famous essay describing immigrants as Third World foreigners with no tradition of, taste for, or experience in liberty, you can forgive the white supremacists for assuming they had a friendly audience.

Shapiros takeaway is that conservatives are unfairly castigated for having so many racists, and instead should be credited for being so extremely diligent at purging their ranks of racists and other kooks:

Time and again, mainstream institutions on the right are slandered as homes for racism, sexism, and miscellaneous other bigotry, even when those institutions work to root out such bigotry.  The institutional Right, however, spends an inordinate amount of time self-policing.  when it comes to policing the boundaries of a political movement, the modern-day conservative movement far outpaces the Left.

Shapiro repeats the unkillable legend that National Review publisher William F. Buckley decided to throw the John Birchers out of the house, thereby establishing a tradition on the right that has endured. In fact, even according to a friendly account from Buckleys National Review biographer, Buckley did no such thing. He calculated that the John Birch Society and its huge membership was too important to risk alienating. So, instead, Buckley (gently) criticized the organizations president, the bonkers Joseph Welch, while trying to stay on good terms with the group and its members. Conservatism has always needed its racists and kooks.

As for the present day, it is, to put it mildly, a strange moment for self-congratulation. The movement is teeming with racist kookery. The largest source of conservative propaganda regularly features quasi-white-nationalist content. The president of the United States is Donald Trump. Trump and his family regularly tout insane rants by the likes of Alex Jones and Gateway Pundit. Nazis and Klansmen see Trump as a kindred spirit and celebrate him. The Republican Senate nominee in Virginia is a neo-Confederate. Trumps chief economic adviser hosted a white nationalist at his home.

American conservatism is being completely overrun with authoritarian racist kooks. If this is what success at rooting out racists looks like, one only shudders to imagine Shapiros definition of failure.After announcing himself in North America with a commanding debut win in the Dan Patch Stakes on August 10, those stateside now know why Down Under harness racing fans love Lazarus so much.

Hes indisputably the most dominant Down Under racehorse in history. He swept all before him in four seasons on his way to being the third-richest horse ever south of the equator.

That he achieved that title at the end of his five-year-old season when the two above him on the all-time list raced until they were nine and ten speaks volumes.

The biggest race on New Zealands calendar is Novembers New Zealand Trotting Cup, which is contested over two miles from a standing start in front of 20,000 live spectators.

Lazarus won the race by 10 lengths as an early four-year-old, second-rating seasoned free for all pacers with a ridiculous world record time of 3.53.1.

Thats for two miles back-to-back, from a standing start.

For good measure, he won the same race again last November as a five-year-old, this time in 3.55, but with a freakish last half-mile of 54.4 seconds.

Three days later, he jumped on a plane, and flew three hours to Sydney, Australia, then the next day flew another five hours across Australia to Perth. There, he raced four times in 14 days in Down Unders most prestigious race series, the Inter Dominion. He won the AU$1.1 Million Grand Final, where he defeated the best pacers Australia had to offer, and in the process confirmed his legacy as a champion of the sport.



Lazarus, pictured with Mark Purdon (photo courtesy Ashlea Brennan)

The son of Bettors Delight had the unique power of galvanizing two countries that are usually so fiercely competitive, but were allied in their admiration and awe for a generational horse.

Co-owner Phil Kennard, who selected him as a yearling for $75,000, summed it up best.

He was a horse that was enjoyed by any and all harness racing enthusiasts.

Wherever he went, he drew people to the track; I remember at the Hunter Cup in Melbourne earlier this year they had to stop people from going down the walkways at Melton to get a look at him.

They had to queue and they were lining up two or three-deep to see him.

Even if only ten or a dozen extra people were coming to the track to see him, that was important to us so to see scenes like that was amazing.

Kennard and wife Glenys were proud as punch to race Lazarus and saw it as a duty to share their once-in-a-lifetime horse with the masses.

So, when the news broke in April that he was heading to North America, at the height of his powers, his enormous fan base was in shock.

The Kennards didnt want to sell, but their partners did, and the offer from Taylor Made Stallions was overwhelming.

They reluctantly agreed to let their superstar go, but they took solace from the fact that two new countries of harness racing fans would also get the chance to fall in love with Lazarus.

Mark Purdon is to Down Under harness racing what Jimmy Takter is to North America: Dominant, all-conquering, revered, and widely-regarded as the benchmark trainer and best of his craft.

Purdon, firstly by himself, then with one-time training partner Grant Payne and most recently with personal and professional partner Natalie Rasmussen, has won every race there is to win in New Zealand many times over. And a vast majority of the Australian ones, too.

Hes the king of two countries and has handled more equine stars than anyone else could ever dream of.

Hes also as under-stated as they come, but he made an exception for Lazarus.

I dont call many of them champions, but this horse is, he said.

Hes the perfect horse and has a great temperament for a stallion.



Lazarus, pictured with Mark Purdon (photo courtesy Ashlea Brennan)

Those North American fans with a few miles on the odometer will remember the hardy New Zealand-bred star of the 1960s, Cardigan Bay.

He famously defeated Bret Hanover in the Pace of the Century at Yonkers in 1966 and also defeated fellow Hall of Famers Overtrick and Meadow Skipper.

He was also the first horse to win US$1 million and was the USTA Horse of the Year in 1965 and 1968.

Since then, Cardigan Bay has been the absolute benchmark for all New Zealand horses.

That which all others are compared to, but none have ever eclipsed.

In one of his first North American starts, as an eight-year-old, Cardigan Bay also won the Dan Patch Stakes.

Now, over half-a-century later, Lazarus has followed in his hoof prints and pulled off the same feat.

Its put him in rarified air. Just the two of them sit there at the top of the tree.

And now Lazarus has the chance to perhaps forge ahead of his famous predecessor with a win in the Canadian Pacing Derby at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Lazarus actually had a different name as a young horse, one which in the greater scheme of things seems even more fitting than the one by which hes become a household name.

Bettor Than The Best was his catalogue name, and he has quite literally proven that to be the case.

But now, just one start in to his North American career, hes been re-named again.

The Wonder from Down Under theyre calling him.

And, starting Saturday night in Ontario, the Canadian faithful will come to understand why.

To see how the field for the Canadian Pacing Derby will line up, click here.



Lazarus, pictured winning the Dan Patch at Hoosier Park with Yannick Gingras on August 10, 2018 (Linscott Photography)

(By Garrick Knight for Woodbine Entertainment)Not Lanny Daviss finest hour. Photo: Michal Cizek/AFP/Getty Images

In late July, CNN ran a story, co-authored by Watergate icon Carl Bernstein, that included an explosive claim about President Trump. According to anonymous sources quoted in the article, Michael Cohen, Trumps lawyer and a newly minted member of the Resistance, had heard his then-boss speak in advance about the infamous June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump campaign officials and several shady Russians. The Trump administrations account of this meeting, in which the Russians offered dirt on Hillary Clinton, has shifted many times. But the president continues to maintain that he knew nothing about it beforehand. If that assertion were to be proven false, it would be enormously damaging for Trump, and a boon for Special Counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. CNN also reported that Cohen was willing to testify to Mueller about what hed heard.

But last week, Axios reported that Cohen testified to Congress last year that he had no idea whether Trump knew about the meeting in advance.

And now, BuzzFeed reports that Lanny Davis, Cohens lawyer, has admitted he was one of the anonymous sources for the CNN story, and that he cannot corroborate his account of Cohens story.

Davis, a consummate spinmeister best known for his work with the Clinton administration, had been walking back the story in the last several days, telling various outlets that he could not confirm it. But he had not confessed that he was actually a source prior to his admission to BuzzFeed. In fact, he straightforwardly denied such involvement last week, telling CNNs Anderson Cooper, I think the reporting of the story got mixed up in the course of a criminal investigation. We were not the source of the story.

I made a mistake, Davis told BuzzFeed, adding, of the Anderson Cooper interview, I did not mean to be cute  quite the euphemism for lying.

Davis also told BuzzFeed that he served as a source for other outlets that were seeking to confirm CNNs story. At least two of them, the New York Post and the Washington Post, published stories this week that walked back their original stories. (New York Magazine also ran a story at the time, based on CNNs scoop.)

In the original story, CNN reported that it had reached out to Davis and that he did not comment, failing to mention that he had actually spoken to the outlet anonymously  raising questions about journalistic best practices beyond the scoop itself.

Nevertheless, a CNN spokesperson told BuzzFeed that We stand by our story, and are confident in our reporting of it.

Well see how long that lasts.Chinese police patrol as Muslims leave the Id Kah Mosque after the morning prayer in Chinas Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Photo: Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images

China is among the most ethnically homogeneous large countries in the world, with Han Chinese accounting for 91 percent of its population. The ruling Communist Party considers Chinas homogeneity and social cohesion to be pillars of its strength (and, also, potent rationalizations for discrimination against ethnic minorities and authoritarian rule).

But the territory of Xinjiang, in northwest China, is home to a large population of Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim, Turkic ethnic group. The Chinese government has long worried that the Uighurs will attempt to establish an independent homeland in the region, which they commonly call East Turkestan. In 2009, ethnic riots in Xinjiang claimed hundreds of lives; since then, individual Uighur nationalists have carried out multiple terrorist attacks.

So, to combat the impression that Uighurs have any cause for wanting their own separate state  let alone for deploying violence to achieve it  Xi Jinpings government has decided to declare Islam a contagious ideological illness, and quarantine 1 million Uighurs in reeducation camps, according to an estimate from the United Nations. In interviews, former inmates from these camps say that they were made to renounce their faith, sing Communist Party songs, consume pork, and drink alcohol; other reports suggest some of the truly ideologically sick have been tortured and killed.

At first, Beijing was content to reserve its concentration camps for suspected radicals. But, as the Atlantics Sigal Samuel explains, they eventually decided that the Uighurs ideological malady was so destructive and contagious, it was best to quarantine them prophylactically, upon the slightest apparent symptom (like, say, the appearance of a long beard on an Uighur males face).

To the West, China insists that its reeducation camps are mere vocational schools. But, as Samuel notes, Beijing offers a more forthright account of its intentions to its Chinese constituents. Heres how the Communist Party explained its policy in an official recording:

Members of the public who have been chosen for reeducation have been infected by an ideological illness. They have been infected with religious extremism and violent terrorist ideology, and therefore they must seek treatment from a hospital as an inpatient.

 There is always a risk that the illness will manifest itself at any moment, which would cause serious harm to the public. That is why they must be admitted to a reeducation hospital in time to treat and cleanse the virus from their brain and restore their normal mind  Being infected by religious extremism and violent terrorist ideology and not seeking treatment is like being infected by a disease that has not been treated in time, or like taking toxic drugs  There is no guarantee that it will not trigger and affect you in the future.

Having gone through reeducation and recovered from the ideological disease doesnt mean that one is permanently cured  So, after completing the reeducation process in the hospital and returning home  they must remain vigilant, empower themselves with the correct knowledge, strengthen their ideological studies, and actively attend various public activities to bolster their immune system.

Clearly, this is the missive a political party with a supremely healthy ideology.

To this point, international outcry over Chinas mass repression of its Muslim population has been relatively tame. As Business Insider notes, the governments of many Muslim-majority countries have declined to express public opposition, for fear of jeopardizing their access to Chinese capital  especially the infrastructure loans that Beijing has provided as part of its One Belt, One Road initiative.

Fortunately, the United States remains, for now, the worlds preeminent military and economic power. And as president Trump made clear in his speech withdrawing the U.S. from the Iran nuclear agreement, our country is deeply committed to spreading religious freedom, individual liberty, and other human rights throughout the globe. So, is there any reason to doubt that Trump will make the liberation of the Uighurs Americas top priority in its next round of negotiations with China over trade policy?The J. Edgar Hoover Building for the FBI in Washington, D.C. Photo: Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post/Getty Images

For a decade, the FBI had been planning to close its headquarters at the J. Edgar Hoover building, and move into a new, campus-style HQ out in the suburbs. A lot of time and money had gone into developing this plan. But in February, the General Services Administration (GSA), the agency that manages the federal governments real estate, suddenly announced that this plan had been abandoned  and that the FBIs headquarters would remain in downtown D.C.

This baffled many observers. Some suspected that President Trump might have played an inappropriate role in the decision. After all, Trumps D.C. hotel is located right across the street from the FBIs current headquarters, and the president has reportedly expressed a curious interest in overseeing the Hoover building demolition and reconstruction at an excruciating level of detail. One source told Axios last month that the president was treating it like its a Trump Organization construction project.

A shiny new FBI building would also improve the aesthetics for guests staying at a certain hotel just across Pennsylvania Avenue... https://t.co/9yl5nVlGWV  Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) July 30, 2018

So, Northern Virginia representative Gerald E. Connolly (whose district might have benefited from the project) asked the GSAs inspector general to look into how and why the FBIs plans had changed  and whether the president played any role in the matter.

On Monday, the inspector general released a report that contests the GSAs official explanation for the change of plans  and suggests that the agency might have misled Congress about the White Houses involvement in the matter. Specifically, the report claims that the GSA has misrepresented the costs of rebuilding the headquarters in downtown D.C., suggesting that such an approach would be cheaper than building a suburban campus, when it would actually cost more.

More explosively, the report finds that Emily Murphy, the GSAs administrator, met with White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and budget director Mick Mulvaney  and then, President Trump, himself  on January 24, days before the new plan was announced.

GSA officials refused to tell the inspector general what president Trump said during that meeting  on the orders of White House lawyers.

The GSA contests the inspector generals calculations, and insists that its decision was driven by input from the FBI, not the president.

Whatever the truth may be, this is clearly a matter that deserves congressional scrutiny. Surely, Paul Ryan will schedule the first round of hearings at the Houses earliest convenience.Americas worst landlord? Photo: Al Drago - Pool/Getty Images

New York City regulators hit the Kushner family real-estate company with a $210,000 fine this week, after finding that the firm routinely falsified construction applications. Specifically, the company regularly claimed that it had no rent-regulated tenants in apartment buildings that were actually home to hundreds.

To understand why Jared Kushner & Co. would do this, consider the following four-step formula for making extremely profitable  and grotesquely unethical  real-estate investments in New York City:

1) Find an apartment building with a lot of rent-regulated tenants in a gentrifying neighborhood.

2) Offer to buy said building at a discounted price (i.e. one reflecting the burden of inheriting tenants who pay well below market rate).

3) Begin endless, extremely noisy construction on said buildings  while doing some minor (but deliberate) damage to the existing structure  until the rent-regulated tenants decide to move out.

4) Replace them with market-rate tenants, and resell the building at a huge profit.

This scheme is so popular in the Big Apple, construction-permit applications require developers to disclose the number of rent-controlled tenants who live in the buildings theyre looking to do work on. If that number is higher than zero, then the city could subject a developers construction crew to strict oversight, including unscheduled sweeps to check for any signs that tenants are being harassed.

But when Kushner Companies bought three apartment buildings in Astoria in 2015 (when presidential adviser Jared Kushner was still CEO), the company decided that it did not want such oversight. So, instead of disclosing the 94 rent-regulated units in those buildings, the company claimed that there were actually zero such units, according to an investigation by the Associated Press.

Kushner Cos. former building in Astoria, Queens. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

One year after the Kushners took possession of the building, the number of rent-regulated tenants had fallen to 25. A year after that, the Kushners resold all three buildings for $60 million  or nearly 50 percent more than they had purchased them for.

But now, New York Citys regulators have shown that fraud and (alleged) tenant harassment dont pay: After this weeks fine, the Kushners will have effectively sold the buildings for a mere $59,790,000 (or nearly 50 percent more than they had purchased them for).John McCain, Alan Keyes, and George W. Bush debate in South Carolina in 2000. Photo: Eric Draper/AFP/Getty Images

In February 2000, the fate and identity of the Republican Party seemed to come down to a primary contest between John McCain and George W. Bush. McCain had shocked Bush by recording a resounding victory in New Hampshire, deflating Bushs healthy lead in the next primary to virtually nothing. If McCain won South Carolina, the entire Bush enterprise, built upon the expectation of inevitability, might have come crashing down. So, too, might have the grip held by the reactionary social and economic vanguard of the conservative movement.

It was a moment in time drenched in the familiar hyperbole of breathless horse-race journalism. But unlike most such moments, the importance of the contest has only grown over time. Today, from the standpoint of the Trump era, all the forces that were brought to bear against McCain in South Carolina are ascendant. And the historical importance of McCains doomed rebellion looms larger than ever.

McCains quest for the nomination began as a gadfly candidacy organized around his wartime heroism and idiosyncratic support for campaign finance reform. As the Establishment coalesced around Bush, McCain wandered into what, quite by accident, developed into a full-blown ideological insurgency. McCain denounced Bushs tax cuts for the rich and the widening income inequality they would exacerbate. He depicted his candidacy as the ideological heir to Teddy Roosevelt, a progressive who had attacked the political influence of the wealthy.

McCains populist formulation struck a chord with the party base, which had little innate interest in reducing the tax burden on the rich. But the Republican elite viewed McCain with perfect horror. His attempt to reimagine the party in populist terms, rather than as a vehicle for the upward redistribution of wealth, posed an existential threat. The fight they waged in South Carolina reflected their understanding of the danger of his apostasy.

The National Rifle Association, the religious right, the business lobbyists centered around taxophobic party activist Grover Norquist, along with conservative media, descended upon the state. McCains extraordinary heroism in war, combined with Bush having pulled strings to get a safe post in the Texas National Guard, gave the insurgent a natural connection to the states outsize veteran population. But Bushs campaign reframed the question by depicting McCain as a cultural alien, and Bush as one of them.

Bush delivered a speech at Bob Jones University, a white Evangelical outpost that still banned interracial dating. The attacks on McCain were wild. Flyers accused him of having a black child (McCain had adopted a daughter from Bangladesh). Various attacks charged McCain with having turned against his country in captivity. The war hero became a coward, and the laggard presidents son a hardscrabble good ol boy.

After South Carolina, McCains crusade to revive Roosevelt Republicanism drove him farther and farther away from his party. Over the next few years, he carved out a completely unique ideological identity within his party, co-sponsoring a Patients Bill of Rights, a bill requiring background checks at gun shows, regulations requiring higher auto-emission standards. He wrote an article in the liberal Washington Monthly calling for expanded national service. He very nearly left the Republican Party.

But McCain also came to believe that he had no presidential future outside the Republican Party, and that his Rooseveltian vision had no future within it. In 2004, McCain decided to reconcile himself to the party leadership. He stopped breaking from the administration and returned to the Republican orthodoxy that had defined him before his 2000 campaign. A small version of his heterodoxy returned when he cast a decisive vote against Donald Trumps plan to repeal Obamacare. But by that point, he stood mostly alone, displaying the courage of a man who had no more political future to lose.

What McCain attempted in 2000 was something large and historic. He was trying to make the GOP into something like a regular right-of-center party similar to the kind found in other democracies  a party that did not reject academia and expertise, and was not bound by mindless anti-government dogmas like supply-side economics and climate science denial.

The coalition that crushed his rebellion in South Carolina has prevailed ever since. Donald Trump ramped up the cultural revanchism, and downplayed the economic orthodoxy, but the basic Republican formula has remained in place. And since South Carolina, nobody has even tried tried to replicate the feat McCain attempted. The Republican Party has been moving farther and farther right for four decades, and in one brief moment of rebellion, John McCain nearly reversed the course of history.Demonstrators gather outside the Supreme Court during oral arguments on partisan gerrymandering on October 3, 2017. Photo: Olivier Douliery/Getty Images

A panel of three federal judges in North Carolina ruled on Monday that the states congressional districts were unconstitutionally gerrymandered to favor Republicans. The ruling isnt a surprise, as the court reached the same decision in January. The case has been watched closely for years, since it could have major implications for gerrymandering nationwide, but now, theres a chance that it could impact the midterm elections.

In the new ruling, the judges said North Carolinas map, which was admittedly drawn to favor Republicans, is so egregious that they might require new districts before November. Both parties have been given an opportunity to present arguments on what should happen next, and its likely that the case will be appealed to the Supreme Court. But with the current 44 split between liberal and conservative justices, the lower courts rulings may stand for now. Heres what led to this messy predicament, and what it might mean for upcoming elections.

Related

North Carolinas long gerrymandering battle

North Carolina is a purple state, but thanks to its extreme gerrymandering, you wouldnt know it from looking at its congressional delegation. Though Barack Obama narrowly won the state in 2008, and he and Hillary Clinton lost by less than four points in 2012 and 2016, Republicans have held ten of the states 13 House seats since 2012.

When districts were redrawn after the 2010 census, Republican lawmakers packed more black voters into Districts 1 and 12. A federal district court struck down that map in February 2016, saying it violated the 14th Amendments Equal Protection Clause, as the redistricting was based solely on race. The state had to adopt a remedial map before the 2016 elections, and months later the Supreme Court affirmed the lower rulings in a 53 decision.

In a brazen move, Republican legislators passed a plan that left the rejected districts essentially as they were. Their justification: They were trying to make a map that favored the GOP, and thus discriminating against all Democrats, not just black voters. Republican state representative Dave Lewis stated this very clearly during the redistricting process in 2016.

I propose that we draw the maps to give a partisan advantage to ten Republicans and three Democrats, because I do not believe its possible to draw a map with 11 Republicans and two Democrats, he explained at a statehouse hearing.

Court rejects unabashedly partisan gerrymandering

Lewiss remarks may sound like the kind of thing you shouldnt admit in public, but arguing that they were engaging in partisan, not racial gerrymandering, was the Republicans strategy. However, that plan backfired in January 2018 when, for the first time ever, a federal court ruled that partisan gerrymandering also violates the Equal Protection Clause. The court ordered that the map be redrawn, again, but at the time it seemed likely that the Supreme Court would stay the decision, keeping the disputed maps in place for 2018.

As the maps below show, redistricting could have a significant impact, particularly in an election where Democrats only need to pick up 23 states to flip the House.

These three maps show just how effectively gerrymandering can swing election outcomes https://t.co/a7VLe0rfjR pic.twitter.com/N7iwFqZnIP  Stephen Wolf (@PoliticsWolf) October 27, 2016

SCOTUS keeps dodging

The Supreme Court has never ruled on the question of whether partisan gerrymandering is constitutional, and in June 2018 it passed up two opportunities to take up the issue, sending cases from Maryland and Wisconsin back to lower courts. In the more significant Wisconsin case, the Court said the plaintiffs did not have standing to bring the case.

In light of these two decisions, the Supreme Court declined to take up the North Carolina case, and sent it back to the three-judge panel of a federal district court in North Carolina for reconsideration.

New districts before the midterms?

While it appeared that SCOTUSs reluctance to take up the issue would shelve the issue until after the midterms, on Monday the three federal judges in North Carolina said that the higher courts rulings only reaffirmed their conclusion that partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional.

We continue to lament that North Carolina voters now have been deprived of a constitutional congressional districting plan  and, therefore, constitutional representation in Congress  for six years and three election cycles, Judge James Wynn wrote. To the extent allowing the General Assembly another opportunity to draw a remedial plan would further delay electing representatives under a constitutional districting plan, that delay weighs heavily against giving the General Assembly another such opportunity.

Furthermore, the judges said that while North Carolinas primaries took place in May, theyre hesitant to let voting continue this November in districts that the courts have rejected on two occasions. They raised the possibility that they would order that the maps be redrawn by mid-September, and suggested some unusual solutions. Per the Washington Post:

He proposed several unusual ideas: appointing a special master to draw new districts, holding general elections without party primaries or even turning the November elections into a primary and holding the general election sometime before the new Congress convenes in January.

But the court gave Republican state officials until August 31 to file briefs arguing why they should be given an opportunity to draw yet another map. One decent argument that doesnt involve shameless partisanship: It would create chaos in the state, and the midterms in general. Gerry Cohen, who was director of bill drafting for the general assembly for decades, explained the bureaucratic issues to the New York Times:

If changes are made this year, Mr. Cohen said, significant bureaucratic miracles will have to be performed to meet a deadline of Sept. 22 for mailing absentee ballots to voters in the military and overseas.

Imagine it, Mr. Cohen said: New districts will have to be drawn. The courts  and perhaps the Supreme Court  will need time to rule on them. A filing period for candidates will have to open and close. The state will have to update its rolls to assign millions of voters to their new districts. And ballots will have to be printed. All before Sept. 22.

Im very sympathetic to the plaintiffs here, but it would be insane, Mr. Cohen said, to try to meet that timetable.

The impact of Kennedys retirement

Its likely that Republican legislators will seek an emergency stay from the Supreme Court, which currently has an even number of justices, since Justice Anthony Kennedy has retired and hearings for his likely replacement, Brett Kavanaugh, wont start until September 4. If the Supreme Court comes down 44 on the stay, the lower courts ruling will stand.

As the Times notes, the Court is currently split between four conservatives who have expressed skepticism about the courts ability to tinker with political maps, and four more liberal justices who have argued that it has that ability. Chief Justice John Roberts is seen as the potential swing vote who could side with the Courts liberals to end partisan gerrymanders  but that doesnt seem very likely, since during the last term he expressed concerns about involving the Court in political matters.

Beyond the midterms

The lower courts affirmation that partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional increases the likelihood that the Supreme Court will finally take up the issue. Those in favor of gerrymandering reform believe the case may be their best opportunity to rein in partisan gerrymandering, since GOP legislators were so clear about their motives.

Common Cause, one of the groups challenging the maps, called Mondays decision a victory.

Common Cause and our partners in this lawsuit took the fight to politicians who manipulate our democracy and we won, said Karen Hobert Flynn, the groups president. We anticipate an appeal and are ready to turn legislators brazen partisan gerrymander into a historic ruling in the Supreme Court to end the practice nationwide.

But the prospects of the Supreme Court putting a stop to partisan gerrymandering after Kavanaughs confirmation are grim. In fact, the Court may even roll back state-level efforts to prevent partisan gerrymandering by taking redistricting power out of legislators hands. Kennedy sided with liberals when the Court upheld Arizonas independent redistricting commission in 2015, and nothing in Kavanaughs record suggests hes eager to advance voting rights protections.McConnell looks at McCains legacy and thinks it might not match up to Richard Russells. Photo: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

When I heard that Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer had announced he would introduce a resolution to rename the Richard B. Russell Senate Office Building for John McCain, I figured it was pretty much a done deal. After all, Republicans control the Senate, and John McCain was one of their own. And whatever else he was, Richard Russell was a lifelong Democrat, beginning his career as a staunch New Dealer and refusing to join the two great southern revolts against the Democratic Party of his lifetime, the 1948 Dixiecrat uprising under Strom Thurmond, and the massive defection of anti-Civil-Rights Democrats to Barry Goldwater in 1964. Russell also had his name entered into the presidential balloting in two Democratic National Conventions, in 1948 and 1952. McCain, obviously, was the GOP presidential nominee in 2008.

Yet as the Washington Post reports, its McCains party in the Senate thats balking at the name change:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday recommended creating a task force to study ways to commemorate McCain, including the possibility of adding the late senators portrait to the Senate Reception room  considered a hall of fame for the most distinguished senators who have served.

His caution was matched by fellow Republican senators, who cast doubt on Schumers proposal and said they favored commemorating McCain in some way but not necessarily by renaming the Russell Building after him.

Some Republican senators arent so hesitant about aggressively defending Russell, such as David Perdue:

This was an icon in the United States Senate. He was Lyndon Johnsons close adviser. They did the Great Society together. So, people would criticize Richard Russell for maybe being on the wrong side of the integration movement, but my goodness he turned around and got the school lunch program done. He did that himself, Perdue said, adding that Russell was also a stalwart on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Im not sure where Perdue got the idea that Russell was a prominent architect of the Great Society, and while he did indeed sponsor the first Free School Lunch program, that was in 1946, before he became the chief Senate strategist for Jim Crow.

Perhaps Perdue can be forgiven for being soft on Russell, since he represents the same state and in fact occupies the same Senate seat. But hes not the only GOP senator who seems to feel that way. Theres Alabamas Richard Shelby:

Richard Russell was from the south and, Im sure, not perfect like George Washington and everyone else in his day, said Senator Richard Shelby, a Republican from Alabama who, like Mr. Russell, was once a conservative Democrat. But he was a well-respected senator.

And Louisianas Bill Cassidy:

Sen Bill Cassidy, R-La., said hed rather find another way than rename the Russell building.

Chuck Grassley, who is not from the South, seems disinclined to dump Russell, too, as is Jon Cornyn at this point. And in fact, among Senate Republicans only Jeff Flake from McCains own state is openly advocating the name change at this point.

Perhaps Senate Republicans will eventually decide its unseemly to insist on continuing a singular honor for a Democrat who fought civil-rights laws like sin itself. And perhaps they fear the president of the United States would bridle at transferring that honor to a man he has disrespected so often.

But if they wind up saving the Richard B. Russell Senate Office Building over Democratic protests, it will be a blow to the bizarre but pervasive conservative argument (associated especially with Dinesh DSouza and Kevin Williamson) that Republicans have always been and still are the Party of Civil Rights, while Democrats are secretly continuing their pre-1960s racist heritage. Its not Democrats who are fighting for the Russell Building.Enrique? Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images

Hes done it again.

President Trump is very, very good at announcing international agreements. Very good at shaking up certainties of global affairs, resetting a narrative, and getting domestic media coverage to follow in his wake.

By doing so, he resets expectations and alliances in American politics, despite the fact that he is terrible  the worst  at delivering on the promises of his deals, whether its a denuclearized North Korea, a better Iran deal, or a new America first vision for global trade.

Hes also very good at moving on to the next success to pull attention away from the failure of past agreements to produce concrete results for American security and communities.

So here we are again.

Mondays announcement of a new trade deal with Mexico that will replace NAFTA? On the one hand, theres no deal, and no new NAFTA, behind the draft set of provisions negotiated informally with one half of what constitutes the North American Free Trade Alliance. On the other hand, Trump has successfully shaken up the expectations of labor, workers, and business about what might be on offer, and who might offer it.

But it would be wrong to dismiss this one as just another piece of political theater. It has the potential to reshape not just trade, but U.S. politics, in important ways.

The deal was done with Mexicos outgoing Mexican president, Enrique Pena Nieto, whose party just got trounced in elections. The incoming president, leftist Manuel Lopez Obrador, has said he supports the process but wants to throw out one chapter of the deal entirely. Like the Singapore summit before it, its hard to find a signed piece of paper with all the agreements written down. And by omitting Canada, the process both stands outside the legal form of NAFTA and misses more than half of the deals economic value to the U.S.

Still, if they were implemented, the provisions the White House announced would dramatically shift U.S. auto manufacturing  either by bringing some jobs back to the U.S. or by shifting production out of the U.S. altogether, experts are unsure which. Given Trumps record to this point, we are unlikely to find out the ultimate effects of the deal. But that leaves everyone free to claim this provision as their new baseline for future negotiations  just as, by the way, the Trump team appears to have quietly worked off the provisions that team Obama negotiated in the Trans-Pacific Partnership that would have covered Canada and Mexico as well.

It is entirely possible, even after all this, that there is never a deal. And what happens then? Unless Congress actually repeals it, NAFTA bumps along as it is; big business gets todays market uptick; and disaffected white workers reinforce the idea that Trump, and only Trump, speaks to their concerns  and that his winner-take-all, racially charged, nationalist narrative is how international affairs actually work.

But in the background there is the constant chaos of Trumps past successes unraveling.

For instance, he abruptly canceled Secretary of State Mike Pompeos planned trip to North Korea. This was on the heels of announcing the appointment of a new North Korea envoy, Steve Biegun, longtime member of the GOP foreign policy Establishment and, coincidentally, Ford Motor Company lobbyist. Today, Josh Rogin has the goods on why Trump nixed the mission  the Norths chief negotiator had sent Washington another nasty-gram. A similar chain of events unspooled this spring, leading to a last-minute cancellation  then a resumption  of the Singapore summit. All that flailing took away what limited opportunity State Department negotiators had to prepare serious outcomes.

Oh, and speaking of State Department negotiators and serious outcomes, today we also had Europes response to the appointment of another senior GOP Establishment figure, Brian Hook, to head the Iran Action Group and improve coordination with allies: Lets find some other partners besides Washington to work with.

Theres more. Hows that great relationship with Russia going? The Kremlin is staging its biggest military exercise since the Cold War ended, and preparing for a large-scale military assault inside Syria, on a rebel stronghold where thousands of civilians remain.

So the chances that Americans currently unemployed or earning $10 an hour in nonunion facilities in Mississippi will see $16-an-hour jobs in the auto industry are minimal; and the chances that Congress will have a completed revision of NAFTA to vote on before the midterms are not much better. But the chances that Trump has permanently shifted the domestic politics around trade and diplomacy? Hovering near 100 percent.Jim Hensons son, producer Brian Henson, hopes to mount a revival of Australian-American sci-fi series Farscape, but admits it is still some time off.

Farscape was filmed at FOX Studios in Sydney and ran on Nine from 1999  2004. Nearly all of the cast were Australian / New Zealanders including Claudia Black, Gigi Edgley, Anthony Simcoe, Virginia Hey, Paul Goddard and Wayne Pygram.

Henson, whose film The Happytime Murders is getting a cinema release, told Den of Geek Farscape was the most adult project the company had done.

Im sure youve heard that Ive been trying really hard with Farscape. And Im going to keep trying. Its just not quite right yet still, he said.

Asked if the fanbase could help further it along he said, No, you know what. No. It really isnt. Its one of those instances where its us, the creators, who need to keep working on it. And feeling no: that didnt work that time. No, its still not quite working. Its really down to us.Andrew Winter and Neale Whitaker return with a new season of their hit property show Love It or List It Australia in September.

The first season was a big success with the premiere drawing the largest audience for a series launch in LifeStyles history.

LifeStyle General Group Manager Hannah Barnes said: We were thrilled with the success of the first series of Love It or List It Australia, and cant wait for the new season to hit our screens. The record numbers achieved and overwhelming positive sentiment from Foxtel viewers are a testament to the quality of the production.

We are a nation obsessed with property, and launching the series to kick off buying season in Australia will make the show even more relevant. We are also so lucky to have the amazing advice from the expert hosts, Andrew and Neale. This series has even better renovations and styling tips from Neale and the information and advice about the property market is second to none thanks to Andrew and our relationship with Real Estate Australia.

Love It Or List It Australia is produced by Beyond Productions exclusively for Foxtel. The show is always looking for homeowners who have a love/hate relationship with their house and are facing the tough decision of whether to relocate or renovate. For further information go to www.lifestyle.com.au/apply.

Wednesday, September 26 at 8:30pm on LifeStyle.Pensylvania Crimewatch notified that a man left his toddler son to die after crashing during a shoplifting getaway attempt. The 28-year-old man now faces up to 30 years in prison but may serve as few as eight and a half years. He was convicted for murder for abandoning his injured son and running away. The offence that happened in Bucks County in October 2017, resulted in the two-year-old boy dying from a skull fracture.

The toddler was placed in the car without a seatbelt

6ABC reported that the incident came after Christopher D. Kuhn attempted to steal from Walmart.

Instore security tried to stop him, but he took his son, Qadan Trievel, and ran outside to his jeep. After concealing the number plate, he took off with security in pursuit. He had placed his son in the jeep with him but didn't strap him in. Khun drove fast along Route 13 and sped through a red light. At another intersection, he collided with an SUV. The collision was so violent that it threw his toddler out the car. NJ.com noted that the vehicle rolled over and partially landed on another car.

Khun left his son to die alone and ran away

Instead of assisting his child, Khun paused briefly next to the boy and then ran away. First responders arrived to find the child "pale, motionless and not breathing." Emergency workers rushed him to a local hospital but he was pronounced dead from a skull fracture.

The court noted that the man did nothing to try and help his child.

Shoplifting offence was over a $228 Vizio sound bar

When challenged by Walmart security, Khun was trying to get a Vizio sound bar out the store. It was worth $228. Once apprehended and in court, he was very sorry about his son and blamed a drug addiction for making him do the crime in Walmart.

However, the court wasn't sympathetic. Judge Robert O. Baldi of Bucks County Common Pleas Court said, during the hearing that "It was not an accident," and that he acted purely out of his own self-interest.

NJ.com pointed out that Khun had a string of other offences in his past. In 2016 he pleaded guilty to threatening the mother of his now dead son.

He also faced previous shoplifting charges. Deputy District Attorney Robert D. James asked the court for a harsh sentence as the accused "had a criminal history including theft, fraud, terroristic threats against Qadan's mother, endangering the welfare of a child, resisting arrest and violating a domestic violence restraining order filed against him," 6ABC noted.Western Australia: Dingoes are in line to lose their protection as a natural species. The law change which could be finally determined by the Minister for Environment, Stephen Dawson, is controversial. The announcement of the lifting of dingo protection was made by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. ABC AU said the idea to lift what little protection there is, was based on a study "published in the scientific journal Zootaxa." According to the study, the scientists believe that the dingo dogs don't differ from wild dogs and the breed probably is very intermixed with ancient feral dogs.

Controversy over lifting protection on the dingoes

The announcement met with controversy as not all zoologists think the scientific findings are correct and there's concern over the potential loss of a predator that's much needed to balance the wild animal population. The first suggestion that the dingoes should not be classified as protected came via the Australian Museum who noted they were merely an ancient wild dog population from around 4000 years ago. That alone has raised the ire of people, as 4000 years is a very long time for the iconic dog to be around.

#Dingoes will no longer be native in WA under planned law reform. Unregulated killing to be allowed. @MarkMcGowanMP @EuanRitchie1 https://t.co/P3iqFAqzk2  Matt Bamford (@BamfordMatt) August 28, 2018

Meanwhile, farmers and stockmen are reported to be very happy with the idea of killing them as they complain the Animals attack the calves and injure their cattle.

However, Euan Ritchie, a Deakin University associate professor feels more should be done to think about ways to maintain the population while tackling ways to control stock predation.

Negative reaction on Twitter over removing dingo protection

People on Twitter were shocked and angry at the announcement. User TimeToStopBeingNice, posted, "So another NATIVE animal, like the tassie tiger, gone to man's arrogance." Some of the tweets expressed anger that a four to five thousand year animal is no longer protected.

Their outrage came from the fact that animals like deer are protected. @jefmorello wrote, "Unregulated killing???? Deer aren't native, yet they are protected against unregulated killing."

Other people called for the Australian indigenous people to make a stand as the Aboriginal people have lived with the dingoes for thousands of years.

@Nomutedwords wrote, "Will end up the same as the Tasmania Tiger. Further will take out an indigenous predator putting a hole in the natural evolution, we all know how badly that can end / Time for indigenous groups to also take a stand on this issue. @Crow29darkness pointed out that "this is a horrible idea. The Silvereye & Pukeko (Australasian Swamphen) are considered native species in New Zealand despite being very recent arrivals. The Dingo plays a prominent role in the Dreamtime stories of Indigenous Australians."As the United Nations released a report Monday calling for six Myanmar military leaders to be prosecuted for genocide against Rohingya Muslims, Canada's special envoy to the country believes the federal government has a "significant opportunity" to help resolve the conflict.

In its recommendation to the Human Rights Council, the report urged the U.N.to turn the investigation over to the International Criminal Court.

China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council with veto power over whether the issue will be brought before the ICC, has been reticent about condemning Myanmar's government during the crisis. But the document said that "through their acts and omissions, the civilian authorities have contributed to the commission of atrocity crimes".

Meanwhile, the official Facebook pages of Myanmar's air force and navy remain live online.

Facebook is wildly popular in Myanmar, where Internet connectivity has exploded in the past six years after the previous military-linked government ended a state-run monopoly on telecommunications that had keep the Southeast Asian country largely offline. The Myanmar government was sent a copy of the report before it was made public.

Government spokesman Zaw Htay was not available for comment.

The findings "come as no surprise to those who've listened to the victims' stories or seen the evidence left behind", Michael Sullivan reports for NPR.

The military launched its latest crackdown after militants from Arsa attacked police posts in August 2017, killing several policemen.

Some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled northern Rakhine state to Bangladesh after Myanmar launched a brutal crackdown in August past year on insurgents amid accounts of arson, murder and rape at the hands of soldiers and vigilante mobs in the mainly Buddhist country.

The army's tactics are "consistently and grossly disproportionate to actual security threats", it said. Such a designation is rare, but has been used in countries including Bosnia, Rwanda and Sudan.

Yangon-based political analyst David Mathieson said that Facebook's action, together with the damning United Nations report, force Myanmar's military brass "into an isolation they're not going to like".

Shooting suspect had history of mental illness

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office confirmed to NBC News that they sent multiple officers to respond to a shooting downtown. A man opened fire at a restaurant in a Florida mall on Sunday where a Madden NFL 19 tournament was happening.

Marzuki Darusman, chair of the panel, said commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing should step down pending investigation.

Pointing to "deeply entrenched" impunity in Myanmar, the investigators said the only chance to obtain accountability was through the worldwide justice system. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, as among those responsible for "a failure to take necessary and reasonable measures to prevent and punish crimes, and a causal link between these failures and the atrocities committed".

Those killings were discovered by two Reuters reporters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. The court had been due to deliver a verdict on Monday, but at a brief hearing postponed the hearings until September 3.

Rights groups have long criticised the platform for taking days to delete malicious posts, by which time many had gone viral. "But that is the case nearly universally when cases of genocide have gone before the courts", Sidoti said. The report concluded that these violations reflect a longstanding pattern of conduct by the Myanmar military authorities and the need to end the cycle of impunity.

The UN Fact Finding Mission's conclusions on human rights violations in Burma since 2011, in particular the truly horrific violence from August a year ago in Rakhine, come as no surprise.

The report said the situation was a "catastrophe looming for decades", and an inevitable result of "severe, systemic and institutionalised oppression from birth to death". They are considered migrants by Myanmar's Buddhist majority and are denied citizenship. There are around 18 million Facebook users in the country, the company said.

The government uses Facebook to make major announcements, including the resignation of the country's president in March. The U.N. report "put a deadline on what they were planning on doing anyway", the person, who was not authorized to talk to the media, added. "Although improved in recent months, Facebook's response has been slow and ineffective", noted the report.

Today, we are taking more action in Myanmar, removing a total of 18 Facebook accounts, one Instagram account and 52 Facebook Pages, followed by nearly 12 million people.

"The ethnic violence in Myanmar has been truly horrific".

He told lawmakers Facebook planned to hire more native speakers to help monitor the situation and had partnered with civil society groups to identify perpetrators of hate speech.(Adds details from report, background)

LONDON, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Britain's finance ministry denied a newspaper report on Tuesday that the government had asked Bank of England Governor Mark Carney to stay on for an extra year beyond his scheduled departure in June 2019.

"We don't recognise their reporting at all," a Treasury spokeswoman said when asked about the article in the Evening Standard (Other OTC: SNDH - news) newspaper.

A diary item in the newspaper said the ministry had "quietly approached" Carney about staying another year to provide continuity as Britain leaves the European Union.

"Our position is the same - we plan to start recruitment soon," the ministry spokeswoman said.

Spokesmen for Prime Minister Theresa May and the BoE (Shenzhen: 000725.SZ - news) declined to comment on the report.

The value of sterling has fallen sharply since April as investors worry about the lack of progress in Brexit talks.

Carney agreed to serve five years, rather than the usual eight, as BoE governor when he moved from his native Canada to Britain in 2013. In 2016, shortly after British voters decided to leave the European Union, he agreed to stay an extra year, keeping him in the job until June 30, 2019.

Carney said in July he does not intend to change that plan.

The Evening Standard said government officials were struggling to find a candidate strong enough to replace him.

The person most tipped to be Carney's successor is Andrew Bailey, a regulator with 30 years of experience at the BoE. He is currently head of the Financial Conduct Authority, one of the country's main watchdogs for the financial services industry.

The Evening Standard is edited by former finance minister George Osborne who appointed Carney to the BoE.

(Reporting by William Schomberg and William James; editing by Stephen Addison)FILE PHOTO: Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland gestures during a joint news conference on the closing of the seventh round of NAFTA talks in Mexico City, Mexico, March 5, 2018. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido/File Photo

Thomson Reuters

BERLIN (Reuters) - The foreign minister of Canada, which is embroiled in a diplomatic row with Saudi Arabia, called for German support on Monday in Ottawa's campaign to promote human rights around the world.

The German government, trying to repair its own strained relationship with Riyadh, has been silent on the spat between Canada and Saudi Arabia, drawing criticism from some politicians and rights groups.

Chrystia Freeland, speaking at an annual gathering of German ambassadors in Berlin, did not specifically mention Saudi Arabia in her address. However, she touched indirectly on the row which was triggered by her tweet demanding the release of jailed human rights activists in the kingdom.

In response, Riyadh has frozen new trade with Canada, expelled the Canadian ambassador and ended state-backed educational and medical programs in Canada.

Freeland said Canada would always stand up for human rights "even when we are told to mind our own business ... and even when speaking up brings consequences".

She added: "We count on and hope for Germany's support."

Ties between Berlin and Riyadh have been strained since former foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel denounced "adventurism" in the Middle East in November of last year, comments that were seen as criticism of Riyadh's actions in the region.

Saudi Arabia withdrew its ambassador to Berlin and, since early 2018, has excluded German healthcare companies from public tenders.

Riyadh is at loggerheads with many European countries which have criticized its intervention in Yemen's civil war and support dialogue with its arch-enemy Iran.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas stressed at the conference Europe and Canada's shared interest in preserving a "rules-based international order" in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump's unilateralism.

"It hits Europe and Germany when the United States, suddenly and without consulting, introduces random sanctions against Russia, China, Turkey and in the future perhaps more of our important trading partners," he said.

Story continues

Europe needed to become more autonomous in order to defend its commercial and trade interests, Maas said. "It won't be easy," he added.

(Reporting by Thomas Escritt and Noah Barkin; editing by David Stamp)

See Also:An MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted drone aircraft performs aerial maneuvers over Creech Air Force Base

U.S. Air Force/Senior Airman Cory D. Payne/Handout via REUTERS

China is pushing to advance its anti-drone capabilities as it plays catch up with the US, which has over 60 different types of systems relying on radar, radio frequencies, electro-optical and acoustic detection to counter enemy unmanned aerial vehicles.

China has less than 20 such systems, and most appear to rely on radar and traditional jamming technology.

While China is making real progress, the real challenge, according to military experts, is that many systems built to counter drones are "obsolete by the time they are tested" due to the rapid pace of development in the UAV field.

China is moving to develop laser weapons and counter-drone systems as it tries to catch up with the United States on unmanned aerial vehicle technology to boost its intelligence and attack capabilities, according to military analysts.

That includes systems to protect its drones so that they are less vulnerable to lasers and spoofing techniques that send false information to UAVs. One system under development is Silent Hunter, a portable drone-killing laser weapon that is said to have a firing range of up to 4km and was demonstrated at a defence conference in Abu Dhabi in February.

Poly Technologies, the company behind the Chinese counter-drone system, said it could pierce five layers of 2mm-thick steel plates from a distance of 800m, or 5mm plates from 1km away.

But experts say the US anti-drone systems are more advanced than Chinas, and they have a bigger range and more types of sensing technology available from a greater number of companies.

The US has more than 60 counter-drone systems or products that use radar, radio frequency, electro-optical and acoustic detecting and tracking to intercept enemy drones and either stop them, hijack their communication link or destroy them with lasers or projectiles, according to a report by the Centre for the Study of the Drone at Bard College in New York in February.

Story continues

Its latest acquisition is a high-power microwave counter-drone system, which the US Army earlier this month said it planned to buy from Lockheed Martin, according to the companys website. The system is a laser weapon that is carried by an aircraft and can shoot airborne drones, and has more attack power than ground-based or handheld weapons.

China, meanwhile, has less than 20 such systems and mainly relies on conventional means like radar to detect drones  and it does not have any spoofing or nets to counter incoming UAVs, according to the report and mainland media. Jamming systems appear to be the most popular way to counter drones in China.

But analysts say China is starting to catch up, with a number of companies and institutions joining the race to research counter-drone technology, including China National Nuclear Corporation, NovaSky and the Beijing Institute of Technology.

New systems might not be publicly announced or demonstrated though, according to Kelvin Wong, an aerospace analyst with IHS Markit.

I believe that there are many more state-owned and private Chinese firms as well as research institutions that have enter the counter-UAS [unmanned aircraft system]/UAV market, Wong said.

Arthur Holland Michel, from the Centre for the Study of the Drone, said those in the race all had a chance of coming up with the next big thing in counter-drone systems.

Given that we are talking about an emerging technology, it is plausible that a small start-up might come up with a brilliant solution that completely dominates the market  the way that DJI, a Chinese start-up, has become a market leader in the consumer drone sector, he said.

Based in Shenzhen, DJI makes commercial drones used for aerial photography and videography and has an estimated 70 per cent share of the global market. It also designs and manufactures flight platforms and control systems.

Brett Velicovich, a US army veteran and drone expert, said the industry was making such rapid advances that no single weapon would be 100 per cent effective against every type of drone in every situation  the technology simply could not keep up, and that was a challenge everywhere.

The problem largely comes from the fact that the current state of drone technology is moving at such a rapid pace, that these counter-drone systems are nearly obsolete by the time they are tested,  he said.

Velicovich added that the best approach was a multipronged strategy combining different interception techniques. He said acoustic detection  where a drone is picked up by its unique sound, triggering a system to eliminate the threat  was one area where more research was needed.

WAYS TO INTERCEPT A DRONE

1. Radio frequency jamming

Disrupts the radio frequency link between the drone and its operator by generating large volumes of RF output. Once the RF link is severed, a drone will either descend to the ground or return home.

2. GNSS jamming

Disrupts the drones satellite link, such as to a GPS (global positioning system) or GLONASS (global navigation satellite system). Once the navigation direction is lost, a drone will hover, land or return home.

3. Spoofing

The drones communications link is hijacked to take control of it.

4. Laser

Destroys vital parts of the drone, causing it to crash to the ground.

5. Nets

Entangles the targeted drone and/or its rotors.

6. Projectile

Ammunition  regular or custom-designed  is used to break or destroy an incoming unmanned aircraft.

7. Combined interdiction elements

Uses several C-UAS (counter-unmanned aircraft systems) together  most commonly, RF and GNSS jamming systems that work in tandem.

NOW WATCH: This London-based food truck only sells cheese sandwiches  heres how theyre made

See Also:ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP)  Ethiopia's state broadcaster ETV says the government has arrested the former president of the Somali region.

The dismissal and arrest of Abdi Mohammed Omar, a well-known politician from the country's eastern area, came after the Somali region's capital, Jigjiga, and other towns experienced unrest in recent weeks in which ethnic Somalis, suspected to be connected to Abdi, attacked people from other ethnic backgrounds.

Television images showed Abdi being led out of his villa in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa. The state broadcaster reported five Kalashnikovs and four pistols were discovered inside Abdi's house.

On Saturday, Ethiopia's Prime Minster Abiy Ahmed told reporters measures will be taken against former officials of the Somali region, including Abdi , who is suspected of orchestrating the chaos in the region earlier this month.

See Also:BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Tuesday that Berlin wants to avoid a disorderly Brexit, meaning the risk of Britain crashing out of the European Union without a deal, but he added that officials were also preparing for such an outcome.

"Of course, we are examining the threat of a disorderly Brexit," Maas said during a news conference with his Irish counterpart Simon Coveney, adding he was still hopeful that an agreement between Britain and the EU can be reached.

Coveney said nobody could have an interest in an disorderly Brexit and that both sides should try to stick to the agreed timetable for negotiations.

(Reporting by Gernot Heller; Writing by Michael Nienaber, editing by Thomas Escritt)ZAGREB, Croatia (AP)  Hundreds of workers from two major shipyards are protesting in the Croatian capital of Zagreb over unpaid wages and working conditions.

As a union delegation met with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, the workers shouted "out with the management" and blew whistles in front of the government headquarters.

Earlier Monday, protesting workers left a dirty diaper in front of the government building to underscore their message against the management of Uljanik Group.

The workers have traveled to Zagreb from the northern Adriatic Sea ports of Pula and Rijeka. They have been demanding their unpaid wages for the past two months and are urging the government to back a reorganization of the loss-making firm, which comprises the Uljanik and May 3rd shipyards and an equipment factory. It employs several thousand workers.

See Also:(Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday urged the remaining signatories to its 2015 nuclear agreement to act to save the pact, although France's leader called again for broader talks on Tehran's missile programme and its role in the Middle East region.

In a phone call to French President Emmanuel Macron, Rouhani said Iran wanted the Europeans to give guarantees on banking channels and oil sales as well as in the field of insurance and transportation, according to the state-run Iranian news agency IRNA.

"Iran has acted upon all its promises in the nuclear agreement and, with attention to the one-sided withdrawal of America ... expects the remaining partners to operate their programs more quickly and transparently," Rouhani was quoted as saying.

Rouhani was speaking in the light of U.S. sanctions reimposed by Washington after President Donald Trump in May pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

Macron reiterated France's commitment to maintaining the accord, a remark aimed at soothing Tehran.

But he repeated his earlier calls for broader discussions with all relevant parties that would include Iran's nuclear programme after 2025, its ballistics programme and its influence in the wider Middle East region.

"We will do everything so that the talks help avoid a serious crisis in the months ahead," Macron said in an annual speech to French ambassadors.

Separately, the head of the navy of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, General Alireza Tangsiri, said on Monday that Iran had full control of the Gulf and the U.S. Navy did not belong there, according to the Tasnim news agency.

Tehran has suggested it could take military action in the Gulf to block other countries' oil exports in retaliation for U.S. sanctions intended to halt its sales of crude. Washington maintains a fleet in the Gulf that protects oil shipping routes.

STRAIT OF HORMUZ

Tangsiri said Iran had full control of the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz that leads into it. Closing the strait would be the most direct way of blocking shipping.

Story continues

"We can ensure the security of the Persian Gulf and there is no need for the presence of aliens like the U.S. and the countries whose home is not in here," he said in the quote, which appeared in English translation on Tasnim.

He added: "All the carriers and military and non-military ships will be controlled and there is full supervision over the Persian Gulf. Our presence in the region is physical and constant and night and day."

Later on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a Twitter post: "The Islamic Republic of Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait is an international waterway. The United States will continue to work with our partners to ensure freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce in international waterways."

The head of the Revolutionary Guards, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, said on Monday that Iran's enemies would not prevail in a conflict.

"The enemies are strictly avoiding any conflict with Iran because they know that it will not be beneficial for them," Jafari said, according to Tasnim.

As tension has escalated between Iran and the United States, senior U.S. officials have said they aim to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the most senior authority in the Islamic Republic, said last month that he supported the idea that if Iran is not allowed to export oil, then no country should export oil from the Gulf.

(Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh; Additional reporting by Richard Lough in Paris and Yara Bayoumy in Washington; Editing by Peter Graff, Richard Balmforth and Peter Cooney)Storyful

Visitors to Shanghai Disneyland had to take a COVID-19 test before leaving on Sunday, October 31, as the theme park said it was cooperating with an epidemiological investigation into a new outbreak.Disneyland made the announcement of mandatory testing at around 6 pm on Sunday while many visitors were still on site. Visitors who had been at the park on October 30 were also told to get tested.This video shows a line of people in front of personnel in protective suits.By Sunday evening, the Shanghai local government said 33,863 people had been tested at the park and related places, with no positive results. The park was to remain closed for two days, they said. Credit: Forgive color towel via StoryfulSpanish police say they arrested seven suspects after seizing 67 kilos (147 pounds) of cocaine hidden inside hollowed-out pineapples.

Police said on August 26 that the drugs had arrived from Costa Rica via the Portuguese port of Setubal, and were discovered in MercaMadrid, the Spanish capitals fruit and vegetable market.

Three people were arrested in Madrid and four in Barcelona, police said. Credit: Policia Nacional via StoryfulMexican President Enrique Pena Nieto was patched in by phone, calling the deal "very positive" for both the U.S. and Mexico. "We've now come out of the other side of that process with Mexico, and we hope Canada can now join that process".

American and Mexican negotiators worked through the weekend to forge an agreement on key issues related to the automotive industry. NAFTA may not survive under the same name, but here are five things to consider before three-country trade in North America is declared dead.

The two sides also agreed to a provision requiring 40 to 45 per cent of each vehicle be made in factories where workers earn at least US$16 an hour - crucial to discouraging factory jobs from leaving the USA for Mexico.

"Essentially what this [deal] seems to do is update the 24-year-old agreement with respect, particularly, to the manufacturing sector, particularly when it comes to cars, an area that was decimated in many respects because of NAFTA", Halkett said. Further details are expected to be released later today. But the countries still must resolve hard issues, including US complaints about Canada's protection for its dairy farmers and the way disputes are resolved under NAFTA. "And will be happy to do that, once the bilateral US-Mexico issues have been resolved". But Trump suggested she would have to agree to terms fast, or he'll simply slap tariffs on Canadian auto exports to the U.S.

"It will probably raise auto prices".

DNA drive catches 1998 child murder suspect

Previous suspect Martin Ney, a German child murderer, was linked to Madeleine McCann's case when police quizzed him in 2011. He was tracked down and arrested about 30 miles north of Barcelona on Sunday, according to prosecutor Jan Eland.

Canada must now return, hat in hand, for a deal. While the country posted its best month of global trade ever in June - with a record level of exports headed south of the border - a significant hit to the trade file could jeopardize that performance, Shenfeld cautioned. "It has a bad connotation, because the United States was hurt very bad by NAFTA", Trump said. He then congratulated him on the new deal with the cameras rolling. "We want Canada's re-incorporation into talks to achieve a successful trilateral negotiation of NAFTA this week". It essentially branded the continent's auto sector too big to fail, saying "it is time to close the book on the modernization of NAFTA, and to implement an agreement that continues to provide billions of dollars in benefits to all three member states".

Auto manufacturing: The new deal would require that 75% of the parts in any vehicle sold in North America be produced in the United States or Mexico. "It's a big day for our country", Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, from where he held a televised phone call with his Mexican counterpart, Enrique Pena Nieto.

Trump has rejected other multi-national deals, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (another trade pact) and the Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation, expressing a strong preference for one-on-one negotiations on trade and other matters with countries. "A trilateral agreement is the best path forward", he said, adding that millions of jobs are at stake.

The move places new pressure on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has threatened a potential "trade war" with President Trump after he unleashed a crippling round of sanctions against foreign-produced steel.FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pauses while speaking to members of the media following two days of meetings with Kim Yong Chol, a North Korean senior ruling party official and former intelligence chief, before boarding his plane at Sunan International Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea, July 7, 2018. Andrew Harnik/Pool/File Photo via REUTERS

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea said on Monday the abrupt cancellation of United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's trip to North Korea is having an "effect" on a controversial inter-Korean liaison office it planned to open by this month.

U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly cancelled his top diplomat's planned trip to North Korea on Friday, publicly acknowledging for the first time that his effort to get Pyongyang to denuclearise had stalled since his summit with the North's leader.

South Korea's presidential Blue House spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said on Monday that the cancelled visit "cannot be said to have zero effect" on the plan for the liaison office.

"We were thinking of the opening of the liaison office as part of a smooth series of schedules including Secretary of State Pompeo's North Korea visit then the inter-Korean summit," Kim said. "Now that a new situation has arisen, there is a need to inspect it again accordingly."

South Korea has been building a liaison office just over the border in North Korea, as part of efforts championed by the South's President Moon Jae-in to improve ties between the two Koreas.

The office, which the South Korean government said planned to open by August, had raised concern among opposition lawmakers, analysts and local media that the transfer of material for the office could violate U.N. and U.S. sanctions against North Korea.

South Korea's Unification Ministry spokesman on Monday repeated its stance that all the material for the liaison office are for the office's operation and the convenience of South Korean personnel, and does not give any economic gain to North Korea.

The spokesman added the two Koreas continue to discuss matters such as the timing of the office's opening, after agreeing to open it "soon".

"This issue is not something that our government can decide on its own, but must be discussed with the North," said Kim, the Blue House spokesman. "I understand that there hasn't been official discussion on how the North sees such situational changes, changes in conditions."

Story continues

North Korea's state-controlled newspaper on Sunday accused the United States of "double-dealing" and "hatching a criminal plot" against Pyongyang, but did not mention Pompeo's cancelled visit.

Since the June summit, the two sides have struggled to narrow differences over the Norths nuclear weapons programme.

Pyongyang has been calling for a declaration of peace as part of security guarantees designed to encourage it to abandon its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, while the Trump administration says a peace deal and other concessions will only come after more progress on denuclearisation.

The inter-Korean summit slated for September remains on track, and President Moon's role as mediator between the U.S. and North Korea appears to have expanded after the cancelled visit, Blue House's Kim told reporters on Sunday.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Michael Perry)Pope Francis stays silent over sex abuse claims

Christopher Lamb watches a new Ireland try to come to terms with a Church beset by a child abuse scandal

Rising at the crack of dawn and braving pelting rain and driving winds, Irish Catholics made their way for a Mass with Pope Francis in Dublin on Sunday.

The hundreds of thousands of believers who turned out in Phoenix Park must have felt disconnected from a papal visit that was dominated by the sexual abuse scandal inside the Church.

Francis two-day visit to Ireland saw him come face-to-face with the rawness of the abuse crisis in the country that has become the Ground Zero for what is arguably the gravest crisis facing the Church in almost 500 years.

It was striking that when John Paul II visited Ireland 39 years ago, more than a million people turned out in Phoenix Park for the papal mass in what was the biggest gathering of people in Irish history. While organisers predicted 500,000 would attend Francis Mass, estimates put it the attendance figure at just 200,000.

A combination of weather, security and organisational challenges in a papal visit will all have been factors in the low numbers but anger about abuse and the dramatic changes in over recent years in Irish society played a significant part.

The Church in Ireland is also struggling to connect with a younger generation, many of whom dont attend Mass and have had their faith damaged by scandals.

If there is a God then why was my uncle abused by a priest? Aoife Monaghan, 22, told me last weekend.

An aerial view of the crowd at Phoenix Park in Dublin. It is thought around 200,000 people turned up  far below the numbers anticipated. (Photo: Liam McBurney/PA via AP)

There is a palpable feeling of betrayal over the abuse that took place, particularly given the dominant role the Chruch played in Ireland for such a long time. That is no longer the case, as Irelands Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, told the Pope. He pointed out laws passed since John Paul IIs visit allowing for divorce, same-sex marriage and a referendum vote which will allow legal abortions.

The Ireland of the 21st century is a very different place today than it was in the past, the Taoiseach said during a speech in Dublin Castle last Saturday.

Story continues

But Mr Varadkar was honest enough to admit that the state had relied on the Church for welfare, education, and healthcare in the country, and took responsibility on behalf of the state for past abuses.

It was, he accepted, both the Church and the state that were responsible for the horrors of the mother and baby homes, and the Magdalene laundries, where single mothers had their children put up for adoption and were forced into slave labour.

The Pope, who repeatedly apologised for the abuse and its cover-up while in Dublin, told journalists on the plane back home afterwards that it was while in Ireland that he became aware of these homes.

Within moments of arriving in Dublin Irelands Minister for Childhood, Katherine Zappone spoke to him in Italian about the harrowing story of a mass grave at the Tuam mother and baby home which is now being investigated by the state. Zappone has sent him a memo on the topic and how the Church could help which he says he will be studying.

Despite the overwhelming emphasis on abuse, the Pope told reporters on his flight back to Rome that he found so much faith in Ireland. He added: The Irish have suffered so much from the scandals, but they know how to distinguish the truth from half-truths.

There is also resilience to the faith in ordinary Irish believers who have braved what has been an unending storm of scandal. The Catholic faith, which played such a vital role in keeping Irish identity alive under British rule, is still interwoven into the character of the country.

Modern Ireland is still a country with faith and spirit and values, Mr Varadkar told the Pope.

The question is whether Ireland will keep faith with the Church.



Theresa May has been mocked after showing off her maybot dance moves on the opening day of her Africa trade trip.

The Prime Minister failed to impress with her attempts at dancefloor diplomacy, with many comparing her to a robot after footage emerged of her bobbing up and down as she was greeted at a school in Cape Town by a group of pupils dancing energetically.

Mrs May smiled and laughed throughout and later joined in with a second dance during her visit to the ID Mkize School.

At a packed school assembly, she told the pupils: Can I thank all those young people who were involved in the performances outside who welcomed me.

Regret to inform that Theresa May dancing in South Africa is exactly as bad as you would expect https://t.co/nwceMJlBYE  Katie Martin (@katie_martin_fx) August 28, 2018

Theresa May dancing in South Africa. Yes, it will make your toes curl with embarrassment. https://t.co/0RFzpglxQG  Jonathan Norris (@jonnorris12) August 28, 2018

wow, i was expecting Theresa May dancing with South African school kids to be awkward. But instead it was actually really, really awkward. https://t.co/JzQthKWW2f  sam learmonth (@samlearmonth) August 28, 2018

And, as ever, it wasnt long before people started sharing their own versions.

Story continues

There was Status Quo

As @chakrabortty points out, if you add Status Quo to that clip of Theresa May dancing, it suddenly makes a lot of sense. pic.twitter.com/kSXGyaPFCw  Patrick Smith (@psmith) August 28, 2018

Daft Punk

Obligatory redubbing of Theresa May dancing#DoTheMayBot pic.twitter.com/ZnYqfpI9GG  Graham Love (@GLove39) August 28, 2018

The Notorious BIG

So I took that video of Theresa May dancing and added some Notorious BIG cos thats how I roll. Sound on! pic.twitter.com/Idqaro9356  Micky Welch (@m1cvv) August 28, 2018

And even The Inbetweeners

Theresa May looks like she learned how to dance by watching The Inbetweeners Movie pic.twitter.com/j9VQqeOSO4  Haydn Jeavons (@HaydnJeavons) August 28, 2018

The PM is in South Africa as part of a three-day trade mission to South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.

Theresa May meets students and staff at I.D. Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town (PA Images)

Mrs May is expected to declare her desire for the UK to overtake the United States to become the G7s leading investor in Africa by 2022, amid warnings of greater conflict and an increased susceptibility to extremism emerging if jobs are not created.

This morning she played down warnings made last week by Philip Hammond about the dangers posed by a no-deal Brexit.

Mrs May told reporters that leaving the EU without a deal wouldnt be the end of the world

She conceded that no agreement with the EU would not be a walk in the park and insisted that ministers are putting in place measures to ensure the government can make a success of no deal.

Mrs May said she remains confident a good deal can still be struck, and said that the Chancellor was highlighting work in progress figures released in January when he published a letter just hours after the government started revealing its no-deal Brexit preparations.

Mr Hammond was accused by Tory backbenchers of launching another project fear by referring to disputed provisional analysis which claimed GDP could fall and borrowing could be around 80 billion a year higher by 2033/34 if Britain resorted to World Trade Organisation terms.TOKYO (AP)  Japan needs to bolster its missile defenses and its alliance with the United States, its government stressed Tuesday in an annual defense review that judged North Korea to still be a serious threat that has not taken concrete steps to denuclearize. The defense paper, approved Tuesday by the Cabinet, said Japan must add to its missile defense capabilities to be fully prepared while watching if North Korea keeps its promise. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a vague joint statement at their summit in June that included agreements to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

GENEVA (AP)  Investigators working for the U.N.'s top human rights body said Monday that Myanmar military leaders should be prosecuted for genocide against Rohingya Muslims, taking the unusual step of identifying by name six of those it says were behind systematic crimes targeting the ethnic minority. The call, accompanying a first report by the team of investigators, amounts to some of the strongest language yet from U.N. officials who have denounced alleged human rights violations in Myanmar since a bloody crackdown began last August. The three-member "fact-finding mission" and their team, working under a mandate from the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council, meticulously assembled hundreds of accounts from expatriate Rohingya, as well as satellite footage and other information for the report.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP)  Facebook said Monday that it is banning Myanmar's powerful military chief and 19 other individuals and organizations from its site to prevent the spread of hate and misinformation. The social media giant was heavily criticized for permitting itself to be used to inflame ethnic and religious conflict in the country, particularly against minority Rohingya Muslims. It has been accused of being lax in fighting online misinformation and manipulation in many countries, but Myanmar is one where it has been most closely tied to deadly violence. Some 700,000 Rohingya have fled from Myanmar's western state of Rakhine over the past year in response to a brutal counterinsurgency campaign by the military, which has been accused of massive human rights violations.

Story continues

GENEVA (AP)  China is challenging the latest round of U.S. tariffs against Chinese goods through the World Trade Organization. The Chinese government on Monday formally requested "dispute consultations" with the United States over the Trump administration's imposition of $16 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods last week. China has responded with similar taxes on U.S. goods. Its request to the World Trade Organization opens a 60-day period for the two countries to hold talks. China already is holding talks with the U.S. about its previous tariffs on both Chinese steel and aluminum products and over alleged Chinese violations of U.S.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP)  Sen. John McCain's Vietnamese jailer said he respected his former inmate and felt sad about his death, as others in Vietnam paid their respects to the former U.S. Navy pilot who became a prisoner of war and later was instrumental in bringing the wartime foes together. McCain's Skyhawk dive bomber was shot down over Hanoi in 1967 and he was taken prisoner and held in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" prison for more than five years. Former Col. Tran Trong Duyet, who ran the prison at the time, said he met with McCain many times while he was confined there.

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP)  Ostrich skin ready for tailoring, huge flat-screen TVs, "Neo-Viagra" and a cure for cancer? North Korea's official shopper's guide is glossy and full of testimonials from satisfied customers and phone and email contact information for the dozens of companies pitching their latest products  though good luck reaching any of them. The "2018 Korea Commodities" catalog, produced by the North's Committee for the Promotion of International Trade, reflects a side of North Korea often lost in the shadow of its nuclear weapons. Leader Kim Jong Un and many other North Koreans firmly believe their country needs to make more and better consumer goods and sell them to the outside world if it is ever going to have a strong  or even sustainable  economy.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Australia's former prime minister said on Monday he will resign from Parliament this week in a move that could cost the unpopular conservative government its single-seat majority. Malcolm Turnbull told supporters that he will resign from Parliament on Friday, a week after he was forced from office by lawmakers in his conservative Liberal Party because he had lost their support. That could set the stage for an Oct. 6 by-election. Prime Minister Scott Morrison could also call general elections, although he has said he plans to hold polls close to when an election is due in May.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  Australia's former foreign minister has described the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines flight over Ukraine in 2014 as the most emotional time of her life. Julie Bishop was reflecting Tuesday on her five years as Australia's first woman foreign minister after she quit the Cabinet following an unsuccessful bid last week to become prime minister. Most of new Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Cabinet was sworn in on Tuesday, including the new Foreign Minister Marise Payne. Bishop says she remains in contact with the families of the 38 Australian citizens and residents who were among the 298 people killed when a missile brought down Flight 17 on July 17, 2014.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)  Russia postponed indefinitely a meeting on the Afghan peace process planned for next week, Afghan officials said. A statement released Monday by the office of the Afghan presidency said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani have decided to postpone the meeting and hold it at a later date. President Ghani insists the peace talks should be "Afghan owned and led," according to the statement. Lavrov said Russia agrees the peace process should be under the auspices of the Afghans and it is "ready to cooperate," the statement added. Russia's Foreign Ministry, which had extended the invitation to the Taliban despite the group's official designation as a terrorist organization in Russia, also confirmed in a statement Monday that the talks have been postponed after Lavrov's conversation with Ghani.

BEIJING (AP)  Chinese officials on Monday defended Beijing's initiative to build a "New Silk Road" of railways and other infrastructure across Asia against complaints it leaves host countries with too much debt after Malaysia canceled two high-profile projects. The officials said President Xi Jinping's signature foreign policy initiative is creating assets that are needed by developing countries but might take time to pay off. The deputy chairman of the Cabinet planning agency, Ning Jizhe, rejected what he said were foreign news reports that blamed the initiative for debt problems. "People's livelihoods and economic development have been boosted," Ning said at a news conference.Boku will provide Huawei with its carrier billing platform as a payment method for purchases from the Chinese phone manufacturer's AppGallery, Mobile Cloud and Themes stores.

The agreement will see Boku provide Huawei's growing consumer base with the ability to purchase content and services in a seamless and convenient way on their handsets, allowing users to enjoy the content on their phones as soon as possible.

Boku revealed the pair were initially targeting markets such as the UK, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Norway, Belgium, France, Russia, Spain and Austria.

Huawei, China's leading smartphone maker, became the world's second largest manufacturer in the second quarter of 2018 - with a global market share of 15.8%.

Boku chief executive Jon Prideaux, said, "We are very pleased to be working with Huawei. Over the past few years, charging the cost of purchases for your phone bill or pre-paid balance has become the norm for app stores and we've played a leading role in this development."

As of 0925 BST, Boku shares had jumped 4.57% to 170.45p.Japanese companies with operations in Britain are nonplussed by the UK governments approach to Brexit as the deadline for leaving the EU nears, the Financial Times reported .

Hiroaki Nakanishi, chairman of Japanese business lobby Keidanren, said companies were left guessing by lack of clarity about the route to Brexit and disagreements within the government.

"We just can't do anything," Nakanishi, who also chairs Hitachi, told the FT. "Various scenarios get discussed, from no Brexit to plunging into Brexit without any kind of deal [] When you talk to the UK government they say something a bit different depending on who is speaking.

He said leaving the EU with no deal would be disastrous and urged Britain to stay in the customs union  an idea rejected by hardline Brexiters in the government. Nakanishi also said the UK had not acted on requests from the Japanese government submitted in September 2016.

Keidanren represents more than 1,000 Japanese companies including Toyota, Honda and Nissan, which are big investors in the UK and have based their European operations in Britain for decades.

The UK sought to reassure Japanese companies early after the 2016 Brexit vote. It sent a secret letter to Nissan in October that year that prompted the carmaker to proceed with a planned investment in the UK.

But as talks with the EU have worn on without a deal and the government has become increasingly divided, Japanese companies have expressed renewed concern. Nissans boss Carlos Ghosn said in June he could not make further investment decisions about the UK because he had been left in the dark about Brexit.UK Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday that a no-deal Brexit "wouldnt be the end of the world", in what some observers said was an attempt to downplay the warning issued by Chancellor Philip Hammond during the previous week.

Speaking to reporters at the start of a three-day trip to Africa, May said that crashing out of the EU without a deal would not be "a walk in the park", but argued that the UK economy could still benefit from such an unprecedented situation.

The prime minister said: "Look at what the director general of the World Trade Organisation has said. He has said about the no-deal situation that it will not be a walk in the park, but it wouldnt be the end of the world.

"What the government is doing is putting in place the preparation such that if we are in that situation, we can make a success of it, just as we can make a success of a good deal."

Hammond said last week that no-deal Brexit would cost the country an extra 80bn in borrowing by 2030 and inhibit long-term economic growth.

The Prime Minister also said she believed the Chancellor was talking about figures from January that were a "work in progress at that particular time".

May also said the government is "working to the October deadline because from our point of view there is some legislation we have to get through parliament" in order to complete the UK's exit for March 2019.

On her trip to Africa, the PM will visit South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, where she will unveil her plans to boost Britains investment in the continent post-Brexit.Linic , a company closely associated to Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner disposed of a whopping 4,791,200 ordinary shares in the grocery giant on Tuesday.

Linic, which is wholly-owned by Arthur Seligman, as trustee of the Steiner 2008 Millennium Trust, sold the shares at an average price of 1,060p each, for a total transaction amount of 50.78m.

Earlier this month, analysts at Barclay's downgraded Ocado to 'underweight' from 'equal weight' as while the online grocery business has been de-risked, the broker said that did not guarantee "unlimited upside" for the share price.

Over the last nine months, the company has been catapulted into the FTSE 100 after confounding many doubters by signing up four overseas retailers for its Smart Platform robot-operated warehouse system: France's Casino, Sobeys of Canada, Sweden's ICA and US giant Kroger the most impressive of all.

"After several years of unfulfilled promise, the willingness of third parties to pay for Ocados online grocery expertise has undermined a central bear argument on Ocado," Barclays analysts wrote.

As of 1620 BST, Ocado shares had lost 1.48% to 1,063.50p.

Top Director Buys

Value And Income Trust (VIN)

Director name: Oakeshott,Matthew A

Amount purchased: 75,000 @ 267.50p

Value: 200,625.00



C&c Group (CCR)

Director name: Solesbury,Jonathan

Amount purchased: 50,000 @ 3.40

Value: 170,000.00



Tp Icap (TCAP)

Director name: Ng,Edmund

Amount purchased: 20,000 @ 288.94p

Value: 57,788.82



C&c Group (CCR)

Director name: Clerkin,Jim

Amount purchased: 15,000 @ 3.45

Value: 51,748.50



Deltex Medical Group (DEMG)

Director name: Keen,Nigel J

Amount purchased: 2,000,000 @ 0.90p

Value: 18,000.00



Fireangel Safety Technology Group (FA.)

Director name: Silverton,Ashley Victor

Amount purchased: 20,000 @ 51.80p

Value: 10,360.00



Spirent Communications (SPT)

Director name: Hutchinson,Eric G

Amount purchased: 210 @ 119.60p

Value: 251.16



Mitchells & Butlers (MAB)

Director name: Jones,Timothy (Tim) Charles

Amount purchased: 54 @ 255.18p

Value: 137.80



Mitchells & Butlers (MAB)

Director name: Urban,Phil

Amount purchased: 54 @ 255.18p

Value: 137.80





Top Director Sells

Ocado Group (OCDO)

Director name: Steiner,Tim

Amount sold: 4,791,200 @ 1,060.00p

Value: 50,786,721.83



Cranswick (CWK)

Director name: Couch,Adam

Amount sold: 25,477 @ 3,246.45p

Value: 827,098.08



Cranswick (CWK)

Director name: Bottomley,Mark

Amount sold: 16,875 @ 3,246.45p

Value: 547,838.44



Cranswick (CWK)

Director name: Brisby ,Jim

Amount sold: 16,734 @ 3,246.45p

Value: 543,260.95



Cranswick (CWK)

Director name: Davey,Martin T P

Amount sold: 13,256 @ 3,246.45p

Value: 430,349.42



Cranswick (CWK)

Director name: Aldersley,Christopher

Amount sold: 9,401 @ 3,246.45p

Value: 305,198.77



Prudential (PRU)

Director name: Turner,James

Amount sold: 1,473 @ 1,748.00p

Value: 25,748.04



RHC Holding - the holding company of Singh brothers Malvinder and Shivinder - has sent legal notices to Religare Enterprises and Religare Capital Markets Ltd, demanding a refund of over Rs 2,500 crore for alleged "cheating, fraud and breach of agreement". This may just be the beginning of the multiple legal battles that are set to unfold over how the Singh brothers, who lost the control of REL in February this year, lost Rs 22,500 crore in less than a decade.

In its legal notice, RHC Holding has accused the REL management of persuading the Singh brothers to set up and finance a subsidiary firm called Religare Corporate Services Ltd (RCSL) - currently known as Finserve Shared Services Pvt Ltd. RCSL was set up in 2011 and RHC Holding invested Rs 839 crore by way of equity, preference shares and debt . The REL management had assured 18 per cent interest on the investment and buyout off all preference shares owned by the Singh brothers.

However, the company management unilaterally terminated the agreement and transferred all the corporate functions of RCSL to REL in 2015, the notice said. The RHC Holdings termed the termination of agreement as malafide, fraudulent and amounted to criminal breach of trust.

It said: "RCSL was incorporated by my client (the Singh brothers) and financed by them, on the basis of the express representation and inducement on behalf of the company (REL) that the promoters will be fully compensated along with the IRR of 18 per cent per annum for the funds provided by them (the Singh brothers)."

"However, in order to evade performing your part of the bargain as undertaken and represented by you, related to the buying out of the investment in FY 2017, you deliberately and malafidely pre-emptively terminated the master services agreement and contrived to escape your obligations," RHC Holding said in its notice to REL. The RHC Holding has given 30 days to REL to pay back a total sum of Rs 1,430.85 crore on account of the investment and 18 per cent interest.

In another notice to Religare Capital Markets Ltd, the RHC Holding said that it had invested Rs 1,333.47 crore in RCML in various tranches between the FY 2011-12 and 2015-16. However, the RCML suffered a huge loss of over Rs 731 crore on account of the provisioning /write off of amount equal to the amount of investments made by RCML in Religare Capital Markets International (Mauritius) LTD.

"Such colossal losses have cast an enormous doubt over the ability and intention of REL and RCML to pay the promised benefits in terms of the arrangement (amongst RHC Holding, REL and RCML)," the notice said. It further said that the Singh brothers were clearly hoodwinked by REL and RCML into believing that the business of RCML was profitable and valuable and the investment made by RHC Holding would yield the promised returns.

RHC Holding has asked RCML to pay Rs 1,062.88 crore (Rs 524.47 crore along with premium of Rs 538.41 crore) till March 31, 2018. In case the REL and RCML fail to pay the amount within 30 days, the RHC Holding has threatened to initiate legal proceedings.Japanese carmaker Toyota has announced it will invest $500.0m in Uber and expand a partnership focused on developing self-driving vehicles.

The manufacturer said the deal would involve the "mass-production" of autonomous vehicles that would be used in Ubers ride sharing services.

According to a press release issued by the two firms, self-driving technology from both companies will be integrated into purpose-built Toyota vehicles.

The fleet will be based on Toyota's Sienna Minivan model with pilot trials set to begin in 2021.

Shigeki Tomoyama, executive vice president of Toyota Motor Corporation, said: "This agreement and investment marks an important milestone in our transformation to a mobility company as we help provide a path for safe and secure expansion of mobility services like ride-sharing."

It was hoped that the deal would give Toyota and Uber a boost in the race to develop autonomous vehicles. The ride hailing company scaled back its self-driving trials earlier in the year after a fatal crash in Tempe, Arizona, in March, where one self-driving vehicle killed a pedestrian.

On Monday, Uber said it would focus more on its electric scooter and bike business in future to make travel in the city more efficient, despite the fact it could hurt profits.A self-driving taxi has successfully taken passengers through Tokyo in the first public test for autonomous vehicles.

The RoboCar MiniVan test started early on Tuesday and has had customers pay for the service.

ZMP, the developer of this autonomous driving technology, and the taxi company Hinomaru Kotsu, said the tests that started this week are the first in the world to involve driverless taxis and fare-paying passengers.

In the test, the van made four round-trips a day on a busy 5.3km stretch of one of the citys roads. Passengers would unlock the door themselves and pay their one-way fare via app.

The experiment will continue all throughout September.

It is hoped that the technology will be ready to service by the time athletes and tourists arrive in the city for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

The authorities expect that by 2030 every fifth car on the Japanese roads will travel at least partially without the driver.

The news of the Tokyo tests comes as Japanese carmaker Toyota announced it would be investing $500m in Uber to develop a program of self-driving Toyota vehicles that would be used by the ride-hailing firm.Stocks on the Continent are trading on a mixed note, weighed down by weak readings on the Eurozone economy and renewed tensions in periphery debt markets, which are offsetting hopes that a trade deal between the US and Mexico foreshadows reduced trade tensions globally.

Indeed, according to the White House, the US President and Germany's Chancellor spoke on Monday, with both said to have shown "strong support" for the ongoing talks between Brussels and Washington aimed at removing trade barriers.

Echoing those mixed trends perhaps, JP Morgan strategist Mislav Matejka sounded a 'bullish' note on global equities on Tuesday, but not on euro area markets, precisely as a result of the uncertainty in Italy.

"We are constructive on global equities into year-end, so some stabilisation in the relative downtrend of Eurozone is possible, but not a full change of direction, in our view, at least not until there is clarity on Italy," Matejka said.

As of 1158 BST the benchmark Stoxx 600 was edging higher by 0.09% or 0.34 points to 385.91, alongside a rise of 0.18% or 22.04 points to 12,560.43 for the German Dax, although Milan's FTSE Mibtel was off by 0.51% or 107.57 points to 20,689.50.

Weighing on Italian shares were comments from one of the country's deputy prime ministers, Luigi Di Maio, who according to local media reportedly said his government might breach the European Union's 3.0% cap on public deficits if needed to finance social spending.

His remarks saw the yield on the country's 10-year debt move nearer to its late-May highs of 3.44%, after the euroskeptic government came to power.

Basic Resources was the best performing industrial group, with the corresponding Stoxx 600 sector gauge rising by 1.62% or 7.13 points to 447.01, alongside a 1.21% jump in a separate index for Auto&Parts to 547.15.

But as concerns around international trade ebbed, other tensions were apparent, with German foreign minister Heiko Maas having called on Monday for a "new, balanced partnership" with the US, even as French President Emmanuel Macron defended the need for Europe to be self-reliant in defence and financial matters

Against that backdrop, reports indicated that the Russian Federation was set to stage its largest war games since the height of the cold war, with nearly 300,000 troops set to participate, including all of its airborne units.

Economic data on Tuesday was noticeably weak, with the European Central Bank reporting that the year-on-year rate of growth in he Eurozone's money supply slowed sharply, going from a 4.5% clip in June to 4.0% for July (consensus: 4.3%).

Those money supply figures prompted Claus Vistesen at Pantheon Macroeconomics to tell clients: "We are fairly confident that growth will remain decent in Q3 and Q4, at about 0.4% quarter-on-quarter respectively, but the trend in M1 points to a slowdown at the start of next year."

In parallel, ISTAT reported that its monthly gauge of consumer confidence in Italy had slipped from a reading of 116.2 in June to 115.2 for last month.

Later in the day, at 1330 BST, the focus would shift to the US, with the Department of Commerce due to publish data on the foreign trade balance, also for the month of July.

On the corporate front, shares of Ryanair were higher after it announced that Chicago-based hedge fund, Harris Associates, had taken a 3.07% stake in the carrier.

Elsewhere, according to La Repubblica, authorities in Rome were reportedly investigating French media outfit Vivendi's failure to notify of the fact that it now had a controlling stake in Telecom Italia, possibly even forcing it to sell the company's Sparkle and Telsy units on national security grounds.

Swiss fund manager GAM said it would begin making payments to investors in its crisis-hit funds in September, with plans to return up to 87% of the assets held in them.Stocks are extending the prior session's gains, with investors' concerns regarding international trade said to be receding on the heels of the trade deal struck by the US and Mexico the day before.

On that note, according to the White House, the US President and Germany's Chancellor spoke on Monday with both said to have shown "strong support" for the ongoing talks between Brussels and Washington aimed at removing trade barriers.

Against that backdrop, as of 0822 BST the benchmark Stoxx 600 was ahead by 0.26% or 1.02 points to 386.59, alongside a rise of 0.33% or 42.01 points to 12,580.25 for the German Dax, although Milan's FTSE Mibtel was off by 0.17% or 40.12 points to 20,759.41.

Auto&Parts companies were clearly in the lead, with the corresponding Stoxx 600 sector gauge climbing 1.46% or 7.88 points to 548.59.

On Monday, Merkel had also called on Germany to assume greater responsibility on the global stage, even as some from her junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats, were calling for a "new, balanced partnership" with the US.

"Returning from her summer break German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she plans to protect European interests. If protecting European interests means standing up to Trump in a trade war, Europe and the euro stand to lose," said Jasper Lawler, director of Research at LCG.

"However, if European interests were to be served by Germany spreading out some of its budget surplus across Europe, that could attract foreign investors back into European markets. Nevertheless, given Ms Merkel's weak standing in German parliament after the last election, the latter seems unlikely."

Economic data on Tuesday was weak, with the European Central Bank reporting that the year-on-year rate of growth in he Eurozone's money supply slowed sharply, going from a 4.5% clip in June to 4.0% for July (consensus: 4.3%).

In parallel, ISTAT reported that its monthly gauge of consumer confidence in Italy had slipped from a reading of 116.2 in June to 115.2 for last month.

Later in the day, at 1330 BST, the focus would shift to the US, with the Department of Commerce due to publish data on the foreign trade balance, also for the month of July.

On the corporate front, according to La Repubblica, authorities in Rome were reportedly investigating French media outfit Vivendi's failure to notify of the fact that it now had a controlling stake in Telecom Italia, possibly even forcing it to sell the company's Sparkle and Telsy units on national security grounds.

Swiss fund manager GAM said it would begin making payments to investors in its crisis-hit funds in September, with plans to return up to 87% of the assets held in them.Theresa May claimed that a no-deal Brexit wouldnt be the end of the world as she sought to downplay a controversial warning made by Philip Hammond last week that it would cost 80bn in extra borrowing and inhibit long-term economic growth. The prime minister conceded that crashing out of the European Union without a deal wouldnt be a walk in the park but went on to argue that the UK could make an economic success of the unprecedented situation if it proved impossible to negotiate a satisfactory divorce.  Guardian

Britain should limit the windfall gains of landowners by freezing the value of plots newly designated for housing, according to a thinktank urging sweeping reforms to tackle a national shortage of affordable homes. Calling on the government to pursue land market reforms similar to the German model, the Institute for Public Policy Research said planning authorities should be given new powers to zone land for development and freeze its price.  Guardian

Toyota is set to invest $500m (388m) in Uber in a major bet on the future of driverless cars, it announced on Monday night. The funding from the Japanese carmaking giant, which values Uber at more than $70bn, will see the two companies work together on autonomous vehicles. It marks a significant show of faith in the US transport app, whose driverless car division has been beset by problems in recent months.  Telegraph

"Brexit is insignificant. Im not concerned at all. Whats important is that we ramp up manufacturing in this country, encourage more people to buy British goods, and keep money within our economy rather than boosting the coffers of China or Poland. John Elliott is the outspoken, Brexit-backing multi-millionaire businessman who in 1974 founded Ebac, a manufacturer in County Durham best known for its dehumidifiers and water coolers, and most recently washing machines. These were launched in 2016, making it the first time in almost a decade that a domestic washing machine rolled off a British production line.  Telegraph

Partners at one of the worlds largest accountancy firms are set for their biggest payday in nearly a decade in a move that could give more ammunition to critics of the four big audit firms. The 702 equity partners of Deloitte will receive an average payout of 832,000 for the latest financial year, a rise of 0.6 per cent year-on-year, their biggest in nine years. Last year they received an average of 865,000, but the figure was calculated using distributable profits before payment of corporation tax. This year the firm switched to a post-tax basis.  The Times

VAT laws should be reformed to create a two-tier system for online and physical retailers in an attempt to save the countrys dying high streets. As calls grow for an Amazon tax on online retailers, one of Britains largest property consultancies has argued that an overhaul of the VAT regime would be a more effective way of saving shops. Colliers International suggests that charging 15 per cent sales tax for purchases in stores and 22.5 per cent VAT for online transactions would help to level the playing field.  The TimesThe UN is meeting in Geneva between 27 and 31 August to discuss issues related to the use of robots in modern-day warfare. Robots are basically machines that are programed to carryout predesignated activities and many countries are developing them for warfare. These are labeled as killer robots. These robots must be banned from undertaking certain tasks to ensure that human rights are not violated. Some of these that have been identified by Amnesty International are unlawful killings, and injuries before it's too late.

The Daily Mail UK reports that the UN must impress upon the robot designers the need to exercise restraint on the limit to which a machine can be allowed to proceed without the involvement of humans.

This is because certain decisions on the battlefield cannot be delegated to machines.

10 things to know about 'killer robots' https://t.co/j2L4knmEXf Autonomous weapons systems decide for themselves who they attack, and when. So far, the biggest military powers have rejected the introduction of binding rules to govern their use. Here are the key facts.  Sidsel Petersen (@sidselmarie_) August 27, 2018

Dangers from killer robots

Many countries have been developing robots for use in military and police operations. These are basically automated weapons that have the ability to independently pick out and eliminate targets. This is being reexamined because humans must be responsible for taking critical decisions like the selection and engagement of targets.

The meeting in Geneva will discuss various options for addressing issues that might crop up if the killer robots are given total freedom, leading to the violation of human rights.

The previous Certain Conventional Weapons CCW meeting was held in April where the majority of the member states realized the need to retain human control over the killer robots.

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It is necessary that humans are made responsible to identify, select and engage the targets in order to comply with International Law. Twenty-six out of the 120 countries wanted a total ban. These countries included Austria, Brazil and Egypt. China also wanted to prohibit total reliance on fully autonomous weapon systems. However, countries that were already working on autonomous weapons systems did not want to be tied down.

Killer robots must be controlled

According to The Amnesty, it is necessary that there be international laws to control killer robots. The focus should be to restrict the use of fully autonomous weapons systems. The meeting in Geneva of will allow states to discuss various options so that killer robots do not pose any uncontrolled threat to humans. In the opinion of Rasha Abdul Rahim, an official of Amnesty International, we are sliding towards a future where humans could be erased from decision-making around the use of force.

The previous meeting where this was discussed was held in April 2018 and there was support to evolve a suitable mechanism for banning the use of fully autonomous weapons systems. This is because situations keep changing at the war front and robots cannot take complex decisions where emotions are involved. Humans must have the last say.Senator John McCain had his life, his inner fortitude, and his personal truth tested in more ways than most frail humans can even imagine, as pointed out on Twitter by former president, Barack Obama, in his tribute. The flag at the White House has already returned to full staff, while the Capitol and other buildings uphold honoring the late Senator McCain with flags at half-staff, fitting for his naval service of 20 years, followed by his more than three decades in Congress.

George H.W. Bush honored McCain as a true patriot of the highest order, and George W.

Bush will join Barack Obama in offering eulogies to John McCain at memorial services later this week on Thursday. A friend of more than 40 years, former vice president Joe Biden will speak at McCain's Arizona memorial service. The two former presidents were personally selected by McCain to offer their respects, and former president Jimmy Carter reflected on the steadfast integrity that governed John McCains personal and political conscience.

While official remarks from the Trump administration closed with the standard: Our hearts and prayers are with you, leaders from around the globe chose meaningful reflections and words to describe John McCain, as reported on August 26 by the Washington Post and on August 27 by CBS News.

Sen. McCain lost his physical battle with glioblastoma at 81 this past Saturday, August 25, but the impressions forged by his vision and integrity are eternal and unforgettable.

Crossing lines for the right causes

John McCain rightly earned his nickname of Maverick by frequently failing to toe his party line and making a habit of collaborating with lawmakers of differing politics.

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He famously felt that a political opponent does not have to be my enemy, and he lived by that philosophy.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had no problem repeating the praise of McCain as an American patriot, and noted that his lifetime of public service and sacrifice to his country were an inspiration to millions. Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia assumed his office last Friday, but took time to note that John McCain was consistently devoted to fostering the alliance between the US and his country, and praised the senator as a man of great courage and conviction. Those words are a far cry from the testy telephone conversations with the previous prime minister and the current chief executive.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted that John McCain understood the history and the long-standing roots of US support for his nation, realizing that it was the late legislators belief in democracy and freedom. German Chancellor Angela Merkel makes no secret of her distaste for the policies and mannerisms that mark the Trump administration, lauding that McCain was led by the firm conviction that the sense of all political work lies in service to freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas assured that European allies of the US can never forget the diligent efforts of John McCain, saying: We will remember his voice.

Heartfelt from Hanoi

The floodgate of tributes to John McCain lack nothing in terms of sincerity, much like the man himself, and among the most moving are the memorials being made at the US Embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam and at the monument marking where McCain parachuted from his Skyhawk, soon to be taken as a prisoner of war at the infamous Hanoi Hilton. For more than five years, McCain endured brutal beatings, both arms never being properly set after breaking, and a broken leg sustained in the ordeal.

He refused an offer of early release after it was discovered that his father was the commander of all Pacific operations, relating that he would only leave once all his fellow captives were released, per proper procedure. He frequently credited the men around him as the true heroes of his experience. They were the ones who fed and cared for him when he was unable to meet his own needs for survival, and he wanted to be buried as close as possible to his Annapolis classmate, Chuck Larson.

Tears, bouquets, and loving handprints cover the areas of commemoration now, as featured by CBS News, and Hanoi residents remembered McCain as a man who fought for peace in many countries, including their own.

In 1995, McCain and former senator and Secretary of State, John Kerry, were crucial catalysts in normalizing relations between the US and North Vietnam. McCain also focused on ensuring the freedom and humane treatment of wartime prisoners, and the closing of detention centers such as Guantanamo Bay.

Despite his horrific experience, John McCain never harbored any bitterness toward the people or the nation of his capture, where conditions of life and work are already strained. In his characteristic, self-effacing manner, McCain only mused that he never understood why the monument to him at True Bach Lake even existed or had any significance to local people. There is no reason for me to hold a grudge or anger, John McCain reiterated, realizing that the memory and evidence of the pain inflicted by merciless guards can never be erased. There's no sense in me hating the Vietnamese...I hold no ill will towards them.India's oldest metro system may soon become a trend-setter by introducing the country's first virtual grocery stores. Bruised by widening losses, the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) reportedly commissioned the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C) to restructure its revenue model and look at ways to increase non-fare revenue.

Among the solutions put forward is a virtual grocery store that will allow commuters to scan and order products while waiting for their trains - to be home delivered later - without having to visit a supermarket.

According to Mint, a team of three IIM-C students, Alan Shaji Idicula, Urjaswit Lal and Tushar Kumar, came up with the unique idea of installing wall-length billboards on the walls of the metro stations designed to look like a series of supermarket shelves and tying up with e-commerce majors like Flipkart or Amazon to start the virtual store.

"The digital billboards will display product images along with the QR code. Passengers can scan the code to order daily-use products like groceries and FMCG items," Idicula told the daily. "The e-commerce company would have to tie up with local stores to deliver the products in a few hours." So the concept basically marries the two distinct models of traditional brick and mortar shops and e-commerce.

Of course, QR Code Virtual Stores have been making waves abroad for a while now. For instance, back in 2011, UK's retail giant Tesco opened its first virtual store in a Seoul subway station, which drove over 900,000 Homeplus app downloads in less than one year. The company saw its online sales zoom up 130% since the launch, and a year later, Tesco Homeplus announced it was extending the concept to 20 new locations across South Korea. In the past few years, virtual stores have popped up across the world, including the US, Europe and Australia.

The daily added that Idicula's team was picked winner by KMRC among 20-odd teams of students that were studying different metro stations to find additional sources of revenue. The revenue model proposed by the trio also suggests leasing out unutilised space for commercial activities. The team calculated that around 68,478 sq ft of space is lying unutilised across Kolkata's 20 metro stations, which could be tapped to generate additional revenue of Rs 20 crore. In addition, KMRC could earn revenue through train wrap ads, hoardings and digital kiosks, and from paid Wi-Fi services inside Metro trains.

That is a windfall for a transportation system that spends around Rs 2.68 for every rupee earned. "We are trying to implement it. The idea is to increase our non-fare revenue so that there is no burden on passengers. We are trying to utilise our space in the best possible manner," KMRC spokesperson Indrani Banerjee told the daily, without divulging whether they have initiated talks with any e-commerce company.

Currently, 90% of KMRC's revenue is fare-based, which were last raised in 2013 after a gap of 12 years.Memphis, TN saw a man take a plea deal with the courts after he confessed to beating his wife with a hammer and killing her. They allegedly took a trip to Graceland from their Oio home as his wife was "dying" from cancer. Whilst in Tennessee, his wife was reported as dead from natural causes. The Cantonrep noted that his story was that she collapsed and died in a car parking lot.

In January 2018, when the death was reported, 73-year-old Phillip Snider told police "first responders" had taken the body away. 5wmcactionnews reported that the police found no record of first responders removing the body.

In fact, Cantonrep reported that it was initially thought that the old man might have had dementia as his story simply didn't add up.

Graceland death story changed several times

Another story he came up with was that Roberta died while travelling between Columbus and Cincinnati. He then continued on to Graceland and threw his wife's remains into the Tennessee River. However, after carrying out further investigation, authorities noted that his wife wasn't in the car with him when he drove to Graceland. They recovered surveillance evidence to prove that. However, to get more evidence of foul play, they used an undercover approach.

Posing as a woman, they made friends with him on the internet and got his trust.

Eventually, he believed their story that she wanted to kill her mother. Perhaps they asked him the best way to get rid of an unwanted woman. In any event, he trusted "her" and finally explained how he'd killed his wife brutally and with premeditation. It seemed that family and police' initial suspicions he may have been suffering from dementia were incorrect.

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Wife killed with a plastic bag and a hammer

The 73-year-old, Phillip, confessed to killing his 53-year-old wife Roberta, by putting a plastic bag over her head. Then to make sure of his wife's death, he beat her with a hammer. Having got the grisly job done, he tipped her into a Rubbermaid container. What he did with the body after that is not known yet.

However, as part of his plea deal to take 20-years in prison, he has to show the police where he disposed of the unfortunate woman.

Phillip Snider, 73, of Hartville admits he killed his wife and dumped her body on a trip to Memphis. Details: https://t.co/o1w7Rr5mR9 via @cantonrepdotcom  Jessica Holbrook (@JHolbrookREP) August 27, 2018

WMCA noted that "Snider pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, tampering with evidence, and gross abuse of a corpse" The sentencing came on Monday, (August 27), seven months after the crime. During the sentencing, the judge, Frank Forchione, told Phillip Snider that The hottest places in hell are reserved for people like you.Just as many students return to school this season, the same holds true for the children of Jon and Kate Gosselin. Twins Mady and Cara are now senior high school students. Kate posted a back to school picture of the teens on her Instagram account on August 23. Though four of the Gosselin sextuplets also appear in the photo, Collin and Hannah are not with their siblings. Jon Gosselin, however, shared a picture on August 27 on Instagram of daughter Hannah going back to school. She is not with her siblings in the photo.

While the photo is lovely, it also raises doubt about whether Hannah actually lives with her father or with her mother, Kate.

Jon and Kate have an ongoing custody dispute that spilled into the public purview. Fans are as confused as ever about where Hannah lives.

Media tossed its weight behind Kates claim of custody

Good Housekeeping and Hollywood Gossip backed Kates claim that she has full custody of all of the Gosselins children, which Blasting News reported on August 26. With Jon introducing the new photo of Hannah for fans and social media followers to appreciate, the confusion continues to mount.

Regardless of where Hannah, lives, though, she appears okay, wearing a smile -- along with cute attire for her first day back at school. Jon, like millions of parents throughout the world, stated that he is proud of his daughter.

Jon relayed lengthy caption with photo of Hannah

Jon also penned a lengthy caption to accompany Hannahs picture posted on Instagram on August 27. He noted her fresh start, as well as father and daughter having worked really hard to get here. He also mentioned that Hannah made new friends all summer and that she will graduate with them. Jon included the hashtag #newbeginnings.

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Jon Gosselin Hints He Has Custody of Hannah With Back to School Pic https://t.co/88lgaeW8xp pic.twitter.com/Mt4dPka8Hu  Globalnewshunt (@globalnewshunt) August 27, 2018

A limited number of possibilities exist regarding where Hannah lives and which parent has custody. In addition, both parents could be telling the truth about their custody of the Gosselin children.

Kate might have full custody of the twins and the sextuplets. That said, Jon could have made arrangements with Kate for Hannah to live with him.

The Gosselin daughter appears to attend public school

If Kate does have custody of the eight Gosselin children while Hannah lives with Jon, it would be a situation comparable to Collins living arrangements. Collin is staying at a facility away from his family. He is enrolled full-time in a program related to unspecified special needs, according to Yahoo Celebrity.

The fact that Hannah is not wearing a uniform while standing outside Jons house is contrary to how her siblings appear in the photo that Kate posted, according to People. The 14-year-old might be going to public school.

Further insight might be revealed during Kates upcoming TLC reality show called Kate Plus Date. A premiere date has not been announced, however.

Be sure to follow Blasting News for the latest Gosselin updates.Gertler et al in Nature:

Replication is essential for building confidence in research studies1, yet it is still the exception rather than the rule2,3. That is not necessarily because funding is unavailable  it is because the current system makes original authors and replicators antagonists. Focusing on the fields of economics, political science, sociology and psychology, in which ready access to raw data and software code are crucial to replication efforts, we survey deficiencies in the current system.

We propose reforms that can both encourage and reinforce better behaviour  a system in which authors feel that replication of software code is both probable and fair, and in which less time and effort is required for replication.

Current incentives for replication attempts reward those efforts that overturn the original results. In fact, in the 11 top-tier economics journals we surveyed, we could find only 11 replication studies  in this case, defined as reanalyses using the same data sets  published since 2011. All claimed to refute the original results. We also surveyed 88 editors and co-editors from these 11 journals. All editors who replied (35 in total, including at least one from each journal) said they would, in principle, publish a replication study that overturned the results of an original study. Only nine of the respondents said that they would consider publishing a replication study that confirmed the original results. We also personally experienced antagonism between replicators and authors in a programme sponsored by the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), a non-governmental organization that actively funds software-code replication. We participated as authors of original studies (P.G. and S.G.) and as the chair of 3ies board of directors (P.G.). In our experience, the programme worked liked this: 3ie selected influential papers to be replicated and then held an open competition, awarding approximately US$25,000 for the replication of each study4. The organization also offered the original authors the opportunity to review and comment on the replications. Of 27 studies commissioned, 21 were completed, and 7 (33%) reported that they were unable to fully replicate the results in the original article. The only replication published in a peer-reviewed journal5 claimed to refute the results of the original paper.

Despite 3ies best efforts, adversarial relationships developed between original and replication researchers. Original authors of five studies wrote in public comments that the replications actively sought to refute their results and were nitpicking.

More here.As Kerala comes to terms with worst ever floods in nearly a century, the contribution to chief minister's distress relief fund (CMDRF) has clocked Rs 713.92 crore in just a fortnight. This figure is way more than Rs 600 crore initial aid offered by the central government so far.

According to a report in The Times of India, as many as 3.91 lakh persons have so far contributed to CMDRF since August 14. The humanitarian aid received by the state's CMDRF has surpassed all other relief funds.

Donations to CMDRF on Monday alone accounted at Rs 5.6 crore. Of the Rs 713.92 crore, Rs 132.62 crore was received through banks and UPIs linked with CMDRF gateway. The CMDRF's account with State Bank of India got Rs 518.24 crore as deposits, the report said.

Rs 43 crore came through Paytm as well as online contributions such as wallets/apps. The chief minister's office has received cash, checks and drafts worth Rs 20 crore to the relief fund, it added.

Tech giant Google and its employees have contributed over Rs 7.01 crore ($1 million) to help flood relief efforts in Kerala and Karnataka.

With the state struggling to get back on its feet in the wake of the massive damage caused by floods, the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has urged Malayalees across the world to pitch in with a month's salary.

His appeal on Facebook added that "Malayalees should be united to build a new Kerala. Kerala's strength is not its treasury but the support of the world". For those who can't afford to donate a full month's salary at a go, Vijayan suggested donating three days' salary for a period of 10 months instead.

In a statement released last Friday, Vijayan had said that as per initial estimates the total damage in the state stood around Rs 20,000 crore.Ahmed Rashid at the NYRB:

An equally pressing issue, which the US forces, especially, have yet to address, concerns the source, or sources, of all the Talibans new equipment. Providing logistics, massing fighters, and coordinating serial attacks around the country are the task of a well-drilled, well-supplied command structure. That is what Washington and Kabul are dealing with: a Taliban force, once considered a rag-tag army of militants, that now has the savvy of generals and the resources of a serious army.

For the US, this development is surely resonant of Vietnam. It was the 1968 Tet offensive launched by the South Vietnamese guerrillas, leading to talks in Paris with a North Vietnamese delegation, that paved the way for US withdrawal, which, once completed, left the South Vietnamese regime to collapse in 1975 and the communists to stroll into Saigon. Afghanistan may just have seen its Tet offensive. A resumption of talks with the US will eventually follow, but to what end this time?

more here.That's the short version of this story. But the enticing details are best told by Stephen Spann, M.D., M.B.A., vice president of medical affairs and founding dean of the UH College of Medicine.

Spann, who's been involved in family medicine education for 39 years, spent some time with AAFP News answering a variety of questions about a venture that, in his words, "has been a gradual process, but from the very beginning, senior leadership at the university, and then the faculty, were intrigued with this mission and have really bought into it."

Of course, the promise of $100,000 to fund each student in the first class is a great kickoff.

"We think the scholarships will do two things. First, they will help us attract great medical students. Secondly, the decreased debt load may reduce the temptation for students to bypass primary care and choose higher-paying procedural specialties," said Spann.

He noted the importance of developing additional scholarship and loan repayment programs to keep similar financial incentives front and center for future classes as well.

Want to know more? Read on.

Q. Why does Texas need more primary care physicians?

A. We are ranked 47th out of 50 states in terms of our primary care physician-to-population ratio, and if we wanted just to reach the national average, we'd need about 4,600 additional primary care physicians in Texas today. The country has a deficit -- and we in Texas have a significant deficit -- of primary care physicians.

We have shortages in both rural and urban areas of our state. There are significant numbers of health professional shortage areas and primary care underserved areas even in the greater Houston area, so we want some of our graduates to practice in those underserved areas.

Q. What is your recruiting strategy for the inaugural class and beyond?

A. Two things. We plan to use a holistic admissions process that will pay attention to factors beyond GPA and the MCAT (Medical College Admission Test). There's pretty good data that shows those are not terribly predictive of the quality of physician you're going to produce, and they probably tend to bias your admission toward folks more likely to choose non-primary care specialties. Other factors have been identified that predict primary care specialty choice, so we'll pay a lot of attention to those.

In terms of trying to get more underrepresented minorities, we hope to develop some pipeline programs that reach into high school, middle school, maybe even elementary school to get young people from those underrepresented minorities interested in a medical career. The University of Houston is the second most diverse public university campus in the nation, so we have a have a good pipeline from our own premedical programs.

We would like our medical student population to reflect the population of Texas, which is 40 percent Hispanic, 12 percent African-American.

Q. What is your strategy for keeping your graduates in the state for residency and beyond.

A. I've been in family medicine education in this state for 28 years now -- I know the residency programs and most of the program directors across the state, and I work closely with our state Academy (Texas AFP).

We will certainly encourage our graduates to pursue residency education in the state, because we know that in Texas, if you do your medical school and residency in the state of Texas, you have an 80 percent probability of practicing in Texas. And if you're a family medicine resident, the probability soars to 90 percent or more.

We want our students to train at the residencies in this state so they will stay and take care of the population of this state.

Q. How soon can you realistically expect that half of your graduates will pick primary care?

A. I'd like to meet that goal with our first graduating class. When people ask how we're going to achieve that level, I talk about the intake process and the students we'll admit, and I tell them about a curriculum that is going to be very strong in primary care.

I also mention the culture we're developing -- and part of that culture is dependent on the faculty. We're recruiting professionals who have a real affinity for primary care, and a significant number of our faculty will be primary care physicians. We will, of course, also depend on subspecialists to help train our students.

With that said, it is not going to be OK for any faculty member to ever tell a student, "You are too smart to be a primary care doctor."

Q. What will your curriculum look like?

A. We're building in a lot of exposure to primary care, continuity of care, family-oriented care. And then through those experiences, students will learn a lot about social determinants of health and start to understand health disparities.

Every student will spend one half day a week, every week for four years of medical school, in a primary care setting. We're calling that the longitudinal primary care clerkship.

One week a month, those students will be part of an interprofessional student team that includes the medical student, a nursing student, a pharma student, a social work student, perhaps a law student and others. The team will be assigned to a family with complex medical and social problems and who lives in an underserved community. The teams will take care of those families, and will visit them monthly to provide education and advocacy. This may not entail hands-on care, but the health care teams will partner with patients to help them navigate the health care system.

The curriculum also features a core clerkship year with 24 weeks spent in a longitudinal integrated clerkship that includes outpatient experiences with preceptors in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, OB/Gyn, neurology and psychiatry.

And every student will do a four-week rural health rotation -- likely in a primary care specialty.

Q. What has been the response from the medical community in Texas and from around the country?

A. People recognize and write about the importance of having a curriculum that teaches about social determinants of health and health disparities, a curriculum that teaches about how to improve the value of heath care. A lot of the important elements of our curriculum are addressing what the experts say we need to do in terms of training the next generation of physicians. That's been received very positively.

Q. Can you explain the underlying reasons why the United States continues to struggle with building an adequate primary care workforce?

A. Graduates may be tempted to vote with their wallets, and most experts believe that discrepancies in pay plays a role in specialty choice, but I don't think that's the only thing.

There are other issues, including modern students' interest in work/life balance; for some reason, students have gotten the idea that modern primary care doesn't offer that balance, when in fact it does.

Also, some medical students are enamored with technology and want to use a lot of it in their practices. Primary care physicians use technology, too, but ours is much more a relational specialty than a technological specialty.

The other reality is that most of our traditional medical schools harbor a hidden curriculum that discourages students from going into primary care. I can't count how many times I've had students tell me they came to medical school thinking about becoming a primary care doctor, but Professor X -- insert any "ologist" -- told them they were too smart to be a primary care doctor.

Those professors are not being malicious or malevolent, but traditional medical school faculty, especially subspecialists who've spent their entire careers in academic medicine, really don't understand primary care.

They don't understand that being a great primary care physician is the ultimate intellectual challenge in medicine.

Related AAFP News Coverage

Annals of Family Medicine Research

Community Colleges Hold Key to Family Medicine Diversity

(7/18/2018)

Expanding the Primary Care Pipeline in the Golden State

(6/25/2018)

Leader Voices Blog: No, I'm Not 'Settling' for Family Medicine

(1/9/2017)

Students Rank Family Medicine No. 1 in Specialty Choice Survey

(8/17/2016)Accountability board hears abuse-of-power claims against Gov. Noem

The Government Accountability Board wants more information about the allegations before charting a path forward.PHOENIX  A suspect who was killed after exchanging gunfire with Phoenix police officers has now been identified.

It was the second fatal officer-involved incident Monday.

Police responded around 2 a.m. to a report about a shooting near Bell Road and 35th Avenue and encountered a male suspect in the street.

Investigators say the suspect  identified as 20-year-old Bryce Schenkenberg  refused to drop a handgun and fired.

The officers returned fire, hitting the suspect and he was pronounced dead.

Police say two victims with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds were found inside a home. They say the victims and suspect knew each other, but a motive hasnt been determined.

A few hours earlier several miles south, a male suspect in a mobile park pointed a gun at officers and was fatally shot.Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

The University of New Mexico agreed to an $800,000 payout to settle a former medical residents claims that she was retaliated against and ultimately fired after reporting a fellow resident had raped her.

Dr. Cynthia Herald and the university reached the settlement prior to closing arguments in a trial last November. They signed the agreement in January, but state law precluded the immediate release of the details.

Herald had sought about $4 million in lost wages in addition to compensation for damages.

The settlement, first reported by New Mexico Political Report, closed the case Herald first brought in 2011. While she lost in court in 2013, she successfully appealed en route to the two-week trial in 2017.

Herald, a former UNM anesthesiology resident, alleged that a fellow resident raped her in 2009. She alleged that she faced increased scrutiny and criticism after reporting it to superiors and was ultimately terminated in 2010. UNM contended that Herald was fired for poor performance and drug use.

UNM supervisors never interviewed the man who allegedly raped Herald. He was not named as a defendant in Heralds suit and he was never criminally charged.

The university also disclaimed any unlawful, improper or wrongful conduct in relation to Heralds retaliation claim, according to the settlement agreement. The agreement ended all claims against UNM including further developments thereof in any way growing out of or connected to the suit.

UNM paid $775,000 of the settlement amount, with the state picking up the rest, according to a spokeswoman from UNMs Health Sciences Center. UNM covered its portion with funds from the office of Chancellor Paul Roth ($475,000) and the anesthesiology department ($300,000), spokeswoman Alex Sanchez said.

Dr. Hugh Martin, UNMs anesthesiology chair, had blamed the settlement for consuming funds he had planned to use for bonuses in an email to faculty a few weeks after last years trial.

Heralds attorney, Lisa Curtis, cited that and other internal emails as grounds for another possible lawsuit.

Curtis wrote in a Jan. 3 tort notice that UNM violated the settlements confidentiality covenant and also intentionally inflicted emotional distress through continuing false statements about her.

Curtis said the $800,000 settlement agreement does not preclude Herald from pursuing the breach of contract claim, but she did not immediately answer a Journal question about whether Herald planned to file suit.Understanding the importance of regional languages in India, search giant Google has announced a new program that will empower offline newspapers and magazines in India to bring their content online. Announced during the fourth edition of 'Google for India' event, the Project Navlekha claims to bring offline content online in just a few clicks.

Google's Shashidhar Thakur, Vice President, Search Engineering, says, "50 per cent more Indians are using mobile search daily. But most of the documents available on the web today are in English and a very few in Indian languages. For search to be truly helpful, it should bring you useful content, in all the languages you understand."

She informed that 90 per cent of the 150 per cent government-registered magazines and newspapers in India don't have their website. Setting up one today is an equally challenging task as it involves buying a domain, hosting and maintaining a webpage and more. To top them all, it's extremely difficult to copy text in non-Unicode Indian language fonts from PDF to web pages without a special scanner. Google is addressing this issue with the launch of Project Navlekha, which in Sanskrit means "a new way to write". Project Navlekha does not require any technical know-how of web publishing and can be used by anyone. During the demo, Google engineers were able to publish a regional language article in less than 60 seconds.

Google is using its expertise in artificial intelligence for Project Navlekha, using which, it will quickly render any PDF with Indian language content into editable text, overcoming issues that usually occur when you try to copy text in Indian languages from a PDF.

Google is starting Navlekha to support publishers in India, and help bring more Indian languages content online. Easy to use, Navlekha has already started on-boarding publishers from Delhi, and Google aims to bring many more publishers from other regions in September this year. Registered Indian language publishers who are working on their online presence can sign up for the program at g.co/navlekha.

The registered publishers on Navlekha will also be provided with free web hosting, along with a branded domain for three years. They'll also have AdSense support to begin monetising their content.

To be available initially in Hindi language, Google will not charge the publication for the publication tools and the domain name for the first three years.The Journal article (Residents denounce tiny homes village idea) described the first meeting to discuss the feasibility of tiny homes in Albuquerque. Tiny homes are small homes constructed to provide a safe haven and a community for homeless people. These homes can provide a place to sleep, to be safe and to feel part of a community. Contrary to the views of many at the Aug. 9 meeting, these people are not rapists and killers. They are people who are challenged in many cases, mentally, physically or economically. These people are not loafers or deadbeats. They are people just like us who have for one reason or another become severely challenged and need our help.

The tiny homes will give them a roof over their head, a lock on the door and a place to sleep that is warm in the winter and cool in the summer. The homeless in Albuquerque, of which there are many, have sought a place to make a camp over and over. Each attempt has been torn down by the city or the county. The tiny homes project would allow these people to become part of a small community. There are positive outcomes for both the community and the individual. The social services, to which these people are entitled, can be more easily provided in a tiny homes community.

Several months ago I assisted volunteers who work with the homeless. The camp I visited was in a canyon east of Albuquerque. The camp was a collection of 18 donated tents with a few more than 18 people. They had created their own government with community rules: no drinking, no drugs and no fighting. The community, as a whole, enforced those rules. In this camp there was no trash. There were places to meet, sit down and eat, talk and feel safe. Shortly after my visit the camp was torn down, as many others before (it), by the city. The members of this community separated and went to find a place to be safe for the night.

The time I spent in the camp I met amazing people who were trying to take care of themselves. These were not people who could go out and find a job tomorrow. They do need help. However, they can take care of themselves when they (are) a part of a community.

Participants at the Aug. 9 meeting were, for the most part, negative regarding the construction of a tiny homes village. The excuses were it wont be safe, and it would increase crime, and it would hurt the value of my home, plus a few other complaints. Most of the disagreement with the tiny homes proposal boiled down to Not in My Backyard. In many cases the participants who were against the tiny homes community made a point of saying how they were Christians, but still Not in My Backyard.

The city of Albuquerque has been trying to figure out how to help the homeless. One of the best solutions, the concept of tiny homes, has been used in several states such as Utah, Oregon and Washington. These tiny homes communities have been very successful. More importantly, it brings these human beings into contact with each other in a safe environment.

The not in my backyard argument has been used by people who believed it didnt fit in with their ideas of the community. If we truly believe that empathy and caring are important values, I really hope that we will support the tiny homes model and hope that this model grows.WASHINGTON  Waiting for the jury to come in is a good description of what this August has felt like. Weve all been wondering how our legal system would cope with President Trump  even as we awaited the broader verdict of public opinion that will come with the November midterm elections.

Many Americans will probably remember how they heard the news last Tuesday that 12 of our fellow citizens had voted to convict Trumps former campaign chairman Paul Manafort on eight felony counts, and that Trumps personal lawyer Michael Cohen had pleaded guilty to eight counts of his own. It was one of those days when the world seemed suspended momentarily, and then turned a bit, as if on a hinge.

My vantage point couldnt have been foggier. I was on a sailboat off the coast of Maine, literally in a fogbank, with my cellphone connection fading in and out. So, for some time after the Manafort conviction and the Cohen plea deal, it was impossible to know what had happened. Historians describe battles whose outcome was uncertain to observers because of the smoke of the cannons and the delay of messengers. Thats what Tuesday felt like for me.

As the news was confirmed, Im sure many people shared a similar sense that our American legal system had worked  that it had surmounted its first big challenge in containing a lawless and defiant president. This story still has a very long way to go, but if Cohen hadnt made his plea agreement, and if the Manafort jury hadnt agreed to convict on some counts, our national narrative would today be headed in a different direction.

We can be grateful for some unlikely gifts. Were lucky, as it turns out, that U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III was so sharp in criticizing prosecutors in the Manafort case that an upset lead attorney, Greg Andres, protested at one point, The court interrupts every single one of the governments directs (direct questions), every single one. After Ellis interjections, it will be difficult for Trumps defenders to argue that the trial was biased in favor of special counsel Robert Mueller and his team.

Were probably fortunate, too, that the jury reached a split verdict, convicting Manafort on eight out of 18 counts. Reportedly because of one holdout juror, the panel was not unanimously convinced by the entire case presented by the government. For a divided America, this outcome ought to evoke our national icon of justice  blindfolded and holding a balance in her hand to weigh the evidence fairly.

And however odd it seems, we should celebrate the fact that Cohen, the man who did Trumps legal dirty work for so many years, decided that he wanted to cop a plea  and in the process, to present himself as a man seeking to serve his country by telling the truth at last about his former boss.

Though six of the counts to which Cohen pleaded guilty involved fraud schemes that had no apparent connection to Trump, the last two directly implicated the president. Heres how his lawyer, Lanny Davis, described the implication of Cohens plea that he facilitated payments to a porn star and Playboy playmate: Donald Trump directed him to commit a crime by making payments to two women for the principal purpose of influencing an election.

The Cohen case, so far, has nothing to do with the two central allegations at the heart of the Mueller probe: obstruction of justice and election collusion with Russia. But interestingly, Russia does figure in Cohens motivations, according to Davis: After watching Trump support Russian President Vladimir Putin against U.S. intelligence agencies at the press conference following the Helsinki summit, Cohen worried about the future of the country with somebody who was aligning himself with Mr. Putin, Davis told NBC on Wednesday.

As Trumps world collapses around him, the danger for the country arguably increases. Trump could lash out at his tormentors, reasoning that a constitutional crisis is his only possible salvation; the partisan fever in America could spike even further, with angry people on both sides taking to the streets; and foreign adversaries could seek to exploit our troubles.

But (right now) it seems more likely that America is heading toward a gradual recovery from the trauma of the Trump presidency. For Republicans, there is a last chance over these next two months to finally show some guts and principle by separating themselves from Trump.

Then comes the November election, and it seems a reasonable bet, after last Tuesday, to trust in the good sense of the American public.

Twitter: @IgnatiusPost. Email: davidignatius@washpost.com. Copyright, Washington Post Writers Group.Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

Editors note: This is the third part of a three-day series on how the consolidation of homeless services is affecting neighborhoods in and around Downtown Albuquerque. Today, officials discuss possible solutions.

Its known as housing first, and its a simple concept that many people believe can lead to profound changes.

It calls for moving people from the streets, often the most chronically homeless and medically fragile, into subsidized housing.

Once in their own homes with a door that locks, they feel secure and vested, and no longer need to wander the streets pushing shopping carts with all their worldly possessions.

And having an address allows case managers to find them and get them plugged into supportive services that can help them understand and deal with the reasons that contributed to their homelessness: drug addiction, alcoholism, physical or mental health issues, divorce, family death or job loss.

Over time, many of them become well enough to rejoin the workforce.

The housing first model has been embraced by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as homeless advocacy groups in Albuquerque and around the country.

The county has followed the housing first model since our first behavioral health appropriations in 2014, says Bernalillo County Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins. Its difficult for an individual to stay in treatment or stay healthy if they are homeless. Data show that a high percentage of people who are homeless suffer from a diagnosed mental illness or a substance abuse addiction, and without adequate supportive services and a safe place to live they have a hard time breaking the cycle of homelessness.

According to a 2013 study by the University of New Mexico Institute of Social Research, it is 31 percent cheaper to house the homeless than to allow them to remain on the streets. Housing them decreased their hospital visits by 36 percent, their inpatient costs by nearly 84 percent, their medical outpatient costs by 39 percent, and the cost of involvement in the criminal justice system by 64 percent.

The county provides vouchers for a number of housing programs, Hart Stebbins says. They include vouchers for family unification, for veterans case management and clinical services, for permanent supportive housing for people with severe mental illnesses, and Section 8 housing rental assistance for people with very low incomes, the disabled and the elderly.

Albuquerque Heading Home, an initiative sponsored by the city of Albuquerque and operated by the nonprofit Heading Home, has been guided by the housing first model since 2011, says Benito Aragon, the organizations communications director. Since 2011, it has housed more than 800 individuals in permanent supportive housing with wraparound services.

We have an agreement with a variety of landlords around the city, and get vouchers from the city and HUD to pay for this housing, he explains, noting that the wraparound services are integral.

We found that 83 percent of clients in the Albuquerque Heading Home program have a behavioral health diagnosis, Aragon says. Many of these people have such severe need it is not as simple as just going out and getting a job. Many of them will never be employable.

Which means these people were destined for a life on the street were it not for intervention of the program.

HopeWorks, formerly St. Martins, has eight housing programs for people with different eligibility criteria and that annually provide case management and housing to 300 to 350 people, Executive Director Greg Morris says.

Weve been getting feedback for more than 30 years from the neighbors, and not all of it is pleasant, he acknowledges. What the neighbors dont see is all the folks weve been able to permanently house and integrate back into the community. Thats a pretty tangibly felt impact and while feeding people is important, it doesnt end homeless.

One-stop shop

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller was part of a delegation of city, county and law enforcement officials, and representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and the University of New Mexico Hospital that recently toured a massive homeless campus site, Haven for Hope, in San Antonio, Texas.

They walked the sprawling 22-acre site where 30 agencies and twice that many nonprofit organizations maintain a presence on the campus.

Its very unique in its one-stop shop comprehensiveness, Keller said.

The campus contains an overnight emergency shelter, as well as longer-term supportive housing, a detox facility, mental and behavioral health services, meals, clothing, case management and all the services required for dealing with a homeless population.

About 1,700 homeless people receive some services at Haven for Hope daily and about 800 live on the campus in some type of housing unit.

Since the opening of the campus in 2010, nearly 4,100 people have moved on to permanent housing. San Antonios downtown homeless population has decreased by 66 percent and police there report 3,300 fewer jail bookings and $96 million saved in jail operations, emergency room services and court costs.

While Haven for Hope has been praised as a national model, Keller says the campus there is not without problems and the concept may not be workable for Albuquerque.

Its centralized, so its huge and it has redefined the entire landscape of a neighborhood and created additional issues, such as traffic, parking and the predictable not-in-my-neighborhood resistance from area residents, he says.

Haven for Hope is also expensive. It cost more than $100 million to build and has an operating budget of about $20 million yearly, Keller says.

What we have going for us, and what San Antonio does not have, is available housing at a decent price. We have affordable housing all over town with vacancies, a situation thats ideal for promoting the housing first model, he notes. If were willing to step up and fund it with housing vouchers, we could deal with a huge chunk of the homeless population, perhaps 10 to 20 percent.

What Haven for Hope does have and could be useful locally, Keller says, is a 24-hour homeless shelter, and a 24-hour detox, mental health drop-off and triage center. Conceivably, this would not only more quickly aid individuals needing help, but when those individuals are brought in by law enforcement it would not tie up their time.

While there are some smaller detox facilities in the city, Keller says, they often have criteria for admission that homeless people cant meet for a multitude of reasons. In the absence of such access, you wind up with places like Coronado Park.

In a letter to the Journal, the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce also pointed to the lack of around-the-clock, day-and-night sheltering services, and the lack of places for law enforcement officers to take homeless people causing disturbances  many of them suffering from mental health and addiction issues  as the biggest impediments to dealing with homelessness in our community.

The lack of sheltering services causes people experiencing homelessness to have little other option than to wander through our streets during the day and sleep wherever they can, the letter said.

When a police officer takes a troubled homeless person into custody, the only places available are jail or an emergency room, a process that delays the officers return to the streets by hours, and is costly for taxpayers, an unhelpful strategy for police officers and not in the best long-term interest of people experiencing homelessness, according to the letter.

The Chamber letter was signed by president Terri Cole and board chairwoman Pat Vincent-Collawn, also president of PNM resources; Downtown Initiative chair Norm Becker, president of New Mexico Mutual; and Homeless Initiative chair Dr. Paul Roth, chancellor of the UNM Health Sciences Center.

Another business group, the recently formed Greater Albuquerque Business Alliance, or GABA, is made up primarily of businesses that operate in the neighborhoods where the homeless service providers are concentrated. It has thrown its support behind the large, single-site homeless campus concept. But, unlike San Antonio, where Haven for Hope is located in a mixed-use area just west of that citys downtown, GABA suggests establishing the campus about 10 miles west of Albuquerque, on vacant land near where the Metropolitan Detention Center and West Side Winter Shelter are located. The group says the scattered approach now employed by service providers negatively impacts the homeless and the neighborhoods.

The homeless problem is increasing in the Downtown area, the entire city is hurting and the status quo approach needs to change, says GABA president Connie Vigil, a native of the Wells Park neighborhood, where she still lives. We have a solution, a vision, and wed like the city to take a look at it while we still have a chance to change things.

District 2 City Councilor Isaac Benton, who was on the San Antonio tour, says the single-site concept may be a good way to mitigate problems and provide services more efficiently.

It would be much more manageable, he says. What we have now are buildings and services scattered around the area without secure perimeters, and that open at a specific time, which means people waiting outside the gate at that time to get in.

Benton, however, does not advocate for a single-site campus so far removed from the city.

I cant see how that would be workable, he says. It would either require a tremendous amount of expense to provide transportation, or the residents would be stuck out there, which would not be acceptable. They have the right to move around.

Being a proponent of decentralized models, Keller says he is more open to the single-site approach being taken by HopeWorks, which is planning to build a 42-unit supportive residential housing complex adjacent to its current campus at 1201 Third Street NW.

It is intended to house some of the most vulnerable among the homeless, the ones we engage routinely in outreach on the streets, Morris says, meaning people who are chronically homeless, medically fragile and have severe mental health issues.

People will receive direct services right where they live, he says, which will help mitigate some, but not all, of the neighborhood migration.

Doreen McKnight, president of the Wells Park Neighborhood Association, isnt convinced.

The housing unit theyre proposing will barely make a dent in reducing the overall numbers of homeless in Albuquerque, she says. The neighborhood is not necessarily opposed to it, but what we want is for them to make concessions and do some other things to mitigate the negative impact their clients have on the community.

Specifically, she says, neighbors would like to see 24-hour security at provider sites; regular cleaning around provider and adjacent properties; more lighting; secure and monitored restrooms; and transportation to move homeless people in and out of the neighborhood more quickly. (The city recently began sponsoring the weekday operation of a 10-person van to shuttle people along the route where service providers are located.)

Meanwhile, the county is moving forward with a tiny homes/tiny villages idea, in which the homeless are provided transitional housing for up to two years in very small homes that can be built and clustered together in self-contained and secure villages around the metro area.

Public meetings were held recently to discuss the six sites identified as candidates for the location of a tiny homes village. None is in the Barelas, Wells Park, Near North Valley or Downtown areas. All but one of the sites are south of Interstate 40 and east of Louisiana. One is on Central near Unser NW.

The public meetings were contentious, with most people opposed to the construction of a tiny homes village in their neighborhoods. Even most who thought the idea was sound also expressed the proviso  but not in my backyard.Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  Taos County Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe writes in court documents that two adults arrested at a makeshift compound near the Colorado border earlier this month possibly didnt believe that diseases are real and didnt do what was needed to get medical attention for a boy who died on the property.

The remains of Siraj Ibn Wahhajs 3-year-old son, Abdul-Ghani, were found at the compound Aug. 6. The boy suffered from Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy, or HIE, a condition that caused severe seizures and required medication.

On Friday, Wahhaj, 40, and Jany Leveille, 35, were charged with child abuse resulting in death and conspiracy to commit child abuse.

According to criminal complaints for both Wahhaj and Leveille, who are married, Abdul-Ghani died at the compound Dec. 24.

Prosecutors have said that Wahhaj and Leveille would read verses from the Quran over the boy to rid him of evil spirits, and the new criminal complaints indicate that they may have believed that diseases arent real.

Affiant asserts that there is no mention of the defendants contacting any medical services for assistance or any efforts by anyone from the compound to revive the child take him (sic) to or call for medical services or even any report of his death, Hogrefe wrote.

Hogrefe included electronic journal entries by Leveille that were found on a thumb drive that was seized from the compound. According to an entry from Dec. 24, Wahhaj was reciting the Quran over Abdul-Ghani that day as usual, but Abdul-Ghani was overly exhausted. Later that day, the journal entry says Wahhaj told Leveille that Abdul-Ghani didnt have a heartbeat.

Leveille is accused of writing: How could a Quranic recitation execute a child? This only happens to shayateens (demons).  At last, Allah confirmed that indeed, H.I.E. and diseases of that sort are not real.  The reason he could not talk nor walk, is because his life was replaced by shayateens through the medicines used.

Abdul-Ghanis biological mother, Hakima Ramzi, told Hogrefe that Abdul-Ghanis doctor had told her that if the boy had a seizure lasting longer than five minutes he needed to be taken to an emergency room.

Hogrefe also spoke with state Children, Youth and Families Department forensic pediatrician Dr. Karen Campbell, who told Hogrefe that denying medication for HIE would result in long uncontrolled seizures and a high probability of death, the affidavits state.

Hogrefe acknowledges in the complaint that the defendants are poor, but said the medications could have been obtained.

In addition, affiant asserts that while poverty is not a crime in New Mexico, Medicaid is universally available to those that qualify and confirmed with Dr. Campbell that both medications prescribed to AG for his seizure disorder would be covered by Medicaid, he wrote.

Eleven children who appeared to be malnourished were found on the compound when Taos County deputies and state officials raided it Aug. 3. Three other adults  Hujrah Wahhaj, Subhanah Wahhaj and Lucas Morton  face 11 counts of felony child abuse.Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  If recent New Mexico political history is any indication, Michelle Lujan Grisham and other Democrats could have the wind at their backs in this years general election.

Thats because the states last seven gubernatorial elections  stretching back to 1990  have been won by a candidate from the opposite major political party of the sitting president.

Brian Sanderoff, a longtime New Mexico political observer, said theres a reason for that, as voters often tend to punish the presidents political party in midterm elections, which happen to be when New Mexico gubernatorial elections take place.

Its more than a coincidence that for seven consecutive gubernatorial races the winning candidate was from the opposite party of the president, said Sanderoff, whos also the president of Albuquerque-based Research & Polling Inc. The mood of the nation influences gubernatorial races and state legislative races.

While this years election outcomes are far from guaranteed, the prevailing mood appears likely to benefit Democrats.

That could especially be the case in New Mexico, as President Donald Trump is not a widely popular political figure in the state and outgoing Gov. Susana Martinezs approval rating has dropped.

Its a sharp contrast to four years ago, when Republicans, buoyed by a more popular Martinez and voter fatigue with Democratic President Barack Obama, won a majority in the state House of Representatives for the first time in 60 years. GOP candidates also won statewide races in 2014 for secretary of state and land commissioner.

In fact, both Martinezs election as governor in 2010  and her re-election in 2014  occurred with Obama in the Oval Office.

Republicans also made big gains in the state House in those two election cycles, picking up a net of eight seats in the 70-member chamber in 2010 and an additional four seats in 2014.

In the last gubernatorial election cycle, New Mexico Republican candidates performed incredibly well, partially due to the overall conservative mood of the state and nation, Sanderoff said. Now the political winds have shifted and with a Republican in the White House, the Democratic candidates in New Mexico may be the beneficiaries.

Democrats reclaimed control of the state House in the 2016 election cycle  Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton beat Trump by 8 percentage points in New Mexico in that years election  and are hoping to build on their current 38-32 majority in this years general election.

Among other seats, Democrats are eyeing two Albuquerque-area House seats held by Republicans who are not seeking re-election  outgoing House Minority Leader Nate Gentry and Rep. Sarah Maestas Barnes.

Theyre also trying to win back the Governors Office, with Lujan Grisham trying to fend off a challenge from Republican Steve Pearce. Both candidates are currently members of Congress who are forgoing re-election bids to run for governor.

Despite the favorable election climate, state Democratic Party Chairwoman Marg Elliston said the party isnt taking anything for granted and has launched a grass-roots effort to rally voter interest.

We need to be able to turn out voters statewide, Elliston told the Journal. Were not waiting for a blue wave to come sweep us somewhere.

For his part, state Republican Party Chairman Ryan Cangiolosi acknowledged that the party that controls the White House typically has a more difficult time in midterm elections nationally.

But he said trends that might be affecting elections in states such as California and New Jersey do not necessarily apply in New Mexico, where Democrats hold a sizable edge in voter registration.

Republicans in New Mexico always face tough elections, but we also win a lot, Cangiolosi told the Journal.

He also said the key to success for GOP candidates like Pearce is focusing on issues that affect the day-to-day lives of New Mexicans, such as jobs, public safety and the states public schools.

However, Democrats are also keying on some of those same issues, with party leaders claiming voter enthusiasm is trending up for the Nov. 6 general election  at least in part due to a president who wont be on the ballot himself.

I think a lot of people really started to be engaged in January 2017 and theyre still fighting mad, Elliston said, referring to the date of Trumps inauguration.Residents of northern and central New Mexico can expect drier conditions and seasonably high temperatures during the workweek before an uptick in thunderstorms this weekend, meteorologists with the National Weather Service in Albuquerque said Monday.

We are in an extended period of drying, said Kerry Jones, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. That continues for the vast majority of us through the week ahead.

An exception could be in the eastern and southeastern portions of the state, where a front will introduce low-level moisture and possibly bring isolated thunderstorms tonight into Wednesday.

I think the jury is still out whether the moisture content is going to be sufficient to even spark up a thunderstorm at all on Wednesday, Jones said. If it does, it will be very isolated and mainly focused down in the east-central and southeast areas of the state. The one thing it will do is cool temperatures in eastern New Mexico on Wednesday.

High pressure will briefly slide farther south during the end of the workweek, returning drier, westerly winds to much of central and northern New Mexico, and resulting in isolated storms, mainly in eastern and southern New Mexico, possibly in the Ruidoso and Roswell areas and the higher elevations of the Gila National Forest.

High temperatures will vary between several degrees either side of average through Wednesday, and then above-average temperatures are likely to prevail during the latter half of the week.

During the weekend, Jones said, an uptick in thunderstorms and rainfall intensity is possible as an upper-level trough west of the state draws moisture northward under a ridge of high pressure.

Were not talking about a widespread type of day, but definitely more noticeable on Sunday compared to Saturday, Jones said. Sunday and Monday look to be more active than Saturday.

Albuquerque International Sunport has received 0.92 inch of precipitation this month, as of Sunday, compared with the average rainfall of 1.37 inches. About 5.37 inches of rain has fallen at the Sunport this year, compared with the average of 6.07 inches by this time of year.

The drier air also means cooler nights in northern and central New Mexico, especially the colder northern valleys. Expect low temperatures in the Albuquerque area to cool into the low to mid-60s though Saturday night.

In the Albuquerque area, high temperatures are expected to be in the lower 90s each day through Saturday under mostly sunny skies. Showers are possible Thursday night, according to the National Weather Service forecast.

A chance of showers returns to the Albuquerque-area forecast Saturday night.SANTA FE  Gary Johnson is pumping some of his own money  $100,000 to start with  into his U.S. Senate run.

The former governor, a Republican-turned-Libertarian who jumped into the race this month to fill a vacant ballot spot, was making the contribution on Monday, his longtime communications director, Joe Hunter, told the Journal.

And Johnson is prepared to give more to his campaign in the coming weeks, he added.

Gary feels strongly he wants to put his own money toward the effort, Hunter said, while also citing many small outside donations Johnson has gotten since he announced his campaign.

The self-financing could help Johnson launch campaign ads and pay for other campaign operations, though he still likely has far less cash on hand than incumbent Martin Heinrich, a Democrat who reported nearly $4 million in his campaign account at the end of June.

The third candidate in the race, Republican Mick Rich of Albuquerque, was trailing far behind Heinrich in fundraising at the latest reporting deadline, with nearly $200,000

As a Libertarian, Johnson probably cant count on deep-pocketed national groups coming to his assistance, though an independent expenditure group, or super PAC, called Elect Liberty PAC was recently created to support his campaign.

GOV. IN JAPAN: Gov. Susana Martinez is in Japan for most of this week, taking part in a National Governors Association trade mission with two other governors.

Martinez left on Saturday and will not return to New Mexico until Friday, a spokeswoman said. She plans to take part in NGA-sponsored meetings for several days and then remain in Japan for two additional days.

The Governors Office did not provide additional details about the nature of the meetings, which follow previous meetings with Japanese officials this summer.

In July, Martinez met in Santa Fe with Kentaro Sonoura, a special adviser to Japans prime minister, according to her online daily calendar. That meeting occurred while New Mexico was hosting the NGAs summer meeting.

Others on the current Japan trip include Kentucky Gov. Matt Blevins, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and Nebraska Lt. Gov. Mike Foley, according to the Nebraska Radio Network.

The NGA will cover the costs of Martinezs travel and accommodations in Japan for the first four days of her trip, with state taxpayers paying for the rest of her stay.

Per the state Constitution, Lt. Gov. John Sanchez serves as acting governor while Martinez is traveling out of state.

Dan Boyd: dbooyd@abqjournal.comCopyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

Business leaders along the New Mexico border are relieved and optimistic after President Donald Trump announced the United States and Mexico had reached an understanding to create a trade pact to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Were all sort of breathing a big sigh of relief knowing that now we have the rules set out, said Jerry Pacheco, Border Industrial Association president.

The nonprofit association advocates for border economic development. Members include companies in four industrial parks near the Santa Teresa border crossing.

It means that some that were delaying investment because of the uncertainty about whether there would be a NAFTA or not can now proceed with investment and their long term plans, said Pacheco. He said having the trade pact in place would help attract new companies to the New Mexico border region.

Talks to renegotiate the trade deal began a year ago.

Its a great day for trade. Its a big day for our country, Trump told reporters who listened as he used a speaker phone to speak to Mexicos president Monday morning.

President Enrique Pena Nieto during the call said he was pleased with the agreement but looked forward to adding Canada to the new trade pact. Pena Nieto, who leaves office in December, said he consulted with President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador during the final push to renegotiate the agreement.

As we await details on the terms of the deal, I remain cautiously optimistic about the prospects for modernized and strengthened NAFTA, said Jon Barela, CEO of the Borderplex Alliance.

The nonprofit organization promotes economic development in southern New Mexico, West Texas and Chihuahua, Mexico.

A successful ratification of a new NAFTA will solidify the Borderplex region as the 4th largest manufacturing hub in North America, Barela said.

President Trump said the renegotiated trade agreement would not be called NAFTA since he was terminating that 24-year-old trilateral trade pact that he has described as the worst trade deal ever.

Instead he referred to it as the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement.

Both countries agreed to periodic reviews of the agreement every six years that would extend the life of the pact for another 16 years. The U.S. had previously demanded an automatic expiration known as a sunset clause that would force a renegotiation every five years.

Trump said his administration would begin talks with Canada relatively soon. Relations between the two neighboring nations have deteriorated over U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum and Canadian regulations on dairy production.

It appears to be a significant step but I wouldnt be popping any corks, or not yet anyway. Whats not clear is the status of Canada, said former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza.

And Garza said theres uncertainty with a new presidential administration taking office in Mexico and U.S. midterm elections. Congress has to ratify any trade agreement. Lets not get ahead of ourselves, Garza said.DALLAS  A white ex-police officer was convicted of murder Tuesday for fatally shooting a black, unarmed 15-year-old boy while firing into a car packed with teenagers in suburban Dallas, marking a rare guilty verdict in a police shooting case.

Dallas County jurors were not swayed by Roy Olivers claim that he feared for his partners life when he fired into the vehicle as it drove away from a large house party in Balch Springs in April 2017. The gunfire killed Jordan Edwards, who was sitting in the front passenger seat.

Gasps echoed around the courtroom as the verdict was read. Edwards relatives sobbed and hugged prosecutors, waved their hands in the air and proclaimed Thank you, Jesus! after the jury left.

His father, Odell Edwards, briefly spoke outside the courtroom before heading back in to begin listening to the sentencing phase of the trial. He said he was thankful for the decision of the jury  which featured two black members out of 12 jurors and two alternates  and felt like jumping for joy.

I just want to say Im happy, very happy, he said, adding that its been a long time since he felt that way.

Oliver faces between five and 99 years in prison, according to an Edwards family attorney.

Oliver and his partner were responding to a report of underage drinking at the house party. Police initially said the vehicle backed up toward officers in an aggressive manner, but later said that bodycam video showed the vehicle was moving forward as officers approached. Oliver was fired just days after the shooting.

Oliver testified during the trial that he opened fire after seeing the car move toward his partner. But his partner told jurors he didnt fear for his life.

Its extremely rare for police officers to be tried and convicted of murder for shootings that occurred while they were on duty. Only six non-federal police officers have now been convicted of murder in such cases  and four of those were overturned  since 2005, according to data compiled by criminologist and Bowling Green State University professor Phil Stinson.

Stinson, who tracks such cases nationwide , told The Associated Press on Tuesday that to secure a murder conviction against an officer, the facts of a case have to be so over the top and bizarre that the officers actions cannot be rationally explained.

Experts also say that securing a conviction against an officer is often a challenge because jurors are inclined to believe police testimony and criminal culpability in such cases is subjective.

Oliver was found not guilty on two lesser charges of aggravated assault stemming from the shooting. Jurors deliberated for two days before reaching the verdicts. The sentencing phase stretched into the evening Tuesday before jurors recessed for the day. Testimony will resume Wednesday.

This was a long fought battle, said Daryl Washington, an attorney representing Odell Edwards in a civil lawsuit filed in the death. We are just happy  that Roy Oliver is gonna have to do his time for taking Jordans life. What he did on that night should have never happened.

Washington said black children and teenagers across the country can now walk around a little safer because officers know they will be held accountable.

In closing arguments, defense attorneys told jurors they needed to evaluate the circumstances from Olivers viewpoint and from what the former officer knew at the time.

But prosecutors described Oliver as out of control and looking for a reason to kill. They argued that his firing into the car wasnt reasonable.

The shooting came after Oliver and his partner, Tyler Gross, had broken up the party. Both officers were inside the residence when they heard gunfire outside and responded. Authorities later determined the shots were fired near a nursing home in the area.

Oliver retrieved his rifle and went toward Gross, who was ordering the car carrying Edwards to stop. Oliver testified that he saw the car back up and stop for a second before moving forward and going toward Gross.

Testifying in his own defense, Oliver told the jury the car was about to hit his partner. Oliver said he felt he had no other option but to fire. Gross, however, testified that he did not fear for his life and never felt the need to fire his weapon. He also said he didnt feel like the vehicle was trying to hit him.

Prosecutors said Oliver fired after the vehicle passed Gross. Investigators also said no guns were found in the teens vehicle.

___

For the latest developments on this story: https://apnews.com/c6f1aebf73aa4cb8bebb65c2aac6c3ceVying for a bigger share in the emerging market of online payments industry, Google during its annual event, Google for India, on Tuesday rebranded its payments app for India Google Tez as Google Pay, and also launched its new features.

The company has announced that users will now be able to avail instant loans using Google Pay app. It has tied up with private lenders like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Federal Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank to offer customised loans, which will involve minimum paperwork. The company said Google Pay will work with all banks that support BHIM UPI (Unified Payments Interface). To make it a seamless experience, the banks will offer loan services in minimum time and the amount will be disbursed to the account linked with Google Pay.

In addition to this, Google has also decided to revamp the product as a global offering by launching the service in other countries as well.

Your simple, secure payments experience remains just the same. Everything you love about Tez is now moving to #GooglePay. #GoogleForIndiapic.twitter.com/RQCmOQqGjw - Google Pay India (@GooglePayIndia) August 28, 2018

"The world has certainly taken notice of India's digital payments success and our deep investments here with Tez. Many governments are asking us to work with them to bring similar digital payments innovations to their countries," Google said.

"When we launched Google Pay, our goal was to make it easier to pay in stores with your phone and online using the payment methods saved to your Google account," said Gerardo Capiel, Product Management Director, Consumer Payments.

Google Pay claims to have over 22 million monthly users worldwide, with over 750 million transactions so far. The service will soon be available on over 2,000 online merchants and websites and over 15,000 retail stores in India.

(Edited by Manoj Sharma)Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

The University of New Mexico generates $3.1 billion in economic output annually  the bulk of it from operational spending, according to a new analysis released Tuesday.

But the $3.1 billion figure also includes impact of alumni in the workforce, spending by out-of-state students, and UNMs technology transfer and economic development activities. The reports author Kelly ODonnell said that makes it the most comprehensive examination of how UNM affects the states economy.

Those categories accounted for a total of 24,985 jobs and $3.5 billion in annual employee compensation in fiscal year 2017, according to the report.

UNM is absolutely vital to New Mexicos economic growth, ODonnell said.

UNM President Garnett Stokes announced the numbers in the Lobo Rainforest Building at the Downtown Innovate ABQ site, calling UNM one of the states most valuable assets.

Pretty major news, she said of the $3.1 billion figure. Maybe we already knew it, but now we have it quantified what the University of New Mexico  what the university for New Mexico  means for our community here and for the state.

STC.UNM, the universitys economic development and tech transfer organization, commissioned ODonnell, a UNM research assistant professor, to conduct the analysis using a grant from the New Mexico Gas Company.

ODonnell said economic output is a measure of productivity, likening it to gross domestic product.

UNM, which has an annual budget of approximately $3 billion, spent $2.2 billion on operations in fiscal year 2017. That includes about $1.4 billion for employee pay and benefits, according to the report.

But only expenditures made in New Mexico with funds coming from outside the state count toward the economic impact figure.

Nearly half of UNMs operational revenue ($1.1 billion) comes from beyond the states borders. That generates $2.1 billion in direct, indirect and induced effects, according to the report.

Most of the incoming money is tied to clinical services provided by UNM Hospital and the UNM Medical Group, where approximately 65 percent of the payments come from Medicaid or Medicare.

That is obviously hugely beneficial because those programs are funded mostly or entirely by the federal government, ODonnell said.

But the incoming revenue also comes from federal grants, out-of-state students tuition and other sources.

In addition to the $2.1 billion in economic output from operational spending, UNMs impact includes:

 $933 from alumni income

 $79 million from out-of-state student spending

 $56 million from technology transfer

The report noted that degrees increase career earnings, giving alumni more money to spend and pay in local and state taxes.

UNM graduates residing in New Mexico earn about $2.3 billion more every year than they would have with only a high school diploma, according to the report.

However, while UNM draws about 83 percent of its student body from New Mexico, only about 58 percent of its 184,000 living alumni have New Mexico addresses currently, indicating that many of them leave.

Stokes said it is not unusual for a states flagship university to see its graduates seek and find opportunities elsewhere in the country or the world, but that such losses concern many around New Mexico.

Over and over again what Im hearing from many different constituents is the desire to reduce the amount of brain drain, and some of that is making sure that the talent that we have in New Mexico decides to stay in New Mexico to go to school to earn a bachelors, masters or doctorate or professional degree, said Stokes, who recently completed a statewide tour that included stops in all 33 counties. But another part of that is trying to make sure we are proving that the state has ample opportunities for those graduates to actually stay and have successful careers and lives in New Mexico.

Other findings from the new report:

 Nonresident student spending supported 822 full and part-time jobs;

 UNM had more than $300 million in contract and grant funding in 2017, including $247.7 million from the federal government;

 STC.UNM-affiliated startup companies employed about 247 New Mexicans in 2017 and generated $32.2 million in total output.Police have identified a woman found severely injured in front of a Northeast Albuquerque fire station last week as 23-year-old Stephanie Martinez.

On Aug. 20, around 11:30 a.m. firefighters and rescue workers found Martinez in front of the fire station on the 2500 block of Quincy NE, near San Mateo and Menaul. The Albuquerque Fire Rescue ambulance took her to the University of New Mexico Hospital, where she died.

Gilbert Gallegos, a spokesman for the Albuquerque Police Department, said she had been shot.

Martinezs death is being investigated as a homicide, and marks the 50th homicide in city limits since the beginning of the year. There have also been five homicides that APD detectives determined were justified and six homicides in the county, including one BCSO detectives determined was justified.

No one has been arrested in Martinezs death and police have not announced any suspects.

Tips:

Police ask anyone with information about the case to contact Crime Stoppers at 843-STOP.The FBI is looking for a man suspected of robbing four banks and trying to rob a fifth over the past two weeks in the Albuquerque area.

Frank Fisher, an FBI spokesman, said a warrant has been issued for Jason Cruz Cordova, 30, charging him with robbing a First Convenience Bank at Unser and Southern in Rio Rancho on Aug. 16 and attempting to rob the Bank of the West on Juan Tabo near Lomas in Albuquerque three days later.

He said Cordova is also suspected of robbing the New Mexico Bank & Trust on Jefferson near Osuna NE on Aug. 17, robbing the First Convenience Bank on Coors near Interstate 40 on Aug. 23 and robbing the Western Commerce Bank on Wyoming near Indian School NE on Aug. 27.

In the most recent robbery, which occurred shortly before 5 p.m., the suspect wore a red shirt and gray shorts, Fisher wrote in an email. Cordova is described as a Hispanic male, 56 tall, weighing 170 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair.

The FBI offers a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a suspect.

Tips: The FBI asks anyone with information about the bank robberies to call the FBI at (505) 889-1300 or Crime Stoppers at 843-STOP.WASHINGTON  A longtime government lawyer who has become a central figure in President Donald Trumps efforts to undermine the Russia investigation underwent more than seven hours of questioning by Republicans on Tuesday on Capitol Hill.

Bruce Ohr was grilled behind closed doors by two GOP-led House committees that are looking into decisions made by the Justice Department ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

The lawmakers are interested in Ohr  he has also been the subject of Trumps angry tweets  because of his relationship with Christopher Steele, the former British spy whose opposition research on Trumps Russia ties was compiled into a dossier and turned over to the FBI before the presidential election.

Trump and his allies question the origins of the FBIs investigation into potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign, which was taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller in May 2017. Trump and some House Republicans say the dossier created a politically tainted pretext for the investigation, even though the probe began weeks before the bureau received the documents.

Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, one of the Republicans who attended Tuesdays interview, said that, so far, Ohrs interview and others have shown an excessive reliance on the dossier.

And if the dossier truly is the rotten foundation upon which the Mueller church is built, I think thats an important revelation, Gaetz said.

Democrats say the entire GOP investigation is an attempt to undermine Mueller. They have criticized the Republicans focus on Ohr as overblown and misleading.

A Harvard-educated lawyer who was a federal prosecutor in Manhattan in the 1990s, Ohr at the time of the presidential election was a high-ranking official in the deputy attorney generals office. But its Ohrs relationship with Steele that has given fodder to Republican critics in Congress and raised concerns that he was operating outside his job description.

The two had met a decade earlier, bonding over a mutual interest in Russian organized crime and forging a friendly relationship that persisted over the years.

Though Ohr did not handle national security or counterintelligence work in the deputy attorney generals office, he nonetheless became a point of contact for Steele to share information with in the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election. Ohr passed along tidbits he learned to the FBI, which was conducting its own investigation.

Glenn Simpson, the co-founder of Fusion GPS, the political research firm that was paid by Democrats and hired Steele for the investigation, told House lawmakers in a closed-door meeting last year that he also met with Ohr at Steeles behest amid what he said was anxiety that federal investigators were not taking seriously enough the threat of Russian election interference and the information that Steele had accumulated.

Aside from their own personal connection, Ohrs wife, Nellie, was working at Fusion GPS  a connection Trump and his allies have seized on as they allege anti-Trump bias in the department.

During breaks from the interview, several of the GOP lawmakers said Ohrs testimony differed from Simpsons and shed new light on the credibility of the dossier. But they would not give details.

Ohr remains with the Justice Department, but amid the GOP criticism and a change in leadership, he was reassigned from his job in the deputy attorney generals office and given new responsibilities. But there are no signs of any effort or desire by department leadership to punish him in the ways advocated by the president.

Trump has kept the pressure on Ohr  and his boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions  on Twitter.

Will Bruce Ohr, whose family received big money for helping to create the phony, dirty and discredited Dossier, ever be fired from the Jeff Sessions Justice Department? A total joke! Trump tweeted Aug. 20.

Trump has also suggested revoking Ohrs security clearance, along with others in the department who were related to the Russia investigation.

At least seven Republican House members traveled to Washington over the August recess for the interview. No Democratic lawmakers appeared to attend, though staff were in the room.U.S. District Judge Judith C. Herrera sentenced Nael Ali of Albuquerque to six months in prison Tuesday for passing off jewelry made in the Philippines as Native American products.

Officials called the sentencing part of an ongoing landmark investigation bringing overdue recognition to the problem.

Ali, 54, who was convicted of violating the Indian Arts and Craft Act, previously pleaded guilty to two felony IACA charges and he was ordered to pay $9,048.78 in restitution, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office.

The tremendous contributions made by Native Americans to the cultural and artistic heritage of our nation must be preserved and protected, said New Mexico U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson in a statement.

This case and the continuing investigation demonstrates the Justice Departments commitment to safeguard the rich culture and heritage of New Mexicos Pueblos and tribes while promoting confidence in New Mexicos rich art market, he said.

The IACA is designed to prevent products from being marketed as Indian made, when in fact they are not. The law covers all Indian or Indian-style traditional and contemporary arts and crafts produced after 1935.

Charges against Ali and his co-defendant Mohammad Manasra, 58, also of Albuquerque, were the result of an ongoing federal investigation.

Law enforcement executed 15 search warrants in New Mexico and one in California in October 2015, including four at jewelry businesses in Albuquerque, three in Gallup, three in Santa Fe, and a jewelry production shop in Zuni. The Philippines National Bureau of Investigations conducted a series of investigative interviews at two factories in Cebu City, Philippines, officials said.

Manasra pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of violating IACA in October of last year and admitted fraudulently selling a Kokopelli pendant and earring set, two rings, a bracelet and an orange cluster pendant to an undercover agent. Manasra was sentenced in May to two days in prison and a year of supervised release. Manasra also was ordered to forfeit 5,268 pieces of Native-American style jewelry and to pay a $500 money judgment.

The continuing investigation is led by the Office of Law Enforcement for the Southwest Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Albuquerque Division of the FBI with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations, the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, and the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. The U.S. Marshals Service and DEA assisted in the investigation of this case, officials said.

Edward Grace, acting assistant director of the Office of Law Enforcement for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, called it a landmark investigation bringing overdue publicity to the problem. He said he hopes the sentencing will deter others who would seek to defraud consumers and undermine Native American artists.SANTA FE  State Rep. Larry Larranaga, an Albuquerque Republican who was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1994, made a surprise announcement Tuesday that he will not seek election to another two-year term due to family health issues.

His decision to end his re-election bid gives state Republicans just one week to come up with a replacement candidate for the November general election ballot in House District 27, which encompasses a swath of the Northeast Heights.

Larranaga said in an interview that he had been mulling over the decision for several weeks before deciding to withdraw from the race.

I need to focus a little bit more on family, he told the Journal. Ive had a great career, and I hope Ive been a contributor.

A former state Highway Department secretary and deputy chief administrative officer for the city of Albuquerque, Larranaga is now tied for the third longest-serving House member. As part of his legislative tenure, he was chairman of a powerful House budget committee for two years  from 2015 through 2016  after Republicans won a majority in the chamber for the first time in 60 years.

After Democrats reclaimed control of the House in the 2016 election cycle, Larranaga remained an influential voice on the House Appropriations and Finance Committee.

During a 2017 special session, he sponsored a bill creating a rainy-day fund that calls for revenue from oil and natural gas taxes that exceeds a five-year rolling average to be set aside for future cash-lean years.

The legislation took effect for the current budget year, and $177 million is projected to be set aside in the fund next July, due to an oil drilling boom in southeastern New Mexico.

Larranaga cited the bill as among his top legislative achievements, along with his work helping to craft a new 40-year state water plan.

It will still be a roller-coaster ride, but hopefully a smoother roller-coaster ride, he said of the rainy-day funds potential impact on the state budget decisions.

Meanwhile, Larranaga joins several other incumbent House Republicans who are also heading for the exits in this years election cycle, including GOP floor leader Nate Gentry of Albuquerque, five-term Rep. Dennis Roch of Logan and two-term Rep. Sarah Maestas Barnes of Albuquerque.

Under state law, the state Republican Party has until next Tuesday to pick a replacement for Larranaga for the Nov. 6 ballot. Bill Pratt, a retired physician, narrowly won a Democratic primary race in June and will be on the ballot in the House District 27 race.

State GOP Chairman Ryan Cangiolosi said Tuesday that he is confident Republicans will retain the seat in November. He also described Larranaga as a champion for job creation and fiscal responsibility for more than two decades.The finding by an independent public accountant, who issued a disclaimer of opinion after reviewing the financial records of the Martin Luther King Jr. State Commission, will stand  and will not be amended.

State Auditor Wayne Johnson, in a letter dated Aug. 16, informed New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas that three certified public accountants within the Auditors Office reviewed the documentation, and all three independently came to the conclusion that the IPA was correct in issuing a Disclaimer of Opinion on the FY2014 audits.

An auditor disclaims an opinion when there is not enough audit evidence on which to base an opinion, and concludes that the possible effects of undetected misstatements on the financial statements could be both material and pervasive, according to the Office of the State Auditors website.

Johnson said his office was unable to locate payroll records or bank statements needed in the documents obtained from the commission or the independent public accountant.

In addition to the disclaimer for the 2014 audit, Johnson said there does not appear to be sufficient information in these files to complete the missing FY2015, 2016 and 2017 audits for the Commission.

For that to happen, he said, the Auditors Office may need to use the subpoena process, conduct witness interviews, and seek missing financial documentation through SHARE, the states financial and human resources database system.

All agencies, with the exception of the New Mexico State Fair, use SHARE to account for and track financial transactions. SHARE is overseen by the state Department of Finance Administration.

In January 2016, investigators from the Attorney Generals Office served search warrants on the offices of the MLK State Commission. The AGs Office at the time reported seizing computers, bank statements, paycheck and payroll reports, travel and employee records, and other financial documents.

In January 2018, the MLK Commissions former executive director, former financial auditor and the head of a nonprofit educational program that distributed funds on behalf of the commission, were indicted on charges of embezzlement, fraud, larceny, conspiracy and racketeering.

Johnson noted that the unavailability of credible responses from former personnel who are currently being prosecuted by your (AG) office may continue to be an impediment to the conduct of the Commissions remaining past due audits.

In response to Johnsons letter, Balderas said in an email statement to the Journal that the State Auditor should not blame law enforcement that is prosecuting corruption for his inability to contact Department of Finance Administration and opine on financial activity.

In previously exchanged correspondences between Johnson and Balderas, the attorney general expressed concern that the state auditor had failed to use digital copies of papers, as well as digital images of desktop files, that were readily available and provided to the new executive director of the MLK State Commission as far back as September 2016, as well as in the possession of the independent public auditor.

By not using those electronic files to complete the audits, Balderas said, Johnson was in violation of a number of statutory requirements, as well as accounting and financial reporting standards.Escorts Ltd, Indias leading engineering conglomerate and Tadano Group, Japans biggest and worlds leading mobile crane manufacturer, today announced their joint venture to manufacture rough terrain cranes and truck mounted cranes. The joint venture will strengthen Escorts technology leadership and market presence in the material handling equipment space.

The JV will leverage the cost effective frugal Indian engineering excellence of Escorts and world leading Japanese technology from Tadano to cater to an expanding market for heavier capacity and efficient Truck & RT Cranes and sophisticated truck mounted and rough terrain cranes in the 20 to 80 tonnage category. The 51:49 joint venture between Tadano and Escorts respectively will enable both partners to optimize their current and future capabilities in the segment globally. The JV will aim to take leading position in the high tonnage crane segment in medium to long term.

Speaking on the occasion, Nikhil Nanda, Chairman and Managing Director, Escorts Ltd., said, Escorts vision has always been to bring the worlds best to India and take Indias best to the world. The new joint venture with Tadano Group is a step towards catering to market demand for smarter, safer and bigger mechanized infrastructure solutions in the higher tonnage category. We are confident that the joint venture will enable us to tap the opportunity market segments and reinforce our leadership in construction equipment space.

Koichi Tadano, President and CEO, Tadano Ltd., Japan, said, We are pleased to announce our partnership with Escorts group. Escorts has a strong technology legacy and diversified portfolio in construction equipment market and Tadano has a proven global technology and together we will cater to India and other growing economies which require safe, efficient & quality products and smarter construction technology.

The agreement on the joint venture was signed by Nikhil Nanda, Chairman and Managing Director, Escorts Limited and Koichi Tadano, President and CEO, Tadano Ltd., Japan.

Production by the joint venture is expected to commence at Faridabad in the third quarter of this financial year itself. The product offering will find a ready market with big construction companies servicing oil refineries, metro rail projects, smart city construction, solar power projects and alike.Today, HBO Asia and Viu, a leading OTT Video service by PCCW and Vuclip, announce that the Viu Original The Bridge licensed by Endemol Shine Group, will be available on HBO Asias channels and services throughout Asia. From November 26th, 2018, the show will be available day and date on Viu in all available markets and on HBO, HBO GO and HBO ON DEMAND in the following countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Fans of Viu Originals will now have the opportunity to view this latest adaptation of global phenomenon, The Bridge, on multiple platforms.

HBO Asia is committed to quality original local programming and working with Viu on The Bridge is another step towards that, said Jonathan Spink, CEO, HBO Asia. This adaptation of The Bridge will add to our ever-growing line up of Asian Original content that will resonate with audiences in the region and around the world.

Our approach is not just to produce great content, but also continue investing in the local ecosystem by providing a platform for sustained growth. It is great to partner with HBO Asia on the Bridge, because they share our vision and passion when it comes to Original content, said Kingsley Warner, Country Manager Malaysia and Executive Producer of The Bridge, Malaysia and Singapore.

Viu is working with longtime partner, Double Vision, to produce a Malaysia-Singapore localised, ten-episode adaptation of global phenomenon, The Bridge, starring Bront Palarae, Rebecca Lim, Cheryl Samad and Tony Eusoff. The Bridge will be directed by Lee Thean-jeen and Jason Chong. A body is found on the border of two countries, Malaysia and Singapore, forcing an investigator from each country to work together to solve the case. This is a licensed format from international production and distribution house, Endemol Shine Group and is a compelling storyline which lends itself to great localization.

The Bridge (Bron/Broen) was originally created and written by Hans Rosenfeldt as a joint production of Sweden's Filmlance International, part of Endemol Shine Group and Denmark's Nimbus Film. The Bridge (Bron/Broen) was produced in co-production with Sveriges Television, DR, ZDF German Television network, ZDF Enterprises Gmbh, Film i Skane, NRK, Copenhagen Film Fund, Lumiere Group, Stiftelsen Ystad Osterlen Filmfond, with from Norvision and in co-operation with Malmo Stad.Google announced a slew of new features and updates at its fourth edition of 'Google for India' event on Tuesday. While the fresh features spanned apps and products, a common theme across all was the focus on upcoming new users on the Internet. The users, who hail from beyond tier-1 or metros and prefer their own language over English. Most updates by Google are aimed at tapping this vernacular user-base in India, which is growing at a rapid pace.

"The three big things that capture the behaviour of this new Internet in India are voice, video and vernacular," said Rajan Anandan, vice-president (South-East Asia and India), Google, while delivering the keynote address. According to him, voice is emerging as the preferred model of input for new Internet users in India and they have seen 270 per cent year-on-year growth in voice searches.

Other data cited by Anandan gives a sense of how quickly this trend is emerging in India.

"Online video is now main-stream and amounts for 75 per cent of all the traffic in India. YouTube today reaches 245 million MAUs in India. Vernacular, or majority of Internet users today are Indian language users. And this number is expected to reach 500 million over the next two years," Anandan said.

To understand this trend of voice, video and vernacular, it is important to understand the behaviour of new users in India. The experts say that the behaviour of this set of users is quite different from the English-speaking, tech-savvy Internet users in India. The Internet user-base here has seen most concentration from socio-economic class (SEC) A and B. But now the next lot of audience which is coming online would be from SEC C and beyond.

According to Sreedhar Prasad, partner and head, consumer markets and internet business, advisory, KPMG India, this set doesn't shop online much and while they browse on Internet, they are not comfortable. "They may be heavily involved in Facebook and YouTube but their next level of commerce link or activity online is not very high." They are also not tech-savvy and prefer their own language and are more comfortable listening to audio than reading. The entry of this audience to Internet has given rise to the trend of "voice, video and vernacular" in India.

Google sees a huge opportunity here and therefore, it has introduced updates to make the new users comfortable on Internet. Here are some updates and features introduced by the tech giant today:

a. Project Navlekha: Google is working with the 100,000+ offline Indian language publishers on this project, which allows them to easily start their website and publish on a branded domain with a few simple clicks. The effort would make available more vernacular content online.

b. Users of the Google Go app can now pull up any web page in English, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, and Tamil, and simply listen to it with each word lighting up as its read.

c. Search feed will now display users' favourite topics of interest as well as news, from both English and Hindi sources, using AI that learns users' interests to surface stories they would most likely want to read.

d. To make Google Assistant more relevant to Indians, the company has introduced Marathi language besides English and Hindi on it. It plans to introduce seven more Indian languages soon. The Assistant will now automatically understand when you talk in different languages, so you can switch between Hindi and English seamlessly.

e. The company also announced that Tez will now become Google Pay. Google Pay has language support for English, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu.

f. The company is working on a new feature, which will give the definition of a word both in English and Hindi, when the user searches for it.

Earlier in the month Google had released a report with Omidyar Network and Bain and Company, titled 'Unlocking Digital for Bharat', which highlighted some of the challenges businesses, which want to address this new segment, may face. According to the report, the segment is fast emerging on Internet and presents a $50 billion opportunity for businesses. However, monetising this audience would take some time.MY FM, one of the most popular radio channels again has tried to give back to the society in their own extraordinary way. The channel carried out a campaign called as Mission 72 wherein they requested the citizens of Raipur on the occasion of Independence Day as to which evil of the society would they like to eradicate.

Thousands of citizens chose to wipe out garbage & dirt and get in hygiene and cleanliness to the city. The entire city comprising of students, youngsters, senior citizens chose this & informed the channel via calls, messages and live voting in the studio.

In a well panned mission, RJ Animesh was caged for 72hours to get hold from citizens and civic authorities & pull together to act on effective garbage removal and dumping. There was a condition on which he would come out, that is if Raipur would pledge to not throw garbage in the city. A rally with cars and bikes took place from MY FMs office. The rally went on to Rajbandhi Maidan to Kanal Road reaching Marine Drive till MY FMs office. RDA Chairman Sanjay Shrivastav flagged off the rally.

The channel also conducted a bugle call saying 'Raipur ko kachre se Azaadi' to certify that the people do not litter.

Speaking on the initiative, Mr Rahul Namjoshi, Business Head, MY FM said, Even after 72 years of Independence our cities are dealing with many problems and difficult to get freedom from. Our Raipur station picked up one such major issue cleanliness of the city, we have got amazing response from entire city and the city admin The report surveyed 2508 consumers across 108 brands within nine sectors in the Indian market. It identifies which brands emerged as the highest for customer experience excellence. Brands were measured across the Six Pillars of Customer Experience Excellence to identify the leaders across: Personalisation; Integrity; Expectations; Resolution; Time & Effort and Empathy.

It further reveals that customers in India value personalization, followed by integrity as key essentials for a good customer experience. Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces ranks high up in both these categories. The non-grocery retail sector too scores high on both these pillars, with brands such as Tanishq, Flipkart, and Indian Oil being front runners. The report further deep dives into how leading brands are creating exceptional customer experiences and how they are addressing the need to connect to the ideas and technologies of the future.

The report further stated that with India having an incredibly diverse population, brands are having to cater to a wide range of customers from a plethora of backgrounds, cultures and varying sensibilities. That said, the winners are those organisations which appeal to the customers core values, score high on the integrity quotient and reduce friction in the transaction cycle.

Report Highlights

 Personalisation is the pillar with the highest impact on Loyalty and Advocacy. Brands that are front runners in this pillar stay ahead of the competition by recognising the individuality of their customers

 Establishing a sense of Integrity and building trust with a brand is critical for the Indian customer

 The contemporary Indian customer not only wants his/her traditional in-store experience but also wants the ease and convenience that an e-commerce experience brings. The survey shows that brands which have excelled on the customer experience metric are those that not only provide multiple channels but more importantly integrate these channels and provide a single, unified, omni-channel experience

 The current Indian landscape opens a window of opportunity to differentiate and drive growth while keeping the customer at the heart of every business strategy.

Globalisation - Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been increasingly liberalised with many sectors now allowing 100 per cent investment. This has meant the rising number of superior quality global products available at competitive rates; making a choice is becoming increasingly difficult for the customer

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been increasingly liberalised with many sectors now allowing 100 per cent investment. This has meant the rising number of superior quality global products available at competitive rates; making a choice is becoming increasingly difficult for the customer Hyper-localisation - The Indian market is segmented and differentiated in choices and preferences; from North to South and East to West. This has meant brands cannot expect to run the full length and breadth of this market on a single themed approach and to this effect the concept of hyper localisation is booming

The Indian market is segmented and differentiated in choices and preferences; from North to South and East to West. This has meant brands cannot expect to run the full length and breadth of this market on a single themed approach and to this effect the concept of hyper localisation is booming The Digital Wave- Connecting the remotest parts of the country with high speed internet and mobile coverage, and providing cloud based on-demand services to the citizens will not only make Indian citizens connected but more aware and more demanding of better and quicker services

Connecting the remotest parts of the country with high speed internet and mobile coverage, and providing cloud based on-demand services to the citizens will not only make Indian citizens connected but more aware and more demanding of better and quicker services Disruption by data- The disruption brought about by 4G has made data in India one of the cheapest in the world today, making access to a mobile phone even more relevant to the average Indian. This is why keeping experiences real and relevant is key. Hotstars live streaming of the IPL or Jios partnership with Pokemon Go in India, proved that the focus is moving from selling just connectivity and data to selling service enabling customer experiences.

Speaking on the launch of the report Abhijeet Ranade, Partner and Head, Customer and Channel, Management Consulting, KPMG in India said It is time for organisations to get out there and understand their markets, their customers, the real value of their products and services and aspire to build a sustainable enterprise in the market; having the ability to fulfil their customer promise at each transaction via an extended supply chain. Difficult? Yes, but has to be done in order to survive and grow in this VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world.

India is continuing its indulgence with experiences which customers can live, share and feel connected with. Brands need to find a way to bring experiences to life and fulfil their customer promise at each interaction said Aditya Rath, Partner, Customer and Channel, KPMG in IndiaVilnius Airport, Lithuania, has contracted with Staines headquartered Airport Coordination Ltd (ACL), for schedules facilitation, following a competitive tender.





The contract commences for flights from the end of March, 2019, coinciding with the IATA summer timetable. Vilnius Airport instigated a move toward slot allocation as it swiftly moves to becoming an IATA Level 2 airport. It handled 3.8 million passengers last year, 3.3 million of them travelling on scheduled routes.



It has already seen a 17% traffic increase during the first half of 2018, compared with the corresponding period in 2017 and is on course to carry 4.7 million passengers by year end, equivalent to a 24% growth versus 2018.



Welcoming the new partnership with ACL, Dainius Ciuplys, Managing Director of Vilnius Airport commented: We are delighted to start collaborating with a strong and experienced partner, Airport Coordination Limited. They will help us with our primary aim, which is to manage flight peaks and maximise the infrastructure of the airport, enabling us to deliver the best service for our passengers. ACL will help us to negotiate with airlines on take-off and landing slots to achieve the best result.



Vilnius Airport is introducing slot allocation at a time when existing airlines add frequency. The Baltics is a strong region for air traffic, experiencing popularity for travel  for tourism and business. We are looking forward to working with this dynamic, forward-thinking airport in Lithuania, stated ACLs Managing Director Mike Robinson.





This summer Vilnius Airport is supporting 60 scheduled routes, the majority of them year-round, with passenger growth led by low cost carriers Ryanair, Wizz Air and legacy airlines LOT, airBaltic, Finnair and Turkish Airlines, among others. This winter it welcomes additional new scheduled services to Amman, Marrakech and Treviso. This May Kazakhstans SCAT Airlines introduced flights to Astana.



Airport Cooperation Ltd (ACL) is the worlds first independent slot coordinator and is headquartered in Staines, Middlesex, near London Heathrow Airport. It supports 39 airports worldwide, including 24 London and regional airports in the UK; Dublin, Cork and Shannon in the Republic of Ireland; Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Queenstown and Wellington in New Zealand; Dubai International and Dubai World Central; Polands Poznan and Warsaw Airports, Luxembourg Airport and Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.Saying she gave it all I had, Anne Campbell retired recently from the board of directors for Saratoga WarHorse, a nonprofit that provides military veterans with emotional issues the opportunity to interact and bond with former thoroughbred racehorses.

In 2014, the New York-based organization established its first satellite facility, and Campbell was a driving force in the effort that brought it to Aiken.

I have really put my heart and soul into this and worked very hard, Campbell said. Now it is time to back off, but my passion for the program is still as much as it ever was.

Aiken welcomes 600th participant of Saratoga WarHorse It seems like no small coincidence that the current average size of a combat battalion is 60

Saratoga WarHorse recognized Campbell for her contributions during its Blue Spangled Gala on Aug. 13 in Saratoga Springs, New York.

We will deeply miss her commitment and leadership, said Jim Price, secretary of Saratoga Warhorses board. She did a magnificent job. Everything she touches turns to gold. She is a marvelous person.

Saratoga WarHorses local satellite is based at Aiken Equine Rescue. There also is another satellite facility in Baltimore County, Maryland.

Campbell has been a tremendous asset to Saratoga WarHorse, and of course, she is the reason we are here, said Mary Katherine Philipp, who is the nonprofits program director for Aiken. I know the board will miss her input and her wisdom tremendously. I hope that at some level she will be able to stay active with us, but shes been doing this for quite some time now, and she deserves a break.

Campbell learned about Saratoga WarHorse after meeting the widow of a U.S. Military Academy graduate and veteran who had committed suicide at age 26. She also got the opportunity to witness one of the nonprofits classes and was impressed by the positive reactions of its participants to the experience.

In addition to her role in founding Saratoga WarHorses Aiken satellite, Campbell has spoken to many groups about the nonprofit. She also has been involved in organizing fundraisers such as the Buckaroo Ball in Aiken in 2015 and the Blue Spangled Gala, which is an annual event.

A time of change

Saratoga WarHorse currently is in the midst of a legal upheaval and a leadership transition. But Campbell said her departure had nothing to do with those developments.

This board has truly been a working board, and that was the part that I was ready to give up, Campbell said. I decided in about January to retire, but I planned it for the day after the Blue Spangled Gala because I was involved in putting it on.

Campbell is the wife of Dogwood Stable President Cot Campbell, who was inducted into thoroughbred racings national Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs on Aug. 3.

+5 Campbell honored as Woman of the Year at Red Carpet Gala Anne Campbell thought she was at Newberry Hall on Friday night just to give the invocation d

In July, Saratoga WarHorse sued its founder, Bob Nevins, for $1 million after he resigned as its director of programs.

The lawsuit accused Nevins of breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets and interference with business relations.

It was filed in the New York Supreme Court in Saratoga County.

A key issue was access to Saratoga WarHorses website, email and post office box.

According to the suit, Nevins refused to share the passwords for the nonprofits website and email with staff and also wouldnt make the key to the post office box available.

In addition, Price said that Nevins made outrageous demands, prior to his resignation. They included changing the legal status of the organization to a proprietorship of which he would be the sole owner, according to Price.

Price said Nevins other demands were to be named as Saratoga WarHorses executive director and for board members to resign so he could replace them with his appointees.

Nevins attorney, Scott Iseman of the firm OConnell & Aronowitz in Albany, New York, called the lawsuit baseless and much ado about nothing.

He added that Nevins, who started Saratoga WarHorse in 2012, left the organization because of his concerns with the way the board and management were running it. It was not consistent with the way he founded it to be run.

Lawsuit hasn't affected Aiken operations

After a break in July and August because of the hot summer weather, Philipp said Saratoga WarHorse in Aiken is scheduled to resume offering classes next week. She also reported that the lawsuit hasnt affected operations in Aiken.

We havent slowed down one tiny bit, she said. If anything, were stronger than ever. This is all about the veterans, and everybody is on board with that. Weve got a great relationship with Aiken Equine Rescue and a terrific team. Weve also got great community support.

Saratoga WarHorses suit asked for a temporary restraining order against Nevins, which a judge granted July 13.

Were back up and running, and our gala was financially successful, Price said. Our satellite operation in Baltimore County is going great guns. In Aiken, theyre doing a magnificent job, and were planning to start classes back in New York soon.

The Saratogian, a newspaper based in Saratoga Springs, reported in July that Saratoga WarHorse hadnt held classes in New York since the spring.

Price said the organization was looking for a new location at a farm and that several people have approached us with offers.Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier?

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Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page.The South Carolina Attorney General's Office announced its support Monday for a regional human trafficking task force being launched in Aiken County this week.

The Multi-County Regional Human Trafficking Task Force was formed by two co-chair agencies  the Cumbee Center to Assist Abused Persons and the Aiken Department of Public Safety.

Volunteers with the new task force will come together for a launch Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the Cumbee Center, 254 Beaufort St. N.E. in Aiken, which is a nonprofit that helps victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. The center is a temporary emergency shelter for battered women and their children who seek counseling or assistance in Aiken, Barnwell, Allendale, Saluda, McCormick and Edgefield counties.

Local women start regional human trafficking task force in Aiken County A newly created task force consisting of people from six counties, including Aiken County, will be meeting this upcoming week for the first time.

The idea for this local human trafficking task force is credited to two local women: Susan Selden, executive director of the Cumbee Center, and Officer Eleanor Hunter, with Aiken Public Safety. They decided to put this task force together to focus on the problem facing the six counties the Cumbee Center serves.

The launching of this task force will provide an avenue for all participants to coordinate knowledge, skills, and resources in order to combat human trafficking in the areas that we serve, Selden said. We have received positive responses from law enforcement agencies, nonprofits, schools, churches, and community members who are passionate about the potential we will have to bring awareness, education, and victim services to these counties.

This regional task force is an offshoot of the South Carolina Human Trafficking Task Force.

As successful as the statewide Human Trafficking Task Force has been, I believe that to win this war on human trafficking we must conduct as much of the fight as possible at the local level, said Attorney General Alan Wilson in a release Monday.

Kathryn Moorehead, coordinator of the S.C. Human Trafficking Task Force, also offered her support for the regional group.

The State Task Force continues to support regional task force efforts given the importance of coordinating anti-human trafficking efforts at the community level, Moorehead said. The Attorney Generals Office is eager to support the launch of the six-county regional initiative as we all strive to better educate the public, prevent the crime, and support victims and survivors of human trafficking throughout South Carolina.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the regional task force and learning how to join can email Selden at sselden@cumbeecenter.org.

For more information on the South Carolina Human Trafficking Task Force, visit humantrafficking.scag.gov.Construction to widen I-20 near the two-state border will begin in 2019, and construction to amend and update Hitchcock Parkway in Aiken is scheduled to begin mid-2020, according to the state transportation department.

On Monday night, S.C. Department of Transportation officials provided the Aiken County Legislative Delegation a statewide infrastructure and local project update.

Adam Humphries, a SCDOT project manager, told the state lawmakers the I-20 widening project would take roughly two or three years to complete. The overall plan is being developed by Georgia's transportation department, he added.

The I-20 project will stretch from the Augusta canal bridges in Richmond County, Georgia to near West Martintown Road in Aiken County.

Earlier this month, state Rep. Bill Hixon, R-North Augusta, said the I-20 widening project is near the top of his attention list.

Residents invited to learn more about Hitchcock Parkway improvements at public meeting The S.C. Department of Transportation is hosting a public information meeting regarding the project on Aug. 30 at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 96

"They're going to start there and do six lanes all the way to Exit 1," Hixon said. "We have a tremendous amount of wrecks there, on the interstate, where it sort of bottlenecks down."

Hixon made similar points Monday night.

SCDOT's 10-year plan describes the I-20 project as a capacity- and mobility-focused venture.

Humphries also told the lawmakers right-of-way plans for the Hitchcock Parkway project are now complete. He reminded the delegation of an upcoming project public forum, which is scheduled for Aug. 30 at St. Paul Lutheran Church.

The meeting will run for two hours: 5-7 p.m.

The Hitchcock Parkway  part of the Aiken bypass  project involves adding new left and right turn lanes, putting in new traffic signals and expanding bicycle and pedestrian "accommodations," according to SCDOT information.

Less than a half-acre of Hitchcock Woods land will be used to construct turn lanes on Dibble Road. Humphries mentioned the Hitchcock Woods impact during the Monday presentation.

Overall, the Hitchcock Parkway improvements will stretch about 5 miles from Silver Bluff Road to Jefferson Davis Highway.RAMALLAH, West Bank  The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) has established an investment fund aimed at curbing Palestinian poverty, the bank's governor in Palestine announced this month. The fund will help finance the Palestinian Peoples Economic Empowerment Institution. The Palestinian government has given instructions to the Ministry of Social Development to prepare to launch the institution in mid-2019.

The institution will battle poverty in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, on the basis of the 2017-2022 National Policy Agenda launched on Feb. 22, 2017. Its ultimate goal is to help the Palestinian Authority (PA) wipe out poverty by 2030, in line with a United Nations plan launched in August 2015.

The institution is an extension of the IsDB-funded Deprived Families Economic Empowerment Program (DEEP), which the UN Development Program has been implementing under the PAs supervision since 2006. The DEEP program seeks to empower marginalized families and teach them to be self-sufficient instead of relying on charities and humanitarian aid.

Daoud al-Deek, assistant deputy minister of the Ministry of Social Development, explained that the institution will operate on a wider scale than the ministry. While the ministry provides poor families with financial aid, the institution will invest with the poor to help empower them, told Al-Monitor.

The direct financial aid that the ministry provides families with doesn't help them move out of poverty. The institutions strategy, however, is to help them become productive and manage without the assistance of the Ministry of Social Development," he said. The institute will help groups of poor families and individuals establish companies in partnership with the private sector.

Deek said the institution will have its own budget, supplied by the newly established investment fund. The IsDB is contributing $100 million to the fund and another $400 million is being mobilized through a number of partners and entities. We will be attracting more funds by addressing donors, be they individuals or companies, from the Arab and Islamic world, he said.

Nevertheless, will the fund be enough to finance the institutions programs? Economist Nasr Abdel Karim told Al-Monitor the promised sum exceeds all expectations, which raises questions about the fund. The declared $500 million is an amount larger than the aid the PA obtains in general," he said.

Abdel Karim noted that the institution's budget is much higher than DEEP's, which hasn't exceeded $100 million in 10 years. This has some people questioning whether there will be an adequate disbursement mechanism.

He went on to caution that expectations should not be too high, as previously when similar amounts have been announced for various projects the sums were not made available. Yet, for him, it is reassuring that the IsDB is credible.

Deek expects the institution to work on many profitable projects to empower the poor, such as helping families acquire skills, integrating them into the labor market at home and abroad, and providing them with business capital.

The poor inside Palestine are the institutions first target, and priority will be given to areas Israel has targeted with economic restrictions such as Gaza, the Jordan Valley, Jerusalem, the areas adjacent to the settlements and the West Bank wall, farmers, people with disabilities and unemployed youth. It will also work to empower women and the poor abroad, particularly those living in Palestinian refugee camps.

Deek is very confident that the new institution will produce real results and succeed in empowering poor families. Based on [DEEP's] past experience, investing with the poor is very advantageous, particularly since families with human capital and expertise are a target of ours.

As an example, he mentioned a company that packages and markets agricultural products. A group of farmers opened the company in Tubas in 2016, in partnership with a Palestinian investment company. The firm has been prosperous.

Nevertheless, can the institution resolve all poverty and unemployment problems in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank? According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the unemployment rate in those areas amounted to 30.2% in the first quarter of 2018, and the poverty rate was 29.2% in 2017  nearly one-third of the Palestinian people.

Iyad Riyahi, a researcher at the Social and Economic Policies Monitor (Al-Marsad), stated that the problem with such projects is that they do not obtain their funding from the PA budget, and rather rely on a supply of foreign monies, which is irregular and unstable, even though it is from Arab and Islamic parties.

Riyahi told Al-Monitor that plans to reduce poverty should be a priority for the PA, and should have their own budget. Such programs should focus on the agriculture and education sectors, as well as the young, he added.

Riyahi fears that this institution  similar to others with the same declared objectives  might become a means for financial institutions to profit at the expense of the targeted groups.

Ayman Abdel Majid, a researcher at Birzeit Universitys Center for Development Studies  which conducted a study on DEEP  stressed the need for restructuring the Palestinian economy to resolve economic problems.

He told Al-Monitor the approach used in any project designed to curb poverty must take into account the Palestinian political and economic situations, as the Palestinian people and institutions remain under Israeli occupation. This being said, any vision to work with the poor and working class needs to consider the peoples steadfastness and ability to resist, he noted.

Otherwise, the program would have only a minor impact, he added. Abdel Majid believes empowerment programs need to promote cooperative economic thinking based on collectivism and the idea of serving the community, which the Palestinian economic system lacks presently.Having tried his luck in several Iranian presidential elections, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf appears to have finally abandoned his ambition of securing that position. Instead, he seems to be concentrating on a new goal  leading the new generation of hard-liners. Toward this end, on Aug. 12 Ghalibafs entourage released a manifesto laying out their vision of a "new conservatism," with a focus on "returning to the basics of the revolution" and "believing in the people."

Ghalibaf's journey to this point has been circuitous. He served as a military commander during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88), and in 1997 he became chief commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) air force. From 1997 to 2005, he was among the critics of Reformist President Mohammad Khatami. During that time, in 2000, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appointed him national police chief. While in office, he acted to modernize law enforcement, which to some extent increased his popularity.

With Khatami's tenure coming to an end in 2005, Ghalibaf decided to run to replace him. During the campaign, he presented a new face to the public, depicting himself as a pilot on banners and in other media. Ghalibafs decision to craft an image of himself as a moderate and a technocrat was, however, to his detriment, as a number of hard-liners and conservatives branded him a liberal.

Ghalibaf's presidential bid failed, but in 2005 he became mayor of Tehran. He sought to construct a triumphal legacy in the capital, but still failed to squelch the doubts about him in the conservative camp. In the 2009 presidential elections, Ghalibaf, still mayor, was determined to register to run, but Khamenei reportedly asked him to abstain, which he did. At the time, reports emerged that Ghalibaf had provided indirect support for Mir Hossein Mousavi, the Reformist candidate, with some members of his team joining Mousavi's campaign.

Amid the unrest that followed the disputed election results  which handed the incumbent conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a second term  Ghalibaf did not adopt a harsh stance personally or professionally toward the protesters and their leaders, resulting in hard-liners calling him the "silent man of the sedition." This cemented Ghalibafs status as an unreliable figure in the view of the conservative camp, and indeed, the last person the hard-liners could count on.

Realizing his weakened position among the hard-liners, Ghalibaf virulently sniped against rival candidate Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in the 2013 presidential elections. Conservatives generally reviled the moderate Rafsanjani, himself a two-time president. Ghalibaf espoused conservative slogans and constantly declared "jihadi management" to be his goal. Regardless, his second presidential run ended in another dead end, but it also led to hard-liners regaining some trust in him.

For the 2017 elections, Ghalibaf joined the race while in full compliance with conservative ideals. In previous campaigns, he had always worn luxurious attire, but this time he opted to appear in simple dress, at the time described as emulating the style of the hard-liner Saeed Jalili, who also had unsuccessfully run in the 2013 elections.

The 2017 polls represented a turning point for Ghalibaf, given the hard-liners' decision to reconcile with him after a decade of bitter tensions. To further gain hard-liners' trust, Ghalibaf proved himself to be a loyal member of the camp by agreeing to "sacrifice" himself by withdrawing from the race in favor of the conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi.

Meanwhile, Raisi's decision not to select Ghalibaf as his running mate upset Ghalibaf supporters, leading to his being depicted as "oppressed" and paving the way for his future plans. Of note, however, many observers believe Ghalibaf did not step aside to aid Raisi, but because he saw support for himself waning in the final weeks of the campaign.

After the May 2017 elections, which resulted in incumbent moderate Hassan Rouhani receiving a second term, Ghalibaf fully returned to the conservative camp, where he came to be an insider. Thus, the stage was set for his new, ambitious plan to become the leader of the emerging generation of conservatives.

A few months after the elections, Ghalibaf seized the opportunity and penned a letter on July 22 to the young hard-liners disappointed by the camps constant electoral defeats, stating that he shared their concerns.

As reported July 18 in Al-Monitor, the new generation of hard-liners completely disagrees with the old guard, whom they consider behind the times and useless in terms of tactics and approaches. Some members of the new generation have even accused older peers of betraying the Islamic Revolution specifically and conservatism more broadly.

In line with these criticisms, Ghalibaf called for a new conservatism, pointing his finger at the old guard as being responsible for consecutives electoral defeats. "Many of you know the reason of the recent failures of the Principlist current in attracting people's [votes] in elections to be the result of the structural  and functional errors at the macro and micro levels," Ghalibaf wrote in his letter.

Ghalibaf's vision of leadership has also been reflected in Sobh-e No, the newspaper that he controls. In an article published July 23, 2017, the daily focused on the young hard-liners questioning of the old guard's views and tactics, such as the Raisi campaigns attempt to take advantage of a popular rapper, an episode that stunned many conservatives at the time. The article further argued that the new conservatism seeks a return to the main pillars of the conservative approach in politics. Indeed, the young members have repeatedly argued for the need to reform the conservative camp.

Earlier this year, on May 19, Ghalibaf launched a new onslaught against the old guard, asserting, "Veterans of conservatism believe they dont need to listen [to others]. ... They talk to people with the same tone of 40 years ago." He adopted the position of the younger generation against the Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces, the grand coalition of conservatives in the 2017 elections popularly known by its Persian acronym, JAMNA.

Ghalibaf has generated some support by distancing himself from older peers. Mahmoud Qaedi, a young hard-line activist, tweeted in May, "Amid the ruckus over the failed JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action] and the blocking of Telegram [the popular encrypted social media app], Ghalibaf, along with jihadists, is delivering new homes to the quake-stricken people of Kermanshah."

Despite some apparent success in rebranding himself, Ghalibaf still faces a bumpy road ahead. Indeed, as he braces to lead the new generation of hard-liners, he is not without competition. His rivals include Ezzatollah Zarghami, a former head of state television, as well as members of Raisis inner circle. Given Ghalibaf's current trajectory, however, it appears he will intensify his efforts to cement his emerging position.A Jewish Israeli Knesset member and former minister of defense, a senior Arab Israeli Knesset member and a top Palestinian politician from the occupied territories met last week in Tel Aviv. Sounds like the beginning of a joke, but this rare encounter took place on Aug. 22 in the lobby of Sokolov House, the headquarters of the Israeli Journalists Association. Former Defense Minister Amir Peretz of the Zionist Camp, Joint List Chair Ayman Odeh and senior Palestinian official Nabil Shaath shook hands over a simple wooden casket bearing the photo of journalist and former Knesset member Uri Avnery, who died two days earlier at the age of 94.

At the foot of the coffin lay a wreath from Yuli Edelstein, speaker of the Knesset. It's the same institution that recently adopted the nationality law discriminating between Israeli Jews and their Arab neighbors, the same parliament that has broken Israels record of racist legislation and is not nearly done. Even as the government was negotiating with Hamas, an organization preaching for the State of Israels annihilation, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas mourned his passage in a statement hailing his struggle against Israels occupation of Palestinian territory that began in 1967 and his championing of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

I was moved to see that throughout the day, Palestinian television aired the condolence message sent by President Abbas, said Odeh. I want to see his name commemorated on a street in Ramallah, he added, in a challenge directed at the Palestinian delegation from Ramallah. Let us start with Tel Aviv, I thought to myself. I looked around in vain for Ron Huldai, the mayor of the city that was home to Avnery and the campaigns he waged for peace. Perhaps President Reuven Rivlin, who praised Avnerys campaign for official recognition of the pre-state Etzel underground militia, could cut the ribbon at the inauguration.

Avnery suffered a stroke as he was making his way to the Aug. 11 rally in Tel Avivs Rabin Square, where Arabs and Jews, lovers of peace and advocates of equality, Zionists and post-Zionists stood side by side demanding the repeal of the nationality law. When the protest ended, participants went their separate ways. Some to Herzliya, an affluent suburb north of Tel Aviv, others to the Israeli Arab town of Sakhnin. The next morning they were busy apologetically deflecting attacks by the political right and its affiliated media, which gleefully pounced on the hoisting of several Palestinian flags at the rally to de-legitimize the event.

Does the peace camp have a reason to apologize or lose hope? Avnery never apologized for his historic 1982 meeting with Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization most Israelis considered a despicable murderer. He was not afraid to march at the head of demonstrations featuring Palestinian flags alongside Israeli ones. He had no qualms about compiling a list of Israeli factories and companies operating in the occupied territories and calling for their boycott. Even as the Israeli peace camp was being debilitated by crippling pessimism, Avnery published a two-volume autobiography he titled Optimistic. Despite numerous difficulties, including three attempted assassinations, he refused to be bowed by the ill winds buffeting Israeli society.

Over his decade in power, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has succeeded in relegating the word peace to the margins of political discourse. The center-left Labor Party has distanced itself from the 1993 Israeli-Palestinian Oslo Accord and rebranded itself as the Zionist Camp. The left-wing Meretz is divided among those like Knesset member Moshe Mossi Raz, who is determined to fly the flag of peace, and Knesset faction chair Ilan Gilon, who advocates a more socially oriented line. Hadash, a successor of the Israel Communist Party, is toying with the idea of forming a Jewish-Arab leftist bloc, but worries about dividing its Arab constituency and damaging its electoral prospects.

Things are not much better outside the parliament. While aggressive right-wing organizations such as Im Tirzu enjoy political and financial backing, leftist groups are busy defending themselves and trying to survive. Their leaders are unable to formulate a unified stand on various substantive issues like a boycott of Israeli settlements, mobilization of support by international organizations and contacts with Hamas. Right-wing Jewish philanthropists and American evangelical communities are funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to strengthen Israeli settlements. Jewish tycoons who favor agreement with the Palestinians and revile the exclusion of minorities in Israel pen critical opinion pieces in American newspapers.

One such article by Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, condemned the nationality law on the pages of the New York Times. Dame Vivian Duffield, daughter of the late British billionaire Charles Clore and a leading Israel donor like her father, told Haaretz that the nationality law is apartheid," adding, "This is South Africa! Simultaneously, Israel was inaugurating a medical school at Ariel University in the West Bank settlement. The school was funded by American tycoon Sheldon Adelson, who pumps millions of dollars into Yisrael Hayom and Makor Rishon, the media outlets of the nationalist right.

Three days after the funeral service for Avnery, Israeli settlers wielding sticks and throwing stones attacked six activists of the tiny Israeli-Palestinian Taayush organization, breaking their cameras. Four of the activists were taken to Soroka Hospital in the southern city of Beersheba suffering extensive bruising; one was unable to stand. Their only sin was trying to document the invasion of Palestinian lands by settlers from the illegal outpost of Mitzpe Yair in the southern Hebron Hills.

Like Avnery, 74-year-old writer and translator Ilana Hammerman is among the handful of the righteous striving to physically block the expulsion of Palestinians from their lands and keep the flame of peace burning. This past May, she took part in an attempt to chase away settlers harassing Palestinian shepherds in the West Bank. If there were hundreds of people joining them instead of a handful, she wrote, the bureaucratic military machine, conducting its violent business with the help of edicts and bulldozers and guns, would finally start creaking and the grating noise would be heard at a distance, in Israel and farther away.

A different kind of noise was heard several days ago, when three young Arab Israelis screamed in pain as they were beaten bloody on a beach by nationalist Israelis simply for being Arabs. They came to swim in the sea, the same sea over which the ashes of Israels top warrior for peace were scattered that day. Dozens of Israelis witnessed the lynching. Only one righteous stood up to help.

He did not get to the end of the road, did not live to see peace come about, wrote Avnerys friends from Gush Shalom, the organization he founded and led. They pledged that many of those he influenced would keep his mission alive. One can but be an optimist, to quote Avnery.Asif Zardari called meeting to consider request of Fazlur-Rehman

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Partys Asif Ali Zardari called a party meeting today to consider the request for endorsement of Fazlur-Rehmans nomination as a presidential candidate.



The meeting is scheduled for 5 PM today. It was scheduled after Jamiat-e-Ulema-Islams leader Maulana Fazlur-Rehman sought PPPs support, claiming that Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insafs Arif Alvi will become President if the opposition remained divided.The Palestinians are extremely upset by the Donald Trump administrations decision to cut $200 million in aid they get from the United States. A small part of this aid budget is designated for the Palestinian Authority (PA) itself  specifically for security coordination with Israel. Most, however, is funneled by USAID  the US State Departments foreign aid arm  directly to Palestinian and international projects for infrastructure and agricultural and industrial development in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The US administration is hoping that the aid cut will force the Palestinian leadership to stop paying the families of Palestinians jailed in Israel for security-related offenses or those killed in terror attacks against Israelis; Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has pledged, however, that he would not cut these expenditures even if "we are left with one penny." The administration also hopes, in vain, that a blow to its coffers would force the PA to renew the ties it severed with Washington over the relocation of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May. The Palestinians will not put up with anything resembling a sellout of their principles.

On the other hand, drying up the PAs funding could lead Abbas to hand over the keys to Israel and letting it run the PA. The Americans have conceivably failed to consider such an option, although it may be the only one left for the Palestinian leadership. The PA cannot afford deep cuts in US aid that would leave it only with money to train its security forces and coordinate between them and Israel, bolstering its image as Israels sub-contractor in the occupied territories. If this ends up being the outcome of the American move, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will emerge bruised.

Shortly after the September 1993 signing of the Oslo Accord between Israel and the Palestinians on the White House lawn, several countries established a donor forum  the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee  to help the PA fund economic initiatives, especially to build and upgrade infrastructure. Norway was designated head of the forum, and Israel was made a member and remains one. The aid funneled to the PA has enabled it since then to provide public services and pay the salaries of its workers. Tens of thousands of Palestinian teachers, medical personnel and others  who until then were on the payroll of the occupying state, Israel  started getting their wages from the new authority. Under the Oslo Accords, the PA was supposed to exist for five years (starting in 1994, after the signature on the Cairo Agreement) and then make way in 1999 for the institutions to be established within the framework of a permanent arrangement for the Palestinians. The PA went on to exist long past its due date, and no one is forcing it to dismantle although a permanent arrangement has not been achieved.

The first head of the PA, PLO leader Yasser Arafat, did occasionally threaten to dismantle the PA unless the sides quickly reached a final agreement, but he never carried out the threat. His successor, Abbas, has also said that absent an agreement with Israel, he would dismantle the PA, but the keys remain in his pocket. In the past few months  for instance, at the Palestinian Council meeting in Ramallah last April  he even made clear that he did not intend to give up one of the few tangible achievements of the Oslo Accord: the establishment of Palestinian institutions, modest as they are.

In other words, everyone finds it convenient to keep the PA on the life support machine to which it has been hooked since its original mandate ran out. The Palestinians have a government recognized by Israel (de facto) and a majority of the world's nations, and the UN has granted the PA the status of a non-Member Observer State and enabled its accession to many of its affiliated organizations. A nomenclature has sprung up around the PA, dubbed by writer Milovan Djilas the new class  meaning a rather large group of people holding various government positions who, along with their families and close associates, have a vested interest in the continued existence of the establishment, largely to guarantee their political and economic future.

Israel was freed from the onus of funding Palestinian life in the occupied territories when it handed over the running of schools, hospitals, domestic security and public order to the PA some 25 years ago. The last thing any Israeli government would want is to be saddled with this responsibility once again. The tight security coordination, including the willingness of both sides to admit the intimacy involved, is another important reason for the Netanyahu governments stake in preserving and defending the PA.

Over his many years in office, Netanyahu has proven that he does not truly intend to divide the land of Israel he now controls or allow the establishment of a Palestinian state. In fact, he has turned the Oslo Accords from an interim agreement to a permanent one of sorts.

There was good reason for Netanyahus comment during a visit to Lithuania on Aug. 24, saying he sees no urgency in presenting Trumps blueprint for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Netanyahu can have it all  continued occupation of the Palestinian lands on which Israeli settlements have prospered  without having to fund it. He has done it within the legal framework drawn up for what was supposed to be a temporary deal but has never been rescinded  not by the Palestinians nor the Israelis, including the current government that is the most radical right-wing one ever to rule Israel.

But why are the donor states so intent on contributing money to a PA that is unable to support itself despite the passage of time and on funding facilities  mostly in Gaza  repeatedly destroyed in frequent Israeli-Palestinian clashes?

A friend from one of the donor states gave me a partial answer to this question several years ago. He told me that his countrys prime minister had never had a one-on-one meeting with the president of the United States, but since his country had joined the donor forum, his prime minister drops in at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on every visit to Washington. Today, I might not get the same answer, and Trump would clearly not shed a tear if the donor community ceased to exist. Nonetheless, other than the diplomatic-ideological aspects of supporting a Palestinian state in the making, the donor countries are looking to the future with an assessment that a different US administration will want continued funding of the PA and value it.

The American aid cut could potentially change the status quo. A resulting Palestinian decision to dismantle the PA and hand the keys back to Israel could have a vital role in forcing the Netanyahu government to understand that the interim arrangement included in the Oslo Accords has a limited shelf life, and that Israel cannot continue occupying the West Bank under its auspices without forking over any money. Even if this ends up being Trumps only contribution to an Israeli-Palestinian deal, its value cannot be understated.RAMALLAH  Mohammed al-Sabakhi, a resident of Nuseirat, is eager to start his new job in Kuwait after passing various assessments and interviews with a Kuwaiti Ministry of Education delegation that visited Gaza Aug. 6-14 on a mission to find teachers to work in Kuwaiti schools. Sabakhi is one of 158 teachers  102 from Gaza and 56 from the West Bank  who signed contracts with the Kuwaitis.

Sabakhi had applied last year to teach math in Kuwait, but Israeli permit restrictions had prevented the delegation of Kuwaiti teachers and supervisors from entering Gaza. Sabakhi sees his new job as a turning point in his professional and personal life. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for coping with the circumstances in the Gaza Strip, he told Al-Monitor.

Sabakhi graduated in 2012 from the Islamic University in Gaza with a degree in mathematics and then taught for two years under temporary contracts with the Palestinian Ministry of Education. After four years of unemployment, the opportunity to teach in Kuwait is his chance to escape the 11-year blockade and lack of prospects in Gaza, where he has been responsible for supporting his wife, two sons, his mother and brother.

This is the second consecutive year that Kuwait has recruited Palestinian teachers from Gaza and the West Bank following a 27-year standoff. For almost three decades, Kuwait prevented Palestinians from working there, after the Palestine Liberation Organization sided with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein when he invaded Kuwait in August 1990.

Sadeq al-Khadour, undersecretary of the Palestinian Ministry of Education, told Al-Monitor that in 2017 the Kuwaiti Ministry of Education had taken the initiative in seeking out Palestinian teachers, and Palestinian Authority (PA) officials, namely President Mahmoud Abbas, had instructed the PA's Ministry of Education to do whatever it could to facilitate the process in Gaza and the West Bank.

Khadour said the initiative and response fall within the framework of ministry efforts to promote the experience of Palestinian teachers in the Arab world, providing new opportunities for the teachers on the one hand and on the other assisting the unemployed. Last year, the Kuwaitis signed contracts with 103 teachers, but only from the West Bank.

Mansour al-Dhafiri, head of the Kuwaiti delegation, told Al-Monitor, We encountered some difficulties in coordinating access to the Gaza Strip this year, but we were keen to get there. We insisted on granting the bulk of the positions to the Gaza Strip to make up for last year, so 102 out of 158 contracts were signed with teachers from Gaza.

Dhafiri said Kuwait intends to make its teacher recruitment drive among Palestinians an annual program. We were educated by Palestinian teachers who lived with us in our society and had a great impact on our lives, he remarked. Palestinian teachers are highly competent.

Dhafiri himself was educated by Palestinian teachers in the 1970s. During that period, and until the early 1990s, Palestinians constituted the majority of teachers in Kuwaiti schools due to the large number of Palestinians living in Kuwait. Dhafiri, waxing sentimental, said, My presence on the land of Palestine is a dream I wish I would never wake from.

The one-year contracts can be renewed for four years by teachers and others employed by the Palestinian Ministry of Education. They do not forfeit their jobs at the ministry, and once their tenure in Kuwait ends, they can either resume their jobs at the PA ministry or resign to continue working independently in Kuwait. Teachers who are unemployed when they sign with the Kuwaitis can renew their contracts for an unlimited number of years.

This will be an opportunity to finally return to teaching and broaden my experience, said Samir Omran, a math teacher from Jericho who had stopped teaching in 2013 to take an administrative position at the Ministry of Education in Ramallah but is returning to the classroom in Kuwait. Omran told Al-Monitor that he is thinking of taking full advantage of the four-year opportunity. He has been encouraged by colleagues who have worked in Kuwait.

Mayssa al-Asbah, one of Omrans colleagues from Bethlehem, taught in Kuwait during the last school year. Although the job takes her away from her family and her children, she plans to extend her contract for another year and encourages anyone able to take advantage of the opportunity to do so.

Asbah, who has a master's degree in teaching methods from Al-Quds University, told Al-Monitor about the warm welcome she received in Kuwait and the benefits provided by the Kuwaitis to teachers who want to bring their families with them. They are assisted with accommodations and schools for their children, and their spouses are allowed to be employed in Kuwait. Asbah was keen to work in Kuwait because she was born there, but forced to flee during the Iraqi invasion.

Asbah works in a high school in the Hawally district. In her first year teaching in Kuwait, out of the 180 teachers in the school, she was recognized as an initiator and the best teacher in using creative educational methods. Palestinian teachers and their experience are greatly appreciated, she said.TUNIS  President Beji Caid Essebsis proposal to make inheritance rights equal for men and women has sparked heated debate over the role of religion in public policy as Tunisia begins gearing up for presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for November 2019.

On Aug. 13, National Womens Day, Essebsi called on parliament to pass legislation amending the countrys inheritance law, which, as per Sharia, generally allots women half of what men receive. He added that exceptions could be made for those who opt for the application of Islamic law.

The proposal, which will likely be debated in parliament when it reconvenes in October, follows on the back of a controversial report issued by the Essebsi-appointed Individual Freedoms and Equality Committee (COLIBE), which first recommended the measure.

In addition to codifying equal inheritance, the report advocates abolishing the death penalty, decriminalizing homosexuality and annulling dowries, all contentious issues not only in Tunisia, but throughout the Muslim world. These changes, the reports authors contend, are needed for Tunisia to live up to the ideals enshrined in its 2014 constitution, which ensures equality between men and women and individual rights to all citizens.

While eliciting praise from some secularists and rights activists, the COLIBE report  and Essebsis push to move forward with equal inheritance  has provoked a backlash from Islamists, conservatives and even some moderates who view it as an unwelcome departure from Islamic values.

Thousands of men and women protested the reports recommendations on Aug.11 outside the parliament in downtown Tunis, calling them a violation of Islamic precepts.

I'm here to defend the word of God and oppose any projects that harm the Islamic identity of our people, Kamel Raissi, a retiree, told the Associated Press.

Chiheb Eddine Tlich, spokesperson for the National Coordination Committee for the Defense of the Quran, the Constitution and Equitable Development, which organized the protest, later said at a news conference, The [COLIBE report] was worked out by secular leftists who seek to cause divisions among Muslims.  The president of the republic neither read nor understood the constitution.

Despite Tunisias 2014 constitution being hailed as among the most progressive in the region, some reforms aimed at ensuring gender equality remain widely unpopular in the country.

According to a December 2017 poll by the International Republican Institute (IRI), 63% of Tunisian respondents, including 52% of women, said they strongly opposed legislation guaranteeing equal inheritance between the sexes. The same poll also found that 65% of respondents strongly opposed the presidents move last year to repeal a decree barring Tunisian women from marrying non-Muslim men.

Tunis-based political analyst Youssef Cherif told Al-Monitor that such opposition reflects deep-rooted social and economic norms in a society that is largely conservative when you move away from the official narrative cliches.

[Tunisia is] more open than many Muslim societies in the region, true, but there are red lines it doesn't cross, especially when it comes to clear Quranic texts, Cherif said. Moreover, the inheritance issue is an economic factor. Men in a largely paternalistic society won't easily accept being deprived of what they see and have grown used to as their rights.

The sociologist Tarek Belhadj Mohamed told Al-Monitor that opposition to such reforms should be expected, but also challenged.

The great reforms in history always encounter resistance from people who are afraid of what is new, Mohamed said. Even the code of personal status [put forward by former President Habib Bourguiba], which gave great privileges to Tunisian women, also found resistance in his time, but today he is a source of pride for all Tunisians.

Under Bourguibas autocratic rule, Tunisia passed landmark legislation to advance gender equality  including abolishing polygamy and equalizing divorce proceedings  making the country a pioneer in womens rights in the Arab world.

Essebsi, from the secularist Nidaa Tunis, hopes to build on that tradition, even if equal inheritance is not a winning theme for Nidaa, Cherif said. Essebsi wants two things: a legacy for himself in history and to put pressure on Ennahda, the moderate Islamist party, which aims to position itself as a non-religious party before the local and international community but whose base is largely opposed to COLIBE for religious reasons.

Cherif further stated, [If Ennahda] openly opposes COLIBE, it may lose international support and have more opposition internally. If it endorses the report, however, it will lose its constituency.

Thus far, Ennahda, which has a majority in parliament and is in a shaky governing coalition with Nidaa Tunis, has taken a careful line, with party chief Rached Ghannouchi stating, [We] will engage on this presidential proposal when it is formally presented to the People's Representatives Assembly.

Abdelkarim Harouni, head of Ennahdas Shura Council, has asserted, We have expressed our reservations about the issue of the equality in inheritance between men and women but we are open to debate other issues related to expanding rights and freedoms.

Whatever the political implications, rights activists say the focus of the legislation should be its impact on women and how it will further Tunisias drive toward equality.

The proposal is important because one cant choose which rights to give and which to neglect, Racha Haffar, founder of the anti-human trafficking association Not 4 Trade, told Al-Monitor. If you want a country where human rights and equality prevail, you cant stick to a religious text that doesnt grant equal rights.

Rania Said, a university lecturer in English at the Mediterranean School of Business, who attended a demonstration in Tunis in support of equal inheritance on Aug. 13, told Al-Monitor that while the proposal is a political maneuver  that does not mean that equality in inheritance is an unjust cause.

She explained, If it passes, the proposal would be an important step toward achieving socio-economic justice for women in Tunisia, but it is not enough. We need more courageous proposals to protect individual freedoms in Tunisia.ANKARA  Turkey flatly rejected a proposal today by visiting US Congress members that it abandon its purchase of Russian S-400 air defense missiles in order to receive the F-35 fighter planes that it had ordered from the United States.

Speaking on a visit to Lithuania, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the purchase of the Russian missiles would go through: We have to protect our airspace. This is a must for us.

The deal has annoyed Washington because the S-400 is not compatible with existing NATO missile systems. American legislators also support President Donald Trumps demands for Turkey to drop the prosecution of Andrew Brunson, a US pastor who is under house arrest in Izmir while standing trial on charges of assisting Islamic and Kurdish militant groups.

Congress recently passed a bill that threatens to halt the sale of the F-35s to Turkey. Three members of the US Congress, led by Michael Turner, told Turkish legislators on Monday that Turkey should drop its missile purchase to win congressional support for the supply of the F-35s.

We are a partner in the F-35 program, Cavusoglu said Tuesday, adding that parts of the plane are made in Turkey. In a blunt reference to what has been coming out of Washington, he said, If they say they can do anything they want, as in cowboy movies, they will get a response.

A strange story preoccupied the Turkish media on Tuesday: that the United States was setting up radar bases in northern Syria with the twin aims of monitoring air traffic in the region and providing protection for the Syrian Kurds in whose area the bases are being erected.

No recognized US or Turkish official has confirmed such installations. The reports were based on videos circulating on television and social media that showed what appeared to be American soldiers setting up radar attennae and erecting offices and living quarters. Two officers with North American accents speak on camera, but the name tags on their chests are out of focus. One officer says the aim of the radar is that any aircraft flying in the vicinity can be controlled. A second officer says the radar will enable the US forces to deliver our airpower assets.

Curiously, the videos have no clear origin. Numerous media outlets ran them, or screen-grabs from them, but nobody was credited with shooting the video. With justifiable caution, CNNTurk reported, It has been alleged that the US is setting up an air defense and electronic radar system in the territory that is under PYD/YPG control in Syria, referring to the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party and its militant wing, the People's Protection Units.

Turkey regards the YPG as a terrorist group. Washington has found it an effective ally in its fight against the Islamic State in Syria, but the YPGs close association with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the Turkish Kurd militant group, has long caused friction between the United States and Turkey. The United States classifies the PKK as a terrorist group, as does the EU, but has declined to put the YPG in that category.

Hurriyet splashed pictures from the videos on its front page with the headline: American radar to the YPG front line. The longer story on its inside pages was headlined Air defense shield for the PYD. The paper quoted an unnamed security source as saying that Turkey was looking into the radar base issue, but neither confirming nor denying the veracity of the videos.

The lack of confirmation did not stop commentators from speculating. The online editor of the pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper said the United States was creating a new no-fly-zone in northern Syria, the same tactic used in the 1991 occupation of Iraq, and has already started to install advanced radar systems in Kobani and Hasakah.

Hurriyet quoted terrorism specialist Abdullah Agar as saying, If these allegations are true, the US is setting up this system for the security of its own military assets in the region. However, it is noteworthy that the US made this move after the Turkish military and MIT [intelligence agency] conducted operations that targeted PYD and PKK and killed Ismail Ozden, the Sincar representative of the [PKK] terror organization.

Agar seemed to be saying that in future, Ankara would have to coordinate its find-and-kill operations in Northern Iraq and Syria with Washington.

On the domestic front, liberals were appalled by the governments decision to crack down on a little-known group called the Saturday Mothers. These family members of people who disappeared in the 1990s had been holding demonstrations in central Istanbul on Saturday mornings in a bid to get the state to account for their loved ones kidnapping and murder.

The protests had always been peaceful  until Saturday, when the police sprayed tear gas, fired plastic bullets and manhandled the protesters into custody. Photographs showed the "Mothers" fought back, wrestling and shouting at the officers.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu accused the demonstrators of having links to the PKK. They try to create victimization out of motherhood in order to mask terrorism, he told the press. Referring to those who disappeared, Soylu said, Werent they members of terrorist groups?

On Monday, the Saturday Mothers condemned the minister in a press conference at the Human Rights Association's offices. Soylus statement aims to distort the facts, undermine the legitimacy of the Saturday protests and cover up the states responsibility, they said in a statement.

The rights group's Meral Cildir told Al-Monitor that in 2011, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, then prime minister, spent two hours with a delegation of the Mothers. He was quoted as telling them, We will heal your pain. Cildir said Soylus attempt to link the Saturday Mothers with terrorists shows the new Erdogan government will not tolerate any kind of protest.

Hanim Tosun, the widow of Fehmi Tosun, who disappeared in 1995, pointed out that the Mothers had protested 700 times. Did we hurt anyone? she asked.

Algan Hacaloglu, who served as minister for human rights in the 1990s, recalled examining the file of one of the most famous disappeared, Hasan Ocak, who was seized after a pro-Alevi demonstration in Istanbul in 1995 and was found buried 58 days later.

Hasan Ocaks file said he was strangled with rope and died under torture, Hacaloglu told Cumhurriyet newspaper. But the official letter given to me that was signed by the interior minister of the time, Nahit Mentese; the general director of security, Mehmet Agar' and the then-governor of Istanbul, Hayri Kozakcioglu, said Ocak was never even arrested, he was never on the police wanted list and the government was not responsible for his death.Fresh allegations of potential war crimes by the Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthi rebels in Yemen are putting strain on flagging US support for the mission.

With the Pentagon already increasing public and private pressure on Riyadh to cut down on civilian casualties, the UN Human Rights Council released a report today that found little evidence that Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates took basic steps to protect noncombatants. The UN says the three-year air war has killed at least 6,475 people, and probably many more.

In particular, the report castigated Saudi Arabia and the UAE for failing to consult no-strike lists that include refugee camps and hospitals. The two countries, along with the Yemeni government and its Houthi foes, are also accused of a spate of crimes including rape, forced disappearances and arbitrary detention.

The report, which urges the United States and Britain to stop providing weapons to the Saudi-led coalition, forced Defense Secretary Jim Mattis onto the back foot at the outset of a rare Pentagon press briefing today. Mattis said US support for aerial refueling and intelligence support to the Saudi-led coalition is not unconditional.

"The reality is that the battlefield is a humanitarian field, Mattis said. Our conduct there is to try to keep the human cost of innocents being killed to the absolute minimum.

Mattis said the United States is working with Saudi Arabia to probe reports of civilian casualties after an Aug. 9 Pentagon-supported bombing attack on a school bus killed 40 children. The attack prompted Army Lt. Gen. Michael Garrett to urge a thorough and expedited investigation by Saudi officials, Pentagon spokeswoman Rebecca Rebarich told Al-Monitor.

Mattis outlined remedies including no fire areas around hospitals and schools and a more rigorous Saudi-led targeting process. But these havent stopped airstrikes from being the leading direct cause of civilian deaths and destruction of civilian infrastructure in the conflict, according to the UN report, hitting residential areas, markets, religious sites, and other gatherings such as funerals and weddings.

Experts say Saudi Arabias perception of US military failings in the Middle East has sunk Washingtons credibility as it has sought to avert civilian casualties in Yemen.

There is great frustration on the Saudi side that a country that fought a war in Iraq for 20 years and turned Raqqa and Mosul to rubble is telling the Saudis what to do in a country thats on their border three years in, a former senior US intelligence official told Al-Monitor. They know theyre one lucky shot from having a missile from Yemen hitting their own preschool in Jazan.

Those frustrations havent been eased by growing  and increasingly public  Pentagon skepticism about the air war. On Monday, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, the top US air commander in the Middle East, told The New York Times that Saudi officials need to come out and say what occurred in the Aug. 9 school bus strike.

The war also faces increasing skepticism from Congress.

There it is. WAR CRIMES. Funded and facilitated by the United States, longtime Senate war critic Chris Murphy, D-Conn., tweeted after the release of the UN report. If we don't end our participation in the Yemen civil war now, what on earth will it take?

Earlier this month, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and 27 other Democrats asked the Donald Trump administration for a briefing on the war with Mattis, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats in the first week of September. A Hoyer aide told Al-Monitor that House Democrats remain in talks with the administration about the briefing, but have yet to schedule a date.

UAE Ambassador to the United States Yousef al-Otaiba, who spent much of July telling Congress that his country would continue its assault against the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah if UN-backed talks broke down, has been echoing Saudi frustrations with Washington.

For the last 10 years, there's a debate that's been going on in this country that the US doesn't want to get more involved, that there's still a hangover from Iraq and Afghanistan, Otaiba said at the Aspen Security Forum in July. When we hear that, it means we need to do things on our own.

The battle lines near the port remain frozen as UN Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths hopes to get the Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels to the table for a September meeting in Geneva. Two sources familiar with the situation told Al-Monitor that as the Hodeidah operation has shifted to a siege and the UAE threatens to cut the road to the north, families are being displaced.

Saudi officials said they had referred Mondays report to their legal team, Reuters reports. The Saudi Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, the British government is battling a lawsuit that seeks to ban it from selling weapons to the Saudi war effort. But a former Barack Obama administration official said its not clear that the Saudis  or their allies  will face any legal jeopardy for the recent spate of bombings.

A lot of states dont incorporate international law into their domestic legal system, said Scott Anderson, now a governance fellow at the Brookings Institution. Im not sure that theres a direct 1-to-1 of enhanced liability from this report.

Even if there are no further legal ramifications, the Trump administration faces a September deadline from Congress to certify that the Saudi-led coalition is working to reduce civilian casualties in Yemen.

Theres a very serious concern that [the Saudis] congressional engagement isnt breaking through, said the former intelligence official. Weve explained the problem over and over.President Donald Trump smiles as pastor Paula White prepares to lead the room in prayer, during a dinner for evangelical leaders in the State Dining Room of the White House, Monday, Aug. 27, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear issued a statement today defending his decision to attend a meeting Monday of ministers with President Donald Trump.

Greear said he was not one of the more than 100 ministers who signed a Bible for Trump, with the inscription, "History will record the greatness that you have brought for generations."

TV Evangelist Paula White read the inscription and said, "We pray this prayer. If you all agree with that, say 'Amen,'" according to a transcript of the event.

White, senior pastor of New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, Fla., serves as chair of the Evangelical Advisory Board for Trump.

Greear was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention in June and will be presiding at the next annual convention at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham in June 2019. There about 16 million Southern Baptists nationwide, more than a million in Alabama.

"I received an invitation from the White House to attend a dinner in which the administration would address faith leaders," Greear wrote in a statement posted Tuesday on Twitter. "I weigh every decision carefully and consulted with a number of leaders across the political spectrum. In this case, I chose to attend in order to listen and meet other leaders and offer perspective where asked. Witness in the public square requires some presence in it, but I'm just as committed as ever to decoupling the church from partisan politics, and my desire for the SBC remains what it always has been - promoting a culture in which the gospel is above all. Sometimes we have to step out of our comfort zones for the sake of the gospel. I did not sign the Bible - I was not asked and was not aware it was being given."Airbnb will begin collecting lodging tax in the city of Birmingham in about 30 days.

The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday approved an agreement with Airbnb to allow the online short-term lodging website to collect the city's 6.5 percent lodging tax on each rental within the city limits and remit the tax to the city.

Assistant City Attorney Julie Barnard said the lodging tax will automatically be collected by Airbnb when someone books a room in the city limits.

Before Tuesday's vote, Birmingham didn't have a mechanism in place to require Airbnb hosts to collect lodging taxes on their rentals. The city of Birmingham does ask those who regularly rent out their home, apartment or a single room on sites like Airbnb and HomeAway to obtain a business license.

Birmingham has been missing out on tens of thousands of dollars in tax revenue from sites like Airbnb.

Airbnb had 14,400 guests in Birmingham in 2017, which generated $1.5 million in revenues for hosts, according to the hospitality platform. Based on the city's 6.5 percent lodging tax, Birmingham lost nearly $100,000 in tax revenues last year.

In Alabama, only Gulf Shores saw more Airbnb guests than Birmingham.

Airbnb does collect a 4 percent lodging tax for the state of Alabama on all rentals across the state, including within Birmingham. The hospitality platform also collects a 7 percent lodging tax on behalf of its hosts and guests in Auburn and Orange Beach and a 11 percent lodging tax in Tuscaloosa.

During a committee meeting on Monday, Birmingham City Council President Valerie Abbott said the city needs to develop regulations for where Airbnb will be allowed and where they won't.

"We are getting complaints especially in residential neighborhoods," she said.

Rick Journey, director of communications for the Birmingham Mayor's Office, previously told AL.com that the anyone wishing to offer a property through sites like Airbnb should first consult the city's zoning office.

"There are some issues in the zoning ordinance that likely prohibit them, at least in certain areas," he said.More than 200 investigations into cryptocurrency investments are currently underway in the United States and Canada, including some in Alabama.

The Alabama Securities Commission announced in a press release Tuesday that they're working with the North American Securities Administrators Association on Operation Cryptosweep, an initiative focused on Initial Coin Offerings and cryptocurrency-related investment products. In Alabama, the ASC is working on 21 Initial Coin Offerings investigations and has issued seven Cease and Desist orders involving cryptocurrencies.

The effort launched in May, and since then there have been 47 "enforcement actions" involving cryptocurrency investigations, the press release said.

ASC Director Joseph Borg said some of the operation's investigations involve suspected securities fraud, but investigators have found people breaking other laws, such as failing to properly register a product before it's offered to investors.

"The ASC is committing the necessary regulatory resources to protect investors in Alabama from financial harm involving fraudulent ICOs and cryptocurrency-related investment products and also is raising awareness among industry participants of their regulatory responsibilities," Borg said.

"While not every ICO or cryptocurrency-related investment is a fraud, it is important for individuals and firms selling these products to be mindful that they are not doing so in a vacuum; Alabama laws or regulations may apply, especially securities laws. Sponsors of these products should seek the advice of knowledgeable legal counsel to ensure they do not run afoul of the law. A strong culture of compliance should be in place before, not after, these products are marketed to investors."

Products that qualify as securities should be registered with the appropriate regulatory agency or qualify for an exemption. The ASC said investors should do thorough research before investing in any Initial Coin Offering or cryptocurrency product.

"Do your homework and contact the ASC with any concerns before parting with your hard-earned money - afterwards may be too late," Borg said.Authorities are asking for the public's help finding an inmate who escaped a work release center Tuesday morning.

Marcus Jermaine Smith, 35, escaped from the Childersburg Community Work Center around 5:12 a.m., according to the Alabama Department of Corrections.

Smith is currently serving a 20-year sentence for a 2006 conviction of second-degree assault.

Smith is described as a black male, weighing 180 pounds and is 6 feet tall. He has black hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information on Smith or sees him should call local law enforcement or the ADOC at 1-800-831-8825.Attorneys for a Bessemer man charged with capital murder argued that the charge should be dismissed because he reasonably believed his life was in danger.

Samuele Marquis Walker, 26, is charged with capital murder in the August 2017 shooting death of Quintrius Lee Jackson and was indicted in October.

On Friday, Walker appeared in court for a Stand Your Ground hearing before Jefferson County Bessemer Division Circuit Judge Reginald Jeter.

In 2006, Alabama adopted Stand Your Ground provisions to its self-defense law, eliminating the duty to retreat from situations as long as the person defending themselves is not doing something unlawful. Legislators also added a provision that says a person who is justified using force, including deadly physical force, "is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of such force, unless the force was determined to be unlawful."

After a defendant is indicted, they may request a Stand Your Ground hearing where the defense team can present evidence and ask the judge to dismiss the charges based on the provision.

Bessemer police Det. Jennifer Hamburger testified at both Walker's preliminary hearing last year and at the Stand Your Ground hearing. She said the fatal shooting happened at the Shell station at 2801 Ninth Avenue North around 5:25 p.m. on August 17, 2017. She said there were two groups of people in separate cars: Walker and his cousin in one car; Jackson, Jackson's brother, and their friend in a second car.

Surveillance video, which was shown in court, shows Jackson's car was at the gas station first. Walker's car pulled up later, and Hamburger said Walker was sitting in the car's passenger seat when Jackson exited his vehicle and walked over to Walker's side of the car. As he approaches, Hamburger said Walker put his hands up.

Jackson's right hand can't be seen in the video but as he stands by Walker's window, he bends over. When he stands back up, Jackson can be seen with a gun and Walker shoots from inside his car, Hamburger said.

Jackson fired back, and Walker fled the scene. Police found Jackson in a parking lot next to the gas station, and he was pronounced dead on the scene.

At the scene, police found several shell casings and two guns stashed in a line of bushes.

One of Walker's attorneys Bret Gray said Walker came to the police station with his mother the day after the shooting, but officers told Walker no investigators were available to speak with him. Walker left, but later came back and spoke with Hamburger.

Gray argued Walker--who has lasting injuries from a prior shooting--reasonably believed Jackson was going to rob him. Walker said Jackson was saying things like "You know what time it is," and "What you got on you," as he approached the car. Walker was in fear for his life, Gray said, and Jackson had a gun on Walker the entire time. When Walker saw an opportunity to shoot Jackson, he did.

Walker didn't know he had struck Jackson because Jackson ran off, Gray said, so Walker and his cousin fled the scene in their car. Walker wasn't driving.

Assistant District Attorneys James Butler and Minnie Tunstall said Walker was the first person to shoot. They argued that while Walker claimed Jackson reached inside the car and patted Walker's pockets, the video doesn't show that.

Butler said no evidence shows Jackson was pointing a gun from the time he got out of his car, but Gray said the gun was in Jackson's hand that can't be seen. Butler also argued that the two men had a longstanding feud, and that Walker shot Jackson multiple times.

Gray argued the Stand Your Ground provision doesn't require an attacker fire first--it just requires that the shooter reasonably believe his life is in danger. "That is the epitome of self defense," Gray said.

Butler argued that while Walker may have had an honest fear, that fear wasn't reasonable. He also said the law requires that the shooter not provoke an incident, and that this case is one for a jury and shouldn't be dismissed based on Stand Your Ground.

The judge has yet to rule on the case.

Adrienne Bogan is also representing Walker, who is being held in the Jefferson County jail without bond.JIT did not convene any meeting to discuss Qatari letter: Wajid Zia

ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureaus (NAB) star prosecution witness in references against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said on Monday that the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) did not convene a formal meeting to deliberate on the Qatari letter.



During cross-examination in the Al-Azizia reference, Wajid Zia, who headed the JIT constituted by the Supreme Court in the Panama Papers case, said the investigation team did not convene any exclusive or formal meeting to discuss the letter written by Qatari Prince Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al-Thani.



In his letter to the JIT on June 11 last year, the Qatari prince offered that the investigation team might meet him at his Doha palace or a questionnaire be sent to get the required information.



Did the JIT take that letter seriously? asked Khawaja Haris, the counsel for Mr Sharif.



Of course, the JIT took it seriously, Mr Zia said. However, when Mr Haris asked why the JIT did not convene any meeting to discuss the Qatari princes offer, Mr Zia said that since the JIT members used to meet every day at the secretariat at the Federal Judicial Academy, they discussed the letter as a routine matter. He said the JIT in principle decided against sending any questionnaire to any of the witnesses. He, however, said the JIT did not annex this decision in any of the 10 volumes of its report.



When Mr Haris asked if there was any provision in the Police Rules that barred sending a questionnaire to any witness, Mr Zia expressed his ignorance about the rules. However, he said the FIA and NAB used to send questionnaire to witnesses in selected cases.



The defence counsel reminded Mr Zia that the JIT had sent a questionnaire to UK-based solicitor Jeremy Freeman, seeking his opinion on the veracity of two trust deeds related to offshore companies Coomber, Nelson and Nescol.



Mr Zia told the court that in his entire 29-year police service, he had never sent an advance questionnaire to either an accused or a prosecution witness.



Contrary to this, Mr Zia had on Friday admitted before the court that Jeremy Freeman of the UK-based law firm Freeman Box, who had certified the Coomber, Nelson and Nescol trust deeds in 2006, was sent a questionnaire in advance to know about the veracity of the trust deeds. Mr Freeman had on Feb 4, 2006 signed the two documents as witness.DNA from a mask worn in a deadly home invasion almost one year ago in northern Jefferson County has finally put the alleged intruder behind bars.

Jason Dale Boatwright, a 40-year-old Bessemer man, is charged with murder, second-degree assault, burglary and robbery. One of Boatwright's friends - Stephen Douglas Crump - was killed when authorities say he and Boatwright broke into a home in Mulga's Bayview community. Another friend, Horace D. Stokes, was also charged with murder as the reported getaway driver.

Jefferson County sheriff's deputies were dispatched just before 10:30 p.m. that Friday, Sept. 15, 2017, on a report of a disturbance at a home in the 200 block of Bayview Drive. A woman called 911 to tell authorities that her husband had yelled from the back of the house for her to call 911 and then she heard what she believed to be a gunshot.

Chief Deputy Randy Christian said detectives learned the male homeowner and a friend were in a side room of the home visiting. Two armed men - now identified as Boatwright and Crump - forced their way into the door and tried to rob them.

The homeowner and his friend began fighting with the suspects. The homeowner was hit in the head with a handgun. During the struggle, a shot was fired. One of the suspects - the 38-year-old Crump - was hit by the bullet and dropped to floor. The other suspect - Boatwright - was wearing a mask that came off during the struggle. He fled the scene.

Crump was pronounced dead inside the home. The homeowner was taken to the hospital for treatment of a cut to the head.

Stokes was arrested not long after the crime. He has remained in the Jefferson County Jail on $75,000 bond since his arrest.

The unknown second intruder, however, remained a mystery until recently. Evidence gathered from the crime scene included the mask that was left behind. It was sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for DNA testing. DNA was collected from the mask and processed through CODIS, the Combined DNA Index System. CODIS blends forensic science and computer technology into a tool for linking violent crimes. It enables federal, state and local forensic laboratories to exchange and compare DNA profiles electronically, thereby linking serial violent crimes to known offenders.

On Aug. 15, 2018, sheriff's detectives received information from ADFS indicating that a DNA match had been obtained and identified Boatwright as the second suspect. Boatwright had previous felony convictions - including robbery and cocaine possession - and had just been released from an Alabama prison in February 2017, only seven months before the ill-fated home invasion. Because of his previous crimes, his DNA was already in the CODIS database.

Detectives were able to obtain the warrants against Boatwright. Under Alabama law, a person can be charged with murder if they are participating in a felony crime that results in death, whether or not that person actually pulled the trigger.

On Aug. 22, Boatwright was located and arrested. He is being held without bond in the Jefferson County Jail.

"Isn't it ironic that the mask he used to hide his identity is what ultimately revealed his identity,'' Christian said. "This was great work by our detectives and evidence techs and DNA continues to bring those to justice who think they have escaped answering for what they have done."A 38-year-old former hospital employee has been indicted after he was accused last year of inappropriately touching a college student who was training at the medical facility.

A Jefferson County grand jury issued the first-degree sexual assault indictment against Paul Wesley Bradford, according to court records made public Tuesday. He was initially arrested on the charge in October and released the same day after posting $10,000 bond.

Authorities said Bradford, at the time of the alleged incident, was employed as a medical technician at Brookwood Medical Center. The victim, a student at a Birmingham-area college, was doing a practicum at the hospital.

The suspect, Homewood police spokesman Sgt. John Carr said in 2017, inappropriately touched the victim. Because of the nature of the crime, he did not release specifics. The student reported the incident to Homewood police on August 16, 2017 and detectives launched an investigation. Carr said Bradford was immediately fired from his position at the hospital.

Investigators in September 2017 filed the charge against Bradford. According to Alabama law, a person commits the crime of first-degree sexual abuse if he "subjects another person to sexual contact by forcible compulsion, or if he subjects another person to sexual contact who is incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless or mentally incapacitated.

First-degree sexual abuse is a Class C felony. A trial date has not yet been set.A Jacksonville man was killed, and his teen passenger seriously injured in a Calhoun County crash on Tuesday.

The accident happened at 11:50 a.m. on Alabama Highway 77 about 10 miles south of Ohatchee, said Alabama State Trooper Cpl. Jimmy L. Harrell Jr. The fatality victim - 57-year-old Robert Bryan Howard - was driving a 1996 Dodge Ram pickup truck when he left the roadway and overturned.

Howard, who was not wearing a seat belt, was pronounced dead on the scene. His 16-year-old male passenger was airlifted to UAB Hospital. The extent of the boy's injuries wasn't immediately available.

The crash remains under investigation by troopers.Charges were dropped against a Birmingham man accused of killing a 4-year-old girl after a judge ruled he fired in self-defense at the car the child was inside.

Darrell Montez Hutton, 34, was charged with murder and first-degree assault for a July 2017 shooting that left 4-year-old Taleayah Stafford dead, and 68-year-old Shirley Jackson Hollonquest wounded.

Hutton on Monday faced a Stand Your Ground hearing, where his attorney asked that Hutton's charges be dropped.

Jefferson County Circuit Judge Virginia Vinson issued an order Tuesday morning dismissing the charges. She wrote in her order, "Without question the defendant found himself in a position where he was in imminent fear of his life and was justified... to defend himself."

In 2006, Alabama adopted Stand Your Ground provisions to its self-defense law, eliminating the duty to retreat from situations as long as the person defending themselves is not doing something unlawful.

Legislators also added a provision that says a person who is justified using force, including deadly physical force, "is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of such force, unless the force was determined to be unlawful."

After a defendant is indicted, they may request a Stand Your Ground hearing where the defense team can present evidence and ask the judge to dismiss the charges based on the provision.

The shooting happened about 3:30 p.m. on July 9, 2017 in the city's Kingston community.

Authorities said Anthony Fowler and Taleayah's father were on the scene, while the little girl was inside their car. Police said Fowler exited the vehicle and pulled a gun, when gunfire erupted between him and Hutton. The little girl was struck in the head by a bullet fragment, and died three days later at Children's of Alabama.

Hollonquest was hit in the neck by a stray bullet. She died of an unrelated cause on Jan. 3, 2018, court records state.

Hutton testified during the hearing yesterday. He said on the day of the shooting, he was a passenger in someone's car. The car was parked, court records state, and he had the window down. Hutton said Fowler walked up to the car and put a gun to Hutton's head, pulling the trigger several times. But, the gun didn't go off.

Hutton said he pushed open the door and knocked Fowler over, and pulled his own 9 mm gun, court records state. Fowler ran away and kept trying to shoot, but his gun misfired. Hutton admitted to firing at Fowler, saying he was afraid for his life and was defending himself.

"Certainly it's unfortunate that there's a deceased child. Clearly no one intended that to happen," Hutton's attorney Scott Boudreaux said. "It was clear he had the absolute right to defend himself."

Fowler also testified and said, according to court records, he has pleaded guilty to attempting to assault Hutton but did not intend to kill him. Fowler said he was with Taleayah and her father that day, and they were headed to the grocery store. He said he and the child's father decided to stop and buy marijuana, while Taleayah was in the backseat.

Fowler said they parked next to the store and he walked to a apartment next door to buy the marijuana. According to court records, Fowler said he spotted Hutton in a car and walked over to shoot him. Fowler said he pulled the trigger several times but his gun didn't fire, and he ran.

He yelled at Taleayah's father to start the car, but the car didn't crank. Fowler said he saw Hutton shooting at him, but believed more than one person was firing. Eventually, the car started and Fowler and Taleayah's father fled.

The two didn't realize Taleayah was hurt until they pulled away, Fowler said.

Birmingham police Det. Jeffery Miller also testified and said evidence technicians recovered 19 shell casings from a .40 caliber gun near the area where Fowler was parked. Near the apartment complex where Fowler tried to shoot Hutton, Miller said there were four shell casings from a 9 mm.

Taleayah died from a bullet fragment from a .40 caliber gun.

Vinson wrote in her order, "From the evidence presented the Defendant had a 9 mm. Fowler attempted to intimate that Hutton had gotten another gun, however, the timing involved and the further testimony of Fowler 'perceiving' there was someone else shooting, and the additional .40 shell casings do not support his theory."

Deputy District Attorney Mike Philpott prosecuted the case.A Texas man is behind bars in Shelby County, accused of sexually abusing a young child.

Donald Lee Lamp, of Houston, was arrested Tuesday morning, according to Shelby County jail and court records.

The incident happened June 27. Few details were made available in the Alabaster Police Department warrant but the document stated the 26-year-old Lamp told the victim to "pull and squeeze on a hangy thing in his pants."

The victim is under the age of 12. Lamp is charged with felony sex abuse of a child under the age of 12.

He remains in the Shelby County Jail on $30,000 bond.The nation's highest court is set to hear an Alabama man's case on double jeopardy, and its outcome could affect a high-profile San Francisco case.

This summer the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review the case of Terance Gamble, a Mobile man who was convicted in 2016 of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was also charged with the same crime in federal court for the same incident, and his lawyer argued the federal charges should be dismissed based on double jeopardy.

But, according to court documents, the double jeopardy rule doesn't apply to separate prosecutions by separate sovereigns.

The nation's highest court is set to review the case in its next session, which begins in October.

According to a report from the San Francisco Examiner, a federal judge in California has delayed the trial of Jose Ines Garcia Zarate pending the outcome of Gamble's case. Zarate was charged with fatally shooting Kate Steinle on a San Francisco pier in 2015, and President Donald Trump often mentioned the case while calling for immigration reform.

A jury acquitted Zarate on the murder charges last year, but convicted him of being a felon in possession of a firearm for the incident. Following that trial, the U.S. Attorneys Office in the district charged Zarate, of Mexico, with the same crime.

According to the report, government prosecutors filed the charges under an exception to double jeopardy, which allows the state and federal government to charge a person with the same crime because they are separate sovereigns.

Friday, a judge delayed the trial until the Supreme Court rules on Gamble. "There is a serious possibility that the Supreme Court's ruling in that case will require dismissal of the charges against Garcia-Zarate," Chhabria wrote, according to the Examiner. "The ends of justice served by continuing the trial outweigh any interest in proceeding to trial immediately."

Zarate fired a bullet that ricocheted off Pier 14 and struck Steinle in the back in July 2015, the Examiner reported. His attorneys argued that Zarate shot the woman on accident.

Gamble was convicted of a felony robbery in 2008 in Alabama, court records show. In 2015 Mobile police found drugs and a loaded gun in Gamble's car, and he was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was convicted of the charge in 2016 and then was indicted on the federal charge, also of being a felon with a firearm.Democrats have changed their nominee in one north Alabama race for the state House of Representatives while losing their only candidate in another election.

In House District 4, which includes parts of Morgan, Madison and Limestone counties, elected nominee Juanita Healy has withdrawn from the race, according to the Alabama Democratic Party. JoAnn Cummings of Decatur announced that she was replacing Healy on the ballot.

In House District 9, which includes parts of Morgan, Marshall and Cullman counties, there is no nominee. Terri Jones Savage, the Democratic nominee and sister of U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, withdrew from the race earlier this month. The Alabama Democratic Party confirmed Tuesday that the party will have no candidate on the ballot in November.

That means the Republican nominee, Scott Stadthagen, is unopposed in the November general election to replace state Rep. Ed Henry, R-Hartselle.

"Our goal has never been to simply run a campaign and win an election," Stadthagen said in a press release. "It has been and will continue to be about providing common sense, practical leadership that truly represents the people of our area while meeting the challenges we face. I entered this race in early 2017 because I saw a need for servant leadership that supports the goals and ambitions of families across Morgan, Cullman and Marshall County."

Cummings' campaign is getting a late start in a race that has been ongoing for almost a year.

The District 4 seat came open last year when state Rep. Micky Hammon, R-Decatur, was forced from office after pleading guilty to mail fraud on Sept. 26, 2017. Three days later, Gov. Kay Ivey called a special election to fill Hammon's seat - which Parker Moore won in a runoff last February.

Moore also won the Republican primary for the November election.

According to her campaign announcement, Cummings, 64, is a former aerospace engineer and small business owner. Cummings has worked extensively in solar power and points to her belief in that renewable energy source as a campaign issue.

Cummings also said she would advocate for improving funding for education.Monday's ruling by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals in former House Speaker Mike Hubbard's ethics case underscored the need to tighten the language in the state ethics law, Attorney General Steve Marshall said today.

The Alabama Code of Ethics Clarification and Reform Commission met at Marshall's office to hash out recommended changes in the law, work that has been ongoing for months.

The Court of Criminal Appeals, in a 160-page ruling, upheld 11 of the 12 felony ethics convictions a Lee County jury found against Hubbard in his 2016 trial.

But the court urged the Legislature to clarify definitions in the law, including the definition of a principal, which is defined as a company or person that hires a lobbyist. The uncertainty has centered on which specific employees who work for a principal are also considered principals.

Seven of the counts against Hubbard were for receiving money or favors from principals. Hubbard's lawyers challenged those, in part, by arguing that some of the individuals were not principals.

The appeals court did not find fault with Hubbard's convictions but said there could be "a serious constitutional issue" in other cases without more clarity in the law.

"We could easily envision fact situations, however, where it is not clear whether a person engaging in a transaction with a public official is a principal, and whether a person holding a position in a business outside its immediate leadership hierarchy is a principal," the appeals court opinion says.

The definition is important because the ethics law prohibits public officials from accepting money or things from principals and prohibits principals from giving money or things to public officials with some exceptions, including campaign contributions.

Essentially, the law applies many of the same restrictions to principals as it does to lobbyists.

The Clarification and Reform Commission, which includes representatives from all three branches of government, local officials and the private sector, including lobbyists, will recommend changes that the Legislature is expected to consider next year.

Concerns about definitions in the law are not new. Marshall, who co-chairs the commission, said the Hubbard ruling did not change the commission's work.

"It just reaffirmed where we are, which is to be able to continue to work on the very things that the court talked about, to make sure that somebody that's subject to the ethics laws understands exactly what's required of them and what the restrictions are," Marshall said. "And so we'll continue to work on that."

Marshall said his goal is to clarify and strengthen the law.

On Tuesday, the commission went over a detailed set of recommendations from a subcommittee on definitions.

That include a discussion about restrictions on lobbyists buying meals for public officials.

Current law allows lobbyists to buy public officials a meal for up to $25 in one setting and a total of $150 in a year.

The subcommittee recommended a flat ban on lobbyists or principals paying for any meals for an individual public official. Meals in group settings would still be allowed under certain circumstances.

That generated considerable discussion, including from lawmakers and lobbyists who favored keeping the current $25/$150 limit.

The commission will meet again in September.The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals today affirmed former House Speaker Mike Hubbard's convictions on 11 of 12 felony ethics charges and reversed the conviction on one.

Hubbard was convicted in 2016 on the 12 counts and sentenced to four years in prison. He has been free on bond pending his appeal.

The court reversed a conviction that Hubbard voted on a bill with a conflict of interest in 2013, the General Fund budget, which contained a provision that stood to benefit a business client of Hubbard's. That provision was later removed from the budget.

The court upheld Hubbard's convictions for receiving money from a principal, which is a business that employs a lobbyist; using his office for personal gain; lobbying state agencies for a business client; using state personnel to help a business client and soliciting business investments from principals.

Hubbard has denied any wrongdoing. His attorneys will continue to pursue appeals.

"We are grateful that one count was reversed, but extremely disappointed that others were not," attorney Joel Dillard said in an email. "This is the first step in the appellate process and we will continue to pursue an ultimate reversal of all counts on which Mike Hubbard was convicted. We believe we will ultimately prevail."

Hubbard can appeal to the state Supreme Court.

Mike Lewis, a spokesman for the Attorney General's office, which prosecuted Hubbard, said the ruling is under review and the AG's office had no comment at this time.

There were no dissenting votes on the five-member Court of Criminal Appeals.

Judge Samuel Henry Welch wrote the court's main opinion, which was 154 pages long. Judges Liles C. Burke, J. Elizabeth Kellum and J. Michael Joiner concurred, with Joiner writing a separate opinion.

Presiding Judge Mary Becker Windom recused herself.

Hubbard's appeal had been pending with the appeals court for more than a year.

A special grand jury in Lee County indicted Hubbard on 23 counts in October 2014. Hubbard took the stand in his own defense during his trial in May and June 2016. The jury convicted Hubbard on 12 counts and acquitted him on 11.

The conviction removed Hubbard from office.

Before that, Hubbard had been one of the state's most powerful politicians. He is also a former chairman of the state Republican Party.

Hubbard led the Republicans in a successful effort in 2010 to win majorities in the Legislature and end 136 years of Democratic control of the State House.

Hubbard had sought dismissal of the criminal case on claims of misconduct by prosecutor Matt Hart, arguing that Hart was biased against Hubbard and that Hart swayed the grand jury's decision to indict with threatening and intimidating tactics. Lee County Circuit Judge Jacob Walker, who presided over the case, held a hearing and ruled against Hubbard's claim of prosecutorial misconduct. In its ruling today, the appeals court found no fault with Walker's decision on that issue.

The appeals court also upheld Walker's decision to deny Hubbard a new trial based on an allegation of juror misconduct. The misconduct claim was based on an affidavit from a juror who heard comments from other jurors indicating a bias against Hubbard. The appeals court noted that Hubbard's lawyers did not call any jurors to testify at a hearing Walker held on the misconduct claim.

Hubbard's lawyers also argued that the trial court improperly allowed testimony from former Alabama Ethics Commission Executive Director James Sumner, including testimony on the intent of the ethics law. The appeals court rejected that argument, too.

When prosecutors outlined their case against Hubbard, they contended that the speaker illegally used his political office to supplement his income after he lost a private sector job that paid $132,000 a year. Several companies hired Hubbard as a consultant through his company, the Auburn Network.

Prosecutors contended that the payments violated the ethics law because two of the companies that hired Hubbard were principals, companies that employed lobbyists. The ethics law prohibits public officials from accepting money or anything of value from a lobbyist or principal.

Five of the convictions related to investments Hubbard sought for Craftmaster Printers, an Auburn-area company in which he owned a 25 percent interest.

Hubbard solicited and received investments of $150,000 each from four business executives into Craftmaster. The jury convicted Hubbard on the charges that the four investors were principals. The fifth Craftmaster-related charge was that Hubbard received a financial turnaround plan and business advice from a principal, Business Council of Alabama Board Member Will Brooke.

Four of the counts concerned Hubbard's contract with a company affiliated with a business owner in his district, Robert Abrams.

That company, Capitol Cups, paid Hubbard's company $10,000 a month, a total of $220,000 from 2012 to 2014, to help market its products.

Testimony showed that Hubbard used his public office to further his interests with Capitol Cups, the appeals court ruling says. That resulted in a conviction of using his office for personal gain.

Hubbard was convicted on two counts of lobbying on behalf of another company for Abrams while he was being paid by Capitol Cups. Hubbard arranged meetings with Gov. Robert Bentley and Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield with Abrams to help the company with training.

Hubbard was also convicted of using state resources and a state employee, his chief of staff, to try to help Abrams get a patent issued. Hubbard did so without telling his chief of staff, Josh Blades, that he was being paid by Capitol Cups.

The appeals court opinion describes Hubbard's grounds for appealing each of the 12 convictions but finds those arguments lacking except on the charge of voting for legislation with a conflict of interest.

Mike Hubbard Appeal Ruling by Mike Cason on Scribd

This story has been updated several times, including at 7:22 p.m. with statement from Hubbard's lawyers.

Alabama Chief Examiner Rachel Riddle said that her department has plans to audit the Etowah County Sheriff's Office, but that it has yet to launch such a probe. She cited the Grand Jury Secrecy Act when asked for details about why the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts has yet to begin an audit.

In March, Alabama Auditor Jim Zeigler issued a letter requesting that Ron Jones - who was still chief examiner at the time - direct his department to launch separate audits of the Etowah County Sheriff's Office and Etowah County Todd Entrekin.

That request - which Zeigler filed seven days after AL.com revealed that Entrekin had personally pocketed $750,000 worth of public funds over three years and purchased a beach house with his wife in September for $740,000 - has gone "unanswered," Zeigler told AL.com via email last week.

"No audit. My request for an audit went unanswered," Zeigler said. "My own office lacks authority to do this audit or it would have already been done."

Asked about why it has not fulfilled Zeigler's request, Riddle said that though "the Etowah County Sheriff's Office is obviously in a queue to get an audit performed," an official probe is not yet underway.

"We have been looking at the Etowah County Sheriff's Office and some things I'm not at liberty to discuss because of the Grand Jury Secrecy Act," Riddle said. The Grand Jury Secrecy Act bars attorneys, witnesses and other parties from revealing details of grand jury proceedings or releasing transcripts and other sensitive documents.

"I met with [Zeigler] and I told him he could forward any documents to me, but we're not at liberty to speak with him because he's not in our office and there's an ongoing investigation," Riddle added.

It is unclear whether a grand jury related to either Entrekin or the Etowah County Sheriff's Office has been convened, and Riddle declined to respond to questions about a potential grand jury. Entrekin declined to respond to a request for comment.

But Entrekin told AL.com last month that he is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General and the state Ethics Commission over his use of the inmate-feeding funds, and that he turned records over to both agencies.

He is also under being investigated by Alabama's State Bureau of Investigation and the Oneonta Police Department over allegations that he had sex with underage girls more than 25 years ago, claims that were first reported last month by AL.com.

Zeigler said that though Riddle is not yet auditing Entrekin or the Etowah County Sheriff's Office, "the problem" of potential issues with Entrekin's finances "has been redressed by the voters" who in June elected Rainbow City Jonathon Horton to be the GOP nominee to replace Entrekin. There is no Democratic challenger to Horton.

"The ultimate authority was in the hands of the voters of Etowah County, and they took care of what the politicians wouldn't," Zeigler said.Maulana Fazlur Rehman called on Asif Zardari to sought his cooperation 28 August, 2018



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Hand Wash and Toiletries in Pakistan And the Role of DUPAS in Reshaping the Industry

Woke Bingo ISLAMABAD: The grand opposition alliance formed after the July 25 general elections crumbled within a month as its component parties failed to reach a consensus on a joint nominee for presidential election and fielded two candidates Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan of the Pakistan Peoples Party and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, making the Sept 4 election a one-sided affair.



The JUI-F chief, who had been playing the role of a mediator between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the PPP, has the backing of all component parties of now defunct Pakistan Alliance for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFE), whereas the PPP is now facing isolation.



Besides the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal and the PML-N, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who had faced defeat in two constituencies in the last month general election, is also being supported by the Awami National Party, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and National Party.



PML-Ns Amir Muqam also submitted his nomination papers as a covering candidate for the JUI-F chief.



The candidate of the ruling alliance, headed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Dr Arif Alvi, also submitted his nomination papers on Monday, which was the last day for submission of the documents, according to the schedule announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan.



Talking to reporters after submitting his papers, the JUI chief expressed the hope that he would finally emerge as the single candidate of the opposition parties as there were still days to go before the presidential election.



If I can be a mediator, then why not the candidate, the JUI-F chief remarked with a meaningful smile. He also told the reporters that despite his efforts, both the PPP and the PML-N refused to budge from their stated positions over Mr Ahsans nomination.



Later in the evening, the JUI-F called on former president Asif Zardari and sought his cooperation. Sources in the PPP told Dawn that Mr Zardari had informed the Maulana that the party had already convened a meeting on Tuesday (today) in which he would put up the Maulanas proposal before the party leaders.



The PPP claimed the media leaked a decision of the partys internal meeting to propose Mr Ahsan as the presidential candidate even before they could consult other opposition parties, causing mistrust among them.



Speaking at a news conference, PPP leaders Qamar Zaman Kaira and Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed said the media wrongly reported that the PPP had nominated Mr Ahsan as candidate. It was not the case, Mr Kaira said.



He said none of the opposition parties had raised any objection over Mr Ahsans candidature, but they justifiably objected to the unilateral decision. He said a party delegation comprising Khursheed Shah and Raza Rabbani visited the Sharifs residence in Lahore to explain the situation and then tried to make their position clear during the multiparty conference in Murree.



Mr Kaira said the statement of PML-N Senator Pervez Rashid asking Mr Ahsan to apologise to Nawaz Sharif over his remarks about Mr Sharif and his wife Kulsoom Nawaz further aggravated the situation. He said that if such a statement had not been given, they might have managed to find a middle way. However, he reminded the PML-N that it had committed great excesses against former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in the past.



About the move of other opposition parties to field Maulana Fazlur Rehman as their presidential candidate, Mr Kaira said: We have made him a mediator and he became a candidate.



Chaudhry Manzoor dispelled the impression that the opposition parties had formed any formal alliance.



It was not an alliance like ARD (Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy) or the PNA (Pakistan National Alliance). Had there been such an alliance, there should have been a president and a general secretary. This was an arrangement and not an alliance, the PPP leader explained.



Mr Kaira also said: It will be a wrong impression that we had formed an alliance and we have now broken it.



The PPP leaders also criticised the PML-N over its allegation that the PPP was doing all this because of some compulsions or under pressure due to the ongoing investigations against Mr Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).



Dont tell us about our compulsions. We know about everyones compulsions, Mr Manzoor said, adding that Mr Zardari and his sister had appeared before the FIA in the case that had been prepared in 2014-15 when the PML-N at the helm of affairs.



After submitting his nomination papers, Aitzaz Ahsan told the media that he had been nominated by the PPP and he would have no objection even if the party later decided to withdraw his candidature.



Commenting on PML-N Senator Pervez Rashids statement, Mr Ahsan said he was not expecting such a statement from a progressive and respectable intellectual. He said the PML-N leaders claimed that the demand put forward by Mr Rashid to seek an apology from Mr Sharif was an individuals act and not the party position. He said the PML-N told other opposition parties that it was ready to deny the statement publicly.



Mr Ahsan acknowledged that the ruling PTI would benefit from the split within the opposition. He added that he would ask the PML-N to review its decision and decide if the PTI candidate suits them or Aitzaz.



PML-Ns acting secretary general Ahsan Iqbal said it had been decided at the Murree meeting that a consensus candidate would be nominated for the presidential polls. He said all the parties had repeatedly requested the PPP to propose a panel of three names, one of whom would be nominated by the alliance through consensus, but the PPP leadership refused to nominate anyone other than Mr Ahsan. He said they had no personal grudge against Mr Ahsan but his controversial statement in which he had politicized Kulsoom Nawazs illness had hurt the feelings of PML-N workers.



Mr Iqbal expressed the hope that instead of providing a walkover to the PTI, the PPP would review its decision and support the Maulana for the sake of oppositions unity and democracy.



Speaking on this occasion, PML-N chairman Raja Zafarul Haq declared that the opposition parties would continue their efforts to field a joint candidate and the party leaders had a plan to meet Mr Zardari also.



The PML-N leader said they would again appeal to the PPP to review its decision and support the JUI-F chief for the sake of opposition unity.



After submitting his nomination papers, PTI MNA Dr Arif Alvi expressed the hope that he would win the presidential election with a clear majority.A camera was discovered inside a stuffed bear won by a child at a Tennessee county fair, law enforcement said.

Lebanon, Tennessee police said they were informed by a visitor to the Wilson County Fair that she found a camera inside a stuffed animal brought home Saturday by her child. She reported the incident to the police who were able to identify the booth it came from, The Tennessean reported.

"The operator of the booth stated that he buys stuffed animals in bulk from a company out of Georgia. He also stated that the company is a discount facility. As far as the bear in question, it had a lens and a board, but was not functional. It had no power source," police said.

Law enforcement said they believe the toy may have been a returned or damaged item that was repackaged for a discount resale.

"This toy bear may have been a "nanny cam" (surveillance cam) that was returned. No other bears of this nature were found at the booth," police said.

Investigators said they do not suspect any illegal activity associated with the bear.Former Clanton Police chief Brian Allan Stilwell today was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his conviction on an ethics violation and fraudulent use of a credit card, Attorney General Steve Marshall announced today.

Circuit Judge Ben Fuller ordered the sentenced to be split so Stilwell will serve three years in prison, followed by five years of probation on each conviction. The sentences will run concurrently.

In April, Stilwell pleaded guilty to the charges during a trial in Chilton County.

"This prison sentence serves as a firm reminder that justice will be served and lawbreakers will be held to account regardless of their position," Marshall said. "When a police chief breaks the law it is a terrible betrayal that cuts deeply into the trust of the citizens he was sworn to protect and of his fellow law enforcement officers. In this case, the law enforcement community of Clanton and Chilton County came together and stood shoulder to shoulder with us to bring justice to their people, restore some of their faith in law enforcement, and hold Brian Stilwell to account for his crimes. I am proud of the outstanding work by my Criminal Trials Division and everyone who assisted to bring this case to a successful conclusion."

Marshall's Criminal Trials Division presented evidence showing Stilwell used a debit card of the local Chilton County chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police for unauthorized and personal purchases totaling more than $2,600.

The FOP used the funds primarily for its Operation Santa Claus program, which provided presents for needy children during the holidays. Evidence presented at trial showed Stilwell's purchased reduced the amount of money available for the program.

Evidence also showed Stilwell used his position as Chief of Police to unlawfully take more than $10,000 in condemned and forfeited funds from the Clanton Police Department.

The crimes occurred between 2010 and 2015 when Stilwell was the Chief of Police in Clanton and the treasurer of the Chilton County FOP.

Marshall commended Assistant Attorneys General John Kachelman III and Chris Moore of his Criminal Trials Division. He thanked the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the Clanton Police Department, the Chilton County Sheriff's Office and the Chilton County District Attorney's Office for their assistance in the case.A top evangelical leader is urging President Donald Trump to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University, told Politico Sessions has lost the support of Trump and evangelicals.

"(Sessions is) really is not on the president's team, never was," Falwell said. "He's wanted to be attorney general for many, many years. I have a feeling he took a gamble and supported the president because he knew he would reward loyalty."

Falwell said he has urged the president to fire Sessions, a former Alabama Senator and early Trump supporter. The president has repeatedly expressed his displeasure at Sessions, saying he should not have recused himself from the Russia investigation.

Last week, the president said he only named Sessions AG because of "loyalty" as one of his "original supporters."

Sessions offered a rare response, saying "While I am Attorney General, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations."

'Pretend to be friends'

Falwell echoed the president's criticisms of the AG.

"A lot of Republicans pretend to be friends to conservatives and the faith community for decades when they really were not," Falwell said. "I don't know if (Sessions is) in that category. If he was really a fair person, he'd be going after both sides."McCain

This is an opinion column.

Please read Sen. John McCain's last words. Or, as his family described it, his final statement.

We all should read it.

No matter our politics. No matter our geography. No matter.

McCain--the senior Senator from Arizona and two-time Republican presidential nominee--died on Saturday after a long, proud battle with brain cancer.



Then, on Monday, he dropped the mic.

Last words. They're important. They're vital. They're definitive. Especially when one has the time, and the faculties to craft them.

No one can argue with you. No one can debate you. They're definitive. Boom. Bye.

Not everyone is as fortunate. Sometimes, death comes fast. Unexpectedly. In those tragic times, last words tend to be very real. Very emotional.

Oh. Damn.

John McCain had time.

"My fellow Americans," he began, sounding more Presidential already than the current Oval Office occupant has ever, "whom I have gratefully served for 60 years, and especially my fellow Arizonians, thank you for the privilege of serving you and for the rewarding life that service in uniform and in public office has allowed me to lead. I've tried to serve our country honorably...."

...gratefully served...

...privilege of serving...

...service in uniform...

...serve... honorably...

Do I really need to point out a theme here?

McCain was not just speaking to his colleagues in the U.S. Congress, too many of whom appear to have forgotten whom they serve. He was speaking to each of us, for whom service, in some capacity, should be part of the daily bread we regularly share with others.

I do not believe John McCain was a perfect politician. There is no such thing. Not on either side of the aisle.

In 1983, as a U.S. Congressman, he voted against establishing a national holiday to honor Rev. Martin Luther King. Thankfully, his vote was on the losing side--383-to-90.

Twenty-five years later, exactly 40th after King's assassination, McCain, in Memphis, said he regretted the vote. "I was wrong," he said that day, adding, "we can all be a little late sometimes in doing the right thing."

I still squirm, too. at his selection of Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate in 2008. As many have pointed out, Donald Trump later stormed through the door that was cracked opened by her nomination. She made it okay to be irrefutably unqualified for the highest offices in the land.

Now, look where we are.

"I've made mistakes...," McCain told us.

Lord knows he did--we all have.

McCain also mentioned "experiences, adventures, friendships enough for ten satisfying lives," then said: "I have regrets," which he did not detail but conveying that he would not trade even the "bad times" for "the best day of anyone else's"

May we all be so blessed.

Last words are the final word, no matter what anyone says or doesn't say, does or doesn't do in response, even if they are the President of the United States.

No President on our lifetime has perhaps ever looked so petty as when on Monday Trump--trying to wield yet another deflection in touting a trade deal with Mexico-- bounced around, uncomfortably folding and refolding his arms at his desk in the Oval, refusing to utter a word about McCain.

At the time, had quashed issuing a statement about the deceased Senator and the flag over the White House was still flying high--in contrast to flags on Capitol Hill.

A few hours later, Trump acquiesced to the storm of criticism from all corners and agreed to lower the White House flag. Later that the evening, he actually said a few kind words about McCain.

He may have been the last person in America to do so.

McCain clearly had no love for Trump and he used his last words to remind us, using some of the President's own jargon against him.

"We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe. We weaken it when we hide behind walls rather than tear them down..."

Then, he reminded us we have "so much more in common with each other than in disagreement" and gave us the roadmap through this storm of tension that now divides us.

"If only we remember that," he wrote, "and give each other the benefit of the presumption that we all love our country, we'll get through these challenging times. We will come through them stronger than before. We always do."

May these last words live on with the dignity of the man who left them with us.

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.It did not take long, after authorities in Iowa named a suspect in the killing of 20-year-old college student Mollie Tibbetts, for her death to be turned into a political weight.

Seizing on the fact that the 24-year-old suspect police arrested, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, is a Mexican national who authorities said was in the country illegally, many Republicans, from President Donald Trump on down, used the death to advocate for harsher immigration laws.

But Tibbetts family members have struck a different note, even in the emotionally tense days immediately following the confirmation of her death last week, though they have not directly rebuked the president. During the emotional eulogy her father, Rob Tibbetts, gave during her funeral Sunday, he highlighted his positive feelings for the local Hispanic community.

"The Hispanic community are Iowans. They have the same values as Iowans," he said, according to the Des Moines Register. He said that during the nearly six weeks he spent in Iowa while authorities searched for his daughter, he ate at a number of Mexican restaurants.

"The Hispanic community are Iowans. They have the same values as Iowans," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, they're Iowans with better food."

The line drew a large applause from the crowd of more than 1,000, the Register reported, and stood in contrast to the heated political debate about immigration as it related to Tibbetts' death. Research has shown that immigrants - both those here illegally and not - are significantly less likely to commit crime than native-born citizens.

Tibbetts' disappearance during a jog on July 18 drew weeks of media coverage that culminated with the disclosure Aug. 21 that authorities had found her body in a field. Just hours later, they announced that they had arrested Rivera and charged him with first-degree murder, saying that he had confessed to following Tibbetts and led them to her body. They said that Rivera told them that he panicked after Tibbetts warned him that she would call the police as he pursued her, and said his memory was blank until he realized he had put her in his trunk. He then dragged her to a field where he left her face up and covered her with corn stalks, officials said. Rivera is currently being held in jail in lieu of a $5 million cash bond.

Though law enforcement officials said Rivera was undocumented, a lawyer who represented him at a hearing last week said that he was in the country legally. But the representatives from the farm where he worked said that the state photo ID and Social Security card that Rivera gave them when he applied to the job a few years ago were false.

Trump referred to Tibbetts' death in a speech he gave on the day of the disclosure that her body was found, and the White House continued to push the sentiment the next day, in the form of statements made by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and a video of Trump calling for a border wall and saying that Tibbetts had been "permanently separated from her family." Republican officials from Iowa, such as Gov. Kim Reynolds and both of the state's senators, have also criticized the country's immigration laws.

Last week, Tibbetts' aunt, Billie Jo Calderwood, released a statement that asked people to remember that "Evil comes in EVERY color."

Rob Tibbetts, meanwhile, asked mourners to celebrate his daughter.

"Today, we need to turn the page. We're at the end of a long ordeal," he said. "But we need to turn toward life - Mollie's life - because Mollie's nobody's victim. Mollie's my hero."Ohio police and FBI agents are hunting for a mother who abducted her four children who were soon to be removed from her custody, authorities said Tuesday.

Marianne L. Merritt, 41, spirited away her children, ranging from 8 to 13 years old, at about 2 a.m. Tuesday, according to a witness, police said. Her boyfriend, considered armed and dangerous, was with them, police said.

Family members told police that they heard discussion about Florida and worried that Merritt might take them there, prompting the Lima Police Department to issue a warning on Facebook for states from "Ohio to Florida."

The children, two boys and two girls, had been placed under the care of someone else, and Merritt collected them after learning that there was an imminent order from child protective services to remove them, Lima police Sgt. Chris Sprouse told The Washington Post.

Police identified the children as Damara Croley, 13; Benjamin Karl-Leland Croley, 12; Patience Wilson, 9; and Damien Wilson, 8.

Merritt technically had custody then, he said, but a hearing scheduled later Tuesday might have changed that. Sprouse could not say why there was a custody battle or give information about the children's father or fathers.

Charles Perkins, Meritt's boyfriend, abducted the children with her, Sprouse said. The 39-year old is wanted on a misdemeanor domestic-violence charge involving children, police said.

The FBI field office in Cleveland is assisting in the investigation, agent Vicki Anderson said. She declined to give further details about their involvement or say whether federal agents expanded their efforts outside Ohio, but did not rule out the possibility.

"Wherever the investigation takes us, we'll follow it," she told The Post. "We just want to ensure the safety of these kids."

Merritt drove away in a dark blue 2000 Chrysler Voyager van with a white passenger door, with a license plate reading FMQ3175, police said.

Both adults are considered armed and dangerous because of Perkins' concealed carry permit and violence in his past, Sprouse said.

Authorities have leads to their whereabouts but declined to release them out of concern for affecting the search.

Few details were available Tuesday. Sprouse said Merritt's last job was at a gas station but did not know Perkins's occupation. Lima is about 90 miles northwest of the capital, Columbus.This is an opinion column by Mike Oliver, who sometimes writes about his diagnosis of Levy body dementia, a fatal brain disease and other topics about life and living.

So what's the last word?

McCain

John McCain said before he died, "I love you, I have not been cheated."

Wow. I love those last words as relayed by McCain's good friend Sen. Lindsey Graham.

McCain had left a written statement but these words spoken to Graham were the actual last words.

My praise of McCain's utterances comes from a guy (me) who has been thinking about last words. I've also been looking at epitaphs (no brother, not epithets.)

But before I get into some of the best last words of all time, let's breakdown the last words of John 'The Maverick' McCain.

I'm not going to make this at all a political column but I will say I admire Sen. McCain. Anybody who can survive the harsh conditions of a Vietnamese prisoner camp for more than five years, is one tough dude and deserves my respect and my thanks for his service.

Graham, a long-time friend, was reportedly at bedside when McCain made comments before dying.

"I love you,'' he told Lindsay.

Those three words.

A connection to humanity. The word love is the most defined, undefined word in the lexicon.

It's the best thing you can say to somebody -- if you mean it.

Forget the fact that we don't know what it means, love that is.

Second part of McCain's last words: I have not been cheated.

I think he's saying he lived a full life. And what an interesting way to say it. I haven't been cheated.

Is that humble downplay or is it a slightly negative way of assessing the state of his life? Instead of 'I have been blessed ..." or "I have been rewarded with a good life" on his deathbed, he was saying "I haven't been cheated." Some might interpret that negatively, like 'not getting cheated' is the most important point he can break out about his life?

But I think it is simply McCain saying, 'I had a good one. No worries."

Mental Floss, the excellent online compendium of great lists and stories, has assembled the dying words of 64 with the help of Words of Notable People. I'll cull it to a Top 10.

Here's the list, my comments in italics.

Elvis Presely: "I'm going to the bathroom to read." No no no.

Frank Sinatra died after saying, "I'm losing it." That's what I call concise and on point.

Marie Antoinette stepped on her executioner's foot on her way to the guillotine. Last words: "Pardonnez-moi, monsieur." Showing the strength of a human being is saying "Excuse me' to your executioner.

Richard B. Mellon: "Last tag.'

The wealthy man was the President of Alcoa, and he and his brother Andrew had a little game of Tag going. According to Mental Floss, the weird thing was, this game of Tag lasted for like seven decades. When Richard was on his deathbed, he called his brother over and whispered, "Last tag." Poor Andrew remained "It" for four years, until he died. Life is about having fun and competing. Mellon and brother kept it going to the end. I salute you.

Leonardo da Vinci: "I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have." Leo, don't beat yourself up, but you are right, the Mona Lisa's smile should have been wider.

Murderer James W. Rodgers was put in front of a firing squad in Utah and asked if he had a last request. He replied, "Bring me a bullet-proof vest." When you got nothing, be a wise guy.

John Arthur Spenkelink was executed in Florida in 1979. He spent his final days writing these last words on various pieces of mail: "Capital punishment means those without the capital get the punishment." Ah, this guy addresses a sweeping and problematic social issue as he walks to his death penalty.

Groucho Marx: "This is no way to live!" He got that right and died.

Blues guitarist Leadbelly said, "Doctor, if I put this here guitar down now, I ain't never gonna wake up." And he was right. Hope he got buried with it.

Bo Diddley died listened to the song "Walk Around Heaven." His last word was "Wow."

And my wife's grandmother Inez Burns lived to be 100. At her bedside she told Catherine her granddaughter who was telling her she was leaving for home in Florida. Inez said: "I'm going to have to go now too. Goodbye I love you." And she died.

My last word, for now, is "Wow.'

NOTE: Mental Floss cites Last Words of Notable People as a major source in their list.The Senate confirmed U.S. Magistrate Judge Terry F. Moorer to serve a lifetime appointment as a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama in Mobile.

President Donald Trump nominated Moorer in September 2017.

"Judge Moorer will serve the Southern District with distinction. I was proud to support his confirmation today and to congratulate him personally for his historic appointment as the first African-American to hold this seat," Senator Doug Jones (D). "Having practiced before him as a lawyer, I know him to be eminently qualified for this role. I wish him well as he continues his work to uphold the Constitution and ensure justice for all."

Senator Richard Shelby (R) also praised Moorer's nomination.

"Judge Terry Moorer is well-suited to be a U.S. district judge in Alabama's southern district," Shelby said. "His decade of experience serving as a magistrate judge, along with his devotion to upholding the constitution make him fit to serve in this prestigious role. I congratulate Judge Moorer and am confident that our nation will continue to benefit from his dedication and service."

Moorer served as a Magistrate Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama since 2007.

Before assuming the magistrate judgeship, Moorer served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Middle District of Alabama, as a Command Judge Advocate in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, and as an attorney in the Office of Staff Judge Advocate in Fort Rucker, Alabama, according to a statement from Shelby's office. Moorer earned his Associate of Arts from the Marion Military Institute, his B.A. from Huntingdon College, and his J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law.

During an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee in November, Judge Moorer expressed that "a judge must be courteous and respectful to parties and attorneys" and "patient, open-minded, tactful, and fair to all parties," according to a statement from Shelby's office.

In that appearance, he also said a "judge must decide matters based on the facts and law," and while "a judge is still a person and cannot be expected to fully divorce themselves from all life experiences, their life experiences should play no role in the decision-making process," according to the statement from Shelby's office.

One Alabama judicial nominee initially nominated by President Trump in 2017, along with one nominee from Alabama selected in 2018, still await confirmation by the full Senate.

Updated at 7:30 p.m. to add comments from Senator Doug Jones.Opponents of a planned Drag Queen Story Hour made their feelings known to the Mobile City Council on Tuesday, but received little satisfaction other that what came from knowing they'd been heard.

The event in question is sponsored by the nonprofit LGBTQ advocacy group Rainbow Mobile, and will be held Sept. 8 in the Ben May Main Branch of the Mobile Public Library. Plans call for Wade Brasfield, appearing as "Khloe Kash," to read "Stella Brings the Family" and "Rainbow Fish" to children ages 3-8. Such events have been presented around the country, often but not always in libraries; this is to be the first in Alabama.

On Monday, opponents packed a meeting of the Mobile County Commission, describing the event as "the opening salvo in a clearly defined cultural war" and part of a "national agenda and a national plan to indoctrinate children."

One commissioner, Connie Hudson, said she found the event inappropriate but the county had no legal authority to intervene. Another, Jerry Carl, suggested that it might be time to examine the library budget. (The library system receives $1.2 million from the county, about 13 percent of its 2017-18 budget.)

A smaller but still substantial crowd of about 50 opponents turned out for the Mobile City Council's meeting on Tuesday. They again found some sympathetic ears, but as a whole the council accepted the library's argument that the event was protected by First Amendment concerns. No council member suggested taking action against the event or the library system.

The Rev. Fred Wolfe, who'd spoken to the County Commission on Monday, was first to address the council. He said the matter was "heavy on the heart of many, many Mobilians." It was the latest twist in a long effort to promote secular humanism and moral relativism in American society, he said. Allowing the event to happen at a library was wrong, he said, because the setting lent it credibility. Furthermore, he said, "they do have an agenda. It's a nationwide agenda. And it is to say the alternate lifestyle, LGBTQ, is an acceptable lifestyle and that we need to approve it and we need to be for it and not be against it. Well, we cannot do that. The Bible teaches clearly that sex outside of marriage, sex outside the union of a man and woman in the covenant of marriage, is a sin."

Lisa Strong, who identified herself as "a mother, a sister and a wife," said she had bene "greatly disturbed and saddened" by news of the event. She said she was motivated to oppose it out of a biblical edict to protect children. It was "not a battle of hatred, it's not a battle of small-mindedness," she said. "It's just time to take a stand for God."

Both Wolfe and Strong were applauded. Afterward, Council Vice President Levon Manzie called for Scott Kinney, executive director of the Mobile Public Library system, to address the issue.

Kinney acknowledged that it was "a very difficult issue" for many present, and said he respected the position of those who'd come out to show opposition. But he said it came down to the MPL's policy for its meeting rooms: As a public institution it stresses maximum availability to the public, with minimal restrictions on who can book a meeting room.

Kinney said the policy had been subject to legal review, and that he'd discussed the current situation with City Attorney Ricardo Woods. Woods took pains to clarify that he had not given a formal legal opinion on this event, and that the administration of Mayor Sandy Stimpson had neither reviewed nor endorsed it. But he didn't disagree with the view that it was primarily a First Amendment issue.

Kinney said MPL meeting rooms had been used by faith-based groups, for Bible study sessions and even for the first few months of meetings of a new church, before it found a long-term home. This was an event presented by an outside group not funded by the library, he said, and fell within the rules.

"I know that's tough for this group to hear and I do appreciate your concerns," Kinney said.

The issue did not relate to any actual agenda item before the council, meaning council members did not have to cast votes or explain them. Several took the opportunity to speak, however.

Councilman John Williams asked if the council had any legal right to close a facility or deny access in such circumstances. Council Attorney Wanda Cochran said it did not.

Councilman Joel Daves delivered an extended and forceful summary on the founding fathers' decision to enshrine freedom of speech, saying they had "intentionally created a government of limited powers."

Citing a long history of court rulings, Daves said, "Our founders understood that whenever the government acts to limit speech they do so with the stated purpose of protecting the people, when the real purpose is to quiet disturbing and irritating voices. It is only controversial, offensive, even immoral speech that requires protection. Our founders understood that the truth is most likely to emerge from a marketplace of ideas that is open and robust. Our founders understood that the quickest way to lose your own rights is to deny them to someone else."

From there, Richardson thundered around to a course similar to Daves'. Among other things, he referenced a flap a couple of years earlier about a Mardi Gras parading society, the Comic Cowboys, and their sometimes controversial satire. When he's raised the possibility of regulating the group, he said, First Amendment arguments had trumped all.

"Do you think the atheists want religious people up in the library?" he asked. "NO! Do you think religious people want the atheist people in the library? NO! Let me just say this. That the umbrella in this city has got to be big enough for all us to get under. I don't care if you're straight, gay -- everybody got to get under the umbrella. Because for more than 200 years my ancestors couldn't get under that umbrella. Do you think I'm fixin' to kick somebody out from under the umbrella? I'm not going to do it."

Richardson said that rather than seeking government action, churches had to address their concerns in their own way. "Christians, we are God's people. The best we can do down here is spread the word," he said. "Spread the truth. Turn the light on so folk can know how to get home. That's the best we can do. And if they follow the darkness, we can't do nothing about it."

Manzie likewise said he found a distinction between something he saw as morally wrong and a violation of the law. He said he felt it ultimately was parents' business to decide whether to take their children to the event or not.

It appeared some members of the audience would have liked a chance to speak, but Manzie said that all those who'd signed up to speak had done so and that was that. With no vote at hand, the council prepared to move on to regular business. Those who'd come to show their position on the one issue departed.

Some said that while they were disappointed, they weren't finished.

Kay Day of Theodore and a representative with the Common Sense Campaign tea party said she's expecting a large crowd to rally against the story hour, with a protest starting around 10:30 a.m. on Sept. 8 outside the Ben May Main branch library in downtown Mobile.

"A pastor will be there and we'll have a song and we will pray and anyone with a reasonable intelligence that would like to speak to the issue and not attack a person, we might allow that," said Day. "But it is our intention to stand and voice the concerns of the citizens of Mobile County and be peaceful and just show that we are here."

Day said she was disappointed with the council's defense of the First Amendment as the reason why nothing can be done to stop the story hour from occurring.

"Once you say, 'free speech,' I get that," she said. "But when it goes beyond that and injures and harms ... If you go to the theater and it's PG, will they let the children in? No. What are we doing here? If you want to do something like (Drag Queen Story Hour), have it in your private home. I would have no problem with that."

The Rev. David Gonnella, pastor at Magnolia Springs Baptist Church in Theodore, said the First Amendment argument doesn't hold up when "exposing children to moral deviancy."

He said, "It's the job of the community leaders like the City Council to stand up and say, 'you won't do that here.'"

Kinney said the library was prepared for activism outside the event, but didn't anticipate disorder.

"I'm aware there is some possibility of protest on both sides," he said. If the crowds become large enough to create security or traffic concerns, he said, the library would work with the police department as needed.

(AL.com reporter John Sharp contributed to this report.)Amidst the glowing remembrances of Sen. John McCain, I recall fighting him. As a young Senate Judiciary Committee attorney for then-Sen. Jeff Sessions, we were locked in a tense battle over immigration policy. Working with Sen. Ted Kennedy, McCain pushed aggressively for comprehensive immigration reform legislation. On the other side, Sessions and many grassroots conservatives worked to defeat it. Even as I stood in opposition, McCain demonstrated an independence that left an indelible impact on my approach to politics.

I was fortunate to be a fly on the wall able to watch John McCain interact with my boss, other senators and staff. When it came to his legislative positions, McCain was a warrior and about as warm as a knuckle sandwich. He was professional, but he wasn't some wilting flower in the face of stout opposition.

In retrospect, I wasn't as critical of the arguments I advanced as I should have been. Many of us opposing McCain and Kennedy's efforts had many valid arguments, but we also shortchanged meritorious reforms. I regrettably bought into the "us" versus "them" mentality that continues to cripple Congress. Most policy matters are complicated; immigration is especially so. McCain possessed a far greater understanding of that reality than I did at the time.

Our side of the legislative battle ultimately scuttled the effort. Branding the legislative push as "amnesty," I watched talk radio and grassroots conservative activists blister McCain as a Republican-in-name-only (RINO), a squish and--worse still--a Democrat in disguise.

McCain wasn't bothered...at all.

At the time, I didn't understand it. McCain broke with conservatives in his own party to push for compromise. He absolutely knew he'd be attacked. I thought he was simply looking for a fight. After all, his "maverick" reputation preceded him.

In reality, McCain's care and concern for our nation ran deep. His military and political career clearly demonstrates as much. In his farewell statement released after his death, he notes, "'Fellow Americans' - that association has meant more to me than any other. I lived and died a proud American." Perhaps it was that association that led to his fierce independence. McCain took hard positions and tough votes because he thought them best for America. Even if it meant that the people of Arizona sent him packing, McCain pressed on.

Arizona elected to keep him time and again.

Most members of Congress constantly say and do whatever keeps them in office. The thin rationale is that they want to reflect the "will of the people." The truth is that many of them would rather retain their jobs than lead the people they represent. McCain rejected that path.

More than a decade after I first encountered McCain, I've come to appreciate the virtue of a man whose ideas I fought against. Political independence is unbelievably difficult in an era where politics is a team sport and pragmatic dissent is tantamount to ideological treason.

In announcing his 2008 presidential campaign, McCain stated he was running to "do the hard but necessary things, not the easy and needless things." That seems to have been his political philosophy regardless of the office he held. McCain routinely refused to play the role of a good partisan; maybe that's why he's remembered by so many as a great American.

Cameron Smith is a regular columnist for AL.com and vice president for the R Street Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C.Senate adopted resolution condemning blasphemous publication of caricatures in Netherlands

ISLAMABAD: The Upper House of parliament Monday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the publication of blasphemous caricatures in Netherlands.



Leader of the House Shibli Faraz presented the resolution against the caricature competition scheduled to be held at the end of this year in Netherlands, which has triggered an outrage throughout the Muslim world.



The resolution binds the federal government to lodge a strong protest with the Netherlands and use diplomatic channels to raise the issue at all the international forums. The resolution urges ministry of religious affairs to consult religious scholars for devising an effective strategy on the issue. The resolution also urges the federal government to take up the issue of blasphemous content with the United Nations Security Council. It calls upon the Pakistani government to summon the Dutch envoy and record a strong protest.



The House maintained that the proposed competition is a bid to incite hatred, racial prejudice, unrest, conflict and insecurity in a world that has already seen much bloodshed, racism, extremism, intolerance and Islamophobia and badly needs peace, interfaith harmony, mutual respect and tolerance.



Speaking over the issue, Prime Minister Imran Khan said the government would raise the issue of blasphemous caricature contest at the United Nations in the upcoming General Assembly session besides pushing the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to evolve consensus to raise a collective voice against such acts.



In his maiden address in the Upper House of parliament, the prime minister said the recurrence of such blasphemous activities to desecrate Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) was the collective failure of the OIC. He said as he knew the western mindset, they would not backtrack from such activities in the name of freedom of expression as majority in the west did not know as how the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) was revered among the Muslims. He said the west needed to be realized that how hurtful it was for the Muslims.



The prime minister said anti-Muslim elements in the west had found an easier way to malign and hurt the Muslims by carrying out such acts. He said his government would make efforts to evolve consensus over the issue at the level of the OIC. However, the prime minister reiterated that the Muslim world would first have to unite before making the west realize that Muslims felt hurt by such actions.



Meanwhile, opposition parties in the Senate staged a walkout while demanding formation of a parliamentary commission to probe alleged rigging in the July 25 general elections.



Speaking in the Upper House, Leader of Opposition in Senate Raja Zafarul Haq said the way election was conducted had become an important issue and merely laying of a report by a Senate committee was not enough. The matter is not being probed systematically, he claimed.



Haq said the issue is of grave concern for every Pakistani. He demanded that the matter be brought before a parliamentary commission which should prepare a thorough report and submit its recommendations. After his remarks, the opposition parties staged a walkout.



Earlier, Standing Committee on Interior Chairman Senator Rehman Malik presented a report of the committee on the holding of general elections as well as security situation during the exercise. He said the committee was probing the matter of failure of the Result Transmission System (RTS) and it was told during the proceedings that the RTS never stopped working. He said the committee would look into the issue of slowing down of the RTS so that it could reach a conclusion. He said during the general election, the complaints of non-provision of Form 45 and Form 47 had surfaced and ballot papers were found in heaps of garbage.



The second walkout by the opposition parties was staged when PPP leader Raza Rabbani wanted to speak in response to Imran Khans speech but the latter left without listening to his speech. It irritated the entire opposition and they staged a walkout. Later, the opposition pointed out lack of quorum and the deputy chairman was compelled to adjourn the House till Tuesday (today) at 11 am.



Earlier, the House passed The National Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2017, moved by Senator Ateeq Shaikh. The bill is aimed at amending the National Disaster Management Act, 2010.Trip to Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria marks Germanys belated interest in Africa and concern over irregular migration.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to begin a tour of three West African countries, Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria, with efforts to boost economic ties and limit irregular migration to Europe expected to dominate her agenda.

Analysts say the three-day visit beginning in Senegal on Wednesday marks Germanys belated growing interest in parts of Africa and preoccupation with the flow of undocumented arrivals in the European Union.

Africa has many conflicts and some people are fleeing very, very difficult conditions, Merkel said in a video address published on the chancellerys website on Sunday.

But we also know, on the other hand, that African countries could be a good market down the line. Other countries are already very active here.

Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria face some high hurdles and have an important role to play in finding solutions to conflict in the region, said Merkel.

Economic ties

Robert Kappel, a development economist from the University of Leipzig in Germany, told Al Jazeera that Nigeria was an important oil exporter to Germany, but Ghana and Senegal had limited economic ties with it.

German industry only ranks 11 of all investors on the African continent, he said. Trade with Austria is three times higher than with the whole African continent.

Germanys foreign trade with sub-Saharan Africa amounted to about $30bn last year, according to Germany Trade and Invest (GTAI)  the countrys economic development agency.

However, imports from sub-Saharan Africa accounted for only 1.1 percent of total foreign trade in 2017, similar to the year before.

Chancellor Angela Merkels visit to these three countries is a show that Germany is much more interested in the continent, Kappel said.

Last year, during its G20 presidency, Germany launched two programmes for cooperation with the continent: compact with Africa, an initiative to promote private investment in infrastructure; and the Marshall Plan with Africa, a proposal to rewrite Germanys aid relationship with Africa.

Questionable policy

George Kibala Bauer, a Congolese-German contributing editor at Africa is a Country online publication, told Al Jazeera that Merkels recent interest in Africa was the result of a considerable political pressure against her, including from her own political allies, for her perceived open-migration policy.

This is not only morally questionable but also practically misguided, he said.

Merkel has found in Mahamadou Issoufou, Nigers president who was re-elected in 2016 after winning a controversial runoff, a key partner in her efforts to curb irregular migration to Europe, pledging millions of dollars to his government.

She also supports the European Unions proposal to build detention centres in North Africa, where migrants would be processed. The EU plan, details of which remain scant, has been condemned by international human rights groups and UN officials.

Bauer said the EU has increasingly empowered third countries, and effectively outsourced certain tasks to states in the Sahel region and the Horn of Africa.

The Geneva Convention and German law grants every asylum seeker the right to a fair trial to determine his asylum status. As the outsourcing process becomes increasingly prevalent, this right will be put in jeopardy, he said.

From a human rights perspective, outsourcing has often meant that EU funds have effectively empowered state security services in countries such as Niger, Libya and Sudan, which have a track record of human rights violations.

High on the agenda

On her tour, Merkel is expected to discuss migration prevention with the leaders of Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria, where a large portion of African migrants arriving in Germany originate from.

The chancellor hopes to find a way to prevent them from starting their journeys, including providing more development aid to their countries.

Bauer said: It is surprising and disappointing to many that Europe spends such degree of energy and resources on deterring migration.

Many young people are also dismayed that many European leaders fail to recognise the contribution that migrants can make in their societies, he added.

Countries such as Senegal and Nigeria themselves host migrant communities from neighbouring countries. Many African countries host more migrants and asylum seekers as a proportion of their population than European countries currently do.

Andreas Mehler, director of Germanys Arnold Bergstraesser Institute in Freiburg, told Al Jazeera that Merkels trip is likely to be more successful in Ghana and Senegal, describing both as progressive countries with reliable, democratically elected leadership who already receive German aid.

By contrast, Mehler added, democratic but difficult and self-confident Nigeria would not accept chequebook diplomacy. German money would not be able to make a difference for Nigerias large population anyway, he said.

Nigeria, a giant on feet of clay, does not need or get German development assistance, Mehler said.

Kappel said Merkel might try to offer military assistance instead in the form of Germany providing training for the Nigerian army as the country battles the Boko Haram armed group in the north.

If Nigeria is more stable, then it contributes to stabilising the whole Sahel region and that will reduce the refugee problem for the European Union, he said.

I think Chancellor Merkel will try to convince the Nigerian government [to cooperate on the migration issue] not with money but perhaps with the training of the military and police, and perhaps better weapons.

Follow Al Jazeeras Tamila Varshalomidze on Twitter: @tamila87vHamas seems to be making more progress on a de-escalation deal with Israel than on reconciliation with Fatah.

Dr Adnan Abu Amer is the head of the Political Science Department at the University of the Ummah in Gaza.

On Saturday, a Palestinian Authority (PA) delegation departed for Egypt to discuss reconciliation with Hamas and the ongoing negotiations with Israel for de-escalation in Gaza. This visit comes after weeks of tensions between Ramallah and Cairo, marking the lowest point in relations between the two in recent years.

Reports have been circulating that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has become increasingly angered by the Egyptian government, fearing its alleged role in the deal of the century and its disregard for Ramallahs interests in Gaza.

Egypt has been given the green light by the United States and Israel to lead efforts to reconcile Fatah and Hamas and form a unity government meant to usher the PA back into power in the Gaza Strip. It has also been mediating in de-escalation negotiations between Israel and Hamas, which Fatah views with suspicion.

But given the increasing hostility and intransigence in relations between the two main Palestinian factions, it paradoxically appears that the Palestinians are more ready to conclude a truce with the Israelis than reconcile with each other.

Why reconciliation talks are faltering

Last month marked the 11th anniversary of the political division between Gaza and the West Bank. In 2006, Hamas won the elections in Gaza, which Fatah refused to recognise. After clashes erupted between the two, Fatah supporters were expelled and Israel imposed its siege in Gaza in 2007.

Since then, there have been numerous attempts to broker a deal  by Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Despite the signing of a number of agreements by Fatah and Hamas, the latest of which was in Cairo in 2017, effective reconciliation has not been reached and the political feud continues.

In late July, Egypt set up a reconciliation programme which outlined the steps the two political powers would have to take in order to complete the process. Hamas approved it, but Fatah recently announced that it would not abide by it. Instead, Abbas came out with a set of tougher demands, including Hamas complete surrender of Gaza. Ramallah now wants to regain full political, security and military control over the strip in exchange for reconciliation  a demand that Hamas will not heed.

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Despite the involvement of various local and regional players in the dispute between Fatah and Hamas, it doesnt seem that there is any progress towards dissuading Abbas from his decision to pursue this rigid position. His intransigence has contributed to the unusual low in his relations with Egypt.

In fact, Ramallah has only intensified its pressure on Hamas. In the past few months, the PA took a number of punitive measures against Gaza, including arbitrary cuts to salaries of state employees and a serious decrease in the operational budget of the Strip. This has pushed Gaza to the verge of collapse, which was the intended effect of these measures. Abbas hopes that when pushed to the brink, the Palestinians of Gaza will rebel against Hamas and take down its government.

Given that the reconciliation process along the lines Egypt is proposing has been approved by Washington, one could wonder why Abu Mazen is rejecting it so categorically and where he gets the courage to do so. In mid-August, the Palestinian president went as far as refusing to meet the head of Egyptian intelligence who was on a visit to Israel and was supposed to meet with PA representatives.

Perhaps the answer to this question can be found in Israels recent announcement that the intelligence arm of the PA has uncovered a plot to attack an Israeli military patrol in the West Bank. Abbas clearly feels confident that as long as Israel depends on him for security cooperation in the West Bank, he has enough freedom to manoeuvre and reject deals he fears could sideline or hurt his power.

De-escalation talks are on track

And while reconciliation efforts are failing, there is significant progress being made towards de-escalation between Hamas and Israel through the mediation of Egypt, Qatar and the UN. Advances have been made in that direction despite the absence and even opposition of the PA.

All sides in these talks consider the de-escalation a much-needed move to preclude other much more dangerous developments.

From one side, Hamas is trying to avoid any escalation which could prove much more deadly than any previous wars with Israel and could completely wipe out its military capabilities. More importantly, it could lead to the collapse of its power over Gaza, precipitating a period of political chaos or even the PA rolling into the Strip on top of Israeli tanks.

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This would mean the loss of the last Hamas stronghold (after the movement was uprooted by the PA and Israel from the West Bank) and potentially the loss of its status as a major player on the Palestinian political scene. That is why Hamas is trying hard to avoid another major war with Israel and will never accept the terms Abbas is currently offering for reconciliation.

On the other hand, Israel too realises that a possible war with Hamas poses a high security, economic and political risk. Hamas has missile capabilities which might not be able to cause vast destruction but danger of a mass missile attack would surely paralyse Israels major cities. The last war also demonstrated that the fighters of Gaza-based armed groups are capable of infiltrating and striking deep into enemy territory.

For Israel, this would mean heavy economic losses and dozens of soldiers and civilians killed and injured, which is a huge political risk for the government. At the same time, there is also the risk that Israel would fail to wipe out Hamas from the Strip and would face the very same uneasy stalemate in Gaza that it currently is in.

Also, both sides know full well that a fourth major war would decimate Gaza and result in an unimaginable humanitarian disaster. The vast destruction inflicted by the previous wars still debilitates life in the Strip and the international community has not had the chance to conduct any meaningful reconstruction.

Despite the obvious need for a de-escalation, there are still major barriers to the conclusion of a deal. One of the biggest challenges is the lack of agreement between the two sides on what this deal should entail. Hamas wants major steps made to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Gaza  such that the Palestinians living there would feel a difference in their lives. Israel, on the other hand, doesnt want to allow that and instead hopes to get a deal in exchange for a modest amount of humanitarian aid.

There are also various opponents to the idea of a de-escalation, both among the Palestinians in Gaza and the Israelis. Within the Israeli government, for example, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is clashing with Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who rejects any engagement with Hamas, arguing that it would give the armed group time to regroup, rearm and be better prepared for another war.

It is also expected that the PA will not stand by idly if a de-escalation deal is reached.

Reports have been circulating in Israeli media recently that Tel Aviv is preparing for the possibility of Abbas announcing another set of escalation measures against Gaza, which could provoke Hamas. Such a move would aim to ensure that whatever relief comes through as a result of a de-escalation deal does not make a real difference on the ground and Gaza continues to face a humanitarian disaster and potential political instability.

Hamas has been trying to negotiate guarantees as part of the deal that it would be compensated for whatever additional financial cuts the PA decides to impose. This, however, would be difficult to achieve because it would contradict Israels strategy of allowing the bare minimum to trickle into Gaza and to keep the Palestinians there neither dead nor alive.

In the coming weeks, it is likely that well see more efforts to thwart the de-escalation deal which will make Gaza the scene of more intense military and political developments. But, regardless of what happens, there seems to be a much better prospect for the conclusion of a de-escalation deal than reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.Donald Trumps comments referring to large scale killings of white farmers in South Africa last week may have mobilised the lunatic fringe in America and served the US presidents narrow racist interests, but in South Africa, they backfired for the organisation that claims it played a role in his tweet.

Trump is held in such low regard among reasonable people outside the US that his endorsement signalled a setback for Afriforum, the fascist organisation that toured the US and the UK earlier this year in a bid to call attention to what it calls the plight of white farmers.

In both countries, Afriforum met other white nationalist groups and in the US they managed to secure meetings with hapless bureaucrats in the chaotic Trump administration. While the grouping has been careful to stop short of making the false assertion that there is a genocide being perpetrated against whites, it is affiliated with organisations that make such claims and feeds off of a narrative of white victimhood and paranoia.

The facts, of course, are irrelevant to Trump and his supporters who like to jump to quick conclusions. South Africa is a country with a strong commitment to human rights and the rule of law, and the notion that it is embarking on any sort of illegal expropriation flies in the face of reality. At present there is a public consultation process aimed at examining the issue of land ownership.

A land audit conducted by the government in 2017, shows that whites own the majority of privately held agricultural land at 72 percent, although they represent roughly 10 percent of the population. Blacks, who make up 80 percent of the population, own just 4 percent.

In a country where white skin was once a guarantee of eternal privilege, the introduction of affirmative action and other policies designed to redress historical imbalances are experienced by some white South Africans as threats. This feeling is not grounded in reality: White South Africans continue to experience low rates of unemployment and enjoy an excellent standard of living.

There are generally high levels of violent crime across the country, and so there is no question that farm murders represent a problem. The victims of violence on farms are both black and white of course given the large number of farm workers who reside on farms. Sadly, there isnt enough data to conclude that white farmers are more likely to be killed than the rest of the population nor is there any evidence  anecdotal or otherwise  that farmers are being targeted because of their race.

Since it was established in 2006, Afriforum has worked hard to present itself as a moderate voice that has brought up this issue to national attention. Through polling, the use of data and a media-friendly attitude, the absurdly named group (which includes an allusion to the African continent despite its avowedly racially problematic politics) has sought to position itself as a rational interlocutor in a national conversation about redress, human rights and the question of land redistribution.

In spite of its erroneous claims and dog-whistle politics, Afriforum has successfully capitalised on many white peoples fears that they are losing their place as an assertive generation of well-educated black elites emerges.

In the past year, Afriforum has adopted a global focus. Seeking to appeal to the emboldened environment for racists in the US, Australia and Europe, Afriforums global strategy has sought to put pressure on the South African government to better protect its white citizens, who, they argue, are being deliberately targeted on the basis of race.

Their international strategy has been ineffectual. In terms of fundraising, it seems white supremacist groups are big on talk but not keen on giving. Still, Afriforum has been spectacularly good at garnering the attention of populist Western politicians who are eager to use their cause to suit their own domestic agendas.

For example, in Australia, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton caused ripples when he suggested white farmers might qualify for special visas on the basis of claims they are being persecuted. Dutton was of course, playing to a right-wing domestic constituency and his comments are unlikely to lead to any benefit for white South African farmers. In the US, Trumps tweet indicates he intends to use the issue in the same way.

At home, in South Africa, the attention of a US president many South Africans  across the colour line and the political spectrum  see as unhinged and blatantly racist, has undone much of Afriforums work to appear reasonable. As its leaders regroup from what has been a punishing week in their home country, they might want to learn from the alt-right Western politicians they are so desperate to court.

Right-wing hate mongers know that while the world is getting smaller, politics is still local. If Afriforum wants to be a successful white nationalist organisation it needs to win support at home. Flirting with Trump will do it no good in a world where he has little legitimacy. Moderate whites in South Africa now have even fewer reasons to take Afriforum seriously.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.Investigators say all parties involved in the bloody war may be responsible for human rights violations in Yemen.

An earlier version of this story singled out the Saudi-UAE-led coalition in the UN report. It has been changed to reflect the investigators accused all sides in the conflict.

All sides in Yemens bloody conflict may have committed war crimes involving deadly air strikes, rampant sexual violence, and the recruitment of child soldiers, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

A team of UN-mandated investigators said in a report it had reasonable grounds to believe that the parties to the armed conflict in Yemen have committed a substantial number of violations of international humanitarian law.

Many of these violations may amount to war crimes, the report said, pointing to widespread arbitrary detention, rape, torture and the recruitment of children as young as eight to fight.

Kamel Jendoubi, who heads the UN team, said the investigators had identified a number of alleged perpetrators.

A confidential list of these individuals will be presented today to the [UN] High Commissioner for Human Rights, he told journalists in Geneva.

Under review





The damning report said air attacks by the Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates-led military coalition had caused the most direct civilian casualties in the war, and a blockade of Yemeni ports and airspace may have violated international humanitarian law.

The alliance, which has been at war with Houthi rebels since March 2015, has repeatedly denied allegations of war crimes, and claims its attacks are not directed at civilians.

A spokesman for the Saudi military said the UN report was referred to a legal team for review and will announce its conclusions after it is completed.

UAEs Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said the report merited a response.

We should review and respond to the [UN] experts report published today, said Gargash in a tweet. The coalition is fulfilling its role in reclaiming the Yemeni state and securing the future of the region from Iranian interference.

Data collected by Al Jazeera and the Yemen Data Project has found almost one-third of the 16,000 air raids carried out in the country have hit non-military sites.

The attacks have targeted weddings and hospitals, as well as water and electricity plants, killing and wounding thousands.

The charity Save the Children has estimated that an average of 130 children die every day from extreme hunger and disease  a crisis brought about by the conflict.

And according to the UN, at least 10,000 people have been killed since the start of the conflict. However, analysts say the death toll is likely to be higher.

The UN has described the situation in Yemen as worlds worst humanitarian crisis.

Violations continue

The group of experts has reason to believe the government of Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, are responsible for violations of human rights, said Jendoubi.

Violations and crimes have been perpetrated and continue to be perpetrated in Yemen by the parties to the conflict.





Members of the government of Yemen and the [Saudi-UAE] coalition may have conducted attacks that were disproportionate and could constitute war crimes, Jendoubi added.

The experts also accused the Houthis of indiscriminate shelling in civilian areas and snipers targeting non-combatants.

They urged the international community to refrain from providing arms that could be used in the conflict   an apparent reference to countries such as the United States and Britain, which supply the Saudi-UAE alliance.

Iran has been accused of supplying weapons to the Houthis, allegations Tehran denies.

American support

Despite repeated petitions by human rights groups, the US assists Saudi Arabia and the UAE in conducting aerial bombings in Yemen and provides midair refuelling services for their warplanes.

Between 2010 and 2015, Washington also sold more than $90bn of military equipment to Riyadh.

But following a recent air attack on a school bus that killed 40 children, some members of Congress called on the US military to clarify its role in the war and investigate whether support for the air raids could render American military personnel liable under the war crimes act.

Asked about the UN report, US defence chief James Mattis said on Tuesday support for the Saudi-UAE coalition was constantly under review and was not unconditional.

At no time have we felt rebuffed or ignored when we bring concerns to them. The training we have given them we know has paid off, he told a press conference.

Our conduct there is to try to keep the human cost of innocents being killed accidentally to the absolute minimum. That is our goal where we engage with the coalition. Our goal is to reduce this tragedy and to get it to the UN brokered table as quickly as possible, said Mattis.

The UN investigators said nearly a dozen deadly air attacks they investigated over the last year raise serious questions about the targeting process applied by the coalition.

Despite the severity of the situation we continue to see a complete disregard for the people in Yemen, said Charles Garraway, one of the reports authors.

This conflict has reached its peak with no apparent sight of light at the end of the tunnel. It is indeed a forgotten crisis.Parliament speaker urges president to apprehend security officers for their alleged beatings of political detainees.

The speaker of Ugandas parliament called for the arrest of security agents involved in the suspected beating and torture of 33 people, including a popular musician-turned-opposition-MP.

Local pop star and parliamentarian Robert Kyagulanyi, best known by his stage name Bobi Wine, was among dozens of people detained after opponents pelted President Yoweri Musevenis convoy with stones earlier this month.

Their lawyers and others have said detainees suffered beatings and torture  accusations the government rejected as rubbish.

In a letter to Museveni dated Monday, Rebecca Kadaga, speaker of parliament, said those responsible for any maltreatment of the arrested individuals must be brought to justice.

I am concerned that no effort has been made to arrest the security officers from the special forces command, military police, and Uganda police force who were involved in the violent actions against unarmed civilians, said Kadaga.

This is therefore to demand that the officers concerned be apprehended at the earliest opportunity and presented in court. The Uganda parliament will not condone or acquiesce in acts of torture.

Rising tensions

The arrests sparked two days of anti-government protests in the capital, Kampala, and other towns last week. On Monday, the Ugandan High Court granted bail to the 33 people, including Kyagulanyi.

The popular musician has emerged as an influential critic of Museveni after winning a seat in parliament last year.





The 36-year-old opposition legislator has used his music to address the countrys political and social issues.

Presidential spokesman Don Wanyama could not confirm whether Kadagas letter reached Museveni, but said the issues it purportedly raised had been handled.

It was President Museveni who was the first to condemn the violence and shooting of civilians, Wanyama told Reuters news agency.

He ordered the arrest of police officers who shot dead a civilian in Mityana town, Wanyama said, adding the president would respond once he received the letter.

In power since 1986, Museveni, 73, is accused of stifling dissent through intimidation, beatings, and detentions  allegations his government denies.Duque says the group of South American states acts as an accomplice to the Venezuelan dictatorship.

Colombian President Ivan Duque has announced his countrys withdrawal from the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), a bloc set up a decade ago to counter US influence in the region.

Duque said the group acted as an accomplice to the Venezuelan dictatorship and said the move will be completed in six months.

His announcement follows a decision by Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Paraguay, in April to temporarily suspend their membership of the organisation.

The 12-member bloc was created in 2008 to promote regional integration.

The late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez and other South American leaders opposed US-backed proposals for a Free Trade Area of the Americas, and instead set up UNASUR to help move their countries towards an economic and political union.

Before Colombia renounced its membership, Bolivia urged Duque to reconsider his position.

The remaining members are Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Guyana and Suriname.

Venezuelas crisis

According to the UN, 1.6 million Venezuelans have fled the country since 2015, with 90 percent going to countries within South America.

Colombia has granted 800,000 of them temporary residence, but many want to travel onwards to Peru, Chile, or even Argentina, which has taken in more than 30,000 Venezuelans.

Duque has said all diplomatic approaches should be used to isolate the regime in Venezuela.

The most important thing at this moment is that if the dictatorship does not end, the migration will not stop, he told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) News in an interview last week.

Governments initially welcomed the migrants with open arms, due to Venezuelas role in welcoming those fleeing dictatorships and conflicts in the past.

But the exodus has ballooned this year, stretching social services, creating more competition for low-skilled jobs, and stoking fears of unrest.

In the past two weeks, both Ecuador and Peru announced tighter entry rules for Venezuelans, requiring Venezuelans to carry valid passports instead of just national ID cards.Controversial politician announced plans for a drawing competition of Prophet Mohammad cartoons for later this year.

The Dutch police on Tuesday arrested a man suspected of planning an attack against far-right politician Geert Wilders after he said he intended to hold a Prophet Mohammad cartoon competition.

Police said in a statement they arrested the still unidentified suspect at the main railway station in The Hague.

He was being questioned and was expected to appear before a judge on Friday, the statement said.

Police said they had been alerted by a video on Facebook in which the 26-year-old man talked about attacking anti-Islam MP Wilders, as well as the Dutch parliament.

Wilders, who announced plans for a competition of Mohammad cartoons earlier this year, said he had been told about the plot by the Netherlands counterterrorism police, NCTb.

I was told by NCTb this morning that a man on Facebook had said that he had arrived in the Netherlands for the purpose of killing me, Wilders said via his Twitter account.

Fortunately, he has been arrested. It is madness that this is happening because of a drawing contest and that it is raining death threats.

Blasphemous activities





The head of the Netherlands Party for Freedom, or PVV, Wilders is known for his virulent anti-Islam statements.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has described the competition as disrespectful and provocative, even though he defended the principle of freedom of expression.

Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok also said the competition was not a government initiative.

Pakistans newly elected Prime Minister Imran Khan vowed to take the issue to the UN General Assembly in September.

Very few in the West understand the pain caused to Muslims by such blasphemous activities, said Khan on Monday.

Last week, Pakistans foreign office summoned the Dutch ambassador to lodge a protest, expressing its deep concern at this deliberate and malicious attempt to defame Islam.Summer rains in Japan and the Koreas have been significant and havent yet ceased.

Typhoons and stalled fronts in Japan and on the Korean Peninsula this summer have brought unprecedented rainfall and flooding from Gifu prefecture down to Hiroshima.

The typhoon season hasnt ended and the remnants of Rumbia and a declining Typhoon Soulik went through the Korean Peninsula less than a week ago. The current threat to East Asia is from a near-stationary rain band that stretches from the Yellow Sea, across South Korea to central Honshu.

Japans meteorological agency has issued warnings of heavy rain that could lead to landslides and floods in Niigata and Ishikawa prefectures on Japans biggest island of Honshu.

Over the last two days, the system has dropped 245mm of rain over the city of Daejeon in South Korea, bringing widespread flooding. On the east coast of Honshu, Onahama recorded more than 100mm of rain in under six hours.

This slow-moving rain band is destined to bring up to 250mm more rain to North Korea, parts of South Korea, and northern Honshu.

Tropical Storm Jebi, meanwhile, may hit the region in early September.Maasoum Marzouk was arrested on Thursday after calling for a referendum on President Abdel Fattah el-Sisis rule.

An opposition coalition of left-leaning and secular parties in Egypt has called for the immediate release of a former diplomat who was arrested after calling for a referendum on President Abdel Fattah el-Sisis government.

Maasoum Marzouk was arrested on Thursday along with two others and ordered to remain in custody for 15 days pending an investigation into terror-related charges.

Marzouk and the other detainees  economist Raied Salama and Yehia al-Qazzaz, a geology professor  were accused by state-run media of cooperating with the banned Muslim Brotherhood group, which Egypts government designated as a terrorist group in 2013.

On Monday, the Civil Democratic Movement coalition said in a press conference that the arrests were part of the government crackdown to silence opposition voices.

At the press conference, Mohammed Anwar Sadat, nephew of Egypts former leader Anwar Sadat, called for genuine political reform and for the President and the state to listen to the opposition.

Marzouk, who was assistant minister of foreign affairs under former President Hosni Mubarak, served in the Egyptian armys special forces and is a veteran of the 1973 war with Israel.

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He is also a former Egyptian ambassador to Uganda, Finland and Estonia.

More recently, he helped to form the The Peoples Democratic Party and served as an adviser and spokesman for the presidential campaign of Hamdeen Sabbahi, a left-wing candidate who ran against Sisi in the 2014 elections.

Speaking at Mondays press conference, Sabbahi called for change, saying Sisis government had failed.

We believe that this regime must be changed, he said. This is a failed power. This is a repressive power  which violated and insulted the constitution.

In a statement on August 5, Marzouk called for protests in Tahrir Square in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, saying that if his initiative was not accepted, he would hold a popular conference there.

The Square was the epicentre of the 2011 mass uprising that led to the downfall of Mubarak.

He had also campaigned for the release of all political prisoners, the formation of a transitional government council and a 10-year ban on political candidacy for anyone who had served in government or parliament over the past decade.

Sisi won a second four-year term in April after securing more than 90 percent of the vote in a presidential election that was criticised as being a one-man show with no credible opposition.

At least six candidates were either jailed, prosecuted or forced to pull out of the race.

Since coming to power after leading the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi in 2013, Sisis government has presided over a sweeping crackdown on dissent, jailing thousands of dissidents and journalists.

The government has banned unauthorised protests, heavily restricted civil society groups and blocked hundreds of websites.Nicolas Hulot resigned live on radio  without informing the French president beforehand.

More video clips from the storyGovernment-commissioned independent study finds that 2,975 deaths in the six months after Marie resulted from storm.

Nearly 3,000 people died in Puerto Rico in the six months after Hurricane Maria as a result of the storm, with the elderly and impoverished most affected, according to a long-awaited independent study ordered by the US territorys government.

The findings contrast sharply with the official death toll of 64 and are about double the governments previous interim estimate of 1,400 deaths.

The results of our epidemiological study suggest that, tragically, Hurricane Maria led to a large number of excess deaths throughout the island, said principal investigator Carlos Santos-Burgoa, a professor of global health at George Washington University.

Certain groups  those in lower income areas and the elderly  faced the highest risk.

Researchers with the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University tracked excess deaths related to Hurricane Maria from September 2017 to February 2018, and found the toll of 2,975 deaths was 22 percent higher than the number of deaths that would have been expected during that period in a year without the storm.

We are hopeful that the government will accept this as an official death toll, said Lynn Goldman, the dean of the Milken Institute.

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Earlier this month, Puerto Rican officials quietly acknowledged that Hurricane Maria likely killed more than 1,400 people in a draft report to Congress that outlined the governments reconstruction plan. At the time, the New York Times reported that the Puerto Rican government said it would wait to update its official tally until after the George Washington University study was released.

The government has not commented on the findings in Tuesdays report, which is based on an analysis of death certificates and other mortality data for six months from September 2017 through February 2018.

Flawed reporting system

Researchers estimated the excess deaths with the help of mathematical modelling that compared post-hurricane deaths to the expected number based on historical patterns and adjusted for age, sex and migration from the island.

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The team also identified flaws in the system that may have led to an under-reporting of deaths previously, including lack of communication, and poor training for doctors on how to certify deaths in disasters.

Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico in September 2017, wreaking widespread devastation. In the draft report to Congress earlier this month, the territory detailed its reconstruction plan, which is estimated to cost $139bn, 47 percent more than the bankrupt US commonwealth requested in November.

Arden Dragoni holds a photo taken on October 5, 2017, of his home that was destroyed by Hurricane Maria, as he stands in the same spot where his home remains in shambles in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico on May 28, 2018 [Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo]

A study by Harvard University earlier this year estimated around 4,600 had died in the three months following the storm.

The findings of that report blamed most deaths after Hurricane Maria on interruptions in medical care due to power outages and blocked or washed out roads.

Households went for an average of 84 days without electricity, 64 days without water, and 41 days without cellular telephone coverage after the storm.

The government of Puerto Rico stopped publicly sharing its data on hurricane deaths in December 2017.Five left-wing activists arrested in multi-city raids accused of triggering caste violence near Pune last year.

Indian police arrested prominent writers and left-wing activists for suspected links to banned Maoist rebels, sparking outrage across the country.

The arrests on Tuesday drew condemnation from human rights groups who called the police raids a massive crackdown on government critics.

In a series of coordinated operations, police arrested five activists accusing them of delivering speeches that triggered protests and violence near the western city of Pune last year.

Those arrested include Telugu language poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, journalist Gautam Navlakha in New Delhi, and civil rights lawyer Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad.

These persons have been arrested for their Maoist links, Shivaji Bodakhe, joint commissioner of Pune police in western Maharashtra state, told AFP news agency, without giving further details.

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The government says Maoist rebels, who are active in several states, are Indias biggest internal security threat.

The raids on Tuesday were in connection to an ongoing probe into the violence between lower caste Dalits and right-wing groups at Maharashtras Bhima Koregaon village on December 31.

Atmosphere of fear

The crackdown was condemned by lawyers, academics, authors and rights watchdogs, with government critics accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modis right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of attempting to silence its opponents.

The nationwide crackdown on activists, advocates and human rights defenders is disturbing and threatens core human rights values, Amnesty Internationals Indian chapter and NGO Oxfam India said in a joint statement.

The government should protect peoples rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly instead of creating an atmosphere of fear, said Amitabh Behar, CEO of Oxfam India.

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Booker-prize winning author Arundhati Roy, an outspoken critic of Modi, said the perilous arrests on ludicrous charges were an attempt to muzzle freedom ahead of next years polls.

The simultaneous state-wide arrests are a dangerous sign of a government that fears it is losing its mandate and is falling into panic, Roy told Press Trust of India news agency.

In July, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders warned of deteriorating press freedom in the worlds largest democracy amid a sharp rise in online hate campaigns directed at critics of Modis Hindu nationalist government.

The communist political movement in India started in the 1920s as an anti-colonial struggle when the country was still ruled by Britain, but the current phase of Maoist rebellion began in 2004.Homes of Palestinians involved in attacks are routinely destroyed by Israel, a move critics call collective punishment.

Israeli forces on Tuesday demolished the family home of a Palestinian teenager who stabbed a Jewish settler to death in the occupied West Bank last month.

Muhammad Tarek Ibrahim Dar Yusuf, 17, was shot and killed by Israeli forces at the scene of the attack on July 26 after he climbed the perimeter fence and entered the Adam settlement.

He stabbed two other settlers who suffered non-life-threatening wounds before he was shot. The teenagers body remains in Israels custody.

Yusufs father Tarek told The Associated Press the Israeli army informed him of its decision to demolish his house.

At 3am (0:00GMT), a bulldozer rolled down the street where their home is located in the village of Kauber, accompanied by 20 military vehicles and a drone flying overhead.

Within an hour the house was destroyed. Then they left, Tarek said.

In a statement, the army said dozens of Palestinians protested Tuesdays demolition, hurling rocks and firebombs at Israeli troops. The military responded with riot dispersal means, usually indicating tear gas and stun grenades were fired.

Israeli forces often raze the homes of Palestinians involved in attacks as a punitive measure. According to Palestinian estimates, about 45 houses have been demolished by Israeli forces since 2017.

Israel says house demolitions are an effective deterrent against attacks. Critics counter the tactic amounts to collective punishment.Authorities issue eviction notices for dozens of asylum seekers for being absent during police checks.

Naples, Italy  Dozens of migrants and refugees protested on Tuesday against a decision that will see them lose their right to live in migrant reception centres, leaving them homeless and jeopardising their asylum applications.

The government issued notices to asylum seekers living in four migrant centres, announcing its intention to expel them because they were absent when police performed checks on August 13.

In Naples, asylum seekers hosted in centres have to sign in every night and comply with a 9pm curfew. But up until last week, the regulation had not been enforced. While it is not a nationwide rule, it is applied in other cities as well.

The decision is likely to have affected at least 100 people.

According to Francesco Priore, a lawyer at the Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration, a total of 146 appeals were filed, but some migrants may already be living elsewhere.

It was not the case for Max, a 19-year-old from Ghana, who told Al Jazeera he just popped out to get some snacks when the police went into the centre. Upon his return, it was too late to be counted in.

Two or three days later, they brought a letter with the names of people who should leave, said Max, who gave only his first name. They want to put us in the street with nowhere to go.

He said hes been waiting for an answer from the asylum commission for more than eight months after more than two years in Italy.

Often privately run, such centres have become the most common housing arrangement for asylum seekers waiting for an answer on their application. This can take upwards of two years.

While centres that do operate well exist, the system has been prone to abuse and mismanagement. Some facilities have even been investigated for mafia infiltration.

Dozens of protesters came out on Tuesday against the governments move [Ylenia Gostoli/Al Jazeera]

As part of a crackdown on migration that has included measures against boats rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean Sea, Italys Interior Minister Matteo Salvini announced spending cuts for asylum-seeker reception facilities.

In Vasto near Naples central train station where the centres are located, some citizens have voiced concerns about squalor, drug traffickers and street sellers  many of whom are migrants.

One of those vendors, Cisse Elhadji Diebel, a Senegalese national, was shot and wounded in the leg earlier this month as violent attacks on minorities escalate across the country.

Priore said the decision to kick people out of the centres could have repercussions on the application for international protection by those waiting to see the asylum commission, which sends all communication to the applicants place of residence.

If the applicant is not available for the interview, he could see his application judged solely on the base of the first declarations made, Priore said.

The government was not available for comment by the time of publication.

Associations opposing the governments crackdown on migration argue this could be a testing ground for a new policy to come.

Its creating chaos which will then lead to further repression, said Pierluigi Umbriano of the anti-racist network Associazione 3 Febbraio.

We will certainly see the situation exploited at the political level. We will hear that reception centres have been cleared, that migrants create problems on the street, with promises to send them away. There will be even more discontent, Umbriano told Al Jazeera.

Meanwhile, Boro, 28, a guest of one of the centres who found work in a restaurant, said he decided to quit after what happened.

I cant do my evening shift or I would risk being kicked out, he said.#justicefornirmala: anger spreads in Nepal over police cover-up

Protests continue in Nepal against alleged police mishandling in the Nirmala Panta rape and murder case.US defence secretary says US support for Saudi Arabia and UAE-led coalition is not unconditional, constantly reviewed.

US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said his countrys support for the Saudi Arabia and UAE-led coalition fighting in Yemen was not unconditional but suggested the United States would continue to support the alliance as it works to reduce fallout on civilians.

His comments on Tuesday came the same day as a new UN report outlining possible war crimes by all sides in the conflict.

Mattis told reporters that the US has been working with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to improve airstrike targeting and recognises that tragedies have occurred.

We recognise every mistake like this is tragic in every way, but we have not seen any callous disregard by the people were working with, Mattis said. So we will continue to work with them.

He said the US is constantly reviewing its support for the coalition, adding it will continue to do all it can to limit civilian deaths.

Our conduct there is to try to keep the human cost of innocents being killed accidentally to the absolute minimum [] Our goal is to reduce this tragedy and to get it to the UN-brokered table as quickly as possible, Mattis said.

The military alliance led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE has been at war with Houthi rebels since March 2015. At least 10,000 people have been killed since the start of the conflict, according to the United Nations. Analysts, however, say the death toll may be much higher.

Suspected war crimes committed by all sides

The secretarys comments came just hours after the UN released a report, saying that all sides in Yemens conflict may have committed war crimes involving deadly air attacks, rampant sexual violence and the recruitment of children soldiers.

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The report said that air attacks by the Saudi Arabia and UAE-led military coalition had caused the most direct civilian casualties in the war, and a blockade of Yemeni ports and airspace may have violated international humanitarian law.

A spokesman for the Saudi military said the UN report was referred to a legal team for review that will announce its conclusions after it is completed.

UAEs Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said in a tweet that the coalition is fulfilling its role in reclaiming the Yemeni state and securing the future of the region from Iranian interference. He added that his country should review and respond to the UN report.

While not directly involved in any of the fighting, the US and the UK have sold more than $12bn worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia alone  including some of the warplanes and the payloads they drop.

An air raid by the Saudi-UAE coalition earlier this month hit a bus in a busy market in northern Yemen, killing dozens, including children. The US is pressing the Saudi government to complete an investigation of what went wrong.Jury convicts white former Texas police officer who shot and killed 15-year-old African American in April 2017.

A Texas jury has found a white former police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager last year guilty of murder.

Roy Oliver shot into a car full of teenagers as they were leaving a party in the Dallas suburb of Balch Springs in April 2017.

Fifteen-year-old Jordan Edwards, who was sitting in the passenger seat, was struck and killed.

Its been a hard year  Im just really happy, Edwardss father, Odell, told reporters at the court after the verdict on Tuesday.

At the time of the shooting, Oliver claimed the vehicle was trying to run over his partner, but several witness accounts and body-cam footage showed the car was moving away from the officer.

Oliver was fired from the Balch Springs police force in May 2017 after police admitted the video of the shooting contradicted Olivers initial statement.

Local reporters, who were present in the courtroom on Tuesday as the verdict was read, reported that there were hugs, claps and cheers from the family of Edwards.

Odell Edwards, father of Jordan Edwards, gets a hug from Dallas County district lawyer Faith Johnson after hearing a guilty of murder verdict [Rose Baca/The Dallas Morning News via AP] [Daylife]

Oliver faces between five and 99 years in prison for the murder. His sentencing hearing began immediately after the trial. The former police officer was acquitted of manslaughter and aggravated assault.

Not just about Jordan

Daryl Washington, Edwardss lawyer, said the verdict is not just about justice for the young teenagers family but for the families of all unarmed black people killed by police.

This case is not just about Jordan, Washington told reporters. Its about Tamir Rice, its about Walter Scott, its about Alton Sterling, its about every unarmed African American who has been killed and who has not got justice.

According to the Washington Post Fatal Force database, more than 980 people were killed by police in 2017.

Monica Tunstle-Garrett, left, of Mesquite, Texas, and Al Woolum, right of North Richland Hills, Texas, light candles as they arrive at a vigil for Jordan Edwards in Balch Springs, Texas, Thursday, May 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) [Daylife]

The Guardian identified more than 1,090 police killings the previous year.

Nearly a quarter of those killed by police in 2016 were African Americans, although the group accounted for roughly 12 percent of the total US population.

According to watchdog group The Sentencing Project, African American men are six times more likely to be arrested than white men.

These disparities, particularly the killing of African Americans by police, has prompted the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, a popular civil rights movement aimed at ending police violence and dismantling structural racism.

Finally

Online, many called Tuesdays verdict a small, but significant step for justice for unarmed people killed by police.

According to Phil Stinson, a criminologist at Bowling Green State University, only 91 police officers in the US have been charged with murder or manslaughter resulting from an on-duty shooting since 2005. Less than 40 have been convicted of a crime.

This is a big deal, tweeted Sherrilyn Ifill, the president and director-counsel of the Legal Defense Fund of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Twitter user, Ben Frank, wrote: Finally, a cop was found guilty of murdering a black man. Hopefully this will be the new norm and [teach] these cops they just cant murder us and get away with it.

Finally, a cop was found guilty of murdering a black man. Hopefully, this will be a new norm and theach these cops they just can't murder us and get away with it. #JordanEdwards #Dallas  HOW BOUT THEM MUSTANGS! (@Let_Me_B_Frank) August 28, 2018

Angie Thomas, author of the book The Hate You Give, and others pointed out that the verdict came on the same day as the anniversary murder of Emmet Till, a 14-year-old African American who was kidnapped and brutally killed in 1955 in Mississippi. Although two white men confessed to the murder after they were acquitted by an all-white jury, experts say details around the murder remain unclear. The US Department of Justice recently announced it was reviving its investigation into the case, which became a focal point of the civil rights movement in the US.

Its not lost on me that Jordan Edwards received justice on the anniversary of Emmett Tills murder, Thomas tweeted. Trying to process this.

It's not lost on me that Jordan Edwards received justice on the anniversary of Emmett Till's murder. Trying to process this.  Angie Thomas (@angiecthomas) August 28, 2018Dumped Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said he will quit parliament this week in another headache for Australias rattled government which will temporarily lose its one-seat majority.

He told supporters on Monday he will resign from Parliament on Friday, a week after he was forced from office by legislators in his conservative Liberal Party because he had lost their support.

As you know, my prime ministership has come to an end. The circumstances have appalled most Australians but again, I wont labour the point, he told the Monday meeting, Fairfax reported.

I have a strong view which Ive made very clear publicly so it comes as no surprise, that former prime ministers are best out of parliament not in it, and I think recent events best underline the value of that observation.

And so, accordingly, on Friday, I will resign from the House of Representatives.

His resignation could set the stage for an October 6 by-election.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison could also call general elections, although he has said he plans to hold polls close to when an election is due in May.

Turnbull became the fourth prime minister to be dumped by his or her own party since 2010 in response to poor opinion polling.

Opinion polling by respected Newspoll published on Monday found that government popular support has crashed to its lowest level in a decade due to the infighting.

The poll found that only 33 percent of respondents intended to vote for the government, a tie with a poll in 2008 when the Liberal Party was in opposition a year after being voted out of power.

The poll was based on a survey of 1,783 voters nationwide from Friday when the leadership changed until Sunday.

Turnbulls seat in the wealthy Sydney enclave of Wentworth is traditionally a Liberal safe haven, although a backlash against the governments political infighting could make this less certain.Activists and families of eight victims of the war on drugs filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court.

Activists and families of eight victims of the Philippines war on drugs have filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing President Rodrigo Duterte of murder and crimes against humanity.

Tuesdays 50-page complaint calls for Dutertes indictment over thousands of extrajudicial killings during his crackdown on drugs, which the activists and families said included brazen executions by police acting with impunity.

Critics of the campaign were being persecuted, they said, and cases filed by victims families had gone nowhere.

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The latest move is led by a network of activists, priests and members of the poor, urban communities that have borne the brunt of a fierce two-year campaign in which police have killed about 4,400 people, causing international alarm.

Duterte is personally liable for ordering state police to undertake mass killings, Neri Colmenares, a lawyer representing the group, told reporters.

Duterte says he has told police to kill only if their lives were in danger.

In his annual address to the nation last month, he said the anti-drug campaign would be as relentless and chilling as its first two years.

In September 2016, an Al Jazeera investigation revealed that police officers were involved in attempted killings of unarmed drug suspects.

And in December 2017, Al Jazeera recorded cases of children being killed by police officers.

I will arrest you

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the latest petition was doomed because the Philippines was no longer covered by the ICCs Rome Statute.

Duterte unilaterally withdrew from the ICCs founding treaty in March, saying it skirted due process and the presumption of his innocence, and sought to portray him as a ruthless and heartless violator of human rights.

He even threatened to arrest ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda if she were to comes to the Philippines to investigate him, and said he would convince other countries to follow him in quitting the ICC.

Ms Fatou, dont come here, because I will bar you. You cannot exercise any proceedings here without basis. That is illegal and I will arrest you, Duterte said.

Opposition lawmakers maintain that Dutertes withdrawal from the treaty, which takes effect in March 2019, was illegal because it was done without Senate approval.

They have challenged it at the Supreme Court, which started hearing oral arguments on Tuesday.

Jurist groups say that regardless of how the court rules, Duterte is not protected from a possible indictment because the alleged crimes took place while the Philippines was a member of the ICC, and therefore covered by its jurisdiction.





The Philippines is a signatory to the Rome Statute, a multilateral treaty that created the international court.

However, Duterte maintains the Philippines never actually acceded to the Rome Statute in 2011, because it was not published in the countrys official gazette.

The ICC is a court of last resort that can exercise jurisdiction if states are unable or unwilling to investigate crimes, which Dutertes spokesman said was not the case in the Philippines.

According to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report published in January 2018, more than 12,000 people have been killed since Duterte took office in June 2016.

Other estimates put the death toll as high as 14,000.

Dutertes administration has disputed these numbers, claiming that 3,906 drug personalities were killed during police operations from July 1, 2016, to September 26, 2017.State Department lawyer argues her country has the right to protect its national security and other interests.

The United States told the UNs top court it has no jurisdiction to rule on Irans demand for the suspension of nuclear-related sanctions recently reimposed on the country.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague lacks prima facie jurisdiction to hear Irans claims, US State Department lawyer Jennifer Newstead argued on Tuesday.

During the first hearing of the case on Monday, Iran argued that US President Donald Trump breached a 1955 treaty with his decision to reimpose sanctions after withdrawing from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.





Newstead said the US has the right to protect its national security and other interests.

She said the treaty cannot, therefore, provide a basis for this courts jurisdiction in the case.

Sanctions on Iran were lifted under the 2015 accord with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany and the European Union. In return, Tehran committed not to develop nuclear weapons.

However, Trump said the deal did not do enough to curb the alleged threat from Iran. He pulled the US out of the accord in May and began reimposing sanctions earlier this month.

This case is entirely about an attempt to compel the US by order of this court to resume the 2015 nuclear deal, Newstead said.

On Monday, Irans lawyers said the sanctions were threatening the welfare of its citizens and disrupting tens of billions of dollars worth of business deals.

Lawyer Jennifer Newstead, right, looks at Irans representative Mohsen Mohebi on Tuesday [AFP]

The Islamic Republics lead representative in the case, Mohsen Mohebi, branded the sanctions naked economic aggression.

The United States is publicly propagating a policy intended to damage as severely as possible Irans economy and Iranian nationals and companies, Mohebi said.

Iran will put up the strongest resistance to the US economic strangulation by all peaceful means.

But the US lawyers held Iran to blame for its economic woes.





They have deep roots in the Iranian governments mismanagement of its own economy and repression of its own population, Newstead said.

The court in the Netherlands adjourned until Wednesday when Iran will have the opportunity to respond to the US arguments.

The ICJ is expected to take several weeks to decide whether to grant Tehrans request. A final decision could take years.

Its judgements are binding, final and without appeal, however, it has no power to enforce its decisions.

However, whether any decision will be implemented remains unclear. Both Iran and the US in the past have ignored the UN courts rulings against them.

Despite the 1955 Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations, the two countries have not had diplomatic ties since 1980.Russia accuses Syrian rebels of planning Idlib chemical attack

Russia has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council about an expected offensive in Syria.NATO to monitor Russias September drill of 300,000 troops, 1,000 aircraft, two naval fleets and all its airborne units.

Russia will hold its biggest war games in nearly four decades next month, a massive military exercise that will also involve the Chinese and Mongolian armies.

The September 11-15 manoeuvres will involve almost 300,000 troops, more than 1,000 military aircraft, two of Russias naval fleets and all its airborne units, Russias Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a statement on Tuesday.

Shoigu said the drills are on an unprecedented scale both in terms of the area covered and in terms of the numbers of military forces.

Imagine 36,000 pieces of military equipment moving together at the same time  tanks, armoured personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles. And all of this, of course, in conditions as close to combat as possible, he said.

The exercises in central and eastern Russia, dubbed Vostok-2018, will take place at a time of heightened tensions between the West and Russia, which is concerned about what it says is an unjustified build-up of forces by the NATO alliance on its western flank.

NATO says it has beefed up its forces in Eastern Europe to deter potential Russian military action after Moscow annexed Ukraines Crimea in 2014 and backed a pro-Russian uprising in eastern Ukraine.

The war games are also likely to displease Japan, which has complained about what it says is a Russian military build-up in the Asia-Pacific.

The September 11-15 drills will involve almost 300,000 soldiers [File: Maxim Shemetov/Reuters]

Chinas state Xinhua news agency has reported Beijing plans to send 3,200 troops and about 900 weapons units for the exercises.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will attend a forum in Vladivostok over the same period. A foreign ministry official said on Tuesday that Tokyo always pays attention to shifts in Russian-Chinese military cooperation.

When asked if the cost of holding such a massive military exercise was justified at a time when Russia is faced with higher social spending demands, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said such war games were essential.

The countrys ability to defend itself in the current international situation, which is often aggressive and unfriendly towards our country, means [it] is justified, Peskov told reporters on a conference call.

More assertive Russia

When asked if Chinas involvement meant Moscow and Beijing were moving towards an alliance, Peskov said it showed the two were cooperating in all areas. China and Russia have taken part in joint military drills before, but not on such a large scale.

NATO spokesman Dylan White said Russia had briefed the alliance on the planned exercise in May and NATO planned to monitor it.

Russia invited military attaches from NATO countries based in Moscow to observe the war games, an offer he said was under consideration.

All nations have the right to exercise their armed forces, but it is essential that this is done in a transparent and predictable manner, White said.

Vostok demonstrates Russias focus on exercising large-scale conflict. It fits into a pattern we have seen over some time: a more assertive Russia, significantly increasing its defence budget and its military presence.Afghanistan and the US turned down invitations for the meeting but Taliban were willing to attend.

Russia has postponed a multilateral Afghanistan peace conference that was scheduled to take place in Moscow next month.

The meeting was scheduled to take place on September 4. Russia invited 12 countries to the conference. While Kabul and the US turned down the invitation, the Taliban said they were willing to attend.

On Monday, President Ghani spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to iron out the differences and ensure talks with the Taliban happen in presence of the Afghan government, a senior Afghanistan president official told Reuters news agency.

The president of the IRA [Islamic Republic of Afghanistan], supporting in principle the idea of a Moscow meeting, proposed postponing it due to the need to develop Afghanistans consolidated position on this issue, taking into account the ongoing personnel changes in the leadership of the Afghan ruling bloc, Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.





Lavrov assured Ghani that the summit dates will be changed to ensure Afghanistans participation, the official said.

In the official statement from Kabul, President Ghani was said to have hailed Moscow for its efforts for peace in Afghanistan.

In the telephonic conversation, it was decided to postpone the Moscow conference so that the two countries can coordinate on further preparations and effectiveness of the process, the statement from Kabul added.

Earlier this week, Afghanistans ambassador to Russia, Abdul Qayyum Kochai, said Russia wants to use the Taliban against [ISIL], according to comments carried by the Russia-focused Interfax news agency.

Lavrov brushed aside the comments, saying it would be hypocritical for Russia to use the Taliban movement for the fight against [ISIL].

This year, Moscow rejected an accusation by NATOs top commander in Afghanistan that it had been supporting and even supplying weapons to the Taliban.

The group is fighting to remove US and other foreign forces and defeat Afghanistans Western-backed government.Nigerian artists Flavour, Tekno, comedian Gordons, and others skipped death by a hairs breath when their plane developed a fault and nearly crashed.



The Nigerian entertainers were billed to perform in Ghana and on board the plane that nearly crashed were Flavour, Tekno, Godsons, their band boys and other colleagues.



Comedian Gordsons who was elated to survive the plane crash posted a video on his social media page to share his ordeal with his fans.



According to him, 8 minutes after departing from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, there was an announcement that the plane had developed a fault so they had to fly back to Lagos.



He added that he was struck with fear and thought that would have been his last day on earth but God being so good, they landed safely.



So people, please help me praise God and thank Him today. God delivered me, Flavour, Tekno and all their band boys together with other people who flew with us from Lagos to Accra today.G od delivered all of us from air accident.



Watch Comedian Gordon thanking God for saving his life:





Source: Browngh.com









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Featured VideoThe main opposition groups are demanding guarantees over their reservations about the deal.

South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar along with other main opposition groups have refused to sign the latest draft of a peace deal with the government that would end a brutal civil war.

The opposition leader and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir signed a ceasefire and power-sharing agreement last month, one of a series of apparent breakthroughs in recent months.

But Machars refusal to sign the latest draft could be a sign of how difficult it will be to implement a full agreement.

The main South Sudanese opposition groups, including the SPLM-IO (Machar faction), refused to sign the final document demanding that their reservations be guaranteed in it, Sudans Foreign Minister Al-Dierdiry Ahmed told reporters in Khartoum on Tuesday.

Previous peace deals have held for only a matter of months before fighting resumed.

Kiir has blamed the collapse of previous peace agreements on foreign influence.

The warring parties have held weeks of talks in Khartoum in search of a comprehensive peace deal to end the conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.

In June, an initial agreement was signed to end the fighting, but Machar rejected some proposals such as having three different capitals to distribute power.

In 2015, the government changed the number of states from 10 to 32, said Al Jazeeras Hiba Morgan.

Machar has opposed that vehemently and said he didnt want 32 states. He wanted 10 so that he can have more control. This was one of the main sticking points between the two sides.

South Sudans civil war erupted in December 2013, less than two years after the country gained independence from Sudan.

The war has uprooted a quarter of South Sudans population of 12 million, ruined the countrys agriculture sector and battered its economy.

On Saturday, South Sudan resumed drilling for oil in some abandoned oilfields to boost the countrys economy.Washington and Moscow trade chemical attack warnings as Russian naval buildup grows ahead of strike on Syrias Idlib.

Russia has deployed a dozen warships to the Mediterranean Sea in what a Russian newspaper on Tuesday called Moscows largest naval buildup since it entered the Syrian conflict in 2015.

The reinforcement comes as Russias ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is believed to be considering a major assault on the last rebel-held enclave in northern Idlib province.

Russia has accused the United States of building up its own forces in the Middle East in preparation for a possible strike on Syrian government forces.

On Saturday, the Admiral Grigorovich and Admiral Essen frigates sailed through Turkeys Bosphorus towards the Mediterranean, Reuters news agency images showed.

The day before, the Pytlivy frigate and landing ship Nikolai Filchenkov were pictured sailing through the Turkish straits that connect the Black Sea with the Mediterranean. The Vishny Volochek missile corvette passed through earlier this month.

The Izvestia newspaper said Russia had gathered its largest naval presence in the Mediterranean since it intervened in Syria in 2015 and turned the wars tide in Assads favour.





The force included 10 vessels, most of them armed with long-range Kalibr cruise missiles, Izvestia wrote, adding more ships were on the way. Two submarines had also been deployed.

The Syrian government is gearing up for an expected offensive in Idlib province, which is home to nearly three million people and has a large al-Qaeda presence in addition to several Syrian rebel groups.

It borders Turkey, which fears an offensive may trigger a humanitarian and security catastrophe.

Chemical attack?

The US on Tuesday warned the Russian and Syrian governments against chemical weapon use in Syria.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the US will respond to any verified chemical weapons use in Idlib or elsewhere in Syria  in a swift and appropriate manner.

The comments came as Russia again accused Syrian rebels of preparing a chemical attack that Moscow said will be used to justify a Western strike against Syrian troops.

Russias Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Tuesday an al-Qaeda-linked group is preparing the attack in Idlib.

Western countries and independent analysts say Syrian government forces have conducted several chemical weapons attacks over the course of the seven-year civil war. Alleged chemical attacks in 2017 and earlier this year led the US to launch punitive strikes against Syrian forces.

The Syrian government denies ever using chemical weapons.

Damascus has been sending reinforcements towards Idlib for weeks in advance of an expected attack against the last major rebel stronghold in the country.

Russian propaganda





Last week, Russian Major-General Alexei Tsygankov, who heads the centre for reconciliation of warring parties in Syria, claimed British special services were involved in plans for the alleged provocation.

That brought a heated denial from Britains United Nations Ambassador, Karen Pierce, during a Security Council session on the humanitarian situation in Syria held on Tuesday.

Even by the egregious standards of Russian propaganda, this is an extraordinary allegation, she said. It is wholly untrue.

She said the claim was either aimed at increasing the amount of fake news in the system [or] as a smokescreen for a possible impending attack by the Syrian regime, once again against its own people, in Idlib.

Russias UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said: If the defence ministry says something, then it says that based on concrete facts.

The Syrian armed forces do not have chemical weapons and have no plans to use them. There is no military need for that. We have stated that more than once. People in their right minds will not use means that are useless from a military point of view in order to trigger reprisals by three major powers, said Nebenzia.

The UN director of humanitarian operations warned a major offensive in Idlib has the potential to create a humanitarian emergency at a scale not yet seen in the seven-year civil war.

John Ging called on members of the UN Security Council on Tuesday to do all they can to ensure that we avoid this.Thousands of people were left in the dark following the incidents, although it was unclear if they were linked.About the capitalist states, it doesn't depend on you whether or not we exist. If you don't like us, don't accept our invitations, and don't invite us to come to see you. Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you!

Remember when Nikita Khrushchev, general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, said "we will bury you" to the Western ambassadors in Moscow? Me, neither. I was ten at the time. Here is the full quote from La Wik .

Ah, yes: history, God bless it. But I would say a declaration of war like that is not good strategy. I'm sure that the great mavens of strategy, from Sun Tzu to Machiavelli to Bismarck, or even the strategic bureaucrats of the German General Staff, would disapprove.

For the best way to win, if I read the geniuses correctly, is to induce the loser to give up without firing a shot.

So I don't think the Gramsci idea of the march through the institutions, or the Marcuse strategy of repressive tolerance toward right-wing thought, or the SPLC strategy of silencing conservatives on the internet by branding David Horowitz as "hate speech," is really a good idea. Not if you advertise it to all the world.

At some point, we deplorables are going to wake up out of our innocent slumber and realize that the left means to wipe us out: culturally, politically, economically, or maybe even... Well, never mind. We already did.

If you are the mother of a schoolchild, the schools are determined to let boys into the girls' bathroom.

If you are the parent of a college girl, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) isn't too concerned about your daughter being killed by an illegal alien.

If you are an ordinary conservative who reads Dennis Prager or David Horowitz or Salena Zito, you wake up to find social media censoring their anodyne remarks.

At a time when young men are struggling to get through college, you read of lefty academics and administrators determined to cure young men of their toxic masculinity.

If you watch the news, you rage about the proctological justice meted out to associates of Donald Trump as opposed to the "she didn't mean it" excuses awarded to Democrats.

Now, if you read the thumb-suckers at The Atlantic, you read Eliot A. Cohen telling how Trump the dictator will end up, like Mussolini and Macbeth, deserted by his followers.

As usual, our betters have got the wrong end of the stick. It is never the followers who abandon ship; it is the courtiers.

If Trump does go down, it will be because GOP honchos in Congress drive down Pennsylvania Avenue and tell him he's got to go, as Sens. Scott and Goldwater and Rep. Rhodes told Nixon in 1974.

Only this time, they won't, because they know that if they do, the Republican voters will repudiate them before they repudiate President Trump.

This is not that complicated. There is only one practical response to the left's attack on everything we hold dear, and that is to cleave to the politician who promises to protect us, however flawed and corrupt he might be.

There is nothing mysterious about this. The whole purpose of politics, from the local village Big Man to George Washington to Dwight Eisenhower, is to defend "us" against "them."

If there is no existential threat to "us," then there is no need for leadership, no need for defense budgets, no need to rally all good men to fight the foe.

But that is not the case today, thanks to our lefty friends who openly tell us we are racist, sexist, homophobic scum who deserve whatever is coming to us. Thus, there is an existential threat, and we do need a leader to protect us.

Really, we should thank our lefty friends for their strategic innocence, that all along, beginning with Marx, they "openly, in the face of the whole world, publish their views, their aims, their tendencies."

When humans detect a threat to their well-being, then we instinctively look for a leader to protect us. So even if they are making a strategic blunder, we should thank our lefty friends for being so up front with us: they mean to destroy us, and we have to stop them.

So what do we do? The NeverTrump right has said it is not going to fight for us; the Deep State has told us that it is not going to help us; and the left has told us in no uncertain terms, "We will bury you."

In that kind of America, what kind of a fool would give up on Donald Trump?If Donald Trump had run for president and won as the nominee of the Democratic Party, his lack of character and rampant incivility would not be an issue, and in fact, those mannerisms would be praised as revealing a tenacious and determined personality.

With the election of Donald Trump as president, the words "civility" and "character" have become among the most overused terms in current political discourse. According to his adversaries, Trump grotesquely lacks these attributes. However, over the past 30 years, the necessity of possessing and living by these traits has been limited to the Republican Party or conservatives in general. The Democrats and the American left are exempt from this requirement.

How did this absurd double standard evolve? It began in 1988 with the election of George H.W. Bush. He won not on his own merits, but almost solely because he was the beneficiary of being the vice president during the two terms of Ronald Reagan  in many ways the most successful and popular president of the twentieth century.

The Bush family dynasty exemplifies the patrician attitude of holding oneself above the fray after fulfilling one's pre-ordained obligation to society. This may have been fine in the halcyon days of the past, when America's future seemed limitless and those answering to the call of duty and their political adversaries alike were for the most part honorable people.

The 1992 presidential election campaign of George H.W. Bush, in keeping with his penchant for civility, ran a lackluster campaign against Bill Clinton, relying instead on his record and sterling character. Bush and the Republican National Committee, upon his instructions, never went for the jugular with Clinton, who was saddled with innumerable scandals and falsehoods.

Clinton, not shackled by the niceties of civility, aggressively attacked Bush as being a liar, someone in league with the rich and powerful, and an essentially untrustworthy con man who also was up to his eyeballs in the Iran Contra Affair. This charge was seemingly coordinated with Lawrence Walsh, the special prosecutor for the Iran Contra Affair, as a mere two weeks before the election, he indicted Caspar Weinberger, Bush's secretary of defense. Clinton, with a smirk and straight face, implied that Bush, despite his denials and lack of evidence, was complicit in the scandal. Four weeks later, a federal district judge threw out the indictment, but the damage was done, and Bill Clinton was president for the next eight years.

While George H.W. Bush opened the door to civility as applicable to Republicans only, his son George W. Bush, also a decent and honorable person, cemented that premise in the body politic. In his inaugural address in 2000, George W. Bush stated the following as he committed himself to adhering to the ideal of political civility: "Civility is not a tactic or a sentiment. It is the determined choice of trust over cynicism, of community over chaos."

These are fine and noble sentiments if all parties endeavor to follow them. However, during his eight years in office, Bush was incessantly and falsely accused, by the Democrats, their allies in the media, and the left, of being the worst human being on Earth. As he was a genocidal warmonger, one of the most racist presidents in history, and a prevaricator, as well as a misogynist and plutocrat, therefore he was someone who should be assassinated for the benefit of mankind. But in keeping with his dedication to civility and reverence for the office, George W. Bush refused to respond or allow his subordinates to defend him in public against any of these charges, thereby allowing them to be cemented in the public psyche. By the end of his term, his approval rating was the lowest ever recorded, and the Democrats as well as the left were emboldened with a new and highly successful tactic to destroy their opposition.

Not having learned their lesson from the George W. Bush experience  that the Democrats their allies in the media and the left would never campaign on issues, but instead primarily focus on personal destruction and incivility  the Republican Party in 2008 nominated the next man in line, John McCain  another candidate of character and integrity as well as a disciple of the Bush concept of civility and someone it was assumed the media liked. He thus ran his presidential campaign as the model of civility and decorum against the neo-socialist Barack Obama. The opposition, as expected, went scorched earth.

During the campaign, Democrats, using the playbook established to tear down George W. Bush, smeared John McCain, an American military hero, as a warmonger, an unapologetic racist, of having an affair with a lobbyist, of being a phony POW in Vietnam, and too old and scarred by his POW experience to be president. Like Bush, McCain refused to aggressively fight back and take the offensive. Unsurprisingly, he was soundly defeated by Barack Obama, thus opening the door for the extreme left to take over the Democratic Party and many of the levers of power in Washington, D.C.

In 2012, not to be outdone by nominating John McCain in 2008, the Republican Party chose to back another genuine, decent man of character. The decision was made to back someone who was the personification of an Eagle Scout. Surely, Mitt Romney, as he had no skeletons in his closet, could weather and avoid the character assassination tactics of the media and the Democrats while pursuing a civil discourse during the campaign. Romney, being who he is, engaged in the same bland and civil campaign tactics of his predecessors: the two Georges Bush, Bob Dole, and John McCain.

However, it took little time for the left-wing forces arrayed against Romney to fire their volleys. A new accusation was hurled as Romney and the Republicans were publicly compared to the Nazis by the Democrats. Romney was also portrayed as a right-wing extremist, a congenital liar, and a corporate elitist whose only interest is protecting the wealthy. Further, he was a sexist bordering on misogyny. The always reliable charge of racism was naturally leveled at Romney. And he was portrayed as not only a draft-dodger, but a wild-eyed warmonger. By the end of the campaign, Romney, as George W. Bush and John McCain before him, was portrayed as being among the most reprehensible men on Earth.

Yet these gentlemen accepted this caricature with civility and grace while the country inexorably fell into the hands of the neo-socialists and radicals in the Democratic Party.

The Tea Party movement was a direct response to the efforts of Obama and his henchmen culturally and economically transforming America. More importantly, it was a gut reaction to the hierarchy of the Republican Party and its presidential candidates continuously surrendering on the battlefield, all the while waving the flag of civility  particularly as the other side was free to wage a scorched earth campaign without compunction, consequence, or push-back.

Rank-and-file Republicans and conservatives instinctively knew that 2016 was a watershed election. The future of the nation as founded was hanging precariously by a thread. When Donald Trump declared his intention to run for president, he immediately vaulted to the top of the Republican field because he made it clear he would not follow in the footsteps of all the recent nominees. It is significant that the two most iconoclastic candidates in a crowded 14-candidate Republican field, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, garnered 70% of the vote and 81% of the delegates during the primary season.

Now we are being told by the professional conservative class that Donald Trump has destroyed civility, and, as he is lacking in good character, he must, therefore, be cast out of the Oval Office. On the contrary, Donald Trump is in the Oval Office because of the one-sided game of civility that the conservative intellectuals and the Republican Party hierarchy over the years have acquiesced to, because it was to their financial and narcissistic benefit to do so. They are the primary reason Donald Trump is president. The time for civility is over until the opposition either is defeated on the field of ideas and the ballot box or begins to behave as a civilized entity.John McCain and the Church Riots: A Firsthand Account

I met John McCain for the first time in the courtyard of the Hanoi Hilton, 47 years ago. I considered him a friend until his death. We frequently disagreed on political policies and tactics, but I have known few men whom I have respected as much as John McCain. My respect was based on the circumstances under which I met him. In 1970, I was one of 57 American prisoners of war (POWs) held at a camp 25 miles northwest of Hanoi, called Son Tay. For unknown reasons in July we were moved out of that camp to another one nearby. We learned later that the U.S. government was planning a raid on Son Tay. We believed they knew we were no longer there, but the raid would wreak havoc on the morale of the North Vietnamese as well as boost our morale. Both aims were achieved, in spades.

The raid took place on November 21, 1970. It so alarmed the North Vietnamese that on November 24, they took POWs from all outlying camps and took us to the Hanoi Hilton, where their hold on us would be more secure. We were put in a section we had never seen before. Unlike our earlier stay, this time, we were in large cells, and we met POWs we hadn't come across before. We immediately began to organize. We established communication throughout the camp and began holding classes of every kind as well as religious services. On January 1, 1971, our captors announced that we could not continue to hold these services. The rank and file immediately said that under no circumstances would we go along with this. This resulted in growing friction between the camp authorities and the prisoners. Finally, in early March, they took away the four senior men in my cell, Room 6, and the four senior men next door, in Room 7. This was a misjudgment. After taking away the senior four men in that cell, that left Air Force colonel George E. "Bud" Day as the senior man. Bud was the most decorated warrior in American history and no shrinking violet. But even he was not the leading troublemaker in that cell. That was John McCain. We could not make contact with the eight missing men, and this made us angry. Over the course of the month of March, we increasingly showed our anger. Finally, on the evening of March 18, men in my cell, me included, went out with the crew to wash dishes after the evening meal and acted as though we were about to start a riot. This clearly scared the hell out of the North Vietnamese. We knew that the next provocation was likely to initiate serious retaliation. Nevertheless, at 10:00 the next morning, the men in Room 7 sang "Onward Christian Soldiers" at the top of their lungs. This was open defiance of camp regulations. At noon, they sang every verse of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." As written, the song contains these words: "In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, with a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me. As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free..." In more recent times, the words were often changed to "let us live to make men free." The men in Room 7 sang the original words. Hearing that, I knew that the men realized that by their open defiance, they might well be signing their own death warrants. By tapping on the wall, the men next door told us that the singing had been organized not by Bud Day, but by John McCain. To this day I cannot listen to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," or even attempt to sing it, without choking up thinking of Americans volunteering to die for their freedom to practice their religion. That night, March 19, 1971, they took 36 of us out of our cells after dark and seated us in the courtyard. Our arms were tied behind us, our hands were tied in front of us, and we were blindfolded. The man next to me nudged me and said, "Who are you?" "I am Jim Warner. Who are you?" He replied, "I'm John McCain." He went on: "In a communist country, when you defy the authorities and they take you out at night from where you live, tie you up, blindfold you, and surround you with people with guns, what happens next? Well, we know that they f--- up everything they set their hands to, so when they start shooting, it will probably be okay." He also muttered a line from the poem "Horatius at the Bridge" in Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome: "How better for man to die than in facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers and the altars of his gods." The guns did not fire that evening, and John McCain went on to a long and storied political career. On fundamental principles, John McCain was an absolute rock. He did not give an inch. He had two broken arms and a broken leg when he was captured. No one would have faulted him had he accepted early release. He thought it was wrong, and he would not do it. A man who believes that there are fundamental principles so important that he is willing to die for them, and to convince others to risk death to uphold those principles, is a man to be respected. For your final voyage, John Sydney, may God grant you fair winds and following seas. Farewell, my friend. James H. Warner is a retired attorney. He was a Marine officer who flew F-4s in Vietnam. Captured in 1967, he was imprisoned until 1973. He served as a domestic policy adviser to President Ronald Reagan from 1985 until 1989.If Democrats win the House, we can expect Trump's economic plans to be put on hold. Aside from the unlikely prospect of impeachment, Democrats will use every congressional committee under their control to investigate the president and his administration. Endless hearings, subpoenas, and media coverage will have the Trump administration spending every waking hour answering to Congress, leaving little time to make America great again.

Election season is upon us again, two years after one of the wildest roller-coaster political campaigns in recent memory. This time, it's Congress on the ballot, not Donald Trump versus Hillary Clinton. Yet President Trump is still on the ballot  his agenda, his policies, his future.

That's why this election is so important for the left. The FBI and DOJ did their best to interfere with the 2016 election and prevent the inevitable outcome. They then tried  and lied  to drive Trump from office, efforts that continue to this day, through FISA warrants, hiding of documents, and the special counsel investigation. The last hasn't given up on the Russian collusion story, going as far to date as interviewing a Manhattan madam as if she were the key to proving that Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin hacked the election.

The media are carrying the narrative on a daily basis for the left. Endless nonsensical news stories and panel discussions proliferate. Hyper-partisan political hacks like John Brennan, who, despite losing his security clearance, doesn't seem to have had his free speech curtailed as claimed, appear regularly on CNN and MSNBC to spout their Trump-hatred.

Then there are the opinion polls, a staple of any election cycle. Are the polls reflecting public opinion, or are they another tool of the media and their patrons in the Democratic Party to affect the outcome of an election? Are the media projecting, doing exactly what they accused Russia of doing: meddling in an election?

What does President Trump say? In a June 25, 2018 rally in South Carolina, between audience cries of "Lock her up" and "CNN sucks," the president weighed in on the polls.

We've never had a time like we're having. We've never had. We've never had higher polls than we have now. Even Gallup, Gallup, who treats me horribly, polls are fake news also. What they do is called suppression. They put out these horrible polls and then they hope that everyone's going to say, 'Hey, look, I like Trump, but he's got no chance of winning.' Suppression, it should be illegal actually. You want to check these pollsters, where they're coming from, they knew. We had one with ABC, I think it was ABC Washington Post just before the election, like a week before we're down 12. Now, if you're down 12, OK, if you're down 12 it's over if the polls are real. But I said it can't be real, we just went to Michigan, we had 30,000 people, we just went to other places. Excuse me, we went to South Carolina, but I didn't come here that often, you know why? Because we were leading by a lot.

Is this simply Trumpian hyperbole? Or is he spot on with his assessment? Let's go back to 2016, when all but one poll predicted a Hillary Clinton victory. Here is a summary courtesy of Real Clear Politics.

Clearly, the end result was different. After these polling organizations cleaned off the egg on their faces, they followed the rules of Bureaucracy 101 and convened a panel to figure out where they went wrong. The Ad Hoc Committee on 2016 Election Polling noted the obvious: that "polls under-estimated support for Trump." Reasons included "over-representation of college graduates" and that some Trump-voters didn't reveal their preference until after the election.

The first factor is poor sampling. I wrote about this in 2016, describing an ABC News survey proclaiming a 12-point Clinton lead in a survey that oversampled Democrats over Republicans by 12 percentage points, with independents favoring Trump by 2 points, giving him a 2-point edge in the pool, misleading headline aside.

The second factor is poll respondents keeping their preferences quiet. Perhaps they didn't want to voice their support of Trump only to be called a Nazi, get thrown out of a restaurant, or get beaten up.

Were these polls designed to accurately reflect election preferences of the voters, or were they designed to feed the narrative that Madam President was a fait accompli? Proclaiming her a landslide winner was wishful thinking and designed to dispirit Republican voters and suppress turnout. This was not news, but instead propaganda.

Where do things stand currently? Rasmussen, one of the most accurate polls in the 2016 election, has Trump's job approval running in the mid- to high 40s most days in recent months. He hit 50 percent one day earlier this month. That's better than President Obama was doing at the same point in his presidency. Among Trump's total approval numbers, he has 34 percent approval among blacks.

Republicans are also more likely to vote party line than Democrats, according to Rasmussen  another factor boding well for the GOP in the midterm elections.

Polls are interesting, but much can change in the next three months before the midterms. Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen may be problematic for Trump or simply a media distraction. Expect the media to paint Republican midterm prospects as bleak, hoping to depress GOP voters into a "why bother voting?" mood before Election Day.

Remember that "more than 90 percent of D.C. journalists vote Democratic, with an even higher number giving to Democrats or liberal-leaning political action committees." These are the people commissioning the polls and interpreting the results for us. Take it all with a big grain of salt.

Remember too that even though Donald Trump is not on any ballot this coming November, his agenda is  future judicial appointments, trade deals, tax cuts, curbing illegal immigration, and continuing to drain the corrupt Deep State swamp. Your vote could make the difference.

Brian C Joondeph, M.D., MPS is a Denver-based physician and writer. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.If you've spent time on Twitter or watching cable news in the last week, it would be understandable to think President Trump's impeachment is a foregone conclusion. The conviction for Paul Manafort and a plea deal for Michael Cohen certainly were not positive stories for the president, but they weren't nearly as damning as talking heads would like you to think.

In fact, while it initially may seem far-fetched, there is a chance that not only will the Cohen guilty plea not lead to the president's demise, but it will ultimately help him.

The primary implication from Cohen was that then-candidate Trump directed him to make a payment to a woman in exchange for her silence over an alleged affair, and that payment was not properly disclosed as a campaign contribution.

Naturally, the prospect of the president committing an FEC violation was enough to have the left jubilant, calling for impeachment. But, as renowned legal scholar and liberal Hillary Clinton-supporter Alan Dershowitz explained , FEC violations are akin to jaywalking. Every campaign commits FEC violations  that is, assuming that a violation was even committed by Trump in the first place, a proposition that is in and of itself a stretch.

Further, as we saw from James Comey in his investigation into Hillary Clinton's misuse of classified documents, "acting with the necessary criminal intent" is an important factor when determining a crime. It should be difficult for even fringe liberals to attempt to make an argument with a straight face that Donald Trump, new to the political arena, knowingly and intentionally committed an FEC violation.

What the left fails to realize is that ratcheting up the heat on President Trump from will only result in his supporters battening down the hatches. Donald Trump never claimed to be a perfect person, and those imperfections were already accounted for when people went to the polls in November 2016. The developments from the Cohen plea deal are essentially nothing voters hadn't already priced into the decision they made in 2016.

President Trump's supporters see Michael Cohen and his attorney, longtime Clinton ally Lanny Davis, doing and saying whatever it takes to save themselves. They view the situation as yet another attempt to bring down a legitimately elected president on a technicality, with his only real crime being that he won the election.

Former Clinton pollster Mark Penn noted the contrast between what President Trump is being accused of by Cohen versus what Hillary Clinton actually did and the treatment she has received. Neither Christopher Steele nor Fusion GPS was listed on campaign finance forms, despite the fact that payment to them was a clear campaign expenditure and despite unambiguous campaign finance laws requiring their disclosure.

For Republicans who already view the justice system having different standards for Republicans and Democrats, the recent attacks against President Trump are just the latest iteration. The situation just further cements their belief that the investigations into President Trump are a witch hunt.

As the left's assaults on the president move increasingly away from Russian collusion, the rhetoric is going to backfire. Similar to Bill Clinton's increased approval rating during his impeachment, President Trump is in a position to experience a bump in, or at least maintain, his support. The more the public views attacks from the left as unwarranted, overblown, and hypocritical, the more likely they are to rally in support of the president.

President Trump already established a unique level of loyalty among Republicans. Outside post-9-11 George W. Bush, Trump has regularly polled the highest support among presidents in recent memory. Further, the most recent polling suggests that the news of last week with Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort has not caused President Trump to suffer any damage in approval rating. According to a NBC News-WSJ poll taken between August 22 and 25, his approval rating was "virtually unchanged."

What we may see going forward is that as the volume and intensity of the attacks on President Trump grow, which they will, his supporters will circle the wagons. Not only will his support remain "unchanged," but it will grow if he begins to look like the victim of unfair attacks. Those same attacks are what will drive Republicans support at the polls in November, leaving Democrats again wondering what happened.

Evan Berryhill is a former communications staffer for Rep. David B. McKinley. Currently, Evan is a second-year law student at West Virginia University. He has written for American Thinker, The Federalist, The Daily Caller, The Hill, the Washington Examiner, the Charleston Gazette, and W.V. State Journal. You can follow Evan on Twitter at @EvBerryhill.After a very bad indictment, loss of his committee assignments, and a likely coming fall, U.S. rep. Duncan Hunter, Jr., a Republican representing Alpine, Calif., is... eight points ahead of his opponent in the polls.

Facing a federal indictment for misuse of campaign funds, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) is still the frontrunner in the race for the 50th Congressional District  although with a shrinking advantage over Democratic challenger Ammar Campa-Najjar. According to a Survey USA poll released Monday, Hunter now has an eight-point lead over his opponent, 47 percent to 39 percent, with 13 percent undecided. The margin of error is plus or minus 5.5 percent.

So much for a blue wave, at least in the California badlands, that rocky, bone-dry, chaparral-filled, rattlesnake-laced, mountainous, rodeo-and-country music area that is the 50th Congressional District.

That's where Hunter comes from, and so did his congressman father, the well regarded Duncan Hunter, Sr.

In David Beer's excellent 1997 chronicle of California demography, Blue Sky Dream, he notes that the Republicans of California tend to start two miles in from the coast, and the bluing of San Diego (including my own district) has since extended that to about four miles.

Since I live in these parts and am a San Diego native, I will give a sense of what I think is going on.

Hunter represents this ranchy inland semi-rural part of San Diego County, which is a pretty big area, according to this chart, and like most inland areas, it swings red in opposition to the creeping blue of its arrogant coastal elites. Beer noted that the right-wingers start right at the two-mile point. That has likely extended since he wrote the book in 1997, with real estate values going sky-high in the blue areas, chi chi areas popping up, environmentalists getting the hooks in, and casual prosperity making people take prosperity for granted, no matter the taxes or government spending.

You don't have that mentality out in a place like Alpine, a pleasant little town with a Wild West flavor and horses in swimming pools, which is a place many San Diegans stop in on on the way to up-mountain Julian, the town where San Diegans go to see what snow looks like and the home of our former beloved surfing mayor, Republican Roger Hedgecock, who was taken away from us by leftist gutter politics.

In short, the place goes red as soon as it goes rural.

Not surprisingly, it's been Trumpy from the beginning. Alpine is a place where people who can't afford to plunk down $700,000 for a tiny home in regular San Diego go. It's the place that needs guns to fight off bears and mountain lions because the sheriff is miles away. Bad guys are human-smugglers trekking through those parts on the way to all the goodies of Los Angeles. Naturally, the Alpine people are pro-military, and they don't like free trade, and that has been the story since NAFTA was enacted in 1994. About 15 years ago, I remember asking Hunter Sr. how he could be so against free trade when everything else he said was on target, and hating free trade was a left-wing thing. I recall he stuck by his guns.

It is not surprising that Hunter was an early Trump-supporter, because he was right on the same page as Trump from the beginning, and so was his district.

Now he gets busted, just shortly before an election, and that raises red flags among the electorate, whose first instinct is to batten down the hatches.

As I mentioned earlier, one thing that drives Republican resentment in those parts is the fact that as soon as we get someone we want elected, the left finds a way to take him away. Never mind the left's own sins; leftists come at ours like a juggernaut. They took away our Nixon, and to old-timers, that still stings. Then they took away our Hedgecock, and that memory is even fresher. You can see they are trying to take away our Trump. And then there is Duncan Hunter himself, another case of them trying to take him away with what they see as a conveniently hatched prosecution, coming right at election time.

Understand why voters are sticking by Hunter? Trump initiated a new era of fighting back, and that's why so many are standing by Hunter despite his transgressions. Repeatedly, they tell the press they think the whole thing is politicized justice, not real justice, which fires them up all the more.

On the right, there is a persistent sense that if you abdicate your vote, stay away from the polls, or vote for the other guy, the bottom line is, you'll get the left, no matter how nice the replacement may be, and Hunter's Democratic opponent, Ammar Campa-Najjar, grandson of a major Palestinian terrorist (the mastermind of the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre), does come off as a nice guy (who renounces the deeds of his gramps) in press interviews. The voters know that if the worst comes to Hunter, all that will happen is that another Republican will be appointed in his place  surely a better result than getting a lockstep leftist instead, doing whatever Nancy Pelosi tells him.

What's probably just as significant as the fact that Hunter is holding onto his lead by a still comfortable margin is that the Democrats have yet to pour additional resources into Campa-Najjar's race, and he's complained about that. Obviously, they know the territory, too, and suspect that Hunter will hold on to his seat.

A vote for Hunter may not mean he lasts in office, but it will mean the voters are sending a message of sorts: the unequal justice thing put on by the left isn't working anymore. The Trump revolution has changed everything. They'll elect Hunter just to spite the Deep State and its leftist allies.Over the past week, the worlds media have been proclaiming the successful completion of the Greek financial rescue programme mounted in 2010 by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. Headlines celebrated the end of Greeces bailout, even the termination of austerity.



Buoyant reports from ground zero of the eurozone crisis portrayed Europes eight-year long Greek intervention as a paradigm of judicious European solidarity with its black sheep; a case of tough love that, reportedly, worked.



A more careful reading of the facts points to a different reality. In the very week that a devastated Greece entered another 42 years of harsh austerity and deeper debt bondage (2018-2060), how can the end of austerity and Greeces regained financial independence be presented as fact? Instead, last week should be cited in our universities media schools and economics departments as an example of how consent can be built internationally around a preposterous lie .



But lets begin by defining our terms. What is a bailout and why is Greeces version exceptional and never-ending? Following the banking debacle in 2008, almost every government bailed out the banks . In the UK and US, governments famously gave the green light to, respectively, the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve to print mountains of public money to refloat the banks. Additionally, the UK and US governments borrowed large sums to further aid the failing banks while their central banks financed much of those debts.



On the European continent, a far worse drama was unfolding due to the EUs odd decision, back in 1998, to create monetary union featuring a European Central Bank without a state to support it politically and 19 governments responsible for salvaging their banks in times of financial tumult, but without a central bank to aid them. Why this anomalous arrangement? Because the German condition for swapping the deutschmark for the euro was a total ban on any central bank financing of banks or governments  Italian or Greek, say .



So, when in 2009 the French and German banks proved even more insolvent than those of Wall Street or the City, there was no central bank with the legal authority, or backed by the political will, to save them. Thus, in 2009, even Germanys Chancellor Merkel panicked when told that her government had to inject, overnight, 406bn of taxpayers money into the German banks.



Alas, it was not enough. A few months later, Mrs Merkels aides informed her that, just like the German banks, the over-indebted Greek state was finding it impossible to roll over its debt. Had it declared its bankruptcy, Italy, Ireland, Spain and Portugal would follow suit, with the result that Berlin and Paris would have faced a fresh bailout of their banks greater than 1tn. At that point, it was decided that the Greek government could not be allowed to tell the truth, that is, confess to its bankruptcy .



To maintain the lie, insolvent Athens was given, under the smokescreen of solidarity with the Greeks, the largest loan in human history, to be passed on immediately to the German and French banks. To pacify angry German parliamentarians, that gargantuan loan was given on condition of brutal austerity for the Greek people, placing them in a permanent great depression .



To get a feel for the devastation that ensued, imagine what would have happened in the UK if RBS, Lloyds and the other City banks had been rescued without the help of the Bank of England and solely via foreign loans to the exchequer. All granted on the condition that UK wages would be reduced by 40%, pensions by 45%, the minimum wage by 30%, NHS spending by 32%. The UK would now be the wasteland of Europe, just as Greece is today.



But did this nightmare not end last week? Not in the slightest. Technically speaking, the Greek bailouts had two components. The first entailed the EU and the IMF granting the Greek government some financial facility by which to pretend to be repaying its debts. Then there was the harsh austerity taking the form of ridiculously high tax rates and savage cuts in pensions, wages, public health and education .



Last week, the third bailout package did end, just as the second had ended in 2015 and the first in 2012. We now have a fourth such package that differs from the past three in two unimportant ways. Instead of new loans, payments of 96.6bn that were due to begin in 2023 will be deferred until after 2032, when the monies must be repaid with interest on top of other large repayments previously scheduled. And, second, instead of calling it a fourth bailout, the EU has named it, triumphantly, the end of the bailout.



Ridiculously high VAT and small business tax rates will, of course, continue, as will fresh pension cuts and new punitive income tax rates for the poorest that have been scheduled for 2019. The Greek government has also committed to maintaining a long-term budget surplus target, not counting debt repayments (3.5% of national income until 2021, and 2.2% during 2022-2060) that demands permanent austerity, a target that the IMF itself gives less than 6% probability of ever being attained by any eurozone country .



In summary, after having bailed out French and German banks at the expense of Europes poorest citizens, and after having turned Greece into a debtors prison, last week Greeces creditors decided to declare victory. Having put Greece into a coma, they made it permanent and declared it stability: they pushed our people off a cliff and celebrated their bounce off the hard rock of a great depression as proof of recovery. To quote Tacitus, they made a desert and called it peace .

he's a master of half-truths

has increased the size of the public sector

kill that profligate public sector beast once and for all

primacy of the private sector

Greece has exited bailout territory and the European Union is making a strong case of the success of the program.



While Greece has obviously ended its bailout process, the real issues of the Greek economy remain largely intact .



The real drama is that none of the measures implemented have solved Greeces real problems. No, its not the euro or the austerity plans. Its not the cost or maturity of its debt. Greece pays less than 2.3% of GDP in interest expenses and has 16.5 years of average maturity in its bonds. In fact, Greece already enjoys much better debt terms than any sovereign re-structuring seen in recent history .



Greeces problem is not one of solidarity either. Greece has received the equivalent of 214% of its GDP in aid from the Eurozone, ten times more, relative to the gross domestic product, than Germany after the Second World War.



Greeces challenge is and has always been one of competitiveness and bureaucratic impediments to creating businesses and jobs .



Greece ranks number 81 in the Global Competitiveness Index, compared to Spain (35), Portugal (36) or Italy (49) . In fact, it has the levels of competitiveness of Algeria or Iran, not of an OECD country. On top of that, Greece has one of the worst fiscal systems, with a very high tax wedge that limits job creation with a combination of aggressive taxation on SMEs and high bureaucracy. Greece ranks among the worst countries of the OECD in ease of doing business (Doing Business, World Bank) at number 61, well below Spain, Italy or Portugal.



No, its not the euro. Greeces average annual deficit in the decade before it entered the euro was already 6%, and in the period it still grew significantly below the average of the EU countries and peripheral Europe.



Between 1976 and 2012 the number of civil servants multiplied by three while the private sector workforce grew just 25%. This, added to more than 70 loss-making public companies and a government spend to GDP figure that stands at 48%, and has averaged 49% since 2004, is the real Greek drama, and one that will not be solved easily .



One thing is sure, the Greek crisis will not finish by raising taxes to businesses, nor making small adjustments to a pension system that remains outdated and miles away from those of other European countries.



The inefficacy of subsequent Greek governments and Troika proposals is that they never tackle competitiveness and help job creation, they simply dig the hole deeper raising taxes and allowing wasteful spend to go on.



From a market perspective, the risk is undeniably contained, but not inexistent. Less than 21% of Greek debt is in the hands of private investors. Most of the countrys debt is in the IMF, ECB and EU countries hands.



The main risk for the Eurozone, which is already showing signals of slowdown, comes from a prolonged period of no solutions .



Greece still shows the highest non-performing loan figure relative to total loans of the eurozone.





While deficits have been contained-mostly by raising taxes-, public debt has not fallen.





The tax wedge is one of the highest in the eurozone and the OECD, making Greece and uncompetitive country in terms of job creation and attraction of capital.





While unemployment has fallen, it is still the highest in the eurozone, and unlikely to be solved with such high tax wedge.





Greeces problem is not the euro or austerity. It is a problem of a system that penalizes job creation and private enterprise to subsidize a monstrous bureaucracy and political spending .

"Ray, go visit Greece, enjoy some ouzo and grilled octopus, talk to the locals, youll learn all about the big debt crisis. September is actually the best time to visit, the weather is perfect, the mad herd clamoring to visit Santorini and Mykonos is gone. Go visit my ancestral home, Crete, then visit less well-known islands like Milos, Kefalonia and Antiparos where Tom Hanks has a summer home. Enjoy! "

Yanis Varoufakis, co-founder of DiEM25 and the former finance minister of Greece, wrote an op-ed for the Guardian, Greece was never bailed out  it remains locked in an EU debtor's prison Varoufakis writes well and even though he's right that the bailout was a sham to save German, French and Greek banks, he also embellishes and worse,You see, while Varoufakis calls out Trump for being a right-wing egomaniac, he's a left-wing egomaniac who loves to listen to himself speak as if he's a great Greek oracle enlightening us about the Greek economy and its debt situation.I happen to think Yannis Stournaras, the current Governor of the Bank of Greece , is a lot smarter and a much better economist than Varoufakis, but he's not an international "rock star" sounding off in the media to advance his personal agenda.Where do I disagree with Varoufakis? First, go visit Greece today, it's hardly in a "coma" or a "permanent great depression". Sure, the country is a lot poorer and there are serious problems (youth unemployment being the biggest) but Greeks are enjoying their lives and have come to accept that they need to live with lower wages and pensions.More importantly, Varoufakis rails against "ridiculously high VAT and small business tax rates" but fails to state that SYRIZA led by Greek Prime Minister Alexis TsiprasThe austerity Varoufakis talks about has been disproportionately borne by the Greek private sector. Taking his cues from Andreas Papandreou, his mentor, Tsipras wasted no time in significantly expanding the public sector at a time when the country is still heavily indebted. That's why he's taxing the hell out of small businesses.Being a left-wing charlatan, Varoufakis decided to ignore this truth and belabor the fact that poor Greeks are suffering under the never-ending wrath of austerity (they're not).It's sickening, truly sickening, and Greeks deserve what's coming to them because they will never learn until theyThe problem is no Greek politician dares to talk about major cutbacks in the public sector because it will mean a sure loss. I happen to think New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis is exactly what the country needs right now but I'm afraid he will be fighting constant battles with public sector unions who yield tremendous power.It's pretty much the same situation everywhere in Europe but Greeks have taken it to another level. I'm neither right-wing nor left-wing in my ideology but I believe in the. Unless you have a thriving private sector, you cannot have a growing public sector that keeps growing and threatening the economy in the long run.That's not just a Greek problem, this is increasingly a problem everywhere, just look at what happened to Ontario over the last eight years.More importantly, and mark my words on this, the Greek debt boomerang will come back to haunt us over the next three years. And I'm being generous here, some think it will be sooner.Daniel Lacalle wrote an interesting blog comment recently stating Greece's problems are far from over Lacalle is absolutely right, the main problem in Greece over the last 40 years has been the disproportionate growth of the public sector relative to the private sector as each successive government promised "goodies" to public sector unions and effectively bought votes by increasing the size of the public sector.SYRIZA is doing what every other Greek government has done in the past, namely, increase the public sector every chance they get to buy votes.Sound familiar? This is going on everywhere which is why we are in for a prolonged period of low growth and low rates as there's simply too much debt out there, fiscal austerity will come no matter who's in power.Those of us who know and love Greece know exactly what the country needs , major reforms to increase competitiveness and attract foreign investors but don't hold your breath, in a country like Greece, pettiness rules the day and everyone has their hand in the cookie jar, fighting for crumbs.And while I'm critical of Greeks who keep voting in clowns to govern them, I'm also critical of Germans who are playing stupid while they suck the rest of Europe dry, benefitting the most from the Eurozone without doing anything to ensure its long-term survival.Europe is a disaster waiting to happen, and when the music stops, the dominos will fall and the repercussions will be felt across the globe.So, I wouldn't say it's the end of Greece's bailout, just a reprieve, the Greek debt boomerang will come back to haunt us sooner than we think.Lastly, Bridgewater's Ray Dalio was on LinkedIn peddling his new book, A Big Debt Crisis , which comes out on September 10th:Ray will be giving it away free in a PDF file and make it available as an eBook or hard copy via Amazon. If you want to get a copy you can click the link here I couldn't resist my tongue-in-cheek reply on LinkedIn:Below, former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said the euro system is "absolutely not" sustainable as he condemned the eurozone for putting economic burdens on "the weakest of shoulders" across the European Union.Varoufakis recently sat down with STV's Political Editor Bernard Ponsonby to talk socialism, populism and Scottish independence Interesting discussion but I can only take Varoufakis in small doses, he's still the same pompous jerk he was back at the height of the crisis and his approval ratings in Greece have plumetted as many blame him for making a bad situation far worse (indeed, Greeks call him Varoufianos, something not to be translated in polite company).The General Assembly expressly directed the legislators and consultant responsible for drawing the 2016 Plan to rely on 'political data'  that is, past election results specifying whether, and to what extent, particular voting precincts had favored Republican or Democratic candidates, and therefore were likely to do so in the future  to draw a districting plan that would ensure Republican candidates would prevail in the vast majority of the State's congressional districts, and would continue to do so in future elections.

A three-judge panel in the U.S. District Court in the Middle District of North Carolina has issued a decision declaring that the congressional district boundaries drawn by the state are unconstitutional.

The current map of congressional districts does show one peculiarly shaped district, obviously the product of gerrymandering: the 12th:



Derived from Wikipedia.

But the 12th is one of two N.C. districts gerrymandered by law to elect black members of Congress, the so-called "minority-majority districts."

This decision could force redrawing of the congressional districts before the November midterms, which our political director Richard Baehr estimates could cost the GOP three or four seats in the House. The decision will be appealed, but in a similar case in Pennsylvania earlier this year, the Supreme Court declined to take up the appeal.

The Pennsylvania redistricting could cost the GOP five or six seats in the estimate of our political director.

With a 4-4 court until Kavanaugh is confirmed, it is unlikely that the Court would act against the lower court decision anyway.

Ten seats may swing to the Democrats thanks to our black-robed masters.Gettysburg in November

Students who attended high school and college before the liberal establishment enslaved and destroyed the country's education system will remember that the engine that ran the South's economy before the Civil War was slavery. The simplified version of the Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865 and cost over six hundred thousand American lives, is that it was started by Southern Democrats to protect and sustain their economic way of life and that although other factors caused friction between the North and the South, it was the Democrats' need to continue slavery that ultimately was the deciding factor in the South's decision to attack Fort Sumter in 1861. Well, history is repeating itself right before our eyes. Today's divide is no longer between the North and the South, but between those who want to continue to live free and peaceful lives under the current constitutional republic system of government and those who want to live in a socialist utopian society. Realizing that America is too interwoven to divide or section off the land, as was attempted in the Civil War, today's socialist Democrat aims to secede from the Union not by leaving the Union, but by dismantling it. Democrats of today are desperate to hold on to power, so increasing their voting ranks is of paramount importance.

Although Republicans in the North fought and died to abolish slavery successfully, there are many ways Democrats have subversively enslaved a group of people and today's Democrats have merely replaced chains with entitlements and promises of citizenship to those who enter the country illegally. The ironic historical twist is that after the Civil War ended, the Democratic Party wanted to keep blacks as slaves by not allowing them the right to vote, while today's Democrats want to keep blacks in slave-like conditions by encouraging them to vote Democrat. During the time of the Civil War, Democrats harbored deep hatred and resentment for President Lincoln and his Emancipation Proclamation in the same way they despise Trump's promised reconstruction of the southern wall with Mexico. And much like the propaganda-filled newspapers of the past that ripped into Lincoln at every opportunity, today's mainstream propaganda media create and spread fake news against Trump, all to stop Trump's "America First" agenda and end any further talk about building a border wall with Mexico The old guard within the established Democratic Party may still talk a good game about unity and finding common ground, but today just as it was during the Civil War, their definition of a compromise is when the opposition gives in. The growing ranks of leftist rebels inside the Democratic Party do not pretend to seek an agreement, but openly admit that their goal is to end Trump's presidency and take down the constitutional republic with him. The midterm elections this November are the modern-day political equivalent of the results of the epic three-day Battle of Gettysburg, which was fought in July of the hot summer of 1863. The election results will allow the country to view Trump's 2016 victory in one of two ways. If Republicans can hold on to the House, the midterm elections will be seen as the left's high water mark against the Republic, which was historically made at Cemetery Ridge on July 3 at Gettysburg. The South would never go farther north, and leftists will never have the same amount of influence to threaten the Republic. Also, Trump's 2016 victory will be seen by historians as a time conservative America fought back to regain her roots. If Democrats win the House, the midterms can be viewed as if the Confederacy had used Gettysburg as a stepping stone to advance on Washington. Trump's victory will be seen as a bump in the road toward socialism. A Republican defeat will signify a long backward march to the days of a depressed economy with higher unemployment, higher taxes, and lower growth rates. Iran will be back on track to have a nuclear weapon; China will be back on track to manipulate its currency and keep U.S. exporters out of its markets. Most importantly, millions upon millions of low-skilled illegal aliens from around the world will obliterate the economic future of lower-income American citizens as well as exponentially increase the nation's chances for another 9-11. Just as Gettysburg signified a turning point in the Civil War, the November midterm elections will act as a launching pad to either a prosperous, free capitalist society or a steady decline toward the historically failed programs of socialism.He's come a long way from his nutty-uncle gaffe-a-thon persona, and with a slew of medals and honors from President Obama, he presents the very picture of the respectable modern statesman. He showed up at a lot of foreign funerals for heads of state. He milked the sympathy factor over his son's death from cancer. He wore a suit. He projected gravitas. Yet he also manages to have a hard-hat appeal and a mainstream-Democratic-ideological image, which seems to be the right formula for Democrats winning in most of their races these days.

No surprise, he's the Democratic frontrunner in polls among Democrats with a seven-point lead, campaigning even now with fire to burn, because he's convinced he made a mistake in not running back in 2016.

Except there's some dirty laundry now that's getting some airing.

Biden, it turns out, is loaded with dirty deals spread out the "legal" way, among his family members, which has made his tribe immensely rich. What's more, he's doing it the swamp way, which keeps the long arm of the law out of the picture, based on deftly navigating the political loopholes, and a sharkily deft capacity to use advantages. According to the indefatigable investigative reporter Peter Schweizer, who's written a book about this:

"One of the best ways to make friends in Washington is to do deals with family members," he continued. "Joe Biden every year as vice president, he has to disclose his income, assuming those disclosures are honest. He can't have a big, fat check from the Chinese government in that disclosure form, but his adult son, Hunter Biden, he doesn't have to disclose anything."

Schweizer reported a lot of this stuff back in March when his book about swamp corruption came out. He has since unearthed ugly new self-dealing from the Democratic frontrunner. According to PJ Media, quoting from Schweizer, who told Fox News:

A bank account that Hunter Biden drew a lot of money from and that a lot of foreign entities put a lot of money into," the author noted. "Just to give you an idea, over a 14-month period, from 2014 through early 2016, while Joe Biden is vice president of the United States, a Ukrainian company called Burisma  it's controlled by a very corrupt oligarch  sends three million dollars into this account. A Chinese government entity called Bohai Harvest  which is run by the Bank of China  sends $650,000 into this account," Schweizer added. "There's $1.2 million that comes from an LLC with a small boutique Swiss bank. We don't know who's behind the LLC. The bank itself has been charged in six countries for money laundering, so that makes it kind of sketchy.

This all stands out, and it shows how dirty and underhanded the Biden-led swamp's power games are. Not only is the swamp-left determined to unseat President Trump, but it seems to be obsessed with self-dealing, and in ways that are unavailable to ordinary Americans. Joe Biden can keep going as he presents himself as the candidate of the little guy, but these billion-dollar political-connection deals tell a different story.

It's unknown how well the Trump campaign can fight back against them, given that the left has flung similar charges of self-dealing. But if Joe means to run as the anti-Trump, the exposure of his financial dealings is not going to help him. And without a Mister Clean image, what does he have? Higher taxes? Economic stagnation? His platform is a failure in comparison to Trump's.

Spread the news of this swampy self-dealing far and wide, because Biden's laundry is stinky, indeed.

Image credit: Doug Jones for Senate Committee via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.Then, when people die, such as Reagan or McCain, they act as though they had always loved them.

The playbook is always the same. The Democrats, in collusion with the media, target Republicans, no matter who they are. They trashed Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Donald Trump.

Here is the New York Times on McCain in 2008:

As tough as the times are, the selection of a new president is easy. After nearly two years of a grueling and ugly campaign, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois has proved that he is the right choice to be the 44th president of the United States. ... In the same time, Senator John McCain of Arizona has retreated farther and farther to the fringe of American politics, running a campaign on partisan division, class warfare and even hints of racism. His policies and worldview are mired in the past. His choice of a running mate so evidently unfit for the office was a final act of opportunism and bad judgment that eclipsed the accomplishments of 26 years in Congress.

Here is the Washington Post on McCain in 2008:

The choice is made easy in part by Mr. McCain's disappointing campaign, above all his irresponsible selection of a running mate who is not ready to be president. It is made easy in larger part, though, because of our admiration for Mr. Obama and the impressive qualities he has shown during this long race. Yes, we have reservations and concerns, almost inevitably, given Mr. Obama's relatively brief experience in national politics. But we also have enormous hopes.

Here is Joe Biden on McCain in 2008:

The campaign a person runs says everything about the way they'll [sic] govern. The McCain-Palin campaign decided to bet the house  decided to bet the house  on the politics perfected by Karl Rove. Those tactics may be good at squeaking by in an election, but they are bad if you want to lead one nation, indivisible.

Here is John Lewis on McCain in 2008:

Civil rights icon and Georgia congressman John Lewis is accusing John McCain and Sarah Palin of stoking hate, likening the atmosphere at Republican campaign events to those featuring George Wallace, the segregationist former governor of Alabama and presidential candidate. McCain's campaign has responded with a statement in the candidate's name, urging Barack Obama to repudiate Lewis's comments. "What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history," Lewis said in a statement issued today for Politico's Arena forum. "Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse."

Rick Davis is being widely quoted this week in his praise of John McCain. Davis was McCain's campaign manager in 2000 and 2008. I wonder why the media doesn't point out the connections between Davis and Paul Manafort.

I wonder why there is no mention of the Davis connection to Russia and to McCain.

A top political adviser in Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign helped arrange an introduction in 2006 between McCain and a Russian billionaire whose suspected links to anti-democratic and organized-crime figures are so controversial that the U.S. government revoked his visa.

The only time the media liked McCain is when he was trashing Republicans. They liked him before 2008, when he wasn't challenging Obama. Then they ripped him in 2008. They loved him again when he went after the Russian dossier and trashed Trump.

Where is the maverick on the left who ripped Obama's disastrous policies? He would have been given no coverage in the papers or on the networks.

Objective reporting has mostly disappeared over decades.

Image credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.The key to benefit both sides is that China is the big loser. With the deal tightening local (U.S. and Mexico) content requirements to 75%, up from 62.5%, and imposing a requirement that workers be paid at least $16 an hour on 40 to 45% of the content, Chinese auto parts and other supplies will be squeezed out. The exports China gives up will be replaced by content produced by Mexican and U.S. workers.

President Trump is following through on his promise to restructure the framework of U.S. foreign trade, and his strategy looks brilliant. The deal he just negotiated with Mexico, leaving Canada on the sidelines, is described as a win-win pact, benefiting both countries.

It is becoming clear to me that President Trump is mobilizing the principal trade partners of the U.S. to unite to pressure China. That nation's gigantic ongoing theft of intellectual property, its currency manipulation, and its trade restrictions have led to chronic huge trade surpluses with the United States most notably, but every manufacturing country on Earth has felt the impact of Chinese manufacturing exports powered by those unfair practices. So, by using bilateral deals rather than the multilateral approach favored for the last three decades or so, President Trump is putting together a global alliance that will stand up to China and force it to stop its takeover of the world's manufacturing sector and compete like a normal country.

Yesterday, U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer was interviewed by Bret Baier on Special Report and gave a good explanation of how this bilateral approach works to the U.S.'s advantage and how both Mexico and the United States are making gains with this pact.

By accomplishing this agreement with Mexico, and publicizing it with the televised telephone conversation with outgoing president Pena Nieto, Trump also makes his critics who predicted a disaster in U.S.-Mexico relations (because he's such a raaaaacist) look like fools.



Televised phone call with Mexico's president (Fox News screen grab).

Speaking of fools, Justin Trudeau has put Canada in a very bad position if it does not come to an agreement with the U.S. on several contentious issues. Trump was characteristically blunt in threatening the auto export jugular:

"I think with Canada, frankly, the easiest we can do is to tariff their cars coming in. It's a tremendous amount of money and it's a very simple negotiation. It could end in one day and we take in a lot of money the following day," Trump said.

That's the bad cop speaking. But of course, there's a good cop ready to help "Justin from Canada."

"There are still issues with Canada but I think they could be resolved very quickly," a senior trade official told Reuters in an interview.

Lem's Levity points out:

Trudeau painted his country into a lose-lose corner. In order for Canada to join the U.S./Mexico deal they must: 1) eliminate soft-wood subsidies in the lumber sector

2) eliminate protectionist tariffs in AG, specifically dairy

3) accept the 75% rules of origin that eliminates the NAFTA loophole.

4) agree to enforcement mechanisms

5) open their financial sector by allowing U.S. banks to operate in Canada



... These five issues are locked into the agreement between U.S. and Mexico. They are not negotiable. Given the politicization of all this Trudeau cannot agree to these terms and keep his fragmented political support intact. So the blame for failure then goes to voters of Canada who prefer their government protections more than they prefer free trade with the U.S., they're saying through their voting patterns they require imbalanced trade, or no trade. Free trade is too scary. Too competitive. Too insecure. They'd rather have less through imbalance tariff-ridden protectionist trade, and higher prices for key commodities from milk to lumber and automobiles and financial services. They're saying they need government protection from big scary U.S. It's a very narrow and fearful approach and it won't be shaken until their voters shake off the political entities interfering with their freedom and limiting their ability to thrive.

The deal is not yet set in stone. The agreement in principle goes to Congress, as Ambassador Lighthizer explains in the video above.

The New York Times points out

One contentious issue that remains unresolved is whether the administration will exempt Mexico from its steel and aluminum tariffs. Mr. Trump hit Mexico, along with Canada, the European Union and other nations, with 25 percent tariffs on steel and 10 percent tariffs on aluminum, in part to force concessions on other trade issues. Mexican officials said they expected the tariffs to be addressed down the road. "I don't think it was necessary to address them now," Mr. Videgaray [Mexico's foreign minister Luis Videgaray Caso] said. "We'd like those to be addressed alongside Canada. It would be great if we could have a trilateral agreement on lifting those and our retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods." It is unclear how eager Canada will be to sign on to the revised deal. Relations between the United States and Canada have been strained for months and Mr. Trump has personally berated Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada as "very dishonest and weak" and accused him of "false statements" after a tense meeting of global leaders in June.

I have little doubt that Trudeau will meet a satisfactory portion of the U.S. demands. The level of Canada's dependence on trade with the United States demands that. Using his good cop-bad cop approach, President Trump will ease Trudeau through the process, at China's expense to the degree possible. Then it will be on to our other principal trade partners, all of whom suffer from China's predation but none of whom have had the guts to stand up to its bullying.

This is what leading from in front looks like.There is an intrinsic problem with secular humanism, a clever euphemism for materialism and atheism, that submits that there is no transcendent deity responsible for the creation of the universe, humanity, and morality. It is the philosophy that posits that man is the measure of all things and that morality is magically derived from one's self-constructed conscience. But there is a massive gaping hole in this worldview. If man is the measure of all things and therefore each individual's morals are equal to those of each and every other individual, then you have to automatically put an immoral person on the same level as yourself. It is baked right into the premise of the nonbelieving secular humanist.

Although the vast majority of Americans believe in God, religion has been marginalized by the overwhelming hegemony of secular humanism and has become just another lifestyle choice in a smorgasbord of options that society has come to offer. With each option being equally valid, moral relativism has destroyed the possibility of a uniform and transcendent moral order. Instead, each individual has become a god unto himself, and chaos and discord are the only possible outcomes. With millions of equally valid personal agendas competing with each other based on nothing but materialistic hyper-individualism, truth and moral consensus tragically become collateral damage.

What is missing from every one of the secular humanists in their widely published and endorsed documents isn't the affirmation that humanity has objective value and purpose. Rather, it is the affirmation's justification that is lacking. In other words, it is not the what that is missing, it is the why[.] ... Both atheistic secular humanists and Christians can agree that ugly prejudices are wrong and must be stopped because they do violence to human value, dignity and purpose. But we cannot agree about why they are wrong, because we do not agree about the source of human dignity[.]

If I am the measure of all things, I have no right to claim another as immoral or acting immorally because I have conceded that that person is also the measure of all things and has an equally valid claim as to what is right and wrong. This is essentially the definition of moral relativism, which began with the Reformation that splintered the Christian world; then the Enlightenment that stripped God out of the uniform Christian moral worldview entirely; then the political, social, and cultural progressives of the 20th century, who were the progeny of secular humanist philosophy spawned by the Enlightenment that gave us the fractured and fragmented world we have today.

The same problem that confronts secular humanists when it comes to intrinsic value and objective purpose persists in the struggle to ground objective morality without God. Theists have long argued that atheists lack any grounding on which to base the existence of objective moral values and duties. Now theists do not argue that atheists cannot act morally or recognize right and wrong, they only argue that atheists have no rational basis to affirm that right and wrong exist.

There is an intrinsic problem with secular humanism, a clever euphemism for materialism and atheism, that submits that there is no transcendent deity responsible for the creation of the universe, humanity, and morality. It is the philosophy that posits that man is the measure of all things and that morality is magically derived from one's self-constructed conscience. But there is a massive gaping hole in this worldview. If man is the measure of all things and therefore each individual's morals are equal to those of each and every other individual, then you have to automatically put an immoral person on the same level as yourself. It is baked right into the premise of the nonbelieving secular humanist.

From Abdu Murray's book (a man who converted from Islam to Christianity), Grand Central Question:

The same problem that confronts secular humanists when it comes to intrinsic value and objective purpose persists in the struggle to ground objective morality without God. Theists have long argued that atheists lack any grounding on which to base the existence of objective moral values and duties. Now theists do not argue that atheists cannot act morally or recognize right and wrong, they only argue that atheists have no rational basis to affirm that right and wrong exist.

If I am the measure of all things, I have no right to claim another as immoral or acting immorally because I have conceded that that person is also the measure of all things and has an equally valid claim as to what is right and wrong. This is essentially the definition of moral relativism, which began with the Reformation that splintered the Christian world; then the Enlightenment that stripped God out of the uniform Christian moral worldview entirely; then the political, social, and cultural progressives of the 20th century, who were the progeny of secular humanist philosophy spawned by the Enlightenment that gave us the fractured and fragmented world we have today.

Another quote from Murray:

What is missing from every one of the secular humanists in their widely published and endorsed documents isn't the affirmation that humanity has objective value and purpose. Rather, it is the affirmation's justification that is lacking. In other words, it is not the what that is missing, it is the why[.] ... Both atheistic secular humanists and Christians can agree that ugly prejudices are wrong and must be stopped because they do violence to human value, dignity and purpose. But we cannot agree about why they are wrong, because we do not agree about the source of human dignity[.]

Although the vast majority of Americans believe in God, religion has been marginalized by the overwhelming hegemony of secular humanism and has become just another lifestyle choice in a smorgasbord of options that society has come to offer. With each option being equally valid, moral relativism has destroyed the possibility of a uniform and transcendent moral order. Instead, each individual has become a god unto himself, and chaos and discord are the only possible outcomes. With millions of equally valid personal agendas competing with each other based on nothing but materialistic hyper-individualism, truth and moral consensus tragically become collateral damage.It didn't feel right. There was tension in the air, and everyone knew that our church is in crisis.

On Sunday, we attended Mass, took communion, and enjoyed coffee and donuts with fellow parishioners afterward.

The latest bomb goes right to the top or to Pope Francis himself:

In an extraordinary 11-page written testament, a former apostolic nuncio to the United States has accused several senior prelates of complicity in covering up Archbishop Theodore McCarrick's allegations of sexual abuse, and has claimed that Pope Francis knew about sanctions imposed on then-Cardinal McCarrick by Pope Benedict XVI but chose to repeal them. Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, 77, who served as apostolic nuncio in Washington D.C. from 2011 to 2016, said that in the late 2000s, Benedict had "imposed on Cardinal McCarrick sanctions similar to those now imposed on him by Pope Francis" and that Vigano personally told Pope Francis about those sanctions in 2013. Archbishop Vigano said in his written statement ... that Pope Francis "continued to cover" for McCarrick and not only did he "not take into account the sanctions that Pope Benedict had imposed on him" but also made McCarrick "his trusted counselor." Vigano said that the former archbishop of Washington advised the Pope to appoint a number of bishops in the United States, including Cardinals Blase Cupich of Chicago and Joseph Tobin of Newark. Archbishop Vigano, who said his "conscience dictates" that the truth be known as "the corruption has reached the very top of the Church's hierarchy," ended his testimony by calling on Pope Francis and all of those implicated in the cover up of Archbishop McCarrick's abuse to resign.

We call that allegation the Catholic version of a bombshell!

Pope Francis is not helping by remaining silent. I understand that you don't want the pope getting into a media battle of words with a nuncio, but a little statement would be nice. Maybe a tweet denying everything would help!

As I mentioned to a friend after mass, our Church faces two challenges:

1. We don't understand how social media can take an allegation around the world in seconds. Millions saw the Drudge links on Sunday, and the Church did not answer any of them. We need the equivalent of Clinton's "war room" to counter every attack as soon as it is made.

2. Despite previous scandals, we did not implement "zero tolerance" policies everywhere. To be fair, our archdiocese did, and a priest was recently put on leave for inappropriate behavior (not with kids, thankfully).

Where does this go? The Vatican needs to come clean and put everything on the table. Unlock the files and admit everything. At this point, covering up behavior will only sink the Vatican farther in the hole.

So come clean, Pope Francis. Clean house and show the faithful that you are in charge.

This is a lot worse than climate change and income distribution.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.It's as if a veil has been drawn over the entire story. And what a story it is.

The issue of a Chinese spy working in the office of California senator Dianne Feinstein has become the non-story of the year  perhaps of the young century. Details of the whys and wherefores regarding the employment of a Chinese operative in the office of the former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee don't seem to interest anyone in particular, but especially the media and even leading Republicans.

The questions that Feinstein herself is avoiding are related not only to the spy in her office, but also to Feinstein's longstanding ties with the Chinese communist government and the cozy relationship she has cultivated with it.

The Federalist's Ben Weingarten catalogued some of those ties:

Feinstein had cultivated a deep, longstanding, chummy relationship with China, including at the highest ranks of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), over a 40-year period. Or, perhaps, it was the other way around. Such ties dated back at least to the opening of a sister-city relationship between San Francisco and Shanghai, when then-Mayor Feinstein commenced a long friendship with her counterpart Mayor Jiang Zemin. Zemin would later rise to be the Xi Jinping of his day, sitting atop the CCP, and reportedly wining and dining Feinstein and her husband in unprecedented fashion at the residence of Mao Zedong. Zemin rose in tandem with Feinstein, who as U.S. senator would serve as a conduit to his government during the Clinton White House. The two remained close in spite of Zemin's Marxist ideology and brutality in persecuting the dissident Falun Gong, among others.

Feinstein doggedly lobbied for integrating China into the global economic architecture and normalizing trade relations with the U.S., untethering these benefits from Chinese human rights improvements. Feinstein thereby served as an invaluable asset in enabling China's economic rise. The senator also frequently served as a dovish liaison to the Chinese government over contentious matters of foreign affairs. She took these positions all while repeatedly whitewashing China's aforementioned human rights abuses, and seeking to draw shameful moral equivalency between Communist bloodshed and violent episodes in American history.

Feinstein's husband, Richard Blum, has personally profited from his wife's relationship with the Chinese government.

Did you even know the name of the Chinese spy? Russell Lowe's identity has been conveniently misplaced in the media, but his longstanding leftist activism and association with an anti-Japanese nonprofit group should have been widely reported. Lowe served as office director and liaison to the Asian community. This put him smack in the middle of Feinstein's work, allowing him to observe, to listen, to read documents  all of which would have been immensely valuable to the Chinese government even if, as the senator's office claims, Lowe had no access to classified information.

Weingarten spoke with a former CIA operative on his podcast who explains the enormous threat to national security. He described the situation as:

... incredibly troubling, and part and parcel of what they're [the Chinese] doing across the board on a massive scale. And the response to this from [Feinstein's] office, you know, where they acknowledged that this guy was dismissed  but claim he didn't have technical direct access to classified information, is just mind-boggling. ... I mean, imagine that you have the functional equivalent in the Chinese government of somebody with her access, and we have an American source on our payroll sitting inside her office. We would consider that to be a coup of epic proportions. The access that individual would have, the conversations they would overhear, the documents they would see, the insights they would provide into mindset, meetings that were being held, I mean it's just breathtaking to think about the access. So you know, saying something to the effect that technically he didn't have classified access is just silliness.

So why has the cone of silence been lowered over this story by everyone? We know the media are soft-pedaling the story to avoid damaging one of their favorite politicians. But Democrats and Republicans have their own reasons to deep-six the matter.

As for the political class, sadly, it is not worth entertaining the possibility that Democrats would investigate their colleague. Why the GOP establishment remains mum on Feinstein and China is an issue that deserves deeper scrutiny.

In terms of election year politics, it may well be that congressional Republicans view Feinstein's opponent, California state Senate Majority Leader Kevin de Leon, as even worse for its agenda than Feinstein. So why engage in an investigation that might damage her politically? Further, the establishment may believe it politically advantageous to let fester the intra-party fight between the Left and the far Left. This might explain why the only response by senior members of the GOP to the Feinstein-China revelations has been to highlight the double standard between the FBI tipping Feinstein off, for at least the second time, as to China's efforts to influence her office, and its silence  not to mention embedding of spies within the Trump presidential campaign team  regarding Russia's alleged efforts to influence then-candidate Trump. Relatedly, the president himself raised the broader hypocrisy of Feinstein's pursuit of the Trump-Russia investigation while she herself appears to have had a foreign spy in her house.

Weingarten correctly surmises that the lack of curiosity by both parties about this story is "a sad commentary that they are prioritizing politics over national security." The first step in remedying that situation would be to assess the damage to U.S. security as a result of Chinese penetration. It is likely that U.S. intelligence is doing that to the best of its ability. But you have to wonder how much cooperation agents are getting from the senator's office and the Senate Intelligence Committee.

After all, this is a non-story that never happened.Adak Island, located near the furthest tip of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, is one of the southernmost westernmost island of the United States. The high winds, persistently overcast skies, and cold temperatures mean that only the most cold-resistant grasses, mosses and low-lying flowering plants grow here, with the exception of a group of exactly 33 pine trees huddled together at the foot of a small hill. This grove of trees is claimed to be the smallest "National Forest" in the country.

The trees were planted during the Second World War by the US military. The exercise was meant to boost the sagging spirits of the soldiers stationed at this remote outpost, who suffered through the miserable weather of almost constant snow, sleet, rain, fog, and mud. Army General Buckner thought that planting some Christmas trees on the otherwise barren island might cheer up his troops. So he initiated a formal tree planting program from 1943 through 1945.

Photo credit

Unfortunately, the Aleutian climate was so harsh that the pines didnt survive. At one point, there was only one tree left standing. Somehow, a few other pine trees managed to grow back and over the course of several years, formed a small grove of severely stunted trees. In the early 1960s, somebody jokingly put up a sign that read: "You are now entering and leaving Adak National Forest".

Whether or not General Buckners troops were able to celebrate Christmas around their pine trees is not known, but the fact that the grove was originally planted for Christmas was not lost to the local Aleutians who never forget to decorate the whole forest every December. Of course, the federal government doesnt recognize the grove as a National Forest.

Photo credit

View from within the National Forest. Photo credit

Photo credit

Photo credit

Sources: Atlas Obscura / Road TrippersThe original Google Chromebook Pixel from 2013 has reportedly now reached its the end of its lifecycle and will no longer be receiving any automatic updates. As of this writing, the change has yet to appear in the official Chromium Projects list of Chrome OS devices for developers just yet and the change was actually intended to happen in June of this year. This particular Chromebook managed to survive a full two months beyond its scheduled 5-year automatic update period, which is impressive in its own right. The average laptop typically lasts between three and five years before needing to be replaced and Chromebooks are only guaranteed to receive automatic updates for five years. In effect, the news means that Google will no longer be pushing new OS updates to the companys first Pixel-branded Chromebook, which includes security updates. Support from the Google Cloud and Google for Education teams will also no longer be available for those using the Pixel in those capacities.

Having said that, the laptop-like Chrome OS device will continue to work aside from no longer receiving the above-mentioned updates or support. Any and all features on user devices should continue to function normally. The same could be said about Android apps or similar third-party software since those updates are handled by third-party developers. However, the Chromebook Pixel never received those so that really isnt an issue here. In short, those who are not concerned about the lack of new OS updates, security features, or support should be okay to continue using their original Google Pixel Chromebook for as long as the hardware allows it.

In the meantime, those who are looking to buy a new Chromebook have a huge variety of options to choose from. Theres also plenty of good reason to upgrade since modern devices now support Android apps and many will soon support desktop Linux applications. Google itself has released no fewer than two such devices bearing some form of the Pixel branding since 2013. Whats more, the search giant may be launching a brand new device in at least two configurations  a standard clamshell hybrid device and a tablet with a detachable keyboard  in just a few short months. Thats expected to be announced at Googles hardware event currently anticipated to take place in early October and the company typically sends new hardware to market within a month of its respective announcement.Google has quietly updated the changelog on the Play Store for its dialer app for Android devices simply called Phone, announcing the upcoming addition of a dark mode to the app. The soon-to-come dark mode is part of a redesign that the Mountain View, California-based tech giant plans to roll out to the dialer app soon, along with a host of bug fixes and improvements.

While the latest changelog for the Google Phone app on the Play Store confirms the upcoming arrival of the dark user interface (UI) on the app, it remains unclear when this will actually happen. The dark mode is expected, nonetheless, to land on Googles Pixel range of smartphones, Android One devices, and the Essential phones. Earlier this month, the app received a Material Theme makeover in beta, which basically added a white background to it. For the uninitiated, the Google Phone app is the search giants proprietary app with a native support for Google Duo video calling. The app also works to warn users about possible spam calls and it raises the flag against these kinds of calls to curb the spread of unwanted commercial calls. Then last month, the Google Phone app received an update that allows users to filter spam calls. The feature is turned on by default. Additionally, the app displays the identity of the caller so that users have an idea about who is calling them before picking up the call. There is an option as well to filter calls you do not wish to receive by adding those unwanted numbers to the apps block list. Other features of the app include the visual voicemail, nearby places, and mini call view.

The upcoming change to the Google Phone app represents Googles much broader effort to align all of its products and services with one another. For example, Google just rolled out a dark mode to the Android Messages app most recently, but not without pulling that update previously after adding the new design to that app in the middle of this month. As the update to the Google Phone app is currently pending release, Android users can expect it to arrive in the coming days.The FCC is looking to inform and create interest from the public about its inner workings from the perspective of some of its more than 1,400 employees with a new podcast called More Than Seven Dirty Words. Launched this week, the podcast is hosted by FCC Policy Advisor Evan Swarztrauber and will feature guests from within the agency, beginning with an introductory episode discussing the creation of the content with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The pair discusses the origins of the podcasts title, harkening back to a George Carlin skit in the 70s. The title was chosen to highlight the fact that news surrounding the agency tends to center around headline-grabbing controversy. The currently available episodes seem to avoid more recent issues within the FCC but that doesnt necessarily mean those wont show up later. However, the stated goal is to gain public interest and, according to Pai, shine a light on the positive public interactions and accomplishments through stories about agency employees going beyond whats required of them.

To that end, the first full-length episode dives into the FFCs response to Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Puerto Rico with FCC Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau attorney Roberto Mussenden. Mussenden was born in the unincorporated U.S. territory and says that returning in the aftermath of the disasters to take on administrative duties overseeing restoration was devastating. The discussion centers around agency cooperation with FEMA in restoring power through the use of generators before moving on to repair communications infrastructure. That involved a lot of fuel being moved around, open roaming policies so that any customer could use cell service from any carriers network, and rebuilding infrastructure that had to be replaced completely. One example of that involves towers that had to be relocated due to environmental conditions making original placements unviable and regulatory work that needed to be done to accomplish that task.

However, the efforts went far beyond those examples across every avenue of communication technology from traditional radio to the internet. So the 22-minute long episode is well worth a listen for anybody who might be interested in a more positive side of the agency. The FCC hasnt given any details away with regard to what might be included in the second podcast or how many episodes will ultimately be made.Google on Tuesday denied the accusations laid out by U.S. President Trump earlier today, responding to his latest Twitter tirade with a prepared statement emailed to media outlets that strongly denies any notion of Search having a left-leaning bias or being politicized in any shape or form. The sole goal of the Google Search team is to ensure users are always served with the most relevant answers, the company said. Search is not used to set a political agenda, Google argued, adding that its always improving its flagship product so as to ensure its working in an optimal manner, rejecting the idea that it ever altered its results with the goal of affecting any political sentiment in the country or abroad.

The President publicly wondered whether Googles supposed censorship is illegal and threatened to take action against the company, albeit without elaborating on the matter. The critics of the current administration described his latest remarks as a conspiracy theory, whereas President Trump remains adamant that Google is censoring conservative voices online. The head of the state has been complaining about what he perceives is unfair media coverage since being on the campaign trail in 2016 and has repeatedly threatened the likes of Twitter and even Amazon over the matter, with the e-commerce giant being targeted due to the fact that its founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is the owner of The Washington Post, a high-profile outlet critical of Trump that has been reporting on the current administrations scandals with no restrains from day one.

The Presidents economic adviser Larry Kudlow recently clarified the White House will perform some analysis of the Search results but did not elaborate on the matter. Last month, President Trump defended Google after Alphabets subsidiary was hit with a historic fine in the European Union due to antitrust violations linked with its Android licensing practices. Twitter was previously threatened with a similar probe after it was accused of not surfacing accounts of some prominent Republicans but its presently unclear whether any such investigation was conducted by the White House. Separately, Google is still facing pressure to crack down on misinformation campaigns seeking to polarize the American public and potentially influence the outcome of the forthcoming mid-term elections taking place in early November.Google Duo has just received a much-requested feature, it now supports video calls on Android tablets and iPads. This feature has been in the works for quite some time now, and Google has made things official by announcing this change via Twitter. The company released an official GIF image showing the functionality, along with a caption to go along with it, and weve already received the update, you will notice it in Google Duos changelog in the Play Store.

Google did not add any new features aside from this tablet functionality, but it seems some fixes are included in the update as well, as the company also listed Bug fixes and product improvements in the changelog. Google Duo has been around since August 2016, and it took Google quite a bit of time to make video calling available for tablets in Google Duo. This app should now work for basically any Android tablet, as long as it runs Android 4.1 or later. Google Duo, as some of you probably remember, was announced alongside Google Allo during Google I/O 2016, though it took Google a bit of time to make both apps available to consumers. Speaking of Google Allo, the company has announced that its putting the development of that app on hold, as Google seems to be switching its focus over to Android Messages, as part of a plan to make it Androids iMessage, basically. Some of Google Allos features are already making their way to other Google-made apps, but it seems like Google Duo will not suffer the same fate, at least not anytime soon.

Google Duo is currently holding a 4.6-star rating in the Play Store, and it has been installed to over 500 million devices thus far, including devices that come with Google Duo pre-installed, of course. Google Duo is basically a video calling app only, and it was supposed to replace Hangouts in that regard, as Google wanted to push Hangouts towards business interactions. If youd like to use Google Duos new tablet functionality, do update your Google Duo app if an update is available, if not, it will be soon.

AdvertisementThree upcoming budget-friendly Samsung devices will reportedly be available in at least one color configuration pulled the companys Galaxy S8 flagship, according to the source. Namely, the Galaxy J4 Prime, Galaxy A9, and a suspected new member to its current Galaxy A8 lineup are now expected to ship with a rose pink option. The latter of those is noted to be a Samsung Galaxy device with the model number SM-A750F, and will supposedly ship in blue, black, and gold colors as well. Meanwhile, the Galaxy A9 bearing model number SM-A920F will arrive in blue or black in addition to rose pink. Finally, the Galaxy J4 Prime is said to be in the works with additional black or gold variants.

In the meantime, Samsung has already launched the Galaxy A8, Galaxy A8 Plus, Galaxy A6, and Galaxy A6 Plus for 2018. So it isnt immediately clear what the SM-A750 is going to be, aside from the model number being very close to the companys A-series handsets. Bearing that in mind, recent reports have indicated that yet another A-series mobile is on the way with the model number SM-A730FN. That smartphone has cropped up in benchmarks featuring an in-house Exynos 7885 with 4GB of RAM and Android 8.0 Oreo. It seems likely at this point that the rumored device and the one arriving in rose pink will be the same handset. Conversely, the Galaxy J4 Prime is expected to arrive with Android 8.1 Oreo and, based on previously spotted benchmarks, to feature a Snapdragon 430 SoC and 2GB RAM. The Galaxy A9, on the other hand, is still a relatively well-guarded device and could be launched as either a 2018 or 2019-edition handset. If it launches as a 2019 model, it could bypass the A9 naming schema entirely and be marketed more simply as the Samsung A90.

Setting that aside, the new color configurations will almost certainly be welcome in the range of devices if the leak bears out. Thats because although pink tones have shown up in at least some Samsung devices before, the design aspect of mid-range and budget handsets is arguably among the most important determining factors for consumers shopping in that segment. More directly, handsets that are budget-oriented are typically more difficult to distinguish on the basis of performance and features alone. So having additional colors to choose from may be a deciding factor for some consumers.Twitters fight against coordinated misinformation attempts aimed at manipulating the American public continued with hundreds of new account suspensions, the company said Tuesday. As part of a probe into an online misinformation campaign originating from Iran that Twitter first disclosed last week, the San Francisco-based firm banned 486 more accounts, with the total number of suspensions now reaching 770. Not all profiles managed by the creators of the surreptitious initiative were seemingly targeting American citizens as fewer than 100 of them falsely claimed theyre located in the United States, suggesting the effort was global in nature.

The accounts targeting the American public had 1,268 followers and tweeted 867 times in total, Twitter disclosed, indicating the effect of the misinformation endeavor in the U.S. was limited. The screenshots shared by the microblogging platform below are some of the evidence they engaged in social commentary meant to divide the American public, similar to what certain Russian agents practiced in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election in the U.S. One of the suspended accounts was a registered advertiser but spent only $30 on Twitter promotions in 2017 and didnt target any American users with the ads, though the contents of the paid material in question are yet to be disclosed.

Earlier this month, both Facebook and Google cracked down on similar coordinated misinformation attempts from Iran, with the latter explicitly linking them to state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. The timing of the disclosures implies the three campaigns originated from the same source, though neither Facebook nor Twitter claimed to have obtained evidence suggesting the manipulation attempts were sponsored by a foreign state. Besides Iran, Facebook also identified new misinformation efforts from Russia on its main platform and Instagram earlier this month, the social media giant said. The fight against fake news and similar content is likely to become even more heated as the November U.S. mid-terms draw nearer, with Internet juggernauts already facing massive public pressure to combat such platform abuse more effectively.

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Fewer than 100 of the 770 suspended accounts claimed to be located in the U.S. and many of these were sharing divisive social commentary. On average, these 100 Tweeted 867 times, were followed by 1, 268 accounts, and were less than a year old. Examples below. pic.twitter.com/LQhbvFjxSo  Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) August 27, 2018These days, many people use their phone for their boarding pass when flying. But if you dont use the same airline every time, you may be using several different apps. Thanks to Google Pay, you can now save all of those boarding passes into one app. Southwest was the first US airline to support this feature, when it was announced back in May, and now United Airlines has announced that it also supports it. According to the apps changelog on the Google Play Store, were happy to announce the launch of Save to Google Pay Mobile Boarding Pass, you now have the ability to store your Mobile Boarding Pass as part of the Google Pay. This means that you can check in through the app and then save your pass to Google Pay, making it easy to find when you get to the gate.

Earlier this year, Google announced support for saving boarding passes as well as event tickets in the Google Pay app. That goes along with your credit, debut and gift cards, as well as membership cards. So that you can have all of your cards in one place. Making it easier than ever to use these cards and truly leave your wallet at home.

Google Pay is the third iteration of mobile payments from Google. After launching Google Wallet, which was far before its time. Google then relaunched it as Android Pay, before renaming it about a year ago to Google Pay. With this mobile payments service, you are able to use your phone to pay for things like your bill at a restaurant, or some things at the pharmacy, and leave your wallet at home. However not all merchants support this yet, as Google Pay does use NFC, unlike Samsung Pay that uses MST which is the same technology that your physical card uses.Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the American Authors Association

Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the Military Writers Society of America.Seven Avion Training cadets took part in the Part-FCL exams. The exam room was equipped by Avion Training and the facility was formally approved to UK CAA requirements. The exams were delivered using the UK CAAs electronic examination system that uses EASAs latest Part-FCL question bank. With multiple choice questions and variable question population, every examination is different to help eliminate the risk of candidates cheating. Diane Dutton, CAAi Manager for International Examinations supervised the delivery to ensure the examinations were delivered to UK CAA and EASA standards.



Patrick Griffioen, Chief Flight Instructor and Location manager for Avion Training in Dalaman said We are really satisfied with the flexibility and positive approach of CAAi. This is a big step forward and perfectly fits in our mission to be a high quality international flight school.



Avion Training, part of the Avion Group, is an EASA approved training organisation by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Netherlands. Avion Training is the only EASA approved training organisation offering Integrated and Modular Part-FCL courses in Turkey.



The next Part-FCL exam session is scheduled for September 2018, when more cadets are expected to be ready to start their exam series.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Ukraine will maintain defense spending at about 5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) next year, a senior security official said Monday.



Ukrainian-made BTR-4MV1 8x8 Armoured Personnel Carrier APC (Picture source: Defense Blog)

In 2019, Ukraine's defense budget is expected to reach some 200 billion hryvnyas (about 7.18 billion U.S. dollars), Oleksandr Turchynov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, said in a statement after a meeting on budget planning. Turchynov listed the development and the procurement of modern high-precision missile weapons, artillery armaments, armored vehicles and ammunition as among the key areas of defense financing next year.

The funds will be also used for strengthening the state's air defense system, cyber security and information security, Turchynov said. He added that the increase of the financial support for Ukrainian servicemen will also be an important part of the next year's defense budget.

After two decades of keeping its defense expenditures at below 1.5 percent of the GDP, Ukraine began to gradually boost its defense budget in 2014, when the conflict between government troops and pro-independence armed groups started in the country's eastern regions. While in 2013 the country's defense budget stood at 1.11 percent of the GDP, in 2016 it has reached 5 percent of the GDP and has been maintained at that level for three years.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Bachelor Pads Across America: Nick Roux

Step Inside One Of Chicago's Most Stylish, Modern Pads

The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service.

Photos courtesy of Julia Brenner

Welcome to Bachelor Pads Across America. Here well be taking an inside look at the humble abodes of men across the country. From the windowless studios in New York to the beachside manors in Miami, were popping in to discover everything from most embarrassing tchotchkes to essential DIY tools.

Today: Nick Roux, the Co-Chair of the Humanities Department at The Chicago Academy for the Arts, takes us on a tour through his Lincoln Square apartment in Chicago, IL.

Julia Brenner

What's the most embarrassing thing about your pad?

Closets. My apartment only has two small closets and they are precariously packed. I don't think I'm a hoarder, but my closets would probably suggest otherwise. Let's just say I maximize any and all storage space I have.

Julia Brenner

What's your favorite part about your pad?

A few things. First, the shape of my building. It's a courtyard building and my apartment is tucked in a corner far from the street, so it's very peaceful. I'm near a bustling intersection, but you'd never know it. Second, my building's location. It's very close to Lincoln Square, which is full of restaurants, bars and shops, and has a farmers market in the summer. Any day-to-day need is usually no more than a five-minute walk away.

Julia Brenner

What was your biggest investment piece?

Probably the Moooi random light fixture in my dining room. It's one of my favorite light fixtures of all time: I love how big it is without taking up a lot of visual space and the way it projects shadows of delicate lines on the walls and ceiling. Plus, the pairing of the Moooi fixture  which is a recent design  and the Saarinen dining set  which was designed over sixty years ago  makes for a striking juxtaposition of new and old.

Julia Brenner

RELATED: Step Inside Producer Matt Miller's Envy-Inducing Bachelor Pad

What are your favorite places/brands to shop for the home?

Most of my decor is a blend of American mid-century brands like Knoll and Herman Miller alongside modern pieces from Vitra, Moooi, and Design Within Reach, so it depends what I'm looking for. If I'm after vintage furnishings or a hard-to-find piece I'll check Craigslist, eBay or Etsy, as well as a few auction and estate sales websites. For smaller things like dishes, kitchen tools and accessories, my go-to places are CB2, Crate and Barrel, Target, and Sur La Table.

Julia Brenner

Where do you splurge and save when it comes to furnishings and gadgets?

Most splurging goes to furniture  specifically chairs. I'm sort of obsessed with chairs and have a mental checklist of ones I'd like to have in my collection. It's a bit silly since my place isn't terribly large, so most of my chairs are in storage waiting to be sat on. But, if I find something I really want or have been looking for for a long time, I'll do my best to get it. I tend to save on storage furniture. All of my bookcase, shelves and auxiliary storage furniture are from IKEA, which keeps the cost down.

Julia Brenner

What are your favorite tools for DIY fix-its around the house?

For me, it's less of a tool and more of a resource. I love youtube.com when it comes to DIY projects. It's a great repository of tutorials on how to do simple repairs and upgrades to your apartment. When I want to add a feature or something needs fixing I try to tackle it myself first. I've had great luck...only been shocked once!

My Dewalt drill gets used constantly. My Black and Decker laser level, angle clamp, acrylic knife, and matte cutter are also clutch. I can't bring myself to pay the exorbitant price to have something framed, so I always do it myself.

Julia Brenner

Do you host friends a lot? What do you do to prepare your place?

I do enjoy hosting and cooking for friends. Once the food is squared away my house preparation includes what you'd expect: dusting, vacuuming and putting things away. Then I pre-select either a handful of albums or a playlist from Spotify and put that on the Sonos system. Last, I always have a little spread of snacks ready and out when people arrive. That way they don't feel immediate pressure to ask if they can help you with anything  they can just eat, drink and relax.

Julia Brenner

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AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service. To find out more, please read our complete terms of use.Stacey Craft speaks on behalf of an informal midvalley homeowners group thats advocating further study before Colorado Parks and Wildlife makes a decision on the Lake Christine gun range. Among those listening to her remarks Monday at Basalt High School were Councilman Bill Infante, center, and CPW area wildlife manager Perry Will.John Quinn, managing partner, said that the firm has been looking to add the right person to its Tokyo office for a while. Ryan Goldstein, Tokyo managing partner, said that the office works with Japanese clients on a wide range of matters, from IP lawsuits to arbitration to government investigations, all in Japanese.

York's practice fits perfectly with what we are doing in Japan, Goldstein said.

Faulkner said that Japanese companies are investing heavily in the US and Europe and that Quinn Emanuel is best equipped to help those companies overcome legal challenges they face overseas.

Quinn Emanuel, which has more than 780 lawyers working out of 22 offices, is the worlds largest law firm solely focused on business litigation and arbitration.According to rescuers OSP Szaflary , the incident occurred in Zaskala, southern Poland. Angelika was driving a red Suzuki Baleno and she stalled on the tracks. She tried to get the engine started again but couldnt, and with the train approaching, her examiner choose to save his own skin.You can see him in the video below jumping out of the car and making a run for it, just milliseconds before the train hits the car and pushes it on the tracks for a short distance. Angelika was rushed to the hospital and died later that day from the injuries sustained. No one else was hurt.According to reports in the local media, the train had been sounding the horn for quite some time before the impact, which begs the question of why the examiner didnt do something to help the learner driver.He should be held accountable for the teens death, voices online are also saying. After all, it was his responsibility to keep the inexperienced driver safe whilst at the wheel during the exam  and that included preventing her from stalling the car on the tracks and failing to restart it.Eyewitnesses say that the 62-year-old man continued to act strangely even after the crash. He looked on as the girl was dying and refused to help out when people rushed to help her out of the wreckage and offer her assistance.When we ran to the wreck, the girl was strapped in and the instructor stood nearby and did nothing! I wanted him to give me a first aid kit but he couldn't find it, one eyewitness says, as cited by the Mirror . She was still breathing, but she was very wheezy, she was getting weaker. She was disappearing before our eyes.Dr. Khaw Kim-sun, 53, is now standing trial on two separate murder charges, the New York Times reports. His initial story was that his daughter, 16, might have placed the carbon monoxide -filled yoga ball in the car herself, because she wanted to kill herself.Prosecutors are arguing that he was the one who set everything up: he faked an experiment that required 2 yoga balls filled with the deadly gas. He took one of them home and left the other in his office, one day before his wife and daughters deaths in May 2015. Police found the second ball on the day of the murder.Ironically, when Dr. Khaw drove the yoga balls home in his Toyota, he had used a monitor that would sound an alarm if the gas reached dangerous levels, prosecutors told the court, as per the publication. He then placed it in his wifes car, not aware that she would be picking up their daughter from school that day.A jogger went past the stationary MINI Cooper and found it strange that both its occupants were napping. She became concerned when she noticed that the wipers were on even though it wasnt raining.The wife, Wong Siew-fing, 47, and daughter, Lily Li-ling Khaw, 16, were pronounced dead soon after their arrival at the Prince of Wales Hospital, where Dr. Khaw worked. An autopsy found that the two had died from carbon monoxide poisoning, the NY Times says.Before investigators connected Dr. Khaw to the deflated yoga ball in the trunk and the deadly leak of gas, they assumed the MINIi Cooper had malfunctioned. That was the murderers intention, prosecutors are now saying. He may not have wanted to kill his daughter, but he did want his wife dead since she knew he was having an affair with one of his students and wouldnt agree to give him a divorce.Image: NASA

With a measure to lift the ban on supersonic flight above the U.S. in play in the Senate, a coalition of 38 environmental and health advocacy groups issued a news release this week urging lawmakers to uphold the current restrictions. The new jet designs would burn up to seven times more fuel per passenger compared to todays airliners, according to the coalitions news release. Resurrecting these flying gas-guzzlers would cause the aviation industrys already massive climate damage to skyrocket, said Bill Snape, senior counsel at the Center for Biological Diversity. Supersonic planes are a gratuitous luxury for the super-rich and a dirty burden for everyone else. Spike Aerospace, Aerion and Boom all are working to bring supersonic aircraft to market in the next decade. NASA is testing new technology that would soften the boom so it would be less disruptive to people on the ground.

A recent analysis (PDF) by the nonprofit International Council on Clean Transportation concluded that new supersonic airliners would likely exceed international subsonic limits for nitrogen oxides by 40 percent, according to the coalition letter. Exposure to nitrogen oxides is linked to respiratory disease, heart attacks and strokes. At a time when we need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from aviation, not increase them, incentivizing commercial use of supersonic aircraft is a huge step in the wrong direction, said Sarah Burt, a lawyer at Earthjustice.Dot Lung is a Global Social Media Community Manager and Consultant, from Los Angeles, based in Barcelona. Dot is an influencer, an enthusiast, an inspirer; she is a doer. When it comes to Social Media, she is one of the worlds leading consultants, having worked on accounts like OFFF - Let's Feed the Future, Digital Design Days, Sonar+D, Motionographer, Ladies, Wine, Design Barcelona and many more. This project is a collaboration of international creatives, carefully selected by her, reflecting Dots dynamic character and extrovertism.

Concept

The main concept of Dots Digital Branding and UI Design is a transformable dot, or more appropriately said, circle in any kind of form. A restless transformation of circles is constantly present - big or small, purple or orange, flat or 3D, hiding and revealing content - whether it is typography, photography or any other kind of graphic or UI design element. This creates a fluid and playful result applied throughout her digital identity, constantly creating forms and anti-forms by the appearance and disappearance of content.

We used the dot to create engagement and evoke interaction, making the user wanting to follow and play with it, achieving emotional bonding with Dots website, brand, and persona. From the mouse over triggered animations on the logo and concentric circles page transitions, to a large orange interactive circle and 3D scrolling parallax spheres, we follow the aesthetics and style of our custom made imagery.

Dot, is everywhere.

We used the dot to create engagement and evoke interaction, making the user wanting to follow and play with it, achieving emotional bonding with Dots website, brand, and persona.

Custom made imagery, Photography by Andoni Beristain

Custom Made Imagery

Dot stands for Dorothy and Lung stands for Dragon in Mandarin. Her name alone stood as huge inspiration for the concept, in regard to the imagery created for the website. We decided to go with monochromatic still life compositions, using our second brand color, orange, to highlight certain parts of the image. Dots services are 100% digital; this is why we wanted the images to approach the kind of perfection 3D gives you, but with real life compositions, so that we dont lose emotion as we needed to create a digital, but at the same time friendly, profile.

Dot is the Mother of Social Media Dragons. We made sure to highlight this on the homepage, where we see the very first, quite edgy image, of the dragons spine. Its spikes become part of all the following compositions: the spike becomes the horn of the unicorn; the edge of the pencil; the tail of the dragon on a plate. Each composition was created to represent Dots main activities and website sections, therefore we created a full screen slideshow in order to lead the user to navigate throughout the whole website easily, without even having to use the navigation menu.

The photoshoot took place in Barcelona, where we had the opportunity to work with Andoni Beristain (photographer) and Patricia Albizu (set stylist).

Video by Albert Dedeu, 360VR Barcelona

Digital is literally my life. I live 24/7 on all platforms, whether its Facebook, Instagram or the latest and greatest app wanting to change the world. - Dot Lung

Animations - Microinteractions

We used bold and punchy animations delivering freshness and a dynamic that represents 100% Dots personality.

Following Dots personal branding concept, we worked with circular animations, starting from the site opening with 4 purple circles that shrink one after the other revealing the site underneath them. This transitions to a similar animation with two concentric circles when changing the page. Focusing on details, the center of those circles corresponds to the point the user clicks on.

Another point we realized was that we could use circles in the next/prev animation that is on all the hero areas. When the user hovers the arrow, the corresponding pages thumbnail pops in and the page name appears next to it, one letter after the other. We think this added way more value than the effort needed to developed it.

Technologies:

Dots website is powered (for the most) by Wordpress, BarbaJS and TweenMax, along with many other cool technologies like CSS transitions, Ajax and SVGs.

We have more than 5 years of experience in WordPress development so its been very easy for us to set up an entire customized back-end that perfectly suits Dots needs.

Weve also used ZURBs Foundation as the front-end framework, which comes shipped with the FoundationPress starter theme.



Foundation allowed us to develop all the structure in almost no time thanks to its incredible grid system and responsive behavior based on SASS mixins (only the tip of the iceberg).

Adding Ajax navigation and custom page transitions was as easy as installing BarbaJS. BarbaJS is a plug&play library that adds Ajax navigation to every website to which it is included, and also has its own custom events that we used to make magic things such as the out animation with concentric circles.

Weve used that library frequently in the past and we were already confident with it, knowing that it would do the trick.

All the animations and transitions are powered by CSS and/or TweenMax.

Simple animations, like buttons hover states or next/prev navigation present on all the hero areas are all managed only by CSS.



When animations start getting complicated, or more timeline-like, theres no point in using pure CSS. In that case (like for the circular page transitions), we used TweenMax to do the job for us.

We consider TweenMax the de-facto library for web animation, it allowed us to setup complex and high-performant timelines in very few lines of code.

Some pages like WORK WITH DOT contain a custom accordion component that, when the user clicks on one of its links, hides the current accordions image animating a CSS clip path, loads the new accordions image using the Axios library and reveals it by animating back the same clip path. However, a unique future is that every time, it has a different value, in order to give the user a sense of randomness.

Content

Content plays a huge role in delivering an integrated product so it was incredibly important that we used the right tone of voice aligned with Dots personal branding to complete her identity. Tim Brown, originally from Canada, based also in Barcelona, worked his magic creating copy that satisfied completely the projects needs.

Art Direction & Design: Sofia Papadopoulou / Greece

Code & Animations: Vool.Studio / Sydney

Photography: Andoni Beristain / Barcelona

Copywriting: Tim Brown / Barcelona

Company Info

Vool.Studio, The International Collective of KickAssAwardWinning Creatives!

We are Design Directors, Copywriters, Pirates & Developers.



Sofia Papadopoulou is a Multidisciplinary Awarded Freelance Designer & Art Director mainly focused on Digital Design & Branding. She is located in Thessaloniki, Greece, collaborating with agencies and clients worldwide.



A panel of federal judges, for the second time this year, struck down North Carolinas congressional map on Monday, condemning it as unconstitutional because Republicans had drawn it to maximize their electoral advantage.

Why it matters: The ruling has raised the possibility of a court-ordered redrawing of new districts before the November elections. And even though primary elections have already been held, the judges concluded that they would not allow future elections to be held using the current voting lines.

The details: The Supreme Court ordered the lower court in June to take another look at the partisan gerrymandering case in the wake of its decision in a similar Wisconsin challenge. The high court urged plaintiffs to prove they have standing in each district in order sue on the grounds of partisan gerrymandering. And now, the North Carolina court said plaintiffs have standing in the case.

What to watch:

North Carolina Democrats and voting rights advocate s  seeking to invalidate the map that gave Republicans 10 of the 13 U.S. House seats in 2016 with just 53% of the statewide popular vote  believe the case offers clear evidence of direct injury to voting power.

s  seeking to invalidate the map that gave Republicans 10 of the 13 U.S. House seats in 2016 with just 53% of the statewide popular vote  believe the case offers clear evidence of direct injury to voting power. Republicans are expected to appeal to the Supreme Court. But with Justice Anthony Kennedys retirement, election law expert Rick Hasen wrote that an "emergency action could well fail, leaving the lower court opinion in place."

But with Justice Anthony Kennedys retirement, election law expert Rick Hasen wrote that an "emergency action could well fail, leaving the lower court opinion in place." But if the General Assembly is ordered to redraw the map, it must do so by Sept. 17, the court said. Both sides have until Friday to weigh in on the possibility of holding congressional primaries again under a new map.

The big picture: A redrawing has the potential to impact the balance of power in the House as Republicans are seeking to maintain control this fall.1 big thing: Facebook's new energy pledge

Facebook plans to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 75% in 2020 and power its worldwide operations solely with renewable energy by the end of that year, the company said Tuesday.

Why it matters: Data centers for major tech companies suck up lots of power  those operations accounted for the vast bulk of Facebook's 2.46 million megawatt hours of electricity use last year.

Context: That's enough to power over 228,000 average American homes, according to a back of the envelope calculation using Energy Information Administration data on average residential power use.

Facebook, according to its website, was responsible for 979,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent last year, and roughly two-thirds came from powering data centers.

The big picture: Tuesday's announcement is the tech giant's first greenhouse gas target. And it expands on a prior pledge of getting 50% of its power from renewables, which the company says it reached last year.

It highlights the growing role of corporate procurement in driving expansion of wind and solar power, and and tech industry giants are playing a major role. Renewable purchasing deals are at record levels this year.

More broadly, Apple announced in April that all its worldwide operations are now powered by renewables, the same month that Google said it met 100% of its worldwide power needs with renewables for the first time last year.

How it works: Facebook said it will use a variety of contracting methods, such as renewable energy tariffs and direct power purchase agreements, to meet its renewables target.

"All of the projects are additional and new. In other words, these projects would not be happening without the long-term financial commitment that Facebook has undertaken," spokesperson Melanie Roe said.

In one case, last month the company announced a deal with Pacific Power to build 437 megawatts worth of solar projects to supply an Oregon data center.

Go deeper: The corporate renewables surge.Pope Francis spent much of his visit to Ireland over the weekend seeking forgiveness  for those guilty of abuses of power and sexual abuses, and for some members of the hierarchy who knew of the abuses and did nothing.

Yes, but: The Vaticans former ambassador to Washington claims the pope falls into that second category.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano writes in a stunning 11-page letter that he told Francis in 2013 that Cardinal Theodore McCarrick had been sanctioned by Pope Benedict XVI over numerous allegations of sexual misconduct, but Francis nonetheless rehabilitated McCarrick. McCarrick resigned last week, the first cardinal to do so in 90 years. He maintains his innocence.

Asked about the allegation by reporters on Sunday, Francis wouldnt confirm or deny it, saying: I will not say a single word on this. I think this statement speaks for itself, and you have the sufficient journalistic capacity to draw conclusions.

Responses to the letter have varied widely, as the Wall Street Journal notes in a piece headlined: Pope Faces Crisis of Credibility Over Coverup Accusations.

Rev. Robert Imbelli of Boston College told the Journal: The pope leaves it to journalists in their professional competence to evaluate the truth.Clearly, their work would be facilitated by the release of relevant documents.

Massimo Faggioli of Villanova University tells Slates Isaac Chotinerthat Vigano has made unsubstantiated claims in the past, and seems to be out to settle scores.

The backdrop: Francis has previously sought forgiveness for his handling of a major sex abuse scandal in Chile. Confidence in his ability to handle such scandals is falling among U.S. Catholics, per Pew.

The bigger picture: Sex abuse scandals are eroding trust in an institution already struggling with declining membership in nearly every country across Europe and the Americas.

A Pew survey found that, as of 2015, while 32% of Americans were raised Catholic, just 21% remained so  more than double the drop-off among Protestants. U.S. Catholics are also older, on average, than members of other major religions.

Its not just that people are becoming less religious. In Brazil, for example, Protestantism has grown rapidly as Catholicism has become less dominant.

Membership in the Church has held steady at around 18% of the global population for decades, according to Vatican data, with growth in Africa making up for declines elsewhere.

Consider the case in Ireland, though: The last papal visit was in 1979, when the Church dominated many aspects of Irish life. One-third of the country's entire population turned up to hear John Paul II speak. This time, one attendee told NPR she had decided not to tell acquaintances she was going: "It wasn't a popular thing to say."

Refugee Mir Ahmad, 60, in Cox's Bazar. Photo: Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera

Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh  None of the more than 900,000 Rohingya who over the last year have fled a brutal crackdown by the Myanmar army, described by the United Nations as "textbook ethnic cleansing, have returned from Bangladesh under a repatriation deal the two countries signed last November.

What theyre saying: For many of the Rohingya, who are not recognized by Myanmar as an ethnic group and are denied citizenship and government services, this was not the first time they had forcibly left their homes. Many now living refugee camps tell Al Jazeera they will not return unless their demands  including citizenship, greater inclusivity in government services such as education and the workforce, the ensuring of security and safety, and reparations for all that they have lost  are met.

Hujjatul Islam, 12: "I was in Year Three in school when I was in Rakhine. Now I can't find a proper school here except for the madrasahs where we learn the Quran. I haven't heard of any repatriation deal. I'll go back if we have Rohingya recognition. We would much rather die here if Myanmar forces us to go back without granting us citizenship."

"I was in Year Three in school when I was in Rakhine. Now I can't find a proper school here except for the madrasahs where we learn the Quran. I haven't heard of any repatriation deal. I'll go back if we have Rohingya recognition. We would much rather die here if Myanmar forces us to go back without granting us citizenship." Mahmud Yunis, 35: "I have no demands. I want to go back to my village without any compensation or conditions. I used to be a porter. Now I do nothing. Every day I face many difficulties just to get food. I am dependent on aid. There are also hygiene problems, such as the lack of sanitary latrines."

"I have no demands. I want to go back to my village without any compensation or conditions. I used to be a porter. Now I do nothing. Every day I face many difficulties just to get food. I am dependent on aid. There are also hygiene problems, such as the lack of sanitary latrines." Dildar Begam, 35: "I have nine children and a husband. It took us two days to reach Cox's Bazar. I saw so many massacres, rapes, and homes set on fire. I haven't heard of the repatriation deal. I would only go back if Myanmar granted us Rohingya recognition. I don't feel good here because this is not my land."

"I have nine children and a husband. It took us two days to reach Cox's Bazar. I saw so many massacres, rapes, and homes set on fire. I haven't heard of the repatriation deal. I would only go back if Myanmar granted us Rohingya recognition. I don't feel good here because this is not my land." Mir Ahmad, 60: "I am willing to go back to Rakhine if the Myanmar government meets our demands, such as compensation and recognizing us as citizens. Here I can get food and shelter. I feel better here than in my own village because there's more security. But I want to return to Fukira Bazar because there, I can live in dignity."

Go deeper: Read the full Al Jazeera report.Russia will host massive military exercises from September 11 to 15 with nearly 300,000 troops, 1,000 military aircraft and two naval fleets, reports Reuters.

The big picture: The war games, which also include the Chinese and Mongolian armies, will be the largest since a Soviet military exercise in 1981  with almost a third of Russia's troops expected to participate. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the exercises are a necessary response to "the current international situation, which is often quite aggressive and unfriendly to our country," per Bloomberg. NATO began to bolster its defense forces in eastern Europe after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver was found guilty on Tuesday of killing 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, who was in the passenger seat of a car that Oliver opened fire on in April 2017, reports the Dallas Morning News.

Why it matters: The fatal shooting of the unarmed black teenager by a white police officer had reverberated nationwide and became a rallying cry about race and the use of deadly force by police. While indictments of police officers in Dallas have become common, convictions still remain rare, the Dallas Morning News notes.

The details: A Dallas County jury found the former officer, Roy Oliver, not guilty on two counts of aggravated assault connected to the shooting death of the high school freshman, which was recorded by body camera.

Oliver and his partner, Tyler Gross, were dispatched to a house party after a call reporting underage drinking.

Oliver fired into a moving car carrying five black teenagers leaving the party. The officer testified that he opened fire, shooting five times, after seeing the car move toward his partner and thought he was in danger. But Gross testified that he was not in fear for his life and didn't feel the need to fire his weapon.

Worthy of your time: A Texas Tribune investigation into police shootings in Texas' biggest cities from 2010-2015.Armenia made clear on Tuesday that it would veto Azerbaijans possible bid to join the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russian-led alliance of six ex-Soviet states.

A pro-government Azerbaijani parliamentarian, Ali Huseynli, said earlier this month that Baku should seriously consider applying for membership in the CSTO, saying that would increase chances of a Nagorno-Karabakh settlement favorable to his country. He also said that the CSTO gives its member states major military and economic benefits.

The remarks fueled speculation among pundits in and outside the region that the Azerbaijani leadership may indeed seek to join CSTO. Its potential membership bid would have to be approved by all countries making up the alliance, including Armenia.

If such an issue is considered, Armenia will use its veto power, Anna Naghdalian, a spokeswoman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry, told reporters.

Naghdalian also noted that the talk of Azerbaijans possible accession to the CSTO has so far been based on some hypothetical information.

Membership in the CSTO and a broader military alliance with Russia has long been a key element of Armenias national security strategy. It entitles the country to acquiring Russian weapons at discounted prices or even for free.

Yerevan has thus been able to at least partly offset Azerbaijans massive military buildup that began over a decade ago. But Moscow has been Bakus leading arms supplier in the last several years. The Azerbaijani government has also purchased significant amounts of weapons from another CSTO member state, Belarus.

The current and former Armenian governments have criticized both Russia and Belarus for their arms dealings with Baku.

The Azerbaijani lawmaker floated the idea of joining the CSTO following a rare diplomatic dispute between Yerevan and Moscow resulting from criminal charges levelled against Yuri Khachaturov, the CSTOs current secretary general.

Armenia moved to replace Khachaturov late last month after he was charged in connection with the 2008 post-election violence in Yerevan. The Russian Foreign Ministry denounced the retired Armenian generals prosecution as politically motivated. A Kremlin official told Russian media that the criminal case against Khachaturov dealt a colossal blow to the image of the whole organization.

It remains to be seen whether Russia and others CSTO member states, notably Kazakhstan, will agree to appoint another Armenian as secretary general of the CSTO.

Naghdalian spoke on Tuesday of continuing consultations in the bloc on who should succeed Khachaturov as secretary general. But she did not go into details.

The CSTO member states agreed in 2015 that their representatives will take turns to run the organization on a rotating basis. They appointed Khachaturov as secretary general in April 2017 after almost two years of delay resulting from Kazakhstans and Belaruss reluctance to have an Armenian hold the position because of their warm ties with Azerbaijan.

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko admitted late last week that he had opposed Khachaturovs candidacy. We proposed different candidates for that post [of CSTO secretary general] but they didnt listen to us, he told Belarusian state television. Now everybody admits that Lukashenko was right.Armenias parliament on Tuesday allowed the government to increase the amount of water from Lake Sevan that can be used for irrigation this year.

The vast mountainous lake, which is vital for Armenias entire ecosystem, is a key source of irrigation water supplied to the fruit-growing Ararat Valley through the Hrazdan river flowing out of it.

An Armenian law allows the government to use no more than 170 million cubic meters of Sevans water annually for irrigation and power generation purposes. A bill put forward by the government last week would raise that cap by 40 million cubic meters for the current irrigation season. Government officials said the measure, opposed by the Armenian Ministry of Environment Protection, is needed to prevent water shortages that could have severe consequences for tens of thousands of farmers and their crops.

The National Assembly passed the bill in the first reading by 68 votes to one. The two largest parliamentary forces, the Republican (HHK) and Prosperous Armenia (BHK) parties, backed it despite criticizing the governments handling of chronic problems with irrigation.

The HHKs Eduard Sharmazanov spoke of a choice between the bad and the worst. We have to choose the bad, he told fellow lawmakers before the vote. We have to take more water [from Sevan] so that our farmers get irrigation.

Lena Nazarian of the pro-government Yelk alliance accused the countrys previous, HHK-led government of having for years mismanaged water resources and tolerated corruption among officials running irrigation networks. She said Prime Minister Nikol Pashinians cabinet is forced to redirect more water from Sevan to irrigation canals because of that.

Several dozen environment protection activists protested outside the parliament building during the debate. They said that the extra irrigation quota would lower the level of Sevan and worsen the quality of its water. They argued that the level has already fallen since last December.Former President Robert Kocharian on Tuesday accused Armenias new government of incompetence and unbridled populism and declared his ambition to rally its political opponents.

In an interview with Russias NTV channel, Kocharian took a dim view of last springs mass protests in the country which forced his successor and erstwhile ally Serzh Sarkisian to resign. But he also said that Sarkisians attempt to extend his decade-long rule was a mistake.

Do you know of a single revolution which made the people better off? he said. Did that happen in Libya or Tunisia or Syria? The lives of the people there have worsened drastically  I see no reason why things should get better in our country.

Kocharian claimed that the new authorities headed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian are trying to settle scores with political rivals, rather than address socioeconomic problems. What is happening in Armenia is simply unbridled populism the consequences of which will be restraining the countrys development for a long time, he said.

Kocharian was arrested on July 27 on charges stemming from the deadly breakup in March 2008 of opposition protests staged in Yerevan in the wake of a disputed presidential election. An Armenian appeals court freed him from custody on August 13, saying that he enjoys legal immunity from prosecution. Prosecutors have asked the higher Court of Cassation to overturn that decision.

Pashinian, who played a key role in the 2008 protests, strongly defended the ongoing criminal investigation into the post-election bloodshed when he rallied tens of thousands of supporters in Yerevan on August 17. No one will avoid responsibility for killing 10 people and staging a coup detat in Armenia on March 1 [2008,] he stated in an apparent reference to Kocharian.

Speaking to NTV, the 63-year-old ex-president again denied the coup charges and accused Pashinians government of waging a political vendetta against him. Those who organized the [2008] mass disturbances and were sentenced for organizing them came to power ten years later, he said, adding that they are now keen to settle scores with people whom they consider their enemies.

Kocharian went on to reaffirm his return to active politics. I understand that I can become a serious consolidating factor for those people who see the current problems, he said without naming anyone. Nor did he clarify whether he is planning to set up a party or alliance for that purpose.

Kocharian insisted that he can count on considerable popular support because the Armenian economy grew at double digit rates during most of his 10-year tenure. He predicted that citizens who benefited from that growth will be his primary electoral base.

During those ten years, Armenias GDP grew fivefold  while its state budget increased eightfold, Kocharian told the Russian broadcaster. Every interesting and reconstructed thing you see in Yerevan was built during those years.

We created 35,000-40,000 jobs each year, he went on. The share of small and medium-sized businesses in the economy rose from 15 percent at the start of my presidency to 46 percent [by 2008]  The quality of life improved radically, and we have to remind [Armenians] of that.

Pashinian, his loyalists and other critics say that Kocharian systematically stifled dissent, tolerated government corruption and rigged elections when he ran the country from 1998-2008. The Armenian premier has repeatedly pledged to eradicate corruption and create a level playing field or all businesses. He insisted last week that Kocharian stands no chance of ever regaining power.

Kocharian first announced his political comeback on August 16. Sarkisians Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) swiftly expressed readiness to cooperate with him. An HHK spokesman said that they have very similar views challenges facing the country.

Kocharian handed over power to Sarkisian in April 2008. The two Karabakh-born men became increasingly estranged in the following years, with Kocharian criticizing the Sarkisian administrations economic policies as well as constitutional changes that transformed Armenia into a parliamentary republic.

Sarkisian tried to remain in power as prime minister after completing his second presidential term in April this year. That fateful move triggered the Pashinian-led protests resulting in his resignation.

I think [Sarkisian] should not have embarked on the constitutional reform, Kocharian said on Tuesday. I publicly criticized that reform. And of course he should not have made attempts to hold on to power.By Sara Israfilbayova

The radical opposition organization Constituent Parliament and the terrorist group Sasna Tsrer plan to assist the current government and create a new political party.

Press secretary of Sasna Tsrer Varuzhan Avetisyan and head of the Constituent Parliament Jirair Sefilian informed journalists about the program of the organization and the further tasks of terrorists to fight for the bright future of Armenia.

Sasna Tsrer is the group that in July 2016 stormed a police station in Yerevan and held hostages for about two weeks, killing two police officers in the process. Then they surrendered to the authorities, came before the court, and received long sentences. And now, after Pashinyans victory, many of them have already been released.

Now, as unbelievable as this may sound, Sasna Tsrer declares the creation of its own party.

Avetisyan said that the new party, the main asset of which should be representatives of young people, intends to participate in the upcoming early parliamentary elections in Armenia.

Noteworthy that one of the main points of the program of the future party Avetisyan announced the joining of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan to Armenia, adding that the party will be created in so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic as well.

The refusal of armed struggle is not the political position of the organization, but the result of an agreement with the new authorities, therefore, as many believe in Armenia, Sasna Tsrer members can take weapon again, if Pashinyan does something wrong.

Moreover, the head of the Constituent Parliament is a professional terrorist Jirair Sefilian, his closest associate - Alek Yenigoshyan, who spent time in a Swiss prison for the terror. And now Varuzhan Avetisyan, making significant statements, reminded that three members of the group: Pavel Manukyan, Armen Bilyan and Smbat Barseghyan are still in custody and they should also be immediately released, which means that if Manukyan, Bilyan and Barseghyan do not get released, there can be no support for the new government, and the group will behave the same way as under the previous government.

However, the transformation of terrorist groups into political parties is not a unique phenomenon, but there is no certainty that the Sasna Tsrer militants actually decided to abandon the armed struggle.

Terrorists rarely succeed in public policies. They return to their profession as soon as possible. And in Armenia, with its growing social problems, such outcome will not be long in coming.

In a country where the military lyceum is named after professional terrorist Monte Melkonian, the authorities support terrorism and elevate terrorists to the rank of national heroes, such a scenario was expected.

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Sara Israfilbayova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Sara_999Is

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

An auction for placement of registered interest-bearing mortgage bonds of the Azerbaijan Mortgage and Credit Guarantee Fund, worth 20 million manats, will be held at the Baku Stock Exchange (BSE) Aug. 28, the Fund said.

The nominal value of each bond is 1,000 manats. The bonds will be put up for sale at the price of 1,000 manats and at an annual rate of 3 percent.

The turnover of bonds is 23 years.

PSG Capital is the underwriter of the placement.

(1.7 manats = $1 on Aug. 27)

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Sara Israfilbayova

The State Committee on Property Issues of Azerbaijan will hold next auction on privatization of state property on September 25, where 118 state objects will be put up for sale.

The auction will offer 83 small state enterprises, 28 non-residential areas and seven vehicles.

In the first half of the current year 114 auctions were held, during which 350 state properties were privatized.

The portal for privatization  privatization.az, launched in July 2016, reflects all necessary information about the facilities, their addresses, location, and even initial cost and aims at facilitation of the process. The website is available in two languages - Azerbaijani and English. Why Azerbaijan is special section available on the website explains the reasons and advantages of investing in the country.

The privatization process is designed to attract both foreign and local investors, as well as develop the business environment of Azerbaijan.

Moreover, the State Committee on Property Issues held the first electronic auction on July 4.

The electronic auction service, which is available on the website privatization.az, combines the privatization procedure of vehicles and equipment. In the future, it will be possible to privatize small state enterprises and facilities, joint-stock companies through electronic auction. Now, the corresponding work in programming is being implemented.

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Sara Israfilbayova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Sara_999Is

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Laman Ismayilova

YARAT Film Club invites you to enjoy the film "Nasimi", a historical drama by Hasan Seyidbeyli.

The film screening will take place at YARAT Contemporary Art Space on September 4. The event starts at 19:00.

The historical drama "Nasimi" takes us in a journey through the 14th and 15th centuries.

Directed by Hasan Seyidbeyli, this film is in history drama genre depicting the life of a prominent Azerbaijani philosopher and poet, Imadaddin Nasimi and devoted to 600 years of memory. The film is considered as one of the best Azerbaijani movies in historical genre produced in during Soviet times. In 1974, during 7th Soviet film festival in Baku, the film was awarded with Prime Award for Best Historical Film; Rasim Balayev in the leading role was awarded with Best Actor award.

After the screening, Q&A session with the leading actor and the Deputy Head of Filmmakers Union Rasim Balayev will be also held as part of the event.

Notably, YARAT Film Club offers much more than just a rich program of film screenings. It brings filmmakers closer to the audience through workshops, lectures and discussions. The film club hosts premieres and show all time classics.

Free admission with registration: +99412 505 1414

YARAT is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to nurturing an understanding of contemporary art in Azerbaijan and to creating a platform for Azerbaijani art, both nationally and internationally. Based in Baku, YARAT (meaning CREATE in Azerbaijani) was founded by Aida Mahmudova in 2011.

It realizes its mission through an on-going program of exhibitions, education events and festivals. YARAT facilitates exchange between local and international artistic networks including foundations, galleries and museums.

YARAT comprises YARAT Art Centre, ARTIM Project Space, YARAT Studios, YAY Gallery and an extended educational and public programme.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Laman Ismayilova

An exhibition fair opened at the Union of Azerbaijani Artists.

Supported by the Council on State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations, the event was held as part of the project "Organization of Courses on Decorative and Applied Arts (carpet, ceramics, gurama, national dolls and souvenirs) for increasing employment".

Within the framework of the project, numerous master classes on arts and crafts were held. The project is also aimed at providing the tourist sector with souvenirs.

In his speech, Secretary of the Union of Artists of Azerbaijan, Vice-Rector of the Azerbaijan State Academy of Arts, sculptor, People's Artist Salhab Mammadov stressed the importance of the project for creative development of human, realization of ideas, preservation and development of decorative and applied art, ancient traditions of folklore.

The head of the public association "Creative Women", a member of the Union of Artists of Azerbaijan, Ph.D. in art criticism, Afag Huseynova said that for about twenty years the organization has been working with the most vulnerable social strata of society, low-income and large families, disabled people, pensioners, families of refugees and internally displaced persons. The organization implements projects to create opportunities for additional earnings. All proceeds from the sale of products go to the families of the project participants.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_IsmayilovaBy Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijan returns its carpets to their former glory by opening another branch of Azerkhalcha OJSC in Ismayilli region on August 25.

This branch is not the first one opened in the republic with the aim of reviving and developing carpet art and maintaining the world image of the Azerbaijani carpet.

President Ilham Aliyev attending the opening ceremony of the branch said that carpet making in Azerbaijan has a very big history and a very great future.

It is very good that you have preserved, and continue to keep this art. The future generation must also join this art, that is, the art of carpet weaving is our national treasure, said the head of state.

The state allocated 2.4 million manats for the construction of a new carpet weaving workshop in Ismayilli region, which began in 2016.



Today, there are 10 branches of Azerkhalcha and the company plans to increase their number by 2019.

Chairman of the Board of Azerkhalcha OJSC Vidadi Muradov told Day.az that that 150 weavers and 12 administrative workers are expected to work here.

Currently, the company already employs about 100 skilled workers. The building includes a weaving workshop, a workshop of artists, a canteen, a medical room, a trading hall and other units.

"The specialists of Azerkhalcha conducted a study on the quality and quantity of products produced in 10 carpet shops, and concluded that the masters of the Ismayilli branch work best. As a result, the team was awarded. The weavers received both monetary compensation and certificates of honor, said Muradov.

The branch also gave new life to the legendary Shirvan carpets.

Carpet weaving art in Shirvan, which has ancient traditions of statehood, has developed historically. This was facilitated by the growing in the region of a large number of plants that serve as natural dyes. Since ancient times Shirvan carpets have always attracted the attention of scientists and travelers. Centuries ago, they were repeatedly mentioned in historical sources and travel notes as examples of high art. There are a number of reasons for this. One of them is the high quality of wool and natural dyes, he said, adding that today national carpets are kept in many famous museums of the world.

Shirvan carpets are remembered by original artistic execution and color scheme. In the compositions of the pile and lint-free products of this group, traditional colors for Azerbaijani carpets - white, black, red, purple, dark blue, yellow, blue, green and others - are successfully and harmoniously used. Carpet experts appreciate Shirvan carpets in terms of internationally accepted categories - in importance, color and history.

The Ismayilli branch continues these traditions of carpet weaving and contributes to Azerbaijani carpet weaving art.

One of the important tasks for now is production of the necessary raw materials for the creation of carpets in Azerbaijan itself. To this end, a spinning dye factory is being created in the Sumgait Chemistry and Industrial Park. Raw materials for the factory - wool and dyes - will be harvested in Nakhchivan, Barda, Gobustan, Sabirabad and Shabran regions of the country by the respective regional centers.

Azerkhalcha was established in May 2016 under the presidential decree. The Company is focused on production and export of carpets and carpet products, organization of sales both domestically and internationally, application of new technologies in the production of carpets and carpet products, modernization and productive usage of equipment and facilities, and implementation of other tasks related to the development of this field.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Laman Ismayilova

The 10th Uzeyir Hajibeyli International Music Festival will once again bring together the world-renowned musicians from Azerbaijan, Russia, the U.S., Turkey, Italy and Slovakia.

The Festival, scheduled for September 18-26, will take place in Baku.

The birthday of legendary composer Uzeyir Hajibeyli (September 18) is celebrated as National Music Day in Azerbaijan since 1995. The International Music Festival is organized yearly to honor creativity of the world-famous composer.

According to tradition, annually on this day outstanding performers, orchestras from many countries gather in Baku to demonstrate their skills, performing in the best concert halls of the capital.

The festival is supported by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Ministry of Culture.

The event program is incredibly diverse and includes not only concerts of famous music groups, but also creative evenings, conferences and much more.

The grand opening of the festival will be held at the Azerbaijan State Academic Philharmonic on September 18 at 19:00.

The opening ceremony will also feature Azerbaijan State Choral Chapel.

People's Artist of Azerbaijan, famous pianist Murad Adigezalzade will be the soloist.

Azerbaijan State Symphonic Orchestra, conducted by People's Artist of Azerbaijan Fakhraddin Karimov will perform on the stage. The artistic director of the Azerbaijan State Symphonic Orchestra is People's Artist Gulbadzhi Imanova.

Born in 1885 in the heart of the ancient Azerbaijani Khanate of Karabakh -- Shusha -- Uzeyir Hajibeylis outstanding musical talent started a revolution in the Azerbaijani musical timeline. He was the very musician to introduce an extraordinary innovation in the nation's music culture, to constantly refresh it, and adjust to modern tastes. He was a founder of an opera genre not only in Azerbaijan, but the East and created the first Muslim opera in the Islamic world.

His unique synthesis of Oriental and Western music significantly promoted the classical music traditions in the East and opened a page of classical music patterns.

The unique composer was brave enough to explore blending two incompatibly different cultures at root and achieve an unprecedented synethesis.

History recognizes Hajibeyli as an innovator as well as the first to establish a professional music school and Orchestra for Traditional Folk Instruments, to compose the Muslim worlds first opera and operetta, to introduce a woman on stage, to write the countrys national anthem (which is the official anthem of Azerbaijan today), to be awarded the highest artistic title of the Soviet Union.

Through his music as well as work as a journalist, teacher, and translator, Hajibeyli played a vital role in the fight against illiteracy and helped usher in a cultural shift, launching a period of enlightenment that transcended Azerbaijans borders and reached many others in the Eurasia region.

"Arshin Mal Alan" or The Cloth Peddler was the latest and one of the most popular operettas of the eminent composer. The comedic and romantic operetta premiered in Azerbaijan in 1913, thus becoming the first operetta in the entire Muslim world.

"Arshin Mal Alan" become one of the most well-known and dearly-loved stories among Azerbaijanis. The operetta has been successfully performed in a plethora of languages in over 60 countries of the world, including in U.S, Austria, France, China, Greece, India, Russia, and Turkey.By Trend

German Chancellor Angela Merkels visit to Azerbaijan is extremely important from the point of view of development of bilateral relations and relations between the European Union and Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani MP Hikmat Babaoglu told Trend Aug. 27.

Despite experts and journalists characterized this visit as political, Merkel's visit to Azerbaijan was also connected with serious economic issues, he said.

"Having touched upon this moment, Merkel stressed that Azerbaijan is Germany's biggest and most important trading partner in the region, he said. Presently, 150 German enterprises operate in Azerbaijan, which gives reason to think that Germany attaches great importance to economic cooperation with Azerbaijan, sees new profitable economic prospects in the diversification of the country's economy."

Babaoglu stressed that Germany is the country with the biggest economy and, having such opportunities, seeks to demonstrate even greater activity in the region.

"Germany is forced to remain committed to some international commitments undertaken after World War II, he said. Therefore, during the cardinal changes in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, Germany was not among the countries actively interfering in these events. Germany is trying to compensate for this gap by economic means."

Merkels statement in connection with the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that Germany will continue to exert efforts on the basis of the decisions of the UN Security Council and will seek to find a way of resolving the issue for the improvement of the condition of people in the corresponding regions", means that Germany attaches special importance to relations with Azerbaijan, Babaoglu said.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed an order on measures regarding the improvement of housing and living conditions of the population of Ismayilli city.

Under the presidential order, 3 million manats were allocated from the state budget to the Ismayilli Executive Authority for the construction of a 48-apartment residential building in the city.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Naila Huseynli

Representative of UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Azerbaijan Guido Ambroso and Protection Officer Oktavian Mohorea met with internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Lachin region, settled in Takhtakorpu area of Agjabadi region and in Barda region on August 27.

In the framework of his visit to western regions of Azerbaijan, Ambroso mentioned that he worked in Azerbaijan as an employee of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in 1995-1997 and witnessed the difficult and tense day of IDPs and people who suffered from the war.

At that time, the focus of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees was to provide emergency assistance to the internally displaced persons together with the government of Azerbaijan. The settlements were built by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in order to help them to get rid of the situation they are dealing with, and improve their housing conditions. Then, Azerbaijans financial situation improved, economic opportunities expanded, and the Azerbaijani government took over the responsibility for IDPs. But we have never forgotten the IDPs in Azerbaijan. We will be with them until they return to their homelands. We will continue to campaign with the Azerbaijani government to protect the rights of internally displaced persons, stated Ambroso.

Then Ambroso met with IDPs in the regions, and inquired about their living conditions. During the meeting, IDPs expressed the satisfaction with the state level care, and said that they never forget their homeland, and they are looking forward to return to their homeland. Moreover, they also asked for protection of Azerbaijans rights at the international level, and expressed their dissatisfaction with the fact that four resolution of UN Security Council on Azerbaijan still remains on paper for many years.

The representative of UNHCR in Azerbaijan said: The UN High Commissioner for Refugees is a humanitarian organization and it deals with the elimination of the consequences, not the conflicts. Japan's Fuji Company conducts humanitarian action in Azerbaijan with the support of UN High Commissioner for Refugees, internally displaced persons were examined and provided with the glasses. We hope that the conflict will be resolved through the peaceful negotiations on the initiative of the OSCE Minsk Group based on the resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council.

During the occupation of Lachin region by the Armenian armed forces in 1992, 267 people were killed, including 18 children under the age of 16, 120 people lost their health, 66 were taken hostage, and hundreds of children became orphans. All the settlements of the regions were burned by the Armenian armed forces, ancient history and cultural monuments have been vandalized. Damage as a result of occupation in amounted to $7.1 million. More than 77,000 residents of the Lachin region live as internally displaced persons for 26 years in 58 cities and regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan, including Takhtakorpu area of Agjabadi region.

Moreover, 33,172 IDPs or 9,442 families from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions settled in the territory of Barda region. Over the past 26 years, new families established and new children are born in IDP families. The number of internally displaced people is increasing. As many as 129 IDP families have been provided with housing in new settlements in Yevlakh and Aghdam regions. The construction of another settlement for IDPs is planned in the region.

Settlements, residential areas were built in different parts of Azerbaijan for IDPs in accordance with the State Program on Improving the living conditions of refugees and internally displaced persons and increasing employment and corresponding orders of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.By Trend

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed an order on the construction of a new kindergarten in the city of Ismayilli.

Under the presidential order, 1.5 million manats were allocated to the Ismayilli Executive Authority for the construction of the kindergarten for 100 children.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed an order regarding the construction of the Chukhuryurd-Sis-Galeybughurd-Kechmaddin-Galaderesi road in Shamakhi region.

Under the presidential order, the Azerbaijan Highways State Agency is allocated 7.9 million manats for the construction of the road connecting four residential areas with a total population of 2,000 people.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Sara Israfilbayova

Participants of the OPEC+ agreement fulfilled their obligations by the end of July by 109 percent.

This indicator was voiced at a meeting of the ministerial monitoring committee at OPEC+ held on August 27, which was held in the teleconference mode, Reuters reported.

In June, the implementation rate of the agreement was 121 percent.

Earlier in June, OPEC+ countries approved the recovery of production by 1 million barrels per day, which should lead them to 100 percent compliance with the terms of the agreement. Prior to this agreement on limiting production was overfulfilled, the level of reduction reached 150 percent of the plan.

World crude prices are affected by different factors. The International Energy Agency (IEA) on August 27 warned of further supply disruptions, especially from Venezuela, where an economic crisis has cut deep into the OPEC-members oil output.

Venezuelan crude oil exports had halved in the previous two years to just 1 million bpd by mid-2018, according to trade flow data.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange added 0.2 percent, to settle at $68.87 a barrel, the highest finish for a front-month contract since August 7, Brent crude the global benchmark, added 0.5 percent, to $76.21 a barrel, which is the highest for front-month contract since July 10, MarketWatch reported.

OPEC and non-OPEC producers reached an agreement in December 2016 to curtail oil output jointly and ease a global glut after more than two years of low prices. OPEC agreed to slash the output by 1.2 million barrels per day from January 1.

Non-OPEC oil producers such as Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, Sudan, and South Sudan agreed to reduce output by 558,000 barrels per day starting from January 1, 2017.

OPEC and its partners decided to extend its production cuts till the end of 2018 in Vienna on November 30, as the oil cartel and its allies step up their attempt to end a three-year supply glut that has savaged crude prices and the global energy industry.

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Sara Israfilbayova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Sara_999Is

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Irans President Hassan Rouhani in a telephone conversation with his French counterpart called on the parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to accelerate and clarify their measures for saving the nuclear deal, from which the US has withdrawn.

Iran has honored all of its commitments under the JCPOA, and expects the other parties to accelerate and further clarify their measures to maintain the deal, considering the US unilateral withdrawal from this agreement, Rouhani told Emmanuel Macron on Aug. 27, Tasnim news agency reported.

Highlighting the heavy responsibility of the remaining parties to the nuclear deal, Rouhani underlined, Iran wants the JCPOA to be preserved, but at the same time, if the future of Europes operational plans on guaranteeing the financial and monetary channels, oil, insurance and transportation is not clear, it will take different measures.

Macron, for his part, said France is making every effort to protect the JCPOA and will fulfill its responsibilities in this regard.

Pointing to the intensive measures that the JCPOA parties have taken to save the deal, the French president said tapping into various trade and financial mechanisms is being pursued.

Rouhani and Macron also discussed plans for the next meeting of foreign ministers of France, Britain, Germany, Iran and the EU foreign policy chief on the JCPOA, the latest developments in Syria, the upcoming meeting of Iranian, Russia and Turkish presidents, and the fight against terrorism.

On May 8, the US president pulled his country out of the JCPOA, which was achieved in Vienna in 2015 after years of negotiations among Iran and the Group P5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).

Following the US exit, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbay Jeenbekov has taken part in the opening ceremony of the International Altaic Conference, the Kyrgyz Kabar news agency reported.

In his speech, he stressed the importance of this conference for the unity of peoples and thanked professor of Turkic Studies department at the University of Berlin Barbara Kellner-Heinkele for supporting the ideas of the Altai peoples.

"The international conference has turned into a permanent international institute thanks to the efforts of the Altai scholars, Jeenbekov said.

The president thanked all Altai scholars, participants of last year's and current conferences.

"The annual international conference creates an opportunity for Altaic scholars to discuss the latest scientific discoveries in the study of the heritage, culture and languages of the Altai civilization and a broad exchange of views with other scholars, he said. For the Kyrgyz people, the topic dedicated to Altai has a symbolic significance.

Jeenbekov added that the conference will give a good chance for scholars to share their opinions with authoritative and well-known colleagues, which will make a great contribution to the unity of peoples.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Astana Mayors Office will save more than 1 billion tenges by giving up using official state cars, Kazinform news agency reported citing Astana city mayor Aset Isekeshev.

We have now revised the principle of using official vehicles, he said. We have refused from purchasing vehicles and from the maintenance of the garage. We buy transport services in the market, and our savings over five years will exceed 1 billion tenges.

Earlier it was reported that the Astana Mayors Office since 2018 will switch to testing the taxis.

This is a good opportunity for car companies, the mayor said. We are interested regarding a number of projects in the field of public transport.

(359.64 tenges = 1 USD on Aug. 27)

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Some 25 passenger buses of LIAZ brand have been received by the Tajik city of Khujand within the project titled "Development of Public Transport in Khujand, Tajik news agency Avesta reported.

Some $26 million have been allocated for implementation of this project, financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

This is the second delivery of buses to the administrative center of the Sughd region within the project.

New buses differ by their dimensions from the previous delivery. The length of each bus is 12 meters and the capacity is more than 100 passengers.

In the second phase of the project, the total number of new buses in Khujand has reached 50. Another 50 buses will arrive in Khujand by the year end.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Turkish Armed Forces will continue fighting terrorism, Turkish Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar said, Turkish media reported Aug. 28.

Akar noted that the protection of national interests, preservation of the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Turkey is priority for the countrys Armed Forces.

He also stressed that the people of Turkey trust their army.

The conflict between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) terrorist group, which demands the creation of an independent Kurdish state, has lasted more than 25 years, claiming more than 40,000 lives. The PKK is recognized as a terrorist organization by the UN and the EU.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Bishkek city hosted a meeting of Kyrgyz Deputy Interior Minister Kursan Asanov with Irans Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Ali Mojtaba Rouzbehani, Kabar news agency reported.

The parties discussed practical steps of signing a draft agreement between the governments of the two countries on cooperation in the sphere of ensuring security, as well as law and order.

As part of the agreement, practical interaction will be carried out on cooperation in the field of countering international terrorism, illicit arms trafficking, cybercrime, etc.

Kursan Asanov thanked the guests for their cooperation and also expressed confidence in the further strengthening of constructive interaction.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan will hold political consultations between the two countries foreign ministries at the level of deputy foreign ministers, the press service of the Uzbek Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

On August 28, 2018, a delegation of Kazakh Foreign Ministry headed by the country's Deputy Foreign Minister Galymzhan Koishybayev will arrive in Tashkent.

The sides will consider the current state and prospects of bilateral relations, issues of regional cooperation, as well as interaction as part of international structures.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

On the eve of the 27th anniversary of Uzbekistan's independence, the country's authorities will not impose restrictions on the admission of Tajik citizens through their border crossings, Tajik news agency Asia Plus reported citing to the Tajik authorities.

"Presently, all checkpoints on the Tajik-Uzbek border are working in regular mode and citizens are allowed to enter Uzbekistan without any restrictions," the source said.

The Independence Day of Uzbekistan is celebrated on September 1.

In previous years, on the eve of the Independence Day Uzbek authorities imposed restrictions on foreigners visiting the country and the checkpoints were strengthened by additional forces.

Tajikistan used to be notified of restrictions on the citizens' movement a month before the celebration of the Independence Day.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Relations between Turkey and Russia are not an alternative to relations between Ankara and Washington, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, Turkish media reported Aug. 28.

He said it is no secret that there are real problems between the US and Turkey at present.

Cavusoglu also noted that Ankara, as before, supports the normalization of relations, and expressed his confidence that all problems can be solved through dialogue.

"The US must understand that it is impossible to achieve any results through threats," he said.

Regarding the purchase of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), Cavusoglu said this is a necessity for Turkey.

"At one time, the US refused to sell American SAMs," he said.

The day before, the US and Turkish diplomats held talks on the normalization of relations, as well as discussed the purchase of the Russian S-400 SAMs by Turkey.

Other details of the meeting were not reported.

Relations between Washington and Ankara have recently deteriorated because of the US pastor Andrew Brunson detained in 2016 by Turkey.

This is while US President Donald Trump said he authorized doubling tariffs for aluminum and steel from Turkey up to 20 percent and 50 percent, respectively. This decision caused the fall of the Turkish lira to the historic low.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzWelcome Guest! You Are Here:Last September, Ervin Polnick worked for days, pulling out nails, tearing out walls, floors and fixtures from the house he built 40 years ago for his family.

Like neighbors' homes throughout Lumberton's Rolling Hills subdivision, Dolores and Ervin Polnick's house flooded during Tropical Storm Harvey's torrential rains. Even though their house, at the highest spot in the neighborhood, fared better than most, it still had more than three feet of water inside.

When Brian and Brandi Wolfe and their 10-month-old daughter Bryli gave them a tour of the house last week, it was the first time the Polnicks had seen it in a year.

The Wolfes' house on nearby Williford also flooded during Harvey. Brandi, eight months pregnant at the time, didn't want to risk a dangerous evacuation, so the couple left just as the water began to rise.

Wherever they went for shelter, Harvey's rising floodwaters followed - first to her parents' house on Cook's Lake Road, then to a friend's house. They shuffled around, at one point staying in a friend's barn, until the water receded and they could move into a trailer on her parents' property.

Brandi worried about the effect the stress could have on the baby. "I just kept thinking, 'Stay in, stay in. There's too much to do.'"

Bryli was born Oct. 2.

The couple planned to build anew after tearing down their house. "It was just by the grace of God my brother came across a post about this house," Brian said.

Goodbye and hello



Letting go of their lifelong home was a difficult decision for the Polnicks. They raised their two children in Rolling Hills, and Dolores' best friend, Peggy Meredith, lived just down the road. The house and the neighborhood were filled with a lifetime of treasured memories.

But when the insurance company came up nearly $45,000 short of what it would take to rebuild and Ervin suddenly needed neck surgery, the couple knew it was time to let go.

Dolores remembers Ervin telling her he just didn't think he'd be able to do the work.

In early January they posted their home on Rolling Hills Drive for sale.

The couple met first with Brian, who recognized Dolores as his former fifth-grade science teacher. He told them how much he loved growing up in Rolling Hills before a flood in 2006 forced his family to move. He said he always wanted to raise his own family there.

"It made my heart feel so good to hear that," Dolores said. "That's when I knew it was going to be OK. I thought, 'This is meant to be.'"

Brian was nearly sold on the house as soon as he saw the property. He just had to convince Brandi.

"No, I'm not living in a flooded house," she remembers saying, though she agreed to look. "When I saw it, it just had so much of what we wanted. I could see my vision, I saw what it could be."

The Wolfes closed on the house Feb. 14. They are set to move into their new home today, one year after Harvey forced them from their old one.

A homecoming



Last week, the couple met with the Polnicks and showed them all the changes they have made.

Dolores' and Ervin's faces lit up over and over as they went from room to room, taking in the new granite kitchen countertop, bright apricot walls of Bryli's playroom, a seafoam-colored bathroom, their old bedroom now refurnished. Some things stayed, others changed. Some of the changes were ones Dolores had envisioned making before Harvey hit.

"Ervin, look, this is exactly what I had always talked about doing in this old closet," she said, stepping inside a large walk-in pantry.

The couples eventually made their way to the covered back patio, one of the Polnicks' favorite parts of the house. Brian told them of plans to mount a television.

"We had one too," Dolores said, recalling how "Ervin would sit out there with a cold beer and watch the Dallas Cowboys."

Before leaving, Dolores hugged Brandi and Brian and gave Bryli a kiss as they posed together for a photograph on the front lawn. Ervin shook hands with Brian and congratulated them on making the house into a home again.

"You've made me proud," he said.

kbrent@beaumontenterprise.comA Republican propelled by President Donald Trump and an African-American Democrat powered by a wave of liberal energy won the nominations for governor of Florida on Tuesday, setting up a colossal fall showdown between two potent political forces in the country's biggest swing state.

Trump's preferred candidate, Rep. Ron DeSantis, decisively won the GOP nomination. Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, a liberal backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, claimed the Democratic nod in an upset. Both are 39, representing a generational shift, and defeated more moderate opponents.

Their victories instantly elevated the themes that have jolted and polarized the country during the Trump era - race, health care, immigration and the environment - to the political foreground of the third-most-populous state in the country and one that promises to be a battleground in the next presidential election.

Gillum, who defeated former congresswoman Gwen Graham, a centrist who led in pre-election polls, became the second African-American gubernatorial nominee in the South this year. Democrat Stacey Abrams won the party's nomination in Georgia in May. She is also facing a Trump-backed Republican, Secretary of State Brian Kemp. A third southern black Democrat, Mike Espy, is running for the U.S. Senate in Mississippi.

Addressing supporters Tuesday night, Gillum presented himself as a direct answer to Trump-style politics.

"We're going to make clear to the rest of the world that the dark days that we've been under coming out of Washington, that the derision and the division that have been coming out of our White House, that right here in the state of Florida we are going to remind this nation of what is truly the American way," he said.

DeSantis, who is one of Trump's most resolute defenders in Washington, beat state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who had eyed the governor's office for years.

DeSantis had tied his fate to Trump, who campaigned for him this summer. One of his ads showed him building a wall - of the border sort - out of blocks with one of his children and reading "The Art of the Deal" to another.

He signaled in his victory speech that he would continue to align himself tightly in the general election with Trump and his allies and listed a string of Trump accomplishments, including the nominations of two conservative Supreme Court justices and the cancellation of the Iran nuclear deal.

"I'd say that's pretty good work for a year and a half, so let's keep it going," he said.

The contrasts in theprimariesmirrored the choices that voters have faced across the country this year as they have picked nominees for the November midterms. In the GOP, voters have mostly sided with Trump-backed candidates.

In the Democratic Party, this year's primary results have been less conclusive. At times, liberal upstarts like New York's Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nebraska's Kara Eastman have upset establishment-backed opponents. On other occasions, more moderate Democrats have defeated left-wing challengers.

Gillum has embraced a "Medicare-for-all" health-care system and has said the government should "abolish ICE in its current form." Graham, the daughter of former governor and U.S. senator Bob Graham, had built a moderate record during her sole term in Congress but failed to overcome the coalition of liberals and African Americans built by Gillum.

Sanders, who traveled to Florida this month to campaign for Gillum, congratulated him in a statement. "What has made Andrew's campaign so powerful is that he's not just working hard to win an election, he has laid out a vision for a new course for the state of Florida and our country," Sanders said.

Gillum has faced questions about an FBI investigation that he has said appeared to focus on city government in Tallahassee and a colleague, but not him. "I have zero tolerance for corruption," he said in a Washington Post podcast earlier this year.

Voters also went to the polls Tuesday in Arizona and Oklahoma. In Arizona, where the death of Sen. John McCain has sent many people into a state of mourning, Trump's influence was felt in the closely watched Republican primary for Senate. While Trump did not pick a favorite, the three leading candidates aligned themselves closely with the president. Rep. Martha McSally, the winner, hardened her immigration stance as the race unfolded.

Ideological divisions roiled the Democratic primary for governor in Arizona, with former state education official David Garcia emerging victorious after campaigning on a platform of universal health care and replacing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Tuesday also kicked off a marquee Senate race in Florida, as Sen. Bill Nelson, D, released his first television ad in anticipation of a bruising fight against Gov. Rick Scott, who easily won the Republican nomination. Nelson, who was unopposed on the Democratic side, pitched himself as a middle-of-the-road problem-solver.

"If you know who you're fighting for and you're willing to put the politics aside, you can get a lot done," he says in the commercial. Some general election polls have shown Scott, a formidable fundraiser, leading Nelson.

The Gillum nomination could affect the concurrent Senate race, however, as the party's enthusiastic base of liberal activists and donors pour money and manpower into the state.

With the unofficial post-Labor Day start of the general election just around the corner, both parties face a moment of reckoning with their nominees in the swing states and districts that could decide control of Congress and the occupants of the nation's governor's mansions.

Florida and Arizona factor heavily into those battles. Trump won both by single-digit margins in 2016. But demographic trends and rising anger with his presidency have given Democrats hopes of turning the states blue.

Republicans have controlled the Florida governor's mansion for nearly two decades. But Democrats sense an opening this year, partly in anticipation of DeSantis as the Republican nominee.

"VOTE FOR RON!" Trump tweeted on Monday. He called DeSantis a candidate who is "Strong on Crime, Borders and wants Low Taxes."

"It made all the difference," said longtime Florida Republican consultant Mac Stipanovich, speaking of Trump's endorsement. "It is a commentary on Trump's influence with the Republican primary electorate that he could basically call the shot."

Also in Florida, several House members faced primary challenges, including Rep. Darren Soto, D, who defeated former congressman Alan Grayson, one of the party's most outspoken and controversial liberals; Rep. Al Lawson, D, who defeated former Jacksonville mayor Alvin Brown; and Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D, who defeated Chardo Richardson, the president of the region's American Civil Liberties Union chapter.

Looking to November, Democrats are hopeful about winning three South Florida districts where Latino and suburban voters, once reliably Republican, fled the party in 2016. Their top target is the Miami-based 27th District, where GOP Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is retiring and where voters rejected Trump by 20 points.

Donna Shalala, who served as health and human services secretary under President Bill Clinton and later as president of the University of Miami, barreled into the primary and raised more than $1 million in just a few weeks. Shalala won the Democratic nomination and will face Maria Salazar, the Republican nominee.

In Arizona, Senate Republican leaders had hoped McSally, a former Air Force pilot and one of their top recruits, would advance from a bruising primary that has forced her to tack to the right and embrace Trump, whom she once criticized.

"I think she has the best chance of holding the seat. I worry that if she isn't the nominee that we could well lose the seat," said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas.

McSally defeated hard-right osteopath Kelli Ward and former Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio.

The winner will faceRep. Kyrsten Sinema, D, who has been running on a centrist platform. Polls show Sinema is in a strong position to compete for the seat in November. Some Republicans have grown nervous that McSally's steps to the right, particularly in immigration, could come back to haunt her.

McSally said she welcomes a chance to campaign with Trump in the general election. Republicans are defending a 51-49 Senate majority, and the Arizona race is seen as a critical piece of the battle for control of the chamber.

In the Democratic gubernatorial primary, Garcia talked about creating statewide universal health care and "replacing ICE with an immigration system that reflects our American values."He will face Republican Gov. Doug Ducey.

The nastiest Democratic race was in McSally's 2nd Congressional District, where former congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick competed with Matt Heinz, a doctor and former state legislator who lost to McSally in 2016. He refused to clear a path for Kirkpatrick and compared her desire to return to Congress to a "meth addiction."

Republicans settled a crowded primary of their own, with Hispanic Chamber of Commerce leader Lea Marquez-Peterson leading in polls and fundraising.

In Oklahoma, businessman Kevin Stitt won Republican gubernatorial runoff and will face former state attorney general Drew Edmondson, D, in November.

A Republican runoff was also being decided in the conservative 1st Congressional District, which has been vacant since Jim Bridenstine left to lead NASA. Either former Tulsa County district attorney Tim Harris or businessman Kevin Hern would be the favorite in November.

Democrats were focused on the more moderate 5th Congressional District, where Kendra Horn has intrigued the national party and looked to get past retired law professor Tom Guild, who ran to her left.Washington

The Trump administration and Mexico have reached a preliminary accord to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement with a new deal that would be intended to encourage more manufacturing in the United States.

At the same time, President Donald Trump threatened to keep Canada, the third member of NAFTA, out of any new trade agreement.

In announcing the tentative accord Monday at the White House, Trump said a new pact would be called "the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement."

Trump said he was open to including Canada  "if they'd like to negotiate fairly." He threatened to impose new taxes on Canadian auto imports to intensify pressure on Ottawa to agree to a deal to Trump's liking.

Canada's NAFTA negotiator, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, is cutting short a trip to Europe to fly to Washington Tuesday to try to restart talks.

"We will only sign a new NAFTA that is good for Canada and good for the middle class," said Adam Austen, a spokesman for Freeland, adding that "Canada's signature is required."

Trump has frequently condemned the 24-year-old NAFTA trade pact as a job-killing "disaster" for American workers. Yet the preliminary agreement announced Monday is far from final. Even after being formally signed, it would have be ratified by lawmakers in each country.

The U.S. Congress wouldn't vote on it until next year.

At least initially, it looks like a tentative public-relations victory for Trump, the week after his former campaign manager was convicted on financial crimes and his former personal attorney implicated him in hush money payments to two women who say they had affairs with Trump.

Over the weekend, U.S. and Mexican negotiators worked to narrow their differences, capping talks that had begun a year ago and have proved highly contentious.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Monday that Mexico had agreed to ensure that 75 percent of automotive content be produced within the trade bloc (up from a current 62.5 percent) to receive duty-free benefits and that 40 percent to 45 percent be made by workers earning at least $16 an hour. Those changes are meant to encourage more auto production in the United States.

For months, the talks were held up by the Trump administration's insistence on a "sunset clause": A renegotiated NAFTA would end after five years unless all three countries agreed to continue it. Mexico and Canada considered that proposal a deal-killer.

On Monday, the Trump administration and Mexico announced a compromise on that divisive issue: An overhauled NAFTA would remain in force for 16 years. After six years, the countries would review the agreement and decide whether it needed to be updated or changed. They then would either agree to a new 16-year deal or the pact would expire.

Critics quickly denounced the prospect of cutting Canada out of the North American trade pact.Balanced Health Kentucky, a nonprofit group led by hospital executives, is calling for comprehensive healthcare tax reform to fund Medicaid expansion, according to WKU Public Radio.

On its website, the group said state lawmakers have "complete legislative authority to fully fund Medicaid expansion," and advocated for lowering existing tax rates and broadening the narrow base.

Balanced Health Kentucky is specifically urging lawmakers to increase the number of groups paying the state's healthcare provider tax that brings in about $300 million annually, according to the report.

Currently, hospitals pay the largest share of the tax, and the tax also is paid by home health agency services, hospital-based nursing facilities and psychiatric residential treatment facilities. Physicians, mental health counselors and others don't pay the tax.

"The federal government recognizes 18 distinct healthcare categories that can pay the [state's healthcare provider] tax in order to draw down that 2 times federal match. For every dollar you raise at the state level, you can pull down 2 times. That money goes to pay for what will be 500,000 people on Medicaid expansion," Balanced Health Kentucky President Riggs Lewis, who is also vice president of Louisville, Ky.-based Norton Healthcare, told WKU Public Radio.

Kentucky expanded Medicaid in 2014. According to the report, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, who was not governor when Medicaid expansion passed, has expressed concerns about the expansion's cost.

More articles on healthcare finance:

Augusta University Health sees more patients, lower costs, turns finances around

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For-profit hospital stock report: Week of Aug. 20-24

%MCEPASTEBIN%Huntsville (Texas) Memorial Hospital is facing financial troubles, but the hospital is taking steps to shore up its finances, according to The Huntsville Item.

The hospital has faced financial challenges for months, and it is behind on payments to vendors and is unable to pay rent.

To help improve its financial position, the hospital closed its clinic in Madisonville, Texas, and plans to close its clinic in Riverside, Texas, by the end of August.

Huntsville Memorial Hospital also cut expenses through employee layoffs.

"We have right-sized all of the departments within the hospital, including reducing the administration staff by 40 percent," Michael Morgan, hospital interim CEO, said Aug. 22, according to the report.

The hospital began seeking partnership opportunities several months ago, and has received interest from 38 organizations across the nation.

"We are very pleased at the level of interest that has been shown so far, but no decisions have been made and we are continuing to evaluate all possibilities for charting the best path forward for the hospital," Mr. Morgan said.

More articles on healthcare finance:

Tennessee hospital to scale back services ahead of Sept. 15 closure

Texas Health Resources' net income sinks 63% in first half of 2018

6 latest hospital bankruptciesBend, Ore.-based St. Charles Health System is mulling the idea of becoming a teaching hospital to draw in more physicians amid recruitment struggles, according to The Bulletin.

However, the majority of medical residencies are funded by Medicare, which places caps on the number of residents hospitals can have. St. Charles Health System's program is capped at one resident per year.



Jeff Absalon, MD, executive vice president and chief physician executive at the health system, told The Bulletin, "What it essentially means to us is if we choose to do this presently, we would be funding the cost of training these doctors."



St. Charles Health System and a number of other Oregon hospitals formed a consortium in 2015 to address physician shortages in rural areas of the state. The consortium previously argued CMS could lift the resident cap on hospitals with fewer than three residents. While the Obama administration rejected the notion, the hospitals are hoping the Trump administration may decide differently.



More articles on integration and physician issues:

How hospitals should handle discriminatory patient preferences: 2 lawyers weigh in

Fitbit says it can solve medical student depression

Opinion: Why NYU 'got it wrong' with free med school tuitionCentral Washington Hospital, a 198-bed a general medical and surgical facility in Wenatchee, Wash., plans to close its 22-bed transitional care center for aging patients, The Wenatchee World reported.

Hospital officials attributed the move to staffing needs. They said the closure will help fill 35 of the nearly 50 open nursing and nursing assistant positions in other areas of CWH.

The hospital will partner with private nursing home companies to take care of its aging patients, spokesperson Andrew Canning told The Wenatchee World.

"It comes down to there are people providing the service in the community and they do a great job," he said. "So, we are going to let them continue to do a great job, and we're going to shift our resources."

He said no transitional care center workers are expected to lose their jobs. Patient transfers are slated to begin Aug. 31 and end by Nov. 1.

More articles on patient flow:

Tri-City Medical Center delays suspension of psychiatric ward

Arkansas hospital to end inpatient pediatric care

Tri-City Medical Center to take new vote on suspending mental health unitThe nonprofit consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen urged federal health officials to stop a nationwide sepsis study in an Aug. 28 letter to the National Institutes of Health, arguing the research could put patients' health at risk and produce murky results.

Here are five things to know:

1. Physicians typically use a combination of IV fluids and blood pressure medicines called vasopressors to treat sepsis, but there is no consensus on the exact amounts of each medication.

2. The CLOVERS study, funded by NIH, aims to find the most ideal combination of fluids and medications to best treat sepsis patients. Patients who volunteer for the study are put into two groups. One group receives a large amount of fluids and then drugs to lower the patients blood pressure, while the other group received a smaller amount of IV fluids followed by quicker administration of blood pressure drugs. Public Citizen noted the study contains no control group to help compare patient outcomes.

"The problem is, both of those experimental ways for treating sepsis may do worse," Michael Carome, MD, head of Public Citizen's Health Research Group, told NPR.

3. Public Citizen also argued the study protocols could delay treatment for patients with dangerously low blood pressure for several hours.

"No one caring for a sepsis patient would normally do that as part of usual care," Dr. Carome said.

4. Nathan Shapiro, MD, professor of emergency medicine at Cambridge, Mass.-based Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and one of the prime investigators of the CLOVERS study, stands by the research.

"The study protocol was designed by expert clinicians in emergency and critical care medicine representing nearly 50 hospitals in the United States and follows a well-accepted design," Dr. Shapiro said in a written statement to NPR.

5. A spokesperson for the Office for Human Research Protections told the publication the office has not yet seen the Public Citizen complaint but will review the allegations. The study, which started March 3, is slated for completion in June 2021.

More articles on clinical leadership and infeciton control:Portland, Ore.-based OHSU Healthcare temporarily suspended its heart transplant program after several cardiologists on the team announced plans to leave the institution, according to The Oregonian.

Renee Edwards, MD, vice president and CMO of OHSU Healthcare, confirmed the program's suspension to The Oregonian Aug. 27 and said the hospital will no longer evaluate new patients, accept donor hearts or perform transplant operations for at least 14 days. However, she noted the team is adequately staffed to follow up with patients who recently received a new heart, and patients who need pacemakers or comparable procedures may still go to OHSU for treatment.

Dr. Edwards told the publication the three individuals leaving the team are doing so for career or family reasons. Two individuals will stay at OHSU through the end of September. Leadership reportedly learned of the staff changes Aug. 24 and decided to suspend the program, which has operated for 32 years, according to the report. She also noted the suspension may last longer than 14 days.

OHSU's heart transplant program is the only one of its kind in Oregon, the report states. The institution performed 18 heart transplants in 2016, and 30 heart transplants the following year, according to federal data cited by the publication.

During the 14-day suspension, Dr. Edwards said officials will focus on recruiting transplant and heart failure specialists to the program. She said leadership is aware of and understands patients' concern over the situation.

"It was not an easy decision to make as the only heart transplant center in Oregon. We feel a tremendous amount of responsibility. But because our goal is to do the right thing, this pause is to ensure the care of our patients and look to the recruit of additional providers," Dr. Edwards told The Oregonian.

An internal memo obtained by The Oregonian and signed by three OHSU executives indicates the institution is working with federal and internal programs to help affected patients.

Heart transplant candidates can either stay with OHSU during the suspension period or receive a referral and assistance to transfer to another medical facility out of state. Kidney and liver transplants at OHSU are not affected by the staffing changes.

To access the full report, click here.Houston-based Texas Children's Hospital is investigating one of its nurses after she posted a patient's condition on an anti-vaccination Facebook page, hospital officials confirmed to Becker's Hospital Review.

The investigation centers on a 1- to 3-year-old boy who tested positive for measles at the hospital and a nurse who cared for him.

The pediatric intensive care unit nurse posted about the child on an anti-vaccination group page on Facebook, called Proud Parents of Unvaccinated Children-Texas, according to screenshots obtained by The Houston Chronicle. The page has been taken down.

"I think its easy for us nonvaxxers to make assumptions but most of us have never and will never see one of these diseases," the Texas Children's nurse wrote, according to The Chronicle. "By no means have I changed my vax stance, and I never will. But I just wanted to share my experience and how much worse it was than I expected."

Parents shared the screenshots of the nurse's post on the Texas Children's Facebook page, and the hospital immediately said it would investigate.

"We are aware that one of our nurses posted information on social media, and we take these matters very seriously," Texas Children's Hospital told Becker's. "A thorough investigation is underway."

The hospital has since terminated the nurse, a hospital spokesperson told Becker's.

Editor's Note: This article was updated at 3:53 p.m. Aug. 27 to reflect the nurse has been terminated.West Virginia is battling one of the largest hepatitis A outbreaks in U.S. history, which has sickened about 1,031 people in 2018 alone. Health officials believe the surge is possibly linked to the opioid epidemic and excessive drug use, according to Scientific American.

Here are four things to know:

1. About 80 percent of those infected with hepatitis A in the outbreak reported using illicit drugs, according to state outbreak records. Health officials are not sure what specific substances individuals are taking, however, from self-reported patient data, about 58 percent of patients indicated they used injectable drugs, and 42 percent used noninjected ones. Some patients indicated they use both, and others specifically mentioned using heroin.

2. National hepatitis A infection rates declined by about 95 percent since a vaccine first became available in 1995. However, in the past few years rates have increased due to large, multistate outbreaks linked to homelessness and drug use. In 2016, West Virginia had the highest opioid overdose death rate in the U.S., with every 43.4 deaths per 100,000.

3. Viral genome sequencing indicates the same hepatitis A strain is responsible for the outbreaks in West Virginia, Kentucky and California. The outbreaks are seen within areas with a high homeless population.

4. West Virginia's Bureau for Public Health has administered about 18,000 doses of the hepatitis A vaccine for the current outbreak.

More articles on clinical leadership and infection control:As Hurricane Irma bore down on Florida, officials at Baptist Health South Floridaa health system with 10 acute care in-patient facilities; more than 70 outpatient facilities including urgent care, imaging and surgery center locations; and more than 41 physician offices in the regionmade the critical decision to close two of its hospitals in the Florida Keys. With 72 hours before landfall, Mariners Hospital and Fishermen's Community Hospital were directly in the crosshairs of the hurricane, so they shut their doors and evacuated patients to the mainland.

"Because of the predicted storm surge, we generally close these locations when they are in the path of a hurricane," said Dale Adamson, associate vice president of Supply Chain Services for Baptist Health. Mariners Hospital and Fishermens Community Hospital in the Florida Keys were closed, and none of our other locations escaped prepping or experiencing this storm."

Other emergency plans designed specifically for a large-scale hurricane were implemented to serve patients, employees and members of the community. At most of its hospital locations, employees and their families, along with local community members, sheltered in place in a veritable indoor campsite, with tents and sleeping bags  everything except the campfires, said Adamson. While community members brought their own supplies, Baptist Health locations have become a safe haven for more than 1,000 people during Irma.

Now that the 2017 Atlantic hurricane seasonone of the costliest and most devastating on recordhas passed, Baptist Health assessed their efforts and shared three best practices that helped them endure Hurricane Irma while continuing to provide quality patient care.

Always be prepared

According to a recent Medical Group Management Association poll, nearly 20 percent of health system professionals say they do not have an emergency preparedness plan in place. After Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast in 2012, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that almost 90 percent of hospitals in the area experienced substantial challenges" in reacting to the storm.

While Baptist Health is a veteran of hurricanes, that doesn't mean the organization ever stops preparing and updating its emergency plans. In fact, one of the keys to weathering storms like these is monthly emergency preparedness team meetings with people from across the organization responsible for implementing and organizing responses during storms or other emergency events. Each year, Baptist Health also holds a live emergency drill mimicking a real catastrophic event, from plane crash to storm to epidemic.

"We all work really well under pressure," said Haley Flores, director of Supply Chain Quality Assurance at Baptist Health and a member of the emergency preparedness team. "Part of that is working together regularly throughout the year and understanding the different needs at various locations. During an emergency, that allows us to prioritize where supplies go and when."

While Adamson and Flores agree the organization deserved an A" grade in its handling of Hurricane Irma, they still identified areas where they were less prepared. During Irma, the health system had unexpected shortage of some supplies and it was difficult to procure them.

"We don't like to miss things, but our hot button points change every time," said Adamson. Unless you're a fortune teller, you won't know what those might be."

Baptist Health also had fuel shortages after the storm, with trouble refueling supply trucks and employee vehicles. At one point, the organization was experiencing a 25 percent employee call-out rate due to fuel concerns. "If you have the best plan in the world but your employees can't get to work, you can't complete any plan at all," said Adamson.

For the next emergency event, Baptist Health will bring in a fuel tanker to its main supply warehouse, and procure more of the supplies they needed during Irma.

Always be collaborating

Despite those setbacks, their plan held up strikingly well. For others in the healthcare industry, Baptist Health is a model for how to prepare and execute during a natural disaster. From tactical and simple reminders, to complex plan development, the organization has its disaster preparedness checklist dialed in.

It begins with a detailed disaster preparedness plan that can take months to finalize and implement. With power or Internet connectivity concerns during an emergency, each member of the emergency team has a hard copy binder with this plan alongside a contact list of every staff member, vendor, customer and partner.

Staffing plans, meanwhile, should be nailed down long before a disaster. In the case of Baptist Health, the staff is divided into three teamsone in place 72 hours prior to the storm, another that comes on just hours before the storm hits, and the last arriving immediately following the storm.

Baptist Health also activates pre-established emergency contracts with more than 40 vendors, including Cardinal Health, so their locations are stocked with appropriate supplies for at least 72 hours after a storm arrives, and are ready to be re-stocked as soon as the storm passes.

From a practical perspective, the organization gives radios to its emergency preparedness personnel so the team implementing the plan is always in contact. Flores also recommends staff members bring phone and radio chargers, and most importantly, keep their ID badges on at all timesboth in and out of the hospital. During emergencies, roads are often closed and access restricted to the general public. However, emergency and medical workers with identification can bypass roadblocks and other restrictions in order to get to work.

Always be learning

While there are many more items on that checklist, Adamson and Flores believe a willingness to learn from mistakes, and make adjustments on the fly are key to getting patients, staff and the community safely through an emergency.

"My biggest lesson learned from this storm?" asked Adamson. "Even if you prepare the best way you know how, you can't think of everything."

Editors Note: A free disaster preparedness checklist is available for download on the original article page.

(Originally published January 23, 2018 on Cardinal Health Essential Insights)Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak has led the company through significant change since taking his post on June 13, 2011. The company acquired Covidien in a valued transaction of $49.9 billion in 2015 and moved its headquarters to Dublin, Ireland, where Covidien was located.

At the 2018 Medtronic Institutional Investor and Analyst Day, Mr. Ishrak unveiled a new strategic growth plan that included increasing operating revenue by more than 4 percent, expanding the underlying operating margins of 40 to 50 basis points per year and achieving 80 percent free cash flow conversion over the next two to three years.

As the company moves forward, the Star Tribune reported Mr. Ishrak's total compensation at the fiscal year's end April 27, was more than $19 million. As such, Mr. Ishrak is among the highest compensated medical device company CEOs in the country.

Mr. Ishrak's compensation breakdown is as follows:

 Salary: $1.6 million

 Other compensation: $150,569

 Exercised stock options: $4.2 million

 Value realized on vesting shares: nearly $5 million

His compensation increased 17.3 percent over the previous year, while Medtronic performed similarly to the year before in terms of meeting financial targets. By comparison, Stryker Chairman, President and CEO Kevin Lobo reported total compensation at $12.8 million and former President and CEO of Zimmer Biomet earned $10.6 million in total compensation for 2016. Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO Alex Gorskey reported $21.2 million in 2016.The details of a Colorado spine surgeon's plea deal for alleged bankruptcy fraud are coming to light, according to the Daily Camera Boulder County News.

Here are five things to know:

1. Cathleen Van Buskirk, MD, pled guilty to one count of bankruptcy fraud last week and in exchange for the guilty plea prosecutors dropped additional charges that included concealment of bankruptcy assets and money laundering.

2. The maximum prison time prosecutors will request is 33 months, according to the plea deal; bankruptcy fraud charges usually have a maximum sentence of five years in prison. However, there remains contention between the prosecution and defense on the maximum sentence calculation, as the defense calculates the maximum at 24 months.

3. In addition to the pending prison sentence, Dr. Van Buskirk will be fined the full allowed amount, although there is contention as to whether it will be $60,000, as calculated by the prosecution, or $50,000, as calculated by the defense.

4. Dr. Van Buskirk's sentencing hearing will take place Nov. 28, where a jury will decide jail time.

5. At the moment, Dr. Van Buskirk is free on $150,000 bond, and she is able to stay out of custody until her sentencing hearing in November.

Read more about the case here.Fresh from celebrating his milestone 60th birthday, Gerry White, founder of Jawbox Gin, says the two years since he launched the brand have flown in. "But time flies when you're having fun," he adds.

It is hard to believe that Jawbox gin has only been on the market two years such is its high profile, but Gerry, for whom the brand's journey has been a whirlwind, is loving every minute of those years.

Expand Close Gerry White, founder of Jawbox Gin, and James McLornan, Musgraves trading manager for wine and spirits Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E / Facebook

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Whatsapp Gerry White, founder of Jawbox Gin, and James McLornan, Musgraves trading manager for wine and spirits

"I have more energy now than I had when I was 19," he says, just before celebrating turning 60 at a huge bash upstairs at The Duke of York.

It will be a party to remember in the same space that played the backdrop to his 30th, 40th and 50th birthday celebrations.

"Willie Jack (owner of the Duke of York) said I had to come back. It's tradition now," he says.

A lot has happened for Gerry White since his last big birthday.

All of his career was spent behind some of the best-known bars in Belfast. His last role, before creating Jawbox, was a job at the helm of the John Hewitt bar in Donegall Street, where he worked for 15 years.

But today he's on the other side of the pumps, shaking on trade deals with publicans and jetting off to foreign shores to export his gin.

In two weeks he'll take on the Swedish market to give Jawbox a presence in both the on and off trade there.

Its a trip he could only have dreamed of when he trademarked the brand four years ago.

"My life has completely changed. It's given me an energy and I'm on the go all the time, but you get an amazing buzz," says Gerry.

"I'll spend a couple of days in Stockholm where we've signed up with a distributor.

"There will be a couple of events too, mostly with the trade."

Gerry grew up on Conway Street off the Falls Road in west Belfast and has spent most of his adult years living close to Queen's University.

And with Belfast in every fibre of his being it is no shocker that his Jawbox gin is built on the legacy of the city.

He says, as a barman, he always wanted to have his own drink and swayed towards gin because it was the only spirit he would drink.

"It was considered an older woman's drink and I would say only within the last few years it's had a new lease of life, a resurgence, and that's because of the increased volume of quality gins and also thanks to barmen who are enthusiastic about it.

"The have gotten behind gin. They're doing amazing cocktails and garnishes with beautiful presentations. It's a completely different thing now," says Gerry.

He references a recent event that he hosted as a reminder of how gin has transformed its reputation and how his brand has converted even the most gin-averse drinkers.

"There were people at an event at the Lobster Pot in Strangford who told me never in a million years would they drink gin, yet they drink Jawbox.

"It's almost like the way people drink Bacardi but don't like or drink rum, like it's got a cult following."

Jawbox was born when Gerry met with Echlinville distiller Shane Braniff and his head distiller Graham Miller to create a signature blend that would catapult Jawbox - a name Gerry had already thought of - to success.

"When I met Shane and Graham I just knew this was it. They had the same passion and we worked well together," adds Gerry.

"It might sound strange that even though Jawbox didn't exist, I knew what it tasted like.

"I wanted something classic. And Graham knew exactly where I was coming from. It took 15 blends to get that taste and when we got it we just looked at each other and knew that was it."

That process of refinement took three to four months says Gerry. Next followed the packaging and branding and that's when Drinksology, which looks after the distribution, marketing and branding of Jawbox, came on board.

The name, however, is all Gerry's.

"There's always something behind a name," he says. His grandmother Maisie helped influence the name. Maisie Cunningham would tell her grandchildren stories of how the community would gather round their Belfast sinks to catch up on gossip and local affairs.

That ritual gave the humble basin the affectionate name of the 'jaw box'.

"Not everyone would've had the privilege of having their own scullery so they shared a sink but more importantly that place became a focal point for the community," says Gerry.

"When I was naming the gin I thought I need to be responsible so I thought it should be something that is shared and then I thought of gatherings and house parties. Where does everyone end up at a party? In the kitchen. It's the same ethos. Everyone still stands around the sink."

The launch of Jawbox took place in Linen Hall Library, which continued the nod to the brand's Belfast heritage.

"That was important to me. I'll never forget the weather that night. It was a stinking Tuesday night and I thought no one would come. It was a trade-only event and it's hard enough to get the trade out to a pub event but to have it in a library I thought this might not work."

But it did work and almost 150 tradespeople came out in force to support "one of their own".

"I do think they got behind me because I am one of them," said Gerry. And they still are getting behind him.

Chef Michael Deane and his contemporaries are all stockists of Jawbox. Michael has dedicated a dish to the brand.

"It's a Jawbox and citrus-cured trout and of all the choices of gin, he chose mine. That's a Michelin-starred restaurant. They chose us and named it on the menu," says Gerry, still in a state of disbelief.

Chef Niall McKenna has done the same.

But even before such culinary endorsements, Gerry received his first real note of recognition when grocery chain Marks & Spencer decided to stock Jawbox after a blind tasting. It was this retail listing that boosted his already strong belief in his brand.

"They fell in love with it. They were one of the first and chose it from a blind tasting. To me that was a big pat on the back. That was the stamp of quality."

And today Jawbox is stocked in virtually every quality spirits retailer, restaurant, bar and major supermarket here.

It's also stocked in over 5,000 retail outlets in England, Wales and Scotland. It has successfully risen to fame in the Republic, where Gerry spends two to three days of his working week, and just recently it checked into World Duty Free at Belfast City Airport, John Lennon Airport and London Stansted.

As too has its new range of liqueurs - Jawbox Pineapple & Ginger and Jawbox Rhubarb & Ginger - which were launched in the summer. Gerry says cocktail maestros and customers are loving the newcomers.

"They're flying off the shelves, and although I hate that phrase, it is true. I think they just work well with cocktails and the Rhubarb and Ginger goes well with Prosecco," adds Gerry.

Next up, he'll be attending a global trade show in Sydney.

"We are in eight different European countries and Spain has to be one of the biggest consumers of gin which is really great for us," says Gerry.

"We have recently been selling in Canada too and that came about from a conference visitor.

"A drinks distributor was here, in Belfast, with her husband who ran the Credit Union in Canada and she came into the John Hewitt and tried it.

"She said she would contact me and I thought nothing more of it, but she did so we started to export it.

"The Asian market has also been a revelation to us and as we speak we're going into Hong Kong."

But what's most exciting for the man who quit his day job to follow his dream at the grand age of 57 is the brand's potential in America.

"The big one for me is going live in the United States. The interest there has already been huge.

"Bottle sizes for the States are different and they will go into production next month with a batch heading out in December in time for the New Year."

Gerry has plans with former colleague and owner of the famous Dead Rabbit in New York, Sean Muldoon, to launch Jawbox stateside.

"Being in America is the goal. Years ago I worked with Sean in the Northern Whig so we're talking to the guys and would hope to do the launch there. That would be perfect. It would great, two Belfast guys doing their own thing," he said.

It's been a life-changing two years for Jawbox since it hit the shelves and a transformational experience for Gerry.

While he won't quantify the rate at which production line is progressing he does say that in January this year he produced more gin than what he did over both November and December 2017, "because the demand is growing so fast".

"I always believed it would be a success but the speed and the volume at which it's grown, I thought, would take us four years to get to that."

Reaching out to his colleagues in the bar trade, where he spent most of his glory days, he added: "I hope when I'm out doing talks that I can be an inspiration to people, especially those who are a little older. I was paid handsomely, at 57, in a job that I loved. It was a huge risk to leave that. I cashed in my pension and savings to start this. So everything that I had went into this gin.

"My life has completely changed. It's given me an energy. What I can achieve in a day is amazing."The potential growth of Northern Ireland's economy and its image overseas is being harmed by the continued lack of devolved government, it's been claimed.

The province today enters its 589th day without an Executive, breaking a record held by Belgium for the longest period in which a democracy has existed without an elected government.

And today, business groups including Manufacturing NI, the Federation of Small Businesses, the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Retail NI said members were losing out on important benefits and opportunities as a result.

In particular, companies here are paying into a fund for apprenticeships through a system known as the apprenticeship levy.

But because there is no devolved administration, funds within the apprenticeship levy are not being allocated.

And the groups called on Northern Ireland's politicians to get back to the negotiating table to restore power-sharing.

Aodhan Connolly, chief executive of the NI Retail Consortium, said: "There should be no pride in this record. The lack of government prevents decisions on mission critical issues for our industry.

"We are paying the apprenticeship levy and seeing no benefit, our business rates system is punitive to our industry and the lack of leadership on Brexit is hugely concerning.

"We are falling behind the south and Great Britain on the fact we have no retail strategy, no lead retail official and no legislation to protect our shopworkers."

And Stephen Kelly, chief executive of Manufacturing NI, said the lack of ministers to make direct policy was hitting members directly.

Business leaders expressed disbelief that the lack of devolved government had persisted for so long.

They said progress was being delayed on key infrastructure projects, and pointed to the paralysing effect of a judgment by the Court of Appeal which effectively barred civil servants from making big decisions.

A senior official in the Department for Infrastructure was found by the court to have overstepped the mark by giving the go-ahead to the 240m Arc21 incinerator in Mallusk.

The judicial review in May found that the decision should not have been made by a civil servant but by a minister - giving rise to fears that other big infastructure projects could also get held up.

Ann McGregor, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: "The current political paralysis is having a real impact on the business community and by extension on the hopes we have for sustainable economic growth over the next decade. There are a number of key infrastructure projects awaiting ministerial approval that will provide a much needed increase in construction work and generate economic growth and long term jobs.

"In terms of foreign direct investment, Northern Ireland's credibility as a place in which to do business is also suffering intolerably, and almost reaching 600 days without a devolved government only helps highlight our paralysis on a world stage. We need to see more energy and more willingness being injected into the efforts to restore devolution.

"We need the return of a functioning local executive as soon as possible with a ministerial team focused on helping the Northern Ireland economy grow."

Glyn Roberts, chief executive, Retail NI said: "It is frankly hard to believe that we are fast approaching 600 days without a working Government in Northern Ireland. While this is not 'officially' a new Guinness world record it does our international reputation no favours at all.

"The bottom line is that political instability is bad for business and the economy.

"Retail NI wants to see the restoration of a working Executive and Assembly, which will take the key decisions on infrastructure, economic development, reforming business rates and be a strong voice for Northern Ireland in forthcoming vital Brexit talks.

"The recent Court of Appeal decision on the incinerator has huge implications for millions of pounds of major infrastructure projects such as the Interconnector, York Street and many more applications. Our members deserve better than 'care and maintenance' administration and emergency budgets."

Stephen Kelly of Manufacturing NI said members were growing more and more disillusioned with uncertainty at home - as well as uncertainty over Brexit.

"You also have uncertainty at Westminster because the Conservative Party is fighting with itself instead of fighting for the country," he continued.

He said manufacturing needed refreshed energy policy on affordability of pricing. In addition, Northern Ireland lacked an economic plan or strategy to respond to changes in the world economy.

"The Economy Minister (then Simon Hamilton) had started an industrial policy before the collapse of the Assembly so that hasn't gone any further - and in the last two years, the world has significantly changed.

"Eventually, we will have some conclusion to Brexit negotiations and we will need an industrial strategy that's fit for purpose. We don't have one.

"All the costs of Brexit will land on manufacturing and farming." He said members were fed up with politics here: "When the last period of talks collapsed, I was expecting lots of calls from firms, saying 'this is terrible'. But I didn't have one single call, which tells me people have checked out and are getting on with it themselves.

"But at this time, politics matters now more than ever as we try to navigate through enormously choppy world waters."

Mr Kelly continued: "The lucky thing about the last 500-odd days is that world economy has kept growing and our people are still busy. But all the forecasts are that the world economy will begin to slow again towards the end of year and it's then you need politicians making timely decisions on behalf of the business community and we just don't have that."

FSB NI policy chair, Tina McKenzie, said: "Businesses value certainty, so the continued absence of devolved government or, indeed, any decision-making authority in Northern Ireland, creates an uncertain environment for businesses, public services and wider society.

"Previous research conducted by FSB demonstrated that political uncertainty was the number one concern for SMEs.

"The stasis which Northern Ireland has experienced since January 2017 has meant that key decisions which could improve the business climate, in areas such as infrastructure, skills and training, are not being taken. This will ultimately lead to us losing ground on our counterparts in other parts of the UK and Ireland, and will further diminish our competitiveness.

"Meanwhile, as Brexit negotiations reach a crunch stage, there is no collective voice for Northern Ireland, as has been the case throughout most of the process, which risks causing damage and missing opportunities.

"With the recent Court of Appeal ruling restricting the power of civil servants further, the tolerance for continued 'administrative limbo' is wearing thin. Political leaders must redouble their efforts to restore devolved government, or Northern Ireland will lose out."Equity partners of Deloittes UK and Swiss business are set for a bumper payout (PA)

Partners at Deloitte are set for a bumper payout this year after the accounting giant logged higher profits despite an economic slowdown and continued uncertainty.

Distributable profit for the year to May 31 came in at 584 million after corporation tax was deducted, which Deloitte said marked a 0.5% rise compared to a year earlier.

This means Deloittes 702 equity partners are set to receive 832,000 each, on average.

While the figure is lower than the 865,000 logged last year, Deloittes switch to reporting average profit on a post-tax rather than pre-tax basis means partners are set for their biggest payout in nine years.

It came as the company logged a 5.9% rise in revenue from 3.38 billion to 3.58 billion for the year.

The UK business alone drew 3 billion in revenue, up 5.1% from a year earlier.

The earnings results account for the companys UK and Swiss operations, which run as one entity.

The professional services firms audit and risk advisory revenues grew at the fastest rate, up 10.2% to 1 billion, while its tax services revenue grew 5.8% to 732 million.

Consulting meanwhile grew only 1.7% to 873 million, while financial advisory services were flat at 459 million.

David Sproul, senior partner and chief executive of Deloitte North West Europe, said the results come despite difficulties across the region.

He said: This is a good result in a market facing slower economic growth and continued uncertainty.

Tax revenues have been boosted by demand for M&A, private client and employment-related services work, as well as demand for digital solutions to global compliance obligations, where we are continuing to invest.

Following the launch of our UK legal services, we are also growing our offering in immigration, employment services, corporate dispute and resolutions, alongside a focus on new law services.

But Deloitte is still facing the threat of an industry wide break-up, alongside its Big Four peers including KPMG, PwC and EY.

The audit profession has faced significant scrutiny in the past year, with concerns raised over quality, conflicts of interest and a lack of choice.David Sproul

The companies have been criticised by the industry regulator for an overall decline in audit inspection results.

They were also savaged by MPs earlier this year for feasting on the carcass of Carillion after collecting more than 70 million before its demise.

In the firms latest set of results, Mr Sproul said: The audit profession has faced significant scrutiny in the past year, with concerns raised over quality, conflicts of interest and a lack of choice.

These are serious concerns and we recognise the need for change.

We must look at how the audits of the future match the evolving needs of stakeholders and society and address increasing business complexity.From stall owners to shoppers, Brett Campbell finds out what keeps us flocking to Ballycastle every August.

Wilma Montgomery (60) Sweet seller

My son Derek owns Flossy Treats which is an old fashioned sweet shop in Ballymena so he has me out here with the stall  hes been sending me here for about 12 years now.

Ive sold over 2,500 bags of Yellowman which we started making in June. Its just glucose but you have to let it set after its been boiled and coloured  then it needs to be shaped, broken and bagged.

Ive also sold plenty of honeycomb and dulse which was gathered from Carnlough. It needs to be dried out a month in advance.

But its all been worth it because Im nearly sold out.

Jonny Duffy (36)

Hairdresser and charity volunteer for Riding for the Disabled

The Lammas Fair has a strong tradition when it comes to horses so Im out raising money for the horses and ponies which help so many children with disabilities.

Weve taken it back to the good old days and people seem to really appreciate it.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Thousands of people pack the streets of Ballycastle for the Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Kenneth and Mary Carson enjoying the Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Finn McKendry 6 enjoying the Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Jonny Duffy and Melanie Moorehead on the Pony and cart in Ballycaslte Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Kenneth Carson enjoying the Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Mary and Stuart Nichol enjoying the Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Friends Mary Carson, left, and Mary Nichol at the Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Street trader Owen Cleary at the Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Kenneth Carson and Stuart Nichol take a break from the Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Brian Donnelly at the Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Jonny Duffy on the Pony and cart in Ballycaslte Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison A street trader at the Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Thousands of people pack the streets of Ballycaslte for the Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Street trader selling honey comb, Wilma Montgomery at the Ballycaslte Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Clyde Allison at the Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Street trader Owen Cleary at the Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Street trader Samuel Cotter at the Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison A Street trader sells some honey comb at the Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Clyde Allison feeding his horse Rosie at the Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Niamh O'Connor enjoying the Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Jonny Duffy on the Pony and cart in Ballycaslte Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Roisin McGinn enjoying the Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Street trader selling honey comb, Wilma Montgomery at the Ballycaslte Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Street trader selling honey comb, Wilma Montgomery at the Ballycaslte Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison Jonny Duffy and Melanie Moorehead on the Pony and cart in Ballycaslte Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison People enjoying the Auld Lammas fair in Ballycastle. Pic by Peter Morrison / Facebook

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Whatsapp Thousands of people pack the streets of Ballycastle for the Auld Lammas Fair. Pic by Peter Morrison

We havent stopped pounding the pavement but Rosie, shes a traditional gipsy cob, is the one doing all the work.

Melanie Moorhead (31) Stable keeper

I look after about 10 horses for the RDA and they are amazing when it comes to helping people with disabilities, especially children with learning difficulties. Its great to bring Rosie out to the Lammas Fair and give people a chance to interact with her and people seem to love it.

Roisin McGinn (34) Ballycastle

I come every year as long as Im not on holiday.

Its just a tradition, but theres also a fear of missing out if you dont come.

Its our heritage really and I love that there are horses here  it harks back to the towns agricultural past.

Its good to see that its starting to return to its roots over the past couple of years.

Niamh OConnor (21) Loughgiel

Its a long running tradition which keeps me coming back.

Most people remember coming when they were children, its interesting to keep coming and see what changes over the years and what stays the same.

There seems to be less and less stalls each year, but it doesnt stop people from coming back.

I think the prices are a big issue for traders, but shop owners pay rates and so you can understand why they dont want to have stalls outside their business.

Owen Cleary (46) Stall owner Limerick

Im selling everything from washable mats to cowboy hats  the rain hasnt been good today so Im hoping it stays a bit drier tomorrow.

I go to fairs all over Ireland but I havent missed the Auld Lammas Fair in over 15 years  its the one that draws everyone back again.

But the rules and regulations are getting worse for traders and I think it risks spoiling the fair unless something is done.

The stall numbers are definitely in decline, which is sad because this one of the few fairs which can still draw a crowd.

Clyde Allison (69)

I was here last year and Zaggie had a two month foal with her, shes foaling now again so well have a wee one here with her next year.

Shes a 17-year-old full-bred shire and she measures 18 hands. She helps bring in the crowds  oh shes very popular.

The Lammas Fair is all about experience and its great that it gives Ballycastle such a great reputation.

Its just a fun place to be and is world famous.

Samuel Cotter (40) Sweet stall trader Newtownards

My uncle Bobby made and sold sweets here at the fair for about 40 years  his speciality was honeycomb and Yellowman.

I started doing it around 20 years ago and Im doing three bags for 1. I expect to sell 4,000 bags of Yellowman alone.

I also have nougat and bars of rock and bags of everything which has kept people coming for two decades.

The fair is just a fantastic day out  people are usually introduced to the Fair by their grandparents and thats them hooked.

The main change has been the number of stalls. I used to have two pitches but now its just the one. Its too expensive  it would be over 300 for two days if I had two.

Mum and daughter Mary (30) and Sally Doherty (60) Donegal

Mary: Weve been coming for a about five or six years now, mainly for the burgers  they keep us coming back.

We always come together, just the two of us so long as we are speaking.

Its just a nice afternoon out and is worth the two-and-half hour drive.

Sally: Its just nice to walk around and take everything in, its a great place to be. Im not really a fan of the Yellowman  its too sore on the teeth.

Brian Donnelly (24) Ballymena

Im here every year with my partner Gemma and our wee daughter Leah, who is now four.

I won a fish for her last year so now Elsa will has a friend  I havent picked a name for this one yet. Its a great day out and it caters for everyone  you can always find something to do here. Its also nice to get a day out together before Leah starts school.

Kenneth (79) and Mary Carson (82) Ballycastle

Kenneth: If its a good day well be out all day. Ive been coming since I was 12 and its changed a lot in those years  its not what it used to be back in the happy days but its still the Lammas Fair. Its good to see so many people in Ballycastle.

Mary: I cant do the Yellowman anymore but I made sure I got a few bags of dulse. Years ago you would have got apples or oranges and pears but there are no fruit stalls anymore.

Stuart (85) and Mary Nicholl (85) Ballycastle

Mary: I was reared in this town and started coming here as a child.

I met my husband at this fair when we were both just 16-years-old and weve been married now for 61 years.

Its the best place to meet people and bump into old friends  its a way of keeping in touch. Its also a very special place for us to come back to every year.

Joey McKendry (39), wife Shauna (38), son Fionn (6) and daughter Isla (4) Ballintoy

Joey: Were here every year and dont miss a thing, if it went on all week Shauna would have us at it.

Its handy because we live so close but its also a great excuse for a family day out before the dark nights come in and school starts back.

We just walk round all the stalls and get some food and the kids play a lot of games  its a nice atmosphere and they absolutely love it.

Billy Kyle (64) Dancer

Ive been line dancing for nearly 25 years but Ive been coming to the Auld Lammas Fair for the past 15 to dance with the Top Stars and the Golden Boots.

We change the charity every year, this year its Chest Heart and Stroke.

We meet every week in a club in Ballymena, but the Fair is a good way for us all to get together. People come from all over the country to join us on what is always a special day and they are so generous.

We always raise around 1,500 over the two days.You might think you control your own behaviour. Actually, much of the time, your hormones do. Even the tiniest swing in hormones, down to a billionth of a gram, can have a dramatic impact on the body and affect your behaviour, metabolism, sleep, mood, immune system, puberty, sexual experience, and how you eat, grow, hate, love, and think - to name but a few.

But what are these powerful chemicals that control our lives? Randi Hutter Epstein, author of Aroused: The History Of Hormones And How They Control Just About Everything, explains that hormones are "loopy chains of amino acids" produced in the nine key endocrine glands. These are the hypothalamus, pineal and pituitary in the brain, the thyroid and parathyroids in the throat, adrenals in the kidneys, pancreas in the abdomen, and the ovaries and testes in the pelvis.

Every cell has markers that direct hormone signals to precisely where they need to go, she says - but hormones rarely work alone, and a dip in the amount of one hormone interferes with other hormones in a domino effect that can throw a host of bodily functions off-kilter.

Here, Epstein, a respected medical writer, Yale University lecturer and adjunct professor at Columbia University's journalism school in the US, outlines nine ways hormones affect our health and wellbeing...

1. The 'I-feel-full' hormone affects fertility

"The world was wowed with the discovery of leptin, the 'I-feel-full' hormone," says Epstein.

"New evidence suggests it not only controls appetite, but may be linked to infertility. Leptin increases after meals, and chronic low levels of the hormone due to severe starvation alters other brain hormones that, in turn, dampen hormones necessary for conception."

So, people who eat very little and have lower leptin levels may also be less likely to conceive. This may help explain why women who have anorexia or other eating disorders often have trouble getting pregnant.

Expand Close Tense times: hormones can trigger stress Getty Images/iStockphoto / Facebook

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2. Obesity reduces testosterone

If you lose weight, you'll help boost your testosterone levels, the male sex hormone that plays a key role in the development of male reproductive tissues such as the testes and prostate, as well as promoting increased muscle and bone mass, and the growth of body hair.

"Contrary to popular notion, taking testosterone doesn't burn fat," stresses Epstein. "Taking testosterone when you're in the normal level to burn fat is a myth. You need to cut calories, not take testosterone shots."

3. Hormones produced by being overweight make you eat more

You think the fat cell is just a blob of fat? Think again; it secretes hormones too, altering your drive to eat. "The fatter you get, the more your hormones will lure you to the kitchen," says Epstein.

4. Growth hormone isn't just for growing

As well as stimulating growth, cell reproduction and cell regeneration, human growth hormone (HGH) helps balance sugar, metabolise proteins and fats, maintain heart and kidney health and stimulate the immune system.

5. Childbirth hormone promotes love and trust

Oxytocin, the hormone that 'squeezes' the womb to help in childbirth and gets the breast milk flowing, also influences feelings of love, trust and empathy, says Epstein.

"Brain research is revealing the ways oxytocin is tied to social behaviour," she says, "but buyer beware of the oxytocin-filled supplements touted to help you lure a lover. These supplements haven't been shown to get into the brain and have an impact, nor are there studies to show that oxytocin boosts bonds between two adults.

"Also, many of these supplements haven't gone through any kind of quality control, so you have no idea what you're getting."

6. Man boobs from too much testosterone

Testosterone converts into oestrogen in the body, so men who are taking too much testosterone are likely to get unwanted man boobs, says Epstein, who points out that men are often lured to take testosterone because it's been advertised as helping boost libido.

"For men with low testosterone - identified through two blood tests and assessed by an accredited laboratory - going from low to normal range will boost libido and combat fatigue," she adds.

7. Lower menopausal oestrogen levels affect much more than periods

As well a woman's periods stopping at the menopause, lower oestrogen levels can lead to changes in the brain and nervous system, leading to things like mood swings, memory loss, problems focusing, irritability, fatigue, hot flushes, night sweats, stress and anxiety, and vaginal dryness, triggering painful sex.

"The link between oestrogen and hot flushes has something to do with a brain cell receptor that controls temperature," explains Epstein. "In other words, low oestrogen cobbles your internal temperature control mechanism. It's also tied to fluctuations in adrenaline, the fight or flight hormone, making some women feel anxious for the first time."

8. Embryos all look alike until hormones kick in

Around six to eight weeks after conception, the human foetus has two sets of ducts, one of which can develop into the male reproductive organs (scrotum and testes) and the other into the female reproductive organs (ovaries and uterus). If the foetus is genetically male (XY chromosomes), the embryonic testes will produce anti-Mullerian hormone causing the Mullerian (female) ducts to disappear. "Before that, we all look alike," says Epstein.

9. Progesterone can make you sad

Changing progesterone levels can contribute to abnormal menstrual periods and menopausal symptoms, and the hormone is also necessary for implantation of the fertilised egg in the uterus and for maintaining pregnancy. But, in addition, Epstein says progesterone can trigger moodiness and sadness among some susceptible women.

"That's why some women, but not all, may feel glum on the birth control pill, which is a mix of oestrogen and progesterone," she explains. "For some women, progesterone can trigger depression, others get moody, and some don't seem bothered.

"The point is that if you go on birth control or hormone replacement therapy and start to feel emotionally different (depressed, sad), you should let your doctor know. There's a link between hormones and moods."

Aroused: The History Of Hormones And How They Control Just About Everything, Randi Hutter Epstein, 19.99Police have appealed for witnesses following an armed robbery at a bookmakers in west Belfast on Tuesday morning.

The incident took place on the Falls Road.

It was reported that at around 11.30am a masked man, carrying a suspected firearm, entered the premises and threatened members of staff. The male made off empty handed.

He is described as being approximately 510 tall, of medium build and had a black skeleton mask covering his face. He was wearing a black jacket, grey jogging bottoms, white trainers and was carrying a black coloured backpack.

Detective Sergeant Corrigan is appealing for anyone who witnessed the incident or anyone with information that could assist the investigation to contact detectives in Musgrave Police Station on 101, quoting reference 422 28/08/18.

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.Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service are attending an incident in Belfast city centre.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service are attending an incident in Belfast city centre.

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Compsite showing the fire from 11:06 am to 4:35 pm Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

A baby seagull has been rescued after nearly being killed by fumes from the Primark fire raging in Belfast city centre on Tuesday afternoon.

The aptly named 'Smokey' had been adopted by a group of staff at the nearby Ann Summers store after being abandoned by his family.

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A representative from Debbie Doolittle's Wild Life (DDWL) was on their way to pick Smokey up when the fire took hold at the nearby Primark.

Smokey, a juvenile lesser black backed gull (a breed a seagull) had been living on the balcony of the store where the Ann Summers staff were looking after him and helping him recuperate from a broken wing.

When the fire started Smokey was exposed to the smoke from the fire and was at risk of choking to death until the DDWL representative got to him just in time.

"The fire wasn't as developed at that stage and the area wasn't fully cordoned off so we raced up to the roof. I covered my face and ran out to get him and in as quick as possible," the DDWL representative said.

"The balcony faced the fire so he was getting the full brunt of the black smoke.

"Ten to fifteen minutes breathing that in and he would probably have perished so I was glad to have saved him."

"And just in time as there was a loud bang and the fire service asked us all to evacuate the store."

Luckily Smokey is now recovering at DDWL Headquarters.

"The things you have to do! Just glad he's safe, if a little smelly!"

"Luckily he should be fine with some rest and tender loving care."Businesses in the city centre have rallied to support the emergency services who battled the blaze at a city centre Primark.

One Belfast bar is offering free drinks to those involved in putting out the fire.

More than 100 firefighters battled for over six hours as the fire ripped through the Bank Buildings.

Firefighters remained at the scene into the evening, working to secure the area and ensure the last embers had been extinguished.

To support those battling the blaze, businesses have offered their support to those those involved in the firefighting efforts.

In a post to its Twitter account on Tuesday evening, the Sunflower Pub - situated a short walk from the Primark building - offered a free drink to anyone involved in battling the blaze.

It's been a very rough day for all of us in city centre. Our hearts go out to everyone who has been affected. If anyone involved in fighting the blaze would like a drink, pints are on us. https://t.co/wsNTiiThJE pic.twitter.com/yGzDBM7jgG  Sunflower pub (@Sunflower_Pub) August 28, 2018

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, the bar's manager Bob McManus said: "I just thought it has been a tough day for everyone in Belfast and there have been a lot of people involved in putting out that fire. Obviously they are going to be on different shifts and patterns, but if anyone wants to come in well sort them out with a few drinks.

Asked who the offer was extended to, Mr McManus said: "fire fighters, ambulance staff, anyone who might have be working in the building itself. Anyone involved really."

Staff from local branches of Starbucks and McDonalds were spotted at the scene handing out drinks and food to emergency service staff at the scene.

Expand Close Firefighters deal with a major blaze at Primark in Belfast on August 28th 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph / Facebook

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The businesses and their staff were praised by social media users.

On Twitter, one paramedic wrote: "A big thank you to @McDonaldsUK and @Starbucks for looking after the emergency services today in Belfast."A number of Belfast Health Trust staff have been underpaid this month - with some seeing their pay packet drop by several hundred pounds, according to the SDLP's deputy leader.

It is not yet clear how many workers have been affected - and it is not the first time it has happened in recent times.

Are you a member of Trust staff affected by being underpaid? Contact newseditor@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

North Belfast SDLP MLA Nichola Mallon described it as "unacceptable that our health workers have once again been underpaid by the Business Services Organisation (BSO)".

She called on the Belfast Trust to "take immediate action to ensure all underpaid staff get their full wages within the next few days".

She stated: "I have been contacted by a number of Belfast Trust staff who discovered today that they have been underpaid this month, some by up to several hundred pounds. These workers have direct debits and bills to pay and if this is not rectified as a matter of urgency they will be pushed into debt."

In March 2014, the Business Services Organisation (BSO) took over the processing of healthcare salaries in Northern Ireland. But it has been blighted by problems, with a 2016 payroll glitch affecting almost 2,500 staff.

"This is the latest in a litany of wage blunders suffered by healthcare workers since this new pay system, which cost some 15m, was implemented," said Ms Mallon.

"I have been in contact with the chief executive of the Belfast Trust to ask for assurances that all staff members will receive their correct wages immediately."

Ms Mallon said she understood the Belfast Trust's Human Resources director is to make contact with BSO first thing this morning "to get to the bottom of the issue and urgently resolve the matter".

She said she had asked for an update from the HR director after these discussions.

"Overpayments in wages are quickly corrected. Underpayments should be no different," said Ms Mallon.

"Staff must be paid what they are owed and have worked hard for as a matter of urgency.

"There are clearly long running problems with the salary system that BSO and the Trust must take wider action on.

"I have asked for an update from BSO's HR director as soon as the issue is rectified."

Yesterday, a spokesperson for the Belfast Trust stated: "This was brought to the attention of Belfast Trust today. We are committed to ensuring staff receive their correct pay. We will work with BSO colleagues as a matter of urgency to address this concerning matter for all staff affected."

A BSO spokesman said: "We are aware of the situation and are working with BHSCT to resolve matters as quickly as possible. We are also working with staff who are experiencing difficulties. Any staff member who has concerns can contact payroll at anytime."



Guwahati : Police on Monday had arrested three rhino poachers and recovered a rhino horn in central Assams Nagaon district.





According to the reports, police had arrested the rhino poachers at Rongagara area under Samaguri police station while they were trying to sell the recovered rhino horn.





The arrested poachers were identified as Fazar Ali, Abdul Kadir and Azizul Haque.





During the police interrogation the poacher trio had revealed that, they were involved in rhino poaching incident and trying to sell the horn to other person.





Superintendent of Police (SP) of Nagaon district, Shankar Barata Raimedhi said that, based on intelligence input, a police team had launched operation at Rongagara area and arrested the poachers.





We caught them when they were trying to sell a rhino horn. We had launched the operation based on intelligence input, the Assam cop said.



DUP councillor Nigel Kells has resigned from Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council citing "changes in my personal life".

The Antrim-based representative was elected to the Council in 2014, and previously worked as a campaign manager for the DUP's Emma Little-Pengelly during her successful 2016 Stormont bid.

Since 2016, Mr Kells has been in a relationship with Gibraltar international netball player Meg Martinez, who earlier this month announced on Facebook the pair were engaged to married.

In a statement posted to his Facebook page on Monday evening, Mr Kells announced he would be stepping down next month.

"I regret to inform you all of my decision to resign my seat representing Antrim DEA on Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council," he wrote.

"This decision has been made due to changes in my personal life that were unforeseeable when I stood for election in 2014.

"It has been my pleasure to represent Antrim and the DUP in my role as a councillor and to work for the party at Stormont and I will miss it greatly."

Mr Kells thanked the people of Antrim and said he would remain a member of the party, wishing the DUP success in next year's Council elections.

"I do not wish to continue to occupy my seat if I cannot give the people of Antrim the high level of representation that I have tried to give over my time in elected politics and for that reason I would prefer to give someone else the challenge of being a DUP councillor for the area," he added.

Mr Kells will remain in his role until the end of September, at which time one of his colleagues in the DUP will be co-opted onto the Council.Northern Ireland today enters its 589th day without a functioning administration - equalling a milestone set by Belgium in 2010.

Divisions between Belgium's Flemish and French speaking political parties led to the longest political impasse in a democracy and a Guinness World Record.

The Laterme II government had ended with Prime Minister Yves Leterme's resignation, which was accepted by King Albert II on April 26, 2010.

From that date Belgium went 589 days without an elected government.

Despite Northern Ireland equalling this milestone, Guinness World Records confirmed that the province is not eligible for the record as laws can still be passed at Westminster.

Dr Nicholas Whyte is a senior director at the Brussels office of consultancy firm APCO Worldwide. He is also a visiting professor in the faculty of social science at Ulster University and runs the Northern Ireland Elections website on ARK (Access Research Knowledge).

With a foot in both camps, Dr Whyte says there are many contrasts and similarities between the stand-offs in Belfast and Brussels.

"In both cases you essentially have two groups in society who need to be reconciled and holding power together in the same government.

"In Belgium, the cause was that the leader of the largest political party had demands which were not compatible with the parties from the other side," he explained.

"We have got multiple layers of government here in Belgium.

"Although it was the national government that was not functioning, the other federal units all continued throughout that gap.

"It wasn't that Belgium descended into a state of anarchy. There was a missing element in the executive jigsaw.

"In Northern Ireland there is more of a gap. You have civil servants being put into positions for which they were not hired, and I'm sure they themselves would argue for which they are not fully accountable."

Having analysed many Northern Ireland elections in the past, Dr Whyte says he's "sad and sorry" to see the ongoing deadlock at Stormont.

"It would have been nice to show that people can work together despite political differences," he said.

"The absence of this takes away from the strength of the good news story that we have been able to tell about resolving our conflict in Northern Ireland."A male psychiatric nurse has admitted causing actual bodily harm to a mental health patient in Northern Ireland.

While Patrick Maguire confessed to the offence against the male patient at his arraignment at Craigavon Crown Court, on Tuesday, August 28, he denied further charges of ill-treatment of the mental health patient at the Rosebrook Unit of Craigavon Area Hospital on October 27 last year.

Maguire, from Tollymore Brae in Newcastle, also entered not guilty pleas to further charges of wilfully neglecting the patient and attempting to pervert the course of justice by making an entry on the Datix system and handover sheet on the same date.

Maguire was the second of two men to be arraigned on charges arising from the alleged incident.

The first was his co-accused 66-year-old John Kelly from the Newtownhamilton Road in Armagh.

He is jointly charged with Maguire on three of the charges accusing him of causing actual bodily harm, wilfully neglecting be patient and the mans ill-treatment when he was a patient at the mental health unit.

Kelly, standing in the dock smartly dressed in a suit, shirt and tie, entered not guilty pleas to each of the allegations.

Appearing on behalf of Kelly, defence QC Peter Irvine said the video evidence was the only contentious issue in his case while Charles McKay QC, who appeared for Maguire, told Judge Patrick Lynch QC he estimated the trial would last a week.

Freeing the men on continuing bail, Judge Lynch scheduled the trial for 26 September.Members of staff at a Northern Ireland council are set to vote on strike action after a vote of no confidence in the council's Chief Executive.

Up to 1000 staff at Newry, Mourne and Down Council will be balloted from Friday (August 31) and plan to hold a protest following a council meeting on September 3.

However, a spokesperson for the council said that the decision had come as a "surprise" and that they were committed to tackling the issues raised.

The ballot comes amid accusations that management have ignored staff's concerns and used "heavy-handed" approach in negotiations.

After council representatives failed to take up an offer for talks with the Labour Relations Agency unions representing the unions representing the council workers decided to hold the balllot.

The ballot will be open for ten days, but Alan Perry, chair of the Joint Trade Union side including GMB, NIPSA, SIPTU and UNITE, said that it was still possible to avoid strike action.

Two weeks ago, workers from all four unions passed an overwhelming vote of no confidence in the councils Chief Executive, Liam Hannaway. In the interim, management have done nothing to address their broken relationship with the workforce; indeed they have attempted to play workers against each other by misrepresenting our criticism of senior management in the HR department as being criticism of those employed by the department as a whole," Mr Parry claimed.

"What is more, they have added insult to injury by claiming to be unaware of what is at the root of the workforces concerns.

Senior management in the council have adopted a heavy-handed approach in negotiations around job matching and restructuring around the establishment of the new Super-Council under the Review of Public Administration. They have also failed to engage through the formal negotiating structures with the trade unions."

Mr Parry called on the council's management to intervene before it's too late.

The trade unions have offered a series of dates for talks with management at the Labour Relations Agency. Following the failure of management to respond to this offer, the unions have been left with no choice but to proceed to a consultative ballot on industrial action. This is a historic mark of shame for the council as this is the first time that all four unions representing the workforce have jointly balloted for action.

The industrial ballot will open for ten days commencing Friday August 31st. In the meantime the workforce will hold a protest at the upcoming council meeting in Downshire Civic Centre on Monday September 3rd.

"In order to avoid any further escalation, the trade unions are calling on the councillors intervene to ensure that the Chief Executive and his senior team adopt a more constructive approach to resolving this dispute, Mr Perry said.

A Newry Mourne and Down Council spokesperson said they were still in discussions wit h the trade unions.

The statement issued by the Joint Trade Union Side came as a surprise, not least because the Council had been in discussions with the unions up until Friday 24 August where it was agreed by both sides that a meeting would take place on 3 September, to be chaired by the Labour Relations Agency," the spokesperson said.

"We were disappointed then to see the unions issue a pre-emptive statement on Bank Holiday Monday that we were given no notice of, nor were we contacted to respond to its contents."

The spokesperson said that the council remained hopeful an agreement could be reached to resolve the dispute.

"Trade Union representatives have been part of the job matching process for every post, except one where they declined the invitation to take part. We are working closely with all staff to ensure that they are settled in new posts as soon as possible," the spokesperson said.

"The Council remains absolutely committed to resolving this issue with the unions, however negotiations must be conducted in good faith and in a spirit of co-operation and transparency.O'Hare is accused of being drunk on a plane on August 5

A Northern Ireland man has appeared in court accused of being drunk on a plane.

Standing in the dock of Antrim Magistrates Court, 27-year-old Kevin OHare spoke only to confirm he understood the five charges against him.

In addition to being accused of being drunk on a plane on August 5 this year, OHare, from Keggall View in Camlough, is also charged with failing to obey the lawful command of a pilot, behaving in a threatening, abusive, insulting or disorderly manner towards a member of the crew of an aircraft, threatening to kill a woman and assaulting her on the same date.

Giving evidence to the court a police officer said he believed he could connect OHare to each of the offences while a PPS lawyer asked for the case to be adjourned for two weeks.

Freeing OHare on his own bail of 500, District Judge Peter King barred him from contacting the alleged victim and from consuming alcohol.

OHare will appear again on September 11.Thousands of people are expected to take to the streets tonight in a bid to get our politicians back to work at Stormont.

Fermanagh man Dylan Quinn is leading the charge and says he is "very excited" by the widespread public support for his campaign.

Last month the father-of-four from Monea outside Enniskillen used the power of social media to unite people with a call for MLAs to return to the Assembly.

The dancer, choreographer and businessman said he was sick and tired of the lack of political leadership after 18 months of deadlock.

Dylan organised the event for today, when Northern Ireland passes Belgium's milestone for having no government.

The 44 year-old says his #wedeservebetter campaign is intended to send a clear message to politicians that the ongoing impasse is unacceptable.

The campaign began with one Facebook video from Dylan, filmed in a field, which he says grew beyond anything he could have imagined.

His original plan was to bring 589 people together in Enniskillen on that date - one person for every day Northern Ireland has been without a functioningadministrationt.

"The idea was to get people out on the streets in a colourful and peaceful way and to see in the coming together the power we have to demand change," he said.

"I hoped to galvanise people and make them understand how important and effective their voices could be when we joined together."

Such has been the appeal of his message, events are planned in 13 other cities and towns by those also angry at the ongoing political limbo.

People will gather this evening in Armagh, Ballyclare, Banbridge, Bangor, Belfast, Dungannon, Londonderry, Newry, Newtownards, Portadown, Portrush, Strabane and Warrenpoint at 7pm.

As always with any campaign, Dylan says he has received some negative attention. "We have been criticised for wanting a return to the status quo and that we don't want anything to change," he said.

"The whole point about this was to demand effective government that can enact change.

"Our aim is not just to get them into government, but to have the British and Irish Government appoint an independent facilitator to engage the parties in meaningful and effective talks to resolve their differences.

"We have sought to have a focused agenda in order to achieve the greatest result."

Dylan says people here have so much more to offer, share and achieve.

"We also urge Secretary of State Karen Bradley to reduce MLA salaries if they don't actively engage in discussions to get back into government," he added.

"If they won't take notice of us by establishing a government then we will make them notice us for not establishing one.

"We have the power and our MLAs have the responsibility. If they don't listen to us tonight then we will come together again and again until they do."A Ballynahinch student undergoing treatment for mental health issues has told politicians they need to wake up and notice there are much bigger matters than arguing about the past and languages.

Laura Kelly (20), who tried to end her own life earlier this summer, called on Northern Ireland's politicians to look around them, see the issues affecting the daily lives of people and start addressing them.

Have you been affected by the Stormont impasse? Let us know what do you think should happen next - by emailing newseditor@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

"I study at Liverpool John Moores University, so being between English doctors and Northern Irish doctors I can see a huge difference in the treatment available," she said.

"I'm not afraid to admit I suffer from mental health issues and depression."

In Liverpool, Laura said she could "get an appointment that day or at least within a week", but in Ballynahinch it could take more than a month to see the right doctor.

"That waiting time was awful when I had to first go to the doctor about depression, I almost didn't go because I felt like it was too much hassle," she said.

"Eventually at the start of this summer I had a breakdown and tried to end my life. It's only thanks to the wonderful doctors and nurses at the Ulster Hospital I'm still here today.

"I was able to get a counsellor within two weeks of leaving hospital, but the NHS could only give me five appointments. After that I was basically left on my own."

Laura said Northern Ireland's mental health problem is growing.

"Something needs to be done to help our NHS deal with it, yet our politicians would rather argue about the past and languages," she said.

"They need to wake up and see that there are much bigger problems in our country. Problems like people's lives."Two men have been arrested after a man in his 40s was stabbed in the neck in the residential Ormeau area of Belfast.

It happened shortly after 1.20am, when police received a report of an incident in the St Jude's Parade area in which a man had been stabbed in the right side of his neck.

The man was taken to hospital for his injuries which are not believed to be life threateneing.

Detective Sergeant McPhillips said: Two men aged 33 years old & 27 years old have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Both men are currently assisting police with their enquiries.

We would continue to appeal to anyone with any information to contact them on 101 quoting reference number 63 28/8/18."

Alternatively information can be given anonymously to independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.Victims of clerical sexual abuse have called on the Pope to deliver a plan of action to tackle child abuse scandals.

During his two-day visit to Ireland, Pope Francis begged forgiveness for the crimes of the Church.

But campaigners urged him to take that one step further and take concrete action to solve the issue.

Members of two global groups aimed at holding the Catholic church to account gathered outside a former Magdalene Laundry on Dublins Sean McDermott Street on Monday to give their reaction to the pontiffs trip to Ireland.

This issue is a global issue and the only way to tackle this, from a survivor point of view, is with a global responseMark Vincent Healy, survivor

Mark Vincent Healy was one of the Irish abuse victims who met Pope Francis during his visit.

Mr Healy said he presented the Pope with the harrowing statistics of what it is like to be a survivor and how it affects people, not only mentally but economically throughout their lives.

I thought he was the most extraordinary, ordinary man, Mr Healy said.

The Dubliner, who was abused by two priests as a child, has been fighting for justice for victims for years.

This issue is a global issue and the only way to tackle this, from a survivor point of view, is with a global response, he said.

Expand Close The exterior of the now derelict Sisters of Our Lady of Charity Magdalene Laundry on Sean McDermott St in Dublins north inner city (Julien Behal/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook

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Mr Healy added that he had hoped the pontiff would use the trip as an opportunity to unveil measures aimed at combating the problem, but he had not done so.

This Pope has actually done nothing, he said.

He has not effectively delivered any action, he said.

Ending Clerical Abuse (ECA) founder Peter Isely reiterated the groups call for a zero tolerance approach be taken against any priests involved in the scandal.

Mr Isely was sexually assaulted by a priest when he was a child growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the United States.

You cant have priests taken out of ministry that have abused children if you have their bishops and supervisors covering up for them, Mr Isely said.

These two things are absolutely linked. They have to be done together, he said.

Mr Isely said that was absolutely something Pope Francis could do.

Until the Pope takes action, Mr Isely said nobody should feel that children around the world are safe in Catholic institutions and schools.

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He added that the Pope had left the country but for victims the pain and suffering continued.

Last week a US research group Bishopaccountability.org published a public database of priests who have been convicted of sexual abuse.

A number of Irish priests have been added to the list.

Co-director Anne Barrett Doyle said they had received a huge reaction from Irish survivors since it was launched last week.

Were being flooded with emails requesting names to be added to the database, Ms Barrett Doyle said.

Clearly survivors in Ireland see a need of a public registry of abusive clergy.

But she said the churchs continued secrecy coupled with Irelands robust laws around defamation made it impossible to give anything close to a fair accountability.

Ms Barrett Doyle added: The great unfinished business here in Ireland is accountability, accountability of perpetrators and accountability of Catholic church supervisors who enabled them.



GENEVA: Myanmars military carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Muslim Rohingya with genocidal intent, and the commander-in-chief and five generals should be prosecuted for the gravest crimes under international law, United Nations investigators said.





A report by investigators was the first time the United Nations has explicitly called for Myanmar officials to face genocide charges over their campaign against the Rohingya, and is likely to deepen the countrys isolation.

The investigators called for the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar, subject its officials to targeted sanctions and set up an ad hoc tribunal to try suspects or refer them to the International Criminal Court in the Hague.





The report also could serve as a major catalyst for change in how the worlds big social media companies handle hate speech in parts of the world where they have limited direct presence but their platforms command huge influence.





The investigators sharply criticised Facebook, which has become Myanmars dominant social media network despite having no employees there, for letting its platform be used to incite violence and hatred.





Facebook responded on Monday by announcing it was blocking 20 Myanmar officials and organisations found by the UN panel to have committed or enabled serious human rights abuses.





The company already acknowledged this month that it had been too slow to respond to incitement in Myanmar, following a Reuters investigative report into its failure to tackle rampant hate speech including calls for all Rohingya to be killed. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/myanmar-facebook-hate/





The UN investigators blamed Myanmars de facto civilian leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, for failing to use her moral authority to protect civilians. Her government contributed to the commission of atrocity crimes by letting hate speech thrive, destroying documents and failing to shield minorities from crimes against humanity and war crimes.





Our findings are grim, panel chairman Marzuki Darusman told a news conference on Monday. We believe that establishing the facts is the first stepping stone towards change.





Contacted by phone, Myanmar military spokesman Major General Tun Tun Nyi said he could not immediately comment. Zaw Htay, spokesman for Suu Kyis government, could not immediately be reached for comment. Reuters was also unable to contact the six generals named in the report. The Myanmar government was sent an advance copy of the UN report in line with standard practice.





Grossly disproportionate





A year ago, government troops led a brutal crackdown in Myanmars Rakhine state in response to attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on 30 Myanmar police posts and a military base. Some 700,000 Rohingya fled the crackdown and most are now living in refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh.





The UN report said the military action was grossly disproportionate to actual security threats.





The crimes in Rakhine State, and the manner in which they were perpetrated, are similar in nature, gravity and scope to those that have allowed genocidal intent to be established in other contexts, said the UN panel, known as the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar.





The United States, which is preparing its own report on the anti-Rohingya campaign, sees the UN findings adding to growing evidence of widespread human rights abuses by Myanmar forces, a State Department spokesman said.





But the US government will only decide whether to call it genocide or crimes against humanity  in line with the UNs determinations  after a thorough review of the available facts and relevant legal analysis, the spokesman said.





Critics have accused Washington of an overly cautious response to the Rohingya crisis, but a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the UN findings could increase pressure for tougher US action.





Suu Kyis government has rejected most allegations of atrocities made against the security forces by refugees. It has built transit centres for refugees to return, but UN aid agencies say it is not yet safe for them to do so.





The report said Suu Kyi has not used her de facto position as Head of Government, nor her moral authority, to stem or prevent the unfolding events, or seek alternative avenues to meet a responsibility to protect the civilian population.





In Brussels, the European Unions executive said it would meet this week with the UN panel and discuss further steps.





Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will use all information at his disposal, including a US report compiled from refugees accounts but which has yet to be released, to decide how to advance accountability in Myanmar, his spokesman said.





Washington this month imposed sanctions on four military and police commanders and two army units but the military chief was spared. New sanctions are under consideration for half a dozen others, US officials have said. But the State Department spokesman declined to specify what additional tools the United States would use.





The United Nations defines genocide as acts meant to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group in whole or in part. Such a designation is rare, but has been used in countries including Bosnia, Rwanda and Sudan.





The investigators documented rapes, sexual slavery and abductions, including of children, said panel member Radhika Coomeraswamy.





The scale, brutality and systematic nature of rape and (sexual) violence indicate that they are part of deliberate strategy to intimidate, terrrorise or punish the civilian population. They are used as a tactic of war, she said.





Darusman said commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing should step down pending investigation.





The list of generals also included Brigadier-General Aung Aung, commander of the 33rd Light Infantry Division, which oversaw operations in the coastal village of Inn Din where 10 Rohingya captive boys and men were killed.





The incident, for which seven soldiers have since been jailed, was uncovered by two Reuters journalists  Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28  who were arrested last December and are being tried on charges of violating Myanmars Official Secrets Act. The court had been due to deliver a verdict in their case on Monday, but postponed the proceedings until Sept. 3.





Other generals named in the report included army deputy commander-in-chief Vice Senior-General Soe Win; the commander of the Bureau of Special Operations-3, Lieutenant-General Aung Kyaw Zaw; the commander of Western Regional Military Command, Major-General Maung Maung Soe; and the commander of 99th Light Infantry Division, Brigadier-General Than Oo.





Panel member Christopher Sidoti said the clarity of the chain of command in Myanmar meant the six generals must be prosecuted, even in the absence of a smoking gun piece of evidence to prove who had ordered the crimes.





We do not have a copy of a direct order that says undertake genocide tomorrow please. But that is the case almost universally when cases of genocide have gone before the courts, Sidoti said.





Oppression from birth to death





The UN panel, set up last year, interviewed 875 victims and witnesses in Bangladesh and other countries, and analysed documents, videos, photographs and satellite images.





Decades of state-sponsored stigmatisation against Rohingya had resulted in institutionalised oppression from birth to death, the report said.





The Rohingya, who regard themselves as native to Myanmars Rakhine state, are widely considered as interlopers by the countrys Buddhist majority and are denied citizenship.





Members of the panel had accused Facebook in March of allowing its platform to be used to incite violence. The report said the social media company should have acted quicker.





Although improved in recent months, Facebooks response has been slow and ineffective. The extent to which Facebook posts and messages have led to real-world discrimination and violence must be independently and thoroughly examined, it said.





In a statement announcing its action on Monday, Facebook said it was removing 18 Facebook accounts, one Instagram account and 52 Facebook pages.





The ethnic violence in Myanmar has been truly horrific. Earlier this month, we shared an update on the steps were taking to prevent the spread of hate and misinformation on Facebook. While we were too slow to act, were now making progress  with better technology to identify hate speech, improved reporting tools, and more people to review content.The Skoda car that transported Pope Francis as he arrived at Dublin International Airport (Brian Lawless/PA)

A car used by Pope Francis during his trip to Ireland is to be donated to a Londonderry search and rescue charity, Archbishop Eamon Martin has confirmed.

Last weekend, for Pope Francis visit to Ireland, two Skoda Rapid cars were used at various times to transport the Pontiff during his two-day trip to locations in the Archdiocese of Dublin, and in the Archdiocese of Tuam.

Following a recommendation from Archbishop Eamon Martin, one of the cars used by Pope Francis has been offered to the volunteer charity.

Foyle Search and Rescue was set up by the local community in 1993 in response to the high number of drownings in the river Foyle.

The charity have since adopted the role of preventing suicide and supporting families in the city.

Archbishop Eamon Martin welcomes donation of Pope Francis Skoda Rapid to Foyle Search and Rescue https://t.co/Ty6mUbvgKd  Foyle Search& Rescue (@Foylerescue) August 28, 2018

Archbishop Martin hailed the work of the charity, and commended volunteers selflessness.

From my time as a priest ministering in Derry, I know well at first-hand how the local Foyle Search and Rescue volunteers work selflessly, and of their own free time, each week to help those who are vulnerable and in need, he said.

I also wish to avail of this opportunity to commend the exemplary volunteers who provide an educational programme on water safety and suicide awareness to local schools, workplaces and community groups.

In addition, Foyle Search and Rescue facilitates the North West Bereaved by Suicide Support Group  which assists families and friends who have lost a loved one.

The chairman of Foyle Search and Rescue, Stephen Twells, said the car would be a morale boost for the team.

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He added: Foyle Search volunteers are very honoured and most appreciative to be the recipients of this very kind gift.

Pope Francis car will be provide a morale boost to our volunteers at this time, during what has been a very tough year for all of us in the city.

I also know that this gift will be a great comfort to many families here in Derry knowing that we have been recognised by the Holy Father, and by Archbishop Martin, for the work that we do.

Patrolling the fast flowing river on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, volunteers engage with people in distress, maintain lifebelts and save lives.

The blue Skoda Rapid will be given over to Foyle Search and Rescue in the coming days, and will be used by volunteers patrolling the shores of the River Foyle.

It will not be able to keep the number plate, SCV 1, which means Stato della Citta del Vaticano, Vatican City.

The other car has been gifted to social care agency of the Catholic church in Dublin, Crosscare.An aerial view of the crowd at Phoenix Park in Dublin as Pope Francis attended Sundays closing Mass at the World Meeting of Families

The unexpectedly low turnout to see the Pope celebrate Mass in Dublin's Phoenix Park on Sunday was not due to a lack of interest, according to a Belfast priest who survived clerical abuse.

Fr Patrick McCafferty, who watched the Mass from the parochial house of his Corpus Christi parish in west Belfast, said there were any number of reasons why more people would not have gone to the event.

Organisers of the World Meeting of Families Mass had planned for as many as 500,000 people to attend Phoenix Park - but on the day the number was much lower.

By contrast, more than a million were at the same venue in 1979 to see John Paul II.

One organiser, Fr Damian McNeice, "guesstimated" that 200,000 were present on Sunday, while the medical director of the site's field hospital estimated 130,000.

Heavy rain and strong winds undoubtedly deterred some worshippers, as large umbrellas were banned, as were prams and mobility scooters too.

Fr McCafferty said: "I think the weather would have played a factor in the lower turnout but I don't think the organisers make it easy for anyone who did want to attend Phoenix Park.

"They made it sound like an endurance test, which would have put a lot of people off because they would have thought they would have to tackle an obstacle course. A lot of people who would have wanted to go would have been older but when they found out about how far they were going to have to walk, they were immediately put off.

"This is a very different time we are living in now compared to 1979 when Pope John Paul was here - there would have been television coverage but not the wall to wall coverage we had of this Papal visit. People would have thought, 'Will I go walking for miles and miles carrying seats and food in probably typical Irish weather or do I watch it in the comfort of my own living room with my feet up and a cup of coffee?' - and decided to stay at home.

"Watching it on television meant people got to see every part of the Papal visit and I think when the viewing figures are released we will get a better indication of how interested people were in the Pope's visit."

Fr McCafferty continued: "I do not think the turnout at Phoenix Park was necessarily a reflection of disinterest at all although there are those who will want to portray it that way."

More than one million tuned in to watch at least some of the Papal Mass on RTE.

And footage was shared with more than 75 broadcasters worldwide, and RTE's online platforms attracted an audience of 300,000 in 159 different countries, including Iran, Papua New Guinea and Swaziland.

Fr McCafferty - who had an emotional meeting with the Pope to discuss clerical abuse - said it is a fact that the Church's place in society is different now and that fewer people attend Mass regularly.

He said: "It is a reality that Ireland is not the same and we are in a different situation now but there's no problem with that.

"It is what is it is and there's no use in crying over that. People would have attended Mass years ago just because it was the done thing but we actually still have quite a number who attend Mass, including young people.

"I wouldn't think that because 500,000 people didn't turn up at Phoenix Park on Sunday to see the Pope that it meant people aren't interested any more.

"I really do think people were just put off going," Fr McCafferty added.Theresa May is to make an unashamed vow to ensure overseas aid spending benefits UK interests while also seeking to give private firms greater confidence to invest in Africa.

The Prime Minister will use a speech to outline her ambitions for the continent after arriving as part of a three-day trade mission to South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.

Mrs May is expected to declare her desire for the UK to overtake the United States to become the G7s leading investor in Africa by 2022, amid warnings of greater conflict and an increased susceptibility to extremism emerging if jobs are not created.

Downing Street believes helping young people in Africa secure jobs will stabilise the economy of their country while also reducing the likelihood of them undertaking risky journeys to Europe.

The PM is also expected to reassert the UKs shift in strategy over aid spending  using the trip to encourage private sector investment alongside efforts to alleviate extreme poverty.

Britains overseas aid budget totalled 13.9 billion in 2017, an increase of 555 million in 2016 and in line with the legal commitment to invest 0.7% of national income in this area.

It has proven a controversial pledge among some Tory backbenchers, with successive international development secretaries vowing to use the cash to help develop trade against the backdrop of Brexit.

Mrs May is expected to use her speech to outline investment in Britains diplomatic network in Africa, with the use of trade experts to help encourage investment, amid growing influence on the continent from other countries including China.

Business leaders and ministers, including the international trade departments George Hollingbery, are accompanying Mrs May on her first visit to Africa as PM which includes meetings with the presidents of each country on her agenda.

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Speaking at the First National Bank in Cape Town on Tuesday, Mrs May is expected to say the private sector is key to driving growth in labour markets and unleashing the entrepreneurial spirit in Africa.

She will say: However, for a variety of reasons the private sector has not yet managed to deliver the level of job creation and investment that many African nations need.

So I want to put our development budget and expertise at the centre of our partnership as part of an ambitious new approach  and use this to support the private sector to take root and grow.

Mrs May will add: I am unashamed about the need to ensure that our aid programme works for the UK.

So today I am committing that our development spending will not only combat extreme poverty, but at the same time tackle global challenges and support our own national interest. This will ensure that our investment in aid benefits us all, and is fully aligned with our wider national security priorities.

Downing Street cited data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) as showing UK direct investment in Africa was 55 billion US dollars (42.7 billion) in 2016 compared to 57 billion US dollars (44.3 billion) from the US.

France followed in third with 49 billion US dollars (38 billion) and China fourth with 40 billion US dollars (31 billion).

Mrs May will outline her ambition for the UK to be the G7s number one investor in Africa by 2022, adding Britains private sector should invest the billions that will see African economies growing by trillions.

The PM will add: It is in the worlds interest to see that those jobs are created, to tackle the causes and symptoms of extremism and instability, to deal with migration flows and to encourage clean growth.

If we fail to do so, the economic and environmental impacts will swiftly reach every corner of our networked, connected world.

And the human impacts  from a loss of faith in free markets and democracy as the best way to secure global growth and human rights, to greater conflict and an increased susceptibility to extremism  will be similarly global.

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Among Mrs Mays business delegation are Charles Bowman, Lord Mayor of the City of London Corporation, David Schwimmer, CEO of the London Stock Exchange, and representatives of firms who specialise in helping Africa  including Georgia Barrie, co-founder and director of Farm.ink, which helps farmers connect and share information.

During her trip to South Africa, Mrs May will also hold a bilateral meeting with president Cyril Ramaphosa and hopes to visit Robben Island  where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned during the era of Apartheid.

Such a visit would commemorate the 100th anniversary of the former South African presidents birth.Police made more than 370 arrests at Notting Hill Carnival over the bank holiday weekend.

Monday night was marred by the only stabbing of the event, with a male receiving non-life-threatening injuries at around 8.10pm in Ladbroke Grove.

Scotland Yard said 30 officers were injured in the line of duty.

According to the Metropolitan Police Federation, two were spat at in the face and had to be taken to hospital, while in another incident three officers were bitten, one of whom was also taken to hospital.

Inspector Richard Berns, who is based in Camden, said on Twitter: Five of my officers were violently attacked at #NottingHillCarnival. Three punched in the face. One bitten and headbutted, and another jumped on from behind.

Three suspects arrested and one more will follow (ran off but we know who he is). Totally unacceptable!

Another suspect drove a motorbike at officers, hitting a police motorcyclist, and then sped off, sparking a chase from Notting Hill to Northolt involving the police helicopter.

The suspect was wanted on suspicion of grievous bodily harm against the officer, and was arrested for dangerous driving and failing to stop.

As of 10.15pm on Monday, the Metropolitan Police said they had made 240 arrests on the Bank Holiday Monday and 133 on Sunday, which included 10 made by the British Transport Police (BTP).

Thousands of Londoners attended #NottingHillCarnival. Commander Dave Musker, who was Gold Command for Carnival, said: We would like to thank all those who took to the streets to celebrate everything that the Carnival stands for." https://t.co/DLLpE9DhaP pic.twitter.com/t6ypK5W1gM  Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) August 27, 2018

A further 12 arrests were made by BTP on Monday.

Officers detained 156 people on drugs offences, 69 on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and nine on suspicion of sexual offences.

Among the items seized were knives, a metal pole and a Taser.

Last year some 313 arrests were carried out.

Notting Hill Carnival Gold Commander Dave Musker said: We would like to thank all those who took to the streets to celebrate everything that the carnival stands for, in a kind and considerate manner.

However Monday night was marred by the news of a non-life-threatening stabbing at around 8.10pm in Ladbroke Grove. Thankfully this was the only incident of this nature throughout the whole weekend.

He added: I am very pleased with the results of the screening arches and the Section 60 order; 36 offensive weapons were taken off the streets by my officers and 373 arrests were made over the course of the weekend, which we expect could rise.

Although I am happy with how the event ran overall, once again 30 of my colleagues were injured in the line of duty. Any assault on police is unacceptable.

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Steve OConnell, chairman of the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee said: The number of injuries sustained by police officers is still unacceptably high and is a disgrace when those officers are there to help ensure Europes biggest street event remains peaceful.

On both Sunday and Monday, the carnival fell silent as thousands of people paid tribute to Grenfell Tower victims.

At 3pm, revellers marked 72 seconds of silence in memory of the 72 people who died following the fire in June last year.

The tower block is within half a mile of the parade route.

Police were operating with enhanced stop-and-search powers in a bid to crack down on violence.

Scotland Yard imposed a Section 60 order across the carnival area between 9am and 11.59pm. The order allowed officers to search people if they believed they were carrying offensive weapons or in anticipation of violence.

The bank holiday weekend event was policed by the highest number of officers in six years.

Almost 7,000, some from the Metropolitan Polices newly formed Violent Crime Task Force, policed Mondays event to combat the threat of violent crime.

After a wave of violent crime in the capital in recent months, Scotland Yard announced knife arches had been placed at strategic points along the route to help reassure people about their safety, though officials did not disclose where.A Windrush migrant who died while trying to prove his British citizenship was described as a shadow of himself by his lawyer.

Dexter Bristol collapsed in the street and died of heart failure while caught up in the immigration scandal.

His immigration lawyer, Jacqueline McKenzie, said his battle to prove his right to be in the UK had taken a devastating toll on his health.

We saw at the outset a very robust person but distressed by the fact that he was having to prove his status in the country, even though he had been here since 1968.

He was prepared to fight but, as the months went on and he was required to find more evidence, it became very difficult and we saw him just decline into a shadow of himself.

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Giving evidence at his inquest at St Pancras Coroners Court in central London, she said Mr Bristol would not have been forced to go through the process under the current Home Office rules.

She said he had become increasingly stressed and worried, and added: I wrote to Dexter because he was so down and kept saying he was going to be kicked out of the country  I dont know Grenada, I dont remember it and dont want to go back there, my life is here.

The letter she wrote reassuring him that his case would be resolved was found unopened after his death, she said.

Mr Bristols family walked out of the inquest after a heated exchange between their lawyer and the coroner.

His relatives wanted to make submissions to the court about the possible role that Home Office policy played in his health.

But coroner Dr William Dolman ruled that the Home Office should not be an interested party in the inquest because it was not relevant to the immediate circumstances of the 57-year-olds death.

After unsuccessfully applying for an adjournment, Mr Bristols mother, Sentina Bristol, said the family was disappointed and fighting for justice.

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Speaking after leaving Tuesdays hearing, she said: We want justice, thats what were fighting for  justice. Thats what I would like to see happen.

Before the family asked the court to rise so they could withdraw, there were heated exchanges between Dr Dolman and the Bristol familys lawyer.

Una Morris repeatedly tried to make submissions to the court about the Home Office.

But Dr Dolman accused her of trying to tell me how to run my court and repeatedly ordered her to sit down.

He later apologised to Ms Morris and Mr Bristols family, saying: I didnt mean any discourtesy at all.

Ms Morris replied that the family are deeply upset at the way you spoke to me.

Dr Dolman conducted the inquest without any of Mr Bristols relatives or their lawyers present and concluded that he died from natural causes  acute cardiac arrhythmia.

He added: I accept from the evidence that the deceased was suffering from a great deal of stress at the time.

Mr Bristol, who lived in Camden, north London, died from acute heart failure on March 31.

He had not visited his GP for more than a year and believed he could not change surgeries unless he could prove his immigration status.

He was also unable to gt a job and thought he was at risk of losing his home because he did not have documents proving his right to be in the UK.

Mr Bristol was born in Grenada and came to the UK with his mother  a trained nurse and British citizen  in 1968 when he was eight.Twenty years ago legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk completed a gravity-defying 360-degree ramp  The Loop.

The Loop is infamous for its difficulty and the 50-year-old has praised it as a badge of honour in the skate world.

Now that badge has just been earned for the first time by a female skater, Lizzie Armanto  take a look.

Congratulations to @Lizziearmanto on becoming the first woman to complete the infamous loop yesterday. She pulled it just after our @nextvr event ended. It was an inspiring display of fierce determination and skill, and we at @birdhouse are incredibly proud. pic.twitter.com/8ekbUrxkOr  Tony Hawk (@tonyhawk) August 27, 2018

If that spectacular trick wasnt impressive enough, in the next video posted by Hawk he explains some of the history behind The Loop, which he first came across from pictures of failed attempts in a magazine.

My brief history of looping, made for BBHJ tour when we added one to the show in 2003. On Sunday at 3:30pm PST a whole new crew will be trying it for the first time. You can watch it live for free on any VR headset or on your phone through the @nextvr app.  pic.twitter.com/TrMacuwkrn  Tony Hawk (@tonyhawk) August 24, 2018

Hawk himself hasnt completed The Loop for 15 years, last doing so on tour in 2003, and has injured himself many times trying it, once breaking his pelvis.

Its hard to explain it, Hawk said. If youve done it, youve checked it off the list. Im not going to get the same gratification.

Its not like a trick you do and want to keep doing. And I have paid the price for it.

Hawks latest adventure with The Loop was part of a live virtual reality broadcast in San Diego with NextVR, which allowed viewers to watch the skaters in 3D.

None of the skaters Hawk invited to try The Loop had completed it before, and included in the group was Felipe Nunes, a teenage double-amuptee  seen here practising with stunt pads.

Heres Felipe Nunes getting a test run in preparation for our live loop challenge, tomorrow at 3:30pm PT, only in the @NextVR app. #HawkLoopinVR pic.twitter.com/Wn7sdooH4O  Tony Hawk (@tonyhawk) August 26, 2018

Hawk said they use pads so people can start to get used to the timing and feel of doing it in its natural state.

If you dont know what youre doing and you go at it without ever trying it and there are no pads in place, it can be very dangerous, he said.Kathmandu, Nepal: The government has announced holidays for schools and colleges on August 30-31 in the Kathmandu Valley.





The Ministry of Home Affairs has on Tuesday announced holidays on August 30-3 for schools and colleges on August 30-31 in the Kathmandu Valley in view of the fourth summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).





The Ministry has already announced odd-even rule to manage traffic system for three days (August 29, 30 and 31) during the summit.



Roy Oliver has been convicted of the murder of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards (Rose Baca/AP)

A white former US police officer has been found guilty of murder for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager as he left a house party in a car full of teenagers.

Jurors in Texas convicted Roy Oliver in a Dallas County courtroom.

Oliver was fired from the Balch Springs Police Department days after the April 2017 shooting.

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Oliver killed 15-year-old Jordan Edwards when he fired into a moving car carrying five black teenagers leaving a local house party.

Oliver gave evidence that he opened fire after seeing the car move toward his partner.

He said he thought his partner was in danger but his partner told jurors he did not fear for his life and never felt the need to fire his weapon.German police and security officials have been criticised over violence during a far-right protest in the eastern city of Chemnitz that left at least six people injured.

The protest late on Monday, sparked by the killing of a 35-year-old German man in an altercation with migrants over the weekend, erupted into clashes between neo-Nazis and left-wing counter-protesters.

German news agency dpa reported that Chemnitz police acknowledged having mobilised too few officers for the demonstration.

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Footage showed officers struggling to prevent far-right protesters breaking through police lines. The protesters also performed Nazi salutes and chanted the national resistance is marching here.

Chemnitz is in the eastern state of Saxony, which has long been a hotbed of anti-migrant sentiment. The far-right Alternative for Germany party received almost a quarter of the vote in Chemnitz last year.

The opposition Green party accused interior minister Horst Seehofer of fanning anti-migrant sentiment in recent months and urged him to think about resigning after the violence.

The police in Saxony are in a difficult situation, Mr Seehofer said. Should it be requested, the federal government will provide police support.

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Green legislator Konstantin von Notz told the news portal t-online.de that the violence in Chemnitz recalled events in other parts of eastern Germany during the early 1990s, when authorities failed to stop far-right mobs from attacking migrants.

Chemnitz police said they had arrested a 22-year-old Syrian and a 21-year-old Iraqi on suspicion of manslaughter over the death of the German man after a street festival early on Sunday.

Prosecutor Christine Muecke said the killing was preceded by a verbal confrontation that escalated.Hundreds of police officers are working to keep rival protesters apart in a city in eastern Germany where an Iraqi and a Syrian citizen were arrested over the killing of a German man.

About 1,000 left-wing protesters yelled slogans like Nazis out and Theres no right to Nazi propaganda at a larger group of right-wing demonstrators that retorted with We are louder, we are more and Lying press.

Officers in riot gear pushed people back as they tried to get at those on the other side. The demonstrators from the right hurled bottles and firecrackers at the rival camp before starting off on a march. No arrests or injuries were immediately reported.

Expand Close More than a quarter of people voted for the far-right Alternative for Deutschland in Chemnitz (AP Photo/Jens Meyer) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp More than a quarter of people voted for the far-right Alternative for Deutschland in Chemnitz (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

Both groups took to the streets of Chemnitz after a 35-year-old German man was injured during a clash after a street festival and died early on Sunday.

Prosecutor Christine Muecke told reporters the killing stemmed from a verbal confrontation that escalated. Two men were taken into custody  a 22-year-old Syrian citizen and a 21-year-old Iraqi citizen  and both were held on suspicion of manslaughter.

She refused to provide more details about the suspects or the victim.

Hundreds of people also took part in spontaneous protests late on Sunday in Chemnitz, a city where almost a quarter of the voters supported the far-right Alternative for Germany party last year. Videos posted on social media appeared to show far-right protesters threatening and chasing passers-by.

Of the estimated 800 people who took part in the first round of protests, about 50 were involved in violence and attacked police officers with bottles and stones, Chemnitz Police Chief Sonja Penzel said.

Expand Close Police separated far-right and left wing demonstrators (AP Photo/Jens Meyer) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Police separated far-right and left wing demonstrators (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)

A Syrian teenager and an Afghan teenager were attacked in separate incidents but were not seriously hurt and a 30-year-old Bulgarian was also threatened, she said.

Ms Penzel said police are still evaluating video footage and called for any witnesses to the violence to come forward.

Ahead of the protests, authorities vowed not to let the situation get out of hand. City police had water cannons on hand.

We will not abandon the streets to violent offenders and those spreading chaos, Saxony state interior minister Roland Woeller said.

Earlier in the day, Chancellor Angela Merkels spokesman, Steffen Seibert, strongly condemned Sundays violence.

What was seen yesterday in parts of Chemnitz and what was recorded on video has no place in our country, Mr Seibert told reporters in Berlin.

People ganging up, chasing people who look different from them or who come from elsewhere  is something we wont tolerate, he said. This has no place in our cities, and I can say for the German government that we condemn this in the sharpest possible manner.

Mr Seibert also criticised a far-right MP who suggested that German authorities were unable to protect citizens.

There is no place in Germany for vigilantism, for groups that want to spread hatred on the streets, for intolerance and racism, Mr Seibert said.Three experts working for the UNs Human Rights Council have said the governments of Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia may have been responsible for war crimes during its battle with Shia rebels.

The allegations include claims of rape, torture, disappearances and deprivation of the right to life during the three-and-a-half years of fighting against rebels known as Houthis, the experts said.

In their first report for the council, the experts also point to possible crimes by the Shia militia, which has been fighting the Saudi-led coalition and Yemens government since March 2015.

The trio have also chronicled the damages from coalition air strikes, the single most lethal force in the fighting, over the last year.

#Yemen: UN experts point to possible war crimes

committed by parties to the conflict. Read  https://t.co/YHtQWgudvO pic.twitter.com/emhVeBI1Vo  UN Human Rights Council (@UN_HRC) August 28, 2018

They urged the international community to refrain from providing arms that could be used in the conflict in Yemen, an apparent reference to countries including the US and Britain that help arm the Saudi-led coalition, as well as Iran, which the coalition has accused of arming the Houthis.

The experts visited some but not all parts of Yemen as they compiled the report.

(We have) reasonable grounds to believe that the governments of Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are responsible for human rights violations, the report said.

The Associated Press reported last year that the UAE and its allied militias were running a network of secret detention facilities, beyond the control of the Yemeni government.

In June, the AP revealed that hundreds of detainees had been subjected to sexual abuse and torture.

Despite the gravity of the situation, we still note a total disdain for the suffering of the Yemeni peopleKamel Jendoubi

The UN report accused the de facto authorities  an allusion to rebel leaders who control some of the countrys most populated western and northern areas  of crimes including arbitrary detentions, torture and child recruitment.

Human rights advocates have faulted the Houthis for laying landmines and targeting religious minorities and imprisoned opponents.

Kamel Jendoubi, a Tunisian human rights advocate who chaired the group of experts, said they compiled a confidential list of people suspected of committing international crimes, which was being handed over to the office of the UN human rights chief.

His team refused to indicate how many or which people or groups were on the list, on the government or rebel sides.

Expand Close Kamel Jendoubi, right, with Charles Garraway, another member of the expert panel (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Kamel Jendoubi, right, with Charles Garraway, another member of the expert panel (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone/AP)

Despite the gravity of the situation, we still note a total disdain for the suffering of the Yemeni people, Mr Jendoubi told reporters in a briefing on the report.

Since March last year, the UNs humanitarian aid agency has said Yemen  already the Arab worlds poorest country  is facing the worlds worst humanitarian crisis.

The report said three-quarters of its population of more than 29 million need humanitarian assistance.

The war has devastated the countrys health system and provided a breeding ground for the worlds largest cholera outbreak last year.

The experts cited 6,475 deaths from the conflict between March 2015 and June this year, but said the real figure is likely to be significantly higher. Other groups have estimated more than 10,000 people.

They also sharply criticised work by the coalitions Joint Incidents Assessment Team, which was set up as a bulwark against possible rights violations.

They questioned the JIATs explanations for the air strikes that have killed civilians, and challenged its independence and its ability to carry out impartial investigations.

The experts said nearly a dozen deadly air strikes they investigated over the last year raise serious questions about the targeting process applied by the coalition.

They chastised some in-the-field coalition combatants for routinely failing to seek information about targets on official no-strike lists that should have been avoided.The US flag over the White House has been lowered to half-staff again after criticism (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

US President Donald Trump has said he respects John McCains service to our country and has signed a proclamation to fly the US flag at half-staff until the senators burial.

The flag at the top of the White House flew at half-staff over the weekend but was raised on Monday and then lowered again amid criticism.

Mr Trump and Mr McCain have feuded for years. Mr Trump tweeted about Mr McCain after his death on Saturday but has passed up several chances to comment publicly on the Arizona senator.

Mr Trump said in a written statement on Monday that he has asked vice president Mike Pence to speak at a ceremony honouring Mr McCain at the capitol on Friday.

The president also says he has agreed to the McCain familys request for military transportation of Mr McCains remains from Arizona to Washington.The Stormont politicians have created the unenviable record of surpassing Belgium for the longest period of not having a sitting and working Assembly

The Stormont politicians have created the unenviable record of surpassing Belgium for the longest period of not having a sitting and working Assembly.

The Belgian impasse lasted 589 days and tonight marks the same length of time since Stormont collapsed. It is absolutely disgraceful that the politicians on all sides are still taking their handsome salaries but without doing the job they were elected to do.

Have you been affected by the Stormont impasse? Let us know what do you think should happen next - by emailing newseditor@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

However, there appears to be no sense of guilt among our Stormont representatives, who seem determined to brazen it out.

What is even more depressing is the way in which the two main parties, the DUP and Sinn Fein, continually blame each other for a lack of progress, but people are not putting up with such arrogance.

We can see through these pretensions, and it does not take a political genius to understand that both sides are to blame. To claim otherwise is clearly to add insult to injury.

For many weeks now people on all sides have been pointing to the many extra problems caused by the deadlock at Stormont. The lack of decision-making is stalling any progress in dealing with the huge challenges in the NHS, education, infrastructure, heritage-related issues and in many other areas where movement badly needs to be made.

So, effectively, we are leaderless.

One example of individual frustration at the political impasse is that of the hotelier Bill Wolsey, who says he will not invest any more money here until Stormont provides some degree of stability to Northern Ireland. However, until now there have been no large-scale protests from voters on all sides who are sick and tired of our politicians sitting on their hands rather than sitting at Stormont.

People are entitled to ask why the population here is not demanding good government, which is a basic human right for everyone.

The politicians have been living in such a bubble, and getting away with it, that they may no longer want to face up to the reality that they are failing their people, and taking money which they have not earned.

The situation is further complicated by the Brexit negotiations, and there is evidence that the main parties here do not wish to make any decisions until they know the outcome.

This is a dangerous policy that allows others to take advantage of a political vacuum.

Senator George Mitchell, one of the major architects of the Good Friday Agreement, warned of those dangers when he visited Northern Ireland last week.

So where do we go from here? We are now moving to the end of the summer holiday season when most people, from schoolchildren to professionals, commercial leaders and others, are literally getting back to business.

Is it too much to ask our politicians to do the same? The absence of an Assembly at Stormont is impacting on our lives in all sorts of ways, not least economically, where experts talk about a possible 230 million shortfall, which we can ill-afford.

We are now coming to a crucial phase in Brexit, with its enormous ramifications for all of us.

Therefore it is imperative that the Government tries to establish if there are any grounds for political progress here and, if so, there should be talks immediately.

If not, then there is a strong moral obligation on London to put in place new arrangements for the governance of Northern Ireland so that the welfare of all our people can be safeguarded.Adrian Chiles made his name as a modern Everyman. A bloke's bloke, devoted to the Baggies, the hopelessly unfashionable West Bromwich Albion. Straight as a die but with a touch of irony; the type of person in fact you'd be glad to run into in a pub and share some unthreatening banter.

Which makes his documentary Drinkers Like Me, broadcast last night on BBC2, even more frightening. Precisely because this Everyman freely confesses that he sometimes has 100 units of alcohol in a week and that 80-plus units would not be uncommon. (The NHS recommends a maximum of 14 units of alcohol in a week).

Promoting the documentary, Chiles also outlined how in a single day he had drunk four pints of Guinness, four bottles of beer, a glass of champagne and five glasses of wine, adding up to 32.4 units - more than twice the weekly limit recommended by the doctors.

No wonder that during the documentary, doctors warned the 51-year-old that he is in danger of developing cirrhosis of the liver and liver failure if he doesn't cut down.

We in Northern Ireland know the truth of Drinkers Like Me. We have a deeply embedded drink culture, whether it's heading out for 'a few bevvies', 'a wee swally' or a 'couple' of pints after work. For those who value upward social mobility, there's the fine bottle (or two) to complement the meal and maybe an aged malt or craft gin, to round off the night. For the ladies there's also the roses, the spritzers, the fruity ciders. Christenings? 'Wetting' the baby's head. Weddings? 'Toasting' the happy couple. Funerals? A gathering of the clans to 'celebrate' the life of the one now gone. It is hard to think of a formal occasion in Northern Ireland that does not involve the certainty of drink and doing it to excess.

We don't have alcoholic friends. No, they are 'a laugh'. That colleague who has 'a couple' at lunchtime is 'a case'. Even when pretending to be facing harsh truths about our friends and loved ones, at worse they're 'heavy drinkers'. After hospitalisation, they will only be 'problem drinkers'.

After totting up the 33 units in one day, Chiles confessed: "I thought, I'm in trouble here, I didn't realise how much I was drinking. Superficially I had no bad effects from it, it didn't affect me, I was kind of too good at it. I don't get hangovers, I don't fight, I don't wake up with strangers, I don't drink during the day, I don't drink alone. All these things I didn't do, but in fact I was a very heavy drinker without realising it."

The bar - no pun intended - is set rather high in the common view. As long as you can function, you are not an alcoholic.

An alcoholic, we like to think, is the man who needs a snifter before going into work, the woman who locks herself in the house with the case of wine, in the end the man in the gutter with a bottle of paint-thinner in his pocket.

Of course, the bar is set exactly that high because we are all at it. Deluding ourselves, that is, as well as drinking too much.

Only last week, figures obtained by BBC NI revealed that more than 3,500 deaths in Northern Ireland between 2001 and 2016 were attributed to drink. From 2006 to 2016 alone, there were 1,500 more alcohol related-deaths (2,668) than deaths connected to drugs (1,149).

Once you expand that to deaths connected to alcohol consumption in others - industrial accidents, for example, or road deaths, falls, domestic accidents - the figures would rise sharply.

The irony is that even Chiles - presenting a programme on alcohol abuse - shows signs of wanting to shy away from the truth. Speaking to the Radio Times, he said: "The word 'alcoholic' is outdated, but I am undoubtedly dependent on alcohol to some extent - and if I am, thousands of others are."

The old stylistic issues about 'alcoholism' resurface. The word is 'outdated'; perhaps the concept is also ... Do-gooders and puritans want to disrupt our fun. If there are alcoholics, it's a working-class problem, only an issue out in those estates ... but our Susan or Gerry or Frances or Paul, though, are solicitors and mums and teachers and hard workers, they're just fond of a drink and entitled to have fun; they like letting their hair down. They're great craic altogether. If they have an issue, it's to do with temporary pressure or being too successful; they certainly aren't in the same bracket as those dossers and or even those figures - and as the stats show every family has them - who lost a job, a car, a house, a family, maybe even everything, thanks to the relentless strangulation of the character Bing Crosby famously addressed as 'Mister Booze/don't ever choose./Any game you play with him/you lose'.

Everyone reading this article knows someone who has been touched by the dreadful affliction of drink out of control. The prognosis is often irreversible and rapid, a catastrophic decline in health, with the equally rapid departure of friends and family as the episodes of unreliability, self-harm and harm to others proliferate.

'Dependent drinker' makes everything sound a lot cosier; but Chiles is right about one thing - his story is not about him being abnormal but about him being the average, the unremarkable. And that's troubling because it obviously means that any amelioration involves tackling the culture that actually encourages people to centre their lives round booze, the vast profits it makes and the real dependency our whole society has on the revenue it generates in taxes.

The first step is recognising that we (the collective we) have a problem and that just laughing it away won't wash anymore. Our society needs to make some kind of intervention and tell it like it is.

It can't be 'go on, have another one! It'll make you feel better and make me feel better about my own drinking'.

Alcoholism, as the old saying goes, is the one condition that insists you don't have it and it will wreck your house, hit your spouse, smash your car with you in it and help the police drag you off to the station while proving it.

Well, it's we who have the problem with drink and, as the death toll mounts and as the suffering of those connected with it increases, it's time to put the damage of drink right into the classroom and begin to manage it the way we did with tobacco.

That is, stop grooming children to drink as if it's a sign of being grown up.Members of Parliament are calling for more financial perks, a bill that the taxpayer would ultimately have to foot

Is the fatted calf getting ever more corpulent and greedy? It would certainly seem so judging by the latest demands of Members of Parliament. They are lobbying for a larger expenses budget because of what they claim is the "extra workload" foisted on them by Brexit.

This latest demand will be greeted with sardonic laughter by the hard-pressed British taxpayer who has to foot the bill.

Judging by the MPs' expenses scandal that came to light in 2009, many people would marvel at the brass neck of MPs calling for yet more perks. At the moment a substantial number of MPs have managed to boost their expenses budget to 180,000 a year for staffing and office running.

Over the past 50 years or so, admittedly, the MPs' workload has significantly increased, something which is largely their own fault, since they have been taking on responsibilities which would normally lie in the domain of local authorities. Long gone, I'm afraid, are the days when being an MP was regarded as a vocation rather than just a job. In those not so far off days they were poorly paid and could barely afford a humble bed and breakfast place. They even had to buy their own postage stamps to write to their constituents.

I am not suggesting that we should return to those days, but I am suggesting MPs should be satisfied with their present lot. They are well paid and well-heeled, with already over-generous expense accounts.

And they have received pay rises far in excess of most other public servants.

So I trust that the authorities who deal with these matters will boot this demand not just into the long grass, but right out of sight. Why should the taxpayer have yet more holes burnt in their pocket?

Are Jeremy Corbyn and his sidekick John McDonnell leading the Labour Party to destruction?

Sir Bernard Ingham, who was Margaret Thatcher's Press secretary, has described Labour as being "totalitarian" and in a complete mess, adding that moderate Labour MPs should quit the party and form an independent Labour Party, if they have the guts to do it. "I am not holding my breath," he added resignedly.

Meanwhile - and possibly even more significantly - Alan Johnson, Labour's former Home Secretary, says that a split in the party is now inevitable. He described the activities of the hardline left-wing Momentum campaign group as "malice dressed as virtue".

With well-informed heavyweights like these expressing that kind of view, I suspect the prospects of Labour remaining a single entity between now and the next general election are growing slimmer every day.

But it is not only Labour that is in a state of turmoil. The Conservatives are also in a similar situation, although for very different reasons. And even though there are huge variations - to put it mildly - over Brexit in the Tory party, there is no sign it will split.

Even so, its forthcoming party conference, like that of Labour, is likely to produce much spilt political blood.

The differences between, say, Jacob Rees-Mogg, fiercely pro-Brexit, and Lord Heseltine, fiercely against it, are so great you could be forgiven for thinking they are not in the same party.

So to those attending the party conferences this year, I would offer this advice: Tin hats at the ready.

Anti-Brexiteers seem to have stepped up their desire to spread gloom over the nation, especially on the question of a no deal exit.

Chancellor Philip Hammond, the Eeyore of Westminster, may be worsening the split in the Cabinet by his claim that a no deal Brexit could wipe up to 10% off the national income and hit the food and other industries very hard.

I see that Dominic Raab, the new Brexit Minister, has wasted no time in rejecting such scare stories.

Whichever side is right and whichever wrong, it is surely better to look to leaving the EU with our chin up rather than painting a picture of doom.

If you remember, this kind of fear was spread at the millennium with all sorts of calamities predicted, including aircraft falling out of the sky. Nothing untoward happened at all.Kathmandu, Nepal: District Administrative Office (DAO), Kanchanpur has lifted the curfew imposed in Mahendranagar from Tuesday morning.





With the decision of the DAO, general people seem to have returned on their regular duties from early morning on Tuesday. The DAO decided to impose the indefinite curfew order since five days till further notice considering to the civil unrest.





The local people had been protesting demanding the arrest of actual culprit of Nirmala Pantas murder. 9th grader13 year old Panta was murdered after rape about a month ago, but police have failed to book the actual culprit of the heinous crime.



Marzuki Darusman, the Indonesian chairman of the U.N.s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, presents its final report on alleged human rights violations during a press conference in Geneva, Aug. 27, 2018.

Myanmar military leaders should be prosecuted for genocide against the Rohingya for an army campaign that killed thousands and drove some 700,000 members of the Muslim ethnic minority into Bangladesh, investigators for the U.N.s top human rights body said Monday.

A three-member fact-finding mission, working under a mandate from the United Nations Human Rights Council, said the situation in Myanmar should be referred to the International Criminal Court in the Hague, and it named Myanmars commander-in-chief, Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing, and five other generals for prosecution.

Many of these violations undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law, said the final report by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, which cataloged abuses in Rakhine, home to the Rohingyas, as well as Kachin and Shan States in the north where the army has waged war against ethnic armies for decades.

They are shocking for the level of denial, normalcy and impunity that is attached to them, said the report.

Taking into account considerations about the inference of genocidal intent, the team said it concluded there was sufficient information to warrant the investigation and prosecution of senior officials in the Tatmadaw [the Myanmar military] chain of command, so that a competent court can determine their liability for genocide in relation to the situation in Rakhine State.

In Bangladesh, where some 1 million Rohingya refugees are sheltering in camps and settlements in the southeast  including 720,000 who fled a brutal crackdown in Rakhine that started in August 2017  officials and members of the Rohingya expatriate community welcomed news of the recommendations made by the U.N. team.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Bangladesh Foreign Ministry official said the government had yet to give an official statement on the U.N. report, but added, Our position is the same as the international communitys. We want justice for Rohingyas who were tortured and who were victims of ethnic cleansing. We also want them to be able to return to their homes with full citizenship rights."

Dipu Moni, a former Bangladesh foreign minister and current MP who chairs the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, said Dhaka should support the U.N. position on prosecution of Myanmar military officials responsible for genocide and ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims.

Of course, we should call for prosecution of the generals. We have always been demanding accountability. Unless the persons responsible for genocide, torture and ethnic cleansing are made accountable, the rights of the Rohingya will not be guaranteed, and they will not feel safe to return to their homeland, she told BenarNews.

Abdul Motaleb, a Rohingya community leader at the Leda Refugee Camp in Teknaf, Bangladesh, thanked the U.N. for the report.

We hope that the Security Council will act quickly to prosecute the crimes of Myanmar army officers. We also want to see prosecution of those civilians who were involved in genocide and supported genocide.

Marzuki Darusman, a former Indonesian attorney-general, chaired the fact-finding team.

The militarys contempt for human life, dignity and freedom  for international law in general  should be a cause of concern for the entire population of Myanmar, and to the international community as a whole, he told a news conference in Geneva.

His team also called for the U.N. Security Council to place an arms embargo on Myanmar and impose targeted sanctions on officials. They faulted de facto civilian leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, for failing to protect civilians.

Suu Kyi has not used her de facto position as Head of Government, nor her moral authority, to stem or prevent the unfolding events, or seek alternative avenues to meet a responsibility to protect the civilian population, said the report, issued in Geneva.

Grossly disproportionate

The report was issued just after the first anniversary of attacks on guard posts by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a Rohingya insurgent group, on Aug. 25, 2017 that triggered a campaign of violence by Myanmar forces targeting the Rohingya, including killings, torture, rape, and village burnings in Rakhine.

The Myanmar government has largely denied the national militarys involvement in atrocities against the Rohingya and has defended its activities as part of a legitimate counterinsurgency operation against ARSA.

The U.N. report said ARSA had also committed serious human rights abuses but Myanmars military action was grossly disproportionate to actual security threats.

Military necessity would never justify killing indiscriminately, gang raping women, assaulting children, and burning entire villages, the report said.

The 2017 campaign against the Rohingya followed years of abuses and hateful rhetoric, and displayed organization and planning that pointed to genocidal intent, the U.N. panel said.



The crimes in Rakhine State, and the manner in which they were perpetrated, are similar in nature, gravity and scope to those that have allowed genocidal intent to be established in other contexts, it said.

Factors pointing at such intent include the broader oppressive context and hate rhetoric; specific utterances of commanders and direct perpetrators; exclusionary policies, including to alter the demographic composition of Rakhine State; the level of organization indicating a plan for destruction; and the extreme scale and brutality of the violence, the report said.

The campaign of August 2017 was preceded by a major build-up of military forces in Rakhine state, with airlifts of troops and equipment into area and the recruitment of ethnic Rakhine villages into security forces, it said.

This build-up was significant, requiring logistical planning and time to implement, indicating that the subsequent operations were foreseen and planned, according to the report.

In the aftermath of the military campaign, the report said, the mass displacement and burning of Rohingya villages was followed by systematic appropriation of emptied land.

Bulldozers flattened burned, damaged and even surviving structures and vegetation, erasing every trace of the Rohingya communities  while destroying criminal evidence, the report added.

Human rights groups estimate that between 6,000 and 10,000 people died in the military campaign, in which soldiers were aided by Rakhine Buddhists in attacking the Rohingya.

Buddhist-ruled Myanmar does not recognize the Rohingya as an indigenous ethnic group, denying them citizenship and work opportunities and has pejoratively described them as illegal Bengali immigrants.

There was no formal response from Myanmar to the report, an advance copy of which was given to the government. Myanmar has refused to cooperate with U.N. and other international efforts to investigate the exodus of the Rohingya, and its own government probes of the violence exonerated the military.

Myanmars Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Hau Do Suan, echoed his governments rejection of U.N. investigations into the Rakhine crisis.

Myanmar doesnt recognize the fact finding mission and the resolution of the U.N. Human Rights Commission. Therefore, were not cooperating with them. Also, we wont allow their visit to Myanmar, he told the Myanmar Service of Radio Free Asia (RFA), a sister entity of BenarNews.

Myo Nyunt, an official of Suu Kyis ruling National League for Democracy, repeated Myanmars call for more evidence of atrocities. The government has prevented investigators from entering the conflict zone, while repeatedly rejecting evidence, including satellite imagery of burned villages and the vivid testimony of hundreds of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

We have been asking for concrete evidence for a long time, but they cant provide evidence that shows army burned down all these villages, he told RFA.

Generals named

The U.N. panel, set up in March 2017, interviewed 875 victims and witnesses in Bangladesh and other countries, and studied videos, photographs and satellite images.

Min Lwin Oo, a lawyer at the Asia Human Rights Commission, was dismissive about the likelihood that Myanmar generals would be prosecuted.

I think that the U.N. fact-finding team released it because of international pressure, but it could be a warning to Myanmar generals not to do the same things in the future. he told RFA.

The U.N. needs much concrete and hard evidence to prosecute Myanmar at the ICC. Oral evidence alone will not work, he added.

In addition to commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing, other generals named in the report included Brigadier-General Aung Aung, commander of the 33rd Light Infantry Division; army deputy commander-in-chief Vice Senior-General Soe Win; the commander of the Bureau of Special Operations-3, Lieutenant-General Aung Kyaw Zaw; the commander of Western Regional Military Command, Major-General Maung Maung Soe; and the commander of 99th Light Infantry Division, Brigadier-General Than Oo.

Rights groups demand justice

Last week, Myanmar rejected cooperation with the ICC, to which it is not a party. China, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council with veto power over whether the issue will be brought before the ICC, has largely backed Myanmar throughout the Rakhine crisis.

Rights groups welcomed a move by the U.N. that they had long been calling for.

This report, which adds to a mountain of evidence of crimes under international law committed by the military, shows the urgent need for independent criminal investigation and is clear that the Myanmar authorities are incapable of bringing to justice those responsible, said Tirana Hassan, director of crisis response at Amnesty International.

The international community has the responsibility to act to ensure justice and accountability. Failing to do so sends a dangerous message that Myanmars military will not only enjoy impunity but is free to commit such atrocities again, added Hassan.

Human Rights Watch called for immediate steps to set up a body to preserve evidence and assist in investigations.

The Fact-Finding Missions powerful report and clear recommendations demonstrate the obvious need for concrete steps to advance criminal justice for atrocious crimes, instead of more hollow condemnations and expressions of concern, said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.



U.N. member states should step up efforts that include the urgent creation of an International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to ensure those most responsible for grave crimes do not escape prosecution.



The U.S. social media giant Facebook responded to the report by removing 18 Facebook accounts, one Instagram account and 52 Facebook pages linked to the Myanmar military, as part of its work to "prevent the spread of hate and misinformation" on its networks.

Specifically, we are banning 20 individuals and organizations from Facebook in Myanmar  including Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and the militarys Myawaddy television network, it said in a statement.

We want to prevent them from using our service to further inflame ethnic and religious tensions, added the statement.

Myanmar meanwhile postponed until Sept. 3 a verdict expected on Monday for Reuters journalists Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28.

The journalists, whose reporting revealed atrocities in the village of Inn Din where 10 Rohingya boys and men were killed, were arrested last December and are being tried on charges of violating Myanmar's Official Secrets Act.

Kamran Reza Chowdhury in Dhaka and Sharid Khiam in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh contributed to this report.Members of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission answer questions during a news conference at the agencys office in Putrajaya, Malaysia, May 22, 2018.

Malaysias anti-corruption agency arrested and detained the nations former spy chief Tuesday on suspicion of misappropriation of election funds, officials said.

Hasanah Abdul Hamid, former director-general of the Malaysian External Intelligence Organization (MEIO), was detained after she was called in for questioning by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, according to Azam Baki, MACCs deputy chief.

Hasanahs detention was related to the recent arrest of seven high-ranking government officials accused of misusing public funds, Azam said in a statement.

She was called in to assist us and we arrested her after initial findings showed that she was involved in misusing the money for election, together with the seven men we have arrested, he said.

Hasanahs lawyer, Shaharudin Ali, confirmed that the arrest took place.



Yes, she will be taken to the court for remand, Shaharudin told BenarNews.

Last month, Hasanah, 61, asked police to trace the leak of a secret letter she wrote to the CIA appealing for Washingtons support for the government of Prime Minister Najib Razak, days before it was ousted in the May election.



Her arrest was not related to that controversial letter, her lawyer said.

On Monday, seven senior officials, including a deputy director-general of the MEIO, were brought to the Putrajaya magistrates court for remand, a source close to the investigation told BenarNews.

MACC seized laptops and luxury watches from the suspects, the source said, adding that investigators believe public funds were used to purchase those items. Authorities also froze several bank accounts belonging to the suspects, the source said.



We do not know how much money exactly was missing, but we believe it is in millions of ringgit, said the source, who requested anonymity.

Hasanah Abdul Hamid [BenarNews/S.Mahfuz]

Hasanah was expected to appear before a judge at the Putrajaya administrative capital on Wednesday and will be charged under Section 23 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Act 2009 for abuse of power and using public position for personal gratification, the source said.

The charge carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

In her three-page letter dated May 4  five days before the election that catapulted Mahathir Mohamad back to power  Hasanah asked for Washingtons support through Gina Haspel, director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, saying Najib would be a stronger U.S. ally.

The letter described Mahathir, 93, as an autocrat and anti-West and anti-Semite.

Najib denied any knowledge of the letter, but officials in Mahathirs government had called for a probe into why such a letter was sent to the CIA, saying the action might have violated Malaysias sovereignty.A man wounded in a bomb blast is seen at the Sultan Kudarat provincial hospital in Isulan town following the explosion that occurred during a local fiesta, Aug. 28, 2018.

At least 36 people were wounded and one person was killed when an improvised bomb exploded during a Tuesday evening fiesta at a town in the troubled southern Philippines, according to a military report from the ground.

The injured included two soldiers who were guarding the local festivities in Isulan town, which is located in Sultan Kudarat province, authorities said.

Authorities saw a suspect about to leave an improvised bomb on a parked motorcycle as the mostly Muslim town was celebrating a one-week local festival called Hamungaya, according to Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, the regional infantry division chief who quoted initial reports from the site.

The perpetrator was seen and chased, but before he was caught the bomb exploded, Sobejana said, adding that the man managed to drive near a bank and the municipal hall where the bomb exploded.

At least one person was quite seriously injured, he said.

Philippine Sen. Richard Dick Gordon posted a message on Twitter saying 34 patients were transported to 4 nearby hospitals and our chapter provided five units of blood transfusion.

Sobejana said troops and police in the area had been on heightened alert since a van packed with explosives went off at a roadblock in Basilan island also in the south, killing 11 people last month.

The Islamic State claimed that attack, saying a Moroccan militant had carried out the suicide bombing, but Philippine authorities have been skeptical about the claim. The number one suspect remains the Abu Sayyaf, a small but brutal Islamic group blamed for the worst attacks in the Philippines.

Days after the Basilan bombing, the military caught two Filipino militants from another group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) as they allegedly tried to sneak a bomb past a military checkpoint and into the town of Mlang, also in the south.

The BIFF is a splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), once the countrys main separatist group, which agreed to a peace deal in 2014 to settle for limited autonomy.

In July, President Rodrigo Duterte signed a law creating the autonomous region, but security analysts have said that violence would continue involving smaller, but more militant, groups.

Froilan Gallardo in Cagayan de Oro city, Philippines contributed to this report.Isabelita Espinosa, mother of slain teenager Sonny Espinosa, relates to a group of relatives of other victims of killings under Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs how her son was killed together with six other minors last year, Aug. 28, 2018.

Updated at 11:31 a.m. ET on 2018-08-28

A rights group and relatives of eight victims killed in President Rodrigo Duterte's unrelenting drug war filed a murder case Tuesday against the Philippine leader at the International Criminal Court (ICC), in the second such petition alleging thousands had been killed in the anti-narcotics campaign, their lawyer said.

The new complaint asked ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to make Duterte accountable for his crimes against humanity committed through acts of murder for extrajudicial killings of thousands of Filipinos, said Neri Colmenares, head of the National Union of Peoples Lawyers (NUPL).

The group said they chose to file the case before the ICC because they would not be able to see justice in the Philippines, after Duterte orchestrated the ouster in May of Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno to favor her arch-rival, Teresita de Castro.

Dutertes drug war has left about 4,410 suspected drug dealers and addicts dead in police operations since he assumed office in 2016, according to latest figures released last week by the national police.

The figure is on top of the estimated 4,800 others that are considered deaths under investigation  including those blamed on unidentified vigilantes who typically leave messages on cardboards placed near the bodies of their victims warning others to avoid drugs or end up dead.

Rights groups, including the Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have placed the death toll at 12,000 or higher, largely because many deaths, especially in slum areas, sometimes go unreported.

Rubylin Litao, of the group Rise Up for Life and for Rights, which is also one of the complainants, said many of the victims families had already lost confidence that their cases would prosper in the local court system now headed by Dutertes allies.

These killings must be stopped and justice must be served, not only for the individual families but for all of us as a people, Litao said. The poor have been striving hard to get out of poverty but the presidents answer buried them instead, literally and figuratively, to greater woes.

Reacting to the news, presidential spokesman Harry Roque belittled the latest development, saying that Manila had already opted out of the Rome Statute that created the ICC as early as March.

My fearless prediction is, it will not prosper because of the concept of complementarity. The ICC must not act unless local courts have proven to be unable or unwilling to exercise jurisdiction on these complaints, Roque said.

The ICC could not be immediately reached for comment.

The ICC is currently investigating a 77-page complaint filed last year by Edgar Matobato, Dutertes self-proclaimed hitman, and Arturo Lascanas, a former police officer who claimed to have committed murder under the direction of the president when he was still a mayor of the southern city of Davao.

That complaint, filed in April 2017, includes crimes against humanity through mass murder allegedly committed by Duterte and his death squad. Duterte has denied the allegations and the groups existence.

The case is still with the ICC, and Duterte in March accused the body of trying to paint him as a heartless violator of human rights. He later withdrew from the treaty that created the court.

He had claimed that the acts he has been charged with were neither a crime of aggression nor a crime against humanity. The deaths occurring in the process of legitimate police operation lacked the intent to kill, Duterte, a prosecutor before becoming a politician, said then.

He subsequently warned Bensouda from ever going to the Philippines because the ICC never had jurisdiction over my person, not in a million years and accused his opponents of using the ICC as a political tool against him.

You cannot exercise any proceedings here without basis. That is illegal, and I will arrest you, Duterte said then.

The ICC has said that it would not stop a preliminary examination it was conducting into the Philippines. While the Philippines was well within its rights to pull out of the Rome Statute, an international treaty that gave birth to the ICC, its withdrawal would only take effect a year after notifying the United Nations secretary general.

Karl Romano from Dagupan City contributed to this report.An earlier version incorrectly included Marawi in the dateline.

In the wake of the recent shocking spate of arbitrary arrests of 5 rights activists and under the draconian UAPA, and raids on the premises of 5 others by the Maharashtra Police on 28 August 2018, PUDR, PUCL and WSS invite you to attend a press conference on 30 August 2018, Thursday at the Press Club (Raisina Road) at 4 pm.

We condemn this attempt to distract the public from this real conspiracy with a fabricated one. We condemn the crushing of dissent. We stand in solidarity with all those who speak for our fellow citizensa rights.

This too at a time when the investigation into the assassination of Gauri Lankesh, MM Kalburgi, Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar has revealed bombs, guns, camps for arms training, hit lists and plans for what can rightly be called acriminal conspiracya to use violence to kill, crush diversity and dissent, undo the Constitution, and the India it promises all of us.

Who are some of these alleged aconspiratorsa who have either been taken into custody or had their homes searched? Sudha Bhardwaj is an advocate and the national secretary for Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL). Father Stan Swamy is an active campaigner against communalism in Jharkhand. Arun Ferreira is an activist who has also written on issues such as casteism, communalism and economic inequality. Varavara Rao is a Marxist writer and teacher of Telugu literature. Gautam Navlakha is a civil rights activist, journalist and writer. Anand Teltumbde is a respected writer, civil rights activist and political analyst. K. Sathyanarayana is a professor a dalit studies scholar.

We demand immediate release of the arrested individuals, dropping of all false and malicious charges, as these arrests are politically motivated and unjustified.

The arrests should be seen in continuation with the recent attacks on pro-justice voices such as Swami Agnivesh, Umar Khalid and many other student activists from Delhi to Lucknow. A BJP lawmaker from Karnataka even advocated the murder of aintellectuals.a Both the arrests and the physical attacks on justice loving people must be seen in a series of attempts to stifle dissent and deny social justice.

The so-called raids carried out on the houses of these activists are aimed at creating a spectacle, as the writings and views of these intellectuals are already publicly known and are well documented. This seems like a conspiracy to divert attention from the gravity of the Sanatan Sanstha conspiracy to carry out serial bomb attacks on Eid and Ganesh Chaturthi! The same Sanatan Sanstha was also involved in the murder of Gauri Lankesh, as per the ongoing investigations by Karnataka police. Todayas arrests have been carried out in order to give cover to the murderers of Gauri Lankesh. People like Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha and others who have been arrested are friends of the people who have dedicated their entire lives to the betterment of the Indian public. By arresting them, the BJP is only exposing its insecurities and its intolerance to any dissent or criticism of its policies.

We, the undersigned, are shocked by the serial raids across the country on the homes of activists and public intellectuals who are critical of the government and the ruling party at the Centre. The arrests of prominent activists and intellectuals Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Gautam Navlakha, Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Kranthi Tekula and others, are nothing but an attempt by the government to strike terror among those who are fighting for justice for the marginalised. This is also an attempt by the BJP to invent a false enemy and engage in scaremongering in order to polarise the 2019 elections in its favour. Already, the government and the media houses close to the BJP have been trying to spin a false narrative of a Maoist conspiracy since June, 2018. Terms like aurban naxalsa are invented in order to stifle any criticism of the government. We have learnt that the Delhi Police, after having arrested Sudha Bharadwaj, waited for Republic TV to arrive before taking her to the court. This simply shows that the arrests are incomplete without the accompanying sensationalist media propaganda to demonise activists, human rights defenders and intellectuals.

4.

STATEMENTS FROM HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANISATIONS

Statement from Human Rights Forum (HRF)

Press Release

28-8-2018

Hyderabad

The Human Rights Forum (HRF) unequivocally condemns the arrests of social activists and leftist intellectuals including Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Varavara Rao and several others by the Pune police today. The arrests are part of a clear design to lock down on democratic dissent, undermine free speech and create a climate of fear. This is quite alarming.

These arrests as well as the raids on the homes of a total of nine persons in Delhi, Ranchi, Bombay and Hyderabad are plainly intended to persecute dissenters and those critiquing rights violations by governments. They are based on utterly vague and numerous flimsy and sweeping accusations. According to information available, the highly undemocratic legislation - the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 is being invoked against those arrested. The UAPA is a draconian statute that is in open contempt of fundamental political freedoms and should not have any place in a civilised society. It affords free rein to the police to target and harass virtually anyone they wish to. It allows presumption of guilt, and alleged aintentiona to commit crimes to become the basis of arrests, incarceration, and prolonged denial of bail.

These raids and arrests are part of a concerted onslaught by the State to clamp down on politics that is inconvenient to the ruling dispensation.

Slapping the label Maoist has become the routine option for the State to crack down on dissent. The adiscoverya of incriminating Maoist literature/letters is of a piece with this dubious strategy.

The real intent is to criminalise the democratic activity of these activists, harass them and ensure their extended incarceration. We demand the immediate dropping of the spurious charges against all those arrested and their unconditional release.

S Jeevan Kumar (HRF AP&TS Coordination Committee member)

VS Krishna (HRF AP&TS Coordination Committee member)

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Amnesty International India

Bangalore/Delhi: 28 August 2018 7:05 pm

Crackdown On Activists Cannot Become The Order Of The Day

The nationwide crackdown on activists, advocates and human rights defenders is disturbing and threatens core human rights values, Amnesty International India and Oxfam India today said jointly in response to the massive crackdown on rights activists in the country by the Maharashtra state police.

aTodayas arrests is the second of such crackdowns on rights activists, advocates and journalists who have been critical of the state. All these people have history of working to protect the rights of some of Indiaas most poor and marginalized people. Their arrests raise disturbing questions about whether they are being targeted for their activism,a said Aakar Patel, Executive Director, Amnesty International India.

aThese arrests cannot become the order of the day. The government should protect peopleas rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly instead of creating an atmosphere of fear,a said Amitabh Behar, CEO, Oxfam India.

According to media reports, the Maharashtra state police have arrested Chhattisgarh-based human rights lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, Maharashtra-based social activist Vernon Gonsalves, former secretary of Peopleas Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) Gautam Navlakha, Maharashtra-based activist Arun Ferreira, and Telangana journalist Varavara Rao. The premises of several other activists like Anand Tetlumbde and Father Stan Swamy were also raided.

In June this year, five activists were arrested on the suspicion of inciting caste-based violence on 1 January in Bhima Koregaon, Maharashtra. Surendra Gadling, Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale, Shoma Sen and Mahesh Raut were arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and several sections of the Indian Penal Code.

For more information please contact:

Smriti Singh

Email: smriti.singh[at]amnesty.org.in

Phone: 080 493 88 000

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Peoples Union For Civil Liberties (PUCL)

Press Statement: 28th August 2018

PUCL STRONGLY CONDEMNS AND DENOUNCES THE ARRESTS UNDER THE DRACONIAN UAPA OF:

1. Sudha Bharadwaj, PUCL National Secretary

2. Gautam Navalakha of PUDR,

3. Prof. Anand Teltumde of CPDR,

4. Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira, advocates, and

5. Vara Vara Rao, noted poet and rights activist.

PUCL also denounces the simultaneous multi-city raids conducted today, 28th August 2018 in a concerted and pre-meditated manner across the country at the premises of other eminent human rights activists including:

Father Stan Swamy in Jharkhand;

Senior Writer and Poet Varavara Rao, as also the houses of his two daughters and sons-in-law, Anala and the Hindu journalist KV Kumaranath; and Pavana and her husband, Prof. Satyanarayana, of English and Foreign Languages University;

Namaste Telangana journalist Kranthi Tekula in Hyerabad;

Anand Teltumbde in Goa;

Gautam Navlakha in Delhi,

Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves and Susan Abraham, Advocates in Mumbai.

PUCL asserts that the arrests and raids are nothing but a targetted crackdown and attack by the police and state on civil liberties and democratic rights activists across the country in a concerted attempt to crush human rights interventions and silence voices of dissent;

Such systematic and pre-meditated crackdown on human rights activists is unprecedented and unheard of in a democracy and PUCL strongly condemns this unconstitutional crackdown by the state and police ;

PUCL stands firmly in solidarity with advocate Sudha Bharadwaj, National Secretary, PUCL and the other human rights activists who face raids and have been arrested under false and fabricated charges.

We would like to point out that in a Habeas Corpus petition filed before the Delhi High Court, his transfer on transit warrant to Pune has been stayed pending further hearing of the habeas corpus petition tomorrow 29th August, and he is currently under house arrest. As per sources, Anand Teltumbdeas house in Goa was raided by the police in a completely illegal manner, in his absence, after procuring keys from the security guard. While some news channels state that the raids and arrest have been made in the Pune case of Bhima Koregaon caste violence, where the prime accused are Hindutva right wing groups and leaders who are enjoying state impunity and at large, some other news agencies are alleging that the arrests are linked to claims of alleged plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

It is pertinent to note that just last month on 4th July 2018, a scurrilous, motivated, fabricated and malicious media propaganda and hate campaign was run by Republic TV and its anchor Ms. Shivani Gupta, Deputy Editor Mr. Shrawan Sen and its Managing Director, Mr. Arnab Goswami, by way of a series of programmes presented as aSuper Exclusive Breaking Newsa and also showcased by way of a national debate on Prime Time TV. Relying on a fabricated letter allegedly addressed by her to a Maoist named aComrade Prakasha, the channel repeatedly aired, completely false, unsubstantiated and scurrilous accusations against Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj, falsely profiling her as aUrban Naxala . The allegations were categorically denied by Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj in her rebuttal statement. The programmes were aired with headers ofa#UrbanNaxalsExposeda and similar allegations were made against other human rights activists like Mr. Gautam Navlakha in part 2 of the programme, via a second letter supposedly procured by the Channel. PUCL has previously issued a statement dated 7th July 2018 strongly condemning the incident and demanding strict action against the Channel. Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj also issued a legal notice in respect of the Channelas illegal acts.

The current arresta and raids are taking place in the backdrop of the arrests of five human rights activists a Advocate Surendra Gadling, Professor Shoma Sen, Rona Wilson, Mahesh Raut and Sudhir Dhawale a who were also arrested under UAPA on 6th June 2018, relying on a similar fabricated letter produced by Republic TV allegedly addressed to the same "Comrade Prakash", in the same Pune case. Following this, on 7th June 2018, Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj had addressed a press conference organized by the Indian Association of Peoples Lawyers (IAPL) in New Delhi to condemn the arrest of Advocate Surendra Gadling of the Nagpur High Court. Susan Abraham, Arun Fererreia and Vernon Gonsalves are in fact representing the Bhima Koregaon accused in Court.

Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj has been a dedicated trade unionist for more than three decades and has served as a general secretary of its Chhattisgarh branch, during which time the branch did remarkable work in the State. She is also associated with the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha, which was founded by the late Shankar Guha Niyogi. She started her legal practice in the year 2000 and has since, fought innumerable cases of workers, farmers, adivasis and poor people in the fields of labour, land acquisition, forest rights and environmental rights. Since the year 2007, she has been practicing in the High Court of Chhattisgarh at Bilaspur and was nominated by the High Court to be a member of the Chhattisgarh State Legal Services Authority. She also supported young lawyers to set up the Jagdalpur Legal Aid group as a civil society initiative to provide legal aid to incarcerated Tribals. She is a visiting faculty at the National Law University Delhi, where she teaches the course on tribal rights and land acquisition.

PUCL believes that the intention of the state and police in targeting the aforesaid human rights activists by foisting false and fabricated cases against them, is clear and apparent from their profiles of work. All the aforesaid human rights activists targeted in this multi-city aoperationa by the police have been tirelessly involved in advocating the cause and fighting for the rights of the most poor, marginalized sections of society against serious state violations and unscrupulous corporates. They have stood for the principles of human rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution and the international standards on human rights.

PUCL strongly condemns the actions of the state and police. This simultaneous crackdown against human rights activists across the country signals the imposition of an unofficial Emergency in our nation and is a direct attack on Indian democracy. This is a deliberate strategy of the state to target noted human rights activists in a clear act of reprisals against them for calling out the human rights violations by the state and police, and to intimidate those who are fighting for justice.

PUCL cautions the public at large on the concerted efforts underway to stifle voices of dissent and threaten the democratic fabric of the country.

In light of the above, PUCL makes the following urgent demands:

1. PUCL calls upon the state and the police to immediately and unconditionally release human rights activists, Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navalakha, Anand Teltumbde, Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, and Vernon Gonsalves and withdraw the false and fabricated case against them;

2. PUCL calls upon the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to urgently intervene to ensure the release of the human rights activists and to order an immediate, transparent, effective and impartial investigation into the simultaneous multi-city raids and arrests of the human rights activists by the state and the policeon false and fabricated accusations and charges ;

3. PUCL also calls upon the democratic minded citizens of India to condemn the unprincipled manner in which human rights activists are being targeted and oppose such insidious and collusive attempts by State agencies and media outfits to silence human rights activists against the vindictive State policies and action ;

4. PUCL further condemns the constant profiling as aUrban Naxals/ Maoistsa and criminalisation of human rights activists working tirelessly against the stateas anti-people actions and policies, in an attempt to malign them and influence public sentiment.

Mr. Ravi Kiran Jain, National President, PUCL; Dr. V. Suresh, National General Secretary, PUCL

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Text of Statement from PEN Delhi and PEN South Asia

August 29, 2018

A Dark Day for Democracy and Freedom of Expression

PEN Delhi and PEN South India join large numbers of Indian citizens in unequivocally condemning the arrests and searches conducted on the homes of human rights activists, writers and thinkers on the 28th of August. Sudha Bharadwaj, lawyer and rights activist, known for her work with tribal and womenas rights, P Varavara Rao, poet, activist and teacher, Gautam Navlakha, journalist, writer and human rights activist were arrested suddenly, with extensive searches being conducted on their homes and with material such as laptops, books and notes being confiscated. Vernon Gonsalves, activist, and Arun Ferreira, activist, writer and cartoonist, were also arrested. Other activists and intellectuals, including Anand Teltumbde, K Satyanarayana, KV Kurmanath and Father Stan Swamy had their homes searched. These intellectuals and activists have consistently spoken out on behalf of the poor and marginalized, and have used their writings in the service of human rights. It is a dark day for India when crackdowns and arrests target those who fight for human rights, while murderers such as those who killed journalists, thinkers and writers, Govind Pansare, Narendra Dabholkar, MM Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh are yet to be convicted. Pen Delhi and Pen South India stand in solidarity with the activists and writers and their right to freedom of thought and expression.

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Statement by WSS

Fascism at our doorstep

Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS) Condemns Arrests of Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Gautam Navlakha and Varavara Rao. WSS strongly condemns targeted attack on democratic rights activists, blatantly retributive actions of Maharashtra Police and demands immediate and unconditional release of all arrested activists, lawyers, writers and journalists.

Convenors Ajita, Nisha, Rinchin and Shalini;

Email ID againstsexualviolence[at]gmail.com

WSS strongly condemns the arrests of its member Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj, and activists Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Gautam Navlakha, Varavara Rao, and the raids at the homes of Father Stan Swamy, Dr. Anand Teltumbde, Prof. K. Satyanarayana, Pavana, Anala, Kurmanath, Kranti Tekula and others conducted by the Maharashtra police along with the state police of Telangana, Jharkhand, Goa and Delhi. These searches and arrests are a diversionary tactic to draw attention away from the spine chilling revelations about Hindu Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janjagruti in connection to the assassinations and bomb terror which they have been masterminding.

On the 28th of August, in a coordinated operation, days before the 90 day period for judicial custody period of the five arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case end, several well known academics, lawyers, writers, poets, priests and journalists have been arrested and their homes raided by the police. Just under three months following the arrests of Professor Shoma Sen, Advocate Surendra Gadling, activists Sudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson and Mahesh Raut, the Maharashtra police appear to be persistently cracking down on all voices that have stood in solidarity with them. This coordinated effort to harass and malign human rights activists all over the country is intended solely to create a sense of terror amidst the democratic people of this country and must be seen as a war against democracy. Despite the fact that no incriminating evidence has emerged in these cases, with no respect or regard for the law, the police continues to arbitrarily arrest and detain activists, lawyers, writers and professionals who have dedicated their lives to ensure that justice is served where it is due.

Following orders sent by the Swargate police station in Pune, all of those targeted through raids and arrests today have the following charges against them a IPC Section 153, 505, 117,120B; UAPA Sections 13, 16, 18, 18b, 20, 38, 39, 40. These charges include promoting enmity between people, public mischief, abetting commission of offences, criminal conspiracy, unlawful activities, terrorist acts, raising funds for terrorist acts, recruiting for terrorist acts, being members of terrorist organisations, support for terrorist organisations and providing funds for terrorist organisations. With these charges, the police are making all efforts to brand democratic activists as aterroristsa and ensure that they are kept in custody for extended periods of time. It is well known that the use of draconian laws like UAPA in cases, when contested in court, invariably fall apart. But the time spent by those charged under these laws is meant as a punishment even if they are eventually acquitted of all charges. Thus, the tactics of the police force is clear. It is meant, now, not merely to spread a sense of fear amongst all those who oppose its brutal ways but as retribution for daring to speak out.

Sudha Bharadwaj, who is a WSS member, is a lawyer and trade unionist who has been tirelessly advocating for the rights of workers, adivasi communities and other marginalised groups for the last three decades in Chhattisgarh. Since 1986, she has been working with the labour movement in Chattisgarh that grew out of the work of the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha, advocating for the rights of workers in the mining belt of Bhilai and other areas. Sudha is also a part of a legal organisation called Janhit which takes up cases of illegal land acquisition, violations of forest rights and environmental issues. Janhit has supported democratic movements like Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan, which takes on issues of forced evictions, movements in Sarguja fighting against violations of laws like the Forest Rights Act and Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA), etc. Apart from the scores of cases she has fought for workers across the state, Sudha has also argued cases of human rights violations against Adivasi communities in the Chhattisgarh High Court. She has extended her support to different democratic groups working for constitutional rights such as the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), which she represents currently as its National Chairperson, the Indian Association of Peoples Lawyers (IAPL). She is also a visiting professor at the National Law University, Delhi.

Sudha Bharadwaj has been facing harassment since Junea18 when Republic TV produced a fabricated letter charging her of unlawful and terrorist activities along with Arun Ferreira and Gautam Navlakha. In July this year, Father Stan Swamy and 19 activists, writers, and professionals were charged with sedition by the Jharkhand police. Today in early morning raids across the country, the Maharashtra police have simultaneously targeted the homes of all these human rights activists, seized all electronic devices, including Sudha and her daughteras phones, laptops, pen drives, and password to social media accounts, and diaries with empty pages - raising concerns of potential police tampering and fabrication of evidence. Father Stan Swamy had to endure hours of questioning along with raids where they seized his phone, laptop and all electronic items they found at his residence. Gautam Navlakha was taken to Saket court, where the division bench of Delhi High Court has stayed his transit remand to Pune. The irony of holding Gautam Navlakha under UAPA is not lost on us, as he has been outspoken about the draconian and undemocratic nature of UAPA, and earlier POTA, TADA. Varavara Raoas home in Hyderabad was ransacked by an extraordinarily large contingent of police that gheraoed his apartment complex and deliberately created panic amongst the residents. His daughters and sons-in-law Pavana and K. Satyanarayana, and Anala and Kurmanathas homes were also raided, as was the home of journalist Kranti Tekula. Dr. Anand Teltumbdeas home in Goa was searched in his absence after taking the key from the guard outside raising alarms about potential fabrication and planting of evidence as well as clearly indicating trespass on private property.

Vernon Gonsalvesa family, including partner Susan Abraham, clearly stated that they have no idea why he has been arrested as no reasons were given. Arun Ferreira has also been picked up from his home in Thane by the Mumbai police in the afternoon after being interrogated all morning. All of them are expected to be taken to Pune to the Vishrambagh police station. It is crucial to note that Arun Ferreira and Susan Abraham were representing the five arrested in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case. By arresting the lawyers of the five arrested in June, the police has essentially crushed the judicial process and further vitiated the environment of fear.

All this continues while those responsible for the violence at the traditional Bhima-Koregaon celebrations are not only roaming scot free, but also enjoying the utmost support of those in power. The Hindu Sanathan Sanstha, Milind Ekbote and Sambaji Bhide are being treated like royalty and mass murderers are being garlanded by ministers, while those carrying on Ambedkars fight for justice and protecting constitutional values of Liberty, equality and fraternity are being arrested as a threat to national security and for spreading  disaffection in societya!

This repression, along with the terror unleashed in Maharashtra after Bhima Koregaon and in many states after the 2 April protests, not only reveals the anti-dalit nature of the State, but it also makes clear that creating a sense of terror and helplessness amongst the democratic people of this country is the primary intention of the Maharashtra police. In this open assault on democratic people of this country, the police force a both state and central a have played the role of agents of terror instead of upholding the law. The Modi-Shah regime has brought fascism to our doorsteps. The arrests of well known democratic rights activists from across the country, with the police trawling for any and all persons it considers a threat, is particularly targeting activists who have stood resolutely by the dalits, adivasis, Muslims, and worked all their lives for the betterment of marginalised sections of the country, in line with a true democratic spirit. This is meant to strike terror amongst the vast majority of people who have been daring to speak out against the anti-people policies of the state a be it opposing land acquisition, against relentless loot of resources, displacement and brutal violence committed by the security forces against the people of this country and standing tall in the face of Brahmanical fascism in all its forms. By using terms like aUrban Maoistsa for democratic rights activists, the police working with the BJP and RSS makes an effort to malign and isolate those raising uncomfortable questions while shielding right wing leaders like Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide despite all evidence. Today, we are faced with the challenge of standing united against a ruthless state apparatus that abuses the law to its own ends. The use of several sections of IPC and UAPA reveals the desperation of the state to project intellectuals, activists, lawyers, writers and journalists as criminals. The BJP-RSS machinery uses the institutions of the state to serve its own ends while blatantly trampling on democratic principles. The retributive nature of the Maharashtra police is an extension of this policy that can only be termed fascism. We are now living under a state of emergency.

Laws like UAPA have no place in a democratic country. The law has been routinely used to suppress dissent and disagreement with those in power. Such laws give the state and its apparatus undue power to define and brand people as aterroristsa at will. Such a branding is not just arbitrary but also is an abuse of power and vindictive. In times when the aterroristsa have come to find an image and identity in our mind, such actions by the government are ways of branding and defaming people. Additionally the same charges seem to be conspicuously missing when people are killed and maimed in the name of cow aprotectiona .

It is up to us to fight back and reclaim our democratic space in this country. The arrest of Professor Shoma Sen, the harassment of Professor GN Saibabaas partner Vasantha, the harassment and now arrest of Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj, three of our members who have been working across the states of Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, to expose instances of sexual violence and abuse by the police and right wing agents are now finding themselves facing the might of the state. In light of these arrests of democratic rights activists, WSS is determined to remain united and fight back against this assault on our democratic rights with unwavering conviction and resolve. We demand the immediate and unconditional release of all arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case.

We appeal to all citizens to rise as one and defend the country against the current decimation of the Rule of Law and the terror being unleashed by the State against its people.

Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression (WSS)

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Statement from SAHMAT Condemning Arrest of Activists

http://www.sacw.net/article13878.html

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Statement by Peopleas Alliance for Democracy and Secularism against arrest of five Intellectuals and Activists on 28 August, 2018 http://www.sacw.net/article13880.html

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Jharkhandas civil society condemns recent raids on Stan Swamy and other human rights activists http://www.sacw.net/article13883.html

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India: 5 More Rights Activists Detained | Stop Prosecuting Dissent; Repeal Abusive Counterterrorism Law - Press Release by Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/08/30/india-5-more-rights-activists-detained

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Statement by Anand Teltumbde on the Police Acton against him on 28 August 2018 http://www.sacw.net/article13879.html

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aCase against me is nothing but an absolute fabricationa - Full Statement by Stan Swamy http://sacw.net/article13893.html

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Release the wrongfully arrested activists: Full text of petition filed by Romila Thapar and others https://scroll.in/article/892151/this-timely-novel-explores-a-dystopian-asian-future-the-result-of-interference-with-nature

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Notice from NHRC [The Official National Human Rights Commission]Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, the loss of religion in America.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesThe rights to the molecule they developed has already been sold by the technology transfer arm of the Hebrew University, Yissum, to US pharma firm BioTheryX, with whom the team of researchers will continue to work to further develop the medication and apply for FDA approval for phase I clinical studies on humans.

Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem said they have developed a new biological drug that had a 50 percent cure rate for lab mice with acute leukemia.

The rights to the molecule they developed has already been sold by the technology transfer arm of the Hebrew University, Yissum, to US pharma firm BioTheryX, with whom the team of researchers will continue to work to further develop the medication and apply for FDA approval for phase I clinical studies on humans.

Acute myeloid leukemia is one of the most aggressive cancers, and while other cancers have benefited from new treatments, there has been little encouraging news for most leukemia patients for the past 40 years.

To date, most of the biological cancer drugs used to treat leukemia target only individual leukemic cell proteins. However, during this kind of targeted therapy treatment, the leukemic cells quickly activate other proteins to block the drug. The result is drug-resistant leukemic cells that regrow and renew the disease.

The new drug developed by Professor Yinon Ben-Neriah and his research team at the Hebrew University of Jerusalems Faculty of Medicine functions like a cluster bomb".

The molecule they developed  by chemically manipulating a cancer cell  attacks several leukemic proteins at once, making it difficult for the leukemia cells to activate additional proteins to evade therapy.

The researchers saw a dramatic change even after only a single dose of the new drug, Ben-Neriah said in the statement. Nearly all of the lab mices leukemia signs disappeared overnight.

The single molecule targets many leukemia proteins at once and destroys all of the oncogenes, and activates the tumor suppressor P53 gene, Ben-Neriah said.

P53 is a good guy, he explained. Not only does the new drug kill the cancer cells, it also destroys the antagonists that work against the P53, helping activate the tumor suppressor.

The molecule worked very well with mice, he said, both in mice that had leukemia and those that were injected with human leukemia. It worked even on the most aggressive of human leukemia injected into the mice, he said.

The drug developed by the researchers is in pill form, not an injection, Ben-Neriah said.

Ben-Neriah said he hoped the phase I clinical study will start in the US at the beginning of 2019. It will take a minimum of two to three years before the drug can be commercialized, he said.

In addition, the researchers said, this single-molecule drug accomplishes the work of three or four separate drugs, reducing cancer patients need to be exposed to several therapies and to deal with their often-unbearable side effects. This molecule caused no worrisome side effects for the mice, on whom safety studies were performed.

Also promising, the researchers said, is that that new drug was found able to eradicate leukemia stem cells. This has long been the big challenge in cancer therapy and one of the main reasons that scientists have been unable to cure acute leukemia.

The results are published last week in the journal Cell.Panacea Biotec has entered into a tripartite agreement for the manufacture and supply of Azacitidine injection for the U.S. market.

Panacea Biotec, one of the India's leading research based pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, has entered into a tripartite agreement with Natco Pharma Ltd. and Breckenridge Pharmaceutical Inc. for the manufacture and supply of Azacitidine injection for the U.S. market under Breckenridge's already approved ANDA. Azacitidine is a generic equivalent of Vidaza which is marketed by Celgene Corporateion, U.S.

As per the terms of the agreement, Natco has provided the technology for manufacturing Azacitidine to Panacea Biotec's facility located at Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, India. Panacea Biotec will be responsible for manufacture and supply of the product, which will be marketed, sold and distributed by Breckenridge in the U.S.

The application (Prior Approval Supplement) for qualifying Panacea Biotec's site has been filed with US FDA and approval is expected in due course of time.

Azacitidine is a nucleoside metabolic inhibitor indicated for the treatment of patients with the B myelodyplastic syndrome (MDS), having annual sales of about $ 140 million as reported by IMS, MAT, Dec 2017.

Speaking on the occassion, Dr. Rajesh Jain, Managing Director, Panacea Biotec said, "We are excited about the collaboration with Natco and Breckenridge on Azacitidine. This collaboration will enable the company to grow its revenues and will also ensure increased capacity utilization of our state of the art oncology plant at Baddi."The VISION study included 40,004 patients aged 45 years or older undergoing non-cardiac surgery and remaining in hospital for at least one night. Patients were recruited from 27 centers in 14 countries in North and South America, Asia, Europe, Africa, and Australia, and monitored for complications until 30 days after their surgery.

The main reasons why people die after non-cardiac surgery are revealed in a study of more than 40,000 patients from six continents presented in a late breaking science session at ESC Congress 2018. Myocardial injury, major bleeding, and sepsis contributed to nearly three-quarters of all deaths.

Theres a false assumption among patients that once youve undergone surgery, youve made it, said study author Dr Jessica Spence, of the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI), a joint institute of Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) and McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada. Unfortunately, thats not always the case, and now we have a much better sense of when and why people die after non-cardiac surgery. Most deaths are linked to cardiovascular causes.

The VISION study included 40,004 patients aged 45 years or older undergoing non-cardiac surgery and remaining in hospital for at least one night. Patients were recruited from 27 centers in 14 countries in North and South America, Asia, Europe, Africa, and Australia, and monitored for complications until 30 days after their surgery.

The researchers found that 715 (1.8%) patients died within 30 days after non-cardiac surgery. Of those, 505 (71%) died in hospital (including four [0.6%] in the operating room), and 210 (29%) died after discharge from hospital. Dr. Spence said: One in 56 patients died within 30 days of non-cardiac surgery and nearly all deaths occurred after leaving the operating room, with more than a quarter occurring after hospital discharge.

Eight perioperative complications  including five cardiovascular  were associated with death within 30 days postoperatively. The top three complications, which contributed to nearly three-quarters of all deaths, were myocardial injury after non-cardiac surgery (MINS; 29%), major bleeding (25%), and sepsis (20%).

Were letting patients down in postoperative management, said principal investigator Professor Philip J. Devereaux, director of cardiology at McMaster University. The study suggests that most deaths after non-cardiac surgery are due to cardiovascular causes, so cardiologists have a major role to play to improve patient safety. This includes conducting blood and imaging tests to identify patients at risk then giving preventive treatment, including medications that prevent abnormal heart rhythms, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and prevent blood clots.

Earlier findings from the VISION study showed that a simple blood test can identify MINS, enabling clinicians to intervene early and prevent further complications. (3) The blood test measures a protein called high-sensitivity troponin T which is released into the bloodstream when injury to the heart occurs.

Regarding cardiovascular complications, MINS occurred in 5,191 (13%) patients and independently increased the risk of 30-day mortality by 2.6-fold; major bleeding occurred in 6,238 (16%) patients and increased risk by 2.4-fold; 372 (0.9%) patients had congestive heart failure, which raised risk by 1.6-fold; 152 (0.4%) patients had deep venous thrombosis which raised risk by 2.1-fold; and 132 (0.3%) patients had a stroke, which increased risk by a factor of 1.6.

Regarding non-cardiovascular complications associated with 30-day mortality, sepsis occurred in 1,783 (4.5%) patients and independently increased risk by 5.7-fold; infection occurred in 2,171 (5.4%) patients and raised risk by 1.9-fold; and 118 patients (0.3%) had acute kidney injury resulting in new dialysis, which increased risk by 4.7-fold.

Combined, these discoveries tell us that we need to become more involved in care and monitoring after surgery to ensure that patients at risk have the best chance for a good recovery, said Dr Spence, who is also an anesthesiologist at HHS and a PhD candidate at McMaster University.

SOURCES OF FUNDING:

Roche Diagnostics provided the troponin T assays as well as financial support for the VISION Study. Funding for this study came from more than 60 grants for VISION and its sub studies.

Australia: National Health and Medical Research Council Program.

Brazil: Projeto Hospitais de Excelencia a Servico do SUS (PROADI-SUS) grant from the Brazilian Ministry of Health in partnership with Hcor (Cardiac Hospital Sao Paulo-SP); National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPQ) grant from the Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology. China: Public Policy Research Fund (grant CUHK-4002-PPR-3), Research Grant Council, Hong Kong SAR; General Research Fund (grant 461412). Research Grant Council, Hong Kong SAR: Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (grant 13/008).

Canada: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (7 grants); Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario (2 grants); Academic Health Science Centers Alternative Funding Plan Innovation Fund Ontario; Population Health Research Institute; CLARITY Research Group; McMaster University Department of Surgery Surgical Associates; Hamilton Health Science New Investigator Fund; Hamilton Health Sciences; Ontario Ministry of Resources and innovation; Stryker Canada; McMaster University, Department of Anesthesiology (2 grants); St. Josephs Healthcare, Department of Medicine (2 grants); Father Sean OSullivan Research Centre (2 grants); McMaster University Department of Medicine (2 grants); Roche Diagnostics Global Office (5 grants); Hamilton Health Sciences Summer Studentships (6 grants); McMaster University Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics; McMaster University, Division of Cardiology; Canadian Network and Centre for Trials Internationally: Winnipeg Health Sciences Foundation; University of Manitoba Department of Surgery (2 grants); Diagnostic Services of Manitoba Research; Manitoba Medical Services Foundation; Manitoba Health Research Council; University of Manitoba Faculty of Dentistry Operational Fund; University of Manitoba Department of Anesthesia; University Medical Group, Department of Surgery, University of Manitoba, Start-up Fund.

Colombia: School of Nursing, Universida Industrial de Santander; Grupo de Cardiologia Preventiva, Universidad Autonoma de Bucaramanga: Fundacion Cardioinfantil-Instituto de Cardiologia; Alianza Diagnostica SA.

France: Universite Pierre et Marie Curie. Department danesthsie Reanimation, Pitie-Salpetriere, Assistance Publique-Hopitaux de Paris.

India: St. Johns Medical College and Research Institute: Division of Clinical Research and Training.

Malaysia: University of Malaya (grant RG302-14AFR); University of Malaya, Penyelidikan Jangka Pendek.

Poland: Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (grant NN402083939).

South Africa: University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Spain: Instituto de Salud Carlos III; Fundacio La Marato de TV3. United States: America Heart Association; Covidien.

United Kingdom: National Institute for Health Research.Industry representatives felt that multi-disciplinary research and studies should be encouraged and such research can be enhanced by having industrial collaborations

NIPER-Pharma Industry meet, Synergy 2018, was held in Hyderabad which emphasized on Role of academia in strengthening of the Indian Pharma and Intellectual Property.

While addressing researchers, GN Singh, Secretary-cum-Scientific Director, Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission said, Big innovations come from simple ideas, not just infrastructure facilities.

Industry representatives felt that technology reproducibility was important in the Indian context. Multi-disciplinary research and studies should be encouraged and such research can be enhanced by having industrial collaborations.

It is also important to maintain the purity and health of experimental animals, quality training programmes, good maintenance of labs and animal houses that can lead to and ensure good collaborative research.

The Director of NIPER, Shashi Bala Singh, in her address said the institute was trying to drive basic and translational research by bringing together academia and industry on the same platform. Plans are to extend it to synergy with industries for production and process development.

Rakesh Mishra, Director, CSIR-CCMB, said cell therapy and immunotherapy are ideas that can now replace existing small molecule therapy. The panellists felt that the industry could change tremendously with a strong influence of regulatory aspect on its growth. The Indian industry should rise to the expectations of the US FDA as far as manufacturing units were concerned, they said.

Similarly, speakers felt that investment-oriented thinking of industries and basic research-oriented thinking of academics should resonate in the same frequency in order to bridge the gap and strengthen collaborations.A total of 150 patients were part of the camp, who were counselled on the early symptoms and better management of the disease.

Cytecare Cancer Hospital with the focus on creating awareness on early diagnosis of cancer organized a two day free Cancer Consultation camp at Meru and Marsabit, recently. A total of 150 patients were part of the camp, who were counselled on the early symptoms and better management of the disease by Dr. Prasad Narayanan, Senior Consultant, Medical Oncology of Cytecare Cancer Hospital, Bengaluru. Cytecare partnered with St. Theresa Mission Hospital, Kiirua, Meru and Marsabit County Referral Hospital for the camp.

Cancer is the third highest cause of morbidity and accounts 7% of annual deaths in Kenya, according to Kenya Cancer Statistics and National Strategies. It is estimated that 39,000 new cases of cancer are recorded each year in the country, with over 27,000 deaths per year. In Kenya, cancer is now a common illness. Such high casualty rates are due to patients reporting at the last stage and lack of treatment facilities. With an objective to reduce the burden and build awareness on early diagnosis Cytecare organized the consultation camp in Kenya. During the camp, the patients and their families were explained about the misconceptions of the diseases and help them regain the confidence and fight social stigma.

Speaking at the camp, Dr. Prasad Narayan, Senior Consultant, Cytecare Cancer Hospital, We have explained the necessity of early diagnosis and importance of enhancing their quality of life. We are still losing people due to the dearth of awareness. As an initiative to reduce the burden, Cytecare addressed the need for an early diagnosis to the people at Meru and Marsabit. Also, Cytecare was instrumental in treating over 100 patients from Kenya. We are glad to see that all our patients lead a better life. Fighting the disease the right way and improving patients quality of life is our key approach. We received a tremendous response from the people and planning to organize more such camps across the globe and benefit the people.

Inaugurating the camp, Governor Mohamud Mohamed Ali, Marsabit County, said, We are pleased to have the specialist team from Cytecare to consult and diagnose our residents. In addition, we have collaborated with Cytecare to pursue telemedicine to deliver the right treatment for our people. Our local doctors will be trained by the specialist at Cytecare without having to travel to India. A partnership will surely go a long way in treating cancer the right way.

The consultation camp was given for high incidence cancers such as Brain Cancer, Oral Cancer, Breast Cancer, Gynecology Cancer Othropaedic, Prostate Cancer, urology etc. Cytecares state-of-the-art pathology lab, a specialized team of Onco-pathologists and comprehensive knowledge in treating cancer has ensured accurate diagnosis resulting in accurate treatment.Mom Had A Zombie Cake Photo Shoot For Her Sons 1st Birthday Pulse oi-Syeda Farah

When it is your child's first birthday, you want to make it the most memorable one. The first birthday of the child is generally very special for all parents. Organising the event becomes a big task as you want it to be the best birthday party of your child's life.

But what happens when you decide to have a unique theme for your child's first birthday and the theme is something that is not cute and quite bizarre?

Definitely, people tend to trash your idea and state how insane your thoughts are as a parent. And when you read about this toddler's birthday theme, you would surely feel disgusted as well.

Newborn Holding Mirena IUD Becomes A Star!

Well, this is the story of Amy Louise who received a huge wave of backlash for organising her son's first birthday party with a zombie-themed cake. People expressed their anger and wrote "disgusting," "morbid," and "offensive" - words on the post that she shared.

But the actual reason as to why this mother chose the zombie-themed cake and a photo shoot for her son will surely melt your heart. It is so heartbreaking, that it will definitely silence all the haters.

At the time of his birth, doctors told her that her placenta had detached and there was no heartbeat. They cut him out and it was such a whirlwind of emotions that Amy felt through.

She thought, that this kind of stuff generally happens when a newborn is born. But when they took him out and there was no cry, her heart just sank. He was immediately whisked away by doctors after the newborn didn't have a heartbeat.

The couple was convinced that their baby son had died. But the doctors did not believe the same as they did not lose hope.

She said, "The doctor squeezed my hand to try and show his emotion but it was a mess. It was awful. I just kept seeing this tiny white coffin flashing through my mind as I started to process what had just happen."

But destiny had other things in store for the couple as the little boy Phoenix proved to be a real fighter. He was brought back to life on October 31, on Halloween which was the longest and most awful 13 minutes of her life.

She said, "When I held him for the first time, the world disappeared and what a better way than to have a zombie-themed cake smash for the tiny toddler who was pronounced dead and then miraculously came to life on Halloween."

So, this was the reason why she chose to have a zombie-themed cake for her son's first birthday.

Her Disorder Did Not Stop Her From Becoming Famous!

What is your take on this? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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Sarai automaticamente diretto al link in cinque secondi.Some localities in Vietnam have reported measles outbreaks; specifically, Hanoi has 300 infection cases, up 400 percent compared to last year. Worse, in some distant areas of the country, low rate of vaccination resulted in several outbreaks in the community.



Therefore, to prevent the disease, the Ministry of Health warned parents to take their kids from nine months old who are not fully vaccinated to medical clinics for immunization against measles.

Measles outbreaks killed at least 37 people in the European region in the first six months of the year with over 41,000 infection cases, up 70 percent compared to last year. France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine all recorded more than 1,000 measles cases in the first half of 2018.

Even German and Russia which had eliminated measles had outbreaks. The measles status of Germany and Russia has been reclassified by the WHO to endemic as a result.

The measles virus can spread quickly through coughing, sneezing or personal contact with infected nose or throat secretions.

By QUOC LAP  Translated by UYEN PHUONG[August 27, 2018] iQor Expands in Iloilo, Philippines iQor (News - Alert) , a managed services provider of customer engagement and technology-enabled BPO solutions, announced today that it has broken ground in Iloilo, Philippines on construction of its newest contact center. This is iQor's second location in the Iloilo region to meet demand from clients in its growing ecommerce and retail verticals. iQor opened one of the first English-speaking contact centers in the Philippines in 1999. Since then, the company has grown to more than 22,000 employees in the country spanning 11 facilities throughout Dasmarinas, Davao, Iloilo, Talisay, Bacolod, and Clark. Last year, iQor opened a 2,500 contact center in Santa Rosa, Philippines that is now at full capacity. "We are seeing an accelerated demand for our customer care services in our ecommerce and retail verticals," said Gary Praznik, iQor's CEO. "From its level of education, to its inherent understanding for all things digital, the talent in Iloilo is incredibly equipped to take on the role of handling increasingly complex customer interactions across multiple communication channels." Nicknamed the "The Heart of the Philippines," Iloilo is an economically booming province that remains one of the most vibrant regions in the country. iQor opened its first Iloilo center in 2016 providing customer care, technical support, and chat srvices.

iQor was recently recognized for its commitment to the business community and job creation, earning first place awards for Best First-Time Nominated Company and Best Company of the Year Outside National Capital Region, presented at the 12th International ICT Awards in March 2018. To pursue an opportunity at iQor Philippines, please visit www.iqorphilippines.com. To learn more about growing your career at iQor, please visit: www.iqor.com/careers. About iQor iQor is a managed services provider of customer engagement and technology-enabled BPO solutions. With 45,000 employees in 18 countries, we partner with many of the world's best-known brands to deliver aftermarket product and customer support solutions that span the consumer value chain, from customer care and receivables management to product diagnostics and repair services. Our award-winning technology, logistics, and analytics platforms enable us to measure, monitor, and analyze brand interactions, improve business processes, and find operational efficiencies that lead to superior outcomes for our partners across the customer and product life cycles. For more information, please visit us at www.iqor.com or follow us at www.twitter.com/iqor. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180827005541/en/

[ Back To SIP Trunking Home's Homepage ]Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Regular Press Conference on August 28, 2018

2018/08/28

Q: We noted that when State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with visiting Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias yesterday, the two sides signed a MOU on the cooperation under the Belt and Road, making Greece the first developed country in Europe to sign such MOU. How do you think of the significance of China and Greece bolstering their cooperation under the Belt and Road?

A: State Councilor Wang Yi and Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias signed an inter-governmental MOU on Belt and Road cooperation yesterday, which is of positive significance to the bilateral relations between China and Greece and the cooperation under the Belt and Road. Just as State Councilor Wang Yi pointed out when meeting the press after their bilateral talks, the signing of the MOU on the cooperation under the Belt and Road could serve as a new high-power engine for China-Greece relations, which will inject strong and lasting impetus into practical cooperation between the two countries. The joint building of the Belt and Road will certainly become a new growth point for China-EU strategic cooperation.

Greece makes a natural partner for cooperation under the Belt and Road as it is an important converging point of the overland and the maritime silkroads. In recent years, the cooperation on connectivity between China and Greece has achieved early harvests, which is epitomized by the Port of Piraeus. The global ranking of this port has been elevated to 36 from 93 in 2010. The 55 shipping lines with the port as their hub cover the neighboring region of the Mediterranean and connect continents around the world. There are 16 to 18 container freight trains bound to the Central and Eastern Europe from the port every week. The Port of Piraeus has directly contributed over 600 million euros to Greece's economy and generated more than 10,000 jobs.

On a broader scale, the Eurasia continent is a key region for the development of the Belt and Road. In particular, against the backdrop of the rise of unilateralism and protectionism, the joint building of the Belt and Road stands as an important symbol of commitment to multilateralism and a useful exploration of reforming and improving global governance and advancing trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. Through strengthened cooperation under the Belt and Road between China and Greece and other European countries, the Belt and Road Initiative will be synergized with the Investment Plan for Europe and the European connectivity plan in an in-depth manner, linking the Asian and European economic circles. This is conducive to better leveraging the competitive strengths of European and Asian countries, accelerating the interconnectivity on the Eurasia continent and creating new room for Asian and European countries to seek common development through cooperation.

Q: A panel of UN investigators has recommended that several senior Myanmar generals be prosecuted for genocide because of their role in the Rohingya issue. Does China agree with the findings of this panel?

A: China has made clear its position on the Rakhine State issue many times. This issue has a complex background, historically, ethnically and religiously speaking. We maintain that the international community should continue to play a constructive role in promoting dialogue between Myanmar and Bangladesh, seeking a pragmatic solution to the issue, and ensuring long-term stability in the Rakhine State.

Q: The commander of the US Navy's Fleet Forces Command Christopher Grady said that Russia and China are seeking to supplant the US as partner of choice among free and prosperous nations, and the US' sea control and power projection are being challenged by these two countries. The US has officially re-established the Navy's 2nd Fleet, as the days of competition at sea and challenges to its maritime security have returned. What's your comment?

A: It has been nearly three decades since the cold war ended, but certain persons in the US seem still obsessed with the monologue of seeking rivals and even making enemies. To maintain regional and world peace and stability concerns the common interests of all countries and our shared future. We hope these persons will not get so deeply lost in their own drama.

Q: Former Commander-in-Chief of the US Pacific Command Dennis Cutler Blair recently said that both Taiwan and Japan took the Chinese People's Liberation Army's activities in international waters near their "territory" as a threat. Taiwan should try to conduct simulated attacks to improve its combat readiness while the aircraft carrier Liaoning sails nearby. What's your comment?

A: Taiwan is an inseparable part of China. I wonder whether this former senior official from the US military is trying to help or harm the Taiwan side by offering such advice? If you are interested in what military implications his advice may have, I would advise you to follow what our defense ministry will say at their press briefing the day after tomorrow.

Q: The FOCAC Beijing Summit is less than one week away. Can you tell us exactly how many African heads of state will be attending?

A: State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi already briefed Chinese and foreign media on the upcoming FOCAC Beijing Summit. Beijing is all geared up to welcome the arrival of African leaders. This summit will be the largest-scale diplomatic event hosted by China this year and attended by the largest number of foreign leaders. Various African leaders and the chairman of the African Union (AU) will attend the summit, along with the United Nations Secretary-General as the special guest and 27 international and African organizations as observers. We will release the information in due course.

Q: The 2018 Defense White Paper published by Japan's Ministry of Defence said the DPRK's military activities pose the most serious and pressing threat the nation has faced. It also outlined concerns about China's military expansion and "territorial ambitions". What's your comment?

A: Your question comprises two parts. As to the evaluation of the current situation on the Korean Peninsula, we support the US and the DPRK in accommodating each other's legitimate concerns, showing sincerity and flexibility and advancing the political settlement of the Peninsula issue in accordance with the consensus reached between the two state leaders at their Singapore summit. Relevant parties shall encourage and support such endeavors, offering encouragement rather than pouring cold water on them.

As to the contents regarding China in the latest version of Japan's Defense White Paper, you mentioned "expansion" and "ambition". I don't know whether this is the original wording in the document since I have yet to see this white paper. But we won't accept such words at all. Such labels as "expansion" and "ambition" can never be pinned on China. This white paper you mentioned made accusations against China's normal national defense development and military activities and pointed fingers at China's normal maritime activities, which is totally groundless and irresponsible. We hope the Japanese side will not try to seek excuses for its arms expansion. Instead, it should bear in mind regional peace and stability as well as the general interests of China-Japan relations, and do more to enhance mutual trust, contribute to the security of both sides and uphold regional peace and stability, rather than doing the opposite.

Q: The US side recently called off Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's planned visit to the DPRK. Officials from the Japanese government said this move is out of justifiable reasons. We noted that the US claimed the change of China's attitude on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue recently has affected the settlement of the issue by the DPRK and the US through negotiations. What's your comment?

A: My colleague Lu Kang already stated China's position on this issue on August 25. I would like to point out once again that the relevant claim by the US is entirely untrue and irresponsible.

China's policy on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue has been clear and consistent. It has stability and consistency. We remain committed to achieving denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, resolving this issue through dialogue and consultation, and maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

China has been vigorously promoting peace talks and mediating on the Korean Peninsula issue all these years. We have never taken credit when the situation improves or shifted blames when there are setbacks. We have all along been earnestly implementing our international obligations and playing a positive and constructive role in promoting the political settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue in a fair and objective manner and with a sense of responsibility for regional and global peace and stability. That is what we have been doing and will continue to do.

The implementation of the consensus of the DPRK and US summit in Singapore seems to encounter setbacks at this point. The relevant party should seriously try to find the reasons in itself, rather than flip-flopping and blaming others. We support and hope that all relevant parties will follow the right direction of political settlement, engage in contact and talks, accommodate each other's legitimate concerns and show greater sincerity and flexibility, so that continuous progress will be made in the political settlement of the Peninsula nuclear issue.

Q: As to the relevant recommendation on the Rohingya issue made by the panel of UN investigators, China has blocked action in the UN Security Council against Myanmar in the past. Will it continue to do so on this issue?

A: You said that China has "blocked" actions in the UN Security Council on the relevant actions. I cannot agree with you on that. Like I just said, the historical, ethnic and religious background of the Rakhine issue is very complicated. Earlier on Myanmar and Bangladesh made some positive progress on properly resolving the Rakhine issue through dialogues, thanks to the concerted efforts of all parties. Considering this, the international community should continue to play a constructive role in promoting dialogues and negotiations between Bangladesh and Myanmar to properly settle the issue. Unilateral criticism or pressure will not help solve the problem. China has been playing and will continue to play a constructive role in properly resolving the Rakhine issue.

Q: According to reports, the US Pentagon concluded after some analysis that China may change its policy of "no first use of nuclear weapons". In an annual reports on China's military power, the Pentagon said that though there is no clear proof that the Chinese leadership support the first use of nuclear weapons, the ambiguity surrounding China's nuclear modernization program is very likely to raise concerns. What is your comment?

A: This groundless accusation made by the US Defense Department in its report does sound very ridiculous.

Since the first day we owned nuclear weapons, the Chinese government has solemnly declared that China will not first use nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstances. China remains committed to this pledge. We follow a nuclear strategy that is defensive in nature and always keep our nuclear strength at the lowest level required by maintenance of national security, thus posing no threat to any country. We firmly oppose these inferior tactics to distort China's policy intentions in an attempt to find excuse for the expansion and upgrade of their nuclear arsenals.

Q: Earlier this morning, President Trump said that now is not the time to negotiate with China over trade. What are your views on that?

A: China's position and attitude towards the relevant issue is consistent and clear. We believe that differences and disputes shall be resolved through dialogues based on parity, equality and good faith. Only such foundation ensures that talks are meaning and fruitful.Aer Lingus and CityJet have announced an agreement which will see the Irish airline operate six daily round trips from the capital to London City Airport on weekdays.

The new schedule offering which will commence on October 28 aims to provide competitive travel options for those travelling on business or for leisure during the week with a reduced service at the weekend.

This expansion will enable Aer Lingus to increase its operations between the two capital cities to up to 50 daily flights.

Dublin-London is the busiest international air route in Europe.

"Aer Lingus is on an ambitious flight path and working with Pat [Byrne] and his team will allow us add to our extensive services to London Heathrow and London Gatwick," said Stephen Kavanagh, CEO, Aer Lingus.

"The Dublin to London City route will facilitate further business flows between Dublin and London and the service will provide those wishing to travel seamlessly from the heart of London City to North America with a very attractive connecting proposition, including US customs and immigration pre-clearance."

Pat Byrne, CEO, CityJet said: "In recent years we have transitioned CityJet from being an airline serving scheduled markets under its own brand into becoming a provider of capacity to customer airlines throughout Europe.

"We are delighted to now add Aer Lingus to our growing list of flying partners. CityJet now employs almost 1,300 people and has a fleet of 45 aircraft flying on over 200 routes across Europe from our crew bases in Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dublin, Helsinki, London, Paris, Stockholm, Tallinn and Vilnius.

"CityJet was one of the first airlines to launch services to London City Airport in 1994 having recognised the convenience and strategic importance of the airport located on the doorstep of Londons financial district."

Digital DeskIt is claimed the cost of childcare is forcing women out of work.

The National Recruitment Federation (NRF) says Ireland is one of the most expensive countries in the world for childcare - with parents forking out 622 a month.

They are calling for it to be subsidised for one and two-year-olds ahead of the budget.

Frank Farrelly is President of the NRF - and says the cost is particularly affecting working women.

"It just makes no economic sense for many people to work and it's impacting the workforce and recruitment due to the lower participation rate of women and this has amplified the talent shortage

"While many might make the choice to work in the home, there are many women who would prefer to work.

"Due to the cost of childcare their talent and skills are missing from the workforce and this is accross all sectors."

Women in Ireland over the age of 35 have lower participation rates in the workforce than their EU counterparts, where a higher rate of female participation would mitigate the labour shortages that threaten competitiveness, according to the NRF President.

Childcare, essentially its provision and cost, and aspects of the social welfare system that discourage jobseekers from taking up part-time work, are the main issues to address if women are to be supported in going back to work, Frank Farrelly claims.

In other countries, childcare costs are heavily subsidised by the State. But the lack of availability of affordable childminding and after-school childcare in Ireland is contributing to low rates of participation by women in the workforce, the NRF report says.

Digital DeskBy Geoff Percival

The Dalata Hotel Group is expected to post a 7% year-on-year increase in first half revenues  to 173m  when it publishes figures for the six months to the end of June next week.

The largest hotel operator in the country  via its Clayton and Maldron brands  is also set to unveil its maiden dividend for shareholders as part of next Tuesdays interim results presentation.

Adjusted Ebitda is forecasted to be 49m  9.7% up year-on-year  driven mainly by a slower growth in rent-related costs. At a diluted adjusted earnings per share level, we are forecasting 16.2c versus 14.9c in the first half of 2017, said Davy analysts Joseph Quinn and Michael Mitchell in a research note.

Given the backdrop of strong RevPAR [revenue per available room] growth in Dublin and Ireland during the first half, we believe market expectations will be for Dalata to deliver well in such an environment. Therefore, the risk to our first half forecasts is likely weighted to the upside. In addition to confirming its maiden dividend payment, on balance, we expect management to deliver a positive outlook for the second half, they said.

Dalata boosted RevPAR in Dublin and regional Ireland by almost 9% in the first half and by 2.6% in the North and the UK, where it is currently expanding and aiming to be the leading player in the three-to-four star market in regional cities. Currently, room revenue from its Dublin hotels contributes 60% of Dalatas annual revenues.

Dalatas share price  up by nearly 44% in the past 12 months  was up marginally yesterday.

The group recently said it will start identifying locations in mainland Europe for the next phase of its international growth within the next two years.By William Horobin and Birgit Jennen

Germany and France say they are working on financing solutions to sidestep US sanctions against countries such as Iran, including a possible role for central banks.

The discussions, which also involve the UK, are a signal that European powers are trying to get serious about demonstrating a greater level of independence from the US as president Donald Trump pursues his America First agenda.

With Germany, we are determined to work on an independent European or Franco-German financing tool which would allow us to avoid being the collateral victims of US extra-territorial sanctions, said French finance minister Bruno Le Maire during a meeting with press association AJEF.

I want Europe to be a sovereign continent not a vassal, and that means having totally independent financing instruments that do not today exist.

Mr Trump reimposed the sanctions after pulling the US out of the Iran nuclear accord in May, despite opposition from Nato allies and China and Russia.

European companies have halted activity or backtracked on investment plans to avoid US punishment but France and Germany and their EU partners want business with Iran to continue.

The US is targeting Iranian oil exports as it pushes demands for the government in Tehran to stop supporting terrorism and halt its ballistic-missile programme. President Hassan Rouhani has said the US needs to ease sanctions before he would agree to any talks.

German foreign minister Heiko Maas also weighed in, saying the EU is working to protect economic ties with Iran and keep payment channels open. Mr Maas reiterated a proposal to make international payments systems like Swift more independent of the US.

Mr Le Maire said using the European Investment Bank, which has exposure to the US, as a financial channel would be very complicated, and that the French and German governments are talking to their central banks about their involvement. If we want to build a truly independent instrument, we must open up all the options.

Mr Maas said while most of the difficult questions on the details of any payments system are unresolved, at least the alternative of a nuclear escalation in the Middle East has so far been avoided.

- BloombergElon Musks stunning tweet that he wanted to take Tesla private and had funding secured was a classic Mr Musk moonshot  given credibility only by the sense that if anyone could possibly pull such a brazen feat, he was the guy.

The initial scoffing after that August 7 post gave way to hiring of bankers to a board meeting where, just maybe, it was ready to take shape.

Then Mr Musk aborted his own mission when hastily assembled bankers and advisers had barely started work.

Mr Musk was perhaps spooked by blowback from investors he was sure would support him, including key backers from Saudi Arabia, according to sources.

Most shareholders wanted Tesla to remain public, the billionaire chief executive conceded in a night blog last Friday. Large institutional shareholders had limits on how much they could invest in a private company, and there was no proven path for most retail investors, who are among his most ardent and adoring fans.

The sentiment, in a nutshell, was please dont do this, wrote Mr Musk.

The shares, which were little changed yesterday, have, however, slid 7% in the past year, an unusual outcome for a so-called growth stock.

Markets now value Tesla at over 47bn as regulators and lawyers conducted an autopsy over what happened to a deal potentially valued at $82bn (70.5bn) and Teslas board is left with a brilliant but exhausted and erratic CEO.

We expect shares to be under pressure in the near term as investors question the go-private process and the outcome of staying public, Ben Kallo, an analyst at Robert W Baird, wrote in a report. Mr Kallo recommends buying the stock, saying it will rebound to above $400 as the company shows progress in increasing output of Model 3 vehicles.

The unfolding story suggests Mr Musk was sorely mistaken when he tweeted funding secured and later told the world investor support is confirmed, based on his belief that Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund was eager to back his venture. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is now investigating his tweets and blog posts.

Mr Musks vocal ambitions stirred unease among Saudi officials about the publicity surrounding their potential role.

The Saudis were unhappy about Mr Musk detailing his talks with its sovereign wealth fund in an August 13 blog post, where the CEO justified his earlier tweet, the sources said. On top of that, there were concerns about potential fallout from shareholder lawsuits and the SEC investigation.

- Bloomberg. Additional reporting Irish Examiner19 months ago the government in Northern Ireland was dissolved after a power-sharing row.

589 days later, there still no end in sight as Stormont remains without a functioning Assembly.

The North has now equalled a record set by Belgium for the longest period without an operational government in peacetime.

People have taken to Twitter to tell us what they have done in the 589 days, and it's a lot actually.

So what did you do in the days that Northern Ireland hasn't had a government? I moved into my own place after a breakup, delivered 8 #datascience talks, ran 36 @farsetdojo's, moved to @alertlogic, travelled 5 countries, celebrated 4 weddings & a funeral. #my589 #WeDeserveBetter  Andrew Bolster (@Bolster) August 27, 2018

Ive gotten pregnant, given birth, gotten engaged, started driving lessons then passed my driving test and have adopted two cats since power-sharing has collapsed in Stormont. Lucia-Jane will be 1 in October  #wedeservebetter #my589  Amy  (@amz_wot) August 27, 2018

I've... Bought my first house. Changed jobs. Set up #ProductCampBelfast w @_slimmer_ and @alisoncoote Delivered a fair few #product talks. Became a trainer for @MindtheProduct Travelled. Grown my 1st veg. Made lots of new friends #wedeservebetter #my589 https://t.co/dhbhNjSFxR  emma mulholland (@e_mulholland) August 27, 2018

In 589 days I have:

Moved house twice

Built a gaming pc

Started two companies

Met some amazing human beings

Discovered that Northern Ireland has remained functioning without its government wondering wtf they ever done in the first place https://t.co/fgiWesYuAD  Sketch (@SketchNI) August 28, 2018

Colum Eastwood, leader of the SDLP, said that legislators should be "embarrassed".

"For our people to have been left for 589 days without a government is a truly sorry indictment of our politics here.

With Brexit our politics has now reached a defining moment. We cannot allow a hard Brexit to be thrust upon our people without a functioning Assembly to mitigate its devastating impacts.The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless.



The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well.







By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism.By Tom Tuite

A 13-year-old boy accused of the murder of Kildare schoolgirl Anastasia Kriegel has been served with a book of evidence and sent forward for trial to the Central Criminal Court.

The boy, who cannot be named because he is a minor, is charged with murdering the 14-year-old girl at Glenwood House, Laraghcon, Clonee Road, Lucan on May 14, contrary to common law.

He was the second boy to be charged over her death.

He was served with a book of evidence at his sixth hearing, at the Childrens Court, on Tuesday.

He had been held in custody at the Oberstown detention centre in north Dublin since July 12, when he was charged, until last week when he was granted bail with strict conditions by the High Court.

The teen, dressed in a pink sweater and blue jeans, came into court with his mother who led him by the hand. He sat beside her and she clasped one of his hands in hers and caressed his face during the hearing in the Childrens Court.

State solicitor Alva OHerlihy told Judge John Cheatle the case was listed for the service of a book of evidence.

Specific directions from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) in relation to the teens age and confirming the case was to proceed had already been conveyed at an earlier stage.

The book of evidence was served on the teen in court by Detective Sergeant Damien Gannon and then handed over to defence solicitor David Powderly.

The State solicitor said the DPP consented to the boy being sent forward for trial on to the next sittings of the Central Criminal Court.

A date for his next hearing has yet to be allocated.

Judge Cheatle noted the book of evidence had been served and told the teen he was being sent forward for trial to the Central Criminal Court on bail with conditions set last week.

The teen stood up as he was given the usual alibi warning.

Judge Cheatle told him that if he intended to use an alibi or a witness putting him in a different place other than the time and location of the alleged offence he must tell the prosecution within 14 days.

The boy, clutching his bail bond, nodded and then said okay.

The judge then directed the prosecution to hand over videos of interviews to the defence.

He also agreed to Mr Powderlys request to grant legal aid to include representation of both junior and senior counsel for the trial.

The teenager thanked the judge before leaving the courtroom holding hands with his mother.

Anastasia Kriegel

At his first hearing on July 12, at the Childrens Court, Detective Sergeant Gannon gave evidence of his arrest at the boys home that morning and being charged at Lucan garda station.

He had said the boy, made no reply to the charge after caution.

Special directions, necessary due to the boys age, had been obtained from the DPP, the court had been told.

His co-accused, now aged 14 but who was also aged 13 at the time of the girls death, is also on bail and due back in court on Thursday when it is expected he will also be served with a book of evidence and returned for trial.

He was the first to be charged with her murder and was remanded in custody in May but was released on bail at the start of this month.

It is understood the pair are the youngest to people in the history of the State to put on trial for the offence of murder.

Anastasia, known as Ana, who was adopted from Russia at the age of two, left her house in Leixlip, at about 5pm on May 14, however, she did not come home and gardai were alerted. Her body was found at the disused farmhouse three days later.

There has been no indication yet as to how either boy intends to plead.A Senator has called for a universal system to provide access to period products in Ireland.

Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee said the implementation of a national programme to improve access to sanitary products and promote menstrual hygiene should be explored.

The Scottish Government recently announced that it is set to make sanitary products available free to all school pupils and students.

The Fianna Fail Seanad spokesperson on Justice, Children and Youth Affairs said period poverty is a reality for many young Irish girls and women, with almost 50% of teenage girls struggling to afford sanitary products

.

"Young girls and women in poverty can struggle to pay for monthly sanitary products, this significantly affects their hygiene, health and overall wellbeing," said Senator Clifford-Lee.

In fact, stark figures released by Plan Ireland earlier this summer reveal that almost 50% of teenage girls in Ireland struggle to afford monthly sanitary products.

"Its not unheard of that young women may have no choice but to go without sanitary products to make ends meet. Indeed, some households weekly budget cannot stretch far enough to afford the cost of these products; they are luxuries not certainties for too many.

"Given the price of rent, the cost of student fees and general living expenses, college students too are running an exceptionally tight budget. It goes without saying that sadly women living in homelessness have severely limited access to these products.

File photo

"Periods are an entirely normal part of life for every woman worldwide. Both the United Nations and leading NGO, Human Rights Watch have repeatedly recognised menstrual hygiene as a human right.

Irrespective of income, background or circumstance, every single woman should have equal access to sanitary products in a discrete and dignified way. No woman should be left unable to manage their period, whether in school, college, unemployed or in a workplace.

"I believe that a national programme to improve access to sanitary products has a place here in Ireland. I will be raising its importance both with my own Parliamentary Party and in the Oireachtas when it returns in the coming weeks.

"This is a matter of promoting and maintaining public health and an important conversation that must be had."

Digital DeskUpdate 8.37am: A fire at a Limerick scrap metal recycling plant has been extinguished.

It took 10 units of the fire brigade to tackle the blaze which was out by half six this morning.

It broke out at the facility on the Ballysimon Road in the city shortly after 8pm last night.

There's no word yet on damage, however, no one is believed to have been hurt.

Locals are being urged to keep their windows and doors closed as a precaution.

Earlier: Firefighters tackle major overnight fire in Limerick

Update 6.50am: Firefighters in Limerick have been tackling a major blaze at a scrap metal recycling facility overnight.

Limerick Fire Brigade was called to the scene at United Metals on the Ballysimon Road in the city shortly after 8 yesterday evening.

10 units of the fire service were tasked with extinguishing the blaze which was substantial according to a spokesperson.

Large plumes of smoke could be seen billowing from the area, with residents advised to close all doors and windows.

Digital DeskUpdate 1.50pm: The DUP leader has unveiled a large banner hitting out at Sinn Fein on the day Northern Ireland matches Belgium's record of the longest time without a functioning government.

Arlene Foster's party has failed to reach an agreement with Sinn Fein to enter government as the two largest parties.

The dispute centres on issues such as the Irish Language and same sex marriage.

The DUP leader says there is no sign of progress any time soon.

"There is only one problem party and let's call it out - that's Sinn Fein," she said. "And they need to end their boycott here in Northern Ireland.

"I share the frustrations of many today that we don't have a government here taking decisions on education and on health, on infrastructure and on the future of this country itself.

"So it's time to get back into government - long past the time to get back into government."

Mrs Foster repeated her call for government to be restored while a parallel process to resolve outstanding issues is run.

The DUP is deeply frustrated that we have reached 589 days without a government. Its time for SF to end its boycott of the Assembly. pic.twitter.com/LRZmWM6C5y  Arlene Foster #WeWillMeetAgain (@ArleneFosterUK) August 28, 2018

Earlier: North to mark powersharing impasse milestone with protests

The UK Government has acknowledged the deep frustration of the public in Northern Ireland as the region reached an unwanted milestone for non-governance.

On Tuesday the region notched up 589 days since the powersharing executive collapsed  passing Belgium for the worlds longest peacetime period without a properly functioning government.

While Northern Ireland will avoid an embarrassing entry in the Guinness Book of World Records  the Stormont impasse was ruled ineligible as it only relates to a devolved administration  the day will be marked by a series of public protests.

The #wedeservebetter events will be held in a series of cities and towns across the region on Tuesday evening.

Stormont has been without a properly functioning administration since January 2017 (Steve Parsons/PA).

The rift widened to take in other more tradition disputes  such as the Irish language  and the parties remain at loggerheads, with no prospect of an imminent breakthrough on the horizon.

While there has been speculation over a new round of negotiations for the autumn, no date has publicly been announced.

Ahead of the demonstrations, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Karen Bradley said: The Secretary of State is acutely aware of the deep frustration and difficulties faced by the people of Northern Ireland and the urgent need to resolve the current impasse.

She shares the firm view that the current situation cannot be allowed to continue and is working on options to ensure the good governance of Northern Ireland.

The UK Governments priority is to secure a basis for political talks and re-establish a locally elected, democratically accountable devolved government at the earliest opportunity.

In the absence of an Executive, the Secretary of State continues to take the necessary decisions to protect the interests of Northern Ireland and ensure stable public finances, demonstrated by the recent Budget Act.

Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley has acknowledged the deep frustration of the public at the Stormont impasse (Brian Lawless/PA).

Belgium was without a properly functioning government for 589 days when Prime Minister Yves Leterme quit in April 2010, and it went 541 days without any government at all when a new administration was not formed after a subsequent election in June 2010

Guinness uses the 541-day timeframe for measuring the world record.

In Northern Ireland, the administration limped on without a first or deputy first minister until March 2 2017  when a snap Assembly election was held.

Using the measure of the time without no government at all, Northern Ireland passed 541 days last Friday, on August 24.

- Press Association

Earlier: North set to break world record for longest peacetime period without government

Update 10.18am: Northern Ireland is set to break the world record for the longest peacetime period without a government at Stormont.

The North has been without a government for more than 500 days after the Assembly collapsed in January 2017.

Belgium holds the current record of 541 days without an elected government from 2010.

The Irish and British governments have said there will be a new round of talks in autumn in an attempt to restore power-sharing.

"It's extremely embarrassing," said Colum Eastwood, leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party.

Never mind the record or anything like that, it's embarrassing because we can't have decisions taken.

"We have crises in our hospitals, crises in our education system, jobs not getting delivered, government contracts not being put out there.

"No decisions are being taken."Update 10.10am: The Presidential election will take place on Friday, October 26, Minister Eoghan Murphy has announced.

The Housing Minister confirmed the news on RTEs Today with Sean ORourke.

Minister Eoghan Murphy confirms Presidential Election will be held on 26 October | https://t.co/1P9dsVv615 pic.twitter.com/n3h8Yy0gjI  RTE News (@rtenews) August 28, 2018

The writ allowing a Presidential election will be signed today meaning those hoping to run for President will have 28 days to get their name on the ballot.

They need the backing of four local councils or 20 TDs or Senators to run for the office.

Local authorities will be meeting over the next two weeks to make their nominations and a number of them have already heard pitches from candidates.

Nominations will close on September 26 with the election being held a month later.

The winner will be inaugurated on November 11.

The field of candidates will include current President Michael D Higgins and a Sinn Fein candidate.

Those councillors who have held meetings have said businessman Gavin Duffy and Independent Senator Joan Freeman are likely to get nominations

While artist Kevin Sharkey and journalist Gemma O'Doherty also impressed a number of councils yesterday.

Digital Desk

Earlier: Order allowing Presidential election likely to be signed today

Update 07.50am: Minister Eoghan Murphy is expected to announce the details of how long potential nominees have to get on the ballot.

Once it is issued, local authorities and Oireachtas members can formally back candidates and those wishing to challenge Michael D Higgins can lodge their papers.

Eight candidates sought the support of local authorities during a number of sittings yesterday.

The runner-up in the 2011 election Sean Gallagher had indicated he will make his intentions clear after the writ is issued, meaning we could know whether he will be entering the race again by the end of the week.

The nomination stage will likely close at the end of September ahead of a Presidential election on the 25th or 26th of October.

Digital DeskMotorists flouting the St Patricks St car ban in Cork City will eventually face penalty points.

Ahead of a crucial week for the operation of the streets daily 3pm to 6.30pm bus corridor, the chief executive of Cork City Council, Ann Doherty, said an agreed policy of education and advice about the new traffic arrangements will continue for a few more weeks before enforcement action starts.

Introduced in March and suspended after three weeks after a traders protest, the Pana ban was reintroduced three weeks ago following intense negotiation and a massive publicity blitz.

Private cars and trucks are being rerouted onto the quays between 3pm and 6.30pm, with access during those times limited to buses, taxis, emergency vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.

However, footage was posted on social media several days last week showing dozens of private cars and vans driving through St Patricks St during the afternoon ban. Ms Doherty said many of the vehicles found driving on the street during the afternoon car ban are visitors cars and that the council has been in touch with AA and SatNav companies to update their maps.

However, she said gardai will support the education and advice policy over the coming weeks before enforcement kicks in.

We have worked closely with traders about how to reintroduce the change so it wouldnt have adverse effect on the image of the city, she said. The majority of people will be respectful of the change. But there will always be those who wont respect the change and that will have to be a matter for enforcement. We will be monitoring things closely this week as schools and colleges reopen, and we will work collectively.

If the lack of respect of bus corridors becomes obviously a complete breach, that will have to be dealt with but I dont think were in that space yet. The majority of users of the city centre are respectful of the change.

The bus lane was reintroduced on August 9. Council figures obtained by the Irish Examiner show there was an 11% increase in footfall on St Patricks St for August 9-12 compared to the same period last year.

The council says this trend continued with an 18% rise in footfall from August 16-19 against the same period last year. There has been a 12% rise in usage of Paul St and North Main St carparks thanks to deals. There was a 10% rise in the number of passengers using the extended Black Ash park and ride, which is free after 12pm, after the first week of the new bus lane.

Activity on the citys park by phone app was up 20% in the first week after the car ban was reintroduced. Council engineers said they are still monitoring car journey times and that it will take a little more time to fully analyse bus journey times.

The bus corridor is designed to improve the efficiency of the almost 1,000 daily bus movements on St Patricks St. Among the incentives is a network of 26 15-minute set down spaces, Bus Eireann Leap Card deals offering fares from 1, and the free park and ride.By Gordon Deegan

An unqualified social care worker, who was head-butted and punched by a female service user during a flashpoint over Internet use at a care home, has been sacked for initiating the physical altercation between the two.

In the case, the social care worker was sacked for gross misconduct after his employer, a health care provider, found that he had engaged in physical abuse of the female resident at a Co Laois care home last year.

The worker sued for unfair dismissal at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) and WRC Adjudication Officer Catherine Byrne has dismissed his claim.

In his evidence, the care worker said that his relationship with the female resident was very good and that he had previously saved her life during a suicide attempt by her.

In her findings, however, Ms Byrne said that she was concerned that the worker is not a qualified care-worker and he said that before he came to work for the respondent, he had no qualifications for the work he was employed to do.

Ms Byrne said that the care worker "was also a vulnerable person".

On the incident, Ms Byrne said: It is my view that the complainant reacted in this inappropriate way because he is not qualified to manage the highly charged situation in which he found himself.

Ms Byrne said that there were failings by the employer in the case and I find that the selection of the complainant for the job of social care worker without any qualifications or experience placed him at risk of dismissal.

She said that there is no provision in the Unfair Dismissals Act to take account of the failings of the employer in this respect, but I wish to place on the record my view that these failings contributed in some measure to the complainants dismissal.

In the incident at the care home on March 6, 2017, the female resident lashed out after the social care worker said that she had exceeded her time online and could no longer have access to the Internet.

In response, the female kicked the social worker in the leg, shouted and broke a door handle and a handle to a cupboard.

Following the outburst, the female went into a corridor and attempted to prise a light switch cover from a wall.

However, while she was prising at the switch cover, the social worker approached her and pushed her.

In response, the female punched the social worker in the head and head-butted him as he fell on top of her. The care worker said that he was concussed as a result of the assault on him.

The resident was then restrained by the social worker and two male colleagues. and as a result of the incident, the social worker was out of work for a number of weeks.

Ms Byrne said that the behavioural support plan for the female resident describes a tragic and chaotic life, regularly interspersed with attempts at suicide and self-harm and aggression towards her carers.

Ms Byrne said that from a young age, the resident has been in a variety of care and from the evidence heard she was regularly aggressive, displaying uncontrollable feelings of frustration and anger.

An incident report was drawn up by staff and there was no reason to suspect from the report that the female service user had been assaulted.

However, it was only when the social worker made a formal complaint to the gardai over being assaulted by the female resident that a chain of events was set off culminating in the mans dismissal in June 2017.

The investigation involved the viewing of CCTV of the incident and in her findings, Mr Byrne pointed out that the social worker said that on three occasions during the disciplinary process that he would react in the same way again if confronted with the same set of circumstances.

Ms Byrne said: It is my view that his inability to accept that there were any failings on his part was fundamental to the respondents decision to dismiss him. If he had accepted that he was wrong, a final written warning would have been the appropriate outcome.

Ms Byrne said that the worker was paid an hourly rate of 12.11 and he got 15 or 16 hours of training in how to restrain service-users appropriately and that his other training came from reading documents and observing his colleagues.

The care worker said that he acted as he did on the day to protect the female resident. The man said that this intention was to move the female resident away from the wall socket.Darragh Bermingham

Technology is taking over young peoples lives and contributing to the disintegration of the family unit, a respected Capuchin Brother from Cork has warned.

Cork native Brother Kevin Crowley works with the Capuchin Brothers Day Centre in Dublin, which provides a lifeline service for those without shelter and in need of food and infant supplies.

Pope Francis travelled to the centre where he paid tribute to the dignity of the homeless and to its staff.

The Pope brought a message of peace, tranquillity and prayerfulness, said Brother Kevin.

He also spoke of the importance of prayer in the home from a young age, and like him, I would be a big believer in that.

That is what is wrong with young people today in some ways: prayer has gone out of the home, he added.

If parents in the home cannot provide an atmosphere of prayer, their children will not embrace it. The rosary, going to Mass, they all seem to be gone now in many families.

Modern technology has taken over, according to Brother Kevin, who spoke of the negative impact this can have.

Children now receive computers and phones from a very young age and its destroying their lives, he said.

The Pope emphasised the importance of spirit from an early age and many seem to be losing that, he added.

Brother Kevin said meeting the Pope was an extraordinary moment, for both the Brothers at the centre and its users.

To witness the Pope arrive and visit the people at the centre was just fantastic.

Meeting him was unbelievable, he added.

It was like Christ himself had appeared in the centre, such is his presence.

His humility came across in a big way and he treated everybody with respect and dignity."

He spoke about how God had a great love for all of the people in the centre, and he said he would be praying for them.

The Capuchin centre provides an important service in Dublin where homelessness is a major issue. The centre currently feeds scores of hungry people every day, while up to 1,600 people queue for food parcels there weekly.

Brother Kevin, a co-director of the centre, said: It is very sad to think that little children have to go back to hostels in the evening time when they leave our centre.

Br Kevin, who is originally from Cork, founded the Capuchin Day Centre in 1969 and has worked tirelessly since to feed and clothe some of Irelands most disadvantaged people.

This story originally appeared in the Evening EchoBy Noel Baker, Social Affairs Correspondent

Update 10.40am: The Tuam Home Survivors Network has savaged the appeal to the Pope by Children's Minister Katherine Zappone for funds for the Mother and Baby Home site, calling it "nothing more than a publicity stunt".

The Minister's direct intervention with Pope Francis during his historic visit has been praised by Tuam historian Catherine Corless and was backed in principle by abuse campaigner Colm O'Gorman, but the Tuam Home Survivors Network said the letter she sent to the Pope "smacks of a stunt".

In a statement the Network, which has 60 members, including people overseas and siblings and cousins of the disappeared, referred to the Minister's reference in the letter issued to Pope Francis in which she said "I am the Minister responsible for the Tuam Mother and Baby Home."

According to the Network: "This is of course an absurd statement. Ms Zappone is merely the Minister to which the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes is to report. In a different country, such a Commission would be reporting to a Justice Minister."

The statement went on: "In the course of her letter to the Pope, she attempts to maintain ... that she with her Cabinet colleagues can decide the future of the mass grave at Tuam. To be clear once more, the only office-holder with jurisdiction over the mass grave at Tuam is the local Coroner."

Earlier: Vatican faces increasing pressure to pay up for Tuam site

By Noel Baker and Juno McEnroe

Update 6.30am: The Vatican is likely to come under increasing pressure to respond to Childrens Minister Katherine Zappones direct demand to the Pope that the Church help foot the bill for work on the site of the mother and baby home in Tuam.

Ms Zappones extraordinary intervention  first made in Italian when she spoke with the pontiff over the weekend and later in the content of a comprehensive message sent to the Vatican  has been welcomed by campaigners.

It is unclear if the ministers position is backed by the Government.

A spokesman refused to clarify if Taoiseach Leo Varadkar knew in advance of Ms Zappones intentions to ask the Church to pay. He also refused to say whether the Government supported Ms Zappones request.

Minister Zappone will be bringing proposals to Cabinet at a later stage and there will be detailed discussions, said the spokesman. The minister had indicated to the Taoiseach that she was planning to raise the matter with Pope Francis.

The spokesman refused to say whether this included the request for the Church to pay for Tuam.

In the letter to the Pope, Ms Zappone said: It is my strong conviction that given the role of the Church in this shameful chapter of recent Irish history it must play a practical role in addressing the hurt and damage.

I believe that the church should contribute substantially to the cost of whatever option is decided by the government. This should be done willingly, unconditionally and quickly. Nothing less will demonstrate remorse.

At the meeting at Aras an Uachtarain, Ms Zappone told Pope Francis, in Italian: I am responsible for the Tuam mother and baby home. Childrens remains were found in a sewage system there. I hope the Church will make reparation for its part in this shameful chapter. It is important.

On the flight back to Rome, the Pope told reporters Ms Zappone had been very balanced, adding: She made me understand that the Church has something to do with this. That lady had a dignity that touched my heart, and now I have the memo there that I will study when I get home.

Tuam-based historian Catherine Corless, whose work was central to exposing what went on at the mother and baby home and the discovery of human remains, said she saw no reason for the Vatican to delay its response.

There is no need to delay as far as I can see, she said.

Ms Corless described Ms Zappones intervention as unbelievable and courageous, adding: As soon as she stepped into the room she took the opportunity, instead of just saying hello, she had a good few words with him.

As for the subsequent memo to the Vatican, Ms Corless said: It doesnt mince any words. It more or less said they have a duty to share the cost.

Its not that the State shouldnt cover it as well, she did not ask for them to cover it in full, but for their share.

Tuam Survivors Network said it acknowledged Ms Zappones intervention but said it was not commenting further at this time.

The site in Tuam is owned by Galway County Council, but the home was run by the Sisters of the Bon Secours. A number of options have been put forward for the site, but that preferred by many locals, and Ms Corless, is for full excavation and exhumation.

A response to the request from the Vatican Press Office was not forthcoming yesterday. The papal nuncio here said it was a matter for the media centre in the Vatican.

As the Government awaits a response from the Vatican, discussion continued following the visit of Pope Francis into how the Church can take practical steps to further bolster the safeguarding of children and to deal with past crimes.

Maeve Lewis, executive director of the group One In Four, said an option was for the Vatican to release records relating to allegations made to authorities seeking them.More bad news on the jobs front with the news that Thermo King Corporation is to close its Dublin plant.

This will result in the loss of 260 jobs. Thermo King also has factories in Galway and Shannon.A total of 2,975 people died in Puerto Rico within six months as a result of Hurricane Maria, according to an independent investigation ordered by the US territory.

The findings issued by the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University contrast sharply with the official death toll of 64.

It is also about double the Puerto Rican government's previous interim estimate of 1,400.

Researchers said there was a 22% increase in the number of deaths from September 2017 to February 2018 compared with previous years.

They said the initial low counts came partly because doctors lacked training on how to certify deaths after a disaster.

They added that the elderly and impoverished were most at risk.

Lynn Goldman, dean of the institute, told reporters: "We are hopeful that the government will accept this as an official death toll."

The study noted that mortality in Puerto Rico had been slowly decreasing since 2010, but spiked after the Category 4 storm hit on September 20.

About 40% of Puerto Rico's 78 municipalities saw a significantly higher number of deaths in the six months after the storm compared with the previous two years, researchers said.

These municipalities were mostly in the island's north east and south west.

Researchers found that the risk of death was 45% higher for those in impoverished communities, and that men older than 65 saw a continuous elevated risk.

They also said physicians and others told them that Puerto Rico's government did not notify them about federal guidelines on how to document deaths related to a major disaster.

"Others expressed reluctance to relate deaths to hurricanes due to concern about the subjectivity of this determination and about liability," the report said.

Researchers said they took into account an 8% drop in Puerto Rico's population from September 2017 to mid-February 2018, when tens of thousands fled the damage left by the storm.

PAGun deaths worldwide total about 250,000 yearly and the US is among six countries that make up half of those fatalities, a study has found.

The results from one of the most comprehensive analyses of firearm deaths reveal "a major public health problem for humanity", according to an editorial published with the study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Although recent headlines make it seem like gun killings are surging globally, the figures tell a more nuanced story.

Researchers counted about 209,000 gun deaths in 1990 compared with 251,000 in 2016. The average rate, about four per 100,000 people, was mostly unchanged.

Two-thirds of the deaths in 2016 were homicides, although the US is among wealthy countries where suicides by gun outnumber gun killings, the study found.

The numbers reflect more than "how many guns are around in a country", said lead author Dr Christopher Murray, a professor of health metrics at the University of Washington.

Cultural beliefs about guns and suicide vary widely around the world, he noted, adding: "That's where we get this incredible range of firearm deaths."

There were larger increases in many of the 195 countries involved in the study, particularly in Central America and South America, where the rates reached nearly 40 per 100,000 in some places.

Researchers said the drug trade and economic instability may have contributed.

Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico and Venezuela are the countries that with the US contributed to half the study deaths.

The study raises concerns about the lack of research on causes of gun violence and ways to prevent it, the editorial said.

Among the findings:

In 2016, 64% of global gun deaths were homicides, 27% were suicides and 9% were accidental

Gun deaths in the US climbed from 35,800 in 1990 to 37,200 in 2016, but the rate dipped slightly to 11 per 100,000. Gun suicides increased from 19,700 to 23,800

The US had the second-highest gun suicide rate in 2016, just over 6 deaths per 100,000 - a slight dip from the 1990 rate. Greenland had the highest, 22 per 100,000 but that amounted to just 11 deaths

El Salvador had the highest global gun death rate, nearly 40 per 100,000 people. Singapore had the lowest, with 0.1 death per 100,000

Gun deaths outnumbered deaths from combat and terrorism every year except 1994, when 800,000 people died in the Rwandan genocide

PAHit with a tax bill, locksmith Tim Batchelor thought the best thing to do was to follow a family friends advice and get some help from a city accounting firm.

But for the country lad, it was a decision that nearly destroyed his life.

Tim Batchelor with his lawyer leaving the Federal Court on Tuesday after giving evidence at the public examinations for companies linked to businessman Philip Whiteman. Credit:AAP

Instead of just receiving tax advice, Mr Batchelor had inadvertently walked into an allegedly $100 million phoenix scam run out of the offices of businessman Philip Whiteman.

Seven years later in 2016 when the tax office raided Mr Whitemans Richmond office in Melbourne, Mr Batchelor would discover that his identity had allegedly been stolen by his accountant and he had been made the director of no fewer than 10 companies without his knowledge.After a year-long review, Caltex is selling up to a quarter of its petrol station land and real estate assets, valued at $500 million, but will keep its refineries and pipelines.

The review into its convenience retail real estate concluded that a "passive" sale and leaseback process was not financially compelling as the sale proceeds would be largely offset by the costs of leasing.

Caltex plans to sell off and leaseback up to a quarter of its petrol station real estate.

Instead, Caltex is now considering a sale and leaseback of up to a quarter of its $2 billion in petrol station real estate via a long-term partnership.

Caltex is now exploring with appropriately experienced partners, a potential strategic real estate partnership, the company said.Transurban is odds on favourite to win the bidding war for control of the $16.8 billion WestConnex toll road in Sydney if the competition regulator clears the way on Thursday for it to pursue the deal.

With NSW Treasury officials in the final throes of assessing bids for WestConnex, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has brought forward its decision by a week on whether to clear or block Transurban from participating in Australia's largest infrastructure deal this year.

The sale has sparked more than a year of duelling between competing consortiums spearheaded by Transurban and one of Australia's largest infrastructure investors, IFM.

The NSW government is understood be seeking to raise at least $5 billion in net proceeds from the sale of a 51 per cent stake in the 33-kilometre toll road. The money raised will be used to pay for the third stage of the toll road project, which includes twin tunnels between Haberfield and St Peters in Sydney's inner west.Police are investigating a car fire that caused residents to be evacuated from a unit block in Farrer in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Firefighters called to the blaze, in the car port of the two-storey block on the corner of Lambrigg and Pridham streets, about 2am.

Three pumpers, a breathing apparatus vehicle, a HAZMAT unit and a commander were sent to the scene.

The fire was contained to the car and car port, which were destroyed, but there was smoke and heat damage to the unit block.

An ACT Policing spokesperson said the incident was under investigation and the circumstances around the fire were yet to be established.A "game-changing" conservation project at the University of Canberra could save endangered species on the brink of extinction.

Focusing on amphibians and reptiles, researchers at the university are working with Danish tropical zoo Randers Regnskov and two universities in the Scandanavian country.

University of Canberra PhD student Julie Strand works in the laboratory.

Their goal is to grow cells in flasks under controlled conditions and use them to develop cell lines, which they will then freeze and preserve in a practice known as biobanking.

Lead researcher Professor Tariq Ezaz is taking it a step further, using the cell lines with in vivo cloning technology.ACT Policing is seeking the publics assistance in locating missing six-year-old boy Phoenix Mapham.

Police are again asking the public for help in the search for missing six-year-old boy Phoenix Mapham and have serious concerns for his wellbeing.

Phoenix was first reported missing five days ago and has not been seen since about 1.30pm on Thursday August 23, when he was being driven away from Hickey Court in Weston Creek in a white 1999 Holden Vectra sedan with registration YAU56P.

The driver of the car is suspected to be Phoenix's mother Tessa Woodcock and the pair are believed to be in either the ACT or in New South Wales. Police said Phoenix is not in the lawful custody of his mother and they want to find him due to serious concerns for his wellbeing.

Phoenix and his mother could also be travelling in a blue Subaru Forester or a similar vehicle, with a broken back window and damaged front end, with possible registration YKP08U.An idea that started with a beer at an Australian National University bar could soon help doctors save millions of lives.

A team of research engineers and biochemists at the university has invented and trialled a bio-optics diagnostic device that can help doctors identify patients at imminent risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

The device reveals the formation of blood clots by creating a 3D digital hologram from a blood sample in a fraction of a second.

Dr Steve Lee and associate professor Elizabeth Gardiner, who met up for a beer and came up with the idea for a diagnostics device that can help doctors identify patients at imminent risk of a heart attack or stroke. Credit:Dion Georgopoulos

It has traditionally been difficult to predict the formation of a blood clot because the major drivers behind them, platelets, are just 10 per cent of the size of a regular cell and clump together within seconds when triggered.Police are calling for witnesses to a fight in which a man was allegedly stabbed at a Canberra trash and treasure market.

Police said they were called to the Jamison Trash n Treasure market in Bowman Street, Macquarie, about 8am on Sunday after reports two men had been involved in an altercation.

One of the men received stab wounds and later went to hospital.

ACT Policing is investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Anyone who may have seen the altercation was urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or via the Crime Stoppers ACT website. Information can be provided anonymously, quoting reference number 6301720.Canberra has continued its reputation as a bikie holiday hotspot after a Nomads Outlaw Motorcycle Club gathering at the weekend.

Convicted killer and Nomads life member Mouhammed 'Moudi' Tajjour posted an image to his Instagram account on Sunday of dozens of patched bikies posing arm-in-arm on Mount Ainslie.

Senior Canberra bikie Michael Clark  who is the Nomads ACT chapter president - can be seen with his arm around Mr Tajjour in the middle of the snap.

A video, posted to the same account, shows Nomads members smiling and laughing at a Canberra cafe.A man has been charged after a taxi driver was assaulted in Sydney's CBD on Monday.

A van and a taxi were on Market Street near Clarence Street about 5.35pm when the taxi changed lanes.

At the traffic lights, the van driver got out of his car and allegedly attacked the taxi driver, who had a female passenger at the time, Traffic and Highway Patrol Command Chief Inspector Phil Brooks said.

He said police would allege the van driver "jumped on the bonnet of the vehicle, breaking the windscreen", before punching the taxi driver through the driver side window.Daniel Andrews is really going for the wow factor right now.

He sure nailed it on Tuesday morning, announcing Labors plans to build a 90 kilometre suburban rail loop from Cheltenham to Werribee the biggest transport project in Australias history, the Premier reckons.

Premier Daniel Andrews announces the rail line on Tuesday morning. Credit:Joe Armao

Labor has been pretty messy at times over the past four years but when it comes to exploiting its incumbency and the buckets of money it has to spend, this outfit can be clinical.

Like the massive solar energy subsidies announced a couple of weeks ago, the rail loop is not only big and bold but very politically smart, beyond its obvious appeal for voters in outer-suburban marginal seats.OK, I didn't see this coming.

The Labor Government says it wants to build a 90-kilometre suburban rail loop from Cheltenham to Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Deakin Burwood, Box Hill, Doncaster, Heidelberg, Latrobe University, Reservoir, Fawkner, Broadmeadows, Melbourne Airport, Sunshine, then to Werribee.

The Labor Government's proposed middle-surburban rail loop.

Some of the detail is a little hazy, and would be subject to further study, but it seems to be aimed at hitting the biggest suburban traffic generators that don't currently have rail.

So far it's unclear where (or if) intermediate stops might be located, particularly between Melbourne Airport and Werribee. At least Cheltenham to the airport would be via underground tunnels.A woman and her children are suing the state for negligence and alleged breaches of duties of care after police failed to enforce numerous intervention orders against their father.

The woman, who cannot be named, alleges police in two regional Victorian towns repeatedly failed to take action when she and her children were assaulted, and that police failed to protect the family on at least six occasions.

The State of Victoria for is being sued for negligence and breaches of an alleged duty of care for police failing to enforce numerous intervention orders. Credit:Gabriele Charotte

The Supreme Court has allowed the case to proceed to trial in what could be a landmark ruling over police's liability in breaches of intervention orders.

The suit could break new legal ground as prior cases have found that police, and the police force, do not owe a duty of care to an alleged victim.The Barr government quashed another proposal to shift the base for general rates away from average unimproved land value, after it baulked at the cost of calculating the charge on the market value of a property.

As rates notices land in letterboxes, the ACT Greens released a discussion paper that called for the territory to move from average unimproved land value (AUV) to market value as the basis for general rates.

Rates are increasing this year by an average of 7 per cent for houses and 10 per cent for units, as the territory government gets rid of stamp duty in favour of land-based taxation, which is widely considered to be more efficient.

The June quarter consolidated financial report showed general rates made up 29 per cent of the ACT government's revenue, while stamp duty accounted for 13 per cent. In 2010-11, before the 20-year taxation reform began, stamp duty accounted for 21 per cent of revenue and general rates 17 per cent.Throughout his high school life, Gavin Grimm gained notoriety for his advocacy. And now, in the new book, Nevertheless, We Persisted, hes sharing his story.

When the now-18-year-old was a sophomore in high school, Grimm came out as transgender to his family and friends and after that, his school administrators. The school was supportive at first, but as noted by Teen Vogue, not long after, a frenzy from community members suddenly turned his access to a restroom into a public discussion, and Grimm was no longer allowed to use the mens room.

In 2015, Grimm sued the Gloucester County School District, based out of Virginia. The lawsuit thrusted the teen into the role of a transgender advocate, even being named one of Times 100 Most Influential People last year.

And in May of this year, Grimm won a court ruling regarding the case. A judge denied the scool boards motion to dismiss Grimms lawsuit, the New York Times reported.

Now, Grimm is one of 48 celebrities, activists and writers being featured in the new book, Nevertheless, We Persisted.

In Grimms essay, he discusses coming out and going to court against his high school district. In an excerpt of his essay obtained by Teen Vogue, Grimm details being able to use the boys room for about seven weeks before things took a turn.

This seven-week period showed me what it was like to be supported and validated by your school, and it gave me confidence that I would be able to live out a normal school year, unencumbered by restroom politics, Grimm wrote. Unfortunately, this was a false sense of security.

The collection of essays will be released on Sept. 4 and also features essays from Senator Amy Klobuchar, actress Alia Shawkat, actor Maulik Pancholy and more.The battle wounds are only a few days old but the Liberal Party's top brass met in Canberra to swear in a new cabinet and start the healing.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison's new ministers arrived at Government House in Canberra on Tuesday armed with Bibles, wearing grins and bearing congratulations for each other.

Mr Morrison's new cabinet includes a slew of Liberals who backed Peter Dutton in last week's bitter leadership spill.

Key Dutton supporter Steven Ciobo is the new Defence Industry Minister, while Angus Taylor has the energy portfolio.He gave the example of a nurse living in Fawkner who travels to the Royal Melbourne Hospital on the Upfield line. A rail loop would make the Austin Hospital in Heidelberg just as, if not more, accessible, he said. Mr Rawnsley said that although there were many unanswered questions about the cost and timing of the project, it did break away from the previous model of enlarging established transport corridors. At the moment, travel engineers say there is X number of people driving on the Monash Freeway, or travelling on the Cranbourne-Pakenham rail corridor, so how do we make those routes wider so people can move faster? Mr Rawnsley said.They dont think about how can we give people options for moving around the city. Plan Melbourne, the state government's planning blueprint for Melbourne in 2050, lists a dozen employment clusters around the suburbs, and the rail loop would stop at four of them: Monash, Bundoora (servicing Latrobe), Sunshine and Werribee. An overhead view of Sunshine railway station, which would link with the proposed Suburban Rail Loop. Credit:Jason South

Melbourne, mega-city By the time the suburban rail loop is promised to be completed in 2050, Melbourne will have almost doubled in size. If official population projections are correct, it will be a city of 8 million people by 2050. Thats an extra 1 million people every 10 years, or 100,000 new residents a year.

But the truth is Melbourne's growth is outstripping government projections  more than 125,000 people moved here or were born here last year. Keep up that pace of growth, and Melbourne will be a city of 9 million by 2050. Thats slightly bigger than greater London is today, and bigger than Asian mega-cities Hong Kong and Bangkok. Population growth has emerged as a sleeper issue in Victorian politics.

The vision of Melbourne as mega-city is one that makes many people wary; they worry about a city that is becoming too congested, too densely populated in some parts and too sprawling in others. Melburnians have become much more concerned about population growth since Daniel Andrews became Premier in November 2014, according to Ipsos quarterly surveys. In four years, it has risen from a lowly ranking of 16th on a list of 19 issues Ipsos surveys Victorians about to our sixth biggest concern. But Tuesdays surprise announcement by Mr Andrews  that his government plans to build a massive underground rail loop - suggests that Melbourne is on an irreversible course towards mega-city status. Paris, population 12 million, has already started building a vast ring rail network beneath its suburbs, at an estimated cost of $61.3 billion.

Vincent Baumont, one of the projects directors, told The Age last year that this city would need one too. Development Victoria's strategic assessment of the project suggests a rail loop would unlock a huge boom in rail patronage. Train travel makes up just 5 per cent of trips in Melbourne, compared with 21 per cent in London, the assessment says. Melbourne is tipped to be home to 8 million people by 2050. Credit:Jesse Marlow A recipe for greater urban density

But the underground stations of London and Paris service suburbs that are much more densely populated than Melbournes middle ring. Planning expert Professor John Stanley, from the University of Sydney, said the middle suburbs needed greater housing density to manage Melbourne's continued rapid population growth, and avoid condemning the city to worsening congestion and increased travel times. But Professor Stanley, who advised both the Napthine and Andrews governments on their urban blueprint Plan Melbourne, said no state government had yet shown the courage to follow through on that recommendation. The new rail loop goes to the right places, he said. But theyll have to go hell for leather to increase the density along that corridor, and along the radial corridors that connect to it, to make it work. Plan Melbourne projects the city will have an extra 1.5 million homes by 2050.

By Professor Stanleys reckoning, that should mean thousands of new homes will be built in middle suburbs including Glen Waverley, Burwood, Heidelberg, Fawkner and Broadmeadows. He conceded this could provoke a NIMBY backlash. Booming ... Cranbourne East has the highest population growth in Australia. Credit:Joe Armao A rail-led housing boom? The suburban rail loop could promote a new housing boom around its 12 new stations, and curb growth on the urban fringe.

Nine of the 10 fastest growing suburbs in Melbourne are in new housing estates on the edge of suburbia, in three residential growth corridors in the west, north and south-east. Professor Stanley and economist Terry Rawnsley agree the loop could rein in urban sprawl. If you look at where population is growing, it is growing away from jobs, Professor Stanley said. Its happening in the outer suburbs, but most of the jobs arent in the outer suburbs.Her colleagues will miss her ability to draw a crowd (and their wallets) to Liberal fundraising events. There are two views inside the Liberal party relating to Ms Bishop and her tilt for the Prime Minister's office: one is that she was poorly treated by colleagues she campaigned for with her star-like magnetism, another is that the party who made here foreign minister and deputy leader owed her nothing more than that. Jostling begins for seat Bishop hasn't quite quit Although she has left open the question of whether she runs again in her safe seat, jostling is certainly under way. And Ms Bishop, even though no one really expects her to go around again (unless Mr Morrison implodes and the party begs her to lead it), will want a say in who succeeds her.

There is speculation that Attorney General and marginal-seat holder Christian Porter could contemplate a shift to Curtin, saving his political career. But this would send a shocking signal to the Western Australian electorate. Although there is precedent (Kim Beazley abandoned Swan in 1996 to move to Brand), if Mr Porter jumped ship, it would add to the stench of political death already wafting from the government. Further, his run would be complicated by his role in damaging Peter Dutton's run for the leadership by referring his eligibility to remain in parliament to the Solicitor General for legal advice, a move conservatives in the party are unlikely to forget. Senator Mathias Cormann, who supported Mr Dutton in the contest that followed Mr Turnbull's departure, could also be interested.

Some say he might be considering a move from the Senate into the safe seat if Ms Bishop departs. There has been no love lost between Senator Cormann and Ms Bishop over the past few years and the leadership tensions over the last few weeks would have driven them further apart. It is possible Ms Bishop would do what she could to hobble him if he decided to run. New Curtin MP has serious shoes to fill Whoever takes the seat will carry a significant responsibility for the Liberal party in the west.

Ms Bishop has been at the forefront of the party's success for more than two decades and the Curtin division will be looking to send to Canberra a replacement with the potential to replicate her electoral appeal. When Ms Bishop, who was born and bred in South Australia, won the seat of Curtin in 1998, the Liberal party held seven WA seats in the House of Representatives and six senators (a total of 13). Twenty years later, the Liberals send 11 MPs and six senators to Canberra (a total of 17). Loading In comparison, Labor send just nine (five MPs and four senators).

At the last election, the Liberal party won 45.7 per cent of the WA primary vote, compared to Labor's 32.5 per cent. Ms Bishop has been responsible for some of that success. 'New generation' of ministers, some from WA The federal Liberal party has identified two Western Australian MPs as its next generation of front benchers. Prime Minister Scott Morrison named Durack MP Melissa Price as the nation's new environment minister and Senator Linda Reynolds as assistant minister to Peter Dutton in the crucial home affairs portfolio.

But defence, an important portfolio in the competition between WA and South Australia over massive military contracts, has gone to South Australian Christopher Pyne. Some  including a number of talkback callers  think former SAS officer Andrew Hastie, who represents Canning and is the chairman of parliament's powerful Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence and Security, might have been a better pick in the portfolio, especially for WA. If recent polling is any measure  which it arguably shouldn't be after last week's political bloodshed  there are a number of Liberal seats in the electoral firing line, which again would lead to a long-term shake-up of the Liberal party's WA contingent and a reduction in its influence in the party room. Tweet of the week This week from 6PR's Brett Bonetti from inside the station's famed green room.When Facebook officials heard that a damning United Nations report would again make a link between hate speech on the social media site and atrocities in Myanmar, they knew they had to act, a person familiar with their thinking said.

For the next 24 hours, officials went back and forth on how to respond to the report's call for Myanmar's commander in chief  an active Facebook user  to be investigated and prosecuted for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against the country's Rohingya Muslim minority.

Without consulting the Myanmar government, Facebook opted to remove Senior General Min Aung Hlaing's page from its platform, along with those of other top military brass, and pre-emptively banned others. The UN report "put a deadline on what they were planning on doing anyway," the person, who was not authorised to talk to the media, added.Latest News Teachers completes Pulse merger Customer-owned bank merger completed, with new pitch for broker business

Legal lending product to hit broker channel Long-standing loan now able for brokers to diversify and retain clients

A business finance group has reported its financial results with a profit increase of 14.1% from last year.

Scottish Pacific had a profit before interest and tax of $47.6m. Its net profit after tax grew 17.4% to $29.7m, which it puts down to growing customers, operating efficiencies and solid cost controls.

According to the group, strong growth from its core Debtor Finance facility was supported by growing customers expanding their facilities with Scottish Pacific.

Average exposure over the year is up 15% to $998m and turnover is up 13.2% to $17.5b.

Commenting on the results, CEO, Peter Langham said, We are pleased to have delivered a strong result for FY18, reporting Profit before Interest and Tax growth of 14.1% to $47.6m.

With our customers growing on average at three times the rate of GDP, their growth is our growth, with many continuing to expand their facilities with us to support their growing businesses.

We are pleased to see the results of our investments in operations, and towards efficiencies, beginning to flow through, contributing to a reduction in Scottish Pacifics cost to income ratio and strengthening the earnings profile of the business.

During the next financial year the company hopes to expand its offering to a broader target market, with a focus on new products, such as Asset Finance.

The capability to provide facilities secured against assets other than just receivables will see new sources of income developed.

Scottish Pacific said while it will continue to exercise strong control over expenses, it will still invest for the future.

Areas of improvement over the next year will include the adoption of new technology to streamline processes, making it easier to on-board and manage customers.Arlington, Va., resident Jonathan Schafer filed a complaint last week with the D.C. Office of Human Rights charging that Psychiatric Institute of Washington, a psychiatric hospital, subjected him to anti-gay discrimination in the way it treated him as a patient.

His complaint accuses an official that he says processed his admission to the hospital on Aug. 7 with saying his problems were due to his sexual orientation and that he should consider entering a heterosexual relationship.

At the time of intake I was told by the Director of Intake that it sounded as if being a homosexual was messing with my head and that I should try a heterosexual relationship, Schafer states in his complaint.

She also said anything I could do with a guy, I could do with a woman, the complaint says. She also said I should try a heterosexual relationship so that I can have children and feel that Ive contributed to the world, Schafers complaint says.

In an 11-minute video of himself talking about his encounter with the intake official that he posted on his Facebook page, Schafer said he didnt obtain the name of the intake official but believes she is a registered nurse. He states in his video he believes she acted inappropriately by suggesting his sexual orientation was responsible in some way for the depression he was experiencing at the time he entered the facility.

You know, when she was saying those things I was very vulnerable, he says on his posted video. So it was very inappropriate behavior from her as a professional, especially in health care and especially in a mental or behavioral health setting, he said in the video.

In response to an inquiry from the Washington Blade, Psychiatric Institute of Washington released a statement on Aug. 23 saying the hospital employee in question denied making the comments Schafer claimed she made to him.

Hospital leadership is investigating the matter involving a single individual in the intake department, the statement says. We take all feedback seriously, and clearly would never condone the alleged statements attributed our employee, as they are inconsistent with our philosophy, operating principles and policies, it says.

Upon questioning, our employee denies that any such statements were made, the hospital statement continues. Nevertheless, we apologize that this patient reported a negative experience at our facility.

The statement adds, Despite a patients share of their personal information, PIW is not authorized to disclose details of patient care due to HIPAA patient privacy law, therefore cannot comment on any specifics.

However, in response to an earlier question submitted to the hospital by the Blade, the statement says we do not practice conversion therapy.

In his posted video, Schafer said that following his encounter with the intake official he was worried that he might be subjected by the hospital to conversion therapy.

That practice has been debunked by professional mental health organizations, including the American Psychiatric Association, as being ineffective and having the potential to cause serious mental health problems.

Schafer told the Blade that in addition to the complaint he filed with the D.C. Office of Human Rights, he filed an internal grievance complaint with PIW and sent email messages to other government and private organizations informing them of what he claims was the discriminatory treatment he received as a patient as PIW.

Among the agencies he contacted about the PIW matter, he told the Blade, were the Office of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights, the D.C. Hospital Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the national LGBT organizations Human Rights Campaign and the Trevor Project.

Schafer also provided the Blade with a copy of an Aug. 17 letter he received from Psychiatric Institute of Washington responding to his grievance complaint with the hospital.

The letter, written by Dody A. McClain, the hospitals Director of Quality Management, says McClain completed a thorough investigation into Schafers complaint. In a development that surprised Schafer, unlike the hospitals statement to the Blade, the letter did not mention that the employee whos the subject of Schafers complaint has denied making the statements Schafer alleges she made to him.

Instead, McClains letter to Schafer lists two specific actions it says the hospital has taken to resolve your grievance.

The first, it says, Reviewed your concerns and provided feedback to the staff member involved and followed our performance management policies.

The second action, the letter states, Retrained the staff member on diversity/cultural competence.

I would like to take this opportunity to apologize that your experience at PIW did not meet your needs and expectations, McClain states in his letter to Schafer. Thank you for taking the time to report your concerns to PIW. We appreciate your feedback. Patient satisfaction is a top level priority for us.

In its statement to the Blade, the hospital states, PIW does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex or sexual orientation. Further, PIW does not exclude people or treat them differently because of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex or sexual orientation.

In an email to the Blade, Schafer, however, pointed out that in its official nondiscrimination statement on its website, PIW lists only the groups protected against discrimination in federal law. He notes, as the Blade also observed on the PIWs website, that the official nondiscrimination statement makes no mention of the broader list of protected categories under the D.C. Human Rights Act, including sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.

PIW didnt respond to a follow-up question from the Blade asking why the D.C. Human Rights Acts broader list of protected groups are missing from the hospitals nondiscrimination statement on its website as of early this week.

One local D.C. attorney who has represented clients who have filed discrimination complaints before the D.C. Office of Human Rights and who spoke to the Blade on condition of not being identified said it was uncertain how the OHR would act on Schafers complaint.

Since the complaint doesnt accuse PIW of refusing treatment for Schafer and limits its concern with what Schafer says was inappropriate treatment by one employee, its unclear whether that could be considered a violation of the citys Human Rights Act, the attorney said.

Under a longstanding policy, the Office of Human Rights never confirms it has received a discrimination complaint until it completes an investigation of the complaint and makes a determination of probable cause that discrimination occurred. At that point the office calls on the two parties to enter into negotiations to determine whether a settlement can be reached.

If a settlement cannot be reached, the OHR schedules an evidentiary public hearing similar to a trial in which the D.C. Commission on Human Rights acts as the jury and rules on whether discrimination occurred.

So I just wanted to share my story and encourage people, again, that are dealing with depression on a day to day basis to continue to seek help, talk to your friends and family, Schafer said in his Facebook video. Again, but never let anybody like this individual put you down for who you are. Be proud of who you are, embrace who you are, love who you are. Equality has no room for discrimination or hatred.Under the initiative, free credits will be provided to these startups so that they can focus on building their business and let Google take the responsibility of scaling and securing their infrastructure. The search engine has selected 12 startups across sectors to use services of Google like AdWords, application programming interfaces (API), cloud services. Google will provide these startups with a credit of $3000 to use these services in the first ...

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Digital Editor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.

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Digital Editorhas said that it is banning Myanmar's powerful military chief and 19 other individuals and organisations from its site to prevent the spread of hate and misinformation.

The social media giant was heavily criticised for permitting itself to be used to inflame ethnic and religious conflict in the country, particularly against minority Rohingya Muslims.

It has been accused of being lax in fighting online misinformation and manipulation in many countries, but is one where it has been most closely tied to deadly violence.

Some 700,000 Rohingya have fled from Myanmar's western state of Rakhine over the past year in response to a brutal counterinsurgency campaign by the military, which has been accused of massive human rights violations.

Critics accuse the military of carrying out ethnic cleansing, or even genocide, an allegation denied by the government, which says it was responding to attacks on security forces.

said on Monday it also targeted pages and accounts that pretended to provide independent and opinion, while covertly promoting messages of Myanmar's military.

It said it was deleting 18 accounts, one account and 52 Facebook pages.

A separate report by investigators working for the UN's top human rights body, released on Monday, charged that "Facebook has been a useful instrument for those seeking to spread hate, in a context where for most users Facebook is the internet."



"Although improved in recent months, Facebook's response has been slow and ineffective," said the report by the Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, authorized by the UN Human Rights Council.

"The extent to which Facebook posts and messages have led to real-world discrimination and violence must be independently and thoroughly examined."

ALSO READ: Sony Pictures collaborates with Facebook for LaLiga streaming in India

Four high-ranking officers and two military units targeted by Facebook were also put on a US government blacklist earlier this month for human rights abuses.

The sanctions block any property they own within the US and prohibit US citizens from engaging in transactions with them.

The US already maintains restrictions on visas, arms sales and assistance to Myanmar's military.

In June, the EU imposed similar sanctions on seven senior army and police officers, all of whom are on Facebook's blacklist.Nespresso maker today said it has sealed a deal to market the products of US coffee giant around the world, outside of its cafes.

Swiss food giant Nestle, which also produces Nescafe instant coffee, had announced in May it would pay $7.15 billion (6.13 billion euros) for the rights to market coffee globally.

Under the deal, some 500 employees in the United States and Europe will join Nestle, the Swiss company said in a statement.

"With Starbucks, Nescafe and Nespresso we bring together the world's most iconic coffee brands," CEO Mark Schneider said.

"The outstanding collaboration between the two teams resulted in a swift completion of this agreement, which will pave the way to capture further growth opportunities," he added.

According to the statement, the deal will significantly boost Nestle's portfolio in North America.

Bloomberg said has struggled in the US for years.

Under Schneider's leadership, Nestle has made coffee a key priority in its growth strategy, particularly in the US.

Since the CEO took over in January 2017, the group has bought a majority stake in California-based high-end brand Blue Bottle Coffee and acquired Texan brand Chameleon Cold Brew.

Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said his firm is also set for a major boost under the deal.

"Bringing together the world's leading coffee retailer, the world's largest food and beverage company, and the world's largest and fast-growing installed base of at-home and single-serve coffee machines helps us amplify the Starbucks brand around the world while delivering long-term value creation for our shareholders," Johnson said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A federal judge in San Francisco dismissed a securities fraud lawsuit in which Tesla Inc shareholders accused the electric car company and Chief Executive Elon Musk of misleading them about the progress of production of its Model 3 vehicle. In a decision made public on Monday, US District Judge Charles Breyer said that while shareholders claimed that Tesla fell short of its production goals, "federal securities laws do not punish companies for failing to achieve their targets." Breyer said the shareholders have until Sept 28 to amend their complaint. Their lawyer, ...Analysts said that while it could be a surprise audit (given the plants history of regulatory issues), it could also be a pre-approval inspection (that usually happens before a product from that site is approved by the US drug regulator). Sources claimed a team of inspectors from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) was at the facility to inspect the ...

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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.



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Digital EditorBerkshire Hathaway Inc has picked up a Rs 25 billion ($356 million) stake in the parent of digital payments firm Paytm, a source said, its first investment in an Indian startup as it forays into the financial payments sector. The conglomerate run by billionaire Warren Buffett confirmed in an email that Berkshire had invested in One97 Communications Ltd. Buffett was not involved in the transaction, his assistant Debbie Bosanek said in the email, without giving more details. India's Economic Times had reported on Monday that Berkshire was in talks for a 3-4 per cent stake in a ...With the Cochin international airport set to resume operations from Wednesday, private carriers and Indigo today said they will restart services which were discontinued from August 14 after the airport was shut due to flooding.

The airport, the seventh busiest in the country, had been rendered non-functional since August 14 after the deluge that devastated the state between August 8 and 22, forced government to allow commercial flights from the Naval facility in the heart of the city from August 20.

The airport authorities had first announced the shuttering of the facility till August 18, which was then extended to 26 and further to 29 as water levels continued to rise inundating the runway, the terminals as well as the large solar farm surrounding the airport.

This forced the DGCA to ask airlines to divert Kochi bound flights to the other two airports in the state in Thiruvanathapuram or Kozhikode or Coimbatore in the neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Mangalore in Karnataka.

" will resume its scheduled operations to Cochin International Airport (CIAL) from August 29. The airline's first flight to Kochi (9W 0403 from Mumbai) is scheduled to arrive at 15:50 hrs," said in a statement.

Jet also said it continues relief efforts in support of the flood-affected people in the state, adding the carrier airlifted over 17 tonne of relief material free of cost.

The airline has also extended its waiver for passengers holding confirmed tickets and travelling into and out of the airport till tomorrow and guest can change dates up to September 15 from the original travel date, it added.

Budget carrier Indigo also said it will resume services from 1400 hrs tomorrow from the Kochi, the airline said in a tweet.

Yesterday, the CIAL had said "the airport will commence full-scale operations (both international and domestic) at 2 pm on August 29."



It is estimated that the CIAL suffered at least Rs 2.2 billion losses due to the fortnight-long closure of operations.Pune Police on Tuesday conducted searches at the residences of prominent activists across the country for their suspected Maoist links, a senior police officer said.

The raids were carried out as part of the probe into the violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon Bhima village following an event held in Pune last year, he said.

Searches are being carried out at the homes of Left wing activist and poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Chhattisgarh and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha, who lives in Delhi, he said.

Rao's name had cropped up in a letter seized by the police during searches at the premises of one of the five people arrested in June in connection with the Elgar Parishad event on December 31 last year to commemorate 200 years of the Koregaon Bhima battle in 1818.

In June, five people were arrested for having close Maoist links after they allegedly made "provocative" speeches at the event, triggering violence at Koregaon Bhima village in the district, according to an FIR registered at the Vishrambaug Police Station after the event.

Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale was arrested from his home in Mumbai, while lawyer Surendra Gadling, activist Mahesh Raut and Shoma Sen were picked up from Nagpur and Rona Wilson was arrested from his flat in Munirka in Delhi in simultaneous raids in June.

Police said probes were being conducted at homes of the five arrested and those who were directly or indirectly connected with them.India might aspire to become a leader in 5G technology, but it does not even have one of the 150 trials going on currently across the world. A steering committee on 5G recently submitted its report to the government, suggesting various measures to boost 5G uptake. According to the committee, the price of spectrum should be lowered and the quantum of airwaves increased.

The government expects the commercial launch of 5G services in 2020. The US plans to launch it a year earlier. Asked about the future of 5G in the country, operators feel the 2020 timeline is achievable if the ...The shipping and railway ministries along with Madhya Pradesh and governments on Tuesday entered into a pact to implement around Rs 90 billion Indore-Manmad rail project.

"We are starting a very big railway project from Indore to Manmad. Indore is a commercial hub and from here the containers by using Central railways will come to Manmad and from Manmad they (containers) will go to (Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust)," Shipping Minister told reporters here.

The tribal sectors of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, he said, will benefit from the railway line which will cost around Rs 90 billion, he said after the signing of the MoU.

The project will reduce the distance from Mumbai/ to key central India locations by 171 km.

Gadkari said that due to this line the existing route of 815 km will be reduced to 644 km.

Besides Gadkari, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, and Chief Minister were among those present during the MoU signing.

Stating that Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor will be connected with the project, Gadkari said the railway line will also be used for the passenger trains.

"In this also the time will be saved and distance of around 215-250 km will be saved. This will be used for the development of the backward area," he added.

Stating that will invest money in this line, Gadkari said that state governments of Madhya Pradesh and have assisted in the land acquisition work.

Ministry of Shipping or its nominated PSUs including JNPT, will be the main promoter of the project with the equity share of 55 per cent. Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh will have share of 15 per cent each in the project among others.

The project passes through the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor nodes Igatpuri, Nashik and Sinnar, and Khed, and Dhule and Nardana.

The project is estimated to result in cumulative net economic benefits of Rs 150 billion in the first 10 years of operations.

The project will reduce the logistics cost for the cargo centres located in Northern India such as Lucknow, Agra, Gwalior and Kanpur belt as well as IndoreDhule Bhopal region to the gateway ports and Mumbai.

It will be an alternate route to the existing central and western railway lines and will reduce congestion on the over utilised existing railway network.

In addition, it will help in employment generation, reduction in pollution, fuel consumption and vehicle operating costs.The Maharashtra Police on Tuesday arrested Maoist ideologue Varavara Rao here for his alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his family members said.

A police team from Pune arrested the revolutionary writer after searching his house and the houses of his family members and friends including a journalist.

Varvara Rao was shifted to the government-run Gandhi Hospital for a medical check-up. He is likely to be produced before a court here before shifting him to Pune.

In June, police in Pune had allegedly recovered a letter mentioning a plan to assassinate Modi from the house of one of the five persons arrested in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence.

The letter written by a person identified only as 'R' reportedly mentions a plot to kill the Prime Minister on the lines of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.



It also referred to requirement of Rs 80 million to purchase a M-4 rifle and 400 thousand rounds to execute the plot. The letter reportedly mentions Varvara Rao's name.

Varvara Rao, who heads 'Veerasam', an association of revolutionary writers, had strongly denied the allegations. He had said that all five arrested in the case were working for the betterment of downtrodden.A bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and R F Nariman said the re-verification of those excluded from NRC was a "sample survey" for the satisfaction of the court and its schedule would be decided later. The apex court also deferred the scheduled date of August 30 for receipt of claims and objections to the draft NRC, as it pointed out certain contradictions in the Centre's Standard Operating ...

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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.

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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.



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Digital EditorSatish Kumar, a plumber and part-time farmer in Panipat, Haryana, had been feeling a niggling pain in his chest for days. His neighbourhood doctor said that he could be suffering from a blocked artery and that he might need a stent implant.

The doctor advised Kumar to go to the Civil Hospital and get registered under the Ayushman Bharat scheme so his surgery would be free. The citys main government hospital is one of the many chosen for a pilot of Prime Minister Narendra Modis grand universal healthcare scheme which is set to roll out on September 25. However, when he ...Canadas top trade negotiator joins her Mexican and US counterparts in Washington on Tuesday in a bid to remain part of a trilateral North American trade pact, as US officials expressed optimism a deal could be reached this week. Ottawa is under pressure to accept new terms on auto trade and dispute settlement rules after the US and Mexico agreed on Monday to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta). Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland rejoins the year-long talks following a hiatus of several weeks as the US and Mexico ironed out outstanding bilateral ...Two Indian nationals were among 19 people arrested by the border patrol officials in California for entering the country illegally by boat from

The Border Patrol agents working in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) law enforcement partners, arrested 19 people yesterday, a press release from the Customs and Border Protection said.

Late Sunday night, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) aircraft spotted a panga style vessel enter US territorial waters from with multiple people on board. The AMO notified the US Coast Guard and they interdicted the panga approximately 24 kilometres west of Point Loma, California.

A total of 19 people were intercepted, of which two were identified as suspected smugglers. The other 17 were passengers illegally present in the US.

All 19 male illegal aliens were arrested and taken to a nearby Border Patrol station for processing. Agents determined that two of the passengers were Indian nationals, while all others were Mexican nationals, the release said. It did not give any details of the two Indian nationals.

The suspected smugglers are in the DHS custody and may face human smuggling charges.

Since 2013, the US has admitted more than half a million illegal immigrant minors and family units from Central America, most of whom today are at large in the US.

The DHS considers a person "inadmissible" when they appear at a port of entry without proper documentation for legal entry into the US. Those apprehended are individuals "caught trying to enter illegally between ports of entry."



In order to protect the US national security, President introduced a controversial 'zero-tolerance policy' for people that enter the country illegally. Under this, the US prosecuted anyone trying to enter the country illegally, including asylum seekers.

Nearly 2,000 children were separated from their parents, with the adults being shipped to jails and children placed in the custody the Office of Refugee Resettlement between April 19 and May 31 of this year.

The controversial decision however had been reversed by Trump through an executive order following widespread protests against the move.With a deal with Mexico out of the way, US trade officials are due to resume talks with Canada on Tuesday to try to salvage the North American Free Trade Agreement as a trilateral accord.

After months of intense negotiations, the United States and Mexico announced an agreement on Monday on a thorough overhaul of the 25-year-old free trade pact but President suggested he could cut Ottawa out.

Canadian Prime Minister stressed in a phone call with Trump on Monday, aim was to reach a new NAFTA deal.

The leaders "had a constructive conversation" on NAFTA, and "look forward to having their teams engage this week with a view to a successful conclusion of negotiations," Trudeau's office said.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland interrupted a trip to Europe to rush back to Washington to begin talks with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

But it remains unclear when the trade officials will begin their discussions or whether the first meeting will happen today after all.

Mexico's President and President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador both said NAFTA should remain a trilateral deal.



The outlines of a NAFTA 2.0 are now on paper, including provisions on auto trade, tougher worker protections and a provision to review the deal every six years.

"It's a really good deal for both countries," President Trump said in announcing the agreement from the Oval Office.

Negotiators have worked for a year to update and rewrite NAFTA but in the last five weeks Washington and Mexico City held talks to resolve their bilateral issues, especially on the auto industry rules, without Ottawa.

Trump stressed that he could go ahead without Ottawa in the new agreement.

"We could have a separate deal or we could put it in the same deal," Trump said.

He indicated he would take a tough line with Canada on autos and dairy tariffs, long a source of tension between the neighbouring countries.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow reiterated that point today, saying the United States would not accept continued steep tariffs on dairy exports.

"There's a word that Canada has trouble with -- it's M-I-L-K," Kudlow said on Fox News.

The Canadian government effectively sets production quotas and the price of milk, which ends up costing consumers a bit more but provides farmers with a stable income.

The system has been in place since the 1970s and has survived several attempts to undo it -- as well as the prohibitive tariffs that limit foreign imports.

However, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the administration was keen to get Canada on board quickly.

"The US market and Canadian markets are very intertwined," Mnuchin said on CNBC. "It's important for them to get this deal and it's important for us to get this deal."





There is some urgency as the United States seems eager to have the issue resolved before the November midterm elections, and Pena Nieto wants to sign it before handing the reins over to Lopez Obrador on December 1.

But Canada may not feel the pressure to hurry, especially at the expense of a good deal.

Trudeau's government also faces political pressure with elections due in a year, which could make him wary of being seen as capitulating to Trump, especially on the sensitive dairy supply management system.



Freeland's spokesman Adam Austen said in a statement Canada would "only sign a new NAFTA that is good for Canada and good for the middle class. Canada's signature is required."



Mexican officials have insisted all along that the NAFTA must be a trilateral deal, but also acknowledged that either way their country would have free trade commitments with both nations.

Lighthizer said the administration would notify Congress by Friday of the new agreement, which would allow the required 90 days' notice to get the pact signed by December 1.

However, legislators and former US trade officials say the White House does not have the authority to replace NAFTA with a two-nation trade agreement, and must have the text of the treaty ready by September 30.

The Canadian team could be more amenable to the talks now that the United States has backed away from a controversial and strenuously-opposed provision to require the three nations to renegotiate NAFTA after five years.

Instead, senior US officials told reporters the agreement had been extended for 16 years but would be reviewed every six years.

"It's an alternative to sunset which we think works," another senior official said.

A key element of the US-Mexico talks has been content requirements for autos produced in the region in order to qualify for duty-free NAFTA treatment, which Mexico agreed to increase to 75 per cent from 62.5 per cent.

The two sides also agreed that 40-45 per cent of vehicles must be made at "high wage" factories where workers receive $ 16 an hour, something that could deter off-shoring US auto manufacturing to Mexico.Raids were conducted across the country in connection to the Bhima Koregaon violence. The raids were carried out in Mumbai, Ranchi, Hyderabad, Faridabad, Delhi and Thane.

As per sources privy to the latest developments in the case, Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Gautam Navlakha, Varnan Gonsalves and Sudha Bhardwaj were arrested following the raids that were conducted by the Pune Police. The police have booked all these accused under sections 153 A, 505(1) B,117,120 B,13,16,18,20,38,39,40 IPC and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Of the four, activist Varavara Rao and Sudha Bhardwaj were detained in Hyderabad and Faridabad respectively and Gautam Navlakha was arrested from Delhi. A search was also conducted at activist Stan Swamy's residence in Ranchi. However, he was not arrested.

Later in the day, Delhi High Court stayed the transit remand of Gautam Navlakha to Pune. He will be put under house arrest until the case is heard tomorrow. The decision came following a plea filed in the Delhi court seeking a stay on the transfer of Navlakha to Pune.

Daughter of Sudha Bhardwaj told ANI, "A team of 10 people came today morning and they didn't have a search warrant but were carrying another document. They checked our mobile phones and laptops and took all the passwords". Bhardwaj is a visiting professor in the Law University and also stated to be part of the People's Union for Civil Liberties.

A petition was also filed in Chandigarh High Court for stay on Sudha Bhardwaj's transit remand. Her advocate told ANI, "I have received information that interim order has been given by Chandigarh High Court in a petition filed on the case. She will not be arrested but will be under the supervision of police for three days and after that there would be another hearing."

In the wake of the raids and subsequent arrests, CPI (M) leader Prakash Karat said the raids were an attack on democratic rights. "This is a brazen attack on democratic rights. We are demanding that all the cases against these people be withdrawn and they are released forthwith," he noted.

The Bhima Koregaon violence erupted while observing the 200th anniversary of the Bhima-Koregaon battle in January. A youth died and several others, including 10 policemen, were injured in the violence.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on Tuesday said that Russia and Afghanistan are set to co-chair proposed future talks in Moscow.

ToLo News reported MoFA as saying, the Moscow talks should be held the leadership of the Afghan government.

The Acting Deputy Foreign Minister for Management and Resources Nasir Andisha said that schedules are being drawn up by the representatives of the two countries for the future talks aimed at encouraging political support for intra-Afghan dialogue.

Andisha said, "Delegations from Afghanistan, the Russian Federation, the Central Asian countries and Afghanistan's partners are working on a timeline and agenda for the meeting. We will determine the time based on a consensus."

This comes following the announcement by the Afghan government on Monday regarding the postponement of the Moscow talks which were to happen on September 4.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had announced that members of the Taliban would visit Russia next month to discuss on a peace strategy in Afghanistan.

Though Russia does not share any border with Afghanistan, Moscow has stepped up efforts in recent times to reach out to the Taliban, to enter into peace negotiations with the US-backed Afghan government. The group is banned in Russia.

For years, Taliban militants in Afghanistan have been using suicide bombers to create unrest in the region, claiming that their struggle is a holy war to impose Islamic rule.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Crime Branch of Aurangabad Police have arrested nine people, who were planning to set free criminal Imran Mehendi from police custody, after he was produced before a district court on Monday.

Mehendi, along with seven others, was handed life imprisonment for murdering NCP corporator Salim Qureshi in March 2012.

The police got a tip of their plan few days back and accordingly a team laid a trap in Naregaon locality on the outskirts of the city, said Deputy Commissioner of Police Deepali Ghadge Dhate.

The plan was made by Mehendi's friends Habib Khaled Mohammed aka Khaled Chaus and Mohammed Shoeb Mohammed Sadiq, the police said.

"In order to free Mehendi, they had called seven criminals from Madhya Pradesh. Together, their plan was to attack the police escort team and free Mehendi and others. However, the Crime Branch got to know about the plan a few days back," Dhate said.

The police also seized a pistol, seven bullets and a jeep from the spot.

Commissioner of Police Chiranjeev Prasad has declared a reward of Rs 50,000 for the bravery of the Crime Branch team.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Minister of State (MoS) for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale on Monday said that "if needed" Hindu right-wing group Sanatan Sanstha should be "completely banned."

"Sanatan Sanstha will have to stop its violent activities. If it was involved in the murders of Dr Narendra Dabholkar and Gauri Lankesh then action needs to be taken against it. The culprits should be nabbed as soon as possible. If needed, the organisation should be completely banned," Athawale said at a press conference here.

Athawale's statement comes after Sanatan Sanstha earlier in the day denied reports of any involvement in the Dabholkar and Lankesh death cases.

"The nine people recently arrested don't belong to Sanathan Sanstha, which is being targeted unnecessarily in these circumstances. Out of the nine people, five are those, whose names we have come to know through media only. There are different types of people who are referred to as Sanathan workers and I want to clear that none of the arrested are connected with our outfit," Sanathan Sanstha spokesperson Chetan Rajhans said.

"Just because these people came to Sansthan ashrams, these people can't be connected with us. The ATS in its press conference has mentioned that the investigation is not completed and is in its initial phase. We have decided to go judicial way to stop these rumours. We have always followed proper procedures, therefore, I request everyone not to target Sanathan Sansthan and have proper information before you write or speak," he added.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had earlier recovered the pistol used for killing Bengaluru-based journalist-cum-activist Gauri Lankesh while investigating the Narendra Dabholkar murder case, thus establishing a connection between the two murders.

The pistol was recovered from Shubham Surale, the brother-in-law of Sachin Andure, an accused in the Dabholkar murder case, who was arrested from Aurangabad by the CBI on August 18.

Narendra Dabholkar, who was the founder of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS), was shot dead on August 20, 2013, by bike-borne assailants while returning home from a morning walk, while Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outside her Bengaluru residence on September 5 last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the Centre and called the arrests of five people from various cities across India in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence a "blatant attack on democratic rights in the country."

The raids were carried out in Mumbai, Ranchi, Hyderabad, Faridabad, Delhi and Thane. As per sources privy to the latest developments in the case, Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Gautam Navlakha, Varnan Gonsalves and Sudha Bhardwaj were arrested following the raids that were conducted by the Pune Police. The police have booked all these accused under Sections 153 A, 505(1) B,117,120 B,13,16,18,20,38,39,40 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

"This is a blatant attack on democratic rights in the country. (It's) worse than what we have seen in the declared Emergency of 1975. Here there is nothing... No official declaration. This is to be strongly condemned. The CPM demands that all these people, who have been picked up, be released and whatever be the cases against them - in case there are any - let the law take its course. But this sort of harassment - this is something that is not acceptable," Yechury said while addressing a press conference here.

Yechury added that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is "trying to protect the culprits of Koregaon-Bhima violence by harassing civil and human rights activists."

Activists Varavara Rao and Sudha Bhardwaj were detained in Hyderabad and Faridabad respectively and Gautam Navlakha was arrested from Delhi. A search was also conducted at activist Stan Swamy's residence in Ranchi. However, he was not arrested.

The Bhima Koregaon violence erupted while observing the 200th anniversary of the Bhima-Koregaon battle in January. A youth died and several others, including 10 policemen, were injured in the violence.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Despite poor road connectivity due to monsoon, the District Reserve Guard (DRG) of Chhattisgarh Police held a civic action program in Naxal-affected Koleng village in Bastar district on Monday.

The condition of the roads in the area can be judged with the fact that the soldiers of the DRG took six hours to cross a 15-kilometer long stretch.

"Today, we have fulfilled our promise of opening a camp in the area. The roads in Koleng are really in poor condition. For the same, people here need to come forward and demand better roads. Villagers have not shown enough commitment till now. I believe people should come forward. We will support you in this," said Vivekanand Sinha, IG Bastar.

Sinha also urged the villagers to keep distance from the Maoists and assured them that the security forces will try their best to help the locals get better roads among other requirements.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Resuming attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in connection with the controversial Rafale deal, Congress Spokesperson S. Jaipal Reddy on Tuesday levied serious allegations and made a number of claims.

Refuting the claims of hike in prices due to change in configuration, Reddy asserted that configuration was same when the contract was signed earlier.

Casting aspersion on the nature of deal, he said, "The Rafale deal was made directly by Prime Minister Modi and the French government. Foreign Secretary had no idea about it until just 2 days before the deal was announced by Prime Minister Modi. Former Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar said he will back up the deal made by the Prime Minister which is unusual as normally Prime Minister backs up the Defense Minister."

Reddy also reiterated Congress stance on Reliance,saying "Two days before the contract was announced by Prime Minister Modi, the Foreign Secretary had announced that HAL is part of the contract. However, later it was awarded to a company formed by Anil Ambani just 12 days ago. How does Reliance, which has zero experience is undertaking this offset contract?"

He claimed that the difference between UPA deal and the current deal is Rs 41,000 crore while also dubbing the Rafale deal as a 'brazen and a gargantuan' contract.

The Congress spokesperson also claimed that Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) were not followed and berated the Prime Minister for behaving like a medieval monarch and trying to silence the opposition voice.

On August 18, Congress President Rahul Gandhi had constituted a six-member task force to look into the alleged Rafale scam. Congress party has been repeatedly attacking the BJP-led central government on the Rafale deal. India has signed a deal of purchasing 36 Rafale jets from France based Dassault Aviation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)American actors Diane Lane and Greg Kinnear are all set to invoke the politically influential Koch brothers in the final season of television series 'House of Cards.'

The duo will play Annette Shepherd and Bill Shepherd, the siblings who run Shepherd Unlimited, which Netflix describes as "a leading industrial conglomerate whose family foundations exert a powerful behind-the-scenes force in the American political landscape," reported Variety.

The phrase 'Koch brothers' generally refers to the sons of American chemical engineer Fred C. Koch. The most politically active sons are Charles Koch and David H. Koch, who are known for using their vast fortune to support conservative candidates and causes, giving them enormous influence in American politics.

The production of the final season resumed after Kevin Spacey's from the show in February this year.

The final season is scheduled to release on November 2, this year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Newly elected Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin on Tuesday came down heavily on the BJP-led Central government and the Tamil Nadu government.

Accusing the Centre of destabilising the nation, Stalin said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's regime sectors like education, art, literature, and religion have come under attack.

"Today's political situation has come as a big challenge. Education, art, literature and religion have been under attack by the authoritative and communal forces. The Union government is trying to destabilise all of it. Judiciary, education, process of governors' selection, etc have all been given a blow. It is a challenge to secular principles of our country," he said.

Further cornering the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government in Tamil Nadu, the DMK president accused Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami-led dispensation of "robbing" the state.

" Tamil Nadu government is robbing people unabatedly. We are worried about this. Our first duty would be to free the state from these robbers," said the DMK president.

The DMK general council elected Stalin as the party president here on Tuesday. A total of 1907 party leaders and workers had either proposed or seconded Stalin's name for the post.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Sikh Council UK Gurdwara condemned the suspected arson attack in a statement released on Tuesday.

Sikh Council UK Chair of community safety Rajeev Singh assured that his colleague Jagtar Singh was in contact with the President of Guru Nanak Gurdwara Edinburgh Bhai Kulbir Singh and has also extended his support and sympathies.

He further said in the statement that the explosion was contained and only the entrance and the adjoining areas were affected while there has been no harm to the sachkhand area or the hall. "We are also getting in touch with Police Scotland to convey the gravity of community's concerns over this attack and to seek assurance the investigation will fully pursue all lines of enquiry including race and religious hate crimes," the statement said.

This is the second such incident.

He further urged that the Gurdwara management committees to undertake safety audits to ensure that appropriate measures are taken to protect the Gurdwara property and Guru Granth Sahib and the other Sikh scriptures.

According to media reports, a Gurdwara in Edinburgh was targeted in a petrol bomb explosion here on Tuesday. However, no one was reported injured in the attack.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)French President Emmanuel Macron in a gathering of France's overseas ambassadors here on Monday said that Europe needs to take responsibility for its security.

"It is up to us today to take our responsibilities and guarantee our own security, and thus have European sovereignty," Macron said, adding, " I want us to launch an exhaustive review of our security with all Europe's partners, which includes Russia."

According to a CNN report, Donald Trump has been distancing himself from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation since he came into power as the US President in 2016.

Trump's distance also challenges a post- War Two consensus on peace and security in Europe.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In a bid to regulate the drone usage in India, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has announced certain norms to ensure these do not pose a security problem.

It has been decided that no drones will be allowed around airports, near international border, Vijay Chowk in Delhi, State Secretariat Complex in state capitals, strategic locations/vital and military installations etc. All drones have to be registered and need a permit to operate. The regulations will be effective from December 1, 2018.

Announcing the Drone Regulations 1.0, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu said that these will enable safe, commercial usage of drones as they are intended to enable visual line-of-sight daytime-only and a maximum of 400 ft altitude operations. Air space has been partitioned into Red Zone (flying not permitted), Yellow Zone (controlled airspace), and Green Zone (automatic permission).

The Drone Task Force under the chairmanship of Minister of State Jayant Sinha will provide draft recommendations for Drone Regulations 2.0. These regulations will examine certification of safe and controlled operation of drone hardware and software, air space management through automated operations linked into overall airspace management framework, beyond visual-line-of-sight operations, contribution to establishing global standards, and suggestions for modifications of existing CARs and/or new CARs.

"Today we start an exciting new chapter in India's aviation history by allowing commercial use of drones. I am sure that many new and exciting applications will emerge that will propel India's economy forward. Our progressive regulations will encourage a vast Made in India drone industry," Prabhu said.

Minister of State Jayant Sinha added that the government wants to establish a world-leading drone ecosystem and these regulations firmly place India among the global leaders. "Our policy roadmap will certainly provide a strong impetus to all players in the drone ecosystem. We hope that these initiatives will enable us to create a vibrant new industry," Sinha said.

Drones have wide-ranging use for photography to agriculture, from infrastructure asset maintenance to insurance. Drones range in size from very small and those that can carry multiple kilograms of payload. As per regulations, there are five categories of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) commonly known as drones. They are categorised by weight, namely nano, micro, small, medium and large.

All RPAS except nano and those owned by NTRO, ARC and Central Intelligence Agencies will be required to do a one-time registration of their drones, pilots and owners. For every flight (except for the nano category), users will be required to seek permission to fly on a mobile app and an automated process will permit or deny the request instantly. To prevent unauthorised flights and to ensure public safety, any drone without a digital permit to fly will simply not be able to takeoff. The UTM operates as a traffic regulator in the drone airspace and coordinates closely with the defense and civilian air traffic controllers (ATCs) to ensure that drones remain on the approved flight paths.

Unmanned Aircraft Operator Permit (UAOP) is needed for RPA operators except for nano RPAS operating below 50 ft, micro RPAS operating below 200 ft, and those owned by NTRO, ARC and Central Intelligence Agencies.

The mandatory equipment required for operation of RPAS except nano category are (a) GNSS (GPS), (b) Return-To-Home (RTH), (c) Anti-collision light, (d) ID-Plate, (e) Flight controller with flight data logging capability, and (f) RF ID and SIM/ No-Permission No Take off (NPNT). As of now, RPAS operate within visual line of sight (VLoS), during day time only, and up to maximum 400 ft altitude.

For flying in controlled airspace, filing of flight plan and obtaining Air Defence Clearance (ADC) /Flight Information Centre (FIC) number will be necessary. Minimum manufacturing standards and training requirements of Remote Pilots of small and above categories of RPAS have been specified in the regulation.

According to Ministry of Civil Aviation, instead of simply digitising a paper-based process for registering and operating drones, India has formulated an all-digital process. The Digital Sky Platform is the first-of-its-kind unmanned traffic management (UTM) platform that implements "no permission, no takeoff" (NPNT).

RPAS operations will be based on NPNT. The details including links for the digital sky platform shall be available in DGCA website from December 1, 2018. There will be different colour zones visible to the applicant while applying in the digital sky platform -- Red Zone: flying not permitted, Yellow Zone (controlled airspace): permission required before flying, and Green Zone (uncontrolled airspace): automatic permission.

The enforcement actions are, (a) suspension/ cancellation of UIN/ UAOP in case of violation of regulatory provisions, (b) actions as per relevant Sections of the Aircraft Act 1934, or Aircraft Rules, or any statutory provisions, and (c) penalties as per applicable IPCs (such as 287, 336, 337, 338, or any relevant section of IPC).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani announced Hamdullah Mohib as the new National Security Advisor (NSA). Mohib succeeds Mohammad Hanif Atmar who unexpectedly resigned from the post.

Mohib was formerly serving as the ambassador to the United States since 2015, TOLOnews reported.

A statement by the Presidential Palace on August 26, noted that the ceremony was attended by Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak and Defence Minister Tariq Shah Bahrami, besides other high ranking officials.

Ghani thanked Atmar for his efforts and added that his expertise would be used in the country. "Accepting the resignation of a long-term friend and co-worker was a difficult decision for me, but this decision should be taken for the benefit of the country. I have instructed the security sector to keep in place all security measures and Hanif Atmar's personal security measures in place. Now, our goal is to focus on the future," he said.

The Afghan President also wished Mohib success for his new role as the NSA and hailed him for his hard work during his stint as the Afghan envoy to the US. The 35-year-old diplomat also reciprocated and pledged to carry out his duties to the best of his ability.

Mohib, who originally hails from Nangarhar province, had studied in the United Kingdom (UK) and obtained a degree in computer systems engineering. He also served as the director of information technology at the American University of Afghanistan upon his return from the UK.

The Afghan diplomat, who holds British citizenship, was one of Ghani's campaign aides during the 2009 presidential elections in the country.

On August 25, Atmar resigned from the post of NSA due to "serious differences over policies and approaches at the top level of government." In a statement, the 49-year-old Atmar stated that he had a different opinion in terms of "national unity, national consensus, peace and security, political management, electoral affairs, good governance and regional affairs" and added that due to "his differences", he was resigning as there was no consensus. Atmar was appointed as the NSA in 2014.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Water issues in Haryana will get "resolved" after the state starts getting 47 per cent of the allocated water supply from the Lakhwar Dam in Uttarakhand. Chief ministers of six states are set to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Centre on the construction of the long pending dam project on Tuesday.

Speaking on the issue, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said, "The state of Haryana will be allocated 47 per cent of water from the dam, and the rest 53 per cent will be given to the five other states. I firmly believe that the water-related issues in the state can be addressed once we start getting the allocated percentage of water from the dam."

Besides Khattar, the five other chief ministers who will sign the MoU include Uttarakhand Chief Minister TS Rawat, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.

Khattar further said that the people of Haryana have long been suffering because of inadequate drinking water and electricity problem. "The Lakhwar dam will help address the issues one by one," Khattar added.

In 1976, the Planning Commission had approved the construction of the dam near Lohari village of Uttarakhand at 204 meter height for the purpose of irrigation and electricity generation. However, the construction was halted in 1992 due to the paucity of funds.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Repeating his "invade the Maldives" remark, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Tuesday said that in order to protect Indians in that country, "invasion is necessary" if upcoming Presidential elections in the island nation was rigged. However, Swamy clarified that these were his personal views and not of the government.

Swamy had triggered a political furore following his statement made earlier saying India should invade the Maldives if the election was rigged.

Speaking to ANI, the BJP leader said: "Indian citizens in the Maldives cannot be ill-treated. All kinds of ugly notices have been put up there, and if on top of that they rig the elections, it is my opinion that India has the responsibility to protect the Indian citizens, for which an invasion is necessary."

On August 22, Swamy took to his Twitter and raised the issue of alleged "gross" rigging in the upcoming Presidential elections in Maldives.

"In Colombo today I had a chance meet with Fmr Maldive President Naseed. He is apprehensive of gross rigging in their forthcoming election. India cannot allow that as a neighbour and also since current usurper President Yamin has humiliated Indians recently. We need an action plan," he had tweeted. "India should invade the Maldives if rigging of election takes place," he added.

Following a huge backlash over Swamy's statement, the Ministry of External Affair issued a clarification on August 26, saying, "opinion expressed by Swamy in his tweet was personal and does not reflect the view of government".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Aug 28 (ANI): After being elected as the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president on Tuesday in the party's general body meeting, MK Stalin said it is a new birth for him, adding that India's federalism was under threat.

"This is a new beginning. The threat to secularism is growing very big and central government is threatening the basic federalism of the country. I can't speak like Karunanidhi, but I have all courage like Anna and Karunanidhi. Even if Karunanidhi is not here now, his ideology is there with us. DMK is more important and bigger than any individual," said the newly-elected party chief.

Stalin also asserted that he would continue his fight against the "imposition of Hindi in the state" and ensure that freedom of speech was not tampered with.

Meanwhile, Stalin's half-sister and DMK leader Kanimozhi said the election of Stalin has instilled confidence in the party cadres. "There was never an iota of doubt about DMK's future after the demise of Karunanidhi. Everyone knew Stalin was capable of the top job. Stalin's coronation has given confidence to DMK cadres. Every cadre has a moment when he feels proud of the person leading the party. That moment for me was during Karunanidhi's hospitalisation. Stalin was very worried if he could satisfy his father's wish of a burial at Anna memorial," she asserted.

In addition to Stalin's appointment as the DMK chief, the party's Principal Secretary Duraimurugan took charge today officially as the Treasurer.

A total of 1907 party leaders and workers had either proposed or seconded Stalin's name for the post, while Duraimurugan garnered the support of 252 persons.

Stalin's elevation comes at a time when expelled party leader and Karunanidhi's elder son, MK Alagiri, claimed that the loyal supporters of his father were behind him.

During the meeting, DMK supporters also urged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government to posthumously confer Bharat Ratna to Karunanidhi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday said that Islamabad is striving to improve its bilateral relationship with Washington, ahead of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's scheduled visit to the country next month.

While speaking at the Senate here, Qureshi asserted that Pakistan is trying to steer the bilateral ties with the US towards betterment, adding that it is the right time to move on, the Dawn reported.

Commenting on the US statement, wherein Pompeo had said that Washington had sought 'decisive action' against terrorists operating from Pakistan during his telephonic conversation with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan last week, Qureshi reiterated that the statement was "contrary to the reality".

"The telephone conversation... much to the surprise of many, was very cordial, very engaging and very constructive in nature," Qureshi said.

A diplomatic tussle had broken out between the two countries when US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, in a statement on August 24, confirmed that the issue of terrorism was raised by Pompeo and asserted that Washington stood by its readout.

Her comments came after Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mohammad Faisal had dismissed the statement and said that Pompeo did not raise the issue of terrorism with Khan.

Reacting to the same, Qureshi had claimed that the US statement was "factually incorrect" while terming the relations between Islamabad and Washington as "vital."

The Pakistani Foreign Minister had continued that he would seek the opinions and guidance from the elected representatives to formulate the country's foreign policy. "On issues of foreign policy, I think we have to be above partisan interest," Qureshi further said.

Pompeo is scheduled to visit Pakistan on September 5 and will hold discussions of mutual interests with Khan. He is expected to deliberate on efforts to revive the strained relations between Washington and Islamabad and ask for Pakistan's support and cooperation to re-start the US-led Afghan peace process.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Correct and responsible use of crop protection products by farmers, in terms of selection, dosage, application, safety and storage is of paramount importance for farmers.

As a responsible agrochemical company Parijat is deeply committed to play its role in providing training to farmers with regard to responsible use of Crop Protection Products. Continuous and multi-pronged programs are carried on in different parts of the country and these efforts are now being intensified.

Starting from May 2018 in Madhya Pradesh a continuous effort has been ongoing, wherein 12000 farmers have been provided training and through channel partners in various talukas and villages of the state. The program has consisted of 30 field demonstrations, 270 farmer sessions in Indore, Dhar, Ratlam, Bhopal, Vidisha, Guna, Hosangabad, Harda, Dabra, Khargone, Katni, Rewa, Sagar and other districts of the state.

In its three-month program, representatives from Parijat Industries, Agricultural input dealers and panchayat representatives attended.

Keeping in mind the vision "Responsible use of crop protection products, Parijat has also distributed more than 11000 safety handbooks to farmers, dealers' distributors across Madhya Pradesh. The pocket size safety handbook is a ready reference for safe use of pesticides by farmers. Parijat has prepared safety handbook in 9 important Indian languages such as Bangla, English, Gujrati, Hindi, Kannad, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu.

The project aimed to impart grassroots training to the farming community on Responsible usage, Secure Storage and Container Management. The program also aimed to create awareness among farmers, farm families, dealers and distributors of Crop Protection Products on Responsible Use of pesticide Products.

"Our project on health and safety is highly successful in Madhya Pradesh. The farmer behavior has undergone the following changes - Judicious use of pesticides, in terms of category, discretion in quantity and need; Spraying to done at the exact time; Awareness about spurious pesticides, hence no purchase of pesticides without Bill; Complete use of Personal Protection Equipment while spraying etc. The training program has covered more than 12000 farmers and dealers in various villages comes under Madhya Pradesh state and thus strengthened our commitment towards Indian Agriculture and farmers and we will replicate this project in other states of India," said AVP at Parijat, Birendra Kumar.

The training curriculum includes safety banners, flipchart banner, leaflet, safety handbook modules covering a wide range of topics such as Integrated Pest Management, role of beneficial insects including pollinators, judicious and responsible use of chemicals, secure storage of pesticides, impacts of counterfeit and illegal products, use of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) such as masks and gloves, correct spraying techniques, maintaining sprayers and nozzles, and triple rinsing of used containers.

Parijat industries (India Pvt Ltd is one of the leading agro-chemical manufacturing company with its manufacturing base at Ambala, Haryana and having presence in India over 16 states and exports, spanning over 70 countries. Parijat and its international subsidiaries sell branded formulations in countries of Asia, Africa, CIS, Europe, North and South America.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Member of Parliament TKS Elangovan on Tuesday said that the party was not affected by MK Alagiri's threat of 'consequences' as it has faced more severe situations in the past.

"We had bigger threats from Jayalalithaa; a political party has to face such threats and succeed. Alagiri is a smaller threat for us, it is a matter which will subside in due course," Elangovan told reporters here. J. Jayalalithaa, former AIADMK supremo and six-time chief minister of Tamil Nadu, died in December 2016.

Alagiri, who was ousted from the DMK in March 2014 for slanderous attacks on senior party members and anti-party activities, had threatened the DMK to "face consequences" unless he was readmitted to the party.

On August 13, the former DMK leader had sparked rumours of a succession battle with Stalin at Karunanidhi's memorial in Chennai's Marina Beach by saying that all his father's relatives were on his side. Alagiri had said, "My father's true relatives are all on my side. All the supporters in Tamil Nadu are on my side and are encouraging me. Only time will give the answers; that is all I am willing to say now."

However, on Tuesday morning, the DMK general council elected Stalin as the party president, after a total of 1907 party leaders and workers either proposed or seconded Stalin's name for the post.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The United Nations, in an independent investigation, has called for probe and prosecution of Myanmar military leaders for "genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes" against Rohingya Muslims.

The report, as quoted by CNN, questioned the military ethics while saying, "Military necessity would never justify killing indiscriminately, gang raping women, assaulting children, and burning entire villages. The Tatmadaw's tactics are consistently and grossly disproportionate to actual security threats, especially in Rakhine State, but also in northern Myanmar."

Naming six military leaders including Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the report further suggests that the case should be referred to International Criminal Court in The Hague, or for an ad hoc tribunal to be created to investigate the actions of the alleged perpetrators.

Radhika Coomaraswamy, a mission member in Geneva told media on Monday that "such overwhelming evidence" of wrongdoings has been found and that the command had "such effective control from what we could gather that we could name ... who was responsible."

"There are people we're very sure should be investigated," she added.

The report also states that the State Counsellor, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi did not use her de facto position as Head of Government, nor her moral authority, to stem or prevent the unfolding events in Rakhine State.

UN's recommendation to refer the case to International Criminal Court has also gained the support of multiple humanitarian organisations including Amnesty International and Save the Children.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)American actress Samantha Mathis has joined season four of television series 'Billions', in which she will be playing the role of Sara Hammon, the new COO of Taylor Mason Capital.

The third-season finale saw the character leaving Axe Capital to start a new firm, with a few billion dollars in capital Axe thought was headed his way, reported The Hollywood Reporter.

'Billions' revolves around Chuck Rhoades, a ruthless US Attorney, who engages in a battle with hedge fund kingpin Bobby 'Axe' Axelrod as they try to outdo each other in the competitive financial market.

The fourth season is scheduled to release in 2019.

Apart from Billions', the 48-year-old will next be seen in the movies 'Boarding School' and 'The Clovehitch Killer', both of which are due for release this year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The on Tuesday reserved its order on a batch of petitions seeking a direction that politicians charged with cognisable offences shall be debarred from contesting polls, at the stage when the charges are framed by the Court provided the offence is punishable by imprisonment of five years or more.

A five-judge constitution bench of the apex court, headed by (CJI) Dipak Misra, reserved its order after hearing from the Central government and all the petitioners.

During the course of the hearing, the Centre opposed the petitions and submitted to the apex court that 'before a person is not being convicted, how can you stop him or her from contesting election? '

In reply, the petitioners argued before the apex court that if there would not be a ban on those persons charged with cognisable offences, then the decriminalisation of would increase. The petitioners stressed that there should be a ban and a direction should be passed by the apex court to the political parties whose members are charged with these offences.

The (ECI) had supported the petitioners and said the ban should be imposed on those politicians who are charged with cognisable offences.

While hearing a batch of petitions seeking decriminalisation of politics, the five-judge constitution bench observed that the Parliament makes laws, while we only declare laws.

Appearing for the Union of India (UOI), Attorney General, (AG), K K Venugopal, had opposed to the PILs.

He had submitted to the apex court that no one can be disqualified before his or her conviction in any case and it is the Parliament to amend or make any laws into it.The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought a detailed report from the Assam Register of Citizens (NRC) coordinator, Prateek Hajela, regarding why those who want to be included in the NRC draft list were asked to give fresh additional documents.

The top court had earlier directed the Assam NRC coordinator to provide it with the data of district-wise percentage of the population excluded from the NRC draft in the state.

A two-judge bench of the Apex Court, headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi and also comprising of Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, had sought the response of all the stakeholders including All Assam Students Union and All Assam Minority Students Union on the Centre's Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in this regard.

Earlier, the apex court had directed Hajela to make available the copies of draft NRC to the general public of the state.

The top court had said that claims and objections in connection with the Assam NRC issue will be accepted from August 30.

The Supreme Court on August 7 held Hajela and Registrar General of India guilty of contempt of court, reprimanding them for making statements to media on the NRC Assam modalities when nothing had been informed to the court.

The second draft, which was released on July 30, included names of 2.89 crore people, out of 3.29 crore applicants in Assam, leaving out names of nearly 40 lakh people.

On July 31, the court, while the hearing case, observed that the process of filing objections by those whose names were not listed in the NRC draft should be fair, and directed the Centre to prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) for claims and objections.

The NRC draft for Assam features the names, addresses, and photographs of all Indian citizens residing in the state of Assam before March 25, 1971.

(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 will on Tuesday appear before the Accountability Court in Islamabad for the hearing in the two remaining references against him and his family.

The Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment references are the two that will be heard by the Accountability Court II Judge Mohammad Arshad Malik.

On Monday, the Panamagate Joint Investigation Team (JIT) head and the prime witness in the prosecution, Wajid Zia, was cross-questioned by Nawaz's legal counsel Khwaja Harris, who will continue interrogating the former today.

Prior to adjournment of the hearing yesterday, Judge Malik had called for Zia and Sharif to appear before the court today.

A Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, and including Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, had on Monday extended the deadline to conclude the remaining references against Sharif and his family by six weeks after Judge Malik had sought the same via a written application.

The trial against the Sharifs had started on September 14 last year and after extending the original six-month deadline four times, the court had announced its verdict in the Avenfield reference on July 6.

Nawaz and his two sons, Hussain and Hasan, are accused in all three references, while his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar are accused in only the Avenfield reference.

Sharif, Maryam and Safdar are behind bars in the Adiala Jail in connection with the Avenfield case. Hussian and Hasan have been absconding ever since the proceedings began last year, with the court having declared the two brothers as proclaimed offenders.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday arrived in the Cambodian capital, as a part of her two-day trip to the South-East Asian nation.

She is slated to hold bilateral meetings with her Cambodian counterpart, Prak Sokhonn, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and President of Senate Say Chhum.

Earlier in the day, Swaraj co-chaired the 16th meeting of the Joint Commission, along with Vietnam's Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh in Hanoi. Several Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were also signed between the two countries.

On Monday, Swaraj inaugurated the third Indian Ocean conference and said that the Indian Ocean is a central component of a free and fair Indo-Pacific region. She underscored that a nurturing climate of peace and stability need to be ensured in the region.

"The Indian Ocean was known as 'Ratnakali' or ocean of treasures'. Our vision for the region is of collective cooperation and coordination. Therefore, nurturing a climate of peace and stability is an important priority for our foreign policy. We have to commit to the idea of peaceful co-existence," the EAM had said.

Swaraj also met several foreign dignitaries from Bangladesh, Japan and Sri Lanka in order to strengthen strategic partnership and bilateral relations with the respective nations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday co-chaired the 16th meeting of the Joint Commission, along with Vietnam's Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh. Several Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were also signed between the two countries.

On Monday, the EAM met several foreign dignitaries from Bangladesh, Japan and Sri Lanka in order to strengthen strategic partnership and bilateral relations with the respective nations.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Japan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kazuyuki Nakane and Bangladeshi Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal were some of the dignitaries Swaraj held talks with on the sidelines of the third Indian Ocean Conference, which was inaugurated by Swaraj.

At the Conference, Swaraj asserted that the Indian Ocean is a central component of a free and fair Indo-Pacific region.

"The Indian Ocean was known as 'Ratnakali' or ocean of treasures'. Our vision for the region is of collective cooperation and coordination. Therefore, nurturing a climate of peace and stability is an important priority for our foreign policy. We have to commit to the idea of peaceful co-existence," she had said.

Earlier, Swaraj lauded the Indian embassies across the world, saying that, "If any Non-Resident Indian (NRI) gets stuck anywhere in the world, they are confident that their government will save them. Relief is just one tweet away. What was never a priority in embassies has become the top priority now."

The EAM had also unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at the Indian Embassy at Hanoi.

Swaraj is scheduled to depart for Cambodia tomorrow, where she will hold bilateral meetings with her Cambodian counterpart, Prak Sokhonn. She will also meet Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and President of Senate Say Chhum.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)There is no dearth of talent in Jammu and Kashmir, and that talent should be used for the welfare of the state and the nation, Director General of J-K Police SP Vaid said.

He said that the police is alert and is trying their best to prevent the youth of the Valley from deviating to the wrong path. "Whenever we see a youngster is getting distracted, we get in touch with the parents and their peer groups to bring them back to the right path," the officer told ANI.

He also said that the youngsters in the Valley now understand that they are being used for the wrong purpose. And they are now focusing on what is good for them. He added that the situation in the Valley is much better than what it used to be.

Following the increase in the number of youth falling victims to the drug menace, the Jammu and Kashmir Police took the initiative to set up a drug de-addiction and rehabilitation centre -- first of its kind in the district of Kathua -- to bring back youngsters on the right track.

Vaid inaugurated the renovated drug de-addiction centre, set up in the premises of District Hospital in Kathua. The centre has a six-bed capacity and medical treatment and counselling cell.

While talking to media persons, Vaid said: "We have to start this centre with the help of District hospital and need to equip it with more facilities for which we have asked some corporate houses and other organizations for help."

The youngsters present also said that the drug menace was increasing day by day. They added that such rehabilitation centre would help the youth and their family members to get the medical support and counselling to live a normal life.

Expressing serious concerns about the misled youth of the Valley joining terrorist outfit Al-Badar, Vaid said that he appreciated the role of the police who took timely action and prevented four youngsters from joining the terrorist outfit.

Meanwhile, SP Vaid took to Twitter to congratulate the security forces for the peaceful conclusion of Amarnath Yatra.

He tweeted: "On the conclusion of the holy Amarnath Yatra 2018, I on behalf of the @JmuKmrpolice express my sincere gratitude to all the stakeholders SASB, all departments of Civil Administration, Langars, NDRF Army, BSF, ITBP, CRPF, SSB & CISF for smooth and peaceful conduct of yatra."

" Synergy between different stakeholders was excellent. It was an incident-free Yatra. I again congratulate & appreciate excellent coordination amongst @JmuKmrPolice, @adgpi, @crpfindia, @BSF_India, @ITBP_official, SSB," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday said that the growing water crisis in the India and Pakistan is more of a regional issue than international.

"The fact that water commissioners are meeting, this was long overdue. There's a growing water crisis, it isn't just a Pakistan-India specific issue, it's a regional issue. We're in a semi-arid zone & in days to come we'll all get affected," Qureshi said.

The Pakistan-India Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) talks are scheduled for August 29-30. A nine-member delegation reached Lahore on Tuesday for the talks.

The Pakistani side will be led by their Indus Commissioner, Syed Muhammad Mehar Ali Shah.

PIC was formed under Indus Waters Treaty, signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, it includes the Indus commissioners of both the countries. The treaty provides for both the commissioners to meet at least once every year, alternately in India and Pakistan.

.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The United States President Donald Trump on Monday issued a statement about the late lawmaker John McCain after dodging questions about him.

Trump, in a four-paragraph statement dealing with in the logistical details he'd approved for the week-long remembrance ceremonies, stated, "Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain's service to our country," reported CNN.

Trump further clarified that he had approved the flag to be lowered again, following the backlash he faced for raising the flags at the White House to full -staff after lowering them on Saturday.

In the statement, Trump stated that he had asked vice-president Mike Pence to deliver remarks at a ceremony celebrating McCain's life on Friday.

He also said that he had assigned several officials including chief of staff John Kelly, Defense Secretary James Mattis and national security adviser John Bolton to represent the administration at the funeral services.

John McCain passed away on Saturday (local time) at the age of 81 after a prolonged illness.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A vehicle carrying bones of animals, sacrificed during Eid al-Adha, was set on fire by four unidentified people in Katghar police station limits on Sunday.

The driver and conductor were apparently beaten by four men, however, they managed to escape the site and soon reached Katghar police station to lodge a complaint.

"We received information that a car carrying bones of animals, was set on fire by unidentified men. We have registered an FIR in the case and have started looking for culprits," Circle Officer (CO) Sudesh Kumar told ANI.

Eid al-Adha, also known as 'Sacrifice Feast' and 'Bakri Eid', was celebrated on August 22. The festival honours the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son, as an act of obedience to God's command. Muslims sacrifice a sheep or goat and share the meat with their family, neighbours and the poor on this occasion.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)leaders are going to pressurise the Government so that people get their compensation as soon as possible and citizens face minimum discomfort, said party on Tuesday evening while addressing people at a relief camp in North Paravur.

"The Government owes you compensation and Government has to help you build your houses. We are in opposition and it is our job to make them do their duties. Every single leader is going to pressurize the Government so that your compensation is paid as soon as possible and you face minimum discomfort," he said.

Gandhi also reminded people, as the party is not in power both in and Kerala, they can't do 'big things'. However, he added that the Congress party is raising money to help people rebuild their houses.

Talking of problem being faced by people in camps, the Congress said, "The immediate problem in all the camps is that people are saying their houses are damaged, there is a lot of mud and dirt in their houses and people have lost their papers. So I have told all the Congress workers and leaders to help them build their houses, to assist them to clean it and to help with all the papers that have been lost so that people can get the paperwork done."

The Gandhi scion also applauded people for facing this tragedy with unity and strength.

"Every single Keralite should be proud that how the state has reacted to this tragedy. Everyone stood together as one. All religion, all communities, all cast stood together and faced this tragedy. And you are a huge example to the whole country", he said.

Congress is on a two-day visit of flood-hit He reached the flood-ravaged state on Tuesday morning and will take stock of the situation in the Wayanad district on Wednesday.Le Collectif Cheikh Yassine a organise un certain nombre dactivites et de festivites pour les enfants de Gaza sous le theme  La joie des enfants de Gaza pour lAid . Ces activites ont commence le premier jour de lAid et continue jusquau 4eme jour de lAid dans la bande de Gaza.



Plusieurs activites, ont ete organisees parmi lesquelles : des competitions recompensees par des prix, des jeux, des animations et des chants presentes par un groupe ainsi que des distributions de cadeaux et daides financieres.



Jet Airways (India) reported net loss of Rs 1323 crore in Q1 June 2018 as compared to net profit of Rs 53.50 crore in Q1 June 2017. Total income rose 1.9% to Rs 6066.91 crore in Q1 June 2018 over Q1 June 2017. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 27 August 2018.

Oriental Bank of Commerce said that the meeting of the board of directors of the bank is scheduled on 30 August 2018 to consider and approve the raising of capital from the market through QIP for an amount not exceeding Rs 1000 crore. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 27 August 2018.

Karnataka Bank has entered into an agreement with Bank Bazaar for digital home loan sourcing. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 27 August 2018.

JBF Industries and KKR Jupiter Advisors (KKR) have entered into a binding understanding. Based on the Term Sheet executed on 14 August 2018 wherein KKR has agreed to buy out a 100% stake of JBF Petrochemicals. The total debt of $464 million in JBF Petrochemicals will now no longer be consolidated in the accounts of JBF Industries. This will eliminate all contingent liabilities in the form of guarantees provided to the lenders of the PTA project for a loan of $464 million and interest thereon. The financial closure of JBF Petrochemicals is scheduled by 30 September 20l8. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 27 August 2018.

Vipul said that a letter of award was received from Uttar Pradesh Expressway Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh for the Operations, Maintenance, Management and Transfer of Wayside Amenities Facility along 'Agra-Lucknow Expressway'. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 27 August 2018.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)By CSR Times

Maruti Suzuki's skill development initiative, the Japan India Institute for Manufacturing (JIM) in Mehsana, Gujarat - was recognized with CSR Times award 2018.

JIM, set up and managed by Maruti Suzuki, has recorded 100 percent placement for its first batch of students. All students are offered jobs by reputed organizations in the auto sector.

Following an agreement between the Governments of Japan and India to create a pool of 30,000 skilled manpower for manufacturing in India, the JIM was set up by Maruti Suzuki at A. S. Patel (Pvt.) Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in Ganpat University in 2017-18.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Oriental Bank of Commerce lost 3.31% to Rs 78.90 at 15:15 IST on BSE after the bank scheduled a board meeting on 30 August 2018 to consider fund raising proposal.

The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 27 August 2018.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 209.74 points, or 0.54%, to 38,903.85

On the BSE, 3.05 lakh shares were traded in the counter so far, compared with an average volume of 2.96 lakh shares in the past two weeks. The stock had hit a high of Rs 82.25 and a low of Rs 78.30 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 159.75 on 26 October 2017. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 65.80 on 18 July 2018.

The mid-cap state-run bank has an equity capital of Rs 632.77 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

Oriental Bank of Commerce said that the meeting of the board of directors of the bank is scheduled on 30 August 2018 to consider and approve the raising of capital from the market through QIP for an amount not exceeding Rs 1000 crore.

Oriental Bank of Commerce reported net loss of Rs 393.21 in Q1 June 2018 compared with net loss of Rs 486.20 crore in Q1 June 2017. Total income fell 9.3% to Rs 4729.58 crore in Q1 June 2018 over Q1 June 2017.

Government of India holds 77.229% stake in Oriental Bank of Commerce (as on 30 June 2018).

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The stock is quoting at Rs 588.7, up 1.29% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. Tata Steel Ltd is down 1.95% in last one year as compared to a 19.9% gain in NIFTY and a 5.88% gain in the Nifty Metal index.

Tata Steel Ltd is up for a third straight session in a row. The stock is quoting at Rs 588.7, up 1.29% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is up around 0.46% on the day, quoting at 11745.6. The Sensex is at 38897.91, up 0.53%. Tata Steel Ltd has added around 6.46% in last one month.

Meanwhile, Nifty Metal index of which Tata Steel Ltd is a constituent, has added around 8.05% in last one month and is currently quoting at 3532.85, up 1.55% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 43.4 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 82.54 lakh shares in last one month.

The benchmark August futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 587.55, up 0.88% on the day. Tata Steel Ltd is down 1.95% in last one year as compared to a 19.9% gain in NIFTY and a 5.88% gain in the Nifty Metal index.

The PE of the stock is 8.39 based on TTM earnings ending June 18.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The stock is quoting at Rs 231.05, up 2.46% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. Vedanta Ltd is down 22.74% in last one year as compared to a 19.9% spurt in NIFTY and a 5.88% spurt in the Nifty Metal index.

Vedanta Ltd is up for a third straight session in a row. The stock is quoting at Rs 231.05, up 2.46% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is up around 0.46% on the day, quoting at 11745.6. The Sensex is at 38897.91, up 0.53%. Vedanta Ltd has risen around 2.73% in last one month.

Meanwhile, Nifty Metal index of which Vedanta Ltd is a constituent, has risen around 8.05% in last one month and is currently quoting at 3532.85, up 1.55% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 100.07 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 115.33 lakh shares in last one month.

The benchmark August futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 230.95, up 2.24% on the day. Vedanta Ltd is down 22.74% in last one year as compared to a 19.9% spurt in NIFTY and a 5.88% spurt in the Nifty Metal index.

The PE of the stock is 27.13 based on TTM earnings ending June 18.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck off Indonesia's Lombok Island on Tuesday, but no immediate casualties or damages were reported.

Lombok island is undergoing relief work after being hit by a series of quakes since the end of July. Over 500 people have been killed along with a massive infrastructure damage, according to the National Disaster Management Agency.

The latest quake occurred at 2.08 p.m. with the epicentre 106 km southeast Kupang of East Nusa Tenggara province and a depth of 10 km, the agency official was cited as saying by Xinhua news agency.

At least 557 people had died and almost 400,000 were displaced due to four quakes of magnitudes between 6.3-6.9, which had struck the Indonesian island of Lombok between July 29 and August 19.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of great seismic and volcanic activities, where some 7,000 earthquakes, mostly moderate, are recorded each year.

--IANS

soni/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Rights activists on Tuesday expressed shock over the raids and arrests of certain intellectuals and activists, claiming it is the central government's "attempt to strike terror among those fighting for justice for the marginalised".

The signatories included Admiral L. Ramdas (retd), Harsh Mander, journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani, social activists Teesta Setalvad and Swami Agnivesh, and former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union leader Shehla Rashid Shora.

In a joint statement here, they demanded the immediate release of those arrested and dropping of "all false and malicious charges that were politically motivated and unjustified".

"The arrest of prominent activists and intellectuals like Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Gautam Navlakha, Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira and others, is nothing but an attempt by the government to strike terror among those fighting for justice for the marginalised people," the statement said.

They claimed that it is also an attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party to "invent a false enemy and engage in scaremongering" to polarise voters ahead of the 2019 general elections.

"Already, the government and the media houses close to the BJP have been trying to spin a false narrative of a Maoist conspiracy since June, 2018. Terms like 'urban naxals' are invented to stifle any criticism of the government," the statement said.

"People like Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha and others arrested are friends of the people who have dedicated their lives to the betterment of the people. By arresting them, the BJP is only exposing its own insecurities and its intolerance of any dissent or criticism of its policies," it added.

These activists said that they learnt that Delhi Police, after arresting Sudha Bharadwaj, waited for a news channel to arrive before taking her to court. "This simply shows that the arrests are incomplete without accompanying sensationalist media propaganda to demonise the activists, human rights defenders and intellectuals," they added.

The statement said that the arrests should be seen in continuation of attacks on pro-justice voices such as Swami Agnivesh, Umar Khalid and other student activists.

Pune Police earlier said it had raided alleged Maoist sympathisers across the country and arrested five top activists, some of whom are also human rights advocates.

The raids, the second in five months, were conducted at 10 places in Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Haryana.

"We have arrested Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha," Pune Joint Commissioner of Police Shivajirao Bodkhe had told IANS.

Besides, other activists across the country, including Kranti Tekula, Stan Swami and Anand Teltumbde were raided as part of the ongoing probe into the alleged involvement of Maoist supporters in the Koregaon-Bhima riots on January 1.

--IANS

ps/tsb/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Rome, Aug 28 (IANS/AKI) The African Development Bank (AfDB) and FAO have agreed to raise up to $100 million over five years to support partnerships to catalyse agricultural investment in Africa, end hunger and malnutrition and lift millions from poverty across the continent.

"FAO and the AfDB are deepening and broadening our partnership to assist African countries achieve the sustainable development goals," said FAO director-general Jose Graziano da Silva in Rome, where he and AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina signed the joint accord.

"Leveraging investments in agriculture, including from the private sector, is key to lift millions of people from hunger and poverty in Africa and to ensure that enough food is produced and that enough rural jobs are created for the continent's growing population," he said.

The new strategic alliance seeks to enhance the quality and impact of investment in food security, nutrition, social protection, agriculture, forestry, fisheries and rural development, FAO said in a statement.

Adesina called the agreement a "milestone moment" in relations between the AfDB and FAO that would help achieve the goal of making Africa a business.

"The signing of this supplementary agreement is a milestone moment in the relationship between the African Development Bank and FAO. It signals our joint commitment to accelerate the delivery of high quality programs and increased investment for public-private-partnerships in Africa's agriculture sector," Adesina stated.

"This will help us achieve the vision of making agriculture a business, as enshrined in the Bank's Feed Africa strategy."

The AfDB's Feed Africa strategy, launched in 2015, aims to invest $24 billion into African agriculture over a 10-year period.

Its goal is to improve agricultural policies, markets, infrastructure and institutions to ensure that agricultural value chains are well developed and that improved technologies are made available to reach several millions farmers, according to FAO.

--IANS/AKI

mr/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Members of newly-appointed Australian prime Minister Scott Morrison's cabinet were sworn in on Tuesday after an internal dispute of the ruling Liberal Party that led to a change in its leadership and the head of the government.

The ceremony took place in the presence of Morrison before Governor-General Peter Cosgrove, the representative of Queen Elizabeth II, Australia's Head of State, reports Efe news.

Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg already took office on August 24, a few hours after being elected as leader and deputy leader of the Liberal Party in a vote that ended the leadership and government of former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton was sworn in on Monday.

Dutton, who tried to unseat Turnbull, was re-appointed as home affairs minister, a post he previously held during the Turnbull administration, but without the portfolios of Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, which were taken over by David Coleman.

Other members of the new Cabinet include Marise Payne, who left her post as Defence Minister to take the Foreign Affairs portfolio in the new cabinet.

Christopher Pyne will replace Payne in defence, while Steve Ciobo will become the new Defence Industry Minister and leave his trade portfolio for Simon Birmingham.

The Ministry of Energy and Environment will be divided in two different portfolios, with Angus Taylor, known for his opposition to renewable energies, assuming the first and Melissa Price taking the latter.

Dan Tehan will become the new education minister while Mathias Cormann remains in charge of Finance in the new conservative-leaning cabinet with numerous Dutton allies.

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, considered the main figure fomenting the party opposition against Turnbull, however, did not receive any promotions but it is possible that he will be appointed as a special envoy for Indigenous Affairs.

Turnbull, who took office in 2015 after snatching the seat from Abbott in a similar party dispute, announced that he will leave the parliament this week after being cut off from the government, which was seen as very inclined to the left by the more conservative section of the Liberal Party.

Australia will hold a general election in 2019.

Internal power struggles and leadership changes have become frequent in Australia for nearly a decade, both during the governments of the Liberal-National coalition and the Labour Party.

Not a single Australian Prime Minister has managed to complete a full term since 2007.

--IANS

ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A meeting of senior officials of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) member states kicked off here on Tuesday.

In the meeting chaired by Nepali Foreign Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi, foreign secretaries from the members countries held talks on trade and investment, transport and communications, technology, counter-terrorism and transnational crime, agriculture, poverty alleviation and public health.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the fourth Bimstec summit on August 30-31. During his visit, his Nepali counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli is expected to hold talks with him, the Kathmandu Post reported.

On Tuesday, the foreign secretaries were also expected to prepare the agenda for the main summit. Bimstec Foreign Ministers will meet on Wednesday to discuss the Kathmandu Declaration.

Nepal serves as the current chair of the sub regional body formed in June 1997. It comprises seven countries lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Nepali officials said preparations for the main summit were complete. According to the itinerary, after two back-to-back meetings of the senior officials and foreign ministers, formal opening of the summit will take place on Thursday. The heads of government will start arriving in Kathmandu on Wednesday.

Before the opening session of the summit, Nepali President Bidya Devi Bhandari will meet Bimstec leaders and will host a luncheon in honour of the visiting delegates.

Later, all the heads of state/government will make their opening remarks during a programme chaired by Oli. He will then hold talks with the leaders in the evening.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bhutanese Chief of interim government Lyongpo Tshering Wangchuk, Myanmar's President Win Minta, Sri Lankan President Maitripala Sirisena, and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan O Chale will take part in the summit.

--IANS

soni/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Days after Congress President Rahul Gandhi denied his party's links in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Delhi BJP spokesperson Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga on Tuesday put up posters here describing the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as the "father" of mob lynching.

Bagga told IANS, "I have put up the posters across the city to remind Rahul Gandhi that his father was the director and producer of mob lynching in the country in 1984."

Rahul Gandhi said in London on Friday that the Congress was not involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in which nearly 3,000 Sikhs were killed, mostly in the national capital, after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

The Congress condemned the BJP posters.

Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said: "We have a despicable poster outside the BJP office denigrating a deceased Prime Minister (Rajiv Gandhi) who lost his life in service to the nation. Reflects BJP's petty mindedness."

--IANS

aks/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Taking a dig at the BJP over the processions organised across the country with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's ashes, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said that party's "antics" were in a way a "dishonour" to the late leader.

"We all respect Atal ji. But the kind of antics they are resorting to with his ashes is unbearable. They are, in a way, dishonouring the leader, instead of showing him respect. We cannot tolerate this because we respect some people even if they belong to a different school of thought," said Banerjee, who has been invited by the state BJP to attend an all-party condolence meet for Vajpayee here on Wednesday.

The BJP has held elaborate processions termed "Asthi Kalash Yatra" before dispersing the ashes in rivers across the country.

The urns were handed over to senior state party leaders by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah in Delhi last week and have been immersed in rivers in every state, including at five places in Bengal.

Vajpayee, 93, passed away on August 16 at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi after a prolonged illness.

--IANS

mgr/ssp/tsb/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A cab driver of a private school was arrested for sexually assaulting a minor girl here, police said on Tuesday.

The accused committed the crime on Monday while taking the victim to her residence in Palam.

"The accused parked the cab at a deserted place and assaulted the victim. He later threatened her not to disclose the incident to her parents and dropped her some metres away from her residence," Deputy Commissioners of Police Devender Arya said.

"The victim later informed her mother about the assault following which the police was informed," the officer added.

--IANS

sp/ksk/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A cab driver has been arrested under the stringent POCSO Act on charge of sexually assaulting a minor girl studying in a private school here, police said on Tuesday.

Accused Monu took the six-year-old child to a deserted place on Thursday and sexually assaulted her. He warned her against disclosing the crime to her parents and dropped her some metres away from her residence, Deputy Commissioner of Police Devender Arya said.

After the girl informed her mother, her parents filed a complaint the next day with the school management. Monu called up her father and threatened him to take back his complaint, the DCP said.

After unsatisfactory response from the school management, the parents filed a police complaint on Monday. Monu was booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act and arrested from his house in Trilokpuri.

--IANS

sp/tsb/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Union government on Tuesday approved Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's request to go to Moscow to speak about reforms in the national capital, hours after he complained that his visit was not being okayed.

"Finally, GoI (Government of India) gave permission which was pending since 10 days, for World Conference. It would be my privilege to represent India's knowledge legacy in front of world's ministers and help them know how it can help in making the world a better place to live," Sisodia tweeted.

Earlier in the day, the Aam Aadmi Party leader said that the Centre had not given him the permission to go to Moscow as Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not want the Delhi government's work in education to reach an international platform.

In a series of tweets, Sisodia said his request had been "under process" for 10 days.

"I was invited to speak about Delhi education reforms at the World Education Conference, Moscow. I was supposed to leave tonight but it's unfortunate that Government of India has not given the permission. It's been 'under process' from last 10 days.

"Delhi's education reforms have been getting international press coverage in past few months. It's unfortunate that PM Modi doesn't want this to reach international platforms.

"Delhi is also part of India! If our schools get international recognition, it's a matter of pride for India!" he added.

--IANS

nks/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) here with six states for the construction of the Lakhwar multi-purpose project in the upper Yamuna basin to deal with water crisis.

Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh (Yogi Adityanath), Rajasthan (Vasundhara Raje Scindia), Uttarakhand (Trivendra Singh Rawat), Himachal Pradesh (Jai Ram Thakur), Haryana (Manohar Lal Khattar) and (Delhi Arvind Kejriwal) signed the MoU .

Under the agreement, the 204-metres high project will be constructed near Uttarakhand's Lohari village with live storage capacity of 330.66 million cubic metres (MCM).

"The MoU has been signed to create storage facilities in the upper Yamuna basin to deal with the water crisis between January and June," Gadkari said.

The agreement is an effort to conserve and utilise the monsoon flows of the Yamuna, said the Minister, adding that 90 per cent of the project will be funded by the Centre while the remaining amount will be paid by the six states.

The total project is worth Rs 3,966.51 crore.

Gadkari said that the water storage will provide irrigation for 33,780-hectare land and facilitate availability of 78.83 MCM water for domestic, drinking and industrial use in six basin states.

The project will also generate 300 mw of power and will be executed by Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVL), he added.

--IANS

rak/anp/ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)China saw the hottest summer this year since 1961 with the average temperature reaching 22 degrees Celsius, the country's Met department has said.

The department said a total of 55 monitoring stations posted record high daily temperatures.

Compared to normal years, the national average reading from June to August 26 was one degree higher, while the summer high temperatures lasted longer, covered more areas and came along with more extreme this year, Zhang Zuqiang, Director of the emergency relief and public service department of the China Meteorological Administration, was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

In August, China's national average temperature reached 22.2 degrees Celsius, 1.2 degrees higher than normal years.

Some 93 stations reported extreme high temperatures mostly in Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Hubei and Shandong.

Zhang said the lingering high temperatures in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River were detrimental to the growth of crops.

In September, most regions of the country are expected to record an average temperature close to or higher than that of the normal years, with normal or slightly heavier precipitation, which is conducive to the growth of autumn crops.

--IANS

gsh/ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Jet Airways on Tuesday said that it has reduced the overall debt burden during the first quarter of 2018-19 and is committed towards a turnaround strategy.

According to Jet Airways Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer Amit Agarwal, the airline was able to reduce its debt by utilising some of the liquidity worth $300 million received from "lease incentives".

Agarwal revealed this in an analysts call on Tuesday.

Besides the airline will go ahead with various cost-cutting steps and funding options, including infusion of capital, monetisation of assets, including the company's stake in its "Loyalty programme".

On Monday, Jet Airways Group reported a net loss of Rs 1,326 crore for the first quarter of 2018-19 from a net profit of Rs 58 crore earned during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

On a standalone basis, the airline's net loss stood at Rs 1,323 crore from a net profit of Rs 53.5 crore reported for the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

The airline said that an increase in Brent fuel price by more than 36 per cent, along with a weak rupee and a mismatch between high fuel prices and low fares, primarily undermined its financial performance during the quarter under review.

The company on August 9 had deferred to consider the financial results due to "pending closure of certain matters".

--IANS

rv/qd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The families of the victims of the war against drugs in the Philippines filed a complaint before the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday alleging crimes against humanity by President Rodrigo Duterte.

The complaint was filed by six family members of people killed during the anti-drug campaign, and the religious organization Rise Up, which has been offering legal and psychological aid to those affected by the campaign, Efe news reported.

"This is the first case directly filed by the families of victims themselves against the sitting Head of State for the mass murder of, and, other inhumane acts committed against thousands of Filipinos," according to the executive summary of the complaint filed at the ICC.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that they were not concerned about the complaint, the third against Duterte at the ICC.

According to official figures, over 4,200 suspects have been killed in police raids, but human rights organizations put the figure at 15,000-20,000.

The plaintiffs said the deaths, as well as Duterte's words that incited the killings, were sufficient proof of "widespread and systematic attacks against civilians".

The complaint was presented before the office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, through the National Union of Peoples' Lawyers.

"These killings must be stopped and justice must be served, not only for the individual families of the victims, but for all of us as a people," Rise Up coordinator Rybylin Litao said.

The organization explained that they decided to approach the ICC due to the gravity of the situation and because of the President's immunity from prosecution in the Philippines.

Rise Up also described the recent replacement of Supreme Court Chief Justice and Ombudsman by figures known to support the President as "concerning".

The Supreme Court of the Philippines on Tuesday started hearing oral arguments by a group of senators against the country's withdrawal from the ICC on Duterte's orders.

Although Duterte on March 14 announced the country's withdrawal from the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, the measures will only come into effect a year after the official notification.

--IANS

soni/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress Delhi unit on Tuesday said that it will protest at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's official residence here against the "illegal" sealing of non-polluting industrial establishments in the capital.

In a statement, Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said that on August 31, the party will hold a demonstration at Kejriwal's residence in support of their charter of six demands.

Maken demanded that the Centre and the Kejriwal government give permission to run non-polluting industries in Delhi without any delay.

He said that due to laxity of both the governments, the "sword of sealing" was hanging over such establishments.

According to the 6th Economic Census 2013, there are 8,75,308 industrial establishments in Delhi, of which 1,55,950 are manufacturing units, said Maken.

The Congress demands that the central government put small non-polluting industries in the category of household industries.

--IANS

sm/tsb

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The CPI-M and a number of civil rights activists on Tuesday expressed shock over raids and arrest of certain intellectuals and activists, and said the government is targeting Dalit rights activists post Bhima Koregaon anti-Dalit violence in an "attempt to strike terror among those fighting for justice for the marginalised".

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said ever since the Bhima Koregoan violence against Dalits, the Maharashtra Police "along with central agencies" has been targeting Dalit rights activists and lawyers "who have been taking up their cases", and demanded immediate withdrawal of all cases.

In a joint statement, activists including Admiral L. Ramdas (retd), Harsh Mander, journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani, and social activists Teesta Setalvad and Swami Agnivesh, among others, said terms like "urban naxals" are being invented "to stifle any criticism of the government".

They demanded immediate release of those arrested and dropping of "all false and malicious charges that are politically motivated and unjustified".

In the raids on Tuesday at the homes of nine activists in Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi, Goa and Hyderabad, the Maharashtra Police arrested Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Gautam Navlakha, Varavara Rao and Arun Ferreira on charges of aiding the Naxals and hatching conspiracy to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In June, the police in Pune had allegedly recovered a letter mentioning a plan to assassinate Modi from the house of one of the five persons arrested in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence.

The statement said it was an attempt by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to "invent a false enemy and engage in scaremongering" to polarise voters ahead of the 2019 general elections.

"Already, the government and the media houses close to the BJP have been trying to spin a false narrative of a Maoist conspiracy since June 2018. Terms like 'urban naxals' are invented to stifle any criticism of the government," the statement said.

Miffed at the development, historian Ramchandra Guha lashed out at the Narendra Modi government, saying it would have arrested even Mahatma Gandhi.

"As a biographer of Gandhi, I have no doubt that if the Mahatma was alive today, he would don his lawyer's robes and defend Sudha Bharadwaj in court; that is assuming the Modi Sarkar hadn't yet detained and arrested him (Gandhi) too," Guha tweeted.

In a separate statement, rights body People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) said the "systematic and pre-meditated crackdown" on human rights activists is "unprecedented and unheard of in a democracy"

"The PUCL strongly condemns this unconstitutional crackdown by the state and police," it said.

Besides, other activists across the country, including Kranti Tekula, Stan Swami and Anand Teltumbde, were raided as part of the ongoing probe into the alleged involvement of Maoist supporters in the Bhima Koregaon riots on January 1.

--IANS

mak-sd/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it is "frightening" to read the data collected by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), according to which out of 2,874 children's homes surveyed till now, only 54 have received "positive reviews".

A bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur, Justice S. Abdul Nazeer and Justice Deepak Gupta also said that court is "helpless" since "if we do anything we will be accused of judicial activism".

"What do we do? We are helpless... Apart from judicial activism, tell us what's to be done," asked the bench, while saying it has to face "criticism" for "judicial activism" if it makes any observation.

At the Independence Day celebration in the Supreme Court, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had made certain statements about separation of powers between judiciary and the executive while maintaining that the governance should be left to the government and courts should not do it.

During the hearing, the bench asked advocate R. Bala Subramanian, appearing for the Centre, if he has seen the social audit report of NCPCR and whether it shocked him or not.

"Have you seen the report of NCPCR? It's frightening. What are you doing about it?" asked the bench from Subramanium.

When the counsel told the court that the Centre has to rely on state government for data and there are six committees under Juvenile Justice Act to deal with offences related to children, the bench told him: "It's very easy to blame someone else but difficult to take responsibility."

The court had earlier proposed setting up national-level and state-level committees for better monitoring and oversight of these children's homes.

But the Subramanian told the court that the existing mechanisms are adequate and that there is no need for one more committee and that strengthening of the existing institutions is required.

At this, Justice Lokur shot back saying: "Who will do that? Obviously we can't do anything because if we do something, we will be accused of judicial activism."

"If nothing is wrong or working, whose job is to make it right? They don't want to do anything so what do we do? We are criticised for our activism," Justice Lokur added.

Amicus curiae Aparna Bhat, assisting the court on issue relating to conditions on child care institutions in the country, asked him to "ignore the criticism".

The bench then replied that it has been repeatedly being reminded about the "separation of powers recently".

Taking the report of NCPCR on record, the bench asked why the social audit is not done by talking to children and remarked: "I don't know what kind of social audit is this."

As per the NCPCR latest data of child care institutes, out of 2874 children's home studies till now, only 54 institutions have received positive reviews from all six committees.

Similarly, out of 185 shelter homes audited till now, only 19 institutions have all 14 records of a child that they are supposed to maintain.

With regard to Special Adoption Agencies, 203 have been audited and only eight have received positive reviews from the six committees, the data collected up to July 31, 2018 revealed.

The social audit by NCPCR will be completed by October, the report said.

The Joint Secretary of Women and Child Ministry, present in court, told the court that it could consider setting up of Central and state-level committee, as suggested by the bench.

The official said a letter has been issued to the Chief Secretaries of all the states and Union Territories to conduct inspection of all the childcare homes in states with the help of inspection committee and District Magistrate and the report will be submitted by September 15.

Thereafter, a meeting will be held on September 18 with all the states' and Union Territories' representatives.

The bench then sought the minutes of the meeting and posted the matter for hearing on September 20.

It also asked amicus to prepare the terms of reference for the proposed committee and asked all states to respond to it.

Earlier, the bench had said it wanted a committees be set up at the Central level and in each states and Union Territories. These can be headed by a retired apex court or high court judges to monitor the incidents that come to light such as the ones in Muzaffarpur in Bihar and Deoria in Uttar Pradesh.

The court is hearing a PIL filed on the basis of a 2007 newspaper report on sexual abuse of children in orphanages and childcare institutes.

--IANS

gt/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi Consumers' Cooperative Wholesale Store (DCCWS) on Tuesday donated over Rs 9 lakh for the Kerala relief fund, a Delhi government official said.

"The Chairman of DCCWS met Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at the Delhi Secretariat and handed over a cheque of Rs 9.51 lakh," the official said.

As many as 417 people have lost their lives ever since monsoon rains began lashing Kerala on May 29, with some 8.69 lakh displaced people sheltered in 2,787 relief camps.

--IANS

sd/anp/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi Cabinet on Tuesday approved the proposal for the Phase-II construction of Delhi Technological University (DTU) and Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology-Delhi (IIIT-D) campuses here.

"Presently, DTU -- having over 9,000 students -- is being run with insufficient infrastructure facilities which were created to cater to the needs of 3,000 students," a statement from the government said.

The Cabinet granted Rs 291.88 crore for the construction at DTU, which will provide infrastructure for an additional 3,800 students in two academic blocks and will provide residential accommodation to 990 more students in the three hostel blocks.

For the construction of additional areas at IIIT-D campus at Okhla, the Cabinet granted its approval for the sanction of additional funds of Rs 70 crore to be given to IIIT-D as interest-free loan due to increase in cost of construction of Phase II of the Campus of IIIT-D, over and above the already sanctioned loan amount of Rs 250 crore.

--IANS

nks/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Delhi Metro services on the blue line were severely hit on Tuesday due to ongoing maintenance work, causing inconvenience to the commuters.

Metro officials said the speed was reduced for the maintenance work on the track which could not be carried out at night because of the rain.

The trains on the line -- connecting Dwarka to Ghaziabad and Noida -- ran at a speed of 15 km per hour instead of 35 km per hour.

"Due to some planned periodic maintenance by Track department in the previous night, a temporary speed restriction (TSR) of 15 km per hour has been imposed on Up line between Subhash Nagar and Tilak Nagar stations (going towards Dwarka), which is likely to continue for the day.

"This may result in minor bunching/delay on the Line. Speed restriction will be removed once the track department carries out the remaining work in the night," the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said in a statement.

Around 1.30 p.m. the speed limit was increased up to 30 km per hour between Subhash Nagar and Tilak Nagar stations, it added.

-- IANS

vn/anp /sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed Maharashtra Police not to take Maoist sympathizer Gautam Navlakha -- who has been arrested on terror charges -- out of Delhi till Wednesday and keep him under house arrest till further orders.

Gautam Navlakha was arrested by a joint team of Delhi Police and a Maharashtra Police team from Pune and were presented before a magistrate's court in Saket Courts Complex, which has allowed the police to take him away and present him before a local court in Pune.

However, Navlakha's counsel filed a habeas corpus seeking his whereabouts in the high court in the afternoon. The bench listed the matter for hearing in the evening and sought a response from the Delhi Police.

The police told the court that they had already got transit remand of the accused from a magistrate court here.

A bench headed by Justice S. Muralidhar, however, directed the police not to take Navlakha out of Delhi and keep him under arrest in his house here till its further orders and listed the matter for further hearing on Wednesday.

For a second time in five months, the Pune police on Tuesday raided alleged Maoist sympathizers across the country and detained several activists.

The raids were carried out in Maharashtra, Goa, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Haryana since morning. Scores of supporters of these activists staged noisy protests during the police raids at various locations.

The raids were described as a follow-up to a similar action on April 17 when the Pune police had swooped on over half-a-dozen Dalit activists and those involved with the Kabir Kala Manch, which organised an Elgar Conference in Pune on December 31, 2017.

The next day, on January 1, caste riots erupted in Koregaon-Bhima which left one person dead, culminating in a Maharashtra shutdown on January 3 called by the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, headed by Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of B.R. Ambedkar.

As per available information, the activists raided are Varavara Rao and Kranti (Telangana), Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Pereira (Mumbai), Sudha Bharadwaj and Stan Swami (Chhattisgarh), Gautam Navlakha (Delhi) and Anand Teltumbde (Goa).

--IANS

akk/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the Maharashtra Police not to take human rights activist Gautam Navlakha - arrested on terror charges - out of Delhi till Wednesday and to keep him under house arrest till further orders.

Journalist Navlakha was arrested from his residence in south Delhi's Nehru Enclave by a police team from Pune and presented before a magistrate which allowed the police to present him before a court in Pune.

However, Navlakha's counsel filed a habeas corpus seeking his whereabouts in the High Court in the afternoon. The bench sought a response from Delhi Police.

The police told the court that they had already got transit remand of the accused.

A bench headed by Justice S. Muralidhar, however, directed the police not to take Navlakha out of Delhi and keep him under arrest here till its further orders and listed the matter for further hearing on Wednesday.

The court order came after the Pune Police failed to tell the specific allegation levelled against him.

The court, however, directed Navlakha not to misuse his liberty and said he can only meet his lawyers while under house arrest.

"This is clearly an assault on liberals and a motivated act. There is no ground for detention or restriction of movement," activist's counsel Nitya Ramakrishnan and advocate Warisha Farasat said.

The counsel said Navlakha had extended all possible co-operation to the searching officers even in these circumstances.

For a second time in five months, the Pune police on Tuesday raided alleged Maoist sympathizers across the country and detained several activists.

The raids were carried out in Maharashtra, Goa, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Haryana.

The raids were described as a follow-up to a similar action on April 17 when the Pune police had swooped on over half-a-dozen Dalit activists and those involved with the Kabir Kala Manch, which organised an Elgar Conference in Pune on December 31, 2017.

The next day, on January 1, caste riots erupted in Koregaon-Bhima which left one person dead.

--IANS

akk/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi School of Journalism on Tuesday suspended six of its students till further notice on charges of "indiscipline" and "disrupting classes".

The suspended students, along with many others, are on protest for the last two days and have been sleeping inside the college against the institution's authorities to highlight infrastructure issues.

Students have been alleging for months now that the college has failed to provide them the basic infrastructure despite high fees. They have alleged not having a lab, computers, desks and canteen, etc., in the college.

Many students in the past have also alleged that the college has not been able to utilise funds raised by it through fees. The DSJ is a college established under the self-financing model of the Delhi University and has much higher fees per semester than most colleges of the university.

When IANS contacted DSJ Officer-on-Special-Duty Manasvini Yogi, she said that most of the demands of the students have been met and now they have come up with another demand -- not originally made -- of wanting to be part of the DU Students' Union.

"We are just 11-month-old college. Things can only be done gradually. We have enough laptops, but only those students have not been given computers who have refused to pay their semester fees.

"There are 200 laptops for 106 students. Out of these 106, only 17 have paid their semster fees," Yogi said.

On Tuesday, the students were on protest with the specific demand to meet the Vice Chancellor.

"We just want to meet the Vice Chancellor. We are on protest for two days but he is not ready to meet us," a student, eventually suspended, told IANS earlier in the day.

--IANS

vn/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Why Latina Pastoral Leaders Believe Judge Kavanaugh's Appointment Will Protect Religious Freedoms

Contact: Karon Smedley, 480-320-8547, Karon@i360.Consulting; www.i360.Consulting



WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2018 /Standard Newswire/ -- Reverend Eve Nunez, President of the National Latina/Latino Commission (NLLC), is praising President Trump's nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh for Justice of the Supreme Court. Rev. Nunez and Latino pastoral leaders are united in their support of President Trump's nomination.



Rev. Nunez said: "We're thrilled with President Trump's nomination. Judge Kavanaugh is a Christian who's devoted his life of faith to public service, gives his time to advance religious liberty, and to serve God and his neighbor. As we read in Proverbs 31:8-9, we must speak up for those who don't have a voice and judge fairly. Judge Kavanaugh is one of the brightest legal minds in our country, the best of the best, who builds consensus and decides cases based on the law, not personal policy preferences."



Judge Kavanaugh will:

defend the rights of Americans to practice their faith without government intrusion



judge fairly as the scripture in Proverbs 31:9 says, "Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy"



ensure the rule of law, administering justice fairly, by protecting our constitutional rights and liberties

Judge Kavanaugh called D.C. Metro's ban on religious advertising, including Christmas ads, "pure discrimination" and "odious" to the First Amendment



upholds conscience rights, such as in Priests for Life v. HHS, Judge Kavanaugh voted to block the Obama Administration from forcing religious entities to violate their consciences and be complicit in providing contraceptive and abortifacient coverage to their employees. He argued that it is "crystal clear" that "when the government forces someone to take an action contrary to his or her sincere religious belief...the government has substantially burdened the individual's exercise of religion."

Rev. Nunez continues: "The Supreme Court endorsed Judge Kavanaugh's opinions more than a dozen times, and he received overwhelming support for his U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C Circuit. His fearless commitment to religious freedom is exactly why we need Judge Kavanaugh on the bench. I urge everyone to call your senators and tell them to confirm Judge Kavanaugh."



Rev. Eve Nunez - Washington D.C.

National Latina/Latino Commission

President/Founder



Vil Gerena - Florida

International Latina Commission

Vice President



Pastor Norma Urrabazo - Nevada

National Latina/Latino Commission

Vice President



Pastor Pasqual - Nevada

International Church of Las Vegas/

Espanol Executive Pastor



Pastor Libia Duran - Washington, D.C.

Pastor's Wives Of America

President/Founder



Pastor ROY De La Garza - California

ROY De La Garza Ministries

Pastor/Evangelist



Pastor Emilio De La Cruz - Arizona

Superintendent Assembly Of God Southwest

Pastor New Life Church



About the NLLC

The National Latina/Latino Commission (NLLC), founded in 1984 by Rev. Eve Nunez, is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting faith-based initiatives. Rev. Nunez is a national child advocate and president of the NLLC and the International Latina Commission. The NLLC exists to engage, equip, mentor, and partner with individuals, businesses, non-profit organizations, and churches to build upon the seven spheres of influence: education, business, government, entertainment, media, family, and churches. The NLLC is a bridge between faith-based communities and government projects, facilitating a pathway for leadership engagement of faith-based services. The NLLC is actively training the next generation of leaders and introducing them to workplace development, while pursuing higher education goals. Passionate about building a strong economic engine in America, our mentors will train young leaders on the values of integrity to become better CEO's, philanthropists, and servant leaders who make a lasting difference.



To learn more about the NLLC membership benefits or to have Rev. Nunez mentor and engage your community, visit the NLLC website at www.NationalLatinaLatinoCommission.com.

The record run continued in the Indian equity market on Tuesday with both the key indices posting intra-day and closing highs as the S&P BSE Sensex inched closer to the 39,000 mark.

Broadly firm global cues on the back of a trade deal between the US and Mexico and healthy buying in automobile stocks lifted the key indices.

Subsequently, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty50 touched their respective record intra-day highs of 38,938.91 points and 11,760.20 points, before ending the day's trade at record closing levels.

In a major stock-wise development, share prices of Reliance Industries on the BSE crossed Rs 1,300 for the first time and touched an all time high of Rs 1,323 during the day.

Index-wise, the wider Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange closed at 11,738.50 points, higher by 46.55 points or 0.40 per cent from its previous close of 11,691.95 points.

The benchmark BSE Sensex, which had opened at 38,814.76 points, closed at 38,896.63 points, higher by 202.52 points or 0.52 per cent from its previous close of 38,694.11 points. It touched an intra-day low of 38,760.58 points.

In the broader markets, the S&P BSE Mid-cap declined by 0.35 per cent and the S&P BSE small-cap ended 0.36 per cent higher than its previous close. The BSE market breadth was bearish with 1,542 declines and 1,157 advances.

"Gains came on the back of positive global cues after the United States and Mexico agreed to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

The development comes as positive news in an environment where trade-war concerns have heightened investment risk across the globe, according to Abhijeet Dey, Senior Fund Manager-Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.

Major European and Asian markets, barring the Shanghai index, traded on a positive note.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee settled at 70.10 per dollar, six paise stronger than its previous close of 70.16 per dollar.

Investment-wise, provisional data with exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrips worth Rs 161.05 crore whereas domestic institutional investors sold stocks worth Rs 199.28 crore.

Sector-wise, the S&P BSE metal index rose 252.88 points, the auto index was up 141.05 points and the FMCG index rose by 40.99 points.

In contrast, the S&P BSE consumer durable index declined 179.73 points, the oil and gas index fell 110.31 points and auto index ended 112.52 points lower from its previous close.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Vedanta, up 2.20 per cent at Rs 230.40; Adani Ports, up 2.20 per cent at Rs 387.30; Reliance Industries, up 2.06 at Rs 1,318.20; Maruti Suzuki, up 1.72 per cent at Rs 9,408; and Axis Bank, up 1.62 per cent at Rs 660.60 per share.

The majors losers were Yes Bank, down 3.07 per cent at Rs 371.35; State Bank of India, down 1.07 per cent at Rs 304.95; Hindustan Uniliver, down 1.04 per cent at Rs 1,773; ONGC, down 0.94 per cent at Rs 174.55 per share; and Tata Motors (DVR), down 0.89 per cent at Rs 139.20 per share.

--IANS

ravi-rrb-rv/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Police on Tuesday arrested five human rights activists and alleged Maoist sympathizers, including Left ideologue Varavara Rao, in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima riots in Maharashtra.

The raids took place at 10 places in Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Haryana.

"We have arrested Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Pereira, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha," Joint Police Commissioner of Pune Shivajirao Bodkhe told IANS.

Besides, other activists across the country including Kranti, Stan Swami and Anand Teltumbde were raided in the major operation that is part of the ongoing probe into the involvement of Maoist supporters into the Koregaon-Bhima riots of January 1 this year.

In a related development, the Delhi High Court directed Maharashtra Police not to take Navlakha out of Delhi till Wednesday and keep him under house arrest till further orders.

The court directive came on a habeas corpus petition filed by Navlakha's counsel seeking to know his whereabouts. The police told the court that they had already got transit remand of the accused from a magistrate.

Scores of supporters of these activists staged noisy protests during the police raids at various locations, including in Mumbai and Thane.

The arrests also evoked condemnation from other activists and former bureaucrats who expressed shock over the raids on the homes of intellectuals and activists critical of the BJP.

They called it an attempt to strike terror among those fighting for justice for the marginalised.

The signatories to the joint statement included Admiral (retd) L. Ramdas, former bureaucrat Harsh Mander, former JNU student activist Shehla Rashid Shora, journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani and rights activists Teesta Setalvad and Swami Agnivesh.

Among the angles being probed after Tuesday's crackdown are the modus operandi of the activists, their sources of finance and modes of funding of their activities, their suspected connections with like-minded groups and related issues, officials indicated.

Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) President Prakash Ambedkar called it an attempt by the government to "silence the masses" in the wake of the recent crackdown on the Hindu rightwing group Sanatan Sanstha.

"But now NGOs which are non-political will become more active and aggressive than they were earlier in opposing this (BJP) government in order to safeguard democracy and human rights," warned Ambedkar, the grandson of B.R. Ambedkar.

Officials described Tuesday's operations as a follow-up to similar action taken on April 17 when the Pune Police swooped on over half a dozen Dalit activists and those involved with the Kabir Kala Manch, which organised an Elgar Conference in Pune on December 31.

The next day, on January 1, caste riots erupted in Koregaon-Bhima which left one person dead, culminating in a Maharashtra shutdown on January 3 called by the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh of Prakash Ambedkar.

After nearly five months, Pune Police teams fanned out in around half a dozen states and raided the homes and offices of several persons who are suspected to be linked with the Elgar Conference or are considered as Maoist supporters.

The police have seized items like computers, laptops, CDs, pen-drives, 'incriminating documents' and books from them and contended that they functioned like an 'urban think tank' for Maoists.

Previously, during the April action, the Pune police had targeted rights activists like Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen, Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale (all arrested) besides raiding Harshali Potdar, Jyoti Jagtap, Ramesh Gaychor and Sagar Gorke.

Those arrested were charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code.

--IANS

qn-ms-ps/vsc/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Rome, Aug 28 (IANS/AKI) Italian Police in Sicily said they detained four people-trafficking suspects who were among 134 rescued migrants allowed off a Coast Guard ship at the port of Catania after being stranded aboard the vessel for 10 days amid a diplomatic standoff.

Three of the suspects are Egyptian citizens and one is Bangladeshi. They are accused of criminal association aimed at people smuggling, abetting illegal immigration and procuring illegal entry, according to investigators.

Italy's hardline Interior Minister Matteo Salvini had refused to allow the migrants to come ashore in Catania unless "the European Union stepped in" and Sicilian prosecutors said they had put Salvini under investigation for possible illegal detention and kidnapping.

Following the announcement of the formal probe, Salvini late on Saturday finally gave permission for the 134 migrants aboard the Diciotti to disembark.

Italy's populist government announced that Albania would take 20 of the migrants, while Ireland would welcome 25 of them.

The Italian church said it would take in the rest to "put an end to this dramatic situation and sufferance", said a spokesman for the Episcopal Conference of Italy.

Two of the migrants had possible symptoms of tuberculosis and one appeared to have pneumonia, according to doctors.

The migrants who disembarked in Catania without apparent health problems were transferred to a holding centre in the Sicilian port city of Messina. Seven of the women migrants are allegedly victims of sexual violence, according to police.

--IANS/AKI

mr/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Jailed gangster Santosh Jha, sentenced to life imprisonment for killing two engineers, was shot dead on Tuesday in the premises of a court in Bihars Sitamarhi district, police said.

Jha was a terror in north Bihar despite being jailed. His gang was blamed for murder, extortion and kidnapping.

Police officials said Jha was being taken to the Sitamarhi court building when two motorcycle-borne men fired at him. He took a bullet in his chest and another in the stomach.

Jha, lodged in Sitamarhi Jail, was a Maoist-turned-gangster. He was wanted in over 40 criminal cases and was arrested in Kolkata in 2014.

He was a resident of Sheohar district, raised a private army 'Parshuram Sena' and targeted road contractors in Bihar and businessmen in Nepal.

--IANS

ik/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Google will contribute $1 million (nearly Rs 7 crore) to the relief and restoration work in Kerala which has been battered by severe floods, a top company official said here on Tuesday.

"Google.org and Googlers will contribute $1 million to the relief work in Kerala," Rajan Anandan, Vice President, Southeast Asia and India, said at the Google for India event.

Google Crisis Response team has launched several measures to help victims of Kerala floods.

Among other measures, it activated the "person finder" tool that fetched 22,000 records, Anandan said.

As many as 417 people have lost their lives ever since monsoon rains began lashing Kerala on May 29, with some 8.69 lakh displaced people sheltered in 2,787 relief camps.

--IANS

gb/anp/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In order to crack down on the artificial nicotine products, the government on Tuesday issued an advisory against the sale of vapes, e-cigarettes, e-nicotine flavoured hookah, heat-not-burn devices, e-sheesha and other similar devices in the country.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare advisory issued to all the states and Union Territories, manufacturing, distributing, trading, importing and advertising of any artificially produced nicotine products -- Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) -- will be brought to an end soon.

The step comes after the slammed the for not taking regulatory measures on the manufacture, import, sale and trading of in the country.

The Ministry stated that in 2014, a roundtable discussion on ENDS was held where health experts and officers of the health and drug departments concluded that such devices are hazardous.

It further said that such electronic devices that enable nicotine delivery or its use, are a great health risk to the public at large, especially to children, adolescents, pregnant women and women of reproductive age.

The advisory also explained that in addition to creating dependence, nicotine can have adverse effects on the development of the foetus during pregnancy. It may lead to cardiovascular diseases and can also function as a "tumour promoter".

"It is also evident that ENDS are not approved as NRTs (nicotine replacement therapy)under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Rules...," the Ministry said.

According to the Ministry, Punjab, Karnataka, Mizoram, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, and have already prohibited the manufacture, distribution, import and sale of artificial nicotine products.Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat Assembly Paresh Dhanani on Tuesday alleged an over Rs 100,000 crore scam in Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), claiming that private insurance companies were benefitting at the exchequer's cost.

"By making this central scheme mandatory for farmers and bringing in private players instead of Agriculture Insurance Company of India (AIC), the NDA government is pulling off a scam of Rs one lakh crore, eventually benefiting private insurance companies," Dhanani told reporters here.

He said that the AIC earlier insured crops of farmers who opted voluntarily. "But after the NDA came to power in 2014, the AIC was replaced by private insurance companies and farmers were forced to go for renamed Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana."

Dhanani claimed that private players were now being paid a hefty premium of over 50 per cent from the state and central treasuries.

"In my constituency in Amreli district, 41 per cent of the insurance premium was agreed to be paid to the insurance companies by the government in 2015. The figure was 53 per cent in 2016 and 55 per cent in 2017-18. Out of this premium, farmers pay two per cent, while the rest is paid by state and central governments," he said.

"This totals roughly over Rs 1,00,000 crore which has been paid to private insurance companies across the country in NDA rule. These companies have not even carried out proper survey for claims assessment."

--IANS

desai/tsb/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday allowed bail to former IAS officer Pradeep Sharma in a 2008 bribery case when he was Managing Director of state-run firm Alcock Ashdown (Gujarat) Ltd.

Sharma was re-arrested on March 9 by Gujarat's Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) hours after he stepped out of the Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad after getting bail in a money laundering case investigated by the Enforcement Directorate.

He has been lodged in jail for almost 20 months.

On Tuesday, Sharma got relief from Justice A.J. Desai. Sharma, who has 10 cases registered against him, is likely to walk out of the Sabarmati jail on Wednesday.

Private shipping firm Shoft Shipyard MD Sahay Raj had claimed that he had paid Rs 25 lakh to Sharma for releasing funds way back in 2009. The ED had recorded his statement while probing the money laundering case against Sharma.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau had produced transcripts of telephonic conversations said to have taken place between Sharma and Sahay Raj, to strengthen their case. Sharma had challenged the legality of phone-tapping.

--IANS

desai/tsb

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Heavy rains hit Gurugram on Tuesday, leading to the disruption of road traffic and paralysed normal life.

Light rains started at around 2 a.m., but it gained momentum by 4 a.m. and between 6 to 8 a.m., it turned into heavy downpour, A.R.S. Sangwan, Deputy Director National Capital Region, told IANS.

The traffic movement on the Delhi-Jaipur-Mumbai highway was severely hit due to waterlogging, Assistant Commissioner of Police Heera Singh told IANS.

"Our team is trying to make the traffic movement smoother," Singh added.

--IANS

pradeep/ksk

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Shattering Limitations: After School Programs Provide Safe Haven for Youth in Underprivileged Areas

Contact: Karen Campbell, 616-309-4390, VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Aug. 28, 2018 / Standard Newswire / -- Another school year is beginning with kids eager to see their friends and parents eager to get back into a routine. But for 11.3 million kids in the United States, the routine isn't that great. They go school but come home to an empty house. Research shows, this can lead to loneliness, behavioral problems, depression, along with a greater susceptibility to alcohol and drug abuse.Danette Crawford, founder and president of Danette Crawford Ministries, is in her 16th year of providing mentoring and Lighthouse Learning Centers to provide a safe place for kids and teens to go after school. "After school assistance is a vital part of helping at-risk children overcome difficulties, so they can overcome limitations and succeed academically and in life," says Crawford. "The Lighthouse Learning centers provide homework assistance and tutoring to help increase academic success and build confidence."The Lighthouse Learning Centers for at-risk youth are in low-income and subsidized housing areas throughout the Hampton Roads, VA, area and, as of 2018, the Bronx borough of NYC and in 2019, the city of Compton, CA. Crawford leads an incredible team with her limitless-living approach, as outlined in her upcoming book, "Limitless Thinking, Limitless Living: Think Big, Ask Big, Expect Big, and Receive Big!"The staff at Danette Crawford Ministries is dedicated to providing assistance to kids in need. As of this fall, over 38,475 hours have been invested giving at-risk youths after school homework assistance and more than 27,200 after school snacks have been distributed to children in need.More information can be found at:India has turned into a "lynchistan" as 125 incidents of mob lynching have taken place in four years, CPI-M leader Brinda Karat said on Tuesday.

"India has virtually turned into a 'lynchistan'. Over 125 incidents of mob lynching have taken place in different parts of the country in the four years of Modi government. That's why the Supreme Court was forced to ask the government to enact a law to strongly deal with the killings," Karat told the media.

She said: "BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) leaders distinguished good lynchers and bad lynchers. Cases of mob lynching in the name of cow slaughter, beef eating and minorities according to the BJP leaders was good lynching and others were bad lynching."

Karat, which came here on Monday to attend a protest organised by the Tripura unit of the All India Democratic Women's Association, said at least four people were killed in Tripura by mobs following provocative statements by a Tripura Minister.

"The central government is protecting rapists. According to the government data, India is now the least secure country for women," she added.

--IANS

sc/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India and Vietnam on Tuesday discussed bilateral cooperation across various sectors at the 16th Joint Commission meeting co-chaired by India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh here.

India's External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar later tweeted that the two leaders led delegation-level talks where trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation were discussed.

The India-Vietnam relationship was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Southeast Asian nation in 2016.

With India increasing its engagements with Southeast Asia under New Delhi's 'Act East' Policy, Vietnam has become an important regional partner.

India and Vietnam closely cooperate in various regional forums such as Association of Southeast Asian Nations, East Asia Summit, Mekong Ganga Cooperation, Asia Europe Meeting, besides the United Nations and World Trade Organisation.

Bilateral trade for April-November in fiscal 2016-17 stood at $6.24 billion, according to figures provided by the Indian External Affairs Ministry.

The two countries have agreed to set a bilateral trade target at $15 billion by 2020.

Defence cooperation has emerged as a significant pillar of India's strategic partnership with Vietnam. Indian ships regularly make friendly port calls on Vietnam.

India is also an important development aid partner of Vietnam and has extended several lines of credit for capacity building projects.

On Monday, Sushma Swaraj addressed the 3rd Indian Ocean Conference here and reiterated New Delhi's call for peace and stability in the Indian Ocean region.

The Indian Minister arrived here on Sunday on the first leg of a five-day two-nation tour of Southeast Asia that will also take her to Cambodia.

--IANS

ab/tsb/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India on Tuesday signed a $220-million loan agreement with the World Bank to scale up energy saving steps in residential and public sectors.

It inked another $80-million guarantee agreement for 'India Energy Efficiency Scale-Up Programme' that is expected to avoid lifetime emissions of 170 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and also help prevent additional generation of an estimated 10 gigawatt of greenhouse gases, an official statement said.

This would be over 50 per cent of India's target of 19.6 gigawatt as per the Paris Accord, it added.

The $220 million loan has a five-year grace period and a maturity of 19 years. The $80 million guarantee will partially cover repayment risks to commercial lenders or investors to enable Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) raise funds for its programme, the statement said.

The government said that the programme, to be implemented by the EESL, will strengthen EESL's institutional capacity and enhance its access to commercial financing.

Economic Affairs Joint Secretary Sameer Kumar Khare said that the agreement was one of the several steps taken by the government to meet its climate change commitments to reduce carbon intensity by 33-35 per cent by 2030.

Acting World Bank Country Director in India, Hisham Abdo, said that the programme will help India move further towards a more resource efficient growth path.

He said that the additional guarantee from the World Bank will enable the EESL to access new sources of commercial funding, diversify its investor base and establish a track record for future access to financial markets.

--IANS

vv/tsb/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A nine-member Indian delegation, led by Water Commissioner P.K. Saxena, arrived here on Tuesday to attend a two-day meeting of the India-Pakistan Permanent Indus Commission set to begin on Wednesday.

The talks will be the first official engagement between the two countries since Prime Minister Imran Khan took office this month.

Pakistan Water Commissioner Syed Mehr Ali Shah welcomed the Indian delegation at the Wagah border and will lead his side during the discussions at the Lahore headquarters of the National Engineering Services of Pakistan, Dawn online reported.

During the talks, Pakistan would raise its concerns over the designs of 1,000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnai hydroelectric projects on two different tributaries of River Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir being built by India, the daily said.

Islamabad says that that New Delhi violated the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty by starting construction of reservoirs at a time when the country was reeling from severe water shortage.

Pakistan wants India to either modify them to make them compliant to the Treaty or put the projects on hold until an understanding is reached between the two sides.

According to reports, the Indian delegation was initially supposed to visit Pakistan in July, but later the meeting was postponed.

During the talks, the two sides will finalize the schedule of future meetings of the Permanent Indus Commission and visits of the teams of the Indus commissioners.

The water commissioners of Pakistan and India are required to meet twice a year and arrange technical visits to project sites and critical river head works, but Pakistan has been facing a lot of problems in timin meetings and visits, an official told Dawn daily.

The two-day session was also expected to discuss ways and means for timely and smooth sharing of hydrological data on shared rivers.

--IANS

soni/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Describing the relationship between India and Egypt as "exceptional", Egyptian Ambassador to India Hatem Tageldin on Tuesday said that it is time for the business communities in both countries to play a role in boosting bilateral ties.

"Egypt and India share exceptional ties that go back many years starting with NAM (Non-Aligned Movement)," Tageldin said at an event held to mark the opening of a production facility in India of Egyptian paints manufacturing company Kapci Coatings.

"It is now time for the business communities to play their role in boosting the bilateral ties," he said.

Pointing out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi have already met four times after assuming office in 2014, the Ambassador expressed the confidence that the bilateral relations are set to be enhanced with a favourable economic climate.

"Trade volume between our countries stood at $3.5 billion in 2017," he said.

While Indian companies have invested around $3.5 billion in Egypt, three Egyptian companies that have entered India under the 'Make in India' programme have made a combined investment of $150 million.

Tageldin said that Kapci Coatings is planning to invest $50 million to set up factories in other centres following the opening of its first production facility in Bengaluru.

Headquartered in Port Said, Kapci Coatings has invested $20 million in India till now and plans to export its products from the Bengaluru facility to the Southeast Asian market.

"I thank the government of India and the state of Karnataka for the cooperation extended and hope that they will encourage more Egyptian companies to enter the Indian market," Tageldin said.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines, he said that preparations are in full swing through diplomatic channels for a visit by Modi to Egypt. President Sisi had extended an invitation to the Prime Minister during his visit to India in 2016.

The Ambassador said that Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry had called on Modi during his visit to India in March for the India-Egypt Joint Commission Meeting.

"The Prime Minister confirmed to our Foreign Minister about accepting the invitation," he said.

With defence and security being key areas of cooperation in the India-Egypt relationship, Tageldin said that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will also visit his country.

"We are interested in defence production in India as also training of our armed forces," he said.

He said that Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan will also visit Egypt to attend the UN Biodiversity Conference in the resort city of Sharm El Sheikh in November.

--IANS

ab/tsb/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Leading tyre maker JK Tyre & Industries on Tuesday opened its research and development (R&D) centre here to focus on multiple aspects of tyre technology.

"The Global Research & Technology Centre and the Raghupati Singhania Centre of Excellence will develop advanced laboratory predictors for tyre performance and provide inputs for life prediction of rubber products," said the company in a statement.

Unveiling the centre here, about 150km from Bengaluru, state Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said the facility would provide technology to JK entities in India and abroad.

"JK Tyre, which has been present in Mysuru for over 21 years is the only tyre making firm of large tyres in the state. I urge the company to provide courses through its research centre to our state youth and contribute to the economic and social development of the region," said Kumaraswamy on the occasion.

The facility has a semi-anechoic chamber for reduced noise vibration and harshness data analysis besides latest technologies for making tyres.

The centre of excellence is part of the Harisankar Singhania Elastomer and Tyre Research Institute, where scientists, engineers and technicians in the industry will optimise product performance and product design cycle time through simulation and productive techniques.

"Since we introduced radial tyre technology in 1977, we have continued our search to stoke the scientific temperament. A year ago, we rolled out our 10 millionth truck/ bus radial tyre from our Mysuru plant, becoming the first company in the country to do," said JK Tyre Chairman and Managing Director Raghupati Singhania at the event.

Among the areas to be researched at the centre include material and compound development, computational mechanics and tyre characterization.

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Director-General Girish Sahni, state-run National Aerospace Laboratory Director Jitendra J. Jadav, state Higher Education Minister G.T Devegowda and state Tourism Minister Sa Ra Mahesh were present at the event.

--IANS

fb/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Karnataka's IT Minister K.J. George has invited European countries to the Bengaluru Tech Summit on November 29.

George, along with the state's Principal Secretary for IT Gaurav Gupta, were on a five-day tour to invite Finland, Estonia and France to the tech summit.

"The visit was to build partnerships between academia, industry and start-ups of the countries to build our (Karnataka's) ecosystem with innovation, new technology," Gupta said in the statement.

Tie-ups between industry, academia and start-ups across countries can allow the companies to scale up and find technological solutions to problems, he added.

To be held from November 29 to December 1, the Bengaluru Tech Summit is expected to host 3,500 delegates, 300 exhibitors and 250 experts from various countries.

As the IT capital of the country, Bengaluru is home to about 4,000 technology start-ups and is the fourth largest tech hub after the Silicon Valley and Boston in the US and London.

--IANS

bha/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The government on Tuesday extended the deadline for filing of income tax returns for taxpayers in Kerala from August 31 to September 15.

"In view of the disruption caused due to severe floods in Kerala, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) hereby further extends the 'Due Date' for furnishing Income Tax Returns from August 31 to September 15 for all income tax assessees in Kerala," the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The CBDT had earlier extended the 'Due Date' for filing of income tax returns from July 31 to August 31 for all taxpayers across the country.

Further, the government is sending a high level delegation led by Minister of State for Finance Pon Radhakrishnan to review the relief and rehabilitation measures being undertaken by banks and insurance companies in Kerala.

Various relief measures pertaining to re-opening of all submerged, flood affected bank branches and ATMs, exchange of soiled, mutilated, defective currency and extension of loan repayment period have already been initiated by the banks, the Ministry said.

The Ministry said insurance companies have also started processing flood related claims to ensure expeditious settlement. They have established special camp offices, deployed additional surveyors and waived document requirements for speedier claims payment so that quick relief is ensured to the affected people.

The delegation would comprise of senior officers from the central government, CMDs of public sector banks and insurance companies including state-run Agriculture Insurance Co (AIC) and rural development lender NABARD.

--IANS

mgu/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Union Law Ministry has written to Chief Justice of India Justice Dipak Misra requesting him to forward the name of the judge who will succeed him upon his retirement on October 2.

The letter was sent to the office of the Chief Justice two to three days ago. Chief Justice Misra is expected to respond to the communication by September 2 or 3.

Going by the convention of the senior most judge succeeding the incumbent CJI, Justice Ranjan Gogoi is likely to be named the next Chief Justice of India.

As per convention, the outgoing Chief Justice sends the recommendation about his successor 30 days before he is to demit office so that the Chief Justice designate is named well in time.

--IANS

pk/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Leaders and workers of Left parties on Tuesday formed a human chain across the district headquarters in Bihar to protest against the Muzaffarpur shelter home rapes and the failure of the state government to maintain law and order.

Left parties leaders have demanded the resignation of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi. They also accused Nitish and Modi of protecting the accused in the sexual assaults at the shelter home.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, General secretary, Dipankar Bhattacharya, Communist Party of India (CPI) state secretary, Satya Narayan Singh and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Arun Kumar joined the human chain.

Some of the leaders of the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal also joined the protest to extend their support.

Hundreds of leaders and workers of the left parties formed a human chain from near Patna railway station to the Dak Bungalow.

According to left parties leaders, similar human chains were formed at all the district headquarters across the state.

They demanded a time bound CBI probe into the rape of 34 minor girls at the shelter home.

The Muzaffarpur horror came to light when the Bihar Social Welfare Department filed an FIR based on a social audit of the shelter home conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Didi Chuxing (Didi) announced that it shuts the hitching service countrywide starting from August 27 and has laid off two senior executives after a Didi driver had raped and murdered a female passenger.

Police said the 20-year-old victim, surnamed Zhao, got into a Didi hitching car in Yueqing, Zhejiang Province at around 13:30 local time on August 24. An hour later, she sent a "help" message via WeChat to her friends before losing contact.

According to local media, the victim's family and friends instantly contacted Didi's customer service and called the police after they received the help message. However, Didi did not offer the information about the car and the driver in time until several hours later. Since the best rescue time missed, the tragedy eventually happened.

The suspect was arrested on Saturday morning and then the 27-year-old Didi driver surnamed Zhong confessed that he raped and killed the victim.

Didi responded that the suspect had no previous criminal record and he registered as a Didi driver with real individual information, while used a fake car plate when committing the crime.

On August 26, Didi announced the process of its internal inspection, saying that the company will suspend the hitching service nationwide from the next day and will reevaluate its business modes and product logic.

Meanwhile, Didi decided to sack Hua Jieli, the general manager of Didi's hitching service unit, and Huang Jinhong, vice president of customer service business.

Didi said in the statement that the company is facing increasingly more serious challenges in security management and disposal as its service volume expanded day by day. Especially, it still has deficiency in potential risk recognition, process system design and responding punctuality and sincerely accepts the criticism from the public and regulators.

The tragedy took place only three months after an air hostess was also murdered by a Didi driver. Both incidents spark a wide range of public rage and distrust on the safety of car-hailing services and the platform.It is for the Supreme Court to decide if the treasures of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple here should be utilised for flood-relief work in Kerala as the apex court is dealing with the temple management, says a Travancore royal family scion.

According to legend, a portion of the temple's treasure is meant for overcoming crisis situations arising from famine or any other natural calamity.

The Supreme Court has intervened in the temple management following on a plea by T.P. Soundarajan, a former IPS officer turned lawyer, in 2011. According to reports, a stock taking done at the instance of the apex court, showed that the temple's valuables are worth over Rs one lakh crore.

Speaking to IANS, "Prince" Aditya Varma refused to comment on "Rs one lakh crore" which he said was a media creation.

"One thing that our family elders have told us is that there is close to 1,000 kg of gold which is stored in the form of paddy grains. This was kept by our forefathers to be used in times of need. Let the Supreme Court decide to pledge this to raise money for our state which is going through one of the worst tragedies," Varma said.

The Kerala government also "can come out with its opinion and then we may also make our position clear," he said.

"If such a thing happens, other religious institutions including churches and mosques, should also should chip in. It should not be limited to the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple," Varma added.

Ever since monsoon rains began lashing Kerala on May 29, a total of 417 people have died in the state due to floods and landslips. The flood fury this month has caused unprecedented destruction and forced more than one million people to take shelter in relief camps.

According to preliminary estimates, the state has suffered a damage of Rs 30,000 crore.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)"If Taj Mahal goes, you will not get a second chance," the Supreme Court said on Tuesday while urging the authorities to see the larger perspective while dealing with the issue of the monument's protection in Agra.

A bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur, Justice S. Abdul Nazeer and Justice Deepak Gupta asked the authorities to prepare a Vision Document on protection and preservation of the Taj taking into account suggestion of experts and issues like pollution in the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ).

TTZ is an area of about 10,400 sq km spread over the districts of Agra, Firozabad, Mathura, Hathras and Etah in Uttar Pradesh and Bharatpur district of Rajasthan.

The court asked Meenakshi Dhote of Delhi's School of Architecture and project coordinator of the Vision Document to "go slowly but steadily" and prepare the document "keeping the larger picture in mind along with suggestions of experts".

The bench asked Dhote to inform the court if she faced any problems.

The court also asked environmentalist M.C. Mehta, the petitioner, to give his suggestion within a week.

During the hearing, the Centre told the court that it had communicated to the Uttar Pradesh government to send a proposal to declare Agra as a heritage city.

The Centre also told the court that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was in the process of preparing a heritage plan for the 17th century Taj Mahal and it would be filed with the UNESCO within three months.

The bench asked the Uttar Pradesh government to keep in mind the pollution level, condition of Yamuna river, restaurants and hotels and industries in the TTZ area.

"How many industries are there? Several things have come up. Are you looking into it? You have to see what's the damage done by restaurants, hotels and whether to continue them or not."

Dhote said they were given an incorrect list of industries.

At this, the bench remarked: "See, you (Uttar Pradesh government) gave wrong information. So draft vision document is not correct. We are concerned about this."

Recently, the Uttar Pradesh government submitted its first draft report of its Vision Document on protection and preservation of the Taj to the court, suggesting that the entire Taj Mahal precinct should be declared a no-plastic zone and all polluting industries in the region must be closed.

It suggested that the use of bottled water inside the monument should be prohibited.

For not being able to protect the iconic Taj, which is turning yellow, the bench had even asked the Centre and Uttar Pradesh governments to "shut it down" or "demolish or restore" the Mughal structure.

The court has been hearing a plea filed by M.C. Mehta seeking protection of the Taj from the ill-effects of polluting gases and deforestation in and around the area.

The bench has posted the matter for further hearing on September 25.

--IANS

gt/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi on Tuesday asked the Indian Ambassador in Spain to send back the adopted girl who was abandoned by her foster parents in the country.

She was reacting to a recent media report according to which a Spanish couple had abandoned the 13-year-old girl they adopted from an agency in Madhya Pradesh after they were allegedly deceived about her age.

The couple was reportedly told that the girl was seven-year-old at the time of adoption earlier this year.

"It is very unfortunate that the adopted girl has been abandoned in Spain. I have requested our Ambassador in Spain D. B. Venkatesh Varma to immediately send her back to India where we will ensure her rehabilitation and safe custody," the Minister said.

Gandhi also expressed her concern for the girl who is currently in foster care in some institution in Madrid and added that the Ministry is in the process of fixing the responsibility for the lapses which happened on the part of the Child Care Institution in Bhopal.

--IANS

som/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Tuesday accused the Modi government of giving a step-motherly treatment to flood-hit Kerala and demanded that the calamity be declared a "national disaster".

The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said in a statement that despite the magnitude of the crisis, Kerala was not given adequate help by the central government.

This was done because the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was playing even in such testing times for Keralites, she said.

The BSP leader said that Kerala was suffering huge losses, both of life and property, in the worst floods in nearly a century.

But despite demands for more funds and help, the central government was turning a blind eye to the crisis. "The BSP condemns in the harshest words such petty by the central government and the BJP."

Giving up on its biased approach, the NDA government should instead provide more assistance, funds, relief and help in the rehabilitation process in the state, she said.

"At a time when millions of individuals are doing something or the other to help those in crisis in Kerala, the union government should also come forward with a positive mindset."

She said it was unfortunate that while the union government was not declaring the Kerala floods a national disaster, it was not even approving the levying of a cess under state GST as sought by the Kerala government.

Mayawati directed her party cadres and office bearers, specially in south India, to extend all possible help to those affected by the floods in Kerala which have claimed hundreds of lives, caused widespread destruction and left thousands without homes.

--IANS

md/mr/soni

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Militants attacked an Army vehicle on Tuesday in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, police said.

At around 3.30 a.m., the militants detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) and then fired at the Casper (landmine proof armoured) vehicle of the 44 Rashtriya Rifles in Navpora village.

"Troops travelling in the vehicle effectively retaliated. No report of casualty has been received so far," the police said.

The IED resistant, ambush protected Casper vehicles, imported from South Africa, are being used by the Army in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir.

--IANS

sq/ksk/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Moderate to heavy rains continued to lash coastal and south interior districts of Karnataka, including Kodagu, an official said on Tuesday.

"Moderate rains up to 5cm were received in most parts of coastal districts of Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, along with south interior districts of Kodagu, Shivamogga and Chikkamagaluru," Director of Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) G.S. Srinivasa Reddy told IANS here.

Light to moderate rains up to 3cm were also received in northern districts of Vijayapura, Koppal and Kalaburagi, among others, according to the Bengaluru unit of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Low pressure created in Bay of Bengal has been causing the rains across the state, Reddy added.

Rains are likely recede from Thursday in Kodagu, which has been severely affected by heavy rainfall during August 14-22 period, leading to flash floods and landslips, which claimed 17 lives and damaged over 2,200 houses, the IMD said.

Moderate rains have been incessant in Kodagu over the last week, where rehabilitation work is currently underway.

Hundreds are returning to their homes from relief camps, which were set up when the heavy rains and landslips destroyed many houses.

The 51 temporary relief shelters, which housed 5,041 people across the district last week, have come down to 27, with 3,188 residing in them, according to the state Relief Commissioner Gangaram Baderiya.

--IANS

bha/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday alleged that the Centre has not given him the permission to go to Moscow to speak about reforms as Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not want the Delhi government's work to reach an international platform.

In a series of tweets, Sisodia also said his request is under process for the past 10 days.

"I was invited to speak about Delhi reforms at the World Conference, Moscow. I was supposed to leave tonight but it's unfortunate that Government of India has not given the permission. It's been 'under process' from last 10 days.

"Delhi's education reforms have been getting international press coverage in past few months. It's unfortunate that PM Modi doesn't want this to reach international platforms," he said.

Sisodia added: "Delhi is also part of India! If our schools get international recognition, it's a matter of pride for India!"

--IANS

nks/anp/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the absence of an international policy against the generation of blasphemous content is a "collective failure" on part of the Muslim countries.

Addressing the Senate for the first time as Prime Minister, Khan on Monday said his government will raise the matter before the UN, adding: "However, I do not think that would do much," Dawn news reported.

The Senate had passed a resolution to bring the UN's attention to the matter regarding the announcement by the leader of Dutch Freedom Party and Parliamentarian Geert Wilders to hold a competition of blasphemous caricatures.

Pakistan's Foreign Office last week had called the charge d'affaires of the Netherlands to record a protest against the announcement by Wilders.

"Our government will raise the matter in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and ask the Muslim countries to come up with a collective policy that could then be brought up at international forums," the Prime Minister said.

"This should have been done years ago," he said while giving the example of the Holocaust and how four European countries have jail sentences for "anyone who misquotes the figures of Holocaust. That is because they realise that this is something that hurts the sentiments of the Jewish community".

"We need a similar policy for this matter so that people do not repeatedly hurt our sentiments."

--IANS

ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)North Korean state media has accused the US of "hatching a criminal plot to unleash a war" against Pyongyang while "having a dialogue with a smile on its face".

The statement on North Korea's Rodong Sinmun daily came after a South Korean radio report said that American forces in Japan were running drills aimed at invading Pyongyang, CNN reported.

"We cannot but take a serious note of the double-dealing attitudes of the US as it is busy staging secret drills involving man-killing special units while having a dialogue with a smile on its face," the daily said.

"The US would be sadly mistaken if it thinks that it can browbeat someone through trite 'gunboat diplomacy' which it used to employ as an almighty weapon in the past and attain its sinister intention," it added.

US Forces Japan (USFJ) told CNN on Monday that it was "not aware of the drills" mentioned in North and South Korean media reports.

"In general, US aircraft and ships operate from Japan every day in support of our commitments to our allies and partners in the region and in the interests of regional peace and security," Col. John Hutcheson, the Director of public affairs of USFJ, said in a statement.

The harsh rhetoric from Pyongyang comes just days after US President Donald Trump nixed plans for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to make what would have been his fourth visit to North Korea, citing insufficient progress on the issue of denuclearization.

--IANS

ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A new railway line between Indore in Madhya Pradesh and Manmad in Maharashtra will cut the distance between two cities by over 170 kilometers, apart from reducing logistics cost for several north Indian cargo centres and resulting in a cumulative economic benefits of Rs 15,000 crore.

An MoU for implementation of the 362-km railway line project was signed on Tuesday between the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Ministry of Shipping, Ministry of Railways and the state governments of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

Containers and other rail traffic from Indore and other central Indian locations at present has to follow a circuitous route through Vadodara and Surat to reach Mumbai, Pune and ports like JNPT, travelling a distance of 815 km.

The new project will reduce the distance from Mumbai/Pune to key central India locations by 171 kilometers, resulting in lower logistics costs. Significantly, the new railway line will pass through the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor nodes of Igatpuri, Nashik and Sinnar; Pune and Khed; and Dhule and Nardana.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Shipping and Raod Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Phadnavis and Defence MoS Subhash Bhamre.

An official release said that the project is estimated to be completed "within six years" and will result in cumulative net economic benefits of Rs 15,000 crore in the first 10 years of operations.

The logistics advantages of the project include providing a shorter route for passenger as well as the freight traffic originating from/ terminating at or crossing through the region.

The project will reduce the logistics cost for the cargo centres located in northern India such as Lucknow, Agra, Gwalior and Kanpur belt as well as Indore-Dhule-Bhopal region to the gateway ports JNPT and Mumbai.

It will provide an alternate route to the existing central and western railway lines and will reduce congestion on the over utilized existing railway network.

--IANS

mak/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In which a veteran of cultural studies seminars in the 1990's moves into academic administration and finds himself a married suburban father of two. Foucault, plus lawn care. For private comments, I can be reached at deandad at gmail dot com. The opinions expressed here are my own and not those of my employer.Pakistan desires to improve relations with the US and it is time to "move on", Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Tuesday, following last week's row between the two countries over the handout of a telephonic conversation between Prime Minister Imran Khan and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The handout issued after the call between Khan and Pompeo mentioned that the latter, during the conversation on August 23, had raised the importance of Islamabad taking decisive action against all terrorists operating on its soil.

However, the Pakistan Foreign Office rejected the US' assertion as "contrary to facts". But the US State Department stood by its initial readout of the phone call.

While addressing the Senate on Tuesday, Qureshi repeated his stance that Washington's "terrorism talk" claim did not surface during the conversation at all. He said he was aware that the US had stood by its original press release, but maintained that the same was not true as "mistakes happen", Dawn online reported.

Stating that it is time to "move on", the Foreign Minister said Pakistan will try to steer its bilateral relations with the US towards betterment during the US Secretary of State's visit to Islamabad on September 5. Pompeo will likely be the first foreign dignitary to meet the newly-elected Prime Minister.

Also present in the Senate, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani said that the US "certainly has differences with Pakistan" and that "we will not allow the US Secretary of State tell Imran (Khan) to 'do more' on the war on terror".

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Calling it the biggest cover-up by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the Congress on Tuesday alleged that despite the PMO being aware of the financial irregularities and pending complaints against PNB scam-accused Mehul Choksi, it "facilitated" his escape.

"Connivance of the PMO led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the escape of Rs 23,484-crore PNB scam accused-Mehul Choksi is now out in the open," said Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera in a statement.

"Ten months before he fled India, Mehul Choksi visited the Mumbai passport office in early 2017, to obtain a clearance, which certified there was no adverse information against him," he added.

Khera said: "Serious proofs have come to light to show that 'every concerned agency was aware about the serious complaints pending against the runaway diamond trader'.

"This has been conceded by none other than Prime Minister's Office on August 3 2017," he added.

Khera also said: "Antigua and Barbabos Prime Minister Gaston Browne, in an interview to a major television channel on July 27 had said that the Indian government has not approached them on fugitive diamond jeweller Choksi, who has secured citizenship of the Caribbean country."

"It is important to note that Modi had met Gaston Browne in April 2018, but did not raise the issue of Mehul Choksi's citizenship," he added.

The party said that it has been a matter of record that the Ministry of External Affairs wrote to the PMO seeking information on Mehul Choksi.

"The letter seeks to know if charges were pending against fraudster Mehul Choksi during approval of citizenship request for which the latter applied in early 2017 in Mumbai," said Khera.

Khera also said: "PMO's reply to MEA's letter is now in public domain. The letter August 3, 2017, was addressed to the Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale.

"Not surprisingly, the biggest cover-up ever, the PMO admits that complaints were received by it from public domain regarding huge financial irregularities tantamount to crime.

"Even the PMO on record had admitted that Finance Ministry, Home Ministry, CBI Director, ED, SFIO had forwarded the complaints on Choksi's frauds. This also shows that PMO was aware about Mehul Choksi's financial wrongdoings and maintained a suspicious silence," he added.

--IANS

sid/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Condemning arrests of various activists and journalists such as Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao and Gautam Navlakha, the CPI-M on Tuesday alleged that the police have been targeting Dalit rights activists an intellectuals after Bhima Koregaon riots.

"The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) strongly protests the raids conducted by police authorities on the homes of various civil rights and human rights activists and Left intellectuals," the party said in a statement.

"Ever since the Bhima Koregoan violence against Dalits, the Maharashtra Police along with central agencies has been targeting Dalit rights activists and lawyers who have been taking up their cases. False charges have been levelled and the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act invoked," it said.

The police conducted raids in Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi, Goa and Hyderabad and arrested some of the activists like Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao and journalist Gautam Navlakha. The police also took in its possession laptops, mobiles and some papers from the homes of those raided.

"These constitute a brazen attack on democratic rights and civil liberties. The CPI-M demands withdrawal of the cases against these activists and their immediate release," the CPI-M said.

On January 1 this year, violent clashes broke out between the Dalits and right-wing Hindutva groups in Bhima Koregaon on the outskirts of Pune where the former had gathered in large numbers to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle in which the Peshwas were defeated by a British Army that had Mahar soldiers.

--IANS

mak/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Preparations are on in full swing through diplomatic channels for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Egypt, Egyptian Ambassador to India Hatem Tageldin said on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a business event here, Tageldin said though the dates for the visit have not been fixed yet, "a large number of agreements are being worked out".

Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi had extended an invitation to the Prime Minister during his visit to India in 2016.

The Ambassador said that Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry had also called on Modi during his visit to India in March for the India-Egypt Joint Commission Meeting.

"The Prime Minister confirmed to our Foreign Minister about accepting the invitation," he said.

With defence and security being key areas of cooperation in the India-Egypt relationship, Tageldin said that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will also visit his country.

"We are interested in defence production in India as also training of our armed forces," he said.

He said that Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan will also visit Egypt to attend the UN Biodiversity Conference in the resort city of Sharm El Sheikh in November.

Earlier, in his address to the gathering at the event held to mark the opening of a production facility in India of Egyptian paints manufacturing company Kapci Coatings, Tageldin described India-Egypt ties as "exceptional".

"Egypt and India share exceptional ties that go back many years starting with NAM (Non-Aligned Movement)," he said.

"It is now time for the business communities to play their role in boosting the bilateral ties."

Pointing out that Modi and Egyptian El-Sisi have already met four times after assuming office in 2014, the Ambassador expressed confidence that the bilateral relations are set to be enhanced with a favourable economic climate.

--IANS

ab/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)For a second time in five months, Pune Police on Tuesday raided alleged Maoist sympathizers across the country and arrested five top activists, some of whom are also human rights advocates.

The raids took place at 10 places in Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Haryana.

"We have arrested Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Pereira, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha, Joint Police Commissioner of Pune Shivajirao Bodkhe told IANS.

Besides, other activists across the country including Kranti, Stan Swami and Anand Teltumbde were raided in the major operation that is part of the ongoing probe into the involvement of Maoist supporters into the Koregaon-Bhima riots of January 1 this year.

Scores of supporters of these activists staged noisy protests during the police raids at various locations, including in Mumbai and Thane.

Among the angles being probed after Tuesday's crackdown are the modus operandi of the activists, their sources of finance and modes of funding of their activities, their suspected connections with like-minded groups and related issues, officials indicated.

Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) President Prakash Ambedkar flayed the action as "the government's attempts to silence the masses" in the wake of the recent crackdown on the Hindu rightwing group Sanatan Sanstha.

"But now NGOs which are non-political will become more active and aggressive than they were earlier in opposing this (BJP) government in order to safeguard democracy and human rights," warned Ambedkar, the grandson of B.R. Ambedkar.

Officials described Tuesday's operations as a 'follow-up' to similar action taken on April 17 when the Pune Police swooped on over half a dozen Dalit activists and those involved with the Kabir Kala Manch, which organised an Elgar Conference in Pune on December 31.

The next day, on January 1, caste riots erupted in Koregaon-Bhima which left one person dead, culminating in a Maharashtra shutdown on January 3 called by the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh of Prakash Ambedkar.

After nearly five months, Pune Police teams fanned out in around half a dozen states and raided the homes and offices of several persons who are suspected to be linked with the Elgar Conference or are alleged Maoist supporters.

The police have seized items like computers, laptops, CDs, pen-drives, 'incriminating documents' and books from them and contended that they functioned like an 'urban think tank' for Maoists. Some of them are also Dalit and human rights activists.

Previously, during the April action, the Pune police had targetted prominent rights activists like Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen, Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale (all arrested) besides raiding Harshali Potdar, Jyoti Jagtap, Ramesh Gaychor and Sagar Gorke.

The arrested persons were charged under various provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code.

Tuesday's operations have been condemned by civil society groups, social and Dalit leaders, academics, rights activists and intellectuals who termed the arrests a conspiracy to divert attention from the activities of the Hindu rightwing.

Calling the arrests "politically motivated and unjustified", they demanded the immediate release of all the arrested individuals.

--IANS

qn/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)For a second time in five months, Pune Police on Tuesday raided alleged Maoist sympathizers across the country and detained several activists, officials said here on Tuesday.

The raids were carried out in Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Haryana since morning. Scores of supporters of these activists staged noisy protests during the police raids at various locations.

The raids were described as a follow up to similar action taken on April 17 when the Pune Police swooped on over half a dozen Dalit activists and those involved with the Kabir Kala Manch, which organised an Elgar Conference in Pune on December 31, 2017.

The next day, on January 1, caste riots erupted in Koregaon-Bhima which left one person dead, culminating in a Maharashtra shutdown on January 3 called by the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, headed by Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of B.R. Ambedkar.

After nearly five months, Pune Police teams have fanned out in around half a dozen states and raided the homes and offices of several persons who maybe linked with the Elgar Conference and suspected to be Maoist supporters.

As per available information, the activists raided are Varavara Rao and Kranti (Telangana), Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Pereira (Mumbai), Sudha Bharadwaj and Stan Swami (Chhattisgarh), Gautam Navlakha (Delhi) and Anand Teltumbde (Goa).

The police have seized items like computers, laptops, CDs, documents and books from them and claimed that they functioned like an 'urban think tank' for Maoists. Some are human rights activists.

In April, the Pune police carried out a similar action targetting prominent human rights activists like Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen, Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale (all arrested) besides raiding Harshali Potdar, Jyoti Jagtap, Ramesh Gaychor and Sagar Gorke.

--IANS

qn/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Targeting the government on the Rafale deal, the Congress on Tuesday said even the then Foreign Secretary had no idea about it before it was announced by the Prime Minister.

Congress spokesperson Jaipal Reddy told the media that the Rafale deal was made directly by Prime Minister Modi with French President (Francois Hollande).

"Foreign Secretary (S. Jaishankar) had no idea about it until two days before the deal (April 8, 2015) was announced by PM Modi. Just two days before the contract was announced by Modi, the Foreign Secretary had announced that HAL is part of the contract with Dassault Aviation," he added.

Reddy asked why were (the then) Defence Minister (Manohar Parrikar) and Foreign Secretary not taken into confidence.

"Former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said he will back the deal signed by the Prime Minister. Usually PM backs the Defence Minister. This means that even he (Parrikar) didn't know about the deal," said Reddy.

The former Union Minister alleged that the Rafale deal was a "brazen and a gargantuan contract".

"Brazen because, none of the procedures were followed...gargantuan because, the difference between the UPA deal and the current deal is Rs 41,000 crore. Reliance company is disclosing the figures but the government doesn't. How does Reliance, which has zero experience, is undertaking this offset contract?" Reddy said.

He further said Modi behaved like a medieval monarch, Louis XIV (King of France), who said "I am the State". "Modi entered into the contract on his own".

"Like Louis XIV, he also tried to silence the opposition voice. Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) was not followed, Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) and the Price Negotiation Committee were not consulted. We do not know if the Air Force was consulted," said Reddy.

He also said: "Now their defence is -- prices have gone up because 'special equipment' have been added. However, after Modi reached an agreement with the French President, it was stated that configuration would be the same. In other words, the parameters would be the same."

Reddy further said Modi who believed in "Make in India", now believes in "Make Brokers in India".

"With this contract, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd's growth will be stunted. This is a great disservice to the nation. Whenever India made foreign purchase, we insisted upon transfer of technology," said Reddy.

"We needed 126 aircraft, that was the minimal requirement. Why are they now satisfied with just 36? What will happen to the rest?" he said.

He also stated that on July 14, 2015, rival company Eurofighter wrote to the government saying it would supply the aircraft for less than 20 per cent of the price of Dassault.

"Why did the NDA government not seize the offer? We don't question the quality, it's about the price, the deal and transparency," he said.

--IANS

sid/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday flayed the Modi government over raids and arrest of rights activists and said it wanted all NGOs to shut except the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

"There is place only for one NGO in India -- it's called the RSS. Shut all other NGOs. Jail all activists and shoot those that complain. Welcome to the New India," Gandhi said in a tweet.

Pune Police on Tuesday said it had arrested five human rights activists and alleged Maoist sympathisers, including Left ideologue Varavara Rao, in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima riots in Maharashtra on January 1.

The raids took place at 10 places in Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra, Goa, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, and Haryana.

Those arrested include Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj, and Gautam Navlakha.

Congress leader S. Jaipal Reddy said: "I condemn the arrests in qualified terms. No human rights activist should be arrested, for that matter no Indian can be arrested without a proper case."

Reddy said that he defended the rights of everybody, more particularly human rights protestors. "They are selfless NGOs, activists. They are obliged to fight in the enveloping darkness of dictatorial tendencie."

--IANS

ps-sid/tsb

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A couple of days after resigning from government service, former Raipur Collector Om Prakash Choudhary joined the BJP here on Tuesday in the presence of its President Amit Shah and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh.

"I welcome O.P. Choudhary, a symbol of youth power with administrative experience. Under the guidance of Amit Shah, he will establish new ideals for the youth of Chhattisgarh," Raman Singh tweeted.

Choudhary, an IAS officer of the 2005 batch, resigned on August 25, saying "he wanted to devote more time for the country's development". He is likely to contest the Assembly polls from Raigarh this year.

Choudhary, aged 37 and popular as a youth icon in Chhattisgarh, came into the limelight when he established an education city for tribals in south Bastar as Collector of Dantewada.

He was also posted as Commissioner of the Raipur Municipal Corporation and Director, Public Relations, in Chhattisgarh.

A resident of Bayang village in Raigarh district, Choudhary hails from the backward Agharia community, which has a sizeable population in the district.

--IANS

bns/tsb/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Samsung India on Tuesday launched its first "Android Go" budget smartphone named "Galaxy J2 Core" in the country for Rs 6,190.

Android Oreo (Go) is essentially made for entry-level Android smartphones with less than 1GB RAM and hence uses less storage space, less memory and still functions smoothly.

"We are pleased to integrate industry-first smart memory management solutions that allow apps or content on the memory card. We are also partnering with Google in bringing the latest Android experience for entry-level smartphones with Android Oreo (Go Edition) on Galaxy 'J2 Core'," Sumit Walia, Director, Mobile business, Samsung India, said in a statement.

The smartphone features 8MP rear camera and 5MP front camera and comes with a 5-inch display.

The device is powered by Samsung's proprietary Exynos processor that is especially tuned for Android Oreo (Go Edition), the company claimed.

The device comes with 1GB RAM and 8GB internal memory which can be expanded up to 256GB via an external memory card.

"J2 COre" Android Go smartphone is available in gold, blue and black colours across all retail stores and Samsung's e-shop website.

Originally announced at Google I/O 2017 annual developer conference, this OS is a toned down version of the latest Android Oreo OS which is currently present in high-end devices.

--IANS

ksc/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)American Martyrs Catholic Church officials arrived at the place of worship for Sunday morning Mass earlier this month and discovered an exterior wall and a sidewalk on the building's north side had been defaced with the hateful messages written in spray paint, police say.Scientists have discovered a giant deep-sea coral reef system off the coast of the US state of South Carolina.

Little is known about the natural resources of the deep ocean off the US' Southeast coast from Virginia to Georgia. Deep Search 2018 was created to learn more by exploring the deep sea ecosystems, CNN reported on Tuesday.

The project, consisting of scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the US Geological Survey, is nearing the end of its 15-day voyage aboard the research vessel Atlantis.

A pair of dives in a submersible called Alvin confirmed the existence of the coral reef and based on observations, researchers estimate the reef is at least 85 miles long.

"This is a huge feature," expedition chief scientist Erik Cordes told the media on Monday.

"It's incredible that it stayed hidden off the US East Coast for so long."

Cordes said the ecosystem is unlike anything he has seen, with "mountains" of corals.

Sandra Brooke, a coral ecologist among the research team members who dived near the site, described seeing thriving white Lophelia coral covering the sea floor in every direction and said it was a surprise to find so much live deep-sea coral far from the coast.

Coral reefs form more easily near the surface of the water, where the sun can feed the algae.

The discovery of this reef comes as President Donald Trump's administration is proposing to roll back a ban on offshore drilling, which would reinstate drilling leases in Pacific and Atlantic waters.

Cordes said this coral habitat must be protected from oil and gas development since the reef itself still holds many mysteries.

--IANS

ksk/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 18-year-old student was critically injured when he tried to commit suicide by jumping off his school building on being allegedly forced by his teachers to get a Rakhi tied on his wrist by a girl, police said here on Tuesday.

"Principal and other teachers of a private school here on Monday called Dilip Kumar Saha and his girlfriend along with their parents. They then asked the girl to tie Rakhi to Dilip and both of them refused to do so. Subsequently, Dilip went to the second floor of the school building and jumped from there," a police official said.

Dilip was taken to the hospital where his condition continues to be critical, he said.

A large number of students and guardians staged a protest against the school authorities demanding the arrest of the guilty teachers.

Police have started an investigation after the school authorities filed a complaint.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Moments after his unanimous election as DMK President, M.K. Stalin on Tuesday dispelled notions that his party was leaning towards the BJP by accusing the Modi government of "saffronizing" India and said it should be taught a lesson.

He also charged the BJP-led government with trying to destroy the basics of education, art, culture and religion through religious hatred.

In a hard-hitting speech to delegates at the party's General Council, which elected him the second President to succeed his father M. Karunanidhi, who held the post for 49 years, Stalin also hit out at the Centre saying it was painful to note that it was destroying policies of egalitarianism, social justice and rationalist thinking.

"The social and political environment that is prevailing now is a big challenge to the self-respect policies. The basics of education, art, literature and religion are being sought to be destroyed by the central government through religious hatred and on the basis of official power.

"The selection process in judiciary, education and state governors and the Centre's actions are aimed at sabotaging the secular principles," he said in a speech, at times overtaken by emotion.

Setting two immediate tasks for his party colleagues, he urged them to join him in the fight against the Modi government and also the "spineless" AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu.

"Come, teach a lesson to the Modi government that is attempting to saffronize the whole of India. Unite and come to throw out the spineless AIADMK government in the state," he said to thunderous applause from the over 1,300 delegates who had earlier approved his election.

Senior party leader Duraimurugan was elected unopposed as Treasurer.

Stalin's attack on the BJP and the central government assumes significance in the context of speculation of late that the DMK may be softening towards the saffron party after it invited BJP President Amit Shah to a memorial meeting to pay homage to Karunanidhi here on Thursday.

Confessing at the outset that he was not like his father and did not have the command of the language like Karunanidhi, the 65-year-old said he would dare to try new things inspired by the late Dravidian legends Periyar E.V. Ramaswamy and C.N. Annadurai.

He said the DMK was a fort founded on four pillars of rationalism, self-respect, social justice and equality.

"But it is painful to see that the (state) government was spineless and without self-respect and the Centre was trying to destroy equality, social justice and rationalistic policies."

He charged the AIADMK government with sacrificing people-centric schemes initiated by the DMK and indulging in "daylight loot" of the state.

"The first duty of the DMK is to remove these social evils and rescue the state from the hands of these thieves," Stalin said, adding that the biggest danger facing the country now was the existence of political parties without any principles with the single aim of targeting offices of power and pelf.

Telling his party colleagues that they would be seeing a 'new Stalin' from now on, he said he dreamt of leading the party treating everyone as equal.

"We are not anti-God. Even if we don't believe (in God) we will respect the beliefs of believers. We will act against whoever commits wrongs, including myself," he said.

Stalin vowed to fight for restoration of individual right of speech and media freedom, protection of right to hold individual views and oppose parties that attempt to obliterate other languages and view the whole of India on the basis of religion.

"These are not distant dreams but would be put to action just now," he said.

The election for party President was necessitated by the death of Karunanidhi on August 7.

DMK General Secretary K. Anbazhagan, who has been a long-time associate of Karunanidhi and senior to him in age, formally announced Stalin's election, saying 1,307 party officials have proposed and seconded him..

Earlier, the General Council condoled the deaths of Karunanidhi, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, former UN General Secretary Kofi Annan, the anti-Sterlite copper smelter plant protesters killed in police firing in Tuticorin in May and also the victims of the Kerala floods.

The meeting passed a resolution demanding Bharat Ratna for Karunanidhi and announcing a grant of Rs 2 lakh for over 200 DMK workers and supporters who died of shock after learning about Karunanidhi's death.

--IANS

vj-vsc/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)For the 65-year-old M.K.Stalin - called affectionately as Thalapathi or Commander by his colleagues - the long wait to head one of the country's oldest political parties, the DMK, got over on Tuesday.

Stalin's coronation as the DMK's second President was a smooth smooth affair at the party headquarters here as he was elected unopposed as all the 65 district secretaries of the party had proposed his name.

DMK General Secretary K. Anbazhagan said 1,307 party officials had proposed and seconded Stalin's candidature.

Stalin was given the role of Working President in January 2017 after Karunanidhi was largely confined to his home due to age-related ailments.

Born on March 1, 1953 to Karunanidhi and Dayalu Ammal, Stalin was named after the Russian leader Joseph Stalin who died on March 5, 1953 - four days after Stalin's birth. Legend has it that Karunanidhi wanted to name him 'Ayyadurai' - taking from DK founder 'Periyar' E.V. Ramasamy and DMK founder C.N. Annadurai.

Like his famed multi-faceted father who entered public life at the age of 14, Stalin too started his political journey by becoming an ordinary member of the DMK at the age of 14 and campaigning for the party in 1967.

A year earlier he had formed a youth forum: Gopalapuram Youth DMK.

But Stalin came to public notice at large when he was jailed under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) for opposing the imposition of Emergency by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

He became the party's youth wing secretary in 1984 and continued to hold that post for a long time.

But unlike Karunanidhi who did not lose even any of the 13 Assembly elections he had contested, Stalin lost twice -- both from Thousand Lights constituency in Chennai -- in 1984 and 1991.

Stalin has won six Assembly polls -- four times from Thousand Lights and twice from Kolathur constituency. He made his debut in the Assembly from Thousand Lights in 1989.

He was Local Administration Minister in the Karunanidhi government and became Deputy Chief Minister in 2009 and stayed in the post till 2011.

With his aged father not able to move about much, Stalin launched himself as the lead campaigner for DMK in the 2016 Assembly elections, winning 89 seats and narrowly missing victory against the more charismatic J. Jayalalithaa.

Stalin became the Leader of the Opposition. But the party suffered a shock defeat losing security deposit in the by-election from R.K. Nagar constituency in Chennai, a seat held by Jayalalithaa. The by-election was won by T.T.V. Dhinakaran, a rebel AIADMK leader.

Stalin was the Chennai mayor in 1996-2001 and 2001-02. He was also the Minister for Municipal Administration in 2006 and later the first Deputy Chief Minister in 2009-11. He was also the party Treasurer till now.

During his Mayorship, the Chennai Corporation built several flyovers to ease the traffic flow. The AIADMK government headed by late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa had arrested Stalin for alleged corruption in building the flyovers.

Even Karunanidhi had once openly declared that if he had a chance then he would announce Stalin as his successor but took various steps that virtually anointed him as his heir.

But Stalin's elder brother and former Union Minister M.K. Alagiri - then incharge of the party affairs in the southern districts - opposed it and said he cannot think anybody else as his leader than Karunanidhi.

Later Alagiri was dismissed from the party for anti-party activities.

Meanwhile, Stalin started taking a strong hold of the party reins following indisposition of Karunanidhi during the past couple of years.

Stalin may have some immediate electoral challenge in the ensuing by-elections in two Assembly constituencies Tiruvarur (vacant after Karunanidhi's death) and Tiruparankundran (vacant after the death of AIADMK lawmaker A.K. Bose).

There is also a complaint that Stalin as the Working President was not able to lure some of the disgruntled AIADMK legislators and come to power.

Alagiri has announced plans to hold a rally in Chennai early next month to show his strength. On Monday, he warned that if he was not taken back into the party, then DMK would have to face "consequences".

The Alagiri-Stalin rivalry has plagued the DMK for a long time but Karunanidhi kept a fragile peace.

Stalini is married to Durga, a believer, and the couple have two children - Udayanidhi and Senthamarai. Stalin also had acted in two movies and in two television serials.

Succeeding an illustrious leader, who was also his father, Stalin will also be under intense scrutiny and would be compared with Karunanidhi for a long time to come.

It may take some time and some election victories for Stalin to come out of his father's shadows.

--IANS

vj/vsc/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In a major boost to the development and deployment of self-driving vehicles, Japanese multinational automotive maker Toyota has announced that it was investing $500 million in ride-hailing giant Uber.

The funding from the Japanese car making giant, which values Uber at more than $70 billion, would see the two companies work together on autonomous vehicles, The Telegraph reported on Monday.

"This agreement and investment marks an important milestone in our transformation to a mobility company," said Shigeki Tomoyama, President of Toyota Connected Co.

As part of an agreement, both the companies would work on autonomous cars aimed at improving safety and lowering transportation costs.

"It marks a significant show of faith in the US transport app, whose driverless car division has been beset by problems in recent months," the report added.

This comes months after Uber suspended all tests of its self-driving cars (in March) after one of its vehicles killed a pedestrian, the first recorded death involving a driverless vehicle, in the US state of Arizona.

The company had been testing its self-driving technology in the state since 2016 but halted its operations in the wake of the fatal crash.

--IANS

ksc/ksk/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US President Donald Trump offered brief praised for the late Republican Senator John McCain, who passed away on August 25, in a statement after responding only with silence to questions about the Vietnam War veteran turned politician.

"Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain's service to our country," Trump wrote in the four-paragraph statement on Monday, which dealt mainly in the logistical details he had approved for the week-long remembrance ceremonies.

Later, while meeting Evangelical leaders in the State Dining Room, Trump told reporters: "Our hearts and prayers are going to the family of Senator John McCain... And we very much appreciate everything Sen. McCain has done for our country," CNN reported.

After facing criticism for raising the flags at the White House to full-staff after lowering them on Saturday, Trump said he had approved them to be lowered again.

It is a customary tradition in the US that after the death of a person such as McCain - a Vietnam War veteran and prisoner of war who was tortured during his captivity, ultimately served for decades in the Senate and was the Republican presidential nominee in 2008 - for flags to be lowered to half-staff until after the funeral.

He also wrote that he asked Vice President Mike Pence to deliver remarks at a ceremony celebrating McCain's life in the US Capitol on Friday.

Asked what had changed and why the proclamation was issued on Monday, press secretary Sarah Sanders would only say this was the "President's decision to do and the statement speaks for itself".

Monday's statement came after Trump maintained his silence during a string of appearances in front of the media, choosing to ignore questions about the late Arizona Republican.

On Sunday when he was questioned whether he believed McCain -- a former Navy pilot who was shot down over Vietnam -- was a hero, Trump remained stone-faced behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office after announcing a trade breakthrough with Mexico.

The President had openly feuded with McCain, even as the Senator was dying from brain cancer.

McCain is scheduled to be buried on September 2, at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, after a funeral service is held at the National Cathedral in Washington on Saturday.

--IANS

ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have agreed on the need to improve US trade relations with the European Union following the recent escalation in disputes.

Trump and Merkel in a phone call on Monday "strongly supported ongoing discussions between Washington and Brussels to remove barriers to a deeper trading relationship", White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

The US-EU relations have faltered following Trump's decision to end tax exemptions on steel and aluminium products from its European partners and the subsequent response from Brussels, Efe news reported.

In addition, the US President has repeatedly threatened to levy a 20 per cent tariff on all European vehicles imported into the US, a move that has not been well received by its Transatlantic partner.

Trump earlier called Europe "possibly as bad as China" in terms of its trade issues with the US, despite Washington spending a "fortune in NATO to protect them".

Apart from discussing their trade relations, Trump and Merkel also spoke about the crisis in Syria and the joint efforts to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

--IANS

soni/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort had sought a plea deal before his trial in a federal court next month, but the talks stalled over issues raised by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, a media report said.

Manafort was found guilty on August 21 in a separate trial in Virginia federal court on eight counts of financial crimes, including tax fraud, bank fraud and hiding foreign bank accounts, CNN quoted The Wall Street Journal as saying on Monday.

He faces a second set of criminal charges next month in Washington of failure to register his foreign lobbying and money laundering conspiracy.

The talks between the defence and prosecutors occurred last week as the Virginia jury was deliberating, sources told The Journal.

The daily said it was unclear what issues Mueller raised or what terms for a potential plea might have been proposed.

The second trial is scheduled to begin on September 17 and is also related to Manafort's political consulting work in Ukraine.

Mueller's office has almost three times as many exhibits it wants to show a jury as it did in the Virginia case, indicating how expansive the special counsel's investigation of Manafort has been.

--IANS

ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tripoli, Aug 28 (IANS/AKI) The UN Support Mission in Libya has called on warring armed groups in the south of the capital to "immediately cease all military action" and end the intensifying clashes that have claimed at least four lives in recent days.

"UNSMIL is following the clashes in and around Tripoli with grave concern and calls on all parties to immediately cease all military action," the Mission said in a statement.

The UN Mission said it was "concerned" by the use of indiscriminate fire and heavy weapons in densely populated residential areas of Tripoli that put civilian lives at risk.

"UNSMIL reminds all parties of their duty to protect civilians, in accordance with international humanitarian and human rights law," said the statement.

"Political aims must not be pursued through violence," the statement said, warning that the escalating clashes between armed groups could lead to "wider military confrontation".

UNSMIL reaffirmed its suport for Libya's UN-backed unity government (GNA), whose presidential council on Monday vowed a military offensive against the armed groups vying for control of the Libyan capital, to outlaw them and to slap them with UN-mandated sanctions.

The UN mission urged "serious efforts by all sides to unify the institutions of the country", the statement said.

Seven years after the 2011 NATO-backed ouster of late dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Libya remains split between the UN-backed GNA in Tripoli and a rival administration in the east supported by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

Both sides are backed by a myriad of militias and jihadist groups and people traffickers have taken advantage of the turmoil to gain a foothold in the lawless North African country.

--IANS/AKI

mr/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Senior Congress leader S. Jaipal Reddy on Tuesday took a dig at the Modi government, saying that the Cabinet was full of upgraded junior Ministers even as middleweights were being marginalised.

"It is a wonderful government. Do you know why? Heavyweights like Murli Manohar Joshi have been eliminated. Lightweights such as Nirmala Sitharaman have been elevated and middleweights are being marginalised. The Cabinet is full of upgraded junior Ministers," Reddy told the media here.

"I am not here to upgrade them, but the problem is they do not carry conviction with the people, with the press and with the opposition."

Talking about the Rafale fighter jet deal inked with France, the former Union Minister said: "When (former Defence Minister and Congress leader) A.K. Antony says that there was no secrecy clause (in the deal), he is contradicted by present Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Whom should the country believe?

"The (political) stature counts, the standing counts. I am not saying that the standing comes only through I am not questioning her... I want to repeat, I am not casting aspersions...

"I am not questioning her flair for articulation. She is quite articulate but through mere articulation, you can't carry conviction."

The Congress leader said: "If you want the country to believe you as against the words of Antony, a person with spotless (public) standing, the issue becomes totally untenable. She is being fielded to answer difficult questions to reverse the position."

--IANS

sid/tsb

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The ashes of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee were immersed in the Yamuna river here on Tuesday following religious rituals.

A 'puja' was held before the immersion at Sonia Vihar pushta, where Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Manoj Tiwari and other party leaders were present.

Tiwari announced that the Yamuna bank where the ashes were immersed would be named 'Atal Bihari Ghat'.

"The ashes were immersed as the 13-day period of 'shraadh' ended on Tuesday. It would have made no sense to immerse the ashes on August 31," a party leader told IANS.

The urn containing the ashes was earlier taken to Delhi BJP headquarters on August 23, a day after it was handed over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party President Amit Shah and Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj.

The Delhi BJP had earlier planned to hold an 'Asthi Kalash Yatra' across the national capital from August 24 to 31.

--IANS

aks/tsb/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A relative of poet Varavara Rao on Tuesday accused Pune Police of "forcing" him and his wife Hemalatha to sign a 'punchnama' in Marathi language.

Varavara Rao was arrested from his residence in Hyderabad by police from Pune and presented before a Nampally criminal court. Police are likely to shift him to Pune.

"Both Rao and his wife Hemalatha don't know Marathi... they were forced to sign on the punchnama written in Marathi," journalist N. Venugopal, the son-in-law of Rao, told the media here.

According to Venugopal, as per the law the punchnama -- a document prepared by police and signed by respectable witnesses -- should be in a language the accused is familiar with.

"Without any search warrant, they (police) entered his house, snatched away cell phones. They also disconnected the land line phone and intercom and kept Rao incommunicado for eight hours," he claimed.

As for Rao's health, Venugopal said: "He is 78-year-old, has so many ailments and needs regular medicines."

--IANS

sm/tsb

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Admitting that the flood damage was much more than what was estimated, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday urged the Kerala Diaspora to contribute a month's salary for the state's reconstruction.

Vijayan's comments came as the total number of people in relief camps, which stood at 14.5 lakh on August 21, came down to 1.97 lakh on Tuesday as thousands returned to their once flooded homes after they were cleaned up.

"The Kerala Diaspora is already coming out in a big way to help us. What we want is a proper system in place to channelise their resources... I call upon all the Diaspora to contribute a month's salary over a period of 10 months," he told the media here.

The government's priority was to source funds for rehabilitation of the hundreds of thousands displaced and badly hit by the worst floods in Kerala in nearly a century, he said.

"The damage that has taken place is much more than we have estimated and hence funds have to come. But given the response, we are confident, our people will rise to the occasion and come to our help."

Vijayan urged businessmen to think of giving a portion of their earnings to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund.

All schools in Kerala will reopen after the Onam holidays on Wednesday barring those in Alappuzha and Ernakulam districts which have been turned into camps to house those forced to flee their submerged homes.

"Strict action will be taken against all those who dispose waste into lakes and rivers during cleaning operations," added Vijayan.

Tuesday saw a massive cleaning drive led by Finance Minister Thomas Issac and PWD Minister G. Sudhakaran.

"This is perhaps the biggest cleaning drive that has commenced as people have come in huge numbers from various parts of the state to clean up homes in Kuttanadu area," said Issac.

More than one lakh people in Alappuzha continue to be in relief camps, where the cleaning drive is going on on a massive scale.

On Tuesday, Congress President Rahul Gandhi arrived here and went around relief camps in Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta and Ernakulam districts and promised that the Congress would do its best to ease people's sufferings.

The party has decided to build 1,000 new homes through sponsorship. Gandhi handed over the first few houses in Alappuzha besides thanking the fishermen who played a key role in the rescue operations.

Chief Secretary Tom Jose said discussions would be held on Wednesday with World Bank officials on the impact of the floods.

Forest and Animal Husbandry Minister K. Raju on Tuesday said that all those who lost goats, cows and buffaloes would be compensated ranging from Rs 3,000 and Rs 30,000.

"The National Diary Development Board is also extending its support and it has been decided to provide cattle feed to farmers," said Raju.

--IANS

sg/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Supreme Court on Tuesday favoured "proper" dissemination of information about criminal antecedents, if any, of the candidates being fielded by the political parties to contest elections to Parliament or state assemblies, so that voters can make a informed choice while exercising their franchise.

"Right to information (about the criminal antecedents of the candidates) means right to proper information," said Chief Justice Dipak Misra, heading the five-judge constitution bench as it reserved its verdict on a plea by NGO Public Interest Foundation seeking to bar people from electoral politics against whom charges have been framed by trial courts for heinous offences.

"We can't make a law or do indirectly what we can't do directly. We will only see if we can do anything on disclosure (of criminal antecedents). We will see if we can add to the disclosure so that people make a well-informed choice at polling booth. Let people judge," said Chief Justice Misra.

Making it clear that they would not issue any direction to the Centre for enacting a law to bar from the electoral arena the people charged with heinous crimes, the constitution bench said that the focus should be on the dissemination of information about the criminal antecedents of the candidates enabling voters to make an informed choice.

Besides Chief Justice Misra, other judges on the constitution bench are Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Indu Malhotra.

The court said this as Attorney General K.K. Venugopal reiterated the Central government's position that law making was within the exclusive domain of the legislature and "what court can't do directly (asking legislature to enact a law), it can't do indirectly."

The Attorney General said this as in the last hearing of the matter on August 21, the top court had asked the government if it could direct the Election Commission to include in the symbol order a clause that a political party is liable to lose its recognition if it fields candidates with criminal antecedents.

Summing up the submission by the AG, Justice Nariman said that according to AG, the court cannot add or subtract any new qualification or disqualification to what is already contemplated in the Constitution or the statute (Representation of People Act).

As the hearing today got focused on making voters sufficiently informed about the criminal antecedents of the candidate, the court also sought to know the possibility of people being made aware of the criminal antecedents, if any, of the candidates at a pre-nomination stage.

"We want to put it at the stage of pre-nomination," said CJI Misra, also observing if political parties should themselves disclose that the candidate they have selected faces criminal charges.

"Why not party make public that the candidate fielded by it suffers from such charges," observed CJI.

The court's observation came as senior counsel Meenakshi Arora appearing for the Election Commission said that the disclosure of the criminal cases is made only at the time of nomination and it leaves public little time to know about it.

She said that the Election Commission had made the recommendation to eject a candidate from electoral fray after the framing of charges way back in 1997, which was reiterated in 1999 and subsequently, but nothing moved.

Justice Chandrachud disagreed with senior counsel Krishnan Venugopal, saying that people preferred voting candidate with criminal background because they feel that such a representative will do something by bending laws and help them in distress situation.

"It is not necessary that they want to vote for such a candidate," observed Justice Chandrachud.

Another counsel Gopal Shankaranarayanan told the court that a candidate with criminal background should disclose in his every publicity material that he would use or circulate during electioneering.

--IANS

pk/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India on Tuesday signed a $250 million Development Policy Loan (DPL) to improve the performance of Rajasthan's electricity distribution sector under the states "24x7 Power for All" programme.

The agreement signed between the Central government, Rajasthan's state government and the World Bank is the second in the series of two operations planned for a comprehensive turnaround of Rajasthan's electricity distribution sector, an official statement said. The first loan closed in March last year.

The electricity distribution utilities (DISCOMs) in Rajasthan provide electricity to about 9.5 million customers. The key areas under the programme include strengthening governance in the distribution sector in the state, reducing energy procurement costs and improving the operational performance.

It will also involve financial restructuring and recovery in the sector by transferring considerable amounts of the DISCOMs debt to the state.

Economic Affairs Joint Secretary Sameer Kumar Khare said the programme will contribute to the state's fiscal sustainability.

The loan has a three-year grace period and a maturity of 21 years.

--IANS

vv/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A century-and-a-quarter after Swami Vivekananda's rousing speech to the World Parliament of Religions here in 1893, the World Hindu Congress has declared its objective to re-connect the 1.1 billion Hindus worldwide with their common heritage and their spiritual link to people of all other denominations.

For three days, beginning September 7, about 2,300 delegates will converge at the Westin Hotel in Lombard, a Chicago suburb, to deliberate, introspect and draw out a plan of action in keeping with the World Hindu Congress conference motto derived from Chapter 37 of the Hindu epic Mahabharata -- Sumantrite Suvikrante (Think Collectively, Act Valiantly) and from the Rig Veda: Sam Gacchadhvam Sam Vadadhvam (Stay Together, Express Together).

The Westin Hotel is some 32 km from the Art Institute of Chicago, where Vivekananda's bust commemorates the spot he spoke from.

Many religious leaders are scheduled to attend the Hindu Congress conference. A video message from the Dalai Lama, who had to drop out due to frail health, will be screened. Speakers in the various events include professor Ved Nanda of the University of Denver; Lord Jitesh Gadhia, the youngest Briton of Indian origin in the House of Lords; Swati Dandekar, a former legislator from Iowa; Congressman Raja Krishnmoorthi; Columbia professor Arvind Panagariya, a former economic advisor to the Indian government; and the actor, Anupam Kher.

The overwhelming majority of the 2,300 delegates -- 1,300 -- are from North America, with other delegates coming from 60 countries.

For Indian immigrants, much has changed in Chicago since 1893. Over a century ago, Vivekananda spent a night shivering in a railway yard before a Good Samaritan took him in. He cut an exotic figure in his flowing robes, with passersby pulling at his saffron turban as he walked on the streets.

At the parliament, Americans heard a Hindu monk speak on behalf of his religion for the first time. Today, Chicago and its suburbs have more than a dozen expansive Hindu temples. Discourses by the likes of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev attract packed audiences.

The faith's underlying message, in 1893 and 2018, is unity and tolerance. In his now famous speech, Vivekananda, who is regarded by many as more of a social reformer than a religious leader, spoke of the fact that India has sheltered "the remnants of the Israelites who came to South India seeking refugee from Roman tyranny, and remnants of the grand Zoroastrian nation".

Another common message, then and now, is of dharma-righteousness for its own sake. Following his speech, an American journalist commented: "Vivekananda's address before the parliament was broad as the heavens above us, embracing the best in all religions, as the ultimate universal religion -- charity to all mankind, good works for the love of God, not for fear of punishment or hope of reward."

The Hindu Congress conference, in the estimation of the organisers, has almost similar ambitions, an indication that Hinduism's core message is timeless and unchanging.

"There will be no spiritual discourses," conference convener Abhaya Asthana said in an interview. "The aim is to use the essence of Hindu philosophy, dharma, to inform how we come together (in the diaspora) as men, women and youth -- in politics, education and commerce."

Asthana noted that despite the fact that Hindus have done well individually in North America, they do not have collective clout, a deficiency that the conference will deliberate on. "We are almost there in the social media, but we need more impact in politics, commerce and technology," he said.

Do Hindus, especially those in alien lands, need to take a long hard look at Hinduism? This is a question that hangs uneasily in the air when Indian Americans talk of current events in India.

But Asthana is sanguine. "We do not have to redefine dharma. The philosophy is sound, the principles are sound. Ahinsa (non-violence) is ingrained. All we need to do is to live our lives rooted in the philosophy of service and tolerance.

"We want to connect all Hindus worldwide as well as reach out to all others for the happiness of all living creatures," Asthana said.

The pervasive, although often unspoken, apprehension, that religion is the great divider of modern times, has persisted since the first World Parliament of Religions in 1893.

The solution, as propounded by various speakers at the parliament, then, was an all-embracing universalism that envisioned a coming together of the great religions of the world.

Racism, xenophobia and intolerance were unaddressed issues when Vivekananda spoke in Chicago.

Poor immigrants from southern Europe, including many Jews fleeing Russia, had arrived in the United States at the time. Nativist feelings inspired laws designed to limit the entry of immigrants. The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1882 and the Immigration Restriction League in 1894.

The parliament chairman, Presbyterian minister John Henry Barrows, noted the scepticism: "Many felt that religion was an element of perpetual discord, which should not be thrust in amid the magnificent harmonies of a fraternal assembly of nations. On the other hand, it was felt that the tendencies of modern civilisation were toward unity." The one word that tolled like a bell through the halls of the parliament was "universalism".

Vivekananda, in his address to the final session of the parliament, elaborated on the theme: "My thanks to this enlightened audience for their uniform kindness to me and for their appreciation of every thought that tends to smooth the friction of religions. A few jarring notes were heard from time to time in this harmony. My special thanks to them, for they have, by their striking contrast, made general harmony the sweeter."

Despite the passing of a century, participants at the World Hindu Congress conference may well find the tools to overcome the impediments in the path of righteousness unchanged.

In addition to unity and tolerance, dharma inspires us to "stand up for justice", said Ashtana, scientist at the Nokia Bell Labs, who works on Artificial Intelligence and neural networks, offering another quote from the Mahabharat -- Yato Dharmastato Jayaha (Whence Dharma, Thence Victory).

(Ashok Easwaran is an American journalist of Indian origin. He has reported from North America for over two decades. The views expressed are personal.He can be contacted at ashok3185@yahoo.com)

--IANS

ashok/vm/sac

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The school shall remain unnamed. But an incident in that school in New Delhi about two weeks ago is a reflection of the politically polarising and socially fraught times India has been living in for the last few years.

Note that the incident took place in a school in the heart of Indias capital city and not in any remote rural corner of the country. Four students in their early teens were rounded up by their teacher for drawing a flag in one of their classes on August 14. They had drawn the national flag of Pakistan and that day happened to be the Independence Day of ...The Supreme Court today set aside an order of Calcutta High Court acquitting 32 CPI(M) workers in case of 1993 post Panchayat poll violence involving Left and Indian People's Front members in which five people were killed and over two dozen grievously injured.

A bench of justices N V Ramana and M M Shantanagoudar set aside the June 30, 2004, order of the high court and remitted it back to decide the revision petition afresh on merit in accordance with law.

It said that the High Court has failed to consider whether the trial court discarded material evidence in the form of eyewitness testimony on the issues of murder, attempt to murder and grievous hurt and completely overlooked evidence on other charges such as unlawful assembly and house-burning.

"Consequently, we find that the High Court has not given due consideration to the evidence on record to arrive at a reasoned conclusion and has thus failed to exercise its revisional jurisdiction in accordance with established principles," the bench said.

The top court said it would be appropriate for the High Court to undertake proper consideration of the material of the matter once again with due application of the judicial mind to find out as to whether the trial court's order has caused "gross miscarriage of justice, manifest illegality or perversity".

From the aforementioned decision, it is clear that where the material evidence has been overlooked either by the trial court or by the appellate court or the order is passed by considering irrelevant evidence, the revisional jurisdiction can be exercised by the High Court, the court said.

"In the matter on hand, as already mentioned, material evidence has been overlooked by the trial court and the High Court was incorrect in observing that the witnesses have deposed for the first time before the court," the bench said.

Dealing with the facts of the case, the bench said that the contradictions and improvements in testimonies of witnesses were minor in nature which were mainly with regard to weapons used.

"The presence of the witnesses is not in dispute, and the fact that 24 witnesses have suffered injuries cannot be disputed either. Five deaths have also taken place," it said and ruled out the possibility of injuries due to stampede saying "there is no reason as to why only one group of people would sustain injuries in the alleged stampede, if any".

The case relates to incident of violence which had taken place on May 31, 1993 at Karanda village of Burdwan district where the CPI (M) party won and the IPF party had lost the Panchayat elections a day earlier.

On May 31, 1993, at around 8.30 am, 15 to 16 members of the IPF party took shelter in the house of Badal Malik, their party leader, on being chased by some 250-300 CPI(M) workers, all being armed with weapons such as lathi, balam and tangi.

According to prosecution, CPI(M) party workers set afire the houses of IPF members, including party leader Badal Malik, assaulted IPF members and broke into the houses of the locality. They destroyed household articles, apart from stealing an amount of Rs.700 and snatching a pair of gold earrings.

In the assault on IPF members, five persons expired and 24 persons were seriously injured and a case was lodged at Memari Police Station, Burdwan District for the offences including murder, attempt to murder, rioting and arson.

Upon examining the evidence, the trial court acquitted all 32 accused in the case, a decision which was affirmed by the Calcutta High Court.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The first batch of over 900 pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir returned today from the annual Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

As many as 960 Hajis returned in five flights on the first day of Haj arrivals at the Srinagar airport, an official spokesman said.

He said Kashmir Divisional Commissioner Baseer Ahmad Khan, IGP (Kashmir) S P Pani, IGP (Traffic) Basant Rath and Deputy Commissioner Budgam Syed Sehrish Asgar received the first 310 Hajis who arrived in the first two flights that landed at 7 and 7:15 am.

Special arrangements for hassle-free immigration clearance were put in place at the airport, the spokesman said.

He said that besides the CRPF and state police personnel, volunteers from NGOs were also available to ensure a smooth arrival for the Hajis.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two men were killed and six others injured today after a collision on National Highway 113 in Rajasthan's Pratapgarh district involving a car and five motorcycles, police said.

The incident took place at Chena Ghati when the driver of the car lost control over the vehicle and collided with motorcyclists who were on their way to Ramdevra village in Jaisalmer district, SHO, Dhamotar police station, Shambhu Singh said.

The car was going to Pratapgarh from Choti Sadri, he added.

Shambhu said the vehicle after hitting the motorcyclists dashed into a tree and overturned.

He said the deceased were identified as Shivlal Nagari and Kanhaiya Lal, both aged 24.

Their bodies were handed over to family members after post-mortem, the SHO added.

The Injured were referred to Udaipur for treatment from a government hospital in Pratapgarh, he said.

Shambhu said efforts were on to nab the car driver who fled the accident scene.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two women, including a journalist, were allegedly sexually assaulted by a man in sector 24 here, police officials said, even as one of the complainants claimed the police "delayed" action which allowed the accused to escape.

According to the Facebook post of one of them, she and her friend, both 24, were sexually assaulted by the man last night in 12/22 area while they were on their way home in Noida.

In her post, the woman alleged that the police did not "act fast", which allowed the assaulter to escape.

She also alleged misbehavior by a constable at the local police outpost and raised concern over the absence of CCTV cameras in the area.

Senior police officials, however, said the complaint in the case, that was reported late yesterday night, has been registered and a probe was undertaken to nab the accused.

According to officials, a case has been registered at the sector 24 police station under IPC section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty).

Gautam Buddh Nagar Senior Superintendent of Police Ajay Pal Sharma told PTI that the police were getting a sketch of the accused made and making efforts to nab him at the earliest.

Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has also sought the details of the matter from the SSP.

"The NCW has taken cognisance of the Facebook post detailing the shocking incident of police apathy following the sexual assault of two women journalists in Noida," an NCW official said.

"The commission strongly condemns this incident and has written to the senior superintendent of police, Surajpur, for details of the matter," the official added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Taking cognisance of a Facebook post detailing the alleged sexual assault of two women journalists in Noida, the National Commission for Women (NCW) today sought the details of the matter from the city's senior superintendent of police.

According to the Facebook post by one of the women, she and her colleague were sexually assaulted by a man last night on their way home in Noida.

In her post, the woman alleged that the police did not act fast, which allowed the assaulter to escape.

"The NCW has taken cognisance of a Facebook post detailing the shocking incident of police apathy following the sexual assault of two women journalists in Noida," an official said.

"The commission strongly condemns this incident and has written to senior superintendent of police, Surajpur, for details of the matter," she added.

A copy of the letter has been shared with the office of Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Uttar Pradesh government today transferred as many as 30 IPS officers, including the SP of Auraiyya where two sadhus were stabbed to death recently, according to the state home department said.

An official statement issued said several district police chiefs (superintendents of police and senior superintendents of police) were transferred.

Superintendent of Police of Auraiyya, Nageshwar Singh, has been made SP (regional) Intelligence, Lucknow, it said.

Triveni Singh is the new SP of Auraiyya.

Two 'sadhus' were stabbed to death and another injured inside a temple premises by unidentified persons on August 15 triggering violence in the Bidhuna area of Auraiya district.

Five people were later arrested in connection with the killing of two sadhus.

Some of the other districts whose SSPs or SPs were transferred are: Kanpur Nagar, Meerut, Shrawasti, Jalaun, Baghpat, Etah, Mirzapur, Kannauj, Kasganj and Muzaffarnagar, the home department said in its statement here today.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Four children drowned allegedly after falling into a pit created by illegal sand mining from Morhar river in Bihar's Gaya district today.

The children, including three girls, had gone to take a bath in the river near Chitab Khurd village under Amas police station areas. They slipped into deep water and drowned, police said.

Local people, however, alleged that the four died after falling into a pit created because of excess and illegal sand mining from the river.

The deceased have been in the age group of 8 to 10 years.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)As many as seven people, including two minors, have lost their lives during incessant rains in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi district in the last two days, officials said today.

The deceased have been identified as two-year-old Arohi, Raj Karan (42), Rajpati (40), Lakhana (55), Dhangu Kori (65) and Meda (80). The victims, who are from different areas, died after their mud houses collapsed, they said.

Another five-year-old girl, Pihu, drowned when she slipped into a pond under Jamo area of the district. She was rushed to a hospital where she was declared dead on arrival, they added.

The revenue officers of the areas visited the affected families and assured speedy assistance.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Eight students of the Delhi University's Delhi School of Journalism were today suspended for allegedly "disrupting classes" while students claimed that they were protesting for their demands.

Around 100 students have been protesting since yesterday against the lack of facilities in the college despite the college charging over Rs 60,000 annual fees, said one of the students.

Eight students of the Delhi School of Journalism were suspended for allegedly "disrupting classes" and "obstructing official work", said an official from the college.

Sources claimed that later, the students' suspension was revoked following student protests.

One of the students, who was suspended, said, "We have been staying in the college since yesterday because despite paying high fees, they (the institute authorities) do not even have functional computers inside the college. We want to meet the DU vice-chancellor to express our concerns but we are not being helped."



Another student said today they protested outside the director's office after one of their fellow students was denied entry inside the college in the evening.

The student had stepped out for refreshment but when he tried to come back, the security did not allow him to enter, the student said.

"We protested outside the director's office to allow him to enter. The security manhandled us and even called the police," he added.

Meanwhile, an official from the institute administration said the students have not paid fees and that is the reason they have not been provided laptops.

"Today, they shouted slogans outside the director's office and even manhandled her. We did not call the police but the varsity security personnel called the police," the college staffer said.

The staffer added they had assured the students that two-three students would be allowed to meet the vice-chancellor but they insisted that all 100 of them should be allowed to meet the VC.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today urged the Election Commission (EC) to verify at least 20 per cent of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips in every constituency to remove any doubts about the results declared by the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

An AAP delegation led by its chief spokesperson and MLA, Sourabh Bhradwaj, met the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) O P Rawat here and submitted a memorandum on the issue.

"We demanded from the EC is that any 20 per cent VVPAT slips in every constituency should be verified with the EVM results to remove any doubts about its functioning," Bharadwaj told reporters after the meeting with the CEC.

"Presently, slips of only a single VVPAT are counted and how that particular EVM is selected is also not clear," he said.

Bharadwaj added that it was also not clear what action is proposed to be taken in case there is an error in VVPAT's counting and the EC should clarify it.

AAP's state unit coordinator Alok Agrawal said, "We also demanded that the EC should put a ban on the publication and telecast of advertisements of political parties 48 hours prior to polling."



"Any political party which wants to give ads to media, should do so 48 hours before the polling," he said.

Bharadwaj claimed the AAP-led Delhi government had done a remarkable job in the areas of education and health.

"The education budget of the Delhi government is 24 per cent of the total outlay, which is more than any other state in the country. Electricity is the cheapest in Delhi despite the fact that it is purchasing power from other states of the country," he said.

"In Madhya Pradesh, there is surplus power production and yet the electricity is three times costlier as compared to Delhi," he said.

He claimed that no other state in the country had done so much work as was done by the AAP-led dispensation in Delhi in just three years.

Agrawal alleged that the situation in the area of drinking water, health, education, electricity and employment had completely deteriorated in Madhya Pradesh.

"The entire system in Madhya Pradesh has collapsed and Congress is not in a position to change it, as it only initiated all these things. Only AAP has the capability to bring changes in the state and is a viable alternative," Agrawal added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)With Kerala inching towards normalcy after the rain mayhem a fortnight ago, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today said the government would soon come out with an action plan to rebuild the state, which has suffered a loss much more than the estimated Rs 20,000 crore.

The day also saw Congress president Rahul Gandhi visiting some relief camps in flood-ravaged areas of Chengannur, Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Chalkuddy in Thrissur.

Gandhi termed the heavy rains and floods which claimed several lives and displaced many as a "very big tragedy."



On the rehabilitation process, Vijayan said with more people returning home, the number of people in relief camps have come down to 1.97 lakh.

There were more than 14.50 lakh people in camps on August 21. "This shows that nearly 12.53 lakh people have returned home after rehabilitation began," he said.

At Kuttanad, known as the state's rice bowl, around 70,000 people today took part in the massive clean-up drive to remove silt and debris dumped by the floods.

The region, which is below the sea level, has several areas still inundated.

State Finance Minister Thomas Isaac and PWD Minister G Sudhakaran launched the drive in which 1,000 engineers, IT volunteers and snake catchers are participating.

As schools are reopening tomorrow after the Onam vacation, focus was on cleaning the campuses, officials said.

People staying in schools, which have been converted into relief camps, would be shifted to auditoriums and halls, they said.

Vijayan said the effort was to open all the schools tomorrow itself. However, there are some problems in areas like Kuttanad and Aluva in Kochi, which is expected to be sorted out in a day or two.

Arriving in Kerala on a two-day visit, Gandhi spoke to people at relief camps, days after the deadliest deluge in the last 100 years left a trail of destruction.

Visiting the flood-ravaged areas of Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts, Gandhi termed the devastating deluge which claimed several lives and displaced many as a "very big tragedy."



Addressing people at a relief camp in North Parvoor in Ernakulam district, he urged Congress workers and leaders to "pressure" the governments at the Centre and state to get the people adequate compensation.

At Alappuzha, Gandhi was all praise for the role played by fishermen in the rescue operations and said if his party comes to power at the Centre, a separate fisheries ministry would be set up.

He also wanted the Coast Guard to make use of the services of fishermen for rescue operations in future.

"I am proud to say that through all your difficulties, through all your hardships, whenever Kerala needed you...you stood up and gave your best. I salute your commitment to the people of Kerala," the Congress chief said.

Vijayan said rebuilding the picturesque state was a daunting task as it had suffered massive destruction with the loss estimated to be much more than Rs 20,000 crore.

Rescue operations were over and the thrust now is on rehabilitation and rebuilding the state ravaged by the rain fury that claimed 322 lives since August 8, Vijayan told reporters after holding a meeting here to review the post-flood situation.

"Rehabilitation process of the displaced is progressing in the right direction," he said.

The state would come out with an action plan for rebuilding the state, he said.

The assembly, which has been convened for a day on August 30 to discuss the post flood situation, would discuss all issues and government would finalise the action plan, the chief minister said.

The Kochi international airport, which was forced to stop its operations since August 14 following flooding, will commence services from tomorrow.

According to data released this morning by the Disaster Management's state control room, 474 people have died in the rains and floods since May 29 when the southwest monsoon set in over Kerala.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court on Tuesday said rights activist Gautam Navlakha, arrested by Maharashtra police for alleged Maoist links, should not be taken away from the capital.

The high court said Navlakha will remain at his residence under police guard and be allowed to meet only his lawyers.

The high court was hearing the Habeas Corpus petition filed on behalf of Navlakha by his advocate after he was picked up from his Delhi home on Tuesday afternoon.



ALSO READ: Bhima Koregaon case: Police searches houses of activists for Maoist links

Left-wing activists, including Varavara Rao and Sudha Bhardwaj, were also arrested on Tuesday as the Maharashtra police carried out searches at multiple places in several states, including Delhi, on the residences of people suspected to have Maoist links.



ALSO READ: Outrage over multi-city raids, arrests of rights activists

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi Commission for Women today sent a notice to Delhi Police to apprise it of the action taken in the air hostess death case.

Anissia Batra, 39, who worked with a German airline, had on July 13 allegedly jumped off from the terrace of her house in south Delhi's Panchsheel Park.

Her parents had accused her husband Mayank Singhvi of harassing their daughter for dowry, following which he was arrested.

The DCW has sought an inquiry into the matter after Anissa's father, a retired Army Major General, alleged misconduct in the case on the part of South District Police, an official said.

"If no action was taken, reasons for the same, and details of action taken against such officers, if any. The copy of the FIR registered in the matter, whether the scene of crime was sealed on the day of the incident, or not, please provide reasons for the same," the DCW wrote to the police.

The commission has also sought a copy of post-mortem and autopsy report of the deceased and access to the CCTV footage of the crime scene as well as the details of the hospital where Anissa was taken, the official said.

The case was transferred to the Crime Branch after Anissia's family alleged inadequacies in the manner the local police carried out the investigation, a senior police officer had earlier said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Delhi court today sought response from the CBI on a plea of former Union Minister P Chidambaram who accused the agency of leaking parts of the charge sheet in the Aircel-Maxis case, in which he is an accused, to the media "to sensationalise" the issue and "make mockery of judicial process".

Special Judge O P Saini took the application on record and issued notice to the agency, seeking its response by October 8.

In his application, the Congress leader alleged that the CBI was not interested in a fair trial in the court of law and only wanted trial by the media.

The application, moved by advocates P K Dubey and Arshdeep Singh, said that the cognizance of the charge sheet has not yet been taken by the court and the copies have not been supplied to any of the accused, including Chidambaram.

However, one of the newspapers has published articles regarding the purported contents of the final reports, it alleged.

"Since this court is yet to take cognisance of the charge sheet, it appears that the CBI has clandestinely provided a copy of the same to the newspaper which is publishing the same in instalments only to sensationalise the issue and prejudice the accused named therein even before cognisance is taken by this court.

"In the view of the above, it is clear that the CBI is not interested in a fair trial in a court of law and only wants a trial by media, which is causing prejudice to the rights of the accused persons, including the appellant herein," the application said.

It added that the "CBI is making a mockery of the judicial process resulting in complete travesty of justice."



"Under these circumstances, the applicant prays that the court may be pleased to take on record the facts and documents mentioned in the instant application. The applicant is not seeking any orders and this court may pass suitable order(s) as may be deemed fit and necessary in the interest of justice," the application said.

Earlier in a series of tweets, the former finance minister said it was the now-defunct Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) that used to decide if a proposal should come within the competence of the finance minister.

"FIPB put up the proposal to me and I approved it along with 20 other proposals," he tweeted.

In another tweet, he said, "CBI leaks its charge sheet to one of the newspapers because it wants a trial by the media. Fortunately, under our legal system, trial can take place only in a court of law."



Chidambaram and his son were named in the charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the case on July 19.

The CBI is probing how Chidambaram, who was the Union finance minister in 2006, granted a Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) approval to a foreign firm, when only the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) was empowered to do it.

The senior Congress leader's role has come under the scanner of investigating agencies in the Rs 3,500-crore Aircel-Maxis deal and the INX Media case involving Rs 305 crore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Punjab Assembly had to be adjourned briefly after the opposition SAD protested "less time" allotted to them today to speak during a debate on the Justice Ranjit Singh commission report on sacrilege incidents.

The House was adjourned for 15 minutes as the SAD protested the inadequate 14 minutes allotted to them to speak on the report.

When the Speaker announced the allocation of time to the parties, Shiromani Akali Dal raised objection.

Akali leader and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia said the allocation of 14 minutes to his party was inadequate.

The Speaker said the time was allocated according to the party's strength in the House. However, SAD legislators rushed to the well, demanding they be given more time to speak on the report.

They raised slogans, created ruckus and did not relent even after the Speaker assured them that sufficient time would be given to everyone to participate in the discussion.

The report of the one-man commission was tabled in the state assembly yesterday.

The SAD rejected the report as a "waste paper" before it was tabled and accused the commission of acting as a "Congress Sarkari Commission".

The commission was formed by the Congress government in April 2017 to investigate incidents of sacrilege of religious texts, including in village Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, Bargari and firing incidents at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan between 2015 and 2017.

The government has announced to handover probe into Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan firing to the CBI.

In the House today, Akali leader Parminder Singh Dhindsa called the report false and demanded more time to discuss it.

As the pandemonium continued, the Speaker adjourned the House.

The Speaker has allotted 80 minutes to the ruling Congress, 21 minutes to main opposition AAP, 14 minutes to SAD, three minutes to BJP and two minutes to Lok Insaaf Party.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tourism Minister K J Alphons today made a strong pitch to increase the inflow of Chinese tourists to India as he highlighted India's diversity and assured the best possible security to visitors.

The minister also invited the Chinese businessmen to invest in India's burgeoning tourism sector.

Alphons is currently visiting Beijing, Wuhan and Shanghai along with about 20 leading Indian travel agents in a bid to galvanise efforts to increase the number of Chinese tourists to India which has not registered any major increase despite New Delhi providing several facilities including e-visas.

The Indian Ministry of Tourism today held a big roadshow in Beijing, showcasing the country's diversity and tourist infrastructure in a major scale.

The Indian tour operators also held one-on-one meeting with their Chinese counterparts exploring opportunities to increase the inflow of Chinese tourists to India.

Addressing a media conference, which was also attended by Chinese reporters, Alphons said while 144 million Chinese tourists travelled out of China last year, only 2.4 lakh of them travelled to India.

Over 14 lakh Indians travelled to China in the same period, Alphons said.

"We need to get good percentage of Chinese people to come to India. It is easier to travel to India than to many Chinese cities," he said.

Answering a question on concerns over security, specially reports of rape and violence against women, Alphons said maximum efforts are being made to ensure security of tourists which included a helpline 1363 in 12 languages including Mandarin. Last year, the helpline received close to 2.75 lakh calls. Also 14 states in India have formed tourism police to ensure security, he said.

"We take all these things seriously. We have extremely efficient police service in India," he added.

"We believe safety is the most important concern for all of us. But unfortunately, some of these cases were exaggerated and painted India as a dangerous country which is not true at all," he said.

"India is a very safe country. Like anywhere in the world you are bound to have isolated incidents," he said and narrated how senior foreign ministry officials and he himself rushed to meet a Swiss couple following allegations of molestation.

"We don't accept any incident of this type, which is bad...We take great care to ensure that people coming to India are safe," he said.

The minister also said that he would address the issue of air connectivity between China and India. Currently, 47 foreign and Chinese airlines and five Indian flights operate between the two countries.

This is not enough, he said, adding that he would initiate a dialogue with the aviation minister to increase flight connectivity.

Highlighting the massive infrastructure expansion of India's tourism sector, the minister invited the Chinese investors to invest in India.

Alphons said that India is emerging as the third largest aviation market. Four airports - Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad - have figured in the top 10 airports of the world. India also has best five star hotels in the world, he added.

India tourism will also open a regional office in Beijing. "We will work in close association with the Indian Embassy in Beijing," Alphons said, adding that the Chinese office will have strategic advisor and PR advisor.

Large part of the USD 100 million overseas publicity fund of the tourism ministry will be spent on attracting Chinese tourists to India.

Later, the minister also addressed a seminar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh today said he had set up a meeting between sidelined SP legislator Shivpal Yadav with top BJP leaders, but it did not take place.

Amar Singh, who has earlier made known his own desire to join the BJP, said Shivpal Singh skipped the scheduled meeting.

"I have spoken to top BJP leaders for Shivpal. The time (of meeting) was also fixed but he did not turn up, Amar Singh told reporters here. Now, I have no political responsibility for him. I am not in touch with him," he said.

When pressed for details, Singh told reporters that Shivpal Yadav lives nearby. You can talk to him," he added.

Yadav has made clear that he is unhappy over being ignored since Akhilesh Yadav, his nephew and Mulayam Singh Yadav's son, took over as SP president.

He recently said he is "still waiting for some responsibility" to be assigned to him, and cannot remain "neglected" for long.

For the past one and a half years, I am waiting for some responsibility to be assigned to me, but so far the party has not assigned any responsibility, he recently said in Etawah.

How long can I be neglected?" he had said. Shivpal Yadav said the party should fight the 2019 polls unitedly.

Amar Singh today said he will campaign for the Bharatiya Janata Party as a common man.

There is no need for joining the party for it," he said. Singh has in the past made clear that he is not averse to joining the BJP, but the party has to invite him.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An Indian-origin man in the UK has been fined and banned from driving for 17 months after his angry girlfriend called police for drunk driving.

Kamaljit Sagoo had been out celebrating his 44th birthday with his friend on June 18 when the couple got into a fight.

He jumped into his car to drive to a nearby store to buy cigarette paper when she called the police and informed them that he was drunk behind the wheel of his car.

"Unusually, he has been reported by his partner for driving while drunk and he was later found by police in the driver's seat of his car," prosecutor Lorna Rimell told North Tyneside Magistrates' Court in north-east England.

"He then failed a roadside breath test," she said.

According to local media reports, Sagoo blew 61 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath when the legal limit in the UK is 35 microgrammes.

He pleaded guilty to one count of drunk driving and also admitted to officers that he had been driving without any insurance.

His lawyer told the court: "It was his birthday and, as things go, it was a very bad birthday for him. He had been out with his partner and there had been an argument and he had gone to get Rizla (cigarette) papers. He felt fine to drive. His partner had been angry at him, she phoned the police.

"Needless to say, that relationship is now over".

The court fined Sagoo, who works as a plasterer, 583 pound and ordered him to pay 85 pound in legal costs and a 58 pound victim surcharge.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Birthday celebrations of an Indian-origin man in the UK turned out to be a nightmare after his girlfriend called police and reported him for drunk-driving, leading to an abrupt end to their relationship.

Kamaljit Sagoo was fined and banned from driving for 17 months by a court for drunk-driving.

He had been out celebrating his 44th birthday with his friend on June 18 when they got into a fight after returning home in Longbenton, England.

Sagoo jumped into his car to drive to a nearby store to buy cigarette paper when she called the police and informed them that he was drunk behind the wheel of his car.

"Unusually, he has been reported by his partner for driving while drunk and he was later found by police in the driver's seat of his car," prosecutor Lorna Rimell told North Tyneside Magistrates' Court in north-east England.

According to local media reports, Sagoo blew 61 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath when the legal limit in the UK is 35 microgrammes.

He pleaded guilty to one count of drunk driving and also admitted to officers that he had been driving without any insurance.

His lawyer told the court: "It was his birthday and, as things go, it was a very bad birthday for him. He had been out with his partner and there had been an argument and he had gone to get Rizla (cigarette) papers. He felt fine to drive. His partner had been angry at him, she phoned the police".

"Needless to say, that relationship is now over", the lawyer said.

The court fined Sagoo, who works as a plasterer, 583 pounds and ordered him to pay 85 pounds in legal costs and a 58 pounds as victim surcharge.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)National Aluminium Company Ltd (NALCO) today said it has pitched for Angul Aluminium Park as a potential area for collaboration with Russia for technology and investment.

Angul Aluminium Park is a joint venture promoted by NALCO and IDCO (Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation).

It was discussed in the seventh session of India-Russia Sub-Group on Mining under the India-Russia Working Group on Modernization and Industrial Cooperation.

The meeting was held here to identify areas of cooperation and collaboration.

"T K Chand, CMD, NALCO pitched for Angul Aluminium Park, a joint venture promoted by NALCO and IDCO, as a potential area for cooperation for Russian investment & technology collaboration, which was agreed by the Russian side," the company said in a BSE filing.

NALCO stated that according to industry experts this will bring in Russian high-end technology in downstream units of the park, which will help the park achieve global standards.

"Apart from this, there are areas like collaboration for strategic minerals like cobalt, lithium etc, which has also been agreed upon," it said.

Following this, it said, top global companies like UC Rusal, Ms. KJTS, Ms. UHM etc will be visiting Odisha.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Suspected right-wing activists, arrested in an arms haul case in Maharashtra, had planned to target a western music concert in Pune last year and were involved in hurling a petrol bomb outside a movie theatre near here, police told a court today.

The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the police arrested five people in connection with the seizure of arms and ammunition earlier this month.

Four of them were produced before Sessions Judge Sameer Adkar after their police remand ended. The fifth accused is in police custody till August 31.

Giving an account of their probe into the case, the ATS told the court that two of the accused were part of a conspiracy to "target the western musical concert" held in Pune last year as they believed it "was against Hindu culture".

The anti-terror agency identified the accused as Vaibhav Raut and Sudhanwa Gondhalekar.

The arrested right-wing activists were also involved in setting off a bomb outside a theatre at Kalyan, in adjoining Thane district, where controversial Hindi movie "Padmaavat" was being screened in January this year, it said.

The agency said they had identified the people the accused were planning to target. The accused had conducted reconnaissance of their targets, it added.

The ATS, pleading for the extension of the remand, said a huge amount of electronic data had been recovered from the accused and they needed to confront them about the same.

Some photographs have also been found in the CDs recovered from the accused and they need to be questioned about them as well, the ATS said.

The seized arms and ammunition were brought from states like Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, besides from various parts of Maharashtra, and the police needed to find their actual source, it told the court.

The probe has revealed that nine centres were set up to provide training in making bombs. Two of them were detected in Maharashtra, while the rest are yet to be located, the ATS told the court.

The investigating agency said it needed to find the people who were providing training in handling of arms and ammunition and also those funding the operation.

Later, the court extended the police custody of the four accused by seven more days.

Responding to a defence argument against invoking an anti-terror law in the case, the judge said the court could not consider, at this stage, whether the accused attracted the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act as the matter was under investigation.

The fifth accused, Avinash Pawar (30), was arrested on August 24 and is currently in police custody till August 31.

The ATS had on August 10 arrested Raut (40), who ran the "Hindu Govansh Raksha Samiti", a lesser-known cow protection outfit, at Nallasopara in adjoining Palghar district.

After Raut's arrest, the ATS had nabbed three more activists - Sharad Kalaskar (25), Gondhalekar (39) and Shrikant Pangarkar - following raids in Palghar, Pune and Jalna districts.

Raut is a sympathiser of the Sanatan Sanstha, a Goa-based right-wing organisation, while Gondhlekar has links with the Shri Shivapratishthan Hindustan, it said.

Pangarkar is a former Shiv Sena corporator from Jalna.

The ATS seized a cache of arms and ammunition from different parts of the state between August 9 and 11. It claimed to have recovered 20 crude bombs, two gelatin sticks, four electronic and 22 non-electronic detonators, 150 gm of explosive powder and some other materials.

According to police, the seized arms and ammunition were to be used to trigger blasts at various places in the state.

The accused have been booked under relevant provisions of the Explosives Act, the Explosive Substances Act and the UAPA.

Meanwhile, the CBI today sought permission from the court to produce Raut in a Pune court in connection with the killing of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.

The ATS had earlier said it would probe if the accused had any connection with the killings of Dabholkar, rationalist Govind Pansare and journalist Gauri Lankesh.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Acknowledging that more than 5,000 wards in the state receive arsenic-contaminated water, the Bihar government today said work was underway to provide safe supply to people by the end of 2020.

At a seminar here, Public Health Engineering Department Minister Vinod Narayan Jha said lab tests have found arsenic traces in groundwater of 5246 wards in Bihar.

"In the first phase in the current fiscal 2018-19, the government will ensure arsenic-free safe drinking water in 2556 wards. In the remaining wards, work will be carried out in the next fiscal," the minister said.

Organised by Sulabh International and Sahyog Trust, a Patna-based charitable organization, the seminar was attended by BJP MLA Sanjay Saraogi and the chairman of West Bengal task force on arsenic water, K J Nath.

Dwelling on the enormity of the problem, the minister said arsenic proportion was particularly high on both sides of Ganga, especially areas within 20km of the river banks.

"The state government is committed to provide water supply free of arsenic, fluoride and iron to the people and for that funds will never be a problem. We will make arrangements to provide piped drinking water from the surface of Ganga instead of sourcing it from the ground," he said.

The PHED minister also said that Bihar has 110 quality-testing labs across its 38 districts.

He exhorted people to check the quality of water they are drinking at these laboratories for free.

"People can get certificates about the quality of water they are drinking within 24 hours of submitting samples," Jha added.

Talking about the "Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal" scheme of the Nitish Kumar-led government, the minister said that the scheme was appreciated at a recently held conference, where NITI Aayog officials asked other states to emulate the model.

"We have taken Rs 1,606 crore from World Bank for the scheme. Besides, a loan of Rs 2,400 crore has also been sanctioned vy Asian Development Bank for supplying iron-free water. We will use the sunds after utilising our budgetary allocation for the purpose," the minister added.

Speaking on the occasion, Sulabh International Founder Bindeshwar Pathak said a water purification project, which was implemented successfully South 24 Parganas of West Bengal, has been introduced in Darbhanga district of Bihar.

"Various studies including the one by Central Water Commission has noted that water in almost 40 per cent of the districts of Bihar and West Bengal contain arsenic above permissible limits," he stated.

BJP MLA Sanjay Saraogi stressed on creating awareness in the state to deal with the problem.

"It is important to raise awareness about maintaining hygiene and consuming clean drinking water among all people of the state," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Mohammad Shafi had planned a big celebration for his daughter's wedding this week.

The invitation cards have been sent, but Shafi says he is now not sure about the celebration.

A resident of Ganderbal district in central Kashmir, Shafi says he is apprehensive about the fate of Article 35A of the Constitution, which is facing a legal challenge in the Supreme Court, and the shutdowns and protests sponsored by separatists in support of the provision.

So his family has decided to cancel invites for the post-wedding feast because of the circumstances.

"We had to cancel the invites as we do not know what is going to happen. The strike last time (on August 5 and 6) was unprecedented, so we did not want to take a chance. Only very close relatives and friends would attend the ceremony which will now be performed in a simple manner," he says.

Many others in the Kashmir Valley share his anxiety.

For the past a few days, newspapers in the Valley are filled with classified announcements cancelling wedding invitations, suggesting residents have decided to go for a subdued celebration during the post-Eid wedding season.

"It is to intimate to all my nears and dears who have received the invitation cards pertaining to the marriage ceremony of my son slated for August 29, 30, that due to prevailing circumstances, the invitation stands cancelled," reads one of the advertisements from a resident of HMT area in Srinagar.

"However, nikah ceremony will be observed with utmost simplicity. We regret the inconvenience," it adds.

However, the Valley has witnessed similar cancellations in the past.

Hundreds of celebratory functions were cancelled in 2010, after violence erupted in Kashmir; in 2014, when devastating floods hit the state, and again in 2016, following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani.

Article 35A was incorporated in the Constitution by a 1954 Presidential Order.

The article accords special rights and privileges to the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir and bars people from outside the state from acquiring immovable properties in the state.

It also denies property rights to a woman who marries a person from outside the state. The provision, which leads to such women from the state forfeiting their right over property, also applies to their heirs.

The Supreme Court is hearing a batch of pleas seeking quashing of the article.

Political parties, including the National Conference and the CPI(M), have moved the court in support of the article.

The Valley has remained tense and separatist groups have called for a two-day strike on Thursday and Friday in support of the constitutional provision.

They have threatened to launch a mass agitation if the Supreme Court, which is expected to hear the case on Friday, gives a verdict against the provision.

Yesterday, 12 people were injured in clashes between protesters and security forces during a spontaneous shutdown.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Violence erupted in West Bengal again today over the formation of gram panchayat (GP) boards, with clashes between workers of the ruling TMC and opposition parties leaving at least 30 people, including five policemen, injured, police said.

Clashes were reported from two places in North Dinajpur district, they said.

Bombs were hurled and bullets fired in the clashes at Daspara and Itahar GP under Chopra police station limits, they added.

The clash at Itahar broke out after Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers allegedly obstructed GP members from the BJP from voting to elect office bearers, the police said.

Thirteen activists of the TMC and the BJP were injured in the clash. Five policemen were also injured and a police jeep was torched, they added.

Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel and a large police contingent rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control, the police said.

The clash in Daspara erupted when CPI(M) and Congress workers allegedly prevented elected independent members from taking part in the voting, they said.

The two parties claimed that these members had contested the panchayat polls with their backing, but switched sides to join the TMC after winning.

TMC workers came to the aid of these members and 12 people were injured in the ensuing violence, the police said, adding that four houses were also set on fire.

The situation was brought under control by the RAF and the police using a water cannon.

Local residents claimed that the police also fired in the air, but it could not be confirmed.

Later, TMC candidates were elected as heads of both the GPs.

The violence follows similar clashes in Malda and Purulia districts yesterday which left four people dead, prompting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to appeal for peace.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The owner and the manager of an automobile service centre here in Maharashtra have been booked for alleged negligence leading to the death of a worker at their workshop last year, police said today.

The victim, Sujit Yadav (23), was cleaning a car on June 12, 2017 when he got an electric shock from the water pipe at the service centre located in the city's Manpada area, Thane police spokesperson Sukhada Narkar said.

He was rushed to a hospital where he died during treatment on July 2 last year, she said.

Another 22-year-old worker was also injured in the mishap and admitted to another hospital, Narkar said.

Doctors who attended Yadav declared that he died due to electrocution, she said.

The police later approached the Maharashtra State Electricity Board and its officials informed them that there was power leakage from the motor of the pressure water pipe in the workshop.

The service centre's management, meanwhile, got the faulty motor repaired, the police said.

Based on the investigation, the police registered offences yesterday against the workshop's owner and the manager under IPC sections 304-A (causing death by negligence), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 287 (negligent conduct with respect to machinery) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy), Narkar added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh today accused SP leader Azam Khan of threatening his minor daughters with an acid attack and said he will seek security for them.

Amar Singh, who has been expelled from the SP, said he will meet Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik tomorrow with the demand.

I want security for my daughters, who feel threatened, he said.

Singh also demanded a probe into the funding of Rampur's Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, headed by Azam Khan as its chancellor.

Singh claimed Azam Khan had threatened him and his twin 17-year-old daughters during an interview to a television channel.

The former SP leader said he will be in Rampur on August 30 and asked Khan to "sacrifice" him and spare his daughters.

He said western Uttar Pradesh saw no riots even at the time of Partition, but there were clashes when Azam Khan was in charge of the region under the previous SP government.

Singh said Azam Khan did not have the right to stay in the country.

He called the Samajwadi Party Namazwadi Party'.

He said Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and UP Governor Ram Naik should probe the funding of Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar University.

On Akhilesh Yadav's plan to construct a Vishnu temple if voted to power, Singh said, "Those who order firing on karsevaks are talking about constructing a temple.

He was apparently referring to the 1990 firing on karsevaks heading towards the disputed Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site.

On the SP charge that he is an "awsarwadi" (opportunist), Singh said none of his family members are in politics, unlike the Yadav family, and they call me opportunist.

He said if talking about protecting his own daughters is communal, he does not mind being called that.

Singh has earlier said he is not averse to joining the Bharatiya Janata Party.

"As a common man I will campaign for the BJP. There is no need for joining the party for it," he said today.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Megastar Amitabh Bachchan today said he would be donating Rs 1 crore to the families of martyrs and an additional Rs 1.5 crore to waive off loans of farmers.

The 75-year-old actor said he wanted to do something for the families of martyrs.

"Just yesterday, we got a list of 44 families from the government. We have prepared 112 demand drafts to the value of Rs 1 crore to take care of the families," Bachchan told reporters here.

"There is a system in the government. Sixty per cent of the amount has to go to the wife, twenty per cent to the father and twenty per cent to the mother... Like this, we have divided the amount for 44 families of martyrs," he added.

The actor said he was also pained by the farmers' suicide and has decided to pitch in.

"I have always been bothered by reading about farmers' suicides. Many years ago, I was shooting in Vizag and read that farmers who had loaned Rs 15,000, Rs 20,000 or Rs 30,000 and couldn't pay back and were committing suicide... I came back and paid for 40-50 families...

"This time I am paying Rs 1.25 crore to 200 farmers' families. I went to my bank and we got a list of all the farmers' loans and there were 200 loans and that's what I am paying off," he added.

Bachchan was speaking at the press conference of "Kaun Banega Crorepati" season 10 here today.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Rose McGowan has called upon Asia Argento, who is currently facing sexual abuse allegations, to come clean, saying "be the person you wish Harvey (Weinstein) could have been".

According to documents obtained by The New York Times, Argento made a deal with former child actor-musician Jimmy Bennett last year, whom she allegedly abused sexually, for the amount of USD 380,000, payable over the period of a year-and-a-half.

McGowan and Argento were among the first women in Hollywood to publicly accuse Weinstein for years of sexual misconduct and harassment in The New York Times last year.

McGowan, one of the vocal advocates of the #MeToo movement, released a lengthy statement in which she said that her partner, model Rain Dove, told her in text messages, Argento had said that she had been receiving unsolicited nude photos of accuser Jimmy Bennett since the time he was 12 and had not informed the authorities or told him to stop sending the photos.

"They said that they had been texting with Asia and that Asia had revealed that she had indeed slept with Jimmy Bennet. Rain also shared that Asia had stated that she'd been receiving unsolicited nudes of Jimmy since he had been 12.

"Asia mentioned in these texts that she didn't take any action on those images. No reporting to authorities, to the parents, or blocking of Jimmy's social media. Not even a simple message 'Don't send me these images. They are inappropriate'," she said in a statement.

McGowan said she introduced Dove to the Italian actor-director days after the passing of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, her boyfriend.

"It was an emotionally chaotic time and Rain Dove suggested we go to Berlin for a couple days to take the mourning out of Asia's home and into a neutral space... While in Berlin Asia had mentioned that she was being extorted for a large sum of money every month by someone who was blackmailing them with a provocative image. No one in the room knew who the extortionist was. Now we know it to be a reference to this case."



The "Charmed" alum said it was sad to lose a friend in Argento but "what's even more sad is what happened to Jimmy Bennet".

She said she had been "extremely humbled by this event".

"I had to take a step back and realise that in my own activism while I fight hard with passion - I need to evolve," the actor explained her reasons for not issuing a statement till now.

She concluded her part urging Argento to do the right thing, saying she had "spent and risked a lot to stand with the MeToo movement".

"I really hope you find your way through this process to rehabilitation and betterment. Anyone can be be better - I hope you can be, too. Do the right thing. Be honest. Be fair. Let justice stay its course. Be the person you wish Harvey could have been," McGowan said.

"I am deeply shocked and hurt by having read that is absolutely false," she said last week in a statement circulated on social media.

Argento has denied assaulting Bennett, saying the actor wanted to extract money from her after her name came up in the Weinstein scandal.

She said rather than facing a court battle at a time when she was already dealing with a public case, Bourdain, decided to pay off Bennett.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A special court today awarded 20 years' prison term to three men for raping a Dalit woman in this district of Bihar.

SC & ST Special Court Judge Ashok Kumar Pandey awarded 20 years of imprisonment to each of the three men under the section 376D (gang-rape) of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Special public prosecutor of SC & ST court Ashok Kumar Choudhary said the three convicted had raped the woman at Nawada village under Neemchak Bathani police station on July 18, 2017, when she was on her way to her in-law's house from her paternal home.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The foreign secretaries of the BIMSTEC member states today reviewed the progress achieved so far in the areas of cooperation and provided guidance to the future works of the regional grouping.

During the 19th Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) of the BIMSTEC held here, the foreign secretaries discussed as to how cooperation between the member states could be made more effective and business-like, Nepal Foreign Ministry spokesperson Bharat Raj Paudyal said.

He said the officials considered a number of reports of various mechanisms related to customs cooperation, connectivity, technology, counter terrorism and transnational crimes, agriculture, poverty alleviation and public health.

Several measures, including exploring the possibility of establishing BIMSTEC development fund, rationalisation of areas of cooperation and identification of core prioritised areas, were deliberated in the meeting, Paudyal said.

The meeting also recommended for a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of the BIMSTEC grid interconnections, which is expected to further cooperation in energy sector among the member states, he said.

The MoU will be signed during the two-day BIMSTEC summit which will commence on August 30 in Kathmandu, he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be among the leaders who will attend the 4th BIMSTEC Summit, whose theme is 'Towards a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable Bay of Bengal region'.

The BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) is a regional grouping comprising Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.

The grouping accounts for 22 per cent of the global population, and has a combined gross domestic product of USD 2.8 trillion.

The first BIMSTEC summit was held in Thailand in 1997, second in 2008 in India and third in 2014 in Myanmar. Nepal has assumed the chairmanship of BIMSTEC since 2014.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)How do you look at the evolving threat perception being faced by enterprises and organizations including critical infrastructure entities in India?

The fantastic thing about technology in general  and the Internet in particular  is that it offers power at scale. Over the past decade its become possible for anyone to access almost the sum total of human knowledge in an instant from their phone/any gadget  but unfortunately the technology genie doesnt grant this power only to the good guys.

India undoubtedly is experiencing new Challenges with sophisticated attacks that is being faced across the globe. With the rise in connected consumer devices which lack safety safeguards this problem has further worsened. When it comes to enterprises and organizations it has been seen 60% of them secure their hardware. However, they do not pay attention to the software used, which could be unregulated. With the growing cyber-attacks, sseveral large corporations and multinational companies have started setting up software asset management. However, middle market companies are more concerned about running the business and may ignore peripheral matters including cyber security.

The safety is not just about Offices, Homes etc but its Digital safety. The government by its intervention can make the things a lot more safer and get the security concerns maintained. For Bitdefender, we have always tried coming up with most ensured and effective ways to protect the PCs and Laptops from harmful viruses trying to

Yes, we do believe that Nation States have also collaborated and actively connived with professional cyber-crime syndicates for achieving their strategic objectives and this has increased in numbers over past few years.

How serious are the wireless security threats including rouge Wi-Fi, which got highlighted in recent times? Do you think the security industry has been caught somewhat by surprise given the kind of widespread security breaches taking at the Wi-Fi level?

In recent times, Wi-Fi data networks have been growing rapidly over the last few years to provide increased mobility. This technology offers many benefits like any-where computing, portability, flexibility, and increased productivity in this world of Gadgets Laptops, IoTs& Mobile devices.However, there are a number of main threats that exist to wireless LANS, these include: Rogue Access Points/Ad-Hoc Networks.

However, wireless networking is prone security issues. Hackers have found wireless networks relatively easy to break into, and even use wireless technology to hack into wired networks. As a result, it is very important that enterprises define effective wireless security policies that guard against unauthorized access to important resources.

Yes, Security Industry has been caught somewhat by surprise because of basic Security adoption for Wi-fi Facility and it has used to break in to wired Network. As the technological reasons for security challenges come from the fact that wireless signals propagate without physical areas and often beyond the physical boundaries of the organizations. Since the data travels freely over the radio waves, it can be intercepted and misused by unauthorized personals by using various freely available tools and techniques.

Do you think the roles being played by specialized bodies ICERT (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) and NCIIPC (National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre) towards helping enterprises and organization in combating cyber threats are making a significant difference?

Yes, we do agree that roles being played by specialized bodies ICERT (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) and NCIIPC (National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre) towards helping enterprises and organization in combating cyber threats are making a significant difference. ICERT (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) has Signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in May, 2016 between Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) and Ministry of Cabinet Office, UK. Earlier CERT-In signed MoUs with counterpart/similar organizations in about seven countries  Korea, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and Uzbekistan. Ministry of External Affairs has also signed MoU with Cyber Security as one of the areas of cooperation with Shanghai Cooperation Organization. With the MoUs, participating countries can exchange technical information on Cyber-attacks, response to cybersecurity incidents and find solutions to counter the cyber-attacks. They can also exchange information on prevalent cyber security policies and best practices. The MoUs helps to strengthen cyberspace of signing countries, capacity building and improving relationship between them.

NCIIPCs (National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre) Mission is to take all necessary measures to facilitate protection of Critical Information Infrastructure, from unauthorized access, modification, use, disclosure, disruption, incapacitation or distraction through coherent coordination, synergy and raising information security awareness among all stakeholders.

ICERT & NCIIPC is doing their best, if all Government bodies, Enterprises & Security Bodies can work together to deliver the best to achieve this goal we can achieve the goal.In addition, we need to start Security from very basic level i.e. everyone should be trained for Cyber Security from Schools. Many Institutes have already started the initiative adopting and practicing Cyber Security in the curriculum to build awareness on Cyber Threats.

How challenging is it to secure enterprises having huge deployments of laptops, desktops, workstations and mobile devices including tablets and smart-phones? What are the security software products your company offers for securing these end-points with large enterprises? What are the salient features of these products?



Deploying Security solutions for of laptops, desktops, workstations and mobile devices including tablets, smart-phonesand email Solution becomes very complex as everyfacility&requires different Security Requirement. For which we have customized multiple solutions. Some key being Bitdefender GravityZone Solutions addresses and deliver the complex requirement of Enterprises for laptops, desktops, workstations and mobile devices including tablets, smart-phonesand email Solutionthis Includes Virtualize Infrastructure,Security-as-a-Service (SaaS), Software Defined datacenter (SDDC). Designed to Stop the Most Sophisticated Cyber Attackswith Layered Next-Gen Endpoint Protection. To effectively protect you against highly sophisticated cyber-attacks that evade conventional endpoint security tools, you need a layered defense approach with multi-stagesignature-less technologies including advanced machine learning, behavioral analysis, anti-exploit and integrated sandbox. We have focused on making this software at a level of excellence.

Bitdefender Key features for the Enterprises.

Uses adaptive-layered architecture that includes endpoint controls, prevention, detection, remediation and visibility.

Hardening & control

Application Control

Content Control

URL filtering -Web Security  Blocks access to malicious and exploit hosting sites

Anti-phishing -Blocks phishing or fraudulent sites

Firewall

Device Control

Full Disk Encryption

Multi-stage detection

Pre-execution

Signature & Cloud look-up -Local and Cloud Machine Learning

Threat intelligence from over 500 million endpoints globally

on-execution

Sandbox Analyzer

Anti-Exploit -Protects zero day and unpatched vulnerabilities

Process Inspector -Behavior-based real-time detection Operates on zero trust

Visibility & management

Customizable Dashboards & Reports

Indicator of Compromise

Suspicious Activities -Early visibility into suspicious activities

Threat Context -Connects threats with actions

Alerts & Notifications

Scalable to Millions of Endpoints

Flexible Deployment

Do you think the maturing cloud technology allows vendors to like you serving enterprises with cost-effectively and efficiently? What are the key features of these cloud security offerings to them?

In Current Scenario our IT infrastructure Team is Looking for Robust and mature Security solution to address ComplexIT infrastructure with advance level Security for Protection Against Exploits , Zero-Day Treats , File Less attacks , Ransomwares & APT Also Different Operating Systems, Physical, virtual, cloud & Form Factors:  Workstation, Server, Embedded, . Bitdefender GravityZone Solution can address therequirement cost-effectively and efficiently.

Bitdefender Solution offers easy centralized management, deployment and enforcement of security policies to any number of endpoints, on any hypervisor, in any cloud; One architecture enabling full visibility and control in datacenter and cloud through integration with Active Directory, VMware and Citrix hypervisors; One agent covering any combination of virtualization platforms, private and public cloud providers

What are the distribution and channel strategies of your company around your end-point security software products & solutions in India? How important is the area of channel training program for your company? What are the channel training programs you run in the country?

We have a very flexible channel structure program and we make it as per the regions and needs of the channel and the market over there. The reason for the same is that everyone involves from the company, to the partner and the end user should benefit from the program.

It is exactly important to train the channel distributors because they are the only medium through which we can reach out to our end results which is our ultimate goal. We have certified training programs for sales and engineers of the partners and we reward them on completion of such programs. We recommend all our partners to at least train 1 sales and support personal in this certification program.

Technuter.com News ServiceChief Minister Mamata Banerjee today accused the BJP of pursuing " of killing" in West Bengal "in connivance with former CPI(M) goons" and vowed not to allow NRC in her state.

At a rally held here on the occasion of foundation day of her party Trinamool Congress' students wing,



Banerjee alleged that under the Modi government the country was facing "more than Emergency as the people don't even have the right to speak" and exhorted the youths "to raise the slogan of ousting the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha election".

"We will not allow NRC exercise in Bengal. We are Bengal tigers, we will not tolerate if an Indian citizen is dubbed a foreigner," she asserted.

The BJP hit back, saying that Banerjee should stop "dreaming" of becoming the next prime minister and instead concentrate on maintaining law and order in the state.

The TMC supremo, who is in the forefront of the campaign to rally opposition parties for an anti-BJP front, accused the Centre of using central agencies against opposition parties in the country and said she will fight tooth and nail to defeat the saffron party in the 2019 general elections.

"They (BJP) are disturbing Mayawati, Akhilesh, Stalin, Lalu Prasad, Congress. Otherwise, how will they remain in power ... They are also trying to stop us (TMC) since we raise our voice from Bengal", Banerjee said at the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad rally.

"They (BJP leaders) are challenging us. If we are challenged, we will give them a fitting reply," she said.

Downplaying the BJP's improved poll performance in the state, Banerjee said it "had won just a few seats in the panchayat election in the erstwhile Maoist hotbed of Jangalmahal by resorting to of killing. The former CPI(M) goons are now working for them."



One TMC worker was killed in Jhargram in Jangalmahal area and his body was recovered today, she said and alleged that central paramilatary forces were used by the BJP during the last panchayat polls to put pressure on people to vote in its favour.

Reacting to the Trinamool chief's statements, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh charged the TMC with unleashing terror against his party workers and alleged that its government was misusing the police and administration.

"The TMC is trying to wipe out every sign of opposition in Bengal. Our workers are being killed everyday. But we will continue our democratic fight till we end the misrule of the TMC government," he said.

Earlier, Banerjee said the BJP speaks against Emergency but "under the Modi government the people do not have the right to speak. They do not have the freedom what to eat and what to wear. It is more than Emergency".

"From now on we should raise the slogan of ousting the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha election", she said.

Referring to the increase in non-performing assets (NPAs) during the NDA rule at the Centre, Banerjee claimed it was much higher than what it was under the UPA regime.

Continuing her tirade against the BJP, she said, "We don't want foreign funds, but why is the BJP so interested in foreign funds?"



The Lok Sabha had passed a Bill to exempt political parties from scrutiny on foreign funds.

She urged students to keep a close watch on fake being circulated on facebook and twitter by the "troll army of the BJP".

"Keep a close watch on fake that BJP circulates on facebook and twitter. If they spread a fake news, counter it. Don't let them get away with fake news," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Mounting a scathing attack on the BJP, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today accused the saffron party of resorting to " of killing" in the state and using central agencies against opposition parties.

Referring to the recent panchayat polls in the state, the chief minister alleged that BJP members were working in connivance with goons who had earlier served the CPI(M).

"The BJP won just a few seats in erstwhile Maoist hotbed of Jangalmahal by resorting to of killing. The former CPI(M) goons are now working for them," she said at a rally here on the occasion of Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (students' wing) foundation day.

Talking about National Register of Citizens (NRC) revision, the Banerjee said her government will not allow the exercise under any circumstances.

"We will not allow NRC exercise in Bengal. They (BJP leaders) are challenging us. If we are challenged, we will give them a fitting reply," she said.

The chief minister also said that she would not "tolerate" if a citizen is wrongfully tagged a foreigner here.

"We are Bengal tigers, we will not tolerate if an Indian citizen is dubbed a foreigner," she asserted.

The TMC supremo said she will fight tooth and nail to defeat the saffron party in 2019.

"Besides money and muscle power, the BJP is using central agencies against the opposition party leaders. Our motto will be to remove the party from power in 2019 Lok Sabha election," Banerjee added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The issues of social justice with an eye on and backward castes, security, especially NRC, and welfare schemes of the emerged as the main poll planks for the as it held a meeting of its chief ministers here to strategise for upcoming elections to state assemblies and

At the day-long meeting of chief ministers, listed a number of decisions and legislations effected by his government benefiting all sections of society, particularly Dalits, Other Backward Communities, the poor and farmers.

Briefing reporters on the meeting attended by 14 of the 15 chief ministers, several Union ministers and party president Amit Shah, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh said party leaders discussed preparations in every state for the parliamentary elections and also upcoming assembly polls in three states.

"We have taken a pledge that we will win the polls with a majority bigger than the one we had in the 2014 polls. We will also ensure our victory in three state polls," he said.

The polls are less than eight months away while assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are slated for later this year.



Modi in his address spoke about laws passed by Parliament for welfare of Dalits, tribals and Other Backward Communities, besides measures such as hiking minimum support price for crops to benefit farmers, Singh said.

He also spoke about 'Swachh Bharat' exercise, under which the government has been building toilets and focussing on cleanliness, and the ongoing 'Gram Swaraj' project in over 48,000 villages.

He asked the party's chief ministers to focus on their speedy execution and take it to the masses during elections, Singh said.

"Fruitful meeting with Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers of states where the BJP is in power," Modi tweeted.

Speaking to reporters, Singh also mocked the Opposition over its efforts to unite to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Democratic Alliance, saying they are engaging in a futile exercise as Modi is certain to return to power.

The central government's scheme has benefitted all sections of society, he said.

Shah said the hike in MSP for crops has been of a huge help for the agriculture sector.



The bill passed in Parliament to grant constitutional status to the OBC commission has also generated a lot of positive response, Singh said.

The issue of Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam was also discussed with the party asserting that the presence of illegal infiltrators could not be tolerated in the country.

They also said that minority Hindus in neighbouring countries must find a home in India if they are persecuted there, Singh said.

Shah also made a mention of overwhelming tributes paid by people to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee following his death on August 16. The meeting passed a resolution remembering the BJP stalwart and hailing his works for the country.BJP's local unit today requested Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami to allot suitable land here for erecting a statue of late former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

In a letter to the Chief Minister, a copy of which was released to the media, the coordinator of the party's Coimbatore unit G K S Selvakumar said Vajpayee was instrumental in the growth of the city by implementing various developmental projects, particularly in the railway sector, during his tenure as Prime minister from 1998.

Besides, the city witnessed exponential growth with the completion of the golden quadrilateral highway network connecting major cities across the country, he said.

In view of this, the state government should consider providing suitable land for Vajpayee's statue, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)President Emmanuel Macron suffered a major political blow today as his popular environment minister resigned live on radio -- without informing the French leader beforehand.

Nicolas Hulot, one of the most respected members of the cabinet among the French public, took even his interviewers by surprise on the France Inter radio station when announcing his move.

"I am taking the decision to leave the government," Hulot said, adding that he felt "all alone" on environmental issues within the government.

The 62-year-old TV celebrity, who made his name as an environmental campaigner, was lured into government last year by Macron, but has repeatedly clashed with his cabinet colleagues over policy.

"We're taking little steps, and France is doing a lot more than other countries, but are little steps enough?... the answer is no," he added.

Hulot, whose future in the government has been a subject of speculation for months, said he had not informed Macron or Prime Minister Edouard Philippe of his plans to resign.

"It's an honest and responsible decision," he added.

His departure adds to mounting problems for 40-year-old centrist Macron, who swept to power in May last year promising to solve decades of low growth and high unemployment in France and reform the European Union.

Due to slowing economic growth, his government is having difficulties drawing up the 2019 budget which saw Prime Minister Philippe announce at the weekend that he was dropping targets for reducing the deficit.

At the diplomatic level, Macron is struggling to convince his European partners of the need for a more integrated EU as nationalist governments make gains across the continent.

Over the summer, the former banker also suffered the first major political scandal of his 15-month term when his former bodyguard and senior security aide was filmed manhandling protesters while appearing to impersonate a policeman.

Hulot's announcement is likely to be received bitterly by Macron, who was starting a trip to Denmark to sell his EU agenda on Tuesday.

"The most basic of courtesies would have been to warn the president of the republic and the prime minister," government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux told the BFM channel.

Hulot was formerly the star presenter of the hit Ushuaia environmental TV programme in France and had repeatedly turned down offers to enter government by previous French presidents.

He was widely reported to be close to quitting in February after media reports that the granddaughter of former French president Francois Mitterrand had accused him of rape in the 1990s.

Hulot furiously denied the claims and said they had been extremely hurtful for him and his family.

He had also faced criticism from fellow green campaigners, who accused him of failing to influence the Macron government sufficiently after he lost battles with his colleagues in the agriculture and economy ministries.

Hulot was left disappointed when the government backtracked on a target to reduce the share of nuclear power in the country's energy mix to 50 percent by 2025, while EU negotiations on pesticides were another source of frustration.

On Monday, the cost of a hunting licence was cut in half to 200 euros -- another bitter pill for the vegetarian.

"Do you do an environmental revolution in one year? The response is no," government spokesman Griveaux added. "I prefer little steps to not moving." Macron's record on the environment is mixed.

He has made the battle against global warming one of his foreign policy priorities, organising a major conference in Paris last year in an effort to compensate for Trump's scepticism about climate change.

He also led efforts at the EU level to reduce the use of the controversial weedkiller chemical glyphosate and he scrapped a proposed airport in western France, partly on environmental grounds.

Macron's political opponents immediately seized on the resignation.

"I don't necessarily share the same opinions as Nicolas Hulot, but I can understand that he feels betrayed today, like a lot of French people, by the strong promises that were made and the sense that in the end they have not been kept," said Laurent Wauquiez, the head of the hard-right Republicans party.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat today alleged the BJP-led government in Tripura has failed to keep its poll promises even after spending five months in office.

By now, the youths of the state should have got smart phones and government employees received pay as par the recommendations of 7th Pay Commission as promised in the party's election manifesto, Karat told the media in the party office here.

"Where is (BJP national president) Amit Shah-ji? He must provide job to each household. People of Tripura are suffering due to non-fulfilment of promises," she said.

"Shun the path of jumlabazi and give the people what they want, Karat, who was here to attend a party programme said," Karat said.

On the National Register of Citizens (NRC), the senior CPI(M) leader said no bonafide Indian should not be identified as foreigner in the name of NRC exercise.

Karat also expressed concern over the attacks on party leaders and supporters who were on a fund raising drive for Kerala flood victims.

"These acts were very unfortunate and undemocratic by a section of people backed by the ruling party. Everybody has the right to raise funds for lakhs of flood victims in Kerala," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A driver of a school bus, which had 34 children on board, was shot at by unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district, police said today.

The incident took place yesterday near Jatbhaneda village. The bus was carrying the children from Maharaja Surajmal Public School to their homes, Additional Superintendent of Police Shalok Kumar said.

The driver was admitted to a local hospital in serious condition, he said.

The bus was stopped by four persons on two motorcycles and when the driver got down, they shot at him, the officer said.

Police are trying to identify the assailants. The cause behind the attack is not known, Kumar said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former Raipur District Collector O P Choudhary, who resigned from service last week, today joined the ruling BJP in Chhattisgarh.

There are reports that he might contest the upcoming state Assembly elections due by the end of this year.

A 2005-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Choudhary was inducted into the BJP in the presence of party chief Amit Shah and Chief Minister Raman Singh in New Delhi today.

"I took the membership of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of Amit Shah ji and Dr Raman Singh ji in Delhi," Choudhary posted on his Facebook page along with his photo with Shah and Singh.

Choudhary, who hails from Bayang village in the state's Raigarh district, had last week resigned from the administrative service, saying he wanted to devote his time for the betterment of people and area.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), New Delhi accepted his resignation on August 24.

In a video message posted on his social media page, he said, "...After joining the civil services, I tried my best to do whatever I can for the people. But now the collectorship was about to finish and service at Mantralaya was to start. In such a situation, the dreams which I had seen for my people would not be fulfilled from inside Mantralaya."



"In my opinion, provides opportunity along with challenges, through which hundreds of administrators can be raised," he said.

Sources in the BJP said the party has been looking for a suitable candidate for the assembly seat.

There are reports that Chaudhary, who is credited for bringing transformation in education in the naxal-affected Dantewada district of the state, will contest the upcoming assembly polls from Kharsiya seat, a Congress bastion, in his native Raigarh district.

Umesh Patel, son of former state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel, who was killed in Jhiram valley naxal attack in Darbha region of Bastar ahead of 2013 assembly polls, is the incumbent Congress MLA from Kharsiya.

Choudhary belongs to Aghariya community, a dominant OBC community in Raigarh, and he may dent the traditional Congress vote bank if the saffron party decides to field him from the seat.

The officer was given the Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Public Administration for the year 2011-12 for his contribution in development of Naxal-affected areas through education.

Choudhary came to spotlight in 2011-12 when he was posted as Dantewada Collector and had set up 'Education City' in Jawanga village of the district.

For his contribution in the development of Naxal-hit areas through education, Choudhary was given the prestigious Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Public Administration for the year 2011-12.

State BJP chief Dharamlal Kaushik said, the party will benefit from Choudhary, who is connected to the rural areas, from where he belongs, and served as an administrative officer.

"He has a better understanding of the schemes and issues related to people as he had worked in the state and has been popular due to his works," Kaushik said.

When asked whether he will be given a ticket in the coming assembly polls, Kaushik said the party will be decide it later.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Traders' body CAIT on Tuesday said it has filed a petition in National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) against the Competition Commission of India's decision to approve Walmart-Flipkart deal.

Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) in its appeal said, the body has prayed for reversing the order of CCI as no opportunity of hearing was given to them.

The CCI on August 8 has said that it has approved US retail giant Walmart's acquisition of Flipkart.

The traders' body said it had filed detailed objection against this deal before the CCI on several grounds.



"It was alleged that the proposed combination would lead to a huge degree of vertical integration in the market since Walmart is a global retail giant with its own range of multi-brand products and where the B2B market is concerned, there is a high likelihood of Flipkart and Walmart would affect other wholesalers on the platform," it said in a statement.

In the petition, CAIT said it has mentioned that CCI has in its order ignored the predatory activities carried out by both Flipkart and Walmart in the past.



"The CCI, which is supposed to adjudge the likelihood of impact of a combination if it is approved on the market, completely disregarded the predatory activities undertaken by both parties in India and abroad in the past that were categorically put forth in the objections filed by CAIT," it added.Five people were killed and one other injured when a car carrying them hit an oil tanker this morning on National Highway-6 near Deulti in Howrah, a police officer said.

While four of them died on the spot, the fifth person succumbed to his injuries at a nearby hospital, he said.

During investigation, three identity cards were recovered from the accident site, which showed that the victims hailed from Nalbari district of Assam, he said.

"All six of them, including the driver, were in their mid-20s. The car they were travelling in was hired from a rental agency in Kidderpore," he said.

The police, however, have not been able to ascertain the identity of all the victims.

"We have found contact details on the identity proofs and got in touch with the family members of the victims in Assam, who said they would be reaching Bengal soon. One of them said the men were on their way to Digha from Kolkata," the officer stated, adding that the sixth injured person is still undergoing treatment at the hospital.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Realme launched its second device Realme 2. Available exclusively on Flipkart, Realme 2 becomes the first to offer a Notch Full Screen in the sub-10k segment. The phone marries the Power meets Style product philosophy, taking it A Notch Above by offering a big and AI-powered 4,230mAh battery with 13+2 dual rear camera. Realme 2 will be available in 3 stylish colors, Diamond Black, Diamond Red and Diamond Blue in two versions: 3GB RAM+32GB ROM priced at INR 8990/-and 4GB RAM+64GB ROM priced at INR 10990/-. The Diamond Black and Diamond Red will be exclusively available on Flipkart from September 4th, 12 noon onwards while the Diamond Blue will be available by early October this year.

Born as OPPOs sub-brand, Realme is now an independent brand targeted at global youth. The brand having India-first approach, will comprise of 90% of local young talents and all the products will be made in India. Strengthening its position in the bustling Indian market, the Realme smartphone brand will be entering the Middle East and South East Asia markets soon.

Speaking at the launch of Realme 2, Madhav Sheth, Chief Executive Officer, Realme India, said, Being a young smartphone brand in the most diverse and thriving market in the world, we have witnessed unprecedented love and demand since launching Realme 1. In just 30 days in Q2, we gained 4% online market share and were ranked 4th in the fastest growing online smartphone market. We as a youth centric brand will always thrive to win our customers heart by offering the best at a real honest price, thats why Realme 2 features Indias first Notch Full Screen in the sub-10k segment with Diamond-cutting Designs, a big battery and a lot more at surprising prices.

Realme has upped the ante by offering a 360-degree customer service system. The brand will be offering a new Callme Service, through which the service staff will reach at their doorsteps or preferred locations to collect the devices for repairing. Customers can also courier the devices to registered service centers free of cost. Meanwhile, Realme customers will also have access to almost 500 OPPO service centers across India with guaranteed 90% of repair cases resolved within an hour.

Design

In terms of features, Realme 2 will sport a Notch Full Screen that is 6.2 inches, promising an immersive experience with a length-width ratio of 19:9. Its screen-body ratio reaches up to 88.8% which is one of the highest in its price segment. The notch screen brings with it many user-friendly features like several short-cuts on the notch area to apps such as WhatsApp, SMS and others, without exiting your game or video when you play or watch in the full landscape mode. The notch area short-cuts also support screen recording and screenshots.

Realme 2 features the second generation of the Diamond-cutting Design, featuring a more exquisite diamond appearance with more elaborate craftsmanship. It is made up of 12-layer nanotech composite material which is also scratch-resistant. The versatile colours Diamond Black, Diamond Red and Diamond Blue will be a good fit to represent style and personality in a better way.

Battery

Focusing on an all-round performance in the budget- friendly segment, Realme 2 is packed with an octa-core processor Snapdragon 450, with the powerful GPU Adreno 506. With the built in AI Gaming Acceleration boosting the performance, users can enjoy a seamless gaming experience on Realme 2. Both the versions (3GB+32GB and 4GB+64GB) support triple-slot, so you can use dual 4G SIM cards, and one SD card which is expandable to 256GB.

The Realme 2 is powered with a bigger and smarter 4230mAh battery with AI Power Master, which can smartly allocate processor resources for running and in-background apps and reduces overall power consumption to 5%-11%, without compromising normal APP operation. The combination of Snapdragon octa-core processor 450 and 4230mAh battery will ensure smooth performance and reduce heating and battery consumption.

Dual Camera and AI Shot Beautification

For the rear Dual Camera, Realme 2 comes with a 13MP main camera and a 2MP secondary camera, which uses PDAF fast focusing technology for users to seize wonderful moments even in low light. The bokeh effect of the camera helps the frame to be sharper and the blurred background to be more natural, offering probably the best portrait effects in this price segment.

For the 8MP selfie camera, the AI Shot in Realme 2 intelligently recognises 296 facial points and accordingly gives customized beauty effects, even for the body and group selfie.

AI-powered Color OS 5.1 and User-friendly Experience

The Realme 2 comes with a brand new and enhanced user interface based on the latest ColorOS 5.1, elevating the overall consumer experience. In addition to the AI Power Master, AI Gaming Acceleration and AI Shot, Realme 2 also has smarter and safer AI features such as AI Board, and the new Smart Drive mode where the phone will automatically detect that you are driving and then reduce the less important app notifications.

The phone comes with 3 smart unlock ways 

1. Fingerprint Unlock;

2. Speedy Facial Unlock;

3. Smart Unlock: While your phone is at your frequently visited locations or connected with a credible device via Bluetooth, it could automatically unlock with your customized settings.

Realme 2, available in two versions:

Version Colors Price (INR) First Sale 3GB RAM+32GB ROM Diamond Red 8990/- September 4, 2018, 12 noon onwards Diamond Black Diamond Blue Early October, 2018 4GB RAM+64GB ROM Diamond Red 10990/- September 4, 2018, 12 noon onwards Diamond Black Diamond Blue Early October, 2018

Technuter.com News ServiceBSP supremo Mayawati today accused the Centre of according "step-motherly treatment" to Kerala and demanded that all-out help be provided to the flood-hit state.

The party also urged the Centre to declare the floods in the southern state as a national calamity.

"Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) condemns the step-motherly treatment shown towards non-BJP ruled Kerala, which has been badly affected by the floods. We demand that it be declared a national calamity," Mayawati said in a party release issued here.

"The entire Kerala and part of Karnataka have been hit by floods and different organisations and individuals are doing the needful at their level, but the central government has not shown the required seriousness and sensitivity towards it," she said.

Neither has the Centre declared it a national calamity nor shown any seriousness in giving permission to Kerala to impose cess on state Goods and Services Tax (GST) to generate resources on its own, the BSP president said, asking whether this was not an example of Bhartiya Janata Party's (BJP) "narrow politics".

Mayawati also asked her partymen in various states under the south zone to provide all possible help to the needy, adding that all state governments, shunning their political affiliations, should lend support.

She said some areas in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have also been hit by floods.

Over 300 people have died and lakhs displaced in the floods and landslides caused by the monsoon rains since August 8 across Kerala.

(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 alleged he has been denied permission by the Centre to speak at the World Conference in Moscow.

Sisodia said he has been invited at the event to speak about the reforms brought by his government in the sector in Delhi.

"I was invited to speak about Delhi reforms at World Education Conference, Moscow. I was supposed to leave tonight but it's unfortunate that Govt of India has not given permission. It's pending 'under process' for last 10 days (sic)," The AAP leader tweeted today.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not want the Delhi government's work to reach an international platform.

"Delhi's education reforms hv been getting international press coverage in past few months. It's unfortunate that PM Modi doesn't want this to reach int. platforms. Sir! Delhi is also part of India! If our schools get international recognition, it's a matter of pride for India (sic)," he said in another tweet.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Centre and six states of North India signed a memorandum of understanding today for construction of Lakhwar multi-purpose project in the Upper Yamuna basin in Uttarakhand.

Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari signed the MoU with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Vasundhara Raje of Rajasthan, Trivendra Singh Rawat of Uttarakhand, Manohar Lal Khattar of Haryana, Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi, and Himachal Pradesh's Jai Ram Thakur in Delhi for the project worth Rs 3,966.51 crore.

The Lakhwar project envisages construction of a 204-metre-high concrete dam across the Yamuna near Lohari village in Dehradun district of Uttarakhand with a live storage capacity of 330.66 million cubic metre (MCM).

This storage will provide irrigation to 33,780 hectares of land and availability of 78.83 MCM water for domestic, drinking and industrial use in the six basin states.

The project, which is to be executed by Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVL), will generate 300 MW of power.

Out of the total project cost of Rs 3,966.51 crore, the power component of Rs 1,388.28 crore will be borne by the Uttarakhand government, which will get the benefit of the total power generation once the project is complete.

Out of the remaining Rs 2,578.23 crore, which forms the irrigation and drinking water components, 90 per cent will be borne by the Centre (Rs 2,320.41 crore).

The rest 10 per cent will be divided between Haryana - Rs 123.29 crore (47.82 per cent), Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Rs 86.75 crore (33.65 per cent), Rajasthan - Rs 24.08 crore (9.34 per cent), Delhi - Rs 15.58 crore (6.04 per cent) and Himachal Pradesh - Rs. 8.13 crore (3.15 per cent), the ministry said.

Storage created as a result of implementation of Lakhwar project will be shared by the basin states in proportion to their overall annual allocations as given in the mother MoU signed between the six states on May 12, 1994.

Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi are the six Upper Yamuna Basin states.

Upper Yamuna refers to the stretch of the Yamuna from its origin to the Okhla Barrage in Delhi.

The six states had signed an MoU on May 12, 1994, regarding allocation of surface flow of Yamuna river. The agreement had recognised the need to create storage facilities in Upper Yamuna Basin to conserve and utilise the monsoon flows of the river in a regulated manner.

After completion of all these storage projects in Upper Yamuna basin (including Lakhwar), the total benefits in terms of additional irrigation potential created will be 1,30,856 hectares, water availability for various uses will be 1,093.83 MCM and power generation capacity will be 1,060 MW.

Stressing that the focus is also on abating pollution in the Yamuna under Clean Ganga Mission, Gadkari said 34 projects are being taken up on the river out of which 12 are in Delhi, which will ensure that the water going to Haryana and Rajasthan is "nirmal".

"While Lakhwar project will provide adequate water to all six States, the interventions being made under Namami Gange programme will ensure pollution abatement in Yamuna serving the twin purpose," he said.

He added that Lakhwar project will not only ensure water availability but also improve irrigation, generate electricity and fulfil the drinking water needs of all six states.

On Ken-Betwa river-linking project, Gadkari said he was hopeful that an agreement will come out of the meeting between Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)China, an ally of Myanmar's junta, today called for a political solution to resolve the Rohingya issue, saying "unilateral accusations and pressure" will not work.

The comments from the Chinese foreign ministry came a day after the UN investigators demanded prosecution of Myanmar's top military leaders including the army chief for genocide against the country's persecuted Rohingya Muslims.

Some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled the country's northern Rakhine state to Bangladesh after the army launched a crackdown last year on insurgents. There were reports of arson, murder and rape by soldiers and vigilante mobs.

Myanmar, a mainly Buddhist country, has denied the allegations of ethnic cleansing.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters that a political solution is needed to be found to resolve the issue when asked for her reaction to the UN investigators' recommendations.

"The Rakhine state has a complex background in terms of history, religion and ethnic groups. We hope that Bangladesh and Myanmar could engage in more dialogue and contribute to peace, stability and prosperity in the Rakhine state," she said.

When a reporter asked since China has blocked actions against Myanmar in the UN Security Council, will it continue to do so on this issue, Hua said: "I do not agree that China has blocked actions against Myanmar in the UN".

The issue has a very complicated historical background, she said.

"We need to find a political solution to it. There is some progress between Bangladesh and Myanmar in resolving the issue. International community should help them properly resolve the issue. Unilateral accusations and pressure will not help solve the problem," she added.

China, which has been backing Myanmar's military junta over two decades, has extensive investments in the Rakhine state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)China ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing issued an apology today for a string of lapses that led to the rape and murder of a passenger last week, the second such killing this year.

The company has been slammed by observers, including China's transport ministry, over safety lapses after a 20-year-old female passenger was raped and murdered by her driver in the eastern city of Wenzhou on Friday, barely three months after a similar incident in May.

Founder Cheng Wei and president Jean Liu apologised for their "ignorance and pride" in an emotive and lengthy note, promising an overhaul to ensure customer safety.

"Throughout the company we start to question if we are doing the right thing; or even whether we have the right values," said the statement sent out today evening.

"There is an enormous amount of self-doubt, guilt and soul-searching."



The company has admitted it bore responsibility for the crime, failing to act on a complaint about the same driver from another passenger.

In response to the fierce criticism that followed last week's killing, Didi announced the suspension of its Hitch service, which links up commuters travelling in the same direction.

The company also said it would roll out an SOS button and offer an itinerary sharing function that allows users to share their journey with a chosen contact.

Friday's murder follows the killing in May of a 21-year-old air stewardess by her driver as she was using the Hitch service.

In 2016, a 24-year-old female passenger using the same service was robbed and murdered.

China's transport ministry censured the company on Sunday, calling for it to improve its driver vetting and education processes, after the latest incident sparked furious online criticism of Didi.

The firm has dominated Chinese media headlines for days and the topic "female passenger killed on Didi Hitch" has been trending on the Weibo microblogging site.

Didi Chuxing -- which muscled out Uber in 2016 after a bruising battle -- says it has 30 million drivers and more than 550 million users across its various services.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)China this year saw the hottest summer since 1961 with the



national average temperature reaching 22 degrees Celsius, a meteorological official has said.

The department said a total of 55 monitoring stations posted record high daily temperatures.

Compared to normal years, the national average reading made from June to August 26 was one degree higher, while the summer high temperatures lasted longer, covered more areas and came along with more extreme this year, Zhang Zuqiang, director of the emergency relief and public service department of China Meteorological Administration was quoted as saying by state-run Xinhua agency.

In August, for instance, China's national average temperature reached 22.2 degrees Celsius, 1.2 degrees higher than normal years. Some 93 stations reported extreme high temperatures mostly in Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Hubei and Shandong provinces.

Zhang said the lingering high temperatures in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River were detrimental to the growth of crops.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Faced with plunging US orders, surgical glove maker Ren Jiding is hunting for new markets amid Chinese government calls to reduce reliance on the United States. But none can absorb the 60 per cent of his sales that went to American customers last year.

"Other countries import much less than the United States," said Ren, a co-owner of Hongyeshangqin Medical Science and Technology Co., Ltd. in the eastern city of Zibo.

From medical products to smartphone chips to soybeans, Beijing is responding to President Donald Trump's tariff hikes by pushing companies to trade more with other countries. But there are few substitutes for the United States as an export market and source of technology for industries including telecom equipment makers Chinese leaders are eager to develop.

Beijing has announced tariff cuts and other changes while rejecting U.S. demands to scale back plans such as "Made in China 2025," which calls for state-led creation of Chinese champions in robotics, biotech and other fields.

American leaders say those violate Beijing's market-opening promises and might erode U.S. industrial leadership.

The response highlights the cost the ruling Communist Party is willing to pay in lost sales and jobs to stick to plans that are fueling conflict with Washington, Europe and other trading partners.

"China sees its technology and industrial policies as fundamental to its growth," Tianjie He of Oxford Economics said in an email. "It is thus hard to see China's leadership committing to significant changes." Trump has raised duties on a total of USD 50 billion of Chinese imports including ultrasound scanners and industrial components that Washington says benefit from improper policies.

China retaliated with similar penalties.

The US is poised to raise duties on USD 200 billion of imports including the gloves made by Ren's company. Beijing has issued a list of American goods for retaliation.

The impact on China is "small and is containable, at least for the time being," said Vincent Chan of Credit Suisse. He said the "worst case" outlook if all threatened US tariff hikes go ahead would cut China's growth by 0.2 percentage points this year and 1.3 percent in 2019.

Chinese leaders have tried to cushion the blow to their own economy by targeting American goods its importers can get from other countries soybeans from Brazil, gas from Russia, cars from Germany and fish from Vietnam.

Beijing has promised to use revenue from the higher tariffs to help struggling exporters and has ordered banks to lend more freely to them. The biggest jolt so far came from Beijing's cancellation of orders for soybeans, the biggest American export to China at USD 21 billion last year.

That hammered farm states that voted for Trump in the 2016 election. It also pushed up prices for Chinese farmers that use soybeans for animal feed and food processors that crush them for cooking oil.

That could be a windfall for Brazil. But China already is its top market and consumes two-thirds of the global supply. Chinese total imports last year of 95 million metric tons were 50 percent more than the South American giant's entire exports.

"The Chinese can talk all they want about finding other sources of soybeans," but 80 percent come from the United States, Brazil and Argentina, said Michael Cordonnier, president of Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc., a U.S. research firm.

"If you want to import soybeans, it generally must be from one of those three countries," said Cordonnier in an email.

Regulators also cut import duties on automobiles on July 1 but raised them on vehicles from the United States. That helps luxury brands that import from Germany and Japan.

Replacing markets for Chinese exporters that support tens of millions of jobs will be harder.

The United States bought USD 430 billion of China's exports last year, or 20 per cent of the USD 2.2 trillion total. The No 2 market was the 28-nation European Union at USD 370 billion.

"We can't afford to lose the U.S. market," said David Hu, general manager of Sinohood Bags Factory Ltd. in the southeastern city of Yiwu.

Americans bought 40 percent of his canvas tote bags last year, including the most profitable customized versions with Christmas and other designs. "What we export to Europe is lower-end products with lower prices," said Hu.

"We could explore the Indian, Vietnamese or Philippine markets. But the prices they offer would be too low." Chinese officials point to potential markets in the "Belt and Road," a multibillion-dollar initiative led by President Xi Jinping to boost trade by building ports, railways and other infrastructure across Asia to Europe.

That has brought a flood of contracts to Chinese state-owned builders but complaints about costs have hurt its appeal. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia announced this month the cancellation of plans for Chinese-built projects including a USD 20 billion rail line.

"There is potential for development in areas such as central Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa and South America. But their problems are development imbalance and economic instability," said Li Yong, a senior fellow at the China Association of International Trade, an industry group. Local officials have met with exporters to exhort them to "diversify markets," according to the state press.

Authorities in the central city of Jingzhou visited exporters to help with customs forms, financing and other details, the website China Industry and Commerce said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan congratulated today Indian women's compound team, including local girl Muskan Kirar, for winning silver medal in archery at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta.

The team comprising Kirar, Madhumita Kumari and Jyothi Surekha Vennam, won silver in the final match against Korea today.

"Muskan (18) is the youngest archery player of the state and she has created history by winning silver medal in the Asian Games which has enhanced the country's name," Chouhan said in his congratulatory message.

Minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia has said that she felt proud of Kirar's achievement.

The Indian team lost 228-231 in a contest that went down to the wire till the final set of arrows.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Bengaluru-bound passenger has been apprehended by the CISF at the IGI airport here for allegedly carrying an unauthorised satellite phone in his luggage, a senior official said today.

T Sharma, who has an Indian passport, was apprehended by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel late yesterday after the phone was detected in his baggage, he said.

The man was handed over to the Delhi Police as carrying a satellite phone is banned under law, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A city court will hear on September 4 a suit filed by Reverend Ashoke Biswas challenging his removal from the post of commissary of Diocese of Calcutta.

Biswas moved the court of sixth judge of city civil court following his removal from the post yesterday by the Church of North India (CNI).

Challenging his removal, Biswas moved the court through lawyers N N Chakraborti and S Dutta Chowdhury claiming that his termination before his retirement at the age of 68 was illegal and prayed for revocation of the decision.

The Synod, the highest decision-making body of the CNI, had yesterday removed Biswas from the post and appointed Rev Probal Dutta as the new commissary for Calcutta Diocese till a new bishop is appointed.

Biswas, who was to retire in 2016 as the bishop, had been given two extensions by the Synod.

The CNI can file its opposition to Biswas' prayer by September 4.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)State-owned Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) today said that it has paid a dividend of Rs 122.3 crore to the government on August 21.

"A dividend of Rs 12 per equity share was paid on the 10,19,52,000 fully paid equity shares of Rs 10 each held by the Government of India," the company said in a filing to BSE.

After the initial public offer of equity shares of the public sector undertaking (PSU), the centre holds 75 per cent in the equity share capital of CSL and the balance 25 per cent is held by the general public.

In addition, CSL has also contributed Rs 357.49 crore to the exchequer by way of value added tax, income tax, CST, customs duty, service tax, GST and dividend tax during 2017-18.

Shares of the company ended at Rs 425.50 apiece on BSE, down 0.89 per cent from yesterday's close.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) today urged the Election Commission (EC) here to conduct polls using ballot papers instead of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) "to restore the credibility of the electoral process" among people.

"Polls should be conducted using ballot papers instead of EVMs as that will restore the credibility of the electoral process among the people like in the past. It is absolutely necessary for protecting the democratic values," state Congress in-charge of poll related works, J P Dhanopia, said.

In a memorandum submitted to the EC, Congress leaders, including Dhanopia, former Union Minister Suresh Pachouri and the state legal cell head Ajay Gupta met the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) O P Rawat to raise various issues, including those related to alleged irregularities in electoral rolls and EVMs.

"We also urged the CEC to take action against irregularities in the electoral rolls as demanded by the state party chief Kamal Nath and other senior leaders," he said.

About the EVMs, he said that Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPAT) slips should be displayed for 30 seconds to the voters instead of the seven seconds at present. At least 10 per cent VVPAT slips should be verified with the total number of votes garnered by any candidate, he said.

"We also demanded that wherever the difference of victory margin is less than 1,000, the result should be declared only after verifying of VVPAT slips with that of the votes recorded in EVMs," he said.

A delegation of state BJP leaders also met the CEC and demanded that a software be deployed to identify the voters having names in more than two constituencies so that they can be deleted, party vice president Vijesh Lunawat said.

Besides Lunawat, state Revenue Minister Uma Shankar Gupta and Cooperatives Minister Vishwas Sarang also met Rawat.

The names of voters deleted from the list after the scrutiny should also be exhibited on the Commission's website, he said.

"We have also demanded to extend the date of publication of final electoral rolls by a month and enhance the limit of expenditure per candidate in the assembly polls by 25 per cent from the current Rs 28 lakh," he said.

The Congress has alleged that there are 60 lakh bogus voters in the state and the BJP has urged EC to come up with facts on the matter.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also demanded from the Election Commission to verify at least any 20 per cent Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips in every constituency to remove any doubts on the results declared by EVMs.

An AAP delegation led by chief national spokesman and MLA, Sourabh Bhradwaj, met the CEC and submitted a memorandum on the issue.

Representatives of other political parties, including CPI/CPM also met Rawat.

The CEC had earlier said that the commission will consider the demands of the political parties and take appropriate action.

The EC top brass, including Election Commissioners Sunil Arora and Ashok Lavasa, among others later in the day chaired series of meetings with the administrative and police officials to review the preparedness of the state machinery for conducting polls due later this year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A case was registered against several Congress workers over alleged "derogatory" comments on social media against Jai Ram Thakur-led Bharatiya Janata Party government in Himachal Pradesh and BJP leaders, the police said.

The FIR was lodged at Shimla Sadar police station under section 504 (2) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) on the basis of a complaint by a local Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) activist Karan Nanda, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Shimla, Pramod Shukla said.

Nanda in his complaint alleged that Congress and Youth Congress activists were circulating fake photos on social media claiming many of them were injured during August 24 lathi-charge by police and making derogatory comments against the BJP government and its leaders, he added.

The DSP said the matter would be thoroughly probed and appropriate action taken against those found guilty.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The BJP's Kota district unit has filed a counter-FIR in response to one lodged by the Congress' unit after the supporters of the two parties pelted stones at each other in Kundanpur area during a rally, the police said today.

The incident took place last night during a pre-poll tour, 'Vikas Gaurav Yatra', by Heeralal Nagar, BJP MLA from Sangod, they said.

Congress supporters showed black flags to Heeralal Nagar. Later, BJP and Congress supporters pelted stones at each other, due to which few people sustained injuries and some vehicles were damaged, SHO Sangod Mahendra Kumar Meena said.

A counter-FIR has been lodged by the BJP's Om Nagar and district head Surendra Gochar, he said, adding that the matter is being investigated.

Heeralal Nagar accused the Congress of disrupting his yatra in Kundanpur and alleged that such incidents had happened in the past too in the area.

"We had information that the Congress will protest against the yatra. Congress supporters pelted stones on our 'rath' (chariot) and damaged two other vehicles. The police had to resort to baton charge and they lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the crowd," the BJP MLA told PTI.

However, he denied that his supporters pelted stones in retaliation.

The term of the Rajasthan Assembly will end on January 20, 2019. The state will go to polls in November-December 2018.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Congress-JD(S) coordination committee meeting will be held here on August 31 amid demand by a section of Congressmen to make Siddaramaiah Chief Minister again, that has cast a shadow on the coalition government of the two parties.

This will be the third coordination committee meeting since the formation of the coalition government after the May assembly polls threw up a hung assembly.

"The next coordination committee meeting will take place on August 31," JD(S) secretary general Danish Ali told PTI.

The committee meeting is likely to be stormy as fissures between the coalition partners have started showing up months after the formation of the government.

The committee will deliberate on bringing out a booklet on the Common Minimum Programme of the coalition government, its implementation and discuss projects to be taken up, said a source in the Congress.

Besides, the recent turn of events may also be discussed in the light of former Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah's reported statement a few days ago that he wanted to become CM again.

As his statement raised a storm, Siddaramaiah clarified that he did not wish to assume charge now, but only after five years.

Following the statement, clamour grew within the Congress to make Siddaramaiah the chief minister.

Yesterday, agriculture minister Shivashankar Reddy went to the extent of building pressure on the coordination committee to appoint Siddaramaiah as the chief minister.

Siddaramaiah himself heads the committee.

However, Karnataka Pradesh Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao clarified today in Hassan that what Siddaramaiah meant to say was that he would become chief minister again if people blessed him one more time.

"His (Siddaramaiah's) statement was blown out of proportion and projected as if he wants to destabilise the government.

He (Siddaramaiah) has already clarified that thereis no question of unsettling the government," said Rao.

The state Congress president insisted that Congress has given in writing in the form of an agreement that the government will complete its five year tenure.

In addition to it, JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda has insisted that state president Adagur H Vishwanath be made a member in the coordination committee, said JD(S) sources.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The BJP today accused the Congress of promoting violence in Rajasthan and turning the battle of ballots into a battle of stones.

The ruling party also reiterated its allegation against the Congress that it was behind Saturday's stone-pelting at a Chief Minister Vasuandhara Raje's meeting during her Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra.

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Arun Chaturvedi said that Congress leaders have "lost self control" due to the "success" of Raje's Yatra and therefore they are "promoting" violence.

"Congress leaders have lost their self-control after seeing the huge response and success to the CM's Rajasthan Gaurav Yata and hence they are now encouraging violence and misleading public," Chaturvedi told reporters at the party office here.

"The Congress is trying to gather public in the name of Rahul Gandhi. But two Sankalp rallies have taken place and he did not come in either of the meetings. The Congress did not find a face for CM post therefore they have projected Gandhi's face for elections," he said.

Raje's yatra was targeted by miscreants in Jodhpur's Osian where stones were pelted at her rath on Saturday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Amid speculation about the possibility of advancement of Legsislative Assembly polls in Telangana, the main opposition Congress today said it is ready to face the polls whenever they are held.

Congress would form the next government in Telangana winning more than 75 seats, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president N Uttam Kumar Reddy told reporters after a meeting of the party's senior leaders here.

The meeting was held amid speculation about early assembly polls, which are scheduled to be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections next year.

The speculation gained ground with Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's recent visit to Delhi.

The TPCC president said a committee would be appointed next month for selection of candidates in the polls.

"Through that committee, the process of selection (of candidates) begins," he said.

Winning chances and social justice would be the main factors in the selection of candidates, he said.

Congress would write an open letter to people of the state on how Rao has allegedly failed as Chief Minister, he said.

The letter would also highlight what Congress would do for people in the event of coming to power, he said.

Reddy said the question of Chief Minister, if Congress came to power, would be decided after the polls.

"The issue of alliances would be discussed after there is clarity on elections (when they would be held)," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A day after NCP chief Sharad Pawar said that any anti-BJP party with maximum seats can stake claim for the post of Prime Minister, the Congress today said it would strive to ensure that party president Rahul Gandhi becomes the PM.

Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan said there was no formal proposal from the NCP yet about a 50:50 seat-sharing formula in the state for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Maharashtra has 48 parliamentary constituencies.

Congress general secretary in-charge for Maharashtra Mallikarjun Kharge also made a pitch for the like-minded parties to put up a united show to stop the BJP from forming a government and said there should be "no ego" in that.

"What Pawar said is his opinion. I am the general secretary of my party. We are trying to ensure our party gets maximum seats and Rahul ji becomes the prime minister...we want our party to come back to power and our leader becomes the PM," Kharge was quoted as saying in a party statement.

He made the remarks after nearly five-hour-long meeting here with the party's Maharashtra district chiefs in view of the next year's general elections.

He also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of implementing the ideology of the RSS. "We are fighting against the ideology which is vicious from the country's point of view," he added.

MPCC chief Ashok Chavan said, "The Congress is positive towards forging an alliance with the like-minded parties in Maharashtra. Discussions are on over forming a grand alliance with NCP, BSP, PWP, Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh, RPI (Kawade), RPI (Gawai), Left parties and other like-minded parties."



"There is no formal proposal from the NCP about 50:50 seat sharing. The alliance would be formed respectably," he said.

According to the party sources, Congress' rank and file welcomed Pawar's remarks at the meeting chaired by Kharge given the probability that the Congress would emerge as the "single largest party from among the opposition parties" in the election.

"It is implied that the Congress would emerge as the single largest party and can stake claim for the prime minister's post," a leader said, requesting anonymity.

The leader said that opinions of the party's district presidents were heard in view of the election and also forging alliance with the NCP for the polls.

"The party would also work out its policies for the urban and rural areas in the coming few days," the source said.

The party is all set to fan parts of the state region-wise beginning its drive in Western Maharashtra's Kolhapur on August 31 to tell people about the "failures" of the BJP-led governments at the Centre and the state.

Expressing happiness that Gandhi has made it clear he was not driven by prime ministerial ambitions, Pawar had yesterday said the aim should be to vote out the BJP and added that any party in the Opposition getting maximum seats after the 2019 polls could claim the top post.

The Congress president had two days ago said he was not driven by an ambition to become the prime minister.

"I don't have these visions. I view myself as fighting an ideological battle and this change has come in me after 2014. I realised that there's a risk to Indian state, to Indian way of doing things and I'm defending that," Gandhi had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress would probe the "Vyapam scam" by setting up a non-political body if it is voted to power in Madhya Pradesh in the assembly polls due later this year, state unit president Kamal Nath said here today.

He said the party would constitute "Jan Aayog" (public commission) to probe various "irregularities committed during the current BJP rule" if it assumes power.

The alleged scam in admissions and recruitments in Madhya Pradesh is commonly known as the Vyapam scam.

Vyapam is the Hindi acronym of the Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal or Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB).

The scam, allegedly involving politicians, board officials and middlemen, came to light in 2013.

The scam involved 13 different exams conducted by Vyapam, for selection of medical students and state government employees (including food inspectors, transport constables, police personnel, school teachers, dairy supply officers and forest guards) where the final results were rigged.

The Congress had demanded resignation of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the alleged scam.

"If voted to power, we will constitute a Jan Aayog, a non-political body, to probe irregularities like the Vyapam recruitment scam that occurred during the current BJP rule, to bring out truth," Nath told reporters.

The Congress leader demanded that the government return the examination fees it had collected from 15 lakh candidates who had appeared for various exams conducted by the MPPEB in the last ten years.

He said the Congress would return the fees, if not the BJP, after coming to power.

Nath also demanded that the government slash the Value Added Tax (VAT) on fuel to bring down "soaring" rates of petrol and diesel.

He accused the chief minister of "misleading" the common people by announcing welfare measures, including waiving the power bills, with an eye on polls.

"The government fund is being used for the Chief Minister's ongoing 'Jan Ashirwad Yatra', which is a political programme," he alleged.

Replying to a question, Nath wondered why the BJP being a political party didn't have any complaints regarding the electoral rolls in Madhya Pradesh.

The Congress had accused the BJP government in the state of electoral misconduct by including the names of 60 lakh "fake voters" in the voters' list and requested the Election Commission to remove them from the rolls.

The opposition party had also claimed that over 17 lakh "fake" voters were found during a scrutiny of electoral rolls across 53 assembly constituencies in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.): Technology major Continental Corporation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with IIT Madras to take up research in high computing platform and cyber security for power train applications.

The partnership with IIT Madras addresses cyber security for conventional drive trains and would focus on intrusion detection and reporting on power train applications, a press release issued by Continental Corporation said here.

Together with IIT Madras, Continental would conduct research and technologies that involve "time deterministic" behaviour on power train controllers and its applications, the statement said.

"Vehicles of tomorrow are computers on wheels, opening up areas of research hitherto unaddressed. Continental is implementing a sustainable growth strategy with a high-level of investment in research and development and in capacities for future technologies", Continental Power train Business Head Soorajith Radhakrishnan said.

Commenting on the signing of MoU, IIT Madras Dean (Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research), Ravindra Gettu said, "this is our second MoU for joint research with Continental this year.

"As an institution that is in the frontier of research, we are pleased to collaborate with Continental. Our respective areas of expertise are complementary.", he said.

Earlier this year, Continental had signed an MoU with IIT Madras for taking up advanced research in machine learning and bio-inspired neural networks for Continental's Advanced Driver Assistance Systems business, the statement added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Tesla will start to make vehicles in its Shanghai plant in 2020. The initial stage will only see the production of Model 3, whose price is expected to be less than RMB 300,000, according to a local media report.

On July 10, Tesla reached an agreement with Shanghai Lingang Area Development Administration and Lingang Group to build a new auto plant in Shanghai, the American automakers first factory outside the United States. With an expected annual capacity of 500,000 vehicles, the plant will perform various functions, such as R&D, manufacturing, sales. The scale and construction of Teslas Shanghai factory, covering a total area of 1.72 square kilometers, is better than that of its American factory, a people attending the negotiation said.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, revealed during the company's second quarter earnings call on the first day of August, the new factory in China will be funded with a loan from a local bank. Besides, Tesla also posted its recruitment announcement via its Wechat account for the factory in China, including engineering and construction posts.

As to the reason why Tesla located its factory in Shanghai, Yang Zao, chief analyst on new energy business from TF Securities, pointed out the Yangtze River Delta region boasts the most sophisticated supply chain and obvious advantages over other regions in power battery, material, and auto parts. Many famed suppliers, such as CATL, Lishen Battery, Shanshan Corporation, have set up production bases in the region.

Relevant government policies may be another factor for the location decision. From 2014 when Tesla tapped into Shanghai market, the government has issued 6,000 free license plates for Tesla vehicles. It only took the government a week to build charging piles, which impressed Elon Musk a lot.Cotton production is likely to decline by 3-4 per cent this year to about 350 lakh bales following deficit rainfall, decline in acreage and the outbreak of the pink bollworm infestation on crops, according to Cotton Association of India (CAI).

"Major cotton growing states are facing issues including deficit rainfall, shifting away from cotton to other crops resulting in decline in acreage and the outbreak of the pink bollworm infestation. This is likely to affect cotton production by 3-4 per cent this year to 350 lakh bales," CAI president Atul Ganatra told PTI.

However, Ganatra said, the next couple of months (September-October) are crucial for the cotton crop, and give an actual picture of production.

In its July estimate, CAI had pegged cotton output for the ongoing season (October-September) at 365 lakh bales.

The deficit rainfall in Gujarat has affected sowing in the state, he said.

"In Gujarat, the crops are already affected due to lack of adequate rainfall. The state is already facing 7 per cent deficit," he added.

In the country, overall the sowing till August 27 stood at 116 lakh hectares compared to 124.50 lakh hectares in the same period last year, he said.

The overall sowing is likely to reach 120 lakh hectares this season, Ganatra added.

He said, in states like Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnataka farmers have shifted from cotton to other crops like soybean, which they find more lucrative in the current scenario.

"Cotton has lost area in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnataka to lucrative crops like soybean. Farmers are finding soybean more lucrative and the increase in minimum support price to Rs 3,399 per quintal in 2018-19 from Rs 3,050 per quintal in 2017-18, is providing additional incentive," he added.

Further, Ganatra said, in Maharashtra the cotton crop in 7 lakh villages has been found to be infested with the pink bollworm, out of the 21 lakh cotton growing villages.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Delhi court will hear on September 20 the arguments on charges against RJD chief Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti and her husband in an alleged money laundering case.

Special Judge Arvind Kumar fixed the matter after he was informed by the Enforcement Directorate that all the documents filed along with the charge sheet were handed over to the accused.

ED's special public prosecutor Atul Tripathi told the court that most of the documents have already been handed over to the accused and the remaining will be given soon.

Bharti, who is a Rajya Sabha MP, and her husband Shailesh Kumar were granted bail on March 5 after they appeared before the court in pursuance to summons issued against them.

The court had on February 8 issued summonses against Bharti, her husband and her firm Mishail Packers and Printers as accused in the case after taking cognizance of the charge sheet filed by the ED. The charge sheet had accused them of money laundering.

The ED had on December 23 filed its final report against Bharti and her husband.

The agency had earlier attached a Delhi farmhouse of the couple in connection with its money-laundering probe.

The farmhouse, located at 26, Palam Farms in south Delhi's Bijwasan area, was attached provisionally under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

It belonged to Bharti and Kumar and was "held in the name of M/s Mishail Packers and Printers Private Limited", the central probe agency had said.

"It was purchased in 2008-09, using Rs 1.2 crore involved in money laundering," it had alleged.

The agency had raided the farmhouse and a few other locations in July last year as part of its probe against two brothers -- Surendra Kumar Jain and Virendra Jain -- and others, who were alleged to have laundered several crores of rupees using shell companies.

The Jain brothers, currently on bail, were arrested by the ED under the PMLA.

The ED had also arrested Rajesh Agrawal, a chartered accountant who had allegedly mediated and provided a cash amount of "Rs 90 lakh to the Jain brothers in advance so as to invest in M/s Mishail Packers and Printers Pvt Ltd as share premium".

Bharti and her husband are alleged to have been directors in this firm in the past.

The ED had alleged that the Jain brothers, Agrawal and the daughter and son-in-law of Prasad, who is a former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief, were the "key persons behind the laundering of Rs 1.2 crore".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The nationwide crackdown on activists, advocates and human rights defenders is disturbing and threatens core human-rights values, Amnesty International India and Oxfam India said in a joint statement today.

The response came hours after the Maharashtra police raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least five of them for suspected Maoist links. It sparked a chorus of outraged protests from several lawyers, academics and authors, some of whom termed the move "absolutely chilling" and others saying it amounted to a "virtual declaration of emergency".

"Today's arrests is the second of such crackdowns on rights activists, advocates and journalists who have been critical of the state. All these people have history of working to protect the rights of some of India's most poor and marginalized people. Their arrests raise disturbing questions about whether they are being targeted for their activism," said Aakar Patel, executive director, Amnesty International India.

The statement referred to the raids by the police which have resulted in arrests of Chhattisgarh-based human rights lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, Maharashtra-based social activist Vernon Gonsalves, former secretary of People's Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) Gautam Navlakha, Maharashtra-based activist Arun Ferreira and Telangana journalist Varavara Rao, adding that it was "creating an atmosphere of fear".

"These arrests cannot become the order of the day. The government should protect people's rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly instead of creating an atmosphere of fear," said Amitabh Behar, the CEO of Oxfam India.

Today's raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and the upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year.

In June, five activists were arrested on the suspicion of inciting the caste-based violence on January 1. Surendra Gadling, Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale, Shoma Sen and Mahesh Raut were arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and several sections of the Indian Penal Code.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)One of the weapons probably used in the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar five years ago was not destroyed by the alleged killers as they believed it was "lucky" for them, CBI sources said.

The weapon could have also been used in the murder of other left leaning activists like Govind Pansare in February 2015, M M Kalburgi in August 2015, and Gauri Lankesh in September last year, they said, however, adding with caution that any conclusion can only be drawn after a confirmatory ballistic test of the firearm.

The agency has recently arrested and questioned Aurangabad-resident Sachin Andure who is alleged to be one of the two shooters involved in the killing of Dabholkar on August 20, 2013, in Pune while on his morning walk, they said.

A country-made pistol was also recovered from a friend of his relative by the CBI which is believed to be one of the weapons used in the murder, they said.

The CBI will send the weapon for ballistic tests to ascertain the claims of Andure before reaching any conclusions in the case as the investigators believe that his claims cannot be taken on face value, they said.

During the questioning, Andure has claimed that the right wing militant group believed to be behind the killings had over a dozen of such weapons to execute their nefarious plans.

When asked why this particular pistol which he is claiming to have been used in the killing of Dabholkar was not destroyed even after five years, he indicated that it was a "lucky" weapon used in different killings.

The agency now wants to question alleged killers involved in the murder of noted writer and journalist Gauri Lankesh, they said, adding that it is also seeking custody of Sharad Kalaskar, arrested by the Maharashtra ATS.

Kalaskar was arrested during an operation of the ATS to bust a right wing extremist module plan to carry out multiple attacks on the occasion of Independence Day.

After the arrests, the ATS had claimed that it had seized a huge cache of explosive materials and country-made firearms during raids at various places in the state.

It was during the interrogation of Kalaskar that lead about involvement of Andure in Dabholkar killing surfaced.

This input was passed on to the CBI which had arrested Andure from Maharashtra.

The CBI has a strong theory that killings of journalist Gauri Lankesh, Govind Pansare, M M Kalburgi and Narendra Dabholkar could be linked as modus operandi and ammunition used in the murders is similar, they said.

The CBI is probing the murder of Dabholkar while that of Pansare, Kalburgi and Lankesh are being investigated by state agencies of Maharashtra and Karnataka.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Jabir Moti, the Pakistani national described as a "top lieutenant" of organised crime and terror network D-Company, was today remanded in custody until September 25 by a UK court.

The 51-year-old, who appeared before Westminster Magistrates' Court via live video link from Wandsworth prison in south-west London, is facing extradition to the US on money laundering and extortion charges, which allegedly link up with terrorism funding.

Moti, arrested by Scotland Yard's Extradition Unit early this month, had been denied bail at his hearing last week as the judge deemed him to be a flight risk.

"At this stage I am remanding you in custody on the same conditions, to appear before the court in four weeks' time," Judge Mark Jabbitt told Moti today, as he sat with his hands folded and dressed in his prison outfit during the video link.

Moti faces extradition to the US following an FBI investigation dating back to 2005. The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) told the court at the last hearing that Moti faces allegations of conspiracy to launder money and extortion that link up to terrorist offences as well as charges of drug trafficking, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years behind bars.

His defence counsel Toby Cadman put on record for the court at today's hearing that his client's full name should be recorded as Jabir Siddiq, as on his Pakistani passport, instead of Jabir Motiwala, as on the provisional arrest warrant on which Scotland Yard had arrested him on August 17.

The judge said the matter would be raised with the extradition requesting state, the US, before the start of the extradition trial, which is scheduled for its first case management hearing on October 19.

Cadman also told the court that while his client is not making a second application for bail at this stage, another bail application will be made in "due course".

"I am not persuaded to grant you bail. These are very, very serious allegations there are substantial grounds to believe you will fail to appear before the court or commit further offences," Judge Margot Coleman had said in her ruling at the last hearing on August 21.

"The US is a democracy, which runs on the rule of law and we function on a system of mutual trust between our countries. So, if they say there is evidence to support the allegations, I am entitled to take that at face value," she said, in reference to the US authorities' extradition request.

The court was told that Moti had been under investigation by the FBI as a key aide of D-Company, "named after the leader of the company based in Pakistan", associated with trafficking and money laundering through international smuggling routes across South Asia that were also linked to terrorist funding.

"For a fee, D-Company uses the power of violence for debt collection and has a reputation of intimidating members of the family of its debtors in India and Pakistan," the prosecution had said in its case summary.

The D-Company refers to the network of the underworld don and India's one of the most wanted terrorists Dawood Ibrahim - the key accused in the Mumbai serial bomb blasts in 1993.

Moti has been widely referred to as the financial manager of Dawood.

In his interactions with undercover agents in the US and Pakistan, Moti allegedly admitted to being involved with narcotics and dealing with large amounts of cash and the court was told that it is believed he is behind nearly USD 1.4 million laundered to date.

Cadman, from the law firm Guernica, had disputed the charges as unsubstantiated, describing his client as a businessman from Karachi who has been resident in Dubai for many years.

"His father established the stock exchange in Karachi in 1953 and that is the basis of his successful and wealthy business," Cadman said, adding that his client "protests strongly" to the claims of his involvement with any organised crime group.

According to details that had emerged in court last time, Moti arrived in the UK on business on a 10-year visa and was due to leave the UK on August 22.

His defence team had also tried to block the media from covering the court case, raising concerns over "reports appearing in the Indian media.

Judge Coleman had turned down the request, saying: We have open justice in this country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Ending speculations, former Raipur collector O P Choudhary today joined the BJP, days after resigning from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

"I have assumed the membership of the BJP," said Choudhary, who tweeted a photo of him with BJP president Amit Shah and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh after joining the party.

Talking to PTI, the former bureaucrat said he served the people of Chhattisgarh for 13 long years and did all to help them.

"I am very satisfied with my tenure in the IAS. But bureaucracy has its own limitations. I want to work more for my people and my soil that is why I decided to leave the service," Choudhary, who hails from Chhattisgarh, said.

An IAS officer of the 2005 batch, he resigned from the service last week. He was allotted his home state as his cadre.

His resignation has been accepted by the Union Personnel Ministry, the nodal authority for the service.

Choudhary, who is credited for bringing transformation in education in Chhattisgarh' naxal-affected Dantewada district, is likely to contest the upcoming Assembly polls from the Kharsiya seat, a Congress bastion in Raigarh district, sources said.

Umesh Patel, son of former state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel, who was killed in the Jhiram valley naxal attack in Bastar's Darbha region ahead of the 2013 Assembly polls, is the incumbent Congress MLA from Kharsiya.

Choudhary belongs to Patel's Aghariya community, a dominant OBC community in Raigarh, and he may dent the traditional Congress vote bank if the BJP decides to field him from the seat, the sources said.

The former IAS officer was given the Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Public Administration for the year 2011-12 for his contribution in development of naxal-affected areas through education.

Elections for the 90-member Chhattisgarh Assembly is due this year-end.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi unit of the BJP immersed the ashes of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the Yamuna river today after a procession covering all the seven Lok Sabha constituencies of the national capital.

The "Asthi Kalash Yatra", which began from Gurdwara Nanaksar around 11 am was led by Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari, party leader Arun Singh, MP Meenakshi Lekhi, Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta and others.

The procession was attended by BJP office bearers and thousands of party workers.

"Many people turned up at the procession, which passed through different parts of Delhi, remembering Vajpayee and paying him tribute," Delhi BJP general secretary and convenor of the Yatra Kuljeet Chahal said.

The ashes of were immersed in the Yamuna river at Sonia Vihar by Tiwari and other senior leaders.

Similar 'Asthi Kalash Yatras' were being organised by all state units of the BJP across the country.

The BJP central leadership's plan to immerse the ashes in about 100 major rivers across the country has drawn some criticism from the opposition Congress, which accused the BJP of trying to make political gains out of Vajpayee's death.

The former prime minister died on August 16 in AIIMS at the age of 93 following prolonged illness.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Delhi Police provided logistical support to their Pune counterparts during the raids to arrest civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha here today, a senior police officer said.

The officer said Pune Police had sent a written request to Delhi Police last night, seeking help in conducting the raids.

"We provided our police personnel to accompany their team. They just kept telling us where they planned to conduct the raids and our team accompanied them," the officer said.

Sources said Pune Police had requested their Delhi counterparts to maintain secrecy about the raids.

A 10-member team of Delhi Police's Special Cell accompanied the Pune Police team to a residence in Greater Kailash 1, but Navalakha was not found there, the sources said.

His brother told the team that Navalakha was at Nehru Enclave. The team then headed there and picked him up.

He was taken to a city court for taking transit remand and from the court, he was taken to the Special Cell office in Lodhi Colony. He was kept there until the Delhi High Court order came.

The court had ordered officials to not take Navalakha out of the national capital till it hears the matter tomorrow morning.

A bench of justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel said Navalakha will remain at his residence under police guard and will be allowed to meet only his lawyers.

He was then escorted to Nehru Enclave from the Special Cell office.

"The Delhi Police Special Cell just provided logistical support since we were requested for it. Our involvement was just in providing the personnel and we were not involved in the investigation process," said the officer.

Left-wing activists, including Varavara Rao and Sudha Bhardwaj, were also arrested today as Maharashtra police carried out searches at multiple locations in several states, including Delhi, on suspicion of them having Maoist links.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon-Bhima village, triggered by an event called 'Elgar Parishad' (conclave) held in Pune on December 31 last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The south Delhi district administration carried out demolition of illegal structures today, freeing nearly 166 acres of government land that was encroached upon by farm houses and religious sects.

In a statement, the administration stated that the operation was started by the district task force under the leadership of District Magistrate (South) Amzad Tak under three teams headed by the sub-divisional magistrates of Saket, Mehrauli and Hauz Khas.

An official said the notice was given on August 9 to all the encroachers on the government land in Bhati village to remove their encroachment.

The officials from the forest department and gram sabha were part of the operation. Heavy police deployment with additional force was provided by the Delhi Police, the statement said.

In the second phase, 100 acres of government land will be freed, while encroachments will be removed from 235 acres of land, it added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Jharkhand High Court has approved the anticipatory bail petitions of three persons on the condition that they deposit money in the Kerala Chief Minister's Relief Fund.

A bench of Justice A B Singh yesterday observed that much has to be done in Kerala following the devastation caused by floods.

Singh granted anticipatory bail to one Utpal Ray in a cheating and forgery case on the condition that he would deposit Rs 7,000 in the relief fund.

Bail applications of fraud accused Dhaneswar Mandal and Sambhu Mandal were also similarly admitted at the cost of Rs 5,000 each.

The court said the petitioners have to submit proof of the deposits made to the fund.

Jharkhand High Court Advocate Association general secretary Hemant Kumar Sikarwar said that high courts in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka had issued similar directions to some litigants to pay costs towards the relief fund in Kerala.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj says there have been times when actors working in his films have not got along with each other and in a situation like this, all he had to do was "learn the art of conning."



His latest directorial "Pataakha" features Sanya Malhotra and Radhika Madan and is about two sisters constantly fighting with each other.

When asked if it has ever happened that like his characters on screen, actors have been at loggerheads too, Vishal told reporters, "Even if that happened I will of course not tell you the truth. It has happened. And I had this fear with Sanya and Radhika also.

"That if jealousy creeps in between them then my life will become difficult here also. But their relationship was so beautiful and healthy. I was fortunate to have both of them. Both of them are beautiful human beings. I enjoyed a lot working with them."



On being asked if it was difficult to pull the project through when actors don't get along, the director said, "You have to learn the art of conning."The director was speaking at the song launch of "Pataakha" here.

"Pataakha" is based on Charan Singh Pathik's short story "Do Behnein". Vishal said with this movie, "after a very long time" he has enjoyed filmmaking and felt truly liberated.

"I haven't worked with huge superstars. Not only me, if you ask any director he or she will tell you that the energy that newcomers come with, the amount of learning we get and the energy that gets transfered to us is unparalleled.

"Once I was talking to Mani Ratnam and he told me 'It will be the first time you will feel that you were earlier a slave and now you are free'," he added.

Vishal said with "Pataakha" he had the good feeling about going on set everyday something which does not happen "with some actors."



"This is the feeling that you will get when you work with newcomers. Seriously, I was reminded of my early days as a director. I used to look forward to going on the set. Otherwise, with some actors, you dread going to the set."



"Pathaaka" is set to release on September 28.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Domestic refined copper production declined by 47.1 per cent in the first quarter this fiscal, mainly on account of Vedanta's copper smelter plant shutdown at Tuticorin, Care Ratings said today.

During the quarter, the output of Hindustan Copper (HCL) and Hindalco was also restrained due to shutdown of their smelters for maintenance purposes.

"Domestic refined copper production has fallen by 47.1 per cent during Q1-FY19. Fall in production is mainly attributable to the shutdown of the 400 KT, Tuticorin smelter which accounted for 40 per cent of the country's copper smelting capacity," the rating agency said in a statement.

The drop in domestic production has led to the domino effect of a sharp increase in the country's imports and fall in the exports.

"Exports have fallen by 91.6 per cent (it had increased 70.1 per cent in the first quarter previous fiscal), whereas imports have increased by 221.6 per cent (it fell 69.9 per cent in April-June quarter last year).

"India imported refined copper from, Japan (66 per cent), Congo (22 per cent), Switzerland (5 per cent), Tanzania (5 per cent), South America (one per cent) & UAE (one per cent) and exported refined copper to China (58 per cent), South Korea (30 per cent), Bangladesh (6 per cent ) and Malaysia (6 per cent) during Q1-FY19," it said.

Share of exports towards China decreased to 58 per cent in the first quarter of FY19 compared to 63 per cent during the same period in FY18.

"Share of imports from Japan has increased from 33 per cent during Q1-FY18 to 66 per cent during Q1-FY19," it said.

Domestic consumption has been subdued on account of copper being substituted by aluminium, it said.

The Tamil Nadu government had in May ordered the state Pollution Control Board to seal and "permanently" close the Vedanta Group's copper plant in Tuticorin following violent protests over pollution concerns during which 13 people were killed in police firing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Centre on Tuesday asked all states and Union Territories to not allow the manufacture, sale and advertisement of and other Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), warning that its use pose a "great health risk" to public at large, especially to children and pregnant women.

ENDS are devices that heat a solution to create an aerosol, which also frequently contains flavours, usually dissolved into propylene glycolor and glycerin.

Electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes, the most common prototype, are devices that do not burn or use leaves but instead vaporise a solution, which a user then inhales. The main constituents of the solution, in addition to nicotine, are propylene glycol (with or without glycerol and flavouring agents).

In the advisory issued on Tuesday, the Union Health Ministry said as per the report on the Global Epidemic 2017, the governments of 30 countries like Mauritius, Australia, Singapore, Korea (Democratic People's Republic), Sri Lanka, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, Bahrain, Iran, and United Arab Emirates, have already banned ENDS.

"It is evident that the Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), including e-cigarettes, heat-not-burn devices, vape, e-sheesha, e-nicotine flavoured hookah, and the like devices or products available by whatsoever name, that enable nicotine delivery or its use, are a great health risk to public at large, especially to children, adolescents, pregnant women and women of reproductive age," the advisory said.



It is also evident that ENDS are not approved as NRTs (nicotine-replacement therapies) under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and rules made thereunder, it said.

"As such, the states/Union Territories are advised, in larger public health interest and in order to prevent the initiation of ENDS by non-smokers and youth with special attention to vulnerable groups, to ensure that any ENDS, including e-cigarettes, heat-not-burn devices, vape, e-sheesha, e-nicotine flavoured hookah, and the like devices that enable nicotine delivery are not sold (including online sale), manufactured, distributed, traded, imported and advertised in their jurisdictions, except for the purpose and in the manner and to the extent, as may be approved under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules made thereunder," the advisory said.

ENDS solutions and emissions contain other chemicals, some of them considered to be toxicants. Although ENDS is generally considered a single-product class, these products constitute a diverse group with potentially significant differences in the production of toxicants and mechanisms for delivery of nicotine, the ministry said.

The advisory said ENDS aerosol contains nicotine, the addictive component of products. In addition, to create dependence, nicotine can have "adverse effects" on the development of the foetus during pregnancy, it warned in the advisory.

"It may contribute to cardiovascular disease to the people who use ENDS. Also, nicotine may function as a 'tumour promoter' and seems to be involved in the biology of malignant diseases. Foetal and adolescent nicotine exposure may have long-term consequences for brain development, potentially leading to learning and anxiety disorders," it said.

A number of metals, including lead, chromium and nickel, and like formaldehyde have been found in aerosols of some ENDS, with concentrations equal to or greater than traditional cigarettes, under normal experimental conditions of use.

As such, the evidence is sufficient to warn children and adolescents, pregnant women, and women of reproductive age against ENDS use and nicotine, the advisory added.Unidentified gunmen shot dead an undertrial prisoner, earlier convicted in a case of double murder, in a court premises in Bihar's Sitamarhi district today, police said.

An employee of the court was also injured in the shooting and one person was arrested in this connection, Superintendent of Police Vikas Burman said.

The incident took place when the deceased, 48-year-old Santosh Jha, was being taken for production in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Saroj Sinha, in connection with an Arms Act case.

The body has been sent to Sitamarhi sadar hospital for post-mortem examination, SP said.

A Darbhanga court has convicted Jha in the murder case of two engineers in March.

The two engineers employed with a road construction company were shot dead on December 26, 2015 near Shivram village in Darbhanga district.

A court employee was injured in the firing and he was hospitalised, the SP said.

One person was arrested and a loaded pistol was seized from him.

Raids are being conducted to nab other culprits in the case, he said adding that action would be taken against police officials for the lapses in the security of the court premises.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Dredging Corporation of India (DCIL) has declared a 20 per cent dividend for the fiscal 2017-18, the government said today.

At its 42nd annual general meeting held earlier this month, DCI declared a dividend of Rs two per equity share of Rs 10 each, amounting to Rs 5.6 crore for the year 2017-18.

The DCI has declared the dividend on the paid up capital of Rs 28 core, the shipping ministry said in a statement.

"A cheque of Rs 4,11,44,026 was handed over to Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways, Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation by Rajesh Tripathi, CMD, DCI in the presence of senior officials of the Ministry of Shipping in New Delhi today," the statement added.

Centre holds 73.47 per cent of the share capital in the company, it said, adding that the "amount of Rs 4.11 crore is the dividend pertaining to this share.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Relatives of several people slain in the Philippine president's anti-drug campaign have asked the International Criminal Court to prosecute him for alleged crimes against humanity, in the second such request for a ruling on thousands of deaths that have occurred during the crackdown.

Lawyer Edre Olalia says a complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte was sent to an ICC prosecutor by email today that accuses him of ordering, inciting or tolerating the drug killings from the start of his presidency in mid-2016 to this month.

Olalia says a similar complaint against Duterte filed by a Filipino lawyer before the ICC last year focuses on killings during an earlier crackdown by Duterte when he was a mayor.

Duterte denies condoning extrajudicial killings and has moved to withdraw the Philippines from the ICC.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Residents of Nongtrai village in Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills district, have planted a sapling in keeping with the "one citizen one tree" initiative of state Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma.

About 300 saplings, each tagged with the name of the head of each of the family here, were planted in the community forest here and the proper growth of a plant is the responsibility of the owner.

The plantation drive at the village was an initiative of a major cement company as part of its CSR activities and another 700 saplings were planted by the officials of the company.

"This is the first time that I have planted a tree and taken a pledge to take care of it. I hope it grows big someday and I will be proud of it," Sona Lyngdoh, an elderly woman in the village, told PTI.

Although the village has many trees, the villagers have taken special interest in the Khasi Mandarin species of oranges and the people had planted about 25,000 saplings of it four years ago.

The trees are expected to be laden with fruits in about 2 to 3 years, she said.

Some of the exotic varieties of teak and other trees were also planted along the roadside of the village to make it more vibrant and welcoming.

Another village elder O Galong said the initiative is welcome as it involves responsibility.

When one undertakes a tour at the village, guava and other fruit trees are seen beside almost every house.

A forest department official said the "one citizen one tree" was officially launched by the chief minister on June 5.

The cement company, Lafarge Umiam Mining Private Limited' operations director N Sharma said the initiative was undertaken to further reduce the carbon footprints at the village in line with the firm's 2030 sustainable goals to protect and enhance biodiversity.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An department officer was arrested today here in Maharashtra for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2.50 lakh from officials of a school, the Anti- Corruption Bureau (ACB) said.

Brijesh Gupta, an extension officer of the department posted at Vasai here, had allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 6 lakh from the headmistress of the school for granting approval for starting new classes (from Std VI to XII), the ACB said in a release.

He later reduced the amount to Rs 5 lakh which was to be paid in instalments, it said.

The school management agreed to pay the amount and the same time lodged a complaint with the Thane unit of the ACB, the anti-graft agency said.

ACB officials laid a trap and arrested Gupta when he was accepting the first instalment of Rs 2.50 lakh, the release stated.

The 41-year-old has been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act, it added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Egypt's highest Sunni Muslim authority has said there can be no justification for sexual harassment, in a country where many people often blame women themselves for the widespread problems they face.

In a statement Al-Azhar blasted all forms of harassment as "a forbidden act and deviant behaviour" and said "the one who carries it out is a sinner".

"Criminalising sexual harassment must be absolute and free from any condition or context," the statement released yesterday said.

"Justifying sexual harassment with the behaviour or clothing of the woman is a misunderstanding, for sexual harassment is an assault on the woman and her freedom and dignity," it said.

Some 60 per cent of women in Egypt said they had been victims of some form of sexual harassment during their lifetimes in a 2017 report from UN Women and Promundo.

Three-quarters of men and 84 per cent of women polled said that women who "dress provocatively deserve to be harassed".

The divisions have been highlighted by a recent debate over a video posted on the internet by an Egyptian woman showing a man making unwanted advances on her in a Cairo street.

The footage of the man parking his car and approaching a woman to go for a coffee went viral and drew wide-ranging reactions online.

Some commentators said it definitely constituted harassment given the hostile atmosphere of the Cairo streets.

But others described the approach as normal given the man made no obscene gestures, and there were even suggestions the woman was at fault as she was welcoming advances by standing in the street.

Public debate over harassment intensified in the aftermath of the January 2011 uprising against former president Hosni Mubarak.

The protests demanding Mubarak's ouster centred around Cairo's Tahrir Square, where constant media coverage also highlighted sexual attacks and helped show public denial of the phenomenon.

Following the 2011 uprising, anti-harassment graffiti spread around downtown Cairo, volunteers organised to rescue women from mob attacks, and more women shared their own stories publicly.

In February 2013, women took to the streets brandishing knives in a symbolic protest against sexual violence.

Authorities directly criminalised sexual harassment in June 2014, days before President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's inauguration, however many women complain that officials still turn a blind eye to the problem.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An elderly man was beaten to death allegedly by his son over a land dispute in Odisha's Jajpur district, police said today.

Both the son and father attacked each other with wooden sticks following heated arguments over some land issue at Palatapur village yesterday, said Prasant Kumar Mallha, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Jajpur.

Hearing commotion, locals rushed to the spot, rescued both father and son and admitted them to the Community Health Centre at Mangalpur, he said.

While the man, identified as Radheshayam Behera (80), succumbed to his injuries at the hospital his son, Pramod Behera, was undergoing treatment, he said.

Police have sent the body to the district head quarters hospital for post mortem.

"We have arrested the accused under section 302 of IPC and seized the weapon used in the crime," the SDPO said, adding further investigation is on.

Radheshyam had a long standing dispute with Pramod over a piece of land located in the same village, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 70-year-old pilgrim from Uttar Pradesh died after allegedly suffering a cardiac arrest near the cave shrine of Shivkouri in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district today, police said.

Jai Kishan Diwedi, a resident of Ambedkar Nagar, lost consciousness and collapsed near the famous shrine, they said.

He was immediately taken to the Ransoo-Pouni hospital, where he was declared brought dead by doctors, an official said.

He said the pilgrim had apparently died of cardiac arrest.

The body of the deceased was handed over to the family members who were accompanying him on the pilgrimage, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The European Union and India will collaborate in research and innovation for developing a next generation influenza vaccine to protect people worldwide and they have earmarked about Rs 240 crore for the project, an EU statement said.

The EU and the Indian government's Department of Biotechnology have committed 15 million Euros each to fund this joint project. The EU is funding is under its programme for research and innovation 'Horizon 2020', the statement said.

In total, 30 million Euros (approximately Rs 240 crore) has been earmarked for research and innovation actions which aim at advancing the efficacy, safety, duration of immunity, and reactivity against an increased breadth of influenza strains, it said.

The joint effort also aims to develop cost-effective and affordable influenza vaccine rapidly without compromising quality, the statement said.

"Keeping this in mind, the participating consortia need to bring together multi-disciplinary stakeholders who can represent any part of the chain from lab to market," it said.

The decision for joint action was launched today in the presence of Ambassador of the European Union to India Tomasz Kozlowski, and Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) Renu Swarup.

"This joint call is another demonstration of the increased cooperation between the EU and India as committed by the leaders during the Summit in October 2017. In engaging jointly on this topic, India and the EU are contributing to an important global public health challenge," Kozlowski said.

"Improved influenza vaccines would help the international community to better prepare in the event of an influenza pandemic," he said.

The outcome of the project is expected to contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 3 to ensure health and well-being for all and boost the Indian National Health Mission, the EU statement said.

Addressing seasonal flu vaccination is also high on the EU health agenda with the European Commission urging EU member states to commit to vaccinating 75 per cent of risk groups against seasonal flu each year, it said.

The projects require minimum three applicants from Europe (three different EU member states) or countries associated to the EU programme Horizon 20202) and minimum three applicants from India.

The projects are also 'Open to the World' and thus applicants from other countries can join the EU-India consortia.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A group of Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community members today told the Supreme Court that the courts should not decide the constitutionality of a centuries-old religious practice of female circumcision through the public interest litigation (PIL) route.

The group said said female circumcision is practised by a few sects of Islam including the Dawoodi Bohra community and the validity of this be examined, if at all, by a larger Constitution bench.

A bench headed Chief Justice Dipak Misra, hearing a PIL filed by a Delhi-based lawyer challenging the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) of minor girls of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community, was told by senior advocate A M Singhvi that the validity of a religious practice cannot be examined in a PIL jurisdiction.

"The object of female circumcision (FC) and male circumcision (MC) is a religious practice in Islam and they are related to purity aspect," Singhvi, appearing for over 70,000 Dawoodi Bohra Muslim women, told the bench which also comprised justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud.

He said though male circumcision (MC) is followed by all sects of Islam, the FC is being observed by few sects including the Dawoodi Bohra community and the validity of this be examined, if at all, by a larger Constitution bench.

He said that if the government would have brought a legislation banning the FC then it could have been challenged on the grounds of violation of Article 14 (right to equality), but this recourse, would not be available to the community if the court decides to examine the validity of the practice.

He also referred to the apex court's judgement on right to privacy and said that the PIL petitioner has been entering into private area of the community.

Singhvi said that no affected Bohra Muslim woman has come to the court challenging the practice and to allege that it has harmed her emotionally and physically.

The advancing of arguments remained inconclusive and would resume on August 30.

Earlier, the apex court had said that the female genital mutilation (FGM) of minor girls of the community leaves a "permanent emotional and mental scar" on them and the practice may be held as violative of dignity of women as prescribed in the Constitution.

The apex court had also said that the fact that the FGM is being practised from tenth century is not "sufficient" to hold that this formed part of the "essential religious practice", which cannot be scrutinised by court.

Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, had reiterated the government's stand that it was opposing the practice and said that this has been banned in many countries like the US, the UK, Australia and around 27 African nations.

The practice causes irreparable harm to girl children and has many health repercussions, the top law officer said and referred to Article 25 to highlight the point that a religious practice can be stopped if it was against "public order, morality and health".

The bench was hearing the PIL filed by Delhi-based lawyer Sunita Tiwari against the practice in the community.

Tiwari, in her plea, sought a direction to the Centre and the states to "impose a complete ban on the inhuman practice" of 'khatna' or "female genital mutilation" throughout the country.

Female genital mutilation is performed "illegally upon girls (between five years and before she attains puberty)" and is against the "UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights of which is India is a signatory", the plea said, adding the practice caused "permanent disfiguration to the body of a girl child".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A fire broke out at an army camp near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district this afternoon, causing damage to the property.

The incident happened at the 45 Rashtriya Rifles camp in Machhil sector of north Kashmir. It caused some damage to the property, but there was no loss of life or injury to anyone, an army official said.

Fire tenders were rushed to the spot which controlled the fire and doused the flames, the official said, adding that the cause of the fire was being ascertained.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)At least 36 people have died in flooding in Niger since the start of the rainy season in June, most of them in northern desert areas, UN figures showed today.

Over that period, the floods have affected a total of 130,468 people, destroying 7,212 homes, 8,162 hectares of crops and 31,118 head of cattle, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

Hardest hit was Agadez, a major trade and business hub in the centre of the country where some 60,555 people have been affected.

With a population of 145,000 people, Agadez is known as Niger's "gateway to the Sahara". Last week, officials said the flooding had claimed 16 lives in and around Agadez, including seven in the town itself.

Other areas badly hit by the flooding included Maradi and Zinder in the centre, and Diffa in the southeast, the UN said.

But this year, the capital Niamey was almost completely spared, which some residents put down to the construction of dams that spared thousands of residents from the worst of the River Niger bursting its banks.

Last year, around 20 people had died in the capital during the rainy season, which lasts up to three months. Across the country as a whole, the flooding claimed 56 lives and affected another 206,000 people, UN figures showed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)When civilian drones take to skies under the new regulations from December, foreigners will not be piloting them as they have been barred from operating remotely piloted aircraft in the country.

The requirements for operation of civil Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS), which were unveiled on Monday, would come into force from December 1.

For operating drones, which are unmanned aircraft system, entities have to obtain a Unique Identification Number (UIN) from aviation regulator DGCA.

Besides, there should be an Unmanned Aircraft Operator Permit (UAOP) for commercial drone operations and for each flight, permission has to be taken through the proposed digital sky platform.

The civilian drones have been classified into five categories based on Maximum Take Off Weight (MTOW) -- nano, micro, small, medium and large.

In a detailed set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding drones, the aviation watchdog said that registration would be required for flying them even inside a building. However, the requirement would not be applicable for nano drones, those weighing less than or equal to 250 grams.

According to the regulator, foreigners are not permitted to fly drones in the country.

"Foreigners are currently not allowed to fly drones in India. For commercial purpose, they need to lease RPAS to an Indian entity who in-turn will obtain UIN and UAOP from DGCA," it said.

While drone operations can be carried out only in daylight, the regulator said that flying of micro drones could be allowed during night subject to various conditions.

"All drone operations are restricted to daylight and within visual line of sight. However, if you are shooting in well-lit enclosed premises using micro drone up to 200 feet above ground level is allowable.

"Ensure your drone is NPNT (No Permission No Takeoff) compliant and issued with UIN. Also, you need to inform local police before flying," the watchdog said.

The answer has been given to the question -- 'I am a wedding photographer and I have a micro drone. Most of the marriages in Northern India happen after sunset. Can I use my drone for covering marriages at night?'



Micro drones are those having a weight of more than 250 grams but less than or equal to 2 kg.

In a separate communication on 'Dos and Don't', the regulator has said people seeking to operate drones should do their homework before spending the considerable money for a drone as well as understand all operational and regulatory aspects.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A French citizen died today under suspicious circumstances after allegedly jumping from a hotel's window in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district today, the police said.

Alexis Pinguet (42) sustained head injuries and was taken to a hospital in Manali where the doctors declared him brought dead, Kullu Superintendent of Police Shalini Agnihotri told PTI.

He was staying at the Manali hotel with his male French friend, Martail Pagniez, since August 25, she said.

It is not clear whether it was an accident or a suicide, she said.

The French embassy and his family members have been informed about his death, she said, adding further action would be taken after recording statements of his family members.

The police have initiated investigation on the basis of Martail's statement, the SP added.

She said Martail's movement has been restricted and he has been asked not to leave Manali till further directions.

Alexis was in India on a tourist visa issued to him on August 12 which was valid upto October 10 this year, she added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has cancelled his proposed visit to the US, Israel and Canada next month in view of the BJP National Executive meeting and NITI Aayog Summit.

The Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways, Shipping and Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari has cancelled his proposed official visit to Israel, Canada and the US next month, the minister's office said today.

The visit has been cancelled in view of the forthcoming Mobility Summit by Niti Aayog and BJP National Executive Meeting.

Both the events are scheduled in New Delhi on September 8 and 9, 2018.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot today accused Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje of betraying the huge mandate that people of the state had given to her party in the last Assembly elections in 2013.

He also targeted the BJP over unemployment, law and order and other issues.

"The chief minister is taking out a Gaurav Yatra to save her chair. She did not fulfil promises made before the 2013 Assembly polls and betrayed the huge mandate people had given to her government," Pilot said addressing a 'Sankalp Rally' in Churu district today.

Accusing the BJP government in the state of mismanagement in dealing with issues of women's safety, farmers' suicide and unemployment, Pilot said there was a huge resentment against the government among all sections of the society.

Rising petrol and diesel prices reflect anti-people policies of the government, he claimed.

Refuting allegations of his party's involvement in a stone-pelting incident on the chief minister's cavalcade during in the Jodhpur division, Pilot said the Congress firmly believes in the 'non-violence principle' of Mahatma Gandhi.

"Stone pelting on the CM cavalcade was an unfortunate incident and is highly condemnable. Those involved should be brought to book," he said adding that the policy of "blaming Congress for sympathy votes" will not work.

Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot said that unlike the BJP, the Congress contributed immensely in the freedom movement and development of the country.

It is unfortunate that the BJP is cursing the Congress despite having its government in the state for 18 out of the last 28 years, the senior Congress leader said.

Gehlot exuded confidence that people of the state were with the Congress and would vote it to power in the Assembly elections due by the year end.

Congress' Rajasthan in-charge Avinash Pande said the BJP government had violated democratic rights of the people whereas Congress had forced the saffron party to roll back anti-people decisions by raising their voice at all platforms.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)China's moves to combat an ageing population by relaxing decades-old curbs on family size have hit an unexpected snag: many parents are no longer interested in having more babies.

The government has indicated it will scrap its policy which limits the number of children per family through tough fines -- and sometimes through forced abortions and sterilisations.

The world's most populous country introduced its one-child policy in 1979 and last tweaked it in early 2016, raising the limit to two children as the nation scrambled to rejuvenate a greying population of some 1.4 billion.

But the pent-up demand for more children has ebbed, experts say. Couples have increasingly delayed having even one child as they devote more time to other goals, such as building their careers.

The skyrocketing cost of raising children in booming China has also given many prospective parents pause.

"Lots of people want to have a second child, but the biggest problem is the financial burden," said a mother in the northeastern city of Dalian, who wants a second and even third child but remains hesitant to bear the financial and career costs.

The proposed policy change was included in a new civil code being discussed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress this week. The code is set to be completed in 2020.

"Cancelling the family planning policy would mean that the right to decide how many children to have rests with couples and families," said Liu Hongyan of the China Population and Development Research Centre, a think tank under the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

This is "a manifestation of human rights in the field of reproductive health".

The official Xinhua agency said regulations on family size were omitted from the draft law due to "changes in the country's demographic situation".

China's working-age population fell by 5.5 million last year, maintaining a downward trend that began in 2012, according to the statistics bureau. Economists fear the nation will get old before it gets rich, leaving it trapped as a middle-income country burdened with too few workers to support an ageing populace.

By 2050, the World Bank forecasts the proportion of the population aged over 60 will jump from 15 percent in 2015 to 36.5 percent, with a median age of 49.6.

To lesson the pain, Beijing wants its "high-quality" citizens to build larger families, experts say.

There is "heavy propaganda aimed at urban educated Han women" urging them to "marry early and have children early," said Leta Hong Fincher, author of "Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China", referring to the majority Han community.

From the government's perspective, Qiu Chunjuan and Xu Jinhua, who are raising two children in Shanghai, would be ideal candidates for a larger family. But the parents are not considering it.

"With the education environment in Shanghai, the economic enviroment, having two is just right," said the father, Xu.

"We're saturated now," he said. His wife Qiu said that with the cost of private school and additional classes, the pressure was already "quite big". Hu Yanhua, a 38-year-old mother in Shanghai, said she had her hands full with just one six-year-old boy.

"I need to work and I have limited energy, so I probably won't consider it," she said.

When Beijing lifted restrictions and allowed all couples a second child, officials were expecting a flood of new births.

They received a trickle, enough to steady the falling birth count, with 17.23 million births in 2017 -- but well below an official forecast of over 20 million for the year.

Surveys have shown many one-child families harbour little desire for more children.

The white-collar mother in Dalian, who asked not to be named, worried she would fall behind in the workplace if she took time off to have a second child.

"I don't want to give up my job and the feeling of self-worth it brings," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Goa was not represented in the crucial meeting of the Chief Ministers of the BJP-ruled states held in Delhi today.

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Mumbai, while senior minister Francis D'Souza is in the USA for treatment.

"No one from Goa attended the meeting of BJP chief ministers in Delhi today," Goa BJP president Vinay Tendulkar told PTI.

He said Parrikar is likely to return to Goa tomorrow.

BJP state general secretary Sadanand Tanavade said that only chief minister of a state could attend the meeting.

The meeting was held to strategise for upcoming elections to state assemblies and Lok Sabha.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several Union ministers, party chief Amit Shah were present at the meeting which was attended by 14 of the 15 BJP chief ministers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Wadia group-owned budget carrier GoAir is all set to fly international from October, with the first flight to operate on the Mumbai-Phuket route, a source privy to development said.

The bookings for the maiden international flight will commence soon and an announcement to this effect is expected to be made by Thursday, the source said.

The city-based airline, which became eligible to fly overseas more than two years ago when it took delivery of its 20th aircraft, which was also the first Airbus A320 Neo for the airline, will be the fifth domestic carrier to have international operations.

"We will be launching our international operations with a flight to Phuket (Thailand) from Mumbai in October. We have all regulatory approvals in place and the flight is expected to go into the system (bookings) in a week's time," the source told PTI.

The source said the airline is looking to launch three to four international destinations by March next year, adding the proposed Mumbai-Phuket service will be a daily operations.

GoAir spokesperson was not available for comments.

Thailand ambassador to India Chutintorn Gongsakdi had last week tweeted that, "Go Airlines (India) or GoAir has been approved as designate airline to fly to Thailand since August 10."



The airline, which launched its domestic operations in November 2005, was in August 2016 granted rights to operate to nine countries, including China, Vietnam, Maldives, Kazakhstan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, among others.

GoAir had planned to launch services on the international routes in October last year but had to defer the plan due to the grounding of some of the Pratt & Whitney engine-powered Airbus A320 Neo planes owing to engine glitches.

"We are mulling to have three to four international destinations in our flight network by this fiscal year and Male (Maldives) could be the the next destination after Phuket," the source said.

GoAir currently operates over 1,544 weekly flights across 23 destinations with a fleet of 38 Airbus A320 planes, including 19 A320 Neos.

Currently, national carrier Air India, its subsidiary Air India Express, private carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet have international flights. Tata-SIA run Air Vistara also is planning to launch services on overseas routes later this year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tech giant Google today said it is working with multiple partners to use new-age technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to improve response time to natural disasters like floods as well as addressing healthcare challenges.

Google Technical Project Manager (TensorFlow) Anitha Vijayakumar said the company has developed a system that uses AI for early and accurate flood warnings, including guiding over areas that are dangerous and prone to flooding.

Earlier this year, Google had partnered with India's Ministry of Water Resources on a pilot for flood warning based on AI and ML.

She said the pilot was undertaken in areas prone to flooding and the "initial results are promising".

Vijayakumar said the pilot can be extended to other parts of the country and expressed hope that the system will eventually be "able to give longer lead times to people, helping them seek safety".

Floods have wreacked havoc across states this year, with Kerala being the latest. Hundreds have lost their lives, while thousands have been rendered homeless. More than 7.8 lakh people are estimated to be in relief camps.

Google, on its part, has launched a series of measures to provide help and assistance in the southern state. It has activated SOS alerts on Google search which captured all the emergency resources and response numbers in English and Malayalam.

"We also activated Person Finder in English and Malayalam, to help people search and track family and friends - on last count, there were 22,000 records in person finder. We also extended this information on Google Maps to aid the rescue efforts," Rajan Anandan, Vice President of Google (South East Asia and India), said.

He added that on Google Tez (its payments platform), the company had launched a donation drive towards Kerala Chief Minister relief fund and so far, over 2.7 lakh people have contributed USD 1.1 million.

Also, Google.org and Googlers are contributing over USD 1 million to support the relief and recovery efforts.

Vijayakumar also said the company has partnered with organisations in India for using AI and ML to help detect diabetic retinopathy (DR), which could lead to blindness and puts nearly 415 million diabetic patients at risk worldwide.

She added that automated DR screening methods with high accuracy can assist doctors in evaluating more patients and quickly routing those who need help of a specialist.

This will prove beneficial to patients, particularly among underserved populations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Google today said it has partnered with Andhra Pradesh State FiberNet Ltd (APSFNL) to facilitate Internet access to more than 12,000 villages, benefitting around 10 million people.

The tech giant also rebranded its 'Tez' as 'Google Pay' as part of its efforts to take the digital payments app to more online and retail merchants across the country.

"Building for India has helped Google build for everyone all around the world... Our partnership with RailTel is an example where millions of people are accessing Internet from hundreds of railway stations in India," Google General Manager (Next Billion Users initiative and Payments) Caesar Sengupta said.

Google, through 'Google Station', provides Wi-Fi services in public locations in partnership with various entities.

"After India, we have taken Google Station to other countries like Indonesia, Nigeria, Thailand and Mexico," Sengupta said.

Previously, Google had partnered RailTel to offer Wi-Fi access across 400 railway stations in India.

"We have partnered APSFNL. We expect to start rolling out services by the end of the year with cities like Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam, to connect gram panchayats, primary health care centres and other public places," he said.

Talking about payments, Sengupta said Tez - which was built for the Indian market - has seen strong traction with 22 million people using the platform every month.

Already, 750 million transactions have been made with USD 30 billion in annual run rate of transaction value, he added.

"Many governments (globally) have taken note and have asked us to collaborate. Keeping that in mind, we are compiling our payments under Google Pay. Everything with Tez remains the same," he noted.

Sengupta said the company is also adding more merchants -- online and offline -- onto its platform.

Google is working with big retailers and payments technology companies like Pine Labs to help merchants accept digital payments, he added.

Rajan Anandan, Vice President of Google (South East Asia and India), said data consumption in India is now at par with developed markets at 8 GB a month per subscriber.

Various industry reports estimate that India has over 450 million total Internet users. There has been strong adoption of Internet among women and it is estimated that 45 per cent of Internet users will be women in the next three years, he said.

"It is incredibly exciting and inspiring time to be in India. For a very long time, India's Internet was defined by 3 Ms - Metro, Male and Millennials...The behaviour of the new India is towards -- Voice, Video and Vernacular," he said.

Anandan said as new users gain digital maturity and confidence to transact online, there is a huge opportunity waiting to be unlocked.

The tech giant is also collaborating with lenders like Federal Bank, HDFC Bank and others to offer pre-approved loans on the Google Pay platform, a move it believes will accelerate efforts of financial inclusion.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Google today said it has partnered Andhra Pradesh State FiberNet Ltd (APSFNL) to bring Google Station to over 12,000 villages, a move that will provide Internet access to about 10 million people.

The tech giant has also rebranded its 'Tez' as 'Google Pay' as part of its efforts to take the digital payments app to more online and retail merchants across the country.

"Building for India has helped Google build for everyone all around the world... Our partnership with RailTel is an example where millions of people are accessing Internet from hundreds of railway stations in India.

"We have also taken Google Station to other countries like Indonesia, Nigeria, Thailand and Mexico," Google General Manager (Next Billion Users initiative and Payments) Caesar Sengupta said.

Previously, Google had partnered RailTel to offer Wi-Fi access across 400 railway stations in the country.

"We have partnered APSFNL. We expect to start rolling out services by the end of the year with cities like Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam, to connect gram panchayats, primary health care centres and other public places," he said.

Talking about payments, Sengupta said Tez - which was built for the Indian market - has seen strong traction with 22 million people using the platform every month.

Already, 750 million transactions have been made with USD 30 billion in annual run rate of transaction value, he added.

"Many governments (globally) have taken note and have asked us to collaborate. Keeping that in mind, we are compiling our payments under Google Pay. Everything with Tez remains the same," he noted.

Sengupta said the company is also adding more merchants -- online and offline -- onto its platform.

Google is working with big retailers and payments technology companies like Pine Labs to help merchants accept digital payments, he added.

The tech giant is also collaborating with lenders like Federal Bank, HDFC Bank and others to offer pre-approved loans on the Google Pay platform, a move it believes will accelerate efforts of financial inclusion.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The government, and state-owned on Tuesday inked a $220 million loan agreement and $80 million guarantee pact to push programme in India.

To be implemented by EESL, the programme will help scale up the deployment of energy saving measures in residential and public sectors, strengthen EESL's institutional capacity, and enhance its access to commercial financing.

The $220 million loan, from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) to Services Ltd, has a 5-year grace period, and a maturity of 19 years.

"The Government of India, the EESL, and the on Tuesday signed a $220 million Loan Agreement and a $80 million Guarantee Agreement for the India Scale-Up Program," the joint statement by and said.

The investments under the programme are expected to avoid lifetime greenhouse gas emissions of 170 million tons of CO2, and contribute to avoiding an estimated 10 GW of additional generation capacity.

This would be over 50 per cent of the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency target of 19.6 GW indicated in India's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Accord.

"The programme will help tackle the financing, awareness, technical and capacity barriers faced by new energy efficiency programs and support the and SLNP programs of the Government of India," said Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, said in the statement.



ALSO READ: Why energy should be in GST

"This is one of the several steps being taken by the Government of India to meet its climate change commitments to reduce carbon intensity by 33-35 percent by 2030," he added.

The key components of the operation include: creating sustainable markets for LED lights and energy efficient ceiling fans; facilitating well-structured and scalable investments in public street lighting; developing sustainable business models for emerging market segments such as super-efficient air conditioning and agricultural water pumping systems; and strengthening the institutional capacity of

Under the Program, EESL will deploy 219 million LED bulbs and tube lights, 5.8 million ceiling fans, and 7.2 million street lights, which will be supplied by private sector manufacturers and suppliers.



Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director, EESL said in the statement, "This program provides us a valuable opportunity...while providing necessary impetus for replicating and magnifying our success across India with other energy efficiency technologies and programmes, and with other ESCOs and stakeholders across the spectrum."



ALSO READ: Boosting energy security

As an integral part of the operation, the first-ever IBRD guarantee in India will help the EESL access new markets for commercial financing in line with the Bank's approach of maximizing finance for development. The guarantee is expected to leverage some $200 million in additional financing, to help EESL with its growing portfolio and future investment needs.

"India's energy efficiency market, estimated to be over $12 billion per year, continues to face implementation barriers, particularly in the residential and public sectors, which have some of the largest untapped potential for energy efficiency improvements.

"Building upon its experience of and SLNP, EESL is now expanding its initiatives to other energy efficiency measures," said Ashok Sarkar, Senior Energy Specialist and World Bank's Task Team Leader for the programme.The Centre has come to the rescue of law enforcement agencies like tax department and Enforcement Directorate, which are faced with a unique situation of holding confiscated currency notes beyond specified limits, by making changes in the law.

A notification in this regard has been issued by the Ministry of Finance allowing agencies such as Central Board of Direct Taxes, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Enforcement Directorate to hold banned currency notes.

Under the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act, 2017, banned currency notes beyond a certain limit could be held only by the Reserve Bank, its agencies, or other person authorised by it, and in pursuance of court order.

An individual is not allowed to hold more than 10 banned notes. Besides, not more than 25 such notes could be kept for study, research or numismatics.

According to the Finance Ministry's notification, law enforcement agencies had seized or confiscated the Rs 500/1,000 notes on or before December 30, 2016 (the last day to exchange the banned notes) without specific directions from the court and need to deposit or exchange those on production of the documents authorising the seizure or confiscation.

However, there is no provision in the Act to authorise such deposit of the specified bank notes seized or confiscated by the enforcement agencies.

To deal with the difficulty, the government has come out with an order 'Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Removal of Difficulties Order, 2018' using its power under Section 12 of the Act.

Now, besides others, "the law enforcement agencies, such as the Central Board of Direct Taxes, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Enforcement Directorate on production of the documents authorising such seizure or confiscation, as the case may be can hold the banned currency notes.

In an order to check blackmoney and terror financing, the government had banned the Rs 500/1000 notes in November 2016 and people were given time up till December 30, 2016 to exchange or deposit such notes with them. There was also a grace period to exchange/deposit the notes for people who were not in India during that period.

The move had led to huge cash shortage currency notes, which eventually eased with following introduction of Rs 2,000 notes and new Rs 500 notes.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Gujarat High Court issued notices today to the Bhuj superintendent of police and an A-division police station officer on a habeas corpus petition filed by the wife of a man who went missing after being allegedly picked up from his residence by police on July 19.

A habeas corpus plea is a petition filed to ensure a person under arrest is brought before a court to determine if the detention is legal.

A division bench of justices S R Brahmbhatt and A G Uraizee directed the police officers to respond by September 6 by either producing the missing person--Majid Theba--before it or informing the court about his whereabouts.

Theba has been missing since July 19 after he was picked up by the Bhuj A division police officials, his wife Ashiyana Theba said in her petition.

Ashiyana, who is pregnant, alleged that the officials picked up her husband from their house in Bhuj and beat him up before taking him to the police station.

She said in the petition that she had submitted two applications with the Bhuj police station and the district SP on July 24 and July 30 respectively, stating that her husband had been missing since being detained by police.

She claimed that she too was beaten up by the policemen on July 19, following which she was admitted to a hospital.

The hospital discharged Ashiyana on the same night, despite her condition being "serious", under pressure from the cops, the plea stated.

Social activists had rallied behind the family of missing Theba.

Police had refused them permission to hold a "Majid Khoj Yatra" from Ahmedabad to Bhuj, after which they moved the high court which ordered the police to consider their request.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The father of a seven-year-old student who was killed at a private school in Gurgaon's Bhondsi area on September 8 last year has made a plea to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare the day as 'Child Safety Day'.

Barun Thakur, the father of the class-2 student, said a child safety baton will be launched on September 8 from the Epic Centre Auditorium at Gurugram to make people aware about the safety of their children.

"This symbolic safety baton will move around India passing through every state capital in order to wake up and stimulate people to work for the sake of children in the country," said Thakur.

He said that the petition to declare September 8 as "Child Safety Day" has been vouched for and recommended by several Members of Parliament.

"Safety, security and educational prosperity of a child is a prime concern these days. The parents and guardians across the country must come forward to raise the issues and work for children.

"I have made my humble requests to several parliamentarians and lawmakers including HRD minister Prakash Javadekar to attend the programme on the day," Thakur said.

The class-2 student was found dead with his throat slit on the morning of September 8 last year in a privaye school in Gurgaon.

The CBI, in its charge sheet, had alleged that a teenager had killed the student in a bid to get school examinations postponed and a scheduled parent-teacher meeting cancelled.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Happiness can prolong life in older adults, say scientists including one of Indian origin.

The study, published in the journal Age and Ageing, used data for 4,478 participants of a survey to look at the association between happiness, assessed in the year 2009, and subsequent likelihood of dying due to any cause, until December 31, 2015.

"The findings indicate that even small increments in happiness may be beneficial to older people's longevity," said Rahul Malhotra, assistant professor at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore.

"Therefore individual-level activities as well as government policies and programmes that maintain or improve happiness or psychological well-being may contribute to a longer life among older people," said Malhotra.

The survey was focused on individuals' aged 60 years and older living in Singapore.

Happiness was assessed by asking the survey participants how often in the past week they experienced the following: 'I felt happy', 'I enjoyed life' and 'I felt hope about the future'.

Their responses were considered in two distinct ways; a 'happiness score', and a 'binary happiness variable -- Happy/Unhappy'.

A wide range of demographics, lifestyle choices, health and social factors were accounted for in the analysis.

The researchers found that among happy older people, 15 per cent passed away until December 31, 2015.

In contrast, the corresponding proportion was higher, at 20 per cent, among unhappy older people.

Every increase of one point on the happiness score lowered the chance of dying due to any cause among participants by an additional nine per cent.

The likelihood of dying due to any cause was 19 per cent lower for happy older people.

Further, the inverse association of happiness with mortality was consistently present among men and women, and among the young-old (aged 60-79 years) and the old-old (aged 75 years or older).

"The consistency of the inverse association of happiness with mortality across age groups and gender is insightful -- men and women, the young-old and the old-old, all are likely to benefit from an increase in happiness," said June May-Ling Lee, from Duke-NUS Medical School.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court asked today the AAP government to explore the possibility of setting up an academy for imparting training to prosecutors and take a cue from other states like Madhya Pradesh and Bihar where the governments have such centres.

The court also asked the Registrar General of the Delhi High Court to see whether prosecutors could be given training at the judicial academy here.

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao said a judicial note could be taken of the fact that in certain states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra, there are training centres where government officials including public prosecutors are imparted training.

It asked the Delhi government to explore the possibility how such a training centre can be set up in the national capital.

The court asked the Delhi government and the Registrar General to submit their reports in three weeks and listed the matter for further hearing on October 10.

The court was hearing two PILs seeking upward revision in the pay scales of prosecutors and for equipping them with facilities and infrastructure needed to do their job.

Regarding, the aspect of proper infrastructure for prosecutors at the work place, the bench asked the Registrar General to take note of the proceedings pending before the court and see how proper space could be provided to them in district courts here.

The court had earlier asked how the government lawyers or prosecutors could be expected to perform efficiently if they were not paid properly and on time.

The centre had in April told the court that it has hiked the salaries of prosecutors in Delhi to bring them at par with their counterparts in other states.

The court was earlier informed by senior advocate Rajeev K Virmani, who was appointed an amicus curiae, and senior advocate Dayan Krishnan, who represented the prosecutors, that assistant prosecutors were being paid in the pay scale of Rs 9,300 to Rs 34,800 and for additional public prosecutors the grade pay was Rs 4,600 in pay bank II as per the 6th pay commission which was equivalent to what was received by a stenographer in district courts.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court today directed that rights activist Gautam Navlakha, arrested by Maharashtra police for alleged Maoist links, should not be taken away from the national capital till it hears the matter tomorrow morning.

A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel said Navlakha will remain at his residence under police guard and be allowed to meet only his lawyers.

The court also said this will be the first matter to be considered by it tomorrow morning.

The high court was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Navlakha by his advocate Warisha Farasat after he was picked up from his Delhi home this afternoon by the Maharashtra police in connection with the December 31 last year violence at Koregaon-Bhima village.

A habeas corpus petition is a writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court, especially to secure his or her release.

Left-wing activists, including Varavara Rao and Sudha Bhardwaj, were also arrested today as the Maharashtra police carried out searches at multiple places in several states, including Delhi, on the residences of people suspected to have Maoist links.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon-Bhima village, triggered by an event called 'Elgar Parishad' (conclave) held in Pune on December 31 last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court today directed the AAP government to release funds to the east and north Delhi municipal corporations to pay the salaries and pensions of all their employees, and warned of initiating contempt action against it.

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and



Justice V K Rao asked the Delhi government to comply with, in 10 days, its earlier order directing it to pay the amount according to the recommendations of the 4th Delhi Finance Commission (DFC).

The bench said if the government failed to comply with its April and May orders, it would ask the chief secretary and principal secretary of the department concerned to appear before it and show why contempt action be not initiated against them.

The court said it was "constrained" to pass this order as the issue concerned salaries of employees, including teachers, and pension of retired persons. It listed the matter for further hearing on September 10.

It noted that the government has not yet complied with the court's April 16, May 21 and May 25 orders and made it clear that the state had to make payments to East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) and North Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for paying salaries to employees.

Advocate Monika Arora, appearing for North MCD, told the court that the government has not complied with the court's April order and they have not received any money to pay salaries to their employees.

Delhi government additional standing counsel Satyakam and Sanjay Ghose submitted that the government has challenged the three orders of the high court before the Supreme Court.

When the bench was informed that no stay or any interim order has been passed by the apex court, it asked the government to comply with the previous orders.

"If there is no stay, you comply with the orders. We will haul you up for contempt...We want compliance of the orders or else Delhi Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary of the department concerned will be here," the court said.

The high court had on April 16 told the Delhi government to disburse the amounts with effect from November 1, 2017, and not make it an "ego issue".

It had observed that despite having the funds, the Delhi government did not appear willing to implement the 4th DFC, under which the civic bodies have been allocated more funds than they were receiving at present.

On May 21, when the Delhi government sought a review of the court's April 16 decision, the bench said there was no stay on its order and asked the state to pay within one month the amounts to EDMC and North MCD.

The court was hearing a batch of writ petitions on providing adequate funds to all the local bodies, including the three municipal corporations, to enable their proper functioning.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court today expressed displeasure with a Delhi Legislative Assembly committee, comprising AAP legislators, for not completing its breach of privilege proceedings against Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash despite questioning him for over four hours.

"He has admittedly appeared before you (Committee of Privileges) for four hours. What kind of proceedings are these? In four hours of questioning, you would have known what you have to do. If you have not completed your proceedings within this time, we will not allow it to go forward now," Justice Vibhu Bakhru initially said.

After senior advocate Sudhir Nandrajog, appearing for the committee, said the officer's presence was not required for now, the judge made it clear "no further hearing shall be scheduled" by the panel till September 18, the next date of hearing.

The court also noted that in view of the statement made by the senior lawyer, the apprehensions of the bureaucrat "does not survive".

Prakash, represented by senior advocate Siddharth Luthra and advocate Vivek Chib, has said in his plea that despite repeated requests, the verbatim and video recordings of the proceedings have not been provided to him.

He has claimed that without the records, he cannot defend himself against the charges of breach of privilege.

Nandrajog, appearing for the committee, said the verbatim records would be provided to the official as soon as it is authorised by the Speaker, who is in London and is expected to return on September 16.

He assured that the video records of the proceedings would be filed in court before the next date of hearing on September 18.

The court, thereafter, directed that the video records of the proceedings before the committee on July 27 and August 20 this year be placed before the next date of hearing.

In the application filed through advocates Ruchira Goel and Asif Ahmed, Prakash urged the court to put on hold the proceedings before the committee till it provided him with the records. He claimed that the committee had assured in the court that it would provide him with verbatim and video records of the proceedings.

The high court on July 24 had told Prakash that he was "adequately protected" against any punishment by the Assembly committee. It court had said that its order of July 13 was "expressly clear" that he would have to participate in the proceedings before the Committee of Privileges (CoP) and if any punishment was imposed on him, it would not be implemented till his plea against the panel's notice to him was decided.

The CoP had issued him a notice on a complaint by the Question and Reference (Q&R) Committee of the Assembly.

The high court had on March 9 asked the panels not to take coercive steps against the IAS officers.

The chief secretary was earlier served a notice by the Privileges Committee for skipping a meeting on February 20, which was scheduled a day after he was allegedly assaulted by two AAP MLAs -- Amanatullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal.

The Privileges Committee had issued the notice after receiving a complaint against the chief secretary by the Q&R Committee. This panel had also served notice on two IAS officers -- J B Singh, Registrar of Cooperative Societies, and Shurbir Singh, chief executive officer of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Madras High court has ordered a probe into filing of a petition before the Supreme Court on behalf of a dead woman with an apparent aim to grab a prime property in Anna Nagar here.

Justice P N Prakash directed the Thirumangalam police station in-charge to conduct the probe and fix the criminal culpability of the persons, who moved the Supreme Court on behalf of the dead woman, around ten years after her death, claiming ownership of the property in Anna Nagar.

The bench asked the police to complete the probe within six months and submit its report to the relevant trial court, besides filing a compliance report before it as well.

The bench also asked the high court registry to forward a copy of its order to the registrar general of the apex court, requesting him to place the matter before the Chief Justice of India for appropriate action against the petitioners, who had moved the apex court on the behalf of the dead woman, challenging the high court's ruling related to the property.

The high court bench gave the order on the plea by Chennai native S N Kulasekaran, 82, who had purchased a vacant plot measuring 10 cents at Anna Nagar in Chennai from one Robert through a registered sale deed in 1969.

In his plea to the high court, Kulasekaran said he had later moved to Bengaluru after which some strangers grabbed his plot, prompting him to file a suit in 1981 before the District Munsif Court at Poonamallee against the trespassers for a declaration that he owned the property.

He had also sought its re-possession, which was decreed by the Munsif Court in his favour on November 25, 1988.

But, despite this, he continued to face a barge of litigations before the Civil Court, the Madras High court and the Supreme Court, filed on behalf of one S Rajeswari, claiming to be the owner of the property.

Petitioner Kulasekaran told the high court bench that he recently came to know that Rajeshwari had died in 2003, while an appeal on her behalf was filed in the apex court in 2013 against the high court ruling in his favour.

Additionally, he said, on enquiry from her sons, they told him that their late mother had no property in Anna Nagar, Kulasekaran told the high court.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court today sought response of the city government and South Delhi municipal body on a PIL claiming lack of toilet facilities in a slum near Yamuna despite the much publicised Swachh Bharat campaign on cleanliness.

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao asked the Department of Women and Child Development and South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) to file their affidavits as to what action has been taken by them to comply with the requirements of Swachh Bharat mission.

The court was hearing a PIL by three law students, Shabnam, Sonali Chauhan and Nitesh Kumar Mishra, who have claimed in their plea that the slum at Sarai Kale Khan area in south Delhi here has no toilets, bathrooms and anganwadis.

As the Department of Women and Child Development and SDMC were not made party to the plea, the court directed that they be impleaded as necessary parties.

The court had earlier sought responses of the Centre, Delhi government, police, DDA and DUSIB on the plea and directed them to inspect the slum and file a report on the situation there.

The students have said in their plea that the anganwadis were needed to provide nutritious food to the poor and deprived children of the slum.

The petition has claimed that despite thousands of crores of rupees being spent on Swachh Bharat campaign, hundreds of residents of the slum are defecating in the open due to lack of toilets.

The public interest litigation (PIL) also claimed that authorities were not providing the facilities on the grounds that the slum was located on the river bed of Yamuna, despite the fact that there was a power grid and electric crematorium in the near vicinity.

Apart from the lack of toilet facilities, the plea has also claimed that the slum faces drinking water problems due to lack of permanent supply, and tankers never deliver water timely.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj today said he is in talks with actor Priyanka Chopra for a film which might go on floors sometime next year.

Earlier, the director had expressed his desire to work with Priyanka on a project. It was reported that he would do a film based on "Twelfth Night" with the "Quantico" star.

When asked about it, Vishal told reporters, "Priyanka also wants to work with me. And we are working with each other. Hopefully, we will start the film next year."



The duo previously collaborated on "7 Khoon Maaf" which was an adaptation of the short story "Susanna's Seven Husbands" by Ruskin Bond and "Kaminey".

The director is currently ready with his next project, "Pataakha", a comedy-drama about two sisters, Badki and Chhutki and, is based on an acclaimed short-story by renowned writer Charan Singh Pathik.

Vishal, however, was supposed to begin a film with Irrfan earlier this year before the actor had to head to London for his treatment. The director ultimately put the film on hold.

When asked about it, he said, "I don't know about the film's status. I can tell you my heart's status and it is that we all are praying for him. Obviously I'm missing him as a friend but also as an audience. I want to see him on screen again, whether it's my film or someone else's."



Featuring Sanya Malhotra, Radhika Madan, Sunil Grover and Vijay Raaz "Pataakha" releases on September 28.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Hrithik Roshan today slammed media reports which claimed that actor Disha Patani walked out of a film because of him.

There were reports that Disha walked out of the project because Hrithik allegedly flirted with her, a claim she also dismissed, terming the stories "childish and irresponsible gossip".

Sharing pictures of articles published by various media outlets, Hrithik tweeted, "If you want any help for your publicity, contact me directly next time".

In another tweet, Hrithik advised one of the journalists to go to the gym and "exercise to clear the garbage" from their mind.

Disha, on her part, issued a statement to quash reports.

"There is some childish and irresponsible gossip about Hrithik sir and me doing the rounds. I would like to say that it's completely untrue and in the minimum interaction that I have had with him, he has been one of the most dignified and joyful people.

"It's my regard for him as a person that is making me even respond to something this trivial. There is no truth in me walking out of any project with him," Disha said in a statement to PTI.

Hrithik is busy filming "Super 30", while Disha is currently shooting Ali Abbas Zafar's "Bharat", which is her next release.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The present BJP government in Haryana has amended 18 labour laws in last four years to facilitate workers and employers and resolve irritants dogging the industry, State Minister for Labour and Employment Nayab Singh Saini said today.

"18 labour laws have been amended during the tenure of the present government..," Saini said.

He said relaxing 'Regulation 30' of the Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958, has allowed women employees to work in night shifts.

This amendment allows women employees now to work from 7 pm to 6 am provided the employer ensures their safety and safe transportation.

It has benefitted 439 commercial establishments and 92,718 women employees of the state, he said.

The minister also talked of another amendment in the Industrial Disputes Act (IDA) which earlier required firms with 100 or more workers to seek the government's permission to retrench or lay off workers.

As per the amendment to the IDA, the firms having 300 or more employees only need the government's permission to retrench or lay off workers.

The minister said this amendment has enabled firms to employ more workers.

Similarly, the Contract Labour Act, 1970, earlier required contractors to secure license and registration for employing 20 or more workers.

This limit has now been increased to 50 workers, he said.

The government has also made several amendments in the Punjab Factories Rules to ensure safety, security and welfare of workers and prevent their exploitation by industrial establishments, he said.

With an objective to simplify business, a transparent supervision system, including the provisions for self-certification scheme for workers, employers and establishments too has been introduced, the minister added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Haryana government has decided to develop five new cities along the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway, Minister for Industries and Commerce Vipul Goel said today.

To be developed within two kilometers on either side of the expressway, the area would be named 'Panchagram', the minister said, adding, the cities, however, will have different names.

Goel said the government has already prepared a draft Panchgram Development Authority Bill, which would be introduced in the state assembly after the Cabinet approval.

The minister gave the information in a press conference on MSME Funding by the PHD Chamber of Commerce today.

"In coming times, the KMP Expressway would completely transform the industrial scenario in Haryana... the present government has provided facilities to entrepreneurs to give boost to the industrial sector in the state to create large-scale job opportunities," Goel said.

He said the industrial and commercial townships were being set up on 3,300 acres area at Kharkhoda in Sonipat. This would be the first-of-its kind township in the state, he added.

Similarly, an industrial model township has been developed on 1,400 acres in Sohna of Gururgram. Both of these townships would be connected to the KMP Expressway. Sohna township would also be linked to Gurugram-Sohna-Alwar Highway.

He said the state government has planned to develop an industrial corridor along KMP Western Expressway with world class facilities.

Terming the micro, small and medium category of industries as the "backbone of the industrial sector", the state minister said such units strengthen the entire ecosystem.

The MSME industry could be started with small capital and it would create a large employment opportunity, he said.

He said the government is working on to formulate MSME policy, which is in its final phase of development and would soon be released. It would prove to be a milestone for the MSME sector, Goel said.

"The state government has also encouraged industries under Enterprise Promotion Policy-2015.

The policy provides for subsidies on investment and interest on loans, besides assistance in technology acquisition and help for testing equipment, the minister said, adding it also provides for refund of stamp duty and lower electricity tariff for industries.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Senior NCP leader Praful Patel met Hardik Patel, who has been on fast since August 25 for Patidar quota demand, today at his residence near here and extended his party's support for the cause.

Various political parties, including the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Trinamool Congress, have already extended their support to the 25-year-old quota spearhead.

Apart from quota for Patidars in government jobs and education, Hardik Patel, who heads the Patidar Anamant Andolan Samiti (PAAS), has been demanding a loan waiver for farmers in the state.

"Hardik's fight is not restricted to the Patidar community. It is also for the welfare of farmers and youths. The way he has taken up that cause and raised his voice against the policies of the government, the NCP is proud of him," the former Union minister told reporters.

The NCP leader expressed displeasure over the presence of a large number of police personnel outside Hardik Patel's residence.

"I came here to extend mine as well as my party's support to Hardik. Though I am a parliamentarian and General Secretary of my party, I have to request the police to allow me to meet Hardik. This is shameful. I think everyone has the right to sit on fast in democracy," Patel said.

Meanwhile, Hardik Patel has written a letter to the Gujarat Human Rights Commission (GHRC) requesting the body to "protect the fundamental rights" of his and his supporters.

Hardik Patel urged the Commission to direct the police not to stop his supporters and others from reaching the venue of his fast.

He also accused the police of using "excessive force" to prevent his supporters from coming to the city.

Meanwhile, a team of doctors from Sola Civil Hospital today conducted a medical check-up on Hardik Patel and advised him to get hospitalised.

As per the medical bulletin, Hardik Patel has lost one kg of weight in the last four days.

Doctors cautioned that the fast could adversely impact kidneys of Hardik Patel if he does not take fruits or juice.

Hardik Patel started his hunger strike on August 25, the third anniversary of his mega pro-quota rally in Ahmedabad that had turned violent.

He is demanding a loan waiver for Gujarat farmers and inclusion of his community in the OBC category to facilitate reservation for its members in government jobs and education.

Hardik Patel launched his fast from his residence after authorities in Ahmedabad as well as Gandhinagar refused to allot a place for the hunger strike.

Former railway minister and TMC leader Dinesh Trivedi, representatives of the Lalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Hindustani Awam Morcha of former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi had called on him to extend their suppport on August 26.

A total of 28 Congress MLAs from Gujarat and Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Kapil Patil from Maharashtra had also visited Hardik Patel.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)There will be no "second chance" to preserve the Taj Mahal, the Supreme Court said today, asking the authorities to take a larger perspective on issues of pollution and green cover to prepare a vision document on protecting the monument.

The top court, while observing that Taj Mahal would "of course be the centre piece" of the matters to be considered, said other issues like vehicular traffic, pollution from the industries operating in the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) and the water level of river Yamuna, should also be looked into while preparing the vision document.

The TTZ is an area of about 10,400 sq km spread over the districts of Agra, Firozabad, Mathura, Hathras and Etah in Uttar Pradesh and the Bharatpur district of Rajasthan.

"If the Taj Mahal goes once, you will not get a second chance," a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur, S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta told the project coordinator, who is involved in the process of preparing the vision document.

The bench said the authorities would have to look into several issues to protect the Taj Mahal and sought to know about the green cover, the number of industries operating in the area and the hotels and restaurants there.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta and advocate Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Uttar Pradesh government, said the School of Planning and Architecture in Delhi was preparing a vision document. Besides looking into issue of protection of Taj Mahal, they were also considering a larger comprehensive plan to deal with all these issues.

ASG A N S Nadkarni, appearing for the Centre, said that in pursuance to the apex court's order, they have received suggestions from expert bodies like the Aga Khan Foundation, the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) in this regard.

Nadkarni said that the Centre has communicated to the Uttar Pradesh government to send a proposal to declare Agra a 'heritage city'.

He said the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was in the process of preparing a heritage plan for the Taj which would be filed with the UNESCO in three months.

The UP government told the court that they would respond to the Centre's communication on declaring Agra as a heritage city within a month.

At the outset, environmentalist M C Mehta, the petitioner in the case relating to the protection of Taj Mahal, told the court that green cover in the area has reduced and there were encroachments in and outside the Yamuna flood plains there.

He referred to the apex court's 1996 order in the case and said several industries have come up in the area, with many of them operating beyond their capacity.

Mehta said as per the 1996 order, there were 511 industries in the area out of which the court had then said it would deal with 292 industries separately.

ASG Tushar Mehta told the bench that the School of Planning and Architecture would suggest steps to be taken in a time-bound manner to deal with the issues and the petitioner should also give his suggestions.

When he said the vision document would cover "wider aspects", the bench sought to know about the industries there.

When Bhati said that 1,167 polluting industries existed in the area now, the bench said "things have changed from what was told to this court in 1996. There were 511 industries then and now it is 1,167. Has all this being taken into consideration?"



The project coordinator told the bench that they were looking into all the aspects and verifying data on number of industries as the list given to them was "incorrect".

"If information given to you is incorrect, the vision document would be incorrect. This is the problem," the court observed.

The coordinator also told the court that forest cover was only around six per cent and open density in the area has reduced, which was a cause of major concern.

The bench told the coordinator to do the work related to vision document "fearlessly" and said in case of any assistance, he could approach the apex court. "You can come to the Supreme Court in case you want any kind of assistance. You go slowly and steadily so that everything can be worked out," it said.

The bench also said that after finding a solution to the problems in the area, the government would have to implement the solutions. "If they (government) do not do it, then court is there," the bench said and posted the matter for hearing on September 25.

The bench, which has been monitoring development in the TTZ area to protect the Taj Mahal, asked the petitioner to give his suggestions to the expert body within a week. The top court had earlier slammed the Centre, Uttar Pradesh government and TTZ authority for their failure to restore the pristine glory of Taj Mahal.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Gautam Buddh Nagar district administration today passed an order invoking the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against the kingpin of a sand mining mafia who had built a dam on the Yamuna river, obstructing its flow.

The order, the first of its kind against the sand mafia, has been passed to press charges under section 3(2) of the NSA against Sanjay Momnathan (48), District Magistrate Brajesh Narayan Singh said.

This particular section of the NSA seeks to prohibit bail to any person with a view to prevent them from acting in any manner considered prejudicial to the security of the state or public order, among others.

"Sanjay had a well organised gang which had created a dam on the Yamuna on July 11. The illegal construction, which had obstructed the natural flow of the river, was used by them to take heavy mahin to the other side of the Yamuna and collect sand illegally," Singh told reporters at a joint press conference with Senior Superintendent of Police Ajay Pal Sharma here.

"The way they were working is not only a case of illegal mining but they were also destructing the environment, ecology in several ways," he said.

"What this sand mafia has done qualifies as public order destruction therefore besides acting against him under the Gangsters Act, we have passed an order to invoke the National Security Act also," the district magistrate said.

The district irrigation department was alerted about the construction of the dam on the river near Tilwada village in Greater Noida two days after it came up. The dam was immediately removed, and legal and police proceedings initiated against him, the top official said.

SSP Sharma said Momnathan was registered as a mining mafia in the district.

He has been reportedly involved in illegal sand mining for around 15 years now and has 17 cases registered against him at various police stations. He has also been involved in attacks on government officials in the past.

"Besides illegal mining, two of the cases against him at the Kasna police station in Gautam Buddh Nagar are under the Gangster Act," Sharma said.

"Sanjay Momnathan is currently lodged in the district jail here and he is trying to get released on bail. Once out, he would probably engage in illegal mining and may attack public servants and security officials which may disturb public order," an official statement said.

"Therefore keeping in mind these circumstances, the district magistrate, B N Singh, has passed an order to invoke the section 3(2) of the National Security Act against Sanjay Momnathan," it added.

Asked about the alleged support of the administration and the police to the sand mafia here, the district magistrate said today's action against the "biggest mafia" made it clear that the government was working against such elements.

"This is also to ensure that a message goes out that those involved in such anti-social activities will not be let off," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India's crude steel output increased by 5.4 per cent to 61.8 million tonnes (MT) in the first seven month of the calender year 2018, according to World Steel Association.

The country had produced 58.6 MT of crude steel in the January-July period of 2017, the association said in a statement.

India's crude steel production in July increased by 8.4 per cent to 9 MT, over 8.3 MT in July 2017, the release said.

World crude steel production for the 64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association was at 154.6 MT in July, registering an increase of 5.8 per cent when compared to July 2017.

China's crude steel production for July was at 81.2 MT, registering an increase of 7.2 per cent when compared to July 2017.

Japan produced 8.4 MT of crude steel last month, down by 2 per cent when compared to July 2017.

The government had earlier said that India's crude steel output is expected to soar by 38 per cent to 140 MT by the end of this year.

The country produced 101.4 MT steel in 2017.

The steel ministry had earlier asked industry players to make full use of the resources available in the country to increase steel output.

Under the National Steel Policy (NSP), the government has set a production target of 300 MT by 2030-31.

The NSP also aims at more than doubling the per capita steel consumption to 158 kg by 2030-31, from 70 kg at present.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today held talks with her Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh and discussed measures to strengthen trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation between the two countries.

Swaraj is in Vietnam on the first leg of her four-day two-nation tour which aims at deepening India's strategic cooperation with Vietnam and Cambodia -- the key countries in the ASEAN region.

"Deepening our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership! EAM @SushmaSwaraj and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh led delegation level talks where trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation were discussed," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

Swaraj co-chaired the 16th meeting of the Joint Commission along with the Vietnamese foreign minister.

Earlier, addressing the 3rd Indian Ocean Conference here yesterday, Swaraj said India and Vietnam are connected not only by the common waters but also by a shared vision for peace and prosperity.

Hanoi is therefore a particularly appropriate setting to discuss developments in the Indian Ocean and the Indo-Pacific region, she said.

Swaraj said India and Vietnam have agreed to further strengthen cooperation in the maritime domain, including on anti-piracy, security of sea lanes and exchange of white shipping information.

"We also agreed on the importance of the early conclusion of an ASEAN-India Maritime Transport Cooperation Agreement. In this context, we intend to accelerate the establishment of direct shipping routes between the sea ports of India and Vietnam," she said.

Yesterday, Swaraj met Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Bangladeshi Planning Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal.

She also held talks with Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A delegation of the Indian Water Commission arrived in Pakistan today to hold crucial talks with its counterpart on various aspects of the Indus Waters Treaty, the first bilateral engagement since Prime Minister Imran Khan took office.

Pakistan Water Commissioner Syed Mehr Ali Shah and additional commissioner Sheraz Jamil received the nine-member Indian delegation led by Water Commissioner P K Saxena on its arrival here via Wagah border.

Talking to reporters, Shah said talks between the two countries will be held on water issues on Wednesday and Thursday in Lahore.

The talks will be the first official engagement between India and Pakistan since Khan became prime minister on August 18.

The last meeting of the Pakistan-India Permanent Indus Commission was held in New Delhi in March during which both the sides had shared details of the water flow and the quantum of water being used under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty.

India and Pakistan signed the treaty in 1960 after nine years of negotiations, with the World Bank being a signatory.

The treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding their use of the rivers. However, there have been disagreements and differences between India and Pakistan over the treaty.

Shah said Pakistan has raised objections on 1000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnai hydroelectric projects on River Chenab and a detailed discussion will be held during the talks.

"We had also raised concerns over construction of dams on Pakistani rivers and India did not bother about it and continued doing the same," Shah said, adding India will reply to Pakistan's queries on controversial water projects.

Former Pakistan Indus Water Commissioner Syed Jamaat Ali Shah told PTI that the successive Pakistani governments had given much importance to its water disputes with India.

"India does not bother Pakistan in this regard. It begins work on building hydro power projects on the Pakistani rivers and the Pakistani government raises objections afterwards. Unless the Pakistani government seriously takes up these matters with India it will not get relief," he said and added that Pakistan also needs to plead its case in the World Bank.

According to an official of Pakistan Water Commission, Pakistan has been raising reservations over the designs of the two projects - 1000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnai hydroelectric projects on River Chenab - and would like India to either modify the designs to make them compliant to 1960 Indus Waters Treaty or put the projects on hold until Delhi satisfies Islamabad.

"The two sides will in talks also finalise the schedule of future meetings of the Permanent Indus Commission and visits of the teams of the Indus commissioners," the official said.

The water commissioners of Pakistan and India were required to meet twice a year and arrange technical visits to projects' sites and critical river head works, but Pakistan had been facing a lot of problems in timely meetings and visits.

Pakistan has also challenged the discharge series of River Lower Kalnai at Dunadi for winter months and estimated permissible pondage of 0.38 cubic megametres compared to Indian design pondage of 2.74 cubic megametres. The Lower Kalnai project is on a left bank tributary of Chenab and can have gross storage of about 1,508 acre feet of water.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An Indian-origin employee of Singapore's DBS Bank has lost his job after he posted on Facebook an image of the country's torn flag to reveal the Indian flag underneath on the eve of India's Independence Day.

Avijit Das Patnaik had on August 14 posted a picture on the Facebook page of the Singapore Indians & Expats group, showing the Singapore flag on a T-shirt being ripped up to reveal the Indian flag underneath. The group has 11,000 members, according to a Channel Asia report.

Patnaik, who had been living in Singapore for a decade, had posted the image along with the caption -- Phir Bhi dil hai (Still my heart heart is Indian)and alludes to a popular bollywood song.

The post had caused outrage in the city-state, with many netizens terming it "offensive" and "insulting to Singapore". The post has since been taken down.

Singapore-headquartered DBS Bank, in a comment to complaints on its Facebook page on August 19, had said that Patnaik had posted the image because he "wanted to show that even as he is in Singapore, he remains Indian at heart".

"Upon realising the graphic was offensive, he took it down immediately," DBS said, adding that it had counselled Patnaik.

Today, the Bank released a statement on its Facebook page, saying that Patnaik was no longer its employee.

"Since the incident, a disciplinary committee has been convened and as of August 24, he (Patnaik) is no longer with the bank," the DBS Bank said in the post.

"DBS strongly disapproves of such actions by our employees. At the same time, it is fair and right that all employees are given the benefit of due process," it said.

When asked about the circumstances surrounding Patnaik's departure, including whether he resigned or was sacked, a DBS spokesman declined to elaborate, according to the report.

"We have nothing further to share beyond the post," it said quoting the bank as saying.

According to the Singapore Arms and Flag National Anthem Act, any person that treats the flag with disrespect may be fined a maximum of 1,000 Singapore dollar.

Meanwhile, according to the Channel NewsAsia report, police have confirmed that a report has been made and investigations are underway.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Going above and beyond their call of duty, Indian peacekeepers in South Sudan rehabilitated a long-neglected runway at the Malakal airport, providing essential infrastructure support to the area.

The Indian peacekeepers serving the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) repaired and rehabilitated one of the tarmacs at the Malakal airport that had been left inoperable and damaged. Laden with significantly-sized craters, the runway had not been used since 2013, when the crisis in the country broke out.

The runway had thick tall bushes at its peripheries and the arduous work of rehabilitating the long-neglected runway had to be scheduled around the arrivals and departures of airborne objects taking place at an adjacent airstrip pertaining to the same flight operating facilities, a press release from UNMISS said.

Due to such conditions, the peacekeepers had to spend an unprecedented number of evenings and weekends at the airport.

"This project fell far beyond the realm of our regular work here, but we took up the task and cracks head on. We are very pleased with the outcome, their commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Supratim Datta said in the release.

"The biggest challenge of them all was actually to get hold of the bitumen, because it is not common here," he said.

With its road infrastructure in a predominantly poor state, South Sudan relies heavily on air transport. Malakal, some 600 kilometres north of Juba and inaccessible by road, is no exception.

Malakal airport manager David Garang Mangok applauded the sustained relationship with the peacekeeping mission, which has contributed greatly to the maintenance of infrastructure of the aviation sector.

"I'd like to commend their good quality of work, support and cooperation," he said.

Last year the Indian peacekeeping engineers based in Malakal rehabilitated 205 kilometres of a major service road to Melut, improving business and humanitarian services between the two cities.

"As engineers, it is a dream for us to be able to do work on infrastructure development that has a positive impact on the lives of the people. We are very happy and thankful that we have been able to do something for people of South Sudan," Datta said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The 1960 Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan has survived disputes between the two countries and provided a framework for resolving disagreements over water use, a top UN official has said.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, addressing the High-Level Panel on Water Diplomacy in Stockholm yesterday, said that water can represent a source of cooperation, shared growth and mutual support.

She, however, warned that getting caught up in water-war rhetoric will be a mistake for the international community.

"When we examine history, we see that cooperation over water can prevail over conflict over water. Through water diplomacy, sometimes known as hydrodiplomacy', neighbouring states can be reminded of the benefits of cooperating around water resources, she said, adding that water, if fairly shared, can become a confidence-building measure.

Such confidence-building measures are urgently needed in many of the current conflict areas, Mohammed said.

The 1960 Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan has survived disputes between the two countries, providing a framework for resolving disagreements over water use.

"In the Middle East, water use has been an area where cooperation has been possible between some countries. In Central Asia, the United Nations is collaborating closely with the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea, she said.

Mohammed said that by 2050, the world population is projected to rise to 9 billion, who will be sharing a finite resource water.

One third of the world's population already lives in countries with water stress. As the impacts of climate change grows, so too will the prospects of further stress, she said.

She stressed that water security encapsulates complex and interconnected challenges and highlights water's centrality for achieving a larger sense of security, sustainability, development and human well-being.

Many factors contribute to water security, ranging from biophysical to infrastructural, institutional, political, social and financial many of which lie outside the water realm, the UN official added.

India and Pakistan, nuclear-armed arch rivals in south Asia, signed the Indus Waters Treaty in 1960 after nine years of negotiations, with the World Bank also being a signatory.

The Treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding their use of the rivers. However, there have been disagreements and differences between India and Pakistan over the treaty.

While the World Bank has said India is allowed to construct hydroelectric power facilities on tributaries of the Jhelum and Chenab rivers with certain restrictions under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistan opposes the construction of the Kishanganga (330 megawatts) and Ratle (850 megawatts) hydroelectric power plants being built by India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Heavy air strikes targeted the international airport in Yemen's rebel-held capital and an adjacent airbase today, residents said, with rebels blaming the Saudi-led coalition fighting on the side of the government.

The raids began at around midnight and lasted half an hour, according to a resident in Sanaa, who reported more than a dozen strikes.

While the largely disused airport and the nearby Al-Dailami base are often targeted by coalition air strikes, the latest raids were particularly intense, residents said.

The Huthi rebels accused the coalition of conducting multiple overnight raids on the airport, which is closed except for occasional UN flights, via their Al Masirah TV.

They did not report any casualties.

The strikes came hours after the Huthis said they had targeted Dubai airport with a drone attack, which was denied by the United Arab Emirates, a leading member of the coalition.

Saudi Arabia and its allies have fought the Iran-backed Huthis since 2015 in an attempt to restore Yemen's internationally recognised government to power and push back the rebels.

The coalition has faced growing criticism over civilian casualties in a war that has left nearly 10,000 people dead and unleashed what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Israeli forces demolished the home of a Palestinian who carried out a deadly knife attack in a settlement in the occupied West Bank, the army said today.

Minor clashes broke out between Palestinians opposed to the raid and soldiers in the West Bank during the early hours of Tuesday morning, the military and witnesses said.

The family home was destroyed, an AFP journalist at the scene said.

The army said its forces "demolished the residence of the terrorist Mohammed Dar Youssef from the village of Kobar, north of Ramallah." Dar Youssef snuck into the Adam settlement south east of Ramallah in July, stabbing three Israelis, one fatally, according to the Israeli authorities.

He was then shot dead by a local resident.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Twitter on Tuesday he had kept the promise made to the widow and other relatives of Yotam Ovadia, the victim of the Adam attack, to destroy the house quickly.

The stabbings also led Lieberman to pledge to build more settler homes in response.

Israel authorised plans for more than 1,000 new homes in settlements in the occupied West Bank on August 22, including 370 in the Adam settlement.

Israel rejects the widely held view that settlement expansion is one of the greatest obstacles to peace with the Palestinians.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An Israeli court has for the first time recognised as legal a settlement established on privately owned Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, court officials have said.

The settlement of Mitzpe Carmit, close to Ramallah, was established in the late 1990s on land owned by Palestinians who had title deeds recognised by the Israeli authorities.

The owners had appealed to the Israeli courts to have the settlers evicted from their land.

But the Jerusalem district court found the settlement was legal as it had been created with the consent of the Israeli authorities and that the settlers had settled there "in good faith" -- without knowing the land was privately owned.

Today, the settlement close to Ramallah is home to several dozen families.

The ruling may still be appealed, but if that fails, it could serve as a precedent for the legal recognition of settlements established without permission from the Israeli authorities or occupying land privately owned by Palestinians.

The international community does not distinguish between different types of Israeli settlements in the territories it occupies, seeing them all as illegal under international law.

Settlers on public radio welcomed the ruling, which was slammed by campaign groups and left-wing politicians.

The ruling shows "the property rights of Palestinians aren't equal to those of Jews and that the government is no longer obliged to respect private property," said MP Michal Rozin, a member of the left-wing opposition party Meretz.

Most of the international community sees Israel's West Bank settlements as illegal and as one of the main obstacles to peace, something Israel disputes.

The settlement project, pursued by every Israeli government since the country occupied the West Bank in 1967, has fragmented the land where Palestinians hope to create their future state.

More than 400,000 Israeli settlers live in the territory alongside more than 2.5 million Palestinians.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The NIA today arrested a deputy jail superintendent in Jammu and Kashmir for allegedly helping a man lodged there to persuade two youths to get arms training in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to wage war against India, the agency said in a statement.

The conspiracy meeting, involving Ishaq Palla, Feroz Ahmad Lone, then Deputy Jail Superintendent, Central Jail Srinagar, and the two youths, Suhail Ahmad Bhat and Danish Ghulam Lone, took place in the jail premises on October 25, 2017, the NIA said.

"Palla, a resident of Shopian, was lodged in Srinagar jail in a different case and he was instrumental in hatching the conspiracy from there. He was actively assisted by Feroz Ahmad Lone," alleged the agency.

"The case pertains to an attempt by Bhat and Danish Ghulam Lone, who were arrested earlier, to travel to PoK for arms training to wage war against the state. They were motivated by Palla," the National Investigation Agency said.

Bhat and Danish Lone were arrested by Jammu and Kashmir Police in Kupwara district near the Line of Control while trying to cross over to PoK on October 30, 2017.

The NIA said the duo was in contact with each other through the blackberry messenger during the entire month of October before being apprehended.

Feroz Ahmad Lone, who hails from Budgam, is currently posted as the Deputy Jail Superintendent, Amphalla prison, Jammu.

Palla, who was arrested along with Feroz Lone today, has been remanded to 10 days' NIA custody by the special NIA court in Jammu.

The agency said it will produce Feroz Lone before the court tomorrow to seek his custody.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)"The Goldbergs" actor Jackson Odell died from an overdose in a sober living facility where he sought treatment, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.

It was earlier reported that Odell, 20, was found unresponsive at his Tarzana, California, home on June 8.

According to USA Today, the coroner's report ruled the actor's death an accident resulting from "acute heroin and cocaine toxicity".

The toxicology report confirmed speculation that narcotics were involved.

Odell "had a history of heroin addiction," Ed Winter, assistant chief of investigations at the coroner's office, told the publication.

The musician-actor was best known for his role as Ari Caldwell on ABC's "The Goldbergs" from 2013 to 2015. He also starred briefly on "Modern Family".

Odell died a month before turning 21.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Members of the AAP traders wing met Satyendar Jain today and said the Delhi industry minister has assured factory owners that the city government will not allow cancellation of the lease of their establishments in Bawana.

Convenor of Aam Aadmi Party's traders wing Brijesh Goyal, who was part of the delegation that met Jain, said the process of freehold ownership of factory plots in the city will be started, to provide relief to the owners.

In a statement, Goyal said the Delhi government fully agrees to freehold policy for factories.

"The L-G's approval on freehold policy is necessary. In today's meeting, Satender Jain assured factory owners that if the free hold gets stuck further, then they are ready to sit on fast with factory owners," he said.

The Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) has issued notices to thousands of factories in Bawana asking them why the lease of their establishment should not be cancelled for alleged violation of rules.

According to Goyal, there are more than 16,000 factories in the Bawana Industrial area out of which notices have been sent to around 11,000 of them.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Media reports say a Japanese man released by North Korea after being accused of a crime has arrived in Beijing from Pyongyang and is expected to return home.

Tomoyuki Sugimoto had been in North Korean custody for an investigation into the unspecified crime, but the North's official Korean Central Agency said Sunday the country decided to be lenient and expel him for humanitarian reasons.

Kyodo confirmed Sugimoto's arrival in Beijing on Tuesday morning. NHK television quoted a Japanese diplomat as confirming the man's identity. He is expected to return home later Tuesday.

Japanese officials refused to confirm the reports publicly.

Earlier reports say Sugimoto was believed to be a videographer and North Korea may have suspected him of filming a military facility.

(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 a cash award of Rs 10 lakh for archer Madhumita Kumari for getting a silver medal in the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia.

Congratulating Madhumita for her silver medal in womens compound team archery event, Das said the whole country is proud of her achievement, an official release said.

The Indian women compound team comprising Muskan Kirar, Madhumita Kumari and Jyothi Surekha Vennam today, lost 228-231 to Korea in a contest that went down to the wire till the final set of arrows.

The Jharkhand girl made the country and tricolour proud and for this feat the government will give her Rs 10 lakh as encouragement money, it said.

"You have become an inspiration to the daughters and the youth of Jharkhand. Work hard and bring laurels for the country and the state," Das said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Jharkhand High Court has set aside a state government notification banning the Popular Front of India (PFI) on technical grounds.

The bench of Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay yesterday set aside the February 21, 2018, order of the Jharkhand government, saying it had not been published in the gazette.

The Jharkhand government had banned the PFI on account of its members being "internally influenced" by terror outfit ISIS.

PFI member Abdul Badud had challenged the order banning the organisation.

The bench also quashed FIRs registered by police against the PFI, an Islamic organisation.

The bench, however, rejected the petitioners contention to prevent the state government from banning any organisation under Section 16 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, saying the state has the power to do so.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Newly appointed Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik today met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and is believed to have discussed about the forthcoming election to local bodies in the state, officials said.

During the half-an-hour meeting, Singh and Malik also discussed about the prevailing law and order situation in Jammu and Kashmir, which is currently under the governor's rule.

They discussed about the forthcoming panchayat polls, a Home Ministry official said.

The panchayat election to elect 4,130 sarpanch and 29,719 panch is expected to be held later next month.

The election to the local bodies were last held in 2011 after a long hiatus.

The election to the local bodies were supposed to be held in 2016 but could not be conducted due to the five-month-long unrest in the Kashmir Valley, following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani on July 8 that year.

Malik yesterday called on President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He took oath as the 13th governor of Jammu and Kashmir on August 23, replacing N N Vohra.

The newly appointed Governors of Bihar and Haryana Lalji Tandon and Satyadev Narayan Arya respectively also met the home minister.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Leading tyre manufacturer JK Tyre & Industries Ltd today unveiled its state-of-the-art 'global technology centre'Raghupati Singhania Centre of Excellence (RPSCOE) here.

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy inaugurated the RPSCOE Centre which is part of the Harishankar Singhania Elastomer and Tyre Research Institute (HASETRI), a company release said.

The centre is a conglomeration of the best scientists, engineers and technicians in the industry to optimize product performance and product design cycle time through simulation and predictive techniques, it said.

In his speech, Kumaraswamy said Mysuru had been known for reputed institutions like CFTRI, DRDO, BEML, Infosys and the Raghupati Singhania Centre of Excellence is another feather in its cap.

"I greatly appreciate JK Tyre for setting up this 'Global Technology Centre' that will provide technology to its identities in India and abroad," he said.

JK Tyre has had a presence in Mysuru for the last 21 years, and that too as the only tyre manufacturing company of large tyres in Karnataka, he noted.

Company chairman and Managing Director Raghupati Singhania said the new R&D Centre reiterated his companys trust in technology.

"RPSCOE is a celebration of excellence, it is testimony to JK Tyres ethos of investing in technology," he said.

A year ago, we rolled out our 10 millionth truck/bus radial tyre from our plant in Mysore, becoming the first company in India to do so.

Today, it gives me immense joy to say that with this Centre we have added to the list of the many firsts for JK Tyre," he said.

Research at RPSCOE is focussed on multiple aspects of tyre technology, including developing advanced laboratory predictors for tyre performance and providing key inputs for life prediction of rubber products, the release said.

Among the many areas researched at the Centre include material and compound development, future technology development, computational mechanics and tyre characterization, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Karnataka police were yet to establish the role of Maharashtra-based rightwing outfit Sanatan Sanstha's activists in the journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh Gauri Lankesh murder, state deputy chief minister G Parameshwara said today.

Investigation was still on to find out whether the right-wing outfit's activists were involved in the Lankesh murder case, he told reporters here.

"The investigation is still on.... Nobody has said with absolute clarity and proof that Sanatan Sanstha activists were involved in the murder. The investigation has to be completed first. Then only we will get all the information," he said.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Lankesh murder case has so far arrested 12 people and some of them were allegedly linked to Sanatan Sanstha and its allied organisation Hindu Janajagruti Samiti.

Several activists allegedly linked to Sanatan Sanstha have been arrested in connection with the killings of rationalists, including Narendra Dabholkar, recently.

However, the outfit has claimed that those arrested were not its members.

Its spokesperson Chetan Rajhans has said that a few people with "progressive mindset", along with political parties such as the Congress and the Left block, were putting the Sanstha in the dock without providing any evidence of wrongdoing.

Replying to a question, Parameswara said any organisation posingthreat to the internal security of the nation was monitored bythe central government and the state government. Accordingly,action was taken against them, he added.

Lankesh, known for her stronganti-Hindutva ideology, was shot dead on September 5 last yearoutside her house here.

Based on the tip off given by the SIT, the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) too got leads in the killing of M M Kalburgi, a rationalist who was shot dead on August 30, 2015 at Dharwad.

Sources in SIT said they had tipped off the CBI also, which is probing the killing of Dabholkar in Pune on August 20, 2013 in Pune. The CBI has arrested a few people in connection with the case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Terming the Kerala floods as a "very big tragedy", Congress President Rahul Gandhi today assured that his party would bring pressure on the central and state governments to provide compensation which they 'owe' to the affected people.

Visiting the flood-ravaged areas of Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts, he also urged the party workers to actively participate in relief and rehabilitation operations and help the people to make their ravaged houses liveable.

"It has been a very big tragedy for all of us. Many many people have lost their lives, many lost their property. I want all of you to know that you are not alone and we are all with you," he said.

Arriving in Kerala on a two-day visit this morning, Gandhi spoke to people at relief camps, days after the deadliest deluge in the last 100 years left a trail of destruction and claimed 474 lives in rain-related incidents since May 29 when the monsoon set in over the state.

"The government owe you compensation and the government has to help you rebuild your houses. We are in the opposition and it is our job to bring pressure on the government," he told people sheltered in a relief camp in Aluva near Kochi, one of the worst affected areas in the monsoon fury.

Reaching out to the flood affected people, the Congress president said "we cannot do very big things" as the party was not in power in both the state and the Centre, but promised to extend whatever possible.

He urged the Congress workers and leaders to "pressure" the governments to get the people compensation.

"We will also apply pressure on the BJP government in Delhi...," he said addressing people at a relief camp in North Parvoor in Ernakulam district.

Gandhi hailed every Keralite for standing together at the time of the calamity, saying they should be proud of themselves.

All religions, all communities, all castes, all regions stood together and fought the tragedy, he added.

The Congress party was raising funds so that it can also help people rebuild their houses, he said.

Earlier, addressing a programme in Alappuzha the Congress president saluted fishermen who played a key role in rescuing those marooned in the deluge.

Claiming that the fishermen community in the country was facing a crisis similar to that by the farmers, he said if the Congress comes to power at the Centre, a separate fisheries ministry would be set up.

At a reception hosted by the Congress in the worst-hit Alapuzha to honour the fishermen community, Gandhi said the Coast Guard should make use of the services of fishermen for rescue operations in the future.

"I am proud to say that through all your difficulties... through all your hardships... whenever Kerala needed you... you stood up and gave your best. I salute your commitment to the people of Kerala," he said.

Three thousand fishermen had saved 70,000 lives in the recent floods, he said.

Alleging that the fishermen community in the country was facing a crisis similar to that by the farmers, Gandhi said, the moment the Congress came to power at the Centre, a ministry of fisheries would be set up.

"God's own army will have its own ministry. So your problems can be looked after and your words can be heard at the national level," he said, adding, "I do not want to make fake promises. This is a word of the Congress president."



Along with farmers, fishermen have also helped build the country, Gandhi said and asserted that it was an "honour" for him to felicitate the fishermen who had saved several lives.

Recalling his last visit to the state in the aftermath of Cyclone Ockhi, he said, "I came and visited your houses and I must say looking back, I am not happy for the help you had received for the damage (suffered in the cyclone)."



Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala and Congress' state unit president M M Hassan were among those who accompanied Gandhi.

The Congress chief is scheduled to tour Wayanad and Kozhikode districts tomorrow.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation today said it is making a USD 600,000 (about Rs 4.20 crore) grant to UNICEF to help strengthen relief and rehabilitation efforts in Kerala, ravaged by the worst floods in almost a century.

The emergency grant aims to bolster government efforts and initiatives by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the enormous task of assisting displaced, flood-affected people and helping them rebuild their lives, a release from Bill Melinda Gates Foundation said here today.

NGOs such as UNICEF are currently working in tandem with district administrations to spearhead relief efforts, the release said.

The health department in the state is seeking to prevent serious outbreaks of water-borne infectious diseases.

There is also an urgent need to build temporary shelters and provide essentials like food, dry clothes, medicines, and blankets, the release said.

"The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation extends its sympathies to the thousands of families affected by Kerala's worst floods in nearly a century," said Chris Elias, president of Global Development at the foundation.

"We hope that our grant of fast and flexible funding will help UNICEF work with local governments and NGOs to prevent the outbreak of water-borne diseases and other severe health risks associated with flooding", the release said.

The Gates Foundation's Emergency Response program aims to help accelerate rapid responses to natural disasters and complex emergencies through the quick disbursement of funds to humanitarian organizations.

The foundation also supports efforts to identify and scale up high-impact interventions that can help displaced people mitigate health risks and strengthen their capacity to cope with future crises, the release added.

A total of 474 people have died in the rains and floods since May 29 when the southwest monsoon set in over Kerala.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.): A 23-year-old Muslim woman in Kannur district has alleged she was given the banned triple talaq by her husband in writing on a bit of white paper after which he got married to another woman within weeks.

The incident came to light after the woman, a mother of a four-year-old boy, today appeared on television channels and showed the 'talaq paper', based on which the Kerala Women's Commission decided to register a case in this regard.

KWC Chairperson M C Josephine told PTI that it was the first such reported complaint on instant triple talaq in Kerala after the Supreme Court had banned the practice.

Hailing from Payyannur, the woman last week moved the local court, seeking action against her husband, Liyakath Ali Khan (30), his new wife, parents and other relatives on charges of domestic violence.

According to the woman, she got married to Ali in March 2013 and was given talaq on July 13 this year.

He got married to another woman soon, she alleged.

The woman alleged that she was ill-treated by her husband and in-laws and suffered a lot in the five years of marriage.

K Vijayakumar, her counsel, told PTI that a complaint was lodged with the District Superintendent of Police and the Women's Commission.

"The practice of triple talaq is inhuman and illegal. It is shocking to know that such incidents are still happening even after the apex court verdict against this," Josephine said.

"In this particular case, she was given talaq by writing in a paper. There was not even the presence of any religious leader.

Based on media reports, the Commission will register a case tomorrow as today is holiday for the office," she said.

Josephine also wanted the Centre to bring out a stringent legislation at the earliest to curb such practices.

The Supreme Court had last year banned the 1,400 year-old practice of instant triple talaq among Sunni Muslims and set it aside on several grounds, including that it was against the basic tenets of the Holy Quran and violated the Islamic law Shariat.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In a big relief to BJP Karnataka chief and former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, a special court quashed today a case pertaining to alleged illegal denotification of a piece of land at Rachenahalli in the city.

The two acres of land was acquired by the Bangalore Development Authority in 2004 to form Arkavathi Layout, but was allegedly denotified when Yeddyurappa was the chief minister in 2008.

Terming it as illegal, two litigants, Sirajin Basha and Balaraj had moved the Special Court.

Defence lawyer Sandeep Patil told PTI that the special court judge B V Patil quashed the matter as the sanction given by the then Governor Hansraj Bhardwaj to try Yeddyurappa in 2011 was set aside by the High Court.

The same case was tried by the CBI court earlier and was found to be false, he said.

"The case was quashed on two scores - one there was no sanction at all because it was already quashed by the high court and secondly because it was tried by the CBI court earlier and found to be false. So it had to end like this," he said.

In all, there were five complaints against Yeddyurappa of which four were quashed earlier.

Following the quashing of this case, BJP state general secretary N Ravi Kumar termed it as "a victory of truth and justice".

"Some people have made it their business to tarnish the image of Yeddyurappa by levelling false allegations," he said in a press release.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee,Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy and top actor Rajinikanth were among those who greeted M K Stalin on his elevation as DMK chief.

"Congratulations to Shri M K Stalin on being elected President of the DMK. I wish him happiness & success as he begins a new chapter in his political journey. @mkstalin #DMKThalaivarStalin," Gandhi said on Twitter.

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad also greeted Stalin in Delhi.

Banerjee took to Twitter to greet the 65 year-old leader.

"Congratulations and best wishes to @mkstalin for being elected President of the DMK @arivalayam," the TMC chief wrote on the micro-blogging site.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav in his twitter handle said, "Our heartiest congratulations to @mkstalin on being elected President of the DMK. Wish you great strength to shoulder this huge responsibility of making thousands of dreams come true."



Rajinikanth greeted the DMK leader over phone.

Narayanasamy, in his message, said Stalin was the most competent leader to pilot the DMK.

"I am extremely glad that 'Thalapathi' Stalin has been elected unanimously as president of the DMK,which is a primary political party in Tamil Naduand also been the most important party at the national level," he said



Tamil Nadu BJP President Tamilisai Soundararajan greeted both Stalin and Duraimurugan on their elevation as party chief and treasurer respectively.

Duraimurugan, a veteran leader, was elected as treasurer.

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President Su Thirunavukkarasar said Stalin has assumed the top party post through decades of hard work by serving DMK in a host of positions, including that of treasurer.

"My hearty greetings to him to achieve many more new heights," he said.

MDMK founder Vaiko also greeted Stalin, wishing him success and a long life. He called on Stalin at his residence and congratulated him on his elevation.

CPI State Secretary R Mutharasan and Tamil Maanila Congress chief G K Vaasan were among others who greeted Stalin.

Stalin thanked the leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav, for their wishes.

In a tweet, Stalin said "I feel honoured and grateful to have been elected as President of the DMK party. I pledge to protect, cherish and advance the four founding principles of our party: Self Respect, Social Justice, rationalism and Secularism."



Meanwhile, the hash tag #DMKThalaivarStalin was trending on Twitter.

After taking over as DMK chief, Stalin visited the mausoleums of the party founder C N Annadurai, and his father M Karunanidhi at the Marina beach.

He also placed a wreath at the mausoleum of rationalist leader 'Periyar' Ramasamy.

Stalin visited the Gopalapuram residence where his family members, including brother M K Tamilarasu and sister Selvi greeted him. Later, he arrived at the DMK headquarters and met party workers who had gathered in large numbers to greet him.

They presented him with shawls, garlands, books and other gifts.

DMK workers across Tamil Nadu burst crackers,distributed sweets and released balloons to mark Stalin taking over as DMK president.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.): Left leaning poet and writer Varavara Rao was arrested from his residence here today for his alleged links with Maoists.

He was arrested from his residence at Gandhi Nagar by a police team from Pune.

A senior police official here said the team conducted searches at the residences of Rao's two daughters and a journalist, among others, before arresting him.

"Pune police sought our assistance. We have provided them with local force to assist in conducting searches and making the arrest. They arrested Varavara Rao. He will be produced in a court and taken to Pune on transit warrant," Deputy Commissioner of Police ( Central Zone) Viswa Prasad told PTI.

Besides Rao, left wing activist Sudha Bhardwaj was also arrested at Faridabad.

Protesting against the arrest, Civil Liberties Committee president GaddamLaxman said they would fight the issue legally.

"The BJP Government is attacking intellectuals physically and mentally tortutring them. We are consulting legal experts. We will fight legally. National Human Rights Commission should take this up suo moto. His arrest is a gross violation of human rights," Laxman told reporters.

The raids and arrests were carried out as part of the probe into the violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon Bhima village following an event called 'Elgar Parishad' (conclave) held in Pune last year.

In June, five people were arrested for having close Maoist links after they allegedly made "provocative" speeches at the event, triggering violence at Koregaon-Bhima village.

Rao's name had cropped up in a letter seized by police during searches at the premises of one of the five people arrested in June in connection with the Elgar Parishad event held on December 31, 2017 to commemorate 200 years of the Koregaon Bhima battle in 1818.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India told the Delhi High Court today that it will not take any steps till August 30 towards its proposed acquisition of 51 per cent stake in the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI).

The oral assurance by the LIC was given before Justice Vibhu Bakhru as he appeared inclined to pass orders restraining the state-run insurance company from making any investment in the IDBI in which the government intends to dilute its shareholding below 51 per cent.

"You (LIC) will not present us with a fait accompli," the court said after which Additional Solicitor General Maninder Acharya, appearing for the Centre and the LIC, urged that no order be passed and the matter be listed for hearing on August 30 as till then nothing will happen.

The ASG also sought time to file an affidavit indicating the reasons behind the government and LIC's decision.

The court gave LIC time till August 30 to file the affidavit in which the insurance company was asked to also indicate its Board's minutes of meeting and agenda papers pertaining to the proposed investment in the IDBI.

The order came on a plea moved by the All India IDBI Officers Association which has challenged the LIC's move to acquire 51 per cent stake in the bank.

In their plea moved through advocates Prashant Bhushan and Pranav Sachdeva, the association has said that the change in shareholding could take away the public sector bank status of the IDBI which in turn could affect their employment conditions.

The petition also claims that the change in shareholding was not in public interest as it "exposes the investments made by the public in the IDBI and corrodes the ability of the LIC to pay back its policy holders since it will have to invest an amount of Rs 13,000 crores to acquire the 51 per cent stake".

"Further the said acquisition is not a financially prudent decision for the LIC given the fact that IDBI Bank Ltd has gross non-performing assets amounting to a whopping Rs 55,588.26 Cr.

"The said investment will be made from the funds of 38 crore policy holders of the LIC who have invested their hard earned money to secure their own futures. The said investment made by the LIC will adversely hamper its own abilities to pay its insurance holders," the petition has said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)IDBI Bank today said Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) will buy additional 7 per cent stake in the bank, a move that will eventually lead to acquisition of 51 per cent shareholding in the lender.

The first round of stake sale will help the debt-ridden lender to meet immediate capital requirement, sources said.

In August, the Union Cabinet had approved LIC's proposed acquisition of up to 51 per cent stake in debt-ridden IDBI Bank.

At present, insurance behemoth LIC holds 7.98 per cent stake in the debt-ridden public sector bank.

"The Bank has received a letter dated August 28, 2018 from LIC giving their in principle approval for subscription of the equity shares on preferential basis subject to their total exposure not exceeding 14.90 per cent of post issue capital of IDBI Bank at any point of time," IDBI Bank said in a regulatory filing.

The board at its meeting, to be held on August 31, will consider the proposal for seeking shareholders' approval through postal ballot for preferential issue of capital to LIC, aggregating up to 14.90 per cent of the bank's post issue paid up capital, it added.

This first round of stake sale, the sources said, will take care of the immediate need of IDBI Bank and help it meet capital adequacy norms at the end of second quarter.

IDBI Bank shares had dropped sharply by over 5 per cent to a day's low of Rs 57.85 after the announcement.

The stock, however, recovered from lows in the last hour of trade to settle down by 0.82 per cent at Rs 60.80 on BSE.

As many as 30.46 lakh shares of the bank were traded on the bourse.

The bank, in which the government holds 85.96 per cent stake, had posted a net loss of Rs 2,409.89 in the quarter ending June 2018. It had a gross non-performing asset (NPA) of about Rs 57,807 crore.

The board of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), at its meeting held in Hyderabad in June, had permitted LIC to increase its stake from 10.82 per cent to 51 per cent in IDBI Bank.

As per current regulations, an insurance company cannot own more than 15 per cent in any listed financial firm.

LIC has been looking to enter the banking space by acquiring a majority stake in IDBI Bank as the deal is expected to provide business synergies despite the lender's stressed balance sheet.

With culmination of the deal, LIC will get about 2,000 branches by which it can sell its products, while the bank would get massive funds of LIC.

The bank would also get accounts of about 22 crore policy holders and subsequent flow of fund.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Drinking water supply in the city will be partially affected from tomorrow due low water levels in Bisalpur dam, an official said.

Scanty rainfall this year has reduced the rain water inflow into the Bisalpur dam, additional chief engineer of public health and engineering department (PHED) Dinesh Saini said today.

Given the negligible inflow of water, drinking water supply in the city will be reduced from tomorrow, he said.

So far, the PHED supplied drinking water for one to one-and-a-half hour daily to the city. Now it will be supplied for 45 to 70 minutes, Saini added.

The Bisalpur dam, which is Jaipur's lifeline, supplies 44 crore litres of drinking water daily. From tomorrow, the supply will be reduced to 35 crore litres.

Saini said 7 crore litres of water supplied through tubewells will remain unaffected.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)NDA constituent Shiv Sena feels that the assembly elections will be held in Maharashtra along with Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

The Sena, a ruling partner in the BJP-led Maharashtra and Central governments, is of the view that assembly and Lok Sabha polls will be held together in the country, a minister said today.

"In all probability, the BJP will go for simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Maharashtra along with the assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh," he said.

Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are due later this year, while in Maharashtra in October--November 2019.

The minister claimed that the BJP was sending "feelers" to the Sena for a pre-poll alliance.

He hinted that Sena would set stiff conditions, including staking claim to the post of Chief Minister, in lieu of helping the BJP in Lok Sabha polls.

"The BJP is sending us feelers for alliance. They want us to support them for retaining power in New Delhi and leaving Maharashtra to us. We will stake claim for the CM's post and stick to the old seat-sharing formula," he said.

The minister said Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has directed the party cadres to be ready to contest the Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Assembly polls in 2019 solo.

He said Thackeray has already begun taking Lok Sabha constituency-wise review meetings at the Sena Bhavan in Mumbai.

Thackeray today took review of Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency.

Sena sources said the party is likely to finalise the names of its candidates for the Lok Sabha polls before the start of the Ganesh festival next month.

The party is most likely to renominate 18 sitting MPs, sources said, adding that the Sena is also short-listing potential candidates for other 30 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, the minister said the political scenario for the BJP has turned hostile, following which the party has realised the need for allies.

He claimed that BJP president Amit Shah is now in constant touch with Thackeray.

Addressing the Sena national executive earlier this year, Thackeray had announced that his party would contest all future elections on its own.

Meanwhile, a senior BJP leader expressed hope that his party and the Shiv Sena will be able to forge a pre-poll alliance on the issue of Hindutva.

"Alliance or not, the end result will be that the opposition Congress and NCP will suffer a setback," he said.

Meanwhile, in Mumbai, Sena is most likely to renominate its three sitting MPs Arvind Sawant (Mumbai South), Rahul Shewale (Mumbai South-Central) and Gajanan Kirtikar (Mumbai North-West), sources said.

The Sena has also short-listed the names of Mumbai Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar and Health Minister Deepak Sawant to take on Mumbai North-Central MP Poonam Mahajan of the BJP.

The Sena has short-listed the name of its former mayor Shubha Raul who is likely to contest against Mumbai North MP Gopal Shetty of the BJP.

In Mumbai North-East Lok Sabha constituency, the Sena has short-listed names of former MLA Shishir Shinde and MLC Neelam Gorhe against BJP's Kirit Somaiya, source added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Maharashtra government today sent 50 tonnes of tur dal as aid to flood-affected Kerala.

State Agriculture Minister Chandrakant Patil flagged off the Netravati Express, loaded with 50 tonnes of tur dal, from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) in Mumbai.

"Today's supply is in line with the ongoing support to Kerala from Maharashtra in various forms apart from the already-announced help of Rs 20 crore from the state government and Rs 10 crore from the MSRTC (Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation)," Patil told reporters.

"The money will be used for infrastructure development and rebuilding the areas, which is a long procedure. This help in the form of tur dal is meant for immediate use as many people will need pulses and food grains so that they can cook and eat," Patil said.

According to the minister, a huge stock of biscuits was also sent to the southern state from Sangli yesterday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Against the backdrop of Maharashtra slipping to 13th slot this year in the 'Ease of doing businesses' ranking, state chief secretary D K Jain instructed the law and judiciary department to improve its functioning, especially on issuing e-summons and e-filing.

Jain held department-wise review meetings today in the Mantralaya--the state secretariat--to assess the possible improvement points, an official release stated.

The meetings were held in the wake of Maharashtra's rankings listed by the Centre's Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in its annual release on the 'Ease of Doing Business'. Maharashtra was at the 10th position last year.

"The IT department of the state government should provide servers and other necessary technical support on a temporary basis to the Law and Judiciary department. It would streamline the functioning of special courts focusing on commerce and business related disputes," Jain said.

The pending disputes related to commerce should be resolved on priority, he added.

The assessment under the Business Reform Action Plan, popularly known as ease of doing business, was based on a combined score consisting of 'reform evidence score' and the 'feedback score' from the actual users.

In the rankings released by the DIPP, Maharashtra secured 92.17 per cent. But it received 97.29 per cent in 'reform evidence score' and 50.29 per cent in the 'feedback score'.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Maharashtra's police chief D D Padsalgikar was today given a three-month extension in service, according to an official order.

Padsalgikar was due to retire on Friday.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the extension in service of Padsalgikar, the Director General of Police (DGP), Maharashtra for a period of three months beyond the date of his superannuation, August 31, 2018, in public interest, the order issued by the Personnel Ministry said.

Padsalgikar is a 1982-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.

The development comes on a day the Maharashtra police raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least four of them for suspected Maoist links.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Malaysian Islamic court postponed the caning today of two women convicted of lesbian sex as activists hoped it would give them time to stop the punishment being carried out.

The women, aged 22 and 32, were arrested in April by Islamic enforcement officers after they were found in a car in a public square in northern Terengganu state, one of the most conservative areas of the Muslim-majority country.

They were brought before an Islamic court and admitted to breaking a sharia law that forbids sexual relations between women and sentenced to six strokes of the cane each and fined 3,300 ringgit ($800).

The sentence was to be carried out Tuesday but Terengganu Sharia Court chief registrar Wan Abdul Malik Wan Sidek told AFP it had been moved to September 3 for "technical reasons".

He did not give details but The Star newspaper quoted another court official as saying that since a few agencies would be involved in carrying out the sentence, technical issues needed to be resolved first.

Both women are out on bail.

Members of Malaysia's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community have been facing rising pressure in the largely Islamic country, with public officials frequently accused of targeting them.

Transgender rights group Justice for Sisters co-founder Thilaga Sulathireh hoped the postponement would give activists time to try to stop the punishment from being carried out.

"There is a bit more time now... (to) have more conversations about this and see if these conversations can add any kind of pressure or change people's mind about the sentence itself," she said.

Malaysia operates a dual-track legal system and Islamic courts can handle religious and family matters, as well as cases such as adultery. Caning is conducted out of public view.

Malaysian Muslims which make up more than 60 per cent of the country's 32 million population have traditionally practised a tolerant brand of Islam, but concerns have grown in recent years that attitudes are becoming more conservative.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today congratulated M K Stalin for being elected as the president of DMK.

Stalin had earlier expressed support to Banerjee's efforts to bring together various political parties to oppose the BJP.

"Congratulations and best wishes to @mkstalin for being elected president of the DMK @arivalayam", she said in a tweet.

Stalin was today elevated as the DMK president.

At the party's General Council meeting held in Chennai, DMK general secretary K Anbazhagan said Stalin was elected unopposed, as he was the sole candidate who had filed nomination for the party chief's post on August 26.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee mocked the BJP today for disrespecting former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee by undertaking the "Atal Kalash Yatra" and trying to gain political mileage out of it.

The BJP leadership, in a counter, said Banerjee should desist from talking much about Vajpayee as she had betrayed him "time and again to serve her own political purpose".

Addressing a rally here, Banerjee said, "I have never seen such a shameless party. We (TMC) might have ideological differences but we respect Atalji. They (BJP) are even doing with Atalji's ashes."



"They (BJP) are basically disrespecting him (Vajpayee). This is shameful," she said.

Hitting back at Banerjee, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said, "She should not talk much about Atalji. We all know what happened when the TMC was part of the NDA government from 1998-2004. We have seen how she betrayed him (Vajpayee) to serve her own political purpose."



BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha urged Banerjee to refrain from indulging in over Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

"When Atalji was prime minister, he had visited your home and even met your mother. So keeping that in mind, please don't try to politicise his death," he said.

After Vajpayee's death on August 16, the BJP central leadership decided to take out "yatras" with urns carrying ashes of the former prime minister in all districts and immerse those in rivers across the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Hitting out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the state unit of the BJP today said she should "stop dreaming about becoming the next Prime Minister" and focus on maintaining law and order in the state.

The ruling Trinamool Congress, led by Banerjee, has been using "terror tactics" to win elections in the state, Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh alleged.

"Instead of dreaming of becoming the next Prime Minister, the CM should be concerned about restoring law and order in the state," he said.

Earlier in the day, Banerjee accused the saffron party of resorting to " of killing" in Bengal.

Referring to the panchayat poll violence, she said the BJP members are working in connivance with goons who had earlier served the CPI(M).

The CM also said that her party will make all efforts to oust the BJP from the Centre.

Terming her allegations as "completely baseless", Ghosh said the TMC is afraid as it is "fast losing ground" to the BJP in Bengal.

"The ruling party has been misusing and abusing the police machinery and administration to win polls. The BJP is committed to end this reign of terror in Bengal," he said.

Ghosh charged the TMC leaders of employing "undemocratic ways" to suppress people.

"The TMC is trying to terrorize people in former Maoist belt of Junglemahal as they had voted against the party in the panchayat polls. They are trying to suppress the voice of people," he said



The ruling party is trying to wipe out every sign of opposition from West Bengal, the state BJP president claimed.

"Our workers are being killed every day in Bengal. But we will continue our democratic fight till we end the misrule of the TMC government," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Gaganyaan mission to send humans to the space will comprise three crew members who will be in the space for five to seven days, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K Sivan said today.

In his Independence Day address this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced an ambitious mission of sending an Indian astronaut to space by 2022.

India will be the fourth country after the USA, Russia and China to send humans to space.

After the take off of the mission, it will reach the orbit in 16 minutes. The crew, while coming back to the Earth, could land in the Arabian Sea off the Gujarat coast or Bay of Bengal or even on land, he added.

Addressing a press conference, Sivan said the mission may be executed six months before India completes its 75th Independence Day with the help of GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle.

The spacecraft will be placed in a low earth orbit of 300-400 km and the total programme cost is expected to be less than Rs 10,000 crores, he said.

Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh said the mission is much cheaper in comparison to other man missions sent to space.

The crew will be selected by the Indian Air Force and ISRO jointly after which they will undergo training for two-three years.

"They also have to conduct experiments," Sivan said noting that thrust of the experiments will be on micro gravity.

The ISRO will also take inputs from Rakesh Sharma, first Indian to travel to space. Sharma, a former Indian Air Force pilot who flew aboard Soyuz T-11, launched in April 1984.

The mission, Sivan said, will comprise a crew module, service module and orbital module, weighing approximately seven tonnes, and will be carried by a rocket and the crew module's size will be 3.7 metres x 7 metres.

While the ISRO has perfected the engineering aspects of the mission, Sivan said, bioscience is a new field for the ISRO and requires collaboration and support from other organisations.

"To accelerate the programme, ISRO may consider collaborations with space agencies from friendly countries with advanced space programmes," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi today asked the Indian envoy in Spain to take necessary steps to send back an Indian girl who was abandoned by her foster parents in the country.

She was reacting to a recent media report according to which a Spanish couple had abandoned the 13-year-old girl they adopted from an agency in Madhya Pradesh after they were allegedly deceived about her age.

The couple was reportedly told that the girl was seven-year-old at the time of adoption earlier this year.

Noting that the ministry is in the process of "fixing" the responsibility for the "lapses" which happened on the part of the child care institution in Bhopal, Gandhi asked Indian Ambassador to Spain D B Venkatesh Varma to contact the girl immediately and take necessary steps to send her back to India.

"While we are in the process of fixing the responsibility for the lapses which happened on the part of the Child Care Institution in Bhopal, I am worried about the state of the girl who is currently in foster care in some institution in Madrid," Gandhi said.

The Union minister said the girl, on her return, would be placed under care and protection in a local agency.

"I also understand that the Centre Adoption Resource Agency is in touch with you. It has been ascertained that the girl wants to return to India. I request you to contact the girl immediately and take necessary steps to send her back to India where we will place her under care and protection of a suitable local agency," she added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A letter purportedly written by a Maoist leader and seized by the police in April this year hails prominent Telugu poet Varavara Rao for his alleged "guidance" in various Naxal activities in the country.

Rao was among the five people arrested today for suspected Maoist links. The arrests were made after the Maharashtra police raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states.

The letter in question was part of a bunch of documents seized by the Pune police during the searches at the premises of five people arrested in June this year for alleged links with Maoists. The searches were carried out in different parts of the country in April.

The letter written in Hindi by one comrade named Milind, hails Rao, described as a "senior comrade", and advocate Surendra Gadling for their "guidance" in carrying out Naxal activities in various parts of the country.

"In the last few months, due to the guidance by senior comrade Varavara Rao and our legal advisor Comrade adv Surendra Gadling in various activities, we received good publicity at the national level," reads the letter, a copy of which is also with PTI.

The letter, whose authenticity could not be verified independently, also talks about Rao raising funds for future "operations" and Gadling being given the responsibility to provide those funds to the "jungle comrades".

The undated letter also has a mention of some meeting to be held in Nagpur where Rao and Gadling were supposed to speak.

The June arrests of five people, including prominent Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale, were made in connection with violent clashes at Koregaon-Bhima village near here on January 1.

Rao and four others were arrested under IPC Section 153 (A), which relates to promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place or birth, residence, language and committing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony, said an official.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)British Prime Minister Theresa May touched down in Cape Town today as she kicked off a tour of the African continent where she hopes to lay the foundations for post-Brexit trade deals.

May is facing pressure at home from so-called Remainers sceptical of her ability to forge trade deals once Britain severs ties with Brussels, as well as from Brexiteers fearful she will not deliver a clean break.

Her tour of South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya -- May's first to the continent since becoming premier in 2016 -- will be seen as an effort to stamp her authority on her embattled premiership.

"As we prepare to leave the European Union, now is the time for the UK to deepen and strengthen its global partnerships," May said in a statement.

"Africa stands right on the cusp of playing a transformative role in the global economy," she added.

May will use a speech in Cape Town to set out how Britain can bolster its partnership with Africa, "particularly by bringing the transformative power of private sector trade and investment from the UK", her office said.

Former foreign minister Boris Johnson, whose July departure from the cabinet brought May's government to the brink, said in his resignation speech that May's current Brexit policy would hamper London's ability to strike independent trade deals.

May will then present President Cyril Ramaphosa with the bell from the troopship Mendi, which sank in the English Channel in 1917 drowning more than 600 mainly South African troops who were preparing to join the Allied forces fighting in World War I.

It was the worst maritime disaster in the African country's history, and has become a symbol of its Great War sacrifice.

The bell was given to a BBC reporter at a British seaside resort in 2017 following an anonymous tip, according to the broadcaster.

The prime minister is also expected to visit Robben Island where former president Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for decades to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth.

May will head to Nigeria on Wednesday for meetings with President Muhammadu Buhari in the capital Abuja and with victims of modern slavery in Lagos.

On Thursday she will meet Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, shortly after his return from seeing US President Donald Trump in Washington and before he travels to China to meet President Xi Jinping.

The prime minister will then see British troops in training action and tour a business school, before concluding the trip at a state dinner hosted by Kenyatta.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The US Senate gets back to work in full today after a summer break, with the death of John McCain leaving his Republican party absent a crucial voice of resistance to President Donald Trump.

Few returning Republicans have displayed much appetite for taking on McCain's role as a legislator willing to openly challenge the scandal-plagued president.

Instead, with Trump still highly popular with the party's base and Republican control of Congress under the gun in November midterm elections, Senate Republicans appeared likely to fall in line behind the White House.

Democrats as well as Republicans have been effusive in their praise of McCain, celebrating his storied military career and 31 years representing Arizona in the US Senate.

In a bitterly fractured Washington, McCain feistily stood up against extremism and worked across party lines to build consensus in a Senate split 51-49 for Republicans.

"He didn't vote to score political points, he voted to make democracy work," Tom Perez, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, wrote in a tribute Tuesday.

"In stark relief to what now passes for our politics, he continues to serve as a beacon to who we are and who we can be when we are at our best," fellow Republican Senator Jeff Flake said on the Senate floor.

"We owe it to his memory to try to be more like him." McCain's death could give Trump even greater leverage over a rightward-tilting Republican party as he fights for his political life against the Russia meddling and obstruction investigations.

McCain, who will be buried Sunday, is likely to be replaced by a more conservative, toe-the-line appointee.

Flake, another relative moderate in the party, is retiring.

And Senator Susan Collins, who many have looked to to resist the president's most extreme tendencies, appeared to be uncomfortable taking that torch.

"Indeed, a Democratic senator just spoke to me on the floor and was very kind and said, 'You know we're all looking to you now.'" "But I would not begin to compare myself to John McCain, I really wouldn't. His strength and resilience were extraordinary.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers (MCFL) has received green clearance for Rs 1,547-crore expansion-cum-modernisation of its fertiliser plants in Karnataka, a senior government official said today.

The company's proposal is for energy improvement of ammonia and urea plants, expansion of DAP/NPK plant and Poly Carboxyl Ether (PCE) plant at the existing premises in Panambur in Mangalore.

"The clearance has been given by the nodal ministry of to MCFL's proposed project," the official said.

The green signal has been given to the project subject to compliance with certain conditions. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 1,547 crore, the official said.

The MCFL complex is spread in an area of 192 acre. The proposed developments/facilities are planned within the existing premises.

The company's proposal is to increase production capacity of ammonia from 2,47,500 tonnes per annum (TPA) to 3,28,500 TPA, urea from 4,29,000 to 5,69,400 TPA, DAP and NPK fertilisers from 4,01,500 to 14,01,500 TPA and Sulphonated Napthalene Formaldehyde (SNF)/poly carboxylate Ether (PCE) from 85,000 to 1,03,000 TPA.

"Poly Carboxyl Ether (PCE) acts as super plasticizers and is currently being imported in the country. The proposed new facility within the MCFL plant would be contributing in our country's 'Make in India' program, the company said.

Since the fertiliser subsidy are paid by the government taking into account energy consumption, the MCFL's proposed project aims to bring energy norms to best achievable industry levels to continue profitable operation.

Current energy consumption of urea production at MCFL is 6.5 gigacalorie per tonne and the company wants to do energy improvement revamp of existing ammonia and urea plants to reduce its energy consumption from present levels.

The main products manufactured by MCFL, an 'Adventz' group company, include urea, Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP), Ammonium Bi-Carbonate, Sulphuric Acid, specialty mixtures of plant nutrients, micronutrients & soil conditioners and an industrial product called Sulphonated Naphthalene Formaldehyde (SNF) used in construction industry.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Odisha government today named two new state-run medical colleges at Balasore and Bolangir after two prominent persons of the localities, official sources said.

According to a resolution issued by health and family welfare department, the new government medical college at Balasore has been named as Fakir Mohan Medical College and Hospital.

Similarly, the Bolangir government medical college has been named as Bhima Bhoi Medical College and Hospital.

Earlier, two government medical colleges at Koraput and Baripada were also named after two prominent persons.

While medical college at Koraput has been named as Saheed Laxman Naik, Medical College and Hospital, the medical college at Baripada is titled as Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College and Hospital.

Three other medical colleges set up in Cuttack, Berhampur and Burla decades ago also were named after prominent personalities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A mentally unsound woman was today reunited with her family after she was found wandering in Samba district's Bari Brahmana area, the police said.

The 55-year-old woman, hailing from Udhampur district, had left her house some time back and was found wandering at SIDCO Chowk this morning, a police official said.

He said the woman, who seems to be mentally unsound, was brought to the police station and she revealed that her name was Pushpa.

After strenuous efforts, the police contacted Tikri police post in-charge and got the mobile number of her husband Balbir Singh, the police official said.

Singh was called to the police station to identify the woman and she was handed over to him after proper verification.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Expressing concern over "unrealistic" budget estimates and some funds not being "fully utilised", the Union Home Ministry has asked paramilitary forces and other organisations to prioritise schemes and make implementation of new projects time-bound.

In a circular, the ministry said time and again, it has been observed during audits and by the public accounts committee that the budget estimates and revised estimates are "unrealistic" and the supplementary demands obtained from Parliament have not been "fully utilised".

Besides, re-appropriation of funds are made at will which are often "infructuous", it said.

The ministry said in order to avoid such a scenario, while review or firming up of proposals for revised estimates for 2018-19 and budget estimates for 2019-20, schemes should be prioritised.

It asked officials to identify such activity or scheme that can be eliminated, reduced in size and merged with any other project.

Past experience of achieving targets (both physical and financial) and bottlenecks, if any, should be taken into account and a thorough assessment of ground realities at the field level should be undertaken to arrive at accurate projections in all cases, the circular said.

The Home Ministry also said in case of new and recent projects or schemes, the anticipated time to obtain final approval of the competent authority, expected time lag for implementation, institutional capacity to implement as per schedule, constrains on incurring expenditure by the agencies should be made factors.

It may be ensured that grant-wise separate proposals are sent in respect of items included in more than one grant, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Militants today hurled a petrol bomb and fired indiscriminately at an Army patrol party in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, the police said.

No loss of life has been reported.

A petrol bomb was hurled upon a cordon and search operation (CASO) party of 44 Rashtriya Rifles followed by indiscriminate firing by militants between the area of Gad-Bough and Armullah in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, a police official said.

He said the forces' party was coming from Sugan area of the neighbouring Shopian district after commencing a CASO and were moving towards their camp in Ahgam.

The forces' party retaliated, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 46-year-old trekker from Bengaluru,



who had been missing for over a month, was found dead in Bhabha Valley in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district today, an official said.

Officials said Satya Narayan died in a road accident in which his driver Ramesh was also injured.

However, details were not immediately available.

Satya Narayan was missing from Wangtu since July 25, the official said, adding a team of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) was searching for him.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The work on the Rs 70 crore modern fish landing centre in Kudukul village near Pamban would be completed in 18 months, Ramanathapuram District Collector K Veera Raghava Rao today said.

Rao, who reviewed the work on the facility, told reporters that it can accommodate 250 boats.

He also said the Rs 113 crore Mookaiyur fishing harbour near here would be inaugurated in March next year.

The harbour project, being implemented with the Tamil Nadu and Central governments sharing the cost equally, will comprise berthing and fish drying areas, cold storage facility, fuel station along with an administrative building.

Around 250 motor boats and 200 country vessels can be safely parked in the harbour benefiting fishermen community of Rameswaram, Pamban and Mandapam.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The central government and six stakeholder states signed an MoU today for the construction of Lakhwar-Vyasi multi-purpose project which is likely to address the irrigation and power needs of the partner states.

The MoU for the project to be built in upper Yamuna basin area at an estimated cost of Rs 3,966.51 crore was signed in the presence of Union minister Nitin Gadkari, an official release said.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Rajasthan Chief MinisterVasundhara Raje, Harayana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal were the signatories to the document, it said.

Under the project, a 204 meter concrete dam will be built on the Yamuna river at Lohari village in Dehradun district. The dam will have a water carrying capacity of 330.66 MCM (million cubic metres).

This will help irrigate 33,780 hectares of land besides providing 78.83 MCM water for domestic and industrial purposes to the six states, the release said.

The project will also generate 300 MW of hydro-electricity, it said.

Of the total cost of Rs 3966.51 crore, Uttarakhand will bear the cost of Rs 1,388.28 crore, the release said.

The central government will bear the cost ofRs 2,320.41 crore of the total cost for irrigation and drinking water facilities while the remaining will be distributed amongst six states.

Haryana will pay Rs 123.29 crore, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Rs 86.75 crore each, Rajasthan Rs24.08 crore, Delhi Rs 15.58 crore and Himachal Pradesh Rs 8.13 crore, it said.

Expressing happiness, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said Lakhwar is a national project and will benefit the six partner states. The project will also help Uttarakhand fulfil its power needs, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Madhya Pradesh government is planning to bring in a recruitment policy that is aimed at preventing non-local candidates from joining the state police force, Home Minister Bhupendra Singh has said.

Underlining the need for such policy, Singh said that candidates from Madhya Pradesh often lose out to their "well-built" counterparts from states like Haryana during recruitment drives.

"We are preparing a recruitment policy to prevent the candidates of other states from joining the state's police services," Singh told reporters here last evening.

"The youths from Madhya Pradesh lose out to their counterparts having well-built physique from states like Haryana, which deprives them of the job opportunity," he said.

The state government is aware of the resentment among local aspirants against candidates from other states seeking employment in the police force.

Last year, the government had brought in new rules apparently to restrict entry of youths from other states, though it didn't officially banned the non-local aspirants.

As per the rules, the applicants appearing in police recruitment drives are not entitled to claim benefits of reservation and age relaxation--maximum age was fixed at 25 years.

The government had also made it mandatory for youths from other states to register themselves in the Madhya Pradesh Employment Exchange.

The government had last year issued a notification to fill 14,088 posts of police constables.

Meanwhile, Berozgar Sena chief Akshay Hunka said the home minister made the statement with an eye on the assembly elections, due later this year.

Hunka claimed that half of 14,000 police personnel recruited by the state government last year were from other states.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said the state government is committed to bring the Narmada river water and a rail network to the tribal-dominated Jhabua district.

The state government has sanctioned funds to develop infrastructure for the Narmada water supply to Jhabua and the Centre will provide assistance to lay a rail line in the district, he said.

Several places in the region are not yet connected with the rail network.

Chouhan alleged that the previous Congress government in the state only made hollow promises on these issues, but never did anything concrete.

"Our government has not only laid a strong road network, but also ensured abundant power supply in villages of the state," he said addressing a rally here late last night during his ongoing 'Janashirwad Yatra', ahead of Assembly polls due later this year.

"We have already sanctioned Rs 2,280 crore for bringing the Narmada water through a pipeline to this tribal region and the Union government will spend Rs 1,147 crore on laying rail network in the area," Chouhan said.

The chief minister also said that a 'Janjatiya Adhikar Sabha' (tribal rights body) will be set up in each tribal village of the state to amicably resolve disputes which are not of very serious nature.

"Police will not intervene in such matters and the tribal people will have the right to sort out their problems and disputes through this body. Police will intervene only in serious matters," he said.

Chouhan had embarked on the Janashirwad yatra on July 14 to cover all 230 Assembly constituencies in the state.

A senior BJP leader said the yatra was earlier scheduled to culminate on September 25, on the occasion of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya's birth anniversary, but the party has now decided to extend it further.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A tender floated by Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd (MPUVNL) for 35 MW of solar rooftop power attracted 31 bidders, and received the country's lowest tariff quote of Rs 1.58 per unit.

"Madhya Pradesh's RESCO tender attracted 31 international and domestic bidders, who oversubscribed its 35+ MWp rooftop tender capacity by more than 630 per cent," an MPUVNL statement said.

State-run Power Grid was also a beneficiary in the tender and has got a rate of Rs 1.58 per unit, which is the lowest in country so far.

Amongst all state buildings, the lowest rate is for municipal bodies, which would get power at Rs 1.69 per unit. Tariff of Rs 1.74 per unit has been discovered for medical colleges, which is about one fourth of what they are presently paying.

Police establishments all over the state would get power at Rs 2.33 per unit. All government engineering colleges, ITIs and polytechnics would get power at Rs 2.35 per unit. The lowest rate amongst private institutions have been Rs 2.28 per unit.

Under the RESCO (Renewable Energy Service Company) model, consumers enjoy solar power with zero upfront investment and at rates much below the prevailing DISCOM rates.

Consumers pay for the electricity as it is generated by the selected contractor, who undertakes design, supply and installation, along with comprehensive operation and maintenance for 25 years. The selection of the contractor is made on the basis of the lowest tariff offered in transparent electronic bidding.

The RESCO project in MP is being implemented as a part of the larger Rooftop Solar Programme of Government of India with support from World Bank and International Solar Alliance. The idea is that the good practices of Madhya Pradesh should be replicated in other States as also ISA member-countries.

Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan has stated in the statement that the savings made in government colleges, medical colleges, engineering colleges, police, ITI, polytechnics and so on would now be used for the betterment of these institutions, apart from showing a path to other states.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Mobile-based security solutions provider myGate today announced launch of its operations in the city, aiming to secure over 50,000 homes before the end of the year.

The Bengaluru-based startup, which began operations in 2016, said it had chalked out plans to secure over two million residences in seven cities over the next two years.

In the first 50 days of its operations in Chennai, the company has secured more than 5,000 homes across various residential communities, a statement said.

Over the next six months, the company was looking to secure more than 50,000 homes in the city.

Currently, it offers service in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune and provides services to over two lakh homes.

"We started operations in Chennai in response to a huge inbound demand. We are focused on enabling technology that is wholly and solely dedicated towards enhancing the existing security system of a gated premise", myGate, CEO and Co-Founder, Vijay Arisetty said in a statement here.

"As per our estimate, there are over 5,000 gated communities in Chennai who can derive immediate benefits by implementing myGate (solutions)", he said.

The myGate application offers various facilities including automatic visitor authentication, child safety alerts, staff attendance, club house access management among others.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Expressing concern over the way Parliament has been functioning in recent times, marked by frequent adjournments, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu today said all parties and MPs need to ponder over the matter.

Recalling that he had read the speeches of distinguished personalities like S Radhakrishnan after he came to know that he was going to be the Rajya Sabha chairman, he said scenes like members shouting and creating disturbances made him sad.

Such scenes made him feel ashamed when school children and college students were witnessing proceedings from the Rajya Sabha gallery, he said.

Naidu said some members had told him not to get too emotional over the issue.

"All parties and MPs need to review the way we are behaving in Parliament which is pre-eminent in a democracy.

Because, as a saying goes, 'as is the king, so are his subjects," he said.

"Hyderabad sees Delhi (how the legislature functioned), municipality sees Hyderabad, Panchayati sees municipality, High school children see Panchayati... all these follow one another.

The time has come to see whether we are upholding the traditions to be emulated like that," he said.

Naidu was speaking at a meeting organised by his friends and well-wishers here this evening on his completion of one year in office as Vice President,



"It is our duty now to see that we maintain those standards. Debate and discussion should be the hallmark of parliament, Naidu said.

"Let the government propose, opposition oppose, house dispose," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Terming a report of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights on the status of children in shelter homes across India as "frightening", the Supreme Court today said it was "helpless" as any direction to the authorities in the matter would be called "judicial activism".

Referring to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights' (NCPCR) social audit report on shelter homes, a bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur said that out of the 2,874 children homes, only 54 have received positive reviews from the body, set up under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.

As per the report, out of 185 shelter homes which were audited, only 19 have records of children residing there.

The bench, which also comprised Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta, said if the court said something in the matter, it would be accused of "judicial activism", even though the authorities were "not interested" in doing their work and only "passing the buck" and blaming each other for the situation prevailing in these child shelters.

If the authorities had functioned properly, recent incidents like the one in Muzaffarpur in Bihar where several girls were allegedly raped and sexually abused in a shelter home would not have happened, it said.

"It is very clear from this (NCPCR) report that nobody is interested. The court is helpless. If we do something, then it will be said that it is judicial activism," the bench said, adding "judicial activism has to be given up".

Advocate Aparna Bhat, assisting the court as an amicus curiae in the matter, said that directions from the top court was not judicial activism, as the welfare of children living in shelter homes was important.

"Have you seen the report of NCPCR? It is frightening," the bench told her.

The court noted that as per NCPCR's report, out of 210 special adoption centres audited, only eight received positive reviews while only 16 per cent of the 172 observation homes had all the records of the children living there.

The joint secretary of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) said that NCPCR's report was "very shocking" and monitoring by the authorities at all levels must be done to prevent such a situation.

She said the secretary of MWCD has written letters to chief secretaries of all states and union territories to conduct inspection of child care institutions and such homes and submit a report by September 15.

She also said that a meeting of all states and union territories has been called on September 18 on the issue.

The officer said that after the secretary's letter, states like Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat have given reports on monitoring of child shelters.

During the hearing, when she said the court should tell the government what needs to be done, the bench reacted by saying, "If we tell you, we will be accused of judicial activism. You are the Government of India. You tell us what is to be done".

The bench also took exception that during the social audit conducted by the NCPCR, the team have not spoken to the children living in these child care institutions.

The amicus also told the court that it appears that the institutions set up under the Juvenile Justice Act have failed to discharge their duties and the system was such that everybody could blame others for the problems.

"Who is to correct these flaws? Is the court supposed to do it," the bench asked.

The amicus said that historically, the courts have addressed the grievances and have made significant contribution.

"Also significant criticism," the bench said.

The MWCD joint secretary said the court should give time till September 18 when the meeting would take place.

The bench posted the matter for hearing on September 20 and asked the MWCD to place before it the minutes of the meeting.

The amicus told the bench that an oversight committee should be set up at the national and state levels to monitor the functioning of child care institutions.

The bench asked the amicus to prepare the draft terms of reference for the committee in consultation with the joint secretary of the MWCD so that if the need arose, the panel could be constituted. It said that the issue has been kept open and the court would await the outcome of meeting.

The bench made it clear that states have to take this matter seriously and take remedial measures to deal with the issue.

During the hearing, the Centre told the court that there were six establishments functioning as per provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act which were supposed to look into the issues of implementation of the law.

When the Centre said it has to rely on the data provided by the states, the bench observed, "It is very easy to blame somebody else. It is difficult to take responsibility".

The Centre's counsel, however, said the government was not shying away from its responsibilities and would apprise the court about the steps taken by them as well as the shortcomings. "The Supreme Court can pass directions. We have the overall responsibility so far as implementation in concerned," the Centre said.

The amicus said urgent steps were required to be taken to support these children as it was an "emergency" now and there were flaws in the system which needed to be sorted out.

(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 said today that the NDA government connected every Indian with the banking system.

Addressing beneficiaries of various loan schemes of Prathama Bank here, the minister said that every prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru tried to improve the banking system, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the one who could connect millions of Indians with banks through the Jan Dhan Yojana.

He said Prathama Bank was the number one in rural banking and was playing a crucial role in uplifting the downtrodden.

The senior BJP leader said his party's government was committed to welfare of all people irerspective of their caste and creed.

A cheque of Rs 30 lakh, collected by Prathama Bank employees for the Kerala flood victims, was also handed over to the authorities.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad met with senior executives from leading organisations of California, US and discussed the need to work together to better manage technology challenges like data privacy and security issues.

Prasad was part of in-depth discussions and meetings with the CEOs and senior executives from some of California's most prominent businesses, including venture capitalists focused on the Indian market, a statement said today.

He also met business leaders of Indian technology companies that are operating in the US market and making investments as well as generating jobs locally.

"The meetings discussed the need to work collectively to better manage technology challenges like data privacy and security issues, especially in the context of next-generation technologies i e artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, big data in priority sectors that have huge social impact including healthcare, fin-tech and social inclusion," the statement said.

The minister's visit was facilitated by Indian IT body Nasscom and California Business Roundtable and other local partner organisations.

The statement said during the meetings, Prasad invited technology firms in California to take advantage of the growth opportunities that India offers.

"As world leaders in the technology arena, our two countries can build on this success to grow more jobs and create even more economic opportunities for each other. This is the message I shared with leaders from California's business community," Prasad was quoted as saying.

Rob Lapsley, President of the California Business Roundtable, said expanded relationships between India and the US will strengthen both economies.

"As representative of companies across the globe, we have always believed in pushing boundaries to expand business opportunities... We are confident that the digital transformation opportunities in India, as outlined by him (Prasad), will open doors for investors to establish and participate in India's rewarding growth story," Nasscom President Debjani Ghosh said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Amitabh Bachchan says he is in awe of the current generation of actors like Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao who have honed their craft to such a level that even he gets scared while working with them.

Bachchan said while he is still trying to fine-tune his craft, young actors come prepared on sets.

"The new generation of actors like Alia, Anushka (Sharma), Deepika (Padukone), they are such capable actors, you get scared while working with them, kha hee jayenge (they'll eat me up). They are so brilliant.

"We took years and years and are still trying to fine-tune our craft but these people, they come first day on the set and know exactly what they are doing. They are so confident, mature," Bachchan told reporters.

The 75-year-old actor said he considers himself fortunate to have worked with two generations of actors.

"Look at Sushant (Singh Rajput), Varun (Dhawan), Rajkummar Rao and Kartik Aaryan. I get so obsessed that I write to them and send flowers when I watch their performance.

"I am fortunate that I've been able to live through the period where I saw Meena (Kumari) ji, Nutan ji, Waheeda (Rehman) ji and now I'm getting an opportunity to work with actors like Alia and Ranbir (his 'Brahmastra' co-stars)... It's just unbelievable," he added.

Bachchan was speaking at the launch of the 10th season of Kaun Banega Crorepati. The popular game show will start airing on Sony from September 3.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 21-member committee has been set up to advise Prime Minister Narendra Modi on science, technology and innovations, a top official said today.

The Prime Minister's Science Technology and Innovation Council (PM-STIAC) includes noted mathematician and Princeton University professor Manjul Bharghava; and Major General Madhuri Kanitkar, the first woman dean of Army Forces Medical College, Pune; said K VijayRaghavan, the principal scientific adviser to the Government of India.

Headed by Raghvan, the committee also comprises A S Kiran Kumar, former ISRO chief; Ajay Sood, professor at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru; Subhash Kak, professor at the Oklahoma State University, United States; and industrialist Baba Kalyani.

Secretaries of at least 10 central ministries, related to science, technology, energy and education, are special invitees to the panel. The panel also has provision to include an additional member, decision of which has to be taken by the chairman of the committee.

The committee's main task is to advise the prime minister on science, technology and innovations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The broader NSE Nifty today rose by 46.55 points to close at a new all-time high of 11,738.50 led



by sustained buying in metal, energy, auto and finance services buoyed by positive cues from global markets.

The 50-share Nifty opened higher on firm Asian markets, though the trading momentum witnessed bouts of shortcovering as well as profit-booking in view of August F&O expiry due this week.

Banking, realty, pharma, FMCG and media stocks fell, capping the gains.

Overseas, European shares rose after the US and Mexico reached a trade agreement to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement. Shares in Asia advanced on hopes global tariff tensions were abating.

The Nifty rose 46.55 points or 0.40 per cent to end at 11,738.50, a fresh record closing high. The index hit high of 11,760.20 and low of 11,710.50 in intraday trade.

It saw an intra-day movement of about 49.70 points.

On the sectoral front, Metal climbed by 1.82 per cent followed by Energy 0.99 per cent, Auto 1.67 per cent, Finance Service 0.47 per cent, IT 0.44 per cent and Private Bank 0.07 per cent.

While, PSU bank fell by 1.52 per cent, Realty 0.90 per cent, Pharma 0.44 per cent, FMCG 0.34 per cent, Media 0.23 per cent, and Infra 0.08 per cent.

Major index gainers were Hindalco, Adani Ports, Reliance, Vedanta Ltd, Maruti, HDFC, Tata Steel and Axis Bank.

Losers were GAIL, Yes Bank, Hindpetro, Cipla, Hind Unilever, Dr Reddy, Eicher Motors, Grasim and UPL.

The market breadth, indicating its overall health, turned negative. On the NSE, 750 stocks advanced, 1,050 declined and 95 remained unchanged. Total securities that have hit their price bands were 228.

Turnover in the cash segment rose to Rs 32,636.51 crore from Rs 29,974.67 crore as on Monday.

A total of 15,035.04 lakh shares changed hands in 1,15,84,952 trades. The market capitalisation of listed firms on NSE stood at Rs 1,56,87,043.54 crore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)North Korea still poses a "serious and imminent threat", Japan said today in its first annual defence review since an outbreak of diplomacy on the Korean peninsula.

Japan's 2018 defence white paper also took aim at China's rise as a military power, saying Beijing was sparking "strong security concerns in the region and international community, including Japan".

Last year's defence review was published at the height of the tensions with North Korea, amid nuclear and missile tests and US President Donald Trump threatening to rain down "fire and fury" on Pyongyang if it kept up its threats.

But since then, a spectacular diplomatic detente has taken place, culminating in the historic summit between Trump and the North's leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12.

Nevertheless, Tokyo insisted today: "There is no change in our basic recognition concerning the threat of North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles."



Pyongyang continues to post "an unprecedentedly serious and imminent threat to Japan's security and significantly damage the peace and security of the region and the international community", according to Tokyo.

Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera acknowledged in the document that North Korea had begun "dialogue" with former foes the US and South Korea.

"But we cannot overlook the fact that, even to this day, it possesses and fully deploys several hundred missiles that put nearly all of Japan within range," stressed the minister.

In response, Japan is steadily upgrading its capacity to shield the nation from the North's arsenal, including a plan to spend some USD 4.2 billion over the next three decades on installing and operating US radar systems.

Despite the historic handshake in Singapore, there has been little progress in denuclearising the Korean peninsula and Washington-Pyongyang relations appear to have taken a turn for the worse, with Trump abruptly scrapping a planned visit to the North by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The white paper also reiterated its worries about China's increasing military spending and expanding naval ambitions.

It complained that Beijing was trying to "change the status quo by coercion", referring to such actions as building up disputed islands in the South China Sea and expanding naval activities around East China Sea islands in dispute with Japan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Defending the government's decision to build a museum for former prime ministers at Teen Murti, NMML Director Shakti Sinha today questioned the Congress's motive behind the objection to it, saying the party did not raise concern when parts of the estate was given away for public use unrelated to Jawaharlal Nehru.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had written a letter earlier this week to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him not to "change the nature and character" of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) in New Delhi and let it remain "undisturbed as it is".

The institution's director said that the proposed museum will in no way undermine the legacy of Nehru, the first prime minister.

"The Teen Murti estate has shrunk in size, a planetarium unrelated to NMML (has been set up), some land was also given to Delhi Police. If none of this negatively affected Nehru's legacy, how can a celebration of India's democracy, in the establishment of which Nehru had an important role, be so negatively seen.

"In fact after the museum comes up we will have a lot more information on Nehru than we have now. I don't understand why this should make people uncomfortable?" he told PTI.

Singh in his letter to Modi said during former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's tenure there was no attempt to change the nature and character of the NMML.

Vajpayee had described Nehru in Parliament as a "vibrant personality" and said "such a resident may never grace Teen Murti again", the senior Congress leader said.

"Let us respect this sentiment and keep Teen Murti as a memorial to our first prime minister Pandit Nehru and leave the Teen Murti complex undisturbed as it is. This way we will be respecting both history and heritage," Singh said in the letter.

Sinha, however, said that the Nehru memorabilia consisted of just about 30 per cent of the museum's collections while the library had documents and paraphernalia, about two per cent of which were related to Nehru.

"Further many photos have faded and no negatives are available. NMML has started upgrading Nehru galleries, increasing coverage about four times. The coverage would be chronological and thematic, using latest technologies to make it interactive. This is the first upgradation in fifty years. But instead of being appreciated, we are accused of running down Nehru's legacy, which is completely divorced from facts," he said.

Sinha added that in the past 70 years, Congress prime ministers have governed for over 50 years, so that too will be reflected.

In the 43rd annual general meeting of NMML last month, six members of the NMML Society opposed a proposal for a museum for Prime Ministers in the existing campus. However, the idea was cleared by the Home Minister, who had presided over the meeting.

Fifteen members had supported the contentious proposal, which also stated that the project should focus on facilitating scholarly research and not go against the mandate of NMML.

The changes were opposed by Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Mallikarjun Kharge, Karan Singh, historian Nayanjyot Lahiri, economist Nitin Desai and BP Singh. INTACH's AGK Menon who had opposed the museum project last year citing that it violated heritage concerns excused himself from the meet.

The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) was established in the memory of India's first prime minister and the museum at the Teen Murti House has preserved some rooms as they were at the time of Nehru's death.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Human rights activist Anand Teltumbde, whose house was today searched by the Maharashtra police as part of multi-city raids, said he was not even remotely connected to the allegations levelled against him.

The raids were conducted by the Pune police on the homes on those suspected of having Maoist links at several locations across the country.

Sources in the Goa police said a team from the Maharashtra police searched Teltumbde's residence in Sankhalim village,40km from here, today, but left soon as he was not at home.

Asked to comment on the police action, Teltumbde, a professor of data analytics at the Goa Institute of Management (GIM), said he is not even remotely connected to the allegations levelled against him.

"What reaction shall I give to you? There is nothing. We are not even remotely connected to the allegations that they have been levelling against us," he told PTI over the phone from Mumbai,



"Whatever are my opinions, they are in public domain. What reaction can I offer to you? I cannot even remotely think of such a kind of thing happening to me," said Teltumbde.

Teltumbde said what the police were claiming about Maoist links of Left-wing activists is "non-sense".

"We are not in such kind of business. We are respected people. They are doing non-sense. Most of them (arrested activists) are human right activists.

"It is natural that they will talk in favour of those people whose rights are violated, he added.

Asked about his future course of action, Teltumbde said, "What stand can I take? Today what is happening in the country is that, they are doing whatever they feel like."



Earlier in the day, the Pune police raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least three of them for suspected Maoist links.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the clashes between Dalits and right-wing activists at Koregaon- Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year.

Police say the speeches made at the conclave on December 31, a day before the 200th anniversary of the Koregaon-Bhima battle, were one of the triggers for the violence.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh announced today that a special investigation team (SIT) of the Punjab Police for the time-bound investigation into the Bargari and other sacrilege cases as well as the firing incidents of Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura.

Winding up the discussion on the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report on sacrilege incidents on the last day of the Assembly session, he said his government would take immediate action as per the findings and recommendations of the SIT to ensure that justice is meted out to innocent victims.

The announcement and the assurance came after the House unanimously passed a resolution, by voice vote, to withdraw CBI investigations into the cases and get the same probed by the SIT.

The resolution was moved by Rural Development Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa on chief minister's request, who took the decision after taking cognizance of the sentiment of the majority, including the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs.

However, Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said by handing over the sacrilege cases to the Punjab Police, the CM had admitted that he "failed" to "achieve his objectives" against them through the commission and would now "misuse" police.

The CBI is already probing three sacrilege cases including theft of a 'bir' (copy of Guru Granth Sahib) from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in Kotkapura.

On July 30, the Congress government announced to hand over the probe into Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan firing that followed the Bargari sacrilege to the CBI.

The chief minister said there was no question of going soft on Parkash Singh Badal, whom he blamed squarely for the damage caused to the state and its people with his grave acts of commission and omission.

He came down heavily on the SAD leaders, including Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Badal, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Bikram Singh Majithia and others, for "failing" to even visit those injured in the police firing in Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura.

The chief minister said the Congress had made an election promise to bring the truth of the Bargari sacrilege case and the subsequent firing incidents to the people of Punjab.

He said he had decided to get the incident thoroughly probe when he visited the injured after the incidents.

Amarinder Singh attacked Parkash Singh Badal calling him "coward and liar" and said Badal had lodged false cases against him, adding he was even turned out of the Assembly and had to be reinstated by the Supreme Court.

Referring to Operation Bluestar, he blamed Badal for the incident.

"Whenever there was any scope of negotiation, Badal would sabotage the efforts," the CM said, adding that he would run away after promising the hardliners of his support.

The CM also lashed out at Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia, saying nobody knew where he had come from and he clearly came from a family which completely "lacked character".

Majithia, along with Badal and Sukhbir Badal, had come together to form a "dangerous coteries" working against the interests of the state and continuously trying to divide it, he alleged.

On the Bargari and Behbal Kalan incidents, Amarinder pointed out that DGP Sumedh Singh Saini, on the last day of his service, had given a statement that he had spoken to then CM Parkash Singh Badal before the firing incident.

He wondered how the then CM could have been sleeping, as claimed by him, at such a grave time for the state. It was not done for a leader to blame his subordinates, said Amarinder, adding that Badal was obviously not a leader in the true sense of the word.

Earlier participating in debate, Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal lashed out at Badals for indulging in "communal to polarise the society".

He accused them of sowing the seeds of communal divide in Punjab for the first time by conspiring to allow the 'Nirankari Samagam' on April 13, 1978, despite intelligence reports against holding it in Amritsar, which resulted in the death of 16 Sikhs protesting against the 'Samagam'.

Punjab minister Sukhjinder Randhawa demanded that Parkash Singh Badal be stripped of the honour of 'Fakhr-e-Quom' bestowed by the Jathedar Sri Akal Takht Sahib as he had indulged in his "anti-Sikh and anti-panthic" activities, for which he actually deserves the title of 'Gaddar-e-Quom'- traitor of 'Panth'.

Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema moved a resolution seeking apology by the Centre for failing to take any action against guilty in sacrilege cases, which was unanimously passed by the House.

During the debate, the House also passed a privilege motion against the SGPC chief for rejecting the Ranjit Singh Commission report.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In a bid to eradicate malaria from Odisha, the state government today signed an MoU with two US-based agencies, a state minister said.

The two agencies - 'Malaria No More' and 'Malaria Elimination Trust' - would help the state government prepare a strategy on how to overcome the disease, Health and Family Welfare Minister Pratap Jena said.

The two agencies will also help in preparing the public awareness campaign materials.

Jena said as malaria has posed a challenge for the state though the number of deaths has come down.

While 89 people had died of malaria in 2014, it was reduced to 80 in 2015, 77 in 2016, 24 in 2017 and two till July this year, the minister said.

The malaria cases has also come down, he said.

Altogether 3,95,004 malaria cases were detected in 2014, the number was 41,937 till July in 2018, Jena said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A bomb blast tore through a crowd at a festival in the southern Philippines today, killing one person and wounding dozens more in the second deadly attack in under a month in the region, authorities said.

The powerful bomb in the town of Isulan went off near a night market that was part of local celebrations, sending people running in terror.

"It was loud, we immediately left the area but I can't forget the images of a young girl carried by her father, her shirt covered in blood," said witness Judy Sapto, an area resident.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but suspicion fell on Islamist militants, who have been fighting a decades-long insurgency in the south of the majority Catholic archipelago.

"It's obvious that the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) with links to ISIS (Islamic State) has the strongest desire to initiate these kind of attacks," said Army Captain Arvin Encinas.

The local mayor's office said two other bombs were discovered in the area and defused by authorities.

One person was killed and at least 36 were hurt in the blast, the mayor's office added. There was no immediate word on the victims' conditions.

Local police officials said the bomb went off near a petrol station as Isulan was celebrating the 61st anniversary of its founding.

This attack comes less than a month after a van bomb ripped through a military checkpoint on the neighbouring island of Basilan, killing 10 people.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for that bombing and authorities believe the man behind the wheel of the explosives-laden van may have intended to target a nearby children's parade.

President Rodrigo Duterte put the southern Philippines under martial rule until the end of this year after pro-IS militants seized the southern city of Marawi last year.

Several armed groups are active against government forces in the south of the Southeast Asian country, where a decades-long rebellion has claimed more than 100,000 lives by government count.

These latest blasts follow the Duterte government enacting a law to create greater autonomy for the Muslim minority in the south and which is hoped to help end the conflict.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)With a view to providing better health facilities to the people of the state, the Bihar cabinet today gave its nod to online registration system for availing doctor's consultancy at the OPDs of medical college hospitals down to the primary health centres, top government official said.

The cabinet meeting was chaired by the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and also gave its nod constituting and registering Bihar Health Protection Committee (BHPC) for implementing the Ayushman Bharat Scheme, the principal secretary to the cabinet secretariat department Arun Kumar Singh told reporters here.

The online registration facility would be free as the cabinet abolished the existing registration fee of Rs 5 for medical college hospitals and Rs 2 for district and sub-divisional hospitals and Re 1 for primary health centres, he said.

Patients from across the state would be able to get medical consultancy from anywhere in the state, he said adding that the measure will help patients and their attendants avoid standing in long queues for registration.

The online registration system would also help in reducing the number of people waiting at the registration counter.

At present an average 10,480 patients visit each government hospital in Bihar per month, Singh said.

Official sources said that patients and their attendants can make the online registration through respective websites of medical colleges and related hospitals.

Singh said the BHPC will be registered under Society Registration Act, 1860, Singh said adding that the cabinet meeting also approved its by-laws for the purpose.

Identified families from weaker section of the society will be given insurance protection cover of Rs 5 lakh per family under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, he said.

The cabinet also approved the 'Mukhyamantri Gram Parivahan' scheme to provide better and increased connectivity between panchayat to block headquarters.

The objective of the scheme is to ensure better transport facility apart from creating job opportunities for the unemployed people belonging to scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and extremely backward class, Singh said.

Under the scheme, the government will give grant of upto 50 per cent of the vehicle's cost with maximum limit of Rs 1 lakh, he said adding that the grant will be available on the purchase of five passenger vehciles in every panchayat.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Opposition parties staged a walkout in the Uttar PradesH Legislative Assembly today after expressing dissatisfaction over the government's reply regarding the law-and-order situation in the state.

The matter came up in the Zero Hour through an adjournment notice moved by Leader of Opposition Ram Govind Chaudhary, who presented statistics to allege that the law and order had worsened ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in the state.

Demanding a debate, Chaudhary said the police was not arresting the real culprits, but nabbing those who used to indulge in such acts in the past and eliminating them in encounters.

Lalji Verma, the BSP leader in the House, said there had been a manifold increase not only in crime, but also in cases of corruption, specially in the police set-up. Criminals are getting patronage of the government, Verma charged, demanding a five-hour debate on the issue.

Congress leader Ajay Singh Lallu termed the government a failure on the law-and-order front and cited various cases.

In his reply, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna denied that the government had promised crime would be zero and highlighted statistics to show an overall fall in the crime rate, barring dowry deaths.

Prompt action is taken in all the criminal cases, Khanna said, claiming that the encounters had not been planned anywhere and police had to open fire on "criminals who fire at them".

On the Deoria shelter home case, Khanna said it got recognition in 2012 and "everyone is aware as to who was in power at that time". Stressing that there was no intention to save anyone in the case, the minister said a CBI inquiry had already been recommended.

But dissatisfied over the reply, the SP, BSP and Congress MLAs staged a walkout.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Ousted Tata group Chairman Cyrus P Mistry has approached the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal against the order of the Mumbai Bench of NCLT which upheld his removal as chairman of the company.

Mistry has filed the petition in his personal capacity, requesting the appellate tribunal to set aside the impugned order passed by the National Company Law Tribunal on July 9.

Besides, Mistry has also requested the appellate tribunal to pass any other relief, which it deems fit by it.

Mistry's petition is listed for Wednesday at the NCLAT for hearing.

Last week, on August 24, NCLAT passed an order over the petitions filed by the investments firm of Mistry family and directed Tata Sons not to force the to sell their shares in the Tata group firm.



The appellate tribunal had admitted the petitions of the Mistry's family-run firm Cyrus Investments Pvt Ltd and posted the matter for hearing on September 24.

It has also said that issues related to conversion of Tata Sons' into a private company from a public limited company would be decided by it at a later stage.

Besides change to a private company, the investment firms had in NCLAT challenged the move by the company to restrict shareholders from freely selling their stake and the Article 75 of the articles of association that can be used by the board to force a shareholder to sell out.

"Taking into consideration the facts and that the appeal is pending and if the Appellants (investment firms) are forced to sell their shares which may affect the merits of the appeal, as they will cease to be member(s) of the company (Tata Sons)."

"We direct the Respondents (Tata) not take any step in terms of Article 75 for transfer of shares of minority shareholders like Appellants (Mistry) and others during the pendency of the appeal," the appellate tribunal had said.



The Mistry family, which derives almost $17 billion of their fortune from the 18.4 per cent stake in Tata Sons, had filed several lawsuits challenging the ouster of Cyrus.

The Mistry camp had challenged the July 9 order of the Mumbai bench of the NCLT which dismissed their pleas against his removal as Tata Sons chairman, as also the allegations of rampant misconduct on part of Ratan Tata and the company's Board.

A special bench of the tribunal had held that the board of directors at Tata Sons was "competent" to remove the executive chairperson of the company.

NCLT bench members B S V Prakash Kumar and V Nallasenapathy had also said that Mistry was ousted as chairman because the Tata Sons' Board and its majority shareholders had "lost confidence" in him.



Under the Act 2013, an order of NCLT can be challenged before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). Mistry, who was the sixth chairman of Tata Sons, was ousted from the position in October 2016.

He had taken over as the chairman in 2012 after Ratan Tata announced his retirement.

Two months after his removal, Mistry's family-run firms Cyrus Investments Pvt Ltd and Sterling Investments Corp approached the NCLT as minority shareholders, against Tata Sons, Ratan Tata, and some other board members.

The investment firms in their plea, supporting Mistry, primarily argued that his removal was not in accordance with the Act and that there was rampant mismanagement of affairs across Tata Sons.The arrests of prominent civil rights activists and multi-city searches of their homes triggered outrage and condemnation by several lawyers, academics and authors today, some who termed the move "absolutely chilling" and others saying it amounted to a "virtual declaration of emergency".

What is happening is absolutely perilous, said author and Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy after the raids, whichwere carried out as part of a probe into the violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon-Bhima village, triggered by 'Elgar Parishad' event in Pune on December 31 last year.

Searches were carried out at the residences of poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade unionist and lawyer Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad and Chhattisgarh and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in Delhi, a police official in Pune said.

The official said Rao and Bhardwaj were arrested. There were unconfirmed reports about arrests of several other activists in the raids.

"The simultaneous state-wide arrests are a dangerous sign of a government that fears it is losing its mandate and is falling into panic. That lawyers, poets, writers, Dalit rights activists and intellectuals are being arrested on ludicrous charges... while those who make up lynch mobs and threaten and murder people in broad daylight roam free, tells us very clearly where India is headed," Roy told PTI in a message.

She added that murderers are being honoured and protected and anybody who speaks up for justice or against Hindu majoritarianism is being made into a criminal.

"What is happening is absolutely perilous. In the run up to elections, this is an attempted coup against the Indian Constitution and all the freedoms that we cherish," Roy said.

In June, five activists were arrested in connection with the case.

Voicing their deep anguish at today's developments, civil rights activists said the scale of raids and subsequent arrests were unprecedented.

"Fascist fangs are now openly bared," tweeted lawyer Prashant Bhushan.

"It is a clear declaration of emergency. They are going after anyone who has spoken against the government on rights issues. They are against any dissent," Bhushan said.

Noted historian Ramachandra Guha called the action "absolutely chilling" and demanded the intervention of the Supreme Court to stop this "persecution and harassment" of independent voices.

"Sudha Bharadwaj is as far from violence and illegality as Amit Shah is close to those things," tweeted Guha.

Rights activist Shabnam Hashmi, too, strongly condemned the raids.

"Strongly condemn raids on human right defenders' homes since Morning in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Telangana, Delhi, Goa. Stop harassing HRDs! Condemn Modi's authoritarian regime," Hashmi said on Twitter.

JNU student leader Shehla Rashid alleged the raids were an attempt to "instil fear among those are vocal about issues".

"It is also to manufacture a narrative and a sense of false enemy to misguided people ahead of the 2019 elections I highly condemn these," she said.

Former JNU leader Umar Khalid said the raids are an attempt to send a message to those who are raising their voices.

"Ahead of 2019 elections, a sense of fictitious enemy is being conjured," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Over 22,000 old age pension applications were pending with the Himachal Pradesh government, minister Sarveen Chaudhary told the assembly today.

Replying to a question asked by Ramesh Chand Dhawala, BJP MLA from Jawala Mukhi segment, during question-hour, Chaudhary said 40,359 old age pension applications were received following the Jai Ram Thakur government lowering the old age pension limit from 80 years to 70 years.

In the absence of social justice minister Rajiv Saizal, Chaudhary informed the house that 17,981 new applicants had already started to get Rs 1,300 old age pension every month, while 22,378 applications were still pending.

Congress MLA Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu enquired about the criterion which enabled 17,000-odd new applicants to get pension, while the rest of the applications were still pending.

At this, Chaudhary stated that applications were received online and they were approved on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Dissatisfied with Chaudhary's reply, Opposition Leader Mukesh Agnihotri pointed out that there are several areas in the state where online facility is not available.

Subsequently, Assembly Speaker Rajiv Bindal asked cabinet minister Mahender Singh to clarify on the matter.

Singh said, "Old age pension starts as soon as verification of applications and annexed documents are ready.'



Singh added that the state government would not allow fund shortage to be a hurdle in sanctioning of old-age pension.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan's imprisoned former prime minister Nawaz Sharif today again appeared before an anti-corruption court in the remaining two graft cases against him and his family, a media report said.

The 68-year-old PML-N leader appeared before the court as accountability court II Judge Mohammad Arshad Malik resumed hearing of Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment cases, Geo reported.

Sharif's counsel Khawaja Harris cross-questioned Panamagate Joint Investigation Team (JIT) head and prosecution's witness Wajid Zia, the report said.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court ordered the accountability court to conclude the remaining two corruption cases against deposed prime minister Sharif and his family within the next six weeks.

Judge Malik had submitted a written request to the Supreme Court seeking an extension to conclude the Al-Azizia and Flagship Investment cases.

The court also directed accountability judge Malik to submit a progress report of the case to the apex court on a weekly basis.

Sharif, along with his daughter Maryam, 44 and son-in-law Capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar, 54, are already serving jail terms of 10-years, seven years and one year respectively in the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, after the accountability court convicted them on July 6 over the family's ownership of four luxury flats in London through illegal means.

The pending corruption cases against Sharif and his two sons were transferred by the Islamabad High Court on August 7 on the application of Sharif to another accountability court headed by judge Malik.

Three corruption cases were filed against Sharif and family last year following a decision by Supreme Court on July 28 of the same year.

Apart from Sharif, his two sons -Hassan and Hussian - are also co-accused in all the three corruption cases.

The court has declared Sharif's sons as absconders due to their persistent failure to appear before it. They have been blacklisted, barring them from travelling on their Pakistani passports.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan wants to "move on and improve" its relations with Washington by putting behind the controversy over the content of handout of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's phone call to Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told lawmakers today.

Controversy erupted after the US State Department spokesperson in a statement said that Pompeo during his conversation with Khan raised the importance of Pakistan taking "decisive action" against all terrorists operating in Pakistan and its vital role in promoting the Afghan peace process.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry took exception to the statement saying, that factually incorrect statement was issued by the US State Department on phone call between Prime Minister Khan and Secretary Pompeo.

Qureshi while addressing the Senate, the upper house of Pakistan's parliament, in response to a query by former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani about controversy over the telephonic talks.

The foreign minister said that he knew the US position about the talks between Pompeo and Khan but he was also aware what US said in the readout was "contrary to the facts".

He, however, struck a positive note by saying Pakistan expects that the visit by the top US diplomat, on September 5, would improve the bilateral relations with the US.

The US has long been frustrated with Pakistan's overt and covert support to the Afghan Taliban and other terror groups, forcing the Trump administration to warn Islamabad and slash military aid to the country.

"We want to move on and improve the relations," he said.

He once again said that conservation between Khan and Pompeo was cordial and constructive in nature.

Qureshi said that national security and foreign policies were interlinked and "we should demonstrate unison on them" as unity will give strength to the nation.

He also assured that guidance will be taken from parliament in formulation of foreign policy.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Parag Milk Foods, which today launched the fresh milk category, is targeting a 10 per cent market share in Delhi-NCR from this segment in the current fiscal year, a top executive said.

The fresh milk category will be under the company's Gowardhan brand.

"We are planning to expand our footprint in the Delhi and NCR region in the fresh milk category. We are targeting a 10 per cent market share in the region in the fresh milk segment in the next eight months (August-March)," Parag Milk Foods chairman Devendra Shah told PTI.

The company today also commenced commercial operations of its Sonepat plant, which it bought from Danone in April.

Shah said the company plans to reach out to the regions within 250-300 km of the Sonipat plant.

The fresh milk market in Delhi-NCR is close to Rs 1,000 crore, according to him.

"North is one of the key priority markets for us. Dairy products consumption is the highest in this region and this expansion will allow us to allow cow's milk reach Delhi-NCR and neighbouring regions," Shah said, adding that currently, 90 per cent of the fresh milk supply in the region is buffalo milk.

Further, he said, the Sonepat facility has a processing capacity of one lakh litre per day and depending on the demand the company can increase it up to three lakh litre, going forward.

"We expect to reach full capacity of three lakh litre by the end of this financial year," said Shah.

In the coming weeks, besides fresh milk, this facility will also manufacture products including flavoured milk, butter milk, lassi, among others.

"We will begin to supply these products to the north and east markets from our Sonipat plant soon," he added.

Parag Milk Foods, established in 1992, is a private dairy FMCG company with pan-India presence.

It has its manufacturing facilities at Manchar in Maharashtra and Palamner in Andhra Pradesh.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A group of patients, who suffered due to alleged faulty hip replacement surgeries by a multinational firm, said today that the Centre's response to their pain had been of "apathy and dismissiveness", and rued lack of consideration of criminal charges against the company.

With reports indicating that an expert panel set up to investigate complaints about hip implant devices has suggested that the company pay compensation of around Rs 20 lakh to the affected patients, they said it would only "add insult to serious injury".

According to reports, pharma giant Johnson and Johnson "suppressed" facts on the harm caused by surgeries which were conducted on patients in India using "faulty" hip replacement systems.

"We are writing to you as a group of patients who have suffered as a result of Johnson and Johnson's faulty ASR hip implants which were globally recalled in 2010. We have suffered severe consequences -- medical, financial and personal -- because of the hip implant and have been forced to lead severely compromised lives.

"In spite of our attempts over several years to draw attention to the serious safety concerns with the ASR hip implant device, and the pain and agony experienced by us, the response from the government for years was one of apathy and dismissiveness," they wrote in the letter to Union Health Minister J P Nadda.

They said the government constituted a high-powered expert committee to look into the ASR hip implant and the conduct of Johnson and Johnson in light of the failure of the device in 2017.

This committee submitted its final report to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in February 2018.

"It is now six months since the report was submitted but it has not been made available to the public or to us. Since February, some of us have made requests for the Expert Committee report to officials in the CDSCO (Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation) and in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, only to be told that the report cannot be shared without providing any reasons," they said.

The letter was signed by Vijay Vojhala; Jennifer Barucha, daughter of Daisy Barucha who passed away in 2014; Praful Sardesai; Vinay Agarwal; and Shailesh Bachate among others.

The patients said top government officials have made comments in newspapers about the setting up of central and regional committees to make evaluations for compensation to patients on the basis of the recommendations.

"A few leading newspapers have also published small excerpts of the observations and recommendations of the committee. Some have also reported actual compensatory amounts, which if accurate in terms of the amounts mentioned, would only add insult to serious injury.

"The one matter astonishingly missing from these reports is whether there has been any consideration of criminal charges or investigations into the criminal acts of Johnson and Johnson in marketing this faulty product," they said.

Nadda yesterday said his ministry was holding deliberations on an expert panel's report and would take necessary steps.

"It is surprising that the media has been able to get the report yet the persons directly affected have kept in the dark. Indeed, we are unable to make sense of these claims and media reports being unaware of the contents of the expert committee report, which is still secret.

"We believe that the investigation of Johnson and Johnson's faulty hip implants and the resulting governmental action should be done in a transparent manner so as to ensure that vested interests do not unduly influence the process, the letter stated," they wrote in the letter.

The group said in the last eight years, since the recall of this product, they have endured pain and become disabled while some of them have lost family members who died awaiting redressal.

"Denying us the report of the Expert Committee which was instituted after our constant requests and perseverance, and which sought the testimony and experiences of patients, is like rubbing salt on our wounds, and undermines our struggle for justice.

"Therefore, we request that the final report of the Expert Committee is made available to us in its entirety and also put in the public domain. We also seek participation in any further deliberations by the Government on the action to be taken on the report," they said.

Reports quoting the expert committee findings say that over 3,600 patients with faulty implants remain untraceable, and that at least four deaths have been reported among these patients.

The Health Ministry had on August 25 said that following the reports which appeared in the media, it has directed the formation of state level committees for hearing the grievances.

"The compensation to the patients will be decided based on examinations done on them. Now we have to assess how many (patients) are affected due to it. That is why state committees will be formed.

"Apart from this, advertisements will also be put up in prominent newspapers so that the affected patients know about this and can approach the committee with their grievances," the Drugs Controller General of India Eswara Reddy had told PTI.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Punjab Assembly Speaker



here today formed a House Committee to probe SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal's allegations that Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had met Sikh preacher Baljit Singh Daduwal at the former's residence here.

Badal has alleged that Daduwal had met the chief minister a day before Justice (retd) Ranjit Singh Commission report on sacrilege incidents was tabled in the Assembly.

Acceding to the request of the chief minister, who was also supported by AAP MLAs on the issue, Speaker Rana K P Singh constituted the panel under the chairmanship of cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa.

Intervening in the issue raised by SAD members, Amarinder Singh accused the SAD president of misleading the House by furnishing wrong information.

Shortly before the debate on the Justice (retd) Ranjit Singh Commission report, tabled in the House yesterday, got underway in the Assembly today, SAD MLAs stormed the Well of the House and flung copies of the report in the air.

They had flung copies of the report in the air yesterday outside the Assembly, after the chief minister alleged that the SAD was misleading the House. Later, the Akalis also staged a walkout.

Badal had also alleged that mobile calls were exchanged between some Congress ministers, Daduwal, AAP leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira and some others.

Reiterating his charge in the Assembly today, the SAD president asked, "For what reasons Daduwal had gone to CM's residence on Sunday night."



"CM Sahab you are very senior to me, I am very junior to you, but you must answer... You also send your ministers to meet Daduwal, hold meetings. Who are these people, they are Khalistan sympathisers... conspiracies are now being exposed."However, the chief minister accused the Akalis of spreading misinformation and said, "I had said yesterday also to check all CCTVs in and around CM's residence, is there any truth in your allegations. They (Akalis) have become master of disinformation in the House."The mobile tower locations provided by Sukhbir Badal pertaining to some purported calls did not even exist. The Akali leader was clearly aimed at spreading misinformation, Amarinder Singh said.

About the photograph purportedly showing Amarinder Singh with Daduwal, which the SAD chief had shown in the Assembly, the chief minister said it was clicked during a meeting with a delegation that came to meet him at Punjab Bhavan earlier this year with a charter of demands including detection of sacrilege cases and arrest of those involved in sacrilege/desecration.

"The fact is that if five people of similar build and physique are made to stand with Daduwal, I will not be able to identify him (Daduwal)," the chief minister said.

Alleging that the Akalis were indulging in "cheap gimmicks" now to divert public attention from their "misdeeds of 10 years", particularly the incidents of sacrilege, Amarinder Singh said the inquiry by the House panel would nail Badal's "lies and ascertain the truth" of the matter.

AAP MLA H S Phoolka lashed out at Badal, saying there was nothing wrong in the chief minister meeting Daduwal, in case such a meeting had taken place, since the Sikh preacher was facing threats and had every right to approach Amarinder Singh on the issue.

Earlier, Amarinder Singh proposed the constitution of a House panel to probe Sukhbir's charges, which was allowed by the Speaker and endorsed by members of Aam Aadmi Party.

Meanwhile, AAP MLA Kultar Singh Sandhawan accused the Akalis of scattering the Ranjit Singh Commission report when they had trooped to the Well of the House, and sought a resolution condemning the them for "desecrating the report", and pointed out that it had holy Guru Granth Sahib's name written on several pages.

The House unanimously passed the resolution on this, which was moved by AAP leader Harpal Singh Cheema, who is Leader of the Opposition.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Madras High Court directed today the government pleader to get instructions from the Directorate of Medical (DME) on a plea moved by a post graduate medical student seeking direction to restrain the DME from conducting six-month training programmes in pre-conception and pre-natal diagnostic techniques in violation of law.

A division bench of Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subramonium Prasad passed the oral instruction on the plea moved by X Sebastian Antony, a second-year student of MD Radio Diagnosis in Stanley Medical College.

According to the petitioner, nearly 550 students have been admitted by the DME in the six-month training programme in violation of the Pre-conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of sex Selection) (Six Months Training) Rules, 2014.

"The Rules have been made by the Central government to select students for giving training in Ultra Sonography. There is stringent provisions under the Rules regarding the period of training, curriculum, components of training, eligibility and recognition of institution.

"Completely giving a go bye to the mandatory provisions envisaged in the Rules, students were admitted enmass," advocate Ragavachari, counsel for the petitioner said.

While a plea challenging the constitutional validity of the Rules is pending before the Supreme Court, the authorities are admitting students to the courses recognised under the Rule, he added.

Pointing out Rule 8 of the Regulation, the counsel said, it is clear from the Rule that the student teacher ratio is to be 1:1.

There are 20 medical colleges in the state out of which only 11 have been approved for PG courses in Radiology and total strength of approved PG teachers in only 85 and therefore only 85 students could be admitted to the programme.

Recording the submissions, the bench directed the pleader to get appropriate instructions from the authorities and posted the plea to September 30.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav today claimed the people want a new prime minister after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls as he accused the BJP of "spreading lies and animosity".

People in the country want change, the former chief minister told reporters at a Samajwadi Lohia Vahini programme here.

"The youth have seen unemployment, the farmers have seen deceit, while traders are worried due to demonetisation and GST. The country wants a new prime minister after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Hence the effort by the youngsters would be to give a new prime minister, so that our country can become prosperous," Yadav said.

He accused the BJP of diverting from the real issues and said it was a party that could "create delusions".

"They have got degrees in spreading lies, hatching conspiracies and spreading animosity among people," Yadav alleged targeting the BJP.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) today told the Bombay High Court that 0.10 per cent securities transactions tax (STT) would be levied on physical delivery of shares in the equity derivatives segment.

A division bench of justices B R Gavai and M S Karnik had last week sought clarity from the CBDT on the STT rate after the Association of National Exchange Members of India (ANMI) filed a petition claiming anomalies on the issue.

The ANMI had challenged a July 17 circular issued by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) directing the members in the equity derivatives segment to collect the STT on physical settlement of stock derivatives at the rate of 0.10 per cent with effect from July 26.

The circular had added that if the CBDT issued any clarification or amendment on taxation of physically settled F&O contracts, the exchange would recover such additional tax burden from the members.

The ANMI, a brokers' association, claimed in the petition that this was leading to an ambiguous situation.

The NSE seeking to "illegally" pass on a burden of any additional taxation is "illegal and arbitrary", it said.

The high court had then directed Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for CBDT, to clarify.

Singh today submitted a communication addressed by the CBDT which said that the rate of 0.10 per cent would be levied as STT on all transactions including physical delivery of shares in the equity derivatives segment.

"We find that the CBDT clarification takes care of the situation. All the stakeholders including the petitioner association and the NSE are now aware of the STT payable. Hence it would not be difficult for the petitioner association to recover money from the traders," said Justice Gavai.

The bench disposed of the petition.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Egypt and meet with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the country's envoy to India said today, and asserted the warmth in ties as expressed by both the leaders exhibits there are avenues for greater bilateral cooperation.

"The Indian Prime Minister has in-principle accepted the invite sent to him by our President and confirmed that he will visit. But, work needs to be done through diplomatic channels to see the time availability," Egyptian Ambassador Hatem Tageldin told reporters here.

Interacting with the media on the sidelines of an event, the envoy also said that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to visit his country later this year and Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan is expected to attend an international bio-diversity conference there in November.

Earlier, addressing a gathering during a function held here to mark the opening of the first unit in India of Port Said-based paint major Kapci Coatings, Tageldin described the Egypt-India relationship as "exceptional" and said it was important to "explore more avenues of cooperation".

"Indian Prime Minister and our President have met four times since they both came to power in 2014. And, a fifth meeting is expected to take place in Egypt," he said.

In September 2017, Modi had met el-Sisi in the Chinese port city of Xiamen and held talks with him to strengthen bilateral ties.

"Egypt-India exceptional relationship goes years back to the Non-Aligned Movement and trade routes, which played important roles in cementing trade exchanges and relationships," he said.

The envoy also said that at present, the economic climate is "favourable and much more conducive" for creating further opportunities, especially through initiatives like Make in India, Clean India and Skill India.

"The warmness in relationship expressed by both our leaders paved the way for more cooperation in many fields," he said.

The envoy said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Sameh Shoukry, had met Modi during his India visited in March and extended an invitation letter to him, sent by President el-Sisi.

The ambassador said the trade volume between the two countries reached USD 3.5 billion in 2017.

The combined investment of Indian companies in Egypt stands at 3.5 billion, he said.

"Both governments have taken numerous steps for developing solid base for the bilateral relationship and the business community can take this cooperation further," he said, adding the prospects of enhancing the bilateral ties is extremely encouraging.

Asked on defence cooperation, the envoy said, "India is an important partner in different fields, and there is potential to enhance defence cooperation. And, that includes, areas in defence, security, counter-terrorism, and joint ventures in military production."



The foundation stone for the first unit of Kapci Coatings in India was laid in April 2015 in Bengaluru, the envoy said.

"There were a few issues, including in land acquisition in initial days, but I met the officials of the then Karnataka government, and they facilitated the process. The company plans to open four more units in India and will invest USD 50 million on these five projects. From here, they will also explore ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries," Tageldin said.

At present, 52 Indian firms operate in Egypt while three Egyptian companies are in India, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Ten of the more than 600 migrants who forced their way into the Spanish territory of Ceuta last month by violently storming a heavily fortified border fence with Morocco were arrested today, police said.

The 10 sub-Saharan African migrants, who were arrested at an immigrant holding centre in Ceuta, are accused of belonging to a criminal organisation, assaulting a police officer and causing damage, Spain's Guardia Civil said in a statement.

Among those arrested is the suspected head of the group that led the coordinated assault on the border on July 26 in which 22 police officers were injured, it added.

The man, who is from Togo, "offered strong resistance during his detention causing light injuries" to a police officer, the statement said.

Two of the other arrested men are from Cameroon, with the rest from Guinea.

Pictures released by police showed the men being escorted by armed officers into a green and white police van, their hands handcuffed behind their backs.

A total of 602 migrants reached Ceuta last month storming the double border fence and attacking police with caustic quicklime, excrement, stones and sticks.

They even set spray cans on fire, using them as "flame-throwers", and used saws and shears to cut the fence, according to police.

Police said they seized molotov cocktails as well as several bags with hashish from the migrants who stormed the border.

The scramble over the barbed wire-decked barrier was the biggest in Ceuta since February 2017, when more than 850 migrants entered the overseas territory over four days.

Last week 116 migrants made a similar bid to enter Ceuta but were promptly sent back to Morocco, prompting criticism from human rights groups.

Ceuta and Melilla, Spain's other territory in North Africa, have the European Union's only land borders with Africa, drawing migrants trying to reach the bloc.

A total of 4,382 migrants have entered the two territories by land since the start of the year, according to the International Organization for Migration.

More than 32,000 migrants have arrived in Spain by sea and land this year, making it the main entry point for migrants arriving in Europe, after Italy and Greece.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two Left-wing activists Varavara Rao and Sudha Bhardwaj were arrested today as the Pune police carried out searches at multiple places in various states on the residences of people suspected to have Maoist links, a senior police official said.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon-Bhima village, triggered by an event called 'Elgar Parishad' (conclave) held in Pune on December 31 last year.

Searches were carried out at the residences of Left wing activist and poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad and Chhattisgarh and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in Delhi, the official said, while refusing to be identified.

Following the searches, Rao and Bhardwaj were arrested, the official added.

Rao's name had figured in a letter which the Pune police had claimed to have seized during searches at the premises of one of the five people arrested in June in connection with the 'Elgar Parishad' event last December to commemorate 200 years of the Koregaon-Bhima battle in 1818.

In June, five people were arrested for having close Maoist links after they allegedly made "provocative" speeches at the event, triggering violence at Koregaon-Bhima village in the district, according to an FIR registered at the Vishrambaug Police Station after the event.

Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale was arrested from his home in Mumbai, while lawyer Surendra Gadling, activist Mahesh Raut and Shoma Sen were picked up from Nagpur and Rona Wilson was arrested from his flat in Munirka in Delhi in simultaneous raids in June.

"During our investigation in connection with the Elgar Parishad event, some evidences came to light about members of a proscribed organisation, following which the police carried out raids in Chhattisgarh, Mumbai and Hyderabad," the police official said.

The searches today were conducted at homes of people having Maoist links and those directly or indirectly connected with the five arrested people, the official said.

The police claimed to have recovered "some incriminating documents" during the searches.

"We are also checking the financial transactions of these people, their modes of communication and also trying to gather technical evidence," the police official said.

Outgoing joint commissioner of Pune police Ravindra Kadam, on August 2, said no Maoist link had been found in the Bhima Koregaon violence.

He had, however, said an 'anti-fascist front', formed by the Maoists to oppose the policies of the current government, was behind the 'Elgar Parishad' held in Pune a day before the incident that saw protests by Dalit groups.

Kadam, who has been transferred to Nagpur in a recent reshuffle, had told reporters that the police have ample evidence in the form of documents and video footage against the arrested persons.

Earlier, the police had booked the five arrested people under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

They were also booked under IPC sections 153-A (promoting disharmony, enmity between groups), 505 (inciting class, community of persons to commit any offence against any other class or community), 117 (abetting commission of offence by the public or by more than ten persons) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The chairman of the Uttar Pradesh legislative council has summoned Pilibhit district superintendent of police (SP) tomorrow to explain his stand on a matter pertaining to breach of privilege.

Chairman Ramesh Yadav summoned SP Balendu Bhushan Singh after Samajwadi Party MLC Shatrudra Prakash raised the matter. Prakash said he had called Singh last Tuesday, but was informed that the SP had gone somewhere with District Magistrate Akhilesh Mishra.

The MLC alleged that when he called up Mishra to give the phone to the SP, Singh he did not speak. "This amounts to breach of privilege of a member of legislative council and the entire House," Prakash said, adding that the SP should be summoned and cross-questioned.

Dinesh Chandra (BSP), Deepak Singh (Congress), Ashish Kumar (Apna Dal-S) and Devendra Pratap (BJP) supported Prakash.

Yadav then issued orders that Singh be present before the House tomorrow at 1.00 pm and explain his stand.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Maharashtra police today raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least four of them for suspected Maoist links, sparking a chorus of outraged protests from human rights defenders.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and the upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year.

The arrests are "a dangerous sign of a government that fears it is losing its mandate and is falling into panic. That lawyers, poets, writers, Dalit rights activists and intellectuals are being arrested on ludicrous charges," award-winning author Arundhati Roy told PTI.

Near simultaneous searches were carried out at the residences of prominent Telugu poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Farreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad, and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in New Delhi, a senior police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Subsequently, Rao, Bhardwaj and Farreira were arrested.

"They have been arrested under the relevant sections of Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for their alleged naxal activities," said the police official, without elaborating.

Although Navalakha was also arrested, the Delhi High Court ordered police not to take him out of the national capital at least until tomorrow. The high court was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Navalakha by his advocate Warisha Farasat after he was picked up from his Delhi home this afternoon by the Maharashtra police



According to unconfirmed reports, others whose residences were raided are Susan Abraham, Kranthi Tekula, Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi and Anand Teltumbde in Goa.

Koregaon-Bhima occupies a central place in Dalit history -- it witnessed a major battle in which the Peshwa rulers were defeated on January 1, 1818 by the British army, comprising a large number of Dalit soldiers. Every year, the anniversary of the battle is marked by thousands of Dalits assembling in Pune and marching to Koregaon-Bhima to a war memorial.

Police say the speeches made at the conclave on December 31, a day before the 200th anniversary of the battle, were one of the triggers for the violence.

Today's events mirrored simultaneous raids conducted in June when five activists were arrested in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima violence.

Rao's name had figured in a letter which the Pune police claimed to have seized during searches at the premises of one of the five people arrested in June in connection with the Elgar Parishad. The five were accused of having close Maoist links, according to an FIR registered at the Vishrambaug Police Station after the event.

Rao was arrested from his residence at Gandhi Nagar in Hyderabad by a Pune police team, which earlier searched the residences of his two daughters.

A senior police official here said the team conducted searches at the residences of Rao's two daughters and a journalist, among others, before arresting him.

"Pune police sought our assistance. We have provided them with local force to assist in conducting searches and making the arrest. He (Rao) ... will be produced in a court and taken to Pune on transit warrant," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Zone) Viswa Prasad told PTI.

Civil Liberties Committee president Gaddam Laxman accused the BJP Government of "attacking intellectuals physically and mentally torturing them."



"We are consulting legal experts. We will fight legally ... His arrest is a gross violation of human rights," Laxman told reporters.

In June, Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale was arrested from his home in Mumbai, while lawyer Surendra Gadling, activist Mahesh Raut and Shoma Sen were picked up from Nagpur and Rona Wilson was arrested from his flat in Munirka in Delhi in simultaneous raids.

"During our investigation in connection with the Elgar Parishad event, some evidence came to light about members of a proscribed organisation, following which the police carried out raids in Chhattisgarh, Mumbai and Hyderabad" today, the police official said.

The searches were conducted at homes of people having Maoist links and those directly or indirectly connected with the five arrested people, the official said.

The police claimed to have recovered "some incriminating documents" during the searches.

"We are also checking the financial transactions of these people, their modes of communication and also trying to gather technical evidence," the police official said.

However, outgoing joint commissioner of Pune police Ravindra Kadam, had said on August 2, that no Maoist links were found in the Koregaon-Bhima violence.

He had, however, said an anti-fascist front, formed by the Maoists to oppose the policies of the current government, was behind the Elgar Parishad.

Today's arrests were condemned widely.

"Fascist fangs are now openly bared," tweeted lawyer Prashant Bhushan.

"It is a clear declaration of emergency. They are going after anyone who has spoken against the government on rights issues. They are against any dissent," Bhushan said.

Noted historian Ramachandra Guha called the action "absolutely chilling" and demanded the intervention of the Supreme Court to stop this "persecution and harassment" of independent voices.

"Sudha Bharadwaj is as far from violence and illegality," tweeted Guha.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Maharashtra police today raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least five of them for suspected Maoist links, sparking a chorus of outraged protests from human rights defenders.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and the upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year.

The arrests are "a dangerous sign of a government that fears it is losing its mandate and is falling into panic. That lawyers, poets, writers, Dalit rights activists and intellectuals are being arrested on ludicrous charges ... tells us very clearly where India is headed," award-winning author Arundhati Roy told PTI.

Near simultaneous searches were carried out at the residences of prominent Telugu poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Farreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad, and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in New Delhi, a senior police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Subsequently, Rao, Bhardwaj, Farreira, Gonzalves and Navalakha were arrested under IPC Section 153 (A), which relates to promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place or birth, residence, language and committing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony, said the official.

Some other sections of the IPC were also pressed against those arrested, along with Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for their "alleged naxal activities," said the police official, without elaborating. The premises of Father Stan Swamy, a tribal leader in Jharkhand, too were searched but he was not detained, the official said.

In New Delhi, soon after Navalakha's arrest, the Delhi High Court ordered police not to take him out of the national capital at least until tomorrow. The High Court was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Navalakha by his advocate Warisha Farasat after he was picked up from his Delhi home this afternoon by the Maharashtra police.

According to unconfirmed reports, others whose residences were raided are Susan Abraham, Kranthi Tekula and Anand Teltumbde in Goa.

Koregaon-Bhima occupies a central place in Dalit history -- it witnessed a major battle in which the Peshwa rulers were defeated on January 1, 1818 by the British army, comprising a large number of Dalit soldiers. Every year, the anniversary of the battle is marked by thousands of Dalits assembling in Pune and marching to Koregaon-Bhima to a war memorial.

Police say the speeches made at the conclave on December 31, a day before the 200th anniversary of the battle, were one of the triggers for the violence.

Today's events mirrored simultaneous raids conducted in June when five activists were arrested in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima violence.

"While arresting them, we had seized some documents, and while scrutinising these documents the connection of these five people surfaced," said the police official. "Their exact role in the case is part of the investigation."



Rao's name had figured in a letter which the Pune police claimed to have seized during searches at the premises of one of the five people arrested in June in connection with the Elgar Parishad. The five were accused of having close Maoist links, according to an FIR registered at the Vishrambaug Police Station after the event.

Rao was arrested from his residence at Gandhi Nagar in Hyderabad by a Pune police team, which earlier searched the residences of his two daughters.

"Pune police sought our assistance. We have provided them with local force to assist in conducting searches and making the arrest. He (Rao) ... will be produced in a court and taken to Pune on transit warrant," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Zone) Viswa Prasad told PTI.

In June, Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale was arrested from his home in Mumbai, while lawyer Surendra Gadling, activist Mahesh Raut and Shoma Sen were picked up from Nagpur and Rona Wilson was arrested from his flat in Munirka in Delhi in simultaneous raids.

"During our investigation in connection with the Elgar Parishad event, some evidence came to light about members of a proscribed organisation, following which the police carried out raids in Chhattisgarh, Mumbai and Hyderabad" today, the police official said.

The searches were conducted at homes of people having Maoist links and those directly or indirectly connected with the five arrested people, the official said.

The police claimed to have recovered "some incriminating documents" during the searches.

"We are also checking the financial transactions of these people, their modes of communication and also trying to gather technical evidence," the police official said.

However, outgoing joint commissioner of Pune police Ravindra Kadam, had said on August 2, that no Maoist links were found in the Koregaon-Bhima violence.

Today's arrests were condemned widely.

"Fascist fangs are now openly bared," tweeted lawyer Prashant Bhushan.

"It is a clear declaration of emergency. They are going after anyone who has spoken against the government on rights issues. They are against any dissent," Bhushan said.

Noted historian Ramachandra Guha called the action "absolutely chilling" and demanded the intervention of the Supreme Court to stop this "persecution and harassment" of independent voices.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pune police today raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least three of them for suspected Maoist links, sparking a chorus of outrage from human rights defenders.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and the upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year.

The arrests are "a dangerous sign of a government that fears it is losing its mandate and is falling into panic. That lawyers, poets, writers, Dalit rights activists and intellectuals are being arrested on ludicrous charges," award-winning author Arundhati Roy told PTI.

Near simultaneous searches were carried out at the residences of prominent Telugu poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad; activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai; trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad and Chhattisgarh; and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in New Delhi, a senior police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Subsequently, Rao and Bhardwaj were arrested, the official said. In New Delhi, Navalakha was also arrested in New Delhi but the Delhi High Court ordered police not to take him out of the national capital at least until tomorrow.

The high court was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Navalakha by his advocate Warisha Farasat after he was picked up from his Delhi home this afternoon by the Maharashtra police



According to unconfirmed reports, others whose residences were raided are Susan Abraham, Kranthi Tekula, Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi and Anand Teltumbde in Goa.

Koregaon-Bhima occupies a central place in Dalit history -- it witnessed a major battle in which the Peshwa rulers were defeated by the British army, comprising a large number of Dalit soldiers, on January 1, 1818. Every year, the anniversary of the battle is marked by thousands of Dalits assembling in Pune and marching to Koregaon-Bhima to a war memorial.

Police say the speeches made at the conclave on December 31, a day before the 200th anniversary of the battle, were one of the triggers for the violence.

Today's events mirrored simultaneous raids conducted in June when five activists were arrested in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima violence.

Rao's name had figured in a letter which the Pune police claimed to have seized during searches at the premises of one of the five people arrested in June in connection with the Elgar Parishad. The five were accused of having close Maoist links, according to an FIR registered at the Vishrambaug Police Station after the event.

In June, Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale was arrested from his home in Mumbai, while lawyer Surendra Gadling, activist Mahesh Raut and Shoma Sen were picked up from Nagpur and Rona Wilson was arrested from his flat in Munirka in Delhi in simultaneous raids.

"During our investigation in connection with the Elgar Parishad event, some evidence came to light about members of a proscribed organisation, following which the police carried out raids in Chhattisgarh, Mumbai and Hyderabad" today, the police official said.

The searches were conducted at homes of people having Maoist links and those directly or indirectly connected with the five arrested people, the official said.

The police claimed to have recovered "some incriminating documents" during the searches.

"We are also checking the financial transactions of these people, their modes of communication and also trying to gather technical evidence," the police official said.

However, outgoing joint commissioner of Pune police Ravindra Kadam, had said on August 2, that no Maoist links were found in the Koregaon-Bhima violence.

He had, however, said an anti-fascist front, formed by the Maoists to oppose the policies of the current government, was behind the Elgar Parishad.

Today's arrests were condemned widely.

"Fascist fangs are now openly bared," tweeted lawyer Prashant Bhushan.

"It is a clear declaration of emergency. They are going after anyone who has spoken against the government on rights issues. They are against any dissent," Bhushan said.

Noted historian Ramachandra Guha called the action "absolutely chilling" and demanded the intervention of the Supreme Court to stop this "persecution and harassment" of independent voices.

"Sudha Bharadwaj is as far from violence and illegality," tweeted Guha.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Condemning the police raids on prominent Left-wing activists in several states, the CPI(M) today accused the BJP-led Centre of "attacking the democratic rights of people" in a bid to shield the real culprits of Koregaon-Bhima violence.

Maharashtra police raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in Hyderabad, Mumbai, New Delhi, Faridabad and other places and arrested at least five of them for suspected Maoist links, sparking a chorus of outraged protests from human rights defenders.

"This is a brazen attack on democratic rights and liberties. The BJP government is desperately trying to protect the culprits by harassing civil and human rights activist. This is very dangerous trend for our democracy," CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury told reporters in Kolkata.

The searches were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and the upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune on December 31 last year.

"Ever since the Bhima Koregaon violence on December 31, the Maharashtra police along with central agencies have been targeting Dalit rights activists and lawyers who are taking up the case," Yechury asserted.

Police are wrongfully invoking the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against the activists, he claimed.

"We demand that police stop harassing the activists and arrest the actual culprits who were involved in the clashes. The television footage of the incident clearly show the persons who were involved in the attack. So why are the police arresting the protesters?" Yechury added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's planned trip to North Korea last weekend was cancelled after he received what US officials deemed to be a belligerent letter from Pyongyang, The Washington Post reported.

The precise contents of the letter, which came from Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of North Korea's ruling party, were not known, the Post said.

Pompeo received it Friday and showed it to President Donald Trump. They concluded it was belligerent enough to call off the visit, the Post said late Monday, quoting two administration officials.

In pulling the plug on the visit, Trump tweeted that he had not seen sufficient progress toward Pyongyang denuclearizing.

Trump acted amid independent reports that North Korea has done little or nothing to roll back its nuclear program, despite promises made at a historic summit in June with Kim Jong Un.

Trump also blasted China for not doing enough to help push denuclearization, but left open the possibility of a Pompeo trip to Pyongyang when the US-China trading relationship is "resolved.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today asked Indian-origin IT entrepreneurs based in Silicon Valley, US, to mentor start-ups from India and sought their collaboration in new-age areas like artificial intelligence and data analytics.

During his visit to Silicon Valley in San Francisco (US), Prasad interacted with prominent achievers and entrepreneurs including Vinod Dham of (Pentium chip fame) and Professor Thomas Kailath of (Stanford University), an official release said.

At his interaction with entrepreneurs, Prasad "urged them to provide mentorship to the growing Indian start-ups of India from their vast experiences", the statement said.

"He also sought their active cooperation in the field of growing technologies such as artificial intelligence, data analytics and cyber security, and urged them to take India to a new level of growth by leveraging these technologies," it added.

India is among the fastest-growing electronics and digital markets in the world and a preferred destination for tech investment, given the large pool of skilled IT professionals.

In the last few years, India has also emerged as the third largest start-up ecosystem in the world after the US and the UK.

"Due to initiatives like Digital India and Make In India, the production of electronics goods in India in last four years has witnessed tremendous growth," the statement noted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has downplayed the idea of sending private military contractors to Afghanistan to replace American forces.

"When Americans put their nation's credibility on the line, privatizing it is probably not a wise idea," Mattis told Pentagon reporters.

Erik Prince, the former head of a controversial private military firm once known as Blackwater, has repeatedly touted such a plan as a way of reducing the US military footprint in Afghanistan after 17 years of war.

His sister is Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

Currently, about 14,000 US troops are in Afghanistan, providing the main component of the NATO mission to support and train local forces.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Maharashtra police today raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least four of them for suspected Maoist links.

Near simultaneous searches were carried out at the residences of prominent Telugu poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Farreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad, and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in New Delhi.

Subsequently, Rao, Bhardwaj and Farreira were arrested. Although Navalakha was also arrested, the Delhi High Court ordered police not to take him out of the national capital at least until tomorrow. According to unconfirmed reports, others whose residences were raided are Susan Abraham, Kranthi Tekula, Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi and Anand Teltumbde in Goa.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and the upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year.

Here are their brief profiles:



VARAVARA RAO



Rao has been writing poetry since 1957. Founder member of Virasam (Revolutionary Writers' Association), he was arrested in October 1973 under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA). He was released and arrested on more than one occasions between 1975 and 1986 in different cases, including the 1986 Ramnagar conspiracy case in which he was acquitted in 2003 after 17 years. Rao was again arrested on 19 August 2005 under AP Public Security Act and sent to Chanchalguda Central Prison in Hyderabad. The case was struck down under the Public Security Act on 31 March 2006 and Rao obtained bails in all other cases.

ARUN FERREIRA



An activist based in Mumbai, Ferreira was claimed to be the leader of the propaganda and communications wing of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) in 2007. He was acquitted of all charges in 2014. In his book, Colours of the Cage: A Prison Memoir, published the same year, Ferreira, recounted the details of his imprisonment of nearly five years.

SUDHA BHARADWAJ



Bharadwaj is best known for her work in Chhattisgarh, where she has lived for 29 years and fought for the rights of mine workers in Bhilai, as a member of late Shankar Guha Niyogi's Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha. She began working with the Mukti Morcha in 1986, after witnessing the abysmal working conditions of labourers in West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh during her stint as a student in IIT Kanpur. A civil rights activist and lawyer, Bharadwaj has also been fighting against land acquisition, and is currently the general secretary of the Chhattisgarh People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).

SUSAN ABRAHAM



Abraham, a civil rights lawyer, represented many of those arrested during the June raids by the police in connection with the Elgar Parishad event. The wife of activist Vernon Gonzalves, Abraham was born in Kerala to schoolteacher parents and studied in Zambia. She has been part of protests against demonetisation, fake encounters and for workers and women's rights. She has written extensively against the rigourous sentences given to Delhi University professor G N Saibaba, activist Prashant Rahi among others, calling it a "misuse of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act". Her name can be seen in the credits of a film, Court, in which she guided filmmaker Chaitanya Tamhane through the intricacies of the law.

VERNON GONZALVES



A blog run by his friends describe Vernon Gonzalves as a "leader of the Altar Boys" and "a strong believer of justice, equality & freedom". A gold medallist from Mumbai University and a former lecturer at Ruparel College and HR College, Gonzalves, security agencies allege, was an ex-central committee member and former secretary of Maharashtra State Rajya Committee of Naxalites. He was charged in around 20 cases and has been acquitted due to lack of evidence, after serving six years in jail.

GAUTAM NAVLAKHA



Navlakha has been associated with People's Union for Democratic Rights and is a Delhi-based journalist. He is also an editorial consultant of the Economic and Political Weekly. He, along with Sudha Bharadwaj, demanded repeal of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. They said, the Act, passed to regulate the activities of unlawful organisations, has been used by the government to curb extremist activities as opposed to unlawful activities. Navlakha, a frequent traveller to Kashmir Valley for the last two decades, has also written extensively about alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.

ANAND TELTUMBDE



An engineer, MBA and former CEO, Teltumbde is also a leading scholar and activist for Dalit rights. He has authored books on people's movement particularly about leftist agitations and Dalit rights struggles. He also has a doctorate in cybernetics from Mumbai University. It is no coincidence that he has often argued that reservation for Dalits has, in fact, stigmatised them and consecrated caste in India's polity.

FATHER STAN SWAMY



Human rights activist father Stan Swamy founded the Vistapan Virodhi Janvikash Andolan (VVJA), a platform that advocates the rights of indigenous people including Adivasis and Dalits. Swamy was among the 20 people against whom a sedition case was filed in July this year, for posting statements against the Jharkhand government for inciting tension over the Pathalgadi movement.

KRANTHI TEKULA



TEKULA is a journalist with Namaste Telangana.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A police team from Maharashtra today raided social activist Sten Swami's residence here and seized his computer in connection with the probe into the Bhima-Koregaon violence, a police officer said.

The raid were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and the upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year.

The eight-member Pune Police team questioned Swami, seized his computer, mobile phone and several documents from his residence, Superintendent of Police (Rural) Ajit Peter Dungdung said. The team was assisted by the state police and the inquiry was on, he said.

Swami is known to be close to the Left political party CPI-ML (Liberation).

The Maharashtra police today raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least five of them for suspected Maoist links.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Punjab Assembly passed a censure motion against Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) leader Simarjit Singh Bains today for allegedly using unparliamentary language against Congress MLA Harpartap Singh Ajnala.

The motion was moved during the Question Hour by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm Mohindra who, along with other Congress MLAs, strongly objected to the use of such words in the House. Simarjit, his brother and LIP legislator Balwinder, supported by section of AAP leaders, objected to the censure motion.

The ruckus started when Simarjit was asking a supplementary to a question raised in the House by Khaira, who had raised a question seeking to know about the fat content and if there were different purchase rates of milk.

Simarjit, who had conducted a surprise check at the Verka milk plant in Ludhiana two months ago, today reiterated his allegation inside the assembly alleging that Verka had supplied milk low on fat and solids not fat (SNF) than what it claimed on the packets. He then alleged that the milk mafia was flourishing in Punjab and sought to know what action the government had taken on this.

As some of the ruling Congress MLAs were up on their legs to counter him, Simarjit had a heated verbal duel with Congress legislator Ajnala during which he allegedly used some unparliamentary words against him. Speaker Rana K P Singh took strong objection and expunged it.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm Mohindra said merely expunging unparliamentary words were not enough and sought to move censure motion against Simarjit, which was allowed.

The motion was then passed by the House.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Punjab Assembly today passed the Police (Amendment) Bill 2018, which would pave way for setting up of a State Security



Commission for selection of the director general of police.

The Punjab Police Act 2007, enacted on February 5, 2008, which this Bill amends, did not provide for selection of the DGP from the panel as prepared by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

The development assumes significance as the present Director General of Police Suresh Arora is set to retire by end of the next month.

The Bill provides, "The state government shall select the director general of police from amongst the Indian Police Service (IPS) from a panel of at least three eligible officers borne on the cadre of Punjab or any state cadre, who are in the rank of director general or are eligible to hold this rank for appointment as the DGP, based on their service record and range of experience, having a reasonable period of remainder service left, which shall in no case be less than 12 months as on the date of appointment."



The State Security Commission shall comprise chief minister as the chairperson, the state home minister as the vice-chairperson and in case the CM holds the Home Department then he may nominate any other minister as a member.

Leader of the opposition in the Punjab Assembly, a retired high court judge, chief secretary, principal secretary to state government, department of home affairs and justice, state advocate general will be among the members of the Commission.

As per the Bill, the DGP so appointed, shall have tenure of not less than two years irrespective of his date of superannuation.

Notably, the state government led by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had recently sought Advocate General Atul Nanda's opinion on the appointment of the DGP.

Earlier this month, the state government had decided to amend the Punjab Police Act, 2007, to enable the constitution of a state police commission for appointment of the DGP, while deciding to seek a review of the Supreme Court order of July 3, 2018, directing states to choose and appoint their DGP from a panel which will be constituted by the UPSC based on the concerned state government's proposals.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Punjab and Haryana High



Court today stayed the transit remand of activist Sudha Bhardwaj, who was arrested from Faridabad after the Maharashtra Police raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states for their suspected Maoist links.

The Maharashtra Police today arrested at least five Left-wing activists under IPC Section 153 (A), which relates to promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place or birth, residence, language and committing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.

Justice Arvind Singh Sangwan heard the habeas corpus writ petition, advocate Ankit Agarwal said.

"It is directed that in case the detenue is produced before the Ilaqa Magistrate/Duty Magistrate/Chief Judicial Magistrate, Faridabad, the orders granting transit remand will be passed after going through the contents of the FIR and recording a finding that the provision of Sections 41 and 50 of the Criminal Procedure Code have been compiled with," the high court said.

"Till then, the detenue, Sudha Bhardwaj, shall be kept at the place, that is her home at Badarpur in Haryana, from where she was arrested under the supervision of Police Station Surajkund," it said.

The next date of hearing has been fixed for August 30, Agarwal said.

The counsels representing Bhardwaj pleaded that her client was a human rights activist and was taken into custody by the Maharashtra Police, and was taken from her home at Badarpur border in Faridabad.

"Certain documents were given to the detenue, which are in Marathi language, that is not known to the detenue or even her counsel," Agarwal said.

It was also argued that on the basis of the same set of allegations involving activist Gautam Navalakha's arrest, the Delhi High Court ordered the police not to take him out of the national capital at least until tomorrow.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi today called his Dutch counterpart and raised the issue of an anti-Islam cartoon contest planned by a far-right lawmaker in the Netherlands.

"The Foreign Minister (Qureshi) underscored that the abominable act of the Dutch Parliamentarian was provoking and hurt the sentiments of Muslims across the world. Such acts spread hate and intolerance," Foreign Office spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal tweeted.

The contact with the government of the Netherlands was made after Qureshi told the Senate earlier today that the government will try to rally support against the blasphemous caricatures.

Qureshi also wrote a letter to the secretary general of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) a group Muslims nations to call a meeting of the member countries to discuss the issue.

He also discussed the matter with the his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu who called to congratulate him on becoming the new foreign minister of Pakistan, Faisal said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress president Rahul Gandhi will visit Madhya Pradesh on September 17 to attend various programmes.

Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath gave this information to reporters at a press conference here today.

"Rahul Gandhi will be on a day-long visit to MP on September 17. In Bhopal, he will address a meeting of state-level party leaders," Nath said.

"He will later visit a district, which is yet to be decided, to address a public meeting," the Congress leader added.

Nath, a former Union minister, said in the last week of September Gandhi would formally launch the party's campaign for this year's state Assembly polls, although the programme was yet to be finalised.

He said the party would bring out a 'vachan patra' (a note of promises) instead of the election manifesto.

"We will bring out a 'vachan patra', which is being finalised. We will give promises to the electorate instead of making any announcements," he said.

To a question on the party's distribution of tickets in the upcoming polls, Nath said, "Initially, our focus will be on 80 seats, where the party has not won for a long time. We are getting peoples' survey on these seats and expecting to finalise the names by September 10-12. We will also keep the caste equation in our mind before taking a final decision."



He added that the state party has no dearth of capable leaders.

On whether the Congress will form an alliance with any other party, Nath said, "The Congress is in discussion with the BSP. We have to see the record of each seat and this applies to other parties like the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP). Our common objective is to defeat the BJP.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Days after floods ravaged Kerala, leaving a massive trail of destruction, Congress president Rahul Gandhi today visited relief camps in Chengannur and heard the woes of the people.

Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to the state, arrived in Thiruvananthapuram this morning from abroad. He then took a helicopter to Chengannur in Alappuzha district.

The Congress chief first visited the relief camp at the Christian College here and spoke to people at the centre. He also visited a camp at an engineering college.

Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala and Congress's state unit president M M Hassan were among those present at the camps.

He will also be meeting fishermen and party volunteers involved in relief work.

According to data released this morning by the Disaster Management's state control room, 474 persons have died in the rains and floods since May 29, when the South West Monsoon set over Kerala.

Fifteen persons are missing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress president Rahul Gandhi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today congratulated DMK president M K Stalin on his elevation to his party's top post.

"Congratulations to Shri M K Stalin on being elected President of the DMK. I wish him happiness & success as he begins a new chapter in his political journey. @mkstalin #DMKThalaivarStalin," Gandhi said on Twitter.

Banerjee also took to Twitter to greet the 65 year-old DMK leader.

"Congratulations and best wishes to @mkstalin for being elected President of the DMK @arivalayam," the TMC chief wrote on the micro-blogging site.

MDMK founder Vaiko also greeted Stalin, wishing him many successes in his new post and a long life.

Stalin was today elevated as the DMK President, making him the second leader after his late father M Karunanidhi to be elected to the top post of the Dravidian party in about 50 years.

At the party's General Council meeting held here, DMK General Secretary K Anbazhagan said Stalin was elected unopposed, as he was the sole candidate who had filed nomination for the party chief's post on August 26.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Visiting the flood-ravaged areas of Kerala, Congress president Rahul Gandhi today saluted fishermen who played a key role in rescuing those marooned in the deluge.

Claiming that the fishermen community in the country was facing a crisis similar to that by the farmers, he said if the Congress comes to power at the Centre, a separate fisheries ministry would be set up.

Arriving in Kerala on a two-day visit, Gandhi spoke to people at relief camps, days after the deadliest deluge in the last 100 years left a trail of destruction and death in the state.

At a reception hosted by the Congress in the worst-hit Alapuzha to honour the fishermen community, Gandhi said the Coast Guard should make use of the services of fishermen for rescue operations in the future.

"I am proud to say that through all your difficulties... through all your hardships... whenever Kerala needed you... you stood up and gave your best. I salute your commitment to the people of Kerala," the Congress president said.

Three thousand fishermen had saved 70,000 lives in the recent floods, he said.

Alleging that the fishermen community in the country was facing a crisis similar to that by the farmers, Gandhi said, "The moment the Congress comes to power at the Centre, we are going to set up a ministry of fisheries."



"God's own army will have its own ministry. So your problems can be looked after and your words can be heard at the national level," he said, adding, "I do not want to make fake promises. This is a word of the Congress president."



Along with farmers, fishermen have also helped build the country, Gandhi said and asserted that it was an "honour" for him to felicitate the fishermen who had saved several lives.

Recalled his last visit to the state in the aftermath of Cyclone Ockhi, he said, "I came and visited your houses and I must say looking back, I am not happy for the help you had received for the damage (suffered in the cyclone)."



Earlier, Gandhi, who arrived in Thiruvananthapuram this morning from the UK, visited relief camps in Chengannur and Alapuzha and spoke to the affected people.

He is scheduled to visit some camps in Ernakulam district later in the day and tour Wayanad and Kozhikode districts tomorrow.

Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor tweeted, "President of @INCIndia @RahulGandhi left Thiruvananthapuram this morning for flood-affected areas in central Kerala. His two-day visit will cover districts with the heaviest inundation over the last two weeks (sic)."



In Chengannur, the Congress chief visited relief camps at two colleges and interacted with the people sheltered there.

Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala and Congress' state unit president M M Hassan were among those who accompanied Gandhi.

"Congress President @RahulGandhi meets the flood affected at the Relief Camp at the Engineering College in Chengannur, Kerala #RebuildingKerala (sic)," the party tweeted, attaching photos of Gandhi meeting people at the camps.

According to data released this morning by the Disaster Management's state control room, 474 people have died in the rains and floods since May 29 when the southwest monsoon set in over Kerala.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The CPI(M) today lodged its strong protest against the police raids on several civil and human rights activists and left intellectuals, and said it constituted a brazen attack on democratic rights and civil liberties.

The CPI(M) Polit Bureau demanded withdrawal of the cases against these activists and their immediate release, while the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation said the move was "reminiscent of the infamous Emergency" of the 1975.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation said the arrests and raids are an attempt to brand all dissenting voices as "anti-national" and intimidate them as the parliamentary polls draw near.

Two Left-wing activists Varavara Rao and Sudha Bhardwaj were arrested today as the Pune police carried out searches at multiple places in various states on the residences of people suspected to have Maoist links, a senior police official said.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon-Bhima village, triggered by an event called 'Elgar Parishad' (conclave) held in Pune on December 31 last year.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) -- CPI(M) -- said the raids which were carried out in Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi, Goa and Hyderabad have led to the arrests of some of the activists such as Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao and Gautam Navlakha.

The police have also taken away laptops, mobiles and other personal papers from the homes of those raided, the party said.

"Ever since the Bhima-Koregoan violence against Dalits, the Maharashtra Police along with central agencies have been targeting Dalit rights activists and lawyers who have been taking up their cases. False charges have been levelled and the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act invoked.

"These constitute a brazen attack on democratic rights and civil liberties. The Polit Bureau demands the withdrawal of the cases against these activists and their immediate release," it said in a statement.

The CPI(ML) Liberation said those arrested include noted rights activist Sudha Bharadwaj who has lifelong been a lawyer and champion of the rights of the most oppressed in Chhattisgarh, as well as Vernon Gonsalves, Gautam Navlakha and others.

In a statement, the party said, "The attempt to project the peaceful Bhima-Koregaon event as an act of terrorism is utterly baseless and condemnable."



The party said, "It is shocking but not surprising that under the BJP rule at the Centre and in Maharashtra, rights activists are arrested and booked on terror charges under draconian laws - while terror outfits such as Sanatan Sanstha and Shiv Pratishthan unleash violence on Dalits, plot terrorist attacks, assassinate dissenters and yet are referred to by BJP leaders including the current Prime Minister of India as 'nationalist'."



"We condemn the arrests and raids, and demand the release of Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Vernon Gonsalves, Vara Vara Rao and others arrested today.

"Under the Modi regime's undeclared Emergency, rights activists and dissenters are either shot at, killed, or raided, arrested and jailed," it said.

Searches were carried out at the residences of Left wing activist and poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad and Chhattisgarh and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in Delhi, the police official said, while refusing to be identified.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Rajasthan government has sent 91 students under 'Student Startup Exposure Program' to Silicon Valley as part of its efforts to promote entrepreneurship in the state.

As part of the two-week programme, from August 26 to September 10, the students visited Stanford University's various departments, including artificial intelligence centre, nano fabrication research centre and department of computer engineering on the first day, an official statement said.

The students will also get an opportunity to learn various aspects of building a startup from renowned experts and receive mentorship to create a prototype and pitch it to prospective investors in Silicon Valley.

According to the statement, during the programme, the students will also get a chance to acquire on the job training at some eminent organisations and interact with successful founders and other key professionals.

'Student Startup Exposure Program' was launched in May 2018 by the state government's Department of Information Technology and Communication.

"Under this exposure program, the government has sent 91 selected students to an all-expense paid residential learning program in Silicon Valley, USA," the statement said.

"This initiative... will certainly open the doors for students to make their entrepreneurship dream come true," said Akhil Arora, Principal Secretary at the Department of IT and Communication.

Arora also said that it will turn out to be a huge milestone in the startup journey of Rajasthan by bringing the young college students and the budding entrepreneurs into the ecosystem.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is set to begin the final leg of her ambitious Gaurav Yatra from Pali district tomorrow, days after miscreants threw stones, showed black flags and interrupted her public meetings in Jodhpur district.

The stone-pelting incident happened on Saturday in Pipad town, a stronghold of the opposition Congress party, during the second phase of the yatra, when Raje was addressing a group of people.

The yatra began on August 4 from Udaipur division.

Raje and her party, the BJP, have accused the Congress of staging protests to disrupt her campaign. She has blamed Congress national general secretary Ashok Gehlot for stone-pelting.

Gehlot and other Congress leaders have denied the accusation, saying their party does not adopt such tactics for political gains.

Heavy security arrangements have been put in place following the incidents. Police and Pali administration are taking precaution to ensure the yatra proceeds smoothly.

A senior police official said they have scanned intelligence inputs minutely and deployed policemen in adequate numbers at all venues of public meetings of Raje.

"We have done a check-list of all spots of the Gaurav Yatra in the district, which include both felicitation programmes and public meetings, where the chief minister will address the gathering. Adequate arrangements of policemen has been made at all these spots," the police official said.

DGP (Law and Order) N R K Reddy has reached Pali district and reviewed preparedness in Jaitaran and Sojat cities, two venues of Raje's public meeting. Minister Surendra Goyal accompanied Reddy.

Raje has faced opposition at several places during the yatra. The protesters shouted slogans against her and in support of former chief minister Gehlot. They also pelted stones and showed black flags to her in Phalodi, Osian and Pipad towns of Jodhpur district.

The protesters had also shouted slogans in support of Jat leader and Independent MLA from Khinwsar, Hanuman Beniwal.

Police arrested two persons in Osian and 15 in Pipad. They have registered cases against the people under various sections of IPC for causing disturbance, damaging public and private properties and unlawful assembly.

The last phase of the second leg of Gaurav Yatra will culminate in Barmer district's Kalyanpura on September 2. Raje will pray at the temple of Naganechya Mata, the kuldevi of Rathore community.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad is learnt to have asked Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra to recommend the name of his successor, setting in motion the process of change of guard in the apex court.

Justice Misra retires on October 2.

Sources in the Law Ministry said the letter was delivered to the CJI recently.

As per the Memorandum of Procedure which governs the appointment of members of the higher judiciary, "appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of India should be of the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court considered fit to hold the office".

It stipulates that the Law Minister would, at an appropriate time, seek the recommendation of the outgoing Chief Justice of India for the appointment of the next CJI.

Under this process, after receipt of the recommendation of the CJI, the Law Minister puts it before the Prime Minister who advises the President in the matter of appointment.

"Whenever there is any doubt about the fitness of the senior-most Judge to hold the office of the Chief Justice of India, consultation with other Judges...would be made for appointment of the next Chief Justice of India," the document states.

Justice Ranjan Gogoi is the senior-most judge of the top court after the CJI.

Speculations over Justice Gogoi's appointment as the next CJI emerged following an unprecedented press conference by four senior-most judges, including Justice Gogoi, in January this year when they had criticised Justice Misra over various issues, especially the manner of allocation of cases to certain benches.

Justices J Chelameswar, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph were among those who addressed the press conference, perhaps a first in the history of Indian judiciary.

Law Minister Prasad had recently said that the government's intention on the appointment of the next Chief Justice of India should not be questioned. He had also said that when the incumbent names the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court as his successor as per convention, the executive will take a call.

He was responding to a question at the Law Ministry's annual press conference on whether the government will follow the laid-down conventions and procedures to appoint Justice Ranjan Gogoi as the next Chief Justice when incumbent Justice Misra demits office.

"The question is imaginary...as far as the appointment of the Chief Justice of India is concerned, the convention is clear...the sitting chief justice names the senior-most judge (of the top court) as his successor. When the name comes to us, we will discuss it," he had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Outraged over multi-city raids by Maharashtra police on homes of several prominent activists and subsequent arrests, a number of noted lawyers, academics, authors, human rights defenders and opposition leaders today termed the action as a 'virtual declaration of emergency' in run-up to elections.

Taking a dig, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said there was place for only one NGO in "the new India" and it was the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh).

"Shut down all other NGOs. Jail all activists and shoot those that complain," he tweeted.

Amnesty International and several other groups including People's Union for Civil Liberties called the action a concerted attempt to crush human rights interventions and to silence voices of dissent.

Pune police today raided homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least five of them -- poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade unionist and lawyer Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad and Chhattisgarh and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in Delhi.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalit and the upper caste groups at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad on December 31 last year.

A police official said all the five, who were arrested later, are suspected to have Maoist links and had allegedly funded the Elgar Parishad conclave.

Security officials in Delhi said two letters, purportedly exchanged by Maoist leaders indicating plans to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and Home Minister Rajnath Singh, led to the police action.

Historian Ramachandra Guha called the action "absolutely chilling" and demanded the Supreme Court's intervention to stop this "persecution and harassment" of independent voices.

"Sudha Bharadwaj is as far from violence and illegality as Amit Shah is close to those things," tweeted Guha, adding if Mahatma Gandhi was alive, he would have defended Bharadwaj.

"As a biographer of Gandhi, I have no doubt that if the Mahatma was alive today, he would don his lawyer's robes and defend Sudha Bharadwaj in court; that is assuming the Modi Sarkar hadn't yet detained and arrested him too," he tweeted.

Author Arundhati Roy said, "In the run up to elections, it is an attempted coup against the Indian Constitution and all the freedoms that we cherish".

Several activists said it was like an undeclared emergency when the rights defenders and dissenters are being raided, arrested, jailed and even killed.

According to unconfirmed reports, raids were also carried out at residences of several other activists including Susan Abraham, Kranthi Tekula, Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi and Anand Teltumbde in Goa.

Condemning the police action, the CPI(M) accused the BJP-led government of "attacking the democratic rights of people" to shield the real culprits of Koregaon-Bhima violence.

Congress spokesperson Jaipal Reddy condemned the raids and arrests and said, "They are selfless NGOs, activists who are obliged to fight the enveloping darkness of dictatorial tendencies."



Roy said, "The simultaneous state-wide arrests are a dangerous sign of a government that fears it is losing its mandate and is falling into panic."



"That lawyers, poets, writers, Dalit rights activists and intellectuals are being arrested on ludicrous charges... while those who make up lynch mobs and threaten and murder people in broad daylight roam free, tells us very clearly where India is headed," she said.

Roy alleged that "murderers are being honoured and protected" and anybody who speaks up for justice or against Hindu majoritarianism is being made into a criminal.

She said it was as close to declaration of an emergency as it can get. Another activist Kavita Krishnan also described the action as "undeclared emergency".

In a statement, the PUCL said, "Such systematic and pre-meditated crackdown on human rights activists is unprecedented and unheard of in a democracy."



Noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan said, "Fascist fangs are now openly bared. It is a clear declaration of emergency. They are going after anyone who has spoken against the government on rights issues. They are against any dissent."



CMPI(M) leader Prakash Karat called it "a brazen attack on democratic rights" and demanded immediate release of the activists.

In a video message, CPI national secretary K Narayana said, "We strongly condemn the arrest of well-known Left intellectual Vara Vara Rao.... Ever since the Modi government has come into power, they are trying to kill intellectuals."



"They killed Govind Pansare, Gauri Lankesh and Kalburgi and they have also imprisoned GN Saibaba. They have arrested Vara Vara Rao only with the intention of killing him. Is the PM really that weak, to be killed so easily?" he said.

Rights activist Shabnam Hashmi and former JNU leader Umar Khalid also condemned the raids.

JNU student leader Shehla Rashid alleged it was an attempt to "instil fear among those who are vocal about issues" and "to manufacture a narrative and a sense of false enemy to misguided people ahead of the 2019 elections".

A number of prominent youth leaders, activists and authors issued a joint statement, alleging it was an attempt by the BJP to engage in "scaremongering" and "polarise" the 2019 elections in its favour.

Several civil society and rights groups will also hold a press conference tomorrow in Mumbai to condemn the police action.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A special citizens' fund of Rs 10 crore has been sanctioned in the budget of New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) this year and will be spent according to the wishes of the residents, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said here today.

The announcement was made in a meeting with more than 80 Resident welfare associations (RWAs). The chief minister presides over the NDMC meetings by virtue of being the elected representative of the New Delhi assembly constituency.

"Rs 10 crore sanctioned in the NDMC budget would now be spent on the wishes of the citizens of the area. You will be the decision makers of what needs to be done in your area and the priority.

"We are starting this experiment this year with a budget of Rs 10 crore and it will be increased after seeing the results in the first year," Kejriwal said.

During the over an hour-long meeting held at the chief minister's residence, individual problems of residents were discussed.

The norms on how to go about the budget and how to spend the money were also set in the meeting.

According to an official statement, "It was decided unanimously that the General Body of the RWA will decide on the works to be done in their meetings. The General Body Meeting (GBM) will take the decision on the works and budget allocation to different works."



"Before the GBM, notices must be sent to all the residents as well as the NDMC. The NDMC will depute its representative for the meeting. Video recording will also be done of the meetings," it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Bankruptcy-bound Ruchi Soya's promoters have sold 1.06 crore shares, worth 3.18 per cent stake, through open market transactions, the debt-ridden edible oil firm said in a regulatory filing.

Ruchi Soya's promoter entity Disha Foundation Trust sold these shares on August 24.

After sale of these shares, the promoters' stake in the company has come down to 38.88 per cent from 42.06 per cent, the filing said.

Ruchi Soya, which is facing insolvency proceedings, has a total debt of about Rs 12,000 crore. The company has many manufacturing plants and its leading brands include Nutrela, Mahakosh, Sunrich, Ruchi Star and Ruchi Gold.

In December 2017, Ruchi Soya Industries entered into the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) and Shailendra Ajmera was appointed as the resolution professional (RP).

The appointment was made by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on the application of the creditors Standard Chartered Bank and DBS Bank, under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

Last week, lenders of Ruchi Soya approved the Rs 6,000 crore bid of Adani Wimar to acquire the debt-ridden edible oil firm.

Adani group firm Adani Wilmar, which sells cooking oil under Fortune brand, and Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali have been engaged in a long-drawn battle to take over Ruchi Soya.

Adani Wilmar's bid was approved by the committee of creditors (CoC) with about 96 per cent votes in favour. The RP will now seek approval from the NCLT.

While Adani Wilmar emerged as the highest bidder with Rs 6,000 crore offer, Patanjali group came second with a Rs 5,700 crore bid.

Following this, Patanjali Ayurved had sought certain clarifications from the RP of Ruchi Soya, including eligibility of Adani Group to participate in the bidding process.

It also sought to know the parameters adopted by the RP to declare Adani Wilmar as the highest bidder.

The Haridwar-based firm had also questioned the appointment of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas as the RP's legal advisor as the said law firm was already advising Adani Group.

Patanjali was asked to submit a revised bid by June 16 to match or better the highest offer of Rs 6,000 crore by Adani Wilmar under the Swiss Challenge system adopted by the RP and the committee of creditors.

However, Patanjali wrote to the RP seeking clarifications instead of submitting a fresh bid.

Adani Wilmar was selected by the CoC after two-rounds of bidding.

Patanjali has now challenged the decision of the CoC in the NCLT, Mumbai.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Moscow is reinforcing its military presence in the Mediterranean near Syria, Russian media reported today, as speculation grows that Damascus is planning a Russian-backed offensive on rebel-held Idlib province.

Moscow has accused rebels of planning to stage a chemical attack in the northwestern province that would "provoke" Western strikes on its ally Damascus.

Quoting anonymous sources, the Kommersant daily reported that Russia sent two warships and an additional anti-aircraft missile system to the Mediterranean in August.

Pro-Kremlin paper Izvestia said Russia currently has 10 warships and two submarines in Syrian waters, saying this amounted to Moscow's biggest military presence there since it became involved in the conflict in 2015.

According to Izvestia, Russia plans to send "several more" warships to Syria.

Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov charged that the jihadist group Tahrir al-Sham "is close to committing a very serious provocation in Idlib using chemical weapons".

At the weekend, Russia repeatedly accused Syrian militants of planning the attack in the rebel-held province.

It also accused British secret services of being "actively involved" in the plot.

Moscow's accusations came after US President Donald Trump's national security adviser John Bolton said Washington will respond "very strongly" if Syrian regime forces used chemical weapons to retake Idlib.

In April, the US, France and Britain launched joint missile strikes on Syrian targets in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack in the town of Douma that left scores of people dead.

Russian stuck by its ally Syria and angrily insisted the Douma attack was staged by the White Helmets volunteer rescue service.

Russia, a long-time ally of Syria, launched a military intervention in 2015 to support the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad, a move that changed the course of the war.

Damascus still holds the southeastern tip of Idlib, a strategically important province adjacent to Latakia on the Mediterranean coast that is home to Assad's clan.

More than 350,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since Syria's war started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A former South African lawmaker told an anti-graft inquiry Tuesday how she was offered a cabinet position by a businessman accused of masterminding corruption under then-president Jacob Zuma.

Vytjie Mentor told the judicial commission she had been seeking a meeting with Zuma and was surprised when she was driven to the Johannesburg house of the Guptas, a wealthy business family.

Ajay Gupta told her a cabinet reshuffle was pending and that she would be offered the job of public enterprises minister, a key role overseeing state-owned businesses at the heart of the graft allegations facing Zuma.

At this, she lost her cool and raised her voice, demanding how he knew about the reshuffle, at which point Zuma walked into the room.

She said she had expected Zuma to be angry that such an offer had been made by a businessman but instead, he appeared completely unfazed.

"He did not act surprised at all, his main focus was on calming (me) down," Mentor told the inquiry in Johannesburg. "He did not appear angered at all." The probe is looking into allegations Zuma organised the systematic plunder of government coffers by the Guptas and allowed them to choose ministers in a scandal known as "state capture".

Mentor said she found the meeting "strange and discomforting".

"The reaction of the president was disheartening to say the least and I decided to leave," she said.

Zuma, 76, stands accused of being in the sway of the Guptas, allegedly granting them lucrative government contracts and deals with state-owned businesses.

He was forced to resign in February when ruling African National Congress lawmakers turned against him.

The inquiry, which is headed by deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo, opened this week and could take two years to deliver its findings.

The former president has separately been charged with 16 counts of graft linked to an arms deal from before he became president and will next appear in court on November 30 as the criminal case against him continues.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)South Sudan rebel chief Riek Machar has agreed to sign a final peace deal with the government to end a brutal civil war after initially refusing to ink it yesterday, a Sudanese mediator said.

Machar and President Salva Kiir have held weeks of talks in Khartoum in search of a comprehensive peace deal to end the conflict, which has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions since 2013 in the world's youngest country.

The warring parties have already inked several agreements, including a permanent ceasefire and a power-sharing deal that sees Machar returning as first vice president in the government.

But earlier yesterday in what was seen as a setback to ongoing peace efforts, Machar refused to sign the deal even as Juba inked it.

Hours later the Sudanese mediators announced that he had agreed to sign it.

"After intense negotiations by Sudanese mediators, Riek Machar agreed to sign the document on Thursday, August 30," Sudanese Foreign Minister Al-Dierdiry Ahmed told reporters.

Ahmed said Machar had expressed some reservations about the deal, which the mediators will forward to the regional East Africa bloc IGAD, which is leading the latest peace effort aimed at ending the civil war in South Sudan.

Machar and other rebel groups had initially refused to sign the draft, saying their reservations had not been acknowledged in the text.

The rebel groups had differences over the functioning of a proposed transitional government, how many states the country should be divided into and on the writing of a new constitution.

"For the first time, the opposition told us that it will not sign," Ahmed said, showing the draft text to reporters and diplomats who had gathered for what was expected to be a preliminary signing ceremony in Khartoum.

He said the text was the final document drafted after consulting all South Sudanese parties.

"South Sudan will not have peace unless these groups sign," Ahmed said.

The rebels had expressed surprise after the mediators drafted the final deal despite several outstanding issues that had to be resolved.

"This is an unfortunate development that will not reflect well on the impartiality of the mediators and will throw doubt into the whole process," the rebels said in a joint statement.

"We therefore urge the mediators to allow the parties to resolve these critical matters of contention."



The Sudanese minister had said the opposition's refusal to sign spelt the end of the current Khartoum round of talks.

"This was the last round of negotiation," Ahmed said, adding that the mediators would submit the text to IGAD, although it was unclear when the bloc's leaders would meet to discuss it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)South Sudan rebel chief Riek Machar today refused to sign a final peace deal with the government, in a setback for a regional drive to end nearly five years of brutal civil war.

Machar and President Salva Kiir have held weeks of talks in Khartoum in search of a comprehensive peace deal to end the conflict, which has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions since 2013 in the world's youngest country.

The warring parties have already inked several agreements, including a permanent ceasefire and a power-sharing deal that sees Machar returning as first vice president in the government.

But on Tuesday the rebel leader refused to sign the final peace deal even as Juba inked it.

"The main South Sudanese opposition groups, including the SPLM-IO (Machar faction), refused to sign the final document demanding that their reservations be guaranteed in it," Sudanese Foreign Minister Al-Dierdiry Ahmed, who is mediating the talks, told reporters.

Officials said the rebel groups had differences over the functioning of a proposed transitional government, how many states the country should be divided into and on the writing of a new constitution.

"For the first time, the opposition told us that it will not sign," Ahmed said, showing the draft text to reporters and diplomats who had gathered for what was expected to be a preliminary signing ceremony in Khartoum.

The rebel groups' refusal to ink the document is a setback to the latest peace push led by regional East Africa bloc IGAD.

"This is the final document which had been arrived at after consultations between all South Sudanese parties," Ahmed said.

"South Sudan will not have peace unless these groups sign."



The rebels said they were surprised that the mediators had drafted the final deal despite several outstanding issues that had to be resolved. "This is an unfortunate development that will not reflect well on the impartiality of the mediators and will throw doubt into the whole process," the rebels said in a joint statement.

"We therefore urge the mediators to allow the parties to resolve these critical matters of contention." The rebel groups said they were still ready for negotiations.

The Sudanese minister said the opposition's refusal to sign spelt the end of the current Khartoum round of talks.

"This was the last round of negotiation," Ahmed said, adding that the mediators will submit the text to IGAD, although it was unclear when the bloc's leaders would meet to discuss it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Punjab Assembly was adjourned briefly today when the opposition Akali Dal protested over the "less time" allotted to them during a debate on the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report on desecration of religious texts.

When the House reconvened, Shiromani Akali Dal leaders and members from their ally BJP stayed away from the proceedings, and held a mock session outside the Assembly as a mark of protest.

The House was adjourned for 15 minutes as the SAD protested the inadequate 14 minutes allotted to them to speak on the report.

When the Speaker announced the allocation of time to the parties, the SAD had raised objection.

Akali leader and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia said the allocation of 14 minutes to his party was inadequate.

The Speaker said the time was allocated according to the party's strength in the House. However, SAD legislators rushed to the well, demanding they be given more time to speak on the report.

They raised slogans, created ruckus and did not relent even after the Speaker assured them that sufficient time would be given to everyone to participate in the discussion.

The report of the one-man commission was tabled in the state assembly yesterday.

The SAD rejected the report as a "waste paper" even before it was tabled and accused the commission of acting as a "Congress Sarkari Commission".

Talking to reporters later, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal dared the Amarinder Singh government to identify one case in which the report indicted the previous SAD-BJP dispensation.

"All that the report has succeeded in making are indirect insinuations, assumptions and guesses. This is the most hazy, vague report," Badal alleged.

Badal claimed the report had in fact "commended" the government machinery for their efforts to unearth the truth in sacrilege cases.

Protesting the "less time" allotted to the SAD and the BJP, Badal said it "was a broad daylight murder of democracy".

He said the SAD-BJP did not boycott the session "but we were gagged by the order..." and "we were forced to hold a parallel session as we were denied the right to free speech inside the House."



The commission was formed by the Congress government in April 2017 to investigate incidents of sacrilege of religious texts, including in village Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, Bargari and firing incidents at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan between 2015 and 2017.

The government has announced to handover probe into Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan firing to the CBI.

In the House today, Akali leader Parminder Singh Dhindsa called the report false and demanded more time to discuss it.

As the pandemonium continued, the Speaker adjourned the House.

The Speaker has allotted 80 minutes to the ruling Congress, 21 minutes to main opposition AAP, 14 minutes to SAD, three minutes to BJP and two minutes to Lok Insaaf Party.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)UN Secretary General Antnio Guterres has appointed veteran Indian development economist and UN official Satya S Tripathi as Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the New York Office of the United Nations Programme (UNEP).

Tripathi, who will succeed Elliott Harris of Trinidad and Tobago, has since 2017 served as Senior Adviser on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at UNEP.

A development economist and lawyer with over 35 years of experience, Tripathi has worked for the United Nations since 1998 in Europe, Asia and Africa on strategic assignments in sustainable development, human rights, democratic governance and legal affairs, spokesman for the Secretary-General Stphane Dujarric told reporters here yesterday.

Tripathi was previously the Director and Executive Head of the United Nations Office for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries Coordination in Indonesia, as well as for the United Nations Recovery Coordinator for the USD 7 billion post-tsunami and post-conflict recovery efforts in Aceh and Nias.

He participated as Chair of the Committees on Laws and Treaties for the United Nations-mediated Cyprus unification talks in 2004.

Earlier in his career he acted as a Senior Distinguished Fellow on Natural Resources Governance with the World Agroforestry Centre and on the World Economic Forum's Global Advisory Council on Forests.

Tripathi holds honours, bachelor's and master's degrees in commerce; and bachelor's and master's degrees in law from Berhampur University, India.

UN is the leading agency at the world body focussed on It works with governments, the private sector, the civil society and with other UN entities and international organisations across the world.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Nigerian Christian schoolgirl abducted by Boko Haram in February has called on the government to secure her release, local media said today, citing a purported audio recording of the hostage.

Leah Sharibu, 15, was among more than 100 schoolgirls abducted from their hostel in the town of Dapchi in the restive northeast on February 19.

The only Christian among the hostages, she remains in captivity months after all the other girls were released.

In an unverified recording the jihadist group sent to local media late Monday, Sharibu made a passionate plea to the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to work towards her freedom.

"I plead with... the government and the president to have pity for me and save me from my situation," Sharibu said in the Hausa language widely spoken in the north.

Sharibu faltered and repeated herself in the recording, suggesting she was reading from a prepared text.

If verified, it would be the first evidence that Sharibu was alive since she was kidnapped.

The audio was accompanied by a picture of Sharibu clad in a light brown hijab revealing only her face, sitting on a mat in an undisclosed location.

The government said it would work to verify the authenticity of the recording.

"The secret service is analysing the voice. Our reaction will follow the outcome of the investigation," Buhari's spokesman Garba Shehu said on his Twitter page.

"For President Buhari, nothing will be spared in bringing all our girls home. He will not rest until all of them are freed," he added.

Fighters believed to be loyal to an IS-affiliated Boko Haram faction led by Abu Mus'ab Al-Barnawi abducted the girls after storming the Government Girls Science and Technical College in Dapchi in Yobe state.

The incident evoked memories of the April 2014 kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in neighbouring Borno state.

Although more than 100 Chibok girls have been freed or rescued, some 112 are still missing.

The jihadists returned 110 Dapchi girls to the town on March 21, following negotiations with the government.

Both the government and the jihadists claimed no ransom was paid, but a UN report earlier this month said Nigeria paid huge sums for the girls' release.

Some of the released girls said five of their schoolmates died in captivity while Sharibu was held back for refusing to forsake her Christian faith for Islam.

Sharibu's captivity has stoked tensions particularly among Christians who have accused the government of insensitivity and not doing enough to secure her release.

Nigeria is roughly evenly divided between Muslims and Christians and religious tensions lead to occasional flareups.

Sharibu's captivity has become a political issue with Buhari seeking a second term in office in February elections.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)State Bank of India today said it proposes to sell 3.89 per cent stake in the National Stock Exchange of lndia Ltd (NSE) as part of capital raising exercise.

Banks, including SBI, have decided to exit non-core business and focus on their core activity.

The appropriate authority has accorded approval to explore and initiate the process of divestment up to 3.89 per cent of stake of SBI in NSE through secondary sale, SBI said in a filing to stock exchanges.

The stake sale in the bourse will help the bank to raise capital that can be used for expanding its core activity.

Currently SBI holds 5.19 per cent stake in NSE.

In 2016, SBI sold 5 per cent stake in NSE to Mauritius-based Veracity Investments for Rs 911 crore, valuing the exchange at over Rs 18,200 crore.

Post this transaction, SBI holds 5.19 per cent stake while its subsidiary, SBI Capital, holds 4.33 per cent stake in NSE.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Supreme Court today dismissed a plea of journalist Upendra Rai seeking to restrain Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer Rajeshwar Singh from conducting probe against him in a graft case.

A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said the cases lodged against Rai have nothing to do with the 2G case pending before it and his plea is not maintainable in the present set of proceedings.

"We are dismissing it as not maintainable. It is not the subject matter of the present proceedings," the bench said.

Senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, appearing for Rai, said since he had made certain allegations against Singh, the ED and the CBI have lodged cases against him.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Singh, said identical allegations are being made time and again and court has often protected the official from such averments.

Rohatgi said cases against Rai are related to corruption and CBI has allegedly found Rs 100 crore in bank accounts which is the money made out of extortion.

"These all are separate cases lodged against you (Rai). It has nothing to do with the 2G case. We are concerned with the 2G only. It will be better if you file a separate petition to challenge the proceedings against you," the bench told Rai.

Earlier, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had opposed Rai's plea to restrain Singh from probing him.

Swamy had said that the Aircel-Maxis case was brought before the court through his petition and Rai in his plea had made some "scurrilous remarks" against ED officer Singh, who is probing the case.

He had also alleged that it was an attempt to delay the completion of probe in the Aircel-Maxis deal case.

Rai was arrested on June 8 by the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at the Tihar Jail here, moments after he secured bail in a Central Bureau of Investigation case related to alleged extortion and dubious financial transactions.

He was arrested by the CBI on May 3 for allegedly indulging in dubious financial transactions, getting an airport access pass made by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) by furnishing false information, alleged extortion and manipulation of an Income Tax Department case against a Mumbai-bound businessman.

The ED had registered a money laundering case against him based on the CBI FIR.

In its FIR, the CBI has alleged that going by the value of transactions of over Rs one lakh each during 2017, Rai's accounts received Rs 79 crore while Rs 78.51 crore was debited from it during the same period.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi Congress today announced demonstration outside the residence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on August 31 against "illegal sealing" of non-polluting industrial units.

In a statement, Delhi Pradesh Control Committee (DPCC) chief Ajay Maken said that according to the 6th Economic Census 2013, there are 8,75,308 industrial establishments in Delhi out of which 1,55,950 are manufacturing ones.

"Due to the mistakes and laxity of the central government and the Delhi government, who battle in the court for petty issues but do not work at the ground level for the welfare of the people, the sword of sealing is hanging over these establishments," Maken said.

Thousands of factories of Bawana are in tension these days as Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) has issued notices to them asking why the lease of their establishment should not be cancelled for alleged violation of laid down rules.

"Delhi Congress will hold a demonstration outside the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on August 31 to protest against the illegal sealing of non-polluting industries being carried out in Delhi," he said.

The Congress leader said that party workers, those who run small industrial establishments and traders will also participate in the "mammoth demonstration".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Sebi today imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore on Sunshine Infrabuild Corporation and its two directors for not complying with the market regulator's earlier direction to refund the money raised illegally from investors.

In an order passed in September 2015, Sebi had held that the firm and its two directors, Dharm Singh Kushwah and Mukesh Singh, along with others, had raised Rs 35.41 crore from 8,071 investors illegally through different types of unregistered debentures from 2010 to 2014.

Through the order, the regulator had directed Sunshine and its directors to refund the money with interest to the investors.

In its fresh ruling, Securities and Exchange Board Of India (Sebi) observed that the firm and its two directors have failed to refund the money to investors and thus not complied with the earlier order.

"The gravity of this matter cannot be ignored as non-compliance of the directions is continuing till date after lapse of almost 3 years," Sebi said.

"The brazen defiance and wilful disobedience by the noticees (Sunshine and two directors) towards directions of Sebi cannot be viewed lightly," it added.

Noting that "maximum penalty" under the Sebi Act upon the entities will be commensurate with their violations, the regulator imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore on them.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Kenya's deputy chief justice, the country's second highest judge, was arrested today on corruption charges.

Philomena Mwilu is one of seven members of the Supreme Court, and was among the judges who nullified President Uhuru Kenyatta initial election win in August 2017, leading to the controversial holding of a fresh vote.

Kenya's director of public prosecutions Noordin Haji told journalists there was evidence she had abused her office for personal gain and accepted money as a gift in dubious circumstances.

She is also accused of failing to pay taxes and executing a security belonging to the Imperial Bank -- which collapsed in 2015 -- under false pretences.

"This afternoon, I informed Chief Justice David Maraga of my decision to grant consent for the arrest and prosecution of the deputy chief justice, Lady Justice, Philomena Mbete Mwilu, on criminal charges," said Kenya's director of public prosecutions Noordin Haji "This decision has not been taken lightly," he added, saying "the dignity and independence of the judiciary is dear to us."



Haji issued a warning to judges and investigators who, "use their position to enrich themselves at the expense of the Kenyan people." Mwilu was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2016 and shot into the limelight for her role in annulling Kenyatta's first poll win last year.

In October, Mwilu's bodyguard was shot and killed the day before the Supreme Court was to hear a petition to postpone the re-run.

As a result, Mwilu did not attend the hearing and the lack of a quorum meant the election went ahead unchallenged.

Haji said her arrest was part of an ongoing crackdown against corruption, which has seen several high-ranking officials hauled into court, a rarity in graft-wracked Kenya whose citizens rarely see justice done.

"Many other cases are under investigation ... and Kenyans should expect fresh investigations and prosecutions on a regular basis," he added.

Asked by a journalist whether Mwilu's prosecution was related to Kenyatta's threat to "fix the judiciary" after the annulment of his initial election, Haji insisted the decision was independently taken.

"We are an independent institution and we are not being directed by anyone or by any statements given out there, this decision was made independently of all other matters and factors," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Samajwadi Party MLA Shivpal Yadav, who has been sidelined by his party, did not attend a scheduled meeting with top BJP leaders, expelled SP leader Amar Singh said today.

"I have spoken to top BJP leaders for Shivpal. The time (of meeting) was also fixed but he did not turn up. Now, I have no political responsibility for him. I am not in touch with him," he said at a press conference here.

When asked to give more details, Singh said, "He (Shivpal) lives nearby, you (media) can talk to him."



Yadav had recently said he was "still waiting for some responsibility" to be assigned to him by the Samajwadi Party (SP) as he cannot remain "neglected" for long and will have to decide his future course of action.

"I want that we should contest the coming Lok Sabha elections together...For the past one-and-half years, I am waiting for some responsibility to be assigned to me, but so far the party has not assigned any responsibility. How long can I be neglected," he had said in Etawah.

He had also said if the 2019 polls were fought together, it would have a "positive impact" on the common man.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A fire has gutted a landmark Belfast building in a blaze that sent dark smoke billowing over the Northern Ireland capital.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service says it was called today morning to a blaze at the Bank Buildings, home to clothing retailer Primark.

Flames engulfed the roof of the structure, destroying the rooftop clock, before spreading through the five-story building.

Primark says shoppers and staff were evacuated safely, and police cordoned off the area as debris fell from the building.

The Bank Buildings date from the late 18th century, though the current structure was built around 1900. It was nearing the end of a major renovation.

Joan McCoy, president of the Royal Society of Ulster Architects, says it is "a sad day for Belfast.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)M K Stalin was today elected the new president of the DMK unopposed, assuming the reins of Tamil Nadu's main opposition party his father the late M Karunanidhi controlled for nearly half-century, disregarding whimpers of protest by his elder brother M K Alagiri.

The elevation of Stalin, the DMK working president whom Karunanidhi had anointed his successor during his lifetime after he began keeping indifferent health, was announced at a meeting of the DMK's General Council by party general secretary K Anbazhagan.

His was the only nomination for the top party position, Anbazhagan said, as DMK leaders and workers greeted the announcement of the elevation of "Thalapathy" with loud cheers.

A week after Karunanidhi's death on August 7, Alagiri, a former union minister who was expelled from the DMK by his father in 2014 at the height of his fight for supremacy with Stalin, had hinted at a succession was with the younger sibling, claiming "real" partymen were with him.

He had yesterday warned of "consequences" for the DMK if he was not taken back, and said "Kalaingar (Karunanidhi) is not there now. The party has to be saved and protected".

Alagiri, who has pockets of influence in the Madurai region, has planned a rally of his supporters here on September 5, in an apparent show of strength.

In his maiden address to the General Council after his election, Stalin asked the party cadre to teach a lesson to the BJP-led NDA government, accusing it of trying to polarise the country.

"The Narendra Modi government is trying to paint the nation in the colour saffron (a symbol of Hindutva). Let's teach it a lesson," he said.

Targeting the AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu, he called it a "spineless" dispensation which needed to be "thrown out".

His voice often choked with emotion, the 6-time MLA and a former deputy chief minister, said he had a dream of a beautiful future for Tamil Nadu.

"Let's realise this dream of a beautiful future together...let's march together," he said, sending out the message of inclusivity as the party's rank and file rallied behind him despite a recalcitrant Alagiri.

Stalin said he never dreamed of becoming the president of the DMK, which treated all as equal, irrespective of their position in the party.

He asked the party cadre to raise their voice against him if he committed a mistake.

"The realisation of the dream begins this very moment. I have the dream of a happy, beautiful new life for Tamil Nadu which I am committed to. Let the change begin from us. The Stalin that you see and hear today has been born anew," he said.

While making it clear that the DMK will stick to its Dravidian and rationalist ideals, Stalin, however, said,"We will respect the beliefs of others even if we do not have faith (in those). We are not those who oppose God."



The General Council adopted a resolution abolishing the post of the working president to which Stalin was appointed in January 2017. He also continued to be the DMK treasurer, a post he vacated recently to pave the way for the party's principal secretary Durai Murugan's elevation at the general council meeting today.

Anbazhagan, a party veteran, recalled how Karunanidhi had once said he had not performed any duties for Stalin's progress as a father, but he had performed his duties and made him proud as a son.

The General Council wanted "Kalaignar's son" to become party president, Anbazhagan said. Karunanidhi was fondly addressed as Kalaignar (the artiste) and Thalaivar (the leader) by his ardent followers.

Tracing Stalin's political journey, Anbazhagan recalled his sacrifice when he was arrested under the stringent Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during Emergency and put behind bars.

Oblivious to Alagiri's continued criticism and his questioning of Stalin's leadership credentials, the DMK's district units and frontal organisations rallied behind him and adopted resolutions backing him for the top party post.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated Stalin on his elevation.

"Congratulations to Shri M K Stalin on being elected President of the DMK. I wish him happiness & success as he begins a new chapter in his political journey. @mkstalin #DMKThalaivarStalin," Gandhi said on Twitter.

Banerjee also took to Twitter to greet the 65 year-old leader.

"Congratulations and best wishes to @mkstalin for being elected President of the DMK @arivalayam," the TMC chief wrote on the micro-blogging site.

MDMK founder Vaiko also greeted Stalin, wishing him success and a long life.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Samajwadi Party (SP) charged the state government with failing to act against those instigating riots and staged a walkout from the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly over the issue today.

Replying to SP MLA Sanjay Garg's question on the number incidents of communal tension in the state in 2017 and 2018, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna said only two such cases -- one each in Bijnore and Etah districts -- had occurred during the period.

This was strongly countered by the opposition members.

In a supplementary, Garg said the Union minister for home told Parliament on February 6 that of the 822 cases of communal tension in 2017, 195 had taken place in UP.

This was followed by sharp exchanges between the SP and the BJP members with Garg alleging that there was an attempt to disrupt peace and order in Saharanpur this year. He also hinted that the government was revoking cases against those accused of instigating riots.

"Will the efforts to glorify those involved in communal incidents not encourage them further," the SP MLA asked.

Leader of Opposition and senior SP leader Ram Govind Chaudhary then charged the government with encouraging rioters and walked out of the House with party members.

Khanna, meanwhile, said the law and order situation of the state was 1,000 times better than what it was under the previous government and accused the SP of attempting to withdraw terror cases during its tenure.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Additional Director General of Sashastra Seema Bal Jyotirmoy Chakravarty paid a maiden visit to the Siliguri Frontier Headquarters in north Bengal today, SSB officials said.

Chakravarty, who was received by senior officers of Siliguri Frontier, held a meeting with senior field officers and took stock of the situation in Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan borders, a release by SSB said.

He asked the officers to remain vigilant while performing their duty on the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan borders, it said.

He also directed enhancement of the intelligence network of the Siliguri Frontier and stressed upon maintenance of good relation with the border population for effective border management, the release added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Myanmar army forced Rohingyas on us and solution lies in counter military action and not in timidity

Rohingya crisis is only aggravating with incredible deception and outmaneuvering tactics of the Myanmar government to delay repatriation and eventually not to take back the refugees to their homes in the Rakhine State.







The Rohingya population growth sheltered in the camps is phenomenally high creating a big challenge for our future as to how they will grow and add to their existing 1.2 million population, of which over 7 lakhs arrived in a single year from August 2017 to exacerbate crimes and other socio-economic problems.







WHO estimate suggests over one lakh children w ill born in 2018 and if the number exponentially grow every year Cox's Bazar region will become a Rohingya state within the state to suggest how tactfully Myanmar has pushed its ethnic problem on our shoulder.







Rohingyas remembered the first anniversary of their exodus on August 26. Meanwhile results of the Rohingya repatriation is just zero-not a single refugee Myanmar accepted during this time as per the memorandum of understanding Bangladesh signed with Myanmar on September 17, last year.







The UN fact finding mission on Monday has called for investigation and prosecution of Myanmar army chief and five top Generals for genocide and war crimes against the Rohingyas. It has also called upon the UN Security Council to set up an ad hoc tribunal to try the suspects or refer the matter to International Criminal Court in The Hague. The Australian government and the British government have also called for prosecution of the perpetrators. Over 50 Asean law makers have called for quick resolution of the Rohingya problem.







But we don't know what the Bangladesh government is doing and how it is going to use these international move to its favour. It is totally confusing in the face of the Myanmar government endless blackmail and particularly how our Foreign Ministry is handling the issue is now open to question.







Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali visited Myanmar early this month but there is no tangible progress to break the impasse. He came back empty handed while Myanmar supreme leader Aung San Suu Kyi last week blamed Bangladesh for the delay. But the Foreign Ministry even failed to make a strong reaction to such claim.



Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Kazi Reazul Hoque on Monday has rightly raised question over the activities of the Foreign Ministry saying he was frustrated over its failure to send back a single refugee so far. He doubted how effectively the Foreign Ministry officials are pursuing the issue.





Many believe Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali is quite ineffective and incompetent to organise effective diplomatic assault on Myanmar. Timidity of the government is shameful for any sovereign country. The other countries are mobilising international pressure on Myanmar but not our government. Our government is busy enjoying useless foreign trips at the cost of huge public money.





We do have no diplomatic role for the Foreign Mimistry, we have generous policy for others in the government not to miss any foreign trip for pleasure.





The miseries of Rohingyas in Bangladesh is sopathetic and the government is so helpless to organise real help to them that as a nation we cannot go on tolerating Myanmar's deliberate military operations violating international law to force their own people to cross the borders saying they are ours.





No country is friend for ever and in our case both India and China have demonstrated that in our own difficulties with Myanmar they cannot be helpful. They have their interest to think of. It should also be natural for us to seek friendship and support of others who are already playing an active role to put pressure on Myanmar. Sleeping and snoring is not diplomacy and we must seek new friends knowing the government has failed to persuade China and India to play an appropriate role for saving us from the burden of huge population belonging to Myanmar.





The government is appearing to be ineffective to have friends on our side and telling them how urgent it is to force Myanmar to take back their people under international supervision.





We have no policy for meeting the challenge from Myanmar. We have waited too long and the miseries of the Rohingyas in Bangladesh have become too unbearable.







Military junta in Myanmar must be delivered a lesson, together with other countries, that modern world is not ready to tolerate a brutal regime to create human miseries to their own people and feel safe in causing problems in other countries.

Taking over as DMK president M K Stalin today launched a frontal attack on the Narendra Modi government, accusing it of trying to 'saffronise' the country.

"The Narendra Modi government is trying to paint the nation in the colour saffron (a symbol of Hindutva). Let's teach it a lesson," he said in his maiden address to the General Council after his elevation.

Stalin's no-holds barred attack puts an end to speculations that DMK and BJP were seemingly moving closer ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The DMK's recent announcement that BJP chief Amit Shah will take part in a meeting to condole the death of its patriarch M Karunanidhi on August 30 here added fuel to the fire.

However, BJP yesterday said union minister Nitin Gadkari and national secretary Muralidhar Rao would represent the party in the meeting.

Earlier, the Centre declaring a national mourning as a mark of respect to Karunanidhi and according state funeral besides adjournment of both houses of Parliament were also seen a move by the BJP to keep the DMK in good humour.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Chennai to pay his last respects to the Dravidian stalwart and Stalin paying tributes to departed BJP leader A B Vajpayee in Delhi were considered as beyond mere political courtesies in the backdrop of BJP scouting for new allies ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Stalin alleged the Central government was attempting to destroy the basic tenets governing the spheres of "education, art, literature and religion."



Accusing the Centre of going against the "ethos of secularism," he said it also infringed the principles of democracy in matters related to judiciary, education and in appointment of Governors.

The DMK chief also targeted arch rival AIADMK, dubbing its government as "a spineless" dispensation which needed to be "thrown out" and vowed to oust it from power.

"We are anguished when we see the state government without the spine of self-respect and the Central government which infringes social justice, rationalism and equality," he said mounting an attack on both the parties.

Stalin's voice often choked with emotion, when he referred to Karunanidhi and said his only regret was that his father was not alive to see him assuming the top party post.

Claiming that he had a dream of a beautiful future for Tamil Nadu, he said it could be realised unitedly.

"Let's realise this dream of a beautiful future together...let's march together," he said, sending out the message of inclusivity as the party's rank and file rallied behind him.

Stalin said he never dreamt of becoming the president of the DMK, which treated all as equal, irrespective of their position in the party.

He asked the party cadre to raise their voice against him if he committed a mistake.

"The realisation of the dream begins this very moment. I have the dream of a happy, beautiful new life for Tamil Nadu which I am committed to.Let the change begin from us. The Stalin that you see and hear today has been born anew," he said.

While making it clear that the DMK will stick to its Dravidian and rationalist ideals, Stalin, however, said,"We will respect the beliefs of others even if we do not have faith (in those). We are not those who oppose God."



Trying to emulate the signature style of his father in addressing the cadres, Stalin began his 25 minute address with the words "en uyirinum melana Kalaignarin anbu udanpirappugaley (my dear brothers of Kalaignar, you are above my life.)The only change was that he appened the word Kalaignar to the phrase used by Karunanidhi.

"I am not Kalaignar, I do not know to talk like him. But I have the courage to give a try to everything," he said.

Invoking the name of Karunanidhi and his legacy throughout his speech, Stalin said though the patriarch has departed his ideals continued to guide the party.

When Stalin was named President, party workers burst crackers, and played music inside the sprawling lawns of party office.

A festive atmosphere was all pervasive with party workers teeming the party headquarters Anna Arivalayam where the general council meet took place.

A resolution was adopted seeking Bharat Ratna for Karunanidhi and another condoled the death of Vajpayee and victims of Kerala flood.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)From a teen canvassing for the DMK during polls to facing the dark days of Emergency, and finally taking over the reins of the party his father the late M Karunanidhi presided over for nearly five decades, M K Stalin has seen it all in

The 65-year-old leader's ascent as the DMK chief heralds a new era in the Dravidian party, making him only the second man after his father to be elected as party president.

In 1969, Karunanidhi was elected the DMK president, a post created for him following the death of party founder C N Annadurai.

Although Karunanidhi wanted to name Stalin originally as Ayyadurai, borrowing 'Ayya' from rationalist leader the late E V Ramasamy Periyar who was addressed so, and Durai from Annadurai, he had a change of mind following the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1953. Karunanidhi, an atheist, named his son, who was born the same year, after the Communist leader.

An early bird in politics, Stalin campaigned for the DMK in the 1967 assembly elections as a teen and rose steadily up the party heirarchy.

During the Emergency, he was arrested under the draconian Maintenance of Internal Security (MISA) Act and was imprisoned.

Stalin's MISA days prompted DMK general secretary K Anbazhagan to tell the party's General Council meet today how he had to face "untold miseries" during his incarceration.

Years later, a rewarding political life lay in store for Stalin as he not only headed the DMK's youth wing for the first time in 1984 but also made his debut as a legislator in 1989. He is now a 6-time MLA.

As the Mayor of DMK-dominated Chennai Corporation between 1996-2001, Stalin won acclaim for construction of a number of flyovers to ease traffic congestion. However, these were soon to trouble him.

When the AIADMK came back to power in 2001, the government accused Stalin and Karunanidhi of corrupt practices in the construction of the flyovers, resulting in their infamous midnight arrest.

However, the state police later dropped the case for want of adequate evidence.

By 2006 Stalin gained more prominence and made his debut as a minister in his father's cabinet. He was allotted the Municipal Adminsitration and Drinking Water Supply portfolios. He was elevated as Deputy Chief Minister in 2009.

Around this time, a succession war broke out between him and elder brother M K Alagiri, who was also gaining prominence and was a union minister.

However, Karunanidhi made it clear that Stalin would succeed him and inherit his legacy.

At the peak of the sibling rivalry, Alagiri was booted out of the party in 2014 by Karunanidhi for alleged anti-party activities, a move seen as clearing the decks for Stalin's future elevation.

The party rank and file too sided with Stalin.

Though Stalin officially assumed the reins of the party today, he has virtually running it for the past few years as Karunanidhi started keeping indifferent health.

Stalin finalised the party's strategy for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls in which the DMK drew a blank, and the 2016 Assembly elections, which it lost to the AIADMK.

Though DMK failed to return a single MP in 2014, it put up a better show under Stalin in 2016, garnering 89 of the 98 seats in the opposition kitty in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly.

Stalin also acted in a few Tamil films and tv serials in the 1980s.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)M K Stalin was elected unopposed as president of the DMK today, heralding a new era in Tamil Nadu's opposition party that was led by his father, the late M Karunanidhi, for nearly five decades.

Stalin, 65, who is the second president of the DMK, was the only candidate to file his nomination for the party chief's post on August 26, DMK general secretary K Anbazhagan said at the party's General Council meeting here.

Stalin's elevation, about three weeks after the death of Karunanidhi on August 7, comes amid threats by his elder brother and expelled DMK leader M K Alagiri that the party will have to face "consequences" if he is not re-admitted into its fold.

Party patriarch Karunanidhi became the first president of the DMK in 1969.

"Only Mr M K Stalin's nomination papers were filed for party chief's post.... since none other than Stalin is contesting for the party president's post, Mr M K Stalin is being elected unanimously as the chief," Anbazhagan said as members of the DMK's General Council cheered loudly.

Chants hailing Stalin as "Thalapathy" (Commander) went up at the Kalaignar Arangam where the meeting was held.

DMK principal secretary Durai Murugan was elected treasurer, a post Stalin vacated recently.

Anbazhagan, a party veteran, recalled that Karunanidhi had once said he had not performed any duties for Stalin's progress as a father, but he had performed his duties and made him proud as a son.

The General Council wanted "Kalaignar's son" to become party president, he added. Karunanidhi is addressed as Kalaignar.

Tracing Stalin's political journey, Anbazhagan recalled his "untold miseries" while being incarcerated under the then stringent Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the Emergency in 1976.

He said Stalin later became deputy mayor of Chennai, was inducted in the 2006 DMK cabinet as a minister and went on to be elevated as deputy chief minister.

While his estranged brother Alagiri continued to question Stalin's leadership credentials, DMK district units and a host of party wings stood like a rock behind him adopting formal resolutions proposing his name for the party's top post, party leaders said.

Karunanidhi, who died at the age of 94, was appointed DMK president in 1969, a post created for him following the death of party founder C N Annadurai.

Annadurai was the party general secretary when he passed away.

Stalin has waited patiently for his elevation to the party's top post. His name had been doing the rounds in the DMK since 2007 when it was expected that he would be named Karunanidhi's successor at a party youth wing conference in Tirunelveli.

Stalin, the younger son of Karunanidhi, had held several party posts, including that of DMK treasurer and youth wing secretary.

His journey in the party began early when he campaigned in the 1967 elections as a 14-year-old school student.

He became the party's youth-wing secretary in 1984.

Stalin's growth has been steady and he became the party deputy general secretary in 2003. He was re-elected treasurer for the second five-year term in January 2015, a post he vacated recently in view of his elevation.

He became an MLA for the first time in 1989 from Thousand Lights constituency in the city from where he was re-elected thrice.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Himachal Pradesh government said today that the unprecedented water scarcity state capital Shimla faced this May-June would not be allowed to recur as several steps had been taken to ensure adequate supply.

Irrigation and Public Health Minister Mahender Singh gave this assurance to the state Assembly while replying to a discussion initiated by opposition MLAs Anirudh Singh and Vikramaditya Singh.

Mahender Singh said water scarcity was overcome within a fortnight as a number of steps were taken under the supervision of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.

"No shortage of water will be allowed to remain in Shimla. The world bank funded water scheme will be implemented in a time-bound manner. Had Virbhadra Singh-led previous Congress government taken adequate steps, the state capital would have not witnessed such shortage," the minister said.

Earlier Congress MLAs Asha Kumari, Anirudh Singh and Vikramaditya Singh flayed Mayor Kusum Sadret for visiting China leaving Shimla in the midst of the water crisis.

Kumari said water scarcity still existed in Shimla.

It is evident from items published in local media stating that the Mayor was holding meetings to overcome the shortage, she said.

Education Minister Suresh Bhardwaj said being an MLA from Shimla, he made several efforts to ensure availability of adequate water despite the fact his wife and son were not well at that time.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A strong 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck eastern Indonesia today, the US Geological Survey said, but there was no tsunami warning or immediate reports of damage.

The offshore tremor struck at a shallow depth of eight kilometres, about 100 kilometres southeast of Kupang on the Indonesian portion of Timor island, the USGS said.

A string of deadly earthquakes that rocked Indonesia's Lombok island this summer killed 555 people.

Indonesia, one of the most disaster-prone nations on earth, straddles the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide and many of the world's volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.

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.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Substantial debt on the balance sheet is likely to have an adverse impact on Tata Steel's ability to raise finance at competitive rates, the steel major said in its report.

This comes against the backdrop of Tata Steel earlier stating that it will raise Rs 16,500 crore through debt instruments to fund Rs 32,500 crore acquisition of Bhushan Steel Ltd (BSL).

"Substantial amount of debt on the balance sheet may have an adverse impact on the company's ability to raise finance at competitive rates," Tata Steel said in its Annual Report 2017-18.

Changes in assumptions underlying the carrying value of certain assets may result in the impairment of such assets, the company said.

On the financial risks facing Tata Steel, it said, fluctuation in foreign exchange rates due to volatility in financial markets is likely to impact the company's debt servicing and create uncertainties in accessing the financial markets.

It further said mitigation strategies for the financial risks would be "maximising operational cashflow", "terming out debt and refinancing debt with favourable covenants," and "appropriate foreign exchange hedging policies", among others.

On the operational risks facing the company, Tata Steel said the steel industry was prone to high proportion of fixed costs and volatility in the prices of raw materials and energy and added that the limitations or disruptions in the supply of raw materials could adversely affect the company's profitability.

The report further said any labour dispute or social unrest in regions where the company operates may adversely affect its operations and financial condition.

Tata Steel and Thyssenkrupp had earlier signed a definitive agreement to combine European steel business. The merger would create an entity that would be the continent's second largest steel company after ArcelorMittal.

Tata Steel had earlier won the bid to acquire debt-laden BSL in an insolvency auction. The bankrupt firm was among the 12 stressed assets the RBI had referred for NCLT proceedings last year.

Tata Steel's gross debt in 2017-18 stood at Rs 28,126 crore, the report said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today arrived on her first official visit to Cambodia, aiming to deepen India's strategic cooperation with one of the key ASEAN countries amidst China's rising influence in the region.

Swaraj's arrived here from Vietnam on the concluding leg of her four-day two-nation tour.

She was received by Indian Ambassador to Cambodia, Manika Jain, and other senior officials at the Phnom Penh international airport, the Indian Embassy here tweeted.

During the two-day visit, Swaraj will hold extensive talks with her Cambodian counterpart Prak Sokhonn, covering the entire spectrum of the bilateral and regional issues of mutual interests.

She will call on Prime Minister Hun Sen and President of the Senate Say Chhum.

India's ties are on an upswing with Vietnam and Cambodia -- the two major countries in the powerful Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) grouping.

India and Cambodia have enjoyed friendly relations for a long time. Both the countries formally established diplomatic relations in 1952. In 2000, Cambodia vowed its full support for India to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Swaraj's visit to the two key ASEAN nations is seen as India's attempt to balance China's rising influence in the Southeast Asian region.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Suspected militants today shot at and injured a civilian in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, police said.

Unidentified militants fired upon Mohammad Amin Malik near his residence in the Lurgam area of Tral in the south Kashmir district, a police official said.

He said Malik received gunshot wounds and was rushed to a hospital.

A case has been registered and investigation initiated, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)BJP president Amit Shah today inaugurated a day-long meeting of the party's chief ministers in which it was decided to meet targets of the 'Swachh Bharat' scheme in a time-bound manner.

The ongoing 'Gram Swaraj' project in over 48,000 villages was also discussed in the meeting.

Party sources said the meeting also passed a condolence message commemorating former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as a leader who brought to fruition the concept of good governance and in whose death the country lost a visionary.

BJP leaders also remembered Vajpayee's work to develop the northeast region and also create three new states as they paid him tributes.

Sources said it was decided in the meeting that the targets set for the 'Swachh Bharat' (Clean India) project should be met within a specified period.

Leaders also took stock of implementation of seven central welfare schemes, including distribution of cooking gas connection and LED bulbs among the poor and also their coverage under insurance schemes, in over 48000 villages.

The meeting has assumed significance due to the upcoming assembly polls in three BJP-ruled states and the Lok Sabha elections, which are less than eight months away.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Russia's defence minister said today that war-torn Syria would be ready to accept one million returning refugees, following Moscow-backed reconstruction work.

"Since 2015, when towns and villages gradually started to be freed, more than one million people have returned home," Sergei Shoigu said in comments reported by Russian agencies.

"Now every opportunity has been created for the return of roughly one million (more) refugees," he told journalists.

"Huge infrastructure reconstruction work is ongoing, the rebuilding of transport routes and security points so that Syria can begin accepting refugees." Russia, a long-time ally of Syria, launched a military intervention in 2015 to support the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad, a move that changed the course of the war.

Assad and his allies have since recovered swathes of territory and the government is turning its attention to post-conflict reconstruction, with the aid of Moscow.

The war that erupted in 2011, one of the most devastating conflicts since World War II, has displaced more than half of Syria's population, including more than five million beyond its borders.

Most of them fled to neighbouring countries, particularly Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.

Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump discussed the return of refugees at a summit in Helsinki last month.

Moscow later said it had put forward plans to Washington to cooperate on their return to Syria but details have yet to be confirmed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Canada born Raymond Newal, who founded video streaming start-up Jigsee, will be leading Techstars' new mentorship-driven accelerator for emerging markets entrepreneurs that will operate out of Bengaluru, the company said today.

Techstars is a worldwide network, founded in Colorado in 2006, that supports entrepreneurs through its accelerators and special start-up programmes.

Nearly 1500 start-ups, including several Indian ones, have benefited through its programmes globally, the company said.

Techstars' first accelerator in India is looking for 10 companies that are applying technologies including AI, AR/VR, Blockchain, and IoT to solve problems in the emerging markets, with the potential to scale solutions to developed markets down the road, the company said in a release.

The program will be hosted in Bengaluru and will run 13 weeks from February 4, 2019.

Techstars would invest USD 120,000 in each of the 10 chosen teams.

Applications are open now and Managing Director Ray Newal is meeting start-ups in Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai, the release added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 17-year-old boy allegedly killed his elder sister as he was apparently upset with her for mingling with other boys in their locality here in Maharashtra, police said today.

The accused was angry with his 19-year-old sister for being friendly with boys in their locality in Valiv town here. Some neighbours had also taunted his family over the woman's conduct, police inspector Bharat Jadhav said.

The boy had earlier reprimanded his sister and even beaten her over the issue, Jadhav said.

Yesterday, when their parents went out for work, the boy allegedly strangled his sister to death with a 'dupatta' (a long narrow piece of cloth worn around the neck), he said.

The Valiv police later nabbed the boy and registered a case against him under IPC section 302 (murder), he said.

The body was sent for postmortem, Jadhav said, adding that a probe was on into the incident.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The on Tuesday asked the ruling Trinamool (TMC) to spell out if it would support the after the next elections.

A clear-cut announcement on part of the TMC was needed as the party has been differentiating between leaders of the BJP, state Adhir Chowdhury said, while addressing the foundation day programme of the Chhatra Parishad, the student's wing of Congress in

"We have to defeat the at the Centre and the TMC at the state in the next election. The TMC is talking against the but is not saying clearly whether it will support the BJP in the post-poll scenario," Chowdhury said.

He said, "For the TMC, L K Advani is good but (Narendra) Modi is bad. Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj are good but is bad. We don't believe in such differentiation."



The Congress thinks that the BJP as a whole represents one single ideology which is against the basic ethos of the country and its diversity, Chowdhury said.

"(TMC supremo) Banerjee should clarify whether her party would support Sushma Swaraj or Rajnath Singh if they are made prime ministerial candidate of the BJP instead of Narendra Modi," he said.

Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi, who was present at the programme, said the party's focus is to strengthen the organisation in the state and assured state leaders that the high command stands by its workers who are being attacked by the ruling TMC in Bengal.

During the programme, infighting in Congress unit came out in the open after leaders of party's students' wing exchanged blows with each other in front of senior leaders.

A quarrel broke out between two groups over who would take seat on the dais. Following this, supporters of both groups hurled abuses and clashed with each other, witnesses said.Tamil Nadu politics today welcomed its Thalapathy, the Commander.

DMK leader M K Stalin's new moniker, in keeping with his elevated status as the party's new president, signals the advent of another star in the state's political firmament.

There's baptism by fire, of course, that most Tamil Nadu politicians and heroes have to undergo. And then there's the actual baptism when they ascend to the top. So if Stalin was hailed as Thalapathy after he was unanimously elected party president today, his father, the late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, was Kalaignar, the scholar of the arts.

Kalaignar, Thalapathy, Puratchi Thalaivar, Thalaivar or simply Captain, people in Tamil Nadu make sure to give titles to their most idolised stars, whether in politics or cinema.

Karunanidhi's title was derived from his contribution to Tamil films, The former chief minister, who also donned the hat of a script writer during his early political career, was known for his powerful dialogues.

Kalaignar, who passed away earlier this year at the age of 94, wrote his last script when he was 90. It was for a television serial based on the life of 11th century reformer-saint Ramanuja, a crusader for an egalitarian society.

Then there was the late M G Ramachandran, the actor-politician who was revered as Puratchi Thalaivar (revolutionary leader) and Makkal Thilagam (people's king).

His protegee J Jayalalithaa, who also entered politics through films and was chief minister multiple times, took on the title Puratchi Thalaivi.

There are many others.

Former leading actor Vijay Kant, the founder of DMDK, is known as Captain and a few years ago launched a TV channel by that name.

Southern film superstar Rajnikant is Thalaivaa (leader) for his legions of fans. And his rival Kamal Hassan, who early this year launched his political party Makkal Needhi Maiam, has been christened Ulga Naikan (universal hero) by his fans and supporters.

Coming to names with a difference, there's Viduthalai Virumbi (lover of freedom), a former DMK leader in the Rajya Sabha, and Tamilkudimagan (Tamil citizen), a former DMK minister.

The new DMK chief got his name as he was born on a day in March 1953 when his father Karunanidhi was attending a condolence meeting for Russian Communist party leader Joseph Stalin.

Alagiri, Stalin's elder brother, is also called Anja Nenjan, which translates to brave heart.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The third indigenously designed and built offshore patrol vessel (OPV) for the Coast Guard was formally launched near here today.

To be inducted after extensive trials, the OPV will be manned by a 102-member crew and utilised for day and night patrol, surveillance and to provide coastal security, a cost guard release said.

The vessel "YARD-45003" equipped with ultra-modern navigation and communication systems is the third in the series of the seven being built by the Larsen and Toubro Shipbuilding under a contract it had signed with the Ministry of Defence in March 2015.

The first and second vessel were launched in October 2017 and January this year respectively.

At a function held in the presence of Coast Guard Additional Director General K R Nautiya at the Kattupalli Shipyard, the third OPV was formally lowered into the waters of Bay of Bengal, the release said.

After completion of extensive trials, the vessel would be inducted into the Coast Guard by March next, it said.

The vessel measuring 98 metres in length and 14.8 metres in breadth has a gross tonnage of 2,100 tonnes and can reach a maximum speed of 26 knots per hour.

The ship is fitted with two diesel engines, 30-mm automatic gun and two 12.7-mm guns with fire control systems besides a twin-engine helicopter that would enhance its operational, surveillance capability, the release said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The five activists arrested from various parts of the country today for suspected Maoist links had allegedly funded the 'Elgar Parishad' conclave in Pune, held a day before the Koregaon-Bhima violence, police said today.

The speeches at the conclave, held on December 31 last year to mark the 200th anniversary of the Koregaon-Bhima battle, had fuelled the violence a day later, they said.

The five were arrested after the Pune police today carried searches in Mumbai, Thane, Hyderabad, Faridabad, Chhattisgarh, and Goa, an official said.

They had allegedly funded the 'Elgar Parishad' conclave, a police official said.

While Vernon Gonsalves was arrested from his residence in suburban Andheri in Mumbai, Arun Ferreira was apprehended from his residence at Charai in adjoining Thane, police said.

Both were also arrested in 2007 for their alleged links with Maoist groups, police said. After his acquittal, Ferreira completed a law degree and started practice as a criminal lawyer in Mumbai, the official said.

Ferreira, who earlier lived in suburban Bandra, shifted to Thane along with his family a few years ago, the official said.

Police had alleged that Gonsalves, a former professor in a prominent Mumbai college, was a Maoist central committee member.

Meanwhile, Susan Abraham, the wife of Gonsalves, said the BJP-led government in Maharashtra has "failed to take any action" against right-wing Sanatan Sanstha, which she claimed was behind the killing of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.

"This is an attempt to divert people's attention from the Sanatan case. That is why action is being taken in the guise of combating urban naxalism," Susan, a Mumbai-based lawyer, told PTI.

The state government has not taken action against right-wing leaders Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote who were behind the Koregaon-Bhima violence, she said.

She claimed that her husband did not incite the Koregaon-Bhima violence, as alleged by the police. "Police are taking action against people in connection with a fictitious plot of assassination of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)With Indian classical dance forms attracting a large number of youngsters in China, the time is ripe to introduce them in top Chinese universities and cultural centres, Bharatanatyam exponent Leela Samson has said.

Samson, 67, who has a big following of Chinese students, is in Beijing this week where she along with popular Chinese Bharatanatyam dancer Jin Shan Shan trains batches of students, mostly girls around the age of 14 years.

Jin, a regular performer at the Indian Embassy events and frequent traveller to India, teaches about 100 students, including those at the prestigious Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.

The Indian Embassy itself has a cultural centre where Indian music and dance forms are taught.

"I have been coming to China for many years to perform and to teach. Each time, I am amazed at the level of interests among the youths here to learn Indian classical dance and music forms," Samson told PTI.

To learn Bharatanatyam, students are not only coming from Beijing and Shanghai but also from the neighbouring areas, the noted Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer and instructor said.

Bharatanatyam and Kathak, India's most celebrated classical dance forms, came to China during the Mao Zedong era when China went through the convulsions of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) which criticised classical dance and arts as bourgeois habits.

Late Chinese dancer Zhang Jun brought Bharatanatyam and Kathak to Mao's China in the 1950s through her five-decade long career making a big mark in the minds of many aspiring Chinese dancers.

Zhang's enthusiasm and commitment for the art and culture had not been dampened though she was banished to the villages in Hebei province to work in farms during the Cultural Revolution.

"Zhang and several Chinese lovers of Bharatanatyam made huge sacrifices to spread them in China and it has been carrying forward from generation to generation," Leela said.

"Now, seeing the way Yoga and Indian films have been striking a chord with the Chinese, it is time for the governments of China and India to think of institutional arrangements," she said.

Indian classical dance forms should now step out of the Indian cultural centres to classrooms of different universities in China, she said.

"Already Indian languages like Hindi and Tamil are being taught in some of the Chinese universities. Why not dance forms like Bharatanatyam, Kathak etc be taught through a regular curriculum with trained teachers," she said.

"If Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of spreading Indian culture is to materialise, you have to take it away from cultural centres and make it large. That means having teachers in couple of universities and big cultural centres and conservatories," she said.

"That should definitely be the next step. If we do that we can definitely nurture it well. I can tell you they will be interested. They are already into Indian films. They like the sound of our languages. They tap their fingers to the rhythm of our music and each share certain bonding," she said.

Unlike the US and the west where popular dance forms existed, here you are talking about huge meeting grounds," she said, referring to the way 14-year-old girls striking a right expression on a 300-year-old Tamil classical song.

"This should be nourished through institutional arrangements," she said.

She admits providing trained teachers for classical dancers is a challenge.

"Getting teachers is a problem. We have performers who teach. Performers are selfish. Not every performer can be a teacher. Teachers specialise in teaching," she said, adding the courses with special curriculum should be designed to get teachers.

Indian dance forms have become very popular in Russia, Italy and China where the locals are interested in them whereas elsewhere the Indian diaspora dominated cultural scene, she said.

Therefore, special efforts need to be made in these countries to provide bigger platforms for youth to learn, she said.

Also the Indian cultural institutions especially in Chennai, where popular Bharatanatyam institution the Kalakshetra existed, more overseas dancers should be given chances to study and perform in famous events like the annual Chennai dance and music festival, she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The ruling TMC in West Bengal and the opposition Congress and CPI(M) have decided not to attend the condolence meeting for former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee being organised by the BJP's state unit here tomorrow.

The three parties said as they have already attended the condolence meeting organised by the BJP's central unit in New Delhi and so there is no need for them to participate in a condolence meeting organised locally.

BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha said the decision of the three political parties in the state proves the nexus among them.

Senior CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said, "Our party leaders have already attended the condolence meeting organised by the BJP in New Delhi. So there is no need to attend the condolence meet here."



Echoing similar views, West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Chowdhury said the party's senior leaders such as Rahul Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh had attended Vajpayee's funeral.

Senior Congress leaders had also taken part in the condolence meeting in the national capital.

The Trinamool Congress too said its leaders had attended the condolence meeting in New Delhi.

The West Bengal BJP unit had invited Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, Adhir Chowdhury, CPI(M) state secretary Surya Kanta Mishra and Left Front chairman Biman Bose for the condolence meeting which is scheduled to be held at Mahajati Sadan.

Reacting to the decision of the three parties, BJP leader Rahul Sinha said, "We have been saying this for a long time that the TMC, Congress and CPI(M) are on the same page when it comes to opposing BJP. As soon as the TMC declined to attend the meet the two other parties have followed its footsteps. This only proves their nexus."



"In the days to come we will fight this nexus to free Bengal from the misrule of the TMC," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.): Tamil Nadu today sought the Finance Ministry's nod to grant the second instalment of funds from the Central Finance Commission to take up development work in urban and rural local bodies in the state.

Municipal Administration Minister S P Velumani called on Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi and submitted the memorandum, seeking more funds.

Copies of the memorandum were released to the media here.

He sought the Ministry's nod to release the second instalment of basic grant of Rs 1,390.04 crore and also the performance grant of Rs 560.15 crore to urban and rural local bodies for the 2017-18 year.

"The urban and rural local bodies are in dire need of funds to carry out their day to day affairs in order to provide basic amenities to its citizens", he said.

Noting that local bodies have taken up development work and have utilised the first instalment to settle the bills, he said the development works were at the completion stage and required further funds to settle the final bills.

"The non-receipt of basic grant of the Central Finance Commission from the Government of India has led to public hardship and suffering", he said.

Velumani sought Jaitley's intervention on the issue and also requested him to instruct the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance to release the second instalment.

He requested him to release the first instalment of the basic grant of Rs 1,608.03 crore for the 2018-19 fiscal.

Recalling the earlier representation to Jaitley, Velumani said the funds were withheld by the centre since elections were not held for local bodies due to legal impediments.

"The elections to local bodies could not be held in the State due to various litigations and also on account of the process of delimitation of territorial wards of local bodies being undertaken by the Tamil Nadu Delimitation Commission", he said.

After completion of delimitation process, the State Election Commission would be in a position to notify the elections to the local bodies, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) here today signed an MoU with Lucknow-based CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatics Plants (CIMAP) to implement the Aroma mission and phytopharmaceutical projects and rural technologies in the state.

Both the institutes have also agreed to undertake joint R&D projects in areas of mutual interests.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in the presence of Vice-Chancellor of TNAU Dr K Ramasamy and director of CIMAP Dr A K Tripathi.

The Aroma mission involves promoting cultivation of aromatic crops for essential oils that are in great demand by the aroma industry.

The mission is expected to enable farmers and the aroma industry to become global leaders in the production and export of some other essential oils on the pattern of menthol mint.

Under the agreement, CIMAP would provide quality planting material of identified aromatic crops to the farmers in the first year for mutually agreed acreage, a press release from TNAU said.

Also, there would be provision of processing facility (distillation unit) of appropriate capacity depending on strategic requirement or area under cultivation at farmers field and facilitating marketing /sale of the produce, the release said.

The MoU would be for a period of three years and would be renewed for a mutually agreed period, it added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Rights advocates urged the Philippines' top court today to halt President Rodrigo Duterte's push to quit the International Criminal Court, which has launched a preliminary probe into his deadly narcotics crackdown.

In oral arguments before the Supreme Court in Manila, they told the justices the Philippine Senate would have to approve the nation's withdrawal from the tribunal's founding treaty.

Duterte in March gave notice he was pulling out of the agreement, saying the ICC's examination of his internationally condemned drug war was "unduly and maliciously created".

However opposition senators and rights advocates have asked the Supreme Court to declare the withdrawal invalid, arguing the constitution requires two-thirds of the Senate to approve the move.

"A treaty already transformed into Philippine law cannot be undone by a one-sided act of the president. Only the Senate can undo its own act," Romel Bagares, lawyer for a coalition of campaigners, told the court.

Judges will next hear from senators who are also plaintiffs in the case as well as the government's lawyers, but the court does not set itself deadlines to issue rulings and cases sometimes take years to resolve.

Opened in 2002, the ICC is the world's only permanent war crimes court and aims to prosecute the worst abuses when national courts are unable or unwilling.

The Philippines, under previous president Benigno Aquino, ratified the Rome Statute in 2011, giving the tribunal authority to investigate crimes on its soil.

But Duterte has pushed back against the ICC as he defends his narcotics crackdown which police say has killed more than 4,000 alleged drug dealers or users.

Rights groups say the actual number of dead is triple that and could amount to crimes against humanity.

Officially quitting the court requires a year's notice and experts say pulling out does not preclude an investigation of the killings.

Duterte's government says the Senate's constitutional powers apply only to ratifying new treaties, not withdrawing from them.

The ICC's examination came after complaints from a lawyer and lawmakers critical of the drug war.

On Tuesday, families of people killed in the crackdown filed a similar complaint before the Hague-based tribunal, alleging Duterte "ordered and incited the killings".

Duterte's spokesman Harry Roque downplayed the importance of the new filing.

"That's not a complaint, that's a communication because it's still to be acted upon by the ICC," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)As Washington and Ottawa resumed trade talks, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would only sign a new trade pact that is good for his country.

He comments came just as Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland entered negotiations with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in Washington to try to salvage the North American Free Trade Agreement as a three-nation deal.

After months of intense talks, the United States and Mexico announced an agreement Monday on a thorough overhaul of the 25-year-old free trade pact, but President Donald Trump suggested he could cut Ottawa out.

"We will engage in a positive way and look forward to ultimately signing a deal as long as it's good for Canada and good for middle class Canadians," Trudeau told reporters yesterday.

Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto and President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador both said NAFTA should remain a trilateral deal.

The outlines of a NAFTA 2.0 are now on paper, including new provisions on auto trade with higher percentage of locally-produced components, tougher worker protections and a provision to review the deal every six years.

But there remain sticking points with Canada, including its dairy market and how to handle some disputes among NAFTA partners.

"We're encouraged by the progress that the US and Mexico have made, particularly on cars and labor, and I'm looking forward to the conversation," Freeland told reporters.

Negotiators have worked for a year to update and rewrite NAFTA but in the last five weeks Washington and Mexico City held talks to resolve their bilateral issues, especially on the auto industry rules, without Ottawa.

Trump stressed that he could go ahead without Ottawa in the new agreement.

"We could have a separate deal or we could put it in the same deal," Trump said.

He indicated he would take a tough line with Canada on autos and dairy tariffs, long a source of tension between the neighboring countries.

While Trudeau heralded "very positive progress" on auto trade provisions reached by the United States and Mexico, he vowed not to give in to Washington's demands to dismantle Canada's supply-managed dairy market.

"My position on defending supply management has not changed. We will defend supply management," Trudeau said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and US President Donald Trump had a "constructive conservation" about trade after Washington and Mexico City agreed on a revamped deal, Trudeau's office said on the eve of fresh negotiations.

Trudeau has dispatched his trade negotiator, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, to Washington for talks today.

"The prime minister had a constructive conversation today with President Trump regarding the North American Free Trade Agreement," Trudeau's office said in a statement.

"The leaders welcomed the progress that has been made in discussions with Mexico and look forward to having their teams engage this week with a view to a successful conclusion of negotiations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)President Donald Trump today promised to address what he says is the "very serious situation" of social media companies "suppressing" conservative voices and "hiding information" and good

Trump recently has made similar complaints about the issue, which has been making the rounds in conservative media.

But today he targeted Google.

Asked whether Trump thinks Google should be subject to some regulation, Larry Kudlow, the president's top economic adviser, told reporters only that "we're taking a look. We'll let you know."



The president said in a pre-dawn tweet that included a typo that a search for "Trump News" on Google "shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & is BAD."



He added: "Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal?"Google, based in Mountain View, California, had no immediate comment.

Trump began complaining about the issue earlier this month as social media companies moved to ban right-wing "Infowars" conspiracy theorist Alex Jones from their platforms.

Apple, YouTube and Spotify have permanently removed some of Jones' content, Facebook has suspended him for 30 days and removed some of his pages, while Twitter gave Jones a weeklong timeout and was mulling deeper changes to try to limit the spread of fake news, misinformation and hate speech.

Trump has not named Jones in any tweets on the issue. He once praised Jones' "amazing" reputation.

The president also claimed today without evidence that 96 per cent of the "Trump News" search results on Google are from "National Left-Wing Media."



He said this "very serious situation-will be addressed!" The issue is also of concern on Capitol Hill.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., recently announced that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey will testify before the panel on September 5 about the platform's algorithms and content monitoring.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Donald Trump bowed to pressure today to honour the late John McCain, ordering that flags be lowered to half-staff across the country, as the late senator fired a parting shot at the president in a farewell message to the United States.

Trump's about-face came after he found himself mired in controversy over his rather conspicuous failure to pay tribute to McCain, who died Saturday at 81 after a year-long battle with brain cancer.

When veterans' groups launched appeals for a more fitting salute to McCain, a Navy veteran who was imprisoned for more than five years in Vietnam, the Republican leader -- who had no love lost for the Arizona senator -- blinked.

"Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain's service to our country," Trump said in a statement as he ordered the flag atop the White House and elsewhere to fly at half-staff until McCain's burial on Sunday.

He later told evangelical leaders that "we very much appreciate everything that senator McCain has done for our country." The White House flag was lowered after McCain's death on Saturday -- but it was once again at the top of the flagpole on Monday morning.

Trump's initial silence about McCain underscored the isolation of the US leader and fueled criticism that he is incapable of bringing a divided nation together even as it mourns a man widely seen as an American hero and a political icon.

In Phoenix, where a week of tributes to McCain was soon to get under way, the two-time presidential candidate's former campaign manager Rick Davis confirmed that Trump would not be attending the funeral.

However, Vice President Mike Pence is set to speak at a ceremony honoring McCain at the US Capitol on Friday.

White House chief of staff John Kelly, Defense Secretary James Mattis and National Security Advisor John Bolton will represent the administration during services.

In Phoenix, Davis read a posthumous statement that made a final jab at Trump.

"We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe," McCain said.

"We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been," he said -- -- an apparent reference to Trump's plans for a border wall.

McCain, who served as a senator from Arizona for more than 30 years, clashed repeatedly with Trump even though they were both Republicans, and the president initially paid scant tribute to the senator after his death.

The Washington Post reported that White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, Chief of Staff Kelly and other senior staff had urged a statement be released referring to McCain as a "hero" -- but Trump opted for a terse, impersonal tweet instead.

The enmity between Trump and McCain dates from the day the real estate tycoon announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination with an attack on Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists. During the 2016 campaign, Trump mocked McCain's war service. In the years since, McCain was Trump's loudest Republican critic, especially as the president disrupted America's long-time alliances.

McCain's remains will lie in state at Arizona's capitol on Wednesday, before a public viewing Friday in the rotunda of the US Capitol -- an honor reserved for the likes of John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and civil rights champion Rosa Parks.

The two men who defeated McCain in his White House campaigns, Republican George W. Bush in 2000 and Democrat Barack Obama in 2008, are expected to deliver eulogies at a Saturday service at the National Cathedral in Washington.

Among the pallbearers will be Democratic former vice president Joe Biden, ex-senator Russ Feingold, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and actor Warren Beatty.

McCain will be buried Sunday at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in a private funeral service.

In Washington, McCain's death has been a rare occasion for bipartisan praise for his lifetime in public service.

Tributes have poured in from every living former president honoring the former Navy aviator for his courage, integrity and decency. On Capitol Hill, his desk on the Senate floor was draped with a black cloth, and adorned with white roses.

Senators returning to work were saddened by his passing.

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is proposing a bill to rename one of the upper chamber's buildings after McCain, spoke of a great and unexpressable loss." "In stark relief to what now passes for our politics, he continues to serve as a beacon to who we are and who we can be when we are at our best," said Jeff Flake, who was McCain's fellow Arizona senator.

"If John McCain can forgive the North Vietnamese torturers, we can at least forgive each other.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)President Donald Trump stepped up his criticism of internet firms today, hours after attacking Google over what he called "bias" against him and his supporters.

"Google and Twitter and Facebook -- they are really treading on very, very troubled territory and they have to be careful," Trump told reporters at the White House.

The comments come after the president last week slammed social media firms for what he claimed was suppression of conservative voices, and today's tirade against Google that claimed search results were "rigged" to favour "left-wing media".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two persons were killed and 22 others injured today when a bus fell into a gorge in Uttarakhand's Tehri district.

The bus was on its way to Rishikesh from Tehri Garhwal's Pavki Devi village when the accident occurred, in charge at Muni Ki Reti Police Station Ram Kishore Saklani said.

Two passengers died on the spot while the injured were rushed to a hospital in Rishikesh where the condition of five was stated to be serious, he said.

Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has expressed grief over the deaths and asked officials concerned to make all necessary arrangements for the treatment of the injured.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Uttarakhand government today handed over a cheque of Rs five crore to the Kerala resident commissioner in New Delhi, an official statement said.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat had made the announcement on August 18 to offer financial assistance to the flood-hit southern state.

Additional Resident Commissioner of Uttarakhand Ila Giri handed over the cheque on behalf of the chief minister to Resident Commissioner of Kerala Puneet Kumar in New Delhi, the statement said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is calling for accountability for the "horrendous persecution" of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, and Sweden and the Netherlands are urging the Security Council to refer the crimes to the International Criminal Court.

But China, which has close ties to Myanmar's government, says the international community should stop putting pressure on Myanmar and let its government work out the repatriation of Rohingya refugees as soon as possible with Bangladesh, where nearly one million have fled.

Yesterday's council meeting, commemorating the one-year anniversary of Myanmar's latest violent crackdown that led about 700,000 Rohingya to flee, reflected the deep division over addressing the Rohingya crisis.

It followed Monday's report by UN-appointed human rights investigators who called for Myanmar's military leaders to be prosecuted for genocide against the Rohingya.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization is warning an outbreak of African swine fever in China could jump the border to neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia or the Korean Peninsula.

The FAO said in a release today that outbreaks have been reported in four different Chinese provinces. It said the distances between each outbreak of up to 1,000 kilometers mean the virus could spread to other Asian countries.

African swine fever poses no direct threat to humans but threatens to devastate China's crucial pork industry.

China is the world's biggest pork producer, accounting for about half the world's population of swine at around 500 million head.

China has culled more than 24,000 pigs and imposed strict quarantine and disinfection efforts in hopes of stamping out the virus.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey and general secretary (organisation) Sunil Bansal today held a meeting with office bearers of party's various cells and departments and told them to gear up for the general elections.

"Under the mission 2019, we have to work as per the work plan of the organisation to bag 74-plus seats. We have get into preparations for the Lok Sabha election," Pandey said at the state BJP headquarters here. He urged the party workers to inform the common people about the various schemes of the Centre and state government.

Hitting out at the Opposition, Pandey added, "Political parties like the Congress, SP and BSP have forged an unholy alliance to stop Prime Minister Narendra Modi from coming to power at the Centre once again. But, the people of the country are with the BJP."



Bansal said the role of every party worker was important from the parliamentary polls and every worker must strive to enhance the reach of the party and strengthen it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An Uttar Pradesh state transport bus met with an accident today in Greater Noida, killing one person and injuring seven others, police said.

The incident was reported around 5 am near Loharali village on the National Highway 91, under Dadri Police Station limits, they said.

The bus was en route to Delhi from Shahjahanpur (UP), Station House Officer Ram Sen Singh said.

"The driver of the bus apparently became drowsy following which the speeding bus got into the farmland adjoining the road and turned upside down," he said.

One person, identified as Ram Kumar (35), a resident of Shahjahanpur, suffered critical wounds and was referred to the Dadri Hospital where he succumbed to the injuries, the SHO said.

Others injured were given first aid and relieved, he added.

He said the police have registered a case of negligence against the bus driver, who are absconding.

Further probe is underway, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Three people, including the parents, were sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering a three-year-old girl by a court here.

Additional District Sessions Judge Ajay Kumar also imposed a fine of Rs 1,12,000 each on the accused, Shamim, the father of the girl, his wife Khushnaseeb and their friend Zahir Abbas, after holding them guilty under sections 302 (murder) 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

According to a government lawyer, three-year-old Liba was killed by the trio by slitting her throat in Nagla Bajurg village under the Bhopa police station in the district on May 3.

He said the crime was committed by the convicts with a design to implicate Shamim's brother over a property dispute.

After committing the crime, Shamim had filed a police complaint against his brother for kidnapping his daughter.

During investigation, Shamim, Khushnaseeb and Abbas's involvement in the crime came to light and the police filed the chargesheet in the case within 14 days.

The court was hearing the case on a daily basis.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Catholic bishop who came under intense criticism after his plans to retire in a USD 2.3 million home in California's Silicon Valley became public, now says he will finish his days in a rectory.

Bishop Patrick McGrath confessed in a statement issued yesterday that he "erred in judgement" when the San Jose diocese purchased the five-bedroom home for his retirement.

"I failed to consider adequately the housing crisis in this valley and the struggles of so many families and communities in light of that crisis," he said.

"I have heard from many on this topic and I have decided that I will not move into this house."



McGrath said the diocese planned to sell the nearly 3,300-square-foot (306-square-meter) home as soon as possible and any profits from the sale would go to a charity fund.

"I assume full responsibility for this decision and I believe that the sale of the house is the appropriate action," he said.

"When I retire, I now intend to live in a rectory at one of our parishes."



The purchase of the home with money earmarked for this purpose as well as the sale of a condominium where McGrath's predecessor lived flies in the face of the church's stated mission to help the poor, critics said.

It also is at odds with Pope Francis' desire for a less ostentatious church. Following his election in 2013, Pope Francis decided to shun the official grand papal apartments to live in a modest residence.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The United States this week blocked the reappointment of a judge at the World Trade Organization, increasing the risk that the global body could soon find itself unable to fulfil its key role in arbitrating trade disputes.

At a time when US President Donald Trump's protectionist policies have sparked a wave of trade wars, the institution best placed to help settle international trade differences and avoid further escalation is facing a deepening crisis.

The WTO's Dispute Settlement Body is battling with the effects of Washington's long-time refusal to sign off on the appointment of new judges to the court's appellate chamber.

And on Monday, the crisis worsened further when the US for the first time balked at even renewing the mandate of an existing judge.

Shree Baboo Chekitan Servansing of Mauritius will see his term end at the end of September, leaving only three judges to handle the appellate body's large caseload.

Washington's refusal to join the consensus needed to hand him another term has pushed the WTO's dispute settlement system to the edge of the abyss.

The appellate body, which offers a last resort to settle international trade disputes and avoid escalation between countries, normally counts seven judges.

But the number has gradually dwindled amid Washington's refusal to agree to fresh appointees.

Three judges is the bare minimum needed for the appellate body to function.

Yet two of the three judges remaining once Servansing steps down next month will themselves see their mandates expire at the end of 2019.

The 164-member WTO is confronting a long line of headaches linked to



Trump's trade policies, but trade experts have said the DSB blockage may prove the most severe, since it could cripple the organisation's ability to resolve disputes -- one of its key functions.

"For more than 15 years, across multiple US administrations, the United States has been raising serious concerns with the Appellate Body's disregard for the rules set by WTO members," the US envoy to the WTO Dennis Shea said during a meeting in Geneva Monday.

He charged that the body was guilty of "persistent overreaching" and of not respecting proper WTO procedures by "adding obligations that were never agreed by the United States and other WTO members".

The US has complained that the 90-day limit for the judges to reach a verdict is consistently overstepped, while the appellate body allows judges to complete work on a case even after their mandate has lapsed, contrary to the US interpretation of WTO rules.

But Shea said "our concerns have not been addressed".

"In this circumstance, the United States has determined that it is not prepared to support the reappointment of Mr. Servansing to the Appellate Body," he said, insisting that this decision was "no reflection on any one individual but reflects our principled concerns." US scepticism to the WTO appeals court is nothing new.

The administration of former president Barack Obama also blocked appointments to the court, but the crisis has spiralled since Trump entered the White House last year.

Addressing the issue in an opinion piece published in the Swiss daily Le Temps last week, WTO chief Roberto Azevedo stressed that "there is a need for true engagement from all sides to get out of this impasse.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A high-level US security delegation met Syria's powerful intelligence boss in Damascus two months ago, a pro-regime Lebanese daily newspaper reported today.

The visit, which AFP could not immediately confirm from official sources, could signify a new phase in the strained relations between the two countries.

According to Al-Akhbar, a Lebanese newspaper close to the pro-Damascus Hezbollah movement, senior US security officials visited Damascus during the last week of June.

"The delegation held a meeting of four hours" with Ali Mamluk, the head of Syria's security services, said Al-Akhbar, which reported that the meeting was facilitated by Emirati and Russian intermediaries.

Al-Akhbar said Mohammed Dib Zeitoun, the head of Syria's General Security Directorate, and Muwaffaq Asaad, the deputy chief of staff of the armed forces, attended the meeting but did not give the names of the US agents.

The Pentagon and State Department did not immediately respond to AFP's requests for comment on the story.

Washington severed ties with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in the early stages of the deadly conflict that erupted in 2011 with the government's repression of widespread demonstrations.

It has also blacklisted dozens of Syrian government officials, including both Mamluk and Zeitoun, for alleged human rights abuses.

The US has backed Assad's opponents militarily and politically, and carried out air strikes in both 2017 and 2018 against Syrian military infrastructure in response to what it said were deadly chemical attacks by the regime.

American troops are on the ground in northeast Syria alongside Kurdish forces as part of a declared campaign to defeat the Islamic State jihadist group.

According to Al-Akhbar, that military presence was discussed as part of a possible deal between Damascus and Washington.

The US delegation reportedly offered to pull its troops from Kurdish-held territory if Iranian forces withdraw from areas near Syria's southern border with Israel, if US companies are guaranteed a share of Syria's oil and if Damascus agreed to share intelligence on foreign jihadists.

According to the Lebanese daily, the Syrian officials suggested any such steps were premature but agreed to "keep communicating through the Russian-Emirati channel".

With Russian help, Assad's forces have recaptured nearly two-thirds of Syrian territory, and the lion's share of the rest is held by the US-backed Kurdish forces.

Officially, the US and Syria have no diplomatic ties, but last year the New York Times reported contact between the two countries over an American journalist, Austin Tice, missing in Syria since 2012.

The Times said in June 2017 that a CIA back channel with Mamluk had rekindled hopes for Tice's release but that the talks were scrapped after a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town in April.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The US military judge overseeing court proceedings for the alleged plotters of the September 11, 2001 attacks is retiring, the Pentagon said, possibly triggering yet more delays to the slow-moving case.

The so-called "9/11 Five" -- including alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed -- have been locked up at the Guantanamo Bay military prison for years and were first charged in 2008.

But an unending slew of legal missteps, issues with military court proceedings and problems stemming from evidence extracted under duress have seen the men's prosecution morph into a quixotic attempt at justice.

After years of delays, it is still unclear when their trial will start.

The longtime judge, Army Colonel James Pohl, will be replaced by Marine Colonel Keith Parrella.

"On September 30, the term of Colonel Pohl's current voluntary retiree recall will expire, and he made the personal decision not to request an additional voluntary retiree recall period," Lieutenant Colonel Chris Logan, a Pentagon spokesman, told AFP yesterday.

Since the 9/11 Five were first charged, the taint of torture and of alleged wrongdoing -- including claims the government spied on defense teams -- have soured proceedings.

According to the Miami Herald, which first reported Pohl's retirement, Parrella has been a military judge for just three years.

He will need to sift through years of motions and thousands of pages of transcripts to get up to speed on the complicated case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The US military said it carried out an air strike today in Libya, killing an Islamic State member described by a source as a former local leader of the jihadist group.

The US Africa Command said it "conducted a precision airstrike near Bani Walid, Libya, on August 28, killing one ISIS-Libya terrorist," referring to the Islamic State group.

The strike around 170 kilometres (105 miles) southeast of the capital Tripoli was coordinated with the UN-backed Government of National Accord, the US military said.

"At this time, we assess no civilians were injured or killed in this strike," the US African Command (AFRICOM) said in a statement.

A source within the Bani Walid security services said an "unidentified aircraft" targeted a pickup truck around four kilometres from the town.

The attack at 1:00 pm (1100 GMT) killed the driver, Walid Hariba, who the source said was a former IS leader in the city of Sirte.

In June 2015 IS jihadists overran the city, 600 kilometres east of Tripoli, and Hariba reportedly fled when they were ousted the following December.

A hospital official in Bani Walid said they had received Hariba's remains which were later released to the family, confirming his identity.

Despite being driven from Sirte by government forces and allied militias, IS remains active in Libya.

The US military regularly carries out air strikes in the country, and on June 6 said it had killed four members of an IS affiliate near Bani Walid.

Just days later AFRICOM said one "terrorist" had been killed in another such attack 80 kilometres southeast of Bani Walid, in a June 14 operation targeting Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

In March US forces said they had killed Musa Abu Dawud, a high-ranking AQIM official, in an air strike in southern Libya.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's spokeswoman says the United States is ready for talks with North Korea when it's clear it will follow through on its commitment to denuclearize.

On Friday, President Donald Trump directed Pompeo to delay a planned trip to Pyongyang, citing insufficient progress on getting the authoritarian regime to abandon its nuclear weapons, as agreed upon with leader Kim Jong Un in June.

Pompeo's spokeswoman Heather Nauert declined to comment on reports that a tough-worded letter from an aide to Kim had derailed what would have been Pompeo's fourth visit to North Korea this year.

Nauert says, "America stands ready to engage when it is clear that Chairman Kim stands ready to deliver on the commitments that he made at the Singapore summit with President Trump.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen is not "unconditional", Defence Secretary Jim Mattis today said, as he defended America's ongoing role in the war.

The Pentagon chief's comments came the same day as UN investigators said they had reasonable grounds to believe that warring parties in Yemen may have committed a "substantial number" of violations of humanitarian law that could amount to "war crimes".

The US provides weapons, aerial refuelling to jets, intelligence and targeting information to the Saudi-led coalition that is fighting Huthi rebels in Yemen.

Last week, the UN said two air raids killed at least 26 children and four women south of the flashpoint rebel-held city of Hodeida.

Those deaths came after a coalition attack on a bus in the northern rebel stronghold of Saada early this month killed 40 children.

"Our conduct there is to try and keep the human cost of innocents being killed accidentally to the absolute minimum," Mattis told Pentagon reporters.

"That is our goal where we engage with the coalition."



But, he said, US support has its limits.

"It is not unconditional," he said, noting that the coalition must do "everything humanly possible to avoid any innocent loss of life, and they support the UN-brokered peace process."



The devastating Yemen conflict has left nearly 10,000 people dead since March 2015, when the Saudi-led coalition intervened to fight Huthi rebels closing in on the last bastion of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's government.

The UN human rights office said today that some 6,660 civilians were among the dead, while more than 10,500 had been injured.

Mattis described the complexity of the war, noting that Huthi rebels have launched weapons from residential areas into Saudi Arabia.

"We have been working with the Saudis and the Emirates doing what we can to reduce any chance of innocent people being injured or killed," he said.

"At no time have we felt rebuffed or ignored when we bring concerns to them," he went on, noting that he had not seen any "callous disregard" from the coalition.

The Pentagon chief added that training given to coalition pilots is paying off.

"We have had pilots in the air who recognize the danger of a specific mission and decline to drop, even when they get the authority," he said.

"We have seen staff procedures that put no-fire areas around areas where there's hospitals or schools.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The United States will end its suspension of military drills on the Korean peninsula, a move that had been decided as a "good faith" measure following President Donald Trump's summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the Pentagon said today.

"We took the step to suspend several of the largest military exercises as a good faith measure," Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters. "We have no plans to suspend any more."



Mattis, however, did not give any indication that exercises with allied forces in the region -- which have angered Pyongyang in the past -- would resume any time soon.

"We are not turning them back on," Mattis said. "We are going to see how the negotiations go and then we'll see.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Senior US officials are warning the Russian and Syrian governments against chemical weapons use in Syria as forces allied with its President Bashar Assad prepare for an offensive on a rebel stronghold.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert says the United States "will respond to any verified chemical weapons use in Idlib or elsewhere in Syria ... in a swift and appropriate manner".

Speaking to reporters in Washington yesterday, Nauert said senior US officials engaged with their Russian counterparts to "encourage Russia to make this point very clear to Damascus".

The Syrian government is gearing up for an expected offensive in Idlib province, which is home to nearly 3 million people and has a large al-Qaida presence in addition to Syrian rebel groups.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)BJP leaders immersed the ashes of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Dhansari river instead of the Doyang in Christian-dominated Nagaland after protests from a few local groups, who said the practice was alien to Naga culture and tradition, a party leader said today.

BJP had planned to immerse the ashes in Doyang river, the largest in the state, which flows through Wokha district.

Following protests from locals, the urn containing the ashes was immersed in Dhansari river near Dimapur yesterday, the BJP leader said.

Lothoa Hoho, the apex tribal body of Wokha district, and Lotha Baptish Churches Association had opposed the immersion of ashes in Doyang river, saying it was unknown to Naga culture and tradition.

The opposition Naga Peoples Front today charged the BJP with "hurting" the sentiments of Naga people by bringing the ashes of the former prime minister for immersion in the state.

"Vajpayee was a renowned leader and highly respected and admired by not only his party but one and all, and therefore deserves the highest respect from all of us," NPF spokesperson Achumbemo Kikon told reporters.

But the BJP should not mix politics with religious rituals, he said.

"Naga people have every right to feel bad and feel provoked with the action of BJP leaders in a state which has 99 per cent Christian population," Kikon added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Mining mogul Anil Agarwal-led has bagged 41 out of 55 oil and gas exploration blocks offered in India's maiden open acreage auction, upstream regulator DGH said on Tuesday.

State-owned Oil India Ltd won nine blocks, while Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) managed to win just two.

State gas utility GAIL, upstream arm of Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd and Hindustan Oil Exploration Co (HOEC) received one block each, DGH said, giving out the list of winners of (OALP) round-1.

Vedanta, which had put in bids for all the 55 blocks, won the right to explore and produce oil and gas in 41 of them.

"We will work hard to make the best of this opportunity. We are an energy deficient country and policies like OALP will help reduce country's import dependence for oil from around 80 per cent now to 67 per cent by 2022, in line with (the) PM's vision."

"The development further strengthens our vision to invest in India and contribute 50 per cent of India's domestic crude oil production. In keeping with our values and ethos, we will continue to focus on sustainability and development expertise for people and communities to enhance lives," Agarwal said.



At the close of the bidding on May 2, had bid for 37 blocks either on its own or in consortium with other state-owned firms. OIL bid for 22 blocks in a similar fashion.

Vedanta was the sole bidder for two blocks and had either or OIL as a direct competitor in the remaining.

Except for the two blocks that received three bids each, all the other 53 had just two bidders.

Neither local giant Reliance Industries nor any foreign company participated in the auction, a first since India began offering oil and gas area for exploration and production through bids in 1999.



ALSO READ: Vedanta to invest $2.3 bn to up oil and gas reserve base by 375 mn barrels

India had in July last year allowed to carve out blocks of their choice with a view to bringing about 2.8 million sq km of unexplored area in the country under exploration.

Under this policy, are allowed to put in an expression of interest (EoI) for prospecting of oil and gas in an area that is presently not under any production or exploration license.

The EoIs can be put in any time of the year but they are accumulated twice annually.

As many as 55 blocks were sought for prospecting of oil and gas by prospective bidders, mostly by state-owned explorers, and OIL, and private sector Vedanta by the end of the first EoI cycle on November 15, 2017, official sources said.

The blocks or areas that receive EoIs at the end of a cycle are put up for auction with the originator or the firm that originally selected the area getting a 5-mark advantage.

The 55 blocks have a total area of 59,282 sq km. This compares to about 1,02,000 sq km being under exploration currently, they said.



Blocks are awarded to the company which offers highest share of oil and gas to the government as well as commits to do maximum exploration work by way of shooting 2D and 3D seismic survey and drilling exploration wells.

Increased exploration will lead to more oil and gas production, helping the world's third largest oil importer to cut import dependence.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target of cutting oil import bill by 10 per cent to 67 per cent by 2022 and to half by 2030.

Import dependence has increased since 2015 when Modi had set the target. India currently imports 81 per cent of its oil needs.

The new policy replaced the old system of government carving out areas and bidding them out. It guarantees marketing and pricing freedom and moves away from production sharing model of previous rounds to a revenue-sharing model, where offering the maximum share of oil and gas to the government are awarded the block.

The government till now has been selecting and demarcating areas it feels can be offered for bidding in an exploration licensing round.

So far 256 blocks had been offered for exploration and production since 2000. The last bid round happened in 2010. Of these, 254 blocks were awarded. But as many as 156 have already been relinquished due to poor prospect.The Supreme Court today said the voters have a right to know the antecedents of candidates and the Election Commission could be asked to direct political parties to ensure that persons, facing criminal charges, do not contest on their tickets using their poll symbols.

After making these observations, a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra reserved the judgement on a clutch of petitions after the parties including the poll panel and the Centre concluded their arguments.

The top court is dealing with the question whether a legislator facing criminal trial can be disqualified at the stage of framing of charges in a case. Presently, lawmakers are barred at the time of conviction.

The bench's observation on the voters' right to know the candidates came in the backdrop of strong opposition from the Centre that the judiciary should not venture into the legislative arena by creating a pre-condition which would adversely affect the right of the candidates to participate in polls.

"The intention of the Lordships is laudable. But the question is whether the court can do it. The answer is 'no'," Attorney General K K Venugopal, representing the Centre, told the bench, which also comprised Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra.

He was responding to a suggestion by the bench that persons, facing criminal charges, would be free to contest, but they cannot do so on party ticket using the party election symbol.

"The voters have the right to know the candidates. Actually, a party can allow a person to contest on its ticket. But a person cannot contest on its ticket if he discloses the criminal antecedent," the bench said, adding that this direction may be given by the Election Commission to the political parties.

"They (people facing criminal charges) can contest elections, but they will not contest on the party ticket because he has this kind of stigma," the bench said.

Referring to the concept of presumption of innocence until a person is proven guilty, Venugopal said depriving a person from contesting elections on a party ticket would amount to denial of the right to vote, which also included the right to contest.

He referred to various judgements and said the expression of criminal antecedent was "extremely vague". Moreover, "presumption of innocence is central to our criminal jurisprudence. A person is innocent until proven guilty."



The courts will have to presume innocence in view of the fact that in 70 per cent cases, accused are being acquitted, he said, adding that the high rate of acquittals could be due to deficiencies in the judicial system.

Parliament has made a distinction between an accused and a convict and there has been a provision for disqualification in the Representation of Peoples Act upon conviction of a lawmaker, he said.

The bench took note of Venugopal's submissions and asked his son and senior advocate Krishnan Vengopal, who is representing a PIL petitioner, to address on the objections raised by the government.

"The arguments (of the Centre), if I understood correctly, is two folds. Going back from the conviction stage to charge framing stage (for disqualifying a lawmaker) is against the concept of presumption of innocence," Justice Nariman said.

The judge also posed whether the court would not be "creating another" kind of disqualification by denying a person facing criminal charges to contest on a party ticket and symbol.

"Can we add or attach more conditions," the bench asked, adding whether the court, expressing concern over rising population, can ask the poll panel to ensure that candidates, having more than two children, do not contest panchayat polls.

Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing for the poll panel, took a view which was apparently opposite to the Centre and said the recommendations for decriminalising politics were made by the Election Commission and the Law Commission way back in 1997 and 1998, but no action was taken on them.

She exhorted the court to issue the direction in the matter besides asking Parliament to make the suitable law.

"We cannot comment on Parliament," the bench said, while reserving the order.

The bench was hearing the PILs filed by NGO 'Public Interest Foundation' and Upadhyay.

Senior advocate Krishnan Venugopal, appearing for BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay, said the court may ask the poll panel to ask political parties not to allow tainted candidates to contest on their tickets and symbols. "Can the court allow a person, against whom charges have been framed, to become a judge. The answer is 'no'".

The principle that "Caesar's wife must be above suspicion" should be made applicable in case of politicians also, he said.

The bench responded by saying that due to this, it was contemplating that political parties be asked to disclose the antecedents of their members so that the electors "have the right to informed choice".

"We will see as to what we can do on disclosure," the bench said, adding that the parties may be asked to put the information about their members well in advance before the elections.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An obscure colony in the remote South Narayanpura village near India-Bangladesh border is the new address of 39-year-old Minati Das, who along with her family was forced to flee home during the three-decade-long insurgency in Tripura.

Das, along with thousands other displaced families in West Tripura, had since been living in makeshift slums, working as maids and daily wagers to make ends meet.

In a relief that came after thirty years, the BJP-led state government recently handed over land pattas (deeds) to 235 families in West Tripura and Sipahijala districts.

Of them, 55 families have received their deeds earlier this month for settlement at South Narayanpur village.

"This is my shelter now. I am happy with 1296 sq ft area allotted by the government. At least, I have a place to stay," Das said.

Tripura witnessed its worst ethnic riot between the tribal and the non-tribal communities in the 1980s, killing over 6000 people.

Sajal Poddar, the secretary of 'Paschim zila and Sipahijaala Udbastu Unnayan Committee' (organisation for the wellbeing of the homeless), however, claimed that only a small percentage of the total number of families displaced during the insurgency and ethnic riots has received the pattas.

The committee that had been fighting for the rights of the homeless people over the past 18 years demanded a plot and Rs 5 lakh for every family.

"Back then, Sipahijala was a part of West Tripura district. Of the 6,500 families displaced from the district during insurgency, only 202 have received pattas in West Tripura and 35 in Sipahijala," he said.

State Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath, too, agreed that the armed insurgency had rendered thousands of families homeless.

"During my speech in the Assembly as the leader of the opposition in 2006, I had presented a statement which clearly specified that around 3 lakh people from 60,000 families across the state had to flee homes due to the insurgency," he asserted.

After the situation settled down, the families could not return homes as the local indigenous people had taken over their land and property, ruling BJP Vice-President Subal Bhowmick said.

For Rabin Banik, 33, who fled his home at the age of 13 from Jampuijala village in Sipahijala district, the 1296 sq ft land allotted to him in South Narayanpura, enough to build just one room, a makeshift kitchen and a toilet, has come as big relief.

"I would not like to compare my new home with the old one anymore. After fleeing my village we lived on pavements and dirty slums at Mullapara in West Tripura for years. This is a big relief for my family," Rabin, who works as a daily wager, said.

The memories of ethnic tension still haunt some of the displaced people, who do not wish to return to their village any longer.

Rajesh Das, who also hailed from Jampuijala village, once considered as the hub for vegetable cultivation, feels visiting his village might lead to more trouble.

"No one is interested in going back. Who knows, going back may spark off another ethnic tension there. We want to settle down peacefully on the land provided to us by the government," he said.

The new inhabitants of South Narayanpura village, however, complained that the area lacks electricity and drinking water supply.

"We manage to set up a hand pump at the village as the nearest water supply point is one kilometre away from this village," said Rajesh Das.

One of the villagers said on the condition of anonymity that the people in the colony use hook lines from a high tension power line to electrify homes.

"Local BJP MLA Dilip Das visited our colony a month ago and promised to arrange for water supply and power," he said.

BJP vice-president Subal Bhowmik, when asked about the living conditions of the colonies, said his party will take steps to ensure proper rehabilitation.

"We have launched many movements in the past (during Left rule) for the rehabilitation of the homeless. We are trying to provide them amenities so that they can lead a normal life," Bhowmik added.

Veteran CPI(M) leader and former deputy speaker Pabitra Kar said the erstwhile Left Front government had always been sympathetic to the problems faced by the displaced people.

"Our government had allotted lands to several families at Sipahijala and West Tripura. We had also planned a scheme to rehabilitate the displaced members, but that scheme could not be implemented as the Election Commission had announced assembly polls for February," he added.

The BJP-IPFT combine government came to power in March 9, ending the 25-year of CPI(M)-led Left Front rule in Tripura.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc has acquired a Rs 2,500 crore stake in India's biggest digital-payments firm Paytm, its first investment in the country's burgeoning startup ecosystem.

In a statement, One97 Communications Ltd, which owns the Paytm brand, said US-based Berkshire Hathaway would have a member on the company board in lieu of the investment, but did not disclose the size of the deal or the stake sold.

However, people with direct knowledge of the development said Berkshire could have bought 3-4 per cent stake for about USD 300-350 million (about Rs 2,500 crore), valuing the Indian firm at over USD 10 billion.

The investment has not been made by Buffett in his personal capacity.

Berkshire, which has traditionally invested in companies in sectors like consumer, energy and insurance, joins Japanese giant SoftBank that had last year bought a reported 20 per cent stake in Paytm for an estimated USD 1.4 billion (over Rs 9,000 crore).

Other high-profile investors in Paytm include Jack Ma's Alibaba Group and Ant Financial.

Previously in March 2011, Berkshire had talked of plans to enter the Indian non-life insurance sector as a corporate agent of leading player Bajaj Allianz General. That partnership was wound up two years later due to losses.

This would also be the first investment by the firm owned by Buffett, who turns 88 this week, in an unlisted Indian company that still incurs heavy losses.

Popularly known as the Oracle of Omaha, Buffett has till now shied away from investing in technology companies but may have been lured by forecasts of India's digital-payments industry reaching USD 1 trillion by 2023, from about USD 200 billion now.

Todd Combs, investment manager at Berkshire, has joined the board of directors of Paytm, the statement said.

"I have been impressed by Paytm and am excited about being a part of its growth story, as it looks to transform payments and financial services in India," Combs said.

Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said Berkshire's experience in financial services, and long-term investment horizon, will be a huge advantage in Paytm's goal of bringing 500 million Indians to the mainstream economy through financial inclusion.

According to reports, Buffett had at Berkshire's annual shareholders' meeting, said the financial payments industry is a huge deal globally and that many firms are working to reinvent the space.

Also, the group has been under pressure to seek investment opportunities to utilise the over USD 100 billion cash on its books, he had said.

For Paytm, which has become India's biggest digital payment platform in just eight years of operations, the fresh funding comes as a shot in the arm at a time when it is locked in a bruising war with rivals like Flipkart's PhonePe and Google's Tez.

The competition in the space is set to intensify further when WhatsApp launches its payments services in the Indian market.

WhatsApp has been testing its payments services in India with about one million users and is awaiting regulatory clearances to commence full-fledged operations.

Paytm, which has been aggressively diversifying its business into areas like investment management and e-commerce through various entities, had registered losses to the tune of Rs 899.6 crore in 2016-17.

Its total income, on the other hand, had grown over 38 per cent to Rs 828.6 crore in 2016-17 from the previous fiscal.

The Noida-based company was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the government's demonetisation move in November 2016, that pushed adoption of digital payments across the country.

Since then, Paytm's platform has seen manifold growth in transactions as well as expansion in number of users. It claims to have an annual run rate of 5 billion transactions and USD 50 billion in gross transaction value.

One97 Communications also owns 49 per cent stake in Paytm Payments Bank. The Paytm founder has also started e-commerce business under Paytm Mall that competes with giants like Amazon and Walmart-backed Flipkart.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has picked up stake in Paytm and will get



a position on the Board, the largest digital payments company in India said today.

The companies did not disclose the details of the deal including the stake size or the amount invested by the US-based Berkshire.

According to sources privy to the development, Berkshire is pumping in about USD 300-350 million (about Rs 2,500 crore) into Paytm, valuing the Indian company at over USD 10 billion.

With this deal, Buffett's investment firm joins Japanese giant SoftBank that had last year bought a reported 20 per cent stake in Paytm for an estimated USD 1.4 billion (over Rs 9,000 crore).

One97 Communications, the owner of Paytm, counts marquee global investors like Ant Financial and Alibaba as the other key shareholders.

Todd Combs, investment manager at Berkshire, has joined the board of directors of Paytm, the company said in its statement.

"I have been impressed by Paytm and am excited about being a part of its growth story, as it looks to transform payments and financial services in India," Combs said.

Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said Berkshire's experience in financial services, and long-term investment horizon, will be a huge advantage in Paytm's goal of bringing 500 million Indians to the mainstream economy through financial inclusion.

According to reports, Buffett had at Berkshire's annual shareholders meeting, said the financial payments industry is a huge deal globally and that many firms are working to reinvent the space.

Also, the group has been under pressure to seek investment opportunities to utilise the over USD 100 billion cash on its books, he had said.

For Paytm, the fresh funding comes as a shot in the arm at a time when it is locked in a bruising war with rivals like Flipkart's PhonePe and Google's Tez. The competition in the space is set to intensify further when WhatsApp launches its payments services in the Indian market.

WhatsApp has been testing its payments services in India with about one million users and is awaiting regulatory clearances to commence full-fledged operations.

Paytm, which has been aggressively diversifying its business into areas like investment management and e-commerce through various entities, had registered losses to the tune of Rs 899.6 crore in 2016-17.

Its total income, on the other hand, had grown over 38 per cent to Rs 828.6 crore in 2016-17 from the previous fiscal.

The Noida-based company was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the government's demonetisation move in November 2016, that pushed adoption of digital payments across the country.

Since then, Paytm's platform has seen manifold growth in transactions as well as expansion in number of users. It claims to have an annual run rate of 5 billion transactions and USD 50 billion in gross transaction value.

One97 Communications also owns 49 per cent stake in Paytm Payments Bank. The Paytm founder has also started e-commerce business under Paytm Mall that competes with giants like Amazon and Walmart-backed Flipkart.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Western Railway (WR) is proud of the achievement of its employee Neena Varakil, who won the silver medal in the women's long jump event at the ongoing Asian Games in Indonesia.

Varakil, employed as a ticket checker (TC) in the Rajkot division of the WR, came second in the women's long jump event held at the Asian Games in Jakarta yesterday.

She joined the Railways on February 17, 2012, an official said.

"Neena has made the country as well the Rajkot division proud by winning the silver medal in the Asian Games," P B Ninawe, Division Railway Manager (DRM) of the Rajkot division, said today.

"Neena is a very talented athlete and she has won medals at the national and international events. She won a gold and two silver medals in the Asian Grand Prix Athlete Meet held in China last year," Ninawe said.

Varakil's best jump of 6.51m helped her fetch silver. Vietnam girl Thi Thu Thao Bui won the gold with best jump of 6.55, while bronze went to China's Xiaoling Xu whose best attempt was 6.50.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Texas jury has found a white police officer guilty of murder for the shooting death of a 15-year-old African American boy -- a rare conviction result in a high-profile police shooting case.

Roy Oliver had fired five bullets into a car full of teens last year, killing Jordan Edwards while responding to a call of underage drinking at a party in a Dallas suburb.

The unarmed Edwards and four others were leaving the party after hearing gunfire, which had come from another nearby location. Oliver fired a rifle into the car, hitting the teen in the head.

The trial jury also found the officer, who was reportedly fired from his job, not guilty of two aggravated assault charges.

The jury deliberated for two days before returning the rare murder conviction of a police officer.

Similar convictions in high-profile questionable shooting cases have proven mostly elusive, illustrating the difficulty of convicting officers in deadly encounters where split-second decisions are made.

Police originally said Oliver opened fire because the car was backing up aggressively toward him, but the department changed its account after viewing body-cam footage, saying the car was driving away when Edwards was shot.

Evidence suggested the police officer "intended to cause serious bodily injury and commit an act clearly dangerous to human life that caused the death", the Dallas County Sheriff's Office said in a statement announcing Oliver's arrest warrant last year.

The shooting was among a growing list of similar cases in which African-Americans were killed by white police officers.

The high-profile incidents, often accompanied by official or eyewitness video footage, have fuelled outrage across the United States and given rise to the Black Lives Matter movement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Scientists have set a new Guinness World Record by creating the smallest medical robot - a device measuring just 120 nanometres that could assist in future cancer and Alzheimer's treatments.

The series of nanorobots was created by Soutik Betal during his doctoral research at University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) in the US could one day lead to huge medical advancements.

"We have developed nanocomposite particles that can be remotely controlled by an electromagnetic field. They function like extremely tiny robots that interact with biological cells," said Ruyan Guo, a professor at UTSA.

The nanocomposites are made of two different types of multifunctional oxide materials in a "core and shell" configuration.

The core is magnetic and changes 'shape' in response to magnetic fields. The ferroelectric shell is converts pressure into electric potentials.

The magneto-elasto-electric coupled effect in the nanocomposites act as arms and legs that move the nanoparticle around to interact with targeted biological cells.

The nanorobots can move cells to align with one another, push cells into different locations and possibly be used to deliver medication into a cell.

The experimental demonstration of UTSA's remotely controlled medical robot was performed in late 2016.

While the fabrication of core-shell structured materials have been developed through international research exchanges with collaborators in Brazil, the team discovered and Betal demonstrated the nanocomposites produced permeable motion.

"Their abilities leave room for much hope," Guo said.

"We believe cancerous cells may be specifically targeted for treatment eliminating the need for some chemotherapy treatments, and Alzheimer's disease victims could possibly receive special treatments by aligning cells which have ceased to live in the brain," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Gun deaths worldwide total about 250,000 yearly and the United States is among just six countries that make up half of those fatalities, a study found.

The results from one of the most comprehensive analyses of firearm deaths reveal "a major public health problem for humanity," according to an editorial published with the study today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Although recent headlines make it seem like gun killings are surging globally, the new figures tell a more nuanced story.

Researchers counted about 209,000 gun deaths in 1990 compared to 251,000 in 2016. The average rate, about 4 per 100,000 people, was mostly unchanged.

Two-thirds of the deaths in 2016 were homicides, although the U.S. is among wealthy countries where suicides by gun outnumber gun killings, the study found.

The numbers reflect more than "how many guns are around in a country," said lead author Dr Christopher Murray, a professor of health metrics at the University of Washington.

Cultural beliefs about guns and suicide vary widely around the world, he noted, adding, "That's where we get this incredible range of firearm deaths."



There were larger increases in many of the 195 countries involved in the study, particularly in Central American and South America, where the rates reached nearly 40 per 100,000 in some places. Researchers said the drug trade and economic instability may have contributed.

Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico and Venezuela are the countries that with the US contributed to half the study deaths.

The study raises concerns about the lack of research on causes of gun violence and ways to prevent it, the editorial said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Listening to soothing, meditative yoga music before sleep may be good for the heart, according to a study by Indian researchers.

"We use music therapy in our hospital and in this study we showed that yoga music has a beneficial impact on heart rate variability before sleeping," said study author Naresh Sen, a Consultant Cardiologist at HG SMS Hospital in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

The study, presented at the ongoing European Society of Cardiology Congress 2018 in Germany, investigated the impact of listening to yoga music, which is a type of soothing or meditative music, before bedtime on heart rate variability.

It included 149 healthy people who participated in three sessions on separate nights: yoga music before sleep at night; pop music with steady beats before sleep at night; and no music or silence before sleep at night.

At each session, heart rate variability was measured for five minutes before the music or silence started, for ten minutes during the music/silence, and five minutes after it had stopped.

In addition, anxiety levels were assessed before and after each session using the Goldberg Anxiety Scale. The level of positive feeling was subjectively measured after each session using a visual analogue scale.

The average age of participants was 26 years. The researchers found that heart rate variability increased during the yoga music, decreased during the pop music, and did not significantly change during the silence.

Anxiety levels fell significantly after the yoga music, rose significantly post the pop music, and increased after the no music session. Participants felt significantly more positive after the yoga music than they did after the pop music.

Sen noted that holistic therapies such as music cannot replace evidence-based drugs and interventions, and should only be used as an add-on.

"Science may have not always agreed, but Indians have long believed in the power of various therapies other than medicines as a mode of treatment for ailments," he said.

"This is a small study, and more research is needed on the cardiovascular effects of music interventions offered by a trained music therapist. But listening to soothing music before bedtime is a cheap and easy to implement therapy that cannot cause harm," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)By Hadeel Al SayeghSHARJAH, UAE (Reuters) - A dispute over a $218 million bounced cheque signed by the founder of stricken private equity firm Abraaj and another executive has been settled, ending criminal proceedings against the two men, lawyers from both sides said on Tuesday. The statements by the two lawyers came after a United Arab Emirates (UAE) court sentenced Abraaj founder Arif Naqvi and the other executive to three years in prison."Under UAE Criminal Law, charges based on bounced cheques get extinguished once parties reach a settlement. Accordingly, the parties will apply to the ...STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish compressor and vacuum pump maker Atlas Copco is buying U.S.-based Brooks Automation's cryogenic business in a $675 million cash deal to expand its vacuum technology portfolio, the companies said late on Monday.The deal is Atlas Copco's biggest since the 2014 acquisition of Britain's Edwards Group, the base for its current Vacuum Technique business area.Brooks' cryogenic business, which makes advanced pumps used to remove water vapour and hydrogen in many semiconductor and industrial processes, has about 400 staff and had sales of around $195 million in the last ...NEW YORK (Reuters) - The former Barnes & Noble Inc chief executive who was fired last month for alleged policy violations sued the bookseller for breach of contract and defamation in connection with his sudden termination after just 14 months on the job.In a complaint filed on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, Demos Parneros accused Barnes & Noble founder Leonard Riggio of engineering his "firing without cause" and announcing it in a July 3 press release that "falsely and irrevocably damaged" his reputation.Barnes & Noble did not respond to requests for comment. Debra Raskin, a lawyer for ...By Andrei MakhovskyMINSK (Reuters) - Belarusian Potash Company (BPC), the world's largest potash exporter, will propose raising the price of its new contract with China to $290 per tonne, the level of its recently signed deal with India, Chief Executive Elena Kudryavets said.China is the world's largest consumer of potash, a crop nutrient, and a contract with the country usually establishes a global price floor.However, this year BPC, which controls 20 percent of the global potash market, signed the annual contract with India before its talks with China were finished."If the contract (with ...By Trevor Hunnicutt, Sankalp Phartiyal and Kane WuNEW YORK/MUMBAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway Inc has acquired a 25 billion rupees ($356 million) stake in the parent of digital payments company Paytm, a source said, its first investment in an Indian startup as it moves into the financial payments sector.The conglomerate run by billionaire Warren Buffett confirmed in an email that Berkshire had invested in One97 Communications Ltd. Buffett was not involved in the transaction, his assistant Debbie Bosanek said in the email, without giving more details.India's Economic Times had ...By Trevor Hunnicutt and Sankalp PhartiyalNEW YORK/MUMBAI (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway Inc has picked up a 25 billion rupees ($356 million) stake in the parent of digital payments firm Paytm, a source said, its first investment in an Indian startup as it forays into the financial payments sector.The conglomerate run by billionaire Warren Buffett confirmed in an email that Berkshire had invested in One97 Communications Ltd. Buffett was not involved in the transaction, his assistant Debbie Bosanek said in the email, without giving more details.India's Economic Times had reported on Monday that ...By Nandita Bose(Reuters) - Best Buy Co Inc on Tuesday reported a drop in online sales growth for the second quarter and offered a profit forecast for the third quarter that fell short of analyst estimates, sending its shares down more than 7 percent in early trading.The U.S. consumer electronics retailer said domestic online sales rose 10.1 percent in its second quarter. That compared with 12 percent in the first quarter and 31.2 percent in the same period a year ago.Best Buy's third-quarter profit forecast also disappointed some investors. The retailer said it expects third-quarter adjusted ...By Wendell RoelfCAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Britain will use its international aid budget to boost its own interests while also seeking to deepen trade ties with Africa, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday, countering critics who say aid funds would be better spent at home. May, battling to unite her divided Conservative Party over her plan to take Britain out of the European Union, is visiting South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya on her first official trip to the continent.In a speech in Cape Town, May said she wanted Britain to become the biggest investor in Africa out of the Group of Seven ...By Julie Gordon and Sharay AnguloWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Canada's top trade negotiator joins her Mexican and U.S. counterparts in Washington on Tuesday in a bid to remain part of a revamped trilateral North American trade pact, as U.S. officials expressed optimism a deal could be reached this week.But Ottawa will be under pressure to accept new terms on autos trade, dispute settlement and intellectual property rules after the United States and Mexico agreed on Monday to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).U.S. President Donald Trump warned he could proceed with a deal with ...(Corrects percentage number to 6.4 from 5.2 and clarifies it relates to revenue from operations, in 4th paragraph)By Tanvi Mehta and Aditi Shah(Reuters) - India's biggest full-service airline, Jet Airways Ltd, posted its second consecutive quarterly loss on Monday and said it would inject funds and cut costs in excess of 20 billion rupees in two years as it seeks to turn around the business.The airline, part-owned by Etihad Airways, has been facing financial difficulties but has said it is confident it can cut costs and keep flying, dismissing reports that it had told staff it was running ...By Nerijus AdomaitisSTAVANGER, Norway (Reuters) - Norway's Equinor said on Tuesday it is considering whether to build a pioneering offshore wind farm with floating turbines to supply electricity to two North Sea oilfields as part of a strategy to curb greenhouse gas emissions.The project at the Gullfaks and Snorre oilfields would cost around 5 billion Norwegian crowns ($592 million) and could reduce Norway's emissions of carbon dioxide by more than 200,000 tonnes per year, Equinor said."This could be the first time an offshore wind farm is directly connected to oil and gas platforms," ...By Kit ReesLONDON (Reuters) - European shares rallied on Tuesday after the United States and Mexico reached a trade agreement, with autos enjoying another day of gains on an otherwise quiet day for company news.The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.1 percent by 0850 GMT, hitting a two-week high, while Germany's exporter-heavy DAX gained 0.1 percent.Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.6 percent following Monday's holiday, helped by a subdued sterling. European autos posted some of the biggest gains, up 1.3 percent after the United States and Mexico agreed on Monday to overhaul the North American ...By Jonathan StempelNEW YORK (Reuters) - Barnes & Noble Inc was sued on Tuesday by a former chief executive officer who said the largest U.S. bookstore chain falsely accused him of violating its sexual harassment policy before firing him after 14 months on the job.In a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, Demos Parneros accused Barnes & Noble of breach of contract and defamation over his sudden July 3 termination without severance.Parneros accused founder Leonard Riggio, who owns more than 19 percent of Barnes & Noble, of engineering his firing after turning on him when an unnamed ...By Joshua Franklin and Carl O'Donnell(Reuters) - Sotera Health, a private-equity owned company that operates facilities that sterilise medical products and food, is exploring a potential sale worth as much as $5 billion including debt, people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. The company's owners, Warburg Pincus and GTCR, are working with investment banks to assist them in the sales process, the people said, asking not to be named because the matter is private. Discussions are in the early stages and there is no guarantee a transaction will result, the sources added. If a deal ...The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now.

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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.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkels visit to Azerbaijan is extremely important from the point of view of development of bilateral relations and relations between the European Union and Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani MP Hikmat Babaoglu told Trend Aug. 27.

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"Having touched upon this moment, Merkel stressed that Azerbaijan is Germany's biggest and most important trading partner in the region, he said. Presently, 150 German enterprises operate in Azerbaijan, which gives reason to think that Germany attaches great importance to economic cooperation with Azerbaijan, sees new profitable economic prospects in the diversification of the country's economy."

Babaoglu stressed that Germany is the country with the biggest economy and, having such opportunities, seeks to demonstrate even greater activity in the region.

"Germany is forced to remain committed to some international commitments undertaken after World War II, he said. Therefore, during the cardinal changes in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, Germany was not among the countries actively interfering in these events. Germany is trying to compensate for this gap by economic means."

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Mepco is the first Saudi company to join the Closir platform, a statement said.



The engagement comes at a time when the Saudi equity market is in the spotlight for global investors, having been upgraded to Emerging Market status by index provider MSCI. Approximately $1.9 trillion in assets are benchmarked to the MSCI Emerging Market Index as of 31 December 2017.



Closir is a technology platform that connects listed companies in emerging markets to institutional investors, allowing them to approach targets and organize meetings, roadshows and virtual conferences. The tool is used by major institutional investors, including mutual, sovereign, pension, hedge funds, across financial centres in Europe, the US and Asia, as well as leading listed companies in emerging markets.



Dr Mohamed Saleh Darweesh, chief financial officer at Mepco, commented: Having delivered improved performance during the last twelve months, weve focused on bringing our IR activities in line with international best practice.



We have engaged more meaningfully with investors and analysts within Saudi Arabia and further afield, through conference participation, one-on-one engagements, briefings, and enhancements to our IR tools and reporting mechanisms. Now is the time to join a platform that will enable us to increase corporate access for the global investment community. Closir is the obvious partner to support us in this objective, and we look forward to working with them.



Michael Chojnacki, managing director and co-founder of Closir, said: Following recent developments in the Saudi market, global emerging funds are studying its investment opportunities more closely, many of them for the first time.



In the light of recent MiFID II regulations, companies are becoming more proactive in targeting and organizing meetings directly with new investors and by joining the Closir platform, Mepco has become the first Saudi company to adopt global best practice in this regard. We look forward to working with the Company to broaden its investor reach and attract international capital.- TradeArabia News ServiceBy Sonali Paul and Paulina DuranMELBOURNE/SYDNEY (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm Energy and Minerals Group (EMG) is planning an A$1 billion ($732 million) initial public offering (IPO) of Connecticut-based Coronado Coal in Australia, two people with knowledge of the plan said on Tuesday.The IPO, which is expected to value the whole company at around A$3 billion, is likely to be the biggest coal mining float in Australia since Yancoal Australia listed in 2012 at the peak of the country's mining boom.Coronado aims to issue a prospectus in October, targeting a listing in late November, one ...By Conor HumphriesDUBLIN (Reuters) - Italian pilots union ANPAC said on Tuesday a majority of its pilots had approved a collective labour agreement (CLA) with Ryanair in the airline's latest breakthrough in efforts to quell staff protests around Europe.The Irish airline, Europe's largest low-cost carrier, has suffered its worst ever strikes this summer, but reached agreement with the union representing Irish pilots last week and said it was hopeful it could secure more deals soon."We welcome this first CLA with our Italian pilots and hope that it will be shortly followed by a similar ...DUBLIN (Reuters) - Italian pilot union ANPAC on Tuesday said a majority of its pilots had approved a collective labour agreement with Ryanair in the airline's latest breakthrough in efforts to quell staff protests around Europe. A majority of over 300 Ryanair pilots approved the deal, ANPAC said in a statement. (Reporting by Conor Humphries, editing by Louise Heavens)(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)STAVANGER, Norway (Reuters) - Current U.S. sanctions on Iran are unlikely to stop Iranian oil exports completely, a long-time adviser at Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry said on Tuesday, adding Iran would be unable to close the straits of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab even partially.Speaking at an oil conference in the Norwegian city of Stavanger, Ibrahim al-Muhanna said Iran would be the first to lose out on a move to block those major shipping routes and that any such action would trigger further sanctions on Iran."Current sanctions are unlikely to stop Iranian oil exports completely, as almost ...By Cynthia KimSEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea proposed on Tuesday the sharpest expansion in fiscal spending in a decade for 2019 as policymakers focus on creating jobs and boosting welfare in the face of a deteriorating job market. Total spending will increase 9.7 percent to 470.5 trillion won ($420.27 billion), the biggest jump since a 10.6 percent increase in 2009, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said in its budget proposal for 2019. Spending on welfare, health and jobs will account for the biggest slice of the pie at 162.2 trillion won, up 12.1 percent from this year. Some 23.5 trillion ...By Anna Mehler PapernyTORONTO (Reuters) - A Canadian court has ruled in favour of Tesla Inc after the electric carmaker challenged the province of Ontario's wind-down of an electric vehicle rebate.In a ruling on Monday, Judge Frederick Myers of Ontario struck down the transition programme set up by the new Ontario government, which excluded Tesla customers from qualifying for rebates.A Tesla spokeswoman welcomed the decision. "Tesla only sought fair treatment for our customers and we hope the Ministry now does the right thing by delivering on its promise to ensure all [electric ...(Reuters) - Thomson Reuters will buy back $9 billion worth of its common stock using the proceeds of the sale of the majority of its Financial and Risk business to Blackstone Group LP, the news and data firm said in a statement on Tuesday. The company also said it and Blackstone agreed to close the sale on Oct. 1. (Reporting by Patrick Graham; editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)By Heather Somerville(Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp will invest $500 million in Uber to jointly work on developing self-driving cars, the companies said on Monday, a bid by both to catch up to rivals in the hotly competitive autonomous driving business.Toyota, one of the world's largest carmakers, and Uber Technologies Inc, the leading ride-hailing service, are widely seen as lagging the competition in developing self-driving cars. The partnership deepens an existing relationship and reflects Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi's strategy of Uber developing autonomous vehicles through ...WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department said on Monday it had made a preliminary determination that imports of certain steel wheels from China were subsidized at rates ranging from 58.75 percent to 172.51 percent, and it would impose duties on the product."As a result of today's decision, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits from importers of certain steel wheels from China based on these preliminary rates," the department said in a statement.It estimated the value of U.S. imports of steel wheels from China in 2017 at $388 million.The ...WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday to confirm Richard Clarida as vice chair of the Federal Reserve, one of the most powerful positions at the central bank.Clarida, a managing director at fund manager Pimco and an economics professor at Columbia University, was nominated by President Donald Trump in April. The Senate vote, which was bipartisan, was 69-26. On a voice vote, the chamber also confirmed Clarida as a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.Clarida, whose term as vice chair will last four years, is seen as a key ally of Fed Chair Jerome Powell and has ...The Mena region raised $881.5 million through nine IPOs, (including four Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) listings), in the second quarter (Q2) of 2018, according to the latest Mena IPO Eye report from professional services firm EY.



Compared to Q2 2017, both IPO value and activity increased year-on-year by42.8 per cent and 12.5 per cent respectively. Out of the nine deals in Mena, seven IPOs were recorded in the GCC (including three REIT listings) raising $780.3 million.



Saudi Arabia leads IPO and REIT activity in the region



Saudi Arabia led the Mena IPO activity recording four out of nine IPOs in Q2 2018, part of an increasing trend of REITs being listed on the exchange and a reflection of the underlining investor interest in real estate assets in the country.



The highest value IPO in the quarter was the Mefic REIT Fund IPO, listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange, which raised $237.5 million.



Phil Gandier, Mena Transactions leader, EY, said: The future inclusion of Saudi Arabia in the MSCI emerging markets index has drawn positive attention to the country, attracting investors from across the world.



The countrys Capital Market Authority has brought in a mandatory corporate governance code, considerably relaxed rules for foreign investors, and raised settlement rules for the domestic Tadawul stock market toward global standards, which have all led to a favourable transacting environment.



Oman was the only other GCC country with IPO activity in Q2; the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) recorded a single IPO in Q2 2018 raising $12.8 million. Looking to the future, the MSM has an IPO pipeline of over 10 companies that are expected to complete their listings in the next two to three years.



In the wider Mena region, Egypt and Morocco recorded one deal each. Egypt in particular is seeing an increasing number of both government-owned and private companies looking to tap the equity markets through IPO. The Egyptian governments IPO program intends to list 23 public sector companies on the EGX, which is also in line with the 2018-2019 proposed budget aims of the government.



The real estate sector raised the highest capital, with four REITs raising $553.0 million, followed by $225.0 million raised in the oil and gas sector and $57.2 million in financial services.



Gregory Hughes, Mena IPO leader, EY said: Although oil prices have increased, Mena countries are still feeling the impact of the significant drop in oil prices in recent years. IPO activity was relatively slow in H1 2018, but activity is expected to pick up in H2 2018 and beyond owing to the strong upcoming IPO pipeline.



Globally, IPO activity and proceeds dipped in Q2 2018, with 325 IPOs raising $45 billion, a decrease of 26 per cent and 19 per cent respectively, in comparison with Q2 2017.



Reasonably strong equity markets, solid corporate earnings in many jurisdictions (albeit with some exceptions), and healthy pipelines across sectors and markets globally should drive an increase in listings in H2 2018 and beyond. However, there is still significant uncertainty in several parts of Europe due to currency fluctuations in emerging markets and the ongoing tariff discussions globally driven by the USA, Hughes concluded.  TradeArabia News ServiceToyota Motor Corp will invest $500 million in Uber to jointly work on developing self-driving cars, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday, a bid by both companies to catch up to rivals in the hotly competitive autonomous driving business. Toyota, one of the world's largest carmakers, and Uber Technologies Inc, the leading ride-hailing service, are widely seen as lagging the competition in developing self-driving cars. The partnership deepens an existing relationship and reflects CEO Dara Khosrowshahi's strategy of Uber developing autonomous vehicles through ...LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's finance ministry denied a newspaper report on Tuesday that the government had asked Bank of England Governor Mark Carney to stay on for an extra year beyond his scheduled departure in June 2019."We don't recognise their reporting at all," a Treasury spokeswoman said when asked about the article in the Evening Standard newspaper.A diary item in the newspaper said the ministry had "quietly approached" Carney about staying another year to provide continuity as Britain leaves the European Union."Our position is the same - we plan to start recruitment soon," the ...By Ben HirschlerLONDON (Reuters) - A cutting-edge CAR-T cell therapy for otherwise untreatable forms of blood cancer is too expensive to justify its use on Britain's state-funded health service, the country's healthcare cost agency NICE said on Tuesday.The decision by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is a blow to U.S. drugmaker Gilead Sciences, which wants to get its Yescarta product approved for use on the National Health Service (NHS).The NICE rejection comes one day after the European Commission approved Yescarta for two aggressive forms of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. ...SCHAFFHAUSEN, Switzerland (Reuters) - Swiss watch brand IWC, owned by luxury goods group Richemont, inaugurated a new manufacturing site in its hometown of Schaffhausen as it gets ready to meet growing demand for its timepieces."We are very optimistic, you can see that in Swiss watch export figures," Christoph Grainger-Herr told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the opening ceremony on Monday."Asia Pacific has recovered and the U.S. also shows a good development," he said.Swiss watch exports rose 10 percent in the first seven months of the year, driven by a 29 percent increase in ...Every year, Indonesians from teens and grandads, to mechanics and students, gather in eastern Java to celebrate their love of the iconic Italian Vespa scooter. For some, its an extreme kind of love, where the vehicles are customized to resemble metallic monster bikes straight out of a Hollywood dystopia. Hundreds of enthusiasts travel to the festival in Kediri to show off their creations  ranging from restored vintage Vespas to Mad Max-style tanks fitted with fake machine guns, a dozen extra tyres, or eerie stuffed toys as hood ornaments. To enter ...The Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India told the Delhi High Court on Tuesday that it will not take any steps till August 30 towards its proposed acquisition of 51 per cent stake in the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI). The oral assurance by the LIC was given before Justice Vibhu Bakhru as he appeared inclined to pass orders restraining the state-run insurance company from making any investment in the IDBI in which the government intends to dilute its shareholding below 51 per cent.

"You (LIC) will not present us with a fait accompli," the court said after which Additional Solicitor General Maninder Acharya, appearing for the Centre and the LIC, urged that no order be passed and the matter be listed for hearing on August 30 as till then nothing will happen. The ASG also sought time to file an affidavit indicating the reasons behind the government and LIC's decision.

The court gave LIC time till August 30 to file the affidavit in which the insurance company was asked to also indicate its Board's minutes of meeting and agenda papers pertaining to the proposed investment in the IDBI. The order came on a plea moved by the All India IDBI Officers Association which has challenged the LIC's move to acquire 51 per cent stake in the bank.

In their plea moved through advocates, Prashant Bhushan and Pranav Sachdeva, the association has said that the change in shareholding could take away the public sector bank status of the IDBI which in turn could affect their employment conditions.

The petition also claims that the change in shareholding was not in public interest as it "exposes the investments made by the public in the IDBI and corrodes the ability of the LIC to pay back its policy holders since it will have to invest an amount of Rs 13,000 crore to acquire the 51 per cent stake".

"Further they said acquisition is not a financially prudent decision for the LIC given the fact that IDBI Bank Ltd has gross non-performing assets amounting to a whopping Rs 55,588.26 crore. "The said investment will be made from the funds of 38 crore policy holders of the LIC who have invested their hard earned money to secure their own futures. The said investment made by the LIC will adversely hamper its own abilities to pay its insurance holders," the petition has said.Fuel prices in all metro cities are rising again on the back of falling rupee which has made imports costlier. Petrol price today was hiked by 14 paise to Rs 78.05 in Delhi. In last 13 days, petrol price has gone up by 91 paise in the national capital. Petrol price had previously hit its highest level on May 29 when it reached Rs 78.43 a litre mark in Delhi.

Today's petrol prices in other metro cities are: Rs 78.05 in Delhi, Rs 85.47 in Mumbai and Rs 81.09 in Chennai. After hitting a record high, diesel is being sold at Rs 69.61 in Delhi, Rs 73.90 in Mumbai and Rs 73.54 in Chennai. Fuel prices have been on the rise since August 16 after the rupee dipped to its lowest value against the US dollar.

Petroleum prices, which are determined by the cost of crude oil in global markets, may continue to go up as the international markets are under pressure due the US sanctions on Iran and Saudi Arabia's decision to cut oil production. Iran - which is the second biggest oil exporter to India and the third-largest oil producer in the OPEC Group - is set to plunge into crisis once the United States' sanctions come into effect on November 1.

This year in May, Bank of America Merrill Lynch observed that the deteriorating conditions in Iran may push the crude oil prices to USD 100. The bank said that the Brent futures, which was hovering around USD 77 then, would reach USD 90 in the Q2 of FY 2019 due to significant cut in world inventories.

The US sanctions on Iran is not the only reason for India to be worried about a possible spike in petrol and diesel prices. Saudi Arabia too is contributing to keep the prices on an upward trend. The world's second largest oil producer has started cutting production just a month after agreeing to increase the output. In July, it cut its oil production by an average of 200,000 barrels per day - a move that is likely to create oil shortage in global market.

Earlier, France-based BNP Paribas had said that because of the US sanctions on Iran, oil production from the OPEC would come down from an average of 32.1 million barrels per day in 2018 to 31.7 million in 2019. However, OPEC in its monthly report said that the group's total output in the last month averaged 32.32 million barrels a day - up 41,000 barrels a day from June.

The increase in output was a result of oil producing countries agreeing to lift the cap on production. The prices of crude had fallen by more than half due to excessive supply and booming US shale production. The US, China and India had urged OPEC countries to increase the supply to prevent an oil deficit that could undermine global economic growth.

High prices of fuel have off-and-on triggered demands for a reduction in excise duty but the government had ruled out any immediate cut. The centre currently levies a total of Rs 19.48 per litre of excise duty on petrol and Rs 15.33 per litre on diesel. On top of this, states levy value added tax (VAT) - the lowest being in Andaman and Nicobar Islands where a 6 per cent sales tax is charged on both the fuel.

The central government had raised excise duty on petrol by Rs 11.77 a litre and that on diesel by 13.47 a litre in nine instalments between November 2014 and January 2016 to shore up finances as global oil prices fell, but then cut the tax just once in October last year by Rs 2 a litre.What can be better than an MBA degree from a top business school? A professional with work experience before an MBA education, or so India Inc is beginning to believe. According to The Economic Times, executive education programmes at leading B-schools are gaining ground among recruiters.

"Recruiters, overall, are very keen to recruit from such programmes because they offer a talent pool with robust experience as well as rigorous management education. In case of large organisations, students are typically recruited at the mid-management level while smaller organisations from time to time recruit students for senior-/ CXO-level roles," Utanka Sarma, senior manager, career development services, IIM Bangalore, told the daily.

Consider IIM Calcutta's Post Graduate Programme for Executives (PGPEX), the one-year, full-time residential programme for professionals with more than five years of work experience. According to the institute's website, the average salary for its 11th batch (2017-18) stood at Rs 24.45 lakh, up 21.5% over the previous batch. The top salary bagged by a PGPEX student was Rs 89.25 lakh, an over 192% jump compared to the previous year's record.

Moreover, 78 companies participated in the campus placement process - up from 43 in the previous year - and Accenture, Amazon, PwC, Flipkart, Cognizant were among the major recruiters. Incidentally, PwC was a first-time recruiter, along with others such as Axis Bank, Indian Port Association, Rivigo and CnK Management.

Similarly, IIM Indore has seen growing interest in its EPGP programme. To begin with, average salary has reportedly jumped from Rs 18 lakh to Rs 20 lakh in the past year. The highest salary, offered by Drew Marine, a global company providing technical solutions and services to the marine industry, was Rs 65 lakh - a nearly 45% jump from the top package for the previous batch.

The number of recruiters lining up for placements at the institute is also growing. Among the new recruiters this year were KPMG, PwC, Michael Page, Oracle, Oyo Rooms and Bajaj Allianz. Meanwhile, Accenture emerged the top recruiter this year at IIM-Indore, hiring seven candidates.

"Newer and higher number of recruiters turned up for placements this year than the previous years, offering better roles and responsibilities. People got opportunities to even shift industries," professor Ashish Sadh, chairperson, EPGP, IIM Indore, told the daily. He added that the programme is slowly gaining popularity in India as the alumni network becomes stronger and industry awareness about the programme increases.

The one-year, full-time executive post-graduate programme (EPGP) at IIM-Bangalore, specifically for professionals with 5-12 years of work experience, is well sought after, too. The report added that the mean salary for the 2017-18 batch of this programme stood at Rs 23.5 lakh and Accenture, Indian Ports Association and Flipkart were among the big recruiters.

The trend is not limited to the IIMs. The placement figures for PGDM (General Management), XLRI's 15-month-long MBA programme for executives with at least five years of work experience, is proof of that. According to the daily, the institute saw average salary go up to Rs 18 lakh from last year's Rs 17 lakh, while the highest CTC of Rs 28 lakh was offered by Accenture, also the biggest recruiter this year.

The one-year programme at Great Lakes Institute of Management in Gurgaon also saw a record number of participating companies as well as higher offers per company. Furthermore, despite Class of 2018 being it's largest-ever, the school claims that the latest round of placements were significantly faster than any of the previous years.

The recruiter line-up included American Express, Aditya Birla, KPMG, EY, Cognizant, Hexaware, Virtusa Polaris, MuSigma, Latentview Analytics, Expedia, FoodPanda, among others, and Deloitte emerged the largest recruiter with 19 offers. Moreover, the average salary for the latest graduating batch stood at Rs 11.14 lakh, up from Rs 10.51 lakh for the previous batch, while the highest CTC jumped 12.5% to Rs 18 lakh.

"Campus hiring has always been a key part of our overall talent strategy. We make key hires from a number of B-schools every year. This includes students pursuing executive MBA," Vishpala Reddy, regional HR director for APAC at Uber, told the daily. "As we focus on scaling our businesses in India, like Uber Eats that we launched just a year-and-a-half ago, hiring candidates from varied professional backgrounds adds immense value to our teams here."

Edited By Sushmita Choudhury AgarwalThe Bajaj Finance stock has created enormous wealth for its investors during the last three years. The non-banking finance company (NBFC) is engaged in the business of providing loans for two-wheelers, consumer durables, personal computers, personal loans, and insurance services.

The Rahul Bajaj-led firm has seen a steady growth in its financial performance during the last three years which has propelled its stock price to over five times during the same period.

On August 27, 2015, its stock price stood at 509 level. Currently, it is trading at 2,950 level.

An investment of Rs 1 lakh into the stock three years ago would have turned into Rs 5,79,567 corpus in the current scenario.

The rise in stock price can be attributed to a host of factors such as consistent rise in net profit, interest income, loan book and sales.

Net sales of the firm rose more than 100% during the last three years. For FY 16, sales stood at Rs 6,901.19 crore which rose to Rs 13,442.04 crore for the fiscal year ended March 2018. Sales figure for FY 17 stood at Rs 9,966.71 crore.

Interest expenses rose from Rs 2,926.85 crore for the fiscal ending March 2016 to Rs 4,634.33 crore for the fiscal ending March 2018.

Net interest income stood at Rs 8,831 crore for the fiscal ending March 2018 compared to Rs 4457 crore for the fiscal ending March 2016, clocking a rise of 98.13%. Net interest income for FY 2017 stood at Rs 6,188 crore.

Net profit of the firm rose from Rs 1,278.63 crore for the fiscal ended March 2016 to Rs 2,674.11 crore for the fiscal ended March 2018.

Mustafa Nadeem, CEO at Epic Research said, "The stock, without a doubt, is in a category that would be labelled as a multibagger. Firstly, it is the increase in consumer lending and the kind of presence this company has made it a leader in the space. The consumer lending space has been promising in the last couple of years as its index has seen a sharp jump from 1600 to 2500 levels while on the other hand, the company has posted a growth of 50% CAGR in last 4 years. The EBITDA margins have seen a growth that has been above 50% and this is something an intrinsic character of a stock that is a must in the portfolio. Price action suggests there is no stopping in near term with higher targets. Since it's a price action that is in uncharted territory, we suggest using any dip in the stock of more than 15-20%."

The stock has contributed significanlty to the rise in Sensex and Nifty this year. According to a report by Equinomics on August 23, 2018, only top five companies -TCS, RIL, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Bajaj Finance and HDFC Bank - have collectively contributed Rs 5.58 lakh crore to the market cap (m-cap) rise since January 23 levels.

The large cap stock has gained 61.71% during the last one year and 68.09% since the beginning of this year.

Bajaj Finance went public in the year 1994 and is listed on Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange.

Headquartered at Pune, the company has a pan-India presence through 50 branches that includes Hyderabad, New Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Vijaywada, Nasik, Vishakhapattanam, Kolkata, Goa, Madurai and Pune.The future of business is not about replacing human talent with machines designed to do what humans do, says an industry expert, noting that the goal must be to augment managers with the technologies they need to do their jobs more efficiently.The Reliance Industries stock continued its upward momentum hitting a new high of 1304 level in trade today. At 10:42 am, the stock was trading at 1,300 level, up 0.66% on the BSE. Its market capitalisation rose to Rs 8,23,419 crore on BSE.

The stock closed at 1,291 level on Monday amid report that Reliance Industries' telecom venture Jio beat Vodafone India to become the second-largest telco by revenue market share, closing the gap with market leader Bharti Airtel on this front.

Mayuresh Joshi, fund manager at Angel Broking said, "The stock has almost doubled in the period since the launch of the Reliance Jio business. The decision to sink over $20 billion into the telecom business has addressed the core issue of usage of cash. Petchem and refining were cash cows where most of the outlays have been completed. Reliance needed a new business with disruptive potential and that is where Jio fits in. In addition RIL has managed to maintain petchem margins at record levels. The GRMs in refining are also at a healthy premium over the Singapore benchmark. Additionally the retail business is also showing traction. The fact is that Jio has managed to disrupt mobile telephony by making data the center of attention. In the process, they have forced consolidation in the industry which will eventually drive customers to greater engagement. Going ahead a lot will depend on factors like pricing power? Price wars etc."

The stock had hit its 52-week low of 765 level on August 29, 2018.

The stock logged the fourth-highest turnover on the BSE with the value of stocks traded on the BSE rising to Rs 13.74 crore.

Rahul Sharma, senior technical research analyst at Equity99 said, "The primary reasons for rise are RIL's increased its stake in Genesis Colors Ltd by over 3% and Jio's big ramp-up in subscriber additions and doubling of EBIDTA leading JIO to overtook telecom giant Vodafone in terms of revenue, becoming second-largest telecom player in India in revenue terms. This was supported by many other factors such as excellent set of numbers in Q1FY19 results (up 56% YoY), cascading effect of launch of JioFiber connectivity and so on.

The stock has been historically undervalued. These recent developments have led the market to see stability in petro-chem business growth potential in telecom and retail, media and digital business. Today, RIL is India's most valued firm by market capitalization. The overall multiple is still on the lower side trading at P/E of around 22-23 on consolidated basis. Still Reliance as a group is a target of what we call as "Conglomerate Discount". Hence, these price levels are indeed sustainable and a further room for P/E to expand by 2-3 exists i.e. price levels of 1350-1400."

The stock has clocked 66% gains during the last one year and 41.14% rise since the beginning of this year.

The stock has been gaining for the last seven days and has risen 8.29% during the period.

The firm last week became the first Indian company to cross the Rs 8 lakh crore market capitalisation mark, racing ahead of Tata Sons' crown jewel TCS by more than Rs 20,000 crore in valuation.

The market valuation of oil-to-telecom conglomerate crossed the $100-billion mark last month. A few days later, its m-cap surged past Rs 7 lakh crore, making it the second company after IT bellwether Tata Consultancy Services to achieve the coveted milestone. TCS had crossed the $100 billion milestone on April 23, 2018.

28 of 37 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or 'outperform', four "hold" and five "underperform" or "sell", according to analysts' recommendations tracked by Reuters.

Reliance Industries reported its highest ever quarterly net profit for the quarter ending June 2018 as bumper earnings from the retail business, improved profitability of telecom arm and near doubling of earnings from petrochemical business offset lower margins from oil refining business.

Consolidated net profit of Rs 9,459 crore, or Rs 16 per share, in April-June, was 17.9 per cent higher than Rs 8,021 crore, or Rs 13.5 a share, in the same period of previous fiscal, the oil-to-telecom conglomerate said in a statement. Revenue was up 56.5 per cent at Rs 141,699 crore.

Motilal Oswal

Motilal Oswal gave a buy target on July 30, 2018 with an upside of 15% on the stock after the conglomerate's Q1 earnings announcement on July 27. "On FY20 basis, the stock trades at 11.9 times consolidated earnings per share of Rs 95 and EV/EBITDA of 8.2x. Our SOTP -based fair value stands at Rs 1,301 per share. Maintain Buy."

Edelweiss

Edelweiss raised its target price from Rs 1,201 after Q1 earnings were announced. "With commissioning of mega core projects, we expect FCF to turnaround, RoE to rise and profit to double in 4 years. Successful execution of RJIO bolsters our confidence in the mega venture. At CMP, the stock trades at an undemanding 12x FY20E PER. We reiterate 'BUY/SO'with revised TP of Rs 1,457 (INR 1,201 earlier) among highest on the street," the brokerage said in a report.28 Jun 2019, 12:34 PM

Spicejet operates the first biojet fuel flight for the country

Spicejet's flight yesterday between Dehradun and Delhi was special. The flight was powered by a blend of 75% air turbine fuel and 25% biojet fuel. This was a first for the country which is looking for ways to cut down fuel costs.A blend of 25% of bio jet fuel and 75% of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) was carried in one of the two engines of the plane, while the other engine carried only ATF. International standards permit a blend rate of upto 50% bio fuel with ATF.

Kerala CM appeals to Malayalees at home and abroad to pitch in with a month's salary

As Kerala struggles to get back on its feet in the wake of the massive damage wrought by the worst floods in nearly a century, the state's Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan yesterday urged Malayalees across the world to pitch in with a month's salary. For those who can't afford to donate a full month's salary at a go, Vijayan suggested donating three days' salary for a period of 10 months instead.

Allahabad HC refuses interim relief to power firms from RBI order

The Allahabad High Court (HC) yesterday refused to provide relief for privately-owned stressed power projects from the Reserve Bank of India's February order. The RBI circular directed lenders to undertake insolvency resolution of defaulting companies within a strict timeline. The court has, however, allowed the affected companies to try the legal route for individual grievances as reported by Business Standard.

Flying drones to be legal in India from December 1

Flying of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) or in common parlance, drones, will be legal across India from December 1. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has finalised a national drone policy, and has fixed parameters - including height - for drone flights. From the outset the policy outlines No Drone Zones. The regulation defines "No Drone Zones" as areas around airports, near international border, Vijay Chowk in Delhi, State Secretariat Complex in state capitals, strategic locations, vital military installations and such.Owners and pilots will have to be registered, and permission will be required for each flight. Users will need to apply for permission on an app and digital permits will be given instantly through an automated process.

During daytime flights, drones can be flown to a height of up to 400 ft.

Jet Airways plunges into loss of Rs 1,323 crore in Q1

Crisis-ridden Jet Airways on Monday reported a massive loss of Rs 1,323 crore for the April-June quarter as high fuel prices, a weakening rupee and low fares battered the finances of the Naresh Goyal-led airline. This is the second consecutive quarterly loss for the airline which had posted a profit of Rs 53.50 crore in the same quarter last year.

Goldman Sachs appoints former RBI adviser Prachi Mishra as chief India economist

Global investment bank Goldman Sachs today said it has appointed former RBI adviser, Prachi Mishra, as the Managing Director and chief India economist. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Mishra was the Deputy Division Chief of the Western Hemisphere Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Before that, she headed the strategic research unit at the Reserve Bank of India from February 2016 to May 2017. She was also a specialist adviser at the RBI between November 2014 and February 2016.

Arun Jaitley blames NPA woes to 'indiscriminate lending' under UPA

Amid the tug of war between ruling BJP and Opposition Congress over the higher growth numbers during the latter's tenure, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday termed the higher GDP prints and NPA pile to the indiscriminate lending before and after the 2008 global credit crisis. He also blamed the bankers for the NPA problem saying while they did lazy banking during this time by lending to unsustainable projects

Airtel inks partnership with Netflix

Telecom major Airtel on Monday said it has partnered with US-based Netflix, under which its users will be able to pay for the subscription of the video streaming service as part of their postpaid mobile and broadband bills. Subscribers of select Airtel Postpaid and V-Fiber Home Broadband plans will receive a three-month Netflix subscription for free, Airtel said.Digital payments in India, already witnessing unprecedented activity since the government's surprise demonetisation announcement in 2016, is now poised for a great leap forward as global tech giants slug it out for a bigger slice of the pie.

Though digital payments in the country grew 55 per cent in volume and 24.2 per cent in value in FY2016/17 over the previous fiscal, it is still at a nascent stage. "Digital payments currently aggregate less than $200 billion, of which mobile is still at just $10 billion in financial year 2018 (estimated)," Credit Suisse said in a report released earlier this year, adding that cash still accounts for 70 per cent of all Indian transactions by value. And that is what makes India such a promising market.

Significantly, the investment banking firm believes that payment integration into popular apps in the country will drive the digital payment market in India to $1 trillion over the next five years. No wonder the space is already getting crowded - domestic players like Paytm, Flipkart's PhonePe and the government's BHIM are vying for users against the likes of Google Pay and Facebook's WhatsApp Payments.

However, Vinayak HV, a Singapore-based senior partner at McKinsey & Co, told Bloomberg that profitability isn't close on the horizon for the industry. Nonetheless, here's a look at how the various options available to Indians stack up.

Paytm

India's largest digital financial services provider, which already counts behemoths like China's Alibaba Group Holdings and Japan's Softbank Vision Fund among its shareholders, now also has the Oracle of Omaha backing it. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has just picked up a stake in Paytm parent One97 Communications - possibly the first direct investment in India by the legendary investor. According to the news agency, Paytm claims to have 150 million app downloads.

Pros: This homegrown startup became a household name post Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetization drive in 2016 because of its mobile wallet business model. The company has since built a wide network of merchants and outlets with a robust system of cashbacks and discounts to keep users locked in.

In fact, Paytm has built an entire ecosystem. It launched a payments bank in 2017 - the wallet, first launched in 2014, is now part of the bank - and it is also looking to launch its mutual fund distribution platform under Paytm Money Ltd.

Last month, digital payments major had claimed that it has achieved annual run rate of 5 billion transactions and registered $50 billion gross transaction value (GTV) in a year. GTV refers to the total transaction value through the platform in a given time period.

Cons: Given that it is a licenced payments bank, Paytm's users have to go through a multi-step enrollment process - a hassle many of its rivals don't require. Moreover, the RBI had recently directed Paytm Payments Bank to stop enrolling new customers temporarily for non-compliance with full-KYC norms, although it has since reportedly responded to the regulator's concerns.

Google Pay, previously known as Tez

According to the news agency, Google's India payment app crossed 50 million app downloads a few weeks ago. Today, during its annual event, Google for India, the company rebranded the app as Google Pay, and also launched its new features. The service will soon be available on over 2,000 online merchants and websites and over 15,000 retail stores in India. The company added that 22 million people use the UPI-based payment platform every month, and since launch it has seen 750 million transactions worth $30 billion.

Pros: The payments app has localized, supporting several Indian languages, and is chasing young users with games that offer cashbacks. Google today also announced that users will now be able to avail instant loans using Google Pay app. It has tied up with private lenders like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Federal Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank to offer customised loans, which will involve minimum paperwork.

Cons: Although Google has belatedly introduced a chat feature, it is lagging rival WhatsApp whose strong base of users come from its messaging service.

Facebook's WhatsApp Payments

India was one of the first markets to get the much-talked about service. After a beta launch in February this year, the company started its peer-to-peer (P2P) payments on the UPI platform but it is reportedly restricted to only about 10 lakh users.

Pros: The biggest advantage WhatsApp enjoys, even before it gets going, is its ready user base - it doesn't need to put in cash to acquire customers and that's a massive advantage. Currently the most popular messaging platform, it enjoys over 250 million monthly active users, including a huge number of first-generation internet users, which bodes well for financial inclusion.

Cons: The service has hit a roadblock over the ongoing domestic debate on data localisation and the impasse between the company and the government over offering traceability of messages in the domestic market. The buzz is that the government now wants WhatsApp to prioritise curbing of fake news on its platform over any other plan and is far from satisfied by its damage-control measures.

Making matters worse for WhatsApp, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the company yesterday, asking why it has not appointed a grievance officer in India yet. This may spell trouble for the Facebook-owned company, which has big plans for India - its biggest market in terms of the customer base.

Flipkart's PhonePe

The nearly three-year-old payments start-up acquired by Flipkart in 2016 claims to be among India's first UPI apps. According to the news portal, PhonePe has 133 million app downloads.

Pros: When Walmart Inc. acquired a majority stake in PhonePe's parent Flipkart Online Services Pvt., the payments app also acquired a global backer. There are already tell-tale signs that PhonePe is gaining from Walmart's financial heft - in July, Flipkart infused about $66 million into the platform to help it take on the increasing competition.

Cons: Flipkart arch-rival Amazon has been steadily pumping capital into its own wallet, Amazon Pay, and increasing its user base.

Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM)

Designed by UPI, this is the government's own play in digital payments and reportedly has 32 million app downloads. Being simple and fast, the app appeals to non-technologically savvy users in Tier 2 cities and beyond, including rural areas.

Pros: The government has been actively pushing BHIM, using Modi's face to promote its brand. In June, while interacting with beneficiaries of the various Digital India efforts, Modi had asked them to press traders and shopkeepers to install the BHIM app to facilitate paying for goods and services digitally. Moreover, in order to boost the user base, transaction targets are being laid down for banks and state-owned utilities.

Cons: It is being stymied by deep-pocketed rivals, constantly innovating and offering a broader reach of services.

Edited By Sushmita Choudhury AgarwalGoogle on Tuesday rebranded its payment application Google Tez as Google Pay along with introducing some new features at its fourth edition of 'Google for India' event. The tech giant is looking to expand the app's reach and has also announced the partnership with private banks to facilitate instant disbursal of pre-approved loans to the user's bank account via Google Pay.

"Building for India has often meant Google building for everyone all around the world. As the app is being rebranded as Google Pay, nothing is changing about the experience in India other than the name. In coming weeks and months, Google is making Pay even more useful by expanding the places where users can pay in-store and online. We are expanding services for merchants, and are also working with the banks to provide instant loans to Google Pay users." says Ceaser Sengupta, Vice-President, Next Billion User Initiative and Payments, Google.

For the disbursal of financial services, Google has tied up with HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Federal Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank. The feature is expected to be rolled out within next few weeks. If a Google Pay user will be qualified for a pre-approved loan, he/she will see a notification stating the same. The user can then decide how much he/she wishes to borrow and the duration in which they wish to repay the loan. Once the user reviews the terms of the loan, the bank will instantly deposit the money in the user's bank account without any additional paperwork.

"In less than a year, Tez is being used across 3 lakh cities and villages in India with over 22 million active users, and 750 million total transactions worth $30 billion. Since the launch of Tez, the monthly BHIM UPI transactions have grown 14 times", adds Sengupta.

With the rebranded Google Pay, Google is expanding the places where the app-based payment can be accepted. For this, Google has partnered closely with the largest stores across India such as payment technology providers like Pinelabs and Bill Desk, and top Indian banks.

For online merchants, Google Pay will be supported at over 2000 online apps and sites including Goibibo, FreshMenu, Nykaa, Redbus, BookMyshow and Uber.

Google aims to increase its market share in Indian payment market and is aiming at building merchant experience further, which will help these businesses find new customers through Google Maps and send customised notifications to the customers they already have. Google has been testing out some of these features with merchants in Bangalore and Delhi, who run popular salons, kirana stores, and restaurants. For Merchants, integrating Google Pay would mean finding new customers through Google Ads.

Currently, Google Pay can be downloaded on Android and iOS devices and has language support for English, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu.Bank of Ireland has today released its latest Economic Pulse which is conducted by Ipsos MRBI on behalf of Bank of Ireland with 1,000 households and approximately 2,000 businesses on a range of topics including the economy, their financial situation, spending plans, house price expectations and business activity.



The Bank of Ireland Economic Pulse came in at 91.3 in August 2018. The index, which combines the results of the Consumer and Business Pulses, was down 2.3 on last months reading and 0.6 lower than this time last year.



The mood among households and firms was generally more subdued this month. Heightened uncertainty as the Brexit negotiations enter a crucial phase and increased speculation about the possibility of a no deal outcome, coupled with renewed sterling volatility, dampened sentiment and took a toll on the headline index for a second month running.



Households pared back their assessment of the economy and were also less positive about their current financial situation this month. They were slightly more upbeat about their finances over the coming year though, and with the summer sales in full swing, the buying climate was a little stronger with four in ten (41%) considering it a good time to purchase big ticket items such as furniture and electrical goods, compared with 39% in July.



The Industry Pulse was broadly unchanged this month, whereas the Services, Retail and Construction Pulses fell back. Brexit uncertainty was on firms radar again in August and with the pound losing ground against the euro, export order books came under a bit of strain.

Input costs also remained a pressure point for many businesses, with over two in five firms in the industry and services sectors, one in three retailers and almost two thirds of builders reporting an increase in costs excluding labour in the past three months. Nonetheless, the majority expect to keep their near-term selling prices the same.



Notwithstanding some softening in the index over the last while, house price expectations remain in positive territory with most survey respondents (74%) anticipating price increases over the next 12 months. The same goes for rents and with the college year about to kick off, Bank of Ireland say it is not surprising that accommodation woes are currently top of mind for students with three in four worried about the cost of renting.



Discussing the latest Economic Pulse, Group Chief Economist at Bank of Ireland, Dr Loretta OSullivan said, "The Economic Pulse was down for a second month running in August. Similar to last month, this doesnt come as a great surprise and owes much to Brexit uncertainty which is high at the current juncture. Amid political divisions in the UK government and the EUs lukewarm response to elements of the White Paper, there has been increased chatter about the possibility of a no deal outcome to the negotiations. This is weighing on sentiment and is also impacting currency markets."

She added, "The pound has weakened to around 90p against the euro in the past month or so. This is a concern for Irish businesses selling into the UK market and is something that we will be keeping a close eye on as the talks enter the crucial autumn phase. On the consumer front, there also looks to be a touch of a summer spending hangover in the August data, with the number of households worried about paying bills up on last month."

Source: www.businessworld.ieAIB Real Estate Research economists Pat OSullivan and Rory McGuckin have released a new paper on the Private Rented Sector (PRS) in Ireland which finds that institutional investors require high quality, large scale apartment units and this source of equity capital is key in supporting the development of a sustainable, functioning PRS sector.



Just 10% of Irelands housing stock is accounted for by apartments, compared with 30-50% in some other European countries. According to an AIB analysis, there are almost 13,000 apartments currently in the pipeline in Dublin, with over 9,500 having already been granted planning permission.

There are currently 1,261 apartments proposed in Dublins docklands specifically aimed at the PRS sector, while a further 1,268 are proposed in South Dublin.



The growth of the PRS sector as an investment asset class saw 386.8m of capital transacted in the sector in 2017 across 24 deals, up from 269.1m in 2016. Further growth is expected this year.



The paper raises concerns about the prevailing level and rate of growth in rents in Dublin, and to a lesser extent other urban locations. Dublin rents are at the sixth highest level in the world according to EU research, comparable with New York, London and Singapore.

The paper also finds its possible, if not likely, that the current growth in rents will be curtailed once new residential supply approaches underlying levels of demand.



Source: www.businessworld.ieBritish Prime Minister Theresa May has said that failing to secure a deal with the European Union before Britain leaves the bloc next year "wouldn't be the end of the world," Sky News reported on Tuesday.

May's comment, made to reporters as she headed to Africa to boost Britain's trade ties ahead of Brexit in March 2019, came after her finance minister Philip Hammond said last week that a no-deal departure from the EU would damage public finances.

Ahead of her arrival in South Africa, May said the forecasts cited by Hammond were out of date.

"I think when they came out I was very clear on a previous trip that those figures were a work in progress at that particular time," she said according to Sky.

She repeated comments from the head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that Britain leaving the EU without a deal "would not be a walk in the park" but that "it would not be the end of the world," Sky said.

Hammond was criticized by some lawmakers in May's deeply divided Conservative Party for saying last week -- on the day the government published contingency plans for a no-deal Brexit -- that such a scenario could mean borrowing would be about 80 billion pounds a year higher in 15 years' time as the economy grew more slowly.

May is hoping to a agree "business-friendly" deal with the bloc on the key issue of trade which has split her party between those who want a definitive break from the EU, and those, like Hammond, who want to keep close ties.

However, in her comments to reporters on her way to Africa, May repeated her warning that a no-deal Brexit was better than leaving with a bad deal.

"I think it's absolutely that the government is preparing for no deal because we don't know what the outcome is going to be," she said. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ieImproperly timed traffic lights.

Drivers who pull out in front of you.

Drivers who accelerate in the left-turn lane.

Drivers who are discourteous about allowing others to merge.

Drivers who dont use their blinkers.

Drivers on their cellphones instead of driving.

Vote

View ResultsDubai, UAE is set to host the 10th UAE Cancer Congress (UAECC) focusing on a broad range of topics in oncology care and management, from October 11 to 13 at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City.



In its 10th edition, UAECC aims to foster best practices in cancer care and management, raise treatment standards at the clinicians level for better patient care, discuss latest advances in cancer care, research studies and new treatment methodologies for various cancer diseases.



This year, the UAECC, held under the theme Promoting Excellence in Oncology and Striking away Cancer, will feature a wide range of sessions on over 14 different oncology sub-specialties focusing on breast cancer, gastrointestinal (GI) cancer, gynaecological oncology, lung care, oncology nursing, palliative care, immuno oncology and head & neck master course.



The event will also host dedicated workshops on breast surgical oncology, cancer imaging, nutrition and a live operative workshop  from Tata Memorial Hospital, India.



UAECC is expected to attract over 2,500 visitors and more than 40 participating sponsor companies, witness the participation of more than 200 speakers from over 75 countries, feature 17 hands-on workshops including a Live Workshop from Tata Memorial hospital in India and showcase over 200 poster presentations designed by students and professionals from the UAE and abroad.



Dr Shaheenah Dawood, President, UAECC, consultant medical oncologist, Mediclinic City Hospital, UAE said, Our mission at UAE Cancer Congress is to play a crucial part in preparing the community for overcoming issues and challenges in preventing the onset of cancer.



As part of our efforts in effectively overcoming this disease in the Middle East and Asia Pacific region, we strive to support the oncology community by partnering, learning and building collaborations with various organizations and coming up with unique initiatives to allow for progress in cancer research. Furthermore, UAECC is the only such congress in the middle east, which has been consistently bringing cutting edge medical research and technology to our doorsteps in the past 10 years, she added.



Dr Dawood continued: Cancer treatment is undergoing a revolution where the influx of novel therapies derived from basic research on our immune system has shifted the landscape of modern medicine. In addition, new discoveries in immunotherapy, which seek to use the bodys immune system to help fight cancer, are proving to have a profound impact on cancer treatment and prevention.



As research and the development of new therapies for different types of cancers is a continuous process requiring great effort, we believe that UAECC is an ideal platform which will serve the needs of the medical and pharmaceutical industry in overcoming this disease.



UAECC 2018 will be introducing the first Asia Pac Middle East Biosimilar Summit on the sidelines of its main conference, with the aim of building a viable roadmap on the advantages of using biosimilar pharma products as compared to generic drugs.



It will also offer industry experts an opportunity to discuss the pros & cons and misconceptions about biosimilar pharmaceutical products, exchange latest data from the Global Biosimilars Landscape, explore Case Studies and support pharma and biopharma companies to succeed in the Global Biosimilar Market.



According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is the second leading cause of death accounting for millions of deaths worldwide every year and putting a severe burden on the healthcare infrastructure of many countries around the globe.



While lung, liver, colorectal, stomach and breast cancers are widely prevalent globally, contributing to millions of fatalities, more figures released by the Health Department of Abu Dhabi show that the UAE is witnessing about 4,500 new cases of cancer each year with breast, colorectal and lung cancers mostly impacting patients in the region.



The 10th UAECC is organized by Index Conferences and Exhibitions  a member of Index Holding in partnership with UAE Genetic Disease Association, Oncology Nursing Society, Emirates Urological Society, Tata Memorial Centre and Indian Cooperative Oncology Network, India.  TradeArabia News Service(CTech)  China's chip designer and manufacturer Sanan Optoelectronics Co. Ltd. is in talks to acquire Israel-headquartered communication chips company ColorChip Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter. The deal discussed values the latter at around $300 million, the people familiar with the matter said.

Based in Xiamen City in China's Fujian province, Shanghai-listed Sanan Optoelectronics designs and produces LED components as well as radio chips.

The planned-acquisition will be either participated by or conducted through a Sanan Group affiliated private equity fund called An Xin Capital LLP, the people familiar with the matter said.

Both Sanan Optoelectornics and An Xin Capital have been approached for comment but have yet to respond.

Founded in 2001 and headquartered in northern Israeli town Yokne'am Illit, privately held ColorChip designs and manufactures communication components for telecom providers and data centers. The company was declared insolvent in 2009, letting many employees go, but managed to recover and today employs around 200 people.

ColorChip raised $112 million in total equity to date according to PitchBook. In 2017, the company raised a $37 million Series F from investors including Israel Growth Partners, Vintage Investment Partners, and Gemini Israel Ventures.

Facebook is one of the ColorChip's clients, and chips by the latter are implemented in some of Facebook's data centers, one person familiar with ColorChip said.

Facebook was approached for comment but has yet to respond.

This article was originally published by CTech.The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that it will impose preliminary duties ranging from 58.75% to 172.51% on Chinese steel wheel imports, valued at $388 million last year.

The new duties come amid ongoing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, although this wider context was not referred to directly in the Commerce Departments announcement. The Trump administration imposed 25% tariffs on all imported steel in March, on the eve of a rapid deterioration in relations that led to both sides imposing an additional $50 billion in tariffs on each others goods.

The countervailing duties are intended to make the steel wheel market fairer for domestic producers who are facing competition from Chinese rivals that allegedly receive financial assistance from the government, the Department of Commerces International Trade Administration explained in its fact sheet.

While imports from Chinese steel wheel companies will be hit with a baseline duty of 58.75%, wheels from Zhejiang Jingu Co. Ltd. and Shanghai Yata Industry Co. Ltd. will face a tougher 172.51% duty.

U.S. Customs and Border Collection will be instructed to collect cash deposits from importers of steel wheels from China.

The announcement concludes a preliminary investigation into market distortions that followed a petition from two U.S. steel wheel producers, Indiana-based Accuride Corp. and Ohio-based Maxion Wheels Akron LLC. The Department of Commerce did not state the specific damage Chinese subsidies had done to either company.

The companies had made the same complaint a year earlier and seen it rejected on the grounds that Chinese subsidies were not seen to be sufficiently harmful to U.S. steel wheel producers. In the current climate, however, it appears they received a more-favorable hearing. The Department of Commerce is due to make its final decision on the case in January.

While both sides resumed trade talks earlier this month, few analysts appear optimistic that tensions will subside in the near future. The World Trade Organization reported at the beginning of August that global markets remain jittery as the conflict rumbles on, with it already observing a contraction in the number of export orders made globally so far this year.

Contact reporter Ke Dawei (daweike@caixin.com)Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (Dafza) has announced strong business results for the first half of 2018, showing an 11 per cent growth in the EBID in comparison with the same period of 2017, and a growth of new rental revenues by 27 per cent.



The results include a 10 per cent increase in licensing revenues and a 31 per cent increase in revenues from government services, resulting in a total revenue growth of 8 per cent in comparison to 2017 H1, said a statement from the authority.



The positive figures have been delivered as a result of Dafzas strategic plan set in early 2017, which comes in line with the ambitious objectives of the Dubai Plan 2021. One of the key elements of the plan is to support Dubai in becoming one of the most innovative and progressive cities that hosts world-class free zones across the globe, it said.



The success witnessed by Dafza came with a steady increase in leasable area reaching 43 per cent compared to 2017, with a 63 per cent growth in warehouses and 29 per cent increase in office space. This is a result of Dafzas wide range of services and facilities along with its strategic location, linking it to local, regional and global markets.



As for Dafza Industrial Park, the first expansion project outside Dafzas boundaries located in Al Qusais Industrial Area, it witnessed an occupancy rate of 82 per cent during the first half of this year.



Dafza achieved a solid 15 per cent growth in the number of registered companies over the same period in 2017, providing the ideal environment for attracting more foreign investors, long-term investment, business activity and development as well as world-class infrastructure, services and logistics facilities.



A 5 per cent increase was also seen in the number of multinational companies at Dafza, which is a direct result of the high-quality services provided by Dafza that enable businesses to expand in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia markets and explore the high investment opportunities in the region.



In the same context, the first half of 2018 also witnessed an increase in the number of registered SMEs by 17 per cent. This confirms the success of Dafzas focus on providing integrated solutions and services that ensure business growth for such segment. There has been a particular focus on helping SMEs increase their collaboration with several governmental and private entities, in line with the vision of the UAE and Dubai governments to further develop this sector and contribute to the growth of the national economy.



In the first half of this year, Dafza continued to attract foreign direct investment which helped boost its regional competitiveness and revive various key sectors. Dafza recently announced a 65 per cent reduction in business start-up fees, in line with Dubai's efforts to become an ideal destination for investment and prosperity and to consolidate the stability of free zone companies operations in order to sustain investments and support their growth.



Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of Dafza, said: Our remarkable performance results for 2018 H1 showcase the expected success of the plans developed by Dafza to promote sustainable economic development in the emirate.



It is also the result of the initiatives and investment incentives launched by the Government of Dubai which have been guided by the wise leadership in order to attract foreign direct investment from international companies, he said.



Sheikh Ahmed pointed out that these achievements demonstrate Dafzas commitment to providing a world-class business model that enables the authority to assume a leading position among the most progressive free zones in the world. The results also support the business diversification strategy in the UAE.



Dr Mohammed Al Zarooni, director general of Dafza, highlighted that these results underscore the flexible business and investment environment provided by Dafza to its various segments of global investors.



Al Zarooni pointed out that Dafzas team has a great responsibility to continue the journey of progress and build on the success during the next phase. This falls in line with government plans and economic targets set by the countrys leadership for the coming years.



Al Zarooni praised Dafzas strategy that integrates world-class infrastructure with the strategic location of Dubai to provide the highest level of services and meet the needs of customers. Dafza always keep pace with international market requirements, economic policies and developments across various global business sectors.



As part of its leading role in the Middle East and Africa, Dafza remains committed to attracting international companies seeking to expand their business in the region. Many leading international companies have established their regional headquarters in the free zone, such as the Irish Aerogen specialised in healthcare and medical devices; the Japanese Asahi Yukizai, a leading company in industrial resins and plastic valves, VA Tech WABAG Limited MEA SoncieWall MEA FZCO, etc. This asserts the quality investment facilities and services that contribute to the success of any company at regional and global levels.



Aimed at strengthening cooperation, Dafza also held a series of meetings and initiatives aimed at expanding trade and attracting more investment opportunities. It organised a series of investment seminars entitled Gateway to Growth in India, China, Spain, Germany, Switzerland and Korea. These roadshows introduced the opportunities, investment advantages, advanced facilities and global infrastructure that Dafza provides, it stated.  TradeArabia News ServiceWow, what a response to this columns recent expose on the Commonwealth Avenue underpass near Albert Hall. While many Canberrans claim the concrete subway doesnt quite deserve white-elephant status, especially during peak hour and big events by the lake, a surprisingly high number of readers, some lifelong residents, report they were completely unaware of its existence. Remarkable really, especially considering the first pedestrians passed through it 50 years ago and that it runs under one of our citys busiest roads. There are two possible reasons for this low level of awareness. Firstly, as pointed out by David Morris who regularly walks under it as part of his daily commute, somewhat peculiarly its not signposted at all, meaning some people often take their chances by running across the six lanes of busy traffic. Secondly, as Michael Richards of Murrumbateman poignantly points out, Its approaches are poorly lit, so I suspect some people dont realise its there. The impetus for the very existence of the underpass continues to be the subject of much conjecture, with several readers dismissing Michael Adlers claims that it was built in 1968 at the request of portly Senator Paltridge to enable him to access the Hyatt Hotel (then the Hotel Canberra) from Old Parliament House, for regular lunches without running the gauntlet of crossing busy Commonwealth Avenue. For example, Helen Goddard of Turner attests that the underpass was built following an incident involving Paltridges colleague, Ken Anderson, a long-term New South Wales senator. While Senator Paltridge may have struggled to get across the road, my understanding is that it was built after Senator Ken Anderson was involved in a traffic accident almost killed, explains Goddard. He was on foot and walking back to Old Parliament House after a meal at the Hotel Canberra when hit by a car. Goddard, whose father Jack Cahill was a senior officer in the Department of Customs and Excise at the time, says, Anderson was Minister for Customs from 1964 to 1968 and it was during this time that the underpass was built. While several other readers, including Stephen Brown of Forrest, confirm Goddards assertions, Mrs H Dulline of Deakin, a lifelong Canberran, believes the underpass was constructed after requests from community art organisations in order to cater for the growing number of people attending cultural events in the Albert Hall precinct. Michael Richards of Murrumbateman agrees with Dulline. I suspect the rationale was the need to get to the Albert Hall, when it was a major venue for the city and not the somewhat forgotten remnant of an earlier Canberra that it is today. This seems much more likely than special pleading on behalf of a portly senator! However, the final word on the origins of the underpass (at least until the folk at the National Capital Authority respond to my official request for information) is from Kevin Mulcahy, a long-term Canberra resident, now of Tura Beach. Mulcahy, a former staffer at the National Capital Development Commission (the forerunner to the NCA), reports: The rationale for the tunnel was more about plans for public transport and making the Commonwealth Treasury building parking area [on the eastern side of Commonwealth Avenue] accessible for events at the Albert Hall which, though not as frequent as in the 1960s, had real problems due to its own very limited parking spaces. The fact that the Albert Hall is not used as much as in the past and the fact that the new Parliament house is no longer within short walking distance of the Hyatt Hotel renders the tunnel somewhat idle as far as usage goes. However it will certainly come into its own when pedestrians want to cross Commonwealth Avenue without being hit by a light rail carriage. This is called forward planning, not a white elephant, muses Mulcahy. Many readers also felt inclined to reminisce about when they first used the underpass.Julie Lindner of Farrer, who worked at the Commonwealth Treasury in the 1960s and 70s, points out: At the time it was constructed there were no traffic lights from the Rex Hotel on Northbourne Ave all the way to Woden. This meant Commonwealth Avenue was extremely hard to cross as there was a constant flow of traffic in both directions so the underpass was very convenient. The subway is simultaneously convenient, creepy, smelly, with a bit of novelty value, reports Michael Hettinger of OConnor, who recalls dashing through the subway on a few Hash House Harrier runs. However, most recollections involved the consumption of alcohol by Treasury officials in the 1970s. David Jones of Hackett, another former Treasury officer, reports: In the early 1970s after finishing work at 16:51 on Fridays, fellow work colleagues and myself would traverse the underpass to the red carpet bar at the Hotel Canberra. Later in the evening some would return via the underpass to the Treasury car park. Heck, is it little wonder our government had trouble balancing the books back then? Maybe King OMalley had a point in his support of the unpopular alcohol ban during Canberras early years after all. Meanwhile, Ian Burke of Campbell vividly recalls his first walk through the underpass in the late 1960s when, after studying for the afternoon at the National Library of Australia, he arranged to meet a friend at Albert Hall to see a play. As I approached Commonwealth Avenue from the library, a policeman told me I couldnt go across, reports Burke, who, instead eventually found the tunnel and went through it. On arrival at Albert Hall, Burke discovered a police escort for the Duke and Duchess of Kent had driven past while he was walking through the tunnel. I imagine that the Duke and Duchess of Kent have not driven over the top of all that many people, especially in Canberra, reports Burke, musing: When I find out the exact date, I am going to request that a commemorative plaque be put up in the tunnel. According to official records, the Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Kent were in Canberra from August 9-12, 1969, as a part of a 25-day visit to Australia. To further narrow it down, they attended evening events at the Lodge and Government House on August 10 and 11 respectively. I look forward to seeing Burkes plaque hanging on the otherwise spotless walls of the underpass which are surely the cleanest of any subway in Australia. Perhaps Canberras ubiquitous graffiti taggers dont know its there either! Either that or the NCAs street cleaners are more efficient than their archivists. Several readers, including Jason Macqueen, answered my recent call for photos of back-country adventures in The Snowies. In fact, Macqueens photograph of a cross-country skier on the Illawong Swinging Bridge near Guthega, taken last week on an overnight trip to Mt Twynam (2196m), also put an end to this columns two-year search for evidence of a winter crossing of the treacherous galvanised steel cable suspension bridge which spans the upper reaches of the Snowy River (Kings of Swing May 17, 2017). Meanwhile Erwin Feekens photo of his wife, Gerda, about to ski over a half-buried car at Perisher in 1974 shows despite this years bumper snow season, that decades ago, falls were much heavier. It seems that icicles in the 1970s were much longer too, for in the same year, Feeken also photographed 2.5-metre-long icicles drooping from an overhanging granite boulder on the Ramshead Range near Thredbo. If you look closely, theres a person at bottom left of photo for scale, explains Feeken. Finally, while recently riding the Freedom Chair at Guthega, David Evans of Fadden captured this stunning shot of windblown ice on branches of this dead snowgum. Despite the sunny blue sky, I feel cold just looking at the tree. Enjoy the last official week of winter. While enjoying a late winter kayak at Snapper Island near Batemans Bay, Phill Sledge of Kaleen noticed that the opening of this cave when filmed from inside resembled the side profile of a lady with flowing blonde locks. While I dont agree with Sledge that she looks a bit like the late Farrah Fawcett, if you are having trouble seeing the lady, she is looking left and her head and hair occupies the entire opening of the cave. Contact Tim: Email: timtheyowieman@bigpond.com or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, 9 Pirie St, Fyshwick. You can see a selection of past columns online. Cryptic Clue: Not a rocket, but can tread on some boards near here.Degree of difficulty: Medium - Hard Congratulations to Roger Shelton of Spence who was the first reader to correctly identify last weeks photo, sent in by Leigh Palmer of Isaacs, as the Tuggeranong railway siding on the decommissioned line to Bombala. Shelton just beat a host of railway enthusiasts including David and Caroline Nott of Ainslie, Cathy Kay of Wanniassa and Jeremy Wainwright of O'Connor to the coveted prize. As Erik Jochimsen of Narrabundah explains: To the left you can see the original site of the Tuggeranong Station platform, now demolished. The lever controls were used to gain access to the siding with the raised two-level loading access to the right intended for loading sheep from the farms in the area. For those who use old-school maps, according to Jochimsen, the photo was taken from the road crossing at the end of Old Tuggeranong Road, UBD Gregory's Map 99 K6. Regular contributor Peter Harris of Latham adds that the siding was also used to offload the timber to build the landmark four-span Allan Truss bridge over the Murrumbidgee River at Tharwa, opened in 1895. How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and address to timtheyowieman@bigpond.com. The first email sent after 10am, Saturday 25 August, 2018 will win a double pass to Dendy - The Home of Quality Cinema.

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Canberras butchers continue to bring home the bacon, featuring once again in Australian Porks national awards. Wes Dempsey, from Elite Meats, Holt, and Cameron Fenson, from Meatways Butchery, Kambah, have placed third nationally, in the short cut and full rasher categories respectively. In 2017, Richard Odell, from Griffith Butchery won the overall national award and Pialligo Estate Smokehouse won overall in 2014 and 2015. The overall winner this year went to Campbells Superior Meats, in West Pymble. In the ACT Elite Meats, Griffith Butchery, and Pialligo Estate Smokehouse took top three in the shortcut category. Meatways Butchery, Griffith Butchery and Southlands Quality Meats, Mawson, placed in the full rasher category. More than 125 entries were judged by a panel of specialists, fleischmeister (meat master) Horst Schurger, with chefs Simon Bestley and Adam Moore, who assessed the appearance, aroma and taste of each entry. It seems the bacon business is quite competitive in Canberra. Neither Dempsey or Fenson were willing to share any of their secret ingredients but both were happy to say you had to start with the best possible pork you could. More than 70 per cent of bacon sold in Australia is from imported products but the Canberra butchers source theirs locally. Dempsey gets his from Cowra and Wombat, Fenson get his from Swan Hill. If you dont start off with the best product you wont get the best bacon, says Dempsey. If you want to help a farmer buy Australian meat. We joke here that the only thing we have imported in this shop is me, the Irishman says. For Fenson, whos been crowned Canberras sausage king for his award-winning range of gourmet sausages, competitions such as this allow him to get creative. I tend not to delve into too many value-added products, he says. A gorgeous piece of porterhouse is perfect as it is, I like to keep all the meat fresh and natural. I put the detail, the creativeness, into the sausages and the bacon. Sometimes he admits he gets too creative. When I decided to change up the bacon recipe this year I just threw a few things in and it was great, the best bacon Id ever made, he said. When it came to recreating it for the competition it took me months to get it right, and Im still not sure it is as good as that test batch. Fenson said the secret to a good bacon is a mix of many things. It's got to be tender, its got to have the nicely balanced smoky flavours, not too salty, a balance between salty and sweet, my sweetness comes from maple syrup  thats the only ingredient Ill tell you. Ahead of International Bacon Day, which coincides with Fathers Day on Sunday, we asked our award-winning butchers how theyll be eating their bacon. Fenson says you cant go past bacon and eggs: A nicely poached fresh egg, a slice of toast, some avocado, the best breakfast ever. And Dempsey is a fan of the BLT: Some crispy bacon, tomato, fresh bread  I think Ive talked myself into having one for lunch.

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/5fabd0bf-5dbd-4f4f-a967-e6e9f5b4cb49/r0_292_5568_3438_w1200_h678_fmax.jpgnews, latest-news

Good morning, Canberra! Welcome to a frosty Wednesday. It's chilly out there at the moment (expected to hit lows of minus 4), but it will warm up to a sunny 15 degrees by the afternoon. So rug up, grab a hot beverage and check out today's headlines. An idea that started with a beer at an Australian National University bar could soon help doctors save millions of lives. A team of researchers and biochemists at the university has invented and trialled a bio-optics diagnostic device that can help doctors identify patients at imminent risk of having a heart attack or stroke. The device reveals the formation of blood clots by creating a 3D digital hologram from a blood sample in a fraction of a second. Read Blake Foden's story on their remarkable journey here. The Barr government quashed another proposal to shift the base for general rates away from average unimproved land value, after it baulked at the cost of calculating the charge on the market value of a property. As rates notices land in letterboxes, the ACT Greens released a discussion paper that called for the territory to move from average unimproved land value (AUV) to market value as the basis for general rates. Rates are increasing this year by an average of 7 per cent for houses and 10 per cent for units, as the territory government gets rid of stamp duty in favour of land-based taxation, which is widely considered to be more efficient. Katie Burgess has more details here. Turns out we have some of the best bacon in the country on our doorstep. Wes Dempsey, from Elite Meats, Holt, and Cameron Fenson, from Meatways Butchery, Kambah, have placed third nationally at Australian Pork's national awards, in the short cut and full rasher categories respectively. In 2017, Richard Odell, from Griffith Butchery won the overall national award and Pialligo Estate Smokehouse won overall in 2014 and 2015. Karen Hardy spoke to the award winners for the story here. Two members of the Australian Electoral Commission's augmented committee argued in favour of naming the ACT's newest federal electorate after Aboriginal reconciliation activist Ngingali Cullen over war historian Charles Bean, a new report shows. The final 77-page report from the Commission on the redistribution of the ACT's electoral boundaries in order to introduce a third seat shows two members of the committee argued naming the new electorate after Bean didn't fit with previous decisions. It was previously only known that four members of the committee had voted in favour of retaining Bean and two had voted against it. The report shows the two wanted the name Cullen instead, believing it would balance out the names in the federal electorates of the ACT. Sally Whyte has more details on the naming here. The Canberra Raiders will meet with ACT government officials in the coming weeks in the hope of securing flexibility to their stadium contract after shifting a home NRL fixture to Wagga for the next two years. The Raiders have a deal with the government to play every home match at Canberra Stadium until the end of 2019 and it's understood changing or breaking the arrangement could incur a fine if the parties cannot agree. The Raiders will play one game in Wagga in 2019 and 2020 as part of an agreement with the NSW government, but they would need to negotiate a one-game reduction for the 2019 season to ensure it goes ahead. Caden Helmers has more here.

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The federal environment department and a government contractor will fight criminal charges over the death of a helicopter pilot in Antarctica. The department and Helicopter Resources on Tuesday entered pleas of not guilty in the ACT Magistrates Court to three counts each of breaching federal work health and safety laws. Magistrate Beth Campbell granted a six-week adjournment so the remainder of the brief of evidence against the defendants could be served. The maximum penalty for each charge is $1.5 million, the court heard. Helicopter Resources is contracted by the Australian Antarctic Division, part of the environment department, to provide equipment and pilots in Antarctica. The charges relate to the death of Captain David Wood, 62, who died of hypothermia in Antarctica in January, 2016. Mr Wood fell into a crevasse after stepping out of his helicopter during a mission to restock a fuel cache on the western ice shelf on January 11. The mission to rescue Mr Wood, who was firmly and deeply wedged in the ice, took hours as his colleague had to fly back to Australias Davis station for help, a one-hour flight each way. He was pulled from the crevasse by search and rescue specialists but died of hypothermia the next day. It is alleged the department and the contractor failed in their duties under work health and safety laws. An inquest into the death is under way. The matter will return to court in October.

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The stoush between the ACT and Federal Governments over the route of the proposed light rail service to Woden coincided this week with the arrival in letterboxes of rates notices for many Canberrans. On face value the two issues appear unrelated, but many Canberrans reading of the staggering potential cost of light rail stage two will find it difficult to separate it from the unwelcome increases many are this week facing in their rates bills. ACT Transport Minister Meeghan Fitzharris is unhappy the Federal Parliament's joint standing committee's apparent insistence on a light rail route that crosses the Kings Avenue bridge would increase the spend by around $300 million. Her government, responding to questions on notice, said this could push the price up to an eye-watering $1.9 billion. The Commonwealth Avenue bridge route would come in around $1.6 billion. Both figures are staggering given many Canberrans seem poised on the verge of a rates revolt and even the ACT Greens, the group often blamed for the light rail push, are concerned about fairness and equity in the way rates are calculated. The party has released a discussion paper espousing the use of a capital investment value or improved capital value system as an alternative to the existing average unimproved value method of setting rates. The current system, according to former Treasurer Ted Quinlan, has pushed the owners of small units in large complexes into the highest rating brackets with the owners of one such property telling Fairfax their rates and land tax bills now totalled $4,300 a year. The problems are not confined to units. One investment property owner told The Canberra Times it takes more than 19 weeks of rental income to cover a rates and land tax bill of almost $10,000 a year. While it is not strictly correct to state, as many light rail critics often do, there is a direct correlation between this project and the rate increases giving Canberrans bad cases of "sticker shock" every time they get their latest assessment, the issues aren't entirely separate either. If, as Fitzharris fears, the cost of the Woden light rail service blows out by $300 million because of the need to use Kings Avenue, that shortfall would have to be made good by the city's property owners. The threat the Barr Government would likely walk away from stage two in this event may be the best bit of news some Canberrans will have heard in years. While $1.9 billion appears definitely out of the question, there are many who would argue a projected $1.6 billion spend can't be justified either. It's worth remembering the current expected bill for stage one from Gungahlin is well north of what was initially estimated and sold to ratepayers. Stage one does make some sense. Gungahlin is the city's fastest growing precinct; there have been additional benefits flowing from the reinvention of Northbourne Avenue and Canberra's gateway and there is the possibility of an extension to Russell further down the track. While only time will tell if these benefits justify the investment, the case for stage two is far more marginal. According to the ACT Government $1.9 billion is too much to spend on the Woden line. It now needs to produce the detailed business case to prove that the same can't be said of the $1.6 billion.

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/5b19c944-4be0-47b7-bc6b-e114d99e4352/r0_46_900_554_w1200_h678_fmax.jpgSamsung Electronics has unveiled its CJ79 34-inch curved monitor, the first of its kind to feature Intels Thunderbolt 3 connectivity at IFA 2018, a major consumer electronics show in Berlin, Germany.



The CJ79 is designed for creative and business audiences who seek a comfortable and efficient work experience through powerful connectivity.



Compatible with Macs and PCs, the CJ79 features two Thunderbolt 3 ports that transmit display, data and power at a superhero processing speed of up to 40 Gigabits per second (Gpbs), eight times faster than USB 3.0, and simultaneously charges devices up to 85 watts(W), all through a single cable.



Over the years, Samsung has revolutionized the viewing experience for professionals alike, said Seog-gi Kim, executive vice president of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. The CJ79 is our latest endeavour in taking curved monitors to the next level that highlights our commitment to innovation. The addition of Thunderbolt 3 connectivity aligns to that vision and connects customers to infinite possibilities.



The Thunderbolt 3 ecosystem continues to expand and deliver innovative products with outstanding performance. said Jason Ziller, general manager, Client Connectivity Division at Intel. It is timely that Samsung, a leading manufacturer, is featuring their CJ79 QLED Monitor with Thunderbolt 3 connectivity. This new CJ79 QLED Monitor delivers the performance while enabling a powerful new display with integrated docking capabilities for a simple and easy to use solution.



The CJ79 offers a clear and crisp picture quality while providing a seamless dual monitor experience on a single screen. The 34401440 ultra-wide curved display with its 21:9 aspect ratio provides all users with the workspace needed to multi-task efficiently and in comfort. With the Picture-by-Picture (PBP) feature, professionals can display two sources and for optimal multi-tasking, the Picture-in-Picture (PIP) feature allows users to resize the second source to up to 25 percent of the screen and position it anywhere for a more readable format.



The industrys sharpest, 1,500R curved ultra-wide screen, is engineered to follow the natural curve of the eye for a more immersive and comfortable viewing experience. With the height-adjustable stand and tilt functionality, CJ79 lets users customize the positions meeting their most comfortable viewing parameters. Furthermore, the Thunderbolt 3 connectivity, a new level of capability to charge Mac or PC let users connect to additional Thunderbolt 3 or USB devices directly to the monitor.



Samsungs CJ79 incorporates Quantum Dot technology with brilliant and realistic detail across a 125 per cent sRGB colour spectrum. The curved VA panel technology produces a 3,000:1 contrast ratio far surpassing conventional monitors and amplifies previously hidden details across the entire screen through pristine shades, deeper blacks and brighter whites.



The AMD FreeSync synchronizes the refresh rate of graphic cards for the CJ79 to reduce image tearing and stutter, providing seamless gameplay and video playback for uninterrupted viewing.



The CJ89 (Model name: C43J890) is a 43-inch super ultra-wide curved monitor with remarkable 3840 x 1200 resolution, 32:10 aspect ratio, which creates a larger and more vibrant workspace. The robust design includes a built-in KVM switch, USB-Type C ports and built-in stereo speakers for greater functionality.



Samsungs CJ79 and CJ89 monitors are currently available in Europe and will be also available worldwide soon.  TradeArabia News Servicenews, latest-news

Canberra has continued its reputation as a bikie holiday hotspot after a Nomads Outlaw Motorcycle Club gathering at the weekend. Convicted killer and Nomads life member Mouhammed 'Moudi' Tajjour posted an image to his Instagram account on Sunday of dozens of patched bikies posing arm-in-arm on Mount Ainslie. Senior Canberra bikie Michael Clark  who is the Nomads ACT chapter president - can be seen with his arm around Mr Tajjour in the middle of the snap. A video, posted to the same account, shows Nomads members smiling and laughing at a Canberra cafe. The image, with a vista overlooking the Parliamentary Triangle, included a caption that said: today was a beautiful day ... will say I still had a ball with the rest [sic] off the brothers". only time I am at peace with life is when I am out riding with da boyzzzz NFFN MC WORLD WIDE. The Nomads first established a chapter in the territory after a group of senior southside Rebels patched over in 2016. ACT Policing confirmed about 30 men wearing Nomads colours conducted a ride in the ACT on Saturday. However, ACT Policing refused to answer questions on whether its bikie-busting unit, Taskforce Nemesis, conducted any operations in response. The Nomads visit appears to have been incident free as police also declined to provide information on disturbances or charges linked to the bikies' presence. The capital has hosted a number of OMCG national runs in recent years as a result of anti-consorting laws in NSW, Victoria, and Queensland. Bikies' behaviour in Canberra recently attracted national headlines after footage of a wild bikie brawl at a Fyshwick strip club was caught on camera. The ACT Opposition swooped on the Nomads recent visit, using it to renew calls to follow other jurisdictions in introducing anti-consorting laws to target bikies in the territory. Opposition Attorney-General Jeremy Hanson said: The lack of anti-consorting laws in the ACT has led to a bikie safe haven; a four-fold increase in bikie gangs and a violent bikie war in our suburbs. Without these laws, it is just a matter of time before someone is killed. The ACT government has repeatedly ruled out introducing anti-consorting laws over concerns the measures could be incompatible with human rights legislation. The government has instead opted to introduce legislation that has given police greater search powers, as well as anti-fortification laws and laws relating to unexplained wealth. A Canberra Liberals bill to create a new control order regime to limit activities between members of criminal organisations in the ACT was voted down in the ACT Legislative Assembly in November.

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The Morrison government's surprise coupling of the public service and finance portfolios under senior Coalition minister Mathias Cormann has stirred union fears of cuts to federal bureaucrat numbers. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has triggered the alarm at the Community and Public Sector Union in handing responsibility for the bureaucracy to a defender of its strict wage policy and growing spend on contractors. However Senator Cormann marked his entry to the portfolio on Monday praising the public service, and committing to modernise it. Union national secretary Nadine Flood said Mr Morrison's reshuffle following the Liberal party's disastrous civil war last week had shown little promise he would abandon the Coalition's approach to the bureaucracy. The Prime Minister has elevated the public service portfolio in giving it to Senator Cormann on Sunday in a change that could signal a growing focus on federal agencies during a major review led by former Telstra chief executive David Thodey. Ms Flood supported Mr Morrison's move to lift decisions about the Australian Public Service's workplaces into the government's highest ranks but warned of "dire consequences" if it brought on more cuts. "Its deeply worrying to see the APS in a combined portfolio with Finance, the ministry charged with finding cuts and savings," she said. "Minister Mathias Cormann must focus on public services and policy capacity rather than further hamstringing the government with yet more short-sighted cuts or further privatisation and outsourcing." The previous Labor government tied the Finance portfolio to oversight of the public service by creating a performance framework that covered all Commonwealth agencies. Senator Cormann as Finance Minister is already responsible for connecting parts of the performance framework, including duties of officials, governance reporting by Commonwealth agencies, systems for risk control, procurement policy, independent auditing, and collaboration between agencies. It is understood Mr Thodey's review of the public service will continue under the Morrison government despite being championed previously by Malcolm Turnbull. Senator Cormann on Monday said the government had an outstanding public service. Our commitment is to continue to modernise the federal public service to ensure it is as effective, productive and as responsive to the needs of the Australian community as possible," he said. Senator Cormann takes on the portfolio from Kelly O'Dwyer as Labor escalates its attacks on the Coalition's ballooning spend on outsourcing and sharpens its critique of the government's approach to the public service. He has long defended federal outsourcing, saying the appropriate use of consultants and other contractors kept the overall cost of government administration low, when agencies needed to access relevant skills temporarily, or the expertise was more efficiently obtained in the private sector. Senator Cormann has directed efforts to reshape the federal bureaucracy as Finance Minister and credited the government's controversial public sector workplace bargaining policy as creating "responsible and appropriate wage control". He embarked on a "rationalisation phase" of his "smaller government agenda" which saw dozens of mostly smaller agencies and government bodies merged or abolished. The incoming Public Service Minister has also previously backed functional and efficiency reviews established in May 2014 expected to cut $3.2 billion from social services and $1.5 billion from health between the 2014-15 financial year and 2020-21. He said they helped the government remove waste, maximise efficient and effective public administration and ensured taxpayer resources weren't wasted. In budget papers last year he promised to continue making the public service "more flexible, less top-heavy and deployed more widely outside Canberra". The union wrote to Senator Cormann in April asking him to remove the widely-criticised cap on staffing levels at government agencies but this year's budget did not return control over staff numbers to agency bosses.

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/ae788aef-2233-4de2-aa1e-c9ee69196aa0/r0_347_6720_4144_w1200_h678_fmax.jpgRicardo Gomes joins the iconic St Regis Abu Dhabi as its director of sales with over 19 years of international hospitality experience.



Most recently Gomes headed the sales and marketing team for IHG in Lisbon Portugal as cluster director of sales and marketing. Prior to this, he led an extensive career with Starwood holding a variety of positions including director of sales for the pre-opening of The Westin Doha Hotel & Spa, director of sales and marketing at The Westin Langkawi as well as a tenure at Le Meridien Oran Hotel & Convention Centre.



Gomes career spans a great depth including positions held at various sales roles within other hospitality groups including Accor and Karma Resorts as well as in the Meetings, & Events Industry.



He holds a Masters of Arts in European Tourism & Management from The University of Bournemouth as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Tour Operating Management, Tourism from Escola Superior de Hotelaria e Turismo do Estoril, Portugal.



Gomes now returns to the Middle East and his new role will be to focus on driving and leading the Sales Team for one of the most admired luxury hotels in the capital.



Gomes' reports will include the corporate, leisure, government and groups, catering and events sales teams.



Moustafa Sakr, general manager of St Regis Abu Dhabi, said: Its a great pleasure to welcome Ricardo to the team. Ricardo joins us at a key time where, as part of our fifth anniversary celebrations, the hotel is investing in the enhancement of our offering. Our guest satisfaction and reputation in the city is at the highest its ever been and this is something we have worked very hard to achieve. Ricardos many years in the industry will be a key component to driving this and we are confident that his expertise will continue to drive the success we have achieved in the capital particularly as new competition enters the market. - TradeArabia News Service

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.National Housing Bank (NHB) has released an employment notification calling out aspirants to apply for the post of Managing Director. The selection process will be on the basis of a written test and interview. The contract period will be for three years.

Those interested can check out the eligibility, salary scale, how to apply and the complete details of the government job here. Selected candidates can earn up to INR 224400. The last date to apply for the government job is Sep 14, 2018.

Earn This Bank Job And Manage Operations At KVB

NHB Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details

CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Managing Director Organisation National Housing Bank (NHB) Educational Qualification Post graduate degree in any field Experience 25 years Skills Required Managerial skills Job Location New Delhi Salary Scale INR 205400 to INR 224400 Industry Banking Application Start Date August 28, 2018 Application End Date September 14, 2018

Maximum Age Limit: 57 years

Also Read: PO, AGM And Manager Posts Vacant At Canara Bank

How To Apply For NHB Recruitment 2018

In order to apply for NHB Recruitment 2018, follow these steps:

Step 1: Get the application form from the Department of Financial Services official website.

Step 2: Save it to your computer and take a printout of it.

Step 3: Enter your details in the fields provided. Send the applications to NHB.

NHB Recruitment 2018 Application Format And Mailing Address

Superscribe on the envelope, "Application for the post of Managing Director" and send it to:

Shri Promode Kumar Singh

Under Secretary (IF II)

Department of Financial Services

Ministry of Finance

3rd floor, Jeevan Deep Building

Parliament Street, New Delhi - 110001.

Follow the link - http://financialservices.gov.in/sites/default/files/F.No_.24102018-IF-II.pdf to read the detailed official notification.Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) has released an employment notification calling out aspirants to apply for the post of Statistical Inspector. Those interested can check out the eligibility, salary scale, how to apply and the complete details of the government job here. Selected candidates can earn up to INR 116600. The last date to apply for the government job is Sep 26, 2018.

TASMAC Opens Vacancies For 500 Junior Assistants

TNPSC Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details

CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Statistical Inspector Organisation Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) Educational Qualification Graduate degree in any field from a recognised university Experience Desirable Skills Required Knowledge in Tamil Job Location Tamil Nadu Salary Scale INR 36900 to INR 116600 Industry Civil services Application Start Date August 28, 2018 Application End Date September 26, 2018

Age Limit No limit Selection Process Written exam Exam Pattern Objective type Exam Centres Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Trichy, Tirunelveli and Salem Application Fee INR 150 Number Of Vacancies 13

Also Read: Police Jobs 2018 At Puducherry For 431 Constables

How To Apply For TNPSC Recruitment 2018

In order to apply for TNPSC Recruitment 2018, follow these steps:

Step 1: Log on to the TNPSC official website.

Step 2: Click on the link that reads, One-time Registration.

Step 3: On the next page, again click on the link for one time registration.

Step 4: Choose the option to register as a new user.

Step 5: The registration form will open on a new page. Enter your details in the fields provided.

Step 6: Read the declaration carefully and click on the checkbox to agree to the terms.

Step 7: Enter the captcha code.

Step 8: Click Save & Continue and follow the subsequent pages to complete the registration process.

Step 9: Go back to the home page and click on the application link against the relevant post.

Step 10: A login screen will appear. Enter and submit your credentials to complete the application process.

Follow the link - http://www.tnpsc.gov.in/notifications/2018_17_notyfn_statistical_Inspector.pdf to read the detailed official notification.Photo: The Canadian Press Killer whale J50 is shown off the coast of Washington State on Aug. 12.

An ailing killer whale was last sighted off Washington state on Saturday and biologists say she was still struggling.

A veterinarian was able to dart J50 with a broad-spectrum antibiotic on Aug. 9 but Michael Milstein of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States says biologists described the whale as skinny, underweight and emaciated

Milstein says J50 is not getting enough nutrition but whether that is because the 3 1/2 year old is not able to forage or she has some type of infection or other condition is hard to say.

Martin Haulena, a vet with Vancouver Aquarium who fired the antibiotic-filled dart at J50, says he is still concerned about her.

The emaciated whale is part of the endangered southern resident population, which has just 75 members remaining.

J50 was spotted Saturday with her pod as it returned to the Salish Sea on the way towards San Juan Island, which is in U.S. waters between Washington state and Vancouver Island.Photo: RCMP Jeremy David Bellows

Two of three wanted men have been arrested in connection with a Kamloops assault.

About 10 p.m. Aug. 21, police were contacted by Royal Inland Hospital security, advising they were treating a 27-year-old male with serious stab wounds. The victim was not co-operative, but investigators learned the crime occurred at 414 Royal Ave., a known problem residence.

The following afternoon police received a third-party report about a possible hostage situation at the address. Occupants of the home were unco-operative, prompting a standoff with the RCMP Emergency Response Team.

And, on Aug. 23, RCMP were again called to the scene for reports of a "home invasion in progress" that were later determined to be unfounded.



"This entire series of events was directly associated to the local Kamloops drug trade," says Staff Sgt. Simon Pillay.



As a result of the ongoing investigation, the following charges have been laid:

32-year-old Kamloops resident Ricky William Denis has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault and break and enter to commit an indictable offence.

38-year-old Kamloops resident Shane Bradley Cameron has been charged with aggravated assault, break and enter to commit an indictable offence, and forcible confinement. He was arrested Monday.

32-year-old Kamloops resident Jeremy David Bellows has been charged with aggravated assault, break and enter to commit an indictable offence, use of an imitation firearm during an offence, and forcible confinement. He is wanted on an outstanding arrest warrant. His current whereabouts are unknown.

"The violence used in this crime was particularly savage, and we prioritize enforcement on the drug dealers who use violence in our community. Those in charge of these drug lines often use people they consider disposable to carry out these acts of violence, knowing full well that they will be pursued by the police and if convicted, are looking at serious jail terms. This is an example of the reckless disregard leaders of organized crime groups have for their 'employees,' their victims and our community as a whole," said Pillay.



If you see Bellows, do not approach. He is considered violent.Photo: The Canadian Press Cody Wilson, with Defense Distributed, holds a 3D-printed gun. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, file)

A U.S. judge in Seattle blocked the Trump administration Monday from allowing a Texas company to post online plans for making untraceable 3D guns, agreeing with 19 states and the District of Columbia that such access to the plastic guns would pose a security risk.

The states sued to stop an agreement that the government had reached with Austin, Texas-based Defence Distributed, saying guidelines on how to print undetectable plastic guns could be acquired by felons or terrorists.

U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik extended a temporary restraining order, and his new decision will last until the case is resolved. He said Cody Wilson, owner of Defence Distributed, wanted to post the plans online so that citizens can arm themselves without having to deal with licenses, serial numbers and registrations.

Wilson has said that "governments should live in fear of their citizenry."

"It is the untraceable and undetectable nature of these small firearms that poses a unique danger," Lasnik said. "Promising to detect the undetectable while at the same time removing a significant regulatory hurdle to the proliferation of these weapons  both domestically and internationally  rings hollow and in no way ameliorates, much less avoids, the harms that are likely to befall the states if an injunction is not issued."

The State Department had reached the settlement with the company after the agency removed the 3D gun-making plans from a list of weapons or technical data that cannot be exported overseas.

The states argued that the federal agency didn't follow the law when it removed 3D guns from the munitions list. They said the government was supposed to notify Congress and provide a 30-day window before making a change to that list, but it did not.

Lasnik criticized the government for switching its position on the threat posed by the 3D gun-making plans.

Up until April, the government argued the distribution of the guidelines "posed a threat to world peace and the security and foreign policy of the United States," the judge said.

Despite those fears, the government decided that it only needed to restrict the international availability of firearms up to .50 calibre. That's when they reached a settlement with the 3D gun company.

There was no indication the government evaluated the unique characteristics of the plastic guns when it considered deleting that category of weapons from the prohibited list, the judge said.

"Nor is there any reasoned explanation for its change in position," Lasnik said.

The federal government declined to comment on the judge's ruling.

A lawyer with the U.S. Justice Department had argued against the injunction, saying possessing 3D plastic guns is already against the law, and the federal government is committed to enforcing that law.

But the judge said it wasn't enough.

"While the court appreciates the earnestness with which this commitment was made at oral argument, it is of small comfort to know that, once an undetectable firearm has been used to kill a citizen of Delaware or Rhode Island or Vermont, the federal government will seek to prosecute a weapons charge in federal court while the state pursues a murder conviction in state court," Lasnik said.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson praised the ruling.

"Once again, I'm glad we put a stop to this dangerous policy," Ferguson said. "But I have to ask a simple question: why is the Trump administration working so hard to allow these untraceable, undetectable 3D-printed guns to be available to domestic abusers, felons and terrorists?"

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a pro-gun control group that has aggressively fought the online release of the gun plans, praised the judge's ruling "as a tremendous victory for the American public."

Avery Gardiner, co-president of the group, said 3D-printed guns "represent a supreme threat to our safety and security, and we are grateful that Judge Lasnik recognized it as such."

The states suing are Washington, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.Photo: The Canadian Press A Tesla emblem is seen on the back end of a Model S in the Tesla showroom in Santa Monica, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2018.

An Ontario court has ruled in favour of the Canadian arm of Tesla Inc. in its petition that it had been treated unfairly in the provincial government's cancellation of an electric vehicle rebate program.

Ontario Superior Court judge Frederick L. Myers said the decision to exclude Tesla from a grace period for the programs wind-down was arbitrary and had singled out Tesla for harm.

Tesla launched the legal petition after Ontario's Progressive Conservative government ended the rebate program on July 11, but said it would extend the rebates to vehicles already sold through dealerships if they were delivered and registered within 60 days.

The provincial government later clarified that the extension only applied to vehicles sold through franchised dealerships, which excluded Teslas Ontario dealerships.

Tesla said it was pleased with the courts decision to strike down the discriminatory policy.

"Tesla only sought fair treatment for our customers and we hope the Ministry now does the right thing by delivering on its promise to ensure all EV-owners receive their incentives during the wind-down period."

A spokesperson for the Ministry of the Attorney General said the government was reviewing the ruling.

The government had said the decision to limit the program to franchised dealerships was to help protect small- and medium-sized businesses that may have been hit by the program, but Myers said the government provided no evidence to back up its plan.

"The discretionary decision to limit the transition to franchised dealers is not at all related to either protecting small to mid-sized dealers or to protecting dealers who may suffer losses to manufacturers."Photo: The Canadian Press Kamel Jendoubi, Chairperson of the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen, during a press conference, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva,, Switzerland, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018.

Three experts working for the U.N.'s top human rights body say the governments of Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia may have been responsible for war crimes including rape, torture, disappearances and "deprivation of the right to life" during 3 1/2 years of escalated fighting against rebels in Yemen.

In their first report for the Human Rights Council, the experts also point to possible crimes by rebel Shiite militia in Yemen, who have been fighting the Saudi-led coalition and Yemen's government in a civil war since March 2015.

The experts have also chronicled the damages from coalition airstrikes, the single most lethal force in the fighting, over the last year.

They urged the international community to "refrain from providing arms that could be used in the conflict" an apparent reference to countries including the United States and Britain that help arm the Saudi-led coalition, as well as Iran, which the coalition has accused of arming the Houthis.

The experts visited some but not all parts of Yemen as they compiled the report.

Saudi, Emirati and Yemen officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday. On Twitter, Emirati Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash wrote that the UAE "must review it, answer its merits and review what it says about the horrors of the Houthis."

The Associated Press reported last year that the UAE and its allied militias were running a network of secret detention facilities, beyond the control of Yemeni government. In June, the AP revealed that hundreds of detainees had been subjected to sexual abuse and torture.

The U.N. report accused the "de facto authorities"  an allusion to rebel leaders that control some of the country's most populated western and northern areas  of crimes including arbitrary detentions, torture and child recruitment. Human rights advocates have faulted the Houthis for laying land mines and targeting religious minorities and imprisoned opponents.Photo: Oliver Daily News A crowd of national park opponents met Richard Cannings in Oliver on Tuesday afternoon.

A group of opponents to a proposed national park in the South Okanagan met local MP Richard Cannings in Oliver on Tuesday afternoon along his 'Ride the Riding' tour.

Cannings stopped at Medici's Gelateria on Fairview Road at 1 p.m. as part of his six-day ride, where about 60 people were waiting to voice opposition to the plans, some holding "no national park" signs.

Residents in the area have long been divided on a national park. As plans have picked up again, many signs for and against the park have been placed on many private properties.

Opponents are concerned about the impact on cattle grazing and backcountry access, among other issues.

Cannings told the crowd the positives of conservation outweigh any negatives of a national park in the area.

Talks on boundaries for the proposed park are currently centred around areas west of Oliver and Osoyoos, including lands surrounding Mount Kobau and the South Okanagan Grasslands Protected Area.

Parks Canada is hoping to have a proposed boundary confirmed by next spring or summer, and for negotiations with the province and First Nations to be done by early 2020.

In a media conference earlier this month, a Parks Canada staff member stressed there will be no expropriation of private property and said they're "considering" allowing access to ranchers.

with files from Oliver Daily NewsBarcelona announced this afternoon that striker Sergio omen He'll be away from the promoter for at least three months after...Vietnam exports continue to soar to record levels

28 August 2018

Vietnamese exports of cement and clinker soared to 2.251Mt in July 2018, up 61 per cent YoY. Clinker exports reached 1.669Mt in the period, increasing 72 per cent YoY, with higher volumes largely driven by Chinese demand.



Total domestic cement consumption maintained its upward trend and reached 5.135Mt in July, advancing seven per cent compared to the year-ago period, according to the Vietnam National Cement Association (VNCA).



Sales by VICEM group companies amounted to 1.671Mt in July, led by VICEM Ha Tien with sales of 0.563Mt.

Published underUprooted Palestinians are at the heart of the conflict in the M.E Palestinians uprooted by force of arms. Yet faced immense difficulties have survived, kept alive their history and culture, passed keys of family homes in occupied Palestine from one generation to the next.Evangelism and Eschatology Christian Examiner Contributor | 28 August, 2018 by Steven Ira

Almost sixty years ago, a little nine-year-old boy walked down the aisle of a tiny Baptist church, responding to the minister's altar call. His awareness of the love of God was so overwhelming he could hardly walk. He was rather dramatically born again that day.

I was that little boy, and while my experience was genuine, I have to admit that throughout my business career, I did not always feel a sincere urge to evangelize others. Occasionally circumstances would align and I would "witness," and at those times I felt good. Duty accomplished. But I felt no real, persistent urge to do so on a regular basisuntil a number of years ago when I started studying Biblical eschatology (the study of end time events) from a Pretribulational and Premillennial perspective.

Why would that be? Why would studying prophecies about the Rapture and the Second Advent motivate me to share the Gospel of Christ with others? After all, do not many (if not most) Christians see everything required for effective evangelism in the First Adventa known historical event which provided the foundation of our salvation? And do they not consider the doctrines surrounding the Second Adventsuch as the Rapture and the Millenniumto be fraught with interpretive controversy and therefore something which would only distract from evangelistic work?

According to a commentary on First and Second Thessalonians by John E. Walvoord and Mark Hitchcock (part of the John F. Walvoord Prophecy Commentary series, edited by Philip Rawley), the Apostle Paul certainly did not see eschatology as something which distracted from evangelistic work.

Paul and Silas founded the church at Thessalonica on Paul's second missionary trip in spite of significant persecution against himself and his Thessalonian converts. Because of that persecution he did not have a long and leisurely opportunity to preach to them. He needed to get right to the point. And yet despite the urgency of the situation Paul preached the Rapture and the Second Advent.

In A.D. 50 or 51, only weeks after founding the church, Paul wrote First and Second Thessalonians from Corinth. In those letters Paul extolled the Thessalonian church as a model, writing that in Macedonia and Achaia he had no need to mention their acceptance of the Gospel because in their evangelical zeal they had already made their faith obvious throughout the whole region. So what had Paul taught these Thessalonians that was so effective?

Paul's extraordinarily fruitful message rested on three pillars: (1) that the Old Testament prophesied that the Messiah would suffer and rise again from the dead (Acts 17:3); (2) that the promised Old Testament Messiah is Jesus (Acts 17:3); and (3) that Jesus as Messiah and King would return at the end of the age to reign (Acts 17:7). Thus eschatology provided one of the three pillars of his message.

Paul's emphasis on eschatology is most clearly revealed in 1 Th. 4:135:11. In this passage Paul summarizes the basics of everyday living so as to be pleasing to the Lord. He ends by summarizing his previous teaching about the Rapture and reminds them that the Lord's own words had promised them a resurrection of the dead in Christ and a translation of those living in Christ when he came to take them to the father's house (John 14:1-4). Paul twice exhorts his readers to "comfort one another" with these teachings. The Greek word for comfort in the KJV, "parakaleo," carries the meaning of "to invite." Paul is telling them "to invite" one another (and therefore newcomers) to have faith not only in the First Advent, but also in Christianity's central eschatological expectationthe Rapture of the Church and the Second Advent to follow.

Paul obviously considered eschatology to be an essential part of the Gospel of grace and that Christians grounded in this complete Gospel would possess the spiritual equipment and the motivation necessary to evangelize others.

Fast forward two thousand years. As Christians we may clearly see that at the First Advent the perfect Sacrifice was accomplished, that God was thereafter righteously free within Himself to lavish grace upon those who in themselves deserve only condemnation. But without grasping the Rapture and the Second Advent which follows, we remain blind to God's whole redemptive work. Without a clear revelation of those two vital end time events we in effect balance precariously on only two of Paul's three Gospel pillarsand are therefore only two-thirds prepared to be ambassadors for Christ.

Studied systematically the Bible reveals God's whole redemptive work from its first chapter to its last. Beginning at Genesis 3:15, God began speaking of a redemption to come through the seed of the woman. Later, God spoke to Abraham of a final glorious state for his physical seed (Israel) and for his spiritual seed (Christ along with His Body and Bride). Later still, through Moses, God gave a Law which not only tutored the Israelites toward redemption in Christ, but which provided interim sacrifices typical of the once-for-all Sacrifice which He Himself would provide. Through the Gospel of grace taught by Paul and his fellow apostles, the Body and Bride of Christ is now being called out. And, as we can see in the book of Revelation, when the Body and Bride of Christ is complete, God will turn again to His elect nation Israel. From the sixth chapter of Revelation on, we see God dealing only with Jews and with Gentiles (not the Church). Following its dramatic account of the time of Jacob's trouble, the book of Revelations depicts the Second Advent of Christ, through Whom God finishes His full redemptive work in the earth. Only then, when the Greater David reigns, will the earth finally be recovered from its ancient rebellion.

That constitutes the whole Gospel message in brief. It is one in which evangelism and eschatology are intimately joined and one about which any Christian can get excited.

It certainly has that effect on me. Feeding on that whole Gospel message, that little-boy Christian from sixty years ago has finally grown up!

 Steven Ira, as a college undergraduate in English, intended to be an English teacher. He changed his mind, earned an MBA and spent his entire career as a small businessman. Having retired from active business he has returned to his first love, writing.

Throughout most of those business years he regularly studied the Bible, including the works of several well-known theologians: Lewis Sperry Chafer, John Walvoord, Dwight Pentecost, Charles Ryrie, Mark Hitchcock and others. His first three novels in the Daniel Goldman series, "Voices," "Babylonian Harlot" and "The Last Prophet,"are based on Tribulation era prophecies, especially those revealed in the Biblical books of Daniel and Revelation. The vision for this series was to write stories about people caught up in the perilous times following the Rapture of the Christian Church. The stories are primarily about those people, yet they carefully follow Bible prophecies about the times themselves.

The Bible offers many specifics about the social and geopolitical circumstances in the period between the Rapture of the Church and the Second Advent of Christ. The series remains faithful to those details. Yet even in this area the Bible allows wide latitude for imagination since it describes only the essences of those circumstances.

In short, Ira's novels seek to show possible, plausible ways in which Bible prophecies of the end times might be literally fulfilled.

Find out more about Steven on his website: https://stevenira.com/ and find his books on his Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/Steven-Ira/e/B01M7RGMOGInland Hills Pastor Andrew Stoecklein Takes Life After Battle With Depression, Anxiety 28 August, 2018 by Leonardo Blair , |

Members of Inland Hills Church in Chino, California, are now grappling with grief after their lead pastor, Andrew Stoecklein, succumbed to self-inflicted injuries Saturday after a battle with depression and anxiety, his church said. He was 30.

"Inland Hills Church grieves with heavy hearts as our Lead Pastor Andrew Stoecklein was welcomed into Heaven on Saturday night after battling depression and anxiety. It's not the outcome we hoped and prayed for, and today we grieve as a church family," the megachurch said in an announcement on Facebook late Sunday.

"In his time leading Inland Hills, Andrew reached so many with his warm wit, passionate heart for God, and teaching that always, always pointed others to Jesus. The loving husband, father, son, and friend that he was will continue to inspire us in leading others into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ," the announcement continued.

[Update: to read more about Inland Hills Church, Pastor Andrew Stoecklein, and Our Problem with Perfectionism, by expert Dr. Carla Cornelius, click here.]

The news of Stoecklein's death came shortly after the church revealed that he had tried to take his own life on Friday morning and was placed on life support.

"IHC Family and friends, please pray for our lead pastor, Andrew Stoecklein. He tried to take his own life Friday morning, and is now in the hospital on life support. We love and serve a God of miracles, and we ask you to press in and respond in prayer and in faith. #godsgotthis," the church noted highlighting the tagline from a campaign started while the late pastor's father, Dave Stoecklein, battled leukemia.

David Stoecklein, who founded Inland Hills, died Oct. 9, 2015 at the age of 55. His son leaves behind his wife, Kayla, and three sons.

The Christian Post reached out to the church for further details on their late pastor's death on Monday but no one was immediately available.

It is also unclear how long the pastor had been battling depression and anxiety but in a blog post on the first anniversary of his father's death he revealed that life had suddenly become much harder without the man who was his hero.

"Life without you is harder than I imagined it would be. I miss you every day, more and more. I sit in your office and meet with people. I thumb through your library as I prepare the messages each week. I stand on your stage to communicate the grace and truth of Jesus. Your example of how to be a husband, father, pastor, leader, and follower of Jesus is literally all around me. And for that I am so grateful," he wrote.

By the time the second anniversary of his father's death came around in October 2017, Stoecklein was in the hospital to undergo two surgeries to remove a mass from his chest, according to a post on Instagram. It is unclear if this mass was due to sudden illness or injury.

"It took two surgeries this week to remove a softball size mass from my chest. Hoping and praying for good results and recovery. Thanks for the love and encouragement! And big thanks to my beautiful wife @kaylasteck for hauling me around and taking care of me," he wrote at the time.

He had also only returned to preaching about two Sundays after taking what he called a summer sabbatical. He explained it was about four months when the senior leaders of the church stepped in to lead while he took some time off to get better.

On his first Sunday back on Aug. 12, he praised his wife, telling his church that he had not been a "very fun person to live with."

His wife explained in the video that during the last seven years of their marriage they had faced a lot of unexpected developments, including the death of Stoecklein's father as well as recent health challenges.

"We still have a long way to go to get through it but we are all in," Kayla said.

"We are going to keep fighting to choose to believe that God has great plans. Great plans for our family, great plans for this church and great plans for our pastor," she continued, touching her husband affectionately.

"You guys, he loves this place so much. He didn't want to stop. He would have kept on going, going and going and going. It probably would have cost him his life. That's how much he loves this place.

"During this season of rest, I've asked him over and over. Are you sure? You don't have to be a pastor. You could go be whatever you want to be. You could go live wherever we wanna live, we could go to Texas and buy a big house."

She said her husband insisted, however, that he was doing what he was called to do and she agreed.

In their statement announcing their pastor's death, the church also encouraged those hurting emotionally to seek help.

Read more about Pastor Andrew Stoecklein on The Christian Post.McCain was a Maverick, but Paul was a Murderer Christian Examiner Contributor | 27 August, 2018 by Mark Klages

By now most everyone has at least heard about, and likely had the opportunity to initially process, the news of Sen. John McCain's III (R-Ariz.) death on Saturday, August 25 from aggressive glioblastoma. Over the last 18 hours, McCain has been called a "War hero" by CNN politics and a "maverick" by CBS News. He has been called much worse on social media.

The Honorable Mr. McCain, from the great state of Arizona, was both of those things. He was also a quiet Christian, according to Adelle Banks of Religion News who claims he held a firm "distrust of the religious right and a faith that is too public, too political." That is a sentiment that resonates with many Christians today  too political. There is an old adage in the military that says, "There are no atheists in fox holes." John McCain was raised an Episcopal and preached the liturgy from memory in the Hanoi Hilton during his captivity. He will be buried a Southern Baptist.

In the end, Senator McCain was as polarizing a figure as Washington gets. A Republican with three decades of service in Washington, he was quoted by CNN as saying he did not want President Trump, a Republican and himself a professed Christian, at his funeral. His colleagues and most of the mainstream media remember him as a champion of bipartisanship, having stood his ground against "skinny repeal" of the Affordable Care Act (aka. Obamacare) because Republicans had no replacement, even though he campaigned on repeal of the healthcare tax.

While I would like to remain above the fray, I cannot ignore the continued polarizing effect of John McCain III so prevalent in social media following his death. Some have called him a saint, others the epitome of Satan. As with all disagreements these days, the Senator's death has decomposed into hateful rhetoric from both sides of the political aisle, even from some "Christian" friends. Why must we today be so quick to hate, so quick to discount a lifetime of good for a few moments of bad?

I would prefer to follow the Apostle Paul's advice in Philippians.

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirableif anything is excellent or praiseworthythink about such things." (Phil 4:4-8, NIV)

So whatever your opinion of the late Senator, remember that nobody is so pure that someone cannot dredge up dirt upon their death. Rather, focus on the good, pray for his surviving family, and remember, Paul was a murderer, David an adulterer, Rahab was a prostitute, Isaiah preached naked, Peter denied Christ three times, and the Disciples couldn't even stay awake even though Christ asked them personally.

 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/.Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Lately, a lot of emotion has been spent over Confederate monuments in the Tar Heel state.

Silent Sam, the statue on the campus of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, was gleefully pulled from its pedestal by a mob, August 20th. Former alumni, as well as citizens across the state, were outraged at the lawless act and the justifications given for it.

Two days later, August 23rd, the North Carolina Historical Commission rejected Governor Roy Cooper's request to relocate three Confederate monuments on state Capitol grounds. The Commission opted instead to provide contextualization signage and raise funds for constructing and erecting African-American monuments.

Contextualization creates angst for many, while others rail against the Commission's decision to leave the monuments standing. The situation remains a hotbed of passion on both sides.

I have written on this subject a number of times. I cannot say that everyone who is a part of the organization I represent, the Christian Action League, believes as I do on the topic. Nevertheless, I speak because I believe the matter is one of significant import to our state, country, and Western Civilization.

To understand history, it's important that one hears all sides of the story. When memorials such as Confederate monuments are pulled down, it's because only one narrative is being allowed.

Critics of Silent Sam said that the monument sends a message of racism and White Supremacy. They argue it was erected during a period in history when whites wanted to show that they still ruled the south.

Their proof? Julian Carr's speech at the unveiling with its egregious and wrongheaded remarks about what the Confederate soldier meant to the Anglo Saxon race and how he, Carr, personally horsewhipped a black woman after insulting a Southern white lady. Also cited as evidence are the United Daughters of the Confederacy, who spearheaded and funded the monument. Some contend the UDC is a white supremacist organization, an accusation the UDC denies.

Critics of Silent Sam also argue the Confederate soldier was a traitor to his country and a defender of slavery. Memorials to Confederates glorify treason and the subjugation of the black race, they say.

I'm certain some sophisticate will charge that I'm just a backward preacher from the South with a misinformed and misguided allegiance to a terrible group of people. But I can't agree the issue is that simple.

White Supremacy?

Thomas J. Crane, an attorney who represents individuals in employment actions and has appeared in both state and federal court, says the charges of racism against statues like Silent Sam and other Confederate memorials wouldn't succeed in a court of law.

In a most intriguing article titled, Confederate Monuments and Racism, Crane writes:

"I represent victims of discrimination. Like historians, I am in the business of accusing persons or entities of discrimination. But, if I tried to accuse a person or statue of racist bias based solely on speeches by third parties, I would likely be sanctioned by the court for filing a frivolous lawsuit...There are several alternative explanations for why these statues were erected.

"The challenge regarding the Confederate monuments is there is always a legitimate alternative explanation. The United Daughters of the Confederacy was founded expressly to commemorate the deceased Confederate veteran. The Confederate States of America was not the United States of America. That means there was no government effort to mark the passing of these hundreds of thousands of veterans. If the UDC or some organization like the UDC did not raise the funds for these monuments, it would not be done...

"Certainly in most communities, the Daughters were part of the white power structure. But, being part of the dominant white society does not mean those Daughters necessarily sought to support Jim Crow laws when they erected those monuments."

Crane is right. There are many other valid reasons for Confederate monuments, which received broad support in the day of their placing.

History shows Confederate veterans were dying at the time and family members wanted to memorialize their fathers, brothers, and husbands before their passing. Others felt that their loved ones who suffered, sacrificed, and died in that great conflict deserved better recognition and more prominence than what they received in a cemetery for the Confederate dead. Reconstruction had also ended, and there was more money available for building and raising these memorials. Moreover, such monuments were seen as reunification symbols, where the Confederate heritage was brought into the larger American context, acknowledged, respected, and tolerated.

One might ask, if the sole purpose of these monuments was to lionize White Supremacy and slavery, why wasn't this stated on the monuments? No such pattern exists.

In the case of Silent Sam, the plaque on the memorial simply read: "To the sons of the University who entered the war of 1861-65 in answer to the call of their country and whose lives taught the lesson of their great commander that duty is the sublimest word in the English language."

Confederates Soldiers Were Traitors?

In my estimation, there is no basis for the indictment that Confederate soldiers were traitors. It's true the war started when Southerners fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina, but who provoked the conflict is still in dispute by historians.

Lincoln sent a ship to re-provision Fort Sumter, which was a federal fort in Charleston. South Carolina had already seceded from the Union, along with six other states. Certainly, if secession had any meaning, the state couldn't permit a foreign power to maintain a military fort on its own soil. When negotiations broke down between President Lincoln's administration and President Jefferson Davis' administration for the transfer of the fort to South Carolina, Confederates fired on Fort Sumter, which resulted in Union forces surrendering. Although there were no casualties, Lincoln sent 75,000 troops into the "rebel" states, which resulted in four additional Southern states, including North Carolina, seceding from the Union.

The Southern states also seceded from the Union based on the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The right for states to legally secede was widely accepted. Even Alexis de Tocqueville, the French political thinker and historian, who visited America to study its system of government, said the Union "was formed by the voluntary agreement of the states; and these, in uniting together, have not forfeited their nationality, nor have they been reduced to the condition of one and the same people. If one of the states chose to withdraw its name from the contract, it would be difficult to disprove its right to do so."

Again, traitors? How can Confederate soldiers be traitors when the states in which they resided had seceded from the Union, as was their Constitutional right, and formed a new country of which they were citizens?

Confederates Soldiers Fought for Slavery?

Neither is it right to contend that Confederate soldiers were all about defending slavery. This is not to say the conflict was never about slavery. Instead, its to argue that the reason they fought was more nuanced.

Thomas E. Woods, an American historian, who is both a Harvard and Columbia University graduate, correctly argues in, The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, that "slavery was far from the only issue on Southerner's minds, particularly since the great majority of Southerners did not even own slaves. For their part, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, two of the South's best-known Generals, described slavery as 'a moral and political evil.' Lee had even been an opponent of secession, but fought on the side of Virginia rather than stand by as the federal government engaged upon the mad project of waging war against his state. Recall that Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, and North Carolina seceded only after Lincoln had called up 75,000 volunteers to invade the South and prevent its secession. These four states, therefore, certainly did not secede over slavery, but rather over Lincoln's decision to use military force to suppress Southern independence."

Additionally, Civil War historian James McPherson's incredible research, consulted a sizeable number of Union and Southern soldiers' letters and diaries on the way they viewed the war. The results clearly determined that they were concerned about saving the Union, the right of Secession, Constitutionalism, the Founding Fathers, but not slavery.

In other words, Southern politicians might have had slavery on their minds. However, the issue wasn't a primary concern for Confederate soldiers on the battlefield. They weren't putting their lives on the line each day, their bodies being torn and broken by cannonballs, bullets, and bayonets, just so they could enslave, whip, or lynch black people. The notion is preposterous.

Instead, they fought primarily for reasons of patriotism. They fought because they believed their homeland had been invaded. They fought for fear of the federal government enslaving them, and preventing their own self-determination. They fought for their independence. They fought for the commercial freedom of the South. They fought because they had lost family members through acts of brutality by the enemy. They fought because an occupying force was often denying their rights. They fought because they didn't believe they deserved the scourge of their wives eating rats, their children starving, and their property reduced to ashes.

Whether they believed in slavery or not, whether their government was right about it or not, the South was their home, and they would give their lives in defense of it.

Oversimplification and Overreach

Certainly, these affairs were the larger part of the equation. Therefore, making Confederate monuments primarily about White Supremacy, treason, and slavery is gross oversimplification and overreach.

In the same article referenced earlier, Crane contends that "alleged prejudice must be based on more than mere speculation and tenuous inferences." The case must be proven, and the preponderance of the evidence must reasonably conclude racist intent. The evidence doesn't show this to be the reason for erecting Confederate monuments. Even racial motivations do not necessarily constitute a racial purpose.

With these assertions in mind, I will conclude with these thoughts.

True Tolerance Essential

America is a place of many cultures, many political opinions, and many values. True tolerance, which respects individuals without necessarily approving of everything they believe or espouse, is essential.

As a white man, I may not be able to fully connect with a monument like the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Alabama, which is dedicated, in part, to the way people of color are often burdened with presumptions of guilt and police violence. Nevertheless, I can reverence and appreciate my fellow Americans. This same deference should go the other way.

To take down memorials placed in honor of deceased people who forewent their health and happiness, forfeited their honor and substance for the ones they loved in a time of war, is to say such people and the ones for whom they spent their affections don't count. It's to say their ancestors are evil and beyond the recognition of any noticeable or worthy virtues.

Orwellian Ends

Moreover, pulling down said monuments, more often than not, produces Orwellian ends. If the monuments are taken down, there remains only a one-sided account. There is no way to ponder them and the full significance of their meaning, as well as the lessons they can teach.

Taking down monuments and memorials is a revolutionary tactic of history. Burn the books. Destroy the landmarks. Topple the statues. Flatten the memorials.

In a quote from George Orwell's dystopian novel, 1984, we read, "One could not learn history from architecture any more than one could learn it from books. Statues, inscriptions, memorial stones, the names of streets, anything that might throw light on the past had been systematically altered."

Here's another: "Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered, and the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped, nothing exist except an endless present in which the Party is always right."

Isn't this what we are witnessing?  an intentional and imposed ignorance.

It's an appropriate question to ask where this will end. What else besides Confederate monuments is next to be removed or hidden away in some rather obscure place? Will it be statues of Washington and Jefferson? What about the U.S. Flag? Could it be the Christian Cross on steeples and buildings? Might it be any reminders of America's heritage or Western Civilization that causes offense, makes people feel unwelcome, or hurts their feelings?

It isn't spurious to question whether the goal or the outcome will be to lose ourselves in the mass mind and the mass will.

While there was cheering at the fall of Silent Sam at UNC, the lawless action of the mob which perpetrated the crime signals a time of future mourning. A time when intolerance is supreme, lack of knowledge predominant, and uniformity enforced.

Yes, this matter is of considerable import to our state, nation, and Western Civilization.Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

Testimony from former papal nuncio Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano claiming that Pope Francis and other senior prelates knew about Cardinal Theodore McCarrick's sexual predation has inflamed divisions between USA Catholic liberals and conservatives.

Many liberals have hoped and conservatives feared that Francis is steering the church toward more accommodation of Western individualism especially on sexuality. Others would insist that Francis is not changing core Catholic doctrine but only urging a more pastoral versus dogmatic approach. Vigano recalls Francis telling him: "The Bishops in the United States must not be ideologized! They must be shepherds!"

But much of whatever Francis does is widely interpreted in the West through the prism of debates over sexuality, including his recent revision of church teaching on capital punishment. If he can adjust church doctrine on that topic where else will he try to adjust, some have fretted.

American and Western Christianity is permeated by these debates with liberals pushing revisionism and conservatives by necessity in reactive mode. There's no doubt that most of Christianity remains orthodox on these issues even in the West. But the preoccupying debate is divisive and exhausting. It also ignores the concerns that dominate the majority non-Western world.

Christianity is growing fastest in Africa, which may now have 600 million Christians, more than any other continent. In 40 years it may have one billion Christians, Pew Research Center estimates. Christianity also is growing in Asia and Latin America, while declining in Europe and about even in America. African Christian growth is affecting the rest of the world. Churches in Africa dispatch missionaries. African immigrants plant churches, and some of Europe's largest congregations are African. African traditional beliefs are shaping debates in Western founded Protestant communions.

Thanks to fast growing Anglicanism in Africa, a majority of the world's 80 million Anglicans were represented at the June Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in Jerusalem. It has become an alternative structure to the Global Anglican Communion headed by the shrinking Church of England and that is divided over Western sexuality debates. African United Methodists are steering the once USA dominated 13 million member denomination towards global orthodoxy and away from North American Protestant liberalism. An August gathering of African United Methodists in Nairobi reaffirmed their denomination's traditional stance on marriage and sex.

African Lutherans and Presbyterians are growing while those churches shrink in Europe and America. Pentecostalism is the world's fastest growing religious movement and is thriving in Africa. There are about 200 million Catholics in Africa, nearly 20 percent of the church's total, a percentage that is fast increasing.

I've been praying as a Protestant that the next pope will be from Africa, which represents much of Christianity's demographic future. But no less importantly, African leadership will offer a needed alternative to Western individualism and self-preoccupation. African Christians like all people have their problems. But they aren't gridlocked by debates over theology and sex. They are confident and united about essentials. Cardinal Sarah of Guinea has been an especially strong Catholic voice for robust orthodoxy, and he's only one among many.

African Christians, many of whom I know, have survived famines, civil wars, poverty and pestilence. They are tough. And they are often befuddled by American and Western squishiness and squeamishness over Christian truths. They evangelize with hope and confidence because the Gospel is life, hence their churches grow. They also know how to live with Islam and other religions without compromising their own certain faith commitment. Unlike Western Christians, they aren't guilt-ridden or compelled to apologize for their faith.

An African pope would confirm to the world that Christianity is a universal and not a Western faith. Increasing African leadership in all the major Protestant communions will convey the same essential message. The Holy Family, when King Herod sought to kill Baby Jesus, fled to Egypt in Africa. Today Christianity, sorely divided and under threat in the West, needs restoration and leadership that Africa can provide.

Originally posted at IRD's blog.Aid agencies fear new British aid policy will put business before the poor

Aid agencies have expressed concerns at a speech by Prime Minister Theresa May in which she spoke of a 'fundamental shift' in UK aid and development policy towards supporting Britain's wider national security interests.

Speaking in Cape Town on the first day of a three-day Africa tour, she said the UK would retain its commitment to spending 0.7 per cent of its national income on aid and development  a frequent target of some of her Conservative party who want it drastically reduced. She pledged 4 billion in support for African economies, but said aid had to work in Britain's interests.

The UK is to help British private sector companies invest in growing economies like Cote D'Ivoire and Senegal, while also supporting fragile states like Chad, Mali and Niger.

However, her linking of aid with British interests sparked criticism from Christian Aid, whose director of policy and public affairs Christine Allen said: 'Aid must not be used to simply oil the wheels of British business, but instead should prioritise the needs of those it is intended to benefit  the poorest and most marginalised.'

Allen urged the need for UK investment to support 'clean and green' development and to back small businesses, 'the engines of innovation and job creation across Africa'.

She said: 'Aid has been marred for years by donor countries putting their own priorities ahead of the needs of the countries and people who should benefit from that aid. This distorts the purpose of aid and while there may be some areas of overlapping interests, progress does not always involve "win-wins". It would be wrong to put British interests first in ways that harm the poorest. Any attempts to do so will raise questions about how aid policy is being developed and in whose interests.'

A spokeswoman for Bond, the UK network for organisations working in international development, also questioned the government's line. 'Trade and investment play an important role in helping the world's poorest people out of poverty and during times of crisis. We would however be concerned if these efforts were weighted in favour of UK trade or UK private investors at the cost of helping the poorest, most vulnerable and marginalised people in the world,' said Claire Godfrey, head of policy and campaigns.Are the Pope's pleas for forgiveness enough to save the Catholic Church?

After days of speculation, it was during the papal mass in Dublin's Phoenix Park that Pope Francis chose to address growing anger in the Catholic Church.

At the beginning of the Mass, in place of the traditional Penitential Act, Pope Francis asked forgiveness for what some are calling a 'litany of failures' from the Catholic Church. The Pope began this act by explicitly asking forgiveness for those involved in abuse. 'We ask forgiveness for the cases of abuse in Ireland ... we ask forgiveness for all those abused that took place in different kinds of institutions directed by religious men and religious women and other members of the Church." Having assumed that Pope Francis would not be addressing the latest clerical abuse report from the grand jury in Pennsylvania, the gathered crowds were shocked by this powerful call for mercy.

The Pope went on, asking forgiveness for the lack of "compassion and the pursuit of justice and truth by concrete actions" in response to abuse within the Catholic Church. He went further to apologize for, "some members of the hierarchy who took no responsibility for these painful situations and kept silent". The statement came merely hours after former Vatican ambassador to Washington, Archbishop Carlo Vigano, in an 11-page letter, accused several Vatican officials of covering up abuse allegations. This was particular to the case of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick in sexually abusing seminarians. Archbishop Vigano accused Pope Francis of knowing about this case, but choosing to act against sanctions put in place.

Finally, Pope Francis addressed another of what Taoiseach Leo Varadkar described in his speech as "stains on our State, our society and also the Catholic Church." Pope Francis asked forgiveness from children who were born in mother and baby homes and taken from single mothers during Ireland's history. He also asked forgiveness from mothers who had been told that trying to find the child taken from them was sinful. "It is not a mortal sin; it is the fourth commandment." A cheer rose through the crowds.

Although an extremely poignant moment, many have suggested that this act was simply not enough. They were hoping and expecting that Pope Francis would be more forceful in ensuring a change in protocol. Others were determined for heads to roll. However, in true Pope Francis style, his notions of the God of mercy seemed to overpower any judgemental nature. Pope Francis encouraged an act of inner judgement, in a way that, it is assumed, could deflect from the lynch-mob attitude that is currently growing in segments of the Church.

In his book, The Name of God is Mercy, Pope Francis recognises the difficulties that the modern Catholic Church faces. He says, "we don't believe that there is a chance for redemption; for a hand to raise you up; for an embrace to save you, forgive you ..." This is an accurate understanding of the current position of the faithful in Ireland and around the world. Regardless of whether the Pope had listed new safeguarding measures, whether he had begged forgiveness or not responded at all, there is a segment in the Catholic Community that would still not be satisfied.

But Pope Francis believes that the fight against abuse must be a fight in which all Catholics, as individuals and as groups, can work together. Indeed, his own letter, delivered last week on 20 August 2018, was addressed to the "people of God'. Similarly, during the press conference on the return flight to Rome, the Pope addressed the spread of a culture of guilt, believing that all individuals are capable of cultivating it, but that it is also fed by the media.

It is unknown what type of move the Pope will make next. Many believe that asking for forgiveness was not enough, whilst others believe that its intense poignancy encourages an attitude of mercy. Once again, Pope Francis puts the ball in the court of the people of the Catholic Church. When asked about Archbishop Vigano's accusations, the Pope said one thing. "To you and to all those of you who are interested: read, carefully, the statement and make your own judgment. I will not say a word about this." The Catholic Church continues to wait. To wait for answers, and to wait for a sense of mercy before change can begin.Family of murdered student Mollie Tibbetts tells people: 'Don't be mad at God'

The grieving friends and family of murdered student Mollie Tibbetts gathered for her funeral on Sunday.

The 20-year-old went missing while out for a run on July 18, prompting a major search effort that ended in tragedy when she was found dead a few weeks later. An autopsy determined that she had died as a result of stab wounds.

The man accused of murdering her, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, is being held on a $5m cash bond as he awaits trial.

Speaking at her funeral at the Brooklyn-Guernsey-Malcom High School in Brooklyn, Iowa, on Sunday, her father Rob Tibbetts called his daughter his "hero."

"Today, we need to turn the page. We're at the end of a long ordeal," he said. "But we need to turn toward life  Mollie's life  because Mollie's nobody's victim. Mollie's my hero."

Tibbetts' murder has intensified the immigration debate in the U.S. as there were reports that Rivera was an undocumented immigrant from Mexico.

But on Sunday, Rob Tibbetts spoke warmly of the local immigrant community, saying, "The Hispanic community are Iowans. They have the same values as Iowans. As far as I'm concerned, they're Iowans with better food."

Other family members also spoke at the funeral, with her cousin Morgan Collum telling people not to be mad at God for what happened.

"Please, don't be mad at God for taking Mollie away from us," she said, according to the Des Moines Register.

"Rather, praise God for His perfect creation in making a soul so sweet, so pure and so caring to all."

Over a thousand people turned out for Tibbetts' funeral in the gymnasium of the high school she graduated from in 2017.

She was studying psychology at the University of Iowa and had been back in her hometown of Brooklyn for the summer break at the time she went missing.

The Rev. Corey Close, pastor at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Brooklyn, where Mollie occasionally attended, described her in his homily as a "bright, shining light" who had an "infectious joy."

"When I think of the life of Mollie Tibbetts and her tragic death, I wonder why she is gone and I am still here," he said.

But he continued with a call to others to live a life of goodness in Mollie's memory.

"Do not let Mollie die in vain," he urged.

"Rededicate yourselves to live a good life, a faithful life, a life of goodness and compassion. It is so easy to be bitter, to feel like we have nothing to contribute. But Mollie's energy, her smile and her tenacity for doing good reminded me who I am called to be."Israel demolishes family home of Palestinian attacker

The Israeli military on Tuesday demolished the family home of a Palestinian teenager in the occupied West Bank who killed an Israeli in a Jewish settlement a month ago and was shot dead in the attack.

Footage distributed by the military showed an armoured bulldozer tearing into the one-storey structure overnight in the village of Kaubar, north of the Palestinian city of Ramallah.

Rights groups have called such demolitions collective punishment, while noting that Israel's Supreme Court has upheld the practice, which Israeli officials have termed both punitive and a deterrence to potential attackers.

Mohammed Tareq Ibraham Dar Youssef, 17, broke into the settlement of Adam on July 26, and stabbed three people, killing Yotam Ovadia, 31. One of those wounded in the attack fatally shot and killed the Palestinian, the military said.

'We entered (the village) tonight to close a circle and we destroyed the terrorist's home,' Lieutenant-Colonel Liron Appleman, a battalion commander, said at the scene in the video clip provided by the military.

In a statement, the military said dozens of Palestinians hurled rocks, firebombs and pipe bombs at the troops, who responded with 'riot dispersal means'. It said none of the soldiers was hurt. There were no immediate reports of any Palestinian injuries.

Although stabbings and car-rammings carried out by Palestinians since late 2015 have become less frequent in the West Bank, tensions have remained high in the aftermath of US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December.

Palestinians seek to establish a state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2014.Liam Neeson joins calls for Tuam babies to be identified

Liam Neeson has joined calls for the Catholic Church in Ireland to identify the remains of hundreds of babies and children found buried under a former mother and baby home in Co Galway.

The actor is currently developing a movie to tell the story of the remains of children found in an unmarked grave at the home for unmarried women and their children that was run by Bon Secours nuns until it closed in 1961. According to the New York Times, 796 children died at the home between 1925 and 1961. The newspaper says remains of those who died were found in septic tanks and DNA analysis showed the children to be between the ages of 35 weeks and 3 years.

Neeson is among those calling for the bodies of the babies to be identified.

'DNA technology is now available to identify all these bones, belonging to possibly over 790 babies and children, still lying in the ground in Tuam,' he told The Daily Mail.

'The Irish government, aided by the Catholic Church and especially the nuns' order, the Congregation of the Sisters of Bon Secours, must not shirk the responsibility of giving these souls the dignity and respect of identification.

'They had a right to exist. They were not "the devil's issue", as some people and establishments referred to them. A wrong is still a wrong and a crime is still a crime no matter how many years have passed. A proposed bronze plaque isn't going to absolve those responsible for this horror.'

As Pope Francis held Mass in Dublin on Sunday, a vigil was taking place 130 miles away in the town of Tuam for the babies.

Among those making the solemn procession from Tuam town hall to the site of the former home was Annette McKay, Councillor for Moorside ward in Bury, Lancashire, who is demanding a full forensic investigation of the site.

According to the Daily Mail, her sister Mary Margaret O'Connor died from whooping cough and heart failure while staying in the home with her mother Maggie O'Connor.

During the vigil, the names of those buried were read aloud. Ms McKay said it was a 'beautiful' moment.

'Something that was inhumane became human,' she said, according to the Belfast Telegraph. 'It was very moving.'Pope Francis and Archbishop Vigano: The Church continues to wait

After days of speculation, it was during the papal mass in Dublin's Phoenix Park that Pope Francis chose to address growing anger in the Catholic Church.

At the beginning of the mass, in place of the traditional Penitential Act, Pope Francis asked forgiveness for what some are calling a 'litany of failures' from the Catholic Church. The pope began this act by explicitly asking forgiveness for those involved in abuse. 'We ask forgiveness for the cases of abuse in Ireland... we ask forgiveness for all those abused that took place in different kinds of institutions directed by men and women religious and other members of the Church.'

Having assumed that Pope Francis would not be addressing the latest clerical abuse report from the grand jury in Pennsylvania, the gathered crowds were shocked by this powerful call for mercy.

The pope went on, asking forgiveness for the lack of 'compassion and the pursuit of justice and truth by concrete actions' in response to abuse within the Catholic Church. He went further, referring to 'some members of the hierarchy who took no responsibility for these painful situations and kept silent'.

The statement came merely hours after former Vatican ambassador to Washington, Archbishop Carlo Vigano, in an 11-page letter, accused several Vatican officials of covering up abuse allegations. This was particular to the case of cardinal Theodore McCarrick in sexually abusing seminarians. Archbishop Vigano accused Pope Francis of knowing about this case, but choosing to act against sanctions put in place.

Finally, Pope Francis addressed another of what Taoiseach Leo Varadkar described in his speech as 'stains on our state, our society and also the Catholic Church'. Pope Francis asked forgiveness from children who were born in mother and baby homes and taken from single mothers during Ireland's history. He also asked forgiveness from mothers who had been told that finding their child was sinful. 'It is not a mortal sin; it is the fourth commandment.' A cheer rose through the crowds.

Although an extremely poignant moment, many have suggested that this act was simply not enough. They were hoping and expecting that Pope Francis would be more forceful in ensuring a change in protocol. Others were determined for heads to roll. However, in true Pope Francis style, his notions of the God of mercy seemed to overpower any judgmental nature. Pope Francis encouraged an act of inner judgment, in a way that, it is assumed, could deflect from the lynch-mob attitude that is currently growing in segments of the Church.

In his book, The Name of God is Mercy, Pope Francis recognises the difficulties that the modern Catholic Church faces. He says, 'we don't believe that there is a chance for redemption; for a hand to raise you up; for an embrace to save you, forgive you...' This is an accurate understanding of the current position of the faithful in Ireland and around the world. Regardless whether the pope had listed new safeguarding measures, whether he had begged forgiveness or where he had not responded at all, there is a segment in the Catholic community that would not be satisfied.

But Pope Francis believes that the fight against abuse must be a fight in which all Catholics, as individuals and as groups, can work together. Indeed, his own letter, delivered last week on August 20, 2018, was addressed to the 'people of God'. Similarly, during the press conference on the return flight to Rome, the pope addressed the spread of a culture of guilt, believing that all individuals are capable of cultivating it, but that it is also fed by the media.

It is unknown what type of move the pope will make next. Many believe that asking for forgiveness was not enough, while others believe that its intense poignancy encourages an attitude of mercy. Once again, Pope Francis puts the ball in the court of the people of the Catholic Church. When asked about Archbishop Vigano's accusations, the pope said one thing: 'To you and to all those of you who are interested: read, carefully, the statement and make your own judgment. I will not say a word about this.'

The Catholic Church continues to wait. To wait for answers, and to wait for a sense of mercy before change can begin.

Nina Mattiello Azadeh studied music and philosophy and was a Faith in Politics media intern in 2016. She has a keen interest in interfaith relations, social action and is a classical ballet dancer. Follow her on Twitter @NinamatazThe moral case for climate action is clear and urgent

The Episcopal Bishop of California writes on lessons from the wildfires ravaging his state.

As I write, 18 wildfires are burning across my home state of California, having already taken at least eight lives and leaving thousands homeless. These fires, scientists say, are the clearest signal yet of humankind's impact on our climate, and, thus, on God's creation.

As our neighbors suffer, the moral case for climate action has never been clearer. My fellow leaders of faith have been preaching this case with urgency as the wraths of human-caused climate change are increasingly felt across our shared planet. Three years ago, Pope Francis issued an 'urgent challenge to protect our common home' in his stunningly powerful encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si, and he recently warned his Catholic followers that there is 'a real danger that we will leave future generations only rubble, deserts and refuse'.

Adding to this tradition, in June, His All-Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew convened religious leaders, academics, politicians, and activists in Greece to discuss the challenge of 'Preserving the Planet and Protecting People'. It was a momentous meeting, as faith leaders vowed to work with civil society to ensure the care of God's creation and protect the most vulnerable among us. Weeks later, the harsh physical realities of a warming world arrived in Patriarch Bartholomew's backyard, as wildfires killed dozens and scorched the Attika region not far from where he had hosted the gathering.

These climate catastrophes  the fires in California and Greece, recent deadly heat waves from East Asia to India and Pakistan to Europe, devastating floods in Thailand and Laos  could paralyze us with fear. But what right have we to call ourselves people of faith if we stand by and watch as others suffer, or if we stand idle instead of preventing our own suffering?

I returned home from Greece hopeful, and though that hope was tested by the horrific scenes from the Greek fires and the infernos that still blaze in California, it remains. The hope rests upon the fundamental good sought by the world's spiritual traditions, with the clear direction provided by the global consensus on climate science, and with the efforts of people all over the United States and way beyond  of all political persuasions  who work tirelessly to ensure a safe and stable future for all of humankind.

We cannot wait to practice what we preach. The tragic impacts we suffer today are mere hints of what's to come if we don't change the way we pollute the planet and line the atmosphere with heat-trapping gases. Because 'the world we have received also belongs to those who follow us', as Pope Francis wrote in Laudato Si, we have an added moral responsibility to act on climate, and to do so now. My young parishioners  and all children, and the youth of every species  will endure much worse than even the grave suffering of today if we don't bend the curve of greenhouse gas emissions to a permanent decline by the end of this decade.

Indeed, climate scientists have sounded the alarm that we must view 2020 as a critical target year for peaking the emissions responsible for climate change if we hope to preserve a planet that resembles the one on which all human society, culture, and religion have developed.

Now is the time for even more of us to awaken and connect for the good of all. On our path to transformative change by 2020, the Global Climate Action Summit taking place in San Francisco from September 12-14 could prove a key collective milestone, as it will show how business leaders, politicians, faith leaders, and citizens groups are united on climate action. I urge you to take part by making your own climate commitment, from questioning whether your bank is funding projects that contribute to alleviating our suffering from climate change, to having solar panels installed on your church roof to provide cleaner and cheaper energy so more money can be spent on community projects. Every single one of us has a role to play.

As Pope Francis and His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew together observed last year in their Message for the World Day of Prayer for Creation, 'There can be no sincere and enduring resolution to the challenge of the ecological crisis and climate change unless the response is concerted and collective, unless the responsibility is shared and accountable, and unless we give priority to solidarity and service.'

I pray that the fires that burn today in my home state will have been contained, with no more lives lost or ruined, well before thousands converge for this summit. But let all of us find solemn motivation by those who perished here  and those still suffering all around the world  and find the urgency to create a future that is safer, more sustainable, and more just for all.

Rt Rev Marc Handley Andrus is Episcopal Bishop of California.Land and housing preservation is key to the Houston region becoming more resilient, Harris County Judge Ed Emmett said Tuesday, on the heels of last weekends vote that approved a $2.5 billion flood infrastructure bond.

We need to not fight with nature, we need to live with nature and allow those areas to be green that need to be green, and frankly, allow those areas to be wet that need to be wet and not try and change that, Emmett said during a luncheon presentation to members of the local chapter of the Urban Land Institute.

Emmett specifically called for the Katy Prairie, a vast area encompassing much of western Harris and eastern Waller counties, to be maintained and expanded.

I think thats a very easy one for the federal government or the state to declare as a nature preserve and just set it aside and move on, he told the crowd of several hundred developers and real estate professionals in the ballroom of the Junior League of Houston.

He praised the publics overwhelming approval of the county bond measure, designed to protect the area in future storms. The measure, the largest bond Harris County voters have ever approved, had more than 85 percent of the vote.

In a presentation tailored to the real estate industry, Emmet also addressed one of the citys most pressing concerns: housing for all Houstonians regardless of their incomes.

Homes in flooded neighborhoods are having to be rebuilt to higher storm standards. Those who cant afford to rebuild are having to sell and find housing elsewhere.

There is a conversation going on about how many of those homes are being bought up by speculators and will be destroyed and then the lots consolidated. And you end up with McMansions in places where there might have been four lower to moderate-income houses before, Emmett said. Where are those people going to go live?

WHAT'S NEXT? Public engagement to continue as flood bond projects begin, according to HoustonChronicle.com report

The challenges brought by Harvey will give city and county leaders the opportunity to make positive changes as it recovers, he said.

One such improvement: a better system of urban governance.

If unincorporated Harris County was a city it would be the fifth largest in the U.S.

We cannot continue to do that, Emmett said. We have got to find a way for city for Houston and Harris County to come up with a new structure of urban governance. I view Harvey as kick-starting a lot of these conversations.Norway's Equinor said it's investing in new offshore wind projects that could power its oil and gas fields in the North Sea.

Equinor, previously known as Statoil, is launching a new wave of exploration and production in the Norwegian North Sea, but it's looking to do so in a cleaner and more efficient manner. As a pioneering company in offshore wind, Equinor now wants to use wind to power its oil and gas, starting with the Gullfaks and Snorre fields.California will become the first state to let people leave jail before trial without having to post bail, under a law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday that largely leaves pretrial release decisions up to local judges  a change praised by legislative and judicial leaders but condemned by some criminal defense advocates.

SB10 abolishes the long-standing system of requiring newly arrested defendants to put up bail, in an amount based on the seriousness of the charges, to be freed while awaiting trial. Bail-bond companies and other advocates say the current bail system promotes public safety and encourages defendants to show up in court, but opponents note that poor people are kept in jail because they cant afford to pay their way out.

More than 48,000 county jail inmates in California  two-thirds of the jail population  have not yet been convicted of a crime, and most of them are being held because they are unable to post bail, according to a recent state study.

With the new law, scheduled to take effect in October 2019, California reforms its bail system so that rich and poor alike are treated fairly, Brown said Tuesday after signing the bill.

Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Alameda, a co-author of the bill, said the bail system has allowed the wealthy to purchase their freedom regardless of their risk, while the poor who pose no danger languish in jail. The new measure was also praised by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye after the states Judicial Council, which she chairs, took an unusually public position in successfully pushing for revisions to an earlier version of SB10. The current system was outdated, unsafe and unfair, she said in a statement, and it took a three-branch solution  the governor, legislators and judicial leaders  to eliminate it.

But some longtime opponents of cash bail said the new law would simply replace one system of pretrial detention with another, based on decisions by individual judges who will consider a set of prescribed risk assessments and then decide, with little possibility of appeal, whether a defendant is safe enough to release or must remain behind bars.

SB10 cannot guarantee a substantial reduction in the number of Californians detained while awaiting trial, nor does it sufficiently address racial bias in pretrial decision-making, said leaders of the American Civil Liberties Union in California, who had supported a version of the bill that gave judges less control over pretrial release.

San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi said SB10 handed the keys to the judges, and he fears that the new law will result in more people being locked up. He also contended Cantil-Sakauye has a conflict of interest because the state Supreme Court is considering a constitutional challenge to the current cash-bail system.

Most law enforcement groups also opposed SB10, along with the bail-bond industry, which would be effectively eliminated with the abolition of cash bail.

Bond companies charge defendants a nonrefundable 10 percent fee to post bail. As of 2014, according to a study released by the Judicial Council, bail agents in California were collecting more than $308 million a year in fees.

Once bail is abolished, whos going to bring people back to court when they dont show up? asked Harmeet Dhillon, lawyer for the California Bail Agents Association, which is arguing in support of the current law in an Oakland federal court. She said bond companies would welcome some reforms to the current bail law without eliminating it.

One other state, New Jersey, eliminated cash bail for nearly all crimes in January 2017, and has reported a substantial decline in its jail population with no significant increase in major crimes. Unless SB10 is successfully challenged in court, California, as of October 2019, will become the first state to go further and prohibit requiring defendants to post bail for any crime.

People held on capital charges would still not qualify for pretrial release. Nor would defendants with recent serious or violent felony convictions, those charged with domestic violence, or those who had been granted bail in the past and repeatedly failed to appear in court.

Others could be freed while awaiting trial, with monitoring, but their prospects for release would depend on the charges, their record, and the judges assessment of the risk they would pose.

Those accused of nonviolent misdemeanors, like small-scale shoplifting, would be freed from jail within 12 hours after being booked, with some exceptions. For others, the judge would decide whether they posed a low, moderate or high risk of fleeing or committing another crime. County courts would establish mathematical risk assessments to help determine who should be released.

One critic of the bill, Santa Clara University law Professor W. David Ball, said an earlier version of the legislation would have used those assessments only to qualify defendants for pretrial release, and would have entitled others to a hearing. He said the final version, backed by judicial leaders, would allow the assessments to be used to grant or deny release, and would leave the final decision with the judge.

Hopefully, this is not the end of the road, said Ball, who worked with the ACLU on the first draft of the bill.

Supporters of SB10 said the law is an essential first step toward repairing a system that is expensive, ineffective at preventing crime, and unfair to thousands of pretrial detainees.

Our path to a more just criminal justice system is not complete, said Sen. Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, lead author of the bill. But today it made a transformational shift away from valuing private wealth and toward protecting public safety.

San Francisco Chronicle

staff writer Melody Gutierrez contributed to this article.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @BobEgelkoWhile Annie Rupani was setting up Cacao & Cardamom, her new gourmet chocolate shop, there were more than a few inquisitive passersby who popped their heads into the wee store at 2013 West Gray.

Surely, the multi-tiered chocolate fountain cascading both dark chocolate and caramelized white chocolate caught their eye. Or maybe they saw the brightly colored cacao pods that Rupani hand painted and uses as decoration throughout the store. Or it could have been the many chocolate bars and multi-hued bonbons that caused them to press close to the window.

The store's not open yet, she told them. But there was one figure milling outside she let in. And it just happened to be actor Ethan Hawke, who directed the new movie "Blaze" that screened recently at the adjacent River Oaks Theatre. Fans made nice with the actor; Rupani made nice with the movie star, inviting him in for a few nibbles of chocolate. Biting into one of her signature bonbons, Hawke moaned and threw his arms up dramatically.

Actorly gestures? No, Rupani is quite certain he sincerely enjoyed her chocolates.

And what's not to like? Rupani, who opens her new store Sept. 4 in the former Araya Artisan Chocolate spot, is used to people swooning over her decadent truffles, chocolate bars and bonbons filled with flavorful extravagance. The tiny jewel-box store in River Oaks Shopping Center is Rupani's second cocoa-dusted location; she opened her first shop in July 2014 at the Centre at Post Oak, across from the Galleria. The success of the original has allowed her to branch out to a new neighborhood.

RISE & SHINE: First look at the new Vibrant restaurant in Montrose

She has new wares, too. To mark the opening of her new store she has created the Houston Collection, with flavors she says represent the city's diversity.

The collection includes Black Currant & Maranon (black currant caramel with cashew ganache and single-origin chocolate from Houston-based Xocolla Chocolate); Cold Brew Coffee Crunch (dark chocolate and cold brew coffee ganache with coffee bean nougatine made with Java Pura Coffee Roasters coffee); Double Goat (a house-made cajeta caramel and dark chocolate ganache made with goat cheese from Houston Dairymaids); Fig & Malbec (Malbec-infused dark chocolate ganache made with wine from Nice Wines with fig jam); HIVE Honey & Thyme (milk chocolate and thyme infused ganache and honey from HIVE Bee Farm); Old Fashioned Bon-bon (Angostura bitters ganache and rye whiskey gelee made from Yellow Rose Distillery whiskey); and Olive & Oregano (dark chocolate oregano caramel with kalamata crunch breadcrumbs from Breadman Baking Company). The Houston Collection will be available only at the West Gray location.

"I want every chocolate to be something people can't get enough of," she said.

Rupani said she's grown as a businesswoman and chocolatier since she launched her exotically flavored bonbons in late 2012. She now has two stores, a repertoire of about 40 unique flavor combinations, and flourished creatively with her co-chocolatier Lizeth Navarro.

"We're constantly developing and always trying to do things better," she said. "We want to create experiences through chocolate."

Evocative experiences they are -- filled with a sense of adventure and drama. That's true of bonbons such as garam masala and pistachio; black sesame and ginger; pineapple/fennel caramel; cardamom and rose; Chinese five spice praline; lychee and basil; and guava tamarind.

"I think we've developed a customer base that likes new flavors," she said. "They now expect new creativity."

Those customers also provide feedback that Rupani takes to heart. She has created eight different vegan chocolates at customer request. She also said that texturally her chocolates have grown up with unexpected snap, crackle and pop.

Now that a second store is almost under her belt, Rupani is ready to conquer the luxury chocolate market in Houston.

"Now I intend to grow even more," she said. "I'd love to have 10 more stores."

Somewhere, Ethan Hawke is smiling.GREENWICH  School officials announced Monday the district will follow the United States Department of Agricultures Income Eligibility Guide to determine eligibility for free or reduced-price meals for the upcoming year.

A chart of income calculations can be found on the USDA website.

The district will include application forms for free or reduced-rice meals or free milk in the electronic packets it will send to every home.

Households should fill out one application per household and return it to school. Additional copies are available in every school office and on the Greenwich Public Schools wesbite.

The form will ask for: total household income, household size and names of all household members. An adult must provide either the last four digits of his or her social security number, or a statement that the household member does not have one. An adult household member must sign the application.

Applications need to be filled out completely, but the district reminded applicants the information they provide is confidential and will only be used for determining if students are eligible for lunch, breakfast and milk programs.

All school-aged children in income-eligible households can receive school meal benefits regardless of a childs immigration status, officials said.

Officials advise families to contact the school and file a new application if a household member becomes unemployed or if the household size changes.

Eligibility from last year will apply for the first 30 days of school. If the household has not resubmitted an application once those 30 days are up, children must pay full price for school meals.

The school will not send a reminder or a notice of expired eligibility.

All children who live with someone who receives assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or the Temporary Family Assistance (TFA) programs are eligible for free meal benefits.

Households receiving SNAP or TFA benefits for their children should only submit an application if they are not notified of their eligibility by Aug. 30, 2018.

Foster children who are under the legal responsibility of a foster care agency or court are automatically eligible for free meals.

School principals review the applications. If parents want to contest the ruling, they can discuss the decision informally with the principal. Parents should call Jayne-Marie Lockette at (203) 625-8036 or send lettters to 10 Hillside Rd., Greenwich, CT 06830 to request an official hearing.

Family members can direct questions about the application process to the front office of their childs school.

jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.comThe parents of a 16-year-old girl killed in a car crash in Atascocita last month have filed a $1 million lawsuit against the teenage driver charged with intoxication manslaughter in connection with her death.

Tina and Nico Robinson filed the lawsuit Aug. 28 against Jaggar Clayton Smiths guardian Shelly Smith and Handi Stop Employee Gumaro Munoz Campos in connection with the death of their daughter Chloe Robinson.

They are suing the Campos and the Smith families in addition to the gas station for past and future pecurinary loss, past and future loss of companionship and society, past and future mental anguish and the loss of inheritence.

CONFRONTING ALLEGATIONS: Attorney denies Humble store clerk sold alcohol to minor before fatal crash

According to the lawsuit, on July 24 at 10:45 p.m. Jaggar Smith entered the Handi Stop gas station and purchased four bottles of Mad-Dog 20/20 from Campos, who was the only on-duty store clerk.

Campos failed to verify Jaggar Smiths age by not requesting to see valid identification, according to the suit. Jaggar Smith was able to purchase the alcohol without showing any identification and left the store.

Within the next hour, the teenager got behind the wheel of his Nissan Altima where Chloe Robinson sat in the backseat and Salma Gomez sat in the front passenger seat. Jaggar Smith was also driving twice the speed limit, according to investigators. Chloe Robinson and Gomez both died after the crash.

Randy Sorrels, partner at the Abraham Watkins Law firm, is representing the Robinson family.

Sorrels said they were able to identify the stores failure to identify Jaggar Smiths age through the Harris County District Attorneys investigation and after interviews with several students in the area.

Weve followed the district attorneys work thats been done, and weve talked to some of the students that commonly went to that same store, Sorrels said.

ROUNDUP: Houston businesses accused of selling alcohol to minors between May and July

Sorrels said the Robinson family filed this lawsuit to send a message to the community.

For this gas station I think the message has been delivered by the district attorneys office and certainly this lawsuit, but I think they want service stations and businesses who sell alcohol to take notice that youre going to be held responsible for serving a minor (alcohol) when that minor goes out and causes injury and damage after drinking the alcohol you sell to them. You cant put profits over safety, Sorrels said.

Sorrels doesnt expect this to go to trial for a year.

Salma Gomezs family is represented by the Webster Law Firm.

They have yet to respond to a request for comment.

kaila.contreras@chron.comMexico President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will name Fluvio Ruiz Alarcon as Petroleos Mexicanoss next exploration and production chief, according to two people with knowledge of the plans.

Ruiz Alarcon, a former independent adviser to Pemex, will take over on Dec. 1, when Lopez Obrador takes office. Hell replace the current exploration and production director Juan Javier Hinojosa Puebla.

A board member, committee president and independent adviser to Pemex during two presidential administrations, Ruiz Alarcon is well-versed on the inner workings of the state energy giant. Born in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, a major oil hub, he is also close to Lopez Obradors pick for energy minister Rocio Nahle, who once worked at Pemexs petrochemicals complex there.

From HoustonChronicle.com: Producers worry about Mexico's demand for U.S. natural gas

A physicist and petroleum engineer, Ruiz Alarcon is critical of Pemexs income being tapped to fund the government. If Pemex is subject to high taxes and budgetary controls, the company will struggle to reverse its flagging production, he said on Friday in an interview with national newspaper El Universal.

A spokesman for Lopez Obrador declined to comment. Ruiz Alarcon did not respond to requests for comment.

Last year Pemexs tax contributions accounted for about 20 percent of the federal budget, down from about 40 percent a year ago.

New President

The interaction between Pemexs finances and those of the government - and how sharply they are distinguished -- is an important question for investors following the arrival of a new president that has said he will expand oil and fuel output by spending more.

NAFTA: Trump announces 'much more fair' trade deal with Mexico

Lopez Obrador, who swept into power in a landslide July 1 election victory, has pledged to spend an additional 75 billion pesos ($4 billion) on exploration and production, with the aim of boosting output by one-third over two years. Last month, Lopez Obrador named his longtime political ally Octavio Romero Oropeza, who has no oil background, as the next Pemex chief executive officer.

Lopez Obrador is in the process of reviewing more than 100 contracts already awarded to private companies under the countrys landmark 2014 energy reforms.

Ruiz Alarcon has his work cut out for him. Pemex produced 1.866 million barrels of crude a day during the second quarter, its 13th consecutive year-over-year decline. Its reserves have shrunk by more than half over the past six years.

2018 Bloomberg L.P.The 25-year partnership between Royal Dutch Shell and Mexico's state oil company in Deer Park is now extended at least until 2033, ensuring for Shell guaranteed supplies of heavy crude and for Pemex a strong refining presence along the Texas Gulf Coast.

Shell's nearly 90-year-old Deer Park refinery became a joint venture in 1993 when Petroleos Mexicanos, called Pemex, bought a 50-percent stake. The two companies expanded it from a facility that churned through 225,000 barrels of crude a day to 340,000 barrels today.

About half of the oil processed is heavy Maya crude from Mexico, but, after 2023, the volumes will fall from about 170,000 barrels a day down to 70,000 barrels. That change will give Shell more flexibility, while still safeguarding for Pemex a steady flow of oil exports and quality gasoline production, said Sandy Fielden, director of oil and products research at Morningstar.

"By extending the agreement, Pemex ensures sales of its flagship Maya crude to the U.S. as Canadian competition threatens, as well as retaining a profitable investment in the world's most sophisticated refining location on the Gulf Coast," Fielden wrote in a new report.

More than a decade ago, most Gulf Coast refineries were configured to process heavier and thicker grades of crude from countries like Venezuela and Mexico. But now Venezuelan outputs are cratering amidst the countries economic and geopolitical woes. Likewise, new export restrictions will soon kick in on heavy crude from Iran.

That leaves a greater reliance on Mexico and Canada for sources of heavier crude. However, more Canadian crude is expected in the coming years as more pipelines are built to transport Canadian crude to the Gulf Coast. And refineries also are working to process more lighter shale oil from areas like West Texas' booming Permian Basin.

"The shale revolution has reversed the tables by creating a surplus of light sweet crude, and Gulf Coast refiners find themselves paying higher prices for heavy crudes in the light of falling Venezuelan and Mexican production of these grades," Fielden added.

RELATED: Shell big winner in Mexico's offshore auction

The revised Deer Park deal will let Shell use more Canadian oil, or shale oil, or whatever offers the best bargain in pricing markets. And Deer Park will keep sending gasoline to help meet Mexico's growing consumer demand in a country that lacks a strong refining system. About half of Deer Park's gasoline output ships back to Mexico.

Shell also has a growing retail fuel presence in Mexico now that Pemex now longer holds a monopoly in the country.

"The Shell-Pemex deal emphasizes the benefits of long-term joint ventures between refiners and producers," Fielden added. "This lesson should not be lost on U.S. producers looking for long-term buyers for growing export volumes."Melissa Phillip, Staff / Houston Chronicle

An Amsterdam judge has allowed Vantage Drilling to restrict assets owned by Petrobras, Brazil's state-run oil company, in an effort to collect $622 million in damages, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

An international tribunal determined last month that Petrobras is liable to pay that amount to settle a contractual dispute with Vantage, a deepwater drilling contractor operating out of Houston. The tribunal, convened in Houston through the International Center for Dispute Resolution, found that Petrobras had breached a 2009 drilling contract involving the contractor's Titanium Explorer, a deepwater drilling ship.An 18-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting a woman at the Exotic Adult Store in Houston robbed a Porter gas station at gunpoint with three other men during a violent crime spree last week, according to authorities.

Houston police spokeswoman Jodi Silva on Monday identified Charles Craig as one of the four suspects allegedly behind a pair of robberies that took place Thursday morning. The teen has been charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and aggravated sexual assault, she said.

He could linked to several more robberies in Houston, Silva added.

He was on probation after pleading guilty in April to another aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon charge. The teens lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

Two suspects, including Craig, are believed to have sexually assaulted a woman at the adult store at the 15800 block of the Eastex Freeway, Silva said.

Craig was captured shortly after the Exotic Adult Store robbery and the search for the three remaining suspects continues.

OUTSIDE ROSENBERG: Boy, 2, drowns in pond

The Montgomery County Sheriffs Office linked the four suspects in the adult store attack to a robbery 13 miles north of the crime, to the Circle K Phillips 66 gas station located at 21900 FM 1314 in Porter around 2:40 a.m., a spokesman said.

A deputy saw Houston polices social media postings on the Exotic Adult Store robbery and realized the vehicle  a black Dodge Ram  was used in both crimes, Deputy Steve Squier said.

In the Circle K robbery, one of the pistol-toting suspects corralled a customer into the store with a gun pointed at the victims head, according to surveillance footage. He then leaped over the counter while another suspect grabbed the clerk, put a gun to his head and ordered him to open the cash register, according to a Montgomery County Sheriffs Office news release.

At one point during the hold-up, the four suspects hid in the store. The surveillance video shows the suspects going in and out of the store as more customers came in. One of the men robbed the two customers of their phones before returning to the store to steal cigarettes and an unspecified amount of cash, according to the news release.

The four are believed to have fled the gas station in the Dodge Ram truck before arriving at the Exotic Adult Store. There, the men disarmed the security guard and sexually assaulted a victim at the store.

The suspects bolted in the security guards vehicle when an alarm at the store went off, authorities said.

Three of the men escaped after a short chase that ended when their vehicle crashed, police said.

For any information about the identity of these suspects, contact the Montgomery County Sheriffs Office 936-760-5800 and refer to case Number 18A240006 or contact Multi-County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-392-STOP (7867).As Ben Kingsley talks about his new movie, Operation Finale, hes trying to digest the news, just relayed by his agent, that he may soon have a chance to play Groucho Marx.

Nothing definite and he cant say much (there is a movie in development by Rob Zombie, of all people), but what he can say is that hed like to do more comedy, and playing a comedian would be a good place to start.

The Oscar winner is known for his serious roles (he took home his statuette for Gandhi), Operation Finale (opening Wednesday) being an example. He plays Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in a movie based on Eichmanns capture in Argentina by Israeli agents.

From Eichmann to Groucho?

Its a transition worthy of a punchline that only Marx himself could conjure.

But its the kind of challenge actors crave, and its especially appealing to Sir Ben. Playing the twitchy, restless slapstick legend would give Kingsley a chance to move around a bit. I mention to Kingsley that hes one of cinemas most motionless performers, comfortable in stillness the way most actors are not.

Its a vital part of my currency as an actor. I liken it to grace notes in music. In the course of a performance, it may be in that moment of stillness that the viewer gets a view into whatever process is going on inside the character, he said. I think those spaces in movies are precious. They invite the audience to come in and rest in the space created by it, to appreciate the story being told.

On screen, Kingsley is a less is more kind of guy, and he said so to Finale director Chris Weitz.

I told him, very modestly, that if he wanted two takes, I will probably give him less on the second, and that if he wanted five takes, I might give him even less on the fifth, and so forth, Kingsley said.

Not less effort, but less wasted motion.

When I feel very insecure in a role, its usually when my stillness tends to elude me, he said.

I asked him if stillness becomes even more important in close-up, the aspect of cinema that makes film so different from theater, where Kingsley got his start. He said the great dramatists had a way of addressing the difference.

The first crucial years of my journey as an actor occurred onstage, sometimes with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and I was able to eventually play Hamlet, amongst other challenging roles. And of course the plays included the device of the soliloquy, and I think that was Shakespeares version of the close-up. To be or not to be. Those moments when the character revealed himself to the audience, opened up his mind to the audience. Certainly, working with Richard Attenborough on Gandhi, I dont think I could have come anywhere close to those moments of stillness without having explored them onstage doing Shakespeare, he said.

That skill comes in especially handy in Operation Finale. As Eichmann, he is captured by Israeli agents and held in a safe house in Argentina, blindfolded and tied to a chair. In the role, Kingsley must find a way to project Eichmanns evil, his predatory nature, without moving a muscle. Much of the film involves the psychological gamesmanship that defines his back-and-forth with Israeli agent Peter Malkin (Oscar Isaac), who is trying to get him to sign a document while Eichmann pursues his own perverse agenda.

He is determined to manipulate Malkin for his own ends, even if it gives him just a moment of satisfaction.

Kingsley also starred in Schindlers List, and he played Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal in Murderers Among Us. After all of that, hes entitled to a turn at comedy. Though to hear Kingsley describe it, comedy is no picnic for an actor.

Its like the Edmund Kean observation  dying is easy and comedy is hard. Its very technical. Its not the slow burn of drama. Its a quick, rapid fire. The repartee can be highly technical. And I think there is something else at work. Great comic actors have great timing, and I think they also have a hidden rapport with the audience, and that may be part of comedy, too.

Kingsley has been funny, of course, perhaps most memorably  and unexpectedly  playing the villain in the Marvel movie Iron Man 3. His character, the Mandarin, was a failed actor named Trevor playing a part.

He remembers meeting with Marvel honcho Kevin Feige and being immediately excited by the idea of playing a mediocre actor who reaches the zenith of his power for criminal gain. And I must give Kevin and Marvel praise keeping that whole side of the plot completely secret until the film opened.

I asked whether being around actors for several decades helped Kingsley understand and play the vainglorious Trevor.

There are several little sketches of people Ive worked with, he said. And a few of myself.

Alls well that ends well.

Kingsley sneaked into a theater to see Iron Man 3 with his wife and was pleased with the results.

The woman in front us practically collapsed with laughter. What a lovely character to play on my journey. I hope there are many more.Lauryn Hill has responded, rather formidably, to comments made two weeks ago by Houston pianist Robert Glasper that accused her of being a terrible boss as well as taking credit for other musicians' work in the creation of her hit record "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill."

Hill penned a short introduction to a piece on Medium:

"I've remained patient and quiet for a very long time, allowing people to talk, speculate, and project, while keeping my nose to the grindstone fighting for freedoms many folks aren't even aware matter," she began.

And then she let loose: 3,000-plus words about Glasper's accusations, her career, her creativity, her place as an artistic black woman in an industry dominated by white men.

You can read the entire piece here.

Hill says Glasper's comments were "not completely informed, but he's entitled to his perception. Context certainly helps though."

And then she offers point after point of context. Much of the piece finds Hill explaining her exacting and fluid creative process. Like this excerpt:

"I'm attracted to musicians that are open and excited to try new things. When people think they already know what needs to be known, and aren't interested in exploring what I'm into, that's fine, but it doesn't work for my band."

A bit on the industry's double standard with regard to gender:

"I adore Stevie, and honor Herbie and Quincy, who are our forebears, but they're not women. Men often can say 'I want it done like this' and not be challenged. The same rules don't always apply for women who may be met with resistance. When this happens you replace that player with someone who respects you and the office you hold."

A "do what you're going to do" for the Houston radio station that interviewed Glasper:

"97.9 The Box, feel free to not play my music if you agree that 'I haven't done enough.'"

And a few comments directly addressing Glasper:

"Who are you to say I didn't do enough? Most people are probably just hearing your name for the first time because you dropped MINE in an interview, controversially. Taking nothing away from your talent, but this is a fact."

Hill plays the Smart Financial Centre on Sept. 29.

Glasper will play the same venue two months later with August Greene, his jazz/hip-hop ensemble with Karriem Riggins and Common.Slated to open in mid-late October in the Bay Area, Costco is generating plenty of buzz, with other area businesses responding with renovations and a city of Webster official predicting that the store will draw roughly 1 million retail shoppers annually.

With construction nearly completed, the 150,000-square-foot Costco on the southbound side of Interstate 45 at Jasmine Street will be the ninth store by the company to come to the Houston area.

This is one of the biggest retail projects in our citys history, said Betsy Giusto, the city of Websters economic development director.

Costco is the second-biggest retailer worldwide, after Walmart, with a business model that aims to offer quality merchandise at a reasonable cost.

The store will be the regions go-to destination for just about anything residents and businesses need and want, Giusto said, making the prediction for about 1 million shoppers annually.

Costcos services and merchandise include: produce, deli meats, baked goods, groceries, electronics, major and small appliances, home furnishings, wine and liquor, a pharmacy, tire center and a gas station.

A ripple effect

The Costco in Pearland and others in Katy, Humble and Houston can be a long drive for Bay Area residents, said Steve Paterson, president and CEO of the League City Regional Chamber of Commerce.

People are excited about it, he said. They like the idea of it being accessible here.

Costcos arrival is already having ripple effects on other area retailers, Paterson said.

For example, the Walmart and H-E-B on FM 646 recently completed renovations expansive enough to warrant ribbon-cutting events. Sams is also planning major promotional projects to counteract Costcos opening.

All these moves are in direct response to Costcos Bay Area presence, and thats good for business for the entire region, Paterson said.

As they say, a rising tide lifts all boats, he said.

With a destination retailer like Costco, said Giusto, shoppers tend to be loyal and will travel to Webster from Galveston, downtown Houston, Alvin, Friendswood, Pasadena, Seabrook, Kemah, Nassau Bay, Texas City, Dickinson and League City.

It will pull people from all over Galveston County and southeast Harris County, so it will affect the whole mainland, Paterson added.

Costco can also benefit smaller and medium-sized businesses in the area, he said, by possibly providing an outlet where they can purchase goods at a lower cost to run their businesses.

Retail shoppers, said Paterson, like to have options.

Its an alternative and they like the opportunity to go to another big-box store, he said.

For more information , visit www.costco.com

yorozco@hcnonline.comA Morton Ranch High School student was released from jail on Tuesday after he made bond on a terroristic threat charge.

Braeden Patrick McDaniel, 17, was arrested Tuesday on the felony charge, authorities said.

Katy ISD officials did not immediately identify the student, but district officials later confirmed McDaniel's arrest.

'DETAILED PLANS': Three Texas teens accused of planning school shooting

Morton Ranch High principal Julie Hinson sent out a letter to parents about the incident, which was investigated by Katy ISD police.

No students or staff were harmed by the threat, nor were any actions taken by the perpetrator, Hinson wrote.

District officials flatly denied reports the unnamed student was planning a shoot out on the campus.

That information is completely false, a Katy ISD spokeswoman said in a statement.

Hinson reminded Morton Ranch parents that she considered communications with the students to be the first line of defense in keeping the school a safe place.

I ask that you use this incident as a teachable moment with your child, she wrote.

District officials did not say what kind of school-related sanctions the student could face  in addition to any criminal charges.

Students who make threats will be disciplined to the fullest extent allowable by law and district policy, Hinson said. Safety is our highest priority.

McDaniel made $2,500 bond and walked out of jail on Tuesday.

mike.glenn@chron.comMontgomery County Sheriff Rand Henderson will get the funding he needs to hire more deputies despite some concern over the funding source from Precinct 1 Commissioner Mike Meador.

In a 3-2 vote, the court approved $1.7 million in carry over salary funds to cover the hiring of cadets. Meador and Precinct 4 Commissioners Jim Clark were the nay votes.

I dont deny you need the people at all, but I do have a problem with this type of funding, Meador said. This right here will increase our 2020 budget. I cant vote for that.

Henderson said it would but said the impact would be much less than the $1.7 million noting it would likely only be about $700,000.

However, Meador maintained he didnt like adding employees that would affect the future budget.

Its bothers me, sheriff, he said.

County Judge Craig Doyal said he understood Meadors concern but noted Henderson laid out a plan last year to bring on 82 new deputies over several years.

That is something we need to keep focus on and if we can do that out of this years budget, yeah, it will affect next years budget, but it gets us further down the road where we really need to be, Doyal said.

Precinct 3 Commissioner James Noack said with the number of employees the sheriffs office has, it is often impossible for Henderson to utilize all those dollars each year. Noack added by using the unused funds, it makes it easier to play catch up.

Its been a practice of the court to allow the sheriff to do that, at least for the last several years, Noack said.

During the countys multi-day budget workshops earlier this month, Henderson made the largest staffing request to the court asking for funding for 10 patrol deputies, two sergeants and one lieutenant. Henderson, who is a proponent of zero-based budgeting, was able to reduce his budget for the upcoming year from $32.203 to $31.756 million.

However, the court was only able to budget for one property and evidence technical and one crime scene investigator, however, according to Budget Officer Amanda Carter, Henderson will be able to use his carryover funds from the current year toward deputies in the upcoming budget year.

According to Henderson, he projects that amount to be about $1.3 million.

During last years budget workshops, Henderson requested an additional $3.7 million to add 41 positions. The court agreed to give him $3 million. The additional $700,000 came from unused salary funds from the previous year.

cdominguez@hcnonline.comEvery time nurse Linda McCurley walks in the door at Guillermo Willie Mendezs house he immediately lights up.

He is always very friendly and outgoing, a real social butterfly, McCurley said.

His sunny demeanor was no different Tuesday as he greeted friends, family members and VFW members at a celebration for his 93rd birthday at the VFW Post 4709 in Conroe.

The World War II veteran lit up as his daughter, Cindy, escorted him into the VFWs Canteen on Tuesday and he was welcomed by his sister, Margaret, from Austin among a host of nieces, nephews, friends and fellow brothers and sisters in arms.

The party was put on in coordination with the VFW Post 4709 and Bristol Hospices We Honor Veterans program, which is a part of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Operation, according to Linda Shiflet, Chaplain for Bristol Hospice.

Another of his nurses, Cindy Fowler, said hes compassionate, loving, good-spirited and witty.

He loves life. He really does, said Fowler.

Because Mendez was a part of the VFW Post 4709 Honor Guard for such a long time, the Post honor guard was there Tuesday to present him an official honor guard shirt which he quickly put on then posed for pictures with family and friends in.

Mendez was born in Brownsville, Texas in August 1925.

He was the second born of eight children in his family. He had four brothers, J.J., Elijio, Robert and Henry and three sisters, Gloria, Margaret and Josephine.

After his schooling in Brownsville, Mendez joined the U.S. Army serving in World War II.

He served in Germany.

In a 2015 Courier article he recalled liberating a prison camp full of Americans who, under the watch of Germans, had not been fed for over a week.

We gave them all the food that we had because they were starving, Mendez said.

Following his military service, Mendez worked for Pan American airlines, with his brother, Elijio.

The Mendez family moved to Conroe in 1978 according to his daughter, Cindy, joining Elijios family that had moved to Conroe in 1967. And Mendez continues to live in the same house that the family first moved into then.

He also developed a dedication to the Conroe VFW Post.

His daughter Cindy remembers him spending many evenings at the Post with his military brothers and sisters. He also spent many years as a part of the Posts Honor Guard.

Mendez has three daughters and two sons, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

VFW Post 4709 is located at 1303 W. Semands Street in Conroe. Visit www.vfw4709.org for more information about the organization.The largest international arts festival in the world beckons to approximately 16 Dulles High School students.

The theater art students are planning to attend the Edinburgh Fringe Festival next August in Scotland, said Blake Minor, Dulles High School theater director.

Its two weeks of just art and fine arts, said Minor. It gets them seeing the full gamut of the best performers in the world all the way to simple educational theater to some avant-garde and street performers as well.

The troupe of Dulles students headed for the festival next summer excludes students who will graduate in 2019 with Minor explaining its a logistical matter.

Minor intends to present a story idea to the students and let them improvise through a show. Well create a script based on that improvisation and go from there, Minor said. It will be a self-written show by these kids. Dulles students will perform four times at the festival.

Its an education by fire kind of thing, continued Minor. They see and learn more than they could in an entire year of school. They see everything. If they take full advantage of it, they will see elements of every type of art.

Blake will be attending the 2019 festival along with one chaperone, who is a school district administrator.

The cost ranges between $5,600 to $6,200 per student depending upon the flight.

Fundraising projects are planned and include car washes at the high school, a Haunted House on Oct. 30-31, improv shows throughout the year and a Nov. 9 Kendra Scott show. Visit http://www.vikingtheatrecompany.com/ and https://www.gofundme.com/vtc-goes-to-the-scottish-fringe for more information.

The goal is to raise 100 percent, said Minor, who added that a realistic goal is raising at least 25 percent of the cost.

The theaters Facebook page says, The Viking Theatre Company was invited to perform at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland during the summer of 2019. We are extremely excited to receive this opportunity and hope that you can help get these students across the pond for this once in a lifetime experience.

Minor said, Its a really cool opportunity. Theres a lot of excitement built around it.

While Minor has never been to the festival, he said students from Bush and Austin high schools in Fort Bend Independent School District have gone.

Some of the Bush students who went a couple of years ago changed their minds on how they felt about the direction of their life after high school. It made them decide without hesitation to major in theater in college, explained Minor. Other students have gone to back to further their education at the University of Edinburgh or in London.

The festival began in 1947 and this year was scheduled Aug. 3-27. Visit https://www.edfringe.com/ for details.

karen.zurawski@chron.comA Houston man confessed to killing his girlfriend and stuffing her in the trunk of a car before leaving it parked in a neighborhood in Missouri City, police said.

Troy Larue Parker, 20, is in custody related to the killing of his girlfriend, Sabrina Nicole Herrera, 19. Charges have not been filed at this time.The Texas prison system drew laudits on Friday with a new phone contract that will slash the cost of inmate calls home by roughly 75 percent.

Now, instead of an average of 26 cents per minute, inmates and their families will pay 6 cents a minute to call using the same offender telephone system currently in place at the state's 104 units. (Read that story here.)



But as soon as news of the change hit the internet, it sparked some widespread concerns and a number of questions. Here are some answers to the most-asked questions circulating online:

Was the decision to cut phone rates in response to the national prison strike?

No.

The Texas prison system doesn't directly set the phone prices. Instead, they hire a contractor and agree on rates.

Prison officials started looking for a better phone contract in the spring, knowing that the current one was set to expire in August.

The process of getting a new contract started with a request for proposal, which the Texas Department of Criminal Justice put out in April, according to a prison spokesman. Four vendors responded, offering proposed phone plans and contracts.

The agency negotiated with three of the vendors and ultimately awarded the contract to CenturyLink. That's the same company that holds the current contract, and it's the company that offered the best rates.

After hammering out the details, prison officials asked for the Texas Board of Criminal Justice - the nine-member appointed board that oversees state prisons - to vote on the proposed contract. That item was added to the August meeting agenda roughly a month before the prison strike started in other states, according to spokesman Jeremy Desel. The board approved the new contract on Friday.

There's still no indication - from prison officials, advocates, activists, or family members of those behind bars - that there are any strike actions taking place in Texas.

How do families sign up for the new pricing?

The new price structure automatically takes effect at all units - including private prisons and state jails - on Sept. 1. Families do not have to do anything different.

The contract is with CenturyLink, which is the only phone provider for Texas prisons. So no matter what site you signed up through and what company it says on the bill, if you are currently able to receive calls from Texas prisons you will benefit from the rate reduction.

Paying for calls will still work the way it currently does, officials said. Inmates can call collect to their pre-approved list, they can buy minutes through commissary, or families can buy minutes on the outside.

Is the prison going to cut back on food if they're losing money on phones?

No. That is not how it works. The prison system has never profited from the phone system; the money has always gone elsewhere.

Currently, the revenue is divided among the vendor, the Crime Victims' Compensation Fund and the state's general fund. None of it goes directly to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

As mandated by state law, the contractor gets 60 percent of the phone revenue and the state gets 40 percent. Of that 40 percent, the first $10 million goes to the crime victim fund. After that first $10 million, half goes to the victims fund and the other half goes to the state's general fund.

During fiscal year 2017, the phone system brought in $14.49 million for the victim fund, according to department data.

There's been some concern in the Twittersphere about whether the cheaper phone rates will mean a significant loss for the victim fund.

But a prison spokesman said it's not clear that'll be the case. CenturyLink has agreed to install more phones as needed and the time limit for phone calls has increased from 20 minutes to 30 minutes. That - along with the cheaper rates - is expected to boost phone use enough to help offset the decline in call rates, Desel said.



What's up with new video visitation? Is there any chance it will replace in-person visits?

Aside from setting new prices for phone calls, the new contract also includes video visitation at specific units. Those units won't be announced until Sept. 1, when the new contract starts. But the list will definitely include six rural units and six units in major urban areas - since part of the goal is to make it easier for families in cities to visit remote prisons.

Visitors will go to a prison unit like they're going to a regular visit, but then they'll just video conference with a prisoner in another unit instead of seeing their loved one in person.

There's not a firm time frame for when the video visitation hardware will be installed, but Desel said it would likely be by the end of the year. It will not, he confirmed, replace in-person visits.

Other services offered will not change, and the system will still not allow the option to leave voicemails. Although that may be an option in some other prison systems, the online images of pricey phone bills for a voicemail message are not from state prisons in Texas.If the sound of three jets flying in formation over the Houston area Tuesday doesn't grab residents' attention, their size certainly will: two are 80- to 90-feet long.

The distraction will last just an hour as officials at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston capture photos for brochures advertising their planes for science experiments.A year after facing an annexation threat, property owners in two parts of Pearlands extraterritorial jurisdiction will get to vote Nov. 6 whether to create emergency services districts to fund their own fire and medical response services through local property tax revenue.

But the city has calculated that neither proposed district could garner enough revenue to cover costs for contracting the services from Pearland. The city would not be obligated to agree to a contract.

If voters support establishment of Emergency Services District No. 4 along the southern edge of Pearland and of Emergency Service District No. 5 in the Silverlake area between Texas 288 and Cullen Boulevard, Brazoria County Commissioners Court would appoint governing boards. The districts then could levy property taxes of up to 10 cents per $100 valuation to pay for emergency medical service and fire facilities, equipment and personnel or to cover the cost to contract those services.

Pearland City Council on Aug. 27 gave final approval for the elections. The county commission previously gave its approval after receiving petitions from residents in each area.

The city had decided to stop providing emergency services to both the areas after residents in various parts of its ETJ fought an annexation effort and ultimately won the right to remain unincorporated in March.

The council voted unanimously in favor of allowing an election for proposed EMS District No. 4, which would cover 6,400 acres and consists of an estimated 4,642 parcels. But the council split 5-2 in favor of authorizing an election for ESD No. 5. City Council members Trent Perez and Adrian Hernandez cast the no votes, arguing that at 923 acres, that area was too small for its own ESD and that it should be part of proposed ESD No. 4.

If Pearland were contracted to provide fire and emergency medical services to residents in the potential ESD No. 4, the cost would be around $1.4 million, which would exceed the $851,756 the district would be able to garner at the maximum tax rate, said Joel Hardy, the citys special projects administrator.

ESD No. 5 would include municipal utility districts 2 and 3 and cover 2,100 parcels.

Residents of Silverlake said that having their own entity would allow them to have better representation through that districts board.

Weve always had great things to say about Pearland emergency and fire, Silverlake resident Charles Gaevert said during the public comment period of the Aug. 27 meeting. When you boil this all down, we just want to pay our fair price and have some representation. If we were lumped into ESD 4, we wouldnt have any representation.

The city estimates the cost to provide emergency services to ESD No. 5 at $711,000, with potential revenue of $614,000 if the district is formed and taxed at the maximum level.

In 2017, Pearland sought to annex around 2,000 acres of county land in advance of a new state law requiring cities in large counties to get the approval of targeted residents before annexing them. Pearland officials had determined that the city could not afford to keep footing the bill for ETJ emergency services without payment and had only done so on the assumption that the areas would eventually be annexed, Perez said.

Backlash from county residents led to lawsuits against the city alleging Pearland did not follow proper procedure, and ultimately, the city repealed the annexations.

City Council announced in March it would cease providing emergency services to the ETJ by Dec. 31, and that in the meantime, it would work with those in the areas to come up with a solution to keep the emergency services in the area but in a way in which the city would be reimbursed if it did continue to be the provider.

Money will not be available to any new ESD through the tax revenues to pay for services until 2019 if both entities are formed. In that case, and in the interim while negotiations are taking place with whomever the ESD contracts with, the city would continue to provide the emergency services, City Manager Clay Pearson said.

Had the county or city not approved the election to create the EDS, it would have created a unique situation in Brazoria County.

Should either one of these areas not pass, County Commissioner Stacy Adams said in a previous Houston Chronicle interview, they will be the only areas in Brazoria County that do not have a primary responder.

Council members Derrick Reed and Gary Moore both voted in favor of allowing the elections despite expressing concern over allowing creation of governmental entities that can tax, take on debt and deduct administrative costs from funds meant for services.

I dont see anything wrong with the voters deciding, Reed said. But I hope you all as voters educate yourselves on what an ESD is. Fully understand it, and not just because someone told you to come fight for it, but fully understand what an ESD accomplishes. Make sure you research it yourself  thats all I want to say.

Following the vote to allow the election, a resident of Silverlake and potential ESD No. 5, Leshan Jayasekera, said he was surprised council voted in favor despite comments expressing concerns officials had about creating too many governmental entities.

I think they realized it was truly a local issue, Jayasekera said. They created this issue when they cut off services and suggested we create an ESD. It would be unfair then not to let the people vote on it.

Regarding his vote to allow an election regarding ESD No. 4, Hernandez said, I will vote for it, but trying to remember my primary responsibility is to protect Pearland taxpayers. Knowing that Pearland citizens would have to subsidize this  its a difficult decision, you obviously dont want anyone to be without service. But anytime you go shop or eat, please make sure to do it in the city of Pearland so we can get some some of that (sales tax) revenue.RoseMarie Trauschke, a Pearland resident performing in an area production of the explosive drama Best of Enemies, believes the show has timely lessons for today.

She portrays the long-suffering wife of a Ku Klux Klan leader whose opinions gradually change as he works with a black community activist.

The play is amazing and very relevant to whats going on today, Trauschke said. We are living in forward times, but there is always the chance that we could repeat history. I hope that people who see our play will take something from the experience that will enrich a lot of lives.

Best of Enemies which plays Aug. 31 through Sept. 16, dares to find good in people on both sides of the issue of school desegregation in Durham, N.C. in 1971.

It is as relevant today as the true story it is based on, said director Gregory R. Brown, a 1974 graduate of South Houston High School who lives in the Pasadena area.

A lot of the same issues are rearing their ugly heads again today, said Brown, explaining that playwright Mark St. Germain based the show on Osha Gray Davidsons 1996 best-selling book, The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South.

Lanier Young of La Porte plays C.P. Ellis, who begins the play as the Exalted Cyclops of the Durham Ku Klux Klan, a group that he believes fosters love for our country and families.

Trauschkes character, Mary Ellis, resents the time that her husband spends away from home while she cares for their children.

Lighting crosses is a symbol of our faith in Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, C.P. Ellis tells Ann Atwater, a bitter black civil rights activist in Durham. She is portrayed by Tara G. Brown of Houston, who recently donned a straw-colored wig to play an Alfred Hitchcock blonde in Patrick Barlows The 39 Steps at PLT.

Want to go? What: Pasadena Little Theatre's "Best of Enemies'" Where: Pasadena Little Theatre, 4318 Allen-Genoa Rd, Pasadena, TX 77504 When: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 16. Another show is set for 8 p.m. Thursday Sept. 13. Admission: $12-15 Information: 713-941-1758; www.pasadenalittletheatre.org See More Collapse

Both Ellis and Atwater initially resist pressure by a community organizer, Bill Riddick, to work together to create programs that address racial issues in schools through a process called a charrette.

Its French for meetings between people of different points of view to come to an understanding, and we keep meeting til they do, explains Riddick, played by Trey Morgan Lewis. In this years Black History Month production at the Pearl Theater, Miss Evers Boys, Lewis played Hodman, an Alabama tenant farmer, in David Feldshuhs fictionalized account of the notorious Tuskegee Study in the 1930s.

Riddicks goal is to show Ellis and Atwater that, despite the difference in their skin color, the two share an important characteristic  both are poor.

It doesnt matter what race you are, there is classism within the races, Brown said. Were all the same. The play is less about race and more about classism. That didnt quite hit me until we got into the rehearsal process.

As RoseMarie Green (her maiden name), Trauschke advanced to national competitions in speech and debate while a student at Friendswood High School, where she graduated in 1996.

We debated topics from the political climate of the time, she said. I always look for shows to be in that have a social conscience.

Young said his character blames Jews, Catholics and blacks for his situation as a father desperately trying to fend for his family.

He changes his mind about black people when he meets Ann Atwater, Young said. We change our opinion of people when we get to know them. Its something I began learning 10 or 15 years ago. You dont get anywhere by talking at someone. There is no convincing anyone about the death penalty or gay marriage or anything until you get to know them.

Best of Enemies exposes the poison of prejudice in the hearts of Atwater and Ellis, Brown said. By facing each other, they are forced to face the worst, and the best, in themselves.

Leslie Barrera is the assistant director for Best of Enemies. The stage manager is Ann Dolbee, production design is by Zach Varela and Me Sheridan is the shows prop mistress.

The director and cast will participate in a post-show discussion with the audience on Sept. 13.

Don Maines is a freelance writer who can be reached at donmaines@att.netAgainst the backdrop of growing community focus, a Sugar Land city task force has been established to make recommendations on the internment and reburial of 95 human remains found at a construction site in Fort Bend, according to a news release issued Monday by the city.

"The cemetery was found because of Reginald Moore's advocacy and dedication to the history of convict lease labor in the area," said city manager Allen Bogard in a release announcing the task force's creation. "I can't stress enough the importance of our task force. It is important that it comprises diverse community stakeholders, and I believe we've accomplished this purpose."

The issue of convict labor and the remains from the convict-leasing system has gained nationwide attention in recent weeks. Forty-eight remains had been uncovered as of mid-July, but only 25 had been completely analyzed. All the bodies so far had been identified as African-American.

The task force's goal is to ensure the remains "are memorialized with the utmost dignity and in a manner that honors their historical significance," the release stated.

Moore, who has pushed public officials to properly recognize the remains, has been invited to sit on the task force. He has actively spoke out about the area's tie to the convict-leasing system for years.

The group also will comprise a wide range of entities such as the city , Fort Bend ISD, the Houston Area Urban League, the Fort Bend Historical Commission, the Texas Historical Commission, the NAACP, Rice University history professor Caleb McDaniel, author Douglas Blackmon who wrote a book about the convict-leasing system, members of the Sugar Land community and others, according to the release.

The first meeting will be held Sept. 5 at Sugar Land City Hall at 6 p.m.

Sugar Land is also working on an agreement with Fort Bend ISD to rebury the 95 remains at Old Imperial Farm Cemetery, which sits less than a mile away from the construction site, the release said.

Moore actively researched the history of Old Imperial Farm cemetery, which lead him to discover that it likely holds bodies from those who were part of the convict-leasing system. The cemetery's close proximity to the school district's construction site last year caused him to alert school officials about conducting an archaeological survey.

The school district first announced the discovery of the remains in April. In July, archaeologists confirmed the remains found so far were likely part of the convict-leasing system, where Texas state prisoners were contracted out to do cheap labor.

The school district will continue to oversee the exhumation of the remains at the construction site and will also submit a petition to a court to remove and rebury the remains, the release stated. Exhumation of the remains began in June at the construction site.

The task force will also help determine other educational efforts to tell the history of the remains and the convict-leasing system.

Moore has advocated for a museum to be built.

The city of Sugar Land will oversee costs related to Old Imperial Farm Cemetery, which sits on 63-acres of property they own, according to the release.

"Just as we've worked hard to honor and protect those buried at the Old Imperial Prison Farm Cemetery, the city has a common interest in ensuring that the remains discovered on the school district's property are memorialized with the utmost dignity and in a manner that honors their historical significance," said said First Assistant City Manager Steve Griffith in the release. "We look forward to facilitating a coordinated effort that achieves this purpose and meets the needs of our community and our partners."The Woodlands is expanding its tourism-related services after the township Board of Directors approved a request from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to increase the number of days that Global Entry application services are offered at the Town Hall.

Under the expansion, in-person interview services are now available at the Town Hall every Thursday, an increase from the previous schedule which saw the office open only two times per month.

More than 5 million citizens and legal residents of 10 participating countries are enrolled in Global Entry, a trusted traveler program from CBP that facilitates quick access to immigration services upon entering the United State from a trip abroad.

Applicants must apply and be deemed low-risk and have a clean criminal background before moving on to the in-person interview portion.

The process to become a Trusted Traveler is fairly lengthy: an applicant pays $100 for the online form, submits to a background check and schedules an interview  the wait for which, especially in The Woodlands location, can be months.

No one could get an appointment, said Bruce Rieser, a member of the township Board of Directors and chairman of Visit The Woodlands. (The facility at Town Hall was) booked out so far in advance that we needed to add some more resources.

The township began offering interview services in 2017 after CBP reached out township officials for the unprecedented partnership, Rieser said. In 2017, the Woodlands became the 11th location in Texas to offer Global Entry services, drawing interviewees from as far north as the south Dallas area  the next closest location is at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

When a Global Entry member returns to the United States from Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, South Korea, India, Colombia, Singapore or the United Kingdom, they approach a kiosk, present their passport or residency card and proceed to baggage claim.

Were proud to be chosen as a community that will partner with CBP for an enrollment center for Global Entry, said Township Chairman Gordy Bunch in a news release. I can tell you there are hundreds of residents here locally who will utilize this service.

mrincon@chron.comThe Oak Ridge North City Council sent off retiring city manager Vicky Rudy with a song and a prayer the same night they OKd hiring her replacement.

The council unanimously approved the appointment of Richard Derr as the new city manager at the Monday night council meeting, effective Sept. 4. Rudy had announced her retirement in the spring, but continued to work through the end of August until her replacement was hired.

Im very excited, Derr said. Oak Ridge North has always been a part of me; even when I left, it was a part of me.

Derr is an alumni of Miami University in Ohio and previously served as the citys administrator from 1989 to 1994. Following his first stint at the city, Derr joined The Woodlands Development Company as the director of community operations and eventually became the director of uility district relations before applying for the city manager position in June.

He started here and by golly, hes going to end up here, Mayor Jim Kuykendall said at the meeting.

Derrs hiring comes at the end of a process set off by Rudys announcement that her retirement would be effective Aug. 31 after more than two decades serving municipalities in Montgomery County  eight years of which she spent in Oak Ridge North.

In his new role as city manager, Derr will be responsible for advising the council and managing the citys day-to-day operations.

Aside from his work at the Howard Hughes Corporation, Derr served on the board of a homeschool co-op called Board of Extra Ordinary Education, was a founding member of Montgomery County-based Safe Harbor, a member of The Woodlands chapter of Rotary International and was vice predsident of the South Montgomery County Woodlands Chamber of Commerce.

Ive know Vicky for a lot of years, so I know I have big shoes to fill when she leaves, Derr said.

Rudy was praised by the community at her last council meeting as city manager.

I dont know how were going to find someone as good as Vicky, said resident John Watley. As a citizen of this community for 14 years, youre wonderful.

Rudy is set to begin her retirement on Friday.

Thank you for eight wonderful years of support, Rudy said during her final city manager report. I couldnt have found a better place to end my career.

mrincon@chron.comOnly months before being recalled by Pope Francis in 2016, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano - the Holy See's former ambassador to the United States - declared in a Baltimore speech that silence was "imprudent."

In an 11-page letter made public on Sunday, Vigano, a diminutive 77-year-old who is no stranger to church intrigue, followed his own advice - explosively outlining an alleged extraordinary coverup of sexual abuse allegations against the former archbishop of Washington, Theodore McCarrick. It went as far up, Vigano claimed, as the sitting pope.

Pope Francis "knew from at least June 23, 2013 that McCarrick was a serial predator," Vigano stated. "He knew that he was a corrupt man, he covered for him to the bitter end."

Vigano also claimed that the pope emeritus, Benedict XVI - a noted conservative - knew of the accusations. Neither the current pontiff nor his predecessor has confirmed or denied those claims.

In an institution that expects total loyalty to the throne of St. Peter, observers seeking to make sense of Vigano's unprecedented reproach see evidence of the internal wars between conservatives and liberals that have defined Francis's tenure.

"As a person, you could say Vigano is a little rough around the edges," said the Rev. Tom Reese, author of "Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church." He added, but "this is like a member of the CIA writing a kiss-and-tell book. This just never happens."

Especially in recent months, Vigano - who was denied by Francis a traditional elevation to cardinal after his time as U.S. ambassador - has openly aligned himself with the pope's fiercest critics. Those conservative prelates have decried the first Latin American pontiff's outreach to gay and divorced Catholics, pointedly questioning his positions.

During his time in Washington, Vigano emerged as a conservative darling who arranged a surprise meeting between Francis and Kim Davis - the Kentucky county clerk who spent six days in jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Yet during his U.S. tenure, Vigano was not above reproach on the issue of sexual abuse. According to documents from a church-sponsored investigation, Vigano tried to cover up a case against the former archbishop of St. Paul, Minnesota, John Nienstedt, who faced allegations of misconduct with adult men.

"Archbishop Vigano is certainly an unlikely reformer," said Melanie Sakoda, a board member of the group SNAP, which advocates for the victims of clergy abuse. She added, "Conservatives within the Church have been attempting to use the current crisis to condemn Pope Francis and other liberal elements within the church. Conservatives jumped on the allegations against Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a liberal, while ignoring similar allegations against Archbishop Nienstedt, a conservative."

Born Jan. 16, 1941, in Varese, Italy, Vigano was ordained a priest in March 1968, and quickly found his niche in diplomacy. The soft-spoken but stern cleric worked in Vatican missions in Iraq and England and served as apostolic nuncio - or ambassador - to Nigeria under Pope John Paul II in 1992.

He subsequently rose to major posts inside the Roman curia - the rarefied bureaucracy that runs Vatican City. His letters to Pope Benedict were among the most explosive documents stolen by the pope's butler and published in the 2012 "Vatican leaks" scandal that offered an insider's glimpse at the Italian soap opera of infighting and moral failures within the highest reaches of the church.

In his letters, Vigano suggested that he so rattled the Holy See on his crusades to clean up corruption - including allegations of millions of dollars being overspent on contracts - that he was being forced into reassignment. Although typically a coveted position, Vigano saw his transfer as ambassador to Washington as a step down that would hinder reforms.

"My transfer right now," he wrote in one pleading letter to Benedict, "would provoke much disorientation and discouragement in those who have believed it was possible to clean up so many situations of corruption and abuse of power that have been rooted in the management of so many departments."

Intrigue followed him to the United States, where Vigano fast became known as the unyielding conservative lion who, apparently unbeknown to Francis, arranged the 2015 meeting with Davis. The Vatican later distanced itself from the meeting, bluntly saying the pope's encounter with Davis should not be "seen as endorsement."

Although senior church officials often retire at age 75, many do stay on. Vigano wasn't one of them. In 2016 - only a few months after the Davis meeting - he was replaced.

Since returning to Italy, Vigano has become a fixture at conservative forums attended and often organized by some of Francis's top critics - including Cardinal Raymond Burke, who has openly challenged the pope, especially on Francis's outreach to divorced and gay Catholics. Burke and Vigano are among those in the hierarchy who have denounced the influence of homosexuals in the church, with Vigano in his text denouncing one senior Vatican official for "promoting homosexuals into positions of responsibility."

During an antiabortion conference in Rome this summer, Vigano sat next to Burke, and took a thinly veiled swipe at the pope's leadership.

"The thing that I realize being with you," Vigano told the conservative delegates, "is the great desire to have a strong leadership in the church that can unite all of us."

In his 11-page testimony, Vigano called for Francis to resign, suggesting the pope had also refused to take his advice on the elevation of bishops in the United States.

"It is hard not to conclude that the real source of his bitterness was that he is upset with the pope," said Michael Sean Winters, a columnist at the National Catholic Reporter, a leading American Catholic outlet. "He won't be a cardinal. If you're nuncio to countries like the U.S. or France, at the end of your tenure, you go back to Rome and you are generally made a cardinal."

Francis issued a vaguely worded response on Sunday, saying: "I read the statement this morning and, sincerely, I must say this to you and anyone interested: Read that statement attentively and make your own judgment."

On Monday, at least one senior official backed Vigano. The Rev. Jean Francois Lantheaume, the former first counsellor at the apostolic nunciature in Washington, said Vigano "tells the whole truth. I am a witness."

"The bishops are neither unscathed nor untouchable," he said in an exchange posted on his Facebook page. "They are just as sinful as others!!! Let's say it once and for all."

- - -

The Washington Post's Stefano Pitrelli, Rachelle Krygier and Terrence McCoy contributed to this report.John McCain rarely minced words, especially when it came to relative newcomers to the Senate who wanted to do away with the chamber's long-held traditions like the filibuster.

"I would like to meet that idiot," the late Arizona Republican told a few reporters in April 2017. "I would like to meet that numskull that would say that."

You're holding back, we told McCain, tell us how you really feel.

"Idiot," McCain responded. "No, whoever says that is a stupid idiot."

It was another day in the Capitol following one of the most colorful senators to grace the halls, this time as he defended the sanctity of the 60-vote supermajority as crucial to the venerable institution.

Reporters who spent months on the presidential campaign trail of 2000 and 2008 basked in the glow of the "Straight Talk Express," the name McCain gave his campaign bus as he bounded through early primary states like New Hampshire while holding court with the media.

For the congressional press corps, those folks who spent month after month, year after year chasing him through the corridors and basements of the Capitol, it could have been called the Straight Talk Shuffle - a mile a minute, never quite sure which side McCain would end up on a given issue, but always knowing that if there was a big fight happening, he would be in the middle.

He failed more often than he succeeded, but McCain kept fighting, and it was impossible not to watch. While he was primarily focused on national security issues, he tapped into the vast expertise of his staff - one of the smartest, most loyal in Congress - to work the press corps to his advantage, always mixing in a heavy dose of wit and candor.

There's a reason he has been on NBC's "Meet the Press" more than any other guest: He was the best quote in town.

Over just the last 20 years, McCain found himself at the center of critical debates on tobacco regulation, campaign finance, patient's rights, enemy combatant interrogations, immigration and border security (several times), judicial nominations (several times) and an attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act. And there were many more.

It's well documented that insults were his entree for camaraderie with the press corps. In Scottsdale, Arizona, just before the GOP primary in August 2016, McCain bolted out of a Chamber of Commerce event trying to avoid questions. He finally turned and recognized several familiar faces from The Washington Post and Politico, so he stopped for a couple of minutes.

"Nice to see you again. I hate the beard, shave the . . . thing off," he told me later that day, using an expletive, in his campaign office. The military man was offended by the sight of a three-week-old beard even though Congress was on a seven-week break.

His love affair with the media, both on the campaign trail and in the Capitol, had its strains. After losing the 2008 presidential election to Barack Obama, McCain returned to the Capitol with a bitter taste. He declined to talk to me and several other reporters, including those from the New York Times, for several months.

He never explained why, but early in 2008, the Times and The Post published stories about a lobbyist's relationship with the senator's office, and in general, he felt betrayed by the coverage.

"The press had a finger on the scale for Obama, both in the primary and the general election," McCain wrote in his final book, "The Restless Wave," released in May with co-author Mark Salter. "They gave him more favorable attention than they gave his opponents."

But if you were around McCain long enough, the hatchet usually got buried. By the summer of 2011, McCain had begun working again with then-Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), a fellow Vietnam veteran who by then had a 25-year relationship with McCain that was down and then up, down and then back up again.

They had settled their dispute over Vietnam - one who was a POW, the other a critic after his service - but their respective presidential bids, in 2004 and 2008, had driven them apart, until the Arab Spring brought them together over the hope of democratic transformation in the Middle East.

"I try very hard to put all these things behind me," McCain told me in 2011, reflecting on his presidential loss but really on all his feuds. "You've got to move on, and I will admit it: It took me a long time."

Inside the Capitol, McCain's biggest moments always came when he had given up the chase of the presidency, including a stretch from 2001 through 2006 when he adopted the "maverick" persona he so relished by regularly challenging President George W. Bush on a host of issues.

He once defeated a GOP bid in 2005 to end the filibuster on judicial nominations by cobbling together a bipartisan coalition of centrists - as his son, in Navy dress whites, walked his mother, Roberta McCain, down the hallway to meet the senator and head to a movie premier about his time as a hostage in Vietnam.

After he won reelection in 2010, McCain fully accepted his role as an elder statesman who would never win the White House. He threw himself back into issues like immigration and worked with a new generation of senators on both sides of the aisle, preaching respect for the institution and traveling abroad with them to learn global diplomacy.

McCain never wanted to run for an elected position in party leadership, believing he could focus on his work at the Armed Services Committee and that he would have been lousy at the job of pleasantly cajoling rank-and-file senators to vote for something.

Why did others so crave those leadership posts?

"Masochism," he once told me. "I always thought maybe that's part of it."

In mid-July 2017, he was diagnosed with brain cancer but returned to the Senate a few days later to deliver a stirring address begging his colleagues to work together. He tried to bolt without taking questions, but I managed to run into him as he was leaving.

There was only one question to ask: How long would he be here?

The rest of that week, he said, was the literal answer.

"We'll figure out the rest after that," McCain told me. "It's a little hard to know because we're still looking at stuff. You know?"

Yes, we always knew.A United Nations report says Myanmar's top generals should be investigated and prosecuted for committing genocide and war crimes against the Muslim Rohingya minority, raising pressure on the international community to act against the country's military and civilian government.

The U.N. Human Rights Council-mandated fact-finding mission's report, released Monday, found Myanmar's security forces systematically murdered, tortured, gang-raped and enslaved civilians, while also setting fire to entire communities in violation of international law. On the same day, Facebook said it was also removing accounts and pages linked to Myanmar's top military officials, including commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing, whose Facebook posts were cited by the UN as proof of pre-planning attacks.

"Military necessity would never justify killing indiscriminately, gang raping women, assaulting children, and burning entire villages," the report says.

U.N. investigators said "gross human rights violations" committed by Myanmar's military -- and aided by the civilian government's lack of action -- were "shocking for their horrifying nature and ubiquity." They recommended the U.N. Security Council implement travel bans and asset freezes against those who have violated international law. The U.N. should refer the matter to the International Criminal Court, or a specially-created international criminal tribunal, they recommended.

The U.N. report says the army's crimes against the Muslim Rohingya, nearly 1 million of whom have fled into neighboring Bangladesh, is "similar in nature, gravity and scope to those that have allowed genocidal intent to be established in other contexts."

Acting on concerns about the misuse of its platforms in Myanmar, Facebook removed 18 accounts, one Instagram account and 52 Facebook pages that were followed by nearly 12 million people, the company said in a blog post. It's also banning 20 individuals and organizations, including the army chief and the military's Myawaddy television network.

"We want to prevent them from using our service to further inflame ethnic and religious tensions," Facebook said.

A Myanmar government spokesman did not answer a call for comment on the U.N. report. Previously, Myanmar government officials have blamed Rohingya for launching attacks on state security forces and for setting fire to their own homes.

Facebook has been criticized in a number of Asian countries as its platforms, including Instagram and the widely-used WhatsApp messaging service, are used to spread hate, misinformation and fake news or rumors that can help fuel mob violence.

"While we were too slow to act, we're now making progress - with better technology to identify hate speech, improved reporting tools, and more people to review content," Facebook said. "Today, we are taking more action in Myanmar."

In India, fake rumors spread through WhatsApp led to mob attacks and numerous deaths, while President Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines has been accused of using Facebook to target critics. These developments, in part, led WhatsApp to begin labeling forwarded messages, in an attempt to crack down on fake news and rumors.

In its post, Facebook noted that the "nascent" state of the news media and the rapid adoption of smartphones made Myanmar particularly vulnerable.

"We have a responsibility to fight abuse on Facebook," wrote Facebook product manager Sara Su in a blog post earlier this month. "This is especially true in countries like Myanmar where many people are using the internet for the first time and social media can be used to spread hate and fuel tension on the ground."

--Bloomberg's Kyaw Thu contributed.Longtime Trump ally Roger Stone on Monday pre-emptively pushed back on reports alleging he tipped off President Donald Trump about WikiLeaks' pre-election releases of emails hacked from Hillary Clinton's campaign.

In a video posted to Instagram, Stone vehemently denied the assertions, which he claimed several news outlets are pursuing.

"Somebody has been pushing a fake news story, first with The New York Times, then The Washington Post and now with Ronan Farrow of The New Yorker," Stone says in the video. "Someone is saying that they overheard a conversation in which I told Donald Trump in October of 2016 what exactly would be in the WikiLeaks disclosures and when they would be disclosed."

Echoing the president's rhetoric, Stone blasted the unpublished allegations as "categorically false" and "the epitome of fake news."

Speaking to the New York Daily News on Monday evening, Stone clarified that reporters from all three outlets have reached out to him about a phone conversation he allegedly had with Trump shortly before WikiLeaks released emails stolen from ex-Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.

A cache of Podesta's emails were released by WikiLeaks on Oct. 7, 2016, dealing a serious blow to Clinton's campaign shortly before the election.

Months earlier, during a news conference in Florida, then-candidate Trump had infamously urged the Russian government to hack Clinton and find "the 30,000 emails that are missing."WASHINGTON - The Trump administration said Monday it had reached a new, 16-year trade deal with Mexico, setting in motion a rapid chain of events that could redraw the world's largest trade agreement.

The ultimate scope of the deal could hinge on whether Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, after months of feuding with President Donald Trump, decides to sign on.

White House officials said the agreement, centered largely on manufacturing, would help U.S. workers by making it harder for countries like China to ship cheap products through Mexico and then into the United States.

Harmonizing labor and environmental rules would also protect U.S. jobs and salaries, the officials said, by making it less attractive for U.S. companies to move operations to Mexico.

A senior administration official acknowledged the changes could make certain products, such as automobiles, more expensive for American buyers because the costs that go into production were expected to increase.

A number of key factors remain unresolved in Trump's effort to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement - with Canada's role the biggest among them. Trump and Mexican leaders also failed to resolve whether the U.S. tariffs on metals imports will remain in place.

The next phase of negotiations will pose a major test for Trump's unique style of diplomacy, which has shown flashes of both creativity and impulsiveness throughout the process.

"It's a big day for trade. It's a big day for our country," Trump told reporters gathered in the Oval Office, where they watched him speak at length by phone with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Trump has long told top advisers that once he was able to cut a single trade deal with another country, it would lead to a flurry of agreements. That's because it would prove to other leaders that he is serious about cutting deals. Some aides are hopeful that the Mexico agreement could serve as a template for other talks.

But Trump also has a tendency to tout deals before they are complete, and a rebuke from either Congress or Canada could scuttle the talks before they are finalized.

Top White House officials appeared split on whether they would proceed at all if Canada didn't sign on to the agreement. Trump left open the possibility of cutting Canada out of the final deal, but U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told reporters later that every effort would be made to include Canada, even if it took weeks or longer for them to agree to changes.

There were also signs of division about what the agreement means for NAFTA. Trump said that the new deal with Mexico would lead to the termination of NAFTA and that he would rename it the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement. "NAFTA has a lot of bad connotations for the United States because it was a rip-off," Trump said.

He said that he would terminate "the existing deal," although it was unclear whether Trump has the power to do so unilaterally and Lighthizer cautioned that no decision had been made about this.

Lighthizer said the White House planned to send Congress a letter by Friday that formally starts a 90-day process for changing NAFTA. He said it was still unclear precisely what the letter would say. It could say the United States has reached a deal with Mexico, he said, or it could say that an agreement has been reached with Mexico in the hopes that Canada would be brought into the package at a later date.

The agreement announced Monday will run for an initial 16 years, with an option to revisit issues in six years, and to extend for another 16 years.

It would increase the percentage of each car that must be made in the United States or Mexico to qualify for duty-free treatment. Currently 62.5 percent, the figure would go up to 75 percent.

The agreement would also require a significant portion of each vehicle to be made by workers making at least $16 per hour - a big increase for Mexico.

The White House and Mexican officials were unable to reach an agreement about the steel and aluminum tariffs Trump imposed several months ago, and those discussions are ongoing. "That's the issue we still have to deal with. It's not dealt with," Lighthizer said.

And there were fundamental questions marks about the role of Canada and the future of a regional trade agreement. Pena Nieto, speaking with the president on speaker phone, mentioned several times that he wanted Canada to be involved.

The surprising scenes of Trump and the Mexican president congratulating each other in front of news cameras on successful bilateral negotiations that left Canada out appeared designed, in part, to pressure Canada.

Pena Nieto wrote on Twitter that he had spoken with Trudeau and expressed the "importance of rejoining the process, with the goal of concluding the trilateral negotiation this week."

Pena Nieto's administration wants to reach an agreement soon so that the Mexican Congress has enough time to ratify the deal before President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador takes office on Dec. 1.

Lopez Obrador has been supportive of the negotiations but would be likely to seek changes if the treaty is not completed before he assumes the presidency.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland is expected to rejoin negotiations in Washington on Tuesday.

A spokesman for Freeland said an agreement would require careful review and more discussions.

"We will only sign a new NAFTA that is good for Canada and good for the middle class," the spokesman said. "Canada's signature is required."

Leading congressional Republicans cautiously welcomed Trump's announcement, while making it clear that they would not embrace a NAFTA 2.0 that leaves out Canada.

"A final agreement should include Canada" to ensure that NAFTA continues to benefit American businesses and families, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said.

No. 2 Senate Republican John Cornyn, R-Texas, said, "This is a positive step, and now we need to ensure the final agreement brings Canada in to the fold and has bipartisan support."

Even if a deal does make its way to Capitol Hill, Congress is certain to struggle to pass it, given divisions over trade within both parties. The difficulties would only increase if the pact is not finalized before the November midterm elections and Democrats retake control of the House.

Trump has made renegotiating NAFTA a centerpiece of his economic and foreign policy agendas, arguing that the trade deal disadvantages American workers by luring U.S. jobs and companies overseas.

This approach has alarmed many Republicans, who support NAFTA's free trade roots and worry about how Trump's approach would affect farmers. Democrats have been split, as some agreed with Trump's focus on manufacturing jobs and others worried about Trump's take-it-or-leave-it negotiating style.

The NAFTA renegotiation has been a rocky one. The president over the past year repeatedly lambasted the 1994 treaty, calling it a "bad joke."

One year ago, Lighthizer kicked off the negotiations by calling for a major overhaul of trade rules to take into account nearly a quarter-century of economic changes and to rectify the imbalance in trade between the United States and its southern neighbor.

Trump, he said, was "not interested in a mere tweaking of a few provisions."

Though trade deals are complex affairs that typically require years of glacial bargaining, administration officials initially hoped to finish the job by the end of 2017. They failed to meet that ambitious timetable and also blew through revised deadlines for the end of March and late May.

This time, the deadline may be real, given a congressional requirement for 90 days notice of an impending trade deal. If the administration doesn't formally notify Congress that it has reached agreement with both Canada and Mexico by the end of August, Pena Nieto, the outgoing Mexican president, will not be able to sign it before he leaves office.

---

The Washington Post's Joshua Partlow in Mexico City and Alan Freeman in Ottawa contributed to this report.Texas ranked high among all states in the number of incidents and threats of school violence, according to a new report.

The state ranked fourth in number of incidents and seventh in number of threats, according to the Educator's School Safety Network (ESSN), a national non-profit school safety organization. California topped the list for both criteria.A Galena Park man accused in the high-profile shooting of a transgender woman and the stabbing of a man in Midtown in April 2016 is expected to continue trial Tuesday with testimony from witnesses of the crime.

Tariq Lackings, 32, faces life in prison if convicted of murder in the fatal shooting of Shante Thompson, 34.

Willie Sims, 33, was also stabbed to death. Lackings was originally charged with capital murder for both deaths, but prosecutors later reduced the case to murder, for just the death of Thompson in the midtown melee.

Both were pronounced dead at the scene after being assaulted at 1100 Dennis Street about 11:15 p.m. on April 10, 2016, according to a release from the Houston Police Department.

Lackings is being defended by Houston attorney Paul Morgan, who declined to comment on the trial.

According to police, witnesses said a half-dozen people approached Thompson and Sims that night. Witnesses said Lackings apparently pulled a gun and fired at Thompson, hitting Sims instead as he tried to pull the transgender woman from harms way, police said.

Then, according to a witness, the attackers pulled out metal pipes and began to beat Sims and Thompson, who is identified in court records as Robert Isaac. The deadly assault led to concerns about a possible hate crime from LGBT advocates when the arrest went public.

Hate crime charges are rare in Texas, because the additional legal burden of proving a hate crime for a first-degree felony does not increase the possible range of punishment.

But the incident more likely emerged from a love triangle or some other sort of relationship, friends and family of Isaac have said. They told police the slaying stemmed from a dispute between Isaac and one of her attackers, another transgender woman, over a man.

Lackings, who remains in the Harris County jail on a $250,000, is being tried in visiting state District Judge Reagan Clarks court. A jury was selected Friday and several witnesses testified Monday.A law firm has accused the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of denying a toddler girl from Guatemala the medical care that could have saved her life during a nearly three-week stay at an immigrant detention facility near San Antonio.

The child was identified as 21-month-old Mariee, according to a timeline compiled by the Washington-based Arnold & Porter firm representing the girls mother. The girl died on May 10 after spending six weeks in New Jersey and Pennsylvania hospitals.

The Houston Chronicle first reported that the child died in early August, but her identity and medical history were not then known.

Her illness began with triple-digit fevers and chronic coughing, congestion and diarrhea during her confinement, the firm wrote.

Mariee was by all accounts healthy when she and her asylum-seeking mother, Yazmin Juarez, were detained after crossing the Rio Grande River on March 1. The 20-year-old mother fled the violence in her Central America homeland with her daughter.

The two were transferred to the Dilley facility, officially known as the South Texas Family Residential Center, within four days of crossing the U.S. border. There, Mariees mother saw sickly kids coughing constantly at the facility about 60 miles southwest of San Antonio.

At HoustonChronicle.com: ICE denies report of child death at Texas immigration facility

No one was treating them, the mother recalled in the law firms account of events. The mother said that she saw some of the children leave the facility in severe medical distress.

Like the other children, Juarezs lawyer R. Stanton Jones said Mariee became sick.

While there, Mariee contracted a respiratory infection that went woefully under-treated for nearly a month, Jones said in his law firms account. After it became clear that Mariee was gravely ill, ICE simply discharged mother and daughter.

ICE stood by its treatment of detained migrants and the condition of their family centers in a statement issued Monday night. It did not comment specifically on the toddlers case.

ICE takes very seriously the health, safety and welfare of those in our care, a federal official said in an email. ICE is committed to ensuring the welfare of all those in the agencys custody, including providing access to necessary and appropriate medical care. Comprehensive medical care is provided to all individuals in ICE custody.

The statement touted the agencys staffing of nurses, mental health providers, physicians and access to 24-hour emergency care at migrant holding facilities, adding that it spends $250 million on health care annually.

The law firm chronicled the mothers desperate attempts to treat her child at the Dilley center. Mariee, then 18 months old, began experiencing upper respiratory symptoms on March 11. During the first appointment, she was prescribed Tylenol, a packet of honey and a follow-up visit in September.

The childs condition did not improve, according to the timeline. She developed a high fever and began vomiting up the only round of antibiotics that were prescribed to her on March 12 after being diagnosed with an ear infection and acute bronchiolitis.

Days would go by before Juarez was able to bring her daughter to the medical room due to long lines. Ten days into her confinement, Mariee had lost two pounds, the firm said.

The fever dissipated for about a week but returned on March 21. The medical staff at Dilley stuck to their acute bronchiolitis diagnosis and prescribed her with Ibuprofen, Vicks Vaporub and Pedialyte.

The doctors promised to refer Mariee to a physician during a March 23 visit, but the Arnold & Porter firm claims there are no medical records to show the referral happened.

On March 25, a nurse cleared Juarez to board a flight at the San Antonio International Airport to see her grandmother in New Jersey  and to bring her daughter along. The next day, the mother took Mariee to see a pediatrician. She was then rushed to an emergency room in Edison, N.J., with a critically low blood-oxygen level of 85%.

She spent the next six weeks in at least two hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. She died May 10 after suffering a catastrophic intrathoracic hemorrhage at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia.

The law firm representing Juarez argues that her daughters death could have been prevented by early and competent medical intervention.

nicole.hensley@chron.comA Channelview man testified Tuesday he watched his close friend fatally shoot a transgender woman during a brawl on a Houston street that left two people dead.

The eyewitness, Rique Jackson, 24, said his testimony implicating his friend Tariq Lackings was motivated by a desire to set the record straight about the slaying of transgender woman Shante Thompson.

Lackings, 32, is on trial for the fatal shooting of Thompson on a corner street in Midtown Houston where two groups met to settle an earlier confrontation in a fast food restaurant.

But defense attorneys for Lackings quickly turned the tables on Jackson, accusing him of being a killer who was lying because he brought a knife to what he thought was a cocaine buy. Lackings was at one time also charged with killing 33-year old Willie Sims during the same street fight.

And, defense attorney Paul Morgan said, the drug deal went bad.

On April 10, 2016, you were the person who brought the knife werent you? Morgan shouted at Jackson. You cut Shante with a four-inch blade. Then Willie came at you with a tire iron and you cut him. He fell backwards and you stabbed him in the liver.

No, he responded.

The dramatic cross-examination of eyewitness Jackson added a new dimension to accounts of the slaying, painting it as mutual combat between two rival groups that bought and sold drugs among themselves. Morgan noted that Jackson had been facing a 10-year prison sentence for the felony offense of choking his mother, but after cooperating in Lackings prosecution he ended up serving six-months on a misdemeanor charge.

Prosecutors immediately countered that Lackings, who lives in Galena Park, sold crack cocaine for a living. If found guilty of murder, he faces in prison in the fatal shooting of Shante Thompson, a 34-year old transgender woman who is identified in court records as Robert Isaac.

Jackson told the jurors that Lackings was friends with a different transgender woman. The two apparently got into a confrontation with Thompson and her friends at a McDonalds days before the melee.

On the night of the brawl, Jackson testified that he was staying with Lackings who woke him up, then drove to pick up his friend, who is a transgender woman, and two men to try to settle the score with Thompson.

The found Thompson with Willie Sims, 33, at the intersection of Fannin and Dennis about 11:15 p.m. that night. Lackings and his four friends parked and got makeshift maces - boards with screws in them - and a crowbar out of the trunk, Jackson said.

Jackson told jurors they confronted Thompson and Sims, and Thompson threw a bottle at the group. Then someone in Jacksons group picked up a brick and Thompson and Sims were beaten.

They tried to fight back but there was no chance, Jackson said. He said Thompson was trying to get away from the beating. The person who got shot was trying to run away.

During a stiff cross-examination, Morgan tried to establish that Jackson had just been released from drug rehabilitation and was looking for cocaine.

You were needing a fix and fiending that night, Morgan asked. Jackson said he was not.

Earlier in the day, jurors were shown a string of text messages between Jackson and Lackings that appeared to show a grisly plan.

I wanna get powered up and cut (someones) finger off, read the phone message from Jackson to Lackings in the hours before the fight.

Jackson said he was just talking mess about a co-worker, indicating that it was just a joke.

Prosecutors Jennifer Meriwether and Aaron Chapman put on testimony about the string of text messages as a way to show that Lackings was at the brawl that erupted and knew there could be violence.

Attorney Morgan said the prosecution is mistaken about what happened and Houston police have charged the wrong man in the shooting.

In court, he pointed to the inflammatory text messages as proof that other people, not Lackings, were responsible.

Lackings was originally charged with capital murder for both deaths in the Midtown melee, but prosecutors later reduced the case to murder, for just the death of Thompson.

Since the crimes occurred, witnesses have told police that the two groups of people had a history of confrontations. Friends and family said the incident probably sprang from some sort of dispute between Thompson and one of her attackers, another transgender woman, over a man.

Lackings, who remains in the Harris County jail on $250,000 bail, is being tried in visiting state District Judge Reagan Clarks court. Closing arguments in the trial could happen Wednesday, according to the judge.

If Lackings is convicted, the punishment phase would take the rest of the week.Three people, including a teenage boy and his mother, are accused of killing a man because he was a snitch, Harris County prosecutors said.

Why the three believed Christian Castro, whose body was found on a road in Bear Creek Pioneers Park in March, was a snitch was not explained in charges presented during a probable cause hearing Saturday against 53-year-old Lourdes Roman.

Roman, 53, her 15-year-old son and Emmanuel Del Olmo, 32, have been charged with murder in Castro's death. Roman's son was referred to Harris County Juvenile Probation authorities.

At the same hearing, which determines if a defendant will continue to be held, the judge set bond for Roman at $1 million.

A passer-by alerted authorities after finding a body about 9:15 p.m. March 16 in the 14500 block of Patterson Road in the west Houston park. The 21-year-old Castro had been shot several times, police said.

According to Houston police, Del Olmo, Roman and her son agreed to drive Castro to the park, where Del Olmo shot and killed him.

IN ALIEF: Girl, 17, charged with murder in fatal shooting outside restaurant

The three, who were arrested on Friday, knew Castro but Houston police have not said how they are acquainted.

ALSO IN THE PARK: Child predator sentenced for posting explicit Pornhub video of teen at park

Both Roman and Del Olmo have confessed to the killing, prosecutors said. The judge at Del Olmo's probable cause hearing denied him bail.

Roman and Del Olmo have criminal history together. According to court documents, they were charged with engaging in an organized criminal activity in 2010, which involved the theft of digital video discs and a media player.Future homeowners in Houston need to account for more than $10,000 in hidden costs per year, including more than $2,000 in annual maintenance, according to a new report from Zillow.

RELATED: Houston's most ridiculous HOA rules

Houston ranks behind Austin and Dallas when it comes to total hidden costs, which includes property taxes, utility bills, homeowner's insurance, house cleaning, lawn care, carpet cleaning and overall home maintenance.

Houston homes come with an average of $10,110 in hidden costs, compared to $12,457 in Austin and $10,712 in Dallas. Homes in the Bayou City typically require about $1,800 per year for cleaning and an additional $1,170 for lawn care, carpet cleaning, pressure washing and other maintenance, the report said.

RELATED: 5 of the most expensive homes sold in Houston in May

Those costs are added onto about $3,362 in property taxes, $2,785 in utility bills and $993 for homeowner's insurance.

Overall, Houston ranks 19th among the 34 large cities covered in the study. The cities with a typically high home value, such as San Jose and San Francisco, top out the list with $20,655 and $17,758 in hidden costs, respectively.

Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.comThe son of a notorious Gulf Cartel kingpin who waved a gun in a crowded Brownsville bar and falsely claimed to be a federal agent is headed to prison.

His drug lord father, sentenced to a 25-year federal prison sentence in a supermax prison in Colorado, was once ranked among Americas Most Wanted fugitives.

Osiel Cardenas Jr., 26, known in crime circles as Mini Osiel or Osielillo, was sentenced in Brownsville on Monday to more than two years in prison after pleading guilty to weapons possession and impersonating a federal agent. U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. also ordered him to serve three years of supervised release and pay a $15,000 fine.

RELATED: Pretending to be a U.S. marshal with a gun in a bar? Former Gulf Cartel leaders son admits guilt

The defendants father Osiel Cardenas-Guillen, 51, a Mexican drug trafficker from Matamoros across the river from Brownsville, rose to the top ranks of the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas in the late 1990s and early 2000s earning the nickname El Mata Amigos or the Friend Killer because he allegedly killed a friend to get the top job.

Cardenas Jr., his son, was apprehended on March 14 at at SKY Bar and Lounge in Brownsville for public intoxication, according to court documents. Someone had called police reporting a person had been brandishing a firearm. At the scene, the person was identified as Cardenas Jr. When Brownsville police attempted to arrest him, Cardenas Jr. claimed to be a U.S. Marshal. He asked the officer to check the badge inside his shirt. Under his shirt and hanging from his neck was a gold colored Cameron County District Attorneys badge. Inside his car, police found a .380 caliber pistol.

Witnesses at the scene said that Cardenas Jr., a U.S. citizen born in Texas but raised in Mexico, had ordered patrons to exit the nightclub or they faced arrest for failing to follow his orders. At the time of his arrest, Cardenas was on supervised release for a 2015 drug trafficking conviction, according to wire reports.

FINDING SAFETY: Top cartel leader appeared to find temporary haven in Texas

Cardenas lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.

Cardenas Jr. also has a prior conviction for driving while intoxicated. In 2015, he was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison for attempting to smuggle hundreds of rounds of military-grade ammunition over the Rio Grande and into Mexico on New Years Eve. Cardenas Jr. admitted to having more than 14 grams of marijuana concealed in his underwear at the time of that arrest.

During a sentencing hearing on the ammunition and drug charges in May 2015, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen told him, Youre at a crossroads  you need to decide which way youre going to go. He added, If you follow down the same pathway as your father, youre going to end up in the same place.

gabrielle.banks@chron.comGreenville Police Department

A 38-year-old man from North Texas has been arrested and charged with voyeurism after he was caught allegedly filming a woman in a convenience store bathroom in Greenville, South Carolina.

Shawn Kenneth Hallet, of Levelland, Texas, was arrested after he was caught allegedly filming a woman Sunday in the bathroom at the QuikTrip on South Academy Street, the Greenville Police Department wrote on Facebook.Four people were critically injured Tuesday when a driver lost control of his car and plowed into a West Side bus stop, authorities said.

One of the victims, a 28-year-old pregnant woman, remained in serious condition Tuesday afternoon, police said. Three others were hospitalized in stable condition.

The driver was traveling westbound on Culebra Road at North Zarzamora Street around 11:10 a.m. when he swerved across oncoming traffic and clipped a concrete embankment around the perimeter of a bus stop, where four people, including a woman who is pregnant, were sitting.

READ ALSO: Police say what led up to the viral video of an 18-wheeler pushing a Mercedes-Benz on S.A. freeway

"[The vehicle] hits the corner of the bus area and then basically glides past all the people that were waiting on the bus bench, hitting them," said Carlos Ortiz, a spokesman for the San Antonio Police Department.

The vehicle, a 2002 Nissan Maxima, came to a stop a few yards down from the bus stop, with its front half on top of the concrete embankment and its back half on the side walk.

Matthew Rodriguez said he was waiting for a bus across the street when he saw the crash and rushed to check on the victims.

"The pregnant woman couldn't speak. She was choking on her own blood," he said. "She was bleeding from her head."

Shaking, Rodriguez displayed photos and video he took shortly after the crash. They showed victims scattered around the bus stop, bleeding, panicking and clearly confused.

READ ALSO: Woman's 'blood instantly ran cold' after seeing robbery suspect on the news, police say

Erica Torres was stopped at a red light in the eastbound lanes of Culebra Road when the driver crashed.

"I just see a vehicle, like if it's losing control," she said. "He was flying."

The force of the car hitting the pedestrians sent them "flying in the air," she said.

She rushed to the pregnant woman first because her head was gushing blood, Torres said. Then she looked around at the the other victims and the chaos of the crash site.

"I checked on a man and his eyes were rolling back," she said. "I thought he was dying. I was freaking out."

READ ALSO: SAPD: Gunmen at large after triple shooting leaves 1 dead, 2 injured on NE side

Both Rodriguez and Torres said the driver who hit the pedestrians never checked on the victims, and instead appeared worried about the damage to his car.

The driver, who has not been identified, was eventually taken to University Hospital for minor injuries, as was one of the two passengers in the car at the time of the crash.

Criminal charges have not been filed. Ortiz said traffic investigators will need to review all available evidence and interview witnesses before they're able to determine whether the driver was criminally negligent in the crash.

"The scene is still very fluid," he said. "There's not a lot of answers right now."

Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

Caleb Downs is a crime reporter for mySA.com. Read more of his stories here.| cdowns@mysa.com | Twitter: @calebjdownsAUSTIN  The Austin man ordered by a federal judge to stop sharing free blueprints for building 3D-printed guns announced Tuesday that instead, hes selling the plans. Buyers can name their price.

Attorneys general in nine states have sued to stop activist Cody Wilson and his company, Defense Distributed, from sharing the blueprints for the guns.

Anyone who wants these files is going to get them, Wilson said at a news conference in Austin after years of fighting with the courts to give the blueprints away online. That will never be interrupted. The free exchange of these ideas will never be interrupted.

The guns have no serial numbers and cannot be spotted by some metal detectors, according to court documents. The attorneys general argue allowing the distribution of plans to make the plastic guns is dangerous.

Because of our lawsuit, it is once again illegal to post downloadable gun files to the internet, said Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson in a statement. I trust the federal government will hold Cody Wilson, a self-described crypto-anarchist, accountable to that law. If they dont, President Trump will be responsible for anyone who is hurt or killed as a result of these weapons.

Wilson, who designed the guns so they can be made by do-it-yourselfers who have 3-D printers, said the federal judge on Monday made a lot of unforced errors in the written order that bars his company from giving them away per a negotiated agreement with the Trump administration after years of court battles.

So instead, Wilson and Defense Distributed put the blueprints up for sale. Wilson said Tuesday morning that a few hundred blueprints for guns had already been sold since the judge issued the injunction Monday.

MORE: Top Texas officials keep mum amid clash over the downloadable gun

According to the ruling from U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik, regulations under the Arms Export Control Act specify that the files cannot be uploaded to the internet, but they can be emailed, mailed, securely transmitted, or otherwise published within the United States.

Lasnik went on to say that any burdens on Wilsons First Amendment rights are dwarfed by the irreparable harms the States are likely to suffer if the existing restrictions are withdrawn and that, overall, the public interest strongly supports maintaining the status quo while the case works through the courts.

Wilson called the judges order hysterical and a direct knee-capping of the First Amendment. He said he plans to challenge the judges order to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

By the time Wilsons press conference had ended Tuesday, more than 390 orders had come in for the blueprints, with buyers naming prices from $1 to $15. He said one person who bought a print online opted to buy it for zero dollars, which he said he would accept.

The company is sending the files to buyers only within the U.S., said Wilson, who expects to sell hundreds of thousands of copies of the blueprints  he is sending them to purchasers by email and by regular mail  but he doesnt expect to make much money from the venture.

He said he does not know how many people have tried to 3D print his gun design but that he expects few of the people who buy the blueprints will actually make the gun.

Way more people download it than ever choose to do anything with it, said Wilson. His most basic gun design, the Liberator, can be shattered by firing a single shot. Wilson calls it a coffee table piece.

I think with that reputation, most people know that if they make it, its just of a curiosity, he said.

More complex guns, like automatic rifles, would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and expertise to build with a printer, he said.

Wilson said he has raised about $200,000  much of it in cryptocurrency  in the last week toward a goal of $400,000 in crowdsourced funding for his legal expenses.Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart accused state Sen. Sylvia Garcia of delaying her resignation to boost her state pension even though it could leave 840,000 people in and around Houston without representation when the Texas Legislature convenes in January.

In a sharply worded letter sent to reporters, Stanart accused Garcia of playing political games to make him look bad and boost her own finances. Garcia, who is running for Congress, last week called on Stanart to call a special election for her soon-to-be-vacant state Senate seat because Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, has refused to call one.

Abbotts staff told Garcia that her intent to resign letter is insufficient. Abbotts chief of staff told Garcia she has to submit a resignation letter without the word intent. Garcia has refused to do so, saying her intent to resign should be enough and that she wants to continue to represent her constituents until another senator takes office.

Stanart, who is up for re-election in November, said Garcias staff is trying to make some political points by dragging me into this issue. He said he does not have the authority to call a special election for her Senate district as Garcias attorney had contended.

I also understand that the likely reason you want to delay your resignation until after Jan. 1, 2019, is to increase your state pension, Stanart said.

In a follow-up interview, Stanart said he did not know how much money per year Garcia stands to gain by waiting until January to resign. State lawmaker pensions typically require a minimum of 8 years of service for vesting. Garcia has been in office for about 5 years and 5 months. But she would be able to combine her previous service in county government to boost her pension returns.

Garcia won her Democratic primary in the 29th Congressional District and is now heavily favored to defeat Republican Phillip Aronoff in the general election. If she wins, her salary will be $174,000 a year. Plus, according to Garcias financial disclosure reports, she also collects $60,840 a year from the city of Houston for her pension from serving as a judge and as the citys controller. She was a judge from 1993 to 1998. She was controller from 1998 to 2002.

She also receives a $30,981 a year pension from the county for her service on the commissioners' court from 2002 to 2010. Currently, she earns $6,640 a year as a state senator, a role she's occupied since winning a March 2013 special election.

Garcia did not agree to an interview for this story but sent a statement to the Houston Chronicle that did not answer whether she would financially benefit from delaying her retirement to January.

The Governor won't do his job, and apparently, neither will members of his Party with the responsibility to enforce the State Constitution, Garcia said in the statement. I have no intention of stooping to their game of personal attacks. Instead, I will continue fighting to make sure the 850,000 Texans of SD 6 have a Senator on the floor Day 1 of the legislative session.

The 6th District she represents includes Houstons East End, South Houston and part of Pasadena; it stretches all the way out to Baytown. If Garcia had resigned before Aug. 20, Abbott could have set a special election for her replacement on November 6, the same day as the midterm elections.

Instead, Abbott now says he is unable to set a special election until after the general election, which increases the risks of not having a new member in place when the Legislature convenes Jan. 8. That could be an issue for Democrats in the Senate who are already greatly outnumbered. The Senate currently has 20 Republicans and 11 Democrats. If that breakdown remains after the midterm elections, Democrats could enter the session with just 10 state senators while a special election is set up.

Two Houston Democrats, state Reps. Carol Alvarado and Ana Hernandez, have already announced they will run for the 6th District when a special election is declared.

jeremy.wallace@chron.comA recent report by Oxford Economics, commissioned by Samsung Electronics America, confirms what most employers and employees have known for some time now  that employers expect employees to be available remotely, but that the two groups are often at odds over what mobile devices to use and how to pay for them.

The Oxford-Samsungs survey of more than 500 IT executives and managers in diverse industries across the United States found that 61 percent of organizations expect employees to be available remotely, even if they dont provide employees with a company phone. The use of mobile devices is essentially mandatory, the report states.

Yet the survey also showed that only about 50 percent of organizations use Employer Provided Device programs (EPD) for their employees. The rest rely on Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies, reimbursing or providing monthly stipends to employees for using their own phones. The costs and benefits of BYOD versus EPD policies are weighed extensively in the interesting and informative Oxford-Samsung report.

One item I found particularly interesting: employees who use their own devices show a lower satisfaction with using those devices for work compared to those who are given a device to use (69% vs. 78%). I am married to a statistician, so I am always weary of how stats like this are represented (i.e. correlation doesnt always equal causation). So, my first thought was: of course, people will be more satisfied if they are given a device by their company to do work on, compared with them knowing that they are using their own personal device to do work, when they view that hardware as their own.

That aside, its clear that end-users are indeed more satisfied with a company-provided phone. So, an organization should view mobile devices  and whether they want to provide them to their end-users  as an opportunity to incentivize engagement and motivation within their workforce.

Oxford-Samsung took a deep look at costs, showing how they can accrue on multiple fronts over time, both at companies that issue phones to some or all of their employees and at BYOD firms. These include the following ongoing costs:

Monthly stipends and cellular connectivity costs . As mobile phones have become essential, even BYOD companies are assuming more post-purchase costs from employees.

Mobile device management (MDM) . Companies need to ensure mobile devices that access corporate data are effectively secured and managed. A vast majority of respondent companies, regardless of their device enablement strategy, have an MDM solution in place (including 88% of BYOD-only respondents). This entails a significant investment of resources: the smallest organizations in our survey, in terms of annual revenue and employee count, tend to employ three or fewer people to manage their mobile devices, while most of the largest typically employ at least 10.2.

Outsourcing. Many companies choose to engage third-party vendors to deal with the details of mobile management. Those with mixed EPD/BYOD strategies are less likely to outsource39% of these hybrid companies do so, versus 67% of pure-play EPD firms and 75% of BYOD firms. Broad EPDs are even less likely to outsource (31%). These strategies are likely driven by available resources: the largest companies in our survey are much more likely to manage devices in-house, while the smallest are most likely to outsource.

What I also like about this study is how it shows that just saying we do BYOD is not as simple as it sounds when you consider the full cost (from a financial, resource and security perspective) of deploying it. Organizations need to look at mobility holistically  not just at the upfront cost of the phone plus the service contract.

Organizations that require employees to provide their own mobile devices (BYOD) save much less money than they might expect, when compared to organizations that issue devices to their workers, the report notes, adding: Organizations providing mobile phones to more than 20% of employees lead across virtually all maturity indicators.

In other words, organizations that provide devices for their employees are the leaders in their fields.

To me, using mobile devices in the field today is much like using laptop computers in the office, starting a decade or two ago. Some organizations provided the laptops (and still do), recognizing the benefits of mobility. In other places, employees used (or use) their own laptops because they recognized the same thing. The big difference is that mobile phones are focused on the end-user, whereas laptops (and personal computers) are focused on the business.

The Oxford-Samsung report notes: Companies tend to see their own strategy as the one that works best, in terms of workforce productivity and satisfaction. But broad EPD organizations are more satisfied with the effectiveness of their mobile enablement strategy, while BYOD respondents are least likely to say their mobile enablement strategy allows workers to access work-critical information quickly and efficiently.

This reinforces my longstanding belief that an organization needs to take stock and make a proactive decision on how it wants personal devices integrated within the company. Only after that decision is made can it decide whether to outsource its mobile device programs or bring in the needed internal skills to manage it effectively  from end-to-end.Statements by the Afghan officials of the Takhar Province on air strikes against the Taliban military targets in the Darqad district were carried out by Tajikistans Air Force or Russia's Air Force have been refuted in Dushanbe and Moscow. Experts believe that this incident should be seen as an attempt to provoke a conflict between Russia and the Taliban on the eve of the international conference on Afghanistan, which is due on September 4.

The spokesman for the governor of Takhar Province, Ahmad Jawad Hijri, told the Afghan media that an unknown military aircraft carried out a strike on the Darqad district of the Takhar Province, having emerged from the territory of Tajikistan. According to the local authorities, it could be a fighter aircraft of the Tajik or Russian Air Force, which has a 201st military base on the Tajik territory. This strike was allegedly the response to a clash took place between local drug smugglers and Tajik border guards in the Farkhor district bordering Afghanistan the day before. Two Tajik citizens were killed, one injured.

Meanwhile, the Tajik Ministry of Defense denied the participation of its air force in the attack on the territory of Takhhar Province. We do not have the right to launch airstrikes on foreign territory. And even if such a necessity arises, then a meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization would be summoned to consider the issue of a strike. And only after long consultations of military departments, such a decision can be made, a Tajik ministry source was quoted as saying by Asia-Plus news agency. The Russian Defense Ministry also denied its involvement in the air strike on the territory of Afghanistan.

A police spokesman in Afghanistans Takhar province, Halil Asir, told Radio Ozodi (RFE/RLs Tajik service) that he was informed of the incident. He does not know exactly who was behind this attack, but there is a Taliban camp on the shelled territory.

Afghanistan officials argue that the air strike was carried out after an incident occurred in the neighboring Farkhor district of Tajikistan. Last Sunday, an unknown group of up to 12 people violated the state border in the area between the 3rd and 4th frontier outposts of the Hamadoni Tajik border detachment. The criminals fired the Niva car, which belonged to the local forestry, from rifles and rocket anti-tank launchers. Two forestry personnel were killed, one received multiple gunshot wounds. The armed border guard was sent to search for violators. "Tajik border troops are conducting an operation on the border with Afghanistan to eliminate a group of armed Afghans who invaded the territory of the country," the head of the press center of the frontier troops of Tajikistan's State Committee for National Security, Mukhammad Ulugodzhaev, said on Monday. According to him, an alarm has been announced in the border detachment of Hamadoni, an operation is currently underway to locate and dismantle an unknown Afghan armed group. The results of the operation are not yet reported.

A source in the power structures of the Farkhar district told Radio Ozodi that all three were forestry personnel, and the attack occurred from the Afghan side. Local residents report that there are representatives of the authorities and law enforcement agencies in the area of the incident, helicopters flying. In particular, it is reported that the chairman of the State Committee of National Security Saimumin Yatimov and his deputy Mansurjon Umarov arrived at the scene.

As expert on Central Asia and the Middle East Alexander Knyazev told Vestnik Kavkaza, the reports of the air strike allegedly inflicted by the Air Force of Tajikistan or Russia on the Darqad district on the Afghan border can be unambiguously regarded as an anti-Russian action aimed at stalling the forthcoming Moscow conference on Afghanistan is scheduled for September 4. Accusations against Russia should increase the conflict in the already difficult Russian-Afghan relations and reinforce Kabul's argument in its refusal to participate in Moscow-led negotiations. The Taliban leadership, which earlier confirmed its visit to Moscow, may also doubt its participation. The answer to the question qui prodest (to whose advantage?) is unambiguous, it is the last thing Russia would need now, while the U.S. and the Kabul government extract the maximum political benefit from such an incident, disavowing the significance of the already straining Moscow negotiating initiative. There are only two main versions regarding the event itself.

The first version is that the attack could have been caused by planes from the U.S. military base Camp Marmal near Mazar-i-Sharif, from where it takes no longer than 25 minutes for modern assault aviation to get there. The airspace of Afghanistan is controlled by U.S. and NATO forces, which will easily confirm any interpretation formulated by the U.S. military and political leadership. The possibility of any ground-based investigation is unlikely, since the Darqad district has long been under the control of an anti-government group (there is no reason to say that it is linked to the Taliban, its criminal nature is more obvious).

The second version is that there was no air strike at all, and we are dealing with an episode of information war. All media outlets refer to two or three Afghan news agencies, this information stream is replicated and a short interpretation of the Russian air strike reaches a final audience (in particular, the regions of Afghanistan, far from Darqad), supported by a reminder of the Soviet-Afghan war. It contributes to the emergence or growth of anti-Russian sentiments in society, which, in fact, is the main task of this provocative information provocation.

On September 4, Moscow will hold consultations on Afghanistan, attended by representatives of the Taliban and participants from 12 countries. The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that the purpose of the upcoming consultations in Moscow is to bring the positions of Kabul and the Taliban closer to launch a direct dialogue. However, representatives of the Afghan government, under pressure from Washington, refused to arrive in Moscow.An alliance of charity bodies have called on the government to use 2bn in unclaimed financial assets to create a Community Wealth Fund, which they say could grow to 5bn with corporate support.

Local Trust, a place-based funder, has published a report making the case for a Community Wealth Fund. The aim is to create a source of long-term funding for place-based initiatives to help strengthen communities.

It says that by pooling the 2bn of unclaimed assets that have already been identified and earmarked for the charity sector with private sector investment, and other unclaimed assets that have not yet been identified, a new 5bn fund could deliver transformative social, economic and financial impact.

The proposal has the support of the Church Urban Fund, Barrow Cadbury Trust, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales, The City of London Corporations charitable funder, City Bridge Trust, Local Trust and NCVO. It was developed in consultation with a number of other sector bodies.

Sir Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO said: In the wake of the Brexit referendum and Grenfell theres a real sense that something really ambitious is required to address the feeling of being left behind that some communities obviously feel quite intensely.

Matt Leach, chief executive of Local Trust said: The Community Wealth Fund would enable people and places to design and commission activities, drawing on local strengths and assets and tailoring services to peoples actual needs. It could be targeted at those places most in need of support and provide the scale of investment required to develop the social capital needed for transformative social and economic change.

The paper calls for the establishment of an independent and credible taskforce to take its proposal forward.

2bn of unclaimed assets promised to charities

In 2017 the Dormant Assets Commission identified 2bn in unclaimed assets, which the then charities minister Rob Wilson said would go to good causes.

Earlier this summer the government appointed four champions for the insurance and pensions, banking, investment and wealth management, and securities industries to work with various stakeholders.

They are due to report back to the government by the end of the year.The Advertising Standards Authority has upheld a complaint against a website which promotes charity scratchards on the grounds the imagery might be intended to appeal to children.

The ASA upheld the complaint against Rieves Lotteries Ltd in a ruling last week. The ASA found that five of the organisations charity scratchcards contravened the CAP Code ensuring that gambling ads must not be likely to be of particular appeal to children or young persons.

Last weeks ruling stems from a public complaint originally received by the advertising watchdog on 2 June 2018.

Rieves website had been promoting the scratchcards called: Queen Bee, Christmas Kisses, Snow Dough, Piggy Payout and Lucky Shamrock  each featuring cartoon-like imagery to represent them including snowmen, a fairy and a picture of a bee wearing a crown.

Rieves, which lists its charitable partners on its website as Breast Cancer Now, the British Royal Legion and Sue Ryder, claimed that it wasnt advertising said scratchcards on its website, as they could only be purchased from shops not online. It also said it was not in its interest to target the young or vulnerable.

However, the ASA have ruled that the bright, colourful designs in the ads and cartoon-like imagery were likely to appeal to children  in particular, in noted, the ad for the bee as it was depicted in a cute manner that was likely to appeal to children and featured other icons associated with fairy tales.

The ASA has barred Rieves Lotteries Ltd from running the ads again in their current form. It has also told the organisation to ensure their ads and products do not have particular appeal to under-18s.

Rieves did not respond to an invitation to comment.Is it right to expect leading civil society organisations to do more to empower local communities, combat alienation and model participatory democracy as an antidote?

This was the challenge, as I understood it, laid down by Julia Unwin, chair of Civil Society Futures, in her Civil Society Voices article of 14 August. Julia was concerned to address the gross centralisation of decision making in our system of government (hear, hear), but also challenged leading civil society organisations, if they wish to rejuvenate their jaded sector, to show government how a more empowering and participative approach should be done. She clearly implied that they were not doing this well enough at present, and "almost all" of them were "almost" completely absent from the communities consulted by the Civil Society Futures programme.

My immediate reaction was "Yay!" This was not just because I have great respect for Julia and the Civil Society Futures initiative, but also because this is the emotional heartbeat and theory of change of the international development charity of which I am a proud international board member, ActionAid International.

We believe in empowering communities to assert their rights and challenge unequal power relationships of all kinds, including gender relations, discrimination against caste or ethnic groups, and unaccountable power elites in government or corporations. We believe in people power. The typical ActionAid posture is sitting in a circle on the ground with people from social movements of the poor or oppressed, listening to them and facilitating them to discover in themselves the seeds of people power, and then to define and assert their priority demands. This empowerment, rooted in local communities, is then reinforced by helping them to link with other similar groups in the district, region, nationally and internationally, to influence the decisions at those levels that affect their life chances. Women's rights are absolutely key to all this. We believe that in the long run we cannot eliminate poverty and social injustice without challenging malevolent power structures.

Making distinctions

After that initial warm gush of affirmation, however, I have found myself trying to think harder about Julia's challenge, and trying to make some distinctions.

For leading civil society organisations differ widely. Some are centralised monoliths, but many are not. Take the religious ones. What about the Church of England? Whatever its weaknesses, it is present in every parish, it has hundreds of thousands of active adherents and is in so many places a nursery of participation, volunteering and community. The governance is a mixture, but local churches are independent charities and elect their PCC (the trustees) and there are Synods at deanery, Diocesan and national level to determine policy, with extensive powers for elected clergy and laity. I don't understand how this leading organisation fits into Julia's picture of absentee charities failing to impinge on local alienation. This is only one example. There are of course many other Christian denominations, some more democratic, some less, plus all the other faith communities. Love them or loathe them, they offer participation, a sense of agency, relief from loneliness or neglect, and facilities where community bonds can be formed; and many decisions affecting them are typically taken locally.

The broader point is that many charities with a leading national profile have local branches, which may be local charities in their own right as well as part of a national network. Of the secular variety, think of Women's Institutes, Age UK, Citizens' Advice Bureaux, The Ramblers' Association, Girlguiding and The Scouts, Mind, Mencap and so forth. Were they and their religious counterparts really all "almost completely absent"? Or were they present but not relevant enough to combatting alienation? Do their users and members continue to feel as alienated as before, or is it those whom they don't reach? Again, some of these organisations (such as the Ramblers) are highly democratic in their governance structures, others less so. So what is it exactly that they are being challenged to be or do - Be more present in more places? Be more democratic or participative in their own internal structures? Be more consultative in the way they consult actual or potential users and beneficiaries in making decisions about their priorities? We need clarity as to what the challenge is, and to whom.

Bear in mind, too, that "communities" are not only geographical. There are also communities of interest, communities of shared enthusiasm, communities of special need, communities of belief, and the reason for existence for many charities is to serve these. I do not know to what extent Civil Society Futures intend to consult these communities, as well as geographical ones, or whether the findings would be any different. The fact is, however, that it isn't the purpose of many kinds of charity to mitigate the alienation of geographical communities or promote democracy. It might be to engage in medical research, or protect the heritage, or assist sufferers from a specific disease and their families, or a thousand other causes. The trustees of those charities should surely be considering a more participative and democratic methodology only in so far as their theory of change suggests that this will be the very best way of securing their charitable objectives? For some it really might. For others, perhaps not.

Cause of powerlessness

Similarly, feelings of alienation, powerlessness and lack of control also have varied causes and components. Julia's article does not mention that women in particular tend to feel alienation and powerlessness as a result of patriarchy in our society. That brings a whole series of crucial challenges for the sector, (and wider society) that are not about being more consultative or participatory in a general sense; they are more specifically about rooting out entrenched cultural biases and embracing policies to promote women's rights, safety, confidence, participation and expectations.

To take a quite different example, there are few things more likely to induce a sense of powerlessness than the awareness that our whole planet may be going down the celestial toilet as a result of global warming. Two of our leading civil society organisations in the environmental field try to address this in different ways. Friends of the Earth is structured around local groups and a democratic governance, feeding into an important national and international presence. Greenpeace takes on the unaccountable global Goliaths of environmental destruction through much more centralised decision making, galvanising support and awareness through mighty media campaigns. Either organisation can give us supporters the feeling that at least we can do something to help. So what is Civil Society Futures now challenging them to do differently, and why? Is the same challenge equally valid for two organisations with such different USPs and structures?

At another level, if I am a sufferer from a disability or chronic disease, the greatest contribution to my sense of being in control might be from the charity that links me to other sufferers and their experience of managing, and to specialist online resources, aids to daily living or more appropriate housing. If I am a cancer patient, my number one requirement to feel more in control of my destiny may be, simply, to have the cancer cured or knocked back, (perhaps as a result of research funded by Cancer Research UK, one of the leading bodies named by Julia Unwin) or, if not, to be helped to manage.

If I am a care leaver who feels nobody gives a damn about me, the charity that can give me back a sense of hope, worth, agency and control may be a children's charity that assigns a key worker to me for the long term, valuing me and believing in me for the first time in my life...ie, a charity like Barnardos - another of those implicitly flawed leaders named by Julia Unwin in her phrase "From RSPB to Barnardos, from Cancer Research UK to the Red Cross".

It isn't Barnardos' charitable purpose to empower local communities, or promote democracy and participation for all, but to empower and nurture the most vulnerable and alienated children and young people: as they say on their website "We listen to them. We believe in them - no matter who they are, what they have done or what they have been through." It reaches 248,000 children, young people and carers in a year, and deploys over 20,000 volunteers. Quite a bit of additional agency generated there? Barnardos also researches and campaigns hard to create a better life for children in the future, drawing on all the listening they have done.

So what exactly are we challenging Barnardos to do? Re-examine its theory of change in case it could achieve more for children by a more democratic structure of internal decision-making? Or by more diverse methods of consultation at a local level, going beyond the stakeholders currently consulted, before a new project or commissioning bid is launched? Or even, more radically, adding to its constitution a new charitable purpose of community development? Barnardos has broad enough shoulders to endure a friendly challenge from Civil Society Futures, but it would need to know what the challenge actually is.

Now consider the RSPB, whose purpose is not to empower local communities but to protect and nurture birds and nature. To this end, in the UK (I am ignoring here their formidable international role) it mobilises nearly 19,000 volunteers in a year, it has 155 community-based local groups and more than 300 youth groups. It empowers untold numbers of children and grown ups to pursue and deepen a love and understanding of nature - through using its resources, bird watching, participating in research, pond dipping, rock pooling, and instructive walks in its 170 nature reserves. They have over a million members, who elect its president, nominate and elect members of council and can demand a ballot on certain resolutions put to council, so its governance is quite different from (say) Barnardos. What else are we challenging them to do if they are to play a bigger role in reducing local communities' sense of alienation, in a way that also actually advances their charitable purpose?

Be careful what we wish for

I realise that Julia's article is only a brief taster, partly designed to provoke. So we must look forward to more expansive, detailed explanations of the challenges emerging from the Civil Society Futures initiative. The generalised challenge to leading voluntary organisations raises a lot of questions because they are so different from each other in terms of their local presence, their purposes, their USPs and their systems of internal governance and external operation. Concepts of alienation, powerlessness and lack of control will also need breaking down into different components.

Every one of our leading civil society organisations has weaknesses and needs to review, evaluate and refresh itself, asking searching questions, at regular intervals. The ones I know already do this. Can Civil Society Futures refine the nature of the challenge to help them do it better? Reading their impact statements, supporting and participating in some of them, and observing them over some decades now discloses, in my opinion, for all their faults, an impressive and precious contribution to our common life and, indeed, to a more vivid sense of agency and control in important dimensions for many people. So, in the enthusiasm for transformation, let us, please, also be careful what we wish for.



The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra performed for the second time in the Gabala International Music Festival. Created by conductor Dmitri Yablonski and pianist Farhad Badalbeyli, the festival is one of the most important classical music events in Azerbaijan. As the Jerusalem Post writes in the article THE SOUNDS OF JERUSALEM IN A TOLERANT MUSLIM STATE, the JSO was warmly received by classical music lovers in the city of Gabala during their second performance in the annual Music Festival held in Azerbaijan since the summer of 2009.

The company performed four concerts during the event and was met with much interest by the local audience, especially young people who "filled the hall until it was packed," says JSO head Yair Shtern.

The music festival demonstrates the excellent relations Israel has with Azerbaijan, which is a predominantly Islamic state in the Shia tradition. The historical relations between Azerbaijan and the Jewish communities living there were normally excellent. Jews had been living in Azerbaijan for over 2,500 years and the community claims it can trace back its' origin to the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III in 720 BCE. The lack of Cohanim in that community is often pointed to as confirmation of that origin story as Cohanim, who are of the tribe of Levi, were not expelled by the Assyrians at that time as were the ten tribes of Israel.



However, modern scholars suggest that the mountain Jews of the Caucasus are descended from Persian speaking Jews who were scattered around the Persian empire. The decision made by many Jews to dwell in hard to reach places such as mountain tops served as a great benefit later when times proved hostile to Jews. For thousands of years the Jewish community of Azerbaijan spoke Judeo-Tat, a form of Farsi that uses Hebrew elements, and had little or no relations to other Jewish communities.



This changed when Azerbaijan became part of the USSR in 1920 when it was invaded by the Red Army. The USSR at the time had great need of Baku's oil and the country remained within Soviet control until 1991 when it became an independent nation. Today most of the Jewish community resides in the capital of Azerbaijan Baku and is composed of the remaining mountain Jews, who are the largest Jewish group, Ashkenazim who settled in Azerbaijan from the late 19'th century to the end of the Second World War where many found refuge there and Georgian Jews who made Baku their home in the early 20'th century. Baku also has an active Chabad community, that will gladly offer Kosher food to any Jewish visitors, and active Zionist youth movements.



Qrmz Qsb [Literally the Red Town] in the Quba district in north modern Azerbaijan is where most of the other Jews live. The town was created by Jewish Mountain Jews in the 13'th century and was originally called "Hebrew Town". The name "Red Town" was coined by the Russians. Around 4,500 Jews live there today, in the past the town was the home of 18,000 Jews and boasted 18 active synagogues. But in 1938 Stalin deported the community leaders to Siberia and ordered all the synagogues closed save one, which is still active today. Today the town has two active synagogues as well as a Jewish school that is run by Chabad and "Or Avner". "

In the town of Oghuz, that once boasted a Jewish community of Tat-speaking Mountain Jews, one can see two surviving synagogues. Once named Vartashen, the town now boasts a small Jewish community that celebrates the Jewish holidays and warmly accept Jewish visitors from Russia. "The President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev offers his personal support in the maintenance of these synagogues," says Dr. Baram.



"Azerbaijan is an amazing place for Israelis," says Aryeh Gott, who serves as the honorary counsel of Azerbaijan in Israel. "Israel and Azerbaijan have incredible relations and trade relations that amount to five and a half billion USD per year. The relations also include military and intelligence aspects," he added.



"The current leadership in Azerbaijan wish to highlight religious tolerance and pluralism," says Dr. Baram, "and good Jewish-Muslim relations contribute to that as a whole."There are few more sought-after politicians in the United States at the moment than Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. In June, at 28 years old, by making a play from the left, she pulled off a stunning primary victory over Joe Crowley, who had represented New York in Congress since 1999first from the 7th district, then the 14th. Wherever she goes, Ocasio-Cortez brings a media deluge. A couple weeks ago, feeling mobbed by reporters, she decided to make two listening tour stopsone in the the Bronx and another in Queens, open to the public but not to the press.

The press ban, her campaign team told the Queens Chronicle, was meant to help create a space where community members felt comfortable and open to express themselves without the distraction of cameras and press. Corbin Trent, her campaign spokesman, said that this did not represent a new normal in meeting access. Were still adjusting our logistics to fit Alexandrias national profile, he added.

ICYMI: Truth isnt truth, says Giuliani, continuing Trumps war on facts

On the same day that the Chronicle came out with its story, news organizations across the country published editorials about the importance of press freedom in the era of a president who goads reporters and undermines the role of journalism at every opportunity. Yet the visible erosion of political press relations with the White House is only part of the picture, and the friction is historic. President Richard Nixons frequent attacks on the press were more sustained and paranoid than Donald Trumps. President Barack Obama, who has been vocal in his support of the free press once out of office, kept a tight rein on access during his time in office, and his administration pursued leakers through the courts at an unprecedented rate. In May, Bill De Blasio, New Yorks mayor, was forced by Freedom of Information requests, brought to court by the media, to release emails in which he corresponded with strategic consultants about how best to sidestep the press. Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, is simply the latest offender.

To what extent she succeeded in undermining press access, however, is an open question. The meetings were livestreamed, so any reporter could watch at home. At Politico, Jack Shafer pointed out that banning journalists is, really, a futile actall spaces are permeable by tenacious press or civilian leakers. These factors, of course, also throw into doubt exactly what kind of sanctuary space had been created that made citizens safe from exposure.

It would be wrong to suggest that Ocasio-Cortezstill not elected to public office, even if she is a shoe-inhas committed a violation equivalent to those of President Trump; shielding herself, and maybe voters, from an international media blitz is not the same as carrying out threats to exclude press from national briefings. But both left and right have now developed a narrative that suggests the press can hinder democratic discourse rather than comprise a vital part of it.

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When controversy over her campaigns decision to limit press access hit social media, Ocasio-Cortez defended herself on Twitter. She also asked, in earnest, how such meetings ought to be conducted in the future: Genuine Q?: how should we label a free campaign event, open to all, thats a sanctuary space? Still private? In another post, she pressed the idea that the presence of journalists makes for an unsafe environment. Not trying to make a mountain out of a molehill, she wrote. But we are genuinely trying to create environments of where our constituents feel comfortable expressing honestly & engaging in discourse.

EVEN IF PRESS-FREE events are an anomaly, it is worrying for journalism that a politician with the support and profile of Ocasio-Cortez frames the presence of press at her meetings as being a hindrance to productive dialogue. Research suggests that, in the kinds of communities she is addressingurban, poor, non-whitecitizens might feel the same way. In a survey conducted by the Tow Center early this year in Philadelphia, respondents said they felt that they often only saw coverage of themselves as being relentlessly negative, or largely absent. Researchers at Tow (which I founded) prescribed as an antidote a different role for the pressreporters not only as distant observers but as civic organizers.

Whats alarming, even if politicians across the ideological spectrum have always practiced press control, is that new platforms for expression allow for both enormous amplification of the political sphere as well a new level of opacity in communications between politicians and private individuals. Digital platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp (which Facebook owns) offer the ability to connect to specific interest groups in ways that are difficult for the press to access and report on. Seeking out citizens in ways that are more protected, or exclusionary, has become the basis of a new type of political campaigning: Campaigns can create virtual spaces that can segment political audiences and participants. Unlike public meetings, these groups can be hard to find and difficult to joinalthough they offer journalists an opportunity for a different type of engagement, too.

A recent report by Mark Frankel, a journalist at the BBC, outlines the new beats that reporters need to develop within online communities, if they are to access and understand certain groups in depth. Increased use of WhatsApp, Facebook, and other closed rooms can provide an opportunity for political campaigns to convene small interest groups through party activists rather than talk directly to constituents. In examining successful movements from the pro-Brexit campaign in the United Kingdom to the populist Bharatiya Janata Party in India, the report finds, the spread of private groups for what would once have had to be more public campaigns is changing the nature of political reporting, campaigning, and even public discourse. In India, the BJP was running not just thousands of different groups on WhatsApp, Frankel says. But each one was discussing a different topic or message aimed at that particular community. So in rural India it might be about the price of milk for instance, and in more urban environments it was about the interconnectedness of certain communities. Frankel says that the efforts of the BJP make UK and US politicians look rather flat-footed by comparison, but there is little doubt that these techniques are already deployed by campaigns and are likely to grow.

Frankel, who produced his report as part of a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University, says that, in his experience accessing pro-Brexit groups in the UK, closed groups were often home to more sensible and thoughtful discussion than the open group free-for-alls. That statement aligns with Ocasio-Cortezs argument for a private listening tour. Changes in technology transform the way people both consume news and view reporters. As the press becomes walled off from the rest of the public, its the responsibility of journalists to make a compelling case for themselves by modifying their behavior. Engaging with subjects as community members may not always seem to be a practical solution, but with access under strain during the coming election season, it is more urgent than ever.

ICYMI: A major Trump scoop from CNN is now being called into question

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Emily Bell is the director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School.Once upon a time, a long time ago, the word long met up with the words standing, lived, suffering, time, term, and other partners, and formed many adjectives and adverbs. Long kept a hyphens-length from most of its partners, but grew closer and finally merged with just one: time.

Yet many people, even today, are trying to keep long and time apart, insisting on putting a hyphen between them.

Sad!

When two words meet and fall in love to form an adjective or adverb, they often keep a hyphen between them until enough people accept them as a permanent couple and drop the hyphen. The adverb to-night, for example, kept its hyphen well into the 1950s, though it looks strange to modern eyes.

ICYMI: Advice for journalists: Cut back on big words

We have not yet reached that point with long-lived, long-suffering, or long-term, all of which rarely appear without their hyphens. Long-standing, though is in full transition: Websters New World College Dictionary, the one preferred by the Associated Press and many news organizations, lists longstanding as an alternate spelling. The AP and Garners Modern English Usage still prefers long-standing, but The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage calls for longstanding.

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Even so, many American newspapers that appear to follow AP style use longstanding regularly, if a Nexis search is any guide, where longstanding far outpaced long-standing in the past month.

Then there is the curious case of long(-)time. Neither longtime nor long-time appears in any of the collegiate dictionaries we have until the New College Edition of the American Heritage Dictionary, originally published in 1969, where it shows up as long-time. But a rival dictionary, the Second College Edition of Websters New World, first published in 1970, debuts the adjective as longtime. No wonder the relationship was so confusing.

This Google ngram shows how long-time overtook longtime in books about 1890, and soared in popularity until about 1938, when it leveled off until about 2000, when it began to drop. Longtime, on the other hand, started climbing about 1960, and blew past long-time in the late 1980s.

Today, its hard to find long-time in any standard American dictionary, even as an alternate spelling. The Oxford English Dictionary lists only the hyphenated version, tracing its first appearance to 1851, so maybe its a British thing.

But journalists are headstrong, and a Nexis search turns up only a few occurrences of longtime in the past month, versus hundreds for long-time.

It only goes to show: You can lead a writer to a dictionary or stylebook, but you cant make them think about it for long.

ICYMI: Trump sparks debate with usage of the word pour

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Merrill Perlman managed copy desks across the newsroom at the New York Times, where she worked for twenty-five years. Follow her on Twitter at @meperl.CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio - The Cuyahoga Falls City School District has issued an online apology to the community after receiving complaints last week about a controversial assignment about diversity that was given to students at Roberts Middle School.

The assignment, which asked students to choose who to save from a doomsday scenario based on variables such as sexual orientation, race and religion, will be discontinued. And a disciplinary letter was placed in the file of the math teacher who gave the assignment.

"What we questioned was the delivery and the age-appropriateness [of the assignment,]" Superintendent Todd Nichols said in an interview with cleveland.com

The teacher, whom Nichols identified as Richard Perich, could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

Perich's assignment, "Whom to Leave Behind," asked seventh and eighth-grade students in four classes to imagine the impending destruction of Earth and to choose eight of 12 people to save. Descriptions of the people included a "militant African-American medical student," a "homosexual, male professional athlete" and a "female movie star who was recently the victim of sexual assault."

Nichols posted the apology on the home page of the school district's website, acknowledging that the assignment upset parents. But Nichols also stressed the importance of putting the assignment in perspective, saying it was "aligned with the goals of the District."

The assignment, taken from University of Houston's Diversity Activities Resource Guide, was intended to "promote tolerance and break down stereotypes," Nichols wrote.

"It is the responsibility of a 21st-Century educator to deliver a holistic education to all of their students. In Cuyahoga Falls, one of our objectives is to engage in conversations concerning diversity and social justice," Nichols stated.

Nichols assured the public that future assignments on diversity will be more carefully selected.

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.BROADVIEW HEIGHTS, Ohio -- The city may learn early next month whether it qualifies for grant money that would fund the assessment -- and possibly the cleaning -- of a potentially contaminated site at Interstate 77 and Ohio 82.

In June, the city applied for the grant from the Northcoast Brownfield Coalition, a partnership between the Cuyahoga County and Cleveland departments of development, the county Board of Health and the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority.

The coalition seeks federal funding for the rehabilitation and redevelopment of brownfields -- which contain pollutants and hazardous substances due to previous industrial or commercial activity -- in Cuyahoga County.

Other communities have also sought coalition funding. In April, for example, the City of Lakewood applied for a coalition grant for a hazardous-waste assessment of the former Mack Products Co. building on Hird Avenue.

Mary Louise Madigan, spokesperson for Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish, said the coalition is scheduled to review and score Broadview Heights' application in early September and decide if the city will receive funding.

Barrier to development

In Broadview Heights, the city wants to assess three vacant parcels at the northwest corner of I-77 and Ohio 82, behind businesses on Treeworth Boulevard. According to the city's grant application, the three parcels total 60 acres, although the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Office website shows a total of 49 acres.

According to county records, most of the land is owned by a company called Ahek Inc. About 5 acres is owned by HSL Royalton LLC. Ahek was incorporated in 1987 and HSL Royalton was created in 2015, according to the Ohio Secretary of State website.

Part of the site is zoned for offices and laboratories. The rest is zoned as an "interstate highway shopping center district," which under Broadview Heights code allows movie theaters, offices and office parks, department stores and "variety stores."

City officials said the property once contained a landfill for construction and demolition debris, which is generally considered a clean form of waste. The materials include brick, concrete and masonry materials.

Nevertheless, the mere possibility of contamination, and the costs associated with assessing and cleaning the property, have been enough to chase away potential developers, city officials said.

"There is no formal plan (for redevelopment), but there has been interest from various parties expressed over the past 10 years," Kristina Sorensen, the city's economic development coordinator, said in the grant application. "However, the barrier to development always comes back to the unknown type of contaminants, and cost of remediation."

Sorensen did not return emails regarding when the site was last used as a construction and demolition debris landfill. She also didn't provide an application attachment that reportedly shows contact information of the property owners.

The city would like to see 40 acres redeveloped and about 20 acres preserved as green space, according to the grant application.

To receive a grant, the city must obtain permission from the property owners to enter the site. Sorensen, in her grant application, said the city was still working with the property owner or owners for that access.

Assess and remediate

According to a brownfield-grant program summary provided by the county, services covered under the grant include environmental evaluations -- such as soil testing, asbestos surveys and lead-based paint inspections -- and remediation plans.

The Northcoast Brownfield Coalition, county Board of Health and representatives of "local community development organizations" make funding recommendations based on:

potential economic benefits to assessing and redeveloping a property;

the viability of redevelopment;

possible health and environmental hazards emanating from the property;

and the grant applicant's efforts to secure funds from other sources.

Once the coalition approves funding, the county negotiates with private environmental firms for the site evaluations.

If remediation is needed, the county applies to the United States Environmental Protection Agency for a loan that would pay for site cleanup. Loans of up to $500,000 are given to private developers or businesses that own the contaminated site, and the owners must match 20 percent of the loan amount with their own dollars.

Municipalities or nonprofits that own project sites are eligible for "subgrants" of up to $200,000 for remediation. The municipalities and nonprofits are required to match 20 percent of whatever the county appropriates for the work.PARMA, Ohio -- A Parma police officer was involved in a multiple-vehicle accident on Tuesday, according to Parma police.

The department tweeted Tuesday afternoon that one of its officers was involved in a four-car crash that resulted in the closure of Snow Road between West 54th Street and Ridge Road for about two hours.

Snow Rd. will be shut down between W. 54th St. and Ridge Rd. until further notice. Parma Officer involved in four car motor vehicle accident.  Parma Police Department (@ParmaPolice) August 28, 2018

Three people, including the officer, were hurt in the crash that happened about 1:50 p.m., according to Sgt. Dan Ciryak. They were hospitalized but the extent of their injuries is not known.

Two cars were eastbound on Snow Road while two cars, including the police cruiser, were headed westbound. The officer was on a regular patrol and not in pursuit, Ciryak said.

The driver in the eastbound curb lane changed lanes. The car pushed the other eastbound car over the double yellow line into a car going in the opposite direction. That car, in turn, struck the police cruiser and pushed it into a pole, police said.

Snow Rd. is now open again for all traffic.  Parma Police Department (@ParmaPolice) August 28, 2018

Parma police tweeted just after 4 p.m. that Snow Road was reopened.

To comment on this story, visit Tuesday's crime and courts comment section.CLEVELAND, Ohio - Just around the corner from the popular Ohio City and Hingetown neighborhoods is Clinton West Luxury Apartments.

The property used to belong to Storer Meat Co., which purchased the property in the late 1960s and used it for manufacturing its products. Then, four decades later, the land was sold to residential developer Chad Kertesz, developer Fred Geis and his son Ethan, and Kevin Brokaw, the director of development for Geis Companies.

The former building on the plot of land was demolished, and Geis Cos. built up an upscale apartment community. The building was designed by LDA Architects.

The new apartments, opened last year, are a 10-minute walk away from West 25th St. bars and eateries, and a five-minute walk from art galleries and coffee roasters. Located near the Shoreway, Clinton West is just a few minutes' drive to downtown Cleveland.

Clinton West houses studio, one and two-bedroom units inside. Floor plans range in size from 508 sq. ft. to the spacious 1,809 sq. ft.

The inside of units include in-suite washers and driers, stainless steel appliances and a balcony. Tenants can make use of the building's dry-cleaning service and fitness center. A community room is available for meetings.

Clinton West is pet-friendly, and has a dog wash station inside the building.

Units range in price from $1,275 to $3,500 a month. See the full listing here.

Clinton West

3007 Clinton Ave.

City: Cleveland

Price: $1,275-$3,500

Year built: 2017

Size: 508 sq. ft. - 1,809 sq. ft.

School district: Cleveland City school district

Managed by: Geis Residential Management, LLC, living@clintonwest.com , 216-415-6063

Editor's Note: The story has been updated to reflect that the property was bought by Kertesz, Geis and Brokaw, rather than just Geis Cos.CLEVELAND, Ohio - Local digital publication FreshWater Cleveland is embarking on a 10-week "On the Ground" reporting project on the city's Old Brooklyn neighborhood. Cleveland.com will be helping to amplify their in-depth coverage.

You can keep up with the on-going coverage here.

"Between significant small business growth, rapidly shifting resident demographics and new schools opening, Old Brooklyn is at a pivotal tipping point," says FreshWater managing editor Jen Jones Donatelli. "There's a palpable energy around the transformation taking place in Old Brooklyn, and it's exciting to cover that from a journalistic standpoint."

The site has begun rolling out news articles and features by their team of writers and editors. Along with written work, FreshWater will also host a storytelling series in Old Brooklyn and produce a video and other content in partnership with Cleveland.com.

The neighborhood has seen a growth in new businesses over the past years, such as Opal on Pearl, Vino Veritas, Lilly Handmade Chocolates and Metropolitan Coffee. Read more about the new and longstanding businesses in a recent feature by the Plain Dealer's Laura DeMarco.

The project's timing coincides with Cleveland Chain Reaction, which will bring five businesses into Old Brooklyn.

"With Cleveland Chain Reaction taking place in Old Brooklyn, the timing couldn't be better to explore Old Brooklyn's economic landscape," Donatelli says. "The conclusion of our 10-week On the Ground series will coincide with the announcement of the five Chain Reaction businesses that will be moving into the neighborhood."

FreshWater's parent company, Issue Media Group, first launched its "On the Ground" series in Philadelphia in 2012, and has since run the program in various cities where it operates publications across the country. This marks Cleveland's first initiative, which is in partnership with Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation, Greater Cleveland Partnership, Cleveland Development Advisors, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

The embedded journalism will touch on topics such as momentum in economic development; significant shifts in population growth and demographics; strides in education; the results of an in-depth community health assessment and efforts to enhance and improve the community.

The key to doing that, Donatelli says, is enlisting reporters who live in Old Brooklyn and spending time in the area speaking with residents to better understand its unique challenges and assets. Throughout the ten weeks, FreshWater will shine a light on the local people, projects and places that make up the neighborhood.

"Many Clevelanders mostly associate Old Brooklyn with the zoo, and while that's a huge asset for the area, there is so much to Old Brooklyn beyond the zoo's borders," Donatelli says. "Old Brooklyn is Cleveland's largest neighborhood--and an iconic one at that, with over 100 years of history. We're excited to dive deep into what makes it special and cover all the things that make it a compelling place."

Read FreshWater's most recent reporting

Portrait of a neighborhood: Old Brooklyn - Learn more about the neighborhood's past, present and future. Read more here.

Building a church family in Old Brooklyn, one house at a time - Pastor Tony Loseto and his wife, Beth, are known for leading Gateway Church Old Brooklyn, which opens the doors to its new home at 4542 Pearl Rd. on Sept. 2. But the couple has also been busy repainting local homes and making light repairs every summer for the last five years. Read more here.

A tale of two tastemakers: Lilly Chocolates and Old Brooklyn Cheese Co. join forces in Old Brooklyn - Old Brooklyn Cheese Co. was recently selected as a Cleveland Chain Reaction semi-finalist. Lilly Chocolates will be opening in the neighborhood soon. What better way to celebrate the momentum than teaming up for sweet collaborations? Read more here.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A 22-year-old woman accused the friend of a Cleveland Browns player of sexually assaulting her at two Browns players' apartment at The 9 in downtown Cleveland.

She believed she was having sex with one of the players, police reports say.

Neither Browns player -- tight end David Njoku and wide receiver Rashard Higgins-- was in the room at the time, and neither is accused of any wrongdoing.

Njoku's friend, Kashwayne Nelson, who records say lives with both Njoku and Higgins, was arrested on suspicion of rape but ultimately was released from the jail. No charges have been filed in connection with the sexual assault.

The woman told police she did not want to press charges against Nelson because she didn't want her family to find out about the incident. Cleveland police officers convinced her to go to MetroHealth for a sexual assault examination in case the woman decides to press charges later.

Nelson was charged with obstructing official business, and court records say he is considered a suspect in the sexual assault. Police said that Nelson lied to police by providing a fake identification card, according to police and court records.

A message left with Nelson was not returned. Court records do not list an attorney for Nelson.

A Browns spokesman said in a statement that the team is aware of the incident and that both Njoku and Higgins will continue to cooperate with police.

"Rashard immediately notified us of the situation and he and David fully cooperated with the police while being interviewed," the statement said. "While our players were not the target of any allegations involving illegal activity, they understand the seriousness of the situation and we have expressed our concerns regarding the matter."

The 22-year-old woman told police she was in town celebrating her birthday on Friday night and that she spent time with Nelson and Higgins at The 9. They split time drinking at the bar and going up to Higgins' and Njoku's apartment, police reports say.

Njoku did not drink and stayed at the apartment the entire night, police reports say.

The woman and two of her friends went to the Barley House with Higgins and Nelson. Higgins, the woman and Nelson went back to their apartment about 3 a.m.

Higgins left the apartment briefly after the woman fell asleep in Higgins' bed, according to police reports.

The woman told police Nelson sneaked into Higgins' room and had sex with her, according to police reports. The woman told police she believed Higgins had returned and didn't realize it was Nelson until she heard his voice, according to police reports.

She demanded that he turn the lights on and realized it was Nelson in the bed and not Higgins. The Cleveland law department redacted what happened immediately after, citing a provision in the law that allows for redaction of description of sexual assaults.

The woman tried to call police but the man ripped the phone from her hand, pulling her hair in the process, police reports say. The woman eventually grabbed her phone, ran outside and called 911, police reports say.

Investigators interviewed both Browns players and Nelson, according to police reports.

Higgins told police he met Nelson when he moved into Njoku's apartment a few days prior. He said he believed Nelson was Njoku's cousin, but Njoku told police he was just his friend.

Higgins said Nelson brought the woman and two other girls to their apartment that night. His version of events mirror the woman's. Higgins said he left the apartment because he couldn't sleep and that the woman had called police by the time he returned home.

Njoku said he spent the night in his room and didn't hang out with anyone. He said he didn't know the woman and that Nelson was his friend.

Part of the police interview of Nelson was also redacted by the city law department. He initially gave officers an Ohio identification card that belonged to someone else. He told police that the woman was in his bedroom, but when officers asked him to describe where his room was in the apartment, he "got very disoriented and kept saying different rooms," police reports say.

Nelson refused to speak with the officers after they read him his Miranda rights, according to police reports. The officers arrested Nelson and booked him into the Cuyahoga County Jail. He was released on a personal bond Monday after he pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Cleveland Municipal Court.

Investigators collected the rape kit from the hospital and the bed sheets for evidence, police reports say.

To comment on this story, visit Tuesday's crime and courts comment section.AKRON, Ohio -- Human remains that were found late last year by a fisherman in the Cuyahoga River have been identified as a missing Akron man, Akron police said.

The remains were identified as those of La'Ron Harris, 27, of Newton Street, police said. Harris' bones were found by a man on Oct. 5, 2017, who was fly fishing along the bank of the Cuyahoga River.

The Summit County Medical Examiner's Office examined the remains and put them through a series of tests before matching them to Harris' DNA, police said.

Harris was last seen Feb. 20, 2016, about 2:30 a.m. at the Lazy Gator bar in the Merriman Valley's bar complex. A friend, Kaila Watkins, who was 25 at the time, asked him for a ride home, according to police.

The two got in the car and Harris drove out of the parking lot onto Weathervane Lane. Instead of continuing on Weathervane Lane towards Merriman Road, Harris drove into an apartment complex driveway and crashed through a wooden barrier.

The car plummeted into the Cuyahoga River and sunk. Watkins told police they both escaped the car. She swam against the current to the riverbank and was unharmed.

Watkins told police she saw Harris swimming with the current, but never saw him again.

Relatives reported Harris missing two days after the crash and searched the river in the Merriman Valley following the crash.

If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section.PERRYSBURG TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- A suspect was shot and killed by officers Monday after he opened fire while trying to run from police, according to reports.

Police did not identify the suspect, who was killed after he tried to escape following a traffic stop.

The Blade reports police initially stopped the vehicle with three occupants at about 2:30 p.m. on Interstate 75 near an exit for U.S. 20.

One person was taken into custody during the stop, WTVG Channel 13 reports. The car then left with the two remaining occupants inside.

Police started chasing the car and a passenger got out and tried to run but was caught. The chase of the car continued for about an hour before the vehicle crashed, according to WTOL Channel 11.

The driver ran from the car and was being chased by officers when began firing at them with a handgun. Officers then shot the suspect, who was pronounced dead at the scene, reports say.

No officers were injured. The shooting remains under investigation.

Perrysburg Township is located just south of Toledo.

If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section.MOSS POINT, Miss. -- An altercation on Sunday between two women left one with a 12-inch cut to her arm, according to Chief Brandon Ashley.

Police responded to an assault that happened on Meridian Street in Moss Point. Investigators say the altercation occurred between Jossie Wilson and Deborah Posey.

Investigators discovered Posey had a large cut on her upper left arm approximately 12 inches long.

Posey was allegedly cut by Wilson with a razor blade and was transported by Acadian Ambulance to Singing River Hospital.

Wilson was arrested and charged with felony aggravated assault. Bond was set at $10,000 and it is unknown what caused the altercation between the two women.

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to contact Detective Kevin Johnson or the Moss Point Police Department at 228-474-0168.

You may also contact Crime Stoppers at 800-787-5898 or visit the Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers website at mscoastcrimestoppers.com.Last week marked German Chancellor Angela Merkel's trip to the South Caucasus region. The German political scientist, German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) associate fellow Jacopo Maria Pepe told Vzglyad.az about the aims and tasks of this trip.

- How can you explain Germany's increased interest in the South Caucasus?

- The reasons are both economic and strategic. The economic one is that the distance between the three seas - Eastern Mediterranean, Black and Caspian - is steadily declining thanks to recent events in the South Caucasus such as the signing of the Convention on the Caspian Sea, the construction of the TANAP pipeline, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, the Anaklia Deep Sea Port and the port of Alat. This is true both in terms of energy projects, as well as transport, trade and, possibly, migration flows. And German business and politics show a clear interest in all these areas. They want to play a big role in this.

The strategic reason is that, after visiting the Caucasus after a meeting with Vladimir Putin and shortly before the Russian president began his visit to the Caucasus, Mrs. Merkel sent a clear message to Moscow, Washington and other EU countries that Berlin also seeks to diversify its energy and does not try to restore its relations with Moscow unilaterally on the basis of the Nord Stream-2 deal, although Merkel avoids openly criticizing Russia's actions in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

- China's presence in the South Caucasus region continues to grow. Could Merkel's visit be also related to this factor?

- Yes. Another factor explaining Ms. Merkel's visit is China's silent, albeit growing, presence in both Azerbaijan and Georgia. The Caucasus, like Central Eastern Europe, becomes a space where Russia and China, together with Turkey and Iran, can directly interact, while both cooperating and competing. For Germany and Europe, which have strong trade relations with the countries of the region, it is extremely important to note their high interest and participation in the region. This is both a part of Europe'a expanded neighborhood and Eurasia 'reunification' process.

- How do you assess the outcome of Merkel's visit to Azerbaijan?

- The visit was a positive signal sent both to the country and the regional powers, saying that Germany, despite the difficult global situation, has not lost strategic interest in this region, has not abandoned the Caucasus in favor of regional powers and seeks to support the efforts of Azerbaijan and Georgia on further diversification of their economy and political relations.

In the case of Azerbaijan, its attraction is clearly linked to the diversification of energy supplies and the growing interest in the development of the non-oil sector, especially transport and logistics. Baku needs to cooperate with Germany not only for transit, but also for integration into regional and continental transit energy supply networks. Berlin is considering the possibility that in the future Azerbaijan can become a trading, manufacturing and financial center for Germany, linking the large markets of Iran, Turkey and Russia.

- What prospects would the South Gas Corridor gas pipeline open for Germany and Europe?

- The prospect is good, because Germany clearly sees Azerbaijan as an alternative source of gas. However, the prospect will only expand if the Convention on the Caspian Sea opens the way for the construction of the Trans-Caspian Gas pipeline, where new volumes of gas can be added. Its actual volumes are an important contribution, but they are still not enough to radically change the equation of gas supplies to Germany and Europe.Courage. Acerbic wit. Ability to speak truth to power. Willingness to admit mistakes. Always. And above all, being able to put nation above self. These were among the attributes of the late John Sidney McCain III.

That, and a family legacy of combat military service that dated to Sen. John S. McCain's grandfather, John S. McCain Sr.

Nor was the late Sen. McCain alone among those who've seen combat and who refuse, as a consequence, to accept fakery, puffery, pretense and BS.

On Saturday, after McCain's death became known, I was sad, but prepared. He had prepared us. He'd fought until the end and had announced his brain-cancer treatments were over. I'd buried too many loved ones not to know what that meant. Final days. Final hours.

So I didn't start crying until the emails from veterans who'd known and loved McCain started arriving. Because many of them knew what I also knew - that McCain's departure from public office only by virtue of his death marked the definitive end of an era in public life when those steeled in overseas combat led us, inspired us, kept us honest and focused on what really matters.

The last U.S. combat veteran president was George H. W. Bush, like McCain, a naval aviator (in World War II) who also was shot down.

The last U.S. presidential election in which at least one of the major-party contenders was a combat veteran was 2008 -- when McCain led the GOP ticket.

Yes, McCain strayed into false expectations of U.S. power. Why else would he have supported the ill-conceived Iraq War with its disastrously mishandled occupation -- a disaster he recognized at the time, yet wanted to inoculate against with more and more troops? In McCain's new memoirs, "The Restless Wave," he finally admits, as quoted in Politico, that the Iraq War "can't be judged as anything other than a mistake, a very serious one, and I have to accept my share of the blame for it."

So it's not that combat gives one all the answers. But it can teach you to recognize and mistrust the braggarts, the ones who talk but don't do, the sycophants and hypocrites.

McCain was as short-tempered as he was blunt. If he didn't like you, he let you know about it. He had no patience for falsity -- once in 2008 even taking the mic from one of his own supporters during a presidential campaign town hall, from a woman who'd dissed Barack Obama as an "Arab," to correct her, to boos from his own supporters, that Obama was "a decent family man," as Politico also reported.

McCain didn't become president. He didn't have the money, or the mainstream political support; he found it difficult to schmooze and equivocate and misdirect and lie. He didn't have enough ego -- and he made mistakes, including in his running mate.

But he could still laugh at himself with as much ferocity and savage wit as at anyone else -- as his memorable appearances on Saturday Night Live underscored.

I knew McCain almost entirely through his public persona. But as the daughter and widow of combat veterans, I recognized much about him. I'd seen these traits before. And my late husband, also a Vietnam combat veteran, also disdained those who never hazarded anything, who stayed at the rear, metaphorically, and in reality, who calculated over everything and who sought to mask their passions in public, including anger, contempt and impatience.

As the son of the U.S. admiral in command of all U.S. Pacific forces during the Vietnam War, McCain, who was captured by the North Vietnamese in 1967 and held until 1973, could have gotten out of captivity earlier. But he declined special treatment, and he paid a brutal price for that. And he survived that torture to bear witness to its failures as an intelligence tool and to condemn it and warn against it as a pillar of U.S. anti-terrorism policy.

The flags today are all at half-mast, again; senators of both parties read their tributes into the record Monday while a vase of white roses set on a black cloth reposed at McCain's usual seat.

Johnny, to paraphrase the old song about JFK, we hardly knew ye, but we finally can set aside our differences and petty disputes to acknowledge that we are all better off because of ye.

Elizabeth Sullivan is the director of opinion for cleveland.com and directs the editorial board for The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com.

*************

Have something to say about this topic? Use the comments to share your thoughts. Then, stay informed when readers reply to your comments by using the "Follow" option at the top of the comments, and look for updates via the small blue bell in the lower right as you look at more stories on cleveland.com.UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Could the site of the Wiley Middle School building be the next home of University Heights' city hall?

According to Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan, the school site at 2181 Miramar Blvd. could be home to city hall and other public uses, or perhaps some type of commercial development.

"We would miss having a middle school in our city, but ultimately, I want that property to be used for what best benefits University Heights," said Brennan, speaking Monday after a joint meeting of University Heights City Council and the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Board of Education.

The future of Wiley School was one of the items discussed by city and school district leaders at the meeting, held in the Board of Education building next door to Wiley.

After being used for two years as the temporary site of Cleveland Heights High School while that school was undergoing renovations, Wiley is now in its second year of hosting middle school students from Roxboro and Monticello middle schools. Both Roxboro and Monticello are undergoing renovations, which will be completed before the 2019-20 school year begins.

Wiley's use after that is now unknown.

"Right now, we do not have a set plan for Wiley next school year," schools Superintendent Talisa Dixon told those at the meeting.

"Maybe there's some economic development opportunity for that building," said school board President James Posch, "but we're (the school board) not in the economic development business."

Dixon said the building, constructed in 1953, will be appraised.

"We know that building and land is worth something," Dixon said.

Posch noted that the "going rate" for school buildings these days is $1. He was referring to the recent instance of the school board selling for $1 the former Coventry School building to the Cleveland Heights-University Library Board of Trustees. That sale took place in February of this year.

The building and property, also known as the Coventry P.E.A.C.E. Campus, 2843 Washington Blvd., was to be redeveloped by the City of Cleveland Heights before the library stepped up and agreed to take ownership.

The Coventry building is occupied by several non-profit tenants who did not want to move from the site and spoke out against redevelopment.

Dixon acknowledged that during the years before that sale, the school district was "not a very good landlord."

While Brennan would like to acquire Wiley for $1, he knows that building represents an entirely different situation than did the old Coventry School building.

He said that losing Wiley as a school building "is a loss for the University Heights community."

"But I also recognize and accept that we have passed a point of no return as to Wiley as a middle school after this school year," Brennan said in a written statement to those assembled.

Brennan said he doesn't want to see the school board -- made up of five first-term members -- struggle for 10 years, as it did with the Coventry building, to find a meaningful use for Wiley while using it in "stopgap" ways until that ultimate use is found.

"I intend to work with this school board to find a productive use of the Wiley property in our community," he said. "I intend to work with the school board and its administration to find a meaningful transition and purpose for this property now, and not 10 years from now."

Dixon said that, on Sept. 11, she and her cabinet will meet with representatives of the firm Van Auken Akins Architects. She said the architects will look not just at the Wiley building, but at all of the district's buildings and provide an overall future plan and timeline so that the board will know in which direction the district wants to move.

"We're not making any decision without your folks being at the table," Posch said to reassure Brennan.

"Before the end of this school year, I would like us to know what we intend to do on the Wiley site," Brennan said, "and be working on a transition so that this property does not sit vacant and fallow."

Earlier in the meeting, Brennan told school board members and Dixon that it is no secret that he believes that the current University Heights City Hall, built in 1925, does not adequately serve residents' needs. He said that before he sinks any money into the building for needed improvements such as an elevator -- at a cost of about $600,000 -- he would like to know what other options there might be.

He said the Wiley building and property, at 12 acres, could be used as a city hall, and more. Brennan noted that the building abuts city-owned Purvis Park and has inside it a 900-seat auditorium with fine acoustics.

"We don't have many spaces like that in University Heights," he said of the Wiley campus.

Commercial development could also be an alternative. Working on the matter with Brennan will be the city's new economic development director (and former Solon mayor), Susan Drucker. Drucker attended the joint meeting Monday, her first day on the new job.

Brennan also addressed University Square and the city's attempts to redevelop the shopping center, home to stores such as Macy's and Target, at Cedar and Warrensville Center roads.

"University Square is like a duck on a pond," Brennan said. "Above the surface, it may seem like nothing is happening. But below, where it cannot be seen, we are paddling like mad.

"We are in constant contact with the bondholders and the other stakeholders. We are circulating ideas, talking with the county and lining up our ducks.

"I wish I could tell you more, but it would be premature," he said. "But you can expect to hear more. And, I look forward to working together to make all of that commercial site useful again to the community, a centerpiece once more in University Heights."An armored personnel carrier has overturned in Turkeys Sirnak province.

As a result of the incident, two Turkish servicemen were killed and seven were injured. All the injured were taken to a military hospital.

The condition of five of the injured servicemen is assessed as critical, Turkish media reported.WHEN: Today, Monday, August 27, 2018

WHERE: CNBC's "Closing Bell"

The following is the unofficial transcript of a FIRST ON CNBC interview with National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow on CNBC's "Closing Bell" (M-F 3PM  5PM) today, Monday, August 27th. The following is a link to video from the interview on CNBC.com: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/08/27/larry-kudlow-on-trade-war-with-china-trump-nafta-trade-deal-mexico-canada-trade-war-bilateral.html.

All references must be sourced to CNBC.

MORGAN BRENNAN: AFTER MORE THAN A YEAR OF TALKS ON NAFTA AND SIX PLUS WEEKS OF TALKS BETWEEN JUST THE U.S. AND MEXICO, THE PRESIDENTS OF THOSE TWO COUNTRIES HAVE COME TO AN AGREEMENT ON SOME KEY TRADE ISSUES.

WILDRED FROST: JOINING US IN A FIRST ON CNBC INTERVIEW IS NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL DIRECTOR LARRY KUDLOW. LARRY, VERY GOOD EVENING TO YOU. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.

LARRY KUDLOW: THANK YOU, WILFRED. APPRECIATE IT.

FROST: DO YOU SEE TODAY'S DEAL AND ANNOUNCEMENT AS A SIGN THAT THE PRESIDENT'S TACTICS ON TRADE ARE WORKING?

KUDLOW: YEAH, I DO. I MEAN I THINK THIS IS BIG VICTORY -- IT'S A BIG VICTORY FOR GROWTH AND PROSPERITY, IT'S A BIG VICTORY FOR A BIG VICTORY FOR COOPERATION, IT'S A BIG VICTORY FOR FREE AND FAIR TRADE. I THINK ALL OF THESE THINGS WORK TOGETHER. AND YES, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THINGS HE'S ARGUED FOR QUITE SOME TIME IS BILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS ARE REALLY MORE EFFICIENT THAN ALL OF THESE MULTILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS, WHETHER IT'S THREE COUNTRIES OR 23 COUNTRIES. AND I THINK THAT PAID OFF WITH MEXICO. AND HATS OFF TO MEXICO FOR DOING A GREAT JOB AND COOPERATING AND REACHING A VERY IMPORTANT DEAL FOR BOTH COUNTRIES.

FROST: WHAT'S THE MESSAGE TO CANADA, LARRY?

KUDLOW: WELL, THE MESSAGE TO CANADA IS YOU KNOW, "LOOK CAREFULLY. WE WOULD LIKE TO COORDINATE WITH YOU. WE WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A GOOD DEAL WITH YOU. YOU'VE SEEN A LOT OF THE ISSUES." WE ALSO KNOW THERE ARE STUMBLING BLOCKS WITH REGARD TO CANADA BUT FOR NOW WE'RE GOING TO CELEBRATE THE MEXICAN DEAL, WHICH BY THE WAY MOST FOLKS OR MANY FOLKS DIDN'T THINK WE'D EVER REACH. AND WE HOPE CANADA IS WATCHING CAREFULLY AT HOW SUCCESSFUL NEGOTIATIONS CAN GO.

FROST: AND WHAT'S THE PLAN, LARRY, IF CANADA DOESN'T JOIN THE PARTY? CAN THE BILATERAL DEAL STILL BE PUSHED THROUGH AS IT IS, AND IS IT THAT POSSIBLE BEFORE THE MID-TERMS?

KUDLOW: WELL, WE BELIEVE THE BILATERAL DEAL COULD BE PUSHED THROUGH CONGRESS AS IT IS. I'M NOT A LAWYER, AMBASSADOR LIGHTHIZER KNOWS A LOT MORE ABOUT THAT THAN I DO. BUT, YES, WE THINK IT CAN. REGARDING THE OTHER SIDE WITH CANADA, AGAIN, WE REALLY WOULD LIKE A DEAL WITH THEM. THERE ARE A BUNCH OF ISSUES. WE'VE BEEN AT IT FOR SOME TIME. THEY KNOW THE ISSUES. WE KNOW THE ISSUES. BUT I MUST SAY FROM TIME TO TIME, THE PRESIDENT HAS SAID IF WE CAN'T REACH A GOOD STRONG FAIR DEAL WITH CANADA, WE MIGHT HAVE TO RESORT -- THE U.S. MIGHT HAVE TO RESORT TO AUTO TARIFFS. SO WE'LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS. HOPEFULLY CANADA WILL COOPERATE AND MOVE THE BALL IN OUR DIRECTION. BUT TODAY'S MEXICO DAY. THE MARKET LOVED IT. I THINK THAT'S THE GROWTH COMPONENT. YOU KNOW YOU LOOK DOWN THE LIST. LABOR VALUE IS INCREASED. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IS PROTECTED. WE'RE SEEING BIG INCREASES IN FINANCIAL SERVICES. BARRIERS ARE BEING REDUCED IN AGRICULTURE. BARRIERS ARE BEING REDUCED IN BIO TECHNOLOGY. I MEAN, IT'S A LONG LAUNDRY LIST, BUT WE ACCOMPLISHED A LOT, AND I THINK BOTH COUNTRIES ARE BETTER OFF FOR IT. THIS IS REALLY AN EXAMPLE OF HOW THE SUPPLY CHAIN IN NORTH AMERICA -- AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT BETWEEN MEXICO AND THE U.S. -- THAT SUPPLY CHAIN WORRIED LOTS OF BUSINESSES I THINK CORRECTLY SO, WILL NOT ONLY BE MAINTAINED, THE SUPPLY CHAIN WILL BE STRENGTHENED AND THE VARIOUS PARAGRAPHS, THE VARIOUS ISSUES EMBODIED IN THIS WILL BE ENFORCEABLE, MORE ENFORCEABLE THAN WE'VE EVER SEEN BEFORE.

BRENNAN: YEAH, AND LARRY, THIS IS MORGAN BRENNAN. IT CERTAINLY SEEMS LIKE YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A POTENTIAL STRENGTHENING OF THE MIDDLE CLASS AS WELL WHEN IT'S A HIGHER QUOTA OF HIGHER PAYING JOBS IN THE AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR AS WELL. HELP WALK ME THROUGH THIS A LITTLE BIT MORE THOUGH. BECAUSE I KNOW KAYLA TAUSCHE REPORTED THAT A BILATERAL DEAL  THAT THE WHITE HOUSE IS LEGALLY BOUND TO A THREE-PARTY DEAL THAT INCLUDES CANADA. THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF DEBATE ON OUR AIR WHETHER BILATERAL IS SOMETHING THAT CAN EVEN MOVE THROUGH CONGRESS RIGHT NOW. CAN IT?

KUDLOW: LOOK, I'M NOT A TRADE LAWYER. AGAIN, I SAY AMBASSADOR LIGHTHIZER IS THE EXPERT ON THIS. HE BELIEVES A BILATERAL DEAL CAN BE MOVED. WE'RE GOING TO BE SIGNING A DOCUMENT  IF I HAVE THIS STORY CORRECT -- WE'RE GOING TO BE SIGNING A DOCUMENT TOWARDS THE END OF THIS WEEK, THAT PUTS US IN THE ROUGHLY THREE MONTH OR 90 MONTH PERIOD SO IT CAN GET OVER TO CONGRESS ON TIME AND ALSO MEET THE REQUEST OF THE NEW MEXICAN ADMINISTRATION. SO THAT'S JUST THE CRINOLOGY. LEGAL OR NOT LEGAL, I'M NOT YOUR PERSON. WE'VE HEARD THAT LEGAL OR NOT LEGAL WOULD BE BILATERAL. THAT WILL BE A DEBATE SOMEPLACE ELSE. THE KEY POINT HERE  I JUST WANT TO EMPHASIZE THIS-- IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR GROWTH, IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR INVESTMENT, IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR WIN-WIN, IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR FREE AND FAIR TRADE, IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR SUPPLY CHAINS AND ALL THE REST OF IT, THIS IS GREAT DEAL. THIS IS TREMENDOUS VICTORY. IT'S A BIG "W." AGAIN I INVOKE MR. LIGHTHIZER AND JARED KUSHNER, AND OF COURSE PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS SAID THIS ALL ALONG: BILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS YIELD BETTER AND FASTER RESULTS. AND I THINK THAT'S WHY HE'S GOING TO STAY ON THAT PATH WITH RESPECT TO CANADA. BUT RIGHT NOW WE'RE CELEBRATING THE U.S. MEXICAN TRADE PACT THAT VERY FEW PEOPLE THOUGHT WE COULD GET AND WE GOT IT ABOUT.

MIKE SANTOLI: LARRY, IT'S MIKE HERE. IT'S EASIER IF YOU DO IT BILATERALLY, TO GET SOME KIND OF FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPAL THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BECOME A TRILATERAL AGREEMENT. RIGHT? THAT'S WHAT WE HAVE HERE. SO THE WAY YOU POSE IT AS IF IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF A TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT FOR CANADA, DOESN'T IT GIVE THE CANADIANS A LITTLE BIT OF LEVERAGE HERE BECAUSE WE'RE OPERATING ON A LITTLE BIT OF AN ARTIFICIAL SCHEDULE WITH THE 90 DAY NOTICE PERIOD AND ELECTORAL ISSUES COMING IN AND A NEW MEXICAN ADMINISTRATION. SO I JUST WONDER IF WE'RE GOING TO PLAY THIS OUT A FEW STEPS DOWN THE LINE, WHETHER IN FACT THIS IS THE MAKINGS OF SOME KIND OF A FINAL DEAL OR NOT.

KUDLOW: WELL, LOOK, THERE'S NO LEVERAGE HERE. I MEAN, WE'VE ILLUSTRATED THE BILATERAL APPROACH TO NEGOTIATING CAN WORK. OK? THE KEY POINT IS YOU HAVE DIFFERENT ISSUES WITH CANADA THAN YOU MIGHT WITH MEXICO. MUCH DIFFERENT ISSUES. I MEAN, THE AUTO STUFF, THE DOMESTIC CONTENT STUFF IS  YOU KNOW, THE WAGES ARE REALLY NOT SO GERMANE TO CANADA -- CANADA AND I DON'T WANT TO WALK-THROUGH ALL THE PARAGRAPHS AND THE CANADIAN ISSUES, BUT OBVIOUSLY WE'VE HAD TROUBLE WITH MILK AND DAIRY PRODUCTS. AND SOME OF THAT DAIRY STUFF I THINK IS 290 - 300% TARIFFS. SO WE'VE GOT DIFFERENT KINDS OF ISSUES WITH CANADA. SO I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE LEVERAGE. ALL I'M SAYING IS WE HAVE SHOWN THAT GOOD TRADE NEGOTIATIONS ON BOTH SIDES IN GOOD FAITH CAN WORK. THAT'S WHAT WE'VE SHOWN. AND WE'VE SHOWN THAT WE CAN ANSWER A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT THE HEALTH OF THE ECONOMY OF BOTH MEXICO AND THE U.S. THAT'S WHY I SAY IT'S A GREAT VICTORY FOR GROWTH, IT'S A GREAT VICTORY FOR FREE AND FAIR TRADE, IT'S A GREAT VICTORY INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION. PEOPLE CAN LEARN FROM THAT, FRANKLY, I HOPE THE CANADIANS COME TO TERMS. THEY'RE COMING DOWN HERE I THINK TOMORROW. WE'LL SEE HOW THOSE NEGOTIATIONS PROGRESS. THAT'S ALL I CAN DO FOR NOW. I DON'T THINK IT'S A QUESTION OF LEVERAGE. I'M JUST BEING REALISTIC.

FROST: LARRY, LET'S TALK ABOUT CHINA. THE CHINESE YUAN'S RECENT SLIDE HAS PAUSED IN THE LAST COUPLE OF TRADING SESSIONS. IT'S A CURRENCY, YOU AND I BOTH KNOW THAT IS CONTROLLED BY THE GOVERNMENT.IS THE FACT THAT THEY'VE DECIDED TO STEM THEIR CURRENCY SOMETHING YOU WELCOME AND IS IT SOMETHING YOU AND THE PRESIDENT HAD URGED THEM DIRECTLY TO DO?

KUDLOW: WELL I'M NOT GOING TO COMMENT ON CURRENCY MOVEMENTS IN THE U.S. GOVERNMENT AND SO FORTH, THAT'S A TREASURY DEPARTMENT ISSUE. I WILL SAY THIS, JUST SPEAKING PERSONALLY: IT'S ALWAYS BETTER TO HAVE STABLE CURRENCIES. ALWAYS BETTER. WE HAD SOME STABILITY WITH THE YUAN DOWN THROUGH THE YEARS. AND WE HAD SOMETIMES NOT STABILITY. MANY PEOPLE, MYSELF INCLUDED, THOUGHT THERE WAS A LOT OF CURRENCY MANIPULATION BY THE YUAN THIS SPRING AND SUMMER FOR EXAMPLE. MAYBE THAT'S RIGHT, MAYBE IT'S NOT. THAT'S MY VIEW. I ALSO THINK WILFRED YOU'VE GOT PROBLEMS WITH THE CHINESE ECONOMY. I MEAN, WHETHER YOU'RE LOOKING SHORT TERM OR WAY LONG TERM. WHETHER YOU'RE LOOKING AT SIX MONTHS OR TEN YEARS, WE'VE SEEN A BIG SLUMP IN CHINA, INVESTMENT CHINA RETAIL SALES, CHINA INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION. I THINK MONEY HAS BEEN FLOWING OUT OF CHINA. I THINK CAPITAL HAS BEEN FLOWING OUT OF CHINA BECAUSE OF ECONOMIC WEAKNESS, BECAUSE THEIR STATE  SO CALLED STATE CAPITAL SMILE DOESN'T WORK. FLOW INTO THE U.S. I MEAN, THE INTERESTING THING HERE -- THE U.S. IS THE HOTTEST ECONOMY IN THE WORLD. ALRIGHT, OUR ENTREPRENEURS ARE LARGE AND SMALL BUSINESSES OUR WORKFORCE AND OUR UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, WE'RE CRUSHING IT RIGHT NOW. AND MONEY IS FLOWING TO THE PLACE WHERE IT'S TREATED MOST HOSPITABLY WITH THE HIGHEST RATE OF RETURN. SO I THINK THAT'S HURTING THE CHINESE YUAN. AND IF CHINA WOULD TAKE A MOMENT AND LOOK AT SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE BEEN ASKING IN VARIOUS MEETINGS AND FORUMS AND THEY MIGHT HAVE A MORE SATISFACTORY RESPONSE. REMEMBER, YEARS AGO, WHEN I WAS HERE THE LAST TIME, WORKING AT OMB, MRS. NANCY REAGAN HAD A GREAT CAMPAIGN AGAINST DRUGS. SHE WAS RIGHT ON. SHE SAID, JUST SAY NO. PEOPLE MOCKED HER FOR A BIT, BUT SHE WAS DEAD RIGHT. SO I WOULD GIVE SOME ADVICE TO MY CHINESE FRIENDS, SOMETIMES  YOU KNOW FELLAS, JUST SAY YES. YOU GET NOTHING FROM THEM. WHETHER IT'S TECHNOLOGY TRANSFERS OR IP OR OWNERSHIP OR COMMODITIES, THEY NEVER SAY YES. SO HOW CAN WE GO IN GOOD FAITH WITH THAT VERY CORE POINT OF VIEW? IF THEY CHANGE IT WOULD BE MOST WELCOME. I THINK THAT'S PART OF THE DECLINE IN THE YUAN AS WELL. AND AGAIN, MAYBE CHINA WILL HAVE A LOOK AT SOME COOPERATION BETWEEN THE USA AND MEXICO. AND BY THE WAY, WE'RE ALSO BEGINNING A LOT OF COOPERATION BETWEEN THE USA AND THE EUROPEAN UNION. SO  PEOPLE CAN LEARN FROM THESE IN YOU HAVE EARNEST GOODWILL KINDS OF NEGOTIATIONS. YOU CAN DO IT IF YOU WANT TO DO IT.

FROST: LARRY, AS ALWAYS IT'S GREAT TO SEE YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US HERE FIRST ON CNBC.

KUDLOW: THANK YOU WILFRED. THANK YOU. APPRECIATE IT.

FROST: LARRY KUDLOW. NATIONAL ECONOMIC DIRECTOR.

For more information contact:

Jennifer Dauble

CNBC

t: 201.735.4721

m: 201.615.2787

e: jennifer.dauble@nbcuni.com

Emma Martin

CNBC

t: 201.735.4713

m: 551.275.6221

e: emma.martin@nbcuni.comThere's still a lot of trepidation, however, especially from international companies, to grow in North America because of waves of store closures and bankruptcies, Garcia said. "These companies are cautious ... but they are interested." (CNBC reported earlier this year on a handful of international brands already starting to grow in the U.S., including three that are moving into the new HiO shop.)

"The market with the biggest opportunity to grow is still the U.S. for retailers," HiO co-founder Sever Garcia told CNBC.

The space, called HiO, opens this week inside Acadia Realty's City Point shopping complex in downtown Brooklyn. It will include eight international retailers, some of which are entering the U.S. for the first time with this location: women's accessories line Parfois, travel items by Campo Marzio, sunglasses brand Hawkers, soap and cosmetics by Compagnie de Provence, embroidered bags by Emma Lomax, spa line L:A Bruket, candles and oil diffusers by Skandinavisk, and notebook line Moleskine. Makeup brand Winky Lux, which already has a presence in the U.S. and started in New York, will also be there.

Nine young retailers are coming together under one roof in New York to test a new, smaller-format mall, as the industry experiments with ways to draw in shoppers.

A look at the first HiO store to open in the U.S., inside City Point shopping center in Brooklyn.

HiO is owned by Direct Brands Group, a business formed in 2017 to serve as an intermediary for international businesses and e-commerce brands that are looking to open bricks-and-mortar locations in North America. A group of top former retail executives came together with the idea of opening up collaborative stores within some of the best shopping centers in the United States. HiO had been running The Edit at Simon Property Group's Roosevelt Field Mall, for example.

The co-founders are Larry Meyer, former CEO of Uniqlo USA and executive vice president of Forever 21, Garcia, founder and CEO of SGN Group, David Zoba, former global real estate head at Gap, and Herb Kleinberger, a lead retail consultant at PwC.

"There are concepts in the Middle East and Asia ... making it easier for foreign brands to come into the country, but that hasn't existed in the U.S.," Meyer said. "Our goal is to provide that background, making it easier for retailers to get a start and facilitating incubation as businesses evolve, and as the margin structures are more clear."

The first HiO space to open in the U.S. is about 1,900 square feet, but Garcia said 5,000 square feet is better. He said the company is already working on additional locations in North America, primarily in urban markets, that could open as soon as this year. HiO is receiving a lot of interest from top real estate landlords like Taubman and GGP, according to both Garcia and Meyer.

"The consumer is hungry for newness," Garcia said. "We think we are resolving an issue and creating a platform for brands that want to get into bricks and mortar."

With the amount of retail square footage set to go dark this year at a record pace, landlords are actively looking to refill empty boxes, which is where HiO hopes to step in and fill the gaps.

"There are a lot of headwinds, still," Acadia Realty COO Chris Conlon told CNBC. "But I do think there is a lot of enthusiasm to make retail centers more of a social element of communities."

The goal, according to HiO's co-founders, is to offer an element of discovery and surprise for shoppers. More and more, those are the only reasons consumers opt to get off their sofas, where they could otherwise place orders online.

"We have found more success in our real estate projects when we add more surprises  brands shoppers can't find anywhere else," Conlon said. "If we put in a typical [tenant], we would have disappointed Brooklyn and disappointed ourselves."Facebook's mission is to bring the world closer together, including providing internet access in remote areas and developing countries.

One of its projects, called Express Wi-Fi, aims to help local businesses, internet providers and mobile network operators by providing the money and technology to build up internet access in their regions.

On Tuesday, Facebook announced a new program called Express Wi-Fi Certified, which permits selected companies to manufacture Wi-Fi hardware that is compatible with its standards. Arista, Cambium Networks and Ruckus Networks are the first approved firms.

Facebook has had several plans to expand internet access across the globe, including a discontinued plan to build drones tied to a project called Aquila. The company was going to use the large devices to beam internet connectivity to the ground. It also has been recruiting mapping experts to analyze data in order to figure out which areas of the world still need the internet.

Express Wi-Fi started in 2015, and is currently available in five countries: India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania. Facebook provides funding to companies who work on improving the country's Wi-Fi infrastructure. Then, selected businesses agree to host Wi-Fi hotspots, and sell access to the internet through prepaid cards. The offering is similar to buying pay-as-you-go cellphone services, but for the web instead.Nearly one in 10 adult residents of California currently work in the gig economy, according to the survey , released by Public Religion Research Institute, a D.C.-based nonpartisan, independent research organization. But despite the state's reputation as being a tech innovator and economic engine for the nation, nearly half of those working in the gig economy are barely getting by, it said.

About half of Californians working in the gig economy are struggling with poverty and a majority of the residents say the American Dream is harder to achieve in their state than elsewhere in the United States, according to a survey released Tuesday.

The 2018 California Workers Survey defined the gig economy as including jobs with ride-hailing platforms such as Uber and Lyft, and providing services such as shopping, delivering household items or assisting in childcare. According to the report, about 48 percent of those participating in the gig economy are struggling with poverty.

At the same time, the PRRI survey found nearly one-third of all Californians and 47 percent of workers in the Golden State are struggling with poverty, while 53 percent are not. California ranks as the fifth-largest economy in the world, but its high cost of housing in many parts of the state mean more than one in five children live in poverty, according to the California Budget & Policy Center, an independent policy research center based in Sacramento.

"It is striking that nearly one-third of Californians are finding that the promise of the American Dream  that if you work hard, you'll get ahead  is not coming true for them," Robert Jones, CEO of PRRI, said in a release.

"Grasping the magnitude of this problem and understanding the real-life struggles and hardships that impact these more vulnerable workers is critical for California policymakers, businesses, and non-profits who want to work to create a healthier, more robust employment environment in the state," Jones said.

The survey also found the state's San Joaquin Valley region, known for its agriculture economy, has 68 percent of workers who are struggling with poverty. The Central Valley region has historically suffered higher unemployment than the rest of the state.

By comparison, only 27 percent of the workers in the Bay Area were considered to be struggling with poverty.

The report also found Californians are generally discouraged when it comes to the existence of the American Dream or the California Dream. PRRI defined the California Dream as the idea that the American Dream is more attainable in California than in other parts of the country.

Only 47 percent of Californians believe the American Dream about economic opportunity for hard work still holds true today. Also, residents of the state are even more downbeat when it comes to the California Dream  55 percent of those surveyed believe the American Dream is harder to achieve in the nation's most populous state.

Roughly two-thirds of Californians say they would advise young people in their area to relocate to find more opportunities in a different community. The survey also found young Californians (ages 18 to 29) are less likely to believe a college education is a good investment for the future when compared with seniors (those 65 and older).

The PRRI survey also found that 56 percent of California workers struggling with poverty would find it difficult to pay for a $400 emergency expense. It also revealed that 42 percent of workers in this category have put off medical treatment.

The survey findings are based on a total sample of 3,318 California residents, age 18 and up. Interviews were conducted between May 18 and June 11.The cost of holding Vostok-2018 military exercise is justified in the current international situation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, when asked if the cost of holding such a massive military exercise was justified at a time when Russia is faced with higher social spending demands.

The countrys ability to defend itself in the current international situation, which is often aggressive and unfriendly towards our country, means (the exercise) is justified and essential, Reuters cited Peskov as saying.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that next month Russia will hold its biggest war games in nearly four decades.Air pollution could impede cognitive ability as people get older, according to a study from researchers in China and the U.S.



The research, published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday, found that long-term exposure to air pollution impeded people's performance in both verbal and math tests.



The skills of thousands of people in China were monitored for the study over a period of more than four years, according to reports. The impact of air pollution on verbal tests, researchers found, became more pronounced as people got older. This was especially the case for men and the less educated.



"The damage on the aging brain by air pollution likely imposes substantial health and economic costs, considering that cognitive functioning is critical for the elderly for both running daily errands and making high-stake decisions," the paper said.



Air pollution poses a serious problem to people all over the world. 4.2 million people die each year from exposure to outdoor air pollution, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), while 91 percent of the planet's population live in areas where the air quality exceeds WHO guideline limits.



"Polluted air can cause everyone to reduce their level of education by one year, which is huge," the Yale School of Public Health's Xi Chen, one of the report's authors, said.Best Buy shares tumbled is Tuesday's premarket even though the electronics retailer reported second-quarter earnings and sales that topped analysts' expectations.

The company also raised its full-year profit outlook, building on its strong performance during the first six months of the year.

Still, the retailer's stock fell more than 6 percent in early trading, as Best Buy's third-quarter outlook was much lower than Wall Street estimates. Best Buy said it expects to earn between 79 and 84 cents a share, far below the 92 cents projected by analysts.

Here's what Best Buy reported for the second quarter ended Aug. 4 compared with what analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting:

* Adjusted earnings per share: 91 cents vs. 83 cents expected

* Revenue: $9.38 billion vs. $9.28 billion expected

* Same-store sales: up 6.2 percent vs. up 3.7 percent



Net income was $244 million, or 86 cents per share, compared with $209 million, or 67 cents, a year ago. Excluding one-time items, Best Buy earned 91 cents, 8 cents ahead of analysts' forecast.

Revenue climbed nearly 5 percent to $9.38 billion, surpassing the expected $9.28 billion.

Sales at Best Buy stores open for at least 12 months were up 6.2 percent overall. That included domestic same-store sales growth of 6 percent and international same-store sales growth of 10.1 percent.

CEO Hubert Joly said the sales growth "was helped by the favorable environment in which we operate and driven by how customers are responding to the unique and elevated experience we are building."

The electronics retailer has benefited, like its rivals, from a healthier economy across North America with stronger consumer confidence and low unemployment, putting more money back into shoppers' pockets ahead of the 2018 holiday season.

Looking to the full year, Best Buy is now calling for same-store sales to climb as much as 4.5 percent, compared with a prior target of up to 2 percent growth. Earnings per share should fall within a range of $4.95 to $5.10, Best Buy said Tuesday, compared with a prior range of $4.80 to $5 a share.

The company also said operating margins should decline in the third quarter as investments ramp up, including those backing the national rollout of a tech support platform.

Higher supply chain costs and higher transportation expenses are expected to pressure Best Buy's gross profit rate, CFO Corie Barry said on an earnings conference call. Retailers Walmart and Target have similarly cited greater fuel costs as hurting profit margins.

Earlier this year, Best Buy announced it would be closing all 250 of its smaller-format mobile phone shops in order to focus more on its core business and service options within its existing, full-service locations. It's since made several moves to do so.

The retailer announced plans this month to acquire health services provider GreatCall for $800 million, in a bid to sell more products to an aging demographic.

The purchase by Best Buy will help "counterbalance the pressure on both sales growth and margins of electronics products," GlobalData Retail managing director Neil Saunders said.

Best Buy is also working with longtime rival Amazon to sell smart TVs, CNBC reported in April. Best Buy has managed to hold onto market share as it locks in new sources of revenue that aren't so dependent on product sales, including building its Geek Squad and in-home advisor network and expanding outside of the U.S.

As of Monday's market close, Best Buy shares were up about 33 percent over the past 12 months, bringing the company's market cap to about $22.8 billion.Canadian trade talks could be a "great opportunity" for a fair deal if President Donald Trump is willing to compromise, former U.S. Ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman told CNBC on Tuesday.

If the White House is "in the dictate mode and they force the Prime Minister [Justin Trudeau] into a deal that's a bad deal for Canada, he won't do it," Heyman said on "Squawk on the Street."

"That being said, I think we have a short window here, where we can come together and do a deal in principle," added Heyman, who served under President Barack Obama from 2014 to 2017.

Canada's foreign minister traveled to Washington to resume negotiations with the United States, following Monday's deal between the U.S. and Mexico, which serves as a start to replace the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement among the three nations.

"We will have a deal with Canada," Trump said during a news conference on Monday. "It will either be a tariff on cars, or it will be a negotiated deal."

Heyman said he thinks "there is a path" toward compromise with Canada, especially since Ottawa has previously demonstrated some willingness to ease dairy industry restrictions.

Canada and Mexico both want a formal provision on how to resolve particular disputes worked into any new trade agreement, but the U.S. would prefer to deal with problems on a less-formal basis.

Earl Anthony Wayne, who was U.S. Ambassador to Mexico under Obama and U.S. Ambassador to Argentina under President George W. Bush, agreed that dispute resolution would be a key component of any new agreement.

"There have been a number of changes in the dispute settlement proposal, so companies and certain sectors will be concerned about that," said Wayne, in the same "Squawk on the Street" interview as Heyman.

Wayne highlighted as areas to watch, the impact of new rules on North American auto industry competitiveness, labor requirements and industry stakeholder commentary.

"A number of congressmen have already spoken out saying, 'It's really important that this final agreement be trilateral and we're not sure that we would approve it if it's not,'" Wayne said.

Heyman warned against the U.S. punishing Canada too hard. "We need to make sure that if the next three days don't go well, that the United States doesn't start beating on Canada and do all of the things that the president was threatening on auto tariffs and the like, or this [stock] market will turn around very quickly."Federal health officials directed 21 websites Tuesday to stop selling what regulators say are illegal, "potentially dangerous, unapproved and misbranded" opioids online.

The Food and Drug Administration has taken action against more than 70 websites selling various versions of opioid drugs, including tramdol, so far this summer. Some of the drugs they're selling are actually a dangerous form of pressed fentanyl, the FDA said.

"As we see doctors prescribe fewer opioids, we're fearful that more and more of the new addiction is going to shift to illicit sources, and a lot of those illicit sales are taking place online," FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday.

The four businesses targeted Tuesday  CoinRX, MedInc.biz, PharmacyAffiliates.org and PharmaMedics  operate the 21 websites. This summer, the FDA has now cracked down on more than 70 websites illegally selling opioids, some of which aren't even the product they claim they are and are instead pressed fentanyl.

Prescription painkillers are thought to have contributed to the deadly opioid epidemic ripping across the nation. Some people transitioned to deadly illegal drugs like heroin and fentanyl. Others, who still need opioids to treat chronic pain, may struggle to have prescriptions filled because doctors are fearful to write them.

Earlier this summer, the FDA convened tech companies, including Facebook and Google to find ways to curb sales on their sites. Gottlieb said the agency wants to work with these "legitimate" sites to attack the problem.Sen. Bill Nelson, left, and Gov. Rick Scott Bill Clark | CQ Roll Call | Getty Images; Getty Images

Florida voters have not even chosen their nominees for a pivotal Senate contest yet, but the race between Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and Republican Gov. Rick Scott is already the most expensive of the 2018 midterms. The bitter general election essentially started when Scott declared his candidacy in April. It will formally begin after Tuesday, when Democratic and Republican primary voters are expected to overwhelmingly choose Nelson and Scott, respectively. (Update: NBC News projected both Nelson and Scott to win Tuesday night.) The candidates and outside organizations supporting them have already spent heavily in Florida, where Republicans have one of their best opportunities to pick up a Senate seat this year. The campaigns of Nelson and Scott, plus independent groups trying to influence the race, have already shelled out more than $50 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. It is currently the most expensive midterm contest in the country, when outside spending and campaign expenditures are added up, ahead of the highly competitive Missouri Senate race between vulnerable incumbent Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill and Missouri's Republican attorney general, Josh Hawley. The spending underscores how important the Florida race is in the fight for control of the Senate. If Scott wins, he gives a major boost to GOP efforts to expand the party's 51-49 seat majority in the chamber. The party balance in the Senate has proved critical on numerous tight votes during the Trump administration, including now as Republicans push to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, the president's pick to replace retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Scott is expected to give Nelson a fight for his political life as the understated Democrat seeks a fourth term in the Senate. An average of recent polls finds the governor leading the likely general election matchup by about 1.5 percentage points, according to RealClearPolitics. While polls have trended in Scott's direction, Nelson should hardly be counted out, according to Michael McDonald, an associate professor of political science at the University of Florida. He said Scott has gotten a boost from his early media spending, but he expects Nelson and outside supporters to try to reverse the tide with their own ad push. "There's ample time for Nelson to get up on the airwaves in an aggressive manner to turn around these poll numbers," he said. Scott's personal wealth has helped the governor's cause in Florida. By earlier this month, his campaign had raised $31.1 million and spent $27.8 million. Scott, who is a former executive of a health care company and is worth at least $250 million, had piled a staggering $20.7 million of his own money into the race at that point. Nelson's campaign had taken in $19.7 million and spent $6.1 million as of earlier this month.

At the same time, the vast majority of the outside money flooding into the race has focused on Nelson. Independent groups have spent $7.4 million to boost Nelson, versus $6.2 million opposing him. Outside organizations have spent a total of $1.8 million both for and against Scott. The Senate Majority PAC, a so-called super PAC dedicated to aiding Democratic senators, has put more than $6 million into the race. New Republican PAC, another super PAC designed to help Scott get elected, has shelled out $5.3 million.

Nelson and Scott are already throwing jabs

Attack ads started well before the primary in Florida, one of the 10 states that Trump won where a Democratic senator faces re-election this year. While the president only narrowly won Florida, both Scott's statewide name recognition and early spending push help his chances. Pro-Scott forces have in part criticized the 75-year-old Nelson as a career politician who does not have the energy for the office. Nelson has also had to play defense over a questionable claim that Russians accessed Florida's election records, which federal officials have denied. The Scott campaign released an ad characterizing Nelson as "confused" over the accusations. Nelson campaign spokesman Dan McLaughlin said Scott has tried to "create a political controversy where none exists" to distract from his own record. Nelson's campaign and his outside allies have targeted Scott frequently with accusations that his investments got a boost from decisions the governor made while in office. Financial disclosures filed last month show that Scott and his wife have a stake in companies affected by state government policy, according to The Associated Press. Scott campaign spokesman Chris Hartline says the governor's assets are in a blind trust managed by a third party. He said Scott "has no control of what is bought or sold."

Algal blooms and gun controlM-image | Getty Images

Got $20,000? It could help pay for college tuition  or it can foot the bill for day-care expenses. That's close to the annual child-care bill for Kathleen and Dustin Farhat, a couple in Bath, Michigan, according to a report in Bridge Magazine, published by state-policy think tank The Center for Michigan. Child care for the Farhats' two children, a 5-month-old and a 3-year-old, will run $23,200 over the course of 50 weeks, the center found. In comparison, the typical middle-class family can expect to pay about $40,000 for four years of tuition, fees, books, room and board at the University of Michigan, if they are state residents, according to the center. The Farhats aren't alone. Across the country, the average annual cost of child care is approaching parity with the cost of in-state tuition at some universities, according to data from Child Care Aware of America, an advocacy group. Here's how expenses measure up elsewhere.

On par with college

In Massachusetts, families are paying an average annual cost of $34,381 to place an infant and a 4-year-old in center-based child care, according to Child Care Aware. The Bay State is the least affordable state for families of infants or toddlers in center-based care, Child Care Aware found. To put things into perspective, a year of out-of-state tuition at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, costs about $34,570. Even in places with a lower cost of living, having someone look after your little ones is taking a large bite out of your income. See below for a chart.

"A lot of clients are entering the phase of their life where having a family is top of mind," said Douglas Boneparth, president of Bone Fide Wealth in New York. "Child care can be like a second rent payment." It isn't impossible to do it all, financial planners say, but some tough choices must be made.

Defraying costs

Stephanie Rausser | Getty Images

In order to reduce the amount of child care you need, you can talk to your employer about working from home one or two days a week. This arrangement can be easier said than done, especially if your children are very young. Another alternative is a "nanny share" with another family, so you can help split the cost of hiring a professional. Be aware that if you pay your nanny off the books, you run the risk of owing the IRS back taxes and penalties. If you pay your helper more than $2,100 in 2018, you are responsible for withholding Medicare and Social Security taxes. This adds up to 15.3 percent of wages and is divided between the worker and the employer. If you want to claim the child and dependent care tax credit  which is up to $1,050 for one child under age 13 or $2,100 for two or more kids under 13  you'll need to be honest with the IRS about your employment relationship with your nanny.

Flexible spending accounts

MoMo Productions | Taxi | Getty Images

Depending on your income tax bracket, you should also consider whether it makes sense to use a dependent care flexible spending account  if your employer offers one. You may not use the tax credit and the FSA to cover the same expenses. You may contribute up to $5,000 each year to a dependent care FSA on a pretax basis to help cover the cost of day care, preschool and other costs.

Taking time offRiot policemen stand guard as the right-wing supporters protest after a German man was stabbed last weekend in Chemnitz, Germany, August 27, 2018.

Far-right demonstrators clashed with leftist protesters in the eastern German city of Chemnitz on Monday after an Iraqi and a Syrian were arrested over a fatal stabbing that had triggered violent demonstrations.

Police said they brought in water cannons after fireworks were thrown from both sides, causing injuries.

State and local officials appealed for calm as thousands of people took to the streets and Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said Germany would not tolerate "vigilante justice".

The unrest reflected a growing schism in German society after Merkel's government allowed about 1 million asylum seekers to enter the country in 2015, triggering a shift to the right in German politics.

Over a thousand leftist protesters massed near a giant statue of Karl Marx in Chemnitz on Monday evening to protest attacks on foreigners that occurred during an impromptu demonstration on Sunday after reports spread on social media about the stabbing of a 35-year-old German man.

"The scenes of people going after those who look like foreigners scare us. We want to show that Chemnitz has another side that is cosmopolitan and opposes xenophobia," Tim Detzner, the head of the radical Left party in Chemnitz, told the rally.

Nearly the same number of demonstrators waving German and Bavarian flags gathered nearby, some breaking through police barriers aimed at keeping the two sides apart. Many chanted "We are the people," a slogan used by far-right supporters.

The police in Saxony, the eastern state where Chemnitz lies, said on Twitter at around 1930 GMT that the demonstration had ended and they were accompanying participants to the train station.

Tensions were running high after some 800 demonstrators - including about 50 that police described as ready to commit violence - had taken to the streets on Sunday after the stabbing, which police said occurred after a row.

Local prosecutors said they had arrested two suspects, a 22-year-old Syrian man and a 21-year-old Iraqi man.With a steady supply of new, prospective tenants and relatively affordable housing options, investing in real estate in college cities and towns is an attractive option. But some college towns make for much savvier investments than others.

Homes.com, a real estate listing website, looked at nearly 150 college towns and cities across the U.S. using its own listing data to determine just what kind of return on investment landlords can expect.

Homes.com's study found 10 college towns with yields higher than 10 percent (of purchase price). Yields measure future income, in this case, rental, and were calculated using data including the local average monthly rent for a three bedroom, average purchase price for a three bedroom and annual rent.

"The average investor investing in real estate is interested in anything over 5 percent on ROI [return on investment]," Grant Simmons of Homes.com says. "College towns with affordable housing and low cost of living were more appealing than cities with high real estate costs, like New York and Boston, where you'll face competitive markets."

Overall, Homes.com found that within the top 20 college areas that produced the highest yields, Texas had the most cities, five to be exact, cracking the list.

However, the college town offering the highest yield is Champaign, Illinois  home to the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign  with a 14.02 percent yield. (There, home.com found the average purchase price of a three-bed is $139,050 and the average monthly rent on the same sized home is $1,625 for a $19,500 annual rent.)

Rochester, New York (home to schools including the University of Rochester) secures the second spot as the best college town for landlords, with a 13.49 percent yield, followed by New Haven, Connecticut (home to Yale University) with a 12.14 percent yield.Iran will overcome newly reimposed U.S. measures against Tehran, sanctions that will only serve to unify the nation, President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday.

In a speech broadcast live on state television, Rouhani said his government would overcome the economic challenges and show "the anti-Iranian officials in the White House" that the sanctions would fail.

"The economic problems are critical, but more important than that is that many people have lost their faith in the future of the Islamic Republic and are in doubt about its power," said Rouhani, who was attending a parliamentary session to answer lawmakers' questions about his handling of the economy, amid rising prices and unemployment.

"We are not afraid of America or the economic problems," he said. "We will overcome the troubles."

It was the first time the parliament summoned Rouhani, who is under pressure from hardline rivals to change his cabinet after a deterioration in relations with the United States and Iran's growing economic difficulties.

Lawmakers questioned Rouhani on topics including the rial's decline, which has lost more than half its value since April, weak economic growth and rising unemployment.Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) at a meeting of the Senate Appropriations Committee in the US Capitol.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Tuesday discussed the tense relationship between President Donald Trump and Sen. John McCain  and shared the last words he exchanged with his longtime friend and Senate colleague.

"Almost the last thing he said to me was, 'I love you, I have not been cheated,'" Graham said in an emotional interview on NBC's "TODAY."

As a tear rolled down his cheek, Graham expressed his admiration for McCain, the elder statesman and Arizona Republican who died Saturday.

"If I had to pick one person from this great land to explain to someone from a different planet, 'Who are these Americans?' it would be John McCain with an assist from [McCain aide] Mark Salter. He had a romantic view of our nation to his last breath," Graham said.

McCain succumbed to an aggressive form of brain cancer after more than three decades in Congress. The two senators were allies for much of that time, although they occasionally sparred over politics.Russias nForeign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the statements U.S. President Donald Trump made about the Nord Stream-2 project are indicative of Washingtons intention to make the EU finance the construction of the expensive infrastructure for the supplies of LNG.

Speaking in an interview with Slovakias Pravda newspaper, the Russian top diplomat reiterated that Nord Stream-2 is a purely commercial project.

"It implies promotion of American economic and energy interests in Europe, in particular, making the EU countries finance the construction of an expensive infrastructure and start buying liquefied natural gas from the U.S., which is 30-40% more expensive than the pipeline gas from Russia. It is up to Europeans to decide which option they like more," he noted.

"The implementation of the project is aimed at diversification of gas supply routes and removal of transit risks. Ultimately, it is aimed at meeting the growing demand of European economies for energy resources, strengthening energy security of the entire European continent," Lavrov stressed.

"By the way, it is also to increase the level of positive economic interdependence of Russia and the EU, which underlie mutually beneficial relations and stability on the European continent," TASS cited the minister as saying.However, defense lawyers at a hearing in that court said they plan to file a motion seeking to move the trial out of Washington because of the huge amount of publicity about Manafort, who was convicted Aug. 21 of eight criminal counts in a separate trial in Alexandria, Virginia. Manafort lost a bid to have his first trial moved from Alexandria.

But jury selection for Manafort's next trial on charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller will still begin Sept. 17 in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C, where the long-time Republican operative is charged with money laundering, failing to register as a foreign agent and witness tampering.

A federal judge on Tuesday said she would bar the press and other members of the public from jury selection for the second trial of Paul Manafort , and also delayed until Sept. 24 opening statements in the case of the ex- Trump campaign chief.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson, while telling the defense team it was free to make that request, noted that the case has received attention nationally, and also pointed out that the court in Washington has hosted previous high-profile case. Still, Jackson's decision to bar the public from watching jury selection was based on the judge's desire to protect the privacy of potential jurors.

Manafort is the first person charged by Mueller to go trial. The charges against him in Washington and in Virginia are related to his consulting work for a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine which predated his tenure with the Trump campaign in 2016.

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Jackson said her decision to postpone the date of opening statements represented a compromise between Manafort's lawyers and Mueller.

Manafort's defense team, citing the need for more time to prepare for the case, had requested a one-week delay in the start of the trial, which begins with jury selection. Mueller's team of prosecutors wanted to hew to the original Sept. 17 start date.

Jury selection could take several days to complete.

Andrew Weismann, a prosecutor, told Jackson on Tuesday that the prosecution does not plan to make any references to the Trump campaign during his presentation of evidence.

Manafort, 69, who is being held in jail without bond, has pleaded not guilty in the case. He did not appear, by his own choice, at Tuesday's hearing.

A jury in Virginia federal court convicted him last week of tax and bank fraud, but deadlocked on 10 other charges.

Mueller has until Wednesday to decide whether to have Manafort retried on those counts.

Before his conviction in Virginia, Manafort's defense team talked to prosecutors about possibly avoiding a second trial in Washington by having Manafort plead guilty in the case, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

But the two sides failed to come to terms about that plea deal, according to the Journal.

Manafort, who did not testify in his first trial, is not expected to take the witness stand in the Washington case. The proposed jury instructions in the Washington case include the words: "Every defendant in a criminal case has an absolute right not to testify. Mr. Manafort has chosen to exercise this right."

Prosecutors have said they have assembled more than 1,500 pieces of evidence for the case  almost four times the amount of exhibits presented by both sides in the Virginia trial.

Mueller is continuing to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as possible collusion between the Kremlin and President Donald Trump's campaign.

Trump has repeatedly denied any coordination with Russia by his campaign.Sen. Lindsey Graham said Tuesday that President Donald Trump's relationship with Jeff Sessions was "beyond repair," and he called on the president to replace the attorney general.

"We need an attorney general that can work with the president, that can lead the Department of Justice," Graham said Tuesday on NBC's "TODAY."

The South Carolina Republican's comments are a significant departure from last summer, when he threatened "holy hell" if Trump fired Sessions and said the firing could amount to the end of his presidency. Last week, however, Graham said that the time to fire Sessions could come "sooner rather than later."

The Justice Department declined to comment.

The rift between Trump and Sessions, which has endured for months, escalated in recent days. On Thursday, the president blasted the former Alabama senator during an interview on Fox News, criticizing Sessions for recusing himself from the Justice Department's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and asking 'What kind of a man is this?'

The president said in the interview that Sessions "never took control of the Justice Department."

Sessions fired back in a statement later that day, saying that he "took control of the Department of Justice the day I was sworn in, which is why we have had unprecedented success at effectuating the President's agenda."

Trump's critics are concerned that the president could remove the attorney general and appoint a replacement who would stop or limit the Russia probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller. Graham tried to ally those fears during his "TODAY" interview.

He said Sessions, the first senator to endorse the Trump's bid for the presidency, was correct to recuse himself from the investigation.

"Nobody is going to take Jeff's place that doesn't commit to the Senate and the country as a whole that Mueller will be allowed to finish his job without political interference," he said.

The president has repeatedly lashed out at Mueller, accusing him of conducting a "witch hunt" and attacking Sessions for failing to protect him from the probe. Graham alluded to other problems between the two men, however, saying Tuesday that the spat went "deeper" than the Mueller probe.

"It's a pretty deep breach, and here's what I'm suggesting: He's not the only man in the country that can be attorney general," Graham said. "You have to replace him with somebody who is highly qualified and will commit to the Senate to allow Mueller to do his job."

Kevin Bishop, a representative for Graham, declined to elaborate on what deeper issues Graham was referring to. "He said it all right there," Bishop said.

In the interview, Graham said he was sharing "what everybody in the country" already knew: "This is a dysfunctional relationship. We need a better one."

 CNBC's Kevin Breuninger contributed to this report.Alphabet's self-driving cars are annoying their neighbors in Chandler, Arizona.

More than a dozen locals who work near Waymo's office gave The Information the same unequivocal assessment of the cars, which reportedly struggle to cross a T-intersection there: "I hate them."

One woman said that she almost hit one of the company's minivans because it suddenly stopped while trying to make a right turn, while another man said that he gets so frustrated waiting for the cars to cross the intersection that he has illegally driven around them.

The anecdotes highlight how challenging it can be for self-driving cars, which are programmed to drive conservatively, to master situations that human drivers can handle with relative ease  like merging or finding a gap in traffic to make a turn.

Waymo has been testing its vehicles in the Phoenix suburbs for little more than a year and is widely seen as the furthest along in the self-driving car space, but its safety drivers have to take control of the vehicles regularly, people with direct knowledge of the issues tell The Information.Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday he's hopeful a revamped trade deal will get done soon with Canada  but if not the U.S. is ready to go forward with one it already has negotiated with Mexico, the third partner in the NAFTA bloc.

"This is a great move forward for trade," Mnuchin told CNBC's "Squawk Box," a day after the White House announced that it had reached an agreement with Mexico that essentially would rewrite the trilateral trade pact ratified in 1994.

Renegotiating NAFTA has been a top priority for President Donald Trump, who has often complained about terms he views unfair to the U.S. in the agreement as well as many others around the world. The president said the Mexico deal, which focuses on autos but includes multiple other provisions, essentially scraps NAFTA.

The next step is to negotiate better terms with Canada, something Mnuchin said he believes will happen.

"I think our objective is to try to get Canada on board quickly," he said. "This is a great deal for American workers. If you remember one thing, this deal is about more trade for U.S. companies and goods and services, and that's what we're focused on."

Once the Canada negotiations are wrapped up, the administration will move onto its next two trade priorities: the European Union and China.

Trump has bemoaned the large U.S. trade deficit, particularly with China, and has accused it of manipulating its currency for trade advantage.

"We've been very clear. We need better market access to China, we need reciprocal trade," Mnuchin said. "These are issues that our allies in the G-7 agree with us on."

The new deal with Mexico lasts 16 years and adjusts provisions regarding the digital economy, autos, agriculture and unions. It keeps steel and aluminum tariffs on Mexican imports in place and allows for continued imports of light vehicles from Mexico.The vast majority of Americans, 70 percent, now support Medicare-for-all, otherwise known as single-payer health care, according to a new Reuters survey. That includes 85 percent of Democrats and 52 percent of Republicans. Only 20 percent of Americans say they outright oppose the idea. "Medicare is a very popular program, so the idea of expanding it to everyone is popular as well," Larry Levitt, senior vice president for health reform at the Kaiser Family Foundation, tells CNBC Make It. "The advantage of Medicare-for-all, which is much closer to how the rest of the world provides health care to their residents, is that you can achieve universal coverage at a lower cost."

The problem with health care in the US

For at least a decade, most Americans have been dissatisfied with the country's largely for-profit health-care system, according to Gallup. In a poll last year, 71 percent of respondents said the system is "in a state of crisis" or "has major problems." Health care in the U.S. is criticized primarily for its inefficiency, inaccessibility and ever-rising costs. The average annual deductible for employer-sponsored health care plans, which make up most of the plans in the U.S., was $1,505 in 2017, compared to $303 in 2006, according to the KFF. Last year workers paid on average $5,714 toward their cost of coverage by way of monthly premiums, a 3 percent increase from the year before.

What Medicare-for-all would change

Reuters defines Medicare-for-all as "a publicly financed, privately delivered system with all Americans enrolled and all medically necessary services covered." In theory, it would solve some of the main issues of America's current system. Sen. Bernie Sanders proposed his Medicare-for-all bill in September of 2017. It aims to gradually reduce the uninsured rate, which currently sits around 12 percent, until it reaches 0 percent, by enrolling everyone in a nationwide public insurance plan. Under his proposal there'd be no more deductibles or co-payments. Although there's no opting out, people would have the option to buy supplemental care through private insurers. The bill has little chance of passing with a Republican majority in Congress, as Sanders has conceded. Right now it's just setting up Democrats for potential legislation in the future and bringing attention to drawbacks of the current American system, he says, such as exorbitant spending and high drug prices.

A single-payer system simplifies who is responsible for covering costs. That gets rid of some of the issues that stem from the complexity of the current American system, like balance billing. In a recent incident reported by NPR that's since gone viral on social media, Drew Calver, a 44-year-old teacher and triathlete in Austin, Texas, had a heart attack. He was rushed to an out-of-network hospital and had stents implanted. A network is a list of hospitals, doctors and other medical providers who are covered by a person's health plan. Out-of-network providers are either not covered at all, or are covered at a much lower rate, leaving the patient responsible for much or all of the resultant bill. Almost 18 percent of hospital admissions end up with some out-of-network claim, often because someone goes to an in-network hospital but ends up getting care from an out-of-network physician. Among those who can't afford the ensuing costs, most say they didn't realize they were receiving care outside their insurance network. Calver went home after four days. Though he asked from his hospital bed and was assured that his insurance would be accepted, his portion of the bill came to almost $110,000. That's "nearly twice his annual pay," NPR notes. "Under a pure Medicare-for-all plan, those issues would go away," Levitt says.

What it might costNASA's Earth Observatory , the arm of the space agency that shares with the public images of the Earth and its climate, created the map (embedded above, and below with captions) which shows aerosols in the atmosphere. Aerosols are the solid particles and liquid droplets in the air.

As wildfires continue to burn in California, NASA has released a visualization that illustrates one of the ways in which the fires are affecting the atmosphere.

A visualization of the particles and droplets in the air from the NASA Earth Observatory.

"If you have ever watched smoke billowing from a wildfire, ash erupting from a volcano, or dust blowing in the wind, you have seen aerosols," says a blog post accompanying the image.

Indeed: In the top left corner of the visualization, which represents the particles of the Earth's atmosphere on Thursday, August 23, the smoke from the California wildfire is visible.

"On that day, huge plumes of smoke drifted over North America...," explains the observatory's post. "Black carbon particles (red) are among the particles emitted by fires...."

Also visible in the image is Hurricane Lane in the Pacific Ocean, which dumped 3 to 4 feet of rain on parts of Hawaii. The storm is visible "within giant swirls of sea salt aerosol (blue), which winds loft into the air as part of sea spray," says the post.

Just another day on aerosol Earth: tropical cyclones, dust storms, and fires spread tiny particles throughout the atmosphere on August 23, 2018. #NASA #GEOS #HurricaneLane #CaliforniaWildfires #BCFires #Soulik #Cimaron #atmosphere #dust #blackcarbon

The aerosol in the visualization is not a direct representation of satellite data, the NASA Earth Observatory explains in the post. The "model, like all weather and climate models, used mathematical equations that represent physical processes to calculate what was happening in the atmosphere on August 23. Measurements of physical properties, like temperature, moisture, aerosols, and winds, are routinely folded into the model to better simulate real-world conditions. Some of these inputs come from satellites; others come from data collected by sensors on the ground," is says of the technology used to create the image.

NASA also announced Monday that it has been using its technology to help fight the fires after the California Air National Guard asked its NASA Earth Science Disasters Program, which uses technology and observations to improve response to disasters, for help.

Multiple NASA centers are helping with the California #wildfires by collecting data from satellite and aircraft flights over burned areas to aid recovery planning.

The NASA agency team members arrived on scene July 29, NASA says. A high-altitude aircraft collected infrared imagery in two missions, which was used to both help fight the current fire and to study future fires, NASA said.

Another NASA mission flying a Lockheed ER-2 Earth Resources aircraft (described by NASA as "flying laboratory") collected thermal imaging, which is used both to help predict the amount of resources necessary to fight the fire and to identify potential dangers from mudslides this winter, says Jeffrey Myers, manager of NASA's Ames Research Center Airborne Sensor Facility in California, in the written statement.

There are currently 17 uncontained large fires burning in California, Kyle Smith, a public information officer for California Interagency Incident Management Team 3, tells CNBC Make It. One of those fires, the Mendocino complex fire, is the largest fire in California history, Smith says.

As of Tuesday morning, the Mendocino complex fire has destroyed 459,102 acres, Mike Lindbery, the lead public information officer for California Interagency Incident Management Team 3, tells CNBC Make It. (A complex is two or more fires managed by the same team and the Mendocino complex includes both the river and ranch fires, Lindbery says.)

NASA research pilot James Nelson flew a 3.6-hour mission in the ER-2 at 65,000 feet on Aug. 9: "The two fires near Yosemite could clearly be seen from my altitude, but the Mendocino fire was obscured by smoke," he said via written statement. "However, our instruments are multispectral and can see through much of the smoke in the infrared bands and we were able to collect data on all the fires."

Don't miss:Engineer and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk of The Boring Company talks about constructing a high speed transit tunnel at Block 37 during a news conference on June 14, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. Joshua Lott | Getty Images

Elon Musk was up early on Saturday. He departed Los Angeles, where he runs SpaceX, his private rocket venture, and flew north in his white Gulfstream jet. Stopping in Silicon Valley, he picked up two engineers from Tesla, his electric-car company. They flew on to Reno, Nev., where they spent the day at Tesla's battery plant, the Gigafactory. It might have been just another workday for Mr. Musk  a multistate jaunt to personally fix a drive-unit production line. But this was no ordinary morning. He was a brief night's sleep removed from one of his most consequential decisions: scrapping his plan to take Tesla private. It was an abrupt about-face, and it capped a tumultuous two and a half weeks that began with a single tweet and wound up roiling markets, setting off regulatory alarms and raising questions about his judgment. Even by Mr. Musk's standards  this is a C.E.O. who believes Tesla is under attack by saboteurs, has a personal life playing out in the gossip blogs and is prone to fiery outbursts on Twitter  it has been a time of high intrigue. "The reason Elon seems to attract drama is that he is so transparent, so open, in a way that can come back to bite him," said Kimbal Musk, Mr. Musk's younger brother and a Tesla board member. "He doesn't know how to do it differently. It's just who he is." Mr. Musk, a brilliant but erratic billionaire, is the animating force behind Tesla, responsible for everything from its push into renewable energy to the design of the air vents in its newest electric car. His singular role gives him extraordinary influence over the fate of Tesla, its more than 40,000 employees and its investors. Associates, including several people inside the company interviewed over the past week, portray him as a workaholic who zeroes in on the smallest details. His deep involvement suggests that the company can't do without him. Yet these days, it's not always clear that he knows what's best for Tesla. More from The New York Times:

Google Attacked by Trump With Claim It Is Burying Conservative News

Silicon Valley Takes a (Careful) Step Toward Autonomous Flying

In a Shift in Driverless Strategy, Uber Deepens Its Partnership With Toyota Even before taking Tesla investors on a roller-coaster ride, Mr. Musk was increasingly unpredictable, marketing flamethrowers online and dispatching a submarine to assist in a rescue in Thailand, then calling a critic of the gesture a pedophile. In an interview this month with The New York Times, Mr. Musk said he was physically exhausted and emotionally drained, causing some to question his fitness for the job. Mr. Musk's personal life is no less chaotic. He was dating Grimes, the Canadian pop musician, but the two stopped following each other on social media last week, leading gossip blogs to speculate they had broken up. That followed a bizarre run-in with the rapper Azealia Banks, who intimated that Mr. Musk had written his going-private tweet while on acid. (He denied it.) Amid the fallout, he took to Twitter, posting cryptic messages about love and quoting T. S. Eliot. tweet And at the office, he is hardly a typical chief executive. Racing to resolve critical production issues, he can often be found on the factory floor, working to fix robots. At night, he sometimes sleeps under his desk. All the while, he has been confronting an exodus of senior employees, preparing to be interviewed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and was working with Goldman Sachs and Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund to take Tesla private  until he wasn't. Some board members have been dismayed at Mr. Musk's behavior, according to people familiar with the directors' thinking, but no active search is underway for a replacement  although there have been fitful efforts to find a top lieutenant. James Anderson, the head of the asset management firm Baillie Gifford, Tesla's biggest shareholder after Mr. Musk, said he still had faith in the 47-year-old chief executive, calling him a "visionary leader" who had unmatched technical expertise and remained "obsessive about the details." Yet Mr. Anderson said he had grown increasingly worried about Mr. Musk, believing that his volatile personal life and intense work ethic were taking a steep toll. "He is so demanding, so driven by the imperative to do something good for the world," Mr. Anderson said. "You could always see something like this happening."

'We feel like we are at war'

At 6:30 a.m. on Aug. 18, three robots in the paint shop at the Tesla factory in Fremont, Calif., started malfunctioning. The incident forced a production halt on the Model 3, the key to the company's future. Made aware of the stoppage, Mr. Musk went to the factory and worked into the night. The problem was resolved, but Tesla reached a troubling conclusion: The robots had been infected with malware in an act of industrial sabotage. And though they could not prove it, executives suspected they knew the culprit: a rogue employee, working at the behest of short-sellers. Tesla is among the most shorted stocks, meaning that hedge funds are betting against it and quick to note a missed production goal or cash shortfall. David Einhorn, the billionaire founder of Greenlight Capital, is in that camp. In a letter to investors last month detailing his argument, Mr. Einhorn wrote, "Elon Musk appears erratic and desperate." Mr. Musk believes that the short-sellers spread misinformation about the company, and perhaps much worse. In June, Mr. Musk accused an employee of sabotage that had slowed Model 3 production, and suggested short-sellers might be to blame. Kimbal Musk, reflecting on the battles with short-sellers, said, "We feel like we are at war." Plenty of other companies face the wrath of short-sellers. The issue at Tesla seems to be that for Mr. Musk  who talks earnestly about weaning the world off fossil fuels with Tesla, and colonizing the solar system with SpaceX  these attacks are not just the cost of doing business. They are malicious and misguided efforts to derail his efforts to help humanity. "Tesla is his baby," said Deepak Ahuja, Tesla's chief financial officer. "He takes it extremely personally." But with Tesla now staying public, Mr. Musk will have to continue to contend with those who doubt his vision and are rooting for Tesla to fail.

The most difficult time

When Mr. Musk ceremonially unveiled the Model 3 last summer, he billed it as the first mass-market electric vehicle, and predicted monthly production of 20,000 by year's end. But in the final three months of 2017, just 2,425 were completed. The delays were a result of what Mr. Musk called "manufacturing hell," an inferno that has preoccupied him for much of the past year. "This has been the most difficult time for Tesla," said JB Straubel, the company's chief technical officer. "We knew this was going to be the case, but it's been even harder than any of us expected." Some of the wounds were self-inflicted. In preparing the assembly lines, Mr. Musk became convinced that the process should be close to fully automated, using robots rather than humans whenever possible. Doing so, he believed, could make cars move through the factory at one meter per second, 10 to 20 times the speed of existing lines. So Tesla built a factory with hundreds of robots, many programmed to perform tasks that humans could easily do. One robot, which Mr. Musk nicknamed the "flufferbot," was designed to simply place a sound-dampening piece of fiberglass atop the battery pack. But the flufferbot never really worked. It would fail to pick up the fiberglass, or put it in the wrong place, frequently delaying production. It was eventually replaced by factory workers. Mr. Musk has accepted responsibility for some of these missteps, occasionally with humor. In late June, he wore a T-shirt depicting a robot that passes butter. It was an inside joke, lampooning the notion of technology for technology's sake. After the debacle, Mr. Musk tweeted: "Excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake. To be precise, my mistake. Humans are underrated." As the challenges have mounted, Mr. Musk has thrown himself into his work, spending hours each week walking factory floors, trying to diagnose and fix various problems on the assembly line. "He demands personal accountability from the people that are closest to the machines," Mr. Straubel said. "This freaks people out. They are worried that they will come to their area and start asking questions." Yet Mr. Musk's micromanaging has taken a toll on Tesla's executive ranks, with more than 30 senior employees having departed since 2016, according to a list compiled by Reuters. Among the departed are the director of battery engineering, the vice president for autopilot and the director of manufacturing engineering, all positions crucial to Tesla's future. Amid the turnover, Mr. Musk has become even more hands-on. Recently, he and Mr. Straubel were at the Gigafactory, assessing a bottleneck in the manufacturing process. A machine that wound electrodes into formations known as jelly rolls was too slow, and employees could not figure out a remedy. Then Mr. Musk intervened, suggesting that the machine be reprogrammed to work more rapidly. By the end of the day, the machine was 10 percent faster. It was a small victory, and a reminder of Mr. Musk's technical acumen. But it was also a stark example of how he operates. Apparently unable or unwilling to delegate, the chief executive has embedded with the line workers. "A C.E.O.'s most important job is build a great team around you," said Bill George, the former chief executive of the medical device maker Medtronic and a Goldman Sachs board member. "He shouldn't be sleeping on the factory floor. I'd rather have him sleeping at home."

Mr. Musk has increasingly complained about his lifestyle's physical toll. He has said he works 120 hours a week, sometimes not going outside for days at a time. At a meeting last week at SpaceX, he was lying on the floor in his cubicle, using a foam roller to relax his back muscles. "He is absolutely working incredibly hard, but Elon has always worked incredibly hard," said Mr. Ahuja, Tesla's chief financial officer. "He's very tough, too. He can eat glass." In an attempt to force his body to sleep, Mr. Musk sometimes takes Ambien, something he has discussed publicly on Twitter and that has raised concerns among some Tesla board members. He often spends Sunday nights at the Tesla factory, then flies to Los Angeles for the 10 a.m. executive meeting at SpaceX. (SpaceX, in contrast to Tesla, is a bastion of stability, and earlier this year successfully launched the world's most powerful private rocket, the Falcon Heavy.) "I know that it has been a difficult year for him," said Gwynne Shotwell, the SpaceX president and chief operating officer. "Not because he's frowning or throwing things, but because I can tell he's physically exhausted." In the interview with The Times, Mr. Musk said his work had been so consuming that he nearly missed Kimbal's wedding in Spain this summer. "I got there two hours before the ceremony," he said. "I left directly from the factory. And then I went straight back." But while Mr. Musk is clearly working hard, his recounting paints an incomplete picture of his travels. He was away for five days during his trip to Spain, and on the way back, he stopped with his children in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to tour the "Game of Thrones" set. Mr. Musk also told The Times that he had not taken a full week off since 2001, while recovering from malaria. But he has made time for memorable holidays over the past year. A few days before New Year's Eve, he boarded his jet with Kimbal, their families and another close friend, Bryn Mooser. The plan was to go to Antarctica. But on the way there, weather worsened, and they had to land in Santiago, Chile. Realizing they would not make it to Antarctica, the group laid new plans. They would party in Rio de Janeiro on New Year's Eve. But first, they took a day trip to Easter Island to visit the mysterious statues left by an ancient civilization. While there, Mr. Mooser recalled, they discussed aliens, Mr. Musk's plan to colonize Mars, and how Easter Island, threatened by climate change, could be viewed as a cautionary tale. "He cares deeply about the world and the people on it," Mr. Mooser said. "His fault is that he cares too much, sometimes."

Not out of the woodsA floor hand for Raven Drilling, works on an oil rig drilling into the Bakken shale formation outside Watford City, N.D. Getty Images

Oil prices fell on Tuesday as some investors took profits on recent strong gains, but losses were limited the day after a U.S.-Mexico trade agreement eased worries about tensions between the two countries. Brent crude was down 25 cents to $75.96 a barrel by 2:29 p.m. ET, having touched a session peak of $76.97, the highest since July 11. U.S. crude futures ended Tuesday's session down 34 cents at $68.56 a barrel. Last week Brent marked a 5.6 percent gain, while WTI increased 4.3 percent. "The market was due for a correction," said Phillip Streible, senior market strategist at RJO Futures. Market participants awaited industry data on U.S. oil inventories, due at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT), that was expected to show a drop in crude stocks last week. Official data is due on Wednesday.

Boosting market sentiment, however, was news that the United States and Mexico agreed on Monday to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). "It paves the way for the energy industry in both countries to coexist rather freely, and that should be good for demand," Bob Yawger, director of futures at Mizuho in New York, said. Canada's top trade negotiator joins her Mexican and U.S. counterparts in Washington on Tuesday in a bid to remain part of the trilateral North American trade pact. Modest output increases from OPEC also supported prices. The monitoring committee of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries found that producers participating in a supply-reduction agreement, which includes non-OPEC member Russia, cut output in July by 9 percent more than called for. The findings of the OPEC monitoring committee for last month compare with a compliance level of 120 percent for June and 147 percent for May, meaning participants have been steadily increasing production, but at a more modest pace than some had expected. Investors are now more confident that supply is likely to fall short of demand in the coming months, as reflected by a narrowing in the discount, or spread, between the October and November Brent futures contracts to around 26 cents a barrel, half of what it was a month ago.Kidney dialysis machines are bulky and expensive, and haven't changed much in decades. But a company called Outset Medical has been working on an upgrade so that someday soon patients will be able to get lifesaving treatment at home rather than at the hospital.

Outset's technology works through a combination of software and sensors that automate the manual steps that are typically required to get a machine up and running. It also purifies water and produces dialysate (one of the fluids used in dialysis) in real time, and it takes a patient's blood pressure. To get it started, the system only needs a electrical outlet and access to water.

All the treatment data it collects gets shared to the company's cloud, making it an attractive technology play as well as a medical device company.

The company's CEO, Leslie Trigg, said she realized before joining Outset that health care wasn't a $3 trillion market. In fact, it's a collection of multimillion- and billion-dollar opportunities. And one lucrative slice is the kidney dialysis segment, which includes software, hardware and services.

The market alone is expected to be worth $22.8 billion by 2022. In the U.S. alone, almost half a million people are dialysis patients, and that number is expected to grow as the population ages. More than 2 million people globally are currently receiving dialysis, according to the National Kidney Foundation.

"It hit me my first week at Outset that this was a huge corner of health-care market," said Trigg in a phone interview. Trigg previously was an executive-in-residence at the investment firm Warburg Pincus. "Nurses were still pushing around these huge machines in hospitals," she said. "We went from that to a 37-inch dialysis clinic on wheels that plugs into any faucet, essentially providing self-service on demand."

That's Outset's device on the left, compared with traditional dialysis equipment on the right:Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call Group | Getty Images

As November's midterm elections draw closer, two of the most pivotal states in the fight for control of Congress hold primary elections Tuesday. Voters in Arizona and Florida choose nominees for two of the country's most important Senate races, along with a handful of highly competitive House elections. Democrats will vie to challenge GOP Gov. Doug Ducey in Arizona, while both major parties will jostle to replace Rick Scott, Florida's Republican governor and a Senate candidate. In Oklahoma, a primary runoff will determine the Republican contender in the race for governor. After Tuesday's elections, only a few more primaries  mostly in small, blue-leaning Northeastern states  will take place before November. Democrats are trying to flip 23 GOP-held seats to win a majority in the House. Meanwhile, the GOP faces a favorable map as it tries to keep or expand its 51-49 seat majority in the Senate.

Here are notable races to watch on Tuesday:

Arizona

The contest to replace retiring Republican Sen. Jeff Flake is Arizona's most high-profile this year. Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema is all but assured to earn her party's nomination on Tuesday. The Republican side has proven a bit more unpredictable. The three candidates  Rep. Martha McSally, former state Sen. Kelli Ward and ex-Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio  have all tried to position themselves as the biggest supporter of Trump. That puts them in contrast to Flake, who has criticized Trump more frequently than most of his Senate GOP colleagues. McSally likely has an edge, as Ward and Arpaio could divide the state's more conservative voters. Trump has not yet endorsed a candidate in the race. But he has a relationship with Arpaio, whom he pardoned following a criminal contempt conviction related to his treatment of undocumented immigrants. Read more about the Arizona Senate race here. On the House side, Democrats covet the 2nd District seat McSally vacated. Former U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick has emerged as the top fundraiser and contender for the Democratic spot in the district, which leans slightly Republican relative to the rest of the country. Businesswoman Lea Marquez Peterson is considered the GOP frontrunner for the nomination. Republicans also have a chance to pick up the Democratic-held 1st District, though prognosticators give Rep. Tom O'Halleran a good shot at keeping his seat. State Rep. Steve Smith, businesswoman Tiffany Shedd and Air Force veteran Wendy Rogers aim to challenge O'Halleran. In the race for governor, former education official David Garcia and state Sen. Steve Farley appear to be the leading Democratic candidates to challenge Ducey.

Florida

Florida Governor Rick Scott greets people as he makes a campaign stop at Chico's Cuban Restaurant where he received an endorsement from the Florida Police Chiefs Association on June 14, 2018 in Hialeah, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images

Florida's closely watched Senate race will be one of the most important in determining the Senate's partisan makeup next year. Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson faces a strong challenge from Scott, who has piled his own fortune into his campaign. Both Nelson and Scott are expected to breeze to their parties' nominations on Tuesday in the year's most expensive race. Read more about the Florida Senate contest here. The primary contests in the race to replace Scott as governor should prove more exciting on Tuesday. On the Republican side, Trump has put his weight behind Rep. Ron DeSantis, a conservative who has proudly tied himself to the president. The endorsement has given DeSantis a major boost as he tries to defeat the more traditional GOP alternative in state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam. Former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham appears to have a slight edge in a crowded Democratic primary field. Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine is among the other contenders. Numerous House races in Florida will also be intriguing either on Tuesday or in November. A few Democratic House members from Florida face primary challenges. Former Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown hopes to take out Rep. Al Lawson in the sprawling 5th District, which stretches from Tallahassee to Jacksonville. Rep. Stephanie Murphy faces a challenge from lawyer Chardo Richardson in the 7th District outside of Orlando. Former U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson also hopes to unseat Rep. Darren Soto in the 9th District south of Orlando.

Republicans will compete to replace outgoing incumbents in three seats considered at least relatively safe for the GOP: DeSantis' 6th District, the 15th District represented by Rep. Dennis Ross and the 17th District held by Rep. Tom Rooney.

In the Miami-area 27th District, Democrats have their best pickup opportunity in the state as longtime GOP Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen retires from a district that Democrat Hillary Clinton won by about 20 points in 2016. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala appears to lead the Democratic field in Tuesday's primary, while journalist Maria Elvira Salazar looks to have an edge on the Republican side.

At least one other Republican House member could face a tough challenge in November. Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is considered the frontrunner in the her party's primary to challenge GOP Rep. Carlos Curbelo in the 26th District, which encompasses the southern most parts of the state. Clinton also won Curbelo's district in 2016.

OklahomaRussia will provide tit-for-tat response to Washingtons anti-Russian measures, attempts to communicate with Russia via ultimatums are fruitless, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

The minister noted that the relations between both countries "are still under significant influence by U.S. domestic policy conjuncture." Lavrov noted that "some forces in the Washington establishment add fuel to anti-Russian hysteria and try to block any positive progress in bilateral affairs."

"Its no accident that right after the meeting in Helsinki, Trump came under fire of his opponents, and Congress started to prepare new initiatives against our country. In this context, the administration itself is not being consistent. Despite the promises of Americans that they are ready for dialogue, we still face unfriendly measures, which aggravate the difficult situation in our relations even further," the minister said in an interview with the Slovak Pravda newspaper.

"For example, on August 8, they announced new anti-Russian measures on the account of our alleged involvement in the "Skripal case". Moreover, they threatened us with further pressure if we fail to convince the U.S. that we no longer use chemical and biological weapons. Its hard to take these demands seriously." According to him, these demands seem "especially strange, considering that we have eliminated our chemical arsenal completely, with confirmation from the OPCW, which cannot be said about the U.S.," TASS cited the Russian top diplomat as saying.

"For our part, we continue to act in a calm and pragmatic way, reacting to all attacks in line with the principle of reciprocity. Of course, the attempts to speak with Russia in the language of ultimatums are fruitless. However, we remain open to building normal relations with Washington, based on mutual respect for each others interests," Lavrov said.Popular no-fee trading app Robinhood is ushering hundreds of global company stocks onto its platform, as firms such as J.P. Morgan vie to compete using the same no-fee model.

The Menlo Park, California-based start-up announced Tuesday that it is adding 250 American depositary receipts of companies from Japan, China, Germany, the U.K. and Canada. They will be available to trade on the app starting Tuesday, and ADRs of companies from France will be added in the coming months. It is the biggest addition of securities since the platform launched three years ago.

"We looked at what customers were searching for and not getting," Robinhood co-founder Vlad Tenev told CNBC. "It allows customers to get some exposure outside of the U.S."

The company discovered its users wanted access to global stocks by looking at its own search data. Robinhood's staff has access to what people are typing into the app's search and looking to trade. Names such as Nintendo, Adidas, Burberry, BMW and Heineken continued to pop up. The company used similar reasoning in February when it decided to add cryptocurrency trading after users repeatedly searched for "bitcoin."

"Our strategy has always been listen to the customer and work on building new products to make their lives easier," Tenev said.

American depositary receipts are stocks of foreign companies that trade and settle in the U.S. market in dollars, allowing investors to avoid having to transact in a foreign currency.

Competition in the brokerage industry is heating up with more no-fee options for investors. J.P. Morgan is launching its own commission-fee trading app this week. The banking giant's move intensifies an ongoing price war and move to lower fees in retail brokerage. Shares of Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade and E-Trade, online brokers that all charge fees, sank after the news of J.P. Morgan's new app.

Tenev said it won't be long until other online brokers are forced to follow J.P. Morgan's lead in abolishing fees altogether.

"Customers are smart. They're beginning to realize it doesn't make sense to pay margins on services that are electronic," Tenev said. "This is inevitable  more and more established financial companies are going to have to lower their fees."Special counsel Robert Mueller (2nd L) leaves after a closed meeting with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee June 21, 2017 at the Capitol in Washington, DC.

The FBI raided Cohen's Manhattan office and hotel room on April 9, as part of an investigation Mueller referred to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. But sources indicated that Mueller's interest in Cohen persisted, as the special counsel continues to investigate Russian attacks on the 2016 election and potential coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

The special counsel's investigators also asked these witnesses about whether Cohen conducted personal business while working as an employee of the Trump Organization and for insight on why he didn't get a job in the Trump White House.

Special counsel Robert Mueller's team continued to ask witnesses questions about Michael Cohen's involvement in the Trump campaign weeks after federal investigators raided the office and hotel room of President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The latest details about the special counsel's interest in Cohen emerged a week after the former Trump lawyer pleaded guilty to eight federal counts, including campaign finance charges. Cohen implicated Trump in his confession about arranging payments to two women during the campaign, saying that his former boss ordered him to move ahead with the payoffs to influence the election. Cohen did not have a formal role with the Trump campaign, but he often appeared in the media as a surrogate for Trump.

The special counsel continued asking witnesses about Cohen into at least May, according to sources. In June, Ukrainian politician Andrii Artemenko, who testified before a grand jury in the Mueller probe, told ABC News that he believed Mueller's team was still interested in Cohen.

"My personal opinion is that Michael Cohen is the target of this investigation," Artemenko said in the interview. "I can't share with you the details of the questions, but from my understanding, they're keeping going with this investigation."

People who were questioned about Cohen told CNBC that they told investigators they had no knowledge of any personal business the former Trump lawyer may have done while an employee of the Trump Organization.

A spokesman for the special counsel's office declined to comment. Cohen's spokesman and attorney Lanny Davis also declined to comment.

Legal experts say Mueller's continued interest in Cohen suggests that he could still be a pivotal source of information for the larger probe into whether Russian operatives colluded with Trump campaign officials to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Some said that the special counsel is likely trying to verify assertions being made by Trump's former attorney.

"It is too easy to poke holes in an unreliable corroborating witness who is cooperating to get as low a sentence as possible," said Nick Gravante, a white-collar defense attorney at Boies Schiller Flexner in New York. "That means as a prosecutor you have to get others to corroborate Cohen's story in order to combat any doubt being thrown toward the prosecution by defense attorneys."

There is increasing curiosity about the nature of what information Cohen could offer Mueller. In a Washington Post story published Sunday, his lawyer Davis walked back earlier claims he made to various media outlets that Cohen has information to share that Trump knew about Russia's efforts to torpedo Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. "I should have been more clear  including with you  that I could not independently confirm what happened," Davis told the Post. "I regret my error."

According to other former Trump employees, Cohen's closeness with the president could be seen as a gateway to pivotal information for investigators  particularly when it comes to the business dealings of the Trump Organization and any possible agreements it made with foreign banks.

"We know he's given testimony for a plea deal, and we don't know what Michael is going to do in connection with that," said Barbara Res, a former executive vice president at the Trump Organization who worked there for 18 years until 1996.

"In my mind, Mueller wants to see any connection Donald may have had with Russian banks" and Cohen, along with other associates, could have knowledge about that, she added.

The FBI's investigation into Cohen also has exposed another key Trump Organization employee to scrutiny. Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg was granted immunity in the Cohen case.

Weisselberg was described anonymously in the Cohen indictment last week as the point person for reimbursing the former Trump attorney for expenses, including payments he made to quiet one woman who claimed to have had an affair with Trump. The White House has denied the affair.

Starting in January 2017, Weisselberg, on behalf of the Trump Organization, doled out monthly payments to Cohen that eventually totaled $420,000, according to court documents.

A spokeswoman for the Trump Organization did not return a request for comment.Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:

Tiffany  The luxury goods retailer reported quarterly earnings of $1.17 per share, 16 cents a share above estimates. Revenue and comparable-store sales also beat forecasts and Tiffany raised its full-year earnings outlook.

Best Buy  The electronics retailer came in 8 cents a share above estimates, with adjusted quarterly profit of 91 cents per share. Revenue and comparable-store sales also topped Street forecasts, however Best Buy's current-quarter earnings guidance fell below analysts' estimates.

DSW  DSW earned an adjusted 63 cents per share for its second quarter, well above the consensus estimate of 46 cents a share. Revenue also exceeded forecasts, and a comparable-store sales increase of 9.7 percent easily beat the consensus 2.5 percent estimate.

Apple  Apple's next iPhone series  expected to be introduced next month  are likely to have more favorable momentum than previous iPhones, according to industry sources quoted by DigiTimes. That will likely result in record quarterly revenue for Apple suppliers Taiwan Semiconductor and Foxconn.

Starbucks  Starbucks and Switzerland's Nestle have finalized a $7.15 billion licensing deal. Under the pact, Nestle will get the rights to sell Starbucks products in places other than the company's U.S. coffee shops.

Twitter  Twitter has suspended a total of 770 accounts for engaging in coordinated manipulation and for other policy violations. It said many of the accounts involved in the alleged manipulation appear to have originated from Iran.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals  Ionis and Akcea Therapeutics suffered a setback when the Food and Drug Administration declined to approve a drug designed to treat a genetic disease that causes fat to accumulate in the blood. The decision came as a surprise, since an FDA panel had voted in favor of approving the drug in May.

Aspen Insurance  Aspen will be bought by funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management for $2.6 billion, or $42.75 per share. That represents a 6.6 percent premium over Monday's closing price for the specialty insurer company's stock.

Gap  The apparel retailer's stock was upgraded to "neutral" from "sell" at Citi, based on current price levels following recent underperformance.

Xilinx  Xilinx was upgraded to "outperform" from "neutral" at RW Baird, with the firm pointing to some recent contract wins for the specialty chip maker.

Campbell Soup  The food company will announce this week that it does not plan to sell the entire company, according to sources quoted by the New York Post. Those sources say such a move could provoke a proxy fight by investor Daniel Loeb's Third Point against Campbell's board.

Heico  Heico earned 49 cents per share for its third quarter, 4 cents a share above estimates. The defense and aerospace company's revenue also topped Wall Street forecasts. Heico said it saw double-digit organic revenue growth at its Flight Support and Electronic Technologies businesses.Shilpa Sachdev moved from India to the U.S. in 2013 to be with her husband, who had landed a job as an engineer for Microsoft under a visa program that allows American companies to hire foreign workers.

Sachdev arrived as an H-4 visa holder, the designation for spouses and children of H-1B visa workers. She initially couldn't work in the U.S., but a door opened in 2015, when the Obama administration approved a rule allowing some H-4 holders to gain employment. Sachdev got a job as a content manager at cloud-computing company ServiceNow.

"For me being able to work can be summed up in one word  it's independence," Sachdev told CNBC. "We bought a house and we're paying the bills together now."

However, just as Sachdev was getting comfortable with her newfound freedom, President Donald Trump's administration is on the verge of potentially taking it away.

In a court filing last week, the administration indicated that it will rescind the work authorization given to some of the nearly 100,000 H-4 visa holders now employed in the U.S.

It's the president's latest move against immigration, a subject that has riled his critics since he began his campaign by attacking Mexicans who were crossing the border. A number of prominent U.S. business leaders, including Apple's Tim Cook, IBM's and J.P. Morgan Chase's Jamie Dimon wrote a letter last week to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen expressing concern over immigration policy, specifically a spike in denials of H-1B visas for skilled foreign workers.

"In general, there is a sense of disbelief that the government would actually revoke this work authorization for high-skilled professionals who are well on their path to permanent residence," said Sandra Feist, an immigration attorney with Grell Feist. "This will cause major personal and corporate disruption."Greg Furstenwerth thinks of himself as a Tesla fan. But after months of waiting on parts and appointments for his out-of-warranty Model S, he decided to take repairs into his own hands. Furstenwerth preordered the Model S, and in 2013 became one of the first people to get the car in the state of Hawaii, he says. He later drove the electric vehicle across the United States before there was a Supercharger network. He did this, he said, to shut down the electric car haters who ceaselessly griped about range anxiety.

Andrew Evers

"Tesla used to call me," he remembers. "They'd tell me, 'hey we noticed that there's something going wrong with your car.' Or when I had my flat they did their courtesy roadside service. They really took care of me, actually, as an original preorder. But as soon as I exceeded my warranty, the interactions all went away. I was treated like I didn't really own a Tesla." As an early Model S owner, Furstenwerth is among the first to deal with service needs for this luxury electric car out of warranty. The company recommends all repairs go through its own service centers or authorized providers. But there can be long waits to get an appointment at a Tesla service center or get new replacement parts.

Andrew Evers

Because he lives on an island outside of Seattle, getting into a Tesla service center for Furstenwerth required a long drive. He wouldn't always be guaranteed to have a loaner car to get him back home, either. Tesla did not offer its Tesla Rangers service, a kind of mobile mechanic that comes to an owners' house, where he lived. So he looked to independents. He found, unfortunately, a dearth of professional mechanics willing and able to work on his Model S. That's because Tesla doesn't make spare parts, diagnostic tools and even repair manuals readily available. Aftermarket parts aren't abundant, either. No major player manufactures these today. The few who can fix a Model S, and even fewer who can fix a Roadster, are left to buy "parts cars," and salvage parts from used Tesla vehicles. Some reverse engineer and make these parts with 3D printers.

Andrew Evers

Furstenwerth, who says he has always been good at figuring out how to fix things himself, learned how to diagnose and fix his Model S by taking it apart and putting it together several times. While he has taken part in some online forums where Tesla owners discuss their issues and fixes, mostly he was on his own, with no car schematics or manuals from Tesla. He found parts were available from some small suppliers online. But he had to track them down individually. Among his issues were leaking tail lights, failing door handles, a passenger window behind the driver that fell out of place and faulty wiring in his driver's side door. He says if he had been able to get a timely appointment, he was looking at a minimum of $14,000 in costs. At one point, he even considered destroying the car.

Andrew Evers

"I was infuriated beyond belief because everyone told me that it was an impossible car to work on" he said. They were wrong. "When I opened it up, I find out that it's the easiest car I've ever worked on. Easiest device I've ever worked on. They built a Lego car. It's like putting together Legos, taking apart Legos. If you can put together Legos you can put together a Tesla Model S." Now, Furstenwerth is thinking about how to help other out-of-warranty Model S owners fix their cars on their own, too. "I want to see Tesla wildly succeed," he says. "I have no problem with them being vertically integrated, and running things the way they do for cars that are in warranty. But if they want to get in the mass market, unless they're gonna run every single service center in every single small town, there's no way it's acceptable to have people for minor issues drive and kill an entire day to go to the service center, just for some free Keurig coffee." Since he fixed his Model S, he's put more than 2,000 miles on it, driving it from Seattle to Detroit, he says.

WATCH: Judge dismisses lawsuit against Tesla over Model 3 productionEzra Bailey | Getty Images

Although trading trousers for swim trunks sounds appealing, Americans are reluctant to give themselves a break from the daily grind. About 31 percent of American workers with paid time off don't intend to use all of it, according to a recent Bankrate survey. Heavier workloads and a lack of money are two of the biggest reasons they aren't taking time off. Although there has been a recent trend of companies offering more generous and flexible vacation to employees, like unlimited paid time off, Americans aren't taking full advantage. Not only is it costing workers their general well-being, it's also costing the economy billions of dollars each year. Get expert advice and tools to help you make better financial decisions. Sign up for the Bankrate newsletter today.

Americans refuse to use their paid vacation days

Marisa Eikenberry, a 26-year-old media worker from Indianapolis, doesn't use all of her vacation days. She never has. Growing up, she never wanted to miss a day of school; not because she loved it, but because, as she puts it, she worried about being "penalized" for not showing up. "Perfect attendance is seen as the goal," she writes in an email. "(By missing a day) you miss instruction that puts you behind. I hate feeling behind." Her fear of missing out has seeped into her career. At her first job, Eikenberry was given five paid vacation days. She voluntarily took zero. This year, she has taken only three of her 10 paid days off. "I fully recognize that it isn't healthy and in general I am probably a more tense individual than most, but " Eikenberry writes. "I don't really know any different either." She isn't alone. According to a survey by Project Time Off, the average American employee receives 23.2 paid time off days. On average, only 17.2 vacation days are actually used. The study finds that employees with unused vacation feared that taking time off would make them appear less dedicated or replaceable. They also felt their workload was too heavy to get away or that there was a lack of resources available for their jobs to be covered in their absence. "People like me end up putting ridiculous pressure on ourselves to measure up to these business leaders that seem to always be working," writes Eikenberry. "And when we've always been like that, it's hard to break that mold."

Not taking time off hurts employees, employers and the economy

The Project Time Off study also reports that in 2017, Americans forfeited 212 million paid time off days, equivalent to $62.2 billion in lost benefits. It cost the economy $255 billion in missed opportunity and could have generated 1.9 million jobs. "The economic benefits are certainly not why people go on vacation, but there is a massive economic boom we could get (from people taking time off), says Katie Denis, lead researcher and author of the study. On top of that, employees could gain back wages lost from sticking around the office. On an individual level, each employee donated an average of $561 in work time to their employer in 2017. "We are essentially volunteering for our employers," Denis says. "When we don't take the vacation we've earned, we're just giving money right back to them." An overworked employee is bad news for companies, too. Fatigued workers cost employers billions annually in lost productivity time. After workers hit a certain point of exhaustion, they're more likely to make costly mistakes and cause more accidents.

Wearing down on body and mind

Not taking time off also negatively impacts health. A 2015 study shows that overwork puts individuals at high risk of incident strokes. Another study shows that sleep deprivation, a common side effect of overwork, is linked to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and more. Even taking short vacations can help combat the negative health effects. But the evidence still isn't enough to persuade workers like Eikenberry to unplug. "I would just end up worried that I'm missing something," Eikenberry says. "Worried that someone will need me and I'm not there, or end up doing a bunch of housework." Kelley Kitley, a licensed clinical social worker, says the majority of her patients come to seek treatment for symptoms of burnout. Most of her clients work 60-80 weeks with little time off  and they often suffer from symptoms like insomnia, anxiety, low mood and weight gain. To treat these symptoms, she charges patients $250 for a 45-minute session. As a cognitive behavioral therapist, she sees her patients for an average of 16 sessions; she doesn't accept insurance. The total average bill for her patients dealing with the mental effects of burnout? $4,000.

Breaking the habitNow that U.S. President Donald Trump has bagged a political victory in the form of a trade deal with Mexico, the country's ongoing dispute with China looks set to drag on, experts said.

Mexico is "an important trading partner" of the U.S. and the deal offers Trump "some wins from a political perspective that the administration can point to ahead of the mid-terms", said John Woods, chief investment officer for Asia Pacific at Credit Suisse.

That's "not necessarily positive" for China, Woods told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday.

He explained that based on the latest trade talks between the two largest economies in the world, the U.S. now wants China to commit to structural reforms rather than simply reducing the imbalances between the two countries. That makes any quick solution less likely, Woods said.

"I suspect that (Trump) will hold out on negotiating a settlement with China for the time being. I suspect it could even run through the mid-term elections in November," he said.

Woods' sentiment is shared by economists from Dutch bank ING, who wrote in a note on Tuesday that "as far as China and Asia are concerned, this new Mexico deal solves nothing."

However, the trade agreement "strengthens the US position to play hardball with China," they said.

"There is, right now, no visible interest from the US administration in pursuing talks with China over trade, and there will likely not be either unless China proposes some far-reaching changes to issues such as intellectual property protection and forced technology transfer," the economists wrote.

That means the additional $200 billion in U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods will likely come into effect in September, they all said. China will also likely retaliate to the extent that they can and worsen the dispute, they added.

But the deal with Mexico showed that the U.S. "is willing to concede" if the terms are right, which is a "good signal" to countries trying to negotiate with the Trump administration, said Juan Carlos Hartasanchez, senior director of Albright Stonebridge Group.

Those countries could also learn from Mexico how to move from "a very complicated negotiation where no progress was being attained" to what "seems to be a good resolution for both parties," he told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday.Thomson Reuters stock jumped Tuesday following news that the media and information firm would officially begin buying back shares.

The company's board of directors approved a $9 billion stock buyback from shareholders through what's known as a "substantial issuer bid," or SIB, kicking off Tuesday. The price range for the tender offer is $42 to $47, as much as an 11.5 percent premium over the company's average price in the past 20 days, according to a statement.

The Toronto-based company's stock, which trades on the NYSE under the symbol TRI, rose 4 percent in early afternoon trading, to around $44.92 per share.

Thomson Reuters will fund the share repurchases from the roughly $17 billion sale of its financial and risk business to private equity funds managed by Blackstone, a deal that was announced in January. The buybacks will apply to roughly 30 percent of the total number of issued and outstanding shares and are expected to wrap up the day after the Blackstone transaction is scheduled to close.

"We are committed to returning a significant portion of the F&R transaction proceeds to our shareholders," Thomson Reuters Chief Executive Officer Jim Smith said in a statement.

Thomson Reuters said the share repurchase will be a "modified Dutch auction," a process that allows shareholders to declare the number of shares they sell, and the price at which they sell them.

Tuesday's announcement builds on existing buyback plans. In June, Thomson Reuters announced plans to buy back up to an additional $1 billion of its shares under a new repurchase program.President Donald Trump doubled down on threats against Facebook, Twitter and Google Tuesday afternoon, saying the social platforms are "treading on very, very troubled territory and they have to be careful." "Google has really taken advantage of a lot of people and I think that's a very serious thing and it's a very serious charge," Trump told reporters after a meeting with the president of FIFA. "They better be careful because they can't do that to people." A Twitter spokesperson, when asked to respond to Trump's comments, pointed to previous statements and congressional testimony denying any form of conservative bias on the platform. A spokesperson for Facebook did not immediately return request for comment. Trump earlier Tuesday accused Google of altering search results to prioritize negative coverage and left-leaning outlets and warned that the issue "will be addressed."

Trump said in a tweet that the tech giant's search engine had "rigged" news story results to show mostly "bad" stories about him and other conservatives. "Google search results for 'Trump News' shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media," the president said. "In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out."

Trump added: "Illegal? 96% of  results on 'Trump News' are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous. Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!" Around 11 a.m. ET, Trump deleted the original tweets and reposted practically identical language. "When users type queries into the Google Search bar, our goal is to make sure they receive the most relevant answers in a matter of seconds," a Google spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday. "Search is not used to set a political agenda and we don't bias our results toward any political ideology. Every year, we issue hundreds of improvements to our algorithms to ensure they surface high-quality content in response to users' queries. We continually work to improve Google Search and we never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment." Trump also praised the performance of the Nasdaq Composite index, which climbed above 8,000 points for the first time ever Monday. Tweet Google's parent company Alphabet is a key driver of the Nasdaq's performance. The firm's shares were under pressure following Trump's comments, down around 0.5 percent. Later Tuesday, Larry Kudlow, Trump's economic advisor, told Bloomberg that the White House is "looking into" whether Google suppresses positive articles about the president. Kudlow did not provide details on how the White House was looking into the matter. Tweet Some reports have suggested the president was referring to an unscientific report by conservative news website PJ Media, which claimed that 96 percent of Google search results for the word "Trump" showed left-leaning publications. The report places outlets including CNN, The Washington Post and The Guardian on the left of the political spectrum, while placing the likes of Fox News, the New York Post and the Daily Mail on the right.

Big tech to face Congress

Trump's comments couldn't be more timely. Next week, Google, Facebook and Twitter representatives will testify before Congress, discussing censorship and election meddling. The hearings mark the second time representatives from all the companies will be on Capitol Hill to address concerns of election interference. For Facebook, it will be the third, following CEO Mark Zuckerberg's grilling earlier this year over the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg are among those confirmed to be attending the hearings. Facebook and Twitter have suspended hundreds of accounts ahead of the November midterm elections to avoid interference from foreign actors. Facebook last week said it had removed 652 pages, groups and accounts linked to Iran over "coordinated inauthentic behavior" targeting people in the U.S., the U.K., Latin America and the Middle East. As of Tuesday, Twitter has removed 770 accounts over "coordinated manipulation" ahead of the midterms. Trump's comments as a whole appear to represent a broader view among conservative circles that digital platforms are censoring them. The president recently accused Twitter of "shadow banning"  allegedly limiting search results  for prominent Republicans, and called the practice "discriminatory and illegal." Twitter has denied the claims. And earlier this month, multiple tech companies, including Apple, Facebook, Google's YouTube, Pinterest and Spotify, clamped down on content by the right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, removing podcasts, pages and other content. Tech companies said they removed Jones for violating policies related to hate speech and harassment. "Apple does not tolerate hate speech, and we have clear guidelines that creators and developers must follow to ensure we provide a safe environment for all of our users," Apple said at the time. Some right-wing commentators have criticized the mass takedown of Jones' content, saying it amounted to censorship. CNBC's Sara Salinas contributed to this report.

WATCH: Here's what platforms and governments need for regulation to work: Verge's PatelLiam Fox, the U.K.'s trade secretary, told CNBC that a trade deal between the United Kingdom and the United States is still moving forward, but declined to give a date on when such an agreement could be completed. Fox is in Singapore where he is attempting to strengthen trade relationships and make the case for the U.K.'s accession to the Comprehensive & Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Britain is on a diplomatic charm offensive around the world, as it looks to prepare for new trade arrangements after it leaves the European Union in 2019. Fox told CNBC's Nancy Hungerford that President Donald Trump was spearheading the U.S. willingness to set up a new deal and he had made that clear on his trip to Britain in July. "The president was very clear. I met with the president when he was in the United Kingdom. I have also met with ambassador (Robert) Lighthizer and Secretary (Wilbur) Ross on numerous occasions," he said. "There is a strong willingness, including in Congress, to see a trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the United States," Fox added. Fox was reluctant, however, to put a date on when any transatlantic arrangement could be finalized, adding only "as quickly as we can."

US and China

While Fox is in Asia to promote British interests, the trade secretary said he envisioned little opportunity for new deals with China, even as the country's relationship with Washington has soured. Beijing and Washington have been embroiled in tit-for-tat trade measures as Trump attempts to address what he has perceived as unfair practice by the Chinese. Fox said the U.K. was unlikely to step into the middle of any trade war between the superpowers, but he hoped the U.S. would turn to international laws in order to address grievances. "We think that if there are disputes on issues like steel overproduction or lack of market access, we may share the U.S. assessment of the problem, but that doesn't mean that we will be sympathetic to the means of dealing with the problem," he said. The World Trade Organization (WTO) deals with the global rules of trade between nations and is based in Geneva, Switzerland. Trump has been dismissive of its effectiveness turning instead to the use of tariffs, but Fox said he remained hopeful the United States would see the WTO's value. "We think that these issues are best dealt with by the rules-based multilateral system, which is based in Geneva," Fox added.

Brexit hardball

The trade secretary also reiterated to CNBC that the British government is still prepared to walk away from negotiations if the country did not get a good deal for Brexit. "We don't want there to be no deal. We want there to be a good deal, but our European partners should understand that if we don't get a good deal and we had to walk away, then we would," Fox said. In August this year Fox said it was likely the U.K. will fail to agree upon a divorce deal with the European Union before it leaves the bloc next March. Fox told U.K. media that "intransigence" by EU officials was "pushing us towards no deal." He put the chance of Britain crashing out without a deal at 60 percent. When asked if international investors were worried about the U.K.'s future, Fox said many were looking past Brexit.French President Emmanuel Macron appeared to be shifting his approach to the United States President Donald Trump, according to Associated Press.

During a 90-minute speech to Frances ambassadors Monday, Macron laid out his roadmap for the countrys diplomatic priorities in the year to come.

His speech focused on strengthening the European Union to face todays challenges rather than counting on the U.S. support that had two world wars as a crucible.

Since his election last year, Macron repeatedly tried to convince Trump not to pull out of the Paris climate agreement and the Iran nuclear deal. Frances pro-EU president also urged Trump not to impose tariffs on European steel and aluminum.

On Monday, Macron urged the European Union to take more responsibility for its own defense.Billionaire venture capitalist Jim Breyer is betting his money on U.S. and Chinese technology companies in the next ten years and would rather see cooperation between the world's two largest economies instead of "outright competition."

Breyer, who is the founder and CEO of Breyer Capital and an early investor in Facebook, told CNBC that there is also a very "significant race" between the U.S. and China on the technology front, particularly in artificial intelligence.

"In areas like health care or clean energy, cooperation would be much better between the two countries and their technologies than would be outright competition," he said on "Squawk Box."

"What is interesting about the trade war ... is I'm seeing far less U.S. money moving into Chinese technology companies, and I'm seeing some caution now on behalf of the very best Chinese investors on U.S. technology companies," Breyer said.

Even if the trade war intensifies, Breyer said that American and Chinese tech companies remain good investing opportunities in the future because they would likely represent the lion's share of technology gains.

"I do believe ten years from now, of the 20 largest market cap companies of the world, several of which are likely to be $2 trillion or more, 18 of the 20 will be Chinese and U.S. technology companies," he said.

Breyer said he thinks the next group of technology visionaries will emerge from China, developing various artificial intelligence applications for the environment, education and medicine.

Artificial intelligence is an area where both countries are already competing fiercely  to the point that some Silicon Valley investors are worried that China's tech sector will eat their lunch. Chinese start-ups working on artificial intelligence are already attracting more funding than their American counterparts: Last year, they received 48 percent of global AI funding compared to 38 percent in the U.S., according to CB Insights.

China has previously said that it wants to become the world leader in AI by 2030  a goal that's led to rapid developments in the country. Local tech companies like Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing, on-demand services provider Meituan-Dianping are already working extensively on various fields of AI.

According to Breyer, Chinese AI companies are leading their American rivals in areas of facial recognition and visual computing, including AI image recognition company SenseTime, where he is an indirect investor.

He added that "there are areas of expertise in China, including the fact that there are eight million graduates each year, five million are science and technology graduates in China, and the competence level, the creativity, the intensity is extraordinarily high."

But American firms still have an advantage than their Chinese counterparts.

"The United States companies simply have better data, they understand how to analyze that data, and if we're thinking about big breakthroughs, in improving patient outcome for instance in cancer, worldwide, the U.S. companies have, currently, a very significant lead versus the Chinese companies," Breyer said.

Ultimately, he said investors should understand that there is an opportunity investing into both American and Chinese tech companies because in the long run they will make up some of the world's most successful companies."As you know, we took this step to suspend several of the larger exercises as a good-faith measure coming out of the Singapore summit," Secretary of Defense James Mattis said Tuesday. It was his first press briefing in five months, a timeline that has included President Donald Trump 's high-profile meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin .

The Pentagon has no plans to suspend future joint military exercises with South Korea, the Defense secretary said Tuesday, amid negotiations with North Korea on disbanding its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

"We have no plans at this time to suspend any more exercises. We will work very closely, as I said, with the secretary of State and what he needs done," he added, noting that forces on the Korean Peninsula have continued with small-scale training exercises.

The secretary's comments came on the heels of a canceled U.S. delegation trip headed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Trump scrapped Pompeo's bilateral meeting because "sufficient progress" had not been made in regard to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

Read more: Trump cancels Pompeo trip to North Korea, cites lack of progress on denuclearization

After meeting with reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore, Trump canceled the bilateral training exercise between the U.S. and ally South Korea, citing their "tremendously expensive" costs.

"We save a fortune by not doing war games, as long as we are negotiating in good faith  which both sides are!" Trump tweeted after his summit with Kim in June.

TWEET

"I think it's inappropriate to be having war games. No. 1, we save money. A lot. And No. 2, it really is something that I think they [North Korea] very much appreciated," Trump said, adding that flying U.S. Air Force bombers in regional training missions was another drain on resources.

Trump's move falls out of step with the Pentagon, which has maintained that the joint exercises are routine, purely defensive and vital to maintaining readiness on the Korean Peninsula. Unlike Trump, Mattis avoided calling the exercises "war games" or "provocative."

There are currently 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the Korean War, which halted in 1953 in an armistice that left the two Koreas technically still at war.Secretary of Defense James Mattis speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon August 28, 2018 in Arlington, Virginia.

"We have worked with Congress and the White House to define the evolving space problem that we confront. Now we are implementing the National Defense Authorization Act and its provision for a unified space command in line with the president's vision for a needed Space Force," Mattis said.

In his opening remarks, Mattis said the U.S. cannot afford "complacency in any domain" and recognized cyberspace and outer space as war-fighting domains on par with land, air and sea.

"We have not done the cost estimates; that's underway right now. We've already commenced the effort, but I don't want to give you an off-the-cuff number," Defense Secretary James Mattis said Tuesday in his first press conference since the U.S.-led April 13 missile strikes against the Syrian government.

The Pentagon does not yet have a cost estimate for President Donald Trump 's requested Space Force, a sixth and separate military branch dedicated to countering the looming threats in outer space.

He added that the Pentagon looks to Congress for the necessary legislation in creating the sixth branch.

Last month, during a discussion at the Brookings Institution, Deborah Lee James, 23rd secretary of the Air Force and principal defense space advisor for the Obama administration, warned that a Space Force would worsen problems plaguing the U.S. military's space efforts.

""It is a virtual certainty that it will be a huge undertaking that will consume a lot of time, effort, thinking," James said.

When asked how expensive a new service branch will be, James said it would cost more than what the Pentagon estimates.

"I do not know how much it would cost to set up a separate military service, but if anyone thinks you're going to do it on the cheap I will tell you that I've never seen anything like this done on the cheap," she said. "So, No. 1, it will cost more than what they predict."

Read more: What Trump's Space Force might look like  and when it would be ready

Trump's sprint to develop a Space Force became apparent during an emphatic June 18 speech to the National Space Council. He announced his wish for the Pentagon to create a new sister service branch to stand alongside the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

"I am hereby directing the Department of Defense and Pentagon to immediately begin the process necessary to establish a space force as the sixth branch of the armed forces," Trump said before asking Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, to see the directive through.

"Our destiny beyond the Earth is not only a matter of national identity but a matter of national security," Trump said.

Shortly thereafter, Vice President Mike Pence announced at the Pentagon a detailed plan for establishing a Space Force.

"The Space Force will not be built from scratch," Pence said during a speech before members of the Pentagon. "This is a critical step towards establishing the Space Force as the sixth branch of our armed forces."

Read more: Pence unveils plan to create Space Force by 2020

The military has not added a new service since the Air Force more than 70 years ago.

Trump first floated the Space Force idea in March as a part of his national security strategy.

"We have the Air Force, we'll have the Space Force," Trump told an audience of service members at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.Yum China shares surged as much as 12 percent on Tuesday after a Wall Street Journal report that the company rejected a buyout offer from an investor group led by Hillhouse Capital, citing sources.

The media outlet said the offer valued the company at $46 per share or more than $17 billion. The group that made the buyout offer for Yum China also included private-equity firms KKR and Baring Private Equity Asia, as well as Chinese sovereign-wealth fund China Investment Corp., according to people familiar with the matter.

Yum China, which spun off from Yum Brands in 2016, manages Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants in the country.

Yum China did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.

Shares of the company opened at $36 on Tuesday and were initially halted following news of the buyout offer.The first set of US sanctions against Russia are unlikely to have a large impact on the Russian government funding or the Russian economy in general, the Moody's Investors Service said.

"There has already been a material contraction in trade between Russia and the U.S. over recent years and the Russian government has minimal reliance on external bank financing. As a consequence, the credit impact of the newly imposed sanctions on Russian government funding or the broader Russian economy is likely to be relatively contained unless they were to cause a significant erosion in investor confidence," the Moody's said in a comment.

The Moody's Investors Service also said that potential U.S. sanctions against Russian state-owned banks are unlikely to cause a system-wide banking crisis in the country.

"The menu of potential second round sanctions being discussed in Washington is wide, ranging from a U.S. veto on multilateral lending, a prohibition on lending by U.S. banks, a ban on all non-agricultural exports, further import restrictions, a downgrade or suspension of diplomatic relations and suspensions of U.S. landing rights for Russian national air carriers "

"In our view, sanctions against mostly deposit-funded state-owned banks would be unlikely to cause a system-wide banking crisis but would impede their ability to provide credit and support growth. Russias low reliance on capital-intensive non-conventional oil production limits the potential fallout from lack of U.S. participation in its oil projects," the Moody's said.The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission formMay 1) She says no deal would not be end of the world and that Hammonds figures are work in progress

She restates that no deal is better than bad deal  FT

And sides with Raab  The Sun

She downplays Hammonds fears about borrowing and growth  Guardian

And slaps down his warnings  Daily Express

May 2) On tour in Africa, she commits to using development spending in our own national interest as well as for global challenges

Theresa May has said that leaving the EU without a deal will not be the end of the world as she appeared to dismiss the Chancellors dire warnings about a no-deal Brexit. The Prime Minister refused on two occasions to endorse Philip Hammonds claims that a no-deal Brexit would lead to billions in additional borrowing and a slowing of economic growth by up to 10 per cent over the next 15 years. Mr Hammond made the remarks in a letter to the Commons Treasury committee last week, just hours after Dominic Raab, the Brexit Secretary, sought to play down fear-mongering over a no-deal scenario. His intervention is believed to have incensed aides close to Mrs May, while also threatening to reignite a long-running row between the Treasury and Downing Street, which is said to be concerned that the Chancellors pessimism is hindering efforts to secure a good deal with Brussels.  Daily Telegraph

The prime minister says that fostering healthy African economies and the jobs they create is a matter of national interest. Failure will only increase migration flows and undermine faith in capitalism, she argues, saying that Britain will increasingly use aid cash to foster private enterprise. I am unashamed about the need to ensure that our aid programme works for the UK. So today I am committing that our development spending will not only combat extreme poverty, but at the same time tackle global challenges and support our own national interest. This will ensure that our investment in aid benefits us all, and is fully aligned with our wider national security priorities, she says.  The Times

Shes on a three-day tour of South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya  Daily Mail

Her announcement is a nod to right-wing Tories  Guardian

Its a commitment to tacking how budget is spent  The Sun

She says Britain should be unashamed to promote business  Daily Telegraph

And that she wants to boost British trade with African nations  Daily Express

Shes trying to match Macrons influence  FT

Meanwhile, FO and Treasury working on avoiding US sanctions on Iran  The Times

Comment:

The Africa trip is Mays return to the political frontline  Heather Stewart, Guardian

Editorial:

The announcement is a good move by the Prime Minister  The Sun

May 3) Shes in disagreement with Treasury over bag-tax hike

She wants to double it. HMT sees this as profiteering  The Sun

Theresa Mays plans to double the plastic bag tax to 10p is being opposed by the Treasury amid concerns that it looks like profiteering, The Daily Telegraph can disclose. The Prime Minister is this week expected to unveil proposals to hike the levy in order to accelerate the clampdown on one-use and disposable bags and encourage more consumers to take up recyclables. The charge has been hailed by environmentalists for achieving an 85 per cent reduction in plastic bags since October 2015, when the scheme was first introduced in England. However a senior Treasury source told The Daily Telegraph that the additional levy is unnecessary: The 5p tax has already worked and dramatically reduced the use of plastic bags. If its raised to 10p it looks like profiteering.  Daily Telegraph

More May

I doubt she thinks about things like the functions of government  Norman Tebbit, Daily Telegraph

She needs to uncover torture cover-up  Sonya Sceats, The Times

Macron speech shows lack of support for Chequers and that France will prioritise integrity of EU over UKs future

President Macron rejected Theresa Mays appeals for help to unlock Brexit talks as he insisted yesterday that EU unity trumped close ties with Britain.France wants to maintain a strong, special relationship with London but not if the cost is the unravelling of the European Union, he said in his annual foreign policy speech. Britains decision to leave the EU was a sovereign choice, which we must respect, but it cannot come at the expense of the European Unions integrity. Mr Macron said he hoped that an arrangement could be found with Britain by the end of the year, but his remarks confirmed that France does not accept Mrs Mays Chequers scheme for a seamless flow of goods with the continent and an open Irish frontier while Britain imposes controls on the movement of Europeans.  The Times

He calls for French contingency planning  Daily Express

But secret EU no deal plans are focused on making UK departure smooth as possible  The Sun

>Today: Priti Patel in Comment: We must chuck Chequers, or disillusioned voters will reject mainstream politics

Behr: Unchaining Britannia has uncoupled the Tories from economic reality

Rees-Mogg criticised for pre-referendum border-check Troubles comments

 I recently found myself browsing one such volume, Britannia Unchained, co-authored by five Conservative MPs in 2012 who immodestly described themselves as rising stars on the sleeve. One, Dominic Raab, has risen to be secretary of state for Brexit, which is reason enough to revisit his back catalogue.  Of all the nonsensical Brexit ideas to have acquired respectability through sheer force of repetition by Tory MPs, perhaps the flimsiest is this false dichotomy of global trade and EU membership  This is the sad island where a generation of Tories find themselves intellectually discredited and marooned. They wanted to unchain Britannia and they ended up uncoupled from their own history, unmoored from basic geography, and adrift from economic reality.  Guardian

Jacob Rees-Mogg has sparked controversy after a video emerged of him suggesting the UK could introduce Irish border checks like we had during the Troubles. The Tory Brexiteer made the comments at a town-hall style meeting in April 2016  just two months before the EU referendum. His remarks contradict Theresa May who has repeatedly said that there will not be a return to a hard Irish border amid fears this could reignite the bloody violence that plagued the region for decades. Simon Coveney, the Irish deputy Prime Minister, furiously tore into Mr Rees-Moggs remarks which he said were ill-informed.  Daily Mail

Wallace: Stay calm and recognise the benefits of a broader, larger Conservative membership

Ten percent of post-2015 Ukip councillors have defected to the Tories  Daily Mail

Membership worries have long occupied the Conservative Party. Numbers halved between 2005 to 2013. From unreplaced natural attrition to the Cameroon habit of displaying modernity by insulting the grassroots, the figures fell and fell.  Viewed calmly, it is obviously silly to object to centre-right Eurosceptics joining the Conservative Party. That isnt a blue Momentum, thats a rise in membership, which is what Tories of all stripes have spent years saying they want. If some MPs worry that the new members are too Leaver-ish for their tastes, then there is a positive and productive solution: go out and sign up new members with views they prefer. All Tories benefit from a broader, larger Conservative membership.  The i

>Today: ToryDiary: The Conservative infiltration debate is all the wrong way round

>Yesterday: Ryan Jacobsz in Comment: To win the next election, the Conservatives must make better use of their activists

More Conservatives

IDS calls for zero tolerance on gangs  The Sun

Hunt praised by Zaghari-Ratcliffes husband  Guardian

Burns called racist for travellers camps comments  Daily Mail

Candidate interview panel topics include Love Island  The Sun

Comment:

The party needs to focus on the economy, stupid  Sebastian Payne, FT

Dont forget the risks of Corbyns domestic agenda  Clare Foges, The Times

Labour

Hattersley writes to Corbyn warning of split risks  Guardian

Siddiq asks her Bangaldesh prime minster aunt to release artist  The Times

Watson wants to know if NCA is looking into Russian interference with referendum  Guardian

Brussels square to be named after Cox  The Times

Scottish Labour gains support for Edinburgh tourism levy  Guardian

Mahmood used taxpayers money to deal with discrimination claim  Daily Mail

Other parties

Challoner pulls out of Green deputy leader race  Guardian

What did Sturgeon know about Salmond?  Alan Cochrane, Daily Telegraph

Frustration all round as Northern Ireland equals world record for longest period of time without an elected government

A DUP MP has said he shares the frustration of those planning to take part in a series of protests across Northern Ireland today over the lack of government. Today marks 589 days since Northern Ireland last had a functioning power-sharing government, equal to the world record set by Belgium in 2011 for the longest period of time without an elected government. A series of protests have been planned across Northern Ireland today, largely via social media, to mark the occasion under the heading #WeDeserveBetter. DUP MP Sammy Wilson told the News Letter he shares the frustration of those planning to take part, but put the blame on Sinn Fein intransigence. The protests emerged after an online campaign started by Dylan Quinn, a father of four who runs a dance studio in Co Fermanagh, with a video message that went viral. In the video, Mr Quinn said: Enough is enough and we deserve better.  Belfast News Letter

McKie: Low turn out for Pope is emblematic of Catholic churchs problems

UN report calls calls for Myanmar genocide charges

Naturally, attendance is just one measure, and other Christian denominations (with a few notable exceptions) have seen similar declines. But the Catholic Church faces two different problems, both very clearly apparent in Ireland, which affect it more than other religious groups. The first is the huge change in social attitudes over the past decades. In Ireland, that tendency has been amplified by the relative youth of the population: the 1970s saw the population grow by more than 13 per cent, and there are a million and a half more people now than there were in 1979. Attitudes on issues such as abortion, contraception, divorce and homosexuality have not merely liberalised, they can almost be described as the polar opposite of what was the norm half a century ago and, in many cases, enshrined in legislation.  Herald

Aung San Suu Kyi has been blasted by UN investigators for failing to stop a brutal crackdown on Rohingya Muslims which they have called a genocide. The UN report called today for six of Myanmars top military bosses, including the head of the army, to face genocide charges in an international court after a campaign which has seen 700,000 Rohingya flee the country. Todays developments prompted Facebook, which has been criticised for allowing hate speech against the Rohingya to flourish, to ban the army chief and remove other pages tied to the countrys military. The report took aim at Aung San Suu Kyi, the countrys civilian leader, for failing to use her position to stop the crackdown. She had not used her de facto position as head of government, nor her moral authority, to stem or prevent the unfolding events, the report said.  Daily Mail

News in BriefPriti Patel is MP for Witham, and former Secretary of State for International Development.

Two years ago, over 17 million Britons voted to leave the European Union. Since then, big corporate business, millionaires and powerful forces within the establishment have fought tirelessly to cancel Brexit. They have aligned with the EUs bullying tactics, attempting to frighten the British people into submission. These are the very voices who are delighted that the Government has caved in with the Chequers proposals  proposals that effectively mean we will never take back control of our laws, money or trade. And they hope for further concessions so that we wont take back control of our borders either.

It is increasingly clear that Chequers is a disaster for our country and is not the right way forward for Britain. It is also a disaster for public trust and confidence in their politicians. The people democratically voted to leave the EU  this was the largest public vote in our nations political history. They expect their vote to be honoured and implemented. If that does not happen then they will find alternative ways to express their views and frustrations with those who have the privilege of governing our country.

The British people are not fools. They dont like being bullied and they definitely dont like being talked down to. And yet this is exactly how they are being treated. If todays politicians wont deliver and fail to implement the referendum then voters will seek out and vote for people who will. Across Europe and indeed the world we have seen what that means  the terrifying rise of extreme, nationalist and fringe parties.

Look no further than Greece, Sweden, Italy, Germany and Austria to name a few European countries. In Britain, UKIP is stirring from the political grave and is rising from its purple coffin, feeding off the Chequers capitulation. Make no mistake, this is an early warning of what will come, and the long-term consequences if the largest democratic vote in British history is frustrated. We will face a crisis of democracy in which ordinary people will utterly lose their faith and trust in politics and in politicians.

It is important to remember why the British people voted to leave the EU. They wanted to take back control of our laws, money and trade. They wanted to take back control of our borders, too. They had had enough of uncontrolled borders, of free movement and the pressures placed on schools, health services and housing. They had also had enough of the use of cheap low-skilled labour and the failure to invest in skills and training at home. Yet most of all, the people of our country voted to leave because they believe in Britain. They believe in a nation that is a land of opportunity, independent, one that stands tall in the world.

They were right then and they are right now. For the EU is becoming economically more feeble every year. Europe used to account for 30 per cent of the world economy a few decades ago. Now its just 15 per cent. Meanwhile, 90 per cent of future global growth is set to come from the rest of the world. We cannot allow the EU to keep dragging us down. Our nation needs to look to the future far beyond the shores of Europe.

This economic reality is why we must chuck Chequers. Britain cannot be out of Europe in name but still run by Europe  we should be free from Europe and free to engage with the rest of the world. Yet this message of freedom, optimism and ambition for the future is completely absent from Government. Instead all we get is doom-mongering, endless Project Fear, and bullying threats from the EU.

These are the same discredited tactics they used in the referendum. The British people rejected them then and will reject them now. Remember how before the referendum they said our economy with nosedive by six per cent, house prices would collapse, and 800,000 people would lose their jobs? Yet here we are today with record jobs, a faster growth rate than the EU, and house prices still strong. This is why the British people continue to reject Project Fear  because theyve heard it all before.

Now the EU and their doom-mongering allies try to intimidate us. We hear the frightening threats of queues from Dover all the way back to London. The bullying talk of how our aircraft will never take off again. The fear of being ripped off by credit card companies, starved of food and medicines. They even dare to deny us the joy of the humble British sandwich!

This isnt going to work. The British people know better and they will not stomach this relentless tirade of fear. They know that trade with the EU benefits everyone  yet the EU is the winner as they sell us 95 billion more in goods than we sell to them. Despite the constant negative rhetoric, Britain is in a strong position to negotiate a positive agreement. Any problems with trade will hit the EU far harder than us. To threaten air travel is equally absurd. Putting their tourism industry at risk, as well as flights to the USA for which they need to use our air traffic control systems, is not going to happen.

A punishment Brexit would not simply boomerang on the EU  it would mean no divorce payment, which would mean a 40 billion Brexit bonus for Britain. Thats why it wont happen. The fact they make these threats underlines that the EU is not an organisation that we want to run our affairs.

Our negotiating advantages are meaningless if we do not leverage them for the future of our country. The time has come for our political leaders to believe in Britain and in the British people. The Conservative Party had thought that because of Brexit we had finished off UKIP at the last General Election. Yet if we fail to take back control of our laws, borders and money we will feed their re-emergence and the rise of other parties. That is what happens when mainstream politicians fail to address the concerns of the voters. We are a global trading power and the fifth largest economy in the world. Throughout our history our wealth has come from our ambition, entrepreneurial skills and global reach. Now is the time to chuck Chequers, believe in Britain and forge an independent and successful nation in the years to come.Imagine for a moment that Jeremy Corbyn or Nick Griffin sought to join the Conservative Party. Both would be barred. And no real conservative or Conservative would complain. The line must be drawn somewhere. There must be some quality control.

But those two gentlemen notwithstanding, it remains true that defining conservatism  and therefore Conservatives  is peculiarly riddling. Unlike socialism, national or international, conservatism is less a creed than a disposition, less international than local, less the product of belief than custom. A socialist in one country will share an ideology with one in another. By contrast, conservatism differs hugely even between neighbours. A British and French Conservative are very different animals. The conservatism of the former was given foundational expression by an Irishman, Edmund Burke. Ireland today has not one but two centre-right parties. Neither would describe themselves as conservative.

These abstract musings have a concrete point. There is current debate about infiltration of the Conservative Party. Publicity-seeking former UKIP donors, witch-hunting Remainer obsessives, media outlets in search of August stories, the Conservative Partys electoral opponents: all have an interest in talking up the claims. Our own enquiries suggest that there is no mass joining-up by new members. But even a limited rise, given the context, raises the i-word  or rather questions about it.

Does it hold automatically that former UKIP members are not potential Conservatives, for example? Should the Party really seek to ban recruits from its right as well as from its left? And if so, why? If the Party really is a broad church, it will be open to all who share the bundle of broad attitudes to which we refer above. Obviously, that excludes the Griffins and Corbyns, the racists, the Muslim-haters and the anti-democrats. But a big section of UKIP supporters fall outside those grounds  unless, that is, one is to take the same terrifying stance as Rotherham social services.

None the less, here is an irrefutable case for barring those who seek to join the Party as part of an organised would-be putsch from outside. Jacob Rees-Mogg was absolutely right to warn recently against single issue fanatics  people who identify so strongly with one element of contemporary conservatism as to have no interest in any of the others. But how would any vetting process of a Tory Momentum be exercised? CCHQ has no machinery for exercising loyalty tests  having traditionally treated them as incompatible with the spirit of inclusion that should mark any mainstream centre-right party. It is simply not set up to deal with any organised infiltration programme.

This takes us to the heart of the matter. There is a vogue for arguing that modern parties cant recruit a mass membership. William Hague came very close to arguing this recently in his Daily Telegraph column.

If so, it follows that they really will be vulnerable to infiltration  because there will eventually be no established body of members greater in number than the newcomers. Or else, if those infiltrators are resisted, the party in question will have a barebones membership. And those would-be infiltrators will pour instead into a new electoral force.

In short, a party without members is a party without a future. Just as the National Trust couldnt display houses to the public without members and volunteers, so the Conservative Party wont win elections without activists and supporters  and become a rooted local presence in our national political culture.

The great Tory infiltration row is precisely the wrong way round. The Conservative Partys main problem isnt being infiltrated by the wrong members. It is having too few of the right ones in the first place. And too many people near the top who believe it can get on just fine without them.Whats included in the fares consumers pay for airline tickets has become a can of worms over the last few years. What presents itself to the consumer as a $100 fare can easily wind up as $140 by the time "additional fees and taxes" are tagged on.

Then, if you want a certain seat, to carry on a bag, or board the plane in the first group, you could easily run that $140 charge up to $200 or more.

Theres no doubt that the ecosystem of running an airline is complex. Theres fuel, regulations, maintenance, ticketing, and layers upon layers of people trying to make customers happy and the planes get from point A to point B.

Theres also picking out the routes that will create the most return on investment (ROI) and making sure the airline has the deal everyone wants.

What airline has the most add-on fees?

In its annual ancillary revenue rankings, the IdeaWorksCompany found the top 10 most expensive carriers based on average fees charged per passenger were as follows:

Spirit: $51 per passenger WOW Air: $49 per passenger Allegiant: $49 per passenger Frontier: $48 per passenger Jet2.com: $43 per passenger Qantas Airways: $43 per passenger United: $39 per passenger AirAsia X: $33 per passenger HK Express: $33 per passenger Wizz Air: $31 per passenger

Scanning that list, you probably noticed that most of those airlines are small, regional, no-frills types.

"Consumers in the US enjoy far lower fares courtesy of the presence of Spirit, Frontier, and Sun Country, Jay Sorensen, President of Product, Partnership and Marketing Practice for IdeaWorksCompany told ConsumerAffairs.

"These low fare airlines rely upon two revenue streams - fares and ancillary revenue. Now to be certain, the latter must be provided using transparent and fair methods. There have certainly been abuses in terms of transparency and fairness by LCCs. But I confess, if you complete the booking process at the Spirit Airlines website and are surprised by bag fees being charged at the airport for large carry-ons well, you are intellectually challenged."

So, ancillary revenue is a good thing?

IdeaWorksCompany further defines ancillary revenue using these categories: 1) a la carte features, 2) commission-based products, 3) frequent flyer activities, 4) miscellaneous sources such as advertising, and 5) the a la carte components associated with a fare or product bundle.

If you take a close look at IdeaWorks report, your eyes might widen when you see that United, Delta, and American all took in more than $5 billion in ancillary revenue last year in the way of a la carte features, commission-based products, and frequent flyer activities.

But, in the long run, that extra revenue stream can be a good thing for the customer.

If an airline can keep its fares competitive and pick up enough money from its side hustles -- baggage fees, seat assignments, and the like -- then its on the consumer to decide how much the perks are worth and if they really need that extra four inches of legroom.

Do the homework

When looking for a fare, think about what you want versus what you need. Is it a free checked bag? If so, then Southwest may be your answer. Need a seat toward the front of the plane? United has a new plan you may want to try out.

"If you can survive with a smaller bag as a carry-on -- you can save that expense," said Sorensen. "Ditto for seat assignments. Consumers are usually best served by applying for the carrier's co-branded credit card and relying on the customary offer of a free checked bag."

Is the government on the consumers side?

Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called on Congress in 2017 to pass legislation to ground exorbitant airline fees in light of a newly-released Government Accountability Office (GAO) report confirming that many airlines do not consider the costs of the services provided when pricing their airline fees.

"This report confirms what countless passengers across the country already know to be true  that airlines are nickel and diming captive passengers to line their pockets, not to cover the costs of the services provided," said Senator Markey.

"GAOs findings show that many airlines are actually emboldened to increase their fees to match their competitors and actively seek to deceive passengers by offering artificially low fares and then charging exorbitant fees on the back end. Its time to put a stop to this fee gouging and restore sanity to the skies. Its time to pass the FAIR Fees Act."

Unless Markey and Blumenthal can get their bill all the way through and signed, theres not much hope. While the Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration take their jobs seriously in protecting the safety of fliers, those agencies have decided to stay out of the ring when it comes to things like ticket prices and baggage fees.

Before the Obama administration left office, it proposed a requirement that airlines list their baggage fees at the start of the booking process, a measure intended to make shopping for tickets easier and more transparent for consumers. However, when Donald Trump moved into the Oval Office, he scrapped that proposal.The assertions about Russias striving to split Europe are absurd, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview published by the Slovak newspaper Pravda.

"The assertions about Russias ostensible striving to weaken or to split Europe are absurd," he noted. "We have spoken continually for a buildup of broad and equitable cooperation on the European continent that along the principle of equal and indivisible security," the diplomat stressed.

Lavrov said that Russia prefers not to characterize popular European politicians as populists and not to put such labels on them.

"We try not to think in this way, in this paradigm of notions," TASS cited him as saying. The top diplomat explained that "we are talking about the politicians who are voted in by the majority of European citizens."

"This means that with their ideas and action programs, the politicians managed to respond to the voters needs and to offer their methods of resolving the issues that Europe is currently facing," Lavrov added.100%

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This CoolSocial report was updated on 2020-09-03, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.We are analyzing the site. Please wait a few seconds..100%

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This CoolSocial report was updated on 2020-11-17, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want.CORNWALL, Ontario  At the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Conference this week, 1,900 municipal representatives from across the province were briefed by members of the provincial government on the roll out of marijuana legalization in Ontario.

In a turn of policy from the previous Liberal government, Premier Doug Fords Progressive Conservatives stated that private vendors would be allowed to sell marijuana. As of April 1, 2019, private retailers will be able to begin selling. With marijuana becoming legal nationwide on Oct. 17 and with a municipal election on Oct. 22, municipalities will have a short window to adapt to the change.

With private retailers comes new responsibilities for municipalities like planning, zoning, and police enforcement around these new stores.

Municipalities will have a chance to opt out of the program and not allow private retailers in their jurisdiction. Municipalities that choose to opt out however, could choose to opt back in later on down the road.

Incumbent Cornwall Mayor Leslie OShaughnessy, who is running for re-election on Oct. 22, said that he was at the AMO meeting where marijuana legalization was discussed.

I think it is a community decision, said OShaughnessy. We have to reach out to the community and see what they want. Ive heard a lot from politicians, but very little from the public.

OShaughnessy said that somethings were still unclear about the marijuana roll out, for instance, he said it was still unknown if municipalities would be able to limit the number of marijuana retailers within their boundaries. Ultimately, OShaughnessy said that this will be a decision for the new council in December.

Fellow mayoral candidate Councillor David Murphy said that he is in favour of private marijuana retailers.

I think we should allow it, he said. I dont see a problem with it. Is it for me? No.

Murphy argued that it will be a legalized substance and said that he believed that the City would be able to regulate the number of retailers.

Murphy also pointed out that there will be support from the Health Unit and the Police who will help manage marijuana use and monitor retail locations.

Mayoral candidate and City Councillor, Bernadette Clement said that there were still many questions around the provinces legalization plan.

The first concern is safety, said Clement in an emailed statement to Cornwall Seaway News. Part of the intent if legalization is to undermine the illegal market and reduce criminal activity. The provincial government has announced that it will have 40 million dollars available to assist municipalities with safety issues. I question whether that is enough, especially as there are hundreds of municipalities in Ontario, including big cities like Toronto and Ottawa.

Clement said that she felt that the impact of opting out of the program would be minimal because of the existence of and online sale system. Again however, she felt that there needed to be more information available about the online system, particularly in terms of rules surrounding delivery.

Clement explained that the choice to opt in or out should not be made in a vacuum.

And once we opt in, the community will also want information as to whether there will be restrictions in terms of where a store is located for example, such as a certain distance from schools, Clement said. Im not opposed to opting in, but I have many questions as I indicated above, and judging from a lot of the conversations that I have been having in the last two weeks, so does the community.

Seaway News reached out to mayoral candidate Nicole Spahich, but had not received a response as of time of publication.Saudi Arabia is ready for a military action against Iran if it tries to block the Strait of Hormuz, an adviser at Saudi Arabias Energy Ministry Ibrahim al-Muhanna said, adding Iran would be unable to close the straits of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab even partially.

Speaking at an oil conference in the Norwegian city of Stavanger, al-Muhanna said Iran would be the first to lose out on a move to block those major shipping routes and that any such action would trigger further sanctions on Iran.

The adviser said that if Iran closes Strait of Hormuz, U.N. Security Council likely to authorize military action against Iran.

The amount of oil going through the Strait of Hormuz is so large. Theres more than 18 million barrels a day, about two thirds of world maritime oil trade. Meaning, cutting oil from there will lead to an acute oil shortage and prices will skyrocket, Muhanna said.

Is Iran able or willing to close completely, or even partially, the Strait of Hormuz or Bab Al-Mandab, or both? The answer is no, and a really big no," Reuters cited him as saying.

Al-Muhanna also said that current U.S. sanctions on Iran are unlikely to stop Iranian oil exports completely. They will continue to export 1 million (barrels per day) or so. So closing that Strait of Hormuz will damage the Iranians as much as damaging others, he said.

Yesterday, the head of the navy of Irans Revolutionary Guards, General Alireza Tangsiri, said on Monday that Iran had full control of the Gulf and the U.S. Navy did not belong there. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a Twitter post later: The Islamic Republic of Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait is an international waterway. The United States will continue to work with our partners to ensure freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce in international waterways.

Senior research fellow of the Institute for Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Sazhin, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, said that in the current situation both Iran's block of the Strait of Hormuz, Riyadh's ability to effectively fight against Tehran, and the UN Security Council's permission for a military operation against Iran raise doubts.

"The statements we sometimes hear from Tehran are mainly propaganda. Of course, it is technically easy to block the strait - sinking several large ships and barges would be enough, but it would mean the beginning of a serious war," he explained.

"In this war, Saudi Arabia will not be able to defeat Iran alone. In spite of Riyadh's good military equipment with American weapons and military equipment, the armies of the two countries are not comparable. The Iranian one is much more powerful, especially in the Persian Gulf. Iran already has experience of the so-called tanker war that took place during the Iran-Iraq war in the Persian Gulf in 1980-1988. But it is clear that the Saudis will not fight against Iran alone, they said that they will go to war only in the company of the allies," Vladimir Sazhin recalled.

"But there will be no permission from the UN Security Council for this war. There are Russia and China in the Security Council, and no circumstances will make them agree to a military action against Iran," the senior research fellow of the Institute for Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences stressed.

The leading expert of the North-South Political Science Center, Alexander Karavaev, agreed with Sazhin. "Once, the Strait of Hormuz was already blocked in the Iran-Iraq war, although it was local and temporary. But now, if it happens, serious military action is to be expected," he pointed out.

"As for the UN Security Council, such a decision is technically impossible, because Russia and China will veto it. In general, there is a danger of escalation, considering that the military conflict with Iran is beneficial to the U.S., which will be untied by other people's hands," Alexander Karavaev said.

"The question now is whether Iran is ready for large-scale military operations in the current situation. The processes in modern Iran are fundamentally different from what it was in the 80s amid the rise of the religious and patriotic spirit. The current liberalization and fatigue from the theocratic regime can hardly provoke a comparable patriotic rise," the expert concluded.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier discussed bilateral relations in a phone call late Monday with the Turkish president's state visit to Berlin approaching.

According to the president's office, both leaders reiterated their determination to enhance bilateral ties, saying ministerial level visits will accelerate relations.

Both countries' treasury and finance ministers are expected to hold meetings in the upcoming days, Daily Sabah reported.

On September 5-6, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas will also meet his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu and other senior officials in capital Ankara.

President Erdogan is scheduled to make a state visit to Berlin on September 28-29.

Earlier in the day, Erdogan held a phone call with British Prime Minister Theresa May to discuss bilateral relations and regional issues. The sides also exchanged views on the areas of economy, trade, and investment.Cruise ships will be in record numbers in the waters of Northern Europe this summer, with 129 ships set to offer cruises in the region, according to the 2018-2019 Cruise Industry News Annual Report.

Capacity will also move to a record high, with more than 2.5 million cruise guests expected, up from 2.3 million in 2017, and way up from just under 2 million in 2014.

AIDA will be the largest operator in the region this year, with concentrated summer deployment, but also cruises early and late in the session. Nine AIDA ships will make up around 16 percent of the market.

Hurtigruten also has a considerable share, built on a year-round coastal service program on the Norwegian coast.

MSC is the third largest operator by capacity, with 9.2 percent of the market and four ships, followed by P&O UK, Costa, TUI and Royal Caribbean.

---

About the Annual Report:

The Cruise Industry News Annual Report is the only book of its kind, presenting the worldwide cruise industry through 2027 in 400 pages.

Statistics are independently researched.

See a preview by clicking here.

The report covers everything from new ships on order to supply-and-demand scenarios from 1987 through 2027+. Plus there is a future outlook, complete growth projections for each cruise line, regional market reports, and detailed ship deployment by region and market, covering all the cruise lines.

Order the 2018-2019 edition today.JACKSON, Mississippi -- The Mississippi House reversed itself Tuesday and passed a bill to create a state lottery in the Bible Belt state where churches have long opposed it.

The vote came during a special session, less than 24 hours after the House originally voted to kill the bill that the state's Republican governor promises to sign into law. There was no debate Tuesday as a few representatives changed their votes from no to yes.

Mississippi is one of six states without a lottery, and Gov. Phil Bryant had been pushing lawmakers for more than a year to create one. Supporters estimate a lottery could generate tens of millions of dollars for the state annually, money Bryant says he wants to help pay for repair to crumbling highways and bridges.

"This is a historic day in Mississippi," Bryant said on Twitter. "Mississippi lawmakers rose to the occasion."

Supporters said it would take about a year to get a lottery up and running.

The bill was opposed by politically powerful Baptist and Pentecostal groups and some people who said it is a regressive tax on the poor. The state's influential casino lobby did not oppose a lottery but fought some lawmakers' efforts to allow video lottery terminals in places like truck stops.

Bryant pointed out that three of the four states bordering Mississippi have a lottery, and Mississippi residents are driving to Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee to buy millions of dollars of tickets each year.

The lottery bill passed the Senate Monday night but it failed initially in the House with 60 opposed and 54 in favor. The House subsequently passed the bill Tuesday with 58 in favor and 54 opposed

Tuesday was the fourth day of a special session that Bryant called, asking lawmakers to put millions more dollars into highways and bridges. More than 400 city and county bridges in the state are closed because they are in bad repair. The Mississippi Department of Transportation says it needs at least $400 million more per year just to keep state highways from deteriorating.

Supporters of a lottery estimate it could generate about $40 million for the state in the first year and $80 million in subsequent years.

The Senate and House last week passed different versions of a lottery bill, and top lawmakers spent much of Monday working out the differences. The two chambers must agree on a single version before it can go to the governor.

Republican Rep. Bill Denny said Tuesday that he has opposed attempts to establish a lottery for more than two decades, but he voted in favor this time because his constituents in northeast Jackson want it.

"Every time I go to the grocery store, 'Bill, we need the lottery,'" Denny said.

Democratic Rep. Greg Holloway of Hazlehurst voted against the bill initially and then for it Tuesday.

"My people have contacted me," Holloway said. "They want the lottery and I want them to have what they want."

Democratic Rep. Jeramey Anderson of Moss Point voted for the bill Monday and against it Tuesday. He said he wanted a guarantee that a significant share of lottery money would go to education.

"Killing the bill would have given us a better opportunity to negotiate," Anderson said. "Unfortunately, that didn't happen. I do support the lottery, but I support public education, as well."Fincantieri and China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the extension of the industrial cooperation already existing between the two groups to all segments of merchant shipbuilding, according to a statement.

The signing ceremony has taken place in Beijing, at the presence of the Italian Minister of Economy and Finance Giovanni Tria, the CEO of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Fabrizio Palermo, the CEO of Fincantieri Giuseppe Bono, and the Chairman of CSSC Lei Fanpei.

The agreement foresees the parties to discuss the possibility to extend their current collaboration, which counts a joint venture dedicated to the first cruise ships ever built in China for the local market and other related activities, including a number of research and development projects in several areas of the shipbuilding, such as: vessels for the oil & gas industry; cruise-ferries; mega-yachts; special vessels; steel infrastructure; marine engineering and equipment procurement as well as cruise cabins, interior decoration, and the establishment of a reliable supply chain in the cruise segment in China.

In February 2017 Fincantieri, CSSC and Carnival Corporation signed a binding agreement for the construction of two cruise ships, with an option for additional four, at the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS) shipyard. The group also signed a letter of intent (LOI) with CSSC and the Shanghai Citys district of Baoshan for the development of the supply chain mainly dedicated to cruise activities, as well as shipbuilding and maritime, and a comprehensive agreement in the field of ship repair and conversions with Huarun Dadong Dockyard (HRDD), the leading Chinese shipyard specialized in ship repair and refitting activities, aimed at serving the cruise ships based in China.

The CEO of Fincantieri Giuseppe Bono commented: This agreement is a further recognition of our decision to access to the great potential represented by China. Acting as a first mover for the shipbuilding, today we are able to create new opportunities for small and medium-sized companies of our supply chain, through the successfully consolidation of the relations with the major groups of the Country in this sector, and, at the same time, to continue to do the same in the West, taking advantage of the cruise segment boom and maintaining the acquired leaderships.The 13th China Cruise Shipping Conference International Cruise Expo (CCS13) will be held in Shenzhen in the new Shenzhen Shekou Cruise Center, Nov. 1-3, according to a press release from the organizer, the China Cruise and Yacht Industry Association (CCYIA).

The Shekou cruise homeport is a modernized international cruise homeport integrating sea, air, land and railway into one.

The port opened in 2016 and the cruise terminal is located at the west side of the passenger dock.

There will be four main exhibition areas, divided between cruise lines, ports and destinations, two supplier areas.Holland America Lines Nieuw Statendam returned to Fincantieris Marghera shipyard in Italy Wednesday, Aug. 22, after successfully completing two sets of sea trials off the coast, the company said, in a statement.

Nieuw Statendam left Marghera Aug. 10 and performed the first set of sea trials over two days before going into drydock at Fincantieris Trieste shipyard, where the trials data was reviewed and standard hull maintenance was performed.

The ship sailed its second sea trials Aug. 18, making its way back to Marghera Aug. 22 where the finishing touches will be completed.

The sea trials are a highly anticipated milestone for any newbuild because it takes us one step closer to delivery, and were thrilled that Nieuw Statendam gave a strong performance out in open water, said Orlando Ashford, Holland America Lines president. Theres a lot of buzz surrounding Nieuw Statendam and the innovations were introducing on board. The ship is going to have an exciting debut in early December.

During the sea trials, Nieuw Statendam underwent a series of performance tests on the ships systems, machinery and engines. The shipyards team of nautical officers, naval architects and builders tested the ships maneuvering characteristics and safety systems.BRIDGEPORT  The city school board voted to hire 62 new staff members at its first meeting of the school year on Monday but not without objections from three board members who say the salaries are too high.

There are some astronomical salaries, Chris Taylor, a freshman board member said, objecting particularly to a new Bassick gym teacher who will make nearly $76,000 a year and a bilingual school psychologist set to make $93,196 a year. Do we need the most expensive gym teacher they make.

Board member Dennis Bradley questioned if more due diligence could be done before hiring a retired school psychologist who is also collecting a full pension.

Absolutely no effort was shown to find another person that could save the district money, said Bradley, suggesting that the most expensive option is not always the best one.

Bradley, Taylor and Board Vice Chairman Hernan Illingworth were on the losing end of 6-3 vote against the certified staff appointments as well as the replacement of a human resources specialist who will make an annual salary of $80,000.

Illingworth said if Bridgeport were funded the right way he absolutely would hire the best qualified teacher.

I want the best but we also have to face reality, Illingworth said, of a district that forced to cut millions in services over the past four years to make ends meet.

When Maria Pereira, a board member, noted that the panel hasnt micromanaged staff hires in the past, a frustrated Illingworth quipped, Well, lets hire five more (specialists) at $80,000.

Schools Superintendent Aresta Johnson brought the appointments to the board, telling the panel that the district is on track to hire 125 certified staff to replace employees who retired or resigned. About 30 vacancies remain, to be filled with long-term substitutes working toward certification. Two vacancies are in science, three in math.

The district of 21,000 students has about 2,800 staff members including 1,564 educators.

We are in pretty good shape, Johnson said.

Taylor thought otherwise, suggesting the human resources department was lacking for not posting openings on a website like Monster.com. He also said he heard the psychologist, Rita Doherty, was married to a judge and wondered if some backroom deal was under way.

Doherty is not married or related to a judge, she said on Tuesday.

Twice during the debate, however, the board chair chastised Taylor for publicly criticizing administrators trying to explain the situation to him.

Board member Ben Walker noted that the salaries offered are based on the teacher contract which takes education and experience into account. They are also factored into the budget with turnover savings.

Walker suggested cutting salaries will diminish the education of students.

This is not where to make cuts, Walker said.

Gary Peluchette, president of the Bridgeport Education Association, said Tuesday that city teachers are the lowest paid in Fairfield County.

Combine that with the fact that we live in one of the most expensive areas in the country, and we can readily see that recruiting teachers for Bridgeport is a difficult job, Peluchette said.

Frank Chester, the districts personnel director, said there was one other candidate for the bilingual school psychologist position and she turned it down. The district has seven bilingual psychologist, the board was told, but also 3,700 bilingual students. If any need special education services, a school psychologist who speaks the language is required to take part in the individualized education program process.

Bradley suggested the board hold off on the position and hire an interpreter to help with bilingual translation. He was told that would place the district out of compliance with special education laws.

If we dont hire this person, I can assure you there will be cases filed when we miss timelines, John Di Donato, the districts chief of specialized instruction, said, adding the district battles to keep the staff it has.

Bradley said he doesnt buy that the only way to find qualified applicants is by paying them higher salaries.

I love and respect our teachers and support their pay, Bradley said What we are highlighting are the political abuses that this superintendent has chosen to place as a priority.

Bradley said the district suffers from poor management, abuse of processes and a total lack of vision.

That, he added, is why teachers leave.

In July, during her evaluation process, Bradley told Johnson she was doing an outstanding job.GREENWICH  The Greenwich Police Department has colluded with the exclusive Brunswick School to cover up sexual assault claims against students at the school, a Greenwich lawyer claims.

Meredith Braxton has filed state and federal civil rights lawsuits against the town and the school on behalf of a young woman who said her complaint of sexual assault went nowhere, and that Brunswicks headmaster protected her alleged assailant and interfered with a police investigation.

I think this looks like a systematic problem where the Greenwich Police Department sits back and allows an elite school to take the lead in the investigation of a sexual crime, and thats not appropriate, Braxton said. I would like to see an independent investigation into how the police department handles sexual assault investigations.

Officials for the town did not return calls for comment.

Five former town of Greenwich police officers (four of whom are former detectives) are employed in Brunswicks security department, the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Hartford states. Upon information and belief, these former police officers keep in close contact with the Town of Greenwich Police Department and have set up an inappropriate back channel with Greenwich PD to give Brunswick notice and information about a criminal complaint against a Brunswick student, so that Brunswick can take immediate steps to control the situation and to prevent negative publicity from tarnishing the reputation of Brunswick in the community.

Both the state and federal lawsuit center on a claim, made in 2016, that a 16-year-old Greenwich girl was sexually assaulted by a Brunswick School student at an out-of-school pool party.

The state lawsuit was filed against Brunswick in Superior Court in Bridgeport, claiming the girl suffered emotional distress. The federal claim filed in Hartford is against the town of Greenwich and members of the Police Department, claiming civil rights violations.

The police department issued the following statement: The Greenwich Police Department investigates all complaints of Sexual Assault to the fullest extent possible. The facts and circumstances learned during the investigation are reviewed with the States Attorney Office for prosecution.

The suits state that the 16-year-old Brunswick student attacked the girl while they were alone at the party, attempting to pull his pants down and forcibly digitally penetrating her as she struggled to get away from him.

The girl, then a student at Greenwich Academy, later told her school counselor what had happened and the counselor in turn notified the state Department of Children and Families, according to the lawsuit. That prompted a notice to Greenwich police, the suits state. The girl then agreed to make a formal complaint to police in August 2016, and she was interviewed by a detective.

On Aug. 15, 2016, the lawsuits state that Brunswicks headmaster, Thomas Philip, told the girls parents that he had spoken to the boy and that Brunswick was conducting its own investigation.

The lawsuits claim that the headmaster then called the boy and other witnesses into his office to begin crafting Brunswicks strategy to discredit (the plaintiff), tamper with witnesses before the (police department) could interview them and help ensure that no charges would be brought against its student.

The plaintiffs family later received a letter from Philip stating that the investigation had come to an end without a conclusion, the lawsuits state.

The lawsuits also claim the Brunswick student later texted the girl, Hey sorry to bother you again but the Greenwich police called my house today regarding the things I did at your party. Didnt mean for all of this to happen. If I could take it all back I would. Im sorry for everything I put you through.

Braxton said an application for an arrest warrant for the boy was made but the Stamford States Attorney determined that the evidence presented by Greenwich police was inconsistent and there was no probable cause for an arrest.

But Braxton said the police purposely did a less than thorough investigation.

She said there were two were similar incidents in 2014.

Brunswick acknowledged the state lawsuit Tuesday.

Brunswick School was recently notified that a lawsuit against the School was filed in Connecticut State Superior Court in Bridgeport by attorneys for the parents of a former Greenwich Academy student, school officials said in a statement. At the time of the incident, Brunswick responded as it unfolded in a manner consistent with well-established policies and procedures, as well as with compassion for and consideration of the rights of both the students involved. The administration of Brunswick School acted appropriately throughout this matter and we will vigorously defend against these false claims.

A psychologist who evaluated the girl wrote that she presented with symptoms consistent with a sexual assault, and that she was suffering from anxiety and panic attacks, the lawsuit filed in Superior Court states.

The lawsuit contends that the Brunswick also exacerbated the girls condition by not expelling the alleged attacker - so that the two often met at school social and educational events.

She was forced into proximity with her attacker on numerous occasions, exacerbating the trauma she already felt, the suit stated. At one social event in which the alleged attacker attended, according to the lawsuit, she suffered a panic attack.

The Brunswick student was placed on disciplinary warning, which Braxton said was meaningless. The lawsuit notes that students can be expelled, or asked to voluntarily leave the school, for sexual misconduct or alcohol-related offenses.

Founded in 1902, the Brunswick School is an all-boys private preparatory day school for grades pre-kindergarten through high school.

rmarchant@greenwichtime.comGREENWICH  The Greenwich Police Department is colluding with the exclusive Brunswick School to cover up sexual assault claims against students at the school, a Greenwich lawyer claims.

Meredith Braxton has filed state and federal civil rights lawsuits against the police department and the school on behalf of young women who say their rape complaints went nowhere.

I think this looks like a systematic problem where the Greenwich Police Department sits back and allows an elite school to take the lead in the investigation of a sexual crime and thats not appropriate, Braxton told Hearst Connecticut Media. I would like to see an independent investigation into how the Police Department handles sexual assault investigations.

Officials for the town did not return calls for comment.

Founded in 1902, the Brunswick School is an all-boys private preparatory day school for grades pre-kindergarten through high school. Alumni include actor Peter Fonda and the Winklevoss twins credited with co-founding Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg.

Five former town of Greenwich police officers (four of whom are former detectives) are employed in Brunswicks security department. Upon information and belief, these former police officers keep in close contact with the Town of Greenwich Police Department and have set up an inappropriate back channel with Greenwich PD to give Brunswick notice and information about a criminal complaint against a Brunswick student, so that Brunswick can take immediate steps to control the situation and to prevent negative publicity from tarnishing the reputation of Brunswick in the community, the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport states.

Both the state and federal lawsuit center on a claim, made in 2016, that a 16-year-old Greenwich girl was sexually assaulted by a Brunswick School student at an out-of-school pool party.

The suits state that the 16-year-old Brunswick student attacked the girl while they were alone at the party, pulling his pants down and sticking his hand into her genital area as the girl struggled to get away from him.

The girl, then a student at Greenwich Academy, later told her school counselor what had happened and the counselor in turn notified the state Department of Children and Families. That prompted a notice to Greenwich police, the suits state. The girl then agreed to make a formal complaint to police in August 2016, and she was interviewed by a detective.

The lawsuits continue that the Brunswick student later texted the girl, Hey sorry to bother you again but the Greenwich police called my house today regarding the things I did at your party. Didnt mean for all of this to happen. If I could take it all back I would. Im sorry for everything I put you through.

On Aug. 15, 2016, the lawsuits state that Brunswicks headmaster, Thomas Philip, told the girls parents that he had spoken to the boy and that Brunswick was conducting its own investigation.

The lawsuits claim that the headmaster then called the boy and other witnesses into his office to begin crafting Brunswicks strategy to discredit (the plaintiff), tamper with witnesses before the (police department) could interview them and help ensure that no charges would be brought against its student.

The plaintiffs family later received a letter from Philip stating that the investigation had come to an end without a conclusion, the lawsuits state.

Braxton said an application for an arrest warrant for the boy was made but the Stamford States Attorney determined that the evidence presented by Greenwich police was inconsistent and there was no probable cause for an arrest.

But Braxton said the police purposely did a less than thorough investigation.

She said there were two were similar incidents in 2014.

Brunswick School was recently notified that a lawsuit against the School was filed in Connecticut State Superior Court in Bridgeport by attorneys for the parents of a former Greenwich Academy student, school officials said in a statement released Tuesday. At the time of the incident, Brunswick responded as it unfolded in a manner consistent with well-established policies and procedures, as well as with compassion for and consideration of the rights of both the students involved. The administration of Brunswick School acted appropriately throughout this matter and we will vigorously defend against these false claims.

A psychologist who evaluated the girl wrote that she presented with symptoms consistent with a sexual assault, and that she was suffering from anxiety and panic attacks, the lawsuit filed in Superior Court here states.

The lawsuit contends that the Brunswick also exacerbated the girls condition by not expelling the alleged attacker - who was heavily intoxicated at the time of the incident, according to a number of witnesses  so that the two often met at social and educational events.

She was forced into proximity with her attacker on numerous occasions, exacerbating the trauma she already felt, the suit stated. At one social event in which the alleged attacker attended, according to the lawsuit, she suffered a panic attack.

The Brunswick student was placed on disciplinary warning, which Braxton said was meaningless. The lawsuit notes that students can be expelled, or asked to voluntarily leave the school, for sexual misconduct or alcohol-related offenses.Contributed photo

SHELTON  Dyani Sanders of Shelton has been named the East Coast USA National Baby Miss, winning the title over more than 300 competitors, including 20 in her age bracket. The competition and crowning were held on July 27 in Parsippany, N.J.

The little girl will turn two in November. Her mom, Michelle. said that Dyanis favorite part of the competition was walking down the runway.STRATFORD  U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 24-2 is offering its About Boating Safely course on Sunday, Sept. 16.

In 2017, the Coast Guard reported that recreational boating claimed 658 lives in the U.S., and of the 500 who drowned, 85 percent werent wearing a life jacket. Where instruction was known, 81 percent of deaths occurred on boats where the operator did not receive boating safety instruction.Andrew Gillum is one of five candidates vying for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Tuesday's primary in Florida. He hopes to join other candidates of color who have made history during the 2018 midterms by winning major party primaries for their state's chief executive job.

Gillum, 39, the mayor of Tallahassee, Florida's capital, would be the first African American to win a major party nomination for governor in the Sunshine State. Just across the state line in Georgia, Stacey Abrams in May became the first black woman in the nation to win a major party's gubernatorial primary. Democrats also have been nominated candidates of color for gubernatorial contents in Idaho, Maryland and Texas.

Instead of shrinking in the face of a more visible and vocal white voting bloc that elected Donald Trump president, several candidates of color have stepped forward to challenge the notion that Democrats can't win with diverse candidates.

Quentin James, co-founder of Collective PAC, which recruits and supports black for elected office, said that white Democrats and progressives have struggled to respond to Trump's divisive racial messages.

"Black candidates are able to code switch in order to provide a unifying message for Democrats," said James. "But also their very presence on a ballot is in direct opposition to white nationalism, because it says that we, too, are American, and we can, too, can lead. But to lead in Georgia and in Florida, to lead in the former Jim Crow South, is powerful."

After trailing in the polls for much of the race, Gillum has picked up enough support to rank in the top three. An endorsement two weeks ago from 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., helped, as did a barrage of negative ads aimed at the top two Democratic candidates - Gwen Graham, a former congresswoman who is hoping to become the state's first female major party nominee, and Philip Levine, a former mayor of Miami Beach - appears to have improved Gillum's standing among late deciding voters.

In total, seven people are seeking the Democratic nomination. Republicans will be choosing among eight candidates. The incumbent, Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, is term-limited and is seeking a U.S. Senate seat.

Gillum has received infusion of cash and mobilization support from several groups, including a coalition organized by People for the American Way that provided about $3.5 million and $650,000 pitched in late last week by progressive donors Tom Steyer and George Soros.

Sharon Wright Austin, a professor of African-American studies and political science at the University of Florida, also said that the success of Barack Obama has given candidates such as Gillum and Abrams confidence to run for governor in states that have seemed politically hostile to black candidates. Like Obama, she said, Gillum is young and has "multiracial appeal. He's campaigning heavily to young voters, particularly college students." She, too, thinks that these candidates represent political push back to "Trump [who] has been so blatant in saying things offensive to people of color and young voters." But she questions whether Gillum's surge has come too late for him to win on Tuesday.

Gillum said that he decided for governor this year after Trump's presidential win. He said he thought it was important that Democrats offered an unequivocal contrast to the president's political message.

"It became very clear that something was seriously wrong, and we couldn't take the risk in Florida of putting up another Republican-lite Democrat who would lose for governor the sixth consecutive time," he said. Democrats have narrowly lost those races, he argued because "black, brown and poor voters who feel they don't have a reason to show up with the nominees that have been put before us."

Moreso than race, he says is life experiences growing up in a working poor family is what will connect him to Florida's electorate, which is about 30 percent black and Hispanic. He often notes that he is the only candidate in the race who is not a millionaire.

"My daddy was a construction worker . . . and my mother drove school bus," Gillum said. "That kind of experience, I think, prepares me well for what is what many folks in our state are facing. In Florida right now, 44 percent of working people say they can't earn enough to make ends meet."

But he's also drawn support from some Florida residents on the other end of the economic spectrum.

On Monday, actress Gabrielle Union tweeted her endorsement of Gillum.

"This is the man I'll be voting for. Join me Florida!"Even the most casual observer of the current legal marijuana situation in the United States understands that there now exists a patchwork quilt of marijuana laws from sea to shining sea.

In California, marijuana is legal for both recreational and medical sales. Same thing in Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and (sort of) Massachusetts.

But even within those states where marijuana is legal for recreational sales, theres another level of bureaucracy that has the right not to allow that to happen. Those are the cities and counties that have banned any type of cannabis-related business.

Its already starting in New Jersey, which hasnt even approved legal recreational marijuana sales. The city of Clifton recently joined a growing list of cities and towns banning the marijuana industry.

Related: With Higher Prices and Less Product, California Dispensaries Face Angry Customers

Colorado Example

Colorado, the first state to allow recreational marijuana sales, offers a good example of how this works when it gets down to the local details.

Across the state, there are 510 licenses approved for marijuana dispensaries. However, only 70 cities have voted to allow cannabis sales. Colorado has 271 incorporated municipalities.

Thats obviously something for consumers (especially visitors to Colorado) to keep track of. But it gets even more complicated than that for marijuana entrepreneurs.

Cities also have the right to decide what kind of marijuana business they allow. So, for example, you might be able to open a dispensary, but youll have to cultivate the plant in another area of the state where that is allowed.

And then there are the often-Byzantine zoning laws, as a case in California demonstrates.

Related: Denver Mayor Who Opposed Legal Marijuana Now Celebrates It

The San Diego Zoning Puzzle

A detailed example of what cannabis entrepreneurs face comes from California, which has had legal medical marijuana sales since the 1990s and started recreational marijuana sales in January 2018.

Earlier this year, marijuana entrepreneur Belinda Smith told KPBS in San Diego about the hoops she has attempted to jump through while trying to get a license for her recreational marijuana dispensary.

She has been working to get permits from San Diego to renovate a former credit union branch building into a dispensary. Her application has been in the system for more than two years. Part of the hold-up has been getting her application in front of a local community planning group, which she had to sue in order to get a hearing.

She also discovered earlier this year that an obscure clause in the communitys official planning documents will not let her sell recreational marijuana. Why? Because its tagged as retail sales as opposed to medical marijuanas commercial sales designation.

A rival dispensary also has appealed Smiths exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act. Through all this, she paid rent on a building that sat empty. Finally, this summer -- despite continued opposition -- the application was approved by the city council.

For those interested in getting into the cannabis business, Smiths story offers a cautionary tale. Its vital to go beyond state laws and do research into the county, city, and local community laws to find out what obstacles must be overcome.

Follow dispensaries.com on Instagram to stay up to date on the latest cannabis news.

Related:

California Has a Serious Compliance Problem

Local Laws Make Marijuana Businesses Loco

Is It Too Early for Pumpkin Spice Lattes? 3 Things to Know Today.



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedDavid Trone, the wealthyPotomac Democrat who is running for Congress, announced Monday that he is recovering from cancer and that he will continue his campaign to succeed Rep. John Delaney, D-Md.

Trone, co-founder of Total Wine & More, is scheduled for surgery in mid-September to remove a kidney. He said he plans to return to the campaign trail quickly and is confident he will make a full recovery.

"Nothing will interfere with my being fully engaged as a candidate and as a member of Congress after the recovery," Trone said in a statement.

Trone spent $10 million of his own money on his way to winning the Democratic nomination in June, defeating seven opponents in a gerrymandered district that stretches from the Washington, D.C., suburbs to western Maryland.

He faces Republican Amie Hoeber in the Nov. 6 general election, a race that political forecasters expect him to win.

Trone revealed his diagnosis three days after a political blogger published photos of him with thinning hair and looking like he had lost weight. The post in A Miner Detail said Maryland Democratic officials were concerned about Trone's health.

In the statement, Trone, 62, said that on June 25 - the day before he won the Democraticprimary - lab tests "confirmed" that he had a "tumor in my urinary tract."

"Since then, I have undergone treatment at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore that has led to a substantial reduction in the size of the tumor," Trone said.

His doctors, he said, believe "my prognosis is positive."

In the Friday blog post by Ryan Miner, Trone campaign manager Jerid Kurtz, described the speculation about Trone's health as "gossip."Ashraf Marwan, the son-in-law of former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser and a top aide to Nasser's successor, Anwar Sadat, is depicted in a trailer for a coming Netflix film as one of "Israeli Intelligence's most precious assets of the 20th century."

"The Angel," a thriller by Israeli director and screenwriter Ariel Vromen, appears to put a definitive stamp on Marwan's enigmatic life as the spy who tipped Israel off to Egyptian and Syrian plans for a surprise attack on Yom Kippur 1973 and helped to avert an Israeli defeat.

"Why are you helping Israel?" a voice asks in the trailer.

"Because millions of innocent people will die, on both sides, that's why!" the actor depicting Marwan answers urgently, his voice shaking.

But the truth, according to both Israeli and Egyptian writers, politicians and historians, is far more complicated and, ultimately, may never be known. Marwan died in 2007 in an apparent fall from the balcony of his London home in what appeared to be a suicide. No final ruling on the cause of death has been made, and his family has suggested he was murdered, adding to the intrigue over the 63-year-old's life.

According to the Telegraph, in the months before his death, Marwan told his wife unnamed enemies were out to kill him, and a manuscript of his memoirs had been stolen from his home around the time he died.

After his unmasking as a possible intelligence asset for Israel's Mossad in 2003, Egypt quickly claimed him as a cunningly effective double agent who was, in fact, duping Israel into costly mistakes ahead of the 1973 war.

His disputed status and sudden death briefly became fodder for theories exploring the shady sources of his wealth and his proximity to the top echelons of Egypt's political elite. But Marwan's story, and significance, faded as the 2011 popular revolt against longtime Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak erupted.

Netflix, which is popular in Egypt, has reignited the dormant debate - much to the chagrin of the nationalists dominating Egypt's public life under President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, who assumed power in 2014.

The film is "part of a concerted effort by Israel to make the Mossad look good and to continue to malign and slander Egyptian national symbols," Egyptian lawmaker al-Husseiny Tag al-Din is quoted as saying in the newspaper al Watan.

The article says Mona, Marwan's widow and the daughter of Nasser, declined to comment on the film's trailer but has said in the past her husband worked for the interests of Egypt and anything said by Israel about him is baseless and bereft of any truth.

Egyptians on social media slammed the film and wondered whether their government would add Netflix to its growing list banned websites, which number in the hundreds. Some criticized the filmmakers' decision to cast an Israeli actor to play Sadat, while others said they are curious to see it and suggested it would probably be a closer portrayal of the truth than anything the Egyptian government has offered up.

Most, like a YouTube user called An Edgy Egyptian, dismissed it as "propaganda."

"An incredibly one sided story," the user commented under the trailer on YouTube.

While the Egyptian government has not provided a fuller narrative to back up the claim Marwan was deceiving Israel, Egyptians have pointed to vague instances of government recognition of his service.

Marwan's funeral, at which his coffin was draped in an Egyptian flag, was presided over by the nation's top imam and attended by Mubarak's younger son and onetime heir apparent, Gamal Mubarak, along with Egypt's powerful spy chief, Omar Suleiman.

After Marwan's death, the elder Mubarak told state media that Marwan "carried out patriotic acts that it is not yet time to reveal."

"The Angel" is based on a book by Israeli historian Uri Bar-Joseph, "The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel" that portrays Marwan as an undeniable mole who provided Israeli intelligence with unimpeachable information on Egypt's war plans. The 2016 book suggests he was possibly motivated by Nasser's early distrust of him as both a son-in-law and aide.

Nasser allegedly only reluctantly agreed to Marwan marrying his daughter, seeing the young operative as more motivated by political ambition than love.

Still, after Nasser's death in 1970, Marwan ascended to become a close aide to Sadat, putting him in proximity to the regime's most closely held secrets. The film tracks his efforts to relay war plans to a dedicated Mossad handler and how they were used to counter Egypt and Syria's attack.

According to author Howard Blum, who had spoken with Marwan before his death, the story is not quite so neat. Within Israel's security apparatus, there was a fierce debate over Marwan's loyalties despite a Mossad inquiry that concluded he was not a double agent.

Marwan had warned Israel that Egypt planned to attack in May 1973, provoking a massive deployment of troops and a heightened state of alert over a war that did not materialize - costing Israel millions of dollars and perhaps faith in "The Angel."

When another warning from Marwan came on the eve of the October 1973 war, Israeli military officials were wary and ordered a significantly smaller mobilization that initially struggled to repel the Egyptian and Syrian attack.

For some Israeli military officials, Marwan's initial head-fake in May was proof he was a double agent, Blum wrote.President Donald Trump has insisted that he can forge the "deal of the century" and make peace between Israelis and Palestinians. But in practice, his administration has done little more than back the positions of Israel's right-wing government. In doing so, Trump and his lieutenants have laid the groundwork for a dramatic shift away from long-standing U.S. policy - and made peace all the less likely.

Last week, the State Department confirmed that it was permanently cutting more than $200 million in aid to Palestinians, part of a larger tranche of cuts to foreign aid. The Trump administration is also stepping up its offensive against UNRWA, the U.N. agency that provides aid for millions of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza as well as Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. There are even rumors that the administration may completely shut down its funding for UNRWA as early as next week.

Trump's apparent disregard for the plight of Palestinians should be no surprise. Trump has never hidden his affinity for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who welcomed Trump's election in 2016, endorsed his vision for a wall along the Mexican border and cheered his unraveling of the nuclear deal with Iran. In various meetings, they have hailed their close friendship and like-minded views.

Among those is ambivalence about the prospect of an independent Palestinian state. Key ministers within Netanyahu's coalition openly oppose the quest for Palestinian statehood, the policy solution long sought by Washington. David Friedman, Trump's ambassador to Israel, is an avid supporter of Jewish settlements in the West Bank; prior to his appointment, he wrote columns calling for the end of "the two-state narrative." Trump's own signature act on Israel - recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state - is seen by Palestinians as a dismissal of their claims to both East Jerusalem and statehood altogether.

Now the White House is moving to squeeze the Palestinians even further. An investigation by Foreign Policy earlier this month published leaked emails written by Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and one of his designated envoys for the peace process. In them, Kushner discloses his desire to undermine, if not wholly dismantle, UNRWA, an institution detested by the Israeli right.

"It is important to have an honest and sincere effort to disrupt UNRWA," Kushner wrote in one email, dated Jan. 11. "This [agency] perpetuates a status quo, is corrupt, inefficient and doesn't help peace."

That argument is popular among pro-Israel hawks in Washington and Netanyahu's supporters in Israel, who see the institutions that define the Palestinian status quo, including UNRWA and the Palestinian Authority, as anti-Israel cash cows. They specifically resent the U.N. agency for giving refugee status to millions of Palestinians who were not expelled from the land that is now Israel but rather born to families who were. Kushner and other Trump administration officials are reportedly seeking to strip such refugees of their status in order to weaken UNRWA's regional mandate.

"The refugees represent the Palestinian hope of eradicating Israel," read a Monday column in Israel Hayom, the country's largest daily newspaper, adding that to "support UNRWA is to fuel the conflict, not help resolve it."

"Our goal can't be to keep things stable and as they are," Kushner wrote in his January email. "Sometimes you have to strategically risk breaking things in order to get there."

But "breaking things" would spell real harm for Palestinians. In parts of the occupied territories, UNRWA provides vital medical care and education services. In the West Bank alone, its schools and vocational centers instruct close to 50,000 pupils. In Gaza, close to a half a million Palestinian refugees receive UNRWA food aid.

"Jared Kushner's attempt to 'disrupt' UNRWA by slashing their funding - against the recommendations of the Pentagon, State Department and US intelligence community - is both callous and dangerous," said Dylan Williams of J Street, a liberal pro-Israel group in Washington, in a statement earlier this month. "These cuts have exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and contributed to instability that, according to Israel's generals, threatens Israeli security. This is just the latest evidence that the Trump administration is more interested in punitive action against Palestinians than in the serious pursuit of peace."

And Palestinian officials see the cuts and attacks on UNRWA as an existential assault on the peace process. "This is another confirmation of abandoning the two-state solution and fully embracing Netanyahu's anti-peace agenda," said Husam Zomlot, the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization's general delegation to the United States, to reporters. "Weaponizing humanitarian and developmental aid as political blackmail does not work."

Indeed, Palestinian leaders have refused to negotiate with U.S. officials since Trump's decision on Jerusalem. Expectations that other Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, would cajole the Palestinians to go along with the Trump plan have dimmed, and Arab officials are voicing their disquiet over Trump's full embrace of right-wing Israeli positions. "While it is difficult to make peace with one's enemy, it is impossible to make peace without it," wrote Jorgen Hensehaugen, a historian of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. "The unilateralist peace process has not worked in the past, nor will it work now."

Dan Shapiro, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel, put it more bluntly in a tweet: "This decision represents a terrible decision by Trump's team, which seems to think it will put pressure on the Palestinians to come to the table (it won't)."

Instead, Trump's pressure campaign could empower extremists, collapse the Palestinian Authority and pose new security risks for Israel, warned Peter Lerner, a former spokesman for the Israeli military.

"While it is Trump's prerogative to pick and choose whom to support, and how to support them, the ramifications of these abrupt steps will only empower the radicals," Lerner wrote in Haaretz. "The deal of the century can't be made with Israel alone, and hardballing the Palestinian into submission is likely to blow up on Israel's doorstep."

- - -Gov. Malloy and all our liberal Democrat politicians were so happy to make Connecticut a second-chance state.

Lets give criminals a second chance, they said. Theyll appreciate it and turn their lives around.

One of the criminals arrested for the K-2 problems in New Haven has been arrested dozens of times, but is still selling illegal drugs on our streets.

Its time for the good, law-abiding , tax-paying citizens of Connecticut to rise up and tell these naive politicians were fed up.

One, contact your public officials and tell them enough is enough. Two, come November vote out all the people who are more worried about the rights of criminals, illegal immigrants and drug dealers than hard-working Americans. Thats the wonderful thing about democracy, we can choose our leaders.

Use your right to vote and gain a voice.

Jim Turecek

AnsoniaCUNAs Corporate Governance Committee has announced the results of the District 3, Class A special election for the CUNA Board of Directors. Ron Smith, President of Enbright CU in Nashville, Tennessee has been elected to the Board. Smith begins his term immediately and will serve through the adjournment of the 2021 Annual General Meeting.

This election yielded a record number of candidates, having received nine nominations from qualified candidates with diverse backgrounds. Over 44% of the eligible credit unions voted in this election, with 59% casting their ballot electronically.Virginia Beach police are investigating a stabbing that injured a Navy Federal Credit Union employee Friday.

Shontrina Fountain, 39, of Virginia Beach, walked into Navy FCUs Providence Road branch after 1 p.m. and stabbed an employee. The suspect fled the branch in her car.

Local media outlets reported the employee is a teller who was taken to a hospital for non-life threatening injuries. Police did not identify the victim.

Police spotted Fountains car and pursued her. After she refused to pull over, police managed to stop her car.

As officers approached the car, Fountain continued not to comply with their commands. Although an officer used a Taser gun on the suspect, it did not work.Hiring a digital marketing agency isnt for everyone. Working with an agency is a relationship, and just like when it comes to romance, it isnt always the right time to get serious. If youre considering turning to experts to take on (or take over) your digital marketing needs, mull over these potential red flags within your organization. An agency will evaluate you on these same criteria. Identify ways that you need to grow before youre ready to partner with a full team.

1. You havent updated your website in years.

A great deal of digital marketing involves getting people to your website. If your website is dated, full of errors, not optimized for mobile, or unclear, you run the risk of immediately alienating the traffic you worked so hard to get. Organizations that dont commit to a strong digital presence typically arent a good fit for a digital marketing agency.

Want to overcome that? Hire a digital marketing agency to overhaul your website and then drive traffic to it. When your website redesign team has marketing in mind from the start, youll end up with a more powerful site that generates leads and expresses compelling, coherent key messaging.STORY LINK Pound to Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD) Exchange Rate Slides as Brexit Fears Weigh on Sterling

Repeated Mentions of No-Deal Brexit Drag GBP/CAD Exchange Rate Down Today

Look at what the director general of the World Trade Organisation has said. He has said about the no-deal situation that it will not be a walk in the park, but it wouldnt be the end of the world.



What the government is doing is putting in place the preparation such that if we are in that situation, we can make a success of it, just as we can make a success of a good deal.

Ive said right from the beginning that no deal is better than a bad deal.



I think its absolutely right that the Government is putting the preparations in place for no deal, because we dont know what the outcome of this is going to be.



But alongside that what were doing is working for a good deal.



I believe what weve set out in the Chequers arrangement, set out in the white paper, is a deal that benefits not just the United Kingdom but benefits the European Union as well.

Some of us remember the supposed economic shock we were going to get if Britain voted to leave the European Union and the result of the referendum itself was going to cost us half a million jobs, it was going to see investors desert the UK and our economy plunge into recession.



What has in fact happened: Weve added 600,000 jobs to the economy, we saw a record number of inward investment projects land in the UK last year and our economy has continued to grow.



That was over a two-year time horizon, so projections over a 15-year time horizon are rather hard to swallow.

Canadian Dollar to Pound Exchange Rate (CAD/GBP) Rises on NAFTA Hopes

Future Pound to Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD) Forecast: Will CA GDP Growth Extend Sterling Losses?

Like this piece? Please share with your friends and colleagues:

The Pound (GBP) has fallen by -0.5% against the Canadian Dollar (CAD) today, trading at a level of CA$1.6633 on the interbank exchange rate.This poor performance has been caused by ongoing and intensifying trader fears about a no-deal Brexit damaging the UK economy, despite government efforts to reassure businesses and citizens that the country can prosper regardless of its eventual Brexit deal.Before heading off to Africa to tout UK post-Brexit investment plans, Prime Minister Theresa May downplayed the risks of a no-deal Brexit by saying:Despite the sentiment, there has still been damage to GBP demand today because of Mrs Mays assertion that a no-deal Brexit is still preferred over a bad deal:While it hasnt helped out the GBP/CAD exchange rate, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox has also attempted to reassure Pound Sterling traders by saying:The Canadian Dollar (CAD) has firmed and risen against the Pound (GBP) today, thanks to signs that there could be a near-term resolution to North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) talks.The US has been renegotiating the terms of NAFTA since 2017; the deal involves the US, Canada and Mexico and a Mexican agreement on the new terms has reportedly been secured.While this doesnt guarantee an immediate Canadian agreement to the renegotiated NAFTA deal, the implication that three-way approval could be imminent has boosted CAD demand today.The Pound (GBP) is at risk of making additional losses against the Canadian Dollar (CAD) in the future, when Canadian Q2 GDP growth data comes out on Thursday.The pace of Canadian economic growth is forecast to have accelerated during the second quarter of 2018, with a shift from 0.3% to 0.6% on the quarter and an annual rise from 1.3% to 3%.Both results would be good news for future Canadian economic growth and could lead to a sharp Canadian Dollar to Pound (CAD/GBP) exchange rate rise.Beyond this data, the Pound could make additional losses on Friday morning if GfKs latest consumer confidence reading prints poorly.This measurement of consumer sentiment levels in August is predicted to reprint at -10 points or worsen to -12 points; both results could drain GBP trader confidence.Any negative reading indicates a majority of pessimistic respondents, so unless the measurement makes a surprise shift towards the positive range then the Pound could remain in low demand.

International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements.

TAGS: Pound Canadian Dollar ForecastsThe US Is Losing the Information War To Russia

Russia is waging the most amazing information-warfare blitzkrieg in the history of information warfare, Gen. Philip Breedlove told NATO leaders at their 2014 summit. Theres no evidence that Moscows efforts have since slackened, nor that the United States is institutionally equipped to develop an effective response.

This was not always the case. During and just after the Cold War, the US more than held its own in the sphere of information operations. And though the Internet, and particularly social media, have greatly increased the speed and scale (and decreased the cost) of such operations, the experience of those years suggests a way to build and run an IO organisation to lead them successfully.

From 1953 until 1999, the deployment and use of the nations information-warfare instruments of power were led and coordinated by the United States Information Agency, or USIA.

The agency was created by President Eisenhower, a military veteran who understood the power of information and alarmed by the activities of the psychological strategists of Communism.

Among other areas, USIA was created to lead Americas efforts in the field of public diplomacy, the effort to influence foreign audiences through messaging and organisations such as Voice of America. (Its creation was advocated by Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, who wanted his own organisation to concentrate on traditional diplomacy.)

USIAs strategic communication and counter-propaganda efforts helped shore up Western resolve while exploiting cracks between Warsaw Pact governments and their populations.

Even after the Berlin Wall fell, USIA ably equipped policy-makers with international public opinion atmospherics, aided in countering extensive Iraqi misinformation campaigns, and managed messaging to media outlets during 1990-91s Desert Storm and Desert Shield.

During the Clinton administration, USIA again played a key role in consolidating and pushing strategic messaging to foreign media outlets and audiences in reaction to a 1993 agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, galvanising world opinion in support of the US governments role as a peace broker and pushing for continued progress.

And as the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement began to send US military forces into and around Bosnia, USIAs public-opinion polls in the region helped US government leaders and organisations make policy decisions.

But desires to streamline the post-Cold War government bureaucracy, coupled with States desire to engulf the agency and its budget, made USIA an easy target. In 1999, it was folded into the State Department. As its advocates feared, a clash of cultures and the weighted importance of traditional diplomacy pushed public diplomacy to the backseat.

Within just a few years, the consequences of an absent information arm made themselves apparent. The 2003 Iraq invasion became known for its IO missteps, among them Mission Accomplished and coalition of the willing.

The problems were compounded by general US policy-maker naivete toward Middle Eastern and global public opinion on U.S. military actions. A year later, the 9/11 Commission Report highlighted the deterioration of the informational instruments of power, noting the monopoly enjoyed by al Qaeda in the domain of Middle Eastern public opinion.

Skip forward to 2015, when former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is telling the Senate Armed Services Committee that the US government needs a much more robust capability from the standpoint of the resource commitment to counter-messaging. His proposed solution? A US Information Agency (USIA) on steroids.

Congress responded by establishing the Global Engagement Center, an interagency office housed at the Department of State to coordinate and synchronize counter-propaganda efforts. Lawmakers allocated the new center $120 million to start up in fiscal 2017, but the Trump administration spent none of it. The GEC was to receive $60 million in fiscal 2018, but as of March had neither the funds nor enough staff to do its job.

Other parts of the US government still do messaging, spending about $730 million annually on a wide range of international media operations. That is a small fraction of what our adversaries are spending, according to the chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which supervises Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and other government broadcasters.

Writes one independent security researcher, The State Department estimates that the Kremlins sophisticated influence campaign effort includes a $1.4 billion-a-year internal and external propaganda apparatus, claiming to reach some six hundred million people in 130 countries and 30 languages.

The USIAs key contributions during an earlier period of competition underline the need for a concerted, interagency approach to strategic information operations. Among the requirements is a direct link between policy-makers and the informational instruments of power. Its funding problems aside, the GEC is simply too peripheral.

What is needed is a new organisation, call it the Office of Strategic Narratives, and the right institutional placement.

It should be located within the National Security Council, under the existing Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications. This will give it a direct line to the president and equal footing with the departments that run the various US messaging programs. This new office should include representatives from across the government, and purview over the GEC and the BBG.

The OSN would have responsibility for developing narratives and counter-narratives on issues of national importance for US communications, based on bottom-up interagency reporting from across the information environment and guidance from the president via the National Security Advisor.

Its roles would include leading the informational instruments of power, gauging public opinions, countering mis/disinformation, monitoring and reporting on the effects of adversarial messaging, monitoring the IE as a whole, and disseminating presidential policies and messages.

As part of all this, it would coordinate with the Pentagons PSYOP and Public Affairs service members nesting of messaging efforts under accepted national strategic narratives, not unlike how some Combatant Commands operate. As well, the new office might eventually work with NATO partner-equivalent offices to share the costs and burdens in identifying and countering Russian mis-information and disinformation.

Importantly, the OSN should be established by executive order, which would head off efforts by more senior agencies to protect their parochial interests by not relinquishing control of assets and budgets.

The importance of the information environment has never been greater, nor the need to move beyond todays half-measures and establish a strong and central organisation to coordinate Americas messaging, counter-messaging, and instruments of informational power.

Establishing an Office of Strategic Narratives in the National Security Council offers the chance to duplicate, or even exceed, the effectiveness of the Cold Wars USIA.

DefenseOne:

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Foreign Interference In US Elections 'Will be repeated':Cette annonce nest plus disponible et aucune proposition ne peut etre transmise.

Advertising Sales Representative a Djibouti

We are a small online company looking to expand and this is where you come in as a Sales Development Representative, ideally with your own vehicle.

We are looking for a smart and energetic online advertising entrepreneurial sales professional to help grow our advertising business in Djibouti.

You will be our first point of contact for new clients. You will be identifying, qualifying and delivering opportunities to the next stage in the sales cycle.



WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

We are currently looking for enthusiastic, motivated and target driven sales person.

With outstanding communication skills. Were looking for a sales hunter with:

- 1-year sales/customer service experience,

- Strong interpersonal skills, written and verbal,

- Familiar with modern sales techniques,

- A good knowledge of the local market



RESPONSABILITIES

You will be dealing with queries via phone, email, whereby you will qualify these opportunities.



- Prospect, develop and retain a portfolio of prospects

- Work Directly with Clients

- Handling initial product questions



WHAT WE HAVE TO OFFER

- A growing sector (Digital Media industry)

- Full digital environment

- Full training about our product will be provided



If this sounds like a great position for you, Click here to apply.



Emplois & Services, Emplois

28 aout, 2018

341 vues au total, 0 vues cette semaineWhy a gift ban bill for Pa. lawmakers doesn't go far enough, critics say

Gov. Tom Wolf says a loophole in a gift ban bill would still allow unregistered lobbyists from showing lawmakers with gifts and he wants it closed.If youre reading this column in your local newspaper, congratulations! Just by skimming your eyeballs over this page, whether its in print or online, youre doing a vital service for your hometown, and for democracy as a whole. (Go ahead and take the rest of the day off.)

Its no secret that local journalism is in trouble, and has been for quite some time. According to a 2017 report from the Pew Research Center, the weekday circulation for U.S. daily newspapers has been on the decline for twenty-eight consecutive years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that between 1990 and 2016, the number of newspaper employees in the U.S. declined from 456,300 to 183,000.

Despite the vitriol that publications like The New York Times and The Washington Post attract from the Trump administration, its not the national news media outlets that we need to worry about. Their subscription numbers are on the rise. Its the smaller newspapers that serve local markets that are suffering. Many are chronically understaffed. Some have shuttered altogether. A map created by the Columbia Journalism Review reveals that communities all across the United States have been left with no daily local news outlet at all.

Whats the cause of all these news deserts? Its the internet (to paraphrase the Simpsons, the cause of, and solution to, all of lifes problems). Local newspapers lost print subscriptions when people started reading the news online (and came to expect it to be free). They lost another major source of revenue when their classified sections were supplanted by Craigslist. Their digital editions have to compete for eyeballs and advertising revenue with websites that traffic in national scandals, political commentary and cat videos.

This isnt just a financial hardship for your local newspaper. According to a new paper co-authored by three professors of finance, its a financial hardship for your entire town. The researchers looked at cities that lost newspapers between 1996 and 2015, and found that within three years of a newspapers closure, the costs for municipal bonds and revenue bonds increased for these cities. Heres how they explained the connection: Revenue bonds are commonly issued to finance local projects such as schools and hospitals, and are backed by the revenues generated by those projects[T]hese bonds are rarely regulated by the state government. A local newspaper provides an ideal monitoring agent for these revenue-generating projects, as mismanaged projects can be exposed by investigative reporters employed by the local newspaper. When a newspaper closes, this monitoring mechanism also ceases to exist, leading to a greater risk that the cash flows generated by these projects will be mismanaged.

In other words, local newspapers provide a public good, one that can be measured in dollars and cents. The problem is that todays marketplace doesnt really reward them for this. An article about amazing dogs will always generate more advertising revenue than coverage of a city finance committee meeting. (You know which one youre more likely to click on. Just admit it to yourself and move on.) But the latter article could actually prevent municipal corruption. Even if no one reads it, public officials are more likely to behave ethically when they know theyre being monitored. As citizens, we tend to take this effect for granted. Maybe we need to stop thinking about our local newspapers as businesses that need to turn a profit and start thinking about them as utilities that we need to finance for our own good.The arguments given by those who press for a dialogue with Pakistan and find fault with Indias approach need to be countered so that the public is not misled by false reasoning.

It is said time and again that we can choose friends, but not neighbours and because Pakistan cannot be wished away geographically, we have to engage with it. This argument would have force if the neighbour behaved in a neighbourly way, but not if it disturbed the peace constantly, was in forcible occupation of a part of your home already, and was determined to intrude more, to which end it liberally used violence as a lever.

We can choose friends, but not neighbours. (Photo: Reuters)

Civilised dialogue

In such circumstances, should one keep reaching out to a neighbour and have a civilised dialogue with it, hoping that it would give up violence, change its behaviour, accept that its property claims were unfounded, and finally concluded that living together in peace was in its own interest?

One can argue that, for a while, an attempt to reach out to such a problematic neighbour in a constructive spirit could be made, but if experience of decades showed that this approach had led to nowhere and was, in fact, considered a weakness, one should learn a lesson from this and, minimally, cease mouthing the empty mantra of dialogue.

To continue asserting that we have no option but to have a dialogue and recite homilies about dialogue being the only way to find a solution to problems is to concede the success of Pakistans coercive strategy towards India and consider a defeatist approach as the only viable one.

It is further argued that under the Simla Agreement we agreed to solve the Kashmir issue bilaterally and hence a dialogue with Pakistan is an obligation.

Apart from the fact that Pakistan no longer talks of the Simla Agreement, and indeed, seeks a solution based on UN resolutions and self-determination (Imran Khan has underlined this position again), the Simla Agreement refers in several places to resolving differences by peaceful means, of preventing the organisation, assistance or encouragement of any acts detriment to the maintenance of peace and harmonious relations, and in J&K asking both sides undertake to refrain from the threat or the use of force in violation of this line (LoC).

Kargil, the attack on our Parliament, Uri, Pathankot, and all such cases aside, Pakistan has used infiltration across the LoC and terror as state policy to destabilise J&K internally with enormous loss of lives.

If the reference in the Simla Agreement to a final settlement on J&K is understood to mean converting the LoC into an international border, then that solution has never been acceptable to Pakistan on the ground that all its sacrifices for the cause of the Kashmiris would then go in vain.

Experience of decades showed that this approach had led to nowhere and was, in fact, considered a weakness. (Photo: Reuters)

Now, with the strategic challenge of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to our security interests, legalising Pakistans illegal possession of occupied Kashmir should be out of the question.

The pro-dialogue lobby echoes Pakistans grouse that we do not treat it as a sovereign equal and believe in our superiority.

We are not infringing Pakistani sovereignty by interfering in Pakistans internal affairs, meddling in its electoral processes to make sure that only a friendly government is in power in Islamabad, pressuring it make foreign policy choices that are congenial to our interests, wanting to oversee its military acquisitions and seeking unequal benefits in any agreements with it because of our superior rights, and so on. We have, in fact, always treated them as a sovereign equal.

Pakistan no longer talks of the Simla Agreement, and seeks a solution based on UN resolutions. (Photo: Reuters)

Aggressive mindset

Our complaint to the UN on Pakistans aggression in Kashmir in 1947-48 implied that we were treating it as sovereign equal. Even after Pakistans military defeat in 1971, the Simla Agreement treated Pakistan as a sovereign equal. All subsequent declarations and agreements have been between two sovereign countries. One critical example of our treatment of Pakistan as a sovereign equal is our continued adherence to the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty, despite Pakistans terrorist onslaught against us and its systematic obstructionism on power projects on our side permitted by the treaty.

As for our arrogance, it would be well to recall how Pakistani leaders mocked at our poverty some decades ago, are prone to scoff at our bania mentality, and even now believe that one Muslim soldier is worth 10 Hindu ones.

Pakistan has used infiltration across the LoC and terror as state policy to destabilise J&K. (Photo: Reuters)

Obsession with parity

The issue is not sovereign equality, but Pakistans obsession with parity, based on its sense of entitlement.

If India acquires nuclear weapons, Pakistan must too.

If India and the US sign a nuclear deal, then Pakistan must get a similar deal from America. (The US obliged by making Pakistan a non-NATO ally as a balancing gesture.)

India cannot get NSG membership unless Pakistan does too.

Indias SCO membership was linked to that of Pakistan.

Indias permanent membership of the UN Security Council must be opposed by Pakistan.

Others must maintain a strategic balance between India and Pakistan for peace and security in South Asia.

It is unconscionable that we should have advocates amongst us of give and take on J&K to resolve the issue.

After having given large parts of J&K to Pakistan in 1947-48, returned the Haji Pir Pass to it in 1966, delinked terrorism and dialogue in the past, it should clarify what more it wants to give to it as a price for a solution.

(Courtesy of Mail Today)

Also Read: Why I am convinced Imran Khan's Pakistan stands for peaceJohn McCain, the well-known and widely respected US Republican senator, who died fighting cancer on August 25, will be remembered as a combative, complex, contradictory and courageous American sailor-turned-politician.

Born into an illustrious naval family (both his father and grandfather were four star admirals, the only such instance in the US Navy), he was captured in the Vietnam War when his plane was shot down in October 1967. The young McCain defied all odds as a prisoner of war who was subjected to extreme torture and survived in an extraordinary saga of indomitable will and superhuman endurance.

A young McCain defied all odds as a prisoner of war who was subjected to extreme torture and survived. (Photo: Reuters)

Seeking early retirement from the navy, McCain entered US politics in 1982 when he was elected to the US House of Representatives and later to the US Senate in 1986, where he became a strong and credible voice on matters of national security and foreign policy. The senator from Arizona was a tenacious legislator who had his own scrape with ethical misconduct in politics and after being exonerated, became a zealous advocate of probity in public life.

They were from opposite camps, but known for similar courteous behaviour. (Photo: Reuters)

John McCain was a serious Republican contender for the high office and had a shot at the White House, when he lost to Barack Obama in the 2008 elections. But, to his credit, he never lowered the bar of personal invective and attack  which has reached a coarse and vulgar new low in US politics in the last few years. The Donald Trump diatribe against Ms Hilary Clinton and the lewd sexual innuendo during the 2016 campaign are cases in point.

Trump used phrases like 'lock her up' which shocked many Republicans too. (Photo: Reuters)

In a memorable quote attributed to John McCain, at one of the election rallies that pitted the Republican senator from Arizona against the Democrat senator from Illinois, a woman voter asserted that she could not trust Barack Obama because hes an Arab. The McCain response that is now recalled with nostalgia was: No, maam. Hes a decent family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues.

Regrettably, the McCain-Trump relationship was reduced to a deplorable level of personal insult  at one point, the latter even cast aspersions on senator McCains war record. In one statement, Mr Trump claimed: Hes not a war hero... Hes called a war hero because he was captured. I like people that werent captured.

The no-holds-barred political diatribe in US politics during electioneering has an interesting South Asian link in relation to John McCain and the 1999 campaign for the Republican nomination for the White House.

George Bush and John McCain were pitted against each other. The Arizona senator and his wife had earlier adopted a young Bangladeshi girl from a Mother Teresa shelter  this was portrayed by the Bush team as a case of McCain having secretly fathered a black child. The negative impact of this malicious slander had its intended effect. George Bush won the Republican nomination and the race to the White House in 2000 after the second Clinton tenure.

McCain lost the 2000 nomination to Bush. The world lost a fine American president. (Photo: Reuters)

Senator McCains contribution to the US political discourse and legislative process is immense and was also critical in certain cases  as, for instance, in his casting the swing vote that prevented the repeal of Obamas Affordable Care Act. This was interpreted as a case of McCain turning the tables on Donald Trump and denying him the pleasure of overturning yet another Obama initiative, but McCain defended his action as being in the larger interest and welfare of the American people.

John McCain was a staunch advocate of greater US-India engagement. I had occasion to meet the senator at a couple of conferences where the subject was deliberated upon. Gracious to a fault, he acknowledged the bond between veterans and was candid in his assessment of the potential and the pitfalls in the bilateral relationship that was slowly moving from deep estrangement to one of cautious engagement.

A true friend and true believer in the Indian republic. (Photo: PTI)

In June 2016, senator McCain noted: As chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I am confronted every day with the security concerns and threats to our own nation's safety, as well as threats to the rest of the world. And in a time when threats seem to be only increasing and chaos increasingly fomented, I see in India a country that can and should fight with us to maintain global security. In the coming years, I see an India that provides critical stability in a rapidly changing Indian Ocean region. I see an India that maintains regional balance against expansionist adversaries in the Pacific. And I see an India that is a stronger, more capable ally in the struggle against global terrorism and piracy. And this is just the beginning. If we can come together as defence partners, our countries can be immensely positive forces for increased global peace and security.

He also noted the constraints and, in his candid manner, his advice to both countries merits extensive recall. To the US side, he noted: Getting there, however, will not be easy. To achieve all this, the United States will need to begin treating India the same as it does its close partners and allies. Asking India to increasingly take on global responsibilities, yet not providing the associated benefits, is not a sustainable strategy. Whether it is streamlining the approval process for defence exports, jointly developing military technology or coordinating defence activities, the United States needs to make a clear, unambiguous commitment to our joint future in defence.

The message to Delhi was equally unambiguous.

India must begin acting like a close partner and ally. Despite the growing closeness, it is no secret that frustration continues to exist in many areas, both defence and non-defence. Whether these frustrations are justified or not, they represent a hindrance to progress. The United States expects a lot of its partners and allies, including joint patrolling, significant contributions to armed conflicts, and a strict adherence to human rights, among other things. The sooner India can showcase these commitments, and wipe away the lingering frustrations, the further it will move toward achieving the global power status it seeks.

In an unintended manner, this sets the agenda for the forthcoming 2+2 talks that will be held in Delhi in early September.

The McCain template for US national security will have an abiding relevance  this may well be the most befitting legacy of a US military hero and diligent legislator, who, till the very end, served his country with conviction and courage.

Also read: John McCain, America's grand old soldier-senatorAs weeks of wild weather smashed into the north-western Australian coast in February 2018, and record summer rains over 91mm left roads and animal parks flooded, it led to the unlikeliest of friendships in the animal kingdom. A photographer found various animals you normally wouldnt see huddled together on the branches of trees, in the crevices of rocks, and wherever they could find a toehold.

Predators and prey overlooked their cross species differences and shared common space.

But human beings are the most wretched of all species.

Natural calamities know no political boundaries, and one would expect the dirge of collective grief and loss to penetrate deeper into the soul of humankind than the words of any religious tome ever written  and yet we find ways to hold aloft banners of intolerance even in our blackest misery.

As devastating floods inundated Kerala and thousands were stranded desperately waiting for help, fishermen loaded their boats onto trucks and voluntarily set off to the innermost towns and villages which were under more than 10 feet of water. CNN reported that fisherman Marion George (47) happened upon a house in Kollam where 17 members of a family were trapped. When he called out to them to get into his boat, he was asked if he was a Christian. When he said yes, he was, the family refused to get into his boat and asked him to leave. They were Brahmins, and despite the precarious condition they were in they would not go near George.

Brothers in arms: A man rescues a drowning man from a flooded area in the outskirts of Kochi on August 16. (Source: Reuters photo)

Five hours later when George came around to the same neighborhood again he saw the same family calling for help. However, this time they relented enough to say that the family would only come aboard if he didnt touch them.

"This is how they behave normally. We thought they would have changed in this situation," said George.

This apparently was not an isolated incident. Several other fishermen have also reported that they were insulted by the very people they were trying to rescue.

Perhaps it was always there  to quote the favorite phrase of our times to normalise and paper over the worst horrors  but the Kerala floods that have taken a toll of 417 people, with over Rs 20,000 crore loss to the state and over 10 lakh people in rehabilitation camps, at the moment of writing this, has thrown up the worst faces of prejudice, hate, and bigotry, underscored our lack of humanity and shown us in the poorest light imaginable.

From being told that their misfortune is due to eating beef, to women entering Sabarimala temple, to completely unfounded accusations of ruining their own environment, to money being thrown into driblets as if to beggars, never have a people been so callously treated in their direst hour of need, never have victims been thus shamed, as the tiny state of Kerala has been.

Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha chief Swami Chakrapani on August 22 thundered that only those who don't eat beef should be helped as it is a sin to help beef eaters. He said that many innocent people died because a few people kill the gaumata and exhibit it in shops".

"Before giving any assistance, one should ask the victim whether they have ever eaten cow meat, and then in accordance with their answer, relief should be decided on."

"It is not just because of some untimely monsoon. The state of Kerala has been stuck with nature's fury because of the sins of beef eaters."

Social media has been rife with similar accusations blaming the people of the state for bringing Gods fury upon them on Facebook posts and tweets, pointing fingers at Communists, Muslims, Christians and menstruating women in what can only be described as ghoulish satisfaction. S Gurumurthy, who has been recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India by the Centre, speculated on Twitter that the Supreme Courts decision to allow women entry into the Sabarimala temple had caused the floods, because Lord Ayyappa might have been angered by the judgement.

Rajiv Malhotra, an Indian-American author and public intellectual, tweeted urging people to donate only to Hindu charities and not foreign-funded NGOs that use "disaster to evangelise".

On August 12, Union home minister Rajnath Singh announced Rs 100 crore as immediate central relief after an aerial survey. He said, "I understand the suffering of the people of Kerala from the present crisis. Since assessment of the damage will take time, I hereby announce immediate relief as advance of Rs 100 crore," The state government submitted a memorandum to Singh, seeking urgent sanction of Rs 1,220 crore from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) to meet the situation.

In the memorandum, the chief minister, Pinayari Vijayan said preliminary estimates suggested that Kerala suffered a loss of Rs 8,316 crore in the rains, floods and landslides. Expressing disappointment at the Centres stand, state Finance Minister Thomas Isaac took to Twitter to say the precious Rs 100 crore was "from the regular disaster management fund due to Kerala". He tweeted, "Total loss of floods to Kerala around 8000 crores. Immediate mitigation and rectification expenditure to the state around 3000. And the central grant precious 100. And that too if it is from regular disaster management fund due to Kerala, I do not know."

The minister added that the donations from all around the world will be more than Rs 100 crore given by the Centre.

Reacting to Isaacs statements, Union minister KJ Alphons said there were clear guidelines on the relief to be given to states in case of natural disasters. He said during the UPA rule, the ministers from Kerala never visited the state in the event of a disaster unlike under the current regime. We went there; the home minister, I, MoS Kiren Rijiju, we all went. Isaac never visited his constituency Alleppey during these floods. What is he talking about? I have asked for a special package for Kerala.

After six days, PM Modi taking another aerial survey announced a grant of an additional Rs 500 crore in aid in addition to the Rs 100 crore. The CMO Kerala tweeted, "The Honble Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an assistance of 500 crore. CM had requested an immediate assistance of 2,000 crore. We express our thanks to Centre for the assistance (sic)".

To put things into perspective, Rs 600 crore, is 30 per cent of what the state asked for. That is less than the cost of one Rafale fighter jet (Rs 670 crore).

This interim sum of Rs 600 crore is less than:

The amount allocated towards the construction of an exhibition cum convention centre (ECC), Dwarka, New Delhi Rs 700 crore.

The amount spent on the purchase of two new VVIP aircraft for special flights operated by Air India for the President, Vice President and Prime MinisterRs 4,469.5 crore ($640 million).

The allocation made by the Centre for the revival of 50 airports/airstrips under the Regional Connectivity Scheme  Rs 890 crore.

When Bihar faced widespread floods in August 2017, the Centre gave it financial assistance of Rs 1,853 crore, the largest that year.

We are not going to mention the costs of the Sardar Patel statue or the Shivaji statue off the coast of Mumbai because that is beyond embarrassing.

In the midst of accusations by an indignant Opposition that the BJP government was meting out step motherly treatment to Kerala because it was a Communist state (and something like the plucky little Gaulish village in the Asterix comics holding out against the Romans) came the offer from UAE government of Rs 700 crores. CM Vijayan told a press conference held in state capital of Thiruvananthapuram on August 21 said the Indian government has been informed that the UAE government would be providing $100 million for Kerala.

We have to build a new Kerala. Malayalis from all corners of the world have offered assistance. Millions of those Malayalis treat the Gulf countries as their second home. Most families in the state also look at the Gulf nations the same way. The governments in the Gulf countries also reciprocate the same feelings towards Malayalis, Vijayan said.

On the evening of August 22, the MEA spokesperson announced that, while India appreciated the offers of help from different countries, in line with the existing policy the government is committed to meeting the requirements for relief and rehabilitation through "domestic efforts".

The BJP supporters too are claiming that the refusal to accept foreign aid from other governments is based on the policy decision made by Manmohan Singh. This may be factually true, but misleading.

In 2004 after the devastating Tsunami struck the Indian Ocean, Manmohan Singh had refused aid from foreign governments with the indication that India would be able to take care of itself.

No, thank you: In 2004, Manmohan Singh had refused aid from foreign governments with the indication that India would be able to take care of itself. (Credit: PTI file photo)

We have to keep in mind that during the 2004 tsunami there were almost fourteen countries that were impacted the death toll was around 230,000 people.

The death toll in India was around 10,749, with most of the deaths taking place in Tamil Nadu. The center had then given an aid of Rs 2,600 crores and the collective aid received by the Tamil Nadu government was around Rs 5,700 Crores, which included private donations. No help was taken from foreign governments. In fact, India became an international donor by giving aid to other affected countries like Sri Lanka and Indonesia, and the approximate amount donated was $26 million.

During the Uttarakhand floods of 2013, another major disaster, there was an approximate death toll of 5,500 people. Manmohan Singh once again refused the foreign aid offered by US and others. The US had offered an aid of $150,000 (around Rs 90 lakh). Instead of taking foreign aid the Indian government at the Centre-aided the state of Uttarakhad with an amount of Rs 1,000 crore.

The Indian government also requested the US and Japan that instead of giving a direct aid to the Indian central government they should give it to an NGO of their choice which was working in this area. Instead of taking help from the foreign governments, the Manmohan Singh government took aid from the World Bank. The World Bank committed to give a loan of $250 million for the reconstruction of Uttarakhand. This was around Rs 1,747 crore.

But it is erroneous to claim that this current refusal is based on the policy set by Manmohan Singh in 2004, since was no formal policy on foreign funds relief being refused that was made by the then government.

In fact, if one goes through the National Disaster Management Plan as set up by the current BJP govt, page no. 145. Chapter 9 Section 9.2, one will come across the following text:

"As a matter of policy, the Government of India does not issue any appeal for foreign assistance in the wake of a disaster. However, if the national government of another country voluntarily offers assistance as a goodwill gesture in solidarity with the disaster victims, the central government may accept the offer."

Screenshot

Quoting the NDMP, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Finance Minister Thomas Isaac have asked the Centre to accept the offer. If the Centre remains silent or rejects the offer, Vijayan and Isaac have said that Delhi must compensate the state for the missed opportunity to receive funds offered as goodwill.

We asked Union Gov for financial support of 2200 Cr ; they grant us a precious 600 Cr . We make no request to any foreign gov but UAE gov voluntarily offer 700cr. No, says Union gov , it is below our dignity to accept foreign aid. This is a dog in the manger policy.  Thomas Isaac (@drthomasisaac) August 22, 2018

The irony is that it is the 2016 NDMP policy drafted by the current Modi government that formalises the acceptability of aid by foreign governments, and a clear improvement over the earlier one proudly claiming, This is the first ever national plan prepared in the country.

This was declared in a press briefing on June 1, 2016.

So, basically before 2016, there was no formalised National Disaster Management Plan. There is no scope of misunderstanding here. If a foreign national government voluntarily offers assistance, the Central Government is free to accept the offer.

If it chooses to refuse the offer, it is for their own reasons best known to them and not because of any policies previously set by Manmohan Singh or anyone else.

Since the refusal by the MEA, and to avoid a diplomatic gaffe the UAE government has stated that they have made no official offer to the GoI for aid. Die-hard supporters of the BJP have triumphantly used this news to claim that the whole story of the UAE offering claim was a hoax cooked up by the Kerala CMO.

This is, however, untrue.

The Facebook page of UAE president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan featured a news report under the headline, "UAE pledges Rs 700 crore Kerala relief and rehabilitation".

The report was not an official announcement by the UAE but the reproduction of a report based on a media briefing by Pinarayi Vijayan on August 21.

The report quoted the chief minister as saying: "The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan informed this to Lulu Group chairman Yusuff Ali." MA Yusuff Ali is a businessman based in the Emirates the multibillion-dollar LuLu Group. Yusuff Ali himself has donated more than Rs 10 crore to the Kerala flood relief and is in the forefront of gathering monies from the GCC to be handed over to NGOs. He is also part of the committee set up by the UAE government to calculate flood losses and build up a corpus.

Friends across borders: Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan with Lulu Group chairman Yusuff Ali. (Credit: File picture/yusuffali.com)

Posted on August 21 at 8.45pm, the news report was on the President's Facebook page till late on Friday night. The page also features a photograph of the powerful Crown Prince, the younger brother of the President. Sources familiar with the UAE said that it would be inconceivable that the official site of the president would post a canard and continue to keep it there for days. Some sources went to the extent of describing the post as "a virtual endorsement".

Modi had thanked Sheikh Al Maktoum via an effusive tweet as early as August 18. Two, the Emirates airline began transporting over 175 tonnes of flood relief to Kerala capital Thiruvananthapuram from Thursday.

Tweeting about it with photographs of the cargo being loaded into an Emirates aircraft, the Dubai Government Media Office said: "The relief goods will be transported to Thiruvananthapuram  the nearest online Emirates station to the areas most affected by the flood. The goods, including lifesaving boats, blankets and dry food items, will be handed over to the local flood relief and aid organisations."

The Emirates airline said in a statement that over a dozen flights would transport the relief goods, which had been donated by various UAE-based businesses and organizations.

Vijayan pointed out that immediately after the help offer from UAE that the PM himself had welcomed it with a tweet. Its natural for countries to help each other during a crisis. It happens everywhere. The National Disaster Management Policy announced by the Centre has clearly stated that accepting voluntary contribution from foreign countries during a crisis is permissible.

When precedents are spoken about citing Uttarakhand one should also remember that Uttarakhand had received 540 mm of rain in June 2013. Compare that to Kerala which has received 3100 mm of rain, the highest since the 1930s and 257 per cent more than normal.

A national calamity and tragedy on this humongous scale has been politicised, treated cavalierly, made yet another channel for the bigotry and hatred sweeping across this country, and last but not the least made a point of national pride in not accepting foreign donations.

As help pours in from all corners of the country for this little state, conveniently dubbed Gods own country in good times" (when it is a tourist cash cow pouring shekels into the central government treasury) there are stories that come in, of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. From fishermen to administrators to entrepreneurs, from an old couple breaking their fixed deposits to a young woman who saved up for her heart surgery and then donated half of it.

They remind us of the resilience that forms the backbone of our people, they give us hope that one day we will self-correct, and that these hateful voices that take delight in the misery of others and yet claim to speak for this great nation, will fade into oblivion.

Also read: Kerala floods, UAE's Rs 700-crore offer, Modi govt: Why politics over relief work is the worst crisis to befall a nationHarris Corporation provides technology-based solutions that solve government and commercial customers' mission-critical challenges in the United States and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Communication Systems, Electronic Systems, and Space and Intelligence Systems. It designs, develops, and manufactures radio communications products and systems, including single channel ground and airborne radio systems, multiband manpack and handheld radios, multi-channel manpack and airborne radios, and single-channel airborne radios, as well as wideband rifleman team, ground, and high frequency manpack radios. The company also offers vision-enhancing products; wireless communications systems; and Internet protocol based voice and data communications systems, as well as single-band land mobile radio terminals and multiband radios comprising a handheld radio and a full-spectrum mobile radio for vehicles. In addition, it provides electronic warfare, avionics, command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance solutions for defense and classified customers; and mission-critical communication systems for civil and military aviation and other customers. Further, the company offers intelligence, space protection, geospatial, earth observation, exploration, positioning, navigation and timing, and environmental solutions using advanced sensors, antennas, and payloads, as well as ground processing and information analytics for national security, defense, civil and commercial customers. Harris Corporation was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Florida.

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DE CV, VF SHANGHAI SOURCING LIMITED, VF SOURCING THAILAND LTD, VF Scandinavia ApS, VF Services LLC, VF Servicios de Guatemala Srl, VF Servicios de Nicaragua Srl., VF Shanghai Enterprise Company, VF Shanghai Limited, VF Singapore Overseas Services Pte Ltd, VF Solutions LLC, VF Sourcing India Private Limited, VF Sweden AB, VF Switzerland Enterprises GmbH, VF Taiwan Limited, VF Transglobal GmbH, VF Treasury Services LLC, VFSE Investments LLC, VFSLA Commercial Services LLC, VFSLA Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., Vans, Vans Inc, W-D APPAREL COMPANY LLC, W-D Licensing LLC, WD Europe SAS, WD Supply Holding Limited (HK), Walls Cayman Limited, Walls Holding Company LLC, Walls Industries LLC, Williamson Industries Ltd., Williamson-Dickie APAC Holding Company Ltd., Williamson-Dickie Apparel Trading (Shanghai) Ltd., Williamson-Dickie Canada Co., Williamson-Dickie Europe GmbH, Williamson-Dickie Europe Holdings Ltd., Williamson-Dickie Europe Ltd., Williamson-Dickie HK Holding Company Ltd., Williamson-Dickie Holding Co-Mexico S de RL de CV, Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Company LLC, Williamson-Dickie Middle East FZE, Wooster GK, Workwear Sourcing S. de R.L., World Jeans VF Asia Ltd, Worldwide Workwear Ltd., and Ying Tao Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd..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, XTO Energy Canada, and XTO Holdings LLC.The following companies are subsidiares of The Procter & Gamble: "Procter & Gamble Services" LLC, "Procter & Gamble" LLC, Agile Pursuits, Agile Pursuits Franchising, Arbora, Arbora & Ausonia, Arborinvest, Billie, Braun (Shanghai) Co., Braun GmbH, Braun-Gillette Immobilien GmbH & Co. KG, Celtic Insurance Company, Compania Procter & Gamble Mexico, Compania Quimica S.A., Corporativo Procter & Gamble, Cosmetic Products Pty. Ltd., Detergent Products B.V., Detergent Products SARL, Detergenti S.A., Eurocos Cosmetic GmbH, FPG Oleochemicals Sdn. Bhd., Fameccanica Data S.p.A., Fameccanica Industria e Comercio Do Brasil LTDA., Fameccanica Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Fater S.p.A., Fountain Square Music Publishing Co., Gillette (China) Ltd., Gillette (Shanghai) Ltd., Gillette Aesop Ltd., Gillette Australia Pty. Ltd., Gillette Canada Holdings, Gillette Commercial Operations North America, Gillette Diversified Operations Pvt. Ltd., Gillette Egypt S.A.E., Gillette Group UK Ltd, Gillette Gruppe Deutschland GmbH & Co. oHG, Gillette Holding Company LLC, Gillette Holding GmbH, Gillette India Limited, Gillette Industries Ltd., Gillette International B.V., Gillette Latin America Holding B.V., Gillette Management LLC, Gillette Nova Scotia Company, Gillette Pakistan Limited, Gillette Poland International Sp. z.o.o., Gillette Poland S.A., Gillette U.K. Limited, Gillette del Uruguay, Giorgio Beverly Hills Inc., Hyginett KFT, Industries Marocaines Modernes SA, LLC "Procter & Gamble Novomoskovsk", LLL "Procter & Gamble Distributorskaya Compania", Laboratorios Vicks, Liberty Street Music Publishing Company, Limited Liability Company 'Procter & Gamble Trading Ukraine', Limited Liability Company with foreign investments Procter & and Gamble Ukraine, MDVIP, MERCK KGAA NPV, Marcvenca Inversiones, Modern Industries Company - Dammam, Modern Products Company - Jeddah, New Chapter, New Chapter Canada Inc., Olay LLC, Oral-B Laboratories, P&G Distribution Morocco SAS, P&G Hair Care Holding, P&G Industrial Peru S.R.L., P&G Innovation Godo Kaisha, P&G Israel M.D.O. Ltd., P&G K.K., P&G Northeast Asia Pte. Ltd., P&G Prestige Godo Kaisha, P&G Prestige Service GmbH, P&G South African Trading (Pty.) Ltd., PGT Health Care (Zhejiang) Limited, PGT Healthcare LLP, PPI ZAO, PT Procter & Gamble Home Products Indonesia, PT Procter & Gamble Operations Indonesia, Phase II Holdings Corporation, Procter & Gamble (Chengdu) Ltd., Procter & Gamble (China) Ltd., Procter & Gamble (China) Sales Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble (East Africa) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Egypt) Manufacturing Company, Procter & Gamble (Enterprise Fund) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Consumer Products Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Enterprise Management Service Company Limited, Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Ltd., Procter & Gamble (Health & Beauty Care) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Jiangsu) Ltd. China, Procter & Gamble (L&CP) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Procter & Gamble (Manufacturing) Ireland Limited, Procter & Gamble (Shanghai) International Trade Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Acquisition GmbH, Procter & Gamble Administration GmbH, Procter & Gamble Algeria EURL, Procter & Gamble Amazon Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Amiens S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Argentina SRL, Procter & Gamble Asia Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Australia Proprietary Limited, Procter & Gamble Azerbaijan Services LLC, Procter & Gamble Bangladesh Private Ltd., Procter & Gamble Blois S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Brazil Holdings B.V., Procter & Gamble Bulgaria EOOD, Procter & Gamble Business Services Canada Company, Procter & Gamble Canada Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Chile , Procter & Gamble Chile Limitada, Procter & Gamble Colombia Ltda., Procter & Gamble Commercial LLC, Procter & Gamble Commercial de Cuba S.A., Procter & Gamble Czech Republic s.r.o., Procter & Gamble DS Polska Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Danmark ApS, Procter & Gamble Detergent (Beijing) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Deuttschland GmbH, Procter & Gamble Distributing (Philippines) Inc., Procter & Gamble Distributing New Zealand Limited, Procter & Gamble Distribution Company (Europe) BVBA, Procter & Gamble Distribution S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Eastern Europe, Procter & Gamble Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Procter & Gamble Egypt, Procter & Gamble Egypt Distribution, Procter & Gamble Egypt Holding, Procter & Gamble Egypt Supplies, Procter & Gamble Energy Company LLC, Procter & Gamble Espana, Procter & Gamble Europe SA, Procter & Gamble Export Operations SARL, Procter & Gamble Exportadora e Importadora Ltda., Procter & Gamble Exports, Procter & Gamble Fabricacao e Comercio Ltda., Procter & Gamble Far East, Procter & Gamble Finance (U.K.) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Finance Holding Ltd., Procter & Gamble Finance Management S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Financial Investments LLP, Procter & Gamble Financial Services Ltd., Procter & Gamble Financial Services S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Finland OY, Procter & Gamble France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Germany GmbH, Procter & Gamble Germany GmbH & Co. Operations oHG, Procter & Gamble GmbH, Procter & Gamble Grundstucks-und Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG, Procter & Gamble Gulf FZE, Procter & Gamble Hair Care, Procter & Gamble Hellas Ltd., Procter & Gamble Holding (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Holding France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Holding GmbH, Procter & Gamble Holding S.r.l., Procter & Gamble Holdings (UK) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Home Products Private Limited, Procter & Gamble Hong Kong Limited, Procter & Gamble Hungary Wholesale Trading Partnership (KKT), Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care Limited, Procter & Gamble Inc., Procter & Gamble India Holdings, Procter & Gamble Indochina Limited Company, Procter & Gamble Industrial - 2012 C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial Colombia Ltda., Procter & Gamble Industrial S.C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial e Comercial Ltda., Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Costa Rica, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Guatemala, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Panama, Procter & Gamble International Operations Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble International Operations SA, Procter & Gamble International Operations SA-ROHQ, Procter & Gamble International S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Investment Company (UK) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Investment GmbH, Procter & Gamble Italia, Procter & Gamble Japan K.K., Procter & Gamble Kazakhstan Distribution LLP, Procter & Gamble Kazakhstan LLP, Procter & Gamble Korea, Procter & Gamble Korea S&D Co., Procter & Gamble Lanka Private Ltd. Sri Lanka, Procter & Gamble Leasing LLC, Procter & Gamble Levant S.A.L., Procter & Gamble Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Belgium N.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Berlin GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing SA (Pty) Ltd, Procter & Gamble Marketing Romania SRL, Procter & Gamble Marketing and Services doo, Procter & Gamble Maroc SA, Procter & Gamble Mataro, Procter & Gamble Mexico Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Mexico Inc., Procter & Gamble Middle East FZE, Procter & Gamble Nederland B.V., Procter & Gamble Netherlands Investments B.V., Procter & Gamble Netherlands Services B.V., Procter & Gamble Nigeria Limited, Procter & Gamble Nordic, Procter & Gamble Norge AS, Procter & Gamble Operations Polska Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Overseas India B.V., Procter & Gamble Overseas Ltd., Procter & Gamble Pakistan (Private) Limited, Procter & Gamble Partnership LLP, Procter & Gamble Peru S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals France SAS, Procter & Gamble Philippines, Procter & Gamble Polska Sp. z o.o, Procter & Gamble Portugal - Produtos De Consumo, Procter & Gamble Product Supply (U.K.) Limited U.K., Procter & Gamble Production GmbH, Procter & Gamble Productions, Procter & Gamble Productos de Consumo, Procter & Gamble RHD, Procter & Gamble RSC Regional Service Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Retail Services BVBA, Procter & Gamble S.r.l., Procter & Gamble SA (Pty) Ltd, Procter & Gamble Satis ve Dagitim Ltd. Sti., Procter & Gamble Seine S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Service GmbH, Procter & Gamble Services (Switzerland) SA, Procter & Gamble Services Company N.V., Procter & Gamble Services Ltd., Procter & Gamble Share Incentive Plan Trustee Ltd., Procter & Gamble South America Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Spol. s.r.o. (Ltd.), Procter & Gamble Sports and Social Club Ltd., Procter & Gamble Sverige AB, Procter & Gamble Switzerland SARL, Procter & Gamble Taiwan Limited, Procter & Gamble Taiwan Sales Company Limited, Procter & Gamble Technical Centres Limited, Procter & Gamble Technology (Beijing) Co., Procter & Gamble Trading (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Tuketim Mallari Sanayii A.S., Procter & Gamble UK, Procter & Gamble UK Group Holdings Ltd, Procter & Gamble UK Parent Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Universal Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Verwaltungs GmbH, Procter & Gamble Vietnam, Procter & Gamble d.o.o. za trgovinu, Procter & Gamble de Venezuela S.C.A., Procter & Gamble de Venezuela S.R.L., Procter & Gamble do Brasil S/A, Procter & Gamble do Brazil, Procter & Gamble do Nordeste S/A, Procter & Gamble-Rakona s.r.o., Progam Realty & Development Corporation, Redmond Products, Richardson-Vicks Real Estate Inc., Richardson-Vicks do Brasil Quimica e Farmaceutica Ltda, Riverfront Music Publishing Co., Rosemount LLC, SPD Development Company Limited, SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH, Scannon S.A.S., Series Acquisition B.V., Shulton, Surfac S.R.L., Sycamore Productions, TAOS - FL, TAOS Retail, Tambrands Inc., Temple Trees Impex & Investment Private Limited, The Art of Shaving - FL, The Dover Wipes Company, The Gillette Company, The Gillette Company LLC, The Gillette co., The Procter & Gamble Distributing LLC, The Procter & Gamble GBS Company, The Procter & Gamble Global Finance Company, The Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Company, The Procter & Gamble Paper Products Company, The Procter & Gamble U.S. Business Services Company, This is L., US CD LLC, Vidal Sassoon (Shanghai) Academy, Vidal Sassoon Co., WEBA Betriebsrenten-Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Walker & Company Brands, and iMFLUX Inc..Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, a diversified financial institution, provides various financial products and services to personal, business, public sector, and institutional clients in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates through four strategic business units: Canadian Personal and Business Banking; Canadian Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; U.S. Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; and Capital Markets. The company offers chequing, savings, and business accounts; mortgages; loans, lines of credit, student lines of credit, and business and agriculture loans; investment and insurance services; and credit cards, as well as overdraft protection services. It also provides day-to-day banking, borrowing and credit, investing and wealth, specialty, and international services; correspondent banking and online foreign exchange services; and cash management services. The company serves its customers through its banking centers, as well as direct, mobile, and remote channels. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was founded in 1867 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Read MoreHannover RAck SE, together with its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance products and services worldwide. It operates through Property & Casualty Reinsurance, and Life & Health Reinsurance segments. The Property & Casualty Reinsurance segment offers specialty lines comprising marine, aviation, facultative and direct business, credit, surety, and political risks reinsurance products; and treaty, catastrophe XL, and structured reinsurance, as well as insurance-linked securities. This segment also provides risk solutions for agricultural, livestock, and bloodstock businesses; aviation and space business; and marine and offshore energy business. The Life & Health Reinsurance segment offers group and individual credit life, enhanced annuities, group life and health, and Sharia-compliant Takaful reinsurance products. This segment also provides risk solutions in the areas of critical illness, disability, health, longevity, long term care, and mortality and morbidity, as well as underwriting services. In addition, it offers various financial solutions, including new-business financing; monetization of embedded value; reserve and solvency relief; and divestiture of non-core businesses. The company was formerly known as Hannover RAckversicherung AG and changed its name to Hannover RAck SE in March 2013. The company was founded in 1966 and is headquartered in Hanover, Germany. Hannover RAck SE is a subsidiary of Talanx AG.

Read More11 hours ago

American Water Works is a Strong Buy as Profits Continue to Flow

American Water Works (NYSE:AWK) will deliver its third-quarter earnings report after the market closes on November 2. The third quarter has historically been the companys strongest quarter and this year appears to be no exception. The consensus opinion of analysts is for the utility giant to post earnings per share (EPS) of $1.52 cents on revenue of $1.21 billion.

Read ArticleYext, Inc. is an emerging growth company engages in software development. It offers a cloud-based digital knowledge platform, which allows businesses manage their digital knowledge in the cloud such as financial information, resources and performance of these resources on a consolidated basis and sync it to other application such as Apple Maps, Bing, Cortana, Facebook, Google, Google Maps, Instagram, Siri and Yelp. It offers the Yext Knowledge Engine package on subscription basis, which has an access to Listings, Pages, Reviews and other features. The Listing feature provides customers with control over their digital presence, including their location and other related attributes published on the used third-party applications. The Pages feature allows customers to establish landing pages on their own websites and to manage digital content on those sites, including calls to action. The Reviews presence enables customers to encourage and facilitate reviews from end consumers. The company was founded by Howard Lerman, Brent Metz, and Brian Distelburger in 2006 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Ecolab: AO Ecolab, Abednego Environmental Services, Abednego Environmental Services LLC, Abednego Mexico Holdings LLC, Abednego de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Alcide Corp., Anios America S.A., Anios Diffusion SAS, Anios Manufacturing SAS, Bioquell, Bioquell Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Bioquell Global Logistics (Ireland) Ltd., Bioquell Holding SAS, Bioquell Inc., Bioquell Limited, Bioquell SAS, Bioquell Technology (Shenzhen) Ltd., Bioquell Technology Canada Ltd., Bioquell UK Limited, Bioxyquell Limited, CALGON EUROPE LIMITED, CALGON LLC, CID LINES HOLDING NV, CID LINES INVEST NV, CID LINES NV, CID Lines, CID Lines Beijing Animal Hygiene Co Ltd., CID Lines France Sarl, CID Lines Iberica SL, CID Lines LLC, CID Lines Mexico S.A. DE C.V., CID Lines R&D NV, CID Lines Sp. z o. o., CORPAK MedSystems, Cascade Water Services, Champion Technologies, Chamtech L.L.C., Chemlawn, Chemstaff Inc., Chemstar Corporation, Cirlam BVBA, Copal Holding NV, Copal Invest NV, DERYPOL SA, DMD, E&M Bio-Chemicals LLC, ECOLAB NL 10 B.V., ECOLAB PEST FRANCE SAS, Ecolab (Antigua) Ltd., Ecolab (Aruba) N.V., Ecolab (Barbados) Limited, Ecolab (China) Investment Co. Ltd, Ecolab (Fiji) Pty Limited, Ecolab (GZ) Chemicals Limited, Ecolab (Guam) LLC, Ecolab (Proprietary) Limited, Ecolab (Schweiz) GmbH, Ecolab (St. Lucia) Limited, Ecolab (Taicang) Technology Co. Ltd., Ecolab (Trinidad and Tobago) Unlimited, Ecolab (U.K.) Holdings Limited, Ecolab A.E.B.E., Ecolab AB, Ecolab AP Holdings LLC, Ecolab AT 2 GmbH, Ecolab AU2 Pty Ltd, Ecolab Acquisition LLC, Ecolab ApS, Ecolab Argentina S.R.L., Ecolab Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Ecolab B.V., Ecolab B.V.B.A./S.P.R.L., Ecolab Bahrain S.P.C., Ecolab CDN 2 Co., Ecolab CDN 4 ULC, Ecolab CH 1 GmbH, Ecolab CH 2 GmbH, Ecolab CH 3 GmbH, Ecolab CH 5 GmbH, Ecolab CH 6 GmbH, Ecolab Chemicals Limited, Ecolab Co., Ecolab Colombia S. A., Ecolab DE 1 GmbH, Ecolab Deutschland GmbH, Ecolab EOOD, Ecolab East Africa (Kenya) Limited, Ecolab East Africa (Tanzania) Limited, Ecolab East Africa (Uganda) Limited, Ecolab Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Ecolab Engineering GmbH, Ecolab Europe GmbH, Ecolab Export GmbH, Ecolab FR 1 SAS, Ecolab FR 4 SAS, Ecolab Finance Company Designated Activity Company, Ecolab Food Safety & Hygiene Solutions Private Limited, Ecolab G.K., Ecolab Global Business Services LLC, Ecolab GmbH, Ecolab Gulf FZE, Ecolab HK 1 Limited, Ecolab HK 2 Limited, Ecolab Hispano-Portuguesa S.L., Ecolab Holding Italy S.r.l., Ecolab Holdings (Europe) LLC, Ecolab Holdings Inc., Ecolab Holdings Mexico S. de R. L. de C. V., Ecolab Hygiene Kft., Ecolab Hygiene d.o.o., Ecolab Israel Holdings LLC, Ecolab JVZ Limited, Ecolab Korea Ltd., Ecolab LLC, Ecolab LUX & Co Holdings S.C.A., Ecolab LUX 1 Sarl, Ecolab LUX 2 Sarl, Ecolab LUX 4 Sarl, Ecolab LUX 7 Sarl, Ecolab LUX Sarl, Ecolab Limited, Ecolab Ltd., Ecolab Lux 10 Sarl, Ecolab Lux 12 Sarl, Ecolab Lux 13 Sarl, Ecolab Lux 14 Sarl, Ecolab Lux 15 Sarl, Ecolab Lux 9 S.a.r.l., Ecolab Lux Partner LLC, Ecolab MT Holdings LLC, Ecolab MT Limited, Ecolab Malta 1 Limited, Ecolab Malta 2 Limited, Ecolab Malta GPS, Ecolab Manufacturing IE Limited, Ecolab Manufacturing Inc., Ecolab Manufacturing UK Limited, Ecolab Maroc Societe a Responsabilite Limitee, Ecolab NL 11 B.V., Ecolab NL 15 BV, Ecolab NL 16 B.V., Ecolab NL 23 B.V., Ecolab NL 3 BV, Ecolab NL 4 BV, Ecolab Name Holding Limited, Ecolab New Zealand, Ecolab Peru Holdings S.R.L., Ecolab Pest Deutschland GmbH, Ecolab Philippines Inc., Ecolab Production Belgium B.V.B.A., Ecolab Production France SAS, Ecolab Production Italy Srl, Ecolab Production LLC, Ecolab Production Netherlands B.V., Ecolab Production Poland sp. z o.o., Ecolab Pte. Ltd., Ecolab Pty Ltd., Ecolab Quimica Ltda., Ecolab S. de R.L. de C.V., Ecolab S.A., Ecolab S.A. de C.V., Ecolab SAS, Ecolab SIA, Ecolab SNC, Ecolab SRL, Ecolab Sdn Bhd, Ecolab Services Argentina S.R.L., Ecolab Services Poland Sp. z o o, Ecolab Sociedad Anonima, Ecolab Sp. z o o, Ecolab Spain Services S.L.U., Ecolab Temizleme Sistemleri Limited Sirketi, Ecolab U.S. 2 Inc., Ecolab U.S. 6 LLC, Ecolab U.S. 7 LLC, Ecolab US 1 GP, Ecolab USA Inc., Ecolab Viet Nam Company Limited, Ecolab Water Holding LImited, Ecolab a.s., Ecolab d.o.o., Ecolab s.r.l., Ecolab s.r.o., Ecolab y Compania Colectiva de Responsabilidad Limitada, Ecolab-Importacao E. Exportacao Limitada, Ecolabone B.V., Ecolabtwo B.V., Endoclear Equipamentos Medicos Hospitalares Ltda., Enviroflo Engineering Limited, Food Protection Services, GCS Service, Gallay Medical & Scientific Pty Ltd, Gallay Medical & Scientific Pty Ltd., GallayTrac Pty. Ltd., Georgia-Pacific - Paper Chemicals Business, Gibson Chemical Industries, Green Harbour Mainland Holdings Ltd, Guangzhou Green Harbour Environmental Operation Ltd., HYDROSAN LIMITED, Henkel-Ecolab, Hicopla SL, Holchem Laboratories, Huntington Laboratories, Hydenet SAS, INDUSTRIAL) UNIPESSOAL LDA, INTERNATIONAL WATER CONSULTANT B.V., Immobiliare R.E.O.P.A. SRL, Instrunet Hospital SLU, Jianghai Environmental Protection Co., Jianghai Environmental Protection Co. Ltd., KATAYAMA NALCO INC., Kay BVBA, Kay Chemical Company, LHS (UK) Limited, Laboratoires Anios, Laboratoires Anios-Distribution SAS, Les Produits Chimiques ERPAC Inc., Lobster Ink, Lobster Ink Africa (Pty.) Ltd., Lobster International S.A., London & General Packaging Ltd, MALAYSIA SDN. BHD, MANUFACTURING S.R.L., MOBOTEC AB LLC, Master Chemicals OOO, Meratech Rus Group LLC, Microtek Dominicana S.A., Microtek Italy S.R.L., Microtek Medical B.V., Microtek Medical Europe Limited, Microtek Medical Holdings, Microtek Medical Holdings Inc., Microtek Medical Inc., Microtek Medical Malta Holding Limited, Microtek Medical Malta Limited, Midland Research Laboratories, Midland Research Laboratories UK Limited, NALCO (SHANGHAI) TRADING CO. LTD., NALCO AB, NALCO ACQUISITION ONE, NALCO ACQUISITION TWO LIMITED, NALCO AFRICA (PTY.) LTD., NALCO ASIA HOLDING COMPANY PTE. LTD., NALCO BELGIUM BVBA, NALCO CHINA HOLDINGS LLC, NALCO COMPANY OOO, NALCO DANMARK APS, NALCO DE MEXICO S. de R. L. de C.V., NALCO DELAWARE COMPANY, NALCO DEUTSCHLAND GMBH, NALCO DEUTSCHLAND MANUFACTURING GMBH UND CO. KG, NALCO DUTCH HOLDINGS B.V., NALCO EGYPT LTD., NALCO EGYPT TRADING, NALCO ESPANOLA MANUFACTURING S.L.U., NALCO ESPANOLA S.L., NALCO EUROPE B.V., NALCO FINLAND MANUFACTURING OY, NALCO FINLAND OY, NALCO FRANCE, NALCO FRANCE SNC, NALCO GLOBAL HOLDINGS B.V., NALCO GLOBAL HOLDINGS LLC, NALCO HOLDING B.V., NALCO HOLDING COMPANY, NALCO HOLDINGS G.m.b.H., NALCO HOLDINGS UK LIMITED, NALCO HONG KONG LIMITED, NALCO INDUSTRIAL OUTSOURCING COMPANY, NALCO INDUSTRIAL SERVICES, NALCO INDUSTRIAL SERVICES (NANJING) CO. LTD., NALCO INDUSTRIAL SERVICES (SUZHOU) CO. LTD., NALCO INDUSTRIAL SERVICES (THAILAND) CO. LTD., NALCO INDUSTRIAL SERVICES CHILE LIMITADA, NALCO INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS B.V., NALCO INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS LLC, NALCO INVESTMENTS U.K. LIMITED, NALCO ISRAEL INDUSTRIAL SERVICES LTD, NALCO ITALIANA, NALCO ITALIANA HOLDINGS S.R.L., NALCO ITALIANA SrL, NALCO KOREA LIMITED, NALCO LIMITED, NALCO LUXEMBOURG HOLDINGS SARL, NALCO MANUFACTURING BETEILIGUNGS GMBH, NALCO MANUFACTURING LTD., NALCO NETHERLANDS B.V., NALCO NORTH AFRICA LIMITED, NALCO OSTERREICH Ges m.b.H., NALCO OVERSEAS HOLDING B.V., NALCO PAKISTAN (PRIVATE) LIMITED, NALCO PHILIPPINES INC., NALCO PORTUGUESA (QUIMICA, NALCO PWS INC., NALCO SAUDI CO. LTD., NALCO TAIWAN CO. LTD., NALCO TWO INC., NALCO U.S. HOLDINGS LLC, NALCO UNIVERSAL HOLDINGS BV, NALCO WORLDWIDE HOLDINGS LLC, NALCO ZAO, NALFLOC LIMITED, NALTECH INC., NANOSPECIALTIES LLC, NLC PROCESS AND WATER SERVICES SARL, Nalco (BN) SDN BHD, Nalco (China) Environmental Solution Co. Ltd., Nalco Anadolu Kimya Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Nalco Canada ULC, Nalco Company LLC, Nalco Contract Operations LLC, Nalco Grundbesitz GmbH & Co. KG, Nalco Gulf Response Corp., Nalco Japan G.K., Nalco Libya, Nalco Middle East FZE, Nalco Polska Sp. z o. o., Nalco Production LLC, Nalco Real Estate GmbH, Nalco Schweiz GmbH, Nalco US 1 LLC, Nalco Wastewater Contract Operations Inc., Nalco Water India Limited, Nalco Water Pretreatment Solutions LLC, Nalco Worldwide Holdings S.a.r.l./B.V., Nigiko, Nuova Farmec S.r.l., Oksa Kimya Sanayi A.S., Oy Ecolab AB, PT Ecolab International Indonesia, PT Ecolab Technologies and Services, Purate business - AkzoNobel, Quantum Technical Services LLC, Quimicas Ecolab S.A. de C.V., Quimiproductos S.A. de C.V, RP Adam Ltd, Research Fumigation Co., Royal Pest Solutions, Shield Holdings Limited, Shield Medicare Limited, Shield Salvage Associates Limited, Soluscope International Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Soluscope SAS, Swisher Hygiene, Technical Textile Services Limited, Techtex Holdings Limited, Terminix, Ultrafab, Wabasha Leasing LLC, and vanBaerle Hygiene AG.The following companies are subsidiares of Valero Energy: AIR BP-PBF DEL PERU SAC, BELFAST STORAGE LTD, CANADIAN ULTRAMAR COMPANY, COLONNADE TEXAS INSURANCE COMPANY LLC, COLONNADE VERMONT INSURANCE COMPANY, DIAMOND ALTERNATIVE ENERGY LLC, DIAMOND ALTERNATIVE ENERGY OF CANADA INC., DIAMOND GREEN DIESEL HOLDINGS LLC, DIAMOND GREEN DIESEL LLC, DIAMOND K RANCH LLC, DIAMOND OMEGA COMPANY L.L.C., DIAMOND SHAMROCK REFINING COMPANY L.P., DIAMOND UNIT INVESTMENTS L.L.C., DSRM NATIONAL BANK, ENTERPRISE CLAIMS MANAGEMENT INC., GCP LOGISTICS COMPANY LLC, GOLDEN EAGLE ASSURANCE LIMITED, HAMMOND MAINLINE PIPELINE LLC, HUNTWAY REFINING COMPANY, MAINLINE PIPELINES LIMITED, MAPLE ETHANOL LTD., MICHIGAN REDEVELOPMENT GP LLC, MICHIGAN REDEVELOPMENT L.P., MRP PROPERTIES COMPANY LLC, NECHES RIVER HOLDING CORP., NORCO METHANOL LLC, OCEANIC TANKERS AGENCY LIMITED, PARKWAY PIPELINE LLC, PENTA TANKS TERMINALS S.A., PI DOCK FACILITIES LLC, PICKARD PLACE CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION, PORT ARTHUR COKER COMPANY L.P., PREMCOR USA INC., PROPERTY RESTORATION L.P., PURE BIOFUELS DEL PERU S.A.C., PURE BIOFUELS HOLDINGS L.P., Parkway Pipeline, Premcor, Pure Biofuels Del Peru, SABINE RIVER HOLDING CORP., SABINE RIVER LLC, SAINT BERNARD PROPERTIES COMPANY LLC, SUNBELT REFINING COMPANY L.P., THE PREMCOR PIPELINE CO., THE PREMCOR REFINING GROUP INC., THE SHAMROCK PIPE LINE CORPORATION, TRANSPORT MARITIME ST. LAURENT INC., ULTRAMAR ACCEPTANCE INC., ULTRAMAR ENERGY INC., ULTRAMAR INC., Ultramar Diamond Shamrock, V-TEX LOGISTICS LLC, VALERO (BARBADOS) SRL, VALERO (PERU) HOLDINGS GP LLC, VALERO (PERU) HOLDINGS LIMITED, VALERO ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO ARUBA ACQUISITION COMPANY I LTD., VALERO ARUBA FINANCE INTERNATIONAL LTD., VALERO ARUBA HOLDING COMPANY N.V., VALERO ARUBA HOLDINGS INTERNATIONAL LTD., VALERO ARUBA MAINTENANCE/OPERATIONS COMPANY N.V., VALERO BROWNSVILLE TERMINAL LLC, VALERO CANADA FINANCE INC., VALERO CANADA L.P., VALERO CAPITAL CORPORATION, VALERO CARIBBEAN SERVICES COMPANY, VALERO COKER CORPORATION ARUBA N.V., VALERO CUSTOMS & TRADE SERVICES INC., VALERO EAST BAY LLC, VALERO ENERGY (IRELAND) LIMITED, VALERO ENERGY ARUBA II COMPANY, VALERO ENERGY INC., VALERO ENERGY LTD, VALERO ENERGY PARTNERS GP LLC, VALERO ENERGY PARTNERS LP, VALERO ENERGY UK LTD, VALERO ENTERPRISES INC., VALERO EQUITY SERVICES LTD, VALERO FINANCE L.P. I, VALERO FINANCE L.P. II, VALERO FINANCE L.P. III, VALERO FOREST CONTRIBUTION LLC, VALERO GRAIN MARKETING LLC, VALERO H2 PIPELINE COMPANY LLC, VALERO HOLDCO UK LTD, VALERO HOLDINGS INC., VALERO INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS INC., VALERO LIVE OAK LLC, VALERO LOGISTICS UK LTD, VALERO MARKETING AND SUPPLY (PANAMA) LLC, VALERO MARKETING AND SUPPLY COMPANY, VALERO MARKETING AND SUPPLY DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO MARKETING AND SUPPLY DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO MARKETING AND SUPPY INTERNATIONAL LTD., VALERO MARKETING IRELAND LIMITED, VALERO MKS LOGISTICS L.L.C., VALERO NEDERLAND COOPERATIEF U.A., VALERO NEDERLAND COOPERATIEF U.A., VALERO NEW AMSTERDAM B.V., VALERO OMEGA COMPANY L.L.C., VALERO OPERATIONAL SERVICES DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO OPERATIONAL SERVICES DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO OPERATIONS SUPPORT LTD, VALERO PARTNERS CCTS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS CORPUS EAST LLC, VALERO PARTNERS CORPUS WEST LLC, VALERO PARTNERS EP LLC, VALERO PARTNERS HOUSTON LLC, VALERO PARTNERS LOUISIANA LLC, VALERO PARTNERS LUCAS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS MCKEE LLC, VALERO PARTNERS MEMPHIS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS MERAUX LLC, VALERO PARTNERS NORTH TEXAS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS OPERATING CO. LLC, VALERO PARTNERS PAPS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS PORT ARTHUR LLC, VALERO PARTNERS SOUTH TEXAS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS TEXAS CITY LLC, VALERO PARTNERS THREE RIVERS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS WEST MEMPHIS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS WEST TEXAS LLC, VALERO PARTNERS WYNNEWOOD LLC, VALERO PAYMENT SERVICES COMPANY, VALERO PEMBROKESHIRE LLC, VALERO PEMBROKESHIRE OIL TERMINAL LTD, VALERO PLAINS COMPANY LLC, VALERO POWER MARKETING LLC, VALERO RAIL OPERATIONS DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO RAIL OPERATIONS DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO RAIL PARTNERS LLC, VALERO REFINING AND MARKETING COMPANY, VALERO REFINING COMPANY-ARUBA N.V., VALERO REFINING COMPANY-CALIFORNIA, VALERO REFINING COMPANY-OKLAHOMA, VALERO REFINING COMPANY-TENNESSEE L.L.C., VALERO REFINING-MERAUX LLC, VALERO REFINING-NEW ORLEANS L.L.C., VALERO REFINING-TEXAS L.P., VALERO RENEWABLE FUELS COMPANY LLC, VALERO SECURITY SYSTEMS INC., VALERO SERVICES INC., VALERO SKELLYTOWN PIPELINE LLC, VALERO TEJAS COMPANY LLC, VALERO TERMINAL HOLDCO LTD, VALERO TERMINALING AND DISTRIBUTION COMPANY, VALERO TERMINALING AND DISTRIBUTION DE MEXICO S.A. DE C.V., VALERO TEXAS POWER MARKETING INC., VALERO ULTRAMAR HOLDINGS INC., VALERO UNIT INVESTMENTS L.L.C., VALERO WEST WALES LLC, VRG PROPERTIES COMPANY, VTD PROPERTIES COMPANY, WARSHALL COMPANY LLC, and ZELIG COMMERCIAL INC..Charles Kingsleys maternal grandfather, Nathan Lucas FLS, owned plantations in Barbados and Demerara. Lucas left Liverpool in the Barton (Captain George Chalmers) on 4 January 1803. She had two decks, three masts and displaced 212 tons.

The Port of Liverpool taken from the opposite side of the River Mersey. Drawn and engraved by William Daniell. (1813) G.7043 plate 39 Images Online

On 19 January, off the coast of Spain, he wrote in his journal: At 5am a mountainous sea broke upon the Ship from head to stern, carried away our booms  one of our boats  stowed the other  all our stock washed overboard. The ship was thrown on her beam ends, & did not right again!  she was entirely unmanageable, & could not wear round  but cut away the Mizen Mast, without any effect  we then cut away the main mast; & thanks to God she righted a little & we got her before the wind  immediately she was pooped, the windows all broken in, & the Cabin a sea of water. As we had no masts, sails or boats, we did not think proper to put to Lisbon, fearful of being wrecked on a lee shore. Madeira was out of the question & we kept on to Barbados  Got in a Jury Main Mast, made from the Derrick  we have no more spars, except foretop gallant mast & foretopsail yard  we are busy in making some from planks sawn and nailed together  busily employed in making sails, rope &c. The voyage to Barbados lasted 51 days.

Bridgetown  engraving by Samuel Cope reproduced in West India Committee Circular Vol.XXVIII no.38, 6 May 1913

England and France were at war when Lucas returned on the Ash (master James Reed). A convoy for England being appointed, I determined to take the advantage of it, for safety of convoy, not expedition; for who has sufficient patience for the delays of a convoy! I have not, I candidly confess; but it is the lesser of two evils; & a prison would detain longer than a fleet. Twenty ships sailed from Barbados on 21 July, and eventually there were 176 ships escorted by HMS Courageous and HMS Venus. Lucas recorded six ships sinking: September 17th: We hear that the Betsey of Dublin foundered in the late gale, & all hands lost. The unexpected & unfortunate War in which we are engaged, by keeping many tender vessels abroad, to wait convoy, instead of getting home as fast as loaden, & of course getting a winters passage, has been the cause of all the disasters in the fleet. The voyage to Bristol lasted 70 days.

On 18 August 1811 Lucas left Falmouth for Barbados on the Swallow (Captain Morphew). On 4 September they were boarded by the French frigate La Clorinde sailing from Madagascar to France. It was soon rumoured that the Vessel would be given up to us, & the men &c exchanged on Cartel  They were in the greatest distress for provisions & water, though they had removed all from the Prizes they had made, but were now so low, they could not detain us. Our private property was secured to us, tho they took away my Petite Neptune Francais. Everything else was carried off, stores, rigging, sails, provisions &c  we really thought there were no provisions & water left; but we afterwards found some Pork & Potatoes. They returned to Falmouth, where Lucas joined the Express, Capt. Bullock, with Mails for the Windward Islands, arriving in Barbados on 10 November.

Peter Covey-Crump

Independent researcher

Further reading:

British Newspaper Archive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Antofagasta plc, through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the exploration, evaluation, development, and mining of copper properties in Chile and internationally. It operates through Los Pelambres, Centinela, Antucoya, ZaldAvar, Exploration and Evaluation, and Transport segments. The company explores for copper concentrates containing by-products, such as molybdenum, gold, and silver; and copper cathodes. It holds a 60% interest in the Los Pelambres mine; a 70% interest in the Centinela mine; a 50% interest in the ZaldAvar mine; and a 70% interest in the Antucoya mine located in Chile. The company also provides rail and road cargo, and other ancillary services. In addition, it offers rail and truck services to the mining industry in the Antofagasta Region. The company was incorporated in 1888 and is based in London, the United Kingdom. Antofagasta plc is a subsidiary of Metalinvest Establishment.

Read MoreThe Bank of Nova Scotia provides various banking products and services in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the Caribbean and Central America, and internationally. It operates through Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Banking and Markets, and Global Wealth Management segments. The company offers financial advice and solutions, and day-to-day banking products, including debit and credit cards, chequing and saving accounts, investments, mortgages, loans, and insurance to individuals; and business banking solutions comprising lending, deposit, cash management, and trade finance solutions to small businesses and commercial customers, including automotive financing solutions to dealers and their customers. It also provides wealth management advice and solutions, including online brokerage, mobile investment, full-service brokerage, trust, private banking, and private investment counsel services; and retail mutual funds, exchange traded funds, liquid alternative funds, and institutional funds. In addition, the company offers international banking services for retail, corporate, and commercial customers; and lending and transaction, investment banking advisory, and capital markets access services to corporate customers. Further, it provides Internet, mobile, and telephone banking services. The company operates a network of 952 branches and approximately 3,540 automated banking machines in Canada; and approximately 1,400 branches, 5,200 ATMs, and 22 contact centers internationally. The Bank of Nova Scotia was founded in 1832 and is headquartered in Halifax, Canada.

Read MoreVersa Networks , innovator of a next-generation software platform that integrates cloud, networking and security services, announced today that California Telecom has partnered with Versa to deliver its customers a secure, flexible and customizable managed SD-WAN experience. Looking to expand into the Secure SD-WAN market alongside its high speed, high capacity internet access and services, California Telecom will now offer a wide selection of SD-WAN options for organizations of all sizes, from monitoring to complete outsourcing with its managed edge-router service.

Through this partnership, California Telecom has integrated Versa's Secure Cloud IP platform into its existing infrastructure. This integration enables California Telecom to provide its customers with a broad range of features and options through a multi-tiered service offering anything from a basic failover all the way to a Hybrid MPLS and cloud SD-WAN with unified threat management integration.

"We spent over a year looking for a SD-WAN platform we could integrate into our existing MPLS infrastructure that could offer all the features that were being promoted in the industry," said Jim Gurol, CEO at California Telecom. "After trying multiple solutions, we found the one vendor that has it all, Versa Networks. The architecture closely paired with our existing infrastructure, so we are immediately able to go to market. With our team, our infrastructure and the Versa Secure Cloud IP platform, we can now provide our customers a unique and secure SD-WAN experience."

California Telecom's customers will benefit from appliance consolidation and removing the complex management of the WAN edge and cloud perimeter. With Versa, all solutions will now sit on a single appliance, while California Telecom's backend control, management and analytics infrastructure automates and provisions the service. Customers will now enjoy an easy-to-use portal to simplify change management, provisioning and reporting. Versa's native analytics for networking and security provides California Telecom a multi-faceted view of any malicious activity down to the application, user and workstation level. Customers are able to access this from the customer portal, a simple graphical portal view and drilldown, enabling California Telecom customers the power to maintain and have deep visibility into security within their organization with or without intervention.

"Most solutions we were looking at, prior to partnering with Versa Networks, didn't fit with the models we were looking to offer, such as hybrid MPLS, cloud-based SD-WAN and integrated security," added Gurol. "With Versa's zero-touch provisioning, simple and automated workflow designs, we are confident our customers are going to get the best Secure SD-WAN experience out there."

For more information on California Telecom's SD-WAN offering, visit https://www.californiatelecom.com/services/sd-wan/. For more on Versa Networks, visit https://www.versa-networks.com.Wall Street analysts have given PGIM Global High Yield Fund 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 PGIM Global High Yield Fund 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 Cummins: Anvl, Apollo FC Holdings Ltd., Atlantis Acquisitionco Canada Corporation, Atlantis Holdco UK Limited, Brammo, CIFC Worldwide Partner C.V., CMI Africa Holdings BV, CMI CGT Holdings LLC, CMI Canada Financing Ltd., CMI Canada LP, CMI Foreign Holdings B.V., CMI Global Equity Holdings B.V., CMI Global Equity Holdings C.V., CMI Global Holdings B.V., CMI Global Partner 2 C.V., CMI Global Partners B.V., CMI Group Holdings B.V., CMI Group Holdings Cooperatief U.A., CMI International Finance Partner 1 LLC, CMI International Finance Partner 2 LLC, CMI International Finance Partner 3 LLC, CMI International Finance Partner 4 LLC, CMI International Finance Partner 5 LLC, CMI Mexico LLC, CMI Netherlands Holdings B.V., CMI PGI Holdings LLC, CMI PGI International Holdings LLC, CMI Turkish Holdings B.V., CMI UK Finance LP, CMI UK Financing LP, Cherry Island Renewable Energy LLC, Consolidated Diesel Company, Consolidated Diesel Inc., Consolidated Diesel of North Carolina Inc., Cummins (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Cummins (Xiangyang) Machining Co. Ltd., Cummins Africa Middle East (Pty) Ltd., Cummins Afrique de l'Ouest, Cummins Americas Inc., Cummins Angola Lda., Cummins Argentina-Servicios Mineros S.A., Cummins Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Cummins Aust Technologies Pty. Ltd., Cummins BLR LLC, Cummins Battery Systems North America LLC, Cummins Belgium N.V., Cummins Botswana (Pty.) Ltd., Cummins Brasil Ltda., Cummins Burkina Faso SARL, Cummins CDC Holding Inc., Cummins CV Member LLC, Cummins Canada ULC, Cummins Caribbean LLC, Cummins Center of Excellence Singapore Pte. Ltd., Cummins Centroamerica Holding S.de R.L., Cummins Child Development Center Inc., Cummins Colombia S.A.S., Cummins Comercializadora S. de R.L. de C.V., Cummins Corporation, Cummins Cote d'Ivoire SARL, Cummins Czech Republic s.r.o., Cummins Deutschland GmbH, Cummins Diesel International Ltd., Cummins Distribution Holdco Inc., Cummins EMEA Holdings Limited, Cummins East Asia Research & Development Co. Ltd., Cummins Eastern Marine Inc., Cummins Electrified Power Europe Ltd., Cummins Electrified Power NA Inc., Cummins Emission Solutions (China) Co. Ltd., Cummins Emission Solutions Inc., Cummins Empresas Filantropicas, Cummins Energetica Ltda., Cummins Engine (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cummins Engine (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Cummins Engine (Shanghai) Trading & Services Co. Ltd., Cummins Engine Holding Company Inc., Cummins Engine IP Inc., Cummins Engine Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Cummins Engine Venture Corporation, Cummins Enterprise LLC, Cummins Filtration (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Cummins Filtration GmbH, Cummins Filtration IP Inc., Cummins Filtration Inc., Cummins Filtration International Corp., Cummins Filtration Ltd., Cummins Filtration SARL, Cummins Filtration Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Cummins Filtros Ltda., Cummins Franchise Holdco LLC, Cummins Fuel Systems (Wuhan) Co. Ltd., Cummins Generator Technologies (China) Co. Ltd., Cummins Generator Technologies Americas Inc., Cummins Generator Technologies Germany GmbH, Cummins Generator Technologies India Private Ltd., Cummins Generator Technologies Italy SRL, Cummins Generator Technologies Limited, Cummins Generator Technologies Romania S.A., Cummins Generator Technologies Singapore Pte Ltd., Cummins Ghana Limited, Cummins Ghana Mining Limited, Cummins Global Financing LP, Cummins Global Technologies LLP, Cummins Grupo Comercial Y. de Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., Cummins Grupo Industrial S. de R.L. de C.V., Cummins Holland B.V., Cummins Hong Kong Ltd., Cummins India Ltd., Cummins Intellectual Property Inc., Cummins International Finance LLC, Cummins International Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Cummins International Holdings LLC, Cummins Italia S.P.A., Cummins Japan Ltd., Cummins Korea Co. Ltd., Cummins LLC Member Inc., Cummins Ltd., Cummins Maroc SARL, Cummins Middle East FZE, Cummins Mining Services S. de R.L. de C.V., Cummins Mobility Services Inc., Cummins Mongolia Investment LLC, Cummins Mozambique Ltda., Cummins NV, Cummins Namibia Engine Sales and Service PTY LTD, Cummins Natural Gas Engines Inc., Cummins New Zealand Limited, Cummins Nigeria Ltd., Cummins Norte de Colombia S.A.S., Cummins North Africa Regional Office SARL, Cummins Norway AS, Cummins PGI Holdings Ltd., Cummins Power Generation (China) Co. Ltd., Cummins Power Generation (S) Pte. Ltd., Cummins Power Generation (U.K.) Limited, Cummins Power Generation Deutschland GmbH, Cummins Power Generation Inc., Cummins Power Generation Limited, Cummins PowerGen IP Inc., Cummins Research and Technology India Private Ltd., Cummins Romania Srl, Cummins S. de R.L. de C.V., Cummins Sales and Service Korea Co. Ltd., Cummins Sales and Service Philippines Inc., Cummins Sales and Service Private Limited, Cummins Sales and Service Sdn. Bhd., Cummins Sales and Service Singapore Pte. Ltd., Cummins Sinai ve Otomotiv Urunleri Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Cummins South Africa (Pty.) Ltd., Cummins South Pacific Pty. Limited, Cummins Southern Plains LLC, Cummins Spain S.L., Cummins Sweden AB, Cummins Technologies India, Cummins Trade Receivables LLC, Cummins Turbo Technologies Limited, Cummins Turkey Motor Guc Sistemleri Sats Servis Limited Sirketi, Cummins U.K. Holdings Ltd., Cummins U.K. Pension Plan Trustee Ltd., Cummins UK Global Holdings Ltd., Cummins UK Holdings LLC, Cummins Vendas e Servicos de Motores e Geradores Ltda., Cummins Venture Corporation, Cummins West Africa Limited, Cummins West Balkans d.o.o. Nova Pasova, Cummins XBorder Operations (Pty) Ltd, Cummins Zambia Ltd., Cummins Zimbabwe Pvt. Ltd., Distribuidora Cummins Centroamerica Costa Rica S.de R.L., Distribuidora Cummins Centroamerica El Salvador S.de R.L., Distribuidora Cummins Centroamerica Guatemala Ltda., Distribuidora Cummins Centroamerica Honduras S.de R.L., Distribuidora Cummins S.A., Distribuidora Cummins Sucursal Paraguay SRL, Distribuidora Cummins de Panama S. de R.L., Dynamo Insurance Company Inc., Efficient Drivetrains, Efficient Drivetrains (Beijing) New Power Technology Co. Ltd., Efficient Drivetrains (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Hilite International, Hydrogenics, Hydrogenics Corporation, Hydrogenics Europe N.V., Hydrogenics GmbH, Hydrogenics Holding GmbH, Hydrogenics USA Inc., Markon Engineering Company Ltd., Nelson Burgess Ltd., Nelson Industries, Newage Engineers GmbH, Newage Ltd. (U.K.), Newage Machine Tools Ltd., OOO Cummins, Petbow Limited, Power Group International (Overseas Holdings) B.V., Power Group International (Overseas Holdings) Ltd., Power Group International Ltd., Quickstart Energy Projects SpA, Shanghai Cummins Trade Co. Ltd., TOO Cummins, Taiwan Cummins Sales & Services Co. Ltd., Worldwide Partner CV Member LLC, Wuxi Cummins Turbo Technologies Co. Ltd., Wuxi New Energy Automotive Technologies Co. Ltd., and ZED Connect Inc..Wall Street analysts have given iShares Russell 2000 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 Russell 2000 ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.The Toronto-Dominion Bank, together with its subsidiaries, provides various personal and commercial banking products and services in Canada and the United States. It operates through three segments: Canadian Retail, U.S. Retail, and Wholesale Banking. The company offers personal deposits, such as chequing, savings, and investment products; financing, investment, cash management, international trade, and day-to-day banking services to businesses; and financing options to customers at point of sale for automotive and recreational vehicle purchases through auto dealer network. It also provides credit cards; real estate secured lending; auto finance; consumer lending; point-of-sale payment solutions for large and small businesses; wealth and asset management products, private banking, investment advisory, and trust services to retail and institutional clients; and property and casualty insurance, as well as life and health insurance products. The company also provides capital markets, and corporate and investment banking services, including underwriting and distribution of new debt and equity issues; advice on strategic acquisitions and divestitures; and trading, funding, and investment services to companies, governments, and institutions. It offers its products and services under the TD Bank and America's Most Convenient Bank brand names. The company operates through a network of 1,085 branches, 3,440 automated teller machines, and 1,223 stores, as well as offers telephone, digital, and mobile banking services. The Toronto-Dominion Bank was founded in 1855 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Fidelity National Information Services: 11601 Roosevelt Boulevard Realty LLC, AFSF II AIV Investors D-LP, AGES Participacoes Ltda., AKC Insurance Company LLC, Advanced Portfolio Technologies Ltd., Alphakinetic Ltd., Armed Forces Financial Network LLC, AssetExchange, Automated Securities Clearance LLC, Best Payment Solutions Inc., Bibit Spain S.L., Bitpay Payments KK, C&E Holdings Luxembourg S.a.r.l., CPRS Holdings Inc., Canadian Envoy Technology Services Ltd., Capco, Central Credit Services Limited, Certegy Canada Company, Certegy Card Services B.V., Certegy Dutch Holdings B.V., Certegy France Limited, Certegy SAS, Certegy UK Holdings B.V., Chex Systems Inc., Clear2Pay, Clear2Pay (Shenzhen) Company Limited, Clear2Pay APAC Pte. Ltd., Clear2Pay APAC Pty Ltd., Clear2Pay BV, Clear2Pay Belgium BV, Clear2Pay China Limited, Clear2Pay France SAS, Clear2Pay Germany GmbH, Clear2Pay Limited, Clear2Pay Nanjing Co. Limited, Clear2Pay Nederland BV, Clear2Pay Poland Sp. z o.o., Clear2Pay Scotland Holdings Limited, Clear2Pay Scotland Limited, Clear2Pay Spain S.l., ClearTwoPay Chile SpA, Complete Payment Recovery Services Inc., Compliance Coach, Credit Management Solutions, Decalog (UK) Limited, Decalog N.V., Envoy Services Bulgaria Limited, Envoy Services Ltd. (Asia) SDn BHD, Envoy Services Pty Ltd., Envoy Services South Africa (Pty) Limited, F.I.S. Systems (Middle East) Limited, FIS (Switzerland) SA, FIS (Tunisia) I SARL, FIS (Tunisia) II SARL, FIS Ambit Holdings Pty Ltd, FIS Apex (International) Limited, FIS Apex (UK) Limited, FIS Asia Pacific Inc., FIS AsiaPacRim Holdings Ltd., FIS Australasia Pty Ltd., FIS AvantGard LLC, FIS Banking Solutions UK Limited, FIS Bilgisayar Hizmetleri Ticaret Limited Sirketi, FIS Brokerage & Securities Services LLC, FIS Business Integration (UK) Limited, FIS Capital Markets UK Limited, FIS Capital Markets US LLC, FIS Card Services (Caribbean) Ltd., FIS Card Services (Thailand) Co. Ltd., FIS Consulting Services (Ireland) Limited, FIS Consulting Services (UK) Limited, FIS Denmark ApS, FIS Derivatives Utility Services (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., FIS Derivatives Utility Services (UK) Limited, FIS Derivatives Utility Services LLC, FIS Energy Solutions Limited, FIS Financial Solutions Canada Inc., FIS Financial Systems (France) SAS, FIS Foundation Inc., FIS GCS LLC, FIS Global Business Solutions India Private Ltd., FIS Global Execution Services (Ireland) Limited, FIS Global Execution Services Limited, FIS Global Holdings S.a.r.l, FIS Global Recovery Services India Private Limited, FIS Global Solutions Philippines Inc., FIS Global Trading (Deutschland) GmbH, FIS Global Trading (Hong Kong) Limited, FIS Global Trading (Iberica) S.L. Unipersonal, FIS Global Trading (Nederland) B.V., FIS Global Trading (Portugal) Unipessoal Lda, FIS Global Trading (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., FIS Global Trading (Suisse) SA, FIS Global Trading (UK) Limited, FIS Healthcare Trustee Limited, FIS Holdings (Germany) GmbH i.L., FIS Holdings Limited, FIS Holdings Mauritius, FIS Insurance Services Limited, FIS International Subsidiaries Holdings Inc., FIS Investment Systems (UK) Limited, FIS Investment Ventures LLC, FIS Investor Services LLC, FIS Japan KK, FIS Kingstar Cayman Islands Limited, FIS Korea Ltd., FIS Management Services LLC, FIS Management Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., FIS Pakistan (Private) Limited, FIS Payment Solutions & Services India Private Limited, FIS Payments (Ireland) Limited, FIS Payments (UK) Limited, FIS Pensions Limited, FIS Romania SRL, FIS SG (Italia) S.r.l., FIS SG International Holdings LLC, FIS SG Systems Philippines Inc., FIS Sherwood Systems Limited, FIS Solutions (India) Private Limited, FIS Solutions LLC, FIS Solutions Software (India) Private Limited, FIS Systeme GmbH, FIS Systems (Hong Kong) Limited, FIS Systems (Luxembourg) S.A., FIS Systems (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., FIS Systems (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., FIS Systems Canada Inc., FIS Systems International LLC, FIS Systems Kenya Limited, FIS Systems Limited, FIS Systems NZ Limited, FIS Systems Pty Ltd, FIS Systems South Africa (Pty) Limited, FIS Systems de Colombia S.A.S., FIS Technology (Beijing) Co. Limited, FIS Technology Services (Poland) Sp. z o.o., FIS Technology Services (Tunisia) SARL, FIS Technology Services Singapore Pte. Ltd., FIS Treasury Systems (Europe) Limited, FIS Treasury Systems (UK) Limited, FIS UK Holdings Limited, FIS Vietnam LLC, FIS Worldpay (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, FIS Worldpay Jersey Limited, FIS-SG Holding Corp., FNIS Istanbul Danismanlik Limited Sirketi, FV General Partner LLC, Fidelity Holding Ltda., Fidelity Information Services (Hong Kong) Limited, Fidelity Information Services (Iberia) S.L.U., Fidelity Information Services (Israel) Ltd., Fidelity Information Services (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd., Fidelity Information Services (Thailand) Limited, Fidelity Information Services Front Arena AB, Fidelity Information Services GmbH, Fidelity Information Services Holdings B.V., Fidelity Information Services India Private Limited, Fidelity Information Services International Holdings Inc., Fidelity Information Services LLC, Fidelity Information Services Limited, Fidelity Information Services Operations GmbH, Fidelity Information Services SARL, Fidelity Information Services Slovakia s.r.o., Fidelity Information Services de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Fidelity International Resource Management Inc., Fidelity National Card Services Inc., Fidelity National Global Card Services Inc., Fidelity National Information Services (Netherlands) B.V., Fidelity National Information Services C.V., Fidelity National Information Services Inc., Fidelity National Participacoes e Servicos de Informatica Ltda., Fidelity National Servicos de Tratamento de Documentos e Informatica Ltda., Fidelity National Servicos e Contact Center Ltda., Fidelity Participacoes e Servicos Ltda., Financial Insurance Marketing Group Inc., GL Settle Limited, GL Trade (South Africa) (Proprietary) Limited, GL Trade CMS (Thailand) Limited, GL Trade Software DOO, GL Trade Solutions CMS (Thailand) Limited, Glesia S.r.l., GoCart LLC, Information Services Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Integrity Treasury Solutions Europe Limited, Integrity Treasury Solutions Inc., Integrity Treasury Solutions Limited, Integrity Treasury Solutions Pty Limited, Link2Gov Corp., Memento, Metavante Corporation, Metavante Payment Services LLC, Metavante Technologies Inc, Metavante Technologies Limited, Minorca Corporation NV, Monis Management Limited, Monis Software Limited, NYCE Payments Network LLC, Oshap Software Industries Ltd., Oshap Technologies Ltd., PT FIS Systems Indonesia, PT Fidelity Information Services Indonesia, Panther Holdco 2 Inc., Panther Holdco Inc., Payment Brasil Holdings Ltda., Payment Chile S.A., Payment Trust Limited, Paymetric Inc., Pazien Inc., People's United Merchant Services LLC, Platform Securities Holdings Limited, Platform Securities International Limited, Platform Securities International Nominees Limited, Platform Securities LLP, Platform Securities Nominees Limited, Platform Securities Services Limited, Reech Capital Limited, Reliance Financial Corporation, Reliance Integrated Solutions LLC, Reliance Trust Company, Rocket Partners Holdings LLC, Sanchez Computer Associates Pty Limited, Secondco Limited, Ship Holdco Limited, Ship Luxco 2 S.a.r.l., Ship Luxco 3 S.a.r.l., Ship Midco Limited, Solutions Plus Consulting Services Limited, SunGard, SunGard Data Systems Beijing Co. Ltd., SunGard Global Services (Tunisia) III, SunGard Global Trading (Australia) Pty. Ltd., SunGard India Sales Private Limited, TP Technologies N.V., Tayvin 346 Limited, Transax Limited, Trax BV, Valuelink Information Services Limited, Valutec Card Solutions LLC, Virtus Fund Services, Virtus Group LP, Virtus LP Holdings LLC, Virtus Partners Fund Services Cayman Ltd., Virtus Partners Fund Services Holdings Company, Virtus Partners Fund Services Ireland Limited, Virtus Partners Fund Services Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Virtus Partners Ireland Ltd., Virtus Partners Ltd., Virtus Trade Settlement LLC, WebTone Technologies, Worldpay, Worldpay (HK) Limited, Worldpay (NZ) Limited, Worldpay (UK) Limited, Worldpay AP Ltd., Worldpay Argentina SRL, Worldpay B.V., Worldpay Canada Corporation, Worldpay Cayman Holdings Limited, Worldpay Company LLC, Worldpay Do Brasil Processamento De Pagamentos Ltda., Worldpay Finance Limited, Worldpay Gaming Solutions LLC, Worldpay Governance Limited, Worldpay Group Limited, Worldpay Holdings (Barbados) SRL, Worldpay Holdings Brasil Participacoes Ltda., Worldpay ISO Inc., Worldpay India Private Limited, Worldpay Integrated Payments Canada LLC, Worldpay Integrated Payments LLC., Worldpay Integrated Payments Solutions Inc., Worldpay International Group Limited, Worldpay International Holdings Limited, Worldpay International Limited, Worldpay International Payments Limited, Worldpay International Solutions Limited, Worldpay K.K., Worldpay LLC, Worldpay Latin America Limited, Worldpay Limited, Worldpay Marketing Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Limited, Worldpay Payments (Barbados) SRL, Worldpay Processing Services SRL, Worldpay Pte Ltd., Worldpay Pty Ltd., Worldpay S.a.r.l., Worldpay Services Company, Worldpay Services SRL, Worldpay Solutions SRL, Worldpay Technology Bucharest S.R.L., Worldpay Treasury Solutions SRL, Worldpay US Inc., Worldpay eCommerce LLC, Worldpay eCommerce Limited, Xpede, YES-Secure.com Limited, YESpay International Limited, Zenmonics Inc., Zenmonics Software Private Limited, eFunds Corporation, eFunds Holdings Limited, eFunds International Limited, i DLX International B.V., and mFoundry Inc..Wall Street analysts have given iShares Russell 1000 Growth 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 Russell 1000 Growth ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.HDFC Bank Ltd. engages in the provision of banking and financial services, including commercial banking and treasury operations. The firm also provides financial services to upper and middle income individuals and corporations in India. It operates through the following segments: Treasury, Retail Banking, Wholesale Banking and Other Banking Operations. The Treasury segment consists of bank's investment portfolio, money market borrowing and lending, investment operations and trading in foreign exchange and derivative contracts. The Retail Banking segment provides loans and other services to customers through a branch network and other delivery channels. The Wholesale Banking segment provides loans, non-fund facilities and transaction services to large corporates, emerging corporates, public sector units, government bodies, financial institutions, and medium scale enterprises. The Other Banking Business segment includes income from para banking activities such as credit cards, debit cards, third party product distribution, primary dealership business, and the associated costs. The company was founded by Aditya Tapishwar Puri in August 1994 and is headquartered in Mumbai, India.

Read MoreOasis Petroleum Inc., an independent exploration and production company, focuses on the acquisition and development of onshore unconventional oil and natural gas resources in the United States. It operates through Exploration and Production(E&P), and Midstream segments. The E&P segment engages in the acquisition and development of oil and gas properties. The Midstream segment offers midstream services, such as natural gas gathering, compression, processing and, gas lift supply; crude oil gathering, terminaling, and transportation; produced and flowback water gathering, and disposal; and water distribution. As of December 31, 2020, the company had 401,766 net leasehold acres in the Williston Basin; and 24,396 net leasehold acres in the Permian Basin, as well as approximately 152.2 million barrels of oil equivalent of estimated net proved reserves. The company sells its crude oil and natural gas to refiners, marketers, and other purchasers that have access to pipeline and rail facilities. Oasis Petroleum Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Thermo Fisher Scientific: 236 Perinton Parkway LLC, 27 Forge Parkway LLC, ABR--Affinity BioReagents, ACI Holdings Inc., ARG Services LLC, ASPEX Corporation, Abgene Inc., Abgene Limited, Acoustic Cytometry Systems Inc., AcroMetrix LLC, Acros Organics B.V.B.A., Advanced Biotechnologies Limited, Advanced Scientifics (ASI), Advanced Scientifics Inc., Advanced Scientifics International Inc., Affymetrix Biotech Participacoes Ltda., Affymetrix Biotech Shanghai Ltd, Affymetrix Inc, Affymetrix Japan K.K., Affymetrix Pte Ltd, Affymetrix UK Ltd, Afora S.A.U., Ahura Scientific, Alchematrix Inc., Alchematrix LLC, Alfa Aesar, Alfa Aesar (China) Chemical Co. Ltd., Alfa Aesar (Hong Kong) Limited, Allergon AB, Alphine Mountain Limited, Ambion Inc., Apogent Denmark ApS, Apogent Finance Company, Apogent Holding Company, Apogent Technologies Inc., Apogent Transition Corp., Apogent U.K. Limited, App-Tek International Pty Ltd, Applied Biosystems B.V., Applied Biosystems Finance B.V., Applied Biosystems International Inc., Applied Biosystems LLC, Applied Biosystems Taiwan LLC, Applied Biosystems Trading (Shanghai) Company Ltd., Applied Biosystems de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Applied Scientific Corporation, Avances Cientificos de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Avocado Research Chemicals Limited, B.R.A.H.M.S. Biotech GmbH, B.R.A.H.M.S. GmbH, B.R.A.H.M.S. UK Ltd, BAC BV, BAC IP BV, Barnstead Thermolyne LLC, Beijing Phadia Diagnostics Co Ltd, Bender MedSystems GmbH, BioTrove Corporation, BioTrove International Inc., Bioanalysis Labsystems S.A., Biochemical Sciences LLC, Biolab, BmT GmbH Laborprodukte, Bonsai Tecnologies - Sistemas para Biotecnologia e Industria Unipessoal Lda, Brammer Bio, Bumi-Sans Sendirian Berhad, CAC Limited, CB Diagnostics AB, CB Diagnostics Holding AB, CEPH International Corporation, CHK Holdings Inc., CRS Robotics, CTPS LLC, Capitol Scientific Products Inc., Capitol Vial Inc., Cellomics Inc., CellzDirect Inc., Cenduit GmbH, Cenduit LLC, Cezanne S.A.S., Chase Scientific Glass Inc., Chromacol Limited, Clintrak, Clintrak Clinical Labeling Services LLC, Clintrak Pharmaceutical Services LLC, Cohesive Technologies (UK) Limited, Cohesive Technologies Inc., Columbia Diagnostics Inc., Compendia Bioscience Inc., Comtest Limited, Consolidated Technologies Inc., Consultores Fisher Scientific Chile Ltd, Core Informatics, Core Informatics LLC, Core Informatics UK Ltd., D-finitive Technologies Inc., DCG Systems B.V., DCG Systems C.V., DCG Systems G.K., DCG Systems GmbH, DCG Systems Korea Ltd., DCG Systems LLC, DPI Newco LLC, DSM Pharmaceutical Products Inc., Dharmacon, Diagnostix Ltd., Dionex (China) Analytical Ltd, Dionex (Switzerland) AG, Dionex (UK) Limited, Dionex Austria GmbH, Dionex Benelux B.V., Dionex Brasil Instrumentos Cientificos Ltda, Dionex Canada Ltd., Dionex China Limited, Dionex Corporation, Dionex Denmark A/S, Dionex Holding GmbH, Dionex I LLC, Dionex Pty Ltd., Dionex S.A., Dionex S.p.A., Dionex Singapore Pte Ltd., Dionex Softron GmbH, Dionex Sweden AB, Distribution Solutions International Inc., Doe & Ingalls Investors Inc., Doe & Ingalls Limited, Doe & Ingalls Management LLC, Doe & Ingalls Properties II LLC, Doe & Ingalls Properties LLC, Doe & Ingalls of California Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of Florida Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of Maryland Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of Massachusetts Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of North Carolina Operating LLC, Doublecape Holding Limited, Doublecape Limited, Drakeside Real Estate Holding Company LLC, Duke Scientific Corporation, Dynal Biotech Beijing Limited, EGS Gauging Ltd., EGS Gauging Technical Services Company, EP Scientific Products LLC, Ecochem N.V., EnviroEquip Pty Ltd, Epsom Glass Industries Limited, Equibio Limited, Erie Electroverre S.A., Erie Finance Limited, Erie LP Holding LLC, Erie Scientific Company of Puerto Rico, Erie Scientific Hungary Kft, Erie Scientific LLC, Erie U.K. Limited, Erie UK 1 Limited, Erie UK 2 Limited, Erie UK Holding Company, Erie UK Senior Holding Limited, European Laboratory Holdings Limited, Eutech Instruments Europe B.V., Eutech Instruments Pte Ltd., Eutech Instruments Sdn Bhd, Ever Ready Thermometer Co. Inc., FEI Asia Pacific Co. Ltd., FEI Australia Pty Ltd, FEI CPD B.V., FEI Company, FEI Company Japan Ltd., FEI Company of USA (S.E.A.) Pte Ltd., FEI Czech Republic s.r.o., FEI Deutschland GmbH, FEI EFA Inc., FEI EFA International Pte. Ltd., FEI Electron Optics B.V., FEI Electron Optics International B.V., FEI Europe B.V., FEI France SAS, FEI Global Holdings C.V., FEI Hong Kong Company Limited, FEI Houston Inc., FEI Italia Srl, FEI Korea Ltd., FEI Melbourne Pty Ltd., FEI Microscopy Solutions Ltd, FEI Munich GmbH, FEI Norway Holding AS, FEI SAS, FEI Saudi Arabia LLC, FEI Servicos de Nanotecnologia Ltda., FEI Technologies Inc., FEI Technology de Mexico S.A. de C.V., FEI Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., FEI Trondheim AS, FEI UK Ltd., FHP LLC, FRC Holding Inc. V, FS (Barbados) Capital Holdings Ltd., FS Casa Rocas Holdings LLC, FS Mexicana Holdings LLC, FSI Receivables Company LLC, FSII Sweden Holdings AB, FSII Sweden Holdings I AB, FSIR Holdings (UK) Limited, FSIR Holdings (US) Inc., FSUK Holdings Limited, FSWH Company LLC, FSWH II C.V., FSWH International Holdings LLC, Fermentas China Co. Ltd, Fermentas Inc., Fermentas International, Fermentas Sweden AB, Fermentas UK Limited, Fiberlite Centrifuge LLC, Finesse Scientific Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Finesse Solutions AG, Finesse Solutions Inc., Finnzymes Oy, Fisher Alder S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Asia Manufacturing Ventures Inc., Fisher Bermuda Holdings Limited, Fisher BioImage ApS, Fisher BioPharma Services (India) Private Limited, Fisher BioSciences Japan G.K., Fisher BioServices Inc., Fisher Bioblock Holding II SNC, Fisher CLP Holding Limited Partnership, Fisher Canada Holding ULC 1, Fisher Canada Holding ULC 2, Fisher Canada Holding ULC 3, Fisher Canada Limited Partnership, Fisher Chimica BVBA, Fisher Clinical Logistics LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Fisher Clinical Services (Bristol) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Colombia) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Korea) Co. Ltd, Fisher Clinical Services (Mexico) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Peru) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Fisher Clinical Services Colombia S.A.S., Fisher Clinical Services GmbH, Fisher Clinical Services Inc., Fisher Clinical Services Japan K.K., Fisher Clinical Services Latin America S.R.L., Fisher Clinical Services Limited Liability Company, Fisher Clinical Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Clinical Services Peru S.R.L, Fisher Clinical Services Pte Ltd., Fisher Clinical Services U.K. Limited, Fisher Emergo B.V., Fisher Germany Holdings GmbH, Fisher Hamilton China Inc., Fisher Hamilton Mexico LLC, Fisher Holdings ApS, Fisher Internet Minority Holdings L.L.C., Fisher Laboratory Products Manufacturing (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Fisher Luxembourg Danish Holdings SARL, Fisher Manufacturing (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Fisher Maybridge Holdings Limited, Fisher Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Scientific (Austria) GmbH, Fisher Scientific (Hong Kong) Limited, Fisher Scientific (M) Sdn Bhd, Fisher Scientific (SEA) Pte. Ltd., Fisher Scientific A/S, Fisher Scientific AG, Fisher Scientific Australia Pty Limited, Fisher Scientific Biotech Line ApS, Fisher Scientific Brazil Inc., Fisher Scientific Central America Inc., Fisher Scientific Chile Inc., Fisher Scientific Colombia Inc., Fisher Scientific Company, Fisher Scientific Company L.L.C., Fisher Scientific Costa Rica Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, Fisher Scientific Europe Holdings B.V., Fisher Scientific GTF AB, Fisher Scientific Germany Beteiligungs GmbH, Fisher Scientific GmbH, Fisher Scientific Holding Company LLC, Fisher Scientific Holding HK Limited, Fisher Scientific Holding U.K. Limited, Fisher Scientific Holdings (M) Sdn Bhd, Fisher Scientific Holdings (S) Pte Ltd, Fisher Scientific International LLC, Fisher Scientific Investments (Cayman) Ltd., Fisher Scientific Ireland Investments Unlimited, Fisher Scientific Ireland Limited, Fisher Scientific Japan Ltd., Fisher Scientific Jersey Island Limited, Fisher Scientific Korea Ltd, Fisher Scientific Latin America Inc., Fisher Scientific Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Fisher Scientific Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Scientific Mexico Inc., Fisher Scientific Middle East and Africa Inc., Fisher Scientific Norway AS, Fisher Scientific Operating Company, Fisher Scientific Oxoid Holdings Ltd., Fisher Scientific Oy, Fisher Scientific Pte. Ltd., Fisher Scientific S.A.S., Fisher Scientific S.L., Fisher Scientific SPRL, Fisher Scientific The Hague I B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague II B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague III B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague IV B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague V B.V., Fisher Scientific U.K. Limited, Fisher Scientific UK Holding Company 2, Fisher Scientific UK Holding Company Limited, Fisher Scientific Unipessoal Lda., Fisher Scientific Venezuela Inc., Fisher Scientific Worldwide (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Fisher Scientific Worldwide Holdings I C.V., Fisher Scientific Worldwide Inc., Fisher Scientific de Mexico S.A., Fisher Scientific of the Netherlands B.V., Fisher Scientific spol. S.r.o, Fisher Servicios Clinicos (Chile) LLC, Fisher Servicios Clinicos Chile Ltda, Fisher WWD Holding L.L.C., Fisher Worldwide Distribution SPV, Fisher Worldwide Gene Distribution SPV, Flux Instruments, Fuji Partnership, G & M Procter Limited, G V Instruments Limited, GV Instruments Canada Ltd., GV Instruments Inc, Gatan Inc, General Scientific Company Sdn Bhd (M), Genomed molekularbiologische und diagnostische Produkte GmbH, Gerhard Menzel B.V. & Co. KG, Gold Cattle Standard Testing Labs Inc., Golden West Indemnity Company Limited, Goring Kerr Detection Limited, Greenville Service Company Inc., HENO GmbH i.L., Hangar 215 Inc., Helmet Securities Limited, Henogen, HighChem, HyClone International Trade (Tianjin) Co. Ltd, Hybaid Limited, I.Q. (BIO) Limited, IDnostics AG, ILS Laboratories Scandinavia AB, Inel Inc., Inel SAS, InnaPhase Inc., InnaPhase Limited, IntegenX, Intrinsic BioProbes Inc., Intrinsic Bioprobes Inc., Invitrogen (Shanghai) Investment Co. Ltd., Invitrogen Argentina SA, Invitrogen BioServices India Private Limited, Invitrogen Europe Limited, Invitrogen Finance Corp., Invitrogen Holdings LLC, Invitrogen Holdings Ltd., Invitrogen Hong Kong Limited, Invitrogen IP Holdings Inc., Invitrogen Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Ion Torrent Systems Inc., Ionalytics Corporation, JSC Thermo Fisher Scientific, Jouan LLC, Jouan Limited, Jouan SA, Kendro Containment & Services Limited, Kendro Laboratory Products Ltd, Kettlebrook Insurance Co. ltd., Keystone Scientific, KonTEM GmbH, Kyle Jordan Investments LLC, LIFE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION, LTC Tech South Africa PTY Ltd., La-Pha-Pack GmbH, Lab Vision (UK) Limited, Lab Vision Corporation, Lab-Chrom-Pack LLC, Lab-Line Instruments Inc., Labomex MBP S. de R. L. De C.V., Laboratoire Service International - L.S.I, Laboratory Management Systems Inc., Laboratory Specialties Proprietary Ltd., LambTrack Limited, Laser Analytical Systems Inc., Liberty Lane Investment LLC, Liberty Lane Real Estate Holding Company LLC, Life Sciences International (Poland) SP z O.O, Life Sciences International Holdings BV, Life Sciences International LLC, Life Sciences International Limited, Life Technologies AS, Life Technologies Australia PTY Ltd., Life Technologies BPD AB, Life Technologies BPD UK Limited, Life Technologies Brasil Comercio e Industria de Produtos para Biotecnologia Ltda, Life Technologies Chile SpA, Life Technologies Clinical Services Lab Inc., Life Technologies Co. Ltd., Life Technologies Czech Republic s.r.o., Life Technologies DaAn Diagnostic (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd., Life Technologies Europe B.V., Life Technologies Finance Ltd., Life Technologies Finland Oy, Life Technologies GmbH, Life Technologies Holdings PTE Ltd., Life Technologies Inc., Life Technologies International B.V., Life Technologies Japan Ltd., Life Technologies Korea LLC, Life Technologies Limited, Life Technologies Magyarorszag Kft, Life Technologies New Zealand Ltd., Life Technologies Norway Investments US LLC, Life Technologies Polska Sp z.o.o., Life Technologies SA, Life Technologies SAS, Life Technologies s.r.o, Linkage Biosciences Inc., Linkage Biosciences S.a.r.l., Loftus Furnace Company, Lomb Scientific, Lomb Scientific (Aust) Pty Limited, MTI-GlobalStem, Marketbase International Limited, Matrix MicroScience Inc., Matrix MicroScience Ltd., Matrix Technologies Corporation Limited, Matrix Technologies LLC, Maybridge Chemical Company Limited, Maybridge Chemical Holdings Limited, Maybridge Limited, Medical Analysis Systems Inc., Medical Analysis Systems International Inc., Medical Diagnostics Systems Inc., Metavac LLC, Microgenics Corporation, Microgenics Diagnostics Pty Limited, Microgenics GmbH, Microm International GmbH, Microm Laborgerate S.L.U, Molecular BioProducts Inc., Molecular Probes Inc., Molecular Transfer Inc., NAPCO Inc., NERL Diagnostics LLC, NOVODIRECT GmbH Labor- und Industrie- Megerate, Nalge (Europe) Limited, Nalge Nunc International (Monterrey) LLC, Nalge Nunc International Corporation, Nanjing WeiKangLe Trading Industrial Co Ltd, NanoDrop Technologies LLC, National Scientific Company, Navaho Acquisition Corp., Neomarkers Inc., New FS Holdings Inc., NewcoGen PE LLC, Nihon Dynal K.K., Niton Asia Limited, NovaWave Technologies Inc., Nunc A/S, ONIX Systems Inc., OXOID CZ s.r.o., Odyssey Holdings Corporation, Odyssey Luxembourg Holdings S.a r.l., Odyssey Luxembourg IP Holdings 1 S.a r.l., Odyssey Luxembourg IP Holdings 2 S.a r.l., Odyssey Venture Corporation, Omega Data Systems, One Lambda Inc, Onix Holdings Limited, Orme Scientific Limited, Owl Separation Systems LLC, Oxoid (ELY) Limited, Oxoid 2000 Limited, Oxoid AS, Oxoid Australia Pty. Limited, Oxoid Company, Oxoid Deutschland GmbH, Oxoid Holding SAS, Oxoid Holdings Limited, Oxoid Inc., Oxoid International Limited, Oxoid Investments GmbH, Oxoid Limited, Oxoid N.V., Oxoid New Zealand Limited, Oxoid Pension Trustees Limited, Oxoid Senior Holdings Limited, Oxoid UKH LLC, PAX - DSI Acquisition LLC, PE AG, Pacific Rim Far East Industries LLC, Pacific Rim Investment LLC, Panomics L.L.C., Panomics S.R.L., Patheon, Patheon API Inc., Patheon API Manufacturing Inc., Patheon API Services Inc., Patheon Austria GmbH & Co KG, Patheon B.V., Patheon Banner U.S. Holdings Inc., Patheon Biologics (NJ) LLC, Patheon Biologics Australia Pty Ltd, Patheon Biologics B.V., Patheon Biologics LLC, Patheon Calculus Merger LLC, Patheon Cooperatief U.A., Patheon Development Services Inc., Patheon Finance LLC, Patheon France SAS, Patheon Holdings B.V., Patheon Holdings I B.V., Patheon Holdings II B.V., Patheon Holdings SAS, Patheon I B.V., Patheon I Holding GmbH, Patheon Inc., Patheon International AG, Patheon Italia S.p.A., Patheon KK, Patheon Life Science Products International GmbH, Patheon Manufacturing Services LLC, Patheon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Patheon Pharmaceuticals Services Inc., Patheon Puerto Rico Acquisitions Corporation, Patheon Puerto Rico Inc., Patheon Regensburg GmbH, Patheon Softgels B.V., Patheon Softgels Inc., Patheon U.S. Holdings Inc., Patheon U.S. Holdings LLC, Patheon UK Limited, Patheon UK Pension Trustees Limited, Pelican Acquisition Corporation, Perbio Science (Canada) Company, Perbio Science AB, Perbio Science BVBA, Perbio Science France SAS, Perbio Science Inc., Perbio Science International Netherlands B.V., Perbio Science Invest AB, Perbio Science Nederland B.V., Perbio Science Projekt AB, Perbio Science Sweden Holdings AB, Perbio Science Switzerland SA, Perbio Science UK Limited, Phadia AB, Phadia Diagnosticos Ltda, Phadia GmbH, Phadia Holding AB, Phadia International Holdings C.V., Phadia Korea Co. Ltd, Phadia Luxembourg Holdings S.a.r.l., Phadia Malta Holdings Limited, Phadia Oy, Phadia Real Property AB, Phadia Sweden AB, Phadia Taiwan Inc., Phadia US Inc., Phadia s.r.o., Pharmacaps Mexicana SA de CV, Phenom-World B.V., Phenom-World Holding B.V, Phenom-World Innovations B.V., Phinotex, Pierce Biotechnology Inc., Pierce Milwaukee Holding Corp., Pierce Milwaukee Inc., Polychromix, Power Sweden Holdings I AB, Power Sweden Holdings II AB, Power Sweden Holdings III Aktiebolag, Princeton Gamma-Tech Instruments LLC, Princeton Security Technologies, Prionics AG, Prionics Asia Ltd., Prionics Deutschland GmbH, Prionics France SAS, Prionics Italia S.r.l., Prionics Lelystad B.V., Prionics USA Inc., Priority Air Express LLC, Priority Air Express Pte. Ltd., Priority Air Express UK Limited, Priority Air Holdings Corp, Priority Solutions International, Promedica Pty Limited, Proxeon, Proxeon Biosystems ApS, Qiagen, REP GBP I-B Blocker Inc., Raymond A Lamb Limited, Remel Europe Limited, Remel Inc., Richard-Allan Scientific Company, Robbins Scientific LLC, Robocon Labor- und Industrieroboter Gesellschaft m.b.H, Rupprecht and Patashnick, Rupprecht and Patashnick (R&P), Russell pH Limited, S.C.I. du 10 rue Dugay Trouin, SCI Inno 92, STC Bio Manufacturing Inc., Samco Scientific (Monterrey) LLC, Samco Scientific LLC, Saroph Sweden AB, Schantz Road LLC, Seradyn Inc., Shanghai Life Technologies Biotechnology Co. Limited, Shanghai Thermo Fisher (C-I) Trading Co. Ltd, Shanghai Thermo Fisher (S) Trading Co. Ltd, Southern Trials (Pty) Ltd., Specialty (SMI) Inc., Spectra-Physics AB, Spectra-Physics Holdings Limited, Spectra-Physics Holdings USA LLC, Spectronex, Staten Island Cogeneration Corporation, Sterilin Limited, Stokes Bio Ltd., Sweden DIA (Sweden) AB, SwissAnalytic Group GmbH, Systems Manufacturing Corporation, TFLP LLC, TFS Breda B.V., TFS LLC, TFS Singapore HK Limited, TFSL Financing GP LLC, TFSL Senior GP Holdings 2 LLC, TK Partnership, TKA Wasseraufbereitungssysteme, TMOI Inc., TPI Real Estate Holdings LLC, TSP Holdings I LLC, TWX LLC, Technology Design Solutions Pty Ltd, Thermedics Detection de Argentina S.R.L, Thermo Allen Coding Limited, Thermo Asset Management Services Inc., Thermo BioAnalysis LLC, Thermo BioAnalysis Limited, Thermo BioSciences Holdings LLC, Thermo CIDTEC, Thermo CRS Holdings Ltd., Thermo CRS Ltd., Thermo Cambridge Limited, Thermo Cayman Holdings Ltd., Thermo Corporation, Thermo DMA Inc., Thermo Detection de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Thermo Dutch Holdings Limited Partnership, Thermo EGS Gauging LLC, Thermo Eberline Holdings I LLC, Thermo Eberline Holdings II LLC, Thermo Eberline LLC, Thermo Electron (Calgary) Limited, Thermo Electron (Chile) S.p.A., Thermo Electron (Karlsruhe) GmbH, Thermo Electron (Management Services) Limited, Thermo Electron (Proprietary) Limited, Thermo Electron A/S, Thermo Electron Australia Pty Limited, Thermo Electron Export Inc., Thermo Electron Holdings SAS, Thermo Electron Industries, Thermo Electron LED GmbH, Thermo Electron LED S.A.S., Thermo Electron Limited, Thermo Electron Manufacturing Limited, Thermo Electron Metallurgical Services Inc., Thermo Electron North America LLC, Thermo Electron Pension Trust GmbH, Thermo Electron Puerto Rico Inc., Thermo Electron SAS, Thermo Electron Scientific Instruments LLC, Thermo Electron Sweden AB, Thermo Electron Sweden Forvaltning AB, Thermo Electron Weighing & Inspection Limited, Thermo Elemental Limited, Thermo Environmental Instruments LLC, Thermo Fast U.K. Limited, Thermo Finland Holdings LLC, Thermo Finland Holdings MT1 B.V., Thermo Finland Holdings MT2 B.V., Thermo Finnigan LLC, Thermo Finnigan Limited, Thermo Fisher (CN) Luxembourg Holding S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher (CN) Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher (CN) Malta Holdings Limited, Thermo Fisher (CN-I) Luxembourg LLC, Thermo Fisher (CN-II) Luxembourg LLC, Thermo Fisher (Cayman) Holdings I Ltd., Thermo Fisher (Cayman) Holdings II Ltd., Thermo Fisher (Finland Holdings 2) LLC, Thermo Fisher (Finland Holdings) Limited Partnership, Thermo Fisher (Gibraltar) II Limited, Thermo Fisher (Gibraltar) Limited, Thermo Fisher (Heysham) Limited, Thermo Fisher (Kandel) GmbH, Thermo Fisher CHK Holding LLC, Thermo Fisher China Business Trust, Thermo Fisher China Business Trust II, Thermo Fisher Costa Rica Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, Thermo Fisher Cyprus Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Detection Mexico LLC, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics (Ireland) Limited, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics AB, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics AG, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics AS, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics Aps, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics Austria GmbH, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics B.V., Thermo Fisher Diagnostics GmbH, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics K.K., Thermo Fisher Diagnostics Limited, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics NV, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics S.L.U., Thermo Fisher Diagnostics S.p.A. , Thermo Fisher Diagnostics SAS, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, Thermo Fisher Eurobonds Ltd., Thermo Fisher Financial Services Inc., Thermo Fisher GP LLC, Thermo Fisher German Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Germany B.V., Thermo Fisher India Divestco Private Limited, Thermo Fisher India Holding B.V., Thermo Fisher Insurance Holdings Inc., Thermo Fisher Insurance Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Investments (Cayman) Ltd., Thermo Fisher Israel Ltd., Thermo Fisher Production et Services SAS, Thermo Fisher Project Cyprus LLC, Thermo Fisher Re Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Asheville) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Australia) C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Barbados) Holdings Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Breda) Holding BV, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Bremen) GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific (CN) Limited Partnership, Thermo Fisher Scientific (China) Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (China) Holding Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (China-HK) Holding Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (DE) Holding S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Ecublens) SARL, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance I) B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance I) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance II) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance III) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance III) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Fuji) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Holding II) B.V. & Co. KG, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Hong Kong) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (IVGN) B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (IVGN) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Johannesburg) (Proprietary) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Mexico City) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Milwaukee) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Mississauga) Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Monterrey) S. De R.L. De C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (NK) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN) Austria Holding GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN) UK LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN) UK Limited Partnership, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN-I) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN-II) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN1) UK Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Panama) B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Panama) Dutch LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Praha) s.r.o., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Real Estate 1) GmbH & Co. KG, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Real Estate 1) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Schweiz) AG, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Shanghai) Instruments Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Suzhou) Instruments Co. Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific AL-1 LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific AU C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific AU II Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific AU LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific AU Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Africa Proprietary Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Aquasensors LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Australia Pty Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific B.V.B.A., Thermo Fisher Scientific BHK (I) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific BHK (II) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Baltics UAB, Thermo Fisher Scientific Beteiligungsverwaltungs GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific Biosciences Corp., Thermo Fisher Scientific Brahms LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Brasil Instrumentos de Processo Ltda., Thermo Fisher Scientific Brasil Servicos de Logistica Ltda, Thermo Fisher Scientific C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cayman Investments LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Chemicals Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific China (C-I) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific China (S) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific China Holdings I B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific China Holdings II B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific China Holdings III B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific China Holdings IV B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Chromatography Holdings Aps, Thermo Fisher Scientific Chromatography Holdings S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus I C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus I Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus II C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus II Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus III C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus III Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus IV C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus V C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Denmark Senior Holdings ApS, Thermo Fisher Scientific Erie 1 Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Erie Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Erie Financing S.a r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific Europe GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific FLC B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific FLC Finance C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific FLC II B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific FLC LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific FSIR Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific FSIR Financing S.a.r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific FSUKHCO Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Falcon Senior Holdings Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Finance Company BV, Thermo Fisher Scientific GENEART GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific Germany BV & Co. KG, Thermo Fisher Scientific GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific HR Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Holdings (Cayman) I, Thermo Fisher Scientific Holdings (Cayman) II , Thermo Fisher Scientific Holdings Europe Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific IT Services GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific India Holding LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific India Pvt Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments (Malta) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments (Sweden) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments (Sweden) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments Malta (Sweden Financing) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Invitrogen Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Japan Holdings I B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Japan Holdings II B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Japan Holdings III B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific K.K., Thermo Fisher Scientific Korea Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific LSI Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life CV GP Holdings II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life CV GP Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Enterprises C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Enterprises GP LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Financing (Cayman), Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Financing C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Financing Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Holdings I C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Holdings II C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Holdings III C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Holdings Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life International GP Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life International Holdings I C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life International Holdings II C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments GP LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments I S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments II S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments III S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments IV S.a.r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments Malta Holding I LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments Malta Holding II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments Malta I Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments Malta II Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments US Financing I LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments US Financing II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life NL Holdings GP LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Netherlands Holding C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior GP Holdings II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior GP Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior Holdings C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior Holdings II C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior Holdings Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Switzerland Holdings GP LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Tech Korea Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Enterprise Holding Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investment I LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investment II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investment UK I Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investment UK II Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investments Holding LP, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Israel Investment I Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Israel Investment II Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Luxembourg Holding LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Enterprise Holdings S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg German Holdings S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Life Technologies UK Holding S.a r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Sweden Holdings I S.a r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Sweden Holdings II S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Venture Holdings I S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Venture Holdings II S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Thermo Fisher Scientific Malta Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Messtechnik GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific Mexico City S. de R.L. de C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Middle East Holdings Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Milano Srl, Thermo Fisher Scientific NHK Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific New Zealand Holdings, Thermo Fisher Scientific New Zealand Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Norway Holdings AS, Thermo Fisher Scientific Norway US Investments LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Odyssey Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Odyssey Holdings Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Operating Company LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Oy, Thermo Fisher Scientific PN2 C.V, Thermo Fisher Scientific PN2 LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific PRB LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific PRB Malta Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific PRB S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Panama I Cayman Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Peru S.R.L., Thermo Fisher Scientific Pte. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific Re Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific SL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Senior Financing LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Senior Holdings Australia LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific South Africa Proprietary Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific SpA, Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra Malta Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra-Physics Holdings Luxembourg I S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra-Physics Holdings Luxembourg II S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra-Physics Investments Malta Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Switzerland Holdings C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific TR Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Taiwan Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific West Palm Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Wissenschaftliche Gerate GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific Worldwide Investments (Cayman), Thermo Fisher Scientific eCommerce Solutions LLC , Thermo Fisher Senior Canada Holdings LLC, Thermo Foundation Inc., Thermo Gamma-Metrics Holdings Pty Ltd., Thermo Gamma-Metrics LLC, Thermo Gamma-Metrics Pty Ltd, Thermo Holding European Operations LLC, Thermo Hypersil Ltd, Thermo Hypersil-Keystone LLC, Thermo Informatics Asia Pacific Pty Ltd., Thermo Instrument Controls de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Thermo Kevex X-Ray LLC, Thermo Keytek LLC, Thermo LabSystems Inc., Thermo LabSystems S.A., Thermo Life Science International Trading (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Thermo Life Sciences AB, Thermo Luxembourg Holding S.a.r.l., Thermo Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Thermo MF Physics LLC, Thermo Measurement Ltd, Thermo Measuretech Canada Inc., Thermo Neslab LLC, Thermo Nicolet Limited, Thermo Onix Limited, Thermo Optek (Australia) Pty Ltd., Thermo Optek Limited, Thermo Optek S.A., Thermo Orion Inc., Thermo Portable Holdings LLC, Thermo Power Corporation, Thermo Process Instruments GP LLC, Thermo Process Instruments L.P., Thermo Projects Limited, Thermo Quest S.A., Thermo Radiometrie Limited, Thermo Ramsey Italia S.r.l., Thermo Ramsey LLC, Thermo Ramsey S.A., Thermo Re Ltd., Thermo Scientific Microbiology Pte Ltd., Thermo Scientific Microbiology Sdn Bhd, Thermo Scientific Portable Analytical Instruments Inc., Thermo Scientific Services Inc., Thermo Securities Corporation, Thermo Sentron Canada Inc., Thermo Sentron Limited, Thermo Shandon Inc., Thermo Shandon Limited, Thermo Suomi Holding B.V., Thermo TLH (UK) Limited, Thermo TLH L.P., Thermo Trace Pty Ltd., Thermo-Fisher Biochemical Product (Beijing) Co. Ltd., ThermoLase LLC, ThermoSpectra Limited, Trek Diagnostic Systems LLC, Trek Diagnostic Systems Ltd., Trek Holding Company II Ltd., Trek Holding Company Ltd., Trex Medical Corporation, USB Corporation, Union Lab Supplies Limited, United Diagnostics Inc., VG Systems Limited, Westover Scientific Inc., ZAO PE Biosystems, eBioscience GmbH, eBioscience Ltd, eBioscience SAS, and picoSpin LLC.Wall Street analysts have given iShares MSCI EAFE Value 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 EAFE Value ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.Magna International Inc. designs, engineers, and manufactures components, assemblies, systems, subsystems, and modules for original equipment manufacturers of vehicles and light trucks worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Body Exteriors & Structures, Power & Vision, Seating Systems, and Complete Vehicles. Its Body Exteriors & Structures segment provides body and chassis systems, as well as engineering and testing services; exterior systems, including fascia and trims, front end modules, front integration panels, liftgate modules, active aerodynamics, engineered glass, running boards, truck bed access products, and side doors; and roof systems, such as modular and textile folding roofs, and hard and soft tops. The company's Power & Vision segment offers dedicated hybrid, dual and e-clutch, and manual transmissions; engine drive plates and accessories; AWD/4WD products, rear drive modules, and hybrid and battery electric drive systems; transmission, engine, and driveline components; advanced driver assistance systems, camera systems, ultrasonic sensors, and electronic controllers; interior and exterior mirrors, actuators, door handles, overhead consoles, and camera monitoring systems; head, tail, and fog lamps; signal and other lighting products; and latching systems, door modules, window systems, power closure systems, hinges and wire forming, and handle assemblies. Its Seating Systems segment provides seat structures, mechanism and hardware solutions, and foam and trim products. The company's Complete Vehicles segment offers vehicle manufacturing and engineering services. It also designs, engineers, and manufactures tooling products. Magna International Inc. was founded in 1957 and is headquartered in Aurora, Canada.

Read MoreVarian Medical Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, sells, and services medical devices and software products for treating cancer and other medical conditions worldwide. It operates through Oncology Systems and Proton Solutions segments. The Oncology Systems segment offers hardware and software products for treating cancer with radiotherapy, fixed field intensity-modulated radiation therapy, image-guided radiation therapy, volumetric modulated arc therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, stereotactic body radiotherapy, artificial intelligence based adaptive radiotherapy, and brachytherapy, as well as quality assurance equipment. Its products include linear accelerators, brachytherapy afterloaders, treatment accessories, and quality assurance software; and information management, treatment planning, image processing, clinical knowledge exchange, patient care management, decision-making support, and practice management software. This segment serves university research and community hospitals, private and governmental institutions, healthcare agencies, physicians' offices, medical oncology practices, radiotherapy centers, and cancer care clinics. The Proton Solutions segment designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and services products and systems for delivering proton therapy for the treatment of cancer. The company has a strategic agreement with McKesson Corp. to supply treatment delivery systems and planning, services, and radiotherapy information system solutions to its U.S. Oncology Network and Vantage Oncology affiliated sites of care; and a strategic partnership with Siemens AG to represent Siemens diagnostic imaging products to radiation oncology clinics in the United States and other select markets. Varian Medical Systems, Inc. was formerly known as Varian Associates, Inc. and changed its name to Varian Medical Systems, Inc. in April 1999. The company was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

Read MoreWall Street analysts have given iShares MSCI Canada 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 Canada ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.Deutsche Telekom AG, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated telecommunication services. The company operates through five segments: Germany, United States, Europe, Systems Solutions, and Group Development. It offers fixed-network services, including voice and data communication services based on fixed-network and broadband technology; and sells terminal equipment and other hardware products, as well as services to resellers. The company also provides mobile voice and data services to consumers and business customers; sells mobile devices and other hardware products; and sells mobile services to resellers and to companies that purchases and markets network services to third parties, such as mobile virtual network operators. In addition, it offers internet services; internet-based TV products and services; and information and communication technology systems for multinational corporations and public sector institutions with an infrastructure of data centers and networks under the T-Systems brand, as well as call center services. The company has 242 million mobile customers and 22 million broadband customers, as well as 27 million fixed-network lines. Deutsche Telekom AG has a collaboration with VMware, Inc. on cloud-based open and intelligent virtual RAN platform to bring agility to radio access networks for existing LTE and future 5G networks; and partnership with Microsoft to deliver high-performance cloud computing experiences. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Bonn, Germany.

Read More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 Dover: Accelerated Production Systems, Acme Elevator, Advansor A/S, Advansor Dover International (Poland) sp. z o.o, Advansor Germany GmbH, Alfred Fueling Systems Holdco Ltd., Alfred Fueling Systems Inc., Alfred Fueling Systems Intermediate Holdco Ltd., All-Flo Pump Company, Anman LLC, Anthony Equity Holdings Inc., Anthony Holdings Inc., Anthony Inc., Anthony International, Anthony International Foreign Sales Corp., Anthony International Holding Company, Anthony Mexico Holdings LLC, Anthony North Holdco Inc., Anthony Specialty Glass LLC, Anthony TemperBent GP LLC, Auto Glanz Solutions LLC, Automatik Grundstucksverwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG, Automatik Plastics Machinery (Taiwan) Ltd., BSC Filters Limited, Background2 Limited, Belanger, Belanger Inc., Belvac Middle East FZE, Belvac Production Machinery Inc., Blackmer, BlitzRotary GmbH, Butler Engineering and Marketing S.P.A., CDS Visual, CEP Liquidation LLC, CP Formation LLC, CPC Europe Inc., CPI Products Inc., Caldera, Canada Organization & Development LLC, Chief Automotive Technologies (Shanghai) Trading Company Ltd., Chippewa Square Captive Insurance Company, Colder Products Company, Colder Products Company GmbH, Colder Products Company LTD, Cook Compression BV, Cook Compression LLC, Cook Compression Limited, Cook-MFS Inc., DD1 Inc., DDI Properties Inc., DE-STA-CO Benelux B.V., DE-STA-CO FRANCE, DE-STA-CO Shanghai Co. Ltd., DESTACO UK Limited, DFH Corporation, DFS Netherlands B.V., DSR BZ Holdings LLC, Datamax International Corp, De Sta Co (Asia) Company Limited, De-Sta-Co Cylinders Inc., DeStaCo Europe GmbH, Delaware Capital Formation Inc., Delaware Capital Holdings Inc., Dover (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Dover (Schweiz) Holding GmbH, Dover (Shanghai) Industrial Co. Ltd., Dover (Shenzhen) Industrial Equipment Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Dover (Suzhou) Industrial Equipment Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Dover Asia Trading Private Ltd., Dover Australia Holdings Pty Limited, Dover Business Services EMEA Limited, Dover Business Services LLC, Dover Business Services Philippines Corporation, Dover CLP Formation Limited Partnership, Dover CR spol s r.o., Dover Canada Holdings ULC, Dover Canada Operations ULC, Dover Corporation Regional Headquarters, Dover DEI Services Inc., Dover Denmark Holdings ApS, Dover EMEA FZCO, Dover Energy UK Ltd, Dover Engineered Products Segment Inc., Dover Europe Inc., Dover Europe Sarl, Dover Fluids UK Ltd, Dover France Holdings, Dover France Participations, Dover France Technologies, Dover Fueling Solutions Segment Inc., Dover Fueling Solutions UK Limited, Dover Germany GmbH, Dover Global Holdings LLC, Dover Holdings de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Dover Imaging & Identification Segment Inc., Dover India Pvt. Ltd., Dover Intercompany Services UK Limited, Dover International B.V., Dover International Operations Inc., Dover International Ventures Inc., Dover International Ventures Tunisia S.a.r.l., Dover International ithalat ihracat ve Pazarlama Limited Sirketi, Dover Italy Holdings S.r.l., Dover Luxembourg Finance Sarl, Dover Luxembourg Participations Sarl, Dover Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Dover Luxembourg Services Sarl, Dover Operations South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Dover Overseas Ventures Inc., Dover Pumps & Process Solutions Segment Inc., Dover Refrigeration & Food Equipment Segment Inc., Dover Refrigeration & Food Equipment UK Ltd, Dover Resources International de Mexico S. de R.L. C.V., Dover Solutions Colombia SAS, Dover Southeast Asia (Thailand) Ltd., Dover Spain Holdings S.L., Dover UK Pensions Limited, Dover WSCR Holding LLC, Dover WSCR LLC, Dover do Brasil Ltda., Dow-Key Microwave Corporation, Dresser Wayne Data Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Dresser Wayne Fuel Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., EOA Systems Inc., Ebs-Ray Holdings Pty Ltd, Ebs-Ray Industries Pty. Ltd., Ebs-Ray Pumps Pty. Ltd., Em-tec, Espy, Ettlinger, Ettlinger Kunststoffmaschinen GmbH, Fairbanks Environmental Limited, Fibrelite Composites Limited, Fibresec Holdings Limited, Fibresec Limited, Finder, GAL LLC, GIIER LLC, Gala Industries, Gala Kunststoff-und Kautschukmaschinen GmbH, Guangdong Tokheim LIYUAN Oil Industry Technology Limited Company, Highland Park Insurance Company, Hill PHOENIX Inc., Hill PHOENIX WIC LLC, Hill Phoenix Costa Rica Sociedad De Responsabilidad Limitada, Hill Phoenix El Salvador Limitada de Capital Variable, Hill Phoenix Guatemala Sociedad Anonima, Hill Phoenix Honduras Sociedad Anonima, Hill Phoenix Nicaragua Sociedad Anonima, Hill Phoenix de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Hiltap Fittings Ltd., Hydro Systems Company, Hydro Systems Europe Ltd., Hydronova Australia-NZ Pty Ltd, Industrial Motion Control LLC, Innovative Control Systems, Innovative Control Systems Inc., Inpro/Seal LLC, JK Group, JK Group S.P.A., JK Group USA Inc., K S Boca Inc., K&L Microwave DR Inc., K&L Microwave Inc., KPS (Beijing) Petroleum Equipment Trading Co Ltd., KPS Fueling Solutions Sdn. Bhd., KPS Hong Kong Holding Limited, KPS UK Limited, KS Formation Inc., KS Liquidation Inc., KSLP Liquidation L.P., Kiian Digital (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Knappco LLC, Knowles Electronics, LIQAL, Liquip, Liquip International Pty Limited, MAAG, MARKEM FZ SA, MARKEM-IMAJE Corporation, MIP Holdings Inc., MS Printing Solutions, MS Printing Solutions S.R.L., Maag Automatik GmbH, Maag Automatik Plastics Machinery (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Maag Gala Inc., Maag Italy S.R.L., Maag Pump Systems, Maag Pump Systems (US) Inc., Maag Pump Systems AG, Maag Reduction Inc., Maag Service (Malaysia) Sdn. Bdn., Maag Systems (Thailand) Limited, Marathon Equipment Company (Delaware), Markem Imaje Center of Competencies Spain S.L.U., Markem-Imaje, Markem-Imaje (China) Co. Limited, Markem-Imaje - Unipessoal Lda, Markem-Imaje A/S, Markem-Imaje AB, Markem-Imaje AG, Markem-Imaje AS, Markem-Imaje B.V., Markem-Imaje CSAT GmbH, Markem-Imaje Co. Ltd., Markem-Imaje GmbH, Markem-Imaje Holding, Markem-Imaje Identificacao de Produtos Ltda., Markem-Imaje Inc., Markem-Imaje India Private Limited, Markem-Imaje Industries, Markem-Imaje Industries Limited, Markem-Imaje KK, Markem-Imaje LLC, Markem-Imaje Limited, Markem-Imaje Limited, Markem-Imaje Ltd., Markem-Imaje N.V., Markem-Imaje Oy, Markem-Imaje Philippines Corporation, Markem-Imaje Pty Ltd, Markem-Imaje S.A., Markem-Imaje S.A. de C.V., Markem-Imaje S.r.l., Markem-Imaje SAS, Markem-Imaje Sdn Bhd, Markem-Imaje Singapore Pte. Ltd., Markem-Imaje Spain S.A.U, Markpoint Holding AB, Midland Manufacturing LLC, Mouvex, Northern Lights (Nevada) Inc., Northern Lights Funding LP, Northern Lights Investments LLC, Nova Controls Inc., OK International, OK International (UK) Ltd., OK International Holdings Inc., OK International Inc., OPW Engineered Systems Inc., OPW Fluid Transfer Group Europe B.V., OPW Fluid Transfer Solutions (Jiang Su) Co. Ltd., OPW Fluids Group Inc., OPW France, OPW Fuel Management Systems Inc., OPW Fueling Components (SuZhou) Co. Ltd., OPW Fueling Components LLC, OPW Iberia Sociedad Limitada, OPW Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., OPW Slovakia s.r.o., OPW Sweden AB, Officine Meccaniche Sirio S.R.L., PDQ Manufacturing, PDQ Manufacturing Inc., PISCES by OPW Inc., PSD Codax Holdings Limited, PSD Codax Limited, PSG (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, PSG (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., PSG California LLC, PSG Germany GmbH, Petro Vend Sp. z o.o., Pike Machine Products Inc., Pole/Zero Acquisition Inc., Precision Brasil Equipamentos E Servicos Para Postos De Combustiveis Ltda., Precision Service - Servicos De Manutencao E Instalacao De Postos De Abastecimento De Combustivel Ltda., Production Control Services, Pump Management Services Co. LLC, RAV Equipos Espana S.L., RAV France, Ravaglioli Deutschland GmbH, Ravaglioli S.P.A., Reduction Engineering GmbH, Revod Corporation, Revod Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Revod SAS, Revod Singapore Holdings Pte. Ltd, Revod Sweden AB, Robohand Inc., Rosario, Rosario Handel B.V., Rotary Lift Consolidated (Haimen) Co. Ltd, SE Liquidation LLC, SWEP Germany GmbH, SWEP Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., SWEP North America Inc., SWEP Slovakia s.r.o., SWEP Technology (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Seabiscuit Motorsports Inc., Simmons Sirvey Corporation, So. Cal. Soft-Pak, So. Cal. Soft-Pak Incorporated, Solaris Laser, Solaris Laser S.A., Somero Enterprises, Sound Solutions, Space S.R.L., Spirit, Start Italiana Petrol Cihazlari Sanayi Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Start Italiana S.R.L., Swep Energy Oy, Swep International A.B., Swep Japan K.K., Sys-Tech Solutions, Sys-Tech Solutions Inc., Systech GB Limited, Systech Shanghai Consulting Company Limited, TQC Quantium Quality S.A. de C.V., TTSI III Inc., TWG Canada Consolidated Inc., TXHI LLC, Tartan Textile Services Inc., The Heil Co., Tokheim Belgium, Tokheim China Company Limited, Tokheim GmbH, Tokheim Group, Tokheim Hengshan Technologies (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd., Tokheim Holding B.V., Tokheim India Private Limited, Tokheim Sofitam Applications, Trans - Logistic Group S.R.L., Triton Systems, Tulsa Winch Inc., UPCO Inc., US Synthetic, Unattended Payment Solutions LLC, Unified Brands, Unified Brands Inc., Val TemperBent Glass L.P., Vectron Frequency Devices (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Vehicle Service Group LLC, Vehicle Service Group UK Limited, Vos Food Store Equipment Ltd., WSCR Corp., Warn Automotive LLC, Warn Industries, Waukesha Bearings, Waukesha Bearings Corporation, Waukesha Bearings Limited, Waukesha Bearings Russia LLC, Wayne Fuel Management UK Ltd., Wayne Fueling Systems, Wayne Fueling Systems (Rus) Limited Liability Company, Wayne Fueling Systems Australia Pty Ltd, Wayne Fueling Systems Canada ULC, Wayne Fueling Systems Deutschland GmbH, Wayne Fueling Systems Italia S.R.L., Wayne Fueling Systems LLC, Wayne Fueling Systems Ltd., Wayne Fueling Systems Sweden AB, Wayne Fueling Systems UK Holdco Ltd., Wayne Industria e Comercio Ltda., WellMark, XanTec Steuerungs- und EDV-Technik GmbH, and em-tec GmbH.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The Bank of New York Mellon pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 2.30%. 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 30.22% 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.On August 28, 1963, 250,000 people from across the country descended on the National Mall for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. It was a peaceful political demonstration, and one of the largest in history. It ushered in an era that, in many classrooms, has been defined by the uplifting images in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech of a time when little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as brothers and sisters.

Yet often missing from lessons on Kings speech, some educators say, are the violent struggles, the beatings and arrests that were everyday occurrences in the fight for civil rights. It was struggle as much as hope that brought crowds to the national mall to hear King deliver his peaceful yet tough words.

Its the tough part of the message that gets lost in the making of the heroic King. As Stephen Sawchuk writes in Education Week, the tidying up of Kings legacy in the classroom was seen as necessary in securing a federal holiday in his name. Sawchuk points to a 2014 review by the social justice and anti-bias curriculum project Teaching Tolerance that looks at states academic-content standards on the civil rights movement . The review found that 37 states required teaching about King, while other key leaders and events, particularly the extent of white resistance to integration, were missing from most of the standards.

Any lesson tackling the full complexity of Kings I Have a Dream speech would have to account for the brutality activists faced, and continue to face, in their fight for equal rights. How might teachers do this? We asked two educator expertsLauryn Mascarenaz and Marcia Chatelainto weigh in. The conversation that follows has been edited for length and clarity.

Lauryn Mascarenaz is the director of equity in Wake County, N.C., schools. She also writes curriculum materials for Teaching Tolerance.

What are some ways teachers can approach Kings I Have a Dream speech without painting him simplistically as a hero?

Mascarenaz: I think its important to pay attention to all the parts that dont say I have a dream. There are 16 minutes before King even gets to that point. Hes really reading people the riot act, and hes taking no prisoners. People think of him as a placid, nonviolent person, and he was. But in the speech, hes taking the American government to task. Hes taking white people to task. Hes pretty tough describing the black experience: America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds.

Many teachers dont take the speech as a whole. They only look at the dream parts, and then they have kids do cute worksheets on I have a dream that theres world peace one day. I try to convince people to dig deeper: Who is King speaking for? Who is this speech directed toward? What do his words mean for our nation right now? Is Dr. Kings dream alive today?

How can teachers help kids in the lower grades understand Kings speech?

Mascarenaz: I taught kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 4th grades. I would have kids each memorize one line. And these are lines with some really intense vocabulary, like jangling discords of our nation, which we had to break down and talk about. Id have them do visualization activities: What does jangling discords look like? What picture do you see in your mind?

Did you teach the entire speech to your youngest students?

Mascarenaz: I have played the entire speech for students as young as 2nd grade. Second graders dont necessarily need to understand all the vocabulary to understand how King is able to capture an audience. They can describe what King is doing with his voice. My students would say, He sounds like church. And like older kids, they can point to words that create a visual image. My students always remembered kids sitting down together at the table of brotherhood.

Little kids also know when someone is boring and when someone is interesting. For the teacher, its just a matter of scaffolding, and asking: What is making the person interesting? Can you use some of what he is doing when you are speaking?

What kinds of questions did your students ask you about the speech?

Mascarenaz: They would ask about all the places King mentions. So, on my computer, Id show them pictures of the Stone mountains in Georgia, the Alleghenies in Pennsylvania, the snow capped Rockies of Colorado. I would ask: Why is King mentioning places all over the country? Is this just a Southern issue?

Is there something you know now that you wish you had taught your students?

Mascarenaz: I wish I had known some Teaching Tolerance lessons, in particular Do Something , an action you take after learning about an issue that strikes a chord. Students might have written a PSA [public service announcement] informing people in their school or neighborhood about Kings speech, or they could have proposed a way of remembering King. That would have been the final step to help them internalize the lessons.

Marcia Chatelain is an associate professor of history and African American Studies at Georgetown University.

You have talked about complicating the March on Washington and Kings legacy. What do you mean by that?

Chatelain: Many young people learn about civil rights through the idea of heroes and villains, imagining that a portion of the public was on the right side of history, and thats not true. So when the speech gets reduced to people being friends with each other, it leaves young people thinking that personal relationships are the only ways that we can combat inequality. Instead, we should be thinking about the larger social responsibility that comes with making sure that people have access to things on an equal basis. One way to complicate the March on Washington and Kings legacy is by helping students to draw direct lines between the civil rights movement as it was articulated in mid-century and the movement for economic and racial justice today.

How do you suggest educators approach the I Have a Dream speech?

Chatelain: Teachers should take three things into account: One, the March on Washington was a reflection on the 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation. The mood of the day was to think, Where has the United States been in those 100 years, after the informal end of slavery?

Two, teach the speech in context. The March on Washington was an interracial gathering around the issues of jobs and freedom. What does it mean for there to be an economic justice question embedded in the title of the march? Its the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

And three, the part of the speech that I think is most compelling is when King says, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds. Here you can talk about a bank of justice that isnt delivering for people, and ask students, in which areas was the country failing to deliver in 1963? It was happening in terms of schools, it was happening in terms of voting, job opportunities, safety, and residential segregation. So he lays out where the fault lines are and we can ask, What does it mean to owe justice to a group of people who have been left behind?

Why do you think teachers focus on the dream part of the speech?

Chatelain: Thats the way they were taught. In the past 20 years in terms of the Martin Luther King holiday and the statue in [Washington] D.C., thereve been ways in which King has been portrayed as an unsophisticated person who just wants to make sure everyone gets along, rather than a person who is making serious challenges to the status quo. He was someone who wasnt uniformly beloved; he was often maligned. Yet some of the ways King was a contentious figure in his own time have been erased by a simplification of who he was in his time as well as his legacy. A lot of it is tied to the manipulation of his legacy as part of the holiday, but were fortunate that there are scholars who are dedicated to the sophisticated teaching of Kings legacy and so we have resources to fight that.

What resources do you suggest teachers use to support their lessons?

Chatelain: Teachers should go to the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change and to Stanford Universitys Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute , which has online digitized resources that include written documents in Kings own hand.

Do you teach the I Have a Dream speech to your college students?

Chatelain: I do. The I Have a Dream speech and the speech he delivered the day before his death I think are the two most powerful for students because they show an evolution in his articulation over a five-year period. The thing that remains at the heart of both of those speeches is this idea of economic justice.

Photo: Martin Luther King Jr. acknowledges the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial for his I Have a Dream speech during the March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. AP-File

Related stories:Acquisition will Enhance Market Position in Government, Maritime and Enterprise Sectors



to Acquire Globecomm

London, Aug 28, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Speedcast International Limited ( ASX:SDA ) ( OTCMKTS:SPPDF ) ("Speedcast"), the world's most trusted provider of remote communication and IT solutions, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Globecomm Systems Inc. ("Globecomm") from affiliates of HPS Investment Partners, LLC Tennenbaum Capital Partners, LLC and certain other members of Globecomm for an estimated net purchase consideration of US$135 million, including expected purchase price adjustments.Globecomm is a leading provider of remote communications and multi-network infrastructure to Government, Maritime, and Enterprise sectors in over 100 countries. The acquisition strengthens Speedcast's global competitive position in these sectors by enhancing its current solutions, and complements the recent acquisition of UltiSat - doubling Speedcast's revenue in the Government sector, and adding more scale, visibility and capabilities in this growth market. In addition, Globecomm will benefit from Speedcast's scale and capabilities in the Maritime and Enterprise markets."This acquisition of Globecomm is fully in line with our strategy to consolidate our industry and thus build competitive advantages based on scale and capabilities. Globecomm is particularly complementary to UltiSat as it strengthens Speedcast's position serving Government customers at a time when government spending globally is expected to rise. Globecomm has built a strong reputation providing remote communications and professional services to key customers in the Government sector, as well as in the Maritime and Enterprise segments," said Speedcast CEO Pierre-Jean Beylier. "I am excited to have the Globecomm team joining Speedcast. They will strengthen our innovation capabilities with new solutions and strong engineering experience, as well as enhancing our system integration propositions. We expect to drive significant cost and revenue synergy potential from this acquisition, given the strong financial and operational benefits of scale across core verticals.""The Globecomm team is thrilled to join forces with the global leader in remote communications. This is an exciting development for our employees and our customers and I look forward to building new solutions and further enhancing our customers' experience with the integrated team," said Jason D. Juranek, CEO Globecomm.Speedcast estimates it will generate over US$15 million in annual cost synergies within 18 months after the acquisition. The cost synergies are expected to be generated across the business, including through footprint rationalisation, network improvements and improved procurement.The acquisition will be funded by a fully underwritten US$175 million add-on to Speedcast's existing 7-year senior secured credit facility (due 2025) from the US institutional term loan market, which will also be used to repay a portion of Speedcast's revolving credit facility and thus enhance Speedcast's liquidity position.The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2018, subject to the completion of customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.J.P. Morgan and Jefferies acted as Financial Advisors to Speedcast. Goodwin acted as Legal Advisors to Speedcast.Kirkland and Ellis LLP acted as Legal Advisors to Globecomm.For more information about Speedcast, please visit http://www.speedcast.com About Speedcast International Ltd

Speedcast International Ltd (ASX:SDA) is the world's most trusted communications and IT services provider, delivering critical communications solutions to the Maritime, Energy, Mining, Media, Telecom, Cruise, NGO, Government, and Enterprise sectors. With more satellite capacity than any other provider, Speedcast enables faster, seamless pole-to-pole coverage from a global hybrid satellite, fiber, cellular, microwave, MPLS, and IP transport network with direct access to public cloud platforms. The company also integrates differentiated technology offerings that provide smarter ways to communicate and distribute content, manage network and remote operations, protect and secure investments, and improve the crew and guest experience. With a passionate customer focus and a strong safety culture, Speedcast serves more than 3,200 customers in over 140 countries. Learn more at www.speedcast.com.The 2018 Maruti Suzuki Ciaz facelift retains its competitive price tag despite receiving multiple new features and a new 1.5-litre petrol engine.

The 2018 Maruti Suzuki Ciaz facelift retains its competitive price tag despite receiving multiple new features and a new 1.5-litre petrol engine. The petrol engine is bigger in capacity compared to the 1.2-litre unit in the older model and is paired with a mild-hybrid system. It is not only more powerful but offers better fuel efficiency as well. The Ciazs prices start at Rs 8.19 lakh while the top-spec variant can be had for Rs 10.97 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). Several of its variants clash with the Hyundai Vernas on the price chart. We find out which variant of the two sedans offers the best bang for your buck.

Diesel

Petrol

Ex-showroom Delhi Prices

Maruti Ciaz (Petrol) Hyundai Verna(Petrol) Sigma: Rs 8.19 lakh E Rs 7.89 lakh (1.4-litre) Delta: Rs 8.8 lakh EX Rs 9.19 lakh (1.4-litre) Zeta: Rs 9.57 lakh SX Rs 9.80 lakh (1.6-litre) Alpha: Rs 9.97 lakh SX(O) Rs 11.51 lakh (1.6-litre) Delta Auto: Rs 9.8 lakh EX AT Rs 10.65 lakh (1.6-litre) Zeta Auto: Rs 10.57 lakh SX(O) AT Rs 12.65 lakh (1.6-litre) Alpha Auto: Rs 10.97 lakh

Maruti Ciaz (Diesel) Hyundai Verna(Diesel) Sigma: Rs 9.19 lakh E Rs 9.59 lakh Delta: Rs 9.8 lakh EX Rs 10.41 lakh Zeta: Rs 10.57 lakh SX Rs 11.49 lakh Alpha: Rs 10.97 lakh SX(O) Rs 12.85 lakh EX AT Rs 11.84 lakh SX+ AT Rs 12.99 lakh

Maruti Ciaz Sigma vs Hyundai Verna E (Petrol)

Hyundai Verna Maruti Ciaz Rs 7.89 lakh Rs 8.19 lakh

Price Difference: Ciaz is more expensive by Rs 30,000

Common features: Dual airbags, ABS with EBD, manual day/night IRVM, ISOFIX, central locking, electrically adjustable body-coloured ORVMs, steel wheels with covers, keyless entry, all power windows with driver side auto and anti-pinch function, tilt steering and manual AC.

What does the Ciaz Sigma get over the Verna E: Rear defogger, rear parking sensors, speed alert system, halogen projector headlamps, glass antenna, front center armrest, 4.2-inch colour MID (petrol only), accessory socket at front and rear and rear AC vents, audio with CD player, Bluetooth, USB and AUX connectivity with speakers and steering integrated controls.

What does the Verna E get over Ciaz Sigma: Cooled glove box and clutch lock.

Takeaway

The Maruti is the more expensive car here but it is also better equipped. The Ciaz roomier backseat and availability of rear AC vents right from the base variant gives it an edge over the Verna for those who prefer the backseat and are chauffeur-driven.

However, for those who drive themselves, the important features that the Ciaz gets but the Verna doesnt are audio system, rear defogger, rear parking sensors and front armrest. Apart from the rear defogger, the others can be easily retrofitted in the Verna post purchase and should cost under Rs 30,000.

So, pick the Ciaz if youre chauffeur-driven or need a more comfortable backseat for your family. If you just want the most affordable of these two mid-size sedans and dont care much about the said features, then the Verna will suit your needs just fine.

Maruti Ciaz Delta MT vs Hyundai Verna EX MT (Petrol)

Hyundai Verna Maruti Ciaz Rs 9.19 lakh Rs 8.8 lakh

Price Difference: Verna is Rs 39,000 expensive

Common Features over the previous variants: Rear parking sensors, speed-sensing door locks, front fog lamps, height-adjustable drivers seat, climate control, cruise control, front and rear centre armrest with storage and cup holders respectively, sunglass holder, audio system with front and rear speakers, USB, AUX connectivity and steering mounted controls, rear AC vents, USB charger at rear and front and cruise control.

What does the Ciaz Delta get over the Verna EX: Alloy wheels.

What does the Verna EX get over Ciaz Delta: Rear parking camera, automatic headlamps, 5-inch touchscreen system with remote control.

Takeaway

The Verna comes across as the more expensive option but gets added features. Except the parking camera, all other features are meant to lift the premium quotient. Since one can get a touchscreen audio system with rear parking camera fitted in the Ciaz at a lower cost, its the Ciaz that turns out to be the more value pick here.

Maruti Ciaz Zeta AT vs Hyundai Verna EX AT (Petrol)

Verna EX AT Ciaz Zeta AT Rs 10.65 lakh Rs 10.57 lakh

Price difference: Verna is Rs 8,000 expensive.

Common Features over previous variants: Auto-dimming IRVM, daytime running lamps, LED tail lamps, electric folding ORVM and reverse parking camera.

Features in Ciaz over Verna: LED headlamps, chrome door handles, rear adjustable headrests, push start/stop button and rear sunshade.

Features in Verna over Ciaz: Cornering lamps, 7-inch touchscreen unit with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and MirrorLink.

Takeaway

Getting cornering lamps fitted on the Ciaz may not be possible but Maruti does offer touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto under MGA. While getting that fitted would make the Ciaz more expensive than the Verna by about Rs 20,000, it would still be a more rounded package considering the extra features it offers over the Verna otherwise.

Maruti Ciaz Zeta Auto vs Hyundai Verna EX AT (Petrol)

Maruti Ciaz Zeta MT vs Hyundai Verna EX MT (Diesel)

Verna Ciaz Difference EX AT Rs 10.65 lakh Zeta Auto: Rs 10.57 lakh Rs 8,000 EX Diesel 10.57 lakh Zeta Diesel 10.41 lakh Rs 16,000

Common Features (over previous variants): Alloy wheels, cruise control, rear parking camera.

Features in Ciaz over Verna: LED fog lamps, LED headlamps with DRLs, chrome door handles, rear adjustable headrests, electrically folding ORVM, push start/stop button, sunglass holder, rear sunshade, electronic stability control with hill hold assist.

Features in Verna over Ciaz: Automatic headlamps, 5-inch touchscreen system.

Takeaway: Thanks to the sheer number of its additional features, the Ciaz is our pick. For those who cant live without a touchscreen infotainment system, its better to get one fitted from MGA post purchase. That would make the Ciaz slightly more expensive than the Verna but it would be a more rounded package for sure.

Hyundai Verna E MT vs Maruti Ciaz Delta MT (Diesel)

Verna Ciaz Rs 9.59 lakh Rs 9.8 lakh

Price difference: Ciaz is expensive by Rs 21,000

Common Features: Dual airbags, ABS with EBD, manual day/night IRVM, ISOFIX, central locking, electrically adjustable body coloured ORVMs, steel wheels with covers, keyless entry, all power windows with driver side auto and anti-pinch function, tilt steering, MID (multi information display) in single colour and manual AC.

Features in Ciaz over Verna: Rear defogger, rear parking sensors, glass antenna, speed alert system, halogen projector headlamps, alloy wheels, front center armrest, 4.2-inch colour MID (petrol only), accessory socket at front and rear and rear AC vents, audio with CD player, Bluetooth, USB and AUX connectivity with speakers and steering integrated controls.

Features in Verna over Ciaz: Cooled glove box and clutch lock.

Takeaway: The Ciaz here offers better value since we are comparing its second variant with the Vernas base. The Maruti is Rs 21,000 expensive but offers features which make up for it more than adequately.

Maruti Ciaz Alpha MT vs Hyundai Verna SX MT (Petrol)

Verna Ciaz Rs 9.80 lakh Rs 9.97 lakh

Price Difference: Ciaz is Rs 17,000 expensive.

Common Features over the previous variants: 7-inch touchscreen display with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and electric folding ORVMs.

Features in Ciaz over Verna: Leather seat upholstery and leather steering wheel.

Features in Verna over Ciaz: Height-adjustable front seatbelts.

Takeaway: For the premium you pay for the Ciaz, you get premium feeling leather touch points to increase the luxury factor. That is roughly the same price you would pay for the leather seat covers as a retrofit. So both deliver almost the same value for money as far as features are concerned.

Recommended Reads: Maruti Ciaz Old Vs New: Major Differences

Disclaimer: This article has not been edited by Deccan Chronicle and is taken from a syndicated feed. Photos: CarDekho.

Lake Way Drilling Confirms Large Mineralised Gold System

Perth, Aug 28, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Blackham Resources Limited ( ASX:BLK ) ( OTCMKTS:BKHRF ) (Blackham or the Company) is pleased to present exploration drilling results from the free-milling Lake Way deposits, located 18km south of Blackham's Wiluna gold plant. Blackham's exploration strategy is designed to extend the free-milling mine life to 5 years by targeting new discoveries and progressively converting the current large free-milling 1.3Moz resource base (22.8Mt @ 1.76g/t) to reserves.Highlights- RC and core drilling identifies high-grade extensions at free-milling Williamson deposit at Lake Way.- Broad mineralised zones at Carroll and Prior demonstrate large gold systems.- Aircore program identifies new targets beneath Lake Way.- Exploration strategy likely to extend free-milling mine life.Williamson Southern Extensions - Wide, shallow high-grade zones with open pit potential:11m @ 11.17g/t from 39m incl. 2m @ 53.05g/t 123g*m WMRC00496m @ 9.90g/t from 17m 59g*m WMRC004210m @ 4.18g/t from 47m incl. 2m @ 9.37g/t 42g*m WMDD00062m @ 25.49g/t from 116m 51g*m WMRC00464.3m @ 8.26g/t from 21.7m incl. 1m @ 28.86g/t 36g*m WMDD0007Carroll and Prior- large mineral system confirmed in Blackham's maiden drilling:87.12m @ 0.91g/t from 147m 79g*m LWDD0002116m @ 0.63g/t from 13m 73g*m LWDD000345.5m @ 0.59g/t from 232m 27g*m LWDD0001During June '18, Blackham's exploration team drilled 19 RC holes (1,926m) and 5 DD holes (1,164m) to follow-up historical drill intercepts at Williamson (Reserve 1.43Mt @ 1.5g/t Au) and early-stage targets on the nearby Carroll-Prior trend. A separate aircore program (415 holes for 3,786m) tested grass roots geophysical structural targets and defined further geochemical anomalies for RC and DD drilling.Williamson Southern ExtensionsShallow high-grade mineralisation has been intersected up to 600m south of the planned Williamson pit cutback. Two high-grade zones now show potential to be developed as satellite pits (see Figure 1 in link below). Further reserve definition drilling is planned.Williamson latest intercepts include:11m @ 11.17g/t from 39m incl. 2m @ 53.05g/t 123g*m WMRC00496m @ 9.90g/t from 17m 71g*m WMRC00422m @ 25.49g/t from 116m 53g*m WMRC004610m @ 4.18g/t from 47m incl. 2m @ 9.37g/t & 2m @ 5.77g/t 42g*m WMDD00064.3m @ 8.26g/t from 21.7m incl. 1m @ 28.86g/t 36g*m WMDD0007These results occur alongside historical aircore intercepts of 20m @ 3.23g/t from 19m, 21m @ 12.87g/t from 61m, and 4m @ 12.10g/t from 56m (see Figure 1 in link below), with clear potential for economic extraction by open pit.Moderate tenor mineralisation was also previously intersected in 80m-spaced historical aircore holes between the high-grade zones (e.g. 6m @ 1.85g/t from 36m and 4m @ 3.31g/t from 16m). Further infill drilling is needed, with potential for further economic mineralisation to be delineated along the full strike extent (see Figure 1 in link below).Free-milling mineralisation at Williamson includes broad zones of moderate-grade sheeted vein style and localised pods of high-grade stock-work style mineralisation, within mafic volcaniclastics and dolerites, intruded by felsic granitoid dykes and cut by north-south trending mineralising faults (see Figure 2 in link below).Williamson Open pitWilliamson pit design has a probable reserve of (1.43Mt @ 1.5g/t for 67,000oz) (see Figure 1, 3 in link below). The Williamson pit was previously mined by Agincourt Resources Ltd during 2005-6, producing 42,000oz @ 2.0 g/t Au. High-grade intercepts from outside the pit design show potential for satellite deposits to be developed together with the cutback.Blackham's latest results confirm extensions to shallow high-grade mineralisation south of the planned pit cutback. Results such as WMDD0006: 10m @ 4.18g/t from 47m, suggest potential for the cutback to extend further south and deeper.Figure 3 (see link below) shows a long section through Williamson, with latest intercepts within a new shoot adjacent to the planned south extension to the pit. High-tenor north-plunging shoots are evident in historical intercepts and these remain open at depth. Broad zones of moderate-tenor mineralisation grading 1-2g/t extend more than 300m below surface. Blackham is assessing infill and extensional drilling requirements to expand the mineral resource, as well as options for mining the depth extensions by open pit or higher-grade zones via underground. Historical intercepts show potential for both open pit and underground mining, with broad moderate tenor zones surrounding a high-grade component eg. RWR00092; 81m @ 0.99g/t from 161m includes 5m @ 5.47g/t from 161m.Blackham also drilled an initial 4 holes through the Agincourt ROM pad to test potential for mineralised material that may be processed through the Wiluna CIL plant; these 4 holes returned an average grade above 0.9g/t. Further drilling is planned in August to assess the grade of the potential stockpile, which is estimated to contain approximately 200,000t of mineralised material.Carroll and PriorBlackham's maiden exploration drill holes along the Carroll-Prior trend (see Figures 4-6 in link below) intersected mineralisation in multiple discrete zones above an economic 0.6g/t Au lower cut-off. These significant intercepts occur within a very broad mineralised envelope, defined at a 0.3g/t lower cut-off, with potential to economically mine the entire package using bulk open pit techniques. It is clear that Carroll and Prior form part of a large scale mineral system.A full table of significant intercepts is included as Appendix 1 (see link below). Broad zones of mineralisation defined using the 0.3g/t mineralised envelope approach include:45.5m @ 0.59g/t from 232m 27g*m LWDD000187.12m @ 0.91g/t from 147m 79g*m LWDD0002116m @ 0.63g/t from 13m 73g*m LWDD0003The initial program comprised 1 RC hole and 3 DD holes to test an alternative strike direction of the mineralisation envelope intersected in historical drilling, in advance of a larger planned program. Blackham's oriented drill core shows the mineralisation strikes approximately north-south and future drilling will be directed towards the west; historical drilling was sub-optimally oriented mainly towards the southwest.Carroll and Prior occur where north-south oriented mineralised structures intersect mafic volcaniclastic and felsic volcanic units. Gold mineralisation is associated with stockwork quartz veining in moderately north-plunging higher-grade shoots and flat-lying supergene zones. Mineralisation remains open in all directions and further drilling will target higher-grade zones within the system.Historical exploration consists of mainly aircore drilling on broad 80m-spaced sections with a limited number of deeper diamond core holes. However, historical intercepts such as 20m @ 2.68 g/t Au, and 21m @ 3.45 g/t Au, provide encouragement that higher-grade resources can be defined following further RC and DD drilling.Blackham has been awarded a $150,000 grant under the State Government's Exploration Incentive Scheme for further drilling at Carroll- Prior prospects during FY 2019.Lake Way Target GenerationThe Lake Way area has had only limited exploration owing to the 3-9m of lake sediment cover obscuring lithology and masking obvious geochemical signatures. The area is a major focus for resource expansion given it contains 6km of the highly prospective Wiluna Mine sequence and many significant intersections from past drilling.Blackham has defined three gold geochemical anomalies in the Lake Way area surrounding the Williamson Mine that warrant further RC and aircore drilling (see Figures 7- 8 in link below). The targets were identified from previous aeromagnetic and ground-gravity geophysical surveys as containing prospective north-south trending structures similar to Williamson, along with Au and pathfinder element anomalies.A shallow aircore exploration program (415 holes for 3,786m) was completed to test for bedrock gold beneath shallow lake sediments, in areas of no previous drilling. Three coincident aircore-structural anomalies have been delineated from this drilling, named anomalies A-292ppb Au, B-371 ppb Au, and C-55 ppb Au (see Figure 8 in link below). Deeper RC and DD drilling of these anomalies is planned.Further reserve definition infill drilling is planned at the Williamson satellite deposits and under the Williamson pit ahead of finalising mine designs for the pit cutback, which is expected to begin in mid-2019. The potential for nearby satellite deposits to be brought quickly into the mine plan will aid mine scheduling and further improve economic efficiencies.To view tables and figures, please visit:About Wiluna Mining Corporation Ltd

Wiluna Mining Corporation (ASX:WMC) (OTCMKTS:WMXCF) is a Perth based, ASX listed gold mining company that controls over 1,600 square kilometres of the Yilgarn Craton in the Northern Goldfields of WA. The Yilgarn Craton has a historic and current gold endowment of over 380 million ounces, making it one of most prolific gold regions in the world. The Company owns 100% of the Wiluna Gold Operation which has a defined resource of 8.04M oz at 1.67 g/t au. In May 2019, a new highly skilled management team took control of the Company with a clear plan to leverage the Wiluna Gold Operation's multi-million-ounce potential.Wadia group-owned budget carrier GoAir is all set to fly international from October, with the first flight to operate on the Mumbai-Phuket route, a source privy to development said.

Mumbai: Wadia group-owned budget carrier GoAir is all set to fly international from October, with the first flight to operate on the Mumbai-Phuket route, a source privy to development said.

The bookings for the maiden international flight will commence soon and an announcement to this effect is expected to be made by Thursday, the source said.

The city-based airline, which became eligible to fly overseas more than two years ago when it took delivery of its 20th aircraft, which was also the first Airbus A320 Neo for the airline, will be the fifth domestic carrier to have international operations.

"We will be launching our international operations with a flight to Phuket (Thailand) from Mumbai in October. We have all regulatory approvals in place and the flight is expected to go into the system (bookings) in a week's time," the source told PTI.

The source said the airline is looking to launch three to four international destinations by March next year, adding the proposed Mumbai-Phuket service will be a daily operations.

GoAir spokesperson was not available for comments.

Thailand ambassador to India Chutintorn Gongsakdi had last week tweeted that, "Go Airlines (India) or GoAir has been approved as designate airline to fly to Thailand since August 10."

The airline, which launched its domestic operations in November 2005, was in August 2016 granted rights to operate to nine countries, including China, Vietnam, Maldives, Kazakhstan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, among others.

GoAir had planned to launch services on the international routes in October last year but had to defer the plan due to the grounding of some of the Pratt & Whitney engine-powered Airbus A320 Neo planes owing to engine glitches.

"We are mulling to have three to four international destinations in our flight network by this fiscal year and Male (Maldives) could be the the next destination after Phuket," the source said.

GoAir currently operates over 1,544 weekly flights across 23 destinations with a fleet of 38 Airbus A320 planes, including 19 A320 Neos.

Currently, national carrier Air India, its subsidiary Air India Express, private carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet have international flights. Tata-SIA run Air Vistara also is planning to launch services on overseas routes later this year.Stocks ended at record highs for the second day in a row today on fresh foreign fund inflows and unabated buying by domestic investors in bluechips led by Reliance Industries, HDFC, HDFC Bank and Maruti Suzuki. (Photo: AP)

Mumbai: Stocks ended at record highs for the second day in a row today on fresh foreign fund inflows and unabated buying by domestic investors in bluechips led by Reliance Industries, HDFC, HDFC Bank and Maruti Suzuki.

The BSE Sensex rose by 202.52 points or 0.52 per cent to close at a fresh record high of 38,896.63 while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 46.55 points or 0.40 per cent to close above the 11,700 mark for the first time at 11,738.50 -- its all-time closing high too.

Covering-up of short positions by participants ahead of August month expiry in the derivatives segment on Thursday too supported the bull-run.

Trading sentiment remained bullish largely in tandem with a firm trend at other Asian bourses as investors cheered news of a trade deal between the US and Mexico.

Strong gains in metal, energy, auto and power shares lifted the key indices to new highs.

The 30-share Sensex, after opening on a strong footing, continued its upward march to hit an all-time high of 38,938.91, breaking its previous intra-day record high of 38,736.88 touched in yesterday's trade.

The NSE Nifty also hit a record intra-day high of 11,760.20, surpassing its previous record of 11,700.95.

Positive global cues, strong liquidity in the market following fresh foreign fund inflows and widening of bets by investors ahead of April-June quarter GDP data on Friday drove markets to record highs for the second straight session, brokers said.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 252.52 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) made purchases worth Rs 1,117.24 crore in the previous session, according to provisional exchange data.Mumbai: Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has a tremendous fan-following worldwide and he is loved by millions. Known as Badshah of Bollywood, the actor is also popular for his sharp wit and a great sense of humor. Shah Rukh Khan recently displayed his terrific humorous side when he was asked about not doing a movie in Hollywood yet.

In a conversation with Economic Times, when he was asked whether he has ever thought of working in a Hollywood flick, the 'Raees' star said, They have to look at me; I cant look at them. I look at the moon every day but I dont reach for it. It started with Om Puriji and now Priyanka, Irrfan and so many others are doing it. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is getting some films. Amitji (Amitabh Bachchan) has done some, Anupam Kher too has and its wonderful. But I have never been offered an opportunity.

Shah Rukh Khan jokingly added, "I have never been offered an opportunity. They have to look at me. I cant look at them. I look at the moon every day but I dont reach for it. I dont even know if I am good enough to do it - I think my English is a little weak.

SRK further mentioned, Not taking away from the greatness of anything that others have achieved, Id like Tom Cruise to say one day that Ive been given a chance in a Hindi film. Man, that will be wonderful. Christopher Nolan would say that there is a producer in India who wants him to make a film.

My Fanboy moment. Inspiring to hear Mr.Nolan & Ms.Tacita Dean talk of the virtues of celluloid as an artists medium. Thanks @shividungarpur for having me over pic.twitter.com/08dyi0kmwz  Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) March 31, 2018

On the professional front, Shah Rukh Khan will next be seen in Aanand L Rai directorial Zero. SRK will be seen opposite Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif in the film. Zero will release on December 21, 2018.After her first book 'The House That Spoke', teen writer Zuni Chopra, also daughter of Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Anupama Chopra, is all set to release her second book 'The Island of the Day Before'.

Her second book 'The Island of the Day' is a collection of stories, flash fiction and poetry.

Zuni Chopra creates a world of fantasy, distinct from other young writers or greats like Neil Gaiman, whose work she admires in this book under Harper Collins' rights.

Currently Zuni is in Bhutan with her mother and sharing few pictures from there proud mommy Anupama wrote, "That moment when you discover your books are selling in Bhutan! Thank you @mountainechoes for the opportunity."

Later sharing a picture from the conference she wrote, "Nice to see girls soar - @zuni_chopra & @pemapotterhead - the youngest speakers @mountainechoes. Here speaking about discipline, imagination & why they tell stories. #proudmom #TheIslandOfTheDayBefore @HarperCollinsIN"

The small parts of the novel have:

1. A little matchstick girl seeks a companion an otter lies in wait for fish in the sea and wonders about humans and their way of life.

2. A merchant and a gnome set out on an extraordinary adventure to deal with an

impending war. An island wakes up to a hovering storm and an untold danger.

With The Island of the Day Before, teenage writing sensation Zuni Chopra experiments with subjects and form. The book will be available by 25 August 2018.

Zuni Chopra is a fresh, young voice who writes powerful prose. Her first novel The House That Spoke was published in January 2017. She has contributed articles to various media houses too.

Zuni has a passion for writing, especially fantasy and poetry, and her favorite authors include Neil Gaiman and Lewis Carroll. Her main source of encouragement and inspiration remains her six dogs.The couple decided to call off the ceremony just four days before exchanging their vows after they struggled to foot the bill. (Photo: Pexels)

An angry bride revealed she was forced to cancer her extravagant wedding after her guests refused to pay $CAD 1,500 each to attend.

The bride from Canada, was due to tie the knot with her childhood sweetheart in a USD 46,020 wedding.

According to a story published in MailOnlin, the couple decided to call off the ceremony just four days before exchanging their vows after they struggled to foot the bill.

Taking to Facebook to explain her decision, the woman blamed her family and friends for the breakdown of her relationship as she vented her frustration in a lengthy post.

The post goes: 'Dear friends, it comes with great sadness that I am announcing the cancellation of the wedding. I apologise for cancelling only four days beforehand.

It goes on, Unfortunately, [fiance] and I have broken up due to some recent and irreparable problems. We have decided to end our relationship and not go forth with any future proceedings.

Susan then explained how her relationship ended abruptly because her guests failed to fork out the $CAD 1,500 ($1,150) they had requested.

I specifically, I mean specifically asked for cash gifts. How could we have our wedding that we dreamed of without proper funding? she said, adding, We'd sacrificed so much and only asked each guest for around $1,500. We talked to a few people who even promised us more to make our dream come true.

My maid of honour pledged $5,000 along with her planning services. We tearfully thanked and accepted. My ex's family offered to contribute $3,000, she added.

So our request for $1,500 for all other guests was not f***ing out of the ordinary. Like, we made it clear. If you couldn't contribute, you weren't invited to our exclusive wedding. It's a once and a lifetime party [sic].

The bride revealed that their dream wedding amounted to $60,000 and all they asked was for a little help from our friends and family to make it happen.'

After sending out the invitations, only eight guests RSVP'd with their cheque of $1,500.

She reveals that to make matters worse, her ex's family took back their offer, and more people backed out too, including the c*** maid of honour.

Desperate for her wedding day to go ahead, Susan said the couple then asked their guests to donate what they could afford.

They also set up a GoFundMe. That only got them $250.

Trying to find another solution, her then-fiance suggested getting an elopement in Vegas to cut down on costs.

She went on to write, Am I some h**ch piece of f***ing trash, a hooker? Am I supposed to like the idea of getting married in the heart of shady gamblers, alcoholics, and the get rich fast fallacy? Suddenly, my body began to shake as I entered a panic attack.

The bride reveals she tried to talk to her maid of honour and was told that she was asking way too much and should stick to the budget.

Susan then claimed her partner was gossiping behind her back.

I overheard him talking in the basement when he called me a stuck up b****. Anyway I am exhausted. I am bone tired. My heart is not the same. It's stone cold, she said.

She ended her explosive post by saying she will spend the next two months backpacking through South America after she deletes her Facebook account.

Her friends quickly commented on her outburst, with one writing, I have no words. You're out of your mind, Susan.

And another said, What happened to you??? Who on hell expects that amount of money?

Screen grabs of Susan's Facebook rant were later posted on Reddit, with many speculating the post is too good to be true.

The rant even attracted some A-list attention, with Chrissy Teigen retweeting the original post on her own account, describing the saga as 'some lower stakes 13 Reasons Why s***'.In Bengaluru alone, out of 1,600 cases reported since 2012, only 67 ended up in convictions, while 1,157 cases are pending trial and 96 cases are still under investigation, it was reported.

Bengaluru: Taking cognizance of a report on poor conviction rate in cases of sexual offences against children in Karnataka, published in Deccan Chronicle on August 19, Deputy Chief Minister Dr G. Parameshwar convened a meeting of district prosecutors to discuss the issue.

In the meeting, Dr Parameshwar suggested the district prosecutors to meet with and learn from senior judges and lawyers on the progress of cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO).

The Deputy CM also instructed the prosecutors to ensure the cases are effectively fought in the courts and also ensure delivery of justice.

Cases of crimes against children should be disposed of quickly to bring about deterrence. I met with our district prosecutors, police officials and home department officials to emphasize the need to fight increasing crimes against children, Dr Parameshwara tweeted.

DC in its issue published on August 19 carried a report which exposed the sorry state of affairs in Karnataka courts with zero convictions in 1,023 POCSO cases reported in 2018. It also exposed the pendency rate of trials in POCSO cases in Bengaluru, which is nearly 80 percent since 2012.

In Bengaluru alone, out of 1,600 cases reported since 2012, only 67 ended up in convictions, while 1,157 cases are pending trial and 96 cases are still under investigation, it was reported.The accused were shifted from Chanchalguda to Cherlapally Prison three months before the judgment date as, only this jail has the facility to house the men in isolation units that meet the specific requirements to house high risk prisoners.(Representional Image)

Hyderabad: The five accused in the Lumbini ParkGokul chat twin blasts terror, currently lodged at the Cherlapally Jail whose fate will be decided on September 4, will be sent to Mumbai to face trial for another series of terror blasts in which they are being accused.

The accused who will be sent are Mohammed Shafique, Amir Reza Khan, Aniqee, Ismail Chowdhari, Farookh Sharfuddin Tarkash post the verdict. Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal are also accused but are absconding.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Cherlapally prison superintendent M. R. Bhaskar, said, On Monday, we were requested by the Sessions court to present the twin blast accused to attend a video conference. But they were notified that their verdict date was postponed. The next date for the verdict is September 4, but we are yet to receive information with regard to the medium it will be announced in. The possibilities could be face-to-face inside the prison courtroom or via conference call with the judge positioned at the Nampally court.

He said, Once the verdict is announced, extraction procedures will commence with regard to the five accused regardless of whether they are convicted or acquitted. The procedures may not be immediate due to the need to ensure highest security in the transportation.

Till then the Cherlapally prison will accommodate them in a high risk-anticipated cell, with exhaustive security measures. The accused were shifted from Chanchalguda to Cherlapally Prison three months before the judgment date as, only this jail has the facility to house the men in isolation units that meet the specific requirements to house high risk prisoners. The accused are each placed in a single-roomed cell under one enclosure that is completely segregated from the general population of the prison. Each cell has a television.

The accused are restricted from participating in prison activities like working, playing or wandering freely. If they request, they are accompanied by an officer one at a time to visit the prison library during the day time. Three meals are provided directly to their cells and every evening from 6.30 pm, they are confined to their cells and movement is restricted until the next day. The accused have followed this timetable for the last three months.Bengaluru: A monstrous son gouged out the right eye of his 65-year-old father over a property row, in JP Nagar on Tuesday afternoon. The incident was even more sorrowful as the entire family was still grieving the death of their mother, who passed away recently.

The gruesome incident occurred in Shakambhari Nagar in J.P. Nagar around 12.30 pm on Tuesday. The accused, 35-year-old Abhishek Chethan, works in an automobile company.

The injured S.S. Parmeshwar, a retired government employee, was working at the Chief Secretarys office in Vidhana Soudha. He was rushed to a private hospital, where he is being treated.

On Tuesday, the father and son were arguing about a property when Abhishek, who was allegedly high on drugs, attacked his father and gouged his right eye with a car key. Parmeshwars eye popped out of the socket and fell on the bed. He was left bleeding profusely, a senior police officer said. Abhishek tried to run away after attacking his mourning father, but alert public caught him and handed him over to the police.

Parameshwar, who has two sons and a daughter, owns a building in Shakambari Nagar. While he lives on the first floor, Chethan is on the second floor. The other son and daughter live separately. While the family had gathered for the last rites of Vasantha, who passed away recently, Abhishek picked up a fight with his brother over the property.

On Tuesday morning, he barged into his parents house and demanded his father to transfer the property to his name. But Parameshwar refused. An enraged Chethan then punched his fathers face with the car key in his hand and Parameshwars right eye fell out, the police said.

When Parameshwar cried out in pain and shouted for help, his other son and daughter rushed in and saw their father bleeding profusely. Abhishek ran out of the house, but was caught by the public. The police rushed to the spot and took his custody.

The police said that Parameshwars granddaughter is an eyewitness to the entire incident. Abhishek has been arrested based on a complaint filed by his brother and sister. Mr Parameshwar is not yet fit to give a statement to the police., Atishi, who has served as advisor to Delhi education minister Manish Sisodia, was named as partys candidate for 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the East Delhi constituency. (Photo: Facebook screengrab | Atishi)

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi Marlena, who has been chosen as the partys candidate for 2019 Lok Sabha polls, has dropped her last name, reportedly on the insistence of her party leaders.

According to some reports, Atishi who has been named as a candidate from the East Delhi constituency was asked to drop her last name ahead of election campaign as it sounded Christian.

The BJP started spreading rumours about Atishi even though she is from a Punjabi Rajput family. So the party requested her to remove her surname from all our campaign material," a report in NDTV quoted an AAP leader as saying.

However, the party refuted the allegations and said Atishi was not compelled to change her last name.

Akshay Marathe, AAP joint secretary, termed Atishi a progressive politician and said she does not use the surname 'Singh' as she doe not intend to encourage caste-based politics.

A progressive politician like @AtishiAAP who DOES NOT use her caste name 'Singh' to ask for votes, is being targeted for using only Atishi without 'Marlena'



Our discourse is around education and healthcare, not on identities of caste and religion.  Akshay Marathe (@AkshayMarathe) August 28, 2018

Several reports have said that Atishis parents, Dr Tripta Wahi and Dr Vijay Singh, were a supporter of the communist ideology and gave her a last name combining Marx and Lenin.

Reacting to the incident, Asaduddin Owaisi, president of the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen Party and a parliamentarian from Hyderabad constituency slammed the AAP and said this is reality of Indian electoral politics.

Atishi did recently change her account name of Facebook and Twitter. However, no explanation was given for it. Her name has also been amended on the AAP website.

On Monday, Atishi, who has served as advisor to Delhi education minister Manish Sisodia, was named as partys candidate for 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the East Delhi constituency.Sources said that home department has been urging home minister Satyendar Jain for appointing senior public prosecutors following the request of Delhi police, but the minister has turned down the request. (Photo: File | PTI)

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) dispensation and the Delhi home department are on collision course on the appointment of three special public prosecutors to handle the alleged assault case of Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash in the court, according to sources.

Sources said that home department has been urging home minister Satyendar Jain for appointing senior public prosecutors following the request of Delhi police, but the minister has turned down the request.

They said that Jain is insisting on the appearance of no one else but the regular government public prosecutors to handle the alleged chief secretary assault case in court.

The home department recently received a letter from the Delhi police requesting approval of the competent authority (home minister) for the appointment of advocate Mohit Mathur, V Madhukar and Siddharth Aggarwal as special public prosecutors.

Reacting to the development, Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta, hit out at the AAP government.

"The Delhi government is making deliberate, planned and sustained efforts to influence and derail the judicial process in the high profile case against CM, Dy CM and 11 MLAs. Home Minister Satyender Jain is making all-out effort to weaken the case," Gupta alleged in a statement.

New Spodumene Zone Identified Outside Sherritt Gordon

Melbourne, Aug 28, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - The directors of Nova Minerals Limited (Nova or Company) ( ASX:NVA ) ( FRA:QM3 ) are pleased to provide an update on the Thompson Brothers Lithium Project. A new zone of spodumene bearing outcrops has been identified as part of Sherritt Gordon (SG) pegmatite cluster.Highlights:- Additional course grain spodumene outcrops identified 300 m south-east of Sherritt Gordon dykes- Prospection has defined an additional winter drill targets- Much of the Sherritt Gordon zone and general tenement area remains untested by any previous lithium explorationThe Company's prospecting team has visited the site to undertake an initial reconnaissance field investigation to confirm the access into the pegmatite cluster in preparation for the upcoming winter drill program. Figure 1, 2, 3, and 4 (see link below) shows some of the spodumene crystals observed at the historic Sherritt Gordon pegmatite dykes and the newly discovered outcrops.This reconnaissance level prospecting identified the new pegmatite in outcrop at surface 300 m southeast from the main SG dykes (see Figure 5 in link below). This new discovery confirms the potential of the area to host additional spodumene bearing pegmatites that could increase the existing resource base, and add significantly to the scale of the Thompson Brothers deposit. The company plans to evaluate the extent of the SG pegmatite cluster while maintaining a "fast track" approach for resources development in the district.NVA Managing Director, Mr Avi Kimelman said:"This new discovery is very encouraging in that it indicates a much larger area of interest for lithium-bearing pegmatites at SG, including where they may extend across a much larger area than first thought.""The Company will draw on Dale Schultz and the field crews significant experience and expertise in lithium geology in the region, developed through the drilling and exploration programs across the Thompson Brother lithium Deposit to test the extent of the historic SG zone and newly discovered outcrops. SG could be developed concurrently as a complimentary satellite operation to the Thompson Brothers ore body to add scale and mine life. We are committed to fast tracking the TSX.V listing process and continuing our fast track development approach across the project."To view figures, please visit:About Nova Minerals Limited

Nova Minerals Limited (ASX:NVA) (FRA:QM3) (OTCMKTS:NVAAF) is a dynamic explorer and developer of its flagship Estelle Gold district in the Tintina gold belt. Nova's strategy is to substantially increase the current 4.7Moz resource on the Korbel prospect. Subsequently to continue to lock in value through moving Korbel towards production whilst increasing the resource base across the pipeline of targets within the Estelle gold district. Nova Minerals also holds strategic investments in Snow Lake Resources Ltd (Thompson Brothers Lithium Project), Torian Resources Ltd (ASX:TNR) and RotorX Aircraft Manufacturing Co.Bengaluru: No-one epitomizes the large-hearted Indian expatriate in the Gulf who puts his home state in front, better than Dr. B.R Shetty. This Abu Dhabi-based billionaire and philanthropist, has adroitly side-stepped the entire controversy on whether India should or should not accept aid from the UAE, by dipping into his not inconsiderable wealth and donating Rs 4 crore towards rehabilitation of the flood -affected in Kerala and Rs 1 crore for the floods in Kodagu, in his home state, Karnataka. Dr Shetty has also contributed Rs 9.5 crores to the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, which has been facilitating relief support from the UAE to India.

He has also pulled in some 500 employees of the UAE Exchange, that he heads and deployed them as volunteers on the ground in Kerala, Dr Shetty told Deccan Chronicle on Monday. "The idea is to encourage people to give back," he says, speaking to DC from the UAE capital Abu Dhabi. "UAE is home to so many of us Indians, the majority of whom are Malayalis. This is our chance to give something back also, to show our solidarity for the state."

Dr Shetty, a business magnate in the UAE, is the founder and chairman of the Abu Dhabi-based NMC Healthcare and also the chairman of the UAE Exchange. Born in Udupi, Karnataka, Dr Shetty has strong ties to his home state, having served as the Vice-Chairman of the Municipal Council in Udupi. The donation of Rs 1 crore to the Karnataka Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund, in aid of the floods in Kodagu was almost a given. "I met Mr Pinarayi Vijayan last week to express my condolences and show solidarity with the people of Kerala," says Dr Shetty. It was also a mark of sympathy for the hundreds of UAE Exchange and Unimoni employees living in Kerala. "Around 500 of our employees have volunteered to work on the ground," says Dr Shetty. "Other than that, I donated Rs 4 crore to the Kerala CM Disaster Relief Fund."

Apart from his direct donation to the CM's fund, Dr Shetty has put in place a number of measures that will facilitate contributions across the diaspora. As Chairman of the UAE Exchange, he has waived the fee for people making contributions to Kerala. "If they're donating to the CMDRF, they can do so for free," he says. Unimoni, another of his ventures, operates the mobile wallet XPay. A direct link to the CMDRF has been established through the wallet as well, to ease the donation process.

The New Medical Centre (NMC) primary healthcare centre is currently under construction in Kannur, Kerala, says Dr Shetty. "It's a human approach, it's important to be humane always. What value does money have if we don't feel the pain of others? We need to thank God for our blessings and find joy in the uplifment of other people." Deeply disturbed by the extent of the damage in Kerala, Dr Shetty has promised to help in whatever way necessary. "We didn't make any plans," he says, referring to his meeting with Mr Pinarayi Vijayan. "The situation is a nightmare, human beings and animals are all drowning. The latest trouble is that flooded homes are now infested with poisonous snakes. These are natural calamities, acts of God. It's very sad but it's our chance to help each other out, too."Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee mocked the BJP on Tuesday for disrespecting former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee by undertaking the "Atal Kalash Yatra" and trying to gain political mileage out of it.

The BJP leadership, in a counter, said Mamata Banerjee should desist from talking much about Vajpayee as she had betrayed him "time and again to serve her own political purpose".

Addressing a rally in Kolkata, Mamata Banerjee said, "I have never seen such a shameless party. We (TMC) might have ideological differences but we respect Atalji. They (BJP) are even doing politics with Atalji's ashes."

"They (BJP) are basically disrespecting him (Vajpayee). This is shameful," she said. Hitting back at Mamata Banerjee, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said.

"She should not talk much about Atalji. We all know what happened when the TMC was part of the NDA government from 1998-2004. We have seen how she betrayed him (Vajpayee) to serve her own political purpose."

BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha urged Mamata Banerjee to refrain from indulging in politics over Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

"When Atalji was prime minister, he had visited your home and even met your mother. So keeping that in mind, please don't try to politicise his death," he said.

After Vajpayee's death on August 16, the BJP central leadership decided to take out "yatras" with urns carrying ashes of the former prime minister in all districts and immerse those in rivers across the country.Dr Pujari said the oxygen in the cylinder ran out by the time the ambulance reached Tokapal village in Bastar and Kudiyam was declared dead on arrival by doctors of the Jagdalpur Medical College Hospital. (Representational image)

Raipur: A five-year-old girl died on Monday after the cylinder attached to her ventilator support system ran out of oxygen while she was being shifted to another hospital 160 kilometres away in Chhattisgarh's Bastar division, an official said.

Bijapur Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr B R Pujari said the incident took place when Bulbul Kudiyam, who was diagnosed with severe pneumonia and was on ventilator support, was being shifted to Jagdalpur Medical College Hospital in Bastar district from Bijapur district hospital.

The girl, who is a resident of Toynar village, had fallen ill at her ashram school in nearby Matwada village and was admitted in Bijapur district hospital on August 22, Dr Pujari told news agency PTI.

He said it was decided on Sunday night, to shift the girl to Jagdalpur, around 160 kms from Bijapur, as her condition had turned critical.

Dr Pujari said the oxygen in the cylinder ran out by the time the ambulance reached Tokapal village in Bastar and Kudiyam was declared dead on arrival by doctors of the Jagdalpur Medical College Hospital.

"Generally it requires one oxygen cylinder to shift patients from Bijapur to Jagdalpur. We will investigate how it got exhausted so quickly," Dr Pujari said.

When asked if a medical technician was travelling in the ambulance, Dr Pujari said the hospital's sole 108 ambulance with a technician was on duty elsewhere. Hence, the girl was shifted in another ambulance without a technician.

"If the driver had contacted Bijapur health officials in time, they would have arranged for an oxygen cylinder from nearby ambulance services," he said.

The ambulance driver had reportedly contacted staff at Tokapal's local government hospital for a replacement oxygen cylinder but was allegedly refused, Chamru Kudiyam, the child's father, said.

The girl's father alleged that negligence on the part of Bijapur district hospital led to his daughter's death.

"The oxygen exhausted in the cylinder when the ambulance was nearing Tokapal. The driver had tried to arrange for another cylinder from Tokapal hospital but staff there refused. There was no technician in the ambulance either," Chamru told reporters.

He also accused his child's ashram school authorities of not providing timely treatment to his daughter.

Bijapur Collector K D Kunjam said that he had directed the CMHO to probe the incident and submit a report.

He said that authorities at Matwada ashram school had also been asked to give an explanation about the treatment given to the child when she fell ill there.The bacteria are able to attack much faster in a favourable climate. Hence, when there are conditions in the environment and also the surrounding environment for them to proliferate than the attack is stronger. Due to this reason, we find that in symptomatic treatments for infectious diseases, the environment for treatment has to be sterile. Isolation is also required as noted during swine flu.

Hyderabad: Rising temperature is a major reason for active state of pathogens and bacteria and now, with a compromised immune system, the human bodys response to an infection is not as expected.

A research study published in Ecology shows that off springs of pathogens produced under higher temperatures can cause higher rate of infection compared to those that are produced under lower temperatures.

Dr Suneetha Narreddy, Consultant for infectious diseases at Apollo Hospitals explained, Rising temperature increase the severity of a disease. This means the pathogens will be more stronger than what was thought earlier from clinical experience.

Rising temperature is a concern as it is responsible for epidemics. There are many other related causes which we still do not know. It is one of the major contributing factors seeing the manner in which infectious diseases are spreading, she added.

Human body already compromises to one attack and if the same conditions prevail, there is a chance for recovery but if the temperature is found to rise, as is being seen, then the ability of the body to recover is lost.

Dr K. Narsimulu, Professor of Internal Medicine explained: Bacteria are able to gather faster and attack much faster under a favourable climate. So, when there are conditions in the surrounding environment for them to proliferate, then the attack turns stronger. Due to this reason, we find that in symptomatic treatments for infectious diseases, the surrounding environment for treatment has to be sterile. Isolation is also being required in severe cases as was noted during the Swine flu epidemic.

The model of treatment is being evaluated only when there are waves of attacks and that is becoming a major challenge for the medical fraternity which has to deal with sudden outbreaks.

The outbreaks are also localised for a while and then, they are spreading from humans to humans which was recently seen in the case of Swine flu from 2015 to 2017.

While the Indian climate is found to adapt to the Michigan strain, the newer strains will have debilitating effect, according to experts.

The present computer based model, evaluated by the Scientists, requires

further experimentation and more data would help to understand the impact of pathogens on crops, animals and also humans.'I am proud to say that through all your difficulties... through all your hardships... whenever Kerala needed you... you stood up and gave your best. I salute your commitment to the people of Kerala,' Congress president Rahul Gandhi said. (Photo: Screengrab | Twitter | @INCIndia)

Alapuzha: Visiting the flood-ravaged areas of Kerala, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday saluted fishermen who played a key role in rescuing those marooned in the deluge.

Claiming that the fishermen community in the country was facing a crisis similar to that by the farmers, he said if the Congress comes to power at the Centre, a separate fisheries ministry would be set up.

Arriving in Kerala on a two-day visit, Rahul Gandhi spoke to people at relief camps, days after the deadliest deluge in the last 100 years left a trail of destruction and death in the state.

At a reception hosted by the Congress in the worst-hit Alapuzha to honour the fishermen community, Rahul Gandhi said the Coast Guard should make use of the services of fishermen for rescue operations in the future.

"I am proud to say that through all your difficulties... through all your hardships... whenever Kerala needed you... you stood up and gave your best. I salute your commitment to the people of Kerala," the Congress president said.

Three thousand fishermen had saved 70,000 lives in the recent floods, he said.

Alleging that the fishermen community in the country was facing a crisis similar to that by the farmers, Rahul Gandhi said, "The moment the Congress comes to power at the Centre, we are going to set up a ministry of fisheries."

"God's own army will have its own ministry. So your problems can be looked after and your words can be heard at the national level," he said, adding, "I do not want to make fake promises. This is a word of the Congress president."

Along with farmers, fishermen have also helped build the country, Rahul Gandhi said and asserted that it was an "honour" for him to felicitate the fishermen who had saved several lives.

Recalled his last visit to the state in the aftermath of Cyclone Ockhi, Rahul Gandhi said, "I came and visited your houses and I must say looking back, I am not happy for the help you had received for the damage (suffered in the cyclone)."

Earlier, Rahul Gandhi, who arrived in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday morning from the UK, visited relief camps in Chengannur and Alapuzha and spoke to the affected people. He is scheduled to visit some camps in Ernakulam district later in the day and tour Wayanad and Kozhikode districts on Wednesday.

Also Read: Rahul Gandhi begins two-day Kerala visit, meets flood victims at relief camps

Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor tweeted, "President of @INCIndia @RahulGandhi left Thiruvananthapuram this morning for flood-affected areas in central Kerala. His two-day visit will cover districts with the heaviest inundation over the last two weeks (sic)."

In Chengannur, the Congress chief visited relief camps at two colleges and interacted with the people sheltered there.

Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala and Congress' state unit president M M Hassan were among those who accompanied Rahul Gandhi. "Congress President @RahulGandhi meets the flood affected at the Relief Camp at the Engineering College in Chengannur, Kerala #RebuildingKerala (sic)," the party tweeted, attaching photos of Rahul Gandhi meeting people at the camps.

According to data released on Tuesday morning by the Disaster Management's state control room, 474 people have died in the rains and floods since May 29 when the southwest monsoon set in over Kerala.The Supreme Court's verdict came as it set aside Delhi High Court's August 2016 judgement which had declared as null and void the second marriage of a man during pendency of his appeal against divorce. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has held that the second marriage of a person during the pendency of an appeal against a divorce decree would not be void in cases where the parties have decided not to pursue the appeal.

A bench of Justices SA Bobde and LN Rao, while interpreting section 15 of the Hindu Marriage Act dealing with the issue of marriage by divorced persons, said the restriction placed on second marriage till the dismissal of an appeal would not apply in cases were the parties have arrived at a settlement and decided not to go ahead with the appeal.

"Following the principles of purposive construction, we are of the opinion that the restriction placed on a second marriage in Section 15 of the Act till the dismissal of an appeal would not apply to a case where parties have settled and decided not to pursue the appeal," the bench said.

Section 15 of the Act states that it shall be lawful for either party to marry again after dissolution of a marriage if there was no right of appeal against the decree of divorce. It also said the second marriage by either of the parties shall be lawful only after dismissal of appeal, if any, against the decree of divorce.

The Supreme Court's verdict came as it set aside Delhi High Court's August 2016 judgement which had declared as null and void the second marriage of a man during pendency of his appeal against divorce.

"The Hindu Marriage Act is a social welfare legislation and a beneficent legislation and it has to be interpreted in a manner which advances the object of the legislation. The Act intends to bring about social reforms. It is well known that this court cannot interpret a socially beneficial legislation on the basis as if the words therein are cast in stone," the bench said.

While referring to an earlier judgement of the Supreme Court, the bench said it was held that "incapacity for second marriage for a certain period of time does not have the effect of treating the former marriage as subsisting and the expression 'spouse' would not include within its meaning the expression 'former spouse'."

The first marriage of the man was dissolved by the trial court after his then wife had approached the court seeking divorce. The man had approached the high court against the trial court's order.

During the pendency of appeal, both the parties arrived at a settlement after which the man filed an application to withdraw his appeal against the trial court order. The high court on December 20, 2011, dismissed his appeal as withdrawn in terms of the settlement.

However, the man married another woman on December 6, 2011.

His second wife thereafter filed a petition for declaring the marriage as void and raised the ground that the appeal filed by the man against the divorce with his first wife was pending before the high court when the marriage was solemnised between them.

The trial court had rejected her plea, following which she had approached the high court which declared their marriage as null and void.New Delhi: The Union Law Ministry has sent a communication to Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra to recommend the name of his successor so that it could commence the process of appointment at least three weeks before he demits office in October.

Normally the recommendation is sent a month before the CJI demits office. According to highly placed sources, CJI Misra is expected to send his recommendation early next week and the government is likely to accept it.

There was speculation in the judiciary and the government whether Justice Ranjan Gogoi who spearheaded a revolt by holding a press conference on January 12 along with his three companion judges, J Chelameswar (who has since retired), Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph would made the next CJI.

It is in this context the Law Ministry has written to CJI Misra to make his recommendation at the earliest.

Under the Memorandum of Procedure evolved under the collegium system, it is customary and a convention for the outgoing CJI to name the senior most judge as his successor. There have been two attempts earlier to bypass the convention or supersede judges, after Independence.

The first supersession was in 1973 involving three judges. The then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi appointed Justice A N as the CJI overlooking the three senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, Justices J M Shelat, A N Grover and K S Hegde.

The second and possibly most infamous super session, happened during the height of the Emergency, when Indira Gandhi disapproved the dissenting judgment of Justice H R Khanna and Justice M H Beg was appointed as the CJI.

Following the Constitution Bench striking down the National Judicial Appointments Commission law as unconstitutional, the collegium system has been revived.

The NJAC (National Judicial Appointments Commission) law did not envisage that the senior most judge would be appointed as the Chief Justice of India.

The Centre had made it clear that seniority will be one of the criterion and other eligibility conditions will be formulated by the government while framing the rules and regulations governing. However, with the revival of the collegium, it is customary and obligatory for the outgoing CJI to recommend his immediate senior, viz Justice Ranjan Gogoi.Mysuru: The state government, which had been upbeat about the Dasara festival this year following the good monsoon, has now decided to scale it down owing to the recent floods and landslides in Kodagu district and the drought in 65 taluks of the state. While the 10-day festival will be celebrated with traditional fanfare, it will not be a grand affair, according to Chief Minister H D Kumarswamy.

Speaking to reporters after chairing a meeting of the Dasara high power committee here on Tuesday, he said that the decision to scale down the festivities had been taken on the recommendation of the elected representatives, officers and others.

But all the traditions and programmes, including the Yuva Dasara will remain intact. As there has been a surplus production of electricity in the state, we will also illuminate Mysuru as always for the festival, he assured. Revealing that the Dasara festivities would be inaugurated on October 10 by Infosys Foundation chairperson Sudha Murthy, he explained that she was chosen because of her social concerns and as she was a writer and an expert in the field of education. While the tourism sector is expected help fund the festival to the tune of Rs 100 crore, another Rs 7.10 crore from last years Dasara funds will also be used for it this year.

Interestingly, the government intends to hold some of the Dasara events all through the year. We dont want the programmes that have been planned for Dasara to end with it. We are considering hosting some programmes like the folk fair , showcasing traditional folk dances and culture of rural Karnataka, during the year in Mysuru. We want the exhibition to be held round- the- year too. There is also a proposal for a permanent Dasara authority, the Chief Minister revealed.

Meanwhile, the 12 Dasara elephants will begin their journey to the Mysuru palace on September 2 from Veeranahosahalli in the Nagararahole tiger reserve, according to Mr Kumaraswamy . Responding to a query, tourism minister Sa Ra Mahesh, said that the state government would consider having a brand ambassador to promote its tourism.Mumbai: The Pune police on Tuesday conducted simultaneous countrywide raids and arrests in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence on January 1 in which Maratha groups objection to a commemorative event by dalits led to violent clashes that spread across Maharashtra, leading to one death.

The raids at the homes and offices of nine activists began at 6 am and went on till evening when the arrest of five were announced lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj from Faridabad, rights activist Gautam Navlakha from Delhi, activist Vernon Gonsalves and lawyer-activist Arun Ferreira from Mumbai.

From Hyderabad, 78-year-old revolutionary writer P. Varavara Rao was arrested. The raids and arrests, police said, were based on names that emerged during the investigation of five activists they had arrested in June in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence.

While Pune police termed Tuesdays raids and arrests as a crackdown on urban Naxals who, they claimed were responsible for the violence, many reacted to the news with shock, describing the action as absolutely chilling and a virtual declaration of emergency.

The CPI(M) politburo called it a brazen attack on democratic rights and civil liberties and demanded the withdrawal of the cases against the activists and their immediate release.Chennai: In what could perhaps be good news to wildlife enthusiasts and public, foreign pet reptiles can be seen in enclosures in Chennai Snake Park located inside Guindy National Park.

Forest officials say the reptiles were brought 20 days ago and kept under quarantine for 15 days to monitor their medical condition.

However, herpetologists warn that those sensitive species should be protected in a proper manner, till they adapted to the environment.

Albino Python

Seized in Tiruchy airport 20 days ago, the Chennai Snake Park officials let them into enclosure after quarantine period was over and doctors from Madras veterinary wildlife wing certified them as stable.

American corn snake

The officials said that species of spitting cobra, albino python, green tree python, radiated tortoise, elongated tortoise and blue iguana are displayed for public.

Blue Iguana

G. Kannan, education officer, Chennai Snake Park, told DC This is the first time the snake park has such types of reptiles from abroad and we are happy that the snake park has received such rare species. Since public are not aware of these species in the park, we are planning to advertise about such information.

Radiated Tortoise

He exuded confidence that more number of footfalls will be recorded, once the news reached out to the public.

Meanwhile, herpetologists point out that the seized species should properly be protected in enclosures.

Spitting Cobra

Dr J. Subramanean, a herpetologist of Care Earth Trust (CET), noted, it will take some time for such snakes to attach with the environment, since they are sensitive Feeding food is important. As far as tortoise and iguana are concerned, they will easily adapt to the environment.

However, the herpetologist explained that if those snakes were caught in forests, their survival will be a question.

Speaking to DC, T Uma, Regional Deputy Director, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), southern region, said that they sometime send back those smuggled species based on survival conditions.

However, in this case, it was very sensitive and we immediately provided treatment species and brought them to Chennai, she added.

Director Appointment and Metallurgical Test Work Update

Canberra, Aug 28, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Alt Resources Ltd ( ASX:ARS ) (Alt or 'the Company') is pleased to provide this Corporate Update for Company shareholders.The Company would like to advise it has recently appointed Mr Andrew Sparke to the Board of Alt Resources Limited. Mr Sparke is Managing Director of Olive Capital Pty Ltd and former Chair of Torian Resources Limited. Mr Sparke takes up the role as Executive Director, Corporate and is a specialist advisor in corporate services for small and mid-capitalised ASX listed companies with a strong track record in building medium and longer-term share registers for emerging companies.The Company recognises the need to add additional skill sets to the Board as it moves forward with development plans for the Mt Ida and Bottle Creek Gold Project's and the addition of Mr Sparke as Executive Director Corporate strengthens the Alt Board as the Company moves towards development stages of Bottle Creek.In line with Alt's intention to fast track the Mt Ida and Bottle Creek Gold Project's resource definition the Company will re-commence its RC drilling programs at the Emu, Southwark, VB and Cascade deposits. Drilling is scheduled to start later in September 2018 with the Company drilling known historical ore shoots beneath the VB pit, infill drilling between the Emu and Southwark deposits and an extensive 150 hole shallow RC program covering the known mineralised laterite zones at Southwark and Emu.Assays from the recently completed RC program undertaken at Emu and Cascade deposits are currently being received from ALS Laboratories and results will be announced to the market in the coming weeks with a resource upgrade expected to be announced once all results are modelled.The Mt Ida Gold Project is rapidly evolving into a promising emerging development project with multiple exploration and mining targets. In combination with existing Mineral Resources within the Mt Ida Gold Project, at the Quinns and Mt Ida South Projects, Alt has undertaken extensive resource drilling at the Bottle Creek Gold Project recently announcing the maiden resource at Bottle Creek(see Note below).Alt Resources is committed to advancing the Mt Ida and Bottle Creek Gold Project's towards development. A number of technical studies are currently underway to facilitate this goal, including mine planning and pit optimisation. The Company has recently completed a review of the historical Post Mine Assessment and Review of Metallurgical Operations completed by METS Engineering and will now commence new metallurgical test work and consider plant design and operational factors based on the METS review.The METS Engineering review of the historical processing operations at Bottle Creek will be available for shareholders to review in coming weeks on the Company website.Note: http://www.abnnewswire.net/press/en/94236 About Aurenne Alt Resources Pty Ltd

Aurenne Alt Resources Pty Ltd is an Australian based mineral exploration company that aims to become a gold producer by exploiting historical and new gold prospects across quality assets and to build value for shareholders.New Delhi: Will the name of senior most judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who hails from Assam be recommended to become the next Chief Justice of India to succeed the present CJI Dipak Misra, who retires on October 2. The Union law ministry has sent a communication to the Chief Justice to recommend the name of his successor so that it could commence the process of appointment at least three weeks before Misra demits office.

Normally the recommendation is sent a month before the CJI demits office. According to highly placed sources, CJI Misra is expected to send his recommendation early next week and the government is likely to accept it. There was speculation in the judiciary and the government whether Justice Ranjan Gogoi who spearheaded a revolt by holding a press conference on January 12 along with his three companion judges, J. Chelameswar (who has since retired), Madan B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph would be made the next CJI.

It is in this context the Law Ministry has written to Justice Misra to make his recommendation at the earliest. Under the Memorandum of Procedure evolved under the collegium system, it is customary and a convention for the outgoing CJI to name the senior most judge as his successor. There have been two attempts earlier to bypass the convention or supersede judges, after Independence.

The first supersession was in 1973 involving three judges. The then Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi appointed Justice A.N. Ray as the CJI overlooking the three seniormost judges of the Supreme Court, Justices J.M. Shelat, A.N Grover and K. S Hegde. The second and possibly most infamous supersession, happened during the height of the Emergency, when Mrs. Gandhi disapproved the dissenting judgment of Justice H.R. Khanna and Justice M.H. Beg was appointed as the CJI.HYDERABAD: Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao held a meeting with BJP MLAs at Pragathi Bhavan on Tuesday, soon after his return from the national capital. After completing his four-day visit to Delhi, Mr Rao reached Hyderabad on Monday night. In Delhi, the CM met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several Union Ministers. In the wake of speculations on early elections and secret ties between the TRS and the BJP, the CMs meeting with the BJP MLAs takes on political significance.

However, the BJP MLAs said that no political discussions were held with the Chief Minister. They said that they had sought the appointment of CM KCR to make a request. They wanted to install former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayees statue at a proper place in the city and also to construct a Vajpayee memorial park.

The BJP leaders and MLAs have been critical of the TRS government and CM KCR in media conferences and public meetings. However, on Tuesday after the meeting with KCR, the BJP MLAs changed their tone. Speaking to the media, Telangana BJP president and MLA K Laxman along with party MLAs said that they had discussed with CM KCR for about 15 minutes. They had requested to install Vajpayees statue for his services to Hyderabad city when he was Prime Minister. He said that the CM had responded positively. He said there were no political discussions in the meeting.New Delhi: With an eye on Mission 2019, the BJP top brass including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah on Tuesday held a meeting of BJP chief ministers and deputy chief ministers. While the party exuded confidence that it will win the 2019 general elections with a bigger majority under Mr Modis leadership, the partys poll strategy will focus mainly on governments development initiatives along with its commitment towards social justice and the national security.

At the day long meeting, other than the Central and states schemes and their impact, BJP leaders also discussed National Register of Citizens, recently passed legislations regarding the SC/ST Act and constitutional status to the OBC Commission and the Citizenship amendment bill, issues which have more political impact.

Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh, who briefed the media later said that the party leaders discussed various development works and people centric schemes of the Centre and the states and expressed confidence that the party will emerge victorious in 2019 with a bigger majority than 2014, under Mr Modi's leadership. The party also exuded confidence that it will retain power in three party ruled states - Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh  where Assembly polls are scheduled by the end of this year.

Earlier in the day, Mr Shah inaugurated the day-long meeting in which it was decided to meet targets of the Swachh Bharat scheme in a time-bound manner.

Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Nitin Gadkari also attended the meeting. Mr Modi joined the meeting later in the day. The PM in his address spoke about laws passed by Parliament for welfare of Dalits, tribals and Other Backward Communities, besides measures such as hiking minimum support price for crops to benefit farmers.

Mr Modi also asked CMs to focus on speedy execution of Swachh Bharat and Gram Swaraj projects and take it to the masses during elections. Under Swachh Bharat exercise, the government has been building toilets and focussing on cleanliness, and the ongoing Gram Swaraj project in over 48,000 villages.Varavara Rao was produced before a local court at Nampally for a transit warrant. He is to be shifted to Pune for further inquiry. (Photo: PTI)

Hyderabad: A regular Tuesday morning for Hemalatha, wife of writer and activist Varavara Rao, turned dramatic when a team of five police personnel including a female officer knocked on the door of their house at about 6 am. Hemalatha and Varavara Rao were living in a flat of Siddamsettys Himasai Heights in Jawaharnagar under Gandhinagar police station. Their second daughter Anala and her husband, journalist K.V. Kurmanath, were living in an adjacent apartment.

His younger daughter Pavana and her husband, an assistant professor Satyanarayana live in the official quarters at EFLU (English and Foreign Languages University) campus in Tarnaka area. As soon as the Pune police informed the Hyderabad police, they started simultaneous searches on the houses of Rao, Kurmanath, Satyanarayana and also another journalist T. Purushotham Reddy alias Kranthi. Kranthi, who is also the editor of Virasam website, was living in Jayapuri Colony at Nagole in LB Nagar.

After the Pune police arrested her husband, Hemalatha said About five persons in civil clothes entered the house claiming to be a police team from Pune and asked my name and my husbands name. They locked the door from inside and told us that they wanted to search the house, as my husbands name surfaced during their investigation in a case registered at Vishrambaug police station located in Pune.

She said that they checked the entire house and threw the papers and books used by Rao on a bed in his room. During afternoon, they informed that my husband would be placed under arrest and made me sign on a five-page note which was written in Marathi, she said.

Several activists rushed to the house of Varavara immediately on knowing about the searches. They condemned the arrest of Rao and called the police claims as false implications to supress the voice of the poor. Telangana United Front leader Vimalakka said Whatever the police are claiming about the letters in which Raos name was mentioned, are all concocted. The governments at both the state and centre are unable to even bear the democratic movements held by the activists. It is a wake-up call for all the activists to unite to condemn the arrest, as similar incidents may happen to them. The police are just trying to suppress the voice of the poor people and tribals, for whom Rao always stood for.

Rao has been fighting for the rights of the deprived people for the last 50 years. Several times, false cases were filed against him, but none were proven in the courts. This time, the police created a fake letter including his name and targetted him. Just based on that false letter, Rao has been arrested, said the Virasam members in the press note.Volunteers take selfie with finance mninister Thomas Isaac who joined them for the clean-up work on Tuesday.

Alappuzha: Hundreds of houses, public institutions and schools in 226 villages in the 16 panchayaths in the flood-ravaged Kuttanad were cleared of the muck, silt and water in the first day of the two-day Operation Rehabilitation joined by thousands of volunteers cutting across colours of politics, caste and creed on Tuesday.

Apart from 50,000-odd people from the affected families, volunteers in their thousands, mainly youngsters, were seen pouring in the Alappuzha town on Tuesday morning, preparing themselves to be part of historic restoration and rehabilitation drive launched by the state government and the local civic bodies. They cleared houses in Kainkary, Pulinkunnu, Kavalam, Champakulam, Nedumudy, Neelamperoor, Ramankary, Muttar, Thakazhi, Cheruthana, Karuvatta, Pallipad, Veliyanad, Thalavady, Veeyapuram and Edathua panchayats.

Having been administered with preventive medicines of epidemics, the volunteers were taken from Alappuzha to Kuttanad in huge barges at 8 am. They dropped teams of volunteers in the various panchayths.

Clad in lungi, cloth around the head and with hand gloves, it was difficult to determine whether volunteers were local people or public servants.

The first barge, carrying at least 500 volunteers, had first-stopped in Kavalam panchayath, where water has receded substantially. Most houses in the panchayat had sludge in them, making them inhospitable.

Deccan Chronicle travelled along with the volunteers and caught up with many youngsters who included people from every walk of life: engineers, students, technicians, daily wage workers, employees, political workers--who are enthusiastically taking part in the massive mission.

Pranav, an engineering student, came all the way from Shornur in Palakkad district and was seen cleaning up the house of Akkama Mathew Mattancheril, former vice-president of Kavalam Panchayath.

He said he came here along with 10 other classmates to be part of the operation. We noticed the dismal situation of Kuttanad a week ago, he told DC. We were planning to come down here for some days for helping the people who struggle to survive. We reached here on Monday night and on Tuesday morning and registered our names with the district administration. We will return only after completing the clean-up drive.

Their team was split into two, and they cleared four houses on Tuesday. We could not clear more than two houses a day as there was thick sludge inside the houses and surroundings. We first took furniture out of the rooms, and then washed all rooms with water, hand cleaner and brooms. All home appliances including TV sets and fridges were seen drenched in water. Clearing of a house really needs hard work, says Asim, another engineering student hailing from Al-Ameen College of Technology, Shornur.

Government Technical High School, one of the proud education institutions in Kavalam panchyath was cleaned by a 33-mmeber team. They swept the floor of each classroom, peeling away the thick cover of salvinia on the courtyard with gloved hands and pieces of wooden sheets.

We come from Ashramam of Alappuzha district, said Raji, the leader of the team. Its important to get the school opened at earliest. We want the school to be ready when students return after Onam vacation. So we have given priority to the cleaning of schools, he said.

The house of Jeenamol Varghese in Kavalam north, stood on Pampa river side, was seen completely thrashed by unprecedented flood. The fridge they used lay washed up by floodwater and abandoned behind the house in the thick muck. Prince Varghese, her husband, said the fridge cant be used now. We have been cleaning the house together for five days. But it is still halfway through. Today we got some volunteers to clean it. However, it will take at least week to remove it completely from the surrounding,Mr Varghese said.

They cleared flooded domestic wells, repaired electrical problems and plumbing glitches in the houses.

Leftist organisation Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) workers were seen active in the mega clean-up drive. C.P. Jayaraj, DYFI state committee member, said workers from 15 blocks (50 from each block) in Kottayam district were currently in Kuttanad to take part of the campaign.

Bineesh, a daily wage worker from Kayalchira of Kavalam, who was seen cleaning utensils in the river water along with his wife, said they themselves had cleared the house as water started to recede. We did not wait volunteers to come. We lost all items but we did manage to clean the muck soon after the water receded, he said.Earlier while taken into the court, Thirumurugan Gandhi shouted slogans that he would continue his fight against the copper smelter plant even it obtains court sanctioning to operate till the court chamber.

Thoothukudi: Thirumurugan Gandhi, coordinator of the May 17 Movement, an outfit sympathetic to the cause of the Sri Lankan Tamils, produced before the magistrate court in Thoothukudi in a case filed against him in connection with the anti-Sterlite agitation was granted bail on Tuesday.

The Thoothukudi SIPCOT police registered case against Thirumugan Gandhi four months ago on April 16, 2018, for participating in an unlawful assembly at Kumareddiyapuram to address the anti-Sterlite agitators disobeying the order duly promulgated by the police under section 143 and 188 of IPC respectively.

In this case, he was produced before Thoothukudi magistrate court-3, which, however, released him bail in that case on a bail plea applied the same day by the anti-Sterlite forum of advocates.

Thirumurugan Gandhi, who was imprisoned at Vellore Jail in various other cases was brought to Palayamkottai central prison in Tirunelveli the previous night so as to be produced him before the magistrate court in Thoothukudi on Tuesday. Earlier while taken into the court, Thirumurugan Gandhi shouted slogans that he would continue his fight against the copper smelter plant even it obtains court sanctioning to operate till the court chamber.

Later, while going out of the court amid tight police escort, he shouted slogans against the state and central governments for backing the copper smelter plant and demanded the filing of murder charges againstthe then Thoothukudi district collector, Dr Venkatesh and then police superintendent, Mr. Mahendran, who, the activist alleged was partly responsible for the police firing on May 22, when 13 precious human lives were lost.Hyderabad: Revolutionary writer and activist Varavara Rao was arrested by the Vishrambaug police, Pune, from his house at Gandhinagar in Hyderabad on Tuesday. The police said that Mr Rao was arrested in connection with the Elgar Parishad event that led to the violence in Pune on December 31, last year. Near simultaneous searches were carried out at the residences of Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Farreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in New Delhi.

The role of Mr Rao followed the probe into five persons who were arrested and who were allegedly linked to the Maoist party, which reportedly planned to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Police teams from Pune headed by DCP Suhas Bawache, assisted by the local task force searched the houses of Mr Raos sons-in-law  K.V. Kurmanath, journalist working for a national daily, Satynarayana, professor at EFLU (English and Foreign Languages University) and also the house of T. Purushotham Reddy alias Kranthi, a journalist working for a regional daily.

The simultaneous searches started at 6 am and lasted till 1.30 pm at the houses of Mr Rao, Mr Kurmanath and Mr Kranthi, which ended with the arrest of Mr Rao. The police had cordoned off the residential areas and did not allow outsiders to enter the apartments in which the searches were carried out. It might be recalled that in the first week of June, the Pune police arrested activist Sudhir Dhawale in Mumbai, advocate Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut and Shoma Sen from Nagpur and Rona Wilson from Delhi.

Letters recovered from Rona Wilson which were written by Surendra Gadling purportedly indicated that Rao would arrange funds to carry out attacks. However, Rao had earlier denied the allegations and said the letters were concocted. Varavara Rao was then taken to Gandhi Hospital for a medical check-up, where his blood pressure was reported as 160/90.

A case was registered against the five accused and also Varavara Rao under sections 153 (b), 505, 120 (b) r/w 34, and sections 13, 16, 17, 18 (b), 20, 38, 39 and 40 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, by the Vishrambaug police for the probe. During the raids, the police seized one hard disc, one memory card, hundreds of documents of CPI (Maoist) party documents, several letters written by the top Maoist cadre, his mobile phone along with his wifes mobile phone, Aadhar cards and also some party affiliated magazines from Raos house. Meanwhile, several such documents were seized from the houses of Kurmanath, Kranthi and also Satyanarayana.

Varavara Rao was then taken to Gandhi Hospital for a medical check-up, where his blood pressure was reported as 160/90. He was then taken to the local court in Nampally, from where the Pune police obtained a transit warrant to take Rao to Pune. Meanwhile, in the searches conducted at the houses of journalists Kurmanath and Kranthi, the police seized letters and DVDs related to the writings and speeches of the Maoists and also seized their mobile phones and a laptop from Kranthi.Revathi left the police station, but returned in an hour with a bottle of petrol and set herself afire in front of the Thiruverkadu police station. (Representational Images)

Chennai: A woman allegedly committed self immolation in front of the Thiruverkadu police station on Tuesday noon, following a quarrel with her neighbour. Police identified the victim as G. Revathi (30), resident of Kasthuribai Nagar in Thiruverkadu.

According to police, Revathi had constant problems with neighbour Amirthavalli. The two families lived in a rented house in the same compound and had frequent verbal fights over cleaning the drainage and dumping of wastes. Amirthavalli accused Revathi and her family for picking up quarrels always.

Both had approached the police frequently with their oral complaints, but on Monday, Amirthavalli lodged a written complaint demanding action against Revathi for abusing and disturbing her familys peace, said an investigation officer.

On Tuesday morning, police called them for talks. While Revathi reached the police station, Amirthavalli did not, and the police officer postponed the meeting to 3 pm and asked Revathi to go home for lunch.

Revathi left the police station, but returned in an hour with a bottle of petrol and set herself afire in front of the Thiruverkadu police station.

Police personnel there put off the fire and sent her to the Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital, where she was declared to be critical, having sustained 82 percent burns.

Thiruverkadu police have registered a case and are investigating.These mens right organisations believe that the laws and the ideals of feminism in todays India have made it seem as though it's a crime to be born as a man in India. (Photo: File)

Varanasi: Frustrated with 'toxic feminism' for destroying their families, around 150 men performed the 'last rites of their marital relations' with a dip in the Ganges.

Celebrating the 10th year of mens right group, 'Save Indian Family Foundation' (SIFF), the men performed a pishachini mukti puja to rid themselves of the negative energy left behind by their former wives as well as a shraadh for their present and living wives, reported News 18.

Rajesh Vakharia, a founding member of SIFF believes that Indian laws are biased against men.

There is an Animal Welfare Ministry, but there's no ministry for the protection of Indian men. Should men be treated worse than animals? he asks.

These mens right organisations believe that the laws and the ideals of feminism in todays India have made it seem as though it's a crime to be born as a man in India.

The event which took place last week was a cathartic way for the men to rid themselves of their relationship baggage, said men's rights activist Amit Deshpande.

"Their peace of mind was taken away from them. The baggage of their marital relationship was tagging them," Deshpande said. He asked the participants to perform a pind-daan of their baggage during the event.

One of the organisers, Anupam Dubey, told Hindustan Times that their fight was for the rights of men. He believes that there is bias against men and that feminism has become corrupted and was responsible for many families breaking.

"Many a family broke because of this form of feminism. We are against it. Equality means equality. he said.

Vakharia said that he was motivated to set up SIFF owing to a personal experience where he was detained for five days after his ex-wife filed a complaint under Section 498 A.

It took five years for me to get acquitted. I set up SIFF to campaign against all laws that are biased against men, he told News 18.

One of the chief grievances of the organisation is existing dowry laws which they say have seen frequent misuse. Vakharia says that women with ego issues can file sexual harassment cases.

It is in such cases of abuse of the law that the men's right group steps in. They counsel the men and help train them to fight the cases.

Vakharia said that around 92,000 husbands commit suicide each year owing to mental torture stemming from matrimonial dispute. In contrast, around 24,000 wives commit suicide in a year.Speaking at the event, he announced that 50,000 ducklings would be given at subsidised rates to families in the area. (Photo: File)

Agartala: Tripura Chief Minister, Biplab Deb came out with yet another baffling statement while addressing the inaugural event for a boat race in Rudrasagar in Melaghar, Tripura on Tuesday.

Speaking at the event, he announced that 50,000 ducklings would be given at subsidised rates to families in the area.

While expounding on the benefits of ducks he added, "When ducks swim in water, oxygen level automatically increases in the waterbody. It (oxygen) gets recycled. Fish in the water will get more oxygen. They also benefit from the bird droppings. Thus, pisciculture will benefit and fishes will grow faster, that too in a completely organic way.

This comment drew flak from several quarters with social media users coming out with a variety of creative and sarcastic retorts.

Some users chose to recapitulate his long list of bizzare comments while others attempted to disprove his belief on scientific grounds. One Twitter user suggested that scientists from around the globe should take heed of Deb's wisdom.

The Tripura CM is well known for statements that have made many think of him as a bit of an odd duck.

In an earlier instance he had rewritten history with claims that Internet and satellite communication had existed in the days of the Mahabharata.

Other memorable gaffes included his statement that former Miss World Diana Hayden did not represent Indian beauty and questioning the "process of judgement" behind her win.

Days after this comment, he had urged the youth of Tripura to not run after government jobs and instead open paan shops or milk cows.

He has also said that Gautam Buddha had walked across India and gone to countries like Japan, Myanmar and Tibet.

Most recently, in July, when asked about lyncing incidents in his state, the Chief Minister declared that "there is a wave of happiness in Tripura".

"You should also enjoy this wave. You should also be happy. Look at my face... I am so happy, he said. A later statement said that this comment had been taken out of context.CHICO, Calif. - A Cal Fire captain has been charged in an alleged sexual assault case that occurred in Chico in July of 2017.

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey announced that Kevin Andrew Fleming, 36, of Chico, was charged with one count of digital penetration of an unconscious intoxicated female.

The alleged assault occurred at a private home in Chico during a social gathering on July 15, 2017. Fleming was originally identified as the suspect in the case during an investigation conducted by the Chico Police Department after the incident occurred.

The Butte County District Attorney's Office continued the investigation and filed a formal complaint against Fleming on August 3, 2018.

The defendant faces the possibility of eight years in a state prison and a lifetime sexual registration requirement if convicted.

Fleming is currently out of custody and will be arraigned on Wednesday, August 29, 2018.The JBL 200 Series also includes acoustic aperture technology that works with its low-distortion 15-inch driver.

Harman has launched the JBL 200 series two-way cinema loudspeakers and JBL CPi2000 cinema processor. The new products are claimed to offer an affordable solution that delivers the good audio experience for movie enthusiasts in small- to mid-sized cinemas of India.

As per Harman, the 200 Series offers improved performance and coverage while lowering the total cost of ownership. Similarly, JBL CPi2000 is a professional-grade processor providing an audio enhancement and volume control for economical cinemas.

In association with its authorized dealer, Harman is demonstrating these new solutions in a simulated cinema environment, to give the audience a comprehensive experience of the sound delivery, quality and coverage at the ongoing Mumbai Expo.

The JBL 200 Series also includes acoustic aperture technology that works with its low-distortion 15-inch driver. The integrated acoustic apertures is meant to create a horn-loading effect, helping to maintain a wide horizontal coverage pattern through the crossover range while improving speech clarity.

JBL CPi2000 features DSP processing, room EQ tuning, volume control and system fault detection and can be configured through a GUI software. CPi2000 offers four input options  analog input, digital input, non-sync input and mono mic input. The analog input and digital input accept audio signal from any cinema server. Non-sync input receives line-level stereo signal from a CD or DVD player for background music playback. Mic input connects to an RTA microphone for room tuning.

Designed to use with Crown cinema amplifiers and JBL cinema speakers, CPi2000 is said to be able to detect faults of amplifiers or speakers and send the fault information to a TMS or a 3rd party control system via its RJ45 connector.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.A full moon rises above the golden domes of the Orthodox Monastery of the Caves in Kiev, Ukraine. Ukraine is lobbying hard for a religious divorce from Russia and some observers say the issue could be decided as soon as September 2018. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

The Russian hackers indicted by the US special prosecutor last month have spent years trying to steal the private correspondence of some of the worlds most senior Orthodox Christian figures, The Associated Press has found, illustrating the high stakes as Kiev and Moscow wrestle over the religious future of Ukraine.

The targets included top aides to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, who often is described as the first among equals of the worlds Eastern Orthodox Christian leaders.

The Istanbul-based patriarch is currently mulling whether to accept a Ukrainian bid to tear that countrys church from its association with Russia, a potential split fueled by the armed conflict between Ukrainian military forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. The APs evidence comes from a hit list of 4,700 email addresses supplied last year by Secureworks, a subsidiary of Dell Technologies.

The AP has been mining the data for months, uncovering how a group of Russian hackers widely known as Fancy Bear tried to break into the emails of US Democrats, defence contractors, intelligence workers, international journalists and even American military wives. In July, as part of special counsel Robert Muellers ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US election, a US grand jury identified 12 Russian intelligence agents as being behind the groups hack-and-leak assault against Hillary Clintons presidential campaign.

The targeting of high-profile religious figures demonstrates the wide net cast by the cyberspies.

Patriarch Bartholomew claims the exclusive right to grant a Tomos of Autocephaly, or full ecclesiastic independence, sought by the Ukrainians. It would be a momentous step, splitting the worlds largest Eastern Orthodox denomination and severely eroding the power and prestige of the Moscow Patriarchate, which has positioned itself as a leading player within the global Orthodox community.

Ukraine is lobbying hard for a religious divorce from Russia and some observers say the issue could be decided as soon as next month.

If something like this will take place on their doorstep, it would be a huge blow to the claims of Moscows transnational role, said Vasilios Makrides, a specialist in Orthodox Christianity at the University of Erfurt in Germany. Its something I dont think they will accept.

The Kremlin is scrambling to help Moscows Patriarch Kirill retain his traditional role as the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the more they know, the better it is for them, Makrides said.

The Russian Orthodox Church said it had no information about the hacking and declined comment. Russian officials referred the AP to previous denials by the Kremlin that it has anything to do with Fancy Bear, despite a growing body of evidence to the contrary.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko flew to Istanbul in April in an effort to convince the patriarch to agree to a split, which he has described as a matter of our independence and our national security. Moscows Patriarch Kirill is flying to Turkey later this week in a last-ditch bid to prevent it.

Hilarion Alfeyev, Kirills representative abroad, has warned that granting the Tomos could lead to the biggest Christian schism since 1054 when Catholic and Orthodox believers parted ways.

If such a thing happens, Orthodox unity will be buried, Alfeyev said.

The issue is an extraordinarily sensitive one for the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Reached by phone, spokesman Nikos-Giorgos Papachristou said: I dont want to be a part of this story.

Other church officials spoke to the AP about the hacking on condition of anonymity, saying they did not have the authorisation to speak to the media. Bartholomew, who is 78, does not use email, those church officials told AP. But his aides do, and the Secureworks list spells out several attempts to crack their Gmail accounts.

Among them were several senior church officials called metropolitans, who are roughly equivalent to archbishops in the Catholic tradition. Those include Bartholomew Samaras, a key confidante of the patriarch; Emmanuel Adamakis, an influential hierarch in the church; and Elpidophoros Lambriniadis, who heads a prestigious seminary on the Turkish island of Halki. All are involved in the Tomos issue; none returned recent AP messages seeking comment.

Spy games have long been a part of the Russian Orthodox world. The Soviet Union slaughtered tens of thousands of priests in the 1930s, but the Communists later took what survived of the church and brought it under the sway of Russias secret police, the KGB, with clerics conscripted to spy on congregants and emigres.

The nexus between Russias intelligence and religious establishments survived the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union and the KGBs reorganization into the FSB, according to Moscow-based political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin.

Our church leaders are connected to the FSB and their epaulettes stick out from under their habits, Oreshkin said. They provide Vladimir Putins policy with an ideological foundation.

That might make one target found by the AP seem curious: The Moscow Patriarchs press secretary, Alexander Volkov. But Orthodox theologian Cyril Hovorun said he wouldnt be surprised to see a Russian group spying on targets close to home, saying, theyre probably checking him out just in case.

Volkov did not return AP emails seeking comment. Hovorun is unusually qualified to speak on the issue. In 2012 he  like Volkov  was an official within the Moscow Patriarchate. But he resigned after someone leaked emails showing that he secretly supported independence-leaning Ukrainian clergy.

Hovorun has since been targeted by the Russian hackers, according to the data from Secureworks, which uses the name Iron Twilight to refer to the group. Hovorun said he believes that those who published his emails six years ago werent related to Fancy Bear, but he noted that their modus operandi  stealing messages and then publishing them selectively  was the same.

Weve known about this tactic before the hacking of the Democrats, Hovorun said, referring to the email disclosures that rocked Americas 2016 presidential campaign. This is a familiar story for us.

The Russian hackers religious dragnet also extended to the United States and went beyond Orthodox Christians, taking in Muslims, Jews and Catholics whose activities might conceivably be of interest to the Russian government.

John Jillions, the chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America, provided the AP with a June 19, 2015, phishing email that Secureworks later confirmed was sent to him by Fancy Bear.

Fancy Bear also went after Ummah, an umbrella group for Ukrainian Muslims; the papal nuncio in Kiev; and an account associated with the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, a Byzantine rite church that accepts the authority of the Vatican, the Secureworks data shows.

Also on the hit list: Yosyp Zisels, who directs Ukraines Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities and has frequently been quoted defending his country from charges of anti-Semitism. Zisels said he had no knowledge of the attempted hacking. Vatican officials did not return messages.

Protestants were targeted too, including three prominent Quakers operating in the Moscow area. Hovorun said Protestants were viewed with particularly intense suspicion by the Kremlin.

There is an opinion shared by many in the Russian establishment that all those religious groups  like Quakers, evangelicals  they are connected to the American establishment, he said.

Secureworks data shows hacking attempts on religious targets that took place in 2015 and 2016, but another material obtained by the AP suggests attempts to compromise the Ecumenical Patriarchate are ongoing.

On October 16, 2017, an email purporting to come from Papachristou, who was just being appointed as spokesman, arrived in the inboxes of about a dozen Orthodox figures.

Dear Hierarchs, Fathers, Brothers and Sisters in Christ! it began, explaining that Papachristou was stepping into his new role as director of communications. Its a very big joy for me to serve the Church on this position. Some suggestions on how to build up relations with the public and the press are provided in the file attached.

The file was rigged to install surveillance software on the recipients computers. The emails actual sender remains a mystery  independent analyses of the malicious message by Secureworks and its competitor CrowdStrike yielded nothing definitive. Church officials told the AP they were disturbed by the hackers command of church jargon and their inside knowledge of Papachristous appointment.

The one who made this is someone who knows us, one official said.

Priests and prelates dont make obvious targets for cyberespionage, but the stakes for the Kremlin are high as the decision on Tomos looms. Granting the Ukrainian church full independence would be that devastating to Russia, said Daniel Payne, a researcher on the board of the JM Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies at Baylor University in Texas.

Kiev is Jerusalem for the Russian Orthodox people, Payne said. Thats where the sacred relics, monasteries, churches are ... its sacred to the people, and to Russian identity.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.Over the past few months, there has been a multitude of leaks surrounding Sonys upcoming flagship  the Xperia XZ3. The latest bit of information comes via MySmartPrice where they have an image render detailing the colour options the handset will arrive in.

As per the report, the Sony Xperia XZ3 will come in four colour options at launch, namely, Black, White, Burgundy and Green. The report states that Sony might not launch all colour variants in every market and one or two of the four may launch in select markets.

Apart from the colour options that the Sony Xperia XZ3 will come in, no other new information is available regarding the handset.

The Sony Xperia XZ3 is widely expected to feature an 18:9 5.7-inch IPS LCD display that boasts a 1080 x 2160 resolution which is identical to its current flagship device the Xperia XZ2. The XZ3 is believed to sport a Snapdragon 845 chipset with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage.

While several manufacturers are hustling to give their best shot in the camera department, Sony seems to be not lagging behind. At least for its upcoming device, the Sony Xperia XZ3 is highly likely to come strapping a 48MP camera. However, contrary to the ongoing tradition of a pair of cameras, the premium smartphone will be fitted with only a single camera, which sounds potent though. Sony is expected to utilise a 13MP sensor for its front-facing camera as opposed to a twin shooter up front that was previously rumoured. To keep this handset juiced up, it is expected that Sony will be adding a 3240mAh battery.

Disclaimer: The above report is completely based on online rumours and leaks from the respective sources. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Deccan Chronicle and/or other staff and contributors to this website.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.Geeta Aulakh, 28, was brutally attacked with a machete during the attack in Greenford, west London, in November 2009. (Photo: Sunrise Radio)

London: A non-resident Indian (NRI) serving a jail term in a UK jail for killing his wife over eight years ago is to be deported to India to serve the remainder of his murder sentence in Punjab.

Harpreet Aulakh was sentenced to a minimum of 28 years in London in December 2010 for plotting the murder of his wife, Geeta Aulakh, after she asked for a divorce. The 40-year-old will be deported under the India-UK Repatriation of Prisoners Act, the BBC reported today.

"All arrangements are in place. According to the plan, the UK authorities will bring him to Delhi from where a team of Punjab police officers will bring him to Amritsar," IPS Sahota, a top prison official in Punjab, was quoted as saying.

Inspector general of prisons Roop Kumar said Harpreet Aulakh, who is from Punjab, had told UK authorities that he wanted to serve his remaining term in India.

Geeta Aulakh, 28, was brutally attacked with a machete during the attack in Greenford, west London, in November 2009. She worked for local Indian community radio station, Sunrise Radio, and her murder had hit headlines around the world at the time of the attack.

In November 2009, the victim, who was the mother of Harpreet Aulakh's two sons, was hacked to death with a sword, which her husband of 10 years had chosen from a selection of swords at a store days before the murder.

The attack took place when Geeta Aulakh went to pick up her sons after leaving work at the radio station where she worked as a receptionist.

She was found with head injuries and her right hand severed, and died a few hours later in hospital.

Harpreet Aulakh, also known as Sunny, and two others, Sher Singh, 19, and Jaswant Dhillon, 30, were also found guilty of Geeta Aulakh's murder in 2010. Sher Singh, who actually wielded the sword, and Jaswant Dhillon, who acted as the lookout for the group, were sentenced to 22 years behind bars.

During the trial, the court was told that British-born Indian-origin Geeta Aulakh wanted to divorce her husband over his involvement in violent crimes, leading him to plot her murder.Francis was asked by a journalist what he would say to parents who observe homosexual traits in their children. (Photo: File)

Vatican City: The Vatican on Monday rolled back on Pope Francis recommendation that parents seek psychiatric help for children who show homosexual tendencies.

The Pope made the comments to journalists as he was flying back to Rome from Ireland, but the Vatican later removed his phrase from its official account, saying he had not meant to suggest that homosexuality was a mental illness.

Francis was asked by a journalist what he would say to parents who observe homosexual traits in their children.

When it shows itself from childhood, there is a lot that can be done through psychiatry, to see how things are. It is something else if it shows itself after 20 years, he said.

The pope added that ignoring a child who showed homosexual tendencies was an error of fatherhood or motherhood.

However, when the Vatican later published the popes answer, the reference to psychiatry had been removed.

When asked why, a Vatican spokeswoman told AFP it had been done in order to not change the thoughts of the Holy Father.

When the pope referred to psychiatry, it is clear that he was doing it to highlight an example of things that can be done.

But with that word he didnt mean to say that it (homosexuality) was a mental illness, she said.

Francis trip to Ireland was fraught with controversy amid accusations that he ignored sexual abuse allegations against prominent US cardinal Theodore McCarrick.Australia's new prime minister announced a peace-making Cabinet on Sunday that does not punish his rivals in a bruising power struggle that ousted his predecessor days ago and divided a government that lags in opinion polls.

The fractured conservative coalition government needs to present a united front to voters ahead of elections due by May.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison won a ballot of government lawmakers for the leadership on Friday against rival Peter Dutton.

Morrison had been loyal to his predecessor, Malcolm Turnbull, whom Dutton had demanded prove he had the support of ruling Liberal Party lawmakers in a ballot. Turnbull resigned.

Morrison, who last week was the treasurer, returned Dutton to the home affairs ministry he had held under Turnbull.

Mathias Cormann, a party power broker who backed Dutton, retained his finance portfolio.

Australia's first female foreign minister, Julie Bishop, announced earlier on Sunday that she had quit the Cabinet.

The 62-year-old Bishop had been deputy leader of the ruling party since 2007 and failed to become prime minister in Friday's leadership ballot.

Opposition lawmaker Penny Wong paid tribute to Bishop for her trailblazing role in foreign affairs.

Bishop will be replaced as foreign minister by Marise Payne, formerly Australia's first defence minister.Pope Francis has declined to comment on a claim that he ignored sexual abuse allegations against a senior clergyman amid speculation conservative elements in the Catholic hierarchy are using the issue to mount a "putsch" to remove the liberal pontiff.

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a former Vatican envoy to the United States, on Saturday said he had told Francis of the allegations against prominent US cardinal Theodore McCarrick in 2013.

But rather than punish McCarrick, who was forced to resign last month, Vigano said Francis had lifted sanctions imposed on him by his predecessor pope Benedict XVI.

"Corruption has reached the very top of the Church's hierarchy," Vigano said in a letter published in the National Catholic Register and several conservative US Catholic publications.

But the pope refused to address the allegation on Sunday.

"I will not say a word about that. I think that the communique speaks for itself," Francis said on his plane as he flew back from Dublin to Rome.

The timing of the letter's release -- right in the middle of Francis's landmark trip to Ireland -- has raised speculation of a campaign against the Argentine pontiff by conservatives in the Church.

Francis told journalists to "read the communique attentively and make your own judgement," referring to Vigano's letter, which called on the pope to resign.

In his 11-page "testimony", Vigano, 77, who was a papal nuncio in Washington between 2011 and 2016, said Benedict XVI imposed canonical sanctions against McCarrick in the late 2000s.

McCarrick was forced to leave his seminary and live a life of penance after former Vatican ambassadors in Washington, now dead, reported him for "gravely immoral" behaviour with seminarians and priests.

Vigano claimed Francis asked him about McCarrick when he took office in June 2013, but that the pope ignored his warnings.

He said the pope "knew from at least June 23, 2013, that McCarrick was a serial predator," adding that "he knew that he was a corrupt man, he covered for him to the bitter end".

The pope accepted the resignation of McCarrick, now 88, in July, making him just the second cardinal ever to lose his status.

In his letter, Vigano condemned the "culture of secrecy" in the Church but also railed against "the homosexual current" he claimed was prevalent in the highest echelons of the Vatican and contributing to a "conspiracy of silence" over abuse.

"The homosexual networks present in the Church must be eradicated," he said. "These homosexual networks ... are strangling the entire Church."

US cardinals Monday defended themselves against Vigano's allegations of a cover-up.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, a progressive, expressed "shock, sadness and consternation" at the wide-ranging allegations and Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington denied any knowledge that his predecessor had been either sanctioned or accused of abuse.

"Make no mistake. This is a coordinated attack on Pope Francis," said an editorial article on the website of the progressive National Catholic Reporter weekly.

"A putsch is afoot and if the US bishops do not, as a body, stand up to defend the Holy Father in the next 24 hours, we shall be slipping towards schism," the author Michael Sean Winters wrote.

"The enemies of Francis have declared war."

Nicolas Seneze, the Rome correspondent for the French daily La Croix, echoed that there is "a clear desire to attack Francis," telling AFP that "those who regard Francis as dangerous will stop at nothing."

Among ultra-conservative Catholics, the pope is regarded as a dangerous progressive more interested in social issues than traditional Church matters.

With his more conciliatory approach to the gay community Francis had raised hopes among that he might steer the Church towards greater acceptance of homosexuality but he remains in line with traditional Church teaching on sexuality and marriage.

During his visit to Ireland on Sunday the pope "begged for God's forgiveness" for past clerical abuse scandals, which have badly damaged the image of the Church in the Catholic stronghold.

His trip was met with enthusiastic crowds but also protests, with about 5,000 abuse victims and supporters attending a "Stand for Truth" rally in the capital Dublin.

The Catholic Church's standing has been badly dented by the abuse scandals. Stronghold Ireland has largely shed its traditional Catholic mores, voting earlier this year to legalise abortion after approving same-sex marriage in 2015.

Multiple probes in Ireland have found Church leaders protected hundreds of predatory priests and former Irish president Mary McAleese revealed this month that the Vatican had sought to keep Church documents inaccessible to government investigators.

The abuse scandals in Ireland are part of a worldwide crisis for the Vatican.

A devastating report earlier this month accused more than 300 priests in the US state of Pennsylvania of abusing more than 1,000 children since the 1950s.Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has cancelled his proposed visit to the US, Israel and Canada next month in view of the BJP National Executive meeting and NITI Aayog Summit.

The Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways, Shipping and Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari has cancelled his proposed official visit to Israel, Canada and the US next month, the ministers office said on Tuesday.

The visit has been cancelled in view of the forthcoming Mobility Summit by Niti Aayog and BJP National Executive Meeting.

Both the events are scheduled in New Delhi on September 8 and 9, 2018.Notwithstanding Prime Minister Narendra Modis fresh pitch for holding simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, the Congress, Trinamool Congress and several other political parties on Monday opposed the idea at a meeting with the Election Commission (EC).

Several Opposition parties also conveyed to the poll panel that they still had doubts about the credibility of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Some of them even demanded a return to ballot papers in the forthcoming elections.

Many parties opposed (the idea) of One Nation, One Poll, while there were some who made valid points in favour of it, Chief Election Officer O P Rawat told journalists after the poll panel held a consultation with political parties at Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi.

The Congress, Trinamool Congress, TDP, DMK, AAP, JD(S), CPI, CPM and several others remained opposed to the idea.

The Opposition parties reiterated their reservations about simultaneous polls just a day after the prime minister said discussions on the same were gaining momentum. The ruling BJP and some of its allies, however, reiterated their support to the proposal.

The Election Commission had earlier this month virtually ruled out the possibility of holding simultaneous polls in 2019, citing logistical constraints and constitutional amendments.

The lawmakers will take at least a year to frame a law (to amend the Constitution to bring One Nation, One Poll into reality) that can be enforceable. This process takes time, the CEC said on Monday.

Some parties have said there are problems with EVMs and VVPATs (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail devices). These views have been noted down by the commission, said Rawat. Some said going back to ballot is bad as it would bring back booth-capturing, he said.

Who is repairing EVMs?

Mukul Wasnik of the Congress said that EVMs did not reflect the will of the people. There have been a number of times when EVMs malfunctioned and it (the vote) went to only one party. We want to know who is repairing the EVMs and how many of the old ones are being used. We want the VVPATs and EVMs to be checked, he said.

We have no faith in EVMs, Kalyan Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress said. He demanded a return to ballot papers in the next Lok Sabha elections. Satish Mishra of the BSP and Raghav Chadha of the AAP said EVMs could be hacked.

Atul Kumar Anjan of the CPI, too, questioned the credibility of EVMs.

We should think ahead. The Election Commission has properly replied to all questions raised about the EVMs and we should look forward. (Using the) VVPAT is a good move and it should be taken forward, union Health Minister J P Nadda, who represented the BJP in the meeting with the EC, said.

Some political parties requested the EC to ensure counting of a certain percentage of the slips generated by the VVPATS to enhance credibility of the EVMs. The commission assured the political parties that it was being looked into with the inputs from the experts of the Indian Statistical Institute. The commission also informed that any candidate might approach the concerned Returning Officer for the specific count of the VVPAT paper slips of a polling station.GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Charges have been dropped against a Michigan man accused of urinating on a 5-year-old girl and using racial slurs.

David Allen Dean, 60, allegedly approached the girl last week while she was playing hide and seek by a fence in her neighborhood.

Dean is a registered sex offender and has a long history of sexual misconduct, including serving time in prison for sexually assaulting a minor.

However, days after the alleged incident, the parents of the child discovered that the accusations were a lie.

Investigators say the story was made up to cover one of the children who urinated on another child.

The girl's father says that he will apologize to Dean face-to-face.In a pre-dawn attack, militants on Tuesday tried to blow up an armoured army vehicle in south Kashmirs Pulwama district by detonating an improvised explosive device (IED).



A police officer said that at around 3:30 am, militants triggered an IED in Navpora Payeen in Pulwama when an armoured vehicle (Casper) of 44 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) was passing through the area.



Soon after the blast, militants also fired upon the vehicle. However, there was no report of any loss of life or injuries, he said.



This was the second such attack in south Kashmir during the past four months. On May 27, militants triggered an IED in Turkwangam area of Shopian, causing injuries to four army men.



Sources said after suffering heavy causalities at the hands of security forces since last year, militants in Kashmir are focusing on carrying out more IED attacks on vital security installations in the state.



Fidayeen (suicide) and IED attacks have been the strategies adopted by militant handlers across the border to inflict more causalities on security forces and create news. The Jaish-e-Mohammad terror outfit, which has been assigned the job of carrying out fidayeen and IED attacks, is setting up its networks across Kashmir and especially in southern parts of the Valley they revealed.



A senior police officer said they apprehend that few experts from across the border may have crossed over and joined the militants to revitalise and use the deadly old technique of IED blasts. There is a possibility of more IED attacks in coming months as local recruitment, as well as infiltration continues unabated, he added.



Meanwhile, militants on Tuesday morning attacked the residence of senior National Conference (NC) leader Abdul Rahim Rather in central Kashmir's Budgam district in a bid to snatch the rifles of the security guards.



However, the alert security guards foiled the bid by responding to the attack, police said. Rather was not present in the house at the time of the attack.After taking over as DMK president, M K Stalin on Tuesday launched a frontal attack on the BJP by asking his cadre to march along with him to teach a lesson to the Narendra Modi government, which he accused of trying to saffronise the country.

Stalin's statement is aimed at scotching speculation that the DMK would not mind doing business with the BJP in a post-poll scenario after the regional party invited the ruling party at the Centre for a memorial event organised for its late leader M Karunanidhi.

Stalin's attack on the BJP is significant since the party has been at pains to explain its decision to invite the national party for Karunanidhi memorial event in Chennai on August 30. Though BJP chief Amit Shah had initially agreed to attend the event, he back-tracked at the last minute and has now deputed Nitin Gadkari to represent the party. The invitation to Shah had led to widespread speculation whether the DMK was willing to dump its long-time ally the Congress and embrace the BJP.

In his 15-minute speech after he was unanimously elected as the DMK president, Stalin referred to the BJP twice  accusing the Modi dispensation of trying to weaken the federal structure and attempting to saffronise the whole of India.

March along with me to teach a lesson to the Narendra Modi government which is attempting to saffronise the entire country, Stalin said in his address to the DMK cadre. He also launched a scathing attack on the Edappadi K Palaniswami government calling it a dispensation of thieves and appealed to the cadre to keep in the mind that the first job before the party was to send to the AIADMK government home.

Education, art, literature and religion are under attack by authoritative and communal forces and the Union government is trying to destabilise the judiciary...All these actions have dealt a blow to the secular principles, Stalin charged.

Maintaining that he can never be and should not be compared with Karunanidhi, Stalin told his cadre that his father has imbibed him in the quality of striving hard to work towards achieving a goal. Stalin was made the president, in a smooth transition of generational change in the partys leadership, 45 years after he formally entered politics by joining the General Council.

The announcement of Stalins election as DMK president was announced by party general secretary K Anbhazhagan formally at the General Council meeting at the Anna Arivalayam in Chennai. The party had received only one nomination for the post, paving the way for Stalin to be elected unopposed.

With Stalin shedding the treasurer's post which he held since 2009, his lieutenant S Durai Murugan will now be the official financial officer of the DMK. The General Council is the most powerful body in the DMK, according to whose constitution elections will have to be held for the posts of president, general secretary and treasurer.

Stalin, 65, was handpicked by his father to lead the DMK and was appointed as working president when age-related ailments confined Karunanidhi to his home in early 2017. The biggest challenge for Stalin is to steer the DMK to victory in the Lok Sabha polls next year and re-install the partys government in Tamil Nadu  where it has not won an election since 2011.

Stalins challenge would also be to stitch formidable alliances and ensure that the DMK continues to be a strong player in national politics too. Stalins transition from working president to president of the DMK was smooth though his elder brother M K Azhagiri made some noise over being ignored. Azhagiri, who was expelled from the DMK by Karunanidhi in 2014, is waiting to rejoin the party and is organising a rally in Chennai next month to demonstrate his strength.CHESTER >> A Colwyn man charged with selling a fatal dose of heroin to 28-year-old Charles Andy Bruhn at a Chester halfway house back in April of 2017 was held for court Monday on multiple offenses including drug delivery resulting in death, according to authorities and online court records.

Raheem Harper, 28, of the 400 block of Fourth Street, was additionally held for court on four counts of possession with the intent to manufacture or deliver, and criminal use of a communication facility, both felony offenses; as well as involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree misdemeanor. A charge of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, a second-degree misdemeanor, was withdrawn.

The preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Wilden H. Davis lasted about an hour Monday morning, with Delaware County Deputy District Attorney Sharon McKenna, chief of the countys narcotics unit, calling four prosecution witnesses to the stand including Chester Police Detective Steven Byrne and Bruhns mother, Byrne said after the hearing. Defense attorney Shaka Mzee Johnson, when contacted after Mondays hearing, had no comment, according to a clerk in his Philadelphia law office.

Harper was already serving state time for heroin distribution when he was arrested in the Bruhn case on June 11. He is currently in custody at the county prison, according to a statewide prisoner database. The charge of drug delivery resulting in death, a first-degree felony, carries a maximum 20 to 40 year sentence. If convicted of all the offenses, he faces 69 years in prison.

According to authorities and his mother, Bruhn was discovered at a residence in the 1500 block of Edgmont Avenue April 21, 2017.

He was pronounced dead at the scene with a hypodermic needle and the remains of a bag of heroin stamped Hurricane on the floor beside him, Delaware County District Attorney Katayoun Copeland said in announcing Harpers arrest. Five additional bags, all stamped in the same manner, were allegedly found in the victims pocket.

Delaware County Medical Examiner Dr. Fredric N. Hellman determined the cause of death was multiple drug intoxication, specifically for heroin and fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that can be fatal in extremely small doses.

Byrne said Monday that he testified about being called to the scene of the residence in Chester last year, finding the narcotics marked Hurricane, and later speaking to the deceased mans family who provided a phone number for his alleged drug dealer  information that ultimately aided in charging Harper.

Harper was also arrested April 21, 2017, for allegedly being in possession of 18 other baggies stamped Hurricane during a routine traffic stop in Tinicum, according to a release from the county. He posted bail in that case but was rearrested after another traffic stop in Clifton Heights with more than 1,500 bags of heroin on May 6, 2017, the release says. Copeland said the 1,500 bags in the second arrest did not bear the Hurricane stamp and did not contain fentanyl.

Online court records indicate Harper entered an open guilty plea to possession with intent to deliver before Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge John Capuzzi on Nov. 17 and was sentenced to five and a half to 12 years in state prison with seven years of probation.

An investigation into Bruhns death allegedly revealed text messages indicating Harper had delivered the deadly fentanyl-laced heroin that killed the victim. Harper had allegedly met with the victim on April 6, April 9, April 11 and finally on April 19, according to investigators.

Copeland said the victim had just come out of rehab months before his death. She said the man paid for the first delivery by giving Harper a PlayStation 4 and paid amounts of cash starting around $40 in subsequent deliveries.

Thats what it came down to, said Copeland. On one occasion he trades him for a PlayStation, on several occasions, $40 worth of drugs. And he lost his life over that  over $40 worth of heroin. Its a sad day.

Copeland previously thanked the victims family for their patience as the investigation played out, and praised the work of Byrne and Delaware County Detective Timothy Deery for tracking down Harper as the alleged seller.

(Harper) preyed upon the victims weakness and desperation, taking advantage of his struggle with addiction, Copeland said. In this case, Raheem Harper repeatedly delivered drugs for profit in exchange for another mans life.

Stacey McHugh could not be reached for comment Monday. In a previous interview she said her son, who was born and raised in Drexel Hill and was a 2007 graduate of Upper Darby High School, had been clean for seven months before he overdosed on heroin in the halfway house in Chester.

The mother said, A dealer came there and sold him drugs.

McHugh, a nurse, said she last spoke to her son on Wednesday, April 19, 2017, about 6:30 p.m. During that call, Andy told his mother that he would call her again later that night.

She never got that call. When Thursday went by and she still didnt hear from her son, one of Andys friends went to the halfway house on Friday to check on him.

His friend found him in his locked room, she said.

While she seeks justice for her son, Stacey McHugh also wants to help others suffering from addiction.

In honor of her son, ANDY (Addiction Never Defines You) Forever was started to help others through the addiction process. The non-profit organization supports the recovery of individuals, communities and families suffering from addiction through support, education and awareness.

Next month, Andy Forever will present a Drug Prevention and Education Community Day and Overdose Awareness Walk, from noon to 4 p.m. Sept. 15 at Arlington Field, located at the corner of Shadeland Avenue and State Road in Upper Darby.CHICO, Calif. - It was the first day of classes for Chico State's fall semester. Both incoming and returning students had the opportunity to experience a new event on campus today, as well as annual events that aim to bring the community together.

The new event on campus today took after the famous Tedx Talk presentations.

Right in the middle of campus, students were able to stop by, grab a donut and listen to their professors speak about a variety of educational topics.

This is Edx Chico, a first of it's kind event for Chico State, bringing professors from different areas of study together on one stage, covering a wide range of topics.

"We're telling our students that, you know, Chico State believes in you, we value you and we wanna show you all the cool opportunities that we have on this campus," said Student Body President, Alisha Sharma.

The Office of the ProVost at Chico State created the event.

The event is designed to encourage students to get out of their comfort zones and try something new.

"Some students might feel like they may not belong yet- they haven't found where they belong," said Media Coordinator, Sean Murphy. "An event like this really is designed to open the eyes and the minds of these first year students."

The Coordinator for Student Life and Leadership, Mary Wallmark, said they asked every college to nominate their top teachers.

Each of the seven professors presented a short lecture to engage and excite students on their first day of classes. Wallmark said no other campus, that they know of, holds an event like this.

"It's totally new you know we wanna celebrate teaching but we also wanna celebrate curiosity, curiosity is a good thing," said Wallmark.

Chico State has a series of events over three weeks called "Wildcat Welcome."

Sharma, said it's a way to show students what chico state has to offer, and how incoming students can get involved.

She said their University President, Gayle Hutchinson, always looks to innovate Chico State and create new services and programs for their students.

"It's been cool to see the progress that's happened in even three years and the ways that we've innovated and created new events and programs of modified things, because I think that's a huge thing too is to be reflective on what we've done and see how we can make it better for out students," Sharma said.

Sharma said these events and programs aim to help students preapre for life after graduation.BLUFFDALE  Residents who want to learn how to help their family and neighbors in an emergency are encouraged to take a Community Emergency Response Team course.

The course will be held on Tuesday from Sept. 4 to Oct. 2, with a course review, exam and drill on a date in October that has yet to be determined. Classes will be held at the Independence Fire Station, 14895 S. Noell Nelson Drive, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

The course will cover such topics ad disaster preparedness and organization; disaster psychology and terrorism; fire safety; medical aid; and search and rescue.

Participants age 14-17 must have a parent or guardian attend class with them.

First-time participants will receive the basic CERT kit with a hard hat, goggles, gloves, n95 dust mask, disaster medical supplies starter kit, and a CERT manual.

For more information, or to register, call 801-633-6833 or email nhall@bluffdale.com.It was refreshing Monday to see the U.S. and Mexico in agreement on trade that could benefit both countries. But hard work remains for developing a revamped NAFTA agreement.

For one thing, Canada  a major partner in the three-way trade pact  has not agreed to any changes. For another, a Congress that has been divided on trade issues would have to give its final approval. That seems unlikely, although certainly not impossible, before the end of the year, after which a newly elected Congress will take over.

President Trump may have touted his new agreement with Mexico as a negotiating ploy to get Canadians back to the table with a sense of urgency. That aim also may lie behind his comment that well see whether Canada remains a part of the trade deal.

It would be hard to imagine Congress approving anything that did not include Canada, the nations third largest trading partner behind the European Union and China.

That said, the agreement with Mexico is not insignificant. It improves some of the details that had vexed NAFTAs opponents for decades.

Revamping trade deals with Mexico and Canada is not a bad thing, even if the president insists on scrapping the title of NAFTA altogether

For instance, car manufacturers would be required to build at least 75 percent of a cars total value in North America. The current requirement is 62.5 percent. Those manufacturers also would need to use more steel, aluminum and auto parts from local sources.

Perhaps most significantly, much of the auto production would have to be done by people earning at least $16 per hour. Clearly, the administration hopes this would keep U.S. manufacturers from moving south of the border. But this also might appease liberals who decry what they see as the exploitation of workers in poor countries.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto appeared to be onboard with the changes. Even President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador seemed OK with the revisions. He is scheduled to assume office in December.

If this new trade agreement puts an end to threated tariffs against Mexico, that would be a good thing. But the agreement itself will mean little without Canada or congressional approval.

President Trump complained again on Monday about stiff Canadian tariffs on dairy products. These have indeed been a source of frustration for both Republicans and Democrats through the years, and they are an easy target. Now, the U.S. could use its new tariffs on lumber as a negotiating tool to provide leverage in that dispute.

Revamping trade deals with Mexico and Canada is not a bad thing, even if the president insists on scrapping the title of NAFTA altogether. The danger, however, is that the trade war the president used to get all sides to the table might cause damage to the American economy while details are being worked out. The same may be said for the presidents tactics to lure China, the European Union and other partners to the table.

Add Congress to the mix, and the reset on global trade could take a long time, indeed.DRAPER  Draper firefighter Patrick Cullen was in a fire engine by himself in California while working the Mendocino Complex Fire about midnight one night, when something unexpected approached.

"I kind of get a sense of something coming down the road, and all I see is two big eyes. I thought, 'Oh this will be fun, me and a mountain lion,'" he recalled.

But rather than a mountain lion, a 2-year-old German Shepherd came out of the darkness toward him, something that caught Cullen off guard since the area his crew was working had been evacuated for days, and the nearest city was an hour away.

"I could tell he was super tired and he had clearly been out there a long time," Cullen said. "He was pretty tired and weak and thirsty. So we gave him a big drink of water and he slept under the engine for the next three hours."

Later, when the fire became too dangerous for Draper's crews, they left that area and took the dog with them. The dog was dropped off at the bottom of the mountain and Cullen thought that would be the last he would see of the dog that firefighters had named Mendo.

But on Monday, after a series of events, Cullen was able to bring Mendo to Draper to meet Cullen's fellow firefighters.

It definitely brings some sort of happiness to a terrible event that happened.  Patrick Cullen, Draper firefighter

The event marked a silver lining in what will mostly be remembered as a tragic deployment.

Five members of the Draper Fire Department went to California in early August to help battle the largest wildfire in the state's history. But nearly two weeks into their deployment, Draper Battalion Chief Matt "Matty" Burchett, 42, a veteran firefighter with Draper and the Unified Fire Authority, was killed when he was hit by falling tree debris after thousands of gallons of retardant were dropped on the area where he and other firefighters were working.

But while a beloved colleague was lost, Cullen ended up giving new life to the stray dog.

"There's definitely meaning not only for me but a lot of other people, including the other firefighters that were there. People already want him to come to their station. Everyone that was there, they're excited. It definitely brings some sort of happiness to a terrible event that happened," he said.

"It's a pretty cool story," he admitted.

The Draper crew had been working the Mendocino Complex Fire north of San Francisco for about four or five days when the stray dog appeared out of nowhere.

Two days after Cullen dropped off the dog at the bottom of the mountain, another fire crew found the dog. This time, police took him to the Mendocino Animal Hospital for treatment. The dog was then sent to the Mendocino County Animal Shelter.

Although the Draper crew didn't know at that point what had happened to the dog, Cullen said they talked about adopting it.

"We talked about it and kind of joked, 'Yeah, it would be cool to take him back.' We made a few phone calls and no one had seen him. So we kind of gave up on it," he admitted.

But that didn't stop the firefighters from naming him. Cullen came up with the name Mendo, after the fire that brought them together.

"And it stuck," he said.

Cullen assumed after a few days of making calls that finding Mendo again would be impossible.

Then, out of the blue, he said he got a call.

County officials who remembered that Cullen had been making inquiries about a dog called him to say they had the one he was looking for and it was eligible for adoption as the owners could not be located.

On Sunday, two Mendocino shelter workers drove to Reno where Cullen met them to take Mendo back to Utah.

Cullen and Mendo visited Draper Fire Station 21 on Monday. While Cullen also has a Labrador that is a service dog, he said Mendo will be strictly a pet for his family.A growing number of people say teacher salaries are too low and that they would not support their children entering the teaching profession, a new national survey finds.

The PDK International poll on education, released today , surveyed a random national sample of 1,042 adults, which included an oversample of 515 parents of school-aged children. PDK International, a professional association for educators, conducts an annual survey of American attitudes toward public schools. A research firm conducted the 2018 survey online during the first three weeks of May. (Some of this years resultsthe findings on school safetywere already released in July .)

This year, most respondents61 percentsaid they have trust and confidence in public school teachers. Thats up from 51 percent in 2015.

However, just over half of respondents said they would not want their child to become a teacher. Thats an 11 percentage point increase from when the poll last asked that question in 2014. Among those who said they would not want their child to become a teacher, 29 percent said the main reason was inadequate pay and benefits. The second-most common answersaid by 12 percent of respondentswas student behavior and a lack of discipline. Six percent said teaching was a thankless job that wasnt respected or valued in society.

Peoples lack of support for their children becoming teachers is disappointing, but not necessarily surprising, said Joshua Starr, the CEO of PDK International.

He pointed to results that showed that about half of respondents are in support of raising taxes so that schools can spend more money on students who need extra results. Americans support public education, he said, but its a troubling contradiction that they still dont want their children to be teachers.

I feel like theres a narrative that has been created about public schools in our country that is not helpful, Starr added. We cant have it both ways. You cant say, Yeah, education is great, but I dont want my kid to become a teacher. ... Its problematic for our country.

Since the poll was in the field around the same time the springs wave of teacher strikes and protests were in the news, the activism might have influenced some of the results, Starr said.

Most people66 percentsaid salaries for teachers in their community are too low, with just 27 percent saying the pay was just about right and 6 percent saying it was too high. In 2015, 58 percent thought salaries were too low (but respondents were allowed to say they had no opinion in that iteration of the poll, which 14 percent said that year).

Twenty-six percent of respondents said that a lack of money was one of the biggest problems facing public schools in their community, the most of any answer to that question.

Many of the PDK findings were in line with the results of the 2018 Education Next poll, which was released last week. That poll found growing public support for increasing teacher pay , especially in the six states where there were widespread teacher strikes and walkouts this spring: West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Colorado. Nearly half of people provided with information on average teacher salaries in their states said the pay should increase, EdNext foundthats 13 percent higher than last year.

Like the EdNext poll, the PDK poll found that most people73 percentwould support a teacher strike for higher pay. There could be future strikes on the horizon this fall, perhaps starting with a strike in Los Angeles . Teachers there are voting this week on whether to authorize a strike over a contract dispute.

In a statement, JoAnn Bartoletti, the executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, said the polls findings reiterate the need for more investment in schools, since underpaying teachers has led to an unsustainable reality where fewer people want to become teachers .

We cannot be comfortable with the stunning contradiction that a majority of Americans both recognizes the importance of the teaching profession and want their own kids nowhere near it, she said. The recent series of teacher strikes and the public support for more should wake us up to the need to invest more purposefully and creatively in the professionals who do nothing less than build our collective future.

Meanwhile, Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, said in a statement that the findings prove that Americans understand the burden placed on teachers, and support strengthening public education.

This is a clarion call for change, she said.

The PDK poll also surveyed people on school safety measures, including arming teachers. These results were released in July , and found that most parents do not want teachers to be armed. However, when the poll asked parents whether they would support allowing teachers and other school staff to carry guns in school if they had appropriate training and approval from the school board and local law enforcement, almost half said they would be in support.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is reportedly weighing whether to let school districts use federal money to buy guns , which has set off a firestorm of debate among the education community.

The idea of arming teachers is a non-starter for many parents, Starr said.

Image: A demonstrator marches around the Colorado state Capitol in Denver in April during a statewide teacher protest demanding more tax dollars be spent on public schools and teachers. David Zalubowski/AP-FileSHASTA COUNTY, Calif. - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) announced today that they are awarding those who rescued animals during the Carr Fire.

See a complete list of the awards below.

Compassionate Fire Department Award - Grass Valley Fire Department

The Grass Valley Fire Department was awarded for rescuing a cat and a chicken who were stranded together on a front porch.

Compassionate Police Department Award - California Highway Patrol, San Francisco Area

The San Francisco California Highway Patrol was awarded for rescuing an orphaned fawn.

Compassionate Action Award - Marine Tucker Zimmerman

Mark Zimmerman was awarded for rescuing and transporting 131 animals to safety and coordinating rescue operations and evacuation centers for over 1,000 animals.

Compassionate Police Department Award - Corning Police Department

The Corning Police Department is being awarded for tending to Grant, a fish that was left behind in the Carr Fire when his family evacuated.

Compassionate Fire Department Award - Cal Fire Engine 1489

Cal Fire Engine 1489 was also awarded for its help with saving Grant, a fish left behind in the Carr Fire.

"From an abandoned fish to an orphaned fawn, all these vulnerable animals were spared a traumatic and potentially deadly ordeal, thanks to the kindness and quick thinking of these highly deserving awardees," said PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange. "PETA hopes their heroic actions will inspire people everywhere always to keep an eye out for and come to the aid of animals in need, especially during life-threatening natural disasters."SALT LAKE CITY  Intermountain Healthcare said Monday that it eliminated 396 jobs and created 107 new positions as part of the structural overhaul it launched late last year.

Of the positions that were eliminated, 59 were already vacant, and a total of 67 people in jobs that were cut "left Intermountain because  there was not another suitable position," the hospital system's top leadership announced in a newsletter emailed to employees.

The remainder of workers whose jobs were eliminated ultimately stayed with Intermountain in some capacity and make up "part of 1,075 caregivers that now have redesigned jobs and job titles, which include new responsibilities and leadership opportunities," the organization said in its newsletter.

Those changes are in addition to announcements made earlier this year that 98 information technology employees and about 2,300 billing and scheduling workers at Intermountain would be outsourced to different companies.

The figures announced Monday are the clearest indication so far of precisely how many employees were affected in some way by Intermountain's large-scale reorganization, which began in earnest last December.

Employees were told Monday that "the organization redesign is about 98 percent complete." The total laid off positions described to employees "represent the final numbers," Rob Allen, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Intermountain, told the Deseret News.

Intermountain leaders were reluctant earlier this year to release estimates on how many employees may ultimately be left out of a job, saying it was hard to project the results of its efforts to find other jobs within the organization for workers displaced from their positions.

Intermountain told employees Monday that most of the 396 positions eliminated were in "management."

"The result is a reduction in management-level jobs and an increase in the number of frontline caregivers," Allen said in the newsletter.

With 37,500 workers, Intermountain is Utah's largest employer and runs 22 hospitals and 185 clinics.

Those who lost their jobs and didn't find work elsewhere in Intermountain were assisted in their search for new employment, according to Allen.

"Our human resources team has worked hard to help these 67 people through their transition and help them find new job opportunities," he told employees. "We know this has been challenging for them and their families, and our team has worked diligently to support them through this."

Allen said Intermountain acknowledged the total 1,075 employees with updated job descriptions have also been through "a demanding journey."

"We appreciate the flexibility to take on new responsibilities and roles," he said.

Of the large number of employees who were outsourced, "nearly all of them accepted" the offer available to them at their new employer, Allen added, though the precise number of employees who declined was not provided.

Change and morale

Intermountain CEO Marc Harrison said Monday that the changes were necessary in order to keep Intermountain's services affordable.

"Unless we address our costs, many people aren't going to be able to afford their health care," he said in the message sent to employees. "And our premiums are going to keep going up, we won't be competitive, and it will be bad for everyone."

Harrison added that "great organizations go through change at the moment it becomes appropriate."

"They don't wait for things to become an emergency," he said.

Allen cited "unsustainable increases in the cost of health care" as part of what prompted the changes, and said in the newsletter that Intermountain responded "by better integrating our team and streamlining our services."

According to Allen, one cost reduction passed along to consumers includes a new health plan offered to employers, via the organization's insurance arm SelectHealth, guaranteeing no more than a 2 percent increase on premiums from year to year. Another is a "lower-cost maternity delivery cost plan" being introduced as an option for patients this year, he said.

But one employee at Intermountain's LDS Hospital who wished not to be named said Monday they and their colleagues aren't buying what top leadership is selling.

"I think they've taken a big hit with  just how employees feel. There really (are) morale issues across the board," the employee said. "It's kind of, 'show me, don't tell me,' in my opinion."

Aside from the restructuring changes, turnover has increased as a result of poor morale, straining and stressing out remaining staff, the employee said.

"There (are) just several that are abandoning ship, because the face has changed," they said. "There's not that cohesive feeling anymore. It's 'your team' and 'my team.'"

Asked about morale concerns, Allen said such an issue "wasn't unexpected." But he characterized current morale at Intermountain more positively.

"As we've made sure employees understand the need for these changes, most have become more settled," he told the Deseret News in an email.

Earlier this year the Deseret News spoke with 15 current and former Intermountain employees, including a former executive, who each also described low morale at their workplace and argued the restructuring was heavy-handed and uncalled for in light of the hospital system's successes with its finances and quality of care.

Harrison said in response to those interviews at the time that the organization was doing its best to preserve jobs, but that he also acknowledged the layoffs would be "very big for each of the people who's affected." He promised then that those permanently displaced from Intermountain would be "an extremely small percentage of our overall workforce."

That promise was kept, Allen told the Deseret News on Monday, since the 67 people left without any position as a result of the restructuring are 0.2 percent of Intermountain's employees.

Without going into detail, Allen's message in the employee newsletter Monday hinted at aspects of the restructuring which didn't "go exactly right the first time."

"We experienced some of that, as we expected, so we'll need to continue to adjust and adapt," he said.

Allen also told employees Intermountain's leadership was sorry "to everyone who's felt anxious during this process."

"We're sorry for any discomfort you've experienced, and we appreciate your perseverance, your patience, and your continued work to help us do the right things for our patients," he said.SALT LAKE CITY  Identities are stolen from about 1 million American children each year. Its the fastest-growing form of identity theft and may not be spotted until the victims are adults applying for a job, a loan or housing, according to Experian, one of the "big three" consumer credit reporting agencies.

The sooner ID theft is found, the easier it is to limit damage, says Michael Bruemmer, vice president of consumer protection at Experian, which recently announced it will let families do a single free scan to see if the Social Security numbers of their minor children are associated with a credit file, which could indicate identity theft and fraud. The other big consumer credit reporting agencies are Equifax and TransUnion.

The company on Aug. 20 also released its survey of 507 victims of child ID theft and 231 parents of children who were thus victimized. In 86 percent of cases, the theft centered on a stolen Social Security number.

One of the findings that might surprise people is how often the identity theft is a parent or other relative  one-third of the time, according to the report.

But it wouldn't surprise Axton Betz-Hamilton, an identity theft researcher and college assistant professor of consumer affairs at South Dakota State University who has been honored for her identity theft research. She is co-author of "The Young Adult's Guide to Identity Theft: A Step-by-Step Guide to Stopping Scammers."

Her interest came from personal experience. When she was 19, according to an interview with Marketwatch, she discovered that she'd been the victim of identity theft starting when she was 11 and someone used her Social Security number to establish credit.

She and her mom worked for years to try to untangle the mess, which had dented her credit score and caused various problems, including the need to dig up bigger deposits for utilities when she tried to get her own place. It always seemed like the thief was a step ahead, she lamented. And later, she learned that was true. After her mother died when Betz-Hamilton was in her early 30s, she and her dad discovered that her mom, who'd been "helping" her untangle the identity theft, was actually the thief.

Among the surveys other key findings:

Victims were on average 12 years old when their identity was stolen and, while some parents discovered the problem early, more than half found out themselves when they received a bill or applied for credit. In 45 percent of cases, the victims were 18 or older when they found out.

- In one-third of cases, the child knew the identity thief  sometimes a parent or other relative.

Resolution may take years; in one-fourth of cases it takes a decade or more to clear things up.

About 35 percent of victims said they needed professional mental health treatment for related stress, anxiety, anger or depression.

The largest age category of victims, 44 percent, said their identity was stolen between ages 15 and 17.

One in 12 victims were age 4 or younger.

The survey, conducted this summer, has an error rate of plus or minus 4 percent.

Identity thieves consider youngsters clean credit reports the mother lode because they can fabricate histories to meet their larcenous needs, according to officials who deal with fraud for Mountain America Credit Union in Utah.

"Theres no prior record in the credit file of that Social Security number.  Theres nothing to flag as being contradictory, says Rob Woellhaf, vice president of fraud management.

"That first application for credit is key" and thieves can make information up, adds his colleague, Tony Rasmussen, Mountain America's vice president of financial education.

If parents aren't the perpetrators, they are the first line of defense, but they must be proactive, says Bruemmer. "If they're not monitoring for activity, there's no automatic process to alert them that credit has been applied for in a child's name."

Ounce of prevention

Nearly 60 percent of child ID theft victims said their credit report and credit score were damaged, according to the survey. More than half (52 percent) were denied credit because of the theft.

Bruemmer says Experian can also quickly scan the "dark web" for signs of identity theft. He describes it as a hidden portion of the internet that requires special credentials to get in. And it's not the good guys who go there; the dark web is a haven for people who want to buy and sell illegal drugs, prostitution, illicit IDs and more.

Preventing ID theft starts with being suspicious, says Bruemmer, who notes few requests for a child's Social Security number serve a valid purpose.

"Don't give out that Social Security number to the doctor's office, the dentist, the school or others," he says. "They don't need it."

He also tells parents to watch their children on social media, because kids inadvertently give out information that aids ID theft. A kid excited about getting a driver's license should NOT post a photo of it, for example.

Bruemmer, Rasmussen and Woellhaf say credit monitoring tools can be very helpful, though they usually cost a small fee. Monitoring automates a process so parents don't forget to look. If something is found, the service provides an alert. Such tools are widely available through the credit bureaus, financial institutions and other agencies.

Parents can also request annual credit reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Most experts advise consumers to alternate them, getting one every four months. The source for the official free report is annualcreditreport.com. Those with sound-alike names may be risky and won't be free.

Taking care to prevent ID theft is easier than undoing the harm, says Woellhaf. "Truly, the advantage of an ounce of prevention applies here."

The free, one-time child ID theft scan can be accessed at www.experian.com/childscan.

Experian is also sponsoring a Child Identity Theft Awareness Day Sept. 1 and has teamed with the ID Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit that helps people who have experienced ID theft.

The resource center can teach parents how to watch for signs of ID fraud. In addition to its website, a call center is open weekdays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. MST, at 1-888-400-5530.

Parents can also get a downloadable wallet card that outlines steps if an adult or child falls victim to identity theft.

It happened, now what?

Despite vigilance, identity theft can occur. When it happens, most people are flummoxed about what to do. Woellhaf says he'd start with the big credit bureaus. Notify one of fraud and it will notify the others.

He thinks it's also a good idea to file a police report "if they will accept the report, depending on the circumstances."

You should also notify your financial institutions, says Rasmussen. "Consumers who notify us of suspicious activities right away have helped everyone." It limits the amount of financial harm that can be done and increases likelihood the fraud can be stopped.

Some will also choose to freeze credit, a process that prevents use of one's Social Security number to obtain further credit or open new accounts. Each credit bureau offers instructions on getting that done  and on how to lift it to apply for credit or do a transaction that requires a credit check.

The federal government has a website dedicated to helping victims of ID fraud. Identitytheft.gov takes people through recovery steps. The Federal Trade Commission offers advice, too, as does the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Rasmussen and Bruemmer note that consumer agencies, the credit bureaus, financial institutions and others offer help to figure out how to proceed once identity theft occurs.

Correction: A previous version provided an incorrect phone number for the the Identity Theft Resource Center. The correct number is 1-888-400-5530.SALT LAKE CITY  A report from the North Carolina Board of Education found that 2,400 teachers from the state failed the math portion of their licensing exam, according to The Charlotte Observer.

The failures put the teachers jobs in jeopardy since it shows they do not know the material they plan to teach the students in their classrooms.

Failure rates have jumped as the state looks to find more teachers.

Education officials told the Observer theyre worried that the exam might be the problem and not the teachers themselves.

But teachers in North Carolina arent alone. Educators in Florida and Indiana have also seen mass failures from their own testing exams.

All of these exams are run by the Pearson Publishing Co., which started giving exams to teachers in 2013 on a mass scale.

Indiana teacher Laura Grieve-Mabr told the Tribune-Star that the company sets teachers up to fail.

She said tests are extremely hard. You keep trying and trying, and you eventually get discouraged because you cant pass it. It not only discourages you but lowers your self-esteem.

Teachers plan to discuss the issue at the National Education Association conference, according to Mark Jewell, the president of North Carolina Association of Educators.

I hope this doesnt lead to a mass exodus of new teachers and exacerbate our shortages, he said, according to the Observer.

Last year, 21,780 teachers in Nigeria failed exams they planned to give to their 6-year-old students, according to BBC News. About two-thirds of the countrys teachers failed to earn a 75 percent or higher score.SOUTH JORDAN  Despite years of clashing with city officials and the mandated destruction of a backyard loft that held hundreds of pigeons, South Jordan's "pigeon man" has once again been found to be harboring birds on his property.

"We went to that address in terms of a welfare check because his neighbors said that his papers and mail had been stacking up and they were worried about him," said South Jordan Police Lt. Rob Hansen.

Inside the home of Boris Majnaric, a 78-year-old retired schoolteacher, three police officers found around 100 pigeons in cages on the first floor. Upstairs, they found another 10 or so, Hansen said. Majnaric, however, was not there during Friday's search.

"We found that he has been in the hospital for some period of time," Hansen said. "We don't know why. They wouldn't give us any of that information."

Majnaric declined to comment Monday about the birds in his home, but said he was released from the hospital that day. In 2015, during his last battle to keep his pigeons, he was hospitalized for pulmonary problems.

Despite the city allowing pigeon fanciers to own only 40 adult birds, Hansen said no criminal charges have been filed against Majnaric as of Monday.

For now, the issue has been handed over to animal control and health officials to decide what to do next, according to Hansen.

"We're going to have the board of health check on his living conditions again, just to make sure that they don't need to get involved," Hansen said. "But that's where we're leaving it."

Until the board's decision is made, animal control will not take any action involving the pigeons, Hansen said. A spokeswoman for the Salt Lake County Health Department said it is unlikely health officials would mandate the removal of the pigeons unless they pose a health risk for anyone outside the home.

"From our perspective, there's nothing criminal, we don't see it as a hazmat issue," Hansen said.

A police officer was hospitalized after searching Majnaric's home Friday, however, due to an allergy the officer had not known about before. Hansen said the officer was checked out of the hospital shortly after and is in good health  despite an allergy to all birds that he is now aware of.

Majnaric has been battling the city of South Jordan for years. Most notably, in 2015 a 3rd District judge ordered the destruction of a spacious backyard loft Majnaric had been housing pigeons in.

Four years before that, neighbors had noticed an explosion of pigeons in the area and complained to the city  igniting litigation in justice, district and federal court.

"I will feel very incomplete because pigeons have been part of my life," Majnaric told the Deseret News in 2015, adding he was living a childhood dream to raise and care for "man's oldest feathered friends."

"It's going to be an empty thing for me," Majnaric said at the time. "I don't think it's fair what they've done to me."

More than 200 pigeons of various colors and varieties lived in the 384-square-foot, four-room loft in Majnaric's backyard. Dozens more "homeless" birds roosted in a gazebo.

After trials and appeals in justice and district court  including one in which a jury found the pigeons were not a nuisance but that Majnaric violated city conditional use laws  and unsuccessful attempts to settle the issue, the city moved to take down the structures in 2015.

Majnaric filed a federal lawsuit of his own in 2014 but did not pursue it.

Contributing: Dennis RomboySALT LAKE CITY  Sen. John McCain had a big impact on former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., now the U.S. ambassador to Russia, who stunned Utah's political establishment by endorsing McCain over Mitt Romney in the 2008 presidential race.

"Aside from my own dad, theres been no one more impactful in my life," Huntsman told the Deseret News from Moscow after initially declining to comment on his relationship with the Arizona senator, who died Saturday after battling brain cancer.

"It was the highest honor to associate with him. He was a mentor in many ways. Country first and bipartisanship were deeply ingrained due to his influence," Huntsman said of his longtime friend.

He also said that his two sons, Jon Huntsman III and Will, are graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy and active duty naval officers "in no small part due to Johns early influence."

McCain, a Navy fighter pilot who was shot down and a POW for years during the Vietnam War, followed his own father into the Navy. Huntsman's father, the late billionaire philanthropist Jon Huntsman Sr., served as a U.S. Navy officer.

"There has been no greater mentor to my husband aside from his own dad than John McCain," Huntsman's wife, Mary Kaye, posted on Instagram with a photo of Huntsman and McCain.

Huntsman and McCain "had a sweet conversation before his passing that always will be cherished," she wrote Sunday. The Huntsmans have been invited to attend services for McCain, being held in the Washington National Cathedral on Sept. 1.

It is not clear if the Huntsmans will be able to make the trip, but their daughter, Abby, soon to be a panelist on ABC's "The View" alongside her close friend, McCain's daughter, Meghan, is expected to attend.

Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, who both ran against McCain for president, are expected to speak at the service. But President Donald Trump, who appointed Huntsman to the high-profile ambassadorship, won't be there.

Those close to McCain said in May that the senator wanted Vice President Mike Pence at his funeral, not Trump. Pence will speak at a U.S. Capitol ceremony honoring McCain on Friday and other members of the administration will attend the funeral.

The president and fellow Republican McCain have long been at odds, with Trump declaring that McCain, a Navy pilot, was not a war hero despite his time as a POW and initially declining to praise the senator's legacy after his death.

McCain was one of the president's toughest critics in Congress, calling Trump's joint news conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory."

Mary Kaye Huntsman joined her husband in saying in her Instagram post that "it was the highest of honors for our family to campaign" for McCain in 2008, with Jon Huntsman as a national co-chairman.

"Many lessons of life and politics from that experience," she wrote.

In 2006, Huntsman endorsed McCain for president, saying they shared opinions on important issues, like immigration and the war in Iraq. Earlier that year, McCain had brought Huntsman along to Iraq to meet with the troops.

Romney, now the GOP nominee in the U.S. Senate race for the seat held by retiring Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, was the overwhelming favorite in Utah when Huntsman made what he said was a decision to "reflect a little bit of diversity"in Utah.

Longtime Huntsman friend Lew Cramer, a founder of the World Trade Center Utah, said Huntsman likely met McCain during his early years of government service, including as U.S. ambassador to Singapore under then-President George H.W. Bush.

Cramer said Huntsman probably "interacted with the young, dynamic Sen. McCain because McCain was a huge influence on many of us at that time, as war hero, maverick legislator and overall D.C. dynamo."

He said that he was "presuming Jon was under the same spell of McCain's magic."

Mary Kaye Huntsman's Instagram post said McCain's "early influence on our two sons no doubt helped play a role in their decision to attend the U.S. Naval Academy and pursue military careers."

When Huntsman was nominated by Obama to be U.S. ambassador to China at the start of his second term as Utah governor, McCain joined the state's two senators in formally introducing Huntsman at his Senate confirmation hearing.

But when Huntsman ran for president in 2012, McCain backed Romney, who became the Republican Party's nominee. The endorsement came shortly before the New Hampshire primary that Huntsman had built his campaign around winning.

The theme of Huntsman's campaign, which ended shortly after his loss in New Hampshire to Romney, echoed McCain's 2008 call to put "country first," above partisanship.

After McCain was diagnosed with a brain tumor in July, Huntsman tweeted that McCain "has been a mentor and a true American hero. His fighting spirit, which has always put country first, will empower him."SALT LAKE CITY  During a sentencing hearing Monday for a man who admitted to sexually abusing six young girls, a mother of two of his victims said the abuse has "haunted our family so much."

The mother said she and her young daughters have nightmares because of the acts of James Gerald Crawford, 44, of Salt Lake City, whom she had viewed as a brother and whom her kids had viewed as an uncle.

The family has since had to move more than 200 miles away because of what happened, she said.

As he listened to the accounts of parents, Crawford sat in a yellow jail uniform, with his hands shackled and head down. Third District Judge Paul Parker sentenced him to two consecutive prison terms of 15 years to life.

Two additional prison terms of 15 years to life and one to 15 years were ordered to run concurrently to the others.

Crawford pleaded guilty in July to three counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, and one count of sex abuse of a child, a second-degree felony.

As part of a plea deal with prosecutors, Crawford admitted in 3rd District Court to inappropriately touching three girls he baby-sat in 2016 and 2017, court records show. Roughly a decade earlier, he also touched three other girls in similar ways, plea documents state.

According to charging documents, Crawford told police that he "has urges to touch children sexually, and that he has had those urges since his 20s and that he started exploring those urges about 10 years ago."

In exchange for his pleas, three remaining counts of aggravated sexual abuse and one count sodomy on a child, first-degree felonies, were dismissed. A charge of lewdness involving a child, a class A misdemeanor, was also dismissed.

A father from another family with two victims told the judge during the hearing, "It makes us upset that nothing was done until now."

"I would like to apologize to all the families" who were also victimized by Crawford, the father said.

The man said that his children who suffered at the hands of Crawford have told him "I feel in danger whenever I go outside," he said.

"It's about time," the father said of Crawford finally facing the consequences of his actions.

Another father of a victim tearfully declined to comment during the hearing.

After listening to the parents' comments, Crawford apologized for the pain he caused and promised that he wouldn't do it again.

"I do  apologize to the victims that I harmed. And that me myself being a victim of child sexual abuse myself as a young kid, I understand what they're feeling and what they're saying. I have to atone for what I've done," Crawford said.

Before he handed down the sentence, Parker said Crawford's words will never repay the families, who despite the apology will continue to suffer as a result of the abuse before.

This is not the first time Crawford has faced allegations of sex abuse. In 2014, Crawford was charged in 3rd District Court with forcible sodomy, a first-degree felony. That case was dismissed due to lack of evidence, according to court records.OGDEN  Two men have been charged in connection to an Ogden shooting death at a homeless camp earlier this month after one of them told police they'd gone to the camp "to find and harass homeless people," according to court documents.

Dalton James Aiken, 27, and Cory Michael Fitzwater, 35, were both charged Friday in 2nd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony, and purchase, transfer, possession or use of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, a third-degree felony.

On August 16, according to the charges, police pulled over a vehicle on west 17th Street about 3 a.m. Aiken, who was driving, and Fitzwater were leaving the 21st Street pond and trail system, charges state.

Police found marijuana on Aiken, a .45 caliber gun between the front seats and the gun's magazine on the passenger seat, according to the charges.

An hour later, officers responded to a homeless camp at 500 West and 21st Street where there had been reports of a suspicious death, charges state.

Brian Racine, 28, was found dead from a gunshot wound. Racine was from California but had been living in Ogden for about a month, according to Ogden Police Lt. Tim Scott.

People staying at the camp said they had left the camp at 2 a.m. and returned to find Racine dead, after which they called 911, charges state.

A .45 caliber bullet was located near Racine, police said. A Utah State Crime Lab screening found that the casing was fired from the gun Aiken and Fitzwater had with them when they were arrested, according to the charges.

When detectives interviewed Aiken, told police he had seen Fitzwater shoot Racine in the head with the .45 caliber gun found in the vehicle, charges state.

"(Aiken) said that they went to the 21st Street pond area to find and harass homeless people. (Fitzwater) was interviewed and admitted that the gun seized in the traffic stop was his," according to police.

Fitzwater told police he had been in the area at the time of the shooting but said he "didn't see anyone" and "didn't hear a gunshot," police said.

Both men had scratches on their bodies that police say were consistent with "running through a heavy forested area." Police also found a "full face ski mask" that had twigs on it on the floor of the passenger seat, charges state.OGDEN  A top Interior official toured Ogden Tuesday, marveling at the painted horse statues, the multiple flower boxes, the street side pianos and the community pride.

"It's a really pretty town," said Susan Combs, the U.S. Department of the Interiors assistant secretary for policy, management and budget, over a lunch of pizza at Roosters.

"The distinct impression I got this morning is this is a community that works well together," she said.

Combs had a specific list of amenities she wanted to see in Ogden as she sized up the city as a potential candidate for the relocation of the Bureau of Land Management headquarters from Washington, D.C.

She wanted to see neighborhood parks, the airport, residential housing, Weber State University and local health care services.

"There's visible evidence of pride and civic engagement," she said. "I've seen towns completely change from a few planter boxes."

Combs was in Utah to tour Ogden and participate in a roundtable discussion with Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, on the reorganization of the U.S. Department of Interior.

She said the department's present organizational structure evolved over the last 100 years to include eight distinct bureaus featuring 49 regions  something that would never have been designed that way from the outset.

"It's goofy," she said.

Combs said Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wants Western headquarters for the BLM, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as well the Bureau of Reclamation, which manages many of the dams, in the West.

She's visited multiple sites in an assessment tour, including Grand Junction, Colorado, Denver, Albuquerque and Salt Lake City. Boise is also on her list to visit.

The winning community, she said, will have a good quality of life, an affordable cost of living, good job opportunities for spouses, recreation, access to health care, low crime and a good workforce.

Tuesday morning, Combs went to the rooftop of the James V. Hansen Federal Building to get a view of the city and its mountains. She later met briefly with Nora Rasure, regional forester for the Intermountain Region, which covers 34 million acres.

Ogden Mayor Mike Caldwell boasted that Ogden is only 30 minutes from skiing, a reservoir for boating and fishing and boasts a network of trails on its east bench. The driving tour took Combs past Mount Ogden Park and its adjacent golf course, a popular destination for families.

At the roundtable discussion, Combs noted that a new map approved last week breaks up the Interior into 12 distinct land-based regions that will allow closer coordination on the ground.

"If we don't deliver better services to you, we have messed up," she said.

Combs noted that during her time in Texas state government, the difference for her was being able to talk to everyday people about the policy and decisions being made and who were the most impacted.

"Some of the best conversations I've had are in the frozen food corridors" of supermarkets, she said.

The reorganization effort will begin first with the region that includes Utah because of the more than 13,000 employees who work for Interior covering four states, the amount of BLM land and the abundance of national parks and monuments, she said.

"This needs to be a slow, thoughtful calm process where we really dig down and get the data," she said.

The roundtable discussion's participants included Bishop, Caldwell, Weber County commissioners, local businesswoman Sarah Lehman and Utah Gov. Gary Herbert.

Herbert was blunt.

"Madam secretary, there is no better place to bring the headquarters of BLM than Utah," he said, talking up the state's economy, its workforce and quality of life.

Lehman, CEO of Enve Composites, noted she reluctantly moved to Utah from Manhattan with her husband and said she'd give it two years at the most.

That was more than a decade ago.

Lehman built a manufacturing business that crafts carbon fiber bicycle components, distributing in 50 countries around the world.

When it came to pick a spot for the company's global headquarters, they chose Ogden.

"We truly live the outdoor lifestyle," she said. "I always say that employees come for Enve, but stay for Utah."

On Wednesday, Bishop will convene a field hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee in Roosevelt at Union High School on energy and education. On Thursday evening at the Utah State Capitol, he will host a forum on wildland fires.

Correction: An earlier version incorrectly identified businesswoman Sarah Lehman as Susan Lehman.SALT LAKE CITY  With Labor Day on the horizon, health officials are warning people to stay out of the Jordan River after test results revealed levels of toxins that could pose a risk to humans and animals.

Salt Lake County Health Department received test results Monday that showed a low level of an algae-related toxin called anatoxin-a in the Jordan River, according to Jorge Mendez, county supervisor for water quality and hazardous waste.

The tested water came from the Jordan Narrows, where the river enters Salt Lake County.

"For Labor Day weekend, we are definitely instructing parents and the public at large to prevent children and other individuals from entering the water," Mendez said. "This toxin can be harmful to your health  to people and animals."

Along with humans, county health officials are also warning dog owners against letting their pets swim or drink from the river. Kayaking and boating on the river should be fine, however, because toxin levels are not high enough to be dangerous at the surface of the water.

According to Mendez, if someone touches the affected water, they may experience skin irritations similar to an allergic reaction. If they ingest the water, people may experience headaches, fever, diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, he said.

"At higher levels, this could be definitely of greater concern," Mendez said. "It is a neurotoxin"  a toxin that affects the nervous system.

Samples were also taken at Blackridge Reservoir in Herriman and at Wheeler Farm East Canal. Officials are advising caution on the entire river, though, since algae and toxins can spread and change quickly.

Mendez said more water was collected for testing Tuesday, but the results will not be determined until next week.

County officials do not expect to close any of the affected bodies of water as of Tuesday. Warning signs will be posted at popular recreation areas such as Wheeler Farm and Blackridge Reservoir.

As of Tuesday, people are not supposed to enter eight bodies of water across the state. Jordan River's findings add to a trend in the Beehive State that has increased in recent years.

"Over the past couple years, we've noticed the algae bloom increasing here in the state of Utah," Mendez said. "When we have more nutrients in the water from over-fertilizing, or herbicides that we use  either industry or homes  that can trigger a larger bloom."

Blue-green algae can be a natural part of many freshwater ecosystems, county officials said. Though, under the right conditions, they can expand rapidly. With a combination of high nutrient levels, warm temperatures and lots of sunlight, the calm water can encourage the algae to grow, creating blooms that can grow the dangerous toxins.

The danger seems to be highest at Utah Lake, however. Lindon Marina, Lincoln Beach and Lincoln Marina are all closed to the public due to the cyanobacteria cell-count concentrations found there. People are also warned to not swim or ingest the water at Utah Lake.

"The health department is concerned simply because we're around the corner from a holiday weekend and we want to make sure the public at large is aware of the risk of entering water that may be tainted with toxins," Mendez said.

For concerns about possible exposure, call the Utah Poison Control Center at 800-222-1222 or your local doctor.SALT LAKE CITY  When Utahn Karson Voiles conquered Stage 1 of the American Ninja Warrior national finals with 19:78 seconds to spare, it was all because of hard work  and a little bit of magic.

Before Voiles competed in the Las Vegas finals Monday night, his daughter promised she would help guide him through the course with her magic. As the gym owner from West Haven, Weber County, navigated the eight-obstacle course, his wife and daughter  who proudly waved her magic wand as her father competed  could be seen on the sidelines enthusiastically cheering on their hero.

After making it through the third obstacle of the course, called the Double Dipper, Voiles took a moment to blow a kiss to his little girl. The Double Dipper proved fatal that night, knocking out 10 competitors and proving to be a falling point for several top contenders. It knocked out Ninja favorite Joe Moravsky, who failed Stage 1 for the first time in his career, and Travis Rosen, a 43-year-old American Ninja Warrior veteran who ended up breaking his ankle while dismounting from the Double Dipper.

Voiles continued on the course, running over slanting tires, racing up the Warped Wall, darting across thin balance beams and twisting and flying onto a net that he quickly climbed in a rush to hit the buzzer. Voiles completed the course in 2:05:22  plenty of time before the 2:25 requirement.

Monday night marked Voiles fourth trip to the national finals. Although this wasnt his first time completing Stage 1, advancing to the next phase of the finals this year was especially meaningful for the competitor, as he revealed his wife was dealing with a tumor in her head.

My wife is the warrior, the Ninja Warrior competitor said with visible emotion. She takes care of our (family).  Shes super mom.

Karson Voiles has his family on his mind during his epic run. #AmericanNinjaWarrior https://t.co/yW1NDJJ6ld  Ninja Warrior (@ninjawarrior) August 28, 2018

One of the shows announcers called Voiles successful Stage 1 run a truly magical moment for his family. Voiles was one of 12 competitors who completed the course. Other notable finishers were Jamie Rahn  who finished the course barefoot after losing his shoe during one of the early obstacles  and Austin Gray, the first finisher of the night who donated a kidney to his friend earlier this year.

Brent Steffensen, another Utah competitor from Salt Lake City, came close to completing the course but timed out on the final obstacle, the Twist and Fly. Monday night marked Steffensens eighth trip to the national finals.

Another Utah competitor, University of Utah alumnus Eric Middleton, has yet to appear on the national finals. The second night of the finals  featuring another set of Ninjas seeking to conquer Stage 1  airs on NBC Monday, Sept. 3, at 7 p.m. MDT. The second, third and fourth stage competitions are scheduled for Sept. 10.(CNN) -- The United States and Mexico have reached an agreement to change parts of NAFTA, the trade deal that President Donald Trump has derided for years as unfair.

Trump announced the agreement from the Oval Office Monday, with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto dialed in on a conference call.

But the deal left open the question of whether Canada, the third country in NAFTA, would agree to the changes -- and Trump himself said he wanted to throw out the name NAFTA altogether.

"They used to call it NAFTA," Trump said. "We're going to call it the United States-Mexico trade agreement. We're going to get rid of NAFTA because it has a bad connotation."

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the agreement was "absolutely terrific" and would modernize a trade deal that had "gotten seriously out of whack." He said he hoped Congress would approve it with broad bipartisan support.

On a separate call with reporters, Lighthizer highlighted some big changes that negotiators from both countries agreed to.

Auto manufacturing: The new deal would require that 75% of the parts in any car sold in North America be produced in the United States or Mexico. Currently, about 62% of parts are required to be produced in the United States, Mexico or Canada.

Higher labor standards: The new deal would require that 40% to 45% of auto parts in cars sold be made by workers earning at least $16 USD per hour.

Sunset clause: The agreement will last for 16 years, and will be reviewed every six years.

Much of the business world has been worried about Trump's trade policies, and the stock market reacted positively to the news of a deal. The Dow closed nearly 260 points higher on Monday.

The agreement between the two countries could restart negotiations on NAFTA with all three parties -- the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Despite Trump's signal that the deal could lead to a bilateral trade agreement between the United States and Mexico, Pena Nieto, through a translator, expressed his "desire that now Canada will also be able to be incorporated in this."

Mexico and Canada have stood firm on the importance of maintaining the trilateral format of the NAFTA free trade deal, even as Trump has signaled a desire for individual deals with each country.

"Canada is encouraged by the continued optimism shown by our negotiating partners," said a spokesperson for Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland.

"Progress between Mexico and the United States is a necessary requirement for any renewed NAFTA agreement," he said.

Freeland will travel to Washington on Tuesday to continue negotiations.

Negotiations on rewriting the three-country NAFTA agreement began about a year ago.

The 24-year-old trade agreement generally prevents the three parties from imposing tariffs on imports from one another. But Trump has called the agreement "the worst deal maybe ever signed" and moved ahead with tariffs earlier this year.

In May, the United States imposed steep tariffs on steel and aluminum from much of the world, including Mexico. In response, Mexico slapped tariffs on $3 billion of US goods, including steel, pork, apples, potatoes, bourbon and different types of cheese. Canada imposed tariffs on $12.5 billion of US goods, including steel, toffee, maple syrup, coffee beans and strawberry jam.WEST JORDAN  A Midvale teenager admitted Tuesday that he attacked a 50-year-old jogger on a Sandy trail who had stopped to help him and then sexually assaulted her.

Rainier Craig Peterson, 16, told a judge that he first asked to borrow the woman's phone on March 19 before he beat her.

"I hit her and dragged her into a ditch and forced sex upon her," he said Tuesday.

Peterson pleaded guilty in 3rd District Court to aggravated sexual assault, a first-degree felony, as part of a plea deal that is expected to earn him an eventual prison sentence.

He had agreed to face that charge as an adult just moments earlier in a juvenile courtroom down the hall.

The teen sat next to his attorneys during the juvenile proceeding as his mother listened over the phone. At one point, he gripped the table, and his defense attorney William Russell put a hand on his client's back.

Peterson replied "yes," when 3rd District Judge Heather Brereton asked him if his attorney was correct in saying that he forced the woman to submit to rape under the threat of death.

In June, the jogger testified that she stopped to help him in Dimple Dell Regional Park after he asked to use her phone. But the teen, who was 15 year old at the time, beat her when she tried to get it back, sexually assaulted her and tried to shove a glass shard into her eye, telling her, "You will die today," she recalled. DNA results from the woman's rape kit matched the teen, a detective testified at the June hearing.

On Tuesday, Peterson also pleaded guilty to aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony, but that case will remain in the juvenile system. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 11.

Prosecutors requested a judge wait to sentence Peterson for the sex assault conviction until his release from a juvenile detention center, where he is expected to serve his sentence in the kidnapping case. The maximum time defendants can spend in the juvenile system is until they turn 21.

Spending the next five years in the juvenile system's care will allow the teen to receive treatment while still remaining in a secure facility, said Coral Sanchez-Rose, deputy Salt Lake County district attorney.

Peterson's time there will likely end on his 21st birthday, but it could end sooner if youth parole officers release him earlier or if he is convicted of another crime. Under sentencing guidelines, Peterson's sexual assault conviction in adult court carries a possible sentence of at least 15 years and up to life in prison, but prosecutors agreed to recommend that the minimum be lowered to 10 years.

In exchange for the guilty pleas, remaining charges were dropped, including attempted aggravated murder, two counts of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated robbery, all first-degree felonies.

Those who have experienced sexual abuse or assault can get assistance from Utah's statewide 24-hour Rape and Sexual Assault Crisis Line at 888-421-1100.Ois largest stakeholders are reportedly no longer aiming to divest their holdings in the beleaguered Brazilian operator and are instead considering how to boost its offering.

According to Reuters, investors have warmed to the operator after control over the unit was restored to bondholders  including GoldenTree Asset Management, Solus Alternative Asset Management and York Capital Management Global Advisors - following a three-year legal battle with shareholders.

Oi is Brazils largest fixed-line carrier. Having filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2016 with debts of BRL65.4 billion ($19.3 billion), Oi is now on track to raise BRL4 billion (US$1 billion) in capital by the end of this year. This funding will be invested into Ois mobile and broadband offerings to complement its strong pay-TV business.

Since 2016, Ois shareholders and creditors have debated how to restructure the operator, and during this time it has seen significant declines in its fixed, broadband and mobile businesses. At the end of Q2 this year, Ois total subscriber base was down 6% year-on-year to 59 million, while its mobile base had dropped 8.5% to 36.5 million.

However, Oi noted that its residential and B2B offerings had fared better due to the acceleration of commercial activity, the good performance of the new offerings, both in mobility and in residential segments, and improvement in the quality of the service provided. It is also increasing its market share in Rio de Janeiro via a pilot project trialling ultra-fast broadband.

The driving factor behind the strategic turnaround is the belief that making Oi a better contender will increase the value of its investors stakes over time. However, there are other factors that make a short-term deal unfavourable; in particular, Oi owes around BLR14 billion in regulatory penalties which Brazils regulator Anatel argues should be kept separate from the debt restructuring process.

Another challenge comes from one of Ois shareholders, Pharol SGPS SA, which is disputing the current course for restructuring Ois debt as it believes that the operator will be undervalued by potential buyers until its legal issues are resolved.Vodacom Group has deployed commercial 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) in Lesotho, with the operator claiming the launch as a first for the continent.

The 5G network in Lesotho is provided via 3.5GHz spectrum which was allocated by the countrys regulator to offer fibre-like speeds. Vodacoms 5G offering has already attracted two enterprise customers.

With a population of around 2.3 million, Lesotho is one of Vodacoms smaller markets, meaning that the 5G FWA launch will likely act as a trial run for larger scale deployments across the groups African markets. The groups CEO Shameel Joosub said that the technology is ready to launch in South Africa as soon as spectrum is allocated.

Joosub stated: What weve accomplished in Lesotho is an example of what can be achieved in Africa, should the requisite spectrum also be made available. Vodacom will be able to make 5G services available to its customers in South Africa once requisite spectrum is assigned.

Global technological advancements are evolving at a rapid pace and South Africa cant afford to be left behind, particularly when we look at some of the potential use cases for 5G to support critical sectors of our society such as healthcare and education, he added.

While Vodacom has demoed its 5G technology in South Africa using a temporary licence, the 3.5GHz spectrum required to offer the service commercially has not yet been released by South African regulator ICASA (Independent Communications Authority of South Africa), and no auction date is forthcoming.A conference aimed at improving the diabetes care among the elderly is set to take place next month.

Nurses, GPs, public health doctors, care home managers, healthcare assistants and members of the public are invited to attend the fifth National Conference of the Older Peoples Diabetes Network (OPDN).

The aim of the organisation is to bring together all those who share the aim of ensuring older people with diabetes get the highest quality of care.

Professor Alan Sinclair, OPDNs Director and Clinical Lead, said: The OPDN plays an important role in showcasing the latest innovations and successes in the field of diabetes and older people as well as tackling the greatest challenges.

We are committed to ensuring that older people with diabetes get the level of care that they deserve and at the fifth National Conference we will be joined by friends and colleagues who share our ambition.

Type 2 diabetes often needs be controlled slightly differently in older people, particularly those who have physical impairments, other health complications or who already take certain medications.

Researchers this year have advised doctors to avoid overtreating elderly people with type 2 diabetes and make sure they receive personalised care. It is believed that avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach could be beneficial to older people.

Some of the themes of this years sessions include practical demonstrations of foot assessments, how to manage hypoglycemia, improving primary and home care, updating end of life recommendations and getting a good understanding of frailty and diabetes.

The network is hosted by RIA Diabetes &Educatio, an organisation dedicated to excellence in diabetes education and care.

The conference will take place on Thursday 27 September, 2018, at Friends House, in London, with the theme of Public Health and the Older Adult with Diabetes.

Tickets are now available.Google held its Fourth annual Google For India event in New Delhi today. The theme of this years Google For India conference was digital and financial inclusion, wherein Google announced support for new vernacular Indian languages for its products, a new way to get vernacular publishers online, an expanded payments offering in the form of Google Pay, new features for Android Go apps, locally-relevant actions for Google Assistant, expansion of Plus codes across the country, new bilingual Google Feed, ability to have web pages read out and much more.

Clearly, Googles agenda for this year is to make its products more popular in India by targeting local languages and communities. But, one of the biggest announcement of all made at the event was that of the rebranding of Google Tez to Google Pay.

Google Tez, the companys UPI-based payments app has now been rebranded to Google Pay in the interest of bringing the product to more countries other than India. At the event, Googles Head for Payments and the Next Billion Users initiative, Caesar Sengupta, announced that Bhim UPI transactions have grown 14X since launch of Google Tez in India last year. Indians from 3 lakh villages, towns, and cities using Tez in India, which comes up to 22 million monthly users for the payments platform in the country. Sengupta also disclosed that 750 million transactions are carried out using Google Tez everyday, with an annual run-rate of $30 billion in transactions.

Google is now unifying all payments across its platforms under the Google Pay umbrella. While Tez will be rebranded as Google Pay, the UI of the app will remain the same. The app will adopt new features from its global counterpart to make payments seamless.

Updates coming to Google Pay platform in India

-An integration with Red Bus to help users buy bus tickets using Google Pay.

-Users will be able to view receipts of their transactions from more merchants now.

-Google is working with large stores and payment providers like Pine Labs, and by Diwali this year, the company promises availability of Google Pay across 15,000 stores in India, including the likes of Big Bazaar.

- Businesses and merchants can now pay for Ads on Google using Google Pay.

-Google Pay will also be available as a mode of payment on Paytm soon.

Pre approved loans on Google Pay

One of the biggest additions coming to Google Pay is the ability to get pre-approved bank loans. Google is working with Federal BAnk, Kotak, ICICI, and HDFC to provide pre-approved loans on Google Pay. Users will be able to see their pre-approved loan amount in the Google Pay app and after completing the necessary formalities online, the bank will deposit money in the users account instantly in a matter of seconds.

"In the coming weeks, these customers will be able to use Google Pay to take out a customised loan amount from their banks, with minimal paperwork, and once they accept the banks terms, the money is deposited securely and instantly by their bank, into their bank account," Google executives said at the event.

Google Pay for Merchants

For merchants on Google Pay, the company said, "We also want to help the 1.2 million Indian local businesses on Google Pay with more than just payments. Thats why were building a dedicated merchant experience to help them grow their business. In addition to receiving digital payments using their phones, this will help them be discovered through Google Search and Maps, and communicate with their customers through messages and offers. We are testing these features with merchants in Bangalore and Delhi, and onboarding more neighbourhoods in the following months."At todays Google For India event, the company made a slew of announcements regarding many of its products. Google Maps app and its Go version are also getting some new features that will help users find addresses and get to their destinations quicker. Voice navigation on Google Maps is currently supported only in English when seeking directions using the public transit option but the company will soon enable it in Hindi as well. Voice navigation will work in Hindi when using bus navigation. The feature will be helpful for those who use a bus as their preferred mode of transportation and with the feature, they will also receive alerts when reaching their destination and information of their stops along the way. This is nice and helpful especially for those that are new to a city and use public transit as their main way to get around.

Google also announced that its the 10th anniversary of Google Maps in India and that with over 50 million buildings added to Maps, India is the fastest growing country in Google Maps. For making public transportation easier, the company has tied up with Red Bus to show buses and routes on Maps. All the aforementioned changes will be rolled out for Google Maps in two weeks. Coming to Google Go, the lightweight version of Google Maps is getting turn-by-turn navigation support, along with a redesigned home screen with shortcuts for public transportation like Bus, metro and trains. These new features are now available for the Maps Go app users.

Google Maps was recently updated with Plus Codes, which is an easier way to share addresses. Google has also partnered with an NGO called Addressing the Unaddressed to provide a formal address to underserved urban communities in the form of Plus Codes. Google says that with this initiative, over 100,000 residences across 25000 households in Kolkata now have a formal house address. The company is aiming to provide addresses to 1 million households in Kolkata over the next year, along with Plus Codes for emergency services, delivery operations and others.

Google also showed its approach to how maps are made for India. It uses Machine Learning to recognise information from satellite images and these changes are then reflected in Google Maps. As per the company, over 20 million people are making use of the two-wheeler navigation feature, which was launched in India last year. Google also says that it covers 2 billion rides and deliveries in India. OLA cab services uses Google Maps to match customers with drivers and Swiggy uses data from Maps to surface recommendations for restaurants nearby and it makes use of real-time traffic data for accurate ETAs.NASA has announced that an asteroid measuring 70 - 160 metres in diameter will fly by the Earth this week at speeds excess of 32,400 kmh. The asteroid is named 2016 NF3 and has been deemed potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) by the space agency, however, the asteroid does not pose any risks and it should be noted that any celestial object that gets within 8 million kilometers of Earth is categorised as a PHA. The asteroid 2016 NF3 will be about 5 million kms away from our planet but it would give anyone shivers to think that an asteroid that is bigger than two Airbus A380 planes placed end-to-end or the Great Pyramid of Giza will be passing at such a close distance from our planet.

NASA's planetary defence officer Lindley Johnson told Space.com in an email, "There is absolutely nothing for concern by this pass of 2016 NF23. This object is merely designated a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) because its orbit over time brings it within 8 million kilometres of Earth's orbit, but there is nothing hazardous to Earth or even unique about this pass of the asteroid." So, there is absolutely no need to be concerned with the event. Additionally, within the next week another asteroid named 1988 SD9 will pass by the earth at four times the distance of our moon.

Recently, we got news about the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft that was launched in 2016 to collect a small sample of the asteroid Bennu. The spacecraft is currently in the asteroid operations phase of its mission where it will first capture images of the celestial object and survey its surroundings for possible hazards. At the moment, the spacecraft is a little over 2 million kilometres (1.2 million miles) away from Bennu. Its expected to reach Bennu on December 3. You can read more about this here.Are YOU a Russian Trollbot, set forth to sully, dirty, infect and poison American minds with anti-vaccine lies? If you can believe the latest media nonsense (Weekly World News is looking very credible these days) Russian trollbots are being tasked with anti-vax information.



Bruce Lee (NOT the martial arts idol) of Forbes Magazine wrote That Anti-Vaccination Message May Be From A Russian Bot Or Troll and honestly? Most of us wanted to fall over laughing. The Russians do not control my message. I am not a troll - although I have been confused for a Flatsy doll, but that's getting rather personal.



Just how low will the media go to prevent average Americans from getting truthful information about vaccines, safety, side effects, deaths, the lack of informed consent, autism, developmental delays et al? Russian Trollbots.



I wrote a limerick in honor of Mr. Lee.

There once was a man from Forbes

Whose writing he thought was adorbs

I'll protect each vaccine

From the trollbot machine

So their knowledge no one absorbs







Police arrest 5 in connection with Bhima-Koregaon violence in countrywide raid

Police teams today arrested at least five activists suspected to have Maoist links in the Bhima-Koregaon violence, after the Pune police conducted raids across India.

Those arrested include activist-poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad, and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in Delhi.

Raids were conducted on their residences across Hyderabad, Delhi, Haryana, Mumbai and Ranchi, ANI quoted Shivaji Bodkhe, Joint Commissioner of Police (law and order), Pune, as saying.

Arun Ferreira, a human rights activist and lawyer, and Vernon Gonsalves were arrested in Mumbai in connection with Bhima Koregaon violence case.

Speaking to the news website, Ferreira said he was arrested for representing Surendra Gadling, who was earlier arrested on 6 June along with four others in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence

In Delhi, a police team raided the residence of civil liberties activist Gautam Navlakha, who is currently under house arrest after the Delhi High Court ordered that he should not be taken away from the national capital till it hears the matter on 29 August.

The high court heard a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Navlakha by his advocate Warisha Farasat on Tuesday, after he was picked up from his residence by the Maharashtra police.

In Faridabad, a police team arrested civil rights lawyer and trade unionist Sudha Bharadwaj, who is currently a practising lawyer in the Chhattisgarh High Court.

According to a report in The Wire, Sudha Bharadwaj has been taken to Surajkund and has been charged under section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), section 505 (statements conducting to public mischief), section 117 (abetting commission of offence by the public or by more than 10 persons) and section 120 of IPC.

In Hyderabad, the residences of Left wing activist and poet Varavara Rao, and two other activists Kranti Tekula and Naseem were raided. The police then arrested Rao, while detaining Kranti Tekula as well, reported Scroll.in. The website reported that the houses of Rao's daughters were also searched.

In Ranchi, the police raided Stan Swamy's residence after the Pune police received a tip-off regarding "confidential information" in his possession.

The team reportedly seized all of Swamy's electronic possessions  including laptops, hard drives, cassettes and CDs, so as to prevent him from destroying any information.

The country-wide raids were part of an ever-expanding investigation into an alleged Maoist involvement in the Elgaar Parishad, an event that was held a day before the bicentennial of Bhima Koregaon. According to the police, the speeches made at Elgaar Parishad incited violence during the Bhima Koregaon event on 1 January 2018.

On 6 June, Professor Shoma Sen, advocate Surendra Gadling, cultural activist Sudhir Dhawale, human rights activist Rona Wilson, and anti-displacement activist Mahesh Raut, were arrested from different locations in Nagpur, Mumbai and Delhi by the Maharashtra police.29 states and UTs sign into Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme

The centre has signed memoranda of understanding (MoU) with 29 states and union territories and started working on implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna. Pilot projects have already started in 16 states and union territories while other states and UTs are expected to start pilots before fully launching the scheme on 25 September.

Stating this at a press conference on `Ayushman Bharat - PradhanMantri Jan ArogyaYojna (AB-PMJAY) in New Delhi today, union minister for health and family welfare J P Nadda said the scheme architecture and formulation has undergone a truly federal process, with stakeholder inputs taken from all states and UTs through the national conclaves, sectoral working groups, intensive field exercises and piloting of key modules.

The minister said no enrolment is required for beneficiaries and there is no payment for obtaining services at empaneled hospitals.

Nadda also warned of strict action against those running fake websites on Ayushman Bharat. Criminal cases will be charged against fraudulent websites and agents trying to collect money from beneficiaries, he added.

ArogyaMitras training is being conducted in collaboration with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and the ministry of skill development to strengthen implementation and operational preparedness. Training has already been initiated in 15 states/UTs, Nadda said.

The union health minister said the objectives of the AB-PMJAY is to reduce out of pocket hospitalisation expenses, fulfil unmet needs and improve access of identified families to quality inpatient care and day care surgeries.

The services will include more than 1,300 procedures covering pre and post hospitalization, diagnostics, medicines etc, and the beneficiaries will be able to move across borders and access services across the country through the provider network seamlessly, Nadda stated.

Nadda said the government has given total flexibility to states to choose their own modes of implementation among insurance, trust or mixed mode and that the cenre is ready to provide the required support also.

He further said that NHA Information Security and Data Privacy are being institutionalized to provide adequate guidance and set of controls on the secure handling of beneficiaries personal data and sensitive personal data in compliance with all laws and regulations applicable. The information security is based on international best practices and India specific regulations and more than 94 controls set at various levels for secure handling of sensitive personal data. Strong measures have been taken to ensure security and privacy of data obtained, stored and used based on international best practices and India specific regulations, Nadda said.Research methods that find serial criminals could help save tigers

A geographic profiling tool used to catch serial criminals could help reduce the casualties of human-tiger conflict, according to scientists who collaborated on an innovative conservation research study.

The results of their research, published in Nature Communications, help explain how villagers in Sumatra coexist with tigers. If used pre-emptively it could have helped cut attacks by half, saving tigers from poaching and retaliation killings.

Dr Matthew Struebig at the University of Kent's Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, in its School of Anthropology and Conservation and Dr Freya St. John at Bangor University, led a collaboration between spatial ecologists and social scientists to help predict where human-tiger conflict interventions could be most effective.

Tigers are on the brink of extinction due to deforestation and persecution. They are highly threatened and pose a public threat, but in Sumatra tigers continue to coexist with people, offering insights for managing dangerous wildlife elsewhere. Millions of conservation funds are spent each year trying to reduce people's risk of encountering harmful animals, and mitigating livestock losses of local farmers.

To reveal the drivers of human-tiger conflict the team coupled spatial analyses of tiger encounter risk with information from 2,386 Sumatrans who were asked about their tolerance of wildlife. To map risk, the study used 13 years of human-tiger encounter records to generate a geographic profile - a sophisticated statistical technique previously used throughout the world to predict the whereabouts of serial criminals based on where their crimes have been committed.

Although the risk of encountering a tiger was generally greater around populated villages near forest or rivers, the geographic profile revealed three places where risk was particularly high. At the same time questionnaires revealed that people's tolerance for tigers was related to their underlying attitudes, emotions, norms and spiritual beliefs.

By combining this information, the team was able to highlight villages where risk was adversely high, and tolerance was unusually low  valuable guidance for organisations such as Fauna & Flora International, an international conservation charity that supports the Indonesian authorities and other in-country partners in Sumatra, helping them to prioritise conflict interventions.

The techniques used in this study are highly significant and open up new possibilities for more targeted actions that will not only boost efficiency, but  more importantly  ensure that fewer people and tigers come to harm as a result of their interactions. This research has shown for example that, had this information been available at the time, pre-emptive interventions using these predictions could have averted up to 51% of attacks on livestock and people, potentially saving 15 tigers.

Dr Struebig says, "Understanding people's tolerance is key to managing dangerous species and is particularly urgent for tigers. When combined with our maps of encounter risk, information on people's tolerance to wildlife helps us direct conservation resources to where they are needed most. This could amount to significant cost savings in terms of animals lost or funding spent, so could be very useful in conservation."Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.

Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.

If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider subscribing to our ePaper and/or free daily Newsletter .

Support our mission and join our community now.The company responsible for the most prolific assault rifle in the world has set its sights on the automotive market.

Kalashnikov, a Russian defence company named after legendary AK-47 rifle designer Mikhail Kalashnikov, recently unveiled its vision for an electric alternative to Tesla at an arms show.

Following a similar approach to Jaguars retro-bodied electric E-Type, the concept is based on a retro Russian IZh Combi wagon with loose links to Lada.

Retaining the wagons classic silhouette and basic hardware such as its 1960s-era doorhandles, the Kalashnikov CV-1 replaces a compact petrol engine with a battery pack and 220kW electric motor.Tesla has officially cancelled any grand plans to go private.

Speculation of the move began two weeks ago when company CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter, "Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured."

Musk now says that after talking with board members and shareholders he believes the better path is for Tesla to remain public.

The final decision was made after six key board members, including the son of Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch, met to finalise the companys future last Thursday.

In an announcement afterwards, Musk said that the general feedback from investors was please dont do this.

Given the feedback Ive received, its apparent that most of Teslas existing shareholders believe we are better off as a public company. Additionally, a number of institutional shareholders have explained that they have internal compliance issues that limit how much they can invest in a private company. There is also no proven path for most retail investors to own shares if we were private. Although the majority of shareholders I spoke to said they would remain with Tesla if we went private, the sentiment, in a nutshell, was please dont do this, he said.

But Musk also added that more than enough funding to take Tesla private was reinforced during this process."Louth County Council have announced today that the N52 Dundalk to Castleblayney Road, from Hackballscross to Rassan, is to close for a month at the end of September.

The section of the N52 is to close from the 24th September 2018 to the 26th October 2018 to facilitate major road reconstruction works, according to the council.

Louth County Council have announced a diversion route that will be in place for the duration of these works. It reads as follows:

"West bound traffic (Dundalk to Castleblaney): From Hackballscross (junction of N53 with LP-31250) travel southeast along the N53 to junction 17 on the M1 Motorway.

"Enter the M1 Motorway and travel south, exiting at Junction 16, enter the N52 (Dundalk to Ardee Road) and continue southwest into Ardee.

"Turn right off the Dundalk Road roundabout onto the N33, entering the N2 at the Carrickmacross Road roundabout and continue in a north-westerly direction to Castleblaney via Carrickmacross.

"Enter the N53 in Castleblaney and continue southeast to the Northern Ireland/Rep Ireland border at Rassan."



"Eastbound- Above route in reverse."

Louth County Council says that any person who wishes to object to the closure of this road, should lodge an objection in writing, not later than 12.00 noon on Friday 7th September, 2018 to :

Eugene McManus,

Administrative Officer

Louth County Council

Infrastructure

Town Hall

Dundalk

Email eugene.mcmanus@louthcoco.ie

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Photo-hosting service Photobucket in May quietly restored third-party hosting of photos, reversing its unpopular year-old policy that required users to pay nearly US$400 in subscription fees for hosting privileges.

Many irate users had reacted to the policy by claiming their photos were "taken hostage." Hosted photos on blogs, forums and other sites were replaced by an image of a dial indicating the hosted data quota had been surpassed.

Users were not given advance notice. Instead the company sent out emails with the message, "Some features on your account will be disabled. Your account has been restricted for excessive usage and 3rd party hosting."

Photobucket then encouraged users who previously had relied on the service for hosting to upgrade to a Plus500 Membership Plan, which cost $399 per year.

At the time, then-CEO John Corpus admitted that it was not an easy decision to make, and that he knew many people would be unhappy with the change in policy.

However, the ad-based model wasn't working, and the company was losing money, Corpus suggested.

Ted Leonard, who joined the company last fall as its finance officer last fall, took the reins as CEO in March and had the images turned back on in May. The reversal, which took place with little fanfare, was viewed as an attempt to correct what was regarded as a business debacle.

Under the new policy, the company will offer free photo-sharing and ad-supported storage only, but no free third-party hosting. A basic plan includes 2 GB of photo-sharing with ad-free hosting for $2.49 per month. Users needing more storage can upgrade to an intermediate 20-GB plan for $3.99 per month, or an expert plan offering 2 TB of photo storage for $8.99 per month.

Regardless of the subscription plan chosen, the fees for third-party hosting are a lot less than the $399 price tag of a year ago.

Photobucket's Story

Former CEO Corpus probably was right in suggesting that the company couldn't continue with an ad-only business model. Photobucket has struggled in the past decade to generate a reliable revenue stream.

The company once was owned by Fox Interactive, a division of News Corp., which bought it -- along with MySpace -- in 2006. After it became clear that MySpace was losing ground to Facebook, News Corp. sold it off along with Photobucket, which proved not to be the next Instagram, in 2010.

At its height, Photobucket employed 120 people in its downtown Denver offices; currently it has just 10 full-time employees.

"The Photobucket subscription reversal shows how difficult it is for independent companies to find a successful business model among the giants," said Josh Crandall, principal analyst at Netpop Research.

"Even with a powerful platform and first-mover advantage, Photobucket has to compete against companies that offer a variety of 'digital lifestyle' services through one account," he told TechNewsWorld.

"When Google offers 1 TB of Drive storage for $9.99 a month -- for photos, files, videos or other data -- it's difficult to compete at a higher price point for a dedicated service," Crandall added.

Tech's Giant Missteps

Photobucket is not the first tech company -- and likely won't be the last -- to make such a notable misstep in policy: one that drove away once-loyal customers, and that subsequently required a policy reversal.

Ironically, another photo-sharing fiasco, which involved Instagram, occurred back in 2012, just three months after Facebook acquired it for $1 billion.

Facebook in essence turned the imaging-sharing service into the world's largest stock photo company -- telling users that they wouldn't be paid for sold images, including those used in ads. Due to the backlash that followed, Instagram backpedaled, issuing a statement that it was not the company's intention to sell anyone's photos.

Microsoft has had its share of bad decisions over the years, but its biggest centered on its Xbox One, which restricted the use of "pre-owned" games and limited games to one machine.

Anyone who wanted to play a game on a second Xbox One console had to pay an additional fee. That came after Microsoft already had reversed a policy requiring that the Xbox One be online even to play offline games -- or at least connect every 24 hours to "check in." It was soon "game over" for both restrictions, which quickly were reversed.

"When companies make major missteps in their policies or practices, they risk losing their most valuable asset -- customer trust," said Bram Hechtkopf, CEO at Kobie Marketing.

"You want best customers to be emotionally invested and passionate about your brand -- and incidences like these can tank a brand, but they don't have to," he told TechNewsWorld.

"Sometimes we all have the best intentions but fail to see the broader picture," remarked Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research.

"This is the problem of every company, not just high-tech companies," he told TechNewsWorld.

These types of decisions often are made in a vacuum, with little -- if any -- input from the consumer. Moreover, they often are made with little insight into any possible impact on the company's existing business strategy, added McGregor.

"This, combined with the increasing influence of consumers and rapid feedback in the Internet age, can make the wrong decision a company killer," he said, "and it is important for individuals and companies to seek outside opinions and advisors to help avoid costly mistakes."

Reversal of Fortune

Many key policy reversals come with new leadership, and bad decisions can be blamed on the old guard. "Young Turks" such as Photobucket's Leonard can claim to bring not only change, but also an improved business strategy.

Then there is the case of Steve Jobs, who essentially was fired from Apple's Macintosh Division by John Sculley, the former head of Pepsi-Cola, whom Jobs had recruited to take on the top role at the company.

Jobs wasn't technically out at Apple, but he was relegated to a position with nothing to do. He left and formed a new business -- NeXT -- which Apple acquired in 1996. A year later Jobs became Apple's CEO.

Under Jobs, the company released the iPod and iPhone, and in the process became one of the most successful companies of all time -- which is notable in itself, but more so because it had been teetering on the verge of oblivion just prior to Jobs' return.

The moral of this story may be that it takes not only a new vision to correct past wrongs, but a special kind of vision at that -- and along the way, knowing who deserves trust.

"One of the common pieces of advice from successful people is to surround yourself with good people," said McGregor. "The same is true with companies, and they need other sources that can see things from a different vantage point and provide open and honest advice."

Brand Recovery

Even when the course is set right, it can take additional effort to restore faith among former users.

For example, Photobucket hasn't made it clear that the restoration of existing third-party hosted images is permanent, or if users once again could face a situation in which they are held hostage -- albeit for a smaller ransom/subscription.

More importantly, even if Photobucket should allow the restored images to remain, it might not be enough to attract users to the new pricing strategy.

"Apple, Microsoft and Amazon Prime Photos all offer free or subsidized services for basic photo editing and storage," noted Netpop Research's Crandall.

"For most users, these options are sufficient for their needs," he added. "So, when Photobucket raised their fees, it was pretty easy for users to migrate to other services. Unfortunately, it won't be as easy to get those users to come back."

Rebuilding Trust

Even if users embrace the reversed policies, it can take time to truly win them back.

"Globally recognized brands can overcome major policy blunders and rebuild trust," said Bob Noel, director of strategic relationships and marketing for Plixer, a developer of network traffic monitoring and analysis tools worldwide.

"However, to be successful, the effort must have board-level sponsorship, include a highly coordinated PR effort, and have a dedicated, very large budget," he told TechNewsWorld.

"Companies in this situation looking to re-ingratiate themselves with consumers should acknowledge their misstep and adopt an open, honest line of communication -- and listen carefully to what their customers have to say," advised Kobie Marketing's Hechtkopf.

"To begin the long process of earning back customer trust, they must vow to do better by their customers, and move forward with a well-thought-out revamp of their policies that both addresses the customer and ensures similar missteps will not happen again," Hechtkopf noted.

"Overall, it's important to understand that customer trust is foundational to developing long-term customer loyalty, and without establishing this trust after a blunder or backlash, you cannot successfully bring back loyal users or customers," he suggested.

Photobucket could be an example of a company not really trying to restore trust. It has done little in the way of a PR push, as even its policy reversal took place largely under the radar and was barely reported outside out the company's home base in Denver.

Even if a PR push should be forthcoming, there also should be changes in customer service initiatives so that customers truly feel the company is as good as its word, added Noel.

"Uber and Wells Fargo are recent examples of brands reacting to missteps," he noted. "Very expensive marketing and PR campaigns are under way with coordinated messages being delivered across multimedia channels. However, it will still take significant time to gauge how effective these efforts will be to right the wrongs of previous management decisions at these companies."

Peter Suciu has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2012. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, mobile phones, displays, streaming media, pay TV and autonomous vehicles. He has written and edited for numerous publications and websites, including Newsweek, Wired and FoxNews.com. Email Peter.



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In the competitive world of information technology, vendors must be alert to major changes within the potential customer base. In the federal IT market, the U.S. government increasingly has been using its status as the world's single largest IT customer to acquire products and services at competitively favorable costs.

U.S. government spending for a combination of legacy IT operations and new projects has reached some US$90 billion annually.

If IT providers want to continue pursuit of federal contracts, they will have to adapt to changes in the government's approach to procuring significant chunks of business. It appears that providers are willing to accept the government's use of an enterprise-wide IT acquisition strategy.

The federal IT "market" is made up of so many government entities that in reality it is significantly fragmented. Multiple agencies have tended to go their own way in acquiring IT, using a plethora of federal contracting vehicles.

That is changing, however.

Federal agency purchasing managers have been trying to use the massive buying power of the government to negotiate comprehensive agreements with IT providers to obtain both performance and cost benefits on behalf of individual federal agencies.

Collective Impact of Purchasing Power

For example, he federal General Services Administration this summer concluded a new government-wide enterprise software acquisition agreement with Veritas Technologies for data governance and cloud management. The agreement provides agencies with access to Veritas solutions through a single contract. Additional savings are gained due to the collective impact of selling to all government agencies through a single vehicle.

The agreement provides government buyers with negotiated pricing and easy access to Veritas' data management and security software capabilities, GSA said. In addition, the contract provides agencies with price consistency and allows for more efficient budgeting throughout the program lifecycle, including tiered discounts based on leveraging the buying power of the government.

The Veritas agreement is one in a series of contracts GSA has negotiated to provide IT solutions focusing on a variety of specific software resources. As part of an initiative spurred by the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act, or FITARA, GSA launched a "Schedule 70 Enhancement Program" in 2016. Its purpose is to make those software capabilities available through the offerings on the agency's standard list of IT products and services known as "Schedule 70."

"The IT Schedule 70 FITARA Enhancement Program will provide government agencies with greater flexibility in accessing the innovative software solutions they need at a better value to taxpayers," said GSA Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Alan Thomas.

"Providing these solutions through a government-wide, enterprise-level contract is a great way to reduce duplication in our procurement process," he said.

Congress in 2015 passed the FITARA legislation, which required GSA to put in place enterprise-wide agreements to support federal agencies in their acquisition of software. The Office of Management and Budget the following year required GSA to issue at least two government-wide software agreements annually, aimed at reducing costs and bringing innovative technology to the federal government through GSA's Schedule 70. GSA so far has met that goal.

GSA Emphasizes Enterprise-Wide Approach

GSA this spring set up an enterprise-wide Schedule 70 software solution with IBM for the company's DB 2 for Linux, Unix and Windows. The package includes training, migration assessments and priced service engagements. GSA earlier this year reached an agreement with ServiceNow for cloud-based software offerings that feature solution sets of varying sizes for IT service management, cybersecurity, and management of operations, customer service and human resources.

Other contracts GSA issued for this program include an enterprise-wide deal with Nutanix for hyperconverged cloud infrastructure, or HCI, solutions, which was concluded last fall. The capabilities offered under the contract cover common HCI applications that will enable agencies to simplify their data centers and transition away from legacy infrastructure to a more efficient, modern and optimized platform, GSA said.

GSA last year set a government-wide enterprise software agreement for IT management solutions with Hewlett Packard Enterprise Software (HPE). The agreement covers data center consolidation, software asset operations, application portfolio management, and Agile-Iterative software development.

GSA in 2016 reached an agreement with Adobe for best-in-class data-centric security and electronic signature solutions. The Schedule 70 capability enables federal agencies to comply with various data protection requirements. GSA kicked off the program in 2016 with a government-wide contract with geospatial software contractor Esri, noting results in improved efficiency, pricing, contract terms and transparency. The contract was facilitated in consultation with the Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Navy, and the departments of Agriculture and Interior.

The programs have generated positive results.

"They've been effective in achieving our goals of providing agencies easy access to packaged solutions and cost savings," said Jeremy Wustner-Brown, deputy director of ITC Portfolio Outreach at GSA.

For example, GSA worked with HPE and its partner Carahsoft to provide HPE offerings that would enable customers within a government agency to pool together to trigger additional discounts ranging from 2-8 percent, depending upon their size.

To encourage the government-wide enterprise approach to IT acquisition, GSA has engaged the 24 major federal agencies to solicit their interest in specific commercial offerings under the program. Several agencies have agreed to participate in more detailed reviews of enhancements proposed by vendors.

"We are always looking for new industry partners and solution packages to work through this process," GSA's Wustner-Brown told the E-Commerce Times.

Carahsoft has assisted both vendors and GSA in arranging many of the Schedule 70 offerings. It is the GSA Schedule 70 contract holder and distributor for nearly 300 vendors, and in cooperation with GSA has supported the award of six "Category Management Addenda" that supplement Carahsoft's basic federal supply schedule.

IT Vendors and Agencies Benefit

"Each Category Management Addendum allows the federal government to achieve savings based on annual spend on each vendor's solutions," said Carahsoft Senior Vice President Robert Moore.

"After negotiating each addendum, we work with our reseller partners and drive awareness for the program through webinars, mailing campaigns, and trade shows," he told the E-Commerce Times.

Among the examples of Carahsoft platform utilization for the Schedule 70 enhancement program are offerings from Adobe, Nutanix, ServiceNow and Micro Focus.

"These solutions all support the government's efforts toward purchasing more wisely and with an enterprise approach as outlined in various areas such as the Megabyte Act, Fitara, and Category Management policy directives," Moore said.

Vendors have reacted positively to the Schedule 70 enterprise-wide approach.

"This deal reinforces our commitment to the public sector and will make it easier for agencies to realize the benefits of our services," said Brian Marvin, vice president for federal sales at ServiceNow.

"With this agreement, government agencies will move into the 21st century, boosting operational efficiencies and workflow tracking, better securing sensitive documents, meeting strict policy requirements, helping transform legacy systems, and reducing contract duplication," said Matt Schrader, Adobe's director of government relations when GAS concluded its agreement with the company.

Nutanix declined to comment specifically about the impact of its work with the GSA.

However, "I can say that we're excited to see the GSA making it easier for the federal government to adopt innovative technology solutions like ours," spokesperson Kate Reed told the E-Commerce Times.

Overall, the contracts set by GSA for Schedule 70 software solutions represent only a tiny fraction of federal IT business in terms of total value, and the pace of adopting just two such contracts annually will not significantly increase that fraction in terms of sales volume. Still, the program will provide concrete experience for both agencies and vendors for utilizing the enterprise-wide approach that potentially could cover a broader range of IT equipment, programs, and services purchased by federal agencies.

"As the government is channeling resources toward IT modernization, GSA is putting a laser focus on acquisition solutions that will help federal agencies efficiently retire and replace legacy systems and software programs," said Kay Ely, assistant commissioner of GSA's Federal Acquisition Service.

John K. Higgins has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2009. His main areas of focus are U.S. government technology issues such as IT contracting, cybersecurity, privacy, cloud technology, big data and e-commerce regulation. As a freelance journalist and career business writer, he has written for numerous publications, including The Corps Report and Business Week. Email John.

















I'm a Jamaican living in Ottawa, Canada, and I can't barely put in words just how ashamed I am of my people in this city.





You want to know about what kind of person the typical Jamaican is, read what I have to say -- and know about the place I sought to escape from in my journey to Canada.







Unfortunately, "my people" who have come to this country have sought to keep true to their ways on the island, and that's where my dear friend Dezrin's story begins.







Since April 2015, Dezrin Carby-Samuels has endured unspeakable abuse and assault by her husband and with the support of Ottawa Police Detective Robert Griffin Jr.





I wished that Dezrin was never born a Jamaican because the Jamaican community is the only community that I know that could ever turn their back on such a woman.





If Dezrin was born from some other Caribbean island, white, South Asian, Muslim or any other community I can think of this would have never have happened.





For starters, my fellow Jamaicans in Ottawa are among the saddest of all Jamaican communities across Canada.





The first thing which worked against Dezrin getting any help from all the supposed Jamaican friends and relatives she has not only in Ottawa, including her cousin in Kanata; her so called "brother" in Richmond Hill and the rest of her extended family in the States is that Jamaicans think that whatever bad happens to you in life happens because "God" wanted it to happen. Therefore, who are they to interfere in "God's plan"?





That's why there's not welfare system in Jamaica or other kinds of social support there that we in Canada take for granted.





So, as you can see, Dezrin's could never rely on her fellow Jamaicans.





The second thing that is going against Dezrin is that she's not only Jamaican. She is also a woman.





Many people think that Muslim men are chauvinistic because of women who ware hejabs in their culture and the "shariah" laws.





If you think that, let me tell you about the typical Jamaican man and their place in Jamaican society.





In Jamaican culture, the man is "King of the House" which literally means men can commit routine sexual abuse, assault and torture without neighbours blinking an eye.





When I used to live in a very affluent part of Jamaica in Kingston, the man living in the house beside me would lock-up in his wife in the house so she couldn't leave and beat her up most every day. Yes, he developed a locking system to do that.







You might wonder how I would know this?





The wife's cries and screams every day and her confessions to me when he "allowed" her to venture outside.





This went on for years until I left for Canada.





That's the power that a Jamaican man has over his woman and even when he's in Canada he expects the same.





And last but not least, the third thing that Dezrin has going against her is that much of her so-called "middle class" Jamaican friends are so busy being paid informants by certain members of the police and other "shadow organizations" that they dare not seek to oppose a dirty cop like Detective Robert Griffin who could seek to cut-off their access to money as paid informants digging-up petty dirt against each other. How much Dezrin may be tortured by a dirty cop is of no interest to them.





Do you think that Italians, Lebanese and other such communities in Canada would sacrifice one of their own to the likes of a dirty cop? Of course they wouldn't. Such communities have too much respect for one of their own - a characteristic which Jamaican don't have. "My people" have been selling out each other since slavery.







Thanks for Dezrin's husband having connections to local police, he has been able to continue the same kind of assault against Dezrin.





Horace, who is Dezrin's husband, first got Detective Robert Griffin to prevent the son from visiting his Mom since April 2015 even though she desired it.





Within weeks of enduring assault and torture under the supportive eye of Ottawa Detective Robert Griffin, Dezrin lost the ability to walk, talk and write.





When Raymond, Dezrin's son, got social workers from the Nepean, Rideau, and Osgoode Resource Centre to intervene to help Dezrin, Horace blocked them from checking on Dezrin.





And all this was with the support of who I now know is a very dirty cop - Ottawa Detective Robert Griffin.





This low life cop ignored the cries of Dezrin for her son.





Raymond turned to all of Dezrin's friends and relatives in the Jamaican community and they refused to "get involved".





Fred Carby, who is a now retired and formerly prominent dentist who lives in Richmond Hill also refused to get involved. What a nice guy, huh?







Raymond told me that this was particularly shocking because his Mother told him that Fred made a promise to 'Granny' to promise her to always be there for Dezrin.





But like other Jamaicans, he too repeated that "It's Horace's house so what can he do?"





Raymond told Fred about the note his Mother had wrote him back in April 2015 that "Dad Abuses Me".





Like the typical Jamaican male, he basically reacted "So, what? Men will be men. It's a man's right to discipline his wife. It's Horace's house, and, "I won't interfere."







Horace like the typical Jamaican man is violent. Did you know what Horace did when his son had expressed concern for his abuse against Dezrin? Back on 29 January 2013, Horace sprung from the kitchen table where he was sitting, and held a knife to his son's stomach. His son grabbed then knife to protect his vital organs and in the process his little finger was almost severed. Horace refused to call the ambulance for what he had done and Dezrin was too much in shock.





Raymond had to dial his phone for 911 with one hand as the other hand kept bleeding and was taken into emergency reconstructive surgery.







Horace like to threaten his son and even his wife sometimes with a machetti he keeps in the house that's about one metre long.







Fred's own high regard for defending the place of the Jamaican man "in his own home" was apparently more important than preventing his sister from having been subjected to unspeakable abuse which transformed Dezrin from an able-bodied woman to a woman who began to smell of feces and who was assaulted and abused to the point of becoming disabled from that maltreatment.







Dezrin Carby-Samuels has been wronged by the very community who she has sought to serve having become a nurse after graduating from University College in Kingston, Jamaica.





Dezrin was one of the first black registered nurses to ever be hired by a Canadian hospital after leaving Jamaica in the 1950's.





Dezrin paved the way for the hiring of other Jamaican nurses in Canadian hospitals having worked at hospitals in Toronto, Guelph and in Vancouver.







I am ashamed of the Jamaican community having turned it's back against Dezrin. I'm ashamed to be Jamaican.





Many people know of Jamaicans as having a culture of great food and with celebrations like the Caribbean festival in Toronto.





But under this facade is a Jamaican culture which turns its back on the plight of their own whether the growing masses of the poor in Jamaican or whether it's a kind hearted person like Dezrin who continues to suffer under the malice of Horace that is being perpetuated by an apparent pathetic psychopath who has no business being a police officer.





I hope in writing this that broader Canadian society and civilized people of the world will call the Ottawa's Police Chief Charles Bordeleau and demand the resignation of Ottawa Police Detective Robert Griffin for his apparent support to conditions of abuse for more than three years.





In the above video, you will hear Detective Robert Griffin seeking to leave a message for Raymond. Later, Raymond was assaulted by Detective Robert Griffin in broad daylight at his Kanata home. The plain clothed Detective Griffin demanded that Raymond not tell anyone about Dezrin's abuse.





So, there you have it folks. This cop didn't want to stop Dezrin from being abused. He apparently just wanted to make sure that Raymond who reported the abuse wouldn't communicate that abuse to friends or family.





Thankfully, Raymond ignored this illegal assault and threatening behaviour of this police operative and has sought to defend his Mother from the abuse that he has witnessed.







I also hope that Canadians demand that their local TV and other newspapers start getting the journalists to help spread further awareness of Dezrin's plight.





Thanks to my fellow Jamaicans, Dezrin has become bed-ridden. She can't run. She can't hide or escape.





In the above photos you will see what Dezrin looked life when she was still abled-bodied back in April 2015, at what she looked like when she was rendered disabled by Horace's and Detective Robert Griffin's apparent "House of Torture" in Dezrin's own home in Kanata.







My fellow Canadians and other civilized people, let us rally for Dezrin and liberate this disabled woman from her "Hell on Earth" courtesy of Ottawa Detective Robert Griffin and my pathetic fellow Jamaicans which include her own brother and her abusive spouse.





Send PayPal donations to help Dezrin's son efforts to liberate his Mom to agoraottawa@yahoo.com. Raymond has been waging a court battle for more than three years with absolutely no support from Jamaicans including her "loving" brother Fred Carby who has turned a blind eye to the situation.





You can hopefully help make a different. No donation is too small. Even $1 would be very much valued as a show of support.









Students returning to Virginia and New York classrooms in the coming weeks will be required to participate in mental-health education as part of their health and physical education courses.

A new law in Virginia requires a mental-health curriculum for 9th and 10th graders.

A similar measure took effect in New York on July 1. The first-of-its-kind law requires schools to address mental health in health education programs for grades K-12.

Other states have responded to an increase in mental-illness rates with increased funding for school counseling and training teachers to recognize the symptoms of mental illness in order to better refer students to mental-health resources.Group Companies

dnata

dnata is one of the worlds largest air services providers, offering ground handling, cargo, catering and travel services to more than 400 airlines in over 80 countries on 6 continents.Record-breaking sidecar to go on display at Manx Museum



The Birchall Brothers' sidecar will be part of the TT Gallery at the Manx Museum.

The first sidecar to lap the TT Course in under 19 minutes will go on display at the Manx Museum.

Ben and Tom Birchall broke the lap record at this year's TT while winning both sidecar races in the sidecar outfit, which was designed and built by the brothers.

The Manx Museum is opening a TT Gallery in 2020 and Manx National Heritage has purchased the sidecar to be part of the collection, describing it as a star attraction.

The brothers said they're immensely proud to have their sidecar included in the gallery and for it to be accessible to TT fans now and in the future.















PLEASE NOTE: The following article doesn't reflect the views of The Canadian or its writers

I have a confession to make.

Our Police Chief Charles Bordeleau is a very nice very guy out of uniform.

In fact, he's one of the nicest guys you could ever meet out of uniform. He's a friend of mine.

But once the Chief gets into his police attire he turns into a devil I must say.

And when the Police Chief turns into a demon that's when law enforcement in our city turns upside down.

My colleagues pick on black people they sometimes refer to as the "niggers", the poor and whoever else seems to be an easy target.

One favourite passtime has been to detain homeless people for no reason and dump them somewhere among the corn fields outside the city.

Speak to any homeless people you find on the street in downtown Ottawa, if you don't believe me.

I asked a friend of mine of the force why she joins in on this. She told me, "It's just something to do."

Or sometimes we just beat-up people for no reason.

We have nothing to fear because management at the Ottawa Citizen, the Ottawa Sun and other media including large national media like the CBC, CTV and Global all belong to the same "behind-the-scenes" cliques that the Chief belongs. So there's no fear among fellow officers of anyone getting into trouble unless one of us gets caught on camera.

That's what happened to some friends of mine who got caught on camera beating-to-death Abdirahman Abdi, a Somali-Canadian on July 24, 2016.

But, what motivated me to write this article is the ongoing bullshit by Detective Robert Griffin Jr against Dezrin Carby-Samuels.

While the Chief is a nice guy when he's not in uniform, Robert is just a "nice piece of work".

Now I too have a mother, like many of you readers out there. I also respect women. I cannot say the same for Robert.

This guy has no business being in the force. I know lots of good and hard working people who work as officers.

Sometimes some of them do bad things. However, there's small minority of what in my opinion are devil-worshippers that terrorize the public and Robert is one of them.

And when Charles, the Chief puts on that uniform there's nothing that the likes of Robert can do that the Chief won't excuse while he's also in uniform.

The fact that Robert can come to work with the smile on his face that he does while he has tortured "little old ladies" like Dezrin, in my view, could only be done so effortlessly by a sociopath.

On one police call after Robert got Dezrin's son evicted, Dezrin kept asking for her son Raymond before she lost her voice due to Robert's abuse.

Robert couldn't give a f-ck about Dezrin's well being though. He just wanted to make sure that the son was kept away from Dezrin even though he had been taking care of her and she wanted to keep seeing him.

So I naturally became very curious about WTF is going on with Robert's obsession with keeping Dezrin and her son from seeing each other when they have wanted to.

So a good friend of mine tells me off-the-record - and I can't say this for a fact - that Robert is just doing a "job" for Marcella who is Dezrin's daughter.

Apparently, Marcella wants her parent's house and whatever else she can get her hands onto when her parents die and she doesn't feel like sharing any of it with Raymond, her brother.

So, I said "What?! Is Robert getting paid for this?" My contact couldn't say. But, apparently Marcella who has worked for some shady people in big organizations was able to pull in some favours in her quest for the "Family Estate".

I said "You mean to tell me this Mom's daughter is such a sick bastard? Dezrin gave birth to a monster."

I felt like resigning from my job right then. Unlike the handful of sociopaths in the force who run amuck under the Chief, terrorizing, abusing and falsely arresting "suspects" I have a conscience.

Fortunately, having written this article, I can safely say now that I can be more at peace when I go to work everyday.

I hope that Dezrin's gets justice very soon and needed emotional support and medical treatment and that Robert's "House of Torture" that he has been operating against Dezrin for over three years gets the public attention that it now deserves.

Do me a favour and repost this article to as many social media sites that you know!1. E-cigarette use common, especially among younger adults and those in the LBGTQ community

American heart Association survey looks at self-reported e-cigarette use among U.S. adults

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M17-3440

Editorial: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M18-2176

URLs go live when the embargo lifts

E-cigarette use is prevalent among U.S. adults, especially among men; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons (LGBT); those who are unemployed; and those with chronic disease. E-cigarette use was also more common among those living in the South and West. Findings from a large U.S. survey are published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

As e-cigarette use has risen, the medical community has become concerned about potential adverse health effects. In 2015, the American College of Physicians (ACP) recommended that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provide regulatory oversight of e-cigarettes. Understanding their use patterns could help to inform research efforts, public education campaigns, and tobacco regulatory policy.

Researchers supported by the American Heart Association Tobacco Regulation and Addiction Center used the largest and most extensive dynamic health survey - the 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) national survey - to determine the most up-to-date national and state-level prevalence of current e-cigarette use among U.S. adults. The researchers also examined the prevalence of e-cigarette use among key demographic subgroups, which included stratification by cigarette smoking status. They found that about 4.5 percent of the U.S. adult population were current e-cigarette users and adults younger than 35 years accounted for more than half of this figure. Their use was especially high among those in the LGBT community and use varied widely by state, with estimates ranging from 3.1 percent in South Dakota to 7 percent in Oklahoma.

Media contact: For an embargoed PDF, please contact Lauren Evans at laevans@acponline.org. To interview the lead author, Michael j. Blaha, MD, MPH, please contact Helen Jones at hjones49@jhmi.edu. To speak with someone at the American Heart Association, please contact Cathy Lewis at cathy.lewis@heart.org.

2. Clinical guidelines may lead to better prescribing practices

Release of CDC guidelines associated with a rapid reduction in risky opioid prescribing practices

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M18-1243

URLs go live when the embargo lifts

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain was associated with a decline in opioid prescribing corresponding to the time of the guideline's release. These findings suggest that guidelines may lead to better prescribing practices. The research is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Data from patients prescribed opioids indicates a connection between prescribing practices and opioid-related harms. Seeing a need to change clinician behavior, the CDC released its broad-reaching recommendations for opioid prescribing in March 2016. The guideline provided evidence-based recommendations for opioid use in treating chronic pain--excluding cancer treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care--in patients aged 18 years and older in primary care settings.

Researchers from the CDC and the University of Michigan sought to determine if release of guideline corresponded with a decline in specific opioid prescribing practices. While opioid prescribing in the United States has steadily declined in terms of the overall number of prescriptions written and the frequency of specific risky prescribing practices, the time of the CDC's guideline release was associated with a statistically significantly faster rate of decline in several key opioid prescribing practices. Decreases were observed in the overall rate of opioid prescribing, the rate of high-dosage opioid prescriptions, and the percentage of patients with overlapping benzodiazepine and opioid prescriptions.

Media contact: For an embargoed PDF, please contact Lauren Evans at laevans@acponline.org. To interview the lead author, Gery P. Guy Jr., PhD, MPH, please contact LaKia Bryant at vuf3@cdc.gov or Courtney Lenard at zvq5@cdc.gov.

3. One in seven U.S. adults used marijuana in 2017

Use of multiple forms of marijuana, including edibles and vaping, was more common in states where recreational use is legal

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M18-1681

URLs go live when the embargo lifts

One in seven U.S. adults used marijuana in 2017, with smoking being the most common form of use nationwide. Use of different forms of marijuana, such as edibles and vaping, was more common in states where recreational use is legal. A brief research report is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Marijuana is commercially available in increasingly novel forms, such as edibles and concentrates, and with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content at levels that have unknown health effects. Despite legalization of recreational marijuana in some states and the development of a multibillion dollar cannabis industry, national data on the prevalence of use of other forms of marijuana are not available. According to the authors, annual epidemiologic data on use of different forms of marijuana will be necessary to inform public policy.

Researchers from the Northern California Institute for Research and Education and the San Francisco VA Medical Center surveyed a nationally representative sample of more than 16,000 U.S. adults aged 18 years or older to assess use of different forms of marijuana (smoked, vaporized, edibles, concentrates, and topicals) in the past year. Overall, 6.7 percent of respondents reported using multiple forms of marijuana in the past year, with persons aged 18 to 34 years using marijuana in any form more frequently than those in other age groups. The prevalence of smoking marijuana was 16 percent in states where recreational use legal, compared with 11.4 percent in states were no use of marijuana is legal.

Media contact: For an embargoed PDF, please contact Lauren Evans at laevans@acponline.org. To interview the lead author, Stacy Steigerwald, MSSA, please contact her directly at Stacey.Steigerwald@va.gov.

###

Also new in this issue:

Medical Education and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program: Unnecessary Uncertainties

Justin A. Grischkan, MD; Benjamin P. George, MD, MPH; E. Ray Dorsey, MD, MBA; David A. Asch, MD, MBA

Ideas and Opinions

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M18-1511

The MCAT's Restrictive Effect on the Minority Physician Pipeline: A Legal Perspective

Inginia Genao, MD; Jacob Gelman, JD

Ideas and Opinions

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M18-0545

Disappearance of the National Guideline Clearinghouse: A Huge Loss for Evidence-Based Health Care

Zachary Munn, PhD; Joanna Briggs; Amir Qaseem, MD, PhD, MHA

Ideas and Opinions

Abstract: http://annals.org/aim/article/doi/10.7326/M18-2216A new application of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry can generate maps showing how tumors signal to their microenvironments in pancreatic cancer mouse models

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 28, 2018 -- Cancer researchers struggle to identify tumor cells that are interspersed within nonmalignant tissues because tumor cells exploit the tissue environment and monopolize available resources to continue growing. Researchers attribute cancer cell's ability to use cell signaling and metabolic pathways that override normal cell growth restrictions to complicated chemical exchanges between tissue and tumor cells. A new approach shows promise to begin analyzing cell-to-cell interactions in this complex environment.

Researchers at the University of Washington have demonstrated a new technique for mapping the flow of biomolecules in and around solid tumors. In a special issue of Biointerphases, an AVS journal from AIP Publishing, that is highlighting women in the field of biointerface science, the group uses time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) to observe how molecules move and how tumors send signals to their microenvironment and sap local tissue of resources.

"People are going to see that this TOF-SIMS technique, when combined with knowledge of tumor cell behavior, will allow researchers to understand what's happening on the chemical molecular level," said Lara Gamble, an author on the paper. "Are there certain molecules, lipids or fuels that tumors suck away from regular tissues to help them grow?"

Tumor cells can draw in lipids from neighboring cells to help build bigger membranes and provide energy for bloated tumor cells. Blood vessels can become disrupted, leaving "blood lakes" inside tumors that some researchers believe feed the growing tumor.

Various methods have been developed for identifying where a tumor is and how it utilizes connective tissue like blood vessels to sustain its growth, but, until recently, little has been understood about what kinds of signals tumors use to achieve this. To address this question, Gamble and her colleagues use TOF-SIMS to blast nanoscale regions of a tumor so parts leave the sample and enter a mass spectrometer. This device then separates and counts molecules based on their molecular weight.

Scanning areas of 800 nanometers or less, the approach generates a map for where any particular molecule is present in a tumor sample. One square millimeter is reported to take about an hour and a half to map.

The group tested their technique on an inducible mouse model of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumorigenesis that is well-established as a model for studying the interaction between oncogenes and tumor suppressors, which together generate highly aggressive cancers.

When mapped, the mouse tumor microenvironments showed significant changes in metabolism. The ToF-SIMS technique was able to identify alterations to the normal flow of a wide variety of molecules ranging from larger lipids and nucleotides down to single ions.

Next, Gamble and her group plan to use their technique on earlier time-points of tumor induction in an attempt to chart out a series of chemical signals that tell the story of pancreatic tumor growth.

"We're also looking to see if the there's cross-talk between tumors," Gamble said. "We would like to identify the molecules that could both initiate and maintain tumor growth."

###

The article, "Analysis of the Myc-induced pancreatic  cell islet tumors microenvironment using imaging ToF-SIMS," is authored by Blake M. Bluestein, Fionnuala Morrish, Daniel J. Graham, Li Huang, David Hockenberry and Lara J. Gamble. The article will appear in Biointerphases August 28, 2018 (DOI: 10.1116/1.5038574). After that date, it can be accessed at http://aip.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1116/1.5038574.

ABOUT THE JOURNAL

The AVS journal Biointerphases emphasizes quantitative characterization of biomaterials and biological interfaces. As an interdisciplinary journal, a strong foundation of chemistry, physics, biology, engineering, theory, and/or modelling is incorporated into originated articles, reviews, and opinionated essays.Munich, Germany - 28 Aug 2018: Treatment with a drug to lower blood pressure slows enlargement (dilatation) of the aorta in children and young adults with Marfan syndrome, according to late breaking results from the AIMS trial1 presented today in a Hot Line Session at ESC Congress 2018.2

Dr Michael Mullen, principal investigator, St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, UK, said: "The trial showed a clinically important reduction in the rate of aortic dilatation in children and young adults with Marfan syndrome treated with irbesartan, potentially delaying the need for elective surgery and reducing the risk of complications and death."

Marfan syndrome is an inherited condition which affects one in 5,000-10,000 people. It causes the elastic fibres in the body to become too stretchy, and patients may have very long arms and legs. The aorta, the body's main artery, progressively enlarges, potentially leading to tears, rupture, and death. To prevent these events, surgery to replace the aortic root may be performed when dilatation reaches 4.5-5 cm. Slowing aortic dilatation in Marfan syndrome is an important treatment objective.

Previous studies have shown that beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and angiotensin II receptor blockers may reduce the progression of aortic dilation and its complications;3 however, up to 50% of patients with Marfan syndrome cannot tolerate beta-blockers because of side effects.

AIMS is the first randomised trial to evaluate whether the angiotensin receptor blocker irbesartan, a medication used in some patients with high blood pressure, reduces the rate of aortic root dilatation in Marfan syndrome.4 The trial enrolled 192 patients aged six to 40 years from 22 centres in the UK. All patients received a beta-blocker if tolerated. Patients were randomly allocated to irbesartan once daily (150-300 mg depending on body weight) or placebo.

In both treatment groups the median age of participants was 18 years, with 25% aged between six and eleven years. More than half (56%) took beta-blockers during the study. Aortic diameter was assessed using transthoracic echocardiography at baseline and at yearly intervals for up to five years.

During the five-year follow-up, although the aorta continued to enlarge in both groups the rate of dilatation was slower in the irbesartan compared to placebo group (0.53 mm versus 0.74 mm per year, respectively) - a statistically significant reduction of 0.22 mm per year (95% confidence interval 0.02-0.41 mm per year, p=0.030), see figure. The rate of adverse events including the need for cardiac surgery to replace the aortic root was similar in the two groups.

Dr Mullen said: "Our finding of reduced aortic dilatation with irbesartan over and above standard medical therapy suggests an important clinical effect that may prevent complications and ultimately delay or obviate the need for surgical intervention in patients with Marfan syndrome. Importantly, irbesartan was well tolerated, even in children."

###

Figure: Aortic diameter over time

Notes to editors

SOURCES OF FUNDING: Funding was through a special project grant from the British Heart Foundation with additional financial support from the UK Marfan Trust and Marfan Association. Irbesartan and matching placebo were supplied under contract by Sanofi PLC. The drug was packaged and distributed by Brecon Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

DISCLOSURES: Dr Mullen has received research funding and payment for teaching from Edwards Lifesciences.

References and notes

1 The Aortic Irbesartan Marfan Study (AIMS) was an investigator led trial sponsored by the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust, London, UK, and led by Dr Michael Mullen, consultant cardiologist at St Bartholomew's Hospital and Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust, London. Study management was by the Clinical Trials Unit, Royal Brompton Hospital from 2010 until 2015 and by the Clinical Trials Unit, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine from 2015 which also undertook the statistical analysis. The echocardiography core lab was based at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and led by Dr Xuyu Jin.

2 "AIMS - Aortic Irbesartan Marfan Study" will be discussed during:

Press Conference - Hot Line - Late Breaking Clinical Trials 5 on Tuesday 28 August at 09:30 CEST.

Hot Line Session 5 on Tuesday 28 August from 14:30 to 15:45 CEST in the Munich Auditorium.

3 Erbel R, Aboyans V, Boileau C, et al. 2014 ESC Guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of aortic diseases. Eur Heart J. 2014 ;35:2873-2926. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehu281

4 Mullen MJ, Flather MD, Jin XY, et al. A prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, multicenter study of the effects of irbesartan on aortic dilatation in Marfan syndrome (AIMS trial): study protocol. Trials. 2013;14:408. doi: 10.1186/1745-6215-14-408.

About the European Society of Cardiology

The European Society of Cardiology brings together health care professionals from more than 150 countries, working to advance cardiovascular medicine and help people lead longer, healthier lives.

About ESC Congress 2018

ESC Congress is the world's largest and most influential cardiovascular event contributing to global awareness of the latest clinical trials and breakthrough discoveries. ESC Congress 2018 takes place 25 to 29 August at the Messe Munchen in Munich, Germany. Explore the scientific programme. More information is available from the ESC Press Office at press@escardio.org.















Are you seeking to perpetuate the abuse of women?





Do you like to interfere in the efforts of social workers to prevent a woman from being abused by her husband to the point that woman can no longer walk write or talk?







Do you like to threaten people to keep silent on a husband abusing his wife?





Do you like to protect men who abuse their wife for whatever reason?





If so, I have an amazing job for you.





Join the Ottawa Police.





Ottawa Police Detective Robert Griffin could be your source of inspiration.





He has over three years of experience perpetuating abuse against Dezrin Carby-Samuels in Ottawa.





And he's getting reportedly paid over $120,000 for having perpetuated abuse for more than three years!





So don't delay, and start getting paid TODAY for human rights abuses and criminal conspiracy!





Ottawa Police officers don't need to worry about accountability.





They are a law onto themselves! In fact, they are apparently above the law, and they have local media to thank for that.





Ottawa Police also have great experience beating-up and murdering people in cold blood in broad daylight as Abdi had found out in 2016.





And you have a protective Ottawa Police Chief in Charles Bordeleau to thank for that.





The Office of the Chief of Ottawa Police will make sure to say that whatever you do, it was "justifiable" and "in the line of duty".





Isn't great, Detective Robert Griffin to get paid for what you apparently do so well?Munich, Germany - UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 28 Aug 2018: The consumption of dairy products has long been thought to increase the risk of death, particularly from coronary heart disease (CHD), cerebrovascular disease, and cancer, because of dairy's relatively high levels of saturated fat. Yet evidence for any such link, especially among US adults, is inconsistent. With the exception of milk, which appears to increase the risk of CHD, dairy products have been found to protect against both total mortality and mortality from cerebrovascular causes, according to research presented today at ESC Congress 2018, the annual congress of the European Society of Cardiology.1 Therefore, current guidelines to limit consumption of dairy products, especially cheese and yogurt, should be relaxed; at the same time, the drinking of non-fat or low-fat milk should be recommended, especially for those who consume large quantities of milk. "A meta-analysis of 29 cohort studies2 published in 2017 found no association between the consumption of dairy products and either cardiovascular disease (CVD) or all-cause mortality," said Professor Maciej Banach, from the Department of Hypertension at Medical University of Lodz, Poland. "Yet a large 20-year prospective study of Swedish adults3, also published in 2017, found that higher consumption of milk was associated with a doubling of mortality risk, including from CVD, in the cohort of women."

Professor Banach and his co-researchers examined data from a 1999-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) study of 24,474 adults with a mean age of 47.6 years, 51.4% of whom were female. (NHANES is conducted by the US's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.) During the follow-up period of 76.4 months, 3,520 total deaths were recorded, including 827 cancer deaths, 709 cardiac deaths, and 228 cerebrovascular disease deaths. The researchers found consumption of all dairy products to be associated with a 2% lower total mortality risk and consumption of cheese to be associated with an 8% lower total mortality risk (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.98, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.95-0.99; HR: 0.92, 95% CI: 0.87-0.97, respectively). For cerebrovascular mortality, they found a 4% lower risk with total dairy consumption and 7% lower risk with milk consumption (HR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.94-0.98; HR: 0.93, 95% CI: 0.91-0.96, respectively).

A meta-analysis by Professor Banach and his co-researchers of 12 prospective cohort studies with 636,726 participants who were followed for approximately 15 years confirmed these results. But milk consumption was also associated with a 4% higher CHD mortality, while consumption of fermented dairy products such as yogurt was associated with a 3% lower rate of total mortality. The yogurt finding, however, was determined to be not significant after further adjustment (Q4: HR: 0.98, p=0.125).

The researchers concluded that among US adults, higher total dairy consumption protected against both total mortality and mortality from cerebrovascular causes. At the same time, higher milk consumption was associated with an increased risk of CHD, an association that needs further study. Causality, however, could be difficult to determine, as most people who consume milk also consume other dairy products.

"In light of the protective effects of dairy products," said Professor Banach, "public health officials should revise the guidelines on dairy consumption. And given the evidence that milk increases the risk of CHD, it is advisable to drink fat-free or low-fat milk."

###Munich, Germany - 28 Aug 2018: Is it safe for women with heart disease to become pregnant? Usually, according to ten-year results from the ROPAC registry1 reported in a late breaking science session today at ESC Congress 20182.

Professor Jolien Roos-Hesselink, one of the principal investigators, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, said: "Pregnancy is safe for most women with heart disease but for some it is too risky. Our study shows that fewer women with heart disease die or have heart failure during pregnancy than ten years ago. However, nearly one in ten women with pulmonary arterial hypertension died during pregnancy or early post-partum."

"Pre-pregnancy counselling is crucial to identify women who should be advised against pregnancy, initiate timely treatment - for instance in those with severe valvular heart disease, and to discuss the risks and options," she added.

Pregnancy has a major impact on the mother's circulation. The heart has to pump up to 50% more blood and heart rate rises by 10-20%, which can be risky in women with heart disease.

Heart disease is the top reason women die during pregnancy in developed countries. Worldwide, heart disease causes up to 15% of maternal deaths during pregnancy or in the early post-partum period. While other causes of maternal mortality such as blood loss or infection are declining, the burden of maternal heart disease is rising.

Today researchers present outcomes of 5,739 pregnant women with heart disease enrolled from 138 centres in 53 countries during 2007 to 2018. The average age of the mothers was 29.5 years and 45% had never delivered before.

More than half of the women (57%) had been born with a heart malformation (congenital heart disease), and the majority had surgical correction at a young age. Other diagnoses were valvular heart disease (29%), cardiomyopathy (8%), aortic disease (4%), ischaemic heart disease (2%), and pulmonary arterial hypertension (1%).

Professor Roos-Hesselink said: "The proportion of women with conditions considered very high risk by the World Health Organization increased from around 1% in 2007 to 10% in 2018. This suggests that more women with very high risk heart diseases are becoming pregnant than in the past. This is probably because corrective surgery has improved survival and more women reach reproductive age, and perhaps doctors are becoming more selective in who they advise to avoid pregnancy."

Overall, less than 1% of women died during pregnancy or the early post-partum period. Women with pulmonary arterial hypertension, meaning an abnormally high blood pressure in the lungs, had the highest rate of death (9%). Rates of foetal and neonatal death were both 1%.

Delivery was by caesarean section in 44% of the women, of which more than one-third were for cardiac reasons (16% of all deliveries). Regarding complications, heart failure, supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias occurred in 11%, 2% and 2% of women, respectively. Women were more likely to have complications during pregnancy if they had any of the following prior to becoming pregnant: heart failure, diminished exercise capacity, decreased pump function of the heart (reduced ejection fraction), or use of anticoagulant medications.

Professor Roos-Hesselink said: "After an initial increase in maternal mortality and new diagnoses of heart failure during pregnancy between 2007 and 2010, these rates have been declining. This occurred despite the presence of more very high risk women with heart disease being included in our registry as time went by."

Professor Roos-Hesselink noted that the fall in adverse outcomes over the years might indicate greater awareness of the specific problems and better management of pregnant women with heart disease. The first ESC guidelines on the management of cardiovascular diseases during pregnancy were published in 2011, with a second edition in 2018.3

###

Notes to editors

SOURCES OF FUNDING: Since the start of EORP, the following companies have supported the programme: Abbott Vascular Int. (2011-2014), Amgen Cardiovascular (2009-2018), AstraZeneca (2014-2017), Bayer AG (2009-2018), Boehringer Ingelheim (2009-2019), Boston Scientific (2009-2012), The Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer Alliance (2011-2019), Daiichi Sankyo Europe GmbH (2011-2020), The Alliance Daiichi Sankyo Europe GmbH and Eli Lilly and Company (2014-2017), Edwards (2016-2019), Gedeon Richter Plc. (2014-2016), Menarini Int. Op. (2009-2012), MSD-Merck & Co. (2011-2014), Novartis Pharma AG (2014-2017), ResMed (2014-2016), Sanofi (2009-2011), SERVIER (2009-2018).

DISCLOSURES: None.

References

1 The Registry Of Pregnancy And Cardiac disease (ROPAC) is a worldwide, prospective registry which aims to gather reliable information on outcomes in women with structural or ischaemic heart disease and their babies. The registry was set up in 2007 by co-chairs Professor Roos-Hesselink and Professor Roger Hall of the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK, and is part of the EURObservational Research Programme (EORP) of the ESC.

2 "ROPAC - Pregnancy in women with cardiovascular disease: trends in outcome from 10 years ESC Registry of Pregnancy and Cardiac Disease" will be presented during the session Late Breaking Registry Results 2 on Tuesday 28 August from 14:30 to 15:45 CEST at the Centre Stage - The Hub.

3 2018 ESC Guidelines for the management of cardiovascular diseases during pregnancy. European Heart Journal. 2018. doi: 10.1093/Eurheartj/ehy340.

About the European Society of Cardiology

The European Society of Cardiology brings together health care professionals from more than 150 countries, working to advance cardiovascular medicine and help people lead longer, healthier lives.

About ESC Congress 2018

ESC Congress is the world's largest and most influential cardiovascular event contributing to global awareness of the latest clinical trials and breakthrough discoveries. ESC Congress 2018 takes place 25 to 29 August at the Messe Munchen in Munich, Germany. Explore the scientific programme.

More information is available from the ESC Press Office at press@escardio.org.Munich, Germany - 28 Aug 2018: A new treatment can halve hospital stays for some patients with a heart infection (endocarditis), according to late breaking results of the POET trial(1) presented today in a Hot Line Session at ESC Congress 2018(2) and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The nationwide Danish POET trial examined if it was feasible and safe to shorten the duration of intravenous antibiotic treatment, and give the remaining antibiotics orally in some patients with endocarditis. After at least ten days of intravenous antibiotics, 400 clinically stable patients with endocarditis were randomly allocated to continued intravenous antibiotics or to oral antibiotics. Patients in the oral antibiotics group were offered treatment as outpatients.

Professor Henning Bundgaard, principal investigator, of Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark, said: "It is a huge challenge for patients to stay in hospital for up to six weeks receiving intravenous treatment, which is associated with an increased risk of complications. Reducing the length of hospital stay has improved outcomes in other diseases and oral antibiotics could be a safe way to achieve this."

Endocarditis is an infection of the inner lining of the heart (endocardium) and one or more heart valves. It is usually caused by bacteria entering the blood and travelling to the heart. Around 15-30% of patients die in hospital. Intensive care is sometimes needed , and up to half of patients require surgery to remove infected tissue and repair or replace infected heart valves. After the initial phase and after surgery most patients are clinically stable and the main reason for staying in hospital is to complete up to six weeks of intravenous antibiotic treatment as recommended by guidelines.(3)

Patients in the POET trial were followed-up for six months after antibiotic treatment had finished for the combined endpoint of all-cause death, unplanned cardiac surgery, embolic events, and reinfection.

After randomisation, intravenous or oral antibiotics were taken for a median of 18 days. During the six-month follow-up period, the primary endpoint occurred in 10.5% of patients without any significant difference between the two groups. This means that the non-inferiority criterion was met and a change to oral treatment was as efficient and safe as the conventional continued intravenous treatment for the whole period.

Professor Bundgaard said: "Shifting to oral antibiotic treatment in stabilised patients with endocarditis was as effective and safe as continued intravenous antibiotic treatment and was given during half the antibiotic treatment period. These novel findings may have a significant impact on future clinical practice for the management of patients who are stable."

###

Notes to editors

SOURCES OF FUNDING: The study was supported by unrestricted grants from The Danish Heart Foundation, The Capital Regions Research Council, The Hartmann's Foundation and Svend Aage Andersens Foundation.

DISCLOSURES: None.

References and notes

1POET trial: Partial Oral Treatment of Endocarditis Trial.

2"POET - Partial oral treatment of left-sided infectious endocarditis" will be discussed during:

Press Conference - Hot Line - Late Breaking Clinical Trials 5 on Tuesday 28 August at 09:30 CEST.

Hot Line Session 5 on Tuesday 28 August from 14:30 to 15:45 in the Munich Auditorium.

3Habib G, Lancellotti P, Antunes MJ, et al. 2015 ESC Guidelines for the management of infective endocarditis. Eur Heart J. 2015;36:3075-3123. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehv319.

About the European Society of Cardiology

The European Society of Cardiology brings together health care professionals from more than 150 countries, working to advance cardiovascular medicine and help people lead longer, healthier lives.

About ESC Congress 2018

ESC Congress is the world's largest and most influential cardiovascular event contributing to global awareness of the latest clinical trials and breakthrough discoveries. ESC Congress 2018 takes place 25 to 29 August at the Messe Munchen in Munich, Germany. Explore the scientific programme. More information is available from the ESC Press Office at press@escardio.org.A Brazilian researcher describes 129 species of fig tree parasites which compete and even prey upon the fig wasps during the many phases of the fig-wasp mutualism that helped to shape both plant and its pollinator

In an article published at journal Acta Oecologica, Brazilian biologist Luciano Palmieri Rocha has proposed a new phase of the development cycle of fig trees (Ficus carica) and their specific pollinators, fig wasps from the species Blastophaga psenes - one of the most studied cases when analyzing the evolution of mutualism.

According to Palmieri, the cycle's new (and sixth) phase doesn't relate directly to the development of the fig but rather to its role in the development of dozens of other insect species aside from fig wasps."

"Many other organisms, including acarid mites, nematodes, and insects, manage to insert their eggs into figs without performing the biological role of pollination," adds Palmieri. The larvae from these animals compete directly with those of fig wasps for food and space inside the fig or simply feed on them.

Supported by the Sao Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP, Palmieri is affiliated to the Insect-Plant Interaction Laboratory belonging to the Biology Department of the University of Sao Paulo's Ribeirao Preto School of Philosophy, Science and Letters (FFCLRP-USP), which is headed by Professor Rodrigo Augusto Santinelo Pereira.

Palmieri's article is featured on a special edition of Acta Oecologica in tribute to the 50th anniversary of the original discovery of the fig-wasp mutualism. Since the late 1960s, when it began to be elucidated, the development cycle has been divided into five biologically based developmental phases (A, B, C, D and E) describing how the ripening fig becomes attractive to female wasps, which enter the inflorescence to lay their eggs, and how a new generation of fertilized female wasps eventually emerges from the fig to renew the cycle.

The evolution of mutualism shaped both species

The fig wasp's reproductive cycle takes place only inside figs, which have changed so much due to their interaction with fig wasps over the course of tens of millions of years of evolution that today, they are thought to be fruit. However, a fig is not actually a fruit; it is an inverted inflorescence, a cluster of hundreds of tiny flowers contained inside a bulbous stem. The flowers produce seeds internally after being pollinated by fig wasps.

The mutualism is ancient, Palmieri explained. The oldest fossils of fig wasps date from 34 million years ago. They closely resembled the species alive today, indicating that the symbiotic relationship evolved early and has not changed fundamentally since then. Molecular evidence shows that the relationship existed 65 million years ago, suggesting that it might be even older, perhaps going back to the age of dinosaurs.

"At some point, the ancestors of fig wasps began laying eggs in the flowers of ancestral fig trees. We believe these inflorescences were still open, so they could be pollinated by various insects," Palmieri said.

Over the course of at least 65 million years of evolution, the fig's inflorescence became an enclosure sealed off from the outside world, and only the fig wasp was able to penetrate it.

"Initially, the wasp parasitized the fig, but then through some unknown evolutionary mechanism, the plant ended up co-opting the wasp's parasitism and making it part of its own reproductive cycle," Palmieri said.

The fig-wasp lifecycle begins when the female wasp enters the fig. "The fig is an urn that preserves and protects hundreds of tiny flowers. The flowers open inside it, so they need a special pollination process. They cannot rely on wind or bees to carry their pollen. That's where the fig wasp comes in," he explained.

The five phases of the cycle

Inside the fig, there are female and male flowers that develop at different times. The A phase occurs when the female flowers are not yet mature. They soon mature and are ready to be fertilized. They become receptive to the wasps and release a scent made up of a huge amount of volatile compounds, triggering the B phase.

Each fig receptacle is not entirely closed but has a small hole called an ostiole, through which the female wasp penetrates its interior. As it does so, it loses its wings and its antennae are broken, so that it cannot get out again. It lays its eggs and dies.

Once inside the fig, the female wasp lays eggs in many of the flowers but not all. At the same time, it fertilizes the flowers with pollen stored in a pouch on the underside of its thorax.

Now begins the C phase, which lasts two to three months. The flowers that receive pollen but no eggs develop into seeds. Flowers that receive eggs undergo a transformation to become hardened structures call galls, becoming nurseries with food and shelter for wasp larvae.

The D phase occurs at the end of larval incubation. This is also when the male flowers start to mature, opening up to expose pollen containers known as anthers.

"The opening of the male flowers is synchronized with the end of larval development. The first wasps to emerge from the galls are wingless males with reduced eyes but large strong mandibles," Palmieri said. "They crawl over the female flowers until they find the galls containing the females, their sisters, now ready to emerge. The male penetrates the female with a telescopic penis and fertilizes the female inside the gall. Once they have mated in this way, the males use their mandibles to bite through the fig wall. They then go out through the hole, fall to the ground and die."

The D phase ends when the female wasps emerge from their galls. "As they crawl toward the hole made by the male wasps, they pass over the male flowers and fill their pouches with pollen, with which they will pollinate other fig trees," said the FAPESP-supported researcher.

Leaving the receptacle through the hole made by their brothers, the fertilized females fly away in search of other fig trees, and the cycle begins again. The E phase consists of seed dispersal through the feces scattered by the vertebrates that feeds from figs.

F phase

Evidence of the new F phase began to appear over the course of years of observation. "While studying the interaction between figs and fig wasps, we often found larvae of other creatures that played no role in the development cycle. These figs were discarded and left out of the research. In some cases, larvae that were almost the same size as the fig had eaten almost its entire contents. That's when we decided to investigate what was going on," Palmieri said.

"As some of these larvae reached adulthood, creatures no one recognized would start coming out of rotten figs on the ground. In the article just published, I describe 129 insects belonging to five orders and 24 different families that are not fig wasps but that also interact with figs, performing different functions."

Palmieri identified ten species of wasps (Hymenoptera), 39 species of flies (Diptera), 46 species of beetles (Coleoptera), 17 species of cicadas and other bugs (Hemiptera), and 18 species of butterflies or moths (Lepidoptera).

These insects may colonize figs during different phases of the tree's lifecycle. Some rely on fallen figs to complete their development. Palmieri divided the insects into two categories according to their role in the fig tree's ecology and their potential impact on its reproduction. He called the categories "early fig interlopers" and "fallen fig fauna".

One of the forms of early fig interlopers described in the article refers to the flies belonging to the genus Lissocephala, which lay eggs in the ostiole at the same time as the original female wasp is entering the fig. The fly larvae migrate to the interior of the fig and feed exclusively on yeast and bacteria brought inside by the pollinating wasp. The flies finish their development inside the fig and leave by the exit hole previously chewed in the fig wall by male wasps.

Butterflies and moths are the most aggressive group of insects in terms of the damage to figs. They lay eggs in the fig wall. In the C phase, their larvae bore through the fig wall and feed indiscriminately on fig pulp, wasps and seeds. The larvae destroy the hanging fig and crawl out to pupate in cocoons attached to branches of the tree.

In the case of fallen fig fauna, explained the FAPESP-funded researcher, the category comprises various organisms that feed on the fleshy parts or seeds of ripe figs not consumed by fruit-eating vertebrates. They take advantage of the window of opportunity created by the figs that fall under the parent tree in the F phase.

Fallen fig fauna consists mainly of beetles that feed on fruit remains. Beetles take advantage of the fig development cycle in various ways. Some colonize figs on the tree in the early C phase. Their larvae grow inside the figs and stay there when the ripe fruit falls to the ground. They then migrate to the soil, where they dig holes and pupate in cocoons.

"These examples give us just a glimpse of a far greater complexity of interactions. In addition to the evolutionary implications of pollination mutualism, an additional factor relating to the success of the 750-odd fig species is probably the highly diversified fauna of insects associated with fig trees, such as nonpollinating wasp species. Pressure from these parasitic wasps will have been, and continues to be, a key driver of fig species diversification," Palmieri said.

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About Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

The Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is a public institution with the mission of supporting scientific research in all fields of knowledge by awarding scholarships, fellowships and grants to investigators linked with higher education and research institutions in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil. FAPESP is aware that the very best research can only be done by working with the best researchers internationally. Therefore, it has established partnerships with funding agencies, higher education, private companies, and research organizations in other countries known for the quality of their research and has been encouraging scientists funded by its grants to further develop their international collaboration. For more information: http://www.fapesp.br/en.TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Over the past several decades, the Arctic has begun to show signs of significant ecological upheaval. The rate of warming in the Arctic is nearly twice the global average, and those changes are triggering a cascade of destabilizing environmental effects. Ice is melting, permafrost is thawing, and experts say fires in Arctic forests are as damaging as they've been in 10,000 years.

But new research suggests that the same factors driving the Arctic's changing climate are fueling a geological response that could play a small part in counteracting those changes' malign effects.

In a study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, researchers from Florida State University report that, in two major Arctic rivers, 40 years of climate change seem to have fortified a natural process that consumes and stores atmospheric carbon dioxide.

The process of interest to researchers was the production of riverine alkalinity, or the ability of river water to resist changes that would make it more acidic. Alkalinity is produced when carbon dioxide dissolved in rainwater weathers rock surfaces. As the rocks are weathered, the carbon atom contained in carbon dioxide is transformed from a gas in the atmosphere into a salt that can be geologically stored for millennia.

In general, the more alkalinity detected in a given waterway, the more carbon dioxide was withdrawn from the atmosphere.

"The production of alkalinity is a natural way that the Earth recycles atmospheric carbon dioxide," said study lead author Travis Drake, a doctoral candidate in FSU's Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science.

The production of alkalinity constitutes a carbon dioxide "sink," a system that works in opposition to natural and anthropogenic carbon dioxide emission. The researchers set out to determine how changing human activity and the dramatic shifts in Arctic climate might be affecting alkalinity production in two of the region's largest rivers, the Ob' and the Yenisei.

There were straightforward ways of sampling alkalinity in the modern rivers, but for historical measurements, the team relied on reams of decades-old biomonitoring data.

"Since there are many changes underway in the Arctic as a result of climate change and other anthropogenic activity, we hypothesized that the production of alkalinity may have also changed over time," Drake said. "Through collaboration with our Russian colleagues, we were able to recover a historic alkalinity dataset dating back to the Soviet era."

After parsing the data and comparing historical alkalinity rates with contemporary measurements, the researchers' suspicions were confirmed. Not only had alkalinity increased for both the Yenisei and Ob' rivers, but the rates had skyrocketed a remarkable 185 and 134 percent respectively over the 40-year interval -- two figures that dwarf the rates of increase in similarly large rivers like the Mississippi (59 percent over the past 47 years).

Possible causes for the considerable alkalinity increases are manifold. Thawing permafrost, increased water flows, exposure of unweathered mineral surfaces, changes in acid deposition from human industry and carbon dioxide fertilization of Arctic plant life are all potential pieces of this unexpected puzzle.

But the upshot is simple: In these rivers that carve thousands of miles through the harsh Arctic landscape, human activity seems to be triggering a pronounced reaction.

"If climate change is causing an increase in alkalinity production in the Arctic, it could be acting as slight negative feedback to warming, which is a good thing," Drake said.

While escalating alkalinity won't approach the magnitude of response required to counterbalance anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, researchers said these findings illustrate the dynamic way Earth systems react to extreme climate shifts.

"We still very much have to worry about the alarming rate at which CO2 is increasing in our atmosphere, but this highlights the complexity and somewhat homeostatic dynamics of the global carbon cycle," Drake said.

###

FSU Associate Professor of Oceanography Robert Spencer contributed to this study, along with Suzanne Tank from the University of Alberta, Alexander Zhulidov and Tatiana Gurtovaya from the South Russia Centre for Preparation and Implementation of International Projects and Robert Holmes from the Woods Hole Research Center. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation.SAN FRANCISCO, CA--August 28, 2018--Human cytomegalovirus is a leading cause of birth defects and transplant failures. As it's evolved over time, this virus from the herpes family has found a way to bypass the body's defense mechanisms that usually guards against viral infections. Until now, scientists couldn't understand how it manages to do so.

A team of scientists led by Leor S. Weinberger, PhD, the William and Ute Bowes Distinguished Professor and director of the Gladstone-UCSF Center for Cell Circuitry, uncovered the mechanism that allows the virus to replicate. Their study, published in the scientific journal PNAS, could open new therapeutic avenues to treat not only cytomegalovirus, but other viruses as well.

Normally, when a virus enters your cell, that cell blocks the virus's DNA and prevents it from performing any actions. The virus must overcome this barrier to effectively multiply.

To get around this obstacle, cytomegalovirus doesn't simply inject its own DNA into a human cell. Instead, it carries its viral DNA into the cell along with proteins called PP71. After entering the cell, it releases these PP71 proteins, which enables the viral DNA to replicate and the infection to spread.

"The way the virus operates is pretty cool, but it also presents a problem we couldn't solve," said Noam Vardi, PhD, postdoctoral scholar in Weinberger's laboratory and first author of the new study. "The PP71 proteins are needed for the virus to replicate. But they actually die after a few hours, while it takes days to create new virus. So how can the virus successfully multiply even after these proteins are gone?"

The researchers found that, while PP71 is still present in the cell, it activates another protein known as IE1. This happens within the first few hours of the virus entering the cell, allowing the IE1 protein to take over after PP71 dies and continue creating new virus.

To confirm their findings, the team created a synthetic version of the virus that allowed them to adjust the levels of the IE1 proteins using small molecules. With this technique, they could let the virus infect the cell while controlling how quickly the IE1 protein would break down in the cell.

"We noticed that when the IE1 protein degrades slowly, as it normally does, the virus can replicate very efficiently," said Vardi. "But if the protein breaks down faster, the virus can't multiply as well. So, we confirmed that the virus needs the IE1 protein to successfully replicate."

This study could have broad implications for the scientific community, which has been struggling to determine how cells maintain their identity over time. During development, for instance, stem cells choose a path based on the proteins that surround them. But even after these initial proteins disappear, the specialized cells don't change. So, stem cells that turn into neurons during development continue to be neurons long after those proteins are gone.

"The issue is similar for the virus," explained Weinberger, who is also a professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at UC San Francisco. "It was not clear what mechanisms allowed the virus to continue replicating long after the initial signal from the PP71 had decayed to a whisper. Our findings uncover a circuit encoded by the virus that controls its fate and indicate that such circuits may be quite common in viruses."

The new study could lead to a new therapeutic target to attack cytomegalovirus and other herpesviruses, such as Epstein-Barr virus that causes mononucleosis and herpes simplex virus 1 and 2 that produce most cold sores and genital herpes.

About the Research Project

Sonali Chaturvedi from Gladstone also contributed to the study. The research was supported by the Bowes Distinguished Professorship, the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, and the National Institutes of Health (through the NIH Director's New Innovator Award and the Pioneer Award programs).

The paper "Feedback-mediated signal conversion promotes viral fitness" was published by PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America) on August 27, 2018: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/08/24/1802905115.

About the Gladstone Institutes

To ensure our work does the greatest good, the Gladstone Institutes focuses on conditions with profound medical, economic, and social impact--unsolved diseases. Gladstone is an independent, nonprofit life science research organization that uses visionary science and technology to overcome disease. It has an academic affiliation with the University of California, San Francisco.GAITHERSBURG, MD -August 28- The Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS), with an established track record in the validation of alternatives to animal testing, is teaming up with BASF and Givaudan to validate an improved skin sensitization reactivity method to address the needs of toxicologists and regulators.

Scientists at BASF and Givaudan have developed the Kinetic Direct Peptide Reactivity Assay (Kinetic DPRA), a non-animal test to predict allergic reactions in the skin known as sensitization. Three other non-animal sensitizer tests have been internationally accepted. However, the Kinetic DPRA has the potential to go beyond a yes/no answer and predict the potency of a sensitizer, which is required by some regulatory agencies. Until now the only way to predict potency classifications was through animal testing.

"Being able to determine potency with minor modifications of the well-established and routinely used DPRA method was highly attractive to us," stated Dr. Robert Landsiedel, Vice President, Experimental Toxicology and Ecology, BASF. "Once validated, we hope that the Kinetic DPRA will obviate the need for further animal testing to determine potency of chemicals. We are pleased that IIVS is joining our efforts to prove the validity of the method."

"Assessing potency of skin sensitizers is an essential step in risk assessment to determine safe use levels, and we have shown that kinetic data are key for this" indicates Dr. Andreas Natsch, Head of in vitro molecular screening at Givaudan.

The validation project, designed by BASF and Givaudan, will be conducted over the course of 2018 and, pending a successful outcome, will be submitted to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2019.

"We are pleased to be working again with BASF and Givaudan to validate a technology that will be available for many industry sectors and applications," said Erin Hill, President, IIVS. "Our ability to participate in such programs is through the generous support of our contributors." Other participating laboratories include The Procter & Gamble Company (developer of the original DPRA), Charles River and the Czech National Institute of Public health.

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About the Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS)

IIVS is a non-profit organization wholly dedicated to the promotion of rapid and innovative non-animal test methods. Founded in 1997, IIVS is recognized as a leading provider of in vitro testing in support of toxicological safety evaluations. Rigorous scientific programs coupled with educational and outreach initiatives have established IIVS as a global leader in the advancement of alternatives to animal testing. For more information, visit us at http://www.iivs.org.

About BASF

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The more than 115,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into five segments: Chemicals, Performance Products, Functional Materials & Solutions, Agricultural Solutions and Oil & Gas. BASF generated sales of 64.5 billion in 2017. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (BAS). Further information at http://www.basf.com.

About Givaudan

Givaudan is the global leader in the creation of flavours and fragrances. In close collaboration with food, beverage, consumer product and fragrance partners, Givaudan develops tastes and scents that delight consumers the world over. With a passion to understand consumers' preferences and a relentless drive to innovate, Givaudan is at the forefront of creating flavours and fragrances that 'engage your senses'. The Company achieved sales of CHF 5.1 billion in 2017. Headquartered in Switzerland with local presence in over 100 locations, the Company has more than 11,100 employees worldwide. Givaudan invites you to discover more at http://www.givaudan.com.

Media Contacts:

IIVS:

Erin Hill

Phone: 301-947-1281

Ehill@iivs.org

BASF SE:

Birgit Lau, Media Relations

Phone: +49 621 60-20732

birgit.lau@basf.com

Givaudan:

Marie Laure Andre

Communications Fragrances

Phone : +33139984477

marie-laure.andre@givaudan.comEast Hanover, NJ. August 28, 2018. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to improving the lives of individuals with spinal cord injury, Trevor Dyson-Hudson, MD, of Kessler Foundation, was selected as this year's recipient of the Excellence Award of the American Paraplegia Society, a section of the multi-disciplinary Academy of Spinal Cord Injury Professionals (ASCIP). The Excellence Award is awarded each year at ASCIP's annual conference. This year, ASCIP members convene at the New Orleans Marriott from September 2nd to 5th.

Since 1994, the Excellence Award has honored nationally prominent professionals who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in spinal cord injury/dysfunction (SCI/D) health care including service delivery, research, education, prevention, or administration.

"Joining the ranks of those honored with the Excellence Award is gratifying," said Dr. Dyson-Hudson. "Early in my career, I was fortunate to be mentored by Drs. Steven Kirshblum, Joel DeLisa, Adam Stein, and Kristjan Ragnarsson who all inspired me to pursue rehabilitative medicine, a path that has brought me personal as well as professional satisfaction.

Dr. Dyson-Hudson has a national role in advancing care and quality of life through research funded by federal, state and private sources. He serves as director of SCI Research at Kessler Foundation and co-director for Kessler's federally funded SCI Model System - the Northern New Jersey SCI System, and is an associate professor in the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at Rutgers, New Jersey Medical School.

Dr. Dyson Hudson is a well-known expert in the secondary complications of SCI, including pain, shoulder dysfunction in wheelchair users, mobility impairment, and other secondary medical conditions associated with SCI. Of note, he is lead investigator for a novel SCI study of a medication that improves walking in multiple sclerosis, and for a pilot study of a new regenerative medicine intervention for shoulder pain in wheelchair users with SCI. Under his leadership, his team has made important contributions to user guidelines for wheelchair maintenance and training, which help people remain active and confident in their abilities to work, travel and care for themselves and others. His research interests extend to areas that are key to full community participation and successful employment. Dr. Dyson-Hudson serves as medical director for a pilot project that is succeeding in getting newly injured individuals back in the workplace. Preliminary results are encouraging for this model of early intervention, which incorporates vocational rehabilitation and resources during inpatient rehabilitation.

###

About ASCIP

The Academy of Spinal Cord Injury Professionals, a US-based multidisciplinary organization serving scientists, physicians, psychologists, nurses, therapists and social workers in the field of spinal cord injury care and research.

About Kessler Foundation

Kessler Foundation, a major nonprofit organization in the field of disability, is a global leader in rehabilitation research that seeks to improve cognition, mobility and long-term outcomes, including employment, for people with neurological disabilities caused by diseases and injuries of the brain and spinal cord. Kessler Foundation leads the nation in funding innovative programs that expand opportunities for employment for people with disabilities. Learn more by visiting http://www.KesslerFoundation.org.

Stay Connected

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Contacts

Carolann Murphy, PA; 973-324-8382; CMurphy@KesslerFoundation.org

Nicky Miller; 973-323-3683; NMiller@KesslerFoundation.orgParasitic wasps existed as early as several million years ago. Within a project coordinated by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), researchers of various disciplines for the first time definitively discovered fossil parasites inside their hosts. The scientists studied fly pupae from old collections using ultrafast X-ray imaging. They found 55 cases of parasitation and described four extinct wasp species that were unknown until now. Their findings are reported in Nature Communications (Open Access, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05654-y).

The results of the project provide major information on the evolution of parasitism. Parasitism is widely spread and impacts ecosystems essentially. Today, about 50% of all animal species are deemed parasites. The relation between the diversity of species and parasitism is particularly obvious in the insect order Hymenoptera, to which wasps belong. Within the KIT-coordinated project, researchers identified four so far unknown extinct wasp species that were endoparasites, i.e. parasites developing inside their host, from the Paleogene that spanned the period from about 66 million years ago to about 23 million years ago. Each of the four parasitic wasp species had its own strategy for adaptation to the host. The most frequently observed species of the four was named "Xenomorphia resurrecta" by the scientists. The genus "Xenomorphia" is named after the creature from the "Alien" science fiction series, which is known as Xenomorph and also develops endoparasitically. The species' name "resurrecta" refers to the "digital resurrection" of the species, says project coordinator Dr. Thomas van de Kamp from KIT's Laboratory for Applications of Synchrotron Radiation (LAS). "Our project proves that it is worthwhile to study old collections afresh with latest technology."

The fossils the scientists studied, more than 1,500 mineralized fly pupae, belong to collections of the Natural History Museum of Basel and the Naturhistoriska riksmuseet of Stockholm. In the late 19th century, they were collected in phosphorite mines in the region of Quercy, France. In 1944, Swiss entomologist Eduard Handschin described the fossils in detail and emphasized the value of the externally inconspicuous pieces of merely 3 mm in length. Still, they have fallen into oblivion for more than 70 years. At that time, Handschin had suspected the contours of a parasitic wasp in a thin section of a probably 34 to 40-million-year-old fly pupa, but could not prove it. This was the point of departure of the current project, the results of which are published in Nature Communications under the heading "Parasitoid biology preserved in mineralized fossils."

Ultrafast X-ray imaging, largely developed and refined by KIT, enabled new access to the fossils. The researchers studied the samples with synchrotron X-ray microtomography. In optically dense samples, inner structures can only be observed non-invasively and in three dimensions with X-rays. Synchrotron radiation sources, a type of particle accelerators, produce electromagnetic radiation with a much broader spectrum and at much higher intensity than conventional sources. The measurements for the project were made at the UFO high-speed tomography station of the KIT synchrotron. "Sample throughput is high. Imaging and evaluation of the data take place in a partly automated manner, which makes such measurements feasible," says van de Kamp. Two years ago, the team already imaged fossil beetles found in Quercy and made their inner anatomy visible. At the UFO station, however, not only fossils are scanned. The setup is equally suited for other projects, in which a large number of pieces have to be imaged. Hence, UFO is of interest to a variety of disciplines, among others to materials science.

Following imaging of the mineralized fly pupae, the parasitic wasps from the Paleogene were reconstructed digitally. Thus, the project did not only require comprehensive know-how relating to synchrotron X-ray microtomography, but also detailed biological and paleontological knowledge. Project coordinator Dr. Thomas van de Kamp of KIT's LAS is a biologist and has specialized in insect morphology and digital imaging of biological samples. Also, he linked physics to biology. Other main authors are paleontologist Dr. Achim H. Schwermann of the LWL-Museum of Natural History in Munster, expert for fossilization processes, and biologist Dr. Lars Krogmann from the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, specialist for parasitic wasps, who systematically classified the discovered parasites and wrote the formal species descriptions. Overall, 18 scientists - biologists, paleontologists, physicists, computer scientists, and mathematicians - from several universities and museums participated in the interdisciplinary project, of these, eight researchers of KIT. Apart from the institutions mentioned, KIT's Institute for Photon Science and Synchrotron Radiation (IPS) and Institute for Data Processing and Electronics (IPE) as well as institutions of the universities of Heidelberg and Bonn were involved.

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The data sets with the discovered parasites are available at http://www.fossils.kit.edu

Videos:

https://youtu.be/hdSrWY9FpYM

https://youtu.be/xDvYjHTf3lc

Original Publication (Open Access):

Thomas van de Kamp, Achim H. Schwermann, Tomy dos Santos Rolo, Philipp D. Losel, Thomas Engler, Walter Etter, Tomas Farago, Jorg Gottlicher, Vincent Heuveline, Andreas Kopmann, Bastian Mahler, Thomas Mors, Janes Odar, Jes Rust, Nicholas Tan Jerome, Matthias Vogelgesang, Tilo Baumbach, Lars Krogmann: Parasitoid biology preserved in mineralized fossils. Nature Communications. 2018. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05654-y Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

Press contact: Regina Link, Press Officer, Phone: +49 721 608-21158, Email: regina.link@kit.edu

Being "The Research University in the Helmholtz Association," KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility and information. For this, about 9,300 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 25,500 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life.

This press release is available on the internet at http://www.sek.kit.edu/english/press_office.php.CAMBRIDGE, MA -- About 30 percent of the proteins encoded by the human genome are membrane proteins -- proteins that span the cell membrane so they can facilitate communication between cells and their environment. These molecules are critical for learning, seeing, and sensing odors, among many other functions.

Despite the prevalence of these proteins, scientists have had difficulty studying their structures and functions because the membrane-bound portions are very hydrophobic, so they cannot be dissolved in water. This makes it much harder to do structural analyses, such as X-ray crystallography.

In an advance that could make it easier to perform this type of structural study, MIT researchers have developed a way to make these proteins water-soluble by swapping some of their hydrophobic amino acids for hydrophilic ones. The technique is based on a code that is much simpler than previously developed methods for making these proteins soluble, which rely on computer algorithms that have to be adapted to each protein on a case-by-case basis.

"If there is no rule to follow, it's difficult for people to understand how to do it," says Shuguang Zhang, a principal research scientist in the MIT Media Lab's Center for Bits and Atoms. "The tool has to be simple, something that anyone can use, not a sophisticated computer simulation that only a few people know how to use."

Zhang is the senior author of the study, which appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of Aug. 27. Other MIT authors are former visiting professor Fei Tao, postdoc Rui Qing, former visiting professor Hongzhi Tang, graduate student Michael Skuhersky, former undergraduate Karolina Corin '03, SM '05, PhD '11, former postdoc Lotta Tegler, graduate student Asmamaw Wassie, and former undergraduate Brook Wassie '14.

A simple code

Of the approximately 8,000 known membrane proteins found in human cells, scientists have discovered structures for about 50. They are widely viewed as very difficult to work with because once they are extracted from the cell membrane, they only maintain their structure if they are suspended in a detergent, which mimics the hydrophobic environment of the cell membrane. These detergents are expensive, and there is no universal detergent that works for all membrane proteins.

Zhang started working on a new way to tackle this problem in 2010, inspired by the late Alexander Rich, an MIT professor of biology. Rich posed the question of whether protein structures called alpha helices, which make up the bulk of the membrane-embedded portion of proteins, could be switched from hydrophobic to hydrophilic. Zhang immediately began working out possible solutions, but the problem proved difficult. Over the past eight years, he has had several students and visiting researchers help work on his idea, most recently Qing, who achieved success.

The key idea that allowed Zhang to develop the code is the fact that a handful of hydrophobic amino acids have very similar structures to some hydrophilic amino acids. This similarities allowed Zhang to come up with a code in which leucine is converted to glutamine, isoleucine and valine are converted to threonine, and phenylalanine is converted to tyrosine.

Another important factor is that none of these amino acids are charged, so swapping them appears to have a minimal effect on the overall protein structure. In fact, isoleucine and threonine are so similar that ribosomes, the cell structures that assemble proteins, occasionally insert the wrong one -- about once in every 200 to 400 occurrences.

The researchers call their code the QTY code, after the three letters that represent glutamine, threonine, and tyrosine, respectively.

In their earliest efforts to implement this code, the researchers substituted only a small fraction of the hydrophobic amino acids embedded in the membrane, but the resulting proteins still needed some detergent to dissolve. They increased the replacement rate to about 50 percent, but the proteins were still not fully water-soluble, so they replaced all instances of glutamine, isoleucine, valine, and phenylalanine embedded in the membranes. This time, they achieved success.

"It's only when we replace all the hydrophobic residues in the transmembrane regions that we're able to get proteins that are stable and completely free of detergent in an aqueous system," Qing says.

Structural similarities

In this study, the researchers demonstrated their technique on four proteins that belong to a class of proteins known as G protein-coupled receptors. These proteins help cells to recognize molecules, such as hormones, or immune molecules, called chemokines, and trigger an appropriate response within the cell.

The researchers are still working towards obtaining the precise structures of these proteins using X-ray crystallography or nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), but they performed some experiments that suggest the structures are similar. In one, they showed that the water-soluble proteins denature at nearly the same temperature as the original versions of the proteins. They also showed that the modified proteins bind to the same target molecules that the original proteins bind to, although not as strongly.

Being able to synthesize water-soluble versions of these proteins could enable new applications, such as sensors that can detect environmental pollutants, the researchers say.

Another possibility is designing water-soluble versions of the proteins that bind to molecules normally expressed by cancer cells, which could be used to diagnose tumors or identify metastatic cancer cells in blood samples, Zhang says. Researchers could also create water-soluble molecules in which a membrane-bound receptor that viruses normally bind to is attached to part of an antibody. If these "decoy therapies" were injected into the body, viruses would bind to the receptors and then be cleared by the immune system, which would be activated by the antibody portion.

###

The research was funded by OH2 Laboratories and the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms Consortium, which includes the Bay Valley Innovation Center.The relationship between plants and so-called arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi is considered to be one of the most important factors for the evolution of terrestrial plants. More than 70 percent of the higher plants establish an association with these fungi, which are believed to be more than 400 million years old. The mutualistic association allows the plant to better absorb nutrients, such as phosphate. Moreover, the symbiosis makes the plants more tolerant of biotic and abiotic stresses, such as insect attack, pathogens and drought.

For plant breeders, mycorrhizal fungi are very important because global phosphate resources are limited. However, until now analysis of the fungal association was only possible by excavating the plant roots. This is not only time-consuming; it also destroys the plant.

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology and their partners have now found substances that accumulate in the leaves when arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi successfully colonize plant roots. It has been known for a while that these substances, so-called blumenol C derivates, are produced in the roots exclusively after colonization with the mutualistic fungi. However, until now, all attempts to find a reliable and specific leaf marker have failed.

For their studies, the researchers analyzed the leaf substances with a highly sensitive technique and compared them to leaf compounds from plants that had not been able to establish fungal associations. "Through targeted and highly sensitive mass spectrometry, we were able to find mycorrhizal-specific changes also in above-ground parts of the plants," Ming Wang from the Jena Max Planck Institute describes the unexpected findings. Further experiments confirmed that the observed changes are related to root colonization mycorrhizal fungi. "The blumenols are most likely produced in the roots and then transported to other parts of the plants," Martin Schafer explains.

Most ecological interactions are highly species-specific. However, the scientists were able to show blumenol accumulation in the leaf tissues of other plant species, including important crop varieties and vegetables. The ubiquity of markers in the shoot across distant plant families is likely due to the long common history of mycorrhizal fungi and plants, suggesting that theses markers play an important role for plants colonized with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.

Regardless of the function of these substances, the approach provides a robust and easy-to-apply tool which has the potential to fundamentally change the future of mycorrhizal research and plant breeding. Ian Baldwin, the head of the Department of Molecular Ecology, summarizes the new possibilities: "Our diagnostic marker for the colonization with arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi can be very useful for studying mycorrhizal associations, not only for breeding programs which rely on high-throughput screenings, but also for basic research into fundamental questions about the information transferred from plant-to-plant through fungal networks." Phosphate is a major component of fertilizers and therefore indispensable for agriculture and food production. However, phosphate deposits are limited and are often located in areas of conflict. Experts are already talking about a pending shortage of phosphate and thus fertilizers which could lead to a global food crisis. The new screening method could help breed plants that are more able to negotiate favorable relationships with mycorrhizal fungi so as to acquire phosphate more efficiently.

In a further step, the researchers want to elucidate the role of blumenol accumulation elicited by fungal colonization and find out whether blumenols may also function as signal molecules between plant roots and leaves. They also plan to use the new method to investigate fundamental questions concerning the communication between different plants of the same species and plants of different species over a joint fungal network.

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Original Publication:

Wang, M., Schafer, M. Li, D., Halitschke, R., Dong, C., McGale, E., Paetz, C., Song, Y, Li, S., Dong, J., Heiling, S., Groten, K., Franken, P., Bitterlich, M., Harrison, M., Paszkowski, U., Baldwin, I. T. (2018). Blumenols as shoot markers for root symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, eLife, DOI: 10.7554/eLife.37093

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.37093

Further Information:

Prof. Dr. Ian T. Baldwin, Tel. +49 3641 57 1100, E-Mail: baldwin@ice.mpg.de, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany

Ming Wang, Tel. +49 3641 57 1124, E-Mail: mwang@ice.mpg.de, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany

Contact and Media Requests:

Angela Overmeyer M.A., Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knoll-Str. 8, 07743 Jena, +49 3641 57-2110, E-Mail overmeyer@ice.mpg.de Download of high resolution images via http://www.ice.mpg.de/ext/downloads2018.htmlStem cells transformed into 3D human liver tissue by scientists from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh show promising support of liver function when implanted into mice with a liver disease.

The scientists say that in addition to being early-stage progress towards developing human liver tissue implants, it could also reduce the need for animals in research by providing a better platform to study human liver disease and test drugs in the lab.

In this study, published in the journal Archives of Toxicology, the scientists took human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells (adult cells that have been induced to turn back into stem cells) and carefully stimulated them to develop the characteristics of liver cells, called hepatocytes. They grew these cells as small spheres in a dish for over a year.

Professor David Hay from the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, who led the research, said: "This is the first time anyone has kept stem cell-derived liver tissue alive for more than a year in the lab. Keeping the cells alive and stable as liver cells for a long time is a very difficult step, but crucial if we hope to use this technology in people."

The scientists then collaborated with materials chemists and engineers to identify suitable polymers already approved for use in humans in order to develop them into 3D scaffolds. The best material was a biodegradable polyester, polycaprolactone, which was spun into microscopic fibres. The fibre mesh formed a scaffold one centimetre square and a few millimetres thick.

Liver cells derived from embryonic stem cells, which had been grown in culture for 20 days, were loaded onto the scaffolds and implanted under the skin of mice.

Blood vessels successfully grew on the scaffolds and the mice were found to have human liver proteins in their blood, indicating that the tissue had successfully integrated with the circulatory system. The scaffolds were not rejected by the animals' immune systems.

The liver tissue scaffolds were tested in mice with tyrosinaemia, a potentially fatal genetic disorder where the enzymes in the liver that break down the amino acid tyrosine are defective, resulting in the accumulation of toxic metabolic products.

The implanted liver tissue helped the mice with tyrosinaemia to break down tyrosine. Compared with mice in a control group that received empty scaffolds, the mice with liver implants lost less weight, had less accumulation of toxins in the blood, and showed fewer signs of liver damage.

Professor Hay said: "Bringing together biologists, chemists and engineers, helped us to develop our new polymer scaffolds for lab-grown liver cells and we're excited that the implants successfully aided liver function. We hope implants like these may one day be able to help people with failing livers. Placing the scaffolds under the skin has the big advantage of being less invasive and potentially safer than inserting tissue grafts into the abdomen.

"Liver disease is a serious and increasing problem - it's currently the fifth biggest killer in the UK - and many people with liver disease will die waiting for a transplant or develop complications from the immunosuppressive drugs after a transplant, so we urgently need to find alternatives. These results are an important early step and now we need to conduct longer-term studies to fully establish the safety of this technique and to scale up and optimise the performance of the liver tissue so we can move this technology towards clinical trials."

Dr Rob Buckle, Chief Science Officer at the MRC, commented: "This research brings us a step closer to harnessing the potential of stem cell 'reprogramming' technologies to provide renewable supplies of liver tissue products for transplantation. Showing that such stem-cell derived tissue is able to reproduce aspects of liver function in the lab also offers real potential to improve the testing of new drugs where more accurate models of human tissue are needed."

###

The study was funded by the UK Regenerative Medicine Platform and the Chief Scientist Office Scotland.A new study showed that a change in the type of breathing tube paramedics use to resuscitate patients with sudden cardiac arrest can significantly improve the odds of survival and save thousands of lives. More than 90 percent of Americans who experience sudden cardiac arrest die before, or soon after, reaching a hospital.

"During resuscitation, opening the airway and having proper access to it is a key factor for the survival of someone who goes into cardiac arrest outside of a hospital," said George Sopko, M.D., M.P.H., program director in the NHLBI's Division of Cardiovascular Sciences and coauthor of the study. "But one of the burning questions in prehospital emergency care has been, 'Which is the best airway device?'"

Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, this study is the largest of its kind to test oxygen delivery methods used by firefighters, emergency medical service (EMS) providers and paramedics. It is the first to show that a particular airway intervention can positively affect patient survival rates. The findings were published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"This study demonstrated that just by managing the airway well in the early stage of resuscitation, we could save more than 10,000 lives every year," said Sopko.

EMS providers treat the majority of the 400,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests each year. For more than three decades, their standard-of-care technique for resuscitation has been endotracheal intubation -- the insertion of a plastic tube into the trachea to maintain an open airway. They use this technique in hopes that mirroring the care given by in-hospital physicians will produce better patient outcomes.

"While identical to techniques used by doctors in the hospital, intubation in these severe and stressful prehospital settings is very difficult and fraught with errors," said Henry E. Wang, M.D., professor and vice chair for research in the Department of Emergency Medicine at McGovern Medical School at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Wang was the study's lead author.

Today, however, new devices such as laryngeal tubes, offer simpler alternatives to opening and accessing an airway. These tubes are easier to use, and the trial showed that cardiac arrest patients treated with this alternative had a higher survival rate.

Usually caused by a heart attack, sudden cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly or unexpectedly stops beating, cutting off blood flow to the brain and other vital organs. The vast majority of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur at home, and only about 10 percent of people survive, according to the American Heart Association.

The Pragmatic Airway Resuscitation Trial was a multicenter research study conducted by the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium. It compared survival rates among 3,000 adults with cardiac arrest who were treated by paramedic crews from 27 EMS agencies, in Birmingham, Alabama; Dallas-Fort Worth; Milwaukee; Pittsburgh; and Portland, Oregon. Approximately half of the patients received the newer laryngeal tube treatment, while the other half received traditional endotracheal intubation.

Overall, patients in the laryngeal tube group had significantly better outcomes. For instance, 18.3 percent of patients survived three days in the hospital and 10.8 percent survived to reach hospital discharge. For the group with traditional endotracheal intubation, the survival numbers were 15.4 and 8.1 percent, respectively. Also, the proportion of patients surviving with good brain function was higher in the laryngeal tube group.

###

Study

H.E. Wang et al. Effect of a Strategy of Initial Laryngeal Tube Insertion vs. Endotracheal Intubation on 72-Hour Survival in Adults with Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Journal of the American Medical Association. August 28, 2018. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2018.7044

Part of the National Institutes of Health, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) plans, conducts, and supports research related to the causes, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart, blood vessel, lung, and blood diseases; and sleep disorders. The Institute also administers national health education campaigns on women and heart disease, healthy weight for children, and other topics. NHLBI press releases and other materials are available online at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.

NIH...Turning Discovery Into HealthA crowdsourced intervention led to an increase in the number of gay men who got tested for HIV in eight cities in China, researchers led by Joseph Tucker from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, USA, report this week in PLOS Medicine.

Worldwide, an estimated 14 million people living with HIV have yet to be tested, limiting the effectiveness of HIV treatment programs. In China, HIV infection rates are increasing among men who have sex with men (MSM), and testing rates remain relatively low. In the new study, researchers developed an intervention consisting of a multimedia HIV testing campaign, an online HIV testing service, and local testing promotion campaigns. Each aspect of the intervention was developed using crowdsourcing, including contests for images, concepts, and messages. The team then recruited 1381 MSM in eight Chinese cities, using a social networking application, to a stepped wedge cluster-randomized trial, and tracked whether participants had been tested for HIV in the previous three months. Most participants were under the age of 30.

During the intervention period, there was an 8.9% absolute increase, and a 43% relative increase, in the number of gay men who reported getting tested for HIV relative to control periods. Overall, 62% of participants self-reported that they received HIV testing at least once during the study period. The intervention was particularly effective in promoting HIV self-testing, but there was no effect on facility-based testing or condom use, for example. The results are potentially limited in generalizability, as participants were only recruited online, and more research is needed in different ages, cultures, and locations.

"[Our study] suggests that crowdsourcing could be used to design tailored HIV services, providing direction for subsequent crowdsourcing research. Also, crowdsourcing provides an inclusive, effective way to solicit community input, hence it might be used to inform health policy," the authors say. "Finally, when planning HIV interventions for MSM, researchers and policymakers should consider social media interventions to expand dissemination."

###

Research Article

Peer-reviewed / Randomised Controlled Trial / People

Funding:

This study received support from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFE0103800), the National Institutes of Health (NIAID 1R01AI114310-01), UNC-South China STD Research Training Center (FIC 1D43TW009532-01), UNC Center for AIDS Research (NIAID 5P30AI050410), NIMH (R34MH109359), UJMT Fogarty Fellowship (FIC R25TW0093), the North Carolina Translational & Clinical Sciences Institute (1UL1TR001111), SMU Research Initiation Project (QD2017N030, C1034448), Youth Talent Grant of Guangdong Province (2017WQNCX129), Social Science Young Teacher Supporting Project of Shenzhen University (18QNFC46), and SESH (Social Entrepreneurship to Spur Health) Global. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interests:

WT and JDT are advisors to SESH Global. All remaining authors declare that they have no competing interests relevant to this work.

Citation:

Tang W, Wei C, Cao B, Wu D, Li KT, Lu H, et al. (2018) Crowdsourcing to expand HIV testing among men who have sex with men in China: A closed cohort stepped wedge cluster randomized controlled trial. PLoS Med 15(8): e1002645. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002645

Image Credit: Victor, Flickr

Author Affiliations:

University of North Carolina Project-China, Guangzhou, China

Social Entrepreneurship to Spur Health (SESH) Global, Guangzhou, China

Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, United States of America

Dermatology Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China

School of Public Health, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China

Social and Behavioral Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, United States of America

School of Media and Communication, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China

Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, United States of America

Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America

Shandong University School of Public Health, Jinan, China

Shandong Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Jinan, China

Department of Sociology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, United States of America

Department of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, United States of America

Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom

Division of Community Health and Research, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, United States of America

School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom

In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper: http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002645In a finding that caps years of exploration into the tiny particle known as the Higgs boson, researchers have traced the fifth and most prominent way that the particle decays into other particles. The discovery gives researchers a new pathway by which to study the physical laws that govern the universe.

Physicists at Princeton University led one of the two main teams that today announced the detection of the Higgs particle via its decay into two particles called bottom quarks. This pathway is the last to be detected of the five main signature pathways that can identify the Higgs particle.

"We found it exactly where we expected to find it and now we can use this new pathway to study the Higgs' properties," said James Olsen, professor of physics and leader of the team at Princeton. "This has been a truly collaborative effort from the beginning and it is exciting to see the amplification of effort that comes from people working together."

Long-sought because it confirms theories about the nature of matter, the Higgs particle exists only fleetingly before transforming into other, so-called "daughter" particles. Because the boson lasts only for about one septillionth of a second, researchers use the particle's offspring as evidence of its existence.

These daughter particles are scattered among the shower of particles created from the collision of two protons at the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). The Higgs particle was observed for the first time in 2012 through three of the other modes of decay.

Of these lineages or decay patterns, the decay into two bottom quarks occurs most often, making up about 60 percent of the decay events from the Higgs, according to Olsen.

But at the LHC, the bottom-quark pattern is the hardest to trace back definitively to the Higgs because many other particles can also give off bottom quarks.

Quarks are tiny constituents of protons, which themselves are some of the building blocks of atoms. The bottom quark is one of the six types of quarks that make up the menagerie of particles in the "standard model" that explains matter and their interactions.

Discerning which bottom quarks came from the Higgs versus other particles has been the main challenge facing the LHC's two Higgs detectors, the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) with which Olsen works, and its companion, ATLAS. The detectors operate independently and are run by separate teams of scientists.

Once produced, these bottom quarks split into jets of particles, making them hard to trace back to the original parent particles. Because of this background noise, the researchers required more data than was needed for the other pathways to be sure of their finding.

Both detectors are adept at spotting particles such as electrons, photons and muons, but are more challenged by quarks. The quarks due to their nature are not observed as free particles. Instead they are bound and appear as other particles such as mesons and baryons or decay quickly.

"It is a messy business because you have to collect all of those jets and measure their properties to calculate the mass of the object that decayed into the jets," Olsen said.

The two detectors are massive, complex structures that sit at the end of the LHC tunnel where protons are accelerated and smashed together at high energy levels. The structures contain layers of smaller detectors arranged like layers of an onion.

The devices detect particles at each layer of the onion to reconstruct their paths. This allows researchers to trace the path of a particle back to its source in a manner analogous to following the trail of a firework's light back to the place where the first burst occurred. By following many of these paths, the researchers can identify where and when the Higgs first formed in the proton-proton collision.

"The Higgs-to-bottom-quark decay is important because it is the most frequent decay, so a precise measurement of its rate tells us a lot about the nature of this particle," said Christopher Palmer, an associate research scholar at Princeton, who describes the work in this video.

Additional Princeton researchers on the team included physics graduate student Stephane Cooperstein and undergraduate Jan Offerman, Class of 2018. The team also included collaborators at the University of Florida and Fermilab, as well as groups from Italy, Switzerland and Germany.

The main challenge in detecting the bottom-quark decay mode was the amount of background bottom quarks produced by non-Higgs events. In addition to gathering more data from collisions, the researchers searched for a distinct way that the Higgs gave rise to the bottom quarks.

Olsen began working on this challenge 10 years ago, before the LHC had switched on and when physicists were running simulations on computers. Around that time, Olsen learned about a theoretical study showing that it is possible to find bottom quarks created from the Higgs recoiling off another particle, such as a Z boson or a W boson.

"It was an idea that nobody had before, to search for it in that channel, and the only question was whether it was possible experimentally and whether it really would pay off," Olsen said.

Olsen said it is exciting to see the work come to fruition. "This is a very satisfying moment."

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Princeton University's research at the LHC is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.INDIANAPOLIS - The care of long-term nursing home patients can be fragmented by hospitalizations and re-hospitalizations, which are especially burdensome for frail older adults. There is a significant likelihood of reduced functioning and overall negative impact on their health after discharge from the hospital. Preventing transfers of long-stay nursing home patients to hospitals improves continuity of care and decreases costs to the healthcare system.

Traditionally, clinical diagnosis is used to judge whether the hospital transfer of a nursing home patient is potentially avoidable or unnecessary. However, a recent study from the Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University Center for Aging Research, reports that a patient's diagnosis is not the best predictor of whether that individual will be transferred to a hospital or remain in place.

"Our data show that preventing avoidable hospitalization is less about clinical diagnosis and more about having coordinated systems in place," said Kathleen Unroe, M.D., M.H.A. of Regenstrief and IU. "These systems can prevent potentially harmful events that result from unnecessary transfers to the hospital.

"We need to be asking and answering a lot of questions in order to determine if a nursing home patient should be transported to the hospital."

Dr. Unroe, who led the new study, co-directed Phase I of OPTIMISTIC, short for Optimizing Patient Transfers, Impacting Medical quality and Improving Symptoms: Transforming Institutional Care, and is directing Phase II of OPTIMISTIC. She is the interim director of the Regenstrief and IU Center for Aging Research.

OPTIMISTIC nurses, embedded in 19 nursing homes, reviewed hundreds of transfers to the hospital. The nurses looked at whether patients had one of six diagnoses commonly associated with potentially avoidable hospitalizations: pneumonia, urinary tract infections, dehydration, pressure ulcers, cellulitis, heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease/asthma. The nurses determined that 25 percent of acute transfers of patients had a diagnosis commonly associated with potentially avoidable hospitalizations versus 22 percent of transfers associated with other diagnoses.

The most common quality improvement opportunities associated with potentially avoidable transfers were a lack of nursing home resources, resources not available at the time of transfer or that the condition might actually have been managed safely with available resources. Improved communications; earlier detection of a change in condition, sign, or symptom; earlier palliative care services and the need for earlier discussion of preferences for care were also reported as opportunities for improvement.

"A long-stay nursing home resident shouldn't be sent to the hospital just because of miscommunication between doctors and nursing facility staff - we can do better than that," said Dr. Unroe. "Keeping complex patients in the nursing facility is often the right choice. A nursing facility setting - a familiar place with staff and clinicians who know the patient - may be the patient's best option in many circumstances. We need to address this issue and improve care. Our findings highlight quality improvement opportunities and strongly reflect the need for multi-targeted solutions like OPTIMISTIC."

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"Investigating the Avoidability of Hospitalizations of Long Stay Nursing Home Residents - Opportunities for Improvement" is published in Innovation in Aging, a peer-reviewed, open access journal of The Gerontological Society of America.

Authors, in addition to Dr. Unroe, are Susan E. Hickman, Ph.D. of the IU School of Nursing; Jennifer L. Carnahan, M.D., M.P.H. and Greg Sachs, M.D. of the Regenstrief Institute and IU School of Medicine and Zach Hass, Ph.D. and Greg Arling, Ph.D. of Purdue University.

This work was supported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Funding Opportunity 1E1CMS331488. The opinions expressed in this article do not reflect the view of CMS.It has been almost 20 years since the human genome was first sequenced, but researchers still know little about how the genome is folded up and organized within cells. In a paper to be published August 28 in the Journal of Cell Biology, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign describe a new technique that can measure the position of every single gene in the nucleus to build a 3D picture of the genomes organization.

The location of geneswhether they are close to the edge or the center of the nucleus, for examplemay have significant effects on their activity, and a genes position may therefore change as a cell develops or becomes diseased. Researchers can examine the position of individual genes using a microscope, but determining the position of every gene at the same time is impossible this way.

Yu Chen, Andrew Belmont, and colleagues from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have now developed a technique called tyramide signal amplification sequencing (TSA-Seq) that allows the distance of every gene from specific nuclear landmarks to be measured simultaneously. The study was carried out in collaboration with Jian Mas group at Carnegie Mellon University and with researchers at the Netherlands Cancer Institute and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

The TSA-Seq technique involves targeting an enzymehorseradish peroxidaseto particular nuclear structures, such as the nuclear lamina that surrounds the nucleus or protein-containing granules called nuclear speckles that tend to be found in the center of the nucleus. The horseradish peroxidase then generates a highly reactive molecule called tyramide that can be used to label any DNA in the enzymes vicinity. The closer a gene is to the enzyme, the more it will be labeled. So, when researchers subsequently sequence the cells DNA, they can calculate how close each gene was to the nuclear structure tagged with horseradish peroxidase.

TSA-Seq is the first genome-wide method capable of estimating actual distances of genes from particular nuclear subcompartments, says Chen.

Chen and colleagues tested their approach in leukemia cells and found that genes closer to nuclear speckles tended to be more active than genes closer to the nuclear lamina. Indeed, by examining the position of neighboring genes, the researchers were able to trace whole sections of chromosomes that looped out from the nuclear periphery toward speckles in the center of the nucleus. The function of nuclear speckles is unknown, but the regions of chromosomes close to speckles seem to be hot zones of gene activity.

The logic of this nuclear organization remains to be determined, but our model would suggest that chromosome movements of just a few hundred nanometers could have substantial functional significance, Belmont says. A small shift in a genes position so that it lies close to a nuclear speckle could be sufficient to dramatically enhance the genes activity, for example.

The researchers say that the technique still needs to be improved, but they hope to use TSA-Seq to map the positions of genes in other cell types and examine how these positions change as cells develop or become diseased.

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Chen et al., 2018. J. Cell Biol. http://jcb.rupress.org/cgi/doi/10.1083/jcb.201807108?PR

About the Journal of Cell Biology The Journal of Cell Biology (JCB) features peer-reviewed research on all aspects of cellular structure and function. All editorial decisions are made by research-active scientists in conjunction with in-house scientific editors. JCB makes all of its content free online no later than six months after publication. Established in 1955, JCB is published by Rockefeller University Press. For more information, visit jcb.org.

Visit our Newsroom, and sign up for a weekly preview of articles to be published. Embargoed media alerts are for journalists only.

Follow JCB on Twitter at @JCellBiol and @RockUPress.A parental training program for families referred to Child Protective Services improved toddlers' unconscious reactions to mildly stressful situations, as well as improving parents' behavior, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Davis and the University of Washington. The work is published August 28 in Developmental Science.

"In everything we do, the brain and body are coordinated through the autonomic nervous system," said Paul Hastings, professor in the UC Davis Department of Psychology and Center for Mind and Brain. "We know that these neurobiological systems are shaped by our experiences in the world, including parenting."

The autonomic nervous system functions primarily below the level of conscious thought and has two arms: the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. The better-known sympathetic system regulates "fight or flight" responses. The parasympathetic system tends to calm those responses and contributes to our ability to engage socially and emotionally with other people.

People who have experienced maltreatment as children are at risk of developing depression and other mental health problems later in life. This may be tied to the effects of poor parenting on physiology, including the parasympathetic system. But under normal circumstances, it's difficult to study whether parenting style can cause changes in a child's physiology - you couldn't ethically or practically do an experiment in which children are assigned to be in families with better or worse parents and see what happens, Hastings said.

Intervention to improve parenting

Promoting First Relationships is a training program designed to improve sensitivity towards infants and toddlers in troubled families. Professor Monica Oxford of the University of Washington led a study of the program's effectiveness with 247 families who had been referred to Child Protective Services for maltreatment. Families either took the Promoting First Relationships training, which involves in-home visits and parent training sessions, or the standard service of receiving referrals and resources. That study showed that the training did improve parents' understanding and sensitive engagement with their toddlers and lowered the number of foster care placements.

Hastings' team used a sample of 29 families from the Promoting First Relationships training and 30 families from the comparison group to see if the treatment program that changed parenting behavior also had an effect on children's parasympathetic regulation, measured based on changes in heart rate in response to mildly challenging or stressful tasks such as completing a simple puzzle or petting a plastic spider that jumps when triggered. Typically, children react to such situations with a mild decrease in parasympathetic regulation, becoming more alert and ready to take in information. The team assessed the children at the end of the Promoting First Relationships trial, and again three and six months later.

Children of parents who received the training responded to the tasks with the typical pattern of mild parasympathetic decreases that indicated they were attentive to and engaged with the tasks. This response was strongest in the children of parents who showed the most improvement in sensitive behavior after the training.

Children of parents in the comparison group had a bigger drop in parasympathetic activity, which would open the door for their sympathetic system to drive fight-or-flight responses like becoming distressed and withdrawing. This response matches what earlier studies had found in adolescents and adults who had experienced maltreatment during their childhoods.

Inner strength

Showing that an intervention that improves parenting behavior also improves young children's physiological regulation is important, Hastings said, because that capacity for regulation is an internal strength that children can take forward into their future experiences, which should help them to be resilient and to thrive.

This study worked with a particularly at-risk population, but helping parents who are within the normal range of behavior to become more sensitive and responsive could be beneficial for all children, Hastings said.

"Parents are heavy consumers of self-help books and websites, but we don't know how beneficial these things are for children's overall development," he said. "We know that parenting affects neurobiology and predicts later social and emotional adjustment, but we need evidence that programs like this make a difference in order to give parents the right advice."

###

Other authors on the study in addition to Hastings and Oxford are Sarah Kahle at the UC Davis Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Charles Fleming, Mary Jane Lohr and Lynn Fainsilber Katz at the University of Washington. The work was supported by the University of Washington Research Royalty Program, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Center for Poverty Research at UC Davis.Researchers at University of Jyvaskyla (Finland) and University of Tampere (Finland) together with BioNavis Ltd (Finland) have developed a novel nanoactuator system, where conformation of biomolecule can be tuned by electric field and probed using optical properties of gold nanoparticle.

Over the past decades, nanoactuators for detection or probing of different biomolecules have attracted vast interest for example in the fields of biomedical, food and environmental industry. To provide more versatile tools for active molecular control in nanometer scale, researchers at University of Jyvaskyla and University of Tampere have devised a nanoactuator scheme, where gold nanoparticle (AuNP) tethered on a conducting surface is moved reversibly using electric fields, while monitoring its position optically via changes of its plasmon resonance. Forces induced by the AuNP motion on the molecule anchoring the nanoparticle, can be used to change and study its conformation.

- Related studies use either organic or in-organic interfaces or materials as probes. Our idea was to fuse these two domains together to achieve the best from the both worlds, says postdoctoral researcher Kosti Tapio.

More possibilities to study molecules

According to the current study, it was shown that AuNPs anchored via hairpin-DNA molecule experienced additional discretization in their motion due to opening and closing of the hairpin-loop compared to the plain, single stranded DNA.

- This finding will enable conformational studies of variety of multiple interesting biomolecules, or even viruses, says Associate Professor Vesa Hytonen from the Protein Dynamics Group from the University of Tampere.

Besides studying the structure and behaviour of molecules, this scheme can be extended to surface-enhanced spectroscopies like SERS, since the distance between the particle and the conducting surface and hence the plasmon resonance of the nanoparticle can be reversibly tuned.

- Nanoparticle systems with post-fabrication tuneable optical properties have been developed in the past, but typically the tuning processes are irreversible. Our approach offers more customizability and possibilities when it comes to the detection wavelengths and molecules, states Associate Professor Jussi Toppari from the University of Jyvaskyla.

###

The research was funded by the Academy of Finland (OMA - programmable materials) and the Finnish Cultural Foundation (the Central Finland Regional Fund). Authors thank BioNavis Ltd for equipment and essential expertise in the SPR analysis.

Additional information:

- Associate Professor Jussi Toppari, j.jussi.toppari@jyu.fi, +358 40 8054123 Molecular Electronics and Plasmonics Group, Department of Physics and Nanoscience Center, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland.

- Associate Professor Vesa Hytonen, vesa.hytonen@uta.fi, +358 40 1901517 Protein Dynamics Group, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences and BioMediTech, University of Tampere, Finland.

- Post-doctoral Researcher Kosti Tapio, kostapio@uni-potsdam.de, +358 50 5118827 Optical Spectroscopy and Chemical Imaging, Department of Chemistry, University of Potsdam, Germany.

- Reference: K. Tapio, D. Shao, S. Auer, J.-P. Tuppurainen, M. Ahlskog, V.P. Hytonen and J. Toppari, DNA-nanoparticle actuator enabling optical monitoring of nanoscale movements induced by electric field, Nanoscale

- Link to the article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C8NR05535AWhen paramedics resuscitated cardiac arrest patients with a new type of breathing tube, their patients were more likely to survive, according to a University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth)-led study in today's JAMA.

"Based upon these results, use of the newer, more flexible laryngeal breathing tube could result in thousands of saved lives every year," said lead author Henry E. Wang, M.D., M.S., professor and vice chair for research in the Department of Emergency Medicine at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth.

"This is one of the first randomized trials to show that a paramedic airway intervention can improve cardiac arrest survival," said Wang, who described the study as a multicenter head-to-head comparison between the newer intubation tube and a traditional one.

Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the study is the largest of its kind to test oxygen delivery methods used by firefighters, emergency medical technicians and paramedics.

"For over three decades, emergency medical services personnel in the U.S. have performed intubation to deliver oxygen into the lungs of cardiac arrest victims. While identical to techniques used by doctors in the hospital, intubation in the prehospital setting is very difficult and fraught with errors," Wang said. "Our trial showed that cardiac arrest patients treated using the newer and easier laryngeal tube device may have a higher survival rate."

Sudden cardiac arrest, or loss of mechanical activity of the heart, is usually caused by a heart attack. More than 400,000 individuals are treated for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest each year, with the vast majority occurring at home, according to the American Heart Association. Studies show that only about 10 percent of people who suffer cardiac arrest outside the hospital survive. Delivery of oxygen to the lungs is a critical part of reviving a patient from cardiac arrest.

The research study - Pragmatic Airway Resuscitation Trial - compared survival rates among 3,000 adults with cardiac arrest treated by paramedic crews from 27 emergency medical services (EMS) agencies from December 2015 to November 2016. Approximately half received the newer laryngeal tube airway, while the other half received traditional endotracheal intubation.

The study (NHLBI grant UH2/UH3-HL125163) was conducted by the Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium research network and included the Birmingham, Dallas-Fort Worth, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Portland communities.

Overall, survival was higher in the new tube device group than the standard intubation group. With the new tube, 18.3 percent survived three days in the hospital, while in the intubation group, 15.4 percent survived three days. A total of 10.8 percent in the new tube group survived to leave the hospital, while 8.1 percent in the intubation group survived to leave the hospital. The proportion of patients surviving with good brain function was also higher for the new device than standard intubation.

While additional research is needed to support the study's findings, the researchers believe that the benefits of the newer airway device are due to its easier technique, leading to better blood flow and oxygen delivery. They are continuing to analyze the data to gain additional insight into the study results.

###Scientists from WCS and University of Hawaii using new models to identify where forest conservation efforts will minimize human impacts offshore

Researchers from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa (UH Manoa), WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), and other groups are discovering how forest conservation in Fiji can minimize the impact of human activities on coral reefs and their fish populations.

Specifically, authors of a newly published study in the journal Scientific Reports have used innovative modeling tools to identify specific locations on the land where conservation actions would yield the highest benefits for downstream reefs in terms of mitigating harm to coral communities and associated reef fish populations.

The authors of the study titled "Scenario Planning with Linked Land-Sea Models Inform Where Forest Conservation Actions Will Promote Coral Reef Resilience" are: Jade M. S. Delevaux, Stacy D. Jupiter, Kostantinos A. Stamoulis, Leah L. Bremer, Amelia S. Wenger, Rachel Dacks, Peter Garrod, Kim A. Falinski, and Tamara Ticktin.

The researchers of the study focused on Fiji's Kubulau District, where indigenous landowners are already taking action to manage their resources through a ridge-to-reef management plan.

Human activities on land often have cascading effects for marine ecosystems, and human-related impacts on Fiji are threatening more than 25 percent of the total global reef area. Expansion of commercial agriculture, logging, mining, and coastal development can harm coral reefs and their associated fisheries through increases in sediment and nutrient runoff. Consequent reef degradation directly affects food security, human wellbeing, and cultural practices in tropical island communities around the world.

To determine where management and conservation efforts would be most impactful, the researchers built a fine-scale, linked land and sea model that integrates existing land-use with coral reef condition and fish biomass. The team then simulated various future land-use and climate change scenarios to pinpoint areas in key watersheds where conservation would provide the most benefit to downstream coral reef systems. In every simulated scenario, coral reef impacts were minimized when native forest was protected or restored.

"The results of this study can be used by the village chiefs and the resource management committee in Kubulau to provide a geographic focus to their management actions," said Dr. Sangeeta Mangubhai, Director of the WCS Fiji Country Program.

The methods also have applications far beyond Kubulau, particularly as many indigenous island communities are mobilizing to revitalize customary ridge to reef management systems and governments are becoming more interested in applying an integrated land-sea planning approach.

Dr. Jade Delevaux of the University of Hawai'i and lead author of the study said: "This novel tool relies on two freely available software packages and can be used in open access geographic information systems (GIS). As more and more remote sensing and bathymetry data become freely available to serve as data inputs, the model can serve even very data-poor regions around the world to allow for better management of linked land and sea areas."

The model thus provides a platform for evidence-based decision making for ridge to reef management and lends confidence that directed terrestrial conservation actions can bolster reef resilience by minimizing damage from land-based runoff.

Dr. Stacy Jupiter, WCS Melanesia Regional Program Director, added: "The results provide hope because they demonstrate that resilience of coral reefs to global change can be promoted through local actions, thereby empowering local people to become better stewards over their resources."

###

This study was supported through funding from a National Science Foundation grant to the University of Hawai'i.

WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society)

MISSION: WCS saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. To achieve our mission, WCS, based at the Bronx Zoo, harnesses the power of its Global Conservation Program in nearly 60 nations and in all the world's oceans and its five wildlife parks in New York City, visited by 4 million people annually. WCS combines its expertise in the field, zoos, and aquarium to achieve its conservation mission. Visit: newsroom.wcs.org Follow: @WCSNewsroom. For more information: 347-840-1242.

2018 has been designated by the International Coral Reef Initiative as the third International Year of the Reef. This is a great opportunity to come together to strengthen awareness on the plight of coral reefs, to step up and initiate conservation efforts.August 28, 2018 - Wolters Kluwer Health announced today it will begin electronic publishing of Evidence-Based Practice, the official journal of the Family Physicians Inquiries Network (FPIN). The monthly journal, which focuses on topics relevant to the daily practice of family medicine, will be curated in the Lippincott portfolio beginning in September 2018.

Evidence-Based Practice delivers editorial content that addresses timely and pertinent questions related to patient care, with questions phrased in a concise, clinically useful format. Clinical answers range in length from in-depth case reports to brief responses and are based on the best available evidence. Features include a spotlight on pharmacy, topics in maternity care, integrative medicine, pediatrics, and more.

"FPIN and Wolters Kluwer came together in part because they are like-minded organizations led by their values, a commitment to excellence, and a united vision to widely disseminate high-quality medical literature to clinicians," said LuShawna Romeo, Executive Director, FPIN. "This new relationship offers clinicians worldwide answers to important clinical questions and straight-forward summaries for practice-changing studies affecting primary care. The synergies between FPIN's journal, Evidence-Based Practice, and Wolters Kluwer make this the ideal collaboration."

"We are delighted that the Family Physicians Inquiries Network has selected Wolters Kluwer to publish Evidence-Based Practice," said Jayne Marks, Vice President, Global Publishing, Wolters Kluwer Health Learning, Research and Practice. "Our mission at Wolters Kluwer Health is to reduce the variability that stands in the way of effective care, and that begins with providing practitioners with the best available evidence from leading journals such as Evidence-Based Practice."

###

Learn more about Evidence-Based Practice here.

About Wolters Kluwer

Wolters Kluwer is a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services for the health, tax & accounting, finance, risk & compliance, and legal sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services.

Wolters Kluwer, headquartered in the Netherlands, reported 2017 annual revenues of 4.4 billion. The company serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide.

Wolters Kluwer Health is a leading global provider of trusted clinical technology and evidence-based solutions that engage clinicians, patients, researchers and students with advanced clinical decision support, learning and research and clinical intelligence. For more information about our solutions, visit http://healthclarity.wolterskluwer.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @WKHealth.this news is not availableThe US Dollar was weak again on Monday as the Euro and the British Pound exchange rates made inroads against the DXY. ING expect the Pound to be subdued by political stress but remain supported for now, analysts at Citibank are less optimistic and see Cable falling as low as 1.21 over the next 12 months.

Pound to US Dollar exchange rate moves higher as USD weakens

Monday was more of the same in financial markets, as we saw the US Dollar continuing to sell-off in an environment which saw some encouraging signs of positive risk sentiment. Stock markets, in particular, were performing well, with the major US benchmarks rising impressively. There was little in the way of economic data, but the important IFO data out of Germany was encouraging for the Eurozone economy as all of the benchmarks demonstrated better than expected readings. The Euro to Dollar exchange rate (EUR/USD) was a strong performer, rising more than 0.5% to close in on the 1.17 handle, while the British Pound to Dollar exchange rate hopped on its coattails, with a more modest 0.37% gain as it was just a few pips within 1.29 resistance. Forex strategists at ING released a forecast for the British Pound in which they actually noted that it is not Brexit talks which is the primary concern for the British Pound, but rather they have seen some encouraging developments in talks,

Its clear that a lot of bad news is priced into a pound plagued by twin sources of risk premia. But when it comes to Brexit and the currency, talks between the UK and the EU are not necessarily the primary short-term risk.

The new Brexit secretary seriously worried investors with the 60% hard Brexit probability comments, but has recently walked this back substantially due to the more encouraging signs from the EU that they arent prepared to push anyone off a cliff just yet,

In fact, some investors may have found comfort from the Raab-Barnier press conference over the past week  especially as it was clear that the EU isnt actively looking to push the UK off any Brexit cliff edge (which makes sense given that a no-deal Brexit would be somewhat damaging to both economies).

Ultimately this increased co-operation between the two sides is the reason that investors are warming to the Pound, and ING believes that this may cushion the potential downside in the GBP as no further hard-Brexit risks will be priced into the UK currency at these levels,

The inherent willingness of both sides to find a Withdrawal Deal solution should serve as a bit of a backstop to the degree of no-deal Brexit risks priced into the currency.

Too early to signal the all-clear on GBP downside

Aside from Brexit risks the real dangers for the Pound might actually be back home for the Pound, with an increasingly divided UK parliament, there are enemies for Theresa May both sides of the aisle. ING expect party conference season to mark some renewed uncertainty for the British Pound,

But when it comes to GBP and political risks, it is far too early to signal the all clear; the biggest test for the pound will be the return of a divided UK parliament from their summer recess and the upcoming Party Conference Season.

Despite this things are looking solid, but they are not looking too optimistic just yet. INGs Ultimate conclusion is that the Pound could remain under pressure, but are not expecting any major downside from current levels,

A murky UK political backdrop may continue to put a dampener on GBP in the near-term  but as we noted last week, risk-reward may no longer favour chasing the pound much lower from these levels. We think GBP/USD at 1.27 (and EUR/GBP at 0.91) reflects a good chunk of Brexit negativity

Citibank see GBP/USD exchange rate (Cable) at 1.21

While ING is somewhat optimistic for the British Pound, there is no question that the UK economy is facing some tough times. FX strategists at Citibank are not optimistic for the British Pound, with trade conditions the primary concern they anticipate that Cable is likely to fall from here over the next year dropping as low as 1.21 with 1.23 in the next few months,

The MPCs current projections are based on the assumption of a relatively smooth Brexit transition. There are risks that deterioration in trade flows could significantly impact business confidence in the UK. We expect the BoE not to accelerate rate hikes. 0-3M forecast: 1.23; 6-12M forecast: 1.21

There are some major issues for the United Kingdom, and perhaps the Pound will find support around 1.30. The problem for bulls is that the future of the GBP likely hangs in the EUs hands, and they will want the UK to survive, but its unlikely they will want to see them thrive.Privacy Settings

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NOTE: These settings will only apply to the browser and device you are currently using.Monday, August 27, 2018

As the bull market continues through its ninth year, a little-known stock market indicator with a "5 for 5" record since 1895 has just generated a sell signal. The indicator is the creation of Gray Cardiff, editor of the Sound Advice newsletter. He calls it the "Sound Advice Risk Indicator", which is simply the ratio of the S&P 500 to the median price of a new home.

Cardiff explains that the indicator quantifies the "struggle for capital" between stocks and real estate. When the indicator rises above 2.0, he explains, it means the stock market has absorbed a "larger proportion of available investment capital than economic conditions can justify."Gail Rubin, CT, is author and host of the award-winning book and television series, A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Dont Plan to Die, Hail and Farewell: Cremation Ceremonies, Templates and Tips, and KICKING THE BUCKET LIST: 100 Downsizing and Organizing Things to Do Before You Die.

Rubin is a Certified Thanatologist (that's a death educator) and a popular speaker who uses humor and films to get the end-of-life and funeral planning conversation started. She "knocked 'em dead" with her TEDx talk, A Good Goodbye. She provides continuing education credit classes for attorneys, doctors, nurses, social workers, hospice workers, financial planners, funeral directors and other professionals. She's a Certified Funeral Celebrant and funeral planning consultant who has been interviewed in national and local print, broadcast and online media.

Known as The Doyenne of Death, she is the event coordinator of the Before I Die ABQ Festival. She also hosts A Good Goodbye Internet radio show and produces Mortality Minute radio and online video spots. Her YouTube Channel features more than 400 videos!

Rubin is a member of the Association for Death Education and Counseling, the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association, Toastmasters International and the National Speakers Association New Mexico Chapter. Her speaking profile is available at eSpeakers.com.

Gail Rubin has been interviewed about funeral planning issues in national and local broadcast, print and online media. Outlets include The Huffington Post, Money Magazine, Kiplinger, CBS Radio News, WGN-TV, and local affiliates for NPR, PBS, FOX, ABC-TV, CBS-TV and NBC-TV.

Sign up for a free planning form and occasional informative newsletter at her website, AGoodGoodbye.com.From: American Evaluation Association (AEA) For Immediate Release: Dateline: Washington , DC Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Adeyemo Adetogun, Im a doctoral student in the Education Research Methodology department at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). My area of concentration is in program evaluation with a focus on Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) fields.

The very notion that we can evaluate anything, including evaluation itself, is a testament to the ubiquitous influence evaluation has on us as humans, and our activities. Accordingly, I found Shadish, Cook, and Levinton (1991) excerpts in their book,

A man recognized as the founder of social psychology, Kurt Lewin, once said, . . . there is nothing so practical as good theory. Another scholar, Michael Fullan, noted for his expertise on educational reform added, . . . there is nothing so theoretical as good practice. In all these, I see evaluation theory and practice as two halves of the same body; both needing each other to further develop the identity of the field.

Lessons Learned:

As I continue to learn and engage in research that will increase my understanding of evaluation theory and practice, a few lessons have emerged from my scholarship thus far. I lean on the suggestions of Shadish, Cook, and Levinton (1991) to articulate them more succinctly:

Every evaluator should be well grounded in evaluation theory; otherwise they will be left to trial and error, or to professional lore in learning about appropriate methods. Consider that evaluation theories are like military strategy and tactics  methods are like military weapons and logistics. A good military commander with fine training and shrewdness needs to know strategy and tactics to deploy weapons properly, and should be able to organize logistics in different situations. A similar worldview must apply to a good evaluator  they need theories for the same reasons in choosing and deploying methods. Evaluation theory provide meaning for practice, and all evaluation practitioners are nascent evaluation theorists. They think about what they are doing, make considered judgments about which methods to use in each situation, weigh advantages and disadvantages of choices they face, and learn from successes and failures in their past evaluations. Rad Resources: Check out this link for further reading:

Shadish, W.R., Cook, T.D., & Leviton, L. (1991). Foundations of Program Evaluation, Theories of Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications The American Evaluation Association is celebrating Theory and Practice week. The aea365 contributions all this week come from Dr. Ayesha Boyce and her University of North Carolina Greensboro graduate students reflections on evaluation theory and practice. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the

About AEA The American Evaluation Association is an international professional association and the largest in its field. Evaluation involves assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programs, policies, personnel, products and organizations to improve their effectiveness. AEAs mission is to improve evaluation practices and methods worldwide, to increase evaluation use, promote evaluation as a profession and support the contribution of evaluation to the generation of theory and knowledge about effective human action. For more information about AEA, visit www.eval.org. Hello! My name is, Im a doctoral student in the Education Research Methodology department at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). My area of concentration is in program evaluation with a focus on Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) fields.The very notion that we can evaluate anything, including evaluation itself, is a testament to the ubiquitous influence evaluation has on us as humans, and our activities. Accordingly, I found Shadish, Cook, and Levinton (1991) excerpts in their book, Foundations of Program Evaluation: Theories of Practice, to be useful in highlighting the interdependence of theory and practice in the field of evaluation. The body of knowledge concerned with organizing, categorizing, describing, predicting, explaining, understanding, and controlling a topic is equally as important as and deeply informs the body of knowledge that explicates the relationships between goals, processes, activities, conflict, or other issues experienced within the field of evaluation. Stated simply, our theory informs our practice.A man recognized as the founder of social psychology, Kurt Lewin, once said, . . . there is nothing so practical as good theory. Another scholar, Michael Fullan, noted for his expertise on educational reform added, . . . there is nothing so theoretical as good practice. In all these, I see evaluation theory and practice as two halves of the same body; both needing each other to further develop the identity of the field.As I continue to learn and engage in research that will increase my understanding of evaluation theory and practice, a few lessons have emerged from my scholarship thus far. I lean on the suggestions of Shadish, Cook, and Levinton (1991) to articulate them more succinctly:Check out this link for further reading:The American Evaluation Association is celebratingweek. The aea365 contributions all this week come fromDo you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org . aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.

WASHINGTON  The United States and Mexico reached a preliminary deal on the future of North American Free Trade Agreement and their trade relations, a breakthrough in the yearlong negotiations that came as a relief to businesses and political leaders across Texas.

The deal is far from done. Canada has yet to sign on. Lawmakers in both the United States and Mexico have to approve the agreement. But in Texas, where trade with Mexico and Canada accounts for more than 1 million jobs, the development was greeted with muted optimism.

Much of the past year has been marked by tense exchanges between U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and Trumps threats to to withdraw from the free trade pact. Public officials and business leaders feared a breakdown in negotiations that would unravel a quarter-century of increasingly intertwined cross-border commerce.

We knew this was going to be a bucking bronc, said Jeff Moseley, president of the Texas Association of Business, and we just needed to strap in and hold on.

For months the talks seemed to be going nowhere as Trump pressed his nationalist agenda, calling NAFTA the worst trade deal ever, claiming that Mexico and Canada were taking advantage of the United States and imposing tariffs on steel from the two countries. Canada and Mexico retaliated with their own tariffs on U.S. goods.

But momentum for a deal  at least with Mexico  picked up in recent weeks following the election of a leftist president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who pledged a more confrontational approach to the Trump administration. Trump's and Pena Nietos negotiators pushed to strike a deal in time to get congressional approval before Lopez Obrador takes office Dec. 1.

Details remain elusive

Although details of the deal remained sketchy on Monday, Trump called the agreement with Mexico a big day for trade and a big day for our country.

Its been a long time, and this is something that is very special for our manufacturers and our farmers, Trump said from the Oval Office. It makes it a much more fair bill.

Trump came into office on the promise of renegotiating NAFTA, which was approved by Congress in 1993 and went into effect in 1994. His trade officials negotiated on a wide range of issues, from car manufacturing and the sale of agricultural products to setting up a mechanism for periodic reviews of the agreement itself.

But after a final round of negotiations in Washington over the weekend, U.S. and Mexican trade officials came to terms on a deal that appeared significantly different from the existing pact but still fell far short of what the Trump administration had initially sought.

Details of the agreement have not yet been made public, but according to senior White House officials the deal would operate in 16-year terms  not the five years pushed by Trump  with mandated reviews every six years.

Also, the existing investment protection rules  known as Investor State Dispute Settlement, or ISDS  was kept largely in place.

The investment protection provision allows companies to challenge the rulings of a foreign government using an independent arbiter. It is a particularly sensitive topic for U.S. oil and gas companies, which have used such provisions to gain compensation after their assets were nationalized. For example, the Houston oil company ConocoPhillips recently won a $2 billion award from Venezuelas national oil company after ConocoPhillips assets were expropriated more than a decade ago by the socialist government of the late Hugo Chavez.

Uncertainty for some

White House officials said certain industries, including energy, would see no change in their international protections, but industry attorneys worried that some segments of the diverse energy sector  which includes oil and gas as well as pipelines and power  could be left out.

Right now, I think theres more uncertainty than there is confidence on anything ISDS related, said Josh Zive, a Washington attorney with the law firm Bracewell.

In addition, the rules for automobiles to qualify for a U.S. tariff exemptions would change. According to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, 75 percent of their content would need to come from North America - up from 62.5 percent under the existing agreement - and 40 to 45 percent of their content would now have to come from workers earning at least $16 an hour - a boon to workers in the United States and Canada.

Following the announcement by Trump and Pena Nieto, both Democrats and Republicans expressed optimism that NAFTA would survive  even if it was renamed the United States-Mexico trade agreement, as Trump said he would prefer.

This is a positive step, and now we need to ensure the final agreement brings Canada in to the fold and has bipartisan support, said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.

The Trump administration plans to submit the deal with Mexico to Congress by Friday. Getting it through would likely require Democratic votes, and the White House is already trying to drum up support among labor unions that have traditionally opposed free trade deals as hurting domestic workers.

Its good news theres an agreement. Were going to look at the details, said Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, a longtime NAFTA proponent who is traveling to Mexico this week to meet with trade officials there. We still got the big vote at the end of the year, and thats going to be very interesting. Ive never seen (the unions) look at a trade agreement they like.

Gaining lawmakers OK

With the required 90-day review period, U.S. lawmakers could theoretically complete the review and approve the pact before Pena Nieto leaves office Dec. 1. But getting the agreement past the Mexican Congress could disrupt that timeline, said Tony Payan, director of Rice Universitys Mexico Center at the Baker Institute.

Newly elected representatives are scheduled to take their seats in Mexico City on Saturday, with Lopez Obradors National Regeneration Movement set to assume control.

There is a strong nationalist element there, and they might not see this as favorable to Mexico, Payan said. The big question is whether Mr. Pena Nieto is trying to rush something through he can still send to Mexico this week.

Trump has expressed ambivalence on whether Canada ultimately joins the deal with Mexico, but he is facing pressure from all sides, not only from Congress but also members of his administration, to strike a deal with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. On a phone call with Trump on Monday, broadcast live on television, Pena Nieto urged Trump to bring Canada in.

Trump said he planned to begin negotiations with Canada immediately to either add the northern neighbor to the agreement with Mexico or to sign a bilateral agreement. If that failed, Trump said, then he would increase tariffs on Canadian cars imported into the United States.

One way or another well have a deal with Canada, he said. Itll either be a tariff on cars or itll be a negotiated deal.

james.osborne@chron.com

twitter.com/osbornejaIntended as a discussion group, the blog has evolved to be more of a reading list of current issues affecting our county, its government and people. All reasonable comments and submissions welcomed. Email us at: bill.pysson@gmail.com REMEMBER: To view our sister blog for education issues: www.district100watchdog.blogspot.comFour people were critically injured Tuesday when a driver lost control of his car and plowed into a West Side bus stop, authorities said.

One of the victims, a 28-year-old pregnant woman, remained in serious condition Tuesday afternoon, police said. Three others were hospitalized in stable condition.

The driver was traveling westbound on Culebra Road at North Zarzamora Street around 11:10 a.m. when he swerved across oncoming traffic and clipped a concrete embankment around the perimeter of a bus stop, where four people, including a woman who is pregnant, were sitting.

READ ALSO: Police say what led up to the viral video of an 18-wheeler pushing a Mercedes-Benz on S.A. freeway

Now Playing: (Warning: Graphic content) Four people were critically injured Tuesday when a driver lost control of his car and plowed into a West Side bus stop, authorities said. Video: Courtesy Marc DeLeon

"[The vehicle] hits the corner of the bus area and then basically glides past all the people that were waiting on the bus bench, hitting them," said Carlos Ortiz, a spokesman for the San Antonio Police Department.

The vehicle, a 2002 Nissan Maxima, came to a stop a few yards down from the bus stop, with its front half on top of the concrete embankment and its back half on the side walk.

Matthew Rodriguez said he was waiting for a bus across the street when he saw the crash and rushed to check on the victims.

"The pregnant woman couldn't speak. She was choking on her own blood," he said. "She was bleeding from her head."

Shaking, Rodriguez displayed photos and video he took shortly after the crash. They showed victims scattered around the bus stop, bleeding, panicking and clearly confused.

READ ALSO: Woman's 'blood instantly ran cold' after seeing robbery suspect on the news, police say

Erica Torres was stopped at a red light in the eastbound lanes of Culebra Road when the driver crashed.

"I just see a vehicle, like if it's losing control," she said. "He was flying."

The force of the car hitting the pedestrians sent them "flying in the air," she said.

She rushed to the pregnant woman first because her head was gushing blood, Torres said. Then she looked around at the the other victims and the chaos of the crash site.

"I checked on a man and his eyes were rolling back," she said. "I thought he was dying. I was freaking out."

READ ALSO: SAPD: Gunmen at large after triple shooting leaves 1 dead, 2 injured on NE side

Both Rodriguez and Torres said the driver who hit the pedestrians never checked on the victims, and instead appeared worried about the damage to his car.

The driver, who has not been identified, was eventually taken to University Hospital for minor injuries, as was one of the two passengers in the car at the time of the crash.

Criminal charges have not been filed. Ortiz said traffic investigators will need to review all available evidence and interview witnesses before they're able to determine whether the driver was criminally negligent in the crash.

"The scene is still very fluid," he said. "There's not a lot of answers right now."

Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

Caleb Downs is a crime reporter for mySA.com. Read more of his stories here.| cdowns@mysa.com | Twitter: @calebjdownsA toddler who died after being held with her mother at a South Texas immigrant family detention facility was identified Monday by a law firm, which said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement failed them inexcusably.

Mariee Juarez was just 21 months old when she died on May 10 of an intrathorasic hemorrhage, resulting in brain and organ damage, attorneys with the Arnold & Porter law firm said in a statement.

The full facts show that the medical care Mariee received in ICE detention was woefully inadequate, neglectful, and substandard, the statement said. We are working with Yazmin and her family to obtain justice for the failures by ICE and others, and to ensure that no other family suffers such a needless and devastating loss.

In response, ICE officials said in a statement that the agency takes very seriously the health, safety and welfare of those in our care. ICE is committed to ensuring the welfare of all those in the agencys custody, including providing access to necessary and appropriate medical care.

RELATED: Authorities launch probe into reports of migrant child dying after stay at immigration facility

Mariees mother, 20-year-old Yazmin Juarez, said she fled violence in Guatemala, seeking asylum in the U.S. for her daughter and herself. The two crossed the Rio Grande into South Texas on March 1 where they were quickly detained and requested asylum.

From there, the Juarezes were taken to the Dilley facility on March 5.

Juarez told her attorney that she and Mariee were assigned a cot in an open area, where the air condition was constantly at full speed, the law firms statement said.

She added that she was immediately concerned by the number of children around them coughing constantly, and that they appeared to not be receiving treatment, according to the statement.

Instead of offering safe harbor from the life-threatening violence they were fleeing, ICE detained Yazmin and her baby Mariee in a place with unsafe conditions, neglectful medical care, and inadequate supervision, the attorneys statement said.

ICE officials said that comprehensive medical care is provided to all individuals in ICE custody.

Staffing includes registered nurses and licensed practical nurses, licensed mental health providers, mid-level providers that include a physicians assistant and nurse practitioner, a physician, dental care, and access to 24-hour emergency care, officials said.

ICE said in the statement that it spends more than $250,000,000 annually on the spectrum of health-care services provided to those in our care.

Medical staff that checked Mariee and her mother into the Dilley facility said that the toddler had no illnesses or health problems. She was described as a happy and boisterous, normal 18-month-old when she arrived there.

Juarez said that within a week of being at the facility, according to the lawyers statement, Mariee fell ill with congestion and a cough.

Mariees condition worsened over the next several days, the statement said. She had a 104.2 degree fever, along with cough, congestion, diarrhea, and vomiting.

The facilitys medical staff diagnosed Mariee with an ear infection and acute bronchiolitis, the statement said, prescribing her common antibiotics and fever reducers.

RELATED: Anti-ICE activist seeking bond suddenly withdraws his request

By the time they were released on March 25, Mariee had lost 8 percent of her body weight, had more coughing and was vomiting clear liquid.

She also was exhibiting symptoms that Juarezs attorneys said should have been indicative of adenovirus, but that her medical records make no mention of it.

The registered nurse who saw Mariee at the facility had noted that a referral would be made for (Mariee) to see a provider, but the medical records do not indicate that the registered nurse or anyone else ever made any such referral, the attorneys office said.

Juarezs attorney also said that when they were released on March 25, Mariee was seen by a Licensed Vocational Nurse who cleared her to travel without restriction or medical supervision. None of her symptoms were noted, the attorneys office said.

Juarez told her attorney that she took Mariee to her mother in New Jersey. From there, Mariee was seen by a pediatrician and then taken to an area emergency room, where she was placed on life support.

Over six weeks, Mariee was transferred to two different hospitals for specialized care for progressive respiratory failure.

She died at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia after numerous medical examinations and procedures, according to Juarezs attorney.

In the final weeks of her life, Mariee underwent unspeakable pain and suffering, all of which could have been prevented by early and competent medical intervention, the law firms statement said.

The Express-News previously reported that the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services launched an abuse and neglect investigation into reports of a child dying after being released from a federal immigration camp in Dilley.

The agency could not release any details of the investigation, including any names of people or victims involved, but confirmed it is ongoing as of Monday.An advisory committee tasked with reimagining the Alamo is expected this week to recommend moving the concrete and marble Cenotaph honoring those who died in the 1836 battle south about 500 feet to a more visible location.

From the hyperbolic responses on the right  one conservative commentator called it the rape of the Alamo by liberal pukes  one would think the city planned to bulldoze the mission itself and install a monument to Hillary Clinton.

Forrest Byas, a self-described tea party conservative who serves on the Alamo Citizen Advisory Committee, explained why: The right is still fuming over the citys removal last year of a Confederate monument in Travis Park.

That has infected the Republican Party, the state, Byas said. People who really dont know whats going on behind the scenes think that the city of San Antonio and the liberal mayor (Ron Nirenberg) and council they all hate, especially Councilman Roberto Trevino who removed the Confederate statue in Travis Park, they think their ultimate goal is to get rid of the monument to water down the defender site of the battle.

RELATED: Alamo Plaza plan largely unchanged after months of public debate

Thats not at all why theyre going to move it, he added. Its basically to reclaim the battlefield.

Byas, who supports the citys plan to move the Cenotaph, has more reason than most to respect it: Andrew Kent, his great-great-great grandfather, fought and died in the battle of the Alamo and is memorialized on the monument itself.

Byas opposed the removal of the Confederate Civil War Monument in downtown Travis Park for similar reasons: One of his ancestors, he said, fought for Texas in the Civil War.

Trevino, who serves alongside Byas on the advisory committee and whose district encompasses both Travis Park and Alamo Plaza, led a push last year to relocate the Confederate monument, angering local conservatives in the process.

The Cenotaph, Byas said, is different. For one, its only going to be moved.

Its not going to be removed, he said. Two letters: R-E or not.

Another flash point in the debate is Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, who wrested control of the Alamo from the Daughters of the Republic of Texas shortly after taking office in 2015.

The son of former Florida governor Jeb Bush, the land commissioner has managed to earn the ire of conservative activists despite his loyal support for President Donald Trump. Byas blames that fate on the Bush name  and the fact that both former President George W. Bush and former President George H.W. Bush shunned Trump after the brash presidential candidate roughly disposed of Jeb Bush during the 2016 Republican primaries.

RELATED: Conservation of Alamo structures moves forward

As a Trump supporter would say, his uncle and his grandfather didnt support and wouldnt endorse Trump, and by virtue of that they wouldnt mind Hillary Clinton being president, Byas said. So thats inflamed a lot of people.

Byas said hes heard rhetoric comparing George P. Bush to Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna: a sampling of the hyperbole aimed at the land commissioner, who along with Nirenberg holds veto power over the Alamo site plan.

Other brutal attacks have issued from the conservative group Empower Texans, the NE Tarrant Tea Party and even Alex Jones Infowars.

The pressure, apparently, hasnt made the land commissioner crack.

On Monday, Bryan Preston, a spokesman for the General Land Office, indicated George P. Bush was comfortable with the current plan to move the Cenotaph close to the front of the Menger Hotel but outside the Alamo footprint.

Hes always said two things about the Cenotaph, Preston said. The first is that it would always stand and be repaired and the names that are incorrect, corrected  and it should always stay in a prominent area. So it needs to be either where it stands or in close proximity to the Alamo. And we get that with this new location.

The current plan is actually a compromise. City planners initially wanted to move the monument to East Market Street near the site of a funeral pyre where bodies of the defenders were burned.

When the public complained this was too far from the Alamo, a new site was selected.

Its time for all these factions to compromise and not the Alamo, Byas said. The Alamo has compromised for 182 years. This position of the Cenotaph is a very good compromise.AUSTIN  The Austin man ordered by a federal judge to stop sharing free blueprints for building 3D-printed guns announced Tuesday that instead, hes selling the plans. Buyers can name their price.

Attorneys general in nine states have sued to stop activist Cody Wilson and his company, Defense Distributed, from sharing the blueprints for the guns.

Anyone who wants these files is going to get them, Wilson said at a news conference in Austin after years of fighting with the courts to give the blueprints away online. That will never be interrupted. The free exchange of these ideas will never be interrupted.

Now Playing: For several years, Cody Wilson has been fighting to publish blue-prints online on how to make 3-D guns. Video: FoxM9NJ

The guns have no serial numbers and cannot be spotted by some metal detectors, according to court documents. The attorneys general argue allowing the distribution of plans to make the plastic guns is dangerous.

Because of our lawsuit, it is once again illegal to post downloadable gun files to the internet, said Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson in a statement. I trust the federal government will hold Cody Wilson, a self-described crypto-anarchist, accountable to that law. If they dont, President Trump will be responsible for anyone who is hurt or killed as a result of these weapons.

Wilson, who designed the guns so they can be made by do-it-yourselfers who have 3-D printers, said the federal judge on Monday made a lot of unforced errors in the written order that bars his company from giving them away per a negotiated agreement with the Trump administration after years of court battles.

So instead, Wilson and Defense Distributed put the blueprints up for sale. Wilson said Tuesday morning that a few hundred blueprints for guns had already been sold since the judge issued the injunction Monday.

MORE: Top Texas officials keep mum amid clash over the downloadable gun

According to the ruling from U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik, regulations under the Arms Export Control Act specify that the files cannot be uploaded to the internet, but they can be emailed, mailed, securely transmitted, or otherwise published within the United States.

Lasnik went on to say that any burdens on Wilsons First Amendment rights are dwarfed by the irreparable harms the States are likely to suffer if the existing restrictions are withdrawn and that, overall, the public interest strongly supports maintaining the status quo while the case works through the courts.

Wilson called the judges order hysterical and a direct knee-capping of the First Amendment. He said he plans to challenge the judges order to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

By the time Wilsons press conference had ended Tuesday, more than 390 orders had come in for the blueprints, with buyers naming prices from $1 to $15. He said one person who bought a print online opted to buy it for zero dollars, which he said he would accept.

The company is sending the files to buyers only within the U.S., said Wilson, who expects to sell hundreds of thousands of copies of the blueprints  he is sending them to purchasers by email and by regular mail  but he doesnt expect to make much money from the venture.

He said he does not know how many people have tried to 3D print his gun design but that he expects few of the people who buy the blueprints will actually make the gun.

Way more people download it than ever choose to do anything with it, said Wilson. His most basic gun design, the Liberator, can be shattered by firing a single shot. Wilson calls it a coffee table piece.

I think with that reputation, most people know that if they make it, its just of a curiosity, he said.

More complex guns, like automatic rifles, would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and expertise to build with a printer, he said.

Wilson said he has raised about $200,000  much of it in cryptocurrency  in the last week toward a goal of $400,000 in crowdsourced funding for his legal expenses.This is a portion of a speech given by now-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on the floor of Congress:

And, as everyone in America knows, the president lied to the nation. I do not need to recite the defiant, indignant, finger-wagging denial that the president gave to 270 million Americans who had placed their trust in him as the chief law enforcement officer of this land.

This speech was given during the Bill Clinton impeachment hearings. Mr. McConnell seems to have a short memory because he should apply it to the current occupant of the White House.

Andres Luevano

Hitting back

Re: The deadly trap that is fake news, Editorial, Aug. 16:

If I can get my two cents worth. Your editorial wasnt nearly as nasty and anti-Donald Trump as Im sure the Boston Globe would have liked. Of course, it failed to mention some valid points it should have, but Ill skip all that except to say that President Trump has a very good reason for hitting back  yes, hitting back  at the liberal press. Anyone reading newspapers or listening to TV news knows that. This paper knows it too.

What I really wish to say, however, is thank you very much for publishing that excellent letter by Richard McDonnell (Press hypocrisy, Your Turn, Aug. 16). His letter was right on the money and echoes my views 100 percent.

As for columnist Josh Brodesky (Trump attacks on press a dangerous game, Aug. 12), I once thought I saw a modicum of evenhandiness in his columns, but now I realize he is just another young brainwashed liberal, and I view what he writes through that prism.

Thats it, except to say that Im dumbfounded that the McDonnell letter found its way into print, especially that day. Maybe you have a closet conservative lurking somewhere in the shadows.

Robert E. Blake

The big dog

There is an old familiar saying: If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas.

In keeping with the characteristics of the present political scene, perhaps we need to bring that old adage up-to-date: If you lay down with the Big Dog youre likely to wake up with an indictment.

Robert Paul

Definitely witch hunt

Re: A guilty plea, a conviction, peril ahead, Editorial, Thursday:

The Express-News tells us the investigation of President Donald Trump is not a witch hunt. They must have their own definition of witch hunt. Websters defines it as the searching out of those with unpopular views for punishment. Cambridge defines it as an attempt to find and punish people whose opinions are not popular. Sound familiar?

We were told that Trump colluded with the Russians. After 18 months and $17 million there is no collusion. Paul Manafort was guilty of tax evasion from income he got from some Ukrainians 12 years ago, and Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations for paying off some women. Neither involves any crime committed by Trump.

But we do know that the Hillary Clinton campaign and the DNC paid $9.2 million for a dossier of false information put together by former MI6 agent Christopher Steele working with Russian contacts to use against Trump. Was this collusion with Russians?

We also know that Clinton had top-secret classified documents on her personal server. Each one of these constitutes a crime. Is she being prosecuted? Biased FBI and Justice Department officials violated the law by using false information to secure FISA warrants to spy on the Trump campaign and his supporters. Is anyone being prosecuted?

Mueller has 17 lawyers assisting him, (according to Politifact), 13 are Democrats. Some of them were donors to Clinton.

This entire investigation has been a prosecution in search of crimes of Trump and his supporters. But theres no witch hunt here, says the Express-News.

Liam Harvie

No charter changes

Re: Unions S.A. First campaign rings of MAGA, Brian Chasnoff column, Thursday:

Thank you, Brian Chasnoff, for succinctly defining the San Antonio Fire Associations actions. I have been following its machinations, but having them spread out over time has made it confusing.

I had already decided to vote against the charter revisions because watching the fire union head-butting with the city over the years has not inspired me to believe in its unselfishness. And truly it should understand that if you behave as if you have something to hide, then people will think you do. That we learned in kindergarten.

They have made it harder to believe that they have San Antonios best interest to heart. Im hoping that the voters will realize that at the polls.

Sue Snyder

Immigrant hypocrisy

For weeks, the left-wing media, in an attempt to aid and abet the Democrats, bombarded the public with the plight of illegal immigrant children separated from their parents. They neglected to be stressed when President Barack Obama was implementing the same policy.

Now sadly, like Kate Steinle, another beautiful life, that of Mollie Tibbets, was snuffed out because of an illegal immigrant who should have never been in the USA. As soon as the fake news media found out it was an illegal arrested in the killing of Mollie, they lost interest in the coverage of the story.

These are just two among scores of children separated from their families, and there wont be any happy reunion. And there are actually morons out there demonstrating to abolish ICE. Some especially corrupt left-wing pols think this is a winning issue. God help us if these kooks ever get back in power. I can see it now  open borders, soaring crime, higher taxes and an endless stream of phony scandals prompting a never-ending barrage of hearings, investigations and special prosecutors.

If it werent for double standards, the left would have no standards at all.

Gene PetersonThe city of San Antonio asked the Texas Supreme Court on Monday to dismiss a lawsuit challenging its transfer of land next to the Hays Street Bridge that is set to be developed with a controversial apartment complex.

The Hays Street Bridge Restoration Group, a nonprofit that led the restoration of the bridge, sued the city in 2012 to prevent it from transferring the property, at 803 N. Cherry Street, to Alamo Beer Co. The group arranged the donation of the 1.7 acres to the city and claims it was supposed to be turned into a park, but the city disputes that.

Alamo Beer owner Eugene Simor, and developer Mitch Meyer want to build a five-story apartment complex on the property, but they have run into staunch opposition from East Side residents who worry that it would be out of character for the neighborhood and block views of the bridge.

RELATED: Hays Street Bridge apartments closer to reality after neighborhood associations support

City Manager Sheryl Sculley approved the complex last month after the citys Historic and Design Review Commission rejected it twice.

The city claims that nothing is left to be decided in the case because it already did what it was ordered to do in a 2014 judgment from Bexar County District Court, which said it must devote the proceeds from the land sale to the bridges restoration, City Attorney Andy Segovia said Monday.

After the property was sold in 2015, the city used its $291,000 in proceeds to offset its share of the cost of the bridges conversion into a pathway for pedestrians and cyclists, which was completed in 2010, city spokeswoman Thea Setterbo said.

Amy Kastely, an attorney for the restoration group, questioned why the city would have kept pursuing its appeal of the 2014 decision if it had obeyed the order.

Theyve been paying outside counsel for four years, and now they want to say We were in compliance all along, she said.

Segovia said that it was fair criticism to ask why the city would pursue the case after obeying the decision. The city was focusing on the underlying principle of whether a municipality can be sued for breach of contract, he said.

We didnt connect the dots is another way to put it, he said. Maybe we should have done that sooner.

The essence of the restoration groups argument is that the lands prior owner, beer distributor Budco Ltd., donated the land to the city to be part of the Hays Street Bridge project, but that the city didnt use it that way. Kastely said there was an oral agreement between the restoration group and the city that it would be used as a park.

RELATED: City manager gives controversial Hays Street Bridge project the OK

She hopes that a favorable state supreme court ruling could prevent the apartment complex from being built, but the city says that isnt a possible outcome. The 2014 judgment determined that the property was not owned, held or claimed as a park.

Its a legal certainty that it doesnt impact the project, Segovia said. Because if they were to sue to undo the sale, we would simply point to the order from the district saying that the property was never designated to be a park.

Meyer said he isnt concerned about the lawsuits impact on the proposed apartment complex. He hopes to break ground in eight months or so.

Im not worried about it. Weve waited this long, he said.

The case hinges on a memorandum of understanding between the city and the restoration group in which the group agreed to raise funds to reimburse the city for money it spent refurbishing the bridge, which had fallen into disrepair. The memorandum doesnt include any mention of turning the property into a park.

The memorandum said the city would ensure that any funds raised by the restoration group would be used to renovate the bridge. The city claimed that the land donation didnt count as funds, and thus didnt need to benefit the restoration, but the district court ruled otherwise.

After the city appealed the 2014 decision, Texas 4th Court of Appeals later overturned it, ruling that the city couldnt be sued on the contract because it enjoys governmental immunity.

The Texas Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments on Sept. 13, Segovia said. The justices will consider whether a court decision can require a municipality to perform a certain action  known in legal jargon as specific performance  rather than simply order monetary damages, he said.

RELATED: Sculley again extends deadline for Hays Street apartments developer

My sense is theyre taking a holistic look at the immunity afforded to Texas cities, and sort of reevaluating what that should be, Segovia said.

The city hopes to persuade the court that the Hays Street Bridge case isnt a good one to decide the immunity issue, he said.

Beer distributor BudCo Ltd. donated the 1.7 acres on Cherry Street to the city in 2007. The restoration group contends that land was donated as part of the bridge restoration project.

The deed, which is recorded in county records, makes no mention of the bridge in the text. But handwritten at the top of the deed is: Parcel No. 17433 Hays Street Bridge Rehabilitation Project.

The deed included a restrictive covenant that said that if the property was to be used by the city as a park, it must name the park The Berkley V. and Vincent M. Dawson Park through 2027. The Dawsons were officials with BudCo.

In a 2014 affidavit, Berkley Dawson said BudCo initially intended for the property to be dedicated to the city for use as a park.

But he said the property ultimately was conveyed to the city without restriction, save for naming it if the land were to be used as a park.

The failure of the city to designate or use the property as a park, and the citys decision to convey the property to a third person (Alamo Beer) are consistent with the terms of the propertys conveyance from BudCo to the city, Dawson said in his affidavit.

The complex that Meyer plans to build on the property has exposed deep divisions among local residents over how to handle the tidal wave of infill development that is transforming Dignowity Hill and other near-downtown neighborhoods.

The citys Historic and Design Review Commission turned down two designs, in December and March, after Dignowity residents came to meetings en masse complaining that it would create traffic congestion, block views of the iconic bridge, overwhelm nearby single-family homes and add fuel to the areas already-skyrocketing property taxes.

Express-News reporter Patrick Danner contributed to this story.

Richard Webner is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering real estate and development. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | rwebner@express-news.net | Twitter: @RWebner

Iranian carrier Mahan Air has abruptly suspended its two weekly service between Tehran and Belgrade over increased US pressure on service providers to end their cooperation with the carrier, which it alleges supports terrorism. Mahan Air maintained flights to the Serbian capital with its 299-seat Airbus A340-300 widebody jet. The US Treasury Department recently warned both companies and governments across the world regarding dealings with Mahan Air and sanctioned a Malaysian tour operator for selling the airline's tickets. The new US Ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, requested the German government last month to block Mahan Air from flying within German airspace and deny it landing rights in the country. "We know that Mahan Air has been used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a mode of transport for weapons, resources and fighters, so were asking our allies to help us put a stop to it, Mr Grenell said. Iranian carrier Mahan Air has abruptly suspended its two weekly service between Tehran and Belgrade over increased US pressure on service providers to end their cooperation with the carrier, which it alleges supports terrorism. Mahan Air maintained flights to the Serbian capital with its 299-seat Airbus A340-300 widebody jet. The US Treasury Department recently warned both companies and governments across the world regarding dealings with Mahan Air and sanctioned a Malaysian tour operator for selling the airline's tickets. The new US Ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, requested the German government last month to block Mahan Air from flying within German airspace and deny it landing rights in the country. "We know that Mahan Air has been used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a mode of transport for weapons, resources and fighters, so were asking our allies to help us put a stop to it, Mr Grenell said.





Despite Mahan Air's suspension, the US has not blacklisted other Iranian carriers and both Iran Air and Qeshm Air continue to operate flights to Belgrade. Iran Air recently reaffirmed its commitment to its Belgrade service, launched this March, by putting tickets on sale for the route for the upcoming 2018/19 winter season. The Iranian national carrier will maintain two weekly services from Tehran to the Serbian capital with its 260-seat twin-aisle Airbus A300-600 aircraft. The airline recently noted it would consider either adding extra frequencies to Belgrade in the future or introducing an additional service from a secondary Iranian city such as Isfahan or Shiraz, from which it sees potential for flights. Similarly, Qeshm Air will continue to maintain its two weekly service to Belgrade throughout the winter season.





Iran Air will serve Belgrade this winter with its A300-600 jet





Serbia and Iran inked a Bilateral Air Service Agreement this June. A spokesperson for the Iran Civil Aviation Organisation, Reza Jafarzadeh, said that Air Serbia will commence flights to Tehran within "the next few months". The airline itself has not commented on the matter. It initially planned to launch services to Teheran by mid-2017, however, the route never materialised. Mr Jafarzadeh added that the visa free regime currently in force between the two countries has had a positive effect on people-to-people exchange and that further growth in tourism is expected in the coming period. Another Iranian carrier, Kish Air, has announced it will launch flights between Shiraz and Belgrade later this year. During the first half of 2018, a total of 8.556 Iranian nationals entered Serbia.NEWS FLASH

The Croatian Supreme Court has confirmed a verdict by the Zagreb County Court that the strike by Croatia Airlines' pilots, cabin crew and mechanics planned for earlier this month was illegal, thus upholding a ban on industrial action. However, unlike the County Court's ruling, which noted that the company's ORCA union did not negotiate their collective agreement in good faith, the Supreme Court concluded that the legal preconditions to allow the strike to go ahead were not met because conciliation procedures with the airline's management were not held before the union announced the strike. The appeal against the County Court's ruling was filed by Croatia Airlines' unions who insist that they had met all necessary conditions to go on strike. Unions are unhappy with the proposed terms of their new collective agreements, as well as alleged mismanagement at the company.GREENWICH  Education experts and Greenwich Public School district leaders reminded teachers Monday that developing relationships with students forms the foundation for personal learning.

At the traditional convocation ceremony held just days before the new school year begins, Interim Superintendent Ralph Mayo addressed his full staff of Greenwich educators  which includes more than 70 new teachers  in his new role for the first time.

Mayo told his audience that he still remembers his first grade teacher at Byram School because she took the time to figure out the best way to teach him  a highly competitive student who could not sit still how to read.

Make connections with those students so they want to come back every day and see your smiling face, he said. You never know: You may have the next superintendent of public schools in your classroom.

His colleagues greeted him with a standing ovation, and Eastern teachers sported bright green In Ralph We Trust shirts.

Ralph is truly one of us, said Carol Sutton, president of Greenwich Education Association, the local teachers union.

Keynote speaker Eric Sheninger, an award-winning former principal of New Milford High School in New Jersey and best-selling author, told teachers how using technology can make learning personal and relevant for children.

Teachers laughed and cried during his 60-minute speech, which used recent research, funny clips of his kids and heartwarming stories to encourage educators to make teaching about forming connections first.

He complimented the Greenwich school districts innovative practices, which include pairing students with their own smart devices and assessing academic progress through self-directed projects.

Its awesome to have heard how you really are leading the charge of how you are personalizing learning here in Greenwich, Sheninger said.

He reminded teachers to examine classroom schedules and structures for ways to personalize learning even more. He also advised teachers to let children use the curriculum to develop their own voices and advocate for causes they care about.

Sheninger co-authored Learning Transformed with last years convocation speaker, Thomas Murray.

Chief Academic Officer Irene Parisi said she wanted thematic continuity between the speeches this year and last year.

Educators also heard from Board of Education Chairman Peter Bernstein, GHS student body President Alexander Kosyakov and Michele Giorlando DeRosa, the Greenwich representative for the Connecticut Teacher of the Year program.

Kosyakov told former Headmaster Chris Winters he will be missed and welcomed Winters interim replacement, Richard Piotrzkowski. The transition was announced in late July as Winters left to head the new Upper School at Greenwich Country Day School.

After warming up the audience with a few jokes about sleeping in during the summer, Kosyakov told teachers and administrators that their efforts, not the wealth of the town, best explain the school districts successes.

Its not easy to make a district this big this good, he said.

DeRosa said teachers should prioritize their daily interactions with students, from complimenting haircuts to listening to rambling jokes, as much as instructional time.

What we do is as important as what we teach, she said.

John Jones, a new physics and chemistry teacher at GHS, said the talks left him enthused.

Im ready to get the kids to create and learn through developing their ideas, Jones said.

jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.comBRIDGEPORT  Aaron Turner will not use the Working Families third party line to keep up his fight to succeed his retiring mentor, state Sen. Ed Gomes.

Gomes, who represents both Bridgeport and Stratford residents of the 23rd state Senate District, made history by becoming the first candidate in the nation elected to a state legislature solely on the Working Families ballot line in a February 2015 special election.

That line is still there if Turner, who lost the Aug. 14 primary for Gomes seat to endorsed fellow Democrat Dennis Bradley, wants it. It would then be a three-way race in the November general election between Bradley, Turner and Republican John Rodriguez.

I do have that option. But Im not going to exercise it, Turner said Monday.

Lindsay Farrell, the Connecticut Working Families Partys executive director, confirmed, He has told us he doesnt want to run.

The Working Families endorsed Turner over Bradley, even though the party supported Bradley in 2015 when he ran successfully for Bridgeports school board.

Turner said Gomes situation was different when the latter ran successfully three years ago as the Working Families Party candidate.

It was a special election in the heart of winter. The only election in town, Turner said.

At that time, Gomes was trying to retake the 23rd District seat he had lost in 2012 when he was defeated in that years Democratic primary by Andres Ayala. The special election was scheduled after Ayala resigned from the legislature to become commissioner of the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

Gomes, having been denied the Democrats endorsement for the special election, ran as the Working Families candidate and won.

Then in 2016, Bradley was endorsed by the Democratic Town Committee for Gomes seat, and the incumbent, with help from his Working Families allies, forced an August primary and prevailed.

Gomes in an interview Monday agreed with Turners decision not to continue his campaign, arguing it would be too challenging. Gomes noted how, in Democrat-dominated Bridgeport, Once you win the primary youre sort of sealed in there. There are people that just say, Are you a Democrat? They vote the party line.

But Gomes also encouraged Turner, who was Gomes legislative aide, to remain in politics and run in a future election.

As far as future runs, its always a possibility, Turner said.

Farrell said the Working Families Party has no plans to remain involved in the 23rd Distirct race. She said the party will take a wait-and-see attitude toward Bradley.

He got elected to the Board of Education and we supported him then, and then he immediately challenged Ed Gomes, one of our champions. That left a bad taste in peoples mouths, Farrell said. We hope we will be able to work well with him (in the legislature) and that he will serve the district well. Lets see.GREENWICH  Though there havent been any local cases of overdoses involving synthetic marijuana, Greenwich police have put out an advisory on the dangers of K2/Spice that sickened dozens of people in New Haven last week.

The drug has also been responsible for major public-safety emergencies around the country.

According to the public-safety message from Greenwich police, there have been numerous overdose events around the country besides the one in New Haven that caused a major public-health emergency, Greenwich police note.

According to the public-safety message from Greenwich police, These overdose events have involved 5F-ADB, a potent synthetic cannabinoid known for its dangerous adverse effects in humans. Synthetic cannabinoids are used to mimic the effects of THC. 5F-ADB will appear as a white, crystalline solid in its pure form. It has also been seen as a powder, liquid, and on blotter paper. 5F-ADB is often marketed in an herbal form mixed or sprayed on green plant like material and is typically smoked or vaped. These products are then labeled as incense, potpourri and not for human consumption. They can be found in convenience stores, gas stations, and head shops under many different names and packaging.

Greenwich police say there are significant health risks associated with the substance: K2/Spice possesses mind-altering chemicals. Users may exhibit symptoms including: severe bleeding without observable physical trauma including nose-bleeds, bleeding of the gums, bruising, vomiting blood, blood in urine or stool, or excessively heavy menstrual bleeding. Other symptoms may include paranoia, confusion, short-term memory loss, vomiting, agitation, and violent and erratic behavior. Heart attacks and acute kidney injury have also been identified during overdose investigations.

The drug can be found in numerous venues around the region, and the formula keeps changing. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse:

Manufacturers sell these products in colorful foil packages and plastic bottles to attract consumers. They market these products under a wide variety of specific brand names. Hundreds of brands now exist, including K2, Spice, Joker, Black Mamba, Kush, and Kronic.

For several years, synthetic cannabinoid mixtures have been easy to buy in drug paraphernalia shops, novelty stores, gas stations, and over the internet. Because the chemicals used in them have no medical benefit and a high potential for abuse, authorities have made it illegal to sell, buy, or possess some of these chemicals. However, manufacturers try to sidestep these laws by changing the chemical formulas in their mixtures.WESTON  Author Jane Austens six most popular novels, including Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, were published during the Regency Period of England, defined by the website www.janeausten.org as the time between 1811 and 1820. Thats when the Prince of Wales, later King George IV, assumed the role of Prince Regent after his father, King George III, was declared unfit to rule in 1811. He served in that role until his fathers death and his own coronation in 1820.

The Regency Period influenced literature, decorative arts, furniture, and architecture. The major source of inspiration for Regency taste was found in Greek and Roman antiquity, from which designers borrowed both structural and ornamental elements, according to www.britannica.com.

An example of a Regency colonial house is found in Weston at 9 Huckleberry Lane. It is owned by a prolific inventor, appropriately so as this is an inventive house; the creation of two prominent local architects, although their contributions to the homes design came decades apart. The 4,849-square-foot residence had a more modest beginning. In the innovative hands of renowned 20th century architect Cameron Clark it was conceptualized and built as a ranch-style house with two wings in 1950. It was more recently re-imagined by another note-worthy architect, Jack Franzen, who gave it a second story during a major renovation project in 1994. He also imbued this home with flexible living and entertaining areas.

The house is nestled into a 2.2-acre level and sloping property along the Saugatuck River on a private lane in lower Weston. Traveling down the long Belgium block-lined circular driveway, the wings on either side of the symmetrical house seem outstretched, as if to welcome guests to this comfortable, private nest. The beauty of this property is in its natural surroundings, architectural appearance, and its versatility; one minute alive with music as owners entertain on the rear bluestone and red brick patio and around the in-ground swimming pool, the next minute its a silent space but for the sound of birdsong and the rippling water of the river.

Between the two structural wings of the white wood and brick house with blue-green trim there is a bluestone forecourt with inlaid red brick flanked by narrow pergolas and shrubbery. The covered front entrance includes decorative wrought iron columns, the pattern of which is repeated in the interior curved staircase. Upon entering the front door, there is a direct view through the octagonal-shaped formal living room into the rear yard, a hallmark of Clarks designs.

In the foyer there is limestone flooring with a border of Vermont Verde marble. This green marble is repeated in the surround of the living rooms wood-burning fireplace. The decorative mantel is limestone. Three sets of French doors open to the patio, pool, and yard. Two more sets of French doors open to the patio and yard from the formal dining room. Both rooms have elegant, deep crown molding and a darker inlaid border in their hardwood floors.

The kitchen features a hardwood floor with narrow boards installed on the diagonal, two sinks and two sets of stainless appliances, and an eat-in area with a built in banquette and French doors to a side patio and grilling area. The family room features a floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace and a built-in bookshelf with a hidden entrance into a wet bar. There are two additional hidden features in this home, not to be revealed here. They are for the next owner to know.

In the opposite wing there is a birds eye maple-paneled library, as spacious as the other rooms. It has a fireplace flanked by built-in bookshelves, and a subtle decorative painting technique on one wall. This room has a full bath so it is an optional first floor master suite. This wing also has an en suite bedroom with a door to the side yard near the river.

ABOUT THIS HOUSE STYLE: Regency Colonial ADDRESS: 9 Huckleberry Lane, Weston PRICE: $1,200,000 ROOMS: 10 FEATURES: direct waterfront on Saugatuck River, water views, walk to water, no need for flood insurance, detached two-car garage/guest house, 2.2-acre level and sloping property, partially fenced property, in-ground swimming pool, bluestone patio, exterior lighting, generator, storm windows, stone walls, slate roof, audio system, 400 amp service, four fireplaces, balconies, pre-wired for cable, workshop, new HVAC system in 2015, zoned central air conditioning and natural gas heat, private well, six bedrooms, five full and one half baths SCHOOLS: Hurlbutt Elementary, Weston Middle, Weston High ASSESSMENT: $862,200 MILL RATE: 28.56 mills TAXES: $24,624 See More Collapse

On the second floor, French doors open into the spacious master suite. Like the living room this bedroom is octagonal, and it features two recessed areas - one with a marble fireplace and French doors to a private balcony looking over the yard, pool, and river. The master bath gives the feeling of an upscale European boutique hotel. It features a custom, hand-carved marble bathtub and matching double sink console by Gregory Muller. Both sculptural pieces resemble large seashells. There is walk-in closet with a dressing room and custom maple cabinetry. There are three additional bedrooms on this level, two of them en suite.

The sixth en suite bedroom is located in an outbuilding comprising the detached two-car garage and an additional 1,159 square feet of living space. In addition to the bedroom and full bath there is a large workspace and a paneled office. It also has an independent heating system.

The lower Weston locale puts this house conveniently close to amenities in the towns of Weston and Westport, including shopping, dining, the Saugatuck Metro North train station, and I-95. The entrance to the Merritt Parkway is only 1.2 miles away.

Despite its proximity to the river this house is not in a flood zone. It sits 50-feet from the river so it requires no flood insurance.

For more information or to make an appointment to see the house contact Margaret Smith and Liz Flavin of ML Homes/Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage; Smith at 203-339-1277, and Flavin at 203-615-3834, or email both at mlhomescb@gmail.com.KAZ Minerals PLC, together with its subsidiaries, engages in mining and processing copper and other metals primarily in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan. It operates through Bozshakol, Aktogay, East Region and Bozymchak, and Mining Projects segments. The company operates the Aktogay and Bozshakol open pit copper mines in the east region and Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan; three underground mines in the east region of Kazakhstan; and the Bozymchak copper-gold mine in Kyrgyzstan. It also develops greenfield metal deposits; operates Koksay deposit in Kazakhstan, and the Baimskaya licence area in the Chukotka region of Russia; and produces and sells various by-products, such as gold, silver, molybdenum, and zinc. In addition, the company supplies and distributes heat, water, and electricity; and offers construction, project management, financing, management, sales and logistics, and repairs and maintenance services. The company was formerly known as Kazakhmys PLC and changed its name to KAZ Minerals PLC in October 2014. KAZ Minerals PLC was founded in 1930 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

Read More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.by Sean Fitzpatrick | Mon, Aug 27th 10:04am EDT

Thomas Robinson has agreed to terms with the Atlanta Hawks on a non-guaranteed deal. Robinson played in Russia last season. (Shams Charania on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact:

Robinson could be a fantasy option again in Atlanta but he would need to make the roster and injuries would have to occur in front of him to a few players. For now, no need to draft Robinson.Commentary by Marlin Clark

USDA dropped the first shoe in the trade-war compensation package Monday, Aug. 27. They announced a first round of payments to farmers whose commodity prices have been hurt by the current round of trade actions by President Donald Trump against China, and by the Chinese retaliation.

They are holding the second shoe at arms length, suggesting the possibility of more payments.

Originally, the talk was that $12 billion might be spent. Our government will make $4.7 billion in direct payments immediately, with the bulk going to soybean producers. $3.6 billion will be paid in soybean price compensation, with the formula figured at $1.65 per bushel times 50 percent of production.

This is good news for soybean producers, but producers of other exported commodities are not happy that the emphasis is on soybeans. Corn producers, for example, get a penny a bushel.

Some initial news reports, depending upon their political bias, are emphasizing the idea that the payments go mostly to Midwest voters, critical to mid-term elections. Western producers of other exports in states where the Democrats are expected to win anyway are out of luck, according to the theory.

Major export

Lost in the argument of who gets what is the fact that soybeans represent 60 percent of our exports, and have been heavily targeted by the Chinese for retaliation.

In addition to applying tariffs, the Chinese are actively involved in sourcing other high-protein commodities to substitute for American beans.

This payment represents only a third of the arguably $2 per bushel drop in the price of soybeans since the trade wrangle began.

Also lost is the fact that this payment represents only a third of the arguably $2 per bushel drop in the price of soybeans since the trade wrangle began.

November soybeans put in a high the 29th of May in the peak of the planting delay frenzy. At that point, the market worried about the size of the crop because of late planting and a poor start to the crop in wet conditions. As the crop got planted and began to look better, prices declined.

As the tariff war developed, that decline accelerated. By the middle of July, November futures were at 8.26 1/4, $2.34 1/4 off the high.

Some reporters suggest this price decline is all because of trade issues, but that is simplistic. In fact, it is hard to determine what is caused by trade, and what is caused by current thinking that we are having the third big crop in a row.

News this week that the Midwest Crop Tour is projecting the soybeans at 53.0 bushels per acre, significantly higher than the 51.6 of USDA, is an indicator of a bigger price problem than what we can blame on China.

Those of us who did not survive the agricultural downturn that started with the Carter embargo have mixed emotions about the aid package announced Monday.

First look indicates that President Trump is serious about not sacrificing the American grain farmer on the altar of free trade. The cynic in me wishes something like this had been done in 1980 when it was critical to me.

A little history

The Carter embargo in January of 1980 was a reaction to the Russian intervention in Afghanistan. The American farmers thus became a pawn in international relations.

In some ways, the embargo was revenge for the large 1972 Russian purchases of grain that helped run prices to 125-year highs. The Russians cleverly made many small purchases at the same time, so that the total volume of business was not realized until after the fact.

World food prices increased by 50 percent, which was not politically acceptable in some quarters. The fact that it brought profit to American farmers for the first time in a decade was lost in the thinking of non-farmers. It was thus convenient to attempt to reverse the bounty by restricting grain sales to Russia.

The effect in this country was to drop the price of grain, to close many export elevators, and to kick off a farm depression that gutted the Midwest.

The immediate effect may have been to elect Ronald Reagan as President instead of giving a second term to President Carter. The Midwest voted for Reagan, who promised to end the embargo.

Few non-ag pundits seemed to understand that cutting farm income by 25 percent cut the net income by 100 percent or more.

The embargo is now seen as the first big step in a disaster that washed out a high percentage of young, highly leveraged farmers and eventually ruined small towns and bankrupted agricultural banks.

Fast forward

So, today our administration is taking steps to compensate farmers for trade decisions beyond their control. This was promised by the Carter administration, but is seems in hindsight that the real attitude then was that the prices were just going back to where they were before the Russian purchases put in a price bubble.

The fact that this lower level was unprofitable was ignored. Our current administration says this price slump is temporary, and suggests that the trade dispute will all work out. Let us hope that it does.

At current production levels of corn and soybeans, we need more exports, not less.The agricultural industry is gearing up for the "fourth industrial revolution", where machines will be replacing humans in "thinking" as well as "doing" roles.

This is according to Andy Haldane, chief economist at the Bank of England, who spoke to BBC Radio 4 about the rise of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI).

Although Mr Haldane has predicted that up to 50% of all jobs could be lost to new technologies, in the next four decades agri-tech will need considerable investment before it can address the labour shortage in agriculture.

This and other priorities for agri-tech are to be debated by leading agri-food producers, technologists and academics at REAP 2018 (7 November).

The REAP Conference is an annual event bringing together farmers, technologists and scientists to discuss what the UK's agricultural future and how innovation can help deliver it

'Big gap'

As the industry continues to raise its concerns over lack of labour post-Brexit, Dr Belinda Clarke, Director of Agri-Tech East highlighted that robot harvesters, while developing rapidly, are still some way from widespread commercial application.

She said: We are seeing the rapid adoption of new technology that is fit for purpose, as agriculture is actively looking for new ways to boost productivity and to attract new skills.

However, there is a big gap between a working prototype and a robust bit of kit that can work outdoors, all day, every day.

Reports suggest almost half of current jobs will be automated by 2055, yet Tony Bambridge, Managing Director of award-winning B&C Farming believes change cant come soon enough for the agri-food sector.

To compete with those countries that have tremendous cost advantages in terms of land, labour, less regulatory measures, we will have to raise productivity and part of that is being able to achieve more with our time," Mr Bambridge said.

In the next ten years, we will see some pretty significant changes in the structure of our industry.

"At B&C, we are already investing in superfast computing and imaging to remove stones out of potatoes. In coming years, I can see a situation where we have one operator actually controlling two or three or four vehicles in a field, he added.

Mr Bambridge will be one of nine panellists in an industry debate at the REAP Conference, which will look at where agri-tech investment can bring the greatest returns.

'Radically changing'

Mark Suthern, Barclays National Head of Agriculture, who will chair REAPs all-new debate feature, said it's all about maximising the resources farmers have

"Take the Netherlands; it is the second largest global exporter of food by dollar value after the US. They are investing heavily in the use of glass houses, robotics and technology to drive efficiencies, Mr Suthern said.

Head of Global Technology Scouting at Sygenta, Dave Hughes, explained that the convergence of engineering and robotics is creating new applications.

He said the use of AI is already improving the way the company does research; mimicking the human brain to look at patterns in data and to extrapolate information from incomplete data.

He said: One of the biggest technology disrupters is digital, which is radically changing the way farmers operate. This is a very dynamic space for innovation with a relatively low barrier for entry, so many companies, including start-ups and SMEs, are competing to find the best solutions for the grower.

The key challenge is to support the productivity of UK agriculture and the quality and safety of our food whilst reducing the environmental impact of food production. I believe this is achievable, but we will need to embrace the best state-of-the-art technology to succeed.

The REAP Conference will be held on Wednesday 7 November 2018 at Wellcome Genome Campus Conference Centre, Cambridge.Defra Secretary Michael Gove has been reminded by farmers not to forget farm tenants as he puts the final touches to the forthcoming Agriculture Bill.

The Agriculture Bill is a key plank of the legislative framework required as a result of the UKs decision to leave the European Union and the taking back of control for agricultural policy from Brussels.

As part of Brexit preparations, Defra recalled the Tenancy Reform Industry Group (TRIG) last year.

Its job was to advise the government on what changes would be required in tenancy legislation and associated public policy to ensure the sustainability and resilience of the tenanted sector of agriculture post Brexit.

TRIG reported to Defra last autumn and as yet there has been no formal response from government to the recommendations it made.

The Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) has now written to Mr Gove reminding him not to forget farm tenants.

TFA Chief Executive, George Dunn said: It is vital that the Agriculture Bill contains a section to implement the changes recommended by TRIG.

This will ensure that the tenanted sector of agriculture has the maximum flexibility to take advantage of future opportunities and meet any forthcoming challenges head on, said Mr Dunn.

The TFA has been advised that no decision has yet been made as to whether or not to include changes in tenancy legislation in the Bill.

The indications we are receiving from Defra suggest that changes in tenancy legislation are in the possible as opposed to the definite pile for inclusion in the Agriculture Bill. We are seeking an absolute assurance from the Secretary of State that tenancy matters will be addressed on the face of the Bill, said Mr Dunn.An organic certification body has warned that a no-deal Brexit risks the continuation of organic food exports to the EU, which will then be forced to fall back on interim reciprocal and discretionary trading arrangements.

The news comes in response to a government paper outlining the implications for the organic sector if a no-deal Brexit scenario happened.

CEO of Organic Farmers and Growers (OF&G), Roger Kerr explained that the issue comes down to the UKs inability to be formally recognised as being a third country outside the EU until 30 March 2019.

The OF&G has already applied to the EU as an Equivalent Control Body to operate in the UK after Brexit.

However, the issue is that the UK isnt currently recognised as a third country, which means that the certification body cant progress its application.

With the application process taking around nine months, Mr Kerr said that the formal process to permit exports couldnt be concluded in time for Brexit day (March 2019), even if the UK were to be recognised today.

Consequently, we need dispensation now from the EU to recognise that the UK will be a third country after March next year to allow the application to proceed and we would also need the EU to fast track the applications, he added.

'Reciprocal arrangement'

The government has however indicated that in the eventuality of a no-deal Brexit, the UK would allow the continuation of imported organic goods at their discretion.

Mr Kerr suggested that a reciprocal arrangement by the EU would see organic food exports maintained.

He said: It is after all beneficial to both UK operators exporting organic products into the EU and EU importers, manufacturers and consumers in the EU that the supply of UK organic products, continues uninterrupted.

Sales of organic products are currently around 30 billion and growing at around 12% per annum across the EU-28[1] and so stopping the supply of organic products from a high integrity source like the UK would be self-defeating.

A reciprocal assurance from the EU similar to that proposed by the UK government to allow the continued import of UK sourced organic products will however be reliant upon EU goodwill, Mr Kerr said.

The OF&G believes a formal equivalency agreement between the UK and the EU would be the best resolution in the event of the UK leaving the EU.

Mr Kerr added: Clearly, if the government is unable to secure an equivalency agreement or speed up the process of recognition of the UK as a third country this could have potentially catastrophic impacts on UK businesses that export to the EU.Weetabix has confirmed it has sourced all of its wheat from British farms within 50 miles of its Northamptonshire mill thanks to the "hard work and dedication" of its farmers.

A record-breaking hot dry summer, following a wet start and extended cold spell in April, created challenging growing conditions for the farmers who supply the food giant.

In the end, 2018 has seen the earliest harvest in the company's 85-year history.

Since 2010, weather permitting, Weetabixs Growers Group of approximately 160 local farmers have provided the company's wheat.

Hitesh Bhatia, Strategic Sourcing Manager at Weetabix said that thanks to the "hard work and dedication" of farmers, "every single one of the 365 grains found in each Weetabix biscuit will come from local farms".

"We work closely with our Growers Group to secure the highest quality British wheat produced to the most responsible standards, Mr Bhatia said.

'Strict protocols'

All 160 farms that provide Weetabix must lie within 50 miles of its factory in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire.

Farmer James Wheeler, whose farm supplies wheat through Gleadell to Weetabix said: Being part of the Growers Group means we operate to strict protocols and work closely with Weetabix. This makes sure the very best British wheat makes it to breakfast tables.

In return, we get information to continuously improve our output. For example, for every truck of harvested wheat tipped at Weetabixs manufacturing plant in Burton Latimer, we receive a text back that tells us key information about the quality of our grain. This helps us monitor our harvest output in real time.

Weetabix has produced its breakfast cereal from its Burton Latimer factory in Northamptonshire for over 80 years.New 6m fund to help expand woodland in EnglandCategory Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release

SubCategory Select Sub-CategoryDisha Slams The Gossipmongers!

"There is some childish and irresponsible gossip about Hrithik sir and me doing the rounds. I would like to say that it's completely untrue and in the minimum interaction that I have had with him, he has been one of the most dignified and joyful people, " Disha said.

Here's Why Disha Chose To React To These 'Baseless' Reports

"It's my regard for him as a person that is making me even respond to something this trivial. There is no truth in me walking out of any project with him," Disha told in a statement.

Disha Says Hrithik Features On Her Wish List To Work With

The 25-year-old actor said she has high regard for Hrithik and he features amongst the top names on her wish list to work with.

Bharat Is On Her Mind

Disha is currently shooting Ali Abbas Zafar's "Bharat", which is her next release. The actress will be seen sharing screen space with Salman Khan for the first time.

Meanwhile, Hrithik Too Slammed Reports Claiming Disha Patani Walked Out Of A Film Because Of Him

A few hours ago, the actor blasted a publication for carrying 'thrash' report and tweeted, "My dear friend Patrika ji,' Do you exercise? Go to gym. All trash will automatically flush out of the mind. Especially 20 donkey kicks, 20 monkey rolls and two dog jumps, will be good for you. Make sure you do it. Good Luck and Love you too."If Hrithik Roshan's legal saga with Kangana Ranaut was not enough, a Chennai-based stockist has filed a legal complaint against the actor accusing him of duping the stockist of Rs 21 Lakh! According to the Times of India report, Mr. Muralidharan, who is currently working at the Sun Enterprises Limited, was hired to the designation of a 'super stockist' at the Xtreme Perfumes & Personal Care, a company promoted by Hrithik Roshan to merchandise the 'HRX' in 2014.

Taimur Celebrates Raksha Bandhan With Sara Ali Khan & Inaaya! Check The Cute & Adorable Pictures!

However, the brand changed hands a few years ago and most of the teams were replaced. The complainant accused the company of dissolving the marketing team, as it resulted in products of the brand becoming stagnant, due to which he had to incur severe loss. As per the complainant, Rs 21 Lakh has not been paid as compensation and hence he went ahead and filed for a case.

The Kodungaiyur police has booked the case under section 420 (Cheating) of the Indian Penal Code. Mr. Muralidharan, in his complaint, stated that the company did not repay him the amount and the overall calculation of Rs 21 Lakh worth of losses, includes the salaries to employees, godown rent, transportation costs and the interest of loans.

A legal notice was sent to Hrithik Roshan as he was the brand ambassador for the products in 2014. The notice has been sent to 8 other people who were involved with the company. However, the actor responded to the notice that some of the products under the brand were assigned to different firms and suggested that he is not liable for Mr. Muralidharan's losses.

After Divorce With Malaika Arora, Arbaaz Khan To Marry His Girlfriend Giorgia Andriani?Katrina Kaif's pic with Salman Khan's mother Salma Khan goes Viral | FilmiBeat

Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif starrer Bharat has been making news right from the day it went on floors last month and at every turn, fans are getting something new that they can relish on. From seeing pictures of the sets in Mumbai to Salman Khan walking the streets in Malta with his mother and the actor clicking pictures of Sunil Grover, Bharat has managed to engage the audiences like no movie ever has and we're sure that the buzz will remain right until the day the movie hits the theatres.

Taimur Celebrates Raksha Bandhan With Sara Ali Khan & Inaaya! Check The Cute & Adorable Pictures!

Also, a new picture doing the rounds on the internet has got people talking! Yes, the picture shows Katrina Kaif hugging Salman Khan's mother, and fans have called it 'saas bahu' goals. Now, we don't know if they'll really end up being a "saas bahu" or not in real life, but fans do expect that to happen someday or the other. Check out the picture below!

It's such an angelic picture, right? Katrina Kaif looks like she's shining in all her glory and so does Salman Khan's mother Salma Khan. There's really something about the picture that we just can't ignore. The image is from the sets of Bharat in Malta and it looks like the actress is wearing something similar to a wedding gown. So, is she Salman Khan's bride in the movie? We'll have to wait and watch for that.

After Divorce With Malaika Arora, Arbaaz Khan To Marry His Girlfriend Giorgia Andriani?

Also, the best part is that Salman Khan's sister Arpita Khan was the first to share the picture on her Instagram handle and also commented with an emoji when a fan said it's 'saas bahu' goals. She also slammed a troll who talked negative about Katrina Kaif and after a while, she deleted the image for good. However, the image is all over the internet and people are loving it.

Coming back to the movie, Bharat stars Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Disha Patani and Sunil Grover; and the movie completed its first leg in Mumbai and is now being shot in Malta. The movie is directed by Ali Abbas Zafar and is scheduled to hit the theatres during Eid 2019.

The Climax Of Superstar Rajikinath Starrer Robo 2.0 Revealed! AR Rahman Spills The BeansThe heavy downpour in Kerala caused havoc all across the state and close to 300 people lost their lives and thousands of people were left homeless and living in relief camps. Several celebrities donated money to the relief work and even urged their fans to contribute for a cause. The latest to help is Rohit Shetty and the film-maker has donated Rs 21 lakh towards the Kerala relief fund. The director was in Argentina, with regards to work, and donated the amount as soon as he reached India.

Taimur Celebrates Raksha Bandhan With Sara Ali Khan & Inaaya! Check The Cute & Adorable Pictures!

Rohit Shetty has always been lending a helping hand to people since many years now and has been supporting cancer patients and other organisations in the county. He stays in constant touch with several NGOs and helps the less-privileged when required. A source close to the film-maker opened up to Filmfare by saying,

"For a few years now, Rohit has been actively supporting cancer patients and girls' education. His office stays in touch with certain office-bearers from charitable organisations and hospitals who treat the less-privileged. He asks his trusted team to make him aware of how much money is needed to help patients who can't afford treatments. The same holds true for education of children."

After Divorce With Malaika Arora, Arbaaz Khan To Marry His Girlfriend Giorgia Andriani?

The source further commented, "Of course, the latest cause he chose to associate with is the Kerala flood relief work. The filmmaker knew he had to extend his support to those affected in his own way. He did that quietly without letting anyone know."

Also, Bollywood stars such as Shahrukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, Amitabh Bachchan, Esha Gupta, Randeep Hooda and several others have donated generously to the Kerala flood relief and it's good to see our very own stars lending a helping hand to the people who are affected. In fact, the Sarbjit actor Randeep Hooda was on the ground in Kerala through the Khalsa Aid foundation and served food to the people in the relief camps.

The Climax Of Superstar Rajikinath Starrer Robo 2.0 Revealed! AR Rahman Spills The BeansSaif Ali Khan's NEW look as Naga Sadhu LEAKED | FilmiBeat

Saif Ali Khan's upcoming movie Hunter will leave you shocked, as the actor can be seen playing the role of a Naga Sadhu. Mumbai Mirror shared the pictures from the sets of the movie showing Saif donning long hair and his entire transformation is just unrecognisable. His dreadlocks are the highlights of the picture and he also has thick kohl-lined eyes and is sporting a dirty bandana.

Taimur Celebrates Raksha Bandhan With Sara Ali Khan & Inaaya! Check The Cute & Adorable Pictures!

Talking about his transformation for Hunter, Saif Ali Khan had revealed to TOI as, "It bothered me throughout summer when I was shooting in Rajasthan's sweltering heat. It took me 40 minutes to two hours sometimes to just get into hair and make-up for the part." View the picture of Saif Ali Khan's transformation into a Naga Sadhu for Hunter below...

What an unbelievable transformation, right? It looks like he's taken his role seriously and is giving his best to the movie, so the audiences will have an amazing time watching him on the silver screen. Saif Ali Khan had previously opened up about his character in Hunter to TOI by saying, "My character is a failed Naga Sadhu, who has strong notions of revenge. The film is a drama set in Rajasthan. I even got my ears pierced for the role, which I was worried about initially. My hair has grown a lot."

Saif Ali Khan further commented, "I've always felt that there is one entity that is giving me things that I don't deserve. That's how I feel for the role, also. It's too good to be true and it's a complete experience. And though it takes ridiculous two hours of make-up and hair, it's like the journey of a character in a Westerner (a Western film), who goes into another space all together with his experiences. It's so fulfilling to watch old forts in Rajasthan come alive because of these shoots."

After Divorce With Malaika Arora, Arbaaz Khan To Marry His Girlfriend Giorgia Andriani?

Read in Kannada:       ...Big B Says The Contestants Are The Soul Of The Show

Mr Bachchan told Bollywood Life, "It is the contestant who is the soul of the show. I feel great amount of joy when I see them do well.It is remarkable to see how they change their lives in an hour.I feel bad when people make a mistake and lose the money. Many times we do two episodes in a day.Every time it get late I wonder why I cannot spend the night here.I love this set and place."

Amitabh's Kab Tak Rokoge Moment

"All of us have incentive in life difficult to narrate all of them have gather here to push the dreams of the common man. I don't believe that I am the trendsetter of Bollywood actors entering TV.I hope to continue working as long as body allows. We as a country face challenges there are 150 200 years ahead of us. We have been an independent country since 70 years and we have done remarkably well."

He Hasn't Played KBC With Aaradhya

When asked if he's played KBC with Aaradhya, Amitabh said, "Have not had the chance to play KBC with Aaradhya. Will start playing with her. She knows about it and likes the background music. In her school there are quizzes too."

He Reveals His Favourite Bollywood Actors

"I am very impressed by Alia, Anushka and Deepika. Scared of working with them. They will eat me up. All new actors are brilliant, we are still trying to fine-tune. These people are so confident. Ranbir, Rajkummar, Varun, Kartik Aryan was so good in Sonu Ke Titu ki Sweety. I'm so obsessed, I send them flowers."

Mr Bachchan Is Believed To Be The Apt Host

Business head of Sony, Danish Khan said, "Since 2010 the show is with Sony TV we are delighted that the show is with us and hopefully will stay with us. The only person we thought as correct host was Amitabh Bachchan. The only person and other guiding light is Siddharth Basu. This year we have changes. Sony TV is the co producer this year. Sony TV Studios is starting journey as co producer with Synergy.This show brings entire family together. The core audience is young and the language is Hindi which Big B is eloquent in."Mihika's Bundle Of Joy

When Mihika shared the first image of her son, she captioned the picture beautifully without revealing his name. Her caption read, "Stay curious our little one....love Ma and Pa". Upon seeing the picture, actress Neena Kulkarni commented saying,"Omg omg!! Izaaaaan!! Lil pixie @mihikavarma1 he has your twinkle in the eye! God Bless you darling" - (sic)

Her Husband & She Are Sleep Deprived

What seems more difficult than having a baby is being new parents. Similar to all the new parents who stay up during the night taking care of their little one, Mihika and Anand are also held up with their parental duties. Mihika captioned one of the pictures with husband holding the stroller as, "sleep deprived smiles? #lifeasparents" - (sic)

Mihika's Pregnancy Was A Secret

Everybody knew the actress had a private wedding and chose to settle in the US. But, without dropping a single hint, she ensured her pregnancy was a secret for a long time. When she was only a day away from her due date, Mihika posted a picture of her fully grown baby bump and captioned it as, "Knock knock..." - (sic)

Her Brother Confirmed The News

Mihika's pregnancy was further confirmed by her brother who told in a statement to Times of India as, "Yes, it's true that Mihika has delivered a baby boy. She does not want to talk much about it right now and shall herself put it up announcing the name soon."

Mihika's Wedding Was A Surprise

It came as a shocker when Mihika got married to the NRI Anand Kapai in a low-key wedding. The actress decided to quit the glamour world to settle in the US post wedding. Mihika often keeps her fans updated by sharing pictures of her cute family. She has got Anand's name tattooed on her forearm as well.Shahrukh Khan Charged Rs 8 Crores

According to Times Now report, the actor was supposed to shoot for only one promotional video. But, he shot three more videos for the show later. If reports are to be believed, SRK charged Rs 5 Crores for a video which also featured Ekta Kapoor, and Rs 1 Crore each for the other three videos, which will be out soon.

SRK Shoots For About 6-8 Hours With Ekta!

It has to be recalled that SRK plays a narrator as well! For the narrative part, SRK reportedly shot for about 2 to 3 hours and 6 to 8 hours with Ekta for the promotional shoot. For the entire shoot, he spent a total of 720 minutes.

Kasautii Zindagi Kay Cast

Erica Fernandes plays the role of Prerna (played by Shweta Tiwari in the original) on the show, which is confirmed. Apparently, Parth Samthaan will be seen playing the role of Anurag Basu (played by Cezanne Khan) and Urvashi Dholakia's (Komolika) role will be played by Hina Khan. Many popular actors have been roped in to play the other main characters of the show.

Kasautii Shooting

It is being said that the team will be shooting for a small part in Kolkata! It has to be recalled that Erica and Parth's on-the-sets pictures went viral on the social media.

Well, it has to be seen whether the show will be a big hit like the original or not. What do you think about the reboot version? Hit the comment box to share your views.A few months ago, actress Sri Reddy stripped in public and made a few shocking claims about the Telugu film industry. During her protest, she said that casting couch is a reality and added that several top producers exploit local girls. She also claimed that they prefer casting girls from Mumbai in their films and ignore the local talent. Thereafter, she levelled a host of allegations against the likes of Nani and Koratala Siva and this left everyone in a state of shock.

As expected, her actions grabbed a lot of attention. While actors Karthi and Vishal asked her to provide proper evidence to back her claims, actress Andrea Jeremiah backed the feisty lady and said that her actions were commendable.

"If what Sri Reddy saying is true, then it takes a strong heart to reveal it. I've never faced any allegations like that, but if someone faces things like that, saying it openly is correct and the people behind this should be punished," - (sic) she added.

Now, noted actress Meena has commented on the casting couch row and indirectly supported Sri Reddy. While speaking on the matter, she said that women often face sexual harassment and added that they should rely on their talent alone, while striving to reach greater heights.

"It's very unfortunate that sexual harassment is happening in all the fields. Though I haven't faced it, Such tortures used to exist in our times as well. Men should change at least now. Such people need to keep in mind that they have wife and children. Even Women should rely only on their talent to reach greater heights," she added.

Well, these are some strong words and they might create a great deal of buzz in the industry.

On a related note, Sri Reddy has made it clear that she plans to continue highlighting the evil practice of casting couch. Recently, she had said that Tollywood is controlled by a few families and hence there is no room for new talent.

"In Telugu, the audience will watch and encourage the films featuring big heroes. Only four film families are ruling the entire industry. That is the reason why Tollywood is the worst of all. Also, the industry does not encourage any new talent. However, in Chennai, even the small-budget films are getting recognised," she had added.

She had also revealed that she is working on her biopic.

Casting Couch Row: After Andrea Jeremiah, Priya Bhavani Shankar Backs Sri ReddyCo-Organized by The National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore and HPC-AI Advisory Council, The Competition Brought Together 18 Student Teams from 7 Asia Pacific Countries for a 5-Month Challenge

The Competition Yielded Winning Solutions that Can Improve The Real-Life Accuracy for Weather Forecasts and Image Recognition

Participants Utilized NSCC Singapore's ASPIRE 1 (Singapore's Only Petascale Supercomputer) and Were Able to Perform Multiple and Complex Calculations and Simulations, Processing ImageNet Dataset and CONUS 2.5km Data in Under Ten Minutes

The HPC-AI Advisory Council, a leading community benefit organization dedicated to high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) research, education and outreach, in collaboration with NSCC Singapore, today announced the winning teams of the first Asia-Pacific HPC-AICompetition during a live award ceremony in Singapore. The award ceremony recognized the top three winners and meritorious performers from amongst 18 teams representing prestigious universities throughout Asia-Pacific.

The competition kicked off at Supercomputing Asia 2018, NSCC Singapore's flagship HPC annual conference, on the 27th of March, 2018 by Dr. Janil Puthucheary, the then Senior Minister of State for Communications and Education, and ended on the 13th of August, 2018. The competition saw intense, but healthy, rivalry among 18 university teams from seven countries, and yielded winning solutions for improving the real-life accuracy of weather forecasts and image recognition. Tasked with demonstrating the highest performance on a range of complex HPC and AI applications, China's Tsinghua University team was awarded First Place. Second and Third Place were awarded to the two Taiwanese teams from National Cheng Kung University.

The two primary focuses of the competition were High Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications. For the HPC applications, teams were challenged to achieve the highest simulation speed of the CONUS 2.5km benchmark using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model, a very popular weather forecast tool used in by weather research institutes around the world. This application reduces forecasting time while maintaining its level of precision. For AI applications, the competition focused on multi-node distributed training of the ImageNet dataset. Participating teams were challenged to optimise the AI framework and neural network architecture. This is aligned with what the world is now doing in AI, turning technology into real-life applications including smart city and security-related initiatives.

To collect the winner's trophy, the top winning team from China's Tsinghua University had to analyse, evaluate and optimise the performance of multiple nodes, and each node with multiple GPUs, over an intense five-month period. The top winning team also gets to participate in the 2019 International HPC-ISC Student Cluster Competition, to be held in Germany, June 2019.

The second and third trophy-winning teams were the two teams represented by Taiwan's National Cheng Kung University. The fight to the wire was very tight, with all winning teams demonstrating a high level of performance. To further encourage the teams throughout the competition, a special prize for creativity was announced. Teams submitted a video of their five-month journey and were graded based on the video's level of creativity. The special prize-winning team was from Thailand's Thammasat University.

Said Chief Judge and Chairman of the HPC Advisory Council Mr Gilad Shainer, "The judges were really impressed with the high levels of skill and strategy that participants evidenced throughout the competition period. This made the judging committee's job that much harder, as each team proved to be an equal match with one another. Ultimately, what impressed us most was how such a student competition could yield results to improve the lives of ordinary individuals the world over. The competition proved once again that the availability of HPC resources can empower universities, research laboratories and commercial vendors to develop tomorrow's products and services, from safer cars and airplanes, to more accurate weather and storm predictions, as well as finding new cures. Since HPC and AI applications share the same underlying technologies and infrastructures, new developments in HPC are being adopted immediately for AI, and vice versa, and could also extend to commercial areas including security and smart nation initiatives

Mr Shainer added, "We commend all the teams for their tremendous efforts and achievements demonstrated throughout the months of this competition, and extend our sincere appreciation to NSCC Singapore for their partnership and managing this important region-wide competition. We also thank the competition committee for its support of the competition throughout. It's an incredible opportunity to contribute to the development of the core knowledge and critical skills for the region's new generation of HPC and AI researchers, scientists and professionals, and the council's mission in continuous outreach and education."

NSCC Singapore's Chief Executive Prof Tan Tin Wee shared, "If you think that supercomputing competitions are but an exercise conducted in an ivory tower, offering no practical benefits to mankind think again. This competition supports NSCC Singapore's mission to use HPC to power innovation and champion Asia as a regional supercomputing centre. The winning solutions show clearly how supercomputing can align research, university work and commercial considerations to drive innovation that benefits all. It has been our privilege to be the co-organiser of this event."

About the 2018 HPC-AI Competition

The 2018 APAC HPC-AI Competition was managed by the HPC-AI Advisory Council and NSCC Singapore in March to encourage students throughout Asia Pacific to showcase their education and hone their expertise in a friendly, yet spirited region-wide competition, comprised of two parts; HPC and AI. The HPC teams were tasked to benchmark the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model and were scored based on performance and scalability. The AI teams were tasked to run the benchmark based on ImageNet dataset and were scored based on their performance improvement.

AI has rocketed from an emerging idea to a critical domain across industries, interests, disciplines and technologies for its extensive capability and promise from better and more accurate decision-making from massive amounts of data to enabling deep intelligence and innovation from science, manufacturing, security and finance to self-driving cars and smart cities.

In parallel, continuous advances in HPC disciplines and technologies are enabling academia, government and commercial industries to develop breakthrough discoveries in new products and services from safer transportation, accurate storm prediction and weather forecasting, to finding new lifesaving cures, and much more. By sharing the same underlying methodologies, technologies and infrastructures, new developments in HPC and AI are being adopted immediately in both domains.

Supporting Resources:

Learn more about the APAC HPC-AI Competition

Learn more about Sponsoring Next Generation HPC Experts

Become a HPC-AI Advisory Council member

Follow the HPC-AI Advisory Council on: Twitter and Facebook

For more information and general questions please email info@hpcadvisorycouncil.com

About the HPC-AI Advisory Council

Founded in 2008, the non-profit HPC-AI Advisory Council is an international organization with over 400 members committed to education and outreach. Members share expertise, lead special interest groups and have access to the technology center to explore opportunities and evangelize the benefits of HPC and AI technologies, applications and future development. The council hosts multiple annual conferences and STEM challenges worldwide including the RDMA Student Competition in China and the Student Cluster Competition in Germany. Membership is free of charge and obligation. More information: www.hpcadvisorycouncil.com.

About National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore

The National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore was established in 2015 and manages Singapore's first national petascale facility with high performance computing (HPC) resources to support science and engineering computing needs for academic, research and industry communities. Funded by its stakeholders, including Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), National University of Singapore (NUS), and Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), with substantial funding from the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), NSCC Singapore aims to democratise access to supercomputing. NSCC Singapore works with local and international organisations to catalyse collaborative HPC projects and programmes which support national research and development initiatives, attract industrial research collaborations and enhance Singapore's research capabilities. For more information, please visit https://nscc.sg.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180827005608/en/

Contacts:

HPC-AI Advisory Council

Cydney Ewald Stevens, +1-512-770-8916

cydney@hpcadvisorycouncil.com

or

National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore

Cindy Lim, +65-93388-292

cindylim@nscc.sgNestle and Starbucks Corporationtoday announced the closing of the deal granting Nestle the perpetual rights to market Starbucks Consumer Packaged Goods and Foodservice products globally, outside of the company's coffee shops.

Through the alliance, the two companies will work closely together on the existing Starbucks range of roast and ground coffee, whole beans as well as instant and portioned coffee. The alliance will also capitalize on the experience and capabilities of both companies to work on innovation with the goal of enhancing its product offerings for coffee lovers globally.

"This partnership demonstrates our growth agenda in action, giving Nestle an unparalleled position in the coffee business with a full suite of innovative brands. With Starbucks, Nescafe and Nespresso we bring together the world's most iconic coffee brands," said Mark Schneider, Nestle CEO. "The outstanding collaboration between the two teams resulted in a swift completion of this agreement, which will pave the way to capture further growth opportunities," he added.

The agreement significantly strengthens Nestle's coffee portfolio in the North American premium roast and ground and portioned coffee business. It also unlocks global expansion in grocery and foodservice for the Starbucks brand, utilizing the global reach of Nestle.

"This global coffee alliance with Nestle is a significant strategic milestone for the growth of Starbucks," said Kevin Johnson, president and ceo of Starbucks. "Bringing together the world's leading coffee retailer, the world's largest food and beverage company, and the world's largest and fast-growing installed base of at-home and single-serve coffee machines helps us amplify the Starbucks brand around the world while delivering long-term value creation for our shareholders."

Approximately 500 Starbucks employees in the United States and Europe will join the Nestle family, with the majority based in Seattle and London. The international expansion of the business will be led from Nestle's global headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland.

The agreement covers Starbucks packaged coffee and tea brands, such as Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee, TeavanaTM/MC, Starbucks VIA Instant, Torrefazione Italia coffee and Starbucks-branded K-Cup pods. It excludes Ready-to-Drink products and all sales of any products within Starbucks coffee shops.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained herein are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the applicable securities laws and regulations. Generally, these statements can be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "expect," "believe," "could," "estimate," "feel," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "project," "should," "will," "would," and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These statements are based on information available to Starbucks as of the date hereof, and Starbucks actual results or performance could differ materially from those stated or implied, due to risks and uncertainties associated with its business. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, fluctuations in the U.S. and international economies and currencies, our ability to preserve, grow and leverage our brands, potential negative effects of incidents involving food or beverage-borne illnesses, tampering, adulteration, contamination or mislabeling, potential negative effects of material breaches of our information technology systems to the extent we experience a material breach, material failures of our information technology systems, costs associated with, and the successful execution of, the company's initiatives and plans, the acceptance of the company's products by our customers, the impact of competition, as well as general economic and industry factors such as coffee, dairy and other raw materials pricing and availability, successful execution of internal performance and expansion plans, fluctuations in U.S. and other international economies and currencies, the impact of initiatives by competitors, the effect of legal proceedings, and other risks detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 1, 2017. The Company assumes no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180827005623/en/

Contacts:

Nestle SA

Investors

Luca Borlini, +41 21 924 38 20

or

Media

Christoph Meier, +41 21 924 22 00

Josh Morton (US), +1-571-457-5262

or

Starbucks

Press

Sanja Gould, +1-206-318-7100

press@starbucks.comVevey and Seattle, 28 August 2018





Nestle and Starbucks close deal for the perpetual global license of Starbucks Consumer Packaged Goods and Foodservice products

Nestle and Starbucks Corporation today announced the closing of the deal granting Nestle the perpetual rights to market Starbucks Consumer Packaged Goods and Foodservice products globally, outside of the company's coffee shops.

Through the alliance, the two companies will work closely together on the existing Starbucks range of roast and ground coffee, whole beans as well as instant and portioned coffee. The alliance will also capitalize on the experience and capabilities of both companies to work on innovation with the goal of enhancing its product offerings for coffee lovers globally.

"This partnership demonstrates our growth agenda in action, giving Nestle an unparalleled position in the coffee business with a full suite of innovative brands. With Starbucks, Nescafe and Nespresso we bring together the world's most iconic coffee brands," said Mark Schneider, Nestle CEO. "The outstanding collaboration between the two teams resulted in a swift completion of this agreement, which will pave the way to capture further growth opportunities," he added.

The agreement significantly strengthens Nestle's coffee portfolio in the North American premium roast and ground and portioned coffee business. It also unlocks global expansion in grocery and foodservice for the Starbucks brand, utilizing the global reach of Nestle.

"This global coffee alliance with Nestle is a significant strategic milestone for the growth of Starbucks," said Kevin Johnson, president and ceo of Starbucks. "Bringing together the world's leading coffee retailer, the world's largest food and beverage company, and the world's largest and fast-growing installed base of at-home and single-serve coffee machines helps us amplify the Starbucks brand around the world while delivering long-term value creation for our shareholders."

Approximately 500 Starbucks employees in the United States and Europe will join the Nestle family, with the majority based in Seattle and London. The international expansion of the business will be led from Nestle's global headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland.

The agreement covers Starbucks packaged coffee and tea brands, such as Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee, TeavanaTM/MC, Starbucks VIA Instant, Torrefazione Italia coffee and Starbucks-branded K-Cup pods. It excludes Ready-to- Drink products and all sales of any products within Starbucks coffee shops.

Contacts:



Nestle SA

Investors: Luca Borlini Tel.: +41 21 924 38 20

Media: Christoph Meier Tel.: +41 21 924 2200

Media US: Josh Morton Tel.: +1 571 457 5262



Starbucks

Press: Sanja Gould Tel.: +1 206 318-7100 | Email: press@starbucks.comPhase 3 TIMES data readout is on track for 2019

Japanese New Drug Application submission for Imeglimin targeted in 2020

Diabetes is a fast-growing market in Asia and Japan is the second largest single market for type 2 diabetes outside of the U.S.; it is expected to grow to approximately $6 billion in 20201

POXEL SA (Euronext POXEL FR0012432516), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of innovative treatments for metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), announced today that patient enrollment has been completed in the TIMES 3 trial of the Phase 3 registration program for Imeglimin, an investigational therapeutic agent for type 2 diabetes, in Japan. Referred to as TIMES (Trials of IMeglimin for Efficacy and Safety), the Imeglimin Phase 3 registration program in Japan includes three pivotal trials to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Imeglimin in approximately 1,100 patients. The TIMES 3 trial is a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study with an open-label extension period to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Imeglimin in combination with insulin in over 200 Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes and inadequate glycemic control on insulin therapy.

"We continue to make progress advancing all three pivotal Phase 3 TIMES trials for Imeglimin in Japan. We have completed patient enrollment for the TIMES 1 and TIMES 3 trials, and we are on track for the TIMES 1 data readout in the second quarter of 2019 and the TIMES 2 and TIMES 3 data readouts in the second half of 2019," said Thomas Kuhn, CEO of Poxel. "Enrollment of the TIMES 2 trial is anticipated to be completed during the second half of 2018. Our near-term focus in Japan is the successful execution of TIMES, and, to this end, we are working closely with our colleagues at Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma to support the Japanese New Drug Application submission anticipated in 2020."

"I am very pleased to report that the execution of the TIMES program, which is being led by Poxel, has continued to progress in a very timely manner," said Christophe Arbet-Engels, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer, Executive Vice President, Late Development and Medical Affairs of Poxel. "The completion of patient enrollment for the TIMES 3 study is one additional step that brings us potentially closer to providing a new and differentiated therapeutic option for Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes."

The TIMES program is a joint development effort between Poxel and Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma. The companies entered into a strategic partnership in October 2017 for the development and commercialization of Imeglimin in Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan and nine other Southeast Asian countries.2

Imeglimin is an orally-available drug candidate with a novel mechanism of action that has been observed in clinical studies to demonstrate glucose lowering benefits by simultaneously targeting all three key organs, which play an important role in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, the liver, muscles and the pancreas. Imeglimin has demonstrated in preclinical studies the potential to address mitochondrial dysfunction, which is believed to be at the core of type 2 diabetes pathophysiology. Imeglimin has completed Phase 1 and Phase 2 development in over 1,200 subjects in the U.S., Europe and Japan.

About the TIMES Program

TIMES (Trials of Imeglimin for Efficacy and Safety), the Phase 3 program for Imeglimin for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in Japan, consists of three pivotal trials involving approximately 1,100 patients. The TIMES program includes the following three trials that will be performed using the dose of 1,000 mg twice daily:

TIMES 1: A Phase 3, 24-week, double-blind placebo-controlled, randomized, monotherapy study to assess the efficacy, safety and tolerability of Imeglimin in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes, using the change in HbA1c as the primary endpoint. Secondary endpoints of the trial will include other standard glycemic and non-glycemic parameters.

TIMES 2: A Phase 3, 52-week, open-label, parallel-group study to assess the long-term safety and efficacy of Imeglimin in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes. In this study, Imeglimin will be administrated orally as a monotherapy or combination therapy with existing hypoglycemic agents, including a DPP4 inhibitor, SGLT2 inhibitor, biguanide, sulphonylurea and GLP1 receptor agonist.

TIMES 3: A Phase 3, 16-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study with a 36-week open-label extension period to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Imeglimin in combination with insulin in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes and inadequate glycemic control on insulin therapy.

About Imeglimin

Imeglimin is the first clinical candidate in a new chemical class of oral agents called Glimins by the World Health Organization. Imeglimin has a unique mechanism of action ("MOA") that targets mitochondrial bioenergetics. Imeglimin acts on all three key organs which play an important role in the treatment of type 2 diabetes: the liver, muscles and the pancreas, and it has demonstrated glucose lowering benefits by increasing insulin secretion in response to glucose, improving insulin sensitivity and suppressing gluconeogenesis. This MOA has the potential to prevent endothelial and diastolic dysfunction, which can provide protective effects on micro- and macro-vascular defects induced by diabetes. It also has the potential for protective effect on beta-cell survival and function. This unique MOA offers the potential opportunity for Imeglimin to be a candidate for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in almost all stages of the current anti-diabetic treatment paradigm, including monotherapy or as an add-on to other glucose lowering therapies.

About Poxel SA

Poxel uses its development expertise in metabolism to advance a pipeline of drug candidates focused on the treatment of metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). We have successfully completed the Phase 2 clinical program for our first-in-class lead product, Imeglimin, which targets mitochondrial dysfunction, in the U.S., Europe and Japan. Together, with our partner Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, we are conducting the Phase 3 Trials of IMeglimin for Efficacy and Safety (TIMES) program for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in Japan.Our partnerRoivant Sciences is responsible for Imeglimin's development and commercialization in countries outside of Poxel's partnership with Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, including the U.S. and Europe. Our second program, PXL770, a first in class direct adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activator, is advancing into a Phase 2a proof-of-concept program for the treatment of NASH. PXL770 could also have the potential to treat additional metabolic diseases. We intend to generate further growth through strategic partnerships and pipeline development. (Euronext: POXEL, www.poxelpharma.com)

1Source: Oppenheimer Co. estimates.

2including: Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Kingdom of Cambodia and Lao People's Democratic Republic.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180827005395/en/

Contacts:

Poxel SA

Jonae R. Barnes, +1 617-818-2985

Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Public Relations

jonae.barnes@poxelpharma.com

or

Investor relations Media EU/US

Trophic Communications

Gretchen Schweitzer or Stephanie May, +49 89 238 877 34 or +49 171 185 56 82

may@trophic.eu

or

Investor relations Media France

NewCap

Alexia Faure/Nicolas Merigeau, +33 1 44 71 98 55

poxel@newcap.eu

Growth remains important to European insurers, although their primary focus tends to be on delivering returns to their shareholders and attracting good quality business, according to a new report by A.M. Best. Consequently, companies are increasingly concentrating on high margin lines and cost efficiencies in order to meet return on equity (ROE) targets.

The Best's Market Segment Report, titled, "European Insurers' Focus on Profitability Overrides Desire to Grow Top-Line," notes that insurers are closely examining their portfolios, looking to use capital more efficiently and ceasing to underwrite or sell underperforming albeit not necessarily unprofitable classes. For some insurers, merger and acquisition (M&A) activity represent a means of optimising their portfolios and they are examining purchases where they can attain greater market presence and scale.

Tim Prince, director, analytics, said: "A common challenge faced by all non-life European insurers is the ability to grow, given the maturity of domestic markets. Insurers are therefore exploring diverse ways to expand, which include engaging in M&A, strengthening distribution channels and customer service propositions, and entering new markets."

The report highlights a number of factors that are influencing M&A activity. It states companies engaging in deals may be exploring expansion strategies, or improvements in their ROE levels, and pursuing M&A can be a route to achieving that. Another motivation behind making an acquisition can be a company's desire to improve its client offering, which more recently has included insurance companies purchasing service-related businesses, or technology that allows them to improve their client relationships.

Analysis shows that non-life European insurers rated by A.M. Best have generally enjoyed a period of relative stability. Monetary policy has helped stimulate economic growth rates in the region, with increasing domestic demand due to growing consumer and business confidence, lower unemployment rates, and credit growth.

Yvette Essen, director, research, said: "Digitalisation and innovation are buzz words within the industry and it will be interesting to see whether the developments that companies are making will translate into either growth or improved profitability. A.M. Best anticipates they could potentially create advantages for larger companies that are able to embed efficiencies and realise economies of scale. Innovation could also benefit first-movers and those agile enough to realise improvements and change more quickly."

To access a complimentary copy of this report, please visit http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=277447.

A.M. Best is a global rating agency and information provider with a unique focus on the insurance industry. Visit www.ambest.com for more information

Copyright 2018 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180827005598/en/

Contacts:

A.M. Best

Tim Prince, +44 20 7397 0320

Director, Analytics

timothy.prince@ambest.com

or

Yvette Essen, +44 20 7397 0322

Director, Research, Communications &

Media - Europe, Middle East Africa

yvette.essen@ambest.com

or

Edem Kuenyehia, +44 20 7397 0280

Director, Market Development &

Communications

edem.kuenyehia@ambest.comConference Call to be Held on August 30, 2018 at 9:00am ET

AIRPORT CITY, Israel, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Shikun & Binui Ltd. (TASE: SKBN.TA) ("Shikun & Binui" or the "Company"), Israel's leading infrastructure and real estate company, announced that it will be releasing its second quarter 2018 results on Tuesday, August 28, 2018.

The Company will host a conference call on August 30, 2018 starting at 9:00am Eastern Time. Management will host the call and will be available to answer questions after presenting the results.

To participate, please call one of the following teleconferencing numbers. Please begin placing your calls at least 10 minutes before the conference call commences. If you are unable to connect using the toll-free numbers, try the international dial-in number.

US: 1-866-744-5399

UK: 0-800-101-2717

Israel: 03-918-0608

International: +972-3-918-0608

At: 9:00am Eastern Time, 6:00am Pacific Time, 2:00pm UK Time, 4:00pm Israel Time.

For those unable to participate, the teleconference will be available for replay on the company's website at http://en.shikunbinui.co.il/ beginning 24 hours after the call.

The Shikun & Binui Group is a global construction and infrastructure company that operates in Israel and internationally in seven segments: 1) infrastructure and construction contracting outside of Israel (excluding the United States); 2) US infrastructure and construction contracting; 3) infrastructure and construction contracting within Israel; 4) real estate development within Israel; 5) real estate development outside of Israel; 6) renewable energy; and 7) concessions. The Group's activities focus on large, highly complex projects carried out for entities in private and public sectors with a focus on sustainability.

The above noted in this release includes forward-looking statements based on Company data, as well as Company plans and estimations based on this data. The activity, results and other data may be substantially different in reality given uncertainty and various risks, including those discussed under risk factors in the Company's financial statements and Director's reports.

IR Contact

Company

Inbal Uliansky

+972 (3) 6301058

inbal_u@shikunbinui.comHamilton, Bermuda, August 28, 2018

Dear Shareholders,



As per our 2nd quarter report of August 10, 2018, we announce a shareholder call to give an update on the status of NAO.

The call is scheduled at 11 am Bermuda time - 10 am US Eastern time September 10, 2018.

We shall provide call-in details later.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts.



The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "forecast," "project," "plan," "potential," "may," "should," "expect," "pending" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, our management's examination of historical operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available from third parties. Although we believe that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Important factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand in the PSV market, as a result of changes in the general market conditions of the oil and natural gas industry which influence charter hire rates and vessel values, demand in platform supply vessels, our operating expenses, including bunker prices, dry docking and insurance costs, governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities as well as potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, the availability of financing and refinancing, vessel breakdowns and instances of off-hire and other important factors described from time to time in the reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.



Contacts:



Gary J. Wolfe

Seward & Kissel LLP

New York, USA

Tel: +1 212 574 1223

Bjrn Giver, CFO

Nordic American Offshore Ltd.

Tel: +1 888 755 8391 or +47 91 35 00 91

Herbjrn Hansson, Executive Chairman

Nordic American Offshore Ltd

Tel: +1 866 805 9504 or +47 90 14 62 91

Web-site: www.nao.bm (http://www.nao.bm)

Press release (PDF) (http://hugin.info/159489/R/2213045/863032.pdf)



This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: Nordic American Offshore Ltd via Globenewswire

More than 500 global retailers rely on Narvar to deliver world-class customer engagement to 300 million consumers worldwide

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Narvar, the premium post-purchase customer engagement platform, today announced a $30 million Series C financing round led by Accel, who also led Narvar's Series A round. Existing investors including Battery Ventures participated in the round, as well as new investors Salesforce Ventures and Scale Venture Partners. In conjunction with the financing, Ryan Sweeney, partner at Accel, will join Narvar's board. Since its founding in 2012, Narvar has raised $64 million in total funding.

"Accel has proudly been a Narvar partner from the start, and has watched the company's customer adoption, product innovation, employee culture and global market traction continue to flourish," said Sweeney. "Over the last few years, Narvar has redefined e-commerce service standards by changing the way brands interact with their customers throughout the entire online purchase lifecycle. We're confident the company will continue to play a key role in shaping the future of online retail experiences and we're looking forward to continuing to support Amit and the rest of the team on this mission."

Experts predict that by 2020, customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. Traditionally, retailers have been obsessed with acquisition and conversion, often neglecting the post-purchase phase of the journey. Narvar helps brands to engage customers at a time of high anticipation and build long-term loyalty with their customers.

By working with more than 500 of the world's most admired retailers, including Patagonia, Gap, Levi's, TUMI and Sephora, Narvar has created the industry standard for addressing the post-purchase opportunity. Narvar's robust, intelligent and customized SaaS platform provides powerful delivery tracking analytics, delivery notifications, returns management, seamless feedback collection and timely customer communications. The company has served nearly 5 billion customer interactions across 38 countries and 50 languages.

"When we started Narvar just a few years ago, we set out to simplify the everyday lives of customers," said Amit Sharma, founder and CEO, Narvar. "We recognized a huge opportunity for brands to deliver exceptional post-purchase customer engagement, and have helped retailers realize this vision for more than 300 million people. At the same time, e-commerce adoption has skyrocketed - in fact, more than 70 percent of adults online have interacted with Narvar through the retailers we support, and we anticipate this will continue trending up. We'll use this new investment to continue developing leading products for our customers while investing heavily in international growth to support global brands."

"Growing our direct-to-consumer business is a priority for us not only financially, but also strategically as it allows us to engage with a customer long-term and ensure the interactions are on-brand," said Charlie Cole, chief digital officer at TUMI. "Differentiating the post-purchase experience represents one of the primary areas where brands can win against the major marketplace players, as it provides an opportunity to delight a customer and build long-term loyalty. Narvar has been an excellent partner for us in accomplishing both goals - driving thoughtful brand interactions and exemplary post-purchase services via their platform."

With this new round of funding, Narvar will ramp up product innovation and R&D efforts while aggressively hiring to support its growing offices around the world. In the last 12 months, Narvar has doubled revenue and employee headcount, deepened its executive bench, and added more than 100 brands, including Costco and Lululemon, to its roster of customers. The company has also expanded its global footprint into APAC and EMEA - opening a London office and making its first leadership hires in Germany.

Narvar is trusted by over 600 carriers and 500 leading brands across industries including apparel, health and beauty, housewares, mass merchants, home improvement, and electronics. With Narvar, retailers realize additional revenue and lower shipping and returns-related contact volume by an average of 30 percent within days. Consumers who interact with Narvar-powered brands report being highly satisfied with their post-purchase experience.

About Narvar

Narvar helps retailers inspire loyalty beyond reason. As an enterprise-grade customer engagement platform serving 500+ retailers like Sephora, Patagonia, Home Depot, Gap, and Bose, Narvar enables seamless post-purchase engagement that retain, engage, and delight customers - from cart to doorstep, and beyond. With effortless order tracking, proactive communications, and seamless returns, Narvar applies machine learning across billions of interactions to simplify the everyday lives of consumers.

For more information, visit narvar.com.

About Accel

Accel is a leading venture capital firm that invests in people and their companies from the earliest days through all phases of private company growth. Atlassian, Braintree, Cloudera, DJI, Dropbox, Dropcam, Etsy, Facebook, Flipkart, Jet, Lookout Security, Qualtrics, Slack, Spotify, Supercell, and Vox Media are among the companies the firm has backed over the past 30 years. The firm seeks to understand entrepreneurs as individuals, appreciate their originality and play to their strengths. Because greatness doesn't have a stereotype. For more, visit www.accel.com, www.facebook.com/accel or www.twitter.com/accel.

Salesforce Ventures

Salesforce is the fastest growing top five enterprise software company and the #1 CRM provider globally. Salesforce Ventures-the company's corporate investment group-invests in the next generation of enterprise technology that extends the power of the Salesforce Customer Success Platform, helping companies connect with their customers in entirely new ways. Portfolio companies receive funding as well as access to the world's largest cloud ecosystem and the guidance of Salesforce's innovators and executives. With Salesforce Ventures, portfolio companies can also leverage Salesforce's expertise in corporate philanthropy by joining Pledge 1% to make giving back part of their business model. Salesforce Ventures has invested in more than 275 enterprise cloud startups in 17 different countries since 2009. For more information, please visit www.salesforce.com/ventures.

Scale Venture Partners

Scale Venture Partners (@scalevp) invests in software companies that are transforming the future of work. Investments include: Box (BOX), Chef, Cloudhealth, DataStax, Demandbase, DocuSign (DOCU), ExactTarget (ET), HubSpot (HUBS), JFrog, Lever, and WalkMe. ScaleVP partners with entrepreneurs to support accelerated growth from the first customer to market leadership. Founded in 2000, ScaleVP has over $1.8 billion under management and is located in Silicon Valley. For more information visit www.scalevp.com.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/335452/Narvar_Logo.jpgMassachusetts has joined California, Hawaii, Nevada and Vermont in the club of 10% solar states. PV made up 2.4% of total generation in the United States during the first half of the year, with solar and wind together making up slightly less than 10%.Data for the first half of 2018 shows solar representing more than 10% of in-state electricity generation in a fifth U.S. state - further evidence the energy transition is under way. The August 2018 edition of Electric Power Monthly, a publication by the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows electricity generation ...

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.HAMBURG, Germany, August 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Pawel Pudlowski appointed Vice President M&A reporting to Heike Rosener-Tyler. Philipp Meixner to leave the company, the position of Chief Investment Officer will not be backfilled.

On September 1, 2018 Heike Tyler will join Bauer Media Group as Head of New Business and M&A. She comes from Tyler TMT, an advisory firm specialized on digital transformation, where she has been founder and CEO. Prior to this she had served Sanoma Media and Bertelsmann group in challenging management positions. She is a supervisory board member of a number of renowned media companies. Heike holds an MA in German, Slavonic Languages and Literature.

Heike will be supported by Pawel Pudlowski, who will join Bauer Media Group as Vice President Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A). Philipp Meixner, currently Chief Investment Officer, will leave the company to pursue new ventures. His position will not be filled again.

Pawel's career spans close to 20 years across finance, reporting, controlling and M&A mainly in the media industry. He comes from publishing house C.H.Beck, where he has been responsible for finance, IT, HR and administration in Poland. He started his career at Wolters Kluwer, Netherlands. Later, he moved to Sanoma as CFO of a division.

The organizational change reflects the strategy of Bauer Media Group to put a stronger focus on exploring and implementing new business opportunities in order to compensate for expected revenue losses in the long run due to the world's declining publishing markets. Acquisitions as well as a stringent portfolio management are important building blocks of this strategy. Hence it was decided to bring M&A closer to the business.

"I'm excited that with Heike and Pawel an accomplished team will conduct our M&A activities as an important function to support our New Business approach," commented Veit Dengler, member of the Executive Board. "At the same time, I want to thank Philipp Meixner for his work for Bauer Media Group. He has successfully built up our Venture and M&A function, and we wish him all the best for his next endeavors."

Bauer Media Group is one of the world's most successful media corporations. Over 700 magazines, more than 400 digital products and over 100 radio and TV stations are enjoyed by millions of people across the globe. The corporate portfolio also includes print shops, postal, sales and marketing services. Bauer Media Group's global positioning underscores its passion for people and brands. We see ourselves as the home of popular media, as illustrated by our strapline "We think popular." - A claim which inspires and motivates our global workforce of some 11,500 employees in 17 countries.

Contact:

Bauer Media Group

Group Communications

Natja Rieber

T: +49(40)3019-1088

presse@bauermedia.com

http://www.bauermedia.com

http://twitter.com/bauermediagroupMobile alerts assist clinical staff in monitoring bed parameters on Stryker iBed Wireless Smartbeds to drive compliance with hospital protocols

BAAR, Switzerland, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ascom (SWX:ASCN.SW), the global solutions provider focused on healthcare ICT and mobile workflow solutions, announced a new North American strategic alliance with Stryker, a leading medical technology company, to integrate Ascom Unite software with Stryker's iBed Wireless Smartbed system. This clinical integration can help prevent patient falls by enabling automatic remote monitoring of bed status, checking for compliance with hospital protocol, and alerting staff to potential patient safety risk conditions.



Ascom Unite can monitor and evaluate bed status vs. prescribed protocols for each patient. It supports an advanced rules engine that can have tailored responses to siderails down, bed exit system disabled, bed not in low height, and more. These responses can include mobile alerts, display on a dashboard, and reporting. Ascom Unite can also suppress alerts for unoccupied beds or turn them off for patients not deemed a fall risk. To avoid unnecessary work interruptions, rules can be easily customized to help ensure only important and actionable alerts are sent to clinicians.

Falls-related injuries are associated with increased healthcare costs and a longer length of stay for patients. This new partnership and combined technology will help hospitals combat patient falls and deliver an advanced solution that is customizable and adaptable to specific hospital policies.

Rob Goldman, President Ascom North America, says: "Combining our mobile messaging capability with Stryker's iBed Wireless technology extends the reach of bed alarms to mobile clinicians, helping reduce the risk of patient injury due to falls. Since the U.S. Joint Commission has reported that 30 - 50% of patient falls result in an injury, our partnership with Stryker offers hospitals more options to help mitigate and deal with these risks."

ABOUT ASCOM

Ascom is a global solutions provider focused on healthcare ICT and mobile workflow solutions. The vision of Ascom is to close digital information gaps allowing for the best possible decisions - anytime and anywhere. Ascom's mission is to provide mission-critical, real-time solutions for highly mobile, ad hoc, and time-sensitive environments. Ascom uses its unique product and solutions portfolio and software architecture capabilities to devise integration and mobilization solutions that provide truly smooth, complete and efficient workflows for healthcare as well as for industry and retail sectors.

Ascom is headquartered in Baar (Switzerland), has subsidiaries in 18 countries and employs around 1,300 people worldwide. Ascom registered shares (ASCN) are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich.Pitney Bowes Says Global Shipping Volume To Surpass 100 Billion Parcels in 2020

The Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index,released today, reports that parcel shipping generated USD $279 billion in revenue last year, an increase of 11 percent over 2016. Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI), a global technology company that provides commerce solutions in the areas of ecommerce, shipping, mailing, and data, compiled the industry's most comprehensive parcel shipping report along with shipping-related insights across 13 countries representing 3.7 billion people.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005237/en/

(Graphic: Business Wire)

Parcel volume globally grew 17 percent last year to 74.4 billion parcels, up from 63.6 billion in 2016. This was in the 17-28 percent growth projection range given in last year's Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index. On average, there were 22 parcels shipped per person globally, and 2,300 parcels shipped every second.

China once again reported the largest parcel volume growth at 28 percent year-over-year (YOY). If we exclude China from the Index, the global growth number drops from 17 percent to 6 percent.

"China continues to have the greatest impact on the growing shipping market in terms of absolute scale and growth," said Lila Snyder, President, Commerce Services at Pitney Bowes. "Globally, ecommerce continues to drive growth in all regions. Global ecommerce giants continue to raise the bar, resetting consumer expectations when it comes to shipping. As retailers and marketplaces race to keep up with increasing consumer expectations, carriers must create efficient, seamless services that deliver in a world of 'fast and free' ecommerce shipping."

The Index expects global shipping volume to surpass 100 billion parcels in 2020 in aggregate across the 13 countries reviewed: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States

View thePitney Bowes Shipping Index interactive map and infographic to learn more.

Topline Trends Across Countries

China's Parcel Volume Triples United States': China (40.1 billion), the United States (11.9 billion), and Japan (9.6 billion) represented the top three countries for parcel shipping volume in 2017. China's parcel shipments represent 53 percent of the total shipments in the Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index.

China (40.1 billion), the United States (11.9 billion), and Japan (9.6 billion) represented the top three countries for parcel shipping volume in 2017. China's parcel shipments represent 53 percent of the total shipments in the Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index. United States Tops Shipping Revenue: The United States ranks highest in parcel shipping revenue at $107 billion, generating 38 percent of the total revenue of the 13 countries. China ($73 billion) and Japan ($25 billion) follow. The average shipping price of a parcel is $8.95 in the US, compared to $1.83 in China and $2.64 in Japan.

The United States ranks highest in parcel shipping revenue at $107 billion, generating 38 percent of the total revenue of the 13 countries. China ($73 billion) and Japan ($25 billion) follow. The average shipping price of a parcel is $8.95 in the US, compared to $1.83 in China and $2.64 in Japan. China's Parcel Growth Continued to Soar: Despite slower parcel volume growth from the previous four years, China represents the largest market in parcel volume growth at 28 percent YOY. India (11 percent) and Sweden (9 percent) followed.

Despite slower parcel volume growth from the previous four years, China represents the largest market in parcel volume growth at 28 percent YOY. India (11 percent) and Sweden (9 percent) followed. Japanese Residents Receive the Most Packages: Japan tops per capita shipping with 76 parcels shipped per person in 2017. The UK follows at 48 parcels shipped per person, and then Germany at 41 parcels.

Key Findings by Region

Americas (Brazil, Canada, United States)

Brazil , parcel volume grew 6 percent YOY in 2017 with volume reaching 664 million parcels and 3 parcels shipped per person.

, parcel volume grew 6 percent YOY in 2017 with volume reaching 664 million parcels and 3 parcels shipped per person. Canada , parcel volume grew by 5 percent year-over-year to 1.1 billion parcels or 30 parcels per person.

, parcel volume grew by 5 percent year-over-year to 1.1 billion parcels or 30 parcels per person. United States shipped 11.9 billion parcels, up 8 percent YOY. This represents an average of 37 parcels shipped per person for the year.

Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden and United Kingdom)

France grew 5 percent YOY, shipping 18 parcels per person with a total volume of 1.2 billion parcels shipped in 2017.

grew 5 percent YOY, shipping 18 parcels per person with a total volume of 1.2 billion parcels shipped in 2017. Germany shipped an average of 41 parcels per person, reaching a total of 3.4 billion parcels. Parcel volume grew 6 percent YOY.

shipped an average of 41 parcels per person, reaching a total of 3.4 billion parcels. Parcel volume grew 6 percent YOY. Italy shipped a total of 759 million parcels growing at 5 percent YOY and 12 parcels shipped per person.

shipped a total of 759 million parcels growing at 5 percent YOY and 12 parcels shipped per person. Norway parcel shipping dipped 1 percent YOY, with a total volume of 56 million parcels shipped at 11 parcels per person in 2017.

parcel shipping dipped 1 percent YOY, with a total volume of 56 million parcels shipped at 11 parcels per person in 2017. Sweden grew 9 percent YOY with a total volume of 113 million parcels and 11 parcels shipped per person in 2017.

grew 9 percent YOY with a total volume of 113 million parcels and 11 parcels shipped per person in 2017. United Kingdom shipped a total of 3.2 billion parcels in 2017, growing 8 percent YOY, which represented 48 parcels shipped per person.

Asia Pacific (Australia, China, India, Japan)

Australia shipped 841 million parcels at 34 parcels per person an 8 percent increase YOY.

shipped 841 million parcels at 34 parcels per person an 8 percent increase YOY. China's parcel volume reached 40.1 billion in 2017, or 1,270 parcels shipped each second. With the highest parcel volume in the study, China is up 28 percent YOY shipping 29 parcels per person in 2017.

parcel volume reached 40.1 billion in 2017, or 1,270 parcels shipped each second. With the highest parcel volume in the study, China is up 28 percent YOY shipping 29 parcels per person in 2017. India shipped just 1 parcel per person in 2017, yet grew 15 percent YOY reaching a total of 1.5 billion parcels shipped.

shipped just 1 parcel per person in 2017, yet grew 15 percent YOY reaching a total of 1.5 billion parcels shipped. Japan shipped 76 parcels per person in 2017 with YOY growth at 2 percent and a total parcel volume shipped at 9.6 billion.

About the Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index

The Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index measures parcel volume and spend for business-to-business, business-to-consumer, consumer-to-business and consumer consigned shipments with weight up to 31.5kg (70 pounds) across Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Population data points were sourced from the International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database published in October 2017. The Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index spans 13 countries and represents the parcel shipping activity of 3.7 billion people.

About Pitney Bowes

Pitney Bowes (NYSE:PBI) is a global technology company providing commerce solutions that power billions of transactions. Clients around the world, including 90 percent of the Fortune 500, rely on the accuracy and precision delivered by Pitney Bowes solutions, analytics, and APIs in the areas of ecommerce fulfillment, shipping and returns; cross-border ecommerce; presort services; office mailing and shipping; location data; and software. For nearly 100 years Pitney Bowes has been innovating and delivering technologies that remove the complexity of getting commerce transactions precisely right. For additional information visit Pitney Bowes, the Craftsmen of Commerce, at www.pitneybowes.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005237/en/

Contacts:

Pitney Bowes Inc.

Carol Wallace, 203-351-6974

Carol.wallace@pb.comEnterprises turn to Symmetry's global managed services and cloud expertise for deploying and managing SAP environments running on Amazon Web Services as part of digital transformation initiatives

BROOKFIELD, Wisconsin, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Symmetry, a leader in enterprise application management, hybrid cloud hosting and GRC solutions, today announced that it has achieved Advanced Consulting Partner level in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network (APN). The new partner status recognizes Symmetry's demonstrated ability to help enterprises design, build, migrate and run critical enterprise applications, including SAP HANA and SAP S/4HANA, in the public cloud. This will serve as an underpinning for incremental competencies within the AWS ecosystem.

AWS Advanced Consulting Partners-including system integrators, strategic consultancies, resellers, digital agencies, managed service providers (MSPs) and value-added resellers (VARs)-help customers design, architect, migrate or build new cloud native applications on AWS.

In reaching Advanced Consulting Partner status, Symmetry had to prove its internal skills and competencies through AWS accreditations and certifications, and through multiple customer references to validate the company's capabilities and service levels in the market. Symmetry works with more than 200 of the world's leading enterprises across a variety of industries, including manufacturing, professional services, biotech and more in managing their SAP landscapes.

"With the addition of our AWS managed IaaS offering, our service portfolio has expanded to include expert SAP application management capabilities across all environments: private, public and hybrid cloud," said Pete Stevenson, Chairman and CEO of Symmetry. "This will help our customers reduce the total cost of ownership while maximizing the performance and availability of their most critical IT systems."

Enterprise customers understand that a finely tuned, high performing ERP environment requires complete harmonization between the infrastructure, operating system and application layers. By combining over 22 years of SAP technology management and cloud hosting expertise with the AWS cloud platform, Symmetry brings a differentiated set of skills to help enterprises be successful in their digital transformation efforts. Such capabilities also include system migration services, full-stack proactive monitoring, award-winning GRC software capabilities, and 24x7x365 support operations backed by AWS and SAP certified engineers and architects.

About Symmetry

Symmetry manages complex SAP implementations on a global scale for more than 200 of the world's leading enterprises. With its proprietary client-centric business model - The Symmetry Way - combined with the industry's most advanced SAP hosting platform and industry leading ControlPanelGRC software suite, Symmetry delivers expert, high-touch SAP application management services across all deployment environments, including on-premise, hosted, and private, public and hybrid cloud. With more than 22 years in business, Symmetry has built a base of expertise unmatched by any other independent SAP service provider. An SAP partner since 2005, Symmetry is certified in SAP Hosting, Cloud and SAP HANA Operations. Symmetry is based in Brookfield, Wis. with locations across North America and Europe. Learn more at https://symmetrycorp.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/589181/Symmetry_Logo.jpgLOS ANGELES, BEIJING, LONDON and PUNE, India, August 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The global Electric Bike market is valued at US$ 6900 Mn in 2017 and is expected to reach at US$ 8410 Mn by 2025 end, expanding at a CAGR of 2.5% throughout the forecasted period.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/719476/QY_Research_Logo.jpg )

According to QY Research's latest report, the global production of electric bikes in 2016 was about 33 M unit. In terms of price, the average price of electrical bikes is about US$ 202 per unit in the year 2016, while its gross margin was about 18%. It has been observed that the price of electric bikes has been increasing constantly since the past few years.

Electric bikes are not motorbikes but a regular bicycle with various electrical components such as a controller, motor, and battery. These all parts are integrated into the design seamlessly. Just like a regular bicycle, electric bikes have handle and pedal. There is no need to completely replace electrical components and they are just meant to enhance human power. With electrical bikes obstacles like hill and headwind become more manageable and allows to travel without getting exhausted. As electrical bikes generally have treadles, it can be driven by a human in case of low battery.

GlobalElectric Bike Market: Drivers

Government's support on a large scale and quick implementation of stringent rule and regulations in various countries have been creating a positive impact on the sales of electric bikes. Rising investment in R &D by various key players in the market to develop new and innovative higher efficiency batteries and manufacturing vehicles with high performance has played a significant role in increasing the adoption of electric bikes.

Growing popularity of concepts such as public charging infrastructure and rental service for electric bikes in European and North American countries is likely to fuel the growth of the global electric bike market. By positioning their products as environment-friendly, the manufacturers across the globe are focusing on the sales of electric bikes that not only decrease air pollution but also reduce the greenhouse effect.

By the product type, the e-bike market is primarily split into

Lead-Acid Battery

Lithium Ion Battery

Other



By the end users/application, this report covers the following segments

Direct-sale

Distribution

Global Electric Bike Market: Regional Analysis

The Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the global market for an electric bike in the anticipated period. China and India have a great potential and both the countries have contributed to the growth of Asia Pacific electric bike market. The largest consumption of electric bikes is in China that has boosted the sales figure and thus influencing the growth of the global market for an electric bike. The import and export volume in China is also large and China has always been the largest exporter of electric bikes. The government in India has also encouraged to use electric bikes. By the end of 2035, the government is looking forward to covert fuel vehicles into electric vehicles.

Request Sample Report and Table of Content@ https://www.qyresearch.com/sample-form/form/65209/electric-bikes-market

Global Electric Bike Market: Key Players

Some of the key players in global electric bike market are Palla, AIMA, Accell Group, Yadea, Lvju, Sunra, Aucma EV, Incalcu, Songi, Lima, Yamaha, Lvneng, BYVIN, Qianxi Vehicle, Lvyuan, Giant EV, Mingjia, Supaq, Zuboo, Birdie Electric, Xiaodao Ebike, Gamma, Bodo, BDFSD, Lvjia, OPAI, Slane and others.

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Other Electric Bike Related Report@

Global Folding Electric Bike Market: https://www.qyresearch.com/index/detail/659752/global-folding-electric-bike-market

Lithium Battery Electric Bike Market: https://www.qyresearch.com/index/detail/638476/global-lithium-battery-electric-bike-market

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India: +91-114-046-9822

Korea: +82-107-551-1278

Singapore: +65-315-821-22

Emails - enquiry@qyrsearch.com



Web - http://www.qyresearch.com

Expert News: https://www.qyresearch.com/expert/listGlobal Customers using Mya Include L'Oreal, Adecco Group, and Sevenstep; Company Now Offers Conversational AI in French, Spanish, and German

Mya Systems, the creator of the industry's leading conversational AI recruiter, Mya, today announced significant customer and team growth. Since its launch in July of 2016, 120 enterprise companies -- including four of the largest global recruiting agencies, 15 of the Fortune 100, and 40 of the Fortune 500 -- have selected Mya to transform the job search and hiring experience for candidates and recruiters. L'Oreal, Adecco Group, and Sevenstep (a Motion Recruitment company) are among its customers. The company also recently grew its international footprint, expanded its employee base 300 percent, and made extensive product and technological enhancements.

Mya's ability to dramatically accelerate the recruiting process, increase candidate satisfaction, and improve recruiter productivity has led U.S. and European companies to rapidly adopt the conversational AI platform. In response, the company has tripled its team in the U.S., added support for major European languages, and opened offices in London and Munich. The company has named Malik Aibache, former Marketing Director for PageGroup, as its VP Marketing and Operations EMEA, and Joachim Fischer as its VP Sales EMEA.

"Our announcement today underscores the great progress we've made toward our mission to create a more efficient job market powered by AI," said Eyal Grayevsky, co-founder and CEO of Mya Systems. "Our momentum has been driven, in large part, by our significant investments in product and R&D and our commitment to building a world-class leadership team with repeat track records of scaling successful SaaS businesses."

In the past year, Mya Systems considerably expanded Mya's capabilities across the end-to-end recruitment life cycle, and added several ATS, CRM, and calendar partnerships and integrations to the platform. In keeping with its commitment to meeting the highest standards for customer privacy and security in both the U.S. and Europe, it achieved SOC2 and GDPR compliance. And, as part of its ongoing global expansion, the company now offers conversational AI in French, Spanish, and German.

Over the past year, Mya Systems has added a number of new leaders to its team to provide the company with the depth and breadth of expertise required for the next stage of its evolution and growth. Key executive hires include:

Malik Aibache, VP Marketing Operations EMEA Aibache brings 15 years of industry experience from Michael Page Group, one of Europe's largest recruiting agencies.

Aibache brings 15 years of industry experience from Michael Page Group, one of Europe's largest recruiting agencies. Joachim Fischer, VP Sales EMEA Fischer brings 20 years of sales and management experience for European-based organizations, most recently as Director of econ industries.

Fischer brings 20 years of sales and management experience for European-based organizations, most recently as Director of econ industries. Connie Schiefer, VP Product Management Schiefer was most recently SVP of Product Management and Engineering for SimplyHired, and previously VP of Product Management at Yahoo, overseeing a team of 40 product managers and 900+ engineers.

Schiefer was most recently SVP of Product Management and Engineering for SimplyHired, and previously VP of Product Management at Yahoo, overseeing a team of 40 product managers and 900+ engineers. Vinita Venkatesh, VP Product Marketing Venkatesh brings 15 years of domain, product and marketing expertise from brands including Workday, Rubrik, and Replicon.

Venkatesh brings 15 years of domain, product and marketing expertise from brands including Workday, Rubrik, and Replicon. Mike Pauletich, VP Business Development Pauletich has 20+ years of recruiting industry experience and leadership roles at Jibe, Entelo, eQuest, and TMP Worldwide.

Pauletich has 20+ years of recruiting industry experience and leadership roles at Jibe, Entelo, eQuest, and TMP Worldwide. Tim Gray, VP IT Information Security Gray has 20+ years of experience in technology and security operations, including with Guardian Analytics and Good Technology.

About Mya

Mya is the leading conversational AI recruiter. The solution helps hiring teams scale their sourcing efforts, screen and shortlist large applicant pools, automate the scheduling process, provide onboarding and HR support, and deliver a world-class candidate and employee experience. Mya applies proprietary natural language and machine learning techniques to have open-ended, natural and dynamic conversations, gather deep candidate insights, and build trust and confidence with its users. The technology interacts with candidates through SMS, WhatsApp, and other messaging applications and can be embedded into your career site and application process. Mya is highly configurable, speaks multiple languages, and can be seamlessly integrated into your ATS, CRM, and calendar systems.

About Mya Systems

Formerly known as FirstJob, Mya Systems was co-founded in 2012 by Eyal Grayevsky, CEO, and James Maddox, CTO. The San Francisco-based company launched Mya, its conversational AI recruiter, in July of 2016 to address major inefficiencies in recruiting and improve the process for both candidates and recruiters. Mya quickly gained an A-list of customers and established itself as a leading AI solutions provider in the recruiting industry. The company has raised $32.4M of venture funding in three rounds from top-tier investors including Emergence Capital and Foundation Capital. Mya has garnered industry recognition and awards from CB Insights AI 100, Bersin by Deloitte's 2017 Disruptions Report, Recruiter.com's Top 10 Recruiting Tools, and Kairos Society's K50, among others.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005301/en/

Contacts:

for Mya Systems

Audrey Webb, 408-472-2603

audrey.webb@verizon.netGRAND RAPIDS, MI / ACCESSWIRE / August 28, 2018 / CertifID, the real estate industry's only identity management platform for wire fraud prevention, today announced the addition of Accuity banking data to the company's technology platform. With the addition of +22,000 American Bankers Association (ABA) numbers, CertifID's users can now identify and verify 100% of the financial institutions in the U.S.

The new data will be used to automatically verify that routing numbers and ABA numbers provided to buyers and sellers in a real estate transaction are the actual numbers of the financial institution(s) associated with the deal. The Federal Reserve does not currently require the matching of financial institutions and account holder name before funds are transferred electronically, resulting in a surge of wire fraud across the country.

'With the addition of Accuity data, we have enhanced our functionality by providing additional bank level details, said Thomas Cronkright, CEO and co-founder of CertifID. 'The ability to provide clarity into the necessity of a correspondent bank, for example, allows our customers to more accurately display wire account information and securely transmit that information to their customers.'

Sarkis Akmakjian, Senior Director of Product Management for Payments Solutions at Accuity, said: 'Our solutions are designed to help customers make payments safely and accurately. We are pleased to see CertifID's innovative approach in implementing our data solutions to bring additional transparency to payments and preventing wire fraud. We are delighted to be a trusted partner as they address this significant industry challenge.'

About CertifID

Based in Grand Rapids Michigan, CertifID is a real-time, identity management platform, used to share wire account information securely. Every request guarantees each wire transfer is insured up to $500,000 against fraud. Using proprietary digital device analysis and knowledge-based authentication sequencing to verify the identity of both parties engaging in a wire transaction. Since launching in February, CertifID has protected over $400 million in wire transactions within residential and commercial real estate, nationwide.

For more information, please visit www.certifid.com.

About Accuity

Accuity offers a suite of innovative solutions for payments and compliance professionals, from comprehensive data and software that manage risk and compliance, to flexible tools that optimize payments pathways. With deep expertise and industry-leading data-enabled solutions from the Fircosoft, Bankers Almanac, and NRS brands, our portfolio delivers protection for individual and organizational reputations.

Part of RELX Group, a world-leading provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries, Accuity has been delivering solutions to banks and businesses worldwide for 180 years.

Media Contact

Chris Wilson

Caliber Corporate Advisers

703-927-5125

Chris.Wilson@CaliberCorporateAdvisers.com

SOURCE: CertifIDVancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 28, 2018) - Ridgestone Mining Inc. (TSXV: RMI) (the "Company" or "Ridgestone), is pleased to announce that drilling is underway at its Rebeico Gold-Copper project located in Sonora, Mexico

The program is designed to test for gold and copper mineralization below historical workings along the "Alaska" vein which has a strike length of over one kilometer and is open at depth.

Diamond drilling will comprise 12 HQ-diameter holes totaling approximately 1,400 meters, and is being conducted by Layne Drilling of Mexico, under the supervision of YQ Gold de Mexico, the project operator.

About the Rebeico Gold-Copper Project

The Rebeico Gold-Copper Project is located approximately 115 kilometers east of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico in the famed Sierra Madre Gold Belt, which has reportedly produced more than 80 million ounces of gold and over 4.5 billion ounces of silver.

Ridgestone has an option to earn a 100% interest in the Rebeico Gold-Copper Project (subject to a 2% NSR) from YQ Gold de Mexico S.de R.L. de C.V., (a private Mexican company) ("YQ") as further described in the Company's June 11, 2018 news release.

The Rebeico Gold-Copper Project's mineral concessions cover approximately 167 hectares located on private land and are easily accessed by paved highway and all weather gravel roads.

The Rebeico Gold-Copper Project has had intermittent historical production since the 1930's, with most of the efforts concentrated on the one kilometer-long "Alaska" vein, where underground workings reached depths of up to 70 meters.

Sampling by YQ geologists and others demonstrates that portions of the Alaska vein and some outcrops of a breccia zone west of the vein are mineralized with gold, silver and copper at concentrations that justify extensive exploration work, including drilling.

Additional information on the Rebeico Gold-Copper Project can be found in the National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") technical report entitled "NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Rebeico Gold-Copper Project, Central Sonora, Mexico", by Steven I. Weiss Phd, C.P.G., of Mine Development Associates, dated April 25, 2018, which has been filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Technical aspects of this news release have been reviewed and approved by Steven I. Weiss Phd, C.P.G., a qualified person under NI 43-101.

For further information, please contact:

Ron Birch, Director

Ridgestone Mining Inc.

Telephone: 1-800-910-7711

About the Company

Ridgestone is a TSX Venture Exchange -listed junior mineral exploration company with offices in Taipei and Vancouver, B.C. The Company's focus is on precious metals and copper in Sonora, Mexico, and specifically the Rebeico Gold-Copper project.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains forward-looking statements or information (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements"). Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements and are not guarantees of future performance of the Company. In this news release such statements include but are not limited to the preparation of a definitive agreement and the requirement of TSX Venture Exchange approval therefor. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. These forward-looking statements reflect management's current views and are based on certain expectations, estimates and assumptions which may prove to be incorrect. A number of risks and uncertainties could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including those described in the Company's Prospectus dated February 9, 2018 available on www.sedar.com. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of the Company's assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of risks, uncertainties and other factors is not exhaustive. Unpredictable or unknown factors not discussed could also have material adverse effects on forward-looking statements. The impact of any one factor on a particular forward-looking statement is not determinable with certainty as such factors are dependent on other factors, and the Company's course of action would depend on its assessment of the future considering all information then available. All forward-looking statements in this news release are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change.Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 28, 2018) - China Education Resources, Inc. (TSXV: CHN) (OTCQB: CHNUF) ("CER"), an ed-tech company with leading technology of intelligent system and contents to provide online/offline learning, training courses and social media for teachers, students and education professionals, announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2018. All figures are expressed in U.S. dollars.

China Education Resources generated gross revenues of $5,360,958 in the second quarter of 2018. This is compared to gross revenue of $5,389,330 for the same period in 2017. It recorded a net income attributable to shareholders of $1,084,786 as compared to a net income attributable to shareholders of $929,851 for the same period in 2017.

During the six months ended June 30, 2018, the Company generated revenue of $8,112,107 as compared with $8,176,781 for the same period in 2017. The net income attributable to the shareholders of the Company for the period was $1,245,948 as compared to $1,268,805 net income for the same period in 2017.

The Q2 of 2018 financial highlights are as summarized as follows:

2018 2017 Percentage (USD) (USD) change Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income Three months ended June 30, Book sales and distribution services 3,471,840 3,038,678 14.3% Online products 1,889,118 2,350,652 -19.6% Total revenue 5,360,958 5,389,330 -0.5% Net income attributable to shareholders of the Company for the three months 1,084,786 929,851 16.7% Six months ended June 30, Total revenue 8,112,107 8,176,781 -0.8% Net income (loss) attributable to shareholders of the Company for the nine months 1,245,948 1,268,805 -1.8%

There was an increase in revenue from the textbook sales and distribution services and decrease in revenue from online products for the current quarter as compared to the same period in 2017. The decrease in revenue from online products was mainly due to the delay in teacher training in some cities in China.

"We are pleased with our continually making profit." said Chengfeng Zhou, CEO, China Education Resources. "We expect the sales of the Company will continue to grow and our unique and comprehensive blend of education resources and services will provide CER with long-term revenue potential." For more information, please visit www.chinaeducationresources.com or Email: admin@chinaeducationresources.com.

In collaboration with China's education administrators and experts, China Education Resources has been helping to transform the curriculum of the world's largest educational system. Recognizing the need to address education reform changes, China Education Resources has created educational tools and curriculum for China's entire kindergarten through twelfth grade system. The Company is playing an integral part in transforming China's educational system through helping to convert the existing educational system from a memory-based learning system to a creative thinking and interactive approach. Presently, China Education Resources has over 1 million kindergarten through twelfth grade teachers registered through its Web portal.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements made herein, and other statements relating to matters that are not historical facts and statements of our beliefs, intentions and expectations about developments, results and events which will or may occur in the future, constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information and statements are typically identified by words such as "anticipate", "could", "should", "expect", "seek", "may", "intend", "likely", "plan", "estimate", "will", "believe" and similar expressions suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. All such forward-looking information and statements are based on certain assumptions and analysis made by China Education Resources, Inc.'s management in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management believes are appropriate in the circumstances. These statements, however, are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information or statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include those described under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" elsewhere in the Company's MD&A filed at www.SEDAR.com. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements. Except as required by law the Company does not assume the obligation to revise or update these forward looking statements after the date of this document or to revise them to reflect the occurrence of future, unanticipated events.

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed, and does not accept, responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the contents of this press release.

Contact China Education Resources at: (604) 331-2388

Email: admin@chinaeducationresources.com.

Website: http://www.chinaeducationresources.comTrade visit to highlight how UK innovation is changing lives and livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa

CAMBRIDGE, England, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Azuri Technologies, a leading provider of pay-as-you-go solar home systems to off-grid consumers, is among Prime Minister Theresa May's business delegation visiting Africa this week set to strengthen business relations between African countries and the UK. The visit will also showcase success stories such as that of the clean energy tech firm from Cambridge, which has developed successful trade partnerships across sub-Saharan Africa.

Azuri CEO Simon Bransfield-Garth is among the select group of UK business leaders who will meet with government officials and trade ambassadors from South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya this week to further the UK's position as a trading partner.

The PM and business leaders are in Cape Town today for the first of official meetings with dignitaries. The group will then travel to Nigeria for further meetings on Wednesday and then on to Kenya for a series of official engagements on Thursday.

On Thursday, Azuri CEO Simon Bransfield-Garth will be leading discussions around the future of renewable energy in Kenya with local government and UK officials during a round-table session. The session will also explore the importance of collaboration between UK and Kenyan and future investment.

"The visit from the Prime Minister highlights both the existing relationships between British companies and countries in Africa and the opportunities for the future. Africa has some of the fastest growing economies in the world and British businesses are ideally placed to support this growth and improve the lives of millions of consumers," commented Azuri CEO Simon Bransfield-Garth.

Azuri entered the solar market in Africa in 2012 and is now one of the leading providers of pay-as-you-go solar power lighting and TV systems, working in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Nigeria.

With over 600 million people in Africa having no access to electricity and many such households located in regions where the cost of rolling out grid electricity would be prohibitively expensive, the Cambridge-based company has been selling its innovative solar home solutions, delivering reliable, renewable and distributed power on an affordable pay-as-you-go basis.

In Nigeria, Azuri solar power was been installed in some 20,000 off-grid households in the North of the country in 2017 as part of the Government's "Beyond the Grid" initiative and further commercial installations are underway in 2018.

Across East Africa, Azuri is working with major local partner companies to bring solar power at scale to off-grid households, including the provision of seamless solar powered satellite TV providing over 50 channels.

In addition to providing power, to date Azuri has created over 5,000 new jobs via partner companies to sell, support and maintain solar home systems.

Solar power has been shown to have powerful economic and social benefits. Latest data shows solar households on average increased their income by US$35 per month. In addition, children in solar-powered homes were able to study for up to 90 minutes longer in the evenings, compared to households with conventional fuel lamps.

In 2018, Azuri was named the 233rd fastest growing company in Europe by Financial Times and Red Herring's Top 100 Europe.

Azuri's solar TV, the first solar home television on the market, continues to collect be industry accolades, the most recently being the 'Innovative Technology of the Year' award at the annual Africa Utility Week Industry Awards. Azuri also won an Edison Award for its innovation and excellence.

Note to Editors:

GOGLA report: Powering Opportunity: The Economic Impact of Off-Grid Solar [https://www.gogla.org/news/solar-brings-economic-boost-to-east-african-households]

About Azuri Technologies Ltd.

Azuri Technologies is a leading commercial provider of PayGo Solar Home Systems to rural off-grid communities. With the widest reach of any provider across East and West Africa, Azuri is leveraging solar and mobile technology to allow users in 12 different countries to access renewable, distributed power on a pay-as-you-go basis. Azuri's HQ is located in Cambridge, (U.K.), with substantial regional offices in Africa, including our East African HQ in Nairobi and our West African HQ in Lagos.

For more information, please visit: www.azuri-technologies.com

Media contact:

Gina Ghensi | Azuri Technologies Ltd. | gina.ghensi@azuri-technologies.com | +44-7769-875-422Thomson Reuters and Blackstone Agree to Close Financial & Risk Transaction on October 1, 2018

TORONTO, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Thomson Reuters (TSX/NYSE: TRI) today announced that it and private equity funds managed by Blackstone have agreed to close the sale of a 55% interest in the company's Financial & Risk business on October 1, 2018, subject to satisfaction or waiver of customary closing conditions. The closing of the transaction is not subject to any financing condition. An affiliate of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and an affiliate of GIC will invest alongside Blackstone. After the closing, the Financial & Risk business will be known as Refinitiv.

Thomson Reuters will receive approximately US$17 billion in gross proceeds when the transaction closes (subject to purchase price adjustments). Thomson Reuters plans to return an aggregate of US$10 billion of these proceeds to its shareholders. The company expects to use the remaining proceeds not returned to shareholders to redeem approximately US$4 billion of debt, maintain approximately US$2 billion of cash on its balance sheet to fund focused acquisitions, and utilize approximately US$1 billion to cover transaction-related expenses including cash taxes, pension contributions, bond redemption costs and other fees and outflows related to the transaction.

Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of news and information for professional markets. Our customers rely on us to deliver the intelligence, technology and expertise they need to find trusted answers. The business has operated in more than 100 countries for more than 100 years. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges (symbol: TRI). For more information, visit http://www.thomsonreuters.com/.

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking, including the company's current expectations regarding the timing for closing of the Financial & Risk transaction (which remains subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions) and the expected use of proceeds of the Financial & Risk transaction. These forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and reflect our company's current expectations. As a result, forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations, including other factors discussed in materials that Thomson Reuters from time to time files with, or furnishes to, the Canadian securities regulatory authorities and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. There is no assurance that a transaction involving all or part of the Financial & Risk business will be completed or that other events described in any forward-looking statement will materialize. Except as may be required by applicable law, Thomson Reuters disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.Thomson Reuters Announces Substantial Issuer Bid/Tender Offer for up to US$9 Billion of its Common Shares

- Up to US$9 billion to be returned to shareholders via substantial issuer bid/tender offer (SIB) to commence today

- Price range for the SIB of US$42.00 to US$47.00 per share represents a (0.4)% to 11.5% premium over the company's volume weighted average price on the NYSE over the last 20 trading days

- Woodbridge to participate in the SIB on a basis proportionate with its 64% ownership in Thomson Reuters

- SIB expected to be completed on October 2, 2018 and is subject to closing of the previously announced Financial & Risk/Blackstone transaction and is being launched now to coordinate with that closing

TORONTO, Aug. 28, 2018 -- Thomson Reuters (TSX/NYSE: TRI) today announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the making of a substantial issuer bid/tender offer (SIB) pursuant to which the company will offer to purchase from shareholders for cancellation up to US$9 billion of its outstanding common shares.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/13199/THOMSON_REUTERS_LOGO.jpg

The SIB will commence today and expire on October 2, 2018, unless extended or withdrawn. The company plans to fund repurchases of shares using a portion of the cash proceeds to be received from the sale of a 55% interest in the company's Financial & Risk business to private equity funds managed by Blackstone for approximately US$17 billion (the "F&R Transaction"). An affiliate of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and an affiliate of GIC will invest alongside Blackstone. The F&R Transaction is expected to close on October 1, 2018 and the SIB is conditioned upon the closing.

"We are committed to returning a significant portion of the F&R Transaction proceeds to our shareholders, in line with our original announcement when we signed the deal with Blackstone in January," said Jim Smith, president and chief executive officer of Thomson Reuters. "After the F&R Transaction closes, the new Thomson Reuters plans to pursue organic and inorganic opportunities to enhance growth and to support our market-leading positions providing news, information and tools to legal, regulatory and tax professionals."

Updated Use of Proceeds from F&R Transaction

Thomson Reuters plans to return an aggregate of US$10 billion of proceeds from the F&R Transaction to its shareholders through the US$9 billion SIB and other actions, as described below. The company now expects to use the remaining proceeds not returned to shareholders to redeem approximately US$4 billion of debt, maintain approximately US$2 billion of cash on its balance sheet to fund focused acquisitions, and utilize approximately US$1 billion to cover transaction-related expenses including cash taxes, pension contributions, bond redemption costs and other fees and outflows related to the transaction.

In addition to the SIB, the company also expects to return approximately US$1 billion to shareholders through share repurchases under its normal course issuer bid (NCIB). The company has already repurchased approximately US$488 million of this amount since announcing the F&R Transaction on January 30, 2018. In addition, the company plans to repurchase approximately US$512 million of shares after the SIB, regardless of whether the full US$9 billion is repurchased under the SIB.

If the number of shares tendered under the SIB is less than the US$9 billion target, any shortfall is expected to be addressed through additional NCIB share repurchases and/or via a distribution to shareholders by way of a return of capital distribution. The company expects that any return of capital distribution would be implemented in conjunction with a share consolidation, or "reverse stock split", which would reduce the number of outstanding common shares on a basis that is proportional to the return of capital distribution and would allow the company to maintain its current dividend per share following the transaction. The Board of Directors will review the timing of potential future dividend increases once there is greater clarity around the company's capital structure following the redeployment of most of the F&R Transaction cash proceeds.

SIB/Tender Offer Alternatives

The SIB will be conducted through a "modified Dutch auction" procedure. Shareholders who wish to participate in the SIB will be able to do so through auction tenders, purchase price tenders or proportionate tenders. Shareholders who validly deposit shares without specifying the method in which they are tendering their shares will be deemed to have made a purchase price tender.

Woodbridge/Directors/Officers Participation

The company's principal shareholder, The Woodbridge Company Limited and its affiliates (Woodbridge), which beneficially owns approximately 64% of the company's issued and outstanding shares, has agreed to make a proportionate tender, which will result in Woodbridge tendering the number of shares that will allow Woodbridge to maintain its proportionate equity ownership in Thomson Reuters following completion of the SIB. As a result, Thomson Reuters shareholders other than Woodbridge will set the purchase price for the SIB through auction tenders and purchase price tenders.

Thomson Reuters' directors and officers do not plan to tender any shares pursuant to the SIB.

Purchase Price

Upon expiry of the SIB, the company will determine the lowest purchase price (which will not be more than US$47.00 per share and not less than US$42.00 per share) that will allow it to purchase the maximum number of common shares properly tendered to the SIB, and not properly withdrawn, having an aggregate purchase price not exceeding US$9 billion.

If common shares with an aggregate purchase price of more than US$9 billion are properly tendered and not properly withdrawn, the company will purchase the shares on a pro rata basis after giving effect to "odd lot" tenders (of holders beneficially owning fewer than 100 shares), which will not be subject to pro-ration, and proportionate tenders. In that case, all shares tendered at or below the finally determined purchase price will be purchased, subject to pro-ration, at the same purchase price determined pursuant to the terms of the SIB. Shares that are not purchased, including shares tendered pursuant to auction tenders at prices above the purchase price, will be returned to shareholders.

If common shares with an aggregate purchase price of less than US$9 billion are properly tendered and not properly withdrawn, the company will purchase all shares tendered at US$47.00 per share, the maximum price per share pursuant to the terms of the SIB.

Additional Information

The SIB will be for up to approximately 30.6% of the total number of issued and outstanding shares on a non-diluted basis (based on a purchase price equal to the minimum purchase price per share and 699,996,846 shares issued and outstanding as of August 24, 2018).

The SIB is optional for all shareholders, who are free to choose whether to participate, how many shares to tender and, in the case of auction tenders, at what price to tender within the specified range. Any shareholders who do not deposit their shares (or whose shares are not repurchased under the SIB) will realize a proportionate increase in their equity interest in the company, to the extent that shares are purchased under the SIB.

Thomson Reuters has suspended share repurchases under its NCIB, and no NCIB purchases will be made until after the expiration of the SIB.

The SIB is not conditional upon any minimum number of shares being tendered but is subject to the closing of the F&R Transaction and various other conditions that are typical for a transaction of this type. Thomson Reuters reserves the right, subject to applicable laws, to withdraw or amend the SIB, if certain events occur at any time prior to the payment for tendered shares. The SIB is expected to remain open for acceptance until 11:59 p.m. (Toronto time) on October 2, 2018, unless extended or withdrawn.

Details of the SIB, including instructions for tendering shares, will be included in the formal offer to purchase and issuer bid circular, letter of transmittal, notice of guaranteed delivery and other related documents (the SIB Offer Documents). The SIB Offer Documents are expected to be mailed to shareholders, filed with applicable Canadian securities regulatory authorities and made available without charge on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, filed on a Schedule 13E-4F with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and made available without charge on EDGAR at www.sec.gov, and posted on the company's website at www.thomsonreuters.com, today.

Kingsdale Advisors (Kingsdale) has been engaged by Thomson Reuters to act as information agent for the SIB. Shareholders who have questions regarding the SIB or require any assistance tendering shares may contact Kingsdale by telephone at 1-866-851-3215 (toll free in North America) or at 1-416-867-2272 (collect call outside of North America) or by email at contactus@kingsdaleadvisors.com.

Thomson Reuters has engaged TD Securities Inc. and Merrill Lynch Canada Inc. to act as dealer managers for the SIB in Canada and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated to act as its dealer manager for the SIB in the United States. Thomson Reuters has also engaged Computershare Trust Company of Canada to act as depositary for the SIB. Any questions or requests for information regarding the SIB may also be directed to one of the applicable dealer managers or the depositary.

The offer referred to in this news release has not yet commenced. This news release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to sell shares. The solicitation and the offer to buy shares will only be made pursuant to the SIB Offer Documents that are filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The offer will not be made to, nor will tenders be accepted from or on behalf of, holders of common shares in any jurisdiction in which the making or acceptance of offers to sell common shares would not be in compliance with the laws of that jurisdiction. None of Thomson Reuters, its Board of Directors, the dealer managers, the depositary or the information agent makes any recommendation to shareholders as to whether to tender or refrain from tendering any or all of their shares pursuant to the SIB or the purchase price or prices at which shareholders may choose to tender shares. Shareholders are strongly urged to read the SIB Offer Documents carefully and to consult with their financial, tax and legal advisors prior to making any decision with respect to the SIB.

Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of news and information for professional markets. Our customers rely on us to deliver the intelligence, technology and expertise they need to find trusted answers. The business has operated in more than 100 countries for more than 100 years. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges (symbol: TRI). For more information, visit www.thomsonreuters.com.

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking, including Mr. Smith's remarks; the company's current expectations regarding the timing for closing of the F&R Transaction (which remains subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions); the expected use of proceeds of the F&R Transaction; the company's intention to commence a SIB; the size, timing, terms and conditions for the contemplated SIB; the company's expectation to provide returns to shareholders through either additional NCIB share repurchases or a return of capital distribution if it does not purchase US$9 billion of shares pursuant to the contemplated SIB; and the company's expectations regarding its dividend per share following any share consolidation transaction. These forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and reflect our company's current expectations. As a result, forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations, including other factors discussed in materials that Thomson Reuters from time to time files with, or furnishes to, the Canadian securities regulatory authorities and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. There is no assurance that the SIB or a transaction involving all or part of the Financial & Risk business will be completed or that other events described in any forward-looking statement will materialize. Except as may be required by applicable law, Thomson Reuters disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.28 August 2018

Acacia Mining plc

LSE: ACA

("Acacia" or the "Company")

Board Changes

Acacia announces that Mr Kelvin Dushnisky has tendered his resignation as a non-executive director of Acacia, effective as at 31 August 2018, and from his position as Chair of the Board. This is further to the announcements made on 23 July 2018 by Barrick Gold Corporation ("Barrick") and by AngloGold Ashanti Limited ("AngloGold Ashanti"), respectively, of Kelvin's impending departure from Barrick as at the end of August 2018, and his impending appointments as CEO and as an Executive Director of AngloGold Ashanti, to be effective 1 September 2018.

Further to Kelvin's resignation, the Board of Acacia has appointed Rachel English, one of Acacia's existing Independent Non-Executive Directors, as Interim Chair of the Board, with effect from 1 September 2018.

Ms English is an Independent Non-Executive Director of Acacia. Ms English is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Ms English has held senior positions in BG Group and Royal Dutch Shell, with responsibilities spanning finance, corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and business development. She began her career at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and subsequently worked for the World Bank Group and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ("EBRD"), where she was involved in policy development and lending operations. Ms English has held a number of non-executive positions over the past 10 years. Currently, Ms English is also a Director of Helios Social Enterprise, which she founded to develop renewable energy access projects in rural sub-Saharan Africa. Ms English holds an MA in Politics, Philosophy & Economics from Oxford University.

Following these changes, the Board of Acacia now comprises an Interim Chair (prior to appointment, an Independent Non-Executive Director), one Executive Director, three Independent Non-Executive Directors and one Barrick Nominee Non-Executive Director. The Board will continue to consider opportunities for additional Board appointments as part of its orderly succession planning processes, and to ensure that it retains the appropriate balance and expertise to meet Acacia's business objectives. An announcement on a permanent appointment to the role of Chair of the Board will be made in due course.

Commenting on these changes Michael Kenyon, Senior Independent Director, said: "On behalf of the Board and the Company, I would like to thank Kelvin for his contribution to Acacia over the years and wish him the very best for his new role at AngloGold Ashanti. We also welcome and support Rachel in her new role as Interim Chair."

In turn, commenting on her appointment as Interim Chair, Rachel English said: "It is a privilege to be accepting the position of Interim Chair of the Board of Acacia. In this role I will continue to work with my fellow Directors to seek to advance the Company in the interests of all of its stakeholders over the long term."

ENQUIRIES

For further information, please visit our website: www.acaciamining.com or contact:

Acacia Mining plc +44 (0) 20 7129 7150

Sally Marshak, General Manager - Investor Relations & Communications

Camarco +44 (0) 20 3757 4980

Gordon Poole / Nick Hennis3Shape, a leading innovator and manufacturer of 3D digital scanners and CAD/CAM software solutions for dental practices and labs, today filed a lawsuit against Align Technology for allegedly acting illegally to block competition in the marketplace for scanners for orthodontic treatment, including clear aligners.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005586/en/

3Shape has filed a lawsuit against Align Technology for alleged abuse of monopoly power in the dental scanner and clear aligner markets. (Photo: Business Wire)

The lawsuit, styled 3Shape TRIOS A/S v Align Technology, Inc., was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

"Align is illegally holding on to their monopoly of clear aligners after expiry of many of their patents, by effectively forcing dental professionals to buy Align's intraoral scanner which, with regard to clear aligners and for most practical purposes, is only used for Align's own clear aligner product Invisalign," said Wendelynne J. Newton, Counsel for 3Shape.

Align is the manufacturer of the Invisalign brand of clear aligners for orthodontic treatment, as well as the iTero intraoral scanner. As Align's patents for Invisalign have already begun to expire, among others 4 of the world's largest and most esteemed dental companies have challenged Align's dominant position with alternative clear aligner products.

3Shape innovated the 3Shape TRIOS intraoral scanner which has been named the best intraoral scanner by the industry for five years in a row, and the most accurate in an independent ADA study. TRIOS is also the world's only wireless intraoral scanner. 3Shape TRIOS has thus become a favorite among doctors for restorative treatment as well as for clear aligners, competing directly with Align's own iTero scanner. This appears to have stimulated a series of anticompetitive actions by Align.

According to the lawsuit, Align is trying to hold on to its monopoly in the clear aligner market by blocking the ability of their strongest scanner competitor from being used in the fitting of Invisalign, and thereby effectively blocking dentists from choosing any other scanner than Align's iTero for clear aligner treatments. This is also underlined by the launch of Align's new Invisalign GO Treatment system, which is accessible with iTero only.

"3Shape believes in fair competition and in giving doctors choices rather than limiting them. Align's behavior represents the opposite of how 3Shape sees the dental industry should evolve for the benefit of doctors and their patients," said Lars Christian Lund, Vice President, Corporate Business Development and Marketing at 3Shape. "More and more dentists are expressing outrage at Align's methods that ultimately make their services more expensive for their patients.''

Unlike Align's scanner, the 3Shape TRIOS scanner is an open platform that directly interfaces to multiple clear aligner and orthodontic solution providers. An open platform allows dentists and patients to choose the best treatment solution for each case while driving down costs. By forcing dentists to use Align's iTero scanner with Invisalign, they are creating for all intents and purposes an impenetrable closed market that obstructs competition.

About 3Shape

3Shape is changing dentistry together with dental professionals across the world by developing innovations that provide superior dental care for patients. Our portfolio of 3D scanners and CAD/CAM software solutions for the dental industry includes the multiple award-winning 3Shape TRIOS intraoral scanner, the upcoming 3Shape X1 CBCT scanner, as well as market leading scanning and design software solutions for both dental practices and labs.

Two graduate students founded 3Shape in Denmark's capital in the year 2000. Today, 3Shape has over 1,400 employees serving customers in over 100 countries from an ever-growing number of 3Shape offices around the world. 3Shape's products and innovations continue to challenge traditional methods, enabling dental professionals to treat more patients more effectively. www.3shape.com.

*Contact 3Shape resellers regarding availability of products in your region or country.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005586/en/

Contacts:

3Shape

Bruce Mendel, +45 29 80 85 05

Director of Corporate Communications

bruce.mendel@3shape.com

or

Hill+Knowlton Strategies

Susan Thurston, 813-775-6229

susan.thurston@hkstrategies.comTheraclion selected for a 2.4M Eurostars research project with University of Leipzig Objective is first patient-ready HIFU/Radiotherapy system

Theraclion has signed a commercial agreement with the university hospital "Klinikum rechts der Isar" in Munich

Regulatory News:

THERACLION (Paris:ALTHE) (Alternext, FR0010120402 ALTHE), a company specialized in leading-edge medical equipment for echotherapy, announces today that its most recent research program has been selected as a Eurostars project. In collaboration with its project partners, Theraclion will develop the first patient-ready HIFU (High Intensity Focused Ultrasound) specifically designed for combination cancer therapy with radiotherapy.

Eurostars is a joint program between EUREKA,an intergovernmental network, to support market-oriented R&D and innovation projects, and the European Commission. In the 2014-2020 period, Eurostars has a total budget of 1.14 billion. Theraclion's 3 years project will be developed in collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for Medical Image Computing (MEVIS), the Innovation Center Computer Assisted Surgery (ICCAS Universitat Leipzig) and Mediri (SME). Theraclion will spend up to 1.7M and receive grants up to 40% of expenses.

"We are going to develop a multipurpose robotic system that can deliver a broad range of focused ultrasound regimes supporting different types of cancer therapy. During the course of the project, Theraclion's Echopulse will be positioned by a robot arm enabling its use in conjunction with a radiation therapy system. Our target is a patient-ready system," explains Prof. Andreas Melzer, director of ICCAS at the University of Leipzig, Germany.

Theraclion also announces today that is has signed a commercial agreement with the university hospital "Klinikum rechts der Isar" of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) for the use of Echopulse for treatment of patients with thyroid nodules. The system will be installed in the department of nuclear medicine. The diagnosis and the treatment of benign and malignant thyroid disease is a specialty of the clinic which in total employs 13 doctors and assistant doctors of nuclear medicine.

"We want to offer echotherapy as a non-invasive alternative for patients who cannot or don't want to undergo surgery" says Prof. Weber, head of the clinic of nuclear medicine at "Klinikum rechts der Isar". "As an academic hospital, our interest is to investigate what the role of this non-invasive treatment may be in the future and which other indications could benefit from such an innovative technology."

"Klinikum rechts der Isar" is one of the most renowned university hospitals in Germany. Its approval of this technology is of major importance in our market access strategy", explains Jose Abellan-Martinez, VP Sales Germany, Central Eastern Europe, Italy Iberia. "Also, now patients from southern Germany, and in particular from the Bavarian Capital, Munich, have an Echotherapy center to go to."

"The collaboration with these top German universities is another milestone in our strategy to focus on Germany as a main market for our technology in the key indications", concludes David Caumartin. "Increasing clinical adoption from existing customers and deep interest in exploring Echopulse in new applications reflects the growing importance of HIFU technology in Europe's biggest market."

About Theraclion

Theraclion is a French company specializing in high-tech medical equipment using therapeutic ultrasound. Drawing on leading-edge technologies, Theraclion has designed and manufactured an innovative solution for echotherapy, the Echopulse, allowing non-invasive tumor treatment through ultrasound-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound. Theraclion is ISO 13485 certified and has received the CE mark for non-invasive ablation of breast fibroadenomas and thyroid nodules. Based in Malakoff, near Paris, France Theraclion has brought together a team of 35 people, 50% of whom are dedicated to R&D and clinical trials. For more information, please visit Theraclion's website: www.theraclion.com

Theraclion is listed on Euronext Growth Paris

PEA-PME eligible

Mnemonic: ALTHE ISIN Code: FR0010120402

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005432/en/

Contacts:

Theraclion

David Caumartin, Tel: +33 (0)1 55 48 90 70

CEO

david.caumartin@theraclion.com

or

Theraclion

Anja Kleber, Tel: 33 (0)6 07 95 44 39

VP Marketing, Market Access Sales Francophonia

anja.kleber@theraclion.comHyatt House Frankfurt/City Goetheplatz will be part of the inner city development FOUR Frankfurt and will mark the second Hyatt House hotel in the Frankfurt area

Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) announced today that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into a franchise agreement with HR Group for a Hyatt House hotel in Frankfurt, Germany. The hotel will be integrated into FOUR Frankfurt, a large mixed use development in the center of the city by Gro Partner, that will be comprised of four towers and will include residential and office facilities, as well as retail spaces and hotels. Expected to open in 2020, Hyatt House Frankfurt/City Goetheplatz will mark the second Hyatt House hotel in Frankfurt, joining Hyatt House Frankfurt/Eschborn.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005760/en/

Hyatt House Frankfurt/City Goetheplatz will be part of the inner city development FOUR Frankfurt (photo credit: Hyatt)

The Hyatt House brand is rooted in extensive consumer insights indicating that guests seek stylish, comfortable, seamless experiences that accommodate their lifestyles and familiar routines. To embody this, the brand offers casual hospitality and purposeful service in a smartly designed, high-tech and contemporary environment.

"As the second Hyatt House hotel in the Frankfurt area, the opening of Hyatt House Frankfurt/City Goetheplatz will be an important addition to our select service portfolio in Germany," said Guido Fredrich, Hyatt's regional vice president development, Europe and North Africa. "We continue to grow the Hyatt House brand thoughtfully in key markets around the world. We strongly believe in a growing demand for the extended stay market in Frankfurt, which makes Hyatt House Frankfurt/City Goetheplatz a great addition to the city's overall hotel offerings."

Ruslan Husry, owner and managing director of HR Group, added, "Hyatt House Frankfurt/City Goetheplatz will be our second franchise agreement with Hyatt following Hyatt House Frankfurt/Eschborn we are delighted to collaborate with Hyatt again and we strongly believe the new Hyatt House hotel in Frankfurt's city center will provide a new hotel experience for travelers visiting Europe's financial capital."

"The Hyatt House brand is designed to offer guests a home away from home. The combination of its extended stay accommodations and ideal location in central Frankfurt will cater to families, as well as leisure and business travelers," said Nikolaus Bieber, managing partner of G P Grundstucksentwicklungs GmbH Co.

Hyatt House Frankfurt/City Goetheplatz will offer:

180 guestrooms , including 86-residentially inspired upscale rooms, both one-bedroom suites and studio king guestrooms, that will feature fully-equipped kitchens, comfortable living rooms and spacious bedrooms, as well as 94 upscale den guestrooms that will feature a seating area with a couch

, including 86-residentially inspired upscale rooms, both one-bedroom suites and studio king guestrooms, that will feature fully-equipped kitchens, comfortable living rooms and spacious bedrooms, as well as 94 upscale den guestrooms that will feature a seating area with a couch Free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel and guestrooms

throughout the hotel and guestrooms The Commons , a comfortable lounge with an open and welcoming space for guests to relax, gather and socialize

, a comfortable lounge with an open and welcoming space for guests to relax, gather and socialize 24/7 H Market to meet the everyday needs of guests, from snacks and sundries

to meet the everyday needs of guests, from snacks and sundries A 24-hour Workout Room to keep fitness routines going

to keep fitness routines going Gathering zones with flexible meeting cubes, audiovisual equipment and a dedicated House Host to ensure events are productive and seamless

with flexible meeting cubes, audiovisual equipment and a dedicated House Host to ensure events are productive and seamless Borrows Menu with often-forgotten items from phone charges to razors

with often-forgotten items from phone charges to razors A Very Important Resident (VIR) program, including complimentary grocery shopping, and other personalized perks, for guests with 30 plus consecutive nights

There are seven Hyatt-branded hotels currently open in Germany, including Hyatt House Dusseldorf/Andreas QuarterHyatt Regency Dusseldorf, Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport, Park Hyatt Hamburg Grand Hyatt Berlin, Hyatt Regency Cologne and Hyatt Regency Mainz. In addition to Hyatt House Frankfurt/Goetheplatz, there are two previously announced Hyatt-branded hotels currently under development: Andaz Munich (expected to open in early 2019) and Hyatt House Frankfurt/Eschborn (expected to open in late 2019).

For more information about Hyatt House hotels, please visit www.hyatt.com/brands/hyatt-house.

The term "Hyatt" is used in this release for convenience to refer to Hyatt Hotels Corporation and/or one or more of its affiliates.

About Hyatt House

Hyatt House, a brand of Hyatt Hotels Corporation, launched in 2012 and offers more than 85 locations throughout the United States, China, Germany, Mexico, Turkey, and Puerto Rico. Inspired by extensive research into guest experiences, Hyatt House hotels offer services, amenities, upscale spaces and a casual, comfortable environment that reminds guests of home. For more information, please visit hyatthouse.com. Join the conversation on Facebook, and tag photos with HyattHouse and WhySettle.

About HR Group

HR Group is one of the largest owner-operator hotel groups in Germany. With more than 4,800 rooms in Germany, The Netherlands and Spain HR Group is one of the leading hotel companies in Germany and is continuously growing. HR Group mainly cooperates with leading franchise partners and plans to further expand on the basis of acquisitions and lease contracts. Extensive market knowledge, distinctive real estate knowhow and professional management structures create the foundation of success of the HR Group.

About Gro Partner

The Gro Partner Grundstucksentwicklungsgesellschaft mbH is one of the leading project development companies in Germany with headquarters in Frankfurt am Main. The company is specialized in the development of office, residential, and hotel properties as well as city and quarter development. The company covers the entire value added chain of the property: from project idea to development, to construction, and finally rental and sales. Sample projects are the construction of the new centers for the German Stock Exchange (Deutsche Borse), Ernst Young, AirPlus, and the Kion Group as well as the overseas quarter "Nord der Hafencity" in Hamburg. In Frankfurt, Gro Partner is currently developing milestone high-rise project with the FOUR Frankfurt project, One Forty West, and the Spin Tower.

www.gross-partner.de

About Hyatt Hotels Corporation

Hyatt Hotels Corporation, headquartered in Chicago, is a leading global hospitality company with a portfolio of 14 premier brands. As of June 30, 2018, the Company's portfolio included more than 750 properties in more than 55 countries across six continents. The Company's purpose to care for people so they can be their best informs its business decisions and growth strategy and is intended to attract and retain top colleagues, build relationships with guests and create value for shareholders. The Company's subsidiaries develop, own, operate, manage, franchise, license or provide services to hotels, resorts, branded residences, vacation ownership properties, and fitness and spa locations, including under the Park Hyatt, Miraval, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt, Andaz, Hyatt Centric, The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Hyatt Ziva, Hyatt Zilara, Hyatt Residence Club and exhale brand names. For more information, please visit www.hyatt.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Forward-Looking Statements in this press release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Our actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "likely," "will," "would" and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by us and our management, are inherently uncertain. Factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from current expectations include, among others, the rate and pace of economic recovery following economic downturns; levels of spending in business and leisure segments as well as consumer confidence; declines in occupancy and average daily rate; the financial condition of, and our relationships with, third-party property owners, franchisees and hospitality venture partners; the possible inability of third-party owners, franchisees or development partners to access the capital necessary to fund current operations or implement our plans for growth; risks associated with potential acquisitions and dispositions and the introduction of new brand concepts; failure to successfully complete proposed transactions (including the failure to satisfy closing conditions or obtain required approvals); changes in the competitive environment in our industry, including as a result of industry consolidation, and the markets where we operate; general volatility of the capital markets and our ability to access such markets; and other risks discussed in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K, which filings are available from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These factors are not necessarily all of the important factors that could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by any of our forward-looking statements. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which are made only as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any of these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, new information or future events, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. If we update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005760/en/

Contacts:

Sian Rylander

Hyatt

+1 312 780 5797

sian.rylander@hyatt.com

or

Simone Loretan

Hyatt Europe, Africa and Middle East

+41 44 279 1226

simone.loretan@hyatt.comToronto, Ontario and New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - August 28, 2018) - Micromem Technologies, Inc. (CSE: MRM) (OTCQB: MMTIF) ("Micromem") ("the Company") through its wholly owned subsidiary Micromem Applied Sensor Technologies, Inc. (MAST), provides the following update:

Mr. Steve Van Fleet has resigned as an officer and director of Micromem as of August 17, 2018. The Board of Directors of the Company has accepted his resignation.

The Company has developed a transition plan that is now in effect. It is pleased to announce that the following individuals have been engaged as consultants to the Company:

a) June Ressler, CEO of Cenergy International (cenergyintl.com). Founded by Ms. Ressler in 1997, Cenergy's corporate office is located in Houston, Texas with additional offices in Louisiana, and California, as well as Calgary, Canada. Cenergy is a provider of specialized energy personnel, safety services and training, rig inspection and vendor management in the upstream, midstream and downstream areas for most of the major international oil companies.



Ms. Ressler received a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and previously practiced family law in the state of Pennsylvania.



Micromem's collaboration with Cenergy provides it with access, as required, to service related personnel in all areas of expertise in the oil & gas sector. b) Carmine Pizzurro, P.Eng, M.Eng, President of InspecTech Analgas Group Inc. (inspectech.ca). InspecTech is based in Toronto, Canada and has operated as a provider of specialized non-destructive testing systems since 1977. It is a leader in this field, providing high quality reliable systems. The company has significant expertise in the development of sensor-based platform solutions.



Previously, between1993-2009, Mr. Pizzurro held successive positions with General Motors as plant manager and as engineering group manager in their Oshawa, Ontario facilities.



InspecTech's role will be to work and to interface directly with Micromem's key subcontractors who will continue to provide design, testing and engineering services to Micromem. Mr. Pizzurro and his team bring strong project management expertise to Micromem. c) Robert Zittrer, MBA, FCPA, FCA, ICD.D, a business consultant who has a 40 year career in finance, mergers and acquisitions, financial reporting, strategic planning and corporate governance.



Between 1994-2016, Mr. Zittrer served multiple roles with a major Canadian accounting and financial services company including successive roles as Chair of Assurance and Tax Management Committee, Executive Committee, Board Member, Co-Managing Partner and Chair of the Board. Previously, Mr. Zittrer was a senior partner with one of the international "Big Four" accounting firms.



Mr. Zittrer's role will be to advise and to consult with the Company's Chief Financial Officer, Dan Amadori, on all financial reporting matters and to assist the Company's Board of Directors in strategic planning and transition.



The transition team is engaged with the management team in direct discussions with its existing customers, its potential customers and all of its key subcontractors as it continues to work towards the commercialization of its technology.

Joseph Fuda, CEO of Micromem, states: "We are very pleased to engage such high quality, talented and experienced consultants to assist the Company in its go forward initiatives. Micromem is committed to working with its existing customers to work towards commercialization of its proprietary technology. "

The Company will provide additional updates over the coming weeks.

**********************

About Micromem and MASTInc

MASTInc is a wholly owned U.S.-based subsidiary of Micromem Technologies Inc., a publicly traded (OTCQB: MMTIF) (CSE: MRM) company. MASTInc analyzes specific industry sectors to create intelligent game-changing applications that address unmet market needs. By leveraging its expertise and experience with sophisticated magnetic sensor applications, MASTInc successfully powers the development and implementation of innovative solutions for oil & gas, utilities, automotive, healthcare, government, information technology, manufacturing, and other industries. Visit www.micromeminc.com www.mastinc.com.

About Entanglement

Entanglement Technologies, Inc., has developed the world's most advanced chemical sensors, bringing real-time analysis out of the laboratory and into the field. It makes the invisible world of chemicals accessible and actionable with rapid and precise sensing technology. Learn more: http://www.entanglementtech.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. In particular, factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include: our inability to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms; risk that our products and services will not gain widespread market acceptance; continued consumer adoption of digital technology; inability to compete with others who provide comparable products; the failure of our technology; the infringement of our technology with proprietary rights of third parties; inability to respond to consumer and technological demands; inability to replace significant customers; seasonal nature of our business; and other risks detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made and are not guarantees of future performance. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. When used in this document, the words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "project," "plan," "should," "intend," "may," "will," "would," "potential," and similar expressions may be used to identify forward-looking statements.

The CSE or any other securities regulatory authority has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release that has been prepared by management.

###

Listing: NASD OTC-QB - Symbol: MMTIF

CSE - Symbol: MRM

Shares issued: 245,532,560

SEC File No: 0-26005

Investor Contact:info@micromeminc.com; Tel. 416-364-2023 Subscribe to receive News Releases by Email on our website's home page. www.micromeminc.com.(ASX:PCL)

Hello, I'm Rachael Jones for the Finance News Network.Joining me today, from Pancontinental Oil and Gas is Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, John Begg.John, welcome back.Thank you very much Rachael.Now Pancontinental is about to drill a well offshore Namibia in a very large prospect with a 20 per cent interest and no cost exposure. How is that achieved?Pancontinental were the early mover on this project. Originally the operator with a large interest. And then farmed out the interest to Tullow Oil). Tullow are now the operator of the project and, of course, Tullow are one of the very best credentialed explorers of Africa.Subsequently, late last year, Tullow also brought in ONGC Videsh(ONVI.BO) of India, giant quasi government company and we subsequently brought in a further specialist African exploration company, Africa Energy Corp.As a result of all of that, we have a 20 per cent interest in the project and fully carried through the cost of the well.And once the well's spuds and starts drilling, you'll receive a further $7.3 million payment. That seems an extraordinary outcome for a currently small company.This whole project is the product of very good science and some smart deals, by Pancontinental. That payment is the closing payment from Africa Energy Corp., who are supported by the Lundin Group out of London. So they're buying into the project through our interests. So, to close that transaction, there's a payment due to us when the well starts.And what is the scale of the oil target you'll be drilling?We're drilling the Cormorant Prospect as our selected prospect of a cluster of very large, Late Cretaceousturbidite fan plays, similar in nature to where big discoveries are being made around the Atlantic margin basins. And really, Cormorant is testing this cluster of prospects that have best estimate prospective resources totaling over 915 million barrels.Now, it's an enormous amount of oil and the upside is higher than net gain. We've provided all the details about how those potential recoverable resources are calculated on our website and earlier releases that we've made to the market.It seems that some of the world's largest oil companies agree with you about the big oil potential in Namibia.Yes, very exciting. It's clear that Namibia has become one of those hotspots around the world, where the big companies think they've got the opportunity to find the scale of oil reserves that move their dial. And the fact that there's an acceleration of interest and entry into Namibia by the big companies is very promising for us.To the south and PEL 87, which we hold 75 per cent. Adjacent to us to the south we've got Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) and entry into the area also just last year was Total (EPA:FP)of France. And of course to the north, late last year, we had ONGC Videsh (ONVI.BO) of India farm into PEL 37 with Tullow and ourselves. And immediately south of our block in the very next block, we've had Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) farming in April and then just very recently announced that they've taken a further block in the acreage immediately on trend from our blocks.So clearly, these very, very large companies believe that these plays that we're pursuing and will be drilling in Namibia have the potential for very large oil resources.Now will the Cormorant-1 well be the only well drilled in Namibia over the next 12 months that could impact the value of your large acreage position?No, in fact a British company, Chariot Oil and Gas (LON: CHAR) have already committed to drill a well to take the rig after we finish the Cormorant well. And they'll be drilling on a block to the south of our PEL 37 on a plays that we feel are also represented in our block. Add to that the entry of the major companies, we expect this to lead to, over the next 18 months, up to a further four wells to be drilled in offshore Namibia. All of which will be drilling plays and on geology that relates to our blocks. It could impact on the value of our blocks.And to the last question now John. The industry and investor climate has certainly been improving. What do you put this down to?On the macro scale, it's an improved oil price, and I think companies and markets have now got confidence that a decent oil price is achievable and there's a lot of talk that it could go even higher in the coming period. So that's one thing.The second thing is that the cost-base for offshore drilling and other services has come way down off the price structure it had during the peak times, and there are still not as many wells as that being drilled so there's a much more commercial cost base.And then the third things is, as I've mentioned, this trend back in to deep water, linked to those two factors, but linked to the belief by the major companies that these big fan plays, that can have very big reservoirs, provide a commercial outcome that's superior to the main competition, which is onshore US oil shales.More locally, for Pancon, there's also the recent success of Carnarvon Petroleumin their wells in the Bedout Sub-basin in WA and that just is a demonstration that small companies can do it. In particular, they can do it very well when they're in good joint ventures, as they are there and we are in Namibia, and have sizeable projects and material interests in them.John Begg. Thanks for the update.Thank you Rachael.Banks, in coordination with the central government, needs to find a resolution plan to minimise their losses during the power sector loan resolution process. The sector's problems are not just financial woes.

The Allahabad High Courts decision to deny any interim relief to private power companies with respect to the Reserve Bank of Indias (RBI) 12 February circular on bad loan resolution is bad for the many ailing power companies. They now face an increased chance of being dragged into bankruptcy proceedings and eventual liquidation if they fail to offer a convincing resolution plan in the next two to three months. But by sticking to the well-laid down rules of the RBI was just the right thing for the court to do to at a time when the banking sector is neck-deep in bad loans.

To ensure the fight against bad loans stays the course, it was necessary to have the RBI to proceed with strict rules. But, even if these firms are pushed to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), the ultimate recovery of money will not be easy for the banks. The court verdict throws two immediate challenges for them: One, prepare for a significant increase in the provisioning of these loans should these loans actually go to the NCLT; second, find buyers for these candidates using the 2-3 months window before the cases are finally admitted to the NCLT for liquidation.

Only if banks, in coordination with the central government, manage to find a quick resolution plan will they be able to minimise their losses, else what lenders are looking at is huge haircuts on the outstanding exposure and more hit on the bottomline due to a spike in non-performing assets (NPAs).

The RBI circular gave banks 180 days for resolution and made the rules strict to the extent that even if the payments are overdue for a day, the banks have to identify stress in the concerned company. But the question that will haunt banks in the next two to three months will be, where to find suitable buyers. Power firms problems that have dragged many of these companies to the brink of collapse are beyond just financial issues.

For instance, acquisition of land and lack of environmental clearances have paved hurdles for many companies. Availability of coal and disagreements with state-run firms on power purchase agreement is another grey area. This means there isnt an easy escape from the present situation for banks and power companies. Also, it is almost certain that power firms may move the Supreme Court seeking a favorable verdict appealing against the Allahabad High Court order.

Regardless of this, the stress in the power companies is likely to continue until the sector-specific problems are addressed. The government will have to do its part to assist the sector to formulate an immediate resolution plan to rectify the pain points. It will also have to fork out more money as public sector undertaking (PSU) banks will need to be recapitalised to absorb the monetary loss in the event of major losses during the resolution process.

But, one big takeaway from the Allahabad High Court order is that the judiciary is finally acknowledging the sense of urgency in the bad loan resolution process in Asias third-largest economy and is not diluting the central banks fight against NPAs. As Edelweiss research said in a note on Tuesday, the judgment upholds RBIs argument of remaining sector-agnostic while implementing the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

With RBIs 12 Feb 2018 circular requiring a bank to refer the overdue account to NCLT if resolution plan is not agreed upon in 180 days of the account being overdue and deadline for the first batch of such assets being 27 August 2018. This essentially means the lenders will have to finalise the resolution plan for assets within the next 15 days or refer them for NCLT, the note said.

This is important since, for years, courts have come in the way of the RBI and banks while they attempt to recover money from corporate defaulters. It is the same Allahabad High Court which once denied banks their first right on hypothecated collateral, leading to major confusion. In October 2014, the Supreme Court ruled that right to life outweighed right to do business rejecting State Bank of India's (SBI) petition challenging an Allahabad high court order directing sugar mills in Uttar Pradesh to sell the sugar stock hypothecated to SBI against loans to pay sugarcane farmers dues. Banks had the first right over the collateral, but the court order basically quashed banks fundamental right.

Now, by ruling in favour of banks to stick to the RBI plan, the Allahabad court has clearly acknowledged the importance of safeguarding the business fundamentals of the banking industry. The latest court order on power companies indicates a likely shift in the judiciaries basic approach while dealing with sector-specific bank NPA cases. The judiciary now seems to reckon that there cant be exceptions in RBIs NPA battle and it is important to let banks play by the rulebook. That is a major relief for the ailing banking sector that is often dragged to courtrooms by defaulting companies during bad loan recovery.Around eight-nine commissioned power projects will be impacted by the Allahabad High Court order and banks have mostly provided for these stress projects.

New Delhi: The Finance Ministry may soon hold talks with the Reserve Bank of India to resolve issues faced by the power sector and also seek some relaxation of the 12 February non-performing asset (NPA) guidelines, sources said on Monday.

The ministry would consult the RBI as per the Allahabad High Court order, which on Monday refused to give any interim relief to private power companies from the RBI's 12 February order on NPAs.

According to sources, around eight-nine commissioned power projects will be impacted by the Allahabad High Court order and banks have mostly provided for these stress projects.

In a bid to hasten the resolution of bad loans, the RBI on 12 February abolished half a dozen loan restructuring schemes and instead provided for a strict 180-day timeline for banks to agree on a resolution plan in case of a default or else refer the account for bankruptcy.

Independent power producers had challenged the RBI order which mandated the lenders to initiate process under IBC if resolution plan is not approved by 27 August.

The high court also said that the central government shall consider initiation of the consultative process contemplated under Section 7 of RBI Act, and conclude the same within 15 days from Monday.

The Finance Ministry can consult RBI as per the provisions of Section 7 of The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. As per the Act "the Central Government may from time to time give such directions to the Bank as it may, after consultation with the Governor of the Bank, consider necessary in the public interest."

The Finance Ministry could ask the RBI to provide 180 days for resolution of stressed power projects with a view to avoiding potential value erosion of operating plants.

If suggestions are accepted, banks would get about a year for restructuring their power sector loans of about Rs 1.74 lakh crore.

The High Court on 31 May stayed the 12 February RBI circular on companies other than wilful defaulters and directed the Finance Ministry to hold a meeting of all stakeholders on resolutions.

Acting on the direction, a meeting chaired by Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar with all stakeholders was convened on 22 June. On the basis of the meeting, a report was prepared and sent to the Power Ministry for further action as per the Court order.

According to sources, the report pointed out that the commissioned power plants with capacity of about 40,000 MW needs to be considered differently to avoid potential value erosion and unreasonable haircut for banks that may happen otherwise.

During this additional period of 180 days, it said, banks should undertake more intensive monitoring of the said assets and its cash flow to save it from turning non-performing.

Similar recommendations were made by Standing Committee on Energy earlier in March.

The Parliamentary Committee recommended that an additional 180 days beyond the timelines prescribed under RBI's 12 February circular may be allowed to commissioned power projects which have been commissioned before 12 February or have not been referred to NCLT.The Finance Ministry has invited applications for the post of Managing Director at National Housing Bank following the exit of Sriram Kalyanaraman, against whom the government has ordered an investigation

New Delhi: The Finance Ministry has invited applications for the post of Managing Director at National Housing Bank following the exit of Sriram Kalyanaraman, against whom the government has ordered an investigation.

The investigation was ordered earlier this month into alleged irregularities and misconduct by Kalyanaraman.

There are allegations that Kalyanaraman was involved in objectionable activities at NHB's Delhi guesthouse. There are an allegation of irregularities in campus placements besides various irregularities in refinance.

Kalyanaraman was appointed as MD & CEO for a period of five years in 2015. Before this, he was Director-Business Development at Equifax Credit Information Services Pvt Ltd.

As per the public notice, the eligible candidate should have at least 25 years of experience as on the date of the vacancy in different verticals in commercial banks or financial institution. Of this, 2 years of experience should be either at the board level or GM in nationalised banks or CGM in IFCI, SIDBI, IIFCL, Exim Bank, SBI or RBI, it said.

Even officers at Joint Secretary level or above with central and state governments with 2 years experience in the field of housing, urban development or infrastructure are eligible, it said.

The maximum age of entry for both internal as well as other candidates is 57 as on the last date of receipt of an application which is 14 September.

The appointment will be initially for 3 years and may be extended by up to 2 years based on performance.To be implemented by EESL, the programme will help scale up the deployment of energy saving measures in residential and public sectors, strengthen EESL's institutional capacity, and enhance its access to commercial financing.

New Delhi: The government, World Bank and state-owned EESL on Tuesday inked a $220 million loan agreement and a $80 million guarantee pact to push energy efficiency programme in India.

To be implemented by EESL, the programme will help scale up the deployment of energy saving measures in residential and public sectors, strengthen EESL's institutional capacity, and enhance its access to commercial financing.

The $220 million loan, from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) to Energy Efficiency Services Ltd, has a 5-year grace period, and a maturity of 19 years.

"The Government of India, the EESL, and the World Bank on Tuesday signed a $220 million Loan Agreement and a $80 million Guarantee Agreement for the India Energy Efficiency Scale-Up Program," the joint statement by World Bank and EESL said.

The investments under the programme are expected to avoid lifetime greenhouse gas emissions of 170 million tons of CO2, and contribute to avoiding an estimated 10 GW of additional generation capacity.

This would be over 50 percent of the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency target of 19.6 GW indicated in India's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Accord.

"The programme will help tackle the financing, awareness, technical and capacity barriers faced by new energy efficiency programs and support the UJALA and SLNP programs of the Government of India," said Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, said in the statement.

"This is one of the several steps being taken by the Government of India to meet its climate change commitments to reduce carbon intensity by 33-35 percent by 2030," he added.

The key components of the operation include: creating sustainable markets for LED lights and energy efficient ceiling fans; facilitating well-structured and scalable investments in public street lighting; developing sustainable business models for emerging market segments such as super-efficient air conditioning and agricultural water pumping systems; and strengthening the institutional capacity of EESL.

Under the Program, EESL will deploy 219 million LED bulbs and tube lights, 5.8 million ceiling fans, and 7.2 million street lights, which will be supplied by private sector manufacturers and suppliers.

Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director, EESL said in the statement, "This program provides us a valuable opportunity...while providing necessary impetus for replicating and magnifying our success across India with other energy efficiency technologies and programmes, and with other ESCOs and stakeholders across the spectrum."

As an integral part of the operation, the first-ever IBRD guarantee in India will help the EESL access new markets for commercial financing in line with the Bank's approach of maximizing finance for development. The guarantee is expected to leverage some $200 million in additional financing, to help EESL with its growing portfolio and future investment needs.

"India's energy efficiency market, estimated to be over $12 billion per year, continues to face implementation barriers, particularly in the residential and public sectors, which have some of the largest untapped potential for energy efficiency improvements.

"Building upon its experience of UJALA and SLNP, EESL is now expanding its initiatives to other energy efficiency measures," said Ashok Sarkar, Senior Energy Specialist and World Bank's Task Team Leader for the programme.An eye surgeon from the united Church of Pakistans Diocese of Peshawar, Khushbakht Peters, writes about the challenge of living as a Christian in a minority context.

I belong to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It is a Muslim majority country, where out of the population of 193 million only five per cent are religious minorities. 2.5 per cent are Christian, with the remaining 2.5 per cent comprising of Hindus, Sikhs, Bahai, Kalasha, Parsis and Buddhists. Living in any country as a religious minority has its challenges. These appear in educations, finances and social status, and even more troublesome challenge comes in the form of intolerance, a generalised unacceptability towards religious minorities.

Times are changing, and with more awareness by the media, education and emphasis on human rights, this intolerance is reducing day by day. But still in many parts of the country narrow-mindedness prevails, more in the rural areas than in the cities. This bigotry can also be seen to greater extent when a person goes higher up in their studies and career. A common example of this is the minority seats in professional government colleges, one seat per college, for which many students of the religious minorities apply. Through this there is an assurance that only those few who end up receiving an education on those seats would excel, a strategic way of not allowing many other students who are from a different faiths to succeed.

Another challenge that we face as Pakistani Christians is that most of us are financially weak. As we progress in our studies, fewer and fewer families are able to support their children in their college and university studies. As a result only a few Christians get to a professional level.

With all the challenges, the ones who cannot face them end up leaving the country. No doubt, it is an easy option. But to stay in the country and face the everyday challenges requires guts. I feel it as a courage that only God is able to provide. These are the people who truly make a difference, an impact in the society. They are ones who bring about a revolution where they are placed.

When I got into the medical college, I was the only Christian in a class of 250 students. After my graduation, I started working at a state tertiary care hospital where I was the only Christian doctor in the entire hospital. Now, as most of you would be able to relate, being the only Christian in your class or college or working place, this become quite pressurising sometimes. One of the reasons for this is that you are under a constant scrutiny. Others whenever talking about you will usually refer as that Christian girl / boy. It can be quite uncomfortable some times. But why not take up such a situation and make something great out of it?

Dr. Seuss said Why fit in when you were born to stand out. We as Christians, in a non-Christian working environment, can sometimes not totally fit in. So instead, why dont we use this to our advantage?

Where I come from, most of the people rarely have an interaction with Christians in a position of authority in the working place. Like I said before, since many Christians are not able to get higher education and therefore cannot reach to good jobs. The few who do receive an education and reach a position of authority are respected by the people around them, but are also scrutinised greatly, which makes their working environment twice as hard.

As a Christian, in most cases we are the only Bible that non-Christians will ever see. So it is essential to try to live according to the guidance that is provided in the New Testament or in other words, become the living Bible. It is written in Colossians 3:23:

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.

It is essential for us to work with compassion and with all our heart. This will not only bless us, but will bless those around us, as the work will be done in time and with Gods favour. We should learn to adopt the character of Christ, to be humble as He was, and treat people at our workplace with love and empathy, with respect and kindness regardless of their social status, or faith. It is not easy to do all this, and be out there by yourself. But it is said in Philippians 4:13:

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Another important role that Christians having professional jobs contribute is, in making character of the people who are junior to them; becoming a role model. By behaving in a way as the Bible teaches us, with compassion and kindness, we are able to lift up and encourage them, something that is not common in the world nowadays, where everyone is busy in trying to concentrate on himself only.

It is then these people who respect Christians because of the impact with the one Christian they had; they tell their families about their experiences. And so this respect gets passed on from them to their families, and more religious tolerance develops in the society. However, that being said, there will always be those still that will say that a religious minority, or more specifically a Christian should not be in a place of authority. But such people are always a few. Because of them we should not lose confidence in ourselves.

The lives that we manage to change along our journey are more important and more in number than those who disapprove of us. We should continue live like a Living Epistle of Christ with utmost faith in God, and always remember that the Holy Spirit is with us.In 2017-18, the country's merchandise exports grew by 10 percent to $303 billion, while services exports rose by 18.8 percent to $195 billion in the same period.

New Delhi: The government is working on a comprehensive strategy to double the country's exports by 2025, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Monday.

Issues related to exporters were discussed during a stakeholders' meeting to discuss a strategy for revitalising India's exports and doubling the exports by 2025.

"This is necessary in view of challenges like the uncertainty of global trade, the rigid approach of banks affecting the availability of credit, high logistics cost and productivity standards and qualities," an official statement quoting Prabhu said.

Minister of State for Commerce and Industry C R Chaudhary will be the chairperson of this mission and will review the work of different export promotion councils and divisions of the ministry.

In 2017-18, the country's merchandise exports grew by 10 percent to $303 billion, while services exports rose by 18.8 percent to $195 billion in the same period.

The ministry is also taking meetings with key ministries for preparing sectoral export strategies.

Prabhu stated that a special strategy is being prepared for the services sector to achieve broad-based growth instead of the existing pre-dominance of IT-ITeS.

The ministry said that commodity and territory specific strategy is also being prepared for items like gems and jewellery, textiles, engineering, electronics, chemicals, pharma, agri and marine products.

Territory specific strategy will cover North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Europe, North East Asia, ASEAN, South Asia, Latin America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

The commerce minister said that apart from traditional markets, India must also look at boosting trade with smaller countries.

He also said that exporters should not miss the opportunity presented by China's consumer market.The government had earlier said that India's crude steel output is expected to soar by 38 percent to 140 MT by the end of this year.

New Delhi: India's crude steel output increased by 5.4 percent to 61.8 million tonnes (MT) in the first seven month of the calendar year 2018, according to World Steel Association.

The country had produced 58.6 MT of crude steel in the January-July period of 2017, the association said in a statement.

India's crude steel production in July increased by 8.4 percent to 9 MT, over 8.3 MT in July 2017, the release said.

World crude steel production for the 64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association was at 154.6 MT in July, registering an increase of 5.8 percent when compared to July 2017.

China's crude steel production for July was at 81.2 MT, registering an increase of 7.2 percent when compared to July 2017.

Japan produced 8.4 MT of crude steel last month, down by 2 percent when compared to July 2017.

The government had earlier said that India's crude steel output is expected to soar by 38 percent to 140 MT by the end of this year.

The country produced 101.4 MT steel in 2017.

The steel ministry had earlier asked industry players to make full use of the resources available in the country to increase steel output.

Under the National Steel Policy (NSP), the government has set a production target of 300 MT by 2030-31.

The NSP also aims at more than doubling the per capita steel consumption to 158 kg by 2030-31, from 70 kg at present.Mumbai: Cash-strapped Jet Airways, which on Monday reported a whopping Rs 1,323 crore of net losses for the June quarter due to higher fuel cost, falling rupee and low fares, said it will monetise loyalty programme JetPrivilege and wet-lease some of its small aircraft to mobilise urgent working capital. This is the second straight quarter of losses for the Naresh Goyal-run airline, which had last month publicly admitted to cash-flow issues.

The airline had booked a net profit of Rs 53.50 crore in the year-ago period, while in the March quarter it had reported net losses of Rs 1,036 crore.

The airline said it fuel cost soared 53 percent to Rs 2,332 crore in the quarter, while low fares had revenue inching up to Rs 6,066 crore from Rs 5,953 crore. On a consolidated basis, the net loss stood at Rs 1,326 crore, against a net profit of Rs 58 crore a year ago.

The second back-to-back quarterly loss forced Jet Airways, which delayed the result announcement on 9 August indefinitely, to announce a turnaround plan which, according to chairman Goyal, includes a capital infusion by selling a stake in JetPrivilege, and a massive cost-cutting to save around Rs 2,000-crore over the next two years.

"The board today considered two significant proposals: infusion of capital and monetisation of the airlines' stake in the loyalty programme," Goyal said on Monday. It can be noted that the airline owns 49.9 percent in JetPrivilege and the rest is with its equity partner Etihad, which owns 24 percent stake in the airline. Goyal expressed the hope that these two measures "bode well for the long-term financial health and sustainability of the airline."

Cost-cutting covers various areas of operations such as maintenance, sales, and distribution costs, fuel bill, reducing debt to save on interest and enhancing manpower productivity with special focus on the crew, the airline said. The board also approved the management plan to wet-lease some of its ATRs which are currently deployed on short-haul routes.

The airline was earlier scheduled to announce the June quarter numbers on 9 August. But after the AGM and the board meeting, the airlineinformed that exchanges that the board did not consider the accounts as the company's audit committeewas headless. "The management wanted more time to look at the accounts and the board agreed to that" the airline told the exchanges, resulting in a slew of regulatory queries.

Reportedly private equity firm TPG Capital is looking to snap up a stake in JetPrivilege, and the airline has reportedly appointed Morgan Stanley to advise it on the deal.

Blaming the massive spike in operational cost to spiraling ATF prices, which jumped 53 percent in the quarter, the airline noted that crude rose more than 36 percent during the reporting period. On top of it is the continuing depreciation of the rupee, which during the quarter lost around 6 percent. "This has resulted in a mismatch between high fuel prices and low fares, which primarily undermined our

performance in the quarter," the airline said.

"We are implementing a host of measures to reduce cost and grow revenue, while retaining our focus on our guests, which will help in addressing the challenges faced by us. In fact, several such transformation initiatives have already started to deliver positive results," chief executive Vinay Dube said, adding the induction of fuel-efficient B737 Max will help us achieve the stated 8-10 percent growth plan.

The airline plans to deliver 3-4 percent growth in revenue per available seat-kilometer through tactical and strategic initiatives around network, pricing, inventory management and sales, he said. Besides, the capital infusion and debt reduction is expected to result in significant lowering of interest cost, the airline said, adding it will wet lease excess ATR aircraft, which will result in further improvements to the bottom line. Significantly, the airline is in talks with TruJet to wet lease up to seven of its 18 ATRs. A wet-lease is an arrangement under which one airline provides an aircraft, its complete crew, maintenance and insurance.

The airline, during the quarter flew four percent more passengers to 7.38 million over the year-ago period besides registering a 9.4 percent growth in available seat kilometers over the past 12-months period. It also saw a 7.6 increase in revenue passenger kilometres during the quarter. After losing more than three-fourths of its value since July first week when Jet Airways had admitted to having

flow issues, the airline counter on Monday rose 2.16 percent at Rs 281.80 on the BSE on a day when the benchmark Sensex soared

1.16 percent.The project passes through the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor nodes Igatpuri, Nashik and Sinnar; Pune and Khed; and Dhule and Nardana

New Delhi: The government on Monday said that JNPT, railways and state governments of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra will enter into a pact on Tuesday for implementing Rs 8,574.79 crore Indore- Manmad Railway Line Project.

"An MoU will be signed tomorrow between JNPT- Ministry of Shipping, Ministry of Railways, Govt of Maharashtra and Govt of Madhya Pradesh for implementation of 362 km Indore- Manmad New Railway Line Project," the shipping ministry said in a statement.

The project will reduce the distance from Mumbai, Pune to key central India locations by 171 km.

"The project passes through the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor nodes Igatpuri, Nashik and Sinnar; Pune and Khed; and Dhule and Nardana," it said.

The project is estimated to result in cumulative net economic benefits of Rs 15,000 crore in the first 10 years of operations.

Its logistic advantages include providing a shorter route for passengers as well as the freight traffic originating from, terminating or crossing through the region.

The project will reduce the logistics cost for the cargo centres located in the north such as Lucknow, Agra, Gwalior and Kanpur belt as well as Indore Dhule Bhopal region to the gateway ports JNPT and Mumbai.

It will be an alternate route to the existing central and western railway lines and will reduce congestion on the over utilised existing railway network.

In addition, it will help in employment generation, reduction in pollution, fuel consumption and vehicle operating costs.

The Indian Port Rail Corporation Limited (IPRCL) carried out the feasibility, traffic and bankability for the project.

Railway Board approved the implementation of the project through IPRCL on Joint Venture SPV model.

"The proposed SPV would be in the form of a Joint Venture Company between Shipping ministry or its nominated PSUs including JNPT (which will be the main promoter),

The government of Maharashtra or its nominated PSUs/Entity, Government of Madhya Pradesh or its nominated PSUs/Entity, and others," it said.

The project will be constructed within six years, it added.Companies can club relief material under heads such as medical aid, sanitation, and providing housing and shelter.

Companies spending on relief material for flood-ravaged Kerala will reportedly be allowed to log those contributions as part of their mandated two percent spending on corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.

Schedule 7, Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013, which outlines CSR guidelines, does not list disaster relief. However, a top corporate affairs ministry official has told The Economic Times that companies can club relief material under heads such as medical aid, sanitation, and providing housing and shelter.

Companies donating to the chief ministers relief fund are already covered under the CSR provision of the Companies Act, the newspaper added.

The deluge that ravaged Kerala this month has shaved off at least 2.2 percent of state GDP, which will push up Keralas fiscal deficit to 5.4 percent this fiscal, said a report.

According to an initial estimate by rating agency Acuit Ratings (earlier Smera Ratings), the flood has shaved off at least 2.2 percent or nearly Rs 10,800 crore of state GDP. Without central grants-in-aid, state fiscal deficit may exceed 5.4 percent this financial year compared to 3.2 percent in FY18.

Tourism and agro-based industries are expected to suffer severe losses given the damages to infrastructure and crops/plantations.

Most of Kerala was marooned between 8 August and 20 August. Around 260 people have been killed and over 1.5 million were driven out of their homes, the PTI reported.

India has made CSR compulsory for a company if the net worth of the firm is Rs 500 crore or more; the annual turnover of the firm is Rs 1000 crore or more; or the annual net profit of the firm is Rs 5 crore.

With inputs from PTIBy Sharay Angulo WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most of Mexico's auto exports should comply with new rules drawn up under the agreement struck between Mexico and the United States in the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mexico's economy minister said on Monday. The minister, Ildefonso Guajardo, told reporters that close to 70 percent of Mexico's auto exports were light vehicles, and were in a position to meet the new NAFTA rules of origin, which determine how much North American content autos must include. 'Today their numbers, and the way they have their business model would allow them to comply,' Guajardo said

By Sharay Angulo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most of Mexico's auto exports should comply with new rules drawn up under the agreement struck between Mexico and the United States in the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mexico's economy minister said on Monday.

The minister, Ildefonso Guajardo, told reporters that close to 70 percent of Mexico's auto exports were light vehicles, and were in a position to meet the new NAFTA rules of origin, which determine how much North American content autos must include.

"Today their numbers, and the way they have their business model would allow them to comply," Guajardo said.

The United States and Mexico have agreed to raise to 75 percent the regional auto content threshold to qualify for duty free market access in the NAFTA region, up from the current level of 62.5 percent, a U.S. trade official said.

The agreement was part of the two neighbours' deal on Monday to overhaul NAFTA, putting pressure on Canada to agree to the new terms on the auto trade and dispute settlement rules to remain part of the three-nation pact.

Guajardo said "at the moment" the new rules governing exports of such light vehicles would "kick in" from January 2020. Mexican officials did not confirm the date, although two industry sources said it was correct.

After 2020, there would be a gradual transition to the new rules through to 2023, he added.

Canada is due to rejoin the NAFTA discussions on Tuesday and has said it also wants to have its say on the new rules.

The minister also said that the revised trade agreement would maintain provisions from the original NAFTA accord which stated that new auto plants would for the first five years only need to meet a requirement of 50 percent regional content.

Pickup trucks, which also account for a significant proportion of Mexican auto exports, were a "very different animal," Guajardo said. That section of the auto industry would require "additional efforts," the minister added.

(Reporting by Sharay Angulo; Editing by Dave Graham and Rosalba O'Brien)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.Under the deal, some 500 Starbucks employees in the United States and Europe will join Nestle, the Swiss company said in a statement

Zurich: Nespresso maker Nestle on Tuesday said it has sealed a deal to market the products of US coffee giant Starbucks around the world, outside of its cafes.

Swiss food giant Nestle, which also produces Nescafe instant coffee, had announced in May it would pay $7.15 billion (6.13 billion euros) for the rights to market Starbucks coffee globally.

Under the deal, some 500 Starbucks employees in the United States and Europe will join Nestle, the Swiss company said in a statement.

"With Starbucks, Nescafe and Nespresso we bring together the world's most iconic coffee brands," Nestle CEO Mark Schneider said.

"The outstanding collaboration between the two teams resulted in a swift completion of this agreement, which will pave the way to capture further growth opportunities," he added.

According to the statement, the deal will significantly boost Nestle's portfolio in North America.

Bloomberg News said Nestle has struggled in the US for years.

Under Schneider's leadership, Nestle has made coffee a key priority in its growth strategy, particularly in the US.

Since the CEO took over in January 2017, the group has bought a majority stake in California-based high-end brand Blue Bottle Coffee and acquired Texan brand Chameleon Cold Brew.

Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said his firm is also set for a major boost under the deal.

"Bringing together the world's leading coffee retailer, the world's largest food and beverage company, and the world's largest and fast-growing installed base of at-home and single-serve coffee machines helps us amplify the Starbucks brand around the world while delivering long-term value creation for our shareholders," Johnson said.By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Tuesday as risks of supply disruptions from places such as Venezuela, Africa and Iran triggered expectations of a tightening market. International Brent crude oil futures were at $76.51 per barrel at 0037 GMT, up 30 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their last close. U.S

By Henning Gloystein

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Tuesday as risks of supply disruptions from places such as Venezuela, Africa and Iran triggered expectations of a tightening market.

International Brent crude oil futures were at $76.51 per barrel at 0037 GMT, up 30 cents, or 0.4 percent, from their last close.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 24 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $69.11 a barrel.

Despite some concerns about an economic slowdown because of trade conflict between the United States and China, crude supplies are relatively tight due to disruptions as well as voluntary restraints on output by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The cartel's monitoring committee found that oil producers participating in a supply-reduction agreement, which includes non-OPEC member Russia, cut output in July by 9 percent more than called for.

The findings for last month compare with a compliance level of 120 percent for June and 147 percent for May, meaning participants have been steadily increasing production.

OPEC and its allies agreed in late 2016 to cut output from 2017 by around 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) versus October 2016 levels.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Monday warned of further supply disruptions, especially from Venezuela, where an economic crisis has cut deep into the OPEC-member's oil output.

Venezuelan crude oil exports had halved in the previous two years to just 1 million bpd by mid-2018, according to trade flow data.

"We can expect a further fall," the IEA's Executive Director Fatih Birol told Reuters in Norway on Monday.

Birol also warned that African OPEC-members Libya and Nigeria "seem both still fragile countries" despite some recent improvements.

Birol said it was too early to gauge the impact of the U.S. sanctions that will target Iran from November.

(GRAPHIC: Venezuela crude oil exports - https://tmsnrt.rs/2LvCPtl)

(Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Joseph Radford)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.The BofA-ML analysts estimated the total stressed assets in power sector at $51.6 billion, with banks holding a bulk $36.1 billion and dedicated non-bank lenders like Power Finance Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation having $15.5 billion

Mumbai: Sour loans of over $51 billion (Rs 1.74 trillion) to the power sector are likely to go to the insolvency courts after the Allahabad High Court ruling and government may be forced to float an asset reconstruction/management company (ARC/AMC) to deal with the issue, a foreign brokerage has said.

Dashing the hope of independent power producers, the Allahabad High Court on Monday turned down their petition challenging the 12 February circular from the Reserve Bank which said if a resolution was not found by 27 August (Monday) these accounts should be sent to bankruptcy courts. The court instead asked the Centre to talk to the central bank to get some relief for the petitioners using the provisions of the RBI Act within 15 days.

"The only wayout is to form a public sector ARC/AMC that manages banks' power non-performing assets either directly or by bidding at NCLT auctions," analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said on Tuesday.

It can be noted that the idea of floating such an ARC was already suggested by RBI deputy governor Viral Acharya as well as the Sunil Mehta committee.

The proposed power ARC/AMC will need a seed capital of $9 billion, which will be a part of the $20-billion bank recapitalisation, the brokerage said, adding it will be a three-step process.

The government will have to infuse $26.5 billion into the state-run banks (excluding SBI) in FY19-20 to support a moderate 14 percent credit growth, it said, adding $19.4 billion will be required for 75 percent haircut on stressed power projects.

Other reports suggested that banks will have to make an incremental provisioning of around Rs 1 trillion if these 60 accounts go to the NCLTs.

The BofA-ML analysts estimated the total stressed assets in power sector at $51.6 billion, with banks holding a bulk $36.1 billion and dedicated non-bank lenders like Power Finance Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation having $15.5 billion.

Banks have recognised $15.3 billion of NPAs in the power sector and have already provided $7.6 billion for four assets being resolved in NCLT at 50 percent of the exposure, it said.

Banks will transfer the stressed assets to the ARC at 75 percent haircut and securitise the rest of NPAs into the ARC or AMC (asset management company) paper to seed it.

"As Re 1 of capital pushes up loan supply by Rs 11 at, say, 9 percent capital-to-risk weighted assets ratio, the balance recapitalisation of $0.9 billion will allow banks to securitise $9 billion of power loans into ARC/AMC bonds," it said.

The brokerage said the ARC/AMC can "extinguish such paper" as and when it is able to restructure/sell the NPA, or, raise funds from the market, as the cycle turns up.

In a bid to hasten the resolution of bad loans, the RBI on February 12 abolished half a dozen loan restructuring schemes and instead provided for a strict 180-day timeline for banks to agree on a resolution plan in case of a default or else refer the account for bankruptcy.

Finance ministry may soon hold talks with the Reserve Bank to resolve issues faced by the power sector and also seek some relaxation of the 12 February NPA guidelines, sources had said on Monday.

Up to nine commissioned power projects will be impacted by the high court order and banks have mostly provided for these stress projects, they had said.

The finance ministry could ask the RBI to provide 180 days for resolution of stressed power projects with a view to avoiding potential value erosion of operating plants. If suggestions are accepted, banks would get about a year for restructuring their power sector loans of about Rs 1.74 trillion.

Bankers have also drawing comfort from that fact that these accounts, along with some EPC and telecom accounts together constituting around Rs 3.8 trillion, are not part of the RBI's first 40 largest default lists.The deadline for beginning bankruptcy process ended on Monday and the RBI has so far not come on record saying it will stick to the original direction.

Mumbai: As the Reserve Bank deadline to resolve around 70 large accounts worth over Rs 3.8 trillion ended on Monday, and no word coming in from the regulator on an extension, State Bank chairman Rajnish Kumar said the deadline will not have any material impact on provisioning as banks are already in the process of resolving these accounts.

As per the 12 February circular issued by the RBI, banks were to resolve stressed accounts within 180 days beginning from 1 March, 2018, failing which banks will have to refer these accounts, which have an exposure of Rs 2,000 crore or above to the NCLTs for bankruptcy process.

The deadline for beginning bankruptcy process ended on Monday and the RBI has so far not come on record saying it will stick to the original direction.

"The 27 August deadline does not have any material impact on the provisioning requirements as most of them have already been classified as bad loans," Kumar told reporters on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the Indian Banks Association on Monday evening.

Kumar said there would be only ageing provisioning for those accounts which will go to the NCLT. "There is not going to be any accelerated provisions for these accounts since the February 12 circular doesn't mention it," he said, adding banks will have one year more to spread the provisioning for these accounts.

According to rating agency Icra, 70 large accounts mainly from power, EPC and telecom with a total exposure of Rs 3.8 trillion would require resolution by 1 September, as per the 12 February circular. Kumar said of the 34 stressed power accounts, with a combined value of Rs 1.74 trillion, 16 have already been referred to the NCLT and seven are in the final stages of resolution, Kumar said refusing to name of them.

It can be noted that affected power producers have challenged the RBI direction in the Allahabad High Court, saying their businesses are in trouble due to external reasons like lack of fuel supplies, and not due to mismanagement, and the matter is still pending with the court.

The RBI attempt at getting the Supreme Court vacate the high court stay did not materialise instead the apex court asked the HC to hear the matter regularly.

"These distressed power accounts are being finalised now with individual banks approving it and even if some of them go to NCLT, we'll be able to withdraw it by 90 percent majority," Kumar added.

Union Bank managing director and chief executive Rajkiran Rai said as to how many accounts will go the NCLT will be discussed later as banks have 15 days more time to decide on referring them to NCLT.One of the greatest waves in the world and so much fun to surf an event in such quality waves - The Indonesian WSL circuit is incredible and Im looking forward to the Simeulue Island event next week and more perfect waves.

About WSL

Ketut Agus of Indonesia and Vittoria Farmer (AUS) are the winners of the Nias Pro 2018 World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series (QS) 1,000 Mens and Womens divisions after an incredible 4 days of perfect surf at the idyllic wave location at Lagundri Bay on the remote island of Nias Indonesia.Surfing one of the worlds greatest point breaks, finals day highlighted how fast surfing is progressing in the Asia region. The Mens final saw Japans Kaito Ohashi place 2nd, a 3rd place finish from the event standout in local surfer Justin BuUlolo and a runner-up finish from Kailani Johnson (Indonesia/Bali). Indonesian standout Ketut Agus held on to the end to take the biggest result of his career.I'm so happy to win for myself and for Indonesia! exclaimed 17-year-old Ketut Agus after his best ever winning performance. To win a WSL event is amazing and the field here was incredible with surfers from Australia, USA, Brazil, Japan and many more of the great surfing nations, Im really very proud. We now all head to Simeulue Island for the next event and I feel stronger and I can go there and win again. It is so great to be surfing with and against international competitors.Hailing from Bali, Agus has had an elite competitive record at Junior levels but today was special, as the youngster confidently took on and defeated many experienced international competitors.Australias Vittoria Farmer had dominated throughout the early rounds here and she carried that form into the final with an excellent opening 8.70 ride that allowed the 20-year-old Nossa native to control the heat from start to finish.Bali surfer Kailani Johnson found some good rides during the final to hold the lead through the middle stages but a second solid 6.90 at the midway point from Farmer put the result beyond doubt. This is the best reuslt of Farmer's young career.I have had such a great week here enjoying the perfect surf, and to win a WSL event on one of the worlds best waves is just the best feeling, Farmer said. Just surfing heats with one other girl in the water has been amazing - I really love coming here and surfing this waveTwo other standouts at this event made the Semifinals and delighted the large local crowds who enjoyed a festival like atmosphere at todays finals day.Justin BuUlolo (IDN), the local champion again surfed brilliantly in his Quarterfinal when he eliminated famous Indonesian surfer Dede Suryana. Then in his SemiFinal, Buulolo was desperately unlucky not win after posting yet another excellent 8.00 point ride, the highest score in the Semi, but failing to quite find the decent back up second wave score and eventually going down to Japans Kaito OHashii.USA surfer Skip McCullough (Cal/San Diego) also placed equal 3rd, defeated in a close Semifinal by eventual winner Ketut Agus. Throughout this event, McCullough was a tube riding specialist and posted many excellent scores. McCullough spoke highly of the event, typifying the thoughts of most internationals who travelled to Nias for this event.The Indonesian events are being dubbed Perfect Waves Tour and we look forward to seeing what the Simeulue Island event delivers later this week.For more information, images and highlights, head to www.worldsurfleague.com The World Surf League (WSL) is dedicated to celebrating the worlds best surfing on the worlds best waves through a variety of best-in-class audience platforms. The League, headquartered in Santa Monica, is a global sport with regional offices in Australasia, Africa, North America, South America, Hawaii, Japan and Europe.The WSL has been championing the world's best surfing since 1976, annually running in excess of 180 global events across the Men's and Women's Championship Tours, the Big Wave Tour, Qualifying Series, Junior and Longboard Championships, as well as the WSL Big Wave Awards. The League possesses a deep appreciation for the sport's rich heritage while promoting progression, innovation and performance at the highest levels, and in doing so crowns the undisputed world champions in Mens, Womens across all divisions within the tour.Showcasing the world's best surfing on its digital platform at WorldSurfLeague.com as well as the free WSL app , the WSL has a passionate global fan base with millions tuning in to see world-class athletes like Tyler Wright, John John Florence, Paige Alms, Kai Lenny, Taylor Jensen, Honolua Blomfield, Mick Fanning, Stephanie Gilmore, Kelly Slater, Carissa Moore, Gabriel Medina, Courtney Conlogue and more battle on the most unpredictable and dynamic field of play of any sport in the world.For more information, please visit WorldSurfLeague.comPosted on: August 28, 2018 1:17 PM

An ecclesiastical court has found that allegations of irregularities in the election of a coadjutor bishop for the Diocese of Haiti are credible. A group of clergy and lay delegates formally contested the 2 June election of Joseph Delicat. As a result, the Presiding Bishop of the US-based Episcopal Church (TEC), Michael Curry, referred their complaints to the Court of Review of TECs Province II. The courts findings will be distributed to bishops and diocesan standing committees as part of the Churchs process of election consent. Under the Churchs rules, the election of a bishop to episcopal office is not confirmed unless a majority of diocesan standing committees provide their consent within 120 days of being notified.

The Review Court describes the ongoing divisions in the Diocese of Haiti as a rupture in the common life of the Episcopal Church and says that they were characterised by a deep conflict between the Bishop of Haiti, Jean-Zache Duracin, and his former Suffragan, Bishop Oge Beauvoir. Following the intervention of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, Bishop Oge stood down and a covenant for restoring relationships in the Diocese was signed by Bishops Beauvoir, Duracin and Curry, and the Diocesan Standing Committee.

But the Review Court says that the evidence before us that the Covenant has not been fully honoured and lived into by the Bishop Diocesan, the former Bishop Suffragan, and the Standing Committee of Haiti demands investigation, and we refer that finding to the Presiding Bishop.

One of the allegations made by those contesting the election is that Bishop Duracin packed the electoral college by the ordination of 17 transitional and 18 vocational deacons in November 2017. This amounted to an increase of more than 50 per cent in the number of clergy entitled to vote.

Those contesting the election say that these ordinations took place in the months leading up to the episcopal election in order to guarantee the election of Bishop Duracins candidate, and they believe that the plans to have these electors in place by the 2018 election began several years earlier, the report of the court says.

The ordination of 17 Transitional Deacons in a single year is, we believe, extraordinary and remarkable in the Diocese of Haiti. However, in response to our query, the Bishop and Standing Committee have told this court that all of these ordinands fulfilled the canonical process for ordination, are worthy candidates, and that their ordinations are in order. The 18 Vocational Deacons are the first ever to be ordained in Haiti. Bishop Duracin explained that while Haiti is the Episcopal Churchs largest diocese, it has so few clergy that most priests must oversee a number of parishes. Vocational Deacons are being introduced into the Diocese of Haiti at this time to help the priests with coverage for pastoral and sacramental ministries.

The court said that it cannot substantiate challenges to the assertion that the ordinations are lawfully and canonically valid and say nor do we wish to cast any aspersions on the suitability or preparation of the deacons themselves. But it adds: However, we believe that, even allowing for the presumed validity of the ordinations, the simple fact of the unprecedented number of them, increasing the clericus of the Diocese of Haiti by more than fifty percent in the final months before the episcopal election, prevents us from dismissing the larger allegation regarding Bishop Duracins attempts to influence or control the results of the election of his successor.

It says as a finding, The allegation that the high number of ordinations immediately prior to the electing convention took place in order to steer the electoral process is credible.

Another complaint concerned the manipulation of the election and electorate. Those contesting the election say that some electors were denied ballot papers; while other people were given ballot papers despite not being eligible to vote under the dioceses canons.

They courts report says that the Diocesan Standing Committee has detailed disruptive behaviour by opposition delegates on the convention floor at the first convention justifying the denial of ballots to such delegates at the second convention. The Standing Committee said that the numbers involved meant that none of these incidents would have changed the results of the final ballot of the election at which Father Delicat was selected.

The complainants said that the location for electors to register and receive their voting badge was two kilometres away from the voting centre, and that this was done to inconvenience, exhaust and discourage opposition voters, the courts report says. They also allege that delegates to the convention who supported Bishop Duracin were housed overnight in the facility where the convention took place, but delegates in the opposition were housed at a distant site and were not fed.

They report that some opposition delegates were called into the office of the Bishop Diocesan during the period between the two elections. They allege incidents of bribery. They further report with alarm the presence of armed state police on the floor of the electing convention. Each of these allegations has been refuted, challenged or explained by the Bishop and Standing Committee. The particulars of the allegations brought by each side against the other are too subtle, complex and numerous to explore in full in this report.

We find evidence of attempts to control the election from both sides, though the preponderance of allegations has been brought by the Contestants. All of these efforts indicate a violation of the spirit of Provision 9 of the Covenant. We are concerned that the Covenant called for a process of reconciliation in the Diocese of Haiti precisely to lay the groundwork for a fair and free election, with the faithful of Haiti prepared to accept and support the Bishop-Elect. This has not happened.

The report continues: The allegation that the Bishop Diocesan interfered with the election, and that the election suffered from coercion and undue influence, is credible. There is fault on both sides, but the simple fact of the number and complexity of these allegations compounded by the failure of trust, suggests a deeply flawed election for which the Bishop Diocesan and Standing Committee are chiefly responsible.

The court rejected an allegation of a serious act of misconduct against Joseph Delicat, saying: We have been given clear documentary (stamped passport) proof that Father Delicat was not in Haiti at the time of the alleged offence.

After summarising their findings, the Court of Review conclude their report with a prayer: It is with sincere hope, and ardent prayer that we ask you to join us in intercession for the healing of the Body of Christ, both in the Diocese of Haiti and in the wider community of faith that is the Jesus Movement in the Episcopal Church.

The procedures for a review of an episcopal election in the US-based Episcopal Church are laid down in the Churchs canons. But the contesting of Kerwin Delicats election as bishop coadjutor for the Diocese of Haiti is the first time that it has been used.Tata Steel's gross debt in 2017-18 stood at Rs 28,126 crore

New Delhi: Substantial debt on the balance sheet is likely to have an adverse impact on Tata Steel's ability to raise finance at competitive rates, the steel major said in its report.

This comes against the backdrop of Tata Steel earlier stating that it will raise Rs 16,500 crore through debt instruments to fund Rs 32,500 crore acquisition of Bhushan Steel Ltd (BSL).

"Substantial amount of debt on the balance sheet may have an adverse impact on the company's ability to raise finance at competitive rates," Tata Steel said in its Annual Report 2017-18.

Changes in assumptions underlying the carrying value of certain assets may result in the impairment of such assets, the company said.

On the financial risks facing Tata Steel, it said, fluctuation in foreign exchange rates due to volatility in financial markets is likely to impact the company's debt servicing and create uncertainties in accessing the financial markets.

It further said mitigation strategies for the financial risks would be "maximising operational cashflow", "terming out debt and refinancing debt with favourable covenants," and "appropriate foreign exchange hedging policies", among others.

On the operational risks facing the company, Tata Steel said the steel industry was prone to the high proportion of fixed costs and volatility in the prices of raw materials and energy and added that the limitations or disruptions in the supply of raw materials could adversely affect the company's profitability.

The report further said any labour dispute or social unrest in regions where the company operates may adversely affect its operations and financial condition.

Tata Steel and Thyssenkrupp had earlier signed a definitive agreement to combine European steel business. The merger would create an entity that would be the continent's second largest steel company after ArcelorMittal.

Tata Steel had earlier won the bid to acquire debt-laden BSL in an insolvency auction. The bankrupt firm was among the 12 stressed assets the RBI had referred for NCLT proceedings last year.

Tata Steel's gross debt in 2017-18 stood at Rs 28,126 crore, the report said.By Jonathan Stempel and Alexandria Sage (Reuters) - A federal judge in San Francisco dismissed a securities fraud lawsuit in which Tesla Inc shareholders accused the electric car company and Chief Executive Elon Musk of misleading them about the progress of production of its Model 3 vehicle. In a decision made public on Monday, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said that while shareholders claimed that Tesla fell short of its production goals, 'federal securities laws do not punish companies for failing to achieve their targets.' Breyer said the shareholders have until Sept.

By Jonathan Stempel and Alexandria Sage

(Reuters) - A federal judge in San Francisco dismissed a securities fraud lawsuit in which Tesla Inc shareholders accused the electric car company and Chief Executive Elon Musk of misleading them about the progress of production of its Model 3 vehicle.

In a decision made public on Monday, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said that while shareholders claimed that Tesla fell short of its production goals, "federal securities laws do not punish companies for failing to achieve their targets."

Breyer said the shareholders have until Sept. 28 to amend their complaint. Their lawyer, Laurence Rosen, did not respond to a request for comment.

The case is separate from lawsuits accusing Tesla and Musk of scheming to hurt short-sellers through Musk's Aug. 7 tweets about taking the Palo Alto, California-based company private, and that funding had been "secured."

Musk abandoned that proposal late Friday night.

Tesla formally launched the Model 3 in July 2017, touting it as a vehicle for the masses, and attracted deposits from more than 500,000 potential customers.

But shareholders said Musk knew Tesla was "woefully unprepared" to meet its production goal of 5,000 Model 3s per week, and that Tesla's share price was inflated until after the company finally cut its production target last November.

Belief in the Model 3 had helped propel Tesla's share price 62 percent higher in the 1-1/2 years after the Palo Alto, California-based company unveiled it in March 2016.

But the judge said shareholders failed to show that Tesla needed to be clearer that Model 3 production could fall short.

The company eventually blamed its production shortfall on "bottlenecks" at its battery factory outside Reno, Nevada and its assembly plant in Fremont, California.

"Plaintiffs are correct that defendants' qualifications would not have been meaningful if defendants had known that it was impossible for Tesla to meet its stated production goals, not merely highly unlikely," Breyer wrote. "The facts plaintiffs have put forth do not tend to establish that this was the case."

Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Breyer's decision is dated Aug. 24.

The case is Wochos v Tesla Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 17-05828.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York and Alexandria Sage in San Francisco; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.(Reuters) - A federal judge in San Francisco has dismissed a lawsuit in which Tesla Inc shareholders accused the carmaker of misleading the public about the progress on production of its Model 3 vehicle.

(Reuters) - A federal judge in San Francisco has dismissed a lawsuit in which Tesla Inc shareholders accused the carmaker of misleading the public about the progress on production of its Model 3 vehicle.

In a decision made public on Monday, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said that while the plaintiffs claimed that Tesla fell short of its production goals, "federal securities laws do not punish companies for failing to achieve their targets."

Breyer said the plaintiffs have until Sept. 28 to amend their complaint.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.By Heather Somerville (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp will invest $500 million in Uber to jointly work on developing self-driving cars, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday, a bid by both companies to catch up to rivals in the hotly competitive autonomous driving business. Toyota, one of the world's largest carmakers, and Uber Technologies Inc, the leading ride-hailing service, are widely seen as lagging the competition in developing self-driving cars

By Heather Somerville

(Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> will invest $500 million in Uber to jointly work on developing self-driving cars, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday, a bid by both companies to catch up to rivals in the hotly competitive autonomous driving business.

Toyota, one of the world's largest carmakers, and Uber Technologies Inc, the leading ride-hailing service, are widely seen as lagging the competition in developing self-driving cars. The partnership deepens an existing relationship and reflects CEO Dara Khosrowshahi's strategy of Uber developing autonomous vehicles through partnerships, rather than on its own.

The deal also breathes new life into Uber's self-driving business. Since a self-driving Uber SUV killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona, in March, Uber has removed its self-driving cars from the road, laid off hundreds of test drivers and shuttered operations in Arizona, its autonomous testing hub.

The investment values Uber at $72 billion, matching the valuation Uber received in a deal with Alphabet Inc self-driving unit Waymo this year.

Uber will combine its autonomous driving system with Toyota's Guardian technology, which offers automated safety features such as lane-keeping but does not enable a vehicle to drive completely autonomously. The combined technology will be built into Toyota's Sienna minivans, to be deployed on Uber's ride-hailing network starting in 2021, the source said.

An unidentified third party will own and operate the fleet, the source said. Both companies aim to solve the enormously challenging problem of how to mass produce self-driving cars.

Toyota was not immediately available for comment. Uber declined to comment.

Toyota has been less aggressive than some rivals on moving towards full-fledged autonomous driving. It has expressed caution about the technology and focussed on partial autonomous systems like Guardian. But the company has invested in research and said it plans to begin testing self-driving electric cars around 2020.

Uber has admitted its technology lags Waymo, and the crash in Arizona was a further setback in development and testing.

Since the crash, Khosrowshahi, whom employees consider a more pragmatic leader than his predecessor, has explored options that include more partnerships as well as a potential sale of the self-driving business, separate sources have told Reuters. The self-driving unit is a significant contributor to Uber's losses, which in the second quarter were $891 million.

At a July conference in Aspen, Colorado, Khosrowshahi said Uber was "totally open for business ... and we are having active discussions with other partners."

Uber has a deal to purchase cars from Volvo and outfit them with Uber's technology, and with Daimler AG , in which the carmaker proposes to put its own self-driving cars in Uber's ride-hailing network.

Khosrowshahi's partnership strategy is a shift. Uber co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick had insisted on developing a proprietary self-driving system and called autonomous cars "existential" to Uber.

Previously, Uber and Toyota partnered on an electric mobility project. Two years ago, Toyota invested an undisclosed sum in Uber and the two companies partnered on a car-leasing programme for Uber drivers. Uber has since shuttered its U.S. leasing business.

(Reporting by Arunima Banerjee in Bengaluru and Heather Somerville in San Francisco; Editing by David Gregorio and Dan Grebler)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.Toyota, one of the worlds largest carmakers, and Uber, the leading ride-hailing service, are widely seen as lagging the competition in developing self-driving cars.

Toyota Motor Corp will invest $500 million in Uber Technologies Inc to jointly work on developing self-driving cars, the companies said on Monday, a bid by both to catch up to rivals in the hotly competitive autonomous driving business.

Toyota, one of the worlds largest carmakers, and Uber, the leading ride-hailing service, are widely seen as lagging the competition in developing self-driving cars.

Their deal deepens an existing relationship and reflects CEO Dara Khosrowshahis strategy of Uber developing autonomous vehicles through partnerships, rather than on its own.

The deal also breathes new life into Ubers self-driving business. Since a self-driving Uber SUV killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona, in March, Uber has removed its robot cars from the road, laid off hundreds of test drivers and shuttered operations in Arizona, its autonomous testing hub.

The investment values Uber at $72 billion, matching the valuation Uber received in a deal with Alphabet Inc self-driving unit Waymo this year.

Uber will combine its autonomous driving system with Toyotas Guardian technology, which offers automated safety features such as lane-keeping but does not enable a vehicle to drive completely autonomously.

The combined technology will be built into Toyotas Sienna minivans, to be deployed on Ubers ride-hailing network starting in 2021, Uber said.

The companies aim is to solve the enormously challenging problem of how to mass produce self-driving cars for shared fleets, including ride-hailing services.

Jeff Miller, Ubers head of business development for strategic initiatives, said the partnership really paints the picture of how we envision deploying autonomous technology in the long term. That includes licensing its autonomous technology to carmakers and enlisting a third party to own and maintain the fleet.

The third party that will operate the Toyota autonomous fleet has not yet been chosen, Miller said.

For the Japanese automaker, the agreement and investment marks an important milestone in our transformation to a mobility company as we help provide a path for safe and secure expansion of mobility services like ride-sharing that includes Toyota vehicles and technologies, its executive vice president Shigeki Tomoyama said in a statement.

Self-driving plans

Toyota has been less aggressive than some rivals on moving toward full-fledged autonomous driving, expressing caution about the technology and focusing on partial autonomous systems like Guardian. But it has invested in research and plans to begin testing self-driving electric cars around 2020.

A Toyota official said the company would continue its research into self-driving technology, and that it would not combine its research efforts with Uber.

Uber has admitted its technology lags Waymo, and the crash in Arizona was a further setback in development and testing. The Toyota partnership puts pressure on Uber to resume testing on public roads, but the company has run up against regulators and politicians with safety concerns. Miller said Uber plans to have autonomous cars back on public streets by the end of the year.

Khosrowshahi, who took over Uber a year ago, has recently explored options that include more partnerships as well as a potential sale of the self-driving business, separate sources have told Reuters. The self-driving unit is a significant contributor to Ubers losses, which in the second quarter were $891 million.

Uber has a deal to buy cars from Volvo, outfit them with Ubers technology and maintain them, a more labour-intensive project than the Toyota plans.

The company also has a partnership with Daimler AG, in which the carmaker proposes to put its own self-driving cars in Ubers ride-hailing network.

Khosrowshahis partnership strategy is a shift. Uber co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick had insisted on developing a proprietary self-driving system and called autonomous cars existential to Uber.

Previously, Uber and Toyota partnered on an electric mobility project. Two years ago, Toyota invested an undisclosed sum in Uber and the two companies partnered on a car-leasing program for Uber drivers. Uber has since shuttered its U.S. leasing business.CAIT suggested that e-commerce companies should be listed with a stock exchange 'as it will stop their ability to keep on making sustained losses by adopting indiscriminate discounting

New Delhi: Traders' body CAIT on Monday wrote to commerce minister Suresh Prabhu and demanded that fundamentals of the e-commerce policy draft should not be diluted and it must entail restrictions on discounts and freebies offered by e-commerce platforms.

In the letter to Prabhu, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) also suggested that e-commerce companies should be listed with a stock exchange "as it will stop their ability to keep on making sustained losses by adopting indiscriminate discounting which is hurting the small traders".

CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal claimed that the discounts funded and financed by these e-commerce platforms are the biggest weapons used by them to gain market share.

"This is nothing but classic predatory pricing and as such the policy must contain restrictions on offering discounts and freebie," he said.

Khandelwal alleged that these platforms are blatantly violating the conditions imposed by Press Note 3 under FEMA and RBI, ED and other enforcement agencies are looking other way probably under some sort of influence which is evident from the fact that in past years many complaints have been made directly and also forwarded by Commerce Ministry but so far no investigation has been conducted and the issue is being dealt in a casual manner.

"Though the present Competition Law has suitable provisions for dealing with Predatory Pricing, however, it appears that Commission is not acting in its right spirit and no opportunity of hearing has been given to objections filed by us and orders have been passed by the Commission giving green signal to Walmart-Flipkart deal," he said.

CAIT has suggested that holding inventory clause in the policy proposal should be withdrawn, claiming that the policy has provision for inventory holding in certain cases which is nothing but back-door entry of FDI in Retail.

Khandelwal said that there is a dire need of a regulator to monitor e-commerce platforms

"We suggest that the said Regulator may be armed with powers to take penal action against the platforms which violate the policy, Rules or Regulations," CAIT said.

It is also suggested that an effective Grievance Forum should also be constituted to hear the grievances of the consumers and a Help Line should also be started for easy access to consumers in case of any grievances against any e-commerce platform.With this deal, Buffett's investment firm joins Japanese giant SoftBank that had last year bought a reported 20 percent stake in Paytm for an estimated $1.4 billion (over Rs 9,000 crore).

New Delhi: Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has picked up stake in Paytm and will get a position on the Board, the largest digital payments company in India said today.

The companies did not disclose the details of the deal including the stake size or the amount invested by the US-based Berkshire.

According to sources privy to the development, Berkshire is pumping in about $300-350 million (about Rs 2,500 crore) into Paytm, valuing the Indian company at over $10 billion.

With this deal, Buffett's investment firm joins Japanese giant SoftBank that had last year bought a reported 20 percent stake in Paytm for an estimated $1.4 billion (over Rs 9,000 crore).

One97 Communications, the owner of Paytm, counts marquee global investors like Ant Financial and Alibaba as the other key shareholders.

Todd Combs, investment manager at Berkshire, has joined the board of directors of Paytm, the company said in its statement.

"I have been impressed by Paytm and am excited about being a part of its growth story, as it looks to transform payments and financial services in India," Combs said.

Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said Berkshire's experience in financial services, and long-term investment horizon, will be a huge advantage in Paytm's goal of bringing 500 million Indians to the mainstream economy through financial inclusion.

According to reports, Buffett had at Berkshire's annual shareholder's meeting, said the financial payments industry is a huge deal globally and that many firms are working to reinvent the space.

Also, the group has been under pressure to seek investment opportunities to utilise the over $100 billion cash on its books, he had said.

For Paytm, the fresh funding comes as a shot in the arm at a time when it is locked in a bruising war with rivals like Flipkart's PhonePe and Google's Tez. The competition in the space is set to intensify further when WhatsApp launches its payments services in the Indian market.

WhatsApp has been testing its payments services in India with about one million users and is awaiting regulatory clearances to commence full-fledged operations.

Paytm, which has been aggressively diversifying its business into areas like investment management and e-commerce through various entities, had registered losses to the tune of Rs 899.6 crore in 2016-17.

Its total income, on the other hand, had grown over 38 percent to Rs 828.6 crore in 2016-17 from the previous fiscal.

The Noida-based company was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the government's demonetisation move in November 2016, that pushed adoption of digital payments across the country.

Since then, Paytm's platform has seen manifold growth in transactions as well as expansion in number of users. It claims to have an annual run rate of 5 billion transactions and $50 billion in gross transaction value.

One97 Communications also owns 49 percent stake in Paytm Payments Bank. The Paytm founder has also started e-commerce business under Paytm Mall that competes with giants like Amazon and Walmart-backed Flipkart.Abolishing Article 35A would unilaterally take away certain constitutional guarantees offered to Jammu and Kashmir residents at the time of Delhi Agreement of 1952.

The Supreme Court on Monday began hearing arguments challenging the constitutional validity of Article 35A of the Constitution. At the outset, it is important to note that the very question of if Article 35A is a part of the Constitution or not is in doubt. In any event, Article 35A protects the rights of permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir. Before this complex constitutional question can be addressed, it is important that certain context is supplied.

It is significant to note that British India was not at all times a unitary administration. There were the parts of India that formed a part of British India proper. The remaining were the princely states who in most cases were only subject to limited British administration. The British government only controlled certain external affairs and matters relating to the Constitution. A classic example is Hyderabad, which not only had its own currency, but also its own railway. In effect, they were subject to the control of the British by way of what was known as a resident commissioner who would guide the princely states and in effect controlled the whole of its domestic affairs.

Interestingly this is also why Indias head of state during the British era was a Viceroy and a Governor General. The role of the Governor General was for British India proper (Madras, Bombay, Central Provinces, Bengal etc.) and the second aspect of the dual role of Viceroy was for the princely states.

Upon the coming into force of the [UK] Indian Independence Act, 1947 the princely states found themselves suddenly as independent states. The Government of India Act, 1935 made provision for these states to join the Indian Union. Post-independence the act along with some modifications functioned as Indias interim constitution till 26 January 1950. During this period various agreements were concluded with the states. The governing document being an Instrument of Accession followed by what was known as standstill agreements that kept the relationship between the now independent India and the princely states the same as they were prior to Independence.

Jammu and Kashmir acceded to the Union in the year 1948 via an Instrument of Accession that made clear that it did not mean that the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir would accept any future Constitution of India. That's why on enactment of the Constitution, Article 370 providing various transition provisions was brought into force. This was also complicated by UN Security Council Resolution 47 that kept the states accession to India an open question subject to a plebiscite conducted by the UN. Though the resolution was non-binding, India had to wait for confirmation before the accession could be considered complete.

This was done when the state adopted its Constitution in the year 1957 and declared itself to be a part of India. Article 370 provides that the Indian Constitution would be extended to Jammu and Kashmir subject to terms as the President of India may determine. This would mean modifications. Article 35A accordingly came into force with the concurrence of the state government via the Constitution (Application To Jammu And Kashmir) Order, 1954 and it granted Indian citizenship to residents of Jammu and Kashmir but created a concept of "permanent resident". This was to protect persons who were subjects of Jammu and Kashmir and as India was now a republic, the status changed from subjects to that of permanent residents.

Essentially Jammu and Kashmir's relationship post-1954 was the same as China's current relationship with Hong Kong. Kashmir is a part of India but enjoys a special status. Article 35A is not a part of the Indian Constitution proper, but only a part of the Constitution as it is applicable to Jammu and Kashmir. Which means that Article 35A is not available for anyone else, nor does it extend to anywhere else but the state of Jammu and Kashmir. To say that Article 35A is a part of the Constitution is a mistake in law, it is neither an amendment nor is it a substantive part of the Constitution. It is issued pursuant to Article 370 (which is the substantive law) that permits the President to modify the Constitution as it applies to Jammu and Kashmir.

Therefore the question of the constitutional validity of Article 35A won't turn on the "basic structure" as Article 370 was there in the Constitution at the time of inception. The presidential order has also been amended from time to time. Provisions of the Indian Constitution extended via the said order will override provisions in the state Constitution in the event of a conflict but in the event the Indian Constitution (as extended) is silent on a point then the state Constitution prevails. All extensions, however, are done only with the consent of the Jammu and Kashmir government.

Further abolishing Article 35A itself, unilaterally would take away certain constitutional guarantees offered to Jammu and Kashmir residents at the time of Delhi Agreement of 1952. Jammu and Kashmir is a part of India but as Security Council Resolution 47 is still in force, the status of the state is one that is still an open question under international law. India has control over Jammu and Kashmir but the future of the state depends on the outcome of a plebiscite. India's case is that the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir is proof of the plebiscite a position that Pakistan hotly contests. But abolishing Article 35A that provides a distinct identity to Kashmiris is one that will result in full integration, which is against the spirit of autonomy granted under Article 370. Further many other states enjoy similar rights. For example Arunachal Pradesh. If Article 35A goes, the future of Arunachal Pradesh's policy of protecting its culture and tribes will also become an open one.

Article 35A is not a part of the Constitution nor does it appear in the authoritative text. It is part of an appendix.Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy on Tuesday explained his controversial statement that 'India should invade Maldives' if rigging takes place in the country's upcoming presidential elections.

Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy on Tuesday sought to explain his controversial statement that "India should invade Maldives" if rigging takes place in the country's upcoming presidential elections. Swamy distanced his 'personal opinion' from his party, the BJP, and said that he is does not represent the Government of India's official policy or stance in any way.

Swamy claimed that Indian citizens in Maldives can't be "ill-treated". He added, "It's my opinion that Indian government has a responsibility to protect its citizens for which invasion is necessary," ANI quoted his as saying.

After a meeting with exiled former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed in Colombo, Swamy had tweeted on Friday that "India should invade Maldives if rigging of election takes place."

https://t.co/nazyiRCOKs: India should invade Maldives if rigging of election takes place  Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) August 24, 2018

Days after Swamy's tweet, the Maldivian foreign office on Sunday summoned Indian envoy Akhilesh Mishra over the comment. The Indian Express reported that Maldives foreign secretary Ahmed Sareer spoke to Indian High Commissioner Akhilesh Mishra on Sunday and conveyed Male's "displeasure" at Swamy's tweet. The island nation's government has also submitted a demarche to the Indian government, expressing shock at the statement.

Mishra is said to have met with Sareer, however, according to Maldives Independent, Sareer's office denied knowing of any such meeting.

On Sunday, the government of India distanced itself from Swamy's statement. Responding to a query on the BJP parliamentarian's comment, Ministry of External spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, "The opinion expressed by Dr Swamy in his tweet is personal. It does not reflect the views of the Government of India."

News18 reported that on Wednesday, former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed had told Swamy about his apprehensions that the 23 September presidential elections could be rigged by the incumbent president Abdullah Yameen's party. The discussion between Nasheed and Swamy happened during a meeting in Colombo on 22 August.

With inputs from agenciesThe Supreme Court in 2014 had delivered a landmark verdict, directing the states to recognise the gender identity of transgender people and ensure that they are given entitlements and benefits.

Ridiculed by the society and shunned by family members, Priya left her home located in a hamlet of Tinsukia district in Upper Assam, around 480 km from state capital Dispur, when she was 10 and settled with the transgender community in Guwahati. She was fortunate enough to be trained as a beautician and then get a job at a city unisex parlour. However, her struggle to find a place in the society continued as her transgender identity for which she was rejected by all, has once again surfaced to become her biggest challenge.

Despite having applied her name for an inclusion in the final National Register of Citizens (NRC), which is currently being updated in Assam, under the direct monitoring of the Supreme Court, Priya was among the 20,000 others left out from the final NRC draft list who failed to furnish their legacy documents to prove that they are a domicile of the state.

First the society labelled us as Hijra and now illegal citizens. Do you think, the people who had shunned me for who I am then, are going to accept me as their children? Isnt it funny? How can I furnish a legacy document to prove that my parents are Indian? Many of us must have also forgotten our parents names for sure. But does it mean we are illegal citizens? Im an Indian, she cried.

To make it to Assam NRC, one has to prove that one's parents have lived in Assam before 1971. This is done via 'legacy linkage', which is a difficult task for the transgender community since most of their families have cut ties with them a long time ago.

But Swati Bidhan Baruah, who is a transgender activist and lawyer who is also the founder of All Assam Transgender Association (AATA), says hope is still there. Swati, who had recently become the states first transgender judge in a Lok Adalat in the court of Kamrup (Metropolitan) District and Sessions Judge Court, has recently brought the plight of the transgender community people in Assam before the Supreme Court. The apex court has taken the matter up and already asked the NRC authorities to reply to it.

The Supreme Court has asked the NRC state coordinator Prateek Hajela to place the data before it in the next hearing set for 28 August, said Swati adding, We are hopeful since it was the Supreme Court that was the first in the country to have addressed the issues of transgender rights.

The Supreme Court in 2014 had delivered a landmark verdict, directing the states to recognise the gender identity of transgender people and ensure that they are given entitlements and benefits.

In her petition, Swati prayed to modify the updation process with special respect to transgender individuals, who were separated from their biological families and have no access to documents. Though, the application form for updation of the NRC permits an individual to enter their sex as Male, Female or Other, the documents required for participating in this process were such that it was virtually impossible for members of the transgender community to participate in this process, thereby violating their fundamental rights. There has to be certain exceptions and relaxation for the marginalised section of people, said the activist who is also the petitioner.

Swati added further, Details of ancestors such as legacy data are central to the process of application. It is extremely difficult for a transgender individual to have access to such information, considering they are abandoned by their families at a very young age, and social exclusion causes them to live a marginalised life.

Pointing out another major problem especially linked with the transgender community, the petition further added that several members of the transgender community faced a major problem because of their names. Because the names assigned to them at birth also do not match the names that they assumed subsequently in life. Often the documentation available with the individual contains such a name assigned at birth, creating further complications for the individual, Swati pointed out.

While asked on any possible suggestions from the petitioners side to ease the process for the transgender community, Swati said, Given that many members of the community live outside of the mainstream, away from their biological families, with very little access to education and avenues of livelihood that are formal or regulated, they have a genuine difficulty with access to documentation. A process would have to be devised, for the collection of the requisite information from the biological families by an agency of the state, if the individual is in a position to identify the family."

However, there may be instances where an individual will be unable to identify the biological family or the family may deny any association with the individual due to the stigma associated with members of the transgender community. In these cases, reliance may have to be placed on self-certification by the individual. Thus, for the purpose of updating the NRC, depending on the facts of each case, the transgender individual may be permitted to provide affidavits to the effect, she suggested further.

The AATA alleged that the NRC authority has cheated them as the latter had earlier assured the community of considering their prayers and do the needful. However, the authorities have allegedly completely overlooked the matter resulting in the mass exclusion of the transgender community people. As per the 2011 census, there are 11,374 transgender persons in Assam.

In its last hearing of the petition on 16 August, the Supreme Court sought a report (in sealed cover) from the NRC authorities on the district-wise percentage of the population that was left out of the final draft to better understand the issue. The home ministry, in consultation with the Assam government, had submitted a proposed standard operating procedure (SOP) for filing claims and objections regarding the draft NRC before the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court also asked the Assam Public Works (main petitioner of the case), Assam Sanmilita Mahasangha, an indigenous peoples organisation, National Democratic Front of Bodoland (Progressive), Indigenous Tribal Peoples Federation, All Assam Bhojpuri Parishad, Joint Action Committee for Bengali Refugees, All Assam Minority Students Union and Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind to submit their views on the SOP.

In the SOP, the Ministry of Home Affairs said that the Centre proposes to include Indian citizens who are not from Bangladesh and who moved to Assam from other parts of the country before or on 24 March, 1971 in the NRC if their citizenship is proved beyond reasonable doubt. The final Draft NRC for Assam published last month excluded around 12 percent of Assams population. In the final draft NRC out of 3.29 crore people in Assam, names of 2.89 crore had been included while 40,70,707 people could not make it to the register.

The author is a member of The NewsCart, a Bengaluru-based media startup.Posted on: August 28, 2018 1:01 PM

The Standing Committee of the Anglican Church of the Indian Ocean has designated September as a month of prayers of intercession, dedicated to the national unity of the three countries that constitute the Province. Members of the Standing Committee met at Antananarivo, Madagascar, last month, under the presidency of the Churchs Primate, Bishop James Wong Yin Song. We . . . wish to reaffirm the prophetic role of the Church who is called to be an instrument of peace and justice, they said in a communique at the end of their meeting. We wish to express our will to work so that the Church can awaken more the consciousness of the people of the Indian Ocean islands which is constantly agitated by winds of insecurity, instability, the degradation of morals and the political, economic, environmental, social and family corruption.

They said: This awakening of the consciousness is essential because every man, woman and child constituting our respective societies have the right to a life which is in conformity with the values of the Good News of Jesus Christ. These values require that all, regardless of their political, regional, ethnic, religious and cultural affiliation, have the right to live in a society that ensures the personal and social development of those who constitute it.

The Church has this responsibility, without interfering in political life, to encourage and mobilise the lifeblood of our respective societies and believers to develop a much more proactive approach in consolidating a prosperous and prosperous future, for the present and future generation of the people of our respective Republics.

The communique addressed particular issues within the three nations of the province.

In November and December, Presidential elections are due to be held in Madagascar. The Standing Committee communique said that It would be appropriate, therefore, for those who wish to be empowered to govern Malagasy society to be deeply imbued with the desire to serve. Our Lord Jesus Christ has, time and again, by his example of life and his words, emphasised the importance that for the good of all we cannot serve ourselves. . .

It is nevertheless regrettable to note that very often those who aspire to hold the supreme power of the country do not succeed in fulfilling the will of the people because it is possible to lose sight of the commitment made to the progress and development of all the people. Personal and family interests often darken good intentions and hinder the primary desire to serve and work for all to live in dignity that honours everyone without distinction.

In Mauritius, the Standing Committee took note of a recent report by a Commission on Drugs, which found that police, lawyers and senior politicians, including a government minister, were had links with drug traffickers. In their communique, the Standing Committee expressed their surprise by the scope of this scourge which endangers the whole functioning of the Mauritian society.

It said that the lack of vigilance and concrete actions had, through greed, created a corrupt mentality in the country. A creeping materialism infected by an excess of greed comes to erode the values of mutual respect and responsibility that are necessary for a development with a human face, the communique said.

In the Seychelles, the church leaders welcomed the establishment of a Commission of Justice, Truth and Reconciliation to examine serious crimes committed against its people, including family disappearances, acquisition of land and illegal detention. However, we want to call on the forces to ensure that the criteria and parameters established are duly respected and that there is no interference.

They said that they wanted the work of the Commission to repair relationships and provide national reconciliation, saying: this is crucial for the integrity of the entire nation.

They conclude their communique by saying: We want Gods dream for all humanity to be realised in this part of the world. May the grace of God make us capable of transforming the dehumanising situations we experience every day into more humane achievements that do honour and glory to God. . .

Be assured of our prayers and unwavering support when it comes to honouring the dignity of every human being.Ramdas Athawale said that 'if needed' Hindu right-wing group Sanatan Sanstha should be 'completely banned.'

Mumbai: Union Minister of State (MoS) for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale on Monday said that "if needed" Hindu right-wing group Sanatan Sanstha should be "completely banned."

"Sanatan Sanstha will have to stop its violent activities. If it was involved in the murders of Dr Narendra Dabholkar and Gauri Lankesh then action needs to be taken against it. The culprits should be nabbed as soon as possible. If needed, the organisation should be completely banned," Athawale said at a press conference.

Athawale's statement comes after Sanatan Sanstha earlier in the day denied reports of any involvement in the Dabholkar and Lankesh death cases. "The nine people recently arrested don't belong to Sanathan Sanstha, which is being targeted unnecessarily in these circumstances. Out of the nine people, five are those, whose names we have come to know through media only. There are different types of people who are referred to as Sanathan workers and I want to clear that none of the arrested are connected with our outfit," Sanathan Sanstha spokesperson Chetan Rajhans said.

"Just because these people came to Sanstha ashrams, these people can't be connected with us. The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) in its press conference has mentioned that the investigation is not completed and is in its initial phase. We have decided to go judicial way to stop these rumours. We have always followed proper procedures, therefore, I request everyone not to target Sanathan Sansthan and have proper information before you write or speak," he added.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had earlier recovered the pistol used for killing Bengaluru-based journalist-cum-activist Gauri Lankesh while investigating the Narendra Dabholkar murder case, thus establishing a connection between the two murders.

The pistol was recovered from Shubham Surale, the brother-in-law of Sachin Andure, an accused in the Dabholkar murder case, who was arrested from Aurangabad by the CBI on 18 August.

Narendra Dabholkar, who was the founder of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS), was shot dead on 20 August, 2013, by bike-borne assailants while returning home from a morning walk, while Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outside her Bengaluru residence on 5 September last year.Maharashtra Police carried out raids at the homes of prominent Left-wing activists across the country and arrested five of them in suspicion of having Maoist links

The Pune Police on Tuesday carried out raids at the homes of prominent Left-wing activists across the country and arrested at least five of them over suspicion of having Maoist links in the organisation of Elgaar Parishad on 31 December, 2017. The nationwide raids were carried out as part of the probe into the violence at Bhima-Koregaon village.

Searches were carried out at the homes of Left-wing activist and poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj, Father Stan Swamy from Ranchi and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha, who lives in Delhi.

A joint statement was published by activists and intellectuals, including former vice-president JNU Students Union, Shehla Rashid Shora, former navy chief Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas, MLA Jignesh Mevani, and student activist Umar Khalid, condemning the arrest of activists and public intellectuals.

Here is the full text of the statement:

We, the undersigned, are shocked by the serial raids across the country on the homes of activists and public intellectuals who are critical of the government and the ruling party at the Centre. The arrests of prominent activists and intellectuals Sudha Bharadwaj, Vernon Gonsalves, Gautam Navlakha, Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira and others, are nothing but an attempt by the government to strike terror among those who are fighting for justice for the marginalised. This is also an attempt by the BJP to invent a false enemy and engage in scaremongering in order to polarise the 2019 elections in its favour. Already, the government and the media houses close to the BJP have been trying to spin a false narrative of a Maoist conspiracy since June, 2018. Terms like urban naxals are invented in order to stifle any criticism of the government. We have learnt that the Delhi Police, after having arrested Sudha Bharadwaj, waited for Republic TV to arrive before taking her to the court. This simply shows that the arrests are incomplete without the accompanying sensationalist media propaganda to demonise activists, human rights defenders and intellectuals.

The so-called raids carried out on the houses of these activists are aimed at creating a spectacle, as the writings and views of these intellectuals are already publicly known and are well documented. This seems like a conspiracy to divert attention from the gravity of the Sanatan Sanstha conspiracy to carry out serial bomb attacks on Eid and Ganesh Chaturthi! The same Sanatan Sanstha was also involved in the murder of Gauri Lankesh, as per the ongoing investigations by Karnataka police. Todays arrests have been carried out in order to give cover to the murderers of Gauri Lankesh. People like Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha and others who have been arrested are friends of the people who have dedicated their entire lives to the betterment of the Indian public. By arresting them, the BJP is only exposing its insecurities and its intolerance to any dissent or criticism of its policies.

The arrests should be seen in continuation with the recent attacks on pro-justice voices such as Swami Agnivesh, Umar Khalid and many other student activists from Delhi to Lucknow. A BJP lawmaker from Karnataka even advocated the murder of intellectuals. Both the arrests and the physical attacks on justice loving people must be seen in a series of attempts to stifle dissent and deny social justice.

We demand immediate release of the arrested individuals, dropping of all false and malicious charges, as these arrests are politically motivated and unjustified.CPM leader Prakash Karat criticised the raids conducted across the country on Tuesday. 'This is a brazen attack on democratic rights. We are demanding that all the cases against these people be withdrawn and they be released forthwith,' he said.

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Taking the investigation in the Bhima Koregaon incident forward, the Maharashtra Police is reportedly conducting raids across India at homes of activists most of whome are politically Left-leaning. Reports suggest that teams of Maharashtra Police simultaneously conducted raids in Goa, Mumbai, Ranchi, Hyderabad, and Delhi.

He was convicted under various sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Arms Act in 2007 by a Mumbai court.

Gonsalves is a former professor of business organization at a prominent Mumbai college. He has been previously accused of having links to banned Naxalite outfits. Gonsalves was also labelled an ex-central committee member and former secretary of Maharashtra State Rajya Committee of the Naxalites. He has spent six years in prison between 2007 and 2013, when he was picked up by the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad from his Mumbai residence in August 2017.

A team of Maharashtra Police raided the Mumbai home of activists Vernon Gonsalves in Mumbai. According to 101 Reporters, the raid at Gonsalvess house began at around 6 am and is still underway.

He was again arrested in 2011 and taken to a police station in Gadchiroli district. The arrest was made for two cases of Naxalite attacks in 2007 and the court allowed police custody even as Ferreira complained of abduction. He finally stepped out of prison in 2012.

Another person whose residence was raided in Mumbai is Arun Farreira, political activist, cartoonist, and alumnus of St Xavier's college Mumbai. Farreira, like Gonsalves, was picked up in 2007 from his home by the Maharashtra ATS and remained in prison till 2011. He faced charges of sedition under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). However, the charges were scrapped in 2014, according to The Indian Express .

Since then, the investigation turned to explore the role of 'Maoist sympathisers' and Dalit-right activists in instigating the violence.

Initially, the investigation targetted Hindu extremist outfits and Maratha-right activists in Pune and Maharashtra, but later in March the Pune Police said that there was no evidence against Shiv Prathishtan Hindustan leader Sambhaji Bhide who reportedly gave an inflammatory speech near the Bhima Koregaon village, days before the violence broke out.

In the violence at Bhima Koregaon, two communities clashed over the celebration of the victory in Bhima-Koregaon battle. Large groups had burnt and stoned vehicles and property injuring doens, while one person was killed.

The Elgar Parishad was organised to commemorate 200 years of the Bhima Koregaon battle in which British forces, comprising a large number of Dalit soldiers, had defeated the Peshwas who had represented the Maratha empire. Dalits view the battle as the defeat of "casteist" Peshwas, who were Brahmins.

It is alleged that provocative speeches were made at the Elgaar Parishad held on 31 December last year at the historic Shaniwarwada fortification in Pune.

The Pune Police had arrested five people, including prominent Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale, for allegedly having close Maoist links from Mumbai, Nagpur and Delhi in connection with the 1 January incident. All the five were arrested in a case registered against the organisers of Elgaar Parishad held in Pune ahead of the Bhima-Koregaon incident.

A team of nine police personnel from Maharashtra Police, led by inspector Deepak Nigam, raided the residence of a noted social worker, Fr. Stan Swamy in Namkom area of Ranchi, Jharkhand, at around 6am on Tuesday. DIG, Ranchi range, AV Homkar confirmed the development and said that objectionable material has been confiscated from the residence of Stan Swamy.

Police personnel entered Satyanarayana's residence in the EFL-U campus at around 10 am and the raid is still underway. Satyanarayana's father-in-law and noted Left-wing intellectual Varavara Rao's Hyderabad home was also raided.

K Satyanarayana, a cultural studies professor at English and Foreign Languages University, (EFL-U), was also among a row of Left-leaning intellectuals whose houses were raided today.

Maharashtra police arrived at Stan Swamy's house at 6 am and presented an official letter in Marathi. Swamy refused to sign it without a translation, so the police provided an undertaking of having explained the letter to him sentence by sentence.

The team of Pune police which raided the home of Stan Swamy has confiscated 21 CDs, 2 SIM cards, a laptop, camera, a list of tribal freedom fighters from Jharkhand and a press release about the Khunti gangrape case during the raid. They also took in possession Swamy's mobile phone.

ACP Shivaji Pawar of Pune Police has been investigating the case and had personally coordinated with DIG Ranchi, AV Homkar to ensure raid is conducted swiftly in wee hours of the morning.

Pathalgadi are stone slabs bearing inscriptions that villagers in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have, over the past year, appropriated to declare their "independence" from the state and central government, and as signposts to mark tribal agitation.

Stan Swamy is a tribal rights activist who has been a supporter of the pathalgadi movement in Jharkhand since it's inception. Swamy and 20 others, including former Congress MLA from Kolebira, Simdega district of Jharkhand, were booked by Khunti police on 30 July for sedition under sections 121, 121A and 124A of the IPC and Sections 66A and 66F of the IT Act.

Human rights activist and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj was arrested from her Delhi residence on Tuesday. The police had earlier raided her Badarpur residence and confiscated her laptop, journal, storage devices and mobile phones. The police reportedly also requested access to her email IDs and social media accounts.

Journalist and civil rights activist Gautam Navlakhe's home has also been raided in connection with the organisation of Elgaar Parishad in Pune on December 31, 2017 and his alleged Maoist links, He has reportedly been taken into police custody in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence case.

This includes Professor Satyanarayana, Journalist Kranthi and Kurmanna, and close aides or fellow activists of Rao. CDs, laptops and books have been seized from their homes.

Varavara Rao, who was arrested following a raid on his house, is being taken to Pune, his wife said. Rao has been under house arrest for the last one and a half months. There is high tension among activists, as eight other houses have also been searched.

"This is another example of government selectively targeting Christians in the name of Pathalgadi and Maoist connections. Case number 4/18 registered by Vishrambaug police station in Pune is an attempt to link Father Swamy with urban Maoists groups, which is wrong. Police brought the notice in Marathi when they knew that none here understands the language. The document they are calling press release on Pathalgadi is actually a study done by Father Swamy's NGO, Bagaicha, regarding alleged malpractices of Missionaries of Charity in Jharkhand," said Vasvi Kido, a social worker.

"Pune police came to investigate whether I am a Maoist or not. I handed over to them whatever they demanded. Let them investigate, I will not be cowed down by such measures," said Father Stan Swamy, addressing media persons after the raid.

A Habeus Corpus petition has been filed in Delhi High Court against the arrest of journalist Gautam Navlakha. He was picked up from his Delhi home on Tuesday afternoon. The Delhi High Court will hear the petition at 4 pm.

"Some literature of objectionable nature has been seized by team of Pune Police during a raid at Father Stan Swamy's residence in Ranchi, today morning. A laptop, CDs, a camera and mobile phone of Swamy has also been taken into custody by the team. Swamy was questioned at his house and let off," says Amol V Homkar, DIG, Ranchi police.

Amnesty India has raised questions on the systematic crackdown on activists across different locations in India. The rights' group said: "In June this year, five activists from Maharashtra were arrested on suspicion of having links with banned Maoist groups. The activists who were arrested have a history of working to protect the rights of some of Indias most marginalized people. Today, Maharashtra police have launched raids on rights activists across the country... This crackdown raises disturbing questions about whether these people are being targeted for their activism."

Quoting sources, ANI reported that the raids were conducted at Mumbai, Ranchi, Hyderabad, Faridabad, Delhi and Thane on Tuesday. The Pune Police also carried out searches at multiple places in various states on the residences of people suspected to have Maoist links.

CPM leader Prakash Karat criticised the raids conducted across the country on Tuesday. "This is a brazen attack on democratic rights. We are demanding that all the cases against these people be withdrawn and they be released forthwith," he said.

"The simultaneous state-wide arrests are a dangerous sign of a government that fears it is losing its mandate and is falling into panic. That lawyers, poets, writers, Dalit rights activists and intellectuals are being arrested on ludicrous charges... while those who make up lynch mobs and threaten and murder people in broad daylight roam free, tells us very clearly where India is headed," Roy told PTI in a message.

What is happening is absolutely perilous, said author and Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy after the raids, which were carried out as part of a probe into the violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon-Bhima village, triggered by 'Elgar Parishad' event in Pune on 31 December.

He asserted that the activists were losing their right to free speech because of the situation. "In Article 244(1), there is a provision on administration and control of the tribal areas that fall under the 5th Schedule of the Constitution. The areas are to be directly governed by the governor and are autonomous in terms of governance. The activists are protesting that this is not being implemented and are losing their right to protest and free speech in the process," he said.

"Stan Swamy is known to me. He is a known figure in the tribal belts of Jharkhand. By taking activists into custody, the government is violating Article 19 of the Constitution that guarantees right to freedom of opinion and expression," Rajkumar, General Secretary, Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Mahasabha, said.

"The Tamil Nadu Police reached there at 9.30 pm and brought him after obtaining a transit warrant to Chennai the next morning. When produced before the metropolitan magistrate at Chennai's Saidapet Court, he was refused to be remanded since there was no prima facie case and the police were only allowed to continue to investigate him till the 24 hours period was."

Speaking about how activists are being targeted and the way in which human rights groups are coming to their defense, People's Watch executive director Henri Tiphagne said: "Thirumurugan Gandhi, a human rights defender from Tamil Nadu, was detained on the basis of a lookout circular at the Bengaluru International Airport on 9 August and handed over to the airport police.

"Human Rights Defenders Alert took up his case before the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention when he was arrested under the Goondas act last year (2017) and gave an interim opinion in No 88/2017. The NHRC was also approached in this matter and they also orally addressed the Tamil Nadu Police."

People's Watch executive director Henri Tiphagne said: "He (Thirumurugan Gandhi) was finally released from police custody as per the orders and directions of the Metropolitan Magistrate. As Thirumurugan Gandhi came out of the office from the buildings of the former commissioner of police near Pantheon Road, a group of police men once again surrounded him rudely and lifted him into another vehicle and have taken him to Royapettah police station allegedly to remand him to judicial custody in Crime No 440/2017 u/s 143,188, 353 IPC.

In view of the raids as part of the probe into the Bhima-Koregaon violence, a joint statement was published by activists and intellectuals  including former vice-president JNU Students Union, Shehla Rashid Shora, former navy chief Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas, MLA Jignesh Mevani, and student activist Umar Khalid  condemning the arrest of activists and public intellectuals.

"We at Human Rights Defenders Alert have issued a communication to the NHRC because each of those detained are human rights defenders. This isn't an act limited to the Maharashtra Police, we find a national design to this entire operation. The only sign of hope in this process is that the Delhi High Court has intervened," said Henry Tiphange, Executive Director at People's Watch.

It also said that an inquiry into pattern design and funding of protests at uranium mines and nuclear plants revealed a superior network of pan-India organisations linked to terrorist organisations.

These four NGOs are Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF), Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament & Peace (CNDP), Popular Education & Action Centre (PEACE) and Jan Sangharsh Samanvaya Samiti, the latter being the focal point for anti-Fatehabad nuclear power plant, the IB report stated.

In June, six NGOs operating out of Delhi's Katwaria Sarai figured in an Intelligence Bureau report titled 'Impact of NGOs on development' on NGOs stalling development projects.

Quoting sources, ANI reported that the raids were conducted at Mumbai, Ranchi, Hyderabad, Faridabad, Delhi and Thane on Tuesday. The Pune Police also carried out searches at multiple places in various states on the residences of people suspected to have Maoist links.

This is a brazen attack on democratic rights. We are demanding that all the cases against these people be withdrawn and they be released forthwith: CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat on raids and arrests across the country in connection with #BhimaKoregaon violence case pic.twitter.com/rocy4ldhfA

CPM leader Prakash Karat criticised the raids conducted across the country on Tuesday. "This is a brazen attack on democratic rights. We are demanding that all the cases against these people be withdrawn and they be released forthwith," he said.

"The simultaneous state-wide arrests are a dangerous sign of a government that fears it is losing its mandate and is falling into panic. That lawyers, poets, writers, Dalit rights activists and intellectuals are being arrested on ludicrous charges... while those who make up lynch mobs and threaten and murder people in broad daylight roam free, tells us very clearly where India is headed," Roy told PTI in a message.

What is happening is absolutely perilous, said author and Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy after the raids, which were carried out as part of a probe into the violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon-Bhima village, triggered by 'Elgar Parishad' event in Pune on 31 December.

He asserted that the activists were losing their right to free speech because of the situation. "In Article 244(1), there is a provision on administration and control of the tribal areas that fall under the 5th Schedule of the Constitution. The areas are to be directly governed by the governor and are autonomous in terms of governance. The activists are protesting that this is not being implemented and are losing their right to protest and free speech in the process," he said.

"Stan Swamy is known to me. He is a known figure in the tribal belts of Jharkhand. By taking activists into custody, the government is violating Article 19 of the Constitution that guarantees right to freedom of opinion and expression," Rajkumar, General Secretary, Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Mahasabha, said.

"The Tamil Nadu Police reached there at 9.30 pm and brought him after obtaining a transit warrant to Chennai the next morning. When produced before the metropolitan magistrate at Chennai's Saidapet Court, he was refused to be remanded since there was no prima facie case and the police were only allowed to continue to investigate him till the 24 hours period was."

Speaking about how activists are being targeted and the way in which human rights groups are coming to their defense, People's Watch executive director Henri Tiphagne said: "Thirumurugan Gandhi, a human rights defender from Tamil Nadu, was detained on the basis of a lookout circular at the Bengaluru International Airport on 9 August and handed over to the airport police.

"Human Rights Defenders Alert took up his case before the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention when he was arrested under the Goondas act last year (2017) and gave an interim opinion in No 88/2017. The NHRC was also approached in this matter and they also orally addressed the Tamil Nadu Police."

People's Watch executive director Henri Tiphagne said: "He (Thirumurugan Gandhi) was finally released from police custody as per the orders and directions of the Metropolitan Magistrate. As Thirumurugan Gandhi came out of the office from the buildings of the former commissioner of police near Pantheon Road, a group of police men once again surrounded him rudely and lifted him into another vehicle and have taken him to Royapettah police station allegedly to remand him to judicial custody in Crime No 440/2017 u/s 143,188, 353 IPC.

"A prejudicial narrative was created in the mainstream media immediately following the arrests of the above mentioned human rights defenders projecting them as 'Maoist operatives' to justify their arbitrary arrests," it also said.

"It is falsely alleged in the FIR that the human rights defenders had circulated controversial pamphlets and delivered hate speeches in an event organised by a coalition of 260 non-profit organisations, called Elgar Parishad on December 31, 2017, at Punes Shaniwar Wada, which police claim led to the Bhima Koregaon violence that broke out on January 1, 2018," it further said.

"After their arrests, the activists were taken to Pune from various locations on transit remand by the Pune Police and are currently under judicial remand in Yerwada Jail in Pune," said the appeal.

A team of 10 people came today morning, they didn't have a search warrant but were carrying another document. They checked our mobile phones & laptops and took all passwords: Maaysha, daughter of Sudha Bharadwaj (arrested in connection with #BhimaKoregaon violence) pic.twitter.com/FmkP6MuatV

In view of the raids as part of the probe into the Bhima-Koregaon violence, a joint statement was published by activists and intellectuals  including former vice-president JNU Students Union, Shehla Rashid Shora, former navy chief Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas, MLA Jignesh Mevani, and student activist Umar Khalid  condemning the arrest of activists and public intellectuals.

Raids LIVE updates: Sudha Bharadwaj's daughter said the raid team of ten people which conducted the search did not have search warrants, although it had other documents.

CPM leader Prakash Karat criticised the raids conducted across the country on Tuesday. "This is a brazen attack on democratic rights. We are demanding that all the cases against these people be withdrawn and they be released forthwith," he said.

A Habeus Corpus petition has been filed in Delhi High Court against the arrest of journalist Gautam Navlakha. He was picked up from his Delhi home on Tuesday afternoon. The Delhi High Court will hear the petition at 4 pm.

"This is another example of government selectively targeting Christians in the name of Pathalgadi and Maoist connections. Case number 4/18 registered by Vishrambaug police station in Pune is an attempt to link Father Swamy with urban Maoists groups, which is wrong." said Vasvi Kido, a social worker.

Human rights activist and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj was arrested from her Delhi residence on Tuesday. The police had earlier raided her Badarpur residence and confiscated her laptop, journal, storage devices and mobile phones. The police reportedly also requested access to her email IDs and social media accounts.

Writer and activist Varavara Rao has been arrested in Hyderabad and is being taken to the Nampally court to obtain transit warrant. Father Stan Swamy from Ranchi said that the Pune police raided his residence at 6 am on Tuesday and took his laptop, mobile phone, his tab, a few documents, 20-25 videotapes and a press release on the Pathalgadi (movement) released a few weeks ago. Pune police said that they had received confidential information about Swamy and so wanted to seize his laptop, hard drives, mobiles, notebooks and other technical equipment to prevent him from destroying information.

Teams of Pune police raided the houses of activists in Mumbai, Ranchi, Hyderabad and Faridabad. Among those whose houses were searched are Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, Sudha Bharadwaj in Faridabad and Stan Swamy in Ranchi. In Hyderabad, raids were reported from the homes of Varavara Rao and his family members, and two other activists, Kranti and Naseem.

Taking the investigation in the Bhima Koregaon incident forward, the police teams are conducting nationwide raids. A team of Maharashtra Police raided the home of noted social worker, Father Stan Swamy in Namkum area of Ranchi in Jharkhand around 6 am on Tuesday morning. Police have confiscated several items like computers, laptop, CDs, papers and books during their search. Swamy was also quizzed about activities of several banned organisations in Maharasthtra. Jharkhand police are aiding the operations.

Meanwhile, similar reports were recieved from Telangana, Delhi and Mumbai. According to reports, teams of Maharashtra Police have simultaneously raided Arun Ferreira, Susan Abrahams and Vernon Gonsalvez's residences in Mumbai. Activist Gautam Navlakhas Delhi residence and Anand Teltumbde's house in Goa were also raided. In Telangana's capital Hyderabad, Professor Vara Vara Rao and his daughters Anala and Pawana's houses were raided. Teams raided journalist Kurmanath's house in Hyderabad as well.On 8 January, 37-year-old Tushar Damgude filed a First Information Report (FIR) at the Vishrambag police station in Sangli over the Elgaar Parishad.

On 8 January, 37-year-old Tushar Damgude filed a First Information Report (FIR) at the Vishrambag Police Station in Sangli over the Elgar Parishad  a conference held in Shaniwar Wada near Pune  on 31 December, 2017, to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon.

It is this FIR that started it all. On the basis of Damgude's complaint, teams of the Pune Police conducted searches at the homes of eight people in April this year for suspected Maoist links.

And it is on the basis of this complaint that teams of the Pune Police on Tuesday conducted multi-city raids on the homes of several prominent activists and arrested at least five of them.

In the FIR, Damgude complained of how the organisers of the Elgaar Parishad event had repeatedly been making "malicious" statements.

He also alleged that one of the participants, Sudhir Dhawale, made the following statement at the conference: "Jab julm ho to, bagawat honi chahiyee shahar main, jab julm ho tom bagawat honi chahiye shahar main...aur agar bagawat na ho to, behatar hai kee, rat dhalane se pahele ye shahar jal ke rakh ho jaye...ye shahar jal ke rakh ho jaye (When a crime takes place, there should be rebellion in the city. If rebellion does not take place, it is better that the city is burnt to ashes before nightfall)."

In the FIR, the complainant alleged that some provocative and "objectionable" books had been sold during the programme, and also that the participants had raised provocative slogans, engaged in "songs and road-drama (sic)" and tried to distort history.

Damgude also claimed that this was being done to spread Maoist ideologies among the "depressed class" and "misdirect or misguide them and turn them towards unconstitutional violence activities (sic)". He alleged that it was this conference that was responsible for the violence in Bhima Koregaon.

The raids on Tuesday were carried out as part of the investigation into the violence between Dalits and upper-caste members in Bhima Koregaon village near Pune after the Elgaar Parishad on 31 December.

Near simultaneous searches were carried out at the homes of prominent Telugu poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Farreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad and civil liberties activist and journalist Gautam Navalakha in New Delhi.

Subsequently, Rao, Bhardwaj, Farreira, Gonzalves and Navalakha were arrested under Section 153(A) of the Indian Penal Code, which relates to promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, race, place or birth, residence, language and committing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony, a senior official said.

Those arrested were charged with a few other sections of the Indian Penal Code as well as sections under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for their "alleged Naxal activities", the police official said, without elaborating. He added that the home of Father Stan Swamy, a tribal leader in Jharkhand, was also searched, but he was not detained.

With inputs from PTIPune police Tuesday raided homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least five of them

New Delhi: Outraged over multi-city raids by Maharashtra police on homes of several prominent activists and subsequent arrests, a number of noted lawyers, academics, authors, human rights defenders and opposition leaders Tuesday termed the action as a 'virtual declaration of emergency' in run-up to elections.

Taking a dig, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said there was place for only one NGO in "the new India" and it was the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). "Shut down all other NGOs. Jail all activists and shoot those that complain," he tweeted.

Amnesty International and several other groups including People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) called the action a concerted attempt to crush human rights interventions and to silence voices of dissent.

Pune police Tuesday raided homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least five of them - poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade unionist and lawyer Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad and Chhattisgarh and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in Delhi.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalit and the upper caste groups at Bhima Koregaon village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad on 31 December, 2017.

A police official said all the five, who were arrested later, are suspected to have Maoist links and had allegedly funded the Elgar Parishad conclave.

Security officials in Delhi said two letters, purportedly exchanged by Maoist leaders indicating plans to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah and Home Minister Rajnath Singh, led to the police action.

Historian Ramachandra Guha called the action "absolutely chilling" and demanded the Supreme Court's intervention to stop this "persecution and harassment" of independent voices.

"Sudha Bharadwaj is as far from violence and illegality as Amit Shah is close to those things," tweeted Guha, adding if Mahatma Gandhi was alive, he would have defended Bharadwaj. As a biographer of Gandhi, I have no doubt that if the Mahatma was alive today, he would don his lawyer's robes and defend Sudha Bharadwaj in court; that is assuming the Modi Sarkar hadn't yet detained and arrested him too," he tweeted.

Several activists said it was like an undeclared emergency when the rights defenders and dissenters are being raided, arrested, jailed and even killed.

According to unconfirmed reports, raids were also carried out at residences of several other activists including Susan Abraham, Kranthi Tekula, Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi and Anand Teltumbde in Goa.

Condemning the police action, the CPM accused the BJP-led government of "attacking the democratic rights of people" to shield the real culprits of Bhima Koregaon violence.

Congress spokesperson Jaipal Reddy condemned the raids and arrests and said, "They are selfless NGOs, activists who are obliged to fight the enveloping darkness of dictatorial tendencies."

Author Arundhati Roy said, "In the run up to elections, it is an attempted coup against the Indian Constitution and all the freedoms that we cherish."

She said, "The simultaneous state-wide arrests are a dangerous sign of a government that fears it is losing its mandate and is falling into panic, adding "that lawyers, poets, writers, Dalit rights activists and intellectuals are being arrested on ludicrous charges... while those who make up lynch mobs and threaten and murder people in broad daylight roam free, tells us very clearly where India is headed."

She also alleged that "murderers are being honoured and protected" and anybody who speaks up for justice or against Hindu majoritarianism is being made into a criminal.

She said it was as close to declaration of an emergency as it can get. Another activist Kavita Krishnan also described the action as "undeclared emergency".

In a statement, the PUCL said, "Such systematic and pre-meditated crackdown on human rights activists is unprecedented and unheard of in a democracy."

Noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan said, "Fascist fangs are now openly bared. It is a clear declaration of emergency. They are going after anyone who has spoken against the government on rights issues. They are against any dissent."

CPM leader Prakash Karat called it "a brazen attack on democratic rights" and demanded immediate release of the activists.

In a video message, CPM national secretary K Narayana said, "We strongly condemn the arrest of well-known Left intellectual Vara Vara Rao.... Ever since the Modi government has come into power, they are trying to kill intellectuals."

"They killed Govind Pansare, Gauri Lankesh and Kalburgi and they have also imprisoned GN Saibaba. They have arrested Vara Vara Rao only with the intention of killing him. Is the prime minister really that weak, to be killed so easily?" he said.

Rights activist Shabnam Hashmi and former JNU student leader Umar Khalid also condemned the raids. JNU student leader Shehla Rashid alleged it was an attempt to "instill fear among those who are vocal about issues" and "to manufacture a narrative and a sense of false enemy to misguide people ahead of the 2019 elections".

A number of prominent youth leaders, activists and authors issued a joint statement, alleging it was an attempt by the BJP to engage in "scaremongering" and "polarise" the 2019 elections in its favour.

Several civil society and rights groups will also hold a press conference Wednesday in Mumbai to condemn the police action.The Pune Police on Tuesday conducted searches at the residences of prominent activists across the country for their suspected Maoist links.

The Maharashtra Police on Tuesday raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least five of them for their suspected Maoist links. The raids were carried out as part of the probe into the violence at Bhima-Koregaon village following an event held on 31 December 2017.

Searches were carried out at the homes of Left-wing activist and poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj, Father Stan Swamy from Ranchi and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha, who lives in Delhi.

Sudha Bharadwaj

Activist Sudha Bharadwaj's home was raided early on Tuesday morning, and she has since been taken into custody by the police. Sources told Firstpost that Sudha has been detained under Sections 153(a), 505, 117, 120(b) along with several sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

She is being held at the Surajkund police station in Haryana, according to sources. The Swargate police station in Pune had sought the arrest of Bharadwaj. The police reportedly also requested access to her email IDs and social media accounts.

Bharadwaj is best known for her work in Chhattisgarh, where she has lived for 29 years and fought for the rights of mine workers in Bhilai, as a member of late Shankar Guha Niyogi's Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha. A civil rights activist and lawyer, Bharadwaj has also been fighting against land acquisition, and is currently the general secretary of the Chhattisgarh People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)

Varavara Rao

Another activist from Hyderabad, Varavara Rao has been taken from his home, sources told Firstpost. He has already been under house arrest for the last one and a half months, they said.

Sources said that Rao has been produced at the Nampally court in Hyderabad after the completion of the mandatory medical checkup at the Gandhi Hospital.

The Wire reported that Raos nephew Venugopal, editor of Veekshanam Telugu magazine, told TV channel Sakshi after the raid, This is an attempt to stifle voices that talk about murders of Dalit and Adivasis in areas like Gadchiroli. There is a cooked up story that VV Rao was connected with an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There is no truth to it. Apart from VV Rao, his two daughters and sons-in-law have been targeted. They do not have any connection with VV Raos politics. The Central government, Maharashtra government, aided by the Telangana government, are engaging in intimidation to stifle democratic voices.

Gautam Navlakha

Journalist and human rights activist Gautam Navlakha was also arrested under the same sections of the IPC as Bharadwaj. Navlakha's home was also raided in connection with the organisation of Elgaar Parishad in Pune on 31 December, 2017 and his alleged Maoist links.

Later in the day, the Delhi High Court directed the Maharashtra Police to not take Navlakha outside the national capital till it hears the matter on Wednesday morning.

The court's direction came when it was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Navlakha by his advocate Warisha Farasat.

Navlakha has been associated with People's Union for Democratic Rights. He is also an editorial consultant of the Economic and Political Weekly. He, along with Sudha Bharadwaj, demanded repeal of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Navlakha, a frequent traveller to Kashmir Valley for the last two decades, has also written extensively about alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.

Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferriera

In Mumbai, a team of Pune Police raided the houses of activists Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira. Sources told Firstpost that both have been arrested.

Gonsalves has been previously accused of having links to banned Naxalite outfits. He was also labelled as an ex-central committee member and former secretary of Maharashtra State Rajya Committee of the Naxalites. He has already spent six years in prison between 2007 and 2013, when he was picked up by the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad from his Mumbai residence in August 2017.

He was convicted under various sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Arms Act in 2007 by a Mumbai court.

Stan Swamy

Personnel from the Maharashtra Police arrived at Father Stan Swamy's house in Ranchi at 6 am and presented an official letter in Marathi informing him of the raid. However, sources told Firstpost that Swamy refused to sign it without a translation, so the police provided an undertaking of having explained the letter to him sentence by sentence. They also confiscated Swamy's laptop, mobile phones, a press release about the Khunti rape case, among other items.

Sources said that the Pune Police team which raided the home of Father Swamy confiscated 21 CDs, two SIM cards, a laptop, camera, a list of tribal freedom fighters from Jharkhand and a press release during the raid.

Swamy is a tribal rights activist and has been supporting the Pathalgadi movement in Jharkhand since its inception. Swamy and 20 others, including former Congress MLA from Kolebira, Simdega district of Jharkhand, were booked by Khunti Police on 30 July for sedition under sections 121, 121A and 124A of the IPC and Sections 66A and 66F of the IT Act, according to sources.

"Pune Police came to investigate whether I am a Maoist or not. I handed over to them whatever they demanded. Let them investigate, I will not be cowed down by such measures," said Father Swamy, addressing media persons after the raid, according to sources.

A letter from Shivaji Pawar, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Swargate, Pune Police, confirmed that a raid had been ordered at Swamy's house in Ranchi.

Sources told Firstpost that a raid was also conducted at Anand Teltumbde's house in Goa. Anand is the brother of Milind Teltumbde and relative of Prakash Ambedkar.



Arrests from earlier in 2018

In June, five people were arrested for having close Maoist links after they allegedly made "provocative" speeches at the event, triggering violence at Bhima Koregaon village in the district, according to an FIR registered at the Vishrambaug police station after the event.

Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale was arrested from his home in Mumbai, while lawyer Surendra Gadling, activist Mahesh Raut and Shoma Sen were picked up from Nagpur and Rona Wilson was arrested from his flat in Munirka in Delhi in simultaneous raids in June.

Police said probes were being conducted at homes of the five arrested and those who were directly or indirectly connected with them.

Outrage over multi-city raids, arrests of rights activists

The arrests of prominent civil rights activists and multi-city searches of their homes triggered outrage and condemnation by several activists, lawyers, academics and authors.

CPM leader Prakash Karat said, "This is a brazen attack on democratic rights. We are demanding that all the cases against these people be withdrawn and they be released forthwith."

Author and Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy said that what was happening "is absolutely perilous".

"The simultaneous state-wide arrests are a dangerous sign of a government that fears it is losing its mandate and is falling into panic. That lawyers, poets, writers, Dalit rights activists and intellectuals are being arrested on ludicrous charges... while those who make up lynch mobs and threaten and murder people in broad daylight roam free, tells us very clearly where India is headed," Roy told PTI in a message.

"In the run up to elections, this is an attempted coup against the Indian Constitution and all the freedoms that we cherish," Roy said.

In June, five activists were arrested in connection with the case.

Voicing their deep anguish at Tuesday's developments, civil rights activists said the scale of raids and subsequent arrests were unprecedented. Lawyer Prashant Bhushan took to Twitter to voice his protest:

Getting news that Pune police have raided/arrested among the finest Human rights activists&dissenting voices, such as Sudha Bharadwaj (a human rights lawyer), Gautam Navlakha (Former Pres of PUDR), Fr Stan Swamy (a human rights activist) & Ors. Fascist fangs are now openly bared  Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) August 28, 2018

Noted historian Ramachandra Guha called the action "absolutely chilling" and demanded the intervention of the Supreme Court to stop this "persecution and harassment" of independent voices.

This is absolutely chilling. The Supreme Court must intervene to stop this persecution and harassment of independent voices. Sudha Bharadwaj is as far from violence and illegality as Amit Shah is close to those things. https://t.co/GTD2V0Tlk7  Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) August 28, 2018

Rights activist Shabnam Hashmi, too, strongly condemned the raids.

JNU student leader Shehla Rashid alleged the raids were an attempt to "instil fear among those are vocal about issues". "It is also to manufacture a narrative and a sense of false enemy to misguided people ahead of the 2019 elections I highly condemn these," she said. Former JNU leader Umar Khalid said the raids are an attempt to send a message to those who are raising their voices. "Ahead of 2019 elections, a sense of fictitious enemy is being conjured," he said.

People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) issued a statement denouncing the muti-city raids conducted on Tuesday.

With inputs from Siraj Dutta, Greeshma Rai, 101Reporters, and agenciesThe Maharashtra Police conducted multi-city raids and arrested several activists, including Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakaha and Varavara Rao, on Tuesday.

As part of an investigation into the violence in Bhima Koregaon village near Pune after an event on 31 December, the Maharashtra Police raided the homes of several prominent left-wing activists in different locations across the country on Tuesday.

The initial raids were conducted in the homes of Telugu poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Farreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in Delhi.

Subsequently, Rao, Bhardwaj, Gonsalves and Farreira were arrested. Although Navalakha was also arrested, the Delhi High Court ordered the police not to take him out of the national capital at least until Wednesday. According to unconfirmed reports, the others whose residences were raided are Susan Abraham, Kranthi Tekula, Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi and Anand Teltumbde in Goa.

Here are their brief profiles:

Varavara Rao

The 77-year-old activist who was arrested on Tuesday has been writing poetry since 1957. Founder member of Virasam (Revolutionary Writers' Association), he was arrested in October 1973 under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act. He was released and arrested on more than one occasion between 1975 and 1986 in different cases, including the 1986 Ramnagar conspiracy case in which he was acquitted in 2003 after 17 years. Rao was again arrested on 19 August, 2005, under the Andhra Pradesh Public Security Act and sent to Chanchalguda Central Prison in Hyderabad. The case was struck down under the Public Security Act on 31 March, 2006, and Rao obtained bails in all other cases.

Sudha Bharadwaj

Bharadwaj was born in Massachusetts in the United States and came to India when she was 11 years old. She gave up her US citizenship when she was 18 and joined the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur for a five-year integrated course in mathematics.

She is best known for her work in Chhattisgarh, where she has lived for 29 years, fighting for the rights of mine workers in Bhilai as a member of late Shankar Guha Niyogi's Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha. Bharadwaj began working with the group in 1986, after witnessing the abysmal working conditions of labourers in West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh during her stint as a student at IIT-Kanpur. A civil rights activist and lawyer, Bharadwaj has also been fighting against land acquisition and is currently the general secretary of the Chhattisgarh People's Union for Civil Liberties.

Arun Ferreira

An activist based in Mumbai, Ferreira was claimed to be the leader of the propaganda and communications wing of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) in 2007. He was acquitted of all charges in 2014.

In his book Colours of the Cage: A Prison Memoir, published the same year, Ferreira recounted the details of his imprisonment of nearly five years.

Gautam Navlakha

Navlakha has been associated with People's Union for Democratic Rights and is a Delhi-based journalist. He is also an editorial consultant for the Economic and Political Weekly.

Along with Bharadwaj, he has demanded the repeal of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. They have maintained that the act  passed to regulate the activities of unlawful organisations  has been used by the government to curb extremist activities as opposed to unlawful activities.

Navlakha, a frequent traveller to the Valley for the last two decades, has also written extensively about the alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.

Vernon Gonsalves

A blog run by his friends describes Gonsalves as a "leader of the Altar Boys" and "a strong believer of justice, equality and freedom". A gold medallist from the University of Mumbai and a former lecturer at Ruparel College and HR College, Gonzalves, security agencies allege, was an ex-central committee member and former secretary of the Maharashtra State Rajya Committee of Naxalites. He was charged in around 20 cases and was acquitted due to lack of evidence after serving six years in jail.

Susan Abraham

The civil rights lawyer represented many of those arrested during the raids in June by the police in connection with the Elgar Parishad event at Bhima Koregaon. The wife of Gonzalves, Abraham was born in Kerala to school teachers and studied in Zambia. She was also part of protests against demonetisation and fake encounters and for workers and women's rights.

Abraham has written extensively against the rigourous sentences given to Delhi University professor GN Saibaba and activist Prashant Rahi, among others, calling them a "misuse of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act". Her name can be seen in the credits of a film, Court, in which she guided filmmaker Chaitanya Tamhane through the intricacies of the law.

Anand Teltumbe

An engineer, MBA and former CEO, Teltumbde is also a leading scholar and activist for Dalit rights. He has authored books on people's movement particularly about leftist agitations and Dalit rights struggles. He also has a doctorate in cybernetics from the University of Mumbai. It is no coincidence that he has often argued that reservation for Dalits has, in fact, stigmatised them and consecrated caste in India's polity.

Speaking on the raid at his residence, Teltumbde, a professor of data analytics at the Goa Institute of Management, said he is not even remotely connected to the allegations levelled against him. "Whatever are my opinions, they are in the public domain. What reaction can I offer to you? I cannot even remotely think of such a kind of thing happening to me," Teltumbde told PTI.

Teltumbde said what the police were claiming about Maoist links of left-wing activists is "nonsense". "We are not in such kind of business. We are respected people. They are doing nonsense. Most of them (arrested activists) are human rights activists. It is natural that they will speak in favour of those people whose rights are violated," he said.

Father Stan Swamy

The human rights activist founded the Vistapan Virodhi Janvikash Andolan, a platform that advocates the rights of indigenous people, including adivasis and Dalits. Swamy was among the 20 people against whom a sedition case was filed in July for posting statements against the Jharkhand government for inciting tension over the Pathalgadi movement.

Kranthi Tekula

Tekula is a journalist with Namaste Telangana. According to reports, he lives in Nagole and works as a photographer.

With inputs from PTIThe custody battle for activist Sudha Bharadwaj took a dramatic turn in late night action after Tuesday's sweeping raids by Pune police in connection with violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon-Bhima village on 31 December last year when Dalit activists clashed with upper-caste Marathas. Bharadwaj, arrested from her Faridabad residence Tuesday, is being taken to Pune against the orders of Punjab and Haryana High Court, her lawyers are now claiming.

The custody battle for activist Sudha Bharadwaj took a dramatic turn in late night action after Tuesday's sweeping raids by Pune police in connection with violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon-Bhima village on 31 December last year when Dalit activists clashed with upper-caste Marathas. Bharadwaj, arrested from her Faridabad residence Tuesday, is being taken to Pune against the orders of Punjab and Haryana High Court, her lawyers are now claiming.

Well after midnight local time, reports from location indicate that Bharadwaj is being held in a Toyota Innova vehicle parked just outside the house of the CJM in Faridabad's Sector 15A. At this time, the CJM is consulting with the district judge. The Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered that Bharadwaj will not be remanded to Maharashtra Police custody till the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) of Faridabad passes an order granting this transit remand. Advocates RS Bains and Ankit Grewal appeared for Bharadwaj before the High Court.

Sudha Bharadwaj has been produced AGAIN before CJM Faridabad. Her lawyers are not being allowed entry. #BhimaKoregaon @Sudhabharadwaj  Bar & Bench (@barandbench) August 28, 2018

Nine rights activists were searched and five of them arrested Tuesday over allegations of Maoist links after sweeping multi-city raids across in Delhi, Faridabad, Goa, Mumbai, Ranchi and Hyderabad. Maoist ideologue Varavara Rao, lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, and activists Arun Fereira, Gautam Navlakha and Vernon Gonsalves are the five people who have been taken into custody Tuesday.After late night action that spilled over till 1:30 am Wednesday, Chief Judicial Magistrate of Faridabad Ashok Kumar directed the Surajkund police to keep activist Sudha Bharadwaj, arrested Tuesday in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence from December 2017, in her Badarpur home under house arrest until 30 August.

After late night action that spilled over till 1:30 am Wednesday, Chief Judicial Magistrate of Faridabad Ashok Kumar directed the Surajkund police to keep activist Sudha Bharadwaj, arrested Tuesday in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence from December 2017, in her Badarpur home under house arrest until 30 August. Bharadwaj is one of the five activists arrested Tuesday after multi-city raids by the Pune police in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence on 31 December when Dalit activists clashed with upper-caste Marathas.

By 2 am Wednesday, the dust finally settled and Bharadwaj has been taken to her house where she will be under the supervision of Surajkund police till the Punjab and Haryana High Court hears the matter on 30 August.

Here is the operative portion of the latest, handwritten order: "The matter is subjudiced before the HC and it will be prudent to wait for the orders of HC, where the case is listed for 30/8/18 therefore in compliance of order of HC, the transit remand issued in the earlier hours at 740 PM is recalled till 30/8." Bharadwaj's lawyer Vrinda Grover explains the order, in this video tweet:

The Faridabad CJM had earlier granted Bharadwajs transit remand to the Maharashtra police despite the Punjab and Haryana High Court staying the remand until 30 August. Bharadwaj is said to have informed her lawyer that police were trying to take her directly to the airport late night Tuesday. Bharadwaj was arrested from her Charmwood Village house around 7 a.m Tuesday by a group of 10 Maharashtra police personnel.

Well after midnight local time, reports from Faridabad indicated that Bharadwaj was being held in a Toyota Innova vehicle parked just outside the house of the CJM in Faridabad's Sector 15A. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had ordered that Bharadwaj will not be remanded to Maharashtra Police custody till the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) of Faridabad passes an order granting this transit remand.

Nine activists were searched and five of them arrested Tuesday after sweeping multi-city raids across in Delhi, Faridabad, Goa, Mumbai, Ranchi and Hyderabad. Maoist ideologue Varavara Rao, Sudha Bharadwaj and activists Arun Fereira, Gautam Navlakha and Vernon Gonsalves are the five people who have been taken into custody Tuesday over allegations of Maoist links.The raids on activists by the Maharashtra Police were part of the investigation into the Bhima Koregaon violence and based on an FIR filed in Pune.

Raids on activists in multiple cities dominated the headlines on Tuesday. The Maharashtra Police led the raids  carried out as part of the investigation into the violence in Bhima Koregaon near Pune after an event on 31 December  at the homes of prominent left-wing activists in several states. At least five of them were arrested for suspected Maoist links.

Searches were carried out at the homes of activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad, left-wing activist and poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in Delhi. They have been charged under several sections of both the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code.

These detentions have been criticised by activists, journalists and public intellectuals countrywide, and petitions have been filed seeking their release and protection.

Sudha Bharadwaj

A civil rights activist and lawyer, Bharadwaj was taken into custody after the police raided her home early on Tuesday morning. She has been detained at the Surajkund Police Station in Faridabad, on the request of Pune's Swargate Police.

Advocate Ankit Grewal has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking a stay on her remand. The plea requests that she "be allowed to stay at her house under police supervision" till the current petition is pending. It also seeks the issuance of a writ or any other order to the police to not arrest the detainee (Bharadwaj) "without prior notice", an order "in the nature of a habeas corpus" to directing officials to "immediately set the detenue at liberty"

A habeas corpus is a writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a court, especially to secure his or her release.

"In what appears to be a witch hunt for unsympathetic political views, Maharashtra Police officials came early morning on 28th August 2018 to her home at Badarpur border in the state of Haryana under the jurisdiction of PS (police station) Surajkund where she stays with her daughter," the plea read. It added that the police team conducting the raid had violated sections 165 and 166 of the Code Of Criminal Procedure (CrPc) on the process to conduct raids and had also handed Bharadwaj documents in Marathi, which she cannot read.

"Neither the grounds nor the purpose of conducting the search, supposed to be made in writing by the searching officer in terms of Section 165(1) of the CrPc have been made available to the detenue (Bharadwaj) and the remaining occupants of the premises under search," Grewal's plea said.

More importantly, it highlights that the FIR lodged at the Vishrambagh Police Station in Pune, based on which the raids were conducted, does not mention Bharadwaj's name "rightly so because she was not even present at this cultural meeting". This was in reference to the Elgar Parishad event held in Pune on 31 December to commemorate 200 years of the Battle of Bhima Koregaon in 1818.

"The search has not yielded any objectionable material, yet the detenue, who has been detained and kept under preventive custody and has been arrested," Grewal added in the plea. "This is clearly an assault on liberals, liberal thinking and a motivated act. There is no ground for detention or restriction of movement. The actions are illegal and unconstitutional. Yet the detenue has extended all possible cooperation to the searching officers, even in these circumstances."

Grewal said that he had filed the writ because Bharadwaj has been "illegally detained" and the actions of the police teams have been "arbitrary, illegal and unjust", infringing her right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

Gautam Navlakha

In his writ, Grewal pointed out the "illegal detention" of journalist and activist Gautam Navlakha. To emphasise his call to have Bharadwaj's detention stayed, he highlighted how the Delhi High Court had stayed Navlakha's transfer to Pune till Tuesday till it hears the matter again.

The bench held that the journalist would remain at his house under police supervision and be allowed to meet only his lawyers, the same demand Grewal had made for Bharadwaj. The high court ruled that "no precipitate action of removing the petitioner from Delhi" can be taken till the next hearing. The bench also pointed out that as the documents produced were in Marathi  as was the case with Bharadwaj  it was not possible to make out "what precisely the case against the petitioner is". Translated documents are to be produced before the court on Wednesday.

These raids and arrests come after five people were arrested in June for suspected Maoist links. This was after they allegedly made "provocative" speeches at the Elgar Parishad event that triggered the Bhima Koregaon violence. Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale was arrested from his Mumbai home; lawyer Surendra Gadling, activist Mahesh Raut and Shoma Sen were picked up from Nagpur; and Rona Wilson was arrested from his flat in Delhi  all in simultaneous raids in June.

The police raids on Tuesday and the arrests of prominent civil rights activists triggered outrage from several quarters. It was condemned as a "brazen attack on democratic rights", "absolutely perilous" and an "attempted coup against the Indian Constitution", among a myriad other criticisms.The debate on whether to cap election expenditure by political parties is a key issue prior to elections every year. This year all parties, except for BJP supported the idea to impose limitations on the election campaign spending.

The Election Commission held an all-party meeting in New Delhi where seven national parties and 51 regional parties were invited to discuss various issues such as paper ballots, limit on election expenses and domestic migrant voting. Other things among the agenda included place of electoral rolls, timely submission by parties of annual audited reports, inclusion of print media as a medium to appeal for votes prior to election and curbing the use of social media during 48 hours before polling ends, gender representation in political parties and progress made in acquiring latest EVMs and paper trail machines.

But the key issue which became a discussion point during the all-party meet on Monday was the funding of political parties and if a limit should be imposed on the amount of money that parties can spend during an election campaign. All parties, except for the BJP supported the idea to impose limitations on the election campaign spending. However, contrary to other parties, the BJP felt that it a cap on spending apparently encourages caste-based politics and is meaningless due to the provision of electoral bonds which mandates disclosure of all contributions that exceed Rs 20,000, reported The Times of India.

Rajya Sabha member and BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav and Union minister JP Nadda, who represented the party at the meeting, told The Indian Express that since all political parties have to declare their expenditure in their income-tax filings, usmein kisi prakaar ki capping nahi lagai jaani chahiye (there should not be any cap).

According to PTI, the BJP said that with all contributions greater than Rs 20,000 being reported now, it might well be left to the candidates and parties to report their sources of funding and expenditure. Political parties mobilise funding on the basis of their voting support base and their membership and added that corporate, high net worth individuals and crowdfunding is a consequence of their voter base. "Hence, there is no reason to introduce any cap on such collection or expenditure," the ruling party said.

The BJP, however, said the extent of ceiling on election expenditure of a political party should be discussed widely, keeping in view the several factors depending on the basis of number of candidates put by a party, social-political dynamics, geographical area of the state or constituencies, density, numbers of rallies proposed by the party among other factors, reported PTI.

Senior Congress leader Mukul Wasnik said, obscene amount of money was spent by the BJP in the recent Assembly elections in Karnataka, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. He noted that at times the expenditure incurred by the party was 100 to 500 times greater than the expenses cap on individual candidates. The Congress also favoured a cap on expenditure by political parties on advertisements in the media as well as on hiring transport such as helicopters and private planes used in electioneering, reported The Deccan Herald.

Parties earnings only rise



In May 2018, Bloomberg had published a report stating how Congress was facing a financial crisis while BJP's wealth was increasing. Congress had stopped sending the funds required to run its offices in various states, party officials not wishing to be identified told Bloomberg. To overcome the crisis, Congress resorted to crowdfunding for its candidates.

According to an ADR report published on 10 April 2018, between 2015-16 and 2016-17, the income of BJP increased by 81.18 percent (Rs 463.41 crore) from Rs 570.86 crore during 2015-16 to Rs 1,034.27 crore during 2016-17 while the income of Congress decreased by 14 percent (Rs 36.20 crore) from Rs 261.56 crore during 2015-16 to Rs 225.36 crore during 2016-17. But the report also stated that incomes of political parties increased by 51 percent in the year 2016-17.

For the general elections of 2014, BJP spent more than Rs 700 crore for campaigning and publicity. The party also declared the highest amounts of funds collected, reported The Times of India.

Why a debate arises on election expenses?

The debate on whether to cap election campaign expenses is not new and every year independent entities and media reports highlight the misuse of funds for elections with campaigners or their associates spending exorbitant amounts of money for publicity prior to the election. According to the TIME magazine, elections in India are becoming more expensive every year as political parties attempt to woo a younger, demanding electorate. Digital marketing and advertisements were the top expenses for political parties during the 2014 general elections, and according to the initial findings of an election expenditure tracker by the Centre for Media Studies, three times more was spent on the 2014 polls than was spent in the last general elections in 2009.

Election expenditures in India since the 1984-85 Lok Sabha elections have been steadily rising after each election. The expenditure of conducting the Lok Sabha elections is borne by the Centre while the state governments spend to maintain law and order during the Lok Sabha elections. However, there are no limits on the expenditure incurred by political parties and hence large sums of money are raised and spent by them during their election campaigns.

As per The Representation of People Act 1951, a proper account of election expenditure is required to be provided by political parties and contesting candidates to the Election Commission of India (ECI) within 90 days after the completion of the Lok Sabha elections. All registered political parties have to submit before the ECI a statement of election expenditure. Similarly, within 30 days after the conclusion of the Lok Sabha elections, all contesting candidates are required to produce an expenditure statement before the ECI. Political parties are supposed to provide details of total amounts provided to contesting candidates and to provide details on amounts received to the ECI. However, there are inconsistencies in the accounts declared by parties and contesting candidates and parties often delay filing their audit reports with the Election Commission, states ADR in a report.

What re-ignited the debate?



The Election Commission floated a proposal to cap the poll expenses of political parties, signalling its intention towards a major electoral reform ahead of the 2019 General Elections, reported The Hindustan Times on 21 August. The EC wanted the Centre to amend the Representation of the People Act and Rule 90 of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, to this effect. Rule 90 mentions the maximum expenses authorised for parties contesting for either a parliamentary constituency or an Assembly constituency.

Jagdeep Chhokar of Association for Democratic Reforms told The Hindustan Times, Election Commissions initiative proposing limits on the expenditure that political parties can incur on elections is very welcome. It is widely known and accepted that over 99.9% of the candidates grossly under-report in their election expenditure affidavits. Hard data exists to prove this. The real solution is to enforce Central Information Commissions 2013 decision that political parties are public authorities under the RTI Act which six national political parties are blatantly defying."

At the all-party meeting on Monday, the BJP was the only one to argue against any restriction on the election-related expenditure of political parties. At the meeting, attended by more than 20 parties, each was given 10 minutes to make a presentation on election-related issues. The reason that the issue of cap on political expenditure became contentious is that the smaller and regional parties  and other national parties  were of the view that unlimited spending by political parties gives them an advantage over small parties who cannot hire star campaigners or use as many resources as the bigger parties, reported The Financial Express.Kolkata: Hitting out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the state unit of the BJP Tuesday said she should "stop dreaming about becoming the next Prime Minister" and focus on maintaining law and order in the state.

The ruling Trinamool Congress, led by Banerjee, has been using "terror tactics" to win elections in the state, Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh alleged.

"Instead of dreaming of becoming the next prime minister, the chief minister should be concerned about restoring law and order in the state," he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Banerjee accused the saffron party of resorting to "politics of killing" in Bengal. Referring to the panchayat poll violence, she said the BJP members are working in connivance with goons who had earlier served the CPM.

Banerjee also said that her party will make all efforts to oust the BJP from the Centre. Terming her allegations as "completely baseless", Ghosh said the TMC is afraid as it is "fast losing ground" to the BJP in Bengal.

"The ruling party has been misusing and abusing the police machinery and administration to win polls. The BJP is committed to end this reign of terror in Bengal," he said.

Ghosh charged the TMC leaders of employing "undemocratic ways" to suppress people. "The TMC is trying to terrorize people in former Maoist belt of Junglemahal as they had voted against the party in the panchayat polls. They are trying to suppress the voice of people," he said

The ruling party is trying to wipe out every sign of opposition from West Bengal, the state BJP president claimed. "Our workers are being killed every day in Bengal. But we will continue our democratic fight till we end the misrule of the TMC government," he added.Bombay HC was also informed that earlier this year, another bench of the high court had directed the Centre and MCZMA to file their replies, but they had failed to do so in over six months.

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday asked the Centre and the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) to file their responses on the allegations that several clearances for the proposed Shivaji Memorial off the Arabian Sea were given unlawfully.

A bench of Justice Shantanu Kemkar and Justice Sarang Kotwal directed the authorities to address, in their respective affidavits, all the legal issues raised in a bunch of Public Interest Litigations (PIL) filed in the court challenging the construction of the memorial.

The directions came after senior advocate Aspi Chinoy, representing some of the petitioners, informed the court that the MCZMA, the Centre and the state government had granted several approvals to the project in violation of the coastal zone norms.

Chinoy told the bench that the state and the MCZMA had granted approvals to the project without conducting a public hearing. Citizens can raise objections and give suggestions on a public project of the aforementioned nature at a public hearing and it is mandatory as per environmental and Coastal Zone Norms, Chinoy said.

As per the plea, the Maharashtra government issued a notification in February 2015 stating that there was no requirement for a public hearing for the Shivaji Memorial project. "However, the MCZMA and the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) had already granted several necessary approvals for the project between November 2014 and January 2015 without the public hearing," Chinoy said. "This means that the authorities had been granting approvals in the anticipation that the norm on public hearings would be amended. This can't be considered lawful," he argued.

The court was also informed that earlier this year, another bench of the high court had directed both the Centre and the MCZMA to file their replies, but they had failed to do so in over six months now. The bench, therefore, directed the two to file their replies within four weeks.

In a previous hearing, the state government had submitted that the public hearing had been dispensed with since the project was located away from human habitation and therefore did not involve any rehabilitation.

As part of the proposed Chhatrapati Shivaji Memorial project, a statue of the warrior king will be constructed in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai. According to the state government, the statue will be the tallest in the world. The Maharashtra government has pegged the overall project cost at Rs 3,600 crore.Given what we know of the Sanatan Sansthas activities and alleged crimes, it should ideally be classified as a terrorist organisation.

If the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad is to be believed, it has just exposed an insidious terror plot being hatched by Sanatan Sanstha. A dossier is being prepared, seeking the Union governments approval to declare the organisation a terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967.

This is not the first time the Sanatan Sanstha has come under the scanner of the Maharashtra government or the Union government, for that matter. Twice before, in 2001 and 2015, a recommendation was forwarded from the state government seeking its ban, but in both cases, the Ministry of Home Affairs, on behalf of the Union government, turned it down citing lack of evidence. With the recent raids, and the Central Bureau of Investigation linking the Sanatan Sanstha to the murders of Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar, it looks like the case to declare the Sanstha a terrorist organisation is becoming stronger. Additionally, it looks like they might even have had a hand in the Gauri Lankesh murder as well.

The Sanstha has disowned the persons arrested so far, claiming that they were never really members in the first place. Even if the leadership and other members were not directly involved in the alleged crimes, they have reason to worry.

The UAPA has provisions for designating organisations as either unlawful association or terrorist organisations. Any group of persons, whether incorporated under law or not can be designated as an unlawful association or a terrorist organisation. An entity is declared as an unlawful association based on its objects whereas a terrorist organisation is usually declared as such on the basis that it has actually indulged in terrorism or terrorist acts. While an unlawful organisation is usually designated through a notification by the home ministry, a terrorist organisation is declared through the amendment of the UAPA itself by the government.

The procedure followed is also different. Whereas an unlawful association tag lasts two years only and needs to be renewed with fresh approvals, there is no such requirement for tagging an association as a terrorist organisation. Moreover, the notification declaring an association as an unlawful association needs to be confirmed by a Tribunal set up under the Act (a sitting judge of a high court) before it takes effect. No such requirement exists for the designation as a terrorist organisation. In either case, membership, funding and support for such organisations are crimes under the UAPA.

Given what we know of the Sanatan Sansthas activities and alleged crimes, it should ideally be classified as a terrorist organisation. Even preparation for a terrorist act will deem an organisation to be a terrorist organisation for the purposes of the UAPA, and if the ATS is to be believed the intent of the members was to commit bombings with a view to strike terror and cause chaos and panic.

But will this be enough?

The Maharashtra ATS itself has expressed some scepticism on whether action under the UAPA, by simply designating the Sanatan Sanstha as a terrorist organisation will be enough. Sanatan Sanstha is not one organisation and one entity, they point out, but a range of units spread across districts and cities in Maharashtra and possibly elsewhere in India. To tackle this entity, ideally, all these units will need to be covered as well. This is a slightly unfounded fear since the law doesnt require an organisation to be a strictly defined legal entity. Loose associations can also be designated as such under the UAPA.

There is a precedent for this: the schedule of the UAPA which lists out terror organisations also adds all its formations and front organisations in the context of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and the Indian Mujahideen (among others). Should the Sanatan Sanstha be added to the list, then the definition of the organisation could be expanded to add all its units/formations and front organisations.

Whether or not Sanatan Sanstha is designated a terrorist organisation, however, two things are fairly clear -- that there is a gap in the law when it comes to fringe political groups who indulge in violence for political ends and the institutional capacity of the police in the state. While laws such as the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999 and similar laws deal with organised crime, they have no way of identifying and tagging entities and organisations which use violence for political ends rather than monetary ones. On the other hand, laws such as the National Security Act, 1980 and the UAPA itself are used to crack down on dissent and legitimate political expression with little consequences for such bad faith misuse of the laws.

While the laws may change, the fact remains that Indias state police forces are woefully under-equipped in terms of staffing, training or expertise to handle the task of dealing with such organisations. Even when theres no active political interference (not always a given), the ability and capacity to keep tabs on and monitor organisations which seek to use violence for political ends is minimal. No one wants a vast and all-powerful police state, but one expects that the law and order machinery is capable of handling the existential threats to the democratic order.Shabir Ahmad Bhat was one of the most prominent faces of the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. He was killed by militants on 22 August despite having security.

Pulwama: As threats against mainstream political workers and leaders increases in South Kashmir, Reyaz Ahmad, a low-key member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been exploring the possibility of migrating to the relatively safer Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. At the same time, Ahmad has been pushing the inevitable, trying to assure his family members that the "situation is getting better", and that his two children, who are enrolled in a government-run school in South Kashmir, cannot be admitted to another school in the city mid-session.

However, the recent killing of one of the most prominent faces of the BJP in Pulwama district, Shabir Ahmad Bhat, allegedly by militants, despite having security, has spread terror through the ranks and files of the party.

"He (Bhat) was provided security by the government, yet he was killed. We don't have security, which makes it scarier," said Ahmad, a resident of Pulwama's Pinglan village. "Before this, party general secretary Gulzar Ahmad Nangroo was fired upon by militants, but his personal security officer fired back and saved him in Pulwama town."

On Sunday afternoon, he borrowed a car from a neighbour and quietly set out for Srinagar with his wife and two children without informing anyone in his locality. "When the sun would set, I could hear myself breathing because there was so much silence in our home every evening," he said.

There was a time in Kashmir when being a BJP worker was taboo and nearly impossible for any Kashmiri. The first BJP leader to fall prey to the bullets was Tika Lal Taploo, a Kashmiri Pandit who was killed by militants in 1989, just when insurgency began to plague the Valley.

The party gradually built a tiny base in the villages of Kashmir, albeit behind closed doors. But South Kashmir was one region that had a formidable presence of BJP workers. It was here that the BJP first held its roadshows. Party workers had launched a door-to-door campaign in Anantnag town before the 2014 Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. It was a given that the BJP would not win any seats, but its mere presence was an indicator of the changing politics of the Valley. Those were the days when new-age militancy had yet to take centrestage in Jammu and Kashmir, with no spillover from Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani's killing.

Mohammad Rafiq Wani, who fought the last Assembly elections on a BJP ticket and is the party chief in South Kashmir's Anantnag district, said there is fear among the workers of all political parties in the state, more so among BJP workers. While many have already resigned, we held a meeting for them on Monday, which around 300 of them attended.

"It is a close-knit society, and everyone knows everyone. Even if someone resigns from the BJP, few would believe it, assuming they will be back after things cool down," he said.

A day after Bhat's killing on 22 August, at least two dozen BJP workers met in a small house in Pulwama and decided to migrate from their villages. A majority of them were either Bhat's associates or had participated in small meetings organised by the BJP in Pulwama district.

"Living in our houses is like inviting militants to kill us," Arshad, another BJP worker, said at the meeting. "It is better to move to safer areas than wait for death."

Party leader Altaf Ahmad Thakur said the BJP has "around 30,000 members in just one district of Pulwama" and "around 12,000 of them live in the periphery" of the town. They are the card-holders of the party, but providing security to all is out of question, he said, adding that the BJP had "around 4.3 lakh members in 2016" in Kashmir, a majority of them in the southern region. "Eleven thousand of them are active members of the party who participate in the BJP's day-to-day activities," Thakur said.

Bhat is often given the credit for the BJP's strengthened foothold in Pulwama district, but surprisingly, one of his security guards was withdrawn only a few days before he was killed, making him more vulnerable.

BJP national vice-president and Jammu and Kashmir in-charge Avinash Rai Khanna, who visited Bhat's house in Pulwama after his death, said there is mounting concern over the security of party workers in the Valley. "Our workers are targeted to lower their morale, but these dastardly acts won't deter us from carrying out the work for which we are here," he said.

However, Khanna's words of assurance will hardly help BJP workers and leaders on the ground. Recently, several party workers in the far-flung villages of Pulwama visited mosques to seek forgiveness. But as militant ranks swelled in these regions, the mainstream activists who participated in political activities began to feel insecure.

In the last few months, as the situation improved after Jammu and Kashmir was brought under Governor's Rule, several of BJP's mainstream activists and leaders returned to their homes. Now, Bhat's murder has forced them to leave home once again.

Bhat's was the third killing of a BJP political worker since November. The first to be targeted in the last two years was BJP youth leader Gowhar Ahmad Bhat, who was killed by suspected militants in Shopian district. Militants then ambushed Ghulam Nabi Patel, who was earlier associated with the Congress and Peoples Democratic Party, at Rajpora market in April. In South Kashmir, the assassination of Ghulam Hyder Noorani in 1999 is one of the better-known incidents of a BJP leader being attacked. Militants killed Noorani and his three workers during a campaign trail after he was nominated as the party's candidate for the Anantnag parliamentary seat.

"People made fun of us at one time. They would boo us and crack jokes at our expense," said Sofi Yousuf, a BJP MLC who joined the party around the same time Noorani was killed. "This too shall pass. We will live here, and we will die her. We arent going anywhere."The fire at the army camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara reportedly gutted eight barracks as well as the office building, a police officer said.

A massive fire engulfed an army camp along the Line of Control (LoC) in Machhil in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district on Tuesday. The blaze, Kashmir Observer reported, is believed to have started around 1 pm because of a short circuit.

Three soldiers reportedly sustained minor burns in the fire, which broke out in the Indian Army's 45 Rashtriya Rifles' headquarters in Hamar Gali. Authorities fear huge loss of property. Efforts are underway to douse the flames.

A police officer was quoted as saying by the Greater Kashmir that a few blasts were also heard inside the camp. Eight barracks have been gutted completely along with the office building, the officer added.

In April, two Insaas rifles were gutted in a fire in a guard post at an army camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district. "An incident of sudden electric short circuit took place in a sentry post located inside the campus of a brigade in Rajouri," a senior police official had said, adding that there was no loss of life and damage to other properties.

With inputs from PTIThe SIT probing Gauri Lankesh murder case has so far arrested 12 people and some of them were allegedly linked to Sanatan Sanstha and its allied organisation Hindu Janajagruti Samiti

Bengaluru: Karnataka police were yet to establish the role of Maharashtra-based right-wing outfit Sanatan Sanstha's activists in the journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh Gauri Lankesh murder, state deputy chief minister G Parameshwara said Tuesday.

"Investigation was still on to find out whether the right-wing outfit's activists were involved in the Lankesh murder case," he told reporters in Karnataka.

"The investigation is still on.... Nobody has said with absolute clarity and proof that Sanatan Sanstha activists were involved in the murder. The investigation has to be completed first. Then only we will get all the information," he said.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Lankesh murder case has so far arrested 12 people and some of them were allegedly linked to Sanatan Sanstha and its allied organisation Hindu Janajagruti Samiti.

Several activists allegedly linked to Sanatan Sanstha have been arrested in connection with the killings of rationalists, including Narendra Dabholkar, recently.

However, the outfit has claimed that those arrested were not its members. Its spokesperson Chetan Rajhans has said that a few people with "progressive mindset", along with political parties such as the Congress and the Left block, were putting the Sanstha in the dock without providing any evidence of wrongdoing.

Replying to a question, Parameswara said, "Any organisation posing threat to the internal security of the nation was monitored by the Central government and the state government. Accordingly, action was taken against them."

Lankesh, known for her stronganti-Hindutva ideology, was shot dead on 5 September, 2017 outside her Karnataka residence.

Based on the tip off given by the SIT, the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) too got leads in the killing of MM Kalburgi, a rationalist who was shot dead on 30 August, 2015 at Dharwad. Sources in SIT said they had tipped off the CBI also, which is probing the killing of Dabholkar in Pune on 20 August, 2013 in Pune. The CBI has arrested a few people in connection with the case.After Major Leetul Gogoi used Farooq Dar as a 'human shield' against stone pelters, Dar filed a plea seeking compensation from the Jammu and Kashmir government.

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) on Tuesday directed the Senior Superintendent of Police of (SSP) of Budgam to submit the final report in the case against Major Leetul Gogoi, who is facing criminal charges of illegally confining a Kashmiri youth in April last year. The case is related to the "human shield" incident, wherein the army officer had tied a shawl maker, Farooq Ahmad Dar, to a vehicle  allegedly as a shield against stone pelters  and paraded him on different streets during the Srinagar parliamentary bypolls.

The order came even as the police said the video featuring Dar being paraded around in Budgam could have been even morphed. Sub-Divisional Police Officer of Magam, Showkat Ahmad, said the police were waiting for the forensic report to check the authenticity of the clip.

"We are waiting for the report from the Forensic Science Laboratory in Chandigarh. We have reminded them to submit the report on priority and have to see whether the video is morphed," he said.

The SHRC order came a day after an army Court of Inquiry held Major Gogoi guilty of violating the Army Act for "fraternising with local people and staying away from his place of posting at Beerwah in Budgam without authorisation".

The commission issued the order on a plea Dar filed in the case through the International Forum for Justice and Human Rights. The bench of the human rights panel, comprising Justice Bilal Nazki and Justice Jang Bahadur, issued the direction, ordering the SSP of Budgam to file the final status report. It also directed the Jammu and Kashmir government to submit its report on action taken in the case within four weeks.

While the police have been asked to file a report on the criminal charges filed against Gogoi, the state government has been directed to apprise the rights body in detail about its reasons for denying the "human shield" victim compensation of Rs 10 lakh for wrongful confinement. The government had earlier told the SHRC that there is no policy to provide such a compensation.

On 10 July last year, two months after Gogoi used Dar as a "human shield" against stone pelters, the rights commission had called his actions illegal and directed the Jammu and Kashmir government to compensate him. It had given the state six weeks to comply with its order.

On 29 April this year, the Jammu and Kashmir SHRC had reserved its verdict in the case. But as the police submitted before the panel that the investigation was still on, the commission asked the investigators to file the final report in the case within four weeks.

The chairman of the International Forum for Justice and Human Rights, Mohammad Ahsan Untoo, said: "The army has not been cooperating in the case. Instead, it gave the Chief of Army Staff's (COAS) Commendation Card to Major Gogoi. Major Gogoi tied a voter to the front of a vehicle and endangered his life. The COAS commendation should be withdrawn."

Untoo said it was unbecoming of the army to hail Gogoi's actions and award him the commendation, when both the human rights commission and the local police had described his methods as illegal.

He also said that the Court of Inquiry report, which held the army officer guilty after he was caught with a local Kashmiri woman at a hotel in Srinagar, should be made public.

On 23 May, Gogoi was detained with a local woman at a hotel near Dal Lake in Srinagar, after which the forum filed a case against him before the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate. It alleged that the police had exhibited laxity and let the officer off without filing an FIR against him. The magistrate has also reserved the verdict in the case, which was deferred on Tuesday. In the application Untoo filed before the magistrate, he had also noted that Major Gogoi had "intention to carry out an immoral act" with the woman.While the influenza project requires three applicants from both three European member states and India respectively, the call which will remain open until 16 April, 2019, also allows applicants from other countries to join the EU-India consortia.

The Indian government and the European Union (EU), on Tuesday, joined hands for Rs 240 crore research programme to develop a "Next Generation Influenza Vaccine" to protect citizens worldwide. The EU and the Indian government's Department of Biotechnology (DBT), have also committed 15 million each to fund this joint call for the program named "Horizon 2020".

Speaking on the issue of developing a cost-effective and affordable influenza vaccine rapidly without compromising its quality, Ambassador of European Union to India and Bhutan, Tomasz Kozlowski, said: "This joint call is another demonstration of the increased cooperation between the EU and India as committed by the leaders during a summit in October 2017."

Elucidating on the fact that improved influenza vaccines would help countries to fight during an event of a pandemic, Kozlowski added, "India and the EU are contributing to an important global public health challenge. Improved influenza vaccines would help the international community to better prepare in the event of an influenza pandemic."

While the projects require three applicants from both three European member states and India respectively, the call which will remain open until 16 April, 2019, also allows applicants from other countries to join the EU-India consortia.

The first information event, which was held in New Delhi on Monday, saw 100 applicants both from India and Europe taking part in it. To spread awareness of the research programme, the next information sessions will take place in Hyderabad on 30 August, in Bangalore on 24 September and in Pune on 28 September this year.Newly appointed Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Tuesday met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and is believed to have discussed about the forthcoming election to local bodies in the state

New Delhi: Newly appointed Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Tuesday met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and is believed to have discussed about the forthcoming election to local bodies in the state, officials said.

During the half-an-hour meeting, Singh and Malik also discussed about the prevailing law and order situation in Jammu and Kashmir, which is currently under the governor's rule. They discussed about the forthcoming panchayat polls, a Home Ministry official said.

The panchayat election to elect 4,130 sarpanch and 29,719 panch is expected to be held later in September. The election to the local bodies were last held in 2011 after a long hiatus. The election to the local bodies were supposed to be held in 2016 but could not be conducted due to the five-month-long unrest in the Kashmir Valley, following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani on 8 July 2016.

Malik on Monday called on President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He took oath as the 13th governor of Jammu and Kashmir on 23 August, replacing NN Vohra. The newly appointed Governors of Bihar and Haryana Lalji Tandon and Satyadev Narayan Arya respectively also met the home minister.Special Judge Babita Rani had declared Tariq Kajmi and Mohd Akhtar guilty on Thursday and fixed on Monday for awarding the quantum of punishment. She sentenced them to life imprisonment on Monday and imposed a fine of Rs 5.10 lakh each. The court was conducting the trial in district jail, Lucknow. Both the accused have already been in jail for 11 years.

Lucknow: A special court on Monday sentenced two men to life imprisonment and imposed a heavy fine on them in connection with the 2007 court blasts case in the Uttar Pradesh capital.

Special Judge Babita Rani had declared Tariq Kajmi and Mohd Akhtar guilty on Thursday and fixed on Monday for awarding the quantum of punishment. She sentenced them to life imprisonment on Monday and imposed a fine of Rs 5.10 lakh each. The court was conducting the trial in district jail, Lucknow. Both the accused have already been in jail for 11 years.

Pronouncing the verdict, the court observed the accused had not only attacked the judiciary but also conspired to wage war against the country, which was serious offences. Joint Director of ATS Subhash Chandra Singh and senior public prosecutor Atul Kumar Ojha had demanded death penalty for the convicts, while the lawyers of the accused, Arif Ali and Furkan Khan, pleaded for leniency, saying they had been in jail for last 11 years.

The third accused in the case, Khalid Mohd, had died during the course of the trial and the fourth accused, Sajjadur- Rehman, was earlier given a clean chit. According to government lawyers Pravin Srivastav and MK Singh, the accused had been charged for sedition, criminal conspiracy and attempted murder which were offences under the Indian Penal Code.

They had also been booked under the Explosive Substances Act and the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act. The court convicted the two accused for all these offences. The prosecution produced 44 witnesses in support of its case, while the defense examined its three witnesses.

A series of blasts had taken place in courts at Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi on 23 November 2007. Several people died in Varanasi and Faizabad but there was no casualty in Lucknow. For Lucknow blasts, the FIR was registered in the Wazirganj police station on same day.

During the course of the probe, on 22 December 2007, the STF arrested Tariq Kajmi of Rani ki Sarai village in Sarai Meer police station area of Azamgarh. Mohammad Akhtar of Kashmir were arrested on 27 December. The STF had then said the four were operatives of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI). Later, the Lucknow court blast case was transferred to the anti-terror squad (ATS) which submitted the charge-sheet against the accused in April, 2008.The 40-acre plot of land in the Pithampur industrial area of Dhar district was allotted to Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurveda in September 2016.

Indore: The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday dismissed a PIL seeking cancellation of allotment of land by the state government to Yoga guru Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurveda.

The 40-acre plot of land in the Pithampur industrial area of Dhar district was allotted to the company at Rs 25 lakh per acre in September 2016 and the firm had proposed to invest Rs 500 crore to set up a food processing unit there.

A bench of Justice PK Jaiswal and Justice Sunil Kumar on Tuesday rejected the PIL, filed by local social worker Tapan Bhattacharya, and fined him Rs 10,000 for submitting a baseless petition. The court also ordered that the fine, after realisation, should be deposited in the relief fund for flood-hit Kerala.

In his PIL, Bhattacharya had alleged that the land was given at cheap rates to provide illegal benefits to Patanjali. The PIL also claimed that the state's industrial policy, rules and regulations were not followed.

The state government had argued that the land was allotted by the state Cabinet in accordance with rules.Sisodia had in the morning said that he has been denied permission by the Centre to speak at the conference about the reforms brought by the AAP government in the education sector in the national capital.

New Delhi: Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday said that he has been finally granted permission by the Centre to visit Moscow where he is supposed to speak at the World Education Conference.

Sisodia had in the morning said that he has been denied permission by the Centre to speak at the conference about the reforms brought by the AAP government in the education sector in the national capital.

"Finally, GoI gave permission which was pending since 10 days, for World Edu. Conf. It would be my privilege to represent India's knowledge legacy in front of world's edu. ministers & help them know- how it can help in making the world a better place to live (sic)," he tweeted.

Earlier, the Delhi education minister had tweeted, "I was invited to speak about Delhi Education reforms at World Education Conference, Moscow. I was supposed to leave tonight but it's unfortunate that Govt of India has not given permission. It's pending 'under process' for last 10 days (sic)". He had alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not want the Delhi government's work to reach an international platform.

"Delhi's education reforms hv been getting international press coverage in past few months. It's unfortunate that PM Modi doesn't want this to reach international platforms. Sir! Delhi is also part of India! If our schools get international recognition, it's a matter of pride for India (sic)," he said in another tweet.Militants hurled a petrol bomb and fired indiscriminately at an army patrol party in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Srinagar: Militants on Tuesday hurled a petrol bomb and fired indiscriminately at an army patrol party in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, the police said.

No loss of life has been reported. A petrol bomb was hurled upon a Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) party of 44 Rashtriya Rifles followed by indiscriminate firing by militants between the area of Gad-Bough and Armullah in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, a police official said.

He said the forces' party was coming from Sugan area of the neighbouring Shopian district after commencing a CASO and were moving towards their camp in Ahgam. The forces' party retaliated, the official said.The call, accompanying a first report by the team of investigators, amounts to some of the strongest language yet from UN officials who have denounced alleged human rights violations in Myanmar since a bloody crackdown began last August.

Geneva: Investigators working for the UN's top human rights body have said that Myanmar military leaders should be prosecuted for genocide against Rohingya Muslims, taking the unusual step of identifying by name six of those it says were behind systematic crimes targeting the ethnic minority.

The call, accompanying a first report by the team of investigators, amounts to some of the strongest language yet from UN officials who have denounced alleged human rights violations in Myanmar since a bloody crackdown began last August.

The three-member "fact-finding mission" and their team, working under a mandate from the UN-backed Human Rights Council, meticulously assembled hundreds of accounts from expatriate Rohingya, as well as satellite footage and other information to assemble the report.

"The military's contempt for human life, dignity and freedom  for international law in general  should be a cause of concern for the entire population of Myanmar, and to the international community as a whole," said fact-finding mission chair Marzuki Darusman, a former Indonesian attorney-general, at a news conference.

The council created the mission in March last year  nearly six months before a string of deadly rebel attacks on security and police posts set off a crackdown that drove Rohingya to flee into neighbouring Bangladesh. The UN estimates that more than 700,000 have fled.

The team compiled accounts of crimes including gang rape, the torching of hundreds of villages, enslavement, and killings of children  some before their eyes of their own parents. The team was not granted access to Myanmar and has decried a lack of cooperation or even response from the government, which received an early copy of the report.

The team cited a "conservative" estimate from aid group Reporters Without Borders that some 10,000 people were killed in the violence, but outside investigators have had no access to the affected regions  making a precise accounting elusive, if not impossible. Above all, the investigators said the situation in Myanmar should be referred to the International Criminal Court, and if not, to a special tribunal. Last week, Myanmar's government rejected any cooperation with the ICC, to which it is not a party.The judgement came on the plea filed by the NGT Bar Association.

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday directed a former DGP of Uttarakhand to pay Rs 46,14,960 as damages for illegally cutting 25 trees in the Mussoorie Forest Division.

A bench of Justice RS Rathore said that it is "crystal clear" that the officer, BS Sidhu, had purchased the land in question despite knowing the fact that it was the land of reserve forest. The green panel noted that Sidhu, the then Director General of Police (DGP) of Uttarakhand, had wished to have a house in forest and he selected the land falling in the reserve forest area for this purpose.

"It is relevant to mention here that violation of Environmental Laws is an infringement of civil rights. Therefore, a wrongdoer has to compensate for the injury. This distinguishes it from a commission of a crime which is a breach of public right and/or duty and the same is punishable in the interest of society."

"An action in civil wrong is initiated by the person injured whereas proceedings on commission of a crime are taken up by the state...It has been established, as given in the earlier part of the judgment, that 25 sal trees were felled illegally at the instance of BS Sidhu in the reserve forest land, which was illegally purchased by him. Considering the fact that, at the relevant time, he was holding the post of DGP in Uttarakhand, we considered it just and proper to direct him to pay 10 times of value of tree calculated at the schedule rate," the bench said.

The judgement came on the plea filed by the National Green Tribunal Bar Association, alleging that a senior officer had got a fraudulent sale deed executed in the reserve forest area in the Mussoorie Forest Division and he had illegally cut 25 trees. It alleged that illegal felling of trees and the sale of reserved forest land was carried out in contravention of the provision of the National Forest Policy, 1988 and Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.Sources told Firstpost that Prime Minister Narendra Modi insisted that entire country should be mapped for the availability of illicit drugs and main centres of activity should be identified so that specific strategies could be put in place to address this serious issues.

New Delhi: The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has suggested that the Ministry of Home Affairs and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) map the availability of illicit drugs and key centres to create a larger picture of drugs movements in a bid to neutralise traffickers and their safe houses. With more than seven crore people addicted to drugs, the government is trying to prevent the problem from turning into a national epidemic and working on several measures to counter peddlers finding their way into the country and to contain the increasing number of illicit drug abusers.

Sources told Firstpost that Prime Minister Narendra Modi insisted that entire country should be mapped for the availability of illicit drugs and main centres of activity should be identified so that specific strategies could be put in place to address this serious issues.

"The prime minister also directed that vulnerable segments and influencers like the young generation and heads of educational institutions should be reached out and the feedback must be incorporated in the proposed strategy to effectively deal with drug menace," sources said.

According to NCB officials, a majority of drugs is finding their way into the country owing to its proximity to South East Asian and South West Asian countries and the historical fact that Indias porous border allows it to be used as transit point for drug traffickers. An internal note of NCB reviewed by Firstpost shows that Afghanistan, which was the major source of heroin, opium and related products accounts for nearly 2/3rd of world production of opium, had been resorting to the alternate sea routes for smuggling to Europe and US through India due to disruption of its three traditional routes  North, South and Balkan route  in the last four-five years. Sri Lanka is another alternate route identified by the NCB and its office in Thiruvananthapuram had unearthed local links. Besides, Pakistan that is pushing drugs into Punjab, the NCB has also unearthed linkages of peddlers with Nepal-based traffickers transporting Hashish and also a huge diversion of Ephedrine across Indo-Myanmar border.

Recently they came across spike in use of dark net and cryptocurrencies as popular modes of trafficking. The documents citing a case in Telangana in which LSD blots, MDMA, Hashish and Ecstacy were seized from Indians and three foreigners said new modus operandi facilitates access to drugs allowing users to avoid direct contact with peddlers. In June 2018, NCB Guwahati zonal office seized a consignment of heroin, opium and tablets of Methamphetamine from Jirania in Tripura and the subsequent investigation traced the origin to Myanmar.

Another operation at Khemkaran in Punjab to neutralise heroin traffickers revealed the source of seized drug was South West Asia. An operation in collaboration with Sashatra Seema Bal at India-Nepal border resulted in the seizure of huge quantity of Hashish and heroin that was being trafficked by Pakistani module based in Nepal. The NCB report also indicates that cocaine is mostly smuggled by African national using air and maritime route. The report flagged an operation on 1 May 2018 at Kempegowda International Airport, Bangalore in which a Ugandan national was arrested. There is also the involvement of Nigerian and Malaysian nationals along with Indians in Ketamine trafficking. The domestic illicit cultivation is also on the rise as documents suggest that destruction of cannabis has increased dramatically since 2013.

The PMO has also suggested that modus operandi and seizure data should be scrutinised for effective planning. It said: "Scientific data analysis must be resorted to for planning an effective strategy."

Since drug trafficking involving transnational syndicates operate through a complex web of channels, a dedicated team drawing officers from various law enforcement agencies are being prepared to understand patterns and dynamics for future operations. A senior NCB official said they are also utilising an institutionalised mechanism under which agencies in the states are trained and provided financial assistance counter drug smuggling and combat drug abuse.

"We are going to disburse Rs 21 crore to states till 2020 as financial assistance besides giving them training and drug detection kits. We have also trained more than 12,000 officers from states and Central agencies. Narco Coordination Centre is also working in close coordination with the states and central agencies on drug trafficking cases," he said.The one-man commission, the report of which was tabled in the state Assembly on Monday, also held the police responsible for the using force at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan, describing it as 'unprovoked, unwarranted and uncalled' for.

Chandigarh: The then Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal was "aware" of the proposed action of the police to disperse the protesters at Kotkapura in Faridkot by using force, according to the findings of Justice Ranjit Singh Commission which probed sacrilege incidents.

The one-man commission, the report of which was tabled in the state Assembly on Monday, also held the police responsible for the using force at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan, describing it as "unprovoked, unwarranted and uncalled" for. The report held that the police opened fire at Behbal Kalan in which two persons were killed, "without any warning and without taking permission from civil authorities".

The commission was formed by the Congress government to investigate the various incidents of sacrilege of the religious texts including at village Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, Bargari and firing incidents at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan in 2015. In an action taken, a report of the government on the recommendations of the commission, the state government has issued show cause notices to several senior police officials including the then Director General of Police Sumedh Singh Saini (now retired) and then ADGP Law and Order Rohit Chaudhary.

The chief secretary has also been directed to take appropriate disciplinary action against all civil officials as per recommendations of the commission within 90 days, as per action taken report.

Naming former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, the commission in its supplementary report submitted on 16 August, said, "...earlier the commission had in its report observed that the facts might indicate the involvement of the CMO, but it is now clear that the Chief Minister and the CMO were apparently kept in the loop about the action proposed by the police and the action finally taken at Kotkapura".

In the supplementary report, the commission noted, "there is sufficient material available on record in the form of telephone calls between the Deputy Commissioner, Mantar Singh Brar MLA, Gagandeep Brar (the then Principal secretary to CM)...The chain is thus complete and clear that the chief minister Parkash Singh Badal was not only in touch with district administration but was in touch with DGP as well and was quite aware of the situation developing at Kotkapura and also about proposed action by police."

Referring to the supplementary report, the government in its action taken report said the recommendations of the commission had been accepted, saying it was decided to refer the matter to CBI, the investigation agency shall also ascertain whether any act of commission or omission was committed by any other person. Significantly, the Shiromani Akali Dal has already rejected the commission report and accused the commission of acting as 'Congress Sarkari Commission'.

The commission had dealt with the incidents of sacrilege at village Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, Bargari, Gurusar and Mallke. Besides it also probed incidents of sacrilege in districts SAS Nagar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Rupnagar and Patiala, SBS Nagar (Nawanshahr), Hoshiarpur, Amritsar, Bathinda, Barnala, Faridkot, Fazilka, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Mansa, Moga, Sangrur, Sri Muktsar Sahib and Tarn Taran.

The government had already announced to hand over the probe into Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan firing to the CBI. Earlier, when the report was tabled in the Assembly on Monday, the Akalis staged a walk out. Speaker Rana KP Singh said a debate on the report will take place tomorrow and it will be telecast live on TV channels.The Punjab government's proposed decision to amend Section 295 AA, a law which makes acts of sacrilege against the holy books  Guru Granth Sahib, Gita, Quran, Bible  of major religions punishable with life imprisonment, is expected to cause quite an uproar as the bill will be tabled in Punjab assembly on Tuesday.

The Punjab government's proposed decision to amend Section 295 AA, a law which makes acts of sacrilege against the holy books  Guru Granth Sahib, Gita, Quran, Bible  of major religions punishable with life imprisonment, is expected to cause quite an uproar as the bill will be tabled in Punjab assembly on Tuesday.

Politicians who fail to give schools and jobs to Indians often give them religion. On 21 August, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh announced that his cabinet has decided to bring an amendment to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) "to make sacrilege of all religious texts punishable with life imprisonment". A legislation to this effect was introduced in the Punjab Legislative Assembly starting on 24 August.

The proposed law inserts Section 295AA to the IPC to provide: "whoever causes injury, damage or sacrilege to Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Srimad Bhagwad Geeta, Holy Quran and Holy Bible with the intention to hurt the religious feelings of the people, shall be punished with imprisonment for life." For the past few centuries, there has been a movement of ideas worldwide to separate religion from the state. Chief Minister Amarinder is seeking to revert this process of enlightenment.

The attitudes of Indians are predominantly religious in orientation. Recently, India has witnessed a wave of violence in the name of religion. Many allegedly took law in their hands to kill Muslims on the pretext of cow protection. Excessive role of religion gives birth to vigilantism in our society. A challenging task, therefore, for opinion makers, legislators, social workers and writers is to curtail the role of religion in society.

But Amarinder is not interested in this task. He wants to give more of religion to people. In recent decades, India has witnessed different types of radicalisation of youths based on religion and ideology. Youths radicalised by Naxalism have gone from universities into jungles to fight against the state. Youths radicalised by jihadi groups have travelled to Afghanistan and Syria to fight for Islam. Hindu groups have been accused of exploding bombs in Muslim religious places.

But, what is far worrisome is that Chief Minister Amarinder heads the government of a state that was engulfed in religious fire not long ago. Radicalisation of Sikhs in Punjab in the 1980s not only threatened the territorial integrity of India but also cost Indira Gandhi her life, a fact that should have kept the chief minister alive to the dangers of excessive religion. Also, it doesn't appear that he has learnt anything about secularism from his days in the Indian Army.

In the fight for civilisation, Amarinder represents the forces of darkness. His legislation is a blasphemy law that will gladden the hearts of religious forces in India. Holy scriptures of various religions need to be examined, critiqued and challenged so that the followers of those religions can move on a path of enlightenment, away from religion into the embrace of science and rational thinking. By enacting the blasphemy law, the former soldier is closing the minds of Indians.

Muslims look 1,400 years back for what a good society should look like. Hindus look 5,000 years back. Americans look into the future and are set to land on Mars in the mid-2030s, possibly on Titan someday. The US, Russia and China are the only three nations that have sent a human into space. Therefore, the announcement by Narendra Modi on Independence Day to send an Indian into space by 2022 is a bold step to inject among Indian minds an attitude to look forward.

But Amarinder's blasphemy law seeks to push Indians deep into the dark ages  a period of intellectual darkness that descended on the European societies after the fall of the Romans and lasted about ten centuries. Galileo, upholding Nicolaus Copernicus's view, argued that the earth and other planets revolved around the sun. For stating this science, Galileo was convicted in 1633 of heresy by the church and given life imprisonment, a jail term also proposed by Amarinder.

India is already where Europe was during the dark ages. From Kohima to Goa and from Kashmir to Kanniyakumari, bookstores are devoid of books on science and reason. Indians do not write books on science. Indian youths, emerging from universities with BTech and MSc degrees, have surrendered their minds before gods and goddesses. We are interested in sending Indians into space but do not respect science. Consequently, we go to work as "digital coolies" in the US.

If the idea is to curb hate speech, existing laws in India are already excessive. Under Section 295A of IPC, anyone can be jailed for three years for "deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs." Sections 505-1(b), 505-1(c) and 505(2) also provide for 3-5 years of jail term for causing public mischief and religious hatred. Sections 153(A) and 153(B) also are used to prevent religious and national disharmony.

In fact, these sections of the IPC are a big impediment to reasoned debate in India. Free speech, when exercised by individuals, challenges the orthodoxies of minds and empowers the progress of societies. Free speech is the engine of democracies. Article 19-1(a) of the Constitution guarantees a fundamental right that "all citizens shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression." The framers of the Constitution chose not to make blasphemy a restriction on free speech. But Jawaharlal Nehru expanded restrictions on free speech by the first amendment in 1951.

In India, there has been a long tradition of free speech, which is now under attack from a range of forces who have roots in religion and institutions of the government in India. In 2017, a group of University of Lucknow students, including girls, spent three weeks in jail for showing black flags to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Indian youths are being imprisonment for posting political comments on Facebook and other social media. This is an attack on our democratic tenets.

Amarinder's proposed law seeks to do two things. One, it arms religious forces that seek to curb free speech in Indian society, enabling them to threaten and harass individuals in the name of so-called hurt religious sentiments. Two, it gives more muscle to the police and politicians to harass critics for political purposes, thereby undermining the secular morality of the Constitution. In doing so, he is also out to prove that the Congress does not stand for secularism.

In Pakistan, blasphemy laws are being wildly misused by religious groups to initiate fake court cases against the weak minorities such as the Christians, Hindus and Ahmadi Muslims. In 2011, Malik Mumtaz Qadri, an elite commando deployed to protect Salman Taseer, the liberal governor of Punjab, assassinated him for advocating reform in blasphemy laws. We understand that Chief Minister Amarinder lives next door to Pakistan, but he doesn't have to go Pakistan's way.

The author is a former BBC journalist and a Senior Fellow at the Middle East Media Research Institute, Washington DC. He tweets @tufailelif.Rahul Gandhi said all governments in India always had the interest of the poor, socially excluded, Dalits and minorities, except for the Narendra Modi government.

Rahul Gandhi was in Hamburg last week, addressing the gathering comprising of students of the 2018 batch of the Bucerius Summer School, and some members of the German public who had been invited for his talk. The Bucerius Summer School selects leading public policy professionals from all over the world and invited them to Hamburg for a two-week immersive learning experience on global governance. This years cohort had 62 professionals from 33 nations. The investigative journalist who broke the Cambridge Analytica news was a part of the cohort, which also included a senior professional from the International Atomic Energy Agency, a spokesperson of the government of Germany, an economist from the European Central Bank, an advisor to the OECD, a healthcare researcher from Yale University, amongst many other young professionals from across the world. Rahul Gandhi himself was a part of the 2005 batch of the summer school. This years event also had Shashi Tharoor and Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi as speakers. Since this was an audience exposed to the complexities of governance, many members of the cohort found Gandhis speech naive and disconnected from the realities of dealing with a complex nation such as India.

Gandhi started off by highlighting the problems of social mobility in India. However, it was strange that a fourth generation political dynast, who is the great-grandson, grandson and son of former prime ministers of India spoke to a largely foreign audience on the problems of social mobility in India. Not surprisingly, the rest of his talk was filled with factually incorrect assertions aimed at the Prime Minister of India. Though there is much to be desired on social mobility in India, the legitimate ascent of a tea seller to the highest democratic office of India is a shining example of upward social mobility in India.

Gandhi then drew comparisons between India and China and showed how India took a different trajectory towards growth, with the Chinese path being violent and inhuman. In a way, he defended the policies of previous Congress governments. But India and China not only took different paths but also reached different destinations. Thanks to the socialist policies of governments headed by his family members, China overtook India to the extent that a catch-up may never happen, despite India being on par with China in the late 1980s. China has a larger population than India, and yet their GDP per capita ($81,23, 2016) is 4.75 times Indias (17,09, 2016). Forty years after his grandmother stormed to power on the promise of eliminating poverty with the Garibi Hatao slogan, out of which Congress ruled for 25 years, India still is home to 30 million people living in poverty. And till recently, India had the ignominy of being the home to the maximum number of poor people. On the contrary, China pulled 720 million people out of poverty between 1990 and 2017. There is nothing in poverty to be romanticised about, and to belittle Chinas growth as development caused by force is naivety at its best. In fact, if there is anyone in Gandhis party who really took steps to stimulate Indias growth and matched up to China, it is the late former prime minister PV Narasimha Rao, who is disliked by and was insulted in death by his party. The humiliation meted out to Rao is so complete that it does not even warrant any comparison with the way the prime minister and his party treated former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in his death. Contradicting himself a few days later at a speech in London, Gandhi said Chinese power structure is decentralised while the Indian prime minister is way too powerful. No one who understands the basics of international politics would even suggest, leave alone asserts, that Indias power structure is more centralised than China.

Gandhi said all governments in India always had the interest of the poor, socially excluded, Dalits and minorities, except for the Narendra Modi government. But he did not list a single policy initiative of this government that substantiates his charge of exclusionism against the Modi government. He followed that with the appreciation for bank nationalisation carried out by his grandmother and hailed it as an attempt to provide credit to many poor people. But when Modi came to power in 2014, 53 percent of Indians had bank accounts. In four years, Modi brought 310 million people from the lower social and economic strata of the society into the financial net thereby increasing financial inclusion to 80 percent. And thanks to the Jan Dhan Yojana initiative, 77 percent of women in India have bank accounts. And when this scheme was launched, the Congress party criticised the scheme, saying the poor people in India need food and not bank accounts. Who says, those being brought into the financial net will be denied food? And who says poor have no right to be financially included?

Gandhi kept emphasising that Modi wants development only for the elite. But the health insurance scheme is all for the poor people. 13.37 crore loans have been sanctioned under the Mudra scheme. Thanks to the #GiveItUp programme, about 2.5 crore women have received LPG connections. Under the Modi governments renewed push, Indian villages achieved 100 percent electrification and this has been hailed as a great achievement by the International Energy Association. As per the IEA, the country was already on track to achieving universal household electricity access by the early 2020s, yet Prime Minister Modi has now moved up this target to the end of 2018. This will improve the lives of over 230 million people. How is bringing electricity to every household an attempt to serve the interests of Indian elite?

Gandhi also said the government scratched a law meant to protect the SC/ST community. But the law was diluted not by the government but by the Supreme Court of India, in order to prevent misuse of the Act. And on the 2 August, the Union cabinet cleared a bill restoring the law against the Supreme Courts order. As a member of the Parliament, is it right of Gandhi to be deliberately reckless with facts in front of an international audience?

Gandhi also said the money meant for implementing acts like the right to food, right to employment, etc., are being withheld and directed to corporates. On the contrary, this government has made the highest allocations to MNREGA.

He also criticised demonetisation and the governments implementation of GST and termed them anti-people. But if they were so anti-people, how come BJP swept the Uttar Pradesh elections which were held after demonetisation and also won Gujarat elections in a state that has many traders? Demonetisation and GST are reforms, and reforms are always inconvenient. And true leadership entails imposing decisions which induce pain in the short term but yield rewards in the long term. The truth is, that the UPA government vacillated on implementing GST for years and lost time in reforming the economy.

That brings me to the next point  on Gandhis insinuation that Modi is like Donald Trump. Trump is a populist, while Modi is a reformist. Trump does not impose any tough decisions on his people, while Modi does that boldly. Any observer of the Indian political space will agree that the Congress party is Indias populist party. Hence it is not at all surprising that Congress forms an alliance with Hardik Patel, who uses violence and seeks reservations for the most influential and wealthiest community in Gujarat; this is almost like Steve Bannon asking for reservations for white American men.

He also attributed the birth of Islamic State to unemployment and social exclusion in Iraq. I am not so sure which counter-terrorism expert would agree that terror groups fuelled by the Sunni-Salafi-Jihadi ideology is a result of unemployment. Osama Bin-laden was a billionaire. Gandhi should read about Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before he draws unsubstantiated correlations to his brutal plans and actions. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi does not want jobs, he wants a fanatically intolerant Islamic caliphate. While unemployment is a serious problem, to say that unemployment will cause people to turn into beasts such as ISIS members is tantamount to painting a dark picture of humanity.

Towards the end of his question-answer session, he spoke about the need to empower women and mentioned that he is trying to introduce the womens reservation bill. But while the BJP supported the bill in Parliament in 2010, the members of his so-called Mahaghatbandhan were and are still the biggest opponents of the womens reservation bill. His claim of wanting to empower women sounds hollow when he also supports triple talaq  the right of Muslim men to divorce their wives by merely uttering the word talaq three times. Supporting minority interests is not the same as supporting misogyny within the Islamic community, which has been made illegal in many Islamic nations.

Modi is not beyond criticism and his government has left many of his supporters disappointed. However, India needs substance and depth in the opposition to Modi. The fact is that the people of India have heard everything Gandhi said so many times in the past, and find it far away from the truth. And it is such baseless, factually incorrect and disconnected rhetoric that reduced his party to 44 seats in the 2014 elections, and resulted in the defeat of his party in every election in which he played a key role. Given that the speeches he gave afterwards tied his party and himself in knots, perhaps its time for him to introspect why people of India are tired of his poetry, his hugs notwithstanding, and prefer leaders who can govern in prose.

The author is a public policy professional and is currently an Officer on Special Duty to the Chief Minister of Goa. He was part of the 2018 cohort of the Bucerius Summer School, which he, like the other participants of the institute, attended in his individual capacity. The views expressed are his own.Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday commenced on his two-day tour of the flood-hit state of Kerala

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday landed in Kerala commencing his two-day tour of the flood-hit state. The party president, who landed in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday morning, was received by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor at the Thiruvananthapuram airport.

Rahul left for Chengannur town in the Alappuzha district where he visited the relief camp at Christian College. Chengannur is among the worst-affected areas in the state due to the recent floods which killed over 400 people.

Rahul will visit flood-hit regions such as Angamaly and Ernakulam district on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he will visit the Wayanad district, ANI reported.

Congress President @RahulGandhi meets the flood affected at the Relief Camp at the Engineering College in Chengannur, Kerala #RebuildingKerala pic.twitter.com/rpF750oPwO  Congress (@INCIndia) August 28, 2018

Following on the promise of the Congress party to build 1,000 houses in the flood-hit state, Rahul will also facilitate exchange of cheques for providing financial aid for the same, India Today reported.

The Congress president had earlier tweeted that he would visit relief camps and also meet fishermen and party volunteers involved in relief work in the state during the course of his visit. "I will be in Kerala on Tuesday and Wednesday, visiting flood-hit areas and relief camps in the state. I will also meet with fishermen, volunteers and others who have been working tirelessly and selflessly to help those in need," Rahul had tweeted.

Rahul had expressed solidarity with the people of Kerala in a series of tweets before as well. He requested prime minister Narendra Modi to declare Kerala floods a national disaster and said that his Rs 500 crore immediate relief aid for the state was not enough.Arriving in Kerala on a two-day visit, Gandhi spoke to people at relief camps, days after the deadliest deluge in the last 100 years left a trail of destruction and death in the state

Alapuzha: Visiting the flood-ravaged areas of Kerala, Congress president Rahul Gandhi Tuesday saluted fishermen who played a key role in rescuing those marooned in the deluge.

Claiming that the fishermen community in the country was facing a crisis similar to that by the farmers, he said if the Congress comes to power at the Centre, a separate fisheries ministry would be set up.

Arriving in Kerala on a two-day visit, Gandhi spoke to people at relief camps, days after the deadliest deluge in the last 100 years left a trail of destruction and death in the state.

At a reception hosted by the Congress in the worst-hit Alapuzha to honour the fishermen community, Gandhi said the Coast Guard should make use of the services of fishermen for rescue operations in the future.

"I am proud to say that through all your difficulties... through all your hardships... whenever Kerala needed you... you stood up and gave your best. I salute your commitment to the people of Kerala," the Congress president said.

"Three thousand fishermen had saved 70,000 lives in the recent floods," he said.

Alleging that the fishermen community in the country was facing a crisis similar to that by the farmers, Gandhi said, "The moment the Congress comes to power at the Centre, we are going to set up a ministry of fisheries."

"God's own army will have its own ministry. So your problems can be looked after and your words can be heard at the national level," he said, adding, "I do not want to make fake promises. This is a word of the Congress president."

Along with farmers, fishermen have also helped build the country, Gandhi said and asserted that it was an "honour" for him to felicitate the fishermen who had saved several lives.

Recalled his last visit to the state in the aftermath of Cyclone Ockhi, he said, "I came and visited your houses and I must say looking back, I am not happy for the help you had received for the damage (suffered in the cyclone)."

Earlier, Gandhi, who arrived in Thiruvananthapuram Tuesday morning from the UK, visited relief camps in Chengannur and Alapuzha and spoke to the affected people.

He is scheduled to visit some camps in Ernakulam district later in Tuesday and tour Wayanad and Kozhikode districts Wednesday.

Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor had tweeted, "President of @INCIndia @RahulGandhi left Thiruvananthapuram this morning for flood-affected areas in central Kerala. His two-day visit will cover districts with the heaviest inundation over the last two weeks (sic)."

In Chengannur, Gandhi visited relief camps at two colleges and interacted with the people sheltered there. Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala and Congress' state unit president MM Hassan were among those who accompanied Gandhi.

"Congress President @RahulGandhi meets the flood affected at the Relief Camp at the Engineering College in Chengannur, Kerala #RebuildingKerala (sic)," the party tweeted, attaching photos of Gandhi meeting people at the camps.

According to data released Tuesday morning by the Disaster Management's state control room, 474 people have died in the rains and floods since 29 May when the southwest monsoon set in over Kerala.Rahul will visit some relief camps and also meet fishermen and party volunteers involved in relief work in some of the worst-affected regions including Chengannur, Alappuzha and Angamaly

Congress president Rahul Gandhi is on a two-day tour to flood-ravaged Kerala from Tuesday. He said that he would visit some relief camps and also meet fishermen and party volunteers involved in relief work in some of the worst-affected regions including Chengannur, Alappuzha and Angamaly.

I will be in Kerala tomorrow & the day after, visiting flood hit areas & relief camps in the state. I will also meet with fishermen, volunteers & others who have been working tirelessly & selflessly to help those in need. #KeralaFloods  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 27, 2018

He is expected to arrive in state capital Thiruvananthapuram early on Tuesday from where he will fly to flood-hit Chengannur in Alappuzha district. Rahul will visit several relief camps in Chengannur. He will also meet the fishermen who were hailed for their efforts in saving thousands of lives during the recent deluge. Fishermen, who usually rely on their daily catch for an earning, selflessly carried their boats to the interior parts of the state to help in the rescue and relief operation. Rahul is expected to participate in a programme to felicitate the fishermen's rescue group at the Camelot Convention Centre in Alappuzha.

After this, he is expected to reach Thrissur by around 3.30 pm and visit Aluva, Paravur and Chalakkudy areas. He will then head to Ernakulam at 4.45 pm, where he will meet victims at various relief camps.

He is scheduled to visit Wayanad district on Wednesday.

Rahul had earlier urged Congress workers to mobilise resources for helping the people of the state. "Across Kerala and now Kodagu in Karnataka, heavy rainfall has caused widespread devastation. This is the time for our workers and leaders to demonstrate the core Congress values of service and love. Please focus all our resources and people to help those in need," he had tweeted on 18 August.

Kerala witnessed its worst floods in a century. According to the Home Ministry's National Emergency Response Centre (NERC), 443 people have died in Kerala and 54.11 lakh people in 14 districts have been severely affected.

With inputs from agenciesThe Supreme Court has told the Uttar Pradesh government that the vision document for the protection and preservation of the Taj Mahal must take into account environmental concerns.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday told the Uttar Pradesh government that the vision document for the protection and preservation of the Taj Mahal in Agra should be prepared taking into account issues like pollution in the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) and industries operating there.

A bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur said authorities should look into the larger perspective while dealing with the issue of protection of Taj Mahal.

ANI quoted Justice Lokur as saying, "Ecosystem and environment are important facets of the vision document and thereby should be kept in mind before any steps or suggestion are taken in the preservation of Taj Mahal."

"If Taj Mahal goes once, you will not get a second chance," the bench also comprising Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Deepak Gupta said.

Meanwhile, the Centre told the apex court that they have communicated to the Uttar Pradesh government to send a proposal declaring Agra as a heritage city. The Centre also told the bench that Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was in the process of preparing a heritage plan for Taj Mahal, and the same would be filed with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) within three months.

The Uttar Pradesh government told the court that they will respond to the Centre's communication within a month.

The bench has posted the matter for further hearing on 25 September.

India Today reported that the bench had earlier slammed the authorities, saying it will be an embarrassment if UNESCO withdraws the world heritage tag awarded to the ivory-white marble mausoleum, which is losing lustre due to pollution. The court had repeatedly questioned how Taj Mahal's marble had changed from white to brown and gradually to green. No agency had a convincing answer.

The apex court has been monitoring development in the area to protect the Taj Mahal, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Its construction was completed in 1643 but work continued on other phases of the project for another 10 years. The Taj Mahal was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

With inputs from PTIThe Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram further wrote that the media had published statements that Albanna 'had never made', and said that that UAE was determining the quantum of assistance that it would want to extend to Kerala.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday said that UAE ambassador to India Ahmed Albanna is unlikely to visit the flood-hit state. His statement came in response to media reports claiming that Albanna is expected to come to Kerala in wake of the current situation.

Taking to Twitter, Tharoor said, "Spoke to my friend UAE Ambassador to India Ahmed AlBanna. He is in London and is not expected back in Delhi till September. So media reports of his imminent visit to Kerala are, to put it mildly, exaggerated."

The Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram further wrote that the media had published statements that Albanna "had never made", and said that that UAE was determining the quantum of assistance that it would want to extend to Kerala.

He also denied other media reports of statements he had never made. The UAE is indeed anxious to extend compassionate help to alleviate the #KeralaFloods, but the exact nature & quantum of assistance is being determined. @UAEembassyIndia will act in solidarity w/Kerala, he said.  Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 28, 2018

Earlier, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had claimed that UAE had offered Rs 700 crore as assistance to Kerala. However, the authorities said that there has been no official announcement so far by the UAE on any specific amount as financial aid. Albanna had then said that the government only set up a national emergency committee to provide relief assistance to the people affected by floods in Kerala.

The Kerala government is currently trying to rebuild the state, where the total death toll has now touched 302 and over four lakh are still in relief camps. According to official figures, around three million Indians live and work in the UAE, out of which 80 percent are from Kerala.

With inputs from agenciesPunjab Assembly witnessed an uproar as Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and members of SAD traded charges over the sacrilege of religious texts and members of the Shiromani Akali Dal walked out of the assembly and conducted a mock session in the waiting area.

Members of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) walked out of the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday after the Congress attacked the party over the alleged role of former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal in the killing of two Sikh youths in police firing in 2015. The duo was killed in Behbal Kalan near Kotkapura city when Sikhs were protesting against an incident of sacrilege in the district.

After walking out of the Assembly, SAD leaders held a mock Assembly session at the waiting area of the House. While SAD members conducted this mock session, Congress leader and Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu alleged that the Badals knew and were part of the "drama" triggered by the sacrilege, reported CNN-News18.

In the Ranjit Singh Commission report tabled in the Assembly on Monday, Parkash Singh Badal was indicted in the 2015 Guru Granth Sahib sacrilege case. The Congress had set up the one-member panel in April 2017 to investigate a number of incidents of desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib and other religious texts. Justice Ranjit Singh looked into the incidents that took place in the village of Burj Jawahar Singh Wala and Bargari, as well as the firings in Behbal Kalan in 2015.

A day after the state government tabled Ranjit Singh's report over the desecration of religious text, the Punjab Assembly witnessed an uproar, with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and members of the SAD trading charges. SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal was "aware" of the proposed police action to disperse the protesters in Kotkapura with force, the commission's report said. It also held the police responsible for using force in Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan, describing it as "unprovoked, unwarranted and uncalled for". The commission's report added that the police had opened fire in Behbal Kalan, killing two youths, "without any warning and without taking permission from civil authorities".

On Tuesday, the House was adjourned for 15 minutes as members of the SAD protested against the 14 minutes allotted to them to speak on the report, which according to them was inadequte. When the Speaker announced the time allocated to the parties, the Akali Dal raised its objection. Former minister Bikram Singh Majithia reiterated the SAD's demand for more time to speak on the report indicting his party chief.

Before the Assembly session began on Tuesday, Amarinder Singh had tweeted that the "conspiracy hatched during the Akali Dal regime by desecrating" the religious text would be exposed in the Assembly through live proceedings of the House. In response, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal tweeted that the Opposition was not given equal time to speak in the House.

With inputs from PTI and 101ReportersShivraj Singh Chouhan alleged that the previous Congress government in the state only made hollow promises on these issues, but never did anything concrete.

Jhabua: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said the state government is committed to bring the Narmada river water and a rail network to the tribal-dominated Jhabua district.

The state government has sanctioned funds to develop infrastructure for the Narmada water supply to Jhabua and the Centre will provide assistance to lay a rail line in the district, he said. Several places in the region are not yet connected with the rail network.

Chouhan alleged that the previous Congress government in the state only made hollow promises on these issues, but never did anything concrete. "Our government has not only laid a strong road

network, but also ensured abundant power supply in villages of the state," he said addressing a rally on late Monday night during his on-going 'Jan Ashirwad Yatra', ahead of Assembly polls due later this year.

"We have already sanctioned Rs 2,280 crore for bringing the Narmada water through a pipeline to this tribal region and the union government will spend Rs 1,147 crore on laying rail network in the area," Chouhan said.

The chief minister also said that a 'Janjatiya Adhikar Sabha' (tribal rights body) will be set up in each tribal village of the state to amicably resolve disputes which are not of very serious nature. "Police will not intervene in such matters and the tribal people will have the right to sort out their problems and disputes through this body. Police will intervene only in serious matters," he said.

Chouhan had embarked on the Jan Ashirwad Yatra on 14 July to cover all 230 Assembly constituencies in the state. A senior BJP leader said the yatra was earlier scheduled to culminate on 25 September, on the occasion of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya's birth anniversary, but the party has now decided to extend it further.Swaraj is in Vietnam on the first leg of her four-day two-nation tour which aims at deepening India's strategic cooperation with Vietnam and Cambodia

Hanoi: External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday held talks with her Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh and discussed measures to strengthen trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation between the two countries.

Swaraj is in Vietnam on the first leg of her four-day two-nation tour which aims at deepening India's strategic cooperation with Vietnam and Cambodia  the key countries in the ASEAN region.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted:

Deepening our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership! EAM @SushmaSwaraj and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh led delegation level talks where trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation were discussed. pic.twitter.com/E21RWCp3fZ  Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) August 28, 2018

Swaraj co-chaired the 16th meeting of the Joint Commission along with the Vietnamese foreign minister.

Earlier, addressing the 3rd Indian Ocean Conference on Monday, Swaraj said India and Vietnam are connected not only by the common waters but also by a shared vision for peace and prosperity.

Hanoi is therefore a particularly appropriate setting to discuss developments in the Indian Ocean and the Indo-Pacific region, she said.

Swaraj said India and Vietnam have agreed to further strengthen cooperation in the maritime domain, including on anti-piracy, security of sea lanes and exchange of white shipping information.

"We also agreed on the importance of the early conclusion of an ASEAN-India Maritime Transport Cooperation Agreement. In this context, we intend to accelerate the establishment of direct shipping routes between the sea ports of India and Vietnam," she said.

On Monday, Swaraj met Japanese foreign minister Taro Kono and Bangladeshi planning minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.

She also held talks with Sri Lanka's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.Given Nehrus contribution to the freedom movement, his erudition and engagement with history, it was only befitting that on his death the Teen Murti complex should have been turned into a museum. It was also decided to build on its campus a library, a go-to resource centre for anyone researching modern Indian history.

There are multiple dimensions to the letter that former prime minister Manmohan Singh wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi advising him against changing the nature and character of the Teen Murti complex. But none is more serious, and sensational, than Manmohan accusing the Modi government of resorting to revisionism to obliterate the role and contributions of Jawaharlal Nehru to the national movement and building of modern India.

Built in the 1930s, Teen Murti was the then residence of the Commander-in-chief of the British Indian Army. One of the first things that Nehru did after becoming the prime minister was to order the commander-in-chief to vacate Teen Murti Bhavan, which, it was announced, was supposed to be the prime minister's residence. For 16 years, until his death on 27 May, 1964, it was here that Nehru lived.

Nehru's shift to Teen Murti had tremendous symbolical value. It signalled the supremacy of civilian rule over the military, writes academician Steven I Wilkinson in Army and Nation: The Military and Indian Democracy since Independence. Thereafter, Nehru initiated a slew of measures to ensure that Indian democracy did not become susceptible to the Armys interference, a recurring feature in Pakistan.

In an interview to this writer before Pakistans general election last month, Pakistani physicist and columnist Perveez Hoodbhoy said, "India must give credit to Nehru for keeping a lid on its generals." He, too, pointed to the significance of change of occupant at Teen Murti. This move carried huge symbolism: it said who the boss was, said Hoodbhoy.

Given Nehrus contribution to the freedom movement, his erudition and engagement with history, it was only befitting that on his death the Teen Murti complex should have been turned into a museum. It was also decided to build on its campus a library, a go-to resource centre for anyone researching modern Indian history. It is why the Teen Murti complex is now popularly known as Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML).

Indeed, Nehru was more than just Indias first prime minister. He midwifed Indian democracy  it could have been so much easier for him to acquire dictatorial powers than to negotiate through the fractious nature of Indian politics that included intense religious, linguistic and caste competitions.

This aspect of Nehru was appreciated by Turkish journalist Ahmed Emin Yalman, who visited India during its first general election of 1951-1952 and wrote a piece on the countrys emerging democratic politics for The Times of India. Quoting from it, Ramachandra Guha in his book, India After Gandhi, writes, He (Yalman) admired Nehrus decision not to follow other Asian countries in taking the line of least resistance by developing a dictatorship with centralisation of power and intolerance of dissent and criticism. The prime minister had wisely kept away from such temptations.

Yalmans observation sounds deliciously ironical in an era in which centralisation of power and intolerance of dissent and criticism are mistaken for decisive leadership that can turn India into a superpower. It is perhaps symptomatic of the culture of centralisation that the Modi government imperiously decided that the Teen Murti complex should house a museum for all past prime ministers, not just Nehru.

The new museum will certainly take away from the exclusivity of Teen Murti complex being a memorial of Nehru. There are many who will undoubtedly argue that since Nehru the great democrat did not mind sharing political space with others in his own life, why should Manmohan create a fuss over apportioning a part of the sprawling complex to Indias other prime ministers?

Manmohan has ample reasons to suspect the Modi governments motive in changing the character of the Teen Murti complex. For one, the Bharatiya Janata Party is adept at playing the politics of symbolism. Note the many public places it has chosen to name after leaders the party reveres. It has bestowed an exalted status on VD Savarkar, whose craven apologies to the British are well documented and whose writings overflow with venomous hatred.

Or take BJP's recent decision to rename the Mughal Sarai railway station after Deendayal Upadhyaya, whose abstruse writings are still unknown to most. The purpose behind renaming the railway station and other government projects after Upadhyaya is to stoke the curiosity of people about him and inspire them to study him.

Or recall its decision to build the 597-feet-high statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in Vadodra, Gujarat. Forget Nehru, the BJP did not think of erecting statues of other leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi, there. This was because the presence of other statues would have diluted the symbolical meaning of Patel.

From this perspective, the change in the nature and character of the Teen Murti complex will reduce Nehru to being one of the many prime ministers India has had. This is to belittle his contributions, about which the late writer Nirad C Chaudhuri wrote, He (Nehru) has not only ensured cooperation between the two (the government machine and the people), but most probably has also prevented actual conflicts, cultural, economic, and political. Not even Mahatmajis leadership, had it continued, would have been equal to them."

The belittling of Nehru, as Manmohan has pointed out, is a case of revising history to obliterate his contributions. Many will accuse Manmohan of indulging in hyperbole, even of being paranoid.

But two recent instances back the charge of revisionism that the former prime minister has flung against the BJP. In his inaugural speech in July 2017, President Ram Nath Kovind did not mention Nehru even though he did his contemporaries  Dr BR Ambedkar and Patel. Then again, in his Lok Sabha speech on the 75th anniversary of the 1942 Quit India Movement, Modi did not refer to Nehru. It was undoubtedly a shocking and a historical omission.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, of which the BJP is an affiliate, has always nursed a deep dislike for Nehru because he was a bulwark against the RSS project of turning India into a Hindu rashtra.

This is borne out by events after the ban on the RSS, imposed in the aftermath of the assassination of Gandhi, was lifted, in July 1949. Then RSS sarsanghchalak MS Golwalkar wrote a letter to Patel suggesting that both the Congress and the Sangh should join forces to combat the communists. Patel was open to the idea, but not Nehru, who identified Hindu revivalism as a bigger threat to India than communism.

In a piece in Hindustan Times, Ramachandra Guha narrated a fascinating story about the two meetings Golwalkar had with Nehru. On 30 August, 1949, the two met at, yes, Teen Murti Bhavan for 20 minutes. It enthused the RSS mouthpiece, Organiser, to publish a lead story, Two Men of Destiny Meet: A Happy Augury for the Future of Bharat.

The story described the meeting as one between the sage and the statesman and fervently hoped that the cultural force (read RSS) and the political power (Congress and Nehru) will pave the way for the all round unity of the patriotic forces which is the crying need of the country today."

Nehru and Golwalkar met again after a few weeks. It had the Organiser to wrongly claim that both the RSS and the Congress had similar objectives. Thereafter, in October 1949, Nehru went to the United States. In his absence, senior Congress leaders said they would allow RSS members to join the party. The Organiser dubbed the invitation as the surest guarantee of national unity in this hour of crisis.

The Sanghs hope, however, was dashed as soon as Nehru returned to India  he rescinded the earlier statement that the Congress would admit RSS members. Guha noted, MS Golwalkar wanted to be Nehrus Rajguru himself. And he wanted RSS men to join the ruling party so as to reshape the nations priorities. Fortunately, Gandhis heir would have none of it. Nehru knew the RSS to be opposed to universal adult franchise, to full equality for women and Dalits, to equal rights for minorities, and to modern science as well.

It was not as if Nehru was favourably disposed to the communists. This is evident from a story the famous historian Irfan Habib narrated to this writer. In 1954-55, Habib applied for a passport as he had been granted admission to Oxford University. Since the passport was denied to Habib, he wrote a letter to Nehru.

A few days later, Nehru summoned Habib to Delhi. The historian recalled, Nehru scolded me for being a communist, because, as he said, the communists dont recognise Constitutionality. He criticised Russia and China, where he had just been to. (Habib did get his passport two days later.)

Unlike the Left, the Hindu Right never forgave Nehru for rebuffing them, for nixing its gameplan of infiltrating the Congress to alter the secular nature of Indias democracy. It sought revenge by spreading canards about Nehru, one of which was that he ate beef.

In his book, Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India, Akshaya Mukul writes that a delegation of Hindu leaders once met Nehru to convince him to ban cow slaughter. Nehru heard them patiently and then asked, Why do you people run a campaign that I eat beef? The delegates denied they had spread this information, but suggested that the best way for him to silence his critics would be to ban cow-slaughter.

Canards could neither diminish the love and gratitude for Nehru nor dissuade three generations from reading and imbibing his thoughts. Holding the levers of power now, the Sangh seeks to trounce Nehru posthumously. Its favoured technique is to symbolically diminish him and undermine the Nehruvian values. In firing a volley against the BJP over Teen Murti, Manmohan Singh, all of 86 years, has underscored why we need to fight for Nehru  and history.Jabir Moti, who appeared before Westminster Magistrates' Court via live video link from Wandsworth prison in south-west London, is facing extradition to the US on money laundering and extortion charges

London: Jabir Moti, the Pakistani national described as a "top lieutenant" of organised crime and terror network D-Company, was Tuesday remanded in custody until 25 September by a UK court.

The 51-year-old, who appeared before Westminster Magistrates' Court via live video link from Wandsworth prison in south-west London, is facing extradition to the US on money laundering and extortion charges, which allegedly link up with terrorism funding.

Moti, arrested by Scotland Yard's Extradition Unit early in August, had been denied bail at his hearing last week as the judge deemed him to be a flight risk.

"At this stage I am remanding you in custody on the same conditions, to appear before the court in four weeks' time," Judge Mark Jabbitt told Moti Tuesday, as he sat with his hands folded and dressed in his prison outfit during the video link.

Moti faces extradition to the US following an FBI investigation dating back to 2005. The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) told the court at the last hearing that Moti faces allegations of conspiracy to launder money and extortion that link up to terrorist offences as well as charges of drug trafficking, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years behind bars.

His defence counsel Toby Cadman put on record for the court at Tuesday's hearing that his client's full name should be recorded as Jabir Siddiq, as on his Pakistani passport, instead of Jabir Motiwala, as on the provisional arrest warrant on which Scotland Yard had arrested him on 17 August.

The judge said the matter would be raised with the extradition requesting state, the US, before the start of the extradition trial, which is scheduled for its first case management hearing on 19 October.

Cadman also told the court that while his client is not making a second application for bail at this stage, another bail application will be made in "due course".

"I am not persuaded to grant you bail. These are very, very serious allegations there are substantial grounds to believe you will fail to appear before the court or commit further offences," Judge Margot Coleman had said in her ruling at the last hearing on 21 August.

"The US is a democracy, which runs on the rule of law and we function on a system of mutual trust between our countries. So, if they say there is evidence to support the allegations, I am entitled to take that at face value," she said, in reference to the US authorities' extradition request.

The court was told that Moti had been under investigation by the FBI as a key aide of D-Company, "named after the leader of the company based in Pakistan", associated with trafficking and money laundering through international smuggling routes across South Asia that were also linked to terrorist funding.

"For a fee, D-Company uses the power of violence for debt collection and has a reputation of intimidating members of the family of its debtors in India and Pakistan," the prosecution had said in its case summary.

The D-Company refers to the network of the underworld don and India's one of the most wanted terrorists Dawood Ibrahim - the key accused in the Mumbai serial bomb blasts in 1993. Moti has been widely referred to as the financial manager of Dawood.

In his interactions with undercover agents in the US and Pakistan, Moti allegedly admitted to being involved with narcotics and dealing with large amounts of cash and the court was told that it is believed he is behind nearly USD 1.4 million laundered to date.

Cadman, from the law firm Guernica, had disputed the charges as unsubstantiated, describing his client as a businessman from Karachi who has been resident in Dubai for many years.

"His father established the stock exchange in Karachi in 1953 and that is the basis of his successful and wealthy business," Cadman said, adding that his client "protests strongly" to the claims of his involvement with any organised crime group.

According to details that had emerged in court last time, Moti arrived in the UK on business on a 10-year visa and was due to leave the UK on 22 August.

His defence team had also tried to block the media from covering the court case, raising concerns over "reports appearing in the Indian media. Judge Coleman had turned down the request, saying, "We have open justice in this country."This task force has become yet another tool for unleashing effective forcefulness onto swathes of the helpless poor, while the so-called land mafia comfortably go on with their lives. The latest victims of this organised oppression are the local street vendors of Mahoba, who woke up one morning to find their shops and stalls uprooted and their wares confiscated on account of their shops being illegal encroachments.

The battle cry of the Yogi Adityanath led government has been that of a complete crackdown on crime and a reinstatement of law and order in the state, the latest in the chief ministers series of announcements declaring the states law and order condition as the best in the last 15 years. Encounters have been touted as one of the biggest achievements of this regime, with the UP government figures boasting a record of 1,038 encounters till January 2018  out of which 32 were killed, while 238 injured. While there is a fair amount of suspicion around the extra-judicial nature of several of these killings, one report even suggesting police records copied word for word, the state government has been bestowing handsome prize money on the police officers who exhibited adamya sahas (exemplary courage) in the adventures that led to the arrest and/or murder of dangerous criminals.

One of the strongest proponents in this series of attempts at controlling crime is the Uttar Pradesh Control of Organized Crime Bill (UPCOCA). First tabled by the state government in December 2017, it seeks to prevent crimes such as smuggling, illegal mining and money laundering inter alia by introducing harsher punishments as well as granting special powers to the police.

This law is much needed in the state and of particular significance in Bundelkhand, which has been a hotbed of incessant illegal mining. The district of Mahoba, being home to large deposits of sand and stone  both of which are instrumental in construction  is a case in point. The drill has remained the same over the years of various governments and regimes: Influential industrialists from outside claim quarries through bribes, which are then run by local contractors, all of whom are in cahoots with the local police as well as the press. Capitalist greed has led to riverbeds and quarries being mined beyond their advised capacities, the profits from which are shared by industrialists and local politicians alike. The celebrated UPCOCA was introduced precisely to put an end to this practice of illegal mining, and organised crimes associated with it such as land grabbing, smuggling, extortion, etc.

But even as this contentious bill is debated in the legislature, the state government has established an anti-land mafia task force to help prevent illegal encroachment and land grabbing in the time being, so as to discourage these crimes on the ground, in a more forceful and effective fashion. Designed along the lines of the infamous anti-Romeo squads, the task force comprises of the Principal Secretary, Commissioner, DM and SDM of the respective designated areas. While it has been granted significant powers and impunity in its functioning, its main purpose is to prepare a report on all illegal encroachments so that action can be taken against them.

However, this task force has become yet another tool for unleashing effective forcefulness onto swathes of the helpless poor, while the so-called land mafia comfortably go on with their lives. Not surprisingly then, the latest victims of this organised oppression are the local street vendors of Mahoba, who woke up one morning to find their shops and stalls uprooted and their wares confiscated on account of their shops being illegal encroachments. Last week, all vendors and hawkers who sold their goods on the footpath between Ala Chowk and Tehsil Crossing in Mahoba, were summarily ejected from their places while their stuff was packed and taken away by the task force. A bulldozer was brought in too, to add to the fear factor. This move, which practically destroyed the lives of dozens of families, came out of nowhere  without any prior notice  and now the vendors are left completely helpless. Coming from severely impoverished backgrounds with no other source of livelihood, most of them have no alternate way of feeding their families.

One street vendor Jugal is still reeling from the shock as he tells us tearfully, They should have given us some heads up, some notice  but they did nothing of the sort. How can you announce something like this one day and implement it the very next day? We should have had at least a couple of days of notice.

Lal Chandra Saroj of the Mahoba Municipal Corporation, however, denies that the move came out of the blue. We have been announcing about this for almost two months now. We even told the venders personally to remove their encroachments themselves. But they paid no heed to our warnings so we had to act on it. Therefore, we announced it one last time yesterday, and finally removed their wares from the street this morning.

The fact that the vendors have not even been given an alternate place to conduct their trading  a necessary prerequisite for removal of street vendors  is being considered non-existent fine print by the authorities. Considering that the idea behind the task force was to curb the rampant land mafia of the state, going after helpless street sellers with such brute force seems somewhat unwarranted. As an anguished looking sabziwala Deepak, says, I have been here for the last 10 years, and yesterday, they suddenly announced that we all have to leave. They even came and physically removed us today! Where do we go now? I had brought fresh vegetables worth 15000 rupees just this morning, and now I have lost everything.

Khabar Lahariya is a women-only network of rural reporters from Bundelkhand.The Punjab government's proposed decision to amend Section 295 AA, a law which makes acts of sacrilege against the holy books  Guru Granth Sahib, Gita, Quran, Bible  of major religions punishable with life imprisonment, is expected to cause quite an uproar as the bill will be tabled in Punjab assembly on Tuesday.

The Punjab government's proposed decision to amend Section 295 AA, a law which makes acts of sacrilege against the holy books  Guru Granth Sahib, Gita, Quran, Bible  of major religions punishable with life imprisonment, is expected to cause quite an uproar as the bill will be tabled in Punjab assembly on Tuesday.

The attempt by Punjab government to expand the scope of India's desecration law has not been welcomed by majority.

Meanwhile, chief minister Amarinder Singh tweeted from his personal handle and "promised" to not spare anyone who is "guilty of the crimes of sacrilege of our holy religious texts and those behind these conspiracies." Amarinder said he speak about the issue in detail during the debate of the ATR on Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report in the Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday afternoon.

The chief minsiter also handed over cheque of Rs 1 crore each to the families of the two fatal victims of Behbal Kalan firing. Amarinder gave Rs 90 lakh to the families of the injured.

As promised will spare no one whos guilty of the crimes of sacrilege of our holy religious texts and those behind these conspiracies. Will speak in detail on this issue during the debate of the ATR on Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report tomorrow afternoon in the Vidhan Sabha. pic.twitter.com/Don4WGqNYR  Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) August 27, 2018

https://twitter.com/capt_amarinder/status/1034051141976383488

The issue catapulted to prominence after chief minister Amarinder Singh accepted the recommendations of the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission. The panel was set up by the Congress government in April 2017 to investigate the various incidents of sacrilege of religious texts. It also dealt with incidents at village Burj Jawahar Singh Wala, Bargari and firing incidents at Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan in 2015.

After receiving the report, Amarinder Singh directed the state home department to take necessary action in the cases.

In an embarrassment to the ruling party, the first part of the 182-page report was leaked online, virtually allowing the SAD to frame its strategy to counter the Congress.

Later, a key witness, Himmat Singh, a former granthi at the Golden Temple and brother of former Takht Damdama Sahib Jathedar Gurmukh Singh, retracted from his statement given to the commission against the then ruling Badal family.

He reportedly alleged that he was pressurised by cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa to sign the statement. However, Randhawa denied the charge.

It took 15 months for the Commission to hand over the first part of a four-part probe report. The chief minister, The Indian Express reported, said that the commission "recommended appropriate action against the then SDM Kotkapura and those police officers who, though not apparently guilty of any criminal act, were nevertheless seen to be responsible for police action."

In 2017, the Centre returned the bill in April 2017 which was passed by the Shiromani Akali Dal government in 2016. The Punjab Assembly sought addition of a section in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to increase punishment in cases related to sacrilege and desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib from three years to life imprisonment.

The Centre rejected the request and said that "since all religions are to be treated equally, the addition of a section for one particular religion was not possible" in the IPC. In May this year, the Congress government, which took power in early 2017, withdrew the bill. However, the demand for the bill is back now and by covering holy books of all other religions it ensures that they don't fall foul of the constitutional principle of the equality of all religions.

The premise behind amending the existing law is that sacrilege disrupts public order, which the state has a duty to maintain. Reports also said that Section 295 AA was merely a "duplication" of an existing law on desecration which gives the state sweeping powers to make arrests.

With inputs from agenciesDMK working president MK Stalin, who is set to be elected as the party president, filed his nomination for the post at Anna Arivalayam, the party headquarters, in Chennai in Tamil Nadu on Sunday. Stalin's elder brother MK Alagiri has also filed his nomination for the post.

Late DMK chief Karunanidhi's son MK Stalin, has been elected as the party president on Tuesday at the party's General Council meeting. Stalin's elder brother MK Alagiri had also filed his nomination for the post. Duraimurugan was elected to be the new Treasurer.

MK Stalin elected as President of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) at party headquarters in Chennai. #TamilNadu (Images source- Kalaignar TV) pic.twitter.com/TWrlVXDyDF  ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2018

Durai Murugan elected as the treasurer of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) at party headquarters in Chennai. #TamilNadu (Images source- Kalaignar TV) pic.twitter.com/3ni25YZBAk  ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2018

Chennai: MK Stalin pays tribute to CN Annadurai and M Karunanidhi after being elected as the President of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) at party headquarters. #TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/3tJ1iBylho  ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2018

After the official announcement, Stalin paid tribute to CN Annadurai and M Karunanidhi at the party office in Chennai.

The position of DMK president had been lying vacant after the demise of M Karunanidhi on 7 August. He held the post of the party's chief for 49 years.

Stalin was the working president in the party while Alagiri was expelled from the political outfit in March 2014 by Karunanidhi for slanderous attacks on senior party members and carrying out anti-party activities.

Stalin filed nomination for the post of president on Sunday. Hours after that, Alagiri said he will decide the future course of action after the by-elections are announced.

The political battle between the brothers got yet more intense after Alagiri on 13 August claimed, "All the supporters in Tamil Nadu are on my side and are encouraging me only. Only time will give the answers; that is all I am willing to say now."

Senior leader and party principal secretary Duraimurugan filed the nomination for the post of treasurer, hitherto held by Stalin.

Before filing the papers, Stalin, Duraimurugan and senior party colleagues TR Baalu and A Raja visited Dayalu Ammal, Karunanidhi's wife, at her Gopalapuram residence.

They also met party veteran and general secretary K Anbhazhagan and headed straight to the memorials of DMK founder and former chief minister CN Annadurai and Karunanidhi at the Marina beach-front and paid floral tributes, party sources said.

Stalin, who was given a rousing reception on his arrival by party members at the party headquarters formally, submitted the nomination papers to DMK Organising Secretary RS Bharathi.

The names of Stalin and Duraimurugan were proposed by all 65 DMK district secretaries for the post of president and treasurer respectively. Talking to reporters, Raja said Stalin and Duraimurugan would be elected "unanimously" at the General Council meet.

Founded by CN Annadurai in 1949, DMK was a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam that was popularly known as Justice Party until 1944. This political outfit had been headed by Karunanidhi from 1969 until his death in August.

With inputs from agenciesAt the day-long meeting of BJP chief ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi listed a number of decisions and legislations effected by his government benefiting all sections of society, particularly Dalits, Other Backward Communities, the poor and farmers.

New Delhi: The issues of social justice with an eye on Dalits and backward castes, national security, especially National Register of Citizens (NRC), and welfare schemes of the Modi government emerged as the main poll planks for the BJP as it held a meeting of its chief ministers here to strategise for upcoming elections to state assemblies and Lok Sabha.

At the day-long meeting of BJP chief ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi listed a number of decisions and legislations effected by his government benefiting all sections of society, particularly Dalits, Other Backward Communities, the poor and farmers.

Briefing reporters on the meeting attended by 14 of the 15 BJP chief ministers, several Union ministers and party president Amit Shah, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh said party leaders discussed preparations in every state for the parliamentary elections and also upcoming assembly polls in three states.

"We have taken a pledge that we will win the Lok Sabha polls with a majority bigger than the one we had in the 2014 polls. We will also ensure our victory in three state polls," he said.

The Lok Sabha polls are less than eight months away while assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are slated for later in 2018.

"Modi in his address spoke about laws passed by Parliament for welfare of Dalits, tribals and Other Backward Communities, besides measures such as hiking minimum support price for crops to benefit farmers," Singh said.

He also spoke about 'Swachh Bharat' exercise, under which the government has been building toilets and focussing on cleanliness, and the ongoing 'Gram Swaraj' project in over 48,000 villages.

"He asked the party's chief ministers to focus on their speedy execution and take it to the masses during elections," Singh said.

"Fruitful meeting with Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers of states where the BJP is in power," Modi tweeted.

Speaking to reporters, Singh also mocked the Opposition over its efforts to unite to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, saying they are engaging in a futile exercise as Modi is certain to return to power.

The Central government's scheme has benefitted all sections of society, he said. Shah said the hike in MSP for crops has been of a huge help for the agriculture sector.

"The bill passed in Parliament to grant constitutional status to the OBC commission has also generated a lot of positive response," Singh said.

The issue of NRC in Assam was also discussed with the party asserting that the presence of illegal infiltrators could not be tolerated in the country.

"They also said that minority Hindus in neighbouring countries must find a home in India if they are persecuted there," Singh said.

Shah also made a mention of overwhelming tributes paid by people to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee following his death on 16 August. The meeting passed a resolution remembering the BJP stalwart and hailing his works for the country.Subramanian Swamy had triggered a political furore following his statement made earlier saying India should invade the Maldives if the election was rigged

New Delhi: Repeating his "invade the Maldives" remark, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Tuesday said that in order to protect Indians in that country, "invasion is necessary" if upcoming Presidential elections in the island nation was rigged.

However, Swamy clarified that these were his personal views and not of the government.

Swamy had triggered a political furore following his statement made earlier saying India should invade the Maldives if the election was rigged.

Speaking to ANI, the BJP leader said: "Indian citizens in the Maldives cannot be ill-treated. All kinds of ugly notices have been put up there, and if on top of that they rig the elections, it is my opinion that India has the responsibility to protect the Indian citizens, for which an invasion is necessary."

On 22 August, Swamy took to his Twitter and raised the issue of alleged "gross" rigging in the upcoming Presidential elections in Maldives.

"In Colombo today I had a chance meet with Former Maldives President Naseed. He is apprehensive of gross rigging in their forthcoming election. India cannot allow that as a neighbour and also since current usurper President Yamin has humiliated Indians recently. We need an action plan," he had tweeted. "India should invade the Maldives if rigging of election takes place," he added.

Following a huge backlash over Swamy's statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a clarification on 26 August, saying, "opinion expressed by Swamy in his tweet was personal and does not reflect the view of government".The election of Stalin as the DMK president is likely to be a smooth affair as all the 65 district secretaries of the party have proposed his name for the top post and his is the only nomination.

Chennai: MK Stalin, virtually anointed as his political heir by the late leader M Karunanidhi, is all set to be elected the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president on Tuesday.

His final "coronation" is expected to be announced formally on Tuesday at the party headquarters when the DMK's general council is set to meet.

The election of Stalin as the DMK president is likely to be a smooth affair as all the 65 district secretaries of the party have proposed his name for the top post and his is the only nomination.

He will be the second president of the party, a post which was held by his father Karunanidhi for 49 long years.

Stalin was given the role of working president in January 2017 after his late father and former chief minister Karunanidhi was largely confined to his home due to age-related ailments.

The elevation of Stalin as the party president became a necessity after Karunanidhi passed away early in August.

The 65-year-old son of Karunanidhi will relinquish the post of treasurer and senior leader Duraimurugan is set to be elected unopposed to that post as no other nomination has been filed for that post.

The path to the ascension of throne by Stalin was paved at the party's executive committee meeting held on 14 August where senior leaders one after another urged the 'waiting prince' to lead them by taking over the party's mantle.

But whether the tenure is going to be smooth for Stalin has to be seen as he has to face the challenge of leading the party to victory in the ensuing by-elections in two Assembly constituencies: Tiruvarur (which fell vacant after Karunanidhi's death) and Tiruparankundran (vacant after the death of AIADMK lawmaker AK Bose).

DMK's candidate in the RK Nagar by-election in Chennai lost his deposit and came a poor third after independent candidate TTV Dinakaran and AIADMK leader E Madhusudhanan.

There is also a complaint that Stalin as the working president was not able to lure some of the disgruntled AIADMK legislators and come to power.

Stalin's elder brother MK Alagiri, who opposed his leadership and was later dismissed from the party by Karunanidhi for anti-party activities, may work against the DMK party in the by-elections.

Alagiri has announced his plans to hold a rally in Chennai early in September to show his strength. On Monday, he warned that if he was not taken back into the party, then DMK would have to face "consequences".

The Alagiri-Stalin rivalry has plagued the DMK for a long time but Karunanidhi kept a fragile peace.

"I feel Alagiri himself may contest in Tiruvarur. He may like to ride on the wave of being Karunanidhi's own son. It is immaterial if he loses provided DMK also loses," political analyst Raveendharan Dhuraiswamy told IANS.

He said Alagiri may not be a challenge for Stalin within the party but may pose a hurdle from outside.

According to Dhuraiswamy, the poll scene in Tamil Nadu has changed to a three-corner contest between the AIADMK, DMK and AMMK led by Dhinakaran.

Stalin will also be under intense scrutiny and would be compared with Karunanidhi for a long time time. It may take some time and some election victories for Stalin to come out of his father's shadows.DMK leader and son of late M Karunanidhi, MK Stalin was appointed as the president of the party on Tuesday, ushering in a new era in Tamil Nadu politics. However, as the chief Opposition leader in the state, Stalin has many challenges ahead of him.

DMK leader and son of late M Karunanidhi, MK Stalin was appointed as the president of the party on Tuesday, ushering in a new era in Tamil Nadu politics. However, as the chief Opposition leader in the state, Stalin has many challenges ahead of him.

One of his biggest challenge currently is the revolt by his own brother and expelled party member, MK Alagiri who had started a fresh succession war just days after Karunanidhi's death. Alagiri had claimed that all loyal party workers are with him and hit out at Stalin, accusing him of blocking his return to the party.

Speaking to News18, political commentator Sampath Kumar said that Stalin should re-induct Alagiri. Karunanidhi was a Chanakya who embraced everyone in the party and kept all the district secretaries and key members of the party happy. He had great support from party cadre. Stalin has to follow the same. He has to be careful and include Alagiri in the party. Otherwise, he will find it difficult to tread the political path in the absence of a charismatic leader like Karunanidhi, Kumar said.

Alagiri, who was kicked out of the party in 2014, warned that if he was not taken back into the party, then DMK would have to face consequences". He has also announced his plans to hold a rally in Chennai in September as a show of strength. Kalaignar is not alive today. When he was alive, he had promised to take me back to the party. But these people stopped him from doing that. We should save the DMK. If I am not taken back into the party, they will have to face the consequences in the future, Alagiri had warned.

Thus, Stalin has to ensure that he integrates the cadre and senior leaders and manages both his allies as well as opponents. "His immediate challenge is to make sure no senior leader or district secretary or disgruntled member takes part in the 5 September rally (called by Alagiri), senior journalist RK Radhakrishnan told News18.

However, like all big political parties, DMK and thus Stalin's biggest challenge will be the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. 2019 is the test for Stalin as a leader. He has to deliver a minimum of 30 seats for the DMK because you have TTV Dinakaran and the (AIADMK) government pulling in different directions. Stalin has to keep his flock together. But remember, Stalins leadership has not tasted electoral success. Polls in 2011, 2014 and 2016 were all lost despite the fact that he was leading from the front. He is under very serious pressure to deliver, Radhakrishnan said.

He also has to face the challenge of leading the party to victory in the ensuing by-elections in two Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu: Tiruvarur (which fell vacant after Karunanidhi's death) and Tiruparankundran (vacant after the death of AIADMK lawmaker AK Bose).

Stalins political journey began at the age of 14 when he campaigned as a school student in the 1967 elections. In 1973, when he was 20, Stalin was elected to the General committee of the DMK. He came into the limelight when he was jailed under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) for protesting against the Emergency. He became an MLA for the first time in 1989 from Thousand Lights constituency from where he was re-elected thrice.

In 2003, Stalin was elevated to be the deputy general secretary of the DMK. He was then elected as the party treasurer in 2010 and re-elected in 2015. In 2017, he took over as DMKs working president, when Karunanidhi effectively withdrew from active politics.A controversy has been brewing over the building of a museum for all prime ministers of India on the premises of the Teen Murti Estate in New Delhi.

By all accounts, the move to build a museum for prime ministers to encourage shared memories in a democracy ought to be non-controversial. It is one of those essential yet dull tasks performed by governments that no one gives much attention to except students, chroniclers, researchers or academicians. News about such tasks find no mention in TV debates and notifications are usually buried in the inside pages of newspapers.

Yet, for months now, a controversy has been brewing over the building of a museum for all prime ministers of India on the premises of the Teen Murti Estate in New Delhi  that also houses the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML). It reached a crescendo with former prime minister Manmohan Singh shooting off an indignant letter last Friday to his successor Narendra Modi, accusing the government of indulging in revisionism and trying to obliterate India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehrus legacy.

Former PM Manmohan Singh writes a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi; says, 'Nehru Memorial Museum & Library is dedicated to memory of India's first Prime Minister. It should be left undisturbed. Jawaharlal Nehru belongs not just to Congress, but to the entire nation' pic.twitter.com/a88abtAKuP  ANI (@ANI) August 27, 2018

The debate is fascinating in more ways than one. It delves into the inner workings of a Dynasty that has never relinquished its control over the levers of power in independent India. It explains how the Dynasty exerted this control over its subjects through an elaborate, intricate and symbiotic power edifice built over decades and nurtured for generations. Finally, the controversy also captures the insecurities of the Dynasty as for the first time in seven decades, it feels an ebb in its power and appears scared of the prospect.

On the face of it, the controversy is needless. First, the proposed museum for all prime ministers will be set up on the premises of the Teen Murti Estate. There will be no reconstruction of the Teen Murti Bhavan which used to be Nehrus residence and has now been converted into a museum. The estate is situated over 25 acres of prime Lutyens land.

A report in The Indian Express quoted A Surya Prakash, a member of the NMML Executive Council, as saying, Teen Murti Estate and Teen Murti Bhavan (Nehrus residence and now the museum) are distinct entities. Often, an attempt is made to imply that these are the same. The library was constructed later on the premises, then the planetarium came, some land was also given to Delhi Police. There is scope for adding more in the complex.

The decision has irked the Congress. Its leaders and council members Mallikarjun Kharge and Jairam Ramesh have said that this is the legacy of Nehru and associated with the freedom movement. It cannot be destroyed. They have slammed the move as diabolical, intended only to obliterate Jawaharlal Nehru, according to the report.

It isnt clear how constructing a museum on the Teen Murti Estate, that also houses other buildings, is a diabolical act. It is also unclear how a memorial to other prime ministers obliterates Nehrus legacy. Is the Teen Murti Estate a private property? Does it belong to the Nehru-Gandhi family?

The NMML is actually an autonomous body under the ministry of culture. The prime minister is the president of NMML and the home minister is vice-president. The property belongs to the Union government. The decision, taken in July in a general body meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, complies with procedures. What explains Congresss angst?

It is useful to remember that the Teen Murti Bhavan was earmarked as the official residence of prime ministers in 1948. Before that, it was the official abode of the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Nehru, as economist Sanjaya Baru writes in Daily O, moved into the colonial mansion only after Mahatma Gandhis death and one year into his premiership, leaving behind his regular Lutyens bungalow ostensibly because he sought a fancier address than his Cabinet colleagues.

Once the Mahatma was gone, Nehru would have felt liberated enough to move into the grand palace of the Commander-in-Chief, located a stones throw from the Viceroys palace  Rashtrapati Bhavan, writes Baru, who was the media advisor of Manmohan Singh in UPA 1. His decision to live in Teen Murti House was perhaps also an attempt to elevate himself above the rest of the Congress leadership in the public eye. From primus inter pares (first among equals), Nehru made himself numero uno.

The real question is not why a museum for all prime ministers is being constructed on the premises, but why was the official residence of prime ministers of India converted into a museum for its first occupant. Is Nehru the only prime minister of India worthy of his office? While the British left Indian shores, did they transfer the mantle of colonial masters to the First Family of India?

It is hard to disagree when Baru says that if first occupancy is qualification enough for an official residence to be turned into a memoriam, the Americans should have turned the White House into George Washingtons museum or the British should have turned 10 Downing Street into a memoriam for Robert Walpole. It was Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, as President, MC Chagla, as minister for education and culture, and Indira Gandhi as minister for information and broadcasting, who took the decision, writes Baru.

Incidentally, as NMML director Shakti Sinha reminds us in The Hindu, even after it became a museum in his memory, the Union Cabinet, on August 9, 1968, decided that it should once again become the residence of the PM. The NMML agreed to shift the museum to Patiala House, but it did not happen.

If anything, the travesty lay in the fact that an abode meant for all prime ministers was turned into a memoriam for one, and the decision didnt generate any debate. This points to the way the primacy of the Dynasty was hammered into the collective psyche of a nation. Its deification was taken as normal.

This was a different form of colonialism, where exclusive occupancy of a rarefied zone becomes a signifier for political power and social influence. The exclusivity was slowly institutionalised. The Dynasty used this denial of access mechanism to lay the building blocks of the edifice that would help sustain its political sway over several decades  even during times of distress.

To quote from Swapan Dasguptas piece in The Pioneer on how this happens: Despite all the ups and downs of politics, the Gandhis have remained the first family of Lutyens Delhi. Some even consider them the owners of the place. Others come and go, maybe even rename Government-owned bungalows to indicate long occupancy, but it is only the Gandhis who have remained permanent residents for four generations. Around them has developed a durbar comprising politicians, bureaucrats, fixers, socialites, journalists, academics and others whose occupations remain a source of enduring mystery.

It is in this context that we must place Congresss outrage against Centres move for greater democratisation. The party is feeling threatened because construction of a building inside the sanctum sanctorum of its power destroys the denial of access mechanism that it had built and guarded ferociously for all these years. The memoriam for all prime ministers inside Teen Murti Estate, in this sense, becomes a symbolical break-in. It reduces the halo that the Dynasty had built around itself (by self-certification methods such as conferring of Bharat Ratnas) and exposes it to plebian scrutiny.

The real danger to the Dynasty lies not in the fact that it is going through a political ebb. Rather, for the first time in history, the blocks of the power edifice are being dismantled. As the legacies of other prime ministers are also brought into gradual focus, soon the new generation may seek a re-evaluation of the Nehru deification phenomenon. The emperors nakedness may finally become stark.

Congresss second objection is that NMML is running a BJP agenda and trying to change the nature and character of the library and museum. In his letter, Manmohan writes, The museum itself must retain its primary focus on Jawaharlal Nehru and the freedom movement because of his unique role having spent almost ten years in jail between the early 1920s and mid-1940s. No amount of revisionism can obliterate that role and his contributions.

NMML director Shakti Sinha, in reply, says: Even in the present set-up, less than 2 per cent of the books, documents and other items in our repository are about Jawaharlal Nehru. When we expand the repository to include other PMs, we will be adding to Nehru as well in the process. Nowhere are we obliterating Nehru, we will make it Nehru-plus.

Sinha has also given an account of the upgradation work that will be carried out.

Would be good to actually visit museum, where Nehru presently occupies 20% space. No coverage post 1950. Photos have faded, negatives not kept. We are more than quadrupling Nehru's coverage, thematic and chronological. Making it interactive. This is meanness, right?  shakti sinha (@shaktisinha) August 28, 2018

On the context of Congresss fear about the museum losing its focus, BJP leader Bhupender Yadav has tweeted an MOA clause:

As per clause 3(i)(d) of the MOA, One of the objects for which "The #NehruMemorial Museum & Library society" was established, was - "To Acquire Maintain & Preserve papers of #Nationalist leaders of Modern India & Other #Eminent Indians who distinguished themselves in any field". pic.twitter.com/cbONalHTXN  Bhupender Yadav (@byadavbjp) August 27, 2018

The details make Congresss fear seem misplaced. Its outrage, however, arises from a deeper anxiety. In marketing policy parlance, brand recall and brand recognition are key considerations in moulding consumer behaviour. Companies see red when their products suffer a slip in brand awareness. They spend billions in ensuring top of the mind recall among consumers.

The Dynasty, through its relentless promotion of the Nehru-Gandhi brand, has so far ensured a high degree of brand awareness among the electorate. Among other things, this has also helped it cement political power. A greater democratisation, fears the party, may drown out the brand awareness of Congress, more so because its current offering has resisted all efforts at repackaging. This distress has reflected in the way it has forced mild-mannered Manmohan Singh  who slept through countless scams under his watch  to suddenly rediscover his voice on NMML issue.

If Nehrus legacy is indeed indelible, no amount of conspiracies from the BJP will be able to diminish his brightness. Why is the Congress unduly worried?Reuters

Facebook said on Monday it was removing several Myanmar military officials from the social media website and an Instagram account to prevent the spread of hate and misinformation after reviewing the content.

It was the first time Facebook banned a countrys military or political leaders, according to Facebook spokeswoman Ruchika Budhraja. She said the bans could not be appealed.

Facebook also said it removed dozens of accounts for engaging in a campaign that used seemingly independent news and opinion pages to covertly push the messages of the Myanmar military.

Facebooks action came hours after United Nations investigators said the army carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Muslim Rohingya with genocidal intent. Their report said the commander-in-chief of Myanmars armed forces and five general should be prosecuted for orchestrating the gravest crimes under the law.

Facebooks Budhraja said the United Nations findings, as well as media reports and advocacy groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, informed the companys decision. Facebook declined to make executives available for comment on the bans.

Facebooks action means an essential blackout of the militarys main channel of public communication, with pages followed by millions of people no longer available to a population that sees the social media app as virtually synonymous with the internet.

Government spokesman Zaw Htay was not available for comment. He was quoted by local media as saying Myanmar had asked Facebook for further details on the reasons for the ban.

Specifically, we are banning 20 Burmese individuals and organizations from Facebook  including Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and the militarys Myawady television network, Facebook said in a blog post.

"We're removing a total of 18 Facebook accounts, one Instagram account and 52 Facebook Pages, followed by almost 12 million people," the Menlo Park, the California-based company added.

The UN report said Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of Myanmars armed forces, and five generals should be prosecuted for orchestrating the gravest crimes under law.

A preview of Min Aung Hlaings Facebook page was still accessible immediately after the announcement and showed it had been liked by 1.3 million people. When Reuters attempted to return to it later it had been removed.

The UN investigators highlighted the role of social media in Myanmar in Mondays report. Facebook has been a useful instrument for those seeking to spread hate, in a context where for most users Facebook is the Internet, said the report.

Hate Speech

Earlier this month, Reuters published an investigative report about how Facebook had failed to combat a campaign of hate speech against the Rohingya and other Muslims.

The piece, which found more than 1,000 posts, comments and images attacking Muslims on the platform, demonstrated that Facebook, despite repeated warnings, had devoted scant resources to controlling the problem in Myanmar, where it is the dominant social media force. (For the Reuters investigation on 'Why Facebook is losing the war on hate speech in Myanmar' click, here)

Facebook said a day after publication of the investigation that it had been too slow to address hate speech in Myanmar and it was acting to remedy the problem by hiring more Burmese speakers and investing in technology to identify problematic content.

Colonel Zaw Min Tun, an official in the militarys public information unit, told Reuters he was not aware the pages had been removed. He declined to comment further.

Some of the militarys Facebook posts from last year included detailed accounts of clashes with Rohingya militants, often accompanied by pictures.

A year ago, government troops led a crackdown in Myanmars Rakhine State in response to attacks by Rohingya insurgents on 30 police posts and a military base.

As a result, some 700,000 Rohingya fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, according to UN agencies, bringing stories of rape, arson and arbitrary killings.

Myanmar has denied allegations made by refugees, saying its troops engaged in lawful counterinsurgency operations against Muslim militants.

Last week, Facebook, along with Twitter and Googles Alphabet Inc, removed hundreds of accounts tied to an alleged Iranian propaganda operation. Facebook also said it had removed pages that the U.S. government had previously named as Russian military intelligence services.

Russia and Iran rejected Facebooks accusations.

This is part of our effort to identify and disable networks of accounts that mislead others about who they are. We ban this kind of behavior because we want people to be able to trust the connections they make on Facebook, Facebook spokeswoman Clare Wareing said.Indo-Asian News Service

Readying its digital payment service for India, Tez, for a global rollout, Google on 28 August renamed the app as Google Pay and introduced new features that could soon help its Indian users get instant "pre-approved" loans from some banks.

"Building for India has often meant Google building for everyone all around the world," Caesar Sengupta, vice-president, Next Billion Users initiative and Payments, Google, said at its annual Google for India event here.

"At the moment, nothing is changing about the experience in India other than the name," he said, adding that Google is working with a few of India's top banks, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Federal Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank, to offer pre-approved, instant loans to their customers, right from within Google Pay.

This feature will roll out to eligible users within the next few weeks, Google said.

With the roll out of this feature, eligible users will see a notification telling that that they are pre-approved.

Next, the users would have to decide how much they want to borrow, and how quickly they would like to repay.

Finally, after reviewing the terms of the loan, the bank will deposit the money in their bank account instantly, without the need of any additional paperwork, Google said.

"In coming weeks and months, Google is making Pay even more useful through expanding the places users can pay in-store and online, expanding services for merchants, and working with the banks to provide instant loans to Google Pay users," Sengupta said.

Google launched the Tez app in India last year and since then over 55 million people have downloaded the app and more than 22 million people and businesses actively use the app for digital transactions every month.

Google Pay works with all major banks in India on BHIM UPI (Unified Payments Interface).tech2 News Staff

Google has rolled out 'selfie stickers', also known as 'Minis', to its keyboard or the GBoard. This feature was initially available only with the Allo, Google's instant messaging app. This sticker is now available on both iOS and Android.

The rollout of the sticker was noticed by Engadget. While iOS has rolled out this feature, we cannot see one on Android. It could be rolling out the feature in phases.

How does this work?

If you are bored of everyday stickers which are already available in Google Keyboard such as the Bitmoji, and other generic stickers, Minis can come to your rescue since it will be a caricature of you in a sticker format.

This is available in the Google Keyboard next to the option for GIFs and other stickers.

Once you press 'Minis' category, it leads you to a selfie camera. Here, with the help of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and neural network, the camera learns your face. With the help of artistic illustration, it brings out the best representation of you.

This will take into account your hair colour, eye colour, face shape, facial hair and other features to generate your image. After generating your avatar, it will generate a pack of stickers of yours in various moods which you can add in your personal chat.

It further gives options such as Bold Minis and Sweet Minis depending on your mood.

Additionally, if you are not contended with your caricature, you have the option to customise your face shape, eye colour, skin tone and other features which you may want to alter.

In Allo, Mini could create 100 stickers of the same person, it is not known if the same is possible for GBoard.Kshitij Pujari

As summer officially comes to a close and we roll into Autumn, the Internationale Funkausstellung or as it's more commonly called IFA is about to begin. In the same league as massive consumer electronic and trade show events such as CES (Consumer Electronics Show) or MWC (Mobile World Congress), IFA is one of the oldest industrial exhibitions dating back to 1924. For the tech savvy, this is among the Mecca's that must be visited at least once. As always, IFA will be conducted in the German capital of Berlin and this year it will run from held 31 August to 5 September.

Sony, Samsung, and a few others can be considered as regulars to this event and we have a broad idea as to what they might be launching. As for others, we can only guess, but in this day of leaks and rumours, a guess might be as good as fact. We shall, of course, be providing day-to-day live coverage of IFA as tech2 will have boots on the ground and as such, we shall be keeping you apprised of all confirmed launches.

In any case, here is what you can expect from IFA 2018:

Sony

Solid rumours have it that Sony is all set to launch the Sony Xperia XZ3 smartphone at IFA. Leaked images of the phone revealed that Sony still has not boarded the notch-express, and that is always good to see. Instead, we seem to have a design that is almost identical to that of the XZ2 Premium launched earlier this year.

What is surprising, however, is that the leaked photo showed a single lens camera at the back. Rumour has it that this single unit will be a massive 48 MP sensor. In line with all other flagships, we should expect the top-of-the-line Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, at least 6 GB of RAM and also a QHD+ display to be present.

It's also a known fact that Sony and great audio products go hand in hand. At IFA this year we expect the Japanese electronics giant to reveal the WH-1000X MK3 headphones along with a bevvy of new audio products to satisfy the most quintessential audiophile tendencies, or at least, we hope they do.

Samsung

Another regular to IFA is Samsung and for some time earlier, the South Korean tech giant used the event for unveiling its new Note smartphone. That will not be the case this year, as the Note 9 is already out along with the Galaxy Watch and also the Galaxy Tab S4. So it is safe to assume that Samsung will not be launching any mobile device at the event.

It has, however, send out a launch invite which features a TV and it just might be that Samsung will be unveiling the much talked about microLED TV and also 8K QLED TVs. There might also be new information revealed about the recently announced Bixby-powered Galaxy Home smart speaker.

Lenovo/ Motorola

Lenovo is most likely going to announce a new addition to its Yoga lineup, the Yoga 930. Also, it's expected that, like last year, Lenovo will be showing up with some new VR gear, and we expect to hear more about the companys Mirage Solo VR headset.

Lenovo also owns Motorola and at IFA there is the possibility of seeing the Moto X5 or the Moto P30. Clarity will only come during Lenovo's keynote at IFA.

Acer

Acer, synonymous for a few with the ultimate gaming machine, will be showcasing the latest in gaming laptops featuring 8th gen Intel i5, i7, and i9 processors and there is also the possibility of a new Chromebook being introduced. The keynote is to begin on 29 August at 2.00 pm IST. We've embedded the stream here for your convenience.

BlackBerry

Once one of the biggest smartphone brands around, and now just a shadow of its former self, the name BlackBerry still commands some respect. At IFA 2018, BlackBerry is quite likely going to unveil what looks like the Key2 LE, which is a cheaper version of the Key2, but offering the same physical QWERTY keyboard.

LG

LG could announce the LG V40 ThinQ smartphone at IFA 2018, but seeing as it just launched the G7 ThinQ, the chances are pretty slim. However, chances are quite high that LG will unveil its own MicroLED TV to compete with Samsung. We can also expect more information regarding LG's ecosystem of smart, connected devices called as ThinQ AI. Could we see an LG smart-speaker as well? We shall know for sure at the event.

Huawei

All eyes will be glued to Huawei's keynote at IFA 2018 as it is highly expected that the Chinese smartphone giant will launch the Mate 20 series. Along with that, Huawei will also be introducing its next-gen flagship chipset called the Kirin 980 chipset, which is expected to power the Mate 20 series and all future Huawei and Honor flagships of this year. We might also hear more on Huawei's plan for 5G connectivity.

Razer

Gaming hardware maker, Razer is expected to make further announcements regarding its concept Project Linda, which was demoed at CES this year. For those who are not aware, Project Linda happens to be a laptop which is powered by a Razer phone. Speaking of which, we might also see a glimpse of the Razer Phone 2, although we should not keep our hopes too high on that front.

Fitbit

Smart wearables maker Fitbit has been announcing a new device at IFA for the past couple of years and this year will be no different. Fitbit's upgrade to the Charge 2, called the Charge 3, which was announced recently, will most definitely be showcased.Kavya Narayanan

The Moon was but a chin of gold

a night or two ago,

And now she turns her perfect face

Upon the world below.

~ Emily Dickinson, 1863

The moon has moved people for centuries, and the Earth's tides for at least a couple of million millennia. It's the only celestial body we've managed to reach out and walk on.

Next year, on 20 June 2019, it will be 50 years since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took a three-hour stroll on the moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission, which the former famously described as "a giant leap for mankind".

Since then, a series of 5 other missions carried astronauts to the moon, ending with Apollo 17 (the mission that also put Harrison Schmitt, the first and only scientist on the moon) in 1972.

Apollo 17 wasn't just man's final moon landing, but the last time humans left the low-Earth orbit, where our manmade satellites do their dance.

After all those years, with NASA's proposed launch of the Orion capsule in 2019, we may finally get to walk on and study the moon again.

And it's not just NASA. Space agencies from countries worldwide have plans lined up to send people to the Moon in the coming years.

Having humans walk on the moon has yet to lose its magical quality. But after a 46-year-long wait, the playing field has changed dramatically. A simple stroll on the moon's surface is evidently passe. And so, there's not one, but two missions in particular, that trump others in sheer ambition and scale: the Deep-Space Gateway, and the International Lunar Village.

A Gateway to the Moon and Mars

The Deep-Space Gateway (also known as the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway) is a space station that will orbit the moon in the early 2030s, pending approval and funding in 2019.

Led by a team with America's NASA, Europe's ESA, Russia's Roscoscmos, Japan's JAXA and China's CSA, the Deep Space Gateway will be poised as a multifunctional basecamp of sorts for missions to the moon, and a gateway for future visits to Mars and beyond, NASA says.

It has been slated for construction starting early 2020s, and is positioned as a sequel to the International Space Station, which is due to be decommissioned in 2024.

A village on the Moon

The second ambitious mission in near-future space exploration is the International Lunar Village, a project led by the European Space Agency (ESA) and presently still on its drawing board.

In the words of ESA's Chief Jan Woerner, the village will "combine the capabilities  be it robotic or human  of all space-faring nations."

Once completed, the lunar village will be a permanent lunar base with capabilities for astronauts to live and work on the moon for long periods of time. It will also act as a hub for research, business, tourism and mining, says Woerner.

There's a lot of research underway towards the moon village. Space nerds from the world-over are studying solutions to the challenges that come with an ambitious project like a village on the moon.

Among the plethora of things that building a village would requires are bricks, concrete, steel and machinery. Also labour, and lots of it. Carrying these from earth is an option, but a very bulky and expensive one.

This has been one aspect of ESA's research: finding an answer to the vexing problem of lugging materials from Earth to the moon.

Using that which is plentiful

The ESA is thinking of using a material that's abundantly available on the moon  the moon itself.

Yes, you read it right. They plan to build igloos on the moon, and use the moon's own soil to do it.

Over the course of billions of years, meteorites small and large have time-and-again crashed on the moon, digging up bits of the moons mantle (the layer immediately below the moon's surface) in the process.

Space radiation and the lack of an atmosphere to absorb said radiation has led these broken pieces of moon-mantle to get pulverised into smaller and smaller bits over time, resulting in a layer of fine dust and small rocks that span the surface of the moon.

If you've seen the photograph of Armstrong's bootprint on the moon (the first image in this piece), you've likely noticed how fine this dust really is. That's powdered mantle dust for you, and this loose layer of powder and rock is fancily enough, called "regolith".

Regolith? Sure, we've got some history

Lunar regolith has been on the radar of space scientists for decades.

Back when the Apollo 11 mission was simply a sketch, scientists took into account the "soft and powdery" surface of moon, and how landing on it could be troublesome.

When Apollo 11 finally got there, Neil, Buzz and Michael Collins learned that the regolith was firm under the lander, and perfectly suitable to walk, hop around. That was pretty much the only good thing going for them with regard to sand on the moon  the rest was a messy nightmare.

Once they stepped out onto the moon's surface, particles got stuck to their spacesuits, the inside of their lunar lander, got into their eyes and lungs causing them to cough  doing enough damage to earn it a bad rep.

What makes lunar soil particularly abrasive is the lack of weathering of moon rocks by liquid water and gases in the atmosphere  both of which make the sand on Earth far more pleasant to walk on, roll-around in.

Lunar regolith, with its tiny jagged edges, is also known to damage both spacesuits and spacecrafts.

The bricky business

With all of its unpleasant features taken into consideration, ESA's choice of regolith to build lunar bases is still a rational one.

To begin with, regolith is abundant; in some highland areas, it is said to reach depths of upto 15 meters, according to NASA reports. It can be compacted into bricks, and baked into a solid blocks with good compressive strength.

The bricks are set to undergo thorough mechanical testing to determine how durable they are, since some of the bricks showed signs of warping along its edges, since the cooling process after it is baked isn't simultaneous throughout the brick.

Were looking [into] how to manage this effect, perhaps by occasionally accelerating the printing speed so that less heat accumulates within the brick, said ESA materials engineer Advenit Makaya in a statement.

But for now this project is a proof-of-concept, showing that such a lunar construction method is indeed feasible.

With brick walls made over a compact regolith layer at least 2-meters thick, according to an old study, most of the space radiation that an astronaut would be exposed to inside a suitably enclosed space can be warded off, much like a tourist wearing an SPF 100 sunscreen.

ESA scientists, however, say the radiation tests would require fresh samples from the moon not long after it is charged from the radiation.

Making bricks out of moon dust is all fine and dandy. But making bricks requires kilns, heat and lots of labour  not things we're planning to transport to the moon anytime soon.

What ESA is planning on doing instead is harness the power of 3D printing on the moon using concentrated sunlight as a a heat source to bake bricks made from regolith.

Yes, we're 3D printing in zero-G

The process of 3D printing was tried and tested for the first time in ISS's zero-G environs in 2017.

The space station has two 3D printers on board, and has reduced the dependence on extra help from mother earth that is at best, six hours away on a good day with no traffic.

Astonishingly enough, an entirely 3D-printed satellite was launched by Russian astronauts from the ISS in 2017.

The ESA claims that 3D printing could be used to make giant telescopes and arrays for solar power in the near future, and not just build and repair equipment for astronauts in space.

So astronauts won't need to carry truckloads or spaceships full of brick and mortar after all.

They'll instead share a spacecraft with a 3D printer that turns lunar soil into ordinary-looking bricks, to build extraordinary things. Bricks to build bases, bases to live and work in, and one can only hope there's a plan for a club with zero-G dance floors somewhere in there too.

Not just another brick in the wall

Lo and behold, making buildings isn't all regolith is good for. It could potentially play a second, more critical role in helping keep our astronauts alive.

Grains of lunar regolith are dense with mineral and chemical compounds. Compounds like nitrides and oxides which can be converted into highly useful things breathable oxygen, water and fertilizers. These could open doors towards making long stays on the moon sustainable.

But doing experiments on the actual moon is difficult and expensive. That's why NASA has been running simulations with mining and harvesting chemical resource from regolith using a moon rover called SCARAB right here on Earth. There's a region in Hawaii where you find a kind of soil known as 'tephra', which closely resembles regolith or moon sand.

NASA's bet is that if their rover, SCARAB, can mine and tweak identical compounds to extract oxygen and other useful substances from tephra on Earth, it can likely do the same thing with regolith on the moon.

Will Pink Floyd reconsider?

In a matter of years, the ESA and NASA could very well be hiring masons to print bricks, a team of lunar engineers to plan a lunar crater-town, and those with a ticket have Earth-view cabins for some Spaceflix and chill.

From the moon, rocks and sand to bricks, 3D printers and villages, it's here  that ever-changing next frontier in space exploration is in our sights.

Pink Floyd famously sang that they didn't want to be a brick in the wall. Given the class and sass of a 3D-printed-regolith-brick-wall on the dark side of the moon, maybe Gilmour and Waters ought to be asked if they'd care to reconsider?Activists from Amnesty International urged that nations should agree to a treaty banning use of killer robots. They also criticised the UN body hosting the talks  the Convention of Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW)  for moving too slowly.

Geneva: Countries should quickly agree a treaty banning the use of so-called killer robots "before it is too late", activists said Monday as talks on the issue resumed at the UN.

They say time is running out before weapons are deployed that use lethal force without a human making the final kill-order and have criticised the UN body hosting the talks  the Convention of Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW)  for moving too slowly.

"Killer robots are no longer the stuff of science fiction," Rasha Abdul Rahim, Amnesty International's advisor on artificial intelligence and human rights, said in a statement.

"From artificially intelligent drones to automated guns that can choose their own targets, technological advances in weaponry are far outpacing international law," she said.

"We are calling on states to take concrete steps to halt the spread of these dangerous weapons... before it is too late."

Her comments came as a CCW group of governmental experts on lethal autonomous weapons systems began a week-long meeting in Geneva.

The world body hosted the first-ever killer robot negotiations last year and India's disarmament ambassador Amandeep Gill, who chairs the CCW talks, told reporters "good progress" had been made since then.

Yet countries have yet to agree on which path to take in addressing such weapons.

The number of states calling for an outright killer robot ban has increased, with campaigners saying at least 26 are now onboard.

But the states believed to have the most advanced autonomous weapons, including the United States, France, Britain and Israel, have not committed to any form of binding mechanism restricting their use.

The way forward is expected to be determined this week or at a broader CCW conference in November, but the requirement to reach consensus could prove a stumbling block.

Activists are pushing nations to move on to formal negotiations on a binding treaty within the CCW.Facebook has said that it is banning Myanmar's powerful military chief and 19 other individuals and organisations from its site to prevent the spread of hate and misinformation

Yangon: Facebook has said that it is banning Myanmar's powerful military chief and 19 other individuals and organisations from its site to prevent the spread of hate and misinformation.

The social media giant was heavily criticized for permitting itself to be used to inflame ethnic and religious conflict in the country, particularly against minority Rohingya Muslims. It has been accused of being lax in fighting online misinformation and manipulation in many countries, but Myanmar is one where it has been most closely tied to deadly violence.

Some 7,00,000 Rohingya have fled from Myanmar's western state of Rakhine over the past year in response to a brutal counterinsurgency campaign by the military, which has been accused of massive human rights violations. Critics accuse the military of carrying out ethnic cleansing, or even genocide, an allegation denied by the government, which says it was responding to attacks on security forces.

Facebook said on Monday that it has also targeted pages and accounts that pretended to provide independent news and opinion, while covertly promoting messages of Myanmar's military. It said it was deleting 18 Facebook accounts, one Instagram account and 52 Facebook pages.

A separate report by investigators working for the UN's top human rights body, released on Monday, charged that "Facebook has been a useful instrument for those seeking to spread hate, in a context where for most users Facebook is the internet." "Although improved in recent months, Facebook's response has been slow and ineffective," said the report by the Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, authorized by the UN Human Rights Council. "The extent to which Facebook posts and messages have led to real-world discrimination and violence must be independently and thoroughly examined."

Four high-ranking officers and two military units targeted by Facebook were also put on a US government blacklist earlier this month for human rights abuses. The sanctions block any property they own within the US and prohibit US citizens from engaging in transactions with them. The US already maintains restrictions on visas, arms sales and assistance to Myanmar's military. In June, the EU imposed similar sanctions on seven senior army and police officers, all of whom are on Facebook's blacklist.

The United Nations (UN) investigators on Monday called for an international probe and prosecution of Myanmar's Army chief and five other top military commanders for genocide against the country's Rohingya minority.Tripathi, who will succeed Elliott Harris of Trinidad and Tobago, has since 2017 served as Senior Adviser on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at UNEP.

United Nations: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed veteran Indian development economist and UN official Satya S Tripathi as Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the New York Office of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Tripathi, who will succeed Elliott Harris of Trinidad and Tobago, has since 2017 served as Senior Adviser on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at UNEP.

A development economist and lawyer with over 35 years of experience, Tripathi has worked for the United Nations since 1998 in Europe, Asia and Africa on strategic assignments in sustainable development, human rights, democratic governance and legal affairs, spokesman for the Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Monday.

Tripathi was previously the Director and Executive Head of the United Nations Office for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries Coordination in Indonesia, as well as for the United Nations Recovery Coordinator for the $7 billion post-tsunami and post-conflict recovery efforts in Aceh and Nias.

He participated as Chair of the Committees on Laws and Treaties for the United Nations-mediated Cyprus unification talks in 2004. Earlier in his career, he acted as a Senior Distinguished Fellow on Natural Resources Governance with the World Agroforestry Centre and on the World Economic Forum's Global Advisory Council on Forests.

Tripathi holds honours, bachelor's and master's degrees in commerce; and bachelor's and master's degrees in law from Berhampur University, India. UN Environment is the leading agency at the world body focussed on the environment. It works with governments, the private sector, the civil society and with other UN entities and international organisations across the world.By Lisa Di Giuseppe MILAN (Reuters) - Italy and Hungary, two fierce critics of European immigration policy, vowed on Tuesday to work together to pursue a new hardline approach to migrants searching for a new life inside the European Union. Italian Deputy Prime Matteo Salvini, who has ordered ports closed to most migrant arrivals by sea, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose government built a border wall, cemented their political ties in talks in Milan

By Lisa Di Giuseppe

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy and Hungary, two fierce critics of European immigration policy, vowed on Tuesday to work together to pursue a new hardline approach to migrants searching for a new life inside the European Union.

Italian Deputy Prime Matteo Salvini, who has ordered ports closed to most migrant arrivals by sea, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose government built a border wall, cemented their political ties in talks in Milan.

"We agreed that the most important issue is migration," Orban said, adding that they had agreed to jointly pursue their anti-immigration agenda as the European Union enters campaign mode for EU parliamentary elections in May next year.

He said Hungary had shown immigration could be halted across land borders and that Salvini's new Italian government had shown that it could also be stopped in the Mediterranean Sea.

"Europe's security hinges on his success," Orban said.

Italy and Hungary are both members of the European Union, which has drawn big numbers of asylum-seekers and poor migrants since 2015, most fleeing the Middle East and Africa.

Hungary was in the path of those fleeing the Syrian war, while those leaving Africa continue to head for Italy. Rome says it will not reopen its ports until its big EU neighbours agree to share the burden of taking in migrants rescued at sea.

Salvini and Orban said they agreed to work together ahead of European elections, though they belong to different factions. Salvini's right-wing League is allied to France's National Front while Orban is part of the centre-right European People's Party.

Both criticised French President Emmanuel Macron. Salvini accused him of not doing enough to help Italy on migration and Orban said the French president wanted to "blow up" the EPP.

"Macron is the leader of pro-migration parties in Europe today," said Orban, whose visit prompted a protest in Milan by several thousand opponents of hardline immigration policies.

"And here we are, the ones who want to stop illegal migration. There is a big debate about this in the EPP as well. We would like our stance to be the general stance in the EPP."

Salvini urged Macron to stop turning back migrants who try to enter France at the Ventimiglia border crossing with Italy.

However, Salvini said Italy was close to an agreement with Germany on migrant border controls.

(Additional reporting by Krisztina Than in Budapest and Steve Scherer in Rome; Editing by Mark Bendeich, Richard Balmforth)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.By Asif Shahzad ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's new foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi complained to his Dutch counterpart on Tuesday over a planned anti-Islam cartoon contest, saying 'such acts spread hate and intolerance'.

By Asif Shahzad

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's new foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi complained to his Dutch counterpart on Tuesday over a planned anti-Islam cartoon contest, saying "such acts spread hate and intolerance".

Far-right Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders has planned the contest for later in the year, featuring caricatures of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed.

A Pakistani foreign office statement said Qureshi said the planned event would hurt the feelings of Muslims around the world.

Qureshi said later he planned to take up the issue with several world leaders. "We have raised this issue at several levels," he said. "We have contacted the United Nations. We have contacted the European Union."

A spokeswoman for Netherlands Foreign Minister Stef Block said Block had underlined during his phone conversation with Qureshi that the Dutch government did not endorse Wilders' initiative.

On Friday, Prime Minister Mark Rutte told reporters it was difficult for him to see "what positive goal" Wilders hoped to accomplish, but the opposition lawmaker was exercising his rights under Dutch freedom of speech laws.

Pakistan's upper house of parliament on Monday condemned the contest. Prime Minister Imran Khan said: "They don't understand how much they hurt us when they do such acts."

An extremist Islamist party Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan is organising a protest march against the contest on Wednesday.

The protesters are scheduled to march from the eastern city of Lahore to the capital Islamabad.

Wilders plans to hold the contest and display the cartoons on the walls of his political party's room in parliament. He says he's had "hundreds" of entries.

(Writing by Asif Shahzad. Toby Sterling contributed from Amsterdam. Editing by Andrew Bolton)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.'The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government will prepare a proposal on resolving the Kashmir conflict within one week and present it in the cabinet. They will also discuss the issue with other stakeholders,' said Mazari

Islamabad: Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari has said that the incumbent government in Islamabad is preparing a proposal to resolve the Kashmir issue.

Mazari, made the statement during a talk hosted by Pakistan based journalist Nasim Zehra. "The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government will prepare a proposal on resolving the Kashmir conflict within one week and present it in the cabinet. They will also discuss the issue with other stakeholders," said Mazari adding, "The proposal is almost ready and we hope that it is considered soon."

In his first speech after winning the 25 July general elections, Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan said he wanted to have good relations with India and work to resolve all outstanding issues through dialogue. Mentioning Kashmir as the core issue of dispute between the two nations, he added that it was about time that the two countries sat across the table and discussed the issues of concern.

"We should sit across and resolve the issues instead of we blaming India for problems in Balochistan and they blame us for problems in Kashmir. I can say that if you (India) will take one step forward, we will take two steps forward. The relationship between the two countries has been one-sided so far and Pakistan has been blamed for all sorts of terrorism in the world. We want friendship with India and want to resolve all issues through dialogue," Khan elucidated.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj is also likely to meet her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly's (UNGA) in New York next month.

There have been ups and downs in the relations between the two countries in the past. The relations between the two nations took a further dip after the terror attacks by Pakistan-based groups in Pathankot in 2016.

The sentencing of retired Indian Naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav to death by a Pakistani military court in April over espionage charges in 2017 further strained the already fragile bilateral relations between the two nationsChinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters that a political solution is needed to be found to resolve the issue when asked for her reaction to the UN investigators' recommendations.

Beijing: China, an ally of Myanmar's junta, on Tuesday called for a political solution to resolve the Rohingya issue, saying "unilateral accusations and pressure" will not work.

The comments from the Chinese foreign ministry came a day after the United Nations investigators demanded prosecution of Myanmar's top military leaders including the army chief for genocide against the country's persecuted Rohingya Muslims.

Some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled the country's northern Rakhine state to Bangladesh after the army launched a crackdown in 2017 on insurgents. There were reports of arson, murder and rape by soldiers and vigilante mobs.

Myanmar, a mainly Buddhist country, has denied the allegations of ethnic cleansing.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters that a political solution is needed to be found to resolve the issue when asked for her reaction to the UN investigators' recommendations.

"The Rakhine State has a complex background in terms of history, religion and ethnic groups. We hope that Bangladesh and Myanmar could engage in more dialogue and contribute to peace, stability and prosperity in the Rakhine state," she said.

When a reporter asked since China has blocked actions against Myanmar in the UN Security Council, will it continue to do so on this issue, Hua said: "I do not agree that China has blocked actions against Myanmar in the UN".

The issue has a very complicated historical background, she said.

"We need to find a political solution to it. There is some progress between Bangladesh and Myanmar in resolving the issue. International community should help them properly resolve the issue. Unilateral accusations and pressure will not help solve the problem," she added.

China, which has been backing Myanmar's military junta over two decades, has extensive investments in the Rakhine state.By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - Air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition in the war in Yemen have caused heavy civilian casualties and some may amount to war crimes, U.N. human rights experts said on Tuesday. The experts' panel also said that fighters of the rebel Houthi movement had fired missiles into Saudi Arabia and shelled the Yemeni city of Taiz

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) - Air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition in the war in Yemen have caused heavy civilian casualties and some may amount to war crimes, U.N. human rights experts said on Tuesday.

The experts' panel also said that fighters of the rebel Houthi movement had fired missiles into Saudi Arabia and shelled the Yemeni city of Taiz. It accused them of committing torture and deploying child soldiers, both war crimes.

Saudi Arabia is leading a Western-backed alliance of Sunni Muslim Arab states trying to restore the internationally recognized government of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, ousted from the capital Sanaa by the Iran-aligned Houthis in 2015.

The experts said they did not examine the United States and Britain, who supply weapons and intelligence to the alliance, or Iranian support for the Houthis, but other U.N. bodies were doing so. They urged all states to restrict arms sales to help end the war.

"I think it fair to say, that of those parties that we have investigated -- and we have not been able to look at for example al-Qaeda and Daesh (Islamic State) who are also involved in Yemen -- of those parties, none have clean hands," panel member Charles Garraway told a news conference.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition was not unconditional, but suggested the United States would continue to support the alliance as it works to reduce fallout on civilians.

The U.S. goal was to "keep the human cost of innocents being killed accidentally to the absolute minimum" and to bring the warring parties to the negotiating table, Mattis told reporters.

The report was the first United Nations investigation into possible war crimes in Yemen although international human rights groups have regularly documented abuses. It was released ahead of U.N. peace talks between Hadi's government and Houthis scheduled for Sept. 6 in Geneva.

More than 10,000 people have been killed in the war in Yemen and 8.4 million are on the brink of famine, the panel said.

"Coalition air strikes have caused most of the documented civilian casualties. In the past three years, such air strikes have hit residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, detention facilities, civilian boats and even medical facilities," it said.

Coalition forces have imposed severe restrictions on Red Sea ports and Sanaa airport, depriving Yemenis of vital supplies, which may also constitute international crimes, the experts said.

United Arab Emirates (UAE) personnel and proxy forces which are part of the coalition have raped detainees and migrants, they said.

The Saudi-led coalition said it had referred the U.N. report to its legal team for review.

"The Coalition will take an appropriate position on this matter and make an announcement about it once the legal team submits its observations," it said in a statement.

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said the report merited a response. But he added the region needed to be preserved from "Iranian encroachment".

Houthi officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

TARGETING PROCESS

The panel said its investigation of 11 incidents raised serious concerns about the coalition's targeting process.

Attacks that fail to spare people or structures protected by international humanitarian law would be unlawful violations, it said. But its investigation showed that field commanders "routinely failed to consult with those in the (coalition) Joint Command holding information about the No-Strike Lists".

Garraway said that despite requests, the panel had not been given full access to the coalition's targeting process, making it extremely difficult to reach firm conclusions.

Panel chairman Kamel Jendoubi said three bombs hit a fish market near a hospital in Hodeidah on Aug 2, killing 40-55 people. The coalition has denied responsibility.

"It would seem that the strikes came from the south, where the Emirati forces and forces of President Hadi are concentrated, near the airport," Jendoubi said.

(Additional reporting by Tuqa Khalid in Dubai, Stephen Kalin in Riyadh and Phil Stewart in Washington; editing by Angus MacSwan, Richard Balmforth)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.Russia, a long-time ally of Syria, launched a military intervention in 2015 to support the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad, a move that changed the course of the war.

Moscow: Russia's defence minister said that war-torn Syria would be ready to accept one million returning refugees, following Moscow-backed reconstruction work.

"Since 2015, when towns and villages gradually started to be freed, more than one million people have returned home," Sergei Shoigu said in comments reported by Russian news agencies. "Now every opportunity has been created for the return of roughly one million (more) refugees," he told journalists.

"Huge infrastructure reconstruction work is ongoing, the rebuilding of transport routes and security points so that Syria can begin accepting refugees." Russia, a long-time ally of Syria, launched a military intervention in 2015 to support the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad, a move that changed the course of the war.

Assad and his allies have since recovered swathes of territory and the government is turning its attention to post-conflict reconstruction, with the aid of Moscow. The war that erupted in 2011, one of the most devastating conflicts since World War II, has displaced more than half of Syria's population, including more than five million beyond its borders.

Most of them fled to neighbouring countries, particularly Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump discussed the return of refugees at a summit in Helsinki last month. Moscow later said it had put forward plans to Washington to cooperate on their return to Syria but details have yet to be confirmed.US President Donald Trump on Thursday made a faux pas when he coloured the American flag with the wrong colours, during a visit with First Lady Melania Trump to a children's hospital in Ohio.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday made another faux pas when he coloured the American flag with the wrong colours, during a visit with First Lady Melania Trump to a children's hospital in Ohio. A photograph of the PLOTUS showed him colouring adding a blue stripe to the flag, which is only supposed to have red and whites stripes.

Twitter picked up on the picture shared by Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar on 24 August, and while some defending Trump, many trolled the US president for "forgetting" the colours on the flag.

The opioid crisis is one of our top priorities at HHS, with a drumbeat of action on the full range of efforts where we can assist local communities. Today, I joined @POTUS & @FLOTUS in Ohio to learn how states and communities are responding to the challenge of opioid addiction. pic.twitter.com/NwxSoeNznA  Alex Azar (@SecAzar) August 25, 2018

Here is how social media responded to Trump's gaffe:

Come for Trump coloring the flag wrong, stay for the boy who knows his is right and clocked the President trying to copy it. pic.twitter.com/VEzsRUL85G  Emerson Collins (@ActuallyEmerson) August 25, 2018

A few Twitter users trolled the POTUS by speculating if he was thinking of the Russian flag instead.

You just cant make this crap up. How can you claim to love our flag, but color it ? SMH  moebates (@moebates) August 26, 2018

Trump couldnt even color in the American flag correctly. He must have been thinking of the Russian flag instead. pic.twitter.com/qx6jptgoi1  Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) August 25, 2018

The kids are coloring American flags. Trump is coloring...a Russian flag. pic.twitter.com/H3dGzB24qF  ElElegante101 (@skolanach) August 25, 2018

However, some even came to Trump's defence by trying to play down the incident.

Im not saying I like trump but yall reaching way too hard , he dont color the flag correctly bruh its an arts and crafts project be creative he wanted a red white and blue design sheesh  Danny (@DannyAntunez_) August 25, 2018

Interestingly, Trump, in 2017, had said that athletes who bent down during the national anthem were disrespecting the American flag, as The Independent reported,Theresa May's government last week outlined its preparations for a no-deal Brexit. British lawmakers are split on May's proposals to keep Britain close to the EU on trade  parts of which have since been rejected by Brussels.

United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister Theresa May indicated on Tuesday that a no-deal Brexit would not be a disaster for Britain, playing down warnings of serious consequences for the UK economy.

May said she was confident of striking an acceptable new deal with Brussels as Britain prepares to leave the European Union in March.

She cited the World Trade Organisation (WTO) director-general, Roberto Azevedo, as she made her case. "Look at what the director of the WTO has said," she told British media on her tour of Africa. "He said about a no-deal situation that it would not be a walk in the park but it would not be the end of the world."

Her government last week outlined its preparations for a no-deal scenario.

"What the government is doing is putting in place the preparations such that if we are in that situation we can make a success of it, just as we will make a success of a good deal I believe we are able to get and the good deal we are working to get," she said.

London and Brussels have yet to reach an agreement on the terms of Britain's exit from the bloc. British lawmakers are split on May's proposals to keep Britain close to the EU on trade  parts of which have since been rejected by Brussels. London and Brussels hope to strike a deal by October, to allow its ratification by the European and British parliaments before Britain leaves the EU.

Last week, British finance minister Philip Hammond warned a no-deal Brexit could have "large fiscal consequences" on productivity and borrowing.

Alexander Winterstein, a European Commission spokesman, said the bloc was focused on achieving Britain's "orderly withdrawal" but "preparing for all possible outcomes". "The withdrawal of the UK is going to lead to disruption regardless  with a deal or without a deal," he said.

May was asked about whether she would instruct her Conservative lawmakers to support a no-deal Brexit if her blueprint falls through. "I have said right from the beginning that no deal is better than a bad deal," she said.Samsung just launched the Galaxy J2 Core (SM-J260), the companys first Android Oreo (Go edition) smartphone in India, after it was announced last week. It comes with 5-inch qHD TFT display, is powered by the Samsungs own Exynos 7570 Quad-Core 14nm processor with 1GB of RAM. It packs a 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front camera.

Samsung Galaxy J2 Core

It has Samsungs Smart Manager delivers automatic RAM management that ensures the device has sufficient free memory and remains fast and optimized. Since it is a budget phone, it doesnt come with Fingerprint sensor or Face Unlock. It has a 2600mAh battery on board.

Samsung Galaxy J2 Core specifications

5-inch (540 x 960 pixels) qHD TFT display

1.4GHz Quad-Core Exynos 7570 14nm processor with Mali-T720 MP1 GPU

1GB RAM, 8GB storage, expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD

Android 8.1 Oreo (Go edition)

Dual SIM

8MP rear camera with LED flash, f/2.2 aperture

5MP front-facing camera with f/2.2 aperture

Dimensions:143.4 x 72.1 x 8.9mm; Weight: 154g

3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio

4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2 LE, GPS

2600mAh battery

The Samsung Galaxy J2 Core comes in Gold, Blue and Black colors, is priced at Rs. 6,190 and is be available available across all retail stores and Samsung eShop from today, August 28th.

Commenting on the launch, Sumit Walia, Director, Mobile business, Samsung India, said:

Galaxy J2 Core reiterates Samsungs commitment towards meaningful innovations that delight our customers. We are pleased to integrate industry-first smart memory management solutions that allow apps or content on the memory card. We are also pleased to partner with Google in bringing the latest Android experience for entry-level smartphones with Oreo (Go Edition) on Galaxy J2 Core. This approach eradicates current consumer pain points by opening apps 15% faster, delivering 2X storage out of the box, and allowing consumers to stream content for up to 11 hours on YouTube Go. This is indicative of Samsungs commitment to a digitally enabled India by allowing our customers to Go Faster & Go Longer.

Sagar Kamdar, Director, Android Product Management, said:

Androids mission has always been to bring the power of computing to everyone, and part of that is ensuring a great experience across a broad range of devices. Android Oreo (Go edition) is specifically optimized to bring the magic of Google and Android to entry level smartphones, and we are excited to see Samsung take a big next step on that mission by launching the J2 Core.Magellan Midstream Partners (NYSE:MMP) has been a great dividend growth stock since its public debut in 2001. Overall, the master limited partnership (MLP) has increased its payout 65 times, growing it at a 12% compound annual rate. The company's ability to steadily increase the income stream it pays out has created significant value for investors. Since its IPO, Magellan has generated a total return of more than 3,000%, compared to a slightly more than 200% total return from the S&P 500 over that timeframe.

While it will be tough for Magellan Midstream to repeat that performance in the future, the pipeline company has many of the characteristics needed to drive continued outperformance, which makes it a compelling candidate to consider buying.

The financial foundation

Most investors focus the bulk of their attention on how well a company can do in good times, which can often lead them to overlook its ability to survive market downturns. That's why I like to start by looking at a company's balance sheet to determine whether it can make it through the tough times so that it's around to thrive when conditions improve.

Here's how Magellan Midstream's financial profile compares to those of its peer group:

Company Credit Rating Debt-to-Adjusted EBITDA Distribution Coverage Ratio % of Cash Flow That Is Fee-Based or Regulated Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) BBB+/Baa1 3.9 times 1.5 times 90%+ Magellan Midstream Partners BBB+/Baa1 3.4 times 1.2+ times 85%+ MPLX (NYSE:MPLX) BBB/BBB-/Baa3 3.7 times 1.36 times 90%+ Plains All American Pipeline (NASDAQ:PAA) BBB/BBB-/Baa3 4.5 1.79 times 93%

As that table shows, Magellan had the lowest leverage ratio in its class and tied Enterprise Products Partners for the best credit rating. The only number where it's behind is distribution coverage, though at more than 1.2 times, that's a solid number and above the level of many other MLPs. Overall, the company is in excellent financial shape, which should enable it to weather the market's ups and downs.

Magellan's financial profile will grow even stronger later this year because the company and its joint venture partner Plains All American Pipeline recently agreed to sell a 50% stake in their BridgeTex Pipeline for $1.438 billion. Magellan will receive about $575 million for its share, which will give it some funds to invest in expansion projects. Meanwhile, Plains will receive more than $860 million for the interest it's selling, giving it cash to pay down debt and get its leverage ratio more in line with those of its peers.

A look at its growth prospects

Another important factor to consider before buying a stock is its growth potential. Magellan it has clearly visible upside since it's currently investing about $2 billion into expansion projects across its portfolio. One of them is a $410 million investment in a joint venture with Valero (NYSE:VLO) to build a new marine terminal in Pasadena, Texas, that should start up in two phases beginning early next year. In addition to that, the company is also working with Valero on another joint venture to expand its refined products pipeline infrastructure in the state. These and other expansions drive Magellan's view that it can grow its distribution another 8% this year and at a 5% to 8% annual rate in 2019 and 2020 while maintaining at least 1.2 times distribution coverage.

In addition to the projects it has already secured, Magellan has more than $500 million of potential growth projects under development. Among those it's considering is potentially doubling the size its Pasadena Marine Terminal joint venture with Valero as well as a possible expansion of its Seabrook terminal, which is also in Texas. Magellan's ability to secure these and other projects will determine whether it can continue increasing its payout at a steady pace in the years to come.

Pondering the valuation

The third important factor investors should consider before buying a stock is its valuation. Here's how Magellan stacks up against its large-cap MLP peers:

Pipeline Stock Dividend Yield Price to Distributable Cash Flow Enterprise Value to EBITDA Enterprise Products Partners 5.83% 11.4 times 15.6 times Magellan Midstream Partners 5.47% 15.2 times 16.3 times MPLX 6.92% 10.6 times 16.7 times Plains All American Pipeline 4.46% 12.9 times 17.9 times

As that table shows, the company's valuation is toward at the higher end of its peer group average. That isn't too surprising since Magellan Midstream Partners is the only MLP in its class that has published a distribution growth forecast beyond 2018. Because it offers more visibility into future growth and has a top-tier balance sheet, it warrants a premium market value.

Putting it all together

Magellan Midstream Partners' current slate of expansion projects positions it to grow its 5.5%-yielding payout by 5% to 8% per year through at least 2020. That sets the company up to potentially deliver total annual returns in the 10.5% to 13.5% range as long as it maintains its premium valuation. Magellan's potential to produce a growing income stream that could fuel market-beating returns makes it a solid stock to consider buying for the long haul, in my opinion.The Allegheny Technologies (NYSE:ATI) that existed three years ago was bloated with debt, overly dependent on low-efficiency commodity-driven business, and not taking full advantage of the opportunities within its industry or the expertise on its payroll. The Allegheny Technologies that exists today is none of those things -- and all for the better.

Now three years deep into its turnaround, the specialty metals company has rediscovered an innovative ethos and started to deliver value to shareholders once again. The valuable niche held by Allegheny Technologies within the aerospace and defense industries and the specific catalysts on the horizon suggest that the best is yet to come for the business and why it's the one stock I'd buy right now.

An avalanche of catalysts in the next year

Allegheny Technologies designs, engineers, and manufactures high-performance specialty metal alloys for a wide range of applications. It reports two business segments: high performance materials and components (HPMC) and flat rolled products (FRP).

In the first half of 2018 over 80% of HPMC revenue was derived from high-margin aerospace and defense product sales, with another 8% sourced from medical applications. That helped the segment contribute $183 million, or 83%, of the company's total operating profit in the first six months of the year. However, the ramp-up of a new joint venture will add a considerable amount of high-margin, next-generation product sales to the FRP product mix, too. The JV is expected to boost full-year 2019 operating profit by at least $20 million.

The strength of operations is being driven by several sources of momentum:

Next-generation engine sales: As fellow The Motley Fool contributor Lou Whiteman recently described, Allegheny Technologies is taking full advantage of its role as leading supplier of the next-generation LEAP engine -- even outperforming its own contracts. The company expects next-generation engine products to comprise nearly 100% of total jet engine sales by 2020.

As fellow The Motley Fool contributor Lou Whiteman recently described, Allegheny Technologies is taking full advantage of its role as leading supplier of the next-generation LEAP engine -- even outperforming its own contracts. The company expects next-generation engine products to comprise nearly 100% of total jet engine sales by 2020. High-margin stainless steel JV: The FRP segment will soon get a boost from a new 50-50 joint venture between Allegheny Technologies, contributing next-generation process know-how, and Tsingshan, the world's largest stainless steel producer. The JV is expected to add $20 million to $35 million in operating profit and $30 million in cash flow generation per year.

The FRP segment will soon get a boost from a new 50-50 joint venture between Allegheny Technologies, contributing next-generation process know-how, and Tsingshan, the world's largest stainless steel producer. The JV is expected to add $20 million to $35 million in operating profit and $30 million in cash flow generation per year. New CEO in 2019: Allegheny Technologies announced that Robert Wetherbee will become president and CEO on the first day of next year. He was recruited in 2014 to lead the (now successful) turnaround of the FRP segment.

Allegheny Technologies announced that Robert Wetherbee will become president and CEO on the first day of next year. He was recruited in 2014 to lead the (now successful) turnaround of the FRP segment. Continued investment in metal 3D printing: Allegheny Technologies is a leader in manufacturing powder metal products for use in additive manufacturing. In July it announced the acquisition of Addaero -- a start-up leveraging metal 3D printing to design and build high-precision components for aerospace and defense customers -- to bolster its position in the new industry.

Despite the swift progress, Allegheny Technologies stock is still well below the heights it fell from in 2014. Shares have also lagged the total return of the S&P 500 in the last three years with a gain of 54%, compared with 64% for the index. Why the gap?

Well, analysts aren't entirely wrong to tread carefully. The specialty metals manufacturer dug a big hole for itself years ago, and today Allegheny Technologies is still chasing an investment-grade credit rating. But reduced capital spending and improved profitability are expected to deliver at least $150 million in free cash flow in 2018 -- a swing of $409 million from 2014.

There's also ongoing uncertainty related to the implementation of tariffs. While the company's FRP segment delivered strong year-over-year growth in the first half of the year even with increased trade uncertainty, management expects trade restrictions to hamper the business from reaching optimal performance. Allegheny Technologies is awaiting a decision, expected to be handed down in the third quarter of 2018, on exclusion requests for products purchased by its stainless steel JV and elsewhere in its FRP segment. The issue is the purchase of cast slabs of steel from a Tsingshan facility in Indonesia, which are then processed and finished at a facility outside of Pittsburgh. The facility was formerly idled in 2016 and is now the only one of its kind in North America.

Here's the thing: Allegheny Technologies has already stated that its long-term goal includes positioning its FRP segment to be profitable "regardless of raw materials volatility or trade policy." The new JV may find it difficult to execute its business model with tariffs in place, but that alone wouldn't jeopardize the company's future. After all, the JV hasn't begun contributing its full amount of operating profit yet, and only 17% of operating profit in the first half of 2018 came from the FRP segment as a whole.

Plus, considering the new CEO has hands-on experience with the FRP segment, he'd be perhaps the perfect individual to navigate any prolonged uncertainty in that area of the business. In a worst-case scenario, Allegheny Technologies may have to shift more capital to its HPMC segment, but those markets have above-average growth prospects in aerospace and, perhaps a little further away, along the technology vertical of metal 3D printing. In other words, the largest source of uncertainty facing the business is relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Wall Street certainly hasn't knocked the stock because of it.

There's more in the tank for Allegheny Technologies stock

By now I think investors can consider the turnaround of Allegheny Technologies a success. Offloading unprofitable businesses and reducing capital expenditures to focus on only the products with the highest margins (new alloys in HPMC, innovative steels in FRP) or best growth potential (metal 3D printing processes) have positioned the company to exploit upcoming opportunities in core markets. The newly strong cash flow should also help the business to earn an investment-grade rating in the near future.

Considering the stock performance is lagging the business performance -- the stock is trading at less than 0.9 times sales and just 12 times forward earnings -- and that the incoming CEO led a key part of the turnaround, there's a lot for long-term investors to look forward to in the next five or 10 years. That's why Allegheny Technologies stock is one I'd buy right now.2018 has been bumpy for U.S. automakers. For the past few years, General Motors (NYSE:GM), Ford Motor (NYSE:F), and Fiat Chrysler (NYSE:FCAU) have had to cope with investor concerns about U.S. auto sales having peaked. Over the past year, new concerns have emerged, primarily centered around tariffs.

First, the U.S. imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, causing market prices for both commodities to skyrocket. This has increased U.S. automakers' costs, forcing Ford, GM, and Fiat Chrysler to cut their 2018 profit outlooks last month. Second, the U.S. has threatened to impose tariffs on auto imports, wreaking havoc on automakers' international supply chains.

However, on Monday, the U.S. and Mexico announced that they had reached a tentative deal to update NAFTA and maintain free trade between the two countries. This removes a significant source of risk for the Big Three, but particularly for General Motors.

Depending on Mexico

Beginning in the late 1980s, the U.S. signed free trade deals with Canada and then with Mexico. This encouraged automakers to develop transborder supply chains within North America. Parts are shipped between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico -- supplemented by parts imported from outside the NAFTA region -- to support assembly plants in all three countries.

Furthermore, rather than producing vehicles for each market within that country's borders, GM, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler spread their production for the NAFTA region across the three countries. By contrast, the Big Three import very few vehicles to the U.S. from outside NAFTA.

This means that tariffs on auto imports -- and even parts imports -- from outside NAFTA would be manageable for GM, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler. However, tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada would be devastating.

That said, there are significant differences between the North American production footprints of GM, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler. Most notably, Ford relies significantly less on imports than either of its rivals.

Moreover, GM builds a substantial proportion of its high-margin full-size pickups in Mexico. Indeed, it built more than 400,000 Chevy Silverados and GMC Sierras at its Silao, Mexico, factory last year. Most of those were sold in the United States. Fiat Chrysler has also been building full-size trucks in Mexico, but it announced early this year that it will move production of its Ram Heavy Duty trucks back to the U.S. by 2020. At that point, GM will be the only one of the Big Three to import one of its most important (and most profitable) products from Mexico.

Free trade in autos -- with some restrictions

Fortunately for GM, it now seems likely that free trade between the U.S. and Mexico will continue. Under the deal announced on Monday, vehicles will need to have at least 75% of their content come from within the NAFTA region to avoid tariffs. Additionally, at least 40% to 45% of each auto's content would have to be made by workers earning at least $16 per hour. The agreement is set to last for 16 years, with a review every six years that can extend it further.

In effect, the U.S.-Mexico trade deal incentivizes auto suppliers to move production from outside the NAFTA region to Mexico to meet the 75% content requirement. It also encourages suppliers and automakers to keep substantial manufacturing bases in the U.S. and Canada, to meet the wage requirement. (Alternatively, they could raise wages in Mexico.)

Canada has not yet agreed to revisions to NAFTA, but it was set to resume negotiations with the U.S. on Tuesday. The goal is to conclude a new trilateral deal by the end of the week. That said, U.S. officials have warned that in the absence of a deal, the administration plans to impose tariffs on auto imports from Canada.

Too early to celebrate, but it's a start

General Motors won't be satisfied by the renegotiated trade deal unless it ultimately includes Canada as well. The automaker's popular Chevy Equinox compact SUV is primarily assembled for the U.S. market in Canada, although a significant number are built in Mexico as well.

However, with Mexico apparently willing to forge a bilateral pact with the U.S. if necessary, it will be hard for Canada to continue holding out for better terms. And even if the U.S. imposes tariffs on Canadian auto imports, this would be a lot easier for GM (and other automakers) to stomach than tariffs on Mexican imports.

GM isn't totally in the clear yet with regard to potential harm from auto tariffs. Nevertheless, the risk of facing a major disruption has been greatly diminished by the tentative U.S.-Mexico trade agreement announced on Monday.One of the key talking points post-race at Spa was how much Sebastian Vettels victory over Lewis Hamilton was to do with superior engine power of the Ferrari. Certainly, the Scuderias updated power unit appeared to be working exceptionally well, but Vettel afterwards touched on the other key factor: To me it feels pretty straightforward, he said. We ran a little less wing, were faster in sector one, sector three and a bit slower in sector two. The layout of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit makes it something of an aerodynamic outlier. The extended flat-out sections of sectors one and three give heavy lap time reward for straight-line speed (pushing teams towards minimal rear wings), but sector two is comprised mainly of fast curves and accounts for a significant 43% of the laps duration. That middle sector discourages teams going to the tiniest wings which are reserved for Monza, where minimising the drag gives the most powerful lap time effect of all the circuits. But Spa is a distant second and ahead even of the other two low-downforce tracks, Baku and Montreal.

The choice at Spa is typically between a Baku-style rear wing or something even skinnier. Typically, that choice is less than clear-cut  something that was emphasised by Ferrari running a back-to-back comparison on Friday morning when Kimi Raikkonen used the Baku-spec rear wing and Vettel an all-new lower downforce wing (see comparison images above). From FP2 and for the rest of the weekend, both cars ran only with the lower downforce wing, seen in detail below.

Enlarge Ferrari's low-downforce rear wing, used to great effect in Belgium.  Giorgio Piola Info Close

By contrast, Mercedes ran a Baku-style rear wing for the whole weekend (pictured below). This  like the Ferrari wing Raikkonen tried on Friday morning  featured a spoon-shaped main plane, thin in section at the more draggy outboard ends and with a more generous deeper profile in the more efficient central part. The wing Ferrari used had a skinny main plane across the full width. The Baku-style wing will give more downforce and will be the main reason Hamiltons Mercedes was quicker than Vettels Ferrari through sector two. But it will also create more drag  helping Vettel to those prodigious straight-line speeds in the long flat-out sections.

Enlarge In contrast to Ferrari, Mercedes ran a Baku-style rear wing all weekend which gives more downforce at the expense of ultimate speed.  Motorsport Images Info Close

Why would Mercedes have made a different choice of wing level to Ferrari? Typically, there are many factors driving this choice, but one of them is rear tyre performance. The Ferraris high-rake concept helps give it particularly powerful rear-end downforce from the underfloor. The Mercedes low-rake concept, while aerodynamically efficient and creating less drag than a high-rake car for a given level of downforce, tends not to have such strong rear-end downforce. Keeping the rear end nailed, not allowing it to slide, helps protect the rear tyres which at Spa were very susceptible to blistering. If the Ferrari was naturally generating more rear end downforce, it could be that it did not need as much rear wing as the Mercedes to protect its tyres.

Enlarge Mercedes' Baku-style wing in detail. Note the spoon-shaped main plane.  Giorgio Piola Info Close

Another reason a team might be reluctant to trim too much rear wing would be a traction shortfall. Traction out of the La Source hairpin is crucial to the speed carried all the way down through Eau Rouge and up the long climb to Les Combes. Even with the bigger rear wing, the Mercedes lacked the Ferraris traction out of La Source  and thats what helped Vettel get a crucial gap on Hamilton at the Safety Car re-start, even though his initial jump was, in his own words, poor.

Enlarge The Mercedes' front wing carried an extra vertical fin. Was this a Spa-specific update?  Giorgio Piola Info Close

Mercedes also added a second slotted vertical fin on their front wing (as shown above). Its not yet clear if this was a separate development part or whether it was part of the Spa package, diverting the airflow in such a way as to better match the traits of the Baku-style rear wing, to retain a good aero balance.

Enlarge Red Bull's ultra skinny Spa rear wing - a move aimed at helping to mitigate their horsepower shortfall at the expense of downforce.  Giorgio Piola Info Close

Another factor driving wing level at any circuit is horsepower. The more power you have, the bigger wing you can carry before the extra drag begins to hurt lap time rather than benefit it. Red Bull, with significantly less power than either Ferrari or Mercedes, ran with an almost Monza-skinny rear wing at Spa. This carried less main plane area than even their Baku wing.

Enlarge Haas's Spa rear wing, with its contoured trailing edge.  Giorgio Piola Info CloseGrease Monkey International, LLC, To Open First Minnesota Store In Savage September 2018

August 28, 2018 // Franchising.com // Savage, MN - Grease Monkey announced today, that it will open its first Minnesota store in Savage after Labor Day in September. The vehicle preventive maintenance center is located at 14310 Huntington Avenue in Savage at the intersection of County Road 42 and Huntington Avenue, (behind Taco Johns and next to Paradise Car Wash). This location marks the 285th Grease Monkey center in the United States. Auto services offered include oil lube and filter services, tire rotation and repairs according to owners manual recommendations for most makes and models of vehicles, with no appointment necessary.

The center is owned and operated by Curtis and Casey Romano of Savage, Minnesota. The three-bay center is being remodeled to offer more services that area drivers need with greater comfort and lobby amenities for guests. More information about the products that will be offered by Grease Monkey at the Savage location and a pre-opening promotion, with a chance to win free oil changes and car washes for one year and the opening event, can be found on the company website and online store at http://www.greasemonkeysavage1128.com/specials or www.facebook.com/greasemonkeysavage.

Were excited to provide the communities of Burnsville, Savage and Prior Lake with convenient, quality vehicle preventive maintenance Service Done Right, On Time Guaranteed, and are looking forward to building upon our reputation for excellence among local residents, says owner, Curtis Romano.

The new store will be will be open from 8am - 7pm Monday  Friday, 8am - 6pm on Saturday, and 9am - 5pm on Sunday.

About Grease Monkey

Founded in 1978 and, part of the FullSpeed Automotive family of brands, Grease Monkey is one of the largest automotive quick lube franchisors  not owned by a major oil company  with over 300 centers currently located in the United States, Mexico, South America, China, and Saudi Arabia. Grease Monkey centers focus on providing a less hassle, more hustle customer experience to fit the busy lives of the driving public by meeting their vehicle maintenance needs. Grease Monkey is also proud to have received the VetFran 5-Star rating demonstrating its extraordinary commitment to provide access and opportunities in franchising to our Nations Veterans and their Spouses. For more information, go to www.greasemonkeyintl.com.

Media Contact:

Curtis Romano

President

Phone: 952-270-8363

curtis@mightydogmedia.com

SOURCE Grease Monkey

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DisqusPokeatery To Bring Fresh, Hawaiian-inspired Menu Creations To Southern Louisiana

The California-Based Poke Concept Is Set To Open A Franchised Location In Houma, LA

August 28, 2018 // Franchising.com // HOUMA, LA - Pokeatery, the rapidly growing build-your-own poke concept on a mission to bring classic Hawaiian flavors to the mainland, has signed with Revelry Food Group to bring the budding poke franchise to southern Louisiana. The first location is planned to open in the city of Houma within the next year.

We fell in love with Pokeatery for their dedication to authentic Hawaiian flavors and commitment to sourcing fresh ingredients, and we feel like it will bring welcome variety to Houma, said Scott Bergeron of Revelry Food Group. Weve watched the poke craze sweep across the U.S. in recent years, and its a segment we have been wanting to infiltrate for some time, but weve been waiting for the right concept. Pokeatery just felt like the right fit.

Pokeatery was founded in 2015 by husband and wife duo, Derek and Joann Chung, and quickly gained notoriety for offering fresh, responsibly-sourced ingredients complemented by authentic Hawaiian flavors. The core menu features completely customizable poke boxes packed with a base, sashimi-grade proteins, and unlimited mix-ins, sauces, and toppings. Additional standouts include Millennial-favorites like pokecado toast (whole wheat toast loaded with avocado, fresh poke, and a variety of topping options) and Dole Whip floats (pineapple soft serve in pineapple juice).

The upcoming Houma, LA store joins four existing Pokeatery locations, three in Northern California and one in Texas, and an upcoming franchised store in Charlotte, North Carolina. For more information on the brand, follow @Pokeatery on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter or visit www.pokeatery.com.

Pokeatery is partnered with Fransmart, the franchise development company behind the explosive growth of brands like Five Guys Burgers & Fries and Qdoba Mexican Grill, as their exclusive franchise development partner. Pokeatery is currently looking for experienced multi-unit foodservice operators to develop franchise territories in major markets.

About Pokeatery

Inspired by the love of the Hawaiian Islands, Pokeatery founders, Joann and Derek Chung, wanted to bring some of their favorite flavors to the mainland and offer a place where anyone could come and enjoy great poke bowls as a meal whenever they crave it. Pokeatery has taken the Hawaiian flavors of poke and updated with a modern California twist, offering several delicious varieties made with sashimi-grade ahi, albacore, salmon and more. Their sustainably-sourced, quality seafood menu is complemented with quality produce and ingredients. Pokeatery offers a wide variety of bases, sauces and toppings, allowing customers to create customizable poke bowls in a fast casual atmosphere. For more information, follow @Pokeatery on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter or visit www.pokeatery.com.

About Fransmart

Fransmart is the global leader in franchise development, turning emerging restaurant concepts into national and global brands for over 10 years. Company founder Dan Rowe identified and grew brands like Five Guys Burgers & Fries and Qdoba Mexican Grill from 1-5 unit businesses to the powerhouse chains they are today. Fransmarts current and past franchise development portfolio brands have opened more than 3,000 restaurants in 45 states and 35 countries. Fransmart and their partner brands are committed to franchise development growth - as of 2015, over 1,000 new restaurants are in development across their current portfolio.

Media Contact:

Jenna Satariano

Ajenda Public Relations

Jenna@ajendapr.com

562-761-2095

SOURCE Pokeatery

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DisqusPhoto exhibition Batumi Photo Days" to be held in Batumi - GeorgianJournalWhy does the Georgians love John McCain? - GeorgianJournalWhatsApp Auto-backups on Google Drive doesnt have end-to-end encryption News oi-Sandeep Sarkar WhatsApp has recently announced that the backed up data including the chats, images, and videos on Google Drive will not be protected by the company's end-to-end encryption.

WhatsApp has recently teamed up with Google to provide free storage space for backup files. The partnership is expected to come in effect from November 12. It is advised to the users that they back up their data manually before the aforementioned date.

Now, the Facebook-owned instant messaging platform has revealed something quite alarming. WhatsApp has recently announced that the backed up data including the chats, images, and videos on Google Drive will not be protected by the company's end-to-end encryption.

As per some reports from Beebom, a message posted by WhatsApp on the FAQ section of its official blog said, "Media and messages you back up aren't protected by WhatsApp end-to-end encryption while in Google Drive,"

This revelation by the company is quite alarming. In the times when data privacy should be the utmost priority, WhatsApp's move is quite alarming. WhatsApp is known for its privacy policies and the encrypted messaging format on its platform. However, the decision to not to have an end-to-end encryption for the backed-up data is not a wise move. This raises concerns among the users.

Notably, the Indian government had recently asked WhatsApp to look for a technological solution in order to trace an origin of a message on its platform. WhatsApp has not yet complied with the request which had left the Indian government fuming.

It is being further reported that the IT Ministry has also threatened the company with abetment charges if some mishap takes place because of the fake news and hoaxes spreading on its platform. It is worth noting that WhatsApp's privacy policy has been an impediment to the company's fight against the spread of hoaxes and fake news. These wrong information have already resulted in a number of public lynching in India.

With the new developments, it would come as no surprise if the privacy of the backed-up data gets compromised. Keeping this fact in mind the data will get compromised after the back-up, users can turn off the back-up whenever they want. To do so, head over to Settings > Chats > Chat Backup > Backup to Google Drive, and change the settings to 'Never' and vice versa to back up the chats.

Best Mobiles in India

Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow NotificationsSamsung Galaxy A8 Star vs other smartphones under Rs. 40,000 Features oi-Harish Kumar

The Samsung Galaxy A8 Star is launched in India. It is the latest smartphone by the renowned Samsung brand that comes with a Dual Rear IntelliCam camera paired with a 16MP and 24MP sensors, having f/1.7 aperture lenses on top.

Moreover, for enviable selfies, there is a 24MP sensor at the front along with an f/2.0 aperture. The camera comes with Pro Lighting and Smart Beauty specs. The device is designed to ensure the security of users personal data through its pre-installed Secure Folder functionality. For an improvised virtual assistance, Samsung Galaxy A8 Star is inclusive of Bixby integration.

Affordable smartphones with premium specifications and features to buy in India now

However, there are other smartphones which too come with various set of features. To ease with the selection of such devices off the shelves, we have assembled them in our list below. This list has the LG G7 Plus Thinq that has a 6.1-inch (3120 x 1440 pixels) 19.5:9 FullVision Super Bright IPS Display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut.

SEE ALSO: EMI offers on bestselling smartphones: OnePlus 6, Mi A2, Redmi Y2, Huawei Nova 3i and more

The highlight of this phone is its battery which features Quick Charge 3.0 technology and wireless charging option. You have the Oppo F9 Pro that is powered by an octa core MediaTek Helio P60 12nm processor. The battery of this smartphone features VOOC charging technology, that refills its energy up to the brim in short span of time. The list also has some more devices which you must go through.

LG G7 Plus ThinQ Best Price of LG G7 Plus ThinQ

Key Specs

6.1-inch (3120 x 1440 pixels) 19.5:9 FullVision Super Bright IPS Display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut

Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform with Adreno 630 GPU

LG G7 ThinQ - 4GB LPDDR4x RAM with 64GB (UFS 2.1) storage / LG G7+ ThinQ - 6GB LPDDR4x RAM with 128GB storage (UFS 2.1)

expandable memory up to 2TB with microSD

Android 8.0 (Oreo) with LG UX

16MP rear camera

secondary 16MP camera

8MP front camera

4G VoLTE

3000mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0, Wireless charging Oppo F9 Pro Best Price of Oppo F9 Pro

Key Specs

6.3-inch (2280 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19.5:9 aspect ratio display

Octa Core MediaTek Helio P60 12nm processor with ARM Mali-G72 MP3 GPU

6GB RAM

64GB internal memory

expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD

Dual SIM (nano + nano + microSD)

ColorOS 5.2 based on Android 8.1 (Oreo)

16MP rear camera and secondary 2MP camera

25MP front-facing camera

Dual 4G VoLTE

3500mAh (typical) / 3415mAh (minimum) battery with VOOC Flash charge OnePlus 6 Best Price of OnePlus 6

Key Specs

6.28-inch (2280  1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:9 aspect ratio AMOLED display with DCI-P3 color gamut

2.8GHz Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 10nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 630 GPU

6GB LPDDR4X RAM with 64GB (UFS 2.1) storage

8GB LPDDR4X RAM with 128GB (UFS 2.1) / 256GB (UFS 2.1) storage

Android 8.1 (Oreo) with OxygenOS 5.1

Dual SIM (nano + nano)

16MP rear camera and secondary 20MP camera

16MP front-facing camera

4G VoLTE

3300mAh battery with Dash Charge (5V - 4A) Honor 10 Best Price of Honor 10

Key Specs

5.84-inch ( 2240 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ LCD 2.5D curved glass display with 96% NTSC Color gamut

Octa-Core Huawei Kirin 970 (4 x 2.4 GHz A73+ 4 x 1.8 GHz A53) 10nm processor with Mali-G72 MP12 GPU

6GB RAM, 128GB internal storage

Android 8.1 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.1

Dual SIM (nano + nano)

16MP (RGB) primary camera and secondary 24MP (Monochrome) rear camera

24MP front-facing camera

Dual 4G VoLTE

3400mAh (typical) / 3320mAh (minimum) battery with fast charging Vivo X21 Best Price of Vivo X21

Key Specs

6.28-inch (2280  1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:9 Super AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection

Octa Core Snapdragon 660 AIE 14nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 512 GPU

6GB RAM

128GB internal memory

expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD

Hybrid Dual SIM (nano + nano/microSD)

Funtouch OS 4.0 based on Android 8.1 (Oreo)

12MP rear camera and secondary 5MP camera

12MP front-facing camera

4G VoLTE

3200mAh (typical) battery with fast charging Asus Zenfone 5Z Best Price of Asus Zenfone 5Z

Key Specs 6.2-inch (2246  1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:9 2.5D curved glass Super IPS display

Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform with Adreno 630 GPU

6GB LPDDR4x RAM with 64GB / 128GB storage

8GB LPDDR4x RAM with 256GB storage

expandable memory up to 2TB with microSD

Android 8.0 (Oreo) with ZenUI 5.0, upgradable to Android P

Hybrid Dual SIM (nano + nano / microSD) with Dual VoLTE

12MP rear camera and secondary 8MP camera

8MP front-facing camera

Dual 4G VoLTE

3300mAh battery LG V30 Plus Best Price of LG V30 Plus

Key Specs

6-inch (2880 x 1440 pixels) QHD+ OLED display with a 18:9 aspect ratio, 538 PPI, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection

Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform with Adreno 540 GPU

4GB LPDDR4x RAM

128GB (UFS 2.0) internal memory

expandable memory up to 2TB with microSD

Android 7.1.2 (Nougat) with LG UX 6.0+

Hybrid Dual SIM

16MP rear camera and 13MP secondary camera

5MP front camera

4G VoLTE

3,300mAh battery Honor V10 (View 10) Best Price of Honor V10

Key Specs 5.99-inch (2160 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 18:9 FullView display

Octa-Core Huawei Kirin 970 with 10nm processor + i7 co-processor, Mali-G72 MP12 GPU

4GB RAM with 64GB storage, 6GB RAM

64GB /128GB storage

expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD

Android 8.0 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.0

Hybird Dual SIM (nano SIM + nano SIM / microSD)

16MP (RGB) + 20MP (Monochrome) Dual rear cameras

13MP front-facing camera with f/2.0 aperture

4G VoLTE

3750mAh (typical) / 3650mAh (minimum) battery with fast charging Huawei Nova 3 Best Price of Huawei Nova 3

Key Specs 6.3-inch (2340 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:5:9 3D curved glass display, 85% NTSC Color Gamut

Octa-Core Huawei Kirin 970 with 10nm processor with Mali-G72 MP12 GPU, i7 co-processor, NPU, GPU Turbo

6GB RAM

128GB internal storage

expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD

Android 8.1 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.2

Hybrid Dual SIM (nano + nano / microSD)

16MP rear camera and secondary 24MP rear camera

24MP front-facing camera and secondary 2-megapixel camera

Fingerprint sensor

Dual 4G VoLTE

3750mAh (typical) / 3650mAh (minimum) battery with fast charging Motorola Moto Z2 Force Best Price of Moto Z2 Force

Key Specs

5.5-inch (1440 x 2560 pixels) Quad HD AMOLED POLED ShatterShield, shatterproof display

2.45GHz Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform with Adreno 540 GPU

6GB RAM

64GB storage

expandable memory up to 2TB with microSD

Android 8.0 (Oreo)

Hybrid Dual SIM (nano + nano / microSD)

12MP dual rear cameras

5MP front-facing camera

4G VoLTE

2730mAh battery with Turbo Charging

Best Mobiles in India

Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow NotificationsSoldiers Prepare Georgian Troops for Afghanistan Deployment

Aug. 27, 2018

By Army Pfc. Matthew Marcellus, 24th Press Camp Headquarters

HOHENFELS TRAINING AREA, Germany -- The continuous dramatic thumping of the HH-60M Black Hawk helicopter's rotor blades announced the arrival of help from above as the 4th Infantry Division's 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion conducted a series of aviation and medical evacuation training exercises here in support of the Georgian military and Operation Atlantic Resolve, Aug. 21.

"We're out here supporting Georgian troops who are being trained by U.S. Marine Corps joint terminal attack controllers, and are getting ready for deployment," said Army Sgt. Rodolfo Echeverria, a flight medic with Charlie Company C, 2nd GSAB. "Out here in the field, they're running through company- and platoon-level training lanes, and we're also doing medical evacuation so that they have some training with the helicopters."

The 2nd GSAB has been conducting the joint exercises since Aug. 19, and has focused on training designed to simulate combat scenarios.

"It's important for the Georgians to know how to respond and work with U.S. medevac assets," said Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jacob Martin, a pilot with the 2nd GSAB. "When they deploy, they will know how to evacuate their wounded."

Preparing for Deployment

The Georgian military is preparing to deploy to Afghanistan, where it is crucial that they are able to communicate and work with medical assets in a timely, safe and efficient manner.

"They'll know some more about how the process works and how to approach the aircraft safely," Echeverria said. "If they have to call in a medical evacuation, I feel like they're pretty well prepared now."

Training such as this further builds relationships between the U.S. Army and its Georgian partners, the soldiers said.

"This fosters a good spirit, they know that they can rely on us," said Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Michelle Huang, a pilot in command for the training mission with the 2nd GSAB. "They can call us, and we'll come to get them."

The exercises are multifaceted and are necessary training for both the 2nd GSAB as well as the Georgian military.

"It's imperative that we get out here to conduct this type of training," Martin said. "We are not able to do realistic training unless there is a ground piece as well."

Joint training between the U.S. Army and its European allies ensures the readiness, agility and lethality of coalition forces, Huang said.

"The more that we can train with our coalition forces here, before they enter combat, the better," she said. "We'll have better camaraderie and a stronger working relationship with our allies."

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U.S. Department of Defense

Press Operations

News Transcript

Presenter: Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis August 27, 2018

Remarks by Secretary Mattis at National Guard Association of the United States Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE JAMES N. MATTIS: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Thanks so much, ladies and gentlemen.

And just how sweet it is to be here with you in this all-American city.

You know, some things are work in this world, and some are just a downright delight, and this is a delight to finally spend some time with you.

Thank you, General Hoyer, for the best introduction, because it was the shortest I've ever had in my life.

(Laughter.)

A -- a man from West -- as I understand it, here, West by God Virginia.

(APPLAUSE)

I hear that -- understand you West Virginians like a brawl, and by now it has got to be in your DNA, since yours is one of the few National Guard units with campaign credit in the War of 1812 for service in the Indiana Territory. Well done. Indiana is still part of the Union.

(Laughter.)

General Milley, General Goldfein has arrived as well. I understand General Lengyel, warriors all.

I want to thank you for being here, as well. This is my opportunity, of course, to pay my respects to you. I don't forget my debt to the National Guard over many years. I also want to say that the generals in the active services and the National Guard, I would just tell you that the capable leadership you provide is critical to the defense of our nation and ensuring the Guard is ready.

General O'Shaughnessy, our NORTHCOM combatant commander, will join you too. And believe me, he's one of our sharpest. So we will be integrating you in the same way as we've done before, and looking for new opportunities to integrate you further.

I must offer my gratitude to our host, the Louisiana National Guard. It's a pleasure to be back in New Orleans. The first time, though, as the secretary of defense. And it's a city redolent of the American spirit, of our diverse culture, our storied history, and certainly our unique music.

But I also remember its fighting faith. I was first introduced to that, its fighting faith, when I was 8 years old; listened to Johnny Horton sing about the Battle of New Orleans. A great history lesson right down to -- and I never quite figured this out, but powdering the alligators' behinds --

(Laughter.)

-- in the fight.

While I didn't understand it, ladies and gentlemen, that only increased the -- kind of the -- the image of that only increased my youthful respect for storekeepers and soldiers and militiamen, pirates and farmers who took up arms to defend this city back in the War of 1812.

I note that this is the first time the Association has met here since Hurricane Katrina, and a salute to this great city and its spirit. That was a tough time, but you proved you were tougher. And the National Guard was there. And in such times, Americans always pull together, for we are too big of heart to do anything else. And our joint military team was part of that effort.

It is a pleasure to be here, to be here and express my deep regard and my fondness for you, and pay my respects.

I also want to close any gaps between us, because by now I've grown rather remote from the young soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast Guardsmen, Marines, National Guardsmen. I've grown remote by -- by nature of the -- of the position I now have. But I would just tell you that, spread around the globe, you are some of the best ambassadors of the United States you could ever find.

You are the ones that carry on the tradition.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

And I'll talk more about that role in just a minute. But you are the ones who carry on the tradition of those rambunctious colonials who decided to pick a fight, at Lexington and Concord, with the Redcoats.

And remember, there was nothing sure about that. Those are the same soldiers who, a few years later, would go on to humble Napoleon at Waterloo.

Yet whatever ranks we wear today -- or once wore, in my case -- we are, you and I, coequal in our devotion to this magnificent experiment that you and I simply call "America," and to protecting our people and our Constitution.

And I would make no mistake, here, that our people and our Constitution need protecting in this world that is awash with change. And we can see the storm clouds looming.

So let me tell you, from my perspective, what we need from you. The general noted our 2018 National Defense Strategy, the first National Defense Strategy in over a decade.

And that'll mark -- that marks America's emergence from strategic atrophy. We recognize that great power competition, not terrorism, is now the primary challenge to our national security, even as we continue the fight against terrorists, maniacs who attacked us on 9/11 thinking they could scare us if they hurt us.

Well, the National Guard and the rest of our military does not scare.

(APPLAUSE)

I want to talk to the group just a moment about our national strategy because it's not the Pentagon's national strategy, it's not even the military's national strategy. It's our strategy.

It's our national strategy of the American people and should be subject to your review, and we are accountable to you, those of us who were assigned the responsibility to write it.

It's only got three LOEs (lines of effort). I thought those ladies who sang the national anthem a few minutes ago gave one of the best renditions I've ever heard. How about a round of applause for those ladies?

(APPLAUSE)

They're back behind the door, there. They're back behind the door. I hope they heard that. I just thought it was beautiful. I couldn't sing or dance, I ended up in the Marine infantry myself.

(Laughter.)

But that strategy defends everything that those beautiful young ladies just sang about in such wonderful voices.

First of all, the way we are going to address the challenges we face is, we are going to restore readiness across our force. And you're considered every bit as much a part of that force as any active element. And we're going to build a more lethal force in the process. That's the first thing we're going to do.

Secondly, we're going to strengthen alliances with partners and allies, and we're going to create new partnerships and allies. Recalling that in our revolution, that we had allies like the French, the Polish and the Germans who came to our support and helped us create this country.

The third line of effort is, we're going to reform and modernize our department for greater performance, accountability and affordability. And one point I would make is we have tremendous bipartisan support on Capitol Hill.

Eighty-seven percent of the Congress voted a couple weeks ago for the National Defense Authorization Act, 87 percent, Republican and Democrat. They are with you. The Congress is with you. And that's because we are going to be accountable for every dollar we spend to build their confidence in the budgets that they have been providing. That's the third line of effort.

But I want to talk, first about lethality because everything we, in this room, do must contribute to increased lethality and militaries in history that lost sight of that lost battles.

Americans, we Americans, we have no God-given right victory on the battlefield. So we need you, my fine young National Guardsmen, at the top of your game. Lethality begins when we are physically, mentally and spiritually fit to be evaluated by the most exacting auditor on earth. And that auditor is war.

Standards are standards; we cannot have people who are over their fighting weight coming out of boot camp. We cannot allow the enemy to steal the march and we must not be unprepared when destiny, in the form of M-Day, of mobilization day, taps us on the shoulder, for then it will be too late to do we could have done before.

Readiness means being most ready when our nation is least ready. And readiness depends on preparation. Look at the pictures of Baton to see what happens when war catches a nation unprepared. Read, "This Kind of War," by Fehrenbach, for a glimpse of the butcher's bill we paid in Korea for being unprepared in 1950.

And remember too, since most of you are leaders here in this room, remember to, that attitudes are caught, they're not taught. They're caught from you, the leaders, who must exhibit readiness to your units, your own personal readiness and establish our standards and hold strong or we will pay a price, history is very clear on this.

So, you must make our Guardsman fit in body, mind and spirit by modeling it yourselves, treating every month as if it were the last month of peace, the last week of benign behavior from Mother Nature.

We need you fit, deployable and team players, never advantaging yourself at the expense of your comrades. And remember that Mother Nature has thrown her worst at us these last 18 months, from category for hurricanes that span a range of 2,200 miles impacting 30 million people from Texas to the U.S. Virgin Islands.

And that we've seen the worst wildfires in our history, going on right now, with National Guardsman on the front lines. There's no reason to think that Mother Nature will not throw more of the same in the coming months, so be ready.

Our governors, our president and our people expect you to be the varsity when varsity level problems appear.

So lethality, readiness all go hand-in-hand. Our second line of effort, this department is laser focused on strengthening alliances and building new partnerships. I've fought many times on many battlefields.

I had a great privileged to do so. I have never fought in an all-American formation in history. History is very clear, nations with allies thrive. Those without allies die. It's hard work and Churchill said it best, he said, "The only thing harder than fighting with allies, is fighting without them."

So, I had that privilege to fight many times, but I will tell you, that having allies at your side is a great, great asset when the chips are down.

I would point out that you Guardsmen have a unique opportunity to build connective tissue and confidence with partner nations, military to military, human heart to human heart, through the state partnership programs.

Last week I was in Latin America, where your units are building regional stability as we speak. In Brazil, one of the subjects I discussed with my counterpart would be how to craft one of the most important strategic relationships that we face with that nation that is coming of age.

In Argentina, troops from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia were training alongside troops from the Andes and the Pampas.

In Chile, the Texas National Guard is being requested to enhance defense cooperation with a key Latin American Pacific partner, specifically on protection of Chile's cyber domain, an area of concern, I might add, increasingly shared by every democracy that I speak with.

In the Middle East, when Jordan led a retaliatory strike against ISIS for torturing and burning alive a pilot who had been shot down, that strike was planned and led by a Colorado Air National Guardsman, flying wingman to the king of Jordan; our National Guard, building confidence in a key ally's brave leader.

Similarly, Alaska's Air National Guard has provided critical support to Mongolia as it develops a new air force capability. And remember, Mongolia had a choice of partners in this, the U.S. or their close neighbor, China, or perhaps their other close neighbors, Russia.

They chose America because they trust us, thanks to you Alaskans who worked this for years, building trust one day at a time. This is not a one-time mission, and the Guard is uniquely suited to sustain allied efforts over many years, thanks to the amount of corporate continuity that you maintain in your ranks.

Your relationships establish that continuity between our country and those we will work with or fight beside when future challenges arrive, if we can hold their confidence.

In all of this, ladies and gentlemen, trust is your coin of the realm. If you cannot establish trust across units, civil military lines, service lines or with allies and partners, then your leadership is obsolete and you're of more use to the enemy than you are to your own nation.

We have no room for arrogance or complacency as we defend this great big democracy. Now, I recognize that not every ally or partner has the same capability or training standards that we have. So you must see what partners can do, and not focus on what they can't do.

As a two-star commanding general of a division in Iraq, my headquarters was guarded by Tongan marines. Now, could they have done as well as my U.S. soldiers or U.S. Marines in fire maneuver? No. They hadn't had the experience and we tried to train them up but they did not have everything it took because for -- the nature of their organization from that, out in the Pacific island.

But I would tell you, too, they took a load off of us which allowed me to put more of my Marines in the field, and they all bring something to the table if we'll simply open our eyes and find it.

I need you to be open to being persuaded by foreign nations, not just to listen to them. Recognize that not all the best ideas in warfare come from the nation with the most aircraft carriers.

When the tough times comes and the thin veneer of civilization is stripped away from us, we are tempted to close ranks, interacting only with those who look like us, dress like us, speak like us, think like us.

You must not fall into that trap because trusted and honest allies have always got their disagreements between themselves, politically or on some economic issue.

But military to military, those who believe today's debates are unprecedented have not read enough history. These things have always happened, but we have been able to fight together on the battlefield with like-minded nations. There's nothing new under the sun.

We certainly faced nothing more complex than the Suez crisis of 1956 or the Ural missile debates of the 1970s, so I need you to use your example and your persuasive force of personality; your example to make our allies and our partners sense that they are valued for what they bring to the fight, reminding them by your word and deed that they can count on us in bringing out the manhood in their troops, and sharing their confidence that builds theirs.

As I said before, our world is awash in change. It's a time of great promise, but it's also a time of great peril. For our experiment in democracy to long endure, our country needs citizen soldiers willing to go, as the poet puts it, "far from the well-lit avenues of life," when called upon.

What does that look like? Go back to Fehrenbach. The noted military historian from Texas, himself a veteran of the Korean War, writes, "Without its tough spearman, Hellenic culture would have had nothing to give the world. It would not have lasted long enough. When Greek culture became so sophisticated that its common men would no longer fight to the death, as in Thermopylae, but became devious and clever, a horde of Roman farm boys overran them."

In our brilliantly colorful history of America, we have had many patriots of undaunted courage willing to fight to the death so that America, on its worst day, could still stand as the shining city on a hill.

Thomas Baker, Jr. was one of them. A kid from upstate New York who grew up along the banks of the Hudson River, Baker began his military service in 1935 in the New York National Guard. He ended it in 1944 in a place called Saipan during the Mariana Islands Campaign.

By then, Baker had made sergeant, demonstrating heroism in several tough fights. But two days before the Battle of Saipan ended, Sergeant Baker was wounded in a heavy Japanese assault. As he was being carried to the rear -- to the rear, the soldier carrying him also went down wounded. Baker refused to be carried any further, saying he would rather die than risk his brothers' lives, he asked them to sit him down against a tree and go on without him. He also asked for a pistol with eight rounds of ammunition, and a cigarette. When last seen alive, Sergeant Baker was propped against his tree, calmly smoking a cigarette, pistol in hand, facing the direction of the enemy. He was later found in the same position, the pistol empty. Eight enemy soldiers lay dead around him. His cigarette had burned down to the butt.

Sergeant Baker fits the bill for Fehrenbach's common man. He was not too sophisticated to fight to the death to save his friends.

So today, you Guardsmen are stewards of his legacy, just as you are stewards of the legacy of those Minutemen in New England. I have every confidence that you will carry their spirit forward in the days to come, no matter what the challenge.

Thank you for taking up the patriot's burden, and what I would like to do is take a few questions here in my effort to close the gap between us. Thank you very much.

(APPLAUSE)

MODERATOR: Mr. Secretary, again, thank you very much.

Ladies and gentlemen, as the secretary said, we've planned for the secretary to take some questions. So if you'd like to come down to the microphones.

And Mr. Secretary, if I could, I'll ask the first question. You have many of the leaders of the National Guard here. I know you can't get to every member of the guard.

If there's a particular message that you would like these leaders to take back to the men and women of the National Guard, what would that be?

SEC. MATTIS: I think the most important thing right now, ladies and gentlemen, is we have got to recognize that the overmatch we once enjoyed technology-wise, that sort of thing, as you know in this information age, has dissipated. Many nations have capabilities that, a few years ago, we alone had.

So there are human factors, human qualities that we are going to be more reliant on than ever. And I think if I was to sum up the two most important, it would be initiative and aggressiveness.

As you promote people, we need to find people with those qualities because institutions get the behavior they reward. We need young NCOs and young officers promoted who are not only showing initiative and aggressiveness, but are given license to use their initiative and aggressiveness and get out in front and leading on standards.

So I would search for those two qualities and promote it wherever possible. Thank you, gentlemen.

MODERATOR: Thank you.

Mr. Secretary, I believe we have a question in the center here.

SEC. MATTIS: Okay.

Q: Yes, sir. Lieutenant Colonel Sanchez with the New Mexico Air National Guard. I want to thank you for speaking tonight, and I completely agree with our need for readiness and lethality.

But I believe --

SEC. MATTIS: Hey, General. Promote that man.

(Laughter.)

(APPLAUSE)

Q: I believe the Guard is uniquely poised to also defend the homeland. And with 72,000 deaths due to drug overdose, how do you see the continued support of the National Guard Counter-Drug Program including the Army Lakota Program and the Air RC-26 Program?

Because our law enforcement agents are always requesting from the military our intelligence support and our aviation support. And those seem to be the big ones that really help our law enforcement out.

SEC. MATTIS: Yeah. This opioid crisis, we -- we have a kind of a two-pronged challenge, as far as the drugs go. We are in complete support of DHS, Department of Homeland Security, on this, of the U.S. Marshals who are working it inland, of the Border Patrol.

And where we can provide some sort of backup for them, where we can provide intelligence, support, that sort of thing. Of course we stay out of any kind of law enforcement when it comes to inside our own nation. That is not a -- a military function.

But you see it where we have more National Guardsmen providing the very kind of support you're talking about on the border right now, when you look at (inaudible) South down in the Florida Keys, you see what we're doing right now.

And we stay very, very attentive to what else -- what other kind of support they could use. For example, Secretary Nielsen and I meet probably easily once every week or two. Our staffs are meeting literally daily on these issues, and we look for what is the specific need that they have.

I don't want to just throw capability to them. I want to know, right down to the detail, what they need and what we can be providing for them.

We'll continue to do this right now. I can tell you that she is completely satisfied with the support. We are increasing some of the overseas support about -- well, let me just say in certain countries, it's been requested by those national leaders, so it's not just about here in the homeland, either. It's also trying to make a forward presence to try to interrupt this drug scourge that's coming to the country.

But right now, it's, of course, inside countries led by DHS, and we're -- we're very responsive to them.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Mr. Secretary, I think our next question is off to your left.

SEC. MATTIS: Okay.

Q: Mr. Secretary, Lieutenant Colonel Tim Hoyle, Delaware Air National Guard.

(APPLAUSE)

Sir, a lot of what we're doing here is really promoting our equities to assure the National Guard are full partners. One of the challenges that we face, both Army and Air, is older, outdated equipment. We can't -- by 2020, we won't be able to fly C-130s overseas. We got outdated alpha models, and Black Hawks, and I can go over, and over, and over again -- recapitalization to fighters, as well as ground pounders having the right equipment to keep them safe, fighting the fight.

So my question is, how we assure that the National Guard stays relevant, as we continue to battle and fight, not only our near-peer competitors, but also, the -- violent extremism? Thank you.

SEC. MATTIS: Yeah, it's a -- it's a great question, and when President Trump came into office, he was adamant that we were going to restore readiness, and he didn't say of only the active force, or only the Reserves, or only the National Guard. He said, "We're going to bring the whole force back up."

Now, what we've added, as I mentioned earlier, is bipartisan support by Congress for what can only be considered record-breaking budgets. The amount of money that we have achieved, $700 billion for this fiscal year coming up, or this fiscal year; $700 and probably, 16, Maybe 19 billion for next year. The idea is to raise the capability of all of our forces.

What you're talking about is not unique to the Guard. What you're talking about, as far as a lack of readiness in the past, could have characterized all of our forces. So we're engaged on raising the forces. Obviously, the first out the door are the ones that are getting the front of the line, and we'll keep right on raising everyone, including the Strategic Reserve. And due to an absence of alternatives, the Strategic Reserve, which is critical to this nation, is heavily invested in all of you.

So this is going to be a rising tide that raises everybody, and we've got the joint chiefs, who meet together. We make certain that those prioritizations are in the best interest of the strategy, and we're pressing on. I just can't thank Congress enough for their willingness to take a lot of political heat. In many cases, people are running for office this fall, as they've funded for the -- for the -- the democracy's military at a level that we have never seen before.

So we're working it, and we've got the challenges, the readiness problems across the force -- active reserve, National Guard, and we will get it up, but it's going to take some years.

Q: Thank you, General.

SEC. MATTIS: Sure.

MODERATOR: Mr. Secretary, to your right, and I'll point out, it's the adjutant general of Indiana, who, as you pointed out, West Virginia came to help out in 1812.

(APPLAUSE)

Q: Mr. Secretary, Major General Courtney Carr of Indiana. And on behalf of the great state of Indiana, we want to thank the -- the West by God Virginians for -- for the assistance back in 1812.

(APPLAUSE)

Mr. Secretary, we have National Guardsmen deployed in every combatant command around the world. I've got -- personally, I've got airmen in Niger. We're in Gitmo. We're in Kuwait. We're in Iraq.

Our soldiers and airmen want to be relevant, and my units that have the highest levels of retention and reenlistment are those units that are conducting relevant missions for our nation. And so my question to you, Mr. Secretary, is how do you see the operational reserve in maintaining the Guard as the primary combat reserve, and keeping us relevant, and keeping us in the war fight, where our soldiers and airmen want to be? Thank you.

SEC. MATTIS: Yeah, I think what we've got to look at here is not breaking at the same time, with all the enthusiasm, as you point out, that you have for those who are actively engaged; not breaking the social compact on the other hand, with -- with our folks, because they're not in their civilian jobs enough to stay competitive for promotion. They are citizen soldiers. They're -- they're living two lives, and we're grateful for it.

But at the same time, between the Strategic Reserve, which only you, frankly, can carry out, and the operational reserve, I think that what we see is between the state partnership program and the active operations that we're engaged in, there's going to be a continued knock on the door for the National Guardsmen. That's just the way it is. It's -- it's burned into our DNA by now. It's been proven on the battlefields by now, and by now, we recognize there's also a value to making certain that Guardsmen don't go 20 years and never deploy, and wonder why they lose a sense of purpose.

It's a balancing act. We're going to need all of you adjutant general to make certain that what we're doing is using them right. We also have strategic decisions to make about the Strategic Reserve, because at any point, we get much smaller in the active force, it's going to become a purely operational reserve, and now, we lose our Strategic Reserve, which we must have.

There is no way that you can anticipate everything that's going to happen in the world. So you can have everybody committed and say, "Oh, my gosh," when one more thing comes up, and now, we're in a -- we're in a -- well, you know where we're at, at that point. And so --

(Laughter.)

I'm trying to clean it up, Chaplain. You know --

(Laughter.)

But -- but you -- you -- you all have proven to be a Godsend. We just have to make sure we're not getting sloppy on the use of them. But believe me, there'll be plenty of fighting. Don't -- don't worry about that, General.

Q: Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

SEC. MATTIS: Thank you.

MODERATOR: Mr. Secretary, next question is center and left.

Q: Morning, Mr. Secretary. My name is Tim Reisch. I'm the adjutant general of the South Dakota National Guard. Thank you so much for -- thank you for coming to see us here this morning.

My question is about the budget, and I know we've got a two-year budget here awhile ago. We're kind of coming down the home stretch for the -- for the next fiscal year budget. Might be a C.R., but I think we're -- feel confident we're going to get a budget that is what the DOD needs.

I'm concerned about the out years, after this two-year budget deal is over. People are talking about the real reality of probably a reduced budget. And when I came in as stag seven and a half years ago, there was budget cuts, and -- and the Guard was not getting along very good with big Army and big Air Force. And we all get along great when there's plenty of money, but it's harder when -- when there's budget cuts, because we have differences of opinion.

So sir, I would be interested in your -- first of all, I want to reach out to you and say that the 54 National Guards, we've got direct connections to the 535 members of the Congress. I can pick up the -- a phone any day, get a member of Congress on the phone, and get signatures, and really, rally support. And we get a big state like a California, or -- or Texas. They -- they can really provide some muscle. So I would tell you, don't leave that on the table.

But going forward, I'd like to have -- get your input on, what do you think is ahead past fiscal year '19? And what can we do to help you, sir?

SEC. MATTIS: Yeah. Well, it's a great question, General.

I did not go into line of effort number three, ladies and gentlemen, out of the interest of time with you. But that one, where we're going to perform our DOD budget mission -- and it is a mission -- with a higher degree of affordability and accountability.

For the first time in 70 years, we are going to conduct an audit of every bit of money that we're spending in DOD. We're going to find problems, and I'm going to correct every one of them. But this is part of how I can look Congress in the eye and say we're accountable for what we're doing.

So part of this is to make sure we build confidence in the Congress, that we're spending the money wisely for what they gave it to us for.

If they don't feel that trust, all the phone calls in the world are eventually going to be talking into a well, because they just can't stand the heat if we're buying, you know, $600 toilet seats, you know -- you know the old story.

It is a joint force. It's -- it's absolutely a joint force. And none of us can avail ourselves of some advantage at the cost of some other part of the force.

I'll guarantee you, the faster you remember: I don't have stress, I create it. Okay?

(Laughter.)

(APPLAUSE)

The surest way --

(APPLAUSE)

For example, your -- your general, he sits on our Joint Chiefs of Staff. The surest way that I'd find a new man for the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- or woman -- would be to find one of them availing something for themselves that was not in the best interests of the joint force.

I still remember Admiral Mullen, when he was the chief of naval operations, fighting like the dickens to increase the size of the U.S. Army, which was deep in combat in Iraq at that time and not big enough. And you all will remember those days, when you were activated for 15-month tours overseas in the combat zone.

And there was the chief of naval operations fighting for the Army's budget.

That's what I expect from everybody: that we pull together. Nobody goes into self-advocacy mode. I have no time for it, and I'll -- I'll be dismissive of it.

But I would also point out, the U.S. Congress right now, for all that you read, ladies and gentlemen, about how the country's being torn apart, okay, we're going through a rather raucous time in our democracy. That's nothing -- that's nothing all that brand-new, and we'll pull together. We'll rediscover the common ground, we'll pull together.

But the U.S. Congress has already proven that. When you get 87 percent, we're in good shape.

But you point out that the Budget Control Act comes back into effect here, and you're exactly right. I expect generals to be the sentinels for their forces, watching for these kinds of things.

In this case, I'm going to try to use savings inside the department, that this audit's going to reveal, to continue to increase the budget for the lethality and the warfighting piece as we cut out other things.

It's going to hurt in some cases, but we're going to have to do it as we adapt to this brave new world.

So internal solutions are what I want to go forward with, while building trust on Capitol Hill that we really are taking care of the money.

Does that answer your question, General?

Q: Yes, sir. Thank you.

SEC. MATTIS: Yeah. Thanks for the question. Very good.

MODERATOR: Mr. Secretary, that was all the time we had planned for questions. But we greatly appreciate you again coming to visit with us.

SEC. MATTIS: Let me just say one thing to you all.

MODERATOR: Yes, sir.

SEC. MATTIS: I -- I've gotten to the point --

(APPLAUSE)

Ladies and gentlemen, you know, we're a great big rambunctious country and -- and I've grown remote from so many of you who carry the rucksacks and strap into the cockpits.

And I just want you to know, I may not know you personally, but I know every one of you can be off spending your time with your family on picnics instead of weekends wearing a uniform. You could be off, you know, enjoying vacations and being home for the holidays, but in fact you're in Lithuania, getting them ready for the NTC rotation coming up that just -- you all just went through.

So while I don't know you personally, ladies and gentlemen, let me just tell you that I don't forget my debts. I know it was just good fortune -- I mean, I was -- I was a pretty average Marine. It was just good fortune that put me here.

And let's hold our Gold Star families close.

And I salute you from the bottom of my heart. I'm grateful for the commitment that you are making. And I will do my best for you. That's the best I can tell you.

So God bless you and our beautiful country. And those three ladies who sang the national anthem, that's everything we stand for. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1613936/

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Dubai Int'l Airport attacked by Yemen drones

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Aug 27, IRNA -- After a lapse of one month since Yemenis attacked Abu Dhabi Airport, the country's Army drone units targeted Dubai International Airport.

According to Saba news agency, they attacked there using domestically-built long-range Sammad-3 unmanned aerial vehicle Monday evening.

No further details about the attack have so far been released.

On July 26, Yemeni army forces and Popular Committees fighters targeted Abu Dhabi International Airport in the UAE, using the same type of combat drone.

The attack reportedly disrupted the airport's flights for hours.

The UAE is Saudi Arabia's key ally in its deadly war against Yemen.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating military aggression against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing the government of Yemen's former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, back to power and crushing the country's popular Houthi Ansarullah movement.

The aggression has killed some 15,000 people and injured thousands more.

8072**1396

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Carrier Air Wing 7 Takes to the Sky

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS180827-23

Release Date: 8/27/2018 2:24:00 PM

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jacob Smith, USS Abraham Lincoln Public Affairs

ATLANTIC OCEAN (NNS) -- The squadrons of the mighty Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 7 join the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), Destroyer Squadron 2, and USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55) as a critical element of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 12, marking another significant milestone on the ship's journey to full operational readiness.

Though Abraham Lincoln embodies naval superiority through sheer size, what makes her truly powerful are the aircraft she launches from her flight deck and the Sailors she carries. CVW-7, known as the Freedom Fighters, is comprised of aircraft from eight different highly trained squadrons brought together to execute CSG 12's mission. Each squadron has its own chain of command, all working under the leadership of the Carrier Air Wing commander (CAG) Capt. John Bixby, Deputy Carrier Air Wing commander (DCAG) William Reed and Command Master Chief Steven Allen.

With over 1,700 Sailors from the air wing aboard, Abraham Lincoln is bustling with activity. This underway, the air wing is focusing on integrating with Abraham Lincoln's flight deck Sailors to perform cyclic operations, which entails launching and recovering aircraft at regular intervals. However, the primary mission of an air wing is to provide strike warfare.

"Since World War II, the United States has utilized the extreme advantage Naval Aviation brings to the fight," said Bixby. "The air wing combined with the aircraft carrier represents a distinct advantage in warfighting, as we can position our forces to any location, and strike in short notice whenever called upon. As many of us know, whenever situations arise around the globe, our senior leaders often ask 'Where are the aircraft carriers?'"

Like the Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said in his document "The Future Navy," the US Navy's fleet, to include CSG 12, is the answer to any possible hostile situation across the globe.

"To address this rapidly changing security environment and achieve its mission, the Navy must provide a balanced fleet that offers U.S. leaders credible options, in places of strategic importance, at a relevant speed," said Richardson.

As a warship designed to house a full air wing and its assets, Abraham Lincoln is displaying her full potential. Sailors from the squadrons are finding their way around the ship and integrating with the crew.

"People have been very helpful; if I ask anybody questions it seems like people are more than willing to help,"said Aviation Ordnanceman 3rd Class Sydney Boudreau of the Sidewinders of Strike Fighters Squadron (VFA) 86, one of the early detachments who arrived onboard July 19.

As Abraham Lincoln continues to meet qualifications and CVW-7 becomes more proficient, the carrier strike group as a whole is coming together as a single unit, ready for deployment.

"This brings us one step closer to being fully operational and getting back in the fight of things," said Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Handling) 1st Class Nelson, V-3 division leading petty officer. "It's another puzzle piece falling into place."

From the CAG to the airmen working on the aircraft, CVW-7 is becoming another part of the extended Abraham Lincoln family.

"Being onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln has been a truly rewarding experience, as I have never seen such a welcome mat rolled out for an air wing before in my career," said Bixby. "All personnel onboard have been a tremendous help in getting the Freedom Fighters of CVW-7 settled into flight operations and our daily routine."

CVW-7 is comprised of the Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 25 Fist of the Fleet, VFA-86 Sidewinders, VFA-103 Jolly Rogers, VFA-143 Pukin Dogs, Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron VAW-121 Bluetails, Electronic Attack Squadron VAQ-140 Patriots, Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 5 Nightdippers and Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 79 Griffins. Welcome aboard, CVW-7!

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Wasp ARG Conducts PASSEX with JMSDF

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS180827-03

Release Date: 8/27/2018 10:02:00 AM

From Commander, Amphibious Squadron 11 Public Affairs

PHILIPPINE SEA (NNS) -- Ships assigned to the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), with attached 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, partnered with Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) amphibious transport dock ship JS Osumi (LST 4001) to conduct a passing exercise (PASSEX), Aug. 26.

During a PASSEX, multiple ships sail in formation to practice communications and maneuvering procedures. Participating in this PASSEX with the Osumi was amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1), amphibious transport dock ship USS Green Bay (LPD 20), dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD 48) and Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Shoup (DDG 86). The exercise allowed the ships to improve each crews' knowledge and strengthen a wide variety of seamanship skills.

Rear Adm. Brad Cooper, commander Amphibious Force, U.S. 7th Fleet, said this PASSEX served as another building block in the continued positive relationship between the Wasp ESG and JMSDF.

"We proved earlier this year the success of operating side-by-side with the Kaij Jieitai [Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force] and continue that success with the Osumi," said Cooper referencing Wasp ESG combined navigational maneuvers with amphibious transport dock JS Shimokita (LST 4002) in April.

"Today, we continue to strengthen our relationship and work together as one team with the goal of enhancing our combined amphibious capabilities," Cooper said.

For the Sailors aboard participating ships, it was also their chance to improve their skills with their Japanese counterparts sailing alongside.

"Being in this part of the world it's imperative to train with our allies in order to be as efficient as possible and become better overall. We are setting the standard and everyone is seeing what we do out here and how we do it right," said Operations Specialist 2nd Class Austin Reid, from Springfield, Mo, who supported the PASSEX aboard the Ashland.

"Communication is key when operating in close quarters. It was a pleasure maneuvering and navigating within a few hundred yards of JMSDF Osumi," said L.t. j. g. Davis Chandlert, USS Green Bay's officer of the deck during the PASSEX.

The Wasp ARG is currently operating in the region to enhance interoperability with partners and serve as a ready-response force for any type of contingency.

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Russia says Afghan peace talks in Moscow postponed

Iran Press TV

Mon Aug 27, 2018 06:10PM

Russia says international peace talks on Afghanistan  originally planned for next week  have been postponed following a phone conversation between Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

Moscow had been preparing to host peace talks on September 4 and had invited 12 countries, including the US, and Taliban representatives to participate.

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced in a statement on Monday that Ghani had "in principle" backed the idea of such a meeting but said Afghanistan needed more time to come up with a "consolidated position" on the issue.

"An agreement was reached to jointly work on a new date of the meeting through diplomatic channels," the ministry added.

The office of the Afghan presidency also confirmed in a statement that Lavrov and Ghani had decided to postpone the meeting and hold it at a later date.

The statement said Ghani insisted that the peace talks should be "Afghan owned and led," adding that Lavrov had agreed the peace process should be under the auspices of the Afghans and stressed that Moscow was "ready to cooperate."

Taliban's five-year rule over at least three quarters of Afghanistan came to an end when the US and its allies invaded the Asian country in October 2001 as part of Washington's so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban regime from power, but ever since, the group has been involved in widespread militancy, killing thousands of civilians as well as Afghan and American forces and displacing tens of thousands of people across the country.

The United Nations said in a recent statement that blasts, attacks and clashes between militants and Afghan forces killed over 1,600 civilians in the first six months of the year, the highest number in the past decade.

Back in February, the Afghan government called on the Taliban to join peace talks "without preconditions."

The Taliban have repeatedly declared that they would not enter talks until US-led foreign troops left the country.

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Saudi Arabia seeks no strong government formed in Yemen: Ansarullah

Iran Press TV

Mon Aug 27, 2018 05:13PM

The spokesman for Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement says Saudi Arabia never wants a strong government to be formed in Yemen, but aspiring turn the war-hit country into a client state, as the Saudi-led military coalition continues with its ceaseless airstrikes against the impoverished nation.

"The one who has killed the Yemeni people for almost the past four years and allowed Saudi-led mercenaries and foreign forces to enter the country is not representing a true government," said Mohammed Abdul-Salam in an interview with the You News outlet on Monday.

He apparently referred to the so-called government of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, Yemen's former president and a staunch ally of Riyadh, which is only recognized by member states of the Saudi-led military coalition and some Western states.

Saudi Arabia and some of its allies, including the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan, launched a brutal war, code-named Operation Decisive Storm, against Yemen in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall Hadi and crush the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement, which plays a significant role in aiding the Yemeni army in defending the impoverished country against the invading coalition.

The movement has been running state affairs in the absence of an effective administration since the onset of the imposed war.

"The Yemeni people also harbor no hope in the United Nations since it cannot be effective under the strong influence of the United States and the UK, and hefty financial assistance that comes from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)," Abdul-Salam further said.

Responding to the calls of disarmament of the Houthi Ansarullah movement, he said that the crisis in Yemen could not be settled by disarming the movement since huge amounts of weaponry and ammunition were being taken into Yemen on a daily basis by the invading coalition.

"We do not accept that the subject of weapons be reduced to us only," he added, pointing out that there are large amounts of weapons in the hands of the al-Qaeda militant groups and other militant outfits.

He stressed that a political solution for defusing the current the years-old crisis in Yemen must be based on humanitarian and economic grounds in an attempt to heal to wounds of the Yemeni nation and to restore the country's battered infrastructure.

The imposed war initially consisted of a bombing campaign, but was later coupled with a naval blockade and the deployment of ground forces to Yemen.

Some 15,000 Yemenis have been killed and thousands more injured since the onset of the Saudi-led aggression.

The Saudi-led war has also taken a heavy toll on the country's infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories. The United Nations has said that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger.

Several Western countries, the US and Britain in particular, are also accused of being complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.



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Yemeni forces launch drone strike against Dubai International Airport

Iran Press TV

Mon Aug 27, 2018 04:45PM

Yemeni forces, backed by allied fighters from Popular Committees, have reportedly launched an airstrike against a strategic economic target in the United Arab Emirates in retaliation for the Riyadh regime's devastating military aggression against their impoverished homeland.

A Yemeni military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Yemeni soldiers and their allies attacked Dubai International Airport using a domestically-built long-endurance Sammad-3 (Invincible-3) unmanned aerial vehicle on Monday evening.

On July 26, Yemeni army forces and Popular Committees fighters targeted Abu Dhabi International Airport in the UAE, using the same type of combat drone.

Abdullah al-Jafri, a spokesman for Yemeni air force and air defense, said at the time that the drone attack had halted flights to and from the airport, adding that this was the first time that Yemeni forces used a drone to attack the airport.

He said Yemeni forces will target the infrastructure of countries that have taken part in the aggression against Yemen in future attacks.

Emirati aviation authorities later announced that an incident involving a supply vehicle in the Terminal 1 airside area of the airport had occurred.

The officials claimed that the development had not affected operations at Abu Dhabi International Airport, and flights continued to arrive and depart as scheduled.

The UAE is Saudi Arabia's key ally in its deadly war against Yemen.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating military campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing the government of Yemen's former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, back to power and crushing the country's popular Houthi Ansarullah movement.

The aggression has killed some 15,000 people and injured thousands more. More than 2,200 others have died of cholera, and the crisis has triggered what the United Nations has described as the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

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'Tajik aircraft bombs Afghan border after fatal clashes'

Iran Press TV

Mon Aug 27, 2018 10:31AM

A Tajik aircraft has bombed a northeastern Afghan border area after two Tajik border guards were killed in cross-border clashes with gunmen, Afghan officials say.

Citing local officials, Afghanistan's Khaama news agency reported on Monday that the air raid had targeted Darqad district in the northeastern Takhar Province of Afghanistan.

Khalil Asir, a spokesman for Takhar provincial police, said it was not clear if the aircraft was Russian or Tajik but that eight Taliban militants were killed and six others wounded.

However, the Russian Defense Ministry said later that its warplanes had not carried out any operations near the Afghan-Tajik border.

Jawed Hejri, the spokesman for Takhar provincial governor, said those killed in the clash with Tajik border forces were drug smugglers.

"The identity of the drug smugglers is not known," Hejri added.

The Taliban confirmed the clashes and the bombing, but said it was investigating the incident since "Taliban fighters have no permission to clash with neighbor countries."

The group's spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the aircraft had bombed a forested area used by smugglers.

Tajik authorities have not yet commented on the incident.

Cross-border clashes are not common along Afghanistan's border with Tajikistan.



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Mattis: US military to step up South America role amid 'power competition' with China

Iran Press TV

Mon Aug 27, 2018 08:10AM

The US military plans to take on a more active role in South America amid a growing "power competition," Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said, fresh off a trip where he warned allies of China's "predatory economics."

Speaking at the 140th National Guard Association of the United States conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, Mattis said over the weekend that the US National Guard was ready to link the US military to South American allies.

"This department is laser focused on strengthening alliances and building new partnerships," the Pentagon chief said.

"This is not a one-time mission, and the Guard is uniquely suited to sustain allied efforts over many years thanks to the amount of corporate continuity you maintain in your ranks," he added.

Earlier this month, Mattis toured the region, making stops in Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Colombia.

In Brazil, the Pentagon chief highlighted Washington's interest in partnering with Brasilia in space research, an area that has seen increasing interest from Chinese firms in South America.

"We choose Brazil not because it lies along the equator in a happy accident of geography, but because we want to work with Brazilians  our hemispheric neighbor whose values we share politically, as well as your impressive technological orientation," Mattis said in Brazil. "Others cannot credibly say the same."

Generally perceived as a reliable economic partner in the region, China has even managed to fund a space center in Argentina's Patagonia region.

Speaking to Brazilian military students, Mattis also pointed to China's great strides in developing anti-satellite weaponry and concluded that Brazil and the US needed to join forces to defend their space assets.

"We understand the message China was sending, that they could take out a satellite in space," he said, referring to China's targeting of one of its own satellites in 2007.

'Nations without allies die'

The US National Guard has established close military ties with US allies across the world through the State Partnership Program, or SPP.

Administered by the National Guard Bureau, the 25-year-old program is designed around the Defense Department and State Department's policy goals. The program involves 75 countries, 24 of them located in South America.

The SPP is slated to welcome two new countries later this year: Brazil with the New York National Guard, and Qatar with the West Virginia National Guard.

According to Mattis, Chile is interested in receiving more support from the Texas National Guard in protecting and expanding its cyber domain.

Washington has struggled to keep some SPP partnerships alive due to increasing hostilities towards some partners under various US administrations.

A 2016 Pentagon report to Congress warned that programs once active in Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela "are mostly dormant, due to strained relationships with the US government."

Mattis hailed cooperation between American and Argentinian military forces before ending his remarks with what some experts perceived as a threat.

"I've fought many times on many battlefields. ... I've never fought in an all-American formation," he added. "History is very clear: nations with allies thrive, while those without allies die."

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Afghanistan, Russia Postpone Moscow-Format Talks - Afghan President's Office

Sputnik News

17:51 27.08.2018(updated 19:01 27.08.2018)

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The consultations on Afghanistan in the Moscow format have been postponed following a phone call between Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the Afghan president's office said Monday.

"President Ashraf Ghani spoke by phone with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and an agreement was reached on postponing the events related to the meeting in the Moscow format. Both countries are jointly preparing to hold this meeting," the statement said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry, in its turn, also confirmed that the consultations would be postponed.

"[The sides] discussed urgent issues of bilateral interaction in issues of Afghan settlement, including the regular meeting of the Moscow format of consultations on Afghanistan co-chaired by the two countries. The Afghan president, supporting in principle the idea of organizing a Moscow meeting, proposed to postpone it due to the need to work out a consolidated position of the Afghan side on the issue," the ministry said.

The sides agreed to "jointly work out a new date for the meeting through diplomatic channels," it said.

Last Thursday, Kabul said that it would not attend the multinational conference on the future of Afghanistan, which was set to be held in Moscow on September 4, claiming that the decision was not related to the recent US refusal to take part in the event.

Previously, the Afghan Foreign Ministry stated that it would engage in in the "Moscow-format" consultations on Afghanistan with a condition that the Taliban agreed to direct talks with representatives of the Afghan government on the sidelines of this event.

Last week, Russia announced that it had invited officials from 12 countries, including the US, to attend the Moscow-format consultations on Afghanistan. It is noteworthy, Moscow confirmed that the Taliban movement expected to participate in the upcoming conference. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow format aims to "end the fratricidal war and to establish a peaceful and independent Afghan state free of terrorism and drug threat."

A US Department of State representative expressed doubts that the talks would help to establish peace in Afghanistan. Therefore, Washington stated that it would not participate in the meeting.

 Sputnik

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Danish Defense Ministry Grilled Over Hushing Up F-35 Noise Levels

Sputnik News

09:46 27.08.2018(updated 09:57 27.08.2018)

The Danish Defense Ministry's unverified claims about the noise levels of the future backbone of the Scandinavian country's air force may add extra costs to the divisive multi-billion krone purchase, experts suggest.

Defense Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen of the ruling Liberal Party has misled the Danish parliament in matters pertaining to the noise levels of the F-35 fighters before allocating billions for the procurement of the fifth generation US combat jets, two experts claimed in an interview with the Jyllands-Posten daily.

According to Jyllands-Posten, Frederiksen failed to inform the parliament about problems with measures to ensure that the residents in the vicinity of Skrydstrup air base in South Jutland won't be affected by the noise.

Furthermore, the Danish Defense Ministry maintained that changing the aircraft's engines could reduce the noise levels below what was claimed by the manufacturer, Lockheed Martin. Despite the fact that the Danish calculations were never approved by the US Development Office for the F-35 (JPO), the Danish Parliament's Finance Committee allocated over DKK 16 billion for the procurement of the new fighter jets in December 2017.

"Had there been the slightest doubt about the figures, they should have been submitted to parliament," Sten Bnsing, a professor of administrative law at Aarhus University told Jyllands-Posten, citing "massive political interest" in the matter. According to him, the government misled the parliament.

Ole Wver, a professor of international politics at the University of Copenhagen, found it "very problematic" that the Defense Ministry had withheld critical data about noise levels, stressing that the Danish calculations were based on overoptimistic assumptions and a distortion of the figures.

"There is no excuse for failing to establishing the best possible decision base for the parliament," Wver said, stressing that willfully removing information deemed uncomfortable was unacceptable.

Jrgen Albk Jensen, a professor of administrative law at Aalborg University, argued that it was an aggravating circumstance that several parties (most notably, the Red-Green Alliance) expressed their direct concern for the noise levels.

Jyllands-Posten also pointed out that the government also withheld a critical report about F-35 noise levels during the two-year tenure of Frederiksen's predecessor and party colleague Peter Christensen. Should Frederiksen turn out to have proceeded in the same fashion, the case should be considered even more serious, Socialist People's Party defense rapporteur Holger Nielsen ventured.

"Not telling the whole truth and withholding information is completely unsatisfactory and completely unacceptable", Nielsen said, urging the Danish government to quit "Christmas games."

The Defense Ministry rejected having withheld the noise data for the parliament. According to the Defense Ministry, the Danish government was at that time unaware that "the optimized flight profiles couldn't be used under Danish conditions," which was only discovered during later tests.

The acquisition of 27 F-35 fighter jets is estimated to become the largest-ever state purchase in the history of Denmark, with the lifelong costs associated with the aircraft expected to set the Danish state coffers back a whopping DKK 66 billion ($10 billion).

 Sputnik

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First Chinese-Built Aircraft Carrier Starts Second Sea Trials

Sputnik News

22:10 27.08.2018

The first aircraft carrier to be built in China for the country's navy left port on Sunday for its second round of sea trials, during which its primary weapon systems and command and control systems will be tested, Chinese state media report.

According to the Global Times, the yet-unnamed Type 001A will address certain difficulties the carrier faced during its first round of sea trials in May earlier this year. The main goal will be to test the carrier's propulsion systems, the Global Times noted on Sunday.

One activity that will be reserved for future sea trials is conducting aircraft takeoffs and landings on the ship. Reports say zero aircraft could be seen on the carrier's deck when it set sail on Sunday morning.

All in all, the Type 001A's delivery "may take about a year thanks to the knowledge gained from the launch of the country's first aircraft carrier, Liaoning," Song Zhongping, TV commentator and Chinese analyst, told Global Times.

The Liaoning's hull was built under the Soviet Union before Beijing purchased the ship, retrofitted it, and conducted extensive naval aviation testing on it. The Liaoning "initially formed a system combat capability" on May 31, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said.

Once Type 001A is ready, the People's Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) plans to pair the carrier with a new destroyer ship that Song describes as "China's top-level surface vessel." The Type 055 destroyer started its initial sea trials last Friday, Global Times noted, and the Chinese expect to see an electromagnetic railgun mounted on the destroyer in the future.

According to the Asia Times, the carrier may end up being named after China's eastern province of Shandong.

 Sputnik

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Largest China-Made Amphibious Aircraft Completes Trial Flight

Sputnik News

09:17 27.08.2018

BEIJING (Sputnik) - World's largest China-made amphibious aircraft, the AG600, has completed a trial flight from the city of Zhuhai in southern Guangdong province to Jingmen city in central province of Hubei and is ready to start tests on the water, the plane's manufacturer, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), said on Monday.

The aircraft flew over three Chinese provinces  Guangdong, Hunan and Hubei, the company said, without specifying the start date of tests on water.

The plane has already passed a series of tests since its maiden flight in December.

The AVIC said in mid-May that China expected to deliver the AG600 to customers by 2022.

The aircraft is the largest of its kind not only in China, but also in the world. It is designed to extinguish fires and carry out rescue operations on the water. In addition, AG600 can use additional equipment for monitoring the marine environment, passenger and freight traffic, as well as exploration of mineral deposits.

The aircraft is equipped with four turboprop engines and is able to receive on board 12 tonnes of water in 20 seconds. According to its developer, the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), AG600 has 130-feet-long fuselage, 127-feet wingspan, maximum flight range of 2,800 miles and maximum take-off weight of 53.5 tonnes.

 Sputnik

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Macron: France Ready to Conduct New Strikes on Syria if Chemical Weapons Used

Sputnik News

12:50 27.08.2018(updated 20:11 27.08.2018)

French President Emmanuel Macron commented Monday on the situation in Syria's Idlib as well as on the dependence of the European defense on the US.

France is ready to conduct further airstrikes in Syria in response to Damascus' use of chemical weapons, French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday during his speech to French ambassadors.

"We will continue acting this way if we see new confirmed cases of the chemical weapons use," Macron said.

Macron also noted that he had never insisted on the resignation of Syrian President Bashar Assad in exchange for rendering humanitarian aid to the country. At the same time, the French president suggested that leaving power in the future in the hands of Assad "would be a bad mistake."

"France can't appoint future Syrian leadersBut it is our duty and in our interests to make sure that Syrian people are able to do this," he said.

Speaking further, the French president said he feared a serious humanitarian crisis in the Syrian province of Idlib, adding that France expected that Russia and Turkey would put pressure on the Syrian authorities in connection with the situation in the province of Idlib.

The French President, however, noted the first results of the joint Russia-French mechanism on the Syrian settlement.

"The mechanism of coordination with Russia, created in St. Petersburg, has produced its first results, in particular in the humanitarian sphere," Macron told ambassadors in Paris, according to his official Twitter account.

The speech comes several days after the Russian Defense Ministry accused the United States, the United Kingdom and France of preparing to carry out new strikes against Syria under the pretext of a false flag, namely, a falsified government chemical weapons attack.

A group of militants trained under the guidance of a private British military company, Olive, to work with poisonous substances has arrived in Idlib, the Ministry added.

The US, UK, and France coordinated a massive airstrike on Syria in April 2018 after the alleged use of chemical weapons in Douma had been reported by the controversial NGO "White Helmets", which has repeatedly been caught staging false flag attacks.

In April, a number of opposition media, including the aforementioned While Helmets, reported of a chemical attack in the city of Douma. No substantial proof was presented and, as a prompt probe by Russian forces showed, no traces of chemical substances in the area have been found.

On European Defense and European Strategic Partnership

Macron revealed a new push for the European defense project, adding that the continent's security shouldn't depend on the US.

"Europe can no longer rely on the United States for its security. It is up to us to guarantee European security," he said in a major speech to relaunch his diplomatic agenda.

At the same time, he stressed that France should build a strategic partnership with Russia and Turkey.

"We cannot build Europe in the long term without thinking about relations with Russia and Turkey Do we think clearly and frankly today that we can continue to talk about Turkey's membership in the European Union, when every day the Turkish president reaffirms the pan-Islamic agenda, which seems to be anti-European? It is necessary, therefore, to build a strategic partnership, not membership in the European Union. Strategic partnership with Russia and Turkey, because these two powers are important for our collective security, they need to be tied to Europe," Macron said.

Earlier, the European Union said it would spend nearly 20 billion euros on defense between 2021 and 2027, with the bulk of the money to be spent on the research and development of new military technologies.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has urged Europe to react to the US sanctions-related policy on Russia, China, Turkey and other important economic partners.

Recently, Emmanuel Macron proposed an initiative to set up a European military intervention force that could be rapidly deployed in the event of a crisis.

 Sputnik

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Merkel Opposes Military Service Reintroduction Amid Calls for Conscription

Sputnik News

00:23 27.08.2018

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not support the idea on Sunday of reintroducing conscription in the country in order to tackle staff shortages and high costs of military recruitment system.

Earlier in August, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the general secretary of the ruling Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) party, has launched a debate on bringing back the mandatory military service as recent polls showed that the majority of Germans support the idea.

"I do not want to reintroduce compulsory military service," Merkel told the ARD broadcaster, adding that the requirements for soldiers have changed.

The German leader noted that she has recently met with the country's military leadership and said that their goal is to eliminate the situation, when the number of applicants for the voluntary service exceeds the one prescribed by the budget.

Germany put an end to conscription in 2011. However, the European country has reportedly been struggling with staff shortages in the Bundeswehr, which aims to tackle the problem by recruiting more people under the age of 18.

 Sputnik

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French president says preserving JCPOA among EU objectives

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Aug 27, IRNA -- French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that France is seeking to save Iran nuclear deal as it is in close contact with its allies including Germany, Britain and European Union.

Addressing the augural ceremony of the annual seminar of French ambassadors abroad, he harshly criticized unilateral policies adopted by the US on the issues such as NATO, economic confrontationwith China, withdrawal from Paris Agreement and the JCPOA, saying that France stance is based on salvaging JCPOA.

Referring to the efforts which led to conclusion of the nuclear deal, he said France continues its policy of dialogue with Iran and it will endeavor to prevent eruption of crisis in coming months.

US President Donald Trump pulled US out of JCPOA and reinstated first batch of sanctions against Iran some time ago. The next batch will start in November.

US withdrawal from the JCPOA drew harsh criticism from the international community and even other signatories to the deal.

Europeans announced that they will support companies willing to continue cooperation with Iran against US sanctions by updating the 'blocking statute'.

8072**1396

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"Iran has full control of Persian Gulf and U.S. navy does not belong here"

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Mon / 27 August 2018 / 15:39

Tehran (ISNA) - Iran has full control of the Persian Gulf, and the U.S. Navy does not belong there, the head of the navy of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, General Alireza Tangsiri said on Monday.

General Tangsiri said Iran had full control of both the Persian Gulf itself and the Strait of Hormuz that leads into it. Closing off the strait would be the most direct way of blocking shipping.

"We can ensure the security of the Persian Gulf and there is no need for the presence of aliens like the U.S. and the countries whose home is not in here," he added.

Tension between Iran and the United States has escalated since President Donald Trump pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May and reimposed sanctions, Reuters reported.

End Item

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Iran, Syria sign defensive, technical cooperation document

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Mon / 27 August 2018 / 15:07

Tehran (ISNA)  Iranian and Syrian defense ministries have signed a cooperation document in defensive and technical field.

Following detailed talks, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami and his Syrian counterpart Ali Abdullah Ayyoub signed the cooperation document to develop defensive military cooperation between the two countries.

Mentioning the signing of the cooperation document, General Hatami said, "The agreement will pave the way for developing the bilateral cooperation".

Referring to the strategic ties between Iran and Syria, General Hatami added, "Syria has put the era of war behind it and entered the era of reconstruction. So the agreement will define the areas of bilateral presence, participation, and cooperation in defense ties".

Ali Abdullah Ayyoub, for his part, said, "Thanks to Iran's supports and cooperation, that great victories were achieved against terrorist groups and their patrons".

Mentioning to the signing of the cooperation document, he added, "In the light of continuation of bilateral cooperation, we will secure our national interests and we will not allow any party and country to cause damage to the strong and firm relations of the two countries".

End Item

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US to confront Iran at World Court: Pompeo

Iran Press TV

Mon Aug 27, 2018 03:46PM

The United States has objected to a lawsuit filed at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by Iran against the US for the re-imposition of sanctions.

Last month, Iran filed a complaint with the Hague-based tribunal, also known as the World Court, asking the UN's top court to order the US to lift its recently re-imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

"We will vigorously defend against Iran's merit-less claims this week in The Hague," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday.

Pompeo said Iran's complaint to the ICJ was "an attempt to interfere with the sovereign rights of the United States to take lawful actions, including re-imposition of sanctions, which are necessary to protect our national security."

"The proceedings instituted by Iran are a misuse of the Court," he argued.

Meanwhile, the Court's oral proceedings are scheduled to begin on Tuesday.

Iran believes that the US sanctions against Iran violate the terms of a 1955 friendship treaty between the two countries.

At a court hearing at the Hague on Monday, Iran's lawyer Mohsen Mohebi, described the re-imposition of the "Illegal" sanctions as a blatant "economic aggression" against Iran by the US government.

The US has targeted "Iran's economy, and Iranian nationals and companies," he said.

Mohebi said the Iranian nation would resist against the US demands.

"Iran will put up the strongest resistance to the US economic strangulation, by all peaceful means," he said.

Tehran has called on the United Nations court to order the immediate lifting of the sanctions.

The US re-imposition of sanction against Iran came after US President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and set forth 12 new demands in order for the US to agree to a new nuclear deal with Tehran.



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Iran security forces disband terror outfits: Intelligence minister

Iran Press TV

Mon Aug 27, 2018 03:35PM

Iranian Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi says the country's security forces have disbanded two terrorist teams in the western parts of Iran.

Speaking to the IRIB news agency on Monday, Alavi added that the terrorist outfits were affiliated to hostile countries and arrested through intelligence operations.

One of the terrorist teams had 12 members who were identified and arrested by the Iranian forces, he said.

The Iranian minister added that the other armed terrorist group had entered the country to carry out acts of sabotage and terror, but it was disbanded before making any move.

During armed clashes, two members of this terrorist team were killed and two others arrested, the Iranian intelligence minister noted.

Alavi said a considerable amount of weapons, including Kalashnikov rifles, grenades and communication equipment, was confiscated from the terrorists in the operations.

Earlier this month, Iran discovered and seized a considerable amount of semi-heavy weapons and ammunition in the central province of Kerman.

Kerman Prosecutor General Dadkhoda Salari said on August 1 that the large arms cache had been smuggled into the country through eastern borders for terrorist attacks.

Over the past years, Iranian security forces and border guards have engaged in clashes with terror groups, many of whom cross the country's borders with Pakistan and Iraq to carry out attacks inside the country.

Iranian security forces in June arrested 27 members of a terrorist group before they could carry out any acts of terror in the country.

According to a statement by Iran's Intelligence Ministry, Iranian security forces managed to identify and arrest the terrorists, who were planning to create insecurity and carry out acts of terror in the capital, Tehran, and some other cities during the holy month of Ramadan (May 17-June 14) and the International Quds Day, which was observed on June 8.

Iran's security forces also disbanded in January a local of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) terrorist group, which had carried out acts of sabotage during protests in some Iranian cities over rising prices and economic problems.

According to Lorestan province's intelligence office, the MKO-affiliated terrorists were identified and arrested in the city of Borujerd.

The Iranian intelligence minister said in January that the country's security forces will soon give a "crushing response" to terrorists and groups hostile to the Islamic Republic operating in the region.

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Iran in full control of Persian Gulf: Top commander

Iran Press TV

Mon Aug 27, 2018 12:25PM

A top Iranian navy commander says the country has full control of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz and is ready to protect the waters as well as the Sea of Oman.

"In the Persian Gulf, the IRGC Navy and in the Sea of Oman, the naval forces of the Army are prepared to defend the waters with their intelligence dominance and monitoring of the enemy's physical presence," General Alireza Tangsiri said on Monday.

Tangsiri is the head of the naval forces of the Islamic Revolution's Guards Corps (IRGC). He said there is no need for the presence of foreign forces in the Persian Gulf as he appealed to the regional countries to help Iran secure the waters.

"We have a message to our Muslim neighbors: we have repeatedly stated that 'we are extending our hand of brotherhood to you and believe that the Persian Gulf is our home for which we can provide security'.

"There is no need for foreigners such as the United States and the countries whose home is not here," Tangsiri added.

In its lifetime, the general said, the Islamic Republic has not attacked any country but "the enemy is using the ploy [alleged Iranian threat] to have a presence in the region and sell arms."

"Their presence in the region is detrimental to security and does not bring about any security," he added.

US troops are deployed throughout the Persian Gulf region, with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Turkey involved in some aspect of the American military buildup.

The US 5th Fleet is currently deployed in the Persian Gulf with carriers, ships, strike aircraft, sailors and marines and has been involved in periodic confrontations with Iranian forces.

According to the US navy, from January 2016 to August 2017 there was an average of 2.5 interactions per month between US troops and Iranian maritime forces.

Iranian military commanders have said US forces typically observe the recommendations of Iran's patrol boats and play by the rules. In January, however, a senior Iranian naval officer said Iran's warplanes warned off two "coalition vessels" during military drill in waters off the country's southeast.

"In the Persian Gulf, we have no problem which the enemy might cause. The Persian Gulf is our home and we can provide security there," General Tangsiri said.

The most sensitive location in the Persian Gulf is the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway for oil shipments.

Tangsiri said, "In the Strait of Hormuz, we control the lanes and the arrival and presence of ships according to the protocol which exists for the country's waters and coastal strips, where all military and civilian ships and vessels are controlled."

"We have a full command over the Persian Gulf and our presence in the region is physical, constant and round-the-clock," he added.

US President Donald Trump's threat in May to bring Iran's oil exports down to zero prompted President Hassan Rouhani to implicitly warn that Iran might close the Strait of Hormuz.

"It would be meaningless that Iran cannot export its oil while others in the region can. Do this if you can and see the consequences," the Iranian president said.

Earlier this month, Iran's navy mounted a locally-built advanced defensive weapons system on one of its warships for the first time.

Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi reiterated that coastal and sea testing of the short-range defense Kamand system was concluded successfully. The system will be mounted on a second ship soon, he said.

The Kamand has been dubbed the "Iranian Phalanx" after an automated machinegun whose heavy bullets shred incoming missiles.

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Iran hauls US before intl. court over 'illegal' sanctions

Iran Press TV

Mon Aug 27, 2018 07:13AM

The International Court of Justice has begun hearing a lawsuit brought by Iran against new US sanctions ordered by the Trump administration.

Iran last month lodged a complaint with the Hague-based tribunal, arguing that the sanctions violate the terms of a 1955 friendship treaty between the two countries.

The country opened a lawsuit Monday demanding the UN's top court order the suspension of the renewed US sanctions.

"The United States is publicly propagating a policy intended to damage as severely as possible Iran's economy and Iranian nationals and companies," Iran's lawyer Mohsen Mohebi told the court.

"This policy is nothing but naked economic aggression against my country," he said, adding "Iran will put up the strongest resistance to the US economic strangulation, by all peaceful means."

Tehran has called on the United Nations court to order the immediate lifting of the sanctions, and demanded compensation for damages incurred in their wake.

Sanctions had been lifted under a 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six other countries - the US, Germany, France, Britain, China and Russia.

President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of the deal with Iran in May and pledged to reimpose the most restrictive sanctions on the country.

Washington reinstated the first batch of sanctions in early August and will re-impose the second batch in November which will primarily be meant to undermine Tehran's oil exports.

The United States' lawyers will present their arguments on Tuesday. They are expected to argue that the ICJ should not have jurisdiction in the dispute.

The oral arguments, essentially a request by Iran for a provisional ruling, will last for four days, with a decision to follow within a month.

The ICJ was set up in 1946 to resolve international disputes. Its rulings are binding but on rare occasions they have been ignored by certain countries, chiefly the United States.

The US will respond formally in oral arguments on Tuesday, reportedly arguing that the United Nations court should not have jurisdiction in the dispute.

US lawyers will reportedly claim that the friendship treaty signed before the Islamic Revolution in 1979 is no longer valid and that the sanctions Washington has levied against Tehran, do not violate it anyway.

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Madeleine McCann in hijab horror

Did you remember Madeleine McCann this summer, heeding the advice of Mirror columnist Fiona Phillips to not let your holiday be the one we all read about? You all must of because the papers did not make single mention of any new child getting kidnapped on holidays, let alone launch into a voracious feeding frenzy as the media did in 2007 when Madeleine McCann became Our Maddie. Eleven years on, Operation Phillips is a success. Cheers, Fi, we dont know how many children your advice to forgo all of the adult holiday pleasures all over again to make sure our kids were safe saved. Maybe none. Maybe one. Phillips has a story:

I thought of this when I read about Janet Alexander whos suing Thomas Cook after her daughter was abducted from a holiday kids club.

Was the child abducted or not? Pull up a sun lounger and play detective.

She left five-year-old Rose at a supervised play area at their hotel in Turkey while she took her other daughter scuba diving. When she returned an hour later there was no sign of Rose. Janet thought her daughter was dead or faced being abused.

Was she?

Thankfully, another guest spotted Rose near a main road with a strange woman wearing a hijab.

It seems a pretty safe bet to say that Janet doesnt wear an hijab and this was not a case of mistaken identity. It might also be that women in hijabs arouse more suspicion among columnists than those who do not, or are very good at helping kids who have wandered off cross the road. Discuss.

And heres some more, also via the Mirror:

A frantic search for the child was then launched and Janet has described seeing staff turn to a woman in a hijab and speak to her in Turkish

In Turkey!?

It is believed the ordeal came to an end 40 minutes later when another hotel guest spotted the blonde youngster walking with a woman in a hijab near a main road within the hotel grounds.

If only we knew what colour hair the hijab woman has we could form a better opinion of her intentions. Blonde hair: likelihood of innocence high (see Myra Hindley); dark hair: likelihood of guilt high (see Mother Teresa).

As that legal matter grinds on, we rejoice in the news that the case of Madeleine McCann has been SOLVED! So goes the National Enquirers front-page headline, which heralds the the story of a convicted pedophile who allegedly stole Madeleine McCann. Who is this wine? Well, hes dead. He died a year ago. His name? Dunno. But he is This man kidnapped little girl & sold her into slavery! Fact! And wheres Maddie? Shes still alive, declares the Enquirer. But where? Dunno. Maybe theyll find out in time for next weeks deadline.

Meanwhile, the South West Londoner website has conducted a poll:

We went out into the streets of Wimbledon and asked: Should the government stop spending money searching for Madeleine McCann? Yes: 72% No: 28%

How many women wearing the hijab were questioned is not stated. But you just know most of them who were said NO!

Anorak

Posted: 28th, August 2018 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, National Enquirer, News Comment | TrackBack | PermalinkIran Urges UN Court To Halt 'Economic Aggression' By U.S.

RFE/RL August 27, 2018

Iran accused the United States of "economic aggression" as Tehran's legal challenge against renewed sanctions went before the United Nations' highest court.

Tehran filed its complaint with the International Court of Justice in July, claiming that the sanctions reimposed by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration breach a decades-old friendship treaty between Washington and Tehran.

Trump ordered the sanctions renewed following Washington's withdrawal from the landmark 2015 nuclear accord that curbed Tehran's nuclear ambitions in exchange for lifting crippling sanctions.

Speaking on August 27 at the start of four days of hearings, a lawyer representing Iran, Mohsen Mohebi, told the court in The Hague that the U.S. sanctions violate terms of the 1955 treaty signed by the United States and Iran.

"The U.S. is publicly propagating a policy intended to damage as severely as possible Iran's economy and Iranian national companies, and therefore inevitably Iranian nationals," he said.

Mohebi also argued that the sanctions were unjustified since, he said, Tehran was abiding by the terms of the landmark 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six world powers.

"This policy is nothing but a naked economic aggression against my country," the lawyer added.

In Washington, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected Iran's claims.

"We will vigorously defend against Iran's meritless claims this week in The Hague," he said in a statement.

In an initial written submission to the court, the United States said it believed The Hague court has no jurisdiction in the case and that Iran's assertions fall outside the bounds of the treaty.

A court ruling was expected within a month, but no date has been set.

Rulings of the ICJ -- also known as the World Court -- are binding, but it does not have power to enforce them. Occasionally, they are ignored by countries involved.

The 1955 treaty, known as the Treaty of Amity, called for "friendly relations" between the two countries, encourages mutual trade and investment, and regulates diplomatic ties.

It was signed at a time of close relations between Washington and Tehran, a long before the 1979 Islamic Revolution brought about decades of hostility between the two.

While Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 nuclear pact, other signees of the treaty  mainly Washington's European allies -- urged Washington to remain in the deal and have vowed to stay in it themselves.

The U.S. sanctions target Iran's car industry, trade in gold and other precious metals, and purchases of U.S. dollars crucial to support its oil exports and other global trade.

Further U.S. sanctions are due to go into effect in November specifically targeting Iran's banking sector and oil industry, which drives growth in the Iranian economy.

The sanctions have hit Iran hard, with the country's currency losing much of its value, leading to protests on the streets of many Iranian cities.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-world-court-suit-against- us-sanctions-friendship-treaty/29454932.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Iran Has Full Control of Gulf and Strait of Hormuz - Revolutionary Guards Chief

Sputnik News

11:06 27.08.2018(updated 11:45 27.08.2018)

Earlier, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) held large-scale military drills in the Persian Gulf. The IRGC said they were ready to disrupt other countries' oil shipments through the strait if Iran's own exports were impeded.

Iran has full control of the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, according to Alireza Tangsiri, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard's navy chief.

Iranian officials have earlier threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off the main oil shipping route, in retaliation for any hostile actions from the US.

In early July, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps held large-scale military drills in the Persian Gulf. The drills were part of the annual exercises framework.

Earlier, the Iranian Supreme Leader's Top Adviser for International Affairs Ali Akbar Velayati said at the Valdai Discussion Club in Moscow that if Iran was not permitted to export its oil via the strait, no other Middle Eastern state would be able to do so.

Iran's ground forces commander Brigadier General Kiomars Heidari has warned the US and its allies to avoid trying to bring Iran's oil exports to a halt adding that the country's armed forces have all they need to defend the nation.

In turn, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said that the US is poised and ready to ensure uninterrupted oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz despite threats from Iran.

In June, the US Department of State urged oil companies to stop exporting oil from Iran by November to avoid US sanctions.

In May, US President Donald Trump said that the United States would leave the nuclear agreement with Iran that stipulated Tehran should guarantee the peaceful nature of its nuclear program in exchange for the gradual lifting of sanctions.

 Sputnik

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New Israeli Rockets 'Can Reach Anywhere in the Middle East' - Defense Chief

Sputnik News

13:52 27.08.2018(updated 14:01 27.08.2018)

In February, Lieberman instructed the country's military to build ground-to-ground missiles with a range of up to 300 kilometers (186 miles).

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has announced Israel's purchase of sophisticated rockets which he claimed are capable of reaching "anywhere in the Middle East," according to Haaretz.

Lieberman referred to a recently clinched multi-million dollar deal between the Defense Ministry and the Israeli military sector for the purchase of the high-precision rockets.

"We are making the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] stronger and more sophisticated," he pointed out.

The statement was made amid escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, with the Jewish state expressing concern over Iran's alleged attempts to establish a permanent military presence in Syria and thus expand its clout throughout theregion.

Tehran, which refuses to recognize Israel, denies the claims, noting that the country has only been sending military advisers to train troops loyal to Damascus since Iran supports Syrian President Bashar Assad in his struggle against the terrorist groups that are active in the country.

Israel, for its part, continues to view Iranian activities as a threat to national security, also accusing Tehran of going ahead with attempts to obtain nuclear weapons despite the signing of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which mandates that the Islamic Republic must limit its nuclear activity to non-military uses.

The IDF, which was established on May 31, 1948, two weeks after Israel's declaration of independence, currently numbers about 125,000 troops.

The army's doctrine is based on a belief that "Israel cannot afford to lose a single war", a goal which Israeli military officials claim can only be achieved through a defensive strategy and the rapid mobilization of overwhelming force to take the war to the enemy.

 Sputnik

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UN: Myanmar military killed, raped Rohingya Muslims with 'genocidal intent'

Iran Press TV

Mon Aug 27, 2018 10:04AM

A UN fact-finding mission says Myanmar's military has carried out a series of "shocking" rights violations against Rohingya Muslims, including mass killings and gang rapes, adding the country's commander-in-chief and other generals should stand trial for "genocide" and war crimes against the minority group.

In its final report released on Monday, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar said the country's army, led by Commander-in-Chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing, had carried out the "gravest crimes" against the Rohingya with "genocidal intent."

The UN investigators called for an international probe and prosecution of Myanmar's army chief and five other top military commanders for their crimes.

"The crimes in Rakhine State, and the manner in which they were perpetrated, are similar in nature, gravity and scope to those that have allowed genocidal intent to be established in other contexts," it said.

The findings of the team showed Myanmar's military had taken actions that "undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law."

The report said "There is sufficient information to warrant the investigation and prosecution of senior officials in the Tatmadaw (army) chain of command, so that a competent court can determine their liability for genocide in relation to the situation in Rakhine State," where Rohingya Muslims are mainly based.

"Myanmar's top military generals, including Commander-in-Chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing, must be investigated and prosecuted for genocide in the north of Rakhine State, as well as for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States," the mission said.

The research is based on 875 interviews with witnesses and victims, satellite imagery, and verified photos and videos, said the mission's chief, Marzuki Darusman.

Commenting on the report, Marzuki said the victims' accounts were among "the most shocking human rights violations" he had heard of, and that the crimes will "leave a mark on all of us for the rest of our lives."

Last year, Myanmar's armed forces, backed by Buddhist extremists, launched a state-sponsored crackdown campaign against Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine under the pretext of a number of attacks on military posts blamed on the minority group.

The crackdown  once described by the UN as the textbook example of ethnic cleansing  forced some 700,000 Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh, where they are living in overcrowded refugee camps in dire humanitarian conditions.

The new report further lashed out at Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi for failing to give a proper response to the military's brutalities, which have drawn widespread criticism from the United Nations and leading international organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

It added that Suu Kyi -- a Nobel peace laureate -- had failed grossly to protect minority communities from crimes against humanity and war crimes by the army in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan states.

She not only had "not used her de facto position as head of government, nor her moral authority, to stem or prevent the unfolding events," but also allowed hate speech to thrive and ordered incriminating documents destroyed.

In doing so, she "contributed to the commission of atrocity crimes," the report said.

The human rights team called for UN "sanctions against those who appear to be most responsible" for the horrific crimes.

The investigators also called on the UN Security Council to refer the Myanmar situation to the International Criminal Court, or for an ad hoc international criminal tribunal to be created.

The UN Security Council is set to hold a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Myanmar.

Postponed verdict

In an earlier development, the court verdict in the case of two Reuters journalists charged with espionage in Myanmar was postponed.

Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, who were doing investigative journalism about the crimes committed against the Rohingya are facing trial for allegedly spying on the Myanmarese army.

The Yangon court was on Monday scheduled to announce the verdict. But it was postponed until September 3 because the judge overseeing the case was said to have fallen ill.

Monday's court session lasted just a few minutes, long enough for a judge standing in for Judge Ye Lwin to announce that a ruling would be made next week.

"The judge is in poor health, so I am here to announce that the verdict is postponed to the third," said Judge Khin Maung Maung.

The journalists' lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, told reporters that the stand-in judge had said to him that the verdict was ready; however, court procedure required that it be delivered by Judge Ye.

"We look forward to the receiving the verdict next week, when we very much hope that they will be acquitted and reunited with their families."

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UN Report Accuses Myanmar's Top Generals of Genocide

By Lisa Schlein August 27, 2018

A U.N. fact-finding mission is calling for Myanmar's senior leaders to be referred to the International Criminal Court to be investigated and prosecuted for genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority in northern Rakhine state and, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Kachin and Shan states.

This 400-page groundbreaking report goes into detail about the scope and viciousness of the atrocities it says were committed by Myanmar's high command against the country's ethnic minorities. The report accuses the generals of perpetrating what it calls the gravest crimes under international law.

The three-member Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar says the genocidal crimes, which forced the mass exodus of more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh one year ago, were planned years in advance.

In an unprecedented move, the U.N. mission has named the six top generals it says bear the main responsibility for planning and executing these crimes. Investigator Christopher Sidoti said the mission has gathered sufficient evidence of the elements of the crime of genocide to recommend they be investigated and prosecuted before an international tribunal.

"In Myanmar, there is a very clear chain of command and there is no doubt in our minds whatsoever that what we saw happen in Rakhine as a whole would not have happened without it firstly being within the knowledge of the senior military leadership and secondly under their effective control. And, it is because of the clarity of the chain of command in Myanmar that we have recommended the investigation and prosecution of these six."

The report finds the civilian authorities have little power to control the actions of the military; however, it blames them for enabling these crimes by ignoring the atrocities being committed. It also criticizes Aung San Suu Kyi - the human rights activist-turned-politician - as head of the government, for not using her moral authority to prevent the events unfolding in Rakhine state.

The government refused to grant the mission access to majority Buddhist Myanmar. So, the mission gathered evidence from the testimony of 875 victims and eyewitnesses, satellite imagery, documents, photographs and videos.

The mission sent an advance copy of its report to the Myanmar government. So far, there has been no response.

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UN Special Panel Accuses Myanmar of 'Genocidal Intent' in 2017 Rohingya Crackdown

By VOA News August 27, 2018

A special United Nations investigative panel has accused Myanmar's military of carrying out numerous atrocities during last year's crackdown against the Rohingya Muslims "with genocidal intent" and is calling for an international probe and prosecution of its top generals.

In a scathing report issued Monday from the U.N.'s offices in Geneva, the investigative panel said General Min Aung Hlaing, the commander-in-chief of Myanmar's army, and five other generals, should be tried for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The panel urged the U.N. Security Council to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court, or by creating an ad hoc, or special, tribunal to investigate the matter.

The panel, sanctioned by the U.N. Human Rights Council, based its report on interviews with hundreds of the 700,000 Rohingya refugees forced to flee across the border from their home in northern Rakhine state into Bangladesh after the military launched an offensive in response to a series of attacks by Rohingya militants on security outposts. The witnesses revealed numerous atrocities including gang rapes, the torching of entire villages and extrajudicial killings.

The report concluded the military's actions were "grossly disproportionate to actual security threats."

The investigators also denounced Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's de facto leader, for failing to use her position and "her moral authority" to stop the Rohingya crisis from occurring. Aung San Suu Kyi is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate for her decades-long struggle against Myanmar's former military regime, but her reputation has been damaged internationally for failing to speak out in support of the Rohingya.

The U.N. and the United States have long described Myanmar's military actions in Rakhine State as "textbook example" of ethnic cleansing.

The government has yet to comment on the U.N. panel's findings. It has consistently denied the allegations of ethnic cleansing or other atrocities by its military.

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US struggling to push bans on Russian companies: Report

Iran Press TV

Mon Aug 27, 2018 10:31AM

The United States is facing a real problem in imposing tough sanctions on large Russian companies because of their extended dealings with American and European firms, a new report suggests.

Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump's Treasury Department introduced new bans against Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and his companies as part of Washington's punishment regime for Moscow's alleged intervention in its Democratic process, among other reasons.

The sanctions seemed to be working at first, as they soon caused the shares of Deripaska's large aluminum company, Rusal, to crash, slashing his fortune from a reported $6.7 billion to $3.4 billion, according to Forbes estimates.

However, the effects of the bans reached far beyond Russia, leading to a spike in global aluminum prices which in turn put a heavy strain on American and European companies that used the metal, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

The report went on to warn that unlike America's sanctions against many other countries, Washington's approach against Russia is much more likely to backfire because of the global market's dependence on Russian products and services.

In Deripaska's case, for example, the backlash from manufacturers and foreign governments was so overwhelming that the Treasury agreed to take a step back, giving more time to Western companies to end their dealings with Rusal and even offered to lift the sanctions if Deripaska gave up his company.

The US has so far imposed several rounds of sanction on Russian firms and individuals, accusing the government of Vladimir Putin of intervention in the Ukraine crisis, leading a cyber-attack campaign against American organizations and poisoning a former double-agent in the UK using a nerve agent.

After an initial ban on some US technology exports to Russia over the attack on Sergey Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury earlier this year, the latest sanctions include a second stage that could follow later this year with penalties including a ban on Russian airlines landing in the US.

The US Congress, meanwhile, is considering additional sanctions to punish what it calls Russia's "aggression" against the US.

A bipartisan bill which is currently in the works is aiming to ban US investors from buying new shares of Russian government debt while also cutting some Russian banks' access to US dollars, the report added.

The bill also includes measures against Russia's energy sector, banning "companies from investing in crude-oil infrastructure inside Russia, or in large energy projects outside Russia if they involve a Russian state-controlled company."

This, the Post warned, would prove particularly harmful to European companies, making their investments in Russia-led energy projects such as the Nord Stream 2, a planned pipeline that would ship Russian natural gas to Germany, all the more complicated.

Washington should also consider the risks posed by Russia's possible response before pushing ahead with more sanctions.

Russian lawmakers have warned that the aggressive US measures could force Moscow to halt exports of RD-180 rocket engines, which the United States uses to launch satellites to space.

Russian media have also predicted that Moscow would retaliate additional bans by charging US airlines more to use Russian airspace on their way to Asia.

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U.S. Sanctions On Russia Over Poisoning In Britain Go Into Force

RFE/RL August 27, 2018

U.S. sanctions against Russia over the March poisoning in Britain of a former Russian agent and his daughter have gone into effect, targeting foreign aid, the sale of defense and security goods, and U.S. government loans for exports to Russia.

The new penalties, which took effect August 27, were announced earlier this month after the United States said that the Russian government had violated a 1991 U.S. law when it used a nerve agent in an attempt to "assassinate" Sergei and Yulia Skripal.

A second, potentially more serious set of sanctions could be imposed by the end of November if Russia does not allow international inspectors into the country to look for chemical weapons.

Those measures could include things like downgrading diplomatic relations and restricting flights by the state flagship airline Aeroflot.

The U.S. State Department said the new measures taking effect August 27 will terminate assistance to Russia except for urgent humanitarian issues, end some arms sales and financing, restrict access to U.S. credit or other financial assistance, and prohibit the export to Russia of restricted goods or technology.

Among the exemptions are goods and services related to space launches. Washington and Moscow continue to cooperate closely on sending personnel and goods to the International Space Station.

The Skripals were found unconscious on March 4 on a bench in the southern English town of Salisbury. They were seriously ill but later made a full recovery after spending several weeks in a hospital.

British officials said the two were poisoned with Novichok, a military-grade chemical weapon that was developed in the Soviet Union, and blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin's government for the attack. Russia rejects the accusation.

Russia has rejected the demands, with the Foreign Ministry saying the sanctions will create more tension between the two countries.

Putin "has on numerous occasions said that he will do what it takes to protect our country's interests in the wake of such unfriendly steps," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on August 27.

Sergei Skripal, a former colonel in Russia's military intelligence agency, was convicted of treason in 2006 by a Russian court that found him guilty of spying for Britain. He was released from prison in 2010 and sent to Britain in a spy swap.

Relations between Moscow and the West have deteriorated to a post-Cold War low over issues including Russia's seizure of Crimea in 2014, its role in wars in Syria and eastern Ukraine, and its alleged election meddling in the United States and Europe.

With reporting by Reuters, RIA Novosti, and TASS

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-sanctions-on-russia-over- poisoning-in-britain-go-into-force/29455293.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Russian Court Sentences Navalny To Jail Ahead Of Pension Protest

RFE/RL August 27, 2018

Russian news agencies say a Moscow court has sentenced opposition activist Aleksei Navalny to 30 days in jail after convicting him of violating protest laws.

The August 27 ruling by the Tverskoi District Court effectively bars Navalny from participating in a protest next month targeting a controversial government proposal to raise the country's pension age.

The court found Navalny guilty of breaking protest laws by helping to organize a street rally in Moscow in January despite authorities' refusal to sanction it.

That demonstration in Moscow, along with similar protests in other Russian cities, drew thousands of people opposed to the reelection of President Vladimir Putin.

Navalny's lawyers said they will appeal the ruling.

Navalny, who was arrested outside his home on August 25, has said that his latest case represents an attempt by the authorities to disrupt rallies across Russia planned for September 9 against the pension proposal.

A vocal foe of Putin, Navalny has organized large street protests on several occasions and published a series of reports alleging corruption in Russia's ruling elite.

He was barred from the March presidential race due to a conviction on financial-crimes charges he contends were fabricated by the Kremlin to sideline him from the March 18 vote.

Putin overwhelmingly won the election, garnering almost 77 percent of the vote -- more than he received in any of his three previous elections and the highest percentage handed to any post-Soviet Russian leader.

The government's proposal to raise the retirement age has stoked widespread anger across the country and has undermined Putin's popularity.

The Russian parliament has given preliminary backing to the proposal that would raise the retirement age to 63 for women by 2034 and to 65 for men by 2028. Currently, the retirement age is 55 for women and 60 for men.

The plan sparked widespread anger after it was announced in June, and Putin's approval ratings have fallen.

With reporting by TASS, Reuters, and Interfax

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-court-sentences-navalny- to-jail-ahead-of-pension-protest/29456030.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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New US Sanctions Won't Keep Russia From Defending Its National Interests

Sputnik News

16:30 27.08.2018(updated 17:33 27.08.2018)

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia will take a decision on the response to a new round of US sanctions based on its own interests, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

"No, we have to understand what form these new measures, new restrictions will really take, and what actions in the interests of the Russian Federation they will require. I would like to reiterate that the president has repeatedly stated that he will do what will be best consistent with the interests of our country against the backdrop of such unfriendly steps," Peskov said, when asked whether a decision had been made on the retaliatory measures against the new US sanctions.

Washington is using a far-fetched pretext of the so-called Skripal affair for introducing new sanctions against Russia, but Moscow will not abandon the protection of its own national interests despite the new restrictions, Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Monday.

"[The United States] uses a far-fetched link to the so-called Skripal affair, the investigation of which in the United Kingdom is far from being completed, we are accused of involvement in the Salisbury tragedy, Russia'' elimination of its arsenal of chemical weapons is questioned  All the accusations voiced are ephemeral, while the restrictions enforced today are quite real, although they repeat the already existing ones in many aspects," Zakharova said in a statement.

The ministry's spokeswoman stressed that the new US sanctions could not "force Russia to abandon the chosen path to firmly defend its national interests."

"We view Washington's decision only as part of a deliberate policy to erode the international structure in the sphere of arms control and non-proliferation, including in the area of banning chemical weapons," the statement read.

Zakharova noted that the sanctions imposed by Washington further complicated possible dialogue with Russia in the existing multilateral and bilateral formats.

New US sanctions against Russia in connection with the nerve agent attack on the Skripals in Salisbury, England, are both illegitimate and one-sided, the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC said in a statement on Monday as the new measures came into force.

"Washington issued another set of illegitimate one-sided sanctions against Russia. It feels like local politicians have an unhealthy craving for demolishing the fundamental basis of bilateral relations, on which rests the global security," the statement said.

The statement said the worst Cold War scenarios are currently taking shape and that ever new action on sanctions by the United States moves the world farther away from resolving important international issues, including the fight against terror and having weapons of mass destruction fall into the hands of non-government actors.

Russia does not accept the new sanctions, and the measures will not have any effect on the country's foreign policy, the statement added.

Earlier in the day, the new US sanctions against Russia over its alleged role in the poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia came into forces. The restrictive measures terminated US arms sales to Russia as well as the financing of arms sales, and prohibited exports of national security-sensitive goods and technology.

 Sputnik

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(ANSA) - Genoa, August 28 - Albanian Premier Edi Rama said Tuesday Italy had been left alone by the EU to cope with the migrant emergency.

Speaking in Genoa after agreeing to take in 20 Eritrean migrants from the Diciotti coast guard ship after a 10-day standoff, Rama said "Italy has been the most welcoming country in Europe in the last 30 years, but it has been left alone and nerves are no longer so solid, we intervened hoping that Europe would do something concrete to resolve the problem".

"We (Albanians) were once the Eritreans. Italy was our promised land and the Italians did not ever leave us in the middle of the sea".

Some 100 of the 177 migrants left a Messina hotspot for Rocca di Papa Tuesday after the Italian catholic Church agred to take them in.

They will be distributed among several dioceses across Italy.

Ireland also agreed to take in 20, like Albania.

Since Albania is a non-EU country, migrants will go there only on a voluntary basis.

New Washington's Anti-Russian Sanctions Come Into Force

Sputnik News

07:06 27.08.2018(updated 08:14 27.08.2018)

The new Washington's sanctions against Russia related to alleged Moscow's involvement in former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal's poisoning came into force on Monday August 27.

Washington announced its new anti-Russian sanctions over Moscow's alleged use of chemical weapons in Salisbury on August 8. US State Department spokesperson told Sputnik earlier that the new package of sanctions against Russia was due to come into effect on Monday August 27 Washington DC time following the official publication in the Federal Register.

The US government announced two rounds of sanctions on August 8. The first package of sanctions which becomes active on Monday includes, in particular, a ban on supplies of dual-purpose electronic devices and components to Russia.

The restrictive measures, will terminate US arms sales to Russia as well as the financing of arms sales, and prohibit exports of national security-sensitive goods and technology.

The sanctions will result in a denial of US government credit or other financial assistance to Russia. It will also end all support to Moscow under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, expect for any urgent humanitarian aid.

However, the punitive measures will not affect space cooperation in the interests of the United States, "provided that such licenses shall be issued on a case-by-case basis and consistent with export licensing policy for Russia prior to the enactment of these sanctions."

Moreover, the sanctions are also waived in cases of deemed exports and re-exports, wholly-owned US subsidiaries and commercial end users, among other cases.

The second round of sanctions Washington threatened to impose on Moscow depending on Russia future policies may include banning Russian carrier Aeroflot's flights to the US, limiting diplomatic ties and halting US exports.

Former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious in Salisbury, UK on March 4. London was quick to accuse Russia of orchestrating the poisoning of the Skripals with a nerve agent. Russian government has repeatedly denied involvement in the Skripals case, pointing at the complete lack of evidence provided by London as well as no cooperation with Moscow in investigating the incident.

However, the State Department claimed that after Washington concluded that Russia's alleged involvement in the Skripal attack represented a breach of international statutes, it would impose the new wave of sanctions.

Russia's trade ministry has responded to the move, saying that the US ban on dual-purpose electronic devices supplies would affect several industries, but the disruption would not be critical, adding that it would support Russian companies in the event of a complete ban on the exports.

As for the possible second round of sanctions, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that if some sort of ban on banking activities or currency ban was imposed on Russia  it would mean a declaration of economic war. The Prime Minister stressed that Russia would have to respond to it "economically, politically or in any other way, if need be".

 Sputnik

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New US Sanctions on Russia Come Into Effect

By VOA News August 27, 2018

New U.S. sanctions against Russia over a nerve agent attack in Britain come into effect Monday.

The Kremlin said it would review the sanctions in full before considering a possible response, but it would act in Russia's best interests.

The Russian Foreign Ministry says the new sanctions will only make dialogue more difficult, Reuters reported.

The sanctions would terminate some financial assistance and arms sales to Russia, as well as deny the country credit and prohibit the export of security-sensitive goods and technology.

U.S. officials accuse the Kremlin of violating international law, saying the Russian government was behind the poisoning in Britain of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy, and his daughter Yulia. Both were hospitalized and treated for a nerve-agent attack.

The White House is mandated to impose sanctions under a 1991 U.S. law on any country deemed to be responsible for a chemical or biological weapons attack. A second set of penalties, harsher than those in first round, will follow, according to the law, if Russia fails to agree within 90 days to cease all use of chemical weapons and allows inspectors to confirm their elimination.

The Kremlin has denied vehemently any involvement in the poisoning of the Skripals, and analysts say Russian President Vladimir Putin is highly unlikely to grant international inspectors access to suspected chemical weapons sites.

Monday's sanctions follow a decision earlier this year by the Trump administration to expel 60 Russian diplomats and close a consulate in Seattle, following the Skripal's poisoning.

Last week, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said he warned his Russian counterpart not to interfere in the U.S. mid-term elections in November, saying the United States is "prepared to take necessary steps to prevent it from happening."

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Army destroys Daesh position in al-Safa in Sweida Badyia

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Aug 27, IRNA -- A Syrian army unit on Monday destroyed a position and a machinegun-equipped vehicle belonging to Daesh (ISIS) terrorists in the surroundings of Khirbet al-Hawi in the area of al-Safa hills in Sweida eastern countryside.

SANA reporter said that army units, in cooperation with the supporting forces, continued to tighten the noose on Daesh-affiliated terrorist groups in the area of al-Safa hills.

The reporter added that army units engaged in sporadic clashes with terrorist groups in the surroundings of Abu Ghanem hill in parallel with carrying out bombardments and strikes by the army air force against their fortified dens and infiltration axes on the outskirts of the hills.

1396**1396

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Syrian Army destroys Daesh positions in Sweida

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Aug 27, IRNA -- An army unit on Monday destroyed a position and a machinegun-equipped vehicle belonging to Daesh (ISIS) terrorists in the surroundings of Khirbet al-Hawi in the area of al-Safa hills in Sweida eastern countryside, according to Syrian News Agency 'SANA'.

SANA reporter said that army units, in cooperation with the backup forces, continued to tighten the noose on Daesh-affiliated terrorist groups in the area of al-Safa hills.

The reporter added that army units engaged in sporadic clashes with terrorist groups in the surroundings of Abu Ghanem hill in parallel with carrying out bombardments and strikes by the army air force against their fortified dens and infiltration axes on the outskirts of the hills.

Sweida, is a mainly Druze city located in southwestern Syria, close to the border with Jordan.

9376**2050

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Tehran to help Syrian reconstruction: Iran Def Min.

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Aug 27, IRNA -- The defense agreement between Iran and Syria includes reconstruction of the Syrian Army and defense industries to revive the country and restore its military power, said the minister of defense of Iran.

'The agreement was signed between Tehran and Damascus in a condition that Syria enjoys a better situation than before,' Brigadier-General Amir Hatami told al-Mayadeen news channel.

Iran's defense minister arrived in Damascus on Sunday for a two-day visit.

Upon his arrival at Damascus international airport, Hatami was welcomed by senior Syrian military and defense officials, Iranian envoy to Syria Javad Torkabadi and Iran's military attache to Damascus Brigadier General Alinejad.

Regarding Hezbollah, General Hatami said, 'Hezbollah is an independent organization with an excellent record of resisting against occupiers and defending Lebanon, which is very powerful in politics and defense and plays an important role in the country.'

He added Iran is intended to have friendly ties with its neighbor and countries of the region because security cannot be provided unless there is cooperation between these countries.

General Hatami said that the security cannot be provided by foreign countries that have nothing to do with the region; it has already failed.

'By cooperating, the regional countries should prevent others from interfering in the affairs of the region and enter an arms race.'

9417**2050

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US seeking to use fake chemical weapons attack to strike Syria: Russian MoD

Iran Press TV

Mon Aug 27, 2018 01:59PM

The Russian Defense Ministry has warned that the United States may use a fake chemical attack carried out by foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib as a pretext to launch possible airstrikes on Syrian government forces.

"The United States keeps building up the group of cruise missile carriers in the Middle East region, connected with the preparation of a regular provocation with alleged 'use of chemical weapons' in the province of Idlib," Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov told reporters on Monday.

Konashenkov added that the destroyer USS The Sullivans armed with 56 cruise missiles had arrived in the Persian Gulf several days ago, while a US -1 bomber carrying 24 air-to-surface AGM-158 JASSM cruise missiles has been deployed at al-Udeid airbase in Qatar for this purpose.

Additionally, guided-missile destroyer USS Ross armed with 28 Tomahawk cruise missiles entered the Mediterranean on August 25, and the vessel is capable of hitting any target in Syria.

The warning came only a day after Konashenkov said foreign special agents are preparing to commit major provocations in Syria by means of chemical weapons.

"According to the information that the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria received today from the residents of the Idlib, English-speaking foreign experts have arrived in the Hbit settlement south of Idlib de-escalation zone to stage a 'chemical attack' using chlorine-loaded missiles," the senior Russian military official said on Sunday.

Konashenkov highlighted that militant rocket launchers will strike Kafr Zayta settlement within the next two days.

"The interested trans-regional forces are once again preparing major provocations in Syria using poisonous substances to severely destabilize the situation and disrupt the steady dynamics of the ongoing peace process," he pointed out.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry's press service announced in a statement on Monday that the Admiral Grigorovich and the Admiral Essen, two frigates of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, are heading to the Mediterranean Sea in order to bolster Russia's military presence in the region amid reports that the US is preparing to strike Syria.

The US has warned it would respond to a chemical weapons attack by Syrian government forces with retaliatory strikes, stressing that the attacks would be stronger than those conducted by American, British and French forces back in April.

Early on April 14, the US, Britain and France carried out a string of airstrikes against Syria over a suspected chemical weapons attack against the city of Douma, located about 10 kilometers northeast of the capital Damascus.

Washington and its allies blamed Damascus for the Douma attack, an allegation rejected by the Syrian government.

Pentagon said in a statement that at least 58 missiles had struck Shayrat airbase in the western Syrian city of Homs. An unnamed US official said Tomahawk missiles were used in the strikes.

The United Kingdom's Royal Air Force said four Tornado GR4s fighter jets joined in the operation, while France said it had deployed Mirage and Rafale fighter jets.

Russian General Staff spokesman General Sergei Rudskoy, however, said Syrian air defense systems had intercepted at least 71 cruise missiles fired during the US-led aggression.

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Iran, Syria sign new deal for defense cooperation

Iran Press TV

Mon Aug 27, 2018 06:26AM

Iran and Syria have signed an agreement on defense and technical cooperation during a visit by Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami who reiterated Tehran's commitment to the Arab country's security.

The document "will define the areas of bilateral presence, participation, and cooperation" in defense ties, said Hatami who signed the document with his Syrian counterpart General Ali Abdullah Ayyoub in Damascus Sunday.

Hatami said Syria has put the era of war behind it and has entered the era of reconstruction, stressing that Tehran hoped to have a productive role in rebuilding the country.

Ayyoub said through cooperation with Iran, "we will realize our national interests, and not allow any party or country to cause damage to the strong and firm relations of the two countries."

"It was thanks to the Islamic Republic's support and cooperation that great victories were achieved against terrorist groups and their patrons," he said.

The Iranian defense chief arrived in Syria for a two-day visit on Sunday at the head of a delegation comprising senior military officials and parliamentarians.

Hatami met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, praising the steadfastness of the Syrian people and government forces in their battle against terrorism, expressing confidence that they would achieve ultimate victory down the path.

The Syrian president said Tehran and Damascus had to outline plans to improve long-term cooperation in order to enhance the robustness of their nations in the face of the enemies.

At Damascus' request, Tehran has been providing military advisory support to the Syrian military fighting foreign-backed terrorism and militancy since 2011. The Islamic Republic says it will maintain the role as long as it is required by the Syrian government.

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Iran, Syria Sign Deal On Military Cooperation

RFE/RL August 27, 2018

The defense ministers of Iran and Syria have signed an agreement on military cooperation in the war-torn country, Iranian media report.

The "defense and technical agreement" provides for the continued "presence and participation" of Iran in Syria, Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami said in Damascus on August 27, according to the Tasnim news agency.

It also quoted Syrian Defense Minister Ali Abdullah Ayub as praising Tehran for supporting the government of President Bashar al-Assad in the seven-year Syrian conflict.

Hatami was on the second day of a two-day visit to Syria's capital, during which he also held talks with Assad, Tasnim reported.

Iranian and Russian support for Assad throughout the war has helped turn the conflict in the Syrian leader's favor.

Rebel forces have been routed in many parts of the country. Syrian pro-government forces are preparing to launch an assault on the northwestern province of Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold.

Israel and the United States, which supports rebels fighting against Assad's government, have expressed concern over Iran's growing influence in Syria.

But Hatami told reporters in Damascus on August 26, "No third party can affect the presence of Iranian advisers in Syria."

The war in Syria has killed hundreds of thousands of people and uprooted millions since it began with a government crackdown on protesters in March 2011.

More than 1,000 Iranians, including senior members of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), have been killed in the conflict since 2012, according to Reuters.

UN-mediated peace talks in Geneva between Syrian government delegates and the opposition broke up earlier this year without significant progress.

Meanwhile, Iran, Russia, and Turkey have sponsored a series of negotiations on the Syrian conflict in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, and cooperated to create "de-escalation zones" to reduce fighting while backing separate sides.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will travel to Iran on September 7, his office said on August 27, on a visit expected to include a summit with Russian and Iranian counterparts on Syria.

The tripartite meeting will take place in the northern Iranian city of Tabriz on September 7, according to Turkish state television.

The Kremlin has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin may take part in talks with Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rohani at the beginning of September.

The last such meeting between the three leaders took place in Ankara in April.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and Tasmin

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-syria-sign -deal-on-military-cooperation/29455495.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Taiwan will not seek U.N. membership this year: source

ROC Central News Agency

2018/08/27 12:34:26

Taipei, Aug. 27 (CNA) Taiwan will not seek membership in the United Nations this year but will continue to ask its diplomatic allies and friendly countries to speak up at the general assembly in support of its meaningful participation, a diplomatic source said Monday.

Since 2009, the Taiwan government has not made a bid for U.N. membership and will stick to that approach for the time being, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity since the person was not authorized to comment publicly on the issue.

"Pitching for Taiwan's membership in the U.N. is a double-edged sword," the source said. "After considering the overall situation both locally and globally, we decided that we will again take a moderate and rational approach rather than a more aggressive one."

While an aggressive approach may gain attention on the world stage, such attention might not be "entirely positive," the source said.

The 73rd session of the U.N. General Assembly will open Sept. 18 at the U.N. Headquarters in New York, with the annual general debate scheduled for Sept. 25 to Oct. 1.

As in previous years, Taiwan will submit several requests to the U.N., calling for inclusion, in keeping with the principle of true universality, the source said. The requests will include ending the measures that prevent Taiwanese from entering U.N. meetings, permitting Taiwanese media to cover the U.N. General Assembly, and allowing Taiwan's dignified participation in U.N. related meetings and activities.

Asked to comment on the U.N. issue, foreign ministry spokesman Andrew Lee () told CNA that the ministry is still in talks with the relevant government agencies to come up with a practical approach on the matter.

The Republic of China (Taiwan) lost its U.N. membership in 1971 with the passage of a resolution stating that the People's Republic of China was the only legitimate representative of China to the international body.

The Taiwan government then launched an unsuccessful annual campaign starting in 1993 to reclaim the U.N. seat.

In 2007, during the administration of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) President Chen Shui-bian (), the government sought U.N. membership under the name Taiwan, but that campaign got nowhere.

Under the Kuomintang (KMT) administration from 2008 to 2016, the government did not apply to re-enter the U.N. under the Republic of China name or apply for new U.N. membership as Taiwan, deciding instead to pursue meaningful participation in U.N.-affiliated organizations.

Since coming to power in May 2016, the DPP administration of President Tsai Ing-wen () has adopted an approach similar to that of the previous KMT government, including asking Taiwan's diplomatic allies to speak at the U.N. General Assembly in support of Taiwan's "meaningful participation."

(By Joseph Yeh)

Enditem/pc

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Living Gospel Equality Now: Loving in the Heart of God: Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests(ANSA) - Milan, August 28 - Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban said Tuesday Interior Minister Matteo Salvini "is my hero" ahead of a meeting between the two in Milan.

"I'd like to meet him personally. he is my hero," said Orban as he left a Milan restaurant where he had lunch ahead of the meeting.

"He is a companion of destiny of mine, I'm very curious to know his personality.

"I'm a great admirer and I have some experiences that I could perhaps share with him. I have that feeling".

Orban said Salvini was the "first politician in the Mediterranean who has taken on the responsibility" of trying to stop migrants coming to Europe by sea.

"Hungary is attacked by the EU because we have shown that borders can be defended.

"Hungary is proof that migrants can be stopped on dry land, and that's where Salvini's mission comes in.

"He should show that these migrants can also be stopped at sea". Orban said he had asked his friend, former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi, for permission to meet Salvini. "Do you support the fact that I should meet Salvini?" Orban said he had asked Berlusconi.

"'Certainly', he replied to me," said the Hungarian premier.

Orban said his relations with the previous, centre-left Democratic Party (PD) led government had been "extremely bad".

Salvini is set to meet Orban on the issue of migrants, where they both favour a hardline stance.

Orban has put off border walls against migrants while Salvini has refused to allow some ships to offload rescued migrants in Italy.

Politico said Tuesday "Orban and Salvini, master and pupil of EU populism, the Milan meeting worries Brussels and Rome".

Salvini said ahead of the Orban meeting that "now the left only exists to insult me, to defend the EU of the bankers and immigration without limits.

"PS in Hungary unemployment is under 5%, the flat tax for businesses is at 9% and for people at 15%, immigration is under control and the economy is growing by 4%.

Premier Giuseppe Conte, meanwhile, met Czech Premier Andrey Babis, another member of the Visegrad Group, in Rome.

The Visegrad Group, which is generally Euroskeptic and rejects EU solidarity on migrants, consists of Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia, led by populist leaders.

Salvini is leader of the anti-migrant Euroskeptic League party, which has been in government with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) for three months, as western Europe's first populist government.

Guatemala envoy affirms ties with Taiwan

ROC Central News Agency

2018/08/27 19:12:29

Taipei, Aug. 27 (CNA) Taiwan's Central American ally Guatemala reaffirmed Monday its government's commitment to maintaining diplomatic relations with Republic of China (Taiwan), a week after neighboring El Salvador announced that it was switching allegiance from Taipei to Beijing.

In response to a CNA inquiry on bilateral ties, the Embassy of Guatemala in the Republic of China (Taiwan) affirmed that its country will continue to maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

The embassy also confirmed that Guatemala's Ambassador to Taiwan Olga Maria Aguja Zuniga relayed the message to Taiwan's Vice Foreign Minister Jose Maria Liu () during a meeting at the ministry's headquarters in Taipei Monday.

An anonymous source said they also engaged in detailed discussions on bilateral cooperation projects, including humanitarian assistance projects and helping the ally to build a highway project.

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs first announced the severing of ties with El Salvador Aug. 21, after which El Salvador declared it was cutting ties with Taiwan to establish formal relations with the People's Republic of China.

Foreign Minister Joseph Wu () attributed the loyalty switch to China's campaign of luring away Taiwan's allies with promises of massive financial assistance and investment.

Since then, many local scholars and former diplomats, including ex-Foreign Minister Francisco Ou () have warned that more Central America allies, most particularly Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala, could be next in line.

Liu also met with Honduran Ambassador to Taiwan Rafael Fernando Sierra Quesada Monday, their second meeting since the El Salvador incident, the source said.

Yui Tah-ray (), head of MOFA's Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs, also recently met with Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega and the Nicaraguan leader reiterated his government's pledge to Taiwan as well, the source said.

All of these are evidence that Taiwan's ties with these Central American allies remain stable, according to the source.

Taiwan has lost five diplomatic allies since President Tsai Ing-wen () took office in May 2016. Among them, three are located in Central America and the Caribbean -- Panama, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador.

(By Joseph Yeh)

Enditem/J

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Bargaining Chip or Not, Taiwan Keeps Improving Prized Relations with US

By Ralph Jennings August 27, 2018

Taiwan and the United States are showing signs of growing a solid relationship that goes beyond U.S. President Donald Trump's widely suspected use of Taipei as a bargaining chip in his administration's talks with China, analysts say.

The analysts say Trump is looking to Taiwan as part of a broader Pacific Rim political alliance, while officials and members of the U.S. Congress see Taiwan as an antidote to an ever-mightier China.

"I don't think it is completely fair to say that Trump is using Taiwan as a pawn," said Yun Sun, East Asia Program senior associate at the Stimson Center think tank in Washington.

"The support and sympathy for Taiwan is very strong here in the U.S.," she said. "This is partly due to the politics, but also is the result of China's bullying behaviors. It does help to broaden and strengthen the support base for Taiwan in the U.S."

Trend of improving relations

Two arms-related deals, a congressional bill that calls for more senior-level Taipei-Washington visits and a string of comments from the United States in support of Taiwan's foreign diplomacy this year have raised fears that Trump is using ties with Taipei just to get concessions out of China.

Two days after Taiwan cut ties Aug. 21 with El Salvador, the U.S. State Department expressed "grave concern" and warned the Central American country against taking economic incentives from China.

In another sign of closer Taipei-Washington relations, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen made two unusually visible stops in the United States earlier this month over protests from Beijing. She gave a speech August 13 in Los Angeles. In Houston she became the first Taiwan president since the 1970s to visit federal property.

China sees self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, not as a country, and resents major powers such as the United States for interacting with it. China and Taiwan have been separately ruled since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s.

Move to check China

Since Tsai took office in 2016, Beijing has flown military aircraft near Taiwan at least a dozen times and, officials in Taipei say, persuaded five countries to drop Taiwan as an ally. Tsai rejects Beijing's condition for dialogue, that both sides talk as parts of the same country.

U.S. officials favor Taiwan now to ensure the Asian island's own relations with China don't change, said Bonnie Glaser, director of the China Power Project at the American think tank Center for International and Strategic Studies.

Washington has long advocated stability between China and Taiwan rather than one side provoking the other.

"U.S. policy makers aren't seeking ways to use Taiwan to increase leverage over China," Glaser said. "In response to stepped up military, political and economic pressure by Beijing on Taiwan, the Trump administration is signaling support for the maintenance of the cross-Strait status quo and for Taiwan's security."

Stronger Asia-Pacific alliance

Trump may see Taiwan as part of an Asia Pacific alliance that would resist China, said Lin Chong-pin, a retired strategic studies professor in Taiwan.

"He's also trying to unite the allies in the East Asian Pacific region to form a united front against China and to add pressure on China," Lin said. "Not only Japan, Australia and India, but Taiwan is also one them along with South Korea in forming a united front against China. That's the intention."

Washington stepped up military cooperation last year with Australia, India and Japan to keep the South China Sea open to international traffic. Beijing claims about 90 percent of that waterway.

Risk of use as a bargaining chip

Trump may see Taiwan as a "card" to play against China in getting what he wants from Sino-U.S. relations, said Alex Chiang, an international relations professor at National Chengchi University in Taipei. If the ruling Republican Party loses seats in mid-term elections this year, he added, the president may change his China policy and relations with Taiwan might slip.

"I think Trump is mainly thinking about the U.S. interests, and he is using Taiwan as a bargaining chip," Chiang said. "I don't know whether he will be able to continue to play (the) Taiwan card, because someday very soon there will not be any kind of benefit he can derive."

But Taiwan foreign minister Joseph Wu is unworried that his island will become a "bargaining chip in U.S. talks with China," the ministry quoted him saying last week.

Officials in Taipei should compile a "list" of what they want from the United States so they can achieve those goals, said Raymond Wu, managing director of Taipei-based political risk consultancy e-telligence.

"If we have a very clear idea about what Taiwan's interest is, then I don't think Taiwan will become someone else's pawn," Wu said. "We need to have some type of internal consensus."

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US steps against Ankara politically-motivated, could destabilize region: Turkey's finance minister

Iran Press TV

Mon Aug 27, 2018 04:24PM

Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak says recent unilateral steps taken by the United States to wage an economic war against Ankara are politically-motivated and could serve to ultimately bolster regional terrorism and the refugee crisis.

"These steps taken with political motivation will not only impact the global financial system but also global trade and regional stability," Albayrak said at a joint news conference with his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire in Paris on Monday.

"With the damage [the steps] will cause to regional stability, they will unfortunately contribute to chaotic problems that feed terrorism and also the refugee crisis," he added.

Albayrak, who is the son-in-law of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Ankara intended to take its relations with the European Union to a new phase where trade with the 28-member bloc is more important.

The Turkish finance minister also told Le Maire that Turkey aimed to boost trade with France  now standing at 14 billion euros  to 20 billion euros.

Washington and Ankara are entangled in a dispute over an American pastor standing trial in Turkey over terror charges.

Pastor Andrew Brunson has been accused of having links with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Gulen movement, which Turkey blames for the 2016 failed military coup.

Brunson, who has already spent nearly two years behind bars in Turkey, has denied the charges, calling them "shameful and disgusting." If found guilty, he will face up to 35 years in jail. His imprisonment and then house arrest have caused one of the deepest rows between Turkey and the US.

The US has taken the dispute to the economic front, adopting a series of punitive measures against Turkey, including imposing sanctions on Turkish ministers and doubling of steel and aluminum tariffs, which have led to a sharp decline in Turkey's currency, the lira.

Ankara has vowed not to back down in the face of US attempts to achieve its political goals through economic pressure.

The two NATO allies also disagree over a number of issues, including their military interventions in the Syria war, Ankara's plan to buy missile defense systems from Russia and the US conviction of a Turkish state bank executive on sanctions-busting charges in January.

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Turkish armed forces 'neutralize' over two dozen Kurdish PKK militants in one week

Iran Press TV

Mon Aug 27, 2018 01:17PM

Turkish ground forces have killed more than two dozen members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group when they carried out a string of counter-terrorism operations in the country's southeastern provinces near the border with Iraq's northern semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in the past week.

The Interior Ministry, in a statement released on Monday, said 2,156 operations were conducted between August 20 and 27, during which a total of 12 PKK terrorists were killed. Nine Kurdish militants were captured alive, while five others surrendered to authorities as well.

The statement further noted that five high-ranking commanders were among the "neutralized" PKK militants.

The Turkish military generally uses the term "neutralize" to signify that the militants were killed, captured or surrendered.

Moreover, 62 people were also arrested for allegedly aiding and abetting the PKK terrorist group.

On Sunday, the Turkish General Staff stated that high-profile PKK militant Fecri Demir, better known by the nom de guerre Tolhildan, had been killed on August 24 during an offensive backed by military aircraft in the rural Dogubayazit area of Turkey's eastern province of Agri.

PKK militants regularly clash with Turkish forces in the Kurdish-dominated southeast of Turkey attached to northern Iraq.

Turkey, along with the European Union and the United States, has declared the PKK a terrorist group and banned it. The militant group has been seeking an autonomous Kurdish region since 1984.

A shaky ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish government collapsed in July 2015. Attacks on Turkish security forces have soared ever since.

Over the past few months, Turkish ground and air forces have been carrying out operations against PKK positions in the country as well as in northern Iraq and neighboring Syria.

More than 40,000 people have been killed during the three-decade conflict between Turkey and the autonomy-seeking militant group.

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Russia to Speed Up Delivery of S-400 to Turkey Amid US Sanctions Threat

Sputnik News

18:39 27.08.2018

The developments come as the US State Department made it clear that Washington would sanction any country that decides to purchase Russian S-400 air defense systems.

The first S-400 surface-to-air missile systems will be delivered to Turkey in 2019, Viktor Kladov, a spokesman for Russian state corporation Rostec, told the Turkish news agency Anadolu.

He referred to requests made by Rostec's Turkish partners to speed up the production and delivery of the S-400 systems to Turkey, something that he said prompted Rostec, which makes these systems, to meet its partners' expectations.

Kladov stressed that "a decision to acquire our S-400 systems by Turkey, which is a NATO country, has become a significant event."

When asked about the possibility of jointly producing S-400 systems between Russia and Turkey, he said that it's necessary to "bear in mind that this is a very serious technology."

"To organize such a production, one needs to possess the appropriate material and technical base as well as skilled personnel, a task that takes plenty of time to be implemented," Kladov pointed out.

His remarks came after US State Department's spokesperson Heather Nauert warned that Washington was against its allies purchasing Russian S-400 air defense systems and that the White House would potentially impose sanctions in the likelihood that such transactions occur.

Last week, Alexander Mikheev, chief executive of Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport, told reporters that his company was preparing to deliver S-400 air defense missile systems to Turkey next year.

In July, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu cautioned, in turn, that Ankara intended to respond to the US in case Washington decided to impose sanctions due to the purchase of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems by Turkey.

Earlier, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wess Mitchell warned that Turkey's S-400 purchase would lead to Washington applying sanctions against Ankara, a qualitative change in bilateral relations and a possible halt to US F-35 fighter jet supplies to Ankara.

The contract arrangements on the S-400 deliveries to Turkey were confirmed by Russia on September 12, 2017, with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan saying at the time that prepayments had already been made.

 Sputnik

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British Royal Navy's New Aircraft Carrier Sets Sail for US to Train With F-35Bs

Sputnik News

22:06 27.08.2018(updated 22:08 27.08.2018)

The British Royal Navy's newest aircraft carrier, the HMS Queen Elizabeth, set sail for the United States earlier this month to train with US F-35B Joint Strike Fighters.

The 70,000-ton HMS Queen Elizabeth, the largest ship ever built by the Royal Navy, has a lot of practice handling helicopters, but so far the handful of F-35B Joint Strike Fighters delivered to the British military haven't made their way to their future home on the carrier.

In fact, the last time a jet took off or landed vertically on a British carrier  which the B variant of the F-35 can do  was in 2010, when the the last British Aerospace Harrier IIs were retired.

"At the heart of the Maritime Task Group, the aircraft carrier is well protected and sustained, ready to operate around the world as a potent and exceptionally flexible instrument of our foreign policy," the Queen Elizabeth's commanding officer, Capt. Jerry Kyd, said on August 18 in a Ministry of Defense press release. "These first F-35B embarked trials in a UK aircraft carrier are not only key to future operational success, but represent an iconic moment for the modern Royal Navy."

The US Marine Corps F-35Bs will come from the Integrated Test Force, a unit of both British and American pilots that is based out of Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Lexington Park, Maryland, Business Insider noted. Three British pilots and one American pilot will conduct 500 takeoff and landing tests on the British carrier over 11 weeks, UK Secretary of State for Defense Gavin Williamson told the publication.

The Queen Elizabeth has been in Portsmouth, England, since May, undergoing an extensive refit to prepare for F-35B operations.

"With over a thousand helicopter deck landings already under our belt, we're developing more expansive clearances for helicopters than we have ever seen before," Rear Adm. Keith Blount, the Royal Navy's assistant chief of naval staff for aviation, amphibious capability and carriers, said in a press statement in April. "Next up are the jets, and the ship is being fitted with all the kit and communication systems required to ensure the aircraft and carrier can work together as a system. This is highly technical and time-consuming stuff and our sailors, airmen and shipyard workers are doing a great job in piecing it all together."

Among the upgrades installed have been the US-made AN/SPN-41/41A Instrument Carrier Landing System, a ship-mounted computer and radar apparatus that helps aircraft computers guide the plane in for a landing; a new flight deck lighting array to handle the F-35B's rolling vertical landings; and the application of a thermal metal spray to the ship's flight deck to handle the direct jet blast from the F-35B's engines, which turn to face downward during vertical takeoffs and landings, USNI noted.

"As the US' biggest partner in the F-35 program, we jointly own test jets which are on track to fly off the deck of our new aircraft carrier later this year," a Ministry of Defense spokesman said in a statement, noting that the training will "strengthen our special relationship with US forces."

 Sputnik

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(ANSA) - Beijing, August 28 - The recent widening of the Italian-German bond spread does not reflect the solidity of the Italian economy, Economy Minister Giovanni Tria said on a trip to China Tuesday.

"The current spread does not reflect the fundamentals and the solidity of Italy," he said.

"I recall that Italy has had a primary surplus for 20 years.

"I believe that the (widening) is also due to a phase of uncertainty typical of the summer period.

"But in its general lines respect for the public finance rules has already been defined".

Respecting the EU's 3% budget deficit to GDP ratio has been criticised even by those who invented it "but it is very different from saying we'll surpass it," Economy Minister Giovanni Tria said on a mission to China Tuesday. Tria was answering a question on Industry Minister Luigi Di Maio's statement that the parameter could be breached to fund a minimum wage.

Tria also said that in his talks with the EU "I don't see major conflicts within my competence".

CENTENNIAL, Aug. 28, 2018 - NioCorp Developments Ltd. (NioCorp or the "Company) (TSX:NB) (OTCQX:NIOBF) (FSE:BR3) is pleased to announce that NioCorp will be featured as a presenting company at the 20th Annual Rodman & Renshaw Global Investment Conference, sponsored by H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC. The conference is being held on September 4-6, 2018 at the St. Regis New York Hotel in New York City.



Mark A. Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer for NioCorp, will provide an overview of the Company's business during a presentation starting at 8:45 a.m. Eastern on Thursday, September 6, 2018 in the Maisonnette I Room, Lower Level, of the St. Regis Hotel. The presentation will also be webcast live at this URL: http://wsw.com/webcast/rrshq28/nb/

Additionally, both Mr. Smith and NioCorps Vice President for External Affairs, Jim Sims, will be available to participate in one-on-one meetings with investors who are registered to attend the conference.

Institutional investors who would like to attend the NioCorp presentation can click on the following link to register for the conference: www.rodmanevents.com. Once your registration is confirmed, you will be prompted to log into the conference website to request a one-on-one meeting with the Company.

Event: NioCorp presentation to investors at the 20 th Annual Rodman & Renshaw Global Investment Conference, sponsored by H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC

Annual Rodman & Renshaw Global Investment Conference, sponsored by H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC Date: September 6, 2018

Time: 8:45 a.m. Eastern on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2018

Location: Maisonnette I (Lower Level); St. Regis New York Hotel in New York City

NioCorp Presentation To Be Webcast Live

The NioCorp presentation will be webcast live and can be seen at the following URL beginning at 8:45 a.m. on Thursday, September 6, 2018: http://wsw.com/webcast/rrshq28/nb/ A webcast replay will remain available for 90 days following the live presentation.

About NioCorp Developments Ltd.

NioCorp is developing a superalloy materials project in Southeast Nebraska that will produce Niobium, Scandium, and Titanium. Niobium is used to produce superalloys as well as High Strength, Low Alloy ("HSLA") steel, which is a lighter, stronger steel used in automotive, structural, and pipeline applications. Scandium is a superalloy material that can be combined with Aluminum to make alloys with increased strength and improved corrosion resistance. Scandium also is a critical component of advanced solid oxide fuel cells. Titanium is used in various superalloys and is a key component of pigments used in paper, paint and plastics and is also used for aerospace applications, armor and medical implants.

For More Information: Contact Jim Sims, VP of External Affairs, NioCorp Developments Ltd., 303-503-6203, jim.sims@niocorp.com

Source: NioCorp Developments Ltd.

@NioCorp $NB $NIOBF $BR3 #Niobium #Scandium #ElkCreek

About NioCorp

NioCorp is developing a superalloy materials project in Southeast Nebraska that will produce Niobium, Scandium, and Titanium. Niobium is used to produce superalloys as well as High Strength, Low Alloy ("HSLA") steel, which is a lighter, stronger steel used in automotive, structural, and pipeline applications. Scandium is a superalloy material that can be combined with Aluminum to make alloys with increased strength and improved corrosion resistance. Scandium also is a critical component of advanced solid oxide fuel cells. Titanium is used in various superalloys and is a key component of pigments used in paper, paint and plastics and is also used for aerospace applications, armor and medical implants.(ANSA) - Rome, August 28 - Some 100 migrants who landed from the coast guard ship Diciotti after a 10-day standoff with the EU left a hotspot in Messina Tuesday for a Catholic-run reception centre in Rocca di Papa south of Rome.

The migrants will get there after a 10-12-hour journey, sources said.

The Democratic Party (PD) former mayor of the Lazio town, Pasquale Boccia, said: "it can't be done, there is rancour on the part of the residents, which is turning into hatred, we're already hosting enough of them".

Th head of the cooperative that runs the migrant centre in Rocca di Papa, Domenico Alagia, said "they will remain a few days in the centre and then will be welcomed by the diocese which said they were prepared to take them around Italy".

Another 39 remained in the hotspot in the Sicilian city, waiting to be transferred to Albania and Ireland, the only two nations who have said they will take some of the Diciotti migrants.

Most of the migrants will be moved to the Catholic Church centre near Rome, the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI) told a news agency on Monday.

"They will be moved as soon as possible, in the coming hours, to the centre run by Auxiluim, pending their transfer to the many dioceses who have given their availability: Turin, Brescia, Bologna, Agrigento, Cassano all'Jonio, Rossano Calabro, to cite only those I know about," CEI's head of social communications, Father Ivan Maffeis, told the SIR religious news agency.

The stand-off came after Interior Minister Matteo Salvini kept the migrants aboard saying they would not land until the EU agreed to take them.

Salvini is under investigation by an Agrigento prosecutor for alleged kidnapping, illegal arrest and abuse of office.

Albanian Premier Edi Rama said Tuesday Italy had been left alone by the EU to cope with the migrant emergency.

Speaking in Genoa after agreeing to take in 20 Eritrean migrants from the Diciotti after the standoff, Rama said "Italy has been the most welcoming country in Europe in the last 30 years, but it has been left alone and nerves are no longer so solid, we intervened hoping that Europe would do something concrete to resolve the problem".

"We (Albanians) were once the Eritreans. Italy was our promised land and the Italians did not ever leave us in the middle of the sea". Migrants "should be drowned in the open sea", a doctor at Spoleto hospital said on her Facebook page recently, sources said Tuesday.

The doctor works in the ER ward at the Umbrian hospital.

Il Messaggero newspaper said she called migrants "n**gers with Nike shoes and full bellies" and said they had scabies because of the "violence they perpetrated".

The local health authority told ANSA it had started disciplinary proceedings against her.

The doctor made her remarks in a Facebook group with some 38,000 doctors on it.

Her profile had been deleted Tuesday morning.

(ANSA) - Rome, August 28 - Some 100 migrants who landed from the coast guard ship Diciotti after a 10-day standoff with the EU left a hotspot in Messina Tuesday for a Catholic-run reception centre in Rocca di Papa south of Rome.

The migrants will ge there after a 10-12-hour journey, sources said.

Another 39 remained in the hotspot in the Sicilian city, waiting to be transferred to Albania and Ireland, the only two nations who have said they will take some of the Diciotti migrants.

Most of the migrants will be moved to the Catholic Church centre near Rome, the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI) told a news agency on Monday.

"They will be moved as soon as possible, in the coming hours, to the centre run by Auxiluim, pending their transfer to the many dioceses who have given their availability: Turin, Brescia, Bologna, Agrigento, Cassano all'Jonio, Rossano Calabro, to cite only those I know about," CEI's head of social communications, Father Ivan Maffeis, told the SIR religious news agency.

The stand-off came after Interior Minister Matteo Salvini kept the migrants aboard saying they would not land until the EU agreed to take them.

Salvini is under investigation by an Agrigento prosecutor for alleged kidnapping, illegal arrest and abuse of office.

Albanian Premier Edi Rama said Tuesday Italy had been left alone by the EU to cope with the migrant emergency.

Speaking in Genoa after agreeing to take in 20 Eritrean migrants from the Diciotti after the standoff, Rama said "Italy has been the most welcoming country in Europe in the last 30 years, but it has been left alone and nerves are no longer so solid, we intervened hoping that Europe would do something concrete to resolve the problem".

"We (Albanians) were once the Eritreans. Italy was our promised land and the Italians did not ever leave us in the middle of the sea".

(ANSA) - Milan, August 28 - Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban said Tuesday Interior Minister Matteo Salvini "is my hero" ahead of a meeting between the two in Milan.

"I'd like to meet him personally. he is my hero," said Orban as he left a Milan restaurant where he had lunch ahead of the meeting.

"He is a companion of destiny of mine, I'm very curious to know his personality.

"I'm a great admirer and I have some experiences that I could perhaps share with him. I have that feeling".

Orban said Tuesday he had asked his friend, former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi, for permission to meet Salvini. "Do you support the fact that I should meet Salvini?" Orban said he had asked Berlusconi.

"'Certainly', he replied to me," said the Hungarian premier.

Orban said his relations with the previous, centre-left Democratic Party (PD) led government had been "extremely bad".

Salvini is set to meet Orban on the issue of migrants, where they both favour a hardline stance.

Orban has put off border walls against migrants while Salvini has refused to allow some ships to offload rescued migrants in Italy.

Politico said Tuesday "Orban and Salvini, master and pupil of EU populism, the Milan meeting worries Brussels and Rome".

Salvini said ahead of the Orban meeting that "now the left only exists to insult me, to defend the EU of the bankers and immigration without limits.

"PS in Hungary unemployment is under 5%, the flat tax for businesses is at 9% and for people at 15%, immigration is under control and the economy is growing by 4%.

Premier Giuseppe Conte, meanwhile, met Czech Premier Andrey Babis, another member of the Visegrad Group, in Rome.

The Visegrad Group, which is generally Euroskeptic and rejects EU solidarity on migrants, consists of Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia, led by populist leaders.

Salvini is leader of the anti-migrant Euroskeptic League party, which has been in government with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) for three months, as western Europe's first populist government.

(ANSA) - Milan, August 28 - Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban said Tuesday Interior Minister Matteo Salvini "is my hero" ahead of a meeting between the two in Milan.

"I'd like to meet him personally. he is my hero," said Orban as he left a Milan restaurant where he had lunch ahead of the meeting.

"He is a companion of destiny of mine, I'm very curious to know his personality.

"I'm a great admirer and I have some experiences that I could perhaps share with him. I have that feeling".

Orban said Salvini was the "first politician in the Mediterranean who has taken on the responsibility" of trying to stop migrants coming to Europe by sea.

"Hungary is attacked by the EU because we have shown that borders can be defended.

"Hungary is proof that migrants can be stopped on dry land, and that's where Salvini's mission comes in.

"He should show that these migrants can also be stopped at sea". Orban said he had asked his friend, former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi, for permission to meet Salvini. "Do you support the fact that I should meet Salvini?" Orban said he had asked Berlusconi.

"'Certainly', he replied to me," said the Hungarian premier.

Orban said his relations with the previous, centre-left Democratic Party (PD) led government had been "extremely bad".

Salvini was asked what he thought about being Orban's hero.

He said the description had been "wise words".

Salvini is set to meet Orban on the issue of migrants, where they both favour a hardline stance.

Orban has put off border walls against migrants while Salvini has refused to allow some ships to offload rescued migrants in Italy.

Politico said Tuesday "Orban and Salvini, master and pupil of EU populism, the Milan meeting worries Brussels and Rome".

Salvini said ahead of the Orban meeting that "now the left only exists to insult me, to defend the EU of the bankers and immigration without limits.

"PS in Hungary unemployment is under 5%, the flat tax for businesses is at 9% and for people at 15%, immigration is under control and the economy is growing by 4%.

Premier Giuseppe Conte, meanwhile, met Czech Premier Andrey Babis, another member of the Visegrad Group, in Rome.

The Visegrad Group, which is generally Euroskeptic and rejects EU solidarity on migrants, consists of Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia, led by populist leaders.

Salvini is leader of the anti-migrant Euroskeptic League party, which has been in government with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) for three months, as western Europe's first populist government.

(ANSA) - Milan, August 28 - Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini met for an hour in Milan Tuesday to discuss migrants and the EU.

Salvini after the talks they had been "a long positive and constructive discussion, not only on migrants".

Salvini said that "we are close to a historic turning point for the future of Europe: today starts a series of meetings, there will be many others".

Salvini said that judicial probes would not make him change his mind about the need to stop migrants coming to Italy by sea.

"The left can't decide who I can see," he said referring to protests about the meeting.

Orban told Salvini that "you mustn't give way, we're behind you" in trying to defend Italy's maritime borders.

"Europe's security depends on your success", he said.

Orban said "when they were all attacking me at the European Parliament, Salvini defended me, I won't forget it".

Orban said Salvini "is my hero" ahead of the meeting.

"I'd like to meet him personally. He is my hero," said Orban as he left a Milan restaurant where he had lunch.

"He is a companion of destiny of mine, I'm very curious to know his personality.

"I'm a great admirer and I have some experiences that I could perhaps share with him. I have that feeling".

Orban said Salvini was the "first politician in the Mediterranean who has taken on the responsibility" of trying to stop migrants coming to Europe by sea.

"Hungary is attacked by the EU because we have shown that borders can be defended.

"Hungary is proof that migrants can be stopped on dry land, and that's where Salvini's mission comes in.

"He should show that these migrants can also be stopped at sea". Orban said he had asked his friend, former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi, for permission to meet Salvini. "Do you support the fact that I should meet Salvini?" Orban said he had asked Berlusconi.

"'Certainly', he replied to me," said the Hungarian premier.

Orban said his relations with the previous, centre-left Democratic Party (PD) led government had been "extremely bad".

Salvini was asked what he thought about being Orban's hero.

He said the description had been "wise words".

Salvini is set to meet Orban on the issue of migrants, where they both favour a hardline stance.

Orban has put off border walls against migrants while Salvini has refused to allow some ships to offload rescued migrants in Italy.

Politico said Tuesday "Orban and Salvini, master and pupil of EU populism, the Milan meeting worries Brussels and Rome".

Salvini said ahead of the Orban meeting that "now the left only exists to insult me, to defend the EU of the bankers and immigration without limits.

"PS in Hungary unemployment is under 5%, the flat tax for businesses is at 9% and for people at 15%, immigration is under control and the economy is growing by 4%.

Premier Giuseppe Conte, meanwhile, met Czech Premier Andrey Babis, another member of the Visegrad Group, in Rome.

Conte told Babis that the redistribution of migrants in the EU should not be "demonised".

The Visegrad Group, which is generally Euroskeptic and rejects EU solidarity on migrants, consists of Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia, led by populist leaders.

Salvini is leader of the anti-migrant Euroskeptic League party, which has been in government with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) for three months, as western Europe's first populist government.

Leftwing and rights groups demonstrated near the Orban-Salvini meeting under the slogan "Europe Without Walls".

Some 100 migrants who landed from the coast guard ship Diciotti after a 10-day standoff with the EU left a hotspot in Messina Tuesday for a Catholic-run reception centre in Rocca di Papa south of Rome.

The migrants will get there after a 10-12-hour journey, sources said.

The Democratic Party (PD) former mayor of the Lazio town, Pasquale Boccia, said: "it can't be done, there is rancour on the part of the residents, which is turning into hatred, we're already hosting enough of them".

Th head of the cooperative that runs the migrant centre in Rocca di Papa, Domenico Alagia, said "they will remain a few days in the centre and then will be welcomed by the diocese which said they were prepared to take them around Italy".

Another 39 remained in the hotspot in the Sicilian city, waiting to be transferred to Albania and Ireland, the only two nations who have said they will take some of the Diciotti migrants.

Most of the migrants will be moved to the Catholic Church centre near Rome, the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI) told a news agency on Monday.

"They will be moved as soon as possible, in the coming hours, to the centre run by Auxiluim, pending their transfer to the many dioceses who have given their availability: Turin, Brescia, Bologna, Agrigento, Cassano all'Jonio, Rossano Calabro, to cite only those I know about," CEI's head of social communications, Father Ivan Maffeis, told the SIR religious news agency.

The stand-off came after Interior Minister Matteo Salvini kept the migrants aboard saying they would not land until the EU agreed to take them.

Salvini is under investigation by an Agrigento prosecutor for alleged kidnapping, illegal arrest and abuse of office.

Albanian Premier Edi Rama said Tuesday Italy had been left alone by the EU to cope with the migrant emergency.

Speaking in Genoa after agreeing to take in 20 Eritrean migrants from the Diciotti after the standoff, Rama said "Italy has been the most welcoming country in Europe in the last 30 years, but it has been left alone and nerves are no longer so solid, we intervened hoping that Europe would do something concrete to resolve the problem".

"We (Albanians) were once the Eritreans. Italy was our promised land and the Italians did not ever leave us in the middle of the sea". Migrants "should be drowned in the open sea", a doctor at Spoleto hospital said on her Facebook page recently, sources said Tuesday.

The doctor works in the ER ward at the Umbrian hospital.

Il Messaggero newspaper said she called migrants "n**gers with Nike shoes and full bellies" and said they had scabies because of the "violence they perpetrated".

The local health authority told ANSA it had started disciplinary proceedings against her.

The doctor made her remarks in a Facebook group with some 38,000 doctors on it.

Her profile had been deleted Tuesday morning.

(ANSA) - Rome, August 28 - Some 100 migrants who landed from the coast guard ship Diciotti after a 10-day standoff with the EU left a hotspot in Messina Tuesday for a Catholic-run reception centre in Rocca di Papa south of Rome.

The migrants will get there after a 10-12-hour journey, sources said.

The Democratic Party (PD) former mayor of the Lazio town, Pasquale Boccia, said: "it can't be done, there is rancour on the part of the residents, which is turning into hatred, we're already hosting enough of them".

Another 39 remained in the hotspot in the Sicilian city, waiting to be transferred to Albania and Ireland, the only two nations who have said they will take some of the Diciotti migrants.

Most of the migrants will be moved to the Catholic Church centre near Rome, the Italian Bishops' Conference (CEI) told a news agency on Monday.

"They will be moved as soon as possible, in the coming hours, to the centre run by Auxiluim, pending their transfer to the many dioceses who have given their availability: Turin, Brescia, Bologna, Agrigento, Cassano all'Jonio, Rossano Calabro, to cite only those I know about," CEI's head of social communications, Father Ivan Maffeis, told the SIR religious news agency.

The stand-off came after Interior Minister Matteo Salvini kept the migrants aboard saying they would not land until the EU agreed to take them.

Salvini is under investigation by an Agrigento prosecutor for alleged kidnapping, illegal arrest and abuse of office.

Albanian Premier Edi Rama said Tuesday Italy had been left alone by the EU to cope with the migrant emergency.

Speaking in Genoa after agreeing to take in 20 Eritrean migrants from the Diciotti after the standoff, Rama said "Italy has been the most welcoming country in Europe in the last 30 years, but it has been left alone and nerves are no longer so solid, we intervened hoping that Europe would do something concrete to resolve the problem".

"We (Albanians) were once the Eritreans. Italy was our promised land and the Italians did not ever leave us in the middle of the sea".

WASHINGTON - Amid breaking news of a U.S.-Mexico trade deal, President Donald Trump invited reporters into the Oval Office on Monday to punctuate the moment in an unusual way: allowing them to sit in on a celebratory phone chat with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

But when he punched a button on a phone, the line was dead.

"Enrique?" Trump said, with television cameras rolling. There was no response. "You can hook him up," he called out to aides. "You tell me when. This is a big deal. A lot of people are waiting."

The audience, including top White House advisers and Mexican diplomats, would have to wait a touch longer - "Hellooo," the president tried again. "Do you want to put that on this phone please? Hellooo?" - before an aide finally took the receiver and patched Pena Nieto through.

The awkward, real-time sequence in the Oval Office offered another example of Trump's willingness to discard protocol and conduct his presidency like a reality show playing out in real time, conscripting those around him in service of the spectacle.

From hour-long Cabinet meetings broadcast live on cable television to White House events and campaign rallies in which he impulsively invites guests on stage to speak, Trump has employed his showman's mind-set to cast those around him in bit parts for a never-ending series about himself.

Evan Vucci / Associated Press

"I thought we'd congratulate each other before it got out," Trump told Pena Nieto.

Parts of the conversation were so stilted that it took on the air of a hastily arranged photo op. A translator tried to keep up with the Mexican leader's Spanish, while Pena Nieto promised Trump, who doesn't drink, a tequila toast.

Former press aides to presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama could not remember anything similar during their tenures, and reporters wondered aloud on social media whether Pena Nieto even knew he was on speaker phone. A senior Trump administration official familiar with the call said the Mexican side fully agreed to it.

Trump "thought talking about sealing the deal in front of reporters would be not just interesting but important for the American people to see," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. "It was coordinated with the Mexican government. I'd caution you that something like that does not take much time at all. If a deal is done, you say, 'Hey, Mr. President, why not get on a phone call for the press?'"

The official emphasized that Trump's performative personality has allowed him to discard the convention of his predecessors and pull back the curtain on a job that has long been "so scripted and milquetoast" in which presidents "follow a script line-by-line."

The approach has offered some advantages for Trump, allowing him to bask in the glow of unadulterated praises.

At Cabinet meetings, Trump has allowed reporters to observe as he moves around the table asking aides to answer questions about issues ranging from the economy to tax reform to foreign policy - prompting them to praise his leadership in flowery, often over-the-top prose.

At official events and campaign rallies, Trump has also made a habitof calling on associates, friends and ordinary supporters to join him on stage - sometimes offering them the microphone to address the raucous crowds.

During an address at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in July, Trump called to the stage 94-year-old Allen Q. Jones, a World War II veteran, who promptly asked if he could visit the Oval Office.

Trump leaned and answered, "Yes," thrilling the crowd and prompting Jones to request an autograph a photo of himself with Trump during the campaign.

Public officials who attend Trump's events said they come prepared in case they are called on by the president to perform.

In Duluth, Minnesota, in June, Trump called up several politicians, including House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., as well as a local county commissioner, Pete Stauber, a Republican who is running for Congress.

"Hey, Pete, come here," Trump said. "Say a few words. I wasn't supposed to do this, but let's hear him."

Stauber took the mic and praised Trump for curbing regulations and boosting the economy. "Mr. President, these people support you!" he said, drawing a huge cheer from the crowd.

Trump took the microphone back and said: "So I didn't know he was going to do that. Then he takes out a speech and reads it."

Stauber's campaign spokeswoman, Caroline Tarwid, said Trump's campaign informed them ahead of time that the candidate, who rode to the rally in the presidential limo, might be asked to speak.

"Obviously, the staff did let us know that anything can happen," Tarwid said.

But such unscripted moments have also led to flubs. At a live-televised meeting with congressional leaders on immigration in January, Trump appeared confused on policy details and contradicted himself several times, leaving lawmakers uncertain over his intentions.

More recently, Trump was speaking at a White House ceremony honoring federal immigration agents when he impulsively asked a Latino Border Patrol agent to join him and address the room.

"Speaks perfect English," Trump declared with a smile as the agent made his way to the stage, prompting blowback from commentators that the president had been racially insensitive.

For Trump, Monday's speakerphone call with Pea Nieto helped mask 18 months of tensions with his Mexican counterpart, who abruptly canceled a White House visit early last year after Trump repeated his campaign pledge to make Mexico pay for his proposed border wall.

As the two leaders wrapped up, Pena Nieto told Trump he was sending him "an affectionate hug."

"A hug from you would be very nice," the president replied, before hanging up and mistakenly telling reporters that he had just sealed a trade deal with Canada.HARTFORD  Patients with migraines, rheumatoid arthritis and muscular dystrophy soon will be able to treat their ailments with medical marijuana in Connecticut.

The Legislatures Regulation Review Committee unanimously voted Tuesday to expand the approved uses of medical marijuana for palliative care.

The state anticipates a relatively significant increase of patients joining the medical marijuana program as a result of these new uses, said Lora Rae Anderson, spokesman for the Department of Consumer Protection, which oversees the states medical marijuana program.

The agency does not have a formal estimate of how many patients will benefit from the change. More than 27,000 patients use the states medical marijuana program and nearly 1,000 physicians can recommend patient participation, Anderson said. Connecticut has nine dispensaries.

The new regulation, recommended by the Connecticut Medical Marijuana Board of Physicians, adds eight new conditions that can be treated with medical marijuana in patients 18 and older. They include intractable headaches, pain associated with fibromyalgia, facial pain, headache-causing hydrocephalus and a shingles complication known as postherpetic neuralgia.

Adults and patients younger than 18 can treat muscular dystrophy and a genetic disorder known as brittle bone disease with medical marijuana. The new additions expand the approved uses of medical marijuana to 30 for adults and eight for minors, including cancer, HIV and epilepsy.

We're pleased that the Legislature has accepted these regulations, allowing more patients with severe debilitating conditions, including intractable headache syndromes, to have access to this medication, said Michelle Seagull, commissioner of the state DCP. We look forward to serving more patients through the medical marijuana program, and are proud that this medication has been such an effective treatment option for thousands of patients in our state.

The new regulation will become effective after the department submits it to the Secretary of the States office  likely next week, said state Sen. Paul Doyle, D-Wethersfield, chairman of the committee.

Rep. Diana Urban, D-North Stonington, said 15 constituents contacted her in favor of adding the new palliative uses of medical marijuana. Many experience severe facial pain.

This (medical marijuana) gave them the ability to proceed with their lives, she said.

emunson@hearstmediact.com; Twitter: @emiliemunsonThe city of San Antonio asked the Texas Supreme Court on Monday to dismiss a lawsuit challenging its transfer of land next to the Hays Street Bridge that is set to be developed with a controversial apartment complex.

The Hays Street Bridge Restoration Group, a nonprofit that led the restoration of the bridge, sued the city in 2012 to prevent it from transferring the property, at 803 N. Cherry Street, to Alamo Beer Co. The group arranged the donation of the 1.7 acres to the city and claims it was supposed to be turned into a park, but the city disputes that.

Alamo Beer owner Eugene Simor, and developer Mitch Meyer want to build a five-story apartment complex on the property, but they have run into staunch opposition from East Side residents who worry that it would be out of character for the neighborhood and block views of the bridge.

RELATED: Hays Street Bridge apartments closer to reality after neighborhood associations support

City Manager Sheryl Sculley approved the complex last month after the citys Historic and Design Review Commission rejected it twice.

The city claims that nothing is left to be decided in the case because it already did what it was ordered to do in a 2014 judgment from Bexar County District Court, which said it must devote the proceeds from the land sale to the bridges restoration, City Attorney Andy Segovia said Monday.

After the property was sold in 2015, the city used its $291,000 in proceeds to offset its share of the cost of the bridges conversion into a pathway for pedestrians and cyclists, which was completed in 2010, city spokeswoman Thea Setterbo said.

Amy Kastely, an attorney for the restoration group, questioned why the city would have kept pursuing its appeal of the 2014 decision if it had obeyed the order.

To read more about the Hays Street Bridge battle, see Tuesdays Business section or click here to visit our subscriber website, ExpressNews.com.

Richard Webner is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering real estate and development. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | rwebner@express-news.net | Twitter: @RWebnerGoogle has renamed its UPI payment app in India from Google Tez to Google Pay. While this does bring it under Google's recently consolidated payment services, Google Pay in India will continue to use the UPI protocol instead of the NFC-based system used in other countries.

Apart from the name change, Google also announced that Google Pay in India will soon allow users to request an instant, pre-approved bank loan directly from within the app. Customers will be able to request a loan from Federal Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank. Users will be able to choose the amount and the period over which it will be paid back and the amount will be deposited directly without any paperwork.

The bank loan feature will be rolling out in the next few weeks. Users will be informed with a notification when the feature is available to them.

Google is also working on integrating Google Pay in India with various service providers. Current list of partners include Dish TV, redBus, Mi.com, Goibibo, FreshMenu, BookMyShow, Jet Airways, Nykaa, Reliance, Croma, FoodPanda, and Zerodha.

Google Pay, nee Tez currently has 22 million active users, with 750 million transactions being made so far since the service launched in September of 2017. The service uses India's UPI, or Unified Payments Interface, which enables direct money transfer from the sender's bank account to the receiver's with the UPI app acting as a bridge. The service is free of charge and only requires the sender's and receiver's banks to support UPI and the users to have created a UPI ID. UPI is currently the fastest growing payments systems in India.These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales.(ANSA) - Milan, August 28 - Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban said Tuesday Interior Minister Matteo Salvini "is my hero" ahead of a meeting between the two in Milan.

"I'd like to meet him personally. he is my hero," said Orban as he left a Milan restaurant where he had lunch ahead of the meeting.

"He is a companion of destiny of mine, I'm very curious to know his personality.

"I'm a great admirer and I have some experiences that I could perhaps share with him. I have that feeling".

Orban said Tuesday he had asked his friend, former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi, for permission to meet Salvini. "Do you support the fact that I should meet Salvini?" Orban said he had asked Berlusconi.

"'Certainly', he replied to me," said the Hungarian premier.

Salvini is set to meet Orban on the issue of migrants, where they both favour a hardline stance.

Orban has put off border walls against migrants while Salvini has refused to allow some ships to offload rescued migrants in Italy.

Politico said Tuesday "Orban and Salvini, master and pupil of EU populism, the Milan meeting worries Brussels and Rome".

Salvini said ahead of the Orban meeting that "now the left only exists to insult me, to defend the EU of the bankers and immigration without limits.

"PS in Hungary unemployment is under 5%, the flat tax for businesses is at 9% and for people at 15%, immigration is under control and the economy is growing by 4%.

Premier Giuseppe Conte, meanwhile, met Czech Premier Andrey Babis, another member of the Visegrad Group, in Rome.

The Visegrad Group, which is generally Euroskeptic and rejects EU solidarity on migrants, consists of Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia, led by populist leaders.

Salvini is leader of the anti-migrant Euroskeptic League party, which has been in government with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) for three months, as western Europe's first populist government.





Haiti - FLASH : The CCHD asks the Dominican authorities a 3rd extension of the PNRE





A few days before the expiry (August 26, 2018) of the second extension (3 years in total) of the National Plan for the Regularization of Foreigners (PNRE), the Haitian-Dominican Concertation Commission (CCHD), a binational group of Civil society, while welcoming the efforts of the Dominican State in the implementation of the PNRE, asks the Dominican government to reconsider this deadline.



The CCHD expresses its deep concern about the expiry of this second extension granted to Haitian migrants registered with the PNRE in order to complete their application for regularization, pointing on the one hand to the failings on the Dominican side in terms of communication and awareness of the people concerned and secondly the deep deficiencies of the Haitian state to provide the necessary identity documents to its citizens, two key factors that leave in uncertainty and the likely threat of evictions after August 26, of tens of thousands of Haitians who are still not regularized.



The member organizations of the CCHD signatories of a note sent to the leaders of the two countries at the end of an ordinary Assembly on August 7 and 8 last ( For Haiti : Fondation Zile-Haiti (FZ), Groupe dAppui aux Rapatries et Refugies (GARR), Observatoire de Recherche sur les Rapports Elites-Populations et les Migrations (ORREM), Reseau Frontalier Jeannot Succes (RFJS), Sant Pon Ayiti (SPA) and Service Jesuite aux Migrants  Solidarite Fwontalye Haiti (SJM-SFw-Haiti) and for the Dominican Republic : Movimiento de Mujeres Dominico Haitianas (MUDHA), Movimiento Socio Cultural para los Trabajadores Haitianos (MOSCTHA), Centro de Observacion Migratoria y el Desarrollo Social en el Caribe (OBMICA), Centro de Desarrollo Social (CEDESO) and Centro Cultural Dominico Haitiano (CCDH)) recommend to both nations to :



"Combine their efforts to revive the work of the bilateral joint commission as soon as the new Haitian government is installed to establish a frank and productive dialogue on the migration issue.



Open this high level dialogue space to the formal participation of the island Civil Society through representatives of organizations whose work is dedicated to the different aspects of relations between the two countries."



However, at two years of general elections in the neighboring Republic, the "explosive" sensitivity of the file of Haitian migration in Dominican territory, millions of dollars invested in the PNRE and after 3 years of extensions granted to Haitians to regularize (in addition ot the 15 months of the PNRE), ont can doubt, except a miracle, that the Dominican Republic grants a new deadline or a moratorium to this program, that it affirms, for several months, want to close definitively on August 26th. Especially since the arguments on the lack of the Haitian State to document its citizens so that they can regularize, have existed for more than 4 years and date well before the establishment of this Plan of regularization, without ever having found solution for Haitians living in the Dominican Republic.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25236-haiti-social-nearly-200-000-haitians-risk-being-expelled-from-dr.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25188-haiti-dr-a-little-more-than-80-000-haitians-deported-or-turned-back-in-7-months.html



PI/ HaitiLibre





















Haiti - Diplomacy : Passing of former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan





"The Office of Citizen Protection (OPC), has learned with dismay the news of the passing away of the eminent diplomat, KoFi Annan, Saturday, August 18.



An emblematic figure of international diplomacy, Kofi Annan was the 7th Secretary General of the United Nations (1997-2006). His long struggle for the respect of the principles and values of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, long years of experience in promoting a culture of social peace allowed him to win in 2001, the Nobel Prize of the peace [...]"



Despite differences and opinions, he has been at the origin of a vast reform of the United Nations, notably by the creation of including the Commission for the Consolidation of Peace of the International Criminal Court and the Human Right Council.



"The OPC expresses its sympathies to the family of Kofi Annan, to the members of the Foundation and to the entire United Nations system, particularly to the Representative of the Secretary General, Head of the Mission for Support to Justice in Haiti (Minujusth)."



President Jovenel Moise "Kofi Annan, a great UN figure, has passed away. Nobel Peace Prize, his passage at the head of the Institution has left the memory of a craftsman of global stability. I bow to his remains and convey my condolences to the great family of the United Nations."



PM resigning Jack Guy Lafontant "I salute the departure of a world political leader, former Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who died in Switzerland on 18 August. Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2001, Annan marked his time as head of the institution and his death is a great loss for Africa and for the world."



Michaelle Jean "From friend Kofi Annan, who has seen the world fall into horror, I hold this confession, its dilemma "How can the United Nations defend its raison d'etre if it fails to stand up for human rights first and foremost?" Respect for this tireless peace maker."



Deputy Gary Bodeau "Kofi Annan, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and former UN Secretary General. Beyond the speech, a whole life dedicated to fight for a better world. The example to follow."



HL/ HaitiLibre





















Haiti - Agriculture : 16 Haitian scholarship holders to India





Friday at the National Palace, President Jovenel Moise, received 16 Haitian students who are preparing to leave the country for India to attend training in modern management of poultry farms.



In the presence of Jobert C. Angrand the resigning Minister of Agriculture and several of his advisers, the Head of State met with the young scholarship holders who were recruited from various agricultural associations across the country.



These scholarship holders will be supervised by Bernardy Sainvil, an agricultural expert from the Ministry of Agriculture throughout their training, will visit the "Dr. BV Rao Institute of Poultry Management and Technology" (IMPT) in Pune (the second largest city in the world, India, State of Maharashtra in the West), where they will attend an 8-week training course in hatchery management, feed input management, broiler rearing, layer rearing, modern sanitation techniques, management of poultry farms and marketing.



This initiative is the first of a series of specialized poultry training programs that will allow Haiti to increase its domestic production of eggs and broilers in order to meet the needs of the population, support entrepreneurship in the poultry industry and make available trained managers in modern poultry production techniques.



Let's stress that India is known for its substantial egg production (over $ 3.5 billion / year) and its expertise in managing poultry farms and modern agricultural / poultry co-operatives.



HL/ HaitiLibre

















(ANSA) - Milan, August 28 - Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban said Tuesday Interior Minister Matteo Salvini "is my hero" ahead of a meeting between the two in Milan.

"I'd like to meet him personally. he is my hero," said Orban as he left a Milan restaurant where he had lunch ahead of the meeting.

"He is a companion of destiny of mine, I'm very curious to know his personality.

"I'm a great admirer and I have some experiences that I could perhaps share with him. I have that feeling".

Orban said Tuesday he had asked his friend, former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi, for permission to meet Salvini. "Do you support the fact that I should meet Salvini?" Orban said he had asked Berlusconi.

"'Certainly', he replied to me," said the Hungarian premier.

In fact, Wollondilly accounts for the highest number per 1,000 businesses of anonymous reports received by the FWO in NSW and ranks second highest in terms of requests for assistance.



The Fair Work Inspectors will be checking businesses time and wage records for compliance with workplace laws.

Moreover, audits will cover a cross-section of industries, such as construction, retail, manufacturing and accommodation and food services.



Ombudsman Sandra Parker said that young employees are vulnerable to underpayment and poor working conditions due to lack of experience and awareness of rights.



Proactive campaigns are an important tool to educate employers about their workplace obligations. Inspectors will provide advice to businesses to help them comply with the law, said Parker.



Businesses should be warned that non-compliance can lead to action ranging from formal cautions and on-the-spot fines to litigation for the most serious breaches.



As in all our campaigns, we are keen to work closely with key stakeholders in the region in building a culture of compliance.



In July, Fair Work inspectors discovered widespread breaches of workplace laws in Glebe Point Road, Glebe, Sydney; Victoria Street, Richmond, Melbourne; and Fortitude Valley in Brisbane after interviewing staff and checking employment records.Its more important to look at all the things they do on a day-to-day basis to get their job done, said Averbook.

HR needs to understand that and then figure out how to grow, develop and listen to employees without overwhelming them.

This should be done by making it natural for them while not competing with what they were hired to do.

The second thing HR must improve on is creating value, as its very important to be aware of where HR can improve experiences.

He cited the example of an employee who is about to have a baby.Health officials confirm La Crosse encephalitis case from mosquito bite

Public health officials are urging residents to take steps to prevent mosquito bites after state officials confirmed a case of La Crosse Encephalitis Virus in a resident of Henderson County.

La Crosseis viral illness that is transmitted to a person through the bite of an infected mosquito, particularly the "tree hole mosquito", and causes inflammation of the brain. La Crosse is the most common mosquito-borne virus in North Carolina, occurring mostly in the western part of the state.

"Although summer is winding down, this case is a reminder that we still need to be vigilant about the threat of illness from mosquitoes," said Crystal O'Dell, RN, FNP, Director of Nursing at the Department of Public Health. Mosquito borne illness is most common in the months of July, August and September.

Symptoms of LACV can occur from a few days to a couple of weeks after being bitten by an infected mosquito. Symptoms include fever, headache, nausea, vomiting and tiredness. Severe disease involving encephalitis occurs most commonly in children under age 16 and is often accompanied by seizures. Many people infected with LACV do not develop symptoms at all. However, in rare cases LACV can cause coma, paralysis, long term disability or death.

"There is no vaccine for LACV. Your best defense against LACV or other mosquito-borne diseases is to prevent mosquito bites," said O'Dell. "Mosquitoes that spread LACV are most active during the daytime from spring through late fall."

Health officials recommended the following steps to reduce exposure to mosquito bites:

* Use insect repellent.

* Wear protective clothing such as long sleeves, pants and socks.

* Avoid peak biting hours.

* Install and repair screens on windows and doors.

* Keep mosquitoes from laying eggs near your residence.

For additional information on mosquito-borne illnesses and ways to prevent mosquito bites, visit hendersoncountync.gov/health. Under the Community Interest tab, click on Fight the Bite.



Nonprofit seeks permit for 42-bed treatment center

First Contact Ministries, which is supported by Mud Creek Baptist Church, is seeking county zoning approval for a 42-bed addiction treatment facility on Erkwood Drive. Property is at left across from the church.

A ministry of Mud Creek Baptist Church has applied for a special-use permit to build a 42-bed residential treatment facility on Erkwood Drive across from the church.

First Contact Ministries filed the application last week seeking authorization from the Henderson County Zoning Board of Adjustment to build the 19,746-square-foot two-story center on 2.76 acres the church owns between Rutledge Drive and Helms Barbershop.

Residents of Dunroy, Estate Drive, Chanteloupe and other subdivisions are expected to oppose the permit. Seventy neighbors turned out for a meeting at the Henderson County public library last March, when the proposal first became public, and discussed testimony they planned to offer in a zoning hearing.

The property is zoned R-1, which would allow the facility if the Zoning Board of Adjustment grants the special-use permit.

In the application by First Contact president Craig Halford, the non-profit organization says that the Residential Recovery Facility would accommodate 42 individuals in a recovery and treatment program lasting at least 7 months.

Residents must undergo rigorous screenings to determine who is the best fit for the residential program, he said in the application. The residents will receive professional services, assistance, encouragement and supervision  to address controlled and other substance addiction challenges. The program is not a mental health treatment facility, he said, nor would it be a detox facility.

Site of proposed First Contact residential treatment center is outlined in red. Property in purple is in Flat Rock, pink in Hendersonville.The screening process for admittance will bar anyone with an expected propensity for physical violence, he said. The building will have ample security personnel, security monitoring systems and locked doors at night. And any resident leaving the building will be escorted by a staff member, Halford said.

Addressing requirements in the county land-use code for a special-use permit, Halford also said the facility would not harm the value of surrounding property and would be in harmony with the neighborhood, noting that it would blend well with Mud Creek Baptist Church. Hope Academy, Pinebrook Group Home and a counseling center. The focus of the Residential Recovery Center fits well in the area when considering services already provided by Mud Creek Baptist Church concerning education and counseling services, he said.

Opponents are likely to challenge the assertion that the treatment center is in harmony with the residential character of the area.

Its my opinion that a 15,000-square-foot facility of any kind is not in keeping with the residential character of all the neighborhoods that are around this area, Hilton Swing, a real estate agent who lives on Chanteloup Drive, said in the March meeting at the library. What were talking about is zoning integrity and zoning compatibility and those are the things that affect our property values. By his count, there are some 1,500 homes within a 1-mile radius of Mud Creek church.

Clay Smith, a Dunroy resident, agrees opioid addiction is needed but says the First Contact proposal lacks a key service.

I dont believe its the right kind of location whether it was near my home or not, he said. Its not close to a medical facility. All the research indicates thats just an absolute necessity now if you really want to have an effective facility. Unless its done with medicine over a long enough period of time they just dont have the success.  Its wasted money, its wasted effort.

Halford and Mud Creek, under the leadership of senior minister Greg Mathis, first met about creating First Contact Ministries seven years ago. The organization provides addiction recovery counseling and support and has modeled the proposed center after a Christian-based residential treatment center in Leesburg, Florida. The ongoing opioid addiction crisis makes the effort all the more urgent, Mathis said in an interview with the Lightning in March.

This is a such a crisis, he said Mathis. This is an epidemic, this is an emergency and its not a time to fuss over should we do it here. Somebody needs to start and set the example that would be done in multiple places.

-30-The Court of Appeal has dismissed a Dublin woman's challenge against the abortion referendum result.

Joanna Jordan, from Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, had appealed last month's ruling by High Court President Mr Justice Peter Kelly that Ms Jordan had failed to meet the necessary legal test set by the Referendum Act before a court could permit a petition to be brought.

In a decision handed down yesterday, the Court of Appeal - comprising its President Mr Justice George Birmingham, Ms Justice Mary Irvine and Mr Justice Gerard Hogan - found that Judge Kelly was "entirely correct in refusing leave to Ms Jordan to present the petition".

Mr Justice Birmingham said the court would go even further than the High Court ruling and held that Ms Jordan's presentation, based as it was on flimsy and slender grounds, amounted to a frustration of the democratic process in relation to referenda and might in other circumstances amount to an abuse of process.

In her appeal Ms Jordan, of Upper Glenageary Road, Dun Laoghaire, alleged there had been irregularities in the conduct of the referendum and registration of voters.

She also complained about statements made by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Health Minister Simon Harris during the referendum campaign.

Her appeal against the High Court's decision was opposed by the State.

Giving the court's decision, Mr Justice Birmingham said Government ministers were perfectly free to campaign as they saw fit.

It was not a breach of the Government's duty to uphold the Constitution by campaigning for change, since a mechanism for constitutional change was itself provided for in the Constitution, the judge added.

Handful

He said Ms Jordan had not advanced any sustainable argument or evidence to demonstrate that the effect of any supposed irregularities in relation to the Electoral Register could possibly have affected the result.

Even taking her claims to their absolute height, and making every possible allowance in her favour, all that could be shown was that at most a handful of votes had been affected.

The court agreed with Mr Justice Kelly's "considerably restrained comments" that much of what Ms Jordan claimed in regard to irregularities with the Electoral Register were general assertions, speculation or inadmissible hearsay.

Her claims included that people entitled to vote did not get polling cards, potential no voters were deregistered, and that thousands of young Irish people who were paid to return to vote were not questioned at the polling stations about their time of residency abroad.

Mr Justice Birmingham said the Court of Appeal would go further to say Ms Jordan's assertions were "so entirely devoid of substance that we can only conclude they were made with reckless and irresponsible abandon".

After dismissing the appeal, the court placed a stay on its decision pending an appeal to the Supreme Court until Friday of this week. It is understood Ms Jordan intends to appeal.

The court also said that Ms Jordan must pay the legal costs incurred by the State for contesting the appeal.Morocco shocked by gang rape for months of 17-yr-old girl Torturers covered body in obscene tattoos, Khadija talks on TV

(ANSAmed) - RABAT, AUGUST 28 - A wave of indignation and shock has washed across Morocco after the story of a 17-year-old girl who was kidnapped, raped and tortured for three months came to light.



The girl, Khadija Okkarou, was held only a few kilometers from Casablanca. Ten or twelve men left obscene tattoos over her entire body in addition to signs of torture and cigarette burns. Some 15,000 Moroccans have signed a petition urging authorities to provide urgent medical and psychological care to her. A drawing that portrays a nude tattooed girl with her face covered with 'SOS' has gone viral as has the hashtag that translates as ''We Are All Khadija''.



Tattoo artists have offered to get rid of the tattoos. The victim came forward with the story in recent days and went on television to talk about the case after reporting it to the police. ''I will never forgive them. They have destroyed me,'' she said as the video showed a Nazi symbol, pornographic drawings and insults tattooed on her skin. ''I tried to escape many times but they always managed to capture me. I was not allowed to eat or drink or wash myself,'' she said. She added that ''my father begged them to release me in exchange for silence (about what they had done, Ed.). This was how I managed to go home. I was the one to report everything to the police. I want justice.'' No official statements have been made on the investigation but a dozen suspects have reportedly been interrogated and the first hearing may be held on September 6, according to unconfirmed leaks to newspapers. In 2017, 1, 600 rapes were reported, double the previous year. The most well known case was that of Amina Filali, who committed suicide in 2012 after being forced to marry her rapist. The case raised such a wave of indignation that Morocco amended the article of its criminal code that allowed rapists to evade jail time if they married their victim. In February 2018, a law against domestic violence came into force that punishes harassment for the first time ever.



(ANSAmed).



Gardai are investigating alleged racial abuse against Ireland's newly crowned Rose of Tralee.

Kirsten Mate Maher (21), the first African-Irish rose from Waterford, was allegedly subjected to a torrent of racist verbal abuse when she and her boyfriend stopped at a chipper in Kilkenny after a night out with friends on Saturday.

A garda spokesman last night confirmed an investigation had been launched.

"Gardai in Kilkenny are aware of an alleged incident on John Street at 3am. Enquiries are ongoing," he said.

Customers

RTE last night reported Ms Maher and her boyfriend were allegedly abused by two male customers in the takeaway.

It was reported one man racially abused her until her boyfriend asked him to stop.

At that point a second man allegedly became involved and gardai were called.

Officials from the Rose of Tralee Festival committee could not be reached for comment last night.

However, a spokesman reportedly told RTE it was aware of an incident involving the contest winner but Kirsten would not be commenting further.

He told RTE that Kirsten had been racially abused in the past and it was an ongoing issue for other people from different nationalities living in Ireland.

However, he said racism was an issue that Kirsten wants to highlight during her reign.

The alleged incident came less than a week after she was crowned and spoke of how modern Ireland is much more accepting of diversity.

"[Ireland] is so much more accepting", she told RTE Radio One's Morning Ireland last week.

"We are all mixed and from different parts of the world," added Kirsten, whose father Kwalo is from Zambia and mother Jacinta is Irish.

"I know it's a bit more obvious with myself. I've curly hair and darker skin but at the end of the day we need to see past that and realise there is no typical Irish woman.

"We're all different and come in all shapes and sizes, skin colour, freckles and no freckles."Tunisian protestors and police clash in Ben Guerdane After delay in reopening border with Libya

(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, AUGUST 28 - A group of Tunisian traders on Monday evening blocked the road from Ben Guerdane to the border crossing with Libya.



The crossing has been closed to goods for about a month.



Protestors burned tires and security forces used tear gas to break up the crowd. The demonstration was against a delay in talks for the reopening of the border crossing with Libya, underway for weeks, due to large economic losses. The entire economy of the area around Ben Guerdane, the last Tunisian city before the border with Libya, is based on trade with Libya and smuggling.



In recent days Ben Guerdane mayor Fathi Abab confirmed that talks for the reopening of the Ras Jedir border crossing had failed, saying that Libyans have demanded an end to protests on the Tunisian side as prerequisite for going forward with them. Another meeting between the Tunisian and Libyan delegations is planned for the coming days. (ANSAmed).



ISTANBUL - Turkey's state broadcaster TRT has stopped showing films starring US cowboys, which the channel has aired on Sunday mornings since the 1980s.

The decision in response to the current crisis between the US and Turkey, Turkish media say.

The US has demanded the release of citizens held in Turkey including the evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson and imposed sanctions on two Turkish ministers and tariffs on metal imports from Turkey. Turkey has responded with similar measures.

The Turkish lira has dropped sharply in recent weeks as a result.

In place of the Westerns will be local Turkish productions supported by the culture ministry, local media report.

The initiative reflects growing anti-Americanism in the country, a tendency supported by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Emergency camp set up near Granada due to migrant influx 500 in 3 days in Andalusia, 50 ashore amid beach vacationers

(ANSAmed) - MADRID, AUGUST 28 - A new Center for Temporary Assistance to Foreigners (CATE) has been set up in Motril near Granada by the Spanish government to deal with a large number of migrant boat landings in recent days in Andalusia. Over 500 people arrived last weekend alone.



In only two days. 80 soldiers from the Emergency Military Unit (UME) set up 17 large tents able to lodge 250 people. Another CATE set up by the army in June in the same Motril port has a 90-person capacity, sources at the prefect's office said. From Friday to Sunday, over 500 migrants on 18 boats were rescued in the sea off Andalusia, local media quoted sea rescue services sources as saying. About 50 of the people of sub-Saharan origins, 18 of whom under 18, landed Sunday on a beach crowded with holidaymakers in Barrosa in the middle of the day on a dinghy.



Civil protection units intercepted about 30 and has begun searching for the other occupants of the boat. (ANSAmed).



For Subscribers

How many COVID tests do you think Meritus has done? Here's the answerBRUSSELS - The European Union's EUNAVFORMED Operation Sophia has rescued 44,916 people since it began on June 22, 2015, according to the most recent figures from the Italian-led mission, in which 26 of 28 European member states participate (Denmark and Slovakia being the exceptions).

In 2018, the operation saved 2,292 people; in 2017, 11,617 people; in 2016, 22,885 people; and in 2015, 7,402 people.

The number of people rescued is roughly 9% of all people rescued at sea.

As part of the mission, 237 Libyan Coast Guard and Navy sailors have been trained, 551 boats have been stopped, and 151 suspected human traffickers have been turned over to Italian judicial authorities.

In addition, 2,199 checks have been performed with respect to the arms embargo.

Operation Sophia's main objective is the fight against human trafficking, a mandate that was broadened to the training of the Libyan Coast Guard and Navy, checks on the UN arms embargo, and information activities to fight oil smuggling.EU left Italy on its own with migrants, Albanian PM Country 'was our promised land and never abandoned us'

(ANSAmed) - GENOA, AUGUST 28 - Albanian prime minister Edi Rama explained Tuesday on Telenord why his country had decided to welcome some of the migrants rescued by the Italian coast guard ship Diciotti that had been prevented from disembarking for several days onto Italian soil.



''Italy has been the most welcoming country of Europe over the past 30 years but it was left on its own and has been weakened by this. We intervened hoping that Europe will do something to solve the problem,'' he said. ''We were the Eritreans once. Italy was our promised land and Italians never left us in the middle of the sea,'' he added. ''One country alone cannot do it. It is disappointing to see how meetings and summits are held but in the end there is always very little respect shown towards Italy and Greece,'' the Albanian PM said. (ANSAmed).



Mahmoud Abbas says Palestine supports two-state solution Palestinian president receives Israeli delegation in Ramallah

(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, AUGUST 28 - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Palestinians remain in favor of a two-state solution based on international decisions for the resolution of the conflict with Israel.



Abbas met a group of Israeli scholars and academics at the Mukataa, the presidential residence in Ramallah in the West Bank.



"This side remains committed to reaching a just and complete peace based on the principles of the two-state solution and international decisions, despite all the difficulties and the obstacles placed by the Israeli government," Abbas said, according to Palestinian state news agency WAFA.



Abbas has repeatedly rejected the peace plan that the administration of US President Donald Trump is working on.



It said the US is no longer a "credible partner" after its decision to name Jerusalem the capital of Israel and to move its embassy there.(ANSAmed).



Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif are shooting together for Bharat in Malta and recently wrapped the schedule for the Ali Abbas Zafar film. Bharat is getting as much media space for its dreamy first look as behind-the-scenes action. Salman is accompanied by mother Salma Khan and sister Alvira Agnihotri and often shares photos with both.

On Monday, however, we got to see Katrina hugging Salma Khans mother Salma Khan. Both looked amazing together and we also got to see Katrina dressed as a bride in the photo and seems to be from Bharats sets in the country. The photo was shared by Salmans sister, Arpita Khan Sharma.

As soon as the photo emerged online, Salman and Katrinas fans started commenting on it. The two stars, who have done over half a dozen films together, have dated in the past. They broke up a few years ago but remain good friends. Katrina is on good terms with Salmans family and stepped in to play Bharats leading lady after Priyanka Chopra pulled out a few days before she was supposed to shoot for the film.

Fans were quick to comment on the photo. As one person on Twitter called it saas bahu goals, Arpita had a funny reaction to it. She also shutdown a troll who had an uncharitable remark about Katrina. Arpita later deleted the photo as it revealed Katrina Kaifs bridal look from the film. However, the photo is already viral.

Earlier, Salman and Katrinas first look from the film was shared by Ali Abbas Zafar. The couple was seen twirling together in the still. The team has been sharing a lot of images from the sets too.

Bharat first look had Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif twirling together.

Katrina Kaif looks gorgeous in this photo from the sets of Bharat.

Salman Khan is spending time with the love of his life, mother Salma Khan.

Salman Khan and mother Salma went exploring Malta together.

Other than Salman and Katrina, Bharat also stars Sunil Grover, Tabu, Disha Patani and Nora Fatehi. Spanning over 60 years, the film is a remake of a Korean film. The film will release on Eid next year.A committee of lawmakers thinks the Reserve Bank of Indias policies have accentuated the problem of non-performing assets of state-owned banks, and reduced amount at their disposal to lend; that banks do not have what it takes to fund long-gestation projects; and that it is important to remove the environment of fear in which bankers operate today, worrying that even a legitimate loan approval could engender an investigation.

According to a senior lawmaker who spoke on condition of anonymity, the committee is likely to recommend in its report that Indias central bank relax some of these rules, thereby increasing the amount at the disposal of some state-owned banks to lend by around Rs5 lakh crore, and earning them additional interest income of around Rs45,000 crore.

Specifically, the committee has criticised RBIs revised definition for recognising NPAs that saw a spike in the bad loans on the books of banks and said this could hit economic growth. The lawmaker who asked not to be identified said that the committee will recommend that the central bank ease its rules.

The lawmaker also said that the committee believes that RBIs requirements of the so-called Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio (the extent to which a banks capital can cover its loans, adjusted for risk) is far too stringent, especially for some state owned banks that do not operate overseas at all. The new International Finance Reporting Standards place a further restriction on banks in this context, the lawmaker said, and the committee is hoping RBI will defer this.

Abhizer Diwanji, head of financial services and restructuring with Ernst & Young, however, felt that such measures will lead to a poorer rating for banks and perceived to be more risk prone. Irrespective of the international exposure of our banks, the CRAR should be kept high as they face certain other risks. Also, our banks like SBI and Bank of Baroda has a lot of international exposure even if it forms a small part of their balance sheet.

The report of the committee, to be submitted by the end of this month, is likely to suggest that RBI ensure that there is no atmosphere of anxiety and uncertainty among the bankers and that the regulator itself avoid knee-jerk reactions. The lawmaker added that the committee believes that one such was the halting of letters of undertaking in the aftermath of the fraud perpetrated by jewellers Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modis who misused this instrument (essentially a guarantee from the bank).

The rising NPAs of banks have escalated to a major political row between the ruling NDA and the opposition. While the NDA government blames the previous regime for giving loans out of extraneous considerations, the opposition has slammed the NDA of financial mismanagement. NPAs in public sector banks increased by around 6.2 lakh crore between March 2015 and March 2018, leading to a substantial provisioning of 5.1 lakh crore.

The committee also plans to ask the government to see if RBI needs more power as a regulator.

According to the lawmaker, the committee also recognises the importance of bankruptcies being resolved before the National Company Law Tribunal and is worried that some of these are taking more than the 270-day timeline prescribed under the rules. This person added that the committee will recommend that the tribunal be strengthened so that it can meet its workload.

Diwanji welcomed the suggestion and said, This is justified. We need stronger and decisive benches. Currently, there are just 13 or 15 NCLT benches and just one appellate tribunal, he said.

The lawmaker said the committee has met various stakeholders while preparing its report and added that while it is aware of the situation in state-owned banks, it would not like the current crisis to lead to any opportunity to privatise some of these banks.Minutes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered his Independence Day speech, Indias fact checking industry got to work. The Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) saved three lakh childrens lives, said the PM, citing the World Health Organization. False, said the fact checkers. The World Health Organization cited the three-lakh figure describing potential rather than actual SBM impact. Construction of new rural homes increased by four times, said the PM. True, tweeted the fact checkers.

This cycle of using data to make claims on performance by the Modi government and fact checking is now a regular feature in our public discourse. At one level this is welcome. In my world of policy wonks, evidence-based policy making is the gold standard that all governments must aspire to. And what better evidence of evidence based policy than a government that routinely uses data to showcase performance? Arguably, the emergence of fact checkers is a sign of a healthy democracy where government is held accountable for its claims. But behind this virtuous cycle of claims and counter claims is the emergence of a new data politics that is slowly framing political discourse and government action in the country. This merits careful examination.

To examine this new politics, it is worth considering the kinds of data that government collects and showcases versus data that it stays stubbornly silent on. There is today a deluge of administrative data on flagship schemes. Dashboards, mobile apps and indexes that rank states, district, cities and villages on every conceivable indicator from ease of business to ease of living are the hallmark of this governments governance style. And the BJP, more than any of its predecessors, has been deft at using data to score political points. Consider the recent Saaf Niyat, Sahi Vikas campaign celebrating four years in government  all the publicity material on billboards and websites used data-based infographics to showcase sahi vikas.

Despite this deluge, there is relatively little by way of independent, third party survey data, particularly on politically contentious issues. This is most visible in the ongoing debate on jobs. The PM and his government have repeatedly argued that the real jobs problem is not the lack of jobs, rather the lack of data on jobs. But as economist Himanshu has pointed out, the obvious question to ask then is why the government has refused to collect credible data on jobs. The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) is widely regarded, including by the Niti Aayog task force on improving employment data, as the most comprehensive source of labour force statistics in India. Between 2004 and 2011-12, six employment-unemployment surveys (EUS) were conducted by NSSO. Rather than revive the practice of conducting annual surveys, on coming to power, a debate was had on methodology and quality of employment data, and the next round of the EUS was delayed to 2018. In the interim, the lack of jobs data became a political convenience. A similar story is now playing out in the fracas over revised GDP figures.

What about data that is collected? How is it being used? Administrative data is a powerful tool for monitoring and course correction. However, in a low-capacity state like ours, when data becomes politically relevant, it can create perverse incentives that compromise both data quality and the core objectives of government intervention. This is precisely the dynamic unfolding in SBM. High political visibility and tightly monitored targets have resulted in a frantic race to the top. But as studies by the Centre for Policy Researchs Accountability Initiative, RICE and other researchers show, where capacity is low, to meet targets and make a splash on the dashboard, many administrators have taken to penalisation and coercion of citizens rather than awareness-raising and demand creation, thereby undermining the spirit behind SBM. When data becomes political it also becomes vulnerable. And SBM is an important illustration of just this.

Finally, data-driven politics is only credible if administrative data is complemented by rigorous independent studies and evaluations. Civil society too plays a critical role by demystifying and communicating data, thus empowering citizens with relevant information. Governments and politicians have few incentives to create such an environment. But benign neglect helps. Take the example of MGNREGA. In its early years, academics and civil society closely evaluated the programme creating a powerful data ecosystem. The UPA did not actively encourage this but it didnt dissuade academia and civil society, often relying on them for feedback. This governments limited appetite for dissent and critique is discouraging the creation of a similar data-ecosystem on flagships. So for all its data-driven speeches and publicity, citizens today are none the wiser about their governments performance.Chandni Chowk is set to become the first locality in the national Capital where motorised vehicles will be banned  only pedestrians, cycle rickshaws and e-rickshaws will be allowed  between 9am and 9pm every day, according government officials familiar with the development.

The final approval to a proposal to reserve the 1.5km stretch from Red Fort to Fatehpuri mosque for pedestrians and non-motorised vehicles (NMVs) was approved by Delhis lieutenant governor (LG) Anil Baijal on Monday.

Only non-motorised vehicles such as cycle rickshaws, e-rickshaws and hand carts will be allowed to ply in the dedicated corridor during this time, Manish Kumar Verma, director (planning) at the unified traffic and transportation infrastructure (planning & engineering) centre (UTTIPEC), said.

All infrastructure projects in the city have to be approved by UTTIPEC, which is headed by the LG.

The Delhi governments public works department (PWD) has been asked to execute the plan. The timeline to execute the project is already prepared, which also has approval of the PWD minister. It may take 6-12 months to put restrictions on motorised vehicles on the stretch for 12 hours, said a senior PWD official who asked not to be named.

According to estimates by the Chandni Chowk traders association, 150,000 to 200,000 people, including tourists, visit the market every day. An average of 2,000 cycle rickshaw and equal number of e-rickshaws ply in the area. With cars, two-wheelers and auto-rickshaws also using the crowded road, locals say the stretch becomes hard to negotiate because of frequent traffic jams.

The LG has given a go-ahead to the proposal, which calls for a 5.5-metre wide carriageway on both sides, with slight modification. Instead of two metres, the central verge will now be 3.5 metres wide. Power transformers and public facilities will be placed on the centre verge, said the official quoted above.

In July 2017, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) had proposed that Connaught Place, or Rajiv Chowk, be declared a pedestrian-only zone, but the project could not take off because of the opposition from several quarters, including traders.

Sanjay Bhargava, president of Chandni Chowk Sarv Vyapar Mandal, expressed his displeasure over the approval given to the plan, saying the suggestions of key stakeholders was not taken into consideration.

The width of footpaths has been reduced, while more space is being given to non-motorised vehicle lanes. It will create a mess. We demanded that there should be immediate ban on unlicensed rickshaws plying in the market and loading/unloading should also not be allowed during the day as per a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order, Bhargava said.

Amit Bhatt, director (integrated urban transport) at World Resources Institute (WRI), however, lauded the decision. The proposal was long due. Core areas in big cities around the world such as Istanbul and Paris are pedestrianised. If the authorities are able to implement it in right manner, it will revitalise the area.  he said.

The Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation (SRDC)  set up for conservation and redevelopment of the Walled City  welcomed the decision. The urban development minister, who is also the chairman of SRDC, has given administrative approval to the DPR for redevelopment of Chandni Chowk Project so it is now expected that PWD shall adhered to timelines already decided in the meeting held on May 22 under his chairmanship. The successful implementation of this project may give impetus for heritage conservation, social development , local economic rejuvenation , pedestrianisation, etc. in the area, said Nitin Panigrahi, deputy general manager (project and administration), SRDC.Marijuanas main mind-altering ingredient was detected in nursing mothers breast milk in a small study that comes amid evidence that more US women are using pot during pregnancy and afterward. Experts say the ingredient, THC, has chemical properties that could allow it to disrupt brain development and potentially cause harm, although solid evidence of that is lacking.

The new study involved 50 nursing mothers who were using pot and provided breast milk samples to researchers at the University of California, San Diego. Lab testing found small amounts of THC, the psychoactive chemical that causes marijuanas high, in 34 of 54 samples up to six days after they were provided. Another form of THC and cannabidiol, a pot chemical touted by some as a health aid, were detected in five samples.

The study authors said it is reasonable to speculate that exposing infants to THC or cannabidiol could influence normal brain development, depending on dose and timing.

The results echo findings in case reports from years ago, when pot was less potent than whats available today, said study co-author Christina Chambers, a pediatrics professor. Its not known if the amounts detected pose any risk, but she said her research team is studying children whose moms were involved to try to answer that question.

Two small studies from the 1980s had conflicting results on whether pot use affects breastfed infants. One found no evidence of growth delays; the other found slight developmental delays in breastfed infants, but their mothers had used pot during pregnancy too.

Most pediatricians encourage breastfeeding and its health benefits for infants, but theyre stuck with a dilemma with infants whose mothers use pot, Chambers said. A new American Academy of Pediatrics report recommending against pot use while pregnant or nursing acknowledges that challenge.

We still support women breastfeeding even if using marijuana but would encourage them to cut down and quit, said Dr. Seth Ammerman, a report co-author and Stanford University pediatrics professor. In counseling patients about this, its important to be nonjudgmental but to educate patients about the potential risks and benefits, Ammerman said, to ensure a healthy outcome for themselves and their baby.

The study and report were published Monday in the journal Pediatrics . The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has similar advice. The academy report says its advice is based on theoretical risks to developing brains, but it acknowledges conflicting evidence and a dearth of research. Some studies have linked pot use during pregnancy with lower birth weights or preterm birth, along with developmental delays and learning difficulties in older children. But additional factors including womens use of other drugs during pregnancy complicated the results, the report says.

Marijuana is legal for recreational use in nine states and Washington, D.C., and for medical use in 31 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. As more states legalize marijuana, its use is increasing along with the false impression that it is safe, the academys report says. Ammerman said caution makes sense, given the uncertainties.

According to U.S. government data, about 1 in 20 women report using marijuana during pregnancy. Estimates for use among breastfeeding mothers vary, but a study in Colorado, where recreational marijuana is legal, put the number at almost 20 percent among women in a government supplemental food program.

The report, study and a journal editorial all said more research is needed.

Last year, a federal advisory panel said lack of scientific information about marijuana poses a public health risk.

Research has been hampered by federal government restrictions based on its view that marijuana is an illegal drug.

That has contributed to a stigma and shaded doctors views, said Keira Sumimoto, an Irvine, California, mother who used marijuana briefly for medical reasons while pregnant and breastfeeding. She said smoking a joint daily helped her gain weight when she was sick before learning she was pregnant, and eased childbirth-related pain, but that she quit because of backlash from marijuana opponents.

She said her daughter, now 8 months old, is healthy and advanced for her age.

Sumimoto runs @cannabisandmotherhood , an Instagram account that she says aims to present truthful information about marijuana so women can make their own choices. She said she agrees with advice to be cautious, but that the academys stance is is just a little too much. The fear is taking over and the need and want to understand this plant is being ignored by the stigma, Sumimoto said.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for moreWhile initial reports speculated that director Danny Boyle quit the 25th James Bond film over disagreements regarding casting an unknown actor as the villain, a new report suggests otherwise. It is now being said that Boyle quit over ridiculous plot demands that wouldve required him to kill off Agent 007 at the end of the film. Boyle is said to have refused to comply, and chose to depart the project over creative differences.

The Sun reports that star Daniel Craig and producer Barbara Broccoli wanted Bond to die in a spectacular finale - an idea Boyle is said to have labelled ridiculous. The report quotes a source as saying, There were discussions about killing off Bond in dramatic fashion at the end. It would also leave it open for a twist in the next instalment  either Bond hadnt died or there could be a Doctor Who-esque regeneration with a new actor.

Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli and Daniel Craig today announced that due to creative differences Danny Boyle has decided to no longer direct Bond 25. pic.twitter.com/0Thl116eAd  James Bond (@007) August 21, 2018

Craig famously said after the release of his last Bond film, Spectre, that he would rather slit his wrists than play the character again. He was wooed to return with a hefty $25 million paycheck, excluding a cut from the profits. Craig in 2017 announced that he would return for one final film, before leaving the character for good.

It has been recently speculated that following the delay in Bond 25s production, the producers are considering their options about replacement filmmakers and perhaps even looking at a replacement for Craig, in the form of Idris Elba.

Boyle had turned in a script with his Trainspotting co-writer John Hodge, which the producers were said to have approved. Filming was supposed to begin in London at the end of the year, with a November 2019 release date planned. But the report says that all was not well during pre-production. There were clashes over budget and theres pandemonium among crew with people leaving the production left, right and centre, the report quotes the source as saying.

Follow @htshowbiz for moreThe five activists arrested from various parts of the country on Tuesday for suspected Maoist links had allegedly funded the Elgar Parishad conclave in Pune, held a day before the Koregaon-Bhima violence, police said on Tuesday.

The speeches at the conclave, held on December 31 last year to mark the 200th anniversary of the Koregaon-Bhima battle, had fuelled the violence a day later, they said. The five were arrested after Pune police on Tuesday carried searches in Mumbai, Thane, Hyderabad, Faridabad, Chhattisgarh, and Goa, an official said.

They had allegedly funded the Elgar Parishad conclave, a police official said.

While Vernon Gonsalves was arrested from his residence in suburban Andheri in Mumbai, Arun Ferreira was apprehended from his residence at Charai in adjoining Thane, police said.

Both were also arrested in 2007 for their alleged links with Maoist groups, police said. After his acquittal, Ferreira completed a law degree and started practice as a criminal lawyer in Mumbai, the official said.

Also read: Modi assassination plot: Maoist ideologue P Vara Vara Rao arrested from Hyderabad, say family members

Ferreira, who earlier lived in suburban Bandra, shifted to Thane along with his family a few years ago, the official said. Police had alleged that Gonsalves, a former professor in a prominent Mumbai college, was a Maoist central committee member.

Meanwhile, Susan Abraham, the wife of Gonsalves, said the BJP-led government in Maharashtra has failed to take any action against right-wing Sanatan Sanstha, which she claimed was behind the killing of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.

This is an attempt to divert peoples attention from the Sanatan case. That is why action is being taken in the guise of combating urban naxalism, Susan, a Mumbai-based lawyer, told PTI.

The state government has not taken action against right-wing leaders Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote who were behind the Koregaon-Bhima violence, she said.

She claimed that her husband did not incite the Koregaon-Bhima violence, as alleged by the police. Police are taking action against people in connection with a fictitious plot of assassination of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she said.Pune police raided the residences of prominent lawyers and activists across five states on Tuesday and arrested five people for alleged Maoist links.

Lawyer and trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj, poet P Varavara Rao, activist Gautam Navlakha, and lawyers Arun Pereira and Vernon Gonsalves were arrested and charged with criminal conspiracy, creating fear and enmity between various groups, and under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The arrests were part of an investigation into the violence that rocked Bhima Koregaon in Maharashtra on January 1 during the bicentennial celebration of a British-era war.

The near-simultaneous police raids, led by Pune (urban) police, began at 6am in Hyderabad, Delhi, Faridabad, Mumbai, Thane and Ranchi and continued till afternoon. Police said the operation was part of a probe into an event called Elgar Parishad in Pune on December 31, 2017, when various activists and Dalit organisations came together.

The next day, violence broke out at Bhima Koregaon, about 40 km from Pune, as tens of thousands of Dalits celebrated the 200th anniversary of an 1818 war between the British army, manned mainly by Dalits, and the states Peshwa rulers, who were notorious for oppressive caste practices. Widespread stone pelting left one person dead and four injured. Protests swept Maharashtra over the next two days, bringing the state capital Mumbai to a virtual standstill.

We have arrested five persons today for their association with the Maoist movement and support to Elgar Parishad, which triggered violence the next day, said Pune Joint Commissioner of Police Shivaji Bodkhe.

The arrests were condemned by several opposition parties.

Writer P Varavara Rao after a medical check-up following his arrest by the Pune police in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case, in Hyderabad on Tuesday. (PTI)

There is only place for one NGO in India and its called the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). Shut down all other NGOs. Jail all activists and shoot those that complain. Welcome to the new India. #BhimaKoregaon, tweeted Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.

No human rights activist should be arrested without a proper case. I defend the rights of everybody, more particularly human rights protestors. They are selfless NGOs, activists and obliged to fight in the enveloping darkness in dictatorial tendencies, Congress spokesperson S Jaipal Reddy said. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) said the police raids constituted a brazen attack on democratic rights and civil liberties.

In the evening, the Delhi high court stayed Navlakhas transit remand for a day, ordering him to stay in his house with two guards posted outside. He is allowed to meet his lawyers. A bench of justice S Muralidhar and justice Vinod Goel stopped the police from taking Navlakha to Pune and said they would hear the matter first thing on Wednesday. One police team also searched the residence of Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi although Swamy was not arrested in the absence of evidence, a senior official said.

According to the police, the names of those arrested on Tuesday cropped up during the interrogation of five persons arrested in June for Maoist links as part of the same investigation. These five were activist Sudhir Dhawale, lawyer Surendra Gadling, activist Rona Wilson, former Prime Ministers rural development fellow Mahesh Raut, and retired professor Shoma Sen. They were arrested for allegedly having close Maoist links.

Those arrested on Tuesday were being brought to Pune on transit remand to be produced in the court on Wednesday said Bodke. Rao was arrested from Hyderabad, Bhardwaj was held in Faridabad. Another team of Pune police arrested Gonsalves in Mumbai and Ferreira from Thane. We have recovered some documents, laptop, pen drive, hard disk and other material. The scrutiny of the seized items is on, said a senior official on condition of anonymity.

Interestingly, Pune (rural) police has charged two Hindu right-wing leaders, Milind Ekbote and Shambhaji Bhide, for the violence on January 1 in Bhima Koregaon. Ekbote is currently out on bail while Bhide has not yet been arrested. The investigation into the Elgar Parishad event on December 31, 2017 is being conducted by the Pune (urban) police.

The arrests were opposed by several activists. The arrests are a dangerous sign of a government that fears it is losing its mandate and is falling into panic, author Arundhati Roy told PTI. Historian Ramachandra Guha called the action absolutely chilling and demanded the intervention of the Supreme Court to stop this persecution and harassment of independent voices.MK Stalin sought the blessings of his mother Dayalu Ammal at her home in Chennais Gopalapuram on Tuesday morning, before setting out for his party the DMKs headquarters Anna Arivalayam, two kilometres away.

After a meeting, he will be elected as the DMK president, a post his father M Karunanidhi held for 49 years till his death earlier this month. The path to Stalins elevation was paved at the partys executive committee meeting held on August 14 where senior leaders urged the waiting prince to lead them by taking over the partys mantle.

As the general councils meeting began in Chennai, the hashtag DMKThalaivarStalin top-trended on Twitter with tweets congratulating Stalin flooding the platform.

The election of 65-year-old Stalin as the DMKs second president is likely to be a smooth affair as all the 65 district secretaries of the party have proposed his name for the top post and his is the only nomination. He will be the second president of the party.

However, his elder brother MK Azhagiri warned on Monday that if he was not taken back into the party, then DMK would have to face consequences. He has also announced his plans to hold a rally in Chennai early next month to show his strength.

Azhagiri had also claimed that if he was not readmitted into the DMK, the party leaders would face a similar defeat in the upcoming Lok Sabha election like in the last Parliament and assembly polls. Azhagiri, who opposed his leadership and was later dismissed from the party by Karunanidhi for anti-party activities, may work against the DMK in the by-elections.

The former Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam strongman in southern Tamil Nadu, who has been flexing muscles since the death of Karunanidhi on August 7, said the rally in Chennai was being organised as per the wishes of the cadres.

They (cadres) only wanted me to take the lead in organising the march to pay homage (to Karunanidhi), he told reporters. Kalaingar (Karunanidhi) is not there now. The party has to be saved and protected. If they dont readmit me, they will have to face consequences, Azhagiri said.

Indicating a fresh succession war in the DMK, Azhagiri had on August 13 claimed that all loyal party workers were with him and accused Stalin of blocking his return to the party. Later, he sought to project himself as someone who was not interested in posts and said he had never hankered for any position in the party even when Karunanidhi was alive.

The DMK, however, has brushed aside Azhagiris claims and rallied behind Stalin.

I feel Alagiri himself may contest in Tiruvarur. He may like to ride on the wave of being Karunanidhis own son. It is immaterial if he loses provided DMK also loses, political analyst Raveendharan Dhuraiswamy told IANS.

He said Alagiri may not be a challenge for Stalin within the party but may pose a hurdle from outside. According to Dhuraiswamy, the poll scene in Tamil Nadu has changed to a three-corner contest between the AIADMK, DMK and AMMK led by Dinakaran.

Stalin will also be under intense scrutiny and would be compared with Karunanidhi for a long time. It may take some time and some election victories for Stalin to come out of his fathers shadows.

But whether the tenure is going to be smooth for Stalin has to be seen as he has to face the challenge of leading the party to victory in the ensuing by-elections in two assembly constituencies: Tiruvarur (fell vacant after Karunanidhis death) and Tiruparankundran (vacant after the death of AIADMK lawmaker AK Bose).

The DMKs candidate in the RK Nagar by-election in Chennai lost his deposit and came a poor third after independent candidate TTV Dinakaran and AIADMK leader E Madhusudhanan.

There is also a complaint that Stalin as working president was not able to lure some of the disgruntled AIADMK legislators and come to power.

Stalin was given the role of the DMKs working president in January 2017 after Karunanidhi was largely confined to his home due to age-related ailments. The elevation of Stalin as the party president became a necessity after Karunanidhi died earlier this month.

He will relinquish the post of treasurer and senior leader Duraimurugan is set to be elected unopposed to that post as no other nomination has been filed for that post.

(With agency inputs)Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh on Tuesday accused SP leader Azam Khan of threatening his minor daughters with an acid attack and said he will seek security for them.

Amar Singh, who has been expelled from the SP, said he will meet Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik tomorrow with the demand.

I want security for my daughters, who feel threatened, he said.

Singh also demanded a probe into the funding of Rampurs Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, headed by Azam Khan as its chancellor.

Singh claimed Azam Khan had threatened him and his twin 17-year-old daughters during an interview to a television channel.

The former SP leader said he will be in Rampur on August 30 and asked Khan to sacrifice him and spare his daughters.

He said western Uttar Pradesh saw no riots even at the time of Partition, but there were clashes when Azam Khan was in charge of the region under the previous SP government.

Singh said Azam Khan did not have the right to stay in the country.

He called the Samajwadi Party Namazwadi Party.

He said Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and UP Governor Ram Naik should probe the funding of Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar University.

On Akhilesh Yadavs plan to construct a Vishnu temple if voted to power, Singh said, Those who order firing on karsevaks are talking about constructing a temple.

He was apparently referring to the 1990 firing on karsevaks heading towards the disputed Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site.

On the SP charge that he is an awsarwadi (opportunist), Singh said none of his family members are in politics, unlike the Yadav family, and they call me opportunist.

He said if talking about protecting his own daughters is communal, he does not mind being called that.

Singh has earlier said he is not averse to joining the Bharatiya Janata Party.

As a common man I will campaign for the BJP. There is no need for joining the party for it, he said today.The Pune police carried out searches at residences of prominent lawyers and activists in five states across India in connection with their investigation into the alleged Maoist links with the Elgar Parishad held in the city on December 31, 2017, which was followed by large scale violence at Bhima Koregaon area.

It also arrested at least six of the people raided - revolutionary writer P. Varavara Rao, as per sources close to his family and a local journalist in Hyderabad, activist Gautam Navlakha in Delhi, lawyers Arun Pereira, and Vernon Gonsalves in Mumbai and civil rights lawyer and trade unionist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad, reported ANI.

All have charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

While the Pune police got transit remand of Navlakha till August 30, the Delhi high court directed the he should not be taken away from the national capital till it hears the matter on Wednesday morning, reported PTI.

A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel said Navlakha will remain at his residence under police guard and be allowed to meet only his lawyers.

The court also said this will be the first matter to be considered by it on Wednesday morning as it heard a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Navlakha by his advocate Warisha Farasat after he was picked up from his Delhi home this afternoon.

According to senior police officials, the searches were conducted at eight places simultaneously in Hyderabad, Ranchi, Delhi, Faridabad and Mumbai.

A team of Pune police on Tuesday morning searched the Mumbai residences of Gonsalves and Pereira, who were representing the case of five persons arrested previously for alleged Maoist connections.

One team also searched the house of Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi while another team was at the house of revolutionary writer and Maoist ideologue Rao in Hyderabad.

Raos family said that he was later arrested by the police, following searches for nearly eight hours at his house in Gandhi Nagar and those of seven others, including two journalists close to him and a professor at English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), in different parts of the city.

Following his arrest, Varavara Rao was shifted to the government-run Gandhi Hospital for a medical check-up.

One of the journalists, Tekula Kranthi, was also arrested after police reportedly seized his laptop and several documents allegedly showing his connections with the Maoist party.

Officials said they started the searches at 6 am. We have recovered some documents, laptops and other material. The scrutiny of seized items is on, said a senior official on the condition of anonymity.

Officials told Hindustan Times that names of those whose houses are being searched came up during the interrogation of five persons arrested in June - Sudhir Dhawale, a member of the Republican Panthers; Surendra Gadling, a prominent lawyer; Rona Wilson, an activist; Mahesh Raut, former Prime Minister rural development fellow and Soma Sen, a retired Nagpur University professor.

These five were arrested for having close Maoist links after they allegedly made provocative speeches at the Elgar Parishad on December 31 to commemorate 200 years of the Koregaon Bhima battle, triggering violence at Koregaon Bhima village in the district, according to an FIR registered at the Vishrambaug Police Station after the event.Around 9 am on August 24, women from remote villages started assembling at Police Lines in Jaisalmer city where chief minister Vasundhara Raje was to address a Mahila Shakti Sammelan.

Clad in colourful Rajasthani attire, most of them were clutching a sheaf of papers that they wanted to hand over to the chief minister.

Hamari kachchi basti hai. Hume pucca makan chahiye PM Awas Yojaya mein (We live in huts. We want pucca houses under the PM housing scheme), said Gauri Devi who was eager to meet the chief minister.

Rajes Gaurav Yatra might have been in news for the protests staged in Jodhpur division, but the yatra has also given an opportunity to the rural folks to be heard and get their issues addressed.

In addition to the individual complaints, Raje has received memoranda from some little-known associations, such as unauthorised guides association, which want the government to announce new vacancies for guides, during her two-day yatra of Jodhpur division so far.

The issues being raised have remained on the back-burner for the past many years, but with elections round the corner, everybody is hopeful of an early resolution.

Some long-pending demands, such as construction of a girls hostel in Jaisalmer, were accepted by Raje at the womens convention, much to the delight of the gathering.

The individual complaints mostly relate to lack of water supply, a few cases of electricity supply, land allocation, and construction of pucca houses, said Jogi Devi Bishnoi, vice-president of the BJP Mahila Morcha, Jodhpur.

After patiently waiting for about four hours, Gauri was finally happy that her kagaz reached the chief minister although her wish to hand it over personally was denied by the security personnel.

Like her, several other women present at the event were able to hand over their documents to Raje in hope that their long-pending problems would be solved.

Our workers had been visiting villages and hamlets in Jaisalmer, Barmer and other nearby districts for 15 days prior to the event, talking to people and taking feedback about their problems. We have made a file of all the documents. The big issues were handed over to the chief minister while smaller ones will be handled by the MLAs and heads of local bodies, said Giridhar Kanwar, former deputy head (Up Pradhan) of Jalore.

The protests by Rajputs notwithstanding, the BJP is upbeat about the political dividends of the response it has received during Rajes rally.

Jaisalmer MLA Chhotu Singh Bhati said announcements made by Raje during launch of the second phase of the Gaurav Yatra and her acceptance of long-pending demands will benefit the BJP.

On the other hand, the state Congress has asked the BJP government to explain the delay in implementation of the Barmer refinery project. Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot said Raje has stalled many development projects sanctioned during his regime and the Gaurav Yatra would be her Vidai Yatra.

Rajes poll yatra has also given an opportunity to ticket aspirants for the assembly elections to make a show of strength with their supporters.

While Jat leaders are hopeful of landing a ticket in Jaisalmer, Rajput leaders are vying for tickets in Barmer and Pokhran.

After a war of words between the BJP and Congress over the stone-pelting incident in Piparcity (Jodhpur) on August 25, all eyes are on the next leg of the yatra when it resumes on August 29 from Jaitaran in Pali district.The Delhi high court on Tuesday directed that rights activist Gautam Navlakha, arrested by Maharashtra police for alleged Maoist links, should not be taken away from the national capital till it hears the matter tomorrow morning.

A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel said Navlakha will remain at his residence under police guard and be allowed to meet only his lawyers. The court also said this will be the first matter to be considered by it on Wednesday morning.

The high court was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Navlakha by his advocate Warisha Farasat after he was picked up from his Delhi home this afternoon by the Maharashtra police in connection with the December 31 last year violence at Koregaon-Bhima village.

A habeas corpus petition is a writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court, especially to secure his or her release.

Left-wing activists, including Varavara Rao and Sudha Bhardwaj, were also arrested on Tuesday as the Maharashtra police carried out searches at multiple places in several states, including Delhi, on the residences of people suspected to have Maoist links.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence at Maharashtras Koregaon-Bhima village, triggered by an event called Elgar Parishad (conclave) held in Pune on December 31 last year.Fast-track courts to try rape, now the preferred judicial option, need the backing of infrastructure and allied facilities to make a difference, studies and data show.

India has further toughened rape laws by amending its criminal code. In the monsoon session of Parliament ending August 10, the government replaced The Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018 with The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2018. The changes involve harsher punishment for rape and will allow the government to double the number of fast-track courts.

The law ministry is currently preparing a scheme to set up more such fast-track courts, which are administered by states, and augment their resources, a government official said. The latest changes follow a sweeping overhaul initiated in the prosecution of rape offences following the horrific gang rape and murder of a Delhi woman in December 2012.

Since the 2012 gang rape and murder , rape cases have jumped 60% until 2016, the latest year for which data are available. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, trials in over 133,000 rape cases were pending in 2016. This year, the gang rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Jammu and Kashmirs Kathua and rape of a teenager in Uttar Pradeshs Unnao district sparked protests.

The new changes in law increased the punishment for rape of girls below 12 years to either 20 years in jail, life imprisonment or death. In case of gang-rape of girls between 16 and 11 years, the highest punishment is a life term.

Two reports that analysed the functioning of fast-track courts have found they adhered to norms but also pointed out weaknesses in pre-trial and trial phases. Fast-track courts were first recommended by the 11th Finance Commission (2000-2005), the constitutional body that divides financial resources between the Centre and states.

After the December 2012 gang rape in Delhi, fast-track courts were adopted as the preferred means for all rape cases for speedy prosecution. There are 727 fast-track courts functioning across India, according to a reply by MoS for law and justice, PP Chaudhury, in Lok Sabha on August 8 2018 .

The latest amendments require that a probe into child rape must be completed within two months, down from three months earlier. Also, all appeals against a rape verdict must also be disposed of within six months.

Fast-track courts often face the same structural hurdles as normal courts. A study by the Partners for Law in Development (PLD), which monitored 16 cases of rape trials in four of the six fast-track courts in Delhi from February 2014 to March 2015, relies on interviews with the survivors, aged 18-50 years. Its accounts showed inconsistency in implementing the law, the report states.Court practices vary, showing a degree of inconsistency in the application, it notes.

Defence questions are inevitably hostile, designed to imply consent. Guidelines therefore require questions during cross-examination to be routed to the victim through a presiding officer. This is not an established practice, the study states.

Gyanant Singh, a Supreme Court advocate, said fast-track courts were indispensable in a country where rape is common. Remember, fast-track courts are also meant to act as a deterrent. In the Indian context, fast-track courts dont mean accused dont get a fair trial. He said such courts only removed delays rather than compromise on any procedure.

A review of 145 verdicts in Karnataka by the Centre for Law and Policy Research found fast-track courts didnt have sufficient resources. They were also not able to deal with a key constraint: the very high incidence of both complainants and witnesses turning hostile.An FIR has been lodged with the Chaibasa police in West Singhbhum district in connection with a case where 30 children from Jharkhand went missing from a shelter home in Punjabs Ludhiana district, police said on Tuesday.

The complaint filed before the anti-human trafficking unit (AHTU) of the Chaibasa police also accused the Ludhiana-based Paskin Mary Cross Child Shelter Home of converting the children to Christianity, police said.

The FIR has accused Paskin shelter home ringleader Satyendra Prasad Musa and Junal Longa, a resident of Seengda village in West Singhbhum, of converting the faith of 34 children from different districts of Jharkhand and keeping them in the Ludhiana shelter home.

"Investigation has revealed that the home was not registered. We have also collected evidence of conversion and the inhuman condition under which the kids were kept, said Prakash Soy, Chaibasa sadar sub-divisional police officer (SDPO).

Police said the FIR was lodged on the basis of a complaint by Chaibasa child welfare committee (CWC) member Jyotsna Tirkey on Sunday and a copy of the same has already been sent to authorities in Ludhiana, implying that arrest of Musa was now imminent.

Banarasi Ram, the sub-inspector leading the special team of West Singhbhum police in Ludhiana, confirmed having found evidence of conversion.

The kids have been converted and were taught Christian doctrines. We have collected evidence to this effect, said Ram over the phone.

Meanwhile, Ludhiana deputy commissioner (DC), Dr Pradeep Kumar Agrawal, ordered a magisterial inquiry into the disappearance of 30 children. The inquiry will ascertain if proper procedure was followed in releasing these kids from the home, to whom they have been handed over and why.

Out of 38 children in the home, only eight could be rescued so far and shifted to a government registered home here in Ludhiana while the rest 30 are yet to be traced, additional deputy commissioner (ADC, development) Shena Aggarwal is probing the matter, Dr Agrawal said over phone on Tuesday.

The Jharkhand police had told the local administration that there were 38 children at the Paskin shelter home in Phullanwal, following which on August 20 a team of Jharkhand police along with the local cops had raided the place and rescued eight children.

Shelter home owner Musa had claimed that he had handed over the 30 children to their respective parents, but the police termed his claim as baseless.

Ludhiana CWC, in joint operation with Jharkhand police, has seized documents from the Paskin Mary Cross Home, confirming illegal conversion, torture and child labour, police said.

We have been able to find few photos and records of only 30-40 kids from the home though about 300-400 children stayed and passed out from there during past 10 years. As per documents seized, every child came here on the basis of written undertaking of oath on Bible, a member of the Ludhiana CWC said over phone.

All the children were sent here by local churches, pastors describing them, in most cases, as orphans, very poor and hence were kept here for good education, upbringing and prosperous life. A letter attached to the file of a child says I am going to study at Bible College in Chandigarh, the CWC member said.

All letters of undertaking attached to the files of each kid state that they have come here on oath of Bible and all the kids were given new Christian names, police said. We are also probing the funding sources as Musa has hardly any known source of income, whereas keeping 50 children meant a monthly expense of Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 lakh, the CWC member said.Named after the Soviet communist dictator Josef Stalin, Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin was not the original heir apparent of late DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi. He is Karunanidhis third son from his second wife, Dayalu Ammal.

Initially M K Muthu, Stalins step-brother from Karunanidhis first wife, Padmavathi, was being groomed as his successor. Karunanidhi tried to mould Muthu into a film star to counter his bete noire, M G Ramachandran (MGR), who was then the reigning super star of the silver screen and his political opponent. Muthu not only disappointed his father but also broke his heart by defecting to MGRs AIADMK.

Like his father, though, Stalin had started making a mark for himself from a young age, starting his career with the Gopalapuram Maanavar Mandram (Gopalapuram students forum). His initial headquarters was the local barber shop in the locality. However, it was during the Emergency that the then recently married, 23-year-old Stalin shot into the limelight when he was arrested under the draconian Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) in 1976 and jailed.

It was then that Stalin, so far only known as Karunanidhis son, started carving out an identity for himself. Apart from his father, Stalin often credits former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who declared the Emergency, for bringing him into politics by having him arrested under MISA.

It was a shock to party cadres to see the name of Stalin in the party mouthpiece, Murasoli, arrested under MISA along with hundreds of DMK workers, recalls D Ravikumar, general secretary, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi. Ironically, the DMK today is in alliance with the Congress.

Even after the Emergency was lifted, Stalin did not reap any immediate benefit from sacrifices made. He worked hard to build the DMK youth wing and became its secretary in 1984.

Although Stalin was given a DMK ticket to contest the assembly elections in 1984, it was only in 1989 that he first won from the Thousand Lights constituency in Chennai. However, it was his stint as mayor of Chennai Corporation from 1996- 2001 that brought his administrative acumen to the fore, when was credited with dramatically improving the citys infrastructure.

When the DMK regained power in Tamil Nadu in 2006, he was made the local administration minister in his fathers cabinet. He was then already a four-time MLA. Within the party, too, his stars had been rising. In 2003, he was elevated as deputy general secretary, considered the fourth most powerful position in the party heirarchy. Subsequently, in 2008, he took over as treasurer of the DMK  considered the third most powerful post in the party with control over its resources  his eventual elevation was sealed.

When Karunanidhi underwent a spine surgery in 2009, he appointed Stalin as deputy chief minister of Tamil Nadu. Though senior DMK leaders urged Stalin to take over as party president after age-related ailments rendered Karunanidhi inactive in 2016, he indicated he was not in any hurry to bypass his father. However, after prolonged discussions, the DMKs by-laws were changed to make Stalin the working president in 2017.

Ahead of the 2016 assembly elections, Stalin led the Namakku Naame (We for Ourselves) campaign. Long known as the Thalapathy (commander) by his followers, he wanted to take a fresh approach. He discarded the traditional white dhoti/veshti (sarong worn around the waist) and campaigned in a T-shirt and trousers to appeal to younger voters. However, faced with a formidable opponent in J Jayalalithaa, the DMK managed to bag only 89 of the 234 seats. Unexpectedly, the AIADMK and Jayalalithaa had bucked the trend of the state alternating between the two Dravidian parties. This result was seen as a huge setback to Stalins leadership abilities.

Since 2016, the DMK has lost by-elections in Thirupparankundram, Thanjavur, Aravakkurichi and recently RK Nagar. With his elder brother, Azhagiri, unfurling a banner of revolt against him  Azhagiri had expected to be re-inducted into the party after Karunanidhis death but that has not happened -- Stalin has to prove that he has what it takes to keep the party together and lead it to electoral victory.

The immediate tests would be the Thiruvarur and Thirupparankundram assembly seats where by-elections are due following the deaths of Karunanidhi and AIADMKs A K Bose. With the general elections due in 2019, it remains to be seen whether the Thangai Thalapathy (golden commander) can make the transition to Thalaivar (leader).The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Tuesday claimed in a special court that five recently arrested sympathisers of the Hindu right-wing group Sanatan Sanstha (it has distanced itself from them and said they are not its members) planned to plant explosives at last years edition of Sunburn, an annual electronic dance music festival in Pune.

All five were arrested earlier this month from Nalla Sopara, Pune and Jalna in connection with an arms case, and were remanded to ATS custody.

Prosecutors appearing for the ATS made these assertions before a special court constituted to try Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act cases. On Tuesday, four of the five accused  Vaibhav Raut, Sharad Kalaskar, Sudhanva Gondhalekar and Shrikant Pangarkar  were produced in court, with prosecutors seeking an extension of their custody. Special court judge Sameer Adkar extended their custody by seven days. The fifth accused, Avinash Pawar, will be produced in court on August 31.

ATS officials claimed in court that two of the accused  Gondhalekar and Raut  planned to attack the music festival scheduled in Pune for December 2017 because they felt it was against Hindu culture. Sunburn was held in Goa until 2015, and shifted to Pune in 2016.

ATS also claimed that the five accused were involved in throwing petrol bombs outside cinema halls in Kalyan (a city in Thane district, 50 km north-east of Mumbai), and Belagavi (earlier known as Belgaum) in Karnataka for screening the Hindi movie Padmaavat. ATS further claimed that the accused planned to attack individuals who they thought were propagating or engaging in activity that was against the Hindu religion.

Atulchandra Kulkarni, Maharashtra ATS chief, said he could not confirm the names because it will pose a security threat to the individuals.

The individuals include an author-historian; a former Marathi newspaper editor and three Marathi authors and playrights, ATS officials said on condition of anonymity. Hindustan Times is not naming them because of the perceived security threat to the individuals.

The ATS officials also said they had recovered three motorcycles, including one from Nalla Sopara and two from Pune, and claimed one of three bikes, allegedly owned by Kalaskar, may have been used in the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru in September 2017.

In their raids, ATS officials claimed to have recovered 10 pistols, one air pistol, one country-made revolver, 10 pistol barrels, six pistol bodies, six magazines, three handmade magazines, one half-prepared country-made revolver, and seven hand-made pistols from Gondhalekar.

Sunil Gonsalves, the public prosecutor appearing for ATS, told the court that the weapons used by the accused had been dismantled and were thrown away at different places to avoid detection, and that they needed to be recovered. He didnt elaborate.S Chellappan, 68, faces losses for the third year in a row for the want of water to irrigate his two-acre farm at Nagudi in Tamil Nadus Pudukkottai district.

Pudukkottai is not alone. Out of the 95 districts of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, around half (47) have received deficient rainfall. In contrast, excess rainfall has caused the worst floods in Kerala, a few hundred kilometres away, in nearly 100 years. Over 300 people have been killed while around 10 lakh people have been displaced.

It is always a battle to receive water from the Grand Anicut canal as we are at the tail-end. Most people in the village gave up on Kuruvai (short-term) cultivation in the June as a result. We were hopeful about Samba (rice cultivation that happens from August) this time as there was a good rainfall in Coorg, where the Cauvery River originates. However, our expectations have not been realised, said Chellappan.

At least 1.3 million acres of agricultural land in eastern Tamil Nadu continues to be parched with no supply of water even as the rivers have been in spate and dams full in the state. Experts blame the failure of infrastructure in ensuring better utilisation of water for it.

Cauvery Delta Farmers Association secretary Mannargudi S Ranganathan said the government has failed to remove silt from canals and strengthen the river banks since 2008. It (the government) has also failed to maintain dams. This is the reason we are facing the issue now, Ranganathan said.

The public works department (PWD) had sent a proposal to both the Centre and the state government to strengthen and restructure the Anicut Canal, which provides water to Chellappans village, at an estimated cost of Rs 2,264 crore. But the work could not start because the state has not sanctioned the initial funds even though the Centre accepted the proposal, a PWD official said requesting anonymity.

Tamil Nadu food minister R Kamaraj claimed the de-silting works were executed properly and accused the opposition of levelling allegations without evidence.

In neighbouring Karnataka, the southern, coastal and hilly regions have received good rainfall. But the northern region has not had much rain. This has resulted in lower sowing in the Kharif season.

Raichur has recorded 51% deficit rainfall. The northern Karnataka, on the whole, has seen a 27% deficit rain. In southern Karnataka, Kodagu district recorded very heavy rainfall that resulted in landslides and death of 17 people.

Raichur joint director (agriculture) Chetana Patil said so far sowing has happened only on 53% of the 3,55,000 hectares in the district. Even if the rains pick up in the next month, as the monsoon stretches till September, it will be too late for the farmers here. She said the sowing can reach maximum of 60% of the targeted area by September end.

Veeresh, a Raichur farmer, blamed the governments failure in removing silt from Tungabhadra Dam and completing the upper Krishna project for the situation. He said Raichur is located between the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers.

He said it should ideally have not faced such a situation especially when both rivers had seen good inflows because of heavy rainfall in the hilly regions of Karnataka and Maharashtra.

If silt is removed from the Tungabhadra dam, an additional 32 tmcft of water will become available. But this was never done. The apathy of the administration and the political class as a whole is completely responsible for this pathetic condition of the people here, said farmer Maruthi Manpade.

In Andhra Pradesh, six of the 13 districts are facing a drought-like situation. Four Rayalaseema districts (Kadapa, Chittoor, Anantapur and Kurnool), and two south coastal districts (Prakasam and Nellore) are among the worst hit.

As many as 120 mandals in Srikakulam, East and West Godavari districts have faced flooding because of excess rainfall. Crops worth Rs 600 crore have been lost because of the flooding.Pointing out that the seas around India have nurtured its links of commerce and culture with its extended neighbourhood over millenia, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday said that nurturing a climate of peace and stability in this region is an important priority for New Delhis foreign policy.

This region is host to the worlds busiest waterways and three quarters of that traffic is headed for destinations beyond our region, Sushma Swaraj said while addressing the Third Indian Ocean Conference in Hanoi.

As an important trade and energy waterway, carrying half the worlds container shipment, one third of its bulk cargo traffic and two third of oil shipments, the Indian Ocean clearly assumes importance well beyond its immediate shores and its littorals, she said.

Nurturing a climate of peace and stability in this region is therefore an important priority for our foreign policy.

Stating that that though there is diversity within the region, Sushma Swaraj said challenges within it are quite similar.

Our vision for the region is one of cooperation and collective action, she said.

India, along with the US, Japan and Australia, are part of a quad revived last year that seeks to work for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

Sushma Swarajs remarks assume significance given Chinas belligerent attitude in the South China Sea region and Beijings attempts to increase its footprint across the Indian Ocean.

Hanoi is therefore a particularly appropriate setting for us to discuss developments in the Indian Ocean and the Indo-Pacific region, she said.

She said that India sees the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)regional bloc as central to the regional maritime architecture, reflecting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis remarks at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in June.

Sushma Swaraj stressed on three priorities that New Delhi accords to the Indian Ocean region and referred to the SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) initiative of New Delhi.

In its implementation, this approach includes: projects to promote hinterland linkages and strengthen regional connectivity; linking South Asia to Southeast Asia (under Indias Act East Policy); and playing an active and constructive role in strengthening regional maritime security.

Sushma Swaraj said that the first part is Indias focus on developing hinterland linkages and regional connectivity.

She said that India is devoting more resources and assigning greater priority to building connectivity, contacts and cooperation in its immediate neighbourhood.

The second element is the expanded interpretation of what constitutes our neighbourhood, she said.

This is reflected in the renewed emphasis in our Act East Policy and the new Think West policy towards West Asia and the Gulf region.

Sushma Swaraj said that the Act East Policy is at the heart of New Delhis eastward orientation and ties in with its broader approach to the Indo-Pacific.

She said that India accords high priority to key infrastructure projects such as the Kaladan multi-modal transport linking the Sittwe Port in Myanmar with Mizoram in Indias northeast, and the Trilateral Highway linking India, Myanmar and Thailand.

Our recent agreement with Indonesia to develop port infrastructure in Sabong is yet another step in this direction, she said.

Coming to the third element, contributing to regional maritime security: we are working to ensure the safety and security of maritime traffic through the ocean by strengthening skills and logistics of our Indian Ocean neighbours, Sushma Swaraj said.

Sushma Swaraj arrived in Hanoi on Sunday on the first leg of her two-nation tour to Southeast Asia that will also see her visiting Cambodia.After being stalled twice by China in its effort to have the United Nations Security Council designate Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, India and the US have decided to push instead for the same tag for his younger brother and 2016 Pathankot attack mastermind Mufti Abdul Rauf Asghar under the al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee, one of the UNSC committees dealing with counter-terrorism.

Born after the 1999 hijack of IC-814 to Kandahar, JeM has close links with Taliban on a common Deobandi ideological platform and has repeatedly targeted India within and outside Jammu and Kashmir.

Two South Block officials confirmed to Hindustan Times that after the move to designate Masood Azhar was blocked by China, last on November 2, India and US counter-terrorism officials agreed to collect and evaluate evidence against 43-year-old Rauf Asghar, who is currently the operational chief of the proscribed group, before moving the committee for global tagging of the terrorist. The matter was taken up in the 15th meeting of the India-US Working Group on Counter-terrorism on March 27 this year.

Three names were discussed for UN designation of terrorists. First was Masood Azhar, second was his brother and IC-814 hijacking mastermind Mohammed Ibrahim Athar and, finally, the currently most active (member), and another brother Rauf Asghar. It was decided that material evidence against Rauf Asghar should be collected for moving the UN Committee. This way, the Chinese posture would also become clear on whether the veto was limited only to Azhar or is for UN designation of other Pakistan-based terrorists too, said one of the South Block officials.

Action on Pakistan-based terrorist groups targeting both India and Afghanistan as well as designation of individuals as global terrorists will be one focus of the September 6 two-plus-two talks between India and US foreign and defence ministers. Already, the Jammu and Kashmir police has forwarded a dossier of JeM terrorist groups involvement in attacks in the Valley and South of Pir Panjal ranges to the Centre for action.

According to top NIA officials who investigated January 2, 2016 Pathankot airbase attack, Rauf Asghar was involved in recruiting, planning and executing the terror attack. The decision to attack Pathankot was taken on December 26, 2015  the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Lahore to extend a hand of friendship to then Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif. This is evident from a note left by the attackers in the jeep commandeered by them. The JeM was also responsible for attack on Nagrota Army base on November 29, 2016.

According to intelligence agencies, Rauf Asghar is active on social media for JeM and there is December 2017 video/ voice evidence to show the terrorist owing up to both Pathankot and Nagrota attacks inside a Bhawalpur mosque. In this address, Rauf Asghar promises to carry out a bigger attack than Pathankot in the coming months.A delegation of the Indian Water Commission arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday to hold crucial talks with its counterpart on various aspects of the Indus Waters Treaty, the first bilateral engagement since Prime Minister Imran Khan took office.

Pakistan water commissioner Syed Mehr Ali Shah and additional commissioner Sheraz Jamil received the nine-member Indian delegation led by water commissioner PK Saxena on its arrival in Lahore via Wagah border.

Talking to reporters, Shah said talks between the two countries will be held on water issues on Wednesday and Thursday in Lahore. The talks will be the first official engagement between India and Pakistan since Khan became Prime Minister on August 18.

The last meeting of the Pakistan-India Permanent Indus Commission was held in New Delhi in March during which both the sides had shared details of the water flow and the quantum of water being used under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty.

India and Pakistan signed the treaty in 1960 after nine years of negotiations, with the World Bank being a signatory.

The treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding their use of the rivers. However, there have been disagreements and differences between India and Pakistan over the treaty.

Shah said Pakistan has raised objections on 1000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnai hydroelectric projects on River Chenab and a detailed discussion will be held during the talks.

We had also raised concerns over construction of dams on Pakistani rivers and India did not bother about it and continued doing the same, Shah said, adding India will reply to Pakistans queries on controversial water projects.

Former Pakistan Indus Water Commissioner Syed Jamaat Ali Shah told PTI that the successive Pakistani governments had given much importance to its water disputes with India.

India does not bother Pakistan in this regard. It begins work on building hydro power projects on the Pakistani rivers and the Pakistani government raises objections afterwards. Unless the Pakistani government seriously takes up these matters with India it will not get relief, he said and added that Pakistan also needs to plead its case in the World Bank.

According to an official of Pakistan Water Commission, Pakistan has been raising reservations over the designs of the two projects  1000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnai hydroelectric projects on River Chenab - and would like India to either modify the designs to make them compliant to 1960 Indus Waters Treaty or put the projects on hold until Delhi satisfies Islamabad.

The two sides will in talks also finalise the schedule of future meetings of the Permanent Indus Commission and visits of the teams of the Indus commissioners, the official said.

The water commissioners of Pakistan and India were required to meet twice a year and arrange technical visits to projects sites and critical river head works, but Pakistan had been facing a lot of problems in timely meetings and visits.

Pakistan has also challenged the discharge series of River Lower Kalnai at Dunadi for winter months and estimated permissible pondage of 0.38 cubic megametres compared to Indian design pondage of 2.74 cubic megametres. The Lower Kalnai project is on a left bank tributary of Chenab and can have gross storage of about 1,508 acre feet of water.An inspection of 15 specialised adoption agencies (SAAs) by the ministry of women and child development (WCD) and the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), carried out in January and February, has discovered glaring irregularities, including premature deaths, unhygienic conditions, and even children not being accounted for in some cases.

SAAs house orphaned and abandoned children below the age of six meant for adoption. There are 460 of them around India. The homes inspected were in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, West Bengal, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Under the Juvenile Justice Act (JJ Act), SAAs, which are run by private agencies or NGOs in most cases, have to be registered with the governments Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System (CARINGS) for intra- and inter-country adoptions and provide details of each child admitted to the agency. The portal is run by CARA, the governments nodal agency monitoring adoption in the country.

We were getting complaints that the credentials of some of the SAAs are not of required standard. So the WCD ministry ordered an inspection, said Deepak Kumar, CEO, CARA.

To start with, we decided to inspect 15 against whom there were the most complaints.

The team was taken aback when it visited Jodhpurs Navjeevan Sansthan, said a CARA official involved in drafting the inspection report who asked not to be identified. The register showed that 14 children had died between December 2016 and January 2018. We are now seeking an explanation as to how these children had died, said the official.

The team also found that of the 325 children who were admitted to this SAA from 2008 to 2018 and registered with CARINGS, the details of 97 children were not available.

Rajendra Parihar, owner of Navjeevan Sansthan, confirmed the deaths but said that they were mostly children born prematurely. These children were underweight; we took them to the hospital and tried our best but could not save them.

He also denied that there were children whose details were missing. There is no irregularity. We provided all details to the inspection team. They checked records of 15 years and found everything in order.

The inspection report, a copy of which has been seen by Hindustan Times, comes in the backdrop of the Jharkhand incident in July, when four newborns were allegedly sold by two sisters from a centre of Nirmal Hriday, a shelter home for destitute women run by the Missionaries of Charity.

Of the three SAAs that were inspected in Madhya Pradesh, the most glaring irregularity was found in Bhopals Udaan Social Welfare Development Organization. When the team headed by a joint secretary in the WCD ministry checked the details of children in the agencys register between 2008 and 2018, it found that 168 children were admitted in SAA during this period out of which 47 were placed for adoption. There were only 13 children present at the SAA during inspection while no details or records were available of the remaining 108. The agency could not provide details of the whereabouts of the 108 children, another CARA official involved in the inspection said on the condition of anonymity.

Apoorva Sharma, the person in charge of the Bhopal centre, could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts.

In Uttar Pradeshs Mirzapur district, two SAAs that were inspected were subsequently closed because of unhygienic conditions and inadequate facilities to care for small children. There were also complaints against the SAAs that they were extorting money from parents who had applied to adopt children from the centre, the second CARA official said.

In Punjabs Jalandhar district, the team again could not find details of nine children.

Prakash Kaur, owner of the SAA, denied this. Some of the children here are over six years old. As per rule, we have to take their consent if they want to go for adoption. These children have said no. They continue to stay at our centre and are studying. So their details wont reflect in the adoption portal.

There were similar mismatches in Jalandhars Nari Niketan Trust, Hyderabads Shishu Greh and Mumbais Bal Asha Trust. In the Mumbai SAA, of the 324 children whose details were registered between 2008 and 2018, some 129 children were given for adoption while 45 children were present during the inspection. Details were not available of the remaining 150 children.

An official at the Mumbai SAA who asked not to be identified confirmed that an inspection was carried out and the centre had provided all details the team sought. This is a surprise for us. All our paperwork is in order. We have details of all the children at our agency, including those who have been restored, added this person. According to CARAs Kumar, the mismatches show up when the details with the agency are compared with the details in the CARINGS database. The SAAs could not provide any explanation for the children who were not accounted for.

A senior WCD ministry official said that they are taking up the issue with respective state governments to look into the functioning of the SAAs and seek explanations where irregularities have been found. In Jharkhand, where two SAAs were inspected, and West Bengal, where one was, CARA found no discrepancies in terms of numbers although the West Bengal centre had serious hygiene issues because of which all the children there were transferred to other centres.

Experts say that though CARA gives adoption license to SAAs, the state authorities have to renew it from time to time after carrying out regular inspection under the JJ Act. I am surprised over how these SAAs are still allowed to function in the absence of basic facilities and children who they cant account for. Many SAAs get babies born prematurely and they should have a neonatal unit to take care of them. Not having one is not acceptable. Wherever there are major violations, state authorities have to cancel license, said Pune-based adoption lawyer Shirin Merchant.The arrests of human rights activists in nationwide police raids was absolutely chilling and a virtual declaration of emergency, said opinion makers on Tuesday.

The simultaneous statewide arrests are a dangerous sign of a government that fears it is losing its mandate and is falling into panic, Booker Prize-winning writer Arundhati Roy told news agency PTI.

That lawyers, poets, writers, Dalit rights activists and intellectuals are being arrested on ludicrous charges... while those who make up lynch mobs and threaten and murder people in broad daylight roam free, tells us very clearly where India is headed, said Roy.

Roy alleged anybody who speaks up for justice or against Hindu majoritarianism is being made into a criminal. What is happening is absolutely perilous. In the run up to elections, this is an attempted coup against the Indian Constitution and all the freedoms that we cherish, she said.

Roy and other were speaking about the Pune police raiding lawyers and activists in five states across India in connection with their investigation into the alleged Maoist links.

Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan said the government is cracking down on dissent. Fascist fangs are now openly bared, he said on Twitter.

It is a clear declaration of emergency. They are going after anyone who has spoken against the government on rights issues. They are against any dissent, he was quoted by PTI as saying.

Also read: Modi assassination plot: Maoist ideologue P Vara Vara Rao arrested from Hyderabad, say family members

Historian Ramachandra Guha called the arrests absolutely chilling and urged the Supreme Court to intervene and stop the persecution and harassment of independent voices.

Sudha Bharadwaj is as far from violence and illegality as (BJP president) Amit Shah is close to those things, said Guha on Twitter, referring to the human rights lawyer detained in Faridabad.

Human rights activist Shabnam Hashmi blamed the Narendra Modi government for the arrests. Strongly condemn raids on human right defenders homes since Morning in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Telangana, Delhi, Goa. Stop harassing HRDs! Condemn Modis authoritarian regime, Hashmi said on Twitter.

Shehla Rashid, student leader at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), alleged the Pune polices raids were an attempt to instil fear among those are vocal about issues.

It is also to manufacture a narrative and a sense of false enemy to misguided people ahead of the 2019 elections I highly condemn these, she said.

Former JNU student leader Umar Khalid said the raids are an attempt to send a message to those who are raising their voices. Ahead of 2019 elections, a sense of fictitious enemy is being conjured, he said.

Amnesty International said the sweep raised disturbing questions about whether the arrests were politically motivated. India is witnessing a massive crackdown on lawyers, journalists, activists and human rights defenders, who have been critical of the state, the watchdogs India chapter said on Twitter.

The government should protect peoples rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly instead of creating an atmosphere of fear.

(With inputs from agencies)With the Kerala floods making news across the globe, US space agency NASA has released before and after photographs depicting the extent to which the natural calamity has affected the landscape of the southern state.

While the before image was taken by the Landsat 8 satellites operational land imager on February 6, the after one was clicked by the multispectral instrument on the European Space Agencys Sentinel-2 satellite last Wednesday. The changes in the scenario, as expected, is stark.

The second image shows several rivers through the region spilled over their banks, and water from the Karuvannur river running through 40 villages to wash away a 2.2-km stretch of land connecting two national highways. It also gives a glimpse of the Periyar river, which breached its banks -- displacing thousands in the process.

The images have been rendered in false-color, making flood water appear dark blue. Vegetation is depicted in bright green.

The space agency had earlier released satellite measurements of Kerala rainfall to demonstrate the crucial role played by the Western Ghats in triggering the climatic developments over south Karnataka and Kerala. Although the extreme Himalayan topography is much more well-known, the Western Ghats is a contributing factor to the heavy rains along the southwest coast of India, a statement from the Goddard Space Flight Centre read.

NASA researchers have also maintained that opening the dams in a systematic manner would have contained the deluge that caused largescale loss to life and property in Kerala.

While the death toll in the second spell of monsoon since August 8 has crossed 300, as many as 4,62,456 displaced people continue to languish in 1,435 camps across the state. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan recently estimated the financial loss incurred by Kerala in the whereabouts of Rs 20,000 crore.A medical examination of five children who alleged sodomy at the hands of seniors at a gurukul in Rohtak confirmed sexual assault on Monday, even as yet another victim came forward to share a similar experience of abuse.

Police have also arrested a staff member of the educational institution and detained five juveniles accused of sodomy.

The victims  all students of classes 5 and 6  had alleged that they were being sodomised by their seniors in connivance with gurukul staffers over the last few months. The matter first came to light when one of the victims complained about the abuse to his parents, who had come visiting on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan on Sunday. Four others came up with similar stories after the boys mother raised an outcry in the school.

Police registered an FIR and sent the victims for a medical examination. Sodomy was indicated in two of the five victims who were sexually assaulted recently. Further examination will be required for the other three, who may have been assaulted some time ago. Samples have been sent to the Madhuban forensic lab for confirmation, said a surgeon who was part of the team that conducted the examination at the civil hospital.

Police identified the staff member arrested in connection with the case as Sachin, the hostel warden. He has been accused of trying to hush up the case despite several students approaching him with complaints.

Tensions rose at the gurukul after the victims parents gathered outside and raised slogans against its management. Things came to a head when the protesters tried to enter the school, only to be stopped by the guards.

Gurukul head Acharya Hari Dutt admitted that the matter had come to their knowledge a while ago. We conducted an internal investigation into these incidents, but could not confirm the allegations at the time. Police are investigating the case now, and we are cooperating with them in every possible manner, he said.Maoist ideologue and revolutionary writer P Varavara Rao was arrested on Tuesday by Pune Police in Hyderabad on charges of being part of a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sources close to his family said.

The arrest was preceded by searches for nearly eight hours at Raos house in Gandhi Nagar and those of seven others, including two journalists close to him and a professor at English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), in different parts of the city.

One of the journalists, Tekula Kranthi, was also arrested after police reportedly seized his laptop and several documents allegedly showing his connections with the Maoist party.

The 78-year old Rao was first taken to Gandhi Hospital in Secunderabad amidst tight security for a medical examination. He is likely to be taken to Pune after being produced in a local court in Hyderabad later in the evening.

Tension prevailed at Raos house, where a large number of his followers and representatives of various social organisations assembled with placards condemning his arrest.

It is highly atrocious on the part of the Maharashtra police to arrest Vara Vara Rao on false grounds. How can an ordinary person sitting in Hyderabad plot to kill the Prime Minister? They are fabricating the case against him, Progressive Organisation of Women (POW) president P Sandhya alleged.

Pune Police told a local court on June 8 this year that they had found a letter from the Delhi residence of a Maoist sympathiser Rona Jacob Wilson, one of the five people arrested for their alleged links with the banned Maoist party. The letter reportedly mentioned the requirement of Rs 8 crore to purchase M-4 rifle and four lakh rounds. It also discussed the possibility of another Rajiv Gandhi incident.

The letter also mentioned that Rao and Surendra Gadling, an advocate who was also arrested by the Pune Police in Mumbai, had been guiding the revolutionaries in carrying out successful attacks in the past. The letter mentioned that Rao had arranged for funds for the same (for another sensational attack) and Surendra would provide you with the fund.

Apart from Wilson and Gadling, Pune Police also arrested three others - Sudhir Dhawale from Mumbai and Shoma Sen and Mahesh Raut from Nagpur.

However, Rao told media on the same day that he had nothing to do with the so-called incriminating letter, which quoted his name as being involved in a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Modi. Rao, however, admitted he knew Gadling and Wilson.

I dont deny that I know the people who were arrested by the Pune Police. They have all been working for the downtrodden and release of political prisoners. They are all against murder politics, he had said, adding that he did not believe Maoists had the strength to assassinate the Prime Minister of the country.India plans to spend $1.4 billion to send a crew of three to space by 2022, spurred by Prime Minister Narendra Modis goal that will help the country break into an elite club.

A module with three astronauts will be launched from Sriharikota, a tiny barrier island in southeastern India, taking the passengers on a seven-day voyage around the Earth, according to the government. The capsule will then land in the Arabian sea, near the western coastal state of Gujarat.

India, the worlds cheapest space explorer, is competing with the likes of the U.S., China, Russia and billionaires such as Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk in exploring space. The Indian Space Research Organisation, the nations equivalent of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, plans to land near the Moons south pole early next year -- an area where no nation has gone before -- and explore the potential for mining helium-3, a source of waste-free nuclear energy that could be worth trillions of dollars.

Modis call, made in his Independence Day speech this month, to send an Indian into space in a vehicle made and launched from the country is akin to former U.S. President John F. Kennedys announcement in 1961 that pushed NASA to send a man to the moon.

The plan, which will put the South Asian nation on track to become the fourth to send humans to space, will create as many as 15,000 jobs and will be preceded by two unnamed test flights, K. Sivan, ISROs chairman, told reporters in New Delhi on Tuesday. Prototypes of space suits, a crew-escape system and life-support system are already in place, he said.

India has specialized in low-cost space launches since the early 1960s, when rocket sections were transported by bicycle and assembled by hand inside St. Mary Magdalene Church in Thumba, a fishing village near the tip of the Indian peninsula. It has since conducted missions to Mars and the moon, where an unmanned mission showed the likelihood of water formation.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anurag Kotoky in New Delhi at akotoky@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anand Krishnamoorthy at anandk@bloomberg.net, Abhay Singh, Subramaniam Sharma

2018 Bloomberg L.P.There are many histories  subaltern, institutional, to do with movements  that tell the story of a nation, its crests, troughs, flows and stasis. Since 2004, the New Indian Foundation (NIF), a Bangalore-based trust, has been sponsoring quality and original research on different aspects of independent India. The first Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize to be announced in the last week of October, during the Bangalore Literature Festival, is out with its shortlist.

The six books shortlisted for the NIFs prize this year are Abhinav Chandrachuds The Republic of Rhetoric: Free Speech and the Constitution of India (Penguin Random House, India); Aanchal Malhotras Remnants of a Separation: A History of Partition Through Material Memory (HarperCollins); Anirudh Krishnas The Broken Ladder: The Paradox and Potential of Indias One Billion (Penguin Random House, India); Sujatha Gidlas Ants Among Elephants: An Untouchable Family and the Making of Modern India (HarperCollins); Milan Vaishnavs When Crime Pays: Money and Muscle in Indian Politics (Yale University Press); and Francesca R Jenseniuss Social Justice Through Inclusion: The Consequences of Electoral Quotas in India (Oxford University Press, New York).

Open to scholars and writers of all nationalities, the eligible books were picked from those published in 2017. The award carries a cash award of Rs 15 lakh and a citation.

Commenting on the shortlist, the chairman of the jury, Ramachandra Guha, said: We were very pleased with the range and diversity of the submissions. With memoir, oral history, political theory and public policy all represented on it, the shortlist reflects the Foundations ecumenical charter of recognising high-quality non-fiction regardless of genre and ideology.

Why has NIF always focused on the history of modern/contemporary India, considering ancient and medieval India is also a fertile ground for research and interpretation? The focus on post-1947 India is deliberate, says Manish Sabharwal, trustee, New India Foundation. As our fellow trustee, Ram Guha, often reminds us, in the many decades since Independence there has been a large body of work produced by historians and social scientists. Taken singly, many of these studies are impressive; viewed cumulatively, they add up to much less than what one might expect. Most historians do not look beyond the attainment of Independence, while social scientists do not look back at all.

The foundation, says Sabharwal, was set up to fill a gap. There were not enough books being written on post-1947 India.

Fifteen years later, 55% of our fellowships have converted into a number of diverse history of institutions (on the Gita Press, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research), of cities (Ahmedabad), individuals (C Rajagopalachari, JC Kumarappa), and groups (post-reform entrepreneurs, IT industry, Quraishi butchers, Adivasis, Chakmas) and movements (Hindu Code Bill, biodiversity preservation, turtle conservation) and much else, Sabhar- wal said.

The prize, named after Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay  a pioneer in theatre and handicraft, and a social reformer  will not consider books published by NIF fellows.

Writer Akshaya Mukul, who won several awards for his book, Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India, and received an NIF grant to write it, says: Most prizes have separate focus areas. The NIF focus has always been post-1947 history. The prize follows that logic.The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday arrested two accused, including the deputy superintendent of a prison here, in connection with trying to facilitate the travel of two militants to Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) for arms training to wage war against the state.

The accused have been identified as Ishaq Palla of Shopian and Feroz Ahmad Lone of Budgam. Lone is at present posted as deputy jail superintendent, Amphalla prison, Jammu. They have been arrested in a case RC-07/2018/NIA/DLI under section 120B of RPC and 13, 18 and 18B of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The case pertains to an attempt by the accused Suhail Ahmad Bhat and Danish Ghulam Lone, who were arrested earlier, for travelling to PoK for arms training. They were motivated by Ishaq Palla, who at that time was lodged in Srinagar central prison in a different case and was instrumental in hatching the conspiracy from jail, stated an official release.

In this conspiracy, Palla was actively assisted by Feroze Ahmad Lone, who was posted as deputy jail superintendent central jail Srinagar at that time, it added.

The official statement further said that the conspiracy meeting at Srinagar central prison was held on October 25, 2017. The accused were in contact with each other through blackberry messenger during the entire month of October, before they were apprehended by police on October 30 last year, it said.

The NIA said that Ishaq Palla has been remanded to its custody for 10 days by the special NIA court in Jammu. Other accused Feroz Ahmad Lone will be produced before the court on Wednesday and the NIA will try to seek his custody too. Investigation continues to unearth the larger conspiracy, said an official.Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit out at the government over the arrest of prominent left-wing activists for suspected Maoist links, saying that in the new India, there is place for only one NGO  the RSS.

There is only place for one NGO in India and its called the RSS. Shut down all other NGOs. Jail all activists and shoot those that complain. Welcome to the new India, Gandhi said in a tweet with the hashtag Bhima Koregaon.

The CPI(M) also lodged its strong protest against the police raids on several civil and human rights activists and left intellectuals, and said it constituted a brazen attack on democratic rights and civil liberties.

The CPI(M) politbureau demanded withdrawal of the cases against these activists and their immediate release, while the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation said the move was reminiscent of the infamous Emergency of the 1975.

The CPI(M-L) Liberation said the arrests and raids are an attempt to brand all dissenting voices as anti-national and intimidate them as the parliamentary polls draw near.

Two left-wing activists Varavara Rao and Sudha Bhardwaj were arrested today as the Pune police carried out searches at multiple places in various states on the residences of people suspected to have Maoist links, a senior police official said.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence at Maharashtras Koregaon-Bhima village, triggered by an event called Elgar Parishad (conclave) held in Pune on December 31 last year.

HT Conversations: Why are political leaders taking domestic rivalries abroad?

The CPI(M) said the raids which were carried out in Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi, Goa and Hyderabad have led to the arrests of some of the activists such as Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao and Gautam Navlakha.

The police have also taken away laptops, mobiles and other personal papers from the homes of those raided, the party said.

Ever since the Bhima-Koregoan violence against Dalits, the Maharashtra Police along with central agencies have been targeting Dalit rights activists and lawyers who have been taking up their cases. False charges have been levelled and the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act invoked. These constitute a brazen attack on democratic rights and civil liberties. The Polit Bureau demands the withdrawal of the cases against these activists and their immediate release, it said in a statement.

Also read: Intellectuals condemn arrest of activists, call it perilous, chilling, fascist

The CPI(M-L) Liberation said those arrested include noted rights activist Sudha Bharadwaj who has lifelong been a lawyer and champion of the rights of the most oppressed in Chhattisgarh, as well as Vernon Gonsalves, Gautam Navlakha and others.

In a statement, the party said, The attempt to project the peaceful Bhima-Koregaon event as an act of terrorism is utterly baseless and condemnable.

The party said, It is shocking but not surprising that under the BJP rule at the Centre and in Maharashtra, rights activists are arrested and booked on terror charges under draconian laws - while terror outfits such as Sanatan Sanstha and Shiv Pratishthan unleash violence on Dalits, plot terrorist attacks, assassinate dissenters and yet are referred to by BJP leaders including the current Prime Minister of India as nationalist.

We condemn the arrests and raids, and demand the release of Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Vernon Gonsalves, Vara Vara Rao and others arrested on Tuesday.

Under the Modi regimes undeclared Emergency, rights activists and dissenters are either shot at, killed, or raided, arrested and jailed, it said.

Searches were carried out at the residences of left-wing activist and poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad and Chhattisgarh and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in Delhi, the police official said, while refusing to be identified.

Earlier, Congress spokesperson Jaipal Reddy condemned the raids and arrests saying no human rights activists should be arrested without a case. I condemn those arrests in unqualified terms. No human rights activist should be arrested. For that matter, no Indian can be arrested without proper case.

I defend the rights of everybody, more particularly human rights protesters. They are selfless NGOs, activists, who are obliged to fight the enveloping darkness of dictatorial tendencies, he told reporters.Congress president Rahul Gandhi will begin a two-day visit to flood-ravaged Kerala on Tuesday, during which he will visit some relief camps and meet fishermen and party volunteers involved in rescue and relief work.

I will be in Kerala tomorrow and the day after, visiting flood-hit areas and relief camps in the state. I will also meet with fishermen, volunteers and others who have been working tirelessly & selflessly to help those in need, he said in a tweet.

Gandhi will reach Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday and then visit the affected areas of Chengannur, Alappuzha and Angamaly, reported ANI.

He is scheduled to visit Wayanad district on Wednesday.

On Onam, the states harvest festival, the Congress chief had expressed his solidarity with the states people. This is a difficult time for the people of Kerala. In relief camps and homes across the state, people are grieving for their loved ones. On this Onam let us pledge to put aside our differences, stand united together and focus on the task of #RebuildingKerala, he had tweeted on Friday.

Gandhi has also been demanding the Centre declared the Kerala floods, the worst in a century, as a National Disaster.

The death toll in the second spell of monsoon since August 8 which triggered disastrous landslides and floods in Kerala has risen to 302 till Sunday, the state government said. This has taken the overall toll in rain-related incidents to 454 since May 29, when the south west monsoon had set in over the southern state.

There are still 4,62,456 displaced people in 1435 camps as on Sunday, according to the chief ministers office.Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday the floods in Kerala revealed two distinct ideas of India as he met people in the districts hit hardest by the natural disaster which killed hundreds of people, left dozens missing and pushed about a million to relief camps.

The first is one of love and compassion for all living beings, particularly in their suffering. The second is driven by hate & bigotry that is unrelenting even in the face of suffering, Gandhi tweeted as he tagged a media report on the Kerala flood.

The Congress chief arrived in Thiruvananthapuram in the morning for a two-day visit and took a helicopter to Chengannur in Alappuzha district of the state. His first stop was the relief camp set up in the Christian College in Chengannur, where he spoke to people living there. He also visited another camp at an engineering college.

The leader of opposition in the Kerala assembly Ramesh Chennithala and Congress state unit president MM Hassan were among those present at the camps.

Reports said Gandhi made way for an air ambulance at the helipad in Chegannur and waited for a clearance for his plane to take off. Gandhi also spoke with the patient, who was flying out for medical assistance, they added.

Gandhi then attended the felicitation of fishermen involved in the rescue operations at Camelot Convention Centre in Alappuzha, which started with a moment of silence for the people who lost their lives in the Kerala floods. He felicitated Jaisal KP, a fisherman from Mallapuram who offered his back to people so that they could board a rescue boat, Rev Bishop Stephan Athipozi and V Dinakaran, his party said in a series of tweets.

Gandhi has been demanding that the Centre must declare the Kerala floods, the worst in a century, as a national disaster. He will also visit flood-affected areas in Wayanad district on Wednesday.

The death toll in the second spell of monsoon since August 8 which triggered disastrous landslides and floods in Kerala has risen to 302 till Sunday, the state government said. This has taken the overall toll in rain-related incidents to 474 since May 29, when the south-west monsoon had set in over the southern state. Fifteen people are missing.

There are still 4,62,456 displaced people in 1435 camps as on Sunday, according to the chief ministers office.MK Stalin was elected as the second president of the DMK on Tuesday at its headquarters Anna Arivalayam in Chennai as party workers burst crackers and shouted slogans in support of their new leader.

The DMKs workers danced to drumbeats and shouted slogans of Aatchi Amaippom Aatchi Amaippom, Thalapathi (Stalin) Thalaimaiyil Aatchi Amaippom (We will form the government under the leadership of Stalin) after the announcement about Stalins elevation.

Stalin was elected as the DMK president, a post his father M Karunanidhi held for 49 years till his death on August 7, during a meeting of the partys general council. The 65-year-old paid tribute to CN Annadurai and Karunanidhi after being elected as the president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

Read: Live updates from Chennai

The path to Stalins elevation was paved at the partys executive committee meeting held on August 14 where senior leaders urged the waiting prince to lead them by taking over the partys mantle. As the general councils meeting began in Chennai, the hashtag DMKThalaivarStalin top-trended on Twitter with tweets congratulating Stalin flooding the platform.

A condolence resolution for Karunanidhis death was passed during the meeting. The deaths of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee, former UN chairman Kofi Anan, and former Tamil Nadu governor Surjit Singh Barnala were also condoled. The DMK also granted Rs 2 lakh for the 248 party workers who died after they heard about Karunanidhis death.

Senior leader Duraimurugan was elected unopposed to the post of the partys treasurer during the meeting and that of the working president, which was held by Stalin, was scrapped.

Threat from Azhagiri

The election of Stalin as the DMKs second president was a smooth affair as all the 65 district secretaries of the party proposed his name for the top post and his was the only nomination.

Karunanidhis older son Azhagiri, banished by the patriarch from the DMK and who is in Madurai, has sought to be inducted back into the party after his fathers death. Azhagiri warned on Monday that if he was not taken back into the party, then DMK would have to face consequences. He has also announced his plans to hold a rally in Chennai early next month to show his strength.

Azhagiri had on August 13 claimed that all loyal party workers were with him and accused Stalin of blocking his return to the party, indicating a fresh succession war in the DMK. Later, he sought to project himself as someone who was not interested in posts and said he had never hankered for any position in the party even when Karunanidhi was alive.

Azhagiri had also claimed that if he was not readmitted into the DMK, the party leaders would face a similar defeat in the upcoming Lok Sabha election like in the last Parliament and assembly polls. He may work against the DMK in the by-elections in two assembly constituencies: Tiruvarur (fell vacant after Karunanidhis death) and Tiruparankundran (vacant after the death of AIADMK lawmaker AK Bose)

The former DMK strongman in southern Tamil Nadu, who has been flexing muscles since the death of Karunanidhi, said the rally in Chennai was being organised as per the wishes of the cadres.

They (cadres) only wanted me to take the lead in organising the march to pay homage (to Karunanidhi), he told reporters. Kalaingar (Karunanidhi) is not there now. The party has to be saved and protected. If they dont readmit me, they will have to face consequences, Azhagiri said.

The DMK, however, has brushed aside Azhagiris claims and rallied behind Stalin. Experts have said Azhagiri may not be a challenge for Stalin within the party but may pose a hurdle from outside.

I feel Azhagiri himself may contest in Tiruvarur. He may like to ride on the wave of being Karunanidhis own son. It is immaterial if he loses provided the DMK also loses, political analyst Raveendharan Dhuraiswamy told IANS.

According to Dhuraiswamy, the poll scene in Tamil Nadu has changed to a three-corner contest between the AIADMK, DMK and AMMK led by Dinakaran.

Big shoes

Stalin will also be under intense scrutiny and would be compared with Karunanidhi for a long time. It may take some time and some election victories for Stalin to come out of his fathers shadows.

But whether the tenure is going to be smooth for Stalin has to be seen as he has to face the challenge of leading the party to victory in the ensuing by-elections in Tiruvarur and Tiruparankundran after a defeat earlier.

The DMKs candidate in the RK Nagar by-election in Chennai lost his deposit and came a poor third after independent candidate TTV Dinakaran and AIADMK leader E Madhusudhanan.

There is also a complaint that Stalin as the DMKs working president was not able to lure some of the disgruntled AIADMK legislators and come to power.

Stalin was given the role of the DMKs working president in January 2017 after Karunanidhi was largely confined to his home due to age-related ailments.

(With agency inputs)India told Maldives that the controversial tweet by BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Subramaniam Swamy does not reflect the official position of the government, a source familiar with the development said.

Swamy, on August 24, had tweeted out that India should invade Maldives if rigging of election takes place. Swamys tweet had led to Maldivian foreign ministry summoning Indian high commissioner on Sunday to express its displeasure over the tweet by a person who is not part of the government. We have clarified to the Maldives foreign ministry that the views expressed by Dr Swami is his personal opinion and doesnt reflect the position of the government, a source said.

Maldives foreign secretary Ahmed Sareer called in Indias high commissioner in Male, Akhilesh Mishra and expressed the displeasure of the government over the issue.A BJP worker died at a hospital in Bengals Purulia district on Monday night, taking the total number of people killed in the violence that erupted during the panchayat board formation process to five since August 25.

Damodal Mondal (58) was injured in a clash at Joypur village in Purulia, following which he was rushed to the Deben Mahato Hospital in a critical condition. Another BJP worker, Niranjan Gope (28), had died immediately after being hit by a bullet.

The bodies of Gope and Mondal will be subjected to post-mortem examinations at the district hospital on Tuesday. State BJP unit general secretary Sayantan Bose will visit the district to chalk out protests over the next few days.

The violence over formation of boards meant to run rural bodies began on Saturday. While a Trinamool Congress (TMC) worker died that day, the ruling party and the BJP lost two supporters each in clashes that broke out across Purulia and Malda districts.

The authorities have denied Boses claim that the BJP workers fell to police bullets. We only fired in the air to control the situation. Our own personnel were injured in the violence. We are investigating the circumstances surrounding Damodar Mondals death, said district police superintendent Akash Magharia.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressed a similar sentiment. Trouble broke out in certain places across the state over panchayat board formation. I have asked the administration and police to deal with such situations firmly. A group of people are targeting policemen, and one of our officers was badly injured, she said at the state secretariat on Monday.

The BJP, however, squarely blamed the TMC for the violence. More than six persons injured in the clashes are still hospitalised. We desire peaceful formation of gram panchayat boards, but Trinamool Congress workers and the police keep creating problems, said Bidyadagar Chakraborty, president of the partys Purulia unit.

Purulia district magistrate Alokesh Prasad Roy has kept the formation of 32 panchayat boards in the district on hold because the conditions were not conducive for the exercise. The process was supposed to be completed between August 27 and 29.Stalin reaches Marina beach, pays tribute to Karunanidhi

DMK President MK Stalin, party leaders visit M Karunanidhis memorial at Chennais Marina beach to pay tribute to the late leader.

#Chennai: DMK President MK Stalin and other party leaders pay tribute to M. Karunanidhi at his memorial on Marina beach. pic.twitter.com/tiR1iEYg5W  ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2018

Alagiri is a small threat to us, says DMK leader Elangovan

We had bigger threats from Jayalalithaa, a political party has to face such threats and succeed. Alagiri is a smaller threat for us, its a matter which will subside in due course: TKS Elangovan,MP, DMK on MK Alagiris statement take me back in party or face consequences

MK Stalin tweets, says honoured to be elected DMK president

I feel honoured and grateful to have been elected as the President of the DMK party.



I pledge to protect, cherish and advance the four founding principles of our party: Self Respect, Social Justice, Rationalism and Secularism.  M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) August 28, 2018

Stalin heads to Annadurai, Karunanidhi memorials at Marina beach

Stalin heads to Marina beach to pay tributes at the memorials of DMK founder Annadurai and his father and predecessor M Karunanidhi.

Never thought I will become DMK president, says Stalin

I never thought that I will speak on this stage and will become the party president, says Stalin as he ends his speech.

Should not let go of Periyar and Annadurais ideologies: Stalin

DMK party men are my brothers and sisters, the party is my family now. We should not let go of Periyar and Annadurai s ideologies: Stalin

Stalin calls for removing Modi and EPS govts

Without the support of the cadre, I cannot overcome the challenges that prevail before Tamil Community. We should remove the right wing Modi government at the Centre and EPS government in the state: Stalin

This is my new birth, says Stalin

Stalin says this is his new birth and its an another new day.

Stalin addressing DMK cadre at party headquarters in Chennai

Chennai: MK Stalin addresses DMK members at party headquarters after being elected as President of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). #TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/CWRoD71NWA  ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2018

Retrieving TN from the hands of thieves our prime goal now: Stalin

Retrieving TN from the hands of thieves is our prime goal now; Tamil Nadu rulers dont have any principles, says Stalin

Self-respect, religion, state autonomy facing threat due to Centre: Stalin

Self-respect, education, religion, judicial system, state autonomy are facing a threat due to the central government : Stalin

Today's political situation has come as a grave challenge. Education, art, literature, religion are under attack by authoritative&communal forces. Union govt is trying to destabilise judiciary, selection of governors. All this has dealt a blow to the secular principles: MK Stalin pic.twitter.com/0qC8NTWaN0  ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2018

My father wanted me to grow gradually

Everyone has seen my gradual growth. My father wants to me grow gradually. I am happy to be called a worker of president Karunanidhi, rather than his son: Stalin

Anbazhagan sits among as as Karunanidhi: Stalin

Stalin says, Anbazhagan sits among us as Karunanidhi . Since Karunanidhi called Anbazhagan his elder brother, he is my Periyappa ( uncle).

Will continue to work hard for the party, says Stalin

Karunanidhi recognised my hard works. So, I will continue to work hard for the party. DMK party and its symbol are higher than all individual including me: Stalin

Have Karunanidhis courage to lead the party: Stalin

Stalin starts his speech with a Karunanidhi dialogue En uyirinum melana anbu udanpirappukkale; says, I dont have the oratory skill like Karunanidhi, but I have the courage like Karunanidhi to lead the party.

Stalin begins his address

MK Stalin, the newly-appointed DMK chief, addresses members at party headquarters

Stalin is fourth one to lead Dravidian movement: Duraimurugan

Stalin is the fourth man after Periyar, Annadurai, and Karunanidhi to lead the century old Dravidian movement, said DMK treasurer Duraimurugan.

Worked with Karunanidhi, now ready to work with Stalin: DMK treasurer Duraimurugan

Though I feel that I am not eligible for treasurers post, I will render my service at the best. When Karunanidhi was elected as president , I was with him and now, I am ready to work with Stalin, says DMK treasurer Duraimurugan.

No one except Stalin can lead the party: MK Kanimozhi

I am very happy to get Stalin as the president of the party. There is no one except Stalin who can lead the party, says Stalins half-sister MK Kanimozhi, MP.

Stalinh has capabilities to overcome challenges: Former Union minister Dhayanidhi Maran

When Karunanidhi took the president post, he had many challenges.Just like Karunanidhi, there are numerous challenges are awaiting before Stalin now. However, he has all the capabilities to overcome these challenges, says Former union minister Dhayanidhi Maran.

DMK workers in Coimbatore distribute sweets

DMK workers in Coimbatore distribute sweets after MK Stalins election as president of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)

DMK workers distribute sweets ( ANI Twitter )

Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee wishes Stalin

Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee wishes MK Stalin

Congratulations and best wishes to @mkstalin for being elected President of the DMK @arivalayam  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) August 28, 2018

Stalin to visit Karunanidhis memorial at Marina beach

Stalin will visit his father and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhis memorial at Chennais Marina beach later in the day

#Visual from M Karunanidhi's memorial at Chennai's Marina beach where MK Stalin will visit later today. Stalin has been elected as President of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). #TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/5sm4xVkC3S  ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2018

Cong president Rahul Gandhi wishes Stalin

Congress president Rahul Gandhi tweeted his wishes for Stalin.

Congratulations to Shri M K Stalin on being elected President of the DMK. I wish him happiness & success as he begins a new chapter in his political journey. @mkstalin #DMKThalaivarStalin  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 28, 2018

Stalin will fight for the principles of DMK founder Anna: A Raja

Stalin will fight for the principles of Dravidar Kazhagam founder EV Ramasamy and DMK founder Anna : A Raja, former union minister

Stalin to deliver acceptance speech after senior leaders

The newly-elected DMK president will deliver his acceptance speech after senior leaders.

DMK leaders, district secretaries wish Stalin

Senior DMK senior leaders and district secretaries are speaking as a gesture to wish Stalin.

Stalin faces the challenge of leading the party to victory in assembly by-polls

Stalin has to face the challenge of leading the party to victory in the ensuing by-elections in two assembly constituencies: Tiruvarur (fell vacant after Karunanidhis death) and Tiruparankundran (vacant after the death of AIADMK lawmaker AK Bose).

Resolution, welcoming the new party president, read out

Resolution, welcoming the new president, read out by Kuthalam Kalyanam, DMK election committee secretary.

Working president post scrapped: K Anbazhagan

Senior DMK leader K Anbazhagan says working president post has been scrapped.

DMK demands Bharat Ratna for M Karunanidhi

DMK general council demands Bharat Ratna for M Karunanidhi

Stalin pays tribute to Annadurai, Karunanidhi

MK Stalin pays tribute to CN Annadurai and M Karunanidhi after being elected as the President of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) at party headquarters.

MK Stalin elected as President of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) at party headquarters in Chennai. #TamilNadu (Images source- Kalaignar TV) pic.twitter.com/TWrlVXDyDF  ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2018

DMK workers raise slogans, say will form govt under Stalin

DMK workers raise slogans Aatchi Amaippom Aatchi Amaippom, Thalapathi(Stalin) thalaimaiyil Aatchi Amaippom ( We will form the government under the leadership Stalin).

Duraimurugan elected party treasurer

Principal secretary Duraimurugan has been elected as treasurer of DMK: Anbazhagan

Festive mood at party office

Festive mood at Anna Arivalayam, party office, as crackers are burst

Stalin began political career from ground

Stalin started his political career from the grounds, says Anbazhagan.

Stalin named DMK president

K Anbazhagan, DMK general secretary, reads the elevation resolution now, announces Stalins name as party president.

New president will sit in party HQs by 4:30 pm: DMK Organisation Secy

DMKs organisation secretary RS Bharathi says the new president will sit in official room of president in the party headquarters by 4.30 pm.

#DMKThalaiverStalin trends on Twitter

As the general councils meeting continues in Chennai, the hashtag #DMKThalaivarStalin is the top trend on Twitter with tweets congratulating Stalin flooding the platform.

Party cadres all set for celebrations

Crackers have been kept ready at the party HQs to celebrate Stalins election.

Crackers at DMK office ( HT Photo )

Stalins election to top post likely to be smooth affair

The path to Stalins elevation was paved at the partys executive committee meeting held on August 14 where senior leaders urged the waiting prince to lead them by taking over the partys mantle.

Compensation paid to party cadres who died in the aftermath of Karunanidhis demise

DMK grants each Rs.2 lakhs for 248 party cadres who died upon hearing of party patriarch Karunanidhis death.

DMK General Council meeting underway at party headquarters in Chennai. DMK Working President MK Stalin has filed nomination for the post of party president. #TamilNadu (Images source- Kalaignar TV) pic.twitter.com/D08ZbSNOuy  ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2018

DMK condoles deaths of those who died Kerala flood

Condolence resolutions passed for people died in Kerala floods as well as in Tuticorin police firing.

Azhagiri warns of consequences if not taken back in the party

Stalins elder brother MK Azhagiri had warned on Monday that if he was not taken back into the party, then DMK would have to face consequences. He has also announced his plans to hold a rally in Chennai early next month to show his strength.

Condolence paid to former LS Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and others

Condolence resolutions passed over the demise of former Lok Sabha Chairman Somnath Chatterjee, former UN chairman Kofi Anan and former TN Governor Surjith Singh Barnala.

Stalins name proposed by all district secretaries

Stalins name has been proposed for the top post by all the 65 district secretaries ; his is the only nomination.

Senior party leader Arcot Veerasamy at Kalaignar Arangam hall

Arcot Veerasamy, the most senior person in the party after Karunanidhi and Anbazhagan arrive at the Kalaignar Arangam hall.

DMK passes condolence resolution for former PM Vajpayee

Condolence resolution passed for former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Condolence resolution on Karunanidhis death read out

Organisation secretary TKS Ilangovan reads condolence resolution for Karunanidhis demise.

DMK general secretary Anbazhagan arrives

DMK general secretary K Anbazhagan and principal secretary S Duraimurugan arrive at Arivalayam

Karunanidhis Tamil song being played at party HQs

Karunanidhis Semmozhi Tamil (classical language) song being played at the party headquarters, DMK cadres seen getting emotional .

Hundreds of DMK cadres at party office

As hundreds of cadres are waiting at the front gate of Kalaignar Arangam, the hall where the general council is to be convened, Stalin enters through back gate .

Chennai: DMK leader MK Stalin arrives at party headquarters ahead of General Council meeting. He has filed nomination for the post of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president. #TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/DMBVMW1wC8  ANI (@ANI) August 28, 2018

Stalin arrives at the party office

Stalin arrives at Anna Arivalayam, the DMK party headquarters.

MK Stalin at Gopalapuram house

MK Stalin arrives at the Gopalapuram house to seek his mothers blessings before setting out for the party meeting.West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee turned her address at the foundation day of her Trinamool Congress (TMC)s student wing into a full-fledged political speech on Tuesday, urging activists to respond vigorously on social media to members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led dispensation at the Centre .

Are you on Facebook and Twitter? Wield the cyber tools. If there is one jibe, respond so vigorously that they run away, she said at a public rally of more than 100,000 students in Kolkata.

Never believe what BJP says on Facebook and Twitter. They are constantly trying to spread lies. Reply to every single falsehood propagated by them with at least 10 fitting retorts, said the chief minister.

Banerjees comments come at a time the TMC and other opposition parties are bracing for Lok Sabha elections in 2019 in which social media is expected to be an important campaign platform. In preparation for the elections, the TMC has revamped its cyber unit to take on the BJP, which has been seeking to make inroads into West Bengal. On June 20, TMC kicked off a series of workshops for 200 master cyber trainers who went back to their respective areas o select volunteers and coach them.

The party announced the formation of a 40,000-strong digital unit headed by Trinamool Lok Sabha MP and the chief ministers nephew, Abhishek Banerjee

The ruling party of Bengal is a symbol of falsehood and corruption. The chief minister had to say it (what she did) to inspire her followers, BJP Bengal unit general secretary Sayantan Basu said about Banerjees words of encouragement to TMCs student-activists to take on his party on social media networks .

The aim of creating the partys own digital army was to take on the might of the IT cell of BJP. Mamata has frequently alleged that the BJPs IT cell is constantly spreading communal hatred in and misinformation in Bengal.

Social media is going to play a very big role in the 2019 elections because opposition parties have realized a while ago how well it was executed by the BJP in 2014. They see it as one of the most influential platforms to reach youngsters which then gets amplified by print and tv media, said B.G. Mahesh, founder of Oneindia.com, which provides content in regional languages. However, the intelligent end voter will ignore the noise. The biggest challenge that political parties are going to face is the false narrative on social media.

Banerjee also dared the ruling dispensation at the Centre to carry out a citizenship screening exercise in Bengal like it did in Assam, where four million applicants were excluded from the final draft of the National Register of Citizens .

Let them try to conduct a similar exercise here. They will be finished before that. Tigers are waiting in Bengal to pounce on them, said the chief minister, who also alleged that the Centre was employing central agencies to harass opposition leaders.

Speaking before her, Abhishek Banerjee took a dig at BJP president Amit Shahs target of winning at least 22 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal and asked him to prove the partys support by marshalling people to oversee 22 election booths in the state.

Tuesdays meeting was organised in Mayo Road, the same place where Amit Shah held a rally on August 11.

(With inputs from Vidhi Choudhary)When government fears the people, there is liberty. When people fear the government, it is tyranny, Dipak Misra, Chief Justice of India, said while addressing the students of Galgotias University in Greater Noida on Tuesday evening.

The CJI was quoting Thomas Jefferson, a founding father of the United States of America and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, while speaking on the topic of citizenry liberty at the university campus.

Patrick Henry had said: Give me liberty or give me death. Liberty is a permanent value and we cannot barter it. When the liberty of a citizen is at stake and as long as they say no to its barter, liberty is saved. Neither you nor I can survive without the values of democracy and, without liberty, life is nothing. When you lose your liberty without proper procedure of law, then you are half dead, Misra said.

The chief justice also spoke about the need to preserve the freedom of speech while referring to the Shreya Singhal versus Union of India case wherein the Supreme Court had quashed Section 66A of the Information Technology Act.

The word that was in contention in this case was annoyance. The court had said this kind of creation of an offence has a chilling effect on free speech and expression.The court deemed the arrest unconstitutional and paved the way for citizenry liberty, Misra said.

Misra also referred to the controversy over Bollywood movie Padmavaat  members of right wing outfit Karni Sena goons had created a ruckus in several states while seeking a ban on the film.

Padmavaat was banned in four states and their explanation for doing this was preserving law and order. The film had already received a certificate from the censor board. The court then said that you cannot ban it, Misra said.Maharashtra police on Tuesday raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least four of them for suspected Maoist links.

Near simultaneous searches were carried out at the residences of prominent Telugu poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad, and civil liberties activist Gautam Navlakha in New Delhi.

Subsequently, Rao, Bhardwaj and Ferreira were arrested. Although Navlakha was also arrested, the Delhi high court ordered police not to take him out of the national capital at least until tomorrow.

According to unconfirmed reports, others whose residences were raided are Susan Abraham, Kranthi Tekula, Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi and Anand Teltumbde in Goa.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year.

Here are their brief profiles:

Varavara Rao

Rao has been writing poetry since 1957. Founder member of Virasam (Revolutionary Writers Association), he was arrested in October 1973 under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA). He was released and arrested on more than one occasions between 1975 and 1986 in different cases, including the 1986 Ramnagar conspiracy case in which he was acquitted in 2003 after 17 years.

Rao was again arrested on 19 August 2005 under the AP Public Security Act and sent to Chanchalguda Central Prison in Hyderabad. The case was struck down under the Public Security Act on 31 March 2006 and Rao obtained bails in all other cases.

Varavara Rao has been arrested on more than one occasion in different cases. (AP)

Arun Pereira

An activist based in Mumbai, Ferreira was claimed to be the leader of the propaganda and communications wing of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) in 2007. He was acquitted of all charges in 2014. In his book, Colours of the Cage: A Prison Memoir, published the same year, Ferreira, recounted the details of his imprisonment of nearly five years.

Arun Ferreira is an activist based in Mumbai. (PTI)

Sudha Bhardwaj

Bhardwaj is best known for her work in Chhattisgarh, where she has lived for 29 years and fought for the rights of mine workers in Bhilai, as a member of late Shankar Guha Niyogis Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha. She began working with the Mukti Morcha in 1986, after witnessing the abysmal working conditions of labourers in West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh during her stint as a student in IIT Kanpur.

A civil rights activist and lawyer, Bharadwaj has also been fighting against land acquisition, and is currently the general secretary of the Chhattisgarh Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).

Susan Abraham

Abraham, a civil rights lawyer, represented many of those arrested during the June raids by the police in connection with the Elgar Parishad event. The wife of activist Vernon Gonzalves, Abraham was born in Kerala to schoolteacher parents and studied in Zambia. She has been part of protests against demonetisation, fake encounters and for workers and womens rights.

She has written extensively against the rigourous sentences given to Delhi University professor GN Saibaba, activist Prashant Rahi among others, calling it misuse of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Her name can be seen in the credits of a film, Court, in which she guided filmmaker Chaitanya Tamhane through the intricacies of law.

Vernon Gonzalves

A blog run by his friends describe Vernon Gonzalves as a leader of the Altar Boys and a strong believer of justice, equality & freedom. A gold medallist from Mumbai University and a former lecturer at Ruparel College and HR College, Gonzalves, security agencies allege, was an ex-central committee member and former secretary of the Maharashtra state committee of Maoists. He was charged in around 20 cases and has been acquitted due to lack of evidence, after serving six years in jail.

Gautam Navlakha is a journalist. (AP)

Gautam Navlakha

Navlakha has been associated with Peoples Union for Democratic Rights and is a Delhi-based journalist. He is also an editorial consultant of the Economic and Political Weekly. He, along with Sudha Bharadwaj, demanded repeal of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. They said, the Act, passed to regulate the activities of unlawful organisations, has been used by the government to curb extremist activities as opposed to unlawful activities. Navlakha, a frequent traveller to Kashmir Valley for the last two decades, has also written extensively about alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.

Anand Teltumbde

An engineer, MBA and former CEO, Teltumbde is also a leading scholar and activist for Dalit rights. He has authored books on peoples movement particularly about leftist agitations and Dalit rights struggles. He also has a doctorate in cybernetics from Mumbai University. It is no coincidence that he has often argued that reservation for Dalits has, in fact, stigmatised them and consecrated caste in Indias polity.

Father Stan Swamy

Human rights activist Father Stan Swamy founded the Vistapan Virodhi Janvikash Andolan (VVJA), a platform that advocates the rights of indigenous people including Adivasis and Dalits. Swamy was among the 20 people against whom a sedition case was filed in July this year, for posting statements against the Jharkhand government for inciting tension over the Pathalgadi movement.

Father Stan Swamy was among 20 people against whom a sedition case was filed in July this year, for posting statements against the Jharkhand government for inciting tension over the Pathalgadi movement. (PTI)

Kranthi Tekula

Tekula is a journalist with Namaste Telangana.The Election Commission planned to implement a slew of measures to curb the circulation of fake news on social media in the run-up to elections, chief election commissioner (CEC) OP Rawat said in Bhopal on Tuesday.

Rawat who came to Bhopal on Monday night to assess the preparations for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh assembly elections said the poll panel was keeping a close watch on circulation of fake news to ensure that it is not used to influence voters.

Addressing the students of Bhopals Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, Rawat said that in a way, fake news existed even during the Mahabharata era when Ashwathama, an elephant, was killed and it was conveyed that Dronacharyas son who also went by the same name had died. He, however, added (the) magnitude of fake news these days has gone up to such an extent that its difficult to know what is correct and what is not.

Rawat said the regional heads of social media companies had assured the commission that they would not allow circulation of any false content, which could influence the voters and no content related to the election would be allowed to be circulated 48 hours before voting.

The measures taken by the companies (to control fake news) will be checked in the 2018 assembly elections and ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, he added.

He said a committee of cyber experts was formed to stop circulation of offensive and false information to ensure that the voters were not influenced by it.

The committee of cyber experts is preparing a report after holding a discussion with all political parties. The media certification monitoring committee will work and take action on paid news, said Rawat.

He said the EC would ban a politician from taking part in an election campaign if he was found involved in influencing voters with false information.The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has resolved to achieve a mandate bigger than its record tally in 2014 in the 2019 elections, and under the leadership of Narendra Modi, Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh said on Tuesday after an interaction between Prime Minister Modi, party president Amit Shah and BJP chief ministers at the party headquarters.

2019 mein sabhi ko saath le kar aage badhenge (we will move ahead by taking everyone along in 2019), Singh said at a press conference after Modi addressed 14 CMs (excluding Manohar Parrikar) of states the BJP governs on its own (there are two others that it governs through alliances). The BJP secured 282 seats, its highest ever, and the most by any party in three decades, in the Lok Sabha elections in 2014.

Singh added that there was no discussion on alliances or any manifesto for 2019, and that the focus was on implementation of central schemes. The Opposition has not be able to finalise its leader. They will not be able to finalise it until the next elections. There is no vacancy for the prime ministers post. We have resolved to return to power with a greater majority, he said.

The conclave discussed in detail the political situation in the three poll-bound states  Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh (all governed by the BJP).

PM Modi and BJP president Amit Shah offered valuable suggestions to the respective chief ministers, said Singh, who was accompanied by Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu and BJP general secretary Bhupendra Yadav at the press conference.

Shah spoke about the Centres decision to increase minimum support prices (MSP) to ensure 50% profit to farmers over the cost of production, fulfil the long pending demand for a constitutional status to the OBC (other backward classes) commission and a bill to protect the right of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and said different sections of the society were directly impacted by these decisions.

Farmers, many suffering from the results of an agrarian crisis mainly caused by bumper harvests and falling prices, people from the SCs and STs, who have politically mobilised in recent years to counter oppression, and other backward classes or OBCs are all key voter groups.

The BJP threw its weight behind the national register of citizens (NRC) in Assam, reiterating its commitment to deal with the menace of infiltrations from Bangladesh and other countries. Singh said the national citizenship bill will also protect the rights of the persecuted Hindus who are religious minorities in neighbouring countries.

Modi and Shah also took stock of the executive of the Centres welfare schemes, such as free LPG connection for poor families, in different states and sought suggestions for improvement in its implementation.

The task to make country open defecation free, provide electricity connections to all households, and to give housing facilities and LPG cylinders are big assignments that the Modi government has taken. We discussed measures to improve their implementation, Singh said.

Referring to Ayushman Bharat, popularly called Modicare, Singh said the Centre has announced a health coverage scheme for 500 million people and that the chief ministers and the PM discussed preparedness for its rollout. The PM sought to know from the chief minister about the readiness of the state government, the availability of infrastructure and other such aspects about the Aayushman Bharat scheme, he added.Congress president Rahul Gandhi was among the first political leaders to congratulate MK Stalin after he took over as Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)s chief on Tuesday.

Congratulations to Shri M K Stalin on being elected President of the DMK. I wish him happiness & success as he begins a new chapter in his political journey, Gandhi tweeted.

The two leaders are known to share a good rapport. The relations between the two parties have improved since the DMK quit the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) after almost nine years in March 2013.

The DMK had quit the alliance over the then Manmohan Singh governments failure to prevent the watering down of a UN resolution against Sri Lankan over human rights abuses. The ties between the two parties were also strained over the allegations of corruption against the DMK leaders in the allocation of 2G-spectrum.

DMKs loss to the AIADMK in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls forced it to align with the Congress again for the 2016 assembly polls. The tie-up remains firm and the two parties have indicated that they will fight the 2019 Lok Sabha elections together.

Gandhi was among the leaders invited to celebrate Karunanidhis 94th birthday in June last year. After the event, Gandhi made it a point to spend time at Stalins residence. Gandhi had posed with Stalins grandchildren for pictures.

When Gandhi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on womens reservation bill in July this year, Stalin promptly extended his support to the move. With the elevation of Stalin, a status quo is expected in the DMK-Congress relations given that both the parties are wary of the Bharatiya Janata Partys inroads into Tamil Nadu.

For his part, Gandhi has asked the state leaders to strengthen the party at the grassroots level, but also made it clear that the Congress was willing to play second fiddle to the DMK at least for now.A woman from Chhattisgarh on Monday chose to go with her parents leaving behind her husband who was a Muslim but had converted to Hinduism to marry her.

Before converting to Hinduism, Aryan Arya was Muslim, Mohd Ibrahim Sidhiqui. He had converted to Hinduism on February 23, 2018, at Raipur.

The woman, Anjali Jain, who appeared before the bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, said that she wanted to stay with her parents.

Noting her wish and also that she was a major, the court permitted her to go with her parents.

In the last hearing of the matter, the top court had asked the Dhamtari district superintendent of police to present Anjali Jain before the court.

Mohd Ibrahim Sidhiqui alias Aryan Arya had moved the top court against the Chhattisgarh high court order giving her the option to either leave her parents or be accommodated in a hostel.

The high court order came even as it noted that Anjali Jain was a major (23 years), and by her own admission was married.

The high court order came on a habeas corpus petition by Sidhiqui and after the Anjali Jain told the court that she had married him at an Arya Samaj Temple at Raipur on February 25, 2018, as per Hindu rites and traditions.

Sidhiqui had contended in his petition before the High Court that State police was not acting on his complaint.

Anjali after marrying Aryan Arya had returned to her parents home with a hope that she would disclose her marriage in due course of time.

However, her parents came to know about the marriage. Anjali left her parents home, without informing them, on the night of June 30.

But she was found by police even before she could have met her husband. The police took her to a police station and then to Sakhi Center for women set up by the government.

It has been contended that even though Anjali clearly wished to go with her husband, the local police incorrectly recorded her statement and handed over her custody to her father Ashok Jain.An Indian Police Service (IPS) officer has written to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and offered to campaign for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Surya Kumar Shukla, the officer, has also identified the posts he could be offered after his retirement this month. His letter to Adityanath has gone viral on the social media.

Shukla had earlier in February courted controversy by taking a pledge to have a Ram temple built in Ayodhya.

Post-retirement, I wish to actively help you in campaigning for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, wrote Shukla, who heads home guards. He wrote he has full faith in the BJPs policies and programmes.

Shukla accused the media of quoting him out of context while insisting he was free to pursue his interests post-retirement including politics. It is not fit for me to reveal or comment on the contents of the letter. That is between me and the chief minister, Shukla said.

He has offered his services for vacant posts in the State Planning Commission, Social Welfare Board, Khadi Gramodyog Board and Pollution Control board.

If I am appointed to any of these posts after retirement, it would entitle me to move across the state and stay in government guest houses and through which I would be able to offer all support that you deem fit, Shukla wrote.

Opposition Samajwadi Party spokesman Abdul Hafiz Gandhi accused the BJP of politicising the bureaucracy. If serving officers start talking of a political role, then it is scary.Two members of a gang involved in drawing blood out of youngsters after sedating them were caught red-handed by Basti police on Monday.

Identifying the accused as Akash (33) and Dr Prabhakar Singh (40), police said more members of the criminal group  known as the Khoon Chuswa gang by locals  will be arrested in the days to come. Criminal cases were lodged against the two under sections 328 (causing hurt by means of poison) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code after one of their victims.

Police said they then laid a trap for the duo on the basis of a tip-off received from local residents, who saw Akash luring a child to Dr Singhs clinic by offering him a toffee. The two were nabbed in the act of extracting blood from the victims sedated body.

Detailing the modus operandi of the gang, superintendent of police Pankaj Kumar said: Akash  who hails from Nepal  was entrusted with the task of luring youngsters to the clinic, where they would be sedated against their will. The victims would all be given Rs 500 after the procedure, thereby buying their silence.

According to sources, the gang would then sell the blood to a hospital located near a national highway in Santkabeernagar district. Over the last few months, the gang duped many youngsters in this manner. However, as they were all paid Rs 500 after the procedure, nobody approached the police, said Prabhat, the complainant in the case.Long-term exposure to air pollution lowers brain function, which reflects in decreased verbal and mathematics scores, apart from causing heart disease and breathing problems, a new study from China has said.

... a narrow focus on the negative effect on health may underestimate the total cost of air pollution. Our findings imply that the indirect effect of pollution on social welfare could be much larger than previously thought, Xiaobo Zhang, one of the authors of the paper, said.

The study retrospectively analysed data of nearly 32,000 people from two waves (2010 and 2014) of the China Family Panel Study, a nationally representative longitudinal survey that looks at topics like economic activities, education outcome, family dynamics, relationships, and health.

The cognitive ability module of the test has standardised mathematics and word-recognition questions and was sorted in ascending order of difficulty. The score given was the highest rank of a question that a person was able to answer. This dataset was then compared to the local pollution data.

The researchers were able to show that the scores of the cognitive module of the test fell with increased long-term and transient exposure to air pollution. The decline was more pronounced in the verbal tests than in mathematics.

When the results were plotted based on gender and educational qualification, the researchers saw that men 44 years or older with primary school education were the most impacted. For subsample with more education, men 65 years and above were impacted.

We speculate that the pollutant damage is most likely accumulating in the white matter of the brain which is mainly associated with the language functioning. The negative impact of three-year accumulative exposure to air pollution for mens verbal test scores is 49% higher than that for women, Zhang, who is also a senior research fellow with the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), said.

This could be because men have a much smaller amount of white matter activated during intelligence tests so their cognitive performance is more affected. Of course, more research is needed to test this out, Zhang added.

The research estimated that reducing fine particulate matter concentrations to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standard (50 g/m3) would increase verbal and math scores by 2.41 and 0.39 points.

Though the research was conducted in China, the researchers suggest that the implications would be true for all developing countries, including India.

The worlds top 20 most polluted cities, according to the World Health Organizations (WHO) database, are in developing countries. Almost all the cities in low- and middle-income countries with more than 1,00,000 residents fail to meet WHO air quality guidelines.

The findings should be applicable to India. In fact, the impact probably is greater given that the air pollution is more severe in Delhi than in Beijing and other Chinese cities, said Zhang.

Doctors from India said the study was a good start but added that more research is required to show that the impact of air pollution on the human brain is definitive.

The study points a way. However, the researchers have retrospectively analysed the data and tried to fit it into a mathematical model. This can just show a correlation between high pollution levels and lower scores, Dr Vinay Goyal, professor of neurology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), said.

Also, what about the socio-economic parameters? Most likely than not the people living in the most polluted areas are the poorest, they might not fare well on the test, not because of pollution but also because of the missing opportunities, Dr Goyal, who is also the editor of the journal Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology, added.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for moreThe MIDC police arrested three men for allegedly murdering Avinash Bali, 40, a police informer and also the key eyewitness in the 2011 murders of Keenan Santos and Reuben Fernandez. Bali was found dead in Andheri (East) on August 20.

Navinchandra Reddy, deputy commissioner of police for Zone 10, said, Our police team led by inspector Kedari Pawar and sub-inspector Bhujbal traced the accused to Lucknow and Nalla Sopara.

Senior inspector Nitin Alaknure said, The accused were produced before a magistrate court on Sunday and have been remanded in police custody for further probe.

The main accused is Nilesh Shukla, 38, while his aides are Vanshbahadur Singh alias Jagga, 48 and Ankit Dubey, 19. Jagga is Shuklas driver, and the duo was traced yesterday to Lucknow. Dubey, who was Shuklas personal bodyguard, was nabbed from Nalla Sopara.

Explaining the motive, a police officer said it was Bali who had tipped off the police about Shuklas illegal activity in 2008, after which the latter was arrested in a narcotics case. Bali then helped Shukla and they ended up becoming friends. Shukla was out on bail in the 2008 case and had other narcotics cases registered against him with the DRI, the police said.

Things worsened this year after Bali, as per Shuklas claim, started eying the latters wife and mistress. Shukla claimed before the police that Bali called him impotent when talking about the two women, which had enraged him. A third motive for the murder is that Bali was unable to return a lot of money he had borrowed from Shukla.

Balis body was found in Shuklas office in Apollo Industries Estate in Andheri (East) at 2.40 am on Sunday, with injuries to his head and his private parts.

It was Shukla who had called Bali for a meeting where the two ended up having a heated argument. Police also found alcohol bottles at their meeting spot. Prima facie, police believe Balis impotent comment on Shukla may have been the trigger for the latter to attack him with a hammer.

Soon after the murder, Shuklas aides helped him destroy evidence while he left for Nainital in his car. Shukla was finally nabbed in Lucknow.The operational cost of the countrys only monorail route in Mumbai may rise by more than double.

On August 15, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) appointed a committee to end the deadlock between itself and the monorail operator over the per-trip cost.

The panel recently suggested hiking the per-trip operational cost from 4,600 to 10,600.

Operations on the 8.9-km section of the monorail between Chembur and Wadala (Phase-1) were already incurring losses for the MMRDA. But the 130% hike suggested by the panel will only add to the losses borne by the state agency.

The per-trip rate is a fee the operator is given to run (one way) and maintain the corridor by the MMRDA.

The operator  a consortium of Larsen & Toubro and Scomi Engineering (LTSE)  had sought revision in the per-trip rate and had demanded 18,000 per trip, according to MMRDA officials.

MMRDA plans to restart the Chembur-Wadala arm of the monorail, which was shut after a fire incident in November 2017, from September 1 and therefore had to resolve the issue before restarting operations.

The committee has recommended a revision of 10,600 per trip. It has also recommended manpower management to make the operation viable for the MMRDA to run the corridor with the recommended rates, said a senior MMRDA official requesting anonymity.

The MMRDA is incurring losses on the corridor as the route has poor ridership  ranging between 17,000 and 18,000 passengers per day. Apart from paying the operator, the MMRDA also bears the expenses for electricity and the salaries of security personnel at the stations and at Wadala depot. With the corridor catering to only a section of the city, the MMRDA is now pinning its hopes on Phase 2  between Wadala and Jacob Circle  to make operations viable.

Public transport is an obligation and is not operated for profits. However, we expect the ridership to go up to 1 lakh per day once the Phase 2 starts, and thus reducing the burden on the MMRDA, said another MMRDA official.

The Wadala-Chembur arm, which is expected to be commissioned next year, will pass through densely populated areas and will have intersections with suburban railway stations.

Meanwhile, the MMRDA is also planning to install high-resolution CCTV cameras at the end of stations, at the level of tyres, along with smoke detectors near the tyres of the monorail, for real-time monitoring of the operations.

Officials said that the step was taken after it came to light that the fire in November started near the tyres. The monitoring will be done at the control room in Wadala, officials said.Sixteen cases of dengue have been reported from different parts of Patna district so far, a health official has said .

The number of cases has increased over the past one week and is likely to go up with rains due to accumulation of stagnant water. So far, 16 cases have been confirmed, said Patna civil surgeon Dr Pramod Jha.

Of the 16 cases reported in the district since August 3, four were from Kankarbagh, two each from Agamkuan and Barh and one each from Fathua, Machuatoli, Bhootnath, Daniyawan, Sandalpur, Bankipore, Kajipur and Ashok Rajpath, said Dr Jha.

The Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) has been getting around six dengue suspect cases every day, said its principal Dr Ajit Kumar Varma.

The dengue season generally begins from September, but this year it has had an early onset, said Dr Varma.

Given the trend of dengue over the last 2-3 years, district epidemiologist Dr Prashant Kumar feared that the incidence of the disease would peak between September and December.

Patna reported nearly 1,000 cases last year between August and December. The coming months will be crucial and we are making every effort to contain the disease, said Dr Kumar.

The civil surgeon has sent letters to all government and private health facilities to report any case of dengue coming to their centres. The blood samples have to be sent to any of the three government facilities  the Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH), the Nalanda Medical College Hospital (NMCH) or the Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS)  for confirmatory test.

We have also advised all health facilities in the district to provide mosquito nets to dengue patients during the course of treatment, said Dr Kumar.

The Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) has been caught napping. Of the six fogging machines available, four were functional, admitted Patna mayor Sita Sahu.

Two of the four small machines are not functional. New machines will be purchased within a month. Thereafter, we will speed up regular fogging, which is now being done at an interval of 15 days, added Sahu.

Of the 1,518 dengue cases reported in the state last year, 984 were from Patna, said a report of the State Health Society, Bihar.

Dengue is caused by Aedes mosquitos, which breed in stagnant water. Experts attribute the rise in dengue cases to change in weather, rainfall and waterlogging.

As a precautionary measure, doctors advise people to wear full sleeves clothes to cover most part of the body and use mosquito repellents. The common symptoms of the disease are red mosquito bite marks on the body, high fever, severe abdominal pain, fatigue and blood from gums or during vomiting in severe cases.Armed assailants on Tuesday afternoon gunned down a self-styled Maoist commander-turned-criminal, Santosh Jha, on the Sitamarhi civil court premises in the presence of several policemen while he was being taken for hearing in the Darbhanga engineers murder case.

This is the second murder on the premises of a court in Bihar this year. A few weeks back, one of Santosh Jhas close associates, Abhisekh Jha, was killed in a similar fashion on the Motihari court premises. No group has claimed responsibility for Tuesdays murder yet.

According to police, the three assailants opened fire on Jha with automatic weapons, also hitting a court staffer who was passing by. Both were taken to the Sitamarhi Sadar Hospital where the doctors pronounced Jha brought dead. The court staffer, whose identify could not be ascertained so far, was being operated on and reported to be out of danger.

We have arrested one of the shooters while two others managed to escape. Few others have also been detained on suspicion. Their interrogation is on and we hope to arrest the other shooters soon, said Sitamarhi superintendent of police Vikas Burman.

Police said all entry and exit points of the city were sealed to prevent escape of the shooters, and several places were raided to get leads in the case.

The incident sparked angry protests by lawyers at the civil court, who alleged such incidents in a high security court premises cannot occur without involvement of policemen.

We demand a thorough probe. The state has plunged into utter lawlessness. Nobody is secure here. The audacious criminals had a free run in the court premises and escaped after gunning down an under trial while the heavily armed policemen escorting him remained mute spectators, said an angry lawyer.

Jha was a dreaded name in Bihars Mithila belt for around two decades. Inspired by the Communist Party of India (Maoist) rebels and lured by the easy money they earned, he stepped into the crime world by joining a like-minded splinter outfit, Bihar Peoples Liberation Front (BPLF) run by Santosh and Vikas.

Soon his aspirations grew and he eliminated the outfit commander before declaring himself the supreme leader. The outfit began collecting levy from local contractors, businessmen and traders.

Along with Vikas, Jha gradually turned the outfit into a professional criminal group hiring youngsters with the lure of easy money and turning them into contract killers. The group had acquired several sophisticated weapons including three AK-47 rifles. Till last year, the Jha gang had at least 40-45 shooters who carried out all sorts of crimes for money.

Though many of them were arrested and put behind bars, their dominance prevailed. However, over the passing years, he earned enemies who began targeting him and his men. His associate, Abhisekh Jhas murder was a big setback for him.

Police said Jha and his gangsters killed two young engineers, Brajesh Kumar Singh and Mukesh Kumar Singh in Darbhanga on December 26, 2015 , following their road construction companys denial to pay up extortion money in crores.

In March this year, a Darbhanga court convicted Jha and his nine other associates in the engineers murder case and sentenced them to life imprisonment. On Tuesday, he was being produced for a hearing in the case.The city police have arrested a 47-year-old driver who allegedly blackmailed and cheated a 24-year-old woman from Kothrud on the pretext of presenting himself as a handsome hunk from Singapore. The man later turned out to be a driver who stayed in the girls neighbourhood and never met her during the one-and-a-half-year courtship.

According to the Kothrud police, the accused befriended her by sending her an email inviting her to participate in a Hong Kong musical festival to which she replied and sent all her personal details, including one of her recorded songs.

The accused then proposed marriage to her and even wired money into her account and took care of her expenses. Slowly, the relationship strengthened and the accused got a dominant position over the victim, the police said.

Later, the accused advised her to download an Android application on her mobile phone when it developed a technical snag. He hacked her phone on the pretext that he will repair it online. However, after hacking the phone, he started keeping a tab on the activities of the girl, gathered her personal details and started blackmailing her. He prepared a dossier of her private data and blackmailed her with the intention of causing mental harassment, the police said.

According to the police, he took some private pictures of the victim and forced her to change clothes after making her to video call him. During the online conversation, he never showed his face on the phone. The victim was traumatised by the behaviour of the accused.

The girl lodged a complaint with the Kothrud police and the accused was nabbed. The victim requested that she would see the accused from a distance and was shocked to see his face and how he trapped her into his game plan.

The accused had taken her nude picture and blackmailed her with that picture. We have booked him under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The accused hails from Ahmednagar and we will unearth his involvement in the crime as the investigation progresses, said Kothrud police station in charge Appasaheb Shewale.The Punjab assembly on Tuesday unanimously has passed the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018, and The Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018, for making sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib and other religious texts punishable with life term.

The Captain Amarinder Singh government took back the amendments passed by the House during the previous regime that made only sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib punishable with life imprisonment.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) demanded that Guru Granth Sahib be treated separately as Sikhs consider it a living guru. Akali MLA Gurpartap Singh Wadala cautioned the government not to play with fire by politicising religion. Akali legislator Bikram Singh Majithia too echoed same views.

To this, the CM said that the Union government had sent back the bill on March 16, 2017, saying that the proposed amendments would violate the principle of secularism enshrined in the Constitution of India. It was not possible to give special punishment for desecration of holy book of one religion, he said. The CM said the then attorney general Mukul Rohtagi had told the Centre that secularism was a basic tenet of the constitution and in his view the President may not give his assent to the bill which only criminalises sacrilege of only one religious text.

The new amendment through Section 295AA makes acts of sacrilege against all holy books, including Guru Granth Sahib, Bhagavad Gita, Quran and Bible, punishable with life imprisonment.

Bill to form panel to appoint DGP passed

The Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2018, was passed by the House on Tuesday. It will facilitate setting up of a state police commission to select the state director general of police (DGP) from a panel to be constituted by the UPSC based on the proposal by the state concerned, in compliance with an apex court order.

AAPs Kharar MLA Kanwar Sandhu said the new commission should fix tenure for the DGP as in the armed forces and it should have the leader of opposition as well as legal luminaries as its members. To this, the CM said that fixed tenure was not possible like in the military but the commission will have the leader of opposition, a retired judge of the high court or the Supreme Court and two eminent citizens.

Two other bills passed

Punjab Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Bill, 2018: It makes fraudulent practices by financial establishments a non-bailable offence, inviting up to 10 years of imprisonment with provisions for attachment of properties to safeguard depositors interests.

If a finance company fails to return the deposits on due date or defrauds the public, then the promoters, managers and employees would be liable for imprisonment up to 10 years and fine of 1 lakh. The financial establishment will also be liable for a fine of 2 lakh which may extend to 1 crore.

Punjab State Higher Education Council Bill, 2018: The law is aimed at ensuring planned and coordinated development of higher education in the state. The council, to be headed by the CM, will fulfil one of the prerequisites of the next phase of the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan-2 (RUSA) for the state to be eligible for receiving grants under the central scheme.Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday had a heated exchange of words over the issue of Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report on sacrilege on the second day of the monsoon session of the assembly which was to discuss bills and amendments tabled in the House.

The two sparred when the Akali MLAs, after the tabling of the report, asked Vidhan Sabha speaker Rana KP Singh to declare the status of the breach of privilege motion moved by the party before the start of the session.

But when the speaker said a response has been sent to their office, the Akali MLAs insisted for a reply. Sukhbir, while rejecting the report, dubbed it an injustice commission and told the House that a day before tabling of the report, Baljit Singh Daduwal, who is leading the protest at Bargari, secretly met the CM at his Chandigarh residence on Sunday.

The former deputy CM claimed to have a video recording of Daduwals vehicle entering the CMs residence at night. To this, the treasury benches said it was a breach of security.

Reacting sharply to it, the CM stood up in defence, denied having met Daduwal and asked the speaker to initiate an inquiry as closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras record every movement outside his residence and Sukhbir be taken to task for misleading the House.

I wont be able to identify Daduwal if he is standing with four people, the CM said.

Later, Sukhbir in a press conference released a photograph in which Daduwal is standing beside the CM and cabinet minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa.

Amarinder said in 2015 he had visited the protest site at Bargari (Faridkot) and was informed about Daduwal being present there. Pointing towards Sukhbir, he said, We know what you have done to Akal Takht head granthi Giani Gurmukh Singh.

Gurmukh was removed as Akal Takht head granthi earlier and was reinstated on August 3. His brother Himmat Singh, a witness in the Ranjit commission report, has retracted his statement to the panel saying that he was forced to sign some papers.

On this, Amarinder told Sukhbir as instead of raising the issue now you should debate it tomorrow (Tuesday) when the House has fixed slot for the same. The speaker has announced a two-hour slot for debate, adding that time could be extended depending on the situation.

Earlier, Amarinder came in support of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, when SAD legislators, protesting against Gandhis comment during an interview in London last week that his party was not responsible for the 1984 riots, came to the well of the House.

Our party was not behind the riots. I along with my brother Malwinder Singh, cousin Randhir Singh and then speaker (Punjab Vidhan Sabha) Ravi Inder Singh visited the worst-affected areas of Delhi soon after the riots, the CM said.

We saw bodies. When we arrived at a relief camp in Gurdwara Rakab Ganj, people were taking names of (HKL) Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar, Arjan Das, and Dharam Dev Shashtri for being behind the riots, he said in the House.

Their names were expunged on the insistence of the speaker to which Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA HS Phoolka objected and came to the well of the House demanding the names be taken on record. To this, the speaker agreed.

They were individual members of the party, not the party, said Amarinder, denying that Rajiv Gandhi was in Delhi during the riots. Rajiv was in (West) Bengal, he said.

When Bikram Majithia stood up to make a point, Amarinder said he (Majithia) was an eight-year-old then. I know you are 1976 born, the CM said, silencing Majithia, amid a pandemonium. You were in California then, he said to Sukhbir.

Then why were they given Congress tickets to contest polls and made ministers? asked Sukhbir. To this, Amarinder said no court of law has convicted them.

Later, during the press conference, Sukhbir said if Amarinder knows so much and has spoken on the floor of the House, he should also offer to become a witness in the ongoing cases related to the 1984 riots.

He also released what he referred to as call details of Justice Ranjit Singh, minister Tript Rajinder Bajwa, AAP MLA Sukhpal Khaira, Sikh radical leaders Chanan Singh Sidhu, Baljit Singh Daduwal and Gurdeep Singh Bathinda and claimed they met a farmhouse in Zirakpur on June 15 and 17. It shows that all of them are hand in glove. This report has no meaning, Sukhbir said.Amitabh Bachchan returns to the quizmasters chair once again to host Kaun Banega Crorepati season 10. Before Big B invites contestants to the hot seat, the actor sat down and answered media questions on the show and his life on Tuesday.

Amitabh was asked that after hosting nine seasons of Kaun Banega Crorepati, does he think he can survive as a contestant. I will lose if I become a contestant on #KBC10. I wont be able to answer more than 2-3 questions, was the actors candid reply.

The actor was also asked his reaction to Salman Khan saying he would like to host Kaun banega Crorepati. He is welcome to do it, Amitabh said.

He also spoke about granddaughter Aaradhya being fond of the shows background music. She knows that there is a show called #KBC. She prefers the tune. I have not played with her but I should start, Amitabh said in answer to whether Abhishek and Aishwaryas daughter has played a make-believe version of KBC with her granddad.

The veteran actor also opened up about the actors in the Hindi film industry today and how he is in awe of the young talent. Actors like Alia Bhatt, Anushka Sharma and Deepika Padukone are so capable that I am scared to work with them, they will eat me up, he said, adding, Look at the work by the likes of Ranbir Kapoor, Sushant Singh Rajput, Varun Dhawan and even Kartik Aaryan have done.

The actor who recently donated Rs 51 lakh and his personal belongings for Kerala relief effort also revealed that he had earlier paid Rs 1.25 crore to repay farmers loans in the past.I was shocked by farmers suicides. Several years ago, when I was shooting in Vizag, I got to know that the farmers were taking their lives, not being able to pay off loans of some thousands. I got a list of around 50 families and paid off their loans. Recently also, through my bank, I got a list of 200 farmers and we have cleared their loans amounting to Rs 1.25 crore. He revealed that he has also helped the families of martyrs. I want to thank the CMs office that helped us collate a list of 44 families. We have drafted 112 drafts of some crores towards them already, he said.Kapil Sharma has been on a break from social media and is rarely sighted in public ever since his Twitter meltdown a few months ago. However, his photos often find their way to social media and go viral within moments.

The latest batch of photos has Kapil celebrating Raksha Bandhan with his family. The comedian looks happy as he is seen spending time with his family. Kapil, who had accepted during a fan interaction that he has gained weight and was working on his fitness, still looks different from his past self. The photos had his fans concerned, who wrote on social media that they were glad to see the comedian but wanted him to be fit and healthy again. many also asked when Kapil will return to their TV screens.

A few days ago, it emerged that Kapil has collaborated with producer Sumeet Singh and actor Gurpreet Ghuggi to present a Punjabi film, Son of Manjeet Singh. Kapil shared the details on Instagram, The heart touching the story of Manjeet Singh n his son. Punjabi film Son of Manjeet Singh. Releasing on 12th oct 2018. First, look coming soon. Need ur blessings.

Kapils public sightings have decreased significantly since his very public meltdown, which he attributed to being overworked, but was also speculated to be because of a rumoured alcoholism.

Kapil was previously spotted in early July, shopping at a grocery store in Amsterdam. The picture triggered a lot of fans take to Twitter expressing concerns over his health. The actor also returned to Twitter days before he returned to Mumbai in July. Kapil also accepted that his weight has increased, but he is looking forward to making some positive changes to his lifestyle.The Goldbergs actor Jackson Odell died from an overdose in a sober living facility where he sought treatment, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. It was earlier reported that Odell, 20, was found unresponsive at his Tarzana, California, home on June 8.

According to USA Today, the coroners report ruled the actors death an accident resulting from acute heroin and cocaine toxicity. The toxicology report confirmed speculation that narcotics were involved.

In a statement to E! New, Odells family said, We were with him only days before he died. He was happy. He sang one of his songs for us and luckily we recorded it. He was in a good place and so optimistic not only about his sobriety but his future. He wanted to live and to share the music that poured out of him. We have so many of his songs that no-one has heard yet. We hope to pull them all together and let the world learn about him through his incredible music and not just his unfortunate and untimely death. The statement continued, There is a bigger story here. It is one of a pandemic of addiction that is attacking this generation across the globe. Our son paid the ultimate price. I hope someone is listening and something can be done to stop this chaos. We love you Jackson.

Odell had a history of heroin addiction, Ed Winter, assistant chief of investigations at the coroners office, told the publication. The musician-actor was best known for his role as Ari Caldwell on ABCs The Goldbergs from 2013 to 2015. He also starred briefly on Modern Family.Sharp Objects

Cast - Amy Adams, Patricia Clarkson, Chris Messina

Rating - 3.5/5

After the release of Gone Girl - the film adaptation more than the book - author Gillian Flynn was criticised for being anti-feminist. Her protagonist (or antagonist, depending on how you choose to look at her) was a cruel psychopath, a one-woman-army out to teach a lesson to the Playboy-model-dating Ben Afflecks of the world.

For decades, wed seen men of all shapes and sizes - masked avengers, deranged killers, maniacal tycoons - have somewhat of a monopoly on negative characters - perhaps because even in evil, they were empowered. And then along came Gillian Flynn, and she asked, Why cant women be bad, too?

Watch the Sharp Objects trailer here

It was a brilliant subversion of tropes, and no wonder it left most people confused - but the logic is sound. If true feminism means equality, then this equality must extend to all facets of human behaviour - and especially a zone - being evil on films, TV - that women had thus far not been particularly welcome in, as if it were some sort of hallowed religious ground, accessible only to men.

For too long, women - even when they were portrayed as unsympathetic characters - have been reactionary - to the commands, whims and moods of their male counterparts. Flynn and her stories are out to break those rules.

On several occasions in Sharp Objects, the new HBO miniseries, based on Flynns debut novel, when the grizzled old policeman refers to murderers and miscreants with a male pronoun, a girl pops up to remind him that women can kill, too. Perhaps their limited imagination is limiting their investigation?

This is just the sort of provocative stuff youd expect from Flynns work. While most of us are satisfied with inserting corrections every time someone says the word mankind, heres Gillian Flynn, two steps ahead.

Amy Adams returns to her home town to uncover the mystery behind the deaths of two young girls.

Her protagonist in Sharp Objects is Camille Preaker, an alcoholic, self-harming train wreck played by Amy Adams. Shes a reporter, sent back to her home town to cover the murders of two young girls. Perhaps her connection to the Wind Gap, Missouri, would make for a more personal story, her editor speculates, before sending her off with a warning: Dont try to solve this mystery.

But what he doesnt know is that Camille ran away from Wind Gap the first chance she got - away from her domineering mother, the suffocatingly insular community, and the profound tragedy that defined her youth. She wears long sleeves and a snarky attitude, both to hide the literal and emotional scars of her past - armour against her memories. She listens to a classy collection of old blues and soul, which, like the alcohol she consumes at every hour of the day, acts as a sedative.

The ridiculously luscious soundtrack to Sharp Objects - like the perfect music of its spiritual predecessor, Big Little Lies - is disarmingly beautiful. And never is this dichotomy - this superficial distraction from the underlying darkness - more obvious than in the depiction of Alan, the husband of Camilles mother, Adora Crellin (Patricia Clarkson).

Alan is the sort of moneyed old southerner that you see in SNL parodies. He wears his sweater tied in a knot over his shoulders, on sweaty evenings he sips iced tea on his porch, and he speaks with a politeness that gave Stephen King the heebie-jeebies. But at night, lonely because his wife refuses to touch him, he distracts himself with wonderful old music on his stereo.

And distraction is a key element in Sharp Objects - the residents of Wind Gap are constantly trying to forget their grim history, while our attention is diverted from the darkness by director Jean-Marc Vallees delightful visuals and dreamlike tone. By most accounts, there was disharmony on set because of his disregard for the written scripts, but as fans of his Big Little Lies would know, he excels at telling stories through images. He values mood and tone over pages of dialogue - and more often than not, he succeeds.

Sharp Objects wouldnt be what it is without Jean-Marc Vallees fluid direction, and his precise editing, which jabs the viewer with blasts from the past like a knife to the abdomen. Camille is reminded of her traumatic childhood through touch, through smell, and through sounds - and were reminded along with her, through lightning-quick flashes of a younger Camille (played by Its Sophia Lillis).

Sophia Lillis plays the young Camille Preaker in Sharp Objects.

However, the comparisons must end here. Sharp Objects, unlike the deliriously entertaining Big Little Lies, is paced as sleepily as the town it is set in, and told in the tradition of fine Southern Gothic mysteries. Many minutes are devoted entirely to Camille driving from one dump to another, listening to her music, life overtaking her as it always has. Often, the central mystery is sidelined in favour of small, character moments.

And in these moments, no one is short-changed. Not even Alan. The scenes set in his and Adoras home have an almost horror movie quality to them - as if theyre the survivors of a brutal home invasion, living in a haunted house, where traumatic memories lurk behind every corner. Patricia Clarkson is certainly in on it.

But it is practically impossible to take your eyes off Amy Adams, who plays the perfect Flynn heroine. Camille could easily have been a detestable person - her arc is riddled with bad decisions - but Adams performance finds the vulnerability that is so essential to self-destructive characters such as her. Sure, bad things have happened to Camille, but is that justification enough for her venomous actions?

There is a cyclical nature to abuse, Sharp Objects says - it is handed down from parents to children like an ugly and unwanted heirloom. There is no escaping it, no matter how long you keep it hidden in an attic.

Sharp Objects premieres on the 15th of September on Star World Premiere HD at 11 PM. The show will continue to air every Saturday at 11 PM. Or you can just binge it on Hotstar.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

The author tweets @RohanNaaharFor 20 years, Dutch police investigated the rape and murder of an 11-year-old schoolboy, and the Dutch media chronicled the cases many twists and turns.

Now, after an investigation in which 17,500 Dutchmen voluntarily took part in DNA profiling, a suspect has been arrested in Spain.

The boy, Nicky Verstappen, had attended a summer camp at a nature reserve in the southern Netherlands in 1998. On a night that August, he left his tent and never returned. His body, pajama-clad and barefoot, was discovered the next day, hidden in a dense pine forest about a mile away. He had been raped and killed.

DNA found on the boys clothes was of male origin. But no samples in Dutch and international criminal databases matched it. Nor did hundreds of samples initially taken from men living near the nature reserve and from men linked to Nicky or the camp.

A Dutch law passed in 2012 allowed for a practice known as familial DNA profiling, which involves taking DNA samples from people who could potentially be relatives of a suspect, based on geographic and social profiles.

The hope, said Nicky Jansen, a spokeswoman for the Dutch Forensic Institute, which carried out the analysis, is that if the DNA of a volunteer shows any familial relationship to the suspects DNA, investigators can identify the suspect by analyzing the volunteers family tree.

The technique has since led to the resolution of two major Dutch cold murder cases, Jansen said.

It also opened new doors for the investigation into the murder of Nicky Verstappen. In 2013, a Dutch prosecutor ordered two new DNA sampling investigations based on the DNA found on Nickys clothes: the voluntary sampling of up to 21,500 Dutchmen based on familial profiling, and the obligatory sampling of 1,500 men of special interest to the case.

This was the biggest DNA investigation in the Netherlands so far, and were proud of it, said Judith Verbaan, a spokeswoman for the regional police of Limburg, the Netherlands southernmost province, where Nicky was killed.

Eventually, 17,500 Dutchmen volunteered to have cells swiped from the inside of their mouths to provide DNA for the investigation. None matched the original sample.

Yet when one person of special interest  Jos Brech, a 55-year-old Dutchman who had been missing since April  failed to show up for obligatory sampling this year, investigators dug deeper.

At the time of the murder, Brech lived with his mother about 10 miles from the scene of the crime. A former scout, an outdoorsmen and a childrens camp organizer, Brech was also cited in a sexual offense case in 1985, though not as an official suspect, investigators said. And in the days after Nickys body was found, Brech was seen walking by the camp site and was questioned by police, though he was never arrested or officially listed as a suspect.

But when police took DNA samples from Brechs family members and from his old clothes at his mothers home as part of the new investigation, and pulled DNA from a parallel inquiry into his disappearance, all three samples matched the DNA found on Nickys pajamas in 1998.

Last week, investigators publicized the suspects identity. And within days, a golden tip led them to an abandoned house on a hill near Castelltercol, a tiny town on the outskirts of Barcelona, said Verbaan, the police spokeswoman. Spanish police arrested Brech there Sunday.

Spanish authorities said they had arrested him while he was cutting wood in a field. Among his belongings were survival items like fishing instruments, a book on edible wild plants, dried food, boots and mountain gear, and batteries, police said.

Brech is a member of a Dutch bushcraft club, where members share experiences about living in the wild. Since he went missing this April, investigators said, Brech had lived in outdoor shelters and abandoned houses across Western Europe.

The Dutch public prosecutors office said it expects Brech to be extradited soon  within a week if he cooperates, officials said. If he appeals, a Spanish judge will have 90 days to rule on the extradition.

Speaking to reporters Monday, Nickys mother, Bertie Verstappen, thanked the Dutch authorities, investigators, the media and in particular a Dutch crime journalist, Peter de Vries, for having continued to ask questions over the years.

I dont dare to call names, out of fear to forget someone, but all those people who gave DNA, who looked around, who called around, I am so grateful to them, she said tearfully of Brechs arrest. Now, I hope he will talk, so well get answers to our questions.China on Monday sought to delink the contentious economic corridor its building through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir from Sino-India ties, saying recent meetings between the leaders of the two sides have given the relationship fresh impetus.

We are neighbours, we are partners. Historically we were together and in the future, I never believe that anybody can separate India and China, Zhang Jun, assistant minister of foreign affairs, said while describing ties between New Delhi and Beijing.

Zhang was among senior leaders who addressed the media on five years of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Xis ambitious multi-billion dollar connectivity project.

India hasnt joined the BRI as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), one of its flagship projects, passes through PoK. The project became another irritant between the two countries since it was unveiled in 2013.

China has repeatedly stated the CPEC is an economic initiative. Implementing CPEC does not jeopardise Chinas position on Kashmir, he said.

Zhang referred to three meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping since April in the context of improved bilateral relations.

On April 28, Modi and Xi met for an informal summit in the central Chinese city of Wuhan to formulate what is now known as the Wuhan consensus, an understanding to focus more on convergences than differences.

Under the leadership (of Modi and Xi), China and India have exhibited a very good momentum of growth, a new phase of development (in ties), he said.

We can all recall, since Aprilsince Wuhan, (the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in) Qingdao and (the BRICS Summit in) Johannesburg, there have been three important meetings. They have reached important understandings, he said, when asked about Indias sovereignty concerns over CPEC.

There is a fresh impetus in bilateral ties, Zhang added.

Zhang contended India and China were natural partners in the ancient silk route as well as the BRI.

CPEC, however, is fast becoming a reality.

Despite the current fresh impetus in China-India ties, Ning Jizhe, vice-chairman of the National Development Reform Commission (NDRC), said at the same interaction that CPEC is progressing smoothly, with several projects already functional.

CPEC has the support of the people of Pakistan, Ning said, quoting the countrys new Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Separately, the foreign ministry said on Monday the participation of the militaries of India and Pakistan at a multilateral exercise on the SCO platform in Russia is crucial to peace in the region.

We welcome India and Pakistans joint participation in this counter-terrorism exercise under the SCO framework. These two countries are important ones in South Asia. Their relations stability is significant to the peace and development of the region and the whole world, foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a regular news briefing.

We sincerely hope they could enhance their dialogue and cooperation, both bilaterally and within multilateral mechanisms like the SCO, work together to improve their ties and jointly maintain regional peace and stability, she added.US President Donald Trump claimed Tuesday that Google results were rigged because searches for Trump News brought up negative stories about him, and questioned whether this was illegal.

The president has attacked US social media giants in the past days for allegedly censoring conservative voices, an unfounded claim widely believed by his followers.

Google search results for Trump News shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media, the president tweeted on Tuesday.

In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal?

According to Trump, 96% of results on Trump News are from National Left-Wing Media, which he describes as very dangerous.

Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!

A Pew Research Center survey released in June found 43 percent of Americans think major technology firms support the views of liberals over conservatives, and 72 percent accepted the idea that social media platforms actively censor opposing political views.

Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, 85 percent said they think social media sites intentionally censor political viewpoints, Pew found.

However various studies suggest conservatives are thriving on social media. Twitter and Facebook have both denied bias in policing their platforms.The American flag fluttering atop the White House became the focus of national attention for most of Monday as the US administration calibrated its response to the passing of Republican senator John McCain, also a national hero and an unrelenting critic of President Donald Trump.

From flying at half staff over the weekend since Saturday evening, when the McCain family announced the senators passing, it climbed back to the normal full staff position Monday morning and then dropped back to half mast after hours of mounting public outrage and derision.

No explanations were offered. Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCains service to our country and, in his honor, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half staff until the day of his interment, Trump said in a statement.

McCains body will be laid to rest on Sunday, and flags on all government buildings  including the one over the White House and the adjoining office building  will fly at half staff until then.

Flags atop the two buildings were down at half mast after the senators passing on Saturday and stayed so through Sunday as the country mourned a war-hero who suffered five and half years of torture during the Vietnam War, served six terms in the US senate and ran twice for president. He was widely respected across the country, and across party lines.

Republican senator John McCain was a national hero and an unrelenting critic of President Donald Trump. (REUTERS File)

Trump and McCain did not get along. The presidents first response to the senators passing was a dry tweet that addressed the late senators family, not the departed leader: My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!

White House officials  chief of staff John Kelly and press secretary Sarah Sander  had planned to put out a more detailed statement, and one that described McCain as a war-hero. The president overruled them and sent out the tweet as his response, according to news reports.

The two men had differed on more than just policy and politics, the president conceded in his statement. Trumps antipathy for McCain bordered on the personal. He had once questioned the senator being called a war hero because he got captured. I like people who were not captured, Trump had said, not mentioning his multiple deferments from military service during the Vietnam War over a bone spur. He still refuses to call McCain a war hero.

McCain was scathing in his criticism of the president, and opposed many of his executive and legislative initiatives and priorities  such as the repeal of Obamacare. More recently, he had termed Trumps performance at a news conference with Russian president Vladimir Putin as disgraceful.

The senator, who had largely withdrawn from public life after being diagnosed with an aggressive strain of brain cancer in the summer of 2017, had also let it be known that he did not want President Trump to attend his funeral service. In a display of unity at a time of deepening political, racial and religious divisions, he instead requested former presidents George W Bush and Barak Obama  the Republican and Democrat who beat him in his two runs for the White House  to deliver his eulogy.

His funeral is slated to be held on Sunday.

McCain stressed on the importance of unity in his farewell message to the country, read out by a family spokesperson on Monday. We are 325 million opinionated, vociferous individuals. We argue and compete and sometimes even vilify each other in our raucous public debates. But we have always had so much more in common with each other than in disagreement. If only we remember that and give each other the benefit of the presumption that we all love our country, we will get through these challenging times. We will come through them stronger than before  we always do.

Do not despair of our present difficulties. We believe always in the promise and greatness of America because nothing is inevitable here. Americans never quit, we never surrender, we never hide from history. We make history.

President Trump has asked Vice-President Mike Pence to speak at a service at the US Capitol on Friday, and deputed chief of staff John Kelly, defense secretary James Mattis and national security advisor John Bolton to represent him at the Sunday service.Pakistan wants to move on and improve its relations with Washington by putting behind the controversy over the content of handout of secretary of state Mike Pompeos phone call to Prime Minister Imran Khan, foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told lawmakers on Tuesday.

Controversy erupted after the US State Department spokesperson in a statement said that Pompeo during his conversation with Khan raised the importance of Pakistan taking decisive action against all terrorists operating in Pakistan and its vital role in promoting the Afghan peace process.

Pakistans foreign ministry took exception to the statement saying, that factually incorrect statement was issued by the US State Department on phone call between Prime Minister Khan and secretary Pompeo.

Qureshi while addressing the Senate, the upper house of Pakistans parliament, in response to a query by former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani about controversy over the telephonic talks.

The foreign minister said that he knew the US position about the talks between Pompeo and Khan but he was also aware what US said in the readout was contrary to the facts.

He, however, struck a positive note by saying Pakistan expects that the visit by the top US diplomat, on September 5, would improve the bilateral relations with the US.

The US has long been frustrated with Pakistans overt and covert support to the Afghan Taliban and other terror groups, forcing the Trump administration to warn Islamabad and slash military aid to the country.

We want to move on and improve the relations, he said.

He once again said that conservation between Khan and Pompeo was cordial and constructive in nature.

Qureshi said that national security and foreign policies were interlinked and we should demonstrate unison on them as unity will give strength to the nation.

He also assured that guidance will be taken from parliament in formulation of foreign policy.E dward VII, when he was Prince of Wales, toured India for four months from October 1875, collecting gifts along the way.

These souvenirs were made using precious metals and sparkling gems, or involved brilliant embroidery, and many are now on display at Splendours of the Subcontinent: A Princes Tour of India 187576 at The Queens Gallery, Buckingham Palace.

Today, chic, contemporary Indian craft homeware, from small traders and big stores alike, enriches London homes.

Specialist trader Simon Goff at Floor Story (floorstory.co.uk) in east London has a flair for collaborations with UK designers of all kinds  and the resulting rugs with on-trend modern motifs are largely made in India.

Says Goff: India has centuries of rug-making skills which have changed little really, though we have better systems now for dyeing and drying wool and silk.

A particularly poetic partnership is with south Londoner Kangan Arora. She grew up in northern India but moved to London in 2005 to study textile design at Central Saint Martins, launching her own brand in 2011.

Now her vibrant, contemporary geometrics, perfected on a London print table, are scaled up into rugs made for Floor Story back in Aroras homeland.

Success story: born in northern India and now based in London, Kangan Arora creates vibrant geometric rugs for Floor Story in E2

Sussex-based textile artist Ptolemy Mann  Im obsessed with colour  is also doing rugs in India. Her exquisite tonal blends are reworked into Indian gelims with a dip-dyed weft to create a blurred effect. Visit ptolemymannrugs.com or rug-maker.com for more.

India has worked with Habitat since the store first furnished the Sixties. New for autumn is Quartet, a strikingly original rug designed by Martha Coates with four patterns stitched together into one patchwork with irregular edges, intricately made by two weavers at the same time.

BOLD AS BRASS

Indian metalware is also on trend. Traditionally, Moradabad city in northern India is famous for brassware, explains Habitats senior designer, Matthew Long. But now theyre doing other metals such as iron and aluminium.

He has created tables and lighting to highlight artisan handiwork, mixing traditional craft with contemporary design, complete with random imperfections.

A new Habitat opens in Westfield next month, with another new store in Brighton in October (habitat.co.uk).

Elegant and simple for life at home are pared-down pieces by Londoner Spandana Gopal for her label Tiipoi (tiipoi.com).

She harnesses Indian handcraft and semi-industrial techniques for covetable copper- and brass-lidded containers/trays, and glass jars with lids of sheesham wood.

FABULOUS FABRICS

Block-printed fabrics and papers in single colours are low key, versatile and the trademark of Molly Mahon. Indian artisans implement her charming designs (mollymahon.com).

Similarly understated are textiles by interior designer Jessica Pinotti and illustrator Stephen Cheetham, blockprints refined while working on a handspun and handwoven cotton fabric called khadi for cushions, pouches, bags and napkins (allthefruits.com).

Most big decor labels now do exquisitely embroidered fabrics for curtains, cushions and wall hangings, largely made in India  simply the best at doing embroideries for interiors, says Sue Hardie, head of Osborne & Littles design studio.

Our patterns are turned into a luxurious texture with ingenuity and an amazing diversity of stitch.

Machines do a lot, but couching and finer crewelwork are done by hand. Fashion maestro Matthew Williamson has made two stunning new embroideries for Osborne & Little, one with dragonflies, the other a medley of Mediterranean flora.

Celebrity designer Nina Campbell (ninacampbellinteriors.com) brings back textile fragments for her archive from India and says techniques there are ever-evolving.

They can block print and then embroider the same cloth, or screen-print and then pleat.

Old Indian treasures sourced by Tracy Kitching are shipped to Opium in Chelsea (opiumshop.co.uk), where Prince Harry chose a gift for Meghan.

And for furnishing fabrics in the traditional patterns of old India, see Chandni Chowk (chandnichowk.co.uk). Youll find hand-blocks, natural vegetable dyes, hand-spinning, embroidery and hand-weaving.Appointment

28 August 2018

Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association (IHLA) announced the appointment of Michael Jacobson as incoming President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Jacobson, who most recently served as the Senior Director of Industry Relations and Political Engagement of the U.S. Travel Association (USTA), joins the IHLA effective October 1, 2018. He will replace long admired industry veteran Marc Gordon, who announced his December 2018 retirement earlier this year after a successful, 21-year tenure as the association's President and CEO. "This has been an exhaustive search, and we are thrilled with the outcome," said Tom Robertson, IHLA Chairman and General Manager of Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile. "Michael brings experience, innovation and unmatched enthusiasm to this role. We look forward to his transition and to working with him to expand upon the great work that the IHLA has accomplished for the industry." With USTA since 2010, Jacobson has contributed to a dynamic organization made up of 1,200 member organizations, 65 employees and $34M in revenues. Beginning as a Coordinator, then Manager, overseeing USTA's political action committee (PAC) and grassroots advocacy, he quickly rose to Director of Industry Relations and Political Engagement, and then Senior Director. He has built fundamental relationships both locally and nationally with elected officials and senior-level leaders in the travel industry. In addition to his business development and member retention responsibilities, he has also led the charge in political engagement activities - including grassroots advocacy, state-based campaigns and PAC fundraising. His expertise led to numerous speaking engagements for USTA, where he has shared industry insights at travel industry conferences and state-level lobby days. One of USTA's most successful initiatives, Mr. Jacobson also spearheaded "Travel Talks," a site visit program connecting members of Congress with local travel leaders. Jacobson holds a BA in Political Science from Seton Hall University, and remains active in the alumni community. An advocate for the American Cancer Society, he sits on the Global Relay For Life Leadership Team and founded Seton Hall University's annual effort. Global Relay For Life enables cancer leagues around the world to increase their visibility and generate cancer awareness, outreach, and income while building survivorship, volunteerism, and advocacy efforts in their communities. Jacobson also serves as a Trustee on the Illinois Township District 214 Education Foundation Board of Trustees. A native of Prospect Heights, Illinois, Jacobson resides in Chicago with his wife Sarah and newborn daughter, Madelyn.Supplier News

28 August 2018

The Rainmaker Group (Rainmaker), a leader in revenue management solutions for the hospitality and gaming industry, is proud to announce the appointment of Matt Curry as their new Head of Sales.

Curry joined Rainmaker in 2016 to lead sales and business development for the multifamily housing division. Upon divesting that side of the business to RealPage in late 2017, he transitioned to Rainmaker's hospitality business to lead product strategy and development, integrations, and customer support.

"Matt's background paired with his proven leadership and commitment to Rainmaker makes this move as easy as it is exciting," said Mike Cowles, CEO of Rainmaker. "This is a great move for Rainmaker as we look to continue to build on our recent sales and revenue growth momentum."

Prior to joining the Rainmaker team, Curry was responsible for sales and commercial operations at SignUp4, an Atlanta based technology startup in the meetings, events, and travel space. There he helped fuel sales and revenue growth until ultimately the company was acquired by Cvent, the global leader in event management software and group business sourcing technology for hotels. At Cvent, Matt oversaw all acquisition and integration efforts while transitioning SignUp4's hundreds of customers and employees into the Cvent family.

"It's such a great time to be at Rainmaker and I couldn't be more excited to shift my focus back to growing revenue for the business while helping our customers drive higher profits," said Curry. "I'm proud to be a Rainmaker and look forward to our bright future."

Based out of the Alpharetta headquarters, Curry will be responsible for leading the company's hospitality sales organization and for making its industry leading revenue management and profit optimization solutions accessible to more hotels, casinos, and resorts worldwide.

For more information, please visit www.letitrain.com.Opinion Article

28 August 2018

Despite industrywide record demand and occupancy levels, historical data shows that hoteliers  specifically general managers and revenue teams  are struggling to drive rate at paces they've seen during past peaks.

To illustrate, STR data shows the industry sold 117 million room nights in June, the most ever recorded in that month. June marked 100 consecutive months of RevPAR growth (since March 2010), with average monthly RevPAR growth at 5.8%.

"This clearly points at very healthy group, business transient and leisure demand, supported by still undeterred GDP growth and low unemployment numbers," said Jan Freitag, Senior VP of Lodging Insights at STR.

"We're in the best demand environment we've ever seen as an industry," added Isaac Collazo, VP of Competitive Intelligence at IHG, during the Hotel Data Conference last week.

Yet, June data also showed year-over-year rate increases of only 2.7%, which is right around the historical average. In fact, for the first four months of 2018, ADR growth climbed higher each month, exceeding 3% in both March and April, which seemed to point to an increase in pricing power. But in May ADR growth fell to only 2.2%.

Ask why, and you'll get blame pointed in several directions, from online price transparency, increased hotel supply and new competition from home-sharing services like Airbnb. During a panel titled "What Happened to ADR Growth?" at HDC in Nashville last week, hotel owners, operators and asset managers mentioned each of these factors, in addition to shedding light on new issues leading to rate suppression.

Interesting stat from #hoteldataconf: were probably still in the midst of record demand growth for the hotel industry (maybe another 2 years) but ADR growth still weak #trends  Tim Peter (@tcpeter) August 16, 2018

Are We Focusing on the Wrong Metrics?

The panel agreed that hotel managers and franchisors are often incorrectly incentivized to focus on occupancy instead of rate and profitability.

"We do sellout incentives," admitted Michael Heaton, President of Waterford Hotel Group. "I actually think we've gotten to that point because of how we do displacement analysis, and we're asking operators how often they're selling out."

Esther Gayfield, VP of Asset Management for Colony NorthStar, said the practice is not uncommon and often hoteliers will take low-rated business to get to break-even.

"When we're measuring, we don't always fully understand how this price of business is going to affect things like year-over-year margins," she said. "We're often taking occupancy at the expense of profitability."

Gayfield also said asset managers tend to put pressure on operators to maintain their share in the market, and it's easy for them to shoot for occupancy increases to hit those numbers.

"If we don't sell out and we had a perfect fill last year, then they're afraid to slip in index," she said.

To fix this, ensure management is focusing on top and bottom line, said Leticia Proctor, Senior VP of Sales, Revenue Management and Digital Strategies for PM Hotel Group. "You have to be fluid and flexible every day, and maybe at times you need to drive occupancy," she said.

Gayfield added that displacement can be brought down to the gross operating profit level, and that sometimes those numbers dispel anecdotal evidence on whether a piece of business is profitable.

"Management companies are incentivized at the top and bottom lines. Below that, GOP is what the ownership has to focus on, which includes insurance and payments," said Ash Kapur, Senior VP of Hotel Asset Management and Chief Revenue Officer at Starwood Capital Group. "Expenses continue to rise, and we need to focus on a higher rate that will flow through better."

The panelists all agreed that a new rate transparency created by an influx of e-commerce hotel booking sites is undermining hoteliers' pricing power. In fact, new data shows the average traveler visits anywhere from four to 18 unique sites before booking.

"Millennials love to shop and visit multiple sites, and now they're the ones booking lots of hotel rooms," Kapur said. "Years back they did not have TripAdvisor, all they had was directories. Today that transparency shows them how we perform, how we treat our guests, and actually has a greater impact on how we price."

Heaton of Waterford Hotel Group said this transparency compels hotel revenue teams to look at paid placement to level the playing field.

"Why should I book direct if I see rates $150 less on a wholesale channel?" Proctor of PM Hotel Management asked. "We own the rooms, and we own the rate. Now my hotels are having a hard time filling up on weekends and compression nights because of Airbnb."

How Hoteliers Can Gain the Confidence to Push Price

While the revenue management role looks much different than it used to, Gayfield of Colony NorthStar said she's worried that revenue employees aren't learning as fast as they need to keep up with technology innovations.

"We put too much pressure on RMs to make the decisions when the GM should also be the Revenue Strategy leaders," she said. "I think it's important to focus on education, from GMs to sales to revenue."

Kapur said a core issue is that hoteliers are looking at market trends and competitor rates before simply evaluating how many rooms they have left to sell.

"People are starting to price based on these rate shopping tools. No!" he said. "We set the rate. Then we will push it to all channels: hotel website, call center, OTAs."

Kapur said Starwood Capital has successfully achieved higher ADR from OTAs by understanding where the demand is coming from and by building room type and channel pricing strategies.

"If managed correctly, if you understand the demand channels, then you are able to push higher rates even through the OTAs," he said.

"OTAs have forced us get really analytical about this because there's always an expense," Heaton added. "A great way to challenge your GM is to disrupt a revenue management meeting and ensure the discussion ends with net rate."

Kapur said that often brand-developed revenue systems aren't syncing up with that strategy.

"Larger brands have RMSs or platforms where you are not able to maximize ADR potentials," he said. "If we have a team of smart revenue people and can't maximize ADR by room type, why can't we do that?"

"Brand systems are looking too much at historical data before, say, a bunch of new supply came in the market," Gayfield added. "Everyone says, 'Trust the system. Trust the system.' Well, I have to question the system. You have to understand the data."

RELATED HOTEL REVENUE STRATEGY ARTICLESArlo Hotels, an independent hotel brand, today announced the launch of Arlo Cares, a sustainability program designed to spark eco-conscious changes in travel and serve as a home base for green-minded travelers.

Arlo Hotels, an independent hotel brand, today announced the launch of Arlo Cares, a sustainability program designed to spark eco-conscious changes in travel and serve as a home base for green-minded travelers. Arlo Cares encourages guests, locals and partners to embrace a more earth-ethical way of living, and is launching with an educational speaker series, community outreach opportunities, documentary screenings, charitable celebrations and more.

Known for pushing the boundaries in the independent hotel sphere, Arlo was one of the first hotel brands in New York City to commit to phasing out single-use plastics throughout all hotel activity. Arlo NoMad and Arlo SoHo have proudly eliminated more than 1.1 million pieces of plastic waste to date, and a real-time counter at arlohotels.com displays this climbing number, which is currently growing at a pace of 158 items of plastic saved per hour. This ticker serves as a constant reminder of how careful choices about plastic consumption can make a big impact on the local and global community.

"We have always been committed to sustainability, looking to not only preserve the living environments surrounding our projects, but to actually enhance the ecospheres in which we're working," said Oleg Pavlov, CEO of Quadrum Global and founder of Arlo Hotels. "Hotels are a gathering place for so many people in various walks of life, and we hope that as conscious travelers walk through Arlo's doors, they will be inspired to become friendly ambassadors for this great cause."

Arlo is not only committed to a sustainable vision of hospitality through operational adjustments and eco-friendly building functionalities, but is turning a new leaf for the industry by cultivating a community dedicated to inspiring change and reducing our collective carbon footprint. Upcoming Arlo Cares programming includes:

( Sept. 15, 2018 ): Kicking off Arlo Cares with a splash, Arlo is hosting an Ocean Cleanup at Rockaway Beach in celebration of International Coastal Cleanup Day. Arlo Cares has proudly partnered with the Rockaway Waterfront Alliance for this event, an organization dedicated to advancing the physical, economic and social sustainability in the Rockaway Peninsula. Free to participate; RSVP .

Kicking off Arlo Cares with a splash, Arlo is hosting an Ocean Cleanup at in celebration of International Coastal Cleanup Day. Arlo Cares has proudly partnered with the Rockaway Waterfront Alliance for this event, an organization dedicated to advancing the physical, economic and social sustainability in the Rockaway Peninsula. Free to participate; RSVP . ( Sept. 15-16, 2018 ): To further foster excitement and passion for the sustainable community, Arlo Cares is hosting its inaugural Rock-a-Fest, a weekend of live music performances, wellness services, eco-friendly pop-up shopping and more. Rock-a-Fest will bring together innovators in the green space, including vendors like Flow Hydration, Sandrine B Jewelry, , and Modrn Sanctuary. Free to attend; RSVP .

To further foster excitement and passion for the sustainable community, Arlo Cares is hosting its inaugural Rock-a-Fest, a weekend of live music performances, wellness services, eco-friendly pop-up shopping and more. Rock-a-Fest will bring together innovators in the green space, including vendors like Flow Hydration, Sandrine B Jewelry, , and Modrn Sanctuary. Free to attend; RSVP . : Taking place on a monthly basis, Arlo Cares will be bringing together thought leaders in the eco-friendly space to discuss the benefits of a green lifestyle, and how to make small yet mighty shifts in day-to-day living. The inaugural PARLOur Talk, "WAYE Talks: The Future of Fashion & Sustainability," will take place on Sept. 12 at Arlo SoHo, spotlighting the shift toward sustainability in the fashion industry. Free admission; RSVP .

Taking place on a monthly basis, Arlo Cares will be bringing together thought leaders in the eco-friendly space to discuss the benefits of a green lifestyle, and how to make small yet mighty shifts in day-to-day living. The inaugural PARLOur Talk, "WAYE Talks: The Future of Fashion & Sustainability," will take place on at Arlo SoHo, spotlighting the shift toward sustainability in the fashion industry. Free admission; RSVP . : Arlo's popular movie nights will transform once a month into a screening session showing captivating films and documentaries highlighting environmental issues plaguing our world. The first film will be "True Cost" on Sept. 4 , a groundbreaking documentary that pulls back the curtain on the environmental price paid for fashion. Free to attend.

"Community is at the core of our brand; we're always trying to create an organic, social environment that encourages creative connections and friendly interactions between guests, staff and the local community," said Javier Egipciaco, Managing Director of Arlo Hotels. "As a native New Yorker, I know what this city can accomplish when it's inspired to overcome a challenge. We're excited to serve as a home base for the eco-conscious community, and do our part to leave the world a more beautiful place."

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 2021 Hotel News ResourceThe latest digital innovations this month include big announcements from Google, new Pinterest video opportunities, and geometrical shapes making a statement in website design for lifestyle brands. From SEO to design, read on for the top five things you need to know now in hotel digital marketing.

The latest digital innovations this month include big announcements from Google, new Pinterest video opportunities, and geometrical shapes making a statement in website design for lifestyle brands. From SEO to design, read on for the top five things you need to know now in hotel digital marketing.



1. SEO: Google announces expandable featured snippets in search results.

Providing more context to search results has always been Googles mission. Now, when a user submits a search query to Google, they may receive a variety of expandable snippets below the main snippet in the knowledge panel.

This is currently being rolled out in small batches for popular search queries and seems to be more focused on general knowledge search terms than local search results. So what does this mean for hotels? If Google continues to develop expandable snippets in the knowledge graph for destination queries such as Jamaica vs Cancun, this new feature could affect users in the dreaming phase of the travel planning journey as they narrow down their destination decision. This makes it even more important to feature rich destination content on the hotel website, optimized with high-ranking destination keywords.

2. SEM: Google Responsive Text Ads expand character limits to take up more real estate in search results.

In the coming months, Google will continue to roll out Google Responsive Text Ads with three headlines and two ad descriptions, allowing up to 90 characters each. And this new feature doesnt just apply to responsive text ads. Regular text ads will also get an upgrade with the addition of a third headline and a second ad description.

This benefits your hotel SEM strategy by allowing more opportunities to provide relevant content to the search term you are bidding on. In turn, this can increase the quality score of your ads, which can lead to a higher CTR and a more affordable CPC. One of the key benefits of responsive text ads is A/B testing through machine learning. Google can combine up to 15 different headlines and four descriptions to see what text combinations drive the highest engagement and returns.

3. Display: Mobile social advertising is on the rise. According to Forrester research, mobile accounts for 88% of social spending (compared to only 53% of display). The cause of this growth is most likely due to new mobile advertising formats across social channels that support video and display with high engagement rates.



Hotels should consider mobile-friendly paid social opportunities such as Facebook Canvas Ads, Instagram Carousel Ads, and more. This will help increase brand awareness and engagement for travelers on the go.

4. Pinterest max-width video formats are now available to all advertisers.

The wide video format, which is now available within Pinterests self-serve ad platform, resulted in higher engagement rates during beta launch back in May. The new video format is 4x larger than past formats and spans across Pinterests two column grid, taking up more real-estate within the platform and grabbing attention with its high-impact visual layout.

Hotel brands targeting the wedding segment should consider featuring videos of venue spaces and past wedding videos (with guests permission).

5. Design: Polygonal shapes and geometrical shapes are a growing design trend.

Geometric themes are making their way into website design. This trend draws the eye and creates a visually compelling story throughout the user experience. Bold lines are used to grab attention, geometric shapes are used to overlap website images and highlight a specific focal point, and multi-layer geometric shapes are being widely utilized to add depth to otherwise flat designs.

ABOUT HEBS DIGITAL:

Founded in 2001, the firm is headquartered in New York City and has global offices in Las Vegas and Asia Pacific. Through its Smart Guest Acquisition Suite, including the smartCMS, Smart Personalization Engine, Smart Data Marketing, and full-service digital consulting and marketing solutions, HEBS Digital helps hoteliers drastically boost direct bookings, lower distribution costs, and increase the lifetime value of guests.

Part of NextGuest Technologies, HEBS Digital and Serenata CRM, the most comprehensive Hotel CRM Suite today, are the creators of the hospitality industrys first Fully-Integrated Guest Engagement & Acquisition Platform.

A diverse client portfolio of top-tier luxury and boutique hotel chains, independent hotels, resorts and casinos, franchised properties and hotel management companies, convention centers, spas, restaurants, DMO and tourist offices across the globe are all benefiting from HEBS Digitals direct online channel strategy and digital marketing expertise.

HEBS Digitals technology, website design and digital marketing services have won more than 500 prestigious industry awards, including World Travel Awards, HSMAI Adrian Awards, Stevie Awards (American Business Awards), Travel Weeklys Magellan Awards, and more.

The HEBS Digital team is comprised of thought leaders, a diverse team of experts comprised of over 33 nationalities speaking over 22 languages. Contact HeBS Digitals consultants at 1 (800) 649-5076 (North America), +64 (0) 9 889 8489 (Asia Pacific) or success@hebsdigital.com.

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 2021 Hotel News ResourceLocated in a prime city centre location opposite Glasgow's Central Station, the new YOTEL Glasgow will see the Westergate building on Argyle Street transformed into a 256-room hotel.

YOTEL announced plans to open its second hotel in Scotland and fifth in the UK. The new hotel in Glasgow's city centre will open in November 2019 and bring the brand's key count in the UK to 823 as part of its European expansion strategy.

Located in a prime city centre location opposite Glasgow's Central Station, the new YOTEL Glasgow will see the Westergate building on Argyle Street transformed into a 256-room hotel that will be equipped with YOTEL's unique design and technology-driven hospitality offering. The hotel will also feature Glasgow's first destination rooftop bar complete with bowling alley.

As one of the fastest growing cities in the UK, Glasgow is currently experiencing unprecedented levels of investment, with several high-profile projects planned including the 150 million expansion of the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) and Barclays' recently-announced deal to purchase ~470,000 sq. ft. of office space for a new Campus HQ in Glasgow.

YOTEL CEO Hubert Viriot said, "Glasgow is a forward-looking city that has real vibrancy and energy, bolstered by careful planning and investment initiatives. The city is building on its excellent infrastructure and is shaping up to be a world-class business destination. These were all important characteristics that helped us choose Glasgow as our next UK location and we're excited to be part of the positive momentum that is driving growth in the city."

Known for its seamless technology and cleverly designed spaces, YOTEL Glasgow's cabins will feature the brand's signature adjustable SmartBed as well as YOTEL's leading technology offering that includes smart TV's for guests to stream their own content.

Tim Abram, Vice President at Starwood Capital Group, a leading investor in YOTEL through a controlled affiliate, said, "Following the announcement of YOTEL Edinburgh in 2017, this is a very exciting next step in our strategic partnership with YOTEL. Glasgow continues to go from strength to strength with significant new investment planned for the years to come, and we believe that YOTEL will bring something new and unique to Glasgow's well-established hotel market."

"We are also incredibly excited to be creating Glasgow's first rooftop F&B destination which will include a bowling alley  this will be a one-of-a-kind offering and clearly differentiate YOTEL Glasgow from its competition," continued Abram, who was born near Glasgow.

The project to transform this ex-office building into luxury suitable for the modern traveller is being designed by Glasgow-based architects Mosaic Architecture + Design  not only will the hotel development bring a prominent vacant building back to life, but it will also create more than 100 new jobs for the local economy.

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 2021 Hotel News ResourceIntercityHotel is getting its new flagship earlier than expected. A building currently under development on the South side of Frankfurt Central Station will feature 414 rooms, making it the largest property to operate under the brand name.

IntercityHotel is getting its new flagship earlier than expected. A building currently under development on the South side of Frankfurt Central Station will feature 414 rooms, making it the largest property to operate under the brand name. The team at the hotel is delighted that it will be now able to receive guests from 1 December 2018 instead of from the first quarter of 2019 as originally planned. Rooms can be booked online with immediate effect.

Its always a special day for us when we are able to open a new hotel, said Joachim Marusczyk, Managing Director of IntercityHotel GmbH. The fact that we will be able to put the IntercityHotel Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof Sud into operation ahead of schedule on 1 December 2018 is a source of particular pride.

Like all the brands new properties, the IntercityHotel Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof Sud will bear the interior design signature of the Italian architect Matteo Thun. Living trees and a wall planted with moss in the hall of the entrance area will ensure plenty of fresh air, whilst ivy in the inner courtyard will enhance the natural experience. The jointly developed concept will also be implemented in the rooms, restaurant and conference area.

The hotel will offer six combinable conference rooms with a total area of 190 square metres as well as a restaurant and a bar.

Its central location will provide excellent links to mainline trains and long distance bus services and will enable easy access to regional and local public transport. As is the case with all IntercityHotels, guests will enjoy free use of the latter thanks to the FreeCityTicket which is included in the room price. Frankfurts Trade Fair Centre and airport can both be reached by suburban railway in a mere matter of minutes. This makes the hotel attractive to leisure and business travellers alike. The IntercityHotel app allows guests to check in, check out and open the door to their room via smart phone. The hotel will be operated within the scope of a lease agreement. The property owner is CA Immo Deutschland GmbH.

The IntercityHotel Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof Sud forms a major component of the urban development plan for the area extending along the South side of Frankfurt Station. A webcam installed to document the progress of the construction shows that work is continuing apace at Mannheimer Strae 21.

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 2021 Hotel News ResourceNot new to Kempinski, Marc has managed several Kempinski hotels in different countries, such as Kempinski Hotel Aqaba Red Sea, in Jordan, and Kempinski Hotel Indonesia Jakarta, in addition to other hotel brands, including Hilton.

The new general manager of Kempinski Hotel Ishtar Dead Sea, Jordan, has been recently appointed: Marc Guenther, a German national, is now at the helm of the hotel at the lowest point on Earth. Joining the luxury hotel after his most recent assignment as General Manager at The Regency Hotel Kuwait, the hotelier holds more than 25 years of experience acquired in various luxury hotels around the world. Not new to Kempinski, Marc has managed several Kempinski hotels in different countries, such as Kempinski Hotel Aqaba Red Sea, in Jordan, and Kempinski Hotel Indonesia Jakarta, in addition to other hotel brands, including Hilton.

Henk Meyknecht, Chief Operations Officer Kempinski Hotels Middle East & Africa, stated: Marc is an experienced hospitality professional, already familiar with Kempinski and Jordan, and we trust that he will further drive the success of Kempinski Hotel Ishtar Dead Sea.

Kempinski Hotel Ishtar, the leading hotel in the Dead Sea, is currently improving its facilities and services to always exceed the expectations of its guests. Promising development plans are upcoming: the addition of Inanna Terrace, the newest outdoor venue, featuring panoramic views of the Dead Sea and perfect for hosting impressive weddings and social events, which will be ready by September 2018; and the upgrade of the luxurious Ishtar Royal Villas, making them the epitome of luxury in the Dead Sea, in addition to a new Lebanese restaurant, which will be complementing the diverse culinary adventures in the hotel and will also be ready next year.

Upon arrival, Marc Guenther commented: I am delighted to be back in Jordan and to be part of the highly professional team of the iconic Kempinski Hotel Ishtar Dead Sea. I look forward to continuing the success of this flagship hotel, working on developing more talents, craftsmanship and implementing innovative concepts that will not only promote the hotel as a unique destination in the Dead Sea, but also feature Jordan as an exceptional touristic country in the Middle East.

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 2021 Hotel News ResourceThe death of unarmed black teens at the hands of white police officers is hardly a rare story. Over the past few years, it's been a story that's been more evident than ever in the news. Although it's rare that the families of the victims see justice, Dallas County jurors have found former Texas police officer Roy Oliver guilty of murdering 15-year-old unarmed black teen Jordan Edwards last year.

Dallas County jury has found Roy Oliver guilty of the murder of Jordan Edwards. Back in 2017, Oliver and his partner, Tyler Gross, responded to calls of underage drinking at a house party. As Edwards and his friends were leaving the party, Oliver claimed that he only fired his gun because he saw the car moving towards his partner and feared for his life. After Oliver opened fire on the car, he murdered Jordan Edwards who was only a freshmen at the time of his death. Two days later, he was fired from the Balch Springs Police Department.

According to the Associated Press, gasps were heard throughout the court room after the verdict was read and Edwards' family cried and hugged prosecutors.

Following the verdict, Jordan Edward's father made a brief statement outside of the court.

"I just want to say I'm happy, very happy. It had been a long time [and] a hard year. I'm just really happy." He said.

Despite Oliver's claim that he believed the car was going to hit his partner and felt he had no other choice than to shoot, his partner, Tyler Gross testified that he didn't feel his life was in danger and felt no need that firing a weapon was necessary. He also said that he didn't feel like the car was going to hit him. The jurors took two days before they came out with a guilty verdict.Hulk Hogan has been teasing something special involving the nWo for weeks now on instagram, and today he finally revealed what all the hype is about. No, he's not returning to the ring for another match.

Instead, Hogan has announced the The nWo Reunion 2 Sweet Tour, which will include a series of personal appearances and autograph signings with fellow nWo legends, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. As announced on Hulk Hogans website, the The nWo Reunion 2 Sweet Tour will kick off on October 27 with a Q&A event held at Mangos Tropical Cafe in Orlando, Florida from 12 pm to 3 pm.

Additionally, the Hulkster has announced that the top 100 highest bidders will receive VIP tickets to the event, which will allow access to priority seating, a photo with Hogan, Hall and Nash, and more. Tickets can be purchased via HulkHogan.com.

The nWo Reunion 2 Sweet Tour does not appear to be affiliated with the WWE. According to Wrestling News, Hogan and Nash own a combined 50% of nWo trademarks, thanks to a deal that was made while they were in WCW, while WWE owns the other 50%.

The WWE had cut ties with Hogan three years ago after video footage of him surfaced in which he used the N-word several times. However, the WWE announced last month that Hogan had been reinstated into it's Hall of Fame.Tee Grizzley might be facing new legal troubles. A report from August 16 states that the Detroit rapper was arrested for parole violation on August 23. Before this news, Grizzley was set to be eligible for release from parole as of October 18, 2018. This is likely to change if he was in fact arrested and indicted.

Press has reached out to some of the legal authorities involved with his case as many details of his situation are still being kept private.

"According to the city of Detroit's offender search, Grizzley's 'assigned location' is at the Detroit Reentry Center, a facility adjacent to the jail that holds 'parolees, parole violators, probationers and prisoners.' XXL has reached out to the rapper's parole officer and publicist for comment."

Grizzley was placed on parole on October 18, 2018, after serving time in prison for multiple charges of robbery. He was found guilty of playing a part in these crimes that occurred at Michigan State University. The entertainer was charged with second degree home invasion and sentenced to a minimum of 1 year and 6 months to a maximum of 15.

The actions that led to the parole violation have yet to be publicly acknowledged. Some possibilities include leaving the state, possession of a firearm and contact with gang members.Over the last few years, Atlanta-via-Mexico City producer Danny Wolf has worked with iLoveMakonnen, Ugly God, and most recently Hoodrich Pablo Juan, who he linked up with for their second collaborative project HOODWOLF 2 earlier this summer. In Atlanta's Yung Bans, Danny has found another great collaborator, with the two setting out to record YUNGWOLF, a full-length project to be released in the near future. The announcement of the project comes with a new track from the rapper-producer duo called "No Names," which also features Toronto rapper Killy.

Bans has been releasing a series of self-titled EPs over the last two years. His most recent project, Yung Bans Vol. 5, came out in June and featured collaborations with YBN Nahmir and Juice WRLD.

Wolf and Bans previously collaborated on 6 Dogs track "Drink Up."

Quotable Lyrics:



Kickin back, it's been a long day

I ain't beefin' with no no names

I've been stayin' in my own lane

So the streets look like a crochetPresident Donald Trump on Monday claimed he'd made a major breakthrough in trade relations between the United States and Mexico - suggesting he'd reached a deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement.

But the administration's own description calls the deal a "preliminary agreement in principle." That's not a finished product, and it can't become one without clearing the high hurdles of approval from Congress and Mexico.

NAFTA also includes Canada, a country conspicuously absent from Monday's announcement and whose officials have clashed repeatedly with Trump on trade.

Monday's deal could become a big win for Trump, but hard negotiations await. Here's a rundown of what's in the deal - and the many hurdles to clear before it becomes final.

--What's in the deal?

Broadly, the deal aims to update the 1993 agreement and spur more auto manufacturing in the United States and Mexico. It covers many things, including car, intellectual property and labor rights. Several trade experts noted that many provisions in Monday's agreement resemble what was in President Barack Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership, a deal Trump pulled out of as soon as he took office.

New rules for automobiles: Under the deal, to escape tariffs, 75 percent of "auto content" - car parts and amenities - must be made within the United States or Mexico. That would be a bump from the existing 62.5 percent minimum of North American content, a boost aimed at creating automobile industry jobs domestically, rather than in Asia.

New rules for auto wages: In addition, the rules stipulate that 40 to 45 percent of the auto content must be made by workers earning more than $16 per hour. The average hourly pay for a U.S. autoworker is more than $22 an hour, according to the Labor Department, but $16 is huge for Mexico, where auto parts workers average less than $3.50 an hour, according to the Center for Automotive Research. This provision is considered a win for Trump, since Mexico had been advocating a much smaller percentage.

New rules for intellectual property, the environment and labor: Nearly everyone agreed that NAFTA needed to be updated for the digital economy. This agreement would make it harder for intellectual property theft. The deal also requires Mexico to do more to allow collective bargaining for workers and to protect air quality and marine wildlife, including whales and sea turtles. These provisions were all part of TPP, which Mexico and Canada both signed onto after Trump took the United States out of that deal.

--How long would it last?

The United States and Mexico agreed to revisit the deal after six years, and if everyone is pleased, to extend it for 16 years. If some sides are not happy, there would be a new round of negotiations. The length arrangement reflects a U.S. move toward the requests of Mexico and Canada, as the Trump team originally advocated for the deal to terminate after five years unless all parties agreed to extend it.

--What would this mean for most Americans?

If the deal clears the many hurdles it would need to to go into effect, it would likely make cars and trucks more expensive for American buyers. Some economists also warn a U.S.-Mexico deal that doesn't include Canada would be very confusing (and expensive) for businesses to navigate, potentially costing jobs or shifting them overseas. On the upside, White House officials hope the agreement will create more North American jobs by making it harder for countries like China to ship cheap products through Mexico and on to the United States.

--What's not in the deal?

The deal does not resolve the tariffs the Trump administration put on steel and aluminum earlier this year, taxes that have proved a major sticking point in trade relations and led to Mexican retaliation against U.S. goods. The deal also does not resolve a broader issue over what are known as "232 tariffs," taxes on foreign goods the Trump administration has imposed in the name of national security. The administration used that process for the steel and aluminum tariffs, over the strong objections of many U.S. allies and trading partners - including Canada. And Trump is considering 232 tariffs on foreign autos.

--What happened to Canada?

Canada is part of NAFTA, but it was not included in the U.S.-Mexico agreement announced Monday. Trump said Monday that "we'll see" if Canada can join the agreement. Canada's foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland, is coming to Washington this week to talk trade.

Trump is pressing Canada to join the pact, and he threatened hefty tariffs on Canadian cars and auto parts if it won't join. But Canadian officials say their country, which has already been hit by Trump's steel tariffs and retaliated against them, won't join any deal that hurts their workers and businesses.

A key sticking point for Canada is what is known as the "dispute resolution" process, which allows companies to challenge some government rules. Canada is upset by how many U.S. companies have challenged Canadian environmental laws. A senior administration official said the U.S.-Mexico deal does have a revised dispute resolution process that will be modified for some sectors.

--Does Congress need to approve the deal?

Yes. Trump would have to formally submit a deal to Congress, which would have 90 days to make an up-or-down decision on it. And what Congress members are willing to approve may have a lot to do with how talks go with Canada. Congress gave Trump the authority to do only a trilateral deal, with both Canada and Mexico. Many members, in sending their initial reactions to the deal, called on Trump to bring Canada into the fold. If he ends up submitting a bilateral deal, with just Mexico, it increases the chances that lawmakers will balk.

--What else does Mexico have to do?

Mexico also needs to sign off on the deal, and that's all the more complicated because Mexico is in the midst of a change of government. Mexico's current president, Enrique Pena Nieto, is set to be replaced by President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on December 1. And Nieto's administration has been racing to finish a deal so Mexico's Congress would have time to ratify it before the newcomer takes office.

--Is this the end of NAFTA?

Trump said Monday that he wants to scrap the name, saying it was a "rip-off" that had "bad connotations." He kept calling the new arrangement the "United States-Mexico Trade Agreement," and a senior administration official said if Canada ultimately joins, they'll find a new name.

That doesn't mean NAFTA is dead, however. Nothing is final yet, and while the new deal works its way through multiple steps, NAFTA's trade rules remain in effect. Even if the new deal does get finalized, it may be more a renaming than a scrapping. The administration's fact sheet about the deal described it as "modernizing NAFTA" and an "update to the 24-year-old NAFTA," a nod to the fact that many of the trade agreement's provisions remain in place.

Trump also threatened to "terminate" NAFTA, but it's unclear whether he can do that without Congress, and few lawmakers want to scrap the deal that has benefited some industries greatly.Qui Tran

A major whiskey tasting event is coming to Houston in September and thankfully its scheduled for a Saturday night.

On the night of Sept. 22 at the Silver Street Studio in the Washington Avenue Arts District hosts the Whiskies of the World event with nearly 200 varieties of whisky available for tastings.DUBLIN -- Pope Francis has long faced criticism from traditionalists - a group that includes academics as well as cardinals - who say the church is too willingly following the whims of the anything-goes modern age.

Much of the dissent has remained within the Vatican's walls, as Francis' opponents worked to stonewall reforms. A few high-ranking church leaders have questioned him publicly about his teachings. But the simmering opposition has suddenly exploded across the Catholic world, with a former Vatican ambassador accusing the pope of covering up sexual abuse - and demanding that Francis step down.

The accusations came in a 7,000-word letter written by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano that could be viewed as an act of courage or unprecedented defiance. Either way, it sheds light on the opposition movement, and particularly its insistence that homosexuality within the church - and Francis' inability to keep it at bay - is to blame for the sexual abuse crisis.

Defenders of the pope note that the letter was published at perhaps the most challenging point of Francis' papacy, when abuse scandals in the United States, Chile, Australia and elsewhere are embroiling members of the church hierarchy.

"We are a step away from schism," said Michael Sean Winters, a columnist for the National Catholic Reporter. "I think there is a perception among the pope's critics that there is vulnerability here - on the part of the pope and in the Vatican generally."

The document alleges that Francis, as well as predecessor Pope Benedict XVI, had known for years about abuse allegations against Theodore McCarrick, who last month became the first cardinal in nearly a century to resign. Francis, asked about the accusations on Sunday, did not directly respond to them, saying that the document "speaks for itself."

The author, Vigano, a 77-year-old who is two years into retirement, is described by acquaintances as shy and quiet, but he has a history of advocating for right-wing causes. During the pope's U.S. visit in 2015, he orchestrated a meeting between Francis and a conservative county clerk who defined a federal order to issue same-sex marriage licenses. In Italy this year, he spoke briefly at a gathering of dissenters that included Cardinal Raymond Burke, perhaps the most prominent anti-Francis figure.

"All of the traditionalist outlets have given Vigano's letter a great echo, because that was the voice that they were waiting for," said Roberto de Mattei, president of the conservative Lepanto Foundation and a critic of Francis. "At last a bishop has spoken. This explains the consensus from the world of critics. Vigano was not a leader [of the group]. But he joined critical voices that already existed."

Francis has used more inclusive messages about gays and divorced Catholics at a time when the religion is losing its hold across the Western world. But some conservatives feel that Francis - who has made no concrete changes to church teaching on homosexuality or the role of women in the church - risks undoing the credibility of a religion that is based on immutable ideas and principles.

In the letter, Vigano goes into detail about years of failures to act within the Vatican bureaucracy, and he describes "dismay and sadness over the enormity of what is happening." He mentions "homosexual networks" within the church and quotes an academic who cites such networks as a core reason for clergy abuse.

"The seriousness of homosexual behavior must be denounced," Vigano wrote.

With his letter, Vigano became the torchbearer for the argument, shared among a group of Catholic conservatives, that sexual abuse stems from an overabundance of priests with homosexual feelings. They charge that Francis, who describes abuse in terms of power and clerical narcissism, fundamentally misunderstands the issue, jeopardizing the church's ability to address the scandals.

In an interview published Monday by the conservative Italian newspaper La Verita, Burke said that "homosexual culture" had found "roots inside the church and can be connected to the drama of abuses perpetrated on adolescents and young adults."

That view has little hold in the mainstream and has been roundly dismissed by researchers and other outsiders, who say that sexual abuse results from a complicated combination of factors including church secrecy, the training and sexual development of young priests, and the profound power gap between clergy and young parishioners. Those who want to see dramatic change in the church sometimes criticize the requirement for celibacy. Scores of girls have also been victimized, though less frequently than boys.

"A lot of this is homophobia," said Father James Martin, an American Jesuit who has advocated for the church to welcome LGBT members with more compassion. "I think they're using abuse to beat up on gays."

For traditionalists, Martin's invitation from the Vatican to speak last week in Dublin at a massive World Meeting of Families event was proof of how Francis is gradually eroding church teachings on sexuality. Before Francis landed in Dublin, a group of 400 dissidents met for two days at a hotel for what one organizer called a gathering to promote "the authentic teachings of the Catholic Church." And in Madison, Wisconsin, responding to the church's sex abuse crisis, Bishop Robert Morlino wrote in a letter to Catholics in his diocese that "it is time to admit that there is a homosexual subculture within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church."

Last week, Francis had released a letter to Catholics acknowledging "crimes" committed by the church. LifeSiteNews said the letter was facing criticism from "faithful Catholics" for "ignoring the underlying issue of rampant homosexuality in the clergy." LifeSiteNews was one of the two conservative outlets that initially published Vigano's letter.

Though Francis did not directly address the claims in the letter, he delivered a message Sunday night to reporters on the papal plane that seemed ready-made to roil his critics. Asked by a reporter what a parent should say to a child who comes out as gay, the pope said: "Don't condemn. Dialogue, understand."

"I'll never say that silence is a remedy," Francis said. "To ignore a son or daughter with homosexual tendencies is a lack of paternity and maternity. You are my son, you are my daughter as you are! I'm your father, mother. Let's talk!"

---

The Washington Post's Stefano Pitrelli in Moena, Italy, contributed to this report.Two Texas suspects were taken into custody for allegedly coercing a woman into prostitution in their Tyler-area sex-trafficking ring by threatening her family.

Brenton Lee Coe, 29, and Brittiany Mendoza, 27, were arrested on Aug. 21 and June 20 respectively and charged with human trafficking after the alleged victim met with a Department of Public Safety special agent, according to KLTV.

ANOTHER CASE: Texas man convicted of sex trafficking children sentenced to life in prison

The victim also reportedly identified Deantawn Hopkins, 24, as her pimp. According to an affidavit obtained by the news organization, Hopkins allegedly introduced the victim to Coe and Mendoza.

The victim stated that Hopkins drove her to a nearby hotel where Coe forced himself on her and took photos of the assault to post as an ad on backpage.com  a trafficking and prostitution website that has since been shut down.

According to the victim's report, Coe also forced her to swallow meth and threatened her family if she resisted. She reportedly told officials she was afraid to leave the hotel room because she was afraid Coe would hurt her daughter.

The victim was allegedly taken to another hotel by Coe where she was forced to have sex with several customers. When she called Hopkins for help, he became angry at her for leaving and threatened to kill her and her daughter.

Both Coe and Mendoza remain in Smith County Jail on $500,000 bond each.

According to police record, Hopkins served prison time for a drug charge in 2017. He was released on March 2, 2018. As of Aug. 28, 2018, there are no reports that he has been taken back into custody for human trafficking.

Daniela Sternitzky- Di Napoli is a digital producer covering Texas news and pop culture. | Daniela.DiNapoli@chron.com | @Dani_DiNapoliRICHMOND  Lauren Hall sits atop a brown and white speckled horse, Santana. The young womans back is straight and her grin is wide. Her cheetah print boots, lined with pink, are flopped on either side of the horses saddle.

Its Laurens favorite day of the week, said her mother, Helen Hall.

Hall is a much different rider than when she first got on the saddle four years ago. The 28-year-old was born with a rare genetic condition that affects almost every aspect of her daily life, and she can get anxious at times.

After four years of horseback riding at the SIRE Therapeutic Horsemanships Richmond facility, though, Hall has become a confident and cheerful rider. Instructors think the changes speak to the powerful connection that can build between horses and riders.

Horses  they target everything. They target physical difficulties, but they also target mental, said Helen Evans, site manager at SIRE. We cant really say why, but they just do it. Its a gift. They tune into what nothing else can give them. All animals have a very good way with dealing with emotions, but horses seem to shine through it all.

SIRE, a nonprofit charity, has been using horse therapy to help those with special needs and disabilities since 1983, when it started with just two horses and had only five clients. The program each week now serves more than 300 riders with a wide range of physical and mental issues across the Houston area.

Hall remembers feeling afraid during her first lesson riding at SIRE. Dismounting from her horse, Sugar, was initially terrifying for Hall.

It was a huge obstacle for her to overcome because it looked like it was really far down from where she was sitting, said Toni Conner, who teaches Hall and is also the Richmond sites lead volunteer coordinator. The program also has locations in Hockley and Spring.

The young woman has been through a lot because of her genetic condition, pseudopsuedohypoparathyroidism, including open heart surgery and scoliosis. She also has attention deficit disorder and IDD, a developmental disability. She reads on a sixth-grade level and her math skills are in the same range as a second-graders.

Her mother said Halls condition causes her to have a child-like innocence and vulnerability, as she still plays with her dolls and loves the Disney animated movie Frozen.

Conner said staffers took Halls fear step by step, trying to change her perspective of the dismount from something that frightened her to one of her favorite activities. Its a similar practice when theyre dealing with riders of all ages who are affected by various kinds of disabilities  breaking down something into an achievable goal.

I know this is scary for you, but instead of saying this is the part you hate, I want you to say, This is the part you love, Conner remembers telling Hall.

Instructors say its the little victories that make riders feel theyre capable of more.

Everything we do in the arena, we want to connect to their daily living, said Joe Wappelhorst, executive director for SIRE. How can these goals connect to making your life better?

After riding at the facility for two semesters, Hall began to enjoy the dismount and fell in love with her horse, Sugar, now retired.

Halls face brightens when she talks about Sugar and asks Conner if she can visit her after she finishes riding Santana during the lesson.

Oh, I love her so much, said a beaming Lauren.

Nursing Ernie back to health

Besides rehabilitating people, the team at the Richmond location also helped nurse back to health a horse that was rescued and brought to the stable shortly after Hurricane Harvey.

On a clear August day, Ernies brown mane shines and his frame is sturdy  much different from the malnourished horse that Evans first started taking care of months prior.

Back then, he had sores on his legs and no vaccinations.

He was very neglected, Evans said of the horse. He had six years with no interaction. He was shell-shocked and very curious.

After receiving a call from a woman during the storm who said she had three horses stranded that she couldnt reach, the program took in the 15-year-old sorrel-colored American quarter horse. The two other horses were rescued elsewhere.

The woman had been in and out of the hospital, so she was unable to properly take care of the horses.

Now Ernie neighs when visitors walk by and services riders throughout the program.

Progress is made

Underneath the barns awning, Hall carefully glides around each bright orange cone as two instructors walk near her.

Her horse that day, Santana, struts confidently in the brown dirt with Hall astride the animal  like a queen, her mother comments.

When she competes at the competitions, she doesnt even have a lead, said Helen. I never in a million years wouldve thought that she would come so far just in her confidence, in her balance, in her trust.

Conner has seen other riders improve. Some riders who might not normally be as communicative, such as those with autism, may talk more after spending time on the horse. For others, its a moment of freedom after being wheelchair bound all day.

These kids are just so innocent and theyre so open, said Helen. The horses  they sense that. The horses are so patient and just willing for the kids to build up that trust between the horse and the person.Houston drivers caught in the thick of morning traffic can take heart knowing that, according to a new study from HomeArea.com, other cities have it worse.

RELATED: How stressful is Houston's commute? Better than you think.

While it may feel like Houston traffic steals more time than anywhere else Texas, the study says Fort Worth and Garland both have longer commute times to work.

Houston drivers traveled an average of 27.3 minutes to work, compared to 27.9 in Fort Worth and 29.5 in Garland. The cities with the fastest commute times to work include Lubbock at 16.3 minutes and Waco at 18.2.

RELATED: Look deep inside Houston TranStar, where your traffic news originates

The study used 2016 survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau for cities with a population greater than 60,000. Although it ranked cities based on commute to work, another report from last year suggests afternoon traffic drastically increases the overall commute time.

The 2017 study, commissioned by consulting firm Robert Half, said Houston had an average overall commute time of around 50 minutes. Dallas was the only Texas city to surpass that figure with a roughly 54-minute average commute time.

Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.comA lightning strike charred the attic of a southwest Houston apartment building Tuesday.

The small fire took place just as possible severe thunderstorms take residence in the Houston-area for the next week.

Houston firefighters were called to the apartments near Richmond Avenue and Briarpark Drive around 3:20 p.m.

WICKED WEATHER: Rain and high temps could last through Labor Day

Now Playing: Texas News & Crime Video: Houston Chronicle

When firefighters arrived, they found smoke pouring out of the roof of one of the apartment buildings. They were able to quickly put the fire under control and minimize damage, firefighters on scene told Chron.com.

None of the apartment homes were damaged, firefighters said.

Scattered thunderstorms could last through Labor Day in the Houston area, according to the National Weather Service.

Experts also warn of brief and short-lived funnel clouds and waterspouts peppering the skies.

"Although these features are weak, they are still dangerous and one should keep a lengthy distance from them, if possible," NWS stated in a special weather statement issued Tuesday.

The rainy weather won't spare Houstonians and Southeast Texans from relatively high temperatures. The high Tuesday is around 93 degrees in the Bayou City, and heat indices could reach the low 100s by Wednesday, according to NWS.

Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message.

Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.comAgainst the backdrop of a growing community focus, Sugar Land has established a task force to make recommendations on the interment and reburial of the remains believed to be post-Civil War convict laborers  all African-Americans  unearthed at a school construction site in Fort Bend, according to city officials.

The issue has been brought to light by Reginald Moore, a community activist who has pushed public officials to properly recognize the 95 human remains by building a museum.

The cemetery was found because of Reginald Moores advocacy and dedication to the history of convict lease labor in the area, said Sugar Land City Manager Allen Bogard in the news release announcing the creation of the task force. I cant stress enough the importance of our task force. It is important that it comprises diverse community stakeholders, and I believe weve accomplished this purpose.

The issue of convict labor and the human remains from the convict-leasing system increasingly has gained nationwide attention from stories in the Houston Chronicle and elsewhere. Fort Bend ISD first announced the discovery of the remains in April. In July, archaeologists confirmed the remains found so far were likely part of the convict-leasing system, in which Texas state prisoners were contracted out to do cheap labor. The city task forces goal is to ensure the remains are memorialized with the utmost dignity and in a manner that honors their historical significance, according to a news release from the city of Sugar Land issued this week.

No one knows more about the convict-leasing program than Mr. Moore, acknowledged First Assistant City Manager Steve Griffith by phone on Tuesday. If were going to create that educational opportunity, then we have got to build a broad base of support for that and weve got to educate on that, including people in our own communities who may have heard about this but dont really understand the plight of these individuals that were an important part of our history. Thats the purpose of the task force.

Activist reluctant

Despite the citys invitation, Moore said he is hesitant to sit on the task force after years of what he described as a difficult relationship with city officials. Moore said he isnt planning to attend the first meeting for the task force, which is scheduled for 6 p.m. next Wednesday at Sugar Land City Hall. The group will continue to meet over the next six months, and all meetings are open to the public.

All the work Ive done is going to be insignificant, Moore said Tuesday. Theyre going to dilute everything Ive done. They arent ever going to recognize the past. I wont have anything to do with the museum. I wont have anything to do with the memorial. Now theyre bringing this group here, that doesnt have any understanding of the history that weve been doing.

The city has asked a wide range of entities to join its task force. They include Fort Bend ISD, the Houston Area Urban League, the Fort Bend Historical Commission, the Texas Historical Commission, the NAACP, Rice University history professor Caleb McDaniel, author Douglas Blackmon, who wrote a book about the convict-leasing system, members of the Sugar Land community and others, according to the release.

Moore, a retired longshoreman, acknowledged he would be more open to joining the task force if he had been involved in helping to choose the committee members. He said he feels pushed out by city officials.

Griffith said the city reached out to the Texas Historical Commission earlier this summer, and it recommended how to move forward concerning the burial of the remains. The commission advised the city to create a task force, similar to what the city of Waco did when an unmarked historical cemetery was discovered on a construction site.

Doug Adolph, a Sugar Land spokesman, said the city has been receptive to feedback from Moore about ways to educate the community on the convict-leasing system and is open to the idea of building a museum, but needs funding. City officials said the task force is expected to help come up with ways to tell the history of the remains and the convict-leasing system.

Reginald has advocated for a museum for many years, Adolph said. Weve been receptive to the idea. Weve always told him that if he was able to identify a funding source then wed certainly be able to agreeable to pursuing that. Hes never been able to do that. Hopefully the task force has more success.

Griffith said the city of Sugar Land has also spoken with Moore about offering temporary space at the Sugar Land Heritage Foundation Museum. Griffith said building a new free-standing museum could take many years. However, Moore has been adamant about creating a separate museum because he feels thats the only way to properly tell the documented brutal history of the convict leasing system.

Reburying the remains

Sugar Land is also working on an agreement with Fort Bend ISD to rebury all the remains at Old Imperial Farm Cemetery, which sits less than a mile away from the construction site, the release said. Moore actively researched the history of Old Imperial Farm cemetery, which lead him to discover that it likely holds bodies of those who were part of the convict-leasing system. The cemeterys close proximity to the school districts construction site last year caused him to alert school officials about conducting an archaeological survey.

Lynette Reddix, president of the Missouri City chapter of the NAACP, said their group wanted to be included on the task force because they felt African-American voices needed to be a part of the narrative.

If were at the table, then we control the narratives, said Reddix. When youre not there, then you lose your power. We shouldnt lose a seat at the table.Harris County has been identified as a "hotspot" in a state with a growing number of children avoiding vaccinations for personal reasons, according to a June 2018 study from PLOS medicine.

RELATED: Statewide data shows Texas anti-vaccine movement is growing

Texas is one of 18 states that allows families to opt out of vaccinations for non-medical reasons, including religious beliefs. During the 2017-18 school year, around 1.07 percent of the state's student population opted out of vaccinations for non-medical reasons, up from 0.57 in the 2011-12 year.

Exemptions have grown amid what is commonly referred to as the "anti-vaccination movement," led by parents who refuse vaccines for their children because of religious beliefs, a fear of injecting any additional chemicals into their child's body, or an overall uncertainty about the specific vaccine.

Some experts fear the growing number of exemptions could lead to an increased risk of disease among the overall student population, but Harris County school officials say they don't have many options when it comes to a family's personal choice.

"Every parent does as they see fit," said one administrative assistant at The Branch School, where about 10.9 percent of the student population reported a vaccine exemption for personal reasons.

Paula Aguirre, a marketing and communications specialist for Aristoi Classical Academy, provided a similar statement.

"We follow state law with respect to vaccinations and exemptions," she said.

RELATED: Texas No. 1 'hotspot' for vaccine exemptions

Aristoi and The Branch School were among five schools in Harris County that recorded non-medical exemptions more than 10 percent of the student population, according to data from the Texas Department of Health and Human Services. The five schools' overall enrollment population is between 100 and 450 students per location.

At one school, The Connection School of Houston, more than a quarter of its student population filed a non-medical vaccine exemption, the data shows. Requests for a comment were not returned. The school enrolls 200 students.

In Harris County, 0.83 percent of the student population opted out of their vaccinations for personal reasons last year.

The PLOS study, titled "The state of the antivaccine movement in the United States: A focused examination of nonmedical exemptions in states and counties," named Harris County among the 12 communities with more than 400 kindergartners who applied for a non-medical vaccine exemption in the 2016-17 year.

That data point was enough to signal some concern in the study.

"The high numbers of [non-medical vaccinations] in these densely populated urban centers suggest that outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases could either originate from or spread rapidly throughout these populations of unimmunized, unprotected children," according to the PLOS study. " The fact that the largest count of vaccine-exempt pediatric populations originate in large cities with busy international airports may further contribute to this risk."

Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.comLOS ANGELES - The gunman who killed his wife and four others in a rampage in Northern California this week found an easy way around a court order prohibiting him from having guns: He built his own at home.

Kevin Neal, 44, was armed with what authorities believe were two high-powered rifles that he made himself when he opened fire Tuesday on homes, cars and an elementary school around his tiny hometown of Rancho Tehama Reserve. A deputy finally shot and killed him.

Black market demand

It is the latest case of homemade semi-automatic weapons being used in a crime, and it comes as federal authorities try to draw attention to the dangers posed by these "ghost guns," which contain no registration numbers that can be used to trace them. In Baltimore, a man used a homemade AR-15-style rifle to shoot at four police officers in July 2016. They returned fire, killing him.

It's legal to build a gun in a home or a workshop, and advances in 3-D printing and milling have made it easier to do so. Kits can be purchased legally for $450 to $1,000 from hundreds of websites without the kind of background check required for traditional gun purchases.

"The more restrictive the laws become for people to purchase firearms, we're going to see those criminal elements build their own," Tehama County Assistant Sheriff Phil Johnston said. "That's what they do."

In Neal's case, he had been ordered to give up all his guns earlier this year under a restraining order issued against him after he was charged with assaulting two women who lived nearby. He signed a document in February saying he surrendered a 9 mm handgun to a gun store, which also attested to that. When Neal was arrested, police seized an AR-15 Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle.

While making a ghost gun is legal, selling one is not. Federal officials are sounding the alarm about an increasing black market for homemade semi-automatic rifles and handguns.

Mills where such weapons are built are popping up across the country and especially in California, which has strict gun laws. By 2019, people who own or create homemade firearms in California will have to apply for a serial number from the state and affix it to the weapon.

The critical component in building an untraceable gun is what is known as the lower receiver, a part typically made of metal or polymer. An unfinished receiver can be legally bought online with no serial numbers or other markings on it, no license required.

Cannot be traced

Converting the piece of metal into a firearm is relatively simple and takes only a few hours. A drill press or a metal cutting machine known as a Computer Numeric Control, or CNC, is used to create a few holes in the receiver and well out a cavity. The receiver is then combined with a few other parts to create a fully functioning semi-automatic rifle or handgun.

Ghost guns are increasingly turning up at crime scenes and being purchased from gang members and other criminals by undercover federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents. It is hard to say how many are circulating on the streets. In many cases, police departments don't even contact the ATF about the guns because they can't be traced.At some point, having integrity in American politics became maverick. And John McCain embodied that virtue until the end.

Flags across the nations capital bow in mourning for a war hero, a longtime senator, a presidential candidate and a consummate public servant who often eschewed the easy, the popular, the expedient, for what he thought was right.

McCains death Saturday at age 81 after battling brain cancer leaves a gap in Washingtons conscience that will not soon be filled. The outpouring of grief from Republicans and Democrats alike commemorates a man whose dedication to American ideals set a higher course, even at our lowest points.

McCain suffered for years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, enduring torture that permanently scarred his body, yet left his soul stronger. What kind of man turns down the opportunity to go free until his fellow prisoners were freed?

A man of honor. That honor is McCains greatest legacy. When he erred, he seemed to learn from his mistakes. While he was cleared of exerting undue influence in the Keating Five scandal, the painful ordeal motivated him to fight, against an uninterested Congress, to rid elections of the influence of secretive donations.

His successful passage of the McCain-Feingold Act solidified McCains reputation as an independent-minded statesman who trusted in compromise and regular order of the Senate. It is an order he sought to protect, up through his shocking vote in July 2017 against repealing Obamacare.

From the Editorial Board CIA info

Obamacare saved

It was McCains integrity, that habit of seeing the world how it should be, that defined his career. When a woman approached McCain at a town hall in October 2008, saying his opponent, then-Sen. Barack Obama, seemed foreign and couldnt be trusted, McCain cut her off.

No, maam, he said. Hes a decent family man [and] citizen that just I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and thats what the campaigns all about.

In Democratic and Republican administrations alike, McCain remained a powerful, informed voice in support of the U.S.-led international system. As that post-war system is under threat, and too many politicians are willing to shirk responsibilities, McCain used every avenue available to echo Americas foreign policy ideal: Tyrants of the world had no greater enemy, and beacons of liberty had no greater friend, than the United States.

Who will take up the mantle now? Its not just the man we mourn  but the American ideals he fought for. The fact that the full spectrum of U.S. politics seems united in remembering McCain gives us hope that those who honor his legacy will not let it die with him.One of the unofficial slogans of the Trump era  besides grab em by the you-know-what and Rudy Giulianis recent truth isnt truth is nothing matters (sometimes preceded by a nihilistic lol).

Donald Trump flouts the Constitution, raking in money from supplicants who curry favor with him by patronizing his gaudy hotels. Congress is silent. The presidents commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, was accused of effectively stealing more than $120 million in various schemes  Forbes described him as possibly one of the biggest grifters in American history. It barely registered in the headlines. ProPublica reported that a trio of random Trump cronies with neither military nor government experience is secretly running the Veterans Affairs Department out of Mar-a-Lago. Republicans have made no plans for hearings. The presidents former lawyer testified that Trump directed him to commit felonies to cover up alleged affairs before the election. The shock lasted about 48 hours.

This culture of impunity is less a result of Trumps political skill  hes deeply unpopular  than of one-party rule. The majority of voters want a check on this administration, but the Republican Party doesnt care; its beholden to a minority that delights in the helplessness of fellow citizens. If Democrats take the House in the November midterms  which the model of the statistics website FiveThirtyEight gives them about a 70 percent chance of doing  that helplessness ends. Contrary to Republican claims, there are no Democratic plans for imminent impeachment proceedings. But there will be subpoenas, hearings and investigations. Things that havent mattered for the past 19 months suddenly will.

On Sunday, Axios reported that Republicans are circulating a spreadsheet of investigations that House Democrats could undertake should they take control of the chamber. It was compiled by cataloging Democratic requests for documents and interviews that Republicans previously ignored, and it doesnt necessarily tell Republicans much about Democratic priorities. Still, Republicans are right to be worried.

Democrats who are likely to head key committees say they arent planning revenge; its important to them to show that they can govern. Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, wants to make sure Democrats emphasize bread-and-butter issues like the rise in prescription drug prices. One thing Im not looking for is retribution, he told me. Im just trying to get to regular order, I swear to God.

But regular order entails a level of accountability that the Trump administration has never faced. Adam Schiff, who is poised to lead the House Intelligence Committee if Democrats win a majority, plans to renew the committees investigation into Russias role in the 2016 election. (He insists that for Democrats, the investigation never stopped.) Schiff said hell look at the work being done by Robert Mueller, the special counsel, and by the Senate Intelligence Committee, and figure out where the gaps might be. One that I would put as very important is the issue of whether the Russians were laundering money through the Trump Organization, he said.

If Democrats prevail in November, his committee wont be the only one examining Trumps finances. Under a rarely used 1924 law passed after the Teapot Dome scandal, leaders of three congressional committees  the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee and the Joint Committee on Taxation  can each demand to see the presidents tax returns. Youre not going to find out whether this president put the United States in jeopardy because of his financial dealings unless you get his tax returns, said Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., who sits on the Ways and Means Committee and has made obtaining Trumps tax returns a signature issue.

This month, after the ProPublica revelation that Mar-a-Lago members were dictating Veterans Affairs policy, House Democrats Julia Brownley and Annie Kuster wrote a letter calling for an investigation by the departments inspector general. Taxpayers want to know that their tax dollars are going to high-quality care for our nations heroes, not to line the pockets or egos of President Trumps billionaire boys club, Brownley said at the time. In a Democratic House, Brownley and Kuster would be in line to run key Veterans Affairs subcommittees, where theyll be in a position to demand answers. The goal, obviously, will be to get to the truth, said Brownley.

Cummings, meanwhile, said he plans a two-lane process, combining attention to national issues that transcend Trump with scrutiny of the administration. We are in a fight for the soul of our democracy, he said. So I understand that for me to effectively do that second lane that I just talked about  voting rights and all those good things, prescription drugs  I need to have the democracy intact. The Trump administration, he said, needs to be exposed, which might mean hearings into the way Trump is profiting off the presidency, or on abuses of the security clearance process. What were going to have to do is try to create a new but appropriate sense of what is normal, Cummings said.

Over the past 19 months, weve heard the phrase This is not normal a lot. If Democrats lose in November, it will remain an impotent mantra of the resistance. If they win, it becomes an accusation backed by subpoena power.

Goldberg is a columnist for the New York Times.Imperial Valley News Center

Recently Unearthed Russian Operation reinforces why public-facing government websites need EV

Washington, DC - One story that got lost in the torrent of national news last week was Microsoft shutting down six phony websites created by a group affiliated with the Russian government. The six websites were created to mimic websites related to public policy institutes and the US Senate. The Russian hackers were attempting to steal credentials and potentially infect the computers of anyone that tried to access the sites.

The effort by the notorious APT28 hacking group, which has been publicly linked to a Russian intelligence agency and actively interfered in the 2016 presidential election, underscores the aggressive role that Russian operatives are playing ahead of the midterm elections in the United States, writes Elizabeth Dwoskins of the Washington Post. U.S. officials have repeatedly warned that the November vote is a major focus for interference efforts. Microsoft said the sites were created over the past several months and that the company was able to catch them early, as they were being set up. It did not go into more specifics.

APT28 is also known as Fancy Bear.

While Microsoft reports that the websites were not used in an attack, these kinds of sites can be used for spear-phishing and as malware carriers. Spear-phishing is a highly specialized form of phishing where the attacker conducts surveillance and socially engineers an email that looks and feels authentic enough to get the recipient to take an intended action, in this case following a link and logging into a website.

APT28 targeted:

The Hudson Institute, a conservative Washington think tank actively investigating corruption in Russia. (my-iri.org)

The International Republican Institute, a non-profit group that promotes democracy around the world. (hudsonorg-my-sharepoint.com)

The US Senate, with three different websites that appeared to be affiliated with Congresss upper chamber. (adfs-senate.service; adfs-senate.email; adfs.senate.group)

Microsoft itself, with a website that spoofed the companys own online products. (office365-onedrive.com)

Its clear Fancy Bear was primarily targeting Microsoft users. Obviously, you have the fake Microsoft website, which is a pretty big indicator itself, but ADFS is an acronym that stands for Active Directory Federation Services, which is a single sign-on solution made by Microsoft.

The way Microsoft took down the sites is fairly interesting. It used a legal maneuver that it has employed over a dozen times since 2016 to disable 84 sites run by APT28. It obtains a court order that legally enables it to transfer the malicious domains to its own servers where it can effectively shut them down and study them. Microsoft has also used this tactic to shut down botnets. Last Mondays court order was executed in Virginia.

Now, there are a lot of political and legal implications that stem from Microsoft shutting down these websites. But were going to focus on one very specific point: website identity.

The fake Russian websites all used DV SSL certificates

Lets preface with this: we are not criticizing Domain Validation SSL certificates here. We are simply observing the conditions that enabled these websites to look more legitimate. All six used DV SSL certificates, which allowed the websites to receive a Secure tag in the address bar of most desktop browsers, while giving it the traditional green padlock indicator on mobile browsers.

Weve made no secret of our distaste of the current DV security indicators. And to its credit, Google seems to have come to its senses and will be removing positive indicators for websites that have DV SSL installed in the next few updates of its Chrome browser.

Lets take a look at the six certificates in question:

Domain Certificate FQDN: Issued On Verification Details hudsonorg-my-sharepoint.com hudsonorg-my-sharepoint.com Mar 22, 2018 Domain Validated https://crt.sh/?id=372250509 office365-onedrive.com office365-onedrive.com Apr 25, 2018 Domain Validated https://crt.sh/?id=419954326 senate.group adfs.senate.group Jun 27, 2017 Domain Validated https://crt.sh/?id=305392600 my-iri.org sharepoint.my-iri.org Apr 16, 2018 Domain Validated https://crt.sh/?id=399462567 adfs-senate.services No certificate found* adfs-senate.email No certificate found*

Information on two of the six certificates was not available, possibly because they were issued before the requirement for CAs to publish every issuance into a Certificate Transparency log, which makes them harder to track down.

I wouldnt call it a problem, because according to many around the industry its more of a feature than a bug, but DV SSL offers a complete lack of identity information. It does authenticate a server, which as many critics of business authentication certificates will tell you, is exactly what its supposed to do.

But lets be honest, to the average internet user server authentication is absolutely meaningless. Heres the identity information included in the four logged certificates:

Subject Name:

commonName = hudsonorg-my-sharepoint.com

organizationalUnitName = Free SSL

organizationalUnitName = Domain Control Validated Subject Name:

commonName = adfs.senate.group

organizationalUnitName = Free SSL

organizationalUnitName = Domain Control Validated Subject Name:

commonName = office365-onedrive.com

organizationalUnitName = Free SSL

organizationalUnitName = Domain Control Validated Subject Name:

commonName = sharepoint.my-iri.org

organizationalUnitName = PositiveSSL

organizationalUnitName = Domain Control Validated

None of that helps a user discern a fake website from a legitimate one, especially when the browser is telling you its secure.

Fortunately, the US Senate website has an Extended Validation SSL certificate. Extended Validation SSL certificates have one major advantage over their Organization Validation and Domain Validation counterparts: they carry a unique visual indicator that places your organizations name in the address bar beside the URL.

Heres a look at the Senates EV indicator:

And heres the identity information that can be found by clicking the EV indicator (Firefox does this better than any other browser):

And of course, if you click and ask for more information, you can see the full certificate details:

Again, nobody does this better than Mozilla, who makes information easily accessible to its users.

So where are we going with this?

All public-facing government websites should have an Extended Validation SSL certificate

The APT in APT28 stands for Advanced Persistent Threat, and that is painfully apropos of our current national cybersecurity landscape. There are highly sophisticated, state-backed cyber terrorists (lets call them what they really are) actively waging digital campaigns to subvert our national institutions and influence our elections and general discourse.

Thats why every public-facing government website, from the smallest municipalities all the way up to the largest federal institutions, needs to have an EV nameplate beside their URL in browsers address bars. This is one of the most direct ways for websites to assert their identity to their visitors. Its unmistakable, its unfakeable and it reflects that the organization has been thoroughly vetted by a trusted Certificate Authority.

Now, I already know there are some objections percolating in the minds of EV critics. And thats fine. EV isnt perfect. Everyone agrees we can do more to strengthen the validation aspect of EV and we need to do something about EV collisions.

But in this context, when talking about public-facing government websites, and even some think tanks and institutes, those objections really dont apply. There shouldnt be any name collisions and verifying that a government entity is indeed a government entity is a pretty straightforward process.

More to the point, people need that identity information to be there more than ever. And while you might be tempted to point out that not everyone knows to look for itthat can be corrected with education.

Also, when is removing someones access to information ever the right call? How is that in the public interest?

Extended Validation SSL certificates give people across the world the ability to confirm the authenticity of a government website with just a single glance. Thats why all public-facing government websites need EV SSL. Not just in the US, but all around the globe.

Identity has never been more important than it is right now.Imperial Valley News Center

Many Arctic Pollutants Decrease After Market Removal and Regulation

Washington, DC - Levels of some persistent organic pollutants (POPs) regulated by the Stockholm Convention are decreasing in the Arctic, according to an international team of researchers who have been actively monitoring the northern regions of the globe.

POPs are a diverse group of long-lived chemicals that can travel long distances from their source of manufacture or use. Many POPs were used extensively in industry, consumer products or as pesticides in agriculture. Well-known POPs include chemicals such as DDT and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), and some of the products they were used in included flame retardants and fabric coatings.

Because POPs were found to cause health problems for people and wildlife, they were largely banned or phased out of production in many countries. Many have been linked to reproductive, developmental, neurological and immunological problems in mammals. The accumulation of DDT, a well-known and heavily used POP, was also linked to eggshell-thinning in fish-eating birds, such as eagles and pelicans, in the late 20th century, and caused catastrophic population declines for those animals.

In 2001, 152 countries signed a United Nations treaty in Stockholm, Sweden intended to eliminate, restrict or minimize unintentional production of 12 of the most widely used POPs. Later amendments added more chemicals to the initial list. Today, more than 33 POP chemicals or groups are covered by what is commonly called the Stockholm Convention, which has been recognized by182 countries.

This paper shows that following the treaty and earlier phase-outs have largely resulted in a decline of these contaminants in the Arctic, says John Kucklick, a biologist from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the senior U.S. author on the paper, published August 23 in Science of the Total Environment. When POP use was curtailed, the change was reflected by declining concentrations in the environment.

In general, the contaminants that are being regulated are decreasing, says Frank Riget from the Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Denmark, and lead author.

POPs are particularly problematic in the Arctic because the ecosystem there is especially fragile, and pollution can come from both local sources and from thousands of miles away due to air and water currents. POPs also bioaccumulate. This means that they build up faster in animals and humans than they can be excreted, and that exposure can increase up the food chain. Plankton exposed to POPs in water are eaten by schools of fish, which are in turn eaten by seals or whales, and with each jump up the food chain the amount of POPs increases. The same is true for terrestrial animals. A large mammals exposure, therefore, can be large and long-lasting.

Indigenous people living in northern coastal areas such as Alaska often consume more fish and other animals that come from higher on the food chain than the average American. Such communities, therefore, are potentially exposed to larger amounts of these pollutants.

For almost two decades beginning in 2000, Kucklick and Riget worked in conjunction with scientists from Denmark, Sweden, Canada, Iceland and Norway to track POPs in the fat of several marine mammals and in the tissue of shellfish and seabirds. They also monitored air in the Arctic circle for pollution.

To gain a fuller picture of how the deposition of POPs might have changed over time, the study included specimens archived since the 1980s and 90s in special storage facilities around the globe. The U.S. specimens were provided by the NIST Biorepository, located in Charleston, South Carolina. Samples archived in that facility are part of the Alaska Marine Mammal Tissue Archival Project (AMMTAP) or the Seabird Tissue Archival and Monitoring Project (STAMP). Both collections are conducted in collaboration with other federal agencies.

The study pooled more than 1,000 samples taken over the course of several decades from many different locations throughout the Arctic Circle. In general, the so-called legacy POPsthose that have been eliminated or restricted from productionwere shown to be decreasing over the past two to three decades, although some had decreased more than others.

The biggest decreases were in a byproduct of the pesticide lindane, a-HCH, with a mean annual decline of 9 percent in Arctic wildlife.

The research team found PCBs had decreased as well. Most industrial countries banned PCBs in the 1970s and 80s, and their production was reduced under the Stockholm Convention in 2004. Previously, the compounds had been widely used in electrical systems. In this study, it was found that their presence had decreased by almost 4 percent per year across the Arctic region since being pulled from the market.

Two of the legacy POPs listed under Stockholm, -HCH and HCB, showed only small declines of less than 3 percent per year. -HCH was part of a heavily-used pesticide mixture with the active ingredient lindane and HCB was used both in agriculture and industry.

A small number of the legacy POPs had increased in a few locations, although some of those were at sites suspected to be influenced by strong, still-existing local pollution sources.

Notably, the flame retardant hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) showed an annual increase of 7.6 percent. HBCDD was one of 16 additional POPs added to the Stockholm Convention as of 2017 and is recommended for elimination from use, with certain exemptions.

Most of the research conducted for this paper was a direct result of the 2001 treaty stipulations, which included a requirement that sponsors participate in ongoing, long-term biological monitoring. Although the U.S. participated in the research, it has not ratified the treaty. It is expected that work on the treaty will continue as new POPs are identified.

This recent research work highlights the usefulness of long-term data and international scientific collaboration, says Riget. You really need to gather more than 10 years of data before you can see the trend because in the short term there can be some small fluctuations, he notes. Looking at this data also showed us how to be more economical and avoid over-sampling in the future.Imperial Valley News Center

President Donald J. Trump Announces Seventeenth Wave of Judicial Nominees

Washington, DC - Today President Donald J. Trump announced his intent to nominate a seventeenth wave of judicial nominees as follows:

Allison Jones Rushing of North Carolina, to serve as a Circuit Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. A native North Carolinian, Allison Rushing is a partner with Williams and Connolly LLP. There, her practice focuses on appellate matters, constitutional issues, and regulatory challenges. Ms. Rushing is widely viewed as one of the best young appellate lawyers in the country: Legal 500 has praised Ms. Rushing for her excellent writing advocacy skills, The National Law Journal has recognized her stellar oral advocacy in the Federal courts of appeals, and Super Lawyers has recognized her as one of its Rising Stars. Ms. Rushing has argued before Federal courts of appeals and state appellate courts, in addition to briefing cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Upon graduation from law school, Ms. Rushing clerked for then-Judge Neil Gorsuch on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, then-Chief Judge David Sentelle on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and Justice Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court of the United States. Ms. Rushing earned her B.A., summa cum laude, from Wake Forest University, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and her J.D., magna cum laude, from Duke University School of Law, where she served as executive editor of the Duke Law Journal.

Bridget Shelton Bade of Arizona, to serve as a Circuit Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Bridget Bade serves as a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of Arizona. Prior to her appointment to the bench in 2012, she served for six years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Arizona, handling both civil and appellate matters. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorneys Office, Judge Bade spent a year as special counsel in the Phoenix office of Steptoe & Johnson, LLP. Before joining Steptoe, she was a shareholder at Beshears Wallwork Bellamy, where her practice focused on complex civil litigation, including the representation of parties in environmental, intellectual property, commercial, and class action litigation. Before entering private practice, Judge Bade served for four years in the Attorney Generals Honors Program as a trial attorney in the Environmental Torts Section within the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice. Upon graduation from law school, Judge Bade served as a law clerk to Judge Edith H. Jones of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Judge Bade earned her B.A., summa cum laude, from Arizona State University, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and her J.D., cum laude, from Arizona State Universitys Sandra Day OConnor College of Law, where she served as an articles editor of the Arizona State Law Journal.

J.P. Boulee of Georgia, to serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. J.P. Boulee serves as Judge on the DeKalb County Georgia Superior Court, where he founded the DeKalb County Veterans Treatment Court and is a member of the State Bar of Georgias Judicial Procedure and Administration/Uniform Rules Committee. Prior to his appointment to the bench in 2015, he was a partner in the Atlanta, Georgia, office of Jones Day, where he was a member of the Corporate Criminal Investigations and Business and Tort Litigation practice groups. Judge Boulee has also served as Captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate Generals Corps, where he tried dozens of cases as both a prosecutor and public defender. Upon graduation from law school, Judge Boulee served as a law clerk to Judge Orinda D. Evans of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Judge Boulee earned his B.A., magna cum laude, from Washington and Lee University, and his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Georgia School of Law.

James D. Cain, Jr., of Louisiana, to serve as a District Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. James Cain is a founding member and partner of the Lake Charles-based firm Loftin, Cain & LeBlanc, LLC, where his practice focuses on civil litigation in state and Federal courts. He has earned the MartindaleHubbell Peer Review Ratings highest attorney rating as AV Preeminent for his legal ability and high ethical standards. Before starting his own firm, Mr. Cain practiced for twelve years at Lundy & Davis, LLC. Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Cain clerked for Judge Henry Yelverton of the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal. Prior to entering law school, Mr. Cain served for three years as a congressional aide to former 7th District Representative, Jimmy Hayes. Mr. Cain earned his B.A. from McNeese State University and his J.D., cum laude, from Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Travis A. Greaves of the District of Columbia, to serve as a Judge on the United States Tax Court. Travis Greaves serves as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Appellate and Review in the U.S. Department of Justices Tax Division. In this role, he oversees all civil tax appellate litigation, including appeals from the U.S. Tax Court. Before assuming his current role at the Department of Justice, Mr. Greaves was a partner at Greaves & Wu, LLP, in Washington, DC, where his practice focused on civil and criminal tax controversy matters. Earlier in his career, Mr. Greaves served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center and as an attorney advisor at the U.S. Tax Court. Mr. Greaves received his B.A. from the University of Tennessee, his J.D., cum laude, from South Texas College of Law, and an L.L.M. in Taxation, with distinction, from Georgetown University Law Center.

Lisa M. Schenck of Virginia, to serve as a Judge on the Court of Military Commissions Review. Lisa Schenck serves as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Director of the National Security & U.S. Foreign Relations Law L.L.M. Program, Director of the National Security & Cybersecurity Law L.L.M. Program, and professorial lecturer in law at the George Washington University School of Law. She joined the law school in 2009 after serving in the Army for more than 25 years, initially as a Signal Corps Officer and then as a judge, lawyer, and educator in the Judge Advocate Generals Corps. In 2002, Dean Schenck was appointed as a military judge on the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals. In 2003, she received the Judge Advocates Association Outstanding Career Armed Services Attorney Award. In 2005, Dean Schenck was the first woman appointed as a Senior Judge on that court, where she served until she retired. She concurrently served as an Associate Judge on the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review after her appointment by the Secretary of Defense in 2007. Dean Schenck retired in 2008 as a U.S. Army Colonel and became the senior adviser to the Defense Task Force on Sexual Assault in the Military Services. Dean Schenck has authored numerous scholarly articles on law and the armed services and has co-authored the leading military justice casebook, Modern Military Justice: Cases and Materials with Judge Greg Maggs. Dean Schenck earned her B.A., cum laude, from Providence College, her M.P.A. from Farleigh Dickinson University, and her J.D., cum laude, from Notre Dame Law School. Later, she earned an L.L.M. from both the Judge Advocate Generals Legal Center & School and from Yale Law School. She also earned a J.S.D. from Yale Law School. She recently received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Providence College.Imperial Valley News Center

Support for President Donald J. Trumps Trade Announcement with Mexico

Washington, DC - Support for President Donald J. Trumps Trade Announcement with Mexico:

Federal Officials

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA): President @realDonaldTrumps renegotiated trade deal with Mexico will be a huge victory for American workers, and will send a strong message to other countries around the world that we will be happy to enter trade deals that benefit both countries equally  With his announcement today that hes reached a new trade agreement with Mexico, President Trump is once again delivering on his promises to stand up for American workers and get better deals for our country.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT): Todays announcement by the United States and Mexico is an important step toward modernizing NAFTA, the largest free trade zone in the world.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX): It is very encouraging that President Trump, along with Ambassador Lighthizer and his team, have reached a bilateral understanding with Mexico to update the agreement for the benefit of American workers, farmers, and local businesses.

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway (R-TX): Im very encouraged the president and Amb. Lighthizer have reached a preliminary agreement with Mexico to modernize and expand market opportunities in NAFTA.

Sen. David Perdue (R-GA): President Trump deserves a great deal of credit for making sure that America is treated fairly and is the best place in the world to do business.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA): [T]odays announcement that the United States and Mexico have reached a two-way deal on trade is huge news for Iowas farmers and ranchers, and is a monumental step to help restore both market certainty and confidence across rural America.

Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND): What weve said all along is that we need better trade deals that ensure our farmers, ranchers, manufacturers and all American industries receive free and fair access to international markets. We appreciate the administrations continued progress on NAFTA, and todays agreement is an important milestone.

Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE): Todays announcement of a two-year trade agreement with Mexico is a step in the right direction. Im pleased to see President Trump making good on his promise to provide better certainty for Nebraska farmers and ranchers.

Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH): Look forward to reviewing the details but pleased to see todays breakthrough on trade w/ #Mexico. As Ive said many times, I believe we must do more to open markets to US products, vigorously enforce our trade laws & protect American #jobs.

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD): Im pleased the administration continues to work on long-term trade negotiations on behalf of our producers.

Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL): With this important step towards a new NAFTA deal, President Trump has once again proven these critics wrong. The strength of the American economy, and the American consumer, comes with a lot of negotiating power. Power that has too often not been used, to the detriment of American workers. Those days are over.

Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL): Big news and good news for the United States! Great work by @POTUS and his team.

Rep. Martha McSally (R-AZ): This is fantastic news for Arizona since Mexico is our number one trading partner. I have been tirelessly advocating to the administration regarding Arizonas strong interest in modernizing NAFTA in a way that supports jobs here.

Rep. Ron Estes (R-KS): The United States-Mexico Trade Agreement unveiled by President Trump today is great news for Kansas farmers and manufacturers. As a consistent advocate for free and fair trade, I applaud President Trump for bringing Mexico to the negotiating table.

Rep. Roger Marshall (R-KS): From day one President Trump promised that he would negotiate free and fair trade deals that would put America first. I am thrilled to see him make good on that promise by modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and striking a bilateral agreement with Mexico.

Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO): Todays @WhiteHouse announcement is a positive step forward for free trade. I am optimistic that President Trumps efforts will turn a page on decades of unfair trade deals and rebalance trade relationships for free, fair, and reciprocal trade.

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO): Todays announcement of a preliminary bilateral trade agreement between the U.S. and Mexico signifies progress and improved trade relationships with a key trading partner.

Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND): Todays announcement of a preliminary trade agreement with Mexico gives optimism for Americans. It is one more step in the momentum President Trump has created for better trade agreements with many nations around the world.

Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE): This announcement is very welcome and I look forward to reviewing this agreement and am optimistic it will help boost Nebraskas ag and business economies.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY): This conceptual agreement with Mexico is an encouraging development as we work to renegotiate NAFTA.

Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-OH): Todays announcement of a trade agreement with Mexico is another piece of great news for American workers  I applaud President Trumps efforts to renegotiate and modernize NAFTA to benefit American workers. I encourage Canada to build on this success by working with the United States in finalizing a NAFTA that reflects our 21st century economy.

Rep. Jim Renacci (R-OH): I applaud @realDonaldTrump for following through with yet another promise by delivering a fairer & more reciprocal trading relationship with Mexico. I look forward to further reviewing the agreement & continuing to work to achieve better trade deals for Ohio workers & families.

Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC): An important step towards rebalancing our trade deals and leveling the playing field for American workers thanks to @POTUS and his team.

Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX): I applaud President Trump and his administration for their progress in improving and modernizing NAFTA, and am confident our Negotiator-in-Chief will close a deal that benefits all Americans.

Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX): Trade is a critical component of our Houston economy and the American economy at large. I am encouraged that President Trump, Ambassador Lighthizer and Mexico have reached a preliminary agreement to promote fair and free trade between our nations and remain hopeful it will be beneficial to American businesses and workers.

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue: President Trump is delivering on his promise to renegotiate the old, outdated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), making good on his pledge to strike the best deals possible for all of our economic sectors, including agriculture. The President has achieved important improvements in the agreement to enable our agricultural producers to be treated more fairly.

State Officials

Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA): I am encouraged by the announcement today from the White House that a preliminary trade agreement has been reached with Mexico.

Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND): Were encouraged by todays announcement and we appreciate the administrations ongoing efforts to negotiate new trade agreements quickly, working toward our shared goal of better deals with our trading partners worldwide.

Gov. Pete Ricketts (R-NE): Mexico is one of Nebraskas best customers, and a new deal will give more certainty to our farm families headed into harvest. During our mission to Mexico last week, we talked to leaders in the country about buying more of Nebraskas quality grains, and we are excited about the prospect of expanded reciprocal trade with this new agreement.

Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX): Todays agreement between the U.S. and Mexico is a step in the right direction. Texas is the nations top exporting state, and with Mexico being our largest trading partner, this new deal should be good for the Texas economy.

Trade Associations and Labor Unions

Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers: Automakers support modernizing NAFTA to bring this nearly 25-year-old agreement into the 21st century. We are pleased to hear that the U.S. and Mexico have reached a consensus on several issues, including automotive rules of origin, and we look forward to learning more.

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall: Farm Bureau is excited about this announcement and will review the details of the Mexican trade deal as they become available. Based on the gains both sides have seen with NAFTA, we expect this new U.S.-Mexico Preliminary Agreement in Principle to build on that success for our farmers and ranchers.

American Iron and Steel Institute President and CEO Thomas Gibson: We appreciate the administrations hard work in reaching the bilateral understanding with Mexico announced today. In particular, we support strengthened rules of origin for autos that will further incentivize the use of North American steel in automobile production throughout North America.

American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers: We are encouraged that negotiators have reached a preliminary agreement to modernize our trade relationships. Americas natural gas and oil industry depends on trade to continue to grow U.S. jobs and our economy, and deliver for consumers.

American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear: We commend President Trump and his team of negotiators on reaching a tentative agreement with Mexico to modernize NAFTA.

BSA  The Software Alliance: The Software Alliance welcomes todays announcement in connection with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations, and looks forward to reviewing the agreement upon the conclusion of the negotiations among Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

Coalition for a Prosperous America CEO Michael Stumo: We support the administrations work to gain trade leverage and overturn the past policy of unilateral trade disarmament which caused offshoring and wage stagnation.

Illinois Farm Bureau President Richard Guebert Jr.: Illinois Farm Bureau (IFB) applauds U.S. and Mexican trade negotiators for reaching an agreement to begin modernizing NAFTA, providing economic stability and maintaining tariff-free Mexican market access for roughly $40 billion worth of U.S. agricultural exports. Were also pleased to see the updated agreement addresses biotechnology and trade-distorting policies.

Internet Association Director of Trade and International Policy Jordan Haas: The internet industry is optimistic about the potential of a new NAFTA that will, for the first time, recognize the internet as an important U.S. export that contributes to a significant trade surplus.

National Corn Growers Association President Kevin Skunes: Mexico is the largest export market for U.S. corn farmers and we are pleased the United States and Mexico are reaffirming mutual commitment to this important relationship.

Nebraska Farm Bureau President Steve Nelson: Todays announcement that the U.S. and Mexico have reached an agreement on provisions of a trade deal is good news for Nebraska farmers and ranchers who have been anxiously awaiting positive news on the trade front.

Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa: The Teamsters Union has long been a leader in demanding real reforms to NAFTA to make it work for worker across all of North America. We have been working closely with the USTR on those demands and we believe that the Administration has taken real steps to deal with our concerns regarding cross-border trucking and highway safety.

U.S. Grains Council President and CEO Tom Sleight: We are grateful for news today that the United States and Mexico have reached an agreement that will keep NAFTA modernization efforts moving. This agreement is a major step forward for our relationship with Mexico and is a result of hard work over the last year to closely examine our vital partnership.

U.S. Wheat Associates Chairman Chris Kolstad: We are glad to see progress toward a renegotiated NAFTA that builds on the opportunities the existing agreement opened with Mexicos wheat importing flour millers.Imperial Valley News Center

19 foreign nationals indicted for illegally voting in 2016 elections

Wilmington, North Carolina - Nineteen foreign nationals were charged with unlawfully voting in the 2016 elections Friday (15 Democrats, 3 Republicans, and 2 Unaffiliated), and a U.S. citizen was charged with aiding and abetting an alien to falsely claim U.S. citizenship to register to vote. The indictments follow an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) as part of a newly created Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force (DBFTF) in the Eastern District of North Carolina.

A federal grand jury in Wilmington charged the following foreign nationals with falsely claiming U.S. citizenship to register to vote in North Carolina, and also with unlawfully voting. If convicted, these individuals face maximum penalties of six years in federal prison, a $350,000 fine, and a term of supervised release:

Jose Cruz Solano-Rodriguez, age 41, of Mexico; (Registered Democrat)

Guadalupe Espinosa-Pena, age 63, of Mexico; (Registered Democrat)

Sarah Emilia Silverio-Polanco, age 35, of the Dominican Republic; (Registered Democrat)

Elizabeth Nene Amachaghi, age 44, of Nigeria; (Registered Republican)

Maria Rufina Castillo-Boswell, age 31, of Philippines; (Registered Republican)

Dora Maybe Damatta-Rodriguez, age 64, of Panama; (Registered Republican)

Elvis David Fullerton, age 54, of Grenada; (Registered Democrat)

Olive Agatha Martin, age 71, of Guyana; (Registered Democrat)

Kaoru Sauls, age 54, of Japan. (Registered Democrat)

Separately, criminal charges of voting by an alien were filed against the following foreign nationals. If convicted, these individuals face maximum penalties of twelve months in federal prison, a $100,000 fine, and a term of supervised release:

Jose Jaime Ramiro-Torres, age 52, of El Salvador; (Registered Unaffiliated)

Juan Francisco Landeros-Mireles, age 64, of Mexico; (Registered Democrat)

Alessandro Cannizzaro, age 46, of Italy; (Registered Unaffiliated)

Dieudonne Soifils, age 71, of Haiti; (Registered Democrat)

Hyo Suk George, age 69, of Korea; (Registered Democrat)

Merius Jean, age 54, of Haiti; (Registered Democrat)

Rosemarie Angelika Harris, age 60, of Germany; and (Registered Democrat)

Daniel Tadeusz Romanowski, age 39, of Poland. (Registered Democrat)

Separately, criminal charges of fraud and misuse of visas, and unlawfully voting, were filed against Diana Patricia Franco-Rodriguez, age 26, of Mexico. If convicted, Franco-Rodriguez faces maximum penalties of 26 years in federal prison, a $350,000 fine, and a term of supervised release.

Denslo Allen Paige, age 66, is charged with aiding and abetting Espinosa-Pena in falsely claiming U.S. citizenship to register to vote. If convicted, Paige faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and a term of supervised release.

The charges and allegations contained in the indictments are merely accusations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being prosecuted federally by the office of Robert J. Higdon, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina.Secretary of State Pompeo's Call With Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono

Washington, DC - On Friday, Secretary Michael R. Pompeo spoke with Japanese Foreign Minister Kono to discuss next steps on DPRK engagement. Secretary Pompeo and Foreign Minister Kono reaffirmed our commitment to the final, fully verified denuclearization of the DPRK.

The Secretary and Minister agreed that pressure must continue until the DPRK denuclearizes. Secretary Pompeo and Foreign Minister Kono affirmed the strength of the U.S.-Japan Alliance and vowed to continue working closely together to address common challenges, seize shared opportunities, and advance the interests of both the United States and Japan in the Indo Pacific region.Government has directed its concerned departments to identify goods where it has a clear advantage in exports over US.

India is eyeing the Chinese market that has been left vacant by the US owing to the trade tensions between the two world's biggest economies.

Mumbai: India is eyeing the Chinese market that has been left vacant by the US owing to the trade tensions between the two world's biggest economies. India has prepared a list of commodities that it can export to China as a replacement of US.

India which is currently in USD 63 billion trade deficit with China has short-listed 40 commodities that it is capable to replace US trade market share with China, said the person on anonymity. China is also India's largest commercial partner.

Government has directed its concerned departments to identify goods where it has a clear advantage in exports over US, and the study shows that it has identified at least 80 more items that can replace US exports to China owing to higher import duty Beijing has imposed on products originating in the US. The Commerce Ministry has asked the embassy in China to create chances for Indian exporters interested in export of such items in Chinese markets.

The Trump administration had recently announced 10 per cent tariffs on an additional USD 200 billion worth of Chinese imports. However, it is too early to say that India can have immediate gains from the trade dispute of the two giant economies.

(With input from Agencies)If there's one thing that pretty much any business owner would say yes to, it's free money. Brooklyn-based Alice, a new startup offering a simple way to automate pre-tax spending for employees, claims it can help you pocket some. Is it legit?

Give your employees up to a $4,000 raise without spending a penny.

The idea behind Alice is simple. Employees are legally allowed to pay for some work-related expenses, like commuting and childcare, with pre-tax income, saving themselves a nice chunk of change over the course of the year. Administering this benefit, however, has traditionally been a pain in the neck, which means lots of smaller businesses simply ignore pre-tax spending.

Alice aims to make offering it dead simple. Here's co-founder Avi Karnani's overview of how it works for employees: "We make pre-tax spending automatic. As an employee, you connect your credit, debit, and prepaid cards to Alice, take a picture of your health insurance card if you have one, and answer a few easy questions. Then you go and spend like normal--Alice figures out for you what should be pre-tax based on your spending history. If we need something, like a transaction confirmation, the name of your childcare provider, or a receipt, we'll text you."

Things are equally easy on the HR side, Karnani promises. Alice connects to most major payroll systems and set-up is super quick. It then automatically updates employee deductions in your system, keeping you compliant with little additional hassle. The best part for businesses is there's no additional cost--Alice just keeps half of whatever you save in payroll taxes.

How much will that be exactly? That depends on your employees' choices. "Maybe you don't have kids and you're filling prescriptions each month. Or you might use daily contact lenses, pay to park for work, and have two kids in daycare," says Karnani. "We have some Alice-using employees saving as much as $2,700 a year. If you're maximizing across the board, you can add $4,000 to your take-home pay."

"If you have W2 employees, full-time or part-time, who have eyes, teeth, kids, or a commute, Alice will increase their take-home pay, pretty much automatically," he says.

But while Alice can benefit basically anyone who works, it is particularly valuable to hourly workers who traditionally have missed out on the full range of benefits offered to salaried employees. Karnani and co-founder Paul Barnes-Hoggett received a Robin Hood Fellowship in 2014, which supports talented would-be founders as they work on problems facing working class Americans. Alice is the result of their study and collaboration.

Is this legit?

All of which makes Alice sound like a no-brainer for small-business owners, but does it actually work as advertised? At least one business I spoke to said yes. Over email, Sandy Smith, the HR director of Ethan Stowell Restaurants in Seattle, explained that before Alice her company wasn't offering pre-tax spending at all. Now employees are saving a modest but significant $765 a year.

Set-up was easy she reports, adding "our employees really like it and I recommend it to other Seattle restaurants." She also thinks it would be a great fit for companies in the construction industry or other sectors with lots of hourly workers. Her only quibble with the product is that car-sharing services like Uber and Lyft, which are popular with her employees, can't yet be counted towards pre-tax spending.Google may be working on its first true bricks-and-mortar retail store. The search giant, which has also become a software giant (with Android and Chromebook) and more recently a hardware giant, selling its own mobile devices and speakers, may soon open a retail store of its own. Rivals Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon all operate retail stores devoted to their own products.

Google's been dipping its toes in bricks-and-mortar for a while now. The company has opened small counters within larger stores and at holiday season last year, it opened pop-up stores in New York and LA. And several expert observers have noted the inescapable logic of a Google retail store, now that the company is selling a fairly wide line of hardware that includes phones, smart home devices, smart speakers (the Google Home line), virtual reality goggles, a Chromebook, and even a small video camera.

Now, it appears Google is ready to move on to the next step, with a flagship retail store in Chicago's Fulton Market district, a couple of blocks away from Google's Chicago offices. The Chicago Tribune reports that the company is "close to finalizing a lease" on almost 14,000 feet of space on the first and second floors of several connected brick buildings.

Newcastle, the real estate company that owns the space, refused to comment on the lease, as did Google, which told the Tribune, "We don't comment on rumor or speculation." Nevertheless the configuration of the space makes no sense at all if the company merely wants additional office space. It only makes sense as a retail, public-facing location.

Google has always been tight-lipped about its plans, so the fact that it won't confirm there's a retail store coming doesn't mean there won't be one. On the other hand, even if it rents the space, that's no guarantee that there will be one. In 2015, Google rented a space in New York City's SoHo neighborhood--half a block away from an Apple store. It reportedly spent $6 million renovating that space. Then it apparently changed its mind and sublet the space instead.

The real estate market being what it is, Google still made money on that deal, renting its SoHo space for $2.25 million a year. And, as long as the economy keeps humming along, it likely won't lose money in Chicago either, if it decides to pull the plug and sublet its space there too.The more bees eat pesticides, the more they seem to want. This could be a problem considering these chemicals have been linked with the global decline of these vital pollinators.

A new study has added to a body of evidence suggesting that bees not only enjoy consuming certain pesticides, they experience something comparable to addiction when they do.

British researchers gave bumblebees in ten colonies a choice of two different food sources  one that was just straight sugar solution and one containing neonicotinoid pesticides  over the course of ten days.

Recommended New chemicals replacing banned pesticides are threat to bees

Neonicotinoids are a highly controversial group of chemicals that have recently been the target of a near-total EU ban, but are nevertheless still the most widely used pesticides in the world.

Once fed with food containing these pesticides, the bees kept coming back for more, in behaviour that looked remarkably like a human developing some kind of substance addiction.

Given a choice, naive bees appear to avoid neonicotinoid-treated food. However, as individual bees increasingly experience the treated food they develop a preference for it, said Dr Richard Gill, who led the study at Imperial College London.

This is particularly intriguing given neonicotinoids close chemical relationship to a very familiar addictive substance.

Interestingly, neonicotinoids target nerve receptors in insects that are similar to receptors targeted by nicotine in mammals, said Dr Gill.

Science news in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Science news in pictures Science news in pictures Pluto has 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen Pluto has a 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen that is doing strange things to its surface, Nasa has found. The mysterious core seems to be the cause of features on its surface that have fascinated scientists since they were spotted by Nasa's New Horizons mission. "Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball - completely flat, almost no diversity," said Tanguy Bertrand, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and the lead author on the new study. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there." Getty Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year PA Science news in pictures Jackdaws can identify 'dangerous' humans Jackdaws can identify dangerous humans from listening to each others warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. In the study, a person unknown to the wild jackdaws approached their nest. At the same time scientists played a recording of a warning call (threatening) or contact calls (non-threatening). The next time jackdaws saw this same person, the birds that had previously heard the warning call were defensive and returned to their nests more than twice as quickly on average. Getty Science news in pictures Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperatures at which they are incubated. Warm temperatures favour females. But by wiggling around the egg, embryos can find the Goldilocks Zone which means they are able to shield themselves against extreme thermal conditions and produce a balanced sex ratio, according to the new study published in Current Biology journal Ye et al/Current Biology Science news in pictures Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Reuters Science news in pictures Ancient four-legged whale discovered in Peru Scientists have identified a four-legged creature with webbed feet to be an ancestor of the whale. Fossils unearthed in Peru have led scientists to conclude that the enormous creatures that traverse the planets oceans today are descended from small hoofed ancestors that lived in south Asia 50 million years ago A. Gennari Science news in pictures Animal with transient anus discovered A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a transient anus that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste Steven G Johnson Science news in pictures Giant bee spotted Feared extinct, the Wallace's Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. An international team of conservationists spotted the bee, that is four times the size of a typical honeybee, on an expedition to a group of Indonesian Islands Clay Bolt Science news in pictures New mammal species found inside crocodile Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal New Mexico Museum of Natural History Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold Faye Levine, University of Maryland Science news in pictures Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies Getty/AFP Science news in pictures Nobel prize for laser physicists The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his "optical tweezers" which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers Reuters/AP Science news in pictures Discovery of a new species of dinosaur The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. In Sesotho, the South African language of the region in which the dinosaur was discovered, its name means "a giant thunderclap at dawn" Viktor Radermacher / SWNS Science news in pictures Birth of a planet Scientists have witnessed the birth of a planet for the first time ever. This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star. ESO/A. Muller et al Science news in pictures New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists Layers long thought to be dense, connective tissue are actually a series of fluid-filled compartments researchers have termed the interstitium. These compartments are found beneath the skin, as well as lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels and muscles, and join together to form a network supported by a mesh of strong, flexible proteins Getty Science news in pictures Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists Working in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a team led by archaeologists at the University of Exeter unearthed hundreds of villages hidden in the depths of the rainforest. These excavations included evidence of fortifications and mysterious earthworks called geoglyphs Jose Iriarte Science news in pictures One in 10 people have traces of cocaine or heroin on fingerprints, study finds More than one in 10 people were found to have traces of class A drugs on their fingers by scientists developing a new fingerprint-based drug test. Using sensitive analysis of the chemical composition of sweat, researchers were able to tell the difference between those who had been directly exposed to heroin and cocaine, and those who had encountered it indirectly. Getty Science news in pictures Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter's great red spot The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image's colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth. Pictures by: Tom Momary

Our findings that bumblebees acquire a taste for neonicotinoids ticks certain symptoms of addictive behaviour, which is intriguing given the addictive properties of nicotine on humans, although more research is needed to determine this in bees.

Over time the bees visited the pesticide-laced food more and the other food less, and had no trouble finding the one they wanted even when the sources were moved around.

The tests they carried out were intended to give the insects a choice about where they wanted to feed, just as they would have in the wild.

We now need to conduct further studies to try and understand the mechanism behind why they acquire this preference, said lead author Dr Andres Arce.

The work, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, builds on previous research that appeared to show bees preferring food with pesticides in it over uncontaminated sources.

Campaigners welcomed the new findings as more evidence to support the hard-fought ban implemented in April.

This study further backs the tougher ban on three neonicotinoid pesticides agreed earlier this year. Recent research also found that sulfoxaflor  touted as a replacement for neonics  may harm bees, said Friends of the Earth campaigner Sandra Bell.

A paper published in mid-August revealed that sulfoxaflor, a chemical that has already been approved for use in several EU nations, has disruptive effects on bumblebee colonies.

The solution is clear. Instead of replacing one harmful chemical with another the government must use its post Brexit farming policy to help farmers protect their crops without harming bees and other wildlife, said Ms Bell.

However, Dr Gill offered a more nuanced approach that did not involve an outright ban on neonicotinoids, despite their harmful effects.

Whilst neonicotinoids are controversial, if the effects of replacements on non-target insects are not understood, then I believe it is sensible that we take advantage of current knowledge and further studies to provide guidance for using neonicotinoids more responsibly, rather than necessarily an outright ban, he said.Union leaders are reportedly calling on Jeremy Corbyn to back a referendum on the final Brexit deal.

Motions have been tabled for the Trade Union Congress (TUC) annual congress urging unions to campaign for a second vote.

One, which is supported by the Transport Salaried Staff Association union, says to campaign for ordinary people to have a final say through a referendum on any Brexit deal agreed so that people can make an informed decision on the deal on offer.

Another proposal which has been put forward by the Royal College of Midwives calls for the option of a public vote on the final Brexit deal to be kept on the table, The Telegraph reported.

If either of the two motions are passed it will increase pressure on Mr Corbyn to back the campaign for a referendum on the Brexit deal.

Labour has been split on the proposals with the likes of Andy Burnham, the Labour Mayor of Manchester, dismissing them.

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer has not ruled them out.

The Independent had previously reported that the Co-operative Party  Labours sister organisation  which counts three shadow cabinet ministers and eight other frontbenchers among its ranks, is now planning to hold a vote on whether to back a new referendum at its conference in October.

The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Show all 8 1 /8 The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Post-Brexit immigration workers sorting radishes on a production line at a farm in Norfolk. One possible post-Brexit immigration scheme could struggle to channel workers towards less attractive roles - while another may heighten the risk of labour exploitation, a new report warns. PA The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Customs union A key point in the negotiations remains Britain's access to, or withdrawal from, the EU customs union. Since the referendum there has been hot debate over the meaning of Brexit: would it entail a full withdrawal from the existing agreement, known as hard Brexit, or the soft version in which we would remain part of a common customs area for most goods, as Turkey does? No 10 has so far insisted that Brexit means Brexit and that Britain will be leaving the customs union, but may be inclined to change its position once the potential risks to the UKs economic outlook become clearer. Alamy The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Northern Ireland-Irish border Though progress was made last year, there has still been no solid agreement on whether there should be a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. To ensure borderless travel on the island, the countries must be in regulatory alignment and therefore adhere to the same rules as the customs union. In December, the Conservative Partys coalition partners, the DUP, refused a draft agreement that would place the UK/EU border in the Irish Sea due to its potential to undermine the union. May has promised that would not be the case and has suggested that a specific solution would need to be found. Getty The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Transition period Despite protests from a small number of Conservative MPs, the Government and the EU are largely in agreement that a transitional period is needed after Brexit. The talks, however, have reached an impasse. Though May has agreed that the UK will continue to contribute to the EU budget until 2021, the PM wants to be able to select which laws made during this time the UK will have to adhere to. Chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said the UK must adopt all of the laws passed during the transition, without any input from British ministers or MEPs. EPA The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Rights of EU citizens living the UK The Prime Minister has promised EU citizens already living in the UK the right to live and work here after Brexit, but the rights of those who arrive after Brexit day remains unclear. May insists that those who arrive during the transition period should not be allowed to stay, whereas the EU believe the cut-off point should be later. Getty The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Future trade agreement (with the EU) Despite this being a key issue in negotiations, the Government has yet to lay out exactly what it wants from a trade deal with the EU. Infighting within the Cabinet has prevented a solid position from being reached, with some MPs content that "no deal is better than a bad deal" while others rally behind single market access. The EU has already confirmed that access to the single market would be impossible without the UK remaining in the customs union. Getty The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Future trade agreements (internationally) The Government has already begun trying to woo foreign leaders into prospective trade agreements, with various high profile state visits to China, India and Canada for May, and the now infamous invitation to US President Donald Trump to visit London. However the UK cannot make trade agreements with another country while it is still a member of the EU, and the potential loss of trade with the world's major powers is a source of anxiety for the PM. The EU has said the UK cannot secure trade deals during the transition period. EPA The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Financial services Banks in the UK will be hit hard regardless of the Brexit outcome. The EU has refused to give British banks passporting rights to trade within the EU, dashing hopes of a special City deal. However according to new reports Germany has suggested allowing trade on the condition that the UK continues paying into the EU budget even after the transition period. Getty

Some Labour MPs in Brexit are nonetheless likely to be unhappy with the idea.

The Independent has launched its own campaign calling for the British people to have a final say on the governments Brexit deal.

The Final Say campaign demands the electorate is given a vote before the UK leaves the EU in 2019 and the petition has so far been signed by more than 715,000 people.Police in Madrid made an alarming discovery when they found more than 65kg of cocaine stashed inside pineapples at a food market.

The bust was made by authorities at the MercaMadrid market in the Spanish capital, the second largest fish market in the world.

Police were filmed throwing pineapples on the ground and smashing them open to reveal cylinders of cocaine concealed inside.

The pineapples had reportedly been transported from Costa Rica to the Portuguese port of Setubal before finally being brought to MercaMadrid.

The police officers had to check every single pineapple in the batch for packets of cocaine.

The pineapples that were hiding the Class A drug contained approximately 800 to 7,000g of cocaine each, with reports stating that the police seized 67kg of cocaine in total.

According to investigators, the company that had imported the pineapples from Costa Rica had been using its imports as a cover-up in order to transport drugs into the European Union.

Police smash open pineapples containing cocaine at market in Madrid (Central European News)

Local media was informed by the police that the pineapples had been hollowed out, with the cylinders of cocaine then placed inside.

The cylinders of cocaine had been previously placed in paraffin baths in order to mask the scent and therefore reduce the likelihood of the drugs being discovered.

Following the intervention of the police, three people in Madrid and four in Barcelona have been arrested in connection with the incident on suspicion of drug trafficking.

Local media outlets state that drugs have been found hidden amid fruit in Madrid before.

However, hiding the drugs within fruit is supposedly a new tactic being used by the drug traffickers.

The investigation into the trafficking of the drugs is continuing.Its safe to say this week has been a strange one when it comes to online shopping.

From Pretty Little Things high-vis "statement jacket" to Asos crop top for men, the internet has been awash with sartorial idiosyncrasies.

But, just when you thought fashion couldnt get any weirder, one brand has created what might just be the most bizarre trend yet.

The denim jeans have visible seams and pockets (Farfetch)

Enter: Unravel Projects new Inside-out Effect jeans.

Sold on luxury fashion retail platform Farfetch, the pair of distressed jeans look exactly as the name suggests.

Visibly inside-out, on purpose, everything from the buttons to the pockets are the wrong way round while the right-hand pocket reads: To create something new you must first destroy in small block lettering.

The jeans also come with what looks like a pair of tights attached to the back (Farfetch)

To make matters worse, theres also the addition of a strange mesh-like material, similar to a pair of tights, hanging from the back pocket.

But, whats even more mind-boggling is the price. The divisive jeans retail at 368 and, while that might seem like a lot, youll be surprised to hear that theyre actually in the sale and originally cost a whopping 920.

Unsurprisingly, users on social media have mocked the brand for the bizarre design.

So Ive just seen inside out jeans and now skin growth jewelleryFashion, go home, youre drunk, one person wrote on Twitter.

Another added: This is fashion taking the micky, people shouldnt encourage them.

This isnt the first time Unravel Project has made headlines for its unconventional designs. The brand has also gained attention for selling a shirt dress which doubles up as a denim skirt with a jean waistband for 1,111, as well as a denim jacket hybrid dress that costs 567.

Recommended ASOS is selling a crop top for men and the internet is confused

However, it seems the designers inside-out jeans could actually be the start of a fully-fledged fashion trend.

Austrian brand Helmut Lang has also released its own version of Inside Out Jeans that come crafted with a six-pocket design, belt loops and exposed stitching.

Plus, while theyre still a hefty investment, this pair will only set you back 145.Donald Trump has launched an extraordinary attack on Google search because it makes him look bad.

The president claimed that the site was showing negative results about him with the aim of embarrassing him. He suggested that the behaviour was illegal and that the situation "will be addressed".

"Google search results for Trump News shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media," he wrote. "In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal?"

President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media Show all 16 1 /16 President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "You are fake news!" Then President-elect Trump directed this insult to CNN's Jim Acosta while refusing him a question at a press conference on January 11 2017. The President-elect's anger was due to the publishing by Buzzfeed of unverified memos that implicated Michael Cohen in Russian collusion. CNN had reported on a briefing of Obama and Trump on the memos by US intelligence chiefs, but knowing the content to be unverified had not revealed it AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth" President Trump said this of journalists during a visit to the CIA on the the day following his inauguration. His claim of having the largest crowd of any inauguration ceremony in history had been debunked and he clearly wasn't happy Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "Failing New York Times" President Trump commonly addresses the New York Times in this way, contrary to its increasing profit margins and expanding global readership. He is pictured here in the midtown Manhattan office of the paper Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "Enemy of the American People" President Trump has since repeated the claim that such news outlets are the enemy of the people, often after they break negative stories about him President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "They have no sources" Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 24 2017, President Trump suggested that a Washington Post article with 9 sources was "made up". The article in question exposed how then National Security Advisor Michael Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence over a phone call to a Russian ambassador. That the article was "made up", while highly doubtful at the time, seems even less likely since Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the same phone call Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media Access denied for major publications Protesters gathered outside of the New York Times office after Trump's White House barred a number of publications from attending a press briefing on February 24 2017. Just hours after the President had again denounced the media, then Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied access to news outlets such as CNN and the New York Times, while permitting Breitbart News, CBS, Fox and others AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "#FNN" On July 2 2017, President Trump tweeted an edited clip from his Wrestlemania XXIII appearance in which the CNN logo had been imposed onto the face of his wrestling opponent Vince McMahon. CNN is a common target for President Trump and here he suggests that he is getting the better of the network through his repeated attacks President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "The most powerful TV show in America" On July 27 2017, President Trump quoted a New York Times article about Fox & Friends. The President is known to watch Fox & Friends every morning, often tweeting about matters discussed on the show, leading to speculation over its influence on his outlook and policies Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "It's frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write" In a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on October 11 2017, President Trump suggested that the press ought not to be allowed their constitutionally secured freedom. He added "people should look into it", suggesting that he also doesn't respect the protection of sources. At the time, he was angry at an NBC report claiming that the President had expressed a desire to return the size of the US' nuclear arsenal to its 1960s height, a claim that he and others in his administration dismissed as fake news AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "negative (Fake)" In a tweet on 9 May 2018, President Trump conflated negative reporting about him with fake news President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "I didn't criticise the Prime Minister" In a press conference with the Prime Minister on his visit to Britain, President Trump disputed claims published in the Sun that he had criticised Mrs May's Brexit strategy Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "Horrible, horrendous people" At a Republican rally in Pennsylvania on August 3 2018, President Trump deemed all journalists in attendance "horrible, horrendous people". He later denounced the "fake, fake, disgusting news" for falsely reporting that he was late to his meeting with the Queen when visiting Britain AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media Trump's rhetoric "very close to inciting violence" In an interview with the Guardian on 13 August 2018, the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein suggested that President Trump's attacks on the press are "very close to inciting violence". Zeid singles out the President's repeated claim that the fake news (negative coverage) media is the "enemy of the people" as dangerous Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "anonymous source" = fiction President Trump claimed that any report citing anonymous sources is fiction. The protection of sources is a vital matter of press freedom, without it a potential source's fear of repercussions could lead them to withhold important information President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "You are a rude, terrible person" At a press conference in the wake of the midterms, President Trump clashed with CNN's Jim Acosta when he asked about the President's use of language during the campaign Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "I would never kill Journalists" For any journalists frightened by President Trump's attacks on the press, perhaps you can take solace in his words from a campaign rally in Grand Rapids on December 21 2015. Responding to remarks over Vladimir Putin's handling of journalists, Trump stated: "I hate some of these people, but I'd never kill them... I'll be honest - I would never kill them. Uhhh lets see.. no, I never would" Getty

In a later post, he went on to claim that good news about the White House is being suppressed, along with those views of right-wingers.

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Google has not commented on the attack. And it has not revealed any more about its algorithm, making it difficult to know whether there is any truth at all in what Mr Trump said.

But the search rankings do not work quite as Mr Trump suggests. Google's algorithm, according to what is known about it, takes a whole host of inputs from a range of different information about each site, with the aim of showing people the most relevant and accurate information they can.

The rankings look for sites that use the same kind of words that people are searching for, of course. But they also try and ensure that the pages writing those words are legitimate, by looking at information such as whether the site is trustworthy and if it is using the latest and most secure technology.

When Google began, it sorted the results that it showed by using a now famous algorithm called PageRank. That took a snapshot of the web and looked at how often pages were being linked to, and by which other websites, in an attempt to understand how authoritative they are.

Nowadays, the search engine works much the same way. But it takes a whole host of other inputs, too, as Google tries to emphasise new technologies or user safety.

But all of that is largely based on guesswork. In truth, very little is known about the specifics of how Google's algorithm works, because it hasn't described it in detail.

Google's decision to keep the algorithm secret is partly an attempt to ensure that it still works. There is no doubt that as soon as the company revealed what it prized above other inputs websites would try and game it, meaning that the checks and balances built into it would stop working.

The same decision gets Google into trouble with political and other divisive content, however. While it might be unimportant how Google ranks the results for "how to change a lightbulb", for instance, the rankings for a search like "Trump news" can have massive geopolitical impact, as the president showed after Googling himself.

It is not clear exactly what sites the president does want to appear on Google. But it is likely that he is looking for those that are particularly supportive of him, many of which are newer and smaller sites that have usually existed on the fringes of the internet.

Mr Trump's complaint appeared to be related to an article on PJMedia written last week that claimed to have looked in the "news" while searching for Mr Trump's name. It concluded with a complaint that the tab showed traditional news sites, rather than opinion writing as carried on that website, and it appears the president was echoing those calls for more partisan sites to show up in search results.

Those sites are often penalised by the various decisions Google has made about how to order its content. They tend to be newer and so their domain is less established in Google's eyes; fewer other sites will have linked to them; they might have been given to sharing false stories in the past.

Those problems don't simply hit the right-wing sites that Mr Trump might be looking to support. They also impact newer and more controversial left-wing publications, too.

All of that means that more mainstream and liberal sites will be privileged by Google  even if it hasn't made an explicit or conscious choice to actually do so. What bias there is actually tend to be conservative: focusing on older and more established sites that don't publish the kinds of inflammatory news Mr Trump is given to sharing.

As such, there is a bias to Google's search results. But it's not one the president thinks there is, and it's not one that Google will state explicitly.Google has finally responded after Donald Trump launched a remarkable attack on the search giant.

The president claimed that the company was failing to show enough good news about him and suggested it could be prosecuted for doing so. White House staff have suggested that the president is considering new forms of regulation to ensure that search engines show sufficiently positive results.

But Google said that the company and its product do not have any kind of bias towards a political ideology, or to "manipulate political sentiment".

President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media Show all 16 1 /16 President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "You are fake news!" Then President-elect Trump directed this insult to CNN's Jim Acosta while refusing him a question at a press conference on January 11 2017. The President-elect's anger was due to the publishing by Buzzfeed of unverified memos that implicated Michael Cohen in Russian collusion. CNN had reported on a briefing of Obama and Trump on the memos by US intelligence chiefs, but knowing the content to be unverified had not revealed it AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth" President Trump said this of journalists during a visit to the CIA on the the day following his inauguration. His claim of having the largest crowd of any inauguration ceremony in history had been debunked and he clearly wasn't happy Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "Failing New York Times" President Trump commonly addresses the New York Times in this way, contrary to its increasing profit margins and expanding global readership. He is pictured here in the midtown Manhattan office of the paper Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "Enemy of the American People" President Trump has since repeated the claim that such news outlets are the enemy of the people, often after they break negative stories about him President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "They have no sources" Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 24 2017, President Trump suggested that a Washington Post article with 9 sources was "made up". The article in question exposed how then National Security Advisor Michael Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence over a phone call to a Russian ambassador. That the article was "made up", while highly doubtful at the time, seems even less likely since Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the same phone call Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media Access denied for major publications Protesters gathered outside of the New York Times office after Trump's White House barred a number of publications from attending a press briefing on February 24 2017. Just hours after the President had again denounced the media, then Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied access to news outlets such as CNN and the New York Times, while permitting Breitbart News, CBS, Fox and others AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "#FNN" On July 2 2017, President Trump tweeted an edited clip from his Wrestlemania XXIII appearance in which the CNN logo had been imposed onto the face of his wrestling opponent Vince McMahon. CNN is a common target for President Trump and here he suggests that he is getting the better of the network through his repeated attacks President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "The most powerful TV show in America" On July 27 2017, President Trump quoted a New York Times article about Fox & Friends. The President is known to watch Fox & Friends every morning, often tweeting about matters discussed on the show, leading to speculation over its influence on his outlook and policies Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "It's frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write" In a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on October 11 2017, President Trump suggested that the press ought not to be allowed their constitutionally secured freedom. He added "people should look into it", suggesting that he also doesn't respect the protection of sources. At the time, he was angry at an NBC report claiming that the President had expressed a desire to return the size of the US' nuclear arsenal to its 1960s height, a claim that he and others in his administration dismissed as fake news AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "negative (Fake)" In a tweet on 9 May 2018, President Trump conflated negative reporting about him with fake news President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "I didn't criticise the Prime Minister" In a press conference with the Prime Minister on his visit to Britain, President Trump disputed claims published in the Sun that he had criticised Mrs May's Brexit strategy Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "Horrible, horrendous people" At a Republican rally in Pennsylvania on August 3 2018, President Trump deemed all journalists in attendance "horrible, horrendous people". He later denounced the "fake, fake, disgusting news" for falsely reporting that he was late to his meeting with the Queen when visiting Britain AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media Trump's rhetoric "very close to inciting violence" In an interview with the Guardian on 13 August 2018, the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein suggested that President Trump's attacks on the press are "very close to inciting violence". Zeid singles out the President's repeated claim that the fake news (negative coverage) media is the "enemy of the people" as dangerous Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "anonymous source" = fiction President Trump claimed that any report citing anonymous sources is fiction. The protection of sources is a vital matter of press freedom, without it a potential source's fear of repercussions could lead them to withhold important information President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "You are a rude, terrible person" At a press conference in the wake of the midterms, President Trump clashed with CNN's Jim Acosta when he asked about the President's use of language during the campaign Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "I would never kill Journalists" For any journalists frightened by President Trump's attacks on the press, perhaps you can take solace in his words from a campaign rally in Grand Rapids on December 21 2015. Responding to remarks over Vladimir Putin's handling of journalists, Trump stated: "I hate some of these people, but I'd never kill them... I'll be honest - I would never kill them. Uhhh lets see.. no, I never would" Getty

When users type queries into the Google Search bar, our goal is to make sure they receive the most relevant answers in a matter of seconds," a Google spokesperson said. "Search is not used to set a political agenda and we don't bias our results toward any political ideology.

"Every year, we issue hundreds of improvements to our algorithms to ensure they surface high-quality content in response to users' queries. We continually work to improve Google Search and we never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment."

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Mr Trump's initial shocking tweet came at 5.30am local time and was a blistering attack on Google. While Mr Trump has complained about coverage and treatment by technology firms in the past, the posts specifically targeted the search giant.

"Google search results for Trump News shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media," he wrote. "In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal?"

Mr Trump's top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, took up that threat of legal action and said that the White House is "taking a look" at whether Google searches should be subject to some regulation.Listening to yoga music before you go to bed can benefit your heart health, scientists have claimed.

Researchers in India decided to explore how playing different types of music before settling down for the night can affect ones anxiety levels and overall wellbeing.

The study, which is being presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress in Munich, concluded that a persons anxiety levels are likely to drop when they listen to calm, soothing music prior to going to sleep, as opposed to upbeat music or none at all.

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The 149 participants of the study, all of which were in good health and had an average age of 26 years old, took part in three sleep sessions on three different nights.

During the first session, calm music (akin to the type one would hear during a yoga class) was played before they went to sleep.

This was following by pop music with a regular beat on the second night and no music on the third.

The team of researchers measured the heart rates of the participants for five minutes before the music or period of silence began, for 10 minutes during the music or period of silence and for five minutes afterwards.

 How does sleep affect mental wellbeing?

They found that the participants' heart rate variability increased during the yoga music, went down during the pop music and stayed the same when there was no music played.

Furthermore, the scientists used the Goldberg Anxiety Scale to measure the anxiety levels of the participants before and after each sleep session.

They noted that the anxiety levels of the participants decreased drastically following the yoga music, increased a lot after listening to pop music and also rose after the period of silence.

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While the study only used a small cohort of participants, study author Dr Naresh Sen believes it demonstrates the positive effect listening to yoga music before bed can have on heart health.

We use music therapy in our hospital and in this study we showed that yoga music has a beneficial impact on heart rate variability before sleeping, Dr Sen, a consultant cardiologist at HG SMS Hospital in Jaipur, explained.

Science may have not always agreed, but Indians have long believed in the power of various therapies other than medicines as a mode of treatment for ailments.

This is a small study, and more research is needed on the cardiovascular effects of music interventions offered by a trained music therapist.

But listening to soothing music before bedtime is a cheap and easy-to-implement therapy that cannot cause harm.

According to Dr Sen, playing yoga music at bedtime slows the bodys heart rate so that it goes from being in fight or flight mode to being in rest and digest mode instead.A bargain Ikea table could be the best interiors investment you ever make, according to antiques experts.

Originally launched in 1953, Ikeas first flat-pack product, the Lovet, was created by one of Swedens most successful designers, Gillis Lundgren, and proved popular with shoppers until it eventually went out of production.

However, earlier this year Ikea announced that it would re-releasing the table under a new name, the Lovbacken, as part of its Re-imagined Classics collection to mark the brands 75th anniversary.

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Ahead of the launch, experts at Swedish auction firm Barnebys have already identified the mid-century style table as a future classic.

In fact, they speculate that the 45 table could be worth anywhere between 1,000 and 1,800 by 2030, and as much as 5,000 by the year 2040.

In the same way that many international companies have continued to produce their classics for many decades, Ikea is set to re-release one of its most iconic items for a limited time only - the Lovbacken side table, the auction house's co-founder Pontus Silfverstople writes on the company's blog.

Selling for thousands at some of Sweden's leading auction houses, the Lovbacken has become a collectible for the most discerning of furniture experts, I wouldn't be surprised if the development in its value would look like this in the future.

The company's head of collections Jared Sager also said: In recent times, we've seen a selection of IKEA's most iconic designs become sought-after collectibles in auction houses across the world, commanding prices up to ten times higher than their launch price.

The Lovbacken isnt the only Ikea piece that interior lovers should keep an eye out for though.

In October, the second instalment of the Re-imagined Classics collection brings back pieces of seventies and eighties design including the Klippan sofa, updated for 2018 with brand new covers in bright red, yellow and blue.

Another reinvented classic customers can expect to see is the Raane armchair, now called the Jarpen, which is made from a mesh material and doesn't have any filling or fabric.

Finally, the third instalment of the collection is being launched just in time for the festive period in December with a more minimalist nineties look.The raids were carried out as part of probe into the violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon Bhima village following an event held in Pune 2017.

In June, five people were arrested for having close Maoist links after they allegedly made 'provocative' speeches at the event, triggering violence at Koregaon Bhima village in the district. (Photo: File)

Pune: Two Left-wing activists Varavara Rao and Sudha Bhardwaj were arrested on Tuesday as the Pune police carried out searches at multiple places in various states on the residences of people suspected to have Maoist links, a senior police official said.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon-Bhima village, triggered by an event called 'Elgar Parishad' (conclave) held in Pune on December 31 last year.

Searches were carried out at the residences of Left wing activist and poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad and Chhattisgarh and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in Delhi, the official said, while refusing to be identified.

Following the searches, Rao and Bhardwaj were arrested, the official added.

Rao's name had figured in a letter which the Pune police had claimed to have seized during searches at the premises of one of the five people arrested in June in connection with the 'Elgar Parishad' event last December to commemorate 200 years of the Koregaon-Bhima battle in 1818.

In June, five people were arrested for having close Maoist links after they allegedly made "provocative" speeches at the event, triggering violence at Koregaon-Bhima village in the district, according to an FIR registered at the Vishrambaug Police Station after the event. Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale was arrested from his home in Mumbai, while lawyer Surendra Gadling, activist Mahesh Raut and Shoma Sen were picked up from Nagpur and Rona Wilson was arrested from his flat in Munirka in Delhi in simultaneous raids in June.

"During our investigation in connection with the Elgar Parishad event, some evidences came to light about members of a proscribed organisation, following which the police carried out raids in Chhattisgarh, Mumbai and Hyderabad," the police official said.

The searches on Tuesday were conducted at homes of people having Maoist links and those directly or indirectly connected with the five arrested people, the official said.

The police claimed to have recovered "some incriminating documents" during the searches.

"We are also checking the financial transactions of these people, their modes of communication and also trying to gather technical evidence," the police official said.

Outgoing joint commissioner of Pune police Ravindra Kadam, on August 2, said no Maoist link had been found in the Bhima Koregaon violence.

He had, however, said an 'anti-fascist front', formed by the Maoists to oppose the policies of the current government, was behind the 'Elgar Parishad' held in Pune a day before the incident that saw protests by Dalit groups.

Kadam, who has been transferred to Nagpur in a recent reshuffle, had told reporters that the police have ample evidence in the form of documents and video footage against the arrested persons. Earlier, the police had booked the five arrested people under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

They were also booked under IPC sections 153-A (promoting disharmony, enmity between groups), 505 (inciting class, community of persons to commit any offence against any other class or community), 117 (abetting commission of offence by the public or by more than ten persons) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy).Rita Borsellino was one of the most prominent women in Sicilian public life. Born in Palermo just weeks after the end of the Second World War and trained as a pharmacist, she would devote the last third of her life to a cause as noble as it was dangerous: ridding Sicily, and Italy, of mafia power. She died there, aged 73, following a long illness.

If Cosa Nostra had for decades maintained its grip on her island through terrorist violence and blackmail, Borsellino dared to stand up against it. Her public campaign, including in the NGO Libera, sought to prove that Sicily was not doomed to remain under Cosa Nostra control forever.

The origins of Borsellinos campaign owed much to her brother Paolo, a member of Sicilys Antimafia pool of prosecuting magistrates.

The pools founder Rocco Chinnici was murdered by Mafiosi in 1983, followed by Paolos close friend Giovanni Falcone in May 1992. The pools collective structure, galvanised by the Maxi Trial which started in 1986  the biggest trial in history, laying charges against 475 mafiosi  meant that each member committed to continuing its work. Yet in July 1992 Paolo was himself killed by a car bomb close to the family home on the Via dAmelio. Five policemen from his escort also died in the blast.

After her brothers death Borsellino became a defiant public critic of the mafiosi, notably through her work in the NGO Libera, founded by priest Don Luigi Ciotti. She, together with the Arci association, was the force behind its Antimafia Caravan, which travelled around the continent to broadcast its message.

Sicilian photojournalist Letizia Battaglia's images of southern Italy's Mafia wars Show all 9 1 /9 Sicilian photojournalist Letizia Battaglia's images of southern Italy's Mafia wars Sicilian photojournalist Letizia Battaglia's images of southern Italy's Mafia wars Palermo, 1980 The capture of Mafia godfather Leoluca Bagarella Letizia Battaglia Sicilian photojournalist Letizia Battaglia's images of southern Italy's Mafia wars Palermo, 1976 A man assassinated on the way to the car park Sicilian photojournalist Letizia Battaglia's images of southern Italy's Mafia wars Palermo, 1982 Children play the 'Killer Game' Sicilian photojournalist Letizia Battaglia's images of southern Italy's Mafia wars Palermo, 1988 A man is found dead slumped next to his car Sicilian photojournalist Letizia Battaglia's images of southern Italy's Mafia wars Palermo, 1982 Nerino worked as a prostitute and was drug-dealing. She was killed by the Mafia because she did not respect the rules Sicilian photojournalist Letizia Battaglia's images of southern Italy's Mafia wars Palermo, 1975 Lorenzo La Cortes assassination. Flying Squad Head Officer, Boris Giuliano, next to the victims mother and the corpse Sicilian photojournalist Letizia Battaglia's images of southern Italy's Mafia wars Palermo, 1986 An improvised banquet table on the beach with hen Sicilian photojournalist Letizia Battaglia's images of southern Italy's Mafia wars Palermo, 1992 Rosaria Schifani, the widow of police agent Vito, killed together with judge Giovanni Falcone, Francesca Morvillo and his colleagues Di Cillo and Antonio Montinaro Sicilian photojournalist Letizia Battaglia's images of southern Italy's Mafia wars Palermo, 1979 Judge Cesare Terranova, Italian Communist Party MP and member of the Antimafia Commission, killed together with his friend and bodyguard, police marshal Lenin Manc

This was not just a campaign against violence but also a programme for social renewal. This drew in particular on Liberas experience using a 1996 law allowing associations to take over confiscated mafia property. In the very areas where Cosa Nostra activity has been suppressed, Libera has formed its own cooperatives, enshrining workers rights and environmental protection, for instance in its 1,400 hectares of former mafia-run farmland.

Borsellinos campaign also took a more directly political turn. She was not simply willing to join hands with anyone who claimed to support her cause or wanted to bathe in its aura of respectability.

In 1994, as new prime minister Silvio Berlusconi visited Borsellinos hometown, he sought her aid in conferring legitimacy on his government. As she recalled, he was visiting Palermo and came to ring at the entryphone of the house on Via dAmelio, on the same street where her brother was killed. But after a moments hesitation I told Berlusconi that I couldnt let him in. He insisted, and asked me over the entryphone: What can we do to beat the mafia? I replied: Everything, because youre in government. From then on, I didnt hear from him again.

The role of the mafia had, indeed, become intensely political. Berlusconi had ridden to the rescue of the right at the 1994 elections, after the old Socialist and Christian-Democratic parties had been destroyed by the Clean Hands trials of the previous two years.

More than half of all MPs had come under investigation in this sweeping kickbacks scandal; Berlusconi had supplanted the old parties and yet was himself implicated in the affairs that had felled them. After the collapse of the great postwar parties, the courts and corruption allegations would play an increasing role in the political arena over subsequent decades, helping to preparing the way for the rise of the Five Star Movement at the end of the 2000s.

Borsellinos own politics were very different, however. Indeed, while her brother had been associated with the post-fascists as a young man and combined his campaign for legality with a broader hard-right politics, Borsellino was herself definitely of the left. A feminist, in 2005 she won the primaries to be the centre-left Union coalition candidate for the presidency of the Sicilian region, with the backing of the continuity-communist parties, the Greens and the anti-corruption Italy of Values party.

Defeated in the final vote, she would again stand in the Sinistra Arcobaleno or Rainbow Left federation of radical left parties in 2008, before ultimately joining the Democratic Party and becoming an MEP in 2009.

If Italys politics today look especially dark, Cosa Nostras power to terrorise Sicilians is not what it once was. A crackdown following the murders of Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone led to the capture of il capo dei capi Salvatore Riina in 1993; if his associates retaliated with further terror killings, this represented only the ferocity of a gravely wounded animal.

The legal crackdown and Sicilians increasing refusal to pay protection money have weakened the mafia families. Yet they still bear a diffuse influence, not so much imposing terror as buying political influence through less spectacular forms of corruption.

After her brothers murder, Rita Borsellino campaigned against violence, but also stressed the need to break out of the cycle of criminality itself, and the social problems from which it emerged. She reflected on the fate of those condemned to prison from childhood, because of their name, their family, their social situation  because their path is already set. Her work, she said, was to make sure their path was not set, to work for change, to approach them and to propose something new. Her work helped trace out that alternative: a different path that remains to be built.

Rita Borsellino, politician and anti-mafia campaigner, born 2 June 1945, died 15 August 2018Historians are mustering their forces to protect one of English historys most iconic sites  the famous battlefield that gave birth to Tudor England.

Sections of the killing fields where the founder of the Tudor dynasty, Henry Tudor, defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field will become part of a vast, partly government-funded driverless car testing facility  if the areas local authority, Hinckley and Bosworth in Leicestershire, gives the project the green light at a planning committee meeting on Tuesday evening.

Council officers have recommended planning permission be granted subject to conditions, meeting papers showed.

The Richard III Society, the main organisation devoted to the study and commemoration of the king who perished in the battle, has written to the local authority imploring them not to allow the developer to encroach onto the officially protected area of the battlefield.

I ask the council to think again, said the societys chairman, Dr Philip Stone.

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Another key organisation, the Battlefields Trust, which has carried out detailed archaeological investigations at Bosworth Field, has also officially objected to the development and has asked the council to reject it.

The well-known historical researcher, Philippa Langley MBE, who led the successful search for the grave of Richard III is also calling on the council to reject the planning application. She has advised them that the development is in an area that may well have played an important part in the actual battle.

Two other leading experts, both authors of important books on the battle, Michael Jones and Mike Ingram, are also urging the council to think again.

Over 50 acres of what is potentially an important part of the battlefield  including a 25 acre area that has officially protected status  is included in the scheme before councillors.

The area is earmarked for development by a Japanese-owned automotive company, Horiba Mira, and includes the zone of the battlefield where Henry, who became Henry VII of England, first began to deploy his troops in battle formation.

It is also just 300m from the place where Richard III is believed to have personally killed Henry Tudors standard-bearer. Part of that historic standard was discovered there less than a decade ago.

And the development is just 500m from where archaeologists believe Richard III was finally killed. Archaeological work back in 2009 succeeded in unearthing one of the gilt silver insignias worn by Richards personal retinue.

Nobody knows the precise boundaries of the battlefield  but because the development area is so close, it is likely that it featured in the fighting. It is therefore of potentially great archaeological importance for further understanding the ebb and flow of that crucial battle.

The Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 was the final major military engagement of the Wars of the Roses and arguably one of the three most historically significant battles ever fought on English soil, the others being William the Conquerors victory at Hastings in 1066 and Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwells victory over Charles I at Naseby in 1645.

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Bosworth Field represents the end of the Middle Ages and the birth of the Tudor dynasty and early modern Britain. It started a Tudor political dynamic which led to the Reformation under Henry VIII and the acceleration of Englands maritime and colonial expansion under Elizabeth I.

The development raises not only key questions of heritage conservation but also of how best to maintain a suitable ambience in the zones surrounding major heritage areas.

The official Bosworth Field conservation plan, adopted by Leicestershire County Council in 2013, undertakes to retain and enhance the varied landscape character and special landscape qualities of the Bosworth battlefield area and to do so by ensuring sensitive management of the landscape, conserving its varied character and local sense of place. It also pledges to ensure that topographic views across the battlefield and within its setting are conserved and to protect the area from activity and development which undermines tranquillity  in particular noise [and] visual intrusion.

Key stakeholders appeared not to have been told that the planning application had been recommended for approval. They included the Battlefields Trust, which excavated parts of the battlefield; the neighbouring local authority, which, along with Hinkley and Bosworth jointly promotes the battlefield as a major tourist attraction; and the Richard III Society, whose main subject of study and commemoration, Richard III, was killed just a few hundred metres from the proposed development site.

The Bosworth Field battlefield and its visitor centre is a major regional tourist attraction of considerable economic value to the area  but the 26m driverless car test track project would create 250 direct jobs and many hundreds of indirect additional ones.

The planning committee will consider all the representations made regarding the developments impingement and impact on the registered battle site and will consider the level of potential harm prior to making a decision. Alternatively, they have the option to defer their decision to a later date, said the councils chief executive, Bill Cullen.

A condition of any planning consent for this project will be that archaeological investigations should take place in advance of the proposed development, he said.

Michael Jones, author of Bosworth 1485: Psychology of a Battle, believes that it is highly regrettable that the proposed development encroaches upon a registered battlefield  indeed one of major historical importance.

He added: It is vital that we protect the integrity of the Bosworth site.

As a number of important finds have been uncovered in the surrounding area, further archaeological work would be of considerable value, but only alongside a commitment to fully preserve this crucial sector of the battlefield.

And historian Mike Ingram, the author of Battle Story: Bosworth 1485, urged the council to at least defer its decision. He said: It is beyond belief that anyone would even consider building on a single square metre of such a nationally iconic battlefield as Bosworth.

The site in question is close to the heart of the fighting and it has been my long-held belief that it is not only where Henrys French mercenaries gathered before the battle but also close to where he positioned his cannons.

There are still many questions to be answered about the battle and how it fitted into the landscape. It is therefore essential that it is preserved intact, without further disruption to the surrounding landscape, for future generations to study and understand.

We must also not forget that as well as the site of the death of Richard III, many more lost their lives during the fighting and rout. Their bodies have never been found and may still lie under the quiet Leicestershire countryside.

The proposed development with its associated noise and structures will irrevocably change the sense of place currently experienced when visiting the actual battlefield.Police in Edinburgh are investigating a suspected arson attack on a Sikh temple.

The Guru Nanak Gurdwara was set on fire in what was believed to be a deliberate act at around 5am on Tuesday.

No one was injured but the building suffered smoke damage.

Recommended Sikh man has turban ripped off outside Parliament

Police Scotland said they were treating the incident at the temple in Leith as suspicious.

A post on the temples official Facebook page said: We regret to inform you that Guru Nanak Gurdwara suffered an arson attack this morning at 5am.

Someone tried to burn down the front door. There's a lot of internal smoke damage, and access to Gurdwara Sahib has been denied by police until smoke clears and it is safe to enter.

Investigations are ongoing, and forensic officers are on site.

Humza Yousaf, the Scottish governments justice secretary, said he was saddened at the news that a Sikh temple in Edinburgh was petrol-bombed.

However a spokesperson for Police Scotland insisted the exact cause of the blaze was still under investigation and refused to confirm that it was the result of a petrol bombing.

 Boris Johnson in alcohol gaffe during Sikh temple visit

Inspector Andy Johnson, of Leith police station, said: "At this time we do not know if this has been a random and reckless act, or a targeted attack on the temple.

"In addition to maintaining a continued dialogue with staff within the temple, and the wider Sikh community, we will have a high-visibility presence in the area while this investigation is conducted to engage with the public and offer reassurance.

Rt Rev Susan Brown, moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, said: How sad that a place of worship should be the target of such a hateful act. I am glad no one was injured and extend sympathy to the Sikh community in Edinburgh.

We recognise the actions of a small minority do not reflect the good relations that exist with your local community. There is no room in Scotland for intolerance.

Anyone with information on the attack is urged to contact Gayfield CID via 101 and quote incident number 385 of the 28 August.

Alternatively, an anonymous report can be made to the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.The family of a Windrush migrant who died suddenly after being classified an illegal immigrant walked out of the inquest after a coroner ruled Home Office policy played no role in his death.

Dexter Bristol, 57, who came to the UK from Grenada aged eight, collapsed and died from acute heart failure in the street outside his home on 31 March. He had been sacked from his cleaning job and then denied benefits because officials did not believe he was in the country legally.

Dr William Dolman ruled on Tuesday that the Home Office should not be an interested party in the inquest as its policy was not relevant to the immediate circumstances of his death.

He said it was absolutely clear that Mr Bristol was under some sort of distress or pressure but said this did not come solely from his immigration status.

During the inquest, Dr Dolman had a heated exchange with the lawyer of the family, Una Morris, who tried to make submissions to the court about the role Home Office policy might have played, accusing her of trying to tell me how to run my court and repeatedly ordering her to sit down.

He later apologised to Ms Morris and Mr Bristols family, saying: I didnt mean any discourtesy at all, to which she responded: My concern isnt for myself as much as the impact on the family, the family are deeply upset at the way you spoke to me.

Mr Bristols family subsequently decided to leave the court room.

Irene Nembhard, Ms Bristols solicitor, told The Independent the family were now seeking an urgent judicial review of the ruling, saying they had no confidence in the process fearlessly investigating the role of the Home Office policies in placing excess stress on Mr Bristol.

She added: [The family] withdrew after the coroner made two rulings this morning; declining to treat the Home Office as an interested person and declining to seek disclosure from the Home Office of any documents in their possession relating to Mr Bristol.

Speaking outside court, Mr Bristols mother Sentina Bristol said: We want justice, thats what were fighting for  justice. Thats what I would like to see happen.

The coroner was very rude... no sympathy for anyone... I feel disappointed. I feel same just like when I lost my son. The feelings I had then, I have them now.

The inquest proceeded after the family departed, and Dr Dolman ruled that Mr Bristol died from natural causes, an acute cardiac arrhythmia.

During the hearing, Mr Bristols immigration lawyer, Jacqueline McKenzie, said he became a shadow of himself and that his battle to prove his right to be in the UK had taken a devastating toll on his health.

We saw at the outset a very robust person but distressed by the fact that he was having to prove his status in the country, even though he had been here since 1968, she said.

He was prepared to fight but, as the months went on and he was required to find more evidence, it became very difficult and we saw him just decline into a shadow of himself.

A letter she wrote reassuring him that his case would be resolved was found unopened after his death, she said.

Announcing his decision, Dr Dolman said: I accept from the evidence that the deceased was suffering from a great deal of stress at the time.

He passed his sympathy on to the family and said: I am so sorry that they are not here to have heard the evidence. All that might have been asked I have tried to ask on their behalf.

A pre-inquest review into Mr Bristols death in July heard that the 57 year old had refrained from accessing healthcare for nearly two years before he died due to immigration concerns.

Ms Morris told the pre-inquest review that he had been under extreme stress having been subjected to racist and xenophobic hostile environment policies.

Ms McKenzie, who had been working to obtain a passport for Mr Bristol prior to his death, said in a statement submitted to the court that in the months before he died he would often complain to her of feeling unwell, saying it was down to the pressure of having to prove his immigration status.

Following the hearing on Tuesday, Ms McKenzie said: Its really distressing that the family decided that they couldnt participate in the proceedings  I think thats really sad but I think they were quite right to do so.

I think the start of the proceedings were very, very difficult, I think the coroner did not show courtesy to the family or to their legal team so I understand how they feel.

Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Show all 15 1 /15 Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK The ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush' arriving at Tilbury Docks from Jamaica, with 482 Jamaicans on board, emigrating to Britain. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Jamaican immigrants being welcomed by RAF officials from the Colonial Office after the ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush' landed them at Tilbury. PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Alford Gardner who arrived in Britain in 1948 on the first Windrush ship to dock in Tilbury, Essex, speaking at his home in Leeds PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Alford Gardner in Leeds shortly after he arrived in Britain in 1948 on the first Windrush ship to dock in Tilbury, Essex PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Gardner was 22 years old when he boarded the ship in Kingston, Jamaica, with his brother Gladstone before they and hundreds of Caribbean migrants called on to rebuild post-war Britain disembarked the ship in Tilbury Docks PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Alford Gardner (right), during his RAF service in 1947 PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK The son of Ruth Williams, a Windrush-generation immigrant, wants to the leave the country after threats of deportation. According to his mother, Mr Haynes applied for British citizenship in 2016 but was rejected, despite Ms Williams having lived in the UK almost permanently since arriving from St Vincent and the Grenadines in 1959. Ruth Williams, 75, said she felt "betrayed" by Britain after the Home Office twice turned down applications for her 35-year-old son, Mozi Haynes, to remain in the country. Ms Williams is understood to have cancer and said she relies heavily on her son for support. PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK The British liner 'Empire Windrush' at port in 1954. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Ruth Williams, 75, with her British passport. "I feel betrayed and a second class citizen in my own country," she said. "This makes me so sad and the Home Office must show some compassion. "I am unwell and almost 75, I live on my own and I need my son to stay here. I need my family around me and I cant face being alone. He has applied to the Home Office and been refused twice." PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK From the top, hopeful Jamaican boxers Charles Smith, Ten Ansel, Essi Reid, John Hazel, Boy Solas and manager Mortimer Martin arrive at Tilbury on the Empire Windrush in the hope of finding work in Britain. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Jamaicans reading a newspaper whilst on board the ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush' bound for Tilbury docks in Essex. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK After half a century in Britain, Anthony Bryan decided it was time to go abroad. But the decision set off a nightmare that saw him lose his job, detained twice and almost deported to Jamaica. AFP/Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Jamaica-born Anthony Bryan poses outside his home in Edmonton, north London. Now 60 and a grandfather, Bryan thought the issue could be resolved swiftly, as he legally moved to Britain with his family as part of the Windrush generation of Caribbean migrants after World War II. In 1948, the ship Windrush brought the first group of migrants from the West Indies to help rebuild post-war Britain, and many others followed from around the Commonwealth. A 1971 law gave them indefinite leave to remain, but many never formalised their status, often because they were children who came over on their parents' passports and then never applied for their own. AFP/Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Three Jamaican immigrants (left to right) John Hazel, a 21-year-old boxer, Harold Wilmot, 32, and John Richards, a 22-year-old carpenter, arriving at Tilbury on board the ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush', smartly dressed in zoot suits and trilby hats. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Newly arrived Jamaican immigrants on board the 'Empire Windrush' at Tilbury in 1948. Getty

Records show Mr Bristol had carried out a job search for hotel cleaning jobs or porter roles in 2016 with Maximus, a company working on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to help people find work. But it was noted that he didnt have a right to work document.

A Christmas card sent to his retired NHS nurse mother, 76-year-old Sentina, four months before he died, read: This whole thing is making me bitter and hateful and nobody wants to be that way for ever.

The court also heard that Mr Bristol was not identified as someone being at high risk of heart failure before the issues with his immigration status.

Deborah Coles, director of charity Inquest, told The Independent the fact that the Home Office was not brought into the inquest amounted to a missed opportunity to highlight concerns that may safeguard the lives of others.

She added: For a family to have to leave an inquest in dismay at the cursory inquiry into their loved ones death is really concerning not least when bereaved families are supposed to be at the heart of the process.

It defies belief that the Home Office were not called to account for their actions not least given the impact of their policies on peoples mental and physical health.The first EU nationals wishing to apply to stay in the UK after Brexit are submitting their paperwork as part of a Home Office trial.

"Settled status" will allow non-British Europeans who have been living in the UK for at least five years to secure their right to stay in the country.

NHS workers in the north-west of England and students and staff from three Liverpool universities are among those invited to apply early for a "managed live trial" of the process, which the Home Office says should involve up to 4,000 people to iron out any kinks before a phased roll-out by the end of the year.

Recommended May warns Tory MPs backing new referendum of backlash

Since the UK voted to leave the EU on 23 June 2016, EU citizens who have made their homes in Britain have been securing their status by applying for "permanent residency" cards - an expensive and arduous bureaucratic process that was never designed to cater for them.

The inundation of applications led to a backlog at the Home Office and prompted Theresa May to unveil plans for the new "settled status" system.

Under the EU Settlement Scheme, EU citizens and family members who have been in the UK for five years by the end of 2020 will be able to apply for settled status, meaning they are free to go on living and working in the UK indefinitely.

People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Show all 30 1 /30 People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Rex People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty Images People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal A young protestor shouts as she takes part in the People's Vote demonstration against Brexit Getty Images People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Reuters People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal A protester's pro-EU t-shirt EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty Images People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Gina Miller and Caroline Lucas EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Tens of thousands of people march through London EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Demonstrators at the People's Vote March Getty People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal 'Two months too young to decide on my future' REUTERS People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal PA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal A young girl joins in the march PA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal An EU flag is draped across the statue of Winston Chruchill in Parliament Square REUTERS People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty Images People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Vince Cable MP, Pro-EU campaigner Gina Miller, Tony Robinson and Caroline Lucas MP join with crowds PA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal PA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Crowds gather on Pall Mall PA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal A man resembling Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, joins EU supporters Reuters People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Reuters People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal People gather in Trafalgar Square REUTERS People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Pro-EU campaigner Gina Miller and Tony Robinson PA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EU supporters, calling on the government to give Britons a vote on the final Brexit deal, participate in the 'People's Vote' march REUTERS

Applications will cost 65 for adults and 32.50 for children under the age of 16.

Applicants will be asked to prove their identity, declare any criminal convictions and upload a facial photograph.

The Home Office will check employment and benefits data to confirm proof of residence, while all applications will be run through UK criminality and security databases. Previously, EU applicants for permanent residency had to provide dossiers of documents proving where they were, and what they were doing, for the whole of their five years in the UK.

Those who have arrived by December 31 2020, but do not have five years' residence, can apply for "pre-settled status" in a similar process, and then have their status upgraded free of charge to "settled" once they reach the five-year threshold.

The Home Office says it wants to make the process "as quick and user-friendly as possible", and that the full scheme will be in place by 30 March 2019. It also reminds EU citizens that their rights will not change until the end of the Brexit transition period in 2021 and so they don't need to apply straight away - presumably to avoid another inundation of paperwork.Theresa May has brushed aside Treasury warnings that a no-deal Brexit will seriously damage the UK economy, claiming instead it wouldnt be the end of the world.

The prime minister suggested forecasts highlighted by the chancellor, Philip Hammond, that up to 10 per cent would be wiped of GDP, were a work in progress and may even be rewritten.

Her tone is at odds with the letter written days ago by Mr Hammond emphasising that, regardless of any revision to forecasts, officials still expect a damaging effect on the economy and public finances in the event of no deal.

Ms Mays comments, made as she flew to South Africa on a trade trip, also risk reigniting the Tory row sparked by the letter, which went on to underline how a no-deal Brexit would require 80bn of extra borrowing.

Asked about the forecasts, Ms May said: First off, as I understand, the chancellor was talking about a set of figures that, when they came out in January ... [I said] they were work in progress at that particular time.

Look at what the director of the WTO has actually said. He said about a no-deal situation that it would not be a walk in the park, but it wouldnt be the end of the world.

Asked whether the Treasury figures might even be changed, Ms May said: I said it was a work in progress in January.

 Dominic Raab: Government ready to deliver no-deal Brexit

While Mr Hammonds letter accepted some refinement was taking place, the chancellor clearly stated: However, we expect the analysis to show that for scenarios in which we have higher barriers to trade with the EU there will be a more damaging effect on the economy and public finances.

The letter  suggesting that under a no-deal scenario GDP would be as much as 10 per cent lower after 15 years compared with if the UK had stayed in the EU  has enflamed the Tory row about the governments approach to Brexit, with Eurosceptics accusing the chancellor of being needlessly gloomy.

People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Show all 30 1 /30 People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Rex People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty Images People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal A young protestor shouts as she takes part in the People's Vote demonstration against Brexit Getty Images People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Reuters People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal A protester's pro-EU t-shirt EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty Images People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Gina Miller and Caroline Lucas EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Tens of thousands of people march through London EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EPA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Demonstrators at the People's Vote March Getty People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal 'Two months too young to decide on my future' REUTERS People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal PA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal A young girl joins in the march PA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal An EU flag is draped across the statue of Winston Chruchill in Parliament Square REUTERS People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal AFP/Getty Images People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Vince Cable MP, Pro-EU campaigner Gina Miller, Tony Robinson and Caroline Lucas MP join with crowds PA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal PA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Crowds gather on Pall Mall PA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal A man resembling Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, joins EU supporters Reuters People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Reuters People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal People gather in Trafalgar Square REUTERS People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal Pro-EU campaigner Gina Miller and Tony Robinson PA People's Vote march  demanding vote on final Brexit deal EU supporters, calling on the government to give Britons a vote on the final Brexit deal, participate in the 'People's Vote' march REUTERS

Brexiteers were particularly enraged because the letter was released just as Brexit secretary Dominic Raab published a series of documents aimed at showing the UK was adequately prepared for a no-deal outcome.

On Monday a failure to reach an agreement looked increasingly likely after French president Emanuel Macron indicated Ms Mays proposals for a withdrawal agreement might undermine the integrity of the single market, a price he said was not worth paying.

Despite having recently held talks with Mr Macron to try and sell her plans, Ms May remained positive, saying: We want to see a continuing strong European Union.MPs could be denied a full analysis of the economic damage from crashing out of the EU without a deal when they vote later this year, No 10 says.

Parliament may only be given an assessment of the impact of the agreement that Theresa May expects to strike, her spokesman said  despite her insistence that rejecting it will mean leaving with no deal.

The stance comes despite the prime minister describing the Treasurys current analysis  predicting a 7.7 per cent hit to GDP and an 80bn hole in the public finances  as a work in progress, implying it would be completed.

Asked what advice would be given to MPs, the spokesman refused several times to confirm it would include an up-to-date impact report on a no-deal Brexit.

Once a deal has been negotiated, then the government will provide parliament with meaningful analysis on the deal ahead of the vote, he said.

When asked if that meant an analysis would be provided just on the deal  rather than on a no-deal exit  the spokesman replied: On the deal  yes.

The comments were attacked by Wes Streeting, a Labour supporter of the Peoples Vote campaign, who said: The governments approach to Brexit is descending into farce.

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

It seems Theresa May wont even let our sovereign parliament see the gory details for themselves before deciding whether or not to jump off the cliff edge. So much for taking back control.

And Andrew Adonis, the former Labour cabinet minister who backs the anti-Brexit Best for Britain group, said the public would conclude the government had something to hide.

The government cannot duck and weave on this. If the prime minister believes in her deal and believes in her negotiation, give us all the facts.

The controversy has blown up as the government publishes a series of technical notices on the likely impacts for businesses and consumers of a no-deal departure.

They have already warned of more costly credit card payments to buy EU products and that British citizens living abroad could lose access to payments from their bank accounts.

However, the only forecast of the overall economic impact of no deal was leaked in January, then confirmed by the Treasury  which Ms May has now insisted is incomplete.

The Treasury has also calculated a Canada-style free trade agreement would cut growth cut by 5 per cent over 15 years, while staying inside the EU single market would reduce output by 2 per cent.

The all-party Commons Treasury Committee has demanded an exhaustive list of statistics before the meaningful vote, from both the government and the Bank of England.

The analysis must consider both the proposed deal and a no-deal scenario, with each compared with a status quo of staying in the EU, it said in July.

No crucial Commons vote is now expected before the winter, after David Lidington, the de facto deputy prime minister, acknowledged that hopes of a deal with the EU by the original deadline of October were fading fast.

Instead, an emergency summit is possible in November  if any progress has been made behind the scenes  or there will be a last-gasp push for an agreement in December.A pledge by Britain and the European Union to engage in continuous Brexit talks has yet to actually materialise into meetings, as the deadline to reach a deal looms.

The blocs negotiator Michel Barnier and his opposite number Dominic Raab last week said they would begin to negotiate continuously as talks entered the final stage with some significant issues yet to be overcome.

But despite a week passing since the pledge was made, there have been no official meetings scheduled between the teams since last Wednesday.

Recommended Pound slips as PM dismisses Treasury warnings over no deal Brexit

Asked whether any further meetings were in the pipeline a spokesperson for the European Commission told reporters in Brussels at lunchtime on Tuesday: At the moment we have not got a meeting we can confirm as yet.

An official from the Department for Exiting the European Union suggested there would be meetings on Wednesday and Thursday of this week  a week since the last meeting and far from a continuous arrangement.

Despite the pledge to intensify discussions, it remains to be seen whether more talks would actually serve any useful purpose  possibly explaining the lack of urgency.

Officials are struggling to make any progress because of deadlock at the political level, with both the British Government and European member states outright rejecting each others proposals for the Northern Ireland border  the crucial sticking point in discussions.

At the moment we have not got a meeting we can confirm as yet. European Commission spokesperson

The Northern Ireland border issue must be solved before a withdrawal agreement can be signed, and the Irish government has said a withdrawal agreement without a border backstop would be of no use  effectively threatening a no-deal. The European Parliament, which also has its own veto, has made a similar threat.

Both Britain and the EU say they want to prevent a hard border in Ireland; the EU has proposed Northern Ireland staying in the EU customs territory to accomplish this. The UK has rejected this proposal on the basis that it would be a breach of British sovereignty, but the EU has argued that it would not be, and suggested the UK de-dramatise its response to the plan  effectively telling Britain to chill out.

The EU says the UKs own proposal would not prevent a hard border, and UK officials have suggested they have no plans to offer any further solutions.

 EU warns Brexit will cause disruption with or without a deal

Apart from the Ireland issue, UK and EU also want to come to a separate political declaration on what their future trade relationship will look like. Though the main talks for finalising this relationship would be held after the UK leaves, the British government says it needs detail on the future relationship to pass the plan through Parliament.

Theresa Mays Chequers plan, the UKs blueprint for the future relationship, has effectively been rejected by the European Commission. The EU raised fundamental issues with the British unique proposals for customs, as well as unhindered special UK access to the single market for goods.

Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures An abandoned shop is seen in Mullan, Co Monaghan. The building was home to four families who left during the Troubles. The town was largely abandoned after the hard border was put in place during the conflict. Mullan has seen some regeneration in recent years, but faces an uncertain future with Brexit on the horizon Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures A defaced Welcome to Northern Ireland sign stands on the border in Middletown, Co Armagh Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Mervyn Johnson owns a garage in the border town of Pettigo, which straddles the counties of Donegal and Fermanagh. Ive been here since 1956, it was a bit of a problem for a few years. My premises has been blown up about six or seven times, we just kept building and starting again, Johnson said laughing. We just got used to it [the hard border] really but now that its gone, we wouldn't like it back again Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Farmer Gordon Crocketts Coshquin farm straddles both Derry/Londonderry in the North and Donegal in the Republic. At the minute there is no real problem, you can cross the border as free as you want. We could cross it six or eight times a day, said Crockett. If there was any sort of obstruction it would slow down our work every day Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures John Murphy flies the European flag outside his home near the border village of Forkhill, Co Armagh Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Potter Brenda McGinn stands outside her Mullan, Co Monaghan, studio  the former Jas Boylan shoe factory which was the main employer in the area until it shut down due to the Troubles. When I came back, this would have been somewhere you would have driven through and have been quite sad. It was a decrepit looking village, said McGinn, whose Busy Bee Ceramics is one of a handful of enterprises restoring life to the community. Now this is a revitalised, old hidden village Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Union Flag colours painted on kerbstones and bus-stops along the border village of Newbuildings, Co Derry/Londonderry Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Grass reflected in Lattone Lough, which is split by the border between Cavan and Fermanagh, seen from near Ballinacor, Northern Ireland Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Donegalman David McClintock sits in the Border Cafe in the village of Muff, which straddles Donegal and Derry/Londonderry Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures An old Irish phone box stands alongside a bus stop in the border town of Glaslough, Co Monaghan Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Billboards are viewed from inside a disused customs hut in Carrickcarnon, Co Down, on the border with Co Louth in the Republic Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Seamus McQuaid takes packages that locals on the Irish side of the border have delivered to his business, McQuaid Auto-Parts, to save money on postal fees, near the Co Fermanagh village of Newtownbutler. I live in the south but the business is in the North, said McQaid. "I wholesale into the Republic of Ireland so if theres duty, Ill have to set up a company 200 yards up the road to sell to my customers. Ill have to bring the same product in through Dublin instead of Belfast Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures A disused Great Northern Railway line and station that was for customs and excise on the border town of Glenfarne, Co Leitrim Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Alice Mullen, from Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland, does her shopping at a former customs post on the border in Middletown, Co Armagh. Id be very worried if it was a hard border, I remember when people were divided. I would be very afraid of the threat to the peace process, it was a dreadful time to live through. Even to go to mass on a Sunday, youd have to go through checkpoints. It is terribly stressful, said Mullen. All those barricades and boundaries were pulled down. I see it as a huge big exercise of trust and I do believe everyone breathed a sigh of relief Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures A bus stop and red post box stand in the border town of Jonesborough, Co Armagh Reuters

Michel Barnier has repeatedly said that in the EUs view the only way to maintain frictionless trade after Brexit would be for Britain to join a customs union with the EU and also follow the rules of the single market, including freedom of movement and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. Theresa May has ruled out all these policies and at home appears to have little room for manoeuvre, with eurosceptics in her party already threatening to reject Chequers.

Both parties say they want a deal by October to give time for it to be ratified; the UK is set to leave the EU on the 29 March 2019 under the terms of Article 50  with or without a deal.A former chief of the SAS has backed the campaign for a second Brexit referendum and warned that a no-deal outcome would lead to major security concerns for the UK.

It is essential, Major General Jonathan Shaw told The Independent, to allow voters a choice, now that the reality of leaving is becoming clear, stressing that crashing out of the European Union without an agreement would lead to serious risks on matters like intelligence sharing, on terrorism, on hybrid warfare and cyber threats.

Major General Shaw views the 2016 referendum result as Britains Arab Spring moment in which popular resentment on a number of issues and a desire for change coalesced around a no vote, without any clear idea of its long-term consequences.

It was a protest vote about all kinds of things including the EU  it was an emotional vote for many.

It was also a vote for the negative, and the problem with something negative like that is difficult to make something constructive out of it, Major General Shaw said.

It was, if you like, a sort of Britains Arab Spring moment, a protest where the ultimate outcome was not known. The people of the United Kingdom should be allowed to make up their minds, either way, when the full detail of what is actually involved in Brexit does become known.

Major General Shaw, who was director special forces, the commander of British forces in Iraq and assistant chief of defence staff during his military career, had, at one stage, considered voting to leave the European Union, but changed his mind after analysing the options.

I could understand the dissatisfaction with the democratic deficit in the EU and the plan for an ever closer union. One can oppose these. But there are, for me, other things to consider, including security, in which I believe it is better to be in the EU.

We now have more information. People can analyse that when it comes to a new vote, they can change their minds or stay as they were.

The idea of a second referendum would probably have been fanciful a while ago, but now there seems to be an impetus behind it Major General Jonathan Shaw

There could be apprehension, said Major General Shaw, that an immediate referendum would complicate negotiations for the British government and tempt Brussels to take a tougher stance.

But a vote when the final details are available, after the talks have been concluded, will allow people to make up their mind on whether they are better off as they are, or want the changes being proposed he held.

The idea of a second referendum would probably have been fanciful a while ago, but now there seems to be an impetus behind it  a view that these are such fundamental issues that all options must be carefully considered.

A no-deal outcome would, Major General Shaw points out, lead to extremely serious problems on the security field.

There would be major concerns on matters like intelligence sharing, on terrorism, hybrid warfare cyber threats, this new field of conflict, especially now that we have state actors involved in this, we need the help of other member states in this, and, they of course, need ours, he said.

 Jacob Rees-Mogg suggests that after Brexit inspections should take place on the Irish border, 'just like during The Troubles'

It is theoretically possible to have a separate security agreement, but there are a whole host of issues there including data protection, European laws and UK laws.

On the purely military side, Nato, of course will continue, and the UKs role in it will not be affected by Brexit.

But one has to take the Trump factor into account, other member states are now unsure on how much Europe can depend on US under his administration and this is something which should be of concern to the UK as well. One cannot tell what Mr Trump may, or may not, do, but it is a factor to consider.

There is yet to be a breakthrough on post-Brexit security cooperation between the UK and the European Union  a matter seen as one of utmost importance. Although Theresa May has insisted that the UK wants a wide agreement on the issue, there has been no substantial progress in the talks being held.

Brussels, meanwhile, has told London that the secondment of military officers to the European Union will cease after Brexit, in line with policies on non-member states and the involvement of UK companies in the European Defence Fund will also be curtailed.A former chief rabbi has accused Jeremy Corbyn of the most offensive comments by a senior politician since Enoch Powell, after his criticism of British Zionists.

Jonathan Sacks made the most outspoken attack yet on the Labour leader, branding him an antisemite who has given support to racists, terrorists and dealers of hate.

It was divisive, hateful and, like Powells speech, it undermines the existence of an entire group of British citizens by depicting them as essentially alien, Lord Sacks said.

The condemnation deepens the crisis that has engulfed Mr Corbyn since his remarks at a pro-Palestinian event five years ago emerged last week.

He criticised Zionists who dont want to study history, and secondly, having lived in this country for a very long time, probably all their lives, dont understand English irony either.

Some Labour MPs reacted with horror, while Helen Grant, the Conservative MP, reported him to the parliamentary standards watchdog.

Now Mr Sacks has described the words as the most offensive statement made by a senior British politician since Enoch Powells 1968 Rivers of Blood speech.

We can only judge Jeremy Corbyn by his words and his actions, he told the New Statesman magazine.

Protests against Labour antisemitism Show all 14 1 /14 Protests against Labour antisemitism Protests against Labour antisemitism Protesters clashed during the demonstration Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism Members of the Jewish community hold a protest against Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn and antisemitism in the Labour Party AFP/Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism Protesters hold placards and flags during a demonstration, organised by the British Board of Jewish Deputies for those who oppose antisemitism, in Parliament Square Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism Hundreds of people gathered in Parliament Square to protest against antisemitism in the Labour Party EPA Protests against Labour antisemitism Labour MP Luciana Berger speaks during the protest PA Protests against Labour antisemitism A protester blows through a shofar during the demonstration Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism Members of London's Jewish community protest in support of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn outside parliament EPA Protests against Labour antisemitism Labour MP John Mann speaks during a protest against antisemitism PA Protests against Labour antisemitism People protest against antisemitism in the Labour Party as Jewish community leaders have launched a scathing attack on Jeremy Corbyn, claiming he has sided with antisemites again and again PA Protests against Labour antisemitism Labour politicians Stella Creasy and Chuka Umunna leave after attending the demonstration Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism A pro-Jeremy Corbyn protester holds a placard during a counter-protest Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism A support of the Labour Party hold up a placard during the demonstration Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism Jeremy Corbyn supporters during the demo Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism A protester holds up a sign reading For the many, not the Jew AFP

He has given support to racists, terrorists and dealers of hate who want to kill Jews and remove Israel from the map.

When he implies that, however long they have lived here, Jews are not fully British, he is using the language of classic pre-war European antisemitism.

Mr Corbyn has defended his comments, insisting that he was referring to a specific group of pro-Israel activists and had not used the term Zionist as a euphemism for Jewish people.

He claimed he was now more careful with how I might use the term Zionist because a once self-identifying political term has been increasingly hijacked by antisemites as code for Jews.

But Lord Sacks added: When challenged with such facts, the evidence for which is before our eyes, first he denies, then he equivocates, then he obfuscates.

This is low, dishonest and dangerous. He has legitimised the public expression of hate, and where he leads, others will follow.

In response, a Labour Party spokesperson said: This comparison with the race-baiting Enoch Powell is absurd and offensive.

Jeremy Corbyn described a particular group of pro-Israel activists as Zionists, in the accurate political sense  not as a synonym or code for Jewish people.

Jeremy Corbyn is determined to tackle antisemitism both within the Labour Party and in wider society, and the Labour Party is committed to rebuilding trust with the Jewish community.

Labour has been dogged by allegations of antisemitism all summer, sparked by a refusal to fully implement the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) examples to define antisemitism.

Mr Corbyn and his key advisers have resisted including any statement that says that claiming the Israeli state is a "a racist endeavour" is "denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination".

A meeting of the party's ruling national executive committee next week is expected to finally force Mr Corbyn to step into line with the wishes of his MPs.

However, critics fear the implementation of the IHRA definition and examples will be done in a way to prevent disciplinary action against anyone who breached the IHRA examples in the past.

That would protect the likes of Mr Corbyn and Seumas Milne, his closest aide, from the risk of being investigated for their historical comments.'This wasn't expected from Amarinder Singh. Being a Sikh, he should not have stood with conspirators of 1984 genocide,' SAD leader said.

BJP and SAD attacked Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for defending Gandhi and his stand and claimed he had hurt the sentiments of people in his state and of Sikhs across the country. (Photo: Twitter | @captamarindersingh)

New Delhi: The BJP and its ally SAD on Monday stepped up their attack on Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for remarks that his party was not involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, alleging the opposition party's entire apparatus was involved in the riots and they could not be absolved of their sins.

They also attacked Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for defending Gandhi and his stand and claimed he had hurt the sentiments of people in his state and of Sikhs across the country.

"This was not expected from Amarinder Singh. Being a Sikh, he should not have stood with the conspirators of the 1984 genocide on this issue. The Punjab chief minister has hurt the sentiments of the people from his state," senior SAD leader Prem Singh Chandumajra claimed.

He alleged it was a fact that the Congress was involved in the riots and they "cannot be absolved of their sins".

Echoing similar sentiments, BJP's national secretary RP Singh alleged, "Not one or two hands, the entire Congress apparatus was involved in 1984 genocide against Sikhs in the national capital."

He claimed then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the father of Rahul Gandhi, tried to justify it by saying that when a giant tree falls, the earth below shakes.

The Congress was forced to cancel its leader Kamal Nath's appointment as Punjab assembly polls in-charge following anger from the community whose members had alleged his involvement in the violence, he claimed.

Last week, Gandhi, who was on a two-day visit to the UK, told an audience that the anti-Sikh riots were a tragedy and a painful experience, but disagreed with the view that the Congress was "involved" in it.One of Nigel Farage's constituents was "very insulted" when he was told his degrees were "pointless" after he contacted him to ask questions about Brexit.

In an email exchange seen by The Independent, Peter Cook wrote to his MEP asking for some clarification about Brexit and the net benefits of leaving the European Union.

The Kent based businessman said his Academy of Rock public speaking and events company had taken a hit since the June 2016 vote to leave.

Explaining that he had three degrees and was capable of understanding technical concepts like net present value (NPV) if the response included it.

NPV is the difference between the present value of cash inflows and the present value of cash outflows over a period of time.

"Answers such as getting our country back are not acceptable," said the 60-year-old from Gillingham. "I need specific information economically, socially, politically, environmentally and so on."

He received a response from someone called Ben, who works in Mr Farage's office.

Peter Cook said he was expecting a reasonable answer from his MEP. (Peter Cook)

Claiming that democracy is the real Brexit prize, he replied with suggested general reading which included philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes and John Locke and economist Ludwig Von Mises.

"Change of course always involves some disruption, and there is a short term cost to that, but the long term gains from the above are priceless," he wrote. "The mistake was joining the EU project in the first place - that is where responsibility for the costs involved in leaving should fall."

Unimpressed, Mr Cook replied: "You have not answered my question - please try again.

Mr Farage's office responded with: "I think you'll find I have, you're just too closed minded to see it."

Mr Cook replied: "Priceless is not an answer to the question of NPV. It is a pointless platitude," only to receive the response: "Like your degrees perhaps."

Mr Cook said: "Please secure a response to my question. I want to hear from my MEP not some middle man."

Mr Farages office responded with: "I can't help that you don't like the answer, or democracy."

Mr Cook said he was very insulted by the responses and said that Mr Farage was failing to do his job as an MEP.

Although he replied quickly but I thought it was disgraceful that he is paid 80,000 a year and is not doing his job, he told The Independent.

I have thick skin but I was very insulted. He didnt take into account the fact I had explained that I had business degrees and could cope with an intelligent response."

Nigel Farage's most controversial moments Show all 12 1 /12 Nigel Farage's most controversial moments Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he unveiled that 'breaking point' poster during the referendum Mr Farage was accused of deploying Nazi-style propaganda when he unveiled a poster showing Syrian refugees travelling to Europe under the next Breaking point. Users on social media were quick to compare the advert to a Nazi propaganda film with similar visuals and featuring Jewish refugees. The poster was particularly controversial because it was unveiled the morning of the killing of Labour MP Jo Cox Rex Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said hed be concerned if his neighbours were Romanian In May 2014 Mr Farage was accused of a racial slur against Romanians after he suggested he would be concerned living next to a house of them. I was asked if a group of Romanian men moved in next to you, would you be concerned? And if you lived in London, I think you would be, he told LBC radio during an interview. Asked whether he would also object to living next to German children, he said: You know the difference Bongarts/Getty Images Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said the EU campaign was won 'without a bullet being fired' Nigel Farage has said the next Prime Minister has to be a Leave supporter AFP/Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he resigned as Ukip leader and came back days later After failing to win the seat of South Thanet at the general election, Nigel Farage stepped down as Ukip leader  as he had promised to do during the campaign. Days later on 11 May he un-resigned and said he would stay after being convinced by supporters within the party. Well see how long his resignation lasts this time AP/Matt Dunham Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he blamed immigrants for making him late Mr Farage turned up late to a 25-a-head meet the leader style event in Port Talbot, Wales in December 2014. Asked why he was late, he blamed immigrants. It took me six hours and 15 minutes to get here - it should have taken three-and-a-half to four, he said. That has nothing to do with professionalism, what it does have to do with is a country in which the population is going through the roof chiefly because of open-door immigration and the fact that the M4 is not as navigable as it used to be Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he wanted to ban immigrants with HIV from Britain Mr Farage has used his platform as Ukip leader call for people with HIV to be banned from coming to Britain. Asked in an interview with Newsweek Europe in October 2014 who he thought should be allowed to come to the UK, he said: People who do not have HIV, to be frank. Thats a good start. And people with a skill. He also repeated similar comments in the 2015 general election leadership debates Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he defended the use of a racial slur against Chinese people Defending one of Ukips candidates, who used the word ch**ky to describe a Chinese person, Mr Farage said: If you and your mates were going out for a Chinese, what do you say you're going for?" When he was told by the presented that he honestly would not use the slur, Mr Farage replied: A lot would Lintao Zhang/Getty Images Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said parts of Britain were like a foreign land The Ukip leader used his 2014 conference speech to declare parts of Britain as being like a foreign land. He told his audience in Torquay that parts of the country were unrecognisable because of the number of foreigners there. Mr Farage has also previously said he felt uncomfortable when people spoke other language on a train Screengrab Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said the British army should be deployed to France At the height of trouble at Britains Calais border Mr Farage proposed a novel solution. The Ukip leader called for the British army to be sent to France to put down a migrant rebellion. In all civil emergencies like this we have an army, we have a bit of a Territorial Army as well and we have a very, very overburdened police force and border agency, he said. If in a crisis to make sure weve actually got the manpower to check lorries coming in, to stop people illegally coming to Britain, if in those circumstances we can use the army or other forces then why not AFP/Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said breastfeeding women should sit in the corner Mr Farage sparked protests from mothers after he told women to sit on the corner if they wanted to breastfeed their children. I think that given that some people feel very embarrassed by it, it isnt too difficult to breastfeed a baby in a way that's not openly ostentatious, Mr Farage said. He added: "Or perhaps sit in the corner, or whatever it might be AFP/Getty Images Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said the gender pay gap exists because women are worth less At a Q&A on the European Union in January 2014 Mr Farage said there was no discrimination against women causing the gender pay gap. Instead, he said, women were paid less because they were simply worth far less than many of their male counterparts. A woman who has a client base, has a child and takes two or three years off - she is worth far less to her employer when she comes back than when she went away because that client base won't be stuck as rigidly to her portfolio, he said Getty Nigel Farage's most controversial moments When he said he actually couldnt guarantee 350m to the NHS after Brexit During the EU referendum campaign the Leave side pledged to spend 350 million a week on the National Health Service  claiming that this is what the UK sends to Brussels. Nigel Farage didnt speak out against this figure and also pledged to spend EU cash on the health service and other public services himself. Then the day of the election result he suddenly changed his tone, saying he couldnt guarantee the cash for the NHS and that to pledge to do so was a mistake Getty

He added that he might have expected a reasonable economic forecast so he could plan for his business.

Asked about the response from his office, Mr Farage told The Independent that the advice about the philosophers was valid, he said: "Most MEPs would have just put the email into the bin."

A spokesman for the EFDD Group in the European Parliament of which Mr Farage is a member, told The Independent: With 6 million constituents Mr Farage does not get to see every letter and email.

"Yet his secretary promptly responded to the chief of the Academy of Rock [Peter Cook] with all due seriousness.Northern Ireland has now been without a government for two years.

The devolved executive and assembly which have powers over the region collapsed in January 2017 owing to ongoing disagreements between the DUP and Sinn Fein, and all attempts to restore power-sharing have since failed.

The region currently holds the world record for the longest period without a sitting government, which it passed after 589 days.

Here, we explain how the political impasse came to be and what a future deal could look like.

How and why did the Northern Ireland Executive collapse?

The Northern Ireland Executive collapsed on 9 January 2017 with the resignation of Martin McGuinness as Deputy First Minister.

Due to the unique nature of history and circumstances in Northern Ireland, both unionists and nationalists must join together in a power sharing executive in order to lead the assembly. Since 2007, the DUP have been the largest unionist party and Sinn Fein have been the largest nationalist party.

With the larger mandate, the DUP have always been given the post of First Minister, while Sinn Fein have been given Deputy First Minister, but the two roles are effectively a joint office, with equal power, and can only exist with the full support of the other.

This arrangement has largely weathered a decade of politics, but in November 2016 a scandal emerged surrounding a Renewable Heat Incentive (also referred to as the RHI scandal or Cash for Ash), signed off by First Minister Arlene Foster in 2012. Its mismanagement had cost the Northern Ireland Executive 480m.

Sinn Fein called for Ms Foster to stand aside from her position to allow for an independent inquiry into the scandal, but she refused.

Having served as Deputy First Minister for ten years, Mr McGuinness then resigned in January 2017 and Sinn Fein announced they would not be replacing him. This stripped Ms Foster of her title as First Minister and collapsed the executive.

Arlene Foster and Martin McGuinness pictures with Prime Minister Theresa May before the collapse of the Northern Ireland Executive

What happened next?

The then-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire, called fresh elections for the Northern Ireland Assembly in March 2017. It returned the DUP and Sinn Fein as the largest parties, but the gap between them had closed dramatically. Only 1,000 votes separated them in the popular vote. The DUP fell by 10 seats to 28, with Sinn Fein not far behind on 27. Crucially, it was the first time that unionists no longer held an overall majority in the Assembly.

The parties then had three weeks to reach a deal, and when that time passed, Mr Brokenshire decided not to call fresh elections, as he is entitled to do. Instead, talks continued in stops and starts throughout the year  played out against the backdrop of the dramatic 2017 UK General Election (in which the DUP played a key role), and the Brexit drama which has followed.

All the while, Northern Ireland has had no functioning government, and has effectively been run by civil servants on diminishing resources. Westminster passed a budget in November 2017 for Northern Ireland for the ongoing financial year, but this was very much a temporary fix, and all involved refrained from calling it direct rule, still holding out for a deal.

In January 2018, Karen Bradley was named Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and began talks between the parties again. On 14 February, after a draft deal appeared to have been agreed by all sides, it suddenly fell through. This was rumoured to have included provisions for an Irish Language Act, which was denounced by the DUP grassroots when details were leaked. A continued state of no government has persisted since.

Who was involved in talks?

Any talks in Northern Ireland are co-chaired by the Secretary of State Karen Bradley, representing the British government, and the Irish Tanaiste (Deputy Prime Minister), Simon Coveney, representing the government in Dublin.

The majority of the talks are between the DUP and Sinn Fein, the two largest parties, who must strike a deal together if power sharing is to be restored. However, the Alliance Party, the SDLP and the UUP are also involved in some levels of discussion.

In late 2018, there was some discussion - even from Karen Bradley herself - that another mediator may need to be brought in, someone not from Britain or Ireland. This has precedent, as former US Senator George Mitchell oversaw the negotiations which led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Karen Bradley greets Prime Minister Theresa May in Belfast

What have parties been discussing in talks?

Although it was mainly the RHI scandal and the position of Arlene Foster which sparked this crisis, Sinn Fein had other complaints too  namely that funding was being cut to Irish language services and that the DUP had abused a parliamentary mechanism known as the Petition of Concern to prevent the introduction of same sex marriage in Northern Ireland.

Sinn Fein has called for a standalone Irish Language Act  in the style of the Welsh Language Act  which would give Gaelic parity with English in Northern Ireland. This has been resisted by the DUP, who see it as an erosion of British identity.

There may also be some discussion around reforming the Petition of Concern. It allows a bill to be blocked from passing in the Northern Ireland Assembly if one side of the community feels the other is oppressing their rights.

The DUP used this to prevent the passing of same sex marriage, despite the assembly having a clear majority, much to the anger of many on both sides of the community divide. Other parties have also misused this mechanism in the past, but when considered in its correct usage, it may prove to be too crucial to be removed altogether.

All of these issues have remained on the table, as well as more outstanding problems such as how Northern Ireland should deal with its troubled past, and whether or not prosecutions  particularly of the armed forces  should play a role in any reconciliation process.

What would a deal look like?

The Irish Language Act has become the most prominent discussion point, not just for Sinn Fein, but among mainstream media and broadcasters, and across Northern Ireland in general. Its unclear what it would entail, and whether its merely a matter of Irish on road signs and public buildings, or something greater like equal opportunities for English and Irish speakers in public sector jobs.

But any deal would almost certainly have to include it in some shape or form, even if it means the DUP insisting on similar protections for the lesser used Ulster Scots dialect.

Owing to her position in the negotiations, and her own determination not to bow to the demands of Sinn Fein, it appears Arlene Foster may be returned as First Minister - a position Sinn Fein appear to have softened on in 2018.

The DUP know that same sex marriage in Northern Ireland is only a matter of time, but it is unlikely that they will simply gift it to Sinn Fein in any deal, considering how badly this would play with their conservative base.

However, they may quietly agree not to block it, or the Petition of Concern could be reformed somewhat to prevent them from using it again.

The new Sinn Fein Vice President Michelle ONeill

What happens if the parties cannot reach an agreement on a deal?

If the parties cannot agree a basis on which to re-enter powersharing at Stormont, then Northern Ireland will be governed by direct rule from Westminster. In theory, the Northern Ireland Secretary could attempt to avert this by calling another election for the assembly, but this is unlikely to return anyone other than the DUP and Sinn Fein as the two largest parties, thus ending up back at the start.

Northern Ireland has been under direct rule from Westminster before, notably for the duration of The Troubles between 1972 and 1998, but it has largely been run by devolved government ever since. The return of direct rule would be a major setback for the province, and for cross-community reconciliation. Since Sinn Fein abstain from taking their seats at Westminster, it would leave Northern Ireland solely represented by 10 DUP MPs in the House of Commons.

Ironically, social issues that the DUP have stood against, such as same sex marriage and legalising abortion, could be almost immediately implemented once the affairs of Northern Ireland are left to a House of Commons who largely support these measures  both already legal across the rest of the UK. Therefore, despite their hold over the Conservatives, direct rule is not an ideal scenario for the DUP, and will only be greeted by more hardline loyalists who believe Northern Ireland should always be ruled directly by London.

From Sinn Feins perspective, direct rule is also not desirable  as their mandate in Northern Ireland elections is increasing, and this would undo that work. But if the alternative is a bad deal, its unclear how they would walk back on that after such a lengthy political stalemate.Theresa May has signalled that she will fight off any challenge launched by Boris Johnson amid speculation the ex-foreign secretary is planning a leadership bid.

The prime minister also insisted that she will not resign in March after Brexit despite many in her own party expecting her to do so.

Asked about the prospects of quitting after withdrawal or a bid from Mr Johnson, Ms May told reporters on the way to South Africa she intends to stay in her job for the long term.

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It comes amid growing speculation about a leadership challenge from Mr Johnson, who used his weekly column to trash her proposals for a Brexit deal.

Asked whether she might step down once Brexit is secured, Ms May said: Ive been asked before whether it is my intention to lead the Conservative Party into the next general election, Ive answered that question before: Im in this for the long term.

What Im focusing on doing is delivering what the British people want. The British people voted to leave the European Union and I and the government will be delivering that.

Pressed on whether she would fight if a leadership challenge was made by the likes of Mr Johnson, she added: I have said before that Im in this for the long term.

 How to Brexit-proof your life

She also brushed aside the suggestion that she might face an Australian-style coup after her old Oxford University colleague, Malcolm Turnbull, was deposed as the countrys prime minister in a right-wing plot.

Ms May said politics in Australia had been certainly active, but added: If you look at Australian politics, I think they are rather different from the politics you see in the UK.

I have said before that Im in this for the long term Prime minister Theresa May

This week Mr Johnson launched an attack on Ms Mays Chequers Brexit plan as a historic mistake that will result in national humiliation akin to that meted out by the EU on Greece.

The comments are his first substantial intervention on Brexit since his resignation from the cabinet last month and have sparked concern that the Uxbridge and South Ruislip MP, who is popular with party members, is lining up a leadership pitch at the Tory annual conference next month.

Asked during an interview with ITN on Tuesday if she had noticed how much Boris wants your job, Ms May replied only: I was very pleased that Boris was foreign secretary for the period that he was foreign secretary.

Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Show all 39 1 /39 Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures British Prime Minister Theresa May reviews a military guard of honour at the State House in Nairobi. May wraps up a three day tour of Africa in Kenya as she seeks to drum up post-Brexit deals before quitting the European Union on a continent which has increasingly looked elsewhere for trade and investment AFP/Getty Images Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May in breaks into dance whilst meeting with scouts at the United Nations offices in Nairobi on the third day of her visit to Africa PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May in breaks into dance whilst meeting with scouts at the United Nations offices in Nairobi on the third day of her visit to Africa PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May in breaks into dance whilst meeting with scouts at the United Nations offices in Nairobi on the third day of her visit to Africa PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May dancing with students and staff at ID Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May meets charity workers at a Salvation Army centre in Lagos, where modern slavery was discussed PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the State House in Nairobi to meet with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta welcomes Theresa May AP Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta address a press conference at the state house in Nairobi Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May with the President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta at the State House in Nairobi PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the State House in Nairobi, to meet the President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta, on the third day of her visit to Africa. PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May meets Nigerian President Buharia at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Nigeria EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May arrives in Abuja, Nigeria, on day two of her trip to Africa PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May arrives in Abuja, Nigeria on day two of her trip to Africa Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May arrives in Abuja, Nigeria on day two of her trip to Africa Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Nigerian President Buhari and Theresa May watch as the Nigerian Budget and National Planning Minister and the British Trade Policy Minister sign a bilateral agreement on Nigerian trade development EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May meets South African president Cyril Ramaphosa at DeTuynhuys Presidential Palace in Cape Town PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May meets students and staff at ID Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town, which is twinned with Whitby High School in Yorkshire PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May arrives in Abuja, Nigeria Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures The two schools are part of a British Council funded teacher exchange scheme called 'Connected Classrooms' AP Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures The Prime Minister enters the cell in which Nelson Mandela was held on Robben Island Cape Town PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May meets South African president Cyril Ramaphosa PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May dancing with students and staff at ID Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa take part in the ceremony to hand over the bell of the SS Mendi AFP/Getty Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May and South African president Cyril Ramaphosa shake hands PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May poses for a picture with school children Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa take part in the ceremony to hand over the bell of the SS Mendi AFP/Getty Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May dancing with students and staff at ID Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May exits stage right following an address to business leaders at the offices of First National Bank in Cape Town EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures A group of school children at the ID Mkhize Secondary School, take a selfie with a phone with a Union Jack cover Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures The Prime Minister is on day one of her trip to South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya on a trade mission designed to bolster the UK's post-Brexit fortunes PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May talks with students AP Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May speaks to business leaders at the offices of First National Bank in Cape Town EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May meets students and staff PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May is greeted by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May speaks to staff at I.D. Mkize Secondary School PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May is greeted by schoolchildren waving British and South African flags AFP/Getty Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May speaks to students PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May walks with Nomvula Mokonyane - the South African Minister of Communications - as she arrives at Cape Town airport PA

His repeated attacks on her Brexit proposals make it increasingly unlikely that Mr Johnson and his supporters will back it in a Commons vote, making Ms Mays hopes of securing parliamentary backing for her deal harder.

Backbench MPs have long expected Ms May to stand down once Brexit is secured, with one telling The Independent: She wont go into the next election.

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They havent forgiven her for the last and wont let her. Its a matter of when she goes, not if.

Tory associations have reported high levels of anger at what many members see as the failure of Ms Mays Brexit proposals to fully deliver on the 2016 referendum, and are also reporting a surge in new joiners.

The increase has raised concerns the party is at risk from a Momentum-style takeover from those angry at the deal, with the pro-Brexit group Leave.EU urging members to join the Tories ahead of a future leadership contest.

Mr Johnsons supporters have said the party should be open to al new joiners, with some also backing rule changes that could ease the ex-cabinet ministers path to Downing Street.Theresa May has denied claims she is playing catch up in the race for African trade, after announcing the UKs first post-Brexit deal with six nations on the continent.

The prime minister argued the agreement replicating one that already exists with the EU showed the UK was forging a new partnership for the future.

But her trip  the first from a UK leader in five years  comes against the backdrop of multiple visits from French and Chinese leaders.

The first 24 hours of Ms Mays tour saw her dancing with African school children and making announcements on aid, foreign slavery and financial crime.

The prime minister used a speech to confirm plans to carry over the EUs Economic Partnership Agreement with the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and Mozambique.

She also said 300m of commercial deals will be signed during her visit and 5.5bn in export financing provided to boost UK-Africa trade.

But challenged in Cape Town over the lack of British trade diplomacy from prime ministers in recent years, she denied that the UK was late to the party.

 Theresa May announces UK has secured its first post-Brexit trade deal during trip to Africa

The PM said: I think if you just look at the number of visits that the former foreign secretary made just last year to Africa is an example of that.

We have been working with African nations and African governments in the past.

What Im talking about today is a new partnership for the future recognising the challenges that we both face.

Nonetheless, French presidents had visited Africa 27 times since 2010, with Emmanuel Macron having done eight, and Chinas President Xi has been to Africa 79 times since 2007.

Even as Ms May goes about her visit here the spectre of Britains competitors looms, with President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya squeezing his meeting with her on a day between face-to-face time with US leader Donald Trump and Mr Xi.

Countries in the SACU agreement include Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland, with Mozambique also included in the pact with the EU that the UK will take on.

Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Show all 39 1 /39 Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures British Prime Minister Theresa May reviews a military guard of honour at the State House in Nairobi. May wraps up a three day tour of Africa in Kenya as she seeks to drum up post-Brexit deals before quitting the European Union on a continent which has increasingly looked elsewhere for trade and investment AFP/Getty Images Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May in breaks into dance whilst meeting with scouts at the United Nations offices in Nairobi on the third day of her visit to Africa PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May in breaks into dance whilst meeting with scouts at the United Nations offices in Nairobi on the third day of her visit to Africa PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May in breaks into dance whilst meeting with scouts at the United Nations offices in Nairobi on the third day of her visit to Africa PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May dancing with students and staff at ID Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May meets charity workers at a Salvation Army centre in Lagos, where modern slavery was discussed PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the State House in Nairobi to meet with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta welcomes Theresa May AP Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta address a press conference at the state house in Nairobi Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May with the President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta at the State House in Nairobi PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the State House in Nairobi, to meet the President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta, on the third day of her visit to Africa. PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May meets Nigerian President Buharia at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Nigeria EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May arrives in Abuja, Nigeria, on day two of her trip to Africa PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May arrives in Abuja, Nigeria on day two of her trip to Africa Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May arrives in Abuja, Nigeria on day two of her trip to Africa Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Nigerian President Buhari and Theresa May watch as the Nigerian Budget and National Planning Minister and the British Trade Policy Minister sign a bilateral agreement on Nigerian trade development EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May meets South African president Cyril Ramaphosa at DeTuynhuys Presidential Palace in Cape Town PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May meets students and staff at ID Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town, which is twinned with Whitby High School in Yorkshire PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May arrives in Abuja, Nigeria Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures The two schools are part of a British Council funded teacher exchange scheme called 'Connected Classrooms' AP Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures The Prime Minister enters the cell in which Nelson Mandela was held on Robben Island Cape Town PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May meets South African president Cyril Ramaphosa PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May dancing with students and staff at ID Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa take part in the ceremony to hand over the bell of the SS Mendi AFP/Getty Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May and South African president Cyril Ramaphosa shake hands PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May poses for a picture with school children Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa take part in the ceremony to hand over the bell of the SS Mendi AFP/Getty Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May dancing with students and staff at ID Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May exits stage right following an address to business leaders at the offices of First National Bank in Cape Town EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures A group of school children at the ID Mkhize Secondary School, take a selfie with a phone with a Union Jack cover Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures The Prime Minister is on day one of her trip to South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya on a trade mission designed to bolster the UK's post-Brexit fortunes PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May talks with students AP Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May speaks to business leaders at the offices of First National Bank in Cape Town EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May meets students and staff PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May is greeted by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May speaks to staff at I.D. Mkize Secondary School PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May is greeted by schoolchildren waving British and South African flags AFP/Getty Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May speaks to students PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May walks with Nomvula Mokonyane - the South African Minister of Communications - as she arrives at Cape Town airport PA

Britain plans to take on all of the EUs current trade deals after Brexit with agreement of the other countries involved, but the announcement that the first has been locked in will be a boost to Ms May.

She added that the UK would invest an additional 4bn in African economies, with the hope of further investment from the private sector to come.

The PM had already let it be known that she was preparing to use the UKs aid and development spending to support Britains private sector in making greater investment in the continent.

She added: And to help bring those investments about, I can today announce an additional 4bn programme of UK investment in African economies that will pave the way for at least another 4bn of private sector financing.

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Earlier in the day, Ms May somewhat awkwardly danced with school children as part of her charm offensive and was later photographed surrounded by the smiling pupils.

I suspect my dancing this morning might not make it on to Strictly, she told the BBC later.

Theresa May was also set to unveil a series of measures to cut illegal and unsafe migration into Europe from West Africa and support victims of modern slavery as she heads to Nigeria on Wednesday.

Nigeria is the fifth-largest country of origin for victims of modern slavery in Britain with adults and children tricked into journeys to Europe that can lead to abuse, trauma and prostitution, officials said.

Measures she was to announce included helping some 1,700 migrants and modern slavery victims to return to Nigeria with counselling to deal with the distress of their ordeal and a UK-funded HQ of a border taskforce at Lagos airport.

She also announced that later in the week the UK will be signing a new agreement to repatriate money illegally removed from Kenya allowing it to be returned to its rightful owners.Theresa May has announced that the UK has secured its first post-Brexit trade deal during her trip to boost British exports in Africa.

The prime minister confirmed that Britain would replicate a deal the EU currently has with six southern African nations.

She also added that the UK would invest an additional 4bn in African economies, with the hope of further match investment from the private sector to come.

But the prime minister also faced accusations that she was playing catch in courting African trade, with France, the US and China all having made concerted efforts.

Speaking in Cape Town she said she wanted to see strong African economies that British companies can do business with adding that the integrated global economy means healthy African economies are good news for British people as well as African people.

She said: Thats why Im delighted that we will today confirm plans to carry over the European Unions Economic Partnership Agreement with the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and Mozambique once the EUs deal no longer applies to the UK.

As a Prime Minister who believes both in free markets and in nations and businesses acting in line with well-established rules and principles of conduct, I want to demonstrate to young Africans that their brightest future lies in a free and thriving private sector.

 Theresa May dances with children on trip to South Africa

Countries in the SACU agreement include Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland, with Mozambique also included in the pact with the EU that the UK will take on.

Britain plans to take on all of the EUs current trade deals after Brexit with agreement of the other countrys involved, but the announcement that the first has been locked in will be a boost to Ms May.

She had already let it be known that she was preparing to use the UKs aid and development spending to support Britains private sector in making greater investment in the continent.

The prime minister said the driving focus of the UKs development programme will be to ensure the governments in Africa have the environment, knowledge, institutions and support to private sector investment.

Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Show all 39 1 /39 Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures British Prime Minister Theresa May reviews a military guard of honour at the State House in Nairobi. May wraps up a three day tour of Africa in Kenya as she seeks to drum up post-Brexit deals before quitting the European Union on a continent which has increasingly looked elsewhere for trade and investment AFP/Getty Images Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May in breaks into dance whilst meeting with scouts at the United Nations offices in Nairobi on the third day of her visit to Africa PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May in breaks into dance whilst meeting with scouts at the United Nations offices in Nairobi on the third day of her visit to Africa PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May in breaks into dance whilst meeting with scouts at the United Nations offices in Nairobi on the third day of her visit to Africa PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May dancing with students and staff at ID Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May meets charity workers at a Salvation Army centre in Lagos, where modern slavery was discussed PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the State House in Nairobi to meet with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta welcomes Theresa May AP Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta address a press conference at the state house in Nairobi Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May with the President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta at the State House in Nairobi PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the State House in Nairobi, to meet the President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta, on the third day of her visit to Africa. PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May meets Nigerian President Buharia at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Nigeria EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May arrives in Abuja, Nigeria, on day two of her trip to Africa PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May arrives in Abuja, Nigeria on day two of her trip to Africa Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May arrives in Abuja, Nigeria on day two of her trip to Africa Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Nigerian President Buhari and Theresa May watch as the Nigerian Budget and National Planning Minister and the British Trade Policy Minister sign a bilateral agreement on Nigerian trade development EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May meets South African president Cyril Ramaphosa at DeTuynhuys Presidential Palace in Cape Town PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May meets students and staff at ID Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town, which is twinned with Whitby High School in Yorkshire PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May arrives in Abuja, Nigeria Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures The two schools are part of a British Council funded teacher exchange scheme called 'Connected Classrooms' AP Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures The Prime Minister enters the cell in which Nelson Mandela was held on Robben Island Cape Town PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May meets South African president Cyril Ramaphosa PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May dancing with students and staff at ID Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa take part in the ceremony to hand over the bell of the SS Mendi AFP/Getty Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May and South African president Cyril Ramaphosa shake hands PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May poses for a picture with school children Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa take part in the ceremony to hand over the bell of the SS Mendi AFP/Getty Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May dancing with students and staff at ID Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May exits stage right following an address to business leaders at the offices of First National Bank in Cape Town EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures A group of school children at the ID Mkhize Secondary School, take a selfie with a phone with a Union Jack cover Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures The Prime Minister is on day one of her trip to South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya on a trade mission designed to bolster the UK's post-Brexit fortunes PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May talks with students AP Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May speaks to business leaders at the offices of First National Bank in Cape Town EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May meets students and staff PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May is greeted by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May speaks to staff at I.D. Mkize Secondary School PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May is greeted by schoolchildren waving British and South African flags AFP/Getty Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May speaks to students PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May walks with Nomvula Mokonyane - the South African Minister of Communications - as she arrives at Cape Town airport PA

She added: And to help bring those investments about, I can today announce an additional 4bn programme of UK investment in African economies that will pave the way for at least another 4bn of private sector financing.

It came moments before she held a bilateral meeting with South African president Cyril Ramaphosa at which the agreement laying ground for the deal was to be set in stone.

But at a press conference after her speech Ms May was forced to deny she was late to the party, with African leaders she is meeting this week having already met and formed relations with leaders of other large economies  including President Trump, President Xi of China and Emmanuel Macron of France.Theresa May has come under fire for claiming to have secured the UKs first post-Brexit trade deal as it is merely a rollover of an existing EU agreement.

Critics said the announcement  to replicate a deal with six southern African nations  fell far short of boasts, before the referendum, of a new free trade area much larger than the EU.

They also pointed out that it came amid doubts about whether the UK will be able to retain deals the EU has struck recently with Canada and Japan  which are far bigger economies.

Last year, Britain exported 2.4bn worth of goods to the six African countries included in Ms Mays deal - just 0.7 per cent of the value of its exports to the EU and the rest of the world combined, which were worth 339bn.

The government has acknowledged the risk of a loss of trade after Brexit with such countries, admitting they could demand more favourable terms to agree a rollover with the UK.

Speaking in Cape Town, the prime minister announced an additional 4bn of UK investment in African economies, with the hope of further match investment from the private sector to come.

And she said: Thats why Im delighted that we will today confirm plans to carry over the European Unions Economic Partnership Agreement with the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) and Mozambique once the EUs deal no longer applies to the UK.

As a prime minister who believes both in free markets and in nations and businesses acting in line with well-established rules and principles of conduct, I want to demonstrate to young Africans that their brightest future lies in a free and thriving private sector.

Countries in the Sacu agreement include Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland, with Mozambique also included in the pact with the EU that the UK will take on.

Of those countries, South Africa was Britains largest trade partner in 2017, buying 2.4bn worth of exports, followed by Namibia (39m), Botswana (24m) and Mozambique (11m). Lesotho and Swaziland purchased less than a million pounds worth of exported goods from Britain each.

The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Show all 8 1 /8 The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Post-Brexit immigration workers sorting radishes on a production line at a farm in Norfolk. One possible post-Brexit immigration scheme could struggle to channel workers towards less attractive roles - while another may heighten the risk of labour exploitation, a new report warns. PA The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Customs union A key point in the negotiations remains Britain's access to, or withdrawal from, the EU customs union. Since the referendum there has been hot debate over the meaning of Brexit: would it entail a full withdrawal from the existing agreement, known as hard Brexit, or the soft version in which we would remain part of a common customs area for most goods, as Turkey does? No 10 has so far insisted that Brexit means Brexit and that Britain will be leaving the customs union, but may be inclined to change its position once the potential risks to the UKs economic outlook become clearer. Alamy The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Northern Ireland-Irish border Though progress was made last year, there has still been no solid agreement on whether there should be a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. To ensure borderless travel on the island, the countries must be in regulatory alignment and therefore adhere to the same rules as the customs union. In December, the Conservative Partys coalition partners, the DUP, refused a draft agreement that would place the UK/EU border in the Irish Sea due to its potential to undermine the union. May has promised that would not be the case and has suggested that a specific solution would need to be found. Getty The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Transition period Despite protests from a small number of Conservative MPs, the Government and the EU are largely in agreement that a transitional period is needed after Brexit. The talks, however, have reached an impasse. Though May has agreed that the UK will continue to contribute to the EU budget until 2021, the PM wants to be able to select which laws made during this time the UK will have to adhere to. Chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said the UK must adopt all of the laws passed during the transition, without any input from British ministers or MEPs. EPA The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Rights of EU citizens living the UK The Prime Minister has promised EU citizens already living in the UK the right to live and work here after Brexit, but the rights of those who arrive after Brexit day remains unclear. May insists that those who arrive during the transition period should not be allowed to stay, whereas the EU believe the cut-off point should be later. Getty The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Future trade agreement (with the EU) Despite this being a key issue in negotiations, the Government has yet to lay out exactly what it wants from a trade deal with the EU. Infighting within the Cabinet has prevented a solid position from being reached, with some MPs content that "no deal is better than a bad deal" while others rally behind single market access. The EU has already confirmed that access to the single market would be impossible without the UK remaining in the customs union. Getty The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Future trade agreements (internationally) The Government has already begun trying to woo foreign leaders into prospective trade agreements, with various high profile state visits to China, India and Canada for May, and the now infamous invitation to US President Donald Trump to visit London. However the UK cannot make trade agreements with another country while it is still a member of the EU, and the potential loss of trade with the world's major powers is a source of anxiety for the PM. The EU has said the UK cannot secure trade deals during the transition period. EPA The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Financial services Banks in the UK will be hit hard regardless of the Brexit outcome. The EU has refused to give British banks passporting rights to trade within the EU, dashing hopes of a special City deal. However according to new reports Germany has suggested allowing trade on the condition that the UK continues paying into the EU budget even after the transition period. Getty

But Tom Brake, the Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesman, said: Theresa May is clearly delusional.

Simply replicating deals already struck by the EU proves the Tories are in such a mess that their aspirations reach no higher than the status quo.

And Gareth Thomas, a Labour supporter of the Peoples Vote campaign for a fresh Brexit referendum, said: Two years ago, Brexiters were promising a new free-trade area 10 times the size of the EU.

Now theyre reduced to celebrating an agreement to roll over a fraction of the existing trade deals that we already benefit from as EU members.

Mr Thomas said that Brexit threatens to tear up fresh EU deals like the recent one with Japan.

Lord Boateng, a Labour peer who is chair of the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund, also warned the UKs trade drive had a lot of catching up to do with the likes of China, France, India and Germany.

Britain hopes to roll over all of the EUs current trade deals, with Chile, Israel, Egypt, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Switzerland and Turkey among others.

However, the government was forced to drop a claim that the process was assured, while maintaining that all partner countries have agreed to work with us to ensure continuity.

Separating agricultural quotas is believed to be a key controversy, some countries rejecting a plan by the EU and the UK to divide the allocations between them, after the UKs departure.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said strong trade ties with Africa will be crucial after Brexit, with 35 per cent of its exporting members sending their goods to Africa.

Mike Cherry, its national chairman, said: Export vouchers should be made available to small businesses, as this can pave the way to new export deals.

Our own figures have shown that members are increasingly looking at the emerging markets and its important that this continues in the coming years.The Home Office offered bonuses to the private firm responsible for removing Windrush citizens, on exceeding its deportation targets, newly released documents show.

Letters from the Home Office to a parliamentary committee also reveal the department may be withholding crucial evidence about wrongful detentions and removals from an inquiry into the scandal.

Figures released by the home secretary after a request by the Joint Committee on Human Rights show the departments contract with outsourcing company Capita gave the company a bonus payment of 2.5 per cent, above a certain target for removals from the UK. This increased to 12.5 per cent if the total exceeded the target by 10 per cent.

Harriet Harman, chair of the committee, wrote to Sajid Javid last month seeking details of the contract with Capita, which was contracted to deal with people who applied for leave to remain in the UK but had been refused  a position many of the Windrush citizens found themselves in.

The home secretary responded that Capita operated an outcome-based payment mechanism between 2012 and 2016, with no individual bonuses for staff. There were, however, overall incentives to beat removal targets, he added.

After the firm waived concerns about commercial sensitivity, the Home Office sent the committee the section of the contract detailing the incentive scheme, which showed the it was paid between 10.58 and 22.63 per person contacted who left the UK voluntarily.

A Capita spokesperson said the firm's role was to contact the list of individuals provided by the Home Office, and claimed it did not receive any incentive payments under Clause 1.5 of the contract.

Separate documents released by Mr Javid to the Committee also reveal that the department is producing only case summaries for the individuals identified to be shared with the independent reviewer, Wendy Williams, for further examination.

Recommended Court rules Home Office policy played no role in death of Windrush man

Ms Harman said it was crucial that the case files of Windrush citizens caught up in the scandal were revealed in full. In a letter to the home secretary, she cited the cases of Anthony Bryan and Paulette Wilson, whose files were released on the Committees request in June and revealed multiple failings by the Home Office.

The Home Office failed to take account of evidence that was on their files on multiple occasions and detained them without adequate justification, she wrote.

Earlier this month, Home Office figures revealed more than 160 Windrush citizens could have been wrongfully detained or deported from the UK.

Responding to the revelations on Capitas incentivised contract, shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, said: It is truly shocking that Home Office contracts explicitly incentivised Capita to profit from Theresa Mays deport-first, ask-questions-later approach.

The true scale of this scandal is still being revealed and the Home Office have not come clean about how many of our fellow citizens were deported, forced into so-called voluntary deportations or detained as prisoners in their own country.

Time and again under the Tories, private profit is put ahead of the public interest and even the rights of British citizens.

Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Show all 15 1 /15 Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK The ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush' arriving at Tilbury Docks from Jamaica, with 482 Jamaicans on board, emigrating to Britain. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Jamaican immigrants being welcomed by RAF officials from the Colonial Office after the ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush' landed them at Tilbury. PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Alford Gardner who arrived in Britain in 1948 on the first Windrush ship to dock in Tilbury, Essex, speaking at his home in Leeds PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Alford Gardner in Leeds shortly after he arrived in Britain in 1948 on the first Windrush ship to dock in Tilbury, Essex PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Gardner was 22 years old when he boarded the ship in Kingston, Jamaica, with his brother Gladstone before they and hundreds of Caribbean migrants called on to rebuild post-war Britain disembarked the ship in Tilbury Docks PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Alford Gardner (right), during his RAF service in 1947 PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK The son of Ruth Williams, a Windrush-generation immigrant, wants to the leave the country after threats of deportation. According to his mother, Mr Haynes applied for British citizenship in 2016 but was rejected, despite Ms Williams having lived in the UK almost permanently since arriving from St Vincent and the Grenadines in 1959. Ruth Williams, 75, said she felt "betrayed" by Britain after the Home Office twice turned down applications for her 35-year-old son, Mozi Haynes, to remain in the country. Ms Williams is understood to have cancer and said she relies heavily on her son for support. PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK The British liner 'Empire Windrush' at port in 1954. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Ruth Williams, 75, with her British passport. "I feel betrayed and a second class citizen in my own country," she said. "This makes me so sad and the Home Office must show some compassion. "I am unwell and almost 75, I live on my own and I need my son to stay here. I need my family around me and I cant face being alone. He has applied to the Home Office and been refused twice." PA Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK From the top, hopeful Jamaican boxers Charles Smith, Ten Ansel, Essi Reid, John Hazel, Boy Solas and manager Mortimer Martin arrive at Tilbury on the Empire Windrush in the hope of finding work in Britain. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Jamaicans reading a newspaper whilst on board the ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush' bound for Tilbury docks in Essex. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK After half a century in Britain, Anthony Bryan decided it was time to go abroad. But the decision set off a nightmare that saw him lose his job, detained twice and almost deported to Jamaica. AFP/Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Jamaica-born Anthony Bryan poses outside his home in Edmonton, north London. Now 60 and a grandfather, Bryan thought the issue could be resolved swiftly, as he legally moved to Britain with his family as part of the Windrush generation of Caribbean migrants after World War II. In 1948, the ship Windrush brought the first group of migrants from the West Indies to help rebuild post-war Britain, and many others followed from around the Commonwealth. A 1971 law gave them indefinite leave to remain, but many never formalised their status, often because they were children who came over on their parents' passports and then never applied for their own. AFP/Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Three Jamaican immigrants (left to right) John Hazel, a 21-year-old boxer, Harold Wilmot, 32, and John Richards, a 22-year-old carpenter, arriving at Tilbury on board the ex-troopship 'Empire Windrush', smartly dressed in zoot suits and trilby hats. Getty Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK Newly arrived Jamaican immigrants on board the 'Empire Windrush' at Tilbury in 1948. Getty

A Capita spokesperson said: In relation to the contact management and casework services contract, Capitas role was to contact the list of individuals provided by the Home Office.

"Capitas focus was on achieving quality targets and we did not receive any incentive payments under Clause 1.5 of the contract. The contract ended in October 2016.

A Home Office spokesperson said: Where someone is in the country illegally we will try, where possible, to secure a voluntary return. Our contract with Capita reflected this policy. This contract did not cover deportations.In an unexpected twist in President Donald Trumps recent scandal involving Stephanie Clifford, the pornographic film star known as Stormy Daniels, the signature Mr Trump failed to place on Ms Cliffords non-disclosure deal two years ago could play a decisive role.

If her lawyer has his way, there is a chance that the inch-long blank space could force President Trump to testify about what he knew of the arrangement.

The man who structured the hush-money payment, Mr Trumps former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to several charges in federal court.

Under the arrangement, Ms Clifford was paid $130,000 (100,800) just before the 2016 elections to not speak publicly about an affair that she said she had with Trump.

In admitting to the scheme, Michael Cohen not only implicated himself, but also possibly his former boss, in a violation of federal campaign-finance law.

It remains unclear, however, whether Mr Trump, as president, can be held accountable for that offence.

That is where the missing signature comes in.

This year, Ms Cliffords lawyer, Michael Avenatti, filed a lawsuit against President Trump and Mr Cohen, claiming that the non-disclosure contract was null and void because Mr Trump left empty the line where he was meant to write his name.

The lawsuit was stayed this spring after federal agents raided Cohens office and apartment, prompting him to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to avoid having to testify in the suit. A federal judge agreed that if Cohen became a witness in the lawsuit, he could expose himself to legal risks in the FBIs investigation.

The whole thing might have been dismissed as just another publicity stunt from Mr Avenatti, who has a penchant for making provocative statements about President Trump and who has even mused about running for president in 2020.

But now that Cohen has pleaded guilty, he may no longer be able  or choose  to avail himself of the Fifth Amendments safeguards.

Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Show all 16 1 /16 Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions New York Post Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The Washington Post Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Newsday Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions St Louis Post Dispatch Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Chicago Sun Times Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The Star Ledger Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Daily News Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The New York Times Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions San Francisco Chronicle Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The Boston Globe Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Houston Chronicle Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Miami Herald Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions Detroit Free Press Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The Wall Street Journal Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions The Dallas Morning News Trump's presidency: US media reacts to Manafort and Cohen convictions USA Today

Because of that development, Mr Avenatti vowed last week to ask the judge to lift the stay and to let him question President Trump about Ms Clifford by taking his deposition.

The developments of today will permit us to have the stay lifted in the civil case & should also permit us to proceed with an expedited deposition of Mr Trump under oath about what he knew, when he knew it, and what he did about it, Mr Avenatti wrote on Twitter on the day Cohen pleaded guilty.

We will disclose it all to the public.

The legal manoeuvre arguably remains something of a long shot for Mr Avenatti.

Still, if he is eventually permitted to depose President Trump, he could direct his enquiries towards several unanswered questions that have lingered at the heart of the hush-money arrangement:

Was Cohen indeed reimbursed, as prosecutors claim, by the Trump Organisation? Which executives there were involved in the transaction? Was the payment made, as Cohen noted in his guilty plea, to influence the election?

The non-disclosure agreement silencing Ms Clifford was dated 28 October 2016, and was meant to be signed by four people: her first lawyer, Keith Davidson; Cohen; Ms Clifford herself (who was identified as Peggy Peterson); and Mr Trump (who was identified as David Dennison.)

While it may be curious that Mr Trump never signed the deal, the omission squares with his latest explanation for his role in the imbroglio.

After denying for months that he slept with  or paid  Ms Clifford, the president said last week that even though he was the source of the money, Cohen struck the deal without his knowledge and that he learned about it only after it was written.

Charles Harder, a lawyer representing Mr Trump in the lawsuit, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Legal experts were divided about whether the missing signature was sufficient legal ground to take Mr Trumps deposition.

This is exactly the kind thing that Avenatti can take a deposition about, said Debra Katz, an employment and whistleblower lawyer based in Washington who has negotiated several non-disclosure deals. Because theres no criminal case pending now and Cohen is out of jeopardy, it would be appropriate for the court to lift the stay and let the case go forward.

But Douglas Wigdor, a New York lawyer who has represented several people  some with non-disclosure deals  who have sued Fox News for sexual harassment, said it was unlikely that the president could be deposed.

First, Mr Wigdor said, Cohen could ask for the stay to remain in place because his guilty plea does not immunise him from other potential charges, and he could thus still invoke his Fifth Amendment rights.

It also often happens, Mr Wigdor said, that executives of companies are sued, and the companies themselves negotiate the deals and pay the settlements without the executives ever being involved.

As long as Ms Clifford was paid, Mr Wigdor added, Trump could have known or not known  signed or not signed  it doesnt matter.

Wigdor pointed out that a separate lawsuit that Mr Avenatti filed in June, accusing Cohen and Mr Davidson of colluding to quash Ms Cliffords tale of an affair with Mr Trump, stood a better chance of resulting in depositions.

If it could be proved, Mr Wigdor said, that the two lawyers did collude with one another  especially for President Trumps benefit  then Mr Avenatti would have a stronger argument for asking President Trump what he knew about the deal.

Dolores Troiani, a lawyer who helped Andrea Constand overcome a non-disclosure agreement to testify against Bill Cosby, leading to his sexual-assault conviction this year, suggested that the smartest move for Mr Trump and his team would be to nullify Ms Cliffords contract on their own.

The president could be deposed, Ms Troiani said, only if he continues seeking to enforce the deal.

If there is no contract, then no one is breach of it  and its done, she said. My advice? Just let it go.

The New York TimesDefence Secretary James Mattis said Iran has been put on notice and that its continued mischief in the region will not be tolerated by Donald Trumps administration.

Mr Mattis called Iran the single biggest destabilising element in the Middle East during a rare press conference at the Pentagon along with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford.

Iran has been put on notice that the continued mischief theyve caused around the area, murder they have caused, and the regimes support of Syrian President Bashar al Assad, Mr Mattis said.

He warned they are going to be held to account for it but did not going into detail about what that entailed.

Mr Mattis has said before he felt Iran posed the largest threat to the US, possibly even more than North Korea though both have been at odds with the US over nuclear weapons for decades.

The Marine general did acknowledge he felt there was less willingness to be confrontational on Irans part, but added they are still fundamentally a destabilising factor in the region.

Mr Mattis also clarified: Our problem is not with Iran, its with the Iranian regime leadership, not the Iranian people. I just want to separate those two as well.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, addressing the country's economic woes exacerbated by US sanctions, said Tehran will defeat any "anti-Iranian" officials within the White House as it recovers from virtual economic isolation.

 White House: Trump will not allow Iran to keep making threats against US

One of the sticking points for Mr Mattis and the Trump administration is Irans involvement in the Syrian conflict, during which millions have died or fled the country under Mr Assads regime.

Mr Mattis asked emphatically, what are they doing in Syria in the first place?

He claimed Iran was propping up Mr Assad, who has committed mayhem and murder on his own people.

Answering his own question, the defence secretary said Iran has no business being in the middle of the civil war.

He added that the Trump administration is working with Russia, who may have the traction and persuasiveness to ask Iran to leave, but did not address the issue of Mr Assad asking Tehran to be involved in the first place.

On Syria, Mr Mattis noted the administrations goal is to move the country into the Geneva process in order to establish a government not led by Mr Assad.

President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time Show all 12 1 /12 President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time President Hassan Rouhani speaks at the Iranian Parliament in the capital Tehran AFP/Getty President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time It was the first time Rouhani had been summoned by parliament in his five years in power EPA President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time Getty President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time MPs demanded answers on unemployment, rising prices and the collapsing value of the rial, which has lost more than half its value since April AFP/Getty President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time AFP/Getty President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time AFP/Getty President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time AFP/Getty President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time AFP/Getty Images President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time AFP/Getty President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time AFP/Getty President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time AFP/Getty Images President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time EPA

Mr Assad has denied them [a future] with overt Russian and Iranian support.

Experts have said the US-Iran relationship has eroded under Mr Trump due to not re-certifying the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018.

Despite the evidence provided by the United Nations on Tehrans compliance with the deal, Mr Trump said it was too lenient on Iran and has maintained the idea that the country has violated portions of it.

Not re-certifying the 2015 deal and abandoning it meant opening the door for harsher economic sanctions to be placed on the country, the mitigation of which was a key inducement for Iran to comply with the historic deal which sought to stymie the development of its nuclear weapons development programme.

In a lengthy Facebook post, Barack Obama hit out at his successor for the decision to leave one of the key foreign policy accomplishments of his administration, calling it a serious mistake.

There are few issues more important to the security of the US than the potential spread of nuclear weapons, or the potential for even more destructive war in the Middle East. Thats why the US negotiated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in the first place, the former president had written.

He added: At a time when we are all rooting for diplomacy with North Korea to succeed, walking away from the JCPOA risks losing a deal that accomplishes  with Iran  the very outcome that we are pursuing with the North Koreans.For long, Defence Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory & Defence Food Research Laboratory have been supporting the armed forces.

Bengaluru: As Indian space scientists race to fly a couple of Indians to space in four years, two DRDO labs  DEBEL (Defence Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory), Bengaluru, and DFRL (Defence Food Research Laboratory), Mysuru, could well chip in with space suits and foodstuff for the crew.

For long, both these laboratories have been supporting the armed forces with DFRL even providing a variety of food packages to Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma (Retd) during his space journey onboard the Soviet Soyuz T-11 spacecraft in 1984. So, experts from these laboratories met the top brass at Isro and presented details of their capability to support the human space flight programme. We have said we have the technology to make space suits and food for space missions and will make them once specifications are given to us, Dr Upendra Kumar Singh, head of both these labs, told this newspaper.

He said DEBEL has the know-how to design and produce space suits given its long track record of supplying life protecting and life saving systems for all three wings of the armed forces. Pilots of IAF have been using G-suits, oxygen masks, helmets, cold weather suits, while those serving the army have been provided NBC (nuclear, biological and chemical) protective gear. Dr Singh said DFRL has the expertise in developing food for the armed forces serving in extreme weather conditions and in the process of rolling out in-flight eatables for long endurance fighter. Food should provide balanced nutrition for the health of those who will be chosen to work in space while being easy and safe to store and consumed under low gravity conditions. The packaging material used for space foods must be able to withstand extreme gravity conditions. So we will be able to play the role of a competent partner in the human space programme, he added.

All geared up

A formal announcement on all details of Gaganyaan, the human space mission, will be made in New Delhi on Tuesday by Jitendra Singh, MoS in the PMO, even as Isro chairman K. Sivan is set to meet Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa and formally seek the IAFs support for flying a couple of Indians to space by 2022. Dr Sivan said his organisation would bank on the IAFs support to a large extent to accomplish the missionVoters are going to the polls today in Florida, Arizona and Oklahoma for the 2018 primary elections.

The primaries will see the electorate choose their preferred Republican and Democratic gubernatorial and senate candidates ahead of November's midterms.

Here's everything you need to know.

Florida

In the race to replace the Sunshine State's outgoing two-term governor Rick Scott  now running for the Senate and expected to secure his place alongside the Democrat's Bill Nelson with ease  the Republican candidates are Ron DeSantis and Adam Putnam.

Three-term congressman Mr DeSantis is president Donald Trump's choice and is expected to win the day with that endorsement. He recently launched a campaign ad in which he urged his toddler daughter to "build that wall" with toy blocks, referring to the president's plan to build a wall with Mexico.

But Mr Putnam, state agriculture commissioner, has used the presidential nod to his advantage, portraying his opponent as little more than a Trump stooge as part of his appeal to the party's establishment.

A late poll conducted by Florida Politics puts Mr DeSantis in the lead with 57 per cent to Mr Putnam's 33 per cent, with 10 per cent refusing to commit.

Among the Democrats, Gwen Graham, a former member of Congress and daughter of governor and senator Bob Graham, leads the field and is expected to win.

Her rivals for the nomination include Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum, a left-leaning favourite of Bernie Sanders, could make a late surge, while former Miami Beach mayor Philip Levine and Palm Beach businessman Jeff Greene have their fans and have significant financial backing. Orlando entrepreneur Chris King is also in contention.

Florida Politics polling puts Ms Graham ahead with 32 per cent of the vote, Mr Gillum on 25 per cent, Mr Levine on 22 per cent, Mr Greene on 10 per cent and Mr King on 2 per cent. Nine per cent were undecided.

The anticipated winners will be Mr DeSantis and Ms Graham and the subsequent race is expected to be extremely close.

The vote comes just days after the latest mass shooting, at a video game tournament in Jacksonville, which could potentially impact upon voters at the ballot box, with Democratic candidates speaking out passionately against gun ownership laws.

Arizona

In Arizona, a Senate primary will see three senior Republicans bid to replace Jeff Flake, not seeking re-election: America's first female combat pilot Martha McSally, Dr Kelli Ward and controversial former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, pardoned by President Trump over a contempt of court conviction.

The contest has been overshadowed in recent days by the death on Saturday of John McCain, Arizona's longtime Republican senator.

All three Republicans had distanced themselves from Mr McCain, who frequently feuded with Trump, and Ward suggested that his announcement before his death that he was stopping medical treatment was timed to hurt her campaign.

Mr Trump has not endorsed a candidate and Ms McSally, the favourite, has faced questions over her loyalty to his cause.

The Democratic candidates are former Green Party activist Kysten Sinema and attorney Deedra Abboud, the former far better known, widely expected to win and expected to provide tough competition for the eventual Republican winner.

Meanwhile, in the competition for state governor, the Republican incumbent Doug Ducey is facing a challenge from his own side in Arizona's former secretary of state, Ken Bennett.

President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media Show all 16 1 /16 President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "You are fake news!" Then President-elect Trump directed this insult to CNN's Jim Acosta while refusing him a question at a press conference on January 11 2017. The President-elect's anger was due to the publishing by Buzzfeed of unverified memos that implicated Michael Cohen in Russian collusion. CNN had reported on a briefing of Obama and Trump on the memos by US intelligence chiefs, but knowing the content to be unverified had not revealed it AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth" President Trump said this of journalists during a visit to the CIA on the the day following his inauguration. His claim of having the largest crowd of any inauguration ceremony in history had been debunked and he clearly wasn't happy Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "Failing New York Times" President Trump commonly addresses the New York Times in this way, contrary to its increasing profit margins and expanding global readership. He is pictured here in the midtown Manhattan office of the paper Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "Enemy of the American People" President Trump has since repeated the claim that such news outlets are the enemy of the people, often after they break negative stories about him President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "They have no sources" Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 24 2017, President Trump suggested that a Washington Post article with 9 sources was "made up". The article in question exposed how then National Security Advisor Michael Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence over a phone call to a Russian ambassador. That the article was "made up", while highly doubtful at the time, seems even less likely since Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the same phone call Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media Access denied for major publications Protesters gathered outside of the New York Times office after Trump's White House barred a number of publications from attending a press briefing on February 24 2017. Just hours after the President had again denounced the media, then Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied access to news outlets such as CNN and the New York Times, while permitting Breitbart News, CBS, Fox and others AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "#FNN" On July 2 2017, President Trump tweeted an edited clip from his Wrestlemania XXIII appearance in which the CNN logo had been imposed onto the face of his wrestling opponent Vince McMahon. CNN is a common target for President Trump and here he suggests that he is getting the better of the network through his repeated attacks President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "The most powerful TV show in America" On July 27 2017, President Trump quoted a New York Times article about Fox & Friends. The President is known to watch Fox & Friends every morning, often tweeting about matters discussed on the show, leading to speculation over its influence on his outlook and policies Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "It's frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write" In a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on October 11 2017, President Trump suggested that the press ought not to be allowed their constitutionally secured freedom. He added "people should look into it", suggesting that he also doesn't respect the protection of sources. At the time, he was angry at an NBC report claiming that the President had expressed a desire to return the size of the US' nuclear arsenal to its 1960s height, a claim that he and others in his administration dismissed as fake news AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "negative (Fake)" In a tweet on 9 May 2018, President Trump conflated negative reporting about him with fake news President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "I didn't criticise the Prime Minister" In a press conference with the Prime Minister on his visit to Britain, President Trump disputed claims published in the Sun that he had criticised Mrs May's Brexit strategy Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "Horrible, horrendous people" At a Republican rally in Pennsylvania on August 3 2018, President Trump deemed all journalists in attendance "horrible, horrendous people". He later denounced the "fake, fake, disgusting news" for falsely reporting that he was late to his meeting with the Queen when visiting Britain AFP/Getty President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media Trump's rhetoric "very close to inciting violence" In an interview with the Guardian on 13 August 2018, the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein suggested that President Trump's attacks on the press are "very close to inciting violence". Zeid singles out the President's repeated claim that the fake news (negative coverage) media is the "enemy of the people" as dangerous Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "anonymous source" = fiction President Trump claimed that any report citing anonymous sources is fiction. The protection of sources is a vital matter of press freedom, without it a potential source's fear of repercussions could lead them to withhold important information President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "You are a rude, terrible person" At a press conference in the wake of the midterms, President Trump clashed with CNN's Jim Acosta when he asked about the President's use of language during the campaign Reuters President Trump's most shocking attacks on the media "I would never kill Journalists" For any journalists frightened by President Trump's attacks on the press, perhaps you can take solace in his words from a campaign rally in Grand Rapids on December 21 2015. Responding to remarks over Vladimir Putin's handling of journalists, Trump stated: "I hate some of these people, but I'd never kill them... I'll be honest - I would never kill them. Uhhh lets see.. no, I never would" Getty

Their Democratic rivals are David Garcia, a former Department of Education official, state senator Steve Farley and YMCA CEO Kelly Fryer.

Mr Ducey is expected to see off his Republican challenger while Mr Garcia is broadly expected to win out among the Democrats and would represent a progressive choice, backing universal healthcare and campaign finance reform.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma will see Republicans Mick Cornett and Kevin Stitt enter a run-off for the nomination to challenge Democrat Drew Edmondson for state governor, the latter securing his place in June, having previously run unsuccessfully in 2010.

Mr Cornett is Oklahoma City mayor while Mr Stitt is a Tulsa businessman offering himself as an outsider to the party establishment.

The two have already been chosen among 10 candidates to replace Mary Fallin, whose term of office has expired and who was widely unpopular after mishandling the state budget, resulting in cuts to public school funding and a round of teacher's strikes.Roger Stone, an associate of Donald Trump, said special prosecutor Robert Mueller is coming for me as part of the FBIs investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign team and Russian officials.

Mr Stone, in an email to supporters asking for assistance to fund the legal fees he anticipates occurring, also wrote he is on Mr Muellers hit list.

Im next on the crooked special prosecutors hit list because Ive advised Donald Trump for the past 39 years. I am being targeted not because I committed a crime, but because the deep state liberals want to silence me and pressure me to testify against my good friend, the email read.

Recommended Key Trump ally Roger Stone reveals new Russian contact

The longtime political consultant known for his opposition research told The Guardian via a text message, Mr Mueller may frame me for some bogus charge in order to silence me or induce me to testify against the president.

A fundraising website has also been set up by an accounting firm in Florida.

The url whoframedrogerstone.com appears to be a nod to the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

The website reads: The Congressional investigations into Roger are a runaway train. To silence Roger and destroy him and his family, the Clinton/Obama DNC and their sore loser supporters are suing Roger because they lost the election.

The website said Mr Stones legal fees could reach up to $2m (1.5m).

Mr Stone has also posted a video on Instagram in which he alleged somebody has been pushing a fake news story about how he had advanced knowledge of the Democratic National Committees hacked emails made public by Wikileaks during the summer of 2016.

The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Show all 17 1 /17 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Paul Manafort Mr Manafort is a Republican strategist and former Trump campaign manager. He resigned from that post over questions about his extensive lobbying overseas, including in Ukraine where he represented pro-Russian interests. Mr Manafort turned himself in at FBI headquarters to special counsel Robert Muellers team on Oct 30, 2017, after he was indicted under seal on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Getty The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rick Gates Mr Gates joined the Trump team in spring 2016, and served as a top aide until he left to work at the Republican National Committee after the departure of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mr Gates' had previously worked on several presidential campaigns, on international political campaigns in Europe and Africa, and had 15 years of political or financial experience with multinational firms, according to his bio. Mr Gates was indicted alongside Mr Manafort by special counsel Robert Mueller's team on charges that include conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading US Foreign Agents Registration Act statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. AP The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation George Papadopoulos George Papadopoulos was a former foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign, having joined around March 2016. Mr Papadopoulos plead guilty to federal charges for lying to the FBI as a part of a cooperation agreement with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Mr Papadopoulos claimed in an interview with the FBI that he had made contacts with Russian sources before joining the Trump campaign, but he actually began working with them after joining the team. Mr Papadopoulos allegedly took a meeting with a professor in London who reportedly told him that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The professor also allegedly introduced Mr Papadopoulos to a Russian who was said to have close ties to officials at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Papadopoulos also allegedly was in contact with a woman whom he incorrectly described in one email to others in the campaign as the "niece" to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twitter The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Donald Trump Jr The President's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer - Natalia Veselnitskaya - on 9 June 2016 at Trump Tower in New York. He said in an initial statement that the meeting was about Russia halting adoptions of its children by US citizens. Then, he said it was regarding the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. In a final statement, Mr Trump Jr released a chain of emails that revealed he took the meeting in hopes of getting information Ms Veselnitskaya had about Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. He and the President called it standard "opposition research" in the course of campaigning and that no information came from the meeting. The meeting was set up by an intermediary, Rob Goldstone. Jared Kushner and Paul Manafort were also at the same meeting. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jared Kushner Mr Kushner is President Donald Trump's son-in-law and a key adviser to the White House. He met with a Russian banker appointed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in December. Mr Kushner has said he did so in his role as an adviser to Mr Trump while the bank says he did so as a private developer. Mr Kushner has also volunteered to testify in the Senate about his role helping to arrange meetings between Trump advisers and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Rob Goldstone Former tabloid journalist and now music publicist Rob Goldstone is a contact of the Trump family through the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which took place in Moscow. In June 2016, he wrote to Donald Trump Jr offering a meeting with a Russian lawyer, Natalya Veselnitskaya, who had information about Hillary Clinton. Mr Goldstone was the intermediary for Russian pop star Emin Agalaraov and his father, real estate magnate Aras, who played a role in putting on the 2013 pageant. In an email chain released by Mr Trump Jr, Mr Goldstone seemed to indicate Russian government's support of Donald Trump's campaign. AP images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Aras and Emin Agalarov Aras Agalarov (R) is a wealthy Moscow-based real estate magnate and son Emin (L) is a pop star. Both played a role in putting on the previously Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. They allegedly had information about Hillary Clinton and offered that information to the Trump campaign through a lawyer with whom they had worked with, Natalia Veselnitskaya, and music publicist Rob Goldstone. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Natalia Veselnitskaya Natalia Veselnitskaya is a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin. She has worked on real estate issues and reportedly counted the FSB as a client in the past. She has ties to a Trump family connection, real estate magnate Aras Agalarov, who had helped set up the Trump-owned 2013 Miss Universe pageant which took place in Moscow. Ms Veselnitskaya met with Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort in Trump Tower on 9 June 2016 but denies the allegation that she went there promising information on Hillary Clinton's alleged financial ties to Russia. She contends that the meeting was about the US adoptions of Russian children being stopped by Moscow as a reaction to the Magnitsky Act, a US law blacklisting Russian human rights abusers. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Mike Flynn Mr Flynn was named as Trump's national security adviser but was forced to resign from his post for inappropriate communication with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. He had misrepresented a conversation he had with Mr Kislyak to Vice President Mike Pence, telling him wrongly that he had not discussed sanctions with the Russian. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sergey Kislyak Mr Kislyak, the former longtime Russian ambassador to the US, is at the centre of the web said to connect President Donald Trump's campaign with Russia. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Roger Stone Mr Stone is a former Trump adviser who worked on the political campaigns of Richard Nixon, George HW Bush, and Ronald Reagan. Mr Stone claimed repeatedly in the final months of the campaign that he had backchannel communications with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and that he knew the group was going to dump damaging documents to the campaign of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton - which did happen. Mr Stone also had contacts with the hacker Guccier 2.0 on Twitter, who claimed to have hacked the DNC and is linked to Russian intelligence services. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeff Sessions The US attorney general was forced to recuse himself from the Trump-Russia investigation after it was learned that he had lied about meeting with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Carter Page Mr Page is a former advisor to the Trump campaign and has a background working as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch. Mr Page met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr Page had invested in oil companies connected to Russia and had admitted that US Russia sanctions had hurt his bottom line. Reuters The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Jeffrey "JD" Gorden Mr Gordon met with Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 Republian National Convention to discuss how the US and Russia could work together to combat Islamist extremism should then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump win the election. The meeting came days before a massive leak of DNC emails that has been connected to Russia. Creative Commons The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation James Comey Mr Comey was fired from his post as head of the FBI by President Donald Trump. The timing of Mr Comey's firing raised questions around whether or not the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign may have played a role in the decision. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Preet Bharara Mr Bahara refused, alongside 46 other US district attorney's across the country, to resign once President Donald Trump took office after previous assurances from Mr Trump that he would keep his job. Mr Bahara had been heading up several investigations including one into one of President Donald Trump's favorite cable television channels Fox News. Several investigations would lead back to that district, too, including those into Mr Trump's campaign ties to Russia, and Mr Trump's assertion that Trump Tower was wiretapped on orders from his predecessor. Getty Images The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation Sally Yates Ms Yates, a former Deputy Attorney General, was running the Justice Department while President Donald Trump's pick for attorney general awaited confirmation. Ms Yates was later fired by Mr Trump from her temporary post over her refusal to implement Mr Trump's first travel ban. She had also warned the White House about potential ties former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to Russia after discovering those ties during the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's connections to Russia. Getty Images

This is categorically false, Mr Stone said in the video posted on 27 August.

Mr Stone has denied any wrongdoing but previously admitted to being in contact with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and Kremlin-linked hacker Guccifer 2.0. The Manhattan Madame Kristen Davis was also questioned as part of the Russia investigation, specifically about her relationship with Mr Stone.

His email plea comes just one week after two other associates of the president made headlines.

Paul Manafort, former 2016 campaign manager, was found guilty on eight counts of tax and bank fraud.

Mr Trumps former personal lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to eight similar counts of fraud and campaign finance violations. He also implied he committed the crimes at the behest of the president.With one eye on its international reputation after a deeply flawed general election, Cambodias government has released 14 opposition activists in what it says is a humanitarian gesture.

The pardons were granted by authoritarian prime minister Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia since 1985 and once again swept to victory in the election last month.

Critics say the vote was unfair because Cambodias courts, supportive of the government, dissolved the only credible political opposition in the country - the Cambodian National Rescue Party.

And crucially, the former leader of the opposition party, Kem Sokha, was not among the 14 members released on Tuesday. He has been denied his request to be released on bail, and still awaits trial after his arrest last November on the charge of plotting with America to overthrow the government. The charge is widely regarded as being politically motivated.

Those freed Tuesday were serving prison terms ranging from seven to 20 years, the longer sentences given to those seen as leaders of a street protest four years ago in Phnom Penh that turned violent.

By many accounts, the violence was started by pro-government agitators, and the arrests of the opposition members were seen as political persecution.

"We have been waiting a long time to see Cambodians really reconcile as a nation with democratic principles and respect for human rights," Meach Sovannara, one of the 14, told reporters after police dropped him off at his home in Phnom Penh.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

At least eight other people held on political charges have been freed with pardons or on bail since the beginning of last week. Hun Sen has a track record of cracking down harshly when he faces a serious challenge, only to ease up when he no longer feels threatened.

Sebastian Strangio, author of the book Hun Sen's Cambodia, said the pardons served a dual function of easing domestic political tensions and presenting Western critics with some marginal signs of democratic progress.

"This does not signify any substantial change in Hun Sen's mentality," he told the Reuters news agency.

"If the CPP faces a serious challenge before the next election, history suggests that Hun Sen will do whatever he needs to do in order to maintain his hold on power.

Government spokesman Phay Siphan said that the pardons were a "humanitarian" act by Hun Sen and not a response to international criticism.

But Champa Patel, head of the Asia programme at Chatham House, told The Independent the fact the government had chosen not to release opposition leader Kem Sokha "seems to signal that the release is more of a political ploy to appease international critics".

"Until the opposition leadership is released, and Cambodia National Rescue Party is able to operate again, then it is difficult to see these releases as some form of democratic progress," Dr Patel said.

"Arguably, should Hun Sen and the ruling party and their supporters feel his power was genuinely at risk, then one can imagine that he would easily revert back to repressive measures and arrests."The caning of two lesbian women by a religious court in Malaysia has been postponed amid outcry from human rights activists.

The women had pleaded guilty to charges of having lesbian sex, in a country where strict Islamic laws forbid "sodomy" as a crime and a threat to the Muslim-majority country's conservative values.

The couple was sentenced to a fine and six strokes of the cane, but the punishment - scheduled to take place on Tuesday - was postponed by a religious court in Terengganu due to "technical reasons".

Recommended Two women in Malaysia sentenced to caning for having sex

It is not yet a victory for rights groups - the Shariah High Court said the caning would still take place, now on 3 September.

"A few agencies will be involved in the punishment, and there are some technical issues that have yet to be resolved," court registrar Nurul Huda Abdul Rahman was quoted as saying by English-language daily The Star.

Court officials involved in the case could not be reached by telephone to seek a comment.

Civil rights groups say intolerance towards the LGBT community in Malaysia has been increasing in recent months.

A transgender woman was brutally beaten up by a group of assailants in Seremban, south of Kuala Lumpur on 15 August, in what activists said was part of a growing hostility towards gay and transgender people in Malaysia.

Authorities removed the portraits of two LGBT activists from a public photography exhibition earlier this month, saying they promoted LGBT activities.

Additional reporting by ReutersEmmanuel Macrons environment minister has dramatically quit the French government live on air, questioning whether the administration is truly committed to green issues.

Nicolas Hulot, a high-profile former television personality, told France Inter radio on Tuesday morning that he no longer wanted to give the impression that were up to standard on these issues and so I am deciding to quit the government.

In an emotional address, the long-time environmentalist said his tenure had been an accumulation of disappointments. He also claimed he felt all alone in pushing for environmental priorities in government.

Its a decision of honesty and responsibility, he added, stating that it was the most difficult decision of my life.

Mr Macrons recruitment of Mr Hulot was seen as a coup for his environmental credentials because the sought-after activist had previously refused to be a minister for presidential predecessors Jacques Chirac, Nicholas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande.

The resignation is a blow for the French president, who has presented himself as the defender of the Paris climate agreement on the world stage.

The outgoing minister said that he had not told his cabinet colleagues about his resignation beforehand as they would only have tried to dissuade him from quitting. The radio presenter on the programme the minister was appearing on also appeared not to know about the resignation, asking him: Are you serious?

One thing I dont do well is lying  especially to myself Nicholas Hulot earlier this year

Mr Hulot said despite the policy problems both Mr Macron and the prime minister Edouard Philippe were always affectionate and loyal to me during his tenure.

Responding to the resignation, a spokesperson for the French government said: Its his way of doing things. I think the most basic courtesy would have been to warn the president of the Republic and the prime minister.

Mr Hulot had previously warned that the governments ambitious environmental agenda had been a flop. In May of this year he warned he would consider his position over the summer, telling the French media: One thing I dont do well is lying  especially to myself. By this summer I will have enough elements to be able to evaluate if I can actually contribute to this societal transformation.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

Setbacks the minister has faced have included ditching an objective to reduce dependency on nuclear power, while he has been successful in getting the government to scrap plans for a polluting new airport.

Mr Macrons already low approval rating dropped to a new record low over the weekend. An Ifop poll for Le Journal du Dimanche published this Sunday showed 34 per cent of the public had a favourable opinion of the president, down five from last month. His dissatisfaction rating meanwhile rose five points in a month to 66 per cent.Irans President Hassan Rouhani has vowed to fight crippling US sanctions on the country while defending his cabinets performance after he was summoned by the Iranian parliament for the first time to explain the countrys worsening economic crisis.

Mr Rouhani, a relative moderate and pragmatist, is under pressure to reshuffle his government amid soaring prices and rising unemployment that sparked a wave of unrest in the country.

He was ordered by the legislative body to attend Tuesdays session to answer questions. However, MPs were unconvinced with his answers and have referred the case to the judiciary, according to local news agencies.

The countrys economic woes worsened after US President Donald Trump ordered in May that sanctions be reimposed when he pulled out of a 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran and other western powers.

Recommended Brawl breaks out in Iranian parliament after minister sacked

This month, Washingtons new measures have impacted Irans trade in gold and other precious metals, its purchases of US dollars and its car industry. It will only get worse in November when fresh sanctions are expected to target Iranian oil sales.

Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Rouhani promised his government would defeat any US plot against the Islamic Republic.

He attempted to deflect blame, saying a sweep of anti-government protests which started in December tempted Mr Trump to ditch the nuclear deal, exacerbating the crisis.

I want to assure the Iranian nation that we will not allow the US plot against the Islamic Republic to succeed, he said in a televised speech during the session.

We will not let this bunch of anti-Iranians in the White House be able to plot against us. We are not afraid of America or the economic problems. We will overcome the troubles, he added.

While admitting that the countrys economic woes were critical, he blamed anti-government rallies for encouraging the US measures. He urged MPs to support his cabinet and not add to anti-government sentiment.

The protests tempted Trump to withdraw from the nuclear deal, he said.

Be aware that sabotage creates destruction. Be aware that painting a bleak picture of peoples lives will lead to further darkness.

Mr Rouhanis administration has faced mounting pressure to fix Irans economy, which has been dogged by high unemployment and the collapse of the countrys currency, the rial, which has lost half of its value since April.

However, the presidents speech on Tuesday did little to assuage fears.

MPs did not find his answers satisfying and they voted to refer the matter to the judiciary, Irans Tasnim news agency reported. Mr Rouhani was apparently quizzed on five issues, including failing to curb smuggling, the continuation of sanctions on Irans banks, the worsening unemployment rate, and the economic recession.

President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time Show all 12 1 /12 President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time President Hassan Rouhani speaks at the Iranian Parliament in the capital Tehran AFP/Getty President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time It was the first time Rouhani had been summoned by parliament in his five years in power EPA President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time Getty President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time MPs demanded answers on unemployment, rising prices and the collapsing value of the rial, which has lost more than half its value since April AFP/Getty President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time AFP/Getty President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time AFP/Getty President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time AFP/Getty President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time AFP/Getty Images President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time AFP/Getty President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time AFP/Getty President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time AFP/Getty Images President Rouhani summoned to Iran parliament for first time EPA

The move came just a day after scuffles broke out in parliament when it voted to sack the countrys economic and finance minister Masoud Karbasian.

Supporters and opponents of the embattled minister fought as they debated his possible impeachment, according to the European Pressphoto Agency.

He was removed from office after a narrow parliamentary vote of 137 to 121.

Mr Karbasians departure follows the demise of Irans labour minister Ali Rabiei who was also relieved of his responsibilities earlier this month. Mr Rouhani had earlier removed the head of the central bank in July.

Clashes break out after Iran parliament impeaches economy minister Show all 10 1 /10 Clashes break out after Iran parliament impeaches economy minister Clashes break out after Iran parliament impeaches economy minister Iranian lawmakers, some supporting and some other opposing the impeachment of Iranian Economy and Finance Minister Masoud Karbasian, argue during an impeachment session at the Iranian Parliament in Tehran EPA Clashes break out after Iran parliament impeaches economy minister Media reported that parliament sacked Karbasian as Minister of Economy and Finance as Iran is facing an economic crisis EPA Clashes break out after Iran parliament impeaches economy minister EPA Clashes break out after Iran parliament impeaches economy minister The parliament impeached Economy Minister Masoud Karbasian and on the day voted to sack him AFP/Getty Images Clashes break out after Iran parliament impeaches economy minister EPA Clashes break out after Iran parliament impeaches economy minister Karbasian is the second minister in President Hassan Rouhani's cabinet to be impeached this month, following the removal of Labour Minister Ali Rabiei on August 8 EPA Clashes break out after Iran parliament impeaches economy minister EPA Clashes break out after Iran parliament impeaches economy minister Iranian MPs gesure while the Economy Minister speaks AFP/Getty Images Clashes break out after Iran parliament impeaches economy minister EPA Clashes break out after Iran parliament impeaches economy minister EPA

Britain, Russia, China and France are trying to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal to which they are signatories. Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, sanctions against Iran were lifted in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme.

But their companies now face the risk of US penalties if they continue to do business with Iran.

Washington has defended its decision to ditch the deal, maintaining that Tehran is still working to create nuclear weapons while supporting armed groups against US allies in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.The Israeli military has demolished the family home of a Palestinian teenager who stabbed to death an Israeli settler and was later shot dead during the attack last month.

Footage shared by the military showed soldiers in a late night raid accompanying a bulldozer as it tore down the building in the village of Kobar, north of the Palestinian city of Ramallah.

Scuffles erupted between the Palestinians opposed to demolition and the soldiers, according to both the military and witnesses.

The army reported that dozens of Palestinians hurled rocks, firebombs and pipe bombs at troops, who in turn responded with riot dispersal means.

Mohammed Tareq Ibraham Dar Youssef, 17, entered the nearby settlement of Adam on 26 July, and stabbed three people, killing Yotam Ovadia, 31, a father-of-two and seriously wounding a 58-year-old man. A third injured man subsequently shot the Palestinian, killing him, according to the Israeli military.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Twitter on Tuesday he had kept the promise made to Mr Ovadias widow to destroy the house quickly, adding: tonight that circle was closed.

Lt Colonel Liron Appleman, commander of the battalion that oversaw the operation, said in a video shared by the army that the house demolition was part of a month-long operation to thwart terror in the area.

It is important to know that we will continue operating accurately and sharply wherever were needed, he added.

Dar Youssef's family, however, said demolishing their home amounted to collective punishment .

Khaled Abu Ayyoush, Dar Youssefs uncle, said the teenagers parents, two brothers and two sisters had lived in the now destroyed house and had known nothing of Dar Youssefs intention to carry out an attack.

"Why are they at fault? Israel's continued policy of collective punishment is merciless," said Mr Abu Ayyoush, adding that it did not take into account that Dar Yosusef was under 18 years old.

Israel's Supreme Court has upheld the countrys controversial demolition policy as a deterrent to potential attackers, although it has been criticised by some Israeli officials and rights groups.

Palestinian attacks on Israelis, including stabbings and car-ramming, have become less frequent in the West Bank since their height in 2015. However, tensions have soared since December when US President Donald Trump declared Jerusalem, a contested city, to be the capital of Israel.

Palestinians maintain that Israels expansion of settlements into occupied territory undermines their right to establish a state in the West Bank and Gaza. The building of settlements is illegal under international law.

Over the last few weeks, Israel has advanced plans to construct 2,000 new settlement units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including over 300 in Adam, a move the European Union and the UK said they strongly opposed.

The EU said in a statement released last week that the move was illegal and if implemented, these plans would further jeopardise the prospect of a contiguous and viable future Palestinian state.A teenager in Morocco said she was held for two months and gang raped by men who forcibly tattooed swastikas over her body, sparking uproar in the country.

The 17-year-old, identified only as Khadija, appeared in an interview on local TV network Chouf last week, prompting outrage and calls for Moroccos King Mohammed VI to intervene and help.

In the footage, crude tattoos of the Nazi symbol, expletives, names and drawings are shown etched into her skin, alongside cigarette burns and bruises.

She told the network she had been held and repeatedly raped for two months by over a dozen men after being kidnapped from a relatives home in Oulad Ayad town, in central Morocco.

Recommended Video of Moroccan woman being sexually assaulted on bus sparks outrage

During the month of Ramadan, I went to spend a week with my aunt. I was at the door of the home of my aunt and a group of men kidnapped me and took me to an empty lot that I did not know, she told the network.

They held me for about two months, and raped and tortured me  I will never forgive them. They have destroyed me, she added.

She said that she tried to run away several times but that they caught and beat her.

Khadija shows the cigarette burns and tattoos over her body after being held by a gang of rapists (choufTV)

They are criminals who did not give me food or drink and did not allow me to wash, she added.

After two months, her father allegedly struck a deal where they agreed to release her if he promised not to tell the police. She said she was driven home on a motorcycle and dumped outside her house.

Horrified by her ordeal, hundreds have launched online protests demanding the perpetrators be punished and that the authorities better protect women. Others have taken to social media to post about her plight under the hashtags  Justice for Khadija and We are all Khadija.

Meanwhile, over 25,000 have signed a petition urging King Mohammed VI to provide the girl with psychological and medical care.

During her captivity, she was subjected to every torture imaginable: she was repeatedly raped by 15 men, beaten, deprived of food and basic sanitary needs, and had her body forcibly tattooed by her captors, the petition reads.

The teenager was tattooed with Nazi symbols, expletives and names (aljarida24)

We hope to voice our indignation and outrage for what happened to this young girl, and also to give her emotional support to rebuild her life and financial support to remove the tattoos, it added.

Naima Ouahli, of the Moroccan Association of Human Rights, told AFP that a total of 12 suspects had been rounded up. The first hearing is due to take place at Beni Mellal court, where the village is located, on 6 September.

Sexual harassment, violence and abuse of women is rife in Morocco. Last year 1,600 cases of rape were heard by Moroccan courts, twice as many as previous years. Nearly two-thirds of women have experienced some form of abuse, according to a 2009 national survey.

 Women shown how to hide signs of domestic violence by state TV in Morocco

In March of this year, a Moroccan man was arrested after a horrific video emerged showing him wrestling a young girl to the ground and stripping her.

Last August, mass protests were held when another video emerged showing the aggressive sexual assault of a young woman with learning difficulties by a group of teenagers on a bus.

The state has tried to curb the violence. In February it adopted of a new law criminalising forms of domestic violence, and established protection for survivors.

In January 2014 Morocco also scrapped controversial legislation that allowed child rapists to escape punishment if they marry their victims. Several other countries, including Tunisia, followed suit.The United Arab Emirates has denied reports that the Shia Houthi rebel group in Yemen attacked Dubai International airport with drones.

The Iran-backed rebels claimed on Monday that a Samad-3 drone had hit the worlds third busiest airport, successfully disrupting air traffic for some time.

The UAEs General Civil Aviation Authority vehemently denied the accusations in a statement to official news agency WAM affirming UAE air traffic operates business as usual.

Several passengers at Dubai airport also denied the disruption shortly after the news broke, sharing videos on Twitter from within the terminal buildings.

Dubais airport is the third busiest in the world, according to the Airports Council International, which said that 88 million passengers passed through its terminals in 2017.

The UAE is part of a Saudi Arabia-led coalition that has been fighting to oust the Houthi rebels and reinstate Yemens recognised government since 2015.

The Gulf alliance launched a bombing campaign and ground invasion three years ago, fearing Iranian expansionism on their doorstep after the Houthis swept control of most of the country.

A spokesperson for the Houthi military forces, which controls Yemens capital Sanaa, told the Houthi-controlled Saba news network on Monday that the drone strike was in response to what it called Gulf coalition crimes.

After the bombing of Dubai airport with a [Samad-3], all the strategic areas of the UAE are in the range of air force fire, the spokesperson added.

The Houthis previously claimed in July to have targeted Abu Dhabi airport with a similar drone. The UAE also denied those accusations.

However, the Gulf coalition has become increasingly concerned by the capabilities of the rebel group that has successfully hit several targets within bordering Saudi Arabia.

In March, one Egyptian migrant worker was killed when the Houthis fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at Riyadh, over 540 miles away from northern Yemen.

Last week the rebels claimed to have fired two Zelzal-1 Iranian-made missiles at a gathering of Saudi soldiers in neighbouring Jizan and Najran. The Saudi authorities did not comment on the claim.

The three-year conflict in Yemen has devastated the country and sparked the worlds largest humanitarian crisis in terms of numbers, according to the United Nations.

Brutal effects of Yemeni war Show all 12 1 /12 Brutal effects of Yemeni war Brutal effects of Yemeni war Yemen organised by the UAE's National Media Council shows a Yemeni woman holding a child diagnosed with malnutrition at a hospital in the southeastern port city of Mukalla, the capital Hadramawt province AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war Mohamed, 2, is treated for Malnutrition in Mukalla, the capital Hadramawt province, Yemen Bel Trew Brutal effects of Yemeni war a trip in Yemen organised by the UAE's National Media Council (NMC) shows a Yemeni woman holding a child diagnosed with malnutrition at a hospital in the southeastern port city of Mukalla, the capital Hadramawt province. AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war UAE's National Media Council (NMC) shows a Yemeni woman sitting next to a child diagnosed with malnutrition at a hospital in the southeastern port city of Mukalla, the capital Hadramawt province. AFP/Getty Brutal effects of Yemeni war AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war Mohamed, 2, is treated for Malnutrition in Mukalla, the capital Hadramawt province, Yemen Bel Trew Brutal effects of Yemeni war A Yemeni child suffering from malnutrition is weighed at a hospital in the northern district of Abs, in Yemen's Hajjah province AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war A Yemeni child suffering from malnutrition awaits treatment at a hospital in the northern district of Abs, in Yemen's Hajjah province AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war A Yemeni child suffering from malnutrition awaits treatment at a hospital in the northern district of Abs, in Yemen's Hajjah province AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war Yemeni nurses weigh a malnourished child at a hospital in the northern district of Yemen's Hajjah province AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war A Yemeni woman carries a malnourished child as she waits during food distribution in the province of Hodeida AFP/Getty Brutal effects of Yemeni war AFP/Getty Images

Over 22 million people, or three-quarters of the population, now rely on humanitarian aid to survive. At least 8 million people, including hundreds of thousands of children, are starving.

The Saudi-led coalition has faced heavy criticism for a high civilian death toll in its air strikes and for a crippling air, sea and land blockade on much of country, which it says is essential to stop the flow of weapons to the Houthis.

The Houthis, meanwhile, have been accused of laying siege to pro-government areas, halting the delivery of aid and indiscriminate shelling.

There is little hope for peace talks, hosted by the United Nations, which are expected to take place at the start of September in Geneva.Both sides in the ongoing conflict in Yemen may have committed war crimes in the three-year civil war, a United Nations body has said.

A group of regional and international experts gathered by the UN said in a report that both the rebel Houthis and the coalition supporting the Yemeni government had perpetrated  and continue to perpetrate  violations and crimes under international law.

The crimes include human rights violations such as arbitrary detention, rape, torture and child recruitment, as well as violations of freedom of expression and of economic, social and cultural rights. Some of the violations may amount to war crimes, pending the decision of an independent court, according to the group.

The conflict in Yemen has raged since 2015, when Saudi Arabia formed a coalition to fight back against Houthi rebels who took control of the capital and forced President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee.

The coalition officially includes Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan and Senegal, but the US has also launched airstrikes on al-Qaeda and Isis targets in the country.

The report specifically mentions the use of airstrikes, which the experts said may violate the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution. The airstrikes are responsible for the majority of the civilian casualties, the experts said, and have struck residential areas as well as markets, funerals, weddings and medical facilities. An estimated 6,600 civilians have died in the conflict since March 2015, according to the group.

 Malnutrition centre in Mukalla, Yemen provides care for children suffering hunger and famine

There is little evidence of any attempt by parties to the conflict to minimise civilian casualties, the groups chairperson, Kamel Jendoubi, said in a statement accompanying the 41-page report. I call on them to prioritise human dignity in this forgotten conflict.

The report spurred calls to action from humans rights groups such as Save the Children, which called on the UK to immediately suspend arms sales to all parties, and to make it clear that deliberate or disproportionate attacks on civilians are never acceptable.

Kristine Beckerle, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, said the report painted a pretty damning picture of the airstrikes in Yemen and of the human rights abuses on the ground.

I would hope that that sort of evidence ... would really push those supporting the coalition currently to reflect and think about the ways in which they can use their leverage, including by stopping weapons supplies, she told The Independent.

Brutal effects of Yemeni war Show all 12 1 /12 Brutal effects of Yemeni war Brutal effects of Yemeni war Yemen organised by the UAE's National Media Council shows a Yemeni woman holding a child diagnosed with malnutrition at a hospital in the southeastern port city of Mukalla, the capital Hadramawt province AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war Mohamed, 2, is treated for Malnutrition in Mukalla, the capital Hadramawt province, Yemen Bel Trew Brutal effects of Yemeni war a trip in Yemen organised by the UAE's National Media Council (NMC) shows a Yemeni woman holding a child diagnosed with malnutrition at a hospital in the southeastern port city of Mukalla, the capital Hadramawt province. AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war UAE's National Media Council (NMC) shows a Yemeni woman sitting next to a child diagnosed with malnutrition at a hospital in the southeastern port city of Mukalla, the capital Hadramawt province. AFP/Getty Brutal effects of Yemeni war AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war Mohamed, 2, is treated for Malnutrition in Mukalla, the capital Hadramawt province, Yemen Bel Trew Brutal effects of Yemeni war A Yemeni child suffering from malnutrition is weighed at a hospital in the northern district of Abs, in Yemen's Hajjah province AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war A Yemeni child suffering from malnutrition awaits treatment at a hospital in the northern district of Abs, in Yemen's Hajjah province AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war A Yemeni child suffering from malnutrition awaits treatment at a hospital in the northern district of Abs, in Yemen's Hajjah province AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war Yemeni nurses weigh a malnourished child at a hospital in the northern district of Yemen's Hajjah province AFP/Getty Images Brutal effects of Yemeni war A Yemeni woman carries a malnourished child as she waits during food distribution in the province of Hodeida AFP/Getty Brutal effects of Yemeni war AFP/Getty Images

The US, UK and France have all helped supply the Saudi-led coalition with weapons in the conflict. US president Donald Trump resumed the sale of some $500m in munitions to Saudi Arabia shortly after taking office  a sale that had been suspended by former president Barack Obama over concerns about civilian causalities.

The US has accused Iran of arming the Houthi rebels, though the country has denied doing so. In a clear reference to this international involvement, the report calls on foreign countries to refrain from providing arms that could be used in the conflict.

US defence secretary James Mattis said on Tuesday that Americas goal was to keep human cost at an absolute minimum, but maintained the countrys support for the Saudi-led coalition.

We reviewed the support for the Arab coalition when we came into office: we determined that it was the right thing to do to support them in the defence of their own countries but also to restore the rightful government there, Mr Mattis said at a press conference.

Anwar Gargash, foreign affairs minister for the UAE, said on Twitter that the country would review what the report said about the horrors of the Houthis. Saudi state media said the coalition had received the report and forwarded it to their lawyers.

The UN experts called on both sides of the conflict to cease violence against civilians, and to allow the safe and expeditious entry of humanitarian supplies into the country. They have also submitted a confidential list of people who may have committed international crimes to the UNs high commissioner for human rights.The Congress also raised the issue of womens reservation in the Parliament and state legislatures and that of electoral bonds.

New Delhi: The Opposition parties on Monday demanded that the Election Commission (EC) either consider reverting to physical ballot paper for polling or the cross-checking of at least 30 per cent of the voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT). The EC responded by saying that it would provide satisfactory solution to the concerns raised by political parties on the EVMs.

The proposal for a return to ballot paper was made by the Opposition parties, which included Congress, SP, BSP, TMC, the Forward Bloc, CPI(M), CPI, and NCP.

Almost 70 per cent of the parties present agreed to the need to revert to ballot paper, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told the media after an all party meeting was called by the EC on electoral matters.

In case it cannot be done before the 2019 polls, we have proposed that voting be made more secure by making 30 per cent of all VVPAT verifiable, he added.

Responding to these demands, chief Election Commissioner O.P Rawat said, We will definitely look into all the suggestions given by them (political parties) and there will be a satisfactory solution. The Opposition parties also raised issues of EVM tampering and technical glitches in the VVPAT system.

Mr Singhvi said that Congress, which was represented by Mukul Wasnik and Mohammed Khan, also took up the issue of accuracy of electoral rolls and duplicate entries in it.

Senior officials of the EC said that though nothing has been finalised as of yet, one way to allay the fears of the parties was to increase the number of constituencies wh-ere EVM and paper trail machine results match.

Some of the parties said going back to ballot is really bad as it will bring back booth capturing. We dont want (that). At the same time, some parties said there are problems with EVMs and issues with VVPAT slip count and EC should take a call on this, Mr Rawat said.

The Congress also raised the issue of womens reservation in the Parliament and state legislatures and that of electoral bonds.Cate Blanchett has urged the United Nations not to "fail the Rohingya again" in an impassioned speech before the world body.

Speaking on the first anniversary of the outbreak of violence that drove hundreds of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims from their homes in the western Rakhine state, she said the world had already failed the minority group before.

"Please lets not fail them again," she said to the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

A recent UN report by independent investigators stated Myanmars military carried out mass killings, gang rapes, burning whole villages down, and other atrocities with a genocidal intent.

The report also recommended the prosecution of the countrys commander in chief and five generals.

In Tuesday's meeting, Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the points made in the report deserve serious consideration but stopped short of using the word 'genocide' in his prepared remarks.

 Interview with Keya, who is working in Cox's Bazar refugee camp where Rohingya people are living in temporary shelter

He referenced the report, however, and said the violations documented undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law.

Mr Guterres was emphatic in thanking Bangladesh for taking in the approximately 700,000 Rohingya refugees who had been forced to flee Rakhine state, across the border.

Ms Blanchett said it was one of the most visible and significant gestures of humanity.

Bangladesh is already experiencing its own economic and development issues, coupled with inevitable infrastructure damage after monsoons.

She noted on her visit to Coxs Bazar last year, the area in Bangladesh to which many of the refugees have fled, many of the surrounding villagers have taken extra people into their homes and shelters.

Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Show all 30 1 /30 Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya women and children wait in line for a food distribution of super cereal at Action Against Hunger Getty Images Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees gather near the fence in the "no man's land" zone between Myanmar and Bangladesh border AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya women cry as they shout slogans during a protest rally to commemorate the first anniversary of Myanmar army's crackdown AP Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures A Rohingya Muslim child holding an umbrella while under the rain AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees cry as they pray during a gathering to commemorate the first anniversary of Myanmar army's crackdown which lead to a mass exodus of Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh AP Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Police stand near the checkpoint at the Shwe Zar village in Maungdaw township, Rakhine State, western Myanmar EPA Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures A group of Rohingya refugee children stand at a makeshift camp EPA Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugee Juhara, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, poses for a portrait at the Kutapalong refugee camp near Cox's Bazar in southern Bangladesh. Juhara passes her days carting water with difficulty to thirsty bricklayers working in a bustling corner of Cox's Bazar. She has just one hand - the other was cleaved off in a raid on her village after the August 25 clampdown started last year. Her husband and parents were killed. The 40-year-old said she ran for her life but was hunted down and savagely attacked AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees walk on a road along a makeshift camp in Kutubpalang EPA Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees are seen outside of their makeshift tent in the Kutupalong camp in Cox's Bazar Reuters Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Thousands of Rohingya refugees staged protests for "justice" on August 25 on the first anniversary of a Myanmar military crackdown that forced them to flee to camps in Bangladesh AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures A Rohingya refugee child looks through a window at a makeshift camp in Teknuf EPA Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugee women hold placards as they take part in a protest at the Kutupalong refugee camp Reuters Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures A young Rohingya boy waits in line for a food Getty Images Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees shout slogans during a protest march AFP/Getty Images Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugee girl with other children at a makeshift camp in Teknuf in Cox's Bazar EPA Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya women protest on the first anniversary of the Rohingya crisis Getty Images Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya women and children receive super cereal at Action Against Hunger Getty Images Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya girls share a laugh in Kutupalong, the largest refugee camp housing the Rohingya Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees gather near the fence in the "no man's land" zone between Myanmar and Bangladesh border AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees attend a ceremony organised to remember the first anniversary of a military crackdown that prompted a massive exodus of people from Myanmar to Bangladesh AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rashida Begum, a Rohingya refugee woman walks on the Kutupalong camp in Cox's Bazar Reuters Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures A Rohingya refugee bursts into tears as she shouts slogans during a protest march AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugee baby Nur Sadek two years old undergoing treatment at a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) hospital in Teknuf in Cox's Bazar EPA Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees protest Getty Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees perform prayers AFP/Getty Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rashida Begum, a Rohingya refugee woman bathes her son in the Kutupalong camp Reuters Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees protest Getty Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya refugees walk on a muddy road EPA Rohingya crisis one year on  Myanmar camps in pictures Rohingya women and children wait in line for a food distribution of super cereal at Action Against Hunger Getty

Their needs are vast and the suffering acute she said, but if people with so little can step up, why cant we do it better?

Mr Guterres made a plea for more international cooperation in providing relief for the refugees, noting the efforts are still significantly underfunded - only 33 per cent of needed funds have come in from other countries.

He was also clear, money is not the only need at this point. The goal of the UN is to see the safe and dignified return of the Rohingya Muslims to Rakhine.

"There can be no excuse for delaying the search for dignified solutions that will allow people to return to their areas of origin in safety and dignity, in line with international standards and human rights, he said.

Ms Blanchett noted this meant full citizenship rights which would ensure the population had access to education, healthcare, and could feel relatively safe from harm from the military and government.

There are no shortcuts, no alternatives, she said.Its 10am, and Im lounging around in my PJs. This isn't that surprising  but Im on a retreat.

Ive not had to get up at dawn to salute the sun, force anything green down my throat, engage my abs, lift my pelvic floor, pretend to be a cobra, a cat, a dog or, thank the heavens, a Buddhist monk. Neither will I have to go on midday forest bathing walks, evening talks on mindfulness, or try to become my "best self".

In fact, all Ive got planned for the next day and a half is zip-a-dee-doo-dah. Diddly squat. Nada. Because this is no normal retreat  its a Do Fuck All Weekend, run by The Elbowroom Escape.

Four weeks earlier Id been schlepping through a to-do list that would see me through this life and the next, when an old song by the crooner Bing Crosby floated out of the radio and stopped me in my tracks. Were busy doin nothin/Workin the whole day through/Tryin to find lots of things not to do/Were busy goin nowhere/Isnt it just a crime

The hotel is surrounded by countryside (The Elbowroom Escape)

As far as words of wisdom go theyre hardly up there with Socrates and Aristotle, yet their inanity belied a fundamental truth Id been ignoring for years: my body and my brain needed rest. What I wanted was to do nothing, yet the options offered by most wellness retreats ranged from the action-packed to the austere. I didnt want self-improvement and I certainly didnt want silence or fasting  just space and time away from the relentless daily grind.

Thats when Google threw The Elbowroom Escapes website my way: Are you wiped out, knackered or just plain fucked? it asked. Then join our Do Fuck All weekend. Based in Donard, in Ireland's County Wicklow, the weekend offered forest walks I could do, mountains I could climb, bicycles I could borrow, and yoga if I asked for it. There was also a hot tub for soaking weary old limbs and a gin bar for weary old soaks, but what really sealed the deal was that blank itinerary.

Three Friday evenings later, there I was in the bewitching Glen of Imaal, meeting my co-do-nowters. Among our group was Jenny, a 32-year-old Steiner school teacher; Sarah, 36, a global account manager; Jacinta, a 60-year-old florist, whod come with her grown-up daughters Becky and Lynsey; Annmarie, a 43-year-old psychology student; and 52-year-old me.

On the surface we were a disparate lot, yet over dinner (all meals are veggie, plentiful and delicious), gin and wine (guests can bring their own or buy it from the honesty bar), the one thing we all had in common came to the fore. We all said it in different ways and in different accents, but the message was loud and clear: we were all desperately in need of some free time.

Im terrible at doing nothing, said Jenny. I chose this because I wanted to have nothing imposed on me. Its like I need the validation that comes from finding a bona fide retreat that offers me a day devoid of to-do lists and having to be somewhere at certain times. Its a total novelty to have an afternoon nap, or to sit around chatting.

Lie-ins come as standard at The Elbowroom Escape (The Elbowroom Escape)

Annmarie came for the first time last year and is a convert. Its like a hug from granny. Youre surrounded by nature, which is healing in itself, but more than that its the people you meet. I wouldnt claim to have made life-long friends, but Ive felt totally at ease and totally accepted. Even sharing a room with someone Ive never met before hasnt been difficult. Theres no judgement  no, How could you spend the whole day in bed? or Is that your fourth gin?

For my part, I loved how good it felt to do (almost) nothing. I couldnt resist the call of the forest and joined a few of the others on a gentle stroll through its thousand shades of emerald  but aside from that, I stayed at the house dozing in the hammock, sharing stories over cups of tea and playing on the swing.

Guests are free to explore the surrounding forest (The Elbowroom Escape)

Of course, time is precious and shouldnt be squandered, but sometimes the most useful thing we can do with it is nothing. Far from being a waste, this retreat is an investment in my mental and physical health.

Travel essentials

The Elbowroom Escape runs regular Do Fuck All Weekends throughout the year, from 250 for a three-day, two-night stay, full-board.Kavos is the most affordable destination for couples this autumn, according to new data released today.

The resort in Corfu, Greece, is ranked as the cheapest package holiday destination for two adults, according to data compiled by TravelSupermarket. According to the platform, a holiday to Kavos costs just 39.29 a night on average in September and October.

The Greek resort is perhaps best remembered as the subject of Channel 4 documentary What Happens in Kavos.

Four other resorts in Europe also offer holidays for less than 50 a night in September and October, according to the travel platform.

Recommended This is the cheapest place in Europe for a city break

Following Kavos as the best-value break for couples is Lloret de Mar on Spains Costa Brava (42.80); Sidari in Corfu (43.78); Varna in Bulgaria (48.71); and Malia in Greece (49.86).

September and October are ideal months for a European beach holiday, says Emma Grimster from TravelSupermarket  the crowds have thinned after the school summer holidays and the climate remains pleasant across much of southern Europe.

Resorts in Corfu appear twice in our top 10 with holidays to the island offering great value from just 207 per person for a package deal including flights and accommodation, she adds.

However, when thinking about the cost of living once in resort, it is the Bulgarian resorts of Varna and Sunny Beach that could offer the best overall value for money, with the cost of eating out etc much cheaper than in other Eurozone countries.

The Costa Bravas Lloret de Mar was also ranked fastest-growing beach destination for couples, with TravelSupermarket recording a 274 per cent spike in searches year on year. It was followed by Split in Croatia and Miami, Floridas swaggering beach resort.

However, when it comes to the most popular beach break destinations for couples, the Spanish islands and resorts remain on top, with Tenerife, Majorca and Benidorm the clear winners. Three Turkish resorts  Antalya, Marmaris and Bodrum  also appear in TravelSupermarket's top 20. With recent falls in the Turkish lira, the destination has become much more attractive to British holidaymakers.If the best that a British prime minister can say about leaving the EU without a deal is that such an outcome would not be the end of the world then we are in trouble.

She puts it in the same category as if she had to miss church on Sunday, or shed forgotten her debit card in Waitrose and she and Philip had to go back home to get it or theyd run out of milk or something. Crashing out of the EU next March, maybe with a skimpy no-deal deal agreement about the supply of medicines and keeping the planes in the sky is a bit more serious than she breezily implies.

The truth can be put more precisely, as it was in a letter from the chancellor to the chair of the treasury select committee, Nicky Morgan. Not the end of the world translates as Britains national income (GDP) could drop by a relative 7.7 per cent if the country left the EU without an agreement, that is as compared with the status quo. That, in turn, means borrowing could be 80bn higher in 15 years time. The Treasury put the range of GDP relative loss at 5 per cent to 10.5 per cent. Imagine, if you will, a cut in the size of your own wages that big and then appreciate the scale of the issue.

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

When reminded about it, May tried to slap her own chancellor down. Except it wasnt even a very good put-down. Her description of the chancellors assessment of the economic damage of a no-deal Brexit as a work in progress, implying the numbers are way outdated, just doesnt work, even on its own terms. The numbers date back to January. So what? Everything in economics is a work in progress, in the sense that we cannot predict the future with certainty  as HM Treasury knows all too well.

All you can do is try and make the best estimate of a range of outcomes, and plan accordingly, in Hammonds case for future levels of tax, funding for public services and borrowing. What was true in January is true today, because it is a comparative analysis, and the basics of cutting ourselves off from our major markets remains true. If the world economy carries on booming, then the loss of trade from Brexit will be mitigated in part, and growth would hold up, as it has recently.

But the point is the Treasury analysis is simply to say what the comparative situation would be, either in a global recession or a global boom  which is Britain will be poorer than otherwise. Simple as that. Unarguable. The chancellor is doing his job; the prime minister is undermining him. This is not good.

Common sense dictates that however bullish you are about the long term  and Jacob Rees-Mogg should be thanked for his candour in thinking that it might take half a century for the benefits of Brexit to feed through  there will be economic disruption, lower investment, fewer jobs, shrinking tax revenues. The City, in particular, is a huge cash cow for the Treasury, generating vast tax revenues from taxes on investment banks, and the incomes and spending of their high-rolling staff. Any damage to that base would have severe consequences.

Recommended Pound slips as PM dismisses Treasury warnings over no deal Brexit

So would a loss within a few years of high-value manufacturing such as Airbus, and the mass-market car industry  Honda, Nissan, Toyota, BMW and all the rest whove voiced disquiet. If anything, HM Treasury may be underestimating things; Britain could return to being the sick man of Europe, as it was before the UK joined in 1973.

In short, we cannot lose the aerospace industry, car making and our place in the global financial service industry, among other disasters, and think no one will notice. It will not be business as usual. No-deal Brexit means higher taxes and a quite radical re-think for the public sector  hard choices, cuts, austerity, exiting some areas. We wont have the money to fund long-term care, say, and nor will we have the EU workers to staff the system, such as it is. That, actually, might be close to the end of the world for some.

Some Leavers, if they were being honest, would admit that was the whole rationale for Brexit  to create the conditions for a Thatcherite, Singapore-on-sea, freewheeling, free-market, privatised, deregulated neo-liberal paradise with the welfare state reduced to a means-tested rump run by charities. The rest of the country, including May, would view that with horror. Hammond is merely pointing to the reality of things.

Dont shoot the messenger, prime minister.There is nothing on President Trumps desk in the Oval office apart from two phones, and he cannot even make them work. At his televised announcement of a trade deal with Mexico yesterday, a flunky had to intervene to press the right buttons so that Trump could talk to Enrique, the president of Mexico, on speakerphone.

It was symbolic of the shambles that is Donald Trumps trade policy. He was elected on a promise to renegotiate Nafta, the North American Free Trade Agreement, the deal between the US, Mexico and Canada signed by Bill Clinton 25 years ago. This weeks deal means that he has renegotiated part of it, the US-Mexico part, and has forced Chrystia Freeland, the Canadian foreign minister, to scramble to Washington to try to finalise the Canadian part.

But when Trump told his supporters he would renegotiate Nafta, they did not think he meant he would negotiate a similar deal and call it something else. Yesterday the US president said: I like to call this deal the United States-Mexico trade agreement; I think its an elegant name. Mainly because it is not Nafta.

Being Trump, he was quite open about what he was up to. I think Nafta has a lot of bad connotations for the United States, because it was a ripoff. At least, that was what he and the Republican Tea Party tendency told the voters it was, despite all the evidence that it had been good for the US economy.

What is interesting is that all candidates running against incumbents in America condemn free trade and demand protection for American jobs, only to realise once in office that free trade is the best way to defend American jobs. Clinton was against Nafta before he was for it, and now Trump is running away from his campaign rhetoric too.

Yes, he has imposed punitive tariffs on Mexican and Canadian steel and aluminium, but Mexicos retaliation (putting tariffs on food imports from the US) has hurt a lot of farmers, some of them part of Trumps voting base. This has forced the Trump administration to rush to design a compensation scheme, which those affected are already complaining is not enough.

 Photograph of Trump colouring in the American flag incorrectly goes viral

Trump also said he wanted a sunset clause on his I Cant Believe Its Not Nafta agreement after five years, but now he has agreed the new deal will last for at least 16 years. In a way, this is reassuring: Trump turns out to be a bendable politician like the rest, rather than a uniquely destructive force.

The whole farce is like a Brexit morality tale: populist politicians tell the people their problems are caused by unfair trade relations with their next-door neighbours, and then have to spend the next few years trying to replicate those very same trade deals.

The parallels between the Nafta negotiations and Brexit are uncanny. One problem with Nafta, from Trumps point of view, was that its disputes resolution procedures were unfair to the US and infringed its right to decide its own laws. The new Definitely Not Nafta deal keeps those procedures with minor tweaks.

Both sets of talks are up against tight deadlines, which means that many of the difficult questions have been shelved for later while the existing arrangements are allowed to roll over.

The reason Trump has gone ahead with Mexico and without Canada is because talks with the Canadians have stalled for two months after the row over steel tariffs, while Trump has to send the Mexico deal to Congress by Friday this week to have a chance of getting it done by the time Enrique Pena Nietos six-year term as Mexican president ends in November.

Meanwhile, the free trade that underpins the prosperity of Americans, Mexicans, Canadians  and Europeans  stumbles on, despite the attempts of populist politicians to wreck it.I applaud The Independent for shedding light on the atrocious massacres perpetrated towards the Rohingya Muslim communities in Mynamar. Like Srebrenica before, this tragedy has once again symbolised a cruel squandering of material and human resources and offered a grotesque reminder of man's inhumanity to man.

This tragedy will not only haunt us but will remain etched in our collective consciousness. However, it is not enough for the UN to shed crocodile tears and offer strong condemnation every time a massacre has been committed.

In Syria, Yemen, Gaza and elsewhere people continue to languish in diseases, displacement, destitution, homelessness, female genital mutilation, joblessness, hopelessness, dispossession, hunger, injustices, prejudices, bigotries, racism, discrimination, Islamophobia and state-sponsored terrorism.

It is time for the UN to ruminate over the purpose of its own founding, address the root causes of conflicts and prevent systematic abuses from recurring in future and at present.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob

London NW2

Trumps attitude towards McCains death shows how petty and childish he is

Like most baby boomers I have been to a number of funerals  of family and friends, work colleagues and students, young and old, good and bad. Buy the common theme is the eulogy remembering the best of the person and forgetting any failings.

It has been reported that, as is customary in such cases, the White House had prepared a statement praising John McCain, but President Trump refused it and sent out a brief tweet instead. This breaks a long tradition and is shameful.

The invitation of two presidents, Obama and Bush, to attend his funeral shows that McCain was able to work with all  well almost all  in the political world. The specific exclusion of the serving president is in itself unprecedented and a clear reflection of how poorly he was thought of.

The custom is to never speak ill of the dead although it should be updated to include never tweet meaningless banalities.

Fortunately there are and will be many that will speak well of John McCain.

Dennis Fitzgerald

Melbourne

We must remember why the left is always a preferable political option

The bank holiday weekend provides a great opportunity to clarify some basic political principles  especially given the confusion promoted by the Tories in their attempt to smear Jeremy Corbyn with antisemitism.

Right-wing politics are rooted in the poison of nationalism and racism. Left-wing politics are about internationalism, unity and equality.

Right-wing politics gave London the Notting Hill race riots. Left-wing politics responded by giving the world the Notting Hill carnival  the largest celebration of diversity on the planet.

Sasha Simic

London N16

If the Grand Prix tracks cant handle a bit of rain, what are they doing in the UK?

If I was the owner of Silverstone I would be asking for a massive refund of the millions paid for the resurfacing of the track.

This is England. It rains a lot (recent months excepted!). This weekend's weather was nothing exceptional. To put down a track surface that not only is still bumpy but also fails to drain adequately is just incompetent.

Mike Margetts

Kilsby, Northamptonshire

Where are we supposed to go when Brexit ruins this country?

Last year Nigel Farage vowed to leave the UK if Brexit turned out to be a disaster. That option will not be available to most of his fellow citizens  unless of course he persuades his friend President Trump to admit 65 million immigrants from the UK.

David Ward

Wigton, Cumbria

Mental illness must stop being a punchline

Thank you Hattie Gladwell for your article I was diagnosed with OCD and its much darker than a simple cleaning disorder. It is high time OCD is recognised as a serious mental health issue and not a sitcom joke.

Chris Davey

Redruth, CornwallWhen the going gets tough, as Billy Ocean fell narrowly short of observing, the tough scarper to sub-Saharan Africa for a short holiday from reality.

No one with a dash of humanity will begrudge Theresa May her jaunt, with 27-strong trade delegation in tow, to South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. Tough as titanium old boots as she is, she looks exhausted and could clearly use a break from the neo-medieval torture device known as Brexit. So you hope that a few days in the African capitals, relishing the novelty of being treated like someone of global importance and parroting sub-Macmillanite platitudes about the winds of change blowing through the continent, will help morale. But if the chance to affect relevance on the world stage is her main ambition, her nominal ambition offers a bleak reminder of a savage truth.

Mays other intention is to reassure her domestic audience that increased UK trade with Africas larger economies will mitigate the spine-chilling horror of a no-deal Brexit. Having asked God to bless and spare her for that, lets glance at the figures. According to the most recent available statistics, combined annual exports of goods to South Africa and Nigeria came to just over 3bn, with a few hundred million going to Kenya.

The total represents almost exactly one per cent of UK exports. If you doubled it, trebled it, quadrupled it, or quintupled it  if you went on upling and upling until the dictionary ran out of multiplication words  it wouldnt make a hapworth of difference. If Britain leaves the EU, to which it exports more than 240bn without a deal, even an outlandishly massive rise in African trade wouldnt be the weeniest oasis in a Saharan economic wasteland stretching further ahead than the Hubble telescope could see if you force-fed it carrots for a decade.

This is in no way to denigrate the fact that Britain is the worlds second-largest investor, close behind the US, in Africa. One of an elite corps of policies to applaud since the Tories took power in 2010 is the refusal of David Cameron and May, under intense pressure from the thuggish right wing in the Commons and the press, to cut the overseas aid budget. If the purpose is to buy soft power and sew the seeds of serious profit when growing African economies reach fruition, that doesnt diminish the benefits to people who sorely need the help.

For now, however, talking up the importance of trade with Africa in the no deal context is a lurch into distraction.

Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Show all 39 1 /39 Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures British Prime Minister Theresa May reviews a military guard of honour at the State House in Nairobi. May wraps up a three day tour of Africa in Kenya as she seeks to drum up post-Brexit deals before quitting the European Union on a continent which has increasingly looked elsewhere for trade and investment AFP/Getty Images Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May in breaks into dance whilst meeting with scouts at the United Nations offices in Nairobi on the third day of her visit to Africa PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May in breaks into dance whilst meeting with scouts at the United Nations offices in Nairobi on the third day of her visit to Africa PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May in breaks into dance whilst meeting with scouts at the United Nations offices in Nairobi on the third day of her visit to Africa PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May dancing with students and staff at ID Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May meets charity workers at a Salvation Army centre in Lagos, where modern slavery was discussed PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the State House in Nairobi to meet with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta welcomes Theresa May AP Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta address a press conference at the state house in Nairobi Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May with the President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta at the State House in Nairobi PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the State House in Nairobi, to meet the President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta, on the third day of her visit to Africa. PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May meets Nigerian President Buharia at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Nigeria EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May arrives in Abuja, Nigeria, on day two of her trip to Africa PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May arrives in Abuja, Nigeria on day two of her trip to Africa Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May arrives in Abuja, Nigeria on day two of her trip to Africa Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Nigerian President Buhari and Theresa May watch as the Nigerian Budget and National Planning Minister and the British Trade Policy Minister sign a bilateral agreement on Nigerian trade development EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May meets South African president Cyril Ramaphosa at DeTuynhuys Presidential Palace in Cape Town PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May meets students and staff at ID Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town, which is twinned with Whitby High School in Yorkshire PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May arrives in Abuja, Nigeria Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures The two schools are part of a British Council funded teacher exchange scheme called 'Connected Classrooms' AP Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures The Prime Minister enters the cell in which Nelson Mandela was held on Robben Island Cape Town PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May meets South African president Cyril Ramaphosa PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May dancing with students and staff at ID Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa take part in the ceremony to hand over the bell of the SS Mendi AFP/Getty Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May and South African president Cyril Ramaphosa shake hands PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May poses for a picture with school children Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa take part in the ceremony to hand over the bell of the SS Mendi AFP/Getty Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May dancing with students and staff at ID Mkize Secondary School in Cape Town EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May exits stage right following an address to business leaders at the offices of First National Bank in Cape Town EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures A group of school children at the ID Mkhize Secondary School, take a selfie with a phone with a Union Jack cover Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures The Prime Minister is on day one of her trip to South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya on a trade mission designed to bolster the UK's post-Brexit fortunes PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May talks with students AP Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May speaks to business leaders at the offices of First National Bank in Cape Town EPA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May meets students and staff PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May is greeted by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa Reuters Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May speaks to staff at I.D. Mkize Secondary School PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May is greeted by schoolchildren waving British and South African flags AFP/Getty Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Theresa May speaks to students PA Theresa May visits Africa on trade trip  in pictures Prime Minister Theresa May walks with Nomvula Mokonyane - the South African Minister of Communications - as she arrives at Cape Town airport PA

You sense the weight of fantasy under which she labours from a statement on Mays behalf. The PM will use the visit to announce further support to tackle instability across the region, said a spokeswoman, because nations cant prosper without it.

Aha! This revelation that a nation needs instability to prosper may have been a slip of the tongue, or evidence that the civil servants ability to speak English has faded since the days when we owned the three countries May is visiting. It may even have been a Freudian slip from someone who works for a PM whose faintly Orwellian heraldic motto Prosperity through instability appears to be. Either way, you dont need me to spell out the tragicomic poignancy of May, paralysed by chaos and with worse chaos shortly to come, tutoring others about the central importance of stability to economic prosperity.

If Jose Mourinho gave the inaugural Donald J Trump Memorial Lecture  Maintaining Grace And Dignity Under Fire  it would be half as absurd.

No one in history was better qualified to give that talk than Nelson Mandela and its nice that, weather permitting, May will go to Robben Island. Our last woman prime minister regarded Mandela as a terrorist, so definite progress there. But no amount of virtue-signalling will disguise the brutal fact that even exponentially increased trade with Africa would be as effective a painkiller for the agony of no deal as a baby aspirin for someone liberated of a leg by a Zambezi crocodile.

For all that, we need friends in troubled times. So its comforting that David Schwimmer, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, is accompanying May. Hell be there for her when the rain starts to pour. Whether hell still be with her when share prices start to fall precipitously as No Deal Day approaches is another matter.

It hasnt been Mays day, week, month, or even year. Paralysed in neutral, she dreams of being stuck in second gear. Her jobs a joke, her countrys broke, and the October deadline is closing in with not the faintest prospect of a deal being struck.

To engage in some fantasy politics of our own, there is still time for her to do the honest, responsible, dutiful thing of which, I imagine, she dreams most nights: confess that there is no Brexit scenario that wont be disastrous, and that therefore the British have a sacred right to be asked whether the democratic will expressed in June, 2016, has decisively changed. One appreciates that shes a deeply conventional politician who feels bound by the conventional wisdom, peddled by her ultras and reactionary newspapers, that a second referendum would be  what else?  a betrayal.

But being in Africa can be a liberating experience, and she could take her inspiration from an earlier European woman who removed herself to Kenya. Here at long last one was in a position not to give a damn for all conventions, wrote the Danish author Karen Blixen, who died in 1962. Here was a new kind of freedom which until then one had only found in dreams.A new report on the future of the US grain industry says it must increase exports to workdown stocks and improve the prospect of higher prices.

The Rabobank corn baseline outlook has changed little from a year ago, however, with relatively flat demand and ending stocks remaining historically high, the average received farm price has slumped below $4.00/baseunit (bu) over the ten-year forecast horizon.

Corn planted acreage will remain steady as yields continue to increase, while wheat will, in the near term, bounce off the current low levels, but deteriorate in the long term says Stephen Nicholson, Senior Analyst  Grains & Oilseeds.

With domestic demand for grains steady to growing slightly, both commodities need to increase exports to work down burdensome stocks and improve prospects of higher prices.

Corn Baseline Outlook

US corn production capacity is more than adequate to meet demand. The long-term trend of steady to slightly declining planted acres will remain in place, the report states. The persistent trend of increasing corn yields of nearly 2.0 bu/year on average delivers a growing production that is absorbed by the domestic feeding market, with extra volumes needing to move into the export channel.

Wheat Baseline Outlook

Over the ten-year baseline outlook, US all-wheat production remains relatively flat. Planted wheat acres rebound from their lows in the near term up to 53m acres, responding to higher prices, but slowly drift lower over the ten-year baseline period, slightly below 50m acres, and thus still stay (slightly) above 2018/19 levels. Wheat yields are projected to increase modestly, which drives declining wheat acres after 2020.

Farming and G&O Supply Chain Profitability

With profitability for U.S. corn and wheat expected to be under pressure due to a low price environment, producers will need to seek new avenues for their production, the report goes on to say.

This may include developing relationships directly with end users and producing the wheat demanded by end users (e.g. higher-protein hard wheat for baking bread).

However, it warns that todays markets are being subjected to more outside influences than in the past decade  and therefore, more risks to the baseline outlook and increased price volatility are expected.Commenting on the CoI verdict, Mr. Dar said, Im happy that justice has been finally done.

Srinagar: An Army Court of Inquiry (CoI) has indicted Major Leetul Gogoi for fraternis-ing with a local woman in a Srinagar hotel and being away from his place of duty in May this year. This paves the way for disciplinary action against the officer who will now face court martial, Army sources here said.

Major Gogoi is the same officer who had in April 2016 hit the headlines after he had ordered his men to tie a Kashmiri shawl-weaver to the bonnet of an Army jeep and allegedly used him as a human shield against stone-pelters during the bypoll in Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency.

The officer was on May 23 detained briefly by the Srinagar police following a scuffle between him and the staff of a city hotel, Grand Mamta, when the latter refused to allow him to check in with a teenage girl. They were being accompanied by a local man, Sameer Ahmed Malla, who later turned out to be soldier.

The police, however, did not register any case against Major Gogoi as the 18-year-old female student had said in a statement that she had gone with her friend and there was no force involved.

The girl had in her statement also said that she had planned the trip with Major Gogoi and Malla on the phone and had asked them to pick her from the Magam area of Budgam on the morning of May 23. There was no force. I came to Srinagar with them out of my own will. I had asked them to pick me up at Magam area at 10 am and we made the trip as per our plan, she had been quoted by the police as saying. She had in her testimony also said that she had got in touch with the Army officer on Facebook where Major Gogoi had introduced himself Ubaid Arman.

Major Gogoi of Armys 53 Rashtriya Riffles who is a resident of Assam had on April 19, 2016 stirred up a hornets nest by ordering his men to tie Farooq Ahmed Dar, a Kashmiri shawl-weaver from Chhil Brass village of Budgam, to the bonnet of an Army jeep during by-poll in Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency. However, the Army had after a probe not only exonerated him but he was awarded Commendation Card for his sustained distinguished service in counterinsurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir by the Army Chief Gen. Rawat.

Commenting on the CoI verdict, Mr. Dar said, Im happy that justice has been finally done. Khuda ki lathi be aawaz hai (The long arm of the Almighty makes no sound when it strikes). He ruined my life and now is facing the wrath of God.Dublin remains a "medium-priced city destination" by European standards, according to Failte Ireland.

The average daily rates for hotel rooms in Dublin are lower than in top European cities such as Amsterdam, Barcelona, Copenhagen, London, and Paris, the 'Analysis of Tourist Accommodation in Dublin 2018-20' report found.

In 2017, average daily rates for the capital city were 125, while average daily rates in Barcelona were just over 150, according to hotel data and benchmarking group STR Global.

Dublin also reported significantly higher occupancy rates relative to competitor cities in Europe, with the city reporting an average rate of 83pc occupancy last year.

The low vacancy levels in Dublin are, according to Failte Ireland, backing up anecdotal evidence around the lack of availability of accommodation at peak periods for the volume of visitors that might seek it. The national tourism development authority also cited reports from tour operators of incidents where they were unable to find necessary available accommodation for some of their needs in the capital.

In addition, Failte Ireland said that event and conference organisers are felt by some in the industry to be wary of Dublin, fearing room shortages.

"The absence of a single 'big box' hotel in the city centre, for example one with 800 rooms or more, capable of accommodating all delegates for large conferences is also noted as a constraint in this regard," the report said.

Overall a shortfall of 1,100 hotel rooms is expected in Dublin by 2020.

Despite an estimated 5,430 hotel rooms to come on-stream between now and 2020, demand from tourists is expected to outstrip the supply of hotel accommodation.

"Dublin is the gateway to Ireland with most visitors choosing to spend part of their stay in the city. Therefore, if visitors cannot access Dublin, it is highly likely they may not visit the country at all," said Failte Ireland CEO Paul Kelly.

"That is why capacity in Dublin is not just an issue for the city but affects all who work in tourism - whether in Kerry, Louth, Waterford, Donegal or any point in-between."

Of the 5,430 hotel rooms coming on stream over the next two years, more than 3,000 are already under construction, representing, by Failte Ireland's estimates, private sector investment in Dublin of 815m.

Two out of three of the additional hotel rooms are expected to be in new hotels, more than 40pc of which will be located in the areas of Dublin 2 and Dublin 4.

Overall, in the first three months of 2018, the total number of overseas trips to Ireland was 7pc higher than the same period in 2017, indicating a strong start to the year for one of Ireland's largest indigenous industries. Growth in visitors from the US and mainland Europe was particularly strong, however, while slightly up in absolute terms, the British share of the market continued to fall.

The aim of the initial report, carried out by consultants Fitzpatrick Associates for Failte Ireland, is to identify the scale of additional tourist accommodation stock required to meet anticipated levels of demand, and develop solutions to address the challenges.An employee passes American oak barrels containing Jameson whiskey, produced by Irish Distillers, in Middleton, a distillery believed to be operating at, or close to, capacity now

Irish Distillers is understood to be planning a major new distillery to cope with the increasing worldwide demand for Jameson whiskey.

It's also believed that staff have been informed the new distillery will not be located in Midleton, the Cork town that has been the company's distilling epicentre since the mid-1970s.

Waterford and Youghal are tipped as potential sites for the new distillery.

In 2011, Irish Distillers owner Pernod Ricard announced a 100m investment at Midleton in order to boost production of Jameson. The whiskey is one of the French group's flagship global brands.

That project was completed in 2013 and doubled production capacity to 64m litres of pure alcohol a year. In 2017, Irish Distillers announced a further 10m investment at Midleton.

But the plant is now thought to be operating either at or close to capacity, with the success of Jameson around the world contributing to the significant production boost. Jameson is the world's fastest-growing Irish whiskey, with 6.5m cases sold last year. It's also the fourth-biggest selling whiskey in the world, with Crown Royal, Jim Beam and Jack Daniels in third, second and first place respectively. Jack Daniels sold about 12.9m cases in 2017.

Pernod Ricard, which releases full-year results tomorrow, has invested heavily in Jameson to make it a worldwide brand.

The company acquired Irish Distillers in 1988, seeing off competition from Grand Met, now known as Diageo.

An Irish Distillers spokesman declined to comment: "Irish Distillers does not comment on market rumour or speculation in relation to its growth strategy,.

"Our strategy is to continue to drive growth prospects for Irish whiskey through our portfolio of premium brands, complemented by the strength of our worldwide distribution network. In line with this approach, the company constantly evaluates all opportunities for growth which potentially support this strategy," he said.

Earlier this year, Irish Distillers acquired Cork-based Eight Degrees Brewing, a craft producer whose brands include Sunburnt Irish Red Ale.

It's the first ever brewer within the Pernod Ricard stable.

Irish Distillers said the deal would see Eight Degrees Brewing provide a long-term beer supply to support the continued global growth of Jameson Caskmates, while also supporting Eight Degrees Brewing's on-going innovation and experimentation in the craft beer sector.

Jameson Caskmates is a special edition Jameson whiskey that's matured using barrels that previously held craft beer, such as stout or India pale ale. Irish Dsitillers' other brands include Cork Dry Gin and Powers.

There's been a resurgence in whiskey production in the past few years, with a number of new distilleries opening all over the country.Ryanair says it wants an office thats economical to construct and to maintain at the Swords site

Planners for Ryanair have confirmed that the airline wants to build a new six-storey office block beside its existing headquarters in Dublin in order to "consolidate and grow" its business in a "single, identifiable, high-profile location" close to Dublin Airport.

Ryanair expects 750 staff to be based at the new office, adding to the more than 840 based at the existing headquarters.

The airline, headed by CEO Michael O'Leary, recently filed plans to build the new office block beside its base in Swords, just a short distance from the airport. Ryanair had declined to comment on the plans.

But documents filed with the local council show that the airline plans to construct an L-shaped office block with 10,728 sq m (115,000 sq ft) of floor space.

It will be built on the site of a temporary car park beside the existing headquarters and will include 358 car spaces.

Planners noted that almost three-quarters (72pc) of Ryanair's head office staff currently travel to work by car. The planners for the airline have told Fingal County Council that the new building's design will be one of "elegant simplicity".

"The proposed development should be economical to construct and to maintain, in line with the requirements of the applicant," according to Ryanair's planners, who held a pre-planning consultation with the local council back in June.

It has also ruled out any expensive multi-storey car park for the new development.

"Ryanair's current operational model precludes the additional and unnecessary expense of providing either a multi-storey or basement car parking option," they said.

"Such provision is generally typically found in city centre locations, where rents are at a premium and where there is a demand for such spaces," they added.

It's also noted that the construction phase of the project will be just six to eight weeks.

The site is also home to St Werburgh's Well, which will be protected during construction works.

The well is named after a sixth century Anglo-Saxon abbess, who also has a church in Dublin named after her. Local tradition records that the water from the well was used as cure for the eyes. The well was reconstructed in 2011.

Ryanair acquired the building where its HQ is based in 2012 for 11m. It spent an additional 9m fitting it out.Citybus Employees CU ran up losses of 1.2m in 2016

A former director of a credit union has been banned from holding any positions of responsibility in any financial firm after being found to have misappropriated funds.

It comes after suspected financial irregularities at the Citybus Employees' Credit Union in Dublin were reported to gardai and the Central Bank.

Now the Central Bank has issued a prohibition notice to David Stamper, former director of Citybus Employees' Credit Union Limited, prohibiting him from carrying out any controlled functions, including pre-approval controlled functions, in any regulated financial service provider for an indefinite period.

The move comes after a Central Bank investigation into Mr Stamper's management of the members' prize draw in Citybus CU.

The regulator said it found Mr Stamper was responsible for the "misappropriation of a significant sum of money from Citybus CU between 2010 and 2015".

Mr Stamper co-operated fully with the Central Bank's investigation, a statement from the regulator said.

He was investigated under the Central Bank's fitness and probity regime.

Director of enforcement and anti-money laundering at the Central Bank, Seana Cunningham, said: "The Central Bank will continue to hold individuals to account when they fall short of expected standards of fitness and probity.

"These high standards are what the financial services industry and the wider community rightly expect of its senior individuals.

"Mr Stamper's conduct fell far short of these standards, justifying the issuance of a prohibition order of indefinite duration, which is the most serious possible outcome to a fitness and probity investigation."

In June, the Irish Independent revealed that Citybus Employees' Credit Union ended up spending a huge amount of money probing and rectifying losses from the fraud.

In total, the fraud amounted to 218,000 at the Citybus Employees' Credit Unions, whose members work for Dublin Bus.

But the cost of investigation and compensating members meant it ran up total losses of 1.2m in 2016.Home makeover king Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen was in Dublin yesterday to host a housewarming party as part of Bank of Irelands Wherever You Go campaign. Photo: Julien Behal

Fifteen years ago, in May 2003, 'The Economist' caused consternation in Ireland when it predicted the country's then fast inflating property market would shed 20pc of its value within four years.

The resulting backlash against the magazine was particularly ferocious and emanated largely from the banks, property developers and their estate agencies as well as Government politicians; the former enriched and empowered thanks to the credit-fuelled housing boom.

This was the first time that property/banking sector and Government would band together to attack media that questioned "the only way is up" line on the property market. These attacks would become more common and intense as the crash loomed closer.

Irish analysts (including this one) who suggested at the time that the article's writer - the magazine's award-winning economics editor Pam Woodall - might have a point were castigated as "naysayers".

Two years later in 2005 as the boom seemed even 'boomer', Woodall attended a conference in Ireland where she was ridiculed - the 'Irish Times' labelling her "the girl who cried wolf". But the globally respected economic analyst stuck to her guns even as the ESRI faced her over the podium to assert that Irish property prices would continue to rise by 5pc per annum until 2010 followed by a "soft landing".

The ruling Fianna Fail party's members, then in government, were particularly vociferous against claims the market could collapse.

Bertie Ahern as Taoiseach labelled one RTE programme in April 2007 as "irresponsible and inaccurate", famously stating that he didn't know why "people who engaged in moaning about the economy did not commit suicide".

The ruling party was at that time largely funded by donations from the construction and property sector and the infamous Galway Races Tent was open for booming business only.

The crash began in mid-2006 and by the end of 2007 (four years from 2003) it is likely 20pc had been wiped off home values - just as Woodall predicted.

What she didn't tell us was the spiral would continue until homes had lost between 55pc and 75pc of value and thousands would lose the roof over their heads.

This month's assertion - Dublin property prices are over valued by 25pc - has been produced using the same methods and indicators deployed in 2003, primarily comparisons between average incomes and property prices.

Once again the established view here is property will continue to rise by 5pc. A correction may not happen this year or the next, but fundamentals do suggest city prices are grossly distorted.

Maybe this time around we will be aware and beware of the curse of 'The Economist'.Germany's competition watchdog expects to take the first steps this year in its probe against Facebook after finding that the social media giant abused its market dominance to gather data on people without their knowledge or consent.

The probe is being closely watched in Europe amid mounting concerns over leaks of data on tens of millions of Facebook users, as well as the extensive use of targeted ads by foreign powers seeking to influence elections in the US.

The Federal Cartel Office objects in particular to how Facebook acquires data on people from third-party apps - including its own WhatsApp and Instagram services - and its online tracking of people who aren't even members.

"We are conscious that this should, and must, go quickly," said cartel office President Andreas Mund, adding he hoped to take "first steps" this year.

In contrast to EU probes into Google that have ended in multibillion-dollar penalties, most recently over the preinstallation of its apps on Android smartphones, the German probe is not expected to end in fines. However, the cartel office could require Facebook to take action to address its concerns if it fails to do so voluntarily.

Facebook responded earlier this year to the cartel office's request for information, and the authority was reviewing whether new features - such as a 'clear history' option announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg in May - would address its concerns. "We need to establish whether this affects our investigation," Mundt said.

Separately, Mundt confirmed comments he made in an newspaper interview earlier this month that he may launch an investigation into the ecommerce industry under new powers that enable the cartel office to launch sector-wide probes.

The focus would be on so-called 'hybrid' platforms such as US ecommerce giant Amazon that sell their own products and services, but also host third-party traders.

"Our question is: what is the relationship between the platform, which itself is a very powerful trader, and the traders who use the platform?" said Mundt. He added that Amazon was the best-known of the platforms but his interest extended to other players.

The cartel office would not be looking at suspected tax evasion by third-party traders on ecommerce platforms - an issue that Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has vowed to tackle - saying this was a matter for economic policymakers. (Reuters)Air France-KLM's French unions reiterated demands for a 5.1pc pay increase yesterday without calling any immediate resumption of strike action, as the airline group awaits the arrival of a new chief executive. A cross-union grouping behind earlier strikes that led to the May resignation of the last CEO, Jean-Marc Janaillac, vowed after a meeting yesterday to maintain its core demand on pay. But it stopped short of calling for renewed action.

A joint declaration will be delivered to management at the next scheduled works council meeting on Thursday, the unions said, without referring to industrial action.

"We remain mobilised to defend our demands," they said. Air France-KLM's new CEO, Air Canada second-in-command Ben Smith, is expected to begin his new job next month.

Smith, who becomes the first foreign boss in Air France's 85-year history, steps into a minefield of labour tensions that led to weeks of strikes earlier this year, grounding hundreds of flights and wiping 335m off first-half earnings.

Squeezed between long-haul competition from Gulf carriers like Emirates and a proliferation of low-cost regional rivals, Air France-KLM has struggled to overhaul costs and services the way Aer Lingus and British Airways parent IAG or Lufthansa have done.

An Air France-KLM spokesman declined to comment on discussions with unions. (Reuters)Italian pilot union ANPAC on Tuesday said a majority of its pilots had approved a collective labour agreement with Ryanair in the airline's latest breakthrough in efforts to quell staff protests around Europe.

A majority of over 300 Ryanair pilots approved the deal, ANPAC said in a statement.

The vote in Italy comes shortly after Irish union FORSA signed, and recommended, a mediation agreement to Ryanairs Irish pilots, who are currently voting to approve this agreement.

Ryanairs Chief People Officer, Eddie Wilson said he welcomed this first CLA with Italian pilots and hopes that it will be shortly followed by a similar agreement covering Irish pilots.

"We have invited our UK, German and Spanish unions to meet with us in the coming days so that we can negotiate and hopefully agree similar pilot CLAs in these other larger markets. These agreements demonstrate the real progress being made by Ryanair in its negotiations with its pilots and their unions across different EU markets," he said.

Ryanair passengers have suffered hundreds of flight cancellations this summer because of protests by pilots over slow progress in negotiating collective labour agreements, hurting average fares at Europe's largest low-cost carrier.

The Irish airline endured its worst one-day strike earlier in August after a walk-out by pilots in five European countries disrupted the plans of an estimated 55,000 people at the height of the summer holiday season.

That included a fifth 24-hour walkout of the summer by around a quarter of its pilots in Ireland that prompted Ryanair to propose fresh talks with the help of a mediator that began last week and ended early on Thursday after a 22-hour session.

Ryanair employs more than 4,000 pilots, with around 350 of them based in Ireland.Sushma Swaraj is on the first leg of her two-nation tour which aims at deepening India's strategic cooperation with Vietnam and Cambodia.

Swaraj co-chaired the 16th meeting of the Joint Commission along with the Vietnamese foreign minister. (Photo: Twitter | @AmbHanoi)

New Delhi/Hanoi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday held talks with her Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh and discussed measures to strengthen trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation between the two countries.

Swaraj is in Vietnam on the first leg of her four-day two-nation tour which aims at deepening India's strategic cooperation with Vietnam and Cambodia -- the key countries in the ASEAN region.

"Deepening our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership! EAM @SushmaSwaraj and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh led delegation level talks where trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation were discussed," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

Deepening our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership! EAM @SushmaSwaraj and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh led delegation level talks where trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation were discussed. pic.twitter.com/E21RWCp3fZ  Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) August 28, 2018

Swaraj co-chaired the 16th meeting of the Joint Commission along with the Vietnamese foreign minister.

Earlier, addressing the 3rd Indian Ocean Conference in Hanoi on Monday, Swaraj said India and Vietnam are connected not only by the common waters but also by a shared vision for peace and prosperity. Hanoi is therefore a particularly appropriate setting to discuss developments in the Indian Ocean and the Indo-Pacific region, she said.

Swaraj said India and Vietnam have agreed to further strengthen cooperation in the maritime domain, including on anti-piracy, security of sea lanes and exchange of white shipping information.

"We also agreed on the importance of the early conclusion of an ASEAN-India Maritime Transport Cooperation Agreement. In this context, we intend to accelerate the establishment of direct shipping routes between the sea ports of India and Vietnam," she said.

On Monday, Swaraj met Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Bangladeshi Planning Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal. She also held talks with Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.Britain's finance ministry denied a newspaper report on Tuesday that the government had asked Bank of England Governor Mark Carney to stay on for an extra year beyond his scheduled departure in June 2019.

"We don't recognise their reporting at all," a Treasury spokeswoman said when asked about the article in the Evening Standard newspaper.

A diary item in the newspaper said the ministry had "quietly approached" Carney about staying another year to provide continuity as Britain leaves the European Union.

"Our position is the same - we plan to start recruitment soon," the ministry spokeswoman said.

Spokesmen for Prime Minister Theresa May and the BoE declined to comment on the report.

The value of sterling has fallen sharply since April as investors worry about the lack of progress in Brexit talks.

Carney agreed to serve five years, rather than the usual eight, as BoE governor when he moved from his native Canada to Britain in 2013. In 2016, shortly after British voters decided to leave the European Union, he agreed to stay an extra year, keeping him in the job until June 30, 2019.

Carney said in July he does not intend to change that plan.

The Evening Standard said government officials were struggling to find a candidate strong enough to replace him.

The person most tipped to be Carney's successor is Andrew Bailey, a regulator with 30 years of experience at the BoE. He is currently head of the Financial Conduct Authority, one of the country's main watchdogs for the financial services industry.

The Evening Standard is edited by former finance minister George Osborne who appointed Carney to the BoE.Michael Shine was convicted last year of assaulting two schoolboys in the 1970s. Picture: Collins

More than 100 lawsuits against former surgeon Michael Shine, a religious order and the HSE over alleged sexual assaults are to go into mediation.

The disgraced ex-consultant, convicted last year of indecently assaulting two schoolboys in the 1970s, is facing a raft of civil actions for damages over his conduct while working at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

Six lead cases have been selected by the High Court to proceed, one of which has already been set down for a jury trial.

However, the proceedings, which were expected to be lengthy and expensive, may now be avoided.

The Irish Independent has learned that an agreement has been reached for a senior legal figure to act as a mediator in all of the cases, which involve allegations dating between 1964 and 1995, when Shine retired.

The mediation process will begin in the coming weeks.

The complainants are being represented by Dublin law firm Galligan Johnston. Liability has not been accepted by Shine (86), the Medical Missionaries of Mary, which ran the hospital while he worked there, or the HSE, which later bought the hospital.

Complainants were aged between six and young adulthood when they allege they were molested by Shine.

While compensation claims may end up being covered by insurance, an indemnity fund containing more than 5m could also come into play.

The so-called "Shine fund" was set up by agreement with the religious order when the hospital was purchased by the former North Eastern Health Board in 1997.

At the time, State authorities were aware of around 60 complaints against Shine and wanted to be indemnified by the Medical Missionaries of Mary against potential claims.

Under the agreement, some IR1.6m of the IR5.5m purchase price was set aside so the order could pay damages and costs arising from future claims.

The fund, managed by law firm Arthur Cox, has never been touched. According to publicly available records, it was valued at 4.9m in December 2015.

Previously, another raft of claims involving 112 complainants was settled out of court by the religious order's insurers, Allianz, in 2012. The settlement is believed to have exceeded 8m.

Shine is on bail pending an appeal. Formal claims about him were first made to gardai in 1994 and conveyed to the health board in 1995.

An independent review group was subsequently told by the hospital's management board that it was not aware of previous complaints about him.

However, enquiries revealed two verbal complaints were made, one prior to 1977 and another in 1982 or 1983.

There were no written records of either incident.

They came to light after nuns who had formerly held senior positions in the hospital were tracked down while on missionary duties in Africa.

According to an account a nun gave of the latter incident, it involved a 12-year-old boy with a jaw injury who claimed to have been subjected to a full examination and interfered with. The matter was considered closed after a nun warned Shine about his behaviour.People occupying a house in Dublin's north inner city must vacate the property by 2pm tomorrow afternoon, the High Court has ordered.

Mr Justice Michael Quinn today granted Patricia Ni Greil, the owner of a property located at 34 North Frederick Street, Dublin 1, injunctions requiring persons unknown to vacate and cease trespassing to leave the 4-storey building.

The court heard that the persons in question are believed to had previously been in occupation of a property at Summerhill Parade, Ballybough, also in Dublin 1.

In statements to the media, the occupiers say their actions are designed to highlight the current housing crisis.

The occupiers left the Summerhill property on August 17 last after the owner of that property secured a High Court injunction.

There was no appearance before the court by the occupiers, and no representations were made on their behalf to the judge.

Seeking the injunctions Helen McCarthy Bl for Ms No Greil said that persons unknown had illegally entered and were in occupation of her client's property for over a week.

They had no right to be there, and had refused to leave the premises, counsel said.

The persons in occupation wore masks and had pictured an agent of the owner when he attended at the property.

Counsel said it is believed that occupiers are park of a group known as Dublin Central Housing Action.

The orders were being sought on a number of grounds including health and safety and fire safety concerns about the property.

Counsel said her client purchased the building in 2014.

There is one tenant in the property's basement, and the the the four storeys had been vacant.

Counsel said that an architect has been engaged as part of the owner's plans to convert the property into a guesthouse.

Extensive works, including structural works, need to be carried out on the building, counsel said.

These works had been interrupted by the occupation, and the owner's agents have not been able to gain access to the property.

A purported representative who would only give the name "Aonghus" had contacted representatives of the owner in a bid to discuss the situation.

The caller, who did not give a surname, was informed that the matter would go before the court, counsel said.

Following the conclusion of submission from counsel Mr Justice Quinn said he was satisfied to grant various injunctions, which are to remain in place pending any full hearing of the action, compelling those in occupation to leave number 34.

The Judge, who said he was satisfied the occupiers had been served with and were aware of the proceedings, direct that the property at North Frederick Street must be vacated by 2pm on Wednesday, August 29.

The court also made orders restrained anyone from interfering with the properties and that the occupiers must remove all their belongings including banners that had been placed on or brought into the building.

Notice of the making of the orders is to be pinned to the doors of the various properties the Judge added.A Northern Ireland man has appeared in court accused of being drunk on a plane.

Standing in the dock of Antrim Magistrates Court, 27-year-old Kevin OHare spoke only to confirm he understood the five charges against him.

In addition to being accused of being drunk on a plane on August 5 this year, OHare, from Keggall View in Camlough, is also charged with failing to obey the lawful command of a pilot, behaving in a threatening, abusive, insulting or disorderly manner towards a member of the crew of an aircraft, threatening to kill a woman and assaulting her on the same date.

Giving evidence to the court a police officer said he believed he could connect OHare to each of the offences while a PPS lawyer asked for the case to be adjourned for two weeks.

Freeing OHare on his own bail of 500, District Judge Peter King barred him from contacting the alleged victim and from consuming alcohol.

OHare will appear again on September 11.Samuel Joseph Tucker was brought before the High Court following his arrest by Gardai in Cork

Samuel Joseph Tucker was brought before today's sitting of the High Court

The High Court has remanded in custody a 23-year-old man wanted by the United State's authorities on charges relating to a fatal road traffic crash in Florida.

Samuel Joseph Tucker was brought before today's sitting of the High Court following his arrest by Gardai in Cork on Monday evening on foot of an extradition warrant issued by the US authorities.

Mr Tucker, an American citizen, is wanted to stand trial on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol and a related manslaughter charge after the car he was allegedly driving, a 2017 Maserati Ghibli, crashed in the early hours of June 24, 2017, in Highland County, Florida.

The accident claimed the life of 22-year-old Ms Alyssa Kay Vice, who was a passenger with him in the car at the time. The vehicle allegedly knocked over a power pole and overturned four times.

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It was alleged that Mr Tucker's blood alcohol level at the time of the accident was twice the legal Florida drink driving limit and that the car had been speeding at 140mph before the crash occurred.

The US authorities claim that Mr Tucker left the United States soon after the incident and travelled to Ireland allegedly to avoid a trial.

At Tuesday's sitting of the High Court, Mr Justice Michael Quinn was told Mr Tucker was arrested at an address at Mayfield, Cork on Monday evening.

Giving details of his arrest, charge and caution Detective Sergeant Anthony Keane of the Garda Extradition Unit said Mr Tucker acknowledged being the person whose extradition was being sought.

When asked if he knew what the charge was about Mr Tucker had "yes to Detective Garda Keane. With a former address in Florida, he waslegally represented during the proceedings, but did not speak during the brief hearing.

No application for bail was made on his behalf but the court was told an application may be made at a future date. Judge Quinn heard the State would be objecting to Mr Tucker being granted bail.

He was remanded in custody and will next come before the Criminal Courts of Justice on September 12.DETECTIVES have arrested two men after a high-powered handgun was delivered to an address in west Dublin today.

The firearm, which is believed to be a glock, was transported to the Clondalkin property before armed gardai swooped on a number of individuals.

Two men have been arrested are part of the investigation and are currently being quizzed at separate Dublin garda stations.

The firearm, which will be technically examined by ballistics experts, was recovered during the search of a house in the Woodavens area of Clondalkin.

The arrests were carried out by detectives from the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB) as part of a pre-planned intelligence led-operation.

A garda spokesman said: "The two males arrested, in their 30s and 40s, are currently detained at west Dublin Garda Stations under the provisions of Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.Debris outside a Primark store as a major blaze has engulfed the shop in the historic five-storey Bank Buildings in Belfast city centre Photo credit: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

People look on as firefighters tackle a blaze which has destroyed a Primark store in Belfast Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

Smoke from a major blaze which has broken out at the Primark store in Belfast city centre Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

A firefighter trains a hose on a major blaze which has broken out at the Primark store in Belfast Photo: Liam McBurney /PA Wire

Flames from a major blaze which has broken out at the Primark store in Belfast city centre Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

Firefighters tackle a major blaze which has broken out at the Primark store in Belfas Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

PSNI officers watch as flames from a major blaze engulf a Primark store in the historic five-storey Bank Buildings in Belfast city centre Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

Up to 100 firefighters are battling to bring the blaze at a Primark store in the centre of Belfast under control, with reports the building's collapse could be imminent.

A fire engulfed Primark's flagship store in Northern Ireland this morning - with more than a dozen fire crews battling to save the landmark building in Belfast city centre.

It was initially appearing to be confined to the upper floors but flames quickly spread downwards and throughout the entire building.

The BBC is reporting a police officer at the scene has said the building is "at risk of imminent collapse".

Michael Graham, assistant chief fire and rescue officer, said they would continue to deal with the fire into the evening and potentially overnight.

He said he did not know what caused it, nor whether there were fire alarms or sprinklers in place. Nobody was injured.

He expressed "concerns" over the structural integrity of the building, with part of it "prone to collapse" and said a 30-metre cordon had been established for that reason.

"It was a difficult fire and a fire that has continued for approximately six hours," he said.

"It has been a long and arduous six hours for them but we will continue to fight the fire until we extinguish it.

"It is one of the biggest we have experienced in the last two to three years."

He said he was concerned about the front and the two sides of the structure.

Crews are fighting the blaze on several fronts.

The building has been evacuated. Residents and businesses in the city cenre were advised to keep their windows and doors closed as a precautionary measure.

The fire started on the fifth floor of the building, which has been undergoing refurbishment work.

CEO of Primark Paul Marchant said he is deeply shocked and saddened by the fire and moved to reassure staff that have been gravely impacted by the blaze, saying he will ensure they are "fully supported".

Flames reaching at least 50 feet could be seen right across Belfast's skyline.

The historic clock at the top of the building was engulfed in flames before the fire spread from the roof to the floor below.

Parts of the roof then collapsed as thick black smoke and fire ripped through the rest of the flagship store.

The building has survived bombs and fires throughout its long history in the city.

A Primark spokesperson said the shop was safely evacuated this morning 'following a fire on the roof'.

Hundreds of people gathered to watch firefighters tackle the blaze.

Police are also at the scene and have cordoned the area off. They have advised motorists to avoid the Castle Street area.

Diversions are currently in place at Bridge Street and High Street, Castle Street and Queens Street and Royal Avenue and North Street to allow Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service to deal with the incident.

Castlecourt and a number of other local businesses have closed due to the fire.

Drivers parked in Castlecourt car park can still access their cars via the car park entrance.

Caitlin Hunter (17) was in the ground floor when the alarm was raised.

I was just on the ground flooring all of a sudden I could smell smoke. People started walking out quickly and I followed the crowd.

Before I knew it there was smoke everywhere and flames, even though it seemed to start off very small.

The mood was very confused in the shop, everyone could smell the smoke but nobody could tell what was going on.

She added: Its a shock and a very scary moment.

Within minutes the entire building was emptied and the flames tore through the top floor.

Belfast City Councillor Jim Rodgers said he had been told tar was being laid on the roof of the building shortly before the fire started.

A number of loud bangs were heard on the street below, believed to be gas cannisters.

Inquiries are still at a very early stage but Ive been told by a number of people that the fire started on the roof, seemingly it was tar being put down on the roof as part of the refurbishment of the building.

Its been worked on for so long and within minutes its disappeared into an absolute inferno.

Ive got to praise the fire and rescue service, theres a large number of them here and theyve done a brilliant job in bringing the fire under control.

Sinn Fein Mayor of Belfast Deirdre Hargey has urged members of the public to keep a safe distance from the site.

I would also ask the public to avoid the Castle Street and Royal Avenue avoided whilst the incident is ongoing," she said.

Emergency services at the scene and responding. I would urge the public to be cautious and to assist the emergency services in whatever way possible."

Designed by architect Sir Robert Taylor, the historic Bank Building was constructed in 1785 and opened in 1787. It was later a shop and drapery firm at various points.

The building was extensively damaged by three bombs on April 9 1975, this was followed by a fire which forced then tenants Boots to move out.

It was then refurbished in 1979 and reopened by current owners Primark.The treaty provides for both the commissioners to meetat least once every year, alternately in Pakistan and India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on several occasions, has vehemently announced to scrap Indus Waters Treaty, an agreement signed between Pakistan and India in 1960.

Islamabad: The schedule of talks between Indus Water Commissions of Pakistan and India was changed Monday as the Indian delegation, led by P.K. Saxena, will reach Lahore through Wagah border on Tuesday (today).

The delegation will meet Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Water Syed Mehr Ali Shah and was earlier scheduled to arrive on Monday. During the meeting, Pakistan will reiterate its serious objections over construction of 1000-MW Pakal Dul and 48-MW Lower Kalnai hydroelectric projects by India on two different tributaries of River Chenab, officials said.

The nine-member delegation will be led by Indian Commissioner P.K. Saxena and caretaker commissioner Syed Mehar Ali Shah and his delegation will represent Pakistan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on several occasions, has vehemently announced to scrap Indus Waters Treaty, an agreement signed between Pakistan and India in 1960.

According to this agreement, control over the three eastern rivers was given to India, while control over the three western rivers was given to Pakistan.

The earlier venue for the two-day huddle was Lahore, which was later changed to Islamabad. In 2012, Pakistan objected over Pakal Duls design for violating the Sindh Taas Agreement.

On the occasion, Pakistani officials demanded that the freeboard height should be reduced from seven-feet to two-feet and that the installation of the seal way gates should be done with an additional 40 metres in order to bring it to 1620 metres and align it with sea level.

Despite Pakistan repeatedly dissenting the storage of water in the dam and the provision of data in regards to its operation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the projects in May.

Following this development, a statement issued by the Foreign Office said that despite several rounds of bilateral negotiations as well as mediation under the auspices of the World Bank, India continued with the construction of the project.

Both the projects constitute a violation of the Indus Water Treaty 1960. The treaty allotted the waters of three eastern rivers namely Ravi, Beas and Sutlej exclusively to India while that of Western rivers namely Indus, Chenab and Jhelum to Pakistan.

However, India has some rights on Western rivers which include unrestricted rights to develop hydroelectric power within the specified parameters.of the design. Permanent Indus Commission, formed under the treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960 comprises of Indus commissioners for both the countries. The treaty provides for both the commissioners to meet at least once every year, alternately in Pakistan and India.The family of a young mother who was critically injured in a car crash, in which two people were killed, has said her surgery has been a success.

Rachel Elliott (25) was thrown from the Peugeot 306 that crashed into a wall and a pole in Bundoran, Co Donegal, in the early hours of August 19.

Mother-of-one Shiva Devine (20), originally from Ballintra, Co Donegal, but living in Belleek, Co Fermanagh, and Conall McAleer (20), from Fermanagh, were killed instantly in the accident.

Rachel, from Irvinestown, Co Fermanagh, was brought to Dublin's Beaumont Hospital where for specialist treatment and underwent surgery yesterday.

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"Rachel has come out of surgery with all going good. Still a waiting game to see if she will be fit to walk or not... nothing is going to put our Rachel down," her sister Donna said.

Earlier this week, Donna said Rachel had shown signs of improvement.

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We want to thank everyone for your continuous support. Rachel has finally opened her eyes and there is an improvement. Please keep praying.

We got the Padre Pio glove to bless Rachel. Its in Gods hands now and we have great faith.

As you can imagine, Rachel is in intensive care. Her immediate family are only getting in twice a day as they are extremely strict on visiting as she is so critically ill at this time. I hope you understand.

We really appreciate your calls, texts and prayers. Please keep praying. We have to get Rachel home.

The funerals of Shiva and Conall have taken place and mourners said prayers for Rachel and the other crash survivors.

It is understood there were six people in the car when it crashed.

The driver of the vehicle initially left the scene but presented himself to gardai later and was arrested.

He was questioned at Ballyshannon Garda Station before being released without charge.

A file has been prepared for the DPP.Presidential hopeful Gavin Duffy has plans to take out a loan of up to 750,000 to fund his potential election campaign.

The 'Dragons' Den' star and businessman revealed he had secured approval for the mortgage on his family home but said he had not yet drawn it down.

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Mr Duffy is seeking the support of councillors to get on the ballot paper to challenge President Michael D Higgins in the upcoming election.

He needs the backing of four local authorities to get a nomination and made pitches to Meath, Kildare and Westmeath county councils yesterday.

Speaking to councillors in Meath, Mr Duffy highlighted his commitment to contesting the presidency. He said taking out a mortgage on his family home showed he had the conviction to put himself forward.

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He said he runs the risk of being accused of having "big business" backing him if he doesn't fund the campaign himself and said he's "blessed" to have a wife, Orlaith Carmody, who "didn't question... us taking out a mortgage on our family home".

Later Mr Duffy told the Irish Independent that he had received a letter of offer from a lender for 750,000, though he confirmed he had yet to draw down the loan.

He reiterated his commitment to an open and transparent campaign and said he intends to publish a "full disclosure document" detailing his borrowings and tax compliance if he gets the required support to get on the ballot paper.

Earlier, Mr Duffy told councillors that the Irish people won't be electing a Vladimir Putin or Donald Trump in October. He emphasised the "soft power" of the Irish presidency.

Councillors in Meath also heard from mental health campaigner Senator Joan Freeman, who insisted that, despite being an Oireachtas member, she is not a politician.

The Pieta House founder said that as president she would be a "voice for the people of Ireland".

A practising Catholic, she also spoke of the visit of Pope Francis and said she was heartened by the "warm, dignified and respectful" welcome he was given by the Irish people.

Ms Freeman said: "I think this is the last chance that the Irish people will give the Catholic Church.

"We have to stop being drip-fed these scandals," she added, saying there needed to be "complete and open disclosure" and once there's transparency a new relationship can be developed between Church and State.

Another presidential hopeful, journalist Gemma O'Doherty, denied claims she is anti-vaccination and said her views on this and other matters had been "completely taken out of context".

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She said that corruption, and not vaccines, "keeps me awake at night".

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Four potential candidates - Mr Duffy, Ms Freeman, musician Jimmy Smyth and artist Kevin Sharkey - also presented their case for nomination to Kildare County Council.

Mr Sharkey told the meeting he suffered abuse in his childhood but had triumphed over its consequences, being neither "victim" nor "survivor".

Councillors in Westmeath also heard from candidates.THE Presidential Election will take place on Friday, October 26, it has been confirmed.

Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy will sign an election order today which will open the door for candidates to be formally nominated.

As president, Michael D Higgins is automatically entitled to get his name on the ballot paper  but up to 11 others want to challenge him.

They must secure the backing of four local authorities or 20 Oireachtas members.

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Counting will take place on October 27, with the new president set to be inaugurated on November 11.

Among the favourites to get on the ticket are businessman Gavin Duffy and senator Joan Freeman. They have embarked on a tour of county councils.

Sean Gallagher, who finished runner-up in 2011, is also considering another tilt at the highest office in the country.

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Sinn Fein will select a candidate next month.

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Among the others seeking support are artist Kevin Sharkey, musician Jimmy Smyth, Marilyn Monroe impersonator Sarah Louise Mulligan, journalist Gemma ODoherty, Roscommon farmer John Groarke and former general election candidate Patrick Feeney.

It also emerged today that Fine Gael warned councillors not to support candidates other than Michael D Higgins in the upcoming election.

In a move that is likely to go down badly among some grassroots members, party chiefs last night wrote to local representatives around the country.

The note advised councillors of a decision by Fine Gael TDs and senators to back the incumbent on Friday, October 26.

The Party is committed to supporting his re-election unconditionally, the message, signed by Fine Gael General Secretary Tom Curran said.

Two Meath councillors, Maria Murphy and Alan Tobin, have already publicly committed to helping businessman Gavin Duffy secure a nomination.

And Cllr John McCartin, a Fine Gael councillor who sits on Leitrim County Council, has called on 2011 runner-up Sean Gallagher to enter the race.

The letter to councillors states: On a number of previous occasions the Party has put political partisanship to one side and has supported either an incumbent or an agreed Presidential Candidate.

We are requesting that Councillors in considering the matter of Presidential nominations take into account the Partys position and as a consequence neither propose or support other candidates.

Despite the correspondence it still appears unlikely that Fine Gael would create an internal party row by trying to sanction councillors who do not follow orders from HQ.

More to follow...Abuse survivor groups are demanding that Pope Francis immediately direct the Catholic Church to release all remaining documents that may assist ongoing inquiries into clerical abuse.

The Church has also been urged to adopt a mediation, rather than a legalistic approach to victims.

The Vatican, after Pope Francis put the issue of abuse firmly at the centre of his visit, is coming under pressure in relation to mother and baby homes.

Campaigners have also urged the Church to follow the Pope's lead and adopt a less legalistic approach to victims.

Thousands of forced adoptions took place from mother and baby homes, many involving wealthy Catholic families in the US. Hundreds of mothers and children have been frustrated for decades in their attempts to trace their birth relatives by a chronic lack of documentation.

Other inquiries have been hampered by a lack of access to key Church documents indicating what was known and when about key abuse cases.

Pope Franics specifically mentioned abuse six times and also staged a 90-minute meeting with survivors at the Papal Nunciature on Saturday.

He offered the most fulsome apology ever by the Church in relation to abuse.

However, survivor groups warned that now is the time for Pope Francis to insist that actions follow.

One campaigner, Marie Collins, expressed surprise at comments Pope Francis made about her during his press conference.

Pope Francis referred to Ms Collins in respect of a recommendation that further Vatican tribunals be staged, to deal with those who may have known about abuse cases but failed to properly act.

"Marie Collins is a bit fixated - (but) I hold her in high regard," he said. Ms Collins admitted she was perplexed by his approach.

"If Pope Francis felt a Vatican tribunal was 'not viable' why then did he approve it, announce funding and personnel?" she asked on social media.

Other groups said the key follow-up should be the provision of vast amounts of Church documentation sought by various inquiries and investigations into various abuses in Ireland from the 1940s.

Children born to unmarried mothers - and sometimes women from poverty-hit backgrounds - were secretly adopted from Church-run mother and baby homes to countries including the United States, Canada and Australia.

Pope Francis said he knew nothing of the Tuam mother and baby home scandal until he was informed of it by Children's Minister Katherine Zappone.

Tuam is now just one element of a vast number cases where the Vatican and Irish Catholic Church are being asked to take urgent action.Piotr, Mariola and Ryan (7) Palichleb were given tickets while in Knock. Photo: Damien Eagers

The priest responsible for Knock shrine hopes transatlantic flights are established to the area to cement its place alongside pilgrimage locations like Lourdes and Fatima.

On Sunday, the world watched Pope Francis follow in the footsteps of John Paul II as he visited the Marian Shrine.

Knock parish priest Fr Richard Gibbons said he hopes the visit will boost pilgrim numbers.

Fr Gibbons said people are coming to the shrine in their droves, proving a real "appetite for pilgrimage" among visitors year round.

"I'd like to get transatlantic flights established here. There is an appetite for pilgrimage, so we would plan for expansion," he said.

Ireland West Airport chief executive Joe Gilmore also has the US market in his sight, with plans to increase the number of chartered flights.

As the village returned to normal yesterday, one family who enjoyed a special week visiting the village were preparing to return to the UK delighted with their experience.

Piotr and Mariola Palichleb and their son Ryan Markus (7), who are originally from Poland, live in London and travelled to Ireland in the hope of catching a glimpse of the pontiff.

"It was very exciting, we came for a holiday here and the main reason was meeting with Pope Francis," said Piotr.

While visiting the shrine on Saturday a day before the Pope was due to arrive to lead prayers in the Apparition Chapel, a local lady offered the family tickets out of the blue. "It was like a miracle," said Piotr.

The visit had attracted people from around the world and yesterday a delegation from Tanzania, who were in the Phoenix Park on Sunday, made the trip west to visit the famous shrine - and pick up a number of souvenirs.

Renatha Rugarabamu, who was joined by her daughter Angelica, was sorry the group did not have more time to spend in "calm and beautiful" Knock.

Her friend, Mary Goretti Rwegoshora, was delighted to buy giant rosary beads to display in her home.

"I've dreamed about these and now I've got them," she said.

Many of the stores had a wide selection of Pope Francis memorabilia and unlike their counterparts in Dublin, who complained nobody was interested, visitors to Knock were keen to pick up a memento of the historic visit.

In John Prendergast's store, however, it was statues of Pope Francis which caught the eye of many pilgrims. Mr Prendergast - who has been in business in the town for more than 40 years - said he sold several of them, mainly to Irish visitors.Members of the Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors said they had been surprised by Pope Francis declaring those who cover up child abuse as 'caca' in a private meeting on Saturday.

The group had met with the Pope for 90 minutes at the Papal Nuncio's residence in Dublin before he attended the World Meeting of Families ceremony at Croke Park.

"He surprised all those present when he referred to those who cover up child abuse as 'caca'," the group said.

"His translator was slightly taken aback and asked the Pope to clarify what he meant.

"Pope Francis gestured downwards with his hands in a circular motion and the translator said he was referring to 'filth in a toilet'."

One member of the group present, Clodagh Malone, was said to have asked if the Papal was referring to 's**t'. A representative from the group said: "The translator agreed this was an accurate translation. It was a powerful moment for all those present.

"At the end of the meeting, the Pope was asked if people could take 'selfies' with him and he generously agreed despite the fact that he was clearly tired and distressed after the meeting.

"He was also asked to bless a number of items and the survivors gathered in a circle with the Pope, who blessed the various items in people's hands."

The group presented Pope Francis with a baby shoe to symbolise the abuse many children faced at the hands of the Church in Ireland.

As he spoke to crowds gathered at the Phoenix Park yesterday, the second annual St Patrick's Mother and Baby Home commemoration took place at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.

More than 2,000 babies and children were remembered during the ceremony with baby shoes attached to the railings.Pope Francis leads the Angelus in Knock, Co. Mayo, on the second day of his visit to Ireland. Photo: TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images

As Pope Francis boarded his Aer Lingus A321 flight out of Dublin along with 125 Vatican officials, security staff and journalists, there was a massive sigh of relief in political circles.

When Enda Kenny travelled to Rome to invite Pope Francis here nearly two years ago, few would have predicted exactly what that would entail.

A classic case of it seemed like a nice idea at the time.

Nobody could have predicted that a grand jury in Pennsylvania would deliver such a devastating assessment of the Catholic hierarchy just days before the visit.

But the potential for such revelations was always high when dealing with the Church. This country has a better idea than most.

As Taoiseach Leo Varadkar remarked in Dublin Castle: "In recent weeks, we have all listened to heart-breaking stories from Pennsylvania of brutal crimes perpetrated by people within the Catholic Church, and then obscured to protect the institution at the expense of innocent victims. It is a story all too tragically familiar here in Ireland."

The diplomatic effort to make the Pope welcome, allow protests take place and ensure Catholics did not feel ostracised was immense.

Who would imagine a few years ago that a visit by the Pope would be more diplomatically difficult than the arrival of the head of the British monarchy?

Queen Elizabeth's visit in 2011 is the only comparable event in recent history in terms of dividing public opinion.

Back then, officials were hugely nervous about the potential for riots on the streets or that her presence would reopen scars that were healing with the natural passing of time.

In fact, it resulted in a 'new relationship' that allowed old wounds be respected while looking to the future.

The abiding images were of schoolchildren waving Union Jacks and the queen laughing heartily with fishmonger Pat O'Connell at the English Market in Cork.

A palace spokesperson said afterwards that the mood in the royal household was "very buoyant".

"The visit will be in the queen's mind for a very long time when she returns home," they said.

"Everybody in the household has been overwhelmed by the warmth of the welcome. It's been an extraordinary visit.''

Perhaps trying to replicate the script from that visit, Leo Varadkar suggested the Vatican might also be interested in "a new covenant for the 21st century".

Only time will tell whether that can be achieved, though. No doubt Pope Francis made strong efforts to kick-start some sort of renewal for his Church internationally and in this country.

His Phoenix Park speech was a direct result of 90 minutes with victims of a variety of abuses at Catholic institutions. That will be the lasting image from the pontiff's tour.

At the steps, the Taoiseach thanked Pope Francis for his visit and, according to one official, wished him "godspeed". In return, the pontiff offered his prayers to the Taoiseach.

A gap of 39 years was bridged - but it will take some time before we are able to see what's on the other side.Children's Minister Katherine Zappone wants the Vatican to contribute up to 2.5m as part reparation for its role in the Tuam mother and baby home scandal.

In a two-page letter to Pope Francis, the minister asked the Church to "contribute substantially" to one of five potential options for dealing with the home's legacy.

The Government is weeks away from deciding on the future of the site, with options ranging from a simple memorial to a full-scale forensic and archaeological excavation.

The latter could cost between 3m and 5m and involve the exhumation of remains over a two-year period.

Ms Zappone briefed the pontiff on the story of Tuam in Italian when they met at Aras an Uachtarain on Saturday.

She then handed over a letter which gave greater detail about the hundreds of "little ones whose remains are in a sewage system".

The memo also asked that the Church contributes to the cost of giving the babies some "dignity in death".

Although she didn't put a figure on her demand, the Irish Independent understands she wants at least half of the costs to be covered by the Catholic Church.

"It is my strong conviction that given the role of the Church in this shameful chapter of recent Irish history, it must play a practical role in addressing the hurt and damage," the letter said.

Pope Francis was also advised: "This should be done willingly, unconditionally and quickly. Nothing less will demonstrate remorse."

There was surprise in Dublin Castle on Saturday when the pontiff went off-script at a civic reception to say that the words of the Children's Minister were echoing in his ears.

On his flight back to Rome, he again expressed a willingness to engage in relation to the Tuam scandal.

He told reporters that Ms Zappone explained that an investigation was underway into the "mass graves of children".

"But she said it very politely and truly with a lot of respect. I thanked her to the point that this had touched my heart," Pope Francis said.

He described the minister's contribution as "balanced", adding that it was an example of "constructive collaboration" and "complaint".

"That lady had a dignity that touched my heart, and now I have the memo there that I will study when I get home," Pope Francis said.

The memo outlines how mother and baby homes came to public attention here during the summer of 2014 "following a series of disturbing reports of high mortality rates".

Analysis at the site in Tuam determined that the remains buried there are between 35 foetal weeks and two to three years of age.

From carbon dating, it has correlated the age of these samples with the time period during which the home was in operation - between 1925 and 1961. It is believed there could be up to 800 infant bodies discarded there.

"This news was met with widespread disgust both in Ireland and abroad," Ms Zappone's letter states.

"We also owe it to the families of these children to now do the right thing by their loved ones."

Historian Catherine Corless, who was central to the discovery of the remains, welcomed the minister's direct intervention with the Pope.

"I am very thankful to Minister Zappone for what she has done for the Tuam site in the last year. The fact that she spoke to the Pope when she got the chance, we are very, very thankful to her," she said.

Ms Corless said the survivors of the Tuam home want the Government to exhume the bodies, no matter what the cost implications. She argued the 5m bill is not particularly large when compared with the 25m-plus that the State spent on the Pope's visit.Members of the Irish deaf community have accused RTE of having "virtually ignored" it and Irish Sign Language (ISL) interpreters who were working at the Pope's visit last weekend.

A protest is due to take place on Thursday outside RTE studios around the country - including at its main Donnybrook studio in Dublin and its Cork base - over the controversy, said community representative Cormac Leonard.

A social media awareness campaign has also launched on Twitter, entitled #StopHidingISL.

The Irish Deaf Society (IDS) has said it fully supports the planned protest.

The protest group claimed RTE also largely ignored the first public performance of the newly translated ISL version of Amhran na bhFiann during last Sunday week's All-Ireland hurling final at Croke Park.

The group said it felt let down.

In a statement to Independent.ie, RTE said that "live signing is often difficult to capture satisfactorily for home viewers".

"As host broadcaster for the papal visit, RTE was providing a world feed. There were a number of languages other than English in use, and this, along with the numerous countries where an Irish Sign Language interpretation would be obsolete, meant that live signing of the event on television was not possible.

"As such, RTE provided live subtitling for the visit of Pope Francis to Ireland. In addition, the Monday evening highlights programme tonight at 8.30pm on RTE News Now will be signed in ISL. RTE News with Signing was scheduled on both days, on Saturday at 17.53 and Sunday at 17.53."

RTE also said that tonight's Papal Visit highlights programme is actively testing live signing facilitated from RTE's studios.

"The most recent independent assessments shows that RTE has not only met, but has exceeded the targets set for Irish sign language and subtitling."Petition to appoint a grievance officer to enable subscribers to file complaints.

This Court has suggested that a new offence on lynching may be created and an appropriate punishment may be prescribed for the same.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to Centre and WhatsApp on a plea to appoint a grievance officer to enable subscribers to file complaints or grievances and comply with tax and other laws of India.

A bench of Justices Rohinton Nariman and Ms. Indu Malhotra issued notice on a petition filed by Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC) seeking response in two weeks. It said WhatsApp is the biggest messaging platform in India wherein it has more than 20 crore active users. As per market reports, WhatsApp has per user value of around $42, which makes it a Rs 5.76 lakh crore company, i.e. greater than any Indian company.

Yet, the petitioner said WhatsApp does not comply with provision mandating Grievance Officer and other laws of India. As per National Crime Records Bureau, in 2014-16, there have been 72,829 incidents of offences against public tranquility and a total of 3,64,526 persons were arrested for the same in 2016.

It said growth of such rumour based crimes are directly proportional to growth of user base of messaging services like WhatsApp, which continue to remain unregulated, not because of lack of laws, but absolute executive apathy. This Court has suggested that a new offence on lynching may be created and an appropriate punishment may be prescribed for the same.

It said on the one hand, authorities are partnering with WhatsApp, while on the other, it has been reported that WhatsApp is not co-operating with Indian intelligence agencies in their probe on terrorist activities. WhatsApp is a foreign company with no office or servers in India. To run Payments Service in India, WhatsApp is obligated to have its office and payments in India. Moreover, it is also required to have a Grievance Officer for users in India.

The petitioner submitted that Whatsapp is being allowed to continue with its payments and other services, without any checks. Rumour based crimes, especially lynching have increased over the last few years. Growth of such crimes is directly proportional to growth of user base of messaging services like WhatsApp, which continue to remain unregulated.

In 2012, rumours caused a mass exodus of persons from Northeast from Bengaluru. In June 2014, mob caused rampage on the streets of Pune because of circulation of morphed images of Hindu gods on WhatsApp.

In typical knee jerk reactions, Governments, be it at State or Centre has taken the step of shutting down the Internet for combating the dangerous aspects of Social Media.

The Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011 have been notified for more than 7 years, yet the authorities have not been able to get intermediaries to comply with Indian laws. It is submitted that law has to be enforced to make it effective. Hence the need for a direction to WhatsApp to appoint Grievance officer for India to address the complaints and grievances of subscribers.A Trinity College graduate and well-known republican has celebrated her release from prison for firearms offences by posing for a selfie with her friends.

Ursula Shannon (34) is a free woman again after spending just under four-and-a-half years of a six-year term in jail for offences related to her being intercepted by armed gardai outside the premises of a firearms dealer in November 2012.

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In a photo posted on social media, Ms Shannon smiles happily as she sits with a number of friends, including some fellow Dublin Eirigi activists.

It is understood that the photograph was posted to celebrate her official release earlier this month.

However, Ms Shannon had been on temporary release for around five weeks before officially completing her sentence around a fortnight ago.

While on temporary release from the Dochas centre at Mountjoy prison, she was required to sign on every week and not to come to adverse garda attention.

Ms Shannon's release has been welcomed on social media by her pals, one of whom called her a "true republican" and another who said it was "great to see your smiling, beautiful face again".

Clonsilla woman Ms Shannon was previously arrested for public-order offences after an anti-Nama rooftop protest at Anglo Irish Bank in Dublin city centre on May 15, 2010.

She was also a prominent protester during Queen Elizabeth's visit to Dublin a year later.

However, it was in 2012 that Ms Shannon was to run into trouble with the law which resulted in a lengthy jail sentence.

At her sentencing hearing in March 2014, her lawyer told the court that Ms Shannon was a young lady with "many interests, abilities and talents". He said that Ms Shannon had a BA in early and modern Irish from Trinity College and a Masters in language planning from NUI Galway.

At the time she was doing research on sustainable new Irish language communities for her PhD.

Ms Shannon and three men were arrested after gardai received intelligence they planned to storm a prominent firearms dealership in Co Offaly on the night of November 27, 2012.

She was caught with John McGreal (41), John Troy (38) and Colin Brady (28) in an operation led by the gardai's Special Detective Unit.

All four were intercepted by armed gardai in a stolen van outside the premises of the firearms dealer, wearing wigs and disguises before the suspected planned robbery.

A search of the vehicle revealed it contained two handguns and a stun gun, along with ammunition, cable ties, black pillowcases, canisters of petrol, wigs and disguises.

Ms Shannon, McGreal and Brady all pleaded not guilty at the non-jury Special Criminal Court but offered no evidence in their defence while Cabra man Troy admitted his role.

Gardai were in receipt of confidential information that a stolen vehicle would be used as part of an operation by dissident republicans for a theft at a property in Tullybeg, Co Offaly.

The court heard the accused were wearing wigs and disguises outside the residential premises, which also doubled as a business for a licensed firearms seller.

Gardai gave evidence that the accused were wearing several layers of clothing to make them appear heavier.

One of the handguns recovered, a Brazilian-made Taurus pistol, was used in a murder in Tallaght in February 2002. There was no suggestion any of the defendants were involved in that offence.

There was also evidence that the ammunition recovered was wrapped up in a nappy found inside the stolen van in which the defendants were travelling.

CCTV footage of the interception of the stolen van was played to the court to show that those in the van were there to rob the shop and steal the firearms on the premises.It has long been assumed that childhood is a time of innocence, free from the shackles of social conformity, when youngsters act naturally on instinct rather than by convention.

But research shows that even by the age of two, children are already crippled by the scrutiny of others and will change their behaviour if they are being watched to boost their reputation.

Scientists at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, found that by 24 months toddlers showed signs of inhibition and embarrassment when aware that they are being observed and attempt to "manage their image".

The study, published in the journal 'Development Psychology', concludes that social anxiety emerges in humans far earlier than had been thought.

"There is something specifically human in the way that we're sensitive to the gaze of others," said Philippe Rochat, senior author of the study. "At the very bottom, our concern for image management and reputation is about the fear of rejection, one of the main engines of the human psyche."

The rise of social media has made it clearer how adults feel about their image.

People report feeling crushed if a post does not receive sufficient "likes".

To test how early social anxiety emerges, scientists carried out several experiments involving 144 children between the ages of 14 and 24 months using a remote-control robot.

A researcher either watched the youngster playing with it, or turned away and pretended to read.

When the child was being watched, they showed more inhibition and embarrassment than when the researcher was not watching.

In a second experiment, the researcher used two different remote controls when demonstrating the toy, saying, "Wow! Isn't that great?" with the first and "Uh-oh! Oops, oh no!" with the second. They found children used the remote control associated with the negative response more when not being watched, choosing the positive one when under the gaze of the researcher.

Youngsters were then shown the toy being operated by two researchers, one who said, "Yay! The toy moved!" and one who frowned and said, "Yuck! The toy moved!"

When the child was invited to play they were much more likely to press the remote when the researcher who gave a positive response was watching.

"We've shown that by the age of 24 months, children are not only aware that other people may be evaluating them, but they will alter their behaviour to seek a positive response," said doctoral student Sara Valencia Botto, first author of the study.

"This behaviour is like older children who behave well and do good things while others are watching and misbehave when no one is paying attention.

"Our concern for reputation is something that defines us as human."

Previous research found the same behaviour by the time a child reached four, but the latest study suggests it emerges far earlier.Ellie Kisyombe with her Our Table hot sauces which are now on sale in the Good Food Store. Photo: Caroline Quinn

Ellie Kisyombe is a natural community builder. When I first met her, it was at the birthday party of her good friend Mags. At the centre of the night was a group of women who form a supper club.

None of the other women knew each other at first - now they are a close group who regularly socialise beyond their monthly evenings together.

"When it comes to socialising," Ellie tells me, "I've got great friends, I've got a big support system which keeps me going. I'm really lucky I've been surrounded by people who are really genuine. I look at other people who have money, but they don't have what I have; they don't have good friends."

Food writer and chef Michelle Darmody is one of these friends, and a member of the club. She and Ellie established the non-profit enterprise Our Table, a pop-up restaurant and catering company that now boasts 12 employees and 20 volunteers, and raises funds and awareness of those living in direct provision, something that has been Ellie's experience.

Ellie has been in Ireland for almost a decade. Since arriving here as an asylum seeker from Malawi, she has lived in direct provision. Arriving in her early 30s, she was first sent to a centre in Ballyhaunis, Mayo.

It was a distressing experience. "I was sharing my room with three other women, one was very ill with mental health problems." Their corridor had around 10 rooms, she recalls, all sharing one bathroom.

"I was diagnosed with depression. Life was waking up, go to the canteen, have breakfast, go back to bed. Wake up again at 12, go get lunch. Wake up again at 5pm and go get dinner."

There were no activities, and relationships between fellow asylum seekers were fraught - everyone comes with a lot of baggage, she explains.

Ellie has twin children, a boy and girl, who are now Leaving Cert students (they stayed with their aunt in Malawi until they were 14, when they moved here). It was the thought of them, still in Malawi, that kept Ellie from going under at this time.

"I had to see things in a different way, because I had children that I have to live for," she says. "If I am going to be just sleeping, waking up for meals, taking medication, then I am going down. I had to make sure that I put a little bit of strength into myself, found something to do."

Eventually Ellie was moved to Clondalkin, where she met like-minded souls who joined her in forming a strong community group.

"People who would take a risk, like me," she grins.

Doing volunteer work in the Irish Refugee Council also helped immensely. And it was at this time that she met Michelle Darmody. The two of them fixed on food as their starting point, a way to bring people together and connect with different cultures.

Premises with a kitchen were found and ingredients sourced. At that stage, Ellie hadn't cooked in almost five years.

"I remember there was a lady from Uganda, a lady from South Africa, a guy from Cameroon, a guy from Nigeria," Ellie recalls. "We made fish, fried rice, peanut and banana soup, vegetables.

"The emotions were so powerful. People were telling stories about home."

After several events like this, the group formalised, holding a pop-up cafe in the Project Arts Centre - over two days they fed more than 700 people, with Ellie and two other women cooking.

Paid employment is forbidden for those living in direct provision - adults are given a weekly allowance of 19.10, children 9.60.

Ellie says, "Work is so important, it dignifies you. It gives you a network. You are able to talk to people without looking down on yourself."

After the first pop-up, Ellie studied in Ballymaloe, at the invitation of Darina Allen. The course proved hugely helpful in building her confidence for taking the reins of Our Table herself.

Ellie is now the volunteer director of the company.

Almost five years ago, she was moved to an apartment in the city centre. "It was a home. I was settled, very happy there. Home is stability. If you don't have a home, your life is all over the place. If you have a home, you have a sense of a true identity. I had that. It really helped me a lot to structure Our Table. I struggled to put things together, but I managed. And I was able to cook for my family, for myself. Come and rest. Have my own privacy. It was normal life."

However in May the family got a letter to say they were being moved out. At first Ellie thought it was a joke, but in mid-June they were told they were being moved to Dundalk.

Ellie resisted the move. "I said no. I've lived in Dublin for five years. I've built a community, created something that has given people an opportunity. People are getting paid out of this.

"I have assets, catering equipment. It was a disaster. My life was really breaking. I'm not depressed, I can manage it, because I don't want to go back there. I have to be honest with you, I've been through hell," she says of her struggles in the past.

"I didn't want to drag myself through a situation where I was going to break. I have to protect myself."

In the end the family was sent to a unit in Balseskin, Finglas; three rooms set up in one, and a shower. "You have security gates," Ellie says. "No guests are allowed."

Our Table, which recently launched a line of hot sauces stocked in The Good Food Store, has been her lifeline - its success has allowed Ellie to think "I might not have money, but I'm rich. I've got richness in me. That's something I can use to get out of this situation. I have a company that I am responsible for. I don't get money, but I pay people. Every Friday they are happy".

Ellie puts her outstanding resilience down in part to her father. "I lost my father in a very tragic way. He really loved me. He raised me like a man, looked at me like I was the leader of my family; I'm the eldest girl. I had kids when I was really young. After that, it was a kind of a punishment, but that punishment was that my father decided I had to be more responsible. He used to say 'one day I might die young'. He knew that he had to leave somebody behind him who was going to hold everything together. And that's exactly what I did."

The community Ellie has created for herself here is also an important source of strength. "I think I've integrated myself really well. I have a life. I have many loving friends. It's not easy, but I've been really lucky that I am this person, and that I've got all these opportunities around me. Life is a struggle. I get exhausted, but I don't let myself break."

Ellie has dug deep for ways to cope over the years. "I cry a lot when I am by myself. It really helps. But I've got great friends that keep me going. It was not easy to forgive myself. Sometimes I feel angry - why did I put myself in this situation, why did I put my kids through this? Because direct provision is really living in a domestic abusive situation.

"Now the way I've chosen to live my life is to focus on the good things in this moment. That's the choice I make."

Ourtable.ieLondon City Airport: One of the world's most scenic approaches. Photo: Andrew Holt

Aer Lingus is to fly up to six times a day to London City Airport, thanks to a new leasing deal struck with CityJet.

Commencing October 28, the airline will operate six daily round trips from Dublin to London City Airport on weekdays, with a reduced service at weekends, it says.

Prices will start from 49.99 using Avro RJ85 aircraft.

The ACMI leasing arrangement between the airlines will see CityJet provide aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance to Aer Lingus for the route.

The aircraft will feature Aer Lingus livery, and will be configured in single-cabin layout.

The arrangement marks the end of an era for CityJet, whose brand will not be used in Europe from October 28.

Flights are available to book now on aerlingus.com.

CityJet has been operating since 1994 from London City Airport, which is just 10km east of Central London and easily accessible via the Underground/DLR.

Once the route is up and running, Aer Lingus will operate 50 flights daily between Dublin and London - further feeding its growing transatlantic business from Dublin Airport.

"Aer Lingus is on an ambitious flight path and working with Pat [Byrne, CityJet's CEO] and his team will allow us add to our extensive services to London Heathrow and London Gatwick," said Stephen Kavanagh, Aer Lingus' CEO.

"In recent years we have transitioned CityJet from being an airline serving scheduled markets under its own brand into becoming a provider of capacity to customer airlines throughout Europe," added Pat Byrne.

British Airways is also set to grow at London City Airport this winter, with the addition of four Embraer E190 aircraft allowing it to boost capacity by 20pc.

New BA routes will include a year-round service to Rome from November 11.

Read more:Celebrity Eclipse will 'home-port' in Dublin, bringing an estimated 5 million to the economy and carrying over 14,000 people on tours of Ireland and Iceland, and the Norwegian fjords.Serena Williams serves during the first round of the US Open (Jason DeCrow/AP)

Serena Williams is such a dominant figure in womens tennis these days that its hard to picture her having to pretend to play at Grand Slams.

Of course, she wasnt always a 23-time major winner but after watching Nikes latest commercial, released during the US Open which the 35-year-old has won six times, you realise she has been inhabiting the role for longer than you might think.

If you dont dare to try and chase your dreams, you'll rob yourself the joy of doing it. Don't just dream it. #JustDoIt pic.twitter.com/tjpZzVdP8I  Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) August 27, 2018

This is you at the US Open, this is you, Richard Williams, Serenas father, tells his daughter in footage from years gone by.

The video marks Serenas return to the US Open, having missed the 2017 tournament while pregnant with her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr.

Nike also posted the following image days earlier in the aftermath of the news that Serena would no longer be allowed to wear her black catsuit at the French Open, having worn it this year at Roland Garros.

You can take the superhero out of her costume, but you can never take away her superpowers. #justdoit pic.twitter.com/dDB6D9nzaD  Nike (@Nike) August 25, 2018

The US athletes return to Flushing Meadows was a victorious one, beating Polands Magda Linette 6-4 6-0 to advance to the second round. Shes not pretending to play at the majors anymore.French President Emmanuel Macron has said that preserving European Union unity was more important than forging a close relationship with post-Brexit Britain, and hit out at what he called US President Donald Trump's "aggressive" isolationism.

Mr Macron, who met British Prime Minister Theresa May for talks on the UK's departure from the EU during the summer holiday, said he wanted to reach a Brexit deal by the end of the year and showed no signs of breaking ranks with other EU capitals.

"France wants to maintain a strong, special relationship with London but not if the cost is the European Union's unravelling," he told a gathering of French ambassadors.

He said Brexit "is a sovereign choice, which we must respect, but it can't come at the expense of the European Union's integrity".

In a 90-minute speech outlining his diplomatic priorities for the year ahead, Mr Macron made no major policy shifts, but spoke forcefully on what he labelled the "crisis of multilateralism" and the need to make Europe more "sovereign".

Mr Macron called on Europe to be "a trade and economic power" which defends its strategic interests and financial independence with tools that can fend off US extraterritorial sanctions.

"Multilateralism is going through a major crisis which collides with all our diplomatic activity, above all because of US policy," he said.

"The partner with whom Europe built the new post-World War order appears to be turning its back on this shared history," he said.

In his first year, Mr Macron banked on nurturing relationships with awkward leaders such as Mr Trump and Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader, appearing engaged on the world stage but often remaining non-committal and trying to mediate without unsettling anyone.

That approach has been tested after Mr Trump shunned Mr Macron and other allies, pulling out of a global climate pact, imposing extraterritorial sanctions on Iran, and imposing tariffs on EU steel and aluminium.'I do not answer hypothetical, speculative questions... This is purely imaginary at the moment,' Cong spokesperson Singhvi said.

RSS sources said earlier on Monday that the organisation may invite the Congress president to the lecture series. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The Congress said on Monday it has not received any invite for its president Rahul Gandhi to attend an RSS event in Delhi next month and would respond to questions on the matter only after an invitation is received.

"I do not answer hypothetical, speculative questions... This is purely imaginary at the moment," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters.

He said the Congress will come out with a response when it gets an invitation for Gandhi to attend the three-day lecture series by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat.

"I have said to you categorically upon checking that we have received no invitation as I speak," Singhvi reiterated.

"As and when we receive an invitation, the Congress party receives an invitation, there will be an appropriate (and) proper response and you all will be shared with that response," he stressed.

RSS sources said earlier on Monday that the organisation may invite the Congress president to the lecture series.

The idea is to invite people from different ideologies for the event, a source in the Sangh said, adding, the list is being prepared and may also include CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.

Indications that Gandhi could be invited came on a day the RSS criticised him for drawing parallels between the Sangh and Islamic radical outfit Muslim Brotherhood.

Giving details of the September event, RSS prachar pramukh Arun Kumar said the Sangh was for the first time organising a three-day lecture series by Bhagwat on the theme, 'Future of Bharat: An RSS perspective'.German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe needs to stand together and take on more global responsibility, including on defence and security.

Ms Merkel's comments in a German television interview mark her latest response to US President Donald Trump's upending of traditional alliances and his disdain for the European Union. In a rebuff to global-warming doubters, she said a series of exceptionally hot summers are evidence that climate change is real.

"We have to take on more responsibility," Ms Merkel told public broadcaster ARD. "For Germany, that means putting our faith in Europe. I believe it's important that we speak with one voice. Germany will also have to take on more defence responsibilities."

She stopped short of backing a proposal by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who suggested last week EU countries set up payment systems independent of the US and create a European Monetary Fund.

The comments by Mr Maas, whose Social Democrats are Ms Merkel's junior coalition partner, are Germany's most specific response yet to the threat of American sanctions against companies that do business with Iran after Mr Trump pulled out of a nuclear accord with the Islamic republic. "Of course, the foreign minister can do something that isn't cleared with me," but "by and large" she was on the same page as Mr Maas, said Ms Merkel.

She also said she opposes setting more ambitious European emissions reduction targets for 2030, adding the continent needs to concentrate on fulfilling the aims it has already set.

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Whatsapp Riot police attempt to take control after far-right protesters rioted in Chemnitz, eastern Germany. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

The EU wants to achieve a 40pc cut in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by 2030. Last week, EU climate chief Miguel Arias Canete said he plans to propose increasing that to 45pc.

Ms Merkel said she was "not so happy about these new proposals because many member states already aren't fulfilling what they promised".

"I think we must first keep to the targets we set. I don't think that permanently setting new targets makes sense."

Meanwhile there were protests in the eastern German city of Chemnitz, eastern Germany, after far-Right rioters tore through the streets attacking people they believed to be migrants.

A crowd of around 800 people gathered in the city on Sunday afternoon to protest after a man was killed in a fight between "a number of people of different nationalities", police said.

Three men in their thirties were injured during the incident in the early hours of the morning during a street festival.

Unconfirmed rumours being circulated online said the fight between around 10 men may have kicked off after a woman was harassed in the street.

The spontaneous protest that erupted following the incident quickly turned violent with witness reports and videos showing people chasing and attacking foreigners.

In one incident, rioters ran through a local park shouting racist slogans and chasing a man of foreign background.

He fell and was punched and kicked him as he lay on the ground, a witness said.

Police also said some people were hostile towards them and threw bottles. Tensions remained high yesterday and police were braced for further rival protests. Ms Merkel's spokesman said the government condemned the attacks "in the strongest terms".After a hunt lasting two decades, Dutch police believe they have finally tracked down a man suspected of killing an 11-year-old boy in the Netherlands.

Spanish police arrested 55-year-old Dutchman Jos Brech - who was publicly named as the suspected killer by Dutch police last week - about 50km north of Barcelona on Sunday.

Dutch detectives said the suspect's DNA matched traces on the body and clothing of Nicky Verstappen, who was found dead on August 10, 1998, near a summer camp in the Dutch countryside from which he had gone missing the previous night.

The match was established in June this year, police said, using DNA provided by relatives of the suspect who had reported him missing in April. Police went public with their information last week, publishing the man's picture and full name.

"Spanish police were able to arrest him after someone recognised the man from the picture," prosecutor Jan Eland said. Mr Brech will be extradited to the Netherlands, he said, but it is unclear how long that will take.

Over the years, police have made several wrongful arrests in the case, and even opened up the grave of one of the supervisors of the summer camp.

Earlier this year, over 15,000 men who lived near the place where the boy was found responded to a request for samples of their DNA, but also without success.

Mr Brech was interviewed by police near the scene of the crime in the days after the killing, but merely as a passer-by. His name didn't turn up again until his relatives handed over some of his items when they reported him missing last April.

Police had said advanced analysis had revealed Brech's DNA was a "perfect one-for-one match" with traces found on the body of Nicky Verstappen.

'De Telegraaf' newspaper posted a video of Spanish police arresting Mr Brech near "a kind of commune" outside the village of Castelltercol, about 50km north of Barcelona, while he was out collecting firewood.

The paper said it had been called on Saturday by a Dutch national visiting the isolated, wooded area who had recognised Mr Brech from police photographs.

"The witness had spoken to Brech on several occasions and had specific information," 'Telegraaf' crime reporter Marcel Vink told the Dutch national broadcaster NOS. "He wanted to do his civic duty."Germanys leading security official has offered to send federal assistance to the eastern state of Saxony after violence at a far-right protest in the city of Chemnitz left at least 18 people injured.

The protest late on Monday was sparked by the killing of a 35-year-old German man in an altercation with migrants over the weekend.

It erupted into clashes between neo-Nazis and left-wing counter-protesters, and opposition parties criticised police for failing to prevent the violence.

The police in Saxony are in a difficult situation, interior minister Horst Seehofer said. Should it be requested, the federal government will provide police support.

Expand Close Angela Merkel said the German government stands ready to help (Michael Kappeler/dpa/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Angela Merkel said the German government stands ready to help (Michael Kappeler/dpa/AP)

He was backed by Chancellor Angela Merkel, who condemned the violence.

Should Saxony need help to maintain law and order, and to uphold the law, the federal government stands ready, she said.

Saxonys police chief Juergen Georgie acknowledged authorities had underestimated the size of the protest.

Initial estimates had forecast about 1,000 far-right protesters and half that number of counter-protesters, he said. In the end, 600 officers struggled to prevent 6,000 supporters of the far right from breaking through police lines.

Footage showed demonstrators performing Nazi salutes and chanting the national resistance is marching here.

Expand Close About 6,000 supporters of the far right were in Chemnitz (Jens Meyer/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp About 6,000 supporters of the far right were in Chemnitz (Jens Meyer/AP)

Mr Georgie said the police presence in Chemnitz would be stepped up in the coming days, with more protests planned.

Green legislator Konstantin von Notz urged Mr Seehofer to consider resigning, accusing him of fanning anti-migrant sentiment over the past year.

Mr von Notz told the news portal t-online.de that the violence in Chemnitz recalled events elsewhere in eastern Germany during the early 1990s, when authorities failed to stop far-right mobs from attacking migrants.

The state of Saxony has long been a hotbed of anti-migrant sentiment, with some accusing police of turning a blind eye to sympathisers in their own ranks.

Expand Close Police admitted underestimating the size of the protest (Jens Meyer/AP) / Facebook

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The far-right Alternative for Germany party won almost a quarter of the vote in Chemnitz last year.

Police in the city said they had arrested a 22-year-old Syrian and a 21-year-old Iraqi on suspicion of manslaughter in the stabbing death of the German man after a street festival early on Sunday.

Prosecutors said the killing was preceded by a verbal confrontation that escalated.

Saxonys governor condemned far-right extremists for using the mans death as a political tool and for spreading false information online.

While the influx of migrants to Germany in recent years has resulted in a rise in violent crime, experts have noted that this is largely due to demographic factors: young men, who make up a large share of the migrant population, are generally more likely to commit crimes, whether they are German or foreign.

Governor Michael Kremtscher said authorities will swiftly and thoroughly investigate the killing but will also come down hard on those who stoked violence in its wake, including attacks on migrants on the sidelines of the protest.Police first visited Mr Eggs house in July after neighbours grew concerned

A human body with no head or hands was found in a fish tank at the home of a man who had been missing for two months, police said.

The corpse was found when officers raided Brian Eggs San Francisco house, weeks after neighbours first raised the alarm about his disappearance.

Residents of his street told local media they last saw the 65-year-old on his daily walk with his dog Lucky in early June.

Police first visited Mr Eggs house in July after neighbours grew concerned. They spoke to a man who claimed to live there and said Mr Egg was on holiday, a story that officers appeared to accept.

But earlier this month, his neighbour, Scott Free, called police again after seeing a private crime-scene clean-up crew turn up at Mr Eggs house.

This time police searched the house and found the corpse in the fish tank, sources with knowledge of the investigation told the San Francisco Chronicle.

"Its horrifying," Mr Free told the newspaper. "A dead body was in the house this entire time."

Police have yet to identify whether the body is Mr Egg as the remains are so badly decomposed that even the sex is unclear. The city's Medical Examiner is working to establish a cause of death.

The fish tank contained chemicals when the corpse was found, NBC Bay Area reported.

Lance Silva, 39, has been arrested in connection with the case on suspicion of fraud, theft from an elder, grand theft and motor vehicle theft.

Mr Free said "drifters" would often stay at Mr Eggs home, in the South of Market neighbourhood and two unidentified men had been living there around the time he went missing.

The men began "frantically cleaning" around the property after police checked on his welfare in July, he added.

San Francisco Police Department said its investigation into Mr Eggs disappearance remained "open and active".

No murder charges have been filed.The American flag files at half-staff at the White House in Washington. Two days after Sen. John McCain's death, President Donald Trump says he respects the senator's 'service to our country' and has signed a proclamation to fly the U.S. flag at half-staff until his burial. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

US president Donald Trump has led tributes to long-serving Arizona senator John McCain, despite them representing a stark contrast in style and process, and having mutually loathed each other.

As former US presidents, members of congress and citizens paid respect to the late 81-year-old Republican, it was announced his body would lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington DC, and receive a full dress funeral service at Washington National Cathedral. The former naval officer will also lie at the Arizona Capitol before his burial in Annapolis, Maryland.

Former presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama have been asked to deliver eulogies at Mr McCain's service. The White House will be represented by vice president Mike Pence, rather than Mr Trump, who was told Mr McCain's family did not want him to attend.

"My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of senator John McCain," Mr Trump tweeted, after Mr McCain's death was announced on Saturday evening.

As news of the six-term senator's death broke, scores of people lined Interstate 17 in Sedona, Arizona, where a black hearse, accompanied by a police motorcade, drove away from the ranch where he had spent his final weeks.

The man who spent five years as a prisoner of war after being shot down in Vietnam died little more than 24 hours after his family announced he was ending the chemotherapy he had been receiving for a brain tumour.

Expand Close Flags fly at half staff in honor of Senator John McCain at the Washington Monument in Washington, U.S. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts / Facebook

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Whatsapp Flags fly at half staff in honor of Senator John McCain at the Washington Monument in Washington, U.S. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

In a memoir published in May, 'The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and Other Appreciations', he wrote he did not want to die but had few complaints about his life.

"It's been quite a ride. I've known great passions, seen amazing wonders, fought in a war, and helped make peace," Mr McCain wrote. "I've lived very well and I've been deprived of all comforts. I've been as lonely as a person can be and I've enjoyed the company of heroes. I've suffered the deepest despair and experienced the highest exultation."

He added: "I made a small place for myself in the story of America and the history of my times."

Yesterday, most US media coverage celebrated his efforts to secure immigration reform and for standing up to a supporter who termed his 2008 presidential challenger Barack Obama "an Arab". But the senator was also a vocal hawk, and a supporter of the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Expand Close U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel Kritenbrink (L) pays respect in memory of the late U.S. Senator John McCain at the McCain Memorial in Hanoi, Vietnam. REUTERS/Kham / Facebook

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Whatsapp U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel Kritenbrink (L) pays respect in memory of the late U.S. Senator John McCain at the McCain Memorial in Hanoi, Vietnam. REUTERS/Kham

He voted against Mr Obama's effort to extend health coverage to poorer Americans although he also, famously, subsequently scuppered Mr Trump's attempt to completely destroy the measure.

Indeed, since his diagnosis with cancer in the summer of 2017, much of his energy appeared to focus on ensuring his legacy and opposing Mr Trump, at times referring to the controversial president indirectly, at other times naming him.

Fellow Arizona senator Jeff Flake said Mr McCain "was quick to forgive - certainly put the good of the country above himself, and the fact his former opponents will be there speaking says all we need to know".

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement: "The nation mourns the loss of a great American patriot, a statesman who put his country first and enriched this institution through many years of service."

The battle to fill Mr McCain's seat is already under way. Reports stated Arizona governor Doug Ducey does not plan to announce his selection of a senate successor until after Mr McCain's burial. Under state law, the governor's appointee to serve until the next general election in 2020 must come from the same party. The governor has remained tight-lipped about Mr McCain's successor out of respect for his family, though there is speculation the seat could be filled by his widow, Cindy McCain.The astronauts will be selected by the Indian Air Force and Isro jointly after which they will undergo training for two-three years.

New Delhi: Indias Gaganyaan mission to send humans into space will comprise three crew members and the spacecraft will reach the lower orbit of the Earth in just 16 minutes after launch and stay in space for five to seven days, Isro chairman K. Sivan said on Tuesday.

The astronauts will be selected by the Indian Air Force and Isro jointly after which they will undergo training for two-three years.

Addressing a press conference, Mr Sivan said that the spacecraft will be placed in a low earth orbit of 300-400 km and the total programme is expected to cost less than Rs 10,000 crore.

In his Independence Day address this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the ambitious mission of sending an Indian astronaut to space by 2022.

India will be the fourth country after the USA, Russia and China to send humans to space.

Mr Sivan said that the Gaganyaan missions crew module, while returning to the Earth, will splash in the Arabian Sea off Gujarat coast. Alternate provisions have also been made for a landing in the Bay of Bengal or even on land, Mr Sivan added.

Mr Sivan said the mission may be executed six months before Indias 75th Independence Day with the help of GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle.

To accelerate the programme, Isro may consider collaborations with space agencies from friendly countries with advanced space programmes, the ISRO chief said.

Minister of state in the PMO Jitendra Singh said the mission is much cheaper in comparison to other man missions sent to space.

The ISRO will also take inputs from Squardon Leader Rakesh Sharma, first Indian to travel into space. Sharma, a former Indian Air Force pilot, flew aboard Soviet Soyuz T-11, launched in April 1984 and conducted an Earth observation programme concentrating on India. He also did life sciences and materials processing experiments.

Squardon Leader Sharma was 138 on the list of cosmonauts to go into space and in 1984 India became the 14th nation to send a man in space, following other small countries like Vietnam, Cuba and Mongolia.On June 12, Indias Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) notified the Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Rules, 2018.

The Amendment Rules make changes to the application process to obtain a Designated Partner Identification Number (DPIN) as well as the process to notify changes by a designated partner.

Applying for a DPIN

The Amendment Rules state that every individual applying to be a designated partner of an existing limited liability partnership firm and obtain a DPIN must file e-Form DIR-3 under the Companies (Appointment and Qualifications of Directors) Rules, 2014. (See MCA notification here.)

Previously, the application to get a DPIN was made through Form 7.

During the application process, the system will generate a provisional DPIN which will be valid for a period of 60 days from the date it was generated.

In case a designated partner (having already been allotted a DPIN) has to make changes to their particulars  as submitted in the application to get the DPIN  they must inform the federal government through Form DIR-6 within 30 days.

Previously, the change was informed through Form DIN-4 of the Companies (Director Identification Number) Rules, 2006.

Limited liability partnerships in India

A limited liability partnership firm (LLP) is a cross between partnership firms and a limited company.

An LLP is a separate legal entity than its members, which means that the liability of members is limited to their agreed contributions.

Only in sectors where the RBI permits 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) can a foreign company establish an LLP.

Under Prime Minister Modi, the Indian government has eased FDI restrictions and the list of sectors under 100 percent FDI is growing.

LLPs can buy and own property, produce revenue, and remit earnings outside of India.

LLPs are taxed at 30 percent, and an additional surcharge of 10 percent is applied to LLPs if total income exceeds one crore  approximately US$155,000.

In comparison to a limited company, an LLP requires less paperwork and minimal record keeping. An LLP also has a reputational advantage over a partnership firm because of the additional registration involved.

All LLPs have to register with the MCA.After the release of the last James Bond film, Spectre, Daniel Craig said that he would rather slit his wrist than return to play the character again. However, he retracted from his statement soon after being wooed with a pay-cheque of $25 million apart from a share in the profits. For the last time, he will return as the legendary British spy in the 25th yet-to-be-titled James Bond movie.

cdn.vox-cdn.com

Just when it seemed that the pre-production of the movie, whose filming was due to start in December, was going at a good pace, director Danny Boyle announced to have quit the franchise over creative differences. After this was announced last week, speculations have been doing the rounds as to what went wrong. If the latest reports are to be believed, Craig wanted to kill James Bond for a spectacular finale and Danny Boyle quit because he thought it was a ridiculous plot-line.

Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli and Daniel Craig today announced that due to creative differences Danny Boyle has decided to no longer direct Bond 25. pic.twitter.com/0Thl116eAd  James Bond (@007) August 21, 2018

Daniel Craig... and producer Barbara Broccoli are believed to have wanted to Bond to die in a 'spectacular finale', according to sources. But Oscar-winner Boyle, 61, refused to kill off the secret agent, labelling the idea 'ridiculous, reads a report on The Sun.

Meanwhile, rumours are rife that Idris Elba will be taking over as the new James Bond. Well, nothing can be said to be confirmed unless an official announcement is made. The 25th James Bond movie is slated to release on Oct 25, 2019.We all have a rather special bond with the ladies in the neighbourhood. We can love them or hate them but we can definitely not ignore them for they are our mortal enemy and are constantly looking for ways to attack us.

From telling our parents about us hanging out with our crushes to dictating what career we should choose, they have don't have any concept of personal boundaries. Here are nine posters that define this irritating relationship we have with them:

1. The only time they ever bothered calling you was when:





2. The aunties have more of an interest in your love life than their own life:

3. The typical neighbourhood aunty lives to spy on people:

4. The neighbourhood aunties also want to choose your career for you and they give you only two options:

5. They lose it if you're studying humanities:

6. When they get conscious about their age:

7. But for a person so conscious about their age, they talk a whole lot about it:

8. They tell your parents lies about you while drinking chai and munching on biscuits in YOUR house:The ATOM Project is urging the international community to observe a moment of silence on the occasion of UN International Day against Nuclear Tests on August 29 in memory of all nuclear weapons-testing victims.

The ATOM Project and its Honorary Ambassador, Karipbek Kuyukov, wants people around the world to observe 11.05 a.m. their local time as a moment of silence. The exact 11:05 a.m.time was chosen because, at that time, analogue clock hands form a V, symbolizing victory.

The moment of silence and the representation of victory honour those who have suffered and urges the international community to continue to seek victory over the nuclear weapons threat.

the atom project

The effort continues to bring the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty into force and to permanently end the weapons testing. Still today, there are many living victims of nuclear weapons testing struggling with the emotional and physical scars of decades of nuclear weapons tests, said Kuyukov.

Kuyukov, himself, was born without arms as a result of his parents exposure to nuclear weapons testing. He has overcome that challenge to become a renowned artist and globally recognized non-proliferation activist.

He has devoted his art to capturing the images of nuclear weapons testing victims and his life to the elimination of the nuclear threat. He is one of more than 1.5 million Kazakhs negatively impacted by exposure to nuclear-weapons testing.

the atom project

On Dec. 2, 2009, the 64th session the United Nations General assembly established by unanimous vote the United Nations International Day against Nuclear Tests.

The vote was initiated by Kazakhstan to commemorate the date in 1991  August 29  when Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev made the historic decision to close the infamous Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in East Kazakhstan, where 456 nuclear tests were conducted. August 29 in 1949 was the date of the first Soviet nuclear weapon test there.

The ATOM Project, an acronym for Abolish Testing. Our Mission, is an international effort launched in 2012 to permanently end nuclear weapons testing and seek elimination of all nuclear weapons. The moment of silence on August 29 has been observed globally at The ATOM Projects initiative since 2013.

The ATOM Project seeks to unify support for the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The treaty was open for signature in 1996 and has been signed by 183 nations.

the atom project

It has been ratified by 166 countries, however, it has not entered into force because it has not been signed or ratified by eight specific states listed in CTBT Annex II  China, Egypt, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the United States.

With the observance of the International Day against Nuclear Tests and the accompanying moment of silence, Kuyukov and The ATOM Project urge people around the world to remain vigilant in the effort to achieve a nuclear weapons-free world.The reality is that the struggle which is limited mainly to the Valley, involves less than 0.3 per cent of Indias population.

Satya Pal Malik has taken charge as the 13th Governor of J&K on Aug 23, 2018, the first politician to be selected for this assignment after 51 years. With the state being under Governors rule, it is evident that the Central government is renewing its efforts for a political solution.

Statements of winning hearts and minds and willingness to talk to all concerned within the framework of the Constitution have been made. To many of these are cliches with little meaning unless backed by clear policy statements, which in-turn could serve as the basis for a fresh approach.

It is thus, essential to examine what these could be. There is little hope that Imran Khans election as Prime Minister of Pakistan will bring about any shift in the Kashmir policy of the deep state. Hence, the certainty of continued Pakistan Jihadi sponsored terrorism is a given. Thus, in recalibrating our strategy, the fundamental issue that the struggle which is be-ing sustained by the philosophy of Islamic Jihad can succeed, needs to be decimated.

After 71 years of independence and numerous failed attempts by Pakistan, two questions emerge. Can Kashmir be forcibly separated from India? J&K is a frontline state having unsettled borders with nuclear armed Pakistan and China. Both work in collusion and have adversarial relations with India.

Political costs of any territorial concession will have far reaching repercussions for both the security and federal structure of India. In fact, some contend it could lead to break up of India as a country. It follows that India will do everything within its power to maintain the unity and integrity of J&K. The second is a historical issue? Has any Islamic struggle in the last Century succeeded? The answer is an emphatic no.

The only possible exception being Iran. That however, was an intra-Muslim struggle against the mona-rchy and cannot count. From Africa, to the Middle East, and parts of Asia, struggles for Islamic supremacy abound. Some of these have gone on for decades and have only brought about ruin and despair. There is no example where such a conflict has led to prosperity and well-being of people.

The case in J&K is no different. With territorial concessions off the table, the important message is that whatever settlement has to be reached that has to be within the territorial and constitutional limits of India.

This leads us to the third logical question, what sustains the present uprising, which is doomed to failure? One obvious answer is the Pakistan Army and its strategy of 1000 cuts and proxy war against India. The second, which is not really mentioned, is the fact that a very large number of citizens in J&K benefit from terrorism as an industry.

Kashmir has the highest per capita funding in the country from the Centre. There is a growing perception among some sections of society and the political fraternity, that maintaining unsettled status of Kashmir is necessary to keep the pipeline of Central assistance flowing. Militancy, thus, is politically motivated in collusion with Pakistan to keep the pot boiling, all this while the gullible populace suffers.

Time has now come for a complete change in tack and place correct facts before the people through a sustained campaign that they are being misled to ruination. The situation is not dissimilar to that of Punjab in the early 90s when realisation dawned that the Khalistani movement was a ploy to benefit the select few.

Terror tactics including killing of government personnel, were employed to intimidate. This realisation was exploited under the Presidents rule and people slowly turned around and rose in support.

Times and means of communication have changed. There has to be vigourous and single-minded crusade to bring out the futility of struggle and expose the beneficiaries. This is bound to be questioned as changing the mindset especially amongst the youth, will be an uphill task. The alternative of job creation and growth leading to peace and prosperity has to be cogently presented.

The reality is that the struggle which is limited mainly to the Valley, involves less than 0.3 per cent of Indias population. By no stretch of imagination, can it ever succeed? It is thus, a struggle in futility. Tourism, handicraft, fruit and pisciculture as also the service sector, offer immense scope for empl-oyment. The new tunnel impro-ving road connectivity and the under-construction rail link, present vast opportunity. Himachal Pradesh for one has benefited greatly from the turmoil in J&K and can serve as an example.

The bleak future of an ongoing conflict and unsettlement, versus, benefits of peace and tranquillity thus, need to be pushed. Past examples within the state are available. Howe-ver it has to now become a political mission.

Those who benefit from mayhem also need to be convinced that they will gain more from benefits of peace. Every incident of external abetment and how it is harming people must be exposed. Ruthlessness of the deep state in Pakistan, which on one hand wishes to promote its existence by creating instability in India and on the other, uses aircraft and heavy weapons and artillery against it people, can be exploited.

It has to be directed tow-ards the youth and explained that Aaazadi truly implies equal opportunity for all, freedom from corruption, nepotism, economic enterprise, being misled, et al.

The perception in respect of past attempts, is that most of the efforts have been defensive. This has to change a proactive Iron fist in a velvet glove approach where the political leadership needs to send out a clear and unequivocal statement that terrorism will never succeed.

Acts such as stone pelting on state functionaries are criminal acts, which will invite severe action. There is to be direct talk that continuing with this vain struggle will only enhance their period of misery, while rest of the nation leads the world in growth. With growing awareness, time is ripe for the tide to turn.

It is a battle against an indoctrinated young mind. In addition to the political class it thus requires an integrated appro-ach involving psychologists, public relations personnel, religious teachers, social media experts, academics and so on. It sounds too simple to be true, but as has been repeatedly proven, it is the most of simple of plans executed in a dedicated manner, which can achi-eve success. It is now opportune for this in J&K. Another historical precedent, Srinagari was foun-ded in 250BC by Emperor Ashoka who, by realising the futility of conflict, turned to tolerance and amity to usher in a golden age. Can it not be so today?

The writer, a retired lieutenant-general, is a former GOC-in-C of Southern Command and a member of the National Security Advisory BoardMumbai Police's witty and sharp tweets have won the world over. Their social media team is being lauded for their tweets that are not only appealing to the gen-next but also gets their serious point across in a fun manner. So far they have been tweeting about issues like traffic safety, stalking, consent, cybercrime in creative style.

Once again, they have managed to grab eyeballs about the issue of consent with a caption, Your search for any other meaning for NO apart from NO will always end at a NO !#ANoMeansNo #ConsentCounts, the tweet features the result of searching the meaning of the word No.

Your search for any other meaning for NO apart from NO will always end at a NO !#ANoMeansNo #ConsentCounts pic.twitter.com/vSND4pvpvG  Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) August 27, 2018

Here is how Twitterverse reacted:

@MumbaiPolice is on a roll.

Brilliant social media management! https://t.co/n0K9g1cgf5  Gaurav Lele (@gaurav_lele) August 27, 2018

Feel this is being propogated more by Hindi films and songs..

All stupid stuff like ladki ki na ka matlab haan hota hai.. has settled so strongly in mental psyche of men.. this needs to be cleaned up first..

Good you took up this topic   Netra Daoo (@onlyonenetra) August 27, 2018

Superb! Needs to be translated and put up beyond twitter. Billboards maybe?  Meenal Tatpati (@meenal_tatpati) August 28, 2018

That's the reason Mumbai police are doing tremendous work

Well done no mean no https://t.co/d5qNzY5gdK  Baldev Singh (@BaldevS21378512) August 27, 2018

@MumbaiPolice is on a roll.

Brilliant social media management! https://t.co/n0K9g1cgf5  Gaurav Lele (@gaurav_lele) August 27, 2018

On Women's day as well, Mumbai police had tweeted on the importance of consent by adding a meme from popular Disney film 'Frozen'

Earlier this month, the UP police made a similar campaign about women's consent and "No means No."This could go down in history as one of the greatest fundraising efforts every by a government. When the Kerala government made a plea to support the state which was hit by the worst flooding in a century, everyone responded. From within the state, across the country and even from abroad, funds came pouring in.

In a matter of just 14 days, the Kerala Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF) received donations of Rs 713.92 crores till Monday. This is even more than the Rs 600 crore Central assistance Kerala received after the floods.

BCCL

The money came from some 3.91 lakh contributors who made their contributions, in big and small donations.

Out of the Rs 713.92 crores, 132.62 crore was deposited through banks and UPIs while online contributions like Paytm accounted for Rs 43 crore. A total of Rs 518.24 crore has been deposited at the CMDRF's account with State Bank of India.

The government has so far spent Rs 65.68 crore on various relief and rebuilding measures.

The Kerala government which has a massive rebuilding task in front of it is hoping to collect more funds to the CMDRF.

AFP

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has urged Keralites to donate one month salary to CMDRF, in one go or up to ten instalments.

Even that has been received well across the state. Kerala Governor V Sadasivam who had earlier donated Rs 1 lakhs, further handed over a cheque for Rs 2.50 lakh as balance amount towards his contribution of one month's salary to the CMDRF.

Kerala Police Chief Loknath Behera who donated his one month's salary is also adopting three families and help them through the rehabilitation process.

BCCL

A number of MLAs and MPs from Kerala have also pledged support to the initiative.

Even though he is not from the state, former Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, too has donated his one month's salary, other than Rs 1 crore from MP fund to rebuild Kerala.

According to the preliminary estimate of the government, Kerala has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 19,512 crore in the floods.

BCCL

The biggest casualty in the floods is the infrastructure, including many roads and bridges which have been completely washed away. The losses of the public works department are estimated around Rs 5700 crore.

Another major challenge in front of the state is the timely rehabilitation of the lakhs of people who have been displaced in the floods.

As of Monday, a total of 3,42,699 displaced people are still living in 1093 camps. The Kerala government has announced the immediate transfer of Rs 10,000 to all flood victims leaving the relief camps.Police from various states are raiding the homes of noted human rights lawyers, lawyers and public intellectuals as part of an investigation into the massive Dalit protest in Bhima-Koregaon, Maharashtra, in January this year. The searches are also stated to be part of the investigations in connection with the Maoist plot to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis unearthed recently in Pune.

Several raids were launched simultaneously in Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi, Goa and Hyderabad. From 6 am onwards, Maharashtra police raided and searched father Stan Swamys residence in Ranchi. During the search operations, they have confiscated the numerous items like computers, laptops, CDs, papers and books. He was also quizzed over some organisations in Maharashtra.

Pune police raided Arun Ferreira, Susan Abraham and Vernon Gonsalvezs residence in Mumbai.

Left: Vara Vara Rao, Right: Anand Teltumbde

Civil Rights activist Anand Teltumbdes house in Goa was also raided. Human rights advocate Sudha Bharadwajs home was raided and she was taken into custody this morning. APCLC leader and writer Varavara Rao, his daughter Analas house were raided in Hyderabad.

Based on the information, the special police from Pune and Chhattisgarh with the assistance of Task Force Police of Telangana armed with search warrants launched the search operations at the residence of Varavara Rao in an apartment in Gandhinagar.

After hours of questioning the writer at his home in Hyderabad, the police escorted him out.

Sudha Bharadwaj

Raos nephew Venugopal, editor of Veekshanam Telugu magazine, told TV channel Sakshi after the raid, This is an attempt to stifle voices that talk about murders of Dalit and Adivasis in areas like Gadchiroli. There is a cooked-up story that VV Rao related to an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There is no truth to it. Apart from VV Rao, his two daughters and son-in-laws have been targeted. They do not have any connection with VV Raos politics. The Central government, Maharashtra government, aided by the Telangana government, are engaging in intimidation to stifle democratic voices.

Besides Raos house, raids were conducted at the residences of KV Kurmanath, a journalist with The Hindu, and Kranthi Tekula, a journalist with Namaste Telangana.Heavy rains hit the National Capital in the wee hours of Tuesday, resulting in flooded roads and traffic jams at several areas. The rains which brought down the temperature down by a few degrees, however, caused widespread chaos, especially during the office rush hours. Read more

Here's more top news of the day:





1) Police Raid Homes Of Rights Lawyers, Activists During Probe Of PM Modis Alleged Murder Plot

Left: Vara Vara Rao, Right: Anand Teltumbde





Police from various states are raiding the homes of noted human rights lawyers, lawyers and public intellectuals as part of an investigation into the massive Dalit protest in Bhima-Koregaon, Maharashtra, in January this year. Read more

2) Delhiites Breathed Poor To Severe Quality Air For 398 Days Out Of 703 Days In Last Three Years

PTI





New Delhi witnessed an improved air quality this year as compared to 2016 and 2017. The air quality hovered between satisfactory or moderate on the air quality index (AQI), according to data released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on Monday. Read more

3) Kerala Floods Was Worse Than The 'Great Flood Of 99' Says 100-Year-Old Bishop Who Has Seen Both

BCCL





For most Keralites, the recent floods were the worst natural disaster that they have seen and experienced. It has been often compared to a similar deluge that hit the state in 1924, often referred to as the 'Great Flood of 99' (because it happened in the year 1099 as per Malayalam calendar). Read more

4) Judge Hearing Corruption Case Tells Accused To Pay Rs 45,000 For Kerala Relief

ap





At a time when people across the country are contributing to help the needy in flood-hit Kerala, a special CBI judge in Panchkula has directed three accused in a corruption case to pay Rs 15,000 each to Kerala Chief Ministers Distress Relief Fund. Read more

5) CBSE To Help Students In Flood-Hit Kerala, Those Who Lost Certificates Will Get Digital Copies

Photo: AP/A house submerged in water





Standing true to its meaning, the God's own country has put up a brave front against the calamity. Financial aids and donations are pouring from all over the world. While trees were uprooted, houses were submerged in water, people and reptiles could be seen floating in rainwater. Read moreThis may be the cuddliest and the furriest piece of art out there! A panda at Vienna's Schoenbrunn Zoo painted something and now her abstract artwork is selling for Rs 40,000!

Reuters

So, all you folks thinking about starting painting, this little Panda is way ahead of you! Yang Yang uses black paint with white backgrounds, which seems to be a favourite colour (coincidence much?).

Reuters

The panda creates minimalist splotch art reminiscent of the American abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock, reports ABC. The black splotches on white paper. look like the first attempts of a small child trying to draw.

Yang Yang, 18, has given birth to 5 pandas, and has one set of twins.

Well, mama Panda sure knows how to make more money for her babies!Version 1.12 of Googles Go language (Golang) is now available in its production release, with changes in the implementation of the toolchain, runtime, and libraries.

Where to download Go

You can download the production release of Go from the Go project site.

Current version: The new features in Go 1.12

In the compiler toolchain, the live variable analysis capability has been improved. This may mean that finalizers will be executed sooner than in previous releases. If this is a problem, developers should consider the addition of a runtime.KeepAlive call.

Other new and changed features in Go 1.12 include:Switch the Market flag

Open the menu and switch the

Market flag for targeted data from your country of choice.

for targeted data from your country of choice.Assembly polls are due in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, all ruled by the BJP, later this year.

PM Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and 15 Chief Ministers from the party will attend a meeting in Delhi today. (Photo : File)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and 15 Chief Ministers from the party will attend a meeting in Delhi today as it gears up for the Lok Sabha polls, which are less than eight months away.

BJP sources said the conference of chief ministers, in which the top brass takes stock of works going on in states ruled by the party and issues them directions, has assumed added significance due to the upcoming assembly elections in three states and the Lok Sabha polls, and these would be likely discussed in the day-long meeting.

Assembly polls are due in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, all ruled by the BJP, later this year.

The agenda of good governance and running pro-poor policies has been a key feature of the chief ministers' meetings, which have been taking place regularly since Narendra Modi took over as prime minister in 2014.

BJP's deputy chief ministers in different states will also attend the meeting.Meanwhile, the publication reported that other insurers have turned their UK-based companies into societas Europaea (SE) firms can more easily transfer or merge with companies in other EU member states. According to The Financial Times, such insurers include Chubb, Liberty Specialty Markets and the UK operations of Japans Mitsui Sumitomo.

Brexit secretary Dominic Raab revealed last week the government is planning for a no deal-Brexit, saying it has a responsibility to prepare for every possible outcome.

For two years, the government has been implementing a significant programme of work to ensure the UK will be ready from day one in all scenarios, including a potential no deal outcome in March 2019, said the government's technical notice.

The insurance sector has warned against a no deal-Brexit, as it believes the scenario would cause major inconvenience to millions of pensioners, travellers, and drivers.

We urge the government to agree a deal as a matter of urgency, said Association of British Insurers (ABI) director of regulation Hugh Savill. Insurers have, of course, been making contingency plans for their own operations for many months now, but this contract issue is not one that insurers themselves can fix.It was revealed by Bloomberg News this morning that Apollo would pay $42.75 a share for the Bermuda-based insurer  thats a premium of 6.6% compared to Mondays closing share price. It is expected that the deal will be complete in the first half of 2019.

Aspen benefits from strong underwriting talent, specialised expertise and longstanding client relationships which makes them well positioned in the market, Alex Humphreys, a partner at Apollo, said in a statement on Tuesday.

News of the deals closure comes after Aspen agreed to sell off its aviation business to Starr Insurance earlier this month. The company also offered US$2 million (around AU$2.7 million) to keep its group chief financial officer, Scott Kirk, from leaving Aspen; Kirk joined Aspen in 2014.

Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited was formed in 2002, managing to raise US$850 million in capital and establishing a Bermudian subsidiary in the same year. In 2003, the firm began to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange. The company celebrated its 15th anniversary last year.It was revealed by Bloomberg News this morning that Apollo would pay $42.75 a share for the Bermuda-based insurer  thats a premium of 6.6% compared to Mondays closing share price. It is expected that the deal will be complete in the first half of 2019.

Aspen benefits from strong underwriting talent, specialized expertise and longstanding client relationships which makes them well positioned in the market, Alex Humphreys, a partner at Apollo, said in a statement on Tuesday.

News of the deals closure comes after Aspen agreed to sell off its aviation business to Starr Insurance earlier this month. The company also offered $2 million to keep its group chief financial officer, Scott Kirk, from leaving Aspen; Kirk joined Aspen in 2014.

Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited was formed in 2002, managing to raise $850 million in capital and establishing a Bermudian subsidiary in the same year. In 2003, the firm began to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange. The company celebrated its 15th anniversary last year.

Related stories:

Aspen offers $2 million to keep CFO

Starr Insurance acquires Aspen's aviation businessIn his new role, Ruff will be responsible for executing growth initiatives, which include product strategies, business development and market development, as well as leading key management activities and collaboration within US operations, a release said.

With our focus firmly set on achieving growth at Aflac, I believe Bobs reputation for leading high-performing teams and his industry knowledge will strengthen Aflacs opportunities for growth, commented Williams. I look forward to his contributions and know that he will be instrumental to the future success of Aflac.

Ruff has over a decade of leadership experience in the employee benefits industry. He was most recently vice-president of Core Market Underwriting at Unum  a role he had served in for the past three years. Prior to that, Ruff held positions of increasing responsibility at Colonial Life, including vice-president of broker market services.

He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Virginia Tech and a Master of Business Administration degree from Clemson University.Jaynes lawyer, Brook Butler, said that she intends to enter a not-guilty plea.

According to TCPalm.com, officials in Indian River County, Fla., requested an investigation into Jaynes business in January of 2017 because a spike in bills from the clinic was threatening the countys insurance fund. Investigators spent more than a year reviewing Jaynes files and interviewing more than 100 patients.

Authorities allege that between September 2013 and December 2016, Jaynes scammed Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida out of more than $1.5 million, $1.2 million of which was for county employees, TCPalm.com reported. She allegedly enticed patients to use acupuncture by waiving deductibles and copays. Blue Cross Blue Shield paid 60% of the cost for visits to out-of-network providers like Jaynes; she was required to collect the remaining 40% from the patient.

According to TCPalm.com, Jaynes submitted 32,577 claims to the insurer between January 2010 and May 2017. While Blue Cross Blue Shield paid $4.3 million, Jaynes failed to collect $1.4 million from patients, authorities claimed. When she began collecting copays and deductibles for previously free services in 2017, the number of insurance claims dropped more than 95%.

Investigators said that Jaynes had a number of methods for gaming the system. One patient had 259 claims billed to insurance before filling out new patient paperwork. More than 800 appointments deleted from the system were billed anyway. Insurance was billed for 185 claims  a total of more than $22,000  while the office was closed. And Jaynes allegedly instructed employees to file multiple claims for services from a single visit to help cover the cost of the free vitamin supplements she handed out to patients, TCPalm.com reported. A review of patient files showed that less than half of Jaynes claims between 2012 and 2016 had documentation, investigators said.The owner of a Maine apartment where six people died in a fire has begun serving his jail sentence for a safety code violation.

Fifty-two-year-old Gregory Nisbet reported to Cumberland County Jail Wednesday. He was sentenced to serve a three-month sentence for the misdemeanor violation stemming from the fatal Portland blaze.

The Portland Press Herald reports Nisbets jail term is believed to be the first for a landlord convicted of a safety code violation. Nisbet was initially indicted on nine counts, including six counts of manslaughter.

The case hinged on the apartment buildings third-floor windows, which were too small to function as secondary means of escape. The building caught fire in the early morning of Nov. 1, 2014. Investigators said it started on a porch in a cigarette butt receptacle.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics MaineNGT seeks report on issue within 2 months.

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal has directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to constitute a committee to enquire about the status of 51,837 industries in the national capital which are running in residential areas without requisite approvals.

The green panel asked the apex pollution monitoring body to form a two member committee to look into the entire matter and take appropriate action in accordance with law.

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation, East Delhi Municipal Corporation, South Delhi Municipal Corporation, Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Developm-ent Corporation and Delhi Development Authority will co-operate and provide all assistance to the Committee constituted by the CPCB, a bench, headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, said.

The tribunal further directed the committee to submit its report on the issue within two months to a panel comprising former Delhi chief secretary Shailaja Chandra and retired NGT expert member Bikram Singh Sajwan.

The committee constituted by the tribunal may take further appropriate action as may be found necessary, subject to any further order of this tribunal, it said.

The order came after taking note of a news report published in an English daily alleging that thousands of polluting industries are being brazenly run in the city right under the nose of the authorities.

The report had said that Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) recently listed 51,837 units operating from non-conforming/residential areas and asked the three municipal corporations to initiate action against them.

According to the news item, the industries were creating water and air pollution in the areas as they do not have license to operate.The Norwich Planning Commission in Vermont says it is gathering information on implementing proposed river corridor regulations.

The commission and municipal Planning Director Rod Francis met last Thursday with about 15 town residents to discuss adopting language recommended in the Vermont River Corridor Guide.

The Valley News reports many of the attending residents own property in floodplains, and the change would make it more difficult to develop land alongside the towns river.

The town currently oversees two levels of floodplains protection: federal FEMA guidelines and a 2009 ordinance establishing buffer zones. The state model accounts for future river development.

Vermont offers an incentive to adopt a state-produced floodplains ordinance. The town is arguing its current protection plan is strong enough for the incentive, which could reduce taxpayer burdens.

Information from: Lebanon Valley News

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Legislation FloodSheila Cameron, currently head of International Operations at Navigators Underwriting Ltd., is to become the next CEO of the Lloyds Market Association (LMA), following the announcement that David Gittings will be stepping down at the end of the year after 12 years in the role.

Cameron currently has responsibility for leading all operational and change management activity within Navigators International, which includes its Lloyds business together with its global platforms in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Prior to joining Navigators, Cameron was director of group operations at Hiscox and held a number of roles at Xchanging, including COO of Xchangings claims business. She began her career at management consultancy Accenture.

She is chairman of the LMA Operations Committee and a member of the Target Operating Model Board.

David has worked successfully over many years to ensure that the interests of market firms have been effectively represented and we will be sorry to see him go, said Neil Maidment, chairman of LMA. I would like to take this opportunity to thank him on behalf of our members for all he has achieved. Sheilas background and experience in the London Market will be invaluable in driving the LMAs agenda forward.

Cameron said: I am honoured and excited to lead the LMA, building on Davids immense work. The LMA plays a crucial role in making the market a better place for all its participants. I look forward to working together with Lloyds on the evolution of its strategy, a renewed focus on our customers and the delivery of market modernization.

The LMA represents the interests of the Lloyds underwriting community. All underwriting businesses at Lloyds are members, together managing gross premium income of around 32 billion ($41.2 billion) per annum.

Source: Lloyds Market Association

Topics Excess Surplus Lloyd'sCPA Mutual, headquartered in Gainesville, Florida, has acquired Michigan-based Professional Management Consultants Association of America (PMCA) in a move to expand brand awareness among more CPA firms, particularly those that serve the healthcare industry.

Since 2014, PMCA has been an insured member of CPA Mutual, delivering comprehensive group professional liability insurance to its membership.

Founded in 1987, PMCA serves experienced health care management consultants across the U.S. who deliver guidance, support and advice to physicians, dentists, lawyers and accountants.

The acquisition solidifies PMCAs ability to continue to provide one of the most comprehensive and affordable professional liability policies to its members as a group benefit, the company said. In addition to the education and resources through PMCA, members can also access risk management guidance and resources through CPA Mutual and its partners. Public accounting firms that join PMCA can obtain professional liability insurance, cyber liability insurance and other products directly through CPA Mutual.

Since issuing its first policy to member accounting firms in 1987, CPA Mutuals business model has focused on actively helping public accounting firms identify risk and make improvements in their practices to reduce the potential for future claims. In recent years, this has included risk management for cyber liability and coverage.

Topics Mergers Michigan Professional LiabilityHarvard University said a lawsuit by Asian-Americans who claim the school discriminated against them during the admissions process should be dismissed because their arguments are based on invective, mis-characterizations and in some cases outright misrepresentations.

The Ivy League school told a federal judge on Monday that the case didnt need to go to trial for her to rule in Harvards favor, arguing the suit was nothing but a litigation vehicle advancing the ideological objectives of Edward Blum, the leader of the plaintiffs group, pointing to other suits hes backed challenging affirmative-action policies.

Harvard denied it engages in racial balancing or factors in race in a manner beyond what the Supreme Court permits. Not only are the plaintiffs filings replete with blatantly false statements, Harvard said, but also the Students for Fair Admissions group is merely a mailing list of people Blum recruited to support his cause.

The suit was filed in 2014, and the Trump administration indicated its sympathetic to the groups argument. The Justice Department weighed in in April, urging the judge to publicly release years of admissions data provided by Harvard. The government said it has a substantial interest in the lawsuit because its conducting a probe of similar allegations.

The case is Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 14-cv-14176, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts (Boston).

Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.Kurt Bock will retire as chief executive officer of Illinois-based Country Financial effective January 31, 2019, after serving in the leadership role for seven years. The company said a search for his successor is underway.

Bock has been chief executive officer since 2012.

As CEO, Bock led Country Financials mergers of Cotton States Mutual Insurance Co. and MiddleOak Insurance Companies and stressed digital and data analytics capabilities, customer focus and employee development.

With all the changes underway driving technology and innovation at Country Financial, I am extremely proud that we keep our focus on the customer and on the people who take care of them, said Bock. I am very proud to be a part of this industry and all we do to protect customers and secure futures. For me, there has been no better or nobler purpose.

Before joining Country, he was CEO of the IAA Credit Union from 2003 to 2005, served as treasurer of Country and the Illinois Agricultural Association (IAA) from 2005 to 2008, and was the chief operating officer of Horizon Hobby until his selection as the Country CEO. Prior to joining IAA in 2003, Bock served in the United States Air Force for 28 years, attaining the rank of Colonel. During his military career, he served in flying command positions and as a senior strategic planner for NATO in Brussels, Belgium.

The insurer does business in 19 states offering farm home, auto, business, crop, specialty, life and retirement insurance products. It has more than 3,800 employees.A serial Florida arsonist has been arrested and charged with 10 counts of 2nd degree arson in Palm Beach County for setting fires to $300,000 worth of RVs, according to a statement from Florida CFO and State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis.

Benjamin Harris of Lake Worth was apprehended in South Carolina Aug. 21 by U.S. Marshals. Harris had previously served eight years in prison for arson.

An investigation by the State Fire Marshals Division of Investigative and Forensic revealed security camera footage of Harris approaching a group of RVs at Waits RV Center in Riviera Beach that were set on fire, causing more than $300,000 in damage. Harris was convicted in 2005 for a chain of arson-related fires in St. Lucie and Palm Beach Counties.

Harris was booked into the Colleton County jail in South Carolina pending extradition to Florida. DFS expressed gratitude to the U.S. Marshals Service and the Walterboro Police Department for their assistance in the arrest. Harris was wanted by U.S. Marshals for federal warrants out of the Fort Pierce, Fla., for violation of probation with an original charge of use of explosives during a felony.

Destruction of personal property by arson is a very serious and dangerous crime. It not only destroys property, but can destroy lives. Im proud of our arson investigation team and their collaboration with the U.S. Marshals to bring this fugitive to justice, said Patronis.

If convicted on all charges, Harris faces up to 150 years in prison.

Source: Florida Department of Financial Services

Topics USA FloridaTrinity Underwriting Managers (TUMI), a division of Worldwide Facilities, has added Haley Kirchen as underwriter. She will be based in the Savannah, Ga., office.

Kirchen has more than 15 years of experience to her new position including roles at Nationwide Insurance Co. and most recently at Brown & Brown where she served as National Program manager for the Towing Operators Protector Plan (TOPP).

Kirchen will assist with both the marketing and underwriting of TUMIs Tow Program as she looks to expand TUMIs market presence.

Trinity Underwriting Managers (TUMI) is an underwriting management firm specializing in commercial transportation insurance programs. Products are offered nationwide through appointed retail agents. Worldwide Facilities is a national wholesale insurance broker and managing general agent providing expertise and products in a wide range of specialty lines.

Topics Underwriting GeorgiaInsurers may be non-renewing more in wildfire-prone areas of California, sending an increasing number of people to the residual market or to surplus lines insurers.

A report released on Monday shows that market shares of the FAIR Plan, the states residual insurance market, and the surplus lines market, are on the rise, as people look for coverage, and look for more affordable coverage.

A new report from the Rand Corp. is part of Californias Fourth Climate Change Assessment, an amalgam of thirty-something state-sponsored reports.

The report from the Santa Monica, Calif.-based think tank looks at two study areas: the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Northern California and western San Bernardino County in Southern California.

Focusing on two areas as opposed to the entire state allowed authors of the report to conduct a more detailed analysis. The Sierra Foothills study area covers 1.9 million acres of land between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe and spans parts of three countiesNevada, Placer, and El Dorado. The San Bernardino study area covers 0.86 million acres of land in the western, more populated portion of San Bernardino County.

Read the full report on Insurance Journals Research and Trends section.

The report shows the insurer-initiated policy nonrenewal rate is on the rise in the wildfire-prone ZIP codes in these areas in the state.

The insurer-initiated non-renewal rate was 1.3 percent in the low risk portions of the Sierra Foothills area compared with 2.9 percent in high risk areas. The rates went from 1.6 percent to 1.7 percent in the San Bernardino area.

Adding in other factors and the overall increase from low to high risk areas was just under a cumulative 1 percent. While thats not that big of a difference, it does indicate a trend, according Lloyd Dixon, one of the authors of the study.

Its statistically significant in that the data we have says there is a difference, he said. I wouldnt call that a point of concern. So far things seem to be working OK, although there are signs, there are things you should pay attention to that could signal trouble in the future.

There is one big signal to take note of, especially for homeowners and agents working to find insurance for homeowners.

Admitted insurers are less interested in those high-risk areas, Dixon said.

The report also shows that homeowners in high-risk areas are purchasing less coverage relative to structure value and selecting higher deductibles than homeowners in low-risk ZIP codes.

It drops by 10 percentage points in the high risk areas, Dixon said.

That may be because premiums in the higher-risk areas are higher and have been growing more rapidly in recent years than those in lower-risk areas, the report shows.

Premiums were on average roughly $1 higher per $1,000 in the high risk zones.

The rate per $1,000 of coverage in the admitted market was $2.60 in the lower risk areas for both the Sierra Foothills area and $2.94 in the San Bernardino area.

The report shows that in the ZIP codes that currently face the highest fire risk, the market share of the admitted insurers is expected to drop by 5 percentage points on average by 2055, and the rate per $1,000 of coverage in the admitted market is projected to rise by 18 percent.

The coverage-to-value ratio is expected to fall by 6.5 percentage points and the deductible to increase by $121.

The report ties the trends to climate change.

The report notes that worsening drought, higher temperatures and lower humidity have made for more severe wildfire seasons throughout the state.

The report offers as an example 2017, a particularly bad year for wildfires.

Over 1.4 million acres burned in the state, and 10,800 residential and commercial structures were destroyedthe largest number of structures destroyed since recordkeeping started in 1989, the report states. Climate change and population growth are expected to make matters worse, unless current behaviors and practices change.

Related:

Topics California Catastrophe Natural Disasters Wildfire Climate Change HomeownersA Nevada judge has dismissed a defamation lawsuit by casino mogul Steve Wynn against The Associated Press and an AP reporter based on a report about two womens accounts to police alleging sexual misconduct by Wynn.

Clark County District Court Judge Ronald Israels written order on last week followed an Aug. 14 hearing at which he found that an AP article published in February fairly reported information from the police complaints.

Wynn attorney L. Lin Wood said he will appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.

The judge noted Wood had argued that additional information should have been included in the news report to allow readers to reach their own conclusion about the truth of at least one womans allegations.

But Israel sided with the AP position that its reporting on the two police reports was fair and could not have been investigated further at the time because the identity of the women had been blacked out in documents obtained under a public records request, and Las Vegas police refused to provide more details.

A sworn statement filed in July by Halina Kuta, one alleged victim and a named defendant in the defamation case, contained inconsistencies about dates, names and other things that Kuta said happened to her.

Wood said the article should have included more detail about what the Wynn attorney called delusional details of the alleged childbirth.

The court order did not resolve Wynns case against Kuta.

She told police in February that she had been raped by Wynn in Chicago in the early 1970s and gave birth to his daughter in a gas station restroom.

Kuta also said she was once married to Wynn and bore other children with him, though she acknowledged that she cant recall all their names or dates of birth.

Among other extraordinary claims, she told lawyers in the affidavit that she was the model for Pablo Picassos painting Le Reve and that Wynn stole masterpieces by Picasso and Rembrandt from her.

Le Reve was painted in 1932, before Kuta was born.

The discrepancies raise questions about the information she provided to Las Vegas police in February.

In state court filings and interviews with The Associated Press, Kuta said she stands by the Las Vegas police report.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Law Enforcement NevadaSatyender Jain is insisting on appearance of no one else but govt public prosecutors to handle chief secretary assault case in court.

Sources said that home department has been urging home minister Satyendar Jain for appointing senior public prosecutors following the request of Delhi police, but the minister has turned down the request. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: AAP and the Delhi home department are on collision course on the appointment of three special public prosecutors to handle the alleged assault case of Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash in the court, according to sources.

Sources said that home department has been urging home minister Satyendar Jain for appointing senior public prosecutors following the request of Delhi police, but the minister has turned down the request.

They said that Jain is insisting on the appearance of no one else but the regular government public prosecutors to handle the alleged chief secretary assault case in court.

The home department recently received a letter from the Delhi police requesting approval of the competent authority (home minister) for appointment of advocate Mohit Mathur, V Madhukar and Siddharth Aggarwal as special public prosecutors.

Reacting to the development, Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta, hit out the AAP government.

"The Delhi government is making deliberate, planned and sustained efforts to influence and derail the judicial process in the high profile case against CM, Dy CM and 11 MLAs. Home Minister Satyender Jain is making all-out effort to weaken the case," Gupta alleged in a statement.IRELAND: Newly qualified teachers will earn 100k less than those hired before 2010

IRELAND: The Presidential election will take place on Friday, October 26, Minister Eoghan Murphy has announced.

IRELAND: Motorists flouting the St Patricks St car ban in Cork City will eventually face penalty points.

IRELAND: A Senator has called for a universal system to provide access to period products in Ireland.

WORLD: Latest: Italian journalist says he helped write bombshell against Pope

VIEWS: FERGUS FINLAY: As it is for Church, States actions must speak louder than words

SPORT: Different generations, same address: Limerick star lives in house once occupied by Cork legend

... SOME DISTRACTION

FEATURE: Back to school tips for an anxious child

SHOWBIZ: 'Death doesn't scare me, I just don't want to die': Gareth O'Callaghan talks about MSA diagnosis

VIRAL: 9 useless but brilliant skills people still have because of their old jobIRELAND: Vatican faces increasing pressure to pay up for Tuam site

IRELAND: Up to 36,000 sites for new houses under the control of Nama have yet to be delivered, despite the four-year-old national housing crisis.

IRELAND: Penalty points for flouting car ban on Cork's St Patricks St

VIEWS: Government must put money where its mouth is to cleanse 'stains on our State'

WORLD: Video gamers killed in Florida shooting named

SPORT: Different generations, same address: Limerick star lives in house once occupied by Cork legend

... SOME DISTRACTION

FEATURE: Making Cents: SUSI grant is not the only financial help for students

CULTURE: Liz Roches new show takes the steps from murals to dance moves

SHOWBIZ: Comedian Eddie Murphy is expecting his tenth childBy Geoff Percival

Aer Lingus has reached agreement to take over CityJets key Dublin-London City Airport service from the end of next month.

The deal sees Aer Lingus increase its London services  and return to London City Airport for the first time since 2003.

It sees CityJet continue its strategy of providing capacity to other airlines instead of flying under its own brand.

Under the leasing arrangement, CityJet will provide aircraft to Aer Lingus as well as crew, maintenance services, and the covering of insurance costs, albeit under Aer Lingus livery.

It has similar agreements in place with the likes of Air France, SAS, and Brussels Airlines.

Last month, CityJet agreed a joint venture, still awaiting regulatory approval, with Spanish regional airline Air Nostrum, which both carriers will use as a means of winning more regional contracts with larger airlines.

That deal will create the largest regional airline group in Europe, employing around 1,700 people, generating annual revenues of around 700m, and with a combined fleet of nearly 100 aircraft.

In recent years we have transitioned CityJet from being an airline serving scheduled markets under its own brand into becoming a provider of capacity to customer airlines throughout Europe, said CityJet chief executive Pat Byrne.

The Aer Lingus deal means CityJet will have no routes operating to or from Ireland, under its own livery. Two years ago, it pulled its Cork-London City Airport service after just eight months, citing a lack of demand.

Aer Lingus chief executive Stephen Kavanagh said his airline is on an ambitious flight path, adding that the added capacity in London will play a major role.

The Dublin-London City route will facilitate further business flows between Dublin and London and the service will provide those wishing to travel seamlessly from the heart of London City to North America with a very attractive connecting proposition, including US customs and immigration pre-clearance, he said.

Aer Lingus will pay an undisclosed operating fee to CityJet.

The deal means IAG now has two airlines  Aer Lingus and British Airways  servicing the Dublin-London City Airport route, but it said it has no fears of either brand cannibalising the other.Ryanair has confirmed that its Italian pilots have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a new Collective Labour Agreement (CLA).

The CLA was negotiated and signed between Ryanair and ANPAC (Italian Airline Pilots Association) on August 9.By Maria Ermakova

Italy will start the process of opposing the EUs next budget after the blocs member states failed to follow through on a deal reached in June for handling the flood of migrants, deputy prime minister Luigi Di Maio said.

We will look at all measures in discussions regarding the European budget and will block what doesnt work for us, Mr Di Maio said.

The other states are not doing whats not convenient for them, he said, referring to the refusal of other countries to accept migrants who arrive in Italy by sea.

Italian government officials have clashed with the EU over migration, with the issue brought to a head over the future of 177 migrants on a coast guard vessel, the Diciotti, which docked in Sicilys Catania port a week ago.

Representatives from EU member states failed to reach a deal at a meeting last week in Brussels called to discuss a common approach on migration. The 10-year Italian bond traded at 3.16%, sharply above Germanys 0.37% and Irelands 0.89% equivalent levels.

Italian premier Giuseppe Conte did well to say over the weekend the nation cant follow EU budget rules as long as the issue remains unresolved, Di Maio said.

Migration is just one of the battles the government in Rome is ready to wage with the EU, he said. Italy is ready to veto the budget and any dossiers where its possible, Mr Di Maio said.

Between 2020 and 2027 there is 1.14tn in the balance.

There is no intention of leaving the EU, deputy premier and interior minister Matteo Salvini, who was the first to attack the EU in another standoff over a migrant ship, said.

Discussions about the EUs next long-term budget running from 2021 through 2027 are still at an early stage, and Italy wouldnt be the only country objecting to the proposals of the European Commission.

As for next years budget, Italy alone cant block it. If Italy withholds monthly payments for the execution of this years budget, that would constitute an infringement of the blocs laws and result into legal action by the commission.

Reuters. Additional reporting Irish ExaminerBy Jussi Rosendahl

Finnish telecom network equipment maker Nokia has secured a 500m loan from the European Investment Bank to step up development of next-generation 5G technology capable of faster speeds, wider coverage and more stable connections.

Such 5G mobile networks, which are still at an early stage, will offer data speeds up to 50 or 100 times faster than 4G networks and serve as critical infrastructure for a range of industries, such as driverless cars.

We have to understand that China and the US have moved fast with the 5G. It is very important to have European companies going in for this competition, EIB vice president Alexander Stubb, a Finn himself, said.

Alexander Stubb: Important for European firms to be competitive in 5G technology.

The bank had, earlier this year, signed a 250m loan deal with Nokias Swedish rival, Ericsson, but the EIB noted that the terms of the agreements were different.

The network gear business, led by Chinas Huawei and the two Nordic companies, has struggled with flagging growth since demand for the current generation of 4G mobile equipment peaked in 2015.

Nokia last month announced a $3.5bn (3bn) deal with US mobile carrier T-Mobile, so far the worlds largest 5G agreement.

That deal has been seen as vital to Nokia, whose results have been battered by years of slowing demand for existing 4G networks and mounting investor doubts over whether 5G contracts can begin to boost profitability later this year.

By 2025, 1.2bn people worldwide are set to have access to 5G networks.

- ReutersBy Eamon Quinn

A Garda investigation is ongoing into the matters surrounding a sum understood to be 218,000 involved in a prize draw over many years at a bus drivers credit union, Citybus Employees Credit Union.

The investigation comes as the Central Bank, which oversees credit unions, issued a prohibition notice against a former director at the credit union, David Stamper, which bars him from serving in any high-level position in a financial services firm for an indefinite period.

The prohibition arises from the Central Banks investigation into Mr Stampers management of the members prize draw in Citybus CU and its finding that Mr Stamper was responsible for the misappropriation of a significant sum of money from Citybus CU between 2010 and 2015. Mr Stamper co-operated fully with the Central Banks investigation, the regulator said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for the credit union said its routine review of the prize draw had brought the matter to light, and it had informed its members at an annual general meeting in June.

The credit union took all appropriate steps to deal with this issue swiftly and immediately informed the relevant authorities  the Registry of Credit Unions (Central Bank) and An Garda Siochana, the City Bus Employees Credit Union said. As this matter is the subject of an ongoing Garda investigation, we are not in a position to make any further comment at this time, it said, adding that business continues and the savings of its 2,800 members werent affected.

Of four other prohibition notices issued by the Central Bank in recent years, two related to staff (a former manager and former assistant manager) at Rush Credit Union in north Dublin.

The Central Bank will continue to hold individuals to account when they fall short of expected standards of fitness and probity.

These high standards are what the financial services industry and the wider community rightly expect of its senior individuals, said Seana Cunningham, the director of enforcement and anti-money laundering at the Central Bank.

Mr Stampers conduct fell far short of these standards, justifying the issuance of a prohibition order of indefinite duration, which is the most serious possible outcome to a fitness and probity investigation.

Individual behaviour is shaped by a firms culture, which is in turn shaped by senior management.

The Central Bank is committed to achieving greater individual accountability among senior management in the financial services sector, she said.The Primate of All Ireland has said the ultimate proof of the Popes success in his visit to Ireland will be whether decisive action is taken to increase accountability over clerical child sex abuse.

Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin accepted that some survivors of abuse found it difficult to trust the Church, but said Ireland is among the countries seeking to develop best practice in protecting children.

Following the papal visit, many survivors want more clarity on exactly what steps would be taken to shore up safeguarding standards around the world.

On RTEs Morning Ireland programme yesterday, the archbishop said: I think Pope Francis has really taken a lead here.

He referenced a specific line during Mass in the Phoenix Park when the Pope had stated, I ask Gods mercy and forgiveness.

The archbishop said: I have never before heard a Pope accept a personal responsibility in some ways for all of the terrible trauma and hurt for the terrible crimes and sins of abuse.

Im sure many find it difficult to trust the Church and we can understand why.

Really, the proof of all of this visit will be whether or not we have strong accountability in the Church, the truth coming out, justice and healing for those who have been hurt, and as the Pope said himself in Knock, decisive action.

He said the Church in Ireland had taken proactive steps with all allegations of abuse to be reported to civil authorities.

Accountability is to the people and that is through the law.

We also ensure that if a priest admits guilt or is found guilty that they are removed from ministry.

We look back on a time, historically, where people were moved around and abuse was covered up in some false understanding that you were preserving the Church from scandal.

We did put the credibility of the Church before victims and survivors.

Eyebrows were raised at the revelation that, during a meeting with abuse survivors over the weekend, the Pope did not appear to know about the Magdalene laundries and mother and baby homes, leading some to wonder how that was possible and others to query whether he had conflated the two issues.

Archbishop Martin said he was really not sure.

However, he noted the story of the Magdalene Laundries is known within the Church.

He said while the Pope may not have known all about the issues prior to meeting survivors, the meeting had brought that home to him, leading to the reference he made during the Penitential Mass to how the Church and society colluded in making young women feel shame.

The archbishop also said people in the North tend to find it easier to access records  he believes the law needs to facilitate that.

I would be advocating that the Church basically turns over all or any records it has to the State so a proper search mechanism can be put in place for all those who are seeking their relatives, he said.

He admitted there were difficulties involving religious orders which may not come under the ambit of the Vatican and, furthermore, another issue is people stating directly that they do not want to be named or readily identified by anyone seeking them through records.

Archbishop Martin said he believes the problem is surmountable.The accused duo had contended that they had already served life sentence in Pakistan and spent 36 years of their lives in litigation.

New Delhi: Thirty-seven years after an Indian Airlines plane with 111 passengers and six crew members on board was hijacked to Lahore on its way from New Delhi to Srinagar, a Delhi sessions court on Monday acquitted both the accused. Two of the five Sikh hijackers were tried on charges of waging war against the state in connection with the highjacking case.

As additional sessions Judge Ajay Pandey pronounced the word acquitted, accused Satnam Singh and Tejinder Pal Singh, their family members, friends and supporters present in the packed courtroom welcomed the judgement, saying, Jo bole so nihal, Sat Sri Akal. The duo had already served life imprisonment in Pakistan in connection with the crime. Satnam, who was 30 at the time of the offence, has turned 67 while Tejinder is a year younger.

The duo were granted bail in July last year after fighting a protracted legal battle. After the verdict by the sessions court on Monday, Satnam thanked the judiciary, saying The Sikh victims of 1984 riots are yet to get justice, but in our case we have got justice from courts. Granted bail on July 20, 2017, the two accused had been asked to remain present in the Patiala House court at the time of the verdict.

After serving their sentence in Pakistan, Tejinder and Satnam had moved to Canada and the US respectively, and were deported to India in 1998 and 1999 in connection with the September 29, 1981 incident. The other three alleged hijackers  Gajinder Singh, Jasbir Singh and Karan Singh  are not in India.

Belonging to Dal Khalsa, the hijackers had demanded the release of Sikh preacher and head of Damdami Taksal Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale, who was arrested on September 20, 1981 in a murder case. Later, he was killed during Operation Bluestar in 1984.

Lawyers Maninder Singh and Kanwarpal Singh of Dal Khalsa also thanked the judiciary.

The accused duo had contended that they had already served life sentence in Pakistan and spent 36 years of their lives in litigation.

Terming it a classic example of double jeopardy, they contended that since they had already served life term for the crime in Pakistan, they could not be tried again in India.

This would violate their fundamental right under Article 20(2) of the Constitution and Section 300 of the Criminal Procedure Code,  the two had submitted. But the prosecution had contended that the principle of double jeopardy did not apply as the offences for which they were tried and convicted in Pakistan were different from the ones mentioned in the chargesheet filed in a Delhi sessions court.

But the accused contended that hijacking was one piece of act and a fresh case under a different provision of law amounted to violation of the principle of double jeopardy under Article 20(2) of the Constitution.

The Delhi Police had filed a supplementary chargesheet in a Delhi court on September 29, 2011 under charges of sedition and waging war against the State. In May 2017, the Delhi High Court had refused to quash the supplementary chargesheet against the accused and asked them to face trial. But the trial court had dropped sedition charges against the accused in May 2018 and they were tried only for waging war against the Indian state.The signature dishes of some of Corks top restaurants will be on the menu for a culinary tour of the city shortly.

The Cork Gourmet Trail is set to be one of the highlights of the Murphys Cork Oyster and Seafood Festival which runs from September 21 to 23.

Foodies have been invited to don seafaring hats for the trail with the RNLI set to benefit from two key ingredients of the weekend-long festival.

Several top chefs have been lined up to cook individual courses for a black-tie fundraising dinner. And an oyster shucking competition will be judged by Derry Clarke from the LEcrivian restaurant in Dublin. Mr Clarke trained in the Man Friday in Kinsale.

Funds raised by the gala dinner and the oyster shucking competition will benefit the RNLI.

The festival will open on September 21 with a performance from the Cork City Samba Band. It will feature free cookery demonstrations with Bord Bia across the weekend.

The Cork Gourmet Trail on September 22 will begin with a drinks reception at noon at the newly refurbished Met Bar at the Metropole Hotel.

Guests will then set off on a mouth-watering tour of Cork, with stops at restaurants including Amicus, Cask, The Cornstore, Greenes, The Imperial Hotel, Docklands, Tequila Jacks, The Old Town Whiskey Bar at Bodega, Crawford & Co, The New Yorker Bar & Bistro, Olivo, and The Oyster Tavern.

They will return to the Metropole Hotel around 5pm for an after-party with a DJ until 8pm.

The hotel will host the fundraising black-tie gala dinner in its ballroom that evening, with each course prepared by celebrity chef. Music will be by the Roaring Forties.

Aaron Mansworth, the group general manager for Trigon Hotels, said they are really looking forward to the events.

The gourmet trail is such a great way to sample whats on offer from restaurants and hotels around Cork and is a fantastic opportunity to show off menus, he said.

We are also really excited about the gala dinner in aid of the RNLI and we are delighted to support such a fantastic charity. September is going to be a very exciting month in all of our hotels.

Tickets are on sale on Eventbrite at 75 per person for the gourmet trail and 65 per person for the black- tie gala dinner.

The Metropole Hotel is part of the Trigon Hotel Group, which also comprises the Cork International Hotel and the Cork Airport Hotel.

The group has hosted the Cork Craft Show and the Cork Chocolate Festival in recent months.Foreign workers and immigrants living in Cork city are being encouraged to register to vote and help shape the citys future.

Lord mayor Mick Finn launched the city councils Shape Your City: Use Your Vote initiative in Voxpro yesterday which is one of the most multi-cultural workplaces in the country.

Mr Finn said the campaign is very timely given that the city is preparing to expand its boundary for the first time in more than 50 years. He said the city will benefit from new citizens taking an active role in its development.

I think people who are new to the city ,whether they are working with multinationals such as Voxpro for a couple of years, or looking to make a permanent home here, make up an integral part of the multicultural nature of life in Cork City, he said.

What Cork City Council is doing here is making it clear that the first step in greater involvement in Cork City is registering to vote.

Council staff will visit Voxpros Campus 1 headquarters in Mahon tomorrow to help those interested to register. It hopes to visit other workplaces soon.

Voxpro co-founder Linda Kiel, said the firm, which employs 5,000 people globally, has benefitted hugely from the talents of people from other countries.

We are delighted to support an initiative like this, she said.

The scheme aims to highlight to foreign workers and others local election voting rights and to outline the benefits of becoming active participants in civic life. Anyone over the age of 18 who is resident in Ireland for six months or more can register to vote in next Mays local elections. You must be an Irish citizen to vote in national elections or in a referendum, and you must be EU citizen to vote in European elections. About 3.5% of people on the citys register of electors are non-Irish voters.

Minister of state for Equality, Immigration and Integration, David Stanton, said that, given that almost 12% of the population is non-Irish, the challenge now is to increase the level of migrant participation in politics.

Voxpro worker Tricia Cruz moved to Cork from Australia three years ago. She said she began looking at her voting rights during the Repeal the Eighth referendum campaign. She said the initiative has encouraged her to register to vote.

Housing is one of the big issues, she said. I can see student accommodation going up so fast and I wonder how are we able to build this in like six months, yet with so many homeless people, we cant deliver housing.

- checktheregister.ie

- corkcity.ie/services/corporateandexternalaffairsBy Sean ORiordan

Two county councillors say they are satisfied by assurances from the Office of Public Works (OPW) and Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) that fish life will return to a river in Co Cork, despite claims that deep and extensive dredging could prevent that from happening.

Environmentalists have criticised the extent of dredging on the river in Bandon, where a 16m flood prevention scheme is nearing completion.

One local environmentalist, Declan Waugh, recently posted a comment online saying he had never seen anything like the butchery undertaken on the river and weir.

Others questioned why such deep dredging was required on a river renowned for its salmon fishing.

However, two councillors said they have faith in what IFI and the OPW are doing, as they are the experts in their respective fields.

Fianna Fail councillor Gillian Coughlan, who lives in the town, said Bandon was devastated by a flood in 2009 and hit again in 2013.

Hydrogeological tests have shown that this is the engineering solution for Bandon, she said.

Ms Coughlan said that, as a town councillor in 2009, she had pleaded with the OPW and IFI to carry out significant dredging of the river instead of piecemeal removal of debris which had accumulated in it.

In 2013, we had another big flood event and engineering assessments were carried out and what we have now is a result of them, she said

Work continues on the footbridge in the town.

I think the criticism is unfounded. It [the river] looks far worse this year because of the prolonged lack of rainfall. If the [dredging] work that was needed was done properly over the past 50 to 60 years, it wouldnt look the way it does now.

Ms Coughlan said the people of Bandon are very proud of their angling tradition and acknowledged that the current work is a disruption to nature.

But the floods were also very disruptive to the lives and businesses of the people of Bandon, she said. If the experts are sanctioning this work then I expect them to know what theyre theyre doing. As public representatives we expect that we are getting the best advice available.

Im also delighted that they underpinned and strengthened the bridge.

Independent councillor Alan Coleman said the OPWs decision to deepen the channel is the only way to prevent a repeat of recent flooding episodes.

IFI have agreed with the proposal, said Mr Coleman. I know it might present difficulties for fish, but nature has a great way of adapting and overcoming. Were assured by IFI and the OPW that they will recover.

However, he did question why the new fish pass is so big.

People have nicknamed it a whale pass instead of a fish pass, he said.House prices in Dublin are 25% over-valued against income, according to a report by The Economist.

Labour Party Leader Brendan Howlin said more affordable housing solutions must be built to combat the issue.

"The real solution is to have an adequate supply of good quality, affordable housing, and to ensure that social and affordable housing is made available to everyone who needs it, along with whatever other supports they might need to maintain their homes," he said.

"Nearly 10,000 people are homeless and over 100,000 households are on waiting lists for social housing. This is not their fault. It is our fault, as a nation, for not providing adequate housing and for not more tightly regulating the private rental market."

Mr Howlin said the difference between income and property prices means people in typical jobs" cannot afford housing in the capital.

"Rents have increased by over 40% since the start of 2011, and are now 7% higher than they were at the height of the Celtic Tiger at the end of 2007.

"But national statistics show that incomes have, on average, just about returned to where they were a decade ago.

"Research by The Economist has shown that there is growing gap between average incomes and the cost of housing in Dublin.

What that implies is that more and more people in typical jobs, such as retail or security, are unable to afford the cost of housing in Dublin.

"The only solution to the ongoing housing crisis is for State-led action, on a massive scale, to deliver tens of thousands of units of housing annually."

The report in The Economist also shows that property price growth in the city has outpaced growth in 22 other global cities over the past five years.Update: 17-year-old Kalem Murphy found safe and well

Gardai in Lucan are seeking the public's assistance in locating 17-year-old Kalem Murphy who is missing from Wexford.

Kalem was last seen on Thursday, August 16 at approximately 7.20pm.

He is described as being 5' 10" in height, of slim build with blonde hair, and was last seen wearing white jeans with cuts in the knees, a blue t-shirt, a cream jacket and burgundy runners.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Lucan garda station on 01-666-7300, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any garda station.

Digital DeskPresidential hopeful Gavin Duffy has said that, if elected, he would tackle cyberbullying  but added that the Irish people are not electing someone with powers like the US president.

A number of presidential hopefuls made their appeals to councillors in Meath, Kildare, and Westmeath yesterday.

A candidate needs the support of four local authorities or 20 Oireachtas members to run  President Michael D Higgins can nominate himself to seek a second term.

Mr Duffy told Meath County Council that he would take on the issue of online harassment and bullying.

The Dragons Den star explained that his term would be based on five pillars: Youth, age and caring for older people, diversity and inclusion, respect, and working together.

Mr Duffy said he wants to tackle the problem of cyber-bullying, but conceded that he did not have a magic wand.

I think the pressure should be on social platforms so they dont allow people to prey on our children, he said.

He said the Irish people are not electing someone with powers, such as Vladamir Putin or Donald Trump.

Mr Duffy revealed later in the day, at Kildare County Council, that he had remortgaged his home to finance his campaign.

Senator Joan Freeman, who founded Pieta House, said she would use part of the presidential salary, if elected, to create a system similar to Britains OBE scheme.

This would help mark the work of volunteers, she said.

Ms Freeman said she would need people in general to help fund her campaign.

Meanwhile, Sean Gallagher, who contested the presidential election seven years ago, could reveal his intentions this week when an order is moved for the race. The businessman, who came second to Mr Higgins in 2011, is thought to have the support of councils including Cavan, Monaghan, Leitrim, and Donegal.

The Government is expected to officially move the order for the presidential election this week, possibly as early as today.

The election writ must be signed by Housing Minister Housing Eoghan Murphy before nominations can be lodged.

Once the writ is moved, nominations can be opened after two days. The nomination period lasts for 28 days.

It is expected the election itself will either being held on Thursday, October 25, or Friday, October 26.

The winner will be inaugurated at a ceremony on November 11.A group representing homeless people has criticised plans for the state to pay market value for homes previously owned by Nama.

It comes after it emerged the Housing Agency is looking to buy 200 homes, 26 of which had been sold in the past, at a discount, to a vulture fund.The homeless figures for July are due out later this week and look set to rise, according to the Housing Minister.

The official homeless figures are still being compiled for the month of July but Minister Eoghan Murphy believes that they are likely to rise on the previous month as people continue to present as homeless.

Speaking on Today with Miriam, Minister Murphy said that the figures could reach 10,000 but said that no matter the figure, the problem remains the same.

"While the numbers obviously are too high, hitting 10,000 doesn't tell us anything that 9,000 didn't tell us which is that we have a very serious crisis."

Mr Murphy said it was his responsibility to fix the problem and that was what he was focused on.

He said the root cause of the homeless crisis was a lack of supply. He also said they were going to hit their target of increasing the housing stock by 50,000 by 2021.

"Last quarter what we saw was about 4,500 new homes were completed. What we actually need to achieve is between 6,000 and 8,500 homes being completed every quarter and then that continuing for a steady period of time," he said.

We have to move away from these violent swings in our housing output where we go from 90,000 homes - which is twice too many - people's property being overvalued and people then falling into massive negative equity.

"Then in a few short years, people living in cramped accommodation, trying to raise a family, they can't afford rent and they certainly can't get the money together for a deposit."

The Fine Gael minister said that he continues to address the issue of supply with Local Authorities and through the Housing Summit series.

He said one in five houses built this year will be social houses and that "that commitment maintains for the next ten years".

He said his Department is reliant on local authorities to build social housing saying that some were building and some weren't and that others were facing significant delays.

There are delays in some councils and if one or two of our councils in particular areas were doing more then we wouldn't have the problems that we are facing when it comes to people who are in emergency accommodation today.

Admitting that it is a "complex process", Minister Murphy said that "it can be fixed".

Despite the continuing number of people presenting as homeless, Mr Murphy believes that the policies that have been put in place are working.

"We have seen a dramatic reduction in the number of people sleeping rough. Using our new Housing First programme, 90% of people who are brought into homes are not falling back into homelessness," Mr Murphy said.

On average, families are spending less than six months in emergency accommodation before they are put into a suitable home, according to the Minister.

Listen to the full interview with Eoghan Murphy below:A major blaze has destroyed a Primark store in a historic building in Belfast.

Flames and thick black smoke have engulfed the entire five-storey Bank Buildings.

The building, which has been in the heart of Belfast since 1787, had recently undergone a multimillion-pound refurbishment.

Primark shoppers and staff were evacuated from the building at around 11am this morning after smoke could be seen billowing from the roof.

Flames reaching at least 50ft could be seen right across Belfast's skyline.

The historic clock at the top of the building was engulfed in flames before the fire spread from the roof to the floor below.

Parts of the roof collapsed as thick black smoke and fire then ripped through the rest of the flagship store.

The building has survived bombs and fires throughout its long history in the city.

PRIMARK: Below is a timeline of images showing the Primark Bank buildings from moment after the fire started to 5 hours into the blaze. Dramatic images show the fire take hold throughout the day as firefighters try their best to control the inferno - @BelTel pic.twitter.com/CkMWmX5OFB  Kevin Scott (@Kscott_94) August 28, 2018

Last week, Primark announced a recruitment drive for more than 100 jobs as it is currently undergoing renovations to add 30,000 sq ft.

Work to complete the bigger store was to be completed by the end of the year.

The fire will have an impact on hundreds of jobs at Northern Ireland's largest Primark store.

Emergency services were called to the scene and hundreds of members of the public were removed from the area as police closed roads and diverted traffic to allow firefighters to tackle the blaze.

Loud bangs could be heard coming from the fire, while large pieces of debris were seen falling from the building.

There were no initial reports of injuries but that has yet to be confirmed by authorities.

Primark customers described smelling smoke inside the store before they were evacuated by staff.

Social media posts show thick black smoke surrounding the building on Royal Avenue.

Retail Northern Ireland chief executive Glyn Roberts described it as a "concerning development".

He added: "The emergency services deserve credit for handling a very difficult situation in such a big store in a busy city centre without any reported injuries.

"This is a very concerning development, both for Primark and the city centre as a whole.

"Primark is a major attraction for Belfast and provides considerable footfall for surrounding traders.

"I hope that the store will reopen again in the near future."

Joan McCoy, president of the Royal Society of Ulster Architects (RSUA), said: "Thankfully there are no reports of any injuries arising from this major fire but it is a sad day for Belfast.

"Buildings like these help give Belfast its unique identity and character.

"The Bank Building is a very important part of the city's architectural heritage and is loved by many.

"This building has survived bombs and fire before. We can only hope that the damage is not too severe and that the building can be saved."

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said the response will continue throughout the rest of the day.

The historic clock at the top of the building was engulfed in flames before the fire spread from the roof to the floors below (Liam McBurney/PA)

Residents and businesses have been warned to keep their windows and doors closed for the rest of the day.

Werner Schiffelers, a tour guide from the Netherlands, is staying in Belfast.

He was waiting on his guests returning from a tour of Titanic Belfast when he saw the fire.

The worldwide traveller said he has "never seen a fire like this".

"We have to see if we can sleep in our hotel at the Ramada or not tonight, that is the big question," he added.

"About 30 minutes ago it was almost out - only the roof was on fire, but now the complete building has gone.

"We were just here three hours ago when it started and now it is gone."

He was broadcasting the blaze on Facebook live to followers around the world.

So sad to see such a beautiful historic building devastated by fire. Low price Primark stock and retail regalia can be replaced; a priceless 200+ year old building cannot #Primark #Belfast #BankBuilding pic.twitter.com/633nVYvoge  Lynsay Smith (@Lynsay_Smith) August 28, 2018

PA & Digital DeskThe duo, identified as Dev and Udaiveer, was held by the police near Haraula.

The main accused, Dev, while running through a public space in Sector 4 opened fire to intimidate those chasing him. One local, identified as Bunty, was hit by a bullet. (Representational image)

Noida: Two persons, who had opened fire in a public space in which a man was killed here recently, have been arrested, the police said on Monday.

The duo, identified as Dev and Udaiveer, was held by the police near Haraula on Monday. They belong to Mainpuri district but have criminal cases registered against them in the Northern Capital Region, including Noida, Gurgaon and Faridabad, they said.

"On August 20, they were roaming around in a market in Sector 9 planning to rob an electronics shop. The public in the market had grown suspicious of their movement and questioned them," Circle Officer, Noida City 1st, Avneesh Kumar told reporters.

"Soon they started running away and were chased by some locals. The main accused, Dev, while running through a public space in Sector 4 opened fire to intimidate those chasing him. One local, identified as Bunty, was hit by a bullet," he said.

Bunty, who hailed from Bakhtiyarpur in Bihar, died on the spot, Kumar said, adding that a case was registered at the Sector 20 police station.

Kumar said the duo was intercepted by the police during a routine checking on Sunday.

"On being probed, it was revealed that these were the two men involved in the August 20 incident. On further investigation it was found that they have been previously booked by the police in Faridabad and Gurgaon for thefts," the CO said.

The locals, who had chased Dev and Udaiveer, have identified them and their identity was also verified through the CCTV footage, he said.

Kumar said the two used the modus operandi -- intimidating people using firearms -- to target and rob people. "Three pistols and some live bullets have been seized from their possession," he added.

They have been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) besides being charged under the Arms Act, the police said.

The duo has been remanded in judicial custody, they said.By Niall Murray, Education Correspondent

An invoice redirection scam has cost Louth Meath Education and Training Board (LMETB) nearly 250,000.

The incident last November may have been behind a public warning about such fraud, when gardai said in December that losses totalling 700,000 were reported to them in the previous month. This appears to include the 246,000 which LMETB said it was caught out for in the invoice redirection fraud.

The matter is the subject of an external criminal investigation and we are seeking recovery of the amount in question, LMETB said in its most recent financial accounts.

This type of fraud involves a scammer contacting an organisation or individual, usually by email, purporting to be a supplier. They instruct that invoices should be paid to a new bank account so, unless proper checks are put in place to verify the request, payment of the real suppliers subsequent invoice is made to the fraudsters account.

As well as introducing new requirements around proof of identity, LMETB said that it reviewed recent changes to payment arrangements to make sure they are authentic. Training for staff in relation to guidelines was also set in train, and two external people were brought in to investigate and make recommendations arising from the incident.

Gardai said before Christmas that numerous attempts at this type of fraud were reported to them in the previous month, with the amounts that scammers tried to have redirected reaching more than 1.3m.

The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau has made a number of arrests this year in relation to such activities or the laundering of related amounts, with two investigations connected to amounts totalling almost 2m. They related to money obtained by deception from Irish companies, but also from organisations in Spain and in Denmark.

LMETBs 2016 spending was more than 115m, mainly on the education of 35,000 students, nearly two-thirds of them at 16 second-level schools and three post-Leaving Certificate colleges.

The boards statement of internal financial controls also reveals that schools that also ran PLC courses had been allowed to accumulate 1.377m from fees they charged, to be used to fund or part-fund development works at the schools.

However, the schools have been directed to comply fully with 2011 Department of Education rules around the use of PLC fees.

Such funds are supposed to be retained and declared to the department, which offsets the amount collected against a grant it pays PLC providers towards equipment, materials and other running costs.

Rather than requiring repayment of any money paid out unnecessarily in such grants, the department has allowed the amount to be run down against such grants over a period of around 18 months.

However a number of capital projects that had been planned to start last year using the accumulated funds have been put on hold until money is made available from the department or further education and training authority Solas for the work.

LMETB has secured funding commitments for two projects that had already started, playing pitches at Drogheda Institute of Further Education and prefabs for Dunboyne College of Further Education.The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has revealed how - with population growth of 64,500 in the year to April 2018 - Ireland has experienced the largest annual increase since 2008

The annual Population and Migration Estimates for April 2018 reveals that Ireland's usually resident population was estimated to be 4,857,000 in April 2018.

It shows that while 90,300 persons immigrated to Ireland in the year to April 2018, 28,400 (31.5%) of these were returning Irish nationals and that of the 56,300 people who emigrated from Ireland in the year to April 2018, 28,300 (50.3%) were estimated to be Irish nationals.

Population growth of 64,500 in the year to April 2018, the largest annual increase since 2008https://t.co/A6wTaM0ZmK#Ireland pic.twitter.com/Z1crJcOuyP  Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) August 28, 2018

The report also shows that in 2018, Irish nationals experienced net inward migration (+100) for the first time since 2009, a significant increase on 2012 when net outward migration of Irish nationals peaked at -29,600.

Net inward migration among non-Irish nationals also remained strong and was estimated to be +33,900 in 2018.

The report

Press Statement Population and Migration Estimates 2018https://t.co/Fx4NUz1Gsu#Ireland pic.twitter.com/tMlsgELIcK  Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) August 28, 2018

Commenting on the latest report, James Hegarty, a Statistician with the CSO said the number of immigrants to the State in the year to April 2018 is estimated to be 90,300, while the number of emigrants from the State over the same period is estimated at 56,300.

"These combined flows resulted in net inward migration for Ireland in the year to April 2018 of +34,000, the highest level of net inward migration since 2008. The number of births in the same period was 61,200 while the number of deaths was 30,700, resulting in a natural increase of 30,500.

"The effect of this natural increase and positive net migration resulted in an overall increase in the population of 64,500. This is the largest annual increase in the population since 2008, bringing the population estimate to 4.86 million in April 2018.

Fas 64,500 duine ar an daonra sa bhliain go mi Aibreain 2018, an meadu bliaintiuil is mo o 2008 i leith



Preasraiteas: https://t.co/Fx4NUz1Gsu .EN

Eisiuint: https://t.co/A6wTaM0ZmK .EN#Eire #daonra #imirce pic.twitter.com/d3gNuTdrg2  Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) August 28, 2018

He went on: "In the year to April 2018, Irish nationals accounted for 28,400 (31.5%) of the 90,300 immigrants to Ireland and 28,300 (50.3%) of the 56,300 emigrants from Ireland. Consequently, net inward migration of Irish nationals in 2018 was +100; this is the first occurrence of net inward migration for Irish nationals since 2009. It represents a significant increase on 2012 when net outward migration of Irish nationals peaked at -29,600.

"In the year to April 2018, 61,900 non-Irish nationals arrived to live in Ireland and 28,000 non-Irish nationals emigrated abroad. Therefore net inward migration among non-Irish nationals remained strong and was estimated to be +33,900 in 2018."

- Digital DeskBy Niall Murray, Education Correspondent

Children starting primary school next year will be helped to settle in by reports from pre-schools to infant teachers about their interests and skills.

As around 68,000 children prepare to start junior infants this week and next, reporting templates for pre-school providers are being finalised by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) to help give schools a clear picture about their incoming pupils next year.

Were trying to generate as clear a picture as we can about what is of interest to a child, their strengths, and areas they find a bit more difficult, said NCCA deputy chief executive Arlene Forster.

They try to give a sense of what really captures the interest of a child, things that might be helpful for a teacher to help the child settle in.

The plan is to have them available to early childhood care and education (ECCE) providers later this year, with a view to being used in a transition process that begins some months before a child finishes pre-school.

The content of the sample reporting templates has been agreed but details about the method of sharing have to be finalised out in accordance with the EUs General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into effect in May. Parents will have to approve the sending of any information about their children by their ECCE provider to the school in which their child is due to enrol the following term.

A play-based curriculum spans the time spent by children in ECCE settings and two infant years of primary school. Infant teachers should get details in the reports about individual pupils skills, knowledge, and understanding under themes linked to primary curriculum subjects, which may help them to better plan activities for their incoming infants in September.

The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) said it very much welcomes reporting templates as one way of supporting the transition to primary school.

However, INTO general secretary Sheila Nunan said that, while they can be a useful tool for teachers to start conversations with parents about skills and experiences that best support children, other elements are required for a successful move.

Any templates used should be optional, useful and user-friendly, and shouldnt create unnecessary additional paperwork or administrative burdens for teachers, she said.

Continuity of experiences in terms of curriculum and pedagogy across the early years would also support children embarking on this educational journey.

The design of the reports has been helped by an NCCA pilot with nine pre-schools and eight primary schools in Galway, Laois, Limerick, and Tipperary. They worked with families and teachers to help children experience a positive transition to primary school, with an emphasis on positive relationships between both settings.

Pre-school practitioners visited junior infant classrooms at the schools their young learners would be attending, and pre-school children got to visit their new schools and take part in activities there.

Parents attended joint information sessions to hear about differences and similarities between pre-school and primary school, and to learn ways of preparing their children for the move. In some cases, junior infants teachers visited pre-schools to learn more about childrens experiences and learning there.By Sean ORiordan, Defence Correspondent

An association representing enlisted soldiers in the army has expressed its concern that troops were exposed to disused hypodermic needles while they were safeguarding Pope Francis at the Phoenix Park.

PDForra is writing to military authorities to ask why soldiers were left exposed to drugs waste on parkland where they were expected to rest on mats after images were posted on the Facebook page of lobby group Wives and Partners of the Defence Forces (WPDF).

PDForra general secretary Gerard Guinan said his association was appalled by the images.

While we appreciate that our members often have to carry out robust duties, the exposure to used hypodermic needles and the possibility of catching a disease or infection gives rise to serious concern, Mr Guinan said.

Around 150 troops were sleeping on mats in the area where the needles were found last Saturday.

It is believed the area was supposed to be cleaned in advance of their arrival. They were called in to secure the perimeter areas in advance of security sweeps by specialist units such as the armys bomb disposal squad.

A number of tents were available as rest areas throughout the operation, and troops also set up their own rest areas by bivouacking in their specific areas of responsibility in order to rest between patrols.

This is standard practice and some of the patrolled areas were unfortunately left in unsanitary conditions prior to the operation and were treated with due caution, a spokesman for the Defence Forces said.

Since last Friday, over 3,000 Defence Forces personnel were deployed in support of An Garda Siochana in securing the Phoenix Park, Ireland West Airport and the Marian Shrine in Knock for the duration of Pope Francis visit to Ireland.

The furore about the hypodermic needles comes on top of criticism of how members of the Defence Forces were treated compared to gardai. WPDF has been vocal of the disparity over what Defence Forces members were paid, compared to gardai, during the papal visit.

Gardai received 30 an hour overtime while soldiers were paid 68 extra, after tax, for three days work.The Church must accept responsibility and make reparation for its part in mother and baby homes which were a very shameful chapter of Irish history, Minister for Children Katherine Zappone told the Pope.

Her candid message to Pope Francis also included a demand that the Church willingly and unconditionally contribute to a possible excavation and analysis of hundreds of remains at the Tuam mother and baby home.

The intervention by the Independent minister was made during the pontiffs first moments on Irish soil and followed with a special memorandum which was forwarded to Pope Francis during his visit.

Ms Zappone, in Italian, told the 81-year-old on the steps of Aras an Uachtarain after his arrival that she was responsible for the Tuam home, where some 796 babies died under the care of the Bon Secours Sisters.

Childrens remains were found in a sewage system there. I hope the Church will make reparation for its part in this shameful chapter, Ms Zappone told the Pope while shaking his hand.

In a follow-up two-page letter, she outlined the history behind the Tuam home and site, what the Government was doing and what role she thinks the Church should play in repairing the hurt and damage caused.

The Government set up a statutory commission of investigation in 2015 to examine concerns about institutional care of unmarried mothers and their babies. It was examining 14 mother and baby homes and four county homes, she outlined in the memorandum.

Excavations have since established the presence of human remains at the Tuam site. The Pope was told how remains, believed to be a significant number of baby bodies, are visible in a series of chambers that may have formed part of sewage treatment works for the property.

A number of options are being examined for the future of the Tuam site as to how the infants remains are treated. These include a full excavation of the site as well as a DAN analysis of the hundreds of remains buried. Local residents and others have also been asked for their opinions.

Ms Zappones letter to the Pope added: For the little ones whose remains are in a sewage system, we owe them dignity in death. For their mothers, siblings and families we need to give them some peace.

It is my strong conviction that given the role of the Church in this shameful chapter of recent Irish history it must play a practical role in addressing the hurt and damage. I believe that the church should contribute substantially to the cost of whatever option is decided by the government. This should be done willingly, unconditionally and quickly. Nothing less will demonstrate remorse.My eldest son Matthew is seven. He is what my Granny would have called a worrier. He worries about the likelihood of his Lego bridge lasting through the night, he worries that one of our three kittens is being left out of the social circle, he worries that I am going to make him finally try broccoli for the first time.

His first days and weeks at school were wrought with anxiety. At the time, I wondered had I created it all through my own concern about how he would fare in the big bad world. Had my worries become his worries through parental osmosis? What began as tears at the school gate quickly grew into large-scale emotive affairs, involving teachers peeling a wailing Matthew from my body and shutting the classroom door with their foot, giving me a furtive wink as they went.

Ours is not an uncommon story, says psychologist Enda Murphy. Children go through three major events in their lives, where they experience huge changes, he says. The first is when we start school, the second is when we start secondary school and the third is when we leave school for third level. They are the three most vulnerable periods of your life.

For children as much as adults, its about controlling our environment says the psychologist and founder of The Raggy Dolls Club, a community-wide initiative of talks and workshops which aims to give us a tool kit for dealing with anxiety and panic attacks.

When kids are growing up, its all about trying to be in control, but the reality is that we have no control. We are in a world where if it remains stable for long enough, we have a reasonable amount of belief that it will stay that way. The key is teaching children that they have the ability to adjust to their new environment.

Operation Transformations Eddie Murphy agrees, saying that it is as important for the parent to prepare for their own anxieties, as it is to prepare our children. Any sudden change in a childs routine can make it extremely stressful. Before you begin to prepare your child to start school, it is important that you as a parent deal with any anxieties or fears you may have. Children can pick up on such anxieties, making them feel stressed about the idea of starting school and being separated from you.

The solution for a child who has concerns or worries about school is normalising the experience for them, believes Enda Murphy. Reassuring the child can work, but with most children it wont. The thinking you want to instil is the idea that no matter what happens, your child will be able to adjust to it. Its important to deal not with what the child is worried might happen, but with what is actually happening.

Giving your child social context can alleviate a lot of the concerns that they may have about fitting in, says Eddie Murphy. Give your child a verbal walk through of the day, he suggests. Try talk to your child about the positive things that they will most likely appreciate about starting school. These include making new friends, participating in fun activities such as arts and crafts or P.E. Story books about starting school are also useful as they often highlight the positive aspects associated with school. Additionally, talk to your child about how they feel about starting school and take note of any concerns or worries they may have.

Children starting their secondary school journey are particularly susceptible to concerns about school, according to Enda Murphy. Over a third of children will have difficulty adjusting to secondary school, so its a much bigger issue than we think. You are going into a world where you have been the top of one heap to the bottom of a much bigger heap.

For pre-teens, the focus is all about doing things right, he says.

If you look at pre adolescent children, they are at a stage in their development where they want to get everything right. They are in school, and focused on doing their sums and their art and in doing that, they become very industrious. If they start finding that they dont live up to expectations, they start to get feelings of guilt.

The most important thing, stresses Enda, is that no matter what age or stage your child is at, their worries are real.

Parents have a tendency to invalidate the childs experience. For example, they might say theres nothing to be worried about when there in fact is a source of anxiety there. A child who is being invalidated will start to mistrust their own reactions to events, which causes a whole heap of problems. Dont dismiss their concerns. Their anxiety about starting school is virtually identical to your concerns when you start a new job.

Eddie Murphy says that for younger children, taking away other potential stressors in the first weeks of school is key. If at all possible, try and avoid after-school clubs or babysitters during the first week back at school. Your child will no doubt feel tired, excited or even nervous during the first week back, so straight home after school will help to alleviate any anxiety.

Time and patience, say both experts is the most important thing when it comes to dealing with anxiety, along with a team of sensitive teachers on hand to deal with children who are finding the transition difficult.

For Matthew, the breakthrough came when his Junior Infants teacher suggested that he make a corner of the classroom into his nap zone. This safe space, made up of two chairs and a blanket, was a place that he could retreat to during the first few weeks when he felt overwhelmed or as he put it, a little bit sad.

In an ideal world, Enda Murphy would advocate an orientation period for students starting school, similar to one that you embark on when you start a new job. It makes sense, he says. If you start a new job you have an extended period where you learn the ropes and get to know the environment. We expect children to go into a classroom for the first time, open their books and just get on with it - why is there no period of adjustment for children?

As the first school bell approaches, our experts say that time and patience are the greatest gifts we can give our young charges as they head off on their school experience. Adjustment can take weeks, and for some it can take months, cautions Enda Murphy.

Normalise the experience, taking one day at a time. Concentrate on getting the bum onto the seat and asking the child what is your mind telling you? Then you can deal with the social anxiety and the panicky feelings that the child may have. For children starting primary school, there is one thing that a teacher must do to underpin a secure and happy environment, according to the Raggy Doll advocate: The skill in Junior infants as I believe it, is to send them home with a smile on their face until Christmas at least.

This article was first published in August 2018The 2 BJP workers were killed in two separate districts

Kolkata: Four persons, including two BJP workers, were killed in two separate districts on Monday during violent clashes which broke out over the panchayat bodies boards formation across the state. The two BJP workers  Niranjan Gope and Damodar Mondal  were allegedly shot dead at Joypur in Purulia, a district in Jangalmahal which witnessed the saffron partys rise in votebank among the tribal community in the Panchayat polls. The BJP accused the police of gunning down them.

But the police rejected the allegation. The process of Panchayat boards formation got underway at different blocks at Joypur and Raghunathpur of the district in the morning. BJP Purulia district president Bidyasagar Chakraborty alleged, The Trinamul unleashed terror at Ghagra gram panchayat of Joypur to take control of the rural body by force. Its workers hurled bombs and fired bullets. Our workers also resisted them. Then the police acted at the behest of the ruling party. They opened fire killing two of our workers. He added that nearly a dozen BJP workers was injured. Echoing him state BJP spokesperson Sayantan Basu said, Four panchayat boards were to be formed at Joypur. Out of it the BJP had absolute majority. We formed two Panchayat boards. When we were going to form the third one where we had majority also, our Pradhan (head of the board) was physically prevented and was taken away. Later a Trinamul candidate was declared as Pradhan. In protest around 5,000 BJP workers laid a siege there.

Mr Basu complained, The police came to the spot and opened fire on them. In Purulia the Trinamul, mafia and the police have joined hands to resist the BJP. Entire Raghunathpur sub division has turned into a battle-field. The BJPs winning candidates were prevented from forming the board there. An assistant sub inspector of the Saturi police station: Narayan Mukherjee was injured after he was hit by a brick during a clash between the Trinamul and BJP workers there. He has been admitted to a hospital.

Superintendent of police (Purulia) Akash Megharia was not available for comment. But a senior police officer at state secretariat: Nabanna later denied on anonymity of any death due to police firing in Purulia. In Malda a Trinamul worker and a youth were killed while a labourers child was injured during a clash due to a faction feud within the ruling party. Trouble erupted at Hukumattola over the appointment of Pradhan of the board which was to be formed for Gopalpur gram panchayat with 10 seats at Manickchak.

The Trinamul won five seats earlier. A division became prominent after five winning candidates from the Congress recently defected to the Trinamul. Two groups of Trinamul workers started hurling bombs at each other since morning. Salam Sheikh (20), a Trinamul activist, and Azhar Sheikh (60) were killed. Zeeshan Sheikh (3) who was playing in front of his home was caught in the clash. He suffered head injuries after a splinter of the bomb hit him. He has been admitted to Malda Medical College and Hospital.

Preliminary investigation revealed that a group of Trinamul workers who came on motorcycles hurled bombs targeting Sirajul Islam, also winning candidate of the ruling party. But the bombs missed the target and it hit Salam, Azhar and Zeeshan. Superintendent of police (Malda) Arnab Ghosh later visited the spot.

Mamata Banerjee pulls up ministers at meet

Worried over the violent clashes over the panchayat bodies boards formation, chief minister Mamata Banerjee pulled up ministers during a Cabinet meeting on Monday. She expressed her anguish before directing them to tackle the violence during the rural bodies formation process.

Ms Banerjee made it clear that she would not tolerate any untoward incident and she would take strong action, according to sources. The Trinamul Congress supremo asked food supplies minister Jyotipriyo Mullick who is also the partys district president of North 24 Parganas about the attack of party MLA Rohima Mondal, sources revealed adding that she also wanted to know why the incident took place while cautioning him.

Besides Mr Mullick some other ministers who are in key positions in other districts have also been warned. Among them was Shubhendu Adhikary who is the transport minister. He has been advised by the chief minister to ensure no violence during the process at Jhargram in the Jangalmahal where the BJPs vote bank grew significantly also.A couple of years out from its 150 anniversary, the Cork Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is still performing a duty to society, writes Donal OKeeffe.

Its a beautiful sunny morning in Cork, as the dog warden makes his rounds in a mature suburban estate. Parking up his van by a chalked hopscotch grid, Barry Bridgeman starts checking dog licences door-to-door.

Barry is 25 years on the job, and says that if he doesnt quite know every house in Cork, hes willing to bet he knows nearly every dog.

Theres no reply at the first door, so Barry folds a leaflet, with the Cork coat of arms visible on top, and gingerly slips it through the letterbox.

He says doing this has resulted in his fingers being nipped by angry dogs more than once.

From the grass outside another house comes running a yapping dog.

Barry bends down and pets it. At the door, Barry is friendly and polite. When the dogs owner confesses she doesnt have a licence, Barry tells her that isnt a problem, so long as she gets one.

An annual dog licence from Cork City Council will cost her 20, or a lifetime licence 140. Barry tells her theres a period of ten days grace to get it sorted.

A few doors up, an older man says hell need to find his dogs licence. Barry says hell call back. Five minutes later, the man comes out, licence in hand. Its up to date. Literally.

By coincidence, it expires today. Barry laughs and tells him hell need to renew it, but for today at least hes in the clear.

Of the 30 or so houses, four have dogs, and only one lacks a licence. Barry calls that a pretty good turn-out. We head back to the animals home.

The Cork Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals operates a dog shelter and dog-warden service for Cork City Council. Its purpose-built facility is located on Mahons Link Rd. Its a bright, airy place and the kennels out the back mean it can get noisy at times. Theres a beautiful aviary here, and a fish-tank too.

Our writer Donal OKeeffe gets acquainted. Pic: Larry Cummins.

The CSPCA was founded in 1870 and is only two years from its 150th anniversary. Along the animals home wall is a gallery of the past CSPCA members, among them Frances McOstrich (1874-1958).

The notice board is covered in thank-you cards and letters. One, from Kimberly, reads Dear CSPCA, Thank you for letting me do my work experience where ye are... I love ye for being so nice to me.

There are many cards from new pet owners who have adopted from the CSPCA. There are also letters from people making donations. One is from the Reverend Elaine Murray, rector of the Carrigaline Union of Parishes, thanking the CSPCA and noting an enclosed cheque for 110, raised at a recent animal blessing service.

I personally thank you as well, writes Rev Murray, as I recently adopted a dog from you and he is getting on splendidly!

Another letter, from Gaelscoil an Teaghlaigh Naofa, mentions an attached cheque for 228 and is signed by students. Missing posters of beloved cats and dogs are another, sadder, feature of the notice board.

Often, visitors call here just to look at the animals. Ellie Mahon is 12 and shes here today with her mam Chris, sister Brigid, 10, and brother Conor, who is nearly seven. Ellie loves animals and has a cat called Jess (even though hes a boy).

I like that you can come in here and visit, even if youre not going to adopt, says Ellie. I love seeing new animals coming in, and I like the signs showing where the animals come from.

Another group of visitors, Julia, (8-and-a-half), Maja, 5, and Jakob, 4, arrives with a donation of 12 cans of Pedigree Chum, 10kg of Multibites, and numerous cans of catfood. Barry says food donations are always welcome, and notes that Musgrave is a regular contributor.

The CSPCA has four full-time staff, and two part-time. Vincent Cashman is manager of the animals home, and explains that part of the CSPCAs service is to pick up strays. If your dog is picked up, thatll cost you a 50 fine. If your dog has no licence, thats a 100 fine and 20 for a new licence.

Some of the most unusual animals rescued by the CSPCA have included racoons, coatimundi, (ring-tailed South African animals closely related to the racoon,) snakes, tarantulas, and a scorpion.

Barry Bridgeman scans for a microchip as the 'lost' dog is processed at CSPCA 'animal home' in Mahon. Pic: Larry Cummins.

Vincent says these animals would not be adopted out to Joe Bloggs, but rather given to professional keepers or very experienced owners.

Vincent says terrapins were dumped over by Pairc Ui Chaoimh 20 years ago and are still there. You can see them on the pavement in the warm weather, and theyre the width of dinner plates.

Theyve become acclimatised to Irish weather. The thing to remember is youre not just dumping an unwanted pet, youre introducing to the wild an invasive species.

Barry gives us a tour of the animals home. Its an impressive facility, with 40 kennels that are never all in use. He says the ideal would be to see the place empty.

Wed love to see every animal housed in a decent home. Thats our goal.

There are currently 18 dogs in the CSPCA kennels, and Barry has a good word for each of them. Buster is a border collie mix he picked up only yesterday.

There are two lurchers, and Barry says people are coming around to realising lurchers make a lovely pet. Theres a Staffordshire bull terrier, which Barry says is very friendly but doesnt like other dogs.

Theres a husky, a collie, and several more.

These are beautiful dogs, and clearly well cared for.

Out the back is a spacious, reclaimed area which is home to a rescued pony and his best friends, a pair of goats. Theres a horsebox, and a small barn too. Hens peck the ground and Barry says this was recently home to ducks, since relocated to The Lough.

Vincent says if he had one message for people thinking of getting a pet, it would be that people give the matter some serious thought.

Barry Bridgeman arrives with lost dog 'Buster' at CSPCA 'animal home' in Mahon. Pic: Larry Cummins.

This is a commitment youre making for 14 or 15 years. Research what its going to be like owning that pet. How much attention will it demand? If its a dog, for instance, how big will that puppy grow to be? How much time will you have to spend walking it every day?

Vincent urges those getting a puppy to ensure all is above board. He also stresses that new owners should get the certificate of registration of microchip, which he likens to a cars logbook. He says it would be preferable if people getting a new pet called to the animals home instead of buying from websites.

Please do your research. Dont get a pet on a whim. Its a huge commitment. Also, if youre getting a pet, please call out to us.

It costs 150 to adopt a dog from the CSPCA. Adopting a cat costs 90. Your new pet will be chipped, flead, wormed, and spayed/neutered.

Youll need a utility bill, and a photo ID.

Contact Cork CSPCA 021 4515534 or cspca.ieBy Ciaran O Raghallaigh

By full time in Eden Park last weekend, so many history books were torn up that the bill might have bankrupted Beauden Barrett.

The New Zealand out-halfs 30 point tally in the All Blacks 40-12 win over Australia earned the Kiwis the Bledisloe Cup for the 16th successive time, but the headlines were mostly about the individual in the No 10 shirt.

His third try took him level with Dan Carters All Blacks try scoring record and his fourth took him one clear  with Argentina and South Africa lying nervously in wait.

In scoring four, he became the first No 10 in test rugby history to score so many in one match  with 17 others stuck on three.

He became the first Kiwi to score four tries in a Bledisloe Cup game, and the 30 point haul overtook Andrew Mehrtens 29 from 1999  when every score came from the out-halfs boot.

The stats are almost as breathtaking as the highlights from Saturdays test, and thats before Steve Hansens post-match comments that Barrett is not yet the finished article.

To most people, that performance and those stats would make a clear case to place Barrett at the top of the sports No 10 pyramid, but not to everyone.

And one man who knows more than most about being a world class out half is World Rugby Hall of Fame player, and former Leinster No 10, Felipe Contepomi.

Earlier this month he said Leinster had the worlds best out-half and he repeated the claim yesterday as the province counted down the days to their Guinness PRO14 opener against Cardiff this Friday night.

Sexton wont be there (Ross Byrne is likely to start) but if Leinster and Ireland are to come anywhere close to last seasons success he will be.

Contepomi, the man who Sexton famously replaced in the 2009 Heineken Cup semi-final against Munster, had an early sighting of the now 33year-old who has gone on to lead Leinster, Ireland and the Lions to success since taking the No 10 shirt from the Argentinian.

Watching Barrett at the weekend did not make Contepomi question Sextons place in the pantheon of rugby greats, it made him think how much greater he could be.

With Johnny and Beauden Barrett  you can pick who you want, but Id like to see Johnny in a black jersey and see what he can do and then we could compare, you know? he said.

I think that Johnny has done really well, Ireland is probably the second best in the world nowadays and a lot of that has to do with how Johnny conducts that team.

Its hard to compare two players when you are behind a team like the All Blacks. Beauden Barrett is magnificent, but he has some attributes that Johnny doesnt and Johnny has some attributes that Beauden doesnt.

Its take your pick of whatever style of rugby you want to play, but they are at the moment the best out-halves in the world.

Looking at the stats highlights how different those attributes are and also how different the Ireland and New Zealand environments are.

Barrett first: of his 525 points, in 66 tests, just 129 have come from penalty kicks. 246 have come from conversions, while 150 from tries.

Sextons tally could hardly be more different, in fact youd almost think they played different positions. Just 50 of Sextons 719 points are thanks to tries, with 180 from conversions.

A mammoth 477 come from penalties. Then theres the occasionally important drop goal (zero for Barrett, in case you wondered).

Just how Sexton would fit in with the more faster, attack-minded, dominant All Blacks  where penalties are rarely required and kicking is less employed, is a question to keep a late bar open even later, but hed doubtless thrive.

Sextons rise was seen at first hand by the Argentinian almost a decade ago, and even then he was in no doubt the Dubliner would be a success.

Its not that you expect it, but when I was here you could see that he was going to make it, he said.A bench of Justices Shantanu Kemkar and Sarang Kotwal was hearing a bunch of PILs challenging the construction of the memorial.

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Tuesday asked the central government and the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) to file their responses to petitions alleging that several clearances for the proposed Shivaji memorial off the Arabian Sea had been given unlawfully.

A bench of Justices Shantanu Kemkar and Sarang Kotwal was hearing a bunch of PILs challenging the construction of the memorial. The petitioners counsel, Aspi Chinoy, informed the court that the MCZMA, Centre and the state government had granted several approvals to the project in violation of CRZ norms.

Advocate Chinoy told the bench that the state and MCZMA had granted approvals without conducting a public hearing. Citizens can raise objections to and give suggestions on a public project and it is mandatory as per environmental and coastal regulation zone norms, advocate Chinoy said.

As per the plea, the Maharashtra government had issued a notification in February 2015 stating that there was no need for a public hearing for the Shivaji memorial project. However, the MCZMA and Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) granted several necessary approvals for the project between November 2014 and January 2015 without the public hearing, advocate Chinoy said. This means that the authorities had been granting approvals in anticipation that the norm on public hearings would be amended. This cant be considered lawful, he argued. The court was also informed that earlier this year, another bench of the high court had directed both the Centre and MCZMA to file their replies, but they had failed to do so in over six months now.

The bench, therefore, directed the government and the MCZMA to file their replies within four weeks.Tuesday, August 28th, 2018 (12:08 pm) - Score 3,381

Residents in the rural Somerset (England) communities of Sandford and Churchill will soon access ultrafast broadband speeds after UK ISP Truespeed Communications completed the build a new 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network, which was needed in order to connect the local Thatchers Cider business.

The provider, which has set itself an aspiration of covering 75,000 premises by 2021 and possibly 200,000 by 2025, is currently deploying their network across rural parts of South West England (i.e. Devon, Gloucestershire , Herefordshire , Somerset and Wiltshire) and has already covered several thousand premises (here). Much of their initial roll-out was focused on the Chew Valley region but theyre also going beyond that.

Despite being a fairly young provider the ISP was last year able to secure a huge investment of 75m from Aviva Investors to expand their network (here), which is helping to power their network expansion plans. As part of this work they were recently able to build their full fibre cables to cater for Thatchers Cider in the community of Sandford.

The knock-on impact of that work also helped extend internet access to the entire local community, by pushing it over the 30% sign-up threshold (demand-led) at which TrueSpeed begins its network build. This means that TrueSpeed will now enable the entire community to connect to its network, as well as equipping local schools and village halls with free broadband for life.

Residents in the large rural village just up the road in Churchill (population of around 2,200) will also benefit from the same infrastructure.

Evan Wienburg, CEO of TrueSpeed, told ISPreview.co.uk: Connecting rural businesses like Thatchers to a 21st century broadband service that will last for generations is vital for a thriving digital economy. As more people choose to live and work outside of the main conurbations, and working from home becomes more prevalent, access to full fibre broadband that lets people collaborate should be seen as a right, not a privilege.

Ian Dorling, Head of IT at Thatchers Cider, said: Were thrilled to be joining forces with another pioneering local business to help secure a better digital future for our local community.. Plus the TrueSpeed service will open up a whole new world of connectivity for Thatchers, giving us access to secure, full fibre broadband and ensuring our business runs smoothly at all times.

Just to help illustrate the ISPs progress, back in the spring of this year we were told that they had covered around 3,000 premises and todays update states that theyre now on course to pass more than 12,000 premises by this autumn (we think that could mean the end of this autumn rather than the start).

In terms of products, residential customers pay from 47.50 a month for a 200Mbps symmetric speed broadband package with unlimited usage on an 18 month contract term. The standard installation charge is 120 but this may vary depending upon the location.

We should point out that slower superfast (FTTC etc.) style services are already available to some parts of the same area, although TrueSpeed are obviously offering something far faster and more reliable.Tuesday, August 28th, 2018 (2:09 pm) - Score 1,540

The Suffolk County Council in England has officially confirmed that their 64m state aid supported Better Broadband for Suffolk (BBS) project with Openreach (BT) will achieve 98% coverage of superfast broadband (24Mbps+) capable (FTTC/P) networks by the end of 2020 as hoped (up from over 93% today).

So far the BBS programme, which is also supported by the Governments Broadband Delivery UK scheme and the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership (NALEP), is said to have delivered an additional 967 structures in order to provide superfast broadband coverage to over 110,000 premises (additional) that were not previously in any commercial deployment plans. As a result consumers in related areas should be able to order faster fibre based services from a variety of different ISPs.

The 98% target itself is actually nothing new and theyve been speaking about it as an aspiration for awhile (here), although this now seems to have been firmed up. Meanwhile the BBS website continues to state that theyre committed to reaching 100% superfast broadband coverage in Suffolk as quickly as possible, although at present there is no firm contract or funding to help tackle the final 2% of hardest to reach areas.

Councillor Matthew Hicks said: We have now confirmed that we will achieve 98% superfast broadband coverage by the end of 2020, which highlights our commitment to connecting Suffolk. We have already seen an increase in delivery, with 137 new structures built last quarter. This equates to approximately 3,000 additional premises receiving a new superfast broadband connection. With this agreement in place, Openreach will continue to ensure that we meet our ambitious goal. In the meantime, we will continue to look for further funding opportunities to work on delivery to the final 2%. It is important to remind everyone that speeds will not increase on their own. Once a fibre broadband connection has been enabled, individuals will need to contact an internet service provider and ask to upgrade to a superfast broadband service so that they can benefit from the faster speeds.

Clive Selley, Openreach CEO, said: Were making great progress across Suffolk and our partnership shows what can be achieved when government and the private sector works closely together. It was pleasing to hear these efforts recognised by Jo Churchill MP, and now were getting on with the job of extending faster, more reliable broadband services even further across the county, particularly to some of the most remote rural communities.

End.August 28, 2018



POCATELLO  Idaho State Universitys Cooperative Wilderness Handicapped Outdoor Group (CW HOG) is celebrating its 37th anniversary Pig Out dinner and picnic on Sept. 15.

Dinner includes BBQ pulled pork, Idaho baked potatoes, corn on the cob, a Dutch oven vegetarian dish and ice-cold beverages.

There will be kids activities and live music As Is.

The picnic will be held on Saturday, Sept. 15, at the Lower Ross Park Pavilion. Food will be served from 4 to 7:30 p.m., and the music will play until 10 p.m.

Prices for adults are $10 advance or $12 at the park, and prices for children are $5 in advance or $7 at the park. Tickets are available at Barries Ski and Sports, the CW HOG office in the lower level of the Pond Student Union and Element Outfitters/ACE Hardware.

Proceeds benefit ISUs CW HOG program by providing staffing, trainings for staff and volunteers, equipment and financial aid to participants who would otherwise not be able to get the experiences that CW HOG has to offer.

The confidence, self-esteem and lifelong memories that come along with challenging oneself with outdoor adventures are immeasurable and CW HOG is committed to assisting with these challenges.

For more information, contact Bob Ellis at (208) 282-3912 or ellirobe@isu.edu.August 28, 2018



POCATELLO  Whales, elephants and bears, oh my!  A team of scientific Noahs at the Idaho Museum of Natural History at Idaho State University has been tasked to digitally collect the skeletons of 50 of the largest animals in the world.

The arc, in this analogy, is the National Science Foundations efforts to make 3D scans of all the major vertebrates, animals that have skeletons, available online to researchers and educators.

Technicians from the museums Idaho Virtualization Laboratory, which received a $175,000 grant from the NSF, will travel to the University of California, Berkeley, California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco and the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology in Boston over two years to make 3D scans of whales, hippos, elephants, rhinos and other large animals.

We are excited about getting out there and scanning these animals, a lot of which no one else in the world has ever scanned, said Leif Tapanila, director of the Idaho Museum of Natural History. It is totally fresh, brand-new stuff. Once youve created those digital files, the sky is the limit on how they are used for educators, researchers and others.

The Idaho Museum of Natural Historys efforts will be led by Jesse Pruitt, Idaho Virtualization Laboratory manager and tech specialist, who will oversee teams of ISU students who will use laser scanners to make 3D digital models of all the bones of 50 different large animals. The ISU students working on this project in the field and in the Idaho Virtualization Laboratory include graduate students and undergraduate Career Path Interns.

Our laser scanners are still the standard for making really high-resolution 3D images, Tapanila said. The only thing that compares to them is a CT scanner or MRI scanner, which are too small for this job.

This fits in overall with what weve done before, he continued, and it is a continuation of that niche that we are filling right now in the nation as being able to scan at this level of quality and to deal with this kind of a task. No one else in the country, outside of the Smithsonian, could do this kind of work at this scale.

Scanning every bone of each of these species will be a painstaking process.

Quite literally, working with curators and collection managers at the museums, we have to haul out every bone from cabinets, put it on a table, scan the surface, and rotate it and scan every other surface, and then put it all together, Tapanila said. We do this for every bone.

The researchers only scan one side of the animal skeletons, however. Though all these large animals will be challenging to scan, whales may be the most difficult.

The whales are the tricky ones because not many museums have them because they take up so much space, Tapanila said. Whale skulls can be a royal pain. Most whale skulls, especially of the large baleen whales, are so massive, the museums are going to have to winch them up and do all kinds of maneuvers so we get the scans we need.

Tapanila described ISUs big-animal scanning project as a module in the National Science Foundations umbrella program, Open Vertebrate (oVert) Thematic Collections Network (TCN) that has a goal of scanning more than 20,000 smaller vertebrate specimens. ISU received the grant from the NSF Partner to Existing Networks program.

The co-principal investigator in this project is David Blackburn, of the University of Florida and Florida Museum of Natural History, who is leading the NSFs oVert efforts.

NSF recognizes the value that once a species is scanned, it now exists as a digital representation of the animal, and a lot of research and education can stem from that, Tapanila said. I cant even imagine how people will be using this 10 or 20 years from now. The idea is to get at least one example of every major kind of animal, and then over time fill in the blanks of the rarer animals to give full coverage of life on our planet.Optus says completion of work on a new mobile site in Maddingley in Victoria will provide improved coverage for mobile users on the states rail network.

The telco announced on Tuesday it had completed work on the new Maddingley site as part of the Victorian Governments regional rail connectivity project aimed at improving mobile coverage along the states five busiest regional rail corridors.

The new tower is located on the rail line connecting Ballarat and Melbourne along over five kilometres of track that previously offered limited coverage.

Vin Mullins, Optus manager, Mobile Access Planning, says the new site complements the company's investment in improving the regional network across Victoria.

Government initiatives like the RRCP play an important role in supporting the roll out of critical telecommunications networks into regional Australia, Mullins said.

The government should be congratulated for embracing industry collaboration under this project and we are pleased to be working alongside other telecommunications companies for the benefit of all rail passengers in these regional communities.

Maddingley is the fifth Optus site to go live since the regional rail project was announced, with sites at Ballan, Chewton, Taradale and Pakenham East already up and running.

With the support of VicTrack and the installation of on-board equipment to boost the signal from mobile towers inside the rail carriage on the Vlocity trains, the thousands of commuters who utilise the Ballarat line daily will now have more reliable coverage on their journey to and from Melbourne, Mullins said.

Optus is leading construction on 16 sites as part of the rail project, including the Big Hill Tunnel, and will co-locate on a further 12 sites.

Construction on a new site at Longwarry, along the Traralgon line, is about to commence, with Optus saying it expects 12 of its 16 lead sites to be on air by early November.

Victorian Minister for Innovation and the Digital Economy Philip Dalidakis said it was pleasing to see the project progressing and giving more mobile phone coverage and choice to those living and travelling in regional Victoria.

We realise that people in regional areas havent always had the coverage they deserve  this project means commuters can work or play while travelling along Victorias five busiest rail lines and we thank Optus for their assistance in delivering it," he said.After the successful launch of Australias first blockchain university short course, Developing Blockchain Strategy, RMIT Online has announced the launch of two additional blockchain courses that will provide students with a comprehensive overview of the technology, including the understanding of how to design blockchain infrastructure, to further their skills and learn how to think strategically about implementing a blockchain solution into the core of their businesses.

The new courses provide a "deep dive into blockchain infrastructure, design and build teaching industry-relevant skills to give professionals and students future work opportunities".

The first course, already announced back in February 2018, is entitled "Developing Blockchain Strategy".

You're promised that you'll "understand the fundamentals and impact of blockchain, and work with leading industry experts to build a real-world strategy for your business".

The next start date of this course is October 22, 2018, with a time commitment of 8 weeks and comprising of 40 to 45 hours, with a price of A$1600, with no entry requirements or prerequisites beyond coming up with the cash.

So, what do courses two and three entail, what will you learn, what's the time commitment, and what does it cost?

Courses 2 and 3 are the new ones, with Course 2 entitled "Designing Blockchain Solutions". Here you'll learn how to "strengthen your technical understanding of blockchain and evaluate the different platforms to create the architecture for your own blockchain solution, without even needing to code".

The start date for this course is 8 October, with a time commitment of six weeks, a price of A$1400, and no entry requirements or prerequisites beyond, of course, the course fee.

Course 3 is entitled "Developing Blockchain Applications", and here, you'll "learn the language and tools required to build decentralised apps on the Ethereum platform".

The start date of this course is 21 January 2019, with a time commitment of eight weeks, and a price of A$1400. The prerequisite for this course is a familiarity with coding, ideally in Javascript and Python.

More background on the courses

Accenture, which bills itself as "an industry leader in blockchain", identified a skills gap in qualified blockchain professionals, prompting the partnership with RMIT Online to add Designing Blockchain Solutions (commences 8 October) and Developing Blockchain Applications (commences 12 November  which must mean it is now sold out as the RMIT Online site says the next course is now on 21 January 2019) to its program offerings.

The courses are "part of RMIT Onlines portfolio comprising industry-endorsed short courses that aim to bridge important skills gaps among executives, professionals and those looking to future-proof their careers in a more accessible manner".

"Designing Blockchain Solutions will support students  from managers, entrepreneurs and consultants to tech enthusiasts and software developers  to develop an understanding of distributed ledger technologies infrastructure on a more technical level without needing to have programming skills. Various blockchain platforms, including Ethereum and those within the Hyperledger project (Sawtooth, Fabric and Composer), will be explored.

"The announcement of the two courses follows the unveiling of a recent initiative in partnership with leading digital credentialing platform, Credly, that gives students blockchain-enabled digital credentials.

"Global investment in blockchain is expected to surpass $2 billion, showcasing how quickly the technology has moved from its research and development phase to real world, market applications. RMITs industry-relevant partnerships represent its continued commitment to remaining at the forefront of helping students, professionals, and employers realise the potential of blockchain to fill gaps in industry."

RMIT Online chief executive Helen Souness said, Our first short course on blockchain, Developing Blockchain Strategy, sold out in 48 hours to students across the globe.

Were excited to be pioneering these courses with our expert partners at Accenture and Stone & Chalk in upskilling and inspiring professionals to explore real-life applications of blockchain technology within their businesses.

The courses are fully credentialled by RMIT University. Interested students should have a basic understanding of how distributed ledger technology works.

John Harris, managing director, Financial Services Technology Consulting, Accenture Australia and New Zealand, said: Following on from the success of RMIT Onlines first blockchain course, were pleased to partner with the team again on these two new learning offerings.

"From financial services and oil and gas, to mining and government, the potential is huge and we are already seeing the real world applications for blockchain across many industries.

"However, to move the technology forward and get to the next stage, we need the talent. As blockchain is an evolving technology, educational initiatives are crucial to bridge the skills gap and ensure that Australia capitalises on its full potential.

Alan Tsen, Melbourne general manager, Stone & Chalk, said: Over the next few years, I think we'll see an explosion in the use of blockchain across everything from digital identities to voting and power trading. Increasingly, we'll also start to see more POCs going from concept to production.

"Australia is facing an enormous skills shortage of people trained up in the technical knowledge required to operate blockchain in a modern workforce, and having the ability to build decentralised technology will prove to be invaluable."

You can find out more about all of the courses at RMIT Online here.Pangarkar funded the group and provided logistical support.

Mumbai: The special UAPA court on Tuesday remanded Vaibhav Raut, Sharad Kalaskar, Sudhanva Gondhalekar, and Shrikant Pangarkar in ATS custody till September 3, over the possession of explosives and weapons. ATS counsel Sunil Gonsalves informed the court that all the accused had planned to hurl bombs during the Sunburn music festival in Pune and were also involved in setting off a bomb outside a Kalyan theatre, where the controversial Hindi movie Padmaavat was being screened in January this year.

Gonsalves further argued that a list of targets has been recovered from the accused and links of the crime have spread to other states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. He also brought to the courts notice that currently, there are a total of nine training centres which have been identified by the ATS, of which two are in Maharashtra, while the others are outside the state. He also named the people who were to be targeted.

The ATS counsel argued before Judge Sameer Adkar that Raut and Gondhalekar, two of the accused, were part of a conspiracy to target the Sunburn Festival held in Pune last year, as they believed it was against Hindu culture.

He also argued that a huge amount of electronic data had been recovered from the accused and they needed to confront them about the same. Some photographs have also been found from the CDs recovered from the accused, and they need to be questioned about them as well, the ATS said.

The investigating agency said it needed to find the people who were providing the accused training in handling of arms and ammunition, as well as those funding the operation. The accused had procured firearms from outside Maharashtra and, hence, ATS teams would now be sent to UP and MP to trace the suppliers. The provider of arms and the larger ring is yet to be established, ATS officials said.

Investigators have also found notes in coded words that are yet to be deciphered. ATS officials said that the firearms were brought to Nalasopara from outside the state with the help of Shrikant Pangarkar, former Shiv Sena corporator from Jalna. Pangarkar funded the group and provided logistical support.

The lawyer for the accused, Sanjiv Punalikar, argued that procuring explosives does not attributed to unlawful activity. Later, the court extended the police custody of the four accused by seven more days.Samsung's Galaxy Note9 has ended its pre-sales period and is now on sale at retail at last, with the South Korean powerhouse proudly boasting of breaking all previous Samsung Note records for sales in the same time period.

With the Galaxy Note9 Samsung's "most premium, powerful and versatile smartphone" it has ever produced, and Samsung's weapon against Apple and everyone else's flagship models, Samsung is ready to rumble.

A great sign of Samsung's success thus far is with its pre-sales figures, which Samsung says for the Galaxy Note9 have "surpassed all previous Samsung records in Australia for a Note device when compared with the same time period".

The pre-sales period ran between 10 and 24 August, with the Note9 now at retail. In addition, Samsung says it "expects demand to continue as the device goes on sale around the country and customers experience the Note9".

Garry McGregor, vice-president for IT and Mobile, Samsung Electronics Australia, said the demand for the Note9 was unprecedented and due to people seeking more powerful mobile devices that would help them do more.

The Galaxy Note is one of our most loved products and we believe the Note9 is complete game-changer for Samsung when it comes to power, performance, and craftsmanship. It changes what customers can expect from our devices. McGregor said.

Updates from around the country indicate a fantastic response at retail outlets as we see more Australians adopt the Note smartphone as their device of choice.

Samsung reminds us that "Australians will be among the first in the world to get their hands on Samsungs latest flagship handset after it was unveiled in New York earlier this month".

"The device breaks new ground for the Note category due to the new functionality added to its iconic  and now Bluetooth-enabled  S Pen, performance and power, and a camera that is enhanced by artificial intelligence."

McGregor added: We believe the amazing response to this product in Australia is due to the demand for premium technology that can meet the demands of our busy lives.

With its advanced S Pen, incredible speed and performance, and the flexibility and reliability, the Note9 is testament to our commitment to helping people get the most out of a smartphone.

The flagship Samsung device is available today nationwide across telco operator and retail partner channels, as well as at Samsung Experience Stores and the Samsung online store.

The Galaxy Note9 Ocean Blue 512GB variant has proved to be incredibly popular with Australians, which should come as no surprise given that the 512GB model was selling during the pre-sales period for same price as the 128GB model, but also because of the obvious  512GB rocks!

Samsung says it is working to deliver additional stock to the country "in the coming weeks".French cloud computing company OVH has appointed IT and telecommunications veteran Michel Paulin as chief executive with a brief to execute a "smart cloud" plan.

In a statement, the company said Paulin was formerly chief executive of Neuf Cegetel, where he led an IPO, Meditel (now Orange Maroc) and SFR.

The "smart cloud" plan aims to consolidate OVHs role as an alternative leader in cloud and plan will be revealed at the OVH Summit on 18 October.

OVH board chairman Octave Klaba said: With the benefit of his experience and his leadership, Michel Paulin will help us to accelerate the implementation of our new strategic plan - with him as CEO and myself as chairman of the Board.

"I am convinced that his personal qualities, combined with the strong corporate culture of our teams, will ensure the groups development.

Paulin said: It is a great honour for me to join OVH. I am looking forward to lead this team of 2500 women and men on four continents, with its strong and unique culture of innovation at the service of its clients.

"I am delighted to work with Octave; everyone knows his vision, his entrepreneurial strength and his great humanity.

Klaba took on the role of chief executive in February 2017 to implement a "next level" plan during which OVH acquired vCloudAir from VMware, created 12 new data centres and introduced a cloud product and services strategy.Mobile satellite communications company Pivotel has announced the acquisition of Wrights Satellite Connections, a "leading-edge provider of mobile satellite communications solutions in New Zealand with a strong focus on the government, defence and maritime industries".

Pivotel says the WSC business complements its "existing New Zealand operations while also delivering greater scale which will be important to the business ahead of future investments required to deliver the innovative new products and services being launched in the coming months".

Pivotel chief executive Peter Bolger described the new partnership as "a strategic move for the Australian-based business, with the company wanting to expand its footprint further in the New Zealand market for some time, building on Pivotels existing 4000 wholesale and retail satellite services already operating in New Zealand".

Bolger added: New Zealand promises significant organic growth opportunities for Pivotel, particularly with emerging high-speed mobile satellite data services and the emergence of satellite IOT solutions.

Wrights Satellite Connections has dominated the mobile satellite market in New Zealand since inception and it is a well-known and respected business in the satellite industry.

It seemed like a natural fit for us to merge with the WSC team. We have great alignment around company values and both companies have a heavy focus on end to end solutions and delivering outstanding customer service.

Pivotel reminds us that it is "the only licensed satellite service provider in Australia and New Zealand that is directly interconnected with all of the major mobile satellite operators giving us an unmatched ability to deliver the best remote area mobile satellite communications solutions for all customers".

Bolger continued: Our network infrastructure and direct interconnection allows us to customise our service to better meet our customers needs as well as making the service easier to use, more cost-effective and simple to manage.

New Zealanders can make calls to Australian mobile numbers on our satellite phones at virtually zero cost with mobile operators now including calls to Australian mobiles in their unlimited calling bundle. This simple feature enormously increases the utility of mobile satellite services and the value derived from them.

Upul Wickremasinghe, formerly the managing director of Wright Satellite Connections, said WSC welcomed Pivotels expertise in the satellite market and "are enthusiastic about the companys growth within the country".

Wickremasinghe said: Pivotel is indisputably Australias leader in the delivery of innovative mobile satellite solutions and with the acquisition by Pivotel, the company can now leverage the strength of those solutions into the government, maritime and defence markets in New Zealand.

Im quite excited about the acquisition by Pivotel and that is one of the reasons I will continue working at Wrights, helping to make the transition as seamless as possible.

In such a fast-paced industry in which communication and technology solutions change so rapidly, our products and those of Pivotel are perfectly aligned to ensure Australasian customers are always connected.

The current WSC team has the experience and commitment to drive the companys growth forward in the New Zealand market and I believe they will add tremendous value to the expanded business.".

Pivotel also reminds us it acquired North American satellite solutions company, Global Marine Networks in September 2017 as part of an accelerated push into the satellite data communications market, as iTWire reported at the time.This Week in Review

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Read current issue login to my account advertisement advertisement advertisementOstensibly, Pope Francis historic two-day visit was to attend the triennial Festival of Families in Dublin.

Ireland and the Vatican moved significantly closer over the weekend to forging a more rational Church-state relationship that would not only strengthen Irish secularism but also restore the confidence of many among the worlds 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.

Ostensibly, Pope Francis historic two-day visit was to attend the triennial Festival of Families in Dublin. But since he chose the venue, an element of long-term planning cannot be ruled out. Symbolically, the first family to tell their story to His Holiness and the gathering of nearly 43,000 people in the Croke Park Stadium was a father, mother and two children from Mumbai. Speaking of information technology and the social media, they warned to public applause of the danger of technology overwhelming family values.

That is only one challenge that faces this divided, war-torn and yet indomitable island and the modernis-ing Leo Varadkar, who became Irelands youngest ever Taoiseach (Prime Minister) in June 2017. To take one small example, the black humour of a play titled A Skull in Connemara that I saw in Dublins Olympia Theatre two days before the Pope landed showed graves being dug up and skulls and bones being merrily smashed while swipes were taken at the Catholic clergy. All that would have been unthinkable when I last sat in the slightly tired red and gold Victorian splendour of the Olympia Theatre in 1959: Indias Ram Gopal was dancing there and I, a young reporter in Newcastle upon Tyne, was handling the publicity.

Ireland has moved since then from religious conservatism to thrusting modernity.Although Mr Varadkar, who was brought up as a Roman Catholic, respectfully addressed the Pope as Holy Father, his welcome speech in Dublin Castle was almost a scolding. He spoke of the shame and sorrow of the Catholic legacy and demanded corrective action. It was a far cry from the last and first papal visit in 1979, when nearly three million devotees che-ered Pope John Paul II as a sovereign head of state and keeper of the nations conscience.

Abortion, contraception, divorce and gay sex were forbidden then. No one complained of high-ranking priests sodomizing young boys or of babies being taken away from unmarried mothers and sold into adoption. No one mentioned the notorious Magdalene Laundries, which were supposed to rescue, support and rehabilitate fallen women but were really vicious Church-run dens where helpless women were sexually, physically and mentally exploited.

Pope Francis bravely acknowledged all these crimes. He spent 90 minutes with eight victims of sexual abuse, expressed regret and promised redress. Its Mr Varadkars legitimate boast that the Churchs hand no longer lies so heavily on secular affairs. His own life as Irelands first (and the worlds fourth) openly gay head of government symbolises this revolution. Ireland was the first country in Europe  probably in the world  to legalise same-sex marriage.

India can take some pride in this transformation. The Taoiseachs father, Dr Ashok Varadkar, was a Mumbai-trained doctor who migrated to Ireland. Mr Varadkar himself, who has visited his ancestral country several times, completed his medical internship at Mumbais KEM Hospital. Whether or not he has a smattering of Marathi I dont know, but his English has an Irish accent and he is fluent enough in Gaelic to make speeches in that dead but patriotically honoured language.

Mr Varadkar tried to make his reception for Pope Francis as wide-based as possible, inviting leaders of other Christian sects, members of the Council of State and European Parliament, lawyers and judges. But Arlene Foster, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party of British-held Northern Ireland, ungraciously refused his invitation, thereby drawing attention to the minority fanaticism that  shades of India  has partitioned the island.

When I interviewed the ultra-Protestant DUPs founder, Ian Paisley, a fundamentalist firebrand preacher, during what the Irish call the Troubles of 1969, he informed me that Indias problems were due to Papa (meaning Pope Paul VI) visiting Bombay four years earlier. He called Pope John Paul II the anti-Christ when he addressed the European Parliament in 1988. On Sunday, Pope Francis sent his love to Northern Ireland, but it will be some time before passions have cooled sufficiently for him to take up Mr Varadkars suggestion and visit the British province.

There is no doubt that even in Ireland, the Pope is no longer the figure of awed veneration he once was. No more than 45,000 worshippers attended his Holy Mass at the Knock shrine where a village boy claimed to have seen an apparition of the Virgin Mary in 1879. Its a different Ireland. Following the May referendum when 66.4 per cent of 4.8 million Irish people supported removing the ban on abortion, Mr Varadkar promised a new law by the end of the year. This will meet a demand that has been gathering strength since 2012 when a 31-year-old Indian dentist, Savita Halappanavar, died at Univer-sity Hospital in Galway due to the complications of a septic miscarriage and the denial of her request for an abortion.

During a radio interview on January 18, 2015 (his 36th birthday), Mr Varadkar spoke publicly for the first time about being gay: Its not something that defines me. Im not a half-Indian politician, or a doctor politician or a gay politician for that matter. Its just part of who I am, it doesnt define me, it is part of my character I suppose. Ireland sent the Irish Brothers to run schools in India. It also sent the Loreto nuns who educated millions of Indians, including West Bengals Jyoti Basu. India has returned the compliment with a Prime Minister of whom the world can be proud. Leo Varadkar would be a fitting guest of honour for one of our Republic Day ceremonies.It was the first time Facebook banned a countrys military or political leaders, according to a Facebook spokeswoman.

Facebook also said it removed dozens of accounts for engaging in a campaign that used seemingly independent news and opinion pages to covertly push the messages of the Myanmar military.(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

Facebook said on Monday it was removing several Myanmar military officials from the social media website and an Instagram account to prevent the spread of hate and misinformation after reviewing the content.

It was the first time Facebook banned a countrys military or political leaders, according to Facebook spokeswoman Ruchika Budhraja. She said the bans could not be appealed.

Facebook also said it removed dozens of accounts for engaging in a campaign that used seemingly independent news and opinion pages to covertly push the messages of the Myanmar military.

Facebooks action came hours after United Nations investigators said the army carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Muslim Rohingya with genocidal intent. Their report said the commander-in-chief of Myanmars armed forces and five general should be prosecuted for orchestrating the gravest crimes under the law.

Facebooks Budhraja said the United Nations findings, as well as media reports and advocacy groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, informed the companys decision. Facebook declined to make executives available for comment on the bans.

Facebooks action means an essential blackout of the militarys main channel of public communication, with pages followed by millions of people no longer available to a population that sees the social media app as virtually synonymous with the internet.

Government spokesman Zaw Htay was not available for comment. He was quoted by local media as saying Myanmar had asked Facebook for further details on the reasons for the ban.

Specifically, we are banning 20 Burmese individuals and organizations from Facebook  including Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and the militarys Myawady television network, Facebook said in a blog post.

"We're removing a total of 18 Facebook accounts, one Instagram account and 52 Facebook Pages, followed by almost 12 million people," the Menlo Park, the California-based company added.

The UN report said Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of Myanmars armed forces, and five generals should be prosecuted for orchestrating the gravest crimes under law.

A preview of Min Aung Hlaings Facebook page was still accessible immediately after the announcement and showed it had been liked by 1.3 million people. When Reuters attempted to return to it later it had been removed.

The U.N. investigators highlighted the role of social media in Myanmar in Mondays report. Facebook has been a useful instrument for those seeking to spread hate, in a context where for most users Facebook is the Internet, said the report.

Earlier this month, Reuters published an investigative report about how Facebook had failed to combat a campaign of hate speech against the Rohingya and other Muslims.

The piece, which found more than 1,000 posts, comments and images attacking Muslims on the platform, demonstrated that Facebook, despite repeated warnings, had devoted scant resources to controlling the problem in Myanmar, where it is the dominant social media force.

Facebook said a day after publication of the investigation that it had been too slow to address hate speech in Myanmar and it was acting to remedy the problem by hiring more Burmese speakers and investing in technology to identify problematic content.

Colonel Zaw Min Tun, an official in the militarys public information unit, told Reuters he was not aware the pages had been removed. He declined to comment further.

Some of the militarys Facebook posts from last year included detailed accounts of clashes with Rohingya militants, often accompanied by pictures.

A year ago, government troops led a crackdown in Myanmars Rakhine State in response to attacks by Rohingya insurgents on 30 police posts and a military base.

As a result, some 700,000 Rohingya fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, according to U.N. agencies, bringing stories of rape, arson and arbitrary killings.

Myanmar has denied allegations made by refugees, saying its troops engaged in lawful counterinsurgency operations against Muslim militants.

Last week, Facebook, along with Twitter Inc and Googles Alphabet Inc removed hundreds of accounts tied to an alleged Iranian propaganda operation. Facebook also said it had removed pages that the US government had previously named as Russian military intelligence services.

Russia and Iran rejected Facebooks accusations.

This is part of our effort to identify and disable networks of accounts that mislead others about who they are. We ban this kind of behaviour because we want people to be able to trust the connections they make on Facebook, Facebook spokeswoman Clare Wareing said.

(Source)The judge said the shareholders have until Sept. 28 to amend their complaint.

The case is separate from lawsuits accusing Tesla and Musk of scheming to hurt short-sellers.

A federal judge in San Francisco dismissed a securities fraud lawsuit in which Tesla Inc shareholders accused the electric car company and Chief Executive Elon Musk of misleading them about the progress of production of its Model 3 vehicle.

In a decision made public on Monday, US District Judge Charles Breyer said that while shareholders claimed that Tesla fell short of its production goals, federal securities laws do not punish companies for failing to achieve their targets.

Breyer said the shareholders have until Sept. 28 to amend their complaint. Their lawyer, Laurence Rosen, did not respond to a request for comment.

The case is separate from lawsuits accusing Tesla and Musk of scheming to hurt short-sellers through Musks Aug. 7 tweets about taking the Palo Alto, California-based company private, and that funding had been secured.

Musk abandoned that proposal late Friday night.

Tesla formally launched the Model 3 in July 2017, touting it as a vehicle for the masses, and attracted deposits from more than 500,000 potential customers.

But shareholders said Musk knew Tesla was woefully unprepared to meet its production goal of 5,000 Model 3s per week, and that Teslas share price was inflated until after the company finally cut its production target last November.

Belief in the Model 3 had helped propel Teslas share price 62 per cent higher in the 1-1/2 years after the Palo Alto, the California-based company unveiled it in March 2016.

But the judge said shareholders failed to show that Tesla needed to be clearer that Model 3 production could fall short.

The company eventually blamed its production shortfall on bottlenecks at its battery factory outside Reno, Nevada and its assembly plant in Fremont, California.

Plaintiffs are correct that defendants qualifications would not have been meaningful if defendants had known that it was impossible for Tesla to meet its stated production goals, not merely highly unlikely, Breyer wrote. The facts plaintiffs have put forth do not tend to establish that this was the case.

Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Breyers decision is dated Aug. 24.

The case is Wochos v Tesla Inc et al, US District Court, Northern District of California, No. 17-05828.

(Source)Reddit Email 77 Shares

By Jan Hennop and Roland Lloyd Parry | 

The Hague (AFP)  Iran demanded Monday that the UNs top court order the United States to suspend nuclear-linked sanctions against Tehran, but Washington vowed to vigorously fend off the legal challenge.

The Islamic Republic launched a suit at the International Court of Justice over US President Donald Trumps decision to reimpose sanctions that were lifted in a landmark 2015 accord.

Trump says the sanctions are needed to ensure Iran never builds a nuclear bomb. But Irans representative Mohsen Mohebi branded them naked economic aggression.

His team of lawyers told the court in The Hague that the measures were already devastating Irans economy and threatening the welfare of its citizens.

The United States is publicly propagating a policy intended to damage as severely as possible Irans economy and Iranian nationals and companies, Mohebi said.

Iran will put up the strongest resistance to the US economic strangulation, by all peaceful means.



AFP / MANDEL NGAN. US President Donald Trump has described the 2015 Iran agreement as a horrible one-sided deal

US lawyers are due to give their response in arguments before the court on Tuesday, with experts expecting them to challenge the ICJs jurisdiction.

We will vigorously defend against Irans meritless claims this week in The Hague, said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

He said Irans lawsuit was an attempt to interfere with the sovereign rights of the United States to take lawful actions, including re-imposition of sanctions, which are necessary to protect our national security.

 Irreparable prejudice 

ICJ judgements are binding, final and without appeal.

However, whether any decision will be implemented remains unclear, with both Iran and the US in the past ignoring ICJ rulings against them.

The US measures have added to Irans economic woes, fuelling strikes and protests across the country and political spectrum.



AFP/File / ATTA KENARE. US sanctions have fuelled economic trouble in Iran.

The sanctions target financial transactions and imports of raw materials, cars and aircraft among other sectors.

A second wave of punitive measures is due to hit the OPEC member state in early November, targeting its vital energy sector including oil exports.

Irans lawyers said the sanctions would cause it irreparable prejudice. They urged the court to order the suspension of the sanctions pending a definitive ruling.

London-based lawyer Samuel Wordsworth, for Iran, told the court the measures were threatening Iranians access to medicines as well as disrupting business deals.

 One-sided deal 

The ICJ is expected to take a couple of months to decide whether to grant Tehrans request for a provisional ruling. A final decision could take years.

After years of diplomacy, the 2015 deal was signed by Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.

Sanctions were lifted in return for Iran committing not to pursue nuclear weapons.

Trump, who took office in 2016, called it a horrible one-sided deal.

He said it failed to achieve the fundamental objective of blocking all paths to a Iranian nuclear bomb.

 Business deals scuppered 

Irans lawyers said the US sanctions had disrupted tens of billions of dollars worth of business deals with foreign companies.

Irans currency the rial has lost around half its value since April.

International companies including French oil firm Total and Germanys Siemens have suspended operations in Iran since Trump announced the US withdrawal in May.



afp/AFP/File / STRINGER. Air France and British Airways have said they will halt flights to Tehran.

Trump said the sanctions would turn up the financial pressure on Tehran to come to a comprehensive and lasting solution regarding its activities such as its ballistic missile programme and its support for terrorism.

The case is the second brought by Tehran against Washington since 2016. That year it brought a suit at the ICJ against the freezing of around $2 billion of Iranian assets abroad which US courts say should go to American victims of terror attacks.

Hearings in that case are due to start on October 8.

In both cases Iran is basing its claim on the obscure 1955 Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations, signed long before the countrys Islamic revolution.

Despite the treaty, the two countries have not had diplomatic ties since 1980. Iran routinely refers to the US as the enemy and its officials chant Death to America at official functions.

Featured Photo: ANP/AFP / Jerry Lampen. Irans representative Mohsen Mohebi (left) branded US sanctions naked economic aggression as Tehran opened its case at the International Court of Justice.Reddit Email 90 Shares

Militant protests continue in the oil rich city of Basra despite a harsh government crackdown. Thousands of Iraqis are demanding jobs, restoration of basic utility services and an end to government corruption. The protests quickly spread to other southern Iraqi cities and Baghdad.

Iraq has faced major electricity shortages since the 2003 US invasion. In Basra salt water flows from faucets because of filtration system breakdowns. Transparency International lists Iraq as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

In the first two weeks since the protests began July 14, over a dozen protestors were killed, hundreds were wounded and 750 arrested, according to the Gulf Centre for Human Rights.

Angry protestors closed the port of Um Qasr and even shut the Iraq-Kuwait border for a time, according to Yerevan Saeed, a former journalist and now a research fellow at the Middle East Research Institute.

Saeed, a colleague with whom I worked during reporting trips to Iraq, said the protests reflect widespread anger throughout the country.

Everyone, from Basra to Kurdistan, is frustrated with the current politicians, he told me. The political elite are corrupt. That brings everyone together at the moment.

Iraq has been in turmoil since the 2003 US invasion. Far from bringing democracy and prosperity as promised by US officials, the occupation resulted in rule by a corrupt, wealthy elite. As many as 7000 US troops continue to occupy Iraq, 15 years after the initial invasion. And Iraqis are pissed  as seen in the results of parliamentary elections in May and a recount finalized in August.

A coalition headed by anti-US, nationalist cleric Muqtada al Sadr won a plurality of 54 out of 329 seats in parliament. A pro-Iranian coalition headed by Hadi al Ameri took 48. The US-backed coalition led by Prime Minister Haider al Abadi came in third with 42 seats, a big blow to the Trump administration.

Sadr, a Shia cleric with conservative views on social issues, formed an alliance with the secular Iraqi Communist Party (ICP). Both agreed to focus on jobs, fighting corruption and combating outside domination of Iraq  whether from the US or Iran.

To some extent, they share a common social base among workers and the poor. For example, voters elected a woman ICP candidate Suhad al-Khateeb, a teacher who organized in the poor neighborhoods of Najaf, an otherwise religious and conservative city. It will be interesting to see if the left can expand its base in the months ahead.

Iraqi politicians now face the difficult task of forming a new government. Although a solid majority voted for parties opposed to US domination, a pro-US candidate could emerge from back room chicanery, according to Saeed.

I think were months away from a new government, he said.

Shock and Awe  the movie

Two recent films about Iraq are worth catching. Shock and Awe dramatizes the struggle of Knight Ridder reporters and an editor to expose the George Bush administrations lies leading to the 2003 Iraq War. It has an outstanding cast that includes Rob Reiner, Tommy Lee Jones and Woody Harrelson.

The Knight Ridder wire, which provided news to 31 dailies, was one of the few mainstream outlets to challenge the assertion that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

The film uses video from speeches and press conferences to skewer Bush, Don Rumsfeld, Condi Rice, Colin Powell and Dick Cheney. Its great to hear the editor character played by Rob Reiner declaim that We will not be stenographers for the Bush Administration.

Of course the left media and the massive anti-war movement had a far better analysis than anything in the Knight Ridder articles. But Knight Ridder was certainly the best of the US mainstream media.

Unfortunately, I dont think Shock and Awe is good cinema. The good guys remain good throughout and the bad guys stay evil. So theres little dramatic tension. It got rotten reviews and stopped playing in theaters soon after release. Nevertheless I would recommend streaming it as a refresher on the close collaboration of the US ruling elite and the mainstream media.

Nowhere to Hide

The documentary film Nowhere to Hide, which will air on PBS, has the opposite problem. Its compelling cinema but without a clear political focus.

Norwegian-Kurdish filmmaker Zaradasht Ahmed gave a small camera to Nori Sharif, a hospital medic, and told him to film his life for the next three years. Nori lived in Jawala, a mostly Sunni area of central Iraq known as the Triangle of Death because of its fierce resistance to U.S. occupation.

The documentary opens with Nori expressing his joy that the American troops are finally pulling out of Iraq at the end of 2011. Hes happy the US is leaving and optimistic about an independent Iraq, not a view often seen in US media.

First we meet his family, a lively bunch of dancing kids, a wife and in laws. We get a hint of things to come when Nori interviews a crane operator who was kidnapped twice by Al Qaeda and has been disabled as a result.

We later experience the ISIS onslaught through Noris eyes. Who creates this violence and why? he asked plaintively. No one understands, not even me. Another time he told the camera, I dont understand this war. It tears you to pieces.

And thats the films biggest weakness. The documentary maker could have included other sources to explain the big picture: the US desire to control oil, establish military bases and dominate the region. Instead, were left with the impression that Sunnis, Shia, Yazidis and others are just doomed to fight one another.

The film does powerfully portray, however, what the war looks like from the perspective of an ordinary Iraqi. We see the brutality of the US-sponsored police, the sudden arrival of ISIS and how Noris family flees Jawala with only a few hours notice.

One of the children asks how long will they be away? Her mom answers, Only a few days. We know this isnt true, and we feel as helpless as the family. Despite the hardships, however, the family manages to express some optimism.

Right now we cannot tell when or how the war will end, Nori said. In the end the will to build will win over the forces of destruction. Because life must go on.

PBS airs Nowhere to Hide as part of its POV series on August 27.

Featured Photo: Iraqi refugees flee ISIS attack in 2014. Photo: (c) Reese Erlich.Toyota and Uber are widely seen as lagging the competition in developing self-driving cars.

Toyota Motor Corp will invest $500 million in Uber to jointly work on developing self-driving cars, the companies said on Monday, a bid by both to catch up to rivals in the hotly competitive autonomous driving business.

Toyota, one of the worlds largest carmakers, and Uber Technologies Inc, the leading ride-hailing service, are widely seen as lagging the competition in developing self-driving cars. The partnership deepens an existing relationship and reflects Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahis strategy of Uber developing autonomous vehicles through partnerships, rather than on its own.

The deal also breathes new life into Ubers self-driving business. Since a self-driving Uber SUV killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona, in March, Uber has removed its robot cars from the road, laid off hundreds of test drivers and shuttered operations in Arizona, its autonomous testing hub.

The investment values Uber at $72 billion, matching the valuation Uber received in a deal with Alphabet Inc self-driving unit Waymo this year.

Uber will combine its autonomous driving system with Toyotas Guardian technology, which offers automated safety features such as lane-keeping but does not enable a vehicle to drive completely autonomously. The combined technology will be built into Toyotas Sienna minivans, to be deployed on Ubers ride-hailing network starting in 2021, Uber said.

The companies aim is to solve the enormously challenging problem of how to mass produce self-driving cars for shared fleets, including ride-hailing services.

Jeff Miller, Ubers head of business development for strategic initiatives, said the partnership really paints the picture of how we envision deploying autonomous technology in the long term. That includes licensing its autonomous technology to carmakers and enlisting a third party to own and maintain the fleet.

The third party that will operate the Toyota autonomous fleet has not yet been chosen, Miller said.

Toyota has been less aggressive than some rivals on moving toward full-fledged autonomous driving, expressing caution about the technology, and has focused on partial autonomous systems like Guardian. But the company has invested in research and said it plans to begin testing self-driving electric cars around 2020.

Uber has admitted its technology lags Waymo, and the crash in Arizona was a further setback in development and testing. The Toyota partnership puts pressure on Uber to resume testing on public roads, but the company has run up against regulators and politicians with safety concerns. Miller said Uber plans to have autonomous cars back on public streets by the end of the year.

Khosrowshahi, who took over Uber a year ago, has recently explored options that include more partnerships as well as a potential sale of the self-driving business, separate sources have told Reuters. The self-driving unit is a significant contributor to Ubers losses, which in the second quarter were $891 million.

Uber has a deal to purchase cars from Volvo, outfit them with Ubers technology and maintain them, a more labour-intensive project than the Toyota plans. The company also has a partnership with Daimler AG, in which the carmaker proposes to put its own self-driving cars in Ubers ride-hailing network.

Khosrowshahis partnership strategy is a shift. Uber co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick had insisted on developing a proprietary self-driving system and called autonomous cars existential to Uber.

Previously, Uber and Toyota partnered on an electric mobility project. Two years ago, Toyota invested an undisclosed sum in Uber and the two companies partnered on a car-leasing program for Uber drivers. Uber has since shuttered its US leasing business.

(Source)Reddit Email 248 Shares

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment)  Mohamed Bin Salman, the thirty-two-year-old crown prince of Saudi Arabia, is finding his wings clipped, by his father and by the heavy hand of reality, so severely that some are speculating about whether he can survive politically.

Alkhaleejonline.net reports that Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman recently met with his staff officers and told them to pay no attention to international criticism of Saudi airstrikes on Yemen, which have killed large numbers of children.

A leak from the meeting, Al-Khaleej Online said, added that the crown prince said, We want to leave a huge impact on the consciousness of coming generations of Yemenis, and we want their children and women, indeed, their men, to shiver every time Saudi Arabia is mentioned.*

Last week, Saudi-led airstrikes on Saadeh in North Yemen struck a school bus and killed over 40 children. Another air strike this weekend south of the port of Hudeida left 22 children dead.

Human rights organizations have alleged that Saudi Arabia and its allies are deliberately targeting civilian sites, as part of a total war on Yemens rebel rulers, the Helpers of God or Houthis.

It is possible that Bin Salman himself is responsible for the leak, and that it is his response to the many critics of the kingdoms prosecution of the Yemen war (including a substantial number of US representatives in Congress).

The quagmire of Yemen, however, is only one of the princes headaches.

Reuters reported on Monday that King Salman, the octogenarian absolute monarch of Saudi Arabia, has decided to rescind the planned Initial Public Offering (IPO) of 5% of Aramco, the Saudi state-owned oil company. Reuters said that the king and his advisers were alarmed that taking even a portion of Aramco public would require the revelation of its financial details.

The IPO was the centerpiece of Mohamed Bin Salmans Vision 2030, his economic plan for transforming the economy of Saudi Arabia away from its current almost complete dependence on petroleum exports. Bin Salman, a millennial, is more canny than his elders, and understands that the electric car is going to take over the worlds highways faster than anyone expects, hugely reducing the value of the vast petroleum fields in the kingdoms Eastern Province.

The IPO was in trouble even before King Salman decided to slap it down. Foreign Direct Investment in Saudi Arabia has plummeted, in the wake of the imprisonment in the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton by Bin Salman of other princes, who he made fork over billions that were allegedly gained through corruption. Saudi Arabias recent spat with Canada, in which the Canadian ambassadors Tweet criticizing the jailing of Saudi women activists provoked an all-out response from Riyadh. The Saudi government withdrew thousands of students from Canadian universities and cut off diplomatic relations.

That, under these circumstances, anyone would invest hundreds of billions of dollars in 5% of Aramco beggars belief. Not to mention that it is very possible that Aramcos profitability will decline rapidly through the 2020s because of the rise of the electric car, which does not use petroleum. (Electricity is seldom generated by petroleum, and coal is increasingly more expensive than renewables, so that most electric cars in 2030 will probably run on renewables, with, perhaps, some natural gas to smooth out the grid).

The king had earlier distanced Riyadh from Bin Salmans statements bringing into question his commitment to the Palestinian cause. It is said that Salman is afraid his historical legacy will be tarnished by his sons rash policy moves, some of which are deeply unpopular in the Arab World.

If Bin Salman doesnt have Vision 2030, it is difficult to see what he does have as a significant political platform. Some observers, including the Israeli Haaretz, are wondering whether the king will depose him as crown prince and put someone else in, who is less impulsive.

*Unfortunately, Al-Khaleej Online does not name its source and it is not transparent about who owns it or what their agenda is. I tried to find out more. The only thing I can say is that the Saudi-owned al-Hayat carried the press release when it began publishing a few years ago, which would hint that the newspaper is not normally seen as inimical to Riyadh.

-

Bonus video added by Informed Comment:

CGTN:

The Heat: Saudi Arabias Crown Prince-Mohammed bin Salman Pt 1Reddit Email 87 Shares

Informed Comment syndicates select AFP pieces, and as I prepared this one for publication, the difference between the reported Vietnam response to his death and the petty pouting in the Trump White House (which went back and forth on whether to lower the flag and only issued a grudging statement late afternoon Monday.  Juan

By Tran Thi Minh Ha | 

Hanoi (AFP)  Hanoi paid tribute Monday to former US Senator John McCain, a onetime foe who helped heal the wounds of the Vietnam War after spending years as a prisoner in the city.

Residents and US officials laid flowers near a concrete sculpture of McCain by the capitals Truc Bach lake, commemorating the site where the former Navy pilot  who died Saturday aged 81  was shot down and detained during the Vietnam War.

McCain spent more than five years detained in the infamous Hanoi Hilton, where he was put in solitary confinement, beaten and tortured.

But in the decades after the bloody conflict ended, the Republican presidential candidate was known in Vietnam for his transition from prisoner of war to peacemaker.

His death was front page news in Vietnams state media and drew tributes from across the country.

Veterans who fought in the war were among those who travelled to the US embassy in Hanoi to pay their respects.

I admire him for having recognised the right thing being united with Vietnamese people, so that the two countries could set aside the past, building up the future, said 81-year-old veteran Pham Minh Chuc, who rode his bicycle to the embassy.

It was a pity that we confronted each other on the battlefield, a woman named Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc wrote in the embassys condolence book.

But I think with that we had a chance to understand each other more after the war, and you were the one that made a major contribution to building up that link.

Vietnams deputy prime minister Pham Binh Minh wrote that he hoped McCains family could overcome the loss and described him as someone who helped heal the wounds of war.

The Vietnam War killed an estimated 2.5 million northern Vietnamese fighters, 58,000 American servicemen and some three million civilians before its end in 1975, two years after McCain was released and sent home.

McCain visited Vietnam several times after diplomatic ties were restored in 1995 and one of his jailers remembered him fondly, saying he would have voted for him in his failed 2008 presidential bid.

Truong Huy San, a prominent social critic, wrote on Facebook Sunday that McCains personality helped Hanoi and Washington make amends, and said that the country could learn from him.

One man can only become a peoples hero when he has not just courage, but also talent and ethics.

Featured Photo: AFP / Nhac NGUYEN. In the decades after the bloody conflict ended, John McCain was known in Vietnam for his transition from prisoner of war to peacemaker.TORONTO, Aug. 28, 2018 /CNW/ - Wallbridge Mining Company Limited (TSX:WM, FWB: WC7) ("Wallbridge" or the "Company") is pleased to announce continued positive results from its underground drill program and to provide an update on the ongoing development as part of the 35,000-tonne bulk sample and underground exploration program at its 100%-owned Fenelon Gold Property ("Fenelon").

Highlights

To date, 50 drill holes have been completed totaling more than 4,800 metres.

Visible gold was observed to be present in 33 drill holes.

Since the last press release (see Wallbridge Press Release dated August 14, 2018 ), partial assay results of 6 additional holes have been received with highlights as follows:



18-1035-005: 48.81 g/t gold over 6.13 metres in the Naga Viper zone



18-1035-010: 30.47 g/t gold over 3.63 metres in the Chipotle zone



18-1035-017: 49.06 g/t gold over 10.13 metres in the Chipotle zone





), partial assay results of 6 additional holes have been received with highlights as follows: 18-1035-005: in the Naga Viper zone 18-1035-010: in the Chipotle zone 18-1035-017: in the Chipotle zone Assay results from additional 38 drill holes are pending.

The 18,000-metre drilling program from underground and surface is planned to continue until December 2018 .

. Blasting and mucking of the first stope (CH-01) is underway.

Production drilling of the second stope (NV-01) will begin next week.

Ramp development is nearing the second level (5180 Level).

Over 2,000 tonnes of ore has been shipped and stockpiled at the Camflo mill.

"The highlighted intersections released today further confirm the robust gold grades and thicknesses within parts of the Chipotle and Naga Viper zones that were selected for this bulk sample program. The drilling from the 0990-setup testing the West extension area has also produced excellent results so far. We are defining the western extent of the new high-grade shoot discovered in the Naga Viper zone last year and are intersecting similar quality mineralization in the Paprika and Habanero zones as well, which led us to add additional drill holes to follow the mineralization westward in these two zones. We are looking forward to releasing results from these drill holes as they become available," stated Attila Pentek, Vice-President, Exploration of Wallbridge.

The bulk sample is expected to produce 19,000 to 26,000 ounces of gold with close to 50% of gold priced at $1,720 per ounce. The expected cash flow upon completion of this bulk sample, net of all bulk sample costs and including the financing costs is expected to be sufficient to cover the budgeted working capital requirements.

"We are very pleased with the progress made in advancing underground development in preparation for the remaining bulk sample stopes. The project team, along with our contractors, have worked tirelessly to deliver a safe and successful project and we continue to build upon this as we evaluate all opportunities to deliver additional value through our ongoing efforts in health & safety, productivity and cost improvements," stated Frank Demers, Vice-President, Mining & Projects of Wallbridge.

The bulk sample program is designed to test a few stopes in several zones. Overall grade from these planned stopes is estimated to average 18 to 25 g/t gold. The geology team has developed an extensive sampling program to characterize the mineralized material during this bulk sample. Chip samples are collected from a sampling line across each development face and muck samples are also taken in a regular pattern on surface.

Drilling to date from the 5213 level has mainly targeted the Chipotle and Naga Viper zones in the upper 100 m, between levels 5150 and 5213. Stopes that have thus far been drilled-off to the planned 6 to 7 m nominal spacing have provided good confirmation of the geological model and continuity of the high-grade shoots. Drilling is now focusing on defining stopes and expanding resources in the West extension area of the Naga Viper and Habanero zones, including the high-grade shoot discovered last year with intersections that included 260.44 g/t gold over 7.02 metres, 141.16 g/t gold over 7.06 metres and 311.08 g/t gold over 3.06 metres (see Wallbridge Press Release dated December 13, 2017).

Deeper drilling to test the down-plunge of known high-grade shoots is planned for Q4 of 2018 once the lower levels are developed.

A 10,000 metre surface drilling program is also scheduled to start in September to follow known mineralized zones and expand resources at depth and further away from the mine workings.

A summary of the drill hole results from the underground drilling are reported in Tables 1 and 2 and also shown on Figures 1 to 7 below.

Table 1. Wallbridge Fenelon Gold Property 2018 Underground Drill Assay Highlights Drill Hole From To From To Length True Width Au Au Capped* VG** Zone Press Release (m) (m) (m) (m) (m) (m) (g/t) (g/t) 18-1030-006 27.79 30.20 2.41 2.20 15.91 15.91 VG Chipotle July 25, 2018 18-1030-006 Including... 28.50 29.11 0.61 0.56 59.10 59.10 VG Chipotle July 25, 2018 18-1030-007 31.26 32.66 1.40 1.08 16.72 16.72 VG Chipotle July 25, 2018 18-1030-008 34.47 38.06 3.59 2.76 9.27 9.27 VG Chipotle July 25, 2018 18-1030-008 Including... 35.03 36.61 1.58 1.22 17.37 17.37 VG Chipotle July 25, 2018 18-1030-009 77.58 81.00 3.42 2.70 35.91 35.91 VG Paprika July 25, 2018 18-1030-009 Including... 78.90 80.60 1.70 1.34 63.33 63.33 VG Paprika July 25, 2018 18-1030-009 90.00 90.97 0.97 0.75 4.76 4.76 Habanero July 25, 2018 18-1030-010 81.00 81.42 0.42 0.32 13.60 13.60 VG Naga Viper July 25, 2018 18-1030-011 80.10 85.50 5.40 4.37 10.05 10.05 Naga Viper Aug 14, 2018 18-1030-012 68.30 71.26 2.96 1.33 10.09 10.09 VG Chipotle 1 Aug 14, 2018 18-1030-012 79.42 82.50 3.08 1.39 7.32 7.32 VG Chipotle 2 Aug 14, 2018 18-1030-012 107.33 108.29 0.96 0.60 6.38 6.38 VG Paprika Aug 14, 2018 18-1035-002 49.20 54.00 4.80 3.26 29.23 28.35 VG Chipotle Aug 14, 2018 18-1035-002 Including... 49.97 52.95 2.98 2.03 46.30 44.89 VG Chipotle Aug 14, 2018 18-1035-003 52.20 52.77 0.57 0.39 5.60 5.60 VG Chipotle Aug 14, 2018 18-1035-004 24.94 26.02 1.08 0.73 65.70 65.70 VG Fresno Aug 14, 2018 18-1035-005 58.77 64.90 6.13 5.86 48.81 24.35 VG Naga Viper Current

Release 18-1035-005 78.65 79.31 0.66 0.53 26.90 26.90 Paprika Current

Release 18-1035-007 74.30 78.07 2.42 1.94 5.27 5.27 Paprika Current

Release 18-1035-007 84.90 85.50 0.60 0.48 15.60 15.60 Habanero Current

Release 18-1035-010 30.45 34.08 3.63 2.72 30.47 30.47 VG Chipotle Current

Release 18-1035-010 Including... 32.9 34.08 1.18 0.89 91.94 91.94 VG Chipotle Current

Release 18-1035-010 47.50 49.40 1.90 1.43 3.07 3.07 Anaheim Current

Release 18-1035-012 28.01 28.56 0.55 0.44 28.30 28.30 VG Chipotle Aug 14, 2018 18-1035-012 56.41 56.71 0.30 0.29 61.10 61.10 VG Naga Viper Aug 14, 2018 18-1035-015 63.00 65.05 2.05 1.11 6.63 6.63 VG Chipotle Current

Release 18-1035-016 66.77 67.50 0.73 0.51 5.73 5.73 Chipotle Current

Release 18-1035-016 98.17 100.00 1.83 1.24 4.26 4.26 Paprika Current

Release 18-1035-017 56.00 66.13 10.13 5.51 49.06 23.93 VG Chipotle Current

Release

*Au capped at 140 g/t following InnovExplo's 2016 Mineral Resource Estimate. **Intervals containing visible gold ("VG").

Table 2. Fenelon Gold Property drill hole information Drill Hole ID UTM E UTM N Elevation Length

(Metres) Azimuth Dip VG* Note 18-1030-006 10566 10999 5213 71 205 -6 VG 18-1030-007 10566 10999 5213 54 211 -13 VG 18-1030-008 10566 10999 5213 80 203 -17 VG 18-1030-009 10566 10999 5213 95 204 -27 VG 18-1030-010 10566 10999 5213 100 205 -32 VG 18-1030-011 10566 10999 5213 115 205 -38 18-1030-012 10566 10999 5213 125 206 -45 VG 18-1035-002 10571 10997 5214 90 192 -29 VG 18-1035-003 10571 10997 5214 93 184 -28 VG 18-1035-004 10571 10997 5214 93 197 -24 VG Further Assays pending 18-1035-005 10571 10997 5214 90 191 -22 VG Further Assays pending 18-1035-006 10571 10997 5214 93 185 -22 Further Assays pending 18-1035-007 10571 10997 5214 85 184 -17 18-1035-008 10571 10997 5214 90 177 -18 18-1035-009 10571 10997 5214 96 170 -17 18-1035-010 10571 10997 5214 75 202 -13 VG Further Assays pending 18-1035-011 10571 10997 5214 85 185 -11 VG Assays pending 18-1035-012 10572 10996 5214 69 203 -6 VG Further Assays pending 18-1035-013 10572 10996 5214 65 194 -8 VG Further Assays pending 18-1035-014 10571 10997 5214 115 184 -43 Further Assays pending 18-1035-015 10571 10997 5214 115 205 -44 VG Further Assays pending 18-1035-016 10571 10997 5214 105 185 -39 Further Assays pending 18-1035-017 10571 10997 5214 105 198 -41 VG Further Assays pending 18-1035-018 10571 10997 5214 100 185 -36 VG Assays pending 18-1035-019 10571 10997 5214 100 193 -36 VG Assays pending 18-1075-001 10592 10955 5214 42 227 -12 Assays pending 18-1075-002 10592 10955 5214 41 208 -8 Assays pending 18-1075-003 10592 10955 5214 48 208 -25 Assays pending 18-1080-001 10598 10949 5214 42 208 -25 VG Assays pending 18-1080-002 10598 10949 5214 48 208 -38 Assays pending 18-1080-003 10598 10949 5214 42 208 -48 VG Assays pending 18-1080-004 10598 10949 5214 45 185 -25 Assays pending 18-1080-005 10598 10949 5214 33 185 -37 Assays pending 18-1080-006 10598 10949 5214 42 185 -8 VG Assays pending 18-0990-006 10532 11019 5215 152 203 -48 VG Assays pending 18-0990-007 10532 11019 5215 149 208 -48 VG Assays pending 18-0990-008 10532 11019 5215 150 206 -45 VG Assays pending 18-0990-009 10532 11019 5215 135 208 -42 VG Assays pending 18-0990-010 10532 11019 5215 132 202 -40 VG Assays pending 18-0990-011 10532 11019 5215 120 202 -36 VG Assays pending 18-0990-012 10532 11019 5215 111 202 -28 Assays pending 18-0990-013 10532 11019 5215 132 208 -39 VG Assays pending 18-0990-014 10532 11019 5215 126 208 -36 VG Assays pending 18-0990-015 10532 11019 5215 105 209 -28 Assays pending 18-0990-016 10532 11019 5215 111 214 -15 Assays pending 18-0990-017 10532 11019 5215 152 211 -45 VG Assays pending 18-0990-018 10532 11019 5215 150 216 -46 Assays pending 18-1000-002 10540 11014 5215 156 204 -49 VG Assays pending 18-1000-003 10540 11014 5215 147 199 -46 VG Assays pending 18-1000-004 10540 11014 5215 126 205 -45 VG Assays pending

*Intervals containing visible gold ("VG").



Wallbridge's Fenelon Gold Property is located in northwestern Quebec proximal to the Sunday Lake Deformation Zone ("SLDZ") which hosts the Detour Gold Mine in Ontario, and Balmoral Resources' gold deposits at Martiniere. The Fenelon Gold Property hosts the Discovery Zone gold deposit and surrounding 4 km strike length of a gold-hosting secondary splay of the SLDZ.

Since acquiring the property in late 2016, Wallbridge has completed an updated resource estimate and a positive pre-feasibility study on the existing resource (see Wallbridge Press Release dated February 02, 2017). In addition, Wallbridge has completed 33 drill holes totalling 6,348 metres in three surface exploration drilling campaigns at Fenelon. Drilling significantly extended existing zones and discovered several new parallel zones (see Wallbridge Press Release dated December 13, 2017). The current 35,000 tonne bulk sample and underground drilling program is designed to provide the information needed to make a production decision by Q1 2019.

Drill core samples from the ongoing drill program at Fenelon were cut and bagged on site and transported to SGS Canada Inc. Samples, along with standards, blanks, and duplicates included for quality assurance and quality control, were prepared and analyzed at SGS Canada Inc. laboratories. Samples are crushed to 90% less than 2mm. A 1kg riffle split is pulverized to >95% passing 106 microns. 50g samples are analyzed by fire assay and AAS. Samples >10g/t gold are automatically analyzed by fire assay with gravimetric finish or screen metallic analysis. To test for coarse free gold and for additional quality assurance and quality control, Wallbridge requests screen metallic analysis for samples containing visible gold. These and future assay results may vary from time to time due to re-analysis for quality assurance and quality control.

The Qualified Persons responsible for the technical content of this press release are Marz Kord, P. Eng., M. Sc., MBA, President & CEO and Attila Pentek, P.Geo., Ph.D., Vice President Exploration for Wallbridge Mining Company Limited.

About Wallbridge Mining

Wallbridge is establishing a pipeline of projects that will support sustainable production and revenue as well as organic growth through exploration and scalability.

Wallbridge is currently developing its 100%-owned high-grade Fenelon Gold property in Quebec with ongoing exploration and a bulk sample in 2018. Wallbridge is also pursuing other additional advanced-stage projects which would add to the Company's near term project pipeline. These discussions benefit from the operating capabilities Wallbridge demonstrated by safely and efficiently mining the Broken Hammer deposit in Sudbury, which was completed in October 2015. Wallbridge is also continuing partner-funded exploration on its large portfolio of nickel, copper, and PGM projects in Sudbury, Ontario, with a focus on its high-grade Parkin project.

Wallbridge also has exposure to exploration for copper and gold in Jamaica and British Columbia through its 11.5% ownership of Carube Copper Corp. (CUC:TSX-V, formerly Miocene Resources Limited, a Wallbridge spin-out of its BC assets).

This press release may contain forward-looking statements (including "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) relating to, among other things, the operations of Wallbridge and the environment in which it operates. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Wallbridge has relied on a number of assumptions and estimates in making such forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the costs associated with the development and operation of its properties. Such assumptions and estimates are made in light of the trends and conditions that are considered to be relevant and reasonable based on information available and the circumstances existing at this time. A number of risk factors may cause actual results, level of activity, performance or outcomes of such exploration and/or mine development to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements including, without limitation, whether such discoveries will result in commercially viable quantities of such mineralized materials, the possibility of changes to project parameters as plans continue to be refined, the ability to execute planned exploration and future drilling programs, the need for additional funding to continue exploration and development efforts, changes in general economic, market and business conditions, and those other risks set forth in Wallbridge's most recent annual information form under the heading "Risk Factors" and in its other public filings. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and such information is inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and may be beyond the control of Wallbridge. Although Wallbridge has attempted to identify important risks and factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors and risks that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Consequently, undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking statements. In addition, all forward-looking statements in this press release are given as of the date hereof.

Wallbridge disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, save and except as may be required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified by this disclaimer.Vancouver, BC / TheNewswire / August 28, 2018 - John Cumming, President and Chief Executive Officer of Stellar AfricaGold Inc., (TSX-V: SPX) ("Stellar" or the "Company") announces:

Gravity Mill Improvements Completed

Further to the Company's news release of July 25, 2018 the Company is pleased to announce that having completed some important configuration and structural modifications to the Balandougou Gold Project gravity plant processing of the 15,000 tonnes bulk sample will resume on September 3, 2018. This first round of significant modifications was decided upon following a review of the first few weeks of full-time test operations. The mill operating results were discussed among Stellar's technical team and outside specialists with experience in west African gravity gold mining and suggested improvements to increase production capacity and improve gold recovery were implemented.

The major modification and improvement to the plant related to the ball mill's efficiency, particularly its ability to fully pulverize the gold mineralization including the hard quartz. Additionally, the slurry basin size was doubled to prevent overflows and the two Knelson concentrators were reconfigured from a parallel orientation to operate in series for a better recovery of Balandougou's very fine gold. Lastly further adjustments were made to the shaking table by a specialist in that matter. Collectively these changes will reflect directly on the mill's gold recovery rate.

The Company also completed a number of minor yet important maintenance requirements including a) construction of a three-stage waste water settling pond to capture fine silts between the liquid tailings separator and the mill reservoir, b) design and installation of an improved filtration system for the water inlet to the mill, c) replacement of all flexible water piping with rigid steel piping, and d) alteration of some electrical circuitry to allow operators to control the 'on/off' switching of certain equipment without the delay of communicating with the central electric control panel operator. These changes will improve the efficiency of routine operations and, hence, the overall productivity of the mill.

New Mine Manager and Increased Operating Hours

Stellar has hired a new mine manager well-experienced with gravity mill operations. Upon the resumption of operations under his direction the gravity plant will be staffed by two shifts and will run uninterrupted from 0600 to 1900 hours, a total of 13 hours daily, to increase mill throughput and daily gold recovery.

ABOUT STELLAR AFRICAGOLD INC.

Stellar AfricaGold Inc. is a Canadian gold exploration company with offices in Vancouver, BC and Montreal, QC, and operations concentrated in West Africa and in Quebec.

In addition to developing its Balandougou Gold Project in Guinea including construction of a 150 tonnes per day gravity mill (construction completed) to process a 15,000 tonnes bulk sample to test the commercial economics of gravity extraction only. In Quebec, the Company owns 100% of the Opawica Project in the Chibougamau mining camp.

The technical content of this press release has been reviewed and approved by independent consultant Greg Isenor, P. Geo, a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101.

For further information please contact:

John Cumming, President & CEO, Stellar AfricaGold Inc.

4908 Pine Crescent, Vancouver, BC, V6M 3P6,

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

or

Maurice Giroux, VP Exploration, Stellar AfricaGold Inc.,

1035 West Laurier Street, Suite 201, Montreal, QC H2V 2L1

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.stellarafricagold.com.

On Behalf of the Board

John Cumming, LLM

President & CEO

This release contains certain "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities laws concerning the Arrangement. Forward-looking information reflects the Company's current internal expectations or beliefs and is based on information currently available to the Company. In some cases forward-looking information can be identified by terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "projects", "potential", "scheduled", "forecast", "budget" or the negative of those terms or other comparable terminology. Assumptions upon which such forward-looking information is based includes, among others, that the conditions to closing of the Arrangement will be satisfied and that the Arrangement will be completed on the terms set out in the definitive agreement. Many of these assumptions are based on factors and events that are not within the control of the Company, and there is no assurance they will prove to be correct or accurate. Risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted herein include, without limitation: that the remaining conditions to the Arrangement will not be satisfied; that the business prospects and opportunities of the Company will not proceed as anticipated; changes in the global prices for gold or certain other commodities (such as diesel, aluminum and electricity); changes in U.S. dollar and other currency exchange rates, interest rates or gold lease rates; risks arising from holding derivative instruments; the level of liquidity and capital resources; access to capital markets, financing and interest rates; mining tax regimes; ability to successfully integrate acquired assets; legislative, political or economic developments in the jurisdictions in which the Company carries on business; operating or technical difficulties in connection with mining or development activities; laws and regulations governing the protection of the environment; employee relations; availability and increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of exploration and development; contests over title to properties, particularly title to undeveloped properties; and the risks involved in the exploration, development and mining business. Risks and unknowns inherent in all projects include the inaccuracy of estimated reserves and resources, metallurgical recoveries, capital and operating costs of such projects, and the future prices for the relevant minerals.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.International judges will hear closing arguments Tuesday in the case against former Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda, accused of war crimes including using child soldiers and sex slaves in his rebel army.

Once known as The Terminator, Ntaganda faces 13 counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity for his role in a brutal civil conflict in the DR Congos volatile east more than 15 years ago.

The Rwandan-born Ntaganda in September 2015 pleaded not guilty to the charges at the start of his trial before the International Criminal Court.

Prosecutors at the Hague-based tribunal say his rebel army in 2002 and 2003 conducted a reign of terror in the vast central African countrys northeast Ituri region, unleashing horrific abuses on local inhabitants.

Ntaganda was central to planning operations for his Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), using child soldiers and coercing women into sexual slavery while attacking civilians on ethnic grounds, prosecutors say.

The charismatic commander, a feared ex-general with a penchant for cowboy hats and fine dining, gave the orders and provided logistics and weapons to his troops, the prosecution say.

At least 800 people were killed by the FPLC as it battled rival militias for control of the mineral-rich area.

Prosecutors single out Ntaganda for allegedly leading a November 2002 attack on the gold mining town of Mongbwalu that lasted six days and left 200 villagers dead.

 Soldier, not criminal 

Ntaganda, aged around 44, during his trial balked at the Terminator nickname and told judges he was a soldier, not a criminal.

I never attacked civilians, on the contrary, your honours, I protected them, he said.

The first-ever suspect to voluntarily surrender to the ICC, Ntaganda walked into the US embassy in Kigali in 2013 and asked to be sent to the court.

Ntaganda is a founding member of the M23 rebel group, which was eventually defeated by Congolese government forces five years ago.

Fighting in the eastern DRC has left some 60,000 people dead since 1999, exacerbated by the wealth of mineral resources in the region, notably gold and minerals used in electronic products.

This weeks hearings will run from Tuesday to Thursday with Ntaganda himself expected to make a statement towards the end of the hearings. It could take months, even years, before the ICCs judges hand down a verdict.

The three-day hearing is set to be followed with interest after the surprise acquittal of another former Congolese leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba.

Initially sentenced to 18 years for war crimes committed by his troops in the Central African Republic, Bemba was acquitted on appeal in June. He has since returned to Kinshasa.

However, Ntagandas former FPLC commander, Thomas Lubanga, was sentenced to 14 years in jail in 2012. That was the second conviction by the court since it was set up 16 years ago.US support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen is not unconditional, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Tuesday, as he defended Americas ongoing role in the war.

The Pentagon chiefs comments came the same day as UN investigators said they had reasonable grounds to believe that warring parties in Yemen may have committed a substantial number of violations of humanitarian law that could amount to war crimes.

The US provides weapons, aerial refueling to jets, intelligence and targeting information to the Saudi-led coalition that is fighting Huthi rebels in Yemen.

Last week, the UN said two air raids killed at least 26 children and four women south of the flashpoint rebel-held city of Hodeida.

Those deaths came after a coalition attack on a bus in the northern rebel stronghold of Saada early this month killed 40 children.

Our conduct there is to try and keep the human cost of innocents being killed accidentally to the absolute minimum, Mattis told Pentagon reporters.

That is our goal where we engage with the coalition.

But, he said, US support has its limits.

It is not unconditional, he said, noting that the coalition must do everything humanly possible to avoid any innocent loss of life, and they support the UN-brokered peace process.

The devastating Yemen conflict has left nearly 10,000 people dead since March 2015, when the Saudi-led coalition intervened to fight Huthi rebels closing in on the last bastion of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadis government.

The UN human rights office said Tuesday that some 6,660 civilians were among the dead, while more than 10,500 had been injured.

Mattis described the complexity of the war, noting that Huthi rebels have launched weapons from residential areas into Saudi Arabia.

We have been working with the Saudis and the Emirates doing what we can to reduce any chance of innocent people being injured or killed, he said.

At no time have we felt rebuffed or ignored when we bring concerns to them, he went on, noting that he had not seen any callous disregard from the coalition.

The Pentagon chief added that training given to coalition pilots is paying off.

We have had pilots in the air who recognize the danger of a specific mission and decline to drop, even when they get the authority, he said.

We have seen staff procedures that put no-fire areas around areas where theres hospitals or schools.Several countries, including the United States, called Tuesday for Myanmar military leaders accused of orchestrating the repression of the countrys Rohingya minority to be brought before international justice.

The facts of the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya must be said, and they must be heard, said Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations.

Haley and other ambassadors stopped short, however, of using the word genocide that was cited in a UN-backed report released the day before accusing Myanmars top brass of a long list of atrocities in Rakhine state.

Here in the Security Council, we must hold those responsible for the violence to account, Haley said.

The report by UN investigators called on the Security Council to refer the Myanmar situation to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, or to create an ad hoc international criminal tribunal, as was done with the former Yugoslavia.

The UN-backed fact-finding mission said that Myanmars top military generals, including Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, must be investigated and prosecuted for genocide in the north of Rakhine State.

The crimes it cited after a long inquiry included murder, enforced disappearance, torture and sexual violence perpetrated on a massive scale.

Some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled northern Rakhine state to Bangladesh after Myanmar launched a brutal crackdown in August last year on insurgents amid accounts of arson, murder and rape at the hands of soldiers and vigilante mobs in the mainly Buddhist country.

Several other Security Council members joined the call for the perpetrators to be brought before an international tribunal, including Britain, France, Kuwait, the Netherlands and Sweden. They also called for a mechanism to collect and preserve proof of abuses.

But China and Russia, which as permanent members of the Security Council have veto powers, have said they prefer dialogue with the Myanmar leadership to resolve the conflict.

For the past year, the Security Council has limited itself to statements condemning the violence and demanding access for humanitarian aid, and for the right of those who have fled to return to their homes.

Myanmar has vehemently denied allegations of ethnic cleansing, insisting it was responding to attacks by Rohingya rebels.

Faced with stonewalling from Myanmar, the UN only managed to nominate a special envoy to the country in April.

It is clear that conditions are not yet met for the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees to their places of origin or choice, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

He said that in Rakhine state, some 130,000 Rohingya remain confined in camps with severe restrictions on their freedom of movement. They have extremely limited access to health, education and other essential services, and to ways of making a living.

Guterres did not weigh in on the issue of bringing the perpetrators before an international court, but said that effective international cooperation will be critical to ensuring that accountability mechanisms are credible, transparent, impartial, independent and comply with Myanmars obligations under international law.Pan Blanco Cuencano {Cuenca's White Sandwich Rolls}

rolls, dinner rolls, bread bread, rolls Ecuador Yield: 12 Rolls Author: Karen Kerr Print Recipe

With Image Without Image Pan Blanco Cuencano {Cuenca's White Sandwich Rolls} ingredients

2 cups whole milk, plus more for brushing the rolls

1 tablespoon anise seeds

1 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

4 cups (20 ounces) bread flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons freshly rendered lard or melted butter instructions

Add the milk and anise seeds to a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook for one minute. Cool the mixture to 110 degrees F and strain out the anise seeds. Add the yeast and stir. Set aside. Sift together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the milk and yeast mixture to the bowl of a stand mixture and add the lard or butter. Add the flour mixture and stir with a dough whisk or large wooden spoon. With the dough hook, mix the dough on medium low for 10 minutes. Place the dough into an oiled bowl or dough rising bucket and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled, about 2 hours. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Turn the dough out onto your counter and divide it into 12 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball by cupping it in the palm of your hand and rolling it quickly over the surface of your counter. Cover the balls with oiled plastic wrap while working with the rest of the dough. Place the rolls on the baking sheets, and flatten the balls into 3-inch rounds. Let rise for one hour, loosely covered with oiled plastic wrap. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. and set up a steam pan on the lowest rack of the oven and position the 2 other oven racks in the lower and upper third of the oven. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Brush the rolls with milk. Pour the boiling water into the steam pan, and slide the two pans of rolls into the oven onto the racks above the steam pan. Quickly close the oven door, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. The rolls should be lightly golden. Cool the rolls on a wire rack before serving. https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2018/08/pan-blanco-cuencano-cuencas-white.html Karen's Kitchen Stories

Flavors of Latin America!

Pan Blanco Cuencano - Karen's Kitchen Stories

Instant Pot Chicken Filled Arepas (gluten free) - The Heritage Cook

Tres Leches Cake - That Skinny Chick Can Bake

Pan Blanco Cuencano are anise-scented rolls from the Ecuadorian highlands region of Cuenca. They are typically served filled with roast pork.Pan Blanco Cuencano is a slightly sweet roll that is light and fluffy. They are naturally pale and beautifully scented with anise, which is infused in the milk in the recipe.I was entranced by the flavor in these Ecuadorian rolls. I also loved learning about Cuenca, a city in Ecuador, from which these rolls originate. It's an Andean city and the third largest in Ecuador. Evidently it is also attracting U.S. retirees due to its charm, lifestyle, and cost of living.These sandwich rolls are pretty easy to make. If you want to be authentic, use freshly rendered lard in the dough. Butter is a great substitute.I adapted this recipe in the book,. It's a James Beard Foundation Cookbook of the Year. As a bread geek, I loved learning more about the leavened breads of Latin America, including thisPan blanco Cuencano are great for dinner rolls, but they're really meant to be used for sandwiches. I filled these with slow roasted pork on one day, and bacon and eggs the next day. So good.After the recipe, be sure to check out the rest of the Progressive Eats recipes based on the theme, Latin American Food.Welcome to Progressive Eats, our virtual version of a Progressive Dinner Party. Each recipe in our menu this month features the flavors of Latin America and our host this month is Karen who blogs at Karen's Kitchen Stories If you're unfamiliar with the concept, a progressive dinner involves going from house to house, enjoying a different course at each location. With Progressive Eats its a virtual party. A theme is chosen each month, members share recipes suitable for a delicious meal or party, and you can hop from blog to blog to check them out. Come along and see all of the delicious Latin American dishes!Samsung would reportedly include an in-display fingerprint scanner under its 2019 line-up of Galaxy S series smartphones.

The Galaxy S10 is expected to be unveiled globally in February next year. (Representational image/ Photo credit: Vivo)

In-screen fingerprint sensors in smartphones are still an oddity in 2018 and are expected to hog the fame in the smartphone market by next year. And to stay updated with the industry, Samsung would reportedly include an in-display fingerprint scanner under its 2019 line-up of Galaxy S series smartphones. It is highly rumoured to launch three smartphones.

Previous reports suggested that Samsung would launch two high-end models with an in-display fingerprint scanner, while the third variant "will feature a physical button, fitted with the fingerprint sensor, on the right side."

Now an official from the display industry told The Investor that the two high-end Galaxy S models will come fitted with an ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint scanner while the other one will house an optical fingerprint sensor beneath the screen, The South Korean giant has reportedly partnered with chip maker Qualcomm for the sensors.

Additionally, we have already witnessed an in-display fingerprint sensor in Vivo X21, Honor 10 and Vivo NEX. Vivo has also shown off a concept model that includes Qualcomms ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner.

Apart from these, the S10 is rumoured to feature a triple camera setup, comprising of a 16MP regular camera, paired with a 13MP sensor with a telephoto lens alongside a 12MP sensor that will come equipped with a wide-angle lens. The device is said to sport a 6.44-inch curved Super AMOLED display.

The Galaxy S10 is expected to be unveiled globally in February next year. Besides, Samsung recently launched its flagship smartphone  the Galaxy Note 9 with the smartest ever S Pen stylus support. The upgraded S Pen is equipped with Bluetooth Low Energy, turning the stylus from a note-taking accessory into a full-fledged remote control for your smartphone.'Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain's service to our country,' Trump said.

The White House flag was lowered after McCain's death on Saturday -- but it was once again at the top of the flagpole on Monday morning. (Photo: AP)

Washington: Donald Trump on Monday bowed to pressure to honour the late John McCain, ordering the lowering of flags across the country to half-staff, as the late senator fired a parting shot at the president in a farewell message to the nation.

Trump's about-face came after he found himself mired in controversy over his rather conspicuous failure to pay tribute to McCain, who died Saturday at 81 after a year-long battle with brain cancer.

When veterans' groups launched appeals for a more fitting salute to McCain, a Navy veteran who was imprisoned for more than five years in Vietnam, the Republican leader -- who had no love lost for the Arizona senator -- blinked.

"Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain's service to our country," Trump said in a statement as he ordered the flag atop the White House and elsewhere to fly at half-staff until McCain's burial on Sunday.

The White House flag was lowered after McCain's death on Saturday -- but it was once again at the top of the flagpole on Monday morning.

Trump's initial silence about McCain underscored the isolation of the US leader and fuelled criticism that he is incapable of bringing a divided nation together even as it mourns a man widely seen as an American hero and a political icon.

In Phoenix, where a week of tributes to McCain was soon to get underway, Rick Davis, the two-time presidential candidate's former campaign manager, confirmed that Trump would not be attending the funeral.

The President himself said Vice President Mike Pence would speak at a ceremony honouring McCain at the US Capitol on Friday.

White House chief of staff John Kelly, Defence Secretary James Mattis and National Security Advisor John Bolton would represent the administration at his services, he added.

'Tribal rivalries'

In Phoenix, Davis read a posthumous statement from McCain that did not spare Trump.

"We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe," McCain said.

"We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been," he said -- -- an apparent reference to Trump's plans for a border wall.

"I lived and died a proud American. We are citizens of the world's greatest republic, a nation of ideals, not blood and soil," McCain continued.

"Do not despair of our present difficulties but believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here," he said, adding that the country "will get through these challenging times."

'Not a war hero'

McCain, who served as a senator from Arizona for more than 30 years, clashed repeatedly with Trump even though they were both Republicans, and the president initially paid scant tribute to the senator after his death.

The Washington Post reported that White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, Chief of Staff Kelly and other senior staff had urged a statement be released referring to McCain as a "hero" -- but Trump opted to tweet instead.

"My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain," Trump tweeted. "Our hearts and prayers are with you!"

That had been the extent of Trump's remarks on McCain's passing until the White House statement on Monday.

McCain's remains will lie in state at Arizona's capitol on Wednesday, before a public viewing Friday in the rotunda of the US Capitol -- an honour reserved for the likes of John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and civil rights champion Rosa Parks.

The two men who defeated McCain in his White House campaigns, Republican George W. Bush in 2000 and Democrat Barack Obama in 2008, are expected to deliver eulogies at a Saturday service at the National Cathedral in Washington.

McCain will be buried Sunday at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in a private funeral service.

Bipartisan Praise

In Washington, McCain's death has been a rare occasion for bipartisan praise for his lifetime in public service.

Tributes have poured in from every living former president, honouring the former Navy aviator for his courage, integrity and decency.

On Capitol Hill, his desk on the Senate floor was draped with a black cloth, and adorned with a bowl of white roses.

The enmity between Trump and McCain dates from the day the real estate tycoon announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination with an attack on Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists.

During the 2016 campaign, Trump said of McCain: "He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured."

In the years since, McCain was Trump's loudest Republican critic, especially as the president disrupted America's long-time alliances.

After Trump met in Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin, McCain called it "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory."83 Shares Share

Two cars arrive at a stop sign at the same time. Both start into the intersection. One driver speeds through, while the other jams on the brakes, avoiding a collision. This driver feels insulted, offended, diminished. Who the hell does that other driver think he is? He nearly killed me!

This scenario, and countless others involving merge lanes, contested parking spaces, and aggressive rush hour traffic, are set-ups for road rage. The aggrieved party feels a flash of anger and hostility, and may swear aloud within the confines of his vehicle. He may give the finger in a way the other driver may or may not see. He may grumble to passengers about the lousy drivers in his town. Sometimes the response is louder and more direct: yelling at the other driver, or even giving chase. At the extreme, enraged parties physically retaliate with weapons, or by using their cars as battering rams.

Whats going on? In a practical sense, the initial harm is often trivial. A moments delay at a stop sign would be ignored under other circumstances. The real trigger is what the behavior says about the perpetrators attitude  or more precisely, how it was interpreted by the victim. Did the aggressive driver proclaim his time was more valuable? Did he disregard or disrespect the other driver? Was it a power play, a demonstration that I can do whatever I want, and youre powerless to stop me? Was it contemptuous? I dont have to wait for the likes of you, youre beneath my consideration.

Actually, the offended driver doesnt know. One reason road rage is so prevalent is that the outsides of motor vehicles are inscrutable. We cant read the nonverbal cues of other drivers. A car with a mean, aggressive driver who couldnt care less whether you live or die looks very much like a car with a driver who honestly thought it was his turn to enter the intersection, and who would be mortified to know you were offended or frightened as a result of his actions. While you were cursing and giving the finger, he may have been wincing and muttering Oops, Im sorry! But that was inside his own car. You didnt know.

Road rage, therefore, is nearly always self-generated. Its all in your head. Do you tend to think of others as mean-spirited opportunists, ready to take advantage of you, disdainful of your wants and needs? Or do you give strangers the benefit of the doubt, assume they meant no harm and didnt aim to insult or diminish you?

Either attitude is contagious. I recently visited a country with polite drivers. I never felt stressed even if it wasnt clear whose turn it was at an intersection. It didnt matter; we were all content to defer to the others. In contrast, when traffic is dog-eat-dog, and when our self-worth rises or falls with our ability to cut through it efficiently, then everyone else is a rival and an obstacle.

None of this is unique to road rage. Yesterday I was in a supermarket express checkout line, 15 items or less. (Um, fewer.) Ahead of me another shopper was packing up three bags of groceries. I stood there steaming as she slowly ended her cell phone call and took her good old time to pay the $63 she owed. I rehearsed angry comments in my head: I guess even people who cant count still need to eat. I didnt actually say anything.

Later I wondered what exactly irritated me so much. I could have been equally delayed, yet completely untroubled, by any number of things. It wasnt the wait itself, it was my perception of the perpetrators attitude. Apparently the supermarkets rules didnt apply to her. She was self-important and inconsiderate. Looming even larger psychologically was her attitude toward me. I imagined she didnt care about me at all. My inconvenience was not her concern. I felt disrespected, not taken into account.

These situations happen all the time. A patient of mine recently shared how angry he feels when his teenage kids fail to turn off lights after hes reminded them repeatedly. We agreed its not the trivial increase in his electricity bill that bugs him. Its his perception of their laziness, their disrespect towards him and his values, perhaps their willful defiance.

In all these settings, indeed throughout our lives, we react to interpersonal transactions taking place in our own heads. Occasionally our perceptions of contempt and disdain are accurate. Sometimes brats, narcissists, and sociopaths really do put themselves first, and either dont care about us or actively seek to hurt us. But more often weve concocted a story. Weve been insulted, pushed around, treated like dirt. And in response, we self-righteously strike back.

How can we escape this hall of mirrors? Most simply, we can remind ourselves that our assumptions about others may be mistaken. We may recognize that we tend to assume the worst in people, and take this bias into account. Theres no need to assume evil intent when sheer stupidity  or momentary confusion or misunderstanding  can account for the behavior.

More psychoanalytically, we may reflect on our unconscious wish for care-taking and nurturance from others, and the anger that results when real life inevitably falls short of this yearning. Such insight may spare us from projecting our own anger onto anonymous others. And more philosophically, with years of meditation and discipline we could learn to detach our egos. Slights from others have no effect upon the Self. I believe this is one small aspect of Buddhist enlightenment, but dont quote me.

Meanwhile, on that long road to enlightenment it doesnt hurt to drive defensively. And take a few deep breaths.

Steven Reidbord is a psychiatrist who blogs at Reidbords Reflections.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com175 Shares Share

From 2009 to 2012, I directed the graduate course Fundamentals of Clinical Preventive Medicine at Johns Hopkins Universitys Bloomberg School of Public Health. It was a required course for Hopkins preventive medicine residents, and also usually attracted other masters level public health students and undergraduates with a strong interest in medicine. The class size was 15 to 25 students. In that setting, with a small group who generally believed that the material was important, if my teaching was inspired and the presentation compelling, I could reasonably hope for positive feedback from nearly every student.

In every academic year since (after returning to the family medicine faculty at Georgetown), my primary teaching responsibility has been co-directing a mandatory course in population health, health policy and advocacy for about 200 first-year medical students. I am proud that student ratings for the course overall and the course directors in particular have improved every year, though I suspect that at least some of this improvement is the result of more students being already aware of the health impacts of national, state, and local policy decisions, even those that ostensibly have nothing to do with medical practice.



A case in point is the U.S. Department of Agricultures recent proposal to save money by replacing food stamps with food boxes containing nonperishable food items for poor families that qualify for financial assistance. Historically, Native American tribes who were forced to live on reservations, cut off from natural water and food sources, were supplied with boxes of dry and canned foods high in sodium and calories and low in nutritional value. The result was a catastrophic rise in obesity, hypertension and type 2 diabetes in this population. The USDA eventually modified the program to incorporate fresh produce, which begs the question of why anyone should take seriously this new proposal whose end result would be making the national obesity epidemic many times worse than it already is.

But back to my course. Every year, a few students complain in their evaluations that what we teach just isnt relevant to their future careers, or more commonly, that the content is too political. This is a tough criticism for me to stomach, as we go to great lengths to present a broad spectrum of perspectives on health and the health care what the system does well and where it fails by every conceivable standard. To me, that U.S. life expectancy has declined for two years in row means that business as usual just isnt cutting it. Yes, solutions to these problems invariably involve advocacy and political choices. And its perfectly fine for my students to debate the relative contributions of various determinants of health, and in particular rising economic inequality, in this unfolding disaster. It is not OK for a student to turn a blind eye to health policy and think that everything will turn out fine as long as he or she is accepted into a residency program in a reliably high-paying subspecialty of choice.

So kudos to Faiz Kidwai, a second-year medical student who wrote a thoughtful editorial for STAT about why medical schools shouldnt divorce education from politics. One particularly eloquent point hit home for me:

A class on health policy cannot replace classes on pathology or pharmacology, nor should it. But without making policy and public health a major component of medical education instead of a side interest to be pursued on students own time, medical schools will continue to churn out exceptionally talented physicians who are exceptionally ill-prepared to deal with the medical bureaucracy and byzantine health care policies that hit them the moment they begin to care for patients.

Another piece that recently hit home, by pediatrician and former CMS Administrator Don Berwick (whose selected previous writings have long had a place in my course), was Moral choices for todays physician in JAMA. Berwick argued that for physicians to try and avoid the political fray through silence is impossible, because silence is now political. Berwick obviously has no love for the Trump administration, but what he wrote could apply to any clinician: conservative, libertarian or liberal, Republican or Democrat, or none of the above:

Healers cannot deny that leaving refugees at our gates unwanted, or children unfed, or families unhoused, or basic medical care uncovered, or relying on conflict, rather than compassion, are health problems  The work of a physician as healer cannot stop at the door of an office, the threshold of an operating room, or the front gate of a hospital. The rescue of a society and the restoration of a political ethos that remembers to heal have become the physicians jobs, too. Professional silence in the face of social injustice is wrong.

These quotes from Kidwai and Berwick explain why I continue to be energized year after year to teach students who are at times excited, and at times indifferent to health policy and advocacy. I know that most didnt come to medical school to learn about politics or public health. But its my job to make sure that my students dont graduate ill-prepared or professionally silent in the face of human suffering.

Kenneth Lin is a family physician who blogs at Common Sense Family Doctor.

Image credit: Shutterstock.comIrish Water has extended its Water Conservation Order in a number of counties, including Kilkenny, until September 30.

The Irish Water Board met today to assess the need to extend the Water Conservation Orders that will expire on Friday, August 31 in a bid to safeguard water supply for homes and businesses across the country. The Board considered detailed analysis of drinking water sources (river flows and lake levels) from engineering experts within Irish Water and the local authorities, including the hydrologist records of OPW and the ESB and future weather forecasts.

The Board determined that the Water Conservation Order will remain in place for the Greater Dublin Area which includes Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare and in counties Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Laois, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny until Sunday, September 30.

READ MORE: HOSEPIPE BAN EXTENDED

Irish Water is continuing to manage scarce resources in these areas with the local authorities and specialist contractors doing everything practical to reduce leaks, manage demands and maintain continuity of supply. Emergency work on upgrading borehole pumping plants, introducing new boreholes in some areas and deploying temporary weirs at critical river intakes are helping to maximise water available in these southern counties.

The Water Conservation Order has been lifted for the north west of the country.

The Water Conservation Order prohibits use of water drawn through a hosepipe or similar for the purpose of:

watering a garden

cleaning a private motor-vehicle using a hosepipe

cleaning a private leisure boat using a hosepipe

filling or maintaining a domestic swimming or paddling pool (except when using hand held containers filled directly from a tap)

filling or maintaining a domestic pond (excluding fish ponds) using a hosepipe

filling or maintaining an ornamental fountain (with the exception of such use for commercial purposes)

use of water for filling or replenishing an artificial pond (excluding fish ponds), lake or similar application.



The first four weeks of August has seen some periods of rainfall nationally. In the north and west of the country, this has resulted in increased flows in rivers, some recovery in lake levels, which have been confirmed by the OPW and ESB monitoring data. In these areas, in particular, Irish Water has been able to scale back the emergency measures put in place during July, with the majority of water supplies working normally.

The 2018 drought conditions have demonstrated the vulnerability of many of our water supplies, notably in the south, east and midlands,"Irish Waters General Manager Eamon Gallon.

"Irish Water engineers and hydrological experts are working with experts from the EPA, OPW, ESB, local authorities and other agencies to monitor river flows and lake levels. We continue to liaise with Inland Fisheries Ireland regarding impacts of abstractions from rivers and lakes and wastewater discharges on fish life.

"This information will be invaluable to the ongoing work of developing the medium and long term water supply strategies for the country. In the coming weeks, Irish Water will publish for public consultation, its draft methodology for assessment of sustainable abstractions as a key input to the National Water Resources Plan which will be finalised in the coming months. A key element in the strategy is the provision of much greater resilience in our supplies and minimising the impact of severe weather extremes with climate change or sudden failures in sources or infrastructure.

"In the meantime, Irish Waters immediate focus is on safeguarding water supplies by maximising water conservation and fixing leaks."The fears of rural communities across Kilkenny and further afield have been confirmed today, with a swathe of rural post offices set to close.

It's been revealed that Kilmoganny Post Office is one of the post offices in Kilkenny set to close as part of An Post's consolidation and investment scheme. The post office only reopened in 2016 following closure, after being destroyed by fire in 2013. The nearest post office to Kilmoganny is Callan (more than 11km away).

Post offices in Mullinavat, Glenmore, Crettyard, Ballinakill, Ballingarry and Gortnahoe have also been confirmed by An Post today as among the post offices where the serving postmaster has opted to retire under the agreement concluded between An Post and the Irish Postmasters Union (IPU). A total of 159 postmasters are to retire and business will transfer to neighbouring post offices.

This agreement was underpinned by 'A New Vision for the Future of the Post Office Services in Ireland' accepted by a 5 to 1 majority in a ballot of IPU members earlier this year.

Post Offices in locations where postmasters are opting to retire will close and the services will be consolidated with neighbouring offices ensuring their continued viability. Sixteen such post offices have already closed at the request of the retiring contractor.

The list of locations in which postmasters are retiring, and their neighbouring post offices, is available here.

An Post says that all remaining post offices will benefit from enhanced services and products, new opening hours and an investment package aimed at improving services for customers, driving customer footfall and attracting a wider demographic to ensure that the post office is not just wanted by communities but is indeed relevant and actually used by all.

Debbie Byrne, Managing Director of An Post Retail thanked the postmasters who have chosen to retire for their great service to An Post and local communities over many years. She also said that An Post was committed to ensuring the sustainability and viability of the Post Office network and would move now to offer more new and innovative services to customers through the reconfigured network.

An Post is very grateful for the contribution of the Postmasters over so many years. We will work with the communities that they have served to ensure that their needs continue to be met by An Post for the future," she said.

The An Post team has done painstaking work combining business and demographic data with extensive local knowledge to produce a network plan which actively supports the future of rural Ireland. We are committed to ensuring a vibrant network for all our customers through investment and the expansion of e-commerce, financial and government services to drive usage and relevancy of the post office in todays changing environment.

"We fully acknowledge that this process will be difficult for some customers and communities but the end result will be a strengthened, viable post office network serving the needs of our country for the future."The good humour and sunny disposition of Helena Hughes shone through during her recent television appearance at the Rose of Tralee finals.

The 26-year-old buying assistant for Brown Thomas is currently completing a Masters degree.

On stage Helena wowed the judges and the audience as she explained how her modern family works and how she is grateful to be surrounded by such a loving network of people.

Helena has described her time in Tralee as incredible and one of the best experiences of her life.

As well as being a wonderful Rose she has obviously found her niche and is now studying a Masters in Fashion Buying and Management on a part time basis. She completed her internship with Penneys head office in Dublin and she has also worked alongside the Irish designer, Liz Quinn. Helena now works in a cosmetics buying position in Brown Thomas and enjoys her role there.

The Kilkenny Rose is enjoying her title and had a great time in Tralee.

I am very happy to be an ambassador for Kilkenny and I am very proud to be from here. I just love the friendliness of Kilkenny. It is a very create and special city and I really hope the Abbey Site is developed well and that a third level institution comes to Kilkenny. Not everyone gets the opportunity to come back, she added. She cites her grandmother Hannah Mulhall as being one of her biggest influences and greatest friends.

I am her biggest fan, she said.SC schools chief tries to turn around three failing districts despite resistanceStuff reports:

National is calling on the Government to bar ex-US army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning from visiting the country next month.

Former Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse said the convicted felon should not be allowed to earn money talking about her crimes, and it would not enhance New Zealands relationship with the US. 

Woodhouse said if an application from Manning had landed on his desk while he was Immigration Minister, he would have denied it, and called on the Government to do the same.

This is a convicted felon, sentenced to 35 years in jail, coming in here for money, Woodhouse said.

She is wanting to be hailed as a hero for stealing military secrets and state secrets. She was convicted of very serious crimes. 

Green Party foreign affairs spokeswoman Golriz Ghahraman said Manning should definitely be let into New Zealand.

She got her criminal convictions for acts that were in fact in the public interest. She doesnt pose a risk for New Zealand in relation to anything that dates back to those convictionsIts not like she was a drug or sex offender, Ghahraman said.A reader has compared Sunday TVs full interview with Stephan Molyneux and Lauren Southern with what they edited to screen. In bold is what screened.

SM Stephan Molyneux

LS Lauren Southern

Video of full interview is here https://youtu.be/DzZyKsLj4ao

Interviewer Stephan the science around the claims that race is linked to IQ is something that you have promoted

SM No no this is not accurate

Interviewer Explain?

SM This is not something I have promoted. This is not my research. I have had a wide variety of experts on the show who have talked about the fact that IQ s do differentiate between the races. So it is not my perspective or my belief or something I have promoted. This is a bit of like dont shoot the messenger. It is very well understood.

Interviewer You have provided a platform by talking to those people

SM Yes of course becauseI think that facts are very important when it comes to talking about things like ethnicity. And so this is very well understood, very well studied and is one of the most certain things in the field of phycology and the field of neurology and neuro biology. This is one of the most certain things in the field

And it t is tragic to me that the really essential information that helps clarify and inform our discussion about races, it is not the be all and end all and you never judge individuals by aggregate characteristics, but we need to talk about this because otherwise the only explanation to different outcomes of races is to blame white racism and thats racist because there are lots of other explanations that can help more deeply inform our discussion about these issues.

Interviewer Isnt it the case that it is undisputed, it is disputed that race is connected to IQ. I mean the person that came up with IQ testing accepted that environmental factors played a huge role

SM I have never denied environmental factors. The latest research I have, and I had the editor of the magazine called Intelligence on the show and he said at about the age of 18 years IQ is about 80% genetic. There are environmental factors and I have promoted this throughout my show, peaceful parenting, breast feeding, dont yell at your kids, reason with your children, give them great language skills, education can be very important. Whether or not that is going to fundamentally change your IQ remains a pretty dicey question but it helps people use in essence what they have to their best advantage.

Interviewer Have you had people on your show to dispute the science

SM Yes absolutely in fact one of them is a NZer. Dr James Flynn, I had him on for an hour and he talks about some of this stuff and Dr Eric Turkheimer came in, he talked about the environmental issues, so yes I have tried to have a very robust debate on the show regarding this. I hope, you know my hope is that it is as much environmental as possible because otherwise we have much more limited a tool set to work with but these are questions we need to talk about.

Interviewer Lauren where do you stand on that?

Lauren Southern gave her views generally in support of Stephan and concludes saying

LS I am not an expert on this so I have not delved in to this but the fact that there is such a big suppression of this conversation is very very scary

Interviewer It isnt suppressed though because it is on the internet

LS Its absolutely suppressed

SM If there wasnt an internet there would be far less discussion and if you look at the controversy in 94 that came out with . Murrays The Bell Curve. He was viciously attacked. The information has been repeatedly attacked. Anybody who talks about this gets the inevitable label of racist

Interviewer maybe thats because the majority of science doesnt support it

SM The majority of science does not support what?

Interviewer What you are talking about that race is connected to IQ

LS Do you have evidence for this?

SM The majority of science does support it.

Interviewer Well I am just suggesting why maybe it subconscious

SM Well lets just say., I dont believe what you say is correct, I have cast my net pretty wide getting people on and on this there is fairly unanimous agreement, but lets say you are absolutely correct that there is this big controversy then we should have a very robust debate about it and not suppress the informationMoscow says it has noticed Washington was building up its military forces in the Middle East.

Major-General Igor Konashenkov was quoted by agencies as saying that the USS Ross, a guided-missile destroyer, had entered the Mediterranean on Aug. 25 armed with 28 Tomahawk cruise missiles capable of hitting any target in Syria. (Representational Image)

Moscow: The Russian Ministry of Defence said on Monday it had noticed Washington was building up its military forces in the Middle East in preparation for what Moscow feared was a possible strike on Syrian government forces, Russian news agencies reported.

Major-General Igor Konashenkov was quoted by agencies as saying that the USS Ross, a guided-missile destroyer, had entered the Mediterranean on Aug. 25 armed with 28 Tomahawk cruise missiles capable of hitting any target in Syria.

By Jung Da-min





Monday's edition of the North Korean Workers' Party mouthpiece Rodong Sinmun highlighted the tensions between China and the U.S.







In an editorial titled "Deteriorating China-U.S. relations," the newspaper dealt with the U.S. 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which restricts Chinese investments in the U.S. and prohibits government organizations from using some services provided by Chinese mobile communication firms like Huawei and ZTE.







The publication also highlighted the Chinese government's strong protest of the U.S. definition of China as a "threat."







Although the North's position was not stated in Rodong Sinmun, the regime's propaganda website Uriminzokkiri on the same day criticized the NDAA for "breaching" the June 12 joint statement following the summit between the U.S. and North Korea.







The Uriminzokkiri article also criticized the U.S. military presence in the South, mentioning that the bill calls for a minimum of 22,000 U.S. troops to be stationed in South Korea. The article also slammed the U.S. plan to establish a new missile defense system.







Meanwhile, tension between China and the U.S. surrounding the peninsula is also increasing, with Trump canceling U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo's visit to the North, blaming China for "changing" attitudes toward the peninsula nuclear issue.







Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang slammed the U.S. on Saturday, saying the Chinese side was "gravely concerned about this irresponsible act."







Lu also said China supported the U.S. and North Korea seeking settlement of inter-Korean issues in accordance with the consensus reached at the June 12 Singapore summit.

German chancellor said Europe needs to take on more global responsibility, including on defence.

Berlin: Angela Merkel marked her return to the political front line with a call for Europe to assert its interests more forcefully as US President Donald Trump punches holes in the world order. In her first television interview after the summer break, the German chancellor said Europe needs to take on more global responsibility, including on defence. As Trump attacks Germanys economic prowess and pursues a global trade war while Italy clashes with its European Union partners over migration, Merkel is being thrust into Europes pivotal role. Fresh from hosting her old adversary Vladimir Putin in Germany, she stopped in Azerbaijan to back a gas pipeline meant as a counterweight to Russian supplies. This week, Merkel travels to three African countries to promote investment and growth as a way to curb migration to Europe. Shes also expected to talk with French President.An unidentified plane bombed a forested area on the border killing eight Taliban. The strike follows a clash that left two Tajiks dead. Both Russia and Tajikistan have denied any involvement. Although clashes are rate on the Afghan-Tajik border, the security situation has worsened with dozens of checkpoints attacked and a dozen police officers killed over the past month

Kabul (AsiaNews/Agencies)  The Tajik-Afghan border had become a battleground. An unknown aircraft, possibly Russian or Tajik, carried out an air strike in Afghanistans Darqad District, Takbar Province, killing eight Taliban and wounding another six, Afghan officials said.

This follows an incident on Sunday in which at least two Tajik border guards were allegedly killed by the Taliban trying to smuggle drugs into Tajikistan.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, confirmed the attack, saying that an aircraft bombed a forested area used by smugglers who had clashed with Tajik forest guards. However, both Russia and Tajikistan have denied any military involvement in Afghanistan.

We do not have the right to bomb the territory of another state. If such necessity arises, the staff of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation will be convened at first to consider an air strike, Tajikistans National Security Committee said in a statement.

On the other hand, Tajik authorities noted that a car carrying three Tajik citizens was attacked and two killed.

Unlike the Afghan-Pakistan border, clashes have been rare along Afghanistan's 1,400-kilometer border with Tajikistan. However, security in some Afghan border provinces has deteriorated over the past few months and regular clashes have broken out between Afghan security forces and militant groups, including the Taliban.

The Taliban have carried out dozens of attacks against check posts in recent weeks in the concerned province. Earlier this month reports indicated that the Taliban had killed at least 12 border police officers in an attack on a border town in the Dasht-e-Qala District, Takhar Province.

This is not happening in a vacuum. In recent months, Islamic extremists have become more active in the region. Likewise, after its defeat in Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State group appears to be regrouping in Central Asia.The two professors of the Bar Association have been collaborating with the university for years. The university has not invited the president of the association to the closing ceremony of the course. In China, the situation of human rights lawyers is dramatic. In 2015, the authorities made a series of arrests against the so-called 709 group.

Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Chinese authorities' hostility to human rights lawyers continues. The University of Beijing has expelled two lawyers who have been holding the Common Law course since 2011. The two professors, from Hong Kong, are: Hectar Pun and Cheung Yiu-leung, vice president of the China Continental Rights Concern Group.

The two can no longer hold the course set up by the Bar Association (the largest global organization of legal professionals) for the prestigious city's university. In addition, the university would have asked the president of the association, Philip Dykes, not to attend the closing ceremony of the course.

In a circular invited to members of the Bar Association, Philip Dykes explains: "An invitation letter [to Beijing University] was sent to the Bar secretariat in late May. But, after a day or two, with a phone call from the university they told me I should not come, "wrote Dykes. "No explanation was given".

Following the suspension of the two lawyers, the executive committee of the Bar decided to suspend the course and not to collaborate with the university any longer, defining the decision as "unacceptable".

Cheung Yiu-leung (photo) has followed the events of human rights lawyers arrested in China after the authorities made an unprecedented crackdown in July 2015 against the so-called 709 group. Many of them, like Wang Quanzhang, they are still detained, tortured and have no right to a defense.

Hectar Pun, on the other hand, has defended figures from the pro-democracy world of Hong Kong, including activists from Occupy Mong Kok, former parliamentarian Leung Kwok and legislators Baggio Leung and Yau Wai-ching.

A senior member of the Bar reports that another motive for the move could be the fact that the Association has criticized the joint control plan for the high-speed cross-border rail link between China and Hong Kong. The Bar had stated that the co-location agreement, according to which the mainland laws will apply in a part of the West Kowloon terminal, is in violation of the Basic Law (the constitution of the city, formulated on the basis of British Common law).by Oswald Gracias*

The president of the bishops of India provides details on how to make donations. Meanwhile, in the Indian state affected by floods, more than 300 thousand people are still displaced. The appeal for solidarity: "The archdiocese cannot remain silent in the face of the harrowing pain of Kerala".

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - Card. Oswald Gracias, President of the Indian Bishops' Conference (CBCI) and Archbishop of Mumbai (in Maharashtra), has asked the Catholics of his diocese for prayers and practical help for Kerala. Dated 18 August, the Cardinal's appeal also contains details for donations. Meanwhile, the rains have stopped falling in the southern Indian state, hit by the worst flood in the last hundred years. There remains an entire territory to be cleaned up and rebuilt, while more than 326 thousand people are still displaced in refugee camps. Alongside the human and environmental tragedy, the solidarity of all the Indian people has excelled, which has so far donated seven billion rupees to the State bill (85.4 million euros).

For almost a week now, the State of Kerala has been battered by torrential rains, overflowing rivers, release of dam waters and a series of landslides. The unprecedented havoc caused by floods has wrought innumerable misery and devastation. The death toll at the time of writing is 364, and steadily rising. Houses and roads are collapsing due to floods and landslides. Thousands of people are stranded on the terraces of their homes with no food, water or sanitation. Large parts of Kerala have become one big lake. Our defence forces have swiftly moved in, and are rendering maximum assistance in the rescue efforts.

The Archdiocese of Bombay cannot stay silent, while our brothers and sisters are going through harrowing times in Kerala. Caritas India, the Catholic Church's social arm, has already placed teams in different parts of Kerala to assist and coordinate relief operations. I make a fervent appeal to all our churches, convents and other institutions to join in the relief efforts. First of all, by prayer for the victims, their families and the rescue teams. We could add this intention in the Prayer of the Faithful at Mass. We also urgently need financial assistance to continue and extend our relief efforts being coordinated by Caritas India. Please be generous in making your contributions. Donations and cheques are to be drawn in favour of Centre for Social Action and sent to: Centre for Social Action, Eucharistic Congress Building III - Ground floor, 5 Convent Street, Colaba, Mumbai 400 001. Donors are requested to give their PAN number and contact details. You may also donate online at www.csamumbai.in (All donations made to this cause are eligible for income tax exemption under section 80G).

We pray for the people of Kerala. We pray for all our generous benefactors. God bless you.

* Archbishop of Mumbai, president of the Indian Bishops 'Conference (CBCI) and of the Federation of Asian Bishops' ConferencesBeirut, Aug 28 (AFP) A high-level US security delegation met Syria's powerful intelligence boss in Damascus two months ago, a pro-regime Lebanese daily newspaper reported today.

The visit, which AFP could not immediately confirm from official sources, could signify a new phase in the strained relations between the two countries.

According to Al-Akhbar, a Lebanese newspaper close to the pro-Damascus Hezbollah movement, senior US security officials visited Damascus during the last week of June.

"The delegation held a meeting of four hours" with Ali Mamluk, the head of Syria's security services, said Al-Akhbar, which reported that the meeting was facilitated by Emirati and Russian intermediaries.

Al-Akhbar said Mohammed Dib Zeitoun, the head of Syria's General Security Directorate, and Muwaffaq Asaad, the deputy chief of staff of the armed forces, attended the meeting but did not give the names of the US agents.

The Pentagon and State Department did not immediately respond to AFP's requests for comment on the story.

Washington severed ties with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in the early stages of the deadly conflict that erupted in 2011 with the government's repression of widespread demonstrations.

It has also blacklisted dozens of Syrian government officials, including both Mamluk and Zeitoun, for alleged human rights abuses.

The US has backed Assad's opponents militarily and politically, and carried out air strikes in both 2017 and 2018 against Syrian military infrastructure in response to what it said were deadly chemical attacks by the regime.

American troops are on the ground in northeast Syria alongside Kurdish forces as part of a declared campaign to defeat the Islamic State jihadist group.

According to Al-Akhbar, that military presence was discussed as part of a possible deal between Damascus and Washington.

The US delegation reportedly offered to pull its troops from Kurdish-held territory if Iranian forces withdraw from areas near Syria's southern border with Israel, if US companies are guaranteed a share of Syria's oil and if Damascus agreed to share intelligence on foreign jihadists.

According to the Lebanese daily, the Syrian officials suggested any such steps were premature but agreed to "keep communicating through the Russian-Emirati channel".

With Russian help, Assad's forces have recaptured nearly two-thirds of Syrian territory, and the lion's share of the rest is held by the US-backed Kurdish forces.

Officially, the US and Syria have no diplomatic ties, but last year the New York Times reported contact between the two countries over an American journalist, Austin Tice, missing in Syria since 2012.

The Times said in June 2017 that a CIA back channel with Mamluk had rekindled hopes for Tice's release but that the talks were scrapped after a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town in April. (AFP) SCY

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)Since Canada legalized marijuana, countries around the world are seeking to get a slice of what some predict will be a $32 billion global market by 2022. Lebanon is the latest country looking into legalizing cannabis cultivation.

Lebanon is preparing to legalize cannabis cultivation for medical use and to formally regulate marijuana which is cultivated openly, but illegally, in parts of Lebanon. Cultivation of marijuana has historic linkages. In Lebanons Bekaa Valley there is a Roman temple in the ancient city of Baalbek which bears an engraving of a cannabis leaf.

Today, Lebanon is third after only Morocco and Afghanistan as global supplier of cannabis resin, UN figures show. Lebanon is also the world's third-largest producer of illicit hashish  the psychoactive resin produced by cannabis plants  according to a 2016 study from United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

A new push to legalise cannabis cultivation in Lebanon came after McKinsey evaluated the economic impact of shifting Lebanon's illicit market to a regulated market for medicinal use. This move is aimed at to boost its troubled economy. This report was released in July of this year. Simultaneously another push to explore the benefits of Lebanons cannabis strain has been going on under Professor Mohamed Mroueh, who believes the plant's local strain might prove particularly beneficial to pharmaceutical companies.

The government has permitted Mroueh's research, but has not yet formally approved the establishment of his Medicinal Cannabis Research Centre, which opened in May and aims to join the ranks of 10 institutions worldwide studying the drug.

Mroueh is examining the medicinal properties of the local cannabis which is a hybrid between two strains: Indica and Sativa. "My impression is that it will have a different medical value because of the climatic conditions in the Bekaa Valley especially if you're talking about the amount of the rainfall, sunlight and type of soil," said Mroueh at the Byblos campus of the Lebanese American University where the centre is based.

The use of Cannbis as a recreational drug has spread across the world. At the same time, researchers are confirming the use of certain chemicals found in the cannabis plant to treat pain, bladder control problems and other symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

This has led many countries to re-evalute their stand on marijuana. Uruguay brought legislation in 2013 legalising the drug in an effort to combat drug-related organised crimes and health issues.

In Catalonia, Spain -- the regional government has launched a limited programme to allow prescriptions of Sativex to sufferers of multiple sclerosis and cancer.

Moving on to North America, the Canadian market for medical cannabis is projected to exceed a value of C$1 billion when the country formally opens stores which will legally sell marijuana.

This growing trend has prompted Lebanon to look at cannabis as a viable source of taxable income to aid its economy.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 28, 2018 06:39 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).Aug 28, 2018, 1:01am ET

Could Volkswagen have helped Tesla go private?

Elon Musk worried about losing control of the ship.

Details surrounding Tesla's aborted plan to go private are beginning to emerge. Sources familiar with the now-canceled deal suggest that, in an unexpected but not entirely surprising twist of fate, Volkswagen would have provided a sizable chunk of the money needed to remove the firm from the stock market.

The banks Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk hired to take the firm private allegedly found the funding to go through with the deal. Volkswagen was one of the companies who pledged up to $30 billion to take Tesla off the stock market, insiders told the Wall Street Journal, but Musk hoped to attract smaller investors.

Volkswagen's involvement is part of what convinced Musk and Tesla's board of directors to call off the deal, according to the same insiders. Musk worried about losing control of the ship; Volkswagen could have ended up with a big enough stake to call some of the shots at the California-based firm, which made Musk suspicious of the Germans' intent.

Other investors -- like Silver Lake, one of the bank hired to pull off a deal -- could have also ended up in a similar situation. Interestingly, the Journal adds the leaders of Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund hadn't made up their mind about whether or not to participate in the take-private process and never made a formal proposal.

Musk announced Tesla will remain public on Friday, August 24th. Instead of going private, the company will double down on its efforts to reliably ramp up Model 3 production.

Volkswagen and Tesla haven't commented on the report.

Photo by Ronan Glon.First drive: 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe [Video review]

Aug 28, 2018, 9:45am ET

Hyunda's Santa Fe gets a total makeover for 2019.









The SUV boom is in full swing and Hyundai is looking to capitalize with an all-new version of its mid-size Santa Fe. The 2019 model year brings a ground-up redesign for the Santa Fe, along with a reshuffling of the SUV's model lineup.

What is it?

In addition to thoroughly updating the Santa Fe for 2019, Hyundai is also repositioning it within its SUV lineup. Since 2012, the Santa Fe has been a three-row SUV, with the Santa Fe Sport serving as the two-row version of Hyundai's family SUV. However, for 2019 the Santa Fe is two-row only; the three-row version of the SUV is now called the Santa Fe XL. Next year Hyundai will change things up again when it replaces the Santa Fe XL with a new model known as the Palisade.

Sometime down the line -- likely in 2020 -- things will get even more confusing when Hyundai launches a diesel-powered version of the Santa Fe that will be three-row only. That may seem a little strange since Hyundai just made the Santa Fe a two-row model, but the company has to put three-rows in the Santa Fe diesel in order for it to qualify as a light truck under the EPA's fuel economy guidelines.

Modern SUV looks

Hyundai's major design goal for the 2019 Santa Fe was to make it look more like a traditional SUV. That's because Hyundai felt the previous-generation of the Santa Fe was too minivan-like in its exterior design, which turned off some SUV buyers. So for 2019, out went the curves and in came the bulkier lines.

Hyundai also used the opportunity to update the Santa Fe with the latest version of its corporate face that debuted on the smaller Kona. That new look includes a muscular, creased hood; a big, upright grille; and a three-tiered lighting system that features LED daytime running lights at the top, low- and high-beams in the middle and fog lights at the bottom.

In profile the 2019 Santa Fe is much more butch-looking than its predecessor thanks to a steeper windshield, more upright greenhouse and the addition of exaggerated fender flares. Hyundai also included a flatter shoulder line to give the Santa Fe a stronger, more planted appearance.

The rear of the new Santa Fe is fairly traditional with the type of sculpted taillights and chrome cross-bar that a lot of automakers are using these days. A piece of gray cladding on the Santa Fe's lower bumper at least gives the SUV a slightly tougher look.

Inside the Santa Fe Hyundai designers took fewer risks. That's not to say the interior design of the new Santa Fe is bad, it's just not as evocative as its exterior. That's a missed opportunity in our books, but the Santa Fe's more conservative interior will likely appeal to a wider swath of buyers.

That new interior design consists of a tablet-like infotainment screen attached to the top of the dash (a 7-inch unit is standard, cars equipped with navigation get an 8-inch screen), a sculpted dash with unique, marble-like accents that flow into the front door cards, and convenient cubby holes in the dashboard in front of the passenger and below the center console. To add some richness the Santa Fe's interior, Hyundai also include a headliner that mimics the look of heather fabric and speaker grilles that are intended to look like an aerial view of a mountain range.

The Santa Fe's gauge cluster is a blend of modern and traditional tech. There's a large, configurable LCD in the middle of the cluster that's flanked by analog gauges for engine speed, fuel and engine temperature.

There's no old fashion tech below the surface of the 2019 Santa Fe. Every model comes standard with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and safety features like adaptive cruise control with stop and go, lane keep assist, emergency braking and blind spot warning. Optional equipment includes a head-up display and 360 degree cam.

In place of a third-row seat, Hyundai equipped the 2019 Santa Fe with a generous cargo area that can swallow more than 35 cubic feet of gear with the second-row seats in place and more than 70 cubic feet with the seats stowed.

Storage is also plentiful in the Santa Fe's second row. In addition to traditional door pockets, the Santa Fe has map pockets on the backs of both front seats and a slot in the center console that's perfect for smartphones.

The Santa Fe has plenty of room for people, too. Our panoramic sunroof-equipped test car had plenty of head- and leg-room in the front seats, and there's enough space in the back seat for people over six-feet tall.

Updated powertrains

The 2019 Santa Fe will be available with two different four-cylinder engines -- a naturally aspirated 2.4L that we didn't drive, and a 2.0L turbocharged engine that we did. The 2.4L is the standard engine in the Santa Fe and serves up 185 horsepower and 178 lb-ft of torque. Buyers of upper-end Santa Fe models can opt for the 235 horsepower, 260 lb-ft of torque turbo-four.

The Santa Fe is front-wheel drive based, but all-wheel drive can be specified for an additional charge. Both engines mate to a new eight-speed automatic transmission.

The 2019 Santa Fe is one of the lightest vehicles in its class thanks to the extensive use of high-strength steel in its chassis, but somehow the Santa Fe manages some of the worst fuel economy numbers in the segment. Base versions of the Santa Fe with the 2.4L and front-wheel drive return OK figures, with the EPA predicting 22mpg in the city, 29mpg on the highway and 25mpg in mixed driving. In comparison, the more powerful Nissan Murano and Ford Edge trail the 2.4L Santa Fe by a single mile per gallon in mixed driving.

When you add all-wheel drive, the 2.4L gets 21mpg in the city, 27mpg on the highway and 23mpg in mixed driving. That matches the economy you'll get from a turbocharged Edge and actually lags the V6-powered Nissan Murano by 1mpg in mixed driving.

The turbocharged Santa Fe is even thirstier. When hooked to front wheel drive it returns 20/25/22mpg city/highway combined; adding AWD drops those figures to 19/24/21mpg. Just for reference, the three-row Honda Pilot, which has a more powerful V6, is good for 19/26/22mpg.

On the road

Hyundai may have given the Santa Fe tougher exterior styling, but its ride quality is anything but truck-like. During our day-long drive around the roads of Park City, Utah -- which included plenty of wash-boarded gravel roads -- we were pleasantly surprised by the Santa Fe's comfortable ride. The suspension willingly absorbs bumps while still providing a planted and confident driving feeling on winding roads. The steering in the Santa Fe is also better than we were expecting -- it provided good weight and sharp response.

The Santa Fe's comfortable ride is enhanced by an extremely quiet cabin that does a good job of keeping out wind and tire noise.

Our day was spent behind the wheel of a Santa Fe Ultimate 2.0T with AWD. Based on its power figures and Hyundai's new eight-speed auto, we were expecting peppy performance from the Santa Fe. However, we came away disappointed.

The first issue holding the Santa Fe 2.0T back is a lazy throttle. Stab the gas from a standstill and nothing happens for a few seconds, which can be quite frightening when accelerating away from a blind intersection.

Once the engine finally kicks in, it doesn't provide a whole lot of forward thrust. We weren't expecting the Santa Fe to be a rocket ship, but we thought the 2.0L would have a lot more oomph than it does. Adding disappointing fuel economy to that disappointing performance is a double whammy.

On a positive note, we found the Santa Fe's cabin to be well laid out with easy-to-use controls. We also appreciated having several storage nooks available for our various electronic devices.

The available head-up display and heather headliner are nice touches in an SUV in this class, but some of the materials in the nearly $40,000 Santa Fe Ultimate test car we drove were on the cheap side. However, most Santa Fe models will list from somewhere in the low $30,000-range, and the materials feel much more appropriate for a vehicle in that price range.

One unique safety feature of the 2019 Santa Fe is a back seat reminder system that goes well beyond systems currently on the market. Like similar systems already on offer, Hyundai's Rear Occupant Alert gives the driver a warning in the gauge cluster if they opened the vehicle's rear doors before setting off. The idea behind the system is to alert the driver that they might have put a child or a pet in the backseat.

But unlike other backseat reminders on the market, Hyundai's system also uses a sensor in the Santa Fe's ceiling that can detect motion in the back seat and trunk for up to 24 hours after the vehicle is turned off and locked (the Santa Fe has an auto locking function so it can lock its doors once the driver exits the vehicle with the smart key). If the vehicle detects movement in the back seat or trunk, it'll set off the vehicle alarm and send a text to the owner via the Hyundai BlueLink app.

Leftlane's bottom line

The 2019 Santa Fe may have lost of row of seating, but it's gained expressive styling and standard safety tech that should lure more SUV buyers to Hyundai shows. Buyers drawn to Hyundai showrooms to gander at the new Santa Fe should be impressed with the SUV's comfortable ride and spacious cabin, but performance and fuel economy could be areas of disappointment. But on the whole, the 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe is a mid-size SUV worth considering.







Photos courtesy of Hyundai.





Aug 27, 2018, 3:44pm ET

Toyota investing $500M in Uber for autonomous tech?

The companies reportedly aim to jointly develop driverless vehicles.

Toyota has reportedly invested $500 million in Uber Technologies Inc.

The investment, reported by The Wall Street Journal, is said to be associated with an agreement to jointly develop driverless vehicles.

Separate recent reports suggest Uber had begun to downsize its autonomous vehicle operations after one of its modified Volvo prototypes struck and killed a pedestrian in Arizona.

Toyota earlier this year announced plans to build a 60-acre proving grounds in Michigan, allowing the automaker to test dangerous self-driving scenarios in a controlled environment.

Uber and Toyota have not yet publicly confirmed the WSJ report or shed light on specific details of the alleged cooperation.Sade Cole should not have been standing in a Lehigh County courtroom Tuesday morning.

The young Allentown woman beat death, prosecutors said, after her ex-boyfriend, Spencer Jefferson, broke into her apartment on East Marks Street in the city and stabbed her 33 times with a butcher knife in her bedroom.

During the stabbings, their young son was sleeping in a crib next to Cole's bed.

Jefferson pleaded guilty in March to attempted homicide and burglary in the attack last Sept. 29. The 29-year-old was sentenced Tuesday in county court to the maximum, 20 to 40 years in state prison.

Cole almost died, after suffering two collapsed lungs and enough damage to her kidneys that she lost one, Senior Deputy District Attorney Ned Muir said.

She also lost one-third of her blood, leaving a pool of blood on the bed and spattering the bedroom and the shirt of her then-18-month-old son.

She spent 11 days in intensive care, and nearly a month in the hospital. Family members said it was her will to live and by the grace of God that Cole survived.

"I relive that nightmare almost every night," Cole said through tears on Tuesday.

"She'll never be the same," Muir said of Cole, who has scars on her face and body, reminders of the attack. "There's no avoiding seeing the damage he did to her."

Jefferson's attorney argued at sentencing his client suffers from significant mental health issues, including a general anxiety disorder and post traumatic stress disorder symptoms from what was described as a "tumultuous" childhood.

Notes found on Jefferson's computer showed he thought about killing his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, prosecutors said; the judge called it a manifesto.

A separate list was about things Jefferson wanted Cole to stop, things Cole did that made Jefferson mad and things Jefferson wanted Cole to do, prosecutors said.

Defense attorney Earl Supplee said a month before the attack, Jefferson checked himself into a hospital for treatment for the homicidal ideations.

Jefferson was treated and discharged. In the early morning of Sept. 29, his mental illness "got the best of him on that particular day," Supplee said.

"I am truly sorry for what I've done," Jefferson said in his statement to Judge Kelly Banach.

Jefferson said he had "done a very bad thing, but I'm not a bad person." He then described his hope to receive treatment and return to society.

Muir said the attack was more than a mental health issue.

Cole had gotten a protection-from-abuse order before the attack. The night of Sept. 28, Jefferson was supposed to drop off the couple's son with Cole's mother, but instead went to Cole's apartment.

When the police were called, Jefferson was told to leave, Muir said. Instead, Jefferson stayed in the area and skulked outside the apartment, eventually going back to his car to get the butcher knife.

Jefferson was only stopped when Cole's new boyfriend ran into the apartment after hearing her screams, Muir said.

"Had (the new boyfriend) not been there, she would be dead on the bed near her son," Muir said.

Cole said she worried that if Jefferson hadn't been interrupted in his attack, that he might have harmed their son.

Jefferson has shown no remorse for almost killing her, Cole said, and he blames her for the attack.

"The only thing he is sorry about is that he got caught," Cole told the judge.

Banach said that in sentencing Jefferson to the maximum prison term, she agreed he was a "very sick, sick man" but also found that with his intelligence he was a very dangerous man.

Jefferson was quiet after the judge handed down her sentence, and asked her why.

"Because I think you're a dangerous man," Banach said.

"I'm not a bad person," Spencer replied.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.by Wang Zhicheng

In Shanghai the "basic values of socialism" are exalted on the pediment of the church. A painting of the Last Supper removed in Henan. Communities forced to sing patriotic hymns. Shaolin Monastery in Shaoshan must hold a flag-raising ceremony every morning. "The churches seem more and more like government offices".

Beijing (AsiaNews) - In the name of the sinicization, to create a Christianity with "Chinese characteristics", the government authorities are burning crosses on the bell towers, replacing them with the red flags of China; slogans praising the Party and the values of socialism are exposed on religious buildings, erasing sacred images, that are considered too Western.

In recent days in Henan, the cross of a Protestant church was burned in Anyang, Shuiyi County (see video); another was demolished in Hebei; another one in Luoyang has been replaced with the red flag (see photo 2). Even a Catholic center in Anyang had to display the flag (see photo 3).

In a church in the province, the authorities demanded the removal of the cross, paintings with calligraphy of verses from the Bible and a painting of the Last Supper.

Similar events also take place in Jiangxi. Testimonies gathered by Chinaaid in Xinyu County say that churches are forced to wave the national flag, to display a picture of President Xi Jinping and slogans praising socialism. Many crosses have been destroyed, including that of the evangelical church of Jieken.

At least 40 churches in Shangrao have been forced to display banners that prohibit the preaching of non-Chinese people and prohibit entry to young people under the age of 18.

In Zhejiang, in Leqin, the authorities have forced the churches to exalt the Chinese Communist Party, by singing patriotic anthems at a flag-raising ceremony and pushing for concerts with nationalist programs.

In the Pudong region of Shanghai, the Xuanqiaos Church of Jesus Christ had to display the slogan on the "basic values of socialism".

Dozens of domestic churches have been closed in Shenyang (Liaoning) and Xuzhou (Jiangsu) forcing communities to join the Three-Self Movement, the official government controlled Protestant community.

Sinicization, the slogan launched by Xi Jinping, aims to force all religions to assimilate Chinese culture and above all to submit to the authority of the Communist Party. According to many Chinese faithful, "under the mantle of patriotism, religions are being emptied of the elements of their faith and are seen as political instruments at the service of the government and the Party". A Catholic comments to AsiaNews: "At this stage, with the red flags, the patriotic songs, the ban on young people taking part, the churches seem more and more like government offices".

No religion escapes this homogenization. Since yesterday, the Shaolin Buddhist monastery in Shaoshan (Henan) has also carried out the flag-raising ceremony every morning (see photo 4). The whole Chinese Buddhist Association has decided to join in the initiative.A security guard trying to get a knife away from a Bethlehem hookah lounge patron ended up getting stabbed in the arm, city police said.

Jose Rafael Santiago, of the 300 block of Maple Street in Whitehall Township, is charged with simple assault, receiving stolen property and disorderly conduct.

The 32-year-old was sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of 10 percent of $50,000 bail, and remained there as of Tuesday afternoon.

Bethlehem police said they were called a little after 4 a.m. Saturday to the H20 Hookah Lounge at 15 E. Third St. on South Side.

Staff at the lounge, where flavored tobaccos are smoked out of traditional hookahs, told police Santiago was seen with an open folding knife at his side, and it appeared he was going to use it, according to court records.

Security staff approached Santiago, and tried to get the knife away, police said. During the struggle, Santiago allegedly cut a security guard, leaving a small puncture wound in the man's forearm.

The guard was treated on the scene by EMS.

Santiago was identified for officers, who said they found a stolen semiautomatic pistol in his pants pocket, and an extended magazine of .40 caliber rounds in a back pocket, police said.

Police said they collected the knife, as well as surveillance cameras footage of the altercation.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.A sex offender from Easton accused of trying to flee to Mexico is back in Pennsylvania after being arrested near the border in California.

Neil Albright, 50, was arraigned Sunday on charges of failing to verify his address and failing to register with Pennsylvania State Police under the state's Megan's Law requirements, both felonies.

He was sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $40,000 bail. An attorney has not yet entered an appearance for Albright.

Easton police were contacted July 18, after state police learned Albright, formerly of the city's 400 block of Northampton Street, may have left the state for Mexico.

Officers went to Hotel Hampton, and learned Albright had moved out earlier in the month, according to court records.

Albright sexually abused a 9-year-old girl in June 2012 at his home at the time in the 800 block of Ferry Street in Easton. Under the state's Megan's Law, Albright is required to register a new address within 72 hours.

A witness reportedly told Easton police Albright had left because he was "fed up with this country" and "wanted his liberty."

A friend reported that on July 3, Albright boarded a bus headed for Mexico. Albright reportedly told the friend he was leaving because he would have to register as a sex offender in the U.S. for seven more years.

Albright was arrested in late July by U.S. Border/Customs officials in San Ysidro, California, on the border with Mexico.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.How did Joshua Michael Clark, 27, of Easton, make his $100,000 bail on charges tied to alleged threats to kill police and a social worker?

Joshua Michael Clark is 27, from Easton. (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)

His family contacted a bail bond company, which, for a $7,000 fee and a financial guarantee that the company said "outmatched" any risk, promised Northampton County that Clark would show up for his preliminary hearing at 3 p.m. Oct. 2.

1st Out 24/7 Bail Bonds of Allentown put up an appearance bond, not a performance bond, company owner Louise Louguet explained Monday.

So even through Clark, already facing four counts of terroristic threats and a count of resisting arrest, was back behind bars on a new set of charges involving an alleged drug-fueled rampage where he stabbed a knife into a neighbor's door, Louguet's actual risk was minimal.

If Clark failed to show up to a hearing, Louguet, who sees her role as similar to an insurance underwriter, would have been on the hook from the court's point of view for the $100,000, she said. Up to that point, the bond is simply a pledge to pay.

But if the court came after Louguet, she would go after the co-signers -- family members who put up something of value to limit the bail company's risk. A civil action would ensue in her attempt to collect, she said.

Clark's grandmother, with whom he has lived for years in the first block of North Eighth Street, declined to answer Monday when asked if she put up her house to free Clark from jail on Aug. 13 following his initial Aug. 6 arrest.

It's possible a judge will revoke the first bail, but that only impacts Clark, Louguet said. If the judge were to request bail be forfeited, that's when it hits the bail company, she added.

But Nina Reynard, the director of Northampton County Pre-Trial Services which advises the court system about bail, said a law change three years ago denied county judges the ability to require bail be forfeited if there is a violation, such as a new arrest.

Louguet said the new system works well in Lehigh County but is more a waiting game in Northampton County. So she wouldn't say on Monday that she faced no risk even though Clark was back in jail in lieu of $25,000 bail in the second case.

In one oddity of the system, it can, due to a certified mail requirement, take up to a week to revoke Clark's $100,000 bail -- requiring it be reset, Reynard said. So he could walk free if someone before then put up the $25,000, Reynard said. But she will recommend against Clark getting a possible 10 percent option, which could have freed him if $2,500 were posted, she said.

Louguet said it won't be her putting up the new bond, now that Clark violated the one she already put up.

If the revocation process is completed, it will likely take at least $125,000 to get Clark out this time, Reynard said. She would argue that if bail were revoked -- which likely will happen -- the sum of the two bails should be the starting point, she said.

Unlike the previous arrest, being free of drugs and alcohol and random urine tests are bail conditions following the Sunday night incident and Monday morning arraignment, Reynard said.

So Louguet likely will be able to walk away from Clark, keeping the nonrefundable 7 percent of the $100,000 bail and removing the "headache" of a man who in 2015 was also arrested while out on bail in a drug case.

And being that he's locked up, she won't have to "drop what I'm doing and go find that knucklehead."

She hasn't had a "runner" in a year and didn't want to start now, she said.

But in Clark's 2015 cases, bail was refunded to a bondsman after his guilty pleas because he showed up for court, records show.

So, although he was apparently a risk to re-offend -- and the system and family members have spoken about his anger-management issues -- from the bondsman's point of view and with the right financial guarantees, he wasn't a bad bet when it came to the bail.

"This bonding company got paid this fee," Reynard said. "They essentially can wash their hands" of Clark.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.DeSales University plans to announce Wednesday the renaming of two buildings on its Upper Saucon Township campus, related to a damning grand jury probe into priest sex abuse.

The buildings are Bishop Thomas J. Welsh Hall and Bishop Joseph McShea Student Center, DeSales spokeswoman Janelle Hill said Tuesday in confirming a report on the changes Monday by WFMZ-TV 69.

Dorothy Day (Advance Media file photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Citing an internal email that it had obtained, WFMZ reported Bishop Welsh Hall will become Annecy Hall, for the French birthplace of St. Francis de Sales, after whom the university is named. Bishop McShea Student Union will renamed in honor of Catholic activist Dorothy Day, according to the report.

Hill declined further comment ahead of Wednesday's announcement.

The announcements follow the Aug. 14 release of a statewide investigative grand jury's report detailing decades of sex abuse in these six Roman Catholic dioceses: Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Scranton.

Welsh and McShea are named in the report for allegedly aiding in coverups of sexual abuse. McShea was bishop of the Allentown Diocese from 1961 to 1983. Welsh followed as bishop from 1983 to 1997.

The grand jury says that McShea and Welsh were among church officials who permitted priests to remain in active ministry after allegations of sexual assault arose. The bishops themselves are not accused of abuse.

Day's activism has roots in the Easton area and drew accolades from Pope Francis in an address to Congress during his September 2015 visit to the United States.

Day was born in Brooklyn and converted to Catholicism in her 20s, following the birth of her daughter out of wedlock and after several years of working as a journalist, according to a brief biography at dorothydayguild.org.

She often stayed at Maryfarm in Williams Township, a Depression-era farming co-op where she continued to serve into the 1940s.

Day was iconoclastic, having also had an abortion and spent time in jail, according to a 1998 profile in The Express-Times. She opposed the Catholic church's wealth and support of war. "Don't call me a saint -- I don't want to be dismissed that easily," she once said, according to the profile.

In his address to Congress, the pope at one point mentioned four Americans: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Thomas Merton and Day.

DeSales University's board of trustees had been scheduled in September to discuss the possible renaming of the buildings, in light of the grand jury report.

The report named 35 Diocese of Allentown priests, in addition to one whose name was redacted and one lay leader, accused of sexual abuse of parishioners dating to the 1950s. Statewide, the investigation found 301 so-called predator priests.

The Diocese of Allentown said as of last Friday, 14 more people had come forward with allegations of sex abuse by priests, none of whom remain in active ministry.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro asserted Tuesday on national news outlets his office has "evidence that the Vatican had knowledge of the coverup" of sex abuse claims against priests, cnn.com reports.

PA is a unique state - theres no doubt about that - but unfortunately, theres nothing unique about our problem with sexually abusive priests.



This is a systemic issue reflective of the institution itself & we need stronger laws to protect our kids. https://t.co/1vQN3KEDZB  AG Josh Shapiro (@PAAttorneyGen) August 28, 2018

Francis, in his fifth year as pope, is the target of claims by a former Vatican diplomat that he helped to cover up sexual misconduct claims against ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Documents released Sunday by a critic of Francis allege Francis knew of McCarrick's conduct starting in 2013 but rehabilitated him from sanctions that Pope Benedict XVI had imposed, The Associated Press reports.

The former diplomat, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, called for Francis to resign over what he said was complicity in covering up McCarrick's crimes.

McCarrick is the former Archbishop of Newark and Archbishop Emeritus of Washington, D.C., and also served as bishop of the Diocese of Metuchen serving Warren, Hunterdon, Middlesex and Somerset counties.

NJ Advance Media reported in June on McCarrick's removal from public ministry following allegations that he abused a teen 50 years ago while serving as a priest in the New York Archdiocese.

The University of Scranton has also announced plans to remove the names of bishops from campus buildings in connection with the grand jury investigation. Three bishops -- Jerome D. Hannan, J. Carroll McCormick, and James C. Timlin -- were alleged to have covered up crimes by priests and put children in harm's way.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.A federal judge sentenced former Pennsylvania state Treasurer Rob McCord to two-and-a-half years in prison in connection with McCord's 2015 guilty plea to attempted extortion.

McCord's sentencing in federal court Tuesday in Harrisburg came more than a year after he testified for prosecutors against a businessman in a bribery case that ultimately got thrown out of court.

McCord, a Democrat, admitted that recorded telephone conversations captured him trying to use his position as treasurer to strong-arm state contractors into donating money to his failed 2014 gubernatorial campaign.

McCord, a venture capitalist before he was elected treasurer in 2008, was serving his second term as treasurer when he announced Jan. 29, 2015, that he would step down in two weeks and return to the private sector.

News reports that he was under federal investigation quickly emerged. A day later, McCord confirmed that he faced criminal charges and made his resignation immediate.The Pennsylvania treasurer is one of the state's three independently elected row officers, along with auditor general and attorney general.

At his guilty plea hearing a month later, McCord admitted trying to use his position as treasurer to threaten a Philadelphia-based law firm and a western Pennsylvania-based property management firm into donating a satisfactory amount of money to his campaign for governor.

Last year, a judge threw out a pay-to-play case against wealthy investment adviser Richard Ireland, who was accused of bribing McCord to get state business.

McCord testified for prosecutors, and admitted giving a $50 million investment contract to a $100,000 campaign donor who hid a connection to the contribution by giving through a joint acquaintance. He also promised to help a donor's son land an investment contract, and offering to slow down a state payment to the competitor of a donor.

Find

.A 28-year-old New Jersey man was sent to prison for up to 30 years for killing his 2-year-old son in a Bucks County crash after fleeing following his theft of $228 in electronic equipment from a Walmart, the county district attorney's office reports.

Christopher Kuhn, of Hamilton Township, New Jersey (Photo courtesy Bucks County District Attorney's office)

Christopher D. Kuhn, of Hamilton Township, was sentenced Monday to between eight and a half and 30 years after Judge Robert O. Baldi convicted him March 28 in a three-day non-jury trial on charges of third-degree murder and related offenses, the district attorney's office said.

On Oct. 3, Kuhn rolled a Jeep SUV in Tullytown in southern Bucks after driving through a red light and striking another vehicle, the district attorney's office said. Qadan Trievel, who wasn't secured in the vehicle, was thrown onto the street and died from a fractured skull, according to the prosecutor's office says in a news release.

Following the crash, Kuhn "paced briefly near his son's motionless body, then took off running when police approached," the release states He was arrested nearby.

Kuhn blamed his actions on drug addiction.

"The addiction I was suffering took control of me," he said in court, according to the release. "On a day-to-day basis, it was just consuming me, all day, all the time. I couldn't beat it."

Public defender Bradley H. Bastedo called Kuhn a "flawed, broken individual."

The judge made clear Kuhn was solely to blame for his son's death.

"Your choice was to go and commit a retail theft and take your child with you," Baldi said, calling the decision "selfish and self-absorbed. ... All of this happened because you did it. You caused it."

Kuhn expressed love for the child he killed.

"I don't know what to say, because nothing's going to bring him back. I'm just truly sorry," Kuhn said. "I loved my son. I don't want anybody to think that I didn't."

But the child's mother, Mackenzy Trievel, a woman Kuhn allegedly threatened with death in the past, expressed her pain in a letter to the court.

"Qadan was my world and there are no words to convey the amount of love I have for my son or the amount of suffering I am experiencing as a result of him being killed, literally ripped away from me in an instant at the hands of a careless person," she wrote, expressing her hope that Kuhn receive a long sentence.

"Because I believe he is likely to re-offend. He needs to be held accountable for his blatant disregard for others and stopped from hurting anyone else the way he has crushed me."

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.Authorities on Monday released surveillance video of a man sought in the killing of a model from South Jersey who was discovered strangled inside her apartment in an upscale Philadelphia suburb.

Christina Carlin-Kraft, who grew up in Atlantic County, was found dead Wednesday night in the bedroom of her Ardmore, Pennsylvania, condo after police went to check on the 36-year-old, authorities said.

Security camera images captured a man who had contact with Carlin-Kraft in the early-morning hours on the day her body was found, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, which called the unidentified individual "a person of interest" in the slaying.

Carlin-Kraft and the man apparently met near South Broad and Locust streets in Philadelphia, and the man was also seen near a subway station at 15th and Market streets, according to authorities.

Officials said the man may have used a ride-sharing service from the area around 13th and Locust streets to Sibley Avenue in Ardmore.

Detectives looking for help in identifying a person of interest in the Ardmore murder. Anyone with info asked to call Montco Detectives at 610-278-3368 or Lower Merion PD at 610-649-1000 or anonymously text tips using STOPit app. pic.twitter.com/q4vE8kPNcC  Montgomery County DA (@MontcopaDA) August 27, 2018

Surveillance images retrieved from Carlin-Kraft's apartment showed her and the man entering the building, but does not show him leaving, Philly.com reported, citing law enforcement sources. Authorities suspect the man may have jumped from her second-floor balcony.

Carlin-Kraft modeled for Playboy, Vanity Fair, L'Oreal, Maxim Magazine and others, according to her profile on a modeling website.

In her obituary, the 36-year-old was remembered as a "small town girl" from Margate who went on to a successful fashion career.

"Whether spending time with loved ones, caring for animals or lending her talents to design, Christina carried herself with warmth and grace," stated the obituary, published in the Press of Atlantic City.

"Christina's death brought expressions of grief from family members, friends and former design and fashion colleagues from Manhattan to Los Angeles and residents of her hometown, Margate, New Jersey," the obituary read.

Anyone who can identify the man or who has information about the homicide was asked to call the Lower Merion Police Department at 610-649-1000 or the Montgomery County detectives at 610-278-3368.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.Multiple complaints about repetitive gunfire during the day, which continues into the night, have some Slate Belt residents demanding their elected officials act.

Several residents complained at the Monday's Upper Mount Bethel Township supervisors' meeting that they have not done enough to address months and even years of noise complaints.

In March, the supervisors' meeting was packed with residents concerned about an explosion that allegedly rattled house windows miles away from the detonation site.

Officials said they suspect the explosion was from shooting exploding targets similar to those sold under the brand Tannerite.

The township has an existing noise ordinance but supervisors have said they are looking at ways to revise it to better to address shooting and explosions. Noise complaints come in regularly, officials said.

"We (the board of supervisors) all get calls on a weekly basis," supervisors' Chairman John Bermingham said.

However, resident Kathy Ruggiero said Monday she is frustrated that almost six months have passed since the March explosion and the township has yet to develop a solution to handle noise complaints.

Supervisor Martin Pinter said there are protections in Pennsylvania for hunters who shoot guns. The supervisors are trying to draft an ordinance that will stand up to being challenged.

Ruggiero said she isn't complaining about an occasional rifle shot by a hunter. She has neighbors who shoot what seem to be automatic and semi-automatic weapons for several hours at a time. Often the shooting occurs well after dark, she said.

"Who do I call?" Ruggiero said. "What do I do at 10:45 (p.m.) and 9:45 (p.m.) and kids have to go to school (the next day)?" Ruggiero said.

The township relies on Pennsylvania State Police for police coverage, however, township officials said state police have indicated they will not respond to complaints dealing with local municipal ordinances.

That leaves noise violation enforcement to township Zoning Officer Ryan Engler. The noise complaints often come on weekends and at night. Engler's office hours are 8 a.m. to noon Tuesday and noon to 5 p.m. Thursday.

There are plenty of hours during the week without the zoning officer on duty. Supervisors have said repeatedly in the past that the difficulty with issuing noise violation citations is that the zoning officer must be present with a sound meter to catch a violator.

However, on Monday, township solicitor Ron Karasek said that similar to a police investigation, the zoning officer has the authority to investigate complaints, enter people's property and interview neighbors and witnesses.

If the zoning officer feels he has enough evidence, he can issue a citation without witnessing an event, Karasek said.

Residents are also able to file lawsuits in civil court against neighbors who are causing disturbances, he said.

Supervisors urged residents to file formal complaints at the township's office when neighbors are being excessively loud.

Resident Allyson Hoffman said she has already filed a complaint and she is frustrated that neighbors continue to create disturbances.

Hoffman said loud shooting occurred recently that went on most of the day Sunday and past midnight early Monday morning.

"The shooting is getting out of control," Hoffman said.

Resident Paul Taylor said he shoots guns -- occasionally at Tannerite targets -- on his property but he feels neighbors who do it late at night are inconsiderate.

Supervisors said they are still working on a new ordinance and may consult a noise expert to review it.

John Best is a freelance writer. Find lehighvalleylive on Facebook.In an official response to the second recall attempt in as many years, the mayor of Phillipsburg alluded to his intention to sue the town council for allegedly usurping his authority.

Mayor Stephen Ellis released his statement on Monday, about a week after a group of residents submitted their intention to recall him from office. A shortened version of the statement will appear with the recall petition, which could conceivably begin collecting signatures by week's end, according to the town clerk.

The recall committee comprised of Blaine Fehley, William Mravlag Jr. and Melissa Paulus last week submitted a list of grievances against the mayor and called for his ouster. They claimed Ellis "fails to enforce the current town ordinances," vetoes actions by the town council, creates "unnecessary expenses to the taxpayers" and calling him a "liability" to the town. (You can read their full statement here.)

In his official rebuttal, in full below, the mayor says the town is "optimistic" but its environment is "dark." He encouraged residents to attend town meetings to thwart a "small group attempting to create distractions."

Phillipsburg Mayor Stephen Ellis issued this rebuttal to a recall effort on Aug. 27, 2018.

One key line in the statement is at the end of the second paragraph, where Ellis says: "A superior court judge will decide if the ordinances in question have legal standing." The mayor told lehighvalleylive.com that the sentence refers to measures passed earlier this year by the town council that directly impact members of the mayor's staff, and that he and staff members are planning a legal challenge.

Phillipsburg's form of government -- as determined by the Faulkner Act, also referenced in the above statement -- makes the mayor the town's chief executive in charge of the day-to-day operations. It is on those grounds that Ellis says he will challenge council actions that eliminated funding or reduced pay for some staffers. It may also be worth noting: The council has alleged that at least some of the affected positions are patronage jobs awarded to people who supported the mayor's campaign.

"They can't manage my staff," Ellis said Monday. He said he and some staff are hiring an attorney -- to be paid with personal funds -- to file suit against the town and have a judge review the council's actions.

Ellis, a Democrat, was elected to his first term in 2015, upsetting Republican incumbent Harry Wyant's bid for a fifth term. Ellis's term expires in 2019. He has not said if he will seek re-election.

A 2017 recall effort against the mayor also was led by Fehley, but failed when one of the recall committee members dropped out.

(MORE: How recall elections work in New Jersey)

Once the latest recall petition is officially approved by Town Clerk Victoria Kleiner -- which she said could happen as soon as midweek -- organizers will have 160 days to collect signatures from 25 percent of the registered voters in town. That equates to 1,725 signatures by early February.

Once completed, the submitted signatures are reviewed by the clerk's office within 10 business days and, if certified, a special recall election is scheduled.

The clerk's office estimates a recall election will cost between $30,000 and $60,000.

UPDATE (Aug. 28, 2018): Mayor Ellis released the following rebuttal that meets the 200-word limit to appear on the recall petition. It has been heavily revised from the previous day's statement.

This revised rebuttal will appear on the petition calling for the Phillipsburg mayor's recall.

Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveNovakLVL and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.Time has finally run out for Post Offices that have been a lifeline for communities right around Ireland with confirmation that more than 159 will close under a rationalisation of local postal services.

An Post has published the location of 159 Post Offices where it says the retirement of postmasters will see post offices closing in Laois and other counties.

Under the agreement struck between An Post and the Irish Postmasters Union (IPU) the closure of Ballinakill is confirmed as is the shutdown of Ballybrittas Post office.

Under the agreement services from Ballinakill will transfer primarily to Abbeyleix Post Office. Other nearby offices suggested for customers are Attanagh, Durrow, Ballyragget, Castlecomer and Cullohill.

Services provided at Ballybrittas, which was saved from closure in recent years, will transfer primarily to Monasterevin 6.6kms away. Alternative post offices listed are Portarlington, Stradbally, Portlaoise and Mountmellick.

Portarlington will also have to pick up the slack from the closures of offices in Geashill and Walsh Island in Co Offaly. Five Post Offices are closing in Offaly.

Meanwhile, people living in Crettyard on the Laois Carlow border are also set to lose their office. People will have to go to firstly to Castlecomer with Bilboa, Ballylinan or Carlow town suggested as alternatives within 15km.

Customers of Templetuohy in Tipperary are being directed to Errill and Rathdowney as alternatives following its closure.

An Post says Post Offices in locations where postmasters are opting to retire will close and the services will be "consolidated" with neighbouring offices ensuring their continued viability.

The list of locations in which postmasters are retiring, and their neighbouring post offices, is available at www.anpost.ie/PostOfficeConsolidation

The company says all remaining Post Offices will benefit from enhanced services and products, new opening hours and an investment package aimed at improving services for customers, driving customer footfall and attracting a wider demographic to ensure that the post office is not just wanted by communities but is indeed relevant and actually used by all.

Debbie Byrne, Managing Director of An Post Retail thanked the postmasters who have chosen to retire for their great service to An Post and local communities over many years. She said that An Post was committed to ensuring the sustainability and viability of the Post Office network and would move now to offer more new and innovative services to customers through the reconfigured network.

An Post is very grateful for the contribution of the Postmasters over so many years. We will work with the communities that they have served to ensure that their needs continue to be met by An Post for the future.

The An Post team has done painstaking work combining business and demographic data with extensive local knowledge to produce a network plan which actively supports the future of rural Ireland. We are committed to ensuring a vibrant network for all our customers through investment and the expansion of e-commerce, financial and government services to drive usage and relevancy of the post office in todays changing environment, she added.

We fully acknowledge that this process will be difficult for some customers and communities but the end result will be a strengthened, viable post office network serving the needs of our country for the future, she concluded.

Details of An Posts decisions on future local Post Office services, including Social Welfare payment arrangements, will be posted in each of the listed offices within the next two weeks.

Wherever possible, An Post says will also seek to ensure that PostPoint services (such as stamp sales, Bill Payment and Mobile Top-Up) are available from retailers in locations where existing Post Offices are closing.

The Company claims the following patterns (according to the National Census 2016) from the 159 locations where Postmasters have opted to retire:

- All are locations with populations of less than 500 people

- All are within 15km of at least one other Post Office  on average the nearest adjoining Post Office is within 7km.

- Almost 100 of the locations are in remote areas, defined by Census 2016 as having no settlement **

An Post says it has established an Independent Review Process for communities to seek an assessment of An Posts decisions on future Post Office provision in their area following the retirement of a local Postmaster.New technologies could reduce money transfer costs by US$ 2.29 billion a year. The Philippines is Southeast Asias top nation for foreign migrants and the amount of money they send home is steadily increasing. Filipinos contribute to the workforces of about 100 countries, with 10 million migrants.

Manila (AsiaNews/SEGlobe)  The Internet, cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology could put keep money in the pockets of overseas Filipino workers by reducing the cost of sending funds to family members.

As Southeast Asias top exporter of migrant workers, the amount of money Filipinos send home is rising.

In the 1970s, Filipino workers arrived in great numbers in the Middle East to work in the oil industry. By mid-decade, they went to more destinations and increasingly included women.

The government, which realised the need to regulate migration, began monitoring the expanding recruitment of its citizens.

About ten million Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) can be found today in about 100 countries, this according to the International Labour Organisation. At least another million emigrate each year.

A World Bank report indicates that, by October 2017, the country was expected to be among the top five countries in terms of overseas remittances, roughly US$ 32.8 billion, a figure expected to increase. Only China and India topped this.

As of June, the World Bank recorded the average global cost of sending remittances to be 6.99 per cent of the amount  a significant improvement from 9.67 per cent in 2009.

But judging from these recent cost estimates, Filipino migrant workers could save another US$ 2.29 billion per year with blockchain technology, tokens or cryptocurrencies.

Using such means money can be electronically transferred to another person in minutes using a code and a block that contains an unalterable record of its value, allowing the transfer to be verified without a third party. This cuts down time and the need for an institution such as a bank. The block can then be converted back into regular currency.

Given the large number of Filipinos working abroad and the costs of remittance, money transfers have long been a good business in the Philippines. New financial technologies have helped bring down the cost of remittance.

The World Bank estimates that this form of transfer is the most cost-effective, at an average global cost of 3.2 per cent, a figure that could be pushed down even further when more cutting-edge tech developments come along.Laois is firmly the happy home of Electric Picnic, with the festival director giving the county warm praise at the preview of the 2018 event today in Stradbally.

The 15th picnic will welcome 55,000 people to the Laois estate of the Cosby family, and so it shall remain, says Melvin Benn owner of Festival Republic, which is behind many of the best music festivals in the world.

Speaking to the Leinster Express on the Main Stage days ahead of the event, he praised the location, policing and the landowners.

"Stradbally is the home of the picnic and Thomas the landowner is a dream to work with. The site is beautiful, the accessibility to Dublin, and essentially across the country, is fantastic, and ultimately we are always made to feel welcome," Mr Benn said.

He had top praise for Laois Offaly garda division, which directs traffic and retains a presence on the site every year.

"We work so well with the Gardai locally. I don't know that there's a local force of police anywhere in Europe that gets the picnic the way these guys do here. They live and breathe it, they know it inside out. What to expect, the level of having a good time and crossing the line. They are able to judge that really well," he said.

"Literally everything about being here in Laois is fantastic," Mr Benn said.

See this week's Leinster Express newspaper for full coverage on what to enjoy at Electric Picnic 2018.

Check our Electric Picnic webpage for constant update before and during the festival.Narraghmore Post Office is to join Moone and Donadea on the list of Kildare Post Offices facing closure.

Earlier this afternoon, An Post published the location of 159 Post offices where the serving postmaster has opted to retire under the historic agreement concluded between An Post and the Irish Postmasters Union (IPU), and the neighbouring offices to where business will transfer, boosting their transaction levels and viability.

Read also: Concerns raised over closure of Moone and Donadea Post Offices

It said this agreement was underpinned by A New Vision for the Future of the Post Office Services in Ireland, accepted by a 5 to 1 majority in a ballot of IPU members earlier this year.

Sixteen such post offices have already closed at the request of the retiring contractor.

The list of locations in which postmasters are retiring, and their neighbouring post offices, is available at www.anpost.ie

Debbie Byrne, Managing Director of An Post Retail thanked the postmasters who have chosen to retire for their great service to An Post and local communities over many years.

She also said that An Post was committed to ensuring the sustainability and viability of the Post Office network and would move now to offer more new and innovative services to customers through the reconfigured network.

An Post is very grateful for the contribution of the Postmasters over so many years. We will work with the communities that they have served to ensure that their needs continue to be met by An Post for the future.

The An Post team has done painstaking work combining business and demographic data with extensive local knowledge to produce a network plan which actively supports the future of rural Ireland. We are committed to ensuring a vibrant network for all our customers through investment and the expansion of e-commerce, financial and government services to drive usage and relevancy of the post office in todays changing environment, she added.

We fully acknowledge that this process will be difficult for some customers and communities but the end result will be a strengthened, viable post office network serving the needs of our country for the future, she concluded.A mother from Naas has expressed concern about the quality of water in her home after her son became ill.

Lana Mullins, who lives in the Radhairc na Caisleain area of Naas says her 9 month old baby Riley was diagnosed with campylobactar bacterial bowel infection, which a doctor told her was caused by using tap water in bottles.

Lana said a doctor in Crumlin Childrens Hospital advised her to use bottled water from shops.

However, Irish Water and the HSE has confirmed to the Leader that the drinking water supply in the area meets all regulations and the source of the infection is not related to the water supply.

A spokesperson for Irish Water said samples taken in houses in the area are all compliant.

Lana said she first noticed her son Riley had a temperature on Wednesday night, August 22.

He first had diarrhoea, and then it started coming with blood in it, and then I just said Id bring him over to my doctor, Lana told the Leader.

She checked him out and instructed me to go to Tallaght.

When we went up to Tallaght, they had said theyd take a stool sample but they couldnt see anything wrong with him to keep him in so we got to go home.

But I just had a feeling that there was something wrong so then I brought him to the K Doc in Naas and they advised me to go to Crumlin because of the blood in his nappies, and they basically said you need to find out where the blood is coming from.

When we got admitted into Crumlin then he was dehydrated, so we had to stay to go on the drip.

And then on Friday, Tallaght (hospital) had rang my phone and just said his sample is after coming back and it was a matter of urgency so can you get him back to the Hospital.

There was three options that they (Crumlin Hospital) put it down to. It was either living on a farm, swimming in contaminated canal water, or the water in your house is contaminated.

Hes 9 months old, were not living on a farm and hes not swimming in canals so it has to be the house water.

However, according to the HSE, campylobacter bacteria is unlikely to be a water borne infection, and it is much more likely to be a food related illness.

In a statement released by Irish Water, they confirmed tap water in Naas is safe to drink.

Irish Water wishes to reassure all customers in the Naas are that the drinking water supply meets all drinking water regulations and is safe to drink.

Irish Water can confirm that regular routine water suppling carried out in the area and at the Ballymore Eustace Water Treatment Plant which supplies the area are compliant with all drinking water regulations. Irish Water liaise with the HSE on all water samples taken.

The Public Health department within the HSE actively monitor cases of notifiable infectious disease including campylobacter.

Lana says she has lived in the house in Radhairc na Caisleain for 12 years and has never had a problem with the water.

Hes still on baby food so he definitely didnt get it from food. So thats why the doctors put it down to water, Lana added.

Irish Water say they will arrange to visit Lanas home and take a sample of her water.

SEE ALSO: One hundred year old Kildare woman Mamie Hanlon meets PopeIts understood the multi-million euro revamp of Dunnes Stores in Newbridge is to be completed by the end of October.

With hoarding surrounding most of the front of the site, the store, hairdressers and pharmacy remain open as work continues on the redevelopment of Newbridge Shopping Centre.

The toilets have been moved inside the lefthand side of the entrance. The cafe is now located inside the store.

Read also: Kildare County Council wants more info on controversial plans for Newbridge Hall

The project had been held up after it was appealed to An Bord Pleanala due to the controversial Great Wall of Dunnes.

A local business man highlighted the council Transport Departments concerns that the wall would endanger public safety by reason of a traffic hazard.

Dunnes told the planners it does not own the land on the other side of the wall and has no legal right to open up an access point.

An Bord Pleanala did not ask for the removal of the wall between Dunnes and Newbridge Retail Park.

The revamp involves the demolition of nine units to the right hand side of the building as well as the restaurant. The units on the left are being renovated to incorporate four new units and an upgraded toilet block.

The textile and grocery areas will expand, and a new entrance built along with 417 car spaces, and a covered walk-way.The Society of Saint Vincent De Paul (SVP) has reported a 20% increase in calls for back to school help this summer. The Society is expecting to receive over 6,000 calls from parents by the end of August.

According to SVP the delay in processing the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BSCFA) by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection has placed additional pressure on families with limited incomes.

SVP Social Policy Officer, Marcella Stakem said: August is the busiest month for school costs in SVP and calls continue to come in this week from worried parents. We know this time of year is stressful for most families as they try to meet the costs of uniforms, books and voluntary contributions, and that these costs bear most heavily on families with limited incomes.

Transition Year (TY) costs have become a significant source of stress for parents in recent years according to SVP members as costs can vary between 300 and 900 per pupil.

Transition year costs can be significant, particularly if a family has more than one child in secondary school. TY has lots of social and educational benefits for students, but as it becomes mandatory in more and more schools, the Department of Education have to seriously examine how the costs impacts on low income families and put in place measures to promote participation, she continued.

SVP is advocating that social welfare payments reflect the higher costs faced by families with children over the age of 12. It says that Budget 2019 can alleviate pressure on parents by making child benefit payable until the end of school and reversing the cuts to the Back to School Allowance.

Marcella Stakem said, The reality is that the education system is still seeing the effects of the recession. Capitation grants to schools were cut in 2010, forcing schools to seek voluntary contributions from parents for running costs.

Funding for the School Books Scheme is also inadequate. SVP members report that many secondary schools are not offering the scheme and those that have book rental, typically ask parents to pay a significant contribution of between 100 and 200. It is estimated it would cost approximately 40m per year to have an entirely free schoolbooks scheme. This is very achievable, and a good start would be providing an additional 20m in Budget 2019, she said.

On Thursday the August 30, SVP will present to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills to outline proposals for a funding model that is reflective of the cost of providing a free, universal, and quality education.Have you ever parked your car in an accessible car space provided for people with disabilities?



Have you ever said Ill be back in 5 minutes/Im just running to the bank/for coffee, as an excuse?

Come along to the Quay Side Carpark, Carrick-on-Shannon on Thursday, August 30 from 2-3pm to support the Irish Wheelchair Association's Back In 5 Parking Campaign and help highlight the abuse of accessible car parking spaces in Carrick-on-Shannon.

The rationale behind this initiative is to encourage motorists to consider the consequences of using accessible parking bays when they have no valid reason to do so.



It asks drivers to consider the issues drivers/passengers with limited mobility encounter when the misuse of accessible parking bays occurs on a daily basis and how the actions of a few have major consequences.



This Thursday, August 30 from 2-3pm, the IWA Carrick will take over a number of strategically identified parking spaces (standard parking bays) using wheelchairs and other mobility aids for a short period to demonstrate to drivers what it feels like to lose YOUR parking space, and how it will impact you!The date for the Irish Presidential Election was announced this morning.

Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy confirmed the news this morning on RTEs Today with Miriam OCallaghan that we will go to the polls on Friday, October 26.

Minister Murphy said that he will sign the formal order calling for the election today.

The winner of the election will be inaugurated two weeks later on 11 November 2018.

Numerous prospective candidates have declared their intentions to challenge sitting President Michael D Higgins, including businessman Gavin Duffy, activist Kevin Sharkey, Independent Senator Joan Freeman, and journalist Gemma ODoherty.

It is expected Cavan businessman Sean Gallagher is set to put his name forward.

Once the signing of a presidential election order has been completed would-be candidates have 28 days to secure a place on the ballot.

In order to do so a candidate must secure the backing of 20 elected representatives (TDs or Senators) or four county councils.

Leitrim County Council's next meeting is Monday, September 3 and it is expected a number of the Presidential candidates will be seeking members' backing on that date.

Watch: President Michael D Higgins helps Gaelscoil Chluainin celebrate 10th birthdayStatement by Bishop Leo OReilly on the visit of Pope Francis to the 9th World Meeting of Families in Ireland

"My first comment on the visit of Pope Francis over last weekend is that it was a huge success. Importantly I am conscious that his two-day intensive pilgrimage wasnt so much a visit to Ireland, rather the Holy Father came here to attend events associated with the conclusion of the five-day celebration of the World Meeting of Families - an international faith event hosted every three years in a particular city. The tenth World Meeting of Families will be hosted in Rome in 2021.

"I am also mindful to keep the universal, i.e. worldwide, aspect of the World Meeting of Families in mind. The opening of the WMOF began on Tuesday last 21 August with a wonderful festival and liturgy celebration taking place in each of the 26 dioceses on the island of Ireland. All dioceses were blessed with good weather for these opening events!

"Then followed the three-day Pastoral Congress on the Family which took place in the RDS in Dublin. In terms of people attendance, at about 37,000 people a day, this was the largest ever Congress in the history of the World Meeting of Families. The visit of Pope Francis was the crowning event of the 2018 meeting.

"In his message ahead of the World Meeting of Families, Pope Francis expressed the hope that this gathering of families from Ireland and around the world would be a source of renewed encouragement to families everywhere, especially those families present at the meeting. That encouragement was palpable throughout the Congress, but, for me, especially on Thursday where a large gathering of people from Kilmore diocese were present. There was a real sense of family about the occasion and a feeling of positivity and joy about that was a welcome contrast to the negative tone of the much of the commentary preceding it.

"Shortly after his arrival on Saturday, the Holy Father met with 370 couples  representing each of the 26 dioceses on the island of Ireland  in Saint Marys Pro Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Dublin. These couples were either married this year or engaged to be married; five couples had their new baby with them and one couple was married for 50 years!

"Following this meeting, Pope Francis travelled through Dublin city centre in his open pope mobile to visit the Capuchin Day Centre to meet with, listen to, speak with, and bless the homeless, the Capuchin clergy and their staff. Later, I very much welcome that Pope Francis spent 90 minutes meeting with survivors of abuse during this the first day of his pastoral visit.

"The first big event at which Pope Francis attended was the Festival of Families in Croke Park on Saturday evening. That event embodied for me the whole message of the week and it was a real privilege to have been present there. The Festival put flesh on the 2018 theme of the World Meeting of Families which was, The Gospel of the Family: Joy for the World.

"At the Festival of Families, the sense of joy and exuberance was unbelievable. It was a wonderful occasion and a spectacular show. A variety of families spoke to the capacity audience about their experience of being families inspired by their Catholic faith. These testimonies were interspersed with beautiful music and dance to provide an unforgettable and truly uplifting spiritual experience. Pope Francis address engaged with the contributions from the families and combined profound spiritual insights with very down to earth, practical wisdom.

"The stormy weather on Sunday, the dark clouds and the sun struggling to shine through, were symbolic of the shadow of abuse hanging over the Church, and not just here in Ireland. Pope Francis humility and forthrightness in acknowledging and begging forgiveness for the sins of the past, and in asking forgiveness during his moving Penitential Prayer at the Mass in the Phoenix Park, encourages me to hope that he will introduce the necessary structures of accountability to ensure that child safeguarding will be an integral part of Church life, not just here in Ireland, but throughout the Church across of the world.

"I am deeply conscious that such an objective is a huge challenge for the Universal Church. From our experience here in Ireland, we know well that it takes time to effectively establish the kind of robust procedures and practices that are now embedded in our own parishes.

"The World Meeting of Families in Ireland, and the associated visit of Pope Francis, have offered us a great opportunity to proclaim and live what the Holy Father calls, the Gospel of the Family. The words and actions of the Holy Father challenges each of us to move forward with courage, with hope, with humility, with penitence, with joy, and most especially with love."

Also read: Leitrim people contribute to Papal Visit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.On September 7, the third summit on Syria between Rouhani, Putin and Erdogan is scheduled. Damascus prepares an assault on Idlib, the last rebel stronghold. Msgr. Abou Khazen: The diplomatic effort of the regional powers is fundamental. From the United States, France and Great Britain "threats" that risk only to trigger "new violence".

Aleppo (AsiaNews) - Public opinion in Syria "welcomes" these attempts of part of international diplomacy "to reach a lasting solution to the conflict" trying to ease the tension, and not "fomenting new violence". This is what Apostolic Vicar of Aleppo dei Latini, Msgr. Georges Abou Khazen, says commenting to AsiaNews on the September 7 meeting - the third since November last year  between the presidents of Russia, Iran and Turkey. The city of Tabriz, in the north of Iran, will host the summit.

Our wish, emphasizes the prelate, is that these attempts "can not only remove threats", but help to reach "a general peace agreement". What is certain is that in Syria, he warns, the widespread feeling is that an end to the conflict can be achieved thanks to the diplomatic and military effort of the regional forces (and Russia), not by the United States, Britain and France who seem to continue to pursue projects of destabilization.

After Russia (Sochi) and Turkey (Ankara), Iran will host the new summit between Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hassan Rouhani in early September to. For years the three countries, starting from opposite sides in the Middle Eastern chessboard, are among the most active in the search for a solution to a conflict that entered the eighth year and which has already caused half a million deaths and triggered the worst humanitarian catastrophe since the Second world War.

Analysts and experts agree that Russia, Turkey and Iran are now the real actors of the Syrian conflict: Moscow, in fact, would have substantial control of the skies in Syria, while Iran has a presence rooted on the ground, thanks to its own militias and through foreign fighters. At the same time Erdogan - close to the anti-Assad front and promoter of a campaign against the Kurds - has increased his influence, conquering portions of territory across the border.

At the center of the talks was the situation in Idlib, in the north of Syria, the last rebel and jihadist stronghold in the country. Assad is ready to launch a military campaign to regain control of the province. The fear is that the siege could trigger a further humanitarian "catastrophe". Meanwhile, the government front denounces operations to simulate a chemical weapons attack, as a pretext for an anti-Assad intervention of the US-led international coalition.

"There is a climate of fear in Idlib ", underlines the vicar of Aleppo, and "we do not know how it will end. On the ground there are not only Syrian-born fighters, he adds, "but also foreign groups and those who do not want policies of reconciliation or peace agreements".

"We, on the other hand, pray for peace - the prelate goes on - and we do our best to make sure that the situation can be regularized. The government has confidence in the meetings between Russia, Iran and Turkey, and if these three realities agree, the hope is that it can be translated into practice on the battlefield. " We hope, he warns, that "no one will interfere [the reference is to the Western bloc], triggering everything".

The common hope, concludes Msgr. Georges, "is that there is an agreement on Idlib and for the whole country. In this sense, the role played by Turkey and its force of persuasion on rebel groups close to it will be fundamental ". On the other hand "we do not know what to do with the threats of the United States, France and Great Britain, because they risk only to turn into new violence and this is frightening"STAFF at a disability centre in Limerick were advised to leave a resident behind during fire drills and to rely on the presence of fire resistant doors to protect them until emergency services arrived.

An inspection by the Health and Information Quality Authority (HIQA) published last week found that the Drombanna Centre in County Limerick did not demonstrate that all residents could and would be evacuated in the event of a fire.

The inspection, which took place in March, found that fire-safety issues previously identified at the centre have not been addressed and that records of previous fire-drills showed that staff had failed to evacuate one resident on each occasion.

The report states that the centres personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPS) had been reviewed but did not provide assurance that every reasonable effort would be made so that residents could and would be evacuated in the event of fire.

Staff were still advised to leave the resident in the centre and rely on the presence of fire resistant doors to protect the safety of the resident until emergency services arrived.

The Drombanna Centre is home to five residents with severe disabilities and is operated by RehabCare.

The report states that inspectors were advised that a plan to improve the quality and safety of the service for residents is on target.

In a statement issued to the Irish Times, RehabCare said: Regarding the fire evacuation issue, RehabCare was following standard hospital and care home practice for the care of residents in the event of a fire, and strongly rejects any suggestion that any resident was left in any danger at any time.

RehabCare continues to work to ensure full compliance with HIQA requirements, the spokesperson added.FUNDING is being provided to allow Limerick council refurbish 70 vacant housing units, and have them ready for occupation again.

Local Fine Gael Senator Kieran ODonnell has received confirmation from Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy that his department is providing Limericks local authority with 1.4m for the project.

These are much needed homes here in Limerick, he said, I had been pressing the minister for housing and his department to fast-track approval for this funding application.

Mr ODonnell added: Having this funding approval in place will enable the local authority to bring these vacant homes up to standard and back into use as quickly as possible.

Work is now under-way on these vacant units throughout Limerick.

Mr ODonnell added: Bringing local authority vacant homes back into use as quickly as possible has to be a priority in addressing the housing need.

Solidarity councillor Cian Prendiville, who sits on the housing committee welcomed the funding.

But, he added: The government is only blowing its trumpet for doing the bare minimum that should be done. Its ridiculous to see.

There should not have to be any press statements and fanfare for refurbishing houses. What we need is a serious programme of investment to build new housing, rather than selling off state lands which it appears is what the government and council seem focused on doing in Limerick, he added.LIMERICK midfielder Cian Lynch has admitted that the reception the All-Ireland winning panel were given on their return home gave him butterflies.

Cian, alongside his Patrickswell clubmates Diarmaid Byrnes and Aaron Gillane were given a heroes welcome on their return to the village with the Liam MacCarthy Cup on Saturday.

The trio were mobbed by fans as soon as they got off a bus at the famous old clubs homeground of Pairc Antoin O'Briain.

To come back here and see your local people, the boys and girls you grew up with, and the legends you looked up to - it obviously means the world to me, Cian told the Leader.

A key player in the side which bridged a 45-year gap to land hurlings ultimate prize, Cian admitted he didnt expect the sheer size of the crowds which greeted them a week ago today after their Croker triumph over Galway.

No-one in our generation has experienced this, winning an All-Ireland. To come out of the station and see the crowds, I thought that was it. But driving through town and going to the Gaelic Grounds, your belly would start, butterflies would be coming. Its a weird feeling, but its unbelievable, he said.

The Liam MacCarthy Cup will visit clubs across the city and county in the coming days. On Friday night it was in Kilmallock, while on Sunday night it was in Na Piarsaigh and Doon on Monday night. It is anticipated it will arrive at Gearoid Hegartys club St Patricks next weekend.

- For more on these celebrations see the weekend edition of the Limerick LeaderEMERGENCY services are at the scene of a large industrial fire in Limerick city this Monday evening.

It is understood that there is a large scrap metal fire at United Metal at Eastway Business Park, Ballysimon Road.

Aerial footage, above, of the fire has been captured by Limerick-based Long Range Media.

Fire at United Metal, Limerick city tonight @LimerickFire at scene now @Limerick_Leader pic.twitter.com/qpAnJhp5rM  Fintan Walsh (@FintanYTWalsh) August 27, 2018

Limerick Fire Service was alerted to the scene at 8.12pm and have dispatched a large squadron to the scene to quench the flames.

Massive fire over #Limerick tonight - you can see it miles up the M7 pic.twitter.com/pXG8Qz47vC  Tom Spencer (@TPSpencer88) August 27, 2018

Crews are in attendance at at large Scrap Metal Fire on the Ballysimon Road. Please close doors & windows if living in the area.  Limerick Fire (@LimerickFire) August 27, 2018

There are six appliances at the scene, four of which are water tenders from Limerick City, Cappamore and Rathkeale stations.

It is not known, yet, if there are any individuals involved in the incident.

Limerick Fire Service is urging residents living in the area to close all doors and windows, as there are large plumes of smoke in the area.GARDAI in Limerick have issued a warning after students fell victim to rental scams.

Gardai said a number of students in Limerick have fallen victim to rental scams in recent weeks as the race for accommodation hots up.

Unfortunately rental scams occur throughout the year but there is a spike at this time of the year when a new generation of third level students are seeking accommodation, said Garda John Finnerty of Henry Street Garda Station.

Because of the rental shortage and the pressure to source accommodation a number of students in Limerick have fallen victim to rental scams in recent weeks, he added.

Gardai said that the scams usually fall into three categories; The scammer claims to be out of the country and cant show you the accommodation and requests a deposit; The scammer is living at the property and shows a number of people around, requests a deposit from each and disappears with the money; The transaction appears normal until the renter finds that the keys dont work and the landlord has disappeared. Therefore people need to establish that the house exists and that it is available for rent in the first place.

So what can a student do to make sure that he/she is not conned? Gardai offered the following advice:

- Ideally only do business with established bon-fide rental agencies.

- Always meet a prospective landlord in the accommodation to be rented.

- Ask for identification, a drivers licence or Photo identification of landlord or letting agent. etc. (Take a photo of the document on your phone)

- Pay the deposit to the Landlord or agent and not the persons leaving the property or courier or any other person

- Use cheques or bank drafts to pay the deposit and keep copies of receipts of payments and any correspondence

- Ensure keys fit, and sign the rental contract, prior to payment of deposit

Students have not been the only victims of such scams. In recent weeks, a Limerick woman was conned out of 1,000 after the person advertising an apartment to rent used a fraudulent website to deceive her.THE Presidential election is to be contested on Friday, October 26, it was confirmed this Tuesday morning.

Local Government Minister Eoghan Murphy revealed the news on RTEs Today with Miriam, adding a formal writ for the election will be signed shortly.

Nominations will have to be submitted by September 26 and the election will take place a month later.

The incumbent President, Limerick-born Michael D Higgins is seeking a second term.

But he will face competition from Sinn Fein, and other independent nominees.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fail will not participate.

Those hoping to be candidates require the support of four local authorities or the backing of 20 members of the Oireachtas.

These include Pieta House founder Joan Freeman, businessman Gavin Duffy, the founder of Aer Arann Padraig O Ceidigh, and Marie Goretti Moylan.

Mayor James Collins has previously said, once the writ is moved for the election, he will organise a special meeting of Limerick City and County Council to hear from would-be nominees.

The sitting president, a Freeman of Limerick, secured over one million votes on his election to Aras an Uachtarain seven years ago.CREWS are still working to carry out repairs to a burst water main which caused flooding in Foynes village late on Sunday night.

The village was left without running water on Monday due to the burst pipe.

Irish Water said this Tuesday morning that the water supply in Foynes, Shanagolden, Loughill, Ballyhahill and the surrounding areas should now be restored.

Crews from Irish Water and Limerick City and County Council are carrying out repairs at present, but due to the location of the burst and size of the pipe this is a complex operation and may take some time to complete, said a spokesperson for Irish Water.

In the meantime, arrangements have been put in place to reroute water around the network. There may be variations in pressure or temporary supply interruptions in some areas while this is taking place.

Any customers who are experiencing ongoing loss of supply should contact Irish Water at 1850 278 278 to report it.

We apologise for any inconvenience as we work to repair this burst and restore a normal water supply as quickly as possible, added the spokesperson.

The operation to repair the pipe, which is one of the major carriers of water in the area, has been made more difficult due to its location. It is believed that repair crews are required to enter a forested area to access the affected location.IRISH Water and Limerick City and County Council has appealed for the public to conserve water, as supplies remain under pressure following to this summers extended dry spell.

Since the period of dry weather in recent months, water levels throughout Limerick have continued to fall, said an Irish Water spokesperson.

The water utility company and the local council are monitoring flows and water levels throughout the county to maintain the supply of treated water and to minimise the impact of water shortages on communities and businesses, said the spokesperson.

Areas where water supplies are under pressure at this time include Hospital, Oola, Pallasgreen, Doon, Murroe and Knocklong in the eastern part of the county and Glin and Castlemahon in west Limerick.

We are also monitoring water levels in the Deel and the Feale which have been dropping. Areas supplied by these rivers and their tributaries include Newcastle West, Abbeyfeale and Askeaton, added Irish Water.

All customers supplied in these areas are in particular asked to make every possible effort to conserve water.

As a result of this unprecedented dry spell, there remains a significant risk to many public water supplies in Limerick as we go on into autumn. The medium-term forecast confirms there will be very little rain in the coming weeks. For this reason it is essential that households and businesses throughout Limerick do everything they can to conserve water and reduce demand as much as possible, said the IW spokesperson.

Irish Water and the council have deployed hydrogeologists across the county with the aim of exploring possible new water sources and improving the operation of existing sources.

Wherever possible, new sources will be developed over the coming weeks and months. There may be an increased frequency of water supply interruptions, as we bring new sources online. Similarly, water supply interruptions may increase due to the unprecedented ground conditions, causing ground shrinkage and an increased frequency of pipe bursts, said the spokesperson.

In recent weeks, Irish Water and Limerick City and County Council have successfully found a new ground water source for Hospital and are working to test the water quality from this source before bringing it online.

In Glin, customers will be notified ahead of a planned water interruption once a new source for the area is ready to be commissioned and brought online.

The average person uses 129 litres of water a day, say Irish Water.

Any measures taken to reduce consumption, no matter how small, will help in terms of replenishing water supplies. Simple steps like taking a short shower instead of a bath, turning off taps and fixing leaks in outside taps all help to make a difference. We are also reminding people to report any leaks they see in the public network by calling 1850 278 278 or on the Irish Water website (water.ie), added the spokesperson.

Below are the steps you can take to conserve water at home:

In the bathroom:

Choose to have a shower rather than a bath

Take a shorter shower and save up to 10 litres of water per minute

Consider only flushing the toilet when you need to

Fix dripping taps or leaking toilets in your home

When brushing your teeth or shaving, turn off the tap and save up to six litres of water per minute

In the kitchen:

Run your washing machine and dishwasher with full loads

Place a basin in the sink and use any water left over from washing vegetables on your plants

Keep a jug of water in the fridge instead of running the cold tap, which can waste 10 litres per day of water

In the garden:THE BISHOP of Limerick has said there is a need to continue to root out the evil in the Catholic Church, following Pope Francis historic 36 hours in Ireland.

Bishop Brendan Leahy, who attended the World Meeting of Families festivities last weekend, praised the pontiff for instilling a new hope following his speeches across the country.

It is the first time since Pope John Paul IIs visit in 1979, that the head of the Vatican set foot in Ireland.

Last weekends visit, however, attracted significantly fewer people and was largely dominated by the Churchs history of sexual abuse and ill treatment of mothers.

During his final address at Phoenix Park on Sunday afternoon, Francis delivered an off-script speech and begged for forgiveness for the atrocities caused by the Churchs members.

Bishop Leahy said no pope has ever spoken with such anger and sorrow. That he did this in Ireland, a country where the Church has been brought to its knees by these horrific acts, was telling about how grave the acts were, the level they were at, his personal horror at them and deep concern for the victims, the bishop said.

Bishop Leahy said he had great hopes that the pontiffs visit would be an important moment to ignite a renewal of our faith in Ireland. And I think that is what happened.

There were so many stand out moments but one of many that struck a deep chord for me was his time of silent prayer in Knock when, after praying to Our Lady, he touched the candle as he was leaving as if to say remember all those intentions I entrusted to you. Personally, I found the expression of faith in such huge numbers so encouraging.

Yes, numbers were way back on 1979 but it was still the biggest celebration of any type that this country is likely to see for years. It was an expression of faith and fellowship from young and old and, for me, is something that we must now build on."

He said it was heartening to have many Limerick people attending the World Meeting of Families celebration.

The key thing now is that we see this as a new beginning but only a beginning - in both aspects. We need to make sure the good work the Church does continues and that we give voice to that and encourage people in. But we also need to make sure that we continue to root out the evil and make this Church a place that provides the sanctity and peace that it should. Pope Francis has inspired us. He has instilled us with new hope, he concluded.The new government body will be operational next April. The 2020 Olympics will need workers. Catholic migrants provide an opportunity for the Catholic Church to reshape its role in Japanese society.

Tokyo (AsiaNews)  Japan plans to set up a new agency to manage and increase the flows of migrant workers who will enter Japan in the coming years, government sources announced.

Fr Ignacio Martinez, a Guadalupe missionary and head of the Social Affairs Department of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Japan, warns against the "selfish" view that sees migrants as "means" for the country, without consideration for their well-being.

The new agency will be active starting in April 2018. Foreign workers will be granted a new residency status, details of which will be defined in the coming months. Thus, Japan will be open to hundreds of thousands of workers in different sectors.

As the countrys demographic crisis got worse and the labour force shrank, the number of economic migrants has been rising exponentially, doubling in five years: from 680,000 in 2012 to 1.28 million in October 2017. Of these, the largest group is made up of Chinese (370,000), followed by Vietnamese and Filipinos.

Fr Martinez notes that Japan needs workers of all kinds, especially as it prepares for the 2020 Olympic Games. Blue collar workers are needed to build stadiums, but skilled workers are required to accommodate the expected millions of tourists.

Japan wants to show itself as an "open and friendly country", but this contrasts with the negative experiences of many migrants, whose rights are not protected. "One problem that stands out is that of communication. Immigrants do not speak the language, they do not know the culture. This is why they are often reprimanded by their superiors. They are far from their families, from their countries and they feel alone.

Then there are the "brokers", those who contact workers in their countries of origin, putting them in contact with Japanese companies and paying for their flight to Japan. Thus, migrants find themselves in debt, which they cannot repay because of low wages. "Sometimes, brokers take their passports, so they cannot go anywhere. It is a new form of slavery."

For the missionary, there is an additional issue. Many families are separated, because the husband has a work permit, but his family cannot stay, even if the children are born and raised in Japan. "This is not only a migration problem, but a humanitarian one as well.

Japans small Catholic Church cares about the fate of these families, many of whom are Catholic. "Many Vietnamese and almost all Filipinos are Catholics. If you go to any church in Japan, you will see them at Mass, praying or even taking refuge because they feel safe there.

Their presence is an opportunity for the Church to redefine its role in society. We must integrate people who come from other countries to build a single, multicultural and intercultural community."

In order to best meet this challenge, the Committee for Migrants, Refugees and Itinerant People, which is presided by bishop of Nagoya Mgr Michael Goro Matsuura, will meet and define the "strategic plan" for 2019-2021.Aug 28, 2018, 4 AM

A sound used example of Canadas 1851 12-penny black Queen Victoria stamp is being offered in the Sept. 12-13 Spink USA auction.

Great Britains 1840 1d black Queen Victoria Official stamp with V and R letters in the upper corners. In its upcoming New York auction, Spink USA is offering this sound unused example with original gum.

By Michael Baadke

The Sept. 12-13 Philatelic Collectors series auction by Spink USA in New York City includes United States, British Commonwealth and worldwide stamps and postal history, with a number of select stamp errors and choice rarities.

Two top items from the sale are black Queen Victoria stamps of Great Britain and Canada.

Canadas 1851 12-penny black Queen Victoria stamp on laid paper (Scott 3) is one of the most coveted issues of the British Commonwealth. The example offered in the Spink USA sale is described as a magnificent used example of this great classic rarity, being in a condition that only a tiny number of the known used examples can boast.

Once housed in the legendary collection of American collector Alfred H. Caspary (1877-1955), this particular 12d stamp shows four large margins, including part of the stamp positioned above it on the sheet. It is struck with a target cancel not obscuring the design as it so often does, according to Spink USA.

The used 12d black is valued at $135,000 in the 2018 Scott Classic Specialized Catalogue of Stamps and Covers 1840-1940, with the figure in italics to signify that accurately determining the stamps value can be a challenge.

A rarity from the worlds first stamp issue is also on offer: a sound unused example of Great Britains 1840 1d black Queen Victoria Official stamp (Scott O1) with original gum.

Valued at $35,000 in the Scott Classic Specialized catalog (again, with the value in italics), this stamp has four ample-to-large margins and what Spink USA describes as a marvelous overall freshness and strong unblemished color.

The stamp design is based on the 1840 Penny Black (Great Britain Scott 1) but differs by having the letters V and R positioned in the respective upper corners. The Penny Black shows a Maltese cross in each upper corner instead.

The two-day sale opens at noon on Wednesday with more than 30 mailed U.S. valentines and then moves into U.S. classic stamps and postal history.

U.S. plate blocks in this sale include never-hinged examples from the 1893 Columbian issue, the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition issue, the 1901 Pan American issue and others.

Two of the cherished inverts from the Pan American series are also on offer, both unused with original gum: the 1 green and black Steamship stamp (Scott 294a) and the 4 deep red brown and black Electric Automobile stamp (296a).

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A notorious 1964 error from Falkland Islands is being offered during the Thursday auction sessions.

The stamp comes from a set of four engraved bicolors, each with a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II at upper right and a different black vignette for each of the four denominations.

The 6d blue and black stamp normally shows the armored cruiser HMS Kent, but this example (Scott 151a) instead shows the HMS Glasgow, the vignette prepared for the 2d stamp from the same set.

Spink USA describes this stamp as a wrong-frame error, citing details of the printing provided by the British stamp catalog firm Stanley Gibbons.

Only some 25 examples of the error are known to have survived, according to Spink USA. The "very lightly hinged" stamp carries an estimate of $10,000 to $15,000.

The auction offers additional material from the David A. Wilson collection of Bahamas, the Alan Meech collection of the Japanese occupation of Burma, the Sandy Campbell collection of Great Britain and British Commonwealth, plus Latin America postal history and more, including collections and large lots.

The catalog for the upcoming Spink USA sale can be downloaded in its entirety as a PDF. The sale also can be viewed online at Stamp Auction Network.

For additional information, contact Spink USA, 145 W. 57th St., 18th Floor, New York, NY 10019.May 3, 2021, 12 AM

United States Postal Service package mail automation and operations. Screen capture from U.S. Postal Service video.

Washington Postal Scene by Bill McAllister

President Donald Trump is discovering how difficult it is to get Congress to pass postal legislation.

On Aug. 20 the president was back on Twitter complaining that the Senate must quickly pass legislation that could slow the flow of illicit drugs into the United States through the U.S. Postal Service.

It is outrageous that Poisonous Synthetic Heroin Fentanyl comes pouring into the U.S. Postal System from China, the president declared in a tweet.

We can, and must, END THIS NOW! he added.

Until now, the postal issue that has fueled the presidents anger has been the discounted parcel rates the Postal Service has given online retail giant Amazon.

A panel he created to study the issue has not released its recommendations for improving the Postal Services finances.

What sparked Trumps ire about the stalled legislation wasnt immediately clear.

The chief Republican sponsor of the measure, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, was delighted by the presidents statement.

This bipartisan legislation passed the House overwhelmingly in June, and its long past time for the Senate to pass this bill so it can become law and begin making a difference, Portman said in a statement.

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Republican leaders of both the House and Senate had announced an agreement to move Portmans Synthetics and Overdoes Act, called the STOP Act, in June.

The Washington Post noted that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has focused on confirming federal judges and passing appropriations bills.

The legislation would require the Postal Service to install electronic tracking systems to track incoming packages, as do FedEx and other private shippers.

A congressional report said the online sellers of drugs prefer to use the Postal Service to deliver their goods because they believe that mail parcels are less likely to be seized by customs officials.

This is not the first time Trump has complained about the drug shipments from China. At an August cabinet meeting he said China was sending that garbage and killing our people.

Its almost a form of warfare, he said.

The president did not mention McConnell or his party in his tweet about the delay of Portmans measure.

Republican officials said that GOP lawmakers in the Senate were planning a timetable for action on the legislation.There's something inherently fascinating about black holes. Maybe it's that they're invisible beasts lurking in space that sometimes rip passing stars in half and scatter their remains. Whatever it is, these strange cosmic objects continue to captivate scientists and laypeople alike.

But where do black holes come from? How do they form, and what gives them such awesome destructive power? [Stephen Hawking's Most Far-Out Ideas About Black Holes]

Before we can answer that, we have to ask an even more fundamental question: Just what is a black hole? "Basically, it's an object or a point in space where the gravitational pull is so strong that nothing can escape from it," astrophysicist Neta Bahcall, of Princeton University in New Jersey, told Live Science. Even light waves are sucked in, which is why black holes are black.

These bizarre objects arise like phoenixes springing from the ashes of dead stars. When massive stars reach the ends of their lives, the hydrogen that they've been fusing into helium is nearly depleted. So, these monster stars begin burning helium, fusing the remaining atoms into even heavier elements, up until iron, whose fusion no longer provides enough energy to prop up the star's outer layers, according to Swinburne University of Technology in Australia's Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing. These top layers collapse inward and then explode out as a powerful and bright burst called a supernova.

Yet, a small part of the star remains behind. Albert Einstein's equations of general relativity predict that if this remnant has about three times the mass of Earth's sun, the remnant star's powerful gravitational force will overwhelm everything else and the material it's made of will be crushed to an infinitely small point with infinite density, according to NASA. The known laws of physics can't actually handle such mind-bending infinities. "At some point, they break down and we don't really know what happens," Bahcall said. [8 Ways You Can See Einstein's Theory of Relativity in Real Life]

If this stellar vestige is alone, a black hole will generally just sit there not doing much. But if gas and dust surround the object, that material will get sucked into the black hole's maw, creating bright bursts of light as the gas and dust heat up, swirling around like water going down a drain. The black hole will incorporate this mass into its own, allowing the object to grow, Bahcall said.

If two black holes meet, the powerful gravity of each one will attract the other, and they will get closer and closer, spinning around one another. Their collective mass will shake the fabric of nearby space-time, sending out gravitational waves. In 2015, astronomers discovered such gravitational waves via the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), Live Science previously reported.

"That was the first time we could actually see black holes and confirm that they exist," Bahcall said, adding that the results were also a beautiful corroboration of Einstein's predictive equations.

Scientists had found indirect evidence of black holes before, witnessing stars in the center of our Milky Way galaxy orbiting around a gigantic invisible object, Universe Today reported. How such supermassive black holes  which can have billions of times the mass of our sun  form is an outstanding question, Bahcall said.

Researchers believe that these supermassive black holes were once much smaller, forming as more modest-size black holes in the earliest days of our universe. Over cosmological time, these objects absorbed gas and dust and merged with one another to grow, ending up as colossal monsters. But many of this story's details remain fuzzy, Bahcall said.

Astronomers have observed objects called quasars, which glow brighter than thousands of galaxies put together and are thought to be powered by supermassive black holes consuming matter. Quasars have been seen back as far as the first billion years after the Big Bang, when our universe formed, leaving scientists to scratch their heads over how such enormous objects could form so quickly, Bahcall said.

"That really highlights and adds complexity to the question," Bahcall said, and it remains a very active topic of research.

Originally published on Live Science.When it comes to so-called good cholesterol, a new study suggests there could be truth to the phrase "too much of a good thing."

The study, from a team of researchers in Atlanta, found that, in people with cardiovascular disease, very high levels of "good" cholesterol, or high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, are associated with a considerably higher risk of heart attack and death from cardiovascular causes. In fact, the scientists found that people with very high levels of HDL cholesterol in their blood have as high a risk of heart attack and death from cardiovascular disease as those with very low levels.

The findings were presented Aug. 25 at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2018 in Vienna, and the study authors discussed their work at a news conference Aug. 27. The findings have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal. [9 New Ways to Keep Your Heart Healthy]

HDL cholesterol has long been hailed for its positive qualities in the body, including its ability to clean arteries and its association with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

"The HDL molecule is very complex and does a lot of things in the body," said lead study author Dr. Marc Allard-Ratick, an internal-medicine resident at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. "One of the things that it does is that it helps to move bad cholesterol away from the blood vessel wall and out of the body."

What's more, "many studies have shown an inverse association between the good cholesterol and adverse cardiovascular events like heart attack," Allard-Ratick said. Most of those earlier studies, however, didn't look at patients with very high levels of HDL in their blood, he said.

So, in the study, the researchers enrolled nearly 6,000 patients who had already been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease or had a high probability of having cardiovascular disease. The researchers measured the patients' HDL levels, and collected data about their medical history and background.

The patients were divided into five groups, based on their blood HDL cholesterol levels: Less than 30 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), 31-40 mg/dL, 41-50 mg/dL, 51-60 mg/dL and more than 60 mg/dL. (HDL cholesterol levels above 60 mg/dL are considered "optimal," according to the Mayo Clinic.)

Then, the researchers tracked the patients for approximately four years. During the follow-up period, 769 patients either died of cardiovascular-related causes or had a heart attack.

The study found that both the patients with the highest level and the lowest HDL cholesterol level had the highest probability of dying from cardiovascular disease or experiencing a heart attack, Allard-Ratick told Live Science.

Specifically, patients with HDL cholesterol levels above 60 mg/dL had a 50 percent greater risk of a heart attack or dying from cardiovascular disease, compared with those with HDL cholesterol levels between 41 and 60 mg/dL. And this increase was about the same as the risk of those with HDL cholesterol levels below 41 mg/dL, the researchers found.

But it's unclear why the very high levels of HDL cholesterol were associated with such negative effects, the researchers said.

Dr. Heinz Drexel, a cardiologist at the State Hospital Feldkirch in Austria who was not involved in the study, said that very high levels of HDL cholesterol are much less common in patients with cardiovascular disease. Rather, these patients are much more likely to have low levels of HDL cholesterol, he said.

"We see very high levels of HDL, over 80mg[/dL], in only about 1 percent of the patient population," Drexel told Live Science. "On the other hand, we see low levels below 40mg[/dL] in about half of the patients."

Still, Drexel said that the study is significant, as it's the first one to look at very high HDL cholesterol levels in people with cardiovascular disease.

"We have known for decades that low HDL cholesterol [puts people at risk of] developing cardiovascular disease," Drexel said.What is new is that the very high levels are also not so good, so we can't say that this good cholesterol, this HDL cholesterol, is simply always good."

Allard-Ratick said that the very high levels of HDL cholesterol observed in the study are more likely a result of genetics than of lifestyle choices. Indeed, Allard-Rattick and Drexel said that at very high levels, the HDL molecules might not be performing their functions efficiently, resulting in a build-up of cholesterol in the blood. However, both agreed that more research is needed to understand the risks as well as the underlying mechanisms.

Originally published on Live Science.See more

Workers excavating a subway line in Melbourne, Australia, recently uncovered a gruesome surprise  more than 1,000 human teeth, many of them riddled with enormous cavities.

There was no suspicion of foul play; the teeth had been discarded by a dentist  a man named J.J. Forster who practiced at the turn of the 20th century  and several other nearby dentists on the same block, after the teeth were yanked from the gums of their owners, according to Melbourne news site The Age.

Forster worked as a dentist at 11 Swanston Street in the Australian state of Victoria from 1898 until the 1930s, and the site of his former practice is currently part of an archaeological dig by the Victoria government. Now halfway to completion, the six-month project is being conducted in preparation for building two new Metro Tunnel stations, the Australian Broadcasting Company reported. [Chew on This: 8 Foods for Healthy Teeth]

Enormous, gaping holes in many of the recovered teeth suggest that their former owners endured years of agonizing pain before the teeth were finally extracted, The Age reported.

Representatives of the Metro Tunnel first shared photos of the finds on Aug. 17 in a tweet; the images included half a set of dentures, a tooth with a gold filling and a handful of assorted molars and incisors. At the time of the photo, workers had unearthed 200 teeth. They were found inside an iron pipe and scattered in sediment nearby. The teeth were "probably flushed down a drain," according to the tweet.

See more

By Aug. 22, archaeologists had identified more than 1,000 teeth, according to a Metro Tunnel tweet. Video clips showed conservators cleaning the objects' stained enamel, likely with more care and attention than the teeth received in life.

Tooth and consequences

"Perfect Teeth Make a Perfect Smile," read one of Forster's newspaper ads from Feb. 5, 1924; the document is digitally preserved by Victoria's Public Record Office. The ad further promised that his practice was capable of "removing teeth truthfully without pain," but the reality of an extraction under Forster's care  particularly during his practice's earliest years  was likely quite different, Mark Evans, an associate professor with the Melbourne Dental School at the University of Melbourne, told The Age.

At the dawn of the 20th century, dentists pulled teeth with forceps and levers, using cocaine, nitrous oxide or novocaine to numb the pain, and these were far less effective than today's anesthetics, Evans said. Fillings were often performed without any anesthesia whatsoever, with the patient feeling every excruciating vibration as the dentist manually ground a cavity with a pedal-driven drill, Evans said.

Alongside Forster's dental detritus, archaeologists dug up about half a million artifacts, including a child's slingshot, a jet earring modeled after the mourning jewelry worn by Queen Victoria and a glass pipe used for smoking opium, The Age reported.

Though early 20th-century tooth extraction was inarguably horrific, there was a very small silver lining to it. Dental work was typically executed in the home of the patient or dentist, so there was a far lower risk of infection than there was for procedures performed in operating theaters, which were far more likely to be brimming with dangerous microbes, according to the New York Academy of Medicine.

Original article on Live Science.Diamonds are forever, and gold is precious, but which is rarer? And does that rarity have anything to do with the price we see at a jewelry store?

The answer, it turns out, isn't as "clear-cut" as you might think.

Gold  a heavy metal  is one of Earth's rarer elements, formed in the collisions of neutron stars, said Ulrich Faul, an Earth scientist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Then, during the formation of Earth, the heaviest elements gravitated toward Earth's core, said Yana Fedortchouk, an Earth sciences professor and co-director of the Experimental High-Pressure Geological Research Laboratory at Dalhousie University in Halifax, in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. That means that up near the Earth's crust, large amounts of gold are hard to find. [Photos Dazzling Minerals and Gems]

You can find it, though, in low concentrations. It's "present in a large variety of rocks in the crust," Fedortchouk told Live Science. "But in order to form a deposit, it needs to reach certain concentrations to make mining economically feasible."

According to Fedortchouk, the average concentration of gold in Earth's crust is "very, very low," at 4 parts per billion. In order to produce any minable concentration of gold that could be of market value, the gold deposit would have to be 1,250 times more concentrated, she said.

Diamonds, on the other hand, are a highly pressurized form of a very common element: carbon. In its non-pressurized form, it's known as graphite  the stuff in pencils. Compared with gold, the average concentration of carbon in Earth's crust is approximately 200,000 parts per billion, according to "Fluids in the Earth's Crust: Their Significance in Metamorphic, Tectonic, and Chemical Transport Processes" (Elsevier Science Ltd., 1978), a book written by the noted geologist William Fyfe, who died in 2013.

So, the rarity of diamonds has little to do with their elemental composition; rather, the natural transformation of carbon into diamonds that can be mined is an extremely arduous (and rarely successful) process.

"Diamonds can only be produced in the Earth's mantle and somehow be brought to the surface, or they can be formed during meteorite impact," but those diamonds are small and never gems, Fedortchouk said. (The mantle is the layer of Earth beneath the crust.)"Diamonds formed deep in the Earth's mantle can be brought up by deep magma or pushed up during the slow uplift of deep rocks during mountain growth processes. But during slow uplift, diamonds get graphitized [turned into graphite] and never make it up to the surface as gem stones."

The formula required for diamonds to form depends on depth, temperature and pressure: Carbon is buried at least 93 miles (150 kilometers) beneath the Earth's surface, heated to about 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit (1,204 degrees Celsius) under approximately 725,000 pounds of pressure per square inch (5 billion pascals), and then rapidly brought to the surface by a volcanic eruption to cool. This extraordinary process makes natural, minable diamonds rarer than gold, Fedortchouk said.

But, in its elemental form, gold is significantly rarer than diamonds, Faul told Live Science. After all, carbon is one of the most abundant elements on Earth  especially in comparison to heavier metals like gold  and diamond is simply composed of carbon under immense pressure.

The invention of synthetic diamonds complicates the question even further. Scientists can re-create the conditions necessary to transform graphite into diamonds in a lab  no volcanic eruption necessary  but the same can't be said for gold (sadly, alchemy is still a pseudoscience). Even though synthetic diamonds are made of the same substance as natural diamonds, according to diamond designer Ritani , synthetic diamonds usually sell for 30 percent less on the market because they aren't considered as valuable.

But does the mere existence of lab-created diamonds make these gems more common than we thought? Faul argues that it does: "Diamonds below a certain size are not worth mining in the first place," he said. "Who wants to buy a diamond that needs a magnifying glass to be seen? Gold is more abundant than large diamonds, but diamonds as a class of material are not particularly rare. I think part of their reputation has to do with amazing public relations!"

Originally published on Live Science.Concentrated liquid extracts from marijuana plants are becoming more and more popular as alternative medicine, but the science isn't there.

The popularity of medical marijuana is soaring, and among the numerous products consumers are seeking are CBD, or cannabis oils.

A wealth of marketing material, blogs and anecdotes claim that CBD oils can cure whatever ails you, even cancer. But the limited research doesn't suggest that cannabis oil should take the place of conventional medication, except for in two very rare forms of epilepsy (and even then, it's recommended only as a last-resort treatment). And, experts caution that because CBD oil and other cannabis-based products are not regulated or tested for safety by the government or any third-party agency, it's difficult for consumers to know exactly what they're getting.

What is CBD?

Simply put, cannabis oil is the concentrated liquid extract of the marijuana plant, Cannabis sativa.

Similar to other herbal extracts, the chemicals in cannabis oils vary depending on how the extract is made and what chemicals were in the plant to begin with.

Cannabis plants produce thousands of compounds but the most well recognized belong to a class called cannabinoids. There are several cannabinoids but the two that are most well-known among consumers are THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol).

THC is the primary psychoactive compound in marijuana and it is what people are searching for when they want a product that gives them a "high." Unlike THC, CBD isn't known to cause psychoactive effects, and is therefore attractive to those who want to avoid the high but who believe there are other benefits of CBD, said Sara Ward, a pharmacologist at Temple University in Philadelphia. [Healing Herb? Marijuana Could Treat These 5 Conditions]

CBD products that don't contain THC fall outside the scope of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's (DEA) Controlled Substances Act, which means CBD products are legal to sell and consume as long as they don't have THC. That's likely one of the reasons why CBD products, including CBD oil, are becoming more socially acceptable and increasingly popular. In 2016, Forbes reported that CBD products are expected to be a $2.2 billion industry by 2020.

How are CBD oils consumed?

The physiological effects of cannabinoids can vary widely from person to person, and also depend on how they're consumed. That lack of predictability is one of the reasons why cannabis oil is a challenging candidate for developing into a medicine, Ward told Live Science.

"Two people may eat a brownie [made with cannabis oil] and one may absorb massive amounts of cannabinoids and the other may not," Ward said. "How long it takes to work and how long it stays in the system differs greatly."

It's a little more uniform when the product is absorbed by smoking or vaping the oil, Ward said. But, "there are obvious concerns about smoking something." A 2007 review published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine found that smoking marijuana resulted in similar declines in respiratory system health as smoking tobacco. A similar review published in 2014 in The American Journal of Cardiology found that marijuana smoke inhalation can increase the chances of heart attack or stroke. Neither review analyzed the effects of vaping cannabis oil alone, so it's unclear if it has the same health risks as smoking other marijuana products.

Why do people use cannabis oil?

People claim that cannabis oil can be used to treat a wide range of conditions, though evidence to back up these claims is often lacking. For example, according to Medical News Today, people use cannabis oil for conditions ranging from pain to acne; some even claim the oil can cure diseases like Alzheimer's and cancer. (But again, there is no clinical evidence to support these claims.)

A review published in 2017 in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology described how CBD may work to protect the hippocampus  the part of the brain responsible for several important functions, such as learning, memory and navigation  during times of stress, and may also help prevent brain-cell destruction that results from schizophrenia. Another 2017 review published in the journal Annals of Palliative Medicine summarized a handful of studies that suggest cannabis oils containing THC or CBD, or both, may help with chronic pain management, but the mechanism is unclear.

Cannabis treatment in people with certain forms of epilepsy has been more promising. The only FDA-approved cannabis-based drug is Epidiolex, a CBD oral solution for treating two rare and severe forms of epilepsy. A recent clinical trial found that Epidiolex reduced convulsive seizures by 50% in children with Dravet syndrome, a type of epilepsy, MedPage Today reported.

CBD is a chemical extracted from the Cannabis plant. (Image credit: Shutterstock)

Why medical experts are hesitant about CBD

It's important to know that the research in this area is in its infancy, partly because we haven't really understood much about CBD until relatively recently," said Marcel Bonn-Miller, an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He pointed out that the classification of marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug by the DEA makes it difficult to get material to use in laboratory studies. Schedule 1 drugs have a high potential for abuse, according to the DEA, and are illegal under federal law.

Because of this classification, it's not easy for researchers to get their hands on the drug. "That's not to say you can't do it, but there are hoops you need to jump through that can be a pain, which may deter researchers from going into this space," Bonn-Miller said. "Relatively speaking, it's a small group of people in the U.S. that do research on cannabinoids in humans."

However, Bonn-Miller told Live Science that he thinks cannabis research is on the upswing. "If we flash forward five years I think you'll see more studies," he said. Those studies could reveal more conditions that CBD may be helpful for and may also reveal that some of the reasons why people say they use CBD oil are not supported by the science but are instead a placebo effect. "And that's why we need to do the studies," he said.

The side effects and risks involved with consuming marijuana-based products aren't clear, either, Bonn-Miller said. It's important to "determine cannabinoids that are useful therapeutically while understanding and using cannabinoids that are associated with less risk," he said. At least with CBD, he said, it doesn't appear to have the potential for addiction. That's different from THC, which has been associated with addiction, he said, and negative side effects, including acute anxiety.

What consumers should know

Both Bonn-Miller and Ward stress that it's up to the consumer to be well-educated about the material they're purchasing and the research that's out there. "The companies that are creating [cannabis oils] are offering lots of claims about its use that are not necessarily substantiated by any research," Bonn-Miller said. So "I think there needs to be, from a consumer standpoint, a lot of vigilance," he added.

And the products on the shelf aren't all the same, Ward said. "There can be many, many different varieties, and if you're thinking about doing this for medical reasons, you want to find a trusted source and do your research," she said. "Where does that oil come from, and how confident can you be that you know the exact percentages of the different cannabinoids in the product?"

Bonn-Miller also explained that it's imperative to exhaust the traditional and established front-line treatments that are available before seeking out these products. "CBD is not really a first-line treatment for anything," he said. "You dont want situations where somebody says, 'I have cancer I'm going to forgo chemotherapy because I read something about CBD or THC helping with cancer.'" That's not a good idea, Bonn-Miller said. "Not only is the science not there, but you may end up worse off."

Original article on Live Science.If youve been a science fan for the last few years, youre aware of the exciting results to emerge from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which in 2012 found the Higgs boson, the subatomic particle responsible for giving mass to fundamental subatomic particles.

Today, physicists have another exciting announcement to add to the Higgs saga: They have made the first unambiguous observation of Higgs bosons decaying into a matter-antimatter pair of bottom quarks. Surprisingly, the Higgs bosons decay most often in this way.

The new announcement shows a strong agreement between the theoretical predictions and the experimental data, which could in turn set strict constraints on ideas of more fundamental physics that strive to explain why the Higgs boson even exists.

Field of dreams

In the 1960s, researchers were investigating linkages between the force of electromagnetism and the weak nuclear force, which is responsible for some types of radioactive decays. Although the two forces seemed distinct, it turned out that they both arose from a common and more fundamental force, now called the electroweak force.

However, there was a problem. The simplest manifestation of the theory predicted that all particles had zero mass. Even in the 1960s, physicists knew that subatomic particles had mass, so that was potentially a fatal flaw.

Several groups of scientists proposed a solution to this problem: A field permeates the universe, and it's called the Higgs field. Fundamental subatomic particles interacted with this field, and this interaction gave them their mass. [6 Implications of Finding the Higgs Boson]

The existence of the field also implied the existence of a subatomic particle, called the Higgs boson, which was finally discovered in 2012 by researchers working at the European Organization for Nuclear Research(CERN) laboratory in Switzerland. (Disclosure: I am a collaborator on one of the research groups that made the initial discovery as well as todays announcement.) For their predictions of the Higgs field, British physicist Peter Higgs and Belgian physicist Francois Englert shared the 2013 Nobel Prize in physics.

Finding the bottom quarks

Higgs bosons are made in high-energy collisions between pairs of particles that have been accelerated to nearly the speed of light. These bosons dont live for very long  only about 10^minus 22 seconds. A particle with that lifetime, traveling at the speed of light, will decay long before it travels a distance the size of an atom. Thus, it is impossible to directly observe Higgs bosons. It is only possible to observe their decay products and use them to infer the properties of the parent boson.

Higgs bosons have a mass of 125 gigaelectron volts (GeV), or one that's about 133 times heavier than a proton. Calculations from well-established theory predicts thatHiggs bosonsdecay into pairs of the following particles in the following percentages: bottom quarks (58 percent), W bosons (21 percent), Z bosons (6 percent), tau leptons (2.6 percent) and photons (0.2 percent). More exotic configurations make up the remainder. One of the key results of todays announcement was to verify that the prediction was correct for bottom quarks. [Strange Quarks and Muons, Oh My! Nature's Tiniest Particles Dissected] When physicists announced the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012, they relied on its decay into Z bosons, W bosons and photons, but not bottom quarks. The reason is actually extremely simple: Those particular decays are far easier to identify. At the collision energies available at the LHC, Higgs bosons are made in only one collision in every 1 billion. The vast number of collisions at the LHC occur through the interaction of the strong nuclear force, which is (by far) the strongest of the subatomic forces and is responsible for holding the nucleus of atoms together.

The problem is that in interactions involving the strong force, production of a matter-antimatter pair of bottom quarks is really quite common. Thus, the production of bottom quarks by Higgs bosons decaying into bottom quarks is totally swamped by pairs of bottom quarks made by more ordinary processes. Accordingly, it is essentially impossible to identify those events in which bottom quarks are produced through the decay of Higgs bosons. It's like trying to find a single diamond in a 50-gallon drum full of cubic zirconia.

Because it is difficult or impossible to isolate collisions in which Higgs bosons decay into bottom quarks, scientists needed another approach. So, researchers looked for a different class of events  collisions in which a Higgs boson was produced at the same time as a W or Z boson. Researchers call this class of collisions "associated production."

W and Z bosons are responsible for causing the weak nuclear force and they can decay in distinct and easily identifiable ways. Associated production occurs less often than nonassociated Higgs production, but the presence of W or Z bosons greatly enhances the ability of researchers to identify events containing a Higgs boson. The technique of associated production of a Higgs boson was pioneered at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, located just outside Chicago. Because of the facility's lower-energy particle accelerator, the laboratory was never able to claim that it had discovered the Higgs boson, but its researchers' knowledge played a significant role in todays announcement.

The LHC accelerator hosts two large-particle physics detectors capable of observing Higgs bosons  the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) and A Toroidal LHC Apparatus (ATLAS). Today, both experimental collaborations announced the observation of the associated production of Higgs bosons, with the specific decay of Higgs bosons into a matter-antimatter pair of bottom quarks.

Theoretical Band-Aid

While the simple observation of this decay mode is a significant advance in scientific knowledge, it has a much more important result. It turns out that the Higgs field, proposed back in 1964, is not motivated by a more fundamental idea. It was simply added on to the Standard Model, which describes the behavior of subatomic particles, as something of a Band-Aid. (Before the Higgs field was proposed, the Standard Model predicted massless particles. After the Higgs field was included as an ad hoc addition to the Standard Model, particles now have mass.) Thus, it is very important to explore the predictions of decay probabilities to search for hints of a connection to an underlying theory. And there have been more recent and comprehensive theories developed since the 1960s, which predict that perhaps more than one type of Higgs boson exists.

Thus, it is crucial to understand the rate at which Higgs bosons decay into other particles and compare it with the predicted decay rates. The easiest way to illustrate agreement is to report the observed rate of decay, divided by the predicted rate. Better agreement between the two will yield a ratio close to 1. The CMS experiment finds excellent agreement in todays announcement, with a ratio of predicted-to-observed rates of 1.04 plus or minus 0.20, and the ATLAS measurement is similar (1.01 plus or minus 0.20). This impressive agreement is a triumph of current theory, although it does not indicate a direction toward a more fundamental origin for the Higgs phenomena.

The LHC will continue to operate through early December. Then it will pause operations for two years for refurbishing and upgrades. In the Spring of 2021, it will resume operations with considerably enhanced capabilities. The accelerator and detectors are expected to continue to take data through the mid-2030s and to record over 30 times more data than what's been recorded so far. With that increase of data and improved capabilities, it is quite possible that the Higgs boson still has stories to tell.

Originally published on Live Science.

Don Lincoln contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.A Texas National Guard soldier stationed in Laredo has been accused of stealing methamphetamine that had been seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Prior to the theft, Edwin Baez, 21, and another person discussed stealing seized drugs from CBP and then selling or distributing them, according to an arrest affidavit filed Friday in a Laredo federal court. The affidavit does not identify the other individual.

Baez allegedly stole 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine. He was charged with theft of government property, conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

READ ALSO: Mexican attorney who smuggled $450K worth of heroin receives sentence

He made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Diana Song Quiroga on Monday. A detention hearing is set for Friday.

If convicted of the drug charges, Baez faces a minimum of 10 years in prison. He also faces up to 10 years if convicted of theft of government property, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Baez had been deployed to the CBP Field Operations Office at the World Trade Bridge to assist officers and agents with drug interdiction and other law enforcement efforts, according to court documents. Prosecutors said Baez also provided mission-enhancing capabilities, such as surveillance, reconnaissance and operational and logistics support.

On Aug. 21, Baez was admitted to Laredo Medical Center with a drug-induced medical emergency. The affidavit does not specify how he arrived at the hospital.

Homeland Security Investigations special agents responded to LMC and advised Baez of his Miranda rights. He allegedly waived his rights verbally and in writing.

He stated that on Aug. 1, he assisted CBP officers with a seizure involving meth that had been concealed within the frames of some paintings.

"While assisting (Office of Field Operations) with the seizure, Baez stated that while no one was looking, he moved one of the methamphetamine-laden frames aside and concealed it in a dumpster among other discarded frames at the World Trade Bridge that did not contain narcotics," the affidavit states.

The record alleges he returned to the dumpster Aug. 20 and retrieved one of the four bundles of methamphetamine. He put it in a backpack, returned to his hotel room and consumed some of the meth, the affidavit states.

RELATED: Webb County jailer arrested after allegedly threatening man with gun for stealing her Xanax pills

On Aug. 22, HSI special agents said they discovered 0.2 kilograms of meth in Baez's hotel room and an additional 1.3 kilograms of meth in a frame inside the dumpster. The stolen meth had an estimated street value of $12,000, according to court documents.

Military officials released a statement following Baez's arrest.

"We can confirm that Private Edwin Baez is a member of the Texas Army National Guard, currently assigned along the southwest border in support of the Department of Homeland Security's Operation Guardian Support mission," the statement reads. "Beyond the above information our organization cannot comment further on this on-going investigation. However, the Texas Military Department takes all allegations of misconduct seriously, is fully cooperating with all law enforcement agencies on this matter and must refer you to them for additional information."

HSI special agents conducted the investigation with the assistance of CBP. Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Homero Ramirez is prosecuting the case.Bronx man faces DWI charge after police chase

ALBANY  State Police charged a Bronx man with driving while intoxicated after they said he fled from officers on I-87 in Albany on Saturday evening.

Police said that around 8:40 p.m. troopers tried to stop a car driven by Bhojnarine Budhram, 23. Budhram allegedly refused to stop and drove away at a high speed before eventually pulling over. Budhram was taken into custody without incident. Troopers said Budhram's blood alcohol level was 0.11 percent.

Budhram was charged with several misdemeanors and vehicle and traffic violations.

Cops: Man charged after crashing car into ditch

BOLTON  A 59-year-old Queensbury man was charged with driving while intoxicated after Warren County Sheriff deputies said he crashed his car into a ditch in Bolton.

Brian D. Ely was driving on Lake Shore Drive near Juniper Hill when his car went off the road. Ely was taken to Glens Falls Hospital with unspecified injuries as a result of the accident.

Ely submitted to a chemical blood test to determine the level of alcohol in his blood at the time of the crash, deputies said. He is set to appear in Bolton town court at a later date.

Police charge man with drug sale at county fair

EASTON  A Troy man was arrested Saturday for allegedly selling cocaine at the Washington County Fair, Washington County Sheriff's Office said.

Deputies were called to the scene after Joseph P. Schneider, 30, of Spring Avenue was allegedly seen making a drug transaction with another man.

He was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony. He was also charged with possessing cocaine with an intent to sell and unlawful possession of marijuana, deputies said.

 Staff reportsA man landed behind bars Sunday for assaulting his common-law wife and her 11-month-old boy, Laredo police said.

Antonio Ramos Santiago, 30, was charged with assault, family violence and injury to a child.The Motor City's calling for two Houston-area parents landed them behind bars Monday after they allegedly left their 11-year-old daughter home alone to travel cross-country for a concert.

The parents, John Guerrero, 48, and Virginia Yearnd, 39, were arrested Monday after they arrived back in Houston after seeing English rock band Godflesh, according to the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable's Office.

Guerrero and Yearnd left their Spring home Wednesday for the concert that night, according to court documents.

MYSTERY: Barefoot woman seen in security video sparks mystery

Deputies found out the girl was home alone only after her great aunt called police to report the incident Thursday, according to court documents. The woman called the young girl and learned she had been home alone since the previous morning.

Deputies called the parents several times to try and talk with them but couldn't get through for hours, police said. They eventually got a hold of Yearnd, who initially told them they were in Louisiana, court documents state.

She later came clean with deputies about her and Guerrero taking the trip to Detroit to see the English rock group live, deputies said.

FAMILY AFFAIR: Mom and teen son among 3 charged in fatal shooting

When deputies got to the home to check on the girl, they found her trying to cook. The mother had told deputies that she asked her sister to check in on the child, but the girl told deputies no one came by. It is unclear when deputies got to the home to check on the girl.

The parents were arrested Monday on second-degree felony child endangerment charges.

In Texas, a parent - or anyone else who has custody or cares over a child under 15 - can be charged with child endangerment if he or she "intentionally abandons the child in any place under circumstances that expose the child to an unreasonable risk of harm," according to the Texas Penal Code.

They were booked in to the Harris County Jail with no bond, according to Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman. They are facing up to 20 years in prison, if convicted.

Child Protective Services is looking into the incident, deputies said.

Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message.

Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.comAccording to a study released by Janrain, 74 percent of online consumers surveyed said they were frustrated with websites that show content in the form of ads, offers and promotions that arent related to their personal interests. What this means is that youre alienating your site visitors every time you let an irrelevant offer pop up on their screen.

Related: Deep Learning and 'Hyper-Personalization' are the Future of Marketing Automation

When your content isnt personalized, you neither make a sale nor develop a good rapport with your target audience.

And that mistake is understandable. But it's also avoidable: To get your online marketing right, you need to customize your website in a way that reflects your target audience's interests. Science supports this move: Research reveals that 40 percent of those surveyed said they would buy from retailers that personalized the shopping experience consistently across all channels.

Personalizing your website will create customized experiences for your visitors inspired by their needs and desires. That way, you can foster a deeper relationship between your company and your audience, and boost sales.

So, how do you actually implement personalization?

Although studies say that 77 percent of businesses agree that real-time content personalization is crucial, 60 percent struggle to implement it. They shouldn't give up the effort: The boost that personalization gives your website might be what makes the major difference for your business.

Related: This Is How You Discern the Person in All That Customer Personalization Data

And the good news is, its surprisingly easy to launch calls to action, widgets and other conversion-oriented design elements to reach different site visitors. You can actually target them depending on their location, devices they use, past visits to your site and any number of other factors.

Its a great opportunity for your clients to run special promotions triggered by a date, time, visitor location and more, Aaron Pitre of Duda wrote on his blog. For example, a site visitor from Chicago could trigger a notification for a special, one-day offer. If your client has planned a series of promotions or sales throughout the year, its easy to schedule them all at once.

There are additional ways to increase your conversions, with website personalization. All you need are some small tweaks, and you'll be able to sit back and watch your conversion rates increase. Here are three simple but effective tricks to start raising your conversion rates today.

1. Target opt-ins based on category or tags.

Most blog content is filed according to category or tags. This helps blog visitors to have quick access to valuable content based on a category or a tag. These categories and tags subtly segment blog visitors according to their interests. This makes it easier for the generated leads to sign up to the email list, and get converted.

For example, a case study by Authority Hacker observed that the HealthAmbition blog Authority Hacker was working on had a "juicing" category that was receiving a considerable number of visits. In a bid to get more email list sign-ups, the marketers used a simple opt-in with a free juicing ebook as a lead magnet in the juicing category.

That simple trick resulted in 821 conversions, with a conversion rate of over 4 percent with that pop-up.

The lesson here was that most blog content is filed according to categories or tags. This helps blog visitors gain quick access to valuable content based on the category or tag they're interested in.

2. Use product recommendation engines.

Ever wondered how ecommerce sites tend to read your mind on the type of products youd like to buy? Product recommendation engines are what you see on Amazon and other ecommerce websites. A product recommendation engine is a filtering tool that uses algorithms and data it gathers from your behavior online to personalize the kind of products you get to see on the website.

At Home in the Country, a U.K. gift site, wanted to increase its sales and deepen its connection with their online visitors. To achieve this, the company set up product recommendations which appeared directly below the main product image.

Each time visitors clicked on a product, these potential clients would see a product that matched their preferences, thus giving them only content that piqued their interest. This trick increased At Home in The Countrys revenue by 13 percent.

3. Set up an effective remarketing or retargeting campaign,

Watchfinders, one of the largest watch dealers in the U.K., got impressive results from its remarketing campaign. Its conversion rates went up by 350 percent and the company was able to make an ROI of 1,300 percent! That means that for every $1 it spent, it earned $13 for the trouble.

Watchfinders did this by first hiring Periscopix to help improve its sales. Periscopix was able to achieve those results by doing a comprehensive audit of Watchfinders's website visitors. A case study revealed that what Periscopix did was to understand the type of site visitors Watchfinder had and how those visitors interacted with the watch dealer's ecommerce platform.

Using Google Analytics to track the activities of those website visitors, Periscopix grouped the audience into different segments. Using that data, it created ads specifically tailored to appeal to each segment.

Related: Fueled By Data: The Benefits Of Personalization Engines For Brands

Market to an audience of one.

Improving your conversion rates is not as complicated as you think. In fact, it all starts with understanding the concept that potential customers value only what theyre interested in. And if youre able to channel content or products that are specially tailored to the unique segments of your target audience, those moves will help sustain your potential clients' interest long enough to get them to convert.

Related:

3 Easy Website-Personalization Tricks That Will Boost Your Conversion Rates

3 Takeaways from Adidas's Use of Personalized Content at the Boston Marathon

Deep Learning and 'Hyper-Personalization' are the Future of Marketing Automation



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedMaryland Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ben Jealous raised $1.1 million in the past two months and has less than $400,000 cash on hand 10 weeks before Election Day, according to numbers released by his campaign Tuesday.

His Republican opponent, Gov. Larry Hogan, raised twice as much and has more than $9 million available, but Jealous campaign manager Travis Tazelaar said in an email that the Democrat does not need to equal Hogan's fundraising to win.

"Our goal is not to outraise Larry Hogan because doing so isn't necessary for victory," Tazelaar said. "We only need to raise the funds necessary to effectively get our message out to the overwhelmingly Democratic electorate that will turn out in November."

Both campaigns released fundraising figures ahead of Tuesday's midnight filing deadline. Neither campaign released its full financial report, which will identify donors and show how money has been spent.

Tazelaar said Jealous, who was the top fundraiser in a six-way Democratic primary with $2.9 million, knew heading into the general election that he would be outraised and outspent by Hogan, who had no GOP opponents.

The governor has launched a series of positive advertisements about his record, and the Republican Governors Association has spent more than $1 million on ads attacking Jealous.

Tazelaar said the Jealous campaign, which has not begun television advertising for the general election, is focused on boosting Democratic turnout in November and is "on pace to have the resources we need to win on Election Day." Working with the state Democratic Party, the campaign says it will have more organizers and offices than then-lieutenant governor Anthony G. Brown had in 2014, when Hogan defeated him in an upset.

Democratic turnout in the primary this year was up 26 percent over 2014, Tazelaar said, noting that 30 percent of Maryland's Democratic voters did not cast ballots in that year's gubernatorial election.

"All indicators point to the 'blue wave' coming to Maryland," Tazelaar said.The Department of Labor (DOL) recently expanded access to Association Health Plans (AHPs) as a result of the presidential executive order "Promoting Healthcare Choice and Competition Across the United States." Stamped with approval in mid-June, AHPs are designed to level the playing field for small-business owners coping with rising insurance premiums under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Related: 10 Things to Know About Association Health Plans, a Potential Solution to Entrepreneurs' Healthcare Problem

In recent years, the percentage of small businesses offering healthcare has dropped dramatically, and premiums for self-employed individuals have more than doubled. Touted as a form of relief, AHPs make it easier for groups of people, small employers and even sole proprietors and their families to band together based on geography or by business/professional interests to attain many of the advantages traditionally reserved for large employers.

However, with the new plans subject to fewer regulations, critics counter AHPs offer decreased benefits and consumer protections, and may also result in higher premiums for those who need comprehensive insurance by siphoning off healthier people who opt for less coverage. Many states, including New York and California, are actively fighting the new rule, signing letters of opposition claiming AHPs open the door to what they deem "junk health insurance." So, if you're considering an AHP for your business, here are a couple key factors to keep in mind.

The good, the bad and the ugly

With plans slated to roll out in September, the decision to buy into an AHP requires a thorough grasp of the benefits and disadvantages.

AHPs are especially attractive for the middle-class and freelance workers. Though the freelance workforce is one of the fastest growing segments of the American labor pool, freelancers were previously ineligible for subsidies if their income exceeded the ACA threshold. Under the new order, small businesses will enjoy some of the same consumer protections and healthcare anti-discrimination protections applied to large businesses. These benefits include greater flexibility, more negotiating power and increased access to more affordable options than ACA provided. Additionally, popular aspects of the ACA, like out-of-pocket maximums, bans on lifetime maximums and annual limits, coverage of preventative care without additional out-of-pocket expenses, and retaining children on plans until the age of 26, will still apply to AHPs.

Related: Single-Payer Health Insurance Could Help Would-be Entrepreneurs Quit Their Jobs to Pursue Their Dreams

However, enhanced choices come at a cost. Since AHP insurers aren't required to cover all 10 "essential health benefits" mandated under the ACA, out-of-pocket cap protection on areas such as maternity care, mental health, emergency services, rehabilitation, prescription drugs and more may be watered down. Consumer advocates argue AHPs bypass rules aimed at protecting people from nefarious practices -- including fluctuating rates based on gender, age, industry and location -- potentially driving up costs in regular individual and small-group markets. For example, AHP premiums for women in their early 30s could be inflated by more than 30 percent compared to regular individual and small-group rules, whereas healthy men working in certain low-risk industries are expected to encounter a lower premium.

AHPs are expected to lure as many as 4.3 million people away from individual and small-group insurance markets -- by offering cheaper premiums, yet providing reduced medical coverage. Additionally, the Trump Administration also shared plans to dramatically shrink federal money devoted to grassroots groups, known as navigators, that help Americans obtain ACA insurance.

Exploring a new frontier -- selecting or forming an appropriate AHP

Beginning Sept. 1, 2018, small businesses will become eligible to form collectives that can purchase AHPs. Responses from a survey of more than 700 small business and franchise employers uncovered 84 percent of respondents expressed interest in offering their own plans. Group purchasing can result in big savings for small businesses -- typically 10 percent to 30 percent -- while reducing administrative overhead, expanding available benefits and serving as a tool to attract new talent by offering compelling benefits packages.

Related: Four Tips To Control Your Company's Health Insurance Premiums

Business owners who have meticulously examined the unique needs of their workforce and are ready to commit to an AHP should formalize the optimal structure for their AHP. In the alternative, they can also consider forming an AHP if one does not already exist (selecting from fully insured medical, self-funded medical or hybrid medical). They should also have a deep understanding of the final AHP rule laid out by the DOL (largely consistent with the proposed rule from January). The final rule outlines how groups or associations can be defined as "employers" under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), since the benefits offered through AHP are typically subject to ERISA compliance. Soliciting the help of qualified legal services and external program managers can play an instrumental role in ensuring plan documents, summary descriptions and other mandatory reporting is fully in place prior to moving forward.

Regardless of your political leanings or feelings about the health-care system, these changes warrant close consideration by small businesses. Knowing your options will help keep you competitive and ensure the health and well-being of your employees. It is worth investing some time to understand your options and give your company a leg up when it comes to the benefits you can offer your current and potential employees.

Related:

Cautiously Navigating Association Health Plans: What Small Employers Can Expect

Trouble Recruiting and Keeping Talent? Your Skimpy Health Insurance Is a Likely Cause

Here's How Crowdfunding Can Provide Healthcare For All



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedRICHMOND, Va. -- With images of the torch-bearing white nationalists who rallied in Charlottesville last year, a flyer distributed by the Republican Party of Virginia accuses a Democrat running for Congress of being anti-Semitic.

The party bases that allegation on a 1991 book Leslie Cockburn co-wrote that is highly critical of U.S.-Israeli covert operations.

"Racists in Charlottesville chanted 'Jews will not replace us.' Leslie Cockburn's book adds fuel to the fire," says the mailer, which mixes pictures of torch-bearing protesters with a photos of Cockburn and her book, "Dangerous Liaison." "Reject anti-Semitism. Reject Leslie Cockburn."

The party said the mailers went to "thousands" of voters across the district. Asked whether Cockburn opponent Denver Riggleman supports the use of the flyers, campaign manager Joe Chelak said in an email: "Denver Riggleman has condemned White Supremacy and all forms of hate. He is disturbed and appalled by Leslie Cockburn's book's use on White Supremacy websites. Her radical stance on Israel is a foreign policy issue that 5th district voters should be informed about."

Cockburn, who stands by her book, has touted her endorsement from the pro-Israel J Street PAC as evidence that her criticism of Israel does not mean she is anti-Semitic.

She released a statement Monday that quotes seven clergy members who vouched for her, including the rabbi from Congregation Beth Israel in Charlottesville, Virginia. The clergy denounced making political hay out of the deadly August 2017 Unite the Right rally and two smaller, torch-lit protests.

"I find it appalling that members of the Republican Party expect me to not be offended by invoking the Charlottesville tragedy to play politics," said the Rev. Thomas Motley of Elba Missionary Baptist Church, one of the seven.

But Democrats used the same images last year against Republican Ed Gillespie in the race for governor.

Cockburn and Riggleman are competing for a seat that is being vacated by Rep. Thomas Garrett, who announced in May that he is an alcoholic and will step down at the end of this term to deal with his illness.

Riggleman ran unsuccessfully for governor last year; this is Cockburn's first foray into politics.

Even as she pushed back against the mailers on Monday, Cockburn turned to Twitter to suggest a tenuous connection between Riggleman and white supremacism.

Virginia's sprawling 5th Congressional District, which stretches from the North Carolina border to nearly the Maryland border, includes Charlottesville.

Given how powerfully Charlottesville was shaken by the rally that claimed three lives, both parties are trying to harness that emotional punch in messaging - while sometimes tsk-tsking rivals for exploiting a tragedy.

Stephen Farnsworth, a University of Mary Washington political scientist, said the power of those images makes them irresistible.

"In the 5th District and in Charlottesville in particular, these are not half-remembered memories," Farnsworth said. "The images of Charlottesville a year ago still resonate very powerfully. That's one of the things to draw from this flier. Asking a politician to forgo an opportunity is probably likely to leave one disappointed."

Because they're provocative, the GOP mailers could bring attention to the book Cockburn wrote with her husband, Andrew Cockburn. The mailers note that white supremacist websites have promoted the book and quote a New York Times review panning it.

"Its first message is that, win or lose, smart or dumb, right or wrong, suave or boorish, Israelis are a menace," the Times wrote. "The second is that the Israeli-American connection is somewhere behind just about everything that ails us."

Gillespie had repeatedly condemned the white nationalists but stopped short of criticizing Trump for saying there were "very fine people" on both sides at the rally. Gillespie's spokesman condemned the flyers as an "ugly political attack that has no place in our Commonwealth's political discourse."

Geoffrey Skelley, associate editor at the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, saw the GOP mailer as an effort to help down-ticket Republican candidates such as Riggleman distinguish themselves from the party's U.S. Senate nominee, Corey Stewart.

Stewart, in his failed bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination last year, made a few appearances with rally organizer Jason Kessler ahead of the deadly event. A Trump-style provocateur, Stewart was the lone Virginia Republican who did not condemn white nationalists in its aftermath. In his current Senate race, Stewart has distanced himself from Kessler and said he initially was unaware of Kessler's extremist views.

"The GOP in some ways is maybe trying to turn something that is a negative for them . . . and throwing it back on the Democrats," Skelley said.

Farnsworth had a similar take.

"The Republican Party is offering a very different message in this flier than the Republican president and the Republican candidate for the Senate have offered in the past," he said. "It may suggest that the Trump and Stewart approach isn't a winning hand in that congressional district, and the best thing for the Republican nominee to do is muddy the waters."

As the anniversary of the Charlottesville, Virginia, rally approached earlier this month, Riggleman put out a strongly worded message against white supremacists.

"To any white supremacists intending to come back to Charlottesville on August 12 this year, I say this: You are not welcome," he wrote. "Go back to your cave. Vote for somebody else. I don't want your support, your help, or your vote."

At the same time, the Democratic Party and Cockburn have accused Riggleman of campaigning with "avowed white supremacist Isaac Smith."

Smith was once a close associate of Kessler, teaming up with him and Corey Stewart last year to call for the preservation of Charlottesville's Robert E. Lee monument. But Smith publicly broke with Kessler before the Aug. 12 rally, alarmed by extremists whom Kessler had lined up to speak.

Smith says he has turned away from his flirtation with the alt-right, which seeks a whites-only state, and in the past year has worked to organize events in Charlottesville intended to help the city heal.

But when he appeared at a public event for Riggleman this year, Democrats spotted him in the crowd in news footage and issued a release saying Riggleman was campaigning with a white supremacist.

Smith and a Riggleman spokesman say he has no role in the campaign.

In a tweet Monday, Cockburn said Riggleman and Stewart, "who share the Republican ticket, were photographed with the same white supremacist, who is now a 'recovering white supremacist'. Welcome to Va-5."WASHINGTON - House Democrats are urging Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to make clear that a federal grant program cannot be used to buy firearms for schools.

In a letter being sent to DeVos on Tuesday, 173 out of 193 Democrats in the House argue that DeVos has the authority to say no to such spending and that close examination the law that governs the grants suggests she should.

"Arming teachers would not only jeopardize student and staff health and safety, but also run counter to congressional intent, precedent, and common sense," Democrats said in the letter, which was organized by Rep. Robert "Bobby" Scott, D-Va., the top Democrat on the House education committee.

At issue is whether states can use the Student Support and Academic Enrichment grants, which is available for a wide range of school expenses, to buy guns intended to bolster school safety. Officials said last week that the department had received inquiries from Texas and Oklahoma and that DeVos is considering the idea.

Congressional Democrats are also hoping to attach language to a pending spending bill to bar purchasing guns with the grant money, which would require agreement with Republicans.

Tuesday's letter asks DeVos to clarify by the week's end that she will not allow the spending.

Some Republicans, including Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Education Committee, have suggested that DeVos has no choice in the matter because the program was written to given states flexibility and does not explicitly bar spending on firearms.

"I'm not a fan of arming teachers, but the safe schools block grant for many years has allowed states to make the decision about how to use those federal dollars to make schools safer for children," he said last week, using an earlier name for the grant program at issue.

In their letter, House Democrats argue that is not true.

They say that buying guns runs counter to the purposes of the program, which includes increasing access to educational opportunities for low-income students. They also say that while the program includes flexibility, Congress never considered nor intended that flexibility to include the purchase of guns. Democrats point to another spot in the law that speaks of creating school environments that are "free of weapons."

In addition, the letter notes that earlier this year, in the wake of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, Congress allocated $50 million per year for a school safety grant program, which specifically banned the use of funds to train or provide school staff with firearms. Democrats pointed to a FEMA grant program where the statute does not talk about firearms but agency guidance bars it anyway.

"It is the long-standing position of the federal government that using federal funds to purchase firearms and ammunition as related to school safety is not allowed," they wrote.

Education Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Hill replied that DeVos has no action planned on this issue. "If Congress would like to clarify the law, they should take the opportunity to do so," she said.The U.S. doesn't plan to suspend more joint military drills with South Korean forces, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said, as diplomatic progress on North Korea's denuclearization appears to have stalled.

"We have no plans at this time to suspend any more exercises," Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday, adding that the Defense Department hasn't made decisions about major annual drills expected next year. "We'll make decisions on that in consultation with State."

Mattis said he's working in coordination with Secretary of State Michael Pompeo's diplomatic efforts -- "it's all riding on Secretary Pompeo's shoulders," he said -- but he also signaled that smaller-scale exercises are going ahead. In an apparent response to more routine training efforts, North Korea has stepped up criticism recently, saying American forces are conducting covert military rehearsals for an invasion.

President Donald Trump in June suspended what he called "war games" with Seoul, saying he believed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "wants to get it done" on denuclearization. He added, "I do trust him." The U.S. decision was "a good-faith measure" to boost diplomatic efforts, Mattis said Tuesday.

In the months since Trump and Kim met in Singapore, the U.S. has struggled to show signs of progress in its bid to get North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. Pompeo conceded before the Senate recently that Kim's regime continues producing fissile material and has provided no inventory of its nuclear program and facilities.

Pompeo had planned to visit Pyongyang for talks this week, but Trump announced Friday that the trip was canceled because of a lack of "sufficient progress" by North Korea.

The U.S. has conducted military exercises on the Korean peninsula since the mid-1950s and holds a handful of joint operations with South Korea every year, which the Pentagon calls a means of ensuring the two forces are able to work together in the event of an attack. The annual drills, separate from regular training programs, have long angered North Korea's leaders.

In his first press conference at the Pentagon since April, Mattis also took questions on U.S. military policy toward Yemen, Turkey and Iran.

Mattis said he spoke with Turkey's defense minister this week and that the two had a "very candid" discussion. With the NATO allies in a standoff over tariffs, sanctions and a detained American pastor, Congress has suspended planned deliveries of next-generation F-35 jets until the Pentagon produces a report within 90 days on U.S.-Turkey relations.

But Mattis signaled that ties are stronger at the military level, saying the countries are working toward undertaking combined patrols in northern Syria and have already made progress in improving coordination and communication between their forces in the contested region. The U.S. relies on the Turkish military base at Incirlik to launch strikes against Islamic State in Syria.

Asked about reports that Syria's government is moving chemical weapons into place to stage an assault on the last rebel stronghold around the northwestern province of Idlib, Mattis signaled the U.S. is ready to respond again after twice launching attacks on Bashar Assad's regime, which has retaken most of the country with Russian and Iranian support.

"You have seen our administration act twice on the use of chemical weapons," Mattis said. "I will assure you the Department of State has been in recent, active communication with Russia to enlist them to preventing this."

With 2,000 U.S. military personnel in Syria, Mattis also laid out the requirements to withdraw American forces, a goal Trump announced in April when he said he wanted it to happen "very soon." Mattis suggested a longer timeline, saying that would come after Islamic State is destroyed, "local troops who can take over" are fully trained and a United Nations-led peace initiative stalled years ago begins "making traction." He added that some drawdowns of U.S. forces could occur as progress is made on those issues.

Mattis said the U.S. continues to support the coalition led by Saudi Arabia that's fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen. But he acknowledged repeated cases of air attacks that left heavy civilian casualties and prompted international condemnation for possible war crimes.

The U.S. is working closely with the Saudi coalition to "determine what went wrong with errant bombing attacks and how to prevent recurrences," he said.

On the passing of Arizona Sen. John McCain, a former prisoner of war who led the Armed Services Committee and was both a champion and sometime-critic of Pentagon weapons programs, Mattis said, "Our nation has lost a great patriot." He said that "in all he did, Senator McCain never lost sight of our shared purpose in defense of freedom."

The U.S. has conducted military exercises on the Korean peninsula since the mid-1950s and holds a handful of joint operations with South Korea every year, which the Pentagon calls a means of ensuring the two forces are able to work together in the event of an attack. The annual drills, separate from regular training programs, have long angered North Korea's leaders.Morgan County

Jacksonville Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Skee D. Sanders, 24, of 308 N. Church St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 6:42 a.m. Sunday on charges of domestic battery and disorderly conduct.

 Alexus T. Brown, 24, of 308 N. Church St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 7:46 a.m. Sunday on a charge domestic battery.

 Loren A. Orr, 34, 754 W. Railroad St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 7:30 p.m. Sunday on a charge of driving with a revoked or suspended license.

South Jacksonville Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Mark L. Hinman, 41, of 403 E. Prospect St. in Murrayville was booked into the Morgan County jail at 2:42 a.m. Sunday on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol.



Cass County

Beardstown Police Department

 John E. Wollam, 36, of 312 E. 11th St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 9:10 p.m. Sunday on charges of criminal trespass to land, driving with an expired license, and possession of drug paraphernalia.



Brown County

Sheriff

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Gavin J. Byrd, 24, of Perry was arrested at 10:46 a.m. Friday on charges of burglary and criminal damage to property after an incident in the Versailles Cemetery.

 Dillion J.M. Martin, 19, of Ripley was arrested at 11:13 p.m. Thursday on charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

 Kellyi L. Quincy, 43, of Mount Sterling was arrested at 9:34 a.m. Thursday on charges of use of an account number with intent to defraud and aggravated identity theft.

 David A. Biggs, 58, of Mount Sterling was cited at 12:10 a.m. Wednesday on charges of speeding, driving under the influence and driving while license is suspended after being stopped on County Road 800 North at County Road 645 East.

 Matthew Schreieck, 38, of Versailles was arrested at 7 a.m. Aug. 7 on a charge of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver.



Scott County

Sheriff

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 William A. Watson, 26, of Kansas was arrested Monday on a Scott County warrant accusing him of possession of a weapon by a felon. He was arrested while appearing in court on a traffic charge, according to authorities.

 Amanda J. Gooding, 35, of Bluffs was arrested at 2:26 p.m. Friday on a Scott County warrant accusing her of theft and burglary.

Compiled by Nick Draper and David C.L. BauerWashington

Glowering in public and near-silent for two days, President Donald Trump relented under pressure Monday by tersely recognizing Sen. John McCain's "service to our country" and re-lowering the White House flag.

While much of the nation remembered McCain's record as a war hero, longtime senator and presidential nominee over the weekend, Trump nursed his grievances. McCain had been a foil in a long-running feud over style and policy that did not end with the senator's illness and death.

Trump's reluctance to participate in the national remembrance was awkward and uncomfortable, even by the standards of a leader who acknowledges he doesn't act like a typical president. The episode highlighted the outsider president's impulse to harbor personal resentments regardless of political repercussions.

Before Trump's Monday statement, his only commentary on McCain's death had been a perfunctory tweet Saturday. The lack of a formal statement  combined with the fact that White House flags were flown at half-staff only briefly  drew strong criticism from Republicans and veterans groups as well as Democrats.

When he finally did comment, in a printed statement, Trump was sparing with his praise for the six-term senator: "Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain's service to our country."

Later, at an evening dinner honoring evangelical leaders, he said "our hearts and prayers" are going to the family "and we very much appreciate everything that Senator McCain has done for our country."

Earlier in the day, a stone-faced Trump sat mute as reporters at several photo sessions invited him to comment on McCain. As he was peppered with questions, the usually talkative president made no response.

Publicly, Trump has frequently railed against McCain's dramatic thumbs-down vote against the president's efforts to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law.

Privately, he has groused about such slights as his belief that McCain did not appreciate his endorsement in the senator's 2016 re-election bid.

McCain, for his part, recently slammed Trump's Helsinki meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory."

Against that backdrop, the flag above the White House spoke volumes.

The Stars and Stripes were briefly lowered to half-staff over the weekend, then went back up to full height on Monday while flags at the U.S. Capitol and elsewhere stayed at half-staff. Shortly before Trump issued his written statement, the flag was lowered again to half-staff.

That was after complaints had risen all day from both right and left, and then from a group the president assuredly does not want to offend.

"On the behalf of The American Legion's two million wartime veterans, I strongly urge you to make an appropriate presidential proclamation noting Senator McCain's death and legacy of service to our nation, and that our nation's flag be half-staffed through his internment," said a statement directed to him from Denise Rohan, the organization's national commander.

While the president's statement sought to defuse the controversy, the upcoming weeklong celebration of McCain's life is likely to bring new awkwardness. Former presidents will speak at McCain's funeral on Saturday, but the senator's family made clear they did not want Trump to attend.

Trump said that he had asked Vice President Mike Pence to speak at a ceremony honoring McCain at the Capitol on Friday and that other administration officials would attend memorial services. He also said he'd agreed to the McCain family's request for military transportation of the senator's remains from Arizona to Washington. Burial will be Sunday at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

In death, McCain himself had more to say. In a final letter released Monday, McCain appeared to repudiate Trump's politics one last time, saying: "We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe."

Just a few weeks ago, the president signed into law a defense bill named in honor of the senator at a ceremony at Fort Drum in Watertown, without a single mention of McCain's name.EDWARDSVILLE  Several teachers, parents and community members attended the Edwardsville District 7 general board meeting Monday night to either encourage the board to seek their input in hiring the next superintendent or question the boards intent to hire the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) Executive Search to assist with the superintendent replacement.

The hot topic of the evening centered around the possible hiring of the IASB to assist in the search for a replacement for current Superintendent Lynda Andre, who will be retiring at the end of this school year.

At the Aug. 13 general school board meeting, representatives from the IASB had made an informational presentation outlining the services they could provide. The board did not take action on the proposal at that time, but the item was placed on the action considerations for the Aug. 22 meeting which drew considerable interest from teachers, parents and community members.

During the beginning of every District 7 general meeting, audience members have the opportunity to approach the podium and make any comments to the board.

Monday night four people  John McDole, Nelson Elementary School PTO Treasurer; Beth Duncan, Edwardsville Education Association Co-President and two parents who were instrumental on the Prop E committee, Katie Robberson and Chantal Chandler, made comments to the board.

Duncan represented the teachers, several of which were present at the meeting. She stressed that they would like to be invested in the process of hiring new administration including the superintendent, and she offered a solution for teachers to provide input. If you choose to employ the services of IASB, please consider that the teacher focus group is volunteering this evening to work with the board without the need of any additional of costs to IASB for this service, Duncan said. This offer is made in an effort to reduce overall costs to the district while making the candidate selections and ultimately in the selection of the new superintendent and new administrators. Several of us have previous experience in participating in this type of interview process and would be willing to share this experience and knowledge with the board.

McDole asked several questions about the possible hiring of the IASB such as if bids for other search firms had been solicited as well as details about the projected IASB costs.

In addition, he asked if the search for a replacement would be initiated in several states or nationally. Personally I feel that even the most astute administrator that is from out of state would have a hard time understanding the true context of what it takes to be a superintendent in the state of Illinois - let alone in a southern Illinois district with an incredible amount of success and potential, albeit with significant financial concerns, McDole said. I would even contend that a search for the replacement needs to reside south of Springfield or more specifically in the metro east. So a local would have a better grasp of what Dr. Andre has had to deal with in the last three years and how her district evolved before her time as superintendent. Also Id very much like to see if there was anyone of high quality in the district currently.

Both Robberson and Chandler, who are District 7 Citizens Advisory Committee members, emphasized the importance of the new superintendent following through on the Prop E. promises and the four-year plan of stabilizing the districts finances and maintaining educational excellence. They also stressed the importance of community involvement in the process for hiring a new superintendent, and they requested that the board include the CAC as well as a community committee in the search process.

Later in the meeting when the action item of hiring the IASB was discussed, Monica Laurent, Edwardsville District 7 Board President, emphasized that the board was considering the IASB because its process includes gathering input from stakeholders. She answered specific questions brought up by the four individuals who spoke earlier and allowed representatives from the IASB to field questions from the board members regarding the IASBs search process.

The board eventually approved a contract with IASB to provide an executive search for the superintendent.

Paul Pitts was the only school board member to vote against hiring the IASB, stating that he felt an internal search would provide the best superintendent candidate.A panel of three federal judges held Monday that North Carolina's congressional districts were unconstitutionally gerrymandered to favor Republicans over Democrats and said it may require new districts before the November elections, possibly affecting control of the House.

The judges acknowledged that primary elections have already produced candidates for the 2018 elections but said they were reluctant to let voting take place in congressional districts that courts twice have found violate constitutional standards.

More for you What's at stake in the 2018 midterms

North Carolina legislators are likely to ask the Supreme Court to step in. The court traditionally does not approve of judicial actions that can affect an election so close to the day voters go to the polls.

But the Supreme Court has just eight members since Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement last month; a tie vote would leave the lower court's decision in place. Senate hearings on President Donald Trump's nominee to fill the open seat, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, commence Tuesday.

The North Carolina case is a long-running saga, with a federal court in 2016 striking down the legislature's 2011 map as a racial gerrymander. The legislature then passed a plan that left essentially the same districts in place but said lawmakers were motivated by politics, not race.

The Supreme Court told the three-judge panel to take another look at the North Carolina case in light of the high court's June decision in a Wisconsin partisan gerrymandering case, in which the justices said those who brought that case did not have legal standing.

But Judge James Wynn of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, writing Monday for a special three-judge district court panel, said plaintiffs did have standing under the decision in Wisconsin's Gill v. Whitford, which he said reinforced the judges' earlier views that the congressional districts were drawn with improper partisan goals.

He said the court was leaning against giving the North Carolina legislature another chance to draw the congressional districts.

"We continue to lament that North Carolina voters now have been deprived of a constitutional congressional districting plan - and, therefore, constitutional representation in Congress - for six years and three election cycles," Wynn wrote. "To the extent allowing the General Assembly another opportunity to draw a remedial plan would further delay electing representatives under a constitutional districting plan, that delay weighs heavily against giving the General Assembly another such opportunity."

He proposed several unusual ideas: appointing a special master to draw new districts, holding general elections without party primaries or even turning the November elections into a primary and holding the general election sometime before the new Congress convenes in January.

Wynn and his fellow judges called for immediate briefing from the parties about which remedy to pursue.

The Supreme Court has never found that a state's redistricting was so infected with politics that it was unconstitutional. This past term, it passed up the chance to do so with cases from Wisconsin and Maryland, disposing of them without deciding the merits.

The North Carolina case presented a stark example of partisan intent, with legislators making clear that the map was drawn to help one party over another.

"I think electing Republicans is better than electing Democrats," said Rep. David Lewis, a Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly, addressing fellow legislators when they passed the plan in 2016. "So I drew this map to help foster what I think is better for the country."

He added: "I propose that we draw the maps to give a partisan advantage to 10 Republicans and three Democrats because I do not believe it's possible to draw a map with 11 Republicans and two Democrats."

When voters went to the polls that fall, the 10-3 outcome was exactly as Lewis had predicted, even though Republican candidates won just 53 percent of the statewide vote.

Wynn said it should be clear that such partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional.

"A common thread runs through the restrictions on state election regulations imposed by Article I, the First Amendment, and the Equal Protection Clause: the Constitution does not allow elected officials to enact laws that distort the marketplace of political ideas so as to intentionally favor certain political beliefs, parties, or candidates and disfavor others," he wrote.

"Although North Carolina's loud and proud admission that legislators drew districts for partisan advantage is unusual, the practice is universal when politicians are in charge," said Kathay Feng, Common Cause national redistricting director. "Until we prohibit partisan gerrymandering, a true representative democracy will remain out of reach and the voices of all Americans will continue to be silent."

Richard Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California at Irvine, said the case has national implications.

"If the lower court orders new districts for 2018, and the Supreme Court deadlocks 4-4 on an emergency request to overturn that order, we could have new districts for 2018 only, and that could help Democrats retake control of the U.S. House," he wrote on his blog.

The combined cases are Common Cause v. Rucho and League of Women Voters of North Carolina v. Rucho.WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's attempt to secure a landmark trade deal entered a critical stage on Tuesday, as his advisers began high-level talks with Canadian officials and GOP lawmakers said that they would insist on including Canada in any agreement.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland arrived in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday afternoon to begin reviewing the trade outline Trump had inked the day before with Mexican leaders.

Trump has said the Mexico agreement, which largely focuses on manufacturing, would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, and that he is prepared to formalize this new deal even if Canada refuses to join.

But there were mixed signals Tuesday whether the Mexican government would go along with such an arrangement, and a number of GOP lawmakers signaled that this approach was unwise and may not satisfy congressional procedures for approving trade agreements.

The lawmakers' views are crucial because Congress must sign off on any trade deal before it can take effect.

Trump's ultimatums and the White House demand that progress be made by Friday have moved discussions about a new North American trade agreement into a rapid phase after months of mixed results.

"We have been encouraged by the progress made by our NAFTA partners over the past weeks. This is an important step to moving forward on renegotiating and improving NAFTA," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters Tuesday.

Most GOP senators strongly support the existing NAFTA agreement, which was brokered in 1994, saying it has brought jobs to their states. Although they have reluctantly gone along with the Trump administration's attempts to renegotiate the three-party deal, the idea of leaving Canada out was met with near universal condemnation Tuesday.

"Obviously, Canada's got to be willing to reach an agreement but it would be really shortsighted for us to have an agreement only with Mexico," said Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan.

Several lawmakers argued that a bilateral U.S.-Mexico deal could not even be brought before Congress because the fast-track rules governing the NAFTA renegotiations pertained specifically to a three-party deal.

Sen. John Cornyn, Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican, told reporters Tuesday there would be "technical problems" with Congress voting on a bilateral U.S.-Mexico trade deal.

Special fast-track provisions for trade allow bills to pass the Senate with a simple majority instead of the 60 votes often required for major legislation.

"My hope is that Canada comes on board rather quickly," Cornyn said. "I hope we can get this done, and I hope Canada's on board. Because that would eliminate some of the technical, procedural problems . . . that might otherwise arise."

Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., whose views often reflect those of many of the free-trade Republicans in Congress, expressed similar views about Senate passage of a deal excluding Canada. "NAFTA was enacted with legislation. . . . Similarly, a change to NAFTA requires legislation," he said.

There was also skepticism generally about the Trump administration's announcement of a deal with Mexico, given the scant details available and GOP lawmakers' wariness about the president's impulsive and scattershot approach on trade - the issue that, more than any other, has divided him from his allies on Capitol Hill.

"Trump can't just pull out of NAFTA on his own. It took an act of Congress to get into NAFTA, and it will take an act of Congress to get out of it," said Jennifer Hillman, a former general counsel for the United States Trade Representative under President Bill Clinton.

After top advisers talked optimistically about working with Canada to reach a deal, other White House officials took a harder line - seemingly echoing Trump's statement on Monday that "we'll see" if Canada can join the deal later.

"This deal is pretty well put together with Mexico," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Fox Business Network on Tuesday. "So the president, as he's indicated, is fully prepared to go ahead with or without Canada. We hope that Canada will come in. I think it's a good idea if they do. There's really not much they should object to. But if not, they will then have to be treated as a real outsider."

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, speaking on CNBC, offered a similar assessment, saying it might be necessary for the United States to cut one deal with Mexico and then work on a separate arrangement with Canada.

Other Trump advisers - particularly U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer - have indicated that they fully intend to try to bring Canada back into the deal.

If ratified, the "preliminary agreement with Mexico," as the White House termed it, would update the NAFTA rules governing trade between the two countries. The full text has not been made available, and many details remain unresolved. But excerpts released Monday include new rules aimed at bolstering the North American auto industry against foreign competition. The pact also included intellectual-property protections and labor rights rules.

The stock market rallied sharply after the partial deal was announced, with many investors seeing it as offering a first sign that Trump was shifting away from the protectionist trade approach he adopted earlier this year.

Bringing Canada into the deal would require resolving a host of thorny disputes between the United States and one of its largest trading partners. The United States wants Canada to agree to change its dairy and intellectual-property-protection policies, among other things, while Canada wants Washington to drop tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Some provisions - including new rules requiring more high-wage North American auto manufacturing - would be favorable for Canada.

"If they really want to have a deal, we can probably work through the issues," said an official close to the negotiations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential deliberations.

One major sticking point might have already been addressed, however. Trudeau had repeatedly rejected a White House demand that the trade deal expire after five years. As part of the agreement with Mexico, the White House agreed to a 16-year term for the trade agreement, with the potential for consistent renewal. Parties would have the opportunity to raise objections to the deal after six years. It could not immediately be learned whether Canada would accept this U.S. concession.

The trade dispute has heightened the personal tension between Trump and Trudeau, driving an extraordinary public feud between allies and neighbors. At a July meeting of the Group of Seven industrial nations, Trudeau criticized Trump's metals tariffs and called it "insulting" that the administration would impose tariffs on Canadian goods in the name of national security.

Trump reacted by calling Trudeau "dishonest" and "weak" in a Twitter post and by threatening tariffs on the Canadian automobile industry, as well as by withdrawing the United States from the meeting's joint statement.

The warnings from Toomey and other Republican lawmakers appeared to make Trump defiantly defend his approach Tuesday.

"I smile at Senators and others talking about how good free trade is for the U.S.," Trump wrote on Twitter. "What they don't say is that we lose Jobs and over 800 Billion Dollars a year on really dumb Trade Deals . . . and these same countries Tariff us to death. These lawmakers are just fine with this!"

Trump referred to the $811 billion gap between how much the United States imports and how much it sells to other countries. Trump has said the trade deficit is evidence the country is losing jobs to foreign competitors. Many economists say it promotes economic growth, as it allows U.S. consumers to buy lower-cost goods from overseas.

Washington's brusque treatment of its northern neighbor over the past weeks of negotiations with Mexico reflects Trump officials' irritation with Canadian negotiators who dismissed as unserious several hard-line U.S. demands in the early months of the talks.

"Canada is seen as not negotiating fairly or in good faith while Canada sees itself as being punished for having the temerity to be standing up for Canadian interests," said Eric Miller, president of Rideau Potomac Strategy Group.

Canada is surprised to find itself in this lonely position. Mexican officials privately had dismissed the idea of joining Trump to celebrate any deal that did not include Canada. Yet Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray and his team appeared in the Oval Office for Trump's stage-managed phone call with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Instead of working alongside Mexican negotiators to improve the partial deal, Canada will be battling against the odds to defend some of its core commercial interests, analysts said.

The sheer number of issues requiring decisions make it unlikely that a three-way deal will be agreed by Friday, the day U.S. officials plan to formally notify Congress of the pact with Mexico.

"It isn't impossible to get a deal. But in all likelihood, we're going to move well past the Friday deadline," said Dan Ujczo, a trade attorney at the law firm Dickinson Wright. "There's both political and practical reasons why it extends beyond Friday."

The White House is hoping to use a complex legal arrangement to have Mexico ratify the new trade arrangement. This would require the White House to send a letter to Congress on Friday, stating that it has entered into a trade agreement with Mexico. That letter could stipulate that Canada may enter the trade deal in the future, though congressional aides cautioned that such a two-step approach may not meet congressional procedures.

Within 30 days, the White House will have to send the formal trade agreement to Congress, and at that point it will have to resolve all differences with Canada. Congress would then have an additional 60 days to review the completed deal before the Mexican government approves it in late November, before its new president takes office Dec. 1.

And a number of factors could potentially derail talks during that period. Trump, for example, insisted again Tuesday that Mexico would pay for a wall along the U.S. border. Mexican officials immediately rejected that notion, saying they would never agree to it.

---

The Washington Post's Heather Long and Felicia Sonmez contributed to this report.



The Cleveland Stormwater Division and Bradley County Stormwater co-sponsored a stream cleanup on Saturday, Aug. 18 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. along the Cleveland Greenway.Thirty-five volunteers from Cleveland State Community Colleges First Year Seminar Boot Camp participated in the cleanup. The volunteers collected over 15 bags of trash and debris weighing over 200 pounds.Our goal is to help enhance the water quality and improve the overall quality of life for all residents, said Stormwater Coordinator Chris Broom.We appreciate the time and effort of everyone who participated in our event.For more information about the city of Clevelands stormwater programs, contact Stormwater Coordinator Chris Broom at 423-479-1913 or cbroom@clevelandtn.gov.A toddler who died after being held with her mother at a South Texas immigrant family detention facility was identified Monday by a law firm, which said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement failed them inexcusably.

Mariee Juarez was just 21 months old when she died on May 10 of an intrathorasic hemorrhage, resulting in brain and organ damage, attorneys with the Arnold & Porter law firm said in a statement.

The full facts show that the medical care Mariee received in ICE detention was woefully inadequate, neglectful, and substandard, the statement said. We are working with Yazmin and her family to obtain justice for the failures by ICE and others, and to ensure that no other family suffers such a needless and devastating loss.

In response, ICE officials said in a statement that the agency takes very seriously the health, safety and welfare of those in our care. ICE is committed to ensuring the welfare of all those in the agencys custody, including providing access to necessary and appropriate medical care.

FROM OUR SUBSCRIBER SITE: Authorities launch probe into reports of migrant child dying after stay at immigration facility

Mariees mother, 20-year-old Yazmin Juarez, said she fled violence in Guatemala, seeking asylum in the U.S. for her daughter and herself. The two crossed the Rio Grande into South Texas on March 1 where they were quickly detained and requested asylum.

From there, the Juarezes were taken to the Dilley facility on March 5.

Juarez told her attorney that she and Mariee were assigned a cot in an open area, where the air condition was constantly at full speed, the law firms statement said.

She added that she was immediately concerned by the number of children around them coughing constantly, and that they appeared to not be receiving treatment, according to the statement.

Instead of offering safe harbor from the life-threatening violence they were fleeing, ICE detained Yazmin and her baby Mariee in a place with unsafe conditions, neglectful medical care, and inadequate supervision, the attorneys statement said.

ICE officials said that comprehensive medical care is provided to all individuals in ICE custody.

Staffing includes registered nurses and licensed practical nurses, licensed mental health providers, mid-level providers that include a physicians assistant and nurse practitioner, a physician, dental care, and access to 24-hour emergency care, officials said.

ICE said in the statement that it spends more than $250,000,000 annually on the spectrum of health-care services provided to those in our care.

Medical staff that checked Mariee and her mother into the Dilley facility said that the toddler had no illnesses or health problems. She was described as a happy and boisterous, normal 18-month-old when she arrived there.

Juarez said that within a week of being at the facility, according to the lawyers statement, Mariee fell ill with congestion and a cough.

Mariees condition worsened over the next several days, the statement said. She had a 104.2 degree fever, along with cough, congestion, diarrhea, and vomiting.

The facilitys medical staff diagnosed Mariee with an ear infection and acute bronchiolitis, the statement said, prescribing her common antibiotics and fever reducers.

RELATED: Group with fascist ties takes credit for attack on anti-ICE protest camp

By the time they were released on March 25, Mariee had lost 8 percent of her body weight, had more coughing and was vomiting clear liquid.

She also was exhibiting symptoms that Juarezs attorneys said should have been indicative of adenovirus, but that her medical records make no mention of it.

The registered nurse who saw Mariee at the facility had noted that a referral would be made for (Mariee) to see a provider, but the medical records do not indicate that the registered nurse or anyone else ever made any such referral, the attorneys office said.

Juarezs attorney also said that when they were released on March 25, Mariee was seen by a Licensed Vocational Nurse who cleared her to travel without restriction or medical supervision. None of her symptoms were noted, the attorneys office said.

Juarez told her attorney that she took Mariee to her mother in New Jersey. From there, Mariee was seen by a pediatrician and then taken to an area emergency room, where she was placed on life support.

Over six weeks, Mariee was transferred to two different hospitals for specialized care for progressive respiratory failure.

She died at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia after numerous medical examinations and procedures, according to Juarezs attorney.

In the final weeks of her life, Mariee underwent unspeakable pain and suffering, all of which could have been prevented by early and competent medical intervention, the law firms statement said.

The Express-News previously reported that the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services launched an abuse and neglect investigation into reports of a child dying after being released from a federal immigration camp in Dilley.

The agency could not release any details of the investigation, including any names of people or victims involved, but confirmed it is ongoing as of Monday.

jbeltran@express-news.net | Twitter: @JBfromSAPierre Grace was driving a 2015 BMW 535i on Station Road, just north of Sunrise Highway, when he crashed the vehicle into two other vehicles, then fled on foot with his passenger Rakeem Holland at approximately 5:18 p.m. When officers arrived on the scene, they found two loaded handguns in the BMW. One of the handguns was previously reported stolen. Following a foot pursuit, both men were apprehended. The two men were transported to Long Island Community Hospital in East Patchogue where they received medical treatment and were released.Local News, Crime, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: August 28 2018

NCPD: Two male blacks - one with a handgun - were observed on surveillance video entering the school through a roof hatch.

Westbury, NY - August 28, 2018 - Third Squad detectives are investigating a Burglary that occurred on Sunday, August 26, 2018 at 10:25 p.m. in Third Squad detectives are investigating a Burglary that occurred on Sunday, August 26, 2018 at 10:25 p.m. in Westbury

According to detectives, police officers responded to Park Avenue Elementary School at 955 Park Avenue for an alarm. Upon arrival the officers were met by a school security employee who assisted officers with the search of the premise.

During the investigation two male blacks, approximately 14-17 years old, were observed on surveillance entering the school through an unlocked roof hatch. One of the subjects was observed taking a black handgun from his waistband as they walked through the halls. The subjects fled the scene as they triggered the alarm. Both males are described as 57 tall and 140 pounds. There are no reported proceeds at this time.Local News, Crime, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: August 28 2018

Police: Rakeem Holland, 27, was allegedly selling narcotics and also forced females to engage in prostitution to repay debts.

Bellport, NY - August 28, 2018 - Suffolk County Police arrested a Suffolk County Police arrested a Bellport man for sex trafficking and narcotics sales on Monday, August 27, 2018.

Following a five-month investigation by the Narcotics Section and the Human Trafficking Unit, detectives determined Rakeem Holland was selling narcotics and also provided narcotics to women to act as prostitutes and forced females to engage in prostitution to repay debts. Holland, who police were looking for in connection to these crimes, was located after a hit-and-run crash in Bellport in which he was a passenger.

Holland, 27, was arrested and charged with two counts of Sex Trafficking: Provide Narcotics, two counts of Sex Trafficking: Repay a Debt, Promoting Prostitution 3rd Degree, two counts of Promoting Prostitution 4th Degree and four counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance 3rd Degree. Holland was held overnight at the Fifth Precinct for arraignment today at First District Court in Central IslipLocal News, Crime, Press Releases, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: August 28 2018

SLA and DMV Partner to Conduct Underage Operations in College Towns Across the State.

Albany, NY - August 28, 2018 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced a joint effort by state agencies to crack down on underage drinking on college campuses and in college towns as the fall semester begins. The New York State Liquor Authority and the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, working with local law enforcement agencies, will conduct statewide sweeps of locations holding liquor licenses, including bars, restaurants, liquor stores and grocery stores, looking for fake IDs and illegal sales to minors.

"Underage drinking can lead to bad decisions that could have lifelong consequences, or worse, and this administration is committed to taking proactive measures to prevent young New Yorkers from purchasing and abusing alcohol," Governor Cuomo said. "These statewide enforcement sweeps will continue to be a part of our efforts to deter underage drinking and the avoidable tragedies that too often follow."

The combined enforcement effort will begin immediately as college students return to campus for the fall semester. The enhanced enforcement sweeps build upon the Governor's successful safety initiatives to deter underage drinking and prevent the purchase and use of false identification documents, and supplement the State Liquor Authority and DMV's regular underage enforcement efforts conducted throughout the year.

Persons under the age of 21 found to be using fake IDs or false documents with the intent of purchasing alcohol can be arrested and have their license revoked for a minimum of 90 days or up to one year. Additionally, businesses charged by the State Liquor Authority with underage sales face civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, and repeat offenders also face potential suspension or revocation of their liquor licenses.

State Liquor Authority Chairman Vincent Bradley said, "Under Governor Cuomo, state agencies are combining their resources and working with local law enforcement to crack down on underage drinking and the use of fake IDs. Licensees are reminded to make every effort to ensure they are not selling to minors, including taking the simple and straightforward step of checking the ID of anyone appearing to be underage."

DMV Executive Deputy Commissioner and GTSC Acting Chair Terri Egan said, "With the help of new technology, our investigators can detect even the most sophisticated fake IDs. We are not out to spoil the start of anyone's semester. Our goal is to deter underage students from abusing alcohol and possibly putting their lives and the lives of others at risk. We are proud to work with the SLA and law enforcement in support of the Governor's efforts to curb underage drinking throughout the state."

OASAS Commissioner Arlene Gonzalez-Sanchez said, "There is no greater influence on a young person's decisions about alcohol or drug use than the support system around them. Governor Cuomo's initiative to crack down on underage drinking involves the efforts of entities and individuals who are in a position to protect and deter young adults from underage drinking and make a positive impact in their lives."

On May 9, Governor Cuomo announced that during underage drinking sweeps conducted in April 2018, the State Liquor Authority charged 200 businesses with selling to a minor, and DMV made 48 arrests of persons under 21 attempting to use false identification to purchase alcohol.

On August 3, Governor Cuomo announced the launch of a new DMV pilot program using state-of-the-art technology to crack down on underage drinking and the use of fake IDs. The new technology, developed by New York-based company Intellicheck Inc., allows law enforcement to scan a license or ID using the Intellicheck "Law ID" app on the investigator's smartphone and match it against driving records from all 50 states. Within seconds, investigators know if an ID is authentic or not. New York is the first state in the nation to pilot the program. Later this month, additional DMV investigators will begin using this technology in the field.

This fall, the State Liquor Authority and the Empire State Restaurant & Tavern Association will again host a series of free compliance trainings throughout the state. These day-long programs for bar, restaurant and tavern owners and their staff focus on the legal responsibilities of selling alcohol and provide training in practical skills to help licensees and their employees fulfill their legal responsibilities, including preventing sales to minors.

Research shows that each year, nationwide:

More than 1,800 college students die from alcohol-related injuries;

696,000 college students are assaulted by another student that has been drinking; and

97,000 college students experience alcohol-related sexual assault.

Drinking alcohol before age 21 can interfere with brain development, causing potential learning difficulties well into the early 20s; and

Early alcohol use is associated with poor grades, absenteeism and higher school dropout rates.Food, Wine, & Dining, Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: August 28 2018

Initiative Delivers on State of the State Promise to Provide $7 million in State Funding to 1,400 Schools That Offer Breakfast After the Bell.

Albany, NY - August 28, 2018 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the launch of "No Students Goes Hungry" program. This comprehensive program addresses food insecurity by expanding access to free breakfast for students in poverty, increases access to farm-fresh foods and ensures that all students have access to school meals without fear of shame. The program also includes $1.5 million to expand the successful Farm-to-School program.

"A well-rounded meal can make all the difference in a child's life, providing the focus and energy they need for a productive school day," Governor Cuomo said. "No child should never have to wonder where their next meal will come from, making the No Student Goes Hungry program critical to helping students across New York reach their full potential each day."

"This initiative will expand the free breakfast program for low-income students and offer fruits and vegetables from local farms -- because no student should be hungry in school," said Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. "This funding will provide schools in high-poverty areas with the resources they need to ensure all students have access to a healthy breakfast so they have the energy to succeed in the classroom and in their everyday lives."

The No Students Goes Hungry program supports high poverty areas around the state to make breakfast accessible for students after the school day has begun. Before the program was implemented, many schools would only offer breakfast to students before the start of school as buses arrived, leaving many students unavailable to take advantage of the meal programs.

The State is providing $7 million in funding to support equipment for high-poverty schools that offer breakfast after the bell, assisting schools in purchasing equipment such as refrigeration, coolers, vending machines, and breakfast kiosks to support the transition to breakfast after the bell.

The program also makes $1.5 million is available for eligible school districts to support the growth of Farm-to-School programs. The program helps Kindergarten through Grade 12 schools increase the volume and variety of locally grown and produced food on school menus, improve student health, and educate young people about agriculture. The program also assists the agricultural economy, providing additional business to New York's farmers. Funding for the Farm-to-School program was doubled in the State's 2018-19 Budget.

In addition, in order to incentivize the use of farm-fresh food in school cafeterias, the state will provide an increase in the reimbursement schools receive for lunches from the current 5.9 cents per meal to 25 cents per meal for any district that purchases at least 30 percent of its ingredients from New York farms.

Senator Carl Marcellino, Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Education said, "School children should never have to be responsible for feeding themselves or go hungry because their parents cannot afford it. By guaranteeing a meal after the bell for students in poverty, this initiative ensures that each and every child across New York State will have access to the produce and healthy meals they need to succeed in and out of the classroom."

Assemblymember Cathy Nolan, Chair of the Education Committee said, "When children go to school, they should be able to focus on what's going on in the classroom. This initiative helps ensure that a child's academic performance never suffers because of hunger and that they are never intimidated or made to feel ashamed or embarrassed for their inability to pay for school meals. I'd also like to thank Speaker Heastie for his role in helping prioritize the success of New York's students."

Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon said, "No child should ever have to worry about where their next meal will come from or be intimidated or shamed for inability to pay for it. This initiative will help us ensure that every child has access to both a healthy lunch and breakfast, complete with fresh produce. By expanding access to free breakfast and making certain that every family is aware of their meal-related benefits, we can help our children be successful in and out of the classroom. I would also like to thank our Education Committee Chair Cathy Nolan for her leadership on this important issue."

Child hunger is often associated with lower grades, higher rates of absenteeism, repeating a grade, and an inability to focus among students, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For many children, the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program offer the best opportunity to receive a regular nutritious meal throughout the week.

Unfortunately, while nearly 60 percent of students in New York public schools are currently eligible to receive a free or reduced-price breakfast at school, only 34 percent of these students eat breakfast on any given day, according to the New York State Education Department. The No Student Goes Hungry program aims to close that gap.

Finally, New York banned meal shaming, a practice in some schools where children are singled out, provided a lesser meal, or otherwise treated differently for not having money for a meal. This program will require districts to enact a policy to address how meal debt will be communicated to parents, while ensuring that every student is still provided a school meal without humiliation or shame.Local News, Business & Finance, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: August 28 2018

More than $15 million awarded to nonprofits in the greater NYC area; Eight in NY-04 are awarded nearly $150,000 each.

Long Island, NY - August 28, 2018 - U.S. Representative Kathleen Rice, Ranking Member on the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, announced today that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has awarded more than $15 million for security enhancements to nonprofit organizations in the greater New York City area, including nearly $1.2 million to eight Jewish organizations, synagogues and schools in New Yorks fourth congressional district. The funding was awarded through DHSs FY 2018 Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP), which supports target hardening and physical security enhancements at nonprofit organizations that are at a higher risk of a terrorist attack. The Merrick Jewish Centre, the Hebrew Academy of the 5 Towns and Rockaway, Rambam Mesivta, the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach, Yeshiva Gedola of the Five Towns, The Hebrew Academy for Special Children in Woodmere, and the Brandeis School in Lawrence were each awarded $150,000 in NSGP funds. The Friedberg JCC in Oceanside was awarded $149,998.

As the threat of terrorism continues to evolve, we need to remain vigilant and take the necessary steps to protect potential targets in our community, said Representative Kathleen Rice. I am pleased that we secured this funding to help enhance security measures and emergency response capabilities at several Jewish nonprofits in our district, and Ill continue working to ensure that all of our communities have the resources and support they need to keep people safe.

Howard Segal, President of the Merrick Jewish Centre said, Our congregation is extraordinarily grateful to Congresswoman Kathleen Rice and to the Department of Homeland Security for this grant. This funding will allow us to continue our efforts to protect and secure our building and the members of our community who are here with us each and every day.

The Rambam Mesivta joins other institutions in expressing our deep appreciation for this grant, which will be used to provide our students with an additional level of security, said Rabbi Zev Friedman, Dean of Rambam Mesivta. Id also like to express a special thanks to our local Representative, Congresswoman Kathleen Rice, as well as to the Orthodox Union and Teach NYS for their tireless efforts to ensure the safety and security of all students in New York State.

These funds will help secure the three campuses of the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach and ensure the safety of our students and parents for many years to come, said Richard Hagler, Executive Director of the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Representative Kathleen Rice for her leadership and guidance in helping us acquire these crucial funds.

The Friedberg JCC is grateful to Congresswoman Rice for her continued support of Jewish Community Centers and non-profit organizations, said Roni Kleinman, Associate Executive Director of the Friedberg JCC. This much needed security funding will make a significant impact on improving the quality of life for our members, staff and community.SPRINGFIELD -- Members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, pointing to profits earned by hospitals in the state and to their own experiences at patient bedsides, marched Tuesday at the headquarters of Baystate Health in support of Question 1.

Question 1 on November's state general election ballot would set how many patients can be assigned to each registered nurse in Massachusetts hospitals based on how sick the patient is, whether anesthesia is used and the type of unit the patient is in.

Hospitals say the ballot question would rob them of flexibility in managing staff and would cost too much money at a time when insurance reimbursements, including from government plans like Medicare and Medicaid, don't keep up with the cost of providing care.

"We support our nurses and their ability to make real-time decisions on patient care," said Christine Klucznik, chief nursing officer at Baystate Medical Center. "We take our responsibility of providing safe, high quality critical care to our region seriously. A government mandate would take that decision making away from nurses at the bedside and have serious negative impacts on our ability to care for patients."

Registered nurse Suzanne Love, who works in the emergency department at Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, said if the question passes, nurses would fill out a questionnaire on each patient to determine acuity, a medical term for how sick a patient is and how much care is required. That would determine the ratio of nurses to patients.

The two dozen or so nurses at Tuesday's demonstration cited their own recent experience.

In June, Love and the 200 or so other union nurses at Baystate Franklin signed a new Massachusetts Nurses Association union contract with Baystate Health imposing new staffing ratios. The contract calls for the new rules to take effect six months after ratification.

But Baystate has already hired 20 more RNs because of the contract, Love said.

"They needed more nurses to meet the ratios," Love said. "That's good for us. That's good for the community."

MNA member Erin Johnson is a nurse at Providence Behavioral Health in Holyoke, where parent Trinity Health laid off nurses and other staffers earlier this year, citing rising expenses and low reimbursements. Johnson lost her job in the adolescent pediatric unit and now works with elderly psychiatric patients.

But there are too few nurses in the elderly unit, so their time is taken up with medication distribution and other vital duties, she said.

"We don't have time to sit with the patients. We don't have time for compassionate care," Johnson said. "We don't have as much time to talk with the families as we'd like."

The cutbacks mean Providence is unlikely to reopen 12 (of 24) pediatric psychiatric beds it stopped using in the spring.

There is a shortage of pediatric mental health inpatient care with many ill children languishing in emergency rooms for days. Providence is the only such hospital in Western or Central Massachusetts. The nearest facilities are in Brattleboro, Vermont, and Manchester, Connecticut.

The picketing nurses also pointed to hospital profits. Baystate Health reported $70.6 million more revenues than expenses, a margin of 2.9 percent, in a recent state study. Trinity Health, a multi-state company, reported $1.3 billion in excess revenue over expenses, a 7.1 percent margin.

Baystate says its profits are money it needs to fund capital improvements like additions and renovations and to invest in technology.

The Massachusetts Nurses Association has been working to get staffing ratios in place for years. In 2014, a legislative compromise that imposed mandatory staffing ratios in intensive care units kept the question off the ballot.SPRINGFIELD -- NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Josh Williams brought his hospital tour to Baystate Children's Hospital Monday.

Williams helped young patients at Baystate make painted hand prints on white paper plates. Those prints will be scanned into a digital form and will decorate his No. 90 Chevrolet for the last race of his season, the Ford EcoBoost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway Nov. 17.

"It started through a mutual friend of ours," Williams said. "They had a little girl that was battling cancer. We visited her and thought man, we need to do this all the time. So, I would visit a hospital at each state I was racing in -- the Josh Williams Hospital Tour grew out of that.

"It has been a fun adventure. We try to spread love. It is fun to see the kids and see a weight lift off of their shoulders. They forget about the reasons why they are there. It is a heartwarming feeling," Williams said.

The Baystate Children's Hospital logo will also be put on the car next to patient and team hand prints.

Patient McKenzie Wajda showed off her handiwork.

"This really made me feel better. Thank you," she said.

Amy Kimball, patient activity coordinator at Baystate Children's, had positive things to say.

"Josh was awesome," she said. "I loved how genuine he was with the children and their parents. He was great with all ages. He told us that the kids make him feel good too. We hope he wins!"LENOX -- The Boston Symphony Orchestra paid tribute to the great Leonard Bernstein this past weekend with a star-studded lineup at Tanglewood.

Six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald was joined by vocalists Jessica Vosk (Wicked), Tony Yazbeck (On the Town) and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. The orchestra was conducted by BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons, Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart, Boston Pops Conductor Laureate John Williams, San Francisco Symphony Music Director and one of Bernstein's close associates and friends Michael Tilson Thomas, and National Symphony Orchestra Conductor Laureate Christoph Eschenbach, who won the Leonard Bernstein Award from the Pacific Music Festival.

The concert , which will be shown on PBS on Dec. 28, capped an incredible season celebrated the centennial of the late composer's birth.

But summer is not over yet at the Koussevitzky Music Shed.

Familiar, famous and talented faces will perform Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon at Tanglewood.

Internationally acclaimed trumpeter, composer, bandleader, and educator Wynton Marsalis brings the Wynton Marsalis Quintet to the Koussevitzky Music Shed on Saturday at 7 p.m., as part of the closing weekend of the 2018 Tanglewood season.

The concert will also include a very special guest performance by the Ellis Marsalis Quintet, featuring the patriarch of the Marsalis family, New Orleans-based modern jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis.

As a leading educator at several universities, Ellis Marsalis has influenced the careers of countless musicians, including his four musician sons: Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo, and Jason.

Tickets are priced between $29-$119 and available online at bso.org. The gates open at 4:30 p.m.

On Sunday at 2:30 p.m., Tanglewood closes its 2018 season with a mix of laughter and music.

Steve Martin and Martin Short headline "An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life."

The two comedians will be joined by the Grammy Award winning bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers.

The duo are expected to recall their iconic careers, creative influences and most memorable encounters, uniquely presented though a blend of stand-up, musical numbers and conversations about their lives in show business.Children dressed in army fatigues, bulletproof vests, and T-shirts splattered with fake blood walked in an "ironic fashion show" outside Boston's City Hall in protest of the gun violence plaguing schools across the country

The kids, ranging in age from 4 to 19, walked the catwalk stone-faced as a DJ blasted "Born to Be Alive" and "This Is America" into City Hall Plaza.

With the dramatic, artistic protests, organizers said they want to capture the attention of voters, legislators, reporters, and the gun lobby.

"You only have two options here gun lobby," said Manuel Oliver, whose 17-year-old son died in the Parkland school shooting. "This train is not going to stop. You've got to work or you move to the side."

The fashion show was organized by Manuel and Patricia Oliver, whose son Joaquin was killed in the Valentine's Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. With their non-profit Change the Ref, Manuel and Patricia Oliver hope to "give the young generation of survivors and victims a disrupting voice to help lead the way to change."

The protest followed last weekend's 50-mile March from Worcester to Smith & Wesson in Springfield. Students from across the state banded together to call for an end to gun violence.

"We don't want a bulletproof vest to be on our parents' checklist," Kiara Dejesus, a 17-year-old student at Lawrence High School, said. "It shouldn't be necessary."

Jack Torres, 16, said he began organizing walkouts at Somerville High School to protest gun violence in his sophomore year. He walked in the fashion show, modeling a vest that said: "Don't Shoot."

"It's scary," he said. "At any moment our school can become the next one that's on the front page."

Manuel Oliver warned anyone listening that continued violence is inevitable unless candidates who believe in his cause are elected.

"We were letting [politicians] know we knew it was going to happen again. And they didn't listen," Manuel Oliver said. "And I'm going to say it again it will happen again. It will happen maybe today. It could happen right now. This is an issue where we live."

During the fashion show, an announcer described each child's outfit to the crowd. A photo of 17-year-old Joaquin Oliver was the backdrop for the eery performance.

"Caution," the announcer said as a young woman with police tape across her body walked on stage. "I'm just a young lady trying to get my education sitting in school wondering...is my school next?"

Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley led some of the younger kids on stage and spoke to about 30 people who had stopped to watch the show.

"This fashion show here today it's made folks uncomfortable and that's a good thing. To use art as a tool and a vehicle for a change. To lift up youth voice...and to uplift the voices of survivors," Pressly, who is running for Congress, said.

Many speakers, including, Monica Cannon-Grant, an activist and the founder of Violence in Boston, noted that Massachusetts has "some of the strongest gun legislation in the country."

This is not stopping young people in communities of color from accessing illegal firearms, she said.

"Where are the guns coming from?" Cannon-Grant asked. "That's the conversation we need to have. It is the states around us that don't have the same legislation, which is causing guns to be funneled into communities of color by the bucket load."

There have been 30 fatal shootings in Boston this year, according to Boston Police data.

Hannah Witherby, a 15-year-old student at Natick High School who walked in the fashion show, said the outfits didn't seem far-fetched.

"There are selling bulletproof backpacks," she said. "It's said, but it has come to this."DNA detected on an alleged weapon found at the home of accused murderer and serial rapist Stewart Weapon matched his genetic profile, according to testing results included in the case's public court file.

Weldon, 41, was arraigned Monday on 52 criminal counts, including murder, rape and strangulation. He entered not guilty pleas.

The test results say DNA matching Weldon's profile was found on a tank top belonging to one victim and an item -- two sticks connected with wire -- that prosecutors say was used as a weapon.

"Stains from the clothing of one of the alleged sexual assault victims were tested for DNA. It is alleged that this stain was the result of the defendant cleaning himself after an alleged rape," prosecutors wrote in a motion to perform further DNA testing on Weldon. "Two sticks wrapped with wire were seized from the property. This item was allegedly used to assault at least one victim."

Police found the bodies of Kayla Escalante, 27; America Lyden, 34; and Ernestine Ryans, 47; during a search of the home at 1333 Page Boulevard in May, following Weldon's arrest for the alleged kidnapping and rape of the mother of his children.

Multiple other women came forward to police with allegations of abduction and assault after Weldon's arrest. He is accused of killing Escalante, Lyden and Ryans. Weldon is also accused of committing an array of assaults and sex crimes against eight living victims.

Investigators sent a number of objects found at Weldon's home to the State Police Crime Laboratory for testing, including brown tape found on the ankle of one of the slain women and stains from a sheet found in a trash bag in the home's kitchen.

But only three generated clear matches to Weldon's DNA profile, the State Police Crime Lab told Springfield Police. The stain on the tank top and the two wire-wrapped wooden sticks both were matches, along with a third item which was redacted in the report.

The sticks and wire contained two separate male DNA samples, according to the testing report: Weldon's, and another man who left a minor sample that lacked sufficient quality to analyzed.

The second sample does not necessarily indicate that another person was involved in the crime.

While traditional DNA testing requires substantial samples from DNA sources like blood or semen, the items from Weldon's home were examined using a newer type of analysis called "touch DNA."

That method can detect DNA profiles from microscopic skin cells left on an object, allowing investigators to collect forensic evidence from items with no visible evidence of human contact.

The testing is so sensitive that incidental touching of the wood or wire used to make the alleged weapon could have been detected. DNA expert John Butler told ProPublica last year that such high-sensitivity methods can find DNA transferred between people during a handshake. And authorities have not given any indication that anyone other than Weldon was involved in the crimes.

The Hampden District Attorney's Office did not immediately return a request for comment. Weldon's attorney Brian E. Murphy could also not immediately be reached for comment.WESTFIELD -- Industrial hemp farmers Mark and Violet Hall were the "dominant aggressors" in a domestic altercation that left a tenant on their property with bruises and a black eye, according to Southwick police.

Police responded to the Hall residence at 55 Tannery Road on July 31. A woman living with her wife in a camper on the property told police she had been punched in the eye by Violet Hall and kicked in the back by Mark Hall.

The alleged victim is married to Mark Hall's daughter, according to a statement of facts filed by police at Westfield District Court, where Hall was arraigned on Aug. 1. He is charged with domestic assault and battery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, a boot.

Mark Hall was released on personal recognizance and ordered to refrain from threats and violence. He is scheduled to return for a pretrial hearing on Oct. 11. Violet Hall will also receive a court summons, according to the police affidavit.

The younger couple had been ordered to vacate the Hall property by Aug. 1, the alleged victim told police. She said on July 31, Violet Hall came up the steps of the camper, grabbed her arm, and hit her in the eye. She said that Violet Hall then slipped backward and injured her own wrist trying to break her fall.

The alleged victim told police that Mark Hall then pushed his way into the camper, yelled and swore at her and kicked her in the back.

Hall's daughter told police she witnessed the entire incident, and backed up her wife's version of events. In a police station booking room, Mark Hall denied kicking the alleged victim, according to police.

Police documented the injuries, including an "obvious swollen right eye" and red marks on the alleged victim's back and arm, interviewed Mark Hall and the couple and determined "Mark and Violet to have been the dominant aggressors in this situation."

Violet Hall, who had initially been transported to Noble Hospital in Westfield with a wrist injury, later showed up at the Southwick Police Department to request that charges be filed against her accuser, the police report states.

Responding officer David P. Massai told Violet Hall that if she wished to file charges, she could do so at Westfield District Court. He also advised her of the proper legal process for evicting the couple in the camper.

Mark and Violet Hall recently obtained a license from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources to grow and process industrial hemp at sites in Easthampton and Southwick. The new agriculture pilot program is legal under state law.

Hemp is touted as a form of marijuana that will not get people high because it has very low levels of THC, the plant's main psychoactive ingredient.

Among many uses, hemp flowers can be used to make CBD oil. Cannabidiol, or CBD, is a non-psychoactive material found in cannabis. Proponents claim that CBD contains healing properties. The Halls propose to extract CBD oil from the hemp they will grow.

Violet Hall is already in the CBD business. She owns "Ora Care" storefronts in Easthampton and Springfield, where she sells "CBD tinctures, vape oils, edibles, and other infused items." The Springfield location's website advertises a cafe with CBD-infused coffee, tea and edibles, along with such items as "puff and paint" classes and medical marijuana consultations.

Ora Care is not a state-registered medical marijuana dispensary.

Hemp is defined by the state as cannabis with THC levels lower than .3 percent. The Ora Care website says their products are tested at MCR Labs in Framingham. It's not clear where Hall currently sources her CBD products.

In July, Violet and Mark Hall appeared before the Easthampton Planning Board under "Misty Valley Farm" and gained site plan approval to grow hemp in the basement of the Eastworks building at 116 Pleasant St. Plants have not yet been started there, according to a city official who recently viewed the site.

The two are also authorized by the state to grow hemp at an undisclosed location in Southwick.

It's not clear what happens to a Massachusetts hemp farmer who is accused of a crime, because state law governing the plant -- which is still illegal under federal law -- makes no specific reference to the matter.

An email to state agriculture commissioner John LeBeaux asking if Hall's arrest could have any bearing on his hemp license was answered by Katie Gronendyke, press secretary for the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

"The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) cannot comment on an ongoing criminal case," Gronendyke wrote.

She referred only to Section 45 of Chapter 55 of the Acts of 2017, which says the commissioner "shall suspend, revoke or refuse to renew the license of a person who violates sections 116 to 123, inclusive, following appropriate process in accordance with chapter 30A."

The hemp law further states that the agriculture commissioner may deny a license if the applicant fails to meet minimum qualifications, "or for good cause shown."

Mary Serreze can be reached at mserreze@gmail.comAnother shark sighting at Head of the Meadow Beach in Truro prompted another temporary closure for swimmers at the beach midday on Tuesday.

The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy's tracker-app "Sharktivity" reported Cape Cod National Seashore lifeguards spotted one shark roughly 75 yards from the shore in Truro sometime between 11 a.m. and noon. Officials closed off swimming on the beach for at least one hour following the sighting.

Sharks, specifically great white sharks, have been spotted repeatedly throughout the summer along Cape Cod beaches, but especially so at Head of the Meadow Beach in Truro and Nauset Beach in Orleans.

Tuesday's report comes one day after four reported sightings, all between 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., in the same general area off the tip of the Cape.

The lifeguards' glimpse at a shark on Tuesday is one of more than a dozen examples of shark sightings at and around the Head of the Meadow beach in the month of August, according to data filed on the Sharktivity app.

Multiple shark sightings do not necessarily indicate more than one shark, but can often mean a single shark is moving around to different locations. In other instances, such as on the afternoon of August 16, a single reported "sighting" revealed three great white sharks in the same area off the Truro coastline.

A man from New York was attacked by a shark off the Truro coast on August 15, and was just recently released from the hospital after recovering from serious injuries.

Experts say the peak season for shark activity off Cape Cod occurs in August and September.A helicopter crew with the Massachusetts State Police Air Wing found and rescued a lost hiker in Southampton who was likely suffering from heat exhaustion, state police said.

On Monday afternoon, Massachusetts State Police Air 3 had just finished helping the Northampton Police Department search for a suspect when Southampton Police called in with an urgent request.

"[Southampton Police] contacted MSP Troop B Headquarters to request assistance locating a lost hiker in distress in woods in the Southampton Wildlife Management Area," state police said in a Facebook post.

The hiker had called 911, but his phone battery died before police could determine his exact location. Officers had traced his cell phone to a rough area but needed the helicopter crew's assistance in finding the hiker.

Pilot Sgt. Mark Spencer and tactical flight officer Trooper Eric Fairchild flew above the nature reserve and spotted the hiker at 4:52 p.m., state police said.

"The flight crew notified Southampton Police that it had located the lost hiker and that due to his location, they would land and secure him aboard the aircraft," police said.

The man was able to walk but appeared to be suffering from heat exhaustion. Spencer and Fairchild landed, brought the hiker onboard and flew him to a waiting ambulance at a landing zone secured by Southampton police.SPRINGFIELD -- When Susan Gosselin and Janis Santos were teachers for Head Start many years ago, they worked in basements, community rooms in churches or wherever they could find space.

They saw one of their dreams come true Tuesday morning during the unveiling of the $4 million MGM Head Start Child and Family Center on Union Street in the city's South End.

"Many years ago I taught in the basement of the Boys & Girls Club, so this is just amazing," Gosselin said. "It's a state-of-the-art building, it's a LEED Platinum-certified green building. Essentially it's a smart building and it's bright, it's airy and the children who live in this neighborhood are going to want to come to school every day."

Santos is now executive director of HCS Head Start Inc., and Gosselin is chairwoman of the board of directors for the agency, which serves Holyoke, Chicopee and Springfield.

Ranay Robertson is the chairwoman of the Parent Policy Council for the agency. Her daughter goes to Head Start in the Pine Point neighborhood of the city.

"She was very shy and closed off and the teachers at Head Start opened her up. I know this building will be beneficial to all of the children in the neighborhood to get them prepared for kindergarten. They will have access to amazing resources," she said.

On Tuesday MGM Springfield General Manager Alex Dixon and other casino officials presented an additional check for $25,000 to HCS Head Start Inc. to further the mission of the agency to serve underprivileged children.

"Head Start is in the business of shaping the lives of young children in Springfield, and when we came into town we wanted to make an impact," Dixon said. "I can think of no greater organization to partner with."

All of the children enrolled in Head Start must meet federal poverty level guidelines. To be eligible for full-day programs, a family of two must have an income of $37,465 or below, while a family of four must have an income level of $55,096 or below. There are guidelines for part-time programs as well as preschool expansion and home-based programs.

While MGM funded the project, casino employees will not get preferential treatment when it comes to enrolling their children in the state-of-the-art learning center.

"We follow very strict federal poverty level guidelines," Santos said. "While some MGM employees have applied and are eligible, this facility is mainly for children living in the city, including right here in the South End, who meet the guidelines."

Dixon said he sees Head Start as an opportunity for MGM employees and residents across the city to take a step toward the middle class.

"A facility like this enables people to find affordable childcare," he said. "It's not only our responsibility to make sure people are getting to the workforce, but that they have wrap-around services that keep them there. Head Start, from an urban childhood education standpoint, is a great component to giving our employees as well as the entire community access to a state-of-the-art facility that can improve the lives of young people here in Springfield."

The facility will serve 88 children and have 20 employees. There is an infant and toddler classroom and three preschool classrooms including a full-day class, a class that meets for six hours a day, and a morning and afternoon half-day program.

Teachers Holly Larzazs, Joane Rivera and Yesenia Santiago spent the past few days getting their classroom ready for students, who will arrive Sept. 5.

Larzazs, the teacher director of the classroom, was previously at a Head Start in Ludlow, while Rivera and Santiago both taught at Head Start locations in Springfield. They all agree the new center will be a benefit to students and teachers alike.

"We are very lucky and very excited," Larzazs said. "There is more of an opportunity for growth here. We have all new furniture and new teaching tools for the children to learn with."

Many of the children have never owned a new book or new toys.

"They are going to be excited. The playground is awesome, it's going to be great," Rivera said.

During the check presentation, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno said MGM has been a great corporate citizen in the city.

"This facility gives mothers, fathers and family members the peace of mind that they can go out and earn a living to provide for themselves and their families. You can't put a price on that," he said.NORTHAMPTON - Police said they arrested a man and woman from Vermont and recovered a stolen car they had been driving after it caught their eye in the Walmart parking lot Monday afternoon.

The woman was arrested after a brief foot chase and the man was arrested about an hour later after a barking dog in back of a house in the Pine Brook Curve neighborhood gave him away.

Police Chief Jody Kasper, in a post on the department's Facebook page, said the 2001 Mercury Grand Marquis caught the attention of police at about 3:30 p.m. because they believed its license plates belonged on another vehicle.

The driver parked the vehicle and the two occupants got out and started walking away. When police asked them to stop the pair started to run.

Police determined the car had been stolen from a town in northern Vermont and that its license plates had been stolen from a different vehicle.

James Vincelette, 33-years-old and from Swanton, Vermont, was charged with receiving a stolen motor vehicle, attaching plates, unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, resisting arrest, receiving stolen property under $1,200.

Megan Brace, 37-years-old and from Richford, Vermont, was charged with receiving a stolen motor vehicle.ORANGE - Police are asking for help to find a woman who has been missing for nine days.

Anna Stowell, 31, was last heard from on Aug. 18 when she sent a text message to a friend. At the time she was in southern New Hampshire.

Anyone who has seen her or her car, a gray 2006 Chevrolet HHR sedan with Massachusetts plates 1BTD24, is asked to call Orange Police at 978-544-2129.SPRINGFIELD -- The gift cards donated by a local furniture store were intended for poor women.

But on Tuesday Lynn Minella, 51, admitted she used them to buy more than $4,000 in furniture for herself and her family while she was working at local homeless shelter from 2013 to 2015.

Minella, of Springfield, also admitted her part in a conspiracy to illegally get financial assistance from a local agency.

Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Vasiliades told Hampden Superior Court Judge David Ricciardone the state was ready to accept a plea to six indictments. The final indictment, giving a false statement for medical assistance, was scheduled for a plea on Sept. 27.

Minella pleaded guilty to attempt to commit a crime, conspiracy, and two counts each of larceny over $250 and forging or altering a birth certificate.

Sentencing was also set for Sept. 27, but Ricciardone said he will accept Vasiliades' recommended sentence of two years in the Western Massachusetts Regional Women's Correctional Center with two months to be served and the rest suspended with two years probation.

Michael L. Foy, Minella's lawyer, asked for a sentence of probation with no jail time.

He said if Minella goes to jail she will probably lose her job as a clerk at a local post office. Minella said she has worked there for two years.

Ricciardone said with Minella's past record "it is astounding to me" that the federal government hired her. "Your prior record is substantial," he said.

Foy, though, described her as "a changed woman." He said she was addicted to heroin but has been clean for four years.

As conditions of probation Minella must pay back more than $4,000 to the local furniture store which donated the gift cards and perform 200 hours of community service.

Ricciardone said several times that the recommendation by the state attorney general's office is much lower than the sentencing guidelines.

"I just want to make sure the next person who walks through the door gets the same treatment," he said.

Jody Farber-Winters, 47, of Springfield, pleaded guilty in April to conspiring with Minella to steal state grant money.

Farber-Winters pleaded guilty to larceny over $250, conspiracy to commit larceny and two counts of forging or altering a birth certificate.

Hampden Superior Court Judge Tina S. Page sentenced her to three years probation plus community service.

The investigation into Farber-Winters and Minella began in 2015 when the state auditor's office was contacted by the state Department of Housing and Community Development about questionable activity.

They were indicted for conspiring together to apply for grant money under the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition program. The program, directed by Housing and Community Development, is intended to provide temporary help to low-income families in danger of becoming homeless.

Minella admitted applying for and receiving assistance using forged birth certificates of children on the application.Tennessee Gas Pipeline must prepare an Environmental Impact Report for its natural gas expansion projects in Agawam and Longmeadow, the Baker administration has ruled.

Tennessee, a Kinder Morgan subsidiary, hopes to increase horsepower at its Agawam compressor station, build a new, 12-inch two-mile pipeline loop in Agawam, and construct a "West Longmeadow Meter Station," a delivery gate which would feed a new Columbia Gas pipeline backbone to Springfield.

Energy and environment secretary Matthew A. Beaton on Aug. 17 signed a certificate under the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Act, or MEPA, requiring better information about air pollution, rare species and wetlands, stream crossings, climate resiliency, construction protocols, and more.

The Agawam project would alter 25 new acres, widen an existing right-of-way, cross five streams, affect wetlands, convert some farmland, and impact rare species habitat for two reptiles, according to documents. It would also have certain air quality and climate impacts, which the state said haven't been adequately described.

An earlier filing from Tennessee -- an Extended Environmental Notification Form, or EENF -- failed to compare baseline with proposed conditions when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, and did not fully explain why certain alternatives, including energy efficiency, were rejected, the certificate states.

In a victory for environmentalists, Tennessee must consider the Longmeadow meter station in its Agawam analysis. Tennessee had argued that the Longmeadow plan did not meet a threshold for state environmental review.

"The meter station should be included," according to the Aug. 17 certificate.

Beaton asserted that projects in both towns will support expansion plans by a local gas utility, and are related. Tennessee must now submit detailed information about its plans in Longmeadow.

The company must file a Draft Environmental Impact Report, or DEIR, before its final report is issued. A draft report opens the window for more public participation and input from state agencies. Tennessee had asked for permission to skip the draft report requirement, the MEPA office noted.

Tennessee owns and manages the "200 Line," a natural gas pipeline across the southern tier of Massachusetts. Along the interstate pipeline, it plans facilities on both sides of the Connecticut River to support expansion plans by Columbia Gas of Massachusetts.

Columbia's Greater Springfield Reliability Project would send a new pipeline to Springfield from Longmeadow, a new line from Agawam through West Springfield and Holyoke, replace an existing line between West Springfield and Springfield, and also boost capacity to Easthampton and Northampton, where natural gas moratoriums are now in place.

In addition to Columbia, Holyoke Gas & Electric would gain more capacity.

Groups opposing fossil fuels, including Berkshire Environmental Action Team and Massachusetts Pipeline Awareness Network, claim the moratoriums in Northampton and Easthampton could be lifted through other means, including energy efficiency.

They also charge that government agencies and the industry encourage "pipeline overbuild" at the expense of climate and the environment.

The climate groups argue that more natural gas use will increase greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change -- and prevent the state from achieving its court-ordered goals under the Global Warming Solutions Act.

"The Northampton City Council voted to commit to a 100-percent renewable energy goal," said Kathryn Eiseman, president of MassPLAN. "Holyoke made the same pledge. There's a certain irony here."

She said that methane is a potent driver of climate change, and that a lifecycle analysis from wellhead to burner tip would show that natural gas is as bad as coal when it comes to emissions.

However, Steve Bryant, president of Columbia Gas, claims working with Tennessee on the Pioneer Valley expansion will actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions while helping the region.

"In our Springfield operating area we have existing winter season reliability issues and natural gas constraints that need to be addressed," he wrote. "We need to act now to begin the process to remedy that situation."

Bryant has said the project will "facilitate Columbia Gas' ongoing commitment to replace leak-prone pipe in Greater Springfield -- eliminating current leaks and the risk of future leaks."

The company predicts that homes and businesses with oil furnaces will switch over to gas. Oil is a dirtier fuel than natural gas.

The Agawam compressor now contains four natural gas-powered turbines. Tennessee proposes to replace the oldest two units with a new, more powerful unit. It hasn't been made clear whether the replacement, and other actions at the site, will result in more or less pollution, the MEPA certificate states.

Tennessee must take a new look at protecting habitat, show how it will cross streams in Agawam, comply with conditions during construction, and explain why it rejected certain alternatives. The vulnerability of the project itself to climate change -- including storms and flooding -- must be analyzed.

Notably, the state will require information on the use, tracking, and proper disposal of wastewater. Last November, a contractor for Tennessee improperly discharged 16,500 gallons of contaminated pipeline wastewater near the company's Agawam compressor on Suffield Street.

The Columbia and Tennessee projects are interdependent, but they are being permitted on separate tracks. Eiseman said that ideally, they should be evaluated as a package.

That's unlikely to happen, because Columbia Gas, largely beholden to the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, operates under a separate regulatory regime than Tennessee, which answers to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. However, both projects need to go through state-level environmental review.

The permitting and approval process for both projects is complicated, and involves many different agencies.

In February, the Department of Public Utilities approved a petition from Bay State Gas, the parent of Columbia, for a new capacity contract with Tennesee. The agreement will provide 96,400 dekatherms per day, for 20 years, from the 200 Line to support Columbia's Greater Springfield Reliability Project.

Columbia also won new contracts with Portland Natural Gas Transmission System, and with Repsol, which runs the Canaport liquefied natural gas import terminal in New Brunswick, Canada.

The environmental groups assert that the contracts are "inflated" and question why they were approved before environmental review.

"The claimed 'need' for these projects ... is based upon speculative sales forecasting," wrote Eiseman in MassPLAN's comments to the MEPA office.

In a separate filing, the Conservation Law Foundation argued that the contracts are inconsistent with the Global Warming Solutions Act, which mandates ongoing reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

The DPU rejected that argument and agreed with Columbia that the supply contracts are needed "to provide firm capacity and meet existing and forecasted deficiencies" in the gas company's Springfield and Lawrence territories.

Columbia says its projects will ensure that its "106,000 customers in 16 municipalities continue to receive safe, reliable and uninterrupted supplies of natural gas with the least environmental impact for homes and businesses, while meeting the consistent customer demand for natural gas."

15879 Tennessee Gas Pipeline 261 Upgrade Projects by Mary Serreze on ScribdPennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said The Vatican knew about the hundreds of priests in Pennsylvania responsible for sexually abusing and assaulting over 1,000 children.

"We have evidence that the Vatican had knowledge of the cover-up," Shapiro said in an interview with NBC's "Today Show" Tuesday morning. "I can't specifically speak to Pope Francis."

The interview was prompted by the letter from former Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, who claimed that Pope Francis knew of the sex abuse cover-up and should resign, as the New York Times reported Sunday. The Aug. 14 release of a more than 900-page Pennsylvania grand jury report set Vigano's claims in motion.

Written over the course of two years by 23 jurors, the grand jury report discovered more than 300 "predator priests" within six dioceses of 54 Pennsylvania counties. Previously unearthed archives from the Catholic Church illuminate the scope of the Pennsylvania sex abuse, which dates back to 1970.

A piece of the introduction reads: "Some were raped orally, some vaginally, some anally. But all of them were brushed aside, in every part of the state, by church leaders who preferred to protect the abusers and their institution above all."

The statute of limitations for children victims of sexual abuse in Pennsylvania expires 12 years after a victim's 18th birthday. Victims over the age of 18 have two years from the time of the alleged crime to file civil cases. This means a majority of the instances of sexual abuse detailed in the report are too old to be prosecuted.

In response to people who claim these sex abuse crimes happened a long time ago and things are better now, Shapiro told NBC "Today Show" hosts, "Child rape in 1970 is the same as child rape in 2018. It is never acceptable, and it is never okay to cover it up."

Since the release of the report, Shapiro said they've received 733 calls to their special clergy abuse hotline.

"We're tracking down each and every one of those tips," Shapiro told the "Today Show."

Watch the NBC interiew below:Springfield Police Officer Gregg Bidga, is shown here in the dark sweatshirt, interrogating a juvenile suspect at the Palmer Police Department in 2016. (The Republican file)Three major airlines will now offer flights from Worcester Regional Airport to five destinations in the country, as officials on Tuesday morning are planning to announce that Delta Air Lines is coming to Worcester.

MassLive reported last week that there were plans to announce a third major airline flying from the airport.

That airline is Delta.

A public schedule for Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito sent out Tuesday morning noted that she would be in attendance for the announcement that Delta Air Lines will be flying out of Worcester.

More details about the flights, including what destination the airline will fly to, are expected to be released at the 9:30 a.m. announcement.

The Delta flights are the latest development in more than a year of growth for the airport atop Worcester's Tatnuck Hill.

Delta is headquartered in Atlanta. With its partner services, Delta flies to 324 destinations in 57 countries on six continents with its fleet of more than 800 aircrafts.

In October, two daily American Airline flights between Worcester Regional Airport and Philadelphia International Airport are slated to start.

The service was announced in the spring.

Delta and American join JetBlue, which has been offering daily flights out of Worcester for five years.

Since 2013, JetBlue has flown daily to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.

Since the airline came to Worcester, more than 500,000 passengers have flown on JetBlue through Worcester Regional Airport.

In May, JetBlue expanded its service with the addition of daily flights to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.

Rectrix Aviation also offers a 20-minute flight to Cape Cod out of Worcester.

At its peak in 1989, Worcester Regional Airport served more than 340,000 people.

Massport owns and operates Worcester Regional Airport, in addition to Boston Logan International Airport, public terminals in the Port of Boston and Hanscom Field.Delta Air Lines will fly from Worcester Regional Airport to Detroit, officials announced Tuesday morning, connecting Central Massachusetts travelers with more than 100 locations around the world.

Flights are expected to begin around August 2019.

Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and Massport officials said Detroit allows people access to 134 destinations, including locations in Asia and Europe.

"Delta to Detroit sounds pretty good to me," Polito said. "We're really thrilled to have this connection between Worcester and Detroit through Delta Air Lines."

Polito called the flights one more asset for Central Massachusetts and another item in the toolbox to bolster the economy and build on the momentum in Worcester and the region.

What time the flight will depart from Worcester Regional Airport and how much tickets will cost have not yet been determined. The contract has been signed and the commitment has been made, officials said, but the project hinges on ongoing construction with additional Delta gates coming to Logan International Airport in Boston.

The Delta Worcester to Detroit Metropolitan Airport flight will be operated by Delta Connection carrier SkyWest Airlines, Massport said.

The flights will be an asset for the business community, as well as students looking at colleges, officials said.

"Detroit is a city that is on the move, like Worcester," Polito said. "It's populated with connections to many colleges and universities...I think there's a real connection between the Worcester story, what's happening here around manufacturing, bio, life sciences and our colleges and universities, and Detroit. And of course, the sports teams as well. And the culture, I think there's a lot of synergies there."

Worcester County Sheriff Lewis Evangelidis, who chairs the Massport board, urged residents to fly out of Worcester.

Evangelidis said the most exciting part of flying to Detroit will be the options to connect to other cities around the world.

"People may say, well Detroit, I don't know if I want to go to Detroit," Evanglidis said. "It's the whole idea. Detroit offers a lot, but there are so many connecting flights out of Detroit. So it's just going to be an incredible asset for us in Worcester County, this region, to have another major player in this market that will open the world to us."

There are 450 daily departures from Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The airport serves a total of 16 total airlines, which offer 1,100 daily flights to and from four continents. The airport served more than 33 million passengers last year.

This is the second major airline to announce new flights out of Worcester Regional Airport this year and the third major service announcement in 18 months.

In October, two daily American Airline flights are slated to begin between Worcester Regional Airport and Philadelphia International Airport.

Delta and American join JetBlue, which has been offering daily flights out of Worcester for five years.

Since 2013, JetBlue has flown daily to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.

Since the airline came to Worcester, more than 500,000 passengers have flown on JetBlue through Worcester Regional Airport.

In May, JetBlue expanded its service with the addition of daily flights to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.

Rectrix Aviation also offers a 20-minute flight to Cape Cod out of Worcester.

At its peak in 1989, Worcester Regional Airport served more than 340,000 people.

Massport owns and operates Worcester Regional Airport, in addition to Boston Logan International Airport, public terminals in the Port of Boston and Hanscom Field.A Level 2 sex offender from Douglas was sentenced to serve 11 years in prison on a child pornography possession charge after authorities say they discovered thousands of child pornography images on his computer in 2015.

Bryan Larson, 46, was sentenced in a Worcester federal court Friday after previously pleading guilty. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman ordered Larson to serve five years of supervised release when he gets out of federal prison.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said investigators searched Larson's home in June 2015 and recovered "thousands of images of child pornography on his computer."

The images and videos showed girls, ranging in age from 4 to 8, engaged in various sex acts with adult men.

"Approximately 4,000 of the images contained known victims, and many of those victims submitted impact statements for the court to consider at sentencing," authorities said.

Larson was previously convicted of three counts of child rape in 1995.The Democratic primary race to fill the Massachusetts Senate seat for the Hampshire, Franklin and Worcester has received a high level of attention, in part because of the circumstances that created its vacancy.

In Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, Western Massachusetts had an uncommonly powerful voice in Boston. Rosenberg's personal controversy and eventual resignation created a void and subsequent scramble with only one candidate on the ballot, but several others seeking election by write-in.

The Republican endorses one of those write-in candidates, Jo Comerford, in the Sept. 4 party primary that will decide the seat.

Comerford may be a write-in choice, but there is no question as to the indisputable substance of her campaign. She has experience with activism and government through her work as former campaign director for progressive group MoveOn, her presidency of the National Priorities Project and other endeavors.

What Comerford offers is more than a resume. As she has said, she can "find common ground on intractable positions," and bring together opposing groups to a practical solution.

That's government. In today's polarized and often stalemated political climate, the skill of finding common ground without sacrificing important principle is more valuable and needed that ever.

With a turnover of historic proportions among the Western Massachusetts delegation on Beacon Hill, Comerford would bring a known and respected voice for education, climate legislation, health care and spending policies. Yet there is also an independence to that voice from a candidate who is attuned to the district's constituents and needs.

Knowing the importance of reaching consensus on many issues, Comerford avoids describing herself with catchphrase political labels. She nonetheless brings a history of dedication to providing better opportunity for people in need, and supporting environmental legislation with an eye toward a cleaner, more affordable future.

She pledges to help complete work from the last legislative agenda, an important consideration after the 2018-19 session wrapped up with a late budget and much undone work. In particular is the education funding formula that was left on the table and demands immediate attention - and action.

Comerford also promises to work for high-speed rail, funding for high-speed Internet and affordable housing, among many platform planks.

The only name on the ballot belongs to Chelsea Kline, whose genuine passion for helping marginalized or disadvantaged people resembles Comerford's. What Comerford offers is a seasoned approach and the ability to enter office with the immediate credibility and experience needed to drive legislation that will lessen the impact of losing Rosenberg's influence, and therefore bring action to concepts.

The district needs a senator with both idealism and the skill of getting results. Jo Comerford is that individual. The Republican endorses her Democratic primary write-in campaign for the Massachusetts Senate on Sept. 4.It is stimulating to see young people interested enough in one of the most debated subjects in our society today to join in a 50-mile march.

However, are they aware that a gun is an inanimate object? It cannot choose a victim. It cannot load itself. It cannot aim itself. It cannot pull its own trigger. A gun cannot kill by itself.





Are they aware that possession of a firearm is guaranteed by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States? Gun ownership is a right. But, nearly everywhere we see the word permit being used.

Are they aware that Massachusetts already has one of the strictest set of anti-gun laws anywhere? Some provisions of these laws skirt intrusion on the Second Amendment. One such provision allows a municipal chief of police or his appointee to refuse a permit, without recourse, to anyone they deem unfit. That is kind of kicking at the back door of the Second Amendment.

Are they aware that, in spite of the strict gun laws of Massachusetts local TV channels and the Republican newspaper report shootings in nearby cities almost daily? In fact, over the period of the march, another shooting and killing took place in Springfield.

So much for gun laws.



Paul D. Peloquin, HolyokeThe Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters has rebranded as Massachusetts Conservation Voters and is pledging to fight for state parks and forests.

The state's environment budget "suffered devastating reductions" during the great recession, and properties run by the Department of Conservation and Recreation still suffer from deferred maintenance, said MCV executive director Doug Pizzi.

While the DCR got a modest funding boost this year, a decade of cuts eliminated 436 positions, more than a third of the agency's workforce, according to a release.

Pizzi said the cuts have hurt maintenance at a half-million acres, including parks and forests, campgrounds, beaches, swimming pools, walking and bike trails, skating rinks, ballfields, playgrounds, Boston Harbor islands, and historic parkways.

"In a state that has one of the oldest and largest state park systems, MCV is one of the few organizations whose sole focus is on giving residents and visitors the world class public parks they deserve," he said.

A new website has been launched where the public can track the group's advocacy efforts and learn about the state's public recreation and conservation lands.

"Reversing this trend so that DCR is fully able to carry out its mission is critical to maintaining an annual $16 billion Massachusetts recreational economy," Pizzi said.

The Massachusetts League of Environmental Voters first formed in 2003, and worked to prioritize environmental issues on Beacon Hill.EASTHAMPTON -- With more than a week left before a hot primary election in Western Massachusetts, a breakfast event hosted by Hampshire County Register of Deeds Mary Olberding drew a crowd of regional political players and women's rights advocates Sunday.

The 2018 Equality Day Breakfast at the Boylston Rooms at the Keystone Mill celebrated the 98th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which in 1920 gave American women the right to vote.

The event was dedicated to Lucy Wilson Benson, 91, an Amherst resident, former president of the League of Women Voters and Under Secretary of State with President Jimmy Carter. Benson, who was not feeling well enough to attend, was showered with accolades.

Amherst resident Andrea Battle read Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I a Woman" speech, and Olberding and retired Amherst state representative Ellen Story delivered remarks. The crowd sang "Happy Birthday" to Olberding, and shared cake and coffee.

Olberding said this year is inspiring because so many women are running for office, "but none of us could have achieved any of this without our right to vote."

Among candidates mixing and mingling at the gala breakfast were Jo Comerford and Steve Connor, running for Massachusetts Senate in the Hampshire, Franklin, and Worcester District; Diana Szynal and Lindsay Sabadosa, Democrats vying in the 1st Hampshire House district; and Marie McCourt, Dan Carey and John Hine, running in the 2nd Hampshire House district. Jonathan Edwards, a contender in the seven-way 1st Franklin House district primary race, also made a showing.

Jay Gonzales, seeking the Democratic nod in the governor's race, shook hands and chatted with dozens of people, including Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle.

Familiar faces included retired Congressman John Olver, former state Senate majority leader Linda Melconian, former Northampton mayor Mary Clare Higgins, Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan, Hampshire County Sheriff Patrick Cahillane and Hampshire Probate First Justice Linda Fidnick.

Fredie D. Kay, president of the Women's Suffrage Celebration Coalition of Massachusetts, talked up plans for a major centennial celebration.

Olberding said the event was non-partisan and not a political fundraiser.

"It's about unity," she said. "It's a celebration. In our current political culture, we like to divide people. We are united in support of women's leadership. We all succeed when we support each other, even across divisions."

There are contested Democratic primaries to replace former Sen. Stan Rosensberg, D-Amherst, who resigned May 3, and to fill the shoes of Rep. Peter Kocot of Northampton, who died in office in February, Rep. John Scibak of South Hadley, who is retiring, and Rep. Steve Kulik, of Worthington, who is also retiring.

The primary election is set for Sept. 4.

Olberding said she and others plan to make the breakfast a yearly event. Women's Equality Day on Aug. 26 was established by Congress in 1971 to commemorate women's "full rights and privileges," and as a symbol of the continued fight for equal rights.

Mary Serreze can be reached at mserreze@gmail.comThe process of completely eliminating any surface or object from bacteria or other pathogenic agents is referred as sterilization. The preference for a particular method of sterilization depends on many aspects such as constituents of the sterilizing object, type of application, microbial load, classification and suitability of sterilization method. Sterilization is given at most importance in the medical field to prevent the buildup of disease causing pathogens and to spread of diseases.

The sterilization global market is poised to grow at a high single digit CAGR to reach $8,438.2 million by 2024. Rise in incidences of hospital acquired infections (HAIs) especially in aging population and increase in number of surgeries performed are driving sterilization market growth. In addition, use of e-beam radiation sterilization, through contract sterilization industry, advancements in technologies such as use of gas plasma, use of NO2, peracetic acid sterilization, e-beam technology, supercritical CO2 and improving healthcare infrastructure are providing new opportunities for growth to sterilization market. However, high cost of sterilization technology and capital expenditure for setup of new facility and issues with handling of ethylene oxide are restraining market expansion. Stringent regulations for ensuring sterilization and validation of sterile filtration methods and increasing popularity of single-use products in healthcare, pharma and bio-pharma industries is threatening the market growth.

The Sterilization global market by products is segmented as equipments, consumables and services. Equipments market commanded the largest revenue and is projected to grow at high single digit CAGR from 2017 to 2024. Services market is projected to grow with strong CAGR from 2017 to 2024 due to increase in outsourcing of sterilization process to professional organizations. Equipments market is further segmented based on products into heat, low-temperature, filtration and radiation sterilizers. Heat sterilization commanded the largest revenue in 2017 and is projected to grow at high single digit CAGR from 2017 to 2024 this is because heat sterilization is the safest, cheapest and most widely used sterilization method. However, low-temperature sterilization is projected to grow at strong high single digit CAGR from 2017 to 2024 due to complexity of device designs and non-suitability of these devices for heat Sterilization. Heat sterilizers are further sub-segmented into Wet/Moist heat sterilization and dry heat sterilization based on method. Moist heat sterilization commanded the largest revenue in 2017 and is projected to reach $1,781.5 million by 2024. Based on sterilizer type heat sterilization is segmented into Vertical horizontal and portable sterilizers. Vertical sterilizers commanded the largest revenue in 2017 and portable sterilizers are projected to grow at double digit CAGR from 2017 to 2024. Low temperature sterilization is subdivided into ethylene oxide (EtO) sterilization, Hydrogen Peroxide, Vapour Hydrogen Peroxide, Formaldehyde sterilization Peracetic acid and others. Ethylene oxide was the fastest and largest segment in 2017 and is projected to grow at double digit CAGR from 2017 to 2024. The radiation sterilization market by technology is further segmented into Ionizing and non-ionizing radiation. Ionizing radiation is expected to grow at mid single digit CAGR from 2017 to 2024 due to increasing acceptance of radiation sterilization and popularity of e-beam technology.

The sterilization global market by consumables is further segmented into sterility monitors, sterile pouches & rolls, sterilization wraps and others. The sterilization monitors commanded the largest revenue in 2017 and it is projected to grow at mid single digit CAGR of from 2017 to 2024. The sterility monitors are further segmented into biological and chemical indicators where chemical indicators commanded the largest revenue in 2017 and this market is projected to grow at high single digit CAGR from 2017 to 2024 due to mandatory requirement to ensure sterility of medical devices after sterilization process. The sterilization market by services is divided based on type of service into In-house sterilization services and Contract Sterilization services. Contract sterilization service commanded the largest revenue in 2017 and is projected to be the fastest growing segment with double digit CAGR from 2017 to 2024 due emerging popularity of outsourcing of sterilization processes by hospitals, medical device companies and also as cost saving strategies.

The Sterilization market by end-users is divided into Pharma & Biotech, Medical devices, Hospitals and Others. Hospital commanded the largest revenue in 2017 and is project to grow at mid single digit CAGR from 2017 to 2024 due to increasing concern of hospital acquired infections and emerging diseases. However, medical devices is projected to be the fastest growing segment at high single digit CAGR from 2017 to 2024 due to stringent regulatory requirements and increasing number of surgeries.

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Geographically, North America is the largest market, with a share of XX% followed by Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World. North America region commanded the largest in 2017 and is projected to grow at high single digit CAGR. Increasing aging population and number of surgeries performed combined with stringent regulations to curb hospital acquired infections (HAIs) are the driving factors. However, Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow close to double digit CAGR from 2017 to 2024 due to increased public awareness and adoption of new sterilization technologies.

The Sterilization global market is a highly fragmented, and all the existing players in this market are involved in developing new and advanced products to maintain their market shares. Some of the key players of the sterilization market are 3M company (U.S.), Cantel Medical (U.S.), Getinge (Sweden), Shinva (China), Metall Zug (Belimed) (Switzerland), Sterigenics (U.S.), Steris (U.S.), Matachana (Spain), J&J (ASP) (U.S.), Tuttnauer (Israel), Halyard Health, Inc (Owens & Minor)(U.S.)

The report provides an in depth market analysis of the above mentioned segments across the following regions:

North America

Europe

Asia-Pacific

Rest of the World (RoW)

Table of Content

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 33

2 INTRODUCTION 38

3 MARKET ANALYSIS 53

4 STERILIZATION GLOBAL MARKET, BY PRODUCT 90

5 STERILIZATION GLOBAL MARKET, BY END-USERS 195

6 REGIONAL ANALYSIS 209

7 STERILIZERS GLOBAL INSTALL BASE 351

8 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE 431

9 MAJOR COMPANIES 440

About Us:

Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.

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Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)by Tanya Gazdik , August 27, 2018

A multiplatform social media and broadcast campaign for Toyota centers around the moments that inspire spontaneous family adventures enjoyed in the comfort of a 2018 Toyota Highlander.

Burrell Communications, Chicago worked with The Colonie to create an array of deliverables that include cinemagraphs, GIFs, and square video optimized for Facebook, as well as traditional 16:9.

The campaign includes optimizations for Facebook,from Carousels and Canvases to Instagram stories. It features 30-second spots "Inspiration" and "Heroes," which is also airing as a broadcast spot. It also includes a 15-second spot, "Falling" and two 6-second spots, "Jump In," and "Dull Moments."

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Heroes opens with the young son running through the Powell familys house donning a makeshift cape, pretending to be a superhero. The action cuts to the family in their Toyota Highlander, with The Hero theme song playing on its JBL Premium Audio System as they hit the road. The SUV comes to a stop at a festive event where superhero enthusiasts in full costume have gathered. As the Powells exit their Highlander to join in, we see that theyre all dressed in elaborate superhero garb. The spot closes with the tagline, Toyota Highlander, Lets Go Places.

The same young son jumps around in a horse mask in Inspiration. Seeing their son at play is all it takes for the mom and dad to load their kids in their Highlander and drive to a stable where, to the brother and sisters delight, they get their first riding lesson. The spot ends with the tagline, From Inspiration to Destination. There's More to Discover in the 2018 Highlander.

The 15-spot Falling finds the family having fun at an indoor skydiving facility. Later the kids share a laugh as they view a video of their dad while charging their devices on the USB ports in the rear of the Highlanders center console.by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, August 28, 2018

Search marketing experts seemed puzzled Tuesday morning by President Donald Trump's attack of Google in Twitter tweets that accused the company of prioritizing liberal "fake news" in its search results.

Google search results for Trump News shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96% of.., Trump tweeted on Twitter Tuesday morning.

The allegation may have originated from headlines and news articles like 96 Percent of Google Search Results for Trump News Are from Liberal Media Outlets. And while that may be true when it comes to ranking high in query results based on the keyword "Trump," search experts know better whether or not someone believes in the presidents policies.

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Jonathan Kagan, senior director of search at Cogniscient Media, a Marc USA company, called the claim baseless.

Trump made a similar claim during the election saying the autofill wouldnt fill in for crooked Hillary, but would fill in for some derogatory statements about him, Kagan said.

Google designed the autofill in the search box to filter our certain words. Words like crooked, for example, he said.

When users type queries into the Google Search bar, our goal is to make sure they receive the most relevant answers in a matter of seconds, wrote a Google spokesperson in an email to Search Marketing Daily. Search is not used to set a political agenda and we don't bias our results toward any political ideology.

Each year, Google releases hundreds of improvements to its search algorithms to ensure they surface high-quality content in response to users' queries.

We never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment," the Google spokesperson wrote.

Optimizing content to appear high on the page in search continues to become a valuable skill, as marketers know. Google only gives hints as to some of the triggers required for a publishers content to rank high in the results on page one.

Part of the query ranking of a keyword for news in search results relies on personalizing the results based on past browsing and searching history. This means the algorithms running search skew toward the historic searches and clicks.

The ranking of a publishers site in search results also relies on the quality of the website, which helps to confirm legitimate news. Another key trigger relies on whether or not the site runs on HTTPS, a protocol called hypertext transfer protocol secure in which the s plays a key part to secure content and filter out hackers.

Earlier this year, Google hinted at a small ranking boost for sites making the transition from HTTP to HTTPS. In February 2018, Google said it would start labeling sites and webpages still using HTTP as not secure by summer 2018. For instance, foxnews.com is marked not secure because its website still runs on HTTP, not HTTPS.

On first glance it appears that sites like Fox News are de-emphasized in search results, but the reason centers on lousy SEO on the part of the publisher, said Marty Weintraub, founder of the marketing agency aimClear.

Before anyone can complain about being pushed down in rankings, they need to fix their website, he said.

Testing the theory In google.com, Weintraub used a new desktop browser window and new IP address clear of cookies, so Googles algorithms couldnt use his past search history to return query results.

Fox News doesnt acknowledge Trump in the headline of their articles, and that could have a whole lot to do with where its articles rank in Google search results based on using the keyword Trump, he said.

Headlines from CNN, New York Times, NPR, the New Yorker, ABC News and others rank much higher on the page.by Tanya Gazdik , August 28, 2018

Maintaining consumer loyalty is a huge indicator of the future success of hospitals, specifically how to preserve and improve patient experiences, according to a study by NRC Health.

The survey reveals the top 100 hospitals in the United States based on consumer loyalty.

On an individual level, assessing the health of their customer relationships against the seven aspects of the Loyalty Index illuminates opportunities for improvement throughout the totality of the customer experience with their brand, Brian Wynne, NRC Health vice president and general manager, tells Marketing Daily.

The Consumer Loyalty Awards have created community around loyalty in healthcare, he adds.

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This list brings to light over 100 case examples of organizations leading the charge in designing for consumer loyalty, he says. Healthcare marketers now have somewhere to look for validated inspiration on the how of loyalty.

While hospitals in the top 100 scored exceptionally high in categories like access (how easy it is for consumers to access their services) and motivation (how strongly consumers feel about using a particular hospital's services versus its competitors) scores in the patient engagement category remain comparatively low. As patients increasingly view their healthcare through a consumer lens, hospitals must find ways to keep up with those expectations.

CHI Memorial Hospital Chattanooga earned the number one ranking on the inaugural consumer loyalty list. Ninety percent of hospitals in the top 100 are part of larger networks; however, only 11 systems had multiple hospitals in the top 100.

Regardless, the majority of the winners were primarily hospital-based or flagship facilities, meaning patients experienced a healthcare brand at the facility level, often without even being aware they were part of a larger network. With nearly 40% of consumers reporting it makes no difference whether a hospital is part of a healthcare system, its clear that consumers are less concerned with a hospitals affiliation, so long as they receive premier treatment, according to the survey.

We expected a lot of the more recognizable names to make our inaugural loyalty-based list, but we were pleasantly surprised to see a good mix of facilities represented across the country, including community hospitals in smaller markets, Wynne says.

Among the 71% of provider organizations citing patient engagement as a top priority is McLeod Regional Medical Center in Florence, South Carolina. The facility earned the top honor for patient engagement.

To qualify for the awards, a hospital must receive at least 150 Top of Mind mentions on the Market Insights Internet-based survey, which measures the opinions, behaviors, and profiles of more than 300,000 consumers annually in more than 300 markets across the U.S. Results are weighted to account for age, income, population, presence of children in the household, marital status, and ethnicity to ensure an accurate demographic distribution.New research suggests that deep forehead wrinkles might be a quick and easy way to spot individuals at risk of atherosclerosis, a cardiovascular condition that can lead to more serious issues such as a heart attack or stroke.

Share on Pinterest Numerous deep wrinkles on someones forehead may be an early sign of atherosclerosis, suggests a new study.

In atherosclerosis, plaque builds up inside the arteries, making them less elastic and narrowing them down over time.

This limits the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the bodys major organs, which, in turn, may lead to a range of diseases  depending on which organ is affected.

When plaque accumulates inside the coronary arteries, coronary heart disease and even heart attacks may ensue.

Some of the main risk factors for atherosclerosis include smoking, high cholesterol levels, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, physical inactivity, age, and a family history of heart disease.

New research adds another risk factor to the list  and one that may be more easy to detect than high blood pressure or insulin resistance. Deep forehead wrinkles, say the authors of the new study, may signal atherosclerosis.

The new research was presented at the 2018 annual conference of the European Society of Cardiology, held in Munich, Germany.

Study author Yolande Esquirol, who is an associate professor of occupational health at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse in France, shares what motivated the research. You cant see or feel risk factors like high cholesterol or hypertension, she says.

We explored forehead wrinkles as a marker because its so simple and visual. Just looking at a persons face could sound an alarm, then we could give advice to lower risk.

This is not the first time that facial features are explored as a potential marker of cardiovascular health. For example, male pattern baldness and prematurely gray hair have been found to raise heart disease risk by fivefold in previous studies.Advertisement

The healthcare chain this month entered the first PPP model in cardiac care in any civil hospital in the country. The model is also being adopted in four civil hospitals of Haryana namely Panchkula, Ambala Cantt, Faridabad, and Gurugram.The PPP model has helped several poor patients like Bhupinder Singh. The model is proving successful under the leadership of Dr. Prathap Kumar N, Chief Interventional Cardiologist, Chairman and Managing Director and at Meditrina Group of Hospitals, Kerala.Dr. Prathap Kumar has got the experience of successfully managing a PPP model in cardiac care at the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) model hospital in Kollam, Kerala from 2013."For socially backward and poor patients, the services are free of cost. For other patients, we are offering angioplasty with a single stent at less than Rs 50,000 which is less than the government medical colleges and one-third of the cost of private hospitals. Previously the treatment was out of reach for many patients," Dr. Prathap Kumar said.Moreover, For BPL and SC-ST patients, the treatment is completely free of cost at all these centers with the Govt. of Haryana reimbursing all expenses to Meditrina Hospital. This support and initiative of the Haryana Govt has brought Quality Healthcare accessible to the common man.The Health Ministry of the Govt of Haryana was really wise in bringing up the concept of getting this PPP model in cardiac care. This has facilitated the spread of cardiac care at a pace which would have been difficult otherwise Haryana has been the first state in the country to have gone for a PPP model in cardiac care in India.This Haryana Model of Cardiac care opens up a novel way of extending quality cardiac care to some of the most remote areas of the country. The major issues that are faced today for development of quality specialty healthcare in rural areas can all be solved by the introduction of such models."Over 180 angioplasties and more than 600 Cardiac Catheterization Procedures were done in the last four months in Faridabad. Out of these procedures over 30% are of patients from Below Poverty Line (BPL) or socially backward classes," he said.The attempt of adopting PPP model by the government has brought in a paradigm shift in several service sectors such as railways, Information technology (IT) including cardiac healthcare delivery in India.According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, it is estimated that there are over 60 million patients with heart disease in India with over 2 million heart attacks every year. The low rates of health care spending by the state and national governments, uneven distribution of basic healthcare facilities, and the inability of large populations of rural and urban poor to access high-quality care further increases the challenge for health authorities to tackle the swelling disease burden.Added to this is the disproportionately high prevalence of coronary artery disease in lower socioeconomic classes and consequent higher mortality due to poor access to affordable, high-quality health care. All these challenges toward acute treatment need to be balanced against additional health priorities toward prevention, and this scenario in India represents a prototypical case for many low- and middle-income countries.Public health experts claim that PPP model can be considered a solution to this problem; however, the potentially effective PPP initiative is plagued by several problems in parallel, major being unawareness among the masses."PPP model is the only solution to provide universal health coverage. We need to take an insight in the PPP model. In urban areas, there is the availability of quality healthcare facilities through private sector even if it is costly; it is there. The main problem is with the rural areas that lack quality healthcare facilities. In rural areas and Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, where the private sector can play a pivotal role in bringing healthcare to the poor," said Dr. Prathap.According to the economic survey 2018 expenditure by the government healthcare providers accounted for only 23% of the Current Health Expenditure (CHE). In parallel, the National Health Accounts (NHA) 2014-15 reflected the prominence of private hospitals and clinics among health care providers coupled with marked variation in prices of diagnostics across the country."Private health sector is the primary source of health care in urban areas (56%) and also in rural areas (49%). The most commonly reported reason for not using government health facilities at the national level is the poor quality of care reported by 48% of households that do not generally use government facilities. The second most commonly reported reason is that no government facility is nearby, reported by 45% of households followed by the long waiting time at government facilities (41%)," the survey report says. The hefty costs of private hospitals are born by the families pushing them towards out of pocket expenditure as a majority of the population is not covered by any health insurance."The major problem is unawareness among people that free and highly subsidized medical procedures are available for the poor. Even after we started providing free surgeries in Haryana, people didn't know that there is such a facility," he said.In 2017, the government's think tank NITI Aayog proposed the ministry of health and family welfare to adopt the PPP model to provide diagnosis and treatment for major non-communicable diseases in smaller cities including cardiac diseases. The proposal seeks to set up centers under the PPP model in district-run hospitals which have at least 250 beds and an average daily footfall of 1000 patients in OPDs in the last couple of years.Source: MedindiaOn days when actor Abhishek Bachchan was not busy trolling back the internet trolls, he was shooting for his upcoming movie 'Manmarziyaan' that also stars Taapsee Pannu and Vicky Kaushal.

 Eros

In fact, the recently released trailer gave us two things - first, Anurag Kashyap can make movies without using any cuss words or bullets being fired after every five minutes. Second, this is going to be one of the best and intense performances by Abhishek Bachchan, who is making a comeback after 2 years.

 Eros

As the movie inches closer to its release date, the cast and crew have started doing the promotional rounds, which recently took them to Amritsar. Now it will be really unfair if you go to Amritsar and don't visit the Golden Temple and looks like Bachchan Jr. too thinks on similar lines.

Blessings.  #waheguru A post shared by Abhishek Bachchan (@bachchan) on Aug 26, 2018 at 11:32pm PDT

However, more than his visit to the Golden Temple, it was his sweet and humble gesture that won his fans' hearts.

 Instagram

Just like a common man, Abhishek Bachchan did sewa by washing the dishes at the Golden Temple. Some people might say, "What's so special about it?" But, seriously, how often do you see a celeb doing something like this?

 Instagram

In fact, after his Golden Temple visit, Bachchan, along with producer Aanand L Rai, took to the streets and tried the local cuisine of Amritsar.

 Instagram

'Manmarziyaan' is a twisted tale of love triangle between Vicky, Taapsee and Abhishek, and is slated to release on September 14.Being discriminated against because of any reason is one of the worst things ever. It becomes even more infuriating when that discrimination comes in the way of someone following their dreams and that kind of stuff can mess with anyone.

Something like this happened to 18-year-old Louis Makepeace, who has dwarfism. He's a 3ft 10in tall chef who has been refused a place at Heart of Worcestershire College, where he was first accepted on a conditional basis.

He claims college bosses branded him a health and safety risk to the other 14 pupils and would cause a disruption if he got under their feet. Wow, that's just downright disgusting. Imagine taking away someone's opportunity and also crushing them at the same time!

He said, We are supposed to have equality of opportunity, yet I'm not allowed to do something I love doing. They said I would be a health and safety risk and disruption to the other students and get in their way, which was really humiliating. It really has dented my confidence. How am I ever supposed to get the culinary skills that's going to get me a job in a catering environment?

We all know and love Gordon Ramsay as the hilariously brutal food critic on Twitter, but today one his tweets stood apart as being an incredible gesture. Someone brought Louis' story to his attention and he had the best response.

@GordonRamsay

Shame on Heart of Worcester College for being too short sighted pic.twitter.com/QwIbm61iyK  Filomena (@immac64) August 28, 2018

Here's what he replied.

Disgusting attitude, I'd offer him an Apprenticeship any day. https://t.co/xYdfWJ7CLK  Gordon Ramsay (@GordonRamsay) August 28, 2018

I agree, this is a disgusting attitude and I really do hope Gordon follows up with his offer and make someone's life.

A lot of people in the replies urged him to come through and follow up.

Call him gordon x  aiki (@COSMlC_GAYS) August 28, 2018

Exactly.

Shame on Worcester college for discrimination of Differently able people.  uday naganath (@UdayNaganath) August 28, 2018

Everyone deserves a chance.

Do it! He will make a great chef, and will be a fantastic apprentice simply because he has the passion to do it.



I really hope you give this young man a chance, and learning from you he could have a stellar career ahead of him.  Russell Nicol (@russ_nicol) August 28, 2018

The best!

Gordon Ramsay you are absolutely the best   cigdem (@cdmkapukaya75) August 28, 2018

Someone came out with the receipts.

Also just to add to my tweet I have seen the kitchen classrooms at Worcester campus one of the classrooms has its own sections/workstations with everything you need to cook, counters/sink/stove they could put him in his own workstation out of the way very easily, no excuse.  Jordan Leaman (@Mr_JordanL) August 28, 2018

Louis' mom said that the course leaders claimed it wouldn't make sense for her son to do the course since he would never be allowed to work in a restaurant anyway.

She added, This just goes to prove they are wrong if Gordon Ramsay is coming out in support. Louis is a huge fan of his and we would be very interested in speaking to his people if he is serious about it. It has made his day just getting his backing.

Well, hopefully everything works out for Louis.Google has announced it will donate US$ 1 million (Rs 7 crores) to the relief and restoration efforts in Kerala. The state is battling one of the worst natural calamities it has ever faced. Nearly 500 people have been killed, over 800,000 people have been displaced, and nearly 8,000 houses have been washed away in the floods in the state so far.

Help is pouring in the state from all parts of the globe, people have open-heartedly contributed to the CM's Distress Relief Fund and everyone is trying to help in the best way possible.

 Reuters

"Google.org and Googlers will contribute $1 million to the relief work in Kerala," Rajan Anandan, Vice President, Southeast Asia, and India, said at the Google for India event.

The search giant had launched a special 'Person Finder' page specifically for Kerala. It's a tool that tracks all missing persons in a tragedy and helps reunite them with loved ones. The tool was first launched during Japan's massive earthquake in 2011. According to Anandan, the tool has helped fetch 22,000 records.

 Twitter/NidhiSingal

Google reached out and asked users to generate and share the plus code of their exact location, which can pinpoint their location and make it easier for rescue workers to reach them. A plus code includes 6 or 7 letters and numbers, and a town or city. Users can share their plus codes over a voice call or an SMS. Plus codes work just like street addresses.

Google's Geo platform also used a mix of news and crowdsourced data, and Google Developers Experts issued warnings of closed roads across the most affected districts.

 Twitter/Tech2eets

Last week even Apple announced it till we contributing US$ 1 million via Mercy Corps India and the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund. Apple has also added a banner on the App Store and iTunes Store, urging users to donate as much as they can.

Tech companies, whether local or global, have come together in the time of crisis and reaching out to their users and employees to contribute towards the relief efforts. Amazon is supporting non-profits Habitat for Humanity India, World Vision India, and Goonj, and encouraging customers to donate relief goods to them through its platform.Thank you for subscribing!

By signing up to this free newsletter you agree to receive occasional emails from us informing you about our products and services. You can opt out of these emails at any time.GREECE AND CHINA: PAST AND FUTURE/COMMONALITIES AND INDIVIDUALITIES

Greece and China: two countries of different sizes and with different roles in todays globalization, both with long courses in the history of human civilization.

Greek civilization taught that anyone with a Greek education is Greek. Education, love of the arts and sciences, faith in the city-state and the homeland, and the endeavour to understand others characterized Greeces cities and citizens. Socrates and Aristotle, the schools of philosophy and mathematics  all believed that humans are good by nature. That education must liberate citizens capabilities and make them useful to the city(-state).

The great teachers of China, and above all Confucius  but with the exception of the Chinese legalists  believed that human nature is good, but that education was needed for this nature to unfold and manifest itself.

Our history is for both of us a history of love for education and respect for coming generations.

When technology began to accelerate the development of societies, Athenian Society stopped believing that institutions and social change were products of the will of shadowy gods and authoritarian leaders. The condensation of time enabled it to see that the institutions were created by men and could be changed by the citizens of a democratic society. When changes did not take place at the pace and in the direction desired by society, and democracy did not function, citizens in ancient Greece had the right to disobey and even overthrow their leaders.

If ancient Greece gave birth to the notion and the institutions of democracy, China essentially gave birth to the modern state. A state with distribution of functions and with well-trained personnel, with special educational procedures for all ranks. Education became the mechanism for social mobility and gave birth to functional administration in the country. Like democracy in Greece, the notion of the need for harmony was born in China. Harmony with the heavens. And when this harmony was disturbed, the people had the right to rise up and restore the right to harmony.

China and Greece saw the development of schools of thought that, to a great extent, raised common questions in the same manner. In both countries, questions were posed that are still relevant today: what is life, thought, society? What is supernatural and what is natural? What is the meaning of life, and what is a good, correct and creative life? What is yesterday and what is tomorrow? What stance should we take on ethical/moral problems? What is the individual role in society; the part and the whole? What is humankinds relationship with nature? What does nature give us, and what duties do we have to it?

Karl Marx, the second and third internationals (and in part at the so-called second-and-a-half), Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Deng Xiaoping, like president Xi today, raised the questions and provided answers as to what capitalism is, what socialism is, how they are reached. Their questions and answers are pertinent for a whole era. They respond for the one country - two systems paradigm; the importance of productive forces and technology.

But our philosophers and wise men raised much more fundamental questions thousands of years ago. They did not concern only one era of humanity, but humanitys very existence. And that is why their relevance is timeless, before capitalism, in capitalism, in socialism, and probably after socialism.

They posed fundamental questions about our existence, because they felt they were part of a large cultural, political entity, a nation. Not in the modern sense of the mass nation, but certainly in consciousness of a historical nation, at least on the part of the political, intellectual and social elites. This is why it is my profound conviction that it is wrong to equate the notion of the nation solely with the mass nations of the age of capitalism. An approach such as this cannot comprehend the history of China or the history of the ancient city-states of Greece, which had a very strong sense that of belonging to a common nation.

Our two countries made great achievements: in the development of the arts  Greek tragedy has much in common with Chinese opera  in the development of the sciences, from mathematics and physics to the production of papyrus and multi-coloured paper. From gunpowder and the compass to the art of smelting iron.

Our civilizations, our history, the achievements of our peoples gave us certain characteristics. Greece is to Europe what China is to Southeast Asia. We came of age and achieved great things in parallel.

But there is a major difference: the magnificence of Athens, of Ancient and Byzantine Greece, spread throughout the western world, but Greece and its city-states ceased to be the centre of western civilization. Conversely, the Peoples Republic of China has an continuous presence as a regional and/or global power. Beyond the century of humiliation, it was and still is a force in cutting-edge high technology, major plans; it had and has a key role, high productivity, a large economy, technological development.

These common historical traits and significant differences raise a major question: What can the emerging significant power of the Peoples Republic of China and small-but-proud Greece have in common?

I think the answer is easy, because we have seen it in practice in recent decades. Greece and China want a world that lives in peace and harmony. A world that thinks more before acting. That reflects and does not want to clumsily disrupt a world that is changing. But both understand that this world is changing. And they both have their parts to play in making this change happen with the least possible shocks and disorder/anarchy. They do not have the same role, of course. China has weight in Southeast Asia  in the worlds fastest-developing region  and globally, while the same is not true of Greece, whether in terms of dimensions or weight. Greece is very small in global politics. It is a mid-size country in Europe, but relatively large in the Balkans. The Balkans, a region of geostrategic importance: a maritime gateway to Europe and a source of much suffering in history.

China is a great power. Greece is part of a great power: the European Union. Greece does not compete with China in the way certain powerful EU member states do. What is more, thanks to its sense of history, it can endeavour to mediate between the EU as a whole and the Peoples Republic of China. It is Chinas best and oldest friend in the EU.

Today we are living the paradox of the two greatest powers of our age having completely different relationships with history, time, acceleration. One, the U.S., is one of the youngest states and nations. It does not feel the weight of history upon it, and that is why it is positively inclined towards new things. It makes decisions relatively quickly and, in recent decades, has accelerated its actions. This advantage is accompanied by the disadvantage that it does not have a real sense of history or the wisdom gained through experience. Historically speaking, it is a relatively young power that has drive, clear thought, and is not a prisoner of history. It is not afraid or inhibited.

The other power is China, a country with the longest cultural history in human memory. Sometimes, like Greece, it is at risk of becoming a prisoner of history. But, on the other hand, it has the experience of its history. Not to rush things. It is not restless. It has patience, sobriety, wisdom.

The EU is somewhere between these two powers in terms of the subject we are looking at here. The EU itself is much younger. But most of its member states are much older, and some have cultures that go back as far as the brilliant ages of Chinese civilization.

This is the first time history has brought together powers with such different historical origins, degrees of experience, types of capacities; a combination of youthful enthusiasm and experience.

Greece is a small country. In (the context of) this small size, it has advantages and disadvantages of all the sides. It can understand them well. It, too, feels the weight of its history, experience and wisdom. And it is often and crushingly a prisoner of its own history, but at the same time it learns from that history. It is a Western country, but from a cultural standpoint it is in a position to understand Chinas patience, to perceive the historical importance of the major projects that comprise the One Belt, One Road initiative. Like China, it is a historical actor. A small twin of China. It came of age in the same period, with similar wisdom and raising similar questions.

Due to this parallel age and culture, the great China of today can understand the significance of Greeks historicity, their contribution to global culture, including contemporary culture. China respects and works with little Greece. Together we created the Ancient Civilizations Forum  civilizations impacting todays globalized world. An international initiative spanning four continents.

Greece, on the other hand, can understand why China does not consider anything and everything western to be universal. It understands that universality is born through understanding. That the existence of difference is a universal phenomenon. The values of the western Enlightenment are not by definition  and are often anything but  higher than Asian values or the values of Confucius and Mao. Global culture exists within its universality, including every national and regional difference. Because every step towards global integration can be accompanied by integration as the recognition of difference.

China went through a long period during which purely revolutionary forces and reform-oriented forces had to find a way to coexist, to create an amalgam of Chinese socialist modernization. A fact and historical imperative that found expression in the socialist modernization of Deng Xiaoping and the policy of One Country, Two Systems.

Greece, too, went through a crisis, which was caused by the global financial crisis and the need for certain changes in its political, social and economic system. But meeting this need was made more difficult by the fact that many of the changes were imposed from outside the country, by a neoliberal majority in the European Union and at the IMF. The changes carried out in the first six years (2008-2014) harmed society, but subsequently these changes imposed on Greece in order to save French and German banks  were accompanied by a parallel programme implemented by our government. A programme for bringing relief to the countrys middle and working classes and for restoring Greece to its (rightful) position on the regional and global stages.

Over the past three and a half years, Greece was able to emerge from the crisis. This does not mean (of course) that certain aspects of the multifaceted crisis do not live on in the country. It was able to return to positive growth rates, while having lost over 27% of its GDP over the past eight years. Greece is a country that paid dearly and excessively for the global financial crisis and the EUs identity crisis.

Greece implements a proactive multidimensional foreign policy  as does China, in its own way of course. Over the past four years, on our initiative, 16 new formats have been created in the Balkan and Eastern Mediterranean region for regional/international cooperation schemes that constitute a new network of cooperation, friendship and peaceful mutual understanding in the region. The content of these cooperation initiatives is the security and stability these two sub-regions. Common economic and social growth. Growth that is being assisted by the extroversion of modern China.

As the south-eastern gateway to the EU, as the southern maritime gateway to Europe  especially Central and Eastern Europe  Greece can be and is the link between the world of China and that of the EU. Greece is the country that understands both sides. With one, it has had a parallel cultural course for thousands of years now, and it is part of the other. It is the country that can and does facilitate mutual understanding between two worlds that have modernized and need to modernize even more.

Greece and China have their own traditions, histories, cultures. They have many differences, as their centres of gravity  the Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean, on the one hand, and Southeast Asia, on the other  are very different in terms of size, identity, habits and understanding of many issues. But they also have shared outlooks on the major universal questions facing humanity. They also have many common structures.

Of these, I will single out the presence in both countries of Muslim communities; a past in which conquering neighbours perpetrated crimes against our two countries and peoples; major seas in which international law and custom play an important role.

One of Hellenisms most substantial problems is the Cyprus issue. The illegal occupation of the northern part of Cyprus by third powers. The effort to Taiwanize this portion of Cyprus, in exactly the same way the West attempted  through multiple conquests, in the past, on the part of Japan and Portugal  to break One China into two entities.

It is no coincidence that Greece and China are among the staunchest defenders of states sovereignty and territorial integrity. Of their independence and of deterring policies aimed at humiliating UN member states. This is why they attach great importance to compliance with international rules and agreements. And to these agreements being the result of equal participation of all sides.

The common quest for answers to universal questions. The need to correctly study history  which is the school of both our nations  contemporary geopolitical issues and problems in the implementation of international law; aspects of our cultures, from clothing to cuisine, theatre and the sciences; institutions and a peoples right to harmony with the heavens. These are fields in which we have strong and internationally recognized positive unique characteristics, and they are a common field of study between our two governments, institutes, research centres and universities. The joint study of such issues must be bolstered.

Cooperation between China and the EU  through capitalizing on Greeces special role in the harmony between these two worlds  is another key and special field of action for our two states and peoples. Thanks to the growth courses of both our economies  on different scales and at different rates, of course  we can better develop the economic and social contacts between our states and societies. Chinese investments, led by Coscos investment in the Port of Piraeus, the development of trade, where I think Greek agricultural products can be promoted much more effectively in China, exchange of know-how and collaboration between new companies (start-ups), shipping, a sector in which Greece is a leading global player with a long tradition, and tourism are a few of the sectors for further development of the relations between our two states.

Increasing cultural and education exchanges is vital to the more substantial development of our relations. We need to carry out comparative studies of our parallel pasts and promote comparative studies on contemporary problems. We need to strengthen collaboration in the sectors of modern sciences.

Your invitation is a great honour for a friend of the Peoples Republic of China and of Chinese culture. It is a small pebble in the great edifice of friendship that we are building between our states and peoples.

Thank you, xie xie.HARBOR BEACH Two farmers market vendors recently expressed their concerns to Harbor Beach Council members, and blamed a shift in days to a decline in sales.

During the citizen's comment portion of the recent council meeting, two regular vendors from the Harbor Beach Farmers Market protested the market being held on Thursday. They felt it should revert back to Fridays, as it was last year.

Both said their sales were noticeably down from last year, and they attributed the decline to the change in day. They felt a Friday market would draw the tourists coming through town for the weekend.

The city doesnt run the farm market," Mayor Gary Booms told the vendors.

Booms said the market is under the control of the Harbor Beach Lions Club. Councilman Robert Swartz chairs the market for the Lions, but said he does not do so as a city council member.

Booms told the vendors their complaints were not appropriate for the city council meeting. They could come to a monthly committee meeting, he said, or they should speak to Swartz after the meeting. Nonetheless, Booms agreed to let them speak if Swartz was willing to address them at this time.

Swartz told the mayor he would address the vendors. Swartz said they have had this conversation earlier in the year and nothing was resolved. He said the farmers market schedule was changed after he spoke to a number of vendors at the end of last years season.

Swartz indicated he was willing to change the day back to Friday if the majority of vendors agreed.

Well talk before we close down for the year," he said.

In other business:

 Earlier in the year, the council agreed the citys bike path needed repairs. DPW Superintendent Mike Jurgess solicited bids for the project. He recommended the city have the repairs completed by Yaroch Asphalt & Maintenance Equipment at a cost of $48,400. The city agreed and approved hiring the company.

 The council approved hiring Jobe Capling of Capling Construction Co. to install soffit and fascia to the new pavilion at North Park. Capling was hired at a cost of $40 per hour.

 According to Water Treatment Plant Supervisor Clark Cregeur, the plant needs a new lawn mower. He had received several quotes, and he recommended purchasing a Husqvarna Mower from Tractor Supply at a cost of $2,999. Council agreed.

 The city hired Nathan Siemen as a part-time seasonal employee for the North Park Recreation Department. This came after a recommendation by Harbor Beach City Director Ron Wruble to hire the local resident. Booms told the audience a new employee was needed due to other employees going back to school and college at the end of summer.

 It was reported the demolition of Als restaurant started Aug. 21.

 It was reported repairs and paving to Nelson Street and Lytle Street were completed. City council members expected the contractors would clean up debris and collect orange barrels during the upcoming week.BAD AXE  The county's future in terms of development and land use is visible in the first draft of the Huron County Master Plan.

County officials are in the process of reviewing the 180-page plan to make changes before the final draft is voted on for approval by both the Huron County Planning Commission and the Huron County Board of Commissioners.

The plan includes a view of Huron's renewable energy future. Regarding renewable energy, the plan states:

 Wind energy development is one of the main challenges facing Huron County.

 In terms of wind energy development, Huron County is evenly split on this issue.

 There is support for the development of solar in Huron County, but only when sited in appropriate areas.

 Regarding land use along the shoreline, survey respondents would like to see those public parks improved and updated, including the preservation of scenic vistas and open space.

Wind energy facilities

Huron county has 472 operational wind turbines.

On one hand, the zoning map defines where wind energy facilities can be located in Huron County by the placement of the various existing overlays, which can be amended to add more overlays, the plan states. On the other hand, each wind energy facility has a useful life, and if such facilities are not repowered at the end of their useful life, they will need to be decommissioned, and once decommissioning is completed, the Huron County zoning map can be amended to remove any associated overlays.

Any wind energy facility that is repowered would have to comply with all current zoning ordinance requirements, according to the plan.

So no matter what ordinance the wind park was built under, the most updated version of the wind ordinance would apply to repowering.

The plan also addresses decommissioning, or removal of wind turbines.

Decommissioning never precedes repowering," the plan states. "A triggering event, as described in the facilitys approved decommissioning plan, necessitates the removal of the wind energy facility. Such a triggering event might be the time when a portion of the facility ceases to generate electric power for a specified period, or it might be a timeframe specified within the power purchase agreement with the utility. Decommissioning does not involve the issuance of any new permits for the operation of a wind energy facility.

The action plan for wind energy includes revamping the wind ordinance to reflect options for repowering. New permits will need to be obtained for a turbine to be repowered.

The action plan also includes the following:

 Review individual decommissioning agreements

 For each individual wind energy facility, outline a schedule for anticipated decommissioning or repowering

 One year prior to the anticipated end of useful life, engage the operator in a discussion of options for repowering or for decommissioning

Solar energy development

Regarding solar, the plan makes it clear that commercial solar development on prime farmland enrolled in PA 116 will not be acceptable.

Installation of commercial solar energy facilities is a serious threat to the viability of the countys agricultural economy as it has the potential to remove large-scale swathes of productive agricultural land from the PA 116 program," the plan states. "It is the goal of Huron County to ensure that lands already enrolled in the PA 116 program remain in the program while directing the development of commercial solar energy facilities to marginal lands.

While the planners spent considerable time debating setbacks for solar development at recent meetings, the plan does not get specific about setbacks.

According to the plan: When developing zoning ordinance provisions, the Planning Commission should consider appropriate setbacks for the following:

 Non-participating property lines

 Homes on non-participating parcels

 Participating property lines

 Homes on participating parcels

 Cities and villages

 Townships that are not county-zoned

 Parks

 State land

 Wind turbines

 Lake Huron shoreline

About Huron County

The plan includes a lot of background and statistics about Huron County, including some regarding its declining and aging population.

With 32,525 residents as of 2014, the county has 5 percent less population today than it did in 1990, and 8 percent less than in 2010.

Huron Countys poverty rate in 2014 was 15.5 percent, compared to 17.3 percent in Michigan and 14.1 percent nationwide.

There are also numerous pages of maps that show soil types, natural/water features, land enrolled in farmland preservation, and future land use.

Agricultural is the top land use in the county, at 84 percent.

Of the 452,000 acres of agricultural land in Huron County, 75 percent is enrolled in the Farmland and Open Space Preservation Program, commonly known as the PA 116 Program," the plan states.

Survey says

Results of a 2016 survey of county residents are also included.

Key points include a good quality of life, a declining economy and three major challenges facing Huron County today: crime and drug abuse, wind energy development, and unemployment.

Overall, 35 percent of respondents believe quality of life in Huron County is the best or one of the best in the Thumb, and 33 percent of respondents believe the quality of life in Huron County is generally good. And 80 percent of respondents state that they still see themselves in the Thumb five years from now.

Survey respondents agreed that education options, including trade schools, are important to the countys future.

The agricultural way of life was highly valued by survey respondents, and 63 percent said the county needs more commercial service in existing cities and villages. Forty percent of respondents said development should be focused on the tourism industry.

The county is interested in what alternative energy operations residents would welcome in the county, according to the plan.

73 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that solar energy would be welcome. Methane gas capture and wind energy were the least popular.

The most common themes people like best about Huron county include: The rural nature of the county, the small-town feel, the friendly community, the cost of living, the recreation opportunities and natural beauty, and the peace and quiet of the countryside," according to the survey.

The most common themes people would do to improve Huron county include: Create good jobs, promote economic growth, support small businesses, work with universities and other skilled trades to provide education options to the youth, provide more recreation choices, particularly regional trails, work with medical professionals to address drug problems, and capitalize on the tourist industry," according to survey results.

Development goals

Goals outlined for economic development include:

 Maintain a strong local and regional economic base and to provide jobs for all residents of Huron County.

 Support water system improvements in the communities of Bad Axe, Port Austin, Pigeon and Harbor Beach.

 Support improvements to community sewer systems.

Goals for tourism include:

 Provide reasonable access for residents to all parks, water, and recreational facilities and promote a variety of tourism options for those residing in and out of Huron County.

 Protect the viewshed afforded by the Lake Huron shoreline.

Goals for Agriculture:

 Promote agriculture and to encourage expansion into new markets.

 Promote GAAMPs  generally accepted agricultural and management practices as set forth from the Michigan Right to Farm Act (PA 93 of 1981)  compliance throughout Huron County.

Another plan goal is to provide quality and affordable housing for county residents.

Future land use

Categories for future land use include: agricultural, residential, business industrial, state land, county parks, airport, ITC Thumb Loop and water lines.

A written summary and maps are provided for some categories, as well as a map for each county-zoned township.

Most business and industrial expansion is aimed at such areas already in existence, including villages, cities and state highway corridors.

The plan addresses the countys 16 townships under county zoning. They are: Bingham, Bloomfield, Brookfield, Dwight, Fairhaven, Gore, Grant, Hume, Lincoln, McKinley, Rubicon, Sebewaing, Sheridan, Sherman, Sigel and Winsor townships.

Although Sherman and Lincoln townships have voted to become self-zoned, they remain under the countys jurisdiction until they adopt zoning ordinaces.

The plan also describes its place in mapping the future:

The master plan is policy and should therefore be used as a guide to the future use of and and overall development in the (county)," the plan states. "While the Master Plan outlines a communitys vision for the future, the zoning ordinance contains the rules that govern the path to that vision.

In the event either the zoning ordinance or a decision of the planning commission is challenged in court, the master plan would provide the planning rationale to support land use regulation.

"Carrying out the Master Plan is a task which is led by county officials and the planning commission, but is also dependent upon every responsible citizen of the County," the plan states "By working together, Huron County will continue to be a desirable, attractive, convenient, and welcoming community."

County officials will have until Sept. 7 to submit edits, after which the final plan will be drafted. Hopes are that the final adoption will take place before the end of the year.

The master plan draft can be viewed or downloaded at http://bit.ly/huroncountymasterplan.HHM CPAs, a full-service CPA and consulting firm with locations in Chattanooga and Memphis, announces the appointment of Pam Morris, CPA, CGMA, CFE, as chief operating officer, a new position within the firm.

Ms. Morris began her career at HHM in 2013 as partner and served in her role until 2015 when her passion for small businesses led her to co-found Freight Depot Accounting, an affiliate company of HHM. FDA launched in 2015 with the full support of the firm to provide startups, small to medium-size businesses, and nonprofits with professional accounting services.



"As HHMs COO, Morris will oversee daily operations and administrative processes of all departments including recruiting and service organization.





She will set comprehensive goals to drive growth and continue improving client experiences while leading employees to encourage high performance and retention. Morris will continue her involvement within FDA, leaving the operations manager to oversee day to day processes while Morris focuses on her new COO position," officials said.Pam has been a key member of HHMs management team for many years, said Donnie Hutcherson, HHM managing partner. She has been vital in the success of the firm and will execute operations as we continue to grow. When I decided to fill the COO position, I realized the person who knew our firm well and had the qualifications we needed was already in the building. Pam has a long successful history here at HHM and truly shares our passion for service excellence.Ms. Morris has held many high-level management positions during her 30-year tax and accounting career. She has served as a partner at a regional accounting firm, where she was responsible for tax planning and consulting for multi-entity companies. She has also owned several small businesses and served as regional controller for a multinational gas company.Ms. Morris currently serves on The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga College of Business Deans Advisory Board and is a mentor to a Deans Advisory Board Scholarship recipient, a program headed by the Dean for the College of Business, Robert Dooley.SANDUSKY -- My Community Dental Center Inc., in partnership with the Sanilac County Health Department, is inviting the community to attend the grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting for the new MCDC Sandusky dental center.

The grand opening will be from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Sept. 11 at the center, located at 135 W. Sanilac Road in Sandusky. The dedication ceremony will start at 4:45 p.m. with open house and facility tours to follow.Ernest Ackerman, a retired motorman from Cleveland, Ohio, became the first person ever to receive a check, on Aug. 16, 1935 for Social Security.

He was lucky enough to retire one day after the Social Security program began, and received a check for a whopping 17 cents. Today, millions of Americans rely on this monthly check to live on, for food, rent and sundries.

One of those women is Sophie Greengrass, who is fortunate enough to live with her daughter, Trudy, and her accountant husband, Martin on Long Island. She also is lucky enough to have another daughter, Barbara, and her successful art gallery-owning husband, David, who are more than willing to write a check for mamas care and comfortas long as she doesnt invade their luxurious Manhattan apartment and disturb their lovely life style.

The Connecticut Cabaret Theatre in Berlin is inviting you to get up close and personal with these families, as critical issues are discussed and radical changes are being made, weekends until Saturday, Sept. 22 when Andrew Bergmans frantic family comedy Social Security comes to call. The Avon Lady or the Fuller Brush Man would have been more welcomed.

With an ominous phone call that there is something to discuss, sophisticated art gallery owners David (Chris Brooks) and Barbara Kahn (Rachel West-Balling) have the disconcerting sense that their smooth, witty, and well ordered lives are about to irrevocably change.

How different they are from the Mineola, Long Island branch, her uptight sister Trudy (Carleigh Cappetta Schultz) and her staid accountant husband Martin (Tony Galli) who are content to be suburbanites, happily overprotecting their daughter Sarah and care taking of mama Sophie (Lori Feldman) at the same time.

So what could be so urgent as to make the stay-at-home Heymans leave their secure nest and venture into the big, bad Big Apple? The couple are the epitome of the sandwich generation. Not only do they have to handle all the capricious whims of Sophie, who is hard of hearing, leaves half eaten sour balls everywhere  like in the toaster  and needs be catered to; they also have to contend with their only daughter, Sarah, who seems to be off to college and becoming sexually active in a menage-a-trois off campus.

What are concerned parents to do? Dump Sophie in Manhattan and fly to Buffalo to rescue Sarah, of course. The plan goes quickly awry when Barbara and Davids best artist client Maurice Koenig (Russell Fish) comes to dinner and meets Sophie in the flesh.

Come discover what half eaten sour balls and gefilte fish have to do with the price of art and sanity when Sophie Greengrass invades Manhattan.

For tickets ($34) call the CT Cabaret Theatre, 31-33 Webster Square Road, Berlin at 860-829-1248 or online at www.ctcabaret.com. Performances are Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m., with doors opening at 7:15 p.m. Bring your own goodies or plan to buy treats at the concession stand onsite.CROMWELL  Some 20 or so residents listened intently Monday as members of a subcommittee reviewed proposed revisions in the Cromwell Fire Districts bylaws.

Panel members explained their hope is to clarify the functions of the district and condense the bylaws in a bid for more transparency.

The district, which is a creation of the state, does not have a charter, District Vice President Johnathon Hamlin said. Instead, it is governed by the bylaws, which were first adopted in November 1927.

For the next 85 years, no changes were made. Then, in short order, they were amended in 2012, 2013 and 2017. And now, in 2018, they are again being revised.

In addition to the bylaws that govern the operations of the district, the operations of the board of fire commissioners are detailed in a separate collection of rules and procedures.

The subcommittee is folding these items into the revised 14-page bylaws, drawing objections from Hamlin, who chaired Mondays meeting at the Coles Road Fire Station.

Hamlin said the bylaws are adopted by residents of the district, while the rules and procedures are the sole province of the commission. He was challenged on that point by subcommittee Chairman Charles Epstein.

However, the issue was perhaps too arcane for many in the audience to understand  or care  about the distinction.

Subcommittee member LeRoy Brow projected the proposed revisions on a screen as he read through them. Residents had copies of both the existing bylaws and the proposed revisions, as well as the rules and procedures.

For the most part, the proposed changes were relatively minor.

The included clarification of certain positions, provide a process to begin using abated ballots for district elections in 2020, and redefinitions of the roles of the assistant chiefs.

There is one deputy for training and the other for emergency medical services.

Commission members can choose to buy blue blazers to create a formal dress uniform. But the district will not reimburse them for the cost of the blazer.

The district will provide them with a rain jacket and hat identifying them as commission members, which can be worn if they choose to go to an emergency scene.

The bylaws were changed to clarify the role of a commissioner who wants to attend a district committee meeting of which they are not a member. That was done to eliminate confusion over whether the presence of a commissioner can be used to create a quorum for a meeting.

The board can strip a commissioner of his/her powers for dereliction of duty. But the actual removal of a commissioner can only be done by the vote of the residents.

Having read the issues and listened to questions from board members, the session was then opened up for residents comments.

Former commissioner James Bellamo and William McKnight, a paid firefighter, argued strongly that, as McKnight put it, The taxpayers should be involved in every decision.

McKnight, who is not a district resident, also said the district should use every social media platform it can to alert residents to meetings and elections.

The subcommittee has proposed sending out notices to every household in the district. But Hamlin said that could cost upwards of $6,000 to do so.

Former first selectwoman Mertie L. Terry said the subcommittee must clarify that employees can only be removed for just cause. As it stands now, the wording is too loosey-goosey, Terry said.

She also pressed for clarification of who oversees the districts executive director. Subcommittee officials said that would the role of the district president.

All well and good, Terry said, but that language will have to be added to the revisions.

And, in a sign of the times, a woman demanded the bylaws carry a requirement that every meeting begin with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Hamlin said all the meetings do so now.

The woman said a verbal guarantee was inadequate and the bylaws must contain language requiring recitation of the Pledge.

Brow said he would take the suggestions back to the subcommittee and rework them so they can then be presented to the full commission, and then go back to residents in a vote to adopt them.

McKnight said a majority of both the subcommittee and the commission were present, and so the subcommittee could act on the proposed changes then and there, and present to the commission for action.

Hamlin explained, however, that was not possible because the agenda of the meeting did not include language that would allow for such actions.

Both Terry and former selectman Allan Spotts announced Monday they are running for seats on the district commission in the October election.

Reporter Jeff Mill covers East Hampton, Cromwell and Portland for the Middletown Press. Contact him at jeff.mill@hearstmediact.com.MIDDLETOWN  Two large parcels of land are being developed in the city for commercial and mixed-use projects that officials say will encourage residents to eat, live and play in one location.

Over the last six weeks or so, scores of people driving by Route 66/Washington Street near the Staples plaza have watched the felling of trees and construction crews clearing a 15-acre formerly forested plot that borders Carabetta Apartments on Plaza Drive.

Three commercial buildings will be built on the parcel. On the corner of Plaza Drive and Route 66, a 7,500-square-foot, free-standing structure will be built. Developer Abe Kaoud said he is still in negotiations with a tenant interested in building a restaurant there.

A second, 8,500-square-foot OReilly Auto Parts store will soon occupy a newly constructed facility next door to the recently opened Mozzicato DePasquale Bakery and Pastry Shop at 762 Washington St., Kaoud said.

Phase three of the project, not yet completed, will be a 20,000-square-foot structure at the rear of the plot, built between Washington Street and Carabetta Apartments. Kaoud said he is in the process of lining up tenants, and hopes to get a retail business to come in.

More for you Conn. retailers lose ground in 2017 amid bid for relevance

It took a year for Kaoud to gain approval on all aspects of the project, according to Middletown Planning, Conservation & Development Director Joseph Samolis.

Accommodations had to be secured from the Inland Wetlands Commission, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and the Army Corps of Engineers, Samolis said.

The developer has had to modify the design to have the least impact ecologically on the area. In some ways, its going to be a benefit. There was a storm drain eroding soil away from the parcel, delivering it into the Coginchaug River. This development incorporates methodologies to prevent that from happening, he said.

Middletown Planning and Zoning Commissioner Stephen Devoto acknowledged hed prefer a development be built in a mixed-use zone surrounded by businesses than in other parts of the city containing large tracts of open space.

Those 15 acres of forest werent doing anybody any good surrounded by a four-lane highway and parking lot and apartments in back of it. We want to fill in development in the middle of where theres already development.

If I had to choose that between there or Maromas or Saybrook, where theres much more open space, Id much rather it go on 66, Devoto said.

At the south end of town, the former Citizens Bank at 211 S. Main St. was recently razed to make room for a new, 17,574-square-foot facility that will include a coffee shop, Citizens Bank branch, and another business  potentially an urgent care facility, Samolis said. Crews were removing debris Monday morning.

Within that building are two 3,000-square-foot units that could be combined into one 6,000-square-foot commercial space.

The Citizens Bank there was distinguished by a feature that had become somewhat of a local landmark, Samolis said.

At one point in time, the local community used to call it the solar bank, because it had a solar installation.

Developer Robert Kempenaar II of Rhode Island plans to build retail or office space and four market-rate apartments on the second floor: two two-bedroom apartments and two one-bedrooms.

What were doing is looking at our corridors  mainly on South Main Street, Washington Street and Newfield Street  that come into our urban core, and how we can better utilize property out there. It continues to bring the types of services the residents in those areas of towns need, Samolis said.

A little over a half-mile away, the new 89-unit College St. Apartments on College and Broad streets is slated to open in fall, he said. There will be a commercial component on the ground floor of that structure as well. These new market-rate apartments, like those on South Main, incorporate the citys vision for a walkable downtown.

It allows people not having to jump in their cars to go down a few blocks or a few miles to grab a cup of coffee or go to the bank or to a commercial establishment. Its all within their neighborhood, Samolis said.

We want to make communities where people can easily access the amenities they need without having to jump in a car and traveling out of town. We want people to be able to  as the saying goes  eat, live, play in one location, Samolis said.

The urban core and these arteries are being developed to serve populations that radiate from those arteries. Having a mixed-use development with a residential component with commercial does that, he added.

Ensuring new development in Middletown, in complement with well-established commercial areas that can be easily accessed by public transit, pedestrians and bicyclists is the mission of the citys Complete Streets Committee, which works with public works and planning and zoning staff.

The city made sure the state engineers who conducted a traffic study in the 211 So. Main St. area did everything possible to increase the safety aspect for pedestrians and bikers nearby, Samolis said.

The Complete Street group works to facilitate walking and biking connections between neighborhoods, commercial districts, parks, public lands, private institutions and neighboring communities, according to its plan.

That mission aligns with the citys when it considers all new development, Samolis said.

Were looking for vibrant retail to complement the neighborhood so people dont have to drive. They can get everything they need hopefully within walking distance.

Managing Editor Cassandra Day can be reached at cassandra.day@hearstmediact.com or Twitter @cassandrasdis.MIDDLETOWN  Shawn, a Middletown resident who served in the Army, sustained a severe traumatic brain injury while serving his country, which left him in a coma for 11 days.

He told his story, withholding his last name, in a video made by the city-based Forever in My Heart Foundation, which works to secure shelter dogs, train them and give them  entirely free  to disabled veterans who need service dogs.

The group, led by Mira Alicki, jewelry designer and owner of Miras Jewelry Designs at 476 Main St., partnered with Marquis Events for a charity gala Sept. 16 in the old GFox building in Hartford. Channel 3 meteorologist Scott Haney will act as host for the event.

[Shadow] changed my life. She taught me how to be less angry, focus on the good. Lifes so much better. Its so hard to explain what they can do for you. Shadow definitely healed me a lot, he said in the short film, while walking into ORourkes Diner on Main Street with Shadow.

In February, Alicki established the foundation, which has a 10-member board. She is fostering a German shepherd, Rocco, whom she rescued as a stray puppy in Louisiana at 21/2 months old. He was abused and is cautious when meeting new people.

Someone tried to shoot him, and I got (him) from the rescue. Hes very strong, very friendly and hes just an amazingly good pup, said Alicki.

She has a special place in her heart for veterans.

If you look at veterans coming back from deployments, this is a group that really, truly needs the most help. Theres research that those dogs really change those peoples lives, Alicki said.

Shawn got his dog from another organization. The confidence he gained from having her as a companion has had immeasurable effects on him, including his graduating from culinary school.

Forever in my Heart raised money through the most curious of ways  two pierogi-making workshops in June and July. Tickets sold out in two hours for the first session.

More for you Dog found near Mendocino fire adopted by fireman who found him

The proceeds from those evenings helped finance the purchase of four dogs.

The statistics involving servicemen and women who become handicapped from their time in the armed forces are sobering.

Presently, 3.8 million Americans come home disabled. Every day, 22 veterans commit suicide, and there are currently 5 million dogs in kill shelters across the country, according to the video.

We have a very thorough screening process: They all go to disabled veterans, but even within disabled veterans, we screen them for diagnosis, we talk to the therapist, we get their finances, we do house visits, Alicki said.

A woman who works at the Veterans Administration in Rocky Hill conduct the interviews to weed out those who may not fit the programs criteria.

She knows better how to assess when she talks to them. Plus, we have to categorize (vets), because when we talk to them, they may have been diagnosed with PTSD or depression, but they really need a companion dog more than a service dog, she said.

The ideal canines are Shepherds, Labs and golden retrievers. They stay with foster families while undergoing training at Hop River Shepherds of Andover.

It takes between $12,000 and $18,000 to ready such canines for working with disabled veterans. The foundation foots the $10,000 cost of their training.

Her foundation has already raised $56,251 of its $200,000 goal.

The group places dogs with foster families who are required to stay with the dogs 24 hours a day. Many bring them to work and to other social situations. Alicki took Rocco to the recent Motorcycle Mania, and out to dinner for 21/2 hours. He sat quietly under the table.

In the beginning, we start off training a lot of environmental (situations) depending on the dogs age, (employ) food luring, teaching different (training) positions and obedience skills. Once we find the veteran, well work on fine details to provide the ultimate dog for them, said Scott Beebe, co-owner of Hop River.

The dogs must have a mellow disposition. One of the tests conducted is pinching the dogs foot. The appropriate response is licking the persons hand, not nipping it, Alicki said.

A pinch doesnt hurt. You want the dog to be forgiving of you. You dont want him to fight back and bite you, because thats not a good sign for the future, Alicki said.

Lori Defillippi, a veteran who suffers from PTSD, gave a testimonial on the foundations Facebook page.

I wasnt living my life without fear and psychological effects on a daily basis. I was always hypervigilant, always on guard, and depressed most of my days, said Defillippi, who received her dog Voodoo more than five years ago.

Since having her, I am no longer the psychological mess I was. I have fewer PTSD symptoms and lower levels of depression. She is my eyes and ears and I react to her body language now. Voodoo and I are a team.

The gala, which takes place from 3 to 8:30 p.m. at 960 Main St., Hartford, will include a red carpet, music by the Loveland Hill Band, a dinner catered by Belvedere Restaurant and Catering, live auction and more.

Tickets can be purchased for $85 or $750 for a table of 10. To register, visit foreverinmyheartfoundation.org.

Managing Editor Cassandra Day can be reached at cassandra.day@hearstmediact.com or Twitter @cassandrasdis.U.S. Marine Corps

FORT BENNING, Georgia  John R. Kiniry graduated Marine Corps. boot camp March 2 and attended and graduated infantry school. He graduated 2146 tank mechanic school Aug. 16 and was transferred to his new base at 29 Palms California. Kiniry earned his degree at Middletown High School in 2015. His parents are Nancy Newman of Middletown and Richard Kiniry of East Hampton.

Wofford College

SPARTANBURG, South Carolina  Austin Daddario, a member of the class of 2020, is one of the many students on Wofford Colleges orientation staff who will greet first-year students as the college welcomes the Class of 2022. Daddario is from East Haddam.

The orientation staff leadership team helps plan, organize and manage activities designed to help first-year college students make the transition from high school to college. They foster supportive relationships, serve as role models and offer peer mentoring.

Delaware Valley University

DOYLESTOWN, Pennsylvania  Emma Luther of Killingworth was named to the deans list at Delaware Valley University for the spring 2018 semester.

American International College

SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts  American International College named students to the spring 2018 deans list. Each are full-time students with a grade-point average between 3.3 and 4.0.

Locals are: Patience Danso-Dapaah of Middletown, majoring in nursing; Josh King of Durham, majoring in international business; Brianna OBrien of Deep River, majoring in psychology; and Megi Zaclli of Middlefield, majoring in human biology.

Clark University

WORCESTER, Massachusetts  The following local students received a degree from Clark University May 20.

Jessica Hoops of East Hampton graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of arts in English and philosophy. Hoops is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Sigma Tau and the Sigma Tau Delta honor societies.

Hannah D. Breton of Middletown graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of arts in biochemistry and molecular biology.

Fairfield University

FAIRFIELD  The following Fairfield University students graduated from Fairfield University May 20. Student must earn a minimum of 120 credits and completed at least 38 three- or four-credit courses, depending on the course of study, and have an overall grade-point average of 2.0 or better at the conclusion of the senior year.East Coast cannabis markets are getting ready to expand in a major way. In recent weeks, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, Florida and even New York have shown signs of progress. This has been a long time coming for East Coast cannabis entrepreneurs.

As founder of New Yorks largest cannabis meetup group, High NY, Ive been working to educate New Yorkers about cannabis since 2014. Ive done this by soliciting experts from all over the world to come to New York to share their knowledge.

The Cannabis World Congress & Business Exposition (CWCBE) took place in New York City recently. While there, I met with nine-year industry veteran and author Christian Hageseth. He is the founder and CEO of Denvers Green Man Cannabis, a retail and grow operation well-known for its connoisseur grade craft cannabis, and ONE Cannabis, a cannabis business franchise.

At the CWCBE, I also spoke with Chloe Villano, founder of Denver based Clover Leaf University. Clover Leaf, licensed by the Colorado Department of Higher Education, has conducted vocational training for thousands of people all over the world. Chloe and her team ran a cannabis business crash course for a few hundred attendees at the CWCBE in New York.

Related: Italy Accidentally Legalized Pot and Now the Mafia Is Losing Big Money

Below is some advice Christian and Chloe shared for East Coast cannabis entrepreneurs:

Have significant capital and be patient.

Temper your enthusiasm, Hageseth said. Ive been part of legal cannabis businesses in nine states, shortly after each legalized marijuana. For seven out of nine states, the roll out was significantly delayed and enrollment of medicinal patients was much lower than expected. Massachusetts is a perfect example. They took a while to get to where they are and are gaining speed, but the industry there is still so far from its true potential.

He cautions to remain optimistic but be realistic and pragmatic in your approach, as it may take a few years before new markets get their feet on the ground. A lot of people think theyre going to get rich quick [in cannabis]. But, in reality, you are not going to be an immediate cash flow business, Hageseth added.

Villano echoed these sentiments, always raise more money than you think you need and dont expect business to come easily. In fact, expect everything to go wrong, because the regulations will change often and your plan will become obsolete.

Hageseth also advises letting others take the lead.

There is a difference between pioneers and settlers. Pioneers got arrows and settlers got land, he said. Im much more interested in being a settler in the cannabis industry. You dont know how regulators or banks are going to react as legalization changes, so its beneficial to not be the first to market.

Related: New Study Confirms What Many Already Know: Cannabis Helps Treat Insomnia

Seek experienced partners

Partner with people who have industry experience to guide you and provide valuable advice along the way. The cannabis industry is unlike any other, so finding someone who has a deep amount of vetted contacts, as well as experience owning or operating a successful dispensary or grow is a great competitive advantage.

Having someone who understands your business and is available to help resolve specific challenges is invaluable, Hageseth said. I wish I could have paid someone $100,000 and five percent of my revenue to not make all the mistakes Ive made. I would have saved myself so much trouble and would be millions of dollars ahead.

He advises to be willing to pay for the right partner or the right advice. For example, there are ways to structure your entity and design your corporate governance that can significantly reduce frictions when it comes to scaling your business, remaining compliant and paying your taxes. An experienced partner can clue you into this as well as other important variables that can greatly impact the bottom line. Villano vehemently cautioned, avoid bad partnerships! The fastest way for your cannabis business to fail is by taking on the wrong partner.

Related: Cannabis Companies Likely to Raise More in 2018 Than the Last 3 Years Combined

Find a lawyer and accountant with cannabis experience.

Marijuana is a tough business to navigate. Its in your best interest to find an accountant who has been through an IRS audit or two with a marijuana company. If you dont file your taxes the right way from the start, your business can get very far behind, Hageseth said.

Your business will greatly depend on the legislation in your market, so work with a lawyer who is well versed in several cannabis markets and regulatory frameworks in order to best protect your business, Villano added.

Related: She Wants to Change the Face of the Industry

Learn about cannabis

Since the cannabis industry is nascent, many people are coming in from all different industries with several ideas of ways to incorporate something they know really well into an industry they know nothing about. Just because something worked in another industry, doesnt guarantee it will translate in cannabis. Although it seems straightforward, take time to learn about the cannabis plant, culture and community before entering this industry.

Those who dont know history are destined to repeat it, Villano told me with a smile. And those who dont know about cannabis are going to struggle as cannabis entrepreneurs.

Related:

6 Essential Items to Include on Your Cannabis Label

You Won't Survive as an Entrepreneur Treating Your Business Like a Hobby

Some Tips for East Coast Cannabis Entrepreneurs From Colorado's Industry Leaders



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedFollowing a morning of confusion, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation Monday afternoon that allowed the White House rooftop flag to be returned to half-staff to honor the passing of his fierce critic, the late Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona.

The flag atop the White House had been put back to full staff Monday morning, apparently under the protocol for flags on public buildings to be flown at half-staff for 24 hours upon the death of a member of the House or Senate -- unless an official presidential proclamation extends the mourning period.

The veterans organizations AMVETS and the American Legion immediately charged that Trump had "disrespected" McCain, a revered Navy veteran, Silver Star and Purple Heart recipient, former POW and Republican presidential nominee in 2008.

"By lowering flags for not one second more than the bare minimum required by law, despite a long-standing tradition of lowering flags until the funeral, the White House is openly showcasing its blatant disrespect for Senator McCain's many decades of service and sacrifice to our country as well as the service of all his fellow veterans," said Joe Chenelly, AMVETS national executive director.

Related content:

By mid-afternoon, the White House rooftop flag was back at half-staff and Trump issued a proclamation stating that it would remain there until McCain's interment this weekend at his alma mater, the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

The proclamation also stated that flags would be at half-staff "upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset on the day of interment."

"I also direct that the flag shall be flown at halfstaff for the same period at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations," Trump said.

In a separate statement, Trump said that "Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain's service to our country and, in his honor, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment."

Trump and McCain had never been close and became antagonists during the presidential campaign in 2015 when Trump declared that the senator in his estimation was "not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured."

Trump later continued the attacks: "I think John McCain's done very little for the veterans. I'm very disappointed in John McCain."

In his memoir "The Restless Wave," and in statements and speeches, McCain has charged that Trump's leadership and personal conduct had demeaned American values and threatened the nation's leadership role in the world.

McCain took particular exception to Trump's openings to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the congratulations Trump sent to Putin upon his re-election. "An American president does not lead the free world by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections," McCain said.

Prior to his death last Friday of brain cancer, McCain asked that Trump not attend his funeral, and asked instead that former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush deliver eulogies.

In his statement, Trump said he would not be attending any McCain memorials but "I have asked Vice President Mike Pence to offer an address at the ceremony honoring Senator McCain at the United States Capitol this Friday."

Trump also said that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general, and National Security Advisor John Bolton would represent the administration at McCain's funeral.

The appearance of the White House flag at full staff Monday morning appeared to lead to confusion in the military and among government agencies as to whether to follow suit.

The Navy referred questions on flag protocol to the Defense Department. A Pentagon spokeswoman said the flag at the entrance to the building was back at full staff but Pentagon officials expected that a proclamation would be forthcoming from the White House.

Along Pennsylvania Avenue, flags in front of the FBI and Justice Department buildings were still at half-staff. At the nearby U.S. Navy Memorial, the flag atop a model of a ship's mast was almost -- but not quite -- at full staff.

Retired Rear Adm. Frank Thorp IV, president and CEO of the memorial, said that the National Park Service was in charge of raising and lowering the flag and apparently had not succeeded in getting it back to full staff.

The flag atop the Capitol remained at half-staff, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, joined in requesting that the president keep flags at half-staff on all public buildings to honor McCain.

McCain died Friday at his ranch in Sedona, Arizona, a day after he ordered his doctors to stop treatment for glioblastoma, a terminal form of brain cancer.

McCain will lie in state at Arizona's state capitol in Phoenix on Wednesday. His family has scheduled a memorial service Thursday at the North Phoenix Baptist Church.

On Friday, McCain will lie in state at the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. and on Saturday a private memorial service will be held at the Washington National Cathedral.

Following a private funeral service, McCain will be laid to rest at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland, beside Adm. Chuck Larson, who was twice superintendent of the Academy and McCain's roommate at Annapolis in the class of 1958.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN -- On a sunbaked flight deck, Navy pilots gently taxi new, F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters forward, waiting for their turn to launch off the carrier as older, F/A-18 Super Hornets do the same.

The aviators of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 125 out of Naval Air Station Lemoore, California are the first F-35C pilots in the Navy to join in carrier operations as part of the first phase of operational testing for the service's newest warplane.

"The F-35C is going out and flying with F/A-18s, E-2 [Hawkeyes], [EA-18G] Growlers and conducting the missions that they would do in combat if required," Rear Adm. Dale Horan, director of the F-35C Fleet Integration Office, told a group of reporters Monday inside the Lincoln's flight hanger, speaking above the constant din of jet engines.

"That's a big deal, because it's the first time we really see how the aircraft handles on the aircraft carrier, how we do maintenance, how we sustain it while we are at sea, and then how it integrates with the ship. How it interoperates with communications, data links, the other aircraft and then how they conduct a mission and tie into the other aircraft that are conducting that mission, and how effective they are when they do it."

The six F-35Cs arrived aboard a week ago, said Capt. Putnam Browne, commander of the Abraham Lincoln, from his perch on the bridge, overseeing flight operations.

One of the Lincoln's squadrons flew off, and "VFA-125 came in and integrated. It was basically seamless," Browne said.

The F-35C's new flight control systems "make for great landings. ... Their landings are spot on; they are above average," Browne said. "Sometimes when you change technology, you think it's going to be harder, but it actually becomes easier, and in this case I think it became easier. ... It's been amazing to see how well we can keep the deck rolling."

Navy officials painted a positive picture of the F-35C's performance in the first week of three-week, at-sea testing period but admit that many hurdles lie ahead before the aircraft achieves initial operational capability, or IOC.

"There are certainly challenges," Horan said. "We hope to see how it integrates on board ship. Can we maintain it, can we get the parts, can we get it airborne, can we repair it if it has a problem, how does it conduct its mission, what's its effectiveness?"

Horan, however, would not give specific examples of any of the test findings so far.

"This is an operational test, so I can't give the test results," he said. "I can tell you that we are out here; we operating basically per schedule and the aircraft looks like a naval aircraft out on the flight deck."

The Navy earlier had hoped to declare IOC for the F-35C this month, but program officials are now looking to meet that milestone in February, Horan said.

"We are moving in that direction, and we will get together after this and see how it went and see if things are lining up and whether we can meet that," Horan said. "If we can't, then we will make a decision and change the schedule."

For now, this is the only "at-sea period" planned for operational testing, Horan added.

"At some point, we will have to decide, 'hey, have we seen enough? Are we comfortable enough that this airplane? Is it demonstrating the capability?'" Horan said. "If so, I will make the recommendation, and the leadership will declare IOC."

The first deployment for the Navy's F-35C is scheduled for 2021. But "theoretically, as soon as we declare operational capability, if there is a contingency, I guess we could use it if we needed to," said Horan.

As a fifth-generation aircraft, the F-35 brings stealth and enhanced electronic capabilities to take U.S. airpower to the next level, program officials said. In addition to the Navy's F-35C, the joint strike fighter has two other service-specific variants: the F-35A for the Air Force and the F-35B, capable of vertical takeoff and landing, for the Marine Corps.

"I think, overall, it's an evolution in technology in warfighting capability," said Cmdr. Tommy "Bo" Locke, commander VFA 125.

"As far as just flying the aircraft ... the advanced flight control logic as well as some of the pilot control modes we use to land aboard the carrier is again evolutionary, and it has really reduced the pilot workload for us and allowed us to make more precise changes in flight path to ensure that we hit the proper wire when we come in," said Locke, who added that he prefers flying the F-35C over the older F/A-18.

"Right now, I enjoy the F-35 better; It's the newest and greatest. ... It is a dream to fly onboard and around the carrier."

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.WASHINGTON -- The person selected to lead a multibillion-dollar overhaul of the Department of Veterans Affairs' electronic health records resigned Friday only one month after taking the job, leaving one lawmaker concerned about "deteriorating and rudderless" leadership on the massive project.

In May, the VA signed a 10-year, $10 billion contract with Kansas City, Mo.-based Cerner Corp. to replace its antiquated electronic health record system -- a project intended to allow veterans to track their care through the VA, Department of Defense and private medical providers. During his confirmation process, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie named the project as one of his top priorities for the agency.

The VA established a new office in July to manage the overhaul and selected Genevieve Morris to lead it. She resigned Friday, citing differences with VA leadership.

"Over the last few weeks, it has become clear to me that VA's leadership intends to take the [electronic health record] modernization in a different direction than we were headed," Morris wrote in a resignation letter that she posted to Twitter. "[S]ince my service as [chief health information officer] was always intended to be an interim solution, I am offering my resignation to the administration effective immediately."

In response, Wilkie thanked Morris for her service and named a new leader for the project -- John Windom, who worked with Morris as the executive director for the Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization.

"VA will benefit from John's strong background on this project, as it begins the transition to the new system for the benefit of veterans' care in the future," Wilkie said Monday in a statement.

The leadership change prompted worry from Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., who is chairman of a new congressional subcommittee tasked with overseeing VA technology. The subcommittee's first hearing is scheduled for Sept. 13.

In a letter to Wilkie on Friday, Banks wrote he was concerned about vacancies in the Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization. Banks has been unable to meet with VA officials who lead efforts on the electronic health record.

"It would be a tragedy for the program to be undermined by personality conflicts and bureaucratic power struggles before it even begins in earnest," Banks wrote. "I am dedicated to pursuing a constructive oversight agenda to encourage VA to make the right decisions, but any engagement is difficult without stable leadership."

Banks said Morris' departure came at a critical point in the project, when the VA is "making the most pivotal decisions" about the new system's design. He asked Wilkie to send him an organizational chart of people who work in the Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization by Sept. 7.

VA Press Secretary Curt Cashour said the VA appreciates Banks' views and would respond to him directly.Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday warned against using private contractors in Afghanistan, even as a vigorous U.S. footprint remains there with no date in sight for nearly 14,000 troops to return home.

"When the Americans put their nation's credibility on the line, privatizing [war] is probably not a wise idea," Mattis told reporters during a briefing at the Pentagon.

Mattis comments were in response to the push from outside parties -- mainly Erik Prince, the founder of contracting security company Blackwater USA, now known as Academi -- to create a privatized fighting force in the country where the U.S. has been fighting its longest war.

NBC News reported this month that President Trump signaled a renewed interest in Prince's plan. Prince has proposed using former military specialists as contractors to conduct operations in Afghanistan over growing frustrations that the current Defense Department strategy isn't producing lasting results.

Related content:

Prince first detailed his idea last year when the White House, Pentagon and State Department were constructing a new South Asia strategy. Mattis at the time said that all options were being discussed.

Even after throwing cold water on the concept, Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford on Tuesday downplayed the idea of an unending, permanent and large-scale U.S. force.

"It's not a U.S. presence alone, and it shouldn't be implied that way," Mattis said. "We're there to ensure that America's security ... is not threatened out of that location," he continued, adding the U.S. has been preparing Afghan forces to someday take over the mission.

"We believe that the best way to get there is to ensure the Taliban recognizes they can't win on the battlefield," Mattis said.

In the long term, the U.S. will always have interest in the South Asia region, Dunford said.

"[We have] Diplomatic interest, security interest ... and we're going to maintain a presence to have influence in that region," the chairman said. "The form of that presence is going to change over time."

While the U.S. at the height of Operation Enduring Freedom had more than 100,000 boots on the ground, there are now just 14,000 U.S. troops in country, Dunford said.

The diplomatic mission will remain, he said, "[but] I certainly don't expect that the current forces that we have in Afghanistan represents an enduring, large military commitment."

Last week, the outgoing commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Army Gen. John Nicholson, said there has been "significant progress" over the past three months for the Afghan forces despite Taliban offensives such as the recent large-scale attack on the city of Ghazni.

"There will be ups and downs, there will be leap-a-heads, there will be frustrations, there will be two steps forward, one step back from time to time. But the process has started and it wouldn't have happened without the South Asia strategy," Nicholson told reporters at the Pentagon earlier this month.

Army Gen. Austin Scott Miller will soon replace Nicholson as the 17th commander to oversee the American and NATO mission in Afghanistan.

Mattis on Tuesday disagreed that the Afghan forces "fell apart" after the attack on Ghazni on Aug. 10, which left 70 Afghan policemen dead.

Taliban forces launched had launched a major assault on the city, located within 100 miles of Kabul. During the fierce four-day fight, U.S. Air Force aircraft such as A-10 Warthog attack aircraft, F-16 Fighting Falcons and MQ-9 Reaper drones and U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopters had to be called in to reinforce Afghan forces.

The Taliban's objectives were thwarted by the U.S. presence, Mattis said.

"This is not an easy fight. We've never said it was. But I don't believe you can use this example as emblematic," he said. "They have not succeeded in taking down these towns and holding these towns and it's ... enormously easier to be the criminal in a town than it is to be a policeman."

"The fact is innocent people are vulnerable to terrorism," he continued. But the fight pushes on, with the Afghan Army "still in the field."

The press briefing marked the first public appearance for Mattis and Dunford since the Pentagon launched Tomahawk missile strikes on Syria in April.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @oriana0214.Select Mineral List Type Standard Detailed Strunz Dana Chemical Elements

Mineral List Mineral list contains entries from the region specified including sub-localities

 Gold

1 valid mineral. 1 valid mineral.

Detailed Mineral List:  Gold Formula: Au Reference: Centenary Gold Monument plaque, Albert and Sturt streets, Ballarat.

List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification Group 1 - Elements  'Gold' 1.AA.05 Au

List of minerals arranged by Dana 8th Edition classification Group 1 - NATIVE ELEMENTS AND ALLOYS Metals, other than the Platinum Group  Gold 1.1.1.1 Au

List of minerals for each chemical element Au Gold Au  Gold Au

Regional Geology

Historic gold mine.Four shafts are noted. #1 is at the southern end of Victoria Park, opposite the Sutton and Winter streets intersection. #2 is in the south-east corner of Victoria Park. #3 is probably sited in the western section of Victoria Park (noted on maps also as #1). #4 is just beyond the south-west corner of Victoria Park, under a parking area for the Ballarat Livestock Centre.Even in the 1860's, the area was reserved as a public park, however mining rights could override this. The local council attempted to get money from the Victorian government in 1870 to repair damage from sludge being pumped across the park.The company was involved in much litigation during its history, and was a 'gold mine' for the legal profession. There was a long running court case against the National Bank, disputes with neighbouring mining companies, and internal power struggles. Not all the information produced was truthful, access to information dependent on who had control of the 'microphone' at the time. The dealings were often complex and murky, when business laws were far more lax than they are now.The Hand in Hand company was formed in 1856, its first shaft sunk the following year, and gold production starting in 1859. In a short space of time, the company claimed to have extracted 16 000 ounces of gold from a 500 metre long section of the Inkerman Lead gutter. The shaft reached a depth of 280 feet. Three other shafts followed.By 1867, the company was involved in much litigation with neighbouring companies over rights to certain land. This resulted in a Royal Commission, with half the land awarded to the Hand in Hand Company, and the other half to the Southern Freehold, Western Freehold, and West Newington companies, who then amalgamated to form the Park Company.Daniel Fern, Gavin Graham, William Nicholas were at various times noted as mine managers for the Hand in Hand, and its subsequent amalgamated company. Catherine Brookes (or Brooks)died when she fell down one of the shafts in 1863. It is claimed she was drunk at the time.In 1868, the Mississippi Company was spun off over part of the lease, being an amalgamation with the Hand in Hand, and Great Western companies. In an ignominious start, the first meeting descended into chaos when several shareholders turned up rolling drunk.In 1871, part of the Hand in Hand lease was given to the Park Company to prevent litigation over an encroachment claim. The Hand in Hand Company and Band of Hope Company amalgamated in 1874 to form the United Hand in Hand and Band of Hope Company, commonly referred to as the United Hand and Band Company.From 1875 to 1882 the company was embroiled in a long running legal case with the National Bank, and internal dissension. To indicate how complex the matter soon became, all parties made a deputation to the Mines Minister in 1878, several claiming ownership of the lease. John Palmer requested the lease be forfeited as no work had occurred on it the prior six months, no rent paid, and some machinery had been removed. James Cotter representing the company stated no rent had been paid due to litigation with the National Bank. He claimed Palmer owned several acres nearby on which no gold mining had taken place. George Lakeland claimed ownership on the basis of a bank sale. E.A. Wynne (part of the Palmer group) claimed Lakeland had abandoned the lease, something Lakeland denied. The solicitors for the National Bank stated no action should be taken until after the legal proceedings had finished.In June 1868, the company had taken out an overdraft with the National Bank, using the mine as security. By 1873, they were well beyond the overdraft limit. It was decided to form a new company to pay back the debt. although some shareholders opposed this. An arrangement was made to sell the mine to Henry Cuthbert, acting on behalf of the bank. This prevented a third party gaining control, who may dispute paying money to the bank. The assets were then transferred to the new company, and the overdrawn amount repaid, although debts still remained owing to the bank.Ballarat National Bank branch manager, George Robson, shortly after took possession of the mine on behalf of the bank. He was later removed from the company. The mine was sold to the Davey brothers who worked the mine for the bank. The United Hand and Band Company claimed the bank was producing much gold, well in excess of the amount needed to pay off the debt, and demanded the mine back. Instead it was sold to George Lakeland, at a reduced price, a relative by marriage of George Robson. At the subsequent court case, the judge stated the bank was 'seeking fair ends by unlawful means'. There had been no auction, or advertisement for sale relating to the mine being sold. The judge refused to recognise the sale to the Davey brothers, Cuthbert, and only the plant/machinery but not the lease to Lakeland.The United Hand and Band Company claimed the lease had been vandalised before it took back control, requiring two years of work to repair the No. 2 shaft, machinery missing, and a brick house removed. The bank appealed to the Privy Council, then instituted delaying tactics to increase the mining company's legal costs. Initial negotiations with the bank were unsuccessful, however a compromise was eventually reached.Meanwhile, elements of the United Hand and Band Company were fighting amongst themselves. J. Hardy and Madden, solicitors for the company were sacked, after the bill for legal expenses was seen. Hardy who was a shareholder, proved to be a constant irritant at subsequent shareholder meetings. The case went to court and was found in Hardy's favour in 1883.Several directors were dumped for non attendance to meetings. The new directors stated no expenses would be paid until the books were audited, then allocated a number of fees and charges to themselves. They also issued a dividend, and descended on the mine managers office demanding cheques be written to themselves for dividends on shares they owned. Acting mine manager, E.W.L. Swifte refused. Legal manager, James Cotter was sacked after being critical of the directors. The company accounts were taken and there was a refusal of these being inspected. There was also accusations the board had been illegally elected, with a number at the meeting to elect them not shareholders. Six months later this board was sacked, and Cotter reinstated. James McIver, one of the directors sacked, continued to attend shareholder meetings and be disruptive. Wages and expenses for Cotter, McIver and others all ended in court cases. McIver sought revenge at the Hardy case by claiming he had no knowledge of monies paid to Hardy, despite written evidence and Hardy's signature on paperwork.Shortly after the company amalgamated with the Band of Hope and Albion Consols Company. The Hand in Hand Company is noted as producing 76 830 ounces of gold, the ninth highest alluvial gold production on the Ballarat goldfield. It is thought probable this was for the entire period until its amalgamation with the Band of Hope and Albion Consols Company.

This geological map and associated information on rock units at or nearby to the coordinates given for this locality is based on relatively small scale geological maps provided by various national Geological Surveys. This does not necessarily represent the complete geology at this locality but it gives a background for the region in which it is found.

Click on geological units on the map for more information. Click here to view full-screen map on Macrostrat.org

Newer Volcanic Group Age: Cenozoic (0 - 23.03 Ma) Stratigraphic Name: Newer Volcanic Group Description: Cinder cones - scoria, minor ash and agglutinates; Lava flows - tholeiitic to minor alkaline and basanitic lavas. Comments: igneous mafic volcanic; synthesis of multiple published descriptions Lithology: Igneous mafic volcanic Reference: Raymond, O.L., Liu, S., Gallagher, R., Zhang, W., Highet, L.M. Surface Geology of Australia 1:1 million scale dataset 2012 edition. Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia). [5] Paleozoic sedimentary rocks Age: Paleozoic (427.4 - 541 Ma) Comments: Lachlan Fold Belt Lithology: Sedimentary rocks Reference: Chorlton, L.B. Generalized geology of the world: bedrock domains and major faults in GIS format: a small-scale world geology map with an extended geological attribute database. doi: 10.4095/223767. Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 5529. [154]

Data and map coding provided by Macrostrat.org, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

References

Sort by Year (asc) Year (desc) Author (A-Z) Author (Z-A)

The Star newspaper (Ballarat) (1863) Accident at the Hand in Hand Claim, 22 September 1863. The Ballarat Star newspaper (1865) Hand in Hand Company, 29 March 1865. The Ballarat Star newspaper (1868) Mississippi Company, 23 December 1868. The Ballarat Star newspaper (1869) United Hand in Hand and Band of Hope Company, 22 January 1869. The Ballarat Courier newspaper (1870) United Hand in Hand and Band of Hope Company, 01 February 1870. The Ballarat Courier newspaper (1871) Mining Meetings. United Hand in Hand and Band of Hope Company, 27 July 1871. The Ballarat Star newspaper (1874) Hand and Band Company, 13 July 1874. The Ballarat Courier newspaper (1875) Hand and Band Company, 04 May 1875. The Ballarat Star newspaper (1876) United Hand and Band Company V National Bank of Australasia, 07 December 1876. Weekly Times newspaper (Melbourne) (1876) The Hand and Band Case, 21 October 1876. The Ballarat Courier newspaper (1878) The United Hand in Hand and Band of Hope Company, 13 April 1878. The Ballarat Star newspaper (1878) The United Hand and Band Company's Lease, 21 June 1878. The Ballarat Star newspaper (1878) United Hand and Band Company, 05 October 1878. The Ballarat Star newspaper (1879) The United Hand in Hand and Band of Hope Company, 25 January 1879. The Ballarat Star newspaper (1881) United Hand in Hand and Band of Hope Company Registerred, 29 January 1881. The Ballarat Courier newspaper (1881) United Hand and Band Company, 29 January 1881. The Ballarat Star newspaper (1881) United Hand and Band Company No Liability and United Hand in Hand and Band of Hope Company Registerred (to the Ed.), 31 January 1881. The Ballarat Courier newspaper (1881) United Hand and Band Company, 05 February 1881. The Ballarat Star newspaper (1881) Mining Meetings. United Hand in Hand and Band of Hope Company, 29 July 1881. The Ballarat Courier newspaper (1881) United Hand and Band Company, 29 July 1881. The Argus newspaper (Melbourne) (1881) United Hand and Band Company, 29 July 1881. The Ballarat Star newspaper (1881) The United Hand and Band Company V McIver and Others, 04 November 1881. The Ballarat Star newspaper (1882) United Hand and Band Company No Liability, 20 February 1882. The Ballarat Star newspaper (1883) United Hand in Hand and Band of Hope Company, 01 August 1883. City of Ballarat (2018) Victorian Heritage Database Place Details. Victoria Park Precinct, 28 August 2018. Centenary Gold Monument plaque, Albert and Sturt streets, Ballarat.ANN ARBOR, MI - Augusta Township Supervisor Brian Shelby and his wife Tammy, who had 71 animals taken from their home in May, agreed to surrender the rest of their pets last week.

The Shelbys each face three felony counts of animal neglect to 10 or more animals and seven misdemeanor counts after an investigation by the Humane Society of Huron Valley and the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office.

On May 25, HSHV rescued 37 cats, nine dogs, 13 chickens, 10 exotic birds and two peacocks from the Shelby's home after investigators determined the animals were living in unsanitary conditions.

The couple immediately surrendered 51 animals, who went up for adoption soon after. The remaining 20 animals remained in HSHV's custody and care.

During a hearing before Judge J. Cedric Simpson in 14A1 District Court in Pittsfield Township on Wednesday, Aug. 22, the Shelbys agreed to give up the eight cats, eight dogs and four exotic birds to HSHV.

After three months of receiving necessary medical and behavioral care, the animals are now available for adoption, HVHC officials said.

"A big challenge to pursuing animal cruelty charges is the lengthy sheltering time often required," Tanya Hilgendorf, HSHV president and CEO, said. "Animals are not meant to live in shelters -- even beautiful, caring ones like HSHV.

"It's difficult to keep them healthy and happy over many months. We are grateful to the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's office for pursuing civil forfeiture and to Judge Simpson. Now, the animals can find the loving families they deserve."

Under Michigan Penal Code Act 328 of 1931 Section 750.50, failure to provide adequate care involving 10 or more animals constitutes a felony, punishable by imprisonment of up to four years and/or a fine up to $5,000 and/or community service for up to 500 hours, plus possible costs of prosecution.

The Shelbys' next hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 27.ANN ARBOR, MI - A Detroit Lions hat served as the Queen of Soul's crown on Thanksgiving Day 2016. A piano from Ann Arbor was her throne.

That day, Aretha Franklin, who died Aug. 16 at 76, delivered a heartfelt rendition of the national anthem as her fingers cascaded across the ivories on Ford Field ahead of the Detroit Lions - Minnesota Vikings match-up.

The lengthy performance - clocking in at 4 minutes and 35 seconds - frustrated a few impatient viewers, but Jim King, who supplied the Yamaha Disklavier piano, got a kick out of it.

The owner of King's Keyboard House in Ann Arbor often rented pianos to the late musical and civil rights icon. He loved that the Thanksgiving performance may have messed with "the establishment" - producers of the TV event and the companies that paid for commercials, he said.

"And everybody said that same thing that people always said about Aretha," he said. "Usually after you hear a story, the quote is 'Yeah, but she's the queen of soul,' so she can get away with anything."

One thing she didn't get was a bargain deal on her preferred piano.

While Franklin only used the Disklavier once, she rented two Yamaha C7 concert pianos from King over the years, he said. They were used at a star-studded Christmas party, in the studio, and even in the recording she used for her performance at former president Barack Obama's first inauguration.

King said the likes of John Legend, the Commodores, and Alicia Keys have also tickled the same ivories, which he said have "a bigger, a clearer, more present sound," than other piano options.

He tried to get Franklin to buy her favorite of the Yamaha C7s, but Franklin said she'd to do a commercial for payment instead. When King declined the offer, Concordia University Ann Arbor bought it, loaning it out to the legend on occasion. The university now houses both of the Yamaha C7's Franklin used, according to King.

Knowing that Franklin's adored piano sits in the university's recital room has been particularly meaningful to Brian Altevogt, professor of music and director of choirs, he said. It's also been humbling for him and his students.

"Every piano has its own personality in a very subtle, nuanced way and so the sounds that I get to hear from that instrument, it kind of connects us," he said. "Knowing that she would have been looking for this same sound, this same personality - even though the music we make might be very different, we're using the same instrument to create it - it's remarkable."

After news of Franklin's passing spread, Concordia junior Jessica Russ, 20, found herself grateful for her small tie to the pieces of performance history. She's majoring in parish music and listened to the gospel great growing up.

"I went and played one of the pianos at night around campus just to connect to the art and the history of it all," she said.

Altevogt, too, noted the power of the recital room piano, describing it as "kind of like a tiger."

"It's robust and it's got lots of energy and presence," he said.

Recalling the Thanksgiving Day performance, Altevogt noted Franklin truly knew how to pick a piano.

"She was such an underrated piano player and really had great piano skills," he said.. "People talk about her voice, but she was pretty good on the piano, too."

Shortly after the Disklavier made its appearance at the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day game, King said he sold it for about $20,000 to an Ann Arbor family.

He believes, over time, those in possession of the pianos will likely grow in appreciation for what that means, and for Franklin herself.

He saw Franklin sing live at Hill Auditorium back in the 1990s. Still, he is perhaps more enamored with the video he saw of Franklin playing piano and singing Carole King's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2015.

It was a performance that made Obama wipe away a tear and pump his fist.

"That's when I think she's at her best, when she plays piano and sings," King said.Earnest W. Deplanty

BAY CITY, MI -- A Bay County man accused of growing a plethora of medical marijuana, and stealing electricity to do it, has taken a plea deal.

The day before his trial was to begin, 64-year-old Earnest W. Deplanty on Aug. 27 appeared before Bay County Circuit Judge Joseph K. Sheeran and pleaded guilty to attempted delivery or manufacturing of marijuana and no contest to public utility fraud more than $500. The former is punishable by up to two years' imprisonment, while the latter is a four-year felony.

In exchange, prosecutors agreed to dismiss one count of delivering or manufacturing marijuana, a four-year felony.

The case against Deplanty stems from Consumers Energy in July 2017 having received an anonymous tip that he was stealing power and growing pot at his home at 2449 E. Almeda Beach Road in Fraser Township. A Consumers investigator went to the house and found an unauthorized lock on its electrical box. On cutting the lock and looking inside the box, the employee found wiring had been tampered with in an apparent attempt to acquire electricity without being charged, court records show.

Deplanty was not home at the time of the employee's inspection. On smelling the aroma of marijuana emanating from the house, the employee called police.

In the presence of a Michigan State Police trooper, the Consumers employee removed the house's electrical meter, yet the structure visibly still had power.

"A telltale sign that electrical power is being stolen is when the power is still on after the meter has been removed," the trooper wrote in a report, contained in court files.

As this was happening, Deplanty drove onto the property, then drove off without stopping. The trooper pulled him over a short ways away and Deplanty came back to his house, court records show.

Deplanty let the trooper and Consumers employee into his house, where they saw a room containing a marijuana grow operation. Deplanty told them he is a medical marijuana patient, although it appeared he was growing more plants than legally permissible, court records show.

The Consumers employee confirmed the purloined power was going to this room, court records show. Deplanty had been stealing power since about March 2014, court records indicate.

On Aug. 14, the Bay Area Narcotics Enforcement Team (or BAYANET) followed up by executing a search warrant on Deplanty's house. Officers found 27 plants and about 723 grams -- or 25.5 ounces -- of usable pot.

According to the state's Medical Marihuana Act, patients can have 2.5 ounces of usable marijuana. Caregivers can grow up to 12 plants producing 2.5 ounces of usable marijuana for each of their five patients and themselves. If a caregiver is a patient and has five registered patients, he or she can grow 72 plants.

Deplanty told police that he wasn't a caregiver and knew he was only to grow 12 plants. He said once the plants are mature, he gives two-thirds of them to his landlord, who lives in Florida, so he can reside at the house for free, court records show.

Judge Sheeran is to sentence Deplanty at 9 a.m. on Oct. 1.BAY CITY, MI -- A man described by federal prosecutors as a "repeat and dangerous sex offender" who assaults unconscious women has pleaded guilty to his latest offense resulting from such conduct.

Charles W. Merrill, 28, on Monday, Aug. 27, appeared before U.S. District Magistrate Judge Patricia T. Morris and pleaded guilty to attempted sexual abuse.

In exchange for Merrill's plea, Assistant U.S. Attorney Roy Kranz agreed to dismiss two more counts of attempted sexual abuse and to not bring more charges against him.

To establish Merrill's guilt on the record, defense attorney Robert J. Dunn asked him a series of questions. In his responses, Merrill stated that one night in March 2018, he and friends had been at the Soaring Eagle Casino on the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe Reservation in Isabella County. At some point, one of his woman friends said she wanted to go to sleep and retired to a hotel room, Merrill said.

Thereafter, Merrill entered her hotel room.

"We were drinking heavily and I ended up, um, I ended up attempting to have sex with her," Merrill said. "I ended up going to bed next to her. I, uh, started pulling her pants off ... and she ended up waking up, got angry with me and asked me to leave and I left."

Merrill said the woman awoke when he had put his hand on her vaginal area.

Three witnesses testified before a grand jury that Merrill had assaulted them, two of whom spoke of Merrill assaulting them on separate occasions.

"Not all of those got charged because the defendant happened to be a minor for some of that," Kranz told Morris.

The grand jury indicted Merrill on the three new charges in June.

An Isabella County judge in December 2015 sentenced him to 14 months to two years in prison on a conviction of assaulting, resisting, or obstructing police. The Michigan Department of Corrections discharged him on Dec. 11, 2017.

U.S. District Judge Thomas L. Ludington is to sentence Merrill Nov. 29.TOBACCO TWP, MI -- Despite making a dash to freedom by jumping into a lake, a teenager accused of stealing a vehicle was nabbed by police and left to dry out in jail.

The morning of Aug. 27, Gladwin County Sheriff's deputies responded to a traffic crash at Guernsey and Flock roads in Tobacco Township. They arrived to find a 2011 GMC Acadia, void of occupants, in a ditch.

Deputies said the GMC was registered to a Billings Township residence on Wixom Lake. A deputy went to the abode, only to learn the GMC had been taken without its owner's permission. The deputy also learned a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze had also been used without permission.

The deputy located at 17-year-old male suspect at the residence. The teen fled, though, and jumped into Wixom Lake and tried swimming south across it.

More deputies and a Michigan State Police trooper responded to the scene and established a perimeter around the lake. Billings Township Rescue responded as well and deployed an airboat.

After about an hour of searching, police found the teen hiding under a dock. Police arrested him and took him to MidMichigan Medical Center in Gladwin.

Once the teen was medically cleared, deputies lodged him jail on two counts of unlawfully driving away a motor vehicle and single counts of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and resisting arrest.

The teen was on probation at the time, having a history of stealing vehicles, police said.

The teen's name is being withheld pending arraignment.HAMTRAMCK -- A 25-year-old man is accused of carjacking, kidnapping, robbing and torturing a woman in Hamtramck, a 2-square mile Detroit enclave.

According to Wayne County Circuit Court records, the alleged attack occurred on Aug. 19. Hamtramck police issued a release to MLive on Tuesday, Aug. 28 with little information beyond the charges against Kingsley. Police declined to answer any further questions.

Man charged with kidnapping, torture, sexual assaulting woman in Hamtramck https://t.co/Z3OtXEJUtB  Nubian Zahara (@Nubian_Zahara) August 28, 2018

According to WJBK-TV, Fox 2 News, Kingsley is accused of abducting a 32-year-old woman at gunpoint on Holbrook in Hamtramck, forcing her to drive to nearby Patton Park, sexually assaulting her, leaving her and then torching her vehicle near Joseph Campau and Maclean in Hamtramck.

He is charged with 17 felonies, including two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, which may involve penetration of the victim during the commission of a separate felony, torture, kidnapping, armed robbery, carjacking and eight weapons felonies.

MLive left a request for comment with Hamtramck Police Detective Robert George and was awaiting a reply.

A $1 million, 10 percent cash or surety bond was set for Kingsley's release pending resolution of the case.

In a separate case, Kingsley was charged with resisting police and carrying a concealed weapon on Aug. 22, according to Wayne County Circuit Court records. This encounter with police would have occurred three days after the woman was attacked in Hamtramck.

A $250,000 bond was set during the arraignment on the less serious charges.FENTON, MI -- A bomb threat is being investigated at Fenton High School on the first day of classes for the new school year.

Fenton police Chief Jason Slater confirmed Tuesday, Aug. 28, police are investigating the matter, but he called it a "low credibility threat."

"We are taking all the safety precautions to ensure students and staff," he said.

Fenton schools Superintendent Adam Hartley sent out a message stating the high school is currently in secure mode due to a threat called into the police department.

"The Fenton Police Department and FAPS (Fenton Area Public Schools) Administration is at the high school assessing the situation," Hartley said. "Once the threat assessment is completed, and more information is available, we will share that with you via Facebook, email and a phone call."GRAND BLANC, MI - A custodian at Grand Blanc schools is dead after an early-morning crash near the high school believed to be caused by a medical incident just before the crash.

Police were called at about 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 28 to Jewett Trail near Grand Blanc High School in response to a one-vehicle crash, the district said in a statement.

The vehicle appeared to run into fencing and then hit the corner of a brick building in a maintenance area, the statement said.

Cheryl Rayner, a custodial site supervisor and long-term contract employee with the district, was taken to the hospital and later died, according to the statement.

It is believed a medical incident led to the crash, the district said.

The district is still on summer break. Classes resume on Tuesday, Sept. 4.FLINT, MI -- Spending to date on Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon's Flint water crisis legal team has surpassed what Genesee County spent on court-appointed attorneys for every indigent defendant in the county in the last fiscal year.

And that cost will only increase as the state has hired a third law firm to assist him as his case moves closer to trial.

New accounting requested by MLive-The Flint Journal from three state agencies shows spending on attorneys hired to represent current and former state employees charged with crimes or accused of civil wrongdoing in Flint has topped $26 million.

No part of that total has risen higher than the spending on Lyon, who earlier this month had the case against him, including charges of involuntary manslaughter, bound over to Genesee Circuit Court for trial.

Like all state employees accused of crimes or facing civil litigation tied to the Flint water crisis, Lyon isn't paying his own attorney bills -- Michigan taxpayers are.

Attorneys for Lyon have billed taxpayers $1.6 million to date, according to MDHHS.

Genesee Circuit Court Administrator Barbara Menear said Genesee County as a whole spent $1.5 million in the last fiscal year on public defenders.

On Lyon's behalf, DHHS has spent $1.5 million with Willey & Chamberlain, the firm whose attorneys most often have been in court with the director, another $118,378 with Bursch Law, the firm headed by former Michigan Solicitor General John Bursch, and has recently inked a $400,000 contract with Chartier & Nyamfukudza, a law firm with offices in Lansing and Grand Rapids.

"We retained additional counsel to support Willey & Chamberlain's work for Director Lyon," DHHS spokeswoman Angela Minicuci said in an email to MLive.

Anna Heaton, press secretary for Gov. Rick Snyder, said the decision on how much to spend on attorneys for employees accused of Flint water crimes is made by each department in state government.

Spokeswomen for DHHS didn't immediately say how that's being decided in their department, where Lyon remains on the job as the top-ranking health official in the state and a member of the governor's cabinet.

State Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, said there's been little explanation given to lawmakers.

"I don't know why they are spending so much money," said state Sen. Jim Ananich, D-Flint. "It's very troubling. It makes (me question) what the real motive is."

Ananich introduced a budget amendment this year that would have capped the amount the state could pay for employee legal fees at $150 an hour but it was not adopted.

Chartier & Nyamfukudza comes to Lyon familiar with the Flint water crisis prosecutions.

The firm already represents Robert Scott, a data manager for the DHHS' Healthy Homes and Lead Prevention Program, one of 15 current and former city and state officials charged in connection to the water crisis.

The state has already paid $508,677 for Scott's criminal defense, state records show, and his case is in the midst of a preliminary examination in Genesee District Court.

Prosecutors claim Scott was involved in a conspiracy involving two agency reports that concerned blood lead levels of children in Flint during the water crisis, but Mary Chartier, a partner in Chartier & Nyamfukudza, has portrayed her client as "a low-level staff member (who) had no involvement in the decision to switch water sources ... no involvement in the treatment of water sources ... no involvement monitoring the water."

DHHS reported its total spending for Flint water legal expenses at $5.9 million with a total of $9.4 million budgeted for the job.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality reported it spent $7.1 million in Flint legal fees, the Governor's Office has spent $5.5 million and the state Legislature has appropriated $6.9 million for the prosecutions.

In addition to those charges, the city and the state continue to work through who will pay for attorney invoices for lawyers representing former emergency managers Darnell Earley and Gerald Ambrose.

Ron Lexi, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Treasury, said the department has paid the city of Flint approximately $90,000 for costs associated with Earley's testimony before a congressional committee in Washington D.C. in 2016.

"In addition, the State Budget Office has authorized the state Treasury Department to reimburse the city of Flint up to $300,000 for emergency manager-related legal expenses. We have put together a reimbursement package for that amount and it's currently under legal review," Lexi said in an email to The Journal.

"As additional invoices are submitted, they will be considered for reimbursement," the statement says.

Andrea Bitely, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Bill Schuette, said the office is "judiciously staying within our ... budget that the Legislature has appropriated to investigate and prosecute what went wrong in Flint."FLINT, MI - A U.S. attorney prosecuting a man charged with terrorism in connection to the stabbing of a Bishop Airport police officer is asking the judge to keep the suspect's November jury trial in Flint.

Amor M. Ftouhi earlier this month asked Flint U.S. District Court Judge Linda V. Parker to move his jury trial to Detroit because the publicity the case received and the smaller size of the jury pool here wouldn't allow him an impartial trial.

The dual citizen of Canada and Tunisia is charged with committing an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries, violence at an international airport and interference with airport security.

Ftouhi is accused in the June 21, 2017, stabbing of Bishop Airport Police Lt. Jeff Neville inside the airport terminal.

U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider argued that a trial in Flint would be more convenient for the victims and witnesses and would "best advance the prompt administration of justice," according to his motion response filed on Monday, Aug. 27.

Schneider also said that a change of venue would likely delay the start of the trial and asked the judge to deny Ftouhi's request to move the trial.

A change of venue is rare and only needed when an "inflammatory, circus-like atmosphere," exists, Schneider wrote.

Attorneys for both sides can identify prejudice during the jury selection process, according to Schneider's response.

"This court has already granted the use of a juror questionnaire and can take other measures to uncover bias including questioning prospective jurors individually at sidebar when necessary," Schneider wrote. "These safeguards are sufficient to expose juror predispositions and biases."

Schneider also said the nature and amount publicity Ftouhi's case has garnered from the media does not warrant a venue change, the U.S. attorney's court filing said.

Ftouhi's attorney wanted the trial moved to Detroit because the jury pool was more than five times the size of the one here.

Ftouhi faces the potential of a life sentence in prison.

He is accused of stabbing Neville with a large knife while shouting "Allahu Akbar" and referenced killings in Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq just four days after entering the United States from Canada, federal prosecutors claim. Neville survived the attack.

Investigators said Ftouhi said he was a "soldier of Allah" and subscribed to the ideology of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, according to his indictment.

The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, with assistance from the National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section.GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- The Amway Grand Plaza Hotel's glass tower is getting a $40 million facelift.

In January 2019, crews will begin replacing the entire glass exterior of the tower with clear, insulated glass that will appear silver or gray in color from the street.

The update, according to a press release, will bring energy efficiencies and a "modernized" look to the tower in downtown Grand Rapids.

"When dad (Rich DeVos) and Jay (Van Andel) opened the tower in 1982, it ushered in a rebirth of downtown Grand Rapids that continues to be felt today," Amway President Doug DeVos said in a statement. "Renovating the hotel tower now will help cement Grand Rapids as a world class destination for visitors, residents and businesses from around the world for years to come."

The top three floors of the tower will have different lighting and glass panel sizes from the rest of the structure. The difference will "highlight the angled roof profile that has become the signature brand for the structure," the release states.

The $40 million project was announced late Monday, Aug. 27.

The glass is more transparent but maintains "appropriate privacy," according to the release. The new glass will bring expected energy savings of 10 to 15 percent for the tower. Rooms will have floor-to-ceiling glass.

Construction is slated for completion in April 2021.

While the tower undergoes renovations, the hotel will operate as usual. About 55 of the hotel's 682 rooms will be closed throughout the construction.

Rockford Construction of Grand Rapids was hired as the construction manager. Gensler of Minneapolis was hired as the architectural firm.Now that a judge has ordered members of the Ferris Faculty Association - who went on strike Monday - back to work, the head of the union says it's time to return to the bargaining table.

"Anytime you have to go on strike, there's been a failure on both sides," said Charles Bacon, president of the faculty association, whose members traded the classroom for the picket line after contract negotiations with administrators broke down over the weekend.

"Do we think they're going to move? We'll see."

He said members of the Faculty Association are scheduled to meet Tuesday, and the next step is to arrange another bargaining session with the administration. He said he hopes to do so by Wednesday.

The strike took place on the first day of Ferris' fall semester.

Mecosta County Circuit Court Judge Scott Hill-Kennedy granted a temporary restraining order filed by Ferris State University, and said members of the union must return to work on Tuesday for their regularly scheduled classes.

"We are pleased that faculty will be returning to the classroom," Ferris President David Eisler said in a statement. "Moving forward, our goal remains to reach a contract agreement that not only helps faculty but also keeps tuition affordable for the students we serve."

In its request for the restraining order, the university said the strike is illegal under Michigan law, and that it has resulted in canceled classes, lost instruction time and "irreparable harm" to the public. Ferris administrators, in sworn affidavits, expressed concern that the strike could result in further enrollment declines at the university, hurting its bottom line.

While Hill-Kennedy granted Ferris' temporary restraining order, he struck from the request a paragraph that would have prohibited faculty from "disrupting or otherwise interfering with FSU classes, extracurricular activities, and sporting events, by picketing or other means."

About 40 percent of the university's classes were canceled Monday because of the strike, Ferris spokesperson Michelle Rasmussen said earlier Monday.

While short lived, Bacon said the strike - officially launched at 8 a.m. Monday - was "absolutely not" a failure.

"We expected this all along," said Bacon, a professor in Ferris' College of Arts and Sciences. He added that Ferris administrators "have not been bargaining in good faith."

The Ferris State Faculty Association has 450 members.

The union's contract expired in June 30. Negotiations with the administration over a new contract have been ongoing since May, with a state appointed mediator brought onboard in August to help faculty and the administration come to common ground, Rasmussen said.

The last bargaining session with the mediator was Sunday. Rasmussen said progress was made, but a tentative agreement was not reached. She said compensation, the length of the contract and health insurance are the major sticking points in the negotiations.

She said the university has offered a five-year contract, with annual salary increases of 1.5 percent and an annual "supplemental market adjustments" totaling $300,000. With the adjustment factored in, that would amount to an average increase of 2.25 percent per year, she said.

The university stated in a news released, issued Saturday, Aug. 25, that the Ferris faculty association "has demanded a 6 percent salary increase each year for three years." Rasmussen said faculty also want a three-year, as opposed to a five-year, contract.

Bacon said the 6 percent request was first made by the faculty association in April, as part of its initial bargaining proposal. But he said the association, as of Sunday, had reduced its request to 2.75 percent.

"We have moved substantially," he said. "They have remained a 1.5 the entire time."

Bacon added that the "supplemental market adjustment" the university is offering has been in place since 2002 and is only awarded to faculty whose salaries are below the national average for their discipline and rank. That amounts to 55 percent of the faculty association's members, he said.

Rasmussen said the university believes its offer is "fair and equitable." She pointed to information, provided by Ferris, showing its faculty salary increases are in line with what other Michigan public universities offer

She also noted that Ferris is facing a challenging financial landscape due to declining enrollment. According to data on the university's website, Ferris' fall 2017 headcount was down 2.7 percent. Rasmussen said she did not immediately have projected enrollment figures for this fall.

In a sworn affidavit, Ferris budget director Sally DePew said the university's annual budget has already been reduced by $7.3 million due to declining enrollment, and that "further decline related to the strike will require even more reductions."

The affidavit was included in the university's motion for the temporary restraining order.ALLENDALE TOWNSHIP, MI - Police continue to investigate a report that a Grand Valley State University student was sexually assaulted at an off-campus apartment.

Police believe they know the area where the incident occurred but are working to establish the "actual venue," Ottawa County sheriff's Capt. Mark Bennett said.

He said that detectives continue to talk to the victim and witnesses. They have not identified any suspects, he said.

"There's still a lot of work at this point," Bennett said.

Police responded early Sunday, Aug. 26, to a report that a GVSU student was sexually assaulted by two unknown men.

The victim sent a social-media message to friends, who found her and brought her to another apartment, police said. Police were called around 5:45 a.m. Sunday.

GVSU president Thomas Haas issued a statement to students: "Like many of you, I was disturbed and saddened by the report of a sexual assault impacting our community over the weekend. While the Ottawa County Sheriff's office investigates incidents that occur off-campus, I want to take a moment to remind you that we need to watch out for each other; if you see something, say something.

"As a campus community, we have a responsibility to each other. Creating a campus community free from sexual violence takes vigilance from all of us. Every member must play an active role in fostering a healthy community. While we must care for each other, let me be clear -- sexual assault is only the perpetrator's fault."ST. JOSPEH, MI - Coast Guard personnel recently rescued a pair of kite surfers from Lake Michigan.

The incident occurred when a crew from Coast Guard Station St. Joseph responded to a kite surfer in distress near Grand Mere State Park. Upon arrival, the boat crew discovered a man who indicated that he hadn't seen his friend in a more than an hour.

The boat crew immediately began conducting a search for the missing surfer. Fortunately, they located and rescued the second surfer soon after and brought both back to shore.

The National Weather Service warned of risky swim conditions from St. Joseph to Ludington over the weekend and into Monday. That included strong currents and waves high enough to overtop piers.SUMTERVILLE, FLORIDA -- Larry Nassar is now being held at a federal prison in Florida with a reputation for housing high-profile inmates.

Nassar is currently an inmate at USP Coleman II, a high-security federal penitentiary, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons' website.

The prison, about 50 miles northwest of Orlando, is home to other high-profile inmates like mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger, according to a 2015 report in the Orlando Sentinel.

Most recently, Nassar was being held at a federal prison transfer center in Oklahoma, according to officials.

Nassar was initially being held at a high-security federal prison in Tucson, Arizona, that specializes in treating sex-offenders. Nassar's attorneys claim he's been beaten since he's been in the federal prison system.

The claim surfaced during Nassar's appeal process, which has been unsuccessful so far. Federal authorities upheld his sentencing in a ruling Aug. 22. On Monday, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina denied a motion for re-sentencing in the Ingham County Circuit Court.

A motion for a new sentencing remains pending in his Eaton County case.

Nassar's attorneys with the State Appellate Defender Office have also filed a motion with the state Court of Appeals.

More than 250 women have accused Nassar, a former doctor at Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics, of sexually molesting them under the guise of medical treatment.

He eventually pleaded guilty to ten counts of sexual assault.

Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in the federal child pornography case, which was upheld on appeal Aug. 22. He was sentenced 40-125 years in the Eaton County case and 40-175 years in prison in the Ingham County case. Attorneys are appealing whether the terms are meant to run concurrently or consecutively.

The prison website lists 55-year-old Nassar's release date as March 23, 2069.SEATTLE -- A Canadian Michigan resident accused of raping and killing a 31-year-old woman has been arrested in Washington state and faces extradition.

Jitesh Bhogal, 27, faces charges of first degree murder, aggravated sexual assault and breaking and entering related to a June incident in which he allegedly broke into a Windsor apartment building and killed 31-year-old Autumn Taggart, who is also known as Maya Madolyn.

The Windsor Police Service previously said the woman's 9-year-old child was inside the apartment when she was killed.

Police in Washington arrested Bhogal at his parents' home in Kent, south of Seattle, earlier this month, according to the Associated Press. A hearing is scheduled Friday, Aug. 31 in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

The Windsor Police Service is working with partner agencies with intent to have the suspect extradited back to this jurisdiction to face the charges in court.LIBERTY TWP., MI - A 3-year-old child remains in serious condition at Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor after a Sunday crash on U.S. 127 in Liberty Township, according to Michigan State Police.

A second 3-year-old child died after being ejected from a minivan involved in the crash at around 4:45 p.m. Aug. 26 on U.S. 127 between Cook and Reed roads, police said.

Four adults involved in the crash have been treated for injuries and released from the hospital, MSP First Lt. Kevin Rod said.

Police are not releasing the names of the crash victims at this time, Rod said. No charges have yet been filed and the incident remains under investigation.

The minivan was rear-ended by a passenger vehicle as it was pulling out of a driveway, police said. The passenger car was traveling at a high rate of speed and making passes on the shoulder before the crash, they said.

After the collision, the minivan rolled multiple times. Police said many witnesses stopped to administer first aid.AURELIUS TWP., MI - An armed and fleeing suspect, accused of pulling a gun on police, was arrested early Tuesday morning after a six-hour standoff.

Eddie Rockwell Jr., 33, of Onondaga, was arrested at 4 a.m., Aug. 28, after police found him hiding in a barn near Columbia and Edgar roads in Ingham County's Aurelius Township, west of Mason, according to a Ingham County Sheriff's Office statement.

Rockwell is accused of pulling a gun on police who were attempting to question him after receiving reports of a man matching his description being seen peeking into cars and homes in the 600 block of Edgar Road on Sunday, police said.

Deputies arrived at the scene at 11:26 a.m., Aug. 26, and were approaching Rockwell when he allegedly pulled a handgun from his waistband and it fell to the ground, police said.

As deputies drew their handguns, Rockwell picked up his dropped gun and ran west toward a wooded area, police said.

Police believe Rockwell could be involved in a crash that occurred earlier that day near Barnes and Edgar roads, police said.

The Capital Area Ingham County Alert system sent an alert to residents warning them to stay away from the area while police searched for Rockwell, police said.

At 11:38 p.m., Monday, Aug. 27, Rockwell was located hiding in the grain barn and officers surrounded the area, police said.

A negotiator was called in and Rockwell surrendered six hours later. There were no injuries reported, police said.

Rockwell is currently lodged in the Ingham County Jail awaiting charges.

The Ingham County Sheriff's Office was assisted by Michigan State Police, Eaton County Sheriff's Office, Mason Police Department, Leslie Police Department, Ingham Regional Special Response Team, Lansing Police Department's Special Tactics and Rescue Team and Delhi Township Fire Department.ALBION, MI - For four decades, the Zuni tribe has scoured the world looking to reclaim its war god idols.

While most are found in southwest museums, one was found at Albion College.

The war god - also known as an Ahayuda - is being returned to the Zuni, a southwestern U.S. Native American tribe, during a special private ceremony on Thursday, Aug. 30.

"I think they were very surprised to find that Albion College had one of these," said Bille Wickre, Albion College professor of art history. "They're very rare."

Zuni Nation, predominantly in New Mexico, has about 9,000 people, Wickre said.

Approximately two feet long, the war god likely dates back to the 19th century, per school officials. Traditionally, Ahayuda's are carved from Cottonwood trees previously struck by lightning - infusing them with power.

The idol was given to the college in 1973, although Wickre said nobody knows how the original donor came across it.

The practice of picking Native American items off reservations was more common in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Wickre said. Today, it's considered illegal.

"This object would have been carved specifically for religious purposes," Wickre said. "After its time of active use, it would have been put onto a secondary altar, where it would have continued to exercise its powers to protect the Zuni people, and in fact, protect the whole world. And on that alter, it would have been left to decay naturally."

Wickre discovered the idol in storage in 2015, as she began teaching a course on Native American art. She invited a scholar who specializes in Native American art to view the college's pieces.

"He discovered it in our collection and said, 'Oh, you don't know what you've got, here.' And I didn't," Wickre said. "My students and I started researching it and discovered it was an item that was sacred and needed to be repatriated."

After sending a photo of the Ahayuda to the Zuni, tribe members immediately recognized it, and the repatriation process began. The Ahayuda is a symbol of peace and protection for the Zuni people, Wickre said.

"I believe for the Zuni, this is like a return of an ancestor," Wickre said.

The 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act requires all cultural items be returned, under federal law. The process required an inventory of all of the college's Native American items.

Wickre believes they've found another piece that needs to be repatriated.

Per tradition, a tribal elder and a pair of high-ranking priests from the tribe will retrieve the item and perform a private ritual at the college.

A public ceremony starts at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, as Albion College and the Zuni elders exchange gifts. The free event is hosted at the upper dining hall at Baldwin Hall, 203 S. Hannah St.

At 7:30 p.m., the three Zuni representatives will take questions and show the independent Zuni film, "Then, Now and Forever: Zuni in the Grand Canyon." This event, also free, is hosted at Bobbitt Auditorium.

To be involved in this sort of cultural connection isn't an everyday occurrence, Wickre said. She hopes the public understands the significance.

"Perhaps people don't realize what an amazing thing this is," Wickre said. "And how rare and important this is for the people in this area and for our culture to be engaged in this.

"To make this connection with the Zuni people is truly an amazing thing."JACKSON, MI - A woman who has been in jail for more than two years awaiting trial for a 2009 murder she is accused of helping her then boyfriend commit was granted bond Tuesday.

Jackson County Circuit Judge Thomas Wilson granted a $100,000 bond Tuesday, Aug. 28, to Tiffany Reichard, who has been held without bond in the Jackson County Jail since her arrest in August 2016.

Reichard, 26, is charged with one count of open murder for the violent death of Matthew Cramton, 56, who was found stabbed to death in his home Jan. 29, 2009.

Her co-defendant, Michael Beatty, confessed he killed Cramton, stabbing him 91 times during a botched robbery. He was sentenced to life without parole in 2017.

Wilson added a GPS tether, restricting her to Jackson County, and a curfew of 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. to Reichard's bond conditions, if she posts bond.

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Steve Idema disagreed with the bond approval, stating appeals made by the defense is what has been stalling progress in the case going to trial.

Reichard's attorney, Andrew Kirkpatrick, has argued responsibility for the murder rests on Beatty and that Reichard's actions were made under duress.

"She was 17 years old, a victim of domestic violence, was raped by him, had his child and had to help him out of fear," Kirkpatrick said.

The Michigan Court of Appeals previously denied the use of the duress argument at trial. He has since appealed that ruling to the Michigan Supreme Court.

The court has not yet stated if it will hear the case.

Reichard was 17 at the time of the incident and there is no indication she participated in the stabbing itself, records show.

Prior to her arrest, Reichard told police she picked Beatty up from Cramton's home and he was covered in blood, records show.

She later changed her story, admitting she helped plan to rob Cramton, believing he had money and drugs.

She told investigators she parked near Cramton's home and, with the intent to rob, she was to knock on the door to get Cramton to open it so Beatty could rush in wearing a mask and demand money and drugs while she was to be a lookout, court records show.

Reichard then told police after the murder she poured perfume on Beatty's clothes and burned them in a grill, records show.

Cramton was known as an empathetic, light-hearted soul who would sell goofy hats and painted balloons at the Jackson County Fair every year, said Martin Wolkens, a friend of Cramton who found him stabbed to death.

Cramton was unmarried and lived alone in the small two-story house he was killed in, police said.PARCHMENT, MI -- While some residents on Parchment's municipal water are relieved to hear they can again use it, others say they still do not trust the water coming from their tap.

The Kalamazoo County Health & Community Services Department lifted the "Do Not Drink" order for Parchment's municipal water system Monday, Aug. 27, after officials concluded the latest test results for PFAS in the water system met the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Residents of Cooper Township and Parchment who use private groundwater wells within a one-mile radius of Parchment's contaminated municipal well field are still advised not to drink their water until free filters are installed.

An estimated 3,100 people using Parchment's municipal water supply were told July 26 to immediately stop drinking the water after high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances were discovered in the municipal water source. This included levels of total PFOS and PFOA up to 26 times higher than the EPA lifetime health advisory of 70-ppt.

Residents of Parchment and Cooper Township using Parchment's municipal water system can turn on the tap, but officials have hesitated to call the water "safe" while low amounts of toxic contaminants remain.

Cooper Township resident Randy Dunfield said he does not trust public officials and will not go back to using water from his faucet any time soon.

"I wouldn't trust them if they came with Jesus Christ on their shoulders," Dunfield said. "There's no reason to trust them. They did not have the best interest of their customers in mind."

Dunfield said he lost trust in local officials due to past oversights regarding water issues, including when actions were not taken to correct Parchment's municipal well field in 2002 when the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality found it was "highly susceptible to potential contaminants."

That conclusion that the well system was highly susceptible came from a 2002 source water assessment referenced in Parchment's annual water quality reports.

With knowledge of this past water issue, Dunfield said further measures should have been taken to test the water frequently and earlier on, especially when PFAS became a growing concern. He said he found the prepared statements by officials at local meetings unsatisfying.

"They patted themselves on the back, said what a great job they were all doing all working together," Dunfield said. "Why did they have to work together? Why didn't they take the initiative to monitor it when they were told in 2002 to start paying close attention to that abandoned paper mill?"

Levels of the toxic compounds are still present in homes connected to the water system, which includes residences in Parchment and Cooper Township.

The most recent tests for PFOS and PFOA, two compounds among a larger collection of PFAS substances linked to various health risks in adults and children, found levels below the EPA lifetime health advisory of 70 parts per trillion.

Exposure to PFOS and PFOA has been linked to pregnancy-induced hypertension, liver damage, increased cholesterol, increased risk of thyroid disease, decreased antibody response to vaccines, negative impacts on fertility and decreased birth weight.

Parchment City Commissioner and former Mayor Robert Heasley said he felt the response to the high level of contamination from officials at all levels was exceptional.

"I'm so impressed with the intergovernmental cooperation, with the hard work that our Parchment city staff has put in, but also the elected representatives in this county have all stepped up and aided both Parchment and Cooper Township above and beyond the call of duty and I'm very very grateful for that," Heasley said.

Heasley said having to use bottled water for the month was not overly inconvenient for him personally.

"There are people it might have bothered more--shut-ins and people with limited physical abilities would have probably suffered more than we did," he said. "We did pretty well through it all and everyone I know has done well through it."

Heasley said he had already had a glass of water from his tap.

Cooper Township resident Brandy Roberts said she felt "unsure" after hearing the water could be used again, adding that she would not start using it again right away.

"Not right now--I mean maybe, probably in time but now I'll probably just keep on buying the bottled water," Roberts said.

Amy Askelson was relieved to hear the water advisory had been lifted and praised the response from water distributors who handed out cases of water throughout the month while the advisory was in place. She said she also appreciated the town hall and information provided by officials.

Askelson said she was most concerned about her three children. She said she was put at ease at the town hall meeting when Kalamazoo County health officials explained how the plan to route water from the city of Kalamazoo to Parchment's water system.

"Just knowing it's lower now makes me feel better, makes me feel better for them," Askelson said. "I mean the whole thing for me was not knowing when it all started. That's worrisome."

Savannah Schuemann moved to Parchment in May with her one-year old son. She used water to mix formula and he had just started drinking water when the advisory was put in place.

"It's been really worrisome," she said. "I think that's why it's going to be so hard to go back to drinking it, because of that intuition of not knowing if it's safe."PARCHMENT, MI -- Municipal water customers in Parchment and Cooper Township should flush their pipes before using water from the tap.

A drinking water advisory lifted Monday advises customers of the Parchment water system that their drinking water is below state standards for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The decision came one month after PFOA and PFOS, two toxic PFAS compounds, were found at levels more than 20 times greater than a standard for when health impacts are expected to occur.

The most recent test from the Parchment water system, now supplied by wells in the city of Kalamazoo, showed 6-8 parts per trillion of PFOA and PFOS. Michigan uses a 70 ppt guideline for lifetime exposure to the two compounds, but state officials acknowledged during a Monday, Aug. 27, press conference that what is considered a "safe" amount of exposure could change.

More than 3,100 residents put on bottled water were told to trust the water supply. First, they are advised to flush their home system.

Residents who use private groundwater wells within a 1-mile radius of Parchment's wellfield are still advised not to use their water.

Around 182 homes tested by MDEQ will have NSF-approved filters installed for free starting this week, which effectively remove 96 percent of PFAS from water in concentrations up to 1,500 ppt.

The Kalamazoo County Department of Health and Community Services issued flushing instructions to homeowners in August, based on general flushing guidelines from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

Begin the procedure by opening all bathroom hot water taps, including sink fixtures and bath fixtures, for 15 minutes.

Next, open all cold water fixtures for five minutes. Flush each toilet in your house at least one time.

Once you've flushed your hot and cold water faucets, change out water filters and flush plumbing appliances. Throw away all ice in your refrigerator and replace a filter on the ice maker. Run an empty dishwasher and washing machine one time.

Throw away water used in humidifiers, oral, medical or health devices and rinse them with clean water. Throw away any baby formula or other foods prepared with water during the advisory.

Call (269) 337-8756 if you need assistance or have questions about how to flush your home. The city of Kalamazoo has crews available to assist residents in flushing their home system.

Bottled water will be handed out until Thursday, Aug. 30. A water distribution center at Haven Reformed Church will be open from 2 to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday.

MDEQ found residents with a private well in Parchment and Cooper Township are also being exposed to PFAS. Residents will be provided additional cases of water to use until a filter is installed at their home.

UA Local 357, Kalamazoo County's pipe-fitters and plumbers union, will perform the installation free of charge. Officials will have a badge indicating they are qualified to perform the work, and residents should ask to see it.

The Parchment Water Hotline will continue to be available for residents to call Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Friday, Sept. 7.

If you have further questions after Sept. 7, call the Kalamazoo County Health & Community Services Department's Environmental Health Unit at (269) 373-5200.MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, MI - The Muskegon Heights Public Schools Board of Education condemned the charter school board it authorizes for not suspending its superintendent.

During its meeting on Monday, Aug. 27, the board voted 6-0 to pass a resolution expressing its disagreement with the Muskegon Heights Public School Academy (PSA) System Board's decision not to suspend its superintendent.

The $25,000 in school funds spent on gift cards in 2017-18 and the deficit budget leading to a fund balance (savings account) of less than 5 percent of annual expenditures were listed in the resolution as reasons to suspend Superintendent Rane Garcia.

In an interview with MLive and in a letter, Garcia admitted to spending $25,000 on gift cards for the academy's contracted employees - including teaching, transportation, food service and other staff - for holiday and end-of-the-year gifts.

State officials say that could be a violation of state law. The Michigan Department of Education is aware of the situation and is "considering next steps," said Martin Ackley, director of the Office of Public and Governmental Affairs in the education department, previously.

Garcia's letter was sent to the Receivership Transition Advisory Board (RTAB), which is appointed by the Michigan Department of Treasury to oversee Muskegon Heights Public Schools, which was under emergency management from 2012-2016. Muskegon Heights Public Schools is the authorizer of the charter academy.

The gift cards were part of a strategy to reduce staff turnover, Garcia said previously.

Community members who spoke at the meeting Monday joined with the public school board to call for Garcia to be suspended. They also called for the PSA board to investigate the $25,000 spent on gift cards.

"Muskegon Heights community, we have to stop letting people come in here and take advantage of us," said Joe Warren, Muskegon Heights Alumni Association president.

During a meeting on Monday, Aug. 20, the PSA board voted not to suspend Garcia.

"Be it resolved that the Muskegon Heights Public Schools Board of Education does not support the PSA Board's decision not to suspend Superintendent Rane Garcia," Muskegon Heights board President Trinell Scott said as she read the resolution. "(And) hereby expresses its dissatisfaction with Rane Garcia's actions in her role as Muskegon Heights Public School Academy System superintendent."

Scott later added that she personally believes Garcia should be suspended.

"I'm not a fan of hers," Scott said. "I'm not a fan of the dog and pony shows she puts on."

Those who spoke during more than an hour of public comment said they were "appalled" by the $25,000 in gift cards and how the situation has been handled. They asked for "integrity" from school and board leaders.

During the 2017-18 school year - the same year that the gifts were purchased - the charter academy recorded a nearly $1 million deficit, according to unaudited financial reports. Total revenue for 2017-18 was $8,180,810, while total expenditures came to $9,135,209. That resulted in a deficit of $954,399. The deficit was covered by drawing from the fund balance, which now has a balance of $270,848, or less than 3 percent of expenditures.

Garcia is a first-time superintendent. She was promoted to the job on July 1, 2017, after serving as assistant superintendent for the academy system. Her contract was renewed by the PSA board on May 31. In 2016-17, her salary was $115,000, according to transparency reporting.BrickHunter announced and welcomed Chris Cooper as director of Logistics in charge of scaling the platform automations in handling of brick and heavy construction materials. He is a 30-year logistics expert.

Recognized as the first to market in the online arena for brick and heavy building materials, BrickHunter announced the key hire will handle growth and automation in their supply chain function.

Mr. Cooper comes to BrickHunter with many years of experience in fleet management, inbound and

outbound operations managing of over several hundred daily shipments. He will also be negotiating pricing futures of freight and strategic partnerships aligning with the growth of the company. He will be in charge of bringing a more efficient customer experience and benefits of final mile delivery while passing increased value to to consumers and B2B users.



BrickHunters founder and managing director Carson Combs expressed confidence that Mr. Cooper is

ready to handle the job, saying, The hiring of Chris corresponds with BrickHunters growth strategy, bringing together a team with solid experience and expertise in the US construction industry. The fact that Chris is smart, disciplined and devoted to his work combined with his excellent record in logistics makes him a great fit for the team.



In line with BrickHunter growth plans, Mr. Cooper will be instrumental in fulfillment and targeting increases in automation while creating a seamless customer experience.Answer: Johnson & Johnson.

A group of patients, who have suffered due to Johnson & Johnson's faulty ASR hip implant, have written to Union health minister JP Nadda to immediately release the expert committee report that was submitted to the government in February.

The government had constituted a high-powered expert committee last year to look into the allegations of faulty ASR hip implants and the conduct of Johnson & Johnson based on complaints received by some patients.

The ASR hip implants made by DePuy, a division of US drug and medical devices giant Johnson & Johnson, were globally recalled in 2010 as it caused metal wear debris and elevated release of cobalt and chromium beyond 7 parts per billion.

Hip implants are used in hip replacement surgery. Johnson & Johnson is facing lawsuits from patient groups in various countries. In some countries it has reached settlement with patient groups by paying millions of dollars.

The patient group, in their letter on Monday, alleged that since February, officials in the CDSCO (Central Drugs Standard Control Organization), and in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare were sitting on the expert committee report without providing any reasons for not making it public.

We have suffered severe consequences - medical, financial and personal- because of the hip implant and have been forced to lead severely compromised lives, the patient group said in a letter.

Moneycontrol has seen a copy of the letter.

In spite of our attempts over several years to draw attention to the serious safety concerns with the ASR hip implant device, and the pain and agony experienced by us, the response from the Government for years was one of apathy and dismissiveness, the patient group alleged.

Union health minister JP Nadda on Monday said that his ministry is holding deliberations on an expert panel's report. "We are deliberating on it," he told reporters in New Delhi at press conference, without elaborating.

Much of the contents of the expert committee report were leaked to media.

According to several media reports - the expert committee report observed suppression of material facts by Johnson & Johnson when it sought approval from Indian drug regulator Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO).

The firm had applied for import licence on the basis of the registration certificate on 11 January, 2010. However, the fact the ASR was already recalled in Australia in December 2009, was not informed to the CDSCO even at the time of application for import licence, The Indian Express reported quoting the committee report.

The report also states that the committee has recommended a compensation of Rs 20 lakh for every patient affected by the faulty transplant. The report found over 3,600 patients with the implants remain untraceable, and that at least four deaths have been reported from those who underwent surgeries using these devices.

The total size of Indian orthopaedic market is around USD 375 million in 2016, of which hip implants segment is about USD 34 million. By 2020, the orthopaedic market size is expected to be around USD 766 million of which hip implants would be about USD 82 million.

The one matter astonishingly missing from these reports is whether there has been any consideration of criminal charges or investigations into the criminal acts of Johnson and Johnson in marketing this faulty product, the patient group said.

One of the patient who is also the signatory of the letter, Mumbai-based Vijay Vojhala, had deposed before the committee at the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) office in New Delhi, last year.

Vojhala underwent a total hip-replacement surgery with J&Js ASR implant on July 17, 2008. It has been ten years since the faulty hip implant and it has leaked chromium and cobalt into his body. Since then he is facing health complications.

Vojhala filed an FIR in Mahim police station in Mumbai and after repeated e-mails and letters to the Prime Ministers Office, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and other government departments led to the health ministry constituting the expert committee to investigate the matter.

In the 8 years since the recall of this product, we have endured pain and become disabled. Some of us have lost family members who died awaiting redressal. Denying us the report of the Expert Committee which was instituted after our constant requests and perseverance, and which sought the testimony and experiences of patients, is like rubbing salt on our wounds, and undermines our struggle for justice," the patient group said.

"Therefore, we request that the final report of the Expert Committee is made available to us in its entirety and also put in the public domain. We also seek participation in any further deliberations by the Government on the action to be taken on the report." they added.

Johnson & Johnson defended its action and said that top priority is and always has been patient safety. The company said the ASR was imported and marketed in India and in various countries around the world, with all regulatory approval and permissions as were then applicable.

Since the voluntary recall decision was made, DePuy has worked to provide patients and surgeons with the information and support they need, including a reimbursement programme to address recall-related costs that was the first-of-its-kind worldwide, Johnson & Johnson said.

DePuys actions concerning the product were appropriate and responsible. We immediately informed the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) about the voluntary recall. Since then, we have kept the DCGI informed of all key actions and worked to provide Indian patients and surgeons with the information and support they need, in line with government requirements."

Johnson & Johnson said DePuy has fully cooperated with the expert committee in their investigation of the ASR matter.

...the Expert Committee Report has not been provided to the company for review to date, so it would be inappropriate for us to comment on it, the company said.Check room rent capping | The room rent limit should be as high as the claim reimbursement would be as per the hospital room rent limit. For example: if your room rent limit is Rs 5,000 a day and you rent a room worth Rs 6,000 per day for two days. Here, the increase in room charges is 20 percent. Suppose your total hospitalisation bill is approximately Rs 1, 00,000, the deductible of 20 percent will be applicable and you will have to pay Rs 20,000 out of your own pocket.

Consumer durables firms are now offering free servicing as well as a discount on spare parts for the goods damaged by the Kerala floods. The floods led to a loss of about 375 lives and economic losses of Rs 20,000 crore.

Large companies including Godrej Appliances, LG, Samsung, and Whirlpool are offering free servicing and a discount of 50 percent for spare parts of the goods damaged due to the rainfall and subsequent flooding across Kerala.

Most of the offers are being extended till the second to third week of September. It is likely that specific camps will be set up in certain locations and the appliances will be repaired there.

Moneycontrol spoke to a few dealers as well as customer care representatives of the white goods companies to ascertain the veracity of the claims. The offer will be valid for the next few weeks and customers can use the official number to register a request for service, said a dealer.



We, at Godrej Appliances, salute the indomitable spirit of Kerala. As a token of support, we are providing a free service camp in Kerala for all flood-hit Godrej Appliances. Call us on our toll-free number 1800 209 5511 to schedule a visit. pic.twitter.com/mCPugDO4G6

 Godrej Appliances (@GodrejAppliance) August 23, 2018

The companies quoted above did not immediately respond to a query sent by Moneycontrol.

While customers with warranty cards will definitely be at an advantage, it will not be mandatory for to have the card to get the service.

Most of the damages to appliances in the Kerala floods pertain to the water seepage into the products. While some white goods are partially water resistant, if a product is submerged in water for a longer duration it can damage the internal circuits.

How to claim benefits of the services for Kerala floods:

--Dial the official toll-free customer care number of the company

--Register a complaint for repair

--Keep the warranty number ready (if available). Else, registered mobile number will suffice

--A service representative will be sent home for repairslive bse live

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Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) will buy 14.9 percent stake in IDBI Bank through a preferential share issue. IDBI Bank's board will meet on August 31 to approve this deal.

In the first week of August, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved LIC's proposal to own a controlling stake in state-owned IDBI bank. The move paves way for LIC to acquire 51 percent in the public sector bank.

LIC has given in-principal approval for subscribing to the equity share issued by IDBI Bank on a preferential basis.

Earlier, LIC had received the insurance regulator's approval to hold more than 15 percent stake in the bank.

The aim of the deal is to infuse capital into the bank, which is facing a severe challenge in the form of mounting bad debt. The Reserve Bank of India has also given in-principal approval to the deal.

IDBI Bank reported a wider net loss of Rs 2,409.90 crore for the first quarter ending June 2018. The loss widened from Rs 853 crore registered in the same quarter a year ago, due to a jump in non-performing assets (NPAs) and provisions.

As a percentage of total loans, its gross non-performing assets (NPA) ratio worsened to 30.78 percent from 27.95 percent on a quarter-on-quarter basis. The net NPA ratio also increased to 18.76 percent from 16.69 percent in the previous quarter.The Allahabad High Court judgment denying interim relief for power producers who sought to dilute the Reserve Bank of Indias (RBI) 12 February circular is a welcome step. The central banks 12 February circular directs lenders to start the resolution process for stressed assets from the first day of default; if banks fail to achieve this within 180 days, they have to refer the asset to bankruptcy court.

The 180=day deadline for assets which were overdue on 1 March when the circular kicked into effect lapsed on 27 August. Media reports say that 70 large stressed accounts worth over Rs 3.8 lakh crore are under review. In the power sector alone, there are 34 cases amounting to 39 gigawatt of power capacity that have dues of Rs 1.8 lakh crore.

Power producers have contended that they are defaulting because many of their projects are under construction/ not utilised because of factors outside their control such as lack of land acquisition and environmental clearances, and inconsistent fuel supply. At a time when there is a clear lack of buyers for power assets, most are likely to be liquidated, thus destroying value, goes their argument.

While that argument may well have some merits, at the end of the day, it is a commercial bet that has gone wrong. There is a moral hazard in agreeing to the demands of the power producers. RBI regulations have to be sector-agnostic and not cave in to special interest groups.

Still, the Allahabad High Court judgment provides some ways out for power producers. It has asked the government to consult RBI under powers given it by Section 7 of the RBI Act within 15 days, with a view to modifying the 12 February circular. Section 7 empowers the Centre to issue directions to RBI if it consider(s) necessary in public interest. Secondly, a government committee on the power sector has been given two months to come up with plan along with RBI.

The first option is a powder keg. While the government is well within its powers to issue directions to RBI, it would do well not to interfere in the regulatory terrain of the central bank in such an arbitrary manner. If the government panders to power producers, it will deal a blow to the sanctity of the insolvency and bankruptcy code (IBC), one of the two big reforms seen since 2014. Remember that with the 12 February circular, RBI has taken an important step in cleaning up the credit culture. Undermining this for short-term gains will inevitably lead to another big bad loan problem some years down the line.

The second option seems more sensible. Even if some cases are admitted by bankruptcy courts, they can be withdrawn later if 90 percent of creditors agree. In the power sector, that can very well happen if there is an out-of-court resolution that happens under the aegis of this committee. But it remains to be seen how practical it is. An asset reconstruction company seems to be a popular option, but funding it remains a big question. Still, the fact remains that even if assets are liquidated, it will clean up balance sheets of banks and enable them to restart lending.

In the ultimate analysis, the problems in the power sector are structural and have been evident for a long time. Periodic bailouts of state electricity boards havent helped. There is a spate of reforms needed that will enable power producers get a fair price for electricity, ensure consistency in fuel supply agreements, and maintain power supply contracts as sacrosanct. These, rather than just bailing out companies, should be the areas of focus if the government wants to ensure power for all in a durable manner.live bse live

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Domestic refined copper production declined by 47.1 percent in the first quarter this fiscal, mainly on account of Vedanta's copper smelter plant shutdown at Tuticorin, Care Ratings said today.

During the quarter, the output of Hindustan Copper (HCL) and Hindalco was also restrained due to shutdown of their smelters for maintenance purposes.

"Domestic refined copper production has fallen by 47.1 percent during Q1-FY19. Fall in production is mainly attributable to the shutdown of the 400 KT, Tuticorin smelter which accounted for 40 percent of the country's copper smelting capacity," the rating agency said in a statement.

The drop in domestic production has led to the domino effect of a sharp increase in the country's imports and fall in the exports.

"Exports have fallen by 91.6 percent (it had increased 70.1 percent in the first quarter previous fiscal), whereas imports have increased by 221.6 percent (it fell 69.9 percent in April-June quarter last year).

"India imported refined copper from, Japan (66 percent), Congo (22 percent), Switzerland (5 percent), Tanzania (5 percent), South America (one percent) & UAE (one percent) and exported refined copper to China (58 percent), South Korea (30 percent), Bangladesh (6 percent ) and Malaysia (6 percent) during Q1-FY19," it said.

Share of exports towards China decreased to 58 percent in the first quarter of FY19 compared to 63 percent during the same period in FY18.

"Share of imports from Japan has increased from 33 percent during Q1-FY18 to 66 percent during Q1-FY19," it said. Domestic consumption has been subdued on account of copper being substituted by aluminium, it said.

The Tamil Nadu government had in May ordered the state Pollution Control Board to seal and "permanently" close the Vedanta Group's copper plant in Tuticorin following violent protests over pollution concerns during which 13 people were killed in police firing.A committee headed by Arbind Modi, member of the apex direct tax policy making body Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), will submit a draft new direct tax law in the next few days, two people familiar with the development said.

The committee had to submit the draft law on May 22, but was given a three-month extension (which gets over in August). The report will be submitted to the government in the next few days, a government official told Moneycontrol.

Consultations and debates will follow after and if the government decides to make the draft public, the official said.

The discussion on reforms pertaining to taxation started in September, 2017, when the Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that more than half a century old Income-Tax Act needs to be re-drafted and a new Direct Tax Code (DTC) needs to be introduced in consonance with economic needs of the country.

Acting upon it, the finance ministry on November 22 constituted a task force comprising six members, as well as the Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Arvind Subramanian, as a permanent special invitee in the task force.

Subramanian is currently not a part of the committee as he resigned from his post of CEA last month to return to academic research in the US.

Apart from Arbind Modi, who is heading the task force, Girish Ahuja, practicing chartered accountant and non-official director, State Bank of India, Rajiv Memani, chairman and regional managing partner of E&Y, Mukesh Patel, practicing tax advocate in Ahmedabad, Mansi Kedia, consultant, ICRIER, and G.C. Srivastava, retired bureaucrat are part of the team.

Modi, who spearheaded the formulation of the draft law, will retire on September 30. The bureaucrat had also worked closely with former finance minister P Chidamabaram to prepare Direct Tax Code, 2009.

The erstwhile UPA government had finalised DTC and had introduced the Bill in the Parliament in 2010. However, the Bill lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha. It aimed at simplifying tax legislation, widening the tax base, while removing a number of exemptions.

The task force is in the process of drafting a direct tax legislation keeping in mind, tax system prevalent in various countries, international best practices, economic needs of the country, among others. Some of the provisions of the DTC such as General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) and Place of Effective Management (PoEM) has already been implemented.

However, government's plans to simplify the tax regime may spill over to next year, and may well have to wait until the next government is in place in 2019.

A Parliamentary approval may look into the draft tax policy proposals before it is voted into a law, which could take even a year. By the time all the changes are incorporated after consultations with the stakeholders, it may be time for the general elections, 2019.

Besides, a new direct tax code may involve change in rates and slabs that will require amendments in the Finance Bill, which will unlikely happen in an election year when an outgoing government presents only an interim budget/vote on account.

According to a tax expert, the task force could re-look some key tax provisions as well as a review of significant areas of tax administration procedures.

Some key tax provisions which may be reviewed are--deduction for interest on debt, liability for dividend tax, minimum alternate tax on corporates, presumptive taxation, tax incentives for individual savings in a changing work life scenario and taxation of investment of capital as well as return on capital, among others, Gokul Chaudhri, Partner, Deloitte India said

The significant areas on tax administration procedures could be--further leveraging technology to promote functional specialisation and ease taxpayer interface, reviewing dispute resolution mechanisms within the tax administration, and integrating tax information and filing across direct taxes and GST to reduce the compliance burden, Chaudhri said.Sudhir Kapadia

One of the hallmarks of the NDA Government is a relentless focus and communication on New India Vision 2022 and a slew of forward looking and transformative measures across infrastructure, social and physical, banking, affordable housing, power and health to name a few.

From a business perspective, demonetization, Goods & Services Tax (GST) and Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC) were specific policy interventions to transform the underlying paradigm of doing business in India.

One of the key challenges plaguing the fiscal policy landscape over the years is the stubbornly low tax to GDP ratio implying severe revenue constraints for successive Governments attempts to redress agrarian distress, initiate and expand social security and welfare of the poor and create world class physical and social infrastructure. Undoubtedly, with stabilization of GST and greater formalization of Indian economy, along with stringent anti-tax and fiscal evasion measures, the tax buoyancy is slated to improve over time.

The NDA Government has been generally agile in considerably improving processes in both direct and indirect tax regimes and has been fairly proactive in dealing with tax issues across many sectors in the economy.

One of the consequences of these far reaching changes is the increase in complexity of the tax laws especially dealing with business taxation. In addition, to keep up with developments in the digital economy and cross border businesses, Government is in a continuous process of legislating on these matters. It is in light of these momentous changes that the impending unveiling of the proposed new Direct Tax Code (DTC) has far reaching implications for fiscal policy in India.

Till very recently, one noticeable feature of the NDA Governments tenure was its distancing from Big Business seemingly to ward off a perception sought to be created by the Governments opponents to the effect that this Government represents only the interest of Suits and Boots.

In four years, it is clear the Modi Governments focus is firmly on eliminating poverty in India and the fairly successful implementation of quite a few transformative social programmes negates the perception of this Government only siding with Big Business.

In fact, ironically, Indian businesses have felt somewhat forlorn and, even unwanted, in light of the political rhetoric in recent times. It has, therefore, come as a welcome relief that no less than Prime Minister Modi himself has finally and forcefully defended good businesses and acknowledged the role of business and industry in creating jobs and growth of the economy. The moot question now is to what extent this thinking will inform business tax policy under the proposed DTC.

It is interesting that the Modi Government has already taken bold steps like announcing a roadmap for corporate tax rate cuts, removal of plethora of tax exemptions, eliminating capital gains tax exemptions under tax treaties with Mauritius and Singapore and imposing a 10% long term capital gains tax on equity shares.

However, the reduction in corporate tax rate extends only to small companies and the cumulative impact of the base rate, surcharges and the dividend distribution tax (DDT) makes Indias prevailing corporate tax rates one of the highest in the world.

The proposed DTC thus affords a great opportunity to rationalize various tax exemptions, simplify a complex capital gains tax system, replace DDT with tax in the hands of shareholders and, above all, embrace the 25% corporate tax rate for all companies across the board.

One of the main reasons for progressive moderation in corporate tax rates globally is the increasing competition in attracting business and investments thus reversing an age old phenomena of relative higher corporate tax rates which prevailed for many decades (latest, of course, is the significant decrease in the US corporate tax rate from 39% to 21%). The analysis below will illustrate these data points.

The DTC should also consider substituting the Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) on companies with the far simpler Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) which may obviate the complexities caused by differences in accounting and tax treatment for many items of income and expenditure.

It has been the experience so far in India that any talk of reduction in corporate tax rates is viewed from a unilateral prism of revenues lost thus assuming that there would be no collateral gains in the economy by way of increase in investments. The experience so far in other countries and, in India too, has been to the contrary. (Note that tax rates have been progressively reduced in India too over the decades lifting animal spirits for investments in businesses.)

Therefore, whilst continuing with much needed anti tax evasion measures against recalcitrant businesses, the Government would do well to consider the positive impact of tax rate cuts (along with streamlining of tax exemptions, etc.) for the economy as a whole.

A final question remains to be addressed. Given the prevailing political rhetoric in the year headed towards the next general elections in 2019, can the Modi Government afford to be seen as endorsing corporate tax rate cuts, howsoever salutary may be its collateral advantages? In fact, if there is one political leader in India today who has the ability to convincingly and credibly explain the economic rationale of such fiscal measures to people at large, it is Prime Minister Modi himself. He has already spoken in defense of good business and earlier, on the Good and Simple Tax.

He will now do well to speak on the need for considering holistic impact of a lower corporate tax rate and other simplification measures on the economic march towards the shared vision of New India 2022.

Defending a good tax policy need not mean that the Government of the day is oblivious to the needs of poorer sections of society.

In fact, an attractive and stable tax policy is a sine quo non for economic growth which, in turn provides the much needed resources for poverty alleviation.

After all, it is now an accepted truism that Government alone cannot make the investment required in the economy to create jobs for the roughly 10-12 million new graduates coming out of Indias universities every year. It is absolutely imperative that private investment is encouraged to achieve these daunting challenges.

It is high time that we free ourselves from the prevailing political rhetoric which most times implies that resources magically appear from thin air to fund much needed social welfare measures and create necessary jobs in the economy. One hopes that a common political consensus emerges for the need to support and incentivize business and make business (big and small) a partner in this continuing journey of economic growth much beyond 2019!

The author is National Tax Leader, EY India. Views expressed are personal.GoAir

Wadia group-owned budget carrier GoAir is all set to fly international from October, with the first flight to operate on the Mumbai-Phuket route, a source privy to development said.

The bookings for the maiden international flight will commence soon and an announcement to this effect is expected to be made by Thursday, the source said.

The city-based airline, which became eligible to fly overseas more than two years ago when it took delivery of its 20th aircraft, which was also the first Airbus A320 Neo for the airline, will be the fifth domestic carrier to have international operations.

"We will be launching our international operations with a flight to Phuket (Thailand) from Mumbai in October. We have all regulatory approvals in place and the flight is expected to go into the system (bookings) in a week's time," the source said.

The source said the airline is looking to launch three to four international destinations by March next year, adding the proposed Mumbai-Phuket service will be a daily operations.

GoAir spokesperson was not available for comments.

Thailand ambassador to India Chutintorn Gongsakdi had last week tweeted that, "Go Airlines (India) or GoAir has been approved as designate airline to fly to Thailand since August 10."

The airline, which launched its domestic operations in November 2005, was in August 2016 granted rights to operate to nine countries, including China, Vietnam, Maldives, Kazakhstan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, among others.

GoAir had planned to launch services on the international routes in October last year but had to defer the plan due to the grounding of some of the Pratt & Whitney engine-powered Airbus A320 Neo planes owing to engine glitches.

"We are mulling to have three to four international destinations in our flight network by this fiscal year and Male (Maldives) could be the the next destination after Phuket," the source said.

GoAir currently operates over 1,544 weekly flights across 23 destinations with a fleet of 38 Airbus A320 planes, including 19 A320 Neos.

Currently, national carrier Air India, its subsidiary Air India Express, private carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet have international flights. Tata-SIA run Air Vistara also is planning to launch services on overseas routes later this year.Answer: Google Primer

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As the battle for a digital financial market intensifies, Google is partnering with four Indian banks to grant instant loans online, according to a report by Mint.

The technology giant is teaming-up with ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Federal Bank. Google will offer instant, pre-approved loans to customers through Google Pay, the report suggests.

On Tuesday, Google also rebranded the Google Tez application as Google Pay. Tez was launched in September 2017.

The app users will be able to take out a customised loan and deposit money directly into their bank account.

In a press statement, Google has said that it will be expanding the places where customers can pay in-store and online, expanding services for merchants, in the coming weeks.

The tech giant added that it was working with the banks to provide instant loans to Google Pay users.

Google has claimed that the Tez app has 22 million active users and has made 750 million transactions. The company has claimed that the annual run-rate of transaction value of the digital payments service is Rs 2 lakh crore.

Other technology companies including Facebook-owned WhatsApp, Jack Mas Ant Financial are racing to provide financial services in India.

Billionaire Warren Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway has invested Rs 2,500 crore in One97 Communications, Paytms parent company. The investment marks Berkshire Hathaways foray into India and the financial payments industry.

India Post is also expected to launch the India Post Payments Bank, soon.The government, World Bank and state owned EESL today inked a $220 million loan agreement and a $80 million guarantee pact to push energy efficiency programme in India.

To be implemented by EESL, the programme will help scale up the deployment of energy saving measures in residential and public sectors, strengthen EESL's institutional capacity, and enhance its access to commercial financing.

The $220 million loan, from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) to Energy Efficiency Services Ltd, has a 5-year grace period, and a maturity of 19 years.

"The Government of India, the EESL, and the World Bank today signed a $220 million Loan Agreement and a $80 million Guarantee Agreement for the India Energy Efficiency Scale-Up Program," the joint statement by World Bank and EESL said.

The investments under the programme are expected to avoid lifetime greenhouse gas emissions of 170 million tons of CO2, and contribute to avoiding an estimated 10 GW of additional generation capacity.

This would be over 50 percent of the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency target of 19.6 GW indicated in India's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Accord.

"The programme will help tackle the financing, awareness, technical and capacity barriers faced by new energy efficiency programs and support the UJALA and SLNP programs of the Government of India," said Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, said in the statement.

"This is one of the several steps being taken by the Government of India to meet its climate change commitments to reduce carbon intensity by 33-35 percent by 2030," he added.

The key components of the operation include: creating sustainable markets for LED lights and energy efficient ceiling fans; facilitating well-structured and scalable investments in public street lighting; developing sustainable business models for emerging market segments such as super-efficient air conditioning and agricultural water pumping systems; and strengthening the institutional capacity of EESL.

Under the Program, EESL will deploy 219 million LED bulbs and tube lights, 5.8 million ceiling fans, and 7.2 million street lights, which will be supplied by private sector manufacturers and suppliers.

Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director, EESL said in the statement, "This program provides us a valuable opportunity while providing necessary impetus for replicating and magnifying our success across India with other energy efficiency technologies and programmes, and with other ESCOs and stakeholders across the spectrum."

As an integral part of the operation, the first-ever IBRD guarantee in India will help the EESL access new markets for commercial financing in line with the Bank's approach of maximizing finance for development.

The guarantee is expected to leverage some $200 million in additional financing, to help EESL with its growing portfolio and future investment needs.

"India's energy efficiency market, estimated to be over $12 billion per year, continues to face implementation barriers, particularly in the residential and public sectors, which have some of the largest untapped potential for energy efficiency improvements.

"Building upon its experience of UJALA and SLNP, EESL is now expanding its initiatives to other energy efficiency measures," said Ashok Sarkar, Senior Energy Specialist and World Bank's Task Team Leader for the programme.Have a long-term outlook | Timing investment is logically impossible because the best entry and exit opportunities are known only in hindsight. No one can predict market movements with certainty. Therefore, it is important to allow your investments to compound over a long term.

India's Act East policy has drawn investments from Japan, South Korea and China, the east Asian industrial power houses, Jamshyd N Godrej, co-chairman of the India-Singapore Strategic Dialogue 2018, said today.

The Act East policy aims to promote economic cooperation, cultural ties and develop strategic relationship with countries in the Asia-Pacific region through continuous engagement at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels.

The policy focuses on the seven northeastern states of India and provides enhanced connectivity to these states, including Arunanchal Pradesh, with other countries in the neighbourhood.

"We are seeing a lot of investments coming from this region (into India)," he said, referring to Japan, South Korea and China.

Godrej, who is also chairman of the Godrej & Boyce manufacturing, said that India is looking towards the region from a trade perspective and as a source of capital.

"India is certainly poised for rapid growth in every sector especially in infrastructure building, he said, addressing the 11th India-Singapore Strategic Dialogue (ISSD) public forum, organised by the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), a think tank at the National University of Singapore.

He also underlined the importance of Singapore as a financial and trade destination for Indian businesses.

Speaking at the forum, Singapore's Ambassador at large, Professor Tommy Koh stressed on the importance of India's partnership with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"ASEAN and India are important economic partners," he said, adding that the prospects for the combined India-ASEAN markets, with about 2 billion people, are very bright.

But he called for intensified cooperation between India and ASEAN, saying the two partners are underperforming. Bilateral trade has grown up very substantially from a low of $2.9 billion in 1993 to $59 billion currently.

Comparatively, the bilateral trade between ASEAN and China is 10 times bigger. India accounts for 2.6 percent of ASEAN external trade when China accounts for 15 percent, according to Koh.

"There is tremendous potential for us to increase our bilateral trade and for India to occupy a much larger share of ASEAN's external trade," he stressed.

He also called on India to be part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) involving the 10 ASEAN member countries, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

Negotiations for the RCEP, the largest of its kind trade pact in the region, are to be concluded by end of this year. He said that ASEAN leaders, at the Delhi Summit in 2017, had made an appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help conclude the RCEP negotiations with India's participation.Chinese technology major Lenovo is all set to expand its data centre business in India. It is looking to invest over a billion dollars in research and development (R&D) on artificial intelligence and aims to take its adoption to a large group of people in the country.

The company is planning the expansion in collaboration with startups and government partners to host applications of companies in four verticals  manufacturing, financial services, academia and healthcare sectors, reports Economic Times.

The hardware and devices manufacturing has identified 10 countries from a data centre expansion perspective and India is among this list, said Vivek Sharma, MD-Data Centre Group (DCG) at Lenovo India in talks with ET.

The company sees huge business from India. It expects $5-6 billion overall revenue coming from the country in the next three years, said Sharma.

Lenovo is looking to invest $1.2 billion in artificial intelligence (AI) R&D in the country. This investment will also be used to include data centre offerings to its Chennai facility, which manufactures around 5 billion smartphones annually.

Talking about planned collaboration with India-based startups, Scott Tease, executive director-HPC and AI at Lenovo, said the aim behind this move is to help smaller players leverage AI with its end-to-end solutions, which is so far at a nascent stage in India and is only being used by super-rich companies.

As per Tease, Lenovos move will give an opportunity to the Indian startup community to work under its brand and get help to implement ideas well.

The startup community in India is rich, active and diverse. But most players working in this space do not have a brand name and 99 percent of their ideas are yet to be fully implemented. They will be able to stand behind Lenovo as a brand name and we can help them take AI adoption to the masses, said Tease.The Allahabad High Court on Monday refused to grant interim relief to power sector defaulters that had appealed for a stay on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular on being dragged to the National Company Law Tribunal. This, according to experts, could hurt the banking sector.

Close to 60 companies, including power firms, have turned loan defaulters and will have to be taken to the NCLT by lenders after the 180-day grace period granted by the Reserve Bank of Indias February 12 circular ended on August 27.

Currently, bankers are trying to resolve the pile of stressed power assets under the Samadhan scheme working with the power companies.

Power sector companies together owe banks roughly Rs 1-1.77 lakh crore.

Approximately 34 companies involving Rs 1.77 lakh crore are under stress. Of those, while in some cases (size of Rs 70,000 crore) probability of resolution is decent; however, for the remaining 1 Lakh crore (on system level) are likely to fetch meager recovery, Lalitabh Shrivastawa - AVP - Research - Sharekhan by BNP Paribas told Moneycontrol.

Consequently, banks may have to take a higher haircut for those cases  Negative read through for banks like SBI, BOB, ICICI, Axis Bank etc. who may witness increased provisions, he said.

Banks with the highest exposure to power companies include names like Bank of India, SBI, Union Bank of India, PNB, Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank.

Image 1

Technically, banks arent required to downgrade or accelerate provisioning on loans referred to NCLT, but experts feel that there is some risk of slippages from the non-NPL part of such loans.

Power remains among the most stressed sectors for banks and with heavy downgrades over past two to three quarters, banks NPL ratios could be now +25 percent, said a CLSA report.

The large corporate banks such as SBI, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank have tagged 20-40 percent of power loans as NPL and 20-65 percent are rated A and above (including PSUs), so residual stress should be 15-30 percent of power loans (1-2 percent of total loans).

We have built a large portion of such loans slipping into NPLs over FY19-20; provision against such loans will keep credit costs elevated. Banks indicate that of total power exposure that may be covered by this circular, they are close to resolving 20 percent of total (mostly though asset sale to new buyers), but the rest might head to insolvency proceedings, said the CLSA report.

Among corporate lenders, the global investment bank continues to prefer ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and SBI which have recognised most of their stressed exposure as NPLs.Prabhudas Lilladher

The blase attitude being displayed by a section of the market may well turn out to be the perfect calm before the storm unless the Supreme Court grants a stay on the February 12 circular of the Reserve Bank of India as requested by Independent Power Producers Association of India (IPPAI).

If granted a stay, it will only help in kicking the can to the future. Is the market displaying a false sense of comfort in so far as the corporate-focused banks provisioning requirements for these approximately Rs 3.6 lakh crore of stressed assets are concerned?

Rs 1.77 lakh crore are stressed power sector assets. With no or partial fuel supply agreements and/or power purchase agreements and many plants in various stages of completion will the loss-to-default ratio not range between 50 to 70%? Against this, how much have the banks provided for?

Some media reports suggest that Rs 70,000 crore out of these are close to resolution. State Bank of India Chairman Rajnish Kumar said publicly that Rs 17,000 crore of power assets where the bank is a lender are close to resolution.

Let us assume that the rest (Rs 53,000 crore) could be assets held by other banks. How much is the provisioning level on the remaining Rs 100,000 crore of assets which are not close to resolution?

The additional around Rs 1.8 lakh crore of non-power assets belong to sectors such as engineering, production and construction; defence, telecom etc. Many defaulting EPC entities by the very nature of their business would entail a massive loss-to-default ratio of around 70 to 90 percent.

Similarly, a massive rise in competitive intensity has taken its toll on smaller telecom players with the Big 3 mortally wounding them.

Lastly, not much progress has happened as far as private sector participation in defence contracts is concerned. This is putting immense stress on those private sector players that had invested aggressively in building up capacities in the hope of garnering large defence contracts.

Unless the banking sector acknowledges the enormity of the issue at hand and starts making realistic provisioning, the unease on the sanctity of the book value will continue to haunt various stakeholders

The author is CEO & Chief Portfolio Manager - PMS at Prabhudas Lilladher Private Limited. The views and investment tips expressed by investment expert on Moneycontrol are his own and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.live bse live

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Riding on positive momentum in the past few sessions, shares of Reliance Industries clocked a new milestone, hitting Rs 1,300 apiece on Tuesday. The index heavyweight has seen a smashing run in 2018, rising over 40 percent on a year to date basis.

The stock on Monday had risen a percent on the back of good revenue market share (RMS) data for June quarter, which showed Jio replacing Vodafone India to become the second-largest telco by RMS.

The companys revenue market share (RMS) rose to 22.4 percent for the June quarter, the publication reported, citing data from the telecom regulator.

Meanwhile, Vodafone Indias RMS fell to 19.3%, while Idea Cellulars share, too, shrank to 15.4%. Bharti Airtels RMS is currently the leader, with RMS of 31.7%.

Most recently, the market capitalisation of Reliance Industries touched Rs 8 lakh crore on the BSE as well.

The huge upmove in the stock has been visible especially after the company laid out big plans at its annual general meeting (AGM), including the launch of its fibre-to-the-home service, GigaFiber.

The stock surpassed m-cap of Rs 7 lakh crore on July 13, 2018. The company on July 12 crossed the $100-billion market capitalisation mark for the first time in the last 10 years. IT bellwether Tata Consultancy Services' market valuation had in May surged past Rs 7 lakh crore.

It also had a good streak of results as the Mukesh Ambani-owned company started the financial year 2018-19 with first quarter consolidated profit at Rs 9,485 crore, which grew by 0.3 percent compared to Rs 9,459 crore in the previous quarter. The year-on-year bottomline growth was 4.5 percent.

Consolidated revenue during the quarter increased 10.1 percent sequentially (up 42 percent YoY) to Rs 1.29 lakh crore. The growth was primarily on account of higher realisations of refining and petrochemical products led by 49 percent YoY increase in Brent oil price.

RIL has completed USD 18 billion investment in petrochemicals expansion and petcoke gasification plant which has already yielding result in terms of strong volume growth and margin expansion. Once petcoke gasification plant would ramp-up fully (expected by end FY19), we may see USD 2/bbl of GRM expansion," Sudeep Anand, Head - Institutional Equity Research at IDBI Capital had told Moneycontrol.

"Overall, its petrochemicals profit is likely to touch to Rs 29,300 crore in FY20 compared to Rs 13,000 crore in FY17 We expect gross refining margin would remain strong in medium to long term. Further, strong growth in its retail business profits is likely to be maintained on higher consumption growth in India. Also, on Jio side, the companys strong net subscriber addition and entry to Enterprise and Fiber-to-Home business would augment its profitability, he added.

The stock has gained 15 percent in the past one month, while in the past three days, it rose 2 percent. At 09:48 hrs Reliance Industries was quoting at Rs 1,297.10, up Rs 5.50, or 0.43 percent, on the BSE. It touched a 52-week high of Rs 1,304.30.

Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.The company posts yet another loss in Q1 of FY19 due to high fuel prices and announces measures to cut costs by Rs 2,000 crore over two years. (Image: Reuters)

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Shishir Asthana

In a proud moment for the Indian aviation industry, a blend of biofuel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) was used to propel a SpiceJet Bombardier Q-400 flight between Dehradun and Delhi.

SpiceJets Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh said the 43-minute flight was a technological demonstration that bio jet fuel could be used in flights, and claimed that biofuel had the potential to reduce fuel costs by 15-20 percent.

While there is reason to be proud, its too early to celebrate, and heres why.

Production of the fuel is still in the development stages. The 430 litres of HEFA (hydro processed ester and fatty acid) biofuel took four days to produce. But even this achievement took place after eight years of effort by Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Dehradun along with Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP). Its not clear if oil refineries will be queuing up to buy the technology from IIP.

Jatropha seed, from which the biofuel was made for testing, was in the news nearly a decade back. Biodiesel from jatropha was supposed to be Indias reply to the Arab worlds crude oil production. This prompted a number of smaller companies venturing into the space. However, even after a decade, we have only six plants and their operation level is less than 30 percent. Reports say that research trials have failed to build a commercially viable biodiesel industry around jatropha.

In fact, jatropha oil is costlier than other biofuel oils. While oil from jatropha is around Rs 43-48 per litre, depending on the seed quality, that from karanj and ingudi fruits costs Rs 35 per litre. Further, when compared aviation turbine fuel (ATF), jatropha fuel will only be cheaper when crude oil price crosses around $60 a barrel. For most of 2017, with oil at $55-60, ATF was available between Rs 45-55 per litre. At these levels, it would not make much sense to use biofuel. In fact, the difference is even more stark because the ATF price includes taxes and biofuel is exempt.

As Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said, inedible oil seeds like jatropha have low per-acre productivity. Efforts by various state governments to make farmers grow jatropha have not yielded results. The long gestation period and availability of alternatives have prevented farmers from growing this plant, which can give fruits for 30 years.

Though jatropha can grow in dry areas and needs little maintenance, its low yield is a big dampener. Further, a sizeable quantity of seeds can be collected only after the fifth year. Few farmers will have spare land to grow a crop and wait for five years before making money.

As IIP official Anjan Ray said on the sidelines of the first flight, nearly 70 percent of the cost of the biofuel is the feed cost.

Thus, a policy similar to sugarcane, where concentrated growing by a group of farmers with a refinery close by to extract and refine oil will be needed. This is easier said than done, given the time it takes for the government to come out with policies and farmers to adopt it.

The government had planned to make jatropha fuel available across the country by 2017, but had to drop the idea by 2013 as the plant was found to be farmer-unfriendly. Limited use of jatropha seeds, unlike sugarcane, results in few takers.

While the first flight may be successful, it might well be some time before the second one takes off.live bse live

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The Reserve Bank today cancelled the licence of Tech Mahindra Limited to issue pre-paid cards following the voluntary surrender of authorisation by the Noida-based company. The certificate of authorisation (COA) was issued in November 2013, the Reserve Bank said in a statement.

"The RBI, in exercise of the powers conferred on it under Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, has cancelled the COA of (Tech Mahindra Limited, Noida) Payment System Operator (PSO) on account of voluntary surrender of authorisation by the company," it said.

Following the cancellation of the COA, the company cannot transact the business of pre-paid card issuance.

However, customers or merchants having a valid claim, if any, on Tech Mahindra, Noida as a PSO, can approach the company for settlement of their respective claims within two years from the date of this cancellation (upto August 27, 2020).The Indian passport ranked at the 84th spot among the worlds most powerful passports list, which is a drop by 2 places as it ranked 82nd in 2019. The country is tagged along with Mauritania and Tajikistan providing visa-free access to 58 destinations. (Image: Reuters)

Green activists and conservationists have demanded heritage city status for Agra in Uttar Pradesh, even as efforts are on to transform it into a smart city. With three world heritage monuments, the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri, two under consideration, Sikandra and Itmad-ud-daula, and dozens of other historical structures, Agra is "highly qualified" to be designated as a heritage city, say conservationists.

Sikandra is the mausoleum of Akbar. It has a perfect blending of Hindu, Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, Jain themes.

Itmad-ud-daula, the first tomb to be built in white marble, marks the departure from the red sandstone buildings of Mughal architecture, according to the official website of Agra city.

Another unique addition to Agra's rich cultural heritage is Soami Bagh, set to open on August 31 after 114 years of construction work.

Many consider Soami Bagh, samadhi of the founder of the Radhasoami faith, as an architectural rival to the Taj Mahal because of its intricate inlay work and carvings.

The samadhi, with gothic-style pillars flanking the sides, harmoniously synthesises several architectural styles. The 193-feet-tall structure of white marble rests on a foundation of 52 wells, while the gold-plated pinnacle (kalash) weighs 5.5 tons.

Surendra Sharma, president of Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society, an NGO, says "Agra deserves the heritage city tag, to protect its identity. The haphazard urban growth is a huge threat to historical monuments. Encroachment around monuments and mushroom growth of colonies should be discouraged."

The Supreme Court is monitoring urban developments in Agra and the working of Taj Trapezium Zone Authority, after reports suggested pollution levels in Agra and neighbourhood had increased alarmingly and could threaten the Taj Mahal.

M C Mehta, in a PIL before the Supreme Court, has raised many issues of concern, which has led the apex court to call for a "vision document" on TTZ.

This document, prepared by Delhi's School of Planning And Architecture, will be presented in the apex court this week.

Activists in Agra have drawn up an alternative vision document, which calls for heritage status for the city.

Government agencies, including Uttar Pradesh Tourism, are in favour of heritage city status, but developers and colonisers are opposing the move, fearing that the status would halt construction activities.

Agra was selected to be developed into a smart city in September 2016.Tata Steel

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Substantial debt on the balance sheet is likely to have an adverse impact on Tata Steel's ability to raise finance at competitive rates, the steel major said in its report.

This comes against the backdrop of Tata Steel earlier stating that it will raise Rs 16,500 crore through debt instruments to fund Rs 32,500 crore acquisition of Bhushan Steel Ltd (BSL).

"Substantial amount of debt on the balance sheet may have an adverse impact on the company's ability to raise finance at competitive rates," Tata Steel said in its Annual Report 2017-18.

Changes in assumptions underlying the carrying value of certain assets may result in the impairment of such assets, the company said.

On the financial risks facing Tata Steel, it said, fluctuation in foreign exchange rates due to volatility in financial markets is likely to impact the company's debt servicing and create uncertainties in accessing the financial markets.

It further said mitigation strategies for the financial risks would be "maximising operational cashflow", "terming out debt and refinancing debt with favourable covenants," and "appropriate foreign exchange hedging policies", among others.

On the operational risks facing the company, Tata Steel said the steel industry was prone to high proportion of fixed costs and volatility in the prices of raw materials and energy and added that the limitations or disruptions in the supply of raw materials could adversely affect the company's profitability.

The report further said any labour dispute or social unrest in regions where the company operates may adversely affect its operations and financial condition.

Tata Steel and Thyssenkrupp had earlier signed a definitive agreement to combine European steel business. The merger would create an entity that would be the continent's second largest steel company after ArcelorMittal.

Tata Steel had earlier won the bid to acquire debt-laden BSL in an insolvency auction. The bankrupt firm was among the 12 stressed assets the RBI had referred for NCLT proceedings last year.

Tata Steel's gross debt in 2017-18 stood at Rs 28,126 crore, the report said.live bse live

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In a move to recover the gains made from alleged illegal mining, the Goa's directorate of mines and geology has issued a Rs 97.48-crore demand notice to Vedanta towards non-payment of royalty for the financial years 2011 to 2013.

The company is alleged to have illegally mined iron ore to the tune of 20,76,746 tonne during this period, according to the directorate of mines and geology (DMG).

The notice, issued today by the DMG, Prasanna Acharya, directs Vedanta to pay the principal royalty amount of Rs 54.48 crore within 14 days and the interest of Rs 43.03 crore in the next seven days. The total adds up to Rs 97.48 crore.

A query sent to the Vedanta spokeman seeking comments was yet to be responded.

Goa had appointed a team of chartered accountants to go into the details of royalty evasion by various miners after being pointed out by MB Shah committee report, which was submitted to the Supreme Court in 2012, claimed that the state saw illegal mining to the tune of Rs 35,000 crore.

The notice mentions that "mere collection of dues will not absolve the company from any civil or criminal action."

The royalty evasion has been pointed out to total nine iron ore leases of Vedanta in the tiny tourist state.

"The audit report prepared by the chartered accountants was summarised by the mining audit committee, which has made several observations, including payment of royalty by you on dry metric tonne basis instead of the wet metric tonne basis in respect of the above-mentioned leases," the notice, copy of which is with PTI, reads.

"And as such the differential quantity of 20,76,746 on wet metric tonne on conversion of dry metric tonne to wet metric tonne remains without payment of royalty," it adds.

"Therefore, royalty becomes payable for ore extracted and dispatched by you for the financial years 2011 to 2013. The principal royalty amount to Rs 54,48,03,948 and the interest is Rs 43,00,30,642," the notice mentions.

The DMG had first issued a show cause notice to Vedanta on August 4, 2016 and was subsequently granted personal hearing in the matter.

"The DMG notice further said the state has rejected your contention justifying payment of royalty on dry metric tonne basis. Therefore, you are liable to pay the principal amount of Rs 54,48,03,948, which is the difference of royalty arrived at by the mining audit committee on the quantity of 20,76,746 metric tonne along with interest at 24 per cent which adds up to Rs 43,00,30,642," the notice says.A Jet Airways passenger plane takes off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad

Cash-strapped Jet Airways, which today reported a whopping Rs 1,323 crore of net losses for the June quarter due to higher fuel cost, falling rupee and low fares, said it will monetise loyalty programme JetPrivilege and wet-lease some of its small aircraft to mobilise urgent working capital.

This is the second straight quarter of losses for the Naresh Goyal-run airline, which had last month publicly admitted to cash-flow issues. The airline had had booked net profit of Rs 53.50 crore in the year-ago period, while in the March quarter it had reported net losses of Rs 1,036 crore.

The airline said it fuel cost soared 53 percent to Rs 2,332 crore in the quarter, while low fares had revenue inching up to Rs 6,066 crore from Rs 5,953 crore.

On a consolidated basis, the net loss stood at Rs 1,326 crore, against a net profit of Rs 58 crore a year ago.

The second back-to-back quarterly loss forced Jet Airways, which delayed the result announcement on August 9 indefinitely, to announce a turnaround plan which, according to chairman Goyal, includes a capital infusion by selling a stake in JetPrivilege, and a massive cost cutting to save around Rs 2,000-crore over the next two years.

"The board today considered two significant proposals: infusion of capital and monetisation of the airlines' stake in the loyalty programme," Goyal said.

It can be noted that the airline owns 49.9 percent in JetPrivilege and the rest is with its equity partner Etihad, which owns 24 percent stake in the airline.

Goyal expressed the hope that these two measures "bode well for the long-term financial health and sustainability of the airline."

Cost cutting covers various areas of operations such as maintenance, sales and distribution costs, fuel bill, reducing debt to save on interest and enhancing manpower productivity with special focus on the crew, the airline said.

The board also approved the management plan to wet- lease some of its ATRs which are currently deployed on short- haul routes.

The airline was earlier scheduled to announce the June quarter numbers on August 9. But after the AGM and the board meeting, the airline informed that exchanges that the board did not consider the accounts as the company's audit committee was headless.

"The management wanted more time to look at the accounts and the board agreed to that" the airline told the exchanges, resulting in a slew of regulatory queries.

Reportedly private equity firm TPG Capital is looking to snap up a stake in JetPrivilege, and the airline has reportedly appointed Morgan Stanley to advise it on the deal.

Blaming the massive spike in operational cost to spiraling ATF prices, which jumped 53 percent in the quarter, the airline noted that crude rose more than 36 percent during the reporting period, On top of it is the continuing depreciation of the rupee, which during the quarter lost around 6 percent.

"This has resulted in a mismatch between high fuel prices and low fares, which primarily undermined our performance in the quarter," the airline said.

"We are implementing a host of measures to reduce cost and grow revenue, while retaining our focus on our guests, which will help in addressing the challenges faced by us. In fact, several such transformation initiatives have already started to deliver positive results," chief executive Vinay Dube said, adding the induction of fuel-efficient B737 Max will help us achieve the stated 8-10 percent growth plan.

The airline plans to deliver 3-4 percent growth in revenue per available seat-kilometer through tactical and strategic initiatives around network, pricing, inventory management and sales, he said.

Besides, the capital infusion and debt reduction is expected to result in significant lowering of interest cost, the airline said, adding it will wet lease excess ATR aircraft, which will result in further improvements to the bottom line.

Significantly, the airline is in talks with TruJet to wet lease up to seven of its 18 ATRs.

A wet-lease is an arrangement under which one airline provides an aircraft, its complete crew, maintenance and insurance.

The airline during the quarter flew four percent more passengers to 7.38 million over the year-ago period besides registering a 9.4 percent growth in available seat kilometers over the past 12 months period. It also saw a 7.6 increase in revenue passenger kilometres during the quarter.

After losing more than three-fourths of its value since July first week when Jet Airways had admitted to having flow issues, the airline counter today rose 2.16 percent at Rs 281.80 on the BSE on a day when the benchmark Sensex soared 1.16 percent.Ramdas Athawale

Union Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale opposed the Sanatan Sanstha's demand to remove the word "secular" from the Constitution.

The Dalit leader also said he was opposed to the concept of a Hindu nation.

Earlier in the day, Sanstha spokesperson Chetan Rajhans said the Hindutva outfit wanted the term "secular" to be dropped from the Constitution, as it is "very vague and has no specific definition or meaning".

Athawale said the word secular has kept the country integrated.

"Notwithstanding anybody's demand, the word will remain in the Constitution forever," he told reporters.

Athawale, who heads RPI (A), demanded a proper probe as the "Sanstha is facing serious allegations".

However, he did not speak about the charges against the Sanstha.

The minister said the ban on the Goa-based Sanstha, as demanded by the Congress and other parties, would be of little use.

"Thoughts of a person cannot be stopped by killing him. No one should endorse violence. But those involved in violence should face stern action," he said.

Athawale said the Narendra Modi government is a secular dispensation.

"The 'Sab ka sath, sab ka vikas' motto of the BJP is a secular thought," he said.

Commenting on possibility of several opposition parties coming together against the BJP for the 2019 polls, Athawale said, "Even if the Opposition parties join hands, their unity will break over the issue of who would be prime minister. If the BJP, Shiv Sena and the RPI (A) contest 2019 elections jointly, we would win more than 42 seats of Lok Sabha in Maharashtra alone (out of 48)".The foreign secretaries of the BIMSTEC member states today reviewed the progress achieved so far in the areas of cooperation and provided guidance to the future works of the regional grouping.

During the 19th Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) of the BIMSTEC held here, the foreign secretaries discussed as to how cooperation between the member states could be made more effective and business-like, Nepal Foreign Ministry spokesperson Bharat Raj Paudyal said.

He said the officials considered a number of reports of various mechanisms related to customs cooperation, connectivity, technology, counter terrorism and transnational crimes, agriculture, poverty alleviation and public health.

Several measures, including exploring the possibility of establishing BIMSTEC development fund, rationalisation of areas of cooperation and identification of core prioritised areas, were deliberated in the meeting, Paudyal said.

The meeting also recommended for a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of the BIMSTEC grid interconnections, which is expected to further cooperation in energy sector among the member states, he said.

The MoU will be signed during the two-day BIMSTEC summit which will commence on August 30 in Kathmandu, he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be among the leaders who will attend the 4th BIMSTEC Summit, whose theme is 'Towards a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable Bay of Bengal region'.

The BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) is a regional grouping comprising Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.

The grouping accounts for 22 percent of the global population, and has a combined gross domestic product of $2.8 trillion.

The first BIMSTEC summit was held in Thailand in 1997, second in 2008 in India and third in 2014 in Myanmar. Nepal has assumed the chairmanship of BIMSTEC since 2014.Launching a scathing attack on the BJP, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the saffron party of resorting to "politics of killing" in the state and using central agencies against opposition parties.

Referring to the recent panchayat polls in the state, the chief minister alleged that BJP members were working in connivance with goons who had earlier served the CPI(M).

"The BJP won just a few seats in erstwhile Maoist hotbed of Jangalmahal by resorting to politics of killing. The former CPI(M) goons are now working for them," she said at a rally here on the occasion of Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (students' wing) foundation day.

Talking about the National Register of Citizens (NRC) revision, Banerjee said her government will not allow the exercise under any circumstances.

"We will not allow NRC exercise in Bengal. They (BJP leaders) are challenging us. If we are challenged, we will give them a fitting reply," she said.

The chief minister also said that she would not "tolerate" if a citizen is wrongfully tagged a foreigner here. "We are Bengal tigers, we will not tolerate if an Indian citizen is dubbed a foreigner," she asserted.

The TMC supremo said she will fight tooth and nail to defeat the saffron party in 2019.

"Besides money and muscle power, the BJP is using central agencies against the opposition party leaders. Our motto will be to remove the party from power in 2019 Lok Sabha election," Banerjee added.Siddaramaiah

A Congress-JD(S) coordination committee meeting will be held here on August 31 amid demand by a section of Congressmen to make Siddaramaiah Chief Minister again, that has cast a shadow on the coalition government of the two parties.

This will be the third coordination committee meeting since the formation of the coalition government after the May assembly polls threw up a hung assembly. "The next coordination committee meeting will take place on August 31," JD(S) secretary general Danish Ali said.

The committee meeting is likely to be stormy as fissures between the coalition partners have started showing up months after the formation of the government.

The committee will deliberate on bringing out a booklet on the Common Minimum Programme of the coalition government, its implementation and discuss projects to be taken up, said a source in the Congress.

Besides, the recent turn of events may also be discussed in the light of former Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah's reported statement a few days ago that he wanted to become CM again.

As his statement raised a storm, Siddaramaiah clarified that he did not wish to assume charge now, but only after five years. Following the statement, clamour grew within the Congress to make Siddaramaiah the chief minister.

Yesterday, agriculture minister Shivashankar Reddy went to the extent of building pressure on the coordination committee to appoint Siddaramaiah as the chief minister. Siddaramaiah himself heads the committee.

However, Karnataka Pradesh Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao clarified today in Hassan that what Siddaramaiah meant to say was that he would become chief minister again if people blessed him one more time.

"His (Siddaramaiah's) statement was blown out of proportion and projected as if he wants to destabilise the government. He (Siddaramaiah) has already clarified that there is no question of unsettling the government," said Rao.

The state Congress president insisted that Congress has given in writing in the form of an agreement that the government will complete its five year tenure.

In addition to it, JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda has insisted that state president Adagur H Vishwanath be made a member in the coordination committee, said JD(S) sources.External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today held wide-ranging talks with her Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh and discussed steps to boost bilateral trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation.

Swaraj visited Vietnam on the first leg of her four-day two-nation tour aimed at deepening India's strategic cooperation with Vietnam and Cambodia, the key countries in the ASEAN region.

She was received by Minh at the government guest house of Vietnam, the official Twitter account of the Embassy of India in Vietnam said in a tweet.

"Deepening our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership! EAM SushmaSwaraj and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh led delegation level talks where trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation were discussed," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

Swaraj co-chaired the 16th meeting of the Joint Commission along with the Vietnamese foreign minister.

Earlier, addressing the 3rd Indian Ocean Conference here yesterday, Swaraj said India and Vietnam are connected not only by the common waters but also by a shared vision for peace and prosperity.

Hanoi is therefore a particularly appropriate setting to discuss developments in the Indian Ocean and the Indo-Pacific region, she said.

Swaraj said India and Vietnam have agreed to further strengthen cooperation in the maritime domain, including on anti-piracy, security of sea lanes and exchange of white shipping information.

"We also agreed on the importance of the early conclusion of an ASEAN-India Maritime Transport Cooperation Agreement. In this context, we intend to accelerate the establishment of direct shipping routes between the sea ports of India and Vietnam," she said.

Yesterday, Swaraj met Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Bangladeshi Planning Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal.External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj held talks with her Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh and discussed measures to strengthen trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation between the two countries.



Deepening our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership! EAM @SushmaSwaraj and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh led delegation level talks where trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation were discussed. pic.twitter.com/E21RWCp3fZ

 Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) August 28, 2018

Swaraj is in Vietnam on the first leg of her four day two nation tour which aims at deepening India's strategic cooperation with Vietnam and Cambodia the key countries in the ASEAN region.

Swaraj co-chaired the 16th meeting of the Joint Commission along with the Vietnamese foreign minister.

Earlier, addressing the 3rd Indian Ocean Conference here yesterday, Swaraj said India and Vietnam are connected not only by the common waters but also by a shared vision for peace and prosperity.

Hanoi is therefore a particularly appropriate setting to discuss developments in the Indian Ocean and the Indo-Pacific region, she said.

Swaraj said India and Vietnam have agreed to further strengthen cooperation in the maritime domain, including on anti-piracy, security of sea lanes and exchange of white shipping information.

"We also agreed on the importance of the early conclusion of an ASEAN-India Maritime Transport Cooperation Agreement. In this context, we intend to accelerate the establishment of direct shipping routes between the sea ports of India and Vietnam," she said.

Yesterday, Swaraj met Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Bangladeshi Planning Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal.

She also held talks with Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.The 1960 Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan has survived disputes between the two countries and provided a framework for resolving disagreements over water use, a top UN official has said.

UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, addressing the High-Level Panel on Water Diplomacy in Stockholm yesterday, said that water can represent a source of cooperation, shared growth and mutual support.

She, however, warned that getting caught up in water-war rhetoric will be a mistake for the international community.

"When we examine history, we see that cooperation over water can prevail over conflict over water. Through water diplomacy, sometimes known as hydrodiplomacy', neighbouring states can be reminded of the benefits of cooperating around water resources, she said, adding that water, if fairly shared, can become a confidence-building measure.

Such confidence-building measures are urgently needed in many of the current conflict areas, Mohammed said.

The 1960 Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan has survived disputes between the two countries, providing a framework for resolving disagreements over water use.

"In the Middle East, water use has been an area where cooperation has been possible between some countries. In Central Asia, the United Nations is collaborating closely with the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea, she said.

Mohammed said that by 2050, the world population is projected to rise to 9 billion, who will be sharing a finite resource  water.

One third of the world's population already lives in countries with water stress. As the impacts of climate change grows, so too will the prospects of further stress, she said.

She stressed that water security encapsulates complex and interconnected challenges and highlights water's centrality for achieving a larger sense of security, sustainability, development and human well-being.

Many factors contribute to water security, ranging from biophysical to infrastructural, institutional, political, social and financial  many of which lie outside the water realm, the UN official added.

India and Pakistan, nuclear-armed arch rivals in south Asia, signed the Indus Waters Treaty in 1960 after nine years of negotiations, with the World Bank also being a signatory.

The Treaty sets out a mechanism for cooperation and information exchange between the two countries regarding their use of the rivers. However, there have been disagreements and differences between India and Pakistan over the treaty.MK Stalin, DMK president

MK Stalin has been appointed as the President of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) at the partys General Council meeting today.

The post of the President was held by Stalin's father, Karunanidhi, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 94.

Chants hailing Stalin as "Thalapathy" (Commander) rented the Kalaignar Arangam where the meeting was underway even as the General Council members cheered with loud applause.

DMK Principal Secretary Durai Murugan was elected Treasurer, succeeding Stalin, a post he vacated recently in view of his proposed elevation.

With M Karunanidhi's health failing, Stalin had been at the helm of the party's affairs since the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections in 2016, and was appointed as the working president of the party in 2017.

Stalin, who had filed his nomination papers on Sunday, was elevated to the post of party President uncontested. The 65-year-old is facing resistance from his estranged elder brother, MK Alagiri, who has warned him of consequences if Stalin does not readmit him to the party.

Alagiri, the elder son of Karunanidhi, was once seen as a party strongman. In 2009, he won the Lok Sabha elections from Madurai -- his stronghold -- and was even given the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers in the Manmohan Singh government.

Eventually, he was sidelined from the party and Stalin was announced as the political heir. Alagiri was expelled from the party in 2014.

Stalin was born to Karunanidhis second wife Dayalu as Ayyadurai; but was named Stalin as Karunanidhi was addressing a condolence meeting for Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

Stalin first campaigned for the DMK at the age of 14 years during the 1967 elections. During the Emergency, Stalin was arrested under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act, and had to take his final year BA exams in prison.

In 1977, Stalin was released from jail and testified against the excesses of the Emergency before an inquiry commission. In 1980, he formed the DMK youth wing, and in 1982 he became its secretary, a post that he held for more than four decades.

Stalin was appointed as the DMK treasurer in 2008, before being promoted to Deputy Chief Minister in 2009, when the DMK had formed the government in the state after defeating arch nemesis, Jayalalithaa's AIADMK.

Stalin will be only the second President of the DMK after his father Karunanidhi, who had kept the post for 49 years. Before that, the post was customarily left empty for the partys idol Periyar.While the gender wage gap has been narrowing, there is still a considerable wage gap between men and women doing the same work. However, in India, average wages increased more rapidly for women than for men between 1993-94 and 2011-12, thereby closing the gender gap, according a report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

A report in The Times of India said the wage gap is bridging not only at the average level but also across states, industries and occupations, as well as across the different quantiles of the wage distribution. The wage gap has narrowed from 48% in 1993-94 to 34% in 2011-12.

Yet the wage gap in India is very high by international standards. This gap can be observed among all types of workers  regular and casual, urban and rural. As a result, of all worker groups, the average daily wages of casual rural female workers are the lowest (Rs 104 per day).

While female workers are paid a lower wage rate than their male counterparts in each employment category (casual and regular/salaried) and location (urban and rural), the differences are smaller  on average  in urban than in rural areas.

Although the participation of women in regular/salaried employment has increased at a higher annual rate, casual wages have increased faster than those for regular workers over the past decade.

There remains a large gap between the wages of casual and regular workers. In 2011-12, the average wage paid for casual work was still only 36 percent of the compensation received by regular/salaried workers.Union Minister Nitin Gadkari

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has cancelled his proposed visit to the US, Israel and Canada next month in view of the BJP National Executive meeting and NITI Aayog Summit.

The Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways, Shipping and Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari has cancelled his proposed official visit to Israel, Canada and the US next month, the minister's office said today.

The visit has been cancelled in view of the forthcoming Mobility Summit by Niti Aayog and BJP National Executive Meeting. Both the events are scheduled in New Delhi on September 8 and 9, 2018.Emphasising the economic importance of the Indian Ocean, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said nurturing a climate of peace and stability in this region is an important priority for India's foreign policy.

Swaraj's comments assume significance in the wake of China increasing its footprints in the Indian Ocean, which figures prominently in President Xi Jinping's ambitious 'One Belt, One Road' initiative to build a new Silk Route.

India is opposed to the 'One Belt, One Road' initiative as it includes the China Pakistan-Economic Corridor (CPEC) which transverses through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

China has stepped up activities in the Indian Ocean where it is building ports and other infrastructure in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

"There can be no doubt that the Indian Ocean is at the centre of the emerging Age of Asia'...This region is host to the world's busiest waterways and three-quarters of that traffic is headed for destinations beyond our region," Swaraj said while addressing the Third Indian Ocean Conference here.

"As an important trade and energy waterway, carrying half the world's container shipment, one-third of its bulk cargo traffic and two thirds of oil shipments, the Indian Ocean clearly assumes importance well beyond its immediate shores and its littorals," she said.

"Nurturing a climate of peace and stability in this region is therefore an important priority for our foreign policy," Swaraj added.

Emphasising that India and Vietnam are connected not only by the common waters but also by a shared vision for peace and prosperity, she said, "Hanoi is therefore a particularly appropriate setting for us to discuss developments in the Indian Ocean and the Indo-Pacific region."

The Indian Ocean, which borders Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia, is home to major sea lanes and choke points that are crucial to global trade. Nearly 40 percent of the world's offshore petroleum is produced in the Indian Ocean, which also has rich mineral deposits and fisheries.

Swaraj said in an inter-dependent world characterised by enhanced economic and trade linkages, the importance of sustainable use of our ocean resources cannot be overstated.

"For us in India, the seas around us have nurtured our links of commerce and culture with our extended neighbourhood over millenia," she said.

Swaraj said though there is diversity within the region, the challenges within it are "quite similar".

"Our vision for the region is one of cooperation and collective action," she said.

"We cannot tap the bounty of the Indian Ocean without ensuring maritime peace and stability. Economic prosperity and maritime security go hand-in-hand," she said.

Swaraj said those who live in this region bear the primary responsibility for peace, stability and prosperity in the Indian Ocean.

She further said India sees Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as central to the regional maritime architecture.

Swaraj is in Vietnam on the first leg of her four-day two-nation tour which aims at deepening India's strategic cooperation with Vietnam and Cambodia -- the key countries in the ASEAN region.Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad

IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today asked Indian-origin IT entrepreneurs based in Silicon Valley, US, to mentor start-ups from India and sought their collaboration in new-age areas like artificial intelligence and data analytics.

During his visit to Silicon Valley, Prasad interacted with prominent achievers and entrepreneurs including Vinod Dham (Pentium chip fame) and Professor Thomas Kailath (Stanford University), an official release said.

At his interaction with entrepreneurs, Prasad "urged them to provide mentorship to the growing Indian start-ups of India from their vast experiences", the statement said.

"He also sought their active cooperation in the field of growing technologies such as artificial intelligence, data analytics and cyber security, and urged them to take India to a new level of growth by leveraging these technologies," it added.

India is among the fastest-growing electronics and digital markets in the world and a preferred destination for tech investment, given the large pool of skilled IT professionals.

In the last few years, India has also emerged as the third largest start-up ecosystem in the world after the US and the UK.Moneycontrol News

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the railway ministry and states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to construct the Indore-Manmad railway line reducing the distance between Mumbai/Pune and other major locations by about 171 kilometers.

The process of land acquisition has started and both the states have been very cooperative... Works for four bridges have been tendered... said Nitin Gadkari, union minister for shipping.

The 362 km line will pass through the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor's nodes - Igatpuri, Nashik and Sinnar; Pune and Khed; and Dhule and Nardana.

Instead of going via Gujarat, we will use central railway line to reach Manmad, Gadkari said adding, This will help us to develop backward areas of MP.

According to Centres estimates, the project will reduce the logistics cost between cargo centres located in northern India such as Lucknow, Agra, Gwalior and Kanpur belt as well as Indore Dhule Bhopal region and JNPT and Mumbai.

The net economic benefits would be around Rs 15,000 crore in first 10 years of operations It would include providing a shorter route for passengers and freight traffic across the region, said a statement issued by shipping ministry.

The project will be implemented under special purpose vehicle (SPV) model through Indian Port Rail Corporation Ltd (IPRCL).

The proposed SPV would be in the form of a joint venture company between ministry of shipping or its nominated PSUs/Entity including JNPT (which will be the main promoter), Government of Maharashtra or its nominated PSUs/Entity, Government of Madhya Pradesh or its nominated PSUs/Entity, and others, said the statement.

The Rs 8,574.79 crore project, of which Rs 6,825. 67 crore is construction cost, will be constructed in six years and will have 55 percent ownership of ministry of shipping (including JNPT) and 15 percent ownership of entities nominated by ministry of railways and state governments of Maharashtra and MP each. The project financing is a mix of equity and debt in 30:70 ratio.Infrastructure woes in civil, electrical and plumbing works at 54 state-run schools are threatening Aam Aadmi Party's school beautification initiative. Problems such as cracks in the walls and water seepage are worrying school authorities.

The Directorate of Education (DoE) highlighted in a co-ordination committee meeting in August that these schools showed signs of incomplete and deficient work. The heads of the 54 schools were also asked to submit details of the project. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had entrusted the responsibility of beautification of these schools to the Delhi Tourism and Transport Development Corporation (DTTDC).

The 13 District Deputy Director Education (DDEs) have informed that there are numerous deficiencies in civil, electrical, plumbing and renovation work done by the DTTDC in 54 pilot schools. In fact, big cracks have started appearing in some recently completed schools, according to the minutes of the meeting, as reported by The Financial Express.

The Delhi government had allotted a total of Rs 250 crore for the project. In 2015, many government schools in Delhi submitted proposals, on the basis of which these 54 schools were selected for the project. While PWD was tasked with modifying school infrastructure, DTTDC was responsible for the renovation.

A school principal said, They took such a long time to build the schoolsafter they handed over the building to us, water started seeping in and cracks developed within months. The matter should be inquired by the government.

The DoE has said that once the schools submit their details, the matter will be taken up with the DTTDC so the problems can be corrected.External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today arrived on her first official visit to Cambodia, aiming to deepen India's strategic cooperation with one of the key ASEAN countries amidst China's rising influence in the region. Swaraj's arrived here from Vietnam on the concluding leg of her four-day two-nation tour.

She was received by Indian Ambassador to Cambodia, Manika Jain, and other senior officials at the Phnom Penh international airport, the Indian Embassy here tweeted.

During the two-day visit, Swaraj will hold extensive talks with her Cambodian counterpart Prak Sokhonn, covering the entire spectrum of the bilateral and regional issues of mutual interests.

She will call on Prime Minister Hun Sen and President of the Senate Say Chhum.

India's ties are on an upswing with Vietnam and Cambodia the two major countries in the powerful Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) grouping.

India and Cambodia have enjoyed friendly relations for a long time. Both the countries formally established diplomatic relations in 1952. In 2000, Cambodia vowed its full support for India to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Swaraj's visit to the two key ASEAN nations is seen as India's attempt to balance China's rising influence in the Southeast Asian region.Subramanian Swamy

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy landed himself in the middle of a controversy yet again; this time with his remarks on India invading the Maldives. He added fuel to fire on Tuesday when he reiterated his stance, saying invasion will be necessary in case the forthcoming presidential elections in the island nation are rigged.

Clarifying that these statements were strictly personal and not reflective of the government's stand, Swamy said, Indian citizens in the Maldives cannot be ill-treated. All kinds of ugly notices have been put up there, and if on top of that, they rig the elections, I think India has a responsibility to protect those citizens, for which an invasion is necessary.

India should invade the Maldives

A week ago, Swamy tweeted from his account, alleging gross rigging of the forthcoming elections in the Maldives. He said, In Colombo today, I had a chance to meet former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed. He is apprehensive of gross rigging in their forthcoming elections. India cannot allow that as a neighbour and also since current usurper President Yamin has humiliated Indians recently. We need an action plan. (sic)



Why is the present Govt of Maldives upset by my If then statement that if Maldives Sept 24th general election is rigged then India should invade that nation? Already Indians in that nation are fearing reprisals. We have to protect our citizens.

 Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) August 26, 2018

In another tweet, he added, India should invade the Maldives if rigging of election takes place."

Not just him, even the BJP government at the Centre faced a huge backlash for Swamys statement. The Ministry of External Affairs issued a clarification on Sunday, saying, The opinion expressed by Swamy in his tweet was personal and does not reflect the view of the government."

Even after the government distanced itself from the statement, the Indian High Commissioner to the Maldives, Akhilesh Mishra, was summoned by the island countrys government. Maldivian foreign minister Ahmed Sareer spoke to Mishra, conveying Males displeasure at Swamys comment. The government has also submitted a demarche to the Indian government, expressing shock at the statement.

Relations between India and the Maldives had soured after President Yameen imposed an Emergency and arrested judges of the Supreme Court. India had criticised the government after the move and urged it to restore the credibility of the electoral and political processes.The Congress is still working on its shortlist of candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Mizoram, in spite of a deadline of August 15 for the announcement, as per a report in Hindustan Times.

But the process is still moving faster than usual and will most likely be completed by the end of September for the polls that are scheduled in November and December, the report said.

The screening committees are yet to meet because the process of getting feedback from workers on the ground is taking longer than usual, the report added.

The committees had been formed in June to select the candidates.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the news.

Screening committees forward candidates names to the central election committee after recommendations from the state units.

The polls in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh will see a direct battle between the Congress and the BJP as all three states are BJP-ruled.

In Madhya Pradesh, shortlisting of candidates will begin only after September 4 and most candidates will be finalized by the end of the month, the publication said.

We have already visited Bhopal twice and held discussions with state leaders. We will clear majority of seats by September-end, Madhusudan Mistry, head of the Madhya Pradesh screening committee told the paper.

In Rajasthan, the screening committee will have a formal meeting for the first time on August 31 and September 1, a Rajasthan Congress office-bearer said.

The screening committee in Chhattisgarh is also expected to begin shortlisting candidates from September 15.Congress President Rahul Gandhi

Congress president Rahul Gandhi will visit Madhya Pradesh on September 17 to attend various programmes.

Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath gave this information to reporters at a press conference here today. "Rahul Gandhi will be on a day-long visit to MP on September 17. In Bhopal, he will address a meeting of state-level party leaders," Nath said.

"He will later visit a district, which is yet to be decided, to address a public meeting," the Congress leader added.

Nath, a former Union minister, said in the last week of September Gandhi would formally launch the party's campaign for this year's state Assembly polls, although the programme was yet to be finalised.

He said the party would bring out a 'vachan patra' (a note of promises) instead of the election manifesto.

"We will bring out a 'vachan patra', which is being finalised. We will give promises to the electorate instead of making any announcements," he said.

To a question on the party's distribution of tickets in the upcoming polls, Nath said, "Initially, our focus will be on 80 seats, where the party has not won for a long time. We are getting peoples' survey on these seats and expecting to finalise the names by September 10-12. We will also keep the caste equation in our mind before taking a final decision."

He added that the state party has no dearth of capable leaders.

On whether the Congress will form an alliance with any other party, Nath said, "The Congress is in discussion with the BSP. We have to see the record of each seat and this applies to other parties like the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP). Our common objective is to defeat the BJP.Representative image

In a boost for e-commerce companies which have drone delivery plans in the pipeline, the civil aviation regulatory authority, DGCA has released the set of requirement and procedures for operating such drones in India on Monday.

A company or individual willing to operate drones will have to obtain one operator permit from DGCA by paying a fee of Rs 25,000 and a unique identification number for the drone by paying a fee of Rs 1,000. The operating permit is valid for five years and it can be renewed by paying a fee of Rs 10,000.

In case of a company, it has to be registered in India and principally doing business in India or its chairman and at least two-thirds of its directors need to be citizens of India or the company must be controlled by Indians.

The permits can also be provided to Indian companies if they have leased the drones from a foreign manufacturer or corporation.

The regulations for operating nano (weighing less than 250 grams) or small (weighing more than 250 grams but less than 2 kg) drones are less stringent, provided they operate below 50 feet and 200 feet, respectively, in uncontrolled airspace.

A company or an individual does not require any kinds of permit or identification numbers for small or nano drones. Though the local police need to be informed 24 hours prior to the conduct of actual operations in case of small drones.

There are certain operating restrictions which every drone operator need to follow. No drones can be flown within 5 km of airports in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad and 3 km of any civil, private or defence airports.

Drones are also not allowed near any military instalments, within 5 km radius from Vijay Chowk in Delhi, within 3 km from the radius of State Secretariat Complex in State Capitals, among others. Moreover, drones cannot be flown after sunset and before sunrise.

In case of drones heavier than 2 kg, the operator needs to be trained and should have knowledge of Basic Radio Telephony, Flight Planning and ATC procedures, Basic Aviation Meteorology, among others.US_China_Trade_Trade war_Tariff

China is challenging the latest round of US tariffs against Chinese goods through the World Trade Organization.

The Chinese government formally requested "dispute consultations" with the United States over the Trump administration's imposition of $16 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods last week. China has responded with similar taxes on US goods.

Its request to the World Trade Organization opens a 60-day period for the two countries to hold talks.

China already is holding talks with the US about its previous tariffs on both Chinese steel and aluminum products and over alleged Chinese violations of US intellectual property protections.South Africa is all about living the good life. With scenic landscapes, majestic wildlife, thrilling safaris and vibrant culture, Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg make amazing gateway cities for travellers.

Its cities are abuzz with vibrant colours that can be expected from the Rainbow Nation. So whether you choose to fly into elegant Cape Town, Johannesburg or seaside Durban, each one offers an ideal gateway to explore the rest of the country.

South Africa is one of the best safari destinations on the continent, where wildlife lovers can drive into the wilderness at Kruger, Kgalagadi among other parks, or join khaki-clad rangers on guided drives and walks. Wildlife watching teaches people to love little joys in life, like watching a leopard tortoise ambling alongside the road side or an encounter with seals.

South Africa's dramatic landscapes is an array from the burning Karoo and Kalahari semi-deserts to the misty heights of the Drakensberg range. Continue your history lesson with a town visit to Soweto in Johannesburg or Langa in Cape Town, chatting with locals and learning that, despite the heart-wrenching past, there is great pride here and an immense sense of promise for the future.Heavy air strikes targeted the international airport in Yemen's rebel-held capital and an adjacent airbase, residents said, with rebels blaming the Saudi-led coalition fighting on the side of the government.

The raids began at around midnight and lasted half an hour, according to a resident in Sanaa, who reported more than a dozen strikes.

While the largely disused airport and the nearby Al-Dailami base are often targeted by coalition air strikes, the latest raids were particularly intense, residents said.

The Huthi rebels accused the coalition of conducting multiple overnight raids on the airport, which is closed except for occasional UN flights, via their Al Masirah TV.

They did not report any casualties.

The strikes came hours after the Huthis said they had targeted Dubai airport with a drone attack, which was denied by the United Arab Emirates, a leading member of the coalition.

Saudi Arabia and its allies have fought the Iran-backed Huthis since 2015 in an attempt to restore Yemen's internationally recognised government to power and push back the rebels.

The coalition has faced growing criticism over civilian casualties in a war that has left nearly 10,000 people dead and unleashed what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.Isaac Stone Fish, senior fellow at the Asia Society's Center on US-China Relations says that the meeting with Kim is a huge gamble for Trump. He also says that in the event of the meeting not going well, Trump could lose a lot of credibility. (Image Source: Reuters)

Japan said on Tuesday North Korea still posed a dire threat to its security despite a halt to ballistic missile tests and a pledge by leader Kim Jong Un to denuclearise the Korean peninsula.

"North Korea's military activities pose the most serious and pressing threat our nation has faced," said an annual white paper published by Japan's Ministry of Defence.

The document outlines security concerns about nuclear-armed North Korea, China's growing military might and territorial ambitions, and Russia's intent to rebuild its power that paint a picture of Japan surrounded by potential adversaries in East Asia.

The latest security assessment also comes after U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly cancelled a planned fourth trip by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Pyongyang this week as part of a fresh bid to push North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles following the unprecedented summit between Trump and Kim in Singapore in June.

Trump hailed his meeting with Kim as a success and agreed to halt joint military exercises with South Korea. The North Korean leader reiterated an earlier pledge to work towards removing nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula.

However, negotiations have since ground to a halt with Washington demanding tangible steps and Pyongyang asking for US concessions first.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said since the Singapore meeting that his country would not change its military stance towards its belligerent neighbour until it saw concrete, irreversible and verifiable steps towards disarmament.

"We need to keep a careful watch on North Korea to see what concrete action it takes to abandon its nuclear weapons and missiles," the Japanese defence paper said.

It noted that North Korea had conducted three nuclear tests and fired 40 ballistic missiles since the start of 2016, some of which have passed over Japan.

North Korea has derided Abe's government as a "cult" bent on derailing Pyongyang's diplomatic outreach in recent state media comments. State-run newspapers, which once slammed Trump, have recently switched to praising the US leader.

Japan said last month it planned to buy two Aegis Ashore air defence radar tracking stations from the United States to bolster its defence against North Korean missiles.

The equipment, which will be deployed along with interceptor missile batteries, could also be turned against any potential threat from China from 2023 onwards.

"As Chinese power grows, its military strength is rapidly burgeoning," the white paper said. Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the China content in the report was "extremely irresponsible".

China hopes that Japan is not looking for excuses to expand its own military, and should do more to increase mutual trust between the two countries and to protect regional peace and stability, Hua told a daily news briefing.North Korea still poses a "serious and imminent threat", Japan said in its first annual defence review since an outbreak of diplomacy on the Korean peninsula.

Japan's 2018 defence white paper also took aim at China's rise as a military power, saying Beijing was sparking "strong security concerns in the region and international community, including Japan".

Last year's defence review was published at the height of the tensions with North Korea, amid nuclear and missile tests and US President Donald Trump threatening to rain down "fire and fury" on Pyongyang if it kept up its threats.

But since then, a spectacular diplomatic detente has taken place, culminating in the historic summit between Trump and the North's leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12.

Nevertheless, Tokyo insisted today: "There is no change in our basic recognition concerning the threat of North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles."

Pyongyang continues to post "an unprecedentedly serious and imminent threat to Japan's security and significantly damage the peace and security of the region and the international community", according to Tokyo.

Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera acknowledged in the document that North Korea had begun "dialogue" with former foes the US and South Korea.

"But we cannot overlook the fact that, even to this day, it possesses and fully deploys several hundred missiles that put nearly all of Japan within range," stressed the minister.

In response, Japan is steadily upgrading its capacity to shield the nation from the North's arsenal, including a plan to spend some $4.2 billion over the next three decades on installing and operating US radar systems.

Despite the historic handshake in Singapore, there has been little progress in denuclearising the Korean peninsula and Washington-Pyongyang relations appear to have taken a turn for the worse, with Trump abruptly scrapping a planned visit to the North by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The white paper also reiterated its worries about China's increasing military spending and expanding naval ambitions.Moneycontrol News

Citing reasons of extremely non-professional and ill-mannered treatment by the new Minister for Railways, Shiekh Rasheed, a Pakistan railway official has applied for a full paid leave of 730 days. As per a report by The Times of India, Grade 20 officer Hanif Gul sent in his leave application, stating that it was not possible for him to work under the new minister.

The leave application has gone viral on social media. The letter read that as an honourable member of the Civil Services of Pakistan, it was not possible for Gul to work under the new minister and hence submitted the application requesting a full paid leave for 730 days. The letter further stated that the minister was fully entitled to work with those who shared his vision.

Rasheed had previously criticised former Railway Minister Saad Rafique for his performance and had recently chaired a meeting where he was claimed to reprimand railway officials for telling stories about the Railway Departments performance and asked the officials not to praise any minister in front of him.



Senior Pakistan Railways official applies for 730 days leave - says cannot work with new railways minister saying he is "extremely non-professional and ill-mannered" pic.twitter.com/YqziNFmkir

 omar r quraishi (@omar_quraishi) August 26, 2018

The letter was shared by TV host and Interviewer Qmar Quraishi on Twitter.Russia's defence minister said that war torn Syria would be ready to accept one million returning refugees, following Moscow backed reconstruction work.

"Since 2015, when towns and villages gradually started to be freed, more than one million people have returned home," Sergei Shoigu said in comments reported by Russian news agencies.

"Now every opportunity has been created for the return of roughly one million (more) refugees," he told journalists.

"Huge infrastructure reconstruction work is ongoing, the rebuilding of transport routes and security points so that Syria can begin accepting refugees." Russia, a long-time ally of Syria, launched a military intervention in 2015 to support the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad, a move that changed the course of the war.

Assad and his allies have since recovered swathes of territory and the government is turning its attention to post-conflict reconstruction, with the aid of Moscow.

The war that erupted in 2011, one of the most devastating conflicts since World War II, has displaced more than half of Syria's population, including more than five million beyond its borders.

Most of them fled to neighbouring countries, particularly Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump discussed the return of refugees at a summit in Helsinki last month.

Moscow later said it had put forward plans to Washington to cooperate on their return to Syria but details have yet to be confirmed.The major indices of the Indian stock markets opened up positively on Tuesday over previous days close and remained range bound. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), there were 716 advances, 1028 declines and 329 unchanged.

The trends of the major indices during Tuesdays trading are given in the table below:

Both the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty50 touched their respective record intra-day highs of 38,938.91 points and 11,760.20 points, before ending Tuesday's trade at record closing levels.

Market observers credited the easing of global trade tensions and healthy buying in metal, auto and IT stocks as factors, which pushed the key indices higher.

ITI Ltd says it has received a letter of intent (LoI) valued at Rs2,658 crore for the selection as the Project Implementation Agency (PIA) for MahaNet-I (BharatNet Phase II) in Maharashtra for two packages, A and C, issued by Maharashtra Information Technology Corporation Ltd.

Pharmaceutical company Lupin said it received final approval for its Gabapentin Tablets from the US FDA to market a generic version of Pfizer Inc's Neurontin tablets. The drug is use in the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia.

Automobile company Escorts has signed a joint venture agreement with Japan's Tadano Group for making higher capacity mobile cranes in India. Escorts will hold 49% in the new JV having a combined initial total investment of Rs60 crore. The JV will make rough terrain and truck cranes ranging from 20 to 80 tonnes.

As per the fourth advanced estimates issued by the Agriculture Ministry on Tuesday, food grain production in the country in 2017-18 crop year will be a record 284.83 million tonnes.

The top gainers during the day's trade were Vedanta, Adani Ports, Reliance Industries, Maruti Suzuki and Axis Bank. On the other hand, the major losers were Yes Bank, State Bank of India, Hindustan Unilever, ONGC and Tata Motors (DVR).

Top gainers and top losers of the major indices are given in the table below:

The closing values of the major Asian indices are given in the table below:Cutting out intermediaries is common practice in this highly digitized epoch, and mortgage brokers are susceptible to becoming casualties in as little as a decade.

Banks have mortgage apps available to borrowers, but theyre just one of the ways in which brokers are being undermined. Another way, according to Butler Mortgages founder, is through call centres.

Banks have large commission sales forces that work independently of mortgage brokers, said Ron Butler. In the case of RBC, CIBC and TD, theyre wildly successful, powerful entities in this marketplace. Would banks prefer to turn that sales force into a call centre? Of course they would; its greater quality control because its all under one roof and you record the conversations. Its cheaper to do, too. At the end of the day, theres a reason why, if you want to talk to someone about your credit card, you dont go to a branch, you use a call centre. Its more convenient, and as time goes on people will demand convenience.Expedias HomeAway also filed a similar lawsuit, alleging the law violates privacy laws.

The recently passed legislation, which takes effect in the winter, allows the policing of short-term home rentals. Passed with a vote of 45-0, the law requires Airbnb and similar business to share host data, such as names and addresses, with New York Citys Office of Special Enforcement.

The regulation comes as New York continues to struggle with an affordable housing shortage. According to regulators, while short-term home rentals can be more profitable than long-term leases, they disrupt neighborhoods and drive up rents.

This law provides the city with the critical data it needs to preserve our housing stock, keep visitors safe, and ensure residents feel secure in their homes and neighborhoods, Christian Klossner, executive director for the mayors special enforcement office, told Bloomberg in an emailed statement. The city will defend it.

With New York as one of the biggest markets for Airbnb, sources close to the company said the law could be devastating. While other cities may follow in New Yorks footsteps, Airbnb said it is successfully partnering with officials in France, Australia, China, and India.Bond has been set at $3 million for a Midland man who was arrested Aug. 26 on three murder charges.

Barry Ray Eddleman, 54, was being held Tuesday on three counts of murder, a first-degree felony.

The Midland County District Attorneys Office obtained creditable information on Aug. 24 concerning a murder for hire, according to his arrest affidavit.

A criminal investigator for the DAs office learned that Eddleman hired an individual named John Doe 1 to murder John Smith and Jane Smith, who are believed to reside in the Dallas-area, according to the affidavit.

The names of the victims were filed under a pseudonym to protect their identities, according to the affidavit.

With the help of other Texas law enforcement agencies, authorities made contact with Eddleman.

In a conversation that was recorded, Eddleman advised that three people were to be taken care of and if possible for it to look like suicide, according to the affidavit.

Eddleman said he wanted Mr. and Mrs. Smith murdered because of legal and financial disputes, according to the affidavit. He offered $8,000 to have the three people taken care of, according to the affidavit.

Addresses for all three people were provided in writing by Eddleman,according to the affidavit.

He made partial payment at the time of the meeting and agreed to pay the other half when the job was done, according to the affidavit.

Eddleman had previously hired John Doe to murder Mr. and Mrs. Smith for the sum of $12,000. John Doe didnt complete the job and took the money, according to the affidavit.

If convicted of the first-degree felony charges, Eddleman could face up to life imprisonment.The United States Coast Guard rescued 17 people from a sinking fishing boat near South Padre Island Friday afternoon.

Crews at Air Station Corpus Christi received a distress call from the captain of a 46-foot fishing boat named the Thunderbird, according to a news release from the Coast Guard.

The captain told them that the boat was taking on water and that the pumps couldn't keep up.

RELATED: SAPD: Woman's 'blood instantly ran cold' after seeing robbery suspect on the news

The Coast Guard sent an aircrew, as well as a 45-foot response boat to rescue the passengers.

All 17 passengers, who were wearing life jackets, were saved by Coast Guard crews, and no injuries were reported.

A Coast Guard engineer installed a new pump, making it safe for the Thunderbird to return to the Sea Ranch Marina.

The Coast Guard credited the boat's captain for his quick thinking.

"The captain of the Thunderbird's quick distress call to the Coast Guard and the passengers proactively donning lifejackets was very instrumental to the safety of all people on board," said Lt. J.G. Brandon Reed, command duty officer at Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi. "His preparedness definitely made a difference today."$99 Million Offered for Mexico's Presidential Plane

Mexico City - Mexico's leftist president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador wants to sell the jetliner that comes with the job, calling it 'a wasteful luxury,' and a businessman is ready to pay $99 million for the executive jet, according to local media reports.

Gustavo Jimenez Pons made the headlines after he landed at Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's office with an offer to buy the President's plane for $99 million. But despite the multi-million dollar offer for the 300-seat Boeing Dreamliner 787, Jimenez Pons had to get in line like everybody else.

Jimenez Pons wants to use the President's plane as a taxi, to the tune of $20,000 per hour. His idea, it was said, was to rent the aircraft out to "presidents of other countries who do not have private planes, or rock groups like the Rolling Stones."

The executive jetliner was purchased in 2016 by the outgoing president, Enrique Pena Nieto, who spruced it up with sophisticated communications gear and a special rest area for the president.

Local media reports, however, said that Pons' offer of $99 million for the 300-seater Boeing Dreamliner 787 would be a cut rate price. The plane is valued at $220 million, said reports.

Lopez Obrador, who won a landslide victory in elections in July and will take power on December 1st, has said he will never use the plane and wants to sell it, and will not use any private aircraft for that matter.

In Mexico, selling the plane is seen as a tall order, given the small market for people who want to buy a jetliner. Newspapers seemed to express surprise that Jimenez Pons, despite what he said he had in mind, had to wait in line with people seeking favors, jobs or money from Lopez Obrador.The bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Springfield has joined a growing number of other U.S. bishops who have issued statements in reaction to a Pennsylvania grand jury report and abuse claims against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

Explosive testimony from former apostolic nuncio Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano accuses several high-ranking church leaders of helping to cover up alleged sexual abuse by McCarrick. He also claims Pope Francis knew about sanctions against McCarrick by Pope Benedict XVI.

An apostolic nuncio is an ecclesiastic diplomat, similar to an ambassador.

In his 11-page letter first revealed by the National Catholic Register, Vigano said the pope did not take into account the sanctions that Pope Benedict had imposed on [McCarrick] and even elevated McCarricks position in the church until he resigned last month.

Corruption [has] reached the very top of the churchs hierarchy, Vigano said. Pope Francis must be the first to set a good example for cardinals and bishops who covered up McCarricks abuses and resign along with all of them.

In a statement Tuesday, Springfield Diocese Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki said Vigano has revealed a set of facts and circumstances that are deeply troubling as they relate to the awareness, actions, and inactions at the very highest levels of the church.

Vigano has called on Pope Francis to honestly state when he first learned about the crimes committed by McCarrick, who abused his authority with seminarians and priests. In any case, the pope learned about it from me on June 23, 2013, and continued to cover for him.

Pope Francis declined Sunday to confirm or deny the claims.

Read the statement carefully and make your own judgment, Pope Francis said. I will not say a single word on this.

Frankly, but with all due respect, that response is not adequate, Paprocki said. Given the gravity of the content and implications of the former nuncios statement, it is important for all the facts of this situation to be fully reviewed, vetted, and carefully considered. Toward that end, Pope Francis, Vatican officials and the current apostolic nuncio should make public the pertinent files indicating who knew what and when about  McCarrick and provide the accountability that the Holy Father has promised.

In this regard, I concur completely with the statement of Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, who [on Monday] reaffirmed the call for a prompt and thorough examination into how the grave moral failings of a brother bishop could have been tolerated for so long and proven no impediment to his advancement. The recent letter of Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano brings particular focus and urgency to this examination. The questions raised deserve answers that are conclusive and based on evidence.A Chicago Fire Department official says investigators are searching the porch where a deadly apartment fire started to see if the blaze could have been caused by fireworks, cigarettes or other smoking materials.

Larry Langford said Monday that investigators learned that children had set off fireworks on the porch in the past and that people had smoked cigarettes there.

The pre-dawn Sunday fire killed six children and two adults.

The citys Buildings Department said the apartment buildings owner is due in court in September after being cited for two electrical violations. But Langford said investigators have ruled out electrical problems as the cause of Sundays blaze.

A fire department official said two people who were injured in the fire remain in very critical condition.

Langford didnt have any details Monday about the two survivors of Sundays pre-dawn fire at an apartment on Chicagos southwest side, other than one is a 14-year-old boy and the other is in his 20s.

Langford said investigators dont believe the fire was deliberately set, but they still are trying to determine its cause.

Some of the six children were at the apartment for a sleepover. Langford said there was no working smoke detector that would have alerted to the victims to the fire and that, had there been even one, the victims easily could have escaped out the front of the building.Gov. Bruce Rauner is scheduled to sign a measure that would allow some of those suffering from chronic pain to receive medicinal marijuana as an alternative to opiates.

The measure would also remove the need for applicants to have to be fingerprinted and undergo background checks. Additionally, patients applying for a card would be granted temporary access to medicinal marijuana while they wait for approval.Gov. Bruce Rauner on Monday added Illinois to a growing number of states that permit growth of cannabis cultivated for non-drug uses such as paper- and fabric-making, biodegradable plastics, construction materials and health food.

In addition to signing the Industrial Hemp Act  Senate Bill 2298  the governor also approved House Bill 5749, easing weight-limit restrictions on state highways during harvest time.

Legalizing the farming of industrial hemp just makes good sense, Rauner said. Roughly 38 states  including our neighbors in Wisconsin, Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri and Tennessee  have allowed or are considering allowing cultivation of this crop for commercial, research or pilot programs. Our farmers should have this option as well. This new state licensure program begins that process.

The Illinois Farm Bureau has long supported the production of industrial hemp, according to Richard Guebert Jr., president of the farm bureau.

We are excited that Gov. Rauner is signing into law a bill that will bring a new sustainable agriculture industry and millions of dollars in investment and economic growth to Illinois, said Jen Walling, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council. Industrial hemp will bring new opportunities to Illinois farmers.

The Industrial Hemp Act, effective immediately, creates a state license program through the Department of Agriculture that enables those who want to grow the crop to do so. The state Department of Agriculture will establish rules for THC-level testing of industrial hemp crops.

HB 5749 allows haulers to seek and obtain annual permits from the Illinois Department of Transportation and local authorities to exceed gross axle and gross vehicle weight limits by no more than 10 percent. Permits are to cost $500 with a total combined permit fee of no more than $1,000. State permit fees will go to the State Construction Account Fund.

Neighboring states allow higher weight limits during harvest time without the requirement of having a harvest emergency declared, Rauner said. Illinois has an agriculture workforce that is second to none, and this legislation will help them to more efficiently get their crops to market.

Agriculture and trucking industry leaders will welcome the change, legislators said.

Local grain elevators will receive more business and farmers wont have to worry about losing their crops due to the unreasonable hauling limits that were in place before, said Rep. Phelps Finnie, D-Elizabethtown, chief sponsor of the bill in the House. This initiative was brought to me by farmers who were facing steep fines just for doing their jobs, and grain elevator operators who were losing business to our neighboring states that were less restrictive. This law will even the playing field so Illinois farmers can do their work to feed America with less government intrusion.The Levitt AMP Chattanooga Music Series is in full swing. The series features 10 weeks of free, live music on the lawn of the Bessie Smith Cultural Center, but due to upcoming increment weather on Thursday, headliner The Baylor Project will still go on inside within the Bessie Smith Performance Hall at 6 p.m.

Review for The Baylor Project:

The Baylor Project is an innovative collaboration merging the talents and creativity of this dynamic husband and wife duo, Marcus and Jean Baylor. As the children of pastors, Marcus and Jean's musical roots were planted deep within the church, and it was there that the road was paved for the influence of gospel, blues, soul, and jazz to make its mark. Their debut CD "The Journey", released on their own label, Be A Light, topped the Billboard Jazz Chart at Number 8 and a year later garnered two GRAMMY nominations for Best Jazz Vocal Album and Best Traditional R&B Performance, solidifying The Baylor Project as an undeniable force. As you listen to The Baylor Project, you will be taken on an eclectic musical journey that showcases as much versatility as it does virtuosity.

Jean, a Jersey Girl, was introduced to jazz in college as a vocal performance major at Temple University, where she was heavily influenced by artists such as Carmen McCrae, Jimmy Scott, and Shirley Horn. She subsequently made her mark as one-half of the platinum recording R&B/Soul duo, Zhane.

Zarcus, a St. Louis native, is widely recognized as the former member and drummer of the GRAMMY Award winning jazz quartet, Yellowjackets. While studying and graduating from The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, he performed and recorded with musical icons Cassandra Wilson, John Scofield, and Kenny Garrett. Since then, Marcus has come into his own as a composer, arranger, producer and bandleader. With his natural feel, creative use of space and innovative ability to tell a story, his musicianship and improvisation are those of a seasoned musician.

The opening act will be local performing artist, TruSaint. TruSaint aka Sharreif Horton is a Christian Hip Hop rapper whose purpose is to let people in the world know that the worst sinners can make the best saints through his unique lyrical prowess and hip hop beats.



This is the second year in a row that Chattanooga has been selected as one of 15 small to mid-sized towns and cities across the nation to win a Levitt AMP Grant Award of $25,000 in matching funds to present a free concert series by The Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation, a national funder of creative placemaking that empowers communities to inject new life into underused public spaces through free, outdoor concerts.

Presented by Jazzanooga, in partnership with the Urban League Chattanooga, Bessie Smith Cultural Center, Chattanooga Fun and city of Chattanooga  government, this years series will feature a lineup of talent spanning genres like Blues, New Orleans Bounce, Jazz and Afro-Latin. There will also be over 20 local vendors providing food, beverages and community informational resources.

The series is funded by the Levitt Foundation, Lyndhurst Foundation and Benwood Foundation along with the 2018 Community Corporate Sponsor, Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union.

The free concert series will be held Thursday nights on the lawn of the Bessie Smith Cultural Center from Aug. 23-Oct. 25 from 6-8:30 p.m.

See the full lineup here





We feel intimidated and compelled to ...The new Summerville Snack Shack was an earlier Measure H project View Photos

Tuolumne, CA  Summerville High School is hoping to request bids this fall for a couple of construction projects that will be funded by the $8-million Measure H bond that was approved by voters in 2012.

Around $4-million of the money was spent in 2014 to renovate Thorsted stadium. The extensive overhaul project included putting in a new track, field, snack shack and bleachers. Later around $300,000 was spent installing an Americans with Disabilities Act required path that stretches from the field to the administration building on campus.

New Summerville High superintendent Mike Merrill reports that the final two projects, a new art building and an outdoor eating structure, were held up for a lengthy period of time by the DSA (California Division of the State Architect). Just recently the district was made aware that the projects can proceed. He notes, At this time we are looking to work with bond counsel, to get all of our front end documents organized, so that we can put together all of the bid specifications, and go out to bid for these projects. The hope is that somewhere between the end of September and early October we can get all of that taken care, be out to bid, choose who our general contractor will be, and start moving on these projects.

The art building project includes removing the existing art facility on campus and replacing it with one that it is updated and a little bit larger. Merrill describes the size of the existing building as being like that of a portable or modular structure. The outdoor covered eating area will be adjacent to the existing cafeteria and will not require removing any existing structures.

Measure H was approved at the same time as Sonora High Schools $24-million Measure J Bond. We reported earlier this month on Sonoras final oversight committee report looking at the various projects and where the money was spent. Summerville does not have a similar report yet as the projects are still ongoing.Governor Jerry Brown signs SB 10 eliminating bail in the state View Photos

Sacramento, CA  With the signing of SB 10 into law by Governor Jerry Brown today, the state is the first in the country to eliminate the bail process and replace it with a risk based system.

Today, California reforms its bail system so that rich and poor alike are treated fairly, stressed Governor Brown.

Browns signature allows the states Judicial Council board, which creates rules and procedures across the state, the authority to reshape pretrial detention policies. In turn, each county will use the councils outline as a basis to set its own procedures for requirements to release a suspect before trial. That could potentially create a patchwork system based on where a suspect lives.

Authors of the bill, Senator Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) and Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland), acknowledge that it is a work in progress. Key provisions under the new law require most suspects arrested for nonviolent misdemeanors will be released within 12 hours of being booked. Those not eligible for pretrial release will be offenders facing serious violent felonies. Additionally, officials have 24 hours to determine whether other suspects should be released before trial, which can also be extended by 12 hours if necessary.

Supporters of the legislation include the Judicial Council, which is headed by the state Supreme Courts chief justice. There is concern voiced by some criminal justice reform advocates that worry defendants will spend weeks in jail while their lawyers try to prove they deserve to be set free. Opponents arguments range from fear that the legislation gives judges too much power to worry that dangerous suspects will walk out the door never to return for trial.

New Jersey and New Mexico have overhauled their bail systems as well, although neither state has completely eliminated the money aspect. Californias new law will take effect in October 2019.This has been a whirlwind summer! It seems like just yesterday the kids were celebrating the last day of school, and today school is back in session! No, I'm not a school teacher, but I certainly admire and appreciate those people. And no, I don't have kids in school, but I do have a granddaughter that's a senior at Plainview High School.

However, I have used the school year as my measuring stick for summertime ever since my daughter began kindergarten a few years ago. Well, it was more than a few years ago, but you get my gist!

I think the summers have gotten shorter through the years, or maybe it just seems that way, because time flies when you are having fun, or maybe, like my mother use to say, "The older you get the faster time flies." Probably a combination of both can explain why this summer flew by.

There was so much going on that I was barely been able to hang on for the ride. I didn't take a vacation, because I just couldn't fit one in, but there was plenty of hustle and bustlebirthday parties, my job, doctor appointments, a church cookout, parades, Red, White and Moo festivities, yard work, a bridal shower and wedding, and three class reunions. Yes, three class reunions!

You have heard of job hoppers, right? Well, I became a class reunion hopper this summer. Yep, I probably set a recordthree class reunions in one summer, and two of them were on the same weekend! You may be thinking how was that possible.

When I was growing up, my family moved several times, so I attended several schools, eight to be exact. I hated each move, because, as a child, I was extremely shy and had difficulty fitting in and making new friends. The first weeks at a new school were pure agony for me, and time seemed to move at a snail's pace!

During my high school days, I attended school at Olton, Dimmitt, Tulia and Plainview, graduating from Plainview High School with the class of 1968.

Most of the smaller high schools extend a reunion invitation to you if you spent any part of your high school days there, so that's why I attended three class reunionsTulia, Olton, and Plainview, and I had a blast at all three! I have never received an invitation from the Dimmitt classprobably because I was so shy when I attended part of my sophomore year there I made myself invisible.

Who knows, when the Classes of 1968 have their 60th reunions, I may have the opportunity to attend all four, so I had better start making plans now. After all, time flies when you are having fun, not to mention, it also files when you are getting older!

Alice Sawayer-Lockeby is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Director of Public Relations at Central Plains Center. Contact her at alices@clplains.org or 806-293-2636.A former Centennial BANK officer arrested earlier this year signed a federal document on Friday admitting to stealing money during his employment.

According to the document, which was filed in a District Court in Lubbock on Friday morning, Joe Frank Rodriguez admitted to stealing about $143,000 between Oct. 2016 to Jan. 19, 2018 directly from bank vaults while employed at the location in Plainview.

The bank began an internal investigation in January after it was discovered that money was missing from the vaults. When bank management confronted Rodriguez, he admitted to the theft and explained how and why he'd done it, according to the document, which highlights stipulated facts.

Hale County District Attorney Wally Hatch said Rodriguez had been employed with the bank since 2004.

According to the court document, Rodriguez "was promoted to management after a number of years of employment." As part of bank management, he had direct access to the vaults.

The court document states that Rodriguez took money for personal use on multiple occasions.

In a prepared statement released Friday afternoon, Centennial BANK thanked the Plainview Police Department, Plainview District Attorney's Office, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office for "bringing a conclusion to this matter."

According to the statement, the incident was isolated and no customer accounts were ever compromised.

"Centennial BANK has policies and procedures in place to prevent, uncover and report instances of theft from all sources," the statement reads. "Immediate steps were taken following the discovery of this theft in January 2018 to stop any further activity by the individual."

Hatch said Rodriguez faces both a federal and a state felony charge.Damage caused by a tornado that brought destruction to Hale Center more than 50 years ago is mostly gone but there's one structure it damaged that's just now getting replaced.

Johnny Ruiz, public works director for Hale Center, said there's dents at the top of the water tank located behind the stage at the park in Hale Center. It's unclear what caused the dents.

Hale Center Mayor William H. (W.H.) Johnson, said the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality has been telling city officials for years to get it fixed. The city just hasn't had the money  until now.

Hale Center was one of countless rural cities around the country chosen to receive money from the United States Department of Agriculture to aid its water towers.

In some cases, Hazlett said, that may mean a whole replacement of the water tanks.

"In other places, it might be a new treatment facility," she said. "It really ranges. Sometimes there's new technology that these systems need, like electronic monitoring, metering of the levels of water that have been used. There really is a wide variety."

In Hale Center's case, the costs to fix the water storage tank far outweigh the cost to just build a new one. The cost to replace the water storage tank, which is the smaller of two that can be seen behind the park off Interstate 27, is estimated to be about $418,900 and the USDA provided a loan to foot the bill.

Anne Hazlett, assistant to the secretary for Rural Development of the United States Department of Agriculture, stopped through Hale Center Wednesday during a three-city tour  which also included Kress and Lamesa  to see the progress.

City and Hale County officials took the opportunity to thank Hazlett for the USDA's assistance.

Hale Center City Manager Dennis Burton said the city was granted a 40-year low-interest loan to pay for the project.

During the presentation, Kenny Friar, of Kimley Horn Engineers in Lubbock, said the project is projected to take a year or just more than one year to complete from planning to finish.

Ruiz said there's no danger to the water supply. The current tank simply doesn't meet TCEQ standard.

The damaged tank, he said, is the one that holds the water supply while toxins are eliminated before piping it through to the big tower that says "Hale Center" on the side where it's then funneled around through the community.

Hale Center was Hazlett's second stop of the day. She visited Lamesa first then made a stop in Kress after leaving Hale Center.

Heidi Tiffin, city secretary for Kress, said the town's water tower had been leaking and was also flagged by TCEQ for replacement.

"TCEQ said we either had to fix the leak or get a new one," she said.

The water tower was old and it was difficult to safely climb up and down for repairs, Tiffin said. So the city opted to just get a new one.

"Ours is done," she said Friday. "They (USDA) paid for it. We got a brand new water tower."

Construction on the Kress water tower was wrapped up a few months ago, she said.

Hazlett said there are other planned projects and the USDA is working to fund them as much funding as quickly as it can, particularly in places "like West Texas where water quantity is such a challenge."

"It's important to quality of life for people living there to have clean, safe, affordable, reliable water supply," she said. "It's important for economic growth in the region."The rap on NASA is that it's risk-averse, stuck in the old ways of doing things, stymied by a big 60-year-old bureaucracy that was chastened by two fatal space shuttle disasters.

That was the mind-set that seemed to greet SpaceX's controversial fueling plan. Instead of filling the rocket with propellant before the astronauts board, the company proposed doing it after.

Loading a combustible mix of propellants underneath NASA's finest set off alarms inside some parts of the agency and among safety experts, who warned that it was contrary to decades of spaceflight procedure. One watchdog group called it a "potential safety risk" - a spark during fueling could set off an explosion, many in NASA feared. That's what happened when a SpaceX rocket blew up while being fueled in 2016.

But then NASA recently announced that it would allow SpaceX's fueling procedure, informally known as "load and go," under the condition that the company demonstrate it five times before receiving formal certification. The decision was a significant one for NASA and signals an ongoing cultural shift as the agency partners with a growing commercial space industry that thrives on pushing boundaries.

NASA's evolution has been years in the making, officials said, as it grows more comfortable giving industry more autonomy and freedom, which many hope will spark the kind of innovation necessary to make spaceflight more routine.

Over the years, it has developed deep partnerships with several companies, awarding them billions of dollars in contracts to carry out crucial services. Under the George W. Bush administration, NASA decided to hire contractors - SpaceX and Orbital ATK - to fly cargo and supplies to the International Space Station.

Then, under President Barack Obama, it awarded contracts to SpaceX and Boeing to fly crews there, with the first flights expected next year. In doing so, the agency allowed the companies to build, design and operate their spacecraft. And while NASA laid out a list of requirements that the companies must meet, it did not dictate how they should meet them.

Being able to rely on private companies to provide a delivery service to the space station "was one of the major shifting factors," said Eric Stallmer, the president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. "That played a huge role."

- - -

NASA does lend its expertise and oversight, but at the same time, the companies are teaching the agency a thing or two about how to apply business practices to open the frontiers of space. None more so than Elon Musk's SpaceX, which from the beginning of its partnership with NASA ran into resistance, a clash of Silicon Valley-style ethos with government bureaucracy, youthful impatience with aged bureaucracy.

Now President Donald Trump and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine have gone out of their way to praise the efforts of private space companies and make it clear that the agency intends to rely on them.

"Rich guys, they love rocket ships," Trump said at a Cabinet meeting this year. "That's good. That's better than us paying for them."

In a statement to The Washington Post, Bridenstine said that industry has had a transformative effect on the agency: "Our commercial partners are challenging us to be more agile, think differently, buy smarter and develop more efficiently."

SpaceX isn't the only company seeing the benefit of NASA's shift. The agency is being far more welcoming to private-sector input in the first component of its proposed lunar gateway program, a space station to float in the vicinity of the moon.

Instead of dictating the requirements and design of the part of the gateway that would provide power and propulsion, NASA reached out to industry for suggestions, said Mike Gold, vice president of regulatory at Maxar Technologies, one of the companies to study the power and propulsion module.

"Load and go is just another example of an evolution that is occurring across the agency where we are seeing NASA embrace commercial practices and commercial experience in a wide variety of programs," he said.

- - -

For years, the thinking was that you fuel the rocket, make sure it's stable and then allow the astronauts on board. That would limit their exposure to a disaster. That's how the space shuttle program did it. And that's how Boeing, which also has the contract to fly astronauts for NASA, plans to fuel its rocket.

But SpaceX likes to do things differently.

To get more power out of its Falcon 9 rockets, it chills its propellants, liquid oxygen and refined kerosene, to extremely low temperatures. As a result, they become denser, allowing SpaceX to pack more fuel into its rockets, giving them more performance. But because the fuel is so cold, it can warm up quickly, which is why it needs to be loaded at the last minute.

The company, which has never flown humans to space before, says that safety is its top priority and notes that the Falcon 9 also comes with an escape system that would allow the Dragon spacecraft to quickly fly away from the rocket booster in the event of an emergency on the pad or during flight.

"We would never have proposed it had we thought that it was a less safe way to go," Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's president and chief operating officer, told reporters this month. "The vehicle has more margin when we load the fuel quite close to liftoff."

She added that the astronauts are "protected by the launch escape system. They're protected by the heat shield between Dragon and the rocket."

Since its rocket exploded while being fueled in 2016, the company has notched 33 successful launches in a row using this fueling technique and has completed dozens more engine test fires.

In a statement, Kathy Lueders, the manager of NASA's commercial crew program, said the agency decided to go along with SpaceX's plan after conducting "an extensive review of the SpaceX ground operations, launch vehicle design, escape systems and operational history. Safety for our personnel was the driver for this analysis, and the team's assessment was that this plan presents the least risk."

Still, before signing off on the procedure, she said, SpaceX would have to demonstrate it five times, and then "NASA will assess any remaining risk before determining that the system is certified to fly with crew."

If all goes to plan, the astronauts would board the SpaceX craft about two hours before liftoff. Then the ground crews would leave the launch site, the escape system would be activated, and fueling would begin about 38 minutes before launch.

"NASA has learned a number of things from SpaceX," said George Nield, a member of NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel. "There's not just one way to do these things. And with new technology and thinking out of the box, there are other ways that can be beneficial to not just the companies but to the government itself. . . . And load and go is an example that NASA has slowly warmed up to."

Speaking to reporters last spring, Musk, SpaceX's founder and chief executive, said that the rocket was designed to be the most robust in the world and dismissed concerns over the fueling.

"I really do not think this presents a safety issue for astronauts," he said, calling it an "overblown issue."

Still, he said that launching rockets is a dangerous business that always carries some level of risk.

"There could be a thousand things that could go right with this rocket and one that goes wrong," he said. "The reason it is so hard to make an orbital rocket is that your passing grade is 100 percent."Struggling San Antonio-based marketing firm Harte Hanks Inc. announced today that it has parted ways with CEO and President Karen Puckett.

As part of our ongoing efforts to ensure that we have world-class leadership, focus on client service and drive profitability, we felt it was the right time to take decisive steps to identify the next generation of leadership for our company, spokesman Scott Hamilton said in a phone interview.

Hamilton wouldnt comment when asked if Puckett, who was based in Houston, was pushed out.

The company has no replacement lined up but intends to conduct a search to identify the right candidate, Hamilton added. It expects to hire Pucketts successor within the next few months.

In the meantime, the company said it has established a temporary office of the CEO to provide continuity and strategic direction. Two board members and two officers will be part of the office.

Pucketts departure comes almost three years after she was appointed CEO and president. She will no longer serve on Harte Hanks board, which she joined in 2009.

Harte Hanks and Puckett have entered into a separation agreement that will pay her $485,000 over the next year, in addition to some other benefits. The agreement also has a provision prohibiting Puckett from competing with Harte Hanks for six months, reduced from the two years that was part of her employment contract.

Last year, Puckett received almost $2.4 million in total compensation  comprised of a $694,261 salary and more than $1.7 million in stock awards, the company disclosed in a proxy statement filed last month.

Harte Hanks has struggled as corporations abandon traditional print advertising for digital. Last year, it announced it was trimming $10 million in annual costs as part of a plan to enhance its strategic position and financial flexibility.

Earlier this year, Houston-based hedge fund Fondren Management demanded that Harte Hanks take immediate action to enhance its corporate governance. That followed by seven months a push by New York hedge fund Sidus Investment Partners to get two of its nominees on Harte Hanks board.

Sidus co-founder Alfred Tobia was subsequently added to Harte Hanks board in July 2017 and became chairman in June. He is one of seven directors who have joined Harte Hankss board since last summer.

Tobia, in the statement, thanked Puckett for working constructively with the reconstituted board to act in the best interests of shareholders and customers.

Tobia added Harte Hanks officials believe there are exciting opportunities to help accelerate growth while building upon the strengths of our full client offering.

CFO Jon Biro will serve as the companys principal officer during the transition period. He will be joined in the temporary office of CEO by directors Jack Griffin and Martin Reidy, and Andrew Harrison, executive vice president of contact centers.

Griffin, managing director of New York advisory firm Oaklins DeSilva+Philllips, and Reidy, most recently the CEO of a digital marketing firm, will each a $25,000 monthly retainer and grants of $100,000 in restricted stock units, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Harte Hankss shares rose 48 cents to $8.60 in early afternoon trading.

This article will be updated later today.

Patrick Danner is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering banking and civil courts. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pdanner@express-news.net | Twitter: @AlamoPDWASHINGTON  President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Google and other U.S. tech companies of rigging search results about him so that almost all stories & news is BAD. He offered no evidence of bias, but a top adviser said the White House is taking a look at whether Google should face federal regulation.

Google pushed back sharply, saying Trumps claim simply wasnt so: We never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment.

The presidents tweets echoed his familiar attacks on the news media  and a conservative talking point that California-based tech companies run by CEOs with liberal leanings dont give equal weight to opposing political viewpoints. They also revealed anew his deep-seated frustration he doesnt get the credit he believes he deserves.

The president, who has said he runs on little sleep, jumped onto Twitter before dawn Tuesday to rehash his recent complaints about alleged suppression of conservative voices and positive news about him.

He followed that up with vague threats in Oval Office comments.

I think Google has really taken advantage of a lot of people, and I think thats a very serious thing. Thats a very serious charge, Trump said, adding that Google, Twitter, Facebook and others better be careful, because you cant do that to people.

Trump claimed that we have literally thousands and thousands of complaints coming in. ... So I think that Google and Twitter and Facebook, theyre really treading on very, very troubled territory and they have to be careful.

Larry Kudlow, the presidents top economic adviser, told reporters later that the White House is taking a look at whether Google searches should be subject to some government regulation. That would be a noteworthy development since Trump often points proudly to his cutting of government regulations as a spur for economic gains.

In his tweets, Trump said  without offering evidence  that Google search results for Trump News shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? He added, again with no evidence, that 96% of results on Trump News are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous.

A search query Tuesday morning, several hours after the president tweeted, showed stories from CNN, ABC News, Fox News and the MarketWatch business site, among others. A similar search later in the day for Trump had Fox News, the presidents favored cable network, among the top results.

Google, based in Mountain View, California, said its aim is to make sure its search engine users quickly get the most relevant answers.

Search is not used to set a political agenda and we dont bias our results toward any political ideology, the company said in a statement. Every year, we issue hundreds of improvements to our algorithms to ensure they surface high-quality content in response to users queries. We continually work to improve Google Search and we never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment.

Experts suggested that Trumps comments showed a misunderstanding of how search engines work.

Google searches aim to surface the most relevant pages in response to a users query, even before he or she finishes typing. The answers that appear first are the ones Googles formulas, with some help from human content reviewers, deem to be the most authoritative, informative and relevant. Many factors help decide the initial results, including how much time people spend on a page, how many other pages link to it, how well its designed and more.

Trump and some supporters have long accused Silicon Valley companies of being biased against them. While some company executives may lean liberal, they have long asserted that their products are without political bias.

Media analyst Ken Doctor said it doesnt make sense for mass-market businesses like Google to lean either way politically. He characterized the complaints as a sign of our times, adding that, years ago, if the head of General Electric was supporting a Republican candidate, people who disagreed wouldnt then go out and boycott GE products.

The temperature has risen on this, Doctor said.

Steven Andres, who teaches about management information systems at San Diego State University, said people often assume that if you give a computer the same inputs no matter where you are that you get the same outputs.

But it doesnt work that way, he said. Youre seeing different things every moment of the day and the algorithms are always trying to change the results.

Trump didnt say what he based his tweets on. But conservative activist Paula Boylard had said in a weekend blog post that she found blatant prioritization of left-leaning and anti-Trump media outlets in search results.

Boylard based her judgments on the political leanings of media outlets on a list by Sharyl Attkisson, host of Sinclair Televisions Full Measure and author of The Smear: How Shady Political Operatives and Fake News Control What You See, Think, and How You Vote. Sinclair is a significant outlet for conservative views.

Trump began complaining about the issue earlier this month as social media companies moved to ban right-wing Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones from their platforms. The president also argues regularly  and falsely  that the news media avoid writing positive stories about him and his administration.

Jones is being sued for saying the 2012 shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School was staged. Jones has since said he believes the shooting did occur and has argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed because he was acting as a journalist.

Trump has praised Jones amazing reputation.

The issue is also of concern on Capitol Hill, where the House Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., recently announced that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is scheduled to testify before the panel on Sept. 5 about the platforms algorithms and content monitoring.



Ortutay reported from New York.



Follow Darlene Superville and Barbara Ortutay on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap and http://www.twitter.com/barbaraortutay

AP-WF-08-28-18 2144GMTA San Antonio cookie dough bar will give a few lucky customers free cookie dough each month for a year to celebrate the opening of its second location this weekend.

Less than a year after Scooped launched in North Star Mall, owners announced a second location will open Saturday at The Shops at La Cantera, according to a Facebook post.Who is to blame for fattening up Americans and killing their hearts? McDonalds, it seems, is not even in the running. In fact, when you compare the fare under the Golden Arches with many of the dishes served at chain restaurants around the country, a Big Mac with large fries and a soda begins to sound like health food.

Hungry for a hearty breakfast? You could  if you dare to test the resilience of your heart  try the Cheesecake Factorys Breakfast Burrito: warm tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, chicken chorizo, cheese, crispy potatoes, avocado, peppers and onions, over spicy ranchero sauce. Nutritional information: 2,730 calories (more than a days worth, so I hope youll skip lunch and dinner), 4,630 milligrams of sodium (two days worth) and 73 grams of saturated fat (more than three days worth).

Youd have to eat em>seven/em> Sausage McMuffins from McDonalds to equal the cardiovascular and waistline damage done by em>one /em>burrito, according to the latest Xtreme Eating Awards bestowed by the Nutrition Action Healthletter, published by the nonprofit advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest, in Washington.

Or maybe youd prefer another 2018 awardee to start your day: Chilis Honey-Chipotle Crispers & Waffles that dishes up Belgian waffles topped with battered fried chicken, bacon, jalapenos and ancho-chili ranch sauce and fries with honey-chipotle sauce. With 2,510 calories, 40 grams of saturated fat, 4,480 milligrams of sodium and 105 grams (26 teaspoons) of sugar, its like eating five Krispy Kreme glazed doughnuts with 30 McDonalds Chicken McNuggets and five packets of barbecue sauce.

Perhaps youre a breakfast skipper and would rather dig into a super-hearty lunch like the Cheesecake Factorys newest version of pizza: Chopped chicken breast coated with breadcrumbs, covered with marinara sauce and lots of melted cheese, and get this, topped with angel hair pasta in an Alfredo cream sauce. It adds up to 1,870 calories, 55 grams of saturated fat and 3,080 milligrams of sodium. Thats like eating four pieces of Popeyes fried chicken and four biscuits, Nutrition Action calculated.

I suspect, though, that Red Lobsters Create Your Own Combination shrimp meal is the all-time Xtreme Eating winner, an award bestowed on it in 2015. It delivers a whopping 2,710 calories and 6,530 milligrams of sodium; for that amount you could down a KFC meal of an entire eight-piece bucket of fried chicken, four side orders of mashed potatoes with gravy, four pieces of corn on the cob and eight packets of buttery spread.

For comparisons sake, you might keep in mind that 2,000 calories is what the average person should be eating for an entire day including snacks, not just at a single meal.

But theres some good news lurking behind all those extra calories and artery-damaging nutrients. After long delays, as of last May chain restaurants with 20 or more outlets must post calories on menus and menu boards for all their offerings, a regulation in the Affordable Care Act of 2010. (A number of big chains, including Panera Bread and Au Bon Pain, did not wait to be required to post calories, and in 2012 McDonalds became the first fast-food company to do so.)

Although I once heard a Starbucks customer complain Do I really have to know the calories in my Frappuccino? theres a better chance that, as a result of the menu listings, 1) diners who care will have an easier time and a greater incentive to choose lighter fare, and 2) restaurants may start competing to offer lower-calorie options of similar dishes.

A McDonalds customer trying to decide between a Big Mac and a Double Quarter Pounder with cheese might be swayed by the fact that the Big Mac has 200 fewer calories. But diners faced with the seemingly healthier choice of the Southwest Salad with Crispy Chicken might be more tempted by the Double Cheeseburger, which has 10 fewer calories than the salad.

In New York City, menu calorie postings have been required since 2008, and a study by the Stanford Graduate School of Business found that Starbucks customers ordered food with 6 percent fewer calories, on average, as a result. This may not sound like much, but over time such small changes add up; this countrys obesity epidemic can be explained by a mere 100 extra calories a day for each person.

Furthermore, after the negative publicity received from previous Xtreme Eating Awards, several chain restaurants were prompted to make meaningful calorie reductions in the notoriously featured dishes. The changes most likely had little or no deleterious effect on the dishes flavor, texture or popularity but may have resulted in belt-tightening for some steady customers and possibly even saved a heart or two.

Here, for example, are some caloric reductions made in earlier winners of Xtreme Eating Awards, starting with the first year of the awards, 2007.

Ruby Tuesday cut the calories in its Chicken & Broccoli Pasta from 2,060 to 1,521 in 2012 and then cut them again to 1,405 currently. The Cheesecake Factorys Chicken & Biscuits, at 2,500 calories a serving in 2009, is now down to 1,690; its Bistro Shrimp Pasta was cut from 3,120 calories in 2012 to 2,360 now; and its Crispy Chicken Costoletta, at 2,610 calories in 2012 is now 1,760, the center reported.

And the California Pizza Kitchen has proved that even Americas favorite pie can handle a hit. Its Tostada Pizza, which had dished up 1,440 calories in 2010, is now at 1,140.

Why, you may wonder, is this so important? There are at least three good reasons:

1) A third or more of the calories Americans now consume come from foods eaten in or purchased from restaurants, and most people are clueless as to how many calories they are consuming as a result.

2) Menu titles and even descriptions can be very misleading. You might think the original version of the Ruby Tuesday dish made with white meat chicken and fresh steamed broccoli was heart-healthy and low in calories without realizing what the added cheese and cream did to the calorie count.

3) The obesity crisis has now reached epidemic proportions and is showing no signs of abating in Americans older than 5. The more often people are forced to confront the reality of what they are putting in their bodies, the more likely they will be make healthier choices, in turn prompting recipe changes to better suit consumer demand.A woman was asleep while her 2-year-old boy was alone in the street, according to Laredo police.

The mother, Alexandra Zetina, 20, was arrested and charged with abandoning, endangering a child.Travis Manion Foundation will host the Saginaw 9/11 Heroes Run 5K race and 1 mile Fun Run at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 11 at Saginaw Valley State University. The race will unite the community to remember the nearly 3,000 lives lost on 9/11, as well as to honor veterans, military, and first responders who serve our country and our communities.

The 9/11 Heroes Run 5K series was inspired by Marine 1st Lt. Travis Manion, who was killed by a sniper in Iraq in April 2007 as he selflessly protected his battalion. Before his final deployment, Manion visited Rescue One in NYC -- famous for losing almost all of their men on 9/11 -- and returned home with deeper passion about why he was fighting in Iraq. At its heart, the 9/11 Heroes Run is a tribute to a personal commitment to never forget the heroes of that day. Now in its 11th year, the 9/11 Heroes Run national race series will be held in more than 50 locations across the country and around the world, and is expected to draw more than 60,000 participants.SACRAMENTO  California would require law enforcement agencies to disclose their number of untested rape kits under a bill sent to Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday, while another bill to require speedy testing of the evidence awaits approval in the Legislature.

AB3118, by Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, would create the first statewide tally of untested rape kits  evidence collected after a sexual assault  by mandating law enforcement agencies to count and report how many they have to the Department of Justice by July 1, 2019.

The bill passed the Assembly in a 57-0 vote on Monday. The Senate passed the bill 39-0 on Thursday. Brown has until Sept. 30 to sign or veto it.

We are one step closer to bringing justice to sexual assault survivors across the state, Chiu said Monday.

Chius bill was introduced alongside SB1449 by Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino (San Bernardino County), which would require law enforcement agencies to test any rape kit collected after Jan. 1, 2016.The rape kits would have to be sent to a lab within 20 days of being booked into evidence, and labs would have to complete their analysis within 120 days. The bill would go into effect Jan. 1.

Current law says evidence from sexual assaults should be tested within those time frames, but it is not required. The current state budget includes $7.5 million to help law enforcement pay for the rape kit testing and audit.

SB1449 is pending a vote in the Assembly. The bill passed the Senate 38-0 in May.

Alameda County District Attorney Nancy OMalley is among the most vocal supporters of the bills, previously telling The Chronicle that the legislation is needed to prevent lapses like one in Berkeley.

In that case, the Berkeley Police Department failed to test a rape kit for more than six years from a 2008 abduction and sexual assault of two young women. The suspect in that case allegedly went on to attack a woman in her home in February 2015 and, 10 days later, rape and murder a woman in Albany.

The woman who survived the first attack, Ann Reidy, told The Chronicle in May that there was no doubt in my mind that this was preventable. Relatives of Randhir Kaur, the dental student who was slain in her Albany apartment on March 8, 2015, said they were horrified to learn of the shelved evidence that left a suspect free to attack.

The suspect, Keith Kenard Asberry Jr., who police say is linked by DNA to each of the crimes, pleaded not guilty in July to 14 counts, including murder and rape.

Other bills passed by the Legislature on Monday and headed to Brown:

SB1127, by Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, would allow school districts to adopt policies allowing students with special needs or severe disabilities to use medical cannabis on campus. The bill does not require school districts to create policies, but lets them decide whether to allow cannabis use under those circumstances.

Under the bill, a parent or guardian could administer medical marijuana to a child as long as it is in a nonsmoking, non-vaping form while on campus. The cannabis could not be stored at the school.

The bill, called Jojos Act, is named after a South San Francisco High School student with a severe form of epilepsy who must be taken off campus so his mother may give him a dose of cannabis oil, which prevents debilitating and life-threatening seizures.

SB1127 passed the Assembly 42-20 on Monday, with 18 lawmakers not voting. The Senate passed the bill 32-7 in May.

AB186, by Assemblywoman Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, would authorize San Francisco to open safe injection facilities for illicit drug users to shoot up and ride out their high under clinical supervision.

The bill passed the Assembly 41-24 and heads to Brown for final approval. Browns office declined to comment on the bill Monday. The long-sought bill creates a four-year pilot program in San Francisco aimed at reducing opioid overdoses and encouraging users to go into treatment.

We know we have people losing their lives on the streets, Eggman said. We know what we are doing is not working. There is over 20 years of data supporting these as a harm reduction, preventive measure to help people get into treatment and safe lives.

The bill stalled in the Senate last year before Eggman narrowed it this year from allowing six counties to participate in the pilot program to just San Francisco. The bill passed the Senate 21-16 last week.

The bill is backed by San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who has been working to ease unrest about the potential for safe injection sites in the city. Starting Tuesday, a mock injection site will be opened to the public in the Tenderloin.

Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MelodyGutierrezOn a rainy, dark, overcast Monday morning the top of the Michigan Republican ticket made a stop in Midland. Headlined by Michigan gubernatorial candidate Bill Schuette, the three-day MIGOP "Results Not Resistance" Tour, stopped at the newly opened Midland Victory Center, 144 Ashman St.

"I know we had a power outage in parts of mid-Michigan last night, but there is a lot of energy in this room," Schuette said to a jam-packed room at the Midland Victory Center.

The tour began on Sunday with three stops in east Michigan. Following the Midland stop, the tour headed north for stops in Traverse City and Cadillac and concluded on Tuesday in the Grand Rapids area.

"I want Michigan to be a place where people plant their flag, raise their families and build their futures because there is no finer place to live and to work and to build jobs," said Schuette, who is running against Democrat Gretchen Whitmer and Libertarian Bill Gelineau.

Joining Schuette on Monday was his running mate for lieutenant governor, Lisa Posthumus-Lyons, who has served three terms in the Michigan House and is currently the Kent County clerk/register.

"We need you to elect Republicans because it is about results and not resistance. Under Republican leadership in Michigan we have seen our state turn around. We've seen jobs grow and incomes rise," Posthumus-Lyons said. "We're getting results for Americans and Michiganders under President Trump and the leadership there. It's because our policies are working for our people."

Schuette used four criteria for choosing a running mate:

 What are the characteristics and qualities of the person? First, there needs to be a relationship. I've known Lisa for decades and she is a solid, solid leader," Schuette said.

 Is there trust? "Relationships are all about trust," Schuette added.

 Philosophical compatibility. "I'm a conservative and Lisa is a conservative," Schuette stated.

 "Lastly, we needed someone who is part of the fabric of what Michigan is going to be, the textures, the contours and the portrait of what Michigan can be and a measure of what our state should be," Schuette said. "Lisa has all of those qualities, experience, a record of accomplishment, achievement in the Michigan Legislature, and as Kent County clerk."

Also on Monday's docket was John James, who is opposed by incumbent Sen. Debbie Stabenow for the U.S. Senate.

"When you deliver on your promises that builds trust. All I've done my entire life is to serve and build trust among the men and women I led into combat and brought all of them back alive," James said. "I've built trust in the people that believed in me to grow our business by 100 jobs east of the Mississippi River. This is the trust we need to instill in our political process."

Current Speaker of the House Tom Leonard shared his vision for the attorney general's office.

"Most importantly, we need a rule of law attorney general in that office. We cannot have someone who will politicize that office with a left wing agenda and determine which laws will and won't be upheld. That is not the role of the attorney general. That is the role of the Legislature to make laws. It is the role of the attorney general to enforce them. That's what you will get with me at the helm," said Leonard, who is running against Dana Nessel.

Republican Mary Treder Lang is running for secretary of state against Jocelyn Benson.

"This is all about team," said Schuette, with his wife, Cynthia, standing next to him. "This tour is to bring our team together. For the next 70 days we have one mission. On Nov. 6, we are going to win it all from top to bottom and bottom to top.

To learn more about Schuette's candidacy, visit: https://billschuette.com/.

For information on John James, visit: https://johnjamesforsenate.com/meet-john/.Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has 24 times as much money to spend in the final 10 weeks of his reelection campaign than Democratic challenger Ben Jealous, raising questions about whether the former NAACP president will have enough resources to compete.

Jealous and his Democratic allies said Tuesday they plan to begin airing television ads after Labor Day to rebut the onslaught of negative messaging Republicans have put on the airwaves since early July, and they say turnout - not spending - will determine the winner in November.

But campaign fundraising tallies released this week show Hogan - who led by double digits in a recent poll - has $9 million more to spend than Jealous, a massive advantage that could drown out the Democrat's message.

The Jealous campaign announced Tuesday it has raised $1.1 million in the past two months and has $386,000 available to spend. Over the same period, Hogan's campaign says it took in $2.52 million and has a cash balance of $9.4 million.

The figures underscore the uphill battle Jealous, a progressive political newcomer, faces in his bid to unseat one of the country's most popular governors.

Hogan is swamping the airwaves with positive advertisements about his record, while the Republican Governors Association has spent more than $1.4 million on ads defining Jealous as a tax-and-spend Democrat.

Jealous, who wants to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour, implement a single-payer health-care system and legalize marijuana to help pay for an expansion of prekindergarten, has not aired any ads since the primary. The Democratic Governors Association has declined to say when it might offer to help Jealous, and the outside groups that boosted his primary bid say they are raising money for him again but have yet to launch a major effort on his behalf.

"He really doesn't have the money to be on the airwaves right now, and that really does have to change," said Melissa Deckman, the Louis Goldstein professor of public affairs and chair of the political-science department at Washington College. "I'm surprised by the starkness of imbalance. . . . It's not insurmountable. But time is running out."

Aides to Jealous said he never expected to take in as much money as Hogan, particularly since he started much later in the election cycle and ran in a six-way Democratic primary.

"Our goal is not to outraise Larry Hogan because doing so isn't necessary for victory," campaign manager Travis Tazelaar said. "We only need to raise the funds necessary to effectively get our message out to the overwhelmingly Democratic electorate that will turn out in November."

Tazelaar likened the race to the 2014 matchup between Hogan, who was considered an underdog against then-Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, D. "In the same way that the 2014 Hogan campaign was outspent in 2014 and won due to depressed turnout, the Jealous campaign will be outspent in 2018 and will win due to banner turnout and a strategic turnout and messaging operation," Tazelaar said.

Donald Norris, professor emeritus of public policy at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, has closely watched Maryland politics since 1986 and said he has "never seen a statewide Democratic candidate with this kind of a deficit against a Republican candidate . . . ever."

Norris said $386,000 isn't enough to run a statewide campaign for the next 10 weeks, especially given the high cost of television advertising in the District of Columbia suburbs. "That's $38,000 a week. That's ridiculous. You can't do it," he said.

Kevin Harris, a senior adviser to Jealous, said the campaign will launch a media blitz six or seven weeks ahead of the Nov. 6 election, when voters are paying attention.

"We're on pace for where we need to be to run ads and get our message out there," Harris said. "We did the exact same thing in the primary. People questioned our strategy then, people questioned our campaign . . . and we won by 10 points."

Outside groups backing Jealous helped pay to contact voters, including through mailers and digital and television advertising, during the primary campaign.

Sheila O'Connell, who chairs Maryland Together We Rise, said that the group plans to raise more over the next 10 weeks than the $1.2 million it generated to boost Jealous during the primary, and that it has taken in $410,000 so far.

The group recently launched one digital ad accusing Hogan of embracing U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and another introducing Jealous to voters.

Meanwhile, the Republican Governors Association has spent more than $2.2 million on Hogan's behalf this year, according to the group's Aug. 8 campaign report. More than $1.4 million went to a negative television ad blitz against Jealous, which Democratic Governors Association spokeswoman Melissa Miller called an example of "desperate early spending."

But RGA spokesman Jon Thompson said the group has no plans to relent, citing a motivated Democratic base nationwide and the 2-to-1 registration advantage Democrats hold over Republicans in Maryland. "We're not going to come off TV any time soon unless we see that Governor Hogan has really pulled away," Thompson said.

Maryland Democrats are trying to rebut Hogan's messaging by holding conference calls with reporters. On Tuesday morning, for example, legislative leaders and Maryland Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Matthews spent 40 minutes arguing that a digital ad Hogan released Monday takes credit for a Democratic initiative the governor did not develop or help pass. Matthews said such messages will go straight to voters soon.

"You're going to see a paid media campaign coming forward after Labor Day," she said. "The state party needs to be the truth squad on Larry Hogan."Its not every day you can live long enough to literally see a statue built in your honor, but that was just the kind of birthday weekend NASA pioneer Katherine Johnson had.

Johnson turned 100 on Aug. 26 and got to ring in her centennial by attending the unveiling of the statue and scholarship created in her honor at her alma mater, West Virginia State University. Johnson is a math genius and in her career worked during a time when the barriers to entry for women and people of color in the field were incredibly high. She graduated from high school when she was 14 and graduated from West Virginia State at 18.

Johnsons story was chronicled in the 2016 book Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race, by Margot Lee Shetterly, and in the subsequent, Academy Awardnominated film it was based on.

Related: Check Out This Stellar Women of NASA Lego Set

She was a computer at NASA, responsible for calculating, by hand, what it would take to get astronauts safely to space and back for the United States first manned space flights. The late John Glenn famously asked for Johnson to check the computers work to make sure that the numbers for his re-entry would be sound for his inaugural orbit around the Earth in 1961.

Former President Barack Obama awarded Johnson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015, and last year, NASA opened the Katherine Johnson Computational Research Facility.

Throughout her career and amid her late-in-life recognition for her work, Johnson has always emphasized the team effort that was required to reach those great heights.

In an interview with NASA in 2017, Johnson said of her experience, "I was excited at something new, always liked something new, but give credit to everybody who helped. I didn't do anything alone but try to go to the root of the question and succeeded there."

As for her advice to aspiring mathematicians and engineers, Johnsons strategy is simple. Do your best, and like it. Like what you do, and then you will do your best, she said. I never missed a day  my problem was to answer questions. And I did that to the best of my ability at all times.

Related:



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedA Kern County court commissioner who shared some far-right political views on social media has been publicly censured and permanently banned from holding judicial office by the state Commission on Judicial Performance.

Joseph Gianquinto, a Superior Court commissioner for more than a decade, wrote on Facebook in 2016 that presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was an unethical, corrupt, lying criminal dirtbag whose supporters dont care. He wrote in 2017 that former President Barack Obama had planned to transform the United States from a primarily Judeo-Christian nation to Islam and had created open hunting season on police officers. And he posted a message saying that liberals are Americas cancer.

His conduct violated numerous judicial ethics standards, including requirements to uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary, act in ways that promote public confidence in the courts impartiality, and refrain from publicly endorsing or opposing candidates for non-judicial offices, the commission said in a unanimous order last week.

Gianquintos lawyer, Katy Cummings, said Monday that he had not authorized her to comment on the disciplinary action, which he agreed to accept. Gianquinto has been a licensed attorney in California since 1971 and is now on inactive status with the State Bar.

The commission did not indicate that Gianquintos opinions or Facebook postings had affected his work as a court commissioner, who is appointed by the countys judges to handle minor criminal cases and to fill in for judges when the court is short-staffed. But the commission said his Facebook page identified him as a county employee and included photos that the public would have recognized.

Besides Clinton, Obama and liberals, the commission said, his targets included the terror religion Islam, same-sex marriage, transgender people  boys in girls locker rooms  American Indians, undocumented immigrants, and opponents of Donald Trump.

After a meeting with the countys presiding judge, Charles Brehmer, Gianquinto agreed in June 2017 to delete the posts and to make his Facebook page private so that only friends could view it, the commission said. But the commission said some of the posts cited by Brehmer, and other politically charged messages, remained on Gianquintos public Facebook page until at least early August 2017, apparently because he was unfamiliar with the technology.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter@BobEgelkoWASHINGTON - Former president Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that President Donald Trump initially erred by not acknowledging the late Sen. John McCain's, R-Ariz., service to the country, but that his reversal in a later statement undid some of the damage.

Carter, who turns 94 in October, weighed in on Trump's response to McCain's death in a pair of TV appearances in which he also promoted his post-presidency work with Habitat for Humanity.

"I thought that President Trump made a mistake at first" by issuing a tweet that made no mention of McCain's service, Carter told Fox News Channel's Neil Cavuto.

Trump's critics and supporters later made the president's misstep clear to him, Carter said, adding: "I think his last statement that I read yesterday has basically corrected that."

In an interview with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell, Carter elaborated further, saying that the proclamation Trump issued on Monday was "still not as enthusiastic as it should be."

After McCain's death on Saturday at the age of 81, Trump rejected the advice of top aides who advocated releasing an official statement that gave the decorated Vietnam War POW plaudits for his military and Senate service and called him a "hero." Trump instead offered words of condolence to the senator's family in a tweet that made no mention of McCain's storied service in the military and on Capitol Hill.

As criticism mounted, Trump later changed course and said in a statement Monday: "Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain's service to our country and, in his honor, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment."

In the proclamation, Trump also ordered that flags be lowered to half-staff until McCain's burial, a reversal that came hours after flags were raised to full-staff early Monday.

Carter told Cavuto that he prays for Trump and hopes the president will promote human rights and keep the United States out of war. He also reprised some of his criticism of Trump as having a loose relationship with the truth, telling Cavuto that Trump "has made statements that were not exactly correct."

"I think that John McCain and I, who were both graduates of the Naval Academy in Annapolis, were imbued with a principle that the truth was preeminent and was a real test of integrity," Carter said. "Any kind of misleading statement that you made at the Naval Academy would result in instant dismissal."

But he also struck a hopeful note.

In his interview with MSNBC's Mitchell, Carter noted the Naval Academy's strict requirements and said, "I think we'll get back to that standard in the future."

While the United States is "looked upon with a great deal of doubt" across the world, Carter added, "over a period of time, the resilience and the basic ideas of our country will prevail."BERLIN - Under socialist control, the eastern German city of Chemnitz used to carry the name "Karl Marx City," in tribute to the communist icon.

Over the past two days, however, the city of 240,000 has been in the news because of riots led by xenophobic groups that subscribe to a very different ideology. The violence, which brought condemnation from Chancellor Angela Merkel, erupted after a 35-year-old man was fatally stabbed in Chemnitz on Sunday during what officials called a "dispute between several people of different nationalities." One Syrian and an Iraqi national were detained.

Amid protests over the death, right-wing mobs hunted and attacked foreigners, injuring several people. At least six others were injured Monday after far-right groups, neo-Nazis and left-wing protesters clashed in the same city, using fireworks and glass bottles as weapons.

Authorities said Tuesday that they were investigating 10 protesters accused of giving the banned "Hitler salute."

The violence came weeks ahead of regional elections in the neighboring federal state of Bavaria, where the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) has faced accusations of playing into the hands of far-right populists by fueling tensions between refugees and German nationals. One of the CSU's most prominent politicians - Interior Minister Horst Seehofer - has so far refused to comment on the attacks, despite widespread denunciation of the violence from across the political spectrum.

In the federal state of Saxony - where Chemnitz is located - the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party ranks second in the polls, with Merkel's governing Christian Conservative Union (CDU) only five percentage points ahead. Whereas Merkel's initially welcoming stance toward refugees did not significantly hurt the CDU's ratings in many western German federal states with higher migrant populations, Saxony's far-right has been more successful in capitalizing on immigration fears.

Researchers believe that the strong performance of right-wing populists in the state is linked to xenophobic violence, even though the AfD's leadership has distanced itself from the weekend incidents. Saxony has been among the German states with the most violent attacks on refugees and other foreigners for years, with almost 100 incidents last year, according to state security services.

The AfD again stood accused of helping to incite the violence on Monday after one of its lawmakers tweeted that "people will go on the streets and protect themselves," if authorities fail to do so.

As local officials struggled to explain why authorities had failed to prevent the violence for the second day in a row, the German government issued a sharp condemnation from Berlin.

"There's no place in our country under the rule for such riotous assemblies, the hunting down of people who appear to be from different backgrounds or the attempt to spread hate in the streets," said Steffen Seibert, Merkel's spokesman.

Saxony's conservative first minister, Michael Kretschmer, defended regional authorities on Tuesday but also decried the far-right, calling its "political exploitation" of the 35-year old's killing "disgusting."

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas linked the incidents in eastern Germany with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech exactly 55 years ago. "As long as radicals stage hunts, we have a long way to go to make the dream of equal rights come true," said Maas, a member of the Social Democratic Party.The east Texas city of San Augustine may be small and struggling, but residents won't tolerate anyone calling them names.

In June, the Houston Chronicle published a story about the closing of the local Dairy Queen, one of 27 stores a franchisee closed across the state.

"This is the armpit of East Texas," Jason Monday, of Nacogdoches, told the paper when asked for his thoughts on the subject. Monday was in San Augustine that day installing a sign at a business across the street from the shuttered Dairy Queen.

READ THE STORY: Whats's a Texas town without a Dairy Queen?

Word traveled fast, though it wasn't the first insult to be hurled at the town.

Once, someone infamously painted on a roadside rock near town: San Augustine, 10 miles ahead, 100 years behind. Another person soon flipped that rock over.

The school board, in similar fashion, wasn't having Monday's remark. On July 24, according to the San Augustine Tribune, they passed a resolution cutting ties with him and his business.

On Aug. 2, the paper printed the biting resolution in full:

WHEREAS, the mission of our district is to meet the diverse educational needs of our children and to empower them to become competent, productive contributors to a demographic society and an ever-changing world; and

WHEREAS, our school board members work closely with parents, educational professionals and other community members to create the educational vision we want for our children; and

WHEREAS, our school board members are responsible for ensuring the structure that provides a solid foundation for our school system as well as a safe and positive environment; and

WHEREAS, during a recent visit from a Houston newspaper, Jason Monday of Monday Signs in Nacogdoches, Texas expressed his contempt publicly for our town and its citizens and in essence our children; and

WHEREAS, the San Augustine Independent School District has, in the past, done business with Jason Monday and the Monday Sign Company of Nacogdoches, Texas and has paid them for services for our district; and

WHEREAS, the derogatory statement made by Jason Monday of Monday Signs of Nacogdoches, Texas regarding San Augustine and its citizens may have negative and possibly lasting repercussions which will affect our community and our children; therefore

BE IT RESOLVED that the San Augustine Independent School District Board of Trustees, in support of our children and this community, will no longer be associated with or do business with Jason Monday or Monday Signs of Nacogdoches, Texas and urges the community of San Augustine to stand up for our community and our children by rejecting such divisive and irresponsible statements.

Emily Foxhall writes about all things Texas for the Houston Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter and send her story ideas at Emily.Foxhall@chron.com.John McCains most courageous moment arguably did not come when he was near death as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. He was then frail and feverish, with two broken arms, a broken leg, a shattered knee and bayonet wounds, yet still resisting his captors even though the consequence was more beatings.

Rather, his bravest moment may have come in the winter of 2007-08 as he sought the Republican nomination for president. In polls, two-thirds of GOP voters then supported torture, yet McCain led a battle against Vice President Dick Cheney on the issue and repeatedly denounced torture.

During a debate, McCain called extreme interrogation a violation of existing law as well as of the Geneva Convention. I know how evil this enemy is, McCain told an audience in Iowa, but he added, This is really fundamentally about what kind of nation the United States of America is.

This was the last thing voters wanted to hear. Even many Democrats were then reluctant to denounce torture, and news organizations often refrained from using the word torture to describe waterboarding.

Yet here was a Republican candidate back in 2007 repeatedly rebuking voters on waterboarding and standing up for the rights of suspected terrorists from al-Qaida. Thats what political courage and moral leadership look like, and why we can all learn something from McCain.

I disagreed with John McCain on countless issues, from his support for the Iraq War and the 2017 tax bill to his 83 percent voting record in sync with President Donald Trump. He was a conservative and Im a liberal, so he frequently infuriated me (Sarah Palin for veep, really?!). But for all our disagreements, I deeply admired his guts, passion and determination to follow his moral code. His death leaves a great emptiness in Washington.

It is not that McCain was courageous at every moment. But even when he pandered, he was the worlds worst panderer  so obviously guilty and uncomfortable as he trolled for votes that he convinced nobody and was always penitent afterward.

As a presidential candidate in 2000 competing for votes in the South, he described the Confederate flag as a symbol of heritage. Later, he apologized and explained, I feared that if I answered honestly I could not win the South Carolina primary, so I chose to compromise my principles.

In the courage-free zone known as Congress, McCain showed that principle and politics can mix at the highest levels. And if it wasnt often enough, well, he would be the first to admit it. Characteristically, he described his pick of Palin as another mistake that I made.

At his best, he was in a league of his own. A woman at an event speaks up and says she cant trust Obama because hes an Arab.

No, maam, McCain says. Hes a decent family man, citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and thats what this campaign is all about.

There was, of course, another side to McCain, for he was a complex, contradictory figure. He betrayed his first wife, Carol, who had raised his three children by herself while he was in Vietnamese prisons. After returning home, while still living with Carol, he began pursuing his current wife, Cindy, who was young, beautiful and rich.

But return to a moral compass is nonetheless what distinguished McCain. Over many years I saw McCain repeatedly speak up on issues where there was zero political return. Whether it was human trafficking victims, Syrians being bombed, Rohingya facing genocide or terrorism suspects facing torture, McCain did not follow voters but tried to lead them; he tried to do the right thing.

As much of the Republican Party in Congress was bullied into silent deference by Trump, even as members privately complained and rolled their eyes, McCain became particularly important for his periodic willingness to speak up. When Trump insulted Canada and antagonized Europe at the Group of 7 conference, McCain became the reassuring statesman who reminded the world that America is larger than its president.

Washington is full of politicians who gauge which way the public is going and then try to rush out in front of it. McCain was different. Daring to be ornery to voters, he tackled impossible issues like Syria and campaign finance and immigration, and  somewhat inconsistently  worked ferociously hard to lead America. He was right some of the time, wrong some of the time, but he could be as heroically gutsy in American politics as in a North Vietnam prison, and thats why so many of us around the country today feel a great void in the political world.

Nicholas Kristof writes a column for the New York Times.Theres a reason why President Donald Trump increasingly sounds like the mob boss in a cliche-ridden gangster film: Thats basically what he is  and he must know how such movies usually end.

A day after his former campaign chairman was convicted of felonies in one federal courthouse and his longtime lawyer pleaded guilty to felonies in another  Trump last week issued this statement on Twitter:

I feel very badly for Paul Manafort and his wonderful family. Justice took a 12 year old tax case, among other things, applied tremendous pressure on him and, unlike Michael Cohen, he refused to break  make up stories in order to get a deal. Such respect for a brave man!

A few days earlier, Trump had referred to John Dean, the White House counsel whose truth-telling was instrumental in Richard Nixons downfall, as a RAT. And in a Fox News interview broadcast Thursday, he complained at length about defendants who flip and inform on higher-ups in exchange for leniency at sentencing: This whole thing about flipping, they call it, I know all about flipping. For 30, 40 years I have been watching flippers. Everythings wonderful and then they get 10 years in jail and they flip on whoever the next highest one is or as high as you can go. It almost ought to be outlawed.

Those are not the words of some two-bit hoodlum who feels the law closing in. They are the words of the president of the United States  who apparently feels the law closing in.

Trump speaks as if the Trump Organization, the Trump campaign and the Trump administration were one long continuing criminal enterprise. The man charged with faithfully executing the nations laws paints his own Justice Department as a villain and celebrates criminals who stoically go to prison rather than inform on higher-ups. He makes no bones about valuing loyalty over respect for the law.

Manafort, who might have much to tell about contacts between the campaign and the Russians, has been silent thus far. But he was convicted in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, on eight counts of bank and tax fraud, and could receive what amounts to a life sentence for a 69-year-old man. Now he faces another trial, this time in federal court in Washington, on conspiracy and other charges stemming from the influence-peddling work he did for Russia-backed politicians in Ukraine.

The second trial could produce even more jail time  and definitely will generate another crushing pile of legal bills for a man whose finances were shown to be in tatters. After Tuesdays verdict was read in Alexandria, a statement from Manaforts defense team said nothing about possible appeals or the looming court proceedings. Instead, it said Manafort was examining his options.

Perhaps that is why Trump is going so far out of his way to praise Manaforts virtue  and why, when asked if he will grant Manafort a pardon, the president never says a discouraging word.

Cohen, on the other hand, used the occasion of his guilty plea in federal court in Manhattan to directly implicate Trump in two felony crimes. He said Trump directed him to arrange six-figure payments, in the days leading up to the election, to guarantee the silence of Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels  two women who say they had extramarital liaisons with Trump.

Cohen has offered full cooperation to authorities, including special counsel Robert Mueller, and Cohens attorney has strongly suggested his client might have evidence bearing on the question of collusion. Perhaps that is why Trump was up at 1 a.m. Thursday, angrily tweeting: NO COLLUSION  RIGGED WITCH HUNT!

Look at the people Trump surrounds himself with. So far, four men with high-level roles in his campaign and one with a more junior role have pleaded or been found guilty of federal crimes.

Look at the people who are drawn to him. The first sitting member of Congress to endorse his candidacy, Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., was indicted earlier this month on charges of insider trading. The second sitting member to endorse Trump, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., was indicted Tuesday on charges of illegally using more than $250,000 in campaign funds to underwrite his lavish personal lifestyle.

Responding to criticism from Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions declared Thursday that the Justice Department will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. He must understand by now that Trump doesnt care about justice. The president wants only protection.

eugenerobinson@washpost.comSomeone needs a hug. Many white Americans are feeling pushed out, pushed aside, pushed around and pushed against the wall.

And now, in the Trump era, some of those folks are pushing back against what they see as a kind of reverse racism  where the minorities become the majority, gradually ascend to positions of power, and eventually settle the score for centuries of mistreatment.

White nationalists pushed back last year in Charlottesville, Va., when a group of them clashed with protesters while chanting, You will not replace us.

More than a decade ago, Brian Bilbray  then a Republican congressman from San Diego  pushed back when, as a defender of English, he asked for voters support to make sure your grandchildren learn Spanish because they want to and not because they have to.

Sociologists call it cultural displacement. Its an anxiety about being marginalized and losing your place in line. It can be triggered by anything from protesters waving the Mexican flag, or a Spanish-language billboard, or having to press one for English.

But mostly, it is about fear of changing demographics. For many people, making America great again means making it white again.

According to the Brookings Institution, by 2045, whites will comprise 49.9 percent of the U.S. population, compared with 24.6 percent for Hispanics, 13.1 percent for African-Americans, 7.8 percent for Asians and 3.8 percent for multiracial populations. In 2017, communities of color grew faster than white communities.

No wonder Fox News host Laura Ingraham sounded the alarm about massive demographic changes (that) have been foisted upon the American people.

Recently, the Washington Post provided a sympathetic ear to white people who feel squeezed by changing demographics. And it earned criticism from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

According to a statement the Post released in response to the criticism, reporter Terrence McCoys story captured the perspective of those who feel displaced by demographic change, by conveying what it is like for two white Americans who must themselves adapt to a new America.

The article is set at a poultry plant in Fredericksburg, Pa.,  precisely the kind of hard, dirty and smelly job that Americans usually wont do. There, we meet two exceptions  20-year-old Heaven Engle and her boyfriend, 25-year-old Venson Heim. They dont speak Spanish and dont feel they have to learn it. They skipped college and work in low-skilled jobs for $13-$17 per hour. And theyre both annoyed that theyre surrounded by Latino co-workers who dont speak much English.

The everyday experiences that have long challenged millions of black, Latino and immigrant Americans  the struggle to understand and be understood, feeling unseen, fear of rapid judgments  were beginning to challenge them, too, McCoy writes.

Engle and Heim are now, he writes, coming to understand what it means to be outnumbered.

Gee. What does that feel like?

I swear to God, if they dont say anything in English, Im going to freak out, Engle said at one point of her Latino co-workers. When she hears one of them say the word gringa, she thinks theyre talking about her. And they probably are.

They dont give a rats ass about people with white skin, Heim whined. He dreads a future where whites find themselves in the minority and get paid back because, as he told McCoy, we havent been the nicest race.

The NAHJ complained that the story was incomplete because it didnt include the perspective of those Latino workers who are supposedly all over the chicken plant. NAHJ President Hugo Balta said it contributed to the polarization of the Latino community as the others.

Thats the least of the problems with this story. Nuance, context and reality checks are valuable. And if a newspaper is going to play with cultural dynamite, it ought to be more careful with it.

As for white folks who feel displaced, I want to help. As a Mexican-American who has spent much of his life feeling like an outsider, I can get you through this scary time. Here are five survival tips:

Dont see yourself as a victim.

Confront discrimination, and dont let it derail your dreams.

Expect unfairness but take it in stride, work hard and persevere.

Accept that you have to be twice as good as those in the majority.

And when someone tries to tell you up is down and feed you nonsense, call them out on it.

Youll survive. Good luck. Stay strong.

ruben@rubennavarrette.com@realDonaldTrump/Twitter(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump attacked Google in Tuesday morning tweets that accused the company of prioritizing "fake news" in its search results, which the company denies.



The results are rigged against him and other conservatives, he wrote on Twitter.



Trump also alleged that 96 percent of results on 'Trump News' are from National Left-Wing Media but he did not identify a source or any evidence. He appeared to be referring to a story published over the weekend by conservative media company PJ Media that reported 96 Percent of Google Search Results for 'Trump' News Are from Liberal Media Outlets.



Google search results for 'Trump News' shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media," he said. "In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96% of results on Trump News are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous.



Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed," he added.



A Google spokesperson pushed back on the president's allegations, however, saying its search engine algorithm doesn't include any consideration of politics.



"When users type queries into the Google Search bar, our goal is to make sure they receive the most relevant answers in a matter of seconds," the spokesperson said in a statement. "Search is not used to set a political agenda and we don't bias our results toward any political ideology.



"We continually work to improve Google Search and we never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment," the spokesperson added.



A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment expanding on what the president meant by saying the situation "will be addressed."



The presidents tweets come as more tech companies, including Google and Facebook, make investments to limit the spread of misinformation online.



Alphabet, Googles parent company, said in March it planned to invest $300 million over the next three years to combat false content on its platforms, including Google Search and YouTube.



Were focused on combating misinformation during breaking news situations. Bad actors often target breaking news on Google platforms, increasing the likelihood that people are exposed to inaccurate content, Richard Gringas, vice president of news products, said in reference to Google Search. So weve trained our systems to recognize these events and adjust our signals toward more authoritative content.



While we take great care to present the most authoritative information, there are many cases where users can and will find information thats not authoritative.



The company is trying to find other ways to help people understand that not all the results they see are indeed authoritative or accurate, he added.



Trump's attack on Google is just his latest foray into championing recent grievances issued by conservative media figures who have accused tech companies of unfairly targeting conservative voices.



The president has also threatened to probe allegations of Twitters shadowbanning conservative accounts, making it more difficult for their profiles to be discovered in the search engine.



And most recently, Trump told a crowd at a campaign rally in West Virginia that he rejected Facebook and Twitter's recent move to suspend or remove accounts that it accused of spreading fake news or hate speech in social posts, including platforms like conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' InfoWars.



"You have Twitter, or whatever you have, you have Facebook. But you can't pick one person and say, 'We don't like what he's been saying, he's out,'" Trump said. "So we will live with fake news.



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips honored Lifetouch National School Studios, located in Chattanooga, with the Commissioners Award of Excellence for Workplace Safety and Health.

Lifetouch has demonstrated a strong commitment to maintaining a safe and healthy workplace," said Commissioner Phillips. The evaluation criteria for this award are challenging, and this company has worked extremely hard to meet and exceed the standards the award requires.

Commissioner Phillips presented the award to representatives of the company at the Voluntary Protection Programs Participants' Association and Tennessee Safety and Health Conferences Safety+ National Symposium which is currently taking place in Nashville.

The Commissioners Award of Excellence honors Tennessee employers and employees who meet a required number of hours without workplace injuries serious enough to cause an employee to miss a day of work. The number of hours required to be considered for the award is based on the size of the company.

It is a great achievement for a company to receive the Commissioners Award, said Tennessee OSHA Assistant Commissioner Steve Hawkins. Maintaining these standards isnt easy, but a safe and healthy workplace is critical for employees and it is a good business practice for Tennessee employers.

Lifetouch is a printing operation which produces photographs and yearbooks. The facility has qualified for the Commissioners Award by working more than 800,692 hours without a lost time workplace injury or illness.

For more information on the Commissioners Safety Award and other TOSHA award programs contact TOSHAs Nashville office at (800) 325-9901.The secret is out. The far northcentral side of San Antonio is the place to live. Booming with development, the 281 North corridor is bringing residents outside of Loop 1604 the best of both country and city living. Gently rolling hills, peaceful, star-filled nights, top-rated schools and all the conveniences of the big city, just minutes away all combine to make this area highly desirable.

Among the most well-planned communities in this area is the attractive community of Kinder Ranch. This master planned community will feature Imagine Homes in their newest neighborhood, Sunday Creek. Developed to preserve the natural beauty of the Texas Hill Country, Sunday Creek at Kinder Ranch has been designed to create an impressive balance between residential development and nature. This neighborhood features, walking trails, recreation areas, and generous amounts of open spaces that are left undisturbed to preserve the natural beauty of the landscape and improve the quality of the storm water that flows through the community, said Jim Bastoni, owner of Imagine Homes. He continued, Much of the community has been protected as greenbelts and natural preserves, and amenities have been developed using natural Texas Limestone. Additionally, Sunday Creek at Kinder Ranch offers homeowners a community recreation center with a meeting room, covered patio and a Jr. Olympic swimming pool.

This new community, scheduled to open in the Fall of 2018, will feature eight thoughtful and efficient floor plans, ranging from 2,009 square feet to 3,791 square feet. Both single and two-story homes will be available to build with prices ranging between $300,000 and $400,000. The Sequoia floor plan with 3,522 square feet is the featured model home and is available to tour seven days a week, said Bastoni. He added, This stunning home is fully decorated with todays latest interior design trends and offers buyers a glimpse into what their home can be. Currently, six inventory homes are under construction and will be ready for move-in this Fall. Homebuyers can also choose to build from the ground up! This option allows buyers the opportunity to select a floorplan that best suits their needs and personalize the home with customized options and finishes. This process generally takes between four and five months.

In addition to contemporary floorplans, desirable architectural design elements and on-trend finishes, Imagine Homes builds a quality home that is energy efficient and environmentally responsible. John Friesenhahn, owner of Imagine Homes said, We are leading the way in building beautiful homes with the latest in new green building technology using open cell foam insulation--which keeps the attic within eight degrees of the indoor temperature year-round for extreme comfort. Spray foam insulation with sealed, semi-conditioned attic space keeps the attic so cool it doesnt even melt chocolate! Why worry about a comfortable temperature in an attic? Friesenhahn explains that A comfortable attic means you will have a comfortable home and save money. But a well-insulated attic is only the beginning for an Imagine Home. Each house is built with low-e double-pane, vinyl-frame windows, 16 SEER air conditioners, dual flush high-efficiency toilets, and more. These thoughtful construction choices are not only more efficient, but also contribute to the physical comfort of the homeowner and provide financial savings through lower utility bills. This national award-winning system delivers high performance new homes to San Antonio home buyers that result in savings of up to 50% on new home heating and cooling costs, said Friesenhahn.

Imagine Homes is one of the few San Antonio homebuilders that currently qualifies as 100 percent certified as an Energy Star homebuilder. In fact, Imagine Homes was honored as being an Energy Star Market Leader in certifying their homes under the Energy Star program. This means all Imagine homes meet the Energy Star criteria. Every Imagine Homes home is tested, certified and is approximately 50 percent more efficient than the average home.

With homes certified by this program, every one of Imagine Homes home owners not only enjoys lower energy costs and increased comfort, but also has peace of mind knowing that this certification and building system help reduce energy use, water consumption, greenhouse gases and solid waste generation, said Friesenhahn.

Beautiful homes with functional, original floorplans, energy efficient, award-winning designs, all in a location that harmoniously blends nature with a master-built community. Thats Sunday Creek at Kinder Ranch. For more information, visit the new community located at 28917 Windlesham Way, San Antonio, TX 78260. Or call Sergio Martinez or Donna Haggard, both New Home Consultants, at (210)807-3570.

Editors Note: This content is made possible by kinder Ranch. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com.When other 18-year-olds are graduating high school, getting jobs or heading to college with a future full of hope, a forgotten population of youth is finding themselves alone and often hopeless.

Each year, more than 1,500 Texas foster youth and 500 in the San Antonio area age out of the foster care system and are thrust into the world at age 18. It is estimated that half of the homeless population in America was once in foster care and that 40 percent of all foster children will be homeless by age 19. These youths lack crucial life skills to survive independently. They navigate adulthood with street smarts and face staggering risks for homelessness, pregnancy, addiction, incarceration and sex trafficking. Many never finish high school, and few will go to college.

San Antonio nonprofit THRU Project guides these youths to successful, independent adulthood. THRU Project provides advocacy, a caring mentor and resources like cell phones and bus passes. Youth in the program also learn life skills and the importance of finishing their education and managing the responsibility of a job and paying bills.

Our program is helping youth at a time where they are most vulnerable. They have no one and nowhere to turn, says Steve ODonnell, a San Antonio businessman and former foster child. ODonnell co-founded THRU Project in 2011 with CEO Elaine Andries Hartle, who struggled to find assistance for her own foster sons when turned 18.

This year, THRU Project took a bold step to help ten youth find stable, affordable housing. Those who qualify for the Next Step housing program can live in an apartment for up to one-year rent-free. The program stipulates they must be employed, attend life skills workshops, meet with their mentors, contribute to a savings account monthly, and establish and maintain a personal budget.

The program has been life-changing for foster youth like Emelia, Moet, and Jacob. Emelia had a baby at 16 when her mother died suddenly. She was separated from her child in foster care but is now working hard to build a stable home. Moet never knew stability or self-assurance in foster care, but with a place to call her own, she is now finding new confidence to succeed. Jacob struggled to find a job or housing when he aged out, and he ended up living in his car. Today, he has an apartment, a job and is working on obtaining his degree.

You can support foster youth. Change their life, as well as your own.

 Volunteer to be a mentor and become the one trusted adult in a youths life.

 Donate to cover costs of recruiting and training mentors, providing life skills training and expanding the youth housing program.

 Purchase a table or sponsor our annual Sparkles & Spurs Gala on Friday, Oct. 12, 2018, at the San Antonio Country Club.

For more information, go to www.THRUproject.org.The United States of America has urged President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his political rivals to respect the rule of law, and to work together to enact necessary reforms that will prevent future poll disputes as was witnessed in the July 30 harmonised elections.

This comes as opposition leader Nelson Chamisa did not rule out the chances of him embarking on mass protests against Mnangagwas hotly-disputed victory in the plebiscite  a day after his party had appeared to accept, albeit grudgingly, Fridays ruling by the Constitutional Court (Con-Court) which dismissed his bid to have the Zanu PF leaders election victory nullified.

In a statement, the spokesperson of the US State Department, Heather Nauert, said Mnangagwa and the opposition should work together to end acts of violence and to engender respect for human rights.

The United States remains concerned over politically-motivated human rights violations and abuses, and acts of post-electoral retribution in Zimbabwe.

Violence and unlawful activity should not be part of the political process, and those responsible for such transgressions must be held accountable.

Human rights and fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of expression and association, must be respected, and victims and witnesses of human rights violations and abuses deserve protection, Nauert said on Friday.

Mnangagwa was credited with presiding over arguably the most peaceful election process in post-independent Zimbabwe  where for the first time the opposition was able to campaign freely in rural areas which are traditionally strongholds for the ruling Zanu PF.

However, the peaceful environment was marred by deadly violence which broke out in central Harare on August 1 when opposition supporters clashed with police, leading to the deaths of at least six people following the intervention of the army  which used live ammunition to break up the ugly protests.

Following the protests, the opposition also asserted that suspected security agents had been involved in retributive exercises in which they targeted senior MDC Alliance officials and polling agents  following the insistence by Chamisa that he had won the presidential election.

All this was seen by observers as harming Mnangagwas quest to mend years of Zimbabwes political and economic isolation by Western governments.

Prior to this, analysts had said the 75-year-old Zanu PF leader had done enough to project himself and his administration as being significantly different from the ousted Robert Mugabe  who was accused of despotism and running Zimbabwe into the ground.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has extended sanctions on Zimbabwe, in the aftermath of the poll dispute, as well as the ensuing damaging allegations of human rights violations.

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Related Zimbabwe Latest NewsZimbabwe can no longer afford to remain polarised and intolerant for the reconstruction of the country to bear fruit, a leading human rights defender has said.

Frances Lovemore, the director of the Counselling Services Unit (CSU), said she was worried about acts of retribution against MDC Alliance followers blamed on Zanu PF supporters and soldiers in the aftermath of the July 30 elections.

Lovemore (FL), who has been accused by President Emmerson Mnangagwas government of fabricating reports about the alleged human rights violations that followed the historic polls, told our reporter Tapiwa Zivira that the CSU had attended to a number of victims of political violence.

She dismissed allegations that she chickened out of a meeting with vice-president Constantino Chiwenga because she could not defend the lies.

Frances said she was ready to meet Chiwenga any time as long as there was a clear agenda. Below are excerpts from the interview.

TZ: Please tell us briefly what motivated the setting-up of the CSU and what does it do?

FL: The Counselling Services Unit was established in 2003 as a registered medical facility to provide access to medical treatment, psychological counselling and rehabilitation for victims of organised violence and torture in Zimbabwe.

It evolved from Amani Trust after the escalation in state-sanctioned violence in 2000 when many people required medical and surgical treatment for their injuries, and were too afraid to attend the local hospitals and clinics.

The clinic provides access to best practice medical and psychological treatment through a network of service providers countrywide, and is non-partisan in all services provided.

CSU is a member of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), an independent, international health organisation that supports the rehabilitation of torture victims and works for the prevention of torture worldwide.

CSU adheres to the principles of the United Nations Convention against Torture and utilises the gold standard Istanbul Protocol for treatment and medical and legal documentation of survivors of torture.

CSU upholds the principles of access to rehabilitation for victims of torture as clearly articulated in the African Charter on Human And Peoples Rights, and the United Nations Convention against Torture, and in particular that rehabilitation includes redress and restitution and compensation.

CSU also believes that the state has the responsibility to provide the services of rehabilitation, and envisions that the government of Zimbabwe will uphold its commitment as articulated in the constitution, section 53, that no person may be subjected to physical or psychological torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Torture now needs to be defined and criminalised in Zimbabwe.

TZ: How many victims of political violence have you assisted since you were established and is there an identifiable pattern you can map in terms of violations?

FL: Over the past 18 years more than 25 000 people from across the political, ethnic and social divides in Zimbabwe have utilised our services, and from a recent national community mapping activity, we estimate that many thousands more would benefit from our psychological rehabilitation and support programmes.

Sadly, many of the primary beneficiaries have had multiple incidents of abduction and torture over the years.

The patterns of violence and torture are strongly correlated to elections and periods of perceived threat to the state, and are targeted at those who are viewed as enemies, so sadly over the years, many who have been dismissed from the ruling party have had to seek our services for injuries and threats.

The patterns can also be directly linked to inflammatory rhetoric in the media, and the political parties hate speech and lack of respect for the fundamental human rights and freedoms of all Zimbabweans.

As very little redress has occurred for victims, one of our current concerns is that if political tolerance is not rapidly promoted and practiced, retributive violence may become more prevalent.

TZ: You are part of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, which claims to have recorded tens of human rights violations since the July 30 elections. Where do you fit in that matrix?

FL: CSU is a founder member of the Forum, through the Amani Trust, and as a member, works collaboratively with the Forum in preparing these important reports documenting human rights violations, assisting in referrals to the Chapter 12 commissions, assisting victims to report to the police who have a mandate to protect citizens from violence and torture and in preparation for legal processes to obtain redress for victims.

CSU has championed the need for a reconciliation and reparation process since the inaugural conference in 2003 when these critical national issues were first discussed by civil society.

The formation of the Chapter 12 commissions is partly as a result of intense lobbying by members of the Forum over many years, and CSU has played its role in assisting in the advocacy for the rights of victims.

TZ: How many people have you assisted yourself post July 30 and what is the nature of the violations?

FL: In the early years of CSU we were a small group of medical professionals who were prepared to provide access to treatment for victims, often under threat from the state, and often having to work away from the premises.

Many victims were threatened to not seek treatment and were assaulted again after leaving the hospital.

Over time more medical professionals have been willing to accept and treat victims openly and we now have a network of dedicated consultants and practitioners who provide treatment services.

As CSU, we do not individualise members of the team, we have a team approach to all services that are provided and we all contribute to the final goal of a well-rehabilitated survivor who is able to function fully in his or her community.

TZ: The government has accused you of fabricating reports of human rights violations. What is your response to that?

FL: CSU has a golden rule on the clinical management and reporting of victims of human rights violations, unless a person has been seen and treated through our network of services, the violation does not form part of our record of violations.

Therefore, all violations reported by CSU have been physically verified, and all victims are encouraged to make police reports on their violations, therefore the government has access to their own reports of human rights abuse.

Since the operationalisation of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, CSU has referred many of its cases to the secretariat, who have been seized with the cases.

CSU looks forward to a professional relationship with the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission where hopefully, much of what has happened in Zimbabwe will be investigated openly and appropriate remedy for the victims, as articulated by the victims, will be mandated by the commission.

TZ: How about accusations that you chickened out of a meeting with Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga because you could not defend the human rights violations claims?

FL: The invitation to meet the vice-president was not a formal invitation from either himself or his office, and was conveyed to me via a Zimbabwean friend.

As the issues to be discussed are of great importance, as always, CSU and myself prefer to have formal meetings with an agreed agenda, and to attend meetings with all the representatives of the contributing organisations to the report.

I am not mandated to speak on my own to a report, which is prepared by the members of the Forum.

The vice-president is welcome to invite us for a discussion on the implications for all Zimbabweans of the events that are unfolding after the elections.

CSU, like the vice-president, is gravely concerned with regard to the implications of continued violations of human rights, and beseeches the government to uphold the constitutional freedoms of all Zimbabweans.

TZ: Did you assist any victims of the August 1 army shootings in Harare and what was the nature of their injuries?

FL: Several victims of the August 1 shootings required surgery to remove shrapnel, and CSU facilitated the procedures.

CSU also treated several victims who sustained fractures and severe soft tissue injuries from the beatings both on August 1, and subsequently during the nights of the first few days of August.

TZ: Did any of those victims die while still under your care?

FL: Patients seeking services from CSU are in the process of recovery, and no one has died while under our care.

TZ: Would you say there is any deterioration in the human rights situation after the elections?

FL: Sadly, after the elections, there has been deterioration in political tolerance and freedom, and many people fear for their safety and for retribution.

CSU strongly recommends that the state and government uphold the constitution and recognise the fundamental human rights and freedoms for all Zimbabweans regardless of political party membership, religion or race, and actively promotes tolerance and protects all citizens.

TZ: According to the Sunday Mail, the presidents spokesperson attacked you personally, even mentioning your race. Do such things not make you feel vulnerable given the tendency by authorities in Zimbabwe to target human rights defenders like you for persecution?

FL: Sadly, the unwarranted attack on myself and my race reflects the reality that 38 years after independence, we are still grappling with identity issues, and choose to use race as a vilifying mechanism.

It is highly indicative of the reality that we have never, as a nation, sought healing and reconciliation, nor have we ever confronted the hard issues of why we remain polarised and divided on so many key development issues and are unable to depoliticise so much of our activity.

As a medical practitioner, trained in Zimbabwe and in practice for nearly 30 years, and deeply committed to social justice for all Zimbabweans, I truly believe that after this election, it is imperative that a national dialogue and national healing becomes a priority of the new government.

Zimbabwe can no longer afford to remain so polarised and intolerant and we need to heal the very deep wounds that have been inflicted on all Zimbabweans.

 The Standard

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Related Zimbabwe Latest NewsLegit.ng earlier reported that talented Nollywood actor Jim Iyke was allegedly arrested in Lagos on Monday, August 27, at the Lagos airport.

According to reports, the young man was arrested for reportedly slapping a Dana Air staff. This news on hitting the internet spread like wild fire and became a topic of discussion.

Just few hours after this incident, the actor in a phone discussion with Pulse revealed that there was no arrest as he is still surprised about how people frame up stories.

READ ALSO: 10 special photos of Mercy Johnson and her hubby to celebrate their love of 7 years

Iyke said: I am surprised at this news. I am presently seating at the Dana Air office about to board my flight. I missed my flight and when I got to the airport, I wanted to try and see if I could make it because the plane hadnt gone, they even tried speaking to the pilot but it was late. They had to put me on the next flight. My sister just called me to ask this same question because she said her old school friend called her and told she held about my arrest. I have been at the airport for two hours. I dont know why people will come up with stories like this.

It was earlier reported that Nollywood actor Yul Edochie in a recent interview disclosed that he isn't taking after his father or under any pressure to be better, rather he is trying to fulfill his dream.

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Nawa o!

How Smoking Weed Made Me Go Into Music - Jim Iyke | Legit.ng TV - on Legit.ng TV.

Source: Legit.ngAdesina reveals what would have happened if Buhari didn't win 2015, speaks on alleged cabal in Aso Rock

A presidential aide, Femi Adesina has said that there would not have been a country called Nigeria if his principal did not win the 2015 presidential election.The presidency has reacted to an audio recording in circulation of a voice reportedly belonging to Leah Sharibu asking the President Muhammadu Buhari administration for help.

In a statement by Garba Shehu who is the senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity on Monday, August 27, he said the president was aware of the audio recording and that the secret service was analysing it.

Shehu said the administration was focused on bring back Sharibu and other persons abducted by Boko Haram.

READ ALSO: Breaking: National Assembly rejects INECs budget of N189b

He wrote: We are aware of the audio in circulation concerning the unfortunate situation of our daughter, Leah Sharibu.

In dealing with terrorists, nothing is too trivial. The secret service is analyzing the voice. Our reaction will follow the outcome of the investigation.

For President Buhari, nothing will be spared in bringing all our girls home. He will not rest until all of them are freed."

Legit.ng had reported that Leah Sharibu reportedly called on President Muhammadu Buhari to rescue her from Boko Haram captivity.

Sharibu is the only Christian among the abducted 119 students of Government Girls Secondary School, Dapchi, Yobe state.

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The Cable reports that it exclusively obtained Sharibu's latest picture as well as the audio of her plea to Buhari.

Legit.ng gathers that in the audio tape, the girl, who has been held in captivity for seven months, appealed that her family members be assisted.

Street Gist: Mixed reactions trail Boko Haram's release of Dapchi Girls - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit Newspaper- Yemi Osinbajo has said the problem with Nigeria is not simple geographical restructuring

- The vice president noted that prudent management of national resources and providing for the people properly were better ideas for Nigerias development challenges

- He added that Nigerians must not allow themselves to be drawn into the argument that the country's problems stemmed from some geographical restructuring

The vice president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has said that simple geographical restructuring is not the problem with Nigeria.

He said that prudent management of national resources and providing for the people properly were better ideas for Nigerias development challenges.

Laolu Akande, a senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, office of the vice president, communicated Osinbanjos view in a statement in Abuja on Monday, August 27.

The vice president was fielding questions from a cross-section of Nigerians at a town hall meeting in Minnesota, U.S., on Sunday, August 26.

READ ALSO: National Assembly rejects INECs budget of N189b

Osinbajo spoke on a wide range of issues covering the economy, anti-corruption, health, agriculture among others. According to the vice-president, the problem with Nigeria is not a matter of restructuring.

He said that Nigerians must not allow themselves to be drawn into the argument that Nigerias problems stemmed from some geographical restructuring.

It is about managing resources properly and providing for the people properly, that is what it is all about.

I served for eight years as Attorney General in Lagos State and one of the chief issues that we fought for in Lagos state was what you call fiscal federalism. We felt that there was a need for the states to be stronger, for states to more or less determine their fortunes.

For example, we went to court to contest the idea that every state should control, to a certain extent, its own resources; we were in court at that time up to the Supreme Court and the court ruled that oil-producing states should continue to get 13 per cent derivation.

While we were at the Supreme Court only the oil-producing states and Lagos were interested in resource control, everybody else was not interested in resource control for obvious reasons.

Now, that is the way the argument has always gone, those who have the resources want to take all of it, while those who do not have want to share from others.

He said that Nigeria must create the environment that allowed for people to realise themselves economically because that truly was what the challenge was with Nigeria.

Osinbajo said that unless Nigerians were able to deal with the fundamental questions around corruption, their economic circumstance would keep going one step forward, two steps backwards.

READ ALSO: Kwankwaso set to officially declare presidential bid on Wednesday, August 29

All that we have been able to deal with is grand corruption. When we started the TSA, the whole point was to aggregate all of the funds of government that were in private banks.

So, we put all of the money in the central bank so that we could at least see the movement of money and by doing so, we were able to save 50 per cent of the corruption that was going on then.

Relying on OPEC statistics on oil revenues accruable to Nigeria under successive administrations between 1990 and 2014, the vice-president said not much was done in infrastructure development in spite of the huge oil revenues earned.

He said that under the Babangida/ Abacha administrations (1990  1998) Nigeria realised 199.8 billion dollars.

"Under the Obasanjo / YarAdua governments (1999  2009), the country got 401.1 billion dollars; and during the Jonathan administration (2010  2014), Nigeria got 381.9 billion dollars from oil.

The question that we must all ask is that what exactly happened to resources? The question that I asked is that where is the infrastructure?

One of the critical things that we must bear in mind and see is that this government despite earning 94 billion dollars, up until 2017, we are spending more on infrastructure and capital than any previous government, so we are spending N1.5 trillion on capital, that is the highest we have spent since 1990, Osinbajo said.

In the area of agriculture, Osinbajo said that the target was to attain self-sufficiency in the production of rice, tomato, among others. According to him, the government is doing a lot of work in agriculture as it has increased local production such that Nigeria is no longer spending five million dollars daily on rice import.

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Today, we are doing 11 million metric tonnes of paddy rice and are now importing only 2 per cent of what we used to import," he said.

Nigerias Ambassador to the US, Sylvanus Nsofor, led other Nigerians to the meeting.

In a previous report by Legit.ng, the vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, said that the present administration is in support of restructuring which is being championed by many Nigerians.

Osinbajo said the administration is in support of anything that would benefit the Nigerian populace.

Speaking while addressing traditional rulers from Ekiti state at the palace of the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe, on Wednesday, June 20, Osinbajo said Nigeria needed peace more than any other thing at this time.

Nigeria is practicing Oligarchy (Nigerian Street Interview) | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng- The ruling APC in Lagos has reacted to the defection of the state chairman of the PDP, Moshood Salvador

- Abiodun Salami, assistant publicity secretary of APC in Lagos, described Salvadors action as a welcome development

- Salvador announced his defection to the APC along with his supporters at his residence in Lagos

The Lagos state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has described Mondays defection of the state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Moshood Salvador, as the end of the opposition party in the state.

He said he took the decision because all his efforts to reposition the PDP were frustrated by some elders of the party. Salvador added that he was leaving PDP because the party abandoned him while he was being detained in connection with the murder of Adeniyi Aborishade.

Recall that Salvador, alongside 10 others were charged with conspiracy and unlawful killing over the July 21 murder. They were arraigned at a Yaba chief magistrates court and remanded in prison.

Aborishade, a PDP member, was murdered during the PDPs visitation meeting that held at Igbosuku Village, Eti-Osa LGA.

An Ikeja high court, however, dismissed the murder charge filed against Salvador based on a Lagos Directorate of Public Prosecutions advice which exonerated him.

Salvador said he could no longer labour in vain in the party, hence his defection to APC with his supporters.

Reacting, Abiodun Salami, assistant publicity secretary of APC in the state, told NAN that PDPs coffin had finally been nailed in the state.

He said that if the chairman of the opposition could defect to the APC, it meant something was seriously wrong with the PDP in the state.

Salami described Salvadors action as a welcome development, saying the party was expecting more defections into the APC both at the state and national levels.

We are happy with the defection of Salvador and others. It is good news to our party the APC and bad omen to PDP. If the chairman of a party could move to another party, it means something is seriously wrong with the PDP.

We have said it before that PDP is dead in Lagos, and this new development has finally nailed the coffin of the party in the state.

The APC is the progressive party, it is the party to be. People are joining by the day, and we are expecting more defections both at the state and national levels in the coming weeks, he said.

Salami said the party would not discriminate against the defectors but would provide a level playing ground for them to realise their political goals.

In a previous report by Legit.ng, the chairman of the Lagos state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party on Monday, August 27, announced that he had defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress with many other members.

Salvador spoke in Lagos at a press conference where he also gave a figure of 15,000 members of the PDP joining the APC.

He is expected to formally declare on Monday, September 3, at the Agege stadium in Lagos state.

Pastor Adeboye, Imams Should Join Politics to Move Nigeria Forward - Olulade on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit- Rabiu Kwankwaso said he and other APC defectors are regretting their choice to support President Muhammadu Buhari in 2014

- Kwankwaso also ondemned President Buharis approach to revving the nations economy

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant and former Kano state governor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, said he and others who defected from All Progressives Congress (APC) are regretting their decision to support President Muhammadu Buhari against Goodluck Jonathan in 2014.

The senator made this statement in Owerri, Imo state, while condemning President Buhari's approach to revving the nations economy.

The former governor reportedly said, he and those who left APC are fed up with the current administration, hence the defection to PDP.

The Nation reports that Kwankwaso also expressed worry over the poor state of infrastructure in the Southeast, adding that the anomaly can only be corrected by a change of government in the center by 2019.

READ ALSO: Buharis group replies Trump, declares president fit to rule beyond 2019

He said: From North to South, the citizens are looking for a government that would not pay emphasis on religion,ethnicity and culture but national development. PDPs government in 2019 shall bring development and create the adequate platforms that provide jobs for teeming Nigerians.

I have been in Southeast in last few days and I want to say that the state of infrastructure in this region is incredible. It is either that the government lacks the capacity to improve the economy or something. Electricity is important in this country. The people need a government that will be just and provide jobs for teeming young Nigerians.

"The issue of restructuring has been in the front burner. Even in the national conference, I listened and I participated. Everybody has his own version of restructuring. Many want devolution of powers, resource control and many other things. But what I want to assure you is that we will listen to Nigerians.I am on the same page with the Igbo on restructuring. We will do the necessary things to better Nigeria.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that Kwankwaso would officially announce his plan to run for 2019 presidency on Wednesday, August 29.

The senator representing Kano central will join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)'s presidential list at a rally which will take place at the Eagle Square in Abuja.

A statement by the Kwankwaso Presidential Campaign Committee on Sunday, August 26, said dignitaries from all walks of life would be expected at the rally.

Nigeria News Today: Even Atiku Knows He Cannot Spend Only a Term in Office | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng- Kogi Inland Revenue Service (KIRS) has denied allegation of mismanaging N3 billion

- The KIRS said the the monthly revenue the state realised from Dangote Group was just N65 million

- It also denied the existence of any other accounts outside the ones approved by the government

Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KIRS) on Monday, August 27, described the allegation that it diverted N3 billion as spurious and unfounded.

Hassana Salahu, the Director of Administration and Corporate Affairs at KIRS, while addressing journalists in Lokoja said that the monthly revenue the state realised from Dangote Group was just N65 million.

She said that the organisations revenue accounts are domicile in the governors office, denying the existence of any other accounts outside the ones approved by the government.

READ ALSO: I regret supporting Buhari in 2014 - Kwankwaso

Salahu explained that the chairman of KIRS, Yakubu Oseni, was not a signatory to any of the accounts, saying that the service operates cashless operations.

The director said that the last time Dangote Group remitted as much as N1 billion to the KIRS was in 2016, saying that the amount was an accumulation of unremitted taxes for years.

Salahu dismissed the allegation in its entirety, describing it as fake and hate speech.

It would be recalled that the allegation by some section of the media that the service diverted N3 billion to illegal accounts had been circulated in some quarters for days.

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It was alleged that the money was tax proceeds from Dangote Cement and its subsidiaries operating in the state.

Legit.ng earlier reported Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state said the decision of patriotic Nigerians to extend Buharis presidency beyond 2019 was borne out of a genuine desire to deepen good governance and transparency in Nigeria.

The governor who stated this on Saturday, August 18, while fielding questions from some selected international media said President Buhari has saved the nation from economic calamities caused by deep stealing by the previous administrations in the country.

Nigeria Election 2019: What are Bukola Sarakis chances against President Buhari | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit- Femi Fani-Kayode has written the police to postpone the date for his interview

- The police had invited Fani-Kayode for questioning over alleged conspiracy and criminal publication

- Fani-Kayode asked the police to postpone the interview to either September 4 or 5

The former minister of aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has written the police force headquarters in Abuja to ask for the date of his interview to be postponed to either September 4 or 5, as the August 28 date given to him was not feasible.

The Sun reports that the former minister, who described the content of the invitation letter from the police as vague, said that the change of date was so he could attend the ongoing national conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), holding in Abuja.

READ ALSO: I regret supporting Buhari in 2014 - Kwankwaso

Fani-Kayode, in a letter to the Inspector-General of Police Ibrahim Idris, signed by his counsel, Raphael Oyewale and Idunnu Ajina, and dated August 27, said he will honour the said invitation and possibly respond to questions on all facts.

The letter read in part: We have our clients instruction to inform you that he will honour the said invitation and possibly respond to questions on all facts, which may be limited to his knowledge. However, it is essential to unequivocally state that the invitation letter under reference appears vague and ambiguous in its form.

Your office, for reasons best known to them, did not mention the name(s) or person(s) complaining against our client and on what particular subject matter his presence is required. Therefore, in view of the short notice apparent in your letter under reference, our client is constrained to politely request for a rescheduling of the interview date and also that he be furnished with essential particulars of the purpose of his visit to your office.

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Legit.ng earlier reported that the Nigeria Police Force, in a letter dated August 20, invited a Fani-Kayode for alleged conspiracy, criminal and inciting publication.

In the invitation letter with Ref. No CR/3000/IGP.SEC/MU/T.G/ABJ Vol.54/226, the police asked the former minister to appear before SP Usman Garba on August 28, 2018.

News Nigeria Today: Will Senators, Lawmakers Defection from APC Change Power in 2019? | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng- The federal government has again dismissed rumour that President Muhammadu Buhari has plans to Islamise the country

- The secretary general of the federation, Boss Mustapha, said there is no such plan by the Buhari's administration

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation Boss Mustapha has dismissed the allegation that President Muhammadu Buhari has plans to Islamise Nigeria.

The SGF said the allegation is being sold by people seeking to lure Nigeria into a religious war, and insisted no such plot exists in the Buhari's administration.

He made this statement while delivering a speech at the two-day peace summit organised by the Christian Association of Nigeria (Northern Region).

READ ALSO: I am on the same page with Igbo - Kwankwaso speaks on restructuring, 2019

The SGF said Christians in the country only needed to counter the alleged plan by Buhari with their own Christian agenda.

He said: Nobody can kill the gospel. Where is our agenda as Christians? Let us have a Christian agenda that will promote love, including loving the Muslims; we should go out and make disciples of all nations and stop operating under the siege mentality.

I must correct the dummy been sold by some rumour-mongers about the issue of Islamising Nigeria; nobody can (Islamise Nigeria). I want the Church to know that nobody can kill the gospel, lets continue to be our brothers keepers at all times and continue to preach peace.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that a group of northern pastors under the umbrella of Arewa Pastors Peace Initiative, Nigeria (APPIN), Thursday, April 5, in Abuja told President Muhammadu Buhari that those accusing his government of having Islamisation agenda were the opposition elements trying to destabilise the government.

The group who described President Buhari as God sent also promised to liaise with pastors in eastern and western parts of the country to fish out their colleagues allegedly being used by enemies to cause violence by propagating hate speech using the alter of God.

Nigeria News Today: Even Atiku Knows He Cannot Spend Only a Term in Office | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng- Ibrahim Babangida has adopted a candidate for the 2019 presidential election

- The former military head of state said Kabiru Turaki's political agenda can redeem Nigeria from its current situation

- He said Nigeria has been so divided that if given a chance Turaki drive the country into witnessing tremendous development strides

A former head of state, Ibrahim Babangida, has thrown his weight behind a presidential aspirant for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kabiru Turaki.

Babangida said Turaki's presidential agenda is capable of redeeming Nigeria.

Speaking while playing host to the PDP presidential aspirant at his residence in Minna, Niger state, Babangida said, Nigerias Unity must not be compromised.

The former head of state said Nigeria has been so divided that he thinks if given the chance, Turaki drive the country into witnessing tremendous development strides.

READ ALSO: PDP senators tackle Buhari over rule of law

Babangida said: "Your road map can lead Nigeria to prosperity. We are taught in the Military that the Unity of Nigeria must not be compromised. The programmes in your agenda are capable of transforming Nigeria.

From your agenda, I believe you mean well for this country. I think if you are given the chance Nigeria will witness tremendous development. Nigeria has never been so divided. Even though I have adopted you and you emerge as the President I will follow you up so that if you derail, I will remind you of your promises.

The presidential aspirant who was also on a sensitisation visit to PDP stakeholders in Niger state gave Babangida details of how he intend to tackle insecurity, the decline in national security, worsened economy as well as increasing unemployment among the youths.

He solicited the support of the former military president for the realisation of his 2019 presidential ambition.

READ ALSO: Buharis group replies Trump, declares president fit to rule beyond 2019

"If voted into power I will implement policies and programmes that will bring smiles to the faces of Nigerians. I have all that is needed to improve the country. Insecurity is now spreading to Sokoto, Niger, Kebbi, in fact not less than 22 states in the country are under one form of insecurity or the other," he said.

Turaki further accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of failing Nigerians.

I blame the APC government for opening door for theft of public funds. Corruption in public offices are more now than during the PDP.

"They (APC) had accused the PDP of corruption and insecurity, but now that they were given the opportunity, they failed. They could not curtail the Boko Haram menace which has even transcended to what we call killer herdsmen who have now infiltrated many states," he said.

Turaki further headed to Benin Edo state where he met with delegates and members of the PDP.

In Benin, the former minister of special duties and inter governmental affairs said the party needs to pick someone with integrity and credibility as its presidential candidate if it must win the 2019 presidential election.

Turaki said he was eminently qualified to challenge President Muhammadu Buhari come 2019.

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He said that Nigeria needs not only an experienced and a well-educated candidate but also a bridge builder who does not have controversial character. He said such a candidate must not be known to have taken advantage of the system when he was given the opportunity to serve.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Turaki had called for the respect for the rule of law in Nigeria by those in authority.

Turaki said rule of law is sacrosanct and he cannot be selective about that. He also said that Nigerian now look up to PDP as the bibilical Noah's Ark which can redeem the country.

Nigeria Election 2019: What are Bukola Sarakis chances against President Buhari | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng- Parents of Leah Sharibu have confirmed their daughter in a new audio message

- Leah was among the GGSTC Dapchi students who were abducted by Boko Haram in February

- She is the only student still being held by the insurgents among the abducted Dapchi girls

The parents of Leah Sharibu, the only Christian girl still being held captive by Boko Haram insurgents among those abducted at the Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe state, have confirmed the voice in an audio message as their daughters.

The Nation reports that Leahs audio message was published on Monday, August 27, by online news platform The Cable with her recent picture in which she is wearing a brown hijab and sitting on a mat.

Legit.ng gathered that in the picture, Leah was said to have worn a look of defiance as she pleaded for her release.

READ ALSO: PDP senators tackle Buhari over rule of law

The audio is translated thus: I am Leah Sharibu, the girl that was abducted in GGSS Dapchi. I am calling on the government and people of goodwill to intervene to get me out of my current situation.

I also plead to the members of the public to help my mother, my father, my younger brother and relatives. Kindly help me out of my predicament. I am begging you to treat me with compassion. I am calling on the government, particularly the President, to pity me and get me out of this serious situation. Thank you.

According to The Nation, the parents of Leah confirmed the veracity of the voice and both were in agreement that it is their daughters.

The newspaper said that Nathan Sheribu and his wife Rebecca in a telephone interview said that their hope had been re-ignited after hearing their daughters voice and seeing her picture.

I can confirm to you that the voice that spoke is that of my daughter Leah. It is her voice, no doubt. I am happy that I can hear my daughter speak. This has given me hope that she is alive. I am also happy to see her recent picture displayed.

My request is the same with my daughters. The government should play their part now by intensifying efforts to secure her freedom., Sharibu said.

The mothers hope never died, though it has now doubled. She will,however, become happier the day her daughter is freed.

Like her husband, Mrs Sharibu also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to swing into action to free her daughter.

She also called on her daughters captors to unconditionally release her to save her from the trauma she is going through.

Leah, along with her school mates, were abducted in February from their school. Her mates were released after one month but Leah was held back by the insurgents for the reason that she refused to renounce Christianity, her faith.

In the last seven months, there have been doubts as to whether she was still alive as well as whether she was still holding on to her Christian faith.

More than a month ago, the executive director of Complete Care Foundation, Aisha Wakil, who is popularly known as Mama Boko Haram, told reporters in Maiduguri that Leah was alive and holding on to her faith.

I am really worried about Leah Sharibu and her freedom from Boko Haram is very important to me. Leah did not renounce her faith in Christianity, that I can assure you and we shall do everything with both the government and the international organisation to ensure she regain her freedom just like her colleagues that were reunited with her families, she said.

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The development vindicates her statement that Leah is alive.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) warned the federal government not to allow Leah Sharibu, the Dapchi girl still being held by Boko Haram, die in captivity, to avert religious crisis in Nigeria.

Exclusive: Freed Dapchi Girl Recounts Her Ordeal with Boko Haram (Nigeria Breaking News) - on Legit.ng

Source: Legit Nigeria- The NUC has advised universities to publish the names of lecturers found guilty of sexual harassment

- The commission called for drastic measures to be put in place, in order to bring an end to sexual harassment in universities

- According to the NUC, this will stop lecturers from taking advantage of undergraduates

Universities in the country have been advised by the National Universities Commission (NUC) to advertise the names of lecturers found guilty of sexual harassment in newspapers.

The NUC gave the advice via its executive secretary, Prof Adamu Rasheed, during the 33rd conference of the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities which took place at the Redeemers University, Ede, Osun state on Monday, August 27, Punch reports.

READ ALSO: Fani-Kayode asks police to postpone interview on his alleged criminal publication

Legit.ng gathers that Rasheed called for drastic measures to be out in place, in order to bring an end to sexual harassment in universities, which he sad had become rampant.

He said: Sexual harassment is a major challenge in our universities and we must take a decisive action to curb it. Universities should be determined to curb this and we just have to be very serious about it.

It is damaging our reputation and we must do everything to stamp it out. Whenever you sanction somebody, let their names be advertised in newspapers so that the public will be aware that they have been punished. This will stop them from taking advantage of our girls and boys in the universities.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Omananyi Yunusa, a lecturer in the Department of Geology, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger state, was sacked by the management over his involvement in the sexual harassment of a female student of the institution.

Lydia Legbo, the deputy director, information and publications of the university, said the dismissal of Yunusa followed the outcome of investigations into alleged sexual assault on a female student in the department who took a course taught by the lecturer.

Top 3 world universities and their African students - on Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit.ngWhile the rest of the country wallows in hatred and anger, I am feeling a bit more mellow (it's almost spring, my niece got married over the weekend and I can now run for longer than 20 minutes).

Screen grab from the ad.

So, no outright Onions today, just two interesting Orchids and one marketing and reputation management warning (in case none of you saw that, anyway).First up is the new Checkers TV ad for its meal in a box, which promises that you, too, can cook like a Master Chef every day.We see a man in his kitchen, unpacking his meal in a box and, as he does so, the scene behind and around him transforms into a restaurant. Suddenly, a master chef appears. (At this point, let me declare, I am not a great fan of cooking shows, although I do love food so I did not recognise the man.)He offers advice as the meal comes together in delicious high-definition. And that is the promise of the box: not just the ingredients, but also the instructions and advice so you look like the expert. In no time at all (it seems) the meal gets made and looks really good.The man in the kitchen looks up to where his ghost helper was  and hes gone.Apart from the fact the ad showcases the product perfectly, it is also another example of how Checkers has consistently set the bar high when it comes to visual images of food. Theyve done it in the past with their meat, their cheeses and their wines. Its so real, you can almost taste it.And if thats not what the marketing people describe as a call to action (get down to the shop and buy it), then I dont know what is.So, another food-related Orchid for Checkers.Its no wonder that, these days, Checkers has usurped the place of Woollies as somewhere you go for high-class foodThese two pics of tweets  the first from BMW US, and then a follow-up from Audi US  take my fancy because I love comparative and humorous advertising, especially when a brand takes a nudge at a competitor. Thats why BMWs iconic Beats the Bends ad from the 1990s was so appealing.Comparative advertising is not only frowned on in this country, it is outlawed and many a campaign has had to be pulled after complaints for a competitor, which feels another brand has besmirched its reputation. SighWhat happened in these tweets was that BMW decided to showcase its new M4 in front of a spectacular light display. The Audi social media clevers quickly noticed that the lights formed a series of inter-locking rings just like the Audi logo. So they dropped their take  a subtle when you see it message.The tweet went down a treat with the Twitterati. But it didnt all go Audis way. A BMW fan put things into context by noting that an Audi would always be behind a BMW. But an Orchid for Audi US for a little marketing fun. BMW itself used that line later.In case you had your head in the sand the whole of last week, the calamitous collapse of businesses related to the beach racist, Adam Catzavelos, was a warning about the power of social media.Just looking at it from a marketing perspective, I can think of few other examples where the outrage of a social media community had done such damage so quickly.Moral of the story  apart from stay in Europe if you hate black people  is be extremely careful about anything you post on social media.- Pastor Uguru Usani has said that Nigerians will vote more for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 than they did in 2015

- Usani, who is the minister of Niger Delta affairs, says Buhari's victory is not in doubt

- According to him, the president is working and deserves to continue in 2019

Minister of Niger Delta affairs, Pastor Uguru Usani, has expressed confidence that President Muhammadu Buhari will get more votes in the 2019 general elections than he did in the previous one.

The Sun reports that the minister stated this in Calabar during the inauguration of the executives of the Usani Youth Movement at the weekend.

Legit.ng gathers that he said that the Buhari-led administration has trained over 500 youths in human capacity development and various vocations.

According to Usani, the 2019 votes will come from the common man who is pleased with President Buharis performance.

READ ALSO: 2019: Nigeria needs competent leaders, not necessarily strong leaders - Jega

He said: All the abuses and propaganda we hear on the radio is made by the criminals who are afraid of what awaits them during the presidents second term but the common people know that the president is working and deserves to continue, hence the votes the president will garner in 2019 will be more.

The victory of the president in next years election is not in doubt. The second term of the president Buhari administration will show the coming to fruition of the several programmes currently being put in place by the president.

In terms of human capacity building, I know that the government has trained over 500 youths in human capacity development and various vocations particularity in the state and these youths have been empowered with between 300,000 and 500,000."

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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that the minister of labour, Chris Ngige, on Thursday, April 26, in Enugu declared that President Muhammadu Buhari would win the 2019 presidential elections.

Ngige noted that if President Buhari wins a second tenure in 2019, it follows consequentially that by 2023, the southeast would be the only zone that has not tasted the power.

President Buhari on 2019 Presidential Election: Will You Vote For Him? | on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit- Pastor Tunde Bakare of Latter Rain Assembly has revealed how he worked with Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015

- Bakare said that during that crucial year he worked behind the scenes with these then presidential candidates to make sure Nigeria did not disintegrate

- Praising former president Olusegun Obasanjo, Bakare said that between May 1999 and March 2007, Nigerias external reserves compounded from 4.98 billion dollars to 59.37 billion dollars

Pastor Tunde Bakare, the general overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, has revealed how he worked with former Head of states Goodluck Jonathan and President Muhammadu Buhari to save Nigeria from disintegration in 2015.

Bakare disclosed this in his speech at the African Forum Scotland and the Association of Nigerians in Scotland, in Glasgow, United Kingdom, Vanguard reports.

READ ALSO: Nigeria's external reserves drop by $990m in 3 weeks - CBN

He said: Unknown to many observers, in 2015, following the lifting of the embargo, I worked closely behind the scenes with the two leading candidates in the presidential election at the time, then President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP and General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, APC, towards ensuring that the election results were upheld and that the transition was smooth.

I saw, at close quarters, how the fate of a nation could hang on a single decision. Therefore, believe me when I tell you that we escaped disintegration by the whiskers.

Now, four years after that escape, our nation is once again headed on a collision course with probable instability unless the tense atmosphere associated with our four-year electocratic insanity is managed with utmost wisdom.

Once again, I have found myself in the inner workings of the chaotic political process and I can tell you that we live in precarious times. How long can our nation stand if we continue along this path? Is it not time to address the foundations once and for all?

What, then, is the way forward and what is the role of the diaspora? Answers to these questions will constitute the concluding aspects of this address.

However, Bakare praised former president Olusegun Obasanjo for putting together the most competent team by any government in Nigerias history till presently but left an allegedly poor legacy.

He said: Between May 1999 and March 2007, Nigerias external reserves compounded from 4.98 billion dollars to 59.37 billion dollars.

Aside opportunistic factors such as the oil windfall, these results were the outcome of astute economic management by an economic team comprised of the likes of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, Dr. Charles Chukwuma Soludo and Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, among others.

That economic team was arguably the most competent ever assembled by any government in Nigerias history till date. Credit must be given to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo for assembling that team.

One would have thought that this brilliant team that oversaw the Nigerian dimension of Africa Rising would be given priority in the succession plan of then President Olusegun Obasanjo.

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Instead, after a botched third term agenda, the Obasanjo administration bequeathed to Nigeria a legacy of lame and limping successor governments that first sunk Nigeria into a constitutional crisis and then oversaw the plundering of the nations wealth in a free-for-all corruption jamboree.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that Bakare had denied reports that he wanted to run for Nigeria's presidential seat in 2019.

In tweets of his sermon on Sunday, January 14 at his Latter Rain Assembly in Ogba area of Lagos state, the pastor said his message from God was misinterpreted.

According to his tweets, at no point did he say he would run in 2019 or declared open a presidential campaign as was inferred in the reports of his Monday, January 1, sermon.

President Buhari on 2019 Presidential Election: Will You Vote For Him? | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng- The youths from Ohaozara, Onicha and Ivo federal constituency in Ebonyi state wants the seat of their representative in the Senate declared vacant

- The youths, who are being represented by Sonni Ogbuoji, have called on Senate president Bukola Saraki to grant this request

- Their reason is that the lawmaker defected from the PDP to the APC

Senate president Bukola Saraki has been called upon by youths from Ohaozara, Onicha and Ivo federal constituency in Ebonyi South senatorial zone, to declare the seat of their representative vacant for defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The Sun reports that the youths urged Saraki to declare Senator Sonni Ogbuoji's seat vacant for defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Legit.ng gathers that Ogbuoji, who is the vice chairman of Senate committee on appropriation, intends to contest for governorship election in the state on the platform of APC.

In a communique issued after its general assembly meeting in Abakaliki, and signed by its national president, Raymond Okoro, and 23 other members of the executive, the group said the senator did not fulfill the conditions as required by the amended 1999 Nigerias constitution before defecting to the APC.

READ ALSO: President Buhari's victory in 2019 election is not in doubt - Usani

The statement read in part: We call on the National Assembly leadership to declare the seat of Ebonyi South senatorial zone in the senate vacant.

Our senator flagrantly displayed his non-challant attitude, disregard and disrespect for the constituency that gave him the majority of votes that accorded him the privilege of having the mandate on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

When he decamped to APC, he never consulted his constituents and did not follow the required condition as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria before defecting to the APC.

The constitution stipulates that you can only defect from one party to another, only when your party is in crisis or there is a faction in your party, which makes it impossible for you to function effectively in your party and to the best of our knowledge, there is no faction in PDP.

If the senate leadership fails to declare the seat of Ebonyi south zone vacant, we will have no option than to seek judicial interpretation of constitutional provision for defection and clarification of the mandates being held by National Assembly members."

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Recall that Legit.ng previously reported that Senator Sonni Ogbuoji representing Ebonyi South senatorial district, on December 31, 2018, decamped from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The senator showed up at the APC southeast caucus meeting, which held at the Uburu, Ohaozara country home of the Science and Technology minister, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, to announce his defection.

Nigeria News Today: No Lawmaker is in the House of Assembly for the People | on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit Newspaper- The members of the Police Service Commission have promised to give police colleges across Nigeria a face-lift

- The commissioners said the poor state of the colleges is unbelievable

- They said a new look for the colleges would increase the capacity to train more students in the force

The board members of the Police Service Commission (PSC) have condemned the poor state of some police colleges across Nigeria.

The board during a working visit to the commissioner of police in Enugu and the Police College in Oji said they wondered how such a college meant for the training of new recruits be this decrepit.

Reacting to the state of facilities in the college, the PSC board member said it is unbelievable to imagine that the hostels are without roofs, adequate water sources, and lack of toilet facilities for the recruits especially the women who bath outside.

READ ALSO: PDP senators tackle Buhari over rule of law

After the tour round the college, the board members vowed to draw the attention of stakeholders to such an eyesore and promised to give the college a new look in order to increase its capacity to train more students.

Hostel at the Police College Oji, Enugu state. Photo Credit: Chris Oko

Source: Facebook

The members of the commission present included: Nkemka Jombo-Ofo the host commissioner in Enugu, Rommy Mom, Hajia Najatu Muhammed and Austin Braimoh.

READ ALSO: Buharis group replies Trump, declares president fit to rule beyond 2019

Also speaking during the tour of the facilities, the commissioner representing the Chairman of Police Service Commission, Austin Braimoh said the PSC would continue to confer with the governor of the state on the commission's efforts to build a model police force.

He also said the PSC in a bid to fulfill the mandate given to it by President Buhari will ensure there is a new face-lift of the Nigerian police.

The members of the police service commission's board have promised to give police colleges are face-lift. Photo Credit: Chris Oko

Source: Facebook

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the Nigeria Police Force would set up an Explosive Ordinance (EOD) training school in Borno.

The move by the police is aimed at checking the proliferation of indiscriminate Improvised Explosive Device attacks by Boko Haram insurgents in the state.

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The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Kpotum-Idris, during an interactive session with officers and men of the Borno state police command in Maiduguri said that the school would be sited in Maiduguri.

He also said that work had already stated on the project which is currently at an advanced stage.

If any police officer misbehaves with you, call any of these numbers on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng- Shehu Sani recalls different ways the west had insulted Africans in the past while condemning Donald Trump's comment against Buhari

- Sani says it is time for African leaders to begin to look inwards and defend their territorial integrity

- He declares that Trump crossed the line with his comment

The senator representing Kaduna central district at the National Assembly, Shehu Sani, has come down hard on President Donald Trump for reportedly calling his Nigerian counterpart lifeless after a meeting.

Sani declared that it was the height of Trumps contempt for Africa for him to describe President Muhammadu Buhari with such demeaning word.

In his statement reported by Premium Times, Sani said: First our continent Africa was called a shithole, then a Black woman Omarosa was called a dog and now our president was called lifeless.

READ ALSO: Buharis group replies Trump, declares president fit to rule beyond 2019

President Trump contempt for Africa and the black race has become a component of his character and conduct and it stands condemned.

Trump words, if actually uttered against President Buhari, is an attack on the honour of our country and our race.

African leaders must come out of their cowardly shell and defend the integrity and moral uprightness of their people whenever its under attack by ultra right leaders.

Its ironic that the same President Trump that publicity applauded our president can go behind him and uttter such a derogatory and demeaning remarks. Its time African leaders look within the continent for their political and economic prosperity than going to those who will humiliate them.

The lifeless statement against our president stands condemned.

President Trump has crossed the line of decency. Trumps statement against our President stands against the spirit and principles of American values and democracy, Sani said.

In a separate post on his Facebook wall, the senator added: The rise of the far right in the west and the new wave of protectionism and anti globalization agenda, are enough signals to send a clear message to African leaders to end the culture and the humiliating voyage of seeking salvation and prosperity for their countries from leaders with no respect for our race.

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Africas future lies within the continent.

Legit.ng earlier reported that the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) on Monday, August 27, declared that the Nigerian president is fit and capable to govern the country beyond 2019 as against claims linked to his United States of American counterpart that he is lifeless.

Street Gist: What Are You Proud of As a Nigerian? | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng News- Two South African ladies have been sentenced to 18 and 14 years imprisonments for the murder of a school girl

- According to court reports, they burnt the 19-year-old girl for dating one of their ex-boyfriends

- They burnt her while recording a video of the victim screaming as they laughed

Identified as Gugulethu Thwala and Koketso Moyo, they two ladies have been sentenced to jail jail for the murder of a school girl identified as Boitumelo Dlamini. According to reports, they burnt her alive for dating one of their ex-boyfriend, Tokelo Makhelepho.

Gugulethu and Koketso in the company of two others who are yet to know their fate, abducted and burnt Dlamini to death while recording a video of her screaming as they laughed.

The two ladies who appeared rather solemn during their court session, were sentenced to 18 and 14 years respectively for the murder and both got an additional 5 years for kidnapping.

READ ALSO: I wont criminalize gay men and women - Presidential aspirant Donald Duke says

The two women sentenced to jail, the murdered school girl Source: Twitter

Source: Twitter

Mosopi, Koketso Moyo, Gugulethu Sharon Thwala, and Victor Pilane had been charged with kidnapping and murdering Boitumelo Dlamini.

READ ALSO: Meet Bill Oxley, the CIA agent who claimed to have killed reggae icon Bob Marley

The four allegedly kidnapped Dlamini at Eletsa High School in Letlhabile near Brits on June 18, 2015, after Mosopi accused her of dating her boyfriend. Dlamini was allegedly doused with petrol and set ablaze.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News on Legit.ng News App

Get the hottest gist on Africa Love Aid

Top 3 Nollywood Stars: Who Earns More Than Others? | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit- The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) says the invasion on the hideouts of the armed bandits took place between August 25 and 27, 2018

- Air Commodore Ibiunle Daramola confirms that many of the armed bandits were killed in the attacks

- The NAF promises to continue to dominate the area and ensure criminal elements are brought to justice

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), on Tuesday, August 28, announced that its men on operation Diran Mikiya have successfully killed many armed bandits in a raid on the Bayan Ruwa and Rugu forests in Zamfara state.

In a statement signed by Air Commodore Ibiunle Daramola, its spokesperson, the Nigerian Air Force said the attacks on the bases of the armed bandits happened between August 25 and 27.

The attack on Bayan Ruwa was executed following an encounter with a notorious group of armed bandits by own ground forces whilst conducting clearance operations on August 25, 2018.

READ ALSO: Buharis group replies Trump, declares president fit to rule beyond 2019

The troops called for close air support and the ATF dispatched a ground attack aircraft as well as an attack helicopter to the location. The aircraft supported the ground forces of sector 3 to inflict maximum damage on the criminal elements.

On 26 August 2018, an attack helicopter on armed reconnaissance around same location sighted makeshift structures within a forested area suspected to be a new hideout being developed by the bandits that survived the attack of the previous day.

The helicopter subsequently engaged the location. Some of the bandits, who were seen attempting to flee the location, were mopped up by subsequent follow-on attacks, the statement said.

It further revealed that armed reconnaissance missions conducted on August 26 and 27, 2018, revealed the presence of some armed bandits at a settlement east of Hayin Alhaji as well as some warehouse-like structures deep inside Rugu forest.

It said these hideouts by the bandits.

Several armed bandits and a considerable number of rustled cattle were seen around one of the makeshift warehouses.

Accordingly, the warehouses and the criminals operating there were attacked by the combat helicopters leading to the destruction of the makeshift buildings and neutralization of several armed bandits.

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The ATF will continue to dominate the area through armed reconnaissance and air interdiction missions to completely decimate the armed bandits in order to ensure a return to normalcy in Zamfara and other states in the north west.

All persons involved in armed banditry in the area are therefore advised to renounce violence, surrender to security agencies and hand over their weapons, it said.

Legit.ng earlier reported that the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), on Saturday, May 5, unveiled two Mi-35M helicopter gunships that the federal government had since ordered from Russia.

The induction ceremony was conducted as part of the activities of the 54th anniversary of the NAF which is currently ongoing in Kaduna state.

Nigeria Latest News: Over 57 Suspected Gay Newbies Arrested by Police | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit Nigeria- Criminal gangs in Kaduna state are now in a serious trouble as the police and religious leaders have agree to work together to ensure that the state is peaceful

- The state officers spokesman, Yakubu Sabo, said the decision was followed by a meeting that the leaders had with the commissioner of police, Ahmad Abdulrahaman

- Abdulrahaman urged leaders to talk to their youths on the need to eschew violence and live in harmony with one another

The police, traditional and religious leaders on Tuesday, August 28, agreed to work together in flushing out criminal gangs destabilising the peace in parts of Kaduna state.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports a statement issued by the police spokesman in the state, Yakubu Sabo, stated that the decision followed a meeting with the commissioner of police, Ahmad Abdulrahaman and leaders of the JNI and CAN.

It said that the meeting, which was in reaction to recent communal violence in Unguwan Yero and Kwaru areas of Kaduna, agreed that the police would carryout daily raids of all black spots to flush out the criminals.

READ ALSO: PDP senators tackle Buhari over rule of law

The meeting was attended by districts and village heads, officials of Jamaatu Nasril Islam (JNI) and Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

The commissioner tasked the stakeholders to cooperate with the effort the Kaduna state police command in ensuring peaceful coexistence among the diverse groups and curtail crimes within the state.

He enjoined the leaders to talk to their youths on the need to eschew violence and live in harmony with one another.

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app

The commissioner assured the leaders that the police command will ensure that justice prevails and perpetrators of the recent violence at Unguwan Yaro and Kwaru will be fished out and brought to justice.

It said that the various leaders pledged their support and ensure all hoodlums in their communities were fished out and not allowed to incite violence.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the police command in Kaduna state declared that its officers arrested no fewer than 23 persons in connection with the alleged killing of a member of Sara Suka, a street gang in the state.

Muhktar Aliyu, the police public relations officer in the command, said the arrest occurred on Sunday at about 6:30pm in Kawo area of Kaduna.

Aliyu said: "What happened was that a 27-year-old member of the street gang, Ibrahim Ashiru lost his life when he allegedly claimed to have renounced his membership of the gang."

Are Nigerian Policemen the worst in the world? - on Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit.ng- President Muhammadu Buhari commended the government of Denmark for establishing a dairy farm in Kaduna

- The president said it will go a long way to reduce the perennial farmers and herders clashes in Nigeria

- President Buhari noted that the establishment of dairy farms are economically viable as cattle herders will realize productive considerations

President Muhammadu Buhari Monday, August 27, said an initiative on dairy farming being championed by the Kingdom of Denmark and the Kaduna state government would go a long way in curbing clashes between cattle herders and farmers in the country.

Receiving His Excellency, Torben Gettermann, the ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark in a farewell audience at State House, Abuja, the president in a statement by Femi Adesina, special adviser on media and publicity, noted that establishment of dairy farms, as being promoted by the Kingdom of Denmark, "will save the country from the almost perennial problem of clashes between herders and farmers, made worse by population explosion."

President Buhari observed that when the dairy farms are "economically viable, the cattle herders will see the need to stay in one place, as they will realize that productive considerations, rather than the number of heads of cattle, are more important."

READ ALSO: PDP senators tackle Buhari over rule of law

President Buhari received the outgoing Ambassador of Denmark, Torben A. Gettermann in a farewell audience at the State House in Abuja. Photo credit: Sunday Aghaeze

Source: Facebook

Explaining the concept of dairy farming further, Ambassador Gettermann, said the plan was to have 1,000 families of herdsmen with 12,000 heads of cattle in a location, where they will have veterinary attention, schools for their children, and generally live as a small community. A Danish company, Arla, will then buy the milk off the cattle farmers.

The Danish government will bring investors through its Agriculture Counsellor in the country, while the Kaduna State government will provide initial infrastructure and funding.

"Dairy farming is not exactly the same thing as ranching. It will yield better meat, and the Danish company will buy the milk from the farmers. A pilot project will start in Kaduna, and then move to other locations, as it becomes commercially viable," the Ambassador, who spent four years in Nigeria, said.

After 40 years in the service of his country, Ambassador Gettermann is proceeding on retirement.

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Legit.ng previously reported that in reaction to allegations and accusations levied at the Buhari-led regime, claiming that the administration is yet to achieve victory in the fight against the nation-wide insecurity, the presidency on Monday, July 17, decided to release steps it has taken so far in that respect.

Femi Adesina, special adviser on media and publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari has spoken on the efforts of the presidency targeted at curbing violence and large-scale insecurity in the country, Premium Times reports.

Nigerian Herdsmen vs Nigerian Farmers | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit- A 15-year-old boy, David Okorogheye, has proven to be a genius going by his UTME score and WASSCE results

- David has nine A1s in his WASSCE and scored 332 in his UTME

- However, he cannot study his desired course because of his age

David Okorogheye, a 15 year old boy, cannot study the course of his dreams, medicine, at his school of choice, the University of Lagos (UNILAG), because of his age.

The young lad has proven to be more than qualified for the course going by his sterling results. He scored 332 in his Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and also got nine A1s in his West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

However, the required age to study at UNILAG and some other government owned universities is 16, and David is one year shy of the required age.

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Davids parents have come to terms with the fact that he is hindered to study at UNILAG because of his age, and he did not bother to register for the schools post UTME.

According to reports gathered from The Sun, the director of studies of Davids secondary school is not very happy that he would not be able to participate in the 2018/2019 admission exercise, and he called on the government to award scholarship to David.

READ ALSO: Comedian Seyilaw shares photos, video of his multi million naira mansion on Instagram

He said:

Nigeria universities should not be seen as the stumbling block to youths progress. I dont like students being delayed for years. We must tap their potentials at a young age.

I want government, individuals, lawmakers and even corporate bodies to award scholarship to David. Children who are brilliant should be given scholarship.

Meet 15 Year-Old Nigerian Wizkid Who Made 9 As in his WAEC | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng#WomensMonth: How Elevator's female leaders have shattered the glass ceiling

We often hear of the 'glass ceiling' that exists for women in business. Here's how Elevator Agency's recent reorganisation to put more women in leadership positions is setting an example for the next generation.

Group photo of Elevator Agency's new female management team.



The accomplishments of the female senior management team at Elevator read like a career bucket list.



Theres Catherine Mavrocoleas, who became the only female shareholder of Elevator agency when it was still known as Stretch, five years ago; digital director Michelle Geere, who worked on the tweeting badger campaign before joining Elevator; client service director Katherine Freemantle, who says its our collective responsibility to support more women in leadership roles; HR director Imaan Kherekar, who has fully digitised HR at the agency; head of finance, Abeeda Johardien, with strong views on the importance of mentorship; and head of production, Bianca de Vogel, brimming with know-how on the positive outcomes of gender diversity in the workplace.



Here, the six share their views on what can be done to equalise the gender ratio and the pay scale differences that arise as a result of the workforce reflecting a largely male leadership



List a few of the career highlights and challenges youve faced thus far. List a few of the career highlights and challenges youve faced thus far. The accomplishments of the female senior management team at Elevator read like a career bucket list.Theres Catherine Mavrocoleas, who became the only female shareholder of Elevator agency when it was still known as Stretch, five years ago; digital director Michelle Geere, who worked on the tweeting badger campaign before joining Elevator; client service director Katherine Freemantle, who says its our collective responsibility to support more women in leadership roles; HR director Imaan Kherekar, who has fully digitised HR at the agency; head of finance, Abeeda Johardien, with strong views on the importance of mentorship; and head of production, Bianca de Vogel, brimming with know-how on the positive outcomes of gender diversity in the workplace.Here, the six share their views on what can be done to equalise the gender ratio and the pay scale differences that arise as a result of the workforce reflecting a largely male leadership

Getting to know the business: What we do, how we do it and the challenges we face. Defining and implementing policies and procedures that work for the business. Abeeda Johardien. Fully digitising HR

Elaborate on the importance of female leadership, especially in this time of the 3% Movement and increasing calls for inclusion and diversity. Elaborate on the importance of female leadership, especially in this time of the 3% Movement and increasing calls for inclusion and diversity.

Michelle Geere.

Attracting women to the creative industry require leaders who understand, appreciate and reflect diversity. The survival of the industry depends on it. And movements like 3% have proven successful in championing this call and leading to meaningful results  with the percentage of female creative directors increasing to 11% in only a few years.

Imaan Kherekar.

Does the glass ceiling exist for females in SA business? Explain your reasoning. Does the glass ceiling exist for females in SA business? Explain your reasoning.

I do think that a certain element of the boys club mentality still exists at big corporate agencies.



#FairnessFirst: Goodbye, boys' club! Time's up, advertising...

While there are powerful women growing within this space, they have more of a fight to get to high-level positions and need to prove themselves in a far bigger way in order to validate their success.

In the smaller, female-run and -owned agencies Ive worked in, this was not the case internally, as the women made their own rules and defined the companys ethos.

Bianca de Vogel.

Share your thoughts on what more can be done to equalise not only the gender ratio but also the pay scale differences that arise, as a result of the workforce still reflecting largely male leadership. Share your thoughts on what more can be done to equalise not only the gender ratio but also the pay scale differences that arise, as a result of the workforce still reflecting largely male leadership.

Catherine Mavrocleas.

Women need to be confident, brave and truly believe theyre worth it  fighting for their positions and to have a say. Companies need to be more woke. They need to create a culture that truly believes in this important change, rather than just talk about it.

Katherine Freemantle.

Leigh Andrews' articles About Leigh Andrews Leigh Andrews AKA the



Leigh Andrews AKA the #MilkshakeQueen , is former Editor-in-Chief: Marketing & Media at Bizcommunity.com, with a passion for issues of diversity, inclusion and equality, and of course, gourmet food and drinks! She can be reached on Twitter at @Leigh_Andrews

: My highlights include growing Stretch from eight people to Elevator Agency, which is 50 people, in just five years. One of the main challenges has been growing a company from startup phase in 2012 to a globally owned agency in 2018.Being the only woman on the board of a company, and having two children in the space of three years meant I needed to define, educate and fight for a favourable maternity policy and flexible working times, which is now being implemented throughout the company for other working moms.: A highlight was working on the Johannesburg Zoos Tweeting Badger campaign, where I learnt the impact of integrating technology with traditional communications to solve real business problems, innovatively.As for challenges, I constantly question the status quo. My most uncomfortable space in business is when things arent challenged, but rather accepted without questioning.: Highlights include the amazing teams that I have helped to develop and seeing where they are in their careers now, working with some of the most outstanding creative minds in the business and the privilege of leading exciting product campaigns together with clever and collaborative clients.Challenges include some of the things that make advertising what it is: Tight budgets, impossible timelines, strong wills, indecisive clients and cumbersome processes.: My career highlights as an HR director definitely comes from my time employed at Stretch/Elevator for five-and-a-half years. Career highlights that helped shaped me include:: Most of my career highlights were fostered within Elevator.In my current position, I am given so much opportunity to share my ideas, showcase my skills and experience and nurture and develop colleagues in my team.One of the biggest challenges I face daily is the battle to strike a balance between family and work life.I think a lot of women share my sentiments that to sacrifice one in favour of the other comes with a lot of guilt and criticism.: Female leadership is key to the diverse nature of our industry. Luckily in client service it is easier to have majority staff as female, but within creative departments it is important to purposely hire females and have as many people of different cultures and gender within your teams as possible.: Female leadership is more inclusive, risk-averse and focused on long-term success rather than short-term gain.has published some interesting thoughts on female leadership traits, and how they could have prevented the financial crises on Wall Street.I have a strong belief that these leadership traits are not due to the female nature, but rather a result of having to navigate the pressures of society.: There is an old stereotype that goes, If women ran the world, there would be no wars. I couldnt agree more. Research shows that more gender diversity can translate into increased productivity, gender innovation, better decision-making and higher employee retention and satisfaction.: Women bring a wealth of experience, knowledge and talent into the workplace and employers with a more diverse workforce are proven to be more successful, because diversity spells increased opportunities for innovation, collaboration, varied perspectives on problem-solving and efficiencies.:There's something to be said for more women in leadership positions. According to a Morgan Stanley report, "more gender diversity, particularly in corporate settings, can translate to increased productivity, greater innovation, better products, better decision-making, and higher employee retention and satisfaction.": I dont think there is a glass ceiling, but I do think being a women with a demanding career who also wants a family is hard work and hard to balance both.Women are adaptable, hard-working and amazing multitaskers, making them a valuable workforce, but if companies dont evolve to have flexible work hours and good maternity benefits, they are going to lose valuable women and create a glass ceiling for anyone wanting a successful career and a family.: Most definitely. I think the intention to change is there, however the actual application is a bit more difficult. In order to change the glass ceiling, we first need to be aware of our bias and then act with purpose.Elevator is the first agency Ive experienced where the intention to change is far more than a PR story, but a true belief.: Having worked at both big corporate global agencies as well as small, privately owned ones I think that there are two answers here:: According to Stats SA, women make up 51% of the population. The stats go further to show that only 44 out 100 employed people are women in skilled positions, and this position hasnt changed since 2002.I believe there will be a shift when we are able to meet the 50% employment mark, whereby women have roles that provide influence.: The glass ceiling is very tangible for females in this country. Though women are currently more present in the workplace than ever before, our absence at executive level is still very apparent.Some contributing factors are lack of support for women who are forced to put their careers on hold to raise a family, which means theyre given lesser responsibility in their work positions.: Yes, There is much work to be done in terms of levelling the playing field for businesswomen, and with so many obstacles in place, it may seem as though the glass ceiling will remain forever intact, but there is hope yet.I believe every woman who is currently in a leadership position needs to fight for equal rights and salaries.Talking about the issues that women face and educating all employees and male leaders on the importance of gender rights is key to creating a shift in the industry.If your leaders refuse to hear you, you need to find leaders who are on-board with gender equality.Male leaders, who do understand the importance of gender equality need to do their bit to educate their peers to do the same.: I think two things can be done:The more that top management within companies embraces females in senior positions and sees their value as equal, the more this inequality will be balanced.We should have mentorship programmes for women and make more of an effort to teach both males and females about gender discrimination in the workplace.We should also promote campaigns which have done well from both a campaign and client ROI point of view, which are run by women, for female clients or audiences.: Create opportunities  not only a position but also a career path for women in leadership roles. Upskill the current women in the workforce to take on more senior roles.: Companies can do more to openly praise and recognise top female performers to promote a positive attitude and culture towards gender equality, not only in the workplace but in society too. Employers should also encourage their female employees to be mentors and role models to their colleagues.- Rabiu Kwankwaso has reportedly been denied access to Abujas Eagle Square

- Kwankwaso had proposed to use the venue to declare his intention to run for the presidency

- The federal government reportedly declined to comment on the development

Former Kano state governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has reportedly been denied access to Abujas Eagle Square. The former governor had proposed to use the venue to declare his presidential bid.

Facility manager of the Abuja International Conference Centre & Eagles Square, Usman Raji said the decision to deny him the Eagle Square was to avoid disruption of work flow at the federal secretariat, Premium Times reports.

The news outlet reports further that the letter in which the former governor was denied access to the venue was referenced in a statement made available to them by the Kwankwaso Campaign Organisation.

READ ALSO: Europe-based pollster declares Buhari, some governors winners

We are sorry to inform you that the event can no longer hold on the said date because it is a political event and the 29th of August, 2018 happens to be a work day, as it would disrupt the usual work flow of the federal secretariat.

We apologise for the oversight on our part to note the date in relation to the nature of the event. We regret every inconvenience caused by this. Raji was quoted to have said in the letter.

It was also reported that the Abuja minister, Mohammed Bello, through his spokesperson, Abubakar Sani, refused to comment on the development.

However, in its statement, the Kwankwaso Campaign Organisation sees the development: As handiwork of the government in power who will not see anything good in growing our fledgling democracy as no level playing field has been created to allow for viable opposition in the country.

Even at that, earlier Tuesday morning the Abuja International Conference and Eagle Square, managed by the Integrated Facility Management Services Ltd refused us access to inspect the premises demanding us to present a police permit, when actual approval for the use of the Eagle Square has been sought and paid for more than one week to the said declaration.

The above development will in no way dampen our morale to go ahead with the declaration or chicken-out as it will only embolden us to legally pursue our fundamental right to freedom of movement and association.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant and former Kano state governor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, said he and others who defected from All Progressives Congress (APC) are regretting their decision to support President Muhammadu Buhari against Goodluck Jonathan in 2014.

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The senator made this statement in Owerri, Imo state, while condemning President Buhari's approach to revving the nations economy.

Nigeria News Today: Even Atiku Knows He Cannot Spend Only a Term in Office | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ngBode Ayorinde, a member of the House of Representatives representing Owo/Ose constituency in Ondo state, said he left the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) because of impunity in the party.

Ayorinde addressed newsmen shortly after he obtained a PDP nomination form at the state party secretariat in Akure on Tuesday, August 28.

Recall that the lawmaker was among the House of Representatives members that defected to the opposition party on July 24.

The lawmaker, who is currently serving his first term in the lower chamber of the National Assembly, said the APC had disappointed many democrats during the last congress.

READ ALSO: 2019: Europe-based pollster declares Buhari, some governors winners

This can not be the change we voted for; I campaigned vigorously for change, but I am highly disappointed. I have joined the PDP to strengthen the party, strengthen democracy and development in the country," he said.

The Ondo state PDP chairman, Clement Faboyede, who welcomed Ayorinde, assured the lawmaker of a level playing field for all members of the party.

Meanwhile, Senator Osinakachukwu ThankGod Ideozu representing Rivers West senatorial district at the National Assembly allegedly defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

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Ideozu, until his reported defection was the only PDP senator from Rivers state in the National Assembly.

Other senators in the state Magnus Ngei Abe and Andrew Igbonule Uchendu, representing Rivers southeast and east respectively are already members of the APC.

PDP's Magnificent 7 For 2019 Election | Legit.ng TV

Source: LegitYves here. I am not terribly keen about this post but its important to keep up on the various proposals being made to deal with an escalating retirement crisis. Readers will look past the fact that this post promulgates the Federal taxes fund spending canard. And this economy needs more demand, not more savings.

By Lynn Parramore, Senior Research Analyst at the Institute for New Economic Thinking. Originally published at the Institute for New Economic Thinking website

As stocks go up and unemployment comes down, an increasing number of older Americans find themselves dodging bill collectors and spiraling into debt. Many warn of severe economic repercussions if this continues. But theres morelarge swaths of downwardly mobile seniors who thought of themselves as middle class is also a recipe for political chaos. Economist Teresa Ghilarducci, an expert on retirement security and Director of the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at The New School, explains whats happening and whats at stake if we dont fix it.

Lynn Parramore: A new report shows that American seniors are filing for bankruptcy at three times the rate that they did in 1991. But headlines say the economy is humming. Why are older people so broke?

Teresa Ghilarducci: The rise of the elder bankruptcy rate is no surprise, even if unemployment is low and stock values are up. Poor elders have terrible job prospects and very few households hold significant amounts of stock, bonds, and other financial assets. The erosion of retirement income security started decades ago.

LP: Can you explain what happened?

TG: In 1983, Congress and the President [Reagan] decided to restore Social Security solvency by cutting benefits and raising revenues equally. The FICA tax [Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax] was raised slightly and benefits were cut by raising the age people can collect full benefits from 65 to 70.

LP: As a Gen-Xer, that has always stuck in the craw because those years of collecting Social Security were taken away before I was old enough to vote!

TG: Thats correct. Though the political principal of equal revenue boosts and benefits cuts sounded fair, it was a nonsense way to make policy. Cutting the solution in half makes as much sense as King Solomons solution to cut the baby in half.

In 1983, the system needed much more revenue and not benefit cuts since there was no sign that voluntary actions by employers and workers would make up for the cuts. Raising retirement ages is a benefit cut. People can collect Social Security at age 62 and for every year they wait until 70, benefits increase on an average 6.34% per year. Therefore, those who can wait get a large boost and those who have to collect before 70 have a lifetime cut of over 11%.

Also, all the signs that private plans would fail were right. Instead of employers making pensions more available, generous, and widespread, more and more companies shifted financial risks of retirement savings to workers through a cheaper and less generous kind of pension: the 401(k).

Despite the hope that the do-it-yourself retirement accounts401(k)-type plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs)would mean more workers would have some source of income besides Social Security, the retirement plan coverage rates of prime- aged workers has fallen from about 70% to close to 50%.

LP: So half of all workers dont have a retirement account of any kind?

TG: Thats right. Another sign our retirement system has failed is that the median account balance of all peopleincluding those who have an account from their current job or a past job; no account at all on the eve of retirement (age 55-64); or people who worked a full career under the defined-contribution employer pension revolution with ever-increasing tax breaksis only $15,000. The low median account balance is because half of older workers have no retirement account balances at all, no 401(k)-type plan or IRA.

Let me repeat: almost half of all workers nearing retirement age will have nothing but Social Security to rely on.

For the lucky half who have some account balance in a 401(k) type plan or IRA, their median balance is $92,000. Spread that amount over a persons retirement life and it will pay for a cheap dinner and a movie once a month.

LP: Whats going to happen if large numbers of people run out of money in retirement?

TG: If we do nothing to reform the current retirement system, the number of poor or near-poor people over the age of 62 will increase by 25% between 2018 and 2045, from 17.5 million to 21.8 million. That means real hardship and expensive responses by state and local governments through emergency housing, food assistance, and Medicaid costs.

There is another effect if we do nothing that could have serious political ramifications: middle class workers becoming downwardly mobile. Inadequate retirement accounts will cause 8.5 million middle-class older workersa whopping 40% of all middle class older workers (aged 55-64) and their spousesto be downwardly mobile, falling into poverty or near poverty in their old age. This is unprecedented since Social Security was formed.

Boomers and G-xers will do worse than their parents and grandparents in retirement.

LP: What do you say to those who argue that the answer if for people to just work longer?

TG: Working into your mid-sixties and beyond is not going to save many people from poverty and downward mobility. The unfriendly labor market for older workers with low incomes and nonprofessional degrees tells a different story.

My research labs reportdocuments the growth in older workers unstable and low-wage jobs from 2005 to 2015. By 2015, nearly 25% of older workers were in bad jobsdefined as those that require on-call work and low-wage traditional jobs that pay less than $15,000 per year. The share of workers ages 62 and over in bad jobs grew from 14% in 2005 to 24% in 2015.

LP: The American workplace is changing, with union membership in the private sector in the single digits, earnings of workers lagging behind gains in labor productivity and temporary, contract, and on-call work on the rise. Meanwhile, fewer workers get health or pension benefits through their jobs. How are we supposed to save for retirement in these circumstances? What ideas are out there?

TG: Richard Thaler just won a Nobel Prize for his work in behavioral economics, which has been very influential in shaping thinking on pension policy.

He advises that the government engage in libertarian paternalism. Instead of mandating pension coverage, Thaler proposes voluntary design changes to the current U.S. do-it-yourself system, which is spotty because it is voluntary on the part of employers and employees and requires individuals to direct their own commercial accounts.

But his design suggestions are more of the same. He proposes to have employers automatically enroll workers in a retirement plan the employer may (or may not) sponsor. Remember, less than half of employees have a retirement plan offered at work. Workers could opt out and many of the people who need coverage the most opt out for economic reasons, for instance women,and never get an employer contribution.

The second major design change he wants is voluntary auto-esclation. The idea here is that employers would automatically contribute all or a portion of their workers salary increases in their account. Unfortunately, auto-enroll and auto escalate only works for employees with stable jobs, no breaks in service, continual raises, and high incomes. According to many studies, one from the Urban Institute and a recent one of mine with graduate student Ismael Cid-Martinez, these voluntary features ensure that the tax breaks for retirement plans disproportionately go to the top 20% of workers.

The current voluntary, individual-directed, commercial system design leaves low and middle-income workers behind. Why? Because employers dont want the expense and hassle of providing a retirement account to workers and may be afraid to offer one if their competitors donta classic collective action problem. Unfortunately, unions are too weak to help employers coordinate and universally provide pensions.

LP: So despite his Nobel Prize, you think that Thaler has got it wrong. How would you help people save?

TG: I propose a retirement plan for all plan  a federal plan that mandates a prefunded layer on top of Social Security. A universal public option for retirement saving. The plan would be portable, accountable, low-fee, pooled and ensure a steady return. A mandated pooled plan is the best way to provide social insurance because no worker can go it alone or insure against employment, financial, investment and longevity risk by themselves.

The idea is to enhance the best features of the decentralized system while making up for its deficits. Hamilton James and I propose Guaranteed Retirement Accounts (GRAs) in our 2018 book Rescuing Retirement. A version of the same proposal was in my 2008 book (When Im Sixty Four) and in a paper I published for the Economic Policy Institute in 2007. GRAs are universal individual accounts whose investments are pooled and they are funded throughout a workers career by employer and employee contributions and a refundable tax credit.

If the GRA plan were implemented today, we could prevent over 8 million elders from falling into poverty. But GRA wouldnt be enough; we need a stronger Social Security system.

LP: Important that you also mention the need to expand Social Security. Can you explain how it would be possible? What do you say to people who argue that we cant afford that or that Social Security is running out of money?

Social Security is fully funded until 2034. The Social Security Board of Trustees estimates that we will only be able to pay three-fourths of current benefits promised after that date if there are no adjustments. That is not insolvency or going broke. It is a potential shortfall, which depends heavily on wage growth and inequality, productivity, fertility, and immigration.

Social Security is designed to be updated periodically, so as time goes on it is always running out of money unless it is updated. The FICA tax has been increased 21 times in its 83-year-old history, typically every 2 years. But we have not increased the FICA tax in over 28 years! Its time for a raise. Right now, the tax rate is 12.4%, split between employer and the employees. If we raise the FICA tax now to about 15%, the system could pay promised benefits for about 75 years. If we raise the earnings cap (now only $128,700) for Old Age and Disability insurance (Medicare tax is on all earnings) then we have revenue to raise the special minimum benefit for the poorest elders and prevent abject elder poverty.

The Social Security administration has identified the impact of several major proposals to expand and strengthen Social Securitymost involve revenue raises.

The reality is that we need both an enhanced Social Security system and an advanced funded layer. No country has provided a stable pension system just on a pay-as-you-go system. The Spanish, Greek, and Italian systems tried but they have moved away from a pay-as-you-go system as their aging populations cause the tax rates to rise to unsustainable political levels.

LP: What are the biggest obstacles to addressing the looming crisis and what are your thoughts on how to overcome them?

TG: Relying on personal thrift to ensure against the financial insecurity of old age has not worked. But the biggest obstacles to mandating a retirement account for all and improving Social Security are members of the industry that thrive on voluntary do-it-yourself retirement accounts. The 401(k) and IRA industry will be challenged by the existence of low cost and high return stable GRAs that offer low-cost lifetime annuities. The industry has fought the efforts at the state level to provide public retirement plan options.

I hope that America is not locked into an extreme, voluntary, market-based retirement income security system.

The most important obstacle to change is political. Workers and, by extension, older workers, need to act collectively and militantly to spur policymakers into action. Only large scale collective action with voting and organizing can get our representatives to build a system that ensures that the retired can live financial comfortable and stable lives.If you have not done so already, we suggest that you start with the earlier posts in this series: CalPERS CEO Marcie Frosts Misrepresentations Regarding Her Education and Work History During and After Her Hiring and Cover-Up of CalPERS CEO Frosts Misrepresentations of Her History: Document Destruction/Loss at CalPERS, Pressure on Evergreen State College.

A short update: CalPERS does not appear to have a good response to our posts yesterday. Via e-mail:

If a reporter calls Calpers about the story, Calpers is saying youre a crazy person with a vendetta out to get Calpers anyway you can over private equity. They are still saying Marcie is pursuing her degree. I guess they mean in her own mind not as an actual student.

This is an admission that Frost cannot dispute any of the information we presented. More troublingly, it also says that the Board has not intervened to restrict her authority. In a well-governed organization, the Board would take over the handling of the press on this matter.

And for private equity, we dont have a beef with CalPERS investing in private equity. We do with how they are going about it.

* * *

We are again posting the resume that Marcie Frost presented as part of the recruitment process for the CEO position at CalPERS. It is such a slipshod piece of work that the resume in and of itself should have warded off anyone considering hiring her. We have embedded it at the end of the post.

It isnt just that it is rife with spelling, grammatical and composition errors, which points to a lack of care and worse, a lack of respect for the process and for CalPERS. As one pension fund officer who looked at it said, This might be acceptable for an assistant manager at Applebees but not anything more serious.

If you read it carefully, most of what Frost says about her most recent jobs are mere statements of job duties. They are tantamount to saying she sat in the seat.

For the secondary aspects of a job, this sort of description is informative to give a full picture of job scope. However for a senior role, a candidate for a step up in job scope (and CalPERS is a huge step up from the minnow where Frost worked before, the Department of Retirement Services), one expects a big portion of the patter to be a description of accomplishments. And for the last two decades, recruiters have increasingly pressed for specific description of those accomplishments, with them being quantified whenever possible.

Instead, as well discuss in more detail, what Frost provided was a combination of inappropriate management bafflegab plus claims about performance that were so non-specific so as to come off as handwaves.

Having said that, one of Frosts only true bona fides and significant achievements may go a long way towards explaining why CalPERS board did so little in the way of due diligence. Frost by virtue of being the Executive Director of the Washington Department of Retirement Services (DRS) was an ex officio member of the Washington State Investment Board. It is the State Investment Board that manages the pension assets.

Frost became chairman of the State Investment Board. That is a testament to the fact that she has highly-developed interpersonal skills and as we said of Timothy Geithner, gives good meeting.

However, while those soft skills can be very important in a managerial or executive role, they are far from sufficient. Moreover, the financial services industry is rife with successful CEOs who are openly abrasive and that is part of how they instill internal discipline, such as Jamie Dimon. On the other end of the spectrum, former Citibank CEO John Reed, who managed the impressive task of switching the giant bank off paper-based transaction processing to computers, was an introvert whose idea of a good time was spending a night at home reading Scientific American, back in the day when the magazine was much wonkier than it is now.

And let us not forget that the financial services industry CEO who had the nice guy act down cold, John Stumpf, the former chairman and CEO of Wells Fargo, claimed to know nothing about the rampant consumer abuses in his bank in Congressional hearings. That is a long winded way of saying that there is too much potential for fraud and franchise-destroying mistakes to run a financial services operation on a lets all be friends basis. But that appears to be Frosts modus operandi.

Frosts Shoddy Resume

While it may seem pedantic to hector Frost over her error-rife resume, it is actually telling evidence of her failings as a manager.

Remember that Frosts last two positions before joining CalPERS were as Deputy Director and then Executive Director of Washington Retirement Systems (DRS). DRS is the operations unit responsible for the customer-facing activities of the Washington public pension system, which consists of 15 pension plans plus a defined contribution scheme. A close analogy to DRS in terms of operational scope would be a branch-free retail bank. DRS handles accounting and payment processing for all beneficiaries, as well as participants in the states health plans. It also has a web portal and a call center.

As anyone who has worked in a high-transaction-volume financial services business will tell you, accuracy and consistency are paramount. Most people dont even think about what an amazing accomplishment it is that your bank can take and make huge volumes of payments correctly and then send you an accurate statement, every month at the same time, of your account activity.

At a middle and senior level, accuracy again matters because spreadsheet errors and even minor mistakes in contracts can have dire consequences.

For someone in a top role to present such an appalling work product as their calling card in a job search sends all the wrong signals, even before you get to the cute choice to omit the obligatory Education section entirely. It says she regards getting things right as unimportant. That is a terrible signal for a leader in a processing business to send to her team members.1

Even if Frost has as bad a case of typo disease as I do, the resume gaffes are still unacceptable. This is presumably a known problem for her. How hard would it have been for her to get a good friend, or at worst spent $50 on TaskRabbit, to go over the resume carefully and clean it up?

So as not to weigh down the post, well list some of Frosts errors in the second footnote.

Frosts Sketchy Accomplishments

Well focus on Frosts three most recent positions at DRS. Recall that in our initial post we found both a clear as well a probable misrepresentation in her job history before that.

Parsing her narratives about her jobs is like nailing Jello to a wall. Too often they string buzz phrases together without stating a concrete result. That is so abnormal as to raise questions. It makes the resume come off as evasive.

Applicants typically state accomplishments in a specific manner for several reasons. First, giving detail has consistently been found in research on cognitive biases to greatly enhance credibility. Someone as interpersonally skilled as Frost would surely know that.

Second, giving color about achievements encourages interviewers to ask about them. Its a way of steering the recruitment interviews in advance to favorable terrain.

And the reason this is particularly worrisome in the case of Frost is her insinuation that shes an effective operations manager. Notice she doesnt even say that directly but expects her audience to accept that by virtue of her being asked to speak about it. From the Career Snapshot section:

guest speaking a course [sic] at the University of Washington Evans School on performance management, including how the Department of Retirement Systems is implementing lean, and the role of leadership in creating a high performing organization.

Lean should be lean as in lean management techniques. They are a consulting industry repackaging of the ideas of statistician W. Edwards Deming, famed for his having worked closely with Japanese executives in improving process control and other management systems, and helping propel Japanese manufacturers to world leadership, and their further development in Japanese companies.3

The State of Washington in 2011 launched a state-agency wide lean initiative, with the focus on reducing waste, which is code for costs. This appears to be a response to the post-crisis plunge in state revenues, which also led to headcount cuts.

One of the hallmarks of lean is the implementation of metrics for processes and services to measure performance and track the success of initiatives (as well as flag failure so corrective measures can be taken). If Frost were a successful lean practitioner, youd expect her resume to give at least one or two examples of tangible improvements. Instead, text like this makes her seem like a lean poseur:

 sustainable outcomes can only happen through the support of the right people doing the right things in an accountable management system.. I have been leading significant organizational change to become a customer-satisfaction driven agency with a high level of team engagement. I have also implemented a comprehensive management system, which includes a fundamentals operational system for all expected outcomes and core processes. Performance is discussed in a quarterly target review format, attended by all agency leaders and lean green belts and black belts. Performance management is a cornerstone to the five key goals of Elated Customers, Engaged Team Members, Vigilant Resource Steward, Best Practice Leader and Reliable Partner.

What this reveals is Frost string together buzzwords that at best say she has only gone though the motions.

Similarly, an article by Washington States guru on lean describes successes by other agencies, and curiously mentions Frost without setting forth a single achievement by DRS.

And while it is hard to prove a negative, despite making a considerable effort, we could find Frost having spoken on lean only twice, once in 2012, the second time in 2015, at state government conferences on lean where many other agency officials spoke as well.4

Well discuss the growing evidence at CalPERS of Frosts failure as an operations manager, which should have been her strongest point, in our next post. But one data item points to failure of her lean efforts at DRS. In this late 2012 video from the first Washington lean conference, Frost says that DRS has 220 employees. Her resume says DRS has 250, which is presumably the headcount when she left. That is an over 10% increase in staffing. And Washington State data in 2015 for fiscal year 2014 shows 303 employees, although that could include part-timers.

Another revealing part of Frosts resume, and not in a good way, comes in the first paragraph of her description of the Executive Director role:

The Washington governance structure is unique and requires a high level of strategic agility to be effective. My role is to provide that strategic agility ensuring that members, stakeholders and decision makers are well informed about benefits, contribution rates/funding and investments.

Pension funds and strategic agility are not in the same universe. Anyone who tries to put them together either does not understand the pension fund businesses or is a management fashion victim, the executive version of a matron who ought to know better sporting knee high patent leather platform boots because they are in this year.

Pension funds are or at least ought to be stable operations where changes are made after careful deliberation and when possible, testing. Consistency and accuracy are paramount. Pension funds are subject to exacting legal, and for private sector funds, regulatory requirements that govern how they operate.

By contrast, the sort of companies that are exhorted to be strategically agile are ones in highly dynamic fields where the risk of being outrun by competitors is real. Pray tell, what is the competition for the Washington pension system?

Misleadingly, Frost equates the complex (or perhaps more accurate, compartmentalized) structure of the Washington pension system to complexity of the role of the head of DRS. That is far less true than she implies. If Frost were the head of a unit in a self-contained pension system like CalPERS with the same functions as DRS, the big differences would be that the Executive Director would not be responsible for submitting an external budget (although it probably would still have to prepare one for internal purposes) and would not have its own staff functions, like human resources, public relations, information technology, and legal reporting to the unit head. So the any additional complexity is due to DRS being its own little empire up to a point, and not to any strategic issues.

In fact, even suggesting that DRS has or should have a strategy is a stretch. While formally DRS long term budgets are called strategic plans, DRS as a customer-facing operations entity is on the receiving end of decisions made elsewhere, most importantly, by the legislature. And as we indicated above, those dont come often, by design.

Finally, the text under Frosts 2009 to 2013 position, Deputy Director, starts with:

Washington was the first public system to implement hybrid retirement plans. As a result, the entire organization went through significant change and ultimately a culture shift. Part of this shift was

due to the newly required daily environment, new knowledge requirements, new on boarding processes, communication requirements, and new relationships with third party record-keepers and the WSIB. The hybrid plans were brought into existence in three separate waves with Teachers (TRS Plan 3) being first. Public Employees (PERS Plan 3) second and School Employees (SERS 3) third. I held various roles in each successful implementation and accumulated both technical and management skills in their delivery.

Whats wrong with this?

As Frosts own resume reflects, Washington approved the launch of hybrid plans in 2000 and Frost claims to have worked on IT implementation that year. Given the state of search engines these days, I cannot find start date for the SERS 3 plan, but a result in Google shows it to be live in September 2004.

By listing this change much later than it took place, and therefore also much later in her tenure at DRS, Frost is implying she was in a far more senior capacity while the roll-outs were underway. That would result in her being given more credit for these success than she actually deserves.

So we are left with ugly questions. Did any member of the Board actually read the words in the resume? Or did they merely rely on their search firm to do all the work? It looks like both Heidrick & Struggles and the board punted on what is the most important decision CalPERS makes, that of who they put in charge. The fact that the board cant be bothered to do this right says they are not fit to serve and need to be replaced.

___

1 It isnt clear whether this choice predates Frost, but DRS fetishizes the use of team members to refer to employees. Its anti-accountability because by blurring roles and responsibilities, it is designed to foster the idea that everything is a group effort, and the implication is that no one in particular is responsible for anything. That was one of the big excuses made for the failure to prosecute anyone over the damage done by the crisis: everyone was responsible, so no one was responsible. It is also pandering because it implies a faux egalitarianism. You can be sure that no executive would go so far as to suggest that all team members including the top brass, should be paid the same.

2 One of the distressing things about Frosts resume is that she is so addicted to bad managerial blather that she cant even write in English. In her first paragraph alone:

Results orientation should not be hyphenated. Teaming is not a noun. working with people through the unique challenges does not make sense began guest speaking a course is presumably guest speaking for a course implementing lean may be acceptable usage for Washington state department members whove been required to implement so-called lean management techniques but the only acceptable version for a resume would be, at best, implementing lean'.

Well be sparing with our examples from the rest of her resume:

Second page, first text para, no dollar signs before 80 billion and 103 billion

Pension assets managed by the Washington State Investment Board are 80 billion with total AUM at 103 billion is contradictory as written. The sentence scans that the total AUM of $103 billion are also managed by Washington State Investment Board, so assets are both $80 billion and $103 billion. Nice. The $23 billion difference between the first and second figure is presumably defined contributions plans. But that may not be.

The Washington governance structure is unique and requires a high level of strategic agility. Governance structures are not agile. The retirement system does not go around regularly changing its board structure, its appointment practices, its policies and goals, for starters.

Last sentence in this para is incomplete.

Second para, second sentence: I have becomea customer-satisfaction driven agency. Now that is really something!

fundamentals operational system for all expected outcomes and core processes. Fundamentals operational system makes no sense. Fundamental operational system is presumably what was intended but still makes no sense. And if outcomes are expected, why do they need supervision?

Third para ends with an obvious unfinished sentence:  As a cabinet appointee, its important

to demonstrate a sound knowledge of the system in order to build trust, respect and 

Same page, under Deputy Director job description, second para, lack of parallelism via shifting from past to present tense.

Last page, last entry. Department of labor and Industries is not capitalized correctly.

3 It would be difficult to have been more cost efficient than Sumitomo Bank was when I worked there. Citibank at the time had a similar number of retail branches as Sumitomo had, which is the big driver of headcount. Sumitomo had about 2/3 of the international branches of Citi, but those were smaller on average. Citi had over 100,000 employees. Sumitomo had 16,000 and was working on getting that down to 14,500. And I was in the Japanese hierarchy and can tell you that Japanese management isnt cuddly or touchy feely (in fact, Sumitomo was ruthless internally) yet it is successful at achieving high levels of employee engagement. Of course, back then, lifetime employment was also a big contributor, since the corollary was that leaving meant there must have been doing something seriously wrong, like embezzlement. Lifetime employment thus led people to jockey hard for internal recognition and advancement.

4 If you watch Frosts presentation, the first step she took in what she depicts as her lean initiative was to survey team members to find out how she could improve their satisfaction levels. Theres nothing in lean methodology which talks about employees morale, much the less improving it. And on top of that, theres no evidence that happy employees are more productive. For instance, in an oft-told story at McKinsey, the then managing director of the firm, the patrician and well-spoken Ron Daniel, met with a consultant who McKinsey was considering engaging to look at the firms organization and human resource approaches. At the end of the session, Daniel said, Whatever you do, dont fuck with the insecurity.Gardai believe the cause of the major fire at the former Clonmel Foods meat factory complex on Sunday was suspicious and have appealed to anyone who saw any unusual activity around the site that evening to contact them.

Fire fighters battled into the early hours of Monday morning to put the fire at the disused meat factory at Upper Irishtown under control and a Garda investigation into its cause is now underway.

Extensive damage was caused to a large building at the complex and Tipperary Fire Service personnel only left the site at 9am on Monday after spending a long night dampening down the smouldering structure and monitoring the situation.

Clonmel Fire Service Rostered Senior Officer Tadhg O'Driscoll said the Fire Service handed over the site to the property's owners at 9am on Monday and the owners were now working to secure the area.

The Emergency Services were alerted to the fire around 6pm on Sunday.

Five fire tenders from Clonmel, Cahir and Carrick-on-Suir along with an hydraulic lift based at Clonmel Fire Station attended the blaze, which billowed large plumes of black smoke that blanketed the surrounding area.

Two fire tenders from Cahir and one from Carrick-on-Suir departed the site at 1am as the fire had been put sufficently under control at that stage. Fire fighters from Clonmel remained there dampening down and monitoring the site until the morning.

There were road closures in the area around the factory until early on Monday morning due to the fire and heavy smoke.

Mr O'Driscoll said the excellent work carried out by fire crews minimised the damage and stopped it from spreading to the entire complex. He confirmed there was no asbestos in the building that went on fire.

A Garda spokesperson appealed to anyone with information that may assist their investigation into the fire to contact Clonmel Garda Station at (052) 6122222.An Post has published the location of 159 Post Offices where the serving Postmaster has opted to retire under the historic agreement concluded between An Post and the Irish Postmasters Union (IPU), and the neighbouring offices to where business will transfer, boosting their transaction levels and viability.

Eight post offices will close in Tipperary and the nearest post offices have been identified as well a number of others in close proximity.

This agreement was underpinned by A New Vision for the Future of the Post Office Services in Ireland,* accepted by a 5 to 1 majority in a ballot of IPU members earlier this year.

Post Offices in locations where postmasters are opting to retire will close and the services will be consolidated with neighbouring offices ensuring their continued viability. 16 such post offices have already closed at the request of the retiring contractor.

The Tipperary post offices to close and the nearest one to them and the distance involved is as follows

Ballingarry to close, nearest is Mullinahone 9.3km away

Clogheen to close, nearest is Ballyporeen, 7.2km

Coolbawn, nearest is Borrisokane, 7.8

Gortnahoe, nearest is Urlingford, 5.8km

Littleton, nearest is New Birmingham, 7.4km

Newcastle, nearest is Ardfinnan, 7.7km

Templetuohy, nearest is Templemore, 8km

Upperchurch, nearest is Borrisoleigh, 8km

An Post says all remaining Post Offices will benefit from enhanced services and products, new opening hours and an investment package aimed at improving services for customers, driving customer footfall and attracting a wider demographic to ensure that the post office is not just wanted by communities but is indeed relevant and actually used by all.

Debbie Byrne, Managing Director of An Post Retail thanked the postmasters who have chosen to retire for their great service to An Post and local communities over many years.

She also said that An Post was committed to ensuring the sustainability and viability of the Post Office network and would move now to offer more new and innovative services to customers through the reconfigured network.Tipperary Energy Agency are looking for Tipperary homes to take part in fun and engaging ways to save energy this Autumn.

The Agency have joined forces with NUI Galway to work with 40 households in Tipperary to help them reduce their energy use.

They are currently seeking participants for their European project ENERGISE, which will involve your household as one of 40 Living Lab experiences.

The aim is to work with homeowners to develop creative and effective ways of challenging everyday practices, when it comes to laundry and heating. Through these challenges, they hope to tackle social expectations around cleanliness and comfort  what does it mean to be clean, to be comfortable?  in order to co-create new ways of doing things that would shift these practices towards less energy consumption.

Why should you join?

o You become eligible for a free energy audit,

o You become a member of a great team,

o You can contribute to designing energy saving practices and solutions, and

o You will also receive some small presents.

These Living Labs will take place in 8 different European countries between September and November 2018.

Eimear Heaslip (nee Hassett) is the NUI Galway representative on the project and will be working closely with the homeowners. Eimear is originally from Beakstown, Thurles and attended the Presentation Primary School in Thurles and Scoil Ruain Secondary School in Killenaule. Eimear graduated with honours from her Architecture degree in University College Dublin in 2007. She received first class honours and a special award for student of the year in her Masters in Environmental Systems in Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT). Following this, Eimear completed her transdisciplinary PhD, which fused social scientific and engineering techniques in 2017. Eimears PhD was co-supervised by NUI Galway and GMIT.

If you are interested in taking part or to find out more, you can contact Eimear by email: eimear.heaslip@nuigalway.ie or phone: (083) 0600960The Latvian Ministry of Defence hosted arms control experts from Belarus between 25 and 28 August 2018, demonstrating military transparency. The experts observed Exercise "Namejs 2018", in order to verify that the numbers of personnel and equipment involved were in line with rules set out in the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Vienna Document.

The Vienna Document is an agreement on military transparency reached among the 57 member nations of the OSCE in 2011. Designed to promote mutual trust and transparency, the Vienna Document commits OSCE members to accept a number of visits by other members each year, in order to verify there are no undeclared military capabilities or activities of concern.

NATO strongly supports efforts to build confidence and transparency on military activities. Allies respect the letter and spirit of the Vienna Document, and NATO regularly updates its schedule of military exercises online.

Read more(Natural News) More than five million species of fungi have been identified so far, but only about 300 are known to make people sick. Fungi  both the good and the bad ones  play a vital role in the ecosystem, something that conservationists from Washington State University Tri-Cities (WSU Tri-Cities) are demonstrating through their research.

Tanya Cheeke, assistant professor of biology at WSU Tri-Cities, leads a team of graduate and undergraduate students in preserving native plant populations by transplanting fungi. Her research involves the use of mycorrhizal fungi to reinvigorate soil that has been overrun with invasive plant species, such as weeds.

Mycorrhiza refers to the association between plant roots and fungi. This relationship is symbiotic in nature and benefits both parties greatly. Mycorrhizal fungi live underground where they have little to no access to sunlight. They are also incapable of photosynthesis, so they cannot produce food  in the form of sugar  by themselves.

Photosynthesis is a biological process that plants are masters at. What extra sugar they produce in their leaves they send down to their roots where the fungal filaments  called the hyphae  are nestled. This donated sugar is consumed by the fungi to support their growth.

The hyphae are very fine structures that are able to cover large areas and creep into very tiny spaces, making them efficient gatherers of obscure nutrients in the soil. These nutrients, such as magnesium and phosphorus, are brought to the plants in exchange for sugar. The fungi also protect plants from diseases and toxins  some fungi are so efficient at this that they can turn toxic chemicals into harmless water and/or nutrients.

Some mycorrhizal fungi can cover large swaths of soil, connecting plants that are sometimes of different species, in an expansive network called a mycorrhizal network. This network of roots and fungi allows plants to exchange nutrients and even communicate with each other. Mycorrhizal networks have been compared to the internet  aptly called the wood wide web by biologists  but one located underground.

Mycorrhizal fungi play roles so important that most native plants depend on them for survival. Weeds, on the other hand, developed measures to make themselves hardier and better able to survive. These measures include a reduced dependence on mycorrhiza which, although beneficial to them, is often calamitous to native plant species.

Cheekes team understands this, so they aim to transplant mychorrizal fungi to disturbed areas in hopes of stabilizing the soil and making it friendlier to native plant species.

One way to improve native plant survival and growth in disturbed environments may be to inoculate seedlings with native soil microbes, which are then transplanted into a restoration site, she said. Weve been doing prairie restoration in Kansas for the past two years. Now, were also doing something similar in the Palouse area in Washington.

The team has been examining the soil after planting microbe-laden seedlings to see how deep into the mycorrhizal fungi have infiltrated so far. They are using soil samples taken 0.5 m, 1.0 m, 1.5 m, and 2.0 m from the inoculation site as references.

The results will be used to inform ecological restoration efforts aimed at improving the survival and growth of native plants in disturbed ecosystems, said undergraduate student Megan Brauner, one of the team members.

The research team is also looking to compare microbial changes in disturbed and pristine lands. They believe that data from this endeavor will allow for the creation of better soil restoration approaches, even ones that people can implement in their own environments.

To learn more about plants and fungi, visit Ecology.news.

Sources include:

ScienceDirect.com

CDC.gov

UntamedScience.com

BBC.comSouth Africa's travel and tourism sector employs approximately 9,000 individuals, 73% of whom are female. With such a large percentage of women employees, the travel industry is an incredibly empowering industry for women who want to make their mark, says Lynette Msomi, key account manager FCM Travel Solutions.

Lynette Msomi

"There is no glass ceiling in this industry, and no way that being a woman will disadvantage you in any way, shape or form. It can only benefit you, as you work with other women every day," says Msomi.As a key account manager, Msomi looks after a mix of top clients, ensuring their travel spend is leveraged in the best way possible. "I have become an important stakeholder for many of my clients by advising them on how best to divide and use their travel spend strategically."Msomi was always set on a career in travel. "I wanted to travel and work in the industry since I was a little girl. I travelled a lot with my parents, read numerous travel books and decided to study travel after school. I didnt find myself in travel by mistake; it is what I was made to do."Since Msomi joined FCM in 2005, the company has undergone an in-house transformation, achieving a Level 1 BEE rating in 2018. "When I first joined the Flight Centre Travel Group, I was one of just three black people in the company I decided to leave the company. After two years, I came back and found there was a huge difference. Not only were there more black employees, but we were also being taken seriously," says Msomi.For young women who want to make their mark in travel, Msomi shares the following advice: "The travel industry is a tough but wonderful sector. A lot of people start but dont make it because they dont expect it to be this tough. So, you need to have courage and perseverance but, most of all, you need to have a passion for the industry. Whatever you do in life, do it because it is what you love."(Natural News) Children who attend American public schools are no longer being taught traditional family values, including how to maintain healthy male-female relationships as well as have children and build strong families. Instead, theyre being taught that theres no such thing as biological sex, and that transgenderism is completely normal.

This is a heinous form of child abuse and sexual assault against minors, which the Fishers of Men group discussed during a recent episode of RTR Truth Media News Talk Analysis that aired at Brighteon.com.

The hosts referenced an article published by Natural News that cited a WorldNetDaily report on proposed curriculum changes at Fairfax County Schools in Northern Virginia.

In case you missed it, the Fairfax County School Board is pushing to eliminate the concept of male and female entirely from the school systems grade school textbooks. Its members instead want to brainwash children into believing that all humans are androgynous and sexless, and that transgenderism is the path forward for humanity.

The Board also says that public schools need to be given full responsibility to indoctrinate children into the religion of LGBTet.al. because the clergy  that is, religious leaders  cant be trusted to give them accurate information about how theres no such thing as male or female.

The religion of LGBT cannot coexist with Christianity

The message being sent by the Fairfax County School Board is not only one of intentionally polluting the innocent minds of young kids, but also advocating for the elimination of all opposing religions  because LGBTism is, in fact, a religion in and of itself.

The non-advocation of a religion, this becomes a religion because it becomes an anti-religion, explains RTR Truth Media.

Therefore, there is no argument now that they have. And weve been trying to say this for a long time that this is a new secular religion. When you become an anti-religion and adopt all kinds of interesting fundamentals, then you become a religion unto yourself.

Jesus warned against people who would harm innocent children like this, saying theyre better off being thrown into the sea with millstones around their necks

We warned about all of this back in 2016, explaining how the cult of LGBT wasnt going to stop with just gay marriage. The ultimate goal has always been to capture the minds of children during their most formative years in order to pervert their understanding of biological reality.

And its all happening with American taxpayer dollars, which are being used to turn Americas public schools into what Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, describes as transgender child factories, churning out confused, suicidal children who are physically and chemically mutilated by a society that applauds them for denying their biological reality.

In the gospels, Jesus warned that its better for someone to have a millstone hung around his or her neck and be thrown into the sea than face the eternal consequences of harming or otherwise causing children to stumble. This is exactly what the cult of LGBT is doing to children  and with unabashed pride, no less.

Rosaria Butterfield, a former lesbian, spoke about this in reference to so-called Christian author Jen Hatmaker, who several years back decided to offer her full support for LGBT acceptance.

Today, I hear Jens words  words meant to encourage, not discourage, to build up, not tear down, to defend the marginalized, not broker unearned power  and a thin trickle of sweat creeps down my back, Butterfield wrote in a response to Hatmakers departure from the faith, which was published by The Gospel Coalition.

If I were still in the thick of the battle over the indwelling sin of lesbian desire, Jens words would have put a millstone around my neck.

Read EducationSystem.news for more coverage of public schools.

Sources for this article include:

Brighteon.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com

BibleHub.com

ChristianHeadlines.com(Natural News) Progressive leftists insist that conservatives argue in slippery slopes  but evidence repeatedly gives strength to our claims. A new study published in Developmental Cell proves yet again how blase we are with the human body and how much we attempt to manipulate the natural world. In what the authors describe as astonishing, a team of scientists has found a way to hack into living tissue to make it grow and fold in various shapes.

The technique is different from traditional bio-compatible machines because the new process allows cells to grow more or less normally. However, scientists utilized a method called DNA-programmed Assembly of Cells (DPAC) which acts like a guide or template on how the cells should organize themselves. DPAC dramatically simplifies bio-printing and can cause tissue layers to curve or fold in any way the researchers choose.

There are suggestions that by working with nature rather than against it, the team has created a cost-effective and efficient way of creating biological machines in medicine.

But really, who are we kidding?

Lets not turn a blind eye to the other implications of this research. Having the capability to make actual tissue form into whatever scientists want has more cosmetic impact than you realize. Who is to stop individuals from attaching a third breast or cow horns or a dragon tail on their bodies if they can afford it?

If you think were joking, remember Nano, the Norwegian woman who considers herself as a trans-species cat. She insists that this is not a phase and that she really is a cat born in the wrong body.

While Nano is content with communicating with her boyfriend by meowing and wearing cat-ear headbands, there are other people who make more radical changes to their appearances. Dennis Avner who was more known as Stalking Cat had at least 14 operations to become a cat. This included splitting his top lip, making his ears more pointed, having silicone cheek implants, and having multiple tattoos. He died in 2012. It is believed that he committed suicide.

Avner is not the only one though who believed himself to be something not human. Today, there is a growing number of people who describe themselves as otherkin. These are people who believe that they are a different species. This is not limited to the real though; a smaller population of otherkin believe they can be dragons or other mythical creatures.

Take for example, Luis Padron who had multiple cosmetic procedures to look like a real-life elf. This included bleaching his skin and hair and having operations to change his eye color.

Or for the more radical, lets talk about Vinny Ohh who wants to be a genderless alien. Ohh wants to have its genitals removed but has been warned that it would no longer be able to urinate. Undeterred though, Ohh (who has had more than 110 surgeries) wants to achieve its perfect look.

Including  maybe  real life tissues that can be manipulated into any shape?

The argument against tissue engineering

There is no compass to medical advancement. The technologies we see today are scary. In only a span of a few years, we have been able to achieve so much. But what are we giving away in return?

Mainstream media repeatedly dictates that we should accept those who identify as something not commonly accepted. That is correct to a degree. All humans deserve equality. Nevertheless, we need to take a step back and examine how fast we are pushing science not just for medical benefit but for societal validation.

You can read more stories related to the trans movement at Discoveries.news.

Sources include:

TechCrunch.com

NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov

ScienceDirect.com 1

ScienceDirect.com 2

Telegraph.co.uk

Cam.AC.uk

Mirror.co.uk

DailyMail.co.uk

TheSun.co.uk(Natural News) For months Big Tech and Big Tech Media have been working to quash conservative, pro-POTUS Donald Trump media voices and purge them from their platforms, but now as the 2018 midterm elections approach the social media behemoths are ramping up censorship operations under the guise of countering Russian interference.

As initially reported by Buzzfeed, the news site admitted to meeting in secret with reps from Google, Microsoft, SnapChat, Facebook, [and] Twitter to discuss ways they can censor the American people and steal the midterm election for the Democrats, Infowars reported.

Buzzfeed noted:

Representatives from a host of the biggest US tech companies, including Facebook and Twitter, have scheduled a private meeting for Friday to share their tactics in preparation for the 2018 midterm elections.

Last week, Facebooks head of cybersecurity policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, invited employees from a dozen companies, including Google, Microsoft, and Snapchat, to gather at Twitters headquarters in downtown San Francisco, according to an email obtained by BuzzFeed News.

As Ive mentioned to several of you over the last few weeks, we have been looking to schedule a follow-on discussion to our industry conversation about information operations, election protection, and the work we are all doing to tackle these challenges, Gleicher wrote.

Theres more. In May, nine Big Tech firms met at Facebooks HQ in the occupied territory of California with two federal officials  Department of Homeland Security Under Secretary Chris Krebs and Mike Burham of the FBIs Foreign Influence Task Force, which Buzzfeed said was established in November. The purpose of that meeting was to discuss ways to counter influence operations, and reportedly the tech firms said they were discouraged that they received little information from the government, Buzzfeed reported.

Gee  wonder why that is?

It could be that much of the information DHS and the FBI have on such operations is classified. It could be that much of the information the government has pertains to ongoing counterintelligence operations.

And it could also be due to the fact that the entire premise of this secret plan to censor more conservative voices  because thats whats about to happen  is based on a massive lie that the Left keeps pretending is real.

The biggest political scandal in our history

What lie is it?

That Russia stole the election from Hillary and very probably due to collusion with the 2016 Trump campaign. (Related: As Mueller continues to round up current and former Trump associates, the very basis of his appointment is now known to be fraudulent.)

There is nothing about that narrative that is real. Nothing. Theres no proof that it happened because it didnt. It was and remains a manufactured narrative that the weaponized Leftist Deep State is using to undermine the Trump campaign and, more importantly, the results of future elections every time Democrats lose (which, hopefully, will be often). If Democrats eke out a victory here and there this Russian undermining narrative will temporarily vanish, but when Republicans win, the Left will trot it out front and center and blare it from every rooftop and fake news network.

How do we know that its a fabrication? How do we know that The Russians didnt affect the outcome of the 2016 election?

Because the man who appointed special counsel Robert Mueller to be a constant disruptor for this administration said so.

In July when Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced that Mueller had indicted 12 Russians for alleged election interference  12 Russian suspects he knows will never be tried and which helped perpetuate the election theft myth  he made this declarative statement:

There is no allegation in this indictment that any American citizen committed a crime. Theres no allegation that the conspiracy changed the vote count or affected any election result.

So why is the Left still talking about it? Why are the Left-wing social media behemoths still acting as though the lie is real?

Easy. It gives them an excuse to ban the voices of people they dont want anyone to hear or see. Like conservatives.

Read more about this Deep State conspiracy at Conspiracy.news.

Sources include:

Infowars.com

Buzzfeed.com

TheNationalSentinel.com(Natural News) WASHINGTON, D.C., August 27, 2018 (LifeSiteNews)  President Donald Trump once again expressed his disapproval Friday of social media companies restricting center-right voices on ostensibly-neutral platforms.

(Article by Calvin Freiburger republished from LifesiteNews.com)

Social Media Giants are silencing millions of people, Trump tweeted. Cant do this even if it means we must continue to hear Fake News like CNN, whose ratings have suffered gravely.

The president stressed that it was ultimately the responsibility of individual readers, not tech companies, to figure out what is real, and what is not.

Social Media Giants are silencing millions of people. Cant do this even if it means we must continue to hear Fake News like CNN, whose ratings have suffered gravely. People have to figure out what is real, and what is not, without censorship!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 24, 2018

The tweet reiterated a series of comments he made a week earlier, warning that censorship was very dangerous and vowing that his administration wont let [discrimination against conservatives] happen.

Let everybody participate, good & bad, and we will all just have to figure it out, Trump urged.

Several in the mainstream media and liberal commentariat have denounced Trumps comments, with Reuters Rob Lever claiming there is little evidence of anti-conservative censorship, ThinkProgress Luke Barnes accusing Trump of whining about a non-existent issue, and Voxs Emily Stewart dismissing censorship accusations as conspiracy talk.

In fact, conservatives have cited a wealth of both anecdotal examples and traffic analysis for their claims.

Right-of-center figures and groups restricted on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and elsewhere since 2016 have included Prager University, the David Horowitz Freedom Center, the Activist Mommy Elizabeth Johnston, theologian Dr. Robert A.J. Gagnon, Islam scholar Robert Spencer, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, prominent Republican officials, ads from several GOP candidates, conservative video bloggers Diamond and Silk, numerous pro-life videos and advertisements, and more.

The most highly-publicized incidents are typically reversed after a few days of public outcry, with companies blaming them either on isolated human errors or unintentional side effects of their content prioritization algorithms. But critics continue to suspect intentional bias due to the continued frequency of such incidents, and the rarity of comparable left-wing examples.

Critics also cite insiders at Facebook and Twitter who have admitted to intentionally targeting conservative accounts and topics, as well as analyses finding that Facebooks algorithm changes disproportionately harmed conservatives. While some studies found that explicitly-liberal publishers saw traffic declines as well (the central fact cited by deniers of intentional bias), they also found that mainstream media outlets that present themselves as impartial (despite their liberal bias) saw the most benefit.

Additionally, a confidential memo written last year by the far-left Media Matters details a comprehensive campaign to pressure social media and tech companies into silencing conservatives. Critics also cite social media companies partnerships with left-wing groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), PolitiFact, and Snopes for ostensibly-impartial services pertaining to fact-checking and policing hate.

On Twitter, writer James Hasson noted that CNNs Oliver Darcy blamed Trump for stoking a longstanding paranoia on the issue, yet in 2016 had covered Facebook insiders admission that they discriminated against conservatives:

A Tale of Two Darcys cc @oliverdarcy pic.twitter.com/UvNFnlkfUM  James Hasson (@JamesHasson20) August 27, 2018

Read more at: LifesiteNews.com(Natural News) To those of us who love science fiction, the concept of life on other planets is probably quite an easy one to accept. Certainly, there are many who would love to prove the existence of aliens or extra-terrestrials, or who are working hard to prove that even if such life forms no longer exist, they may once have done so on other planets. One of the more popular theories is that life once existed on Mars, and that the planet could potentially provide a home for humans if things become too complicated on our own planet Earth.

A recent study by researchers from the Centre for Star and Planet Formation at the University of Copenhagens Natural History Museum, contends that around 20 million years after the formation of our solar system, the liquid magma ocean surface of Mars crystallized very rapidly, after which a solid crust emerged which may have housed oceans, water and life.

The study was conducted by analyzing the extremely rare Black Beauty Mars meteorite, and significantly increases the possible window during which there may have been life forms on the red planet. (Related: Mars discovery almost certainly proves life exists on other planets.)

Black Beauty raises questions and provides answers

The Black Beauty meteorite, which was discovered in the Sahara Desert in 2011, originally weighed 319.8 grams, but some of it has been sold off at very high prices. The University of Copenhagens Martin Bizzaro was able to get his hands on 44 grams of it last year, with the financial assistance of various agencies that helped him cover the $10,000 per gram cost.

Black Beauty is of interest to scientists because it contains bits of Mars crust. The mineral zircon in the crust is key to the study of the possible history of life on the planet. (Related: The search for life on Mars by the ESA reaches important milestone.)

Zircon is a very robust mineral that is ideally suited to provide absolute ages. In this context, the zircons can be used to establish a temporal framework to understand the formation history of the Martian crust, said Professor Bizzarro. Zircon also acts as a small time capsule as it preserves information about the environment where and when it was created. In this case, a time capsule with hafnium that originates from the earliest crust of Mars, which was present approximately 100 million years before the oldest zircon of Black Beauty was created. Thus, Mars got an early start compared to Earth, whose solid crust wasnt formed until much later.

Unfortunately, since the zircons in Black Beauty are tiny, the only way the research team could get to them was to crush 5 grams of their precious chunk of meteorite. This strategy proved effective, as it released seven zircons, including the oldest known Mars zircon.

[F]rom the zircons and their content of hafnium, we can now conclude that the crystallization of the surface of Mars went extremely fast: already 20 million years after the formation of the solar system, Mars had a solid crust that could potentially house oceans and perhaps also life, Professor Bizzaro explained.

The University of Copenhagen researchers are not the first to assert that they may have found proof of life on Mars. According to the U.K.s Daily Mail, scientists with the American space agency, NASA, claim to have found evidence of a meteorite that carried ancient Martian bacteria to Earth, and insist that the red planet was once filled with shallow pools and lakes teeming with bugs. They also claim that the planet hosted plants or other organisms which were capable of photosynthesis and were part of complex ecosystems.

No doubt the science fiction enthusiasts among us will continue to carefully monitor ongoing developments in the life-on-Mars saga as they unfold.

Keep up with the latest space developments at Space.news.

Sources for this article include:

ScienceDaily.com

DailyMail.co.uk(Natural News) It would seem that in addition to living in their parents basements, Millennials dont do their own laundry. Convinced that it is possible to move this generation of consumers to action simply by including Millennial grunts like LOL and WTF on its product packaging, Procter & Gamble (P&G) is trying to get these slang words trademarked so that they can use them to lure the most useless generation in history to use their detergents and other cleaning materials.

P&G is the worlds largest consumer products company, and owns Tide, Febreze and Mr. Clean, among others. The cleaning giant sees Millennials as a lucrative market just waiting to be tapped into; apparently P&G executives remain convinced that Millennials can be stirred to action by something as simple as pithy advertising and the use of the right type of slang.

Millennial friendly acronyms

According to CNBC, P&G has applied to the U.S. Patent and Trademark office to use four acronyms especially popular with Millennials on its products:

LOL: Laughing out loud

Laughing out loud WTF: What the f***

What the f*** NBD: No big deal

No big deal FML: F*** my life

The company wants the right to use these terms, which are commonly used on social media and messaging apps, on its dish washing detergents, liquid soaps, air fresheners and surface cleaning products.

P&G has also applied for a trademark on the term Home Made Simple for use on some of its product lines.

Activist investor (whatever that means) Nelson Peltz, a board member with P&G, believes that Millennials are choosy when it comes to brand selection and are attracted to niche products rather than one-size fits all type items.

Millennials want these little brands, these local brands that they have an emotional attachment to, he told CNBC.

In other words: Their toys need to look shiny, special and different, or they dont want to play. How using popular acronyms on massively popular household brands like Tide and Febreze will convince these consumers that theyre actually little brands is hard to imagine, however.

Chemicals by any other name 

Nonetheless, irrespective of how these products are marketed, Millennials and other consumers do well to recognize that the cleaning materials sold by P&G and other similar companies are toxic and over time are absorbed through the skin, causing liver toxicity, cancer, nervous system disorders and other problems.

Mike Adams, the Health Ranger and founder/editor of Natural News warned:

[T]he laundry room is also highly toxic, containing the same chemical perfumes [as those found in popular perfumes and colognes] in both the laundry detergent and especially the dryer sheets. Dryer sheets coat all your clothes with a layer of toxic chemicals. When you wear those clothes, your body moisture causes those chemicals to come into contact with your skin and be absorbed directly into your bloodstream. Its an easy way to poison your system with cancer-causing chemicals.

The fact is, no matter how much those chemicals might smell like fresh mountain air or flowers, wearing clothes washed with these detergents is like wrapping ourselves in a toxic blanket of chemicals. They take the dirt out of your clothing, its true, but leave behind toxic residue invisible to the human eye, but no less dangerous for being invisible.

Some of the toxic chemicals commonly found in laundry detergents include:

Phenols: These easily absorbed chemicals are toxic to the liver, heart, lungs and kidneys, have been linked to serious health problems, and can cause death.

Optical brighteners: This popular ingredient tricks the human eye into thinking that clothes look whiter than they really do. Studies have found that they are highly allergenic when exposed to sunlight and cause mutations in bacteria.

Bleach: Sodium hypochlorite (bleach) is a strong irritant to the eyes and skin and one of the leading causes of poisoning in the home.

So, no matter what catchy phrases and acronyms the chemical giants start using to lure younger consumers, Millennials would do well to resist the temptation to start using these dangerous, toxic products. That doesnt mean they shouldnt get off the couch and start doing laundry; they should just switch to safer, chemical-free products.

See more examples of hilarious or stupid news at ROFL.news.

Sources include:

DailyWire.com

CNBC.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.comSan Francisco is almost set to allow a pilot a program to let people inject heroin and other drugs under medical supervision in an effort to curb overdose deaths.

The California Assembly voted 41-24 Monday to send Gov. Jerry Brown a bill allowing San Francisco to operate so-called safe injection sites where the city would provide sterile needles and people would be able to use illegal drugs there without fear of arrest.

Click to see NBC Bay Area's report on the supervised injection sites in Vancouver, Canada.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed said she supports the bill and that the site will save lives.

"We are in a public health crisis and this bill will help us by preventing overdoses while connecting people to medical care that can help treat their addiction," Breed said in a statement.

On Wednesday, Breed is set to visit a full-scale model of a safe injection site at the Glide Foundation in the city's Tenderloin neighborhood.

The model, called Safer Inside, is equipped with supervised injection booths, medical equipment, trained staff and a clinical area that provides users with access to health care and harm reduction services.

Breed has been a longtime advocate for safe injection sites. During her time as supervisor, Breed led a task force which estimated in a September 2017 report that the city could save around $3.5 million a year by opening a safe injection site because of reduced health care costs and increased drug treatment uptake.

The bill was co-authored by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, along with Assemblymember Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, and Assemblymember Laura Friedman, D-Glendale.

Last week in a statement Wiener said, "People are injecting drugs whether or not we intervene. They're injecting on our sidewalks and parks, in transit stations and alleyways and on people's front steps."

Wiener added, "Safe injection sites provide people with an opportunity to inject in a clean, safe environment, with healthcare personnel available to prevent overdoses, and with an opportunity to offer people addiction, healthcare, housing and other services."

But an opponent, Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez of Lake Elsinore, said she worries it will encourage prolonged drug use.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the leading cause of accidental deaths nationwide is drug overdoses.

In places like Canada and Europe, safe injection sites have been shown to prevent overdose deaths, reduce the spread of diseases such as hepatitis C and HIV, and help get users into services such as drug treatment programs.

Bay City News Contributed to this report.A human torso was found inside a fish tank at the San Francisco home of a man who had been reported missing, San Francisco Police announced Tuesday.

Residents on Clara Street in the city's South of Market neighborhood had been talking on Nextdoor about the mysterious absence of their neighbor Brian Egg since Aug. 2. Some neighbors say the last time they saw the 65-year-old on his daily walk with his dog Lucky was in early June.

A neighbor said he called police asking for a welfare check. He said a man who claimed to live at Egg's home told police and others Egg was on vacation, a story police appeared to believe until a few weeks ago.

At a news conference Tuesday, San Francisco police officials said authorities tried to contact Egg at his 228 Clara Street residence several times but no one answered the door. Egg's family filed a missing person report on Aug. 7, officials said.

"There was information left on his answering machine that he was out of town," SFPD said.

On Aug. 14, neighbors called 911 and reported a suspicious person outside Egg's home with a crime scene-cleaning truck. Police said they arrested two men, ages 52 and 39, the following day on charges of financial crimes, identify theft and homicide.

One of the men remained in jail Tuesday night wihle the other was released, police said.

On Aug. 17, a day after police obtained a search warrant for Egg's home, police located a person's torso inside a large fish tank in a concealed area of the residence, SFPD said.

Law enforcement sources previously said that a headless and hands-less corpse was found, but officials did not go into details Tuesday.

The search of the home took four days in total, officials said. Inside, police discovered cleaning products and a suspicious odor.

The medical examiner's office is working to identify the body, officials said. The investigation is still ongoing.

Neighbor Philippe Dunbar said patrol cars were parked outside the home in shifts for about two weeks.

"Another cop car would pull up, the first one would pull away, and the second one would pull into the same parking space," he said. "So there was always a cop in this alley for awhile."

Dunbar added, "There were people going in and out with masks on."Cardinal Blase Cupich said Monday he spoke with Attorney General Lisa Madigan and pledged to cooperate as Madigan's office launches an investigation into clergy abuse prompted by revelations of the Pennsylvania grand jury.



"I assured her of our full cooperation," Cupich told NBC 5. "I said, first of all, we don't mind at all because they have all our documents anyway."



The Cook and Lake County states attorneys office has reviewed church files, but the attorney general has not. Madigan said last week she wants to meet with Catholic officials in all six Illinois dioceses after identifying seven priests who served in Illinois from the Pennsylvania report.



Madigan on Monday released a clergy abuse hotline and website to report allegations of sexual abuse by clergy members.

Cardinal Blase Cupich speaks out just as new questions arise over local priest, Father Gary Graf, removed from the ministry after allegations of misconduct. NBC 5s Mary Ann Ahern reports.

"I encourage anyone in the state who has any information about any sexually inappropriate behavior involving a member of the clergy or church in Illinois to contact my office," Madigan said in a statement.

The hotline, Madigan said, is 1-888-414-7678 and will be answered by trained staff in her office during business hours.



"Messages left on the hotline will be returned if contact information is provided," Madigan said. "People can also send emails to clergyabuse@atg.state.il.us. Madigan's office will refer allegations to states' attorneys as appropriate."

A new bombshell memo from Cardinal Carlo Vigano, a former Vatican official assigned to the United States, said that Pope Francis, Benedict and John Paul II were aware of the allegations that Cardinal McCarrick sexually abused seminarians.

Cardinal Cupich served on the Bishops' Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People, at one point the chairman, but said he was not aware of McCarrick allegations until several months ago. Two years ago, Cupich and the Catholic Extension society honored McCarrick, but that award has since been rescinded.

Cupich on Saturday wrote in a letter to parishioners that a popular Chicago priest had been removed from his position after an allegation of code of conduct violations involving a minor."

Father Gary Graf, pastor of San Jose Luis Sanchez del Rio Parish, is under investigation by the Archdiocese and agreed to step aside pending the outcome of the investigation.

I realize this news comes at a difficult time, especially as you come together as one parish and celebrate your future as a faith community, Cupichs letter read. Please know that I am close to you in prayer. My simple request is that God grant you the grace of patience as we work to evaluate this allegation.

Graf said not being able to participate in the ministry hurts me, but told Telemundo Chicago in Spanish he is waiting for the investigation to come to an end.The Coast Guard suspended its search Tuesday for a missing kayaker in Lake Michigan.

The effort was restarted Tuesday at 6:11 a.m., according to the U.S. Coast Guard, after a 20-year-old man went underwater along the Chicago area's North Shore Monday night. Later that afternoon it was called off.

Crews from Highland Park and Lake Forest Fire and Police Departments will continue efforts on the water and on the shore, the Coast Guard said in a statement. The Coast Guard will be available to provide additional support if requested.

Officials said the man, whose identity was not available, went kayaking with a friend Monday evening, launching from north suburban Highland Park.

The duo went out while a small craft advisory was in effect, authorities said, with extreme wind and waves. While the men approached Lake Forest, both of their kayaks sank in the rough conditions.

Neither man was wearing a life vest, officials said, and just one of them was able to make it to shore and call 911.

The search for the missing kayaker began shortly after 10:30 p.m. Monday night, officials said, but was halted temporarily about two hours later after darkness hampered the effort.

The U.S. Coast Guard was conducting the mission along with fire rescue crews from Lake Forest and Highland Park.Local entrepreneur Portia Mngomezulu, founder of Portia M Skin Solutions, has been awarded Pick n Pay's 2018 Small Supplier of the Year award for her business' exceptional growth performance and job creation. The annual award recognises and rewards the company's top performing small supplier in the country across various categories.

Brand growth

Cracking retail

Constructive criticism

Ongoing support for suppliers

When Mngomezulu gave birth to her son in 2010, she not only embraced motherhood, but also entrepreneurship. After developing stretch markets during her pregnancy, her mother-in-law suggested Marula oil to treat the scarring. The results were so impressive that Mngomezulu wanted to share it with those closest to her. Investing R200 initially, she bought Marula oil directly from rural women in Limpopo, bottled it herself and began selling it as a side-business. The profit she made on each bottle was reinvested into her business.Fast forward to today, Mngomezulu has created a skincare range of 12 products for both men and women, she's in the process of launching her baby range of five products, and employs 27 full-time staff. In the last 24 months and through Pick n Pay alone, her business has generated over R20 million in sales. This excludes the products she has sold through her online shop, other retailers, and independent pharmacies.Mngomezulu says she has always known what she wanted for her business. This focus has enabled her to grow her local skincare business into a multi-million rand business that is quickly expanding into Africa. Her products are available in Swaziland, Namibia, and Botswana and she is exploring new markets.According to Mngomezulu, she knew there was an opportunity to build her own brand when the demand for her bottled oil continued to grow amongst friends and on social media. Over the next three years, she registered her business and expanded her range to include body lotion, face cream, and face wash. With her goal to provide to retailers she also had her products clinically tested and approved. Confident she was ready to supply the retail market, Mngomezulu quit her full-time job as an IT engineer at the end of 2013.Over the next year and a half she studied a supplier development programme at GIBS, secured her product on Makros shelf and toured South Africa with Absas Women in Business seminar. Given Absa and Pick n Pays longstanding relationship in supporting local entrepreneurs to develop their business, it was at one of these events in July 2015 that Pick n Pays Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) Programme discovered Portias products and invited her to meet their health and beauty buyer.Mngomezulu says that as an entrepreneur, the programme enabled her to grow her brand. Through the programme, micro and small businesses gain access to Pick n Pays internal corporate experts and are provided with support, business development advice and access to market.The programme gave me the opportunity to pitch my products to a buyer and within a week I was told I had secured a spot on their shelves. This was the greatest day of my business life, says Mngomezulu.Initially her products were placed in 20 corporate and family stores in 2015. Between 2016 and 2017 her sales jumped by nearly 2000% as the store list expanded nationally. She is now in 432 stores and her sales are already up 61% this year.She adds that her biggest learning from the programme is to trust in the process and to be patient. A no isnt a no, it only means you have to do it better than before. And if a buyer tells you a year, it might seem far away, but there are many things you can correct during this time. I am grateful I started with only a few stores as this allowed me to manage and learn from the mistakes I made along my retail journey.Mngomezulu is excited for the future of her business and remains as focused as ever with the aim to increase her footprint in Africa and expand globally. This is a truly African product with the Marula tree being native to the continent. The world needs to know of the immense healing benefits that Marula oil offers all skin types.Last years Pick n Pay Small Supplier of the Year title was awarded to Bernard Nortjie, owner of Dessertworx, the national supplier for Pick n Pays dessert range. In 2016, co-owners Zoegdie and Bilqees Essa from Comessa Food Service clinched the award for the impressive growth of their Tortilla Affairs range of flatbreads, rotis and naan.Mishinga Seyuba Kombo, manager of Pick n Pays Enterprise & Supplier Development Programme, says, Sustained on-going support across various disciplines is crucial for a small business to succeed. We work closely with our small suppliers to provide them with the opportunity to put their products in front of the customer through our stores."The success of the programme is evident from seeing many of our suppliers expand across our network and beyond to service other retailers and sectors. This growth is not only encouraging for their business, but for the communities they serve and the jobs they are able to create.Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said his office has evidence that the Vatican knew about the cover-up of clergy abuse in the Catholic Church, but said he couldn't verify whether Pope Francis had direct knowledge of the crimes by priests.

Shapiro told NBC's "Today" show during an interview Tuesday that the grand jury unearthed handwritten notes detailing the abuse stored in secret archives. He said clergymen were compelled by Cardinal Law to document "all of it," calling the policy "inexplicable."

"Church leaders would lie to parishioners on Sunday, they would lie to the public, they would shield these predators from the public but they would document all of it and place it in these secret archives, feet away from the bishops," Shapiro said.

The grand jury report, which took two years to investigate, found the church had covered up decades of child molestation by priests in six dioceses. Lurid details released throughout more than 1,300 pages include rape, abortions, confessions and cover-ups.

The grand jury heard allegations against more than 300 clergy members, according to the report. Most of the victims were boys. Some were teens, while others were prepubescent. Several alleged victims were lured with alcohol or pornography. Afterward, they turned to substance abuse and even suicide to escape the lingering trauma.

All told, more than 1,000 victims were identified from the church's own records and there could be thousands more, the grand jurors concluded.

Shapiro told "Today" co-host Savannah Gutherie that since the report was made public, more than 700 calls have poured into a clergy abuse hotline.

"Its horrifying to think what these men of God did to these children and then to have the cover-up that was quite literally purposeful to shield priests from law enforcement," Shapiro said, adding that priests where passed around from church to church to run the clock out on the statue of limitations for convictions.

In Pennsylvania, criminal charges can only be brought under the statute of limitations in effect at the time of the crime.

For those alleging abuse in the 1970s, that means two years from when it happened. For others, it means two years after they turned 18. Current state law allows prosecutors to file criminal charges before the one-time child victim turns 50 and for victims to seek civil damages in court before they turn 30.

While the probe yielded charges against two clergymen  including a priest who has since pleaded guilty, and another who allegedly forced his accuser to say confession after each sex assault  the vast majority of priests already identified as perpetrators are either dead or are likely to avoid arrest because their alleged crimes are too old to prosecute under state law.

"If we could bring a case on any of this, against any predator priest or anyone who covered it up we will do so," Shapiro said.

Shapiro's comments comes less than two days after a former Vatican diplomat penned a bombshell allegation of sex abuse cover-up against Pope Francis. Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano published a testimony Sunday alleging that Francis knew of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick's sexual misconduct starting in 2013 but rehabilitated him from sanctions that Pope Benedict XVI had imposed. The claims have shaken Francis' five-year papacy.

Francis accepted McCarrick's resignation as cardinal last month, after a U.S. church investigation determined that an accusation he had sexually abused a minor was credible.

Vigano's letter identifies by name the Vatican cardinals and U.S. archbishops who were informed about the McCarrick affair, an unthinkable expose for a Vatican diplomat to make. He said documents backing up his version of events are in Vatican archives.

Vigano also called for Francis to resign over what he said was complicity in covering-up McCarrick's crimes. There is ample evidence, however, that the Vatican under Benedict and St. John Paul II also covered up that information, and that any sanctions Benedict imposed were never enforced.

Last week, Francis begged Catholics worldwide for forgiveness for the pain suffered by victims and blasted the clerical culture that has been blamed for the crisis, with church leaders more concerned about their own reputations than the safety of children.

"We showed no care for the little ones," Francis wrote. "We abandoned them."

And while he vowed that "no effort must be spared" to root out priestly sex abuse and cover-up from the Catholic Church, Francis gave no indication that he would take action to sanction complicit bishops or end the Vatican culture of secrecy that has allowed the crisis to fester.As students in Connecticut head back to school this week, parents are scrambling to find EpiPens during a nationwide shortage.

The availability, the affordability, access to EpiPens is absolutely critical, West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor (D) said.

The maker of the EpiPen, Mylan, has released a statement saying its working with its manufacturing partner Pfizer to stabilize the supply of the life-saving drug for the millions of Americans, including children, that suffer from allergies.

I hate allergies mama, I silently thought, I do, too, buddy, Carolyn Janis said Monday morning at a news conference about the EpiPen shortage.

Janis is raising a 4-year-old son with serious allergies.

He is dealing right now with peanut, walnut, cashew, Brazilian tree nut, so really everything but almonds at this point, Janis said.

Janis told NBC Connecticut she called a local pharmacy Monday morning looking to buy new EpiPens.

There was nothing available locally at this point in time because kids are going back to school, she said, and schools are needing them for all of their activities as well.

A new state law allows students to carry EpiPens on school buses and bus drivers are now required to receive treatment on how to administer them.

So that no child dies while the school bus driver is dialing 911 and awaiting for an ambulance to respond, State Rep. Andy Fleischmann (D-West Hartford) said.

As the demand for the live-saving EpiPen has increased, the price for the two-pack has skyrocketed in recent years, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said.

This six-fold increase in prices for this pack is completely unjustified except for the profiteering that the drug companies do, Blumenthal said.

Ten years ago, EpiPens could be purchased for $57, but they sell for closer to $700 if you can find them, according to Blumenthals office.

The senator announced he plans to introduce legislation to crack down on pharmaceutical price gouging.

If the drug company cannot justify price hikes to the Department of Health and Human services, they could order the price be rescinded, refunds to individual consumers and a civil penalty, Blumenthal said.

Even with help from her insurance, Janis said she still pays about $270 out of pocket for EpiPens to take care of her son.

My sons life is worth more than just setting the price so hard that its unobtainable for my family many times, she said.

To deal with the shortage, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has extended the expiration date for some EpiPens by an additional four months. The FDA has also approved a generic version of an epinephrine auto-injector, but it may not be available for consumers anytime soon.An excessive heat warning has been issued for Hartford County through Wednesday night and there is a heat advisory for the rest of the state, prompting schools to announce early dismissals and even a closure Wednesday.

Derby Public Schools decided to cancel classes Wednesday while several school districts announced an early release for Wednesday.

See a list of early dismissals and cancellations here.

For some districts, including Milford, Naugatuck and West Haven, this is the second day in a row students that students are being sent home early.

Some students are heading to school amid very high temperatures and schools are doing what they can to keep children cool.

Other districts canceled after-school activities Tuesday due to the heat. In West Haven temperatures in classrooms in the Washington School approached 90 degrees. Combined with high humidity, the heat index is close to 100 degrees.

FIRST ALERT: Timing Out the Excessive Heat

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is issuing a warning that ozone levels across Southern Connecticut could be unhealthy for sensitive groups through today.

For the full First Alert forecast, click here.Former FBI director James Comey is coming to Connecticut to speak at a forum at UConn this fall.

Comey was appointed to the position of FBI director in 2013 by then-President Barack Obama and served until 2017, when President Donald Trump fired him amid the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Comey is the author of A Higher Loyalty  Truth, Lies, and Leadership.

The former FBI director will be speaking at a The Edmund Fusco Contemporary Issues Forum called The Ethical Leader on Monday, Oct. 15. The event, which is not open to the public, will be held at the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts at 7 p.m.

This event will be open to all UConn students, faculty, and staff. Tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis to members of the UConn community. A separate communication on obtaining tickets will be sent as we get closer to the event, UConn President Susan Herbst said in her welcome back message to the school community.

Editors note: UConn said the event is not open the public.School starts on Tuesday for nearly 20,000 students in Hartford.

But as children and families finish up their back to school shopping the superintendent has a strong message for families.

Come to school, said Supt. Dr. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez. This new academic school year, the superintendent wants to cut back on attendance issues in the district.

The theme of the new school year is Shoulder Up. Torres-Rodriguez explained the meaning to NBC Connecticut.

We have one collective mission and that is to shoulder up, which is our theme for the year to collaborate with one another for the sake of our students.

The superintendent said that attitude starts on the very first day. More than 8,000 Hartford students, 40 percent, were labeled truant last school year.

We do have a challenge in front of us. One in four of our students is chronically absent so we cannot have our students first missing any school. But chronic absenteeism speaks to missing 10 percent or more of the school year. We dont want any of our students to have any gaps in their learning, Torres-Rodriguez reiterated.

The superintendent said she is also fielding lots of questions about uniforms. Torres-Rodriguez said if your child doesnt have a school uniform yet, come to school anyway, that shouldnt keep them home. Theyll figure it out.

As teachers and administrators prepare for students to return, kick-off activities were underway Monday. Pre-K through fifth grade students enjoyed a cafeteria cookout at the Sanchez School on Monday. Glastonburys rotary club served up free lunch and the students received free back packs filled with school supplies from the Wireless Zone.

Ebonie Burke and her son 7-year-old son Nichael Burke-Lee spent part of Monday shopping for back to school supplies. Markers, colored pencils, rulers, glue sticks, binders and notebooks, Burke told NBC Connecticut.

I got a transformer watch and backpack! Burke-Lee said.

He is going to be in the second grade at West Middle School.

Burke-Lee said his favorite part about school is the teachers. They help you! Theyre trying to help you get smart.

Across town at Dunkin Donuts Park more than 1,500 Hartford teachers and staff celebrated the start of a new school year at the 2018 convocation.

All Hartford public schools are air conditioned and ready for tomorrow, but the facilities crew is on standby just in case there is an issue, Torres-Rodriguez told NBC Connecticut.Life without a dad would be pretty hard.

New London teenager Santiago Rodriguez is fearful that his father might be forced to leave the country in a matter of weeks. On Monday hundreds rallied to keep that family together.

Julian Rodriguez, Santiagos father, told NBC Connecticut hes already booked a flight back to his native Colombia.

But his family and many in the community who gathered hope he doesnt have to use it.

Fourteen-year-old Santiago Rodriguez looked out on a crowd supporting his father and worried his family might soon be torn apart.

Without him I dont know what we would do, Santiago said.

Santiago requires special care at Connecticut Childrens Medical Center to treat a rare genetic immune deficiency disorder. While hes about to start 10th grade tomorrow, his concern is that his dad, Julian, could be deported.

Hopefully he doesnt have to leave in two weeks and he can stay here to support my family and keep us together, Santiago said.

That was the hope of the hundreds who rallied at New Londons Soldiers & Sailors Monument Monday.

Julian faces an order to leave the country by September 12th.

Its so important because Julian is so important, said Diana Cortes, Julians wife.

Julian and Cortes both traveled to the US years ago to seek political asylum and a better life.

Hes everything. Its the support for us, Cortes said.

Julian is from Colombia, but the 50-year-old has been in the US since 2000. This father wants to remain here to provide a future for his son and allow the boy to continue to receive the medical care he needs.

My son must stay in the country because there is not any other place where he can be treated of the illness that he has, Julian explained.

A federal immigration officer said Rodriguez entered the country illegally and is a subject of a warrant of deportation. See the full statement from Immigration and Customs Enforcement below:

Julian Yesid Rodriguez Martinez, 50, a citizen and national of Colombia, illegally entered the U.S. in May 2000. In December 2003, an immigration judge issued him voluntary departure to his home country, and upon appeal, the Board of Immigration Appeals upheld the judges decision.

Since Rodriguez Martinez did not depart the U.S., in May 2009, he became the subject of a warrant of deportation. ICE has granted him multiple stays of removal spanning from 2010 to 2017. He currently does not have legal status to remain in the U.S. but has requested another stay of removal, which is currently pending review.

A stay of removal, when granted, is designed only to provide a temporary relief from removal; it is not a mechanism to permanently stay in the U.S. Barring the issuance of another stay, he will be removed from the U.S. in compliance with the final order of removal issued for him by the immigration judge in this case.

For operational and security purposes, ICE does not reveal scheduled dates of removal/departure in advance of a removal.

Were told Rodriguez has received several stays and another is being reviewed.Before the start of the new school year in New Haven Thursday, there is a new push for adults that dropped out of high school to continue their education.

One hundred staff members from the adult education program held a rally Tuesday on the New Haven Green to encourage residents to return to school. They dressed in bright t-shirts that said No Excuses on the back.

The mission today is to address those alarming statistics around our adults in New Haven that one out of every six does not have their high school diploma, Principal Michelle Bonora said, and 30 percent of our citizens struggle to read or read proficiently.

Tracey Davis Massey dropped out of high school in South Carolina.

I had my first child when I was in the 10th grade and I had to be independent, she told NBC Connecticut. I had to go out and work.

Davis Massey has since raised four children. She said three have their high school diplomas and the fourth will graduate from New Haven Public Schools next June.

A year ago at age 46, Davis Massey decided to enroll in classes at the New Haven Adult & Continuing Education Center on Ella Grasso Boulevard.

Going back to re-learn the things I enjoyed the most, history, science, things that are so dear to my heart, she said.

New Havens adult students range from 17 to older than 70 years old, Bonora said, adding that more than 170 graduated with high school diplomas last year.

Davis Massey said she is on track to receive hers in 2019.

This was it, this was the final call and I wanted to show my children that I can do it just as well as you can do it, she said.Norm Needleman is the president of the leading manufacturer of effervescent products in the United States, Tower Laboratories.

The company makes products for major brands like Alka Seltzer and generics that fizz.

If it fizzes, we make it, Needleman said Tuesday.

Needleman is currently running for State Senate as a Democrat against Republican Melissa Ziobron. The district includes Clinton where his company is located.

Since the Trump administration slapped tariffs on a host of products and materials, Needleman says hes nearing the point where he will have to raise prices, which means customers will see higher prices when they go to the store.

You cant have a worse way to execute tariff, trade policy than what hes doing because the end result is that the consumer pays more.

Specifically, the tariff on aluminum thats imported into the United States has led to retaliation by other countries, leading to prices hikes of 25 percent from Needlemans supplier. Combine that increase with a higher cost for stock for packaging from Canada as a result of another tariff, Needleman says hes already identified $800,000 in higher costs for his business.

Overall, the tariffs administered by the president have an impact of $174 million on goods and services, according to the US Chamber of Commerce, one of the largest business advocacy groups in the United States.

The biggest pain is felt when it comes to exports to Canada and China with possible losses of $68 million and $67 million, respectively, as a result of the tariffs being enforced. Both countries have already retaliated with levies on goods coming from the United States.

A lot of things are humming and the last thing you want is something that puts a bump in the road, said Joe Brennan, the President of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, the states largest business group.

Brennan says hes heard from large and small manufacturers and said more than half of the CBIAs membership is concerned with the impact the tariffs may have on their business. To many, Brennan says, the tariffs came out of nowhere.

Stability and predictability are really really important concepts and what this has done is run turmoil, if not chaos into some markets.

In the meantime, there is nothing Connecticut can do to change the course of the Trump administration, which has said publicly that while some employers and workers may be upset now, there is long-term growth that will follow as a result of the tariffs.

Brennan says no one knows that for sure, but said in state like Connecticut with a fragile state of economic affairs, the tariffs did not do anything to ease tensions of the state or the country falling back into a malaise.

As manufacturing is finally gaining some traction, companies are moving back to the US, now were imposing tariffs that are adding higher costs that make it more difficult for them to be competitive so the timing of this in some ways couldnt be worse, particularly in a state like Connecticut that relies so heavily on advanced manufacturing.Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Ned Lamont decried the tariffs that have impacted Connecticut manufacturers.

What regular people in Connecticut have got to realize is how this trade policy impacts the state of Connecticut, Lamont said during a visit to Tower Laboratories, a Clinton-based maker of products that fizz like alka seltzer tablets, cold medications, and denture cleansers.

President Donald Trump has imposed sanctions on thousands of products imported to the United States, and in turn, other countries like Canada, China, and Mexico have slapped tariffs on American goods, leading to higher costs for manufacturers.

In the case of Tower Laboratories, the companys president, Norm Needleman says they are being hit with higher costs for aluminum and stock which are each used for packaging and shipment of the effervescent tablets to customers all over the world. Needleman is currently running for State Senate as a Democrat against Republican Melissa Ziobron. The district includes Clinton where his company is located.

Im the canary in the cave for the consumer. The prices are going to go up for the consumers if not already, he said.

The event was an effort by Ned Lamont to tie policies of the Trump administration to his Republican opponent Bob Stefanowski, despite the fact that no governor, Democrat or Republican, has any control over trade policy that derives at the federal level.

Lamont acknowledged that fact, but said the issues hurting manufacturers eventually hit Connecticut consumers.

I cant implement tariffs or implement them as a governor but I can work very closely with our Congressional delegation so they can realize how important it is that we make sure that theres no trade war.

NBC Connecticut reached out to Bob Stefanowski's campaign and received the following response from campaign spokesperson Kendall Marr.

"It's ironic that Ned Lamont is talking about harming our state's businesses, considering his desire to raise taxes yet again after eight years of the disastrous Malloy administration. Those policies directly resulted in the loss of thousands of jobs and decimated Connecticut's economy. Stefanowski's plan to hold the line on state spending and lower taxes will provide direct relief to businesses struggling to cope with the Lamont-Malloy economy."Dallas firefighters complained Monday about a delay in police emergency response over the weekend that left firefighters to deal on their own with a knife wielding suspect.

It was one of those runs where you think its going to be the last run you ever make, said Dallas Firefighters Union President Jim McDade.

It happened Saturday around 11:45 p.m. when firefighters from Station 56 on Beltline Road responded to the Prestonwood Hillcrest Apartments on La Cosa Drive.

McDade said firefighters received a mental health call for a man who had been threatening to light fires and menacing his ex-spouse.

She waved them in and the guy came out from behind bushes with a knife in his hand, McDade said.

The firefighters called for police back up and when no officers responded, they retreated to the fire truck for safety.

Fire Department radio traffic recorded the exchange between the crew and the dispatcher.

Were locked in the engine, said a transmission from Engine 56.

McDade said the suspect tried to get into the fire engine but as a few more minutes passed without police on the scene, the firefighters subdued the suspect.

Weve got him held down. We need police, code 3, said a radio message said from the scene.

The crew asked for an ETA on police and the dispatcher said he had no estimate on arrival time.

Engine 56, if you can let the guy go, the police have given you ability to do that, the dispatcher said.

Were not letting go of this guy, the engine crew responded.

At one point, McDade said the crew asked for help from Richardson Police since the location was close to that city.

After holding the suspect for around 15 minutes Dallas Police did respond to the scene.

McDade said firefighters are not trained or equipped to deal with dangerous suspects.

Thats not our job. Thats not our roll, he said.

In the past, he said police would respond very quickly to a Code 3 call for help as if it were a police officer in trouble. But recently the Firefighters Union leader said he has received other complaints about slow police response.

This is the reality we face today with the lack of police coverage. We dont have anybody whos there for us to back us up in these situations, McDade said.

Dallas Police released a statement on Monday night that detailed the times of the calls for help.

 23:48 Call was changed from a Priority 2 to a Priority 1 by a 911 call-taker based on additional information.

 23:49 Call changed from a Priority 1 to a Priority 2 by the dispatcher for reasons that are currently being reviewed by the department.

 23:54 Call changed from a Priority 2 back to a Priority 1 by the Dispatch Sergeant based on the review of the call sheet.

 23:55 Engine 56 requests DPD emergency assistance.

 23:58 Engine 56 reports male chasing DFR with a knife, requesting DPD emergency assistance. DFR also requests Richardson PD.

 23:58 Call is announced over the air by the DPD dispatcher.

 23:59 Patrol Sergeant is enroute to call.

 00:04 First Patrol element arrives at the apartment complex along with 2 DFR ambulances. Suspect subsequently placed into custody. Richardson PD responds shortly thereafter for mutual support.

Dallas police also stated in the email that both the police and fire departments are currently investigating and that they strive to provide service first to not only the community but also to our fellow first responders.

The Dallas Police force is around 600 officers smaller than it was in 2011.

A police union leader said that nearby officers were busy with another high priority call at the time of this situation Saturday night.

George Aranda, Dallas Chapter President of the National Latino Law Enforcement Organization, said Dallas officers are doing the best they can with current manpower and would always race to help firefighters in danger if possible.

These officers are busting their butt every single day with the limited resources, Aranda said.

Aranda works in Dallas Police recruiting.

We need better pay. Better pay attracts a larger pool of officers, he said.

The Dallas City Council this week will discuss how to use an extra $16 million that will be in the new city budget. The money is available after the Council voted last week not to reduce the property tax rate as much as the City Manager recommended.

Several City Council Members propose using the money for a 5% police and fire pay raise in addition to what was already in the proposed city budget, which public safety unions strongly support.

McDade said even with that extra increase, Dallas Public Safety pay would only be average compared with surrounding cities that compete for employees.

But it does get us to be a little more competitive, McDade said.

Dallas Police Chief Renee Hall has also supported reducing the passing grade on police entrance exams to 70% from 80% to accept more applicants.

Aranda said 70% was the passing grade when he was hired more than 20 years ago and had only recently been changed to 80%.

Its not like were lowering standards, Aranda said. Its something that we need to revisit and put back into place.

The Dallas City Council session is Wednesday.Modern businesses understand the benefits of agile work practices and have begun implementing agile methods to become more competitive.

Nick Durrant, managing director of Bluegrass Digital

A different approach

What are the problems?

Several risks

Early feedback saves time

The rate of development

Continuous delivery : Time to market with modern architecture enables deployment at any time with full automation and automated test flows.



: Time to market with modern architecture enables deployment at any time with full automation and automated test flows. ROI : By building smaller parts and releasing continuously, it is possible to deliver value continuously, which means ROI can be measured faster.



: By building smaller parts and releasing continuously, it is possible to deliver value continuously, which means ROI can be measured faster. Change and innovation : Modern architecture creates the prerequisites for innovation, and quickly testing and measuring what works.



: Modern architecture creates the prerequisites for innovation, and quickly testing and measuring what works. Omnichannel: Modern architecture is scalable and not built for a specific device, so it can be easily adapted to different devices.

The three major driving forces behind this development are; reduction of risk, delivery of the right product through early feedback, and opportunity for change.The industry is moving towards a more jigsaw puzzle approach to development instead of trying to scale and maintain monolithic platforms that tend to become a legacy platform very quickly, making scalability and cost of ownership very difficult.What most businesses miss when adopting an agile approach is that it includes everything from system architecture, process, and routines around deployment  which often means that an organisation goes from quarterly or monthly deployments to fully automated deliveries several times a day, if needed, with automated tests.The biggest problem, many businesses today have applications that are often a monolithic packaged solution which comprise a number of purchased applications integrated with each other over time. These applications were often acquired and implemented individually through other business systems, ERP, CRM, CMS or e-commerce solutions.It is also quite common to purchase a so-called ready solution to save time, but this still requires investing a lot of time in adapting the complete solution to unique needs, which often limits the benefits of being able to get product updates. These separate applications with unique adjustments have then been integrated with each other to streamline flows.This kind of monolithic architecture means it takes time to introduce changes, and it is associated with high risks, as changes in one place can have consequences that are hard to predict elsewhere.Monolithic packages have introduced processes for making changes, processes that often mean that you have to go through a number of steps to even begin making the changes. After that, the changes are prioritised and planned to determine when a given change can be introduced. Quarterly or monthly queries often take place, which can mean system downtime on the weekends.This is no longer useful and there are several business risks associated with this kind of architecture. Time to market becomes more and more important if you want to keep up with the market, which means that this type of architecture does not face this challenge. More importantly, it takes a long time to get a return on your investment because the changes often take a long time to build and introduce the solution.In order to work successfully with change and innovation, the ability to measure and follow-up is required. It is also difficult to quickly adapt and expand to new channels when they cant be added directly since the monolith often misses a standardized method to communicate and exchange data with other systems.The ability to test smaller parts faster requires a more modern technology and system architecture that is flexible and quick to further develop. The solution is to continually introduce small improvements that take you toward a final goal, such as retiring existing systems or building components that replace functionality in the existing platform.The advantage of this approach is that it will continuously deliver value to the business and continuously measure and evaluate whether you are on the right track. This also means that you can change and prioritize on a regular basis, based on what you learn.You can also ensure that you are prioritising the elements that create the most value for the business and are not spending time on less critical or time-consuming components.Microservices architecture separates features into smaller systems, which means that each system has a clear purpose and it becomes much easier to automate tests, streamline, create secure deployments and reduce dependency on a large team.It becomes possible to scale the team and allocate those resources to new horizons, thus increasing the rate of development even more. Instead of risks, there are benefits:In order to transform a business, it is not enough to use agile methods. The architecture must also be agile, and the way forward is to test, measure and learn.Essentially, microservice architecture is a method of developing software applications as a suite of independently deployable, small, modular services in which each service runs a unique process and communicates through a well-defined, lightweight mechanism to serve a business goal.Gasps echoed across the courtroom as a Dallas jury found former Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver guilty of murder Tuesday afternoon in the shooting death of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards.

However, the jury found Oliver, 38, not guilty on two counts of aggravated assault for shooting into a car carrying five unarmed teens in April 2017. Edwards was the front seat passenger in the vehicle and was shot in the back of the head. He died at the scene.

Odell Edwards, the father of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, said he was thankful for the guilty verdict in the murder trial of Roy Oliver.

After the verdict was read, Edwards' relatives sobbed, hugged prosecutors and exclaimed, "Thank you, Jesus!"

It took the jury 13 hours of deliberation, which started just before 12 p.m. Monday, to come to its verdict. Jurors met until about 8 p.m. Monday before they were sent to a hotel and sequestered for the night.

The verdict was read around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The trial stretched for eight days, beginning Aug. 16 and the sentencing phase is set to continue Wednesday. During deliberations, the jury sent several notes to the judge, including two on Tuesday.

The first Tuesday note asked for a transcript of some of Oliver's testimony, saying jurors were in dispute about whether Oliver said the sound of car glass breaking factored into his decision to shoot.

A second note Tuesday asked for a copy of a written statement Oliver provided after the shooting. The statement was not admitted in court and jurors were asked to continue deliberations without it.

A Dallas jury found ex-Balch Springs Roy Oliver guilty for the murder of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards Tuesday afternoon.

The sentencing phase of the trial continued through Tuesday evening and will resume Wednesday at 9 a.m.

Prosecutors called friends and family of Edwards to the stand. Jurors heard Edwards was a good student, a role model and leader at school.

Edwards father told the jury his family, especially Jordan's young siblings have not been the same since the shooting.

"They don't eat like they used to, they take two or three bites and that's it," said Odell Edwards through tears. "They don't sleep like they used to."

The family and representatives of Jordan Edwards' family shared their thoughts after the guilty verdict was announced.

Edwards mother also testified about the missing piece in the family, then thanked jurors for the guilty verdict.

"So many times that you see on the TV that this has happened and nothing ever happens. It's like it happens, they justify it and the police just walk away and don't have to give an account for anything," Charmaine Edwards told the jury. "And I'm forever grateful that y'all saw it in your hearts to see that it was wrong. I'm thankful."

Edwards cried as she turned to the jurors.

"It doesn't bring Jordan back, but we have some kind of closure," she added.

Former Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver testifies, answers questions about what took place the night Jordan Edward was shot and killed.

Outside the courtroom, lawyers for the Edwards family said prosecutors sent a message in choosing to prosecute Oliver.

"We don't ever want another parent, another father, to go through what this family had to deal with," said Edwards' family civil attorney Daryl K. Washington.

Oliver shot and killed Edwards on April 29, 2017, as Oliver and another officer, Tyler Gross, broke up a teenage house party. When the officers heard shots fired while they were breaking up the party, Gross zeroed in on a Chevy Impala that was leaving the house.

Oliver's defense said he used deadly force because he believed the driver of the Impala was trying to hit Gross. During the trial, Gross testified he did not believe his life was in danger.

Not long after finding white former police officer Roy Oliver guilty of murder for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager 15-year-old Jordan Edwards the jury began hearing testimony in the penalty phase.

"It doesn't matter that looking back on it, in hindsight, we'd all make a different decision now," said Oliver's attorney Bob Gill. "We have to look at it how Roy Oliver saw it at the time and what he saw was a significant threat to his partner."

Edwards was a student at Mesquite High School. After the verdict was read, Mesquite ISD said it extended its support to the Edwards family.

"Mesquite ISD is focused on meeting the emotional needs of our students and staff members as they cope with the many feelings stirred by the case surrounding Jordan Edwards' death. Our unwavering support and compassion extends to Jordan's family during this difficult time, and Jordan's memory will continue to hold special meaning for Mesquite High School and our entire community."

Shortly after the verdict was read, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted about the decision.

The jury, made up 10 women and two men, also had the option to find Oliver guilty of manslaughter if it could not come to a decision on the murder charge.

After deliberating for several hours Monday, the jury hearing the case against Roy Oliver for the 2017 murder of Jordan Edwards could not come to a verdict. Jurors will resume deliberations Tuesday.

"This case is not just about Jordan. It's about Tamir Rice. It's about Walter Scott. It's about Alton Sterling," Washington said. "It's about every unarmed African American who has been killed and who has not gotten justice."

According to NBC 5's media partner The Dallas Morning News, the last time an on-duty police officer was convicted of murder in North Texas was in 1973.

In that case, Dallas police officer Darrell L. Cain shot and killed 12-year-old Santos Rodriguez, Russian roulette-style, during an interrogation over a vending machine burglary.

It's extremely rare for police officers to be tried and convicted of murder for shootings that occurred while they were on duty. Not including Oliver, only five non-federal police officers had been convicted of murder -- and four of those were overturned -- since 2005, according to data compiled by criminologist and Bowling Green State University professor Phil Stinson.

White Texas police officer found guilty of murder for fatally shooting black teen in car. This life should never have been lost. https://t.co/SfxnPwXO0V  Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) August 28, 2018

Ahead of the trial, experts noted that securing convictions against officers were challenging, in part because criminal culpability in on-duty shootings is subjective and jurors are more inclined to believe police testimony.

Cofounder of Mothers Against Police Brutality John Fullinwider said this means a great deal to advancing the national conversation about police brutality.

For an old peace and justice warrior like myself it means a lot. There are many cases that deserved a trial and never got one, Fullinwider said. It means a lot to me and it means a lot to this movement. Its something that we can build off of.

Not long after finding white former police officer Roy Oliver guilty of murder for fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager 15-year-old Jordan Edwards the jury began hearing testimony in the penalty phase.Federal judges on Monday affirmed their earlier decision striking North Carolina's congressional districts as unconstitutional because Republicans drew them with excessive partisanship.

Acting under an order of the U.S. Supreme Court to re-examine the case, the three-judge panel ruled again in favor of election advocacy groups and Democrats who had sued to challenge the boundaries drawn in 2016.

The Greensboro-based court also raised the possibility of directing the GOP-dominated legislature to redraw the maps by mid-September so they could be in effect for the fall elections, or getting an outside expert to do so. The printing of ballots has been delayed while other fall election matters are in court.

"In such circumstances, we decline to rule out the possibility that the state should be enjoined from conducting any further congressional elections using the 2016 plan," U.S. Circuit Judge Jim Wynn wrote in the majority opinion. He asked lawyers in the case to weigh in by Friday about what should happen next.

Any decision demanding new maps for this cycle likely would risk confusion among voters and be appealed by the Republican legislative leaders being sued.

May primaries were held, and general election candidates are raising money and campaigning in the current districts while approaching a midterm election in which control of the House is at stake. Even the plaintiffs, in their news releases praising the ruling, said they anticipated the Supreme Court would hear appeals during its session starting in October, meaning any new maps probably wouldn't be used until the 2020 cycle.

The groups and individuals that sued alleged GOP mapmakers manipulated the lines of the state's 13 districts in 2016 using political data to ensure Republicans retained a 10-3 majority within the delegation.

The same judges in January deemed the map an illegal partisan gerrymander that violated constitutional protections of Democratic voters. But the Supreme Court, which had ruled against plaintiffs in a redistricting case in Wisconsin, asked them to take a second look in June.

The sides in the case then filed briefs and provided new evidence. In Monday's order covering almost 300 pages, Wynn wrote that at least one plaintiff registered to vote in each of the 13 districts has legal standing to challenge their district  meeting a key element of the justices' ruling in the Wisconsin case. In each case, the opinion reads, the voter offered evidence showing the district had been twisted so that the person's vote carried less weight compared to another hypothetical district that hadn't been packed or split for partisan results.

The U.S. Constitution "does not allow elected officials to enact laws that distort the marketplace of political ideas so as to intentionally favor certain political beliefs, parties, or candidates and disfavor others," Wynn wrote.

Wynn, District Judge Earl Britt and District Judge William Osteen agreed again that the 2016 redistricting plan violated the U.S. Constitution's equal-protection provision. They also ruled that it violated provisions requiring states to be in charge of congressional elections because it dictated electoral outcomes. Osteen, in a separate opinion, disagreed with decisions by Wynn and Britt that the map also violated the First Amendment rights of Democrats to freedom of speech and of association.

Attorneys for GOP mapmakers had argued the three-judge panel should dismiss the lawsuits because the plaintiffs' evidence was statewide in nature, not district by district.

Republican Senate leader Phil Berger's office focused Monday night on Wynn for "outrageous election meddling" that could affect which party wins the House majority this year. "The decision throws North Carolina into chaos causing maximum voter confusion, and suggests that a court can deny North Carolina citizens their right to vote in November," said Pat Ryan, a Berger spokesman.

Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina, called the ruling a historic win for voters, and a significant step towards finally ending gerrymandering."

The map was redrawn in 2016 because other federal courts determined two districts originally drawn in 2011 were illegal because of excessive racial bias.

Wynn noted the decadelong challenges.

"We continue to lament that North Carolina voters now have been deprived of a constitutional congressional districting plan  and, therefore, constitutional representation in Congress  for six years and three election cycles," he wrote.Bishop Patrick J. McGrath with the Catholic Diocese of San Jose will no longer move into a pricey new home that was purchased for his retirement.

The Catholic Diocese of San Jose bought the five-bedroom, $2.3 million home in San Jose's Willow Glen neighborhood for McGrath, which raised some concerns among the diocese's 640,000 Catholics, given the church's mission of charity and serving the poor.

The 73-year-old McGrath acknowledged in an interview with the Mercury News of San Jose the price tag is "a lot of money," saying he could understand it might not sit well with some parishioners.

The listing for the nearly 3,300-square-foot (306 square-meter) home boasts of a "grand-sized chef's kitchen" and a "spa-like marble bathroom."

Diocese spokeswoman Liz Sullivan said the home was purchased with funds set aside for a bishop's housing and upkeep after retirement. The Catholic Diocese of San Jose will now sell the home as soon as possible, McGrath said in a statement released late Monday.

McGrath previously spoke about the lack of affordable housing in Northern California.The Los Angeles Police Department's inspector general's office found problems in about one-third of all cases it examined for a violation commonly referred to as "resisting arrest," a charge that has been historically vulnerable to abuse by officers, according to a report released Tuesday.

The report submitted by Inspector General Mark P. Smith looked at 123 incidents which occurred between June 2016 and March 2017, in which at least one individual was arrested for allegedly violating California Penal Code section 148(a)(1), which does not just cover resisting arrest but applies to any actions by a person to willfully resist, delay or obstruct an officer in the performance of his or her official duties.

Problems the IG found included incidents with insufficient documentation or articulation for the basis for the stop or other officer decisions, as well as cases where there did not appear to be a sufficient basis for one or more decisions.

The report recommended a number of changes to procedures, and LAPD Chief Michel Moore said he welcomed the report and its findings.

Speaking at a meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners before it approved the report, Moore said it "offers an opportunity for all of us to ensure that our policies, protocols, procedures and training are what we expect" and that it "strikes the right tenor and tone."

The 123 incidents examined by the IG only constituted about 35 percent of all arrests for violations of 148 PC during the time period, but were chosen for a closer look for several reasons, including the availability of video.

The IG found that officers were sometimes responsible for escalating an interaction by using disrespectful or profane language, making seemingly retaliatory threats, or a lack of transparency about why decisions were being made or actions taken.

"The use of profanity in these instances often appeared unnecessary and rude, and, rather than resolving an incident, such language often appeared to escalate a minor incident by provoking frustration and protest on the part of the person being detained,'' the report says.

Other instances were found where a person was stopped for jaywalking or blocking a street, although no violation had actually occurred. The report also found that in 26 percent of the cases examined, the alleged resistance offered by the arrestee was relatively minor or, in some instances, appeared to be related to a person's mental health disability.

The report noted that "resisting arrest" has historically been viewed as vulnerable to abuse and was the subject of reform when the department operated under a federal consent decree from 2001 to 2013 as a result of a corruption scandal in the Rampart Division.

The charge has been referred to by some as "contempt of cop" due to the perception that it can be used in a retaliatory fashion against individuals who are disrespectful or show contempt toward an officer, or may be used by officers as a "cover charge" when they use force -- and, potentially, unnecessary force -- and subsequently seek to justify the need to use that force, according to the report.

When officers arrest an individual and the primary charge is 148 PC, their watch commander is required to conduct a pre-booking evaluation of the arrest. The report recommends that the department provide a more structured review of the arrests by watch commanders, and that the department conduct additional analysis of officers' decision-making during stops and review training in light of the issues raised in the report.A Davie family has been desperately trying to trap a giant lizard that's been terrorizing their backyard.

Maria and Zach Lieberman captured the brazen lizard on cellphone video slithering up to the sliding glass door of their back porch.

"I was like, 'Oh boy. That's a big fella,'" Zach Lieberman said.

Experts believe the creature may be an Asian or Nile water monitor, which is an invasive species to Florida.

"It's an invasive species, and it shouldn't be here," said Mike Kimmel of the Martin County Trap and Wildlife Rescue. "It's dangerous to our native wildlife and it's dangerous to our ecosystem."

Zach Lieberman first spotted the reptile a few days ago in the lush preserve behind their home, but they're worried their small children could be at risk.

While experts say the monitors go after small prey, humans can get a nasty bite or scratch if they get too close.

The Lieberman family also contacted the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for help the trap the lizard.

"Everybody is trying to get it and get it alive," Zach Lieberman said.What to Know Rescue crews arrived at the scene along Southwest 112h Avenue between 268th Street and Floridas Turnpike just before 6 a.m.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said a total of five people were involved, with three being identified as trauma alerts including reports of one teen

An early morning crash involving three cars near Homestead claimed the life of one person and sent multiple others to the hospital while closing one roadway as officials investigated.

Rescue crews arrived at the scene along Southwest 112h Avenue between 268th Street and Floridas Turnpike just before 6 a.m., where chopper footage showed the vehicles involved including one car on its roof and split in half.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said a total of five people were involved, with three being identified as trauma alerts including reports of one being a teenager. Another patient was also taken to an area hospital according to officials, but officials have not said if any of those were the fatality.

Stay tuned to NBC 6 on air and online for updatesWhat to Know The Florida Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of BSO Deputy Peter Peraza, who was charged with the shooting of Jermaine McBean.

Peraza, who was the first officer in three decades to be charged with an on-duty shooting, claimed the states Stand Your Ground defense.

Hearings before Florida's Supreme Court began Tuesday for the case involving a Broward Sheriff's Office deputy who shot and killed an Oakland Park man almost five years ago and used the state's "stand your ground" law to dismiss the manslaughter charges against him.

The Florida Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case of BSO Deputy Peter Peraza on Tuesday, who was charged with the shooting of Jermaine McBean after responding to a call of a man with a rifle walking down a busy street. Peraza claimed McBean pointed the weapon, which was an air rifle, at deputies before he opened fire.

Inside the courtroom in Tallahassee on Tuesday, the McBean family sat just feet away from Peraza. The justices wasted no time asking tough questions to Peraza's attorney and the state attorney.

"If the legislature intended to exclude police officers from the 'stand your ground' statute, why didn't they say so? They have ample opportunity," Justice Jorge Labarga said.

Peraza, who was the first officer in three decades to be charged with an on-duty shooting in Florida, claimed the state's "stand your ground" defense in the case. Peraza won the case in a lower court, saw it overturned by an appeals court before the Fourth District Court of Appeals reinstated the first decision.

"That sets a precedent definitely for the state of Florida of when 'stand your ground' can be used," Jermaine's brother Andrew McBean said. "If you open the door to 'stand your ground,' every little shooting can easily be called 'stand your ground.'"

For the past five years, the McBean family says they have been dealing with the frustration with this case.

"He had no right -- because he was in uniform -- to use the 'stand your ground' law," Jermaine's mother, Jennifer Young, told NBC 6.

Peraza was charged with manslaughter for shooting McBean after being dispatched  something that hadn't happen to a law enforcement officer in Broward in three decades. Peraza told investigators McBean was entering an apartment complex with what he thought was a real rifle.

Peraza told detectives he was concerned with what he saw because it was daytime when children and families were walking around the community at the time.

"He's sympathetic to what happened," Peraza's attorney, Eric Schwartzreich, said.

While prosecutors argue law enforcement officers should use a special law for them and not the "stand your ground" immunity for everyone else, Schwartzreich used "stand your ground" to get the charges against Peraza dismissed twice.

"If civilians are allowed to use 'stand your ground,' so should law enforcement," Schwartzreich said. "That was the intended purpose of the legislature when they said any person can use the 'stand your ground law.' They didn't say any person except law enforcement can use the 'stand your ground law.'"

In their ruling last August, the DCA asked the state's highest court to rule on the matter and make a decision that covers the entire state.

"The Supreme Court has decided it is a great matter of public importance that there is a conflict among jurisdictions in the state of Florida," Peraza's attorney, Eric Schwartzreich, exclusively told NBC 6. "Another court near Tampa where they have ruled law enforcement officers cannot use the absolute immunity statue in the course of an arrest."

Schwartzreich says he does not believe that Peraza will have to stand trial again in the case, regardless of how the Supreme Court rules.

The Broward County State Attorney chose not to speak to NBC 6 on camera but did say it's looking forward to Florida Supreme Court giving a final answer on whether law enforcement can use the "stand your ground" immunity.What to Know FAO Schwarz is reopening at Rockefeller Center in November, after closing its Fifth Avenue store in 2015

As part of the relaunch, the store plans to hire magicians, toy soldiers and performers to dance on its iconic giant piano

FAO Schwarz will start auditioning people for the roles in September

FAO Schwarz is reopening in Manhattan this fall  and you could land a job dancing on its iconic piano.

The fabled toy store, which closed its flagship store on Fifth Avenue in 2015, plans to reopen at Rockefeller Center in November, the Wall Street Journal reported.

As part of the relaunch, the store plans to hire product demonstrators, magicians men and women playing various costumed roles, including toy soldiers, and performers to dance on the giant piano Tom Hanks danced on in Big, according to the outlet.

Were looking for people who can deliver that sense of theater, the chief executive of ThreeSixty Brands, which bought the FAO Schwarz brand from Toys "R" Us in 2016, told the outlet.

FAO Schwarz will start auditioning people for the roles on Sept. 8, he said.

ThreeSixty Brands also plans to open an FAO Schwarz store in China in 2018 and at LaGuardia Airport this fall, according to the Journal.What to Know Yet another water main broke in Hoboken Tuesday, this time near the PATH station

Long plagued with water main problems, Hoboken has had 14 water main breaks since late June, including two on Monday alone

Hoboken says it will fire Suez water company, blaming it for mismanagement; Suez says it's the city's aging pipes that need to be replaced

Yet another water main break is plaguing Hoboken, this time about a block away from the PATH station during the evening rush hour Tuesday.

Chopper 4 over the scene shows water bubbling up through the sidewalk and gushing through the road at Hudson Street and Hudson Place.

The Hudson Street entrance at the PATH station was closed as crews responded, and commuters were advised to use the Lackawanna entrance to enter and exit the station. Crowds of riders were forced to detour around the flood zone.

"It's like there was a flash flood, it's a mess," said Ivy Mitei.

"It's a Tuesday and there's a river blocking my commute home," lamented Henry Mattila, who was trying to get back to Manhattan.

Long plagued with water main problems, the city of Hoboken has now had 16 water main breaks since late June. The break near the PATH station Tuesday was the fourth since Sunday alone. The city announced Tuesday that it will fire the Suez water company, blaming it for mismanagement, and for beginning a separate project that may have caused the recent spike in main breaks.

"The reason we're going to court tomorrow is to compel Suez to give us the data they've been withholding so we can identify the cause of these water main breaks," said Mayor Ravinder Bhalla.

Suez has responded that it's the city's old pipes that's to blame: an average of 111 breaks have happened since 2001, the inevitable result when the city neglects to fix the aging infrastructure, it says.

"It's past time to replace it," said a Suez official. "It's past time to start fixing it. The situation has reached a boiling point."

The mayor said the city's started to upgrade the pipes, starting on Washington Street; $7 million of the project is devoted to water mains. Another $10.2 million has been allocated for other critical water main projects around the city, and they've set aside $5 million per year until the water infrastructure is in good standing.

"Suez's record speaks for itself, and we can no longer work on an agreement that does not put Hoboken first," the mayor said.What to Know A third attack on a B15 bus driver in Brooklyn on Monday may be connected to two similar ones on the same route last week

Police say a man has released or tried to release some sort of substance from an aerosol can on three B15 buses in the last week

The suspect remains on the loose

A third driver on MTA's B15 bus route in Brooklyn has reported an unprovoked attack, days after police announced a search for a man who released pepper spray on two other buses.

"Twice is coincidence. Three times is a pattern," said TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano. "We obviously have a public safety menace on the loose, and he must be apprehended immediately."

Officials say that on Monday, a man who appeared to be mumbling to himself approached a B15 bus at the driver's side window, and the driver opened the window to see if the man needed help. That's when the man reached into his pocket and pulled out a can of some sort of aerosol spray, and the driver shut the window.

The man then began banging on the window with the can, breaking the window, officials said. He then ran off.

Police are still searching for the man who allegedly released pepper spray on two B15 buses last Thursday, once in the morning near East 98th Street and then again during the evening rush near Blake Avenue and East 98th Street. Two passengers and the driver were taken to the hospital with watery eyes and breathing trouble in that case.

Cops searched the immediate area for the suspect after the attack but he remains on the loose Friday. Authorities found a can of the spray at the scene.

The B15 route weaves through Brooklyn toward JFK Airport.

The union says it's reached out to the MTA asking for a dedicated police presence on the B15 route until the suspect is caught, and it has been promised by the MTA that only camera-equipped buses will be put on the route until the suspect is arrested.

New York City Transit President Andy Byford said in a statement, "Were working closely with the police and are providing whatever assistance we can to catch this perpetrator and have him face the consequences of his actions. We will not stand idly by while our colleagues are attacked."Police in Delaware say they are looking to question a man related to the slayings of a couple who were expecting their first child.

New Castle County Police said Monday that Walter T. Lolley was one of the last people to have contact with Isabel Cooper and Thessalonias Berry before they were killed.

Officers found the couple in a car in May. Police said they died of apparent gunshot wounds and Cooper was seven months pregnant.

Police said Lolley has not been seen since the deaths and should be considered armed and dangerous.



What to Know A Philadelphia police detective is under internal investigation over an angry letter about discarded rib bones.

Commissioner Richard Ross said that the language in the note left taped over a work station's trash can was "deeply concerning."

The letter calls an unnamed colleague a "filthy savage'' and "a grotesque, primal animal.''

A Philadelphia police detective is under internal investigation over an angry letter about discarded rib bones that officials say contained racially charged language.

Commissioner Richard Ross said Tuesday that the language in the note left taped over a work station's trash can was "deeply concerning.'' He says Internal Affairs is investigating and the 22-year veteran is "off the street."

A copy of the letter, provided by the Guardian Civic League, which represents black officers, calls an unnamed colleague a filthy savage and a grotesque, primal animal.

"I am not in any manner trying to embarrass you, just the opposite; I'm here to offer my guidance and assistance in helping you make the difficult transition from a grotesque, primal animal to tolerable co-worker," it said.

Ross said it was unclear whether the detective knew which person he was addressing, and the language "did not in any way fit the offense'' and seemed almost intended for shock value.

"But it's because of some of the language that is in here some of which historically has reference to African Americans in particular _ that's why it's deeply concerning,'' Ross said. The detective has a "virtually clean jacket,'' he said.

Rochelle Bilal, president of the Guardian Civic League, told NBC10 the detective who wrote the letter should be fired.

"Bigots should not be serving the public," she wrote.

About eight months ago the Guardian Civic League, along with four black narcotics officers, sued the city and department alleging racial discrimination within the narcotics unit.

John McNesby, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, condemned the letter, calling it "ridiculous."

"That type of behavior is unacceptable and theres no place for it," an FOP spokesperson wrote on behalf of McNesby. "If you have a problem with someone, try and address the issue in a professional manner.The early morning commute to work is something 55-year-old Barry Parks looked forward to most days. He didn't mind the strange hours and enjoyed being able to run errands when he was finished, friends told NBC10.

"He liked that shift," Jerome Smith said, adding that Parks never worried about being out early in the morning.

"He's a big man," Smith said. "He can handle himself."

But on Tuesday around 2:30 a.m., Parks' coworkers witnessed his death at a SEPTA bus stop in North Philadelphia, police said.

Witnesses told police the Route 56 bus pulled up around 2:40 a.m. as two men struggled near 6th Street and Erie Avenue in the Hunting Park neighborhood, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said. One of the men fired a single gunshot and ran off in front of the bus.

The bus driver flagged down police officers who arrived moments later to find Parks suffering from a gunshot wound to the forehead, police said. Medics pronounced him dead on the scene.

A backpack was left at the bus stop.

"My heart is broken," Parks' daughter, Erica Parks, said. "I'm really torn by this."

Parks was a father of three and grandfather of three, family members told NBC10. Witnesses told investigators that Parks waited for the bus at that stop every day during the week.

Two SEPTA passengers recognized Parks as their coworker, according to police.

Investigators are hopeful that surveillance video obtained from the bus and nearby businesses will held police catch the suspect. He is described as 5-foot, 6-inches tall with dreadlocks.

We dont know the motive at this time, we dont know if this was a robbery or if they were in a physical altercation for some other reason, Small said.A white ex-police officer was convicted of murder Tuesday for fatally shooting a black, unarmed 15-year-old boy while firing into a car packed with teenagers in suburban Dallas, marking a rare guilty verdict in a police shooting case.

Dallas County jurors were not swayed by Roy Oliver's claim that he feared for his partner's life when he fired into the vehicle as it drove away from a large house party in Balch Springs in April 2017. The gunfire killed Jordan Edwards, who was sitting in the front passenger seat.

Gasps echoed around the courtroom as the verdict was read. Edwards' relatives sobbed and hugged prosecutors, waved their hands in the air and proclaimed "Thank you, Jesus!" after the jury left.

His father, Odell Edwards, briefly spoke outside the courtroom before heading back in to begin listening to the sentencing phase of the trial. He said he was thankful for the decision of the jury  which featured two black members out of 12 jurors and two alternates  and felt like jumping for joy.

"I just want to say I'm happy, very happy," he said, adding that it's "been a long time" since he felt that way.

Oliver faces between five and 99 years in prison, according to an Edwards family attorney.

Oliver and his partner were responding to a report of underage drinking at the house party. Police initially said the vehicle backed up toward officers "in an aggressive manner," but later said that bodycam video showed the vehicle was moving forward as officers approached. Oliver was fired just days after the shooting.

Oliver testified during the trial that he opened fire after seeing the car move toward his partner. But his partner told jurors he didn't fear for his life.

It's extremely rare for police officers to be tried and convicted of murder for shootings that occurred while they were on duty. Only six non-federal police officers have now been convicted of murder in such cases  and four of those were overturned  since 2005, according to data compiled by criminologist and Bowling Green State University professor Phil Stinson.

Stinson, who tracks such cases nationwide, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that to secure a murder conviction against an officer, the facts of a case have to be "so over the top and bizarre" that the officer's actions cannot be rationally explained.

Experts also say that securing a conviction against an officer is often a challenge because jurors are inclined to believe police testimony and criminal culpability in such cases is subjective.

Oliver was found not guilty on two lesser charges of aggravated assault stemming from the shooting. Jurors deliberated for two days before reaching the verdicts. The sentencing phase stretched into the evening Tuesday before jurors recessed for the day. Testimony will resume Wednesday.

"This was a long fought battle," said Daryl Washington, an attorney representing Odell Edwards in a civil lawsuit filed in the death. "We are just happy ... that Roy Oliver is gonna have to do his time for taking Jordan's life. What he did on that night should have never happened."

Washington said black children and teenagers across the country can now walk around a little safer because officers know they will be held accountable.

In closing arguments, defense attorneys told jurors they needed to evaluate the circumstances from Oliver's viewpoint and from what the former officer knew at the time.

But prosecutors described Oliver as out of control and looking for a reason to kill. They argued that his firing into the car wasn't reasonable.

The shooting came after Oliver and his partner, Tyler Gross, had broken up the party. Both officers were inside the residence when they heard gunfire outside and responded. Authorities later determined the shots were fired near a nursing home in the area.

Oliver retrieved his rifle and went toward Gross, who was ordering the car carrying Edwards to stop. Oliver testified that he saw the car back up and stop for a second before moving forward and going toward Gross.

Testifying in his own defense, Oliver told the jury the car was about to hit his partner. Oliver said he felt he had no other option but to fire. Gross, however, testified that he did not fear for his life and never felt the need to fire his weapon. He also said he didn't feel like the vehicle was trying to hit him.

Prosecutors said Oliver fired after the vehicle passed Gross. Investigators also said no guns were found in the teens' vehicle.The state legislature approved a bill Wednesday that would require California prosecutors to erase or reduce thousands of marijuana criminal convictions. It now awaits the signature of Governor Jerry Brown.

Several pot-related crimes were eliminated when voters made recreation marijuana use legal in California. However, there was no guidance on how those eligible could erase convictions and/or have felonies reduced to misdemeanors.

"People are having to go through background checks for everything nowadays," said Cole Casey, a criminal defense attorney in San Diego. "The impetus behind the bill is that we don't want those people having the embarrassment and stigma of having a drug conviction on their record when it's no longer a crime to do that same activity now."

In San Diego as well as San Francisco, some eligible people hired lawyers on their own and petitioned courts to review past cases. Thousands of cases combined resulted in erased or reduced sentences.

"Here in San Diego County we have already processed just under 1,300 petitions since recreational marijuana became legal," said Rachel Solov a deputy district attorney and Chief of the San Diego County District Attorney's Office Collaborative Courts division.

Solov added that is a lot of petitions compared to other parts of the state.

But Casey added it could also add a slew of new cases for an already overburdened state judicial system.

"The court system is going to feel this," said Casey. "It's already strapped for resources as it is."

Non-violent, felony convictions for possession or distribution of less than an ounce of marijuana are eligible for reductions to misdemeanors, though prosecutors can challenge applications based on the person's criminal history.55 years to the day after Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech, his son, Martin Luther King III, asked the nation to remember its message in its treatment of migrants.

"The cause of human rights for refugees and immigrants is very much in keeping with the dream my father, Martin Luther King Jr., shared with America and the world 55 years ago today at the great March on Washington," King III said Tuesday.

King III was joined by his wife, Arndrea Waters King, and their ten-year-old daughter, Yolanda Renee, to deliver his own speech at the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego County.

To chants of "Si Se Puede," or yes we can, the civil rights leader joined hands with his family, children and activists as they walked to a small bi-national park that, At times, was opened to allow families separated by the border to reunite for three minutes. The practice has since been halted.

Without mentioning the Trump administration by name, King III criticized the practices that lead to thousands of migrant children being separated from their parents.

"It is said that a nation is judged by how it treats its most precious resource. I believe our most precious resources are our children," King III said to cheers from the small group of invited guests and media.

"We cannot rest until all the children are reunited with their loved ones and beyond that, we must work together to make sure all refugees are treated with dignity and respect in the future."

MLK Jr. delivered his famous speech to a crowd of thousands from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 23, 1963.

The event aimed to draw attention to continuing challenges and inequalities faced by African Americans a century after emancipation. It drew nearly a quarter of a million people and was the largest gathering for civil rights of its time.

"As we mark its 55th anniversary, we come together in the spirit of the dream to call on the nation to rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed that 'all people are created equal and thus all have a certain unalienable right," King III said, quoting his father's words.

"My father made clear that this didnt just include ourselves but also our neighbors."

King III's visit to San Diego was organized by State Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (Dist. 39), Alliance San Diego and the Southern Border Communities Coalition.

"Mr. King's historic border visit is a reminder of his father's call to action to the human family, to not be satisfied 'until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream,'" said Vicki B. Gaubeca, Director of Southern Border Communities Coalition.

Watch the full event through Alliance San Diego's facebook page below.Despite being indicted on misuse of campaign funds last Tuesday, Rep. Duncan Hunters constituents seem to be sticking with him. A majority of Republicans said they both believe the charges are politically motivated and say he should stay in the race.

A new Survey USA poll, taken between Wednesday (the day after his indictment) and Monday, showed a plurality of voters from the district still plan to vote for him.

In the survey, Hunter outpolled Democratic opponent Ammar Campa-Najjar 47 percent to 39 percent. The poll had a credibility interval of 5.1 percent.

In the June primary, Hunter won by double digits, 49 percent to Campa-Najjars 16 percent. There were several other Republicans and Democrats in the race at the time. Since then Campa-Najjar seems to have coalesced Democratic support while Hunters has stayed in the high 40s.

Nearly half of those polled (42 percent) and 64 percent of Republicans said they believe the charges are politically motivated, as Hunters campaign has alleged.

A similar percentage of respondents (41 percent overall and 64 percent of Republicans) said they think Hunter should stay in the race.

In this particular district, the Hunter name is gold, San Diego political consultant John Dadian told NBC 7 last week.

However, 33 percent of those polled said they thought Hunter should resign his seat, and even though 64 percent of Republicans want him to stay in the race, a resounding 84 percent said they would rather vote for a different Republican, if possible.

Under California Election Law it's too late for Hunter to take his name off the ballot and another candidate cannot be added. A court order would be the only way to remove his name.

If another Republican were to replace Hunter, Republicans lead in the district would net seven points: from 47-39 to 51-36.

Unsurprisingly, only 11 percent of voters said the charges made them more likely to vote for him and a concerning 42 percent said the indictment made them less likely to vote for him.

A majority of those surveyed were polled over a home phone while a minority (less than 39 percent) were shown a questionnaire on their smartphone.What to Know A crossing guard helping elementary school children was threatened by a driver who used racist slurs, he told police.

The driver said he was a former Marine who "used to shoot people like him at the border," a police report says.

D.C. police are investigating the incident as a hate crime and searching for the driver.

A school crossing guard working to protect children on their way home in D.C. was threatened Monday by a driver who yelled anti-Hispanic slurs and said he would kill him, the crossing guard told police.

D.C. police are searching for the aggressor in the incident classified as a suspected hate crime.

The crossing guard was working near Lafayette Elementary School in the Chevy Chase neighborhood, about a half-mile east of the Maryland border, about 3:50 p.m. Monday when a man in a blue Nissan started shouting at him, he told police.

The driver used an anti-Hispanic slur, said the crossing guard was an immigrant and said he "did not belong working in this area around white kids," a police report says.

The driver threatened to shoot or run over the crossing guard, and claimed he was a former Marine who "used to shoot people like him at the border," the report says.

The driver drove away, did a U-turn and returned to continue to threaten and berate the crossing guard.

Resident Lily Buerkle said she heard the man yell at the crossing guard.

"I heard him say, 'I should just run you over,'" she said.

The driver then threatened to shoot people, including children, nearby at Broad Branch Market.

On Tuesday, officers provided extra security near Lafayette Elementary. The crossing guard was temporarily reassigned to another school.

D.C. police released a brief video Wednesday showing a vehicle of interest. It's a dark-colored Nissan Murano with the California license plate DLR890651, police said. The suspect is a black man who is at least 50 and stands 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10.

People who live in the area were alarmed to read in the police report what the crossing guard said.

"It's sad to know there are people in our community who have those views and express them so freely," one woman said.What to Know The plan to keep the FBI building in Washington would scrap a long held plan to move the FBI to the Maryland or Virginia suburbs.

The Trump International Hotel is essentially across the street from the FBI headquarters.

The report says Trump participated in 2 meetings this year about the FBI HQ, but others present were instructed not to talk about it.

President Donald Trump was directly involved in meetings where officials decided to move forward with a controversial plan to build a new FBI headquarters in the nation's capital, according to a government report issued Monday.

The report from the General Services Administration inspector general cites two White House meetings in January and June of this year in which Trump participated.

In the first of those meetings, participants agreed to move forward on a proposal to demolish the existing J. Edgar Hoover building in downtown Washington and build a new headquarters in the same spot.

While there is widespread agreement that the Hoover Building  a crumbling, sprawling piece of Brutalist architecture built in 1974  does not meet the FBI's needs, the plan to keep the FBI in Washington scraps a long held plan to move the FBI to the Maryland or Virginia suburbs.

Rep. Gerry Connolly, a northern Virginia Democrat who supports moving the FBI to the suburbs, called for additional congressional hearings to uncover the extent of Trump's involvement. He said the project is rife with conflicts of interest for Trump, whose Trump International Hotel is essentially across the street from the FBI headquarters.

"When we began this investigation, the prospect that President Trump was personally involved in the government-led redevelopment of a property in close proximity to the Trump Hotel was dismissed as a conspiracy theory," Connolly said.

The extent of Trump's involvement in the decision is unclear. The report indicates that while GSA employees confirmed the White House meetings with Trump, they received instructions not to divulge any statements Trump made at those meetings.

The first meeting in which Trump's participation was documented, according to the IG report, came in January 2018. That was before the GSA proposed a plan to raze the Hoover building and build a new headquarters in its place, but after the GSA announced in 2017 that it was scrapping its plans for a move to the suburbs.

The IG report also concludes that officials are greatly underestimating the cost of keeping the headquarters in Washington. In particular, the report concludes that GSA is not taking into account the money that could be realized by selling the land under the Hoover building to private developers.

The GSA issued a statement in response to the IG report saying its estimates "are accurate, transparent, and more representative of the full costs of the project than the analysis put forth in the IG review."

There is also some question about whether GSA Administrator Emily Murphy was forthcoming about Trump's role when she testified about the relocation decision to Congress.

When Murphy was asked whether the White House or Trump specifically was involved in the decision to abandon the suburbs and rebuild in Washington, Murphy said it was the FBI that decided it wanted to stay in Washington. She did not disclose the White House meetings and told the inspector general she was trying to answer the question as she understood it.

The IG's report concludes that Murphy's testimony to a House committee "was incomplete and may have left the misleading impression that she had no discussions with the President or senior White House officials in the decision-making process about the project."

The GSA, in its response to the report, states, "The IG review acknowledges an indisputable fact: the Administrator's congressional testimony was truthful."Police are looking for three men who assaulted a federal officer during an attempt to carjack a scooter.

David Lesansky was riding his motor scooter near the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Potomac Avenue SE around noon Friday when the three suspects approached. Lesansky was off-duty.

"I came to a stop at the stop light," Lesansky told News4 while recovering on his couch.

Then, the brutal assault began.

"They punched me multiple times. Likely kicked me," Lesansky said.

The perpetrators continued the beating even after Lesansky identified himself as an officer, police say.

But Lesansky didn't give up his scooter easily.

"They pushed me over. I fell down. The scooter went down," he said. "I took my helmet off and began struggling with them."

Eventually, the assailants gave up. They were caught on surveillance camera as they ran away.

Lesansky's scooter wasn't stolen, but he was left with bruises and internal injuries to his ribs, abdomen and back.

"The pain is very intense," he said.

Police are released a photo of the three suspects and are also offering a $1,000 reward for information.

"If they do this with no consequences with no punishment for the fact that they've attempted to steal, assaulted, injured people, they're going to continue to do this," Lesansky said.The wife of a prominent D.C. attorney will face a $2,500 fine after she was caught in the backseat of her Maserati with a Fauquier County Jail inmate.

Teresa Burchfield pleaded no contest on Monday to charges of disorderly conduct.

A call for suspicious behavior in Sept. 2017 led deputies to discover Burchfield and a jail inmate, 23-year-old Garrett Portela, in the car. Portela was allowed to work outside the jail fence under a trustee program.

Burchfield was initially charged with unauthorized delivery for giving Portela a bag of vitamins.

"The female subject was delivering unauthorized articles to the inmate," Maj. Jeremy Falls told News4.

Court documents reveal more details. Portela told investigators he had been meeting with Burchfield for a month. She would bring him cigarettes and they would have sex in her car, court documents say.

Burchfield's husband, Bobby Burchfield, is a D.C.-based lawyer for King & Spaulding. The firm's website says he is an ethics advisor to President Donald Trump's businesses.

Documents obtained by News4 show that Bobby Burchfield cited his wife's arrest when he filed for divorce weeks later.

Teresa Burchfield emailed her husband hours after news of the arrest broke, court documents show. One had the subject line, "please hire a crisis management firm."

"Which you should have done yesterday," the email read. "We could have put out a statement that I was not arrested for having sex in the back of a car. In fact we were just talking and I was arrested for the items."

Burchfield and her attorney declined to comment on the plea.

The judge fined Burchfield $2,500 with $1,000 suspended. She has nine months to pay.What to Know The ambassador Twitter accounts all look alike.

They were created in August and have Amazon's smile logo at the top of their pages.

Some have fewer than 20 followers.

Amazon is taking an out-of-the box approach to answering its critics  paying workers to be "ambassadors" and tweet full-time about how satisfied they were at their jobs.

One worker who Amazon says used to pack boxes at its warehouse in Jacksonville, Florida, tweeted about air circulation at the online retailer's warehouse being "very good." Plus, the worker whose account gives her name as Shauntrelle, says workers there get two 30-minute breaks during their 10-hour shifts, something she calls "a benefit."

Others on social media were skeptical of her cheery messages, calling her a bot. Shauntrelle responded to them, too, even with a misspelling: "We are totally noraml and not bots and we are totally happy working for an amazing company."

The tweets are part of Amazon's plan to fight back against negative headlines and online chatter about poor working conditions at its warehouses. Workplace experts say negative tweets can be a turnoff to potential employees who have more options during a strong economy. And Amazon will soon need to hire thousands of temporary warehouse workers to pack boxes during the hectic holiday shopping season.

"It's important that we do a good job of educating people about the actual environment inside our fulfillment centers," Amazon said.

The "ambassadors," as Amazon calls them, reassure critics that employees are allowed to take bathroom breaks and that they make enough money to pay their bills. Some defend Jeff Bezos, Amazon's CEO and founder: "Mr. Bezos pays me a very comfortable wage," one of them wrote, responding to a tweet that compared Amazon's wages to Bezos' billions.

Amazon did not say how many workers it has enlisted for its ambassador program. The company also didn't respond to a request to interview them, but did say the ones quoted in this story are genuine.

The Twitter accounts all look alike: They were created in August and have Amazon's smile logo at the top of their pages; some have fewer than 20 followers. They clearly state that they are ambassadors for Amazon, but list only their first names. The Associated Press could not verify their names or reach them. Amazon says its ambassadors are not scripted or told what to write.

Amazon has good reason to try to clean up its online reputation. The job market is strong, making it harder to find people to work in its warehouses. Potential employees search Twitter to learn about companies, says David Lewis, CEO of human resources consultancy OperationsInc, and positive messages could "mitigate the sting or bite" of negative ones.

Some of Amazon's cleanup crew target a loud foe of the company: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders. His Twitter account, which has nearly 9 million followers, frequently points out the disparity between Amazon's median employee pay and Bezos' vast fortune. When one Twitter user responded to Sanders by suggesting that Amazon employees organize a union, an Amazon ambassador responded: "The only thing I need to organize is my closet."

Sanders, in an emailed statement, said, "If Amazon actually paid all its workers a living wage and treated them with dignity, they would not have to pay dozens of people to tweet all day."

Pay at Amazon's warehouses varies by location, according to its job postings. Its starting pay is $10 an hour at a warehouse in Austin, Texas, and $13.50 an hour in Robbinsville, New Jersey. The median pay for an Amazon employee last year was $28,446, according to government filings, which includes full-time, part-time and temporary workers. In comparison, Bezos' total compensation was nearly $1.7 million. (Most of Bezos' wealth is tied to Amazon.com Inc.'s stock price: His 16 percent stake in the company is worth more than $150 billion.)

"As an Amazon employee, I can tell you that I would never feel resentful about Mr. Bezos," one ambassador wrote on Twitter about the disparity.

It's not just tweets  the ambassadors also want critics to see Amazon's warehouses for themselves. They post links to warehouse tours that the company has offered for a few years.

"See if you can take a tour," Shauntrelle the ambassador tweeted to one user. "And then you may have a different opinion about the 'famously hideous' amazon that you speak of."Since the passing of Arizona Sen. John McCain, there has been an outpouring of support from people around the world about how he impacted their lives. One of those people is a New Hampshire woman who left a lasting impression on the senator.

Youve likely heard McCain tell the story because hes told it hundreds of times  about the mother he met in Wolfeboro during a 2007 town hall meeting.

I would like to know, Sir, if you would wear this so that you can remember your mission and their mission in support of them, said Lynn Savage, who lived in Wolfeboro at the time.

I would be honored and grateful, McCain replied, as he took a black bracelet from Savage.

Savage now lives in Kentucky and spoke with NBC10 Boston via FaceTime on Monday.

I just thought, Well, if he will wear this and speak their names, theyll never be forgotten that way, she said.

Savage had just lost her 22-year-old son, Army Cpl. Matt Stanley, who was killed in action in Iraq in December of 2006.

Thank you for his service, McCain said that night. Yes maam, I will wear this, thank you.

After he put the bracelet on, from the Senate floor to family outings, he never took it off.

And at almost every event after that 2007 town hall, McCain would mention Savage and her son.

I wear his bracelet and think of him every day, McCain told the crowd at his 2008 nomination acceptance speech.

I was shocked, absolutely shocked, Savage said. Its not something I ever expected.

A politician who kept a promise that she says helped heal her broken heart.

He never let people forget that there was still a war going on and that not everybody made it home, Savage said.

And Monday, she said her heart was breaking again, as she mourns the loss of a man she calls Americas greatest patriot.

He was a good man, a good honest man, Savage said. We should be grateful and revel in the fact that he did walk this earth and made it a little bit better for everybody.

In McCains recently published book, he told the bracelet story again, writing, I will wear it for the rest of my life.

One of McCains closest friends tells us, he did.When President Donald Trump celebrated on Monday the workings of a new deal with Mexico that would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, numerous questions were left unsettled.

No full text has yet been provided. On Friday, the Trump administration plans to send Congress a formal notice of the trade agreement. Not until 30 days after that would lawmakers likely receive a text of the deal.

But based on what is already known, here is a snapshot of key changes in the agreement so far:

NO MORE 'NAFTA'

Trump, ever focused on branding, considers the popular name for the North American Free Trade Agreement to be toxic. For Trump and other critics of NAFTA, the 1994 landmark deal might have helped companies trade more freely across national borders, but it also caused the gutting of the industrial Midwest.

Many economists and historians argue that the reality is more nuanced. They point out that the industrial Midwest was already struggling with closures before NAFTA was signed. They also note that while certain sectors of U.S. manufacturing were hurt by NAFTA, American consumers and companies  and workers in some industries, like agriculture  benefited from it.

But Trump wants to end that debate and scrap a name he says is tainted.

"I like to call this deal the United States-Mexico Trade Agreement," he said Monday. "I think it's an elegant name."

Of course, there are a few problems with this particular name. Most obviously, it excludes Canada, the third member country in NAFTA. Second, it gives the United States top billing, which could be interpreted as an affront to Mexicans and Canadians.

EITHER CANADA SIGNS UP, TOO, OR IT MAY BE CUT OUT

This is the wild card. The proposed deal between Mexico and the United States intensifies pressure on Canada to agree to the same terms.

That said, the Trump administration had pursued the negotiations to update NAFTA with the assumption that Canada would be included. So it's unclear whether a U.S. deal with Mexico alone would clear Congress' requirements. Chrystia Freeland, Canada's minister of foreign affairs, came to Washington on Tuesday in hopes of reaching an agreement.

Losing Canada would be a problem for the United States.

Trump on Monday seemed to suggest that trade with Canada was a "smaller segment," while Mexico is a "very large trading partner." It's not quite clear if Trump was referring to the state of the negotiating process or to the flow of imports and exports among these countries.

But Canada is a dominant exporter of crude oil to the United States: It accounts for 47 percent of the barrels imported to the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Canada was the United States' second largest trading partner in 2017, ranking just below China. Mexico is the third largest U.S. trading partner.

MORE AUTO PARTS MUST BE MADE IN NORTH AMERICA

Of the $149 billion worth of auto parts imported into the United States last year, 48 percent came from Mexico and Canada, according to the U.S. International Trade Administration. The proposed deal between the United States and Mexico would likely increase that figure.

It would require that 75 percent of autos contain parts made in North America, up from 62.5 percent now required by NAFTA. And 70 percent of the steel, aluminum and glass used to make a vehicle must also originate in North America. These requirements could possibly lead to fewer imports from Asia, Europe and South America.

40 TO 45 PERCENT OF VEHICLES WOULD BE MADE BY WORKERS WHO EARN AT LEAST $16 AN HOUR

A major wage gap separates autoworkers in the United States and Mexico, and this new provision aims to narrow it. An average Mexican autoworker earned $5.21 an hour, and auto parts workers make even less than that, according to a 2016 analysis by the Center for Automotive Research. That is about one-fourth the average hourly earnings of $21.68 for a U.S. autoworker, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Trump can say that the wage requirement will preserve factory jobs in the United States, while the Mexican government can say it will boost incomes in that country.

"There is no doubt this agreement creates incentives for the salaries in the auto industry grow over time," Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray Caso of Mexico told The Associated Press. "A percentage of the value of the vehicle must be made in areas with high salaries. This generates a clear incentive for the salaries in Mexico eventually reach a higher level."

THE PACT WOULD EXPIRE IN 16 YEARS, BUT THE TWO COUNTRIES COULD REVIEW IT EVERY SIX YEARS AND RENEW IT FOR 16 MORE

The agreement would force countries to update the trade pact. One of the criticisms of the 24 year-old North American Free Trade Agreement was that it no longer applies to the economy as it exists today. It was forged before the internet, smartphones, social media or China's entrance into the World Trade Organization  transformations that leave parts of NAFTA woefully outdated.

This new clause could create two forms of pressure: Countries would feel obligated to update the agreement in order to preserve it. But businesses could also face tremendous uncertainty if the agreement was on the verge of ending.

AP writer Luis Alonso Lugo contributed to this report.The pastor of a Massachusetts church is speaking out for the first time after coming face to face with a gunman that police say later opened fire on two of their officers.

Pastor Randal Ackland of the Assembly of God Church in South Attleboro had just finished dropping off his wife at the adjoining school and daycare Monday morning. It was his day off, but he said he went into the sanctuary to retrieve a tablet power cable that he had forgotten. As soon as the pastor walked into the foyer, he said he made eye contact with the suspect that was armed and appeared agitated.

The gun in and of itself wasnt the problem, it was his troubled nature that was the problem, Ackland said.

Ackland said the man, later identified as Eric Lindsey, 41, of Coventry, Rhode Island, was startled and later told him he came to the church because he was looking for a place to sleep.

The pastor said Lindsey did not point the gun at him, but the suspect also did not answer him when he asked a few questions.

The first thing I said was, 'can I help you,' Ackland said. Then I said, 'would you like me to call a doctor, the police or a counselor', and he liked the word help, but he didnt like the word police.

Ackland said he bought time by going to get the cable in the sanctuary, and by the time he came back, the suspect said it was best if he leave. The pastor agreed, but then called the police.

Ackland said he did not realize what Lindsey was accused of doing, firing on the police officers who were pursuing him, until later.

I didnt know it was that bad, Ackland said. You dont know whats in somebodys mind.

He said he is grateful everyone survived and praying for all involved, including the suspect.

Im grateful the police officers were spared and that even Eric is now getting the help he needs, Ackland said.

The pastor said he is thankful the incident was resolved before the daycare opened a half hour later. Emails have been sent out to the congregation as well as parents of the adjoining school and daycare.

He said they recently improved their security measures following the church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas. The church board will be revisiting the topic at their next meeting after learning the suspect got in the sanctuary through a door that was not supposed to be open.Cardinal Sean O'Malley is expected to speak with Boston-area priests Tuesday about the sexual abuse allegations that have recently come to light against clergy in the Catholic Church.

O'Malley will meet at St. Julia Parish in Weston, Massachusetts, for a biannual prayer gathering. The meeting is expected to focus on the new revelations of alleged abuse.

"News of recent days has been difficult for survivors, first and foremost, but also for all Catholics," the Archdiocese of Boston said in a statement.

Locally, the priests are expected to discuss the allegations of "sexual deviancy" against Monsignor James Moroney at St. John's Seminary in Brighton.

Beyond Boston's archdiocese, a grand jury report implicated hundreds of "predator priests" in Pennsylvania, and retired Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was removed from public ministry after he was found to have sexually abused a teenage altar boy.

Last week, O'Malley said he did not see a letter that was sent to his office in 2015 concerning the allegations against McCarrick.A woman was hospitalized late Monday after she was injured in a drive-by shooting in Chelsea, Massachusetts, according to police.

Officials responded to a call of a shooting at 11:50 p.m. near Clark Avenue. At the scene, they found the 42-year-old victim suffering from two gunshot wounds and rushed her to the hospital.

"I thought it was only fireworks. And then when I looked outside, it was my friend but I didnt know something happened to her," said neighbor Omayra Gonzalez.

Neighbors say the woman was seated on her porch when a vehicle pulled up to her home and opened fire. She was struck in the chest and left forearm, according to Chelsea police.

"A lot of people say that one of the cars came by and they stopped over here in front and they started just shooting out of nowhere," neighbor Erick Deblas said. "I guess she was the only one outside and I guess she was shot."

The victim's family said she was released from surgery at approximately 4 a.m. and remains in critical but stable condition at Massachusetts General Hospital.

A detailed description of the gunman was not immediately available. The vehicle used in the shooting is described as a gray, newer model Honda with four doors and tinted windows.

Officials were investigating the scene for nearly five hours, paying close attention to a yellow triple-decker home. The homes porch was pierced several times with bullets.

Chelsea police said they do not believe the shooting was a random attack. However, they are continuing their investigation. Anyone with information on the shooting should call the Chelsea Police Department at 617-466-4800.Hours after he was released from the hospital, Maine Gov. Paul LePage is under fire for asking the United States Supreme Court to make a controversial ruling. LePage signed on to a brief this week requesting the Supreme Court overturn a lower courts decision, allowing companies to fire employees based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

Equality Maine, the states LGBT advocacy group, wrote a post on its Facebook page calling LePage an idiot.

We live in strange political times, said Equality Maine Executive Director Matt Moonen. Is this really what [the Governor] wants to spend time doing?

In a statement, the Governors office says he joined the amicus brief to challenge the ability of an activist judge to re-define a federal law.

The brief argues that a lower court, considering the case of a Michigan funeral home that fired a transgender worker, mistakenly applied protections under the 1964 Civil Rights Act to the case.

The brief states that the 1964 law protects people from discrimination based upon sex  and that the judges misinterpreted the law to apply to gender identity and sexual orientation.

If the federal government wants to revise its own discrimination laws, that is up to the Congress, not activist judges, LePages statement read.

LePage joins two other GOP Governors and 13 Republican Attorneys General on the brief.

Maine Attorney General Janet Mills, a Democrat running to replace LePage as Governor, said his name on the brief is merely symbolic. The Maine Human Rights Act already affords protections based on gender identity and sexuality, she said.

[Lepage signed on] without legal authority, quite frankly, she said. The state of Maine is not a party to that brief. Its a political statement. He is playing politics with human rights and public policy. Maine law is settled in that area.

The Supreme Court will decide in the coming months if it should hear the case.Police in New Hampshire arrested a man after he allegedly took photos of a young female child while she was changing in a Walmart dressing room.

Concord police say they arrested Timothy Shaver, 33, of Pembroke, New Hampshire on Friday and charged him with violation of privacy.

According to Concord police, they were made aware of the incident on Aug. 20 when officers were called to the Walmart located at 344 Loudon Road for a report of an unknown male who was suspected to have taken a photo or video of a female juvenile in the changing room.

The suspect was not known to the victim, police said.

Concord police arrested Shaver and he was later released on bail. It is unclear if he has an attorney.

Police are working with other law enforcement agencies in order to determine if other children and or adults were victimized in a similar manner.

According to police, more charges could be forthcoming.

Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to contact Concord Police Lt. Sean Ford at 603-230-3728 or the Concord Regional Crimeline at 603-226-3100.What to Know The Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced the fourth human case of West Nile virus on Monday.

Health officials said the victim is a woman in her 50s from Middlesex County who was never hospitalized for her illness.

Three other human cases were reported on Aug. 24 in addition to a horse. The horse had to be euthanized.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced the fourth human case of West Nile virus on Monday.

Health officials said the victim is a woman in her 50s from Middlesex County who was never hospitalized for her illness.

Three other human cases were reported on Friday in addition to a horse. The horse had to be euthanized.

Days before the West Nile cases were reported, high numbers of mosquitoes testing positive for the virus prompted health officials to raise the risk level across the state from low to moderate. Friday's announcement then prompted health officials to raise the risk level from moderate to high for 11 communities in the Greater Boston area. Authorities said the communities impacted are Arlington, Boston, Belmont, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Medford, Newton, Somerville, and Watertown.

"Several individuals from the same area have developed West Nile virus, said Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel. "That means that there is an increased risk in this specific area and that additional people could become infected."

The human cases last week were identified as a woman in her 70s from Worcester County, a woman in her 60s from Middlesex County and woman in her 50s from Boston.

Bharel said health officials are particularly concerned about people over 50 and those who have immunodeficiency issues.

Officials say most people infected with West Nile virus won't present symptoms; however, when they do occur, they tend to manifest as fever and flu-like illness, with more serious illness presenting in rare cases.

Experts recommend people apply insect repellent when outside, be aware of peak mosquito hours and wear long sleeves, long pants and socks to keep mosquitoes away from skin.

"It is extremely important for people to take steps to avoid mosquito bites, including using repellents, wearing clothing to reduce exposed skin, dumping standing water, and moving indoors when you notice mosquitoes biting you," said DPH State Epidemiologist Dr. Catherine Brown.

In 2017, there were six human cases of West Nile virus infection identified in Massachusetts.A man was arrested and charged with operating under the influence of liquor.

Police in Manchester, New Hampshire responded to a roll over crash on Bridge Street near Belmont Street at 12:30 a.m. Sunday.

According to police, officers spoke with Mark Belair, 54, of Manchester and determined he was the driver of the vehicle.

Belair allegedly failed to yield at a posted stop sign while traveling north on Belmont Street, causing a crash involving his truck and a 2008 Hyundai, police said. The driver of the other car was identified as Danielle Dalton, 28, of Manchester.

According to police, Dalton was traveling east on Bridge Street when she made impact with Belair's Dodge truck. The impact caused the truck to roll over and land on the lawn of 390 Bridge Street.

Belair sustained injuries to his hand and was transported to an area hospital, police said.

Dalton also sustained non-life threatening injuries.

According to police, investigators determined that Belair was intoxicated at the time of the crash.

He has been charged with operating under the influence of liquor, driving after suspension/revocation and false report an an accident.

Belair is scheduled to appear in Hillsborough County Superior Court-North on Monday.

It is unclear if he has an attorney.Rep. Kiah Morris, D-Bennington, one of just a handful of nonwhite faces in the Vermont House of Representatives, has announced shes not seeking a third term in officeshortly after securing a place on the ballot in November.

The move came after Morris reported that she and her family were repeatedly targeted by racist threats and harassment.

The lawmaker has not yet responded to necns request for an interview.

Morris wrote on Facebook, Political discourse, and in particular within the sphere of social media has been divisive, inflammatory and at times, even dangerous.

Earlier this month on Twitter, Morris wrote, People of color are being terrorized in this state by those who espouse white supremacist ideals and pathologies every day.

Attorney General T.J. Donovan, D-Vermont, opened a criminal investigation.

Given whats been going on in our politicsin our political systemits unfortunate that people think its okay to threaten people online, Donovan said Tuesday. Its not. Its a crime, and we take it seriously.

Donovan added that he respects peoples freedom of speech to criticize the operations of government, but said there is a line that can be crossed where language can become criminal threatsand thats what is being investigated.

Mark Hughes of the group Justice For All was disappointed to hear about Morriss experiences, but was not surprised, he said.

Hughes told necn that systemic racism remains a problem in Vermont.

From housing to education, to employment, to health services access, to economic development, and indeed, the criminal justice system, there are disparities dealt to all the 10,000 or so people of color across the state on a daily basis, Hughes said.

Its a huge loss, Rep. Diana Gonzalez, P/D-Winooski, said of Morriss decision not to seek re-election.

Gonzalez has worked closely with Morris, especially on issues facing minorities and women, and said she hopes all Vermonters will be willing to help drive out attitudes that exclude their neighbors.

We get racist messages all the time, and if we dont actually think about themif we dont actually engage with themwe just accidentally perpetuate them, Gonzalez said.

In her statement on Facebook, Morris said she would serve out the rest of term. The lawmaker thanked her supporters and hinted she may return to politics or public service, saying theres a lot of work to do, and that she wants to be a part of making Vermont stronger.

Morriss withdrawal from her Statehouse re-election bid drew a response Tuesday from the other side of the political aisle: from Gov. Phil Scott, R-Vermont.

We should be much further ahead than we are as a nation in terms of acceptance and tolerance, whether its sexual orientation, or gender, or raceand we arent, Scott said. We should be better.

Scott lamented a nasty tone in politics today and indicated the decision by Morris is just the latest example of why the polarization in the country needs to be dramatically reversed.

Gonzalez pointed to some progress in Vermont: following an act of the Legislature, the state is currently working toward establishing a high-level state position that will focus on issues of race.

Morriss announcement means Bennington County Democrats will put forward a new candidate for the election in November.A liberal Florida Democrat pulled off an upset victory Tuesday in the state's primary for governor while President Donald Trump's favored candidate cruised to victory for the GOP, setting up a fierce fall showdown in the nation's largest political battleground. Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who would be the state's first black governor, and Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis, both defeated more moderate opponents aligned with their parties' establishment.

In Arizona, Rep. Martha McSally fended off a pair of conservative challengers to carry the Republican Senate primary to fill the seat vacated by retiring Sen. Jeff Flake. That race was shadowed by the death of John McCain, a towering figure who represented Arizona in the Senate for six terms. Gov. Doug Ducey will name McCain's replacement after the senator's funeral.

Florida and Arizona are both closely watched states, featuring growing minority populations that have bolstered Democratic candidates and Republican electorates that have grown older and more conservative. The fall face-offs could well signal how they'll swing in the 2020 presidential election.

In Florida, DeSantis gave Trump credit for his victory, saying that with one supportive tweet, the president "kind of put me on the map."

Gillum thanked supporters who embraced "our plan for a state that makes room for all of us, not just the well-heeled and the well-connected, but all of us."

The results immediately transformed the Florida race into one of the key gubernatorial campaigns in the country. Gillum's primary victory could help Democrats boost enthusiasm among minorities who often don't vote in large numbers in years when a presidential candidate isn't on the ballot. Meanwhile, DeSantis will test Trump's grip on a crucial state he won in 2016 and wants to keep in his column in 2020.

DeSantis was one of several Republicans running in contests Tuesday in Florida and Arizona  another closely watched political battleground  who hoped that cozying up to the president would be rewarded by voters. Trump has thrust himself into the forefront of the midterm campaign in hopes of motivating his supporters and offsetting Democratic enthusiasm.

In Arizona, primary contests were shadowed by the death of McCain.

Though McCain has received praise from far and wide this week, the three Republican candidates running to replace his retiring seat-mate, Flake  including establishment favorite McSally  aligned themselves more with the president than the longtime senator.

Election Day in Arizona began with delayed openings at dozens of polling locations in the state's largest county. Leaders in Maricopa County rejected calls to try to keep polls open later, saying it might confuse voters and delay returns. No problems were reported elsewhere in the state.

Elsewhere Tuesday, GOP voters in reliably Republican Oklahoma backed mortgage company owner Kevin Stitt in a runoff for the gubernatorial nomination. Stitt won in part by criticizing his opponent as insufficiently supportive of Trump.

Trump surprised Florida Republicans late last year with his endorsement of DeSantis, and frequently tweeted about the lawmaker, one of his staunchest supporters in Washington. His backing helped push DeSantis past Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who has held elected office in Florida since 1996, quickly built up establishment support and raised millions of dollars.

Gillum came from behind in a crowded and diverse Democratic field. Former Rep. Gwen Graham, whose father, Bob Graham, served as governor, had hoped to position herself to become the state's first female governor.

Gillum, a favorite of progressives, spent the least of the five major Democratic candidates and had the smallest television presence. He often said he was the only candidate in the race who wasn't a millionaire or billionaire, and won the endorsement of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The winner of the Florida governor's race will give his party an advantage heading into the 2020 presidential campaign.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is vacating the governor's mansion to run for Senate. He easily won his primary, setting up a showdown with Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson that is expected to be one of the nation's most competitive races.

Democrats also eyed congressional pickup opportunities in Florida as they try to flip control of the U.S. House. One of their best chances is in South Florida, where Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is retiring in a district that should favor Democrats.

Donna Shalala, who served as President Bill Clinton's Health and Human Services secretary, claimed the Democratic nomination in Ros-Lehtinen's district.

The contests in both Florida and Arizona were being watched for signs of how the states might tilt in the 2020 presidential election.

McCain's death has highlighted anew the shift in the Republican Party since he captured the GOP nomination for president in 2008. With his consistently conservative voting record, Arizonans elected McCain to the Senate six times, including in 2016. But his more moderate stance on immigration and his deciding vote last year against Trump's efforts to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law turned off many GOP voters.

A CNN survey in June found that 67 percent of Democrats had a favorable opinion of McCain, while just 33 percent of Republicans did.

Among those on the Arizona ballot was former state Sen. Kelli Ward, who tried unsuccessfully to unseat McCain in 2016. When McCain's family said last week that he was discontinuing medical treatment, Ward speculated in a later-deleted Facebook post that the announcement was intended to hurt her campaign for Flake's seat.

Ward apologized Monday, saying she was bemoaning media coverage rather than the family's announcement.

"I do understand how many could have misconstrued my comments as insensitive, and for this I apologize," Ward said.

Also running for the Senate nomination was former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the controversial immigration hardliner. Trump spared Arpaio a possible jail sentence last year by pardoning his federal conviction stemming from immigration patrols.

McSally, a fighter pilot turned congresswoman in the McCain mold, will face Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, who easily won her race. Sinema announced that she was pausing her campaign Wednesday and Thursday, when McCain's body will lie in Arizona's Capitol.

Sinema's and McSally's Senate runs also have created House openings in Arizona, a fast-growing and increasingly diverse state where Democrats are eager to gain a foothold. McSally's district in particular is expected to be one of the most competitive House races in November's general election.

Associated Press writers Joe Reedy, Nicholas Riccardi, Sean Murphy, AP polling editor Emily Swanson, Kelli Kennedy and Freida Frisaro contributed to this report.These days, its rare to find bipartisan leadership out of our nations capital. Thankfully, Senator Lamar Alexander still recognizes the importance of working with members on both sides of the political aisle to protect our economy, our history, and our heritage. His work to restore our national parks exemplifies his leadership.

Our national parks are in crisis. Trails, roads and bridges that visitors use are in disrepair. The historic structures, memorials and monuments  where young scholars learn the American story  need work, some of them closed to the public. Restrooms and visitor centers that visitors rely on have repairs that have been repeatedly put off.

All told, national parks face an $11.6 billion backlog in needed repairs. It is bad enough for visitors, but if their numbers start to dwindle, local businesses like mine could bear the brunt.

Four Bridges Outfitters is a consignment shop in Chattanooga that sells used outdoor gear. Over five years, we have helped numerous people gear up to go camping and backpacking in natural areas around Chattanooga and beyond. Our business is fueled the outdoors, so we care deeply about the preservation and conditions of parks.

Because businesses in Tennessee rely on national parks, its important to note that Senator Alexander recently teamed up with Senators. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Angus King (I-Maine) to introduce the Restore Our Parks Act. This bill, endorsed by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, would significantly cut the backlog in delayed repairs.

It would establish a dedicated fund, using royalties from federal onshore, offshore and renewable energy revenues. The fund could receive up to $1.3 billion a year for five years.

One of Tennessees 12 national parks sites is right in our backyard. The Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park commemorates the history and heritage of one of the most critical battles in the Civil War. Unfortunately, Chickamauga has nearly $23 million in needed infrastructure repairs, according to NPS.

National parks generated $35 billion in economic activity in 2017. In Tennessee, 9.3 million visitors to national parks spent an estimated $638 million in nearby communities. This helped support 9,470 jobs for Tennesseans for a grand total of $892 million in economic output.

If the repairs in our national parks were fully funded, it could create or support more than 2,500 jobs for the state, according to a recent Pew Charitable Trusts analysis. Road repairers, landscape designers, restaurant workers and more would be hired.

Senator Alexander, who was himself born in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, recognizes the importance of investing in these special places. I thank him for his efforts on behalf of national parks. His hard work and bipartisan leadership will only add to his growing legacy.

Jennie Bartoletti

Co-founder and manager of Four Bridges OutfittersMicrosoft is offering extended support for Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 to customers who shift these platforms from on-premises into Microsofts Azure cloud.

The scheduled ends of extended support for the 2008 versions of Server and SQL Server are Jan. 14, 2020 and July 9, 2019, respectively. But if customers move these workloads into the Azure cloud, they get three extra years of support at no extra cost beyond the price of the Azure service.

In the past, when the end-of-life clock started ticking, organizations made a mad dash to upgrade operating systems and SQL servers in order to keep their systems supported. Some organizations chose to continue running their applications completely unsupported, unpatched and un-updated  a very bad thing to do in this age of viruses, malware and cyberattacks.

This offering by Microsoft enables organizations to migrate their Windows Server 2008/2008R2 servers as virtual machines straight into Microsoft Azure and to keep getting patches and updates. This is what Microsoft calls its Azure Hybrid Benefit that allows on-premises licenses to be transferred to workloads running in Azure, and pushes extended support out three years, giving organizations more time to plan their migration of workloads to more current version of Windows Server (2016 or 2019) and SQL Server (2016 or 2017).

Organizations that want to take advantage of the offer can replicate workloads from VMware, HyperV, and physical servers into Azure using Microsoft tools and other resources at no cost besides the actual cost of running the workloads in Azure..

The HyperV and VMware migrations leverage Microsofts Azure Site Recovery (ASR) technology that replicates entire virtual machines and their running applications to virtual-machine instances running in Azure with no downtime on the source system. After the replication has completed, the system is available in Azure as a replicated copy.

Organizations can use ASR free for 30-days per virtual machine or server instance for an unlimited number of systems for each organization. The only thing the organization pays for is the actual workload runtime in Azure.

During that time, once a system is replicated to Azure and the production system is still running on-premises, organizations can test and validate that the instance running in Azure works as expected. Software and driver updates as well as other tweaking of VMs running in Azure can be tested and documented.

Within the 30-day period, the organization can re-replicate the most current state of the production running on-premise system up to Azure, make any needed configuration updates and changes, and then finally swing the production operating workload to run full-time in Azure.

Also during this 30-day period, organizations can assess the Azure virtual-machine costs and tune the size of their virtual machines accordingly. Most organizations initially over-configure their Azure virtual machines with more capacity than they need. If an on-premises system has 16GB of RAM and four cores but is running at 5 percent utilization, the system can be run with far less capacity  say 4GB RAM and one core  and run at 60 to 70 percent utilization at a much lower cost.

If the system starts to push 80 or 90 percent utilization, its easy to adjust the VM configuration with a couple of mouse clicks in the Azure console and potentially a server reboot, depending on the workload.

For businesses that have yet to upgrade from Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008, this is an opportunity to put off making a decision for a few more years while they evaluate their options.

Resources

For organizations migrating VMWare virtual machines to Microsoft Azure, Microsoft has their Azure migrate tools available.

For organizations migrating HyperV virtual machines to Microsoft Azure, the Azure Site Recovery Deployment Planner tool is available.

For organizations migrating physical servers to Azure, see Microsofts Physical Server to Azure replication architecture.By Dr Ananya Mandal, MD

Low dose Aspirin has been advocated to reduce the risk of a second heart attack or a stroke or other heart problems in persons who have had one episode.

A major new study published in the Lancet, has found that taking Aspirin to prevent the first heart attack fails to work. In fact the risks of taking low dose Aspirin to prevent the first heart attack outweigh the benefits.

Image Credit: Spaxia / Shutterstock

There have been numerous studies on the prophylactic and protective effect of this low cost medication. While certain studies have shown that it can prevent first strokes or heart attacks in persons who are at a moderate risk of heart attacks and strokes, some studies have not shown significant benefit.

Aspirin has also been tested in people with cardiac disease risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking, high cholesterol etc. In diabetes for example Aspirin intake on a regular basis may offer some protection against heart attacks or strokes but the risk of serious bleeding as a side effect of the drug remains high. Aspirin was also purported to have anti-cancer or cancer preventing properties. This has also been negated in studies. In the studies the researchers have used 100 milligrams per day.

Study leader Dr. Jane Armitage of the University of Oxford in England said, There's been a lot of uncertainty among doctors around the world about prescribing aspirin. If you're healthy, it's probably not worth taking it. The study was presented this Sunday (26th August 2018) at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in Munich.

In this latest study, the team of researchers from Boston used aspirin or placebo pills on 12,546 participants. These participants had a moderate risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke and other health problems. The participants were followed up for five years and it was seen that 4 percent persons in each group had a heart problem. These participants took medications for lowering blood pressure and cholesterol explained Dr. J. Michael Gaziano of Brigham and Women's Hospital. Side effects such as internal bleeding or stomach bleeding, was mild but seen twice as much with Aspirin than the placebo pills. Aspirin users also complained more of reflux, abdominal pain, indigestion etc. This new study was sponsored by Bayer.

Low dose aspirin/fish oil supplements in diabetics

In yet another study, researchers from Oxford, randomly assigned 15,480 adults with Type 1 or 2 diabetes with aspirin or 1 gram of fish oil, both the aspirin and fish oil or placebo pills. The pills were administered each day.

The participants were followed for seven and a half years. Heart problems were lower among aspirin users. The risk of bleeding however was raised with aspirin. Fish oil supplements did not help though said study leader Dr. Louise Bowman of the University of Oxford. This study was published by the New England Journal of Medicine.

The British Heart Foundation sponsored the study. Bayer and Mylan provided aspirin and the fish oil supplements, respectively.By Dr Ananya Mandal, MD

It has been long speculated that humans or Homo sapiens are the reason why Neanderthals are extinct. A new study that was published this week has negated this idea stating that it could be climate change that wiped out the Neanderthals and not humans.

The researchers explain that the Neanderthal populations were already sharply falling around 40,000 years ago when they disappeared altogether. For their research, they reconstructed the climate of prehistoric central Europe from the stalagmites from two caves in Romania. They analyzed the possible changes that the climate changes could have had. What they found was that the region had faced at least two periods of extreme cold climates that could have been worse than the Ice Age. This occurred around the time when Neanderthals disappeared according to the information researchers have from the fossil records. These regions were the main areas where the Neanderthal populations had concentrated before.

Two ancient prehistoric man and female Neanderthal. Image Credit: frantic00 / Shutterstock

According to the researchers there has been a split between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals around 500,000 to 700,000 years ago. While humans moved to Africa and continued to evolve, Neanderthals stayed in Eurasia between areas from Europe to Siberia and the Middle East. Evidence shows that the Neanderthals went extinct very soon after modern humans started migrating from Africa to Middle East and Europe around 65,000 years ago. There is evidence also of violence and cannibalism between the two groups which have made researchers speculate before that humans could have had a hand in killing off the Neanderthals. There are also speculations that there could have been intense inbreeding between the two species and the genetic abundance of the humans could have wiped off the Neanderthal species altogether. Either ways, humans have been blamed for extinction of the Neanderthal species.

The latest study titled, Impact of climate change on the transition of Neanderthals to modern humans in Europe, appeared in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Both the geological and archaeological findings point to the fact the there were episodes of extreme cold climates that killed off the Neanderthal populations. Humans did have a hand say the researchers. Humans with their expanding territories into Neanderthal lands could have helped to wipe them off completely. Michael Staubwasser, a professor of isotope geochemistry at the University of Cologne, in Germany, and the lead author of the study said that this study can safely take the responsibility off from human shoulders.

The two stalagmites analyzed belonged to a cave near the Danube valley and a cave in the Carpathian Mountains in the north of Romania respectively. Bogdan Onac, one of the authors and a paleoclimatologist from the University of South Florida, explained that these stalagmites contained a detailed evidence of the climate changes during the thousands of years that they formed. Onac explained that there is precipitation of the calcium carbonate that creates the stalactites and stalagmites. When this occurs the oxygen isotopes from the rain and the carbon isotopes the water on the ceilings and floors of the caves are retained. These signatures provide information about temperature, climate and weather changes. It can also say if the rains came from the Atlantic Ocean or the Mediterranean Sea, he explained. The carbon can predict if the soil is rich or is bacteria ridden, barren or dry etc.

On analyzing these two stalagmites, the researchers noted that Central and Eastern Europe faced two major very cold and dry periods around 44,300 to 43,300 years ago and then again around 40,800 to 40,200 years ago. These periods or stadials have already been documented in earlier digs in Greenland. According to Staubwasser the cold periods seemed to have affected Europe as is evident from this study. He said that Europe could have transformed fromopen woodland to a cold steppe  a frozen and barren land. This could have wiped out the hunter-gatherers that lived in these regions. The authors write in this paper that during archaeological digs they noted that the periods of stadials showed no bones, tools or signs of Neanderthal habitation or sterile layer. Humans began appearing at the end of the first stadial. Some Neanderthals who survived the first stadial seemed to have failed to survive the second time round say the researchers.

There have been speculations before as to humans being the sole cause for Neanderthal extinction. This study proves that other factors were clearly playing a role. Climate change has also been speculated before. This is the first time a study has actually proven that climate change could have been responsible for the extinction.By Dr Ananya Mandal, MD

A unique type of neuron has been discovered in the human brain. It has been termed the rose hip neuron after the base of the rose which it resembles. This neuron is absent in mice and may provide clues about what makes the human brain unique.

The team collaborating from different institutes have published their findings in the latest issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience. According to one of the authors Ed Lein from the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, this new type of brain cell has never been described in any other species. This, he explained would clarify why some experimental neurological treatments work in laboratory mice but fail to show the same efficacy when tried on humans in human clinical trials. Scientists studying brain diseases such as dementia, Alzheimers disease, autism or schizophrenia would also get a more clear understanding from this finding, he said.

A reconstruction of a newly discovered type of human neuron. The researchers who identified the new cell type dubbed it a rosehip neuron for its compact, budlike shape. Image courtesy of Boldog, et al.; Nature Neuroscience.

Joshua Gordon, director of the National Institute of Mental Health (the main sponsor of the study), said that these special neurons may be the key to understand certain psychiatric disorders in humans. As of now, according to Lein, the team is investigating if these unique neurons are present in primates such as chimpanzees or monkeys. Several other neurons have been claimed earlier to be unique to humans but have been later found in other species he explained. This new study was a part of the federal BRAIN Initiative announced by President Barack Obama in 2013.

These newly discovered brain cells were named rose hip neurons by the team at the University of Szeged in Hungary. At the lab there, researcher Gabor Tamas and colleagues were looking at inhibitory neurons. These neurons function by stopping or slowing down other neurons. While recording signals from inhibitory neurons in brains of two men who had donated their brains for research after death, Tamas found these unique neurons. According to Lein, Tamas noted a very distinctive type of cell that had, the shape of a rose after the petals have fallen off. This made him name the cell rose hip cell. Researchers at the Allen Institute had also identified these cells using a different approach. The team at the Allen Institute also found a way to detect genes that could be switched on in the human brains.

Trygve Bakken, one of the lead authors and senior scientist at the Allen Institute, has described the neuron as very bushy. Usual neurons have long slender brances called the dendrites he said. In these rose hip neurons the dendrites are very compact with lots of branch points, so it kind of looks a little bit like a rosehip. They also have a large bulb at the end of their axons making them look more like rose hips, he said. These axons release the chemical signals to other neurons.

Both the teams collaborated to come to conclusions that these rose hip cells were a subtype of inhibitory cells in the human brain that were unique. It means that human brain is not only bigger and more complex than brains of other animals but is also more sophisticated with unique cellular structure. This could be the reason for their complexity, explain the researchers.

At present the exact functions of the rose hip cells is not clear. They seem to be controlling the flow of information from one part of the brain to another. At present, says Lein, this study shows the futility of using mice for human brain disease studies. These inhibitory rose hip neurons could be playing a role in psychiatric illnesses he signed off. Gordon says that much needs to be explored and this could just be the tip of the iceberg.The University of Illinois at Chicago has been awarded $7 million in funding from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to develop programs to prevent depression among teens.

The randomized, multi-site clinical trial will test two programs -; an online intervention called CATCH-IT and an in-person group therapy-like intervention called POD -; to see which is better at helping teens cope with tough situations and feel more hopeful.

Dr. Benjamin Van Voorhees, a pediatrician, is the principal investigator of the study, which will include a diverse group of more than 500 adolescents ages 13 to 19 from urban, suburban and rural areas throughout Illinois and Kentucky.

"Depression is a significant public health crisis with very few scalable preventive interventions, especially among children and adolescents," said Van Voorhees, professor and head of pediatrics in the UIC College of Medicine. "In the face of the lifelong effects of adolescent depression, including everything from difficulty in school and future relationships to risk of substance abuse, self-harm and even suicide, it is absolutely essential that we develop better preventive programs for this vulnerable group of people."

To study the two interventions, Van Voorhees and a team of clinicians and researchers will enroll teens in the study who will be randomized to either the CATCH-IT group or the POD group.

Teens in the CATCH-IT group, which is an acronym for Competent Adulthood Transition with Cognitive behavioral Humanistic and Interpersonal Training and which has been supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, will participate in a self-directed online learning program with 15 modules for teens. Five modules will be available for parents. Teens in the POD group, for Prevention of Depression group therapy model, will participate in 12 in-person group therapy sessions. Five sessions will be held for parents.

The researchers will follow the teens for 18 months, at which point they will measure if and when a depressive episode develops.

"There is evidence to support both programs, which vary significantly in terms of time and human resources, but we don't really know how they compare," Van Voorhees said. "To improve care and outcomes for the most people, we need to see which program has the greatest capacity for large-scale impact across different environments.

"We also need to ask providers, patients and parents what they think about these interventions," he said.

Van Voorhees said that UIC is well positioned to lead the trial because of its strong history of caring for patients with depression and its prior and ongoing research into depression among kids and adolescents in its Center on Depression and Resilience. He also points to the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago, its network of federally qualified health centers on the South and West sides of the city, and its College of Medicine campus in Rockford as organizations that serve people in diverse communities in Illinois.

Working with UIC on the project are Advocate Health Care in Chicago; Jericho Walk in Chicago, a program of the Church of the Living God; Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital in Dixon, Illinois; the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky; and Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

"We want to study these interventions in multiple regions and among teens in various groups -; such as those identifying as LGBTQ, for example," Van Voorhees said. "We need something that works for everyone."

"This project was selected for PCORI funding not only for its scientific merit and commitment to engaging patients and other stakeholders, but also for its potential to fill an important gap in our health knowledge and give people information to help them weigh the effectiveness of their care options," said PCORI Executive Director Dr. Joe Selby.

Dr. Tracy Gladstone of Wellesley College is a co-principal investigator on the study.

Other investigators are Dr. Daniela Terrizzi, Dr. Jonathan Klein, Dr. James Ronayne, Dr. Marian Fitzgibbon, Dr. Michael Berbaum, Dr. Tianxiu Wang and Melishia Bansa of UIC; Dr. John Plescia and Dr. Michael Glasser of the UI College of Medicine in Rockford; Dr. Patrick Possel and Dr. Melissa Hancock of the University of Louisville; Dr. Cathy Joyce, Dr. Jeanne Lovett, Dr. Cynthia Mears and Dr. Cheryl LeFaiver of Advocate; and Connie Crawford of Jericho Walk.

The award has been approved pending completion of a business and programmatic review by PCORI staff and issuance of a formal award contract. PCORI's mission is to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed health care decisions. The research will begin upon issuance of approval from the UIC Office for the Protection of Research Subjects.A biochemist's startup company announced Monday that it had secured an exclusive patent license agreement with the Air Force Research Laboratory for a breakthrough technology that could help military veterans suffering from a post-traumatic stress disorder.

Stephanie Davis, chief scientist and founder of the Boston-based Elke Therapeutics, said the agreement allows the company to develop the Air Force's patented neuropeptide Y binder as a stand-alone biomarker product or packaged with its proprietary therapeutic compound that modulates neuropeptide Y, a naturally occurring peptide that acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain.

High levels of neuropeptide Y are associated with post-traumatic stress disorder and drug addiction, Davis said, and manipulation of the compound has been identified as a potential therapy for controlling neural alterations in patients.

"This has an immense potential to improve healthcare," Davis said. "Its biosensor capabilities make it a great diagnostic tool and it can be used to monitor the effectiveness of neuropeptide Y drugs."

The technology licensed by Davis was invented by four researchers at the Air Force's 711th Human Performance Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. Established under the Air Force Research Laboratory, the wing's workforce includes world-class scientists and engineers advancing human performance through research and collaboration with surrounding universities and medical institutions.

Davis found the Air Force technology in an online database of available military inventions built by TechLink, the Department of Defense's national partnership intermediary for technology transfer. TechLink works with the Air Force Technology Transfer Program, providing no-cost assistance to businesses that want to leverage Air Force science and engineering. According to the agreement, Davis has to pay an upfront licensing fee and a 4-percent royalty on sales.

Joan Wu-Singel, a senior technology manager at TechLink, guided Davis through the express licensing process.

"It's a young company but the science is there and Davis knows how to use it," said Wu-Singel.

In addition to PTSD, Davis is working on related therapies for metabolic syndrome and cardiomyopathy.

With the license secured, Davis said she plans to grow the company and move forward with in vitro and small animal studies.

"As a part-time professor, I've had students who were combat vets with PTSD, and witnessed its effects," Davis said. "Our long-term vision is to advance breakthrough products, and we're structured for early-stage monetization to get us there."Expunging the 2007 program could worsen educational debt in America and threaten the medical workforce

With medical school loan debt averaging $200,000, many physicians pursue the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program that eliminates federal student loans after 10 years of service in the public sector. But the fate of the program hangs in the balance, as government officials signal a desire to end it, leaving physicians in a lingering uncertainty that's unnecessary and unfair, health policy experts from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and three other medical institutions argue in a new commentary published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

"There are justifiable reasons to support the program and also justifiable reasons to change it," senior author David A. Asch, MD, a professor of Medicine and Medical Ethics and Health Policy and executive director of the Penn Center for Health Care Innovation, and his colleagues wrote. "But there are no justifiable reasons to keep recent graduates in suspense."

The program, which began in 2007 under President George W. Bush, forgives remaining federal debt for borrowers who have made 120 payments or 10 years' worth of loan repayments while employed at nonprofit or public institutions. Those conditions are particularly favorable for physicians, as most begin their careers in residency programs  which counts towards years of repayment  at nonprofit medical centers or hospitals, and often continue in that setting afterwards. According to the authors, a third of 2017 graduates who borrowed money for medical school report planning to use the program.

Recently, the program has been threatened with elimination by Congress and the Trump administration, with little guidance about the fate of current borrowers.

A U.S. House of Representatives proposal makes borrowers after July 1, 2019 ineligible for the program  and leaves unclear whether borrowers pursuing federal loans prior to that time will be grandfathered in. Further muddying the waters, the Department of Education retroactively reversed certifications for some lawyers working in nonprofit institutions, and indicated that certifications are now temporary and subject to final approval by them.

It's what the authors call an "unnecessary uncertainty" that deserves clarity and swift decisions. "Physicians are trained to handle uncertainty but that does not excuse leaving new physicians facing uncertainties that can be easily resolved," they wrote. "Even as we consider new approaches toward financing training for public service, we should insist on clarity for those who have already pursued it."

The program is not without its problems, including issues such as insufficient cost estimates.

While it could help the mounting problem of educational debt in America, the designers of the program may have been thinking more about lower paid public school teachers and not have anticipated how many higher paid physicians would be eligible and how the long years of training would increase the proportion of physician debt relieved from the program. "It's structured to encourage borrowers to minimize current loan repayment to maximize eventual loan forgiveness," says Asch. "That's a strategy that could work out well for physicians and other borrowers," he added, "but it's also a risky one-;one that could lead young physicians to accumulate even more debt as they delay paying off loans."

Physicians pursuing higher earning specialties with typically longer training, such as neurosurgery, also end up responsible for less of their debt repayment than physicians pursuing lower earning specialties with typically shorter training, such as family medicine. "That probably was not an intended consequence of the program's structure, but it's nevertheless a perverse outcome, given recognized shortages and relatively low pay in primary care fields compared to subspecialties," says Justin Grischkan, MD, the lead author of the study and a resident physician in Internal Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Still, expunging the program, rather than fixing it, would not only worsen educational debt, it may also prevent people from entering the medical workforce. "Physicians who are planning to use the program are more likely to graduate with higher debt, receive less scholarship support and come from backgrounds with lower parental income" Grischkan says. As more medical students come from high-income backgrounds that can support their education without debt (nearly one third of graduates), overall debt is further concentrated among those with the most need, the authors said.

"A medical degree is increasingly out of reach of many who might contribute to a workforce more responsive to diverse national needs," the authors wrote. Ending that program "may remove a financial support critical to national interests."

The authors estimate annualized costs for the program at around $1 billion for physician medical education. Ending it could redirect that $1 billion more efficiently toward health care workforce goals, but it's more plausible that those funds would go elsewhere, they said. "A flawed program may be better than none at all."Humana Inc., one of the nation's leading health and well-being companies, announced today a series of moves designed to advance its capabilities in the areas of technology, digital health and analytics in support of its integrated care delivery model and its ongoing work to develop differentiated health care experiences.

Humana will establish a center for digital health and analytics, to be known as Humana Studio H, in Boston's Seaport neighborhood, where it can take advantage of a deep local talent pool and partnerships. Studio H will focus on pioneering new products and services that will then be developed for use across the organization. The company expects to employ as many as 250 individuals at this Boston location within the next five years. To help lead this effort, the company has named Heather Cox to the newly created position of Chief Digital Health and Analytics Officer, reporting directly to Humana President and CEO Bruce Broussard.

"What we're developing in Boston is a critical capability that can help Humana leap forward and overcome friction points to create a simplified, connected and personalized health care experience for our members and the physicians and others who provide their care," said Broussard. "We understand that where lifestyle and health care intersect, there is an opportunity to influence health and well-being in a holistic way - especially for seniors. Digital technology and analytics are building blocks for devising products, tools and services that deliver on the promise of whole-person health care, and Heather Cox has the experience, vision and drive to innovate and boldly lead Humana's efforts in these important areas."

In her new role, Cox will be accountable for building Humana's digital care delivery operations and leading enterprise analytics. Integrating these critical capabilities across the organization will further accelerate Humana's move toward differentiated health care experiences. Cox brings 25 years of experience to the role, most recently serving as Chief Technology and Digital Officer at USAA, where she led the teams responsible for designing and building personalized and digitally-enabled end-to-end experiences for USAA members. Prior to USAA, Cox was the CEO of Citi FinTech at Citigroup, Inc., helping the company adapt to a future dominated by mobile technology, and she headed Card Operations, reshaping customer and digital experience for Capital One. Cox will be based in Boston and oversee much of the work coming out of Studio H.

"It's gratifying to be joining an organization with such a strong commitment to helping people achieve their best health," said Cox. "American health care can be enormously complex, but Humana's expansion of its digital health and analytics capabilities can provide a game-changing platform to simplify and streamline the health care experience and ultimately improve members' lifestyles by enhancing the quality of their health care. Throughout my career, I've enjoyed the challenge of marrying technology with human needs, and I'm eager to apply my experience in a dynamic industry like health care."

In addition to the Digital Health and Analytics group, a team of individuals focused on creating a new health experience for seniors will also reside in Studio H under the direction of Beth Bierbower, who has been with the company in a number of senior-level leadership positions. Bierbower also reports directly to Broussard.

"I look forward to collaborating with Heather as we work to bring next-generation products to life at Humana," said Beth Bierbower, president of this new Humana initiative. "I'm also excited about the prospect of bringing together talented, high-energy and innovative people in Boston to tackle some of the biggest challenges in our industry. I'm confident that Humana members will appreciate what we come together to develop."

Humana Studio H will take shape in Boston's Seaport neighborhood, where Humana has entered into a lease agreement for approximately 40,000 square feet of office space on two floors at 281 Summer Street. The location affords access to the area's wealth of talent in digital technology, analytics and experience design, in one of the city's most dynamic neighborhoods. Humana will build out the space using an open floor plan, designed to promote interaction and collaboration, and the company expects to complete the project in the summer of 2019.Patients with a rare skin disease, commonly called Butterfly Syndrome, that causes chronic blistering and extensive scarring also develop an aggressive and fatal form of cancer early in life. Now an international team of scientists led by researchers at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center - Jefferson Health finds that immune system-related enzymes are major contributors to the cancer's development. The discovery identifies new therapeutic strategies and reveals how chronic inflammation can spur cancer.

"We're describing for the first time a mechanism that instigates tissue damage-driven cancers," said senior author Andrew South, PhD, an associate Professor in the department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology at Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University) who published the work August 22nd in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Dr. South studies a severe skin disorder called recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB). The genetic disease makes the skin incredibly fragile--even the slightest touch can cause damage as the condition results from mutations in a gene that helps to hold layers of the skin together. A small scratch or brush of the skin can easily separate the layers and cause blisters that do not heal well. This often leads to considerable scarring. Most individuals with RDEB also develop a skin cancer called squamous cell carcinoma early in life.

"RDEB is a skin condition that leads to profound disability and lifelong pain for those who have it," said Sharmila Collins, Founder and Trustee of Cure EB (formerly Sohana Research Fund) and mother of a child with RDEB. "The daily routine of pricking blisters and dressing wounds takes hours, is very painful and has a profound impact on family life. After years of daily management, sufferers are at high risk of developing a very aggressive squamous cell carcinoma that leads to early death. Research into the mechanisms of this particular cancer with the aim of treating it, is therefore a priority. We are thrilled to have been able to support researchers at the forefront of this work."

Squamous cell carcinoma is a type of cancer that develops in tissues that act as a barrier to the environment such as the skin, but also the oral cavity, lungs and cervix. Many people develop this kind of cancer in their skin from sun exposure, and when detected early, squamous cell carcinoma of the skin is curable. But that's not the case for RDEB patients. Their five-year survival rate is close to zero.

Dr. South and colleagues wanted to figure out why the cancer is so frequent in RDEB patients and what makes it so aggressive. He reached out to labs and clinics around the world that treat these patients to collect as many RDEB squamous cell carcinoma samples as possible, including Jefferson's clinic for Adult EB patients, one of the few that offers treatment for cancer in this population. Then he and his team scrutinized the tumors' genetic makeup.

When the researchers examined the genetic sequences of RDEB patients' tumors, they found a group of enzymes called apolipoprotein B editing complex (APOBEC) caused a large proportion of the cancer's mutations. These proteins help our immune systems by editing nucleic acid messages in pathogens, and in us. When APOBEC enzymes edit our DNA's messages for example, they increase the diversity of antibodies available to fight off infection. In RDEB patients, inflammation from continued tissue damage and the persistent threat of microbial infection ratchets up APOBEC expression, leading the enzymes to attack the patient's DNA, which then creates cancer-causing mutations.

In fact, DNA changes from APOBEC account for 42 percent of mutations in an RDEB skin tumors. In most people with skin cancer, APOBEC is much less active, making up about only about two percent of the mutations in tumors. The finding means these APOBEC alterations distinguish RDEB skin cancer from the kind caused by sunlight. And since RDEB skin tumors develop in places with chronic wounds, the discovery further provides a mechanism for how inflammation and tissue damage spur cancer progression.

"We show for the first time that a different mutational process appears to promote cancers caused by chronic tissue damage, as observed in RDEB. This is potentially an invisible force that also contributes to a much broader range of cancers," said first author Raymond Cho, MD, PhD, a UCSF Health dermatologist and associate professor in the Department of Dermatology at UCSF.

Dr. South and colleagues then looked at which genes turn off or on and by how much in RDEB skin tumors compared to squamous cell carcinomas in other tissues. When the researchers grouped genes that perform similar biological functions together, they discovered RDEB skin cancers share more in common with those that develop in the oral cavity than cancer that develops in the skin from UV exposure. The finding reveals RDEB skin cancer acts more like squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity than the skin. Together with previous research that shows that like RDEB skin cancer, squamous cell carcinoma in the oral cavity is more aggressive than in the skin and also has more APOBEC mutations, Dr. South's discovery suggests therapeutic approaches for oral cancer might be effective against RDEB skin cancers.

"We should be treating those cancers in the RDEB patients similarly to how we treat cancer in the oral cavity," said Dr. South. "That's a direct clinical outcome from this research." Immune checkpoint inhibitors such as nivolumab, which the FDA has approved to treat oral squamous cell carcinoma, might also work against RDEB skin cancer for example, but researchers would first need to prove its efficacy.

"RDEB is a devastating and life-threatening disease that has a major impact on patients' quality of life and no approved treatment options. We are honored to work with Dr. Andrew South toward accelerating research on treatments and cures for EB and to deliver hope, healing, and results for families around the world," said Michael Hund, Executive Director, EB Research Partnership.

As a result of the new work, the Department of Defense recently awarded Dr. South with a grant for nearly $1.75 million USD to figure out what turns APOBEC enzymes on and to look for compounds that disable them. "Such inhibitors could be used to help prevent mutation acquisition and skin cancer development in RDEB patients," said Dr. South.A new study published in the Lancet journal EClinicalMedicine suggests that more mosquito nets are likely needed between mass campaigns to keep malaria cases in check. Writing in an accompanying commentary, Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs' Hannah Koenker, PhD, says the paper shows that the loss of treated bed nets between mass campaigns may have a much greater impact on malaria transmission than previously understood.

The study, conducted by researchers at the Institut Pasteur, looked at net distribution in Madagascar from 2009 to 2015 and found that malaria cases began to rise long before the next campaign could distribute new insecticide-treated bed nets.

Mosquito nets "have never been a perfect tool, but they have worked remarkably well despite their imperfections," Koenker writes in the July 30 publication. "Nonetheless, if we are serious about malaria control, it is abundantly clear that more [nets] need to be delivered than we are currently providing." Koenker is director of VectorWorks, a CCP-led program funded by the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI). CCP is based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Treated bed nets are thought to be responsible for the lion's share of the reduction in malaria cases worldwide since 2000. In 2015, there were roughly 212 million malaria cases and an estimated 429,000 malaria deaths worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

Typically, mosquito nets are distributed in universal mass distribution campaigns, which take place approximately every three years. The expectation has been that the nets will continue to be effective until the next campaign is held. Nets wear out for a number of reasons: They may be torn, washed too often, given to someone else who may seem to be in greater need and more. It is nearly impossible to even buy a replacement net. Koenker says 50 percent or more of nets wear out by the time the next campaign rolls around.

In several countries, the President's Malaria Initiative-sponsored VectorWorks, which Koenker leads, has successfully piloted continuous distribution approaches as an alternative or supplement to mass campaigns held every three years. In Tanzania, this is done through annual school-based campaigns where children receive nets, providing access for the entire household. In Madagascar, CCP and its partners implemented a continuous distribution program using community health workers and religious leaders in the Toamasina district on the East Coast from Sept. 2013 to June 2014, making additional nets available to those who needed them, when they needed them.

The Institut Pasteur researchers found that for the first year after a mass campaign in Madagascar, almost none of the three dozen health centers where data was collected reported a malaria alert. In year two, 43 percent of sites had alerts, while in the third year, 68.5 percent of the sites reported alerts. Alerts were triggered when the sites experienced a substantial increase in malaria cases for three weeks straight.

The exception was in Toamasina, where replacement nets were available to community members. The number of weekly malaria cases decreased by 14 percent when continuous distribution was available. By contrast, those sites without continuous distribution saw a 12 percent increase in malaria over the same period. (Following the Toamasina success, the program was scaled up to additional districts. Continuous community distribution will be in place in 20 districts in Madagascar by the end of this year.)

"Nets wear out," Koenker says. "We were hoping there would be no impact on transmission, but now we see that we can't just keep doing what we have been doing. This study tells us we need these types of continuous net channels to ensure people can access nets that work, year after year. Now, the question is: What is the most efficient way to maintain high access?"

"More is More: Are We Delivering Enough LLINs?" was written by Hannah Koenker.

Source: https://www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2018/commentary-more-malaria-nets-likely-needed-between-campaigns.htmlA new minimally-invasive surgical technique for dialysis patients may be the most significant development in dialysis access in the last 50 years, according to the surgeon who performed the first two cases in the United States.

Eric K. Peden, M.D., chief of vascular surgery at Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, says the WavelinQ endoAVF System by Becton Dickson allows vascular surgeons to create a connection between an artery and vein for people with severe kidney disease using a technique involving magnets. The system was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and is showing promising early results.

"We make one small puncture in the artery and another small one in the vein," Peden said. "Two magnets attached on the end of a catheter pull the artery and vein together and the device uses radio frequency to create a hole between the two and make the connection."

Peden says creating this connection is normally done surgically by making an incision in the forearm and suturing an artery and vein together. This permits blood to flow directly into the vein; increasing the amount of blood flow through the vein and causing the vein to grow. The larger vein allows the right amount of blood flow for a patient to receive sufficient dialysis treatment. Creating and maintaining this connection for patients with dialysis is crucial for them to be able to undergo life sustaining dialysis.

He adds one of the problems with the open surgery is when the vein and artery are sutured together it sometimes creates an inflammatory response in the vein causing the connection to fail to develop adequately for dialysis. People who undergo this procedure are most at risk of this occurring than in any other surgery involving a vein and artery. This can lead to additional surgeries.

"So far, this new technique seems to decrease the risk of this happening, presumably because there is less surgical manipulation and trauma to the area," Peden said.

Parts of this new system were introduced by creator William Cohn, M.D. at the 2004 Pumps & Pipes, a one-day event involving Houston Methodist, Exxon-Mobil, NASA and the University of Houston, where each of these industries examines how they can use what is in each other's toolkit. Some of the pre-clinical trials were conducted at Houston Methodist's surgical training site, called Houston Methodist Institute for Technology, Innovation & Education (MITIE). MITIE will also be used as one of the training sites for this new procedure.

"This story reflects the life cycle of medical device development, from pre-clinical testing to clinical trial, FDA-approval and finally physician training," said Alan B. Lumsden, M.D., chair of cardiovascular surgery at Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center. "We have built systems that allow us to participate in all phases of this process."

Peden believes this new technique will benefit many of the nearly 470,000 people in the United States that go through dialysis treatment two to three times a week.

"The hope is that fewer complications and surgeries will make the dialysis process a better one for people suffering with severe kidney disease," Peden said.A smartphone application (app) can help in screening for atrial fibrillation, according to late breaking results from the DIGITAL-AF study presented at ESC Congress.

Professor Pieter Vandervoort, principal investigator, of the University of Hasselt, Belgium, said: "Most people have a smartphone with a camera which is all they need to detect atrial fibrillation. This is a low cost way to screen thousands of people for a condition which is becoming more prevalent and can have serious consequences unless treated."

Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm disorder. One in four middle-aged adults in Europe and the US will develop atrial fibrillation. It causes 20-30% of all strokes and raises the risk of premature death, but outlook improves dramatically with oral anticoagulation therapy. Undiagnosed atrial fibrillation is common and many patients remain untreated. Opportunistic screening is recommended in over-65s, but has time, logistical, and resource demands.

DIGITAL-AF examined the feasibility and effectiveness of screening for atrial fibrillation with a smartphone app medically certified in the EU to detect the condition. The app was made freely available by publishing an access token in a local newspaper. Within 48 hours, 12,328 adults had scanned the token and enrolled in the study.

Participants were instructed to use their own smartphone to measure their heart rhythm twice a day for one week. If they had symptoms such as heart palpitations, shortness of breath or fatigue they were advised to input them into the app. The app is used by holding the left index finger in front of the smartphone camera for one minute, during which photoplethysmography measures the heart rhythm.

Heart rhythm measurements were automatically classified as regular rhythm, possible atrial fibrillation, other irregular rhythm, or insufficient quality. Measurements indicating atrial fibrillation or other irregular rhythms were reviewed by medical technicians experienced in analyzing photoplethysmography signals, under the supervision of cardiologists.

All participants received an automatically generated report on their smarphone with a copy of their rhythm traces and an interpretation. Those with atrial fibrillation or other irregular rhythms were advised to see their doctor. Four months later, all participants who had at least one measurement showing atrial fibrillation received a follow-up questionnaire by e-mail about actions they had taken as a result of the screening program.

The average age of the screened population was 50 years and 58% were male. A total of 9,889 (80%) participants had regular (sinus) rhythm, 136 (1.1%) had atrial fibrillation, 2,111 (17%) had other irregular rhythms, and 191 (2%) had measurements of insufficient quality for analysis.

The average age of the atrial fibrillation group was 63 years, and seven in ten were men. Three-quarters had no symptoms. Regarding the type of atrial fibrillation, in 38 patients (28%) it was "persistent or permanent" and detected on the first measurement, and in 98 (72%) it was "paroxysmal", of which 13 cases were detected on the first measurement. (see figure 1)

The questionnaire was completed by 100 out of 136 atrial fibrillation patients. It showed that 40 patients had a new diagnosis, of which 21 (53%) consulted a doctor for confirmation. Sixty patients had been previously diagnosed, of whom 17 (28%) had their treatment adjusted after seeing a doctor.

Professor Vandervoort said: "The verification of diagnoses by medical technicians showed that interpretations by the app were very accurate, suggesting that this step could be significantly downsized and possibly omitted from a screening programme. According to our study approximately 225 people would need to be screened to detect one new atrial fibrillation diagnosis. This is an acceptable return, given the low cost."

Professor Vandervoort noted that smartphones are becoming popular in older age groups, which are more susceptible to atrial fibrillation. He said: "This technology has real potential to find people with previously unknown atrial fibrillation so they can be treated."

Source: https://www.escardio.org/The-ESC/Press-Office/Press-releases/a-smartphone-application-can-help-in-screening-for-atrial-fibrillationIs it safe for women with heart disease to become pregnant? Usually, according to ten-year results from the ROPAC registry reported in a late breaking science session today at ESC Congress 2018.

Professor Jolien Roos-Hesselink, one of the principal investigators, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, said: "Pregnancy is safe for most women with heart disease but for some it is too risky. Our study shows that fewer women with heart disease die or have heart failure during pregnancy than ten years ago. However, nearly one in ten women with pulmonary arterial hypertension died during pregnancy or early post-partum."

"Pre-pregnancy counseling is crucial to identify women who should be advised against pregnancy, initiate timely treatment - for instance in those with severe valvular heart disease, and to discuss the risks and options," she added.

Pregnancy has a major impact on the mother's circulation. The heart has to pump up to 50% more blood and heart rate rises by 10-20%, which can be risky in women with heart disease.

Heart disease is the top reason women die during pregnancy in developed countries. Worldwide, heart disease causes up to 15% of maternal deaths during pregnancy or in the early post-partum period. While other causes of maternal mortality such as blood loss or infection are declining, the burden of maternal heart disease is rising.

Today researchers present outcomes of 5,739 pregnant women with heart disease enrolled from 138 centers in 53 countries during 2007 to 2018. The average age of the mothers was 29.5 years and 45% had never delivered before.

More than half of the women (57%) had been born with a heart malformation (congenital heart disease), and the majority had surgical correction at a young age. Other diagnoses were valvular heart disease (29%), cardiomyopathy (8%), aortic disease (4%), ischaemic heart disease (2%), and pulmonary arterial hypertension (1%).

Professor Roos-Hesselink said: "The proportion of women with conditions considered very high risk by the World Health Organization increased from around 1% in 2007 to 10% in 2018. This suggests that more women with very high risk heart diseases are becoming pregnant than in the past. This is probably because corrective surgery has improved survival and more women reach reproductive age, and perhaps doctors are becoming more selective in who they advise to avoid pregnancy."

Overall, less than 1% of women died during pregnancy or the early post-partum period. Women with pulmonary arterial hypertension, meaning an abnormally high blood pressure in the lungs, had the highest rate of death (9%). Rates of fetal and neonatal death were both 1%.

Delivery was by cesarean section in 44% of the women, of which more than one-third were for cardiac reasons (16% of all deliveries). Regarding complications, heart failure, supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias occurred in 11%, 2% and 2% of women, respectively. Women were more likely to have complications during pregnancy if they had any of the following prior to becoming pregnant: heart failure, diminished exercise capacity, decreased pump function of the heart (reduced ejection fraction), or use of anticoagulant medications.

Professor Roos-Hesselink said: "After an initial increase in maternal mortality and new diagnoses of heart failure during pregnancy between 2007 and 2010, these rates have been declining. This occurred despite the presence of more very high risk women with heart disease being included in our registry as time went by."

Professor Roos-Hesselink noted that the fall in adverse outcomes over the years might indicate greater awareness of the specific problems and better management of pregnant women with heart disease. The first ESC guidelines on the management of cardiovascular diseases during pregnancy were published in 2011, with a second edition in 2018.Cancer tumor cells in the blood can be more accurately and cheaply detected using a malaria protein, new research led by UNSWs Chris Heeschen shows.

Researchers from UNSW Sydney and the University of Copenhagen have developed a new way to detect early-stage cancer tumor cells in the blood using a malaria protein.

UNSW Professor Chris Heeschen said the hope is that this method, in which malaria protein VAR2CSA sticks to cancer cells, can be used as a more effective way to screen for cancer in the near future.

We have developed a method where we take a blood sample and with great sensitivity and specificity, were able to retrieve the individual cancer cells from the blood, Professor Heeschen said.

We catch the cancer cells in greater numbers than existing methods, which offers the opportunity to detect cancer earlier and thus improve outcome for patients.

According to the research, the new method can be used more broadly to diagnose cancer as it is not limited by cancer type. It also means all that is needed for a cancer diagnosis is a blood sample.

Professor Heeschen thinks the new technique could be available in the market within two years if a biodiagnostic company were to take it on.

Previous methods to detect cancer in blood relied on detecting a particular marker found on the surface of tumor cells. However, not all tumor cells display this marker, which renders these methods unable to detect tumor cells spread to other organs such as the liver, lungs and bones.

The method based on the malaria protein does not discriminate between cancer types, and can detect all carcinoma cancers, accounting for 95 per cent of cancers detected in humans.

During the development of the new method, the researchers took 10 cancer cells and added them to five milliliters of blood containing millions of red and white blood cells. Magnetic beads coated with the malaria protein were then added to the samples.

The beads stick to the cancer cells only and can then be retrieved with a robotic machine that uses a strong magnet. This way, they were able to retrieve nine out of the 10 cancer cells which had adhered to malaria protein.

Professor Heeschen said this was a definitive result.

The malaria protein sticks to all cancer cells, with no exceptions. The 10th cell was probably missed due to technical limitations inherent to the retrieval technology, he said.

He went on to compare how the malaria protein method compared with traditional methods.

For pancreatic cancer, the standard method (CellSearch, FDA approved) catches 0 to 1 cell per 7.5 ml of peripheral blood, he said.

In the same volume of blood we find around 140 cells using malaria proteins. Since we can get 60ml from each patient, we are able to retrieve around 1000 cells, in some cases up to 2000.

This increase in accuracy is also complemented by the technology being more affordable, Professor Heeschen said.

The CellSearch run for such a small sample costs $500. Our platform can process 60 ml in shorter time for $100.

The researchers envision being able to use the method to screen people at high risk of developing cancer in the future. However, they also expect that this method can be used as a biomarker indicating whether a patient with mostly vague symptoms indeed has cancer or not. This may also enable doctors to determine the stage of the disease.

Our method has enabled us to detect cancer at any stages  one, two, three and four, Professor Heeschen said.

Based on the number and character of circulating tumor cells we find in someones blood, well be able to determine whether its a relatively aggressive cancer or not so can then adjust the treatment accordingly.

The latest research follows on from work done by researchers led by University of Copenhagens Professor Ali Salanti, who discovered in 2015 a new method of treating cancer with the protein VAR2CSA produced by malaria parasites.Scientists at Scripps Research have developed a urine diagnostic to detect the parasitic worms that cause river blindness, also called onchocerciasis, a tropical disease that afflicts 18 to 120 million people worldwide.

Described in the journal ACS Infectious Diseases, the new, non-invasive test may provide an inexpensive method of determining in real time whether a person has an infection, which would give public health officials and doctors critical information for tracking outbreaks and treating current infections.

"River blindness affects individuals both in Africa and Latin America, and because many of these endemic regions are difficult to access, what is needed in the field is an inexpensive point-of-care means to monitor the disease," says Kim Janda, PhD, the Ely R. Callaway Jr. Professor of Chemistry and member of the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology at Scripps Research.

River blindness is a filarial disease, like elephantiasis, and occurs when the parasitic worm Onchocerca volvulus takes up residence in the skin. Adult worms pump out babies (microfilaria) at an alarming rate, which are ultimately re-spread by blackfly bites. The microfilariae can migrate to the eye and die, releasing toxins and causing inflammation. People with the disease will slowly go blind without medical intervention.

Janda says onchocerciasis monitoring and evaluation are especially necessary steps for people leading elimination efforts. To know if these efforts are working, doctors need to be able to show when disease transmission has been interrupted. The current gold standard for detecting the parasitic worms is a "skin snip" biopsy. However, snips are generally insensitive indicators of infection, and the sensitivity of the skin snip decreases as the density of microfilaria in the skin decreases. Other tests cannot distinguish between past and current infections.

Currently, onchocerciasis elimination programs rely primarily on mass drug administration of the therapy Ivermectin to suppress and eventually eliminate transmission of Onchocerca volvulus. Yet, without a means to evaluate if an infection is ongoing, it's hard to assess if prevention efforts are working--and if it's safe for people to stop taking medication.

The new lateral flow assay took over 10 years to develop, but it is now ready for manufacturing and testing in the field. The key to the assay's success was in the making of designer antibodies to detect a unique biomarker that only shows up when a human host has metabolized a worm neurotransmitter called tyramine. Humans then secrete this biomarker in urine.

A negative on the "dipstick" test shows a colored line in the test. Got the parasite? The test would show no lines.

Unlike the skin snip biopsy, Janda says this non-invasive test is the first to use a metabolite produced by adult worms. Moreover, the dipstick's inexpensive design, coupled with smartphone apps, would offer automatic image processing, which ultimately could translate to address critical gaps in the surveillance and treatment of river blindness.

Source: https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2018/20180827-river-blindness-diagnostic.htmlProminent journalists including the late Pulitzer Prize-winner Charles Krauthammer, have written that doctors are leaving the practice of medicine because adopting and using electronic health records (EHRs) is frustrating and debilitating.

Not so, according to new research from the University of Notre Dame, which shows that basic EHRs actually have increased doctors' tenure at hospitals, whereas advanced EHRs caused doctors to shift to other hospitals. The study found no evidence of retirements as a result of implementation.

"The Mobility of High Status Professionals after the Implementation of Enterprise Information Systems," forthcoming in Information Systems Research by Corey Angst, professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations in Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business, examines how the implementation of basic and advanced EHRs influences the ability of organizations to retain highly trained professional workers.

"Specifically, we look at how this usage affects the decision of physicians to continue practicing at their current hospital," Angst says. "Results suggest that when EHRs create benefits for doctors, such as reducing their workloads or preventing costly errors, their duration of practice increases significantly. However, when technologies force doctors to change their routines, there is an obvious exodus, though it's more pronounced with older doctors, especially specialists, and those who have been disrupted in the past by IT implementations."

The researchers used information on the mobility of physicians from the Hospital Inpatient Dataset provided by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), which provides detailed accounts of each patient admitted to Florida hospitals in addition to information on where physicians have been treating patients during the course of the sample. Data regarding EHR implementation were retrieved from HIMSS Analytics, a nationwide survey of healthcare delivery organizations, granting access to information regarding hospital level adoption of EHR systems at the module level, as well as organizational characteristics such as for-profit status, teaching, specialties, vendor information and size, at the year level. When combined, the data offer information regarding physician employment and EHR implementation at the physician-hospital-year level between 2000 and 2010.

"With the ubiquity of EHRs today and federal policies that mandate adoption, there is now 'nowhere to hide,'" Angst says, "but during the timeframe we examined, it was possible for doctors who disliked EHRs to relocate to other hospitals or retire. Interestingly, we did not find increases in retirements or wide-scale departures, but we did find that advanced EHRs did push doctors to less sophisticated hospitals, while basic EHRs actually increased tenure at the hospital."

Advanced EHRs, which utilize CPOE (Computerized Physician Order Entry) or PD (Physician Documentation), are known to be more disruptive to doctors' routines.

"Most doctors don't want to have to look at a screen and document what the patient is saying while doing an exam," Angst says. "The PD module requires doctors to either document the things they are doing at the moment of the exam or immediately following -; or they have to employ a scribe to do it while they are doing the patient exam. The CPOE creates alerts that many doctors ignore because they think they know better or because of a known history with the patient. These can be very disruptive and in some cases they require doctors to work around the alert."

Basic EHRs, on the other hand, are more automated but also have been in use longer so doctors are more comfortable with them.

Angst says his team's study offers reassurance that doctors won't be scared off as hospitals continue adopting new technologies -; as long as they're not too disruptive to routines.Mount Sinai Experts Share Tips for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month in September

Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of death in American women, according to the American Cancer Society, and accounts for more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system. And according to the National Cancer Institute, approximately 22,240 women will be diagnosed with the disease in 2018; 14,070 will die from it.

"Any woman who experiences unexplained bloating, an upset stomach, an urgency to urinate or abdominal pain for a few weeks, should go see a doctor," said Stephanie V. Blank, MD, Director of Gynecologic Oncology for the Mount Sinai Health System, "and if her doctor does not take these symptoms seriously, she should see another doctor.

"Too often, women are sent to the wrong doctor, or told they're just aging or gaining weight when experiencing these kinds of symptoms, and by then they have lost valuable time."

Mount Sinai experts are available during September's Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month to offer tips on detecting symptoms, understanding the benefits of genetic testing, and to discuss emerging therapies.

Experts Available for Interviews & Resources

Stephanie V. Blank, MD, Director of Gynecologic Oncology for the Mount Sinai Health System; Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Konstantin Zakashansky, MD, Director of Gynecologic Oncology, Mount Sinai West, Associate Professor Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Nimesh Nagarsheth, MD, Associate Professor Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

The "Woman to Woman" peer-to-peer program that provides emotional support, mentoring, and financial aid to women in treatment for gynecologic cancer; founded by Valerie Goldfein, an ovarian cancer survivor: https://www.mountsinai.org/care/obgyn/services/support-programs/woman-to-woman and http://inside.mountsinai.org/blog/woman-to-woman-builds-a-community-of-hope-and-support-for-cancer-patients/

Know Ovarian Cancer Symptoms

Women diagnosed when their disease has not spread beyond the ovary have a five year survival of 93%. Because the ovaries are small and embedded deep within the abdominal cavity, detection is difficult and often delayed. Since the prognosis depends on the stage of the cancer, or detecting it before it has spread, it is especially important to recognize the following symptoms:

Gastrointestinal upset such as gas, indigestion or nausea

Pelvic and/or abdominal pain or discomfort

Pelvic and/or abdominal bloating or swelling

A constant feeling of fullness

Unexplained change in bowel and/or bladder habits

Fatigue

Unexplained weight loss or gain

Abnormal or any bleeding post-menopause

Everyone has these symptoms at some time, but if you have these symptoms and they worsen or persist for two weeks, you should seek medical attention.

Ovarian Cancer Risks

Family and personal history: more than 20 percent of ovarian cancers are attributed to inherited genetic mutations. Mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 are responsible for most inherited ovarian cancers. The lifetime ovarian cancer risk for women with a BRCA1 mutation is estimated to be between 40 and 50 percent and for women with BRCA2 mutations, between 10 percent and 29 percent. In comparison, the ovarian cancer lifetime risk for the women in the general population is less than 2 percent.

Age: Ovarian cancer is not a normal disease of aging, but risk increases with age. Most ovarian cancers develop after menopause, and half of all ovarian cancers are found in women 63 years of age or older.

Ovarian Cancer Prevention

Birth Control Pills: Long term use of oral contraceptives reduces the risk of developing ovarian cancer by approximately 50 percent.

Gynecologic Surgery: Hysterectomy, tying tubes. Preventative removal of tubes and ovaries is the best means of ovarian cancer prevention (but is not appropriate for all women).

Source: https://www.mountsinai.org/Antar Jutla, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at West Virginia University, is part of a British-led humanitarian team that is working to predict and prevent a major outbreak of cholera in war-torn Yemen.

Cholera is a waterborne disease that can cause severe watery diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration and even death if untreated. It is caused by eating food or drinking water contaminated with a bacterium called Vibrio cholera. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that more than 2.9 million cases of cholera occur worldwide on an annual basis and is responsible for about 95,000 deaths each year.

Working with NASA satellite data, Jutla, along with researchers from the University of Maryland, have developed a model to predict the distribution of pathogenic cholera bacteria. The model looks at the interactions between cholera bacteria and things like temperature, precipitation, organic matter and salinity in water through the lens of civil infrastructure. Jutla's research is funded by NASA's Applied Sciences Program/Health and Air Quality Applications program.

In 2017, in proof of performance testing, the model was proven to have a high accuracy rate at a district level in areas identified as high risk of a cholera outbreak in Yemen.

In an effort designed to turn theory to reality, aid experts at the United Kingdom's Department for International Development are using Jutla's model in tandem with one of the world's most powerful supercomputers at The Met Office, the UK's national weather service, to predict where and when cholera will spread.

Last year, Yemen suffered the worst cholera outbreak in its history with more than 1 million suspected cases. Starting in March 2018, DFID began using this data to work with UNICEF to prevent the spread of the disease ahead of the rainy season. This allowed for the targeted delivery of such items as hygiene kits, clean water, cholera treatment kits and medical equipment to areas predicted to be at greatest risk.

The effort is working.

During the last week of June, there were 2,597 suspected cases and three deaths, down from 50,825 suspected cases and 179 deaths at the same time last year. Despite the predicted risk of cholera in Ibb  a governorate on the frontline of the conflict  being just as high this year as last year, there were only 672 suspected cases of cholera in July 2018 compared to 13,659 in July 2017.

"There aren't a lot of us doing this type of work yet," Jutla said. "But we have an opportunity to understand how these different factors create conditions favorable for the proliferation of water-related diseases like cholera and what their impact will be on society.

"If we can ensure safe drinking water and sanitation facilities, we can control this disease."

Julta has earned a prestigious CAREER award from the National Science Foundation for his research.

While officials note there are a number of other factors that could have contributed to a lower number of suspected cholera cases this year, i.e., a later rainy season, greater immunity against cholera and a change in national guidance for the recording of suspected cholera cases, it is clear that the new actions taken as a result of the predictions are saving lives and reducing suffering.

"The conflict in Yemen is the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, with millions of people at risk of deadly but preventable diseases such as cholera," said DFID Chief Scientist Charlotte Watts. "DFID has brought together experts from around the world to predict where the risk of cholera is highest so that aid workers can act before it's too late. By working joining up international expertise with those working on the ground, we have, for the very first time, used these sophisticated predictions to help save lives and prevent needless suffering for thousands of Yemenis."Member of Parliament for Selibe Phikwe West Dithapelo Keorapetse has blamed government for the closure of BCL on not treating it as a parastatal or public enterprise.

In a letter he wrote to President Mokgweetsi Masisi, the MP argues that from the start there was a strong developmental role for BCL identified by government and from the outset, the government has been the custodian of BCLs financial security. According to Keorapetse BCL was never formally a parastatal or public enterprise.

But even when there were significant private sector shareholders in the early years, the government structured BCL in such a way to set it up as a recipient of government funds or funds raised by the government indirectly for the entity. The company was never set up as a normal commercial enterprise, with the flexibility necessary to be able to raise other money and determine its own financial fate.

It was an immensely complicated financial structuring, enshrining BCL as a unique entity, and a bulwark of the countrys economy and the mainstay of the Selibe-Phikwe towns economy, reads the letter seen by this publication.

Keorapetse pointed out that in exchange for the implicit and explicit backing of government  the government never showed any intention other than to roll over BCLs debts to the state.He stated that BCL became dedicated to providing a functioning operation that provided 5000 jobs directly and 10 000 indirectly.

He reveals in the letter that the debts were more akin to grants, thus entrenching the reality in the minds of the company, the government, Selibe-Phikwe residents and Batswana, that BCL occupied a special, protected place in the Botswana economy.

The legislator said from 2002 onwards, government increased its influence to complete control and ownership of the company, which crystallized with 100 percent control in 2008 after the departure of all external funders (they received about 5 percent of the nominal value of the debt owed to them - effectively, a full write-off).

In the years that metal prices were high BCL managed to build up some cash. In the days when there was more private sector influence at BCL, these proceeds from the good times were used to invest in the company. This practice, built up over almost half a century, changed radically in 2014. It is important to note, that contrary to popular perception, BCL was in fact not given any money by government from 2002 onwards  all the debts dated before then.

The company had not been an active drain on the fiscus for 14 years when it was put into liquidation in 2016. By 2014, after the preceding price boom years, BCL built up its cash reserves.

It should have been allowed to use this money to invest in the business, for the inevitable downturn in prices  like it had before, he posited Keorapetse pleaded with Masisi to make time to visit Phikwe and engage with fellow countrymen and women. Please note that this letter will be shared with my constituents as these are their requests, he said.



Over the past two decades the financial services industry has not promoted any meaningful citizen participation, this is according to new entrant in the market Fiducia, a pension fund administration company.

Thapelo Matsheka, Chief Executive of Fiducia said the economy and the country has not sufficiently tapped and mined the significant long term domestic capital generated by the pensions industry as is the case elsewhere within Africa and Europe, in the last 20 years.

Dr. Matsheka is not new to citizen empowerment drive, having been at the helm of governments entrepreneurship scheme  Citizen Entrepreneurship Development Agency (CEDA) for over six years from 2003 to 2010.

Citing the NBFIRA 2017 Annual Report, Dr. Matsheka highlighted that as at 31 December 2016, pension assets were P75.1 billion, which accounts for 44 percent of GDP at market prices and that 63 percent of the retirement fund assets were invested offshore as at 31 December 2016. He said the data illustrates the general tendency and preference for offshore investments at the expense of local infrastructure development.

Whilst there is indeed a strong case for diversification across both asset classes and a geographical region, as a risk mitigation strategy, Fiducia is convinced that the offshore exposures are way too high, said Dr. Matsheka.He bemoaned that the retirement funds industrys investments in local direct property were less than one percent of total pension assets.

Dr. Matsheka also warns of lack of innovation by the industry in aggressively exploring local alternative investment to spur local economic activity and job creation. A platform has to be created for the Trustees to influence decisions made by the various asset managers with a core interest to develop and sustain entrepreneurial capacity that exists within Botswana, investigate and fund necessary national programmes, subject to such investments meeting the Funds investment criteria on yields and risk in line with the investment policy of each Fund, he said.

Dr. Matsheka said Fiducia is advocating for a more deliberate and active participation by local institutional investors, through impact driven investment strategies and a more deliberate thrust in supporting citizen entrepreneurship.We thus believe that we can do more for local citizen empowerment and also for the development of Botswana, said Dr. Matsheka.

Turning to efficiency and growth of the pension fund administration industry, he said lack of competition has resulted in concentration challenges and lack of choice by boards of trustees leading to entrusting fund administration to two entities.He said this has led to quality of administration service being poor and high error rates, compromising data integrity with huge operational risks as quality of data informs benefit payouts as well as formulation of various policy decisions by the board, investment policy, and actuarial reviews, among others.

Fiducia is the first citizen owned pension fund administration entity now competing with other international companies in the local pension industry where Aon and Alexander Forbes have been offering services.The Sinister Six: Learn the comic book history of Spider-Man's greatest foes before No Way Home

What do Marvel comic books tell us about the Sinister Six in the MCU?Taipei : At least four people were killed and 143 injured following torrential rains in Taiwan that also caused agricultural losses worth more than 563.2 million Taiwanese dollars ($18 million), authorities said on Monday.

Central and southern Taiwan have suffered floods that have paralysed factories and work on farms in addition to causing power outages and damaging several roads, reports Efe news.

According to disaster management authorities, thousands of homes have been flooded and about 7,000 people have been evacuated, including 1,827 who are living in 20 temporary shelters.

Some 70,000 households have suffered power outages, according to fire agency data.

A Taiwanese weather expert on Monday forecast three more days of torrential rains and strong winds, warning residents of increased flooding, landslides and falling rocks, while evacuations continue.

The army has mobilized more than 37,000 troops and some 5,000 aircraft and vehicles to deal with the situation arising from the torrential rains.Rome : Actress Asia Argento, who has been accused of sexual assault against musician Jimmy Bennett, will no longer be a part of the judging panel of the twelfth season of the show "X Factor Italy".

According to sources, Argento has been expelled from the show amid the allegations that she has settled the accusation with Bennett for a sum of $380,000, and now the live portion of the show will officially begin with a new judge, reports variety.com

Audiences will still see her on the first seven episodes of the show which have already been shot. These include initial auditions to pick competitors for the show's 12 final spots.

Following the allegations against Argento of sexual abuse, television network companies Sky Italia and FremantleMedia had issued a statement saying that if the accusations were true, they "would have no choice but to take note of it and put an end to the collaboration".

The new judge will be announced on September 5 during the "X Factor" press conference in Milan.

The show's broadcaster and producers have not commented anything on Argento's expulsion yet.Jerusalem : Palestinians were able to use the Erez crossing point between the Gaza Strip and Israel on Monday for the first time since it was closed over a week ago due to recent protests and clashes along the frontier of the blockaded territory.

Israel's Defense Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, on Sunday ordered the crossing, located near Beit Hanun in northern Gaza, to be reopened given the state of calm and decrease in demonstrations since it was closed on August 19, Efe reported.

During that time, people were only permitted to cross the buffer zone for humanitarian reasons or if they were able to present authorized press credentials.

Almost 160 Palestinians have been killed, including many as a result of Israeli army fire, during mass demonstrations near the border that have erupted sporadically since March, according to the Gaza Strip's Health Ministry.

Israeli authorities accused the Islamist group Hamas, which controls the territory, of masterminding the protests to incite violence.

Gaza has been blockaded by Israel since 2007.

Protests along parts of the buffer zone were ongoing on Monday.Sorry!

This content is not available in your regionThe Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) has hatched a plan to place its loss making Francistown plant under care and maintenance to save the parastatal a whopping P35 million annually.Brian Dioka, BMC spokesperson said the decision is in line with efforts to reengineer the company into a profit-making entity.

According to Dioka, the BMCs Francistown abattoir gobbles over P40 million annually in cash losses while placing the plant under care and maintenance will require P5 million annually thereby saving P35 million per year. Dioka said the beef producer will look into positions available within its three plants  Lobatse, Maun and Francistown - to absorb employees on shutting down of operations in Francistown.

Our shareholder (government) has approved our request and assigned us (management) to go and restructure BMC, consultations with internal stakeholders are ongoing to find a common ground including negotiations with workers union, said Dioka highlighting that government has given BMC management budget in excess of P30 million for the restructuring.

The restructuring exercise is expected to be complete by end of August and once the Francistown plant is under care and maintenance, it will act as backup facility for the Lobatse plant. Quizzed on potential retrenchments, Dioka remained cagey and said consultations with internal stakeholders will guide the restructuring process.

Not everyone will be absorbed, but we have employees that are almost reaching retirement and others that will voluntarily opt for packages. We cannot deny that people may be affected, the biggest casualty is inefficiency and multi- activities, said Dioka. We are not restructuring to retrench but to make BMC efficient, he added. Dioka is optimistic that BMC could finally be saying goodbye to losses and inefficiency after restructuring.

We could get the profits that Batswana have been yearning for at BMC, said Dioka. He said the farming community should also play part in making the company profitable. Botswana Meat Industry Workers Union Chairman, Negro Thebe told this publication that as far as he knows the restructuring exercise has been put on hold until the BMD Board scrutinises the whole process.

Thebe explained that during consultations it has been agreed that the board would have to scrutinise the exercise to ensure that everything is done by the book and no one is disadvantaged by the process. As the union we believe that following the closure of the Francistown plant some of the 241 employees there should be considered for absorption in Lobatse looking at their skill and experience.

We had about 153 temporary employees who were engaged and their contracts have since come to an end and we believe there could still be room to accommodate most of the staff from Francistown plant. In Lobatse we have about 41 employees who are not fit for work due to ill health and our contention is that they have to be given a good package as and when they are relieved of their duties, Thebe revealed expressing faith that the negotiations which are currently progressing will end on a good note.

Currently BMC records P80 million to P90 million losses attributed to opportunistic diseases like measles. Meanwhile privatisation of BMC is ongoing following approval by government in March 2018. PEEPA is looking at the best method to commercialise BMC whose main active plant, Lobatse, is old and may not attract sizeable equity once put up for privatisation.Bone-chilling footage from inside China shows raw reality of enslavement tacitly supported by big tech

Chinese man describes the horror as best he can: Theyre eating our flesh and drinking our blood.

(Article by Daniel Taylor republished from OldThinkerNews.com)

This is the system that big tech companies are bowing to.

Apple and Google have created a dangerous precedent for both business and press freedom in choosing to ally with the communist Chinese.

In following Chinese regulations on net censorship, these tech companies are enabling a tyrannical regime unlike anything else on the planet.

While the MSM has focused our attention on Russian meddling, China has infiltrated U.S. universities and think tanks, pushing the communist party agenda into our nation.

The harsh reality of full fleged tyranny has been forgotten in the western world, where we still enjoy the fruits of our ancestors bloody battles.

The Chinese enjoy forced sterilizarion, mobile execution vans, bans on private gun ownership, restricted speech, a ban on Christianity (other religions too) and total surveillance.

These videos show the horrific human rights violations imposed on the Chinese people.

Total surveillance

A 2016 report from the Wall Street Journal shows the pervasive surveillance system that tracks citizens every move:

AI powered cameras watch everything:

Forced sterilization

In April of 2007, NPR covered the personal stories of just a handful of the millions of women in china effected by coercive population control policies. Wei Linrong, a victim of forced abortion, tells her story,

The hospital was full of women whod been brought in forcibly. There wasnt a single spare bed. The family planning people said forced abortions and forced sterilizations were both being carried out. We saw women being pulled in one by one.

In the same year, more than 50,000 people protested Chinas one child policy, drawing the Chinese army in to break up the masses, killing several:

In 2000, the Rockefeller Foundation gave $2 million to upgrade a drug factory in China which produces the abortion drug RU-486. As the Washington Post reports, the drug has been widely used in Chinas population control efforts,

RU-486 has been a key ingredient in Chinas population control strategy for years. Of the estimated 10 million abortions performed annually in China, about half are carried out with RU-486, said Gao Ersheng, director of the Shanghai Institute of Planned Parenthood Research.

China has recently relaxed its one child policy, but birth rates remain low due to decades of propaganda and the financial inability to sustain families.

Land grabs

The land that millions of homes rest on in China is being sold to developers to build on, another facet to the Chinese government reign of terror. Smart cities, where everything is monitored, are spreading. In one project alone  the Three Gorges Dam project  1.2 million people were forced to relocate.

Sky news traveled to China to document what is happening in 2006. Theyre eating our flesh and drinking our blood is how one Chinese man described it:

The land grabs have continued:

Mobile execution vans and torture

The Chinese governments campaign against the traditional Chinese spiritual group Falun Gong has claimed hundreds of lives:

Just this year, more Christian churches were destroyed and bibles confiscated. The communist party believes that Christianty holds western values dangerous to the establishment:

This report details multiple families stories of false accusations, executions and torture:

As the world is tilting toward tyranny, the United States must re-light the beacon of freedom and keep it lit. If we do not, this darkness will penetrate our land. It will no longer be something that is happening out there. It will be knocking on  or breaking down  your door.

Read more at: OldThinkerNews.comAntifa terrorists in Austin, Texas planning extremely violent paramilitary attacks on patriots

In Austin, Texas, a far-left extremist group is calling for a red army to be formed to annihilate those it considers enemies  namely those who do not agree with its communist ideals.

According to a posting to the Facebook account for the Red Guards Austin, theyd like to see the formation of paramilitary organizations, one of which specializes in fist fighting and the use of blunt weapons like flagpoles or axe handles. A second level would involve those who have undergone military training and would operate as the groups soldiers.

The posting goes on to call for members to confront their enemies physically and ensure they are bombarded from all sides.

The end of the post makes it clear that they are quite committed to their cause, and their words are frightening:

On the basis of our principled united front work, fascists and their collaborators can be drowned out, run out, routed, beaten bloody, and even annihilated. These are our principles and we aim to hold them to the very finish.

The Red Guards Austin say they are a MarxistLeninistMaoist violent Antifa group. Theyre based in Austin, but they work together with Red Guards Los Angeles, Red Guards Charlotte, Red Guards Pittsburgh, and Red Guards Kansas City. It might be tempting to dismiss their words as the ramblings of a few deranged individuals, but the Austin cells group page on Facebook currently has nearly 8,000 followers  and they regularly call for other masked individuals to join their group.

This group claims that the whole country is a battlefield and that the war is here and now rather than something that is coming in the future. They want to teach their followers how to use weapons in carrying out revolutionary violence. Theyve also said that it is time to walk away from the comfort zone of the legal left. On their website, youll find photos of masked demonstrators carrying rifles marching through the streets.

Its interesting to note that Facebook has not taken any steps to remove their account because they call for violence, even though they are incredibly quick to shadow ban and censor conservative accounts for saying things they disagree with that dont mention any type of violent acts.

There are more violent antifa groups out there than youd like to think

Red Guards Austin is not the only radical far left group out there looking to cause trouble. For example, Redneck Revolt is a self-described above-ground militant formation that claims to have more than 30 branches throughout the nation. Much like the Red Guards Austins opposition to what they call the ruling class democracy, Redneck Revolt backs the idea of militant resistance to capitalism. Their 36-page handbook, which is published on their website, contain sections on topics like guerrilla warfare that reference terrorism, kidnapping, sabotage, and even executions.

This is why it is so essential to be informed and be prepared. How many groups like this are trying to organize violence in your area? Would you know what to do if this angry mob confronted you? Would you be able to get home to your family if they caused havoc in the streets while you were out? If you havent given preparedness and survival careful consideration before, its time to get your head out of the sand and recognize all the danger that is brewing.

Sources for this article include:

RayGano.com

BigLeaguePolitics.com

NaturalNews.comBotswana Public Employees Union (BOPEU) leadership team that lost its case against union President Masego Mogwera has filed appeal papers with the court, Botswana Guardian has learnt.

The factions within the union leadership have resulted in a legal battle which has pitted BOPEU as 1st Applicant followed by Ogaufi Masame, Zibani Philemon, Mosalagae Tlhako and Motswaledi Monaiwa against National Office Bearers (NOB) members being union President Mogwera as 1st Respondent followed by Tlhabologo Galekhutle (Treasurer), Martin Gabobake (1st Deputy President), Topias Marenga (General Secretary) and Ketlhapelang Karabo (Deputy General Secretary).

Following a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting last month at Cresta Lodge in Gaborone, Mogwera and team were suspended pending investigation. Philemon was subsequently appointed acting president. Mogweras team in turn declared a state of emergency and suspended Philemon and crew. NOB members are also part of the NEC. Philemon and crew approached the court on urgency to hear the matter.

Sources close to the development have revealed that Philemons team has been working round the clock with their lawyers since last week Fridays judgment to appeal the decision by Lobatse High Court Judge, Godfrey Nthomiwa who agreed with Mogwera that the matter brought before him to forcibly remove her and the NEC from office was not urgent and that it was not brought properly before him.

The judge dismissed the application on urgency despite the interim committee having indicated that the union president was suspended in order for investigations to be carried without interference. According to information gathered by this publication, Mogwera and team were to be served with appeal papers between Wednesday and yesterday (Thursday).

Speaking to this publication Philemon said they are still weighing their options. He indicated that their lawyers are still scrutinising the judgment and would advise accordingly. Philemon explained that they still believe that they are the legitimate leadership because a lawfully constituted meeting had suspended Mogwera and team.

He said if not attended the matter might bring more harm to the union than it could ever be imagined. Philemon said all they want is to protect the integrity of the union of choice.In his judgment Justice Nthomiwa indicated that the matter is not urgent and the applicants are not entitled to the relief of the interim interdict they sought.

He explained that the matter is not properly brought before court by way of motion proceedings instead of being brought by way of action.Nthomiwa said because of the suspension of the applicants, they could not bring proceedings on behalf of BOPEU in so far as the change made in the composition of the NEC was in violation of legal framework governing Trade Unions.

He said it was on that basis that the applicants lacked the necessary legal standing to bring the current proceedings for and on behalf of BOPEU. The court also declined to have an audio recording from the Cresta meeting as part of the proceedings.Mogwera and team were suspended for failure to observe Articles 53.1 and 53.2 of the Union Constitution respectively, which speak of the secondment and remuneration of office bearers (president and treasurer general) as well as sanctioning the implementation of the new BOPEU structure.

They refused to vacate their seats saying only the congress can remove them. That is when Mogwera declared a state of emergency and suspended the interim committee, forcing them to take the legal route. Philemon and team are likely to face a disciplinary hearing anytime soon, however he told Botswana Guardian that they have not yet received any letters warning them about any pending disciplinary hearing. We are waiting for such letters and they know where to find us if they want to take that route, he stated.Renovations proceed at the site of the former Georgetown Saloon at 8 Main St. in Redding, among Fairfield Countys better known venues for having hosted sets by Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and other notable performers.

Related: Danbury senior care facility to be renovatedIn a study published this month, a University of Connecticut economist casts doubt on state incentives as a tool to spur the relocation or expansion of existing businesses, suggesting regions fare better in supporting homegrown businesses and technology.

Mary Donegan and co-authors William Lester and Nichola Lowe of the University of North Carolina published their findings via the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, with the study supported by a grant from the Kansas City, Mo.-based Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. In the paper, the researchers suggest states strike a better balance in investing in startups versus spending big to attract corporate relocations.

State and local incentive use in the United States has seen a notable uptick in the wake of the 2008-2009 Great Recession ... reflecting increased desperation for additional jobs, Donegan, Lester and Lowe wrote. We need to look no further than ... Amazon and Googles decision to establish a second U.S. headquarters to see that communities throughout the country and decision makers within them are willing to pull out all the stops.

Correlating deal-flow data tracked by Good Jobs First, Donegan and her co-authors studied more than 11,000 economic incentive deals nationally that resulted in commitments for at least 100 new or relocated jobs. The study found little evidence that incentive grants generated much in the way of new jobs or other direct economic benefits to the states that issued them, though Donegan established that incentives for small businesses tend to have a positive effect.

Incentive use for smaller firms appears to be less risky, the UConn and UNC researchers stated. It could be that large firms that seek incentives are moving activity from one state to another in a process of consolidation that is proximate in time with an overall downward trend in business activity. Alternatively, large establishments may simply be more likely to play the incentive game and are less likely to be experiencing a positive growth cycle or inventing new goods and services.

Southwestern Connecticut has had its share of success stories and cautionary tales. In 2012 under Gov. Dannel P. Malloys First Five program that awards incentives to companies adding at least 200 employees, Stamford attracted in the headquarters of Charter Communications, which after acquiring Time Warner Cable is planning a larger campus in downtown Stamford to accommodate more employees than originally envisioned.

Across the citys South End, however, Marriott International is subleasing out the huge waterside office complex it inherited in the 2016 acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, with Connecticut incentives having bought the state less than a decade of Starwood as a major corporate employer after its 2012 relocation from Westchester County, N.Y.

Norwalk, meanwhile, continues to benefit from a pair of homegrown companies in Booking Holdings and Datto that generated exponential growth on the dime of outside investors, with both having recommitted to their Norwalk headquarters the past few years.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulmanWASHINGTON  The agriscience academy will most likely advance to the next phase of the project this week, pending state approval.

The long-discussed program is set to open next fall. It will focus on agriculture and STEM subjects: science, technology, engineering and math. It is expected to include 35,750 square feet of new construction at Shepaug Valley School while also using unused space within the school.

Project and Region 12 school officials are meeting with state Department of Administrative Services on Tuesday to go over the final checklist. Officials believe the state will give them the go-ahead to put the construction out to bid to build based on earlier conversations.

This is really just making sure weve done everything that needs to be done and I think weve done that, said Greg Cava, chairman for the Region 12 building committee.

This means the project could go out to bid Wednesday, with responses expected back around the end of September. Those bids will then be brought to the committee for the Oct. 29 meeting with an expected construction start date in mid-November, said Lorel Purcell, of O & G Industries, the company serving as the construction manager.

Purcell expects 50 to 60 contractors to attend the pre-bid walkthrough in mid-September.

We dont know what the bidding climate is like until we put our project out on the street, she said. Hopefully, well get some good turnout.

Purcell said it helps that the contractors busy season is winding down, which was a problem in the spring when O & G bid for phase one  the demolition of the science wing and asbestos areas.

That phase wrapped up this summer with the fan remaining the major outstanding item. School officials shared concerns Monday that the temporary fan in place was not sustainable for the year of construction because it was too loud and didnt have a damper, which allows fresh air to enter the building but not the frigid temperatures in the winter.

Don OLeary, Region 12 facilities manager, said they will have to retest the noise with the added sheetrock wall, adding they can spend five weeks without the damper, but a decision on how to handle that would need to be made at the next meeting when the architects and O & G representatives have more information.

Cava also questioned if fixing the fan was meant to be included in phase two and is now being pushed up to phase one or if it was poorly designed and is now an extra cost.

We are desperately unhappy with how that turned out and desperately unhappy that the mechanical engineers ignored Mr. OLearys protestations for months, Cava said.

The project is expected to cost $29.9 million, with the state paying nearly $24 million. The state also awarded an additional $1.5 million to the district in the spring to purchase furniture and fixtures for the project. The school is also renovating the science labs, bringing the total cost to about $34.4 million.

Now that the physical work has started, the committee will receive monthly reports describing the work, costs and progress photos.

Its really a snapshot of the construction, said Mark Jeffko, of O & G Industries.

Some of the project details include adding a greenhouse, an agricultural mechanics facility and animal facilities.

The program will serve 139 students from Region 12, Danbury, Brookfield, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown and Sherman. Bethel has not committed to joining the program.

kkoerting@newstimes.com; 203-731-3345BROOKFIELD  The authors of a fictional novel on Eliza Hamilton will visit the high school and library next month to culminate the librarys shared reading program.

Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie, authors of My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, will be in town Sept. 6 through Sept. 8.

Residents have spent the summer reading and discussing My Dear Hamilton as part of the librarys first One Town, One Read program. This initiative intends to build community spirit by encouraging the entire town to read one book.

Library Director Yvonne Cech said she plans to bring the successful program back next year.

The summer has been filled with excitement over this program she said in a release. There is great enthusiasm for reading about this topic and specifically for this novel. Entire families are involved, reading together. The community has been talking about it and many have been inspired to visit nearby historical sites from the story.

The authors will lead a writing workshop for students at the high school on Sept. 6. The Brookfield Education Foundation is sponsoring this through a grant.

The public is also invited for afternoon tea with the authors from 3 to 5 p.m. Sept. 7 at the library.

The visit ends with an event from 3 to 5 p.m. Sept. 8 at the library, where the authors will sign books, answer questions and discuss Eliza Hamilton. She was the wife of Alexander Hamilton, the nations first treasury secretary, and helped found the New York Orphan Asylum Society, the first private orphanage in New York City.

At the final event, the library will draw the winners of two tickets to the Broadway production of Hamilton, as well as other items, such as gift certificates to The Curtis House in Woodbury and the Brookfield Craft Center.H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticut Media

The Community Culinary School of Northwestern Connecticut is offering a picnic lunch so people can celebrate National Eat Outside Day on Friday.

The school, which is a nonprofit that offers job training and placement in the food industry, will serve the lunch from noon to 1 p.m. on the Green. People are encouraged stay and eat outside, but the lunches will be bagged so they can also be taken to go.RIDGEFIELD  The towns longtime police chief, who has been on medical leave for the past two months, has announced he will step down from the department.

Chief John Roche submitted his letter of resignation to the town Friday and it will be formally accepted by the Police Commission during a meeting Wednesday, Chairman Charles Knoche said.

Roche, who was chief for 10 years, had been dealing with medical issues and had given Major Steve Brown, the next in command, authority to run the department. Brown will continue to lead until a replacement is found, Knoche said.

He added that since the announcement he has had both residents and officials reach out to him asking to wish Roche well and saying how much they will miss him as chief.

We couldnt have had a better leader, Knoche said. All the men and women in the department respected him highly as did other public officials in town. Well miss him dearly.

Knoche said Roche has sounded very strong when he has talked to him on the phone recently and that he is doing OK. But, he added that Roche thought itd be best for the town and department if he retired as his medical issues might continue a little while longer.

It just came to be the right time, Knoche said.

In his decade-long reign as chief, Roche was easygoing and fair with his officers, but stern when he needed to be, Knoche said. He spearheaded a number of improvements in the department, including upgrades to online communication, the front offices and various training initiatives.

The chief has served this town very well, said First Selectman Rudy Marconi. We appreciate his dedication over the years keeping our community safe.

Before stepping in as chief, Roche had worked with the department in other roles for 28 years. Knoche even recalls a colleague saying when Roche started as a young officer, Johns going to be chief some day, because of his high marks.

He always tested so well and is extremely knowledgeable, Knoche said. His family has been in police work and he is a really dedicated policeman. With all of his testing and climbing the ranks, he was always right on spot with his answers.

The Police Commission will likely discuss the search process at its next meeting, Knoche said.

Roches position is the latest police chief opening in the area. New Milford is searching for a replacement for Chief Shawn Boyne, whose contract will not be renewed when it expires in October. Redding recently chose Capt. Mark ODonnell, who was serving as an interim chief, to replace Chief Doug Fuchs, who resigned in June.

Knoche said Ridgefield can either look internally for a replacement or begin an external candidate search. The decision for which process to pursue will ultimately be up to all commission members, he added, but Knoche said both he and Roche feel there might be viable candidates already within the department.

We have very good people there, Knoche said. (Roche) said, Charlie, I have full faith in them. 

aquinn@newstimes.comWhen President Obama signed the JOBS Act on April 5, 2012, it opened the doors for a new source of capital for small businesses by allowing the use of crowdfunding to raise up to $1,070,000. Since the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, only accredited investors (generally those individuals with a net worth of over $1 million or income more than $200,000 per year) had the ability to invest in private equity. The JOBS Act opened the door for entrepreneurs to access an entirely new source of capital from non-accredited investors. The new law allows non-accredited investors to invest up to $2,000 per company every 12 months, giving them the opportunity to participate in economic growth while supporting the companies they want to support.

Related: 5 Ways Digital Marketing Powers Your Equity Crowdfunding Campaign to Succeed

Equity crowdfunding often gets confused with pledge crowdfunding. Pledge crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo raise money for organizations and causes who can only legally offer a gift in return for a contribution. Equity crowdfunding involves selling shares in a company or raising money using a debt offering, which allows for a financial return on a person's contribution.

While the JOBS Act was signed in 2012, the regulations that facilitate the oversight and enforcement of crowdfunding didn't come online until January 2016. By the end of 2017, over 44,000 investors invested close to $80 million in over 200 companies.

The JOBS Act also allowed individual states to adopt similar legislation to be used by companies located within their state and offered to only state specific residents. To date, 35 states have passed intrastate crowdfunding. For example, under North Carolina's Providing Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs and Small Business (PACES) Act of 2016, small businesses in North Carolina can raise up to $2 million, non-accredited residents can invest up to $5,000 per company every 12 months, and accredited residents can invest as much as they want to.

Related: 3 Essentials to Succeeding at Equity Crowdfunding

While the new laws at the federal and state level have created a large pool of new capital for entrepreneurs, there are unique aspects to it that must be considered to be successful when it comes to raising capital using equity crowdfunding:

Have a compelling business case and a fundable offer.

It's not unusual to have thousands of people considering an investment in a business, with hundreds of them investing small amounts. Raising money this way requires that the documentation and supporting material be well-written, concise and comprehensive. This information is often solely what a potential investor uses to decide whether to invest. As a result, there are no shortcuts when it comes to having an attractive financial offer that is supported by a compelling business plan, sound financial projections and required regulatory documentation.

Plan an effective marketing strategy.

Marketing the company and its investment offering must be done within the constraints of the rules governing Title III and the various state programs. This means there is a delicate balance between informing the public about your company and its offering without violating laws associated with definitions of advertising under 74-year-old SEC laws. This means referring potential investors to authorized crowdfunding portals for information about the company and its investment offering while sharing limited information outside of the portal within compliance of the rules and regulations.

Develop your crowd.

An effective equity crowdfunding campaign includes a blend of accredited and non-accredited investors since the goal is to raise enough capital to achieve your goals. Start with the people you know and expect to tap into your personal connections to kickstart the campaign. Then deploy your marketing campaign to reach a broader audience to help fund the remainder.

Related: How to Decide Whether to Crowdfund or Bootstrap Your Business

Comply with regulations.

Receiving authorization to crowdfund is actually receiving an exemption from current securities laws that otherwise prevent us from raising capital from non-accredited investors. We retain this exemption if we follow the rules. This includes remaining compliant even after the crowdfunding campaign takes place. Compliance involves annual or quarterly reporting to regulators and investors along with other requirements.

Make it worth doing.

A successful equity crowdfunding strategy should be process driven to get the job done as efficiently as possible while remaining compliant with the laws that govern the program your using for your campaign. Equity crowdfunding offers a way for small businesses to raise significant capital at relatively low costs compared to the cost of capital from traditional sources.

Equity crowdfunding offers entrepreneurs a new, paradigm-shifting alternative to traditional capital sources like grants, bank loans, angel and venture capital, and the growing number of fintech options. Raising capital from any funding source requires an investment in time and money. The key question is which capital source has the best chance of success at a cost and within a time frame that works best for your funding requirements.

Related:

5 Critical Success Factors for Raising Money Through Equity Crowdfunding

Los hermanos que te conectan con el dinero que tu empresa necesita

8 Bulletproof Ways to Bootstrap Your Business



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedOnce a business gets up and running, its time to reassess where the company's operational priorities are. Its tempting, at that point, to let "structure" remain on the back burner, when you're scrambling for growth. But having that singular factor in place early on is much more effective than backlogging it two years later, should you, for instance, need a clear picture of your financial history.

Related: The Basics of Business Structure

Having a strong operational foundation in place, in fact, is key for a business to efficiently scale and, ultimately, realize its full potential value. Follow these steps to ensure you place your own startup on a solid foundation footing:

Be sure to use accrual accounting.

Businesses typically follow one of two accounting methods: cash or accrual. Cash accounting is a straightforward measure of cash flow, where revenue is recorded only when money comes in. Accrual accounting is more complex. Entrepreneur has defined accrual accounting as:

Accounting method that records revenues and expenses when they are incurred, regardless of when cash is exchanged. The term 'accrual' refers to any individual entry recording revenue or expense in the absence of a cash transaction.

The key part of accrual accounting is that it records economic events, including contract agreements, regardless of whether any cash has been exchanged or not.

This method leads to a more accurate valuation of your business as it grows. It means youll be able to plan ahead and be more flexible with your resources. On top of this, the Internal Revenue Service requires certain businesses to use accrual accounting, according to finance expert Cam Merritt. Any business with sales of more than $5 million a year generally must use the accrual method.

Adopting the accrual accounting method from day one will give your startup the greatest flexibility for growth. Eventually, you'll find it worth bringing in a qualified accountant if you lack solid accounting skills, yourself.

Have a business plan in place.

Putting together a business plan involves using all the information you can gather to formulate a winning strategy. It should identify the strengths and weaknesses of your startup, detailing how you will make the most of your opportunities while minimizing the risk.

A comprehensive business plan should include:

Market and industry analysis

Business objectives

Strategies

Your marketing plan

Organizational structure

Financials

Reated: 7 Steps to a Perfectly Written Business Plan

These are all essential elements to a business plan because they build a picture of your startup and where you plan to be. It needs to be detailed and consider all the possible outcomes.

There are plenty of tools that can make this task easier. Bizplan has a multitude of features to guide you in crafting a winning business plan.

Give yourself up to four weeks to build a presentable business plan. It pays to take your time to consider all the factors. But the time invested will be worthwhile when you're ready to pitch your business to investors and show you are prepared for any hard questions or challenges.

Use analytics and tracking.

When it comes to web analytics, its hard to look past Google Analytics. Its a powerful tool, capable of tracking anything from straightforward website visits to conversions. In todays digital world, its critical to have a web presence, and Google Analytics should be an integral part of analyzing its performance and making data-driven decisions.

Here are some additional suggestions for useful tools from leading startup investor Vikas Agrawal:

Buffer: For social media analytics and management, few platforms can compete with Buffer. It allows you to monitor and optimize your output, maximizing engagement with your audience.

ClearStory Data: What separates this business intelligence platform from others is its ability to compare your startup performance with your competitors' performance, in real time. This provides nvaluable insight as you seek to grow your business.

Mint: This is an app which can integrate with your bank accounts and payment systems. It will help you stay on top of your finances and ensure you maintain a healthy cash flow.

A plethora of apps designed to automate analytics and business tracking are also available. What's important is to focus on the key performance indicators (KPIs) of your business and choose your tools accordingly.

Use document standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Using SOPs will help you refine the running of your startup. This will prove particularly useful as new team members join your business and allow them to hit the ground running.

Of course, you'll engage in experimentation with, and tweak, your processes and methods along the way. However, once youve settled into a routine, its a good idea to document those procedures at the earliest opportunity.

Ensure your documents are clear and up to date. Theres no reason for SOPs to be fixed, as that will leave no room for improvements.

SOPs further act as a vital buffer against burnout. And burnout is a real risk for any business owner -- perhaps you -- who finds it difficult to delegate jobs and tasks to other people. The fact is, says Peter Shankman, Faster than Normal podcast host, marketer and angel investor: If youre not willing to relinquish the majority of functional control over the day-to-day running of your business, youll spend all your time on those day-to day-tasks, and never be able to focus on actually growing your business.

Implement a customer feedback system.

Enabling customers to provide feedback, and responding to them, is essential for any startup. There are several ways you can do this:

Minimal Viable Product (MVP): An MVP is a product with the minimal features that will make it usable for early adopters. Those adopters can then provide feedback on how the product can be improved and enhanced. Its one of the most effective forms of product development.

Free trials: For service providers, this could be a more feasible option. Allow customers to try a limited version of your product, and encourage them to buy the full package. If they are not buying, seek their feedback and identify how you can improve.

Tools: Drift is a great way to offer customers a channel for communicating their questions and challenges directly to your business. Trello is an excellent organizational tool that puts customer requests and relevant project updates all in one place. This makes it easy to track your product development process and customer feedback.

Related: The Top 7 Legal Documents for Every Startup

Final thoughts

From day one, you need to treat your startup as a serious business. Set up proper accounting processes, formulate and implement a business plan and track your performance. The easier you make it for investors to understand your startup, the more likely they'll be to invest and set you on the course for success.

Related:

5 Operational Bases Every Startup Should Have Covered If It Wants to Grow

Ways to Smartly Structure your Startup After You Have Conceptualized It

The Service Industry: Why Veterans Are Flocking to the Franchise World



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedWASHINGTON - In the wake of a summer of sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church, topped this weekend with an explosive letter alleging that Pope Francis himself covered for an abusive cardinal, American Catholics are agitating for major changes in their church.

Perhaps for the first time, Catholics of all political stripes who protected their hierarchy through what had once seemed the worst of the sexual abuse crisis are focusing their anger on it. They are calling publicly for bishop resignations, Robert Mueller-like investigations, and boycotts of Mass and donations. Even the biggest fans of Francis and his reformist agenda are now questioning whether he is actually part of the problem.

"This is a different reaction from the laity than I've ever seen before," said Adrienne Alexander, the founder of a nascent national movement called Catholics for Action that has staged protests in seven cities in the past two weeks, with more planned in the coming days. "Regular old church folks in the pews are saying: This bishop has to go. Or: All bishops have to go. That's just something I've never seen from the laity."

And with the biting 11-page letter by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano on Saturday, in which the former Vatican diplomat to Washington called for Francis's resignation, some Catholics are voicing despair about the path forward.

"The hope of reform on this issue: If it can't be achieved under Pope Francis, who can it be achieved under?" asked Christopher Jolly Hale, who helped lead Catholic outreach for President Barack Obama and has until recently been a prominent supporter of Francis. He added: "No one with good conscience can really defend him with his record on sexual abuse. It's been an absolute disappointment."

Vigano's inflammatory yet unverified letter alleges that Francis's predecessor Pope Benedict XVI secretly sanctioned former Washington cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick for sexually harassing young priests and seminarians, but Francis let the sanctions slide. He also obliquely implicated Cardinal Donald Wuerl of the Archdiocese of Washington in covering up the behavior of McCarrick. Last month, McCarrick became the first cardinal in history to resign as a result of sexual abuse allegations.

The letter "shoots the lack of trust right up the ladder," said Joseph Capizzi, a professor of moral theology at the Catholic University of America. "As a lay person, and I think I speak for a lot of people, we no longer trust these men anymore."

But although the pain and anger are shared by so many Catholics across a wide spectrum of beliefs, parishioners' opinions on what caused the sexual abuse crisis - and what remedies the church should pursue to address it - split sharply along ideological lines.

The letter itself is proving to be a kind of Rorschach test for a Catholic Church already painfully divided between left and right, Francis and Benedict, openness and orthodoxy.

Conservatives who have long mistrusted Francis found credible Vigano's claims. They agreed with his interpretation of the sexual abuse crisis, that it largely stems from the problem of gay men in the priesthood. To this group, Vigano, a fierce Francis critic who as apostolic nuncio to the United States focused on fighting Obama's Affordable Care Act and legalizing same-sex marriage, is a brave whistleblower showing that Francis needs to exit so the orthodox church can be purified.

More liberal Catholics called for caution before accepting Vigano's accusations, and rejected homosexuality as an explanation for the prevalence of sexual abuse by priests. Some blamed the requirement that priests be celibate, the lack of female priests and other opportunities for female leadership, and overly high respect for priestly authority. To this camp, Vigano's hyperpartisan writing style, and alleged record of covering up abuse himself, reveal his testimony as part of a conspiracy to bring down Francis.

But even Francis's most fervent admirers, and Vigano's most skeptical critics, have been troubled by the letter - by Francis's handling of recent sexual abuse scandals, including a crisis in Chile, and a massive Pennsylvania grand jury investigation of child abuse by more than 300 priests over 70 years.

Perhaps the most striking development has been the sight of American clerics speaking out explicitly against the most high-ranking men in the Catholic Church.

At the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, a prominent Washington parish closely linked to the archdiocese hierarchy, the Rev. Percival L. D'Silva closed his homily on Sunday by calling on Wuerl to resign for his role in overseeing abusive priests in Pennsylvania - and received a standing ovation.

During Sunday evening Mass at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, a well-known Jesuit parish in the District, the Rev. Ben Hawley focused his homily on Vigano's letter, questioning the former ambassador's political motives but also whether popes and bishops have been doing enough to root out sexual abuse in the church. The congregation applauded.

Meanwhile, a group of students at Catholic University are calling for Wuerl's resignation.

And amid the back-and-forth on Twitter, on Catholic blogs and in quiet after-Mass conversations, many of the faithful in the pews said they have been talking and thinking about the crisis nonstop but don't quite know what to do. Refuse to enroll their children in Catholic schools? Withhold donations, as some have pledged? Pray and fast?

One lifelong committed Catholic lay leader said he wrote for the first time to the leader of a religious community that ran a school where he was the victim of sexual misconduct, which he had never reported before.

Hale and others called for three actions: for the church to release all of its secret documents on abusive priests; for federal investigators to consider a criminal case on a major scale; and for U.S. bishops to resign. High on that list is Wuerl, whose conduct during his 18 years as bishop of Pittsburgh figures prominently in the Pennsylvania grand jury report.

Missouri is opening a similar investigation of clergy sex abuse allegations in the St. Louis area, and parishioners in other states are clamoring for such inquiries.

"A lot of us don't trust the bishops to sort through these things themselves. Lots of people seem to be welcoming, ironically, secular authority - authorities of the state - to come in and do an investigation that we're more familiar with and maybe more comfortable with," Capizzi said.

Alexandra DeSanctis, a writer in Northern Virginia who attends Mass almost daily, agreed, saying: "There's not any democratic mechanism. We can't vote to impeach the pope." Instead, she said that people she knows are organizing a movement to demand that the American bishops open themselves to an independent investigation. "Ideally someone from outside the church - especially now that the pope hasn't commented" on Vigano's letter.

The political process is one that many Catholics have never compared to their church before. Bishops and priests weren't like presidents and mayors; they were holy men. Now, that respect for church authority is draining away.

"I work for a labor union. It's clear to me what to do when we're dealing with politicians: Vote them out. Put pressure on them in x, y, z ways. As a Catholic, I'd never really expressed frustration in that way," said Alexander, of Catholics for Action.

She started contacting Catholics nationwide, and soon they began coming to her. The growing network has staged protests in seven cities, including one Sunday outside Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in the District, where demonstrators held posters calling for Wuerl's resignation.

Alexander noted that the people organizing with her are all faithful Catholics, usually every-Sunday types. They don't want to give up on their church even as they are bitterly disappointed in it.

"I have a good church. A pastor I like who's a good preacher. We have two wonderful sisters at our parish. We have families with kids my daughter's age who are going to grow up with her," she said. "I think that's what prompting my reaction. You can't take that away from me. I still want to be part of a church that I think is wonderful."Hungary's Viktor Orban and Italy's Matteo Salvini, two of Europe's most prominent populist leaders, discussed creating a united front of Europe's anti-immigrant political forces ahead of European Union elections in May.

The two nationalist, anti-immigrant leaders met Tuesday in Milan and talked about a political alliance at EU level which would "join different energies with a common goal," and would "exclude the left-wing parties and bring to the fore the identities that our governments represent," Italian Deputy Premier Salvini said.

Hungarian Prime Minister Orban said he wants to spread his anti-immigrant views within the European People's Party and is looking ahead to the EU legislative vote. "We want to change a lot of things. We need a new commission and a new parliament that take a definite stance in favor of defending frontiers and stopping migration."

The two criticized Europe's traditional parties and Orban lashed out at French President Emmanuel Macron, accusing him of leading pro-migration forces and trying to tear the EPP apart.

This is not the first time Orban and Salvini have called for more unity among like-minded parties. Orban, who has governed Hungary for the past eight years and was reelected in April, sees his party as opposed to multiculturalism and liberal values. He said in July that nationalist forces needed to unite to fight immigration. Salvini, who is leader of the anti-immigrant League party, called for a "League of Leagues that will put together all the free, sovereign movements" in various countries.

Orban has often attacked the European Union on issues varying from sanctions on Russia to immigration policies. In June, the Hungarian parliament passed a law that imposes jail terms of up to a year for anyone helping immigrants enter the country.

Salvini has also been clashing with the EU over migration. Tensions came to a head last week when he prevented 177 migrants rescued by an Italian coast guard ship from disembarking until other EU member states agreed to take some. He and other members of Italy's governing coalition have threatened to suspend EU budget contributions if the burden of migrants isn't shared.

Salvini's call for other EU countries to help with migrants makes him an unlikely friend of Orban, who has refused EU requests to relocate migrants to his country and reiterated his stance on Tuesday. Still, Salvini praised Orban for defending Europe's borders. Before the Milan meeting, Orban told a group of journalists that Salvini is his "hero" for his hardline views.

The two leaders had to wade through police and onlookers to reach the government offices where their meeting was held. A large group of demonstrators stood outside blocking nearby streets, dancing, chanting and waving rainbow colored flags with the word "peace" and posters saying "let's stay united."

"We need to resist against an idea of Europe of hate and barbed wire, which is what Salvini and Orban propose," Emanuele Fiano, a prominent member of the opposition Democratic Party said on television from the demonstration in Milan. Orban and Salvini are "the maximum possible contradiction" whose friendship is based on their "not helping each other" on migrants.

Salvini was placed under investigation by Italian prosecutors last week for potential abuse of office, kidnapping, and illegal detention relating to his refusal to let the migrants on the coast guard ship ashore.

The Italian minister's activism has strained relations with parts of his governing coalition. Deputy Premier Luigi Di Maio, leader of the Five Star Movement, criticized Orban on Tuesday in an interview in La Stampa for refusing to share the burden of migrants.While President Mokgweetsi Masisi who is also leader of Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has vowed to fight corruption, more rot is emerging in his backyard (BDP), Botswana Guardian has established.

In a leaked audio conversation between one of Masisis camp associates and long serving cabinet member Shaw Kgathi and a council candidate in his constituency it was revealed that many of the Bulela-Ditswe candidates have criminal records. This means there could be more criminals within the BDP and government (Councillors, Members of Parliament and Ministers).

BDP is holding its last batch of Bulela-Ditswe tomorrow (Saturday) where over 100 participants are expected to participate in the primaries. In the audio telephonic conversation that this publication has, Kgathi who is Minister of Defence, Justice and Security also BDP Deputy Secretary General revealed to Daniel Magwana - a council candidate for Molalatau Ward in Bobonong Constituency, that most of the candidates for tomorrows primaries have criminal records.

In that conversation in which the two conversing call each other by names and, uncle and nephew, Kgathi was requesting Magwana to pull out of the race to allow his (Kgathi) long time ally and current Molalatau Councillor Nathaniel Moribame to run unchallenged.Kgathi in the conversation also took a swipe at his challenger, mining consultant and former Debswana engineer, Francisco Kgoboko.

He accused Kgoboko of having no credentials and also having a criminal record. He wants Magwana who is allegedly supporting Kgoboko to ditch him and team up with Kgathis camp. Kgathi and Kgoboko have had skirmishes in the past after Kgathi had accused Kgoboko of campaigning illegally.

The audio conversation is said to have ruffled feathers following the utterances by Kgathi who is a senior cabinet member and member of the BDP Central Committee.News within the BDP corridors suggests that the thorough vetting process that the central committee ought to have conducted was not done.

BDP had during declaration of interest to contest in Bulela-Ditswe made a requirement for their parliamentary and council candidates to have an affidavit signed by the police clearing them of not having criminal records.

BDP Secretary General Mpho Balopi told the media that they want credible candidates for the 2019 election.

Balopi was reported to have indicated that they also want affidavits from their candidates to also check whether the information they provided while registering as candidates at regions is correct. He indicated that they want those who will occupy national leadership positions within the party to be very credible.

It has been argued that Kgathi as senior party member could have not just have made false utterances that have no basis. Reached for comment, Magwana indicated that time and again he has conversations with Kgathi as a relative and his area MP. He confirmed that he once had such a conversation with Kgathi about him compromising which is not anything new within the party and it has been encouraged that members should for the sake of the party always consider compromise.

He however expressed shock that their conversation was recorded. I do not know anything about a recording. I wonder who could have recorded that. It comes as a surprise for me to hear someone from Gaborone telling me that they have a conversation of mine with my MP on audio. Maybe you could ask the minister if he so did record me, said Magwana who stated that he could not discuss the matter further because he has flu and losing his voice.

For his part Kgoboko dismissed the allegations by this publication regarding the audio as a mere smear campaign. He expressed doubt that Kgathi as his elder, area MP, minister and his partys Deputy Secretary General would make such utterances. I guess you guys might be just making it up. There is no how I could have a criminal record while I filled an affidavit declaring that I do not have a criminal record but if the minster made such utterances it would be unfortunate.

My credentials also speak for themselves. I do not think Kgathi would talk like that because membership registration, registration for candidature among other things falls under the office of the secretary general where he is a deputy. So these things could have been picked plus he has advantage of police to have investigated or better still approached me as my elder, said Kgoboko.

When contacted, Kgathi who at the time was addressing his campaign team denied ever having a conversation with Magwana. He said because of obvious reasons that he is not in the same team with Magwana he could not have had such a conversation with him. He requested that the audio be shared with him to ascertain it is his voice on the conversation which was done via WhatsApp. During a follow-up call Kgathi said he was driving and should be contacted after an hour.

For his part, BDP secretary general Mpho Balopi indicated that it would be unfortunate if some people would have managed to be vetted in while having criminal records. The SG said they do not run the party through rumour-mongering and allegations. We are a law abiding organisation and if someone has wronged the state and laws do not allow for that person to stand for elections such as IEC laws we would not allow that person to contest for our primaries.

This is why we made people to sign affidavit to declare that they do not have criminal records. I do not have the benefit of your alleged conversation but it would be unfortunate for that to have happened.



One of the most bizarre aspects of the investigations engulfing the Trump administration is the lawyers involved. Here we have a presidency on the line, and this is Trump's team? The top legal spokesmen for each side are . . . Rudy Giuliani and Lanny Davis!?

Up until this point, though, Giuliani was the Great Contradictor and Davis was merely a colorful character. Now that has changed in a big way.

In a new interview with The Washington Post's Tom Hamburger and Rosalind S. Helderman, Davis is backing off two massive claims he made in recent weeks, including that former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen has told people he witnessed President Donald Trump being informed of Donald Trump Jr.'s 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer before it happened.

"I should have been more clear - including with you - that I could not independently confirm what happened," Davis said, adding: "I regret my error."

Davis also backed off his claim that Cohen has information suggesting that Trump knew in advance about Russian hacking of Democrats' emails in 2016.

"I am not sure," he said. "There's a possibility that is the case. But I am not sure."

The first of these claims was put forward anonymously, initially in a story which CNN is standing by. The Post also reported it - though unlike CNN it didn't report Cohen as saying Trump knew the information was coming from Russians - and cited Davis as an unnamed source. The second claim was made publicly by Davis on TV.

So what on earth is going on here? Davis, for his part, suggests that he was just speculating. Witness this amazing pair of paragraphs at the end of Hamburger's and Helderman's story:

"A strong feeling." That just doesn't make much sense. Davis is a lawyer for his client, not a pundit. He can speak to Cohen about sensitive matters. His job is literally to speak publicly for Cohen, and getting their story straight is Job No. 1. The idea that Davis was simply freelancing with a narrative he hadn't run by his client just doesn't ring true. And if he was, how has Cohen not fired him for so clearly botching his defense?

It's also pretty remarkable that, despite the first of these claims having been in the public domain for several weeks now - CNN's story broke exactly one month ago, on July 27 - Davis only began reining it in last week. Why wait that long if it was erroneous? Did Cohen not notice he was being put forward as the guy who might be able to prove Trump's collusion with Russia - a claim that, if true, could end an American presidency?

The most obvious answer would seem to be that Cohen may be the one contradicting himself. Ever since the CNN story broke, the question has been whether Cohen told congressional investigators the same story when he testified behind closed doors at a time when he was more loyal to Trump. There were indications that this new version of events wasn't exactly compatible with that testimony, which could open Cohen up to more legal problems.

When Cohen reached a plea deal last week, the Senate Intelligence Committee's top Republican and Democrat made a rare joint, public statement saying they wanted Cohen to continue cooperating with their Russia investigation. They also said they had reached out to Cohen's lawyers after the CNN story broke and asked whether he wanted to amend his testimony. Cohen has declined to do so.

But you also have to think that possible contradiction would be something Davis and Cohen (who is also a lawyer by trade) would have sorted out before Davis went public with these claims.

However this came about, though, it's damaging to Cohen's credibility. Davis is his lawyer and spokesman, after all, which means these claims effectively came from Cohen himself. Davis is now trying to take ownership of them and take the blame himself, but the explanations he offers are really difficult to swallow, especially given the gravity of the claims.

And that has bearing on both the Russia investigation and whatever problems Trump may encounter from the Southern District of New York's plea deal with Michael Cohen on a campaign-finance violation (in which Cohen also implicated Trump). Cohen was supposed to be the guy flipping on Trump and telling investigators everything he knows about the skeletons in Trump's closet. This episode has to make everyone involved wonder whether his claims are all they're made out to be. Regardless of how you want all of this to shake out, it's best to base a case around people who won't undermine it. Cohen wasn't a fantastic witness before; he's a worse one now.

It's been true from the start that these investigations attract a certain grade and style of lawyer, and those lawyers often find themselves struggling with their public statements on behalf of an untrustworthy client. Nobody leaves this situation without being at least a little Trump-ified.

And as the latest from Cohen and Davis shows, that's not just the case with Trump and his legal team.On Oct. 23, 2017, a television host asked Sen. John McCain how hed like to be remembered. McCain, clad in a dark purple tie, answered simply. He served his country, he said. And hes proud of his family.

Following McCains passing on Saturday, people around the world are remembering him just so. He had battled brain cancer for over a year, and he passed away in Phoenix, Ariz., surrounded by family. McCain was a longtime senator, presidential candidate, prisoner of war and naval pilot.

Here are some of his most enduring words of wisdom for leaders.

On character:

It is your character, and your character alone, that will make your life happy or unhappy. That is all that really passes for destiny. And you choose it. No one else can give it to you or deny it to you. No rival can steal it from you. And no friend can give it to you. Others can encourage you to make the right choices or discourage you. But you choose. (From his book Character Is Destiny, 2005)

On long-term thinking:

Steady strain, buddy, steady strain, we cautioned each other whenever we began to take a short view of our lives. It was best to take the long view. (From his memoir, 1999)

On beliefs:

I dont mind a good fight. For reasons known only to God, Ive had quite a few tough ones in my life. But I learned an important lesson along the way: In the end, it matters less that you can fight. What you fight for is the real test. (From his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, 2008)

On glory:

I have learned the truth: There are greater pursuits than self-seeking. Glory is not a conceit. It is not a decoration for valor. It is not a prize for being the most clever, the strongest or the boldest. Glory belongs to the act of being constant to something greater than yourself, to a cause, to your principles, to the people on whom you rely and who rely on you in return. No misfortune, no injury, no humiliation can destroy it. (From his memoir, 1999)

On ideals:

We will not thrive in a world where our leadership and ideals are absent. We wouldnt deserve to. (From his speech at the annual Liberty Medal ceremony in Philadelphia, 2017)

On love and honor:

All thats beautiful drifts away / Like the waters, lament Yeatss old men. Except, I discovered, love and honor. If you valued them and held them strongly, love and honor would endure undiminished by the passing of time and the most determined assault on your dignity. (From his memoir, 1999)

On enduring values:

Many good people have suffered for their principles. Some have died for them. But however cruel their end, they were surely comforted by the knowledge that they had made the right choice and they had had the character to live a good life. Whether anyone knew how great their courage had been would not matter as much to them as the knowledge that they had chosen well, that their cause had been just and their character worthy of its demands. They did not submit to an inevitable destiny. They believed their values were the power that directs our lives and lights the world in which we burn our little candle, before our work is done and we take our rest. (From his book Character Is Destiny, 2005)

On his own leadership:

Ive had the good fortune to spend 60 years in service to this wondrous land. It has not been perfect service, to be sure, and there were probably times when the country might have benefited from a little less of my help. But Ive tried to deserve the privilege as best I can, and Ive been repaid a thousand times over with adventures, with good company and with the satisfaction of serving something more important than myself -- of being a bit player in the extraordinary story of America. And I am so very grateful. (From his speech at the annual Liberty Medal ceremony in Philadelphia, 2017)

Related:



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedIf anyone's ever told you that you look like a 1950s mobster, you could land a role in a movie filming next month in Upstate New York.

Hudson Valley Casting announced Monday that it's looking for "large" Italian men to appear in a feature film starring David Arquette.

"Looking for non union, big Italian men to play 1950's mobsters in the feature film, 'Apalachin,'" the casting call says. "The film will be shot in the Newburgh, NY area and you will be paid $88.80, plus overtime, per day. You must be available for all three days, Saturday, September 8th, Tuesday, September 11th and Wednesday, September 12th."

If interested, actors are encouraged to send two photos of themselves (one full length), along with their height, shirt, suit, pants, shoes sizes and contact information to amyheidicastingassociates@gmail.com. The email should include the subject line "SEPT. MOBSTER."

Deadline reports Arquette ("Scream," "Never Been Kissed") will star in the indie film directed by Danny A. Abeckaser from a script written by Abeckaser and Jon Carlo. The cast also includes Jennifer Esposito ("Crash"), Robert Davi ("The Goonies"), Jamie-Lynn Sigler ("The Sopranos"), PJ Byrne ("The Wolf of Wall Street") and Abeckaser.

"Based on a 1957 true story, the plot follows local trooper Ed Croswell (Arquette), who foils the plans of mobster Vito Genovese, who organized 50 of his friends and colleagues to converge upon the rural town of Apalachin in upstate New York for a summit. Croswell's actions unknowingly exposed the mob to the American public and changed the face of law enforcement forever," the plot description reads.

"Apalachin" is scheduled for release in 2019.The US Navys newest 30-year shipbuilding plan gets to 308 ships by 2020, a year faster than the previous administrations goal of 2021. The target is 326 ships by the end 2023. The US Navy will not reach the goal of 355 ships until the 2050s.

The US Navy will refurbish six of the older cruisers. This will mean 17 cruisers will go past their 35-year service life. The Navy is currently upgrading its newest 11 cruisers through a phased modernization plan.

China plans to get to a 351 ship Navy by 2020.

The DOD expects China to build five more aircraft carriers by 2033. This will go along with the old Ukrainian carrier that is currently in operation.

China is also working on a new Type 055 cruiser equipped with land-attack missiles, lasers and rail-gun weapons.

By the mid-2020s, China likely will build the Type 093B guided-missile nuclear attack submarine. This new SHANG-class variant would enhance the PLANs anti-surface warfare capability and could also provide a more clandestine land-attack option.

The Type 093 is estimated to be roughly 7,000 t displacement when submerged, 110 metres (360 ft) long with a beam of 11 metres (36 ft). Commercial imagery suggests the Type 093G is longer. The sonar suite includes H/SQC-207 flank-mounted sonar. The boat may also use a seven-blade asymmetric propeller.

The Type 095 is a class of third generation nuclear-powered attack submarines for the Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) of China. The first unit entered service in November 2017 and there are two more under construction out of 5 units planned as of April 2018.

It was anticipated that Type 095 submarines have a substantially reduced acoustic signature, within an improved hull type. Compared to the Type 093, the Type 095 will have a more advanced nuclear reactor, VLS tubes and greater number of advanced sensors such as new active/passive flank array sonar and low and high frequency towed sonar array. Additionally, it is also speculated that Type 095 submarines may act as a potential undersea escort for any future PLAN aircraft carrier task forces.

Chinas Navy will have a larger number of ships and submarines than the US Navy in 2030.

In 2017, CNAS forecasted that China would have 500 ships and those ships would mostly be comparable to US technology levels.

By 2030, many forecasts suggest that China will be quantitatively on par with the United States, while others suggest Beijing may even have a significantly larger naval order of battle than the United States.HAMDEN  The Board of Education is asking residents to share their thoughts on the future of the town schools, as the effort to plan the potential redistricting of education in the community continues.

The board has set up a ThoughtExchange webform to pose a few questions about redistricting and take input from the public, according to an announcement posted on the Hamden Public Schools website.

Chairman Chris Daur on Monday said none of the options presented by consulting firm Milone & MacBroom has come to the fore during the boards past discussions  though each has positives and negatives.

Possible methods of reorganizing the town schools include: constructing a new West Woods school and renovating Shepherd Glen  a $60 million project approved by the Legislative Council in 2015  and potentially closing the Helen Street school; moving the sixth grade to the middle school and closing Helen Street or two town schools; and using the former Wintergreen Interdistrict Magnet School building, which would allow for the closure of two to three elementary buildings.

Daur said the board has come to an informal consensus at this point to move sixth-grade students to Hamden Middle School, which would require the construction of an addition there.

Milone & Macbroom hired Hamden-based architecture firm Silver / Petrucelli & Associates to provide a ballpark price for the construction as part of a larger analysis of the districts future enrollment, Daur said. The estimate is expected soon, he said.

The Legislative Council would have to assent for the construction of an addition at the middle school to move forward, Daur said.

The future of the Wintergreen building has not yet been determined, Daur said. The board voted to retake control of the space in May.

Area Cooperative Educational Services, which has operated a magnet school program out of the building on Evergreen Avenue since 1998, remains interested in purchasing the building, Daur said.

If that option does not move forward, he said the town, not the Board of Education, would control what happens with the structure, as it owns the building.

Mayor Curt B. Leng said Tuesday the town, along with the board, is reviewing all options at hand and aims to listen to residents as the future of the building is determined.

In a statement, Leng said considering public input is a vital part of the boards process, as it and the community determines the future look of the town schools.

We all need to work with our Board of Education, parents and students, Council members, and the entire community to decide what changes can best benefit our students and positively impact our school system and our Town, Leng said in a statement regarding the boards deliberations. My main goals will be ensuring that our residents have many opportunities to communicate and have a real voice, meaningful input and impact, on the process and the changes being considered. Im a firm believer that for this to be successful, its essential that the changes are a community conversation.

Daur said, in addition to soliciting feedback and thought from the public online, the Board of Education would have public meetings to discuss redistricting in the weeks to come.

Were looking for people to give their input, said Daur. What is important to them?

The board is hoping to finalize a plan in October or November, he said, so that the effects can be considered as part of the budgeting process for the 2019-20 fiscal year.

Daur said Monday the redistricting effort was spurred by financial constraints, as education funding has failed to keep up with fixed costs for the district, a projected decline in enrollment, and racial imbalances in town elementary schools.

The Connecticut Department of Education listed the Church Street, Helen Street and Shepherd Glen schools as having impending racial imbalances in its 2017-18 analysis of the issue.

Hamden students previously were shifted from Church Street to Helen Street for the 2013-14 school year to address racial imbalance.

More information about the redistricting effort, including copies of past presentations by District Management Group and Milone & MacBroom, is available at www.hamden.org/page.cfm?p=5313.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.comNEW HAVEN  During the Board of Educations final meeting before city schools open Thursday, members reviewed several protocols and resolutions to ensure the organization can ethically close its lingering deficit.

Part-time CFO Darrell Hill said that, although numbers are due to change because of auditing, the district currently has a projected deficit of $8.4 million heading into next year, a reduction from the initial projection of $20 million, which spurred school closueres and staff layoffs.

Although the school board gave authority to Superintendent of Schools Carol Birks to hire a fiscal auditor, a contract with the Weiss Institute, a wing of the Say Yes to Education nonprofit, was tabled earlier this month.

Jamell Cotto, chairman of the boards Finance Committee, said he initially approved the contract, which promised to provide auditing services at no cost to the district, because he thought it was the Weiss Institutes area of expertise.

I was under the impression they were financial experts, Cotto said. I was comfortable. I was excited, actually.

In fact, the nonprofit organizations primary business is awarding scholarships to students in districts with high needs. A week prior, school board President Darnell Goldson said the contract was tabled because some language was similar to the functions provided by New Haven Promise.

Goldson Monday wondered whether the organization would be looking at student data, an uncomfortable subject for the board after he flagged a contract with Yale University researchers who were collecting saliva samples from city students to examine a correlation between DNA and dyslexia.

Ive asked them to take some things out, Birks said, explaining that the contract the district received is a boilerplate contract with pre-approval from the Weiss Institutes CEO.

The district also approved a grant extension for its federal early childhood education Head Start grant. Mary Derwin, a district employee on special assignment, said the federal Head Start office would require a three-month plan before renewing the grant funding. The district was offered an extension on its grant to cover those three months, and Derwin said she does not anticipate the district losing its Head Start grant.

Parent Sarah Miller said she still has not received any notification from the district about her sons start date in his second year of pre-K. Additionally, she said she is upset that the Christopher Columbus Family Academy library media specialist would be transferred to a new school.

This announcement is like pouring salt in the wound, she said.

Board secretary Tamiko Jackson-McArthur also asked Birks whether she had a plan for rehiring part-time workers who were given pink slips at the end of the last school year.

I want us to be deliberate about being in touch, she said.

Human Resources Director Lisa Mack said essential part-time staffers  such as bus monitors and employees needed to keep the district in compliance with state and federal requirements  have been hired. Others may be contacted later.

At the meetings conclusion, Birks said Worthington-Hooker School Principal Evelyn Robles-Rivas had accepted a job in another district. She leaves the New Haven school district Sept. 10.

brian.zahn@hearstmediact.comThe announcement of public hearings on the new property tax rates in Walker County from the Messenger remind its citizens of the additional 0.14 percent of property value assessment imposed for Erlanger payback on a loan guarantee back in 2011. This "Erlanger Tax" did not start with the present administrators of either entities, yet is being borne by Walker County citizenry in the fallout of a battle in the past where unreasonable claims were made and an offensive legal defense clashed in federal court.

Several factors may have lead to this. A prolonged battle with the previous Walker County commissioner and her legal staff making public charges of Erlanger's patient diversion sealing the failure of old Hutcheson, causing Erlanger to have to defend this debt dismissal request in federal court in Rome. Erlanger's argument in court prevailed. Then, armed with this, the next administration at Erlanger came against the new Walker County commissioner who had just inherited the large debts of the county and forced him to deal with a justified Erlanger pushing its edge given them by the court to collect this additional debt.

Payment schemes were negotiated over some very tense times, according to the newspaper articles written about this. In early January, 2018 the Times Free Press, The Chattanoogan and the Walker Messenger and other news outlets reported a settlement between Erlanger and the beleaguered Walker County commissioner where Erlanger would receive payment of $8.7 million over three years rather than a lump sum payment the county just did not have and feared trying to raise. To raise this the commissioner had to impose the 0.14 percent Property Assessment on the citizens of Walker County. It has made property for sale in Walker harder to sell and placed a burden on the property owners and residents of Walker County. Catoosa County had settled for $6.5 million in negotiations with Erlanger back in 2014, depleting much of their cash reserves, but avoiding the drawn out legal battle that Walker County had pursued. Dade County had opted out of helping old Hutcheson because of the financial risk.

One issue that had escaped the insight through all of this appeared to be that Erlanger itself spent the $21 million Erlanger loan underwritten by Walker and Catoosa Counties. To our recollection Erlanger blew through the $21 million in about six months, back in 2011 in its management of old Hutcheson.

While it is unfortunate that Erlanger was not able to turn around a failing hospital, they should have been astute enough to realize the depth of the job before they took it. The counties took risk on Erlanger being able to manage old Hutcheon and ended up loosing it.

It appears that the citizens of Walker and Catoosa Counties are double losers or even triple losers when you consider the reserves that were applied to the hospital to prop it up while management failed to reverse the downward spiral begun many years before.

Though Erlanger attempted, Erlanger should accept some of the blame in this failure. They would have accepted the credit if their attempt to turn old Hutcheson around had it been successful. Erlanger should accept the consequences of its failure to save the hospital for the counties as well. This was not a risk-less endeavor Erlanger entered into. Those hearing Erlanger's proposals did not have all the understanding that may have been needed to judge Erlanger's abilities in this difficult situation. Erlanger had benefit from its endeavor with increased referral and name recognition during its time at old Hutcheson. Erlanger should not expect to have tried this risk free and have the citizens of Walker and Catoosa Counties absorb all the risk for this failure.

The article in the Times Free press from Jan. 8 notes that Erlanger's net operating revenue was $886.4 million and referred to the payment from Walker County to be a "small bump" in their overall revenue. Since then, Mr Spiegel reported that Erlanger will have operating revenue that will exceed $1 billion.

Jack Studer, the chairman of the Board of the Chattanooga Hamilton County Hospital Authority, is quoted in the TFP and Chattanoogan articles in January, 2018 that "North Georgia is an important part of Erlanger's business" and hoped that the "people would choose Erlanger". Erlanger had hoped to build a surgery center in North Georgia, but was unable to obtain a certificate of need because of opposition. Erlanger had hoped to build a Cancer Center in North Georgia. The North Georgia Times Free Press two weeks ago reported on its front page that Erlanger has given up on this as well because of failure to establish certificate of need and from local opposition. We believe that the continued pursuit of the repayment of the loan that Erlanger itself spent from the citizens of Walker County will continue to breed bitterness from the people of Walker County and blunt credit for much of the good Erlanger is doing for the region as of late.

We appreciate and acknowledge CHI Memorial's attempt to reestablish basic hospital care in North Georgia with its purchase of the property and implementation of service in the old Hutcheson. We appreciate Erlanger's previous administration's attempt to preserve the local citizen owned hospital. We recognize the effort Erlanger had to use to justify itself against the charges of its destruction of Hutcheson in the courts and prove its point. We believe that Erlanger would do well to offer forgiveness of this "small bump" in revenue and take the burden off the backs of Walker County residents for these last two "Erlanger Tax" payments. We see similar extension of grace along these lines as Erlanger is very familiar with forgiveness of debt for much of the care it gives. Continued pursuit of this collection seems inconsistent with Erlanger's legacy.

The Walker Catoosa Dade Medical SocietyNEW HAVEN  Paul Broadie II has been named by the Connecticut NAACP as one of the 100 Most Influential Blacks in Connecticut for 2018, according to a press release.

The Connecticut NAACP will celebrate all of 2018's "100 Most Influential Blacks" at its VIP Awards Reception Sept. 22 at Foxwoods Resort, the release said.

Broadie is president of Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport and of Gateway Community College in New Haven, and among the first in Connecticut to preside over two colleges at once. He was appointed president of HCC in 2015 and of GCC in 2017.

Broadie emphasizes that both colleges must serve as a resource and educational engine for their communities. He works to address the educational, workforce and personal enrichment needs of the region and collaborates with area universities to forge pathways for continued study. Broadies comprehensive background in academic affairs, student services and continuing education helps him achieve those goals, the release said.

Under Broadies leadership, academic programs, student services, innovative technology, community partnerships and a physical campus have expanded. This includes the 46,000-square-foot addition of Lafayette Hall at HCC, according to the release. Under his presidency, HCC was selected by the Aspen Institute as one of the top 150 community colleges in the nation for excellence, high achievement, and performance. HCC was also named an Achieving the Dream Leader Institution, and GCC was accepted into the ranks of an Achieving the Dream Institution, the release said.

I am honored that the NAACP has included me in this prestigious distinction, Broadie said in the release. Recognizing that the most important qualities of leadership include the ability to listen and to respond with the necessary tools and resources to encourage individual and institutional success, I hope to draw attention to the importance of access to higher education for all who seek advancement and an enhanced quality of life.

Broadie holds a Ph.D., an M.B.A. and a B.S. He sits on several educational, civic and commercial committees and boards, the release said.ANSONIA  The city thinks its high time to set some ground rules regarding medical marijuana dispensaries and growing facilities.

While there currently are no applications for any of that sort of business to open here, the Planning and Zoning Commission wants to get some regulations on the books should that day come.

The State of Connecticut started allowing these and approved use of medical marijuana (in 2012), and its something that we have to plan for in Ansonia, said Commission Chairman Jared Heon Monday night during the commissions regular monthly meeting. We have gotten some questions about our regulations, and Id rather get regulations out in front and not be challenged by something.

The commission currently has no regulations in place about whether medical marijuana dispensaries or growing facilities are a permitted use here.

The city, shortly after Connecticut became the 17th state to approve the use of medical marijuana in 2012, placed a one-year moratorium prohibiting applicants interested in bringing dispensaries or growing facilities from submitting an application. Ansonia was one of a handful of towns to impose a moratorium to give local land-use boards time to create their own zoning regulations regarding such facilities.

Ansonia never proposed any regulations until now, recently prompted to do so after there was a recent inquiry at City Hall. Heon said someone inquired about the possibility of opening a medical marijuana dispensary or some type of growing facility here.

The commission directed City Planner David Elder to draft regulations, which will be the subject of a public hearing scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 15 at City Hall.

Elder said he based the proposal off of what several other towns currently have on their books, including Avon, Waterbury, Simsbury and Canton.

Under the proposed draft, Elder said state-licensed medical marijuana production facilities and state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries would be permitted in Ansonia in certain zones (light or heavy industrial or commercial), subject to a special permit, and not be allowed within 300 feet of public or private schools or churches. The proposal also prohibits production and distribution of marijuana for recreational purposes, regardless of any revision to the Connecticut General Statutes permitting such use, without first seeking an obtaining a special permit from the commission for such change of use.

Heon said establishing regulations on something that likely will come before the commission before long just makes sense.

None of the commissioners weighed in on the proposed draft, but they agreed that having regulations in place will make it easier if and when an application comes forward.

Elders draft also adds definitions for a licensed medical marijuana production facility, which means a secure, indoor facility where production of marijuana occurs and that is operated by a person to whom the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection has issues a producer license under section 10 of An Act Concerning the Palliative Use of Marijuana and whose purpose is to cultivate marijuana for palliative use, selling, delivering, transporting such marijuana only to licensed dispensaries under sections 1 to 15, inclusive of the Act.

A dispensary is defined as a place of business where marijuana may be dispensed or sold at retail by a pharmacist licensed pursuant to Connecticut General Statues  to qualifying patients or primary caregivers and for which the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection has issued a dispensary facility permit to an applicant ... under the state Act.

jean.sos@snet.netPolice in Saddle River are warning parents to talk with their kids after young girls received a creepy text message from someone posing as borough police, telling the kids to run away from home.

"This is the Saddle River Police. STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND RUN AWAY FROM HOME! Bad pleople (sic) are after you. Contact this number when you have done so," the text said.

Police posted a screenshot of the message on Facebook Sunday night, but didn't say whether anyone had actually run away because of it. The post also didn't say how many received the message.

Additional information was not available from Police Chief Jason Cosgriff Monday morning.

The police department asked anyone who received the message to call local police.

It has come to our attention that some juvenile girls have received this fake text message tonight. Please speak with... Posted by Saddle River Police Department on Sunday, August 26, 2018

Some commenters on the department's post said the message was "scary" while others were skeptical that anyone would believe the text, given the word choice and spelling mistake.

The phone number that sent the text had a Dallas area code, but there are apps available that can mask the sender's phone number with a phony one.

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tipsA New Jersey school district can't fall back on its insurance coverage after a teacher it allowed to resign later sexually assaulted a student at another school, a federal judge ruled last week.

The decision means Montville School District remains on the hook for a $600,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed by a private school student sexually abused by former Montville teacher Jason Fennes, Judge Kevin McNulty said.

Fennes is serving 14 years in prison after he admitted to sexually assaulting six students in three different schools, including Montville and Cedar Hill Prep, the private school where the girl attended.

His ability to leave Montville in 2010 and resurface at Cedar Hill Prep despite multiple allegations of kissing and touching students was the inspiration for a new state law designed to stop the practice of "passing the trash" -- when districts allow teachers to quietly resign and leave for new teaching jobs amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

He was featured in an NJ Advance Media story that pushed lawmakers to act after the proposed law languished in Trenton.

Because Montville was aware of complaints against Fennes before he resigned, its insurance company is freed from reimbursing the district for the settlement, McNulty wrote.

The judge issued a similar ruling last summer focused on a different provision in Montville's contract with Zurich American Insurance Co. His decision marks the latest legal setback for Montville, which has spent years fighting court cases in the aftermath of Fennes' abuse.

Stephen Edelstein, the attorney for the district, said Montville is considering whether it will appeal the decision.

Fennes was kissing Montville students, holding hands with them and allowing them to touch his legs, thighs and butt, according to court documents. Warned several times to stop, he argued he was an affectionate person who couldn't quit "cold turkey," documents show.

Yet Fennes remained in the classroom for five years after the first complaints. He was eventually suspended and resigned.

"God forbid [Fennes] hurts a child in the future," one parent warned the district, according to court documents. "The entire school system will have charges pressed against them for not taking the appropriate actions in seeing [Fennes] removed from the classroom."

In exchange for Fennes' resignation and promise never to apply in Montville again, the district agreed to tell future employers his dates of employment, positions held and "no further information."

Fennes was quickly hired at Cedar Hill Prep, where he sexually assaulted a student the following school year.

The private school also settled in a lawsuit with the victim for an undisclosed amount.

Montville Superintendent Rene Rovtar, hired after Fennes' departure, said the $600,000 settlement contained no admission of liability on the part of the district.

"It seemed prudent to settle the case rather than to incur another hundred thousand dollars in trial costs with an uncertain and possibly unfair outcome," Rovtar said.

The law passed in response to Fennes' case mandates stricter background checks for school employees and forbids agreements like the one he signed with Montville, which restricted the district from sharing information about the complaints against him.

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.JERSEY CITY -- The number of fatal and non-fatal shootings in Jersey City this year have dropped during the period of January through late-August as compared to the same time span last year.

Jersey City Public Safety Director James Shea said he believes efforts by the city's police department to combat gun violence are paying dividends, while partnerships with the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have also been fruitful.

Shea said the city's efforts range from "the strategic placing of CCTV cameras in hot spot areas to more police presence, increased foot patrols, strategizing investigative techniques, changing the structure of personnel, to other efforts that need to remain confidential to avoid jeopardizing our efforts."

From Jan. 1 through Aug. 25, there were 43 non-fatal shootings in the city. During the same period last year, there were 60, Jersey City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said last week.

These statistics, however, do not include "shots fired" incidents -- times when a gun is reportedly fired, but no one is injured. Wallace-Scalcione said the city does not track these incidents.

During the same time span, there were six fatal shootings in the city, as compared to 12 during the comparable time frame last year. The police department has also recovered 187 illegal guns during the same period this year, as compared to 192 during that time span in 2017, Wallace Scalcione said.

Shea said that from the start of Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop's administration, public safety and gun violence in particular have been a top priority. He said that a lot of work has been done but a lot of work remains.

"The amount of guns recovered by the JCPD over the past several years is just one example of how our efforts are paying off," Shea said. "We expect to continue to see progress especially as our new leadership brings new ideas to the table, reinvigorating the department."

Jersey City swore in Michael Kelly as its police chief in January.

Pamela Johnson, the director of the Jersey City Anti-Violence Coalition Movement, said she recently sat down with Kelly and she is pleased with the decrease in people wounded and killed in the city, as well as the continued seizure of guns by police.



"There's an anti-violence movement and not just through the Jersey City Anti-Violence Coalition but through our partners in the city, whether they be city agencies and departments or local organizations and groups, and of course the Jersey City Police Department," Johnson said.



Johnson said her organization also works to fight violence by focusing on education, poverty and advocating for residents in general. She said there are many people who feel uncomfortable giving information to police but the coalition can act as an intermediary.



"Jersey City residents have a vested interest in the communities affected by violence and some of them have taken a stand and acted," Johnson said, adding that police are taking hundreds of guns off the streets and risking their lives every day. "The efforts of the community as a whole has been a reason for the decrease in shootings and homicides."

Shea, meanwhile, said that most illegal guns recovered in the city come from out of state, including Pennsylvania and southern states, but it's not always possible to pinpoint where a gun comes from.

He said that there are a number of obstacles to reducing gun violence, but the availability of guns is key.

"If there's no access, there's no guns, therefore no gun violence," Shea said. "That's what we're continuing to target, among many other combined efforts."

Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez agreed with Shea's assessment.

"In the last year, our collaborative efforts have resulted in the prosecution and successful conviction of some of the most dangerous defendants in Hudson County," Suarez said. "Consequently, judges have recognized the dangers posed by these individuals and have imposed harsher sentences that should have a deterrent effect."Jersey City wants a police captain's lawsuit thrown out following a federal judge's ruling that the cop unintentionally destroyed evidence.

Attorneys for the city say Capt. David Goldrich's actions have "tainted the integrity of the judicial process and the quest for the truth," while Goldrich's lawyer argues that the case should proceed because the evidence was destroyed because of a computer virus, not negligence.

Both parties now await a decision from U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton on whether Goldrich's case will be thrown out and whether, if it goes to trial, Wigenton will tell jurors about the lost evidence.

Goldrich filed the complaint in 2015 alleging city officials retaliated against him after he complained that the city "improperly removed" money from a police account and transferred it to fund the city's budget. The police account included money related to the off-duty jobs program at the center of a federal probe that has since led to 10 guilty pleas from now-former Jersey City cops.

The captain initially accused the city, Mayor Steve Fulop, Public Safety Director James Shea and others of five counts. Wigenton has tossed all but one count, an allegation that the city and Shea punished Goldrich by denying him the position of executive officer of the police department's east district. The city has argued Goldrich has a "personal vendetta" against some city officials and an "apparent sense of entitlement to serve out his law enforcement career solely in an administrative capacity." Goldrich has been on the force since 1995.

The evidence in question was reportedly contained on a laptop owned by Goldrich. In November 2015, Goldrich's attorney told Jersey City that a virus made some files on the computer "unrecoverable." The files were notes Goldrich took during discussions with a supervisor regarding the alleged misappropriation of funds and documents related to Goldrich's conversations with a police captain regarding the executive officer position, according to a July 25 report from Magistrate Judge Leda Dunn Wettre.

Jersey City received a court order to obtain the laptop and Goldrich's iPhone, on which the files once existed, the report says. The city's forensics expert determined the laptop never had a virus and could not start the iPhone at all, according to the report. Goldrich insisted he believed the laptop had a virus and said the iPhone stopped working after he dropped it in a toilet, according to a brief filed by his attorney.

In January 2018, the city asked for "severe" sanctions against Goldrich and for the final count to be thrown out. In response, Wettre issued her report finding that Goldrich gave the city a laptop he had not used at all instead of the one with evidence on it. Wettre recommended Wigenton award Jersey City legal fees related to the forensic examination of the laptop and that she tell the jury about the spoiled evidence. She recommended against throwing out the final count.

It is not clear when Wigenton will decide on Wettre's recommendations.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.JERSEY CITY  A Superior Court judge has ordered Bayonne to pay legal bills incurred by The Jersey Journal during the city's unsuccessful yearlong battle to shield the $1.6 million settlement of a police brutality lawsuit from public view.

Judge Daniel D'Alessandro ruled the newspaper had prevailed in litigation filed under New Jersey's Open Public Records Act, and is entitled under the law to reimbursement of $104,578 in legal fees.

Bayonne argued that there was no prevailing party in the case because the end result was a "stalemate," an argument D'Alessandro called "unpersuasive" in his Aug. 24 order.

"An analysis of the events and the record in state and federal courts cannot reasonably be considered a stalemate," the judge said, adding The Journal was the "catalyst" that compelled Bayonne's compliance with OPRA.

Journal Publisher David Blomquist hailed the decision.

"The Journal's readers deserve to know how their tax dollars were spent," Blomquist said. "Those who unsuccessfully tried to hide the truth should pay the cost."

A phone call seeking comment from Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis was not returned. Jay Coffey, Bayonne's corporation counsel, told The Journal a decision on appealing the order is up to the city's insurer, the New Jersey Intergovernmental Insurance Fund. The NJIIF would pay any judgment, Coffey added.

An email seeking comment from the NJIIF's general counsel was not returned. The fund provides insurance coverage for numerous New Jersey municipalities.

The dispute began in March 2017 when Bayonne declined The Journal's OPRA request for a copy of a settlement agreement that ended a federal lawsuit between Bayonne and members of the Walsh family, who said that when police arrested Brandon Walsh at their home in 2013, cops beat him with a flashlight and pepper-sprayed several relatives.

Bayonne and the NJIIF argued initially that a federal court order prevented release of the document under OPRA. After the case was considered and then appealed in five different state and federal courts, the city finally emailed the agreement to attorneys for The Journal on March 16, 2018. It shows the city settled the lawsuit for at least $1.6 million.

The figure D'Alessandro ordered Bayonne to pay represents most of the $111,655 The Journal sought for work by its OPRA attorneys, Robinson Miller LLC of Newark. But D'Alessandro rejected The Journal's request for a civil penalty, saying there is nothing in the record to show Bayonne refused the paper's OPRA request with the intent to deceive or mislead the public.

Bayonne's argument that the OPRA dispute ended in a stalemate refers to a handful of redactions in the document given to The Journal. The paper did not prevail because it did not receive the entire document, the city argued to D'Alessando. The judge disagreed, noting that The Journal stipulated early in the case that it was willing to accept the document with the names of underage family members removed.

"The Jersey Journal succeeded on its central request for the release of the settlement agreement," he wrote.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.Joe A. Holmes, 58, of Willimantic, Connecticut, has plead guilty to second-degree vehicular homicide, Hunterdon County Prosecutor Anthony P. Kearns, III has announced.

Holmes was arrested on Dec. 26, 2017, after he was involved in a motor vehicle accident at the intersection of Route 202 and Summer Road in Readington Township, it was previously reported.

The driver of second vehicle, Wilson A. Sumbana, 57, of South Bound Brook, was killed in the crash.

"Holmes was also charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and reckless driving," Kearns said.

Holmes was indicted by a Hunterdon County grand jury on June 21 and pleaded guilty on Friday, Kearns said. He is scheduled to be sentenced by state Superior Court Judge Angela F. Borkowski on Oct. 26.A shoplifter who left his son to die by the side of the road after he crashed his Jeep while fleeing Walmart store security received up to three decades in prison Monday.

Christopher D. Kuhn, 28, of Hamilton, N.J., was sentenced to eight-and-a-half to 30 years in state prison in connection with the Oct. 3, 2017 death of his 2-year-old son, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office wrote on Crimewatch Pennsylvania.

Christopher D. Kuhn

Kuhn was found guilty in March of murder, homicide by vehicle, endangering the welfare of a child, driving under the influence and several other offenses.

Kuhn tried to a leave a Levittown, Pennsylvania, Walmart with a $228 Vizio sound bar and ignored a security guard's instructions to stop, the district attorney said.

He took his son, Qadan Trievel, out of the shopping cart and fled the store, putting him into a gold 2007 Jeep without strapping him into a car seat, officials said.

Kuhn then placed his sweatshirt over the Jeep's rear license plate and sped away on Route 13, blowing through a red light. The Jeep was struck by another SUV near the intersection with Levittown Parkway. The Jeep rolled and partially landed on another car.

The crash sent Trievel flying from the car. Kuhn paused before running from the scene, officials said. Trievel was found pale, motionless and not breathing by EMTs and was brought to Lower Bucks Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy showed that his skull was fractured from ear to ear.

When the officers found Kuhn, he was sitting alone close to the crash scene while he hugged his knees with his arms, according to court testimony.

His prior criminal record included a shoplifting charge and a terroristic threats conviction for pleaded guilty to threatening Qadan's mother, Mackenzy Trievel. He was sentenced to three years probation in 2016 for that crime.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook.A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew on Monday flew a man who suffered an apparent heart attack from a cruise ship about 230 miles off the New Jersey coast to a local hospital, authorities said.

The crew of Celebrity Summit reported to the Coast Guard in the afternoon that one of their crew members was suffering symptoms of a heart attack and needed medical help, according to a news release.

The Coast Guard directed the ship to change course toward shore to meet the helicopter.

The aircraft landed on the cruise ship helicopter pad and picked up both the crew member and a nurse, transporting them to a Atlanticare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City, the Coast Guard reported.

The man's name or condition was not released on Tuesday.

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.It was at the 2004 Republican convention when Sen. John McCain said these words that seem so archaic in today's political arena, hostile and partisan as it is.

"We are Americans first, Americans last, Americans always. Let us argue our differences. But remember we are not enemies, but comrades in a war against a real enemy, and take courage from the knowledge that our military superiority is matched only by the superiority of our ideals, and our unconquerable love for them."

That speech came three years after the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the crash of United Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

McCain's death Saturday at age 81 is the loss of yet another combat veteran from American leadership, continuing a downward spiral since the World War II generation made up three-quarters of Congress. That spiral accelerated when the draft ended in 1973.

These days the percentage of people in Congress with military experience bounces between 15 and 20 percent. The last president - the military's commander-in-chief - to see combat was George H.W. Bush, who was shot down during a bombing raid on Japanese strongholds in the South Pacific.

The country's irretractable divide between Republicans and Democrats seems to have begun with the Clinton administration and has worsened. There are lots of reasons, and the hyper-partisan media has fueled it. The country feels so cracked apart it is in danger of breaking.

Which is why McCain's "Americans first" political philosophy has resonated with a new generation of veterans who are entering politics with the same outlook.

"I think John McCain's passing gives the country a pause for reflection on what country could be and should be," said Josh Welle, a Democrat running for Congress in New Jersey's 4th District. "He was an example of how we should look past the tribalism that seems to have taken over and work together to make a unified country."

Welle was at the Naval Academy when McCain came to speak on Oct. 9, 2001, less than a month after the terror attacks of Sept. 11.

"He told us we were going into harm's way, and this was a moment of significant historical relevance," said Welle. "It centered us. This was our call to service. He said there had never been a nation like ours, and it was our responsibility to take care of it. The world depended on it."

As a combat veteran and POW, McCain better understood the implications of going to war. It was part of his family legacy.

McCain's family members have fought America's battles for a century. His grandfather John S. McCain Sr. fought in both world wars.

As a young officer in World War I, he served aboard the USS San Diego, an armed shipping escort in the North Atlantic where German submarines roamed to disrupt trade. In World War II, as a four-star admiral, he led land-based and carrier strikes against the Japanese.

McCain's father, John S. McCain Jr., too, was a World War II veteran, serving with his father in the South Pacific. As a submarine commander, he dropped several Japanese freighters and gunships, and came under harrowing fire. He, too, became a four-star admiral and was in charge of all military operations in Vietnam a year after his son, John S. McCain III, was shot down during a bombing raid over Hanoi.

An impromptu memorial of flowers and a U.S. Navy officer's cap in honor of Sen. John McCain. (Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images)

McCain's suffering and survival as a POW is well-documented and it clearly shaped his view of American ideals.

"In prison, I fell in love with my country. I had loved her before then, but like most young people, my affection was little more than a simple appreciation for the comforts and privileges most Americans enjoyed and took for granted. It wasn't until I had lost America for a time that I realized how much I loved her."

McCain's words today serve as a reminder how military veterans think when they hold political office.

"They have put their lives on the line defending this nation," said Rep. Bill Pascrell, D, 9th Dist. "They took an oath to defend the country and the Constitution. That comes first."

McCain's defense of Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign rankled some Republicans, as did his concession speech when Obama was elected.

"I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president," he said. "And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe, always, in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here."

Pascrell said those comments "were proof in the pudding" that McCain "rose above partisan differences."

Pascrell pointed to McCain's friendship with John Kerry, the former secretary of state and Massachusetts senator. While McCain was in a Hanoi prison, Kerry, himself a decorated Vietnam veteran, was leading a protest against the war in Washington.

But nearly two decades later, they worked together to get Vietnam to release thousands of POW documents and to end United States embargoes against the country.

"That is what is missing today," Pascrell said. "We had more veterans in Congress. We were better at working together."

Mark Di Ionno may be reached at mdiionno@starledger.com. Follow The Star-Ledger on Twitter @StarLedger and find us on Facebook.If you read one of 2017's best local "feel-good" stories, and saw a not-so-happy ending coming later, give yourself one big "I told you so."

You probably didn't donate any money last fall to the GoFundMe campaign to help Johnny Bobbitt, the homeless Marine veteran who offered his last $20 to get gasoline for a South Jersey woman whose vehicle left her stranded on a Philadelphia freeway.

Now there's trouble between Bobbitt and the motorist, Kate McClure of Florence Township, who set up the GoFundMe effort with her boyfriend Mark D'Amico. Bobbit is accusing his two caretakers of denying him access to most of the fund, which ultimately exceeded $400,000, and possibly misspending some of the money.

McClure and -- more pointedly, D'Amico -- accuse Bobbitt, 35, of squandering at least $25,000 he'd been given, and hesitate to release any more until he gets things together and stays off drugs. The dispute could be headed for the legal system, but this much we know, based on a recent burst of media stories:

Bobbitt is back on the streets, no longer living in the camper that the couple provided for him on McClure's Burlington County family property. He admits he's gone back to feeding his drug addiction.

And, Bobbitt never took possession of the purchased house the couple talked about, or his "dream" classic compact pickup truck, that $400,000 easily could have bought.

When the 14,000-plus donations were flying fast and furious into the funding page, the major question on websites and editorial pages was: Is it OK for Bobbitt to use all of the money, or should he "pay it forward" to help perhaps scores of others in similar dire straits? Yes, a few detractors predicted a dispute over the growing fund. They were right, but they should get no satisfaction from being right.

As the accusations play themselves out in news columns and, possibly, the courts, there are some lessons that can be learned:

One, Bobbitt's initial act of kindness should not be diminished, despite his current situation. He didn't hand a stranger $20 because he expected a windfall; he did it because he saw a woman in distress.

Two, to anyone who doubted this, the strong lure of drug addiction is tough to defeat. Bobbitt reportedly did a couple of rehab stints since last fall, but has obviously relapsed. When someone with enough on-paper wealth to call himself a trust-fund baby can't shake an opiate habit, it has to be even more difficult for those with zero funds and zero social support.

Three, a GoFundMe page is not a bank account, and it's not a trust fund. D'Amico has given varying stories about how the donations have been protected and structured, but he offered scant evidence that the formal trust fund that was promised for Bobbitt was ever established.

Crowd funding is fine for teachers who are seeking a few hundred dollars for classroom supplies, or budding filmmakers trying to raise enough to make a short on a shoestring, but the rather informal system can buckle under the weight of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Officials at GoFundMe (which earns fees from collected donations) say they're determined to find out if any Bobbitt money was used improperly, in the interest of maintaing contributor confidence.

Once these collections reach figures with five zeroes, one would think that formal auditing procedures would kick in automatically.

Send a letter to the editor of South Jersey Times at sjletters@njadvancemedia.com

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy conditionally vetoed a measure that would end the requirement that hair braiders get a state cosmetology license.

Critics say the rule is costly and time consuming, and has little to do with the act or styling of braids.

The New Jersey State Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling requires all hairstylists and barbers to be licensed to operate, which means going to beauty school at a price tag of $17,000 along with 1,200 hours of training.

Many critics say most of that training doesn't apply braiders, who train in areas they don't use.

Murphy in his conditional veto recommended some changes to the legislation that would benefit braiders and the consumers.

"I believe a more equitable approach to balancing regulatory relief with consumer safety is to reduce -- rather than remove -- the requirements necessary for hair braiding licensure."

Murphy is pushing for 40-to-50 hours of training.

"The is the entrepreneur life for them. It's how they provide for their families," said Assemblywoman Angela McKnight, D-Hudson, who created the bill.

The law requiring a license for cosmetologists or barbers, which many argue unfairly affects hair braiders, has been in effect since 1984.

"Braiding is a safe and natural practice, but New Jersey requires 1,200 hours of cosmetology, which is more than EMT workers. There are so many people held back by these barriers," said Brooke Fallon, the assistant director of activism for the Institute of Justice. "Right now, there are tons of hair braiders operating in fear of being shutting down for providing for their families."

Should New Jersey end the requirement for braiders to get cosmetology licenses?

Vote in our informal and unscientific poll and share your thoughts in the comments section.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.Commuters were facing big delays Tuesday morning because of problems with PATH trains.

The Hoboken PATH trains from Hoboken to the World Trade Center and 33rd Street, along with the Journal Square train to 33rd Street, were all suspended because of a switch failure in Hoboken, PATH officials said.

Hudson Bergen Light Rail trains were cross honoring PATH tickets and passes at Hoboken Terminal, according to NJ Transit.

Meanwhile, some NJ Transit trains have been temporarily discontinued or have modified schedule because of Advance Positive Train Control Equipment Installation.

HOB-WTC line, HOB-33 line and JSQ-33 line suspended because of a switch failure at HOB. Delays are expected to continue. [26]  PATH Train (@PATHTrain) August 28, 2018

Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.NEW YORK -- Two pictures -- one old, one recent -- sandwiched by American flags.

That's how the Yankees honored late Sen. John McCain before a game against the White Sox at Yankee Stadium on Monday.

He died Saturday after battling brain cancer. He was 81.

The team asked the crowd for a moment of silence after the public address announcer rattled off the accomplishments of McCain, a 35-year politician and one-time Republican presidential nominee.

On the giant center field scoreboard, the Yankees displayed a picture of McCain as a Navy pilot and a more recent photo of him.

Here's a portion of the Associated Press' story of McCain's death from Saturday:

McCain, with his irascible grin and fighter-pilot moxie, was a fearless and outspoken voice on policy and politics to the end, unswerving in his defense of democratic values and unflinching in his criticism of his fellow Republican, President Donald Trump. He was elected to the Senate from Arizona six times but twice thwarted in seeking the presidency.

An upstart presidential bid in 2000 didn't last long. Eight years later, he fought back from the brink of defeat to win the GOP nomination, only to be overpowered by Democrat Barack Obama. McCain chose a little-known Alaska governor as his running mate in that race, and turned Sarah Palin into a national political figure.

After losing to Obama in an electoral landslide, McCain returned to the Senate determined not to be defined by a failed presidential campaign in which his reputation as a maverick had faded. In the politics of the moment and in national political debate over the decades, McCain energetically advanced his ideas and punched back hard at critics -- Trump not least among them.

The scion of a decorated military family, McCain embraced his role as chairman of the Armed Services Committee, pushing for aggressive U.S. military intervention overseas and eager to contribute to "defeating the forces of radical Islam that want to destroy America."

Asked how he wanted to be remembered, McCain said simply: "That I made a major contribution to the defense of the nation."The Times-Picayune is marking the tricentennial of New Orleans with its ongoing 300 for 300 project, running through 2018 and highlighting 300 people who have made New Orleans New Orleans, featuring original artwork commissioned by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune with Where Y'Art gallery. Today: civic activist and social reformer Jean Gordon.

The icon: Jean Gordon.

The legacy: Jean Gordon never married, and she never had children of her own. But the girls of the Milne Home for Destitute Orphan Girls called her "Mother Jean" anyway, which was entirely fitting. Although Gordon's 40 years of civic activism in New Orleans saw her champion a litany of social reform causes -- from women's suffrage to the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to the establishment of a Traveler's Aid Society -- it was highlighted by her defense of, and care for, the city's children. That included her work toward the establishment of Louisiana child labor laws in 1908 as well as the founding of the Milne home, which, in addition to housing, provided training for developmentally disabled children. "What Jean Gordon has done at Milne House," wrote Times-Picayune columnist Dorothy Dix upon the 1931 death of her friend, " ... is a story of devotion, of courage, of heroism that is almost unbelievable."

The artist: Maddie Stratton.

The quote: "She inherited a Scotch desire to see things done the way one thinks they should be done, Scotch tenacity in the effort to get them done that way, Scotch insistence against odds in the way, Scotch courage, Scotch willingness to be disagreeable if necessary in the process, Scotch ingenuity in the adoption of means to ends." -- The New Orleans Item, in an editorial memorializing Jean Gordon

Explore more of Stratton's work online at WhereYart.net and in person at the Where Y'Art gallery, 1901 Royal St.

Jean Gordon was born in New Orleans on May 27, 1867, the daughter of George H. Gordon, an educator and Scottish immigrant, and Margaret Galiece.

Source: The Times-Picayune archives; staff research

More on 300 for 300:Hugo Gyrl, the Crescent City's current graffiti champion, invites you to a Decadence weekend art exhibit in the French Quarter. The "Brief Interruptions" show, located at the Oleander gallery at 1000 Royal Street includes works by 11 regional LGBTQ artists. The show opens with a reception on Friday (Aug. 31) from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Be sure to check out Skylar Fein's genius neo-pop paintings, not to mention Hugo's own posters. This is an art event not to miss, for sure.

On a closely related note, New Orleans street art aficionados are keeping their eyes wide open in case Hugo produces a full-blown aerosol mural in honor of Decadence, like the one that appeared on Elysian Fields Avenue in June on the eve of the Pride parade. We certainly hope so.

Why, you ask, does this art observer consider Hugo Gyrl (aka You Go Girl) the aerosol master of New Orleans? Well, there's the unerring drawing skill (think 1970s underground comics), the compositional inventiveness (Hugo's 8th ward mural in the belly of a dry swimming pool was a masterpiece), the stunning color (who does not adore the combination of canary yellow, chartreuse and Kool-Aid grape), the compelling symbolism (give me the fingers of the Wicked Witch of the West, blood-shot hot rod eyeballs, androgynous body builders and ubiquitous cell phones and I am a happy man), the comic tone (a disembodied green nose always makes me smile) and most of all, the ever-welcome affirmation (You Go Girl!) that appears in most murals. Look for the pool mural in the video below.

One last thing, if you dig Skylar Fein's work in the "Brief Interruptions" (and who wouldn't?), his masterpiece 2008 installation based on the murderous Upstairs Lounge fire is on display at the New Orleans Museum of Art. It's not an easy trip, but it's one you'll be glad you took.

Doug MacCash has the best job in the world, covering art, music and culture in New Orleans. Contact him via email at dmaccash@nola.com. Follow him on Twitter at Doug MacCash and on Facebook at Douglas James MacCash. As always, please add your point of view to the comment stream.The Jefferson Parish district attorney's office Monday (Aug. 27) refused the charges against a pair of brothers from Grand Isle who were accused of sexually abusing a 6-year-old girl.

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office arrested Louis Dassau, 39, July 2 and booked him with first-degree rape and indecent behavior with a juvenile. Richard Dassau, 36, was July 3 and booked with sexual battery of the same victim, who is known to both Dassaus.

But prosecutors refused to move forward with the cases because of insufficient evidence, said Paul Purpura, spokesman for the district attorney's office.

Attorney Tanya Faia, who is representing both men, had always been confident in her clients' innocence. She expressed gratitude to the screening department of the district attorney's office.

"They're willing to take a truly hard look at to see if they feel they can meet their burdon of proof in these cases," Faia said. "I'm very happy that ... the office made the screening decision that they did."A 32-year-old man was killed late Monday afternoon (Aug. 27) in a shooting in the 3900 block of Howard Avenue, New Orleans police reported.

The shooting was reported at 5:21 p.m. Responding officers found the man with more than one gunshot wound, and he was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Police blocked traffic on Howard Avenue at South Dupre Street, in an industrial area along the the edge of Mid-City.

Investigators seemed focused on a gym next to a flower shop on Howard near South Broad Avenue, and a number of men and women in workout clothes were at the scene, both within the yellow police tape and outside of the cordoned-off area.

Homicide detectives and other investigators congregated near the front of the gym, and both officers and crime-scene techs could be seen going in and out of the workout spot.

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The NOPD have not publicly identified any possible motives or suspects in the shooting.

About 7 p.m., an officer led a woman in workout clothes beneath the tape and into the crime scene, heading toward the gym.

A few moments later, the woman walked back to the tape that stretched across Howard Avenue, leaned against a car and put her head in her hands. Several of those around her rubbed her back, and another woman embraced her as she began to weep.

NOPD Homicide Detective Patrick Guidry is leading the ongoing investigation and can be reached at 504-658-5300 with any information on the fatal shooting. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Crimestoppers by calling 504-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-STOP.

Stay with NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune as more information becomes available on this breaking story.A 44-year-old man was jailed Sunday (Aug. 26) after New Orleans police say he participated in a tire-repair scam that targeted elderly people in Algiers and involved the theft of thousands of dollars in jewelry.

Dino Yonko, 1600 block of David Drive, Metairie, is one of three people NOPD previously identified as having been involved in the scam. A warrant for Yonko's arrest says he or one of his alleged accomplices approached an 88-year-old woman in the parking log of a grocery store and told her "she was endangering herself by driving her vehicle with a loose front passenger side tire."

The 88-year-old woman told police two men told her to get out her vehicle while they checked the tire, the warrant states. The older of the two men told the woman he was a mechanic and could fix her tire for $420.

They then told her to drive home and that they could follow her "to make sure she got home safely." They followed her in their beige van, the woman said. When she arrived at her house, four people from the van came inside her house "without permission," where a woman who was with them told her to write a check for $425 for the repairs, according to the warrant.

The woman who had asked for the check then asked to use the bathroom while the others strangers waited in the kitchen with the 88-year-old woman, the warrant states. The 88-year-old woman then saw both men in her bedroom, prompting her to call her son. The son told the four people he was on his way to his mother's home, "and at that point the subjects left," the warrant states. The 88-year-old woman then noticed $3,000 in jewelry was missing from the vanity tray on her bedroom dresser.

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NOPD 4th District Detective Tracy Raney learned two more similar thefts were reported in Algiers, all involving three to four people in a beige minivan who targeted two different elderly people on separate occasions. In both thefts, the people in the van went to their targets' homes and stole cash and jewelry.

After police obtained video footage of the suspects, they released it to news media, resulting in information identifying the accused people, the warrant states. Yonko was placed in a photo lineup, and the 88-year-old successfully identified him and the younger accomplice.

Yonko faces two counts of exploitation of persons with infirmaries; simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling and felony theft of assets of an aged person. Orleans Magistrate Judge Harry Cantrell on Sunday set Yonko's bond at a total of $45,000 and appointed the Orleans Public Defender's Office to represent him.

Two people remain wanted on charges related to the scam: Michael John, 29; and Bessie Costello, 44. Anyone with information about their whereabouts is asked to call NOPD's 4th District at 504-658-6040 or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.A 40-year-old man suspected of trying to rob a food truck in Algiers Point twice in one week has been arrested, according to the New Orleans Police Department.

Derrick Pickens is accused of robbing the Thai D-Jing food truck as it was closing up shop for the evening near the Algiers Point ferry terminal on March 14 -- and then coming back exactly one week later and trying to do the same. The second time, the food truck's owner fired a shot at the robber through the truck's window, but didn't hit anyone.

Police said Pickens is also suspected in an Aug. 30, 2017 purse snatching in the 400 block of Pelican Avenue.

Pickens was arrested Sunday (Aug. 26) in the 1000 block of Teche Street and booked with purse snatching, armed robbery with a firearm, and attempted armed robbery with a firearm.

Court records show Pickens was arrested in May and booked with two counts of possession of stolen items and a charge of second-degree battery, but the charges were later refused by prosecutors. He had also been arrested in November 2017 on suspicion of domestic abuse battery, simple battery, simple assault and simple criminal damage to property. He was required to enroll in a domestic violence intervention program and those charges were refused, according to court records.Bernell Collins Sr. was laying on the sofa inside Richard Donovan's Uptown apartment on Sept. 30, 2016, when Donovan picked up Collins' loaded 9 mm handgun he'd placed on the coffee table beside him and shot him in the back of the head.

Donovan's defense attorneys said at the start of his second-degree murder trial in Orleans Criminal District Court Tuesday (Aug. 28) the shooting was self defense.

Prosecutor, however, said the 60-year-old didn't bring that up as a motive in an interview with police after his arrest.

"Self-defense can be a very complicated concept," Assistant District Attorney Dawkins said in her opening statement to the jury. "You're not even going to need to consider self-defense. This is a case of second-degree murder."

Jennifer Hull of the Orleans Public Defenders said Donovan was in imminent danger and "it was absolutely necessary for him to act."

"This person was under the influence of a variety of drugs," she said of Collins. "This was a person who had physically harmed him before."

Donovan and Collins knew each other for about five years. They lived in the same neighborhood, Hull said, and Donovan sometimes would work on Collins' car to make a few bucks.

They made small talk, she said, and that's how Donovan learned Collins was having trouble with his family. So he offered Collins a place to stay.

Shortly after he moved in, Hull said Donovan learned Collins was selling drugs. He asked Collins to stop, and Collins told him to "get used to it," she said.

In the time they lived together at 711 Lyons St., Hull said Collins demanded money from Donovan more than once. He'd also been violent toward Donovan in the past, she said, kicking him in the chest and pushing him down the stairs on separate occasions.

Collins didn't have permission to be inside Donovan's apartment the day he was shot, Hull said. He forced his way in and demanded money.

"If you don't give me what I want, I'm going to blow your ****ing brains out," Hull said Collins told Donovan.

Donovan, who uses a cane to walk and suffers from Parkinson's and seizures, didn't stand a chance against a young, strong 36-year-old man armed with a loaded gun who'd threatened his life, Hull said.

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Donovan was visibly shaking throughout the duration of his trial's proceedings Tuesday. He sat between Hull and attorney Leon Roche at the defense table in Judge Darryl Derbigny's courtroom, and every so often put on thick-rimmed black glasses and conferred with them.

Donovan was arrested Oct. 1, 2016, after he surrendered to authorities around 8 a.m. following an hours-long SWAT standoff.

Hull said in her opening statement to jurors that's "the day everything happened."

Dawkins said Donovan shot Collins on Sept. 30, and stayed inside his apartment with Collins' lifeless body for 24 hours before he surrendered to police.

Collins was a father to seven children, and was raised Uptown near Napoleon and St. Charles Avenue, according to his mother, Donna Collins.

She told the jury through tears Tuesday that the last time she spoke to her son was the night of Sept. 29, 2016, when he left her house with his twin sons.

Around 6 p.m. the next evening, Donna Collins said she got a call that her son hadn't picked the twins up from school. She tried to call her son a few times, she said, but his phone went right to voicemail.

She picked the kids up from school, she said, then went to Donovan's apartment on Lyons Street. Bernell Collins' car was parked outside, she said.

Her family called police around 10 p.m., and again around midnight because they didn't respond to their first call, she said. Her family stayed at the scene until they learned around 8 a.m. on Oct. 1 Collins was dead.

NOPD Sgt. Robert Barrere, who at the time of the incident was a detective, said Collins' body was found inside the bathroom of the Lyons Street apartment. His wrists and ankles were bound by zip ties.

Donovan has been in jail since his arrest, unable to post a $1 million bond a magistrate commissioner set at his first appearance.

His criminal record includes a manslaughter conviction in 1993. According to court records and previous reporting, Donovan told Kenner Police he strangled his wife to death while under the influence of crack cocaine. He served five years of a 10-year sentence, then was paroled through 2003.

Donovan's second-degree murder trial is expected to continue Wednesday.Here are picks from NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune's food team for eating and drinking in New Orleans this week and beyond.

WEDNESDAY (Aug. 29)

Primal Night  At Bacchanal (600 Poland St.), the Chicago Spanish restaurant Bom Bolla fires up a pit and cooks meat for a barbecue. Dinner will be served starting at sundown. Jesse Morrow Trio plays from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. The night benefits charity. The event is free, but a $20 donation is suggested for a plate of food.

THURSDAY (Aug. 30)

Taste of Louisiana cooking class  Southern Food and Beverage Museum (1504 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.) offers a class in cooking Cajun food. $50. 11 a.m.1 p.m. See natfab.org.

SATURDAY (Sept. 1)

Drag Brunch at Pythian Market  The new Pythian Market food hall (234 Loyola Ave.) hosts a drag brunch with Vanessa Carr Kennedy. The vendors have breakfast items for sale and the bar has mimosas, Bloody Marys and more. Free. 11 a.m.2 p.m.

Drag Brunch at Brennan's  To celebrate Southern Decadence, Brennan's (417 Royal St.) will host a drag brunch featuring Coca Mesa and DJ Tim Pflueger. Ticket includes a three-course brunch and a bottle of wine per table. Guests must reserve an entire table of 4, 6 or 8. $95 a person. 12:30 p.m. Call 504.934.3376.

LGBTea  For Southern Decadence, Le Salon at the Windsor Court (300 Gravier St.) hosts a tea with bottomless mimosas and Bloody Marys, and drag queen performances headlined by Kookie Baker. $75. 12:302 p.m. Call 504.596.4773 for reservations.

SUNDAY (Sept. 2)

Guest Bartender series  Bywater American Bistro (2900 Chartres St.) continues its guest bartender series with Evan Wolf, beverage director of Company Burger. He'll join BAB's head bartender, Crystal Pavlas. 8-10 p.m.

LGBTea  Le Salon at the Windsor Court (300 Gravier St.) offers a second drag tea. See above for details. $75. 12:302 p.m. Call 504.596.4773 for reservations.

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TUESDAY (Sept. 4)

Ich Bin Einchilada dinner  Coquette (2800 Magazine St.) continues its annual No Menu Tuesday summer dinner series. This time they welcome bartender Nick Detrich of Manolito for a meal that blends Germany and Mexico. For the dinners, only the themes are revealed in advance. Each No Menu Tuesday dinner is five courses and is served all night. $45. Call 504.265.0421.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Sept. 7-8  The Farm & Table New Orleans conference celebrates local food and drinks. See farmandtablenola.com.

Sept. 17  The American Cuisine and Hospitality Symposium at Commander's Palace will bring together the nation's top culinarians, including Danny Meyer, Dominique Crenn and Emeril Lagasse. See www.ACHSymposium.com.

Sept. 22  NOLA on Tap, a beer festival benefiting the Louisiana SPCA, returns to City Park's Festival Grounds.

Oct. 20  The second annual NOLA Mac N Cheese Fest returns to Armstrong Park.

Nov. 9  Boudin, Bourbon and Beer, the benefit for the Emeril Lagasse Foundation, returns to Champions Square. Visit boudinbourbonandbeer.com.

Nov. 17  Fete des Fromages, a new festival at the Old U.S. Mint, lets you sample and learn about cheeses from around the world. See www.fetedesfromages.com.

Correction: The original version of this calendar listed the wrong date for Brennan's drag brunch.

Know of a great food event? Let us know at foodevents@nola.com.Soon, three of the taps at Ale will be as local as you can get. Pidgin Town Brewing will start making beer right inside the Oak Street beer bar.

Pidgin Town, run by brothers Paul and Taylor Gallant, will start with three brews: a Belgian-style blonde, an IPA and a rotating seasonal.

The brothers also hope to start barrel aging sour beers.

"It really depends where demand goes," Taylor said.

The brewery, named for a common variation on the name of the surrounding neighborhood, is waiting for the final permits to start brewing on its small, two-barrel system. If all goes according to plan, the beer should on tap in late October or early November.

The beers will only be available at Ale, although Pidgin Town hopes to eventually offer growler fills of its beers.

Paul got the idea to start a brewery while living in Portland, Ore., where craft breweries are common. When Paul returned home to New Orleans, the two brothers started home brewing.

"We started home brewing with the idea that it would be a business," Taylor said.

It took them three years to get Pidgin Town off the ground.

"Our idea was to start small and see if we can create a market for ourselves. Who knows where it will go from here," Taylor said.

Pidgin Town Brewing at Ale: 8124 Oak St., New Orleans (opens late October or early November)

***

Got a tip? Know some restaurant news? Email Todd A. Price at TPrice@NOLA.com or call 504.826.3445. Follow him on Twitter (@TPrice504), Facebook (ToddAPriceEatsDrinks) or Instagram (@tprice504).The family of a Terrytown girl who was turned away from her Roman Catholic school because her hairstyle violated school policy canceled their meeting with the leadership from the school and its school system Monday (Aug. 27), according to the superintendent of the city's Catholic schools.

Catholic schools superintendent RaeNell Billiot Houston said the Fennidy family postponed and then ultimately canceled the meeting with the Office of Catholic Schools and Christ the King Elementary School principal Dawn Swear Castillo. The family's decision comes a week after the Fennidy family joined another family in suing the school and the Archdiocese of New Orleans to stop the school from enforcing a new policy that prohibits boys and girls from wearing hair extensions.

"I personally called the Fennidy parents last Monday, and again on Tuesday, to request a meeting with them. Since then, we have continued to request a meeting and remain open to such," according to a statement from Houston.

"The girls were welcome to return to school last week, and it saddens me that the parents have chosen not to bring them, or to meet with us to discuss the situation."

Houston said Christ the King notified the Fennidys and the family of Tyrielle Davis, who was also removed from school due to the new policy, that the school had rescinded the portion of its uniform policy having to do with hair extensions. Houston also said Castillo and the school's pastor have welcomed the girls to return.

Houston stressed she is working with Christ the King School and all of the archdiocesan schools to create a uniform policy that is "sensitive to all races, religions, and cultures" going forward.

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"Christ the King School is rich in cultural diversity, and we value that gift. As a parish, Christ the King embraces unity that fosters respect for each person," Houston said.

"When this issue arose, the school immediately reviewed its policy and recognized that there may have been sensitivities that needed to be addressed. They then reached out for input from the Office of Catholic Schools, the Office of Black Catholic Ministries, other principals, and parents," Houston said.

A Civil District Court judge issued a temporary restraining order last Thursday to allow 6th graders Faith Fennidy and Tyrielle Davis to return to school, according to a copy of the order sent to NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune by a family attorney. However, James Williams, an attorney for both families, said Friday the girls have not returned to school. The school system has also stated the two girls were not at school Monday.

Video footage of Faith in tears at Christ the King School has gained national attention after the video spread rapidly on social media. It has been covered by national news outlets, putting the school in a harsh spotlight as critics say black children have historically experienced more school discipline over their hairstyles.

. . . . . . .

Wilborn P. Nobles III is an education reporter based in New Orleans. He can be reached at wnobles@nola.com or on Twitter at @WilNobles.The families embroiled in a legal dispute with the Archdiocese of New Orleans are denying claims from the Catholic Schools superintendent regarding a decision to cancel a Monday meeting with the school's administration.

Catholic Schools Superintendent RaeNell Billiot Houston told the public Monday evening that a meeting planned for Monday with principal Dawn Swear Castillo, seeking a resolution after two girls were turned away from Christ the King School in Terrytown due to a hair policy, had been canceled by one of the girls' families. However, attorneys for the families said the superintendent's statement was "untrue."

A statement released Monday night from the attorneys representing the families of Faith Fennidy and Tyrielle Davis claimed Houston knew, "but failed to mention," that the meeting was actually set for 2 p.m. Tuesday (Aug. 28) at Houston's office, not Monday.

The attorneys said Houston's availability on Monday did not coordinate with everyone "who needs to attend the meeting."

"These families stand ready to discuss a peaceful and smooth transition back into school. However, they are understandably skeptical given how their children were treated last week," according to the attorneys' statement.

"Dr. Houston's misleading statement has, unfortunately but understandably, deepened the distrust they feel about entrusting their children to this school again," the statement said.

Faith and Tyrielle were not allowed to attend class because school officials said they violated a school policy that only allowed for students' "natural hair" and prohibited extensions. Video footage of Faith in tears at Christ the King School gained national attention after the video spread rapidly on social media. It has been covered by national news outlets, putting the school in a harsh spotlight as critics say black children have historically experienced more school discipline over their hairstyles.

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Houston said Christ the King told the families the school rescinded the portion of its uniform policy having to do with hair extensions. However, the attorneys stated school leadership "callously" refused to change the policy earlier in the week. Houston and the school instead asked Faith and Tyrielle to return to school and "pretend that their hair was natural," said the attorneys. Both family attorney James Williams and the school system have stated the girls have not returned to class.

The attorneys said the school only rescinded the policy last Thursday after they were notified that a temporary restraining order had been filed in court. Civil District Court Judge Piper Griffin issued the order until the court can address whether it will place a preliminary and permanent injunction on the school to ban its extensions policy, according to documentation provided by Williams.

The attorneys said the families were "outraged" at the suggestion that the girls "be dishonest about who they are and how they look."

"The world has seen the lack of empathy displayed by the principal when removing these children from school. No one was heard valuing cultural diversity and embracing unity when, unmoved by parents' pleas and children's tears, the principal kicked Faith and Tyrielle out of school and closed the doors behind them because their hair was a supposed 'distraction' to other students," according to the attorney's statement.

Houston has stressed she is working with Christ the King School and all of the archdiocesan schools to create a uniform policy that is "sensitive to all races, religions, and cultures" going forward.

. . . . . . .

Wilborn P. Nobles III is an education reporter based in New Orleans. He can be reached at wnobles@nola.com or on Twitter at @WilNobles.A local private school student made her red carpet debut at BET's Black Girls Rock! 2018 this weekend after she was sent home from a school in Terrytown for wearing hair extensions.

The Procter & Gamble company flew Faith Fennidy to New York City Saturday for a shopping spree donated by Macy's, according to a P&G spokesman Sunday (Aug. 26). The company also had style authority Tai Beauchamp work with Faith to select her wardrobe, and a make-up crew helped Faith prepare for the red carpet appearance Sunday.

Video footage of 11-year-old Faith in tears at Christ the King School gained national attention after the video spread rapidly on social media. The footage was covered by national news outlets as critics say black children have historically experienced more school discipline over their hairstyles.

P&G's gift to Faith comes as the company continues its "My Black is Beautiful" campaign, which aims to encourage black women to have conversations around their beauty and pride. In a statement, Faith's mother Montrelle Fennidy said her family is thankful to everyone who made the trip happen.

"It's been a difficult week for Faith and our family but she's so excited to visit New York and everyone's been so encouraging and kind," Fennidy said Sunday.

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Fennidy said Faith is "definitely feeling like a very special, very beautiful little girl right now" following her trip to New York. An attorney for the family stated Monday that the Fennidys are expected to meet with leadership from Christ the King and the Archdiocese of New Orleans at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

The Black Girls Rock show has awarded and honored black women across different industries since its debut in November 2010. The show airs Sept. 9 on BET.

. . . . . . .

Wilborn P. Nobles III is an education reporter based in New Orleans. He can be reached at wnobles@nola.com or on Twitter at @WilNobles.A former Florida lieutenant governor recently made a false claim that oil from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster "didn't even reach the shores of Florida."

Now he's walking that statement back, reports the Tampa Bay Times.

"I guess I overstated it," Jeff Kottkamp told the Times.

Kottkamp was lieutenant governor during the spill. He now leads a group seeking to open the eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil drilling. His group and other industry representatives have recently been re-framing the spill as more of a public relations disaster than an environmental one.

Oil from the spill tainted beaches in eight Florida counties. Thousands of workers spent weeks cleaning up the mess.

Read the Tampa Bay Times' report.Hurricane forecasters on Tuesday (Aug. 28) were tracking a disturbance in the Atlantic they say has a 20 percent chance of becoming at least a tropical disturbance.

As of 7 a.m. Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said a tropical wave is expected to move off the west coast of Africa on Thursday. Then, it is expected to move west across the Atlantic.

Some development of the system is possible over the weekend, forecasters said. It has a low chance (20 percent) of developing into at least a tropical depression within five days. The categories, in increasing strength, are depression, storm and hurricane.

The 2018 Atlantic hurricane season ends Nov. 30.

--

Carlie Kollath Wells is a morning reporter at NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Have an early-bird tip? Send it to her: cwells@nola.com or Twitter @carlie_kollath.Five of nine Mardi Gras season parade krewes in Jefferson Parish are publicly seeking new members for 2019. The solicitation represents the latest initiative to breathe new life into the flagging suburban Carnival.

The joint membership effort was organized by Isis captain Sherrell Gorman. She said she's trying to improve the Mardi Gras season not only for Jefferson krewes but for the parade spectators

Parish officials and krewe captains have been wringing their hands for two decades over declining interest in the annual spectacle. Once host to as many as 23 parades, Jefferson presented only nine conventional float parades in 2018, plus a children's float parade and two truck processions. Some krewes have folded, while others have moved to the Uptown New Orleans routes.

Eight of this year's nine krewes have applied for 2019 parade permits. One veteran, the Corps de Napoleon, did not seek a permit, but a new group, the Krewe of Kings, stepped in.

Membership in a Carnival krewe costs money; dues vary. It typically entitles members to ride in the parade and attend the ball, and sometimes includes other events during the year.

Here are the krewes that Gorman said are publicly seeking new members:

Mystic Knights of Adonis

Established --

Krewe of Argus

Established --

Krewe of Excalibur

Established --

Krewe of Isis

Established --

Krewe of Pandora

Established --

. . . . . . .

Drew Broach covers Jefferson Parish politics and education, Louisiana interests in Congress and other odds and ends for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Email: dbroach@nola.com. Facebook: Drew Broach TP. Twitter: drewbroach1. Google+: Drew Broach.Barry Ashe, a partner at the Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann law firm in New Orleans, won Senate confirmation Tuesday (Aug. 28) to be the newest judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. He succeeds Judge Ivan Lemelle, who took senior status in 2015.

Ashe was confirmed in a voice vote, without a roll call. He's had a much easier time in the confirmation process than Republican President Donald Trump's other nominee for the court, Wendy Vitter, who is general counsel to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans and is married to former Sen. David Vittter, R-La.

Whereas Ashe was endorsed in a 20-1 vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee in February, Vitter's nomination drove a wedge between conservative and liberal interests, and she cleared the committee by the narrowest of party-line margins: 11-10. Her nomination is still subject to a Senate floor vote.

Trump will have at least one more appointment to the 13-parish District Court. He will need to pick a successor to Kurt Engelhardt, whom the Senate has elevated to the three-state 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

Ashe, 62, has been at Stone Pigman since 1985 and is former chair of the firm's management committee. He was the 2010-11 president of the Federal Bar Association's New Orleans chapter.

At Stone Pigman, he has been primarily a commercial litigator and appellate specialist. Among his clients were pharmaceutical, chemical and drug companies, a railroad, the city of New Orleans and Sid-Mar's restaurant. In 1994, Ashe was chosen to defend the Tangipahoa Parish School Board's policy that evolution "should be presented to inform students of the scientific concept and is not intended to influence or dissuade the Biblical version of creation or any other concept."

"Barry is well-qualified to serve as a U.S. district judge in Louisiana, and I know he's ready to get to work," said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. "I congratulate Barry on his confirmation. He brings an impressive amount of legal experience to the bench. I know he will serve well."

"Mr. Ashe's qualifications and professionalism made him an obvious choice for this position," said Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La. "I want to congratulate Barry and his family, and I'm certain he will do well in his new role."

Ashe is a Benjamin Franklin High School alumnus and summa cum laude graduate of Tulane University. Ashe served three years in Navy, including time on the minesweeper USS Engage, then entered Tulane Law School, from which he graduated magna cum laude.

Since 1991, Ashe has been president of the First Baptist Church of New Orleans' board of trustees.

Read Ashe's Judiciary Committee questionnaire:

. . . . . . .

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Ashe currently chairs Stone Pigman's management committee.

Drew Broach covers Jefferson Parish politics and education, Louisiana interests in Congress and other odds and ends for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Email: dbroach@nola.com. Facebook: Drew Broach TP. Twitter: drewbroach1. Google+: Drew Broach.Recently, a black female student at Christ the King Elementary School in Terrytown, a private Catholic school, was pulled from class for violating school policy by wearing hair extensions. The statement from the Archdiocese of New Orleans said the girl's hairstyle violated the Terrytown school's requirement that all students have natural hair.

Natural hair is defined as hair that has not been chemically altered and can be styled in many different ways. Hair extensions are non-chemical hairstyles often worn by black women and girls. It is the position of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Greater New Orleans Chapter, that policies such as the one used by the Christ the King Elementary School are offensive and biased. They also subject the African-American community to the subliminal messaging that our hairstyles are "not good enough" for conventional spaces and settings.

In 2016, "The Good Hair Study," which was conducted by the Perception Institute, analyzed the implicit and explicit attitudes toward black women's hair. The findings of the national study showed evidence of implicit bias toward black women's natural hair. Additionally, an opinion essay written by Nadra Nittle in 2017 -- "It's Time to Stop Hair-Policing Children of Color" -- emphasized the detrimental impact biased hair policies have on people of color. We strongly urge schools and businesses to create policies that are inclusive of all.

Jemma Mendoza

President

National Coalition of 100 Black Women,

Greater New Orleans Chapter Inc.The exercise is as old as the Republic, but the first thing you need to understand about redistricting is that hot-water cornbread is as ubiquitous in north Louisiana as etouffee is in the south, says Rick Gallot, the Ruston Democratic representatFederal campaign documents shed some light on Kellie Lynn Collins, the former Democratic congressional candidate now accused of shooting and killing an Aiken man.

Collins, 31, was arrested earlier this month and was charged with grand larceny and the murder of Curt Cain. Collins was denied bond on Aug. 14, according to jail records.

The Aiken County coroner believes Cain, 41, died Aug. 4. The coroner said Cain died from blood loss after being shot. He was found dead in his apartment by the residential manager, according to a related incident report.

Cain was Collins's campaign treasurer, according to Federal Election Commission documents.

Collins, who requested a public defender at her bond hearing, was at one point running to represent Georgia's 10th Congressional District.

On Jan. 21, 2017, a statement of organization was electronically submitted to the Federal Election Commission. The statement was in regards to the formation of a committee, "Kellie Lynn Collins  Running for District 10."

Clayborn Thigpen of Thomson, Georgia was listed as the campaign manager. Cain's address was listed as Old Powderhouse Road in Thomson, Georgia.

Cain was found dead at his home on the 3000 block of Old Powderhouse Road in Aiken.

No committee website was given in the statement, but the committee's mailing address was: 6384 Lincolnton Highway, Thomson, Georgia.

An amended statement was filed Feb. 27, 2017. This one was filled out by hand.

A committee website  a Facebook page bearing Collins's name and the Georgia district  was listed. The page is no longer up, however.

Cain's address remained the same, except for the city, which was changed to Aiken.

Another statement of organization was submitted March 5, 2017. Cain's listed address had reverted to Thomson.

Between Jan. 1, 2017 and June 30, 2017, Collins's committee raised $5,576.85. Collins was her own and only donor, according to Federal Election Commission receipts.

There are a total of nine contributions detailed on the commission's website.

On Feb. 21, 2017, Collins gave the committee $2,500. That money was later refunded, according to financial records. On Feb. 27, 2017, Collins contributed another $2,300, according to the same information.

Every contribution made lists "student" as the contributor's  Collins's  employer. During her bond hearing mid-August, Collins told the judge she had been a student.

Between Jan. 1, 2017 and June 30, 2017, the same timeframe as before, Collins's committee spent $5,151.71.

In February 2017, Collins was in Athens, Georgia for a Democratic Party meeting. A $101 expense for a hotel there is listed.

A handful of campaign gas and food expenses are listed beginning March 11, 2017.

In June 2017, three payments  $300, $360 and $300  were made to a "campaign worker," according to Federal Election Commission data.

One day after Collins was extradited to Aiken County, the Federal Election Commission sent a letter to Cain notifying him of the commission's intent to administratively terminate the Kellie Lynn Collins  Running for District 10 committee.

Collins remained at the Aiken County detention center as of Thursday afternoon.There are now more than 80 craft breweries in Central Indiana; part of a resurgence that can be traced back to Broad Ripple Brewpub nearly 30 years ago and a tradition going back to the founding of Indianapolis in 1820.Rose McGowan, one of the leading voices of the #MeToo movement, said Monday that her partner had exchanged text messages with the actress and director Asia Argento in which Ms. Argento said that she had indeed slept with the actor Jimmy Bennett  an act that Ms. Argento recently denied.

In a lengthy statement, Ms. McGowan also said that her partner  the model Rain Dove  told her that in text messages, Ms. Argento had said that she had been receiving unsolicited nude photos of Mr. Bennett since the time he was 12 years old and had not informed the authorities or told him to stop sending the photos.

A spokeswoman for Rain Dove confirmed in an email that everything Ms. McGowan said in her statement was factual.

In the statement of more than 1,000 words, Ms. McGowan took pains to both explain why she had grown close to Ms. Argento as well as suggest that she had more recently distanced herself after allegations emerged that Ms. Argento sexually assaulted Mr. Bennett when he was 17.WASHINGTON  The internal investigator for the Federal Communications Commission has found that the agencys chairman, Ajit Pai, did not give preferential treatment to Sinclair Broadcast Group in the companys effort to merge with Tribune Media.

The inspector generals office said in a report that after examining emails, phone records and visitor logs and interviewing Mr. Pai and his chief of staff, Matthew Berry, we found no evidence, nor even the suggestion, of impropriety, unscrupulous behavior, favoritism towards Sinclair, or lack of impartiality.

The agencys inspector general had been looking for months into whether Mr. Pais decisions to relax regulations on media ownership were intended to benefit Sinclair in the merger.

The office found that Mr. Pais policy decisions were consistent with his public statements over the years that the rules on media ownership needed to be relaxed. The inspector general also said a fine against Sinclair by the commission under Mr. Pais leadership showed that he hadnt favored the company.One day in July, a detective approached Jeri Bacchus inside an East New York police station. The officer was investigating an assault in which a woman in her 60s was pushed to the ground and beaten after she refused to give the attacker money she had withdrawn from an A.T.M., Ms. Bacchus recalled.

The victim had received a bill for $785 for the ambulance that took her to the hospital after the attack, but she couldnt afford to pay and her health insurance didnt cover it, Ms. Bacchus said. The detective asked her if she could help.

Yes, she could. Ms. Bacchus, an advocate for crime victims, called the woman into the station, where together, they filled out paperwork requesting money from the state to cover the bill.

Were just waiting to hear back, Ms. Bacchus said in an interview last week.

Ms. Bacchus is one of 157 professionally trained advocates the city has placed in police stations across the city as part of a program designed to build trust between the police and victims who bear the financial, physical and psychological burdens of crime. Last week, the department announced it now has victim advocates in all 77 precincts and nine housing police service areas, completing the rollout of a plan announced in 2016.It has taken a long time  too long  to fully acknowledge the terrible suffering of the Rohingya people at the hands of Myanmars military rulers, perhaps because of the worlds reluctance to jeopardize their tentative political opening. A newly released United Nations report should put an end to any hesitation about holding the generals, and their civilian enablers, to account for what they have done: genocide and crimes against humanity.

Genocide is the most serious charge that can be leveled against a regime. It means, in effect, the premeditated destruction of a people, and for all the denials and evasions of Myanmars generals, that is what they have tried to do to the Rohingya Muslims, which has been condoned by the failure of civilian leaders  including the once-revered Nobel Peace Prize laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi  to speak out.

In the 18- page report released on Monday, the three-member United Nations Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar declared that the atrocities committed by the military in their campaign to cleanse Myanmar of the Rohingya undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law. The panel said estimates of 10,000 deaths in the campaign were conservative and cited witness accounts of mass killings, gang rapes and destruction of villages by the military. More than a million Rohingya are believed to be living in overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh.One of the unofficial slogans of the Trump era  besides grab em by the you-know-what and Rudy Giulianis recent truth isnt truth is nothing matters (sometimes preceded by a nihilistic lol).

Donald Trump flouts the Constitution, raking in money from supplicants who curry favor with him by patronizing his gaudy hotels. Congress is silent. The presidents commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, was accused of effectively stealing more than $120 million in various schemes  Forbes described him as possibly one of the biggest grifters in American history. It barely registered in the headlines. ProPublica reported that a trio of random Trump cronies with neither military nor government experience is secretly running the Veterans Affairs Department out of Mar-a-Lago. Republicans have made no plans for hearings. The presidents former lawyer testified that Trump directed him to commit felonies to cover up alleged affairs in advance of the election. The shock lasted about 48 hours.

This culture of impunity is less a result of Trumps political skill  hes deeply unpopular  than of one-party rule. The majority of voters want a check on this administration, but the Republican Party doesnt care; its beholden to a minority that delights in the helplessness of fellow citizens. If Democrats take the House in the November midterms  which the model of the statistics website FiveThirtyEight gives them about a 70 percent chance of doing  that helplessness ends. Contrary to Republican claims, there are no Democratic plans for imminent impeachment proceedings. But there will be subpoenas, hearings and investigations. Things that havent mattered for the past 19 months suddenly will.

On Sunday, Axios reported that Republicans are circulating a spreadsheet of investigations that House Democrats could undertake should they take control of the chamber. It was compiled by cataloging Democratic requests for documents and interviews that Republicans previously ignored, and it doesnt necessarily tell Republicans much about Democratic priorities. Still, Republicans are right to be worried.ROME  Since the start of his papacy, Francis has infuriated Catholic traditionalists as he tries to nurture a more welcoming church and shift it away from culture war issues, whether abortion or homosexuality. Who am I to judge? the pope famously said, when asked about gay priests.

Just how angry his political and doctrinal enemies are became clear this weekend, when a caustic letter published by the Vaticans former top diplomat in the United States blamed a homosexual current in the Vatican hierarchy for sexual abuse. It called for Francis resignation, accusing him of covering up for a disgraced cardinal, Theodore E. McCarrick.

With the letter  released in the middle of the popes visit to Ireland  an ideologically motivated opposition has weaponized the churchs sex abuse crisis to threaten not only Francis agenda but his entire papacy. At the very least, it has returned the issue of homosexuality in the Roman Catholic Church, which many conservatives are convinced lies behind the abuse crisis, to the center of debate.

Vatican intrigues and power struggles are nothing new, but they usually remain within the medieval walls or fly over the heads of the Catholic faithful around the globe.Israel has reopened Erez crossing with the Gaza Strip on Monday, a week after closing it over violence along the border, said the Israeli defense minister.

Palestinians are seen crossing at the Erez crossing with Israel near Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip on August 27, 2018. [Photo: AFP/Mahmud Hams]

Avigdor Lieberman said in a statement that the decision to reopen the only pedestrian crossing between Israel and the besieged Palestinian enclave was made "given the calm along the border."

Israel does not allow Gazans to enter its territory unless they were issued a special permit. According to Israeli authorities, some 1,000 Gazans pass through Erez each day, mainly for humanitarian reasons.

The reopening of the crossing comes amid talks held between Egypt and Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that runs Gaza, in a bid to achieve a long-held truce between Hamas and Israel.

Israel shut the crossing on Aug. 19 in response to "violent incidents" in renewed protests along the fence, Lieberman said.

Molotov cocktails and explosives were hurled towards Israeli forces in the protests, according to Israeli army, who responded with tear gas and live fire, killing two people and injured 60 others.

The rallies have been held to protest the crippling blockade on Gaza since 2007.

Since March 30, Israeli forces have killed at least 166 Palestinians, including 123 protestors, while one Israeli soldier was killed by a Palestinian sniper.Ah, a day at the beach. Sun, sea, sand and a bunch of people doing the Hustle.

On Saturday and Sunday, the Beach Sessions Dance Series returned to Rockaway Beach in Queens for its fourth year of free performances. Scheduled for the barest stretch of the dance calendar (late August to mid-September), this series might stand out even without the attractions of its location.

But the setting is definitely a plus, one made more tempting by the looming end of summer. So I rode the ferry over on Sunday to see what dance and beach might add up to. It wasnt groundbreaking art but it was a good time.

As in previous years, there was dance right on the sand with the Atlantic for a backdrop. This was Biba Bells Hustle on the Sand, in which Ms. Bell, in a shimmery dress and sneakers, joined five other dancers to repeat variations on line dances you might have done at a wedding. In Los Angeles, where I grew up, we called one of these dances the Electric Slide. In Detroit, where Ms. Bell is based, they call it the Hustle. (None of the routines in Ms. Bells dance was the Saturday Night Fever hustle, with the rotary fists and fingers rocketing to the sky.)But the viewings on Tuesday and Wednesday were for fans, many of whom started lining up late Monday. Camille Howard, a 46-year-old human resources executive from Austin, Tex., flew up and was in line by 10 p.m., spending the night bonding and praying with other Franklin devotees.

I knew that it would be crowded, I knew that the world was going to want to come and see her for the last time, Ms. Howard said. Its a celebration of her life. We had a great night.

The Franklin family was not expected to appear publicly for the Wright Museum viewing, but Ms. Howard said Ms. Franklins niece came by at 4 a.m. with hamburgers, water and T-shirts for those camped out on line.

[Aretha Franklin had power. Did we respect it?]

Outside the museum, a bittersweet scene featured both somber remembrance and celebratory carnival. While Ms. Franklins gospel music played inside, a local radio station broadcast other Franklin songs from a tent in front of the museum. Many who walked by couldnt help but dance. Hawkers touted posters and drinks, many fans wore $15 commemorative T-shirts and a vintage pink Cadillac, a tribute to Ms. Franklins hit Freeway of Love, was on display in the front parking lot. Nearby sat the ornate 1940 La Salle hearse that ferried Ms. Franklin from the funeral home and also once carried her father, a noted preacher, and Ms. Parks to their funerals.

Ms. Franklin remains special in Detroit where she stayed rooted despite her success and where she first discovered her voice in her church choir.Low stress

Its relaxed. Even though the festival is one of the most important and glamorous fixtures on the cinema calendar, not to mention the oldest film festival in the world, it can feel like a well-kept secret. You get the impression that most people in Venice dont know its happening.

And even on the Lido, Italian holidaymakers are content to stretch out on the beach without bothering to stroll up the street to the Palazzo del Cinema, the events main headquarters. The atmosphere is surprisingly laid back, and its definitely less frantic than that of Cannes, where everyone within a 10-mile radius seems to have a movie to buy or sell.

Celebrity sightings

Its easy to see someone famous. At certain festivals, crowds of autograph-hunters fill every square millimeter of the streets before each premiere, desperate to glimpse a Hollywood A-lister on the other side of the metal barriers. But most star-spotters dont venture as far as the Lido, so theres a lot more room. If you walk past the Palazzo at the right moment, you might well find yourself looking at Emma Stone.

And sometimes you dont even need to do that. Last year, I was trying to choose between flavors in a gelato shop when I noticed that Susan Sarandon was next to me, struggling with the same thing.A rare books dealer thought he had gotten lucky in 2013 when he managed to acquire a 1787 French first edition  inscribed by Thomas Jefferson when he was ambassador to France.

If someone else had seen it first, it would have been gone, said the dealer, John Thomson, who owns Bartlebys Books, an online shop.

He had no idea that his seeming good fortune was a byproduct of one of the most expansive rare book thefts in history.

The dealer at a book fair who sold it to him, John Schulman, is now accused of conspiring with a library archivist, Gregory Priore, to steal and sell rare items from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.BITWISE

A Life in Code

By David Auerbach

304 pp. Pantheon Books. $27.95.

What began as a vague apprehension  unease over the amount of time we spend on our devices, a sense that our children are growing up distracted  has, since the presidential election of 2016, transformed into something like outright panic. Pundits and politicians debate the perils of social media; technology is vilified as an instigator of our social ills, rather than a symptom. Something about our digital life seems to inspire extremes: all that early enthusiasm, the utopian fervor over the internet, now collapsed into fear and recriminations.

Bitwise: A Life in Code, David Auerbachs thoughtful meditation on technology and its place in society, is a welcome effort to reclaim the middle ground. Auerbach, a former professional programmer, now a journalist and writer, is cautiously positive toward technology. He recognizes the very real damage it is causing to our political, cultural and emotional lives. But he also loves computers and data, and is adept at conveying the awe that technology can summon, the bracing sense of discovery that Arthur C. Clarke memorably compared to touching magic. Much joy and satisfaction can be found in chasing after the secrets and puzzles of the world, Auerbach writes. I felt that joy first with computers.

Image

The book is a hybrid of memoir, technical primer and social history. It is perhaps best characterized as a survey not just of technology, but of our recent relationship to technology. Auerbach is in a good position to conduct this survey. He has spent much of his life on the front lines, playing around as a kid with Turtle graphics, working on Microsofts Messenger Service after college, and then reveling in Googles oceans of data. (Among his lasting contributions, for which he does not express adequate contrition, is being the first, while at Microsoft, to introduce smiley face emoticons to America.) He writes well about databases and servers, but whats really distinctive about this book is his ability to dissect Joyce and Wittgenstein as easily as C++ code. One of Auerbachs stated goals is to break down barriers, or at least initiate a conversation, between technology and the humanities, two often irreconcilable domains. He suggests that we need to be bitwise (i.e., understand the world through the lens of computers) as well as worldwise. We must be able to translate our ideas between the two realms. None have clean hands. A U.N. panel found evidence of torture, rape and other war crimes in Yemen, singling out Saudi and Emirati airstrikes for causing the most civilian casualties but also suggesting that Houthi rebels may be at fault. [The New York Times]

 Hurricane Marias toll: The first official outside evaluation put the number of deaths in Puerto Rico at nearly 3,000 more than usual after the storm, far higher than the governments initial and widely disputed toll was 64. [The New York Times]

 In Queensland, the authorities rounded up the last of 17 migrants who were caught illegally entering Australia by sea this week, after surviving a shipwreck and several days in crocodile-infested waters. [The New York Times]

 Russia boasted that its war games next month would be the biggest military exercises since the fall of the Soviet Union. They will include the Chinese and Mongolian armies. [Reuters]

 China has reportedly started building a training camp in a border area of Afghanistan, its first military presence there in modern history. [South China Morning Post]1. This is a really big deal.

Canadas foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, above, said they were moving full steam ahead to try to save a trilateral agreement on a revised North American Free Trade Agreement. Ms. Freeland said she was encouraged by the progress that the U.S. and Mexico have made, particularly on cars and labor.

The last-ditch discussions came a day after the Trump administration announced it had revised the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and threatened to leave Canada out, which could leave its economy reeling.

Ms. Freeland must decide by Friday whether to join the revised pact.

So far, the biggest changes deal with how to avert automobile tariffs, a topic closely watched around the world.(Want to get this briefing by email? Heres the sign-up.)

Good morning.

Heres what you need to know:

Nafta without Canada?

 The U.S. and Mexico have agreed to revise key parts of the North American Free Trade Agreement, leaving Canadas role in the three-country pact uncertain.

President Trump threatened on Monday to impose vehicle tariffs on the U.S. northern neighbor if it did not negotiate fairly. American lawmakers reacted with confusion and concern, uncertain if the agreement was legal or advisable, and some business leaders said Canadas inclusion was crucial.

The question now becomes whether a trilateral accord becomes a bilateral one, or whether Mr. Trumps threats pressure Canada to return to the negotiating table and accede to many of his demands. The Canadian foreign minister will be in Washington today for talks.When Barnes & Noble fired its chief executive, Demos Parneros last month, the bookseller was mysteriously quiet about why.

On Tuesday, the explanation came spilling out in a public exchange of accusations between Mr. Parneros and the company  including that Mr. Parneros had been fired in part because of claims of sexual harassment by an employee.

The fight began when Mr. Parneros filed a lawsuit claiming defamation and breach of contract. He said that he had been fired without warning after a deal to sell the company fell through. Casting himself as a well-respected retail executive, he claimed that the bookseller had enabled rumors that he was let go because of serious sexual misconduct.

He described Barnes & Noble as a financially troubled business that is in turmoil and disarray, with a volatile chairman who refuses to relinquish control. He said he was owed severance of $4 million in cash, plus equity and damages.WASHINGTON  A day after President Trump threatened to exclude Canada from a revised North American Free Trade Agreement, top Canadian officials raced to Washington and said they were moving full steam ahead to try to reach a compromise that could save the trilateral pact.

This is a really big deal, Chrystia Freeland, Canadas foreign minister, said on Tuesday after meeting with the United States trade representative. We are encouraged by the progress that the U.S. and Mexico have made, particularly on cars and labor, she said, adding that those concessions were going to be valuable for workers in Canada and the United States.

The last-ditch discussions come as Canada faces an ultimatum from the Trump administration, which has promised to ink a trade deal with Mexico in days and leave Canada from the pact. Ms. Freeland, who cut short a trip to Europe to fly to Washington, must now decide by Friday whether to join a revised pact that has been a source of contentious negotiations for a year or allow her country to be cast out of an agreement that has been critical to its economy.

We will, as we have done throughout this negotiation, stand up for the Canadian national interest and for Canadian values while looking for areas where we can find a compromise, she said, before heading to meet with Mexican officials.In that decision, United States v. Newman, the Second Circuit overturned the convictions of two hedge fund managers who received the information from other investors and never dealt directly with the insiders providing the disclosures. The court held that the benefit to the tipper must involve an exchange of something of pecuniary value  like money or property  and that it was not enough to show just the mere fact of a friendship, particularly of a casual or social nature.

The personal relationship requirement would have made proving a benefit in insider trading cases more difficult because it required showing more than a casual friendship between the source and the recipient of confidential information.

The Supreme Court declined to review the Newman decision, but in the United States v. Salman, it rejected one aspect of the appeals courts ruling. It stated the benefit need not involve something of pecuniary value. The Supreme Court, however, did not address the meaningfully close personal relationship requirement outlined by the Second Circuit. That left its status as an element to prove insider trading unclear and complicated figuring out what was left of the Newman decision.

The first time the Second Circuit reviewed Mr. Martomas case in August 2017, two appeals court judges ruled that the Supreme Court had effectively overturned the entirety of the Newman opinion, so the meaningfully close personal relationship requirement was gone. A vigorous dissent from the third judge in the case pointed out that the Salman decision never mentioned this requirement and argued that the majority had overreached in their decision.

Two months ago, the appeals court judges revised that opinion. They pulled back from claiming the Supreme Court had scuttled the Newman ruling in its entirety and held that the meaningfully close personal relationship requirement was merely one way of proving the benefit to a tipper. An intent to benefit the recipient of the information, known as the tippee, was enough to prove insider trading. The appeals court went so far as to say that giving information to a perfect stranger by saying you can make a lot of money trading on this would be enough to hold the tipper liable. Thats a far cry from any meaningful personal relationship.

The revised Martoma decision means the government needs to prove only that Mr. Collins intended to benefit his son, who in turn sought to help Mr. Zarsky, the fiancees father, by passing on the information.

The Collins indictment indicates that the case will be circumstantial, built around the timing of a series of telephone calls the congressman made to his son while he was attending a picnic at the White House.Elon Musk was up early on Saturday. He departed Los Angeles, where he runs SpaceX, his private rocket venture, and flew north in his white Gulfstream jet. Stopping in Silicon Valley, he picked up two engineers from Tesla, his electric-car company. They flew on to Reno, Nev., where they spent the day at Teslas battery plant, the Gigafactory.

It might have been just another workday for Mr. Musk  a multistate jaunt to personally fix a drive-unit production line. But this was no ordinary morning. He was a brief nights sleep removed from one of his most consequential decisions: scrapping his plan to take Tesla private.

It was an abrupt about-face, and it capped a tumultuous two and a half weeks that began with a single tweet and wound up roiling markets, setting off regulatory alarms and raising questions about his judgment. Even by Mr. Musks standards  this is a C.E.O. who believes Tesla is under attack by saboteurs, has a personal life playing out in the gossip blogs and is prone to fiery outbursts on Twitter  it has been a time of high intrigue.

The reason Elon seems to attract drama is that he is so transparent, so open, in a way that can come back to bite him, said Kimbal Musk, Mr. Musks younger brother and a Tesla board member. He doesnt know how to do it differently. Its just who he is.LONDON  Ermenegildo Zegna, the Italian fashion group known for its classic mens suits, said on Tuesday it would buy a majority stake in Thom Browne, an insurgent American label, underscoring the family firms ambitions to reach new markets and court a younger set of customers.

The Zegna group said that it had reached an agreement with private equity firm Sandbridge Capital to acquire an 85 percent stake in Thom Browne Inc. in a deal that values the American company at $500 million. The purchase  involving a historic brand acquiring an upstart  points to the surging popularity of small brands and high-end casual wear, a trend that has upended the global luxury industry.

Thom Browne, a onetime actor who founded his business with five suits and a small appointment-only shop in 2001, will hold the outstanding 15 percent stake. He will also continue in his current role as the brands chief creative officer, the Zegna statement said, while Rodrigo Bazan will remain chief executive officer.

We were lucky to do this deal, Ermenegildo Zegna, the Zegna Groups chief executive and grandson of the companys founder, said in an interview. We have been looking for a trophy brand like Thom Browne for quite some time, but everything was either too big, too expensive or not attractive enough as a proposition.President Trump, in a series of early morning Twitter posts on Tuesday, attacked Google for what he claimed was an effort to intentionally suppress conservative news outlets supportive of his administration.

Mr. Trumps remarks  and an additional warning later in the day that Google, Facebook and Twitter have to be careful  escalated a conservative campaign against the internet industry that has become more pointed since Apple, Google and Facebook removed content from Alex Jones, a right-wing conspiracy theorist who runs the site InfoWars and has been a vocal supporter of Mr. Trump.

Google search results for Trump News shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media, Mr. Trump said on Twitter at 5:24 a.m. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent.

Mr. Trump added that they are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!A few blocks from the ocean, in the heart of Santa Monica, Calif., plans for creative offices are taking shape, tailored to the areas burgeoning tech industry.

In Hicksville, on Long Island, a proposal for nearly 600 units would form the communitys largest apartment complex.

And in Aventura, Fla., construction has started on a luxurious shopping center with restaurants, water fountains and boulevards lined by palm trees.

These developments are rising from the ashes of former Sears department stores. And they represent an audacious feat of financial engineering by a group of wealthy investors who bet that one of the retailers greatest assets was its real estate.Want climate news in your inbox? Sign up here for Climate Fwd:, our email newsletter.

WASHINGTON  As President Trump demanded a makeover of the North American Free Trade Agreement over the past year, Canada staked out a position squarely at odds with the White House: Any new pact must recognize climate change.

That demand is now facing a test.

The United States and Mexico, the other two parties to the three-nation trade deal, in recent days have hammered out a possible revision of the pact, and Mr. Trump is urging Canada to sign on or be hit with automobile tariffs. The revised terms dont mention climate change , according to the scant details made public Monday, and the Trump administration has long dismissed the science that shows global warming poses a serious threat to people and economies .

Chrystia Freeland, Canadas foreign affairs minister, was in Washington on Tuesday to continue negotiations. Her government so far has given little indication of its intentions beyond a statement by Ms. Freelands spokesman, Adam Austen, who said the priority was that any deal be good for the middle class.TORONTO  With the possible exception of his mother, nobody would argue that people dont talk enough about David Chang. More often than not, though, he is talked about for the wrong things .

Diners and restaurant writers insist on seeing him as the inventor of every scrap of food sold under the Momofuku name, rather than as a restaurant operator who is very skilled  maybe singularly skilled  at creating the conditions other chefs need to come up with food thats not just novel but relevant to our world.

Kojin, which he opened here in June, would be completely baffling if you believed that Mr. Chang was behind every dish. Once youd made your way to the third floor of the askew glass cube that juts out of the Shangri-La Hotel, youd search for his fingerprints on the menu, almost as big as a newspaper page and decorated with antique-looking illustrations of crab claws and sausages emanating from a hand-cranked meat grinder.Mr. Giulianis behavior in the 1980s only foreshadowed how he  and his client  interacts with the press today. Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush were likely to stick to prepared statements and to keep aides and lawyers out of the public eye, for the most part. In contrast, Mr. Giuliani serves as somewhat of a deflector, presenting varied defenses of the president for different news outlets, often matching the presidents harsh tone.

Traditionally, people in Washington are much more circumspect, much more careful in their speaking, Ms. Bumiller said. They speak in sound bites and talking points. But in the New York she covered in the 1980s and 1990s, everybody was so brash and so blunt and so in your face, she said. There were blood feuds in New York between politicians that went way back, and New York politics is very personal; its very raw; its gritty; its great to cover.

Since then its become harder to distinguish where the story of one town ends and the other begins. Maggie Haberman, a Times White House correspondent who has always covered the administration from New York, met Ms. Bumiller, now her boss, when Ms. Haberman was covering City Hall for The New York Post in the late 90s. Rudy, as mayor, was pretty iron fist, Ms. Haberman said. I think that Trump thought that being president was going to be like being mayor. And its been surprising to him that it hasnt been.

Much like the Giuliani who liked the limelight in those years, Giuliani doesnt coordinate with the communications shop, she said. They have no idea what hes going to say. They find it frustrating, but its the schism of the president versus his own administration. His aides dont like it, but Rudys doing what Trump wants him to do  to just go out there and fight.

After 30 years of covering the same person, reporters tend to develop certain instincts for pursuing the story. But, Mr. Barry said, Weve been around long enough to expect to be surprised. With Mr. Trump and Mr. Giuliani, he said, the predictability is the unpredictable.

Indeed, the three journalists work on the story was interrupted last week by another surprise: breaking news of the guilty plea of another New Yorker, Michael D. Cohen, in a New York federal court.Dr. Tongan pointed out a modern-looking machine in the corner. It was a CPAP, or continuous positive airway pressure machine  a lifesaving device for babies suffering from lung problems. With a shrug she said it had been donated by an aid organization but the clinic didnt have the specialized oxygen hookup needed for it to work, so it sat limply in the corner, unused.

Yet mothers here had nowhere else to turn. This was the best care they could get in this war-torn nation.

Before we knew what was happening  just minutes after we arrived  Dr. Tongan and a nurse, Juma Lino, were hovering over a small baby as the childs mother, Restina Boniface, looked on. It took us a moment to discern Dr. Tongans fingertips pressing into the infants chest in steady rhythm. The room was quiet. The baby had stopped breathing.

As journalists with more than two decades of experience between us, we were used to developing trust with a subject before filming intimate or harrowing scenes. Though wed explained our intent and received permission from the mothers to chronicle them and their babies, we couldnt help but feel unsure about whether to proceed, and we didnt have an opportunity to ask.

When we fully realized what was happening, we both took a step back, allowing the doctor and mother room to move without getting in the way.

Restina paced, alternately hovering behind the doctor and moving to a metal chair a few feet away. She drew her hand to her neck and let out a short sigh that seemed to fill the room.Nothing marks the rupture between that age and our own so clearly as the discarded notion that condescension is virtuous. In our more democratic age, we dont dare admit that we think we are better than others, let alone that anyone is better than us. Yet hierarchy hasnt gone anywhere, and something like 18th-century condescension remains a common practice. Weve simply lost the name for it. When the president of a university stops to speak to a student after a lecture, she is talking down a hierarchy of academic status. The student is likely to be charmed  just as an Episcopal priest is gratified by the considerate attentions of a bishop and the security guard is pleased when the down to earth museum trustee remembers her name. Were happy when the higher-status person acts as if shes on our level  which is why, as that Duke of Devonshire understood, you condescend best by pretending not to.

What we often confuse with condescension these days is its curdled opposite: contempt. Condescension denies distance; contempt asserts it. Contempt can be hate-filled or dismissive, angry or amused  but like condescension, it requires the background system of status. Nothing is so contagious as contempt! declares the heroine of Burneys 1782 novel Cecilia, rejecting her lovers proposal that they marry against his familys objections. If his set has contempt for her, who shall dare assure me you would not catch the infection?

The contagion of contempt reflects the judgments rendered by our betters. A scientist, with a large laboratory to run, learns that junior staff members think hes an arrogant jerk; he rolls his eyes, wondering why they dont appreciate his high standards. But when he learns a Nobel laureate in his field considers him a lightweight? He doesnt sleep for a week. People distinguish sharply between the resentment of someone of lower status and the contempt of someone higher. One annoys; the other wounds.

Notice that conservatives seem to care more what liberals say about them than vice versa. It hurts more to be dismissed as a bigot than jeered as a social-justice warrior. The working-class resentment toward elites  resentment being the reciprocal of contempt  is asymmetrical in the very same way. Educated liberals are inclined to disavow hierarchy, and yet they appear to be the beneficiaries of one.During closing arguments last week in a routine drug trial in Federal District Court in Manhattan, a defense lawyer questioned the credibility of one of the governments cooperating witnesses, a drug dealer named Kenny Ashe.

Mr. Ashes testimony should be disregarded because its not true, the defense lawyer said. Then he added, You know whats funny? Yesterday, Manafort was convicted.

The reference to Paul Manafort, President Trumps former campaign chairman, drew an immediate objection from the prosecutor. At a sidebar out of the jurys earshot, the lawyer, Kafahni Nkrumah, explained that he wanted to tell the jury about President Trumps criticism of cooperating witnesses  flippers, as Mr. Trump had called them. One such witness, Rick Gates, had testified at Mr. Manaforts financial fraud trial in Alexandria, Va.

I believe that the presidents opinion of cooperators is just as pertinent as anyone elses, Mr. Nkrumah told the judge, adding, He is talking about cooperators, the essence of this case.Two days before its 1994-95 Fall Winter Ready-to-Wear show in Paris, the fashion house Chanel was missing a small but crucial element for the collection: the nail color for the models. That was when Heidi Morawetz, director of the houses makeup-creation studio at the time and an expert on color, stepped in.

In Chanels studio kitchen, Ms. Morawetz and Dominique Moncourtois, the companys international director of makeup creation, set about mixing red and black pigments until they came up with Rouge Noir, a blood-red varnish that would become a sensation throughout Europe (it sold out in Britain) and the United States.

Rouge Noir became this ridiculous global phenomenon, Anna-Marie Solowij, a British beauty journalist and co-founder of the online shopping site BeautyMART, said in an interview. It was such an outrageous color.

Known as Vamp in the United States, the nail polish was said by Peter Philips, who worked with Ms. Morawetz at Chanel, as well by as others in the makeup industry, to have been worn by Uma Thurman in Quentin Tarantinos movie Pulp Fiction in 1994  although others say that the shade Ms. Thurman wore, while similar, was created for the movie and was not the color Ms. Morawetz helped create.

The Rev. Robert W. Wood, who boldly urged Christian clergymen in a 1960 book to welcome gay men and women to their churches in a time of widespread prejudice against them, and went on to march in early gay-rights protests, died on Aug. 19 at his home in Concord, N.H. He was 95.

Rejean Blanchette, a friend who helped care for Mr. Wood in recent years, confirmed the death.

Mr. Woods book Christ and the Homosexual was a rare plea by a gay clergyman for equality at a time when local and state laws criminalized the sexual acts of gay, lesbian and bisexual people, and churchmen condemned homosexuality from their pulpits.

Mr. Wood was a United Church of Christ minister in Spring Valley, N.Y., when he decided to write the book. He was reluctant at first, believing there were others more qualified. But when no one else wrote such a book, he borrowed against his life insurance policy to pay for the publication of a few thousand copies by a vanity press.

Blending social science and cultural analysis with his experiences ministering to closeted gay men, Mr. Wood made a powerful appeal for the full acceptance of gay people by churches and American society.Im about to graduate from college. Im gliding across campus with a bhangra bounce to my step. All I have to do is walk across the podium and grab the diploma. At the last second, I realize Ive failed to submit my senior thesis and cant graduate. I become overwhelmed, panic, and attempt an epic cram session.

But I know its pointless. Ive run out of time.

Then I wake up.

Im a 37-year-old man with a family who actually graduated from college and law school and is suffering from a midlife crisis that reveals itself in recurring nightmares.

One night, Im panicking over a final exam. Another night, Im in fifth grade, overweight and wearing husky pants while my classmates wear trendy jeans. Theyre all remixes of the same plot: Im stuck, falling more behind all the time.

The anxiety that I havent done enough  and will never do enough  is heightened by living in a political climate that makes it feels more urgent than ever to make a difference in the world. To do something that matters. When I met the high school student Cameron Kasky, a Parkland shooting survivor, he told me about his activism against gun violence. I felt inspired, but also worthless  realizing Id spent the night trying to hide the salsa stain on my dress shirt. My childhood crush Alyssa Milano is using her Twitter account to raise awareness about social justice issues like a womans right to choose, while I still find myself slipping into talking about what I had for lunch. I remind myself that Im lucky to have the opportunity to write for large audiences, but in some ways this intensifies the pressure I put on myself. On many of the days I havent published a new piece, Im hit with the realization that my friends from college are canvassing their neighborhoods to get out the vote for the 2018 midterms, while Im deciding whether to take my kids to the mall or Chuck E. Cheeses.LONDON  As Brexit and its attendant chaos hurtle toward us, one of the most darkly humorous features of contemporary British politics (a competitive field) is the ubiquity of parliamentarians, pundits and business titans who wail and gnash at our ceaseless political tumult but appear utterly incurious about the conditions that produced it.

Ten years on from the start of the financial crisis, they cannot entirely ignore the many ways in which politics has been reconfigured by the 2008 crash and its aftershocks. Such stalwart defenders of a certain brand of common sense capitalism have watched in horror as ill-mannered upstarts  on both the right and the left  build power at the fringes. But these freshly emboldened centrists pretend that the rupture has no connection to their own dogma and seem to envision the whole sorry mess as some sort of administrative error that will be swiftly tidied away once the right person, with the right branding, is restored to authority.

There is a hole in the center made for a savior, an op-ed essay in The Times of London declared earlier this year. That article, like many similar ones that have appeared before and since, mentioned the former Prime Minister Tony Blair, his fellow New Labour luminary David Miliband and Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat deputy prime minister under David Camerons first government, as possible candidates to lead a liberal revivalist movement along the lines of Emmanuel Macrons En Marche party in France. Theres never any shortage of speculation on who might fill the hole. The trouble is that neither the would-be figureheads nor their media cheerleaders seems to be interested in why it appeared.This article is part of the Opinion Today newsletter. You can sign up here to receive the newsletter each weekday.

The main reason that Mollie Tibbettss horrible killing has received so much attention is racism. Tibbettss accused murderer is a Mexican immigrant, and large segments of the conservative media, including talk radio and Fox News, like to call attention to crimes committed by people with dark skin. Its silly to pretend otherwise.

Youll notice the pattern if you spend any time watching or listening to these media sources. The pattern becomes especially clear when they descend into falsehoods.

Just look at the made-up story that Fox promoted last week about land seizures in South Africa, which led to a false tweet from President Trump about the large-scale killing of farmers. Or look at Lou Dobbss long history of telling on-air lies about immigrants (despite their comparatively low crime rates). Dobbs, other right-wing hosts and Trump have no such history of making up stories about crimes committed by white people.Not long before Mihir Shah was to be married in 2007, his soon-to-be mother-in-law got a diagnosis of breast cancer. She underwent chemotherapy and survived, wearing a wig to the wedding.

But while the women in Mr. Shahs family  in both India and the United States  were able to get breast cancer screening, it made him think of the millions who werent as fortunate.

More than 90 percent of women in the developing world dont have access to early detection of breast cancer. One reason is that mammograms, the gold-standard screening technique, are rarely used because of their high cost and a lack of trained radiologists. India has one radiologist for every 100,000 people; the United States has 12.

Then there are logistical challenges like a lack of electricity and poor roads. Many people are not aware of cancer, and the disease still carries a stigma.To the Editor:

In Broken Tributes to a Morally Bankrupt Cause (Op-Ed, Aug. 22), Blain Roberts and Ethan J. Kytle suggest that the pedestals on which statues of Confederate heroes once stood should remain vacant to teach a history lesson. But an empty pedestal leaves the lesson incomplete, because it does not pay respect to those who brought us into the civil rights era and inspired activists to remove those statues.

On those pedestals in Chapel Hill, N.C., should now stand the heroes of civil rights, including Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Thurgood Marshall. In Charlottesville, Va., Heather Heyer, who was killed in a protest against white supremacists, should replace Robert E. Lee on the pedestal.

Universities in particular have the ability, without getting engaged in the political process, to raise our sights to the long arc of justice. The University of North Carolina should choose a homegrown civil rights hero to replace the Confederate Silent Sam, such as Sylvia X. Allen, the first black woman to graduate from the law school, or James Robert Walker Jr., one of the first black men to attend the law school who received an N.A.A.C.P. Distinguished Service Award.

Placing civil rights leaders on these pedestals would be a small, symbolic reparation to the black communities in these Southern cities, towns and campuses for the intimidation, indignity and insult imposed by having racist heroes looming over their daily lives.To the Editor:

Re Alarmed by Rising Debt, N.Y.U. Makes Medical School Tuition-Free (news article, Aug. 17 ):

When I went to medical school back in 1974, I was fortunate to have a tuition scholarship . My initial idea of pursuing orthopedic surgery was quickly dashed by the end of my surgery rotation.

After my internal medicine residency, I worked at a public health clinic in Philadelphia while waiting to figure out my real career. But I soon discovered a new field  the low-paying public health world was the perfect intersection of public service and health care.

Had I been mired in debt, it would have never happened. Both the New York University medical students and our society will benefit profoundly by this visionary gift.

Walter Tsou

Philadelphia

The writer is a former health commissioner of Philadelphia.

To the Editor:

Re Medical School Shouldnt Be Free for Everyone (Op-Ed, Aug. 22):

I wholeheartedly agree with Elisabeth Rosenthals approach to relieving medical student debt. In focusing on societal need, we should be providing relief for students who pursue primary care in underserved communities. We could add to that careers in global health, public service and health services research.Beyond the chance to shake things up in Washington, this falls elections present voters with an opportunity to support reformers around the country who are out to change the political climate from the ground up.

In New Yorks Democratic primary on Thursday, Sept. 13, strong, new candidates, unafraid to challenge the old guard, are tapping into voters anger at rogue Democrats who let Republicans keep control of the State Senate.

Over seven years , eight senators elected as Democrats gave their support to Republican leadership in return for committee assignments or other perks. They called themselves the Independent Democratic Conference, or I.D.C. Their self-serving acquiescence to Republican control of the Senate ensured inaction on election and criminal justice reforms, an overhaul of rent laws and a funding stream for the New York City subways.

Many of the challengers have said Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who for years did little to bring the wayward Democrats into the fold, has been an obstacle to genuine progress. Electing them, particularly if Democrats can win full control of both houses of the Legislature in November, would help focus the next governor  whoever that is  on the kind of actions New York needs.In which case its also easy to imagine a scenario in which Francis didnt technically lift those sanctions so much as acted in ignorance of them, or of their seriousness. He might have been given some knowledge, by Vigano and others, of the allegations against McCarrick but either assumed they couldnt be that bad (at this point the cardinal mostly stood accused of imposing himself on seminarians, not teenage minors) or else chose to believe a denial from the accused cardinal himself. Why? In part because of perceived self-interest: Francis needed allies, McCarrick was sympathetic to the popes planned liberalizing push, and the pope wanted his help reshaping the ranks of American bishops.

In this scenario Francis would be guilty of self-deception and incuriosity but not as nakedly culpable as Vigano implies. And if its easy to imagine this scenario because of the Danneels example, its also easy to imagine because thats how things have proceeded consistently in the church since the sex abuse scandals broke: If a given predator or enabler is on side for either conservatives or liberals, he will find defenders and protectors for as long as events and revelations permit.

Thats a major reason John Paul II refused to investigate Father Marcel Maciel, the wicked founder of the Legionaries of Christ  because the Legionaries were conservative, and apparently a great success, and that was all that mattered. Its why many conservative Catholics unwisely defended John Paul II-appointed prelates like Boston's Bernard Law in the early 2000s. Its why a notorious traditionalist priest, Father Carlos Urrutigoity, could find a welcome from conservative bishops in Pennsylvania and then Paraguay, despite a trail of abuse allegations.

Now its why certain organs and apostles of liberal Catholicism are running interference for McCarricks protectors  because Francis is their pope, the liberalizer they yearned for all through the John Paul and Benedict years, and alls fair in the Catholic civil war.

But the inevitable, even providential irony is that this sort of team thinking never leads to theological victory, but only to exposure, shame, disaster. Indeed, the lesson of these bitter decades is that any faction hoping to lead Roman Catholicism out of crisis should begin with purges within its own ranks, with intolerance for any hint of corruption.

Francis, alas for everyone, did the opposite. Elected by cardinals eager for a cleanup at the Vatican, he wanted to be a theological change agent instead  which led him to tolerate the corrupt Roman old guard (whose names fill Viganos letter) and to rehabilitate liberal figures like Danneels, McCarrick and Cardinal Oscar Maradiaga of Honduras (a dubious figure with a predator among his underlings and a scandal at his seminary) who deserved the sidelines if not a penitents cell.

Now those allies may be the ruin of his pontificate. But this doesnt mean that the pope should resign  not even if Vigano is fully vindicated. One papal resignation per millennium is more than enough. That cop-out should not be easily available to pontiffs confronted with scandals, including scandals of their own making, any more than it should be available to fathers.

Instead the faithful should press Francis to fulfill the paternal obligations at which he has failed to date, to purge the corruption he has tolerated and to supply Catholicism with what it has lacked these many years: a leader willing to be zealous and uncompromising against what Benedict called the filth in the church, no matter how many heads must roll on his own side of the Catholic civil war.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTopinion), and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter.For decades, Americans living in certain neighborhoods couldnt borrow money to buy houses and build businesses. These neighborhoods were home to people of color, immigrants and poor white people. Banks, real-estate agents, local officials and the federal government labeled their neighborhoods hazardous, marking them off with red lines on maps.

The Community Reinvestment Act was passed in 1977 to end this practice of redlining, by requiring banks to lend money in the communities where they are chartered to do business or receive deposits. Banks have made nearly $2 trillion in small-business and community development loans since 1996, according to our calculations, to meet the requirements of the law. Thats an impressive record.

But the law didnt erase discrimination. Nor has it ended Americas glaring economic segregation, which is caused in part by unequal access to banking and credit. Three out of four neighborhoods marked hazardous by government surveyors 80 years ago are still lower-income today, according to our analysis.The top American air commander in the Middle East voiced frustration in an interview last week over the murderously incompetent Saudi-led air campaign in Yemen. Though welcome, his sentiment was far too mild. It should have been more like horror  and shame over American complicity in what a new United Nations report views as criminal carnage.

Saudi Arabia and its Sunni allies intervened in Yemen more than three years ago to rout Iran-backed Shiite rebels who had driven the internationally recognized government out of the capital and into Saudi exile. As the conflict has dragged on, the rebels have also been accused of atrocities, but the United Nations body and human rights groups say it is the Saudi-led air war that has done the most to turn an already impoverished country into a humanitarian nightmare and an indiscriminate killing field.

Again and again, Saudi-led airstrikes have struck civilian targets, slaughtering innumerable innocents. Last Friday, the United Nations said the coalition killed at least 22 children and four women as they fled a battle zone. Two weeks earlier, on Aug. 9, a coalition air assault struck a school bus, killing dozens of children. Countless more civilians have been killed by bombs at markets, weddings, funerals  more than 6, 500 by the official count, but certainly many, many more. Millions more civilians are suffering from shortages of food and medical care.FOR SALE

$22.5 MILLION

435 Broome Street (between Crosby Street and Broadway)

Manhattan

This 10,769-square-foot five-story cast-iron loft building, to be delivered vacant, is available in the SoHo Cast Iron District. The Victorian Gothic building, designed by William A. Potter in 1873, includes original exterior Italianate columns, as well as a basement and subbasement with windows. Three residential lofts, each 2,111 square feet, occupy the top three floors, a 2,326-square-foot retail space has 15-foot-high ceilings on the ground floor and a loft showroom on the floor above. Nicholas K, a clothing designer, has a short-term lease for the first two floors. Although 1,816 square feet in air rights are available, the Landmarks Preservation Commission must approve any development.

Seller: Socket Realty

Brokers: Louis Puopolo, Alex Furst and Lori Barbaria, Douglas Elliman

RECENT LEASEImage

Were All Afraid to Talk About Money. Heres How to Break the Taboo.

Its hard to learn about something when youre discouraged from talking about it.

Aug. 28, 2018

I want to get my own place. How much is your rent? a friend once asked. He immediately put his hand over his mouth.

Sorry, he said. Thats so rude.

Many of us grow up learning that money is one of a few topics  like politics, sex and religion  that you should avoid in polite company. You dont brag about your net worth. You dont share your salary with colleagues. You try not to ask your friends about their rent, even if it helps put your budget in perspective.

Were discouraged from talking about money at every turn, but if you want to fix your financial situation, talking about it is necessary.

Even setting aside that social taboo of discussing money, there are practical hurdles in your way to getting better at money: Learning about money is intimidating, and theres no structural system in place to teach us. Further still, we look at poor money skills as something to be ashamed and embarrassed of, which can keep us from being honest about money and seeking out the right kind of help.Save for Louis Vuitton steamer trunks, luggage has never had a particularly sexy connotation. (Recall Holden Caulfield complaining about his Gladstones banging the hell out of his legs.) The 1 percent of yore hired people to carry their belongings, and some celebrities still glide through airports with nary a suitcase in sight.

But about a year ago, amid the sea of black polyester-nylon that dominates most airports, I started noticing something new: sleek, colorful, grooved hard-shell rolling suitcases with built-in chargers.

Theyre made by Away, a two-year-old luggage start-up with $81 million of investment. Fans include Rashida Jones, Karlie Kloss and Dwyane Wade, all of whom have designed limited editions with the company.

In December, at an airport in India, I saw a woman fight back tears when a gate agent told her that she might have to check her Away carry-on, owing to overhead compartments that were more compact than averag e. In April, at Aways light-filled store in West Hollywood, I watched a woman storm in, demanding to know all the colors the carry-on came in because she wanted to add something fresh to the navy and black pieces she owned."What inspired me to create the durag? Well, someone said something negative about it and that caught my attention, so I thought I'd do something different, and I searched for the longest durag ever made," Daryl McPherson said. "It was a mission. When I found it, I added my own twist to it. That's what I do. It took about two days to throw the diamonds on. I don't make clothes, but whenever Afropunk comes up, I have to do something."

Credit... Melissa Bunni Elian for The New York TimesTRACY, Calif.  Last week, at a tiny airport in the dusty flatlands east of San Francisco, a red-and-white helicopter lifted gently into the air, hovering a few feet over the tarmac. It looked like any other helicopter, except for the small black cube attached to its nose.

Local officials spent the week testing this aircraft for a new emergency service, due for launch in January, that will respond to 911 calls via the air. But as this helicopter moves police officers and medical workers over the San Joaquin Valley, it will feed a more ambitious project. That black cube is part of a growing effort to build small passenger aircraft that can fly on their own.

Today, the helicopter is flown by seasoned pilots. But the new emergency service will be operated by SkyRyse, a Silicon Valley start-up that intends to augment small helicopters and other passenger aircraft with hardware and software that allow for autonomous flight, leaning on many of the same technologies that power driverless cars. These include the 360-degree cameras and radar sensors built into the nose of the aircraft.

There are many things that must come to fruition before autonomous aircraft start flying people, said Mark Groden, a co-founder and the chief executive of SkyRyse. But we are developing the technology that can take us there.Living on a remote island at the mercy of nature demands resiliency, and the Azores do qualify as remote: nine volcanic islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, 850 miles off the coast of Portugal, their protectorate. The Azores are known for volcanic craters, natural hot springs, 600-foot waterfalls, mountains, cerulean lagoons and dense forests.

But it has not always been idyllic on the islands. Throughout their history, Azoreans have had to overcome disease, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and hurricanes that have decimated their food supply and threatened their economy and survival.

But they are masters of reinvention and ingenuity: They have learned how to cultivate tea and coffee, plants that are not native to the islands but flourish in the temperate climate and mineral-rich volcanic soil. They have also preserved and perfected centuries-old traditions in cheesemaking and wine production to ensure sustainability and safeguard their culture. They proudly share their agrarian heritage with travelers seeking an authentic Azorean experience.Ms. Turkiewicz said that restoring the Wortham will cost at least $100 million and that although both theaters will be open, repairs in the centers basement will continue through May. Despite the ongoing work, we have a packed season of performances through the summer, she said.

Buffalo Bayou Park, a 160-acre green space located west of downtown Houston, is also still working to get back to its former glory: the Bayou flooded the lower part of the park, inundating it with four to five feet of sediment, according to Anne Olson, the president of the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, a nonprofit that helps to preserve the park.

While 2,300 volunteers have spent more than 7,000 hours removing the sediment, repairing trail lights and replanting native plants and trees, five of the parks footpaths have yet to reopen. Were pleased with the progress weve made, but the park is not yet to where it was before the storm, Ms. Olson said.

The restaurant scene, on the other hand, is fully back and even ahead of what it was before Harvey, said Melissa Stewart, the executive director of the Greater Houston Restaurant Association. The industry, which is comprised of around 12,500 restaurants, saw a 10 to 25 percent decrease in business in the three to four months after Harvey, she said; some restaurants were flooded or had other damage from the storm. As a result, several, including the beloved seafood spot Holleys, were forced to close.

But as of August, the restaurant business had recovered, Ms. Stewart said, with some reporting an increase in diners. The city has also seen several openings following Harvey including a branch of the Japanese chain Nobu and one of the Mediterranean chain Fig & Olive.

In addition, some longtime Houston restaurateurs rebranded their existing concepts after the storm. Benjy Levit, for example, the owner of seven Houston restaurants, turned Benjys, an upscale farm-to-table spot, which was flooded with five inches of water, into The Classic, a casual and affordable spot that serves comfort food dishes like burgers and roast chicken.

I took the damage I had from Harvey as an opportunity to come up with a new idea, he said. The Classic opened at the end of July and has been packed daily ever since, according to Mr. Levit. We have way more diners per day than we ever did in the nine years that Benjys was open, he said.Good morning.

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There are two independent bookshops off the charming town square in Healdsburg, Calif., and local hardware stores have thrived as the community has pushed back against the encroachment of big box retailers.

The community also loves its local newspaper. When Rollie Atkinson, who owns four weekly newspapers in Sonoma County, reduced the number of print pages a couple of years ago, loyal readers raised holy hell, he said.

But it was a fiscal necessity: The traditional business model for newspapers, in Healdsburg and elsewhere, was failing rapidly. So as he cast about for new ideas to save the business, he was inspired by what another Northern California news outlet, the digital news site Berkeleyside, had done: raise about $1 million by selling stock to readers.

So this year, Mr. Atkinson, in what is believed to be a first for a local newspaper, began making his pitch at cocktail gatherings and dinner parties and in full-page advertisements. The so-called direct public offering  essentially a small scale I.P.O. but without investment banks  has so far raised $100,000 by selling equity. The offering lasts until next March, and Mr. Atkinson said he hoped to raise $400,000.Dr. Victor Schwartz, a psychiatrist and chief medical officer of the Jed Foundation, a suicide prevention group, said the leaves can serve a good purpose. It may be paternalistic, but its actually for the students own good, to get them out of the jam thats occurred thats leading to their inability to function, he said.

Some students say leaves have been good for them.

A stress fracture ended Rebecca Minsleys dream of becoming a ballet dancer, and she was depressed when she arrived at Bates College in 2014, she said. She swallowed a handful of pills but quickly sought help at the campus health center, which wanted her to leave, she said. Her mother and a dean successfully fought for her to stay, arguing that she would just become more depressed at home. By her second semester, she stopped getting out of bed and going to class. When she was asked once again to take a leave, she agreed.

Back in her mothers New York City apartment, she spent months in bed, feeling like a failure. Eventually, with the right medication, she was able to hold down a job and move into her own apartment.

Ms. Minsley, 23, returned to Bates last fall, after more than two years away, and has been receiving support from Fountain House College Re-Entry, a program that has sprung up to fill the niche of helping students on mental health leave. It was terrifying and really, really difficult, but I really needed it, she said of her leave. I think Im leading a much happier life.

A spokeswoman for Bates, Marjorie Hall, said the college gave every case individualized consideration.

Lark Trumbly, a former student at Stanford, is more ambivalent about being sent home. Her freshman year, she passed out on the bathroom floor of her dormitory from a mix of pills and alcohol. A dean visited her at the hospital and told her that students in my situation tend not to succeed at Stanford, Ms. Trumbly, 23, said.

Her freshman housing was revoked, and she was told that if she was not living on campus she could not take classes, so she would have to take a leave, she said.DENVER  Leia Pierce shuffled out the front door on Tuesday. Her son, Jamel Myles, 9, had killed himself last week, and she was still struggling with the basics. Eating. Sleeping. I took a shower, but I put the same clothes back on, she said, staring at the ground. I need him back.

Jamel, a fourth grader at Joe Shoemaker Elementary School in Denver, hanged himself in his bedroom last Thursday, according to the county coroner, and his death has plunged a mother into despair and a community into disbelief.

Ms. Pierce says her son committed suicide after a year in which he and his older sister were bullied frequently at school. Over the summer, he had told his mother he was gay. Now, she is angry at the school, which she believes should have done more to stop the taunts and insults.

Will Jones, a spokesman for Denver Public Schools, said administrators planned to conduct a thorough review of the case. We are deeply committed to our students well-being, he said in a statement.Although products like veggie burgers and sausages have been sold for years, the debate over how they can be described has become particularly contentious as plant-based products have grown more popular. This has created a challenge for the traditional meat industry, prompting debates about whether something without eggs can be called mayo and whether almonds lactate. Butchers in France have even sought protection against veganism.

The value of the market for meat substitutes in the United States has grown from about $556 million in 2012 to $699 million last year, according to Euromonitor, a consumer research company. This is still just a portion of the $29 billion processed meat industry, but it has been growing fast enough for big food businesses to take notice. The meat processor Tyson Foods took a stake in a company that makes meat from soy and peas in 2016, and the agribusiness company Cargill signed a joint venture agreement with a producer of plant-based proteins earlier this year.

In Missouri, supporters of the new law argue that consumers may be confused about these new products. Making sure that consumers knew what they were buying was the whole intent, said Mike Deering, the executive vice president of the Missouri Cattlemens Association, of the states law. You cannot market a station wagon as a Porsche.

But for Jaime Athos, the chief executive of Tofurky, this is just a case of protectionism. His company has no interest in being mistaken for a traditional meat producer and has bent over backward to make sure that customers know that their products do not come from animals. Thats the selling point, Mr. Athos said.

Mr. Deering noted that the legislation had been spurred more by the development of lab-grown meat than by clearly labeled veggie burgers. We have problems with products that piggyback on products that our families have put their blood, sweat and tears into, Mr. Deering said, adding that the risk to his industry could be huge if there were ever a safety issue with lab-grown meats.CHICAGO  Inside the convention hall, the choreography of American politics stumbled on.

Vice President Hubert Humphrey won the Democratic presidential nomination with 1,761 votes to 601 for Senator Eugene McCarthy. The delegates adopted Mr. Humphreys platform, which continued President Lyndon Johnsons unpopular Vietnam policies , and rejected Mr. McCarthys antiwar plank. But their attention was on the radios and television screens reporting chaos outside.

A few miles away, thousands of protesters streamed out of Grant Park into a sea of tear gas and billy clubs. Some were caught in a crush against the facade of a Hilton hotel and fell through the plate glass, cutting themselves on shards. People on upper floors threw crystal ashtrays, one of which struck a passer-by and shattered, embedding glass in his eyes. Blood ran from skulls into gutters. Someone tried to overturn a police van. All the while, the crowd was chanting.

The whole world is watching. The whole world is watching.

It was on this night, Aug. 28, that all the anxiety and rage of 1968 exploded. Numerous groups were involved, with different motives and tactics. There were Yippies who said they would get high and have sex outdoors, and black and Latino Chicagoans, including the Puerto Rican leftist group the Young Lords, who wanted to challenge police brutality; McCarthy supporters who sought change within the system, and Students for a Democratic Society activists who wanted to shred it.

Some protesters taunted the police, and a small number threw bags of feces at them. But an official report found that the police acted out of proportion to the provocations and largely targeted people who had done nothing to provoke officers. It was, the report concluded, a police riot driven partly by Mayor Richard J. Daley, who had earlier given the police license to shoot to kill in certain circumstances.Even before being approached by a reporter, Ms. Spanberger said in the interview that she had become suspicious that the application had been leaked because Republican-aligned groups conducting push polling in the race had been asking respondents whether they knew she had once taught at the Islamic Saudi Academy in Alexandria, Va., an international baccalaureate program.

One of her supporters received a call from the polling company and reported that she was asked if she would be less likely to support Ms. Spanberger if she knew that the candidate had taught at a school funded by the Saudi royal family that had numerous students arrested for terrorism, Ms. Spanberger said.

A recent graduate from the University of Virginia at the time, Ms. Spanberger returned to the United States in 2002 after teaching in Germany and earning a masters degree. She applied for a job at the C.I.A. that year and was told in December that she had a conditional offer pending her background check, which she was told could take at least six months.

She waited tables in the interim, and a colleague asked her if she would be interested in a temporary job teaching English at the academy to cover for another instructors maternity leave, Ms. Spanberger said.

As she awaited final word from the C.I.A., she took a job at the Postal Inspection Service, the law enforcement arm of the Postal Service. She said she filled out the federal forms for both jobs at about the same time. She also said she informed the C.I.A. each time she took on new employment.

National security experts said that the unauthorized release of such a highly confidential document is particularly troubling if it turns out to not be an isolated episode.

It calls for a tremendous amount of extremely private, personal information, and so to the person whose information is at stake, it is extremely significant, said David Kris, a founder of Culper Partners and a former assistant attorney general for national security.A number of Republicans, including the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, appeared ready on Tuesday to dodge the issue. Mr. McConnell announced he would appoint a bipartisan group of senators to hash over ways to honor Mr. McCain, suggesting naming the Senate Armed Services Committees hearing room after him and commissioning a portrait for the ornate Senate Reception Room, just off the Senate chamber.

Im glad well be able to form this gang to ensure that a suitable, lasting tribute becomes a reality, he said.

The senators from Georgia, both Republicans, have been reluctant to give their support. Senator Johnny Isakson told reporters on Tuesday that he supported Mr. McConnells commission, while Senator David Perdue defended Mr. Russell as a giant of the Senate and said that this renaming thing because of one issue is somewhat troubling.

Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and one of Mr. McCains closest friends, said he would defer to the senators widow, Cindy McCain, on the matter, but added that he would name the Capitol after the senator if he could.

Such suggestions hint that Mr. Russells nameplate is safe for now. And he certainly has his backers.

Richard Russell was from the South and, Im sure, not perfect like George Washington and everyone else in his day, said Senator Richard Shelby, a Republican from Alabama who, like Mr. Russell, was once a conservative Democrat. But he was a well-respected senator.

Twice a presidential candidate, Mr. Russell was known for the ascendant political trajectory he charted from a young age. Elected to Georgias House of Representatives in 1921 at the age of 23, followed by a stint as the youngest-ever governor of the state, Mr. Russell closed out his staggering career in the Senate, where he established himself as a venerable figure.WASHINGTON  President Trump warned evangelical leaders Monday night that Democrats will overturn everything that weve done and theyll do it quickly and violently if Republicans lose control of Congress in the midterm elections.

Speaking to the group in the State Dining Room of the White House, Mr. Trump painted a stark picture of what losing the majority would mean for the administrations conservative agenda, according to an audiotape of his remarks provided to The New York Times by someone who attended the event.

They will end everything immediately, Mr. Trump said. When you look at antifa, he added, a term that describes militant leftist groups, and you look at some of these groups, these are violent people.

A White House spokesman, Hogan Gidley, declined to elaborate on what the president meant.

The blunt warning  delivered to about 100 of the presidents most ardent supporters in the evangelical community  was the latest example of Mr. Trumps attempts to use the specter of violence at the hands of his political opponents and to fan the flames of cultural divisions in the country.In a visit to the island around two weeks after Hurricane Maria, when the official death toll stood at 16, President Trump contrasted the number with the hundreds and hundreds of people that died after Hurricane Katrina. Everybody watching can really be very proud of whats taken place in Puerto Rico, he said.

The new research, which was performed independently of the government, compared the actual death rate with what would have been expected had the storm not occurred  a method used in several earlier analyses. In December, The New York Times found that 1,052 more people than usual died in the 42 days after Hurricane Maria made landfall.

A study by Harvard researchers published in The New England Journal of Medicine earlier this year estimated the death toll could range from 800 to more than 8,000 people, and was based on a household survey.

The results of the new study make clear what the government had recognized even before the official expansion of the death toll, officials said on Tuesday.

Hurricane Maria was a catastrophe of historic proportions, as never seen or lived before in the United States, Carlos Mercader, executive director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, said in an emailed statement. He said the new analysis is sobering, and its insights make clear that Congress and FEMA must work with us to establish a better system for the preparation and distribution of supplies ahead of future disasters.

The George Washington University researchers released very few details of their methodology or analysis, making it difficult to assess the quality of their work, which was carried out at a cost of $305,000 and also included an analysis of how the government certified deaths and communicated about them. They wrote that national and international experts in different fields had reviewed their methods. The report has not yet been subjected to the more rigorous process of being published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, though it has been submitted for publication.A white former police officer in a Dallas suburb was found guilty by a jury on Tuesday of fatally shooting an unarmed black high school freshman with a high-powered rifle in April 2017.

The former officer, Roy D. Oliver II, was fired from the Balch Springs Police Department after he shot and killed Jordan Edwards, 15, as Jordan and four other teenagers drove away from a house party. Mr. Oliver fired into the vehicle, hitting Jordan in the head as he sat in the front passenger seat.

Last week, Mr. Oliver testified that he had decided to fire at the car when he saw it moving toward his partner, Officer Tyler Gross, endangering him. But Officer Gross told the court that he had not feared for his life.

The jury returned its verdict on the second day of deliberations. Mr. Oliver, 38, was found not guilty on two counts of aggravated assault, but he faces at least five years or up to life in prison on the murder conviction.KHARTOUM, Sudan  South Sudanese rebels refused on Tuesday to sign the latest draft of a peace deal that would have ended a devastating civil war, a new setback in the five-year conflict.

President Salva Kiir and the leader of the main rebel group, Riek Machar, signed a cease-fire and power-sharing agreement earlier this month, having reached a preliminary deal in June that intended to end the fighting that first broke out in 2013.

But Mr. Machar and another rebel group refused on Tuesday to sign the latest draft of the agreement, saying that disputes over power sharing and a new constitution had not been sufficiently addressed.

This is an unfortunate development that will not reflect well on the impartiality of the mediators and will throw doubt onto the whole process, the rebels said in a statement.We have no plans at this time to suspend any more exercises, Mr. Mattis said.

Any resumption of large military exercises involving the Americans and South Koreans is certain to infuriate North Korean officials, who regularly denounce such operations. And the reversal reflects confusion within the Trump administration about how to deal with North Korea.

The presidents declaration of victory after his landmark summit meeting in Singapore in June has given way to tense accusations and counteraccusations. Mr. Trump has not yet returned to the verbal hostilities that he engaged in on his Twitter feed during his first year in office, when he referred to Mr. Kim as Rocket Man and raised the specter of bombing North Korea.

Part of the confusion, officials said, comes from the fact that Mr. Trumps top deputies  particularly at the Pentagon  have not been consistently included in the presidents plans for North Korea. For instance, Mr. Trumps decision in June to suspend the huge annual military exercises that had long been planned with South Korea took even senior American military officials by surprise.

Suspending the military exercises was widely seen as a concession to North Korea, and Defense Department officials said they expected the United States to receive something in return if the drills were shelved again.

The Trump administration is increasingly frustrated over the slow pace of negotiations and fears that North Korea is not making substantive moves toward dismantling and ending its nuclear weapons program  as Washington said was promised during the meeting in Singapore.MANILA  Relatives of eight people killed by Philippine police officers during President Rodrigo Dutertes war on drugs have accused the president of murder in a complaint filed with the International Criminal Court, their lawyer said on Tuesday.

The complaint is the second brought at the Hague-based court against Mr. Duterte, 73, over the anti-narcotics crackdown, which has left thousands dead at the hands of police officers and unknown gunmen since he took office in 2016.

Neri Colmenares, president of the National Union of Peoples Lawyers, which is representing the family members of the slain Filipinos, said they hoped to hold Mr. Duterte accountable for his crimes against humanity committed through acts of murder for the extrajudicial killings of thousands of Filipinos and other inhumane acts.

The complaint is unlikely to have much practical effect, since Mr. Dutertes government does not recognize the international court. He said in March that he was withdrawing the Philippines from the treaty that established it.BUNDANOON, Australia  Even into her 80s, Mary E. White thrived on the expanse of Australian rain forest she had made her home, and she told friends of ambitious plans: She was going to write her autobiography, and there were two other books she wanted to finish.

But dementia robbed her of vigor. Ms. White, an accomplished scientist who gained prominence for warnings of desert encroachment and overpopulation, soon moved into a nursing home closer to her family but far from her old home. She could not communicate, friends said, and did not recognize visitors.

Then, one evening this month, Ms. White was found dead. She was 92. Several days later, her daughter was charged with murdering her.

The accusations have stunned people who knew Ms. White and her family, as well as Bundanoon, the small town where neighbors remembered an attentive daughter who would take her mother to the salon for haircuts and stop in the cafe across the street. Many insist that whatever happened must have been motivated by compassion and love.SYDNEY, Australia  For the first time in nearly four years, a group of migrants was caught illegally entering the Australian mainland by sea this week, after surviving a shipwreck and several days in crocodile-infested waters, the authorities said.

By Tuesday, all 17 migrants believed to be aboard the boat were found near the mangrove swamps of Far North Queensland, two days after the vessel ran aground and law enforcement officials began a search.

Once the migrants were all accounted for, the government said on Tuesday that the group would be sent to Christmas Island, an Australian territory nearly 1,000 miles from the closest point in continental Australia, where they would be detained and their immigration statuses determined.

Under Australias strict border protection policies, no one who travels to Australia illegally by boat is permitted to remain in Australia, the Department of Home Affairs said in a statement released on Tuesday. These individuals are being processed on Christmas Island.The first iteration of Nafta was the Free Trade Agreement, signed between the United States and Canada in 1988, six years before the accord was expanded to include Mexico. Since then, the Canadian economy has become so intertwined with its larger American neighbor to the point that three-quarters of Canadian exports go across the border.

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But times have changed since Nafta abolished the high tariffs of 30 years ago. The later agreement that created the World Trade Organization has reduced tariffs to the point that even without Nafta, the majority of goods crossing the Canadian-American border would not face significant price increases.

Economists at the Royal Bank of Canada predicted that the cost to Canadas economic growth of leaving Nafta  based on tariffs alone  would lower Canadas economy by about a 1 percent spread over 5 to 10 years.

However, the true strength of Nafta for Canadas economy has been the international investment it draws. That is why Canadian negotiators have always been insistent on maintaining the deals procedures for appealing American trade actions against Canada, and why Prime Minister Trudeau has called Mr. Trumps demand that any new agreement contain an expiration date an absolute deal-breaker for his country.

That gives international businesses assured market access, which is key to making Canada an attractive place to invest to serve the North American market, said Dan Ciuriak, the former deputy chief economist in Canadas foreign affairs and trade department. For business, uncertainty is a cost.

In the tentative deal announced Monday, both the United States and Mexico agreed to a type of expiration clause, reviewing the pact every six years that would extend its lifetime for 16 more years, officials said.

Whether the extension of an expiration date will appease Canadian negotiators is unclear. Trump administration officials said the tariff appeals process had been removed from the tentative trade agreement with Mexico. Canada is highly unlikely to accept that omission because its creation was the dealmaker for the original Free Trade Agreement.PARIS  Frances high-profile environment minister was fed up with what he considered insufficient progress by his government on issues like climate change and clean energy. So on Tuesday, he quit his post in dramatic fashion, dealing a blow to President Emmanuel Macrons green credentials.

The minister, Nicolas Hulot, an environmental activist and former television star who regularly ranked as one of Mr. Macrons most popular ministers, made the surprise announcement during a live interview on France Inter radio in which he said he no longer wanted to lie to myself.

I dont want to create the illusion that my presence in the government means that we are up to the task on these issues, and so I have decided to leave the government today, Mr. Hulot told the stunned radio hosts, one of whom asked him whether he was being serious.

The abruptness of the decision came as a surprise: Mr. Hulot told France Inter that he had not warned Mr. Macron, the prime minister or even his own staff about the announcement.Russia is mobilizing for its biggest military exercise since the height of the Cold War, the Kremlin says, citing a tense international climate that is frequently aggressive and unfriendly toward us.

The exercises, which are set to involve nearly 300,000 Russian troops, 1,000 aircraft and 900 tanks, will also include units from China for the first time. They will start on Sept. 11.

In a separate display of military power, Russia was reported on Tuesday to have assembled a large flotilla of warships off the coast of Syria. Russian news media outlets, citing unnamed defense ministry officials, described it is as Russias largest naval deployment in the area since Moscow first intervened in Syrias civil war in September 2015.

The move follows a flurry of claims by Russia, unsupported by evidence, that the West is preparing to stage a fake chemical weapons attack inside Syria as a pretext for an assault on the forces of the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.LONDON  Irans Parliament summoned President Hassan Rouhani to answer questions on Tuesday about the countrys economic crisis, and then voted to reject his explanation, in a remarkable rebuke of a sitting leader.

Mr. Rouhani blamed United States sanctions, not government management, for his countrys troubles. But after he answered five questions about economic challenges like high unemployment and the collapsing value of the national currency, the rial, a majority of lawmakers voted that they were not convinced by four of his answers.

Elected by wide margins in 2013 and 2017, Mr. Rouhani is seen as a moderate in Iranian politics, and he campaigned on easing hostilities between his country and the West, and increasing economic opportunity. In 2015, his government struck a deal with the United States and other powers to give up elements of its nuclear program in return for the lifting of some sanctions.

But this year, President Trump withdrew the United States from that agreement and reimposed sanctions not only on Iran but also on companies doing business with the country. That has persuaded many European businesses to stay away from the Islamic republic, though their countries governments still support the deal.We determined it was the right thing to do in defense of their own countries, but also to restore the rightful government there, he told reporters. Our conduct there is to try to keep the human cost of innocents being killed accidentally to an absolute minimum.

The American goal, Mr. Mattis said, is to encourage the combatants to negotiate a settlement to the conflict.

Tawakkol Karman, a Yemeni human rights activist who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011, responded to Mr. Gargash, the Emirati foreign affairs minister on Twitter. She said the United Nations report would not be credible unless it cited the leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, as well as the head of the Houthi movement, as responsible for the civilian massacres.

Political factions and militias have been fighting for control of Yemen, the Arab worlds poorest country, since power-sharing talks collapsed in 2014 and the Houthis ousted the internationally backed government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Since then, fighting has devolved into proxy warfare, with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates arming and fighting alongside a disparate group of Islamist, tribal and regional militias against the Houthis, who control Sana, the capital, as well as the major port of Al Hudaydah and their ancestral territories along the Saudi border.

The Saudis and their allies have accused Iran of aiding the Houthis. Iran has denied involvement, despite evidence that the rebels are using Iranian weaponry, including missiles.

The report accused the Saudi-led coalition of routinely having failed to consult its own no-strike list of more than 30,000 sites in Yemen, including refugee camps and hospitals. It also said the Saudi Air Force had not cooperated with investigators about its targeting procedures.Ketchum is promoting InvestPR, the non-profit entity established by Puerto Rico's government to attract new businesses and jobs on the island that is still recovering from Hurricane Maria.

Launched Aug. 27, Invest Puerto Rico Inc. will connect new businesses with local supplies to acquire needed goods and services.

It works in tandem with Puerto Rico's Dept. of Economic Development & Commerce and other government agencies.

Since the Hurricane, the government has passed a series of labor laws, regulatory reforms and taxes/incentives to woo private sector investors.

InvestPR will eventually assume the promotional activities of the DEDC, such as representing the island at trade shows, fielding inbound informational requests from potential investors and helping existing businesses to grow.

Ella Woger-Nieves, who has a management consulting background serves as director of operations of InvestPR.

Ketchum's Julie Crimmins works media for InvestPR.I was a fan of the bizarro "Pee-wee's Playhouse" that ran Saturday mornings on CBS from 1986 to 1990, featuring Paul Reubens as the childlike Pee-wee Herman. Voted No. 10 on TV Guide's 2004 ranking of top cult shows ever, each Playhouse episode featured a "secret word of the day."

The memory of Pee-wee and the gang flooded back to me this morning with news that president Trump decided to attack Google, which he claims prioritizes liberal media at the expense of conservative outlets in its searches.

Apparently inspired by Pee-wee, the president chose "Google" as his secret word of the day. On cue, the media swallowed the bait and launched a blitz of stories about the fairness/unfairness of Google.

Trump's attack on the search engine fit his strategy of keeping critics and supporters off-kilter by tossing out daily diversions from his most recent blunders, such as the disgraceful snub of American hero John McCain.

The Washington Post reported that Trump rejected a White House statement that praised the heroism of the former Arizona Senator. Instead the tweeter-in-chief opted for a bland tweet published Saturday night after the announcement of the death of 81-year old McCain. It read:

My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!

The tweet is not exactly Hallmark cards material and certainly an inappropriate tribute for a man who dedicated his life to serving the country.

After a storm of criticism from veterans and politicos, Trump tried to regain his footing on Monday. Of course, he had to interject himself into McCain Tweet No. 2. That one read:

Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCains service to our country and, in his honor, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment.

Frankly, the country doesn't care about Trump's differences with either McCain's policies or politics. The focus of Tweet No. 2 should have been on celebrating McCain's national service. Period.

Since the president is not invited to McCain's memorial services (at the late Senator's request), Trump will have plenty to stew about over the next few days.

McCain lies in state in Arizona's Capitol on Wednesday (former Vice President Joe Biden will attend the church service in Phoenix). The late Senator lies in state Friday at the US Capitol (Vice President Mike Pence, House Majority Leader Paul Ryan will be there). On Saturday, Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama will deliver remarks at McCain's service at the National Cathedral.

The president will have to line up more secret words over the next couple of days to keep the media spotlight on his No 1 priority, which is Donald Trump.An Post has released a list of 159 Post Offices that will close in the coming months, including five in Offaly.

The Post Offices in Geashill, Moneygall, Mount Lucas, Pollagh and Walsh Island have been named as part of the closures list.

Services will be transferred to the nearest alternative Post Office. Customer from Geashill will have to travel over 8km to Daingean.

Moneygall customers will have to go to Dunkerrin, 5.1km away, with the other cnearby branches all located in Tipperary.

Mount Lucas customers face the 5.4km journey to Daingean, Pollagh customers have Ballycumber as their closest option at 7.4km away, while Daingean is yet again the nearest alternative for customers in the closing Walsh Island branch.

The changes will affect post offices all over the country.

An Post says: "All remaining Post Offices will benefit from enhanced services and products, new opening hours and an investment package aimed at improving services for customers, driving customer footfall and attracting a wider demographic to ensure that the post office is not just wanted by communities but is indeed relevant and actually used by all."

Debbie Byrne, managing director of An Post Retail, said, An Post was "committed to ensuring the sustainability and viability of the Post Office network and would move now to offer more new and innovative services to customers through the reconfigured network."

"An Post is very grateful for the contribution of the Postmasters over so many years. We will work with the communities that they have served to ensure that their needs continue to be met by An Post for the future," she added.

"The An Post team has done painstaking work combining business and demographic data with extensive local knowledge to produce a network plan which actively supports the future of rural Ireland."

"We are committed to ensuring a vibrant network for all our customers through investment and the expansion of e-commerce, financial and government services to drive usage and relevancy of the post office in todays changing environment".The deadline for nominations for Family Carers Ireland CarePlus Carer of the Year awards has been extended to September 28.

The Carer of the Year awards recognises Carers for the extraordinary hard work and dedication involved in caring for their loved ones every day.

Family Carers Ireland need your help to identify these Carers. If you know a Carer that you believe should be recognised for the care they provide to loved ones, please make a nomination. This may be a relative, neighbour or friend. There are two categories of awards, Carer of the Year and Young Carer of the Year

The CarePlus Carer of the Year awards will take place in November at the Westin Hotel in Dublin hosted by broadcasters, and patrons of the charity, Mary Kennedy and Marty Whelan. Last years Carers of the Year will be in attendance. Paula Robinson (48) from Cavan (48), a mum of two, provides round-the-clock, full-time care for both her parents. Her mother Mary (87) has Alzheimers disease and her dad Jimmy (92) is living with Bowel Cancer.

Alongside four inspirational Young Carers, Jack Cooney (10) from Tipperary who helps care for his brother James (16) who is living with Cerebral Palsy, is a wheelchair user and requires round-the-clock care. Adam Hyland (14) from Clondalkin who helps his mother care for his dad Pat (66) who has multiple illnesses including Dementia, Diabetes, severe chronic pain and has suffered many heart attacks. Alannah Donnelly (15) from Offaly helps care for her brother Conor (12). He is a person with intellectual disabilities and severe behavioural issues resulting in aggression and harmful behaviours towards others. Alexandra Ajoi (15) from Sligo is the primary carer for her mother, Susan (41), who is a wheelchair user with chronic pain and has epilepsy.

Family Carers provide on average 38.7 unpaid hours of care per week; the equivalent of a fulltime job. Most recent Census figures (2016) revealed that Family Carers collectively provide 6,608,515 hours of care per week.

There are now over 6,057 family carers in Offaly over the age of 15, saving the Government 10bn in unpaid care nationwide each year. By 2030, demographic changes predict that one in five people will take on a caring role.

Catherine Cox, Head of Communications and Carer Engagement with Family Carers Ireland said, Family Carers across Ireland make extraordinary sacrifices and work very hard, sometimes 24 hours a day, to provide care for their loved ones, safely, in their own homes. With limited access to services and particularly respite, Carers in Offaly are overstretched and receive little acknowledgement for their unpaid work with  receiving no payment from the State, saving 10bn each year.

Family Carers Ireland is delighted to celebrate and recognise the enormous contribution that Family Carers make through the CarePlus Carers of the Year Awards. We are encouraging people to get their nominations in for a deserving Carer or Young Carer from Offaly, the deadline is soon approaching, concluded Catherine.

Niamh Lynch, Commercial Director of CarePlus Pharmacy said CarePlus Pharmacy is honoured to sponsor the Family Carer of the Year awards, which recognises the tireless efforts of thousands of people across the country. Carers are the heart of every community and meet our pharmacy owners and staff every day. We look forward to working closely with Family Carers Ireland and supporting the awards throughout our fifty community pharmacies nationwide.

CarePlus Pharmacy, a network of 60 franchised pharmacies, is sponsoring the event for the second year running and is now sponsoring the CarePlus Young Carers of the Year Awards 2018 which recognises the role that young people play in providing care to their loved ones at home. This year, the CarePlus Carer of the Year awards form part of Family Carers Irelands national Carers in Crisis campaign and will acknowledge the contribution of Family Carers throughout Ireland. The awards will highlight the sacrifices Family Carers make and the services they provide to the State.

Making a nomination is simple, fill in the nomination form online, giving as much detail as possible as to why the Carer should be considered for an Award. Nomination forms for Offaly CarePlus Carer of the Year are available online at www.familycarers.ie, from Family Carers Ireland resource centres, CarePlus Pharmacies or via the Freephone Careline 1800 24 07 24.

www.familycarers.ie/www.careplus.ieIrelands favourite chef Neven Maguire, Brand Ambassador for Dunnes Stores Simply Better Collection, will be in Dunnes Stores, Tullamore on Friday, September 7 from 6pm for a very special Cookery Demonstration.

On the evening, Neven will be demonstrating some mouthwatering recipes which he has created exclusively for the Dunnes Stores Simply Better COOK with Neven Maguire magazine.

The magazine, which launched last year, was developed to nurture peoples passion for cooking at home any day of the week, with easy to follow recipes and is available free of charge in store and to download from the Dunnes Stores website. It is full of delicious recipes and features some of the amazing Irish food producers who collaborate with Simply Better to bring the best quality food to homes across Ireland.

Speaking about his upcoming visit to Tullamore, Neven said, I am really looking forward to meeting as many food lovers as possible on our visit to Offaly. There is a very simple message within the Simply Better Collection and the amazing Irish food producers we collaborate with, and that is for people to experience exceptional, premium quality food at home. On the day I will be showing people how to create easy to follow dishes, with many of the ingredients coming from nearby producers who are part of the Simply Better Collection.

The Simply Better Collection is one of the most successful food brands in Ireland, with over 350 food awards since it was established in 2013, including most recently, 20 awards at the prestigious 2018 International Great Taste Awards.

At present there are 350 products in the collection with plans to introduce over 100 new and exciting products this year. All of the products are chosen for their provenance, many from small producers, and all with a nod to the past, where food was made in the right way.

Speaking about the event, Diarmuid Murphy, Simply Better Brand Manager said, Through our Simply Better Collection we want to provide people with the best ingredients to cook restaurant quality food at home. We have so many amazing Irish food producers and I am delighted that some of them will be joining us in our Tullamore Store to chat to Neven about their award-winning products. They will also be available to meet with customers on the day, who can taste and learn more about their amazing products.

Diarmuid added, People across Ireland are having great fun recreating Nevens recipes from the magazine and we are seeing this as they share the results online using the #CookWithNeven hashtag. The Simply Better Collection allows us to bring the best Irish ingredients to our customers tables seven days a week, all made to be enjoyed at home with friends and family, so it is always great to see people getting involved and sharing these moments with us.

Some of the amazing Simply Better Food Heroes, who will be present on the day, include Suzanne Conroy from Mileeven Honey, as well as Vincent Carton of Manor Farm and Paul Pritchard and Michael Martin of the Organic Herb Company.

Also attending will be John OBrien from OBrien Fine Foods who stated, Were looking forward to meeting many of the local Simply Better customers who have tasted our products, as well as introducing new customers to the collection. Working with Dunnes Stores and the Simply Better team has given us countless opportunities like this, which has enabled us to expand our business and share our passion for high-quality food products throughout Ireland. We are proud to be associated with a brand that supports local producers and shares our love of great Irish ingredients.

For more information on Dunnes Stores Simply Better and COOK with Neven Maguire please visit Dunnes Stores Nationwide, log on to www.dunnesstores.com or follow the hashtag #COOKwithNeven on social media platforms - @SimplyBetterDSThe twin scandals of the summer of 2018 have taken a toll on Catholics. First we learned of the alleged acts of sexual abuse by (former cardinal) Theodore McCarrick, and then we learned of old cases of alleged clergy abuse found in the Pennsylvania grand jury report (most of which were never substantiated). Catholics are understandably livid, but the white-heat reaction that is evident in some quarters has only added to the problem.

Conservative Catholics have been especially strident in their comments. Unfortunately, they are being played. To be specific, their call for grand jury investigations in every state, and the wholesale release of priest personnel files, is playing into the hands of the enemies of the Catholic Church. So are their appeals to parishioners asking them to withhold contributions. Even worse are their demands for a mass purge of bishops.

Those who despise the Church are loving it: these Catholics are unwittingly carrying their water for them. Church-suing lawyers and Church-hating activiststhere are many of themare on a search and destroy mission to upend the Catholic Church. Angry Catholics are taking their bait by not insisting that every institution in society, public as well as private, be subjected to the same level of scrutiny.

All Catholics, beginning with the bishops, should resist calls for full disclosure that are not being demanded of every other institution, religious and secular. To do otherwise is to subvert the Church in the name of justice. Unless we insist on a level playing fieldafter all, we do not own this problem and have made great progressthere will be no justice for anyone, especially Catholics.

'A permanent memory': Uncollected ashes of COVID-19 victims used to develop park in Bhopal

MP Board Class 10 result 2021 to be declared on July 14: Where to check

One dead, 25 hospitalised due to wrong use of syringes in a MP hospital

Bhopal

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Bhopal, Aug 28: One patient has died while 25 others have been hospitalised due to alleged negligence by the medical staff at a district Hospital in Datia, Madhya Pradesh. The syringes used for injections are said to be the reason behind the incident.

It could be a case of use of contaminated syringes as reports claim that same syringe was used for all the patients. The incident took place on Monday (August 27).

"Received a complaint that wrong injections were given to patients because of negligence of nurses. Report of medical board awaited. Probe is on," an ANI quoted a police official as saying.

Also Read | Two farmers in Yavatmal hospitalised: Pesticide poisoning suspected

What has also come to fore is that the nurses used normal water instead of distilled water.

"Single syringe was used for all patients. Instead of distilled water, normal water was used by nurses. An inquiry is underway," Dr PK Sharma, Civil Surgeon, told ANI.

For More Bhopal News, Click here

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 13:16 [IST]After analysing 25,000 GB data and raiding urban naxals, police unearth Break India conspiracy'

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Aug 28: The nation wide raids conducted at the homes of prominent activists who allegedly have naxalite links is probably one of the biggest exercises. The raids were conducted at Delhi, Hyderabad, Ranchi, Goa and Mumbai were conducted after the police went through 25,000 GB of data seized from five arrested persons.

The police while going through the data stumbled upon the names of several persons, whose homes were raided today. It was found that these persons living in the cities were either directly or closely associated with the naxalites. Very strong links have emerged, said an official part of the exercise to OneIndia.

The data that was analysed in connection with the Elgaar Parishad case revealed that these persons were closely associated with the banned CPI (Maoist). They were allegedly involved in conspiring and taking part in movements with an intention of creating violence, officials also said.

Also Read | Bhima Koregaon: How urban naxals fanned the violence and instigated Dalits

It may be recalled that it was during the same investigation that the police had also found that some persons were conspiring to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The police also raided the residences of left wing activists, Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, Vernon Gonsalves who was arrested under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in 2007, activist Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bharadwaj and human rights activist Gautam Navalakha in Delhi. The house of Stan Swamy in Ranchi, Anand Teltumbede in Goa was also searched.

On June 6, the police had arrested Sudhir Dhawale, leader of Mumbai-based Republican Panthers Jati Antachi Chalwal, Delhi-based activist Rona Wilson of Committee of Release of Political Prisoners, Nagpur lawyer Surendra Gadling of Indian Association of People's Lawyers, Nagpur University professor Shoma Sen, and Mahesh Raut.

The name of Rao had come up when the Pune police arrested, Surendra Gadling from Nagpur in June in connection with the Elgaar Parishad case. A letter was recovered from Gadling in which Rao had complimented him for the success of the attack launched by naxalites in Gadchiroli.

There were also letters discussing the assassination of Modi which were recovered from Rona Wilson, also an accused in the case. In addition to this the police also raided Fereira's house in Thane. The police say that he is an alleged sympathiser of naxalites and had been arrested in the past as well. He was however discharged in all the cases.Keep the faith, we are with her in this struggle: Subramanian Swamy to Kangana Ranaut

PM Modi should make Nitin Gadkari in charge of war against Covid: Subramanian Swamy

After invade Maldives tweet by Swamy, Male summons Indian envoy

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Aug 28: In the wake of a tweet by BJP leader, Subramanian Swamy to invade Maldives if polls are rigged appears to have escalated into a diplomatic row. The Maldives Foreign Secretary, Ahmed Sareer summoned Indian High Commissioner, Akhilesh Mishra on Sunday and conveyed Male's displeasure at Swamy's tweet.

The Maldives government also submitted a demarche to the Indian government in which it has expressed shock at the statement. The meeting between Sareer and Mishra took place on Sunday at the Maldives foreign ministry.

Also Read | Two Indian military choppers gifted to Maldives to stay back

"India should invade Maldives if rigging of election takes place," Swamy had tweeted on August 24.

https://t.co/nazyiRCOKs: India should invade Maldives if rigging of election takes place  Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) August 24, 2018

Responding to the tweet, the Ministry for External Affairs said that the opinion expressed by Dr Swamy in his tweet is personal. It does not reflect the views of the government of India, the MEA spokesperson, Raveesh Kumar had said. During the meeting with Sareer, Mishra too conveyed the same view.

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 11:55 [IST]As 2019 gets closer, ISI-urban naxals come together to disrupt elections, change discourse

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Aug 28: The 2019 Lok Sabha elections will be a keenly watched affair. While all political parties are leaving no stone unturned, the Intelligence Bureau has warned of both internal and external meddling in the election process.

Two of the biggest dangers that the country faces are from the ISI and the naxals/urban naxals. While the strength of the naxalites has been on the decline, the Intelligence Bureau says that they could still meddle in elections in certain pockets. There is a likelihood of them trying to escalate violence ahead of the polls, the IB also says.

The urban naxals on the other hand would try and build a narrative against the current dispensation.

Also Read | 2019 Lok Sabha polls: Will smaller parties be game changers?

The intelligence community says that the narrative is already being built up, but in the days closer to the elections, they would coordinate with outsiders and rake up tensions and violence.

The intelligence however adds that the Pakistan's ISI would be in top gear to disrupt the electoral process. There are already enough warnings suggesting that the ISI would try and ensure that the local body polls in Jammu and Kashmir is disrupted.

Meddling with the elections:

Sources tell OneIndia that the ISI has already put in place a mechanism through which it would try and derail the electoral process. The sudden interest around the Khalistan issue is one such mechanism aimed at de-stabilising the nation.

Further the ISI would also look to rake up the NRC issue and foment trouble in the north eastern states, the IB warns. The intelligence does not rule out trouble in the north east, West Bengal, Punjab and parts of Uttar Pradesh.

Also Read | One Nation One Election: BJP has a strategy in place, but will it go through

Over the past couple of months, Pakistan has used its nationals to target systems in India. There have been instances of spreading fake news, hacking into military systems and also fund anti-nationals to stage protests and trigger tensions between various communities.

The deadly cocktail:

Several fake handles were set up by Pakistan and the discourse on these accounts were largely political. The intention was again to create communal unrest and ensure that it became part of the political discourse in India.

While probing further, various agencies have learnt that there was a direct link between political unrest in India and also a foreign hand. The probe further revealed that the ISI was boosting several social media handles to spread fake propaganda.

Intelligence Bureau officials say that such handles are created in Pakistan and often speak about intolerance in India and also the situation in Kashmir. This is clearly being done with an intention of changing the political discourse in the country, the officer with the IB tells OneIndia.

Also Read | Three reasons why India must adopt 'One Nation, One Poll'

It has always been a part of the strategy by the ISI, but over the past year it has only increased.

Former officer with the Research and Analysis Wing, Amar Bhushan says that this is an old time strategy by the ISI to break India. He also adds that there are journalists in India too who are on the payrolls of the ISI who write propaganda material in a bid to debunk everything that the government does.

However the Intelligence points out that the most serious threat is from within. These are the naxalites and their city based friends. They have been the most vocal supporters of the naxal cause and would go to any lengths to spread a false propaganda. While this is a completely internal threat, the Intelligence also says that it is the most dangerous as it is heavily funded from outside.Tripura: Out of 150 samples tested at least 90 are positive for the Delta plus variant

No case of Delta Plus variant reported from sample sequencing in Tripura

Avoid jeans, cargo pants: Tripura tells bureaucrats to stick to dress code, draws criticism

India

oi-PTI

Agartala, Aug 28: A government memorandum advising bureaucrats to avoid 'casual attires' such as denim wears while being on official duty has triggered criticism from the Opposition parties here, who termed it 'feudal'.

The memorandum issued by Principal Secretary for Revenue, Education and Information and Cultural Affairs Sushil Kumar advised officials to give due regard to dress code during the State-level official meetings.

"District Magistrates, ADMs being the district head need to ensure that in/at the State-level official meetings which are chaired by the Chief Minister, Dy. CM, Ministers, Chief Secretary or other high level officials, due regard needs to be given to the dress code," the memorandum said.

It said: "Certain casual attires like jeans and cargo pants should be avoided."

In the memorandum, Kumar said that he has three decades of experience in the government service and he was yet to see an officer from the IAS or central services come to office wearing casual attires like denims.

The memorandum also pointed out that a few officials read and send messages on their mobile phones during meetings, which is a mark of disrespect.

Referring to former chief minister Manik Sarkars advise to officers to keep hands off their pockets, Kumar reiterated the issue and advised the district magistrates to ensure that officers maintain decorum and adhere to proper code of conduct while attending official functions or meetings.

Citing an example, the principal secretary said a Madhya Pradesh official had received the chief minister wearing goggles and he was later chastised.

When contacted, Tripura Pradesh Congress vice-president Tapas Dey said this order is a perfect reflection of feudal mindset of the state's ruling BJP-IPFT government and encroachment on the rights of government servants.

"How can they give orders on what to wear and what to avoid in the name of dress codes? This is most condemnable. Ours is a democratic country and not the colonial British rule. This type of memorandum reminds us the colonial rule only," CPI(M) spokesperson Goutam Das said.

PTI

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 9:12 [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

Bhima Koregaon violence: Nation wide raids led to arrest of these persons

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Aug 28: The Pune police which led a nation wide raid at the residences of lawyers and activists in connection with their investigation into the alleged naxal links has carried out several arrests.

The police have arrested at least 6 persons which includes writer, P Varavara Rao, a local journalist, activist, Gautam Navlakha, lawyers Arun Pereira, and Vernon Gonsalves in Mumbai and civil rights lawyer and trade unionist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad.

All these persons have been charged under sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code.

Also Read | After analysing 25,000 GB data and raiding urban naxals, police unearth 'Break India conspiracy'

The Pune police had managed to get the transit remand of Navlakha till August 30. However a plea was filed in the Delhi High Court seeking a stay on the transit remand.

Searches were conducted at eight places simultaneously in Hyderabad, Ranchi, Delhi, Faridabad and Mumbai.

A team of Pune police on Tuesday morning searched the Mumbai residences of Gonsalves and Pereira, who were representing the case of five persons arrested previously for alleged Maoist connections.

Also Read | Bhima Koregaon: How urban naxals fanned the violence and instigated Dalits

A team also searched the house of Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi, while the other went to the house of Maoist ideologue Rao in Hyderabad. Rao's family said that he was arrested by the police following an 8 hour search at his home.

One of the journalists, Tekula Kranthi, was also arrested after police reportedly seized his laptop and several documents allegedly showing his connections with the Maoist party.BJP wants Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, says Shah; asks other parties must make stand clear on the issue

'There is partnership between TRS and BJP', says Rahul Gandhi in Telangana

BJP strategy for 2019: For 100 per cent strike rate, candidate selection would be crucial

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Aug 28: The Bharatiya Janata Party is holding a crucial meeting in a bid to gear up for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah will hold discussions with the 15 Chief Ministers of BJP ruled states.

With the elections just 8 months away, the meeting is being viewed as a crucial one. While the developmental works in the respective states would be taken stock of, there would also be discussions on the selection of candidates for the polls.

Candidate selection:

The selection of candidates for the 2019 elections would be crucial. The BJP wants a 100 per cent strike rate in a bid, not just to retain power, but also to better its performance when compared to 2014.

Also Read | In 2019, BJP to win 227 seats, Congress 78, regional parties 238: Survey

The BJP is likely to conduct a survey to ascertain the popularity of its MPS. The party would look to give tickets to candidates based on their acceptance in their respective constituencies.

The top brass of the party has already begun analysing the performance of each MP. There is a likelihood that not many would make the cut. Sources tell OneIndia that based on the reports that the party has been getting, at least 20 to 30 per cent of the sitting MPs may not make the cut.

State polls:

BJP sources said the conference of chief ministers, in which the top brass takes stock of works going on in states ruled by the party and issues them directions, has assumed added significance due to the upcoming assembly elections in three states and the Lok Sabha polls and these would be likely discussed in the day-long meeting.

Also Read | BJP mulls assembly polls with Lok Sabha elections in party-ruled states

Assembly polls are due in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, all ruled by the BJP, later this year.

The agenda of good governance and running pro-poor policies has been a key feature of the chief ministers' meetings, which have been taking place regularly since Modi took over as prime minister in 2014.

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 9:35 [IST]One Nation One Poll: TRS says yes, ally says no

The idea of one election, one ideology is not acceptable says Congress

To push for one nation, one election, BJP to hold 25 webinars over next few weeks

Constitutional amendment a must for One Nation, One Poll, law panel to tell govt

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

New Delhi, Aug 28: Amidst speculations over the possibility of simultaneous elections taking place in 2019, the Law Commission of India is expected to tell the government that idea of 'One Nation One Poll' will not be possible unless the Constitution is amended.

According to the reports, the panel is going to recommend amendments to the Constitution as well as the Representation of the People Act if simultaneous polls are to be held. The panel will say in the report that without effecting these changes, it will not be possible to hold state Assembly and Lok Sabha polls together.

While the government would have no obligation to act on the Law Commission's recommendations, these are surely going to become the reference for any future debate on the issue among political parties and other stakeholders.

Also Read | On One Nation One Poll, Law Panel set to propose some sweeping recommendations

The Law Commission had said in a study paper in April that simultaneous polls could take place in two phases starting in 2019, after the Constitution is amended as required and a majority of states also ratify those changes. As per that plan, the second phase of simultaneous election would be held in 2024.

However, CEC Rawat debunked the likelihood of any such development saying, "Koi chance nahi (no chance at all)." He was responding to a question in Aurangabad on the feasibility of holding simultaneous Lok Sabha and state Assembly polls in the near future.

The CEC said a legal framework was required before such a mammoth exercise could be undertaken. "The lawmakers will take at least a year to frame a law that can be enforceable. This process takes time. As soon as the Bill to amend the Constitution is ready, we (the Election Commission) will know that things are now moving)," Rawat had said.

Following CEC Rawat's remarks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had described the debate on simultaneous polls as a healthy sign for democracy. "The government and the opposition - both are putting forth their view points. This is a good development and a healthy sign for our democracy," the PM said.

"I must say that developing healthy traditions for a sound democracy, making constant efforts to strengthen democracy, encouraging open-minded debates would also be an appropriate tribute to Atalji," he added in his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' radio address.

Meanwhile, Opposition parties on Monday once again opposed the idea of simultaneous polls at a meeting with the Election Commission (EC).

"Many parties opposed (the idea) of 'One Nation, One Poll', while there were some who made valid points in favour of it," Chief Election Officer O P Rawat told journalists after the poll panel held a consultation with political parties at Nirvachan Sadhan in New Delhi.

The ruling BJP and some of its allies, however, reiterated their support to the proposal.

The Election Commission had earlier this month virtually ruled out the possibility of holding simultaneous polls in 2019, citing logistical constraints and and constitutional amendments.

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 10:39 [IST]CTET 2018 exam date announced, check details here

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

New Delhi, Aug 28: The CTET 2018 exam date has been announced. The notice posted on the official website says that this year's test would be conducted on Sunday, December 9 2018.

This would be the 11th edition of the CTET to be held on December 9 in 92 cities across the country after a gap of two years. The CBSE held the last CTET in 2016.

CTET examination will be conducted in all Indian languages as was being conducted earlier. I have already directed @cbseindia29 to conduct examination in all the 20 languages as was being done earlier, union minister, Prakash Javadekar had said.

"CTET examination will be conducted in all Indian languages as was being conducted earlier. I have already directed @cbseindia29 to conduct examination in all the 20 languages as was being done earlier," Javadekar had tweeted.

The minister further added that the CTET examination will be held in English, Hindi, Assamese, Bangla, Garo, Gujarati, Kanada, Khasi, Malyalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Mizo, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu,Tibetan & Urdu @cbseindia29.

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 15:32 [IST]Dabholkar Murder case: CBI seeks custody of 3 accused from Karnataka SIT

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

New Delhi, Aug 28: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has sought the custody of three accused in connection with the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar from the Karnataka SIT.

CBI had last week claimed that the murders of Bengaluru-based journalist Gauri Lankesh and Dabholkar were linked.

Dabholkar, a Pune-based anti-superstition activist, was shot dead while he was on morning walk in August, 2013. Lankesh was shot dead in front of her residence in Bengaluru in September, 2017.

The names of the three accused whose custody the CBI has sought is not clear, but one them could be Amol Kale who is in the custody of Karnataka SIT. According to reports, Amol Kale, one of the alleged masterminds of Gauri's murder, had allegedly ordered Sharad Kalaskar and Sachin Andure to shoot Dabholkar.

[Same weapon was used to kill Gauri Lankesh and Narendra Dabholkar: CBI tells court]

Special Public prosecutor Vijaykumar Dhakane had last week said that the CBI would also seek the custody of those arrested by the Karnataka SIT in the Lankesh murder case as some of them were "linked" to the Dabholkar case.

[Dabholkar murder case: Key suspect sent to police custody till Aug 28]

The CBI told the court that the agency would seek the custody of Sharad Kalaskar, another alleged shooter in the Dabholkar murder case. Kalaskar was among the five persons arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) earlier in connection with the seizure of crude bombs and firearms from various parts of the state.

Dabholkar (67) was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants on August 20, 2013, when he was on a morning walk near his home in Pune.

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 15:54 [IST]Dabholkar murder weapon was considered 'lucky' by killers, who did not destroy it: Sources

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Aug 28: One of the weapons probably used in the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar five years ago was not destroyed by the alleged killers as they believed it was "lucky" for them, CBI sources said.

The weapon could have also been used in the murder of other left leaning activists like Govind Pansare in February 2015, M M Kalburgi in August 2015, and Gauri Lankesh in September last year, they said, however, adding with caution that any conclusion can only be drawn after a confirmatory ballistic test of the firearm. The agency has recently arrested and questioned Aurangabad-resident Sachin Andure who is alleged to be one of the two shooters involved in the killing of Dabholkar on August 20, 2013, in Pune while on his morning walk, they said.

A country-made pistol was also recovered from a friend of his relative by the CBI which is believed to be one of the weapons used in the murder, they said. The CBI will send the weapon for ballistic tests to ascertain the claims of Andure before reaching any conclusions in the case as the investigators believe that his claims cannot be taken on face value, they said.

During the questioning, Andure has claimed that the right wing militant group believed to be behind the killings had over a dozen of such weapons to execute their nefarious plans. When asked why this particular pistol which he is claiming to have been used in the killing of Dabholkar was not destroyed even after five years, he indicated that it was a "lucky" weapon used in different killings. The agency now wants to question alleged killers involved in the murder of noted writer and journalist Gauri Lankesh, they said, adding that it is also seeking custody of Sharad Kalaskar, arrested by the Maharashtra ATS.

Kalaskar was arrested during an operation of the ATS to bust a right wing extremist module plan to carry out multiple attacks on the occasion of Independence Day. After the arrests, the ATS had claimed that it had seized a huge cache of explosive materials and country-made firearms during raids at various places in the state. It was during the interrogation of Kalaskar that lead about involvement of Andure in Dabholkar killing surfaced. This input was passed on to the CBI which had arrested Andure from Maharashtra.

The CBI has a strong theory that killings of journalist Gauri Lankesh, Govind Pansare, M M Kalburgi and Narendra Dabholkar could be linked as modus operandi and ammunition used in the murders is similar, they said. The CBI is probing the murder of Dabholkar while that of Pansare, Kalburgi and Lankesh are being investigated by state agencies of Maharashtra and Karnataka.

PTIFour years since demonetisation, what PM Modi said on the move

Demonetisation done with good intention: Venkaiah Naidu

India

oi-Madhuri

New Delhi, Aug 28: Political will and administrative skill are more important to eliminate social evils and these should be coupled with any new legal initiative undertaken, Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu said today adding merely enacting a new law does not stop a crime or change the system.

Delivering his key note speech during the 48th foundation day celebrations of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) here, Naidu also lauded the central government's decision to demonetise two large currencies (Rs 1,000 and Rs 500).

"We have a weakness and fancy for a new law. Anything happens (there is a demand to bring) new law...but does the new law stop all the crimes?," he asked.

Kerala Floods: Naidu to donate one month's salary

Senior and top brass of the central police forces and home ministry were present on the occasion.

"I had said in the past that a mere new bill does not suffice. What is required is political will, administrative skill and then go for the kill of the social evil. Making any number of laws is not going to change the system. They are required, I am not denying that...," he said.

He was referring to the recent changes and introduction of new laws to check crimes against women and for anti-corruption.

The Prime Minister, Naidu said, is trying his best to fight corruption through new legal initiatives.

On demonetisation, he said this was done with a "good intention" and all the monies hidden in "bedrooms, bathrooms and under the pillow has now reached the banks and has come into the system".

Naidu hoped the Income Tax Department and the RBI would "quickly" do their investigations in this context and put in the public domain their findings.

The Vice-President also hailed the Jan Dhan scheme to provide bank account to all and said some even "ridiculed as to why it is needed as there is no money".

Those who opened it realised its importance when demonetisation of the two large currencies was announced, he said.

"Then the criticism of the (currency) note ban started. That is a right in democracy for citizens but people said all money reached the bank so what?

PM's comments on B K Hariprasad in Rajya Sabha expunged

"That was the aim. The money that was in bedroom, bathroom and under the pillow, has reached the bank and come into the system...", he said.

Now, what is white and black in now the job of the RBI and the Income Tax Department to find, Naidu said.

On issues pertaining to the police, he said transparency and accountability are corner stones for effective policing.

He asked the police forces across the country to pro-actively put in public domain the figures of crime reportage and detection.

The vice-president also cautioned against the new emerging threats and security challenges by way of cyber warfare, which he said needed to be tackled by using the "power of knowledge."

On economic reforms, he said, as the country moved towards greater privatisation and has allowed 100 per cent FDI (in some areas), many foreign companies were coming in and operating and there was need to be "extra careful". "We have to work together and evolve joint strategies," he said.

During his address, the Vice-President also expressed concern over moral values in the society and said this needed to be addressed.

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 6:10 [IST]Full statehood status to Delhi may cause constitutional as well as political problems

India

oi-Vinod

By Vinod

New Delhi, Aug 28: The Delhi government led by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is demanding full statehood status to Delhi and it has handed over 10 lakh signature to the PMO. Is giving full statehood status to Delhi really feasible as it will not only cause constitutional but political crises?

As per Article 4 (2) of the constitution, Parliament can reorganize a state or alter its boundaries by a simple majority in the ordinary process of legislation. The case of Delhi is little different which was a Union Territory with an administrator as the agent of the President that was given to it in 1956. By the 69th amendment of the constitution, Delhi got a Legislative Assembly with the enactment of National Capital Territory Act 1991. But as per legal luminaries, Delhi is a Union territory with legislature where the Centre and state authorities are in charge.

A Supreme Court lawyer Uday Kumar says that there lies the trouble. In reality, Delhi is neither a state nor a Union territory as a result the capital of the nation suffers from a constitutional lacuna. It in no way is similar to creating states like Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Telengana. Even if Delhi gets the status of full statehood its problems will be rather magnified.

Also Read | AAP submits 10 lakh letters to PM demanding full statehood for Delhi

Uday Kumar says, "Full statehood status might create problem, even constitutional ones, for instance if there is law and order problem near Rashtrapati Bhawan, if the security concern is of the state as policing is the subject of the state list, the problem will be certainly there."

He says, "Considering the present set up as an example, the internal security of Delhi comes under the purview of the Centre and so do several other matters like public order and land acquisition. There is a dual government in Delhi. Now, the state looks up at the Centre for the law and order purposes as the subject for Delhi is in the hands of the later. What difference will it make after full statehood status is given to Delhi? The problem will be just the other way round.

Political analyst Rajvir Sharma says, "Not constitutional but political problems too will start arising with Delhi having different ruling party and the Centre having the different. They may lack cooperation and problem may arise as it is happening at moment."

Uday says that only London among the capital of nations has the democratic government but United Kingdom is not a federal government but a unitary monarchy. The capital of the US - Washington DC - is merely a district council.

He says things are different for Delhi as there are so many things in state lists and many others in Union list that might cause confrontation. State lists consists subject like public order, police, prison, land acquisition and right over properties, collection of revenue, duties and taxes. If Delhi is full state a tricky situation will arise as the Centre will not have the control over the territory it sits on.

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 12:41 [IST]In a first, Railways to set up short stay homes for children

India

oi-Madhuri

New Delhi, Aug 28: In a first, the railways would set up short stay homes at stations for children found on its premises and in need of immediate care and protection.

As a pilot project, such shelters and help desks will be set up at or adjacent to railway stations in Delhi, Guwahati, Danapur, Samastipur and Ahmedabad, a senior official of the the Railway Board said.

Railways will transport for free relief material being sent to Kerala

The 2,000 sq feet shelter home would be able to accommodate around 25 children and provide nutrition, psycho-social and medical aid. It would be "used as a transit in restoring the children with their families" in accordance with the Juvenile Justice Act and the POCSO (Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences) Act.

The railway women welfare organisation will be in charge of the project and will sign a memorandum of understanding with child centric NGOs to be nominated by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the board has said.

Concerned zonal railways have been asked to allot the required space at these five railway stations. The short stay homes will consist of a 1,000 sq feet dormitory, a 75 sq ft sick room, a 125 sq ft store room, two toilets and two bathrooms, it said.

A 500 sq ft office will be given to the person in charge of the shelter.

Railways will provide a caretaker to guard the shelter, which will be built either on the station premises or in a railway owned infrastructure nearby.

Jodhpur tops clean station list, Mathura, Varanasi among dirtiest

The board's decision comes days after railways issued standard operating procedures in collaboration with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights for its staff on child protection.

The national transporter has been holding workshops across zones on how to deal with vulnerable children.

According to data, around 35,000 children, who had either left home on their own or were trafficked, were rescued from railway stations or trains in the last four years.

In Delhi alone, 820 trafficked children were rescued from railway stations between January and May this year.

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 6:00 [IST]Court grants agency two more months to complete probe into terror case

Man appearing at court in Delhi killed in firing

'Apply common sense': Court reprimands cops in Delhi riots case, discharges 22-year old youth of offence

Indian Airlines flight hijack: Two acquitted

India

oi-Madhuri

New Delhi, Aug 28: A Delhi court has acquitted two men, accused of hijacking a New Delhi-Srinagar Indian Airlines flight and forcing it to land in Pakistan in 1981.

Additional Sessions Judge Ajay Pandey granted the relief to Tajinder Pal Singh and Satnam Singh.

New record as Air India ferries over 1 crore passengers in a month

According to the prosecution, on September 29, 1981, the two allegedly hijacked an Indian Airlines flight from New Delhi en route to Srinagar via Amritsar and forced it to land in Lahore, Pakistan, where they were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Both were deported in 2000 from Pakistan after serving their sentence.

They later sought their discharge from the case but a sessions court dismissed their plea.

Behave else get punished: Civil aviation ministry's rules for 'No-fly list'

In 2011, Delhi Police had charged them under various sections of the IPC - 121 (waging war against the government of India), 121A (conspiring to commit certain offences against the state), 124A (sedition) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).

The Delhi High Court had also dismissed their plea seeking a stay on the sessions court order and asked the trial court to proceed with the matter.

Both were granted bail in July last year.

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 6:19 [IST]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

Terrorist who was going to kill shopkeeper in J&K gunned down

For more effective probes against terror State Investigation Agency formed in J&K

J&K: Civilian shot at by terrorists in Pulwama

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Srinagar, Aug 28: Terrorists on Tuesday (August 28) shot at a civilian in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. The civilian, who was rushed to a hospital, has been identified as Mohammad Amin Malik, said reports.

On August 24, the terrorists shot dead a forest department official in Jammu and Kashmir's Tangmarg. The incident took place in Zandpal area at Kunzer in Tangmarg.

On August 22, the terrorists shot dead three police officials and a BJP worker in Kashmir.

[J&K: Terrorists shoot dead a forest officer]

Inspector Mohammed Asharf Dar was shot dead at his home in Pulwama on August 22, making him the third cop to be killed by the terrorists on the holy day of Eid. On the same day, terrorists shot dead a policeman in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.

[Three policemen shot dead in Kashmir on Eid]

On August 22 morning, a special police official (SPO) was shot dead by militants after he came out of Eid prayers in a Kulgam village.

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 17:12 [IST]Basavaraj Bommai: Another leader with origins in Janata Parivar, who made it big outside the party

No DCMs, no Vijayendra: What the Bommai Cabinet looks like

Karnataka: Rumblings in coalition are more about who gets the better pie in 2019

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Bengaluru, Aug 28: Former chief minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah was at it again. After saying that he could once again become CM of Karnataka, his statement was backed by Agriculture Minister, Shivashankar Reddy, who also said that there was a possibility of such a development.

Amidst the rumblings, Chief Minister, Kumaraswamy urged the congress to resolve the state issues to ensure that a successful anti-BJP front at the national level is formed. Kumaraswamy appeared upset with Siddaramaiah and felt that he was not cooperating with the running of the government. He however downplayed Siddaramaiah's statement and said that there was no threat to the coalition.

Sources tell OneIndia that the Congress-JD(S) combine faces no threat as of now. The coalition would faces such issues, but it would stay intact at least till the 2019 elections are over. The JD(S) wants the Congress to announce the seat sharing formula for 2019. The Congress on the other hand would hurl such threats only to ensure that it does not have to give away too much to the JD(S) in terms of seats.

Also Read | Karnataka politics: Short term measures without a long term vision?

Reddy's remarks

Reddy's remarks coming days after Siddaramaiah's comments about becoming chief minister again fuels speculation that all is not well within the Congress-JDS coalition.

To a query on the government's future, Reddy said, "We all fought elections under the leadership of Siddaramaiah. Though there were possibilities of Congress coming to power and he becoming the chief minister, due to reasons better known to all, we could not get the majority. Thus, he lost the chance of becoming chief minister again."

"Suppose tomorrow the two parties (Congress and JD-S) sit together at the coordination committee meeting and take some decision for some change, then the change will happen," he told reporters at Chamarajnagar.

Also Read | Will Karnataka have a new CM in September?

A similar reaction came from Congress MLA and former JD(S) leader Cheluvaraya Swamy, who too backed Siddaramaiah and flayed those who were trying to "isolate" the former chief minister.

"Nobody can isolate Siddaramaiah. He has the leadership quality. A towering personality, Siddaramaiah is honest andhas done lots of good works," he said. He said election result might have been adverse due to caste-based politics but Siddaramaiah gave an administration for five years that was admired across the country.

"Though Congress got 80 seats under Siddaramaiah's leadership, he remains unquestionable in the party," he said to a question about alleged efforts within and outside the party to "isolate" Siddaramaiah from becoming chief minister again.

Addressing party workers in Hassan district on Friday, Siddaramaiah reportedly said if people wish, he will become chief minister again.

The former chief minister's remarks kicked up a row with some seeing it as having an unsettling effect on the JDS-Congress government.

Asked if he wants to be Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah later said "If people bless me, I will want to become the chief minister, but not now. After five years when next election is held."

Responding to Siddaramaiah's comments, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has said anybody could become a CM in a democracy.

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 10:32 [IST]CBSE Datesheet 2022 out: First term tests for class 10 to begin from Nov 30, class 12 exams from Dec 1

Kerala floods: Documents destroyed? How to get digital academic documents

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

New Delhi, Aug 28: In a bid to held the flood affected students studying in CBSE affiliated schools in Kerala, the board has decided to provide digital certificates. This would be extremely handy to those students who have lost documents such as marksheets, pass certificates, migration certificates etc.

There are nearly 1,300 CBSE affiliated schools in Kerala. It may be recalled that the CBSE had developed the first of its kind digital academy repository called Parinam Manjusha, which is integrated with a digital locker. The digital academic documents are digitally signed using digital signature of Controller of Examinations of CBSE which make them legally valid digital document as per the IT Act.

These documents are also having PKI based QR codes and they can be verified using the DigiLocker mobile app.

How to get digital academic documents:

Go to www.cbse.digitallocker.gov.in .

. Use your credentials to log in ( the same provided at the time of declaration of results)

You can then download the documents

The CBSE will re-send the login and password pertaining to students of the 2016-2018 batches on their mobile numbers.

For the students of 2004-2015, students of 2016-2018 who did not provide mobile number at the time of Class 10/12 data or students who have changed their mobile numbers:

They can visit Parinam Manjusha website - cbse.digitallocker.gov.in and link their Aadhaar to their account and get their digital documents by providing their roll number, class and year of examination.

Those who don't possess Aadhaar or don't remember their roll number may approach their schools directly and register themselves in order to get login credentials.

If any student finds any variation in his/her document, he/she may contact the CBSE Regional Office Thiruvananthapuram immediately.

If students faces difficulty using Parinam Manjusha/DigiLocker account, they may write to support@digitallocker.gov.in with the help of their roll number, name, class and year of exam. The last date for submitting school information at the Online Affiliated School Information System (OASIS) for affiliated schools in Kerala has also been extended upto September 30, 2018.

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 12:22 [IST]'Let's teach lesson to Modi govt': Stalin attacks BJP in first speech as DMK chief

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Chennai, Aug 28: In his maiden speech as the Dravida Munnetra Kazhgam's (DMK) chief, MK Stalin accused the Narendra Modi government of trying to destabilise judiciary, selection of governors and urged his party to teach a lesson to the BJP government.

"Today's political situation has come as a grave challenge. Education, art, literature, religion are under attack by authoritative and communal forces. Union govt is trying to destabilise judiciary, selection of governors. All this has dealt a blow to the secular principles," Stalin said, while addressing DMK cadres at party headquarters in Chennai.

MK Stalin elected DMK chief, party demands Bharat Ratna for Karunanidhi

He further vowed to take forward his father and former party chief M Karunanidhi's legacy in his address to party workers.

"I have more pride in calling Karunanidhi as a leader than calling him as a father," said Stalin.

Stalin also hit out at AIADMK and said that the ruling party is not working for the people and the welfare of the people is not the party's priority.

Why is MK Stalin named after Russian tyrant Joseph Stalin?

In an apparent dig at Alagiri, he said that he has a sister but, no brother. Alagiri was expelled from DMK in March 2014 by Karunanidhi for slanderous attacks on senior party members and carrying out anti-party activities.

Ahead of M.K. Stalin's election as the DMK President his brother M.K. Alagiri has warned the party of 'consequences'.

MK Stalin's rise in politics: A leader who survived fatal blows during Emergency

Stalin was elected unopposed as president of the DMK on Tuesday and was the only candidate to file his nomination for the party chief's post on 26 August, DMK general secretary K Anbazhagan said at the party's general council meeting.It is because of Congress that PM Modi is more powerful: Mamata Banerjee

Mamata Banerjee mocks at BJP over 'Atal Kalash Yatra', BJP counters

India

pti-PTI

Kolkata, Aug 28: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee mocked the BJP for disrespecting former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee by undertaking the "Atal Kalash Yatra" and trying to gain political mileage out of it.

The BJP leadership, in a counter, said Banerjee should desist from talking much about Vajpayee as she had betrayed him "time and again to serve her own political purpose".

Addressing a rally here, Banerjee said, "I have never seen such a shameless party. We (TMC) might have ideological differences but we respect Atalji. They (BJP) are even doing politics with Atalji's ashes." "They (BJP) are basically disrespecting him (Vajpayee). This is shameful," she said.

Hitting back at Banerjee, BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said, "She should not talk much about Atalji. We all know what happened when the TMC was part of the NDA government from 1998-2004. We have seen how she betrayed him (Vajpayee) to serve her own political purpose." BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha urged Banerjee to refrain from indulging in politics over Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

"When Atalji was prime minister, he had visited your home and even met your mother. So keeping that in mind, please don't try to politicise his death," he said. After Vajpayee's death on August 16, the BJP central leadership decided to take out "yatras" with urns carrying ashes of the former prime minister in all districts and immerse those in rivers across the country.

PTIMK Stalin's rise in politics: A leader who survived fatal blows during Emergency

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

Chennai, Aug 28: The General Council meeting of DMK on Tuesday elected Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin as President of the party. Stalin's rise in the DMK hasn't been a meteoric rise rather slow and steady.

Though Stalin entered electoral politics in 1984, he held major administrative position 12 years joining the politics. He was the 37th Mayor of Chennai from 1996 to 2002. He became the Minister for Rural Development and Local Administration in the Government of Tamil Nadu after the 2006 Assembly elections.

Also Read | MK Stalin elected DMK chief, party demands Bharat Ratna for Karunanidhi

On 29 May 2009, Stalin was nominated as Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (2009 to 2011) by Governor Surjit Singh Barnala. He is the first Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

Out of eight assemble seats he contested, Stalin has won six and lost two elections. He lost his 1st and 3rd election against AIADMK's K.A. Krishnaswamy. In 201, he moved to Kolathur assembly constituency from Thousand Lights.

Year Constituency Party Result Opponent Party 1984 Thousand Lights DMK Lost K.A. Krishnaswamy AIADMK 1989 Thousand Lights DMK Won Thambidurai SSR ADK JL 1991 Thousand Lights DMK Lost K.A. Krishnaswamy AIADMK 1996 Thousand Lights DMK Won Zeenath Sheriffdeen AIADMK 2001 Thousand Lights DMK Won S. Sekar TMC 2006 Thousand Lights DMK Won Adi Rajaram AIADMK 2011 Kolathur DMK Won Saidai Sa. Duraisamy AIADMK 2016 Kolathur DMK Won J.C.D.Prabhakar AIADMK

Survived fatal blows during Emergency:

On the 40th anniversary of the dismissal of the Karunanidhi government during Emergency, Stalin recalled the dark days of his political life to The Hindu newspaper. Stalin tells, "Prison life taught me a great political lesson, though I had to pay a heavy price." He was beaten mercilessly and former Mayor Chittibabu, who formed a shield to protect him, later succumbed to the injuries. "I have a scar on my right hand and it has become one of the permanent body marks for identification," Stalin was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

Stalin with his father late Karunanidhi File picture of DMK Working President MK Stalin with his father late Karunanidhi in Chennai on Jan. 10, 2014. Stalin is all set to take over as President of the party at the General Council Meeting, to be held in Chennai on Tuesday, Aug 28, 2018. PTI file photo Stalin leading protest against Vedanta group MK Stalin, attired in black along with his party MLAs, stages a walkout from the Assembly over their demand for the "permanent closure" of the Vedanta group's copper plant in Thoothukudi district, in Chennai on Tuesday, May 29, 2018. PTI file photo At a rally in Cauvery basin region MK Stalin rides a bullock-cart during the fourth day of his mega rally, which covers the Cauvery basin region of Tamil Nadu, seeking immediate constitution of a Cauvery Management Board, in Thiruvarur (10/4/2018). PTI file photo During road-roko protest Stalin being detained by the police personnel during a road-roko protest organised by the opposition parties in Chennai on Thursday. DMK is observing a statewide shutdown to protest against the BJP-led Centre's failure to set up the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) despite a Supreme Court order (5/4/2018). PTI file Photo With PM Modi Prime Minister Narendra Modi being welcomed by DMK Working President M K Stalin and party laeder Kanimozhi on his arrival to visit the ailing party president M Karunanidhi, in Chennai. (2017-11-06). PTI file photo Stalin in Coonoor DMK Working President MK Stalin holds a kid while interacting with supporters at Coonoor in Tamil Nadu (2017-10-02) . PTI file photo With national leaders in Chennai Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, Congress party leader and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, CPI General Secretary D Raja, CPI (M) Sudhakara Reddy Trinamool Congress Spokesperson Derek O'brien, along with DMK Leaders M K Stalin, Durai Murugan at the the "94th birthday celebrations of DMK President M Karunanidhi" at a function in Chennai. (2017-06-03). PTI file PhotoNext Lok Sabha elections to be contested under Modi; party announces its decisions

India

oi-Vinod

By Vinod

New Delhi, Aug 28: For the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) the poll bugle has been blown by the party leadership with the declaration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's name as the leader and the 2019 Lok Sabha will once again be contested under his leadership with him being the Prime Minesterial candidate. This was announced by the party after the day-long deliberation of the party leadership at its headquarters.

Announcement to this effect has been made after the meeting of chief ministers of the BJP-ruled states and deputy chief ministers of the NDA government in state where the BJP is the junior partner. Three-time BJP chief minister of Chhattisgarh Raman Singh said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be the Prime Ministerial candidate of the party for the next general elections of the country which is due in 2019. In the day-long discussion on various issues concerning the next general elections, the party has chalked out the detailed strategy that how to go about in the next general elections. Total 15 chief ministers and 7 deputy chief ministers were present in the meeting attended by Modi and Shah.

The meeting was divided into three segments. In the first segment the party president Amit Shah addressed the chief ministers and deputy chief ministers of the party and his speech was centered around the Lok Sabha elections. Sources in the BJP said that national president Amit Shah said in his speech that the process of National Register of Citizenship (NRC) is progressing in the right direction and every Bangladeshi citizen will be deported and any Hindu which is target and victim will be given shelter in India. One of the BJP leader said that NRC will not only be the election issue for Assam but for across the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about the road map how to win the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and how prepared the BJP-ruled states are. He asked for their report cards that the chief ministers and deputy chief ministers presented before him that they were asked to bring in. The Lok Sabha election was the main issue on which detail deliberations was required.

The meeting also discussed the government schemes of the NDA government that could fetch votes for the NDA government. "As per the estimate of the government machinery, welfare schemes have benefited around 22 crore people so far and this is still continuing. The BJP leaders present in the meeting have been asked to chalk out plans to reach out to these people for their support in 2019 elections," said sources.

Schemes of the government like free LPG cylinders to the BPL families, Jan Dhan Yojna, easy availability of loan for start ups, rural rode, infrastructure development, financing to promote self-employment among scheduled castes youth and many other welfare schemes of the government. The SC/ST Atrocity Bill that was passed in the just concluded monsoon session to be told to the people in rural area especially among the Dalit populace while Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to be discussed in the urban area to tell the people about the government resolve of fighting against the corruption. Though the meeting was very crucial but this will be followed by several other more meeting that will continue till the elections.

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 21:23 [IST]Challenge to Citizenship (Amendment) Bill to be heard by SC on December 18

Supreme Court to take a call on whether to forward Article 370 issue to seven-bench judge today

Name and shame posters: Here is what Priyanka Gandhi said

Now, Sanatan Sanstha demands that word secular be removed from Constitution

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

New Delhi, Aug 28: Right wing group Sanatan Sanstha has demanded that the word 'secular be removed from the Constitution, claiming that it puts Hindus at a disadvantage.

Union Minister and RPI (A) leader Ramdas Athawale has reportedly opposed this demand and said that the word 'secular'' has kept the country integrated.

According to reports, Sanatan Sanstha spokesperson Chetan Rajhans said that injustice is being meted out to Hindus under the garb of being secular, adding, "Ours is a very constitutional demand."

"Hindus are at a disadvantage under the current Constitution. There are commissions for the minorities, here is no such thing for Hindus," said Rajhans, as per a TOI report.

Rajhans blamed the Emergency and Indira Gandhi for the inclusion of the term 'secular' in Constitution in 1976. "The inclusion happened under political pressure. It is time we drop the word," Rajhans said.

"Notwithstanding anybody's demand, the word will remain in the Constitution forever," Athawale told reporters while responding to Sanatan Sanstha's demand.

[Right wing outfit member arrested by Maharashtra ATS, bombs seized]

Sanatan Sanstha's name had cropped up during the investigation into journalist Gauri Lankesh's murder. It was alleged that the shooters of Lankesh were linked to the Sanatan Sanstha. Rajhans denied that any of the persons arrested in connection with the murders of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar and Gauri Lankesh have anything to do with Sanatan Sanstha.

[Same weapon was used to kill Gauri Lankesh and Narendra Dabholkar: CBI tells court]

The CBI claimed a few days back that The killings of journalist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru last year and rationalist Narendra Dabholkar in Pune in 2013 were "linked".

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 10:22 [IST]Google says it removed 71,132 content pieces in May, 83,613 items in June in India

Right to be forgotten: HC asks Centre, Google to reply to plea for removing verdict from search engine

Payment app Tez renamed to Google Pay, new features added

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

New Delhi, Aug 28: Google's payment app Tez has been renamed to Google Pay. Not only has the name of the payment app been changed, Google has introduced new features into it.

At its annual event Google for India, the tech giant announced its partnership with private banks to facilitate pre-approved loans instantly to Google Pay customers.

Using the Google Pay app, customers will soon be able to get loans from HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Federal Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

"In the coming weeks, these customers will be able to use Google Pay to take out a customised loan amount from their banks with minimal paperwork, and once they accept the bank's terms, the money will be deposited securely and instantly into their bank accounts," said Google's general manager (payments) Caesar Sengupta.

Google said it is increasing the number of places users can transact with Google Pay, including apps, websites as well as branded retail stores. Some of the top destinations that accept Google Pay are Goibibo, FreshMenu and RedBus. The company said it will be soon support BookMyShow as well.

Google says it has 22 million monthly active users on Google Pay who have made over 750 million transactions with average annual transaction of 2 lakh crore.

Tez was launched in India last September as Google's first digital payment platform for the country.Plot to kill Modi: Nation wide raids reveal huge naxal-urban naxal conspiracy

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Hyderabad, Aug 28: Special teams of the police have conducted raids at various places, in connection with the plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Raids were also conducted at the residence of Maoist ideologue writer, Varavara Rao at Gandhi Nagar in Hyderabad.

A journalist's home at Nagole too was also raided. Sources say that they suspect that Rao is connected to the conspiracy. A case had previously been filed against Rao in Pune.

Police sources tell OneIndia that they have found evidence such as emails, documents, literary material to suggest that the left wing extremists are planning to conduct a Rajiv Gandhi styled assassination bid on Modi.

Also Read | Plot to kill Modi: Naxals felt targeting PM's road shows was effective strategy

Synchronised raids were conducted in 8 different locations by police teams from Goa, Maharashtra, Telangana, Delhi and Jharkhand. The raids are a follow up to the ones carried out in June in connection with the Bhima Koregaon protests.

The police also raided the homes of Rao and his daughter. A journalist with a leading business paper and a journalist from the Telugu medium were also raided. The house of a professor working with the English and Foreign Language university was also raided.

Raids in Delhi, Telangana:

Raids were also conducted at Delhi and Telangana. The police said that searches at the homes of Arun Ferriera, Susan Abraha and Vernon Gonsalvez were conducted in Mumbai. The police also raided the houses of Anand Teltumbde in Goa, Stalin Swamy in Jharkhand, and Gautam Navlakha and Sudha Bhardwaj in Delhi.

Also Read | A plot to kill Narendra Modi busted, police take into custody Coimbatore blast convict

Further raids were conducted in three places in Hyderabad, which included the homes of Rao and two others. Laptops were confiscated during the raids.

Varavara Rao:

The name of Rao had come up when the Pune police arrested, Surendra Gadling from Nagpur in June in connection with the Elgaar Parishad case. A letter was recovered from Gadling in which Rao had complimented him for the success of the attack launched by naxalites in Gadchiroli.

There were also letters discussing the assassination of Modi which were recovered from Rona Wilson, also an accused in the case. In addition to this the police also raided Fereira's house in Thane. The police say that he is an alleged sympathiser of naxalites and had been arrested in the past as well. He was however discharged in all the cases.Rahul Gandhi meets party leaders from Gujarat, asks them to be prepared for assembly polls

Rahul has lunch at roadside eatery in Goa, rides pillion on two-wheeler taxi for few kms

Kerala Floods: Rahul visits relief camps, felicitates fishermen

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Kochi, Aug 28: Congress President Rahul Gandhi arrived in Kerala on Tuesday for a two-day visit, days after he appealed to the centre to help the flood-ravaged state.

Soon after his arrival, the Congress chief visited the relief camp in Christian College in Chengannur district of Kerala.He will also meet the fishermen who were hailed for their efforts in saving thousands of lives during the recent deluge.

Gandhi falicitated fishermen involved with rescue operations at Camelot Convention Centre, Alappuzha which started with a moment of silence for the people who lost their lives in the Kerala floods.

Also Read | NASA releases images of before and after Kerala flood

The Kerala Floods reveal two distinct ideas of India. The first is one of love and compassion for all living beings, particularly in their suffering. The second is driven by hate and bigotry that is unrelenting even in the face of suffering, tweeted Rahul Gandhi.

He is scheduled to visit Wayanad district on Wednesday.

On August 18, he requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare Kerala floods a national disaster.

"This is a difficult time for the people of Kerala. In relief camps and homes across the state, people are grieving for their loved ones. On this Onam let us pledge to put aside our differences, stand united together and focus on the task of rebuilding Kerala," he tweeted on Saturday.

The Congress chief asked his party workers in the rain-battered state to help in rescue operations.

"This is the time for our workers & leaders to demonstrate the core Congress values of service & love. Please focus all our resources and people to help those in need," he had said.

Also Read | 'Operation Madad' rescued nearly 17,000 people in flood hit Kerala

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an immediate aid of Rs. 500 crore for the state, Gandhi said it was a "good step" but "nowhere near enough". He called for the floods to be declared as a "national disaster".

"Please declare Kerala floods a national disaster without any delay. The lives, livelihood and future of millions of our people are at stake. Please do not vacillate as the people of Kerala are suffering," he said.

The floods in Kerala have caused widespread devastation in the state, which has begun assessing the damage and the initial loss is pegged at over Rs. 20,000 crore.SBI PO Main Result 2018 declared on sbi.co.in

India

oi-Madhuri

New Delhi, Aug 28: The SBI PO Main Result 2018 has been declared. The results are available on the official website.

The SBI PO Main exam was held on August 4, 2018. Prelims results were declared in July third week.

"Candidates are requested to please note that the result of the Main Examination for POs is expected to be declared by 31.08.2018," said a notification posted on the official website.

As per the SBI PO 2018 exam schedule, the main exam result date was August 20, 2018.

As per the schedule released by SBI career session, after the SBI PO Main results are declared, the interview and group exercise process will be done to complete the recruitment process. According to the schedule, the SBI PO Interviews will begin from September 24 and continue till October 12. The interview admit cards are expected to be released on September 1, 2018. The results are available on sbi.co.in.

How to check your SBI PO 2018 results:

Go to sbi.co.in .

. Click on the career section of the website provided on the homepage

Go to Probationary Officers recruitment link

Click on the results link

View results

Take a printout

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 6:56 [IST]Lawyer without brief is like Tendulkar without his bat on cricket ground: SC

SC dismisses plea against 2G investigator Rajeshwar Singh

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

New Delhi, Aug 28: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the petition filed by journalist Upendra Rai seeking to change Enforcement Directorate (ED) official Rajeshwar Singh as the investigating officer against him in 2G spectrum case.

Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy welcomed the apex court's decision.

Swamy tweeted, "Happy that today SC dismissed the case filed against Dr. Rajeshwar by touts hired by PC. I am also the Namo Govt today were on the same side and wavelength. ASG Banerjee also argued cogently."

Happy that today SC dismissed the case filed against Dr. Rajeshwar by touts hired by PC. I am also the Namo Govt today were on the same side and wavelength. ASG Banerjee also argued cogently  Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) August 28, 2018

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 1, filed a chargesheet against Upendra Rai and four others in Delhi's Patiala House Court in connection with a money laundering case.

Also Read | 2G case: HC grants additional time to Kanimozhi, Raja to reply to CBI's appeal against aquittal

The money laundering case is connected to a CBI inquiry into allegations of extortion and dubious financial transactions against Rai. The journalist has refuted all allegations, claiming that he is being framed for reporting on an ED officer investigating the 2G spectrum allocation scam case.Sedition cases filed for raising pro-freedom slogans in J&K

India

oi-Madhuri

Jammu, Aug 28: A sedition case was lodged against "unidentified persons" for allegedly raising 'pro-freedom' slogans during a National Conference rally in Poonch in support of Article 35A of the Constitution, police said today.

The rally was led by NC MLA Javed Ahmed Rana in Mendhar tehsil during a day-long strike against the slated Supreme Court's hearings on a slew of pleas challenging the validity of the Article 35 A of the Constitution, which accords special rights and privileges to the Jammu and Kashmir natives.

During the rally, some unidentified persons raised "pro-freedom" slogans, following which a case under sections 124-A (sedition) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) was lodged, a police official said.

Also Read | Srinagar shuts on rumour that Article 35 A has been scrapped by SC

"The sedition case was registered against unidentified persons on Saturday," said the official, adding no arrests have been made as yet.

This is the second sedition case registered against unidentified persons in Poonch district this month. On August 6, a similar case was lodged at Gursai police station in the border district after some people raised pro-freedom slogans during a strike in support of the Article 35A.

The National Conference Scheduled Caste Cell (NCSCC), meanwhile, staged a rally at Ramnagar in Udhampur district today, stressing upon the need to safeguard the Constitutional provision which, they claimed, reflects the identity and dignity of the people of the state.

Leading a protest march of the NC workers, the party's cell co-chairperson Vijay Lochan said the people of the state would not allow the abrogation of the Article 35A, which, he claimed, was vital for the economic sustenance and jobs of the youths in the state.

He said weakening Article 35A would tantamount to usurping the rights of the unemployed youths and exposing the business community to threat from non-state subjects who may come and settle in the state.

Also Read | Article 35A is judicial matter and not a political one, says Ram Madhav-that-article-35-has-been-scrapped-by-sc-2763814.html

Lochan accused the BJP of unleashing a misinformation campaign on Article 35A, saying its leaders were dividing the people on the basis of region, religion and caste.

He described Article 35A as "region and religion-neutral" and said it protects the interests of all segments of the society.

The National Conference will fight the divisive politics of the BJP and offer every sacrifice for strengthening the bonds of amity and unity between the people, he said.

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 11:24 [IST]Shivraj Singh Chauhan to restart his Jan Ashirvad Yatra from August 29

India

oi-Vinod

By Vinod

New Delhi, Aug 28: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, who had stopped his Jan Ashirvad Yatra after the death of former Prime Minister of the country Atal Bihari Vajpayee, will restart his yatra from Rahli to reach Teekamgarh in the state on August 30. He was in Delhi today to attend CM's meeting with the PM and party chief.

All the three chief ministers of the BJP-ruled states, which are likely to go for elections in November-December, are organising Rath Yatra with different names. The first leg of yatra of Chattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh covering 55 Assembly seats is over. He will start the second leg of his yatra to cover 35 Assembly seats anytime now.

Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje is already taking out Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra. As per the BJP claims all its chief ministers are getting good response from the people for the good work of their government still the BJP is little apprehensive as the party is facing dual anti-incumbency.

The party sources said that Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh governments are already facing incumbency of 15 years that is three terms and now the incumbency of the Central government. However, efforts are being made to capitalize on the central government schemes but how far they will be helpful, it is too early to say. However, the MP BJP claims that it is confident and sure to win elections as the Congress is divided house in the state.

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 21:51 [IST]MK Stalin elected DMK chief, party demands Bharat Ratna for Karunanidhi

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Chennai, Aug 28: M K Stalin was elected president of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Tuesday at the party's General Council meeting.

At the party's General Council meeting held here, DMK General Secretary K Anbazhagan said Stalin was elected unopposed, as he was the sole candidate who had filed nomination for the party chief's post on August 26.

The 65-year-old Stalin's elevation comes about three weeks after the death of his father and party president M Karunanidhi on August 7 and amidst threats by his elder brother and expelled DMK leader MK Alagiri that the party will have to face "consequences" if he was not re-admitted into its fold.

Chants hailing Stalin as "Thalapathy" (Commander) rented the Kalaignar Arangam where the meeting was underway even as the General Council members cheered with loud applause.

DMK Principal Secretary Durai Murugan was elected Treasurer, succeeding Stalin, a post he vacated recently in view of his proposed elevation.

Meanwhile, the hashtag DMKThalaivarStalin top-trended on Twitter with tweets congratulating Stalin flooding the platform.

DMK passes a resolution at party's General Council meeting urging the Union government to confer Bharat Ratna to former Tamil Nadu M Karunanidhi.

Earlier, two-minute silence observed at DMK General Council meeting at party hqs to pay tribute to former TamilNadu CM M Karunanidhi, former PM Atal Bihar Vajpayee, former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee, former TN Guv Surjit Singh Barnala and former UN secy general Kofi Annan.

Elevation of Stalin and Durai Murugan has become a foregone conclusion after their names were proposed by all the 65 district Secretaries. None other than the two have filed their nominations for the posts.

However, Alagiri in January 2014, Karunanidhi had expelled Alagiri for "anti-party activities".

Now, Alagiri is opposed to Stalin's elevation as the party president. He said that the DMK will face threat after his "rally in Chennai on 5 September". "I have never desired for any post in the party, even when thalaivar (leader) was alive. Why would I seek a post, now? (I have) never aspired to become the DMK president; Stalin is in haste to claim the post."

Earlier, Alagiri had claimed that he had the support of the "true loyalist cadres".

Born as the third son of the Late leader M. Karunanidhi and Dayalu Ammal on March 1, 1953, Stalin was named after the Russian leader Joseph Stalin because the leader had passed away just four days his birth.

He joined the party as a 14-year-old and was elected to the General Committee of the party in 1973. He was arrested under the maintenance of Internal Security act during emergency. Stalin was elected to the Tamilnadu Assembly five times since

1989. This is the sixth time that he has been elected for the Assembly from the kolathur Constituency. He is also the State opposition leader presently.

Stalin was also the first Deputy Chief Minister of the State in 2009. He also served as Chennai's mayor in 2001.

Founded by C. N. Annadurai in 1949, DMK was a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam that was popularly known as Justice Party until 1944. This political outfit had been headed by Karunanidhi from 1969 until his death in August.Will continue to set new standards says Shah after spectacular victory in UP

Campaigning for First Phase of local body Polls Ends today; voting on Wednesday

Taking no chances: 20,000 security personnel to be deployed for J&K local body polls

India

oi-Madhuri

New Delhi, Aug 28: Over 20,000 personnel of paramilitary forces such as CRPF and BSF will be deployed in Kashmir Valley for "pre-election duties" ahead of panchayat polls in J&K, officials said.

They said a total of 202 companies that were given the task of conducting the recently-concluded Amarnath pilgrimage in the state will now be deployed in Srinagar, Budgam, Ganderbal, Baramulla, Sopore, Kupwara, Bandipora, Shopian and Awantipora for pre-election duties.

The pilgrimage, which lasted about two months, concluded Sunday.

Also Read | New J&K Governor Malik has his task cut out right from Article 35 A to Panchayat polls

A single company has about 100 personnel.

According to an order issued by the state police, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will contribute the largest number of companies at 132, followed by Border Security Force (BSF) 32, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) 25 and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) 13.

"A total of 202 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) deployed for the Amarnath Yatra have been diverted and ordered to be deployed for pre-poll duties in view of the panchayat polls in the state, dates for which are yet to be announced," a senior official said.

Also Read | Civic polls in Jammu and Kashmir to be held in September this year

He added a number of other reserve units of these forces and the state police will also be deployed once the poll dates are announced.

Local body elections are likely to be held in the last week of September.

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 10:22 [IST]Tired of waiting, Shivpal Yadav readies new political outfit

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Lucknow, Aug 28: Amidst all the combinations that are being formed ahead of crucial 2019 Lok Sabha elections, a new party is set to emerge in Uttar Pradesh. The party is being floated by Shivpal Yadav, the brother of Samajwadi Party supremo, Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The party which would be independent of the SP and BSP, would include smaller parties such as the Apna Dal Krishna Patel faction, Maran Dal among other parties. While Shivpal would not form any truck with either the BSP or SP, there is a speculation that he could back the BJP.

It may be recalled that over the past couple of weeks, Shivpal has held talks with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath. He has also visited Delhi several times in recent months.

Also Read | Shivpal Yadav waiting to be assigned responsibilities by party

Shivpal Yadav is expected to launch the party sometime in September. The party is likely to eat into the vote share of the SP and BSP and this could indirectly help the BJP in 2019. The BJP has fought several by-elections in Uttar Pradesh recently, but had lost out to a combined SP-BSP.

Shivpal Yadav has however not made his intentions public as yet. On Sunday, he had said that he was waiting for over one and half years now, but has not been assigned any responsibility in the SP.

The decision by Shivpal would be crucial. He could use it to bargain with the SP under Akhilesh Yadav.

Further if he decides to go through with his decision, then the SP would lose its bargaining capabilities with the BSP in case of an alliance for 2019.

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 10:55 [IST]To safeguard assets, Mallya plans return to India

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Aug 28: Vijay Mallya is likely to return to India, in the wake of his properties slipping away. The return is being planned in a bid to keep his properties under his control.

The new Fugitive Economic Offenders Law entitles the government agencies to take control over the property, once a person is declared an absconder by a competent court.

Mallya fugitive case: Court fixes Sept 3 as next date

Mallya, according to officials has been sending feelers in a bid to return to India. He has also been negotiating with banks to settle the amount due, sources say.

Mallya is also speaking to the officials in the Enforcement Directorate. While there has been no official comment from Mallya on this. Top sources tell OneIndia that one of the reasons why Mallya is signalling a return to India is because of the newly introduced Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance 2018.

Mallya has hinted that he would like to contest the recent action against him under the new ordinance. The ordinance gives the agencies to seize assets of a fugitive economic offender. It also states that the person in question cannot contest the action against him under the new ordinance, unless he or she returns to India.

Mallya is also said to have suggested that he would join the legal process in India. Feelers have been sent, there is nothing concrete as yet. Everything would depend on what he has to say, but for these talks to be fruitful, he would need to come back to India from London first, the officer also informed.

Western-style toilet, LCD television, 3 fans at Cell number 12 for Vijay Mallya

Further the talks would also depend on what offer he would make to the banks. He will have to clear the loans he has availed and there has to be a guarantee to that effect. The consortium of banks would also have to be involved in this process, officials also said.

The agencies had moved a Mumbai court seeking to declare Mallya as a fugitive economic offender. The court had last month issued summons to Mallya returnable by August 27. If he fails to appear before the court on August 27, then action would be initiated under the new ordinance. The agencies have sought immediate confiscation of assets worth around Rs 12,000 crore belonging to Mallya.

The negotiations would depend on what Mallya has to offer. He would also be aware of the fact that the agencies are not only probing the cases relating to the loans he has availed. He has also been accused of money laundering, which is a serious charge.

Last month, Mallya through his counsel had said before the Karnataka High Court that he was willing to settle all his outstanding dues. He later told a news agency that the assets placed before the High Court were worth 2 billion US dollars, which was more than sufficient to repay his creditors. He however denied that his offer was linked to the new ordinance and the ED's action before the Mumbai court in this regard.

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 7:04 [IST]Why UP was lagging behind and thrown into fire of riots: Yogi explains

Will die, but not ally with BJP: Priyanka Gandhi in Yogi turf Gorakhpur

Why Yogi feels UP has the best law and order situation in 15 years

India

oi-Madhuri

Lucknow, Aug 28: The law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh is the best the state has seen in the last 15 years, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath claimed today as he lashed at the Opposition for disrupting the state Assembly on the issue of handling crime.

"Not just in the state but in the entire country it has been accepted that law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh has improved and an indicator of this is that investment is flowing in," Adityanath said as he accused the opposition parties of working with a "negative attitude".

The chief minister was speaking to mediapersons after the state Assembly was adjourned for the day following noisy protests by opposition members over the Deoria shelter home case.

Yogi ji is doing politics over BRD college tragedy, says Dr. Kafeel Khan

It is very unfortunate that the House, which is meant for discussing serious issues, is being used for raising unnecessary slogans, the chief minister said.

"I feel to hide their own incompetence and avoid becoming a laughing stock, they are raising a matter (Deoria case) that is sub-judice and being monitored by the High Court," Adityanath said.

The House has 403 elected MLAs but a handful of people are holding it hostage and encroaching upon the rights of others, Adityanath said adding it was "not a good sign" for democracy.

Referring to the Deoria shelter home case, he said the facts that had emerged in the probe indicated that if anyone was to be blamed, it was the previous governments.

Deaths of infants at BRD hospital not due to lack of oxygen: Yogi

The shelter home got recognition in 2009 and was getting grants till 2017, he said.

"We have taken action against the DM and the SP and all those found lax and have also recommended a CBI inquiry. A three-member committee is carrying out the probe till the CBI takes over and High Count is monitoring the matter," he said.

On August 6, 24 girls were rescued from a shelter home in Deoria after allegations of abuse came to light.

We have emphatically curbed loot and other activities of criminal elements who had entered politics," Adityanath said.

"I can understand the problem of the SP, the Congress and others in this regard," he said.

He said the crime rate in the state was lesser than what was under the previous government and FIRs were being lodged. The National Crime Records Bureau clearly believes that crime control is determined by the common people's perception, he said.

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 5:48 [IST]Covid-19 confusion deepens as 25 per cent of new black fungus patients have no coronavirus record

Madhya Pradesh HC dismisses PIL against land allotment to Ramdev's Patanjali

Indore

oi-PTI

Indore, Aug 27: The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday dismissed a PIL seeking cancellation of allotment of land by the state government to Yoga guru Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurveda.

The 40-acre plot of land in the Pithampur industrial area of Dhar district was allotted to the company at Rs 25 lakh per acre in September 2016 and the firm had proposed to invest Rs 500 crore to set up a food processing unit there.

[Read more: Illegal immigrants can cause 10 Kashmir like problems for us: Baba Ramdev]

A bench of Justices P K Jaiswal and Sunil Kumar today rejected the PIL, filed by local social worker Tapan Bhattacharya, and fined him Rs 10,000 for submitting a baseless petition. The court also ordered that the fine, after realisation, should be deposited in the relief fund for flood-hit Kerala.

[Read more: Man held for creating fake Facebook profile of Patanjali's Acharya Balkrishna]

In his PIL, Bhattacharya had alleged that the land was given at cheap rates to provide illegal benefits to Patanjali. The PIL also claimed that the state's industrial policy, rules and regulations were not followed.

The state government had argued that the land was allotted by the state Cabinet in accordance with rules.

PTI

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 12:21 [IST]Swaraj meets Vietnamese PM

Swaraj is in Vietnam on the first leg of her four-day two-nation tour which aims at deepening India's strategic cooperation with Vietnam and Cambodia -- the key countries in the ASEAN region.

(Image courtesy - ANI/Twitter)

EAM Swaraj meets her Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh

"Deepening our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership! EAM @SushmaSwaraj and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh led delegation level talks where trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation were discussed," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

Swaraj co-chaired the 16th meeting of the Joint Commission along with the Vietnamese foreign minister. Earlier, addressing the 3rd Indian Ocean Conference here yesterday, Swaraj said India and Vietnam are connected not only by the common waters but also by a shared vision for peace and prosperity.

Swaraj unveils the bust of Mahatma Gandhi in the Embassy of India in Hanoi

Hanoi is therefore a particularly appropriate setting to discuss developments in the Indian Ocean and the Indo-Pacific region, she said. Swaraj said India and Vietnam have agreed to further strengthen cooperation in the maritime domain, including on anti-piracy, security of sea lanes and exchange of white shipping information.

"We also agreed on the importance of the early conclusion of an ASEAN-India Maritime Transport Cooperation Agreement. In this context, we intend to accelerate the establishment of direct shipping routes between the sea ports of India and Vietnam," she said.

EAM Swaraj meets SriLankan PM Ranil Wickeramasinghe

Yesterday, Swaraj met Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Bangladeshi Planning Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal. She also held talks with Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

(Image courtesy - ANI/Twitter)For safekeeping: Congress alliance candidates flown to Jaipur ahead of May 2 counting

Curfew announced in Jaipur from 6 pm to 5 am

4 calves, three cows rescued from jeep in Rajasthan

Jaipur court sentences rapist 20 years in prison within 9 days of committing crime

Rajasthan: Two eunuchs arrested in murder case

Jaipur

oi-Madhuri

Dholpur, Aug 28: Two eunuchs were arrested today in connection with the murder of an eunuch and her assistant in this district, police said.

The eunuch, Rajkumari (65), and her assistant Geeta (25), were killed with an intention of loot in their house on Saturday, they said.

The accused had slit their throats.

Also Read | 3 bike borne men killed in road accident

Simran ( 22) and Pari(21) were traced on the basis of their mobile location while three are still absconding, police said.

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 11:37 [IST]Doctors kidnapping, 28 year old man arrested

New Delhi

oi-Madhuri

New Delhi, Aug 28: A 28-year-old man, carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 on his head, was arrested today for involvement in kidnapping of a doctor by an Ola cab driver in East Delhi's Preet Vihar last year, police said.

Harsh alias Gaurab Sharma is the eight accused to have been arrested in the case, they said.

On July 7, 2017, Dr Shrikant Gaur of Metro Hospital went missing from Preet Vihar, following which a case was registered.

Also Read | Ghaziabad: Married man scripts kidnapping plot to leave live-in partner

He had boarded an Ola cab and went untraced soon after.

Later, the kidnappers demanded Rs five crore from cab aggregator Ola for his release.

Police rescued the doctor nearly 13 days after he went missing.

Seven men were arrested, including the main accused, but Harsh alias Gaurav Sharma remained at large and subsequently, a reward of Rs 50,000 was decalred on his arrest, the police said.

Last week, he was nabbed while walking towards Buddhist Monastery from ISBT, police said.

Also Read | No country for children? India witnesses 11 per cent rise in crime against minors, says NCRB

He completed his secondary education from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, and then married against his parent's wishes, hence, was disowned by his family.

During this period, he came into contact with Sushil and Anuj of his village. They lured him and roped into kidnapping the doctor for want of easy money, police said.

He was pursuing B Pharma, but dropped out after getting involved in the kidnapping, they said.

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 11:31 [IST]Woman beats up constable after he slaps her brother

New Delhi

oi-Madhuri

New Delhi, Aug 28: A woman beat up a police constable here today after he slapped her brother for allegedly altercating with officials at a bank during Aadhaar enrollment, police said.

The incident took place at a SBI branch in Balram Nagar colony, Loni, they said, adding that two persons were arrested in this connection after a purported video clip of the episode went viral on social media.

"Imran was asked to produce a token for Aadhaar enrollment. When he refused, the official concerned denied to proceed. An argument broke out between them and soon after the official called policeman deployed there. The policeman, along with a bank security guard, evicted him from the premises," SSP Vaibhav Krishna said.

A call was also made on Dial 100, following which a PCR van arrived.

Also Read | Not paid for 2 months, let me beg in uniform cop tells Devendra Fadnavis

In the meantime, Imran also called his family members. When the argument went further, the constable allegedly slapped Imran.

Following this, Imran's sister beat the constable. She allegedly beat him up with slippers. Somebody at the scene recorded a video of the incident which went viral on social media.

Two persons, Rashid and Ismail of Ashok Vihar Colony, have been arrested, the SSP said, adding that efforts are on to identify and nab the other accused.

For More New Delhi News, Click here

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Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 11:46 [IST]With terror, naxal cases on the rise, NIA sets up branch at Ranchi

Ten-year-old tiger dies in Ranchi zoo after fever, samples sent for testing after Covid ruled out

Jharkhand High Court dismisses the govt's move of banning PFI

Ranchi

pti-PTI

Jharkhand High Court dismisses the govt's move of banning PFI

Ranchi, Aug 28: The Jharkhand High Court has set aside a state government notification banning the Popular Front of India (PFI) on technical grounds.

The bench of Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay yesterday set aside the February 21, 2018, order of the Jharkhand government, saying it had not been published in the gazette. The Jharkhand government had banned the PFI on account of its members being "internally influenced" by terror outfit ISIS.

PFI member Abdul Badud had challenged the order banning the organisation. The bench also quashed FIRs registered by police against the PFI, an Islamic organisation. The bench, however, rejected the petitioners contention to prevent the state government from banning any organisation under Section 16 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, saying the state has the power to do so.

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PTIOn-site Preventive Care Market is expected to witness a CAGR of 7.1% from 2017 to 2027

Future Market Insights

https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-5518

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Future Market Insights has published a new report titled On-site Preventive Care Market: Global Industry Analysis (2012-2016) and Opportunity Assessment (2017-2027). The report states that the standards set in the workplace for the safety of workers and the need to adhere to workplace norms have triggered the demand for on-site preventive care. Moreover, the increasing incidences of workplace illness has also made it an obligation for employers to follow employee safety codes and adopt on-site preventive care. As a result, the global on-site preventive care market is expected to witness a CAGR of 7.1% from 2017 to 2027. The market was worth around US$ 16,135 Mn in 2017 and is likely to touch a valuation of US$ 32,063 Mn approximately by the end of 2027.On-site clinics enable employees to receive the required essential care at the time of emergency without having to leave the workplace. The clinicians in these clinics also aid employees in searching for a primary care physician who they can consult with on a regular basis. As a Future Market Insights analyst quotes, Changes in lifestyle among the working class have incessantly impelled employers to establish certain behavioural standards within the workplace. This is one of the core factors responsible for the growing adoption of on-site preventive care in several organisations across the globe.A sample of this report is available upon request @Burgeoning Penetration of Workplace Wellness Programmes to Bode Well for the MarketIn the recent past, workplace wellness programmes have earned the merit of being one of the most adopted healthcare services in the world. It has been further expected that its adoption will increase in the coming years owing to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. This act is expected to promote an increase in the employee-based coverage of workplace wellness and also promote these programmes through several provisions. Moreover, the growing incidences of chronic diseases among the working population have also become a matter of concern and this has compelled employers across the globe to adopt as well as promote workplace wellness programmes.Furthermore, employers who have adopted on-site preventive care services have reported enhanced performance ranging from heightened morale and cost savings to productivity. The death of time, access, and cost along with misunderstanding of the benefits of prescribed wellness programmes result in the underutilisation of primary care services. As a result, employees flood emergency rooms, missing out on critical preventive care measures and also leave chronic conditions go unmanaged. In this regard, on-site clinics provide employees with the necessary support without having to leave their work and plus the clinicians also work together with the patients in a cohesive environment to address their various health related issues.North America and Western Europe to Compete Neck and NeckIn 2017, North America held a share of 37.0% in the global on-site preventive care market closely trailed by Western Europe. The dominance of North America can be attributed to the several policies implemented by the U.S. government pertaining to employee safety and the adoption of certain employee codes of safety. The U.S. is also an extremely mature market owing to the high adoption of workplace wellness programmes.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Companies to Innovate Services in the Global MarketIn order to stay ahead of the competition, several companies operating in the global market are focussing on innovating their existing services and integrating new services. Some of the leading companies in the market are Premise Health, OnSite Care, Inc., PrevMED, RepuCare, Healthcare Solutions Centers, LLC, McCormack & Kale Motiva Health & Chiropractic, Inc., Marino Wellness, Kinema Fitness, and TotalWellness.Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centres in the U.S. and India.FMIs research and consulting services help businesses around the globe navigate the challenges in a rapidly evolving marketplace with confidence and clarity. Our customised and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. We continuously track emerging trends and events in a broad range of end industries to ensure our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers.Valley CottageU.S. OfficeWireless Display 2018 Global Market Key Players  Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Roku, Lattice Semiconductor - Analysis and Forecast to 2025

Wireless Display Market

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WiseGuyRerports.com Presents Global Wireless Display Market Size, Status and Forecast 2018-2025 New Document to its Studies DatabaseThis report focuses on the global Wireless Display status, future forecast, growth opportunity, key market and key players. The study objectives are to present the Wireless Display development in United States, Europe and China.In 2017, the global Wireless Display market size was million US$ and it is expected to reach million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of during 2018-2025.The key players covered in this studyGoogleAmazonAppleMicrosoftRokuLattice SemiconductorNetgearCaviumActiontec ElectronicsBelkin InternationalQualcommRequest For Sample Report @Market segment by Type, the product can be split intoWirelessHDWiDiMiracastAirPlayGoogle CastDLNAOthersMarket segment by Application, split intoConsumer ElectronicsCorporate & BroadcastDigital SignageGovernmentHealthcareEducationOthersMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaCentral & South AmericaComplete Report Details @Table Of Contents:1 Report Overview1.1 Study Scope1.2 Key Market Segments1.3 Players Covered1.4 Market Analysis by Type1.4.1 Global Wireless Display Market Size Growth Rate by Type (2013-2025)1.4.2 WirelessHD1.4.3 WiDi1.4.4 Miracast1.4.5 AirPlay1.4.6 Google Cast1.4.7 DLNA1.4.8 Others1.5 Market by Application1.5.1 Global Wireless Display Market Share by Application (2013-2025)1.5.2 Consumer Electronics1.5.3 Corporate & Broadcast1.5.4 Digital Signage1.5.5 Government1.5.6 Healthcare1.5.7 Education1.5.8 Others1.6 Study Objectives1.7 Years Considered2 Global Growth Trends2.1 Wireless Display Market Size2.2 Wireless Display Growth Trends by Regions2.2.1 Wireless Display Market Size by Regions (2013-2025)2.2.2 Wireless Display Market Share by Regions (2013-2018)2.3 Industry Trends2.3.1 Market Top Trends2.3.2 Market Drivers2.3.3 Market Opportunities.12 International Players Profiles12.1 Google12.1.1 Google Company Details12.1.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.1.3 Wireless Display Introduction12.1.4 Google Revenue in Wireless Display Business (2013-2018)12.1.5 Google Recent Development12.2 Amazon12.2.1 Amazon Company Details12.2.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.2.3 Wireless Display Introduction12.2.4 Amazon Revenue in Wireless Display Business (2013-2018)12.2.5 Amazon Recent Development12.3 Apple12.3.1 Apple Company Details12.3.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.3.3 Wireless Display Introduction12.3.4 Apple Revenue in Wireless Display Business (2013-2018)12.3.5 Apple Recent Development12.4 Microsoft12.4.1 Microsoft Company Details12.4.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.4.3 Wireless Display Introduction12.4.4 Microsoft Revenue in Wireless Display Business (2013-2018)12.4.5 Microsoft Recent Development12.5 Roku12.5.1 Roku Company Details12.5.2 Company Description and Business Overview12.5.3 Wireless Display Introduction12.5.4 Roku Revenue in Wireless Display Business (2013-2018)12.5.5 Roku Recent DevelopmentContinued.CONTACT US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)ABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.ABOUT US:Address:WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaReusable Satellite Launch Vehicle (RSLV) Market 2018-2023 | Airbus, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Bellatrix, Bigelow, Masten Space, Space Exploration Technologies, Sierra Nevada and Virgin Galactic

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Global Reusable Satellite Launch Vehicle Market Report Information by Configuration (Single Stage, Multiple Stage), by Type (Partially Reusable, Fully Reusable), Vehicle Weight (Up to 4,000lbs, 4000-9000lbs, Over 9000lbs), & by Region - Forecast Till 2023Market research future published a half cooked research report on the global Reusable Satellite Launch Vehicle market. The Reusable satellite launch vehicle market is estimated to witness a CAGR of more than 12% during the forecast period from 2018 to 2023.Get Sample Report @A Reusable Satellite Launch Vehicle (RSLV) refers to a vehicle which takes off vertically on the back of an expendable rocket and then glides back down like an airplane. Small wings help in changing the direction of the moving vehicle during landing. The main benefit of an RSLV is that it can be used multiple times with low maintenance and repair costs.RSLV is also being developed to bring down the costs associated with the development and launch of satellites. Therefore, the key driver of this market is the reduction in satellite launch costs. RSLV helps in minimizing the manufacturing time, initial cost, and servicing costs of the vehicle. One of the key trends that will gain momentum in the global market is the rising adoption of reusable technology by the military forces. Recently, in May 2018, China started working on their reusable rocket, which is expected to be launched in 2021. Similarly, in May 2017, Boeing had signed a contract with the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop the Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1) program.In Europe, the satellite sector has undergone several transformations over the years. The industry is witnessing continuous advancements that involve the development and usage of RSLV. Countries such as France, Germany, Russia, and the U.K, along with the European Space Agency (ESA) are making major efforts towards the growth of the European satellite market by capitalizing heavily in new launch technologies to gear up the market growth. Therefore, the reusable satellite launch vehicle market is estimated to witness a CAGR of more than 12% during the forecast period from 2018 to 2023.By type, the global reusable satellite launch vehicle market has been segmented by fully reusable and partially reusable satellite launch vehicles, during the forecast period.On the basis of type, the market has been segmented by fully reusable and partially reusable satellite launch vehicles. As of 2017, the partially reusable launch vehicles segment dominated the global market and is expected to hold its position throughout the forecast period. The growth of partially reusable market segment will continue at a moderate growth as the investments associated with the launch of these vehicles is quite low as compared to the fully reusable segment.Key PlayersWe recognize the key players in the global reusable satellite launch vehicle market are Airbus S.A.S (Netherlands), Boeing (U.S.), Bellatrix Aerospace Private Limited (India), Bigelow Aerospace (U.S.), Lockheed Martin Corporation (U.S.), Masten Space Systems (U.S.), Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (U.S.), Sierra Nevada Corporation (U.S.), and Virgin Galactic (U.S.).Early Diners Are Offered Free Customization- Up to 20%Get Attractive Discount @Scope Of ReportThis research report provides insights into various levels of analysis, such as industry analysis and market share analysis for the leading industry competitors, along with their profiles. It also helps in studying the target segments by providing views on the emerging & high-growth segments. The market data comprises the basic assessment of the competitive scenarios and strategies in the global construction lift market, including high-growth regions and/or countries, and political and economic environments. The project report, further provides both  historical market values and pricing & cost analysis.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 85 market data tables and 54 figures spread in 123 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global Reusable Satellite Launch Vehicle Market Information from 2018 to 2023"Table Of Contents1 Executive Summary2 Scope Of The Report2.1 Market Definition2.2 Scope Of The Study2.2.1 Definition2.2.2 Research Objective2.2.3 Assumptions2.2.4 Limitations2.3 Research Process2.3.1 Primary Research2.3.2 Secondary Research2.4 Market Size Estimation2.5 Forecast Model3 Market Landscape3.1 Porters Five Forces Analysis3.1.1 Threat Of New Entrants3.1.2 Bargaining Power Of Buyers3.1.3 Threat Of Substitutes3.1.4 Segment Rivalry3.1.5 Bargaining Power Of Buyers3.2 Value Chain/Supply Chain Analysis4 Market Dynamics4.1 Introduction4.2 Market Drivers4.3 Market Restraints4.4 Market Opportunities4.5 Market TrendsContinues....List Of TablesTable 1 Global Reusable Satellite Launch Vehicle Market: By Region, 2018-2023Table 2 North America Reusable Satellite Launch Vehicle Market: By Country, 2018-2023Table 3 Europe Reusable Satellite Launch Vehicle Market: By Country, 2018-2023Table 4 Asia Pacific Reusable Satellite Launch Vehicle Market: By Country, 2018-2023Table 5 Middle East & Africa Reusable Satellite Launch Vehicle Market: By Country, 2018-2023Table 6 Latin America Reusable Satellite Launch Vehicle Market: By Country, 2018-2023Table 7 Global Reusable Satellite Launch Vehicle Market, By Configuration, 2018-2023Continues....Ask for your specific company profile and country level customization on reports.Get More Information on Report @About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Market Research FutureMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comFuel Delivery System Market - Global Industry Analysis by 2024 | Watlow Electric Manufacturing Company, JANSEN Combustion and Boiler Technologies, Honeywell International Inc.

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The global fuel delivery system market is prognosticated to help players to attain growth on the back of the rising application of simulation software which sincerely assists in the maintenance of the desired standards. This could also help players to cancel out the effect of the looming economic rise of underdeveloped nations and sluggish growth of certain end-use industries such as mining.As noted by experienced market researchers, the global fuel delivery system market could be segregated according to four categories, viz. end use, fuel type, application, and component. By component, the market could be classified into different segments, amongst which stop valves are projected to dominate the market but with a lesser share.Request a sample copy of the Report @The report offered here is a complete guideline that provides readers with a comprehensive study of key elements of the global fuel delivery system market, thus helping them to gain a full insight of future growth prospects.Global Fuel Delivery System Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe world fuel delivery system market is foreseen to witness a prospering growth on account of the rise of several end-use industries such as chemicals, food and beverage, and automotive. Since fuel delivery system is highly inflammable, safety is considered to be of paramount importance in the industry. Hence, there is a continuous need of monitoring the entire fuel delivery process using efficient systems. A number of equipment including boilers, furnaces, and industrial ovens could be efficiently managed with the help of fuel delivery system components.Enquiry for discount @However, the world fuel delivery system market could be obstructed by the supply and demand gap due to the overcapacity accumulation of products and components. This is anticipated to be on account of a large count of manufacturers focusing on the achievement of economies of scale with vast production. Nonetheless, manufacturers are now able to reach to emerging regions experiencing scarce supply and achieve cross-border sales with the success of ecommerce.Global Fuel Delivery System Market: Regional OutlookOne of the most lucrative regions of all is foretold to be Asia Pacific which secured a major share in the international fuel delivery system market in 2015. The market growth in this region could be fueled by the availability of raw materials and presence of a significant count of manufacturing suppliers and units. The broad expansion of energy industries especially in developing nations such as China and India could also enhance the growth of the market in the region. In the next few years, the region is envisaged to be largely advantaged with process industries articulating their growing preference for automated systems and technological developments pertaining to the improvement of fuel delivery system.Nevertheless, suppliers and manufacturers in the Middle East and Africa are envisioned to gain a whole lot of opportunities when operating in the international fuel delivery system market. This could be owing to the aggressive spread out of refining and oil and gas industries in the region.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @Global Fuel Delivery System Market: Companies MentionedThe worldwide fuel delivery system market could testify the presence of leading companies such as Watlow Electric Manufacturing Company, JANSEN Combustion and Boiler Technologies, Honeywell International Inc., Metso, and Bellofram Group of Companies. The nature of the vendor landscape is expected to be fragmented as a massive number of companies continue to claim a global share of the market.About Us:TMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Contact Us:Rohit BhiseyHead Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.comHigh Pressure Seals Market to Rear Excessive Growth during 2014  2023 | Top Manufactures: Garlock Sealing Technologies, Smiths Group, AES Corporation, EagleBurgmann Germany GmbH & Co

High Pressure Seals Market

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The High Pressure Seals Market research report provided by Crystal Market Research (CMR) is the most detailed study about High Pressure Seals that is estimated to grow at a tremendous rate over the forecast period 2018-2023. This report contains precise and updated insights in respect with the leading market players and prevailing regions of the business.Major Eminent Players:The major players in the High Pressure Seals Market are Garlock Sealing Technologies, Smiths Group, AES Corporation, EagleBurgmann Germany GmbH & Co and Parker Hannifin.Click Sample Copy of the Report here @The High Pressure Seals Market is segmented as follows-By Application:Oil and gasChemical & petrochemicalMiningPharmaceuticalManufacturingBy Material:Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)MetalHydrogenated nitrile butadiene elastic (HBR)Ethylene propylene dyne terpolymer (EPDM)Fluorocarbon-based manufactured elasticBuy now High Pressure Seals Market Report @Industry Outlook and Trend Analysis:The Global High Pressure Seals Market was worth USD 3.23 billion in 2014 and is expected to reach approximately USD 5.67 billion by 2023, while registering itself at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.45% during the forecast period.High weight seals are equipment used for leakage control and to join high pressure systems that are situated on rotating gear to confine the leakage of gases and fluid from getting away into the atmosphere. High pressure seals are principally composed of alloys, elastomer, metals, and plastics. These seals give controlled mechanism in case of high pressure, gives low friction to extraordinary pressure applications, and can be useful at high and low temperature ranges. Besides, high pressure seals are increasingly discovering more use in the assembling business because of the ascent in intricacy of products and concerns associated with safety.Table of Contents:1.Introduction2.Executive Summary3.Market Overview4.High Pressure Seals Market, By Material4.1.Introduction4.2.High Pressure Seals Market Assessment and Forecast, By Material, 2014-20234.3.Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU)4.4.Metal4.5.Hydrogenated Nitrile Butadiene Rubber (HBR)4.6.Ethylene Propylene Dyne Terpolymer (EPDM)4.7.Fluorocarbon-Based Synthetic Rubber5.High Pressure Seals Market, By Application5.1.Introduction5.2.The High Pressure Seals Market Assessment and Forecast, By Application, 2014-20235.3.Oil & gas5.4.Chemical & petrochemical5.5.Pharmaceutical5.6.ManufacturingTo be continued...Regional outlook and Trend Analysis:Geographically, the high pressure seals market can be segmented into Latin America, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East and Africa. Asia Pacific ruled the worldwide high pressure seal market because of interest from the significant areas in the substantial modern based district, for example, India, China, and Japan. India is a quickly growing business sector for high pressure seals. Asia Pacific was trailed by North America and Europe for high pressure seal. While Latin America and Middle East and Africa has direct development in the high pressure seals market.For more information about High Pressure Seals Market, click on the below link @List of Figures:Figure: Global High Pressure Seals Market Share, By Material, 2014 & 2023Figure: High Pressure Seals Market, By Application, 2016, ($Million)Figure: High Pressure Seals Market, By Region, 2016, ($Million)Figure: The AES Corporation: Net Revenues, 2014-2016 ($Million)Figure: The AES Corporation: Net Revenue Share, By Segment, 2016Figure: The AES Corporation: Net Revenue Share, By Geography, 2016...Application Outlook and Trend Analysis:On the basis of application the high pressure seals market can be portioned into enterprises, for example, oil and gas, chemical & petrochemical, mining, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing. High pressure seals are conspicuously used as a part of the considerable number of portions of the oil and gas industry including upstream, midstream, and downstream for pressure valves, tube couplings, compressors, and water powered pumps. These seals represent the overwhelming offer in the oil and gas industry.List of Tables:Table: Global High Pressure Seals Market, By Material ($Million), 2014-2023Table: Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) Market, By Region ($Million), 2014-2023Table: Metal Market, By Region ($Million), 2014-2023Table: Ethylene Propylene Dyne Terpolymer (EPDM) Market, By Region ($Million), 2014-2023Table: Global High Pressure Seals Market, By Application ($Million), 2014-2023...Ask Questions to Expertise at @About Crystal Market Research:Crystal Market Research is a U.S. based market research and business intelligence company. Crystal offers one stop solution for market research, business intelligence, and consulting services to help clients make more informed decisions. It provides both syndicated as well as customized research studies for its customers spread across the globe. The company offers market intelligence reports across a broad range of industries including healthcare, chemicals & materials, technology, automotive, and energy.Contact Us:Judy304 South Jones Blvd, Suite 1896,Las Vegas NV 89107,United StatesToll Free: +1-888-213-4282Email: sales@crystalmarketresearch.comEnergy Harvesting System Market 2018 Top Global Vendors are Fujitsu Global, ABB, Bionic Power, EnOcean, Cymbet Corporation, GreenPeak Technologies, Honeywell, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, Microchip Technology Inc.

Energy Harvesting System

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The major energy harvesting system players have used various market strategies such as new product launches, clinical trials, market initiatives, high expense on research and development, agreements, joint ventures, partnerships, acquisitions, and others to increase their footprints in this market. Energy Harvesting Market is highly fragmented and is based on new product launches and clinical results of products. The Global Market accounted to USD 294.2 million in 2016 growing at a CAGR of 10.64% during the forecast period of 2017 to 2024.Get Free Sample Research Report:Energy harvesting systems are those that are composed with the goal of energy harvesting otherwise called control harvesting, energy searching or the encompassing force. Energy harvesting includes acquiring energy from the outside sources, for example, wind control, sun oriented power, and active energy or saltiness slopes. The energy harvesting holds unimaginable market assurance for both low-voltage and low control applications in a broad assortment of conservative or convenient industry, for instance, restorative equipment, purchaser devices, transportation, mechanical controls and military.The report includes market shares of Energy Harvesting System Market for global, Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and South America. It is moreover a strong contender for applications that require a go down battery, especially if the battery is in a remote or troublesome zone to reach. Possibly the best assurance is that essentialness procuring will engage new market applications and things that are by and by illogical or even thought of yet. Some of the major players operating in Energy Harvesting Market are ABB Limited Arveni Convergence Wireless Cymbat Corporation Enocean GmbH Fujitsu Limited Greenpeak Technologies B.V. Honeywell International Inc. Powercast Corporation Microchip Technology Inc.Others: Stmicroelectronics N.V., Texas Instruments Incorporated, Voltree Power Inc., Bionic Power Inc., O-Flexx Technologies GmbHWant Full Report? Enquire Here:Market Segmentation: Global Energy Harvesting System MarketOn the basis of component, the Energy Harvesting System Market is segmented into Transducer Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC) Secondary BatteryThe Transducer market is further segmented into Photovoltaic, Electrodynamic, Piezoelectric and Electromagnetic, Thermoelectric and Radio Frequency (RF) Transducer. The Electrodynamic, Piezoelectric and Electromagnetic market is further sub segmented into Electrodynamic, Piezoelectric and Electromagnetic.On the basis of Application the Energy Harvesting Market is segmented into Building & Home Automation Consumer Electronics Industrial, Transportation SecurityOn the basis of geography, Energy Harvesting Market report covers data points for 28 countries across multiple geographies such as North America & South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. Some of the major countries covered in this report are U.S., Canada, Germany, France, U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, China, India, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Brazil among others. In 2017, North America is expected to dominate the market.Major Market Drivers and Restraints:Increasing Demand for Power-Efficient, and Durable Systems That Require Minimum Or No MaintenanceIncreasing Trend for Green Energy and Favorable Initiatives By the GovernmentsRising Adoption of Wireless Sensor Networks Equipped With Energy Harvesting SystemTechnological advancements in the field of energy harvestingGovernment support for energy conservationSpeak to Research Analyst for Further Query:About UsData Bridge set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with an unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Data Bridge adepts in creating satisfied clients who reckon upon our services and rely on our hard work with certitude. Get 10% Discount on Report by emailing sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.com . We are content with our glorious 99.9 % client satisfying rate.Contact UsData Bridge Market ResearchToll Free: +1-888-387-2818Mail: sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.comAbdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair Devices Market Size & Forecast to 2022

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair Devices Market

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Global abdominal aortic aneurysm repair devices market was valued at $1,844 million in 2015, and is estimated to reach $2,614 million by 2022, registering a CAGR of 5.1% from 2016 to 2022. The endovascular stent graft system segment is expected to generate the highest revenue, and is projected to dominate the market during the study period.Access Full Summary at:Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a condition that affects majorly the geriatric population (above 65 years of age). The abdominal aortic aneurysm repair devices market is growing at a steady pace owing to technological advancements in the aneurysm repair procedures. The market growth is driven by increase in geriatric population, rise in tobacco consumption, and technological advancements in repair devices & procedures. In addition, increase in adoption of EVAR procedures, rise in demand for minimally invasive treatment, and availability of favorable reimbursements are anticipated to fuel the market growth. However, high cost of the procedures, low availability of products to treat complex anatomy, that is, aneurysm with neck size less than 10 mm, and lack of awareness in developing regions are the factors that restrain the market growth.The endovascular stent graft system segment accounted for the more than two-thirds share of the overall market in 2015. This is attributed to the wide adoption of endovascular stent graft system owing to its various advantages such as short hospital stay, less operative time, and minimally invasive nature.Request Sample Report:The traditional anatomy segment accounted for highest share in 2015, as the EVAR products currently available are suitable for the treatment of aneurysms with neck length more than 10mm. However, complex anatomy segment is expected to witness a high CAGR during the analysis period. On the basis of site of abdominal aortic aneurysm, the infrarenal AAA repair devices segment accounted for the highest share in 2015, owing to high prevalence of infrarenal AAA.According to Sriram Radhakrishnan, Team Lead, Healthcare at Allied Market Research, .North America lead the global market, owing to increase in prevalence of AAA. North America and Europe together accounted for around four-fifths share in 2015. This is attributed to increased incidences of AAA and higher government expenditure on healthcare. Asia-Pacific is expected to witness the highest growth, due to increase in geriatric population, affordability, and improvement in healthcare facilities.Key Findings of the Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair Devices MarketBased on product type, in 2015, endovascular stent graft system segment accounted for the highest revenue in the market.Traditional anatomy segment is expected to grow at a significant CAGR of 6.3% in Asia-Pacific, due to growth in geriatric population.LAMEA is projected to be the one of the fastest growing region, owing to the presence of ample growth opportunities in terms of unmet medical needs for the treatment of AAA, and increased disposable income of the population.In 2015, Japan and China jointly accounted for about two-thirds share of the Asia-Pacific abdominal aortic aneurysm repair devices market.Key players in the global abdominal aortic aneurysm repair devices market include Cook Medical Inc., Endologix, Inc., W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc., AbbVie Inc., Medtronic Plc., Cardinal Health Inc., Merck & Co., Inc., C. R. Bard, Inc., Lombard Medical, Inc., and Terumo Corporation.About UsAllied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions. AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.Shriram Dighe5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free: +1-800-792-5285UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1855550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb:Circuit materials Report Outlook 2018 Focus On Market Changers By Top Key Competitors (Panasonic USA, Rogers Corporation, Isola Group, DowDuPont, International Laminate Material Ltd, Nikko-Materials Co., Ltd., )

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Developments, product launches, joint ventures, merges and accusations are the moves that the top players in Circuit materials market are making which in turn affect the sales, import, export, revenue and CAGR values.This Report has all the company profiles for the top players and brands and along with that the report also contains a synopsis of market definition, classifications, applications and market trends, and the Circuit materials market drivers and restrains that are derived from a well know method called SWOT analysis.Get Free Sample Report@Circuit materials market is expected to reach USD 41.8 billion by 2025, from USD 30.83 billion in 2017 growing at a CAGR of 4.2% during the forecast period of 2018 to 2025. The upcoming market report contains data for historic year 2016, the base year of calculation is 2017 and the forecast period is 2018 to 2025.The key players operating in the global circuit materials market are  Shengyi Technology Co., Ltd. Kingboard Laminates Holdings Ltd. ITEQ Corporation Dowdupont Jinan Guoji Technology Co., Ltd. Eternal Materials Co., Ltd., Rogers Corporation, Taiflex Scientific Co., Ltd. Isola Group, Nikkan Industries Co., Ltd., Panasonic Corporation, Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, Park Electrochemical Corporation, Nikko-Materials Co., Ltd., D. D. Enterprises, Taconic, Arlon Electronic Materials, Shanghai Nanya Copper Clad Laminate Co., Ltd., Ventec International Group, Tamura Corporation, International Laminate Material Ltd, Tongling Huake Electronic Material Co., Ltd., NAM Hing Industrial Laminate Ltd, Chang Chun Group, Doosan Corporation Electro-Materials And Other .Competitive Landscape: Circuit Materials MarketThe global circuit materials market is highly fragmented and the major players have used various strategies such as new product launches, expansions, agreements, joint ventures, partnerships, acquisitions, and others to increase their footprints in this market. The report includes market shares of circuit materials market for global, Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, South America and Middle East & Africa.In August 2017 DowDuPont announced the successful completion of the merger of equals between The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) and E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (DuPont). The combined entity is operating as a holding company under the name DowDuPont with three divisions  Agriculture, Materials Science and Specialty Products.Table Of Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Market Segmentation 3. Market Overview 4. Executive Summary 5. Premium Insights 6. Global, By Component 7. Product/Service Type 8. Delivery 9. Industry Type 10. Geography 10.1. Overview 10.2. North America 10.3. Europe 10.4. Asia-Pacific 10.5. South America 10.6. Middle East & Africa 11. Company Landscape 12. Company Profiles 13. Related ReportsGet Free TOC Of Report@Market Objective: Technological advancements in the electronics sector Advancement in smart phones, touchscreen tablets, laptops and increasing demand for consumer electronics Technological developments in developing economies Low supply of copper foil Production of green and energy-efficient productsCircuit Materials Market Segmentation:By Material class Substrate Conducting MaterialBy Substrate Fiberglass-Epoxy Paper-Phenolic CEM PolyimideBy Conducting material Copper OthersBy Outer layer Liquid ink photoimageable solder mask Dry film photoimageable OthersBy Application Communications Industrial electronics Automotive Aerospace & defense OthersBy Geography Asia Pacific North America Europe South America Middle East & AfricaNote: If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Customization With Discount Available On This Report @About Data Bridge Market Research:Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Contact:Data Bridge Market ResearchTel: +1-888-387-281Email: sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.comGlobal Dog Crates Market 2018 | Major Key Players  YOU & ME, Exercise Pen, Dogit, PETMAKER, Carlson, Boots & Barkley, ProSelect, IRIS, Retriever - Analysis & Forecast 2023

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Description:Dog Crates-Global Market Status and Trend Report 2013-2023 offers a comprehensive analysis on Dog Crates industry, standing on the readers perspective, delivering detailed market data and penetrating insights. No matter the client is industry insider, potential entrant or investor, the report will provides useful data and information. Key questions answered by this report include:Worldwide and Regional Market Size of Dog Crates 2013-2017, and development forecast 2018-2023Main manufacturers/suppliers of Dog Crates worldwide, with company and product introduction, position in the Dog Crates marketMarket status and development trend of Dog Crates by types and applicationsCost and profit status of Dog Crates, and marketing statusMarket growth drivers and challengesRequest For sample Report @The report segments the global Dog Crates market as:Global Dog Crates Market: Regional Segment Analysis (Regional Production Volume, Consumption Volume, Revenue and Growth Rate 2013-2023):North AmericaEuropeChinaJapanRest APACLatin AmericaGlobal Dog Crates Market: Type Segment Analysis (Consumption Volume, Average Price, Revenue, Market Share and Trend 2013-2023):Single DoorDouble DoorOtherGlobal Dog Crates Market: Application Segment Analysis (Consumption Volume and Market Share 2013-2023; Downstream Customers and Market Analysis)Home UseCommercial UseGlobal Dog Crates Market: Manufacturers Segment Analysis (Company and Product introduction, Dog Crates Sales Volume, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin):YOU & MEExercise PenDogitPETMAKERCarlsonBoots & BarkleyProSelectIRISRetrieverMidWestOxGordAspenDrs. Foster & SmithBono FidoComplete Report Details @Table of ContentsChapter 1 Overview of Dog Crates1.1 Definition of Dog Crates in This Report1.2 Commercial Types of Dog Crates1.2.1 Single Door1.2.2 Double Door1.2.3 Other1.3 Downstream Application of Dog Crates1.3.1 Home Use1.3.2 Commercial Use1.4 Development History of Dog Crates1.5 Market Status and Trend of Dog Crates 2013-20231.5.1 Global Dog Crates Market Status and Trend 2013-20231.5.2 Regional Dog Crates Market Status and Trend 2013-2023Chapter 2 Global Market Status and Forecast by Regions2.1 Market Development of Dog Crates 2013-20172.2 Production Market of Dog Crates by Regions2.2.1 Production Volume of Dog Crates by Regions2.2.2 Production Value of Dog Crates by Regions2.3 Demand Market of Dog Crates by Regions2.4 Production and Demand Status of Dog Crates by Regions2.4.1 Production and Demand Status of Dog Crates by Regions 2013-20172.4.2 Import and Export Status of Dog Crates by Regions 2013-2017Chapter 3 Global Market Status and Forecast by Types3.1 Production Volume of Dog Crates by Types3.2 Production Value of Dog Crates by Types3.3 Market Forecast of Dog Crates by TypesChapter 4 Global Market Status and Forecast by Downstream Industry4.1 Demand Volume of Dog Crates by Downstream Industry4.2 Market Forecast of Dog Crates by Downstream IndustryChapter 5 Market Driving Factor Analysis of Dog Crates5.1 Global Economy Situation and Trend Overview5.2 Dog Crates Downstream Industry Situation and Trend OverviewChapter 6 Dog Crates Market Competition Status by Major Manufacturers6.1 Production Volume of Dog Crates by Major Manufacturers6.2 Production Value of Dog Crates by Major Manufacturers6.3 Basic Information of Dog Crates by Major Manufacturers6.3.1 Headquarters Location and Established Time of Dog Crates Major Manufacturer6.3.2 Employees and Revenue Level of Dog Crates Major Manufacturer6.4 Market Competition News and Trend6.4.1 Merger, Consolidation or Acquisition News6.4.2 Investment or Disinvestment News6.4.3 New Product Development and LaunchChapter 7 Dog Crates Major Manufacturers Introduction and Market Data7.1 YOU & ME7.1.1 Company profile7.1.2 Representative Dog Crates Product7.1.3 Dog Crates Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin of YOU & ME7.2 Exercise Pen7.2.1 Company profile7.2.2 Representative Dog Crates Product7.2.3 Dog Crates Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin of Exercise Pen7.3 Dogit7.3.1 Company profile7.3.2 Representative Dog Crates Product7.3.3 Dog Crates Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin of Dogit7.4 PETMAKER7.4.1 Company profile7.4.2 Representative Dog Crates Product7.4.3 Dog Crates Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin of PETMAKER7.5 Carlson7.5.1 Company profile7.5.2 Representative Dog Crates Product7.5.3 Dog Crates Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin of CarlsonCONTACT US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028.Flexible Pipes Market - Industry Analysis, Forecast, and Growth Opportunity.Flexible Pipes Market - Industry Analysis, Forecast, and Growth Opportunity.

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Flexible Pipes Market by Raw Material (High-Density Polyethylene, Polyamides, Polyvinylidene Fluoride, and Others), by Type (Risers, Jumpers, and Fluid Transfer Lines), by Application Type (Offshore and Onshore), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World), Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2018-2023This report, from Stratview Research, studies the flexible pipes market over the trend period of 2012 to 2017 and forecast period of 2018 to 2023. The report provides detailed insights into the market dynamics to enable informed business decision making and growth strategy formulation based on the opportunities present in the market.Click here to read the detailed description and TOC:The Flexible Pipes Market: HighlightsThe market for flexible pipes is likely to be prosperous in the coming years with significant growth opportunities in the entire market value chain. It is estimated that the global flexible pipes market is likely to recover in the coming years and will register a healthy CAGR of 5.3% during the forecast period. Recovery of oil & gas activities across regions coupled with an increasing acceptance of flexible pipes in various applications is the factor proliferating the growth of the market, owing to their cost effectiveness and superior performance than steel pipes. Additionally, the introduction of stringent government regulations is further propelling the demand for flexible pipes. As per Baker Hughes estimates, the worldwide rig count grew by 27.3% from the last year to reach an average of 2,029 rig counts in 2017.A flexible pipe is a hollow structure designed to transfer fluids or liquids from one location to another. It is widely used in offshore and onshore oil and gas exploration as well as in production process. Technological advancements are serving the evolution of flexible pipes. Corrosion is one of the major downsides allied with metal piping systems. It ensures both inside and outside the pipe; thus, significantly impeding the hydraulic efficiency. HDPE pipes do not corrode or rust and are unaffected by any biological growth, thus, offering extended service life and continuing cost savings. Flexible pipes are widely used for conveying liquids and fluids, such as crude oil. They can operate even under high pressure and temperature conditions.Based on the raw material type, the flexible pipe market is segmented as HDPE, PA, PVDF, and Others. HDPE currently dominates the market and is expected to remain the most dominant segment over the next five years. The material type is also likely to be the fastest-growing segment during the forecast period of 2018 to 2023, propelled by its cost-effectiveness and outstanding physical properties.Request sample here:Based on the application type, the flexible pipes market is segmented as offshore and onshore applications. Offshore applications dominate the market and are expected to maintain its dominance over the next five years as well. The application type is also likely to witness the higher growth over the next five years, propelled by a host of factors including an increased acceptance in various applications, such as risers, as well as increasing penetration in deep-water, ultra-water, and subsea applications.Based on regions, North America is expected to remain the largest market for flexible pipes during the forecast period. Recovering oil & gas exploration activities is the major factor behind the dominance of the region in the market. Technological advancements in horizontal and pad drilling along with the richness of shale oil and gas are the other factors powering the growth of the global flexible pipes market in the region. The region is likely to be the fastest-growing market during the forecast period as well.Register Here for a Free Sample of the Report:The Middle East & Africa, the second largest market, is expected to maintain its dominance in the coming five years, driven by Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Nigeria. Recovering oil & gas activities in the region is primarily driving the demand for flexible pipes in the coming years.The supply chain of this market comprises raw material suppliers, flexible pipes manufacturers, distributors, and oil & gas companies. Some of the key flexible pipe manufacturers are National Oilwell Varco, Inc., GE Oil & Gas Corporation, Magma Global Ltd., FlexSteel Pipeline Technologies, Inc., Shawcor Ltd., Pipelife Nederland B.V., Airborne Oil & Gas B.V., Technip FMC Plc., Prysmian Group, and ContiTech AG. The development of advanced products and formation of mergers & acquisitions are the major strategies adopted by the major players in order to remain competitive and to quickly gain the market share.Report FeaturesThis report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights into the market dynamics and will enable strategic decision making for the existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market. The following are the key features of the report:Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysisMarket environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porters five forces analysis, SWOT analysisMarket trend and forecast analysisMarket segment trend and forecastCompetitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, product portfolio, product launches, etc.Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunitiesEmerging trendsStrategic growth opportunities for the existing and new playersKey success factorsThe Flexible Pipes Market is segmented into the following categories.Flexible Pipes Market by Raw Material Type:High-Density Polyethylene (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)Polyamides (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)Polyvinylidene Fluoride (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)Others (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)Flexible Pipes Market by Type:Risers (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)Flow Lines (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)Jumpers (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)Fluid Transfer Lines (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)Flexible Pipes Market by Application Type:Offshore (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW) (Sub-Application Analysis)Onshore (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)Flexible Pipes Market by Region:North America (Country Analysis: the USA, Canada, and Mexico)Middle East & Africa (Country Analysis: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Nigeria, and Others)Europe (Country Analysis: the UK, Russia, Norway, and Rest of Europe)Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: China, Indonesia, India, and Rest of Asia-Pacific)South America (Country Analysis: Brazil, and Others)About Stratview ResearchStratview Research is a global market intelligence firm providing wide range of services including syndicated market reports, custom research and sourcing intelligence across industries, such as Advanced Materials, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & Mass Transportation, Consumer Goods, Construction & Equipment, Electronics and Semiconductors, Energy & Utility, Healthcare & Life Sciences, and Oil & Gas.We have a strong team of industry veterans and analysts with an extensive experience in executing custom research projects for mid-sized to Fortune 500 companies, in the areas of Market Assessment, Opportunity Screening, Competitive Intelligence, Due Diligence, Target Screening, Market Entry Strategy, Go to Market Strategy, and Voice of Customer studies.Stratview Research is a trusted brand globally, providing high quality research and strategic insights that help companies worldwide in effective decision making.Category : Automotive and TransportationStratview Research is a global market intelligence firm providing wide range of services including syndicated market reports, custom research and sourcing intelligence across industries, such as Advanced Materials, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & Mass Transportation, Consumer Goods, Construction & Equipment, Electronics and Semiconductors, Energy & Utility, Healthcare & Life Sciences, and Oil & Gas.2nd Floor, Crystal Tower, Telibandha, Raipur, Chhattisgarh 492001Stratview ResearchCrystal Tower, Raipur - 492001Phone No. +1-313-307-4176Email :- sales@stratviewresearch.comMicro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Market 2018-2025 by Size, Growth, New Technology, Top Companies like Stmicroelectronics, Robert Bosch, Analog Devices, Nxp Semiconductors, Texas Instruments Panasonic, etc

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A market study based on the Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Market across the globe, recently added to the repository of Market Research, is titled Global Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Market 2018. The research report analyses the historical as well as present performance of the global Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) industry, and makes predictions on the future status of Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) market on the basis of this analysis.Get Sample copy @ Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) in global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.The MEMS market in APAC is expected to grow at the highest CAGR because APAC is a major market for consumer electronics, automotive, and industrial verticals.Complete report on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Market report spread across 136 pages, profiling 9 companies and supported with tables and figures. Inquire more @Development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures are also analyzed. This report also states import/export consumption, supply and demand Figures, cost, price, revenue and gross margins. The report focuses on global major leading Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Industry players providing information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials and equipment and downstream demand analysis is also carried out. The Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) industry development trends and marketing channels areAnalysis of Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Industry Key Manufacturers: STMicroelectronics Robert Bosch Analog Devices Nxp Semiconductors Texas Instruments Panasonic Invensense Infineon Technologies Asahi Kasei Microdevices.Purchase this report @This report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, covering: North America (United States, Canada and Mexico) Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy) Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia) South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia etc.) Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa).Market Segment by Type, covers Inertial Sensor Pressure Sensor Environmental Sensor Optical Sensor.Market Segment by Applications, can be divided into Consumer Electronics Defense Aerospace Industry Medical Communication Other.Table of ContentsChapter 1, to describe Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), with sales, revenue, and price of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), for each region, from 2013 to 2018;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the market by countries, by type, by application and by manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2013 to 2018;Chapter 12, Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2018 to 2023;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.About UsOrian Research is one of the most comprehensive collections of market intelligence reports on the World Wide Web. Our reports repository boasts of over 500000+ industry and country research reports from over 100 top publishers. We continuously update our repository so as to provide our clients easy access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, and products. We also specialize in custom research in situations where our syndicate research offerings do not meet the specific requirements of our esteemed clients.Contact Us:Ruwin MendezVice President  Global Sales & Partner RelationsOrian Research ConsultantsUS: +1 (832) 380-8827 | UK: +44 0161-818-8027Email: info@orianresearch.comWebsite:Follow Us on LinkedIn:Military Aircraft Ejection Seats Industry Research Report, Growth Trends and Competitive Analysis 2018-2025

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This study focuses on the production side and consumption side of Military Aircraft Ejection Seats, presents the global Military Aircraft Ejection Seats market size by manufacturers, regions, type and application, history breakdown data from 2013 to 2018, and forecast to 2025.In terms of production side, this report researches the Military Aircraft Ejection Seats capacity, production, value, ex-factory price, growth rate, market share for major manufacturers, regions (or countries) and product type.In terms of consumption side, this report focuses on the consumption of Military Aircraft Ejection Seats by regions and application. The key regions like North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Central & South America, Middle East and Africa etc.Request Sample Copy of the Report @A military aircraft ejection seat is a system designed to rescue the pilot and other aircrew during emergency situations.The combat aircraft segment accounted for the largest share in military aircraft ejection seats market in 2017. The segment is expected to continue dominance in the market as the number of combat aircraft that will be procured during the forecast period will outnumber that of trainer aircraft.EMEA accounted for the largest share of the military aircraft ejection seats market in 2017. This regional segment is likely to continue its dominance in the market throughout the forecast period owing to the significant presence of major vendors in the region.The Military Aircraft Ejection Seats market was valued at xx Million US$ in 2017 and is projected to reach xx Million US$ by 2025, at a CAGR of xx% during the forecast period. In this study, 2017 has been considered as the base year and 2018 to 2025 as the forecast period to estimate the market size for Military Aircraft Ejection Seats.Request to Buy Full Report@This report includes the following manufacturers; we can also add the other companies as you want.Martin-Baker AircraftNPP ZvezdaRUAG GroupSEMMBSafranUTC Aerospace SystemsAirborne SystemsSurvival EquipmentNeomega ResinMarket Segment by Product TypeCombat Aircraft Ejection SeatTraining Aircraft Ejection SeatMarket Segment by ApplicationCombat AircraftTrainer AircraftQY Research established in 2007, focus on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, data base and seminar services. The company owned a large basic data base (such as National Bureau of statistics database, Customs import and export database, Industry Association Database etc), experts resources (included energy automotive chemical medical ICT consumer goods etc.QY Research, INC.17890 Castleton, Suite 218,City of industry, CA  91748USA: +1 6262 952 442China: +86 1082 945 717Japan: +81 9038 009 273India: +91 9766 478 224Emails  enquiry@qyrsearch.comWeb Expert News:Batten Disease Treatment Market Opportunity Analysis, 2018-2026

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Batten disease is a rare, inherent, and fatal autosomal recessive neural disorder that begins in the childhood but may take a few years to show symptoms. Batten disease is one of the approximately 50 diseases that fall under the category of lysosome shortage disorders. The batten disease also referred as Neuronal ceroid Lipofuscinoses (NCLs), which is a class of life-limiting genetic neurogenerative diseases that are caused due to abnormality of genes resulting in their inability to synthesize required protein. This disease is characterized by malfunctioning of body, which usually appears around the age of 2-10 with symptoms, such as seizures or gradual onset of vision problem.Request Sample Copy of this Business Report @The early signs may show subtle changes in behavior and learning, however over time, the child suffers from mental impairment, progressive loss of sight, speech and motor reactions, worsening seizures, eventually leading to blindness dementia, and finally death. These disease is diagnosed with the help of certain tests, such as blood or urine tests, skin or tissue dampening, brain scans, and imaging techniques, which includes, computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The batten disease is characterized into four types as follows:Infantile NCL: more than 2 yearsLate Infantile NCL: 2-4 years (Life span of child varies between 8-12 years)Juvenile NCL: 5-8 years (Life span varies between teens to early 20s)Adult NCL: more than 40 years (Variable lifespan)European countries facing rising prevalence and incidence of batten diseaseAccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Batten disease is observed in 2-4 per 100,000 live births in the United States on an average. The Batten disease although is rare but has high incidence rates in Finland, Sweden, and other parts of the Europe as compared to rest of the world. According to the Batten Disease Support and Research Association, the batten disease has often been encountered in more than one children of the same family. The Daily News and Analysis article published in June 2016 suggests that, over 20 million children in India suffer from rare diseases, having expensive treatments. This creates opportunities for the sustaining as well as upcoming market players by understanding the potential held by the global batten disease treatment market.Attempts by collaborations of research bodies for introduction to reliable treatment options for batten disease giving hopes to commonersThe batten disease treatment market is not dense on the global level, however the developed economies of North America and Europe are expected to contribute to the growth of the market. This attributes to the increasing incidence of batten disease and high prevalence rates in American as well as European countries. For instance, a joint study between Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Childrens Hospital, and Kings College London have discovered a treatment that has helped to improve the neurological symptoms in the mouse model of juvenile batten disease. This research held a novel approach of counteracting the accumulation of the cellular waste in Batten disease by acting on TFEB, which is a master transcription factor that stimulates the production of lysosomes by the cell body and directs cellular apoptosis. This has brought a ray of hope to patients and families affected by battens disease.Improper treatment facility for batten disease responsible to attract the attention of various players to enter the untapped potential batten disease treatment marketThe rising incidence of the batten disease without effective treatment option for the prevention and cure of the disease is the primary driver for batten disease market, due to which several companies are vying to enter into the untapped global batten disease treatment market. However, the lack of awareness among manufacturers and patient population as well as unavailability of treatment for this disease are greatly hampering the growth of the global batten disease treatment market.Access Table of Content (TOC) Of the Report @Although, the global batten disease treatment market is very scarce, few key players offering cell regeneration therapies and few other forms of medication include Seneb BioSciences, Inc., BioMarin Pharmaceuticals and ReGenX Biosciences LLC. The U.S. FDA has recently approved BioMarins first ever drug to treat batten disease known as Brineura in 2017.Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comBreast Cancer Diagnostic Market Opportunity Analysis, 2018-2026

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Breast cancer is characterized by a malignant tumor formed in the breast cells, which can spread to other parts of the body. Breast cancer is majorly observed in females. Breast cancer is diagnosed by doctors with the help of several tests to locate the site of initiation and the spread of the tumor to several parts of the body. Symptoms of breast cancer includes lump in a breast, change in the shape of breast, skin dimpling, and fluid leakage from the nipple, patches on the skin, etc.Request Sample Copy of this Business Report @Breast cancer can be developed in normal individuals due to several risk factors that involves low physical exertion, alcohol consumption, obesity, menopause, family history and delivering a child at an older age. Breast cancer can be diagnosed at early stages by certain screening tests like yearly mammograms, CT scans, and MRI. Once the symptoms are visually detectable, an individual is advised to undergo diagnostic test to confirm the suspects of the breast cancer. These diagnostic tests are majorly carried out by biopsy in which a small amount of internal tissue is removed from the patients body and observed under the microscope to diagnose the breast cancer. This diagnostic method can be carried out with the help of several diagnostic options like that of biopsy, clinical lab tests, ultrasound techniques that are available in the Breast cancer diagnostic market.Alarming rise in incidence of breast cancer augmenting market growthAccording to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), 2015, in the U.S. around 232,340 females were encountered with breast cancer and out of which 39,620 cases were lethal. The data from NCI also suggests that 22.9% of female cancers in women accounts to breast cancer while, 18.2% of all the deaths caused due to cancer, contributes to breast cancer. The American Cancer Society (ACS) states that 1 out of 4 patients diagnosed with cancer are victims of breast cancer and is the most commonly observed cancer in females.Increase in incidence of breast cancer worldwide is the prime reason for global breast cancer diagnostic market growth over the forecast periodRegional segmentation of the breast cancer diagnostic market by Coherent Market Insights comprises North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East, and Africa. The major reason driving the breast cancer diagnostic market is the increasing incidence rate of breast cancer all over the globe. The WHO suggests that 89.7 per 100,000 people in Western Europe are affected by breast cancer per year. Apart from this, certain factors like increasing awareness among people regarding regular check- ups for early detection of breast cancer, technological advancement in medical imaging technologies, funding provided by government in research and development of breast cancer treatment and diagnostic techniques are responsible to fuel the global market of breast cancer diagnostics. Moreover, the rise in geriatric population offers high growth to the players of global market. Strikingly, the breast cancer survival rates worldwide are relatively high, making it an important factor that is responsible to drive the breast cancer diagnostic industry. WHO states that survival rates are around 80% in North America, Sweden and Japan. However, as the installation cost of breast cancer diagnostic devices and imaging facilities and side effects of radiation, may result in hindering the growth of the breast cancer diagnostic market.In case of regional segmentation, North America contributes highest in the global breast cancer diagnostic market followed by Europe. The developing countries of the Asia Pacific are potential players in boosting the global market due to factors like growing population of patients, government investments in healthcare expenditure and revenues and awareness among people regarding benefits of early detection of breast cancer.Access Table of Content (TOC) Of the Report @GE Healthcare to hold one of the dominating position in the competitive breast cancer diagnostic marketMajor players dominating the global breast cancer diagnostic market involves Hologic Inc., GE Healthcare, Phillips Healthcare, Fujifilm Holdings Corporation, Gamma Medica Inc., Toshiba Corporation, Aurora Imaging Technology Inc., and Dilion Technologies Inc. GE Healthcare holds a very strong position in the global breast cancer diagnostic industry due to their high investment costs in R&D that results in introduction of advancement in the field.Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comHIV Drug Market overview and industry share increses withBoehringer Ingelheim International GmbH, Merck & Co., Inc., ViiV Healthcare, AbbVie, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

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HIV Drug Market report, published by Allied Market Research, forecasts that the global market is expected to garner $26,458 million by 2022, registering a CAGR of 3.7% during the period 2016 - 2022. The multi-class combination drug segment held over one-third share of the total market in 2015.Get PDF Sample for details:Multi-class combination drugs segment had accounted for more than one-third revenue of the overall HIV drug market in 2015, owing to increase in adoption of combination drugs from this medication class due to their better results in the control of HIV & related coinfections and their ease in consumption & adherence. Increase in the number of HIV infected patients across the globe increases the need for effective treatment for HIV related diseases. Use of Multi-class combination products is an efficient way of treating HIV. Atripla and Prezista are among the blockbuster combination drugs used in the HIV treatment.North America was the highest revenue contributor in 2015; this is attributed to the awareness about healthcare in the region, higher HIV diagnosis & treatment rate, ample healthcare expenditure, well-established healthcare system, and proactive government initiatives to control the spread of HIV in the North American countries. Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, and Merck & Co. are some of the key players in the North American HIV drugs market. However, Asia-Pacific region is projected to grow with the highest CAGR of 6.3% during the analysis period, due to the presence large HIV patient pool and ample growth opportunities in terms of unmet medical needs for management of HIV in the region. Moreover, increase in focus & investment from leading players in the region support the growth of the HIV drugs market in the Asia-Pacific region.Key findings of HIV Drug Market In 2015, multi-class combination drugs segment was the leading medication class segment. The branded drug Triumeq of multi-class combination drug segment is estimated to grow at the CAGR of 20.7%. North America market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 3.4% during analysis period. The Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (NRTIs) segment is estimated to grow at the CAGR of 0.4%.Significant Note: Customize Report As per your Requirements:The major companies profiled in the report include Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH Merck & Co.Inc. ViiV Healthcare AbbVie F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Bristol-Myers Squibb Gilead SciencesInc. Johnson & Johnson Cipla Limited.About UsAllied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions. AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.Contact:Shriram Dighe5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free: +1-800-792-5285UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1855550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb:Dental Imaging Equipment Market - Global Forecast to 2026

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Dental imaging is a technology used to visualize hidden dental structures, benign or malignant masses, cavities, bone masses, and other damages that cannot be viewed through normal check-ups. Dental radiographs, commonly known as dental x-rays are formed by control burst of x-ray radiations that penetrate oral structures at different levels to provide a clear picture for appropriate diagnosis of a dental problem. The simple intra-oral analogue X-rays have evolved over the recent past, reaching to advanced imaging techniques such as computed tomography, cone beam computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasound in modern dentistry.Request Sample Copy of this Business Report @The shift from analogue dental imaging to digital one has made the imaging process simpler and faster as well as provides dentists with options for image storage, image manipulations, and easy retrievals. Moreover, increasing use of computed tomography, also referred to as CT scans, are also rapidly being adopted in the field of dentistry, to produce adequate imaging during planning of dental implantation methods and other dental procedures. Three dimensional imaging has made the complex cranio-facial structures more accessible for appropriate investigation by the doctors and can result in correct diagnosis for further treatments.The global dental imaging equipment market was valued at US$ 1,721 million in 2017 and is expected to witness a robust CAGR of 6.9% over the forecast period (20182026).Factors such as increasing number of oral diseases as well as rising number of dental procedures performed across the world are expected to significantly contribute to growth of the dental imaging equipment market. According to the World Health Organization 2017, orofacial clefts occur in around 1 per 500-700 births, globally. Moreover, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), dental visits accounted for around 64% of the adult population and 84.7% of total number of children in the U.S., in 2015. Moreover, according to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research 2016, around 8.52% of adults aged 20-64 years suffered from periodontal disease.Moreover, growing cosmetic industry leading to number of new dentists setting up their clinics is also expected to favor the growth of global dental imaging equipment market as dental images comprise a significant part in determining the faults and defects in the placement of the dental cavity. According to the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry 2012, almost one fourth of the entire population of the U.K. has undergone a cosmetic dental procedure. Moreover, the increasing number of dental implantation procedures is further expected to augment the market growth. According to a report published by American College of Prosthodontists, around 178 million people replaced a missing tooth with a dental implant, in the U.S. in 2015. However, high costs of advanced technology-based devices make dental imaging equipment unaffordable to for use, especially in low- and mid-size clinics, which in turn is expected to hinder growth of the global dental imaging equipment market.Among regions, North America holds a dominant in the global dental imaging equipment market. This is attributed to rapid development and launch of novel dental imaging tools and equipment by key players in the region. For instance, in March 2015, LED Medical Diagnostics introduced the new RioSensor intra-oral radiography system in the U.S. and Canada, which has a resolution of fewer than 20 line pairs per millimeter providing precise image quality. Moreover, the rising incidence of periodontal diseases is also expected to foster growth of the North American market. For instance, according to Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one out of every two people aged 30 years and above suffered from periodontal disease in 2012, in the U.S. On the other hand, Asia Pacific is expected to exhibit high growth over the forecast period, owing to increasing medical tourism in the Asian countries such as India and ASEAN regions for dental bone grafting and implantation procedures, which increases the demand for oral cavity scans before the treatment. According to the Indian Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), the cost of dental procedures in India are 10 times lesser that the cost of same procedures in the U.S. and Europe.Ask for customization @Market players are engaging in innovative product launches to sustain their position in the global dental imaging equipment marketKey players in the market are focused on expansion of their presence through launch of new imaging tools and instruments worldwide. For instance, in February 2018, Planmed introduced Planmed Verity cone beam computed tomography scanner for head and oral imaging. Moreover, in February 2011, PreXion introduced PreXion 3D Elite cone beam CT imager that reduces radiation exposure by up to 53% in 8.6 sec scan. Key players operating in the global dental imaging equipment market include Planmeca Oy, Dentsply Sirona, Midmark Corporation, LED Medical Diagnostics, Inc., Carestream Health, Inc., Danaher Corporation, The Yoshida Dental Mfg. Co., Ltd., Vatech Co. Ltd., Flow Dental Corporation, and Acteon Group.Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave, #3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comRail Wheel Sensors Market Growth Opportunities, Driving Factors by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2023

Rail Wheel Sensors, Rail Wheel Sensors Market, Rail Wheel Sensors Market forecast,Rail Wheel Sensors Market Analysis

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Global Rail Wheel Sensors Market Report to provide emerging opportunities in the Market and the future impacts on major drivers and challenges and, support decision makers in making cost-effective business decisions. The Rail Wheel Sensors Industry Report assesses key opportunities in the Market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth.Description: Rail Wheel? Sensors are inductively acting sensors which detect the metal mass of the wheel flange and generate electrical impulses therefrom. Depending on the application a distinction is made between single wheel sensors for rolling stock detection and switching tasks as well as double wheel sensors for direction detection, axle counting and speed measurement. The global Rail Wheel Sensors Market will reach xxx Million USD in 2017 and CAGR xx% 2011-2017. The Report begins from overview of Industry Chain structure, and describes industry environment, then analyses Market size and forecast of Rail Wheel Sensors by product, region and application, in addition, this Report introduces Market competition situation among the vendors and company profile, besides, Market price analysis and value chain features are covered in this Report.Rail Wheel Sensors Market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Rail Wheel Sensors sales volume, Price (USD/Unit), revenue (Million USD) and Market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players including: Frauscher Sensor Technology, Siemens, Honeywell, Pintsch Tiefenbach, Western-Cullen-Hayes Inc. Fersil, Altpro, Shenzhen Javs Technology, Argenia Railway Technologies Inc. Anhui Landun Photoelectron, Beijing Railtechcn Technology, SenchuanRequest for sample copy of Rail Wheel Sensors Market Report @Rail Wheel Sensors Market Segment by Type, covers: Single Wheel Sensor Double Wheel SensorRail Wheel Sensors Market Segment by Applications, can be divided into: Rail Transport Line Urban Rail TransitRail Wheel Sensors Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers: North America (USA, Canada and Mexico), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and South east Asia), South America, Middle East and AfricaScope of the Rail Wheel Sensors Market Report: This Report focuses on the Rail Wheel Sensors in Global Market, especially in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This Report categorizes the Market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Have any special requirement on above Rail Wheel Sensors Market Report? Ask to our Industry Expert @Rail Wheel Sensors Market along with Report Research Design:Rail Wheel Sensors Market Historic Data (2012-2017): Industry Trends: Global Revenue, Status and Outlook. Competitive Landscape: By Manufacturers, Development Trends. Product Revenue for Top Players: Market Share, Growth Rate, Current Market Situation Analysis. Market Segment: By Types, By Applications, By Regions/ Geography. Sales Revenue: Market Share, Growth Rate, Current Market Analysis.Rail Wheel Sensors Market Influencing Factors: Market Environment: Government Policies, Technological Changes, Market Risks. Market Drivers: Growing Demand, Reduction in Cost, Market Opportunities and Challenges.Rail Wheel Sensors Market Forecast (2018-2023): Market Size Forecast: Global Overall Size, By Type/Product Category, By Applications/End Users, By Regions/Geography. Key Data (Revenue): Market Size, Market Share, Growth Rate, Growth, Product Sales Price.Purchase Rail Wheel Sensors Market Report with (SUL) 2980 $ @Next part of Rail Wheel Sensors Market Research Report contains additional information like key vendors in Rail Wheel Sensors Market space, Rail Wheel Sensors Industry opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the Global Rail Wheel Sensors Market, opportunities, Market risk and Market overview of the Rail Wheel Sensors Industry. The process is analyzed thoroughly with respect three points, viz. raw material and equipment suppliers, various manufacturing associated costs (material cost, labor cost, etc.) and the actual process.360 Market Updates3rd Floor, Silver Spring, Sahyadri farms,Opp Prabhavee Tech Park,Baner - Mhalunge Road, Baner, Pune 411045360 market Updates is the credible source for gaining the market research reports that will exponentially accelerate your business. We are among the leading report resellers in the business world committed towards optimizing your business. The reports we provide are based on a research that covers a magnitude of factors such as technological evolution, economic shifts and a detailed study of market segments.Huge expansion in Block chain Technology Market Analysis Report by 2025 with growing CAGR +20% in 2018-2025

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Block chain TechnologyBlock chain records are not unalterable, block chains may be considered secure by design and exemplify a distributed computing system with high Byzantine fault tolerance. Decentralized consensus has therefore been claimed with a block chain Global Block chain Market is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of +20%.The global block chain technology market size was valued at USD +504.5 million in 2018Block chain is a growing list of records, called blocks, which are linked using cryptography. Block chains which are readable by the public are widely used by crypto currencies. Private block chains have been proposed for business use. The scrutinized report offers numerous approaches to view the Block chain market from a different perspective. The approaches include descriptions, analytics in terms of value & volume, several events and chain assembly of the industry for various practices in the global market. The section assimilates a broad analysis of progress strategies to sway the market in an industrialized process.For Sample duplicate of this report:The block chain market vendors includeAbra (US), AlphaPoint (US), Amazon Web Services, Inc. (US), Bitfury Group Limited (US), BTL Group Ltd. (Canada), Chain, Inc. (US), Coinbase (US), Digital Asset Holdings LLC. (US), Earthport PLC (UK), Factom (US), International Business Machines Corporation (US), Microsoft Corporation (US), and Ripple (US).The drivers, restraints and opportunities have permitted an access to know more about the market growth and the future scope in the Block chain market. Since the market is still in its development stage, small scale traders have the odds of being purchased by the rich contributors in the market. It is stated that the market rises on the basis of value, growth, advantages, distribution and advertising. To know more about the key players in the Block chain market, it is recommended to do an insight and ranking analysis on the same.Avail discount on this report:The current growth and development patterns of this market have also been encapsulated in this study. After studying key companies, the report focuses on the startups contributing towards the growth of the market. Possible mergers and acquisitions among the startups and key organizations are identified by the report's authors in the study. As leading companies take efforts to maintain their dominance in the global Block chain market, the right way to do so is by adopting new technologies and strategies. The report highlights major technological developments and changing trends adopted by key companies over a period of time. For a stronger and more stable business outlook, the report on the global market carries key projections that can be practically studied.For more enquiry:Blockchain Technology Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2018 - 2024) Financial Services Consumer or Industrial Products Technology, Media, and Telecom Healthcare Transportation Public SectorBlock chain market is segmented on the basis of various parameters. The competitive background section of the report covers the key vendors and throws light on the strategies being adopted by them for better penetration into the market. The factors which are impacting the markets growth are studied in detail. The report also presents a overall weaknesses which companies operating in the market must avoid in order to enjoy sustainable growth through the course of the forecast period. Besides this, profiles of some of the leading players operating and encouraging in the growth of the global market are included in the study. Additionally, using SWOT analysis, markets weaknesses and strengths are analyzed. It also helps the report provide insights into the opportunities and threats that these companies may face during the forecast period.Table of Content:Global Block chain Market Research Report 2018-2025Chapter 1: Industry Overview of Global Block chain MarketChapter 2: Technologies Market International and China Market AnalysisChapter 3: Environment Analysis of Global Block chain MarketChapter 4: Analysis of Revenue by ClassificationsChapter 5: Analysis of Revenue by Regions and ApplicationsChapter 6: Analysis of Technologies Market Revenue Market Status.Chapter 7: Analysis of Global Block chain Market Industry Key ManufacturersChapter 8: Sales Price and Gross Margin AnalysisChapter 9: Marketing Trader or Distributor Analysis of Block chain MarketChapter 10: Development Trend of Global Block chain Market Industry 2018-2022Chapter 12 Global Block chain Market ForecastAbout Research N ReportResearch N Reports is a new age market research firm where we focus on providing information that can be effectively applied. Today being a consumer driven market, companies require information to deal with the complex and dynamic world of choices. Where relying on a sound board firm for your decisions becomes crucial. Research N Reports specializes in industry analysis, market forecasts and as a result getting quality reports covering all verticals, whether be it gaining perspective on current market conditions or being ahead in the cut throat Global competition. Since we excel at business research to help businesses grow, we also offer consulting as an extended arm to our services which only helps us gain more insight into current trends and problems. Consequently we keep evolving as an all-rounder provider of viable information under one roof.(Research N Reports)10916, Gold Point Dr, Houston, TX, Pin - 77064,Sunny Denis(Sales Manager),+1-8886316977,sales@researchnreports.comNanobots Pave Way For The Development Of Artificial Antibodies, Artificial RBCs And WBCs

nanomedicine

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The emerging technology of nanobots offers better chances of fighting chronic diseases such as cancer. Moreover, further developments in nanomedicine market can create opportunities such as the development of artificial antibodies and artificial RBCs and WBCs.Nanomedicine is a domain of medicine that utilizes the knowledge of nanotechnology to prevent and treat severe diseases such as cancer and heart diseases. The recent advances in nanotechnology have enabled doctors to use nanoscale materials, including biocompatible nanoparticles and nanobots to sense the actuation purposes in a living organism. In addition, researchers now use nanomedicines to boost immunotherapy. In recent years, the nanomedicine has shown ample of innovations, which has boosted the nanomedicine market. According to Allied Market Research, the nanomedicine market was valued at $111.91 billion in 2016, and is expected to reach $261.06 billion by the end of 2023, registering a CAGR of 12.6% in the period of 20172023.Get PDF Sample for Details market study:Treatment of Cancer Using Nanomedicines with The Help of Quantum DotsFrom improving the quality of solar panels to treating cancer, quantum dots are widely used in various sectors. However, creating quantum dots is an extremely expensive process which generates a huge amount of waste. However, recently scientists developed a low-cost method to synthesize quantum dots using some chemicals and green leaf extracts. A team of scientists at Wales Swansea University developed an economical and environment-friendly way to produce quantum dots from Camellia sinensis leaf extract. This innovative method makes the procedure economical and the byproducts are non-toxic to the environment. The research proved that the quantum dots created with tea leaves can penetrate the skin and reduce the growth of the cancer cell by about 80 percent. However, this study does not provide the ultimate cure for cancer. However, the major issues with the production of quantum dots such as high cost and toxic byproducts are solved. In addition, in-depth research can present new possibilities in treating different diseases and developing the more advanced technology. On the other hand, scientists created fucoidan-based magnetic nanomedicines that can offer effective treatment for cancer.Fusing Nanoparticle-Based Immunotherapy and Nanomedicines and Emergence of NanobotsTaiwans National Chiao Tung University (NCTU) and the China Medical University have successfully developed an innovative way to cure cancer by combining nanomedicines with immunotherapy. The research, titled, Combination of fucoidan-based magnetic nanoparticles and immunomodulators enhances tumor-localized immunotherapy is published in the renowned journal Nature Nanotechnology. This study is believed as a significant breakthrough to boost the tumor treatment. Immunotherapy can cause severe side-effects including stomach sickness and skin blistering as sometimes healthy cells get attacked by the immune system. Therefore, researchers combined fucoidan-based magnetic nanomedicine with immunotherapy. The results proved that such combination successfully contains the cancer cells while boosting the growth of healthy cells, which in turn reduces the side-effects and increases the efficiency of treatment.The nanomedicines most important breakthrough can be regarded as nanobots. Nanobots serve as miniature surgeons, which can be used to repair damaged cells or entirely replace intracellular structures. Moreover, they can replicate themselves to correct the genetic deficiency or replace DNA molecule to eradicate the disease. Scientists claim that a fleet of nanobots can serve as antibodies or antiviral agents to treat patients with the impaired immune system. Research in nanobots can create lucrative opportunities in healthcare such as unblocking arteries or completely replacing a body organ.Nanobots: The Emerging Era in NanomedicineThe conventional water-soluble drugs can create difficulties in the treatment such as failed absorption in the diseased areas. However, applications of nanomedicine such as diagnostic nanomachines provide the ability to monitor the internal chemistry of the body organs, providing direct access to diseased areas. Moreover, the technology such as nanobots can be equipped with wireless transmitters. This offers doctors opportunities to change the treatment method if patients medical condition gets worse. On the other hand, nanobots could be planted in the patients nervous system to monitor pulse and brain-wave activities.Significant Note: Customize Report As per your Requirements:According to scientists, the nanobots can completely replace pacemakers by treating the heart cell directly. The research in nanobots offers several opportunities such as artificial antibodies, artificial white blood cells (WBCs) and red blood cells (RBCs), and antiviral nanobots. The major advantage that nanobots provide is that they are extremely durable. Theoretically, they can operate for years without any damage owing to their miniature size, which reduces mechanical damages.The advantages of nanobots and nanomedicines are enormous. Therefore, several leading companies are investing in the research and development of nanomedicine. Not long ago, Vancouver-based company, Precision NanoSystems closed $6 million-worth project to fund nanomedicine manufacturing platform, NanoAssemblr. The company is recognized for its research into the genetic basis of diseases and development in nanoparticle drugs. The CEO and co-founder of Precision NanoSystems said, NanoAssemblr technology will offer a solution for the discovery, development, and manufacture of nanomedicine. This additional funding will enable us to develop new products at lower costs and grow customer base. Such strategic collaboration of leading companies has boosted the growth of the nanomedicine market, proving it the next big step in the nanotechnology and nanomedicine.About UsAllied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions. AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.Contact:Shriram Dighe5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free: +1-800-792-5285UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1855550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb:Medium-price Range Segment of Global Battery Case Market to Garner 112 Mn USD by 2025

Battery Case Market -AMR

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The significant increase in the adoption of battery cases and a rise in demand for wireless accessories in the Asia-Pacific region are the major factors boosting the growth of the global battery case market.The global battery case market was valued at $4.12 billion in 2017 and is expected to garner $8.98 billion, registering a CAGR of 10.0% from 2018 to 2025. The report includes insights on the top winning strategies; dynamic factors such as a driver, restraints, challenges, and opportunities; leading market players; and key strategic moves.Request Sample Report at:Surge in demand for smartphones, advancements in battery technology, and increased penetration of internet for personal and business activities are the major drivers of the global battery case market. Moreover, rapid surge in demand for wireless accessories has supplemented the growth of the market. However, frequent compatibility issues faced by consumers has proven to be detrimental for the market growth. On the contrary, high demand for portable battery packs for use in applications ranging from power tools to small electronic devices offers remunerative opportunities for the market players in the long run.Medium-priced battery cases to experience highest demand by 2025The report classifies the battery cases market on the basis of price into low, medium, and premium. The premium segment accounted for $145.3 million in 2017, contributing more than 58% of the total market share. However, medium-priced battery cases would portray the highest demand, registering a CAGR of 12.7% during the forecast period.Online distribution channel segment to grow at a CAGR of 10.5% by 2025The global battery case market report splits the distribution channel segment into online and offline. In 2017, offline distribution channel accounted for one-fourth share of the total market revenue. However, the online distribution channel would demonstrate the fastest growth through 2025, generating $6.84 billion.For Purchase Enquiry:Asia-Pacific to manifest fastest growth throughout forecast periodThe geographical regions analyzed in the report include North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. North America region dominated the global battery case market in 2017, contributing nearly half of the market share. However, Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness the highest demand for battery cases, growing at the fastest CAGR of 14.0% from 2018 to 2025, followed by LAMEA.Money-makers in the marketThe major market players are discussed in the report, including Apple, Inc., Otterbox, Incipio, ZeroLemon LLC, Maxboost, Samsung, ZAGG Inc., EMTEC, Alpatronix, and Anker Innovations Ltd. These market leaders have adopted various market strategies such as new product launch, mergers & acquisitions, partnerships, and collaborations to gain a strong foothold in the global battery case industry.Connect to Analyst@Key Findings of the Battery Case Market:On the basis of a price range, the medium price range segment led the global battery case market in 2017.The North American region held the majority share in 2017.By distribution channel, the online segment dominated the global market in 2017.Asia-Pacific is anticipated to exhibit the highest CAGR during the forecast period.Dominating Key Market Players Profiled in this StudyApple, Inc.SamsungZAGG Inc.OtterboxIncipioEMTECZeroLemon LLCAlpatronixMaxboostAnker Innovations Ltd.About UsAllied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.Shriram Dighe5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free: +1-800-792-5285UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1855550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb:Advanced Authentication Market Globally Grow at a CAGR of 14.37% by 2023 | Top Key Companys (Fujitsu, Gemalto Nv, Nec Corporation, Safran Sa, Suprema, Rsa Security, Lumidigm, Validsoft, Pistolstar, Securenvoy)

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The global advanced authentication market in the financial service industry is expected to register a CAGR of 14.37% over the forecast period of 2018-2023. This study aims at gaining a detailed overview of the dynamics of the contemporary market, for the authentication market in the BFSI industry, over the forecast period. It focuses on the need to develop strategic insights in the global and regional-level markets, taking into consideration the technology cycles. The growth of this market is primarily fueled by increasing internet penetration in emerging markets and the growing focus and investments in cyber security. This report seeks to dissect the broader market dynamics for the advanced authentication market in the financial service industry, using Porters five forces model.Detailed Sample Copy of Updated Analysis @Globally, the financial industry accounts for the most significant share in the advanced authentication market. With a significant rise in critical financial operations, security remains the primary focus, thus supporting the adoption of authentication solutions. Changing consumer dynamics and increasing technology penetration are driving the adoption of online services among end users. The trend is driving an increase in the number of online transactions, resulting in a renewed emphasis on security and privacy. Owing to multiple vulnerabilities in the systems, the growing integration of connected solutions within the industry is also creating a need for authentication solutions. With increasing number of data breaches and cyber-attacks, the integration of security solutions into the systems is on the rise.With the advent of fingerprint sensors on mobile devices, financial institutions are integrating advanced authentication technologies within mobile environments, thus providing additional security.The growing adoption of multi-factor authentication techniques is expected to aid the growth of this market, during the forecast period. However, government regulations, compliance, and retailer payment policies might hinder the growth of the market.Key Developments in the Market August 2017: NEC Corporation announced that it will contribute to the provision of a highly reliable, business-oriented, mobile-network-powered access service, u2018Twin Access, which SoftBank Corp. plans to offer to business customers, in Japan. February 2017: It was reported that Precise Biometrics reached an agreement to acquire NexID Biometrics in early 2017, for USD 3.49 million to add its spoof mitigation and liveness detection technology to its capabilities and will integrate liveness detection with Precise BioMatch Mobile, in the first half of the year.Major Players:FUJITSU LTD, GEMALTO NV, NEC CORPORATION, SAFRAN SA, SUPREMA INC., RSA SECURITY LLC, LUMIDIGM INC., VALIDSOFT LTD, PISTOLSTAR INC., and SECURENVOY LTD, amongst others.Request Discount on this report @Rapid Adoption of Advanced Biometrics Driving the Growth of MarketThe mobile biometrics market is expected to gain full maturity in 2022, from a consumer adoption phase in 2015. It is expected that by 2022, these authentication systems are expected to be ubiquitous and will be installed in almost every authentication method. At present, the market is moving toward the incorporation of multifactor authentication using biometric systems, such as vein, face, heartbeat, voice recognition, etc. As the demand for mobile application security, particularly for financial services, along with low-cost apps and on-demand provisioning of software is growing, the cost of biometric integration is expected to decline. Moreover, consumers' clamor to eliminate their reliance on passwords and pins is further driving the growth in the market.The United States to Witness Huge Adoption Owing to Significant Losses Incurred by Companies due to Cyber-attacksThe hacked credit card fraud was recorded at USD 4 billion in 2016, a 25% decrease in comparison with 2015, owing to increasing adoption of chip-based cards over magnetic strip cards. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing threats in the region. According to CNBC, around 40 million Americans had their identities stolen, in 2016.Based on an extensive study from the Breach Level Index (BLI), there were 974 publicly disclosed data breaches, in the first half of 2016, which led to the successful theft or loss of 554 million data records. Identity theft accounted for 64% of all data breaches. Wells Fargo and JP Morgan have started taking proactive steps, to address their primary concerns on security breaches. Therefore, customers have become enthusiastic about the introduction of biometrics modalities.In a 2011 Twitter survey by Nuance Communications, around 77% of the participants said that they would be comfortable using voice biometrics, if it meant tighter security. Since then, Citi Bank has invested into advanced authentication and deployed voice biometrics authentication from NICE systems, to recognize and redirect customers from their voice, during the first few seconds of conversation.Enquiry Before Buying@About Market PrognosisWe at Market Prognosis believe in giving a crystal clear view of market dynamics for achieving success in todays complex and competitive marketplace through our quantitative & qualitative research methods.We help our clients identify the best market insights and analysis required for their business thus enabling them to take strategic and intelligent decision.We believe in delivering actionable insights for your business growth and success.Contact us:ProgMarkPvt Ltd,Thane - 421501India.Contact No:+1 973 241 5193Email: sales@marketprognosis.comMobile Payment Security Software Market to Register an Impressive CAGR of 9.14% During 2018  2023 | Global Key Players  Ca Technologies, Vasco, Ul, Symantec, Verifone, Magtek, Emc, Vantiv, Ncr, Scansource, Fis, Cybera

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The global mobile payment security software market is expected to register a CAGR of 9.14%, over the forecast period (2018 - 2023). The study aims at gaining a detailed overview of the dynamics of the contemporary market over the forecast period for the mobile payment security software market. It focuses on the needs to develop strategic insights in the global and regional-level markets, by considering the technology cycles. The growth of this market is fueled by the increasing mobile phone penetration in emerging markets, and the growing focus and investments in cyber security. The report seeks to dissect the broader market dynamics of the mobile payment security software market, using Porters five forces model.Detailed Sample Copy of Updated Analysis @Mobile payment methods are expected to grow at a significant rate, owing to the increasing smartphone penetration and the various benefits associated with them, such as improved customer experience, which results in shorter waiting times in queues and wider payment offers to customers. Mobile payment can be performed either by SMS via QR codes, or Near Field Communication (NFC). Consumers are becoming increasingly familiar with using mobile phones for various purposes, including secure financial transactions via mobile applications, or web banking site. Furthermore, increasing adoption of mobile wallets in both emerging and developed countries is providing numerous opportunities for service providers and merchants. Mobile phones are also providing an unprecedented opportunity for the expansion of financial activity in the developing countries, where the number of phone users is expected to exceed the number of those having bank accounts. However, the mobile payment option increases the importance of a proper security for the system. Hence, the mobile payment security software market is expected to grow massively during the forecast period.The driving factor for the market growth lies with the enhanced number ofadvanced and sophisticated threats. The need for mobile payment security software has increased, owing to the recent growing usage of wireless networks among individual consumers. The augmented utilization of wireless networks in mobile devices for payment in retail stores has increased the need for mobile payment security software.The growing adoption of multi-factor authentication techniques are also expected to aid the growth of market. However, the government regulations and compliance, and retailer payment policies are expected to hinder the market growth.Key Developments in the Market January 2018 - Monzo, an API-first bank, launched an interim API (the AIS API) to comply with Europe's Payment Services Directive (PSD2), which recently became law. The AIS API includes three core functions: list of accounts, list of account's balance, and list of account's transactions (all features specifically addressed by PSD2). Monzo plans on building all features of the AIS API into its standard developer API, but that transition may take some time and the law requires compliance. The AIS API is available to companies authorized as Account Information Service Providers (AISPs) by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). November 2017 - VASCO Data Security International Inc., announced that the Bank of Cyprus, the countrys largest bank, secured access and transaction signing on its mobile and online banking application using DIGIPASS for Apps. This solution enables the bank to take steps toward meeting the authentication requirements issued by the European Banking Authority (EBA) in the upcoming Payment Services Directive (PSD2) regulation.Major Players:CA TECHNOLOGIES, VASCO, UL, SYMANTEC, VERIFONE, MAGTEK, EMC, VANTIV, NCR, SCANSOURCE, FIS, CYBERA, INGENICO, FICO, AND CHASE PAYMENTECH, amongst others.Request Discount on this report @Rapid Adoption of Mobile Biometrics is Driving the Growth of Mobile Security Software MarketThe mobile biometrics market is expected to gain full maturity by 2022, due to a consumer adoption phase since 2015. It is expected that by 2022, these authentication systems may be ubiquitous and installed in almost every mobile phone. Integration of embedded software and sensors to secure the use of mobile biometric applications and components operate on mobile devices, like smartphones, tablets, and wearables, are also driving the mobile payment security software market. As the demand for mobile application security, particularly for financial services, along with low-cost apps and on-demand provisioning of software increases, the cost of biometric integration is expected to decline. Moreover, consumers' clamor to eliminate their reliance on passwords and pins is further driving the growth in the market.Increased Emphasis on Safer and Shorter Transaction Time is Driving Adoption in the Retail SectorConsumers are embracing mobile in their day-to-day lives and are more likely to forget their wallet at home than their mobile phone. Thus, the use of mobile payment for the retail industry is currently the booming sector. A key area of concern for consumers and financial service providers is the security of mobile banking and payments, which provides the mobile payment security software market scope for growth. Essentially, mobile payments are faster and more secure than conventional payments. All that is needed is a payment app to launch a transaction. As there is no need to use cards, the risk of point-of-sale (PoS) attacks, such as card skimmers, are eliminated.The factor driving the adoption of these solutions in retail are innovations in the market that are shortening the transaction time while providing security, unlike other legacy measures. Usage of biometrics can prevent Internet fraud, money laundering, and identity theft. Consequently, many financial institutions across the world have been selecting biometric technologies in their retail banking operations.Due to the increase in cyber terrorism, the security of sensitive data, including personal banking details, commercial banking details, and confidential corporate information, is at stake. As the banking industry decision makers chunk out huge IT budgets, the OEMs and software vendors have a huge opportunity in the vertical.North America expected to Hold the Largest Share in the Market in 2018North America is expected to account for more than 46% of the total market share by 2023. The major reason for the growth is attributed to the high penetration rate of smartphones and an increase in the number of mobile internet users. The adoption of mobile payment is increasing in the United States. Additionally, the increasing popularity and awareness about the usage of digital wallets for e-commerce transactions is also expected to enhance the growth of the North American market.The continuous growth of the mobile payment market has become the driving force behind the development of the mobile payment security software market. Payment security is a major concern for cell phone manufacturers to sell their devices, and therefore, many new security software products are in development. In order to protect users mobile payment security, mobile security software developers not only vertically protect the safety of the whole industry, including terminal manufacturers, operators, application developers, and other developers, but also actively disseminate mobile security software ecosystems.Enquiry Before Buying@About Market PrognosisWe at Market Prognosis believe in giving a crystal clear view of market dynamics for achieving success in todays complex and competitive marketplace through our quantitative & qualitative research methods.We help our clients identify the best market insights and analysis required for their business thus enabling them to take strategic and intelligent decision.We believe in delivering actionable insights for your business growth and success.Contact us:ProgMarkPvt Ltd,Thane - 421501India.Contact No:+1 973 241 5193Email: sales@marketprognosis.comGlobal Activated Carbon Filter Cartridge Future Market 2018-2023 Panasonic, Mitsubishi, 3M

Activated Carbon Filter Cartridge Future Market

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The research report Activated Carbon Filter Cartridge Market Report 2018-2023 offers comprehensive knowledge on the Activated Carbon Filter Cartridge market. It analyses the important factors of the Activated Carbon Filter Cartridge based on present industry situations, Activated Carbon Filter Cartridge demands, business strategies utilized by Activated Carbon Filter Cartridge players and the future prospects from various angles in detail.Industry analysis is a market assessment tool used by business and analysts to understand the complexity of an industry. Optical Pulse Sensor Market report It helps them get a sense of what is happening in an industry, i.e., demand-supply statistics, Optical Pulse Sensor Market degree of competition within the industry, Optical Pulse Sensor Market competition of the industry with other emerging industries, future prospects of the industry.Market Forecast Report on Top Manufacturers companies are  3M Company Panasonic MitsubishiTo Get Sample Report by Future Market Reports:The Activated Carbon Filter Cartridge report additionally embraces the market dynamics contains a detailed explanation of current and future scenario of the global Activated Carbon Filter Cartridge market. The report section highlights the Activated Carbon Filter Cartridge market driving sources, restraints, emerging market, worldwide industry news and policies, Activated Carbon Filter Cartridge market challenges and opportunities with their magnitudes across various regions. To get clear insights Activated Carbon Filter Cartridge report includes segment wise definition of the market i.e. based on product type, Activated Carbon Filter Cartridge applications and regions. The scope of various market segments is calculated across the major geographies of North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East and Africa (MEA).The report examines opportunities in the global Activated Carbon Filter Cartridge market and gives updates related to the various segments of the market. The report offers the latest trends in the Activated Carbon Filter Cartridge industry as well as the performance of individual segment in the Activated Carbon Filter Cartridge market. This dominating data gives executives and other key individuals an accurate picture of global Activated Carbon Filter Cartridge market scenario.Browse Full Report Here:About US:"futuremarketreports.com" is a leading market intelligence team which provoide collection of various syndicated reports of different categories. future market reports provides you to best services, weather youre searching for new trends in market or competitive scenario in emerging market.Media ContactMark WilsonBhandup west S.O ,maharashtra, (india)Phone: +7400-140-070Email: sales@futuremarketreports.comWeb:Rodenticides Market to 2023 (4.3% CAGR Expected) Top Player Profiles  UPL, Basf, Liphatech, Bayer Cropscience, Senestech, Marusan Pharma Biotech, Syngenta, JT Eaton and More

Rodenticides

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Rodenticides are pesticides that kill rodents. Rodents include not only rats and mice, but also squirrels, woodchucks, chipmunks, porcupines, nutria, and beavers. Although rodents play important roles in nature, they may sometimes require control. They can damage crops, violate housing codes, transmit disease, and in some cases cause ecological damage.Get Sample Copy Of this Report @This report focuses on the Rodenticides in global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.Asia Pacific is the largest consumer of Rodenticides and is expected to retain the higher growth rate during the next five years due to strong growth in agriculture industry. China and India have witnessed a major chunk of the production and consumption of Rodenticides in the Asia Pacific region.The leading manufactures mainly are UPL, Basf, Liphatech, Bayer Cropscience and Senestech. UPL is the largest manufacturer; its revenue of global market exceeds 9.5% in 2016. The next is Basf and Liphatech.The worldwide market for Rodenticides is expected to grow at a CAGR of roughly 4.3% over the next five years, will reach 1460 million US$ in 2023, from 1140 million US$ in 2017, according to a new GIR (Global Info Research) study.Top Manufacturers : UPL, Basf, Liphatech, Bayer Cropscience, Senestech, Marusan Pharma Biotech, Syngenta, JT Eaton, Neogen Corporation, PelGar International, Brizal Quimica, Impex Europa, TEIKOKU SEIYAKU, Pulangke, SANLIMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers North America (United States, Canada and Mexico) Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy) Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia) South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia etc.) Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, covers Anticoagulants Non-anticoagulantsGet a discount on this research report:Market Segment by Applications, can be divided into Agriculture Domestic/Industrial/Public HealthThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Rodenticides market.Chapter 1, to describe Rodenticides Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Rodenticides, with sales, revenue, and price of Rodenticides, in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Rodenticides, for each region, from 2013 to 2018;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the market by countries, by type, by application and by manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2013 to 2018;Chapter 12, Rodenticides market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2018 to 2023;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Rodenticides sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceRead More:About Us:Research Beam is a high end and wide online market for market research reports that contain detailed and rational market research. Research Beam is a one stop report destination that offers clients well drafted and accurately analyzed report with insightful data.We have a large database of quality and precise market research reports that will be very beneficial for your organization. Reports that we sell our authentic in nature and from reputed publishers, hence it can definitely help you with your growth opportunities. Research Beam will always make sure to bring most ethical and high quality reports. We value your relationship with us and look forward for a long term relation.Global Head Quarters5933 NE Win Sivers Drive,#205, Portland, OR 97220United States+1 (800) 910-6452help@researchbeam.comManaged Mobility Services Market Top Players: At&T, Fujitsu, Ibm, Wipro, Orange Sa, Deutsche Telekom Ag, Hewlett-Packard, Vodafone Group Managed Mobility Service (MMS) refers to the procurement, deployment, and management of mobile devices and apps, PC software, and services that connect out-of-office workers to the enterprise environment. The major driver for the managed mobility service market is the increasing adoption of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies across various industries. Organizations have been adopting BYOD policies, in a bid to enhance productivity, without compromising with the security and privacy at the workplace. Increasing dependency on IT services for enterprise operations, has compelled organizations to look for alternatives to outsource their non-core operations. As the dependency on mobile services for day-to-day operations is growing, corporates are introducing apps and programs for their employees.



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Key Developments in the Market

 January 2018 - Accenture and Faurecia, a French auto supplier, signed partnership agreement for five years, for innovating mobility services. The companies will develop products and services for connected autonomous vehicles.

 October 2017 - AT & T partnered exchange introduced mobility tools, which are easy-to-manage and simple, such that it will help solution providers to offer more value to their customers.

 September 2017 - HP Inc. introduced new security, management, software development capability, and mobility features for its A3 printer family.

 February 2017 - IBM acquired Agile 3 Solutions, a software company that created security analytics dashboard, enabling C-suite executives with limited technical knowledge, to understand security alerts.



Major Players:



AT&T INC., FUJITSU LTD, IBM CORPORATION, WIPRO LTD, ORANGE SA, TELEFu00d3NICA SA, DEUTSCHE TELEKOM AG, HEWLETT-PACKARD, VODAFONE GROUP PLC, ACCENTURE PLC, and TECH MAHINDRA, amongst others.



Increasing Adoption of BYOD Policies



The enterprises are constantly opting for solutions that channel a large number of computing devices and create advanced communication infrastructure. With data and applications breaking the boundaries of desktops by becoming available on multiple devices, the concept of integrated workplace has diminished. The policies, such as bring-your-own-device, are increasing the number of devices that needs to be consolidated with the enterprise networks. BYOD has a significant impact on enterprises, as they are realizing the advantages in terms of cost saving, productivity, and flexibility. A survey by Cisco reported that 69% of the IT decision makers favor BYOD as an optimistic addition to workplace policy, as it saves workers time. These practices also reduce capital expenditure and increase creative approach of businesses, toward improving workplace satisfaction, maintaining security and productivity along, and providing flexibility. Therefore, the increasing adoption of BYOD policies is leading to the growth of the Managed Mobility Service Market.



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Manufacturing Industry to Accelerate the Market Landscape



Manufacturers from all over the world face intense competition. Reliable application delivery maintains the information flow through complex supply chain, and keeps operations running smoothly and inventory moving from warehouse floor to delivery. With the advent of smart manufacturing, owing to the cost effectiveness, small size, and ease of use, mobile devices have become an essential part of the manufacturing process. With the increasing adoption of technological mobility, these devices are becoming one of the core requirements of manufacturing processes, such as production, assembly, and packaging. Mobility offers advantages, such as single-point data transfer, across the network. Smooth and real-time data and information flow significantly improve the response time to suppliers, vendors, and customers, while improving the performance. The extensive use of mobile devices for manufacturing has been able to lure investments in the segment from major players, like Honeywell, who launched Skynax, a mobility management solution that can process instructions and receive critical information regarding delivery, goods in transit, etc.



North America to Dominate the Market



North America accounted for the largest market share of the Managed Mobility Service Market. A significant number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in this region adopting MMS solutions and the early adoption of the latest technologies in countries like the United States and Canada, are driving the growth of the market. The adoption of managed mobility services is massive among SMEs, because the implementation of these services does not require an extension of IT resources, as Managed Service Providers (MSPs) handle these services. The increasing penetration of smart mobile devices among organizations and increasing adoption of BYOD policies for connectivity among the employees, to provide flexible services to the customers in the United States and Canada, are leading to the adoption of MMS solutions.



In addition, mandatory compliance with specific industry regulations, such as HIPAA for the healthcare sector, is further encouraging the adoption of MMS solutions across these end-user verticals. The managed mobility service market is growing and the adoption rate is expected to grow exponentially during the forecast period.



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We at Market Prognosis believe in giving a crystal clear view of market dynamics for achieving success in todays complex and competitive marketplace through our quantitative & qualitative research methods.

We help our clients identify the best market insights and analysis required for their business thus enabling them to take strategic and intelligent decision.

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Permanent link to this press release: Copy Please set a link in the press area of your homepage to this press release on openPR. openPR disclaims liability for any content contained in this release.Online Higher Education global Market Report Analysis By Top Key Players Like Capella Education Company, American Public Education And Global Forecast 2018-2025

Online Higher Education global Market Report Analysis

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The Report published on UpMarketResearch.com about Online Higher Education Market is spread across 91 pages and provides newest industry data, market future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving Revenue growth and profitability. The industry report lists and studies the leading competitors, also provides the insights with strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the market.Get free sample report:Online Higher Education Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state which focuses on the major drivers and restraints for the key players. Online Higher Education Industry research report provides granular analysis of the market share, segmentation, revenue forecasts and geographic regions of the market.The report begins with the overview of the Online Higher Education market and updates the users about the latest developments and future expectations. It presents a comparative detailed analysis of all the regional and major player segments, offering readers a better knowledge of areas in which they can place their existing resources and gauging the priority of a particular region in order to boost their standing in the global market.In this report, there is a healthy amount of coverage of the market economies such as the demand and supply, cost and profit of the Online Higher Education Market. This holds key importance for users and hence this information is well supported with due statistics that are represented in easy to consume graphs, charts, and tables.The report compiles exhaustive information obtained via proven research methodologies and from trusted sources within the industries.The major manufacturers covered in this report American Public Education Apollo Education Group Capella Education Company Grand Canyon Education Bridgepoint Education Career Education Corporation Adtalem Global Education Graham Holdings Company ITT Educational Services Lincoln Educational Services Strayer Education Universal Technical Institute Education Management CorporationGlobal Online Higher Education Market: Regional Segment Analysis (Regional Production Volume, Consumption Volume, Revenue and Growth Rate 2013-2023): United States Europe China Japan Southeast Asia India Central & South AmericaBy Application, the market can be split into Youngth AdultsBuy this report :Major Points in Table of Content:1 Report Overview2 Global Growth Trends3 Market Share by Key Players4 Breakdown Data by Type and Application5 United States6 Europe7 China8 Japan9 Southeast Asia10 India11 Central & South America12 International Players Profiles13 Market Forecast 2018-202514 Analyst's Viewpoints/Conclusions15 AppendixReasons to Purchase: To gain insightful analyses of the market and have a comprehensive understanding of the Online Higher Education and its commercial landscape. Assess the Online Higher Education production processes, major issues, and solutions to mitigate the development risk. To understand the most affecting driving and restraining forces in the Online Higher Education market and its impact on the global market. Learn about the market strategies that are being adopted by your competitors and leading organizations. To understand the future outlook and prospects for Online Higher Education MarketFor more information:Customization of the Report:UpMarketResearch provides free customization of reports as per your need. This report can be personalized to meet your requirements. Get in touch with our sales team, who will guarantee you to get a report that suits your necessities.About UpMarketResearch:Up Market Research () is a leading distributor of market research report with more than 800+ global clients. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well-defined  we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Contact Info:Name: Alex MathewsEmail: Alex@upmarketresearch.comOrganization: UpMarketResearchAddress: 500 East E Street, Ontario, CA 91764, United StatesPhone: +1 347-377-7033Global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Market Growth and Industry Analysis By Top Key Manufacturers Like Hella, Philips, Valeo, Osram, KOITO, Bosch and Others 2018 - 2025

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The Global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Market status and forecast, categorizes the global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) market size (value & volume) by manufacturers, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top manufacturers in North America, Europe, Japan, China, and other regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America, and Middle East & Africa).The global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) market is valued at million US$ in 2017 and will reach million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of during 2018-2025.Browse complete report@The major manufacturers covered in this reportHellaPhilipsValeoMagneti MarelliOsramGeneral ElectricKOITOBoschLumiledsSamsung LEDIchikoh IndustriesStanley ElectricPanasonicFoshan Electrical and LightingPIAAGeographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaWe can also provide the customized separate regional or country-level reports, for the following regions:North AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeRest of Asia-PacificEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaRest of EuropeCentral & South AmericaBrazilArgentinaRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaSaudi ArabiaTurkeyRest of Middle East & AfricaOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoLEDHalogenOtherOn the basis of the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate for each application, includingPassenger VehiclesLight Commercial VehiclesHeavy Commercial VehiclesRequest for sample@The study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) capacity, production, value, consumption, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025);Focuses on the key Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) manufacturers, to study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in future.Focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis.To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region.To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the marketTo analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the marketTo strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) are as follows:History Year: 2013-2017Base Year: 2017Estimated Year: 2018Forecast Year 2018 to 2025For the data information by region, company, type and application, 2017 is considered as the base year. Whenever data information was unavailable for the base year, the prior year has been considered.Key StakeholdersDaytime Running Lights (DRLs) ManufacturersDaytime Running Lights (DRLs) Distributors/Traders/WholesalersDaytime Running Lights (DRLs) Subcomponent ManufacturersIndustry AssociationDownstream VendorsTable of ContentsGlobal Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Market Research Report 20181 Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Daytime Running Lights (DRLs)1.2 Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 LED1.2.4 Halogen1.2.5 Other1.3 Global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Segment by Application1.3.1 Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2013-2025)1.3.2 Passenger Vehicles1.3.3 Light Commercial Vehicles1.3.4 Heavy Commercial Vehicles1.4 Global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Market by Region (2013-2025)1.4.1 Global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2013-2025)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) (2013-2025)1.5.1 Global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Revenue Status and Outlook (2013-2025)1.5.2 Global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2013-2025)2 Global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.1.1 Global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.1.2 Global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Production and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.2 Global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.3 Global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Average Price by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.4 Manufacturers Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, ExpansionRequest for Discount@3 Global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2013-2018)3.1 Global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Capacity and Market Share by Region (2013-2018)3.2 Global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Production and Market Share by Region (2013-2018)3.3 Global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2013-2018)3.4 Global Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.5 North America Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.6 Europe Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.7 China Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.8 Japan Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.9 Southeast Asia Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.10 India Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)Who we areResearch Trades has team of experts who works on providing exhaustive analysis pertaining to market research on a global basis. This comprehensive analysis is obtained by a thorough research and study of the ongoing trends and provides predictive data regarding the future estimations, which can be utilized by various organizations for growth purposes.We distribute customized reports that focus on meeting the clients specific requirement. Our database consists of a large collection of high-quality reports obtained using a customer-centric approaches, thus providing valuable research insights.Contact us:Email: sales@researchtrades.comCall us: +1 6269994607 (USA), +91 7507349866 (IND)Web:Skype ID: researchtradesconCarboxylic Acid Market by Top Key Industry Players: Eastman Chemical Company, Perstorp Holding AB, Alfa Aesar, OXEA, Ashok Alco-Chem Ltd., VanDeMark Inc., Finetech Industry Ltd., VVF LLC and Shenyang Zhangming Chemical Co., Ltd

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The carboxylic acid market growth might be hampered to some extent due to availability of growth-promoting natural and organic substitutes for animal feed. Also, regulations against petroleum-based carboxylic acids for their significant carbon footprints will also be a growth restraint. The market also possesses a threat of gradually emerging antioxidants, antimicrobials, amino acids, nutraceuticals, probiotics, etc.Request for a sample of this research report @Carboxylic Acid Market is expected to exceed USD 20 billion according to this new research report. Global carboxylic acid market growth is anticipated to witness growing demand of VAM (vinyl acetate monomer) and vinyl ester resins. Global VAM Market is likely to grow up to 4.5% CAGR by 2024.Demand for EVA (ethylene-vinyl acetate) will rise significantly in the coming years owing to its usage in the production of food packaging adhesives. Increasing global demand for packaged food will thus positively affect the carboxylic acid market.The globally rising consumption of cosmetics and personal care products is likely to drive the demand for valeric, butyric and stearic acids, as they have widespread usage in the manufacturing of these products. Over 80% of personal care products are skin care products, hair care products and cosmetics which are essentially fragrant. Usage of the carboxylic acids for esterification for providing the fragrance and for prevention of microbes, will drive the product demand in the personal care segment.More than 45% share of the global animal feed market involves poultry and over 25% is used for swine. The rising consumption amounts of swine and poultry for their protein content will drive the global carboxylic acid Market for its demand as animal feed additive. Regulations concerning banning of antibiotic growth supporters in animal feed, particularly for cattle, poultry and swine will positively affect the industry.Acetic acid is expected to have the fastest growth at over 5.5% CAGR by 2024. Its usage in production of vinegar, preservation of food over a long time and flavor addition to the food products are the factors driving its growth. Growing demand of acetic acid in food storage and packaging industry will propel the market.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Formic and propionic acid find application in prevention of salmonella growth in food products, which otherwise contaminate the food and causes diseases to animals and humans. Stearic acid comprises of over 25% of global carboxylic acid market share market for its applications in soaps, cosmetics, detergents, in softening agents and lubricants.Asia Pacific region is predicted to have the fastest growth with over 5.0% gains in the forecast period, for the increasing demand from the regional food & beverages, consumer goods, personal care & cosmetics, animal feed, lubricants and pharmaceuticals industries. Europe North and America carboxylic acid markets are expected have sluggish growth and to lose some share to APAC and Latin America owing to the severe regulations levied by REACH and EPA.Browse Full Report @Top key players:Key industry players are Celanese Corporation, BASF SE, LyondellBasell Industries N.V., The Dow Chemical Company, Thirumalai Chemicals Ltd., Eastman Chemical Company, Perstorp Holding AB, Alfa Aesar, OXEA, Ashok Alco-Chem Ltd., VanDeMark Inc., Finetech Industry Ltd., VVF LLC and Shenyang Zhangming Chemical Co., Ltd.Market share calculation in this report is not done based on companies covered in it. The calculation of Carboxylic Acid Market share is done based on a regional approach and countries covered. On request, additional companies can be covered as well as regional data for particular country / countries can be provided.Browse Related Report:About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog:Ophthalmic Drugs Market Size | Grow at 5.3% CAGR | $42,663 million by 2023

Ophthalmic Drugs, Ophthalmic Drugs Market, Ophthalmic Drugs Market Size, Ophthalmic Drugs Industry, Ophthalmic Drugs Market share

https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/request-sample/22850

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https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/ophthalmic-drugs-market

The report is a comprehensive exploration of global Ophthalmic Drugs market offering growth rates, size of the industry, competitive landscape information, factors to the contributing growth of the global Ophthalmic Drugs market and more.Ophthalmic drugs market are preparations used for the treatment of eye diseases and disorders such as cataract, glaucoma, color blindness, diabetic macular edema, CMV retinitis, and age-related macular degeneration. The ophthalmic drugs market is witnessing significant growth, due to increase in prevalence of eye disorders and rise in use of combination therapies for treatment of ophthalmic disorders, especially glaucoma. Combination therapies have various advantages over traditional medication such improvement in patient compliance and efficacy. Moreover, surge in prevalence of ophthalmic disorders, rise in geriatric population globally, and change in demographics fuel the ophthalmic drugs market growth. The global ophthalmic drugs market was valued at $29,613 million in 2016, and is expected to reach $42,663 million by 2023, registering a CAGR of 5.3% from 2017 to 2023.Request for a sample copy of this report @The ophthalmic drugs market is segmented based on indication, type, distribution channel, dosage form, technology, therapeutic class, and geography. Depending on indication, the market is divided into dry eye, glaucoma, infection/inflammation/allergy, retinal disorders, and others. On the basis of type, the market is bifurcated into prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs. By distribution channel, it is categorized into hospital pharmacies, online pharmacies, drug stores, and others. According to dosage form, it is classified into liquid ophthalmic drug forms, semisolid ophthalmic drug forms, solid ophthalmic drug forms, multicompartment drug delivery systems, and other ophthalmic drug forms. As per technology, the market is segmented into biologics, cell therapy, gene therapy, drug delivery, small molecule, and others. Based on therapeutic class, it is classified into anti-inflammatory drugs, anti-infective drugs, anti-glaucoma drugs, and anti-allergy drugs. Based on geography, it is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.As per ophthalmic drugs market analysis, in the recent years, Asia-Pacific reported significant growth in the ophthalmic drugs market, owing to steady increase in the prevalence of glaucoma in the Asian population. In addition, increase in the number of people suffering from primary angle-closure glaucoma in Japan, China, and South Korea supplement this growth further.Request for a Discount of this report @KEY BENEFITS FOR STAKEHOLDERSThe study provides an in-depth analysis of the global ophthalmic drugs market with the current trends and future estimations to elucidate the imminent investment pockets.Comprehensive analysis of the factors that drive and restrict the market growth is provided.Comprehensive quantitative analysis of the industry is provided from 2016 to 2023 to assist stakeholders to capitalize on the prevailing market opportunities.Extensive analysis of the key segments of the industry helps in understanding the trends in types and technologies globally.Key players and their strategies are provided to understand the competitive outlook of the industry.LIST OF KEY PLAYERS PROFILED IN THE REPORTAbbott Medical Optics, Inc, Carl-Zeiss AG, Ellex Medical Lasers Ltd, Essilor International S.A, Hoya Corporation, Insight Vision Inc, Nidek Co. Ltd, Novagali Pharma S A, Topcon Corporation and Ziemer Ophthalmic Systems AGBy IndicationDry EyeGlaucomaInfection/Inflammation/AllergyRetinal DisordersWet Age-related Macular DegenerationDry Age-related Macular DegenerationDiabetic RetinopathyOthersOthersBy TypePrescription DrugsOver-the-Counter DrugsBy Dosage FormLiquid Ophthalmic Drug FormsSolid Ophthalmic Drug FormsSemisolid Ophthalmic Drug FormsMulticompartment Drug Delivery SystemsOther Ophthalmic Drug FormsBy TechnologyBiologicsCell TherapyGene TherapyDrug DeliverySmall MoleculeOthersBy Distribution ChannelHospital PharmaciesDrug StoresOnline PharmaciesOthersBy Therapeutic ClassAnti-glaucomaAnti-infectionAnti-inflammatoryAnti-allergyTable of content:CHAPTER 4 OPHTHALMIC DRUGS MARKET, BY INDICATION4.1. OVERVIEW4.1.1. Market size and forecast4.2. DRY EYE4.2.1. Key market trends4.2.2. Growth factors and opportunities4.2.3. Market size and forecast4.3. GLAUCOMA4.3.1. Key market trends4.3.2. Growth factors and opportunities4.3.3. Market size and forecast4.4. INFECTION/INFLAMMATION/ALLERGY4.4.1. Key market trends4.4.2. Growth factors and opportunities4.4.3. Market size and forecast4.5. RETINAL DISORDERS4.5.1. Key market trends4.5.2. Growth factors and opportunities4.5.3. Market size and forecast4.5.4. Wet age-related macular degeneration4.5.4.1. Market size and forecast4.5.5. Dry age-related macular degeneration4.5.5.1. Market size and forecast4.5.6. Diabetic retinopathy4.5.6.1. Market size and forecast4.5.7. Others4.5.7.1. Market size and forecast4.6. OTHERS4.6.1. Key market trends4.6.2. Growth factors and opportunities4.6.3. Market size and forecastFor More:About Us:Industry executives tend to keep a tab on their business competitors. This keeps them updated on strategic business activities and investment trends. Company profiles are crucial to participating players of interconnected verticals.Contact Us:5933 NE Win Sivers Drive, #205, Portland,OR 97220 United Statescall answer Direct:+1-971-202-1575call answer Toll Free:+1-800-910-6452email help@bigmarketresearch.comCENTRALIA, Wash.  Authorities say the body of a Washington woman who was reported missing more than a week ago has been found on the Oregon coast.

The Centralia Chronicle reports that 47-year-old Chrystal D. Chipman was found dead several miles from her vehicle, which was parked in a wooded area east of Newport. A logger working in the area spotted the vehicle.

Centralia police said Monday there were no obvious signs of trauma to her body, which was found Friday by a Lincoln County sheriff's deputy.

Police had earlier asked for the public's help in locating Chipman, saying she had a history of medical issues that required medication. She was reported missing Aug. 18.

-- The Associated PressA California man Monday pleaded guilty to shipping cocaine to undercover federal agents in southern Oregon, in exchange for firearms and tens of thousands of dollars in cash.

Gonazalo Manzo Jr., 33, of Fresno, Calif., entered the pleas in U.S. District Court in Medford to one count each of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

According to prosecutors, Manzo coordinated the shipment of a kilogram of cocaine from California to Oregon in 2017.

Manzo, along with two alleged accomplices, sold the cocaine to undercover agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in exchange for guns and $21,000 in cash, according to prosecutors.

The federal agents arrested Manzo along with two other men, identified as Jonathan Ochoa and Rodolfo Quevedo and recovered the firearms. Ochoa's and Quevedo's cases are pending in court. Manzo made his first appearance on the charges in federal court in Medford on Aug. 18.

Manzo could face a maximum sentence of life in prison, a $5 million fine and four years of supervised release. He will be sentenced Jan. 24 before U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonianAn Oregon man accused of assaulting a woman on a commercial fishing ship he was operating while intoxicated was arrested after a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter located the vessel and sent a response boat to board the ship, according to federal court documents.

Branden Michael Vanderploeg of Winchester Bay is charged with assault within maritime jurisdiction and operating a commercial vessel under the influence of alcohol.

Vanderploeg is out of custody on pre-trial release. He must undergo alcohol monitoring and participate in drug and alcohol counseling while awaiting trial.

Vanderploeg, reached by phone Tuesday, admitted he was in the wrong for drinking and was intoxicated, but he declined to discuss the alleged assault.

"We'd both been drinking, and I decided to turn the boat off and go to sleep,'' he said. "I did what I had to do to keep the vessel safe. There's two sides to each story.''

Coast Guard officials got word from an anonymous caller about 8 p.m. on Aug. 16 about a situation at sea involving a woman in distress, according to U.S. Coast Guard investigative special Agent Daniel C. Austin. The master of the ship fishing vessel "Pescadero'' had assaulted a woman, the caller said.

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter launched from its air station in North Bend to locate the ship, which was found about 17 nautical miles from shore in the Pacific Ocean. Members of the Coast Guard's Umpqua River station then launched a response boat and crew. Two members of the response boat boarded the commercial vessel and contacted Vanderploeg, Austin wrote in a federal affidavit.

They immediately noticed a strong smell of alcohol on Vanderploeg and administered a breath alcohol test. Vanderploeg's blood-alcohol concentration was .183, Austin noted. A person operating a commercial vessel is considered intoxicated at a blood-alcohol concentration of .04 or more.

The Coast Guard crew also noticed injuries to the face, neck and arms of Vanderploeg's girlfriend, who had been prevented from leaving the ship's cabin as the U.S. Coast Guard helicopter circled overhead, Austin's affidavit said.

Vanderploeg, 38, is accused of holding the woman down, punching her repeatedly in the face, slamming her head into a tool box and swinging a fishing gaff at her  a pole with a sharp hook at the end used to stab large fish, Austin wrote.

The U.S. Coast Guard terminated Vanderploeg's fishing voyage and towed the vessel, which Vanderploeg said he owns, to Winchester Bay.

The victim was taken to a hospital and treated for her injuries. She suffered a three-inch cut to her right cheek, a nose fracture and multiple contusions to her knees and arms.

Vanderploeg made his first appearance in federal court in Eugene last week.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonianONTARIO  An Oregon group looks to return a $25,000 donation toward a youth park project because it's from a recreational marijuana retailer.

The Argus Observer reports Megan Cook, head of Friends of the Aquatic Center, emailed a letter Friday to Ontario City Manager Adam Brown on behalf of the group seeking to return the donation to Hotbox Farms.

The letter reads: "... because the splash pad is an attraction being built for the children of our community, consensus was reached that it would be inappropriate to brand the project with any businesses that cannot legally serve youth."

Brown says Cook asked him about returning the donation, telling him that a number of donors "were going to pull out if the name wasn't changed from Hotbox Farms to Steve Meland," before being put on a permanent donor wall.

Meland is co-owner of the marijuana retailer.

___

Information from: Argus Observer, http://www.argusobserver.comNike has contributed $25,000 to Gov. Kate Brown's re-election campaign  a twist that shows the sportswear giant isn't in lockstep with co-founder Phil Knight.

The Beaverton-area company typically keeps its donations to key lawmakers of both parties in the $1,000 to $2,000 range, so the large gift to Brown on Wednesday is unusual.

Last year, Knight made his largest campaign contribution ever: $500,000 to Brown's Republican opponent, Knute Buehler. Knight has supported Democrats, too, including former Gov. John Kitzhaber.

Nike is poised for an unusual level of involvement in the November election. In July, the company poured $100,000 into the Common Good Fund, a new political action committee headed by Julia Brim-Edwards, Nike's senior director of government and public affairs.

That contribution came days after Brown met with Brim-Edwards and other representatives of major Oregon-based companies. It also was a couple days before the deadline to turn in signatures to qualify initiatives for the November ballot. Brown's campaign told Oregon Public Broadcasting the governor helped negotiate a deal to keep a public employee union-backed corporate transparency measure off the ballot. If passed, it would have required Nike and other large companies to disclose sensitive tax details.

The Common Good Fund has yet to report any spending, according to Oregon's campaign finance database.

Meanwhile, the Oregon Secretary of State's office is still reviewing a complaint filed last month alleging the agreement reached by Brown, Nike and the unions violated state elections law. Portland resident Richard Leonetti, who said his complaint was drafted by an unnamed lawyer, claimed the arrangement violated the state prohibition against paying to "sell, hinder or delay any part of an initiative, referendum or recall petition."

The Oregon Department of Justice reviewed the complaint and declined to open a criminal investigation, explaining in a letter that there was no evidence in the complaint "that any of the named individuals engaged in intimidation, blackmail or extortion."

Jill Gibson, a Portland attorney who appears to have written Leonetti's complaint, emailed the Oregon Department of Justice on Aug. 17 to ask why the agency focused on the law against blackmail and extortion, when Leonetti's complaint was based on a different subsection of statute.

"I'm concerned that your office failed to review his actual allegations, and instead mistakenly focused on whether blackmail or extortion occurred," Gibson wrote.

Kristina Edmunson, a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice, wrote in an email that the department was sticking with its original decision.

Gibson, who has represented anti-union Freedom Foundation and the anti-Kate Brown political nonprofit Priority Oregon, also could not immediately be reached for comment regarding who is paying for her work on Leonetti's complaint.

-- Hillary Borrud

503-294-4034; @hborrudPORTLAND (AP)  A ride-sharing company and an Oregon state tourism group are offering free wagon rides in downtown Portland to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Oregon Trail.

The East Oregonian reports that free wagon rides will run through an Oregon Historical Society route in the city this week, on August 28 through 31 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day.

(Check out The Oregonian's ride-along in the video below)Police arrested a woman accused of claiming a random 6-year-old girl was her daughter and trying to take the child from her Southeast Portland home on Sunday, court records show.

Stephanie Romero, 25, was stopped in the 7000 block of Southeast 92nd Avenue after the girl's mother and grandmother confronted the stranger in their apartment and the mother punched Romero in the face, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Romero left the girl and items she took from the family's home, hopped a fence toward the Springwater Trail and sat down on the ground until officers arrived and arrested her, the court documents said.

Romero remained jailed Monday in the Multnomah County Detention Center on suspicion of first-degree burglary, second-degree kidnapping and third-degree theft. The girl was crying and shaking when interviewed by a police officer but was unharmed, the affidavit said.

According to the girl and her mother, the child was playing tag with her brothers and friends in front of their apartment when Romero walked up to the girl and claimed she was her daughter, the affidavit said.

"Come on, I'm gonna take you on the bike trail, follow me," the girl recalled Romero saying, according to the court papers. The girl said Romero pulled her by the wrist, but she pulled away and ran into her apartment.

The girl's mother was doing laundry nearby and was told by one of her sons about Romero. Other kids had spotted Romero looking through windows at the apartments earlier, the affidavit said.

The girl said Romero followed her inside her apartment. The girl's grandmother ordered the stranger out.

Romero had been gathering items from the home in a bedsheet when the mother arrived. The parent told Romero she wasn't leaving with her daughter and hit her, the affidavit said. Romero dropped the family's possessions outside the front door and walked away.

Romero claimed she wanted to "save the kids," the affidavit said.

While being interviewed by court staff at the county jail, Romero identified herself as homeless and said she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, anxiety and depression. She said her own daughter is in the state's care, court records show. She also reported using methamphetamine daily and attending mental health and drug treatment.

Sunday marked Romero's fifth arrest in the last 30 days, court documents said. She faces accusations including unlawful entry into a motor vehicle and criminal trespass in separate cases, court records show.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com

503-221-8343; @EvertonBaileyProsecutors say the only way to stop Michael Thomas Dorgan, 55, from masturbating in public is to send him away to prison.

On Tuesday, a Multnomah County Circuit judge found him guilty for the 10th time of public indecency -- and sentenced him to about 4 years in prison as part of a plea deal. Thats just about half a year shy of the maximum that prosecutors think they can lock him up for.

Oregon law allows a five-year prison sentence, but prosecutors were willing to give him a small reduction in prison time as part of the plea agreement, said Deputy District Attorney Todd Jackson.

Dorgan pleaded no contest Tuesday to exposing himself to three women at the Portland State University Urban Center, at Southwest Fifth Avenue and Mill Street, on July 8. One of the women snapped a photo of him and showed it to police, who couldnt find Dorgan in the area that day.

But six days later and a block way, officers spotted him and arrested him.

Dorgans history of exposing himself to strangers stretches back to 1990. Many of the cases have been on the PSU campus, despite previous prison stints Dorgan has served. He remains recognizable to longtime university police.

Typically, first-time offenders are sentenced to probation. But Oregon law allows serial public masturbators -- along with other serious sex offenders -- to be imprisoned for life upon their third felony conviction.

But the Oregon Supreme Court has clarified its stance on that three-strikes-you're-out law -- saying in 2016 that it was unconstitutional to lock up 39-year-old Dennis James Davidson for life. Although he was an "incorrigible" public masturbator, he had never been convicted of sexually touching any victims, the high court noted.

But that same year, the state Supreme Court also upheld a life sentence for another serial public masturbator, William Michael Althouse, 70, because he had a record of sexually assaulting children, as well.

On Tuesday, the prosecutor in Dorgans case said he doesnt think the Supreme Court would view Dorgan in the same class as Althouse or other unstoppable sex offenders whove been locked up for life. In comparison, Dorgan has had little physical contact with his victims.

Court records outline three instances in which Dorgan had briefly touched women:

In 1996, he was convicted of third-degree sexual abuse for standing behind a woman at Lloyd Center and reaching between her legs to grope her. In 1999, while on the PSU campus he grabbed a woman by the arm and hair before she was able to break free. In 2002, he brushed up against a woman as he masturbated.

Before approving Dorgans plea deal on Tuesday, Judge Kathleen Dailey asked Dorgan if hes ever received sex offender treatment to try to stop his problem. Dorgan said yes, but clearly, the treatment didnt stick.

He remembered few details -- saying he once attended treatment downtown at a building by the freeway. He raised his hands in the air and shrugged as he struggled to describe what the treatment entailed.

Do you know how long you attended the program? the judge asked.

A year and a half, Dorgan replied.

Wow, OK, said the judge.

Jackson, the prosecutor, pointed to the past treatment failure as evidence that nothing has been able to stop Dorgan and his disturbing habit.

With Mr. Dorgan ... we have run out of available options for him, other than incarceration, Jackson said.

Prosecutors have taken this tack before with Dorgan.

In 2008, Dorgan was sentenced to 2 years in prison. In 2011, he was sentenced to nearly six years in prison for two instances of public indecency.

In this latest 2018 case, Dorgan had been out of prison for about two years before he was caught masturbating in public again.

-- Aimee GreenThe following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriff's Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter John Kennett.

Wednesday, Aug. 22

12:06 a.m.  A person at a Jerome Township campground reported another camper was possibly using and/or making drugs. Deputies found no evidence of drugs being manufactured or used.

12:16 a.m.  A 23-year-old woman was arrested in Jerome Township on her outstanding Midland County warrant. A 25-year-old man who was present in the home was also arrested for two outstanding Midland County warrants.

2:51 a.m.  Lee Township fire/rescue, EMS and the Midland County Sheriff's office responded to a Lee Township residence for a possible overdose. The caller said that they were performing CPR on a 35-year-old Charlotte man who was not conscious and was not breathing. EMS arrived on scene and revived the man who admitted to using heroin. The man was transported to MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland for treatment. No drugs/evidence were found at the residence. The 35-year-old man was visiting family who didn't know the man had a heroin problem.

2:57 a.m.  A deputy was dispatched to a Lee Township roadway for a report of a vehicle driving recklessly and passing in a no passing zone. The deputy checked the area, but the vehicle was gone upon arrival.

9:03 a.m.  Midland County Animal Control received a complaint of a dog attacking some chickens in Larkin Township. The chicken owner only wanted the situation reported.

9:32 a.m.  A deputy responded to a report of a subject riding a bicycle the wrong way on U.S. 10 in Jerome Township. The deputy checked the area and was unable to locate the subject.

9:42 a.m.  A deputy discovered a 51-year-old Harrison man walking on the highway. The man was given a ride to Coleman.

12:01 p.m.  A deputy responded to Lee Township for a report of two small children running around naked. He arrived and made contact with the grandmother, the 30-year-old father, and a 3- and 4-year-old boys. The boys were clothed. The children had run out of the house when the grandmother went to the bathroom. They were inside, dressed and being cared for.

12:17 p.m.  A deputy responded to a Jerome Township residence to assist Midland County Animal Control with a disorderly man who was upset about his neighbor's loose dog.

1:40 p.m.  A deputy stood by while Consumer's Energy disconnected power from a Warren Township residence.

3:40 p.m.  A deputy assisted a motorist who hit a low cable line in Larkin Township. The Larkin Township Fire Department removed the line from the roadway.

3:02 p.m.  A small black car failed to pay for $10 in gasoline from a Warren Township station. Neither a plate nor the direction of travel were obtained.

11:21 p.m.  A deputy was dispatched to a Jasper Township residence in reference to a 41-year-old woman who called and stated there was a 25-year-old woman in her driveway who wouldn't leave. The 25-year-old woman left prior to the deputy's arrival on scene.

9:42 p.m.  A deputy was dispatched to an assisted living center in Homer Township after a worker observed someone drive down the driveway and park near a garage. Contact was made with a 42-year-old Homer Township man. He said he was setting up his telescope to look at Mars. He thought since this was Midland County property, he didn't think he needed to get permission to be on the property. The man was told to contact the property management next time to obtain permission.

8:50 p.m.  Deputies conducted a salvage inspection in Mills Township.

8:15 p.m.  Deputies were dispatched to a Lee Township residence in reference to a 51-year-old man who stated his 22-year-old son was suicidal. The deputies made contact with the 22-year-old man and his 22-year-old girlfriend. The man was later taken to MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland for a mental health petition due to suicidal statements.

7:29 p.m.  A deputy was dispatched to Poseyville Cemetery for a complaint of shots fired. The deputy searched the area but was unable to locate anyone shooting.Sydney Airport has released its Master Plan 2039, outlining its strategic direction for the development of the hub over the next 20 years.

Master Plan 2039 refreshes the current Sydney Airport Master Plan 2033  approved in 2014  and extends the planning period to 2039.

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The new document is designed to accommodate the forecast 51% increase in annual passenger numbers to 65.6 million over the planning period.

International passengers  who contribute the most to the New South Wales and Australian economies  will be the main driver of growth and, by 2039, the mix of international and domestic passengers is expected to be 48% and 52% respectively. The airport expects to handle 408,260 total aircraft movements in 2039.

The planning document contains a five-year ground transportation plan and 20-year ground transportation strategy to improve road network performance in and around Sydney Airport.

The ground transportation solutions have been designed to recognize potential changes to traffic volumes and patterns resulting from the opening of the new WestConnex freeway and Sydney Gateway connection.

It also outlines the airports approach to sustainability and incorporates this into the planning and design for future expansion. The hub has achieved a four-star Green Star Communities rating from the Green Building Council of Australia for this masterplan.

Sydney Airport also proposes expansions of the existing terminal precincts to meet forecast passenger number growth. The airport claims its plans will improve the passenger experience, reduce transfer times and enable more effective utilization of terminal and airfield infrastructure. This includes the provision of new terminal infrastructure north of T1 and east of T2 and T3, to deliver 17 additional contact stands and seven more active bussed aircraft parking positions.

The key operational strategies for the airport development plan are to continue development of capacity in the T1 international operations precinct in the North West and South West sectors; and expanded capacity in the North-East Sector to create a T2/T3 integrated operations precinct that provides for international, domestic and regional passenger services.

Master Plan 2039 has been submitted to the Australian government for approval.Good Tuesday Morning, Fellow Seekers.

If there are two or three things that we know about GOP gubernatorial nominee Scott Wagner, it's that he's no fan of taxes, big labor, or abortions.

The York County pol has said time and again this campaign season that he's "100 percent pro-life" and would support pretty well anything that would restrict access to abortion services.

But that doesn't mean that every time he's asked, or says something about it, that his opponents aren't going to make a thing out of it.

Monday was no different - and Wagner again (justifiably) found himself under fire.

During a speech to the monthly Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon Wagner underlined his support for cutting off the flow of taxpayer dollars to the women's health organization Planned Parenthood.

Asked directly why he thought why defunding Planned Parenthood was a good idea, Wagner responded thus:

"Well, I'm 100 percent pro-life and I don't believe the government should be funding an organization that performs abortion," he said.

A bit of background:

Wagner is a co-sponsor of a Senate bill that would effectively defund Planned Parenthood by moving it to the back of the line for any state funding. The organization, which provides an array of women's health services, largely treats low-income and Medicaid recipients.

The bill, which is now sitting in the Senate Appropriations Committee, mirrors a similar effort at the federal level to cut off taxpayer support to Planned Parenthood.

Opponents, including Vice President Mike Pence, have tried to paint Planned Parenthood as an "abortion factory."

But as writers at New York Magazine's woman-focused website, The Cut, have pointed out, "abortion accounts for only 3 percent of the organization's health-care services (a statistic that conservatives claim distracts from the actual cost of abortion). The main reasons people visit a Planned Parenthood are contraceptive access (31 percent) and STI/STD testing and treatment (45 percent). More than double the number of people visited Planned Parenthood clinics in 2014 for pregnancy tests than for abortion procedures."

It's also not true that, as some critics maintain, that women would have access to abortion services through other clinics if federal funding for Planned Parenthood were to suddenly disappear.

"A study by the Guttmacher Institute found that in the 491 counties where there are currently Planned Parenthood clinics, 103 of them have no other clinics where low-income patients can gain access to affordable contraceptive services, should [Planned Parenthood's] services be drained," writers at The Cut noted.

And, in fact, healthcare costs would likely go up if the flow of money disappeared. Some estimates peg the increase in Medicaid spending as high as $650 million over 10 years.

And as we've noted in the past, with the U.S. Supreme Court becoming ever-more conservative, women's rights and women's health advocates are increasingly looking to friendly governors and Legislatures to protect access to abortion.

It also comes amid a series of regulatory changes, supported by the Trump administration, intended to restrict access to abortion.

That's made it one of the key issues of the 2018 campaign in Pennsylvania, where Democratic incumbent Gov. Tom Wolf has said he'll veto any measure that restricts a woman's right to choose.

The Republican Legislature, meanwhile? Not so much.

Before his exit from the Senate, Wagner signed on as a co-sponsor of a series of bills that would restrict access, including a Wolf-vetoed bill that would have banned abortion after the 20th week of pregnancy; outlawed a common, second-trimester procedure, and criminally punished doctors who performed it.

Among the bills Wagner also backed was a so-called "heartbeat" bill, which would ban abortions at as early as six weeks, which is before most women even know that they're pregnant.

In a statement, Wolf's re-election campaign again condemned Wagner's remarks, saying that with his support for that array of ban-bills, he's "made it clear that, as governor, he would not stand up for the rights of Pennsylvania's women."

The rest of the day's news starts now.

GOP U.S. Senate candidate Lou Barletta is on the air with his second commercial of the 2018 campaign. This one, filmed at last month's rally with President Donald Trump in Wilkes-Barre, touts Barletta's support for cops, firemen and other first-responders.

During that same Pa. Press Club speech, Wagner hammered Wolf for agreeing to just one debate - an equally bad idea. The Inquirer has the story.

The New York Times has a profile of Pa. Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

The state Supreme Court has 'tweaked' grand jury secrecy rules, The Morning Call reports.

Pa. residents can start pre-registering for REAL ID cards come Sept. 4, The Post-Gazette reports.

The Incline explains why Pittsburgh's light rail only runs to the city's South Hills.

Here's a colorful #Harrisburg Instagram of the Day to start the morning.

WHYY-FM brings you up to speed on the U.S. Senate campaign in Delaware

Marty Nothstein, the GOP candidate in the Lehigh Valley's 7th Congressional District, has been cleared of allegations of sexual misconduct, PoliticsPA reports.

Politico looks at how the government's opioid crackdown is backfiring.

Voters in three states - including Arizona - head to the polls today for primary elections. Roll Call runs down the particulars.

WolfWatch.

Gov. Tom Wolf heads to Delaware County today for a 10:45 a.m touting the progress of the state's "ResurfacePA" program. Because everything has to be SomethingPA.

Heavy Rotation.

Here's an old fave by Oasis to get the day rolling.

And now you're up to date.If you're heading to Myrtle Beach for a last-minute vacation this summer, make sure you keep your language family-friendly.

Those who get caught publicly using profanity in the South Carolina city could be issued a citation or worse yet, land themselves in jail, according to Myrtle Beach Online.

Last year, the city issued 289 profane language citations, amounting to $22,161, according to the report. That averages to about $77 for each citation.

However, the maximum penalty for swearing, which is a disorderly conduct charge, is a $500 fine or 30 days in jail.

Myrtle Beach Online reports:

Lt. Bryan Murphy with Myrtle Beach Police Department said a person would violate the ordinance if he or she uses language to "provoke a violent reaction from another person."

"We encourage everyone to avoid violating this ordinance by speaking to others with the same respect and kindness you deserve," Murphy said.

The offense plainly states a person should not make, utter or direct any lewd, obscene or profane words toward another person. Those words include "libelous expletive" or "fighting" words.

Swearing isn't the only citation that has earned Myrtle Beach a little money in fines. In 2017, the city made $19,356 from its racing engine ordinance and $1,575 in fines from those sleeping or laying down on the boardwalk.WASHINGTON (AP) -- Bowing to pressure, President Donald Trump on Monday ordered American flags at U.S. buildings lowered to half-staff for Sen. John McCain until his burial on Sunday. Trump's proclamation came just hours after the White House flag had been returned to full-staff, drawing complaints from right and left.

Trump, who had traded bitter criticism with McCain since before the election, declared his order "a mark of respect." At the same time, he said it would be Vice President Mike Pence and other officials who would represent the administration at McCain's funeral services.

"Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain's service to our country and, in his honor, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment," Trump said in a statement.

The statement came two days after McCain died at 81 from brain cancer -- and after objections at Trump's silence from lawmakers and others, including the American Legion, which demanded that he do more to honor the Vietnam War hero and six-term senator. Trump initially tweeted condolences to McCain's family, but made no mention then of the Arizona Republican with whom he feuded for years.

Even as flags remained at half-staff Monday at the Capitol, the Washington Memorial and elsewhere, the White House flag was raised. That seemed to be the breaking point for a key Trump constituency, veterans.

"On the behalf of The American Legion's two million wartime veterans, I strongly urge you to make an appropriate presidential proclamation noting Senator McCain's death and legacy of service to our nation, and that our nation's flag be half-staffed through his internment," said a statement to Trump from Denise Rohan, the organization's national commander.

By day's end, Trump had done just that, with no immediate explanation from the White House. But evidence of Trump's feud with McCain remained. People close to McCain and the White House said the family had requested that Trump stay away from the week's services and ceremonies, which will culminate with McCain's burial at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

Trump said Vice President Pence would address a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol on Friday. Others in the administration -- Chief of Staff john Kelly, Defense Secretary James Mattis and National Security Adviser John Bolton -- will also represent the administration.

With the proclamation and statement, Trump was conforming to standard protocol when a prominent member of government dies.

McCain was a frequent critic of Trump on everything from his leadership style to his Russia policy. Trump questioned the decorated Navy pilot's Vietnam heroism and chafed at McCain's vote to kill the president's "Obamacare" repeal.

McCain died on Saturday at 81 after a 13-month struggle with brain cancer. Trump tweeted condolences to McCain's family but made no reference to the Arizona senator.

U.S. Flag Code states that flags be lowered "on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress."

After Democratic Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts died in 2009, President Barack Obama ordered flags at the White House flown at half-staff for five days.Editor's note: Story was updated at 10:40 p.m. with comments from the White house.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Puerto Rico's governor raised the U.S. territory's official death toll from Hurricane Maria from 64 to 2,975 on Tuesday after an independent study found that the number of people who succumbed in the desperate, sweltering aftermath had been severely undercounted.

The new estimate of nearly 3,000 dead in the six months after Maria devastated the island in September 2017 and knocked out the entire electrical grid was made by researchers with the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University.

"We never anticipated a scenario of zero communication, zero energy, zero highway access," Gov. Ricardo Rossello told reporters. "I think the lesson is to anticipate the worst. ... Yes, I made mistakes. Yes, in hindsight, things could've been handled differently."

He said he is creating a commission to study the hurricane response, and a registry of people vulnerable to the next hurricane, such as the elderly, the bedridden and kidney dialysis patients.

Rossello acknowledged Puerto Rico remains vulnerable to another major storm. He said the government has improved its communication systems and established a network to distribute food and medicine, but he noted that there are still 60,000 homes without a proper roof and that the power grid is still unstable.

"A lesson from this is that efforts for assistance and recovery need to focus as much as possible on lower-income areas, on people who are older, who are more vulnerable," said Lynn Goldman, dean of the Milken institute.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement Tuesday night that the back-to-back hurricanes that hit last year prompted "the largest domestic disaster response mission in history."

She said President Donald Trump "remains proud of all of the work the Federal family undertook to help our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico."

She also said the federal government "will continue to be supportive" of Gov. Ricardo Rossello's accountability efforts and says "the American people, including those grieving the loss of a loved one, deserve no less."

Tuesday's finding is almost twice the government's previous estimate, included in a recent report to Congress, that there were 1,427 more deaths than normal in the three months after the storm.

The George Washington researchers said the official count from the Sept. 20 hurricane was low in part because doctors were not trained in how to classify deaths after a disaster.

The number of deaths from September 2017 to February 2018 was 22 percent higher than during the same period in previous years, Goldman said.

The number of dead has political implications for the Trump administration, which was accused of responding half-heartedly to the disaster. Shortly after the storm, when the official death toll stood at 16, President Donald Trump marveled over the small loss of life compared to that of "a real catastrophe like Katrina."

READ MORE: Puerto Rican government: 1,400+ Hurricane Maria victims, not just 64

Hurricane Katrina, which struck New Orleans in 2005, was directly responsible for about 1,200 deaths, according to the National Hurricane Center. That does not include indirect deaths of the sort the George Washington researchers counted in Puerto Rico.

The White House issued a statement on Tuesday noting that it sent 12,000 personnel to Puerto Rico for response and recovery efforts, and said it would continue to support the island's government and its communities in their recovery for years to come.

"The American people, including those grieving the loss of a loved one, deserve no less. The president remains proud of all of the work the federal family undertook to help our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico," it said.

Yet many remain outraged at both the local and federal governments.

Rep. Nydia Velazquez, a New York Democrat, said the report shows the U.S. government failed the people of Puerto Rico.

"These numbers are only the latest to underscore that the federal response to the hurricanes was disastrously inadequate and, as a result, thousands of our fellow American citizens lost their lives," she said in a statement.

There is no national standard for how to count disaster-related deaths. While the National Hurricane Center reports only direct deaths, such as those caused by flying debris or drowning, some local governments may include indirect deaths from such things as heart attacks and house fires.

Researchers with George Washington said they counted deaths over the span of six months -- a much longer period than usual -- because so many people were without power during that time.

"That caused a number of issues," Goldman said, explaining that people were forced to exert themselves physically or were exposed to intense heat without fans or air conditioning. "It's fairly striking that you have so many households without electricity for so long. That's unusual in the U.S. after a disaster."

Power has not yet been fully restored to Puerto Rico nearly a year after the hurricane, and outages remain common.

Puerto Rico's government released data in June showing increases in several illnesses in 2017 that could have been linked to the storm: Cases of sepsis, a serious bloodstream infection usually caused by bacteria, rose from 708 in 2016 to 835 last year. Deaths from diabetes went from 3,151 to 3,250, and deaths from heart illnesses increased from 5,417 to 5,586.

READ MORE: Harvard says 4,600+ died in Puerto Rico because of hurricane; government says 64 died

Bethzaida Rosado said government and health care officials were not prepared for the storm, and she is still angry her 76-year-old mother died because oxygen tanks were not available on the island after the hurricane.

"Do you know what it's like to see your mother run out of oxygen?" she said. "I don't wish that on anyone."

Months ago, the Rossello administration stopped updating its official death toll at 64 and ordered the independent investigation amid suspicions the dead were substantially undercounted.

The first phase of the study cost $305,000. In the second phase, the researchers plan to focus on the causes of death.

The researchers found that the risk of death was 45 percent higher for those living in impoverished communities, and that men over 65 saw a continuous elevated risk of death.

They also reported that physicians and others told them that Puerto Rico's government did not notify them about federal guidelines on how to document deaths related to a major disaster.

"Others expressed reluctance to relate deaths to hurricanes due to concern about the subjectivity of this determination and about liability," the report said.

For the study, the researchers reviewed mortality data from July 2010 to February 2018. They also took into account an 8 percent drop in Puerto Rico's population in the six months after the storm, when tens of thousands fled because of the damage.

However, they did not share details of their methodology, saying those will be released if the study is published in a scientific journal.

"We did not cherry-pick, I can promise you," Goldman said. "We used very rigorous methodology."

The study also found that government emergency plans in place when Maria hit were not designed for hurricanes greater than a Category 1. Maria was a Category 4 with 154 mph winds. Damage was estimated at more than $100 billion.

The researchers made several recommendations, including more emergency planning and government training for doctors on filling out death certificates. They also said the public health system needs to be strengthened, though Goldman said they don't know yet whether those weaknesses contributed to storm-related deaths.

Rossello pledged to carry out the recommendations, though there are questions about Puerto Rico's ability to do so. The island is trying to restructure a portion of its more than $70 billion public debt amid a 12-year recession.

--

Danica Coto of the Associated Press wrote this story.Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro on Tuesday reiterated on national TV that his office has evidence that the Vatican knew about the widespread and systemic cover-up of clergy sex abuse across the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania.

Appearing on NBC's "Today" show, Shapiro repeated the charge he made on Aug. 14 when he released the findings of a grand jury investigation into clergy sex abuse across six dioceses in Pennsylvania: that the trail of conspiracy at times led all the way to the Vatican.

"Church leaders would lie to parishioners on Sunday, they would lie to the public, they would shield these predators from the public but they would document all of it and place it in these secret archives, feet away from the bishops," Shapiro said.

Shapiro said they would at times document the abuse in hand-written notes.

He said he could not confirm whether Pope Francis had direct knowledge of the crimes.

"I think broader issues here with the Vatican knowing about this ..with church leaders knowing about it and the reaction you've seen not just from Catholics but from people from across the globe is a fundamental disappointment and anger in institutions," Shapiro said. "We're seeing institutions, whether it's Hollywood, universities, government centers and certainly the church, putting their institutional reputation above the welfare of children. We will not tolerate that in Pennsylvania and should not tolerate it anywhere."

Shapiro reasserted his charge amid an escalating crisis in the Vatican surrounding allegations that Francis had knowledge of sexual misconduct on the part of one of the church's most senior official.

On Sunday, a former Vatican ambassador to the U.S. released a statement charging that the pope knew about allegations against former Washington Archbishop (Cardinal) Theodore McCarrick, who has been credibly accused of sexual misconduct with seminarians and even minors.

Archbishop Carlo Vigano, a former papal nuncio, said that Francis had reinstated McCarrick to ministry in spite of his knowledge of the credible accusations and sanctions formerly imposed on the cardinal.

Francis has said he will not comment on the claims.

Appearing on "Today," Shapiro said that investigators had searched secret church archives and uncovered handwritten notes detailing the abuse stored.

The 40th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury found that more than 300 priests had over the course of seven decades sexually molested more than 1,000 children, most of them boys. Shapiro has predicted that the number of victims will continue to increase as more victims come forth in the wake of the report.

Shapiro told "Today" co-host Savannah Gutherie that since the release of the report, the clergy abuse hotline established by his office has received more than 700 calls. He said his office is tracking each and every claim made in these calls.

"It's horrifying to think what these men of God did to these children and then to have the cover-up that was quite literally purposeful to shield priests from law enforcement," Shapiro said.

As a result of the cover-up, Shapiro said, the statute of limitations have expired on the vast majority of the crimes, leaving the adult victims with little legal recourse.

To date, one priest has been convicted as a result of the investigation and another has been indicted and awaits trial.

"If we could bring a case on any of this, against any predator priest or anyone who covered it up we will do so," Shapiro said.

Vigano has called for Francis to resign. The Argentinian-born pope, who has been at the helm of the 1.2-billion strong church for five years, has in recent months been forced to address the spiraling worldwide clergy sex abuse scandal.

The latest chapter in the wake of Vigano's bombshell statement has churned a veritable crisis for the pontiff.

Vigano claims that Francis in 2013 learned of McCarrick's sexual misconduct but nevertheless reinstated back him into ministry despite sanctions imposed on the cardinal by his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI.

Vigano also implicates Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the current archbishop of Washington and a former Pittsburgh Diocese bishop. Vigano alleges that Wuerl, like Francis, failed to take action against McCarrick, in spite of their knowledge of the sanctions and the credible accusations.

Wuerl on Monday issued a statement refuting Vigano's claims "categorically denied" that Vigano told him that restrictions had been placed on his predecessor.

McCarrick resigned from the College of Cardinals in July.

U.S. cardinals have issued separate statements rejecting Vigano's allegations.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, said Vigano's letter is filled with "factual errors, innuendo and fearful ideology," according to a report by the National Catholic Reporter.

McCarrick served as bishop in Newark from 1986 to 2001. The diocese in the mid-2000s paid settlements to two men who charged McCarrick of sexually assaulted when they were seminarians.

Some U.S. bishops, however, said they found Vigano's allegations "credible" and Vigano "a man of truthfulness, faith and integrity," according to NCR.

The Vatican two weeks ago issued a statement expressing sadness and sorrow over the findings of the grand jury investigation.

"The abuses described in the report are criminal and morally reprehensible," the Vatican said. "Those acts were betrayals of trust that robbed survivors of their dignity and their faith. The Church must learn hard lessons from its past, and there should be accountability for both abusers and those who permitted abuse to occur."The crash of a stolen pickup truck led to the driver and responding police officers being coated in paint on Monday, Lancaster Police said.

The multi-vehicle crash occurred around 10 a.m. on the 100 block of S. Queen St., police said, with a pickup that was stolen from New Castle County, Delaware.

A crash in the 100 block of South Queen Street resulted in paint covering the street, a driver and police.

Officers determined the driver of the stolen pickup drove past a flagger who was diverting traffic away from the left lane blocked by a flatbed trailer parked there, having just delivered an excavator to the location.

The driver tried to change from the left lane to the right, but could not and drove up the back of the flatbed like a ramp, police said.

The truck landed upright, hit two parked vehicle on the east side of South Queen Street, flipped onto the driver's side, spun 180 degrees and striking another parked vehicle on the west side of South Queen Street, police said.

Several other parked vehicles were hit by debris and/or paint, police said.

When officers arrived, the pickup was still on one side and paint spilled all over the interior and road.

Bystanders pointed out the driver of the pickup, who walked back to the scene having already walked away from it, police said. The man was completely covered from head-to-toe in wet paint, and was acting in an agitated and erratic manner, police said.

Police were not clear whether the driver suffered any injuries, was under the influence of a substance or both, they said.

Officers tried to keep the man, who is not identified in their post, from walking around in case he was injured, police said. The driver pushed an officer away with both hands, so officers detained the driver and placed him in handcuffs in order to keep him from moving around.

The driver slipped one of his wrists out of the cuffs, police said, and tried to run. The officers secured him in handcuffs again, and he was taken to a local hospital for evaluation and observation, police said.

Police did not know the extent of his condition or injuries at the time of their release.

The crash is under investigation, and no charges have been filed yet, police said.Former state Treasurer Rob McCord's "avaricious obsession" to become Pennsylvania's governor will be leading him instead to a date with a federal prison cell.

U.S. Middle District Judge John E. Jones III arranged that rendezvous Tuesday, sentencing the 59-year-old McCord to 2 1/2 years behind bars for extortion at the end of an at times emotional 2 1/2-hour hearing.

McCord has no one but himself to blame for letting his pathological pursuit of the governor's office get out of hand, Jones said. He said McCord crossed the legal Rubicon when he used the power of his office to strong-arm donors to pony up for his failed 2014 gubernatorial campaign.

"When an individual's ambition trumps an individual's good judgment and otherwise decent character, that's when crimes happen," Jones said.

The judge imposed the prison term 3 1/2 years after McCord, a former Montgomery County Democrat, abruptly resigned as treasurer and then pleaded guilty to the federal charges. McCord then cooperated with the FBI and IRS, even wore a wire, as those agencies investigated pay to play corruption in state government.

He was the government's star witness last year during the bribery trial of eastern Pennsylvania businessman Richard Ireland. Jones dismissed that case after McCord testified, concluding the government hadn't provided sufficient evidence of any crime.

That debacle played into the drama during McCord's sentencing hearing in a courtroom packed with reporters and his supporters.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Consiglio urged Jones to pare 20 months from McCord's potential jail time for what he described as McCord's less than completely candid cooperation with the FBI probe. In testifying during Ireland's trial, McCord tried to downplay his own culpability, the prosecutor said, an assertion with which Jones agreed.

"There was a corrupt decision. There was corrupt action," Consiglio said. "We have concern that Mr. McCord minimized those in his trial testimony."

Defense attorney Robert Welsh Jr. insisted the 20-month discount wasn't enough of a break for McCord's help with the corruption investigation. He called the prosecution's request "stingy."

Welsh stressed that McCord agreed to help federal investigators the same day in November 2014 that FBI and IRS agents knocked on his door with the extortion evidence. Nor, he said, was McCord's testimony during the Ireland trial inconsistent with what he had told prosecutors. "He did not go south on Mr. Ireland," West argued.

Jones' sentence fell seven months below the 37- to 46-month prison term Consiglio sought. Even so, U.S. Attorney David Freed later called the penalty fair. He agreed with Jones that McCord's thirst to be governor "is what caused him to cross the line."

McCord was a picture of nervous energy as he waited for the hearing to begin. His smile masked his anxiety as he spoke with supporters and at times dictated their seating arrangements.

Several of the five character witnesses West called to testify wept, and nearly drove McCord to tears as they called him an inspiring leader with a sincere drive to help his fellow citizens. They included his brother, Jeffrey, a college professor. McCord, whose marriage "imploded" after his arrest, has been living with his brother in North Carolina, teaching yoga and working to become certified as a family and marriage counselor, West said.

West insisted McCord's motives were somehow pure even as he committed the extortion. "This is a man with public service in his DNA. He is driven to serve," he said. "He did what he did because he wanted to serve the public."

"I broke the law," McCord said when Jones gave him the chance to speak. A tremor could be heard in his voice. "That wasn't just illegal, it was wrong. I feel a horrible remorse about that."

"I was well-intentioned," he insisted. "I guess I'm a flawed man...I will spend the rest of my life trying to make amends."

"The public trusted him with billions of dollars," Consiglio countered, "and he bargained decisions away for his own personal benefit...He corrupted a watchdog agency."

Jones cited McCord's "precipitous fall from grace" as he prepared to levy a penalty he said was difficult to devise given the "paradox" of McCord's personality.

"I think you've been tortured every day since you were confronted by the FBI...This has been for you a personal nightmare," the judge said.

Jones imposed a $5,200 fine in addition to the prison sentence and ordered McCord to spend a year on probation after his release. He is to start his jail term on Oct. 29.WILLIAMSPORT - An Oklahoma man has been ordered detained because, during his arraignment on a weapons charge, a federal prosecutor alleged he was a threat to kill President Trump.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Geffrey MacArthur on Monday claimed Jeffrey R. Boyd, 55, told a woman in Berwick that voices were telling him to kill Trump, Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner.

The conversation occurred July 31, two days before the president spoke at a campaign rally in the Wilkes-Barre area.

Boyd was in U.S. Middle District Court on Monday for arraignment on a charge he illegally possessed a .45-caliber pistol because of a March emergency protection-from-abuse order against him in Oklahoma.

The weapon was found on him while he was sleeping in a car in a food store parking lot in Berwick, the prosecutor said.

MacArthur brought out the threat allegations when arguing for Boyd's detention pending trial. He also stated family members were concerned about his mental health and drinking.

Assistant Public Defender Elliot Smith argued those allegations were unrelated to the charge in the indictment and his client should be released. Boyd was unaware of Trump's Aug. 2 campaign appearance, he argued.

Boyd drove 22 hours straight from Tulsa to have lunch with a woman in Berwick he had met on Twitter, MacArthur said. She reported to local police what he said to her about hearing voices telling him to kill Trump, he said.

Besides the pistol he had with him, he has five more weapons in Oklahoma he had not surrendered after being served with the PFA, MacArthur said.

Magistrate Judge William I. Arbuckle III ordered detention, saying he was concerned about Boyd's delusions that the CIA wanted him to kill Trump.

He also expressed concern whether Boyd he would have the means to return to Pennsylvania for trial if he was released because he has been unemployed for two years.

Charges of terroristic threats in Columbia County against Boyd were withdrawn in favor of the federal prosecution.(CNN Money)  Google CEO Sundar Pichai has sought to reassure employees who are worried the company might compromise its values to get into China.

Pichai, at a town hall meeting on Thursday, said he's not rushing to launch a search product for China. The meeting was the first such event since media reports detailed Google's efforts to build a censored app for the country.

"We are not close to launching a search product in China," Pichai said, according to a source with knowledge of the conversation.

"And whether we would do so, or could do so is all very unclear," he said. "But the team has been in an exploration stage for quite a while now and I think they are exploring many options."

The discussion was part of a regular meeting that is open to all employees.

Reports surfaced earlier this month that Google was working on a search engine for China that would block sensitive websites and search terms to comply with Chinese government censorship.

The New York Times reported Thursday that around 1,400 employees have signed a letter questioning the plan and calling for more transparency.

"To make ethical choices, Googlers need to know what we're building. Right now we don't," reads a copy of the letter posted on the website of The Times.

Google declined to confirm the authenticity of the letter, or comment on the town hall meeting.

China has hundreds of millions of internet users and a thriving online shopping market, making it impossible for U.S. tech companies to ignore. But jumping back into China presents ethical issues for Google, which has long advocated a free and open internet.

RELATED: Google might return to China. Here's why that's so controversial

Popular Google services including search, YouTube and Gmail have been banned in China for years.

Google stopped offering search in China in 2010 following a political dispute between Beijing and Washington over hacking.

Prior to 2010, the company had operated a Chinese language version of its search engine. It complied with China's censorship rules, but alerted users to the fact that some search results were missing.

-- Kristie Lu Stout contributed to this article.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Google CEO to employees: We're 'not close' to launching search in China."Harrisburg artist Sean Matthews worked for nearly two years to design and create his exhibit titled, "Recycled Play," which features children's playthings transformed into conceptual art.

His main piece, called "Fair and Square," featured a life-sized swing set and required 60 hours of welding alone, to suspend two chains in mid-air simulating the scales of justice. The piece inspired by his own four daughters was insured for $5,000.

But ten minutes into the grand opening of the exhibit Aug. 17 at the Susquehanna Art Museum, a mother and daughter dismantled the piece in mere seconds.

The women walked under the swing set, grabbed the swings, and pulled them down, ruining the installation.

"I looked away for a moment and then, boom, it's down," said Alice Anne Schwab, the museum director. "The swings were swinging...We were just devastated. The visitors mistakenly assumed they were supposed to play on the swings that were suspended."

Schwab said she told the women they could not touch the art, but the women then strolled to the back of the museum, where they picked up an "hourglass" sand clock, which was part of a different sculpture, even though that exhibit also had a "no-touch" label on the wall.

Although museum officials posted labels and printed an informative guide that explained the meaning behind the exhibit, the women apparently didn't see the signs. And it's clear from video surveillance that the women didn't pick up the available guides.

The women reportedly told Schwab that they believed they were supposed to touch everything.

At least one national expert said he could see where the exhibit could be confusing to visitors. A combination of factors culminated in this accident, said Wayne LaBar, the executive director at Powerhouse Science Center in Durango, Colorado, who has 30 years of experience in exhibition design and development. He watched a 15-minute video that showed the women entering the museum, touching the sculptures, then leaving.

"The artist has used items in his work that are very suggestive of interaction in normal, everyday use," LaBar said. "So they're semi-enticing to go up and use. I'm not surprised this happened."

In addition, LaBar said, some of the pieces did encourage touching, including two small vending machines that gave unique wood and ceramic "prizes," in exchange for four quarters.

Overall, LaBar said, the exhibit was set up in the museum space in a way that seemed to encourage physical engagement.

"That message was being somewhat sent to visitors," he said. "That's some of the power of the art as well. But it's a double-edged sword."

To discourage touching, the museum should have used barriers or other undeniable signals, because "there is documented evidence that people don't read signs. Depending on signs would not be the thing to do," he said. "I didn't see any physical things that messaged to me that things are hands-off. If you see enough velvet ropes, you get the idea that you're not allowed in there."

There was one set of ropes restricting access to another of Matthew's pieces staged in the former bank vault at the museum. In at least two instances, someone climbed over the rope and rearranged items that were carefully arranged to create the "art," Matthews said.

Part of the problem with the mishaps were staffing levels, according to Matthews and Schwab. If someone from the museum had been paying more attention to the women at the swing set, they could have been stopped before the installation was ruined, Matthews said.

Scwhab noted the women arrived shortly after the exhibit opened at 5 p.m. for a Third in the Burg free event at the museum. The museum typically doesn't get busy until later, Schwab said, so two volunteers who normally would have been at the front of the museum to greet guests had not yet arrived.

"Had it been 15 minutes later, we would have been more proactive," she said. "It was a fluke moment where we didn't have anyone standing at the door."

Schwab was so stunned at the damage, because nothing like it had occurred at the museum before, she didn't even get the names of the women for possible restitution. They abruptly left after being scolded a second time.

After Matthews posted the video on his Facebook page, however, a woman reached out to him and said it was her and her daughter. She asked him to take the video down and said it was an accident.

PennLive could not reach the woman for comment or to confirm the age of her daughter, who appeared to be in her late teens or early 20s.

The installation could not be repaired back to its original state. When Matthews tried to reset the chains, one set snapped in half and the other set collapsed in sections back into individual chain links instead of the taut strands.

Matthews said he had to stand by his sculpture for the next three hours explaining to other guests who had come out to see his show how the installation was supposed to look.

Since the exhibit was still scheduled for display through Nov. 4, Matthews quickly repurposed the installation into a memorial, complete with a steel fence gate, a photo of the original sculpture, and an array of tiny stuffed animals.

Matthews is now waiting to hear whether the museum's insurance company will reimburse him for his partial loss of the original sculpture. Schwab said the insurance company was still investigating, as the situation "is a tricky matter ... they could look at this like it was just sets of chains purchased from Lowe's that were soldered or a piece of art that can't be put back together."

Schwab said better communication between her and Matthews prior to the exhibit opening could have helped. As it happened, she and the artist were trying to balance protecting the exhibit with public access to the installations and the artist's vision.

Matthews said he wanted people to be able to walk under the swing set, but "never in my wildest dreams did I think that two people would get on either side of it and yank down the swings simultaneously."

Even though his vending machine installations were interactive, Matthews said, the rest of the exhibit was not.

"If you had a station where people could paint a brush stroke on a canvas, that wouldn't mean they could walk through the rest of the museum painting on every single painting," he said.

Museum visitors should treat all items in a museum as if they are owned by someone else, because they are, LaBar said.

"How would you like it if a stranger was going into your house? How would you like them to react to your stuff? Would you want them to sit on everything and touch everything and start the toaster?" he said. "Instead, look for permission to do that."

The incident in Harrisburg was the latest in a series of art mishaps at museums, convention centers and national monuments across the world.

A family in Kansas got a bill for $132,000 in June after their 5-year-old son "hugged" a statue at a community center that collapsed onto him and broke. The family's insurance company paid the city for the damage.

Earlier this year, a visitor trying to snap a selfie at a Washington museum fell into a patch of glass pumpkin sculptures, breaking one of them.

Last year, an 800-year-old stone coffin in Britain was damaged after relatives put a child into it for a photo. When the child got out of the coffin, a piece of stone broke off. The family left without reporting the damage,

Two children in Shanghai last year touched an angel statue at a glass museum while their parents recorded video of the interaction. One child then pulled the sculpture away from the wall, breaking it.

A man fiddling with a rare sculptural clock mounted on the wall at the National Watch and Clock Museum in Lancaster

Increasingly, people have taken to desecrating art and national monuments due to a "degradation" in the idea that things are "hands-off," LaBar said.

"Everything seems more interactive in our lives and we're more likely to involve ourselves in everything and taking selfies and that whole side of the equation," he said. "It's just a change in the culture."

A change that museum directors should take close note of, he said.

"In general," he said, "museums probably need to be more conscious of sending consistent messages to visitors."

Editor's Note: This article was updated to include a reference to a mishap with a clock in Lancaster.A pregnant woman, a teen girl, and two others were forced to obey the man accused of robbing Sweet Frog last week, as he held up the frozen yogurt shop and forced them to help him get to the store's safe.

Police would later realize the man they sought had attacked and robbed others in the last few months and had been identified as involved with these similar crimes in recent weeks.

Troy Anson Schweiger, 20, went into Sweet Frog around 9:15 p.m. on Aug. 23, wearing gray sweatpants, a grey sweatshirt, and a mask, armed with a black assault style weapon with a removable magazine and no stock, police said in court records filed last week.

These records show the employees of the store, one of which was a pregnant woman, and two customers, one of which was a teen girl, were in the shop at the time of the robbery. The customers tried to hide in the back shortly after the robbery began

After Schweiger pointed the weapon at both cashiers and asked where the money was, Schweiger walked around the counter to the side where the employees stand, according to court records. However, he did not take money at that time.

Instead, police said Schweiger escorted the employees to the back where the safe is, then one employee had to bring them into the office, which is where the two customers were hiding.

Once in the room, Schweiger told one of the employees to open the safe, to which she said she could only open the bottom safe, police said. He pointed his weapon at her, and told her to open the drawer.

While the safe was being opened, Schweiger instructed the pregnant employee to retrieve the cash from the cash register at the front of the store before pulling a cash drawer from the safe out of the other employee's hands, police said. He placed it on the ground, then pointed his weapon at one of the customers that tried to hide and ordered him to put money from the safe into a reusable grocery style bag.

Schweiger then walked to the front of the store where the pregnant employee was getting the cash drawer, took the drawer from her, and walked it back to the office, police said. This time, Schweiger ordered the customer to hold the bag open while he poured the cash drawer's contents into it.

Schweiger took the bag and fled out a back door, to a vehicle that was parked on Robin Lane, police said. The vehicle then fled north, made a u-turn, then fled south on Robin Lane onto Meadowlark Lane and eventually out of sight of witnesses.

One of the witnesses was able to identify Schweiger from prior encounters, recognizing his voice, police said, and officers began to search for him.

Police found him around 9:30 a.m. Aug. 24, at a residence in the 100 block of West Caren Avenue, East Hanover Township, police said. He parked his vehicle and got out carrying a black duffle bag and black backpack.

When officers confronted Schweiger, he threw the bags inside the home, then shut and locked the door "as if to prevent police from seizing the bags," police said.

Schweiger was taken into custody, and police later recovered the bags. Police also found multiple cell phones on the nightstand next to a mattress on the floor just beyond the backpacks.

In the home, police, found the clothing worn during the robbery, $307 in cash with the clothing and a reusable bag within the duffle bag, police said. Inside the reusable bag, torn up coin sleeves that once held change from the Sweet Frog Sweet Frog were recovered.

Schweiger was charged with robbery, burglary, theft, criminal use of a communication facility, possession of an instrument of crime, loitering and prowling and conspiracy offenses.

The earlier offenses

The day after the incident, the investigating trooper on the Sweet Frog robbery filed additional charges against Schweiger, this time related to three May robberies that occurred at gas stations in two areas of Dauphin County and one in Lebanon County all on the same night.

Those incidents occurred overnight on May 23, 2018, at a Turkey Hill in West Hanover Township Dauphin County, Sheetz in Palmyra, Lebanon County, and another Sheetz in Halifax Township, Dauphin County, court records show.

The investigation into these robberies and other unrelated incidents led police to other suspects, one of which spoke with police on August 14, according to court documents.

That man, who is not currently criminally charged in connection with the incidents, identified Schweiger and another person as committing those robberies, according to court documents.

In those robberies, the suspect went up to the cashiers while wearing masks, threatened employees with a fake gun, and fled after varying levels of success, the man told police.

In the months following those robberies, Schweiger attacked one of the men involved, police said.

On July 27, the man arrived at the Grantville property Schweiger was detained from a month later to retrieve a black duffle bag, according to court documents. Inside the bag was $200 cash, the man told police.

The man is described by police as a young adult male with special needs, according to court documents. When the man knocked on the door, Schweiger opened the door, refused to give the man the duffle bag, then began punching him.

Police documented the man having a swollen, bruised lip while they were speaking with him.

Police arrived at the residence later in the day on July 27, to retrieve the stolen property, according to court documents. While there, they found more than a dozen pieces of drug paraphernalia, plus marijuana, in a shed on the property, police said.

Schweiger was arrested that day, charged with theft, simple assault and drug paraphernalia charges, according to online court documents. He was released after posting $10,000 bail.

The day after the Sweet Frog robbery, Schweiger was charged in connection with that and the other robberies from May, according to online court documents. Bail for both cases combined is $350,000. He has not posted bail in either case.

Preliminary hearings for the robberies are scheduled for Sept. 6. A preliminary hearing for the assault the theft is scheduled for Sept. 13.Due to today's heat and humidity, the West Shore School District will be dismissing its students early.

According to the district's website, secondary students will be dismissed at 11:45 a.m. and elementary school students will leave at 12:45 p.m.

Afternoon kindergarten is canceled today, and morning kindergarten students will stay in school and receive lunch before being dismissed at 12:45 p.m.

With a heat advisory in effect today and heat-index values as high as 101, West Shore is joining schools around the state in early dismissal.

Here, the Central Dauphin School District already announced students in the non-air-conditioned elementary school buildings are being dismissed at 11 a.m.

Philadelphia schools are dismissing at 1 p.m. today and Wednesday, CBS Philly reports.

And students in Reading will be dismissed early today, as well, the Reading Eagle reports.By James Downie

It seemed the news couldn't get more troubling for American Catholics, already inundated with new sexual abuse scandals ensnaring (in different ways) former Washington Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, his successor Donald Wuerl and hundreds of Pennsylvania priests.

James Downie (Washington Post photo)

Then, on Saturday, another hammer blow landed.

The Washington Post reports that "A former Vatican ambassador to the United States has alleged in an 11-page letter that Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis - among other top Catholic Church officials - had been aware of sexual misconduct allegations against former D.C. archbishop Cardinal Theodore McCarrick years before he resigned this summer."

It's the latest sign that the church likely needs nothing less than a complete overhaul of its hierarchy.

Let's be clear: The letter's author, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, is no fan of Francis.

Vigano "was recalled [by the Vatican] from his D.C. post in 2016 amid allegations that he'd become embroiled in the conservative American fight against same-sex marriage," and he has criticized Francis's papacy.

And there are many powerful conservatives in the church who would relish Francis's resignation given his emphasis on social justice issues and relative liberalism on issues like divorce.

But there is independent evidence to support the letter's allegation that then-Pope Benedict sanctioned McCarrick in 2009 or 2010 (years after the Vatican knew of allegations against McCarrick), only for Francis to lift those sanctions.

The National Catholic Register "has independently confirmed that the allegations against McCarrick were certainly known to Benedict, and the Pope Emeritus remembers instructing Cardinal [Tarcisio] Bertone to impose measures but cannot recall their exact nature."

And as Michael Brendan Dougherty points out, McCarrick's departure from Redemptoris Mater Seminary in 2009 or 2010 matches Vigano's timeline.

Francis has already struggled with the sexual abuse scandal, including foolishly defending a Chilean bishop who covered up a priest's crimes.

But now he has to deal with credible evidence that he re-elevated a man who should have been completely removed from leadership years, if not decades, ago. It is the biggest crisis of his papacy.

Like many Catholics, I have been largely impressed with Francis' papacy. His humility and compassion have reminded me of the good that the church and its believers do, even as the abuse scandals exposed the institution's rot.

That even Francis, like his predecessor, is now facing credible evidence of covering for an abuser shows just how deep the rot goes.

To recover, the church needs nothing less than an end to its culture of silence and non-transparency, which means a massive turnover in its top ranks. I do not know how that would take place; I suspect few do.

But just as a derelict house must be cleaned out before it can be restored, so the current church leadership must be gutted so the church itself can be saved.

James Downie is The Washington Post's Digital Opinions Editor. He previously wrote for The New Republic and Foreign Policy magazine.By Nick Field

For those unlucky souls whose task it is to write about politics for a living, there may not be a more beloved myth than the Straight Talk Express.

Nick Field (PennLive file)

Those blissful few weeks around the turn of the millenium when a long-shot presidential candidate invited a small group of reporters into his inner sanctum, caught fire and then actually won the 2000 GOP New Hampshire Primary were magical.

To most, John McCain will forever be defined by those weeks in New Hampshire and those years in Hanoi and that David Foster Wallace piece that connected them together.

This is not, however, what comes to mind when I think of McCain. Perhaps it's because I was too young to experience the McCain of those weeks and was instead shaped by what happened afterward. One largely forgotten moment in particular sticks out.

It's October 2008, and the Arizona Senator's already slim odds of defeating Barack Obama are falling fast. As a result, he seeks to sow doubt in the minds of Americans about the true nature and integrity of his opponent. "Who is the real Barack Obama?" he asks rhetorically.

One day a man yells "Terrorist!" in response, a sentiment fed by McCain's hand-selected running mate who's accused Obama of "palling around with terrorists."

This is perhaps the lowest act of Sarah Palin's noxious and nationalist traveling circus, a show later adopted by the consummate carnival barker Donald Trump.

The episode occurs a week before the one granted immortalization by pundits and historians, when McCain shuts down the conspiratorial ramblings of a wild-haired old woman.

This moment is different.

For as the cry of "Terrorist!" hit his ears, McCain visibly recoils not so much in disgust as shock. His bewildered face seems to say 'You actually believe this crap I'm peddling?'

That's when I realized that deep down he knew how ridiculous this all was, but his earnest desires and unconquerable demons spurred him on all the same. John McCain was a man who, like his country, was rife with contradictions.

His life was shaped by that brutal five-and-a-half year stint as a P.O.W. during the Vietnam War. During this period, he was cruelly tortured and spent two years in solitary confinement. He emerged steadfastly opposed to the use of torture and with a more hawkish view of foreign affairs.

The Navy captain did not learn from Lyndon B. Johnson's war of choice in Southeast Asia, choosing instead to enthusiastically support and advocate for George W. Bush's war of choice in Iraq.

Not only did he buy into the fantasy that American troops would be "welcomed as liberators," McCain staked his own campaign on a continuation and escalation of the conflict.

All this despite the fact that the man behind that war had already proven he was unworthy of McCain's trust and respect.

Not long after those mythical weeks in early 2000, the Bush team unleashed an infamous and vicious whisper campaign aimed at McCain's adopted Bangladeshi daughter. Anonymous robocalls and emails would identify her as his illegitimate black child in the runup to the South Carolina Primary.

Four years later, despite McCain's desperate efforts to brand himself as a maverick, he spurned the opportunity to join his old friend John Kerry and endorsed the man who'd cruelly smeared his family. Fittingly, his association with the then-toxic Bush irretrievably handicapped his 2008 effort.

After falling short of the White House, McCain could've chosen to live up to his vaunted maverick status.

The Obama administration desperately needed his help on instituting a cap-and-trade system for carbon emissions as well as passing comprehensive immigration reform.

Yet McCain opted to protect his right flank ahead of his 2010 GOP Senate primary. He went so far as to declare in one TV ad that the government needed to "complete the dang fence" on the border.

By choosing politics over patriotism, he caused untold damage to our environment and left immigration unsolved, maintaining an open wound that served as a central cause to our current Trump disease.

Speaking of the man who now unfortunately occupies the Oval Office, McCain was also hesitant to reject Trump lest he suffer any consequences in his bid for another Senate term. The famously temperamental Arizonan was practically serene when Trump callously asserted that he was only a war hero "because he was captured...I like people that weren't captured."

McCain didn't withdraw his support until after the Access Hollywood tape, and refused to cast his ballot for his old drinking pal Hillary Clinton. Then as the Trump Administration took power, McCain and the rest of his GOP colleagues did nothing as unprecedented conflicts of interests went unchecked.

Every now and then he'd send out an adversarial tweet that would rocket across the web, yet he took no real stands.

Of course that finally changed when the Senator saved the healthcare of millions with his dramatic delivery of a thumbs down to the effort to repeal Obamacare.

Even this welcome action, though, was more of a personal parting shot than a principled policy stand. By this time McCain's diagnosis was already grim, so he took this last opportunity to extend a different finger at Trump while he still had the chance.

In his final days McCain produced a book and documentary, a closing argument for his legacy.

He even finally publicly proclaimed what so many already suspected, that he regretted the Palin choice and lamented that he had not crossed party lines and picked his old pal Joe Lieberman.

So was the triumph and tragedy of John McCain.

He fought for campaign finance reform, after he was embarrassed in the Keating Five scandal. He waged a battle against torture, because he'd been a victim of those horrific acts.

He was a political maverick, he was a calculating politician.

He was comical and a champion of the press. He was bitter and lashed out at critics.

He was a genuine war hero. He fought to send soldiers to die for a mistake.

He was an ideal, he was a disappointment.

He wanted to be better than he actually was. Occasionally he got there, but for the most part he fell short. In that way, he was quintessentially American.

PennLive Opinion contributor Nick Field, of Bucks County, also contributes to WHYY-FM, City & State Pa., and The PhillyVoice. He is the former managing editor of PoliticsPA.By E. Fletcher McClellan

"Truth isn't truth" - or is it?

In defending President Trump's reluctance to submit to questioning by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Rudy Giuliani, one of President Trump's lawyers, appeared to say that all claims to truth are subjective.

E. Fletcher McClellan (PennLive file photo)

Regardless of how much evidence Mueller accumulates, Giuliani suggested, his account of Trump's involvement with Russia in the 2016 elections will be no more valid than Trump's version.

Intentional or not, Giuliani's declaration raises a serious question debated by scholars and essayists. Is "truth" - defined by Merriam-Webster as "the body of real things, events, facts: actuality" - dead?

In the Age of Trump, truth may not be dying, but it is on life support.

As recounted in The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump, by Michiko Kakutani, the former chief book critic for the New York Times, the president has conducted a full-scale assault on the notion that there are objective, verifiable facts.

Exaggerations, misrepresentations, cherry-picked evidence, unsupported assertions, false equivalencies, scapegoats, conspiracy theories, and bald-faced lies flow from the Trump administration as if it was a polluted river.

The Washington Post count of Trump's false or misleading claims since taking office is up to over 4000 or an average of 7.6 untruths a day. It is getting harder to keep up with his fabrications, as the rate has increased from 5.9 daily deceptions in 2017.

Easily-refuted claims, such as Trump's contention that record crowds attended his inauguration, are presented as "alternative facts."

Those who challenge presidential whoppers or, more generally, convey stories that are critical of the president are dismissed as carriers of "fake news."

Indeed, Trump purged the government of critics serving on scientific panels, the diplomatic corps, the intelligence community, the FBI and other elements of the "deep state."

The president declared members of the press to be "enemies of the people," countenancing threats against the media at his rallies.

And, of course, Trump has relentlessly attacked the Mueller probe as a "witch hunt," despite the fact that the investigation has thus far secured convictions of Trump's former national security advisor, campaign chairman, and personal attorney.

With the help of friendly media, wealthy donors and advocacy groups that benefit from his policies, and party loyalists, Trump has created an alternate reality for his base.

The strategy appears to be working. Trump has extraordinary support from Republicans, which has constrained leaders in his party from contradicting his bogus claims.

Kakutani points out that disregard for objective truth did not begin with Trump. Denial of climate science among conservatives, for instance, pre-dated the 2016 election.

Politicians of both parties spin and distort. Lyndon Johnson's handling of Vietnam produced a "credibility gap." The George W. Bush administration manufactured a case for war in Iraq.

Anti-intellectual movements in the US come in waves, argued the historian Richard Hofstadter. Writing in reaction to McCarthyism in the 1950s, Hofstadter found most movements were associated with racism, economic dislocation, religious zealotry, and/or fear of outsiders.

Kakutani observes similar causes for the current crisis of truth, noting how the Great Recession, increased diversity in the population, and the decline of trust in social institutions primed audiences for demagogic messages.

Repeal of the Fairness Doctrine and the kaleidoscopic media environment created markets for specialized programming, aimed mostly at the right. The Internet democratized opinion and diminished expert authority.

Interestingly, Kakutani calls out left-wing groups in the 1960s and 1970s who embraced the postmodernist movement in the arts and humanities.

Postmodernism asserted that objective reality was in fact a narrative constructed by powerful forces. This analysis appealed to Sixties radicals, who rejected establishment "truth" based on militarism, racism, misogyny, and corporate greed.

By the 1990s, it was Gingrich-led conservatives, joined later by the anti-Obama Tea Party and the alt-right, who applied postmodern rhetoric to smash the dominant narrative of liberal, multiculturalist progress.

Enabled by echo chamber media and social sorting, Red and Blue tribes today operate out of constructed realities, motivated more by hatred of the other than by inflated images of themselves.

Looking historically and around the world, it seems that the concept of truth lives a precarious existence, comatose or dead more often than alive.

Tactics used by Lenin, Hitler, and Mao to control language and meaning continue today, aided by new communications technology.

Governments and movements controlled by fundamentalist elements proclaim that truth comes only from God, as interpreted by religious authorities.

Right-wing popular movements in Western Europe conduct virulent attacks on liberal institutions, promoting a nationalist ideology based on racial and ethnic superiority.

The opportunist dictator Vladimir Putin exploits social divisions in the West through Internet-based sabotage and disinformation campaigns.

Several days after Giuliani's remark entered the meme hall-of-fame, a jury found Trump associate Paul Manafort guilty of tax and bank fraud. At least one juror who voted to convict was a strong Trump supporter.

Commentators hailed the revival of truth, as revealed through the legal process.

I'm not so sure.

Whether it is obtained through the law, the scientific method, journalistic practice, or the meditation of faith, truth rests upon popular and institutional support.

Without robust checks and balances and a vital civic culture, truth can be subverted by power, ideology, and self-preservation.

To put it plainly, truth is on the ballot this November.

PennLive Opinion contributor E. Fletcher McClellan is a political science professor at Elizabethtown College. His work appears biweekly.By Aja Beech

Back in June, I was lucky enough to attend the "Fill the Steps Against Gun Violence,' rally on at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Aja Beech (submitted photo)

The event was organized by Philadelphia school students, anti-gun violence activists, and the family members and friends of murder victims.

There, a young woman attending high school in Philadelphia spoke about how gun violence affected her life and what could be done to stop youth gun violence.

One thing she mentioned that could help was afterschool programs.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintains that the 3rd leading cause of death among youth ages 10 - 24 is homicide.

According to information collected by the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the State of Pennsylvania had over 1,200 firearm related injuries in 2014, and almost half of those were of individuals under 25 years old.

Information collected from 2010-2014, indicates that more than 96 percent of all suicides and homicides in Pennsylvania are firearms-related.

Nationally, The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention analysis shows that the late afternoon, between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., is when there are the highest incidents of violence among juveniles.

After school programs, and summer programs, for youth, also called out of school time or OST programs, can provide a safe and secure environment for youth where they can engage in academic endeavors, build social interaction skills, and explore career opportunities.

The Afterschool Alliance study, America After 3 p.m., shows that 85% of parents in Pennsylvania support public funding for afterschool, and that over 70% of parents not only find peace of mind with afterschool programming for their children, these programs help parents keep their jobs.

Parents are not alone in supporting this, youth want more out of school time programs as well.

Right now, 12 percent to 20 percent of students in grades K-12 are able to participate in a program after school in Pennsylvania. And as many as 18 percent of school-aged children are completely unsupervised between the hours of 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Half -- 50 percent -- of the youth in our state would participate in after school programming if given the chance.

Unfortunately, Pennsylvania does not budget to financially support out of school time programming.

Most programs piece together money through grants, either through state institutions or foundations, and private donations. That leaves very few spaces in programs for those that cannot afford them, and a wider variety of opportunities to those that have the ability to pay out of pocket. Some of those can cost hundreds of dollars each week per-child

Reducing violence and creating opportunities for youth are relatively easy improvements for communities. Many existing programs would jump at the chance to bring in more children and develop more programming, particularly for high school youth.

In Philadelphia, and across the state, there has been a focus on Pre-K and Early Childhood Education, which are very important to the educational development of every child. With so many youth experiencing violence during after school hours, programs for teenagers need the same attention and funding.

The national discussion over violence prevention heightens and subsides, like an ebb and flow, accompanying tragedy. We do not need to wait to have that conversation in Pennsylvania.

We can continue and expand that conversation to include out of school time opportunities and work on reducing violence against youth now. These opportunities are needed in every community in Pennsylvania, from Briar Creek to Reading, Lock Haven to Philadelphia.

Supporting out-of-school opportunities can not only save the lives of youth in Pennsylvania, it can make our communities better, and stronger, for everyone.

Aja Beech is the Arts Integrated Literacy and Family Engagement Coordinator for Sunrise of Philadelphia, a provider of out of school time opportunities for youth, and a member of Resilient Voices, a speakers bureau organized by the Office of the Victim Advocate of Pennsylvania.Gov. Tom Wolf is about to take his first official trip outside the U.S. mainland as Pennsylvania's chief executive.

On Wednesday afternoon, he is heading to Puerto Rico for a two-day trip to the U.S. territory to survey the remaining damage from last year's hurricane that devastated that island and to build partnerships between the state and Puerto Rico.

Wolf spokesman J.J. Abbott said the governor will pay for his own airfare and accommodations. He said Wolf has been asked on many occasions to visit the island but his scheduled and other commitments didn't allow for the visit until now.

READ MORE: Puerto Rico's governor says study puts last year's hurricane death toll near 3,000

In a statement about the trip, the governor's office noted other governors have made this same trip, some more than once.

Florida Governor Rick Scott and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo have visited the island five or more times. Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey and dozens of federal elected officials have also visited.

"Pennsylvania has many rich connections to Puerto Rico, including significant Puerto Rican populations living in the commonwealth and Pennsylvania resources that helped in the recovery efforts," the statement said. "More than 350,000 Puerto Ricans live in Pennsylvania and thousands more traveled to Pennsylvania while displaced by the hurricane."

A study released on Tuesday commissioned by the governor of Puerto Rico and conducted by researchers at George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health indicates last year's hurricane killed an estimated 2,975 people on the island.

While there, Wolf will meet with Puerto Rican elected officials and business and non-profit leaders to discuss economic and cultural engagement with Pennsylvania and learn about the recovery efforts. Wolf is scheduled to return on Friday morning.

Joining him on the trip will be Eric Gutshall, director of intergovernmental affairs, and Luz Colon, executive director of the Commission on Latino Affairs.

--

This post has been updated to include the governor's staff who will be traveling with him, an explanation on the timing of this trip, and the findings of a new study on the death toll from last year's hurricane that hit Puerto Rico.The school safety task force report to enhance the safety of Pennsylvania schools was on target in its call for more funding and recognition there is not a one-size-fits-all solution to keeping kids safe at school, according to the Pennsylvania School Boards Association CEO.

In a statement about the report released on Monday, Nathan Mains, who leads the organization representing the state's 4,500 elected school directors, said he values the many recommendations that the task force put forth for local school boards to consider in their ongoing school safety discussions.

"We are appreciative that the task force recognized that many of their recommendations will require additional resources for effective implementation," Mains said.

He offered two suggestions not included in the report that he would like state lawmakers to consider to address that need.

Mains is calling on them to include school safety as a component of state reimbursement for school construction projects and to allow school districts to increase property taxes above their state-set cap without going to voters for approval to pay for school safety improvements.

The 2018-19 state budget includes $60 million for school and community safety initiatives as well as $10 million for grants that can help schools pay for school resource or school police officers.

Mains commended the task force for recognizing the widely varying needs and resources of Pennsylvania's 500 school districts to keep students, staff and visitors safe.

"We trust that schools boards will take these recommendations and utilize them in the ongoing school safety discussions in their school districts," Mains said.

The report stressed the need to provide better access to mental health services for students as well as suggested such measures as having trained armed professionals in schools and making building enhancements as classroom door locks, surveillance cameras, and metal detectors to improve student safety.

It also suggested pursuing ways to allow for more information sharing about student discipline, health and education records between schools, law enforcement agencies, and social services.

Absent from it was a recommendation to allow school personnel to be armed, which state Auditor General Eugene Depasquale who helped lead the task force said was opposed by the majority of those who spoke to the task force.

A spokesman for Sen. Mike Regan, R-Cumberland County, who is helping to spearhead the Senate's school safety efforts, said both funding ideas that Mains suggested are already part of the discussion inside that chamber.

However, neither draws Senate Education Committee Chairman John Eichelberger's support.

During a phone interview on Tuesday, Eichelberger, R-Blair County, said the process in place for providing state reimbursement for school construction projects includes a requirement for a security review. He said he has learned that those reviews haven't been taken seriously or are given only cursory review by architects.

He also doesn't think it is wise to give school districts the unfettered ability to raise taxes in the name of school safety.

"Schools can do a lot of security enhancements in their building without spending any money," Eichelberger said. He suggested staffing changes as one way to accomplish that.

"We need to see what the costs are going to be before we would allow them without any accountability measures to say we need to spend money on school safety," the senator said. "That's not a good way to do business."

He said that's why he opposed legislation that was enacted in June that, in part, addressed school safety because it didn't require schools to have a vulnerability assessment performed before spending any money on security improvements.HARRISBURG -- Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Wagner on Monday criticized Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf for avoiding debates before the Nov. 6 election, saying Wolf wants to avoid questions about his education and tax policies in a second term.

He also warned that a second-term Wolf could go on to propose another multibillion-dollar tax increase with no notice.

"He's hoping he can run out the clock and not have to tell hardworking Pennsylvanians that he wants to deliver either funding cuts for 70 percent of their schools or raise their taxes by record numbers," Wagner told a Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon Monday. "The education governor doesn't want to let us know what he's for when it comes to education."

Wagner also suggested that Wolf, if re-elected, could pull a repeat of the multibillion-dollar tax increase plan he rolled out in 2015, in his first year as governor.

"Voters will be outraged. They'll say, 'but we didn't vote for that,'" Wagner said, while criticizing reporters for failing to press Wolf for details. "'We didn't know he was going to do that to us.'"

READ MORE: Wait? Are Tom Wolf and Scott Wagner both 'breaking decades of tradition?' | Thursday Morning Coffee

Wolf agreed to appear with Wagner at an Oct. 1 dinner sponsored by the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, but has apparently rejected at least a dozen debate invitations by TV stations, newspapers and others.

Meanwhile, Wagner insists Wolf wants to reshuffle some $6 billion in state aid to public schools that would result in funding cuts to 357 of Pennsylvania's 500 school districts and increases to 143 others, if it were to take effect this school year.

However, Wolf has called the claim absurd, while his campaign has pointed to Wagner's past criticism of public school spending and teachers, as well as Wagner's support for legislation that teachers' unions and school boards oppose because it could divert state aid to private or parochial schools.

Wagner now is proposing a $1 billion injection of cash into schools in his first year as governor, and pledging to do it without raising taxes. He says he can scrounge the necessary cash by ending ineffective tax credits and finding unspecified efficiencies in state government, a prospect a Wolf campaign spokeswoman called "a complete fantasy."

In a statement, Wolf's campaign said he would spend a second term "protecting the investments" from his first term, including increasing the number of children enrolled in prekindergarten, expanding career and technical education opportunities and science and math curriculum.

READ MORE: One debate? What's Gov. Wolf hiding from? | Charlie Gerow

In his first term, Wolf proposed billions of dollars in tax increases, a fraction of which the Republican-controlled Legislature ultimately approved, while he secured lawmakers' approval of roughly half of the $2 billion in new education money he initially had set out as a first-term goal.

In June, asked whether a second-term Wolf would need a budget-balancing tax increase, Wolf flatly said "no," although he has pledged to continue his pursuit of a tax on Pennsylvania's booming natural gas industry.

Such a tax, which Wagner opposes, is politically popular and, according to the state's Independent Fiscal Office, one that would largely be paid by out-of-state customers.Boyne City's season closes in tough Division 2 district draw

MANISTEE  There was no harder draw for the Boyne City volleyball team to pull for districts than what they received Monday in Manistee.Thomas Jefferson said, Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights. In...Heres what you need to know about Election Day in Berks CountyChristine Flowers: What does it even mean to be Catholic anymore?

This summer the legendary New York City Ballet dancer Edward Villella marked two full-circle moments. He returned to Miami for the first time since his controversial 2012 departure from Miami City Ballet, the company he founded, to coach members of Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami. This new troupe was founded by former MCB principals and Villella proteges Jennifer Kronenberg and Carlos Guerra in 2016. Villella worked with DDTM dancers on George Balanchines Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux and Tarantella, signature pieces during his performing career. While there, Villella announced that he would be coaching dancers at NYCB starting in Septemberhis first time returning to the troupe where he defined major ballets like Prodigal Son and Rubies, which the company performs this fall.



We spoke with Villella about keeping Balanchines legacy alive, his big news, and his post-Miami life back in New York, where he lives with his wife Linda.

What is it like to coach dancers led by dancers you worked with at MCB?

Its terribly reminiscent. History has its way of repeating itself. But you have to know history. Or else how do you go forward? You never stop thinking. You continue. Im not the same person now that I was then. So theres a little more that I might have to offer. This field doesnt sit still. We have to understand it, so that it progresses. The unfortunate part of our field is that people hear this word classical and all they think about is the 19th century. Classicism doesnt stop. Its a continuum. And you have to know the past to develop and to understand whats coming. Thats the beauty of it all. Balanchine said it in the simplest of manners: Ballet is a passing art form. You pass it body to body, but more importantly mind to mind.

Villella and classmates with Balanchine at SAB. Photo Courtesy Villella.

Whats rewarding and whats difficult about coaching dancers in Balanchine works now?



The rewarding part is the look in their eyes when they get it, when you pass something on to them thats a revelation.

I had a call from Alexei Ratmansky. He said, Im about to premiere my version of Harlequinade, and I know you did Balanchines, and I would love for you to come to rehearsals and work with me and some of the dancers. What he was after was not the technical part of it. And all I could see was technique, which is second nature and primary to them. Theres nothing wrong with that, so long as you understand who are you onstage.

Whatd you tell them?

Think of the character first, because the technique is with you forever. But you have to decipher who that character is and let the technique follow and support you.

Villella rehearsing DDTM founders Jennifer Kronenberg and Carlos Guerra in Don Quixote at MCB in 2006. Photo by Joe Gato, Courtesy Villella.

Dancers have incredible technique now.



Its the period of technique.

Are there other things that dancers today dont know?



Yesthey dont know who they are onstage! [laughs]. Technique and positions are not hard to provide. But the internal understanding of a role is not obvious. You have to be guided in this.

The first time I worked with Balanchine he was choreographing Square Dance. So Im looking, and Im like where do I get this from? Then I start to watch him, because in demonstrating a single gesture Balanchine gave you what he was interested in. He wasnt articulating and verbalizing them. He was physicalizing them. All I did was watch him. And every once in a while he said one or two words and I mixed those words with the visual. And it was perfect.

Villella and Patricia McBride in rehearsal with Balanchine in 1960. Photo by PhotoFest New York City, Courtesy Villella.

Tell me how you got invited to coach at NYCB, and what you think about it.



I was asked to teach a couple classes at School of American Ballet. Jon Stafford [one of the four interim artistic directors of NYCB] came to watch my class, and I had the pleasure of having lunch with him, and he asked specifically about coaching Prodigal and Rubies. I start on September 2nd with Patricia McBride on Rubies. They havent asked me for a specific time for Prodigal but weve been mentioning it back and forth.



For years Ive been contacted by dancers there asking if I would coach them. And Id say, Id be happy to do it but unless I have permission from your artistic director I would be interfering. Ask Peter [Martins] if its okay and if its okay Ill be there tomorrow. But that was something Peter was uncomfortable with. My generation has never been asked to contribute to the New York City Ballet. And we originated so many of these roles.

Now there are four dancers in charge. You can imagine the responsibility that was thrown at them. They never knew Balanchine, they dont know what he was like, what he was about, how in one or two words he gave you a concise understanding of an entire role. They just made a logical conclusion to get the people who were originals in so many of those ballets while were still here. There aint that many of us left. How people could not think about that as a way to operate is a little beyond me. And its not just meI think theyre asking a number of people

Are you excited to work in the Koch Theater again?

Its a familiar feeling that Im looking forward to. Its nostalgic, its romantic, its all those things.

Villella in Prodigal Son in 1960. Photo by PhotoFest New York City, Courtesy Villella.

How do you feel about the six years since you left MCB?



First of all Im thrilled to be back in New York. I grew up there. I had my whole career there. Everyone in New York is very familiar with me. I thought, when I got back, who the hell is going to remember me? And maybe the third day, we were going to a pharmacy, and someone from across the aisle said, Hey Eddie, welcome back to New York, boy did we miss you!

Im back in my hometown where they understand the level of my art form. I love the idea that Im not directed by a board. I will never work for a board again.

Ive had the opportunity to travel and continue doing what I do. I stay in touch with the field. The other thing is for the first time I have the whole family around me. So in my own way I have it all. My fantasy was to finish in New York in a brownstone. So how happy can I be?294 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

By Sarah N. Lynch and Kristina Cooke

WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters)  U.S. authorities are transferring into federal prisons about 1,600 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainees, officials told Reuters on Thursday, in the first large-scale use of federal prisons to hold detainees amid a Trump administration crackdown on people entering the country illegally.

An ICE spokeswoman told Reuters five federal prisons will temporarily take in detainees awaiting civil immigration court hearings, including potential asylum seekers, with one prison in Victorville, California, preparing to house 1,000 people.

President Donald Trump has made his hard-line stance on immigration an integral part of his presidency and has promised to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border to stem the flow of migrants. He has also promised to keep immigrants targeted for deportation locked up pending the outcome of their removal proceedings.

Under former President Barack Obama, many immigrants without serious criminal records were allowed to await their court dates while living in the United States. Others were housed in immigration detention facilities or local jails. ICE has used federal prisons in the past but not on this scale, sources said.

The new policy drew criticism from immigration advocates and former officials.

Kevin Landy, a former ICE assistant director responsible for the Office of Detention Policy and Planning under the Obama administration, said the move to house so many detainees at once in federal prisons was highly unusual and raises oversight concerns.

A large percent of ICE detainees have no criminal record and are more vulnerable in a prison setting  security staff and administrators at BOP facilities have spent their careers dealing with hardened criminals serving long sentences for serious felonies, and the procedures and staff training reflect that, he said. This sudden mass transfer could result in some serious problems.

Officials of a prison employees union said the influx of ICE detainees, who were arrested at the border or elsewhere in the United States by immigration officials, raises questions about prison staffing and safety.

Union leaders at prisons in California, Texas and Washington state who spoke to Reuters said they had little time to prepare for the large intake of detainees.

At Victorville, the prison getting the largest number of people, workers are moving about 500 inmates in a medium-security facility to make space, said John Kostelnik, local president for the American Federation of Government Employees Council of Prison Locals union.

There is so much movement going on, said Kostelnik. Everyone is running around like a chicken without their head.

In addition to Victorville, other prisons that have received or will receive detainees include ones in Washington state, Oregon, Arizona and Texas.

ICE spokeswoman Dani Bennett said ICE is working to meet the demand for additional immigration detention space due to a surge in illegal border crossings and a U.S. Department of Justice zero-tolerance policy.

To meet this need, ICE is collaborating with the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), private detention facility operators and local government agencies, she said in a statement to Reuters.

In April 2018, nearly 51,000 people were apprehended at or near the southern border, up from about 16,000 in the same month a year earlier.

A new agreement between ICE and the Justice Department makes about 1,600 prison beds available and is expected to last 120 days, giving ICE time to secure more space for detainees. It comes amid a crackdown by Attorney General Jeff Sessions on both illegal border crossings and people seeking asylum.

Recently, Sessions said the Justice Department planned to prosecute every person who crosses the border illegally and to separate migrant children from their parents.

Trump in the spring signed a memorandum ending catch and release, in which illegal immigrants were released from detention while awaiting court hearings.

According to ICE data, the average daily population of detainees in its facilities as of May 26 was 41,134, up from the 2017 daily average of 38,106.

Immigration advocates immediately decried the news of sending detainees to federal penitentiaries.

Our federal prisons are set up to detain the worst of the worst. They should not be used for immigration purposes, said Ali Noorani, the executive director of the National Immigration Forum.

Federal prisons are for hardened criminals. They are not physically set up for immigrant landscapers looking for a job or fleeing violence, Noorani said.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch in Washington and Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Lisa Shumaker)WASHINGTON (Reuters)  The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday threw out part of a lower court ruling that had invalidated a series of state legislative districts drawn by Republicans in North Carolina for failing to resolve claims that the lawmakers intended to diminish the clout of black voters.

A panel of three federal judges in January tossed out nine state legislative districts, two in the state Senate and seven in the state House of Representatives. But the Supreme Court faulted the lower court for throwing out five of the state House districts while upholding the decision to throw out the two other House districts and the two state Senate districts.

The unsigned decision was in line with the Supreme Courts decision in February to partially block the lower court decision from going into effect, meaning the ruling does not change the status quo.

(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham)3.9k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, dropped one damning stat on Monday to show how Republicans are covering up Donald Trumps crimes.

According to the Democratic congressman, Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy  the chairman of the House Oversight Committee  hasnt issued a single subpoena to investigate any of the many credible allegations of incompetence and criminal corruption during the Trump administration. Zero.

They have just been utterly unwilling to do their jobs, Rep. Schiff said. Its really quite breathtaking.

Video:

The exchange between Rep. Schiff and Chris Hayes:

SCHIFF: There are a great many serious allegations of impropriety (on the part of the president). And Chris, all you need to know about the current GOP congresss unwillingness, complete abdication of any oversight responsibility, you can tell from a single statistic. And that is the chairman of the government oversight and reform committee, Trey Gowdy, who brought us the endless Benghazi investigations, hasnt issued a single subpoena during the Trump administration to investigate any allegations of incompetence or corruption within the Trump administration. They have just been utterly unwilling to do their jobs. HAYES: He really hasnt issued one? SCHIFF: Not one that Im aware of, no. Its really quite breathtaking. But it is a sign, and we certainly see it on the intelligence committee, where the only subpoenas they seemed intent on issuing were to investigate the investigators.

Democrats plan to do the job Republicans have failed to do

Republican refusal to investigate anything having to do with Trumps corruption has become increasingly noticeable in recent weeks, particularly as Trump and his family become implicated in more crimes.

Last week, the presidents personal attorney literally stood in a court of law and admitted that he committed a federal crime at the direction of Donald Trump.

Fortunately, if Democrats retake the House of Representatives in November, they plan to act as a check on the executive branch  especially one as corrupt as Trumps.

As PoliticusUSAs Jason Easley noted on Sunday, Democrats are expected to investigate more than 100 areas related to Trumps corruption, including his tax returns, his family businesses and his dealings with Russia.

For over a year and a half, the GOP has actively worked to prevent serious investigations. Theyve done nothing but provide cover for Trump. The American people appear eager to change that in November.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook.5.5k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

If youre wondering which direction the Republican Party is headed in the post-John McCain era, a GOP senator from Oklahoma gave us a hint on Monday.

Responding to the controversy over Donald Trump keeping the White House flag at full staff less than 48 hours after John McCains death, Republican Sen. James Inhofe blamed the late Arizona senator.

Well, you know, frankly, I think that John McCain is partially to blame for that because he is very outspoken, Inhofe said, according to CNN. He disagreed with the President in certain areas and wasnt too courteous about it.

Thats right: Disagreeing with some of the presidents politics means its okay to smear the record of an American war hero.

The Republican senators disturbing defense of Trumps lack of respect toward McCain shows just how far off the deep end the Republican Party has gone in the Trump era.

Trump and Republicans are disrespecting a war hero

Since early in his presidential campaign, Donald Trump  a five-time draft dodger  has spit on the heroic service John McCain has given this country.

When asked about McCains Vietnam record in 2015, Trump said the Arizona senator isnt a war hero because he was captured.

I like people who werent captured, Trump said at the time.

Even after McCains brain cancer diagnosis, the petty president hasnt held back. He frequently mocked McCain for his vote to save Obamacare and refused to mention his name earlier this month when he was signing a defense bill named after the Arizona senator.

Over the past 48 hours, Trumps behavior has become even more despicable as he refused to release an official statement praising McCains service and he broke precedent by raising the White House flag to full staff less than 48 hours after McCains passing.

If Inhofes statement is any indication, the GOP is A-okay with this behavior from the commander-in-chief.

In 2018, the Republican Party is more concerned about staying on the good side of a man-child president than they are about honoring the life of an American war hero.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook.3.1k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Stormy Daniels lawyer Michael Avenatti isnt waiting for special counsel Robert Mueller to force Donald Trump to answer questions under oath. Now that the Michael Cohen investigation is essentially over following his stunning guilty pleas, Avenatti plans to force the president to answer questions as soon as possible.

In an interview with MSNBCs Ari Melber, the attorney said that his team has a hearing scheduled on Sept. 10 to ask the court to rule on whether Trump and Cohen will be forced to sit down for a deposition.

Were going to ask that the stay be lifted and the court rule immediately on our application to depose Michael Cohen and Donald Trump forthwith, Avenatti said.

Video:

Avenatti said:

Weve had an application on file with the court since April to take those depositions. The court has delayed ruling on the application because Michael Cohen and his counsel and Donald Trump asked for the stay in the case, basically for the case to be paused pending the criminal investigation. Well, as your viewers all know, the investigation ended last week, at least as it relates to Michael Cohen. He pled guilty to eight counts, one count going directly to the allegations is in our complaint. We have a hearing now on September 10th. Were going to ask that the stay be lifted and the court rule immediately on our application to depose Michael Cohen and Donald Trump forthwith.

Mueller isnt the only one that could force Trump under oath

For months, Donald Trumps legal team  led by the bumbling Rudy Giuliani  has been dodging an interview with Robert Mueller. They have pretended to be interested in a sit-down, but nobody who knows Trump believes he would ever survive such an interview.

While their efforts to avoid an interview with Mueller appear to have been successful so far, Avenatti is now taking matters into his own hands. Without a single move from the special counsel, Trump could still be forced to go under oath.

After all, Michael Cohen has already gone under oath in a court of law, claiming that Trump directed him to commit a federal crime. Trump has since blasted his former lawyer for those claims, but none of his panicked ramblings have been under oath.

If Michael Avenatti gets his way, the whole ballgame would change. The president would no longer be allowed to spew lies on Twitter without being held accountable. Instead, Trump would be left with two options: Either commit perjury or admit that he participated in a federal crime.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook.2.7k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

On MSNBCs Deadline: White House, host Nicolle Wallace said that unlike George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Trump was never a political rival to John McCain. Trump was just a troll.

Video:

Wallace said, Its telling that John McCain chose two of his former political rivals to eulogize him. George W. Bush with whom he duked it out in the GOP primary in 2000 and Barack Obama who he faced in the 2008 presidential campaign. McCains choice creates a contrast so stark it takes ones breath away. Donald Trump was never even a political rival of McCains. Trump simply trolled the one-time prisoner of war claiming he didnt like P.O.W.S who didnt get captured.

Trump has never risen to the level of a respected statesman. McCain was a respected statesman. George W. Bush, even through his bungled second term in office was still treated with the respect of the office. Obama was a statesman as a Senator and a President. Donald Trump has never been and never could have been a rival to John McCain. McCains rivals were serious people with whom he had disagreements and mutual respect.

Donald Trump hates John McCain because McCain was everything that Trump will never be.

Trump is a troll, and trolls dont get invited to the funerals of American heroes.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook.16.4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Democratic Rep. Beto ORourke continued to surge in the Texas Senate race on Monday with a new poll showing the race a statistical tie.

According to Emerson Polling, 38 percent of Texas voters support Sen. Ted Cruz and 37 percent plan to cast their ballot for ORourke.

Driving the Democrats surge is his strong support among independent voters, who back ORourke by a stunning 20 percentage points. Its also hurting Cruz that his favorable rating is under water.

More from Emerson:

The disparities in popularity and in the two elections appear to be driven by Independent voters. Ted Cruz has a 57% unfavorable rating among independents and a 25% favorable rating, conversely, Abbott, the other Republicans has a 41% unfavorable and 37% favorable rating among independents. These numbers play out in the ballot test where ORourke leads Cruz 45% to 25% among independents, while Abbott leads Valdez 38% to 27% among independents. Adding to Cruzs problem is that he faces a popular opponent, Beto ORourke has a 37% favorable and 25% unfavorable, 27% were neutral, while 11% had not heard of him.

Also adding to Cruzs woes are his poor numbers among voters below the age of 55. According to the survey, Among 18-34 year olds, ORourke leads by 19 points (47% to 28%); among 35-54 he leads by 8 points (45% to 37%).

This is good for ORourkes candidacy now, but it will also bode well for future Democratic candidates in Texas as Republican voters in the state appear to be aging out, while younger generations are trending blue.

Beto ORourke could be the future of the Democratic Party

Beto ORourkes momentum continues pushing him toward a stunning upset in Texas. Another recent poll showed him within four points of Ted Cruz, with the gap continuing to close as the election approaches.

The Democratic challenger has already shown that he is a skillful and likable politician with wide appeal, even if he falls short in the deep-red Lone Star State. But if he is able to pull off a victory in November, he will become an instant leader in the Democratic Party. After all, a Democratic candidate that can win a statewide race in Texas is worth paying attention to.

Win or lose in Texas, the fact that Democrats are competing this closely should be of great concern to the Republican Party.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook.Before talks broke down, Paul Manafort was trying to cut a plea deal with Robert Mueller, in a sign that the rumblings about a pardon coming from the White House werent good enough for Trumps former campaign chairman.

The Wall Street Journal reported:

Paul Manaforts defense team held talks with prosecutors to resolve a second set of charges against the former Trump campaign chairman before he was convicted last week, but they didnt reach a deal, and the two sides are now moving closer to a second trial next month, according to people familiar with the matter.

.

Paul Manaforts defense team held talks with prosecutors to resolve a second set of charges against the former Trump campaign chairman before he was convicted last week, but they didnt reach a deal, and the two sides are now moving closer to a second trial next month, according to people familiar with the matter.

A plea deal is not the same as a cooperation agreement, and one suspects that the issues that might have held up a potential deal involved the level of cooperation that Mueller wanted from Manafort on elements of the Russia investigation.

Paul Manafort is looking at 80 years in jail. Donald Trump could be impeached for abusing his presidential pardon power if he pardons Manafort, so the idea that Trump is going to make all of his former campaign chairmans problems go away has always been more than a little dicey.

Trump looks out for only Trump, so if he doesnt think that he can get away with pardoning Manafort, a pardon is not coming.

Paul Manafort might be cracking, and if he decides to cooperate, it could mean the damn fully breaking on the Russia scandal and Donald Trump being swept out of the White House.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook.819 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

The family of murdered Iowa college girl Mollie Tibbetts has asked politicians and the media to stop using her killing to push a racist, false narrative about immigration.

Mollie Tibbetts cousin: Stop using her death to push racist, false narrative on immigration.

Mollie Tibbetts cousin: Stop using her death to push "racist, false narrative" on immigration https://t.co/KSpx99JmVg pic.twitter.com/bwTwdegfNw  The Hill (@thehill) August 28, 2018

No, no and no, Mollies cousin, Sandi Tibbetts Murphy, posted on Facebook Friday. Especially for those of you who did not know her in life, you do not get to usurp Mollie and her legacy for your racist, false narrative now that she is no longer with us. We hereby reclaim our Mollie.

After Tibbettss body was discovered last week it didnt take long for authorities to name a suspect: an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who had been living and working in Iowa for four years. As a result, her death has become a hot topic on the campaign trail, especially those who want to use the killing to promote their own anti-immigrant political agenda.

Apparently the 24-year-old suspect police arrested, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, is a Mexican national who was in the country illegally. And now many Republicans, from President Trump on down, are using Mollies death to advocate for harsher immigration laws.

But Tibbetts family members dont agree with this approach. During the eulogy at her funeral, Mollies father, Rob Tibbetts, spoke about his positive feelings for the local Hispanic community.

The Hispanic community are Iowans. They have the same values as Iowans, he said, according to the Des Moines Register. As far as Im concerned, theyre Iowans with better food.

The line drew applause from the crowd of more than 1,000 at the funeral. Tibbetts also said that during the six weeks he spent in Iowa helping with the search for his daughter, he ate at many Mexican restaurants.

Tibbetts comments greatly contrast with the intense political debate about immigration that arose after Mollies death. Substantial amounts of research has shown that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born citizens.

Last week, Tibbetts aunt, Billie Jo Calderwood, released a statement that asked people to remember that Evil comes in EVERY color.

Rob Tibbetts, meanwhile, asked mourners to celebrate his daughter.

Today, we need to turn the page. Were at the end of a long ordeal, he said. But we need to turn toward life  Mollies life  because Mollies nobodys victim. Mollies my hero.984 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

While both the Obama and Bush administrations failed to successfully address the Russian intelligence based attacks due to a focus after 9/11 on terrorism, President Obama took a huge step when he called Russian President Putin on the Red Phone and said any interference in the election would be seen as armed conflict, MSNBC analyst, author of How to Catch a Russian Spy and former double agent Naveed Jamali told Sarah Jones of PoliticusUSA in an exclusive interview.

Listen here:

Threatening armed conflict was the only way to stop Russia, and Obama did this. Faced with such a threat, Jamali says Russia would not want to risk the consequences by interfering in our election by changing votes.

International law, including the law for armed conflict, applies to actions in cyberspace, was part of the message Obama said to Putin over the Red Phone on Oct. 31, 2016, according to a senior official at the time. We will hold Russia to those standards.

Pointing out that we dont know exactly what Obama said but the readout included the term grave and that he called them on the Red Phone  a pretty serious thing, Jamali said.

It was a very clear message to the Russians and I think they listened. I really do. I think they wouldnt be crazy not to. And people forget that President Obama was still in office until January 20th, so its not like Trump won the election and Obama left the next day.

So the Russians knew that he was going to be looking at things. A lame duck president is always a dangerous time. But I do believe that if President Obama had detected that the Russians had done something, there would have been a very serious consequence. I dont think he would have just sat back and done nothing.

So again, think of it as from a Russian perspective. President Obama calls Vladimir Putin and said, if you do this, were going to, we could, we make it as an act of war, right? If Russia wants that, theyre not going to do some piddly thing like messing with our election. Thats the least of their concerns. Theyve got nuclear weapons if they want to go to war with us.

President Obama threatening them is the bigger deal, with the bigger impact, Jamali said.

So thats another reason to trust that the Russians did not change votes or attack our election systems in a way that would have invited armed conflict.

The reality is that President Obama threatening Russia directly, these are things that actually have a much better impact.

The Red Phone is used in grave moments of crisis, like 9/11. The mere use of it by a President as careful and prepared as Obama conveys a seriousness. Obama had not used the phone before, officials told NBC News at the time.

Jamali, who has insider knowledge regarding the psychological motivators of Vladimir Putin, explained that the Russians have felt humiliated since the fall of the Soviet Union, and desperately want to be a super power. Their goal is to make us question our elections, not actually invite war. If they wanted war, theyve got nuclear weapons.

All they have to do on election night is get us to question our results, and this fuels their success. This is a much better bet for them than risking serious repercussions of attacking us directly and engaging in armed conflict.

The problem is Vladimir Putin.

In order for Russia to be a superpower, they have to confront the United States, they have to do all these things so that they can be treated with respect and fear. Thats his (Putins) ideology. And as long as hes in power, that ideology is not going to change. So thats the problem, Jamali said.

The Russians attacked our election to instill fear in us, like a playground bully. Our weakness is that a priority was not placed on counterintelligence, on the Russian threat writ large.

When Republicans try to blame Obama for allowing Donald Trump to conspire with Russia, its a desperate ploy to distract from the fact that trump and his campaign took the Kremlin bait of offered dirt on Hillary Clinton. This is no ones fault but their own.1.6k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Yesterday a three-judge federal panel ruled that Republican-drawn congressional districts in North Carolina have been gerrymandered in such a way that they violate the United States Constitution. The panel held that the districts were established by the GOP legislature for the purpose of favoring Republicans over Democrats, which is not a valid reason for delineating congressional districts.

WE WIN! Three-judge federal court  in light of the #SCOTUS decision in Gill  again strikes down North Carolina's Congressional map as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. https://t.co/bi6ngEf4AE pic.twitter.com/dZbxQsp4K7  Steve Spaulding (@SteveESpaulding) August 27, 2018

The panel of judges also said that it may require North Carolina to come up with entirely new districts before the November elections. If that were to occur it could conceivably affect control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

In fact, if allowed to stand by the Supreme Court, yesterdays decision could flip the House from red to blue, and allow Democrats to take control.

The three judges, in making their ruling, did say that they recognize the difficulty of the situation since primary elections have already occurred in the state. Thus each partys candidates for the 2018 elections have already been selected. But the judges also said that they did not want to let voting take place in existing congressional districts because courts have twice have ruled that they violate constitutional standards.

North Carolina legislators are expected to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in the situation. The Supreme Court historically has not approved of actions by courts that take place so close to election days.

An interesting wrinkle is that because the Supreme Court has just eight members currently a tie vote will leave the lower courts decision in place. This means that five of the current eight justices would have to rule against the three-judge panels finding, and that is unlikely.

Senate hearings on President Trumps nominee to fill the open seat vacated by Anthony Kennedy with Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh will begin on September 4th.

The North Carolina gerrymandering case has been an extended saga involving several court challenges over the past few years. In 2016 a federal court struck down the legislatures 2011 map as a racially-motivated gerrymander. After that, the North Carolina legislature passed a redistricting plan that left essentially the same districts in place but said their motivations were politics, not race.

The U.S. Supreme Court then told the federal court to take another look at the North Carolina case after the high courts June decision in a Wisconsin partisan gerrymandering case, where it was held that those who brought that case did not have legal standing.

But Judge James A. Wynn Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, writing Monday for a special three-judge district court panel, said plaintiffs did have standing under the decision in Wisconsins Gill v. Whitford. He said this confirmed the judges views that the congressional districts were drawn with invalid political goals.

He said the court did not want to give the North Carolina legislature another chance to re-draw the congressional districts.

We continue to lament that North Carolina voters now have been deprived of a constitutional congressional districting plan  and, therefore, constitutional representation in Congress  for six years and three election cycles, Wynn wrote. To the extent allowing the General Assembly another opportunity to draw a remedial plan would further delay electing representatives under a constitutional districting plan, that delay weighs heavily against giving the General Assembly another such opportunity.

Wynn came up with several novel ideas, such as appointing a special master to draw new districts, holding general elections without party primaries or even turning the November elections into a primary and holding the general election sometime before the new Congress convenes in January.2.6k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Proving once again that he is a worthy member of Donald Trumps family of crime, Jared Kushner has been fined $210,000 by state regulators in New York City. The regulators imposed the hefty fine on Jared Kushners family real estate company on Monday after a lengthy investigation. The fine is due to the company filing 42 false applications for construction work on multiple buildings while Jared Kushner ran the business.

New York City regulators fine Kushner Cos. $210,000 for false documents https://t.co/4dr9WBpy0G  Bloomberg (@business) August 28, 2018

The report showed that by filing false paperwork the Kushners were able to avoid extra scrutiny which would have stopped them from using construction to make living conditions unbearable for low-paying, rent-regulated tenants.

The Kushner Cos. said it relied on third party consultants to prepare its applications for construction permits and the errors have been corrected or will be.

In no case did the company act in disregard of the safety of our tenants, said spokeswoman Christine Taylor. We look forward to presenting the facts before an administrative law judge and until then no amount is due.

The New York regulatory action came after an AP investigation several months ago which discovered that Kushners real estate company routinely falsified legally-required documents by claiming that it had no rent-regulated tenants in its buildings, despite having hundreds of such tenants.

The fraudulent filings were part of a strategy by Kushners company to force out tenants paying lower rents so he could convert the buildings into either higher-paying luxury apartments or lucrative condominiums.

The citys investigation uncovered the fact that Kushners company greatly increased rents on tenants in order to attempt to force them out of rent-stabilized apartments. New Yorks Tenant Protection Unit launched an investigation into the Kushner Company following the AP probe.

In three Kushner buildings in Queens where false construction applications were filed, tenants said they thought the excessive construction noise, dust and leaking water were all part of a focused campaign to get them to leave their inexpensive apartments.

Many of the tenants were forced to do just that, and and this cleared the way for higher paying renters which made the buildings much more valuable. Kushner then sold the Queens buildings in 2017 for $60 million, nearly 50 percent more than he had paid for them two years earlier.23.2k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Trump biographer Michael DAntonio told CNN on Tuesday that Vice President Mike Pence believes he is on a mission from God  to become president. Also, since God wants him to be president, he believes that President Trumps many scandals will be his ticket to the Oval Office.

Pence thinks God wants him to be president  and Trumps scandals are how hell get there: Trump biographer

Pence thinks God wants him to be president  and Trumps scandals are how hell get there: Trump biographer https://t.co/2xX0HGkFWq #p2 #ctl pic.twitter.com/Ee6RFMNyCN  #VoteBlue  (@ZaibatsuNews) August 28, 2018

DAntonio claimed that Pence is preparing himself to take over as president should Trumps scandals cause him to leave office.

DAntonio said:

Absolutely everything Mike Pence does is oriented toward him becoming president. His decision to accept Donald Trumps offer to be his running mate  it even goes back much further. By the time he had left high school, he had decided that he was going to be president of the United States He thought God was calling him to, now, be vice president and function as a president-in-waiting.

DAntonio then spoke of the various Trump scandals, which came to the forefront last week with the criminal conviction of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and the eight guilty pleas of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, two of which implicated the president directly.

We see Donald Trump in this huge crisis, this rolling chaos, DAntonio said. And I think, with every day, Mike Pence imagines hes one day closer to the Oval Office.

CNN host John Berman asked DAntonio if he thinks that the vice president is scheming and manipulating in order to get to the Oval Office at Trumps expense.

Oh, I think yes, he replied. I think hes positioning himself to be the normal guy  the guy you can trust.

DAntonio gave the CNN interview promoting his new book  The Shadow President: The Truth About Mike Pence he wrote with Peter Eisner.

In the book the authors write that the vice presidents steady rise in politics through the years has been carefully calculated.

They contrast Pences career with that of Donald Trump, and also compare the different ways they use mass media.

For example, Pence used to have a radio show in Indiana and jokingly says that he is Rush Limbaugh on decaf.

The book calls Pence a replacement president, in that he often has gone to events instead of the president, such as his trips this year to Israel and South Korea where he presided over historically important events.

Because of the vice presidents strong political connections to the religious right and his pull with powerful Christian and right-wing fundraising groups, DAntonio and Eisner call Pence a shadow president.

As to whether or not God wants to make Mike Pence president, that remains to be seen.On August 27, the official Twitter account of the Russian Embassy in South Africa tweeted a photo of what appears to be actors on a film set. This image accompanied a claim that English-speaking foreign specialists had arrived in Syria to stage a chlorine chemical attack in Hama province.

The photo does indeed show a film set, but not foreign specialists. In fact, the photo is of the set of Revolution Man, a film produced by Syrian state media.

The films plot involves a journalist who goes to Syria to take award-winning photos, but, having failed to do so, resorts to staging a chemical attack. In other words, it is a propaganda film which makes the same allegations that the Syrian government and its Russian allies have made after numerous real chemical attacks.

Russias government and state media have repeatedly claimed that Syrian rebels, or rescue workers from the White Helmets group, stage chemical attacks to frame the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. While they have yet to provide any evidence for these claims, United Nations investigations have confirmed that the Assad regime used chemical weapons in more than two dozen cases. In October 2017, Russia used its vote on the U.N. Security Council to veto a resolution that would have extended the mandate of the Joint Investigative Mechanism between the U.N. and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The vote took place shortly before the release of a report on the chemical attack in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun, where more than 80 men, women, and children were killed.

Chlorine has been used in multiple attacks in Syria, a recent one taking place in the town of Douma this past April. Polygraph.info documented how Russian media repeatedly spread disinformation about that attack, including another instance in which photos from a film set were presented as proof that the attack had been staged. Those photos turned out to be from the making of an independent film shot in 2016.

Planes are lined up along the flight line at Boeing's 787 Dreamliner assembly campus in North Charleston on Monday. Analysts say the crowded flight line could be the result of supplier issues, but Boeing says there are no problems causing a production backup. Staff/David WrenGet the SC business stories that matter.

Our newsletter catches you up with all the business stories that are shaping Charleston and South Carolina every Monday and Thursday at noon. Get ahead with us - it's free.Lauren Sausser is the Health & Science Editor at The Post and Courier. She also writes about health care issues in South Carolina.Mary Katherine, who also goes by MK, covers health care for The Post and Courier. She is also pursuing a master's degree in data science. She grew up in upstate New York and enjoys playing cards, kayaking and the Blue Ridge Mountains.Diocese of Charleston Bishop Robert Guglielmone presides over the dedication of the Chapel of the Holy Family in 2015. The diocese is facing lawsuits from two men who alleged they were sexually abused as boys in the 1950s and 1960s. File/Wade Spees/StaffPaul Bowers is an education reporter and father of three living in North Charleston. He previously worked at the Charleston City Paper, where he was twice named South Carolina Journalist of the Year in the weekly category.Watchdog/Public Service Editor

Glenn Smith is editor of the Watchdog and Public Service team and helped write the newspapers Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation, Till Death Do Us Part. Reach him securely on Signal at 843-607-0809 or by email at gsmith5@protonmail.com.You are the owner of this article.David Reedy of North Carolina wades in surging ocean water from Hurricane Matthew in 2016 during low tide on Isle of Palms. The waves bowled over boardwalks at high tide and continued eroding sand dunes as the tide subsided. File/Andrew Knapp/StaffIn this Tuesday, July 17, 2018 file photo, Melissa Howard who was running for the District 73 State House seat being vacated by state Rep. Joe Gruters meets with voters during a "meet the candidates" event at Gold Coast Eagle Distriburing in Lakewood Ranch, Fla. Howard, a Republican candidate for the Florida Legislature who falsely claimed she had a college degree and posted a purported copy of her diploma online dropped out of her race. (Phil Diederich/Sarasota Herald-Tribune via AP, File)Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations.Editorials represent the institutional view of the newspaper. They are written and edited by the editorial staff, which operates separately from the news department. Editorial writers are not involved in newsroom operations.Gov. Henry McMaster gives a thumbs up to Trump's former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski as he thanks him at the 8th annual Faith and Freedom BBQ dinner for supporting the president. Jamie Lovegrove/StaffWhen Mayo High School graduates Jim Scussel and John Hostak and two others founded Four Peaks Brewing Co. in Arizona two decades ago, there was little thought that it would become the states largest and most acclaimed brewery.

Most people thought the founders were nuts, Scussel said. Whos going to drink "fancy beer"? The craft brew phenomenon was just in its infancy.

"I just knew: How can this country last on fizzy yellow beer," Scussel said.

The brewerys beginnings were decidedly humble. The founders bought an 1890s Bordens creamery in Tempe, Ariz., and converted it into a brewpub. Pictures from those early days show Hostak, a 1983 Mayo grad, chipping away at the stucco facade, and Scussel, class of 1985, knocking down cooler walls in a forklift.

Their brewery would become the states largest brewery and the 50th-largest in the country. Starting with a half-barrel brew system two decades ago, Four Peaks today brews more than 120,000 barrels a year.

In addition to the brewpub in Tempe, Four Peaks has restaurants in Scottsdale and at the airport and a producing facility five miles from the brewpub. Its flagship, Kilt Lifter beer, is sold in bottles and cans in Nevada, New Mexico, Hawaii, Colorado and California.

From the beginning, growth was robust but gradual  about 20 percent per year, Scussel said.

"We just started small," Scussel said. "We had a little seven-barrel system and just started really small. A lot of these breweries now are growing astronomically. But we did slow and easy, and we went really deep in Arizona."

In 2000 or so, Hostak, getting slightly bored with things, and another partner left the business and started a pizza place in Rocky Point, Mexico. Scussel remains the lone original founder of Four Peaks.

"We never forgot our Minnesota roots," he said, crediting his and Hostaks upbringing for the success theyve enjoyed. From the beginning, their brewpub was a Minnesota Vikings bar. But more importantly, they looked for staff that shared their heartland values.

"When we hire staff, we really like to hire Midwesterners. Its the work ethic," Scussel said.

In 2015, sensing it had reached the limits of growth without a partner, Four Peaks owners sold the bar and its brand to Anheuser-Busch InBev, the beer behemoth. The news was greeted by many as a kind of betrayal, the brewery-that-could being gobbled up by the corporate titan.

But Scussel, who stayed on as an adviser, has little patience with such criticisms, calling such critics "the haters."

"If we didnt do that, wed probably be floundering," he said.

The sale opened up distribution possibilities outside of Arizona that would never have existed if Four Peaks had remained a free agent, he said. Staff, moreover, gained worldwide exposure by working with German brewers. The beers improved and so did the safety.

He argues that breweries are for some reason judged differently than technology companies when they strike it big.

"The Snapchats and the Ubers of the world are heroes. And all of a sudden, a brewery does it, and we are villains to some people," he said.

The beer-making landscape is considerably different from the days when Scussel and Hostak were first starting out. Today there are more than 6,300 breweries in the U.S., six times the number that existed when the two Mayo grads started out, and the industry is showing signs of reaching a saturation point.

Yet, theres still room for growth for the small neighborhood brewpub and microbrewery, Scussel said.

"I was in L.A. this weekend," he said. "I mean, theres a brewery on every corner. Those will be fine. Its the regionals that are having a tough time."Katherine Johnson is amused by the question. A smile starts at her mouth and quickly spreads across her whole face.

As she approaches her 100th birthday, does she have any explanation for her longevity and health?

"Im just lucky  the Lord likes me," she says. Then, after a pause to reflect on that sentiment, she adds, "And I like him."

The former "human computer" at NASA Langley Research Center  whose intricate, done-by-hand calculations sent men into space and brought them back safely  turned 100 on Aug. 26.

West Virginia State University, her alma mater, unveiled a 7-foot statue of her likeness and endowed a scholarship in her name. School president Anthony Jenkins calls her "someone who changed America."

She is hearing impaired and soft of voice, but Johnson loves company and conversation and she still displays a playful wit. She enjoys playing bridge, as well as board games. Rummikub is a current favorite.

Christine Darden, one of the "human computers" who followed in Johnsons footsteps at NASA Langley, is a frequent visitor (and bridge partner) at the retirement community in Newport News where Johnson lives with her second husband, Jim. They marked their 59th anniversary Aug. 22.

"Every picture you see of her, shes got that smile," Darden says. "Im glad her mind is still good. Sometimes she forgets things, but shes got that wit about her. Katherine was always an outgoing person. She loves meeting people and talking to them."

She rises to the occasion

She is very much in demand. A post office box maintained by the family regularly fills up with letters. Many are from students of all ages wanting to thank her for the inspiration or ask her questions about her life. Some of the letters carry news about buildings and classrooms being named in her honor. Often, people want to talk with her, or visit with her, or ask her to attend a ceremony.

Her schedule is maintained by her daughters, 78-year-old Joylette Hylick and 74-year-old Katherine Moore. (Their middle sister, Constance, died in 2010.) Travel is very limited, but she answers as many letters as possible.

"We try to keep her calm, because her energy wears pretty quickly," Moore says of her mother. "Whats keeping her going right now is the trip her birthday weekend  Im going to West Virginia! She gets tired easily, but when she has something lined up, she rises to the occasion."

All of this attention  the honors, the letters, the interview requests  began a couple of years ago with Margot Lee Shetterlys book "Hidden Figures." The book, and the Oscar-nominated film adaptation, told the stories of Johnson and her colleagues at NASA Langley  African-American women doing vital work at a time and place when neither blacks nor women were thought to have any aptitude for math and science.

The other key figures in the book, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, are dead. Johnson has made it a point in interviews to stress that the spotlight shining on her should shed light on all of the women she worked with.

"She is the first person to remind us that all of the work she did was as part of a team," Shetterly says, "and that one of her greatest joys was rolling up her sleeves and working side by side with other brilliant people. Its a sign of her belief in her own gifts that shes the first to call attention to the work of others."

Team person

Johnson remains humble about the nature of her celebrated work. She talks in terms of solving problems and uses the phrase "just doing my job" as a sincere mantra.

Told that many people think her work was something special, she laughs and says, "Well, theyre crazy!"

She thinks about it for a moment and then adds: "All jobs are important to somebody. They had to be important to somebody. My theory is, do the best you can all the time. No fooling around."

Joylette Hylick notes that her mothers story is not all that different from the stories of other working women from the 1950s and 60s who didnt work for the space program.

"They were mothers and wives and community organizers and church-going people," Hylick says. "When she came home from work, she wasnt expecting any kind of special recognition, just like a teacher wasnt, or anyone else. Certainly not at that time. The heroes at the time were the astronauts. She was a team person."

But what comes after celebrating her centennial weekend with a road trip, a statue and a scholarship, she is asked. Any early plans for her 101st birthday?

She smiles.

"Just to live," she says. "Just to stay living."Amid escalating speculation on the status of the investigation into a gun-grabbing incident involving Lt. Gov. Ray Tenorio, Guam's Office of the Attorney General would confirm only that the investigation continues.

Carlina Charfauros, the spokeswoman for the AG's office, told The Guam Daily Post that there has been no change in the attorney general's position.

In order to avoid politicizing the case, Charfauros said, there will be no comment on the status of the investigation, except to say that it is ongoing.

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The case has been under investigation for more than a month now.

No charges have been filed against Tenorio over his conduct at the Pleasure Island Guam BBQ Block Party in Tumon on July 7.

The lieutenant governor has acknowledged that he had consumed "two or three beers" when he approached a uniformed on-duty Guam police officer from behind and took the officer's service weapon out of its holster after noticing that it did not appear to be securely fastened.

Tenorio told the Post that he does not have a firearms ID.

He initially called the incident a "teaching moment" for the officer, saying he had acted in the interest of public safety. Tenorio later acknowledged that the teaching moment had been his own.

Separately, Charfauros also confirmed that Assistant Attorney General James Collins held a meeting Monday morning with attorney Thomas Fisher about a case involving one of Fisher's clients.

However, Charfauros declined to identify the client.

"If you're asking if the meeting took place, the answer is yes," Charfauros said. "But I cannot say which client it was in reference to."Post-plea regret is not grounds to withdraw a guilty plea, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, which opposes a motion by Vincent Rios to withdraw his guilty plea.

Rios had previously admitted to ordering methamphetamine hydrochloride from a source in Washington state between Jan. 1, 2013, and Nov. 17, 2016, and concealing the drugs within air mattresses shipped in three boxes to Guam, where they were intercepted by U.S. Postal Service inspectors, Post files state.

The boxes contained 18.71 pounds of crystal meth.

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Rios used the proceeds of his drug operation to purchase two homes on Guam and laundered the proceeds through a local business. Approximately $1.18 million was found in Rios' storage lockers, court documents state.

He was indicted on Nov. 30, 2016, charged with two counts of possession with intent to distribute meth and attempted possession with intent to distribute.

In March 2017, Rios pleaded guilty to the charges and acknowledged that he understood the terms of the plea agreement.

A presentence investigation report submitted to the court noted that the sentencing guideline range for Rios was between 360 months and life in prison. The federal probation office and U.S. Attorney's Office recommended a sentence of 360 months.

On July 27, the eve of sentencing, Rios filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel and claiming his eighth-grade education and poor understanding of the English language inhibited his ability to fully understand the terms of his plea agreement. He also claimed his defense attorney would not allow him to review documents in the case and withdraw his plea.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rosetta San Nicolas opposes Rios' request to withdraw his guilty plea, arguing the defendant is unable to show fair and just reason to do so. San Nicolas argued that Rios' dissatisfaction with his potential sentence and counsel are not grounds to permit withdrawal of the plea agreement.

The government would be "significantly prejudiced" if he is permitted to withdraw his guilty plea, as witnesses who were under subpoena have been released and some have left Guam. Other associates of Rios pleaded guilty and were sentenced, and are now housed in Bureau of Prisons facilities, San Nicolas stated.

Additionally, the government agreed to dismiss a "significant count" relating to Rios' possession of 196 grams of methamphetamine that was hidden in the engine of his 2011 Mercedes Benz.

San Nicolas argued that Rios delayed his motion to withdraw his plea 16 months and withdrawal would be a waste of judicial resources.

While Rios claimed he had ineffective assistance of legal counsel, San Nicolas pointed out the defendant had access to multiple criminal attorneys who were "highly effective," considering Rios has three prior felony drug convictions that may have exposed him to consecutive, mandatory terms of imprisonment for life.

"Counsels negotiated a plea agreement which limited his sentencing exposure to that of an individual with a single prior conviction," court documents state.The great-grandmother of homicide victim Timicca Jadean Nauta said the family lives in fear in the house where the 15-year-old's body was found.

Police have launched a homicide investigation with the help of the FBI.

While authorities haven't confirmed how Timicca died, her great-grandmother, Maria A. Gange, 82, on Tuesday described the teen had "a cut here and back here," she said, pointing to the back of her head and neck.

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"She got a cut in the back of the neck by the ear, maybe that's what killed her," she said. "Maybe they cut her when she was lying down."

Gange said she did not hear any noises in the house the night her 15-year-old great-granddaughter was found dead June 16.

"I got up when the ambulance was sounding its horn," she said, sitting on her bed in her Dededo home. "Then I asked what happened. They said something happened to Timicca."

Gange said the rest of her family now lives in fear.

"They are scared that somebody might attack them in the house."

The investigation into Nauta's death is ongoing, but her great-grandmother said she is dissatisfied with the lack of answers.

"Up until now, we don't hear anything," she said.

'We miss her so much'

She said living in the house without Nauta is very different.

"We miss her so much," she said as tears filled her eyes. Gange looked toward a photograph of her great-granddaughter hanging above her bed. "She loved babies and loved to bake. She was very active."

The Guam Police Department had asked the FBI to help with testing certain evidence in the case at an FBI lab.

The FBI couldn't state whether the testing has concluded and whether the results have been forwarded to the Guam Police Department.

FBI spokesperson Michele Ernst did say to The Guam Daily Post, "The FBI is providing assistance to the Guam Police Department."WASHINGTON  For the first time, I understand how the Reformation happened.

Reading the stunning letter from Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano  in which the former papal nuncio says he had personally informed Pope Francis five years ago about the serious accusations against then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick  is both heartbreaking and enraging. If Vigano is right, it means the corruption in the Catholic Church has reached not just the highest levels of Roman Curia but the papacy itself.

Last week, Vigano effectively nailed his 95 theses to the door of St. Peters. The archbishop call out not only the Holy Father but also more than a dozen cardinals he says covered up McCarricks alleged abuses, including three successive Vatican secretaries of state  and calls for Pope Francis to step down. It is virtually without precedent for a Vatican insider to make such serious charges against a sitting pontiff and members of the Curia  much less to call for the popes resignation. Viganos allegations need to be investigated, the documents he cites need to be released, and the pope needs to answer these charges.

Vigano said he twice wrote to his superiors in Rome, in 2006 and 2008, explaining that McCarrick had, among other things, requested depraved acts of seminarians and priests, had derided a young seminarian who tried to resist and engaged in the sacrilegious celebration of the Eucharist. He got no response. Eventually, he learned that Pope Benedict XVI had ordered that McCarrick be forbidden to celebrate [Mass] in public, to participate in public meetings, to give lectures, [or] to travel. Vigano said he personally discussed the sanctions in his first meeting with McCarrick at the Nunciature.

After Benedict resigned, Vigano was granted a private audience with the new pope on June 23, 2013, during which Francis asked him about McCarrick. Vigano wrote that he told Francis, Holy Father, I dont know if you know Cardinal McCarrick, but if you ask the Congregation for Bishops there is a dossier this thick about him. He corrupted generations of seminarians and priests and Pope Benedict ordered him to withdraw to a life of prayer and penance. Francis soon lifted Benedicts sanctions, Vigano said, and made McCarrick a trusted adviser. He knew from at least June 23, 2013 that McCarrick was a serial predator, Vigano wrote. It was only when he was forced by the report of the abuse of a minor  that he took action.

Vigano also wrote that he discussed the sanctions on McCarrick several times with McCarricks successor as archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who Vigano said lies shamelessly in denying knowing about them. In one instance, Vigano wrote that he saw an announcement in an archdiocesan publication inviting young men interested in the priesthood to a meeting with McCarrick  a man who is alleged to have sexually abused seminarians! I immediately phoned Cardinal Wuerl, who expressed his surprise to me, telling me that he knew nothing about that announcement and that he would cancel it, Vigano wrote. If, as he now continues to state, he knew nothing of the abuses committed by McCarrick and the measures taken by Pope Benedict, how can his answer be explained? On Monday, a spokesman confirmed that Wuerl did cancel the event at the nuncios request.

Viganos accusations are serious and credible. He has everything to lose by making them public. He cited specific letters and documents that he and others sent to Rome  which he said are readily available in the files of the Holy See and the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington. The Vatican must now release them. And his account was backed on Monday by Monsignor Jean-Francois Lantheaume, the former first counsellor at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, who said Vigano tells the whole truth. I am a witness. Most importantly, in his letter the archbishop declared that he is ready to reaffirm them under oath by calling on God as my witness  which means he is calling for his own eternal damnation if he is lying. Is Pope Francis willing to do the same?

Vigano is courageously sacrificing his own episcopal career to expose the truth. Now is the time for others with inside knowledge to step forward and do the same. Catholic cardinals wear a red hat to symbolize their willingness to shed the blood of martyrdom for Christ and His church. Sadly, few seem willing to risk their own position, much less their lives.

On his flight back from Ireland, Pope Francis responded to Viganos testimony by declaring, I will not say a single word on this. Sorry, thats not good enough. Five hundred years ago, faithful Catholics waited too long to root out corruption in the Vatican  with disastrous consequences. We cant make the same mistake again.

Follow Marc A. Thiessen on Twitter, @marcthiessen.

(c) 2018, The Washington Post Writers GroupArthur Herman has a good recollection over at National Review of the climax of the Democratic Partys disastrous 1968 national convention in Chicago exactly 50 years ago on this date. It was unhappiness with the grassroots of the party that led to the reforms that disempowered party bosses and insiders and made the Democratic Party more populist (thats before populism became a dirty word for liberals), resulting in such sterling subsequent nominees as George McGovern, Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale, and Michael Dukakis.

The height of irony is that the cycle of politics has reverted back to 1968. The string of bad candidates led Democrats in the 1980s to re-empower party bosses and insiders with the creation of super-delegates (mostly national elected officials and senior state figures) to try to prevent more McGoverns and Carters. And this week the DNC has decided to dis-empower the super-delegates, partly because of the view that such party insiders blocked the supposedly more popular (and populist!) Bernie Sanders in 2016. I think this thesis is an exaggeration at bestHillary would have beaten him without insider help, but nonetheless the Democratic Party grassroots is in an uproar and must be appeased. All of which increases the likelihood that Democrats will nominate an unelectable nutcase in 2020.

Meanwhile, back to Chicago 68 for a bit, and allow me to add more of the backstory to Arthurs fine piece, drawn from volume 1 of my Age of Reagan. It is not hard to make out the close parallels between the radical left then and the left todaythe Chicago protesters were, perhaps literally, the grandparents of todays Antifadas. Ill just pick it up in the middle of the story:

A popular song among disaffected radicals in the late 1960s was Gil Scott Herons The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, an attack on the commercial and mass media sublimation of the countercultures wardrobe and style. Yet at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in late August, the revolutionor as close as it ever camewas televised. That was the whole point. An estimated 89 million Americans watched as protestors clashed violently with Chicago police and National Guard troops on the streets (hence the chant on the last night of rioting: The whole world is watching) while a few miles away, at the convention hall, the Democratic party self-destructed. Most of the blame for the violence on the streets of Chicago was laid at the feet of Mayor Richard Daleys police; to this day, police riot is the phrase most strongly associated with the Chicago convention. The Chicago police reacted to a calculated provocation, and, like the case of fighting schoolchildren where the second child to strike a blow is the one usually caught by the teacher, the media caught the police reaction and attributed it as the cause of the violence.

Few events of 1968 had been more fully foreshadowed than the three days and nights of rioting during the Chicago convention, yet it proved impossible to avert. Planning for the Chicago slugfest had begun the previous December among three allied factions of the New Left: The Yippies (short for Youth International Party), the National Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam (known as the Mobe), and the SDS. The Mobe wanted a peaceful protest similar to the march on the Pentagon the previous October, while the Yippies, the semi-serious street clowns of the New Left, wanted to have a music festival and create havoc in mischievous ways, such as putting LSD in the Chicago water supply (which, though attempted, failed because automated chlorination neutralized the LSD). The SDS, however, wanted a violent confrontation. The Yippies had even tried a dress rehearsal at Grand Central Station in New York City in March, when about 3,000 protestors occupied the station and had to be ejected forcefully by the police. The Village Voice commented that the riotous Grand Central Station protest seemed to be a prophecy of Chicago. SDS leader Tom Hayden ended nearly every public statement in the winter and spring of 1968 with the slogan See you in Chicago. On the eve of the convention, Hayden made his intentions even more clear: We are coming to Chicago to vomit on the politics of joy. It was to be, in the words of Rampartseditor Peter Collier, the Kristallnacht of the New Left.

Contrary to popular belief then and now, the success of the antiwar candidacies of McCarthy and Kennedy made violent confrontation in Chicago more necessary to the Left, because the Left saw the McCarthy and Kennedy campaigns as a threat. After McCarthy declared his candidacy, the SDS warned against the danger of cooption by liberal elements within the antiwar movement. Hayden wrote: If radicals really believe that President McCarthy could not solve Americas problems but only reveal the problems of liberalism, then McCarthy is even a better establishment figure to pressure and expose than Humphrey. Yippie leader Jerry Rubin commented: We expected concentration camps and we got Bobby Kennedy. I am more confident of our ability to survive concentration camps than I am of our ability to survive Bobby. Mobe leader David Dellinger warned antiwar groups in Aprilat the flood tide of the McCarthy and Kennedy enthusiasmthat It would be a mistake to think that the fight against the war can be won in the ballot box. It still has to be won on the streets. To Hayden, the United States was an outlaw institution under the control of war criminals, a police state, requiring a confrontation with a peoples movement.

For Hayden and many others in the New Left, the cause for protest went far beyond the war; the entire social order of Amerika needed to be overthrown. Peace in Vietnam was not enough; it didnt matter who the Democrats nominated. Violent confrontation, Hayden thought, would be a dramatic national experience and a means to make a leap of consciousness. The convention riot would serve as an anvil, against which to smash Democratic party liberalism into a thousand bits. The irony about the New Lefts comparisons of the United States with Nazi Germany is that the New Left was emulating the same strategy that the German Left had embraced in the 1920sdestroy the liberal center, and ride to power in the ensuing clash of the extremes. Hayden had described the strategy to Todd Gitlin several months earlier: arouse the sleeping dogs on the Right. The Left aided Hitlers rise to power in this fashion in the 1930smuch to their detrimentand in seeing Nixon as Hitler in 1968 the New Left proved it had learned nothing from their forebears.

While many of the 12,000 protestors (the planners had boasted of 100,000) came to Chicago in the naive but sincere belief that they were going to stage a peaceful protest, the hard core leaders of the Left knew it would be easy to manipulate the situation into a violent confrontation with policeand be able to blame the police. Chicagos police were notoriously aggressive toward protestors and rioters. Mayor Richard Daley had famously ordered his police to shoot to kill arsonists and looters during the riots that followed Kings assassination in April. (It should be noted, however, that no one was shot during the convention riots.) The protestors had applied for a parade permit for 200,000 people to march on the convention hall, and an assembly permit for Grant Park on Michigan Avenue for 150,000 peoplehuge numbers that assured the permits would be denied, even if Mayor Daley had been inclined to grant them. One of the assembly permit applications had been wrapped in a Playboy Playmate of the Month centerfold, with the inscription: To Dick, with lovethe Yippies. The protest organizers were not above even attempting a little blackmail. At one point the organizers offered the city to drop the whole thing for a payment of $200,000.

The provocateurs knew that the police could be expected to act harshly when provoked; organizers had arranged for medical care for the anticipated injuries, and had instructed protestors to try to stay close to journalists so that police violence would be reported. Many protestors were armed with caustic items such oven cleaner, hair spray, and ammonia; 198 policemen were injured, many with chemical burns to the face and eyes. The provocateurs knew that the police would overreact when screamed at (Fuck the pigs) and when they were the object of thrown bags of excrement, but the Left knew they could rely on the media to amplify the situation as well. According to some reports, the news media had advised Jerry Rubin where their cameras would be so that the provocateurs would know where to plan their activities. Democratic Senator Dale McGee said he witnessed a TV camera crew instigate a clash between National Guardsmen and one cell of protestors. Regardless of the veracity of these reports, it certainly helped generate media sympathy for the protest that the police injured 32 journalists and photographers. (The Chicago police had it in for the media as much as they did for the protestors, because they understood class warfare better than the New Left did. They knew that the Left represented not the working classsuch as the police themselvesbut the elite new class that wanted to overturn institutions wholesale. As a police spokesman put it after the convention: The intellectuals hate Mayor Daley because he was elected by the people, unlike Walter Cronkite.) NBC declared the convention to be an armed camp, and broadcast a highlight film that alternated scenes of street violence and scenes inside the convention hall of celebration over Humphreys nomination, even though these events were not contemporaneous. But the damage was done. David Dellinger said It was a clear-cut victory because the police acted abominably and our people showed courage, aggressiveness and a proper sense of values. Yippie leader Stew Albert said Chicago was a revolutionary wet dream come true. Hayden declared that intensive media coverage made the protest a 100 percent victory in propaganda. Just as he had declared in April that there should be two, three, many Columbias, Hayden now urged that the Movement should go on to create one, two, three hundred Chicagos around the country, or a mini-Chicago wherever nominee Humphrey appeared on the campaign trail.

But while the media sympathized with the protest, ordinary viewers across America did not. The general public did not share the verdict of the commission appointed to study the protest after the fact that it had amounted to a police riot. A poll taken shortly after the riots found that 71 percent of Americans thought Chicagos security measures were justified; 57 percent thought the police had not used excessive force, while 25 percent thought the police had not used enough force. Public sentiment about media coverage of the riot was even more lopsided. CBS received 9,000 letters criticizing the networks coverage of the riots by an 11-to-1 ratio. Several Democratic members of Congress demandedand gota Federal Communications Commission hearing to review media coverage of the riots.

As the protestors had intended, liberals in the Democratic party were riven over how to respond to the riots. Unable or unwilling to make a distinction between the naive peaceful protestors and the radical manipulators who made sure they were all caught up in the manufactured maelstrom of violence with the police, many Democratic party liberals, intellectuals, and journalists decried that the Chicago police had beaten our children. Sociologist Chrisopher Lasch thought Chicago showed a fascist mentality was ascendant in America, which required a swing further to the Left by intellectuals. Senator George McGovern, watching a clash from his hotel room window, said: Do you see what those sons of bitches are doing to those kids down there? Connecticut Senator Abraham Ribicoff set off pandemonium when, in the course of placing Senator McGoverns name in nomination from the convention podium, blasted the Gestapo tactics being used in the streets. A furious Mayor Daley screamed at Ribicoff: Fuck you, you Jew son of a bitch, you lousy motherfucker go home. Humphrey, backpedaling furiously from his statement two years before that had he lived in a ghetto he could have led a pretty good riot himself, now turned into a hard-liner. After the convention Humphrey said it was time to quit pretending that Mayor Daley did anything that was wrong. . . There are certain people in the United States who feel that all you have to do is riot and you can get your way. I have no time for that.Today the U.S. and Mexico announced a revised, potentially bilateral version of NAFTA that makes some of that treatys provisions more favorable to the U.S. At the link, the New York Times engages in predictable hand-wringing, in particular over the need for Canada to be part of the deal. You have to read pretty deep to learn any specifics about the agreement:

Under the changes agreed to by Mexico and the United States, car companies would be required to manufacture at least 75 percent of an automobiles value in North America under the new rules, up from 62.5 percent, to qualify for Naftas zero tariffs. They will also be required to use more local steel, aluminum and auto parts, and have 40 to 45 percent of the car made by workers earning at least $16 an hour, a boon to both the United States and Canada and a win for labor unions, which have been among Naftas biggest critics.

So, from 62.5% to 75% to qualify for zero tariffs. Not exactly radical, but positive. And if 75% of a vehicles value is being produced in the U.S., a large majority of those involved in its production will be earning more than $16 an hour, a low figure for an auto plant.

Todays agreement doesnt include relief for Mexico from the tariffs on aluminum and steel that President Trump has imposed, but the Mexicans dont seem unduly worried about that:

I dont think it was necessary to address them now, Mr. Videgaray said. Wed like those to be addressed alongside Canada. It would be great if we could have a trilateral agreement on lifting those and our retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.

At the rate things are going, this could be the shortest trade war on record.John Malcolm of the Heritage Foundation has responded to my critique of his article defending the leniency-for-criminals legislation being pushed in the Senate. I appreciate his response.

Like a good lawyer writing a reply brief, Malcolm begins by citing the points he made that I didnt dispute. Let me begin by returning the favor. Here are points I made that Malcolm does not dispute. I consider them decisive.

First, Malcolm doesnt dispute that the mandatory sentencing regime he wants to soften has prevented many hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of violent crimes during the past 30 years. This is true even if, as I conceded for purposes of argument, the bulk of the reduction in crime during this period was due to other factors. Its true if tough mandatory minimums account for 35 percent of the reduction (the figure Malcolm cites) or even just 25 percent.

Its also worth noting that improved policing  the other factor, besides sentencing, that Malcolm cites as responsible for declining crime  is under attack by many of those pushing sentencing reform (though not by Malcolm, to my knowledge). The curtailment of proactive policing is already responsible for a surge in violent crime in Baltimore, for example.

Thus, in at least some parts of the country, we cannot rely going forward on the quality policing of the last few decades to help keep the lid on crime, and to cope with the increase in the number of criminals who will be on the street early if lenient sentencing reform is enacted. In short, the enactment of such reform would produce a double whammy.

Second, Malcolm doesnt dispute that high rates of recidivism mean that prisoners who serve reduced sentences will, collectively, commit lots of crime during periods when, under current law, they are locked up. In fact, he concedes it:

There is, of course, the ever-present possibility that an offender who is given a second chance will commit additional crimes, including violent offenses. That occurs nowway too oftenand will continue to occur regardless of what Congress does.

The concession understates the problem (it also incorrectly assumes that were talking only about second chances, as opposed to third or fourth ones). In the case of an offender there is only the possibility that a reduced sentence will produce more crimes. But given the vast number of offenders who would get the relief Malcolm advocates, there is certainty that the bill would produce a very large number of violent crimes that the current system prevents.

Third, Malcolm doesnt dispute that a vastly disproportionate amount of the extra crime, including violent crime, generated by legislation he advocates would be inflicted on law-abiding African-Americans. Nor does he deny that Kim Kardashian, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Sen. Chuck Grassley, and the Koch Brothers and others who fund the Heritage Foundations wont be victims of the crimes committed by the beneficiaries of the jailbreak they advocate.

Malcolms only response is to assure us that his views are not for sale to Heritage Foundation donors. I agree, and did not say or imply otherwise.

Fourth, Malcolm doesnt dispute that rehabilitation programs are available to, and can be enhanced for, the felon population without knocking extra time off their sentences. Moreover, he doesnt explain why prisoners interested in rehabilitating themselves  the only kind of prisoners at all likely to benefit medium or long-term from such programs  need the inducement of reduced sentences to participate in effective rehabilitation programs.

Fifth, Malcolm doesnt dispute my critique of home confinement, which is what would await many felons released early. He doesnt deny that at least 50 cases of murder have been committed by prisoners who were supposedly thus confined or that the legislation he supports doesnt provide the resources necessary to make home confinement more effective. Nor does he explain why conservatives should trust the federal government to effectively monitor and supervise the beneficiaries of early release.

The matters Malcolm doesnt dispute make the case against leniency-for-criminals legislation. They show that less prison time served can only lead to many more crimes, especially against African-Americans. They show that early release is not required to induce those who can be rehabilitated to enter rehabilitation programs.

Saving money, the main argument Malcolm makes in support of inflicting all of this crime on Americans, isnt worth it. Indeed, Malcolm hasnt denied the points made by Sen. Tom Cotton on this issue in the piece Malcolm challenged in his first article: (1) that after national security, the governments most basic responsibility is to protect its citizens from crime and (2) the costs of crime and disorderpersonal and economicfar outweigh the downsides of putting serious criminals behind bars.

Now lets turn to the points Malcolm says I didnt deny. First, hes correct that I did not take issue with the claim that other factors beyond mandatory minimum sentencing, such as improved policing practices, are likely responsible for the bulk of the reduction in crime that we have experienced over the last two decades. I explained above why, even if we make this concession, tough mandatory minimums have prevented many hundreds of thousands of violent crimes, if not more.

Second, Malcolm is right that I didnt dispute that many low-level drug offenders get caught up with mandatory minimum penalties or that the Sentencing Commission (dominated by liberals) so concluded. However, I have disputed this conclusion in the past and will dispute it now. Under the present system, a safety valve exists so that these low-level offenders can avoid mandatory minimums if they cooperate with prosecutors and its their first offense. To be sure, the safety valve doesnt usually apply. But thats because the offenders are rarely low level.

Third, Malcolm is right in saying I didnt dispute that, under the leniency legislation, sentencing judges retain the discretion to sentence an offender to a period of incarceration up to the statutory maximum. But the conclusion he draws from this  that the worst of the worst would still be punished accordingly  doesnt follow.

Mandatory minimums were imposed because liberal judges were far too lenient on offenders, including some very bad ones. No conservative should take seriously the notion that todays liberal judges (collectively a more left-wing crew than their counterparts in the pre-Obama era) will use their discretion to impose tough sentences on hard core felons.

In Tom Cottons article, the one Malcolm addressed in his first piece, the Senator provided the harrowing example of how liberalized federal sentencing enabled Wendell Callahan, a beneficiary of a liberal judges discretion, brutally to murder Erveena Hammonds and her two daughters, ages 10 and 7. Callahan was absent from Malcolms response to Cotton.

The many victims of soft sentencing seldom make it into such pieces.

Fourth, Malcolm says I did not dispute that many states that have implemented their own reforms have experienced lower crime rates, lower recidivism rates, and lower costs. What I did say was that Malcolm and his co-author significantly overstate the value of the programs they tout in reducing recidivism. I backed up this statement with two links addressing the subject. Malcolm didnt respond.

Malcolm devotes much of his reply to attacking my attempt to quantify the amount of time that the leniency legislation would knock off the sentences of various types of offenders. My attempt was based on a fact sheet prepared by opponents of the legislation. I didnt link to it because it wasnt (and as far as I know, still isnt) on the internet.

Malcolm says he doesnt understand how the numbers in the fact sheet were derived. Here is my understanding of how, for example, a fentanyl dealer sentenced to what currently is a 20-year mandatory minimum sentence (reserved for repeat offenders trafficking in the largest amounts) could be back in the community in as little as 7 years, 10 months (as opposed to 16 years, 1 month under current law).

Current system: starting sentence: 20 years.  Assume the prisoner gets a 1 year reduction for participation in RDAP.  Assume the prisoner behaves in prison, so he is eligible for 894 days for good conduct (54 days

per year served).  Assume, as is common under current law, the prisoner gets to spend 6 months of that sentence in home confinement. The result is about 48 months of reduction, or 16 years in prison. The leniency bill: starting sentence: 15 years, because the penalty is reduced for trafficking fentanyl, even if you have a serious record.  Assume the prisoner gets the same 1 year reduction for participation in RDAP.  Assume the prisoner behaves in prison, and under the new good time calculations in the First Step Act, the prisoner gets 54 days off for each year sentenced, not served: about 810 days off.  Under First Step Act, because he is in for fentanyl trafficking, the prisoner, if at minimum or low risk category, starts getting an additional 15 days in time credits towards home confinement for every 30 days participating in an evidence based anti-recidivism program. (Note that this doesnt mean a full day of participation. The prisoner can take a 15 minute class on anti-bullying and that counts for a day).  This works out to about 3 years, 11 months. (If the fentanyl trafficker is medium or high risk, he still gets credit, but the reduction is 10 days, not 15). The result for the so-called minimum or low risk fentanyl trafficker is 15 years, minus 1 year (RDAP), minus 27 months (good time credits), minus 3 years, 11 months. This equals 94 months in prison, or about 7 years 10 months.

Thats a massive reduction in the sentence. But even smaller reductions, such as the five-year reduction Malcolm talked about in his original post, are too much. The average offender will be caught committing a crime during those five years and, since most crime isnt reported or solved, will actually commit more than one crime.

As President Trump has recognized, we need tougher sentences for fentanyl dealers, not softer ones. If anything, the leniency legislation Malcolm supports takes us in the wrong direction. Liberals want to go there. Conservatives should not.I find my facility with mathematical notation has gone to the dogs, as I have been trying (but failing) to put together the equation that postulates that the probability of all conversations leading to Trump over time is 1.0. Certainly this is true in Washington, DC. Maybe one of our readers from the ranks of engineers can put it together for me in the comments.

In any case, it is one lifes little delights to see how Trump has every right thinking person with their knickers in a twist because he has not properly genuflected at the passing of John McCain. Yes, I know, Trump has relented a bit late today with a new statement and lowering the White House flag to half-staff. But wasnt it fun to watch the perpetual motion that is the Trump Outrage Apparat at full steam for 24 hours?

Is anyone surprised that Trump wouldnt join the hosanna chorus for McCain? Is this really some kind of new information? I decline, at the moment of McCains passing, to detail my complaints about McCain; there will be plenty of time for that later. But I do note that the lack of regard between Trump and McCain appears to have been reciprocal, as McCain seems to have pointedly excluded Trump from his funeral observance, in preference for George W. Bush and Obama. Even Richard Nixon had Bill Clinton speak at his funeral in 1994, though I am sure Nixon despised Clinton. Whatwas McCain afraid that Trump would repeat his joke about liking heroes who werent captured? (That was, I thought, Trumps peak World Wide Wrestling movean aspect that was lost on nearly everyone.)

But in the annals of presidential churlishness, Trumps predictably dismissive attitude toward McCain is nothing compared to the way Franklin Roosevelt and his administration went to great lengths to try to prevent Hoover Dam from being named for Herbert Hooveran effort that went on for over a decade.

Wikipedia has a decent and fair summary of the matter:

After Hoovers election defeat in 1932 and the accession of the Roosevelt administration, Interior Secretary Harold Ickes ordered on May 13, 1933, that the dam be referred to as Boulder Dam. Ickes stated that Wilbur had been imprudent in naming the dam after a sitting president, that Congress had never ratified his choice, and that it had long been referred to as Boulder Dam. Unknown to the general public, Attorney General Homer Cummings informed Ickes that Congress had indeed used the name Hoover Dam in five different bills appropriating money for construction of the dam. The official status this conferred to the name Hoover Dam had been noted on the floor of the House of Representatives by Congressman Edward T. Taylor of Colorado on December 12, 1930, but was likewise ignored by Ickes. When Ickes spoke at the dedication ceremony on September 30, 1935, he was determined, as he recorded in his diary, to try to nail down for good and all the name Boulder Dam. At one point in the speech, he spoke the words Boulder Dam five times within thirty seconds. Further, he suggested that if the dam were to be named after any one person, it should be for California Senator Hiram Johnson, a lead sponsor of the authorizing legislation. Roosevelt also referred to the dam as Boulder Dam, and the Republican-leaning Los Angeles Times, which at the time of Ickes name change had run an editorial cartoon showing Ickes ineffectively chipping away at an enormous sign HOOVER DAM, reran it showing Roosevelt reinforcing Ickes, but having no greater success. In the following years, the name Boulder Dam failed to fully take hold, with many Americans using both names interchangeably and mapmakers divided as to which name should be printed. Memories of the Great Depression faded, and Hoover to some extent rehabilitated himself through good works during and after World War II. In 1947, a bill passed both Houses of Congress unanimously restoring the name Hoover Dam. Ickes, who was by then a private citizen, opposed the change, stating, I didnt know Hoover was that small a man to take credit for something he had nothing to do with.

But by all means lets keep stomping our feet and declaring that Trump is shredding our norms.The Trump administration has cut more than $200 million in aid for the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza. This decision followed a review by the State Department to ensure these funds are spent in accordance with U.S. national interests and provide value to the U.S. taxpayer.

According to the Washington Post, the cut effectively means the United States is giving no money to the Palestinians. Im not sure thats the case. The Post also says that this years budget for the aid was $251 million.

In any event, the decision is good news. Palestinians have no legitimate claim to U.S. taxpayer dollars. Its particularly shocking that taxpayer money is being sent to Gaza which is run by Hamas, a terrorist organization and enemy of the U.S.

I believe in foreign aid for allies and for humanitarian purposes, up to a point. But there are many in the world who deserve our aid far more than the Jew-hating, terrorist-supporting irredentists on the West Bank and in Gaza.

The news surrounding the story of cuts in aid to Palestinians isnt all good, however. The Post speculates that the cuts are an attempt to gain leverage with the Palestinians in peace negotiations.

Negotiations have been halted ever since President Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. But now Trump, sounding like the parent of two equally deserving children, says the Palestinians will get something very good because its their turn next. And Jared Kushner is expected to present a Middle East peace proposal soon, assuming he isnt completely preoccupied with his other pet issue  leniency for drug felons.

The problem, of course, is that anything the Palestinians would regard as very good would be very bad  indeed, potentially fatal  for Israel, and contrary to the interests of the U.S. Its disappointing that Trump and Kushner dont seem to understand this.With the passing of Sen. John McCain, it falls to Arizona governor Doug Ducey to name a replacement. The replacement will hold the seat until 2020, when it will be up for grabs in an election.

This article looks at candidates whose names have been floated as potential appointees. Of those on the list, my least favorite choice is Cindy McCain. Im not confident shes a conservative.

There is speculation that Gov. Ducey may want to appoint the first female Senator in Arizona history. The list referenced above contains three women in addition to Cindy McCain. However, none has held public office (nor has Cindy McCain), and its unclear how conservative, if at all, any of them are.

Gov. Ducey must decide whether to appoint someone who just wants to serve for two more years or someone on the rise who would run in 2020. In my view, if theres an up-and-comer who is reliably conservative, Ducey should appoint that person. If not, he should appoint a tried-and-true conservative whose political ambitions dont extend beyond 2020. Former Sen. Jon Kyl and former Rep. Matt Salmon fit the latter description.

For an up-and-comer who is solidly conservative, Gov. Ducey should consider Justice John Lopez of the Arizona Supreme Court. Lopez does not appear on the list referenced above, but his credentials are impressive.

After clerking on the Arizona Supreme Court, Lopez went into private practice with a major law firm. After 9/11, he left private practice to become a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorneys office.

In 2004, Lopez volunteered for a special detail to Iraq to assist with the investigation and prosecution of Saddam Hussein and other members of his regime. Based in part on Lopezs efforts, Hussein and his cousin General Ali Hassan Al-Majid (better known by his nickname Chemical Ali) were tried, convicted, and executed.

Returning to Arizona, Lopez had a distinguished career in the U.S. Attorneys office. By the end of his time there, he was the top official in charge of the Phoenix office.

In 2015, Lopez became Solicitor General of Arizona. True to his conservative principles, he added a Federalism Unit to the office.

In 2016, Gov. Ducey appointed Lopez to the Arizona Supreme Court. His jurisprudence seems solidly conservative.

Lopez is well-established in Phoenix conservative circles. A friend of mine whose judgment I trust worked with Lopez a lot when he was Arizonas Solicitor General. My friend describes Lopez as a four-square traditional conservative.

If appointed to the Senate, Judge Lopez would become the states first Latino Senator. Im not a fan of appointing people so they can be the first of this or that category to serve.

However, if thats what Gov. Ducey wants to do, then making John Lopez Arizonas first Latino U.S. Senator is a better move than making one of the women on the list Arizonas first female Senator. In fact, it might well be his best move, period.PR-Inside.com: 2018-08-28 07:47:01

Mortsel, Belgium - August 28, 2018 - 7.45 a.m. CET





Lucky HuaGuang Graphics Co. Ltd. and Agfa Graphics announced today that they have entered into a strategic alliance in the graphics prepress business.

The strategic alliance aims to allow both companies to grow their respective businesses by optimizing their respective strengths in manufacturing, technology and distribution of graphic prepress products and services.

Under the intended collaboration, Lucky HuaGuang Graphics Co. Ltd. will provide manufacturing capacity for printing plates in Nanyang, China, with Agfa Graphics' support and using Agfa Graphics' high-end technology and intellectual property to manufacture products for Agfa.

Furthermore, both companies intend to join forces to accelerate growth in mainland China, managed through the set-up of a joint venture combining their prepress distribution activities in the country.

Agfa and Lucky HuaGuang Graphics Co. Ltd. plan to expand their cooperation in other areas in the future, allowing both companies to grow their businesses and brand presence internationally.

"Joining forces with Lucky HuaGuang Graphics Co. Ltd., a leading supplier of prepress plates in China, will offer us a unique opportunity to grow our business and to restore our profitability. It is an important step in the further development of our strategy to offer our customers more choice," says Stefaan Vanhooren, President Agfa Graphics.

"Agfa's strong reputation and ambition to grow in the prepress industry will accelerate our plans to strengthen the presence of Lucky HuaGuang Graphics Co. Ltd. in the global printing industry," says Mr. Tao Zhang, President of Lucky HuaGuang Graphics Co., Ltd.

The parties have agreed not to disclose any financial details. The implementation of the transaction is subject to customary regulatory and other conditions.

(end of message)

Note to the press

A press and analyst conference call is held at 9.00 a.m. CET today in which CEO Christian Reinaudo will elaborate on this alliance. Details are to be found in the attached invitation.

About Agfa

The Agfa-Gevaert Group develops, manufactures and distributes an extensive range of analogue and digital imaging systems and IT solutions, mainly for the printing industry and the healthcare sector, as well as for specific industrial applications.

Agfa's headquarters and parent company are located in Mortsel, Belgium.

The Agfa-Gevaert Group achieved a turnover of 2,443 million euro in 2017.

About Lucky Huaguang Graphics Co., LTD.

Lucky Huaguang Graphics Co., LTD., founded in 1972, is a state-owned enterprise under China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. It is China's key printing photosensitive material production and R&D base, advocating the concept of green printing. The main products are Offset printing plate, Graphic-arts film, PCB film, High-barrier film and Flexo plate, etc.. As for offset printing plates, it is a leading manufacturer in the world. "Huaguang" brand is a well-known trademark in China's printing and photosensitive industry.

Contact:

Viviane Dictus

Director Corporate Communications

tel. ++32 0 3 444 7124

e-mail: viviane.dictus@agfa.com

Johan Jacobs

Corporate Press Relations Manager

tel. ++32 0 3 444 8015

e-mail: johan.jacobs@agfa.com

This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: Agfa-Gevaert via Globenewswire

PR-Inside.com: 2018-08-28 06:17:08

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According to Goldstein Research, global automotive engine cover market estimated at USD 1.2 billion in 2015, which is estimated to reach USD 1.9 billion by 2024, growing at a CAGR of 5.9% over the forecast period 2016-2024. The factors such as increase in sales of vehicles, continuous technological developments to increase thermal insulation and noise reduction and moreover the government policies to reduce vehicle emission is driving the growth of the market. Global automotive engine cover market is dominated by Asia Pacific owing to huge automotive industry in the region. APAC is closely followed by Europe due to presence of top manufacturers in the industry.Browse Full Report:Market SegmentationGlobal Automotive Engine Cover Market can be segmented as follows:By Vehicles Type Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV)Market Analysis, 2016-2024 Heavy Commercial vehicles (HCV)Market Analysis, 2016-2024 Passenger CarsMarket Analysis, 2016-2024By Material Type CompositesMarket Analysis, 2016-2024 MetalsMarket Analysis, 2016-2024 ThermoplasticsMarket Analysis, 2016-2024 OthersBy End-User Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) AftermarketBy Region North America Automotive Engine Cover Market Analysis, 2016-2024 Europe Automotive Engine Cover Market Analysis, 2016-2024 Middle East And Africa Automotive Engine Cover Market Analysis, 2016-2024 Latin America Automotive Engine Cover Market Analysis, 2016-2024 Asia Pacific Automotive Engine Cover Market Analysis, 2016-2024 Rest Of The World Automotive Engine Cover Market Analysis, 2016-2024Global Automotive Engine Cover Market Outlook 2024 contains detailed overview of the global automotive engine cover market. On the basis of our in-depth analysis, market can be segmented in terms of market segmentation by vehicle type, material type, end user and geography.Download Exclusive Sample Report:The Global Automotive Engine Cover Market Report highlights the in-depth analysis of automotive engine cover market report that will help the clients to assess their business strategies as per the competitive environment in the market space. The competitive outlook of major global players discussed in the global automotive engine cover market report includes the business strategies, revenue distribution, financial analysis, product portfolio, R&D activities and investments.Get More Information About Automotive Engine Cover MarketMajor players of the global automotive engine cover market discussed in the report are: Magna International Inc., MAHLE GmbH, Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd., Montaplast GmbH, Polytec Group, The Mondragon Cooperative Corporation (MCC), Rochling Group, Miniature Precision Components, Inc., Pioneer Corporation, etc.Further, Global Automotive Engine Cover Market Report encompasses the major trends & opportunities, market dynamics and other growth factors of the market. The Automotive Engine Cover Market outlook also comprises of key challenges, risk analysis, BPS analysis, SWOT Analysis and Market Attractiveness. The report also highlights the expert analysis to provide complete overview of the market including the PESTLE analysis of each region and country.Browse Similar Report:PR-Inside.com: 2018-08-28 04:26:37

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TOKYO, Aug 27, 2018 - (JCN Newswire) - BaseLayer, Inc. (Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Hitoshi Kisou) has launched Japan Branch Support Services (JBSS) to help overseas blockchain-based projects to promote their service in Japan.From market entry to promotion, we aim for the fastest penetration with blockchain.Cryptocurrencies are becoming the new infrastructure for payments, and many projects have released new tokens to the market. Within that ecosystem, Ethereum is one of the most exciting and promising projects. As a revolutionary platform for trading securities and digitalizing debts, Ethereum has gained a lot of attention.JBSS mainly supports overseas projects by providing services such as promotion, branding, and translations into Japanese. BaseLayer has provided our services to numerous projects including BlockMason and have received positive feedback regarding the speed and quality of our execution, ranging from assisting market entry to hosting real events (meet-ups). BaseLayer has packaged JBSS services and will further help overseas projects reach their full potential in Japan.Content of JBSS Services1: Japan branch website: Translate the project's official website into Japanese2: Website management: Translate announcements and releases into Japanese, and discuss which documents should be translated with the project entity.3: Translation of white papers: Translate white papers for the Japanese audience to enhance understanding of the project, and make them downloadable from the official website.4: Campaign Site with affiliate system: Create a campaign website that will funnel users to the official community (e.g., LINE and Telegram) and other official social media websites (e.g., Twitter). Projects will have the option to pay the affiliates in their tokens, ETH, or other cryptocurrencies.5: Official Japanese community management: Create an official Japanese community (LINE and Telegram), cooperate with the official English community, and release information. Translate articles on the project's website and release them via the official Japanese community. This enhances understanding of the project and thus loyalty to the project as well. Respond to various inquiries regarding the projects, tokens and more.6: Official SNS management: Set up and manage official Japanese social media accounts (Twitter and Facebook page). Release information in conjunction with event and service press releases to increase the number of community members.7: PR: Propose and execute effective PR strategies as a one-stop service. Propose operations that will increase appearances on TV, magazines, and web media. External partners will also assist with increasing project awareness. Promotion PR - Increase project brand recognition with branding PR that aims for maximum performance at low cost.8: Airdrop: Support client's airdrop execution.9: Buzz marketing: Influencers on social media channels will spread information and create excitement in threads. This will increase the number of followers who understand the project's mission, vision, and how it works, which will convert the m into true fans of the project.Community management utilizing Telegram and LINETelegram is a communication tool necessary for anyone who is interested in cryptocurrencies. In the cryptocurrency industry, it is often used by projects to communicate their updates, and there are reportedly over 100 million users worldwide. JBSS will create an official Japanese community (Telegram), and in conjunction with the English community, release information regarding the project to deepen understanding. Furthermore, we will respond to various inquiries regarding the project, token and more in a timely manner, which will result in increased customer loyalty to the project.LINE is the most common and influential communication tool in Japan. The number of active users is over 73 million. We broadcast information about clients such as project updates, partnership news and so on.About BaseLayer Inc.BaseLayer supports Ethereum Japan and will contribute to expanding awareness of Ethereum.BaseLayer provides PR, marketing, and community management in the Japanese market as a one-stop service for overseas Ethereum projects.Contact:BaseLayer Inc.Hitoshi Kisou, CEOE: pr@ baselayer.asia U: https://en.baselayer.asia/ T: +81-3-5775-1313PR-Inside.com: 2018-08-28 10:33:01



ASPO PLC STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE August 28, 2018, at 11.30 a.m.



CHANGE IN TREASURY SHARES



A total of 2,350 treasury shares granted as share-based incentives have been returned to Aspo in accordance with the terms of the incentive plan as the employment ended. After the return Aspo Plc holds a total of 302,311 treasury shares; that is 1.0% of the share capital.





ASPO Plc



Aki Ojanen

CEO





Further information:

Arto Meitsalo, CFO of Aspo Plc, tel. +358 40 5511422, arto.meitsalo@aspo.com





Distribution:

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This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: Aspo Oyj via Globenewswire

Fact.MR

PR-Inside.com: 2018-08-28 14:55:17

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# 704 Words

Suite 988427 Upper Pembroke Street,Dublin 2, IrelandMarketing Manager+353-1-6111-593

Cook-in-bags are fast permeating the retail outlets, as part of strategy to curtail food poisoning linked with high levels of bacterium campylobacter, witnessed particularly in fresh poultry. High temperature-resistant film that combined simplicity with practicality is a key development area of leading cook-in-bags manufacturers, to meet the demand uptake in retail stores. Despite retail sales of cook-in-bags being significant, market revenue share of institutional cook-in-bags sales continues to remain incontestable, according to a recent Fact.MR study.The study envisages the cook-in-bags market to record an impressive 6.2% value CAGR between the period of forecast, 2018 and 2028. Institutional sales of cook-in-bags market will continue to hold leading revenues shares of the market. Volume sales of cook-in-bags in institutions are estimated to be nearly 1.5X that of retail sales during the period of forecast. Temperature-resistant cook-in-bags have been fast gaining momentum in institutional settings, wherein demand is driven primarily by sales of marinated raw or precooked meats.Request For Sample Report- https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=1577 Prominent manufacturers of cook-in-bags are concentrating on enhancing the compatibility of cook-in-bags to extend its use beyond boiling in water to microwave. Current designs of cook-in-bags feature both cooking as well as storage properties, and are produced using materials that are devoid of dioxin or BPA. Special vacuum seals that aid in retaining moisture in food products and prevent food spoilage are also a key feature of new cook-in-bags designs. These developments have further spurred their adoption in retail outlets and institutions alike. Multifunctional cook-in-bags, capable of microwaving, boiling, and freezing, are becoming the new focus area among manufacturers such as Packit Gourmet LLC, says a lead analyst at Fact.MR The report foresees plastic to remain preferred material used for the production of cook-in-bags, mainly in light of its cost-effectiveness and relatively convenient manufacturing technologies. Plastic-based cook-in-bags are anticipated to hold more than three-fourth revenue share of the market during the period of forecast. However, a slight drop in the revenue share is estimated for the plastic-based cook-in-bags over 2018 to 2028. This can be mainly attributed to the government norms, which limit the boiling time of cook-in-bags to 20 minutes, as heating or boiling further will result in melting of polyethylene and plastic residue in food products. Additionally environmental concerns regarding plastic will further remain a key demand deterrent for these cook-in-bag variants.To Get more Information on Cook In Bags Market, Visit - https://www.factmr.com/report/1577/cook-in-bags-market The International Energy Agency (IEA), and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have estimated that the population in rural areas use nearly 2 tons of firewood annually, for the purpose of cooking. This process has long-prompted chronic respiratory diseases and worldwide surge in deforestation. This has further led to a rise in mortality rates worldwide. All these factors have encouraged the use of alternatives that complement environmental sustainability norms, while reducing the cooking time required for consumers, and cook-in-bags have been deemed as one of the most prominent alternatives. All these factors point at bullish future prospects of the cook-in-bags market, whose size has been estimated to surpass US$ 500 Mn by 2028-end.Sensing evolving requirements of end-users, manufacturers have developed cook-in-bags across wide range of packaging sizes. 240X380 to 380X500 mm cook-in-bags are likely to remain top selling size variant, complemented by steady demand from 150X240 to 240X380 mm cook-in-bags. However, sales of latter are projected to grow at a comparatively faster pace than the former through 2028.Cook-in-bags have sought extensive adoption across a wide range of applications, with frozen foods expected to continue leading with over half revenue share of the market over the period of forecast. Ready-to-eat meals will also remain a lucrative application area of cook-in-bags, which can be attributed to changing consumption patterns of consumers in tandem with their increasingly fast-paced regime.To Buy Cook In Bags Market Report, Visit- https://www.factmr.com/checkout/1577/S About Fact.MR Fact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.According to Goldstein Research, Europe IOT market estimated at USD 108.7 billion in 2016, which is estimated to reach USD 432.80 billion by 2024, growing at a CAGR of 18.32% over the forecast period 2016-2024

Europe IOT Market

PR-Inside.com: 2018-08-28 04:55:11

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# 493 Words

99 Wall Street, Suite No:- 527Global Sales Manager6465687747

According to Goldstein Research, Europe IOT market estimated at USD 108.7 billion in 2016, which is estimated to reach USD 432.80 billion by 2024, growing at a CAGR of 18.32% over the forecast period 2016-2024. Europe is witnessed to have high adoption of IoT technology in multiple industries like aviation, production, utilities and transportation industry. France government is highly investing in deployment of IoT across the country to achieve advanced infrastructures and is also focusing on targeting the spending on renewable energy fuel. Further based on Europe IoT market segmentation, consumer electronics end use segment is growing at a CAGR of 18.73% during the forecast period to reach a market size of USD 113 billion by 2024.Browse Full Report:Market SegmentationEurope IOT Market can be segmented as follows: By Components(Devices, Wearable Devices, Non-Wearable Devices, Sensors & Actuators) By Platforms(By Connectivity/M2M Platforms, By Infrastructure-as-a-Service (Iaas) Backend Platforms, By Hardware Specific Software Platform, By Consumer/Enterprise Software, Extension Platforms) By Software(By Data Management Software, By Network Management Software, By Real Time, treaming Analysis Software, By Security Software, By Remote Monitoring Software) By End-User(By Consumer Electronics, By Transportation & Logistics, By Manufacturing, By Retail, By Energy, By Agriculture, By Healthcare) By Application(By Smart Homes, By Smart Cities, By Wearables, By Smart Grid, By Industrial Automation, By Connected Cars, By Connected Health, By Smart Retail, By Smart Agriculture, By Smart Supply Chain)Based on Countries(U.K, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden, Russia)Europe IOT Market Outlook 2024 contains detailed overview of the EuropeIOT market. On the basis of our in-depth analysis, market can be segmented in terms of market segmentation by components, platforms, software, end user, application and countries.Get More Information About Europe IOT MarketThe Europe IOT Market Report encompasses the competitive outlook of major players that summarises the business strategies, revenue distribution, product portfolio, financial analysis, R&D activities and investments. The comprehensive analysis of IOT market report helps the clients to assess their business strategies as per the competitive environment in the market space.Major players of the Europe IOT market discussed in the report are: Cisco Systems Inc., Intel Corporation, IBM Corporation, Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft Corporation, Qualcomm Incorporated, PTC, Oracle Corporation, SAP SE, General Electric (GE), Arm Holdings, Centrica plc., Robert Bosch GmbH, AT&T Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Rockwell Automation, Dell Inc., Fujitsu Ltd.,etc Download Exclusive Sample Report:Further, Europe IOT Market Report encompasses the major trends & growth opportunities, market dynamics and other growth factors. The Europe IOT Market outlook also comprises of key challenges for the market players, risk analysis, SWOT Analysis, BPS analysis and Market Attractiveness. Report also includes the expert analysis which provides complete overview of the market post analysis of the economic, political, environmental & social factors of each region and country.Browse Similar Report:PR-Inside.com: 2018-08-28 02:09:16

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FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Front Range Resources Ltd.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Calgary, Alberta (FSCWire) - Front Range Resources Ltd. (TSX Venture:FRK). has issued a press release with the following headline:Front Range Resources Ltd. and Arrow Exploration Ltd. Announce Mailing of Information Circular and Transaction UpdatesTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on Front Range Resources Ltd., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/Front Range Resources Ltd.Source: Front Range Resources Ltd. (TSX Venture: FRK, OTC Bulletin Board: CSTPF, FWB: C1JS)Date: August 27, 2018Time: 8:08 PM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Front Range Resources Ltd. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2018 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.)PR-Inside.com: 2018-08-28 04:01:02

Leading Indonesian snack food and beverage manufacturer to deploy JDA Enterprise Supply Planning to create an agile, responsive supply chain

GarudaFood Expands JDA Footprint to Digitalize its Supply Chain

JDA

Jolene Peixoto, +1 978-475-0524

Senior Director, Corporate Communications

jolene.peixoto@jda.com

JDA Software, Inc., today announced that GarudaFood, a leading Indonesia snack food and beverage manufacturer has extended its JDA footprint to take its supply chain processes to the next level, with JDA Enterprise Supply Planning. Combining its current JDA Demand and JDA Fulfillment with JDA Enterprise Supply Planning will give GarudaFood the ability to dynamically optimize its inventory plans in real-time and re-plan around supply chain disruptions as conditions change. PT Kualitas Tekhnologi Asia will provide local implementation support for this deployment.

GarudaFood is part of the Tudung Group and was founded in 1990. In 1987, it started selling its peanut products, and in 2010, GarudaFood expanded its operations outside Indonesia. Today, GarudaFood products are also exported to more than 20 countries around the world.

GarudaFood recognized the importance of its supply chain to their business and growth strategy, and working with Deloitte, conducted a study of their existing system and recommended improvements, ahead of their plans to go public. After the analysis was complete, GarudaFood selected JDA over a large enterprise service provider because JDA had the requisite food and beverage industry expertise combined with the most powerful, end-to-end digital supply chain planning solution. Teaming with JDA will give GarudaFood a stronger integrated production planning system and bring their previously manual processes to the digital age.

We are poised to grow our business substantially and in order to fuel that growth and maintain profitability, it is imperative that we deploy a world-class supply planning solution. JDA will help us execute operationally while driving higher levels of customer satisfaction, said Fransiskus Johny, Managing Director of Indonesia Operations, GarudaFood. We chose JDA not only because of its solutions and industry expertise, but because we knew wed cut down our time-to-value with deploying this project faster. This project will unite critical inventory and demand information for a 360-degree view into supply plans, an important piece we were missing previously.

GarudaFood has been using JDA Demand and JDA Fulfillment for seven years and needed a more holistic view into production plans than its previously manual processes. With unconstrained plans, they faced a mismatch in production and replenishment plans leading to out-of-stock situations and excess inventory.

JDA Enterprise Supply Planning will help GarudaFood build one globally synchronized plan that senses and responds profitably and quickly to supply and demand volatility, driving increased customer satisfaction and supporting higher profit. With its ability to optimize constraints, margins and costs across production, distribution, inventory and procurement, JDA Enterprise Supply Planning will help to improve GarudaFoods service levels and delivered costs as well as asset utilization.

GarudaFood has gone from a local supply chain to a global supply chain, with its expansion outside of Indonesia and with that expansion, needed a global supply chain planning solution to provide the level of sophistication and planning velocity required, said Amit Bagga, president, APAC, JDA. We are pleased to support GarudaFood in its JDA expansion, enabling them to have a highly responsive and agile supply chain capable of sensing to demand signals and disruptions, and ultimately delivering a superior customer experience.

Additional Resources:

Tweet this: GarudaFood Expands @JDASoftware Footprint to [..]

About JDA Software, Inc.

JDA Software is the leading supply chain software provider powering todays digital transformations. We help companies optimize delivery to customers by enabling them to predict and shape demand, fulfill faster and more intelligently, and improve customer experiences and loyalty. More than 4,000 global customers use our unmatched end-to-end software and SaaS solutions to unify and shorten their supply chains, increase speed of execution, and profitably deliver to their customers. Our world-class client roster includes 75 of the top 100 retailers, 77 of the top 100 consumer goods companies, and 8 of the top 10 global 3PLs. Running JDA, you can plan to deliver. www.jda.com

Social Networks:

Web: https://jda.com

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YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/JDASoftware

JDA is a trademark or registered trademark of JDA Software Group, Inc. Any trade, product or service name referenced in this document using the name JDA is a trademark and/or property of JDA Software Group, Inc.

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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180827005

In its quest to improve agility and customer service, GarudaFood expands JDA footprint to digitalize its supply chainAccording to Goldstein Research, Germany self-driving car market is expected to reach 600,000 million units by 2050, growing at a CAGR of 39%.

Germany Self Driving Car Market

PR-Inside.com: 2018-08-28 05:46:12

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Goldstein Research

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Steve blade

Global Sales Manager

6465687747

email

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# 472 Words

99 Wall Street, Suite No:- 527Global Sales Manager6465687747

According to Goldstein Research, Germany self-driving car market is expected to reach 600,000 million units by 2050, growing at a CAGR of 39%. The numerous benefits of autonomous vehicles over traditional cars and supportive legal framework of Germanys government are the factors driving the growth of self-driving cars market. Germany self-driving car market segmentation has been done on the basis of technology, vehicle type, components and geography. Major automobile manufacturers are expected to invest in Germany self-driving market in order to support the government in sustaining its top position in autonomous vehicles.Browse Full Report:Germany self-driving car market has enormous growth opportunities as manufacturing of autonomous vehicles is still in nascent stage and the growing government support for its positive impact on employment. Moreover, majority of patents registered related to autonomous vehicles all over the world belongs to German manufacturers.Market SegmentationGermanySelf Driving CarMarket can be segmented as follows:By Technology Driver Assistance Semi-Autonomous High Autonomous Full AutomationBy Vehicle Type Passenger Cars Commercial VehiclesBy Components Softwareo Applicationso Operating systems Hardwareo Cameraso GPS systemso Communication Systemso SensorsOn the basis of region Berlin Self-Driving Car Market Analysis, 2016-2024 Hamburg Self-Driving Car Market Analysis, 2016-2024 Stuttgart Self-Driving Car Market Analysis, 2016-2024 Frankfurt Self-Driving Car Market Analysis, 2016-2024 Munich Self-Driving Car Market Analysis, 2016-2024 Hannover Self-Driving Car Market Analysis, 2016-2024 Rest of Germany Self-Driving Car Market Analysis, 2016-2024Germany Self-Driving Car Market Outlook 2024 contains detailed overview of the Germany self-driving car market. On the basis of our in-depth analysis, market can be segmented in terms of market segmentation by technology, vehicle type, component and geography.Download Exclusive Sample Report:The Germany Self-Driving Car Market Report highlights the in-depth analysis of self-driving car market report that will help the clients to assess their business strategies as per the competitive environment in the market space. The competitive outlook of major Germany players discussed in the Germany self-driving car market report includes the business strategies, revenue distribution, financial analysis, product portfolio, R&D activities and investments.Get More Information About Germany Self-Driving Car MarketMajor players of the Germany self-driving car market discussed in the report are: Volkswagen Group, Tesla Motors, Daimler group, Google Inc., Uber, BMW AG, Audi AG, General Motors, Google, Fiat Chrysler, Ford, Bosch,etc.Further, GermanySelf-Driving Car Market Report encompasses the major trends & opportunities, market dynamics and other growth factors of the market. The Self-Driving Car Market outlookalsocomprises of key challenges, risk analysis, BPS analysis, SWOT Analysis and Market Attractiveness. The report also highlights the expert analysis to provide complete overview of the market including the PESTLE analysis of each region and country.Browse Similar ReportGlass Merchandizers Market

PR-Inside.com: 2018-08-28 08:15:26

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Steve blade

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# 463 Words

99 Wall Street, Suite No:- 527Global Sales Manager6465687747

According to Goldstein Research, global glass merchandizers market estimated at USD 7.52 billion in 2016, which is estimated to reach USD 15.01 billion by 2024, growing at a CAGR of 9.01% over the forecast period 2016-2024. The factors such as expansion of supermarket and hyper market, storage and preservation of food and beverages, and struggle to maintain quality of foods are the key factors driving the growth of global glass merchandiser market. Global glass merchandizers market is dominated by Asia Pacific with a market share of 40.0% in 2015. Asia Pacific region is also anticipated to grow at a fastest CAGR during the forecast period (2016-2024due to expansion of super market in countries such as China, Australia, Japan, India and South Korea.Browse Full Report:Market SegmentationGlobal Glass Merchandizers Market can be segmented as follows:On The Basis Of Products Single Door Merchandiser Double Door Merchandiser Multi Door MerchandiserOn The Basis Of Capacity 5 To 3.0 Cu Ft. 1 To 6.0 Cu Ft. 1 To 9.0 Cu Ft.On The Basis Of Retail Channels Hyper Market Super Market Hotel Restaurants Grocery StoresBy Region North America Glass Merchandizers Market Analysis, 2016-2024 Europe Glass Merchandizers Market Analysis, 2016-2024 Middle East And Africa Glass Merchandizers Market Analysis, 2016-2024 Latin America Glass Merchandizers Market Analysis, 2016-2024 Asia Pacific Glass Merchandizers Market Analysis, 2016-2024 Rest Of The World Glass Merchandizers Market Analysis, 2016-2024Global Glass Merchandizers Market Outlook 2024 contains detailed overview of the global glass merchandizers market. On the basis of our in-depth analysis, market can be segmented in terms of market segmentation by product, capacity, retail channelsand geography.Get More Information About Glass Merchandizers MarketThe Global Glass Merchandizers Market Report highlights the in-depth analysis of glass merchandizers market report that will help the clients to assess their business strategies as per the competitive environment in the market space. The competitive outlook of major global players discussed in the global glass merchandizers market report includes the business strategies, revenue distribution, financial analysis, product portfolio, R&D activities and investments.Download Exclusive Sample Report:Major players of the global glass merchandizers market discussed in the report are: AB Electrolux, Hussmann International Inc., Hoshizaki International, Carrier, Epta Refrigeration, Standex, Manitowoc Company, Dalian, Sanyo Cold-chain Co. Ltd, Dover Corporation, Beverage-Air Corporation, Lennox International,etc.Further, Global Glass Merchandizers Market Report encompasses the major trends & opportunities, market dynamics and other growth factors of the market. The Glass Merchandizers Market outlook also comprises of key challenges, risk analysis, BPS analysis, SWOT Analysis and Market Attractiveness. The report also highlights the expert analysis to provide complete overview of the market including the PESTLE analysis of each region and country.Browse Similar Report:Metro Manila (CNN Philippines)  The executive and the legislative branches are in a bit of a tiff over the national budget, the spine that holds all of next year's projects together.

For veteran Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, a cash-based budget is the way to go. As the head of the department that proposes next year's spending scheme, the economist believes that doling out next year's budget in cold, hard cash would minimize underspending and assure that all government projects would be finished quickly.

But legislators are apprehensive of this proposal, arguing that one year may not be enough to finish big ticket projects. The House of Representatives had temporarily suspended budget deliberations in opposition of cash-based disbursements. While House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya said that they are amenable to a hybrid budget, it seems that for Diokno it's cash-based or bust.

Budget deliberations are set to resume at the House of Representatives next week.

How is the national budget passed?

While it is President Rodrigo Duterte who would ultimately sign the budget into law, the executive branch alone can not decide on the budget that it will use for the next fiscal year. The 1987 Constitution states that all bills on appropriations should originate from the House of Representatives, while the Senate may concur or propose amendments.

The DBM, acting as the representative of the President, submits yearly proposals to the House of Representatives for its spending plan for the next year. This is the basis for the House of Representatives' budget bill. The House conducts budget deliberations with different sectors of government to see if the DBM's proposal is amenable to them, what they want changed, and so on. The House uses what it has learned from deliberations to decide on what goes into the budget bill.

The Senate may also conduct its own deliberations. When both legislative houses have finished their respective budget bills, they convene as a bicameral conference committee to come up with one consolidated general appropriations bill that they will submit to the President for approval.

The President can then sign the general appropriations bill into law, to become the budget for next year, or he can veto the entire bill. If vetoed, Congress must submit another budget bill for signing. The President can also veto certain items of the budget bill before signing it into law.

Where would the money for the 2019 national budget come from?

The national budget will be derived from government revenues, including taxes, and borrowing. In his budget message for the fiscal year of 2019, Duterte said that most of next year's budget will be funded by taxes.

"Our expected revenue collections of 3.208 trillion will help us fund 83.7 percent of government disbursements for 2019, of which 181.43 billion will come from proceeds of Package 1A and 1B of our tax reform program," Duterte said in the budget message, citing the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.

Duterte added that the remaining 624.4 billion of the budget will come from local and foreign borrowing. This will account for the 579.2 billion fiscal deficit for the year.

What's the difference between cash-based and obligation-based budgets?

This issue has proven to be the bottleneck in passing the 2019 budget. While the DBM has been adamant in the need to shift into a cash-based budget system, the House of Representatives want to stick to the traditional obligation-based system.

The main difference between a cash-based and an obligation-based budget is how money will be disbursed to government agencies to pay for its projects, operating expenses, and other needs. In an obligation-based budget, funds are given for projects that agencies promise to deliver. It takes into consideration how it may take more than one year for these projects to be implemented.

On the other hand, the cash-based budget system limits the time that a project is funded to one fiscal year. After that, agencies may file for a three-month extension. Funds are given for projects that agencies believe can be delivered within the fiscal year. According to the DBM, this system is meant to establish accountability, discipline and faster government service.

However, solons argue that this new system could lead to lower infrastructure spending.

"Mababawasan (ang) mga classroom buildings, mababawasan (ang) health facilities, mababawasan (ang) irrigation projects, mababawasan ang kahit mga new buildings and facilities ng SUCs (State Universities and Colleges), mababawasan ang roads and bridges," Representative Karlo Nograles, chair of the House committee on appropriations, said on an August 9 interview.

[Translation: The number of classroom buildings, health facilities, irrigation projects, even new buildings and facilities of SUCs, roads and bridges- will all be reduced.]

The DBM is aiming to have the national budget gradually shift into a fully cash-based system. In a statement issued February, the DBM said that the government is ready to implement the first annual cash-based budget.

What is a reenacted budget?

A budget is reenacted when Congress fails to pass the budget bill by the end of the fiscal year. This means that the budget for this year will repeat for next year, including all projects itemized for that year.

Diokno said that they are already preparing for the eventuality of a reenacted budget if Congress does not approve of the cash-based system.

"So we're just preparing for that eventually. We're not saying it's going to happen, but like boy scouts, we're prepared," the Budget Secretary said in an August 15 interview. He added that the upcoming 2019 elections could be the reason why Congress is seeking a larger budget.

In an interview with CNN Philippines' The Source, Representative Joey Salceda, vice chair for the House committee on appropriations, said that a reenacted budget would not be able to fund the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and the elections.

What is underspending? What happens when a department underspends?

Underspending happens when an agency fails to spend a significant amount of its budget for the year. Given how budgets are based on a list of projects proposed by the agency for a year, underspending may imply unfinished projects or irregularities in procurement. Unspent funds are returned to the government coffers.

The Commission on Audit, on its latest report on the Department of Transportation, found that the department had underspent in 2017, using only 18 billion of its 71 billion budget. Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade defended his agency, and said that the unspent funds will all be returned to the government.

In 2017, Diokno had flagged underspending as a "major flaw" in government.

What are the budget priorities for 2019?

As with 2018, the proposed 2019 budget will prioritize infrastructure, social services and national security. The education sector (Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, State Universities and Colleges, etc.) combined has the highest proposed budget for 2019 at 659 billion. The second largest piece of the pie goes to the Department of Public Works and Highways, which is in charge of several of the administration's infrastructure programs. The Department of National Defense and the Department of Interior and Local Government get the third and fourth largest budgets respectively. Rounding up the top ten government agencies are the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of Health, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Agriculture, the judiciary branch, and the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.

The legislative branch has a combined proposed budget of 17.59 billion. The Office of the President has a proposed budget of 6.82 billion while the Office of the Vice President a mere 455.9 million.

READ: Government to prioritize infrastructure, social services in 2019 budget

CNN Philippines business news producer Jil Danielle Caro contributed to this report.PR-Inside.com: 2018-08-28 07:48:02

More4Apps: Data Integration Software Company Expands Further into the Middle Eastern Market

More4Apps

Jenny MacGregor, +64-07-959 7160

More4Apps a global software company is set to attend the 6th Annual Middle Eastern Shared [..] for the first time. The event is to take place at Dusit Thani, Dubai 08 - 10 October 2018.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180827005

Pictured above: Stu Keast at the Shared Services Conference in Singapore 2017 (Photo: Business Wire)

Formed in 2000, More4Apps (an Oracle Gold Partner) has achieved a dominant presence in the APAC, USA and UK markets and have more than 25,000 people using their products across 45 countries. The SSOW conference will address a range of critical business concerns and showcase how shared services can help reduce costs and enhance company operations. More4Apps is a corporate member of the Middle Eastern Oracle User Group and Stu Keast, Senior Account Executive for APAC/MEA, will be attending the conference to represent the company. He will be bringing extensive experience in the Oracle E-Business Suite and how More4Apps products benefit the shared service sector.

Keast has seen an increasing reliance on Shared Service Centres which has led to a significant uptake in the use of More4Apps products for loading and maintaining Oracle E-Business Suite data globally. Keast says We have consistently found that Shared Service Centres have a desire for simplification in processing high volumes of data both as loads and for Master Data maintenance, but traditional solutions require skilled IT resource to build and maintain and are often difficult to use - our out of the box spreadsheet tools virtually eliminate this problem and provide a cost effective, easy to use, rapidly deployed solution.

Keasts attendance at the middle eastern conference will help strengthen the global presence of More4Apps and their products. There is great diversity within More4Apps. We have a global multicultural and multilingual workforce Keast says and these efforts to deliver to the customer have been recognised worldwide. In 2017, More4Apps were nominated for the UKOUG Partner of the Year Awards in the category of Independent Software Vendor where they won bronze, they have since been named a finalist for the same category in the 2018 UKOUG Awards. In June of this year More4Apps won the award for best medium business (services exporter) at the Air New Zealand Cargo awards.

Earlybird passes are available until 30 August 2018 for attendees who register and pay by that date, enabling them to save up to $500USD each on their entrance to the 6th Annual Middle Eastern Shared Services Outsourcing Week

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180827005

More4Apps expert Stu Keast to attend Shared Service conference in the Middle EastDisclaimer: If you have any questions regarding information in this press release please contact the company added in the press release. Please do not contact pr-inside. We will not be able to assist you. PR-inside disclaims the content included in this release.With latest National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) gross domestic product (GDP) report showing the countrys economic growth declined 0.45 per cent points from 1.95 per cent in the first quarter to about 1.5 per cent in the second quarter, investment and financial experts have given reasons for the development.

In the report released on Monday in Abuja, the NBS said year-on-year GDP in real terms stood at about N16.58 trillion, with growth in the second quarter recording a marginal increase of 0.79 per cent points higher when compared to 0.72 per cent in the corresponding period in 2017.

Aggregate GDP stood at N30.69 trillion in nominal terms, representing a 7.85 per cent increase in nominal GDP when compared to the preceding quarter figure of N28.46 trillion, or 13.57 per cent.

Mixed Bag Of Issues, Concerns

Economic experts who spoke on a Channels TV programme on Tuesday attributed the decline in the economy to a mixed bag of developments in the oil and non-oil sectors.

For Bayo Rotimi, a financial consultant, although the services sector, namely ICT, agriculture, manufacturing and solid minerals, led the marginal growth in the non-oil sector, there are concerns government needs to redress.

What the statistics show is that our economy is still over-dependent on oil, he said. Between the first and second quarters, oil sector GDP growth declined by 18.71 per cent as a result of a drop in crude oil production from two million barrels to 1.64 million barrels per day.

At a time of increasing crude oil price at the international market, the loss translates to about $1.1 billion on the average.

Oil sector GDP contracted to about -3.95 per cent, compared to about 14.77 per cent in the first quarter and 3.53 per cent in the corresponding period in 2017.

In Mr Rotimis view, if the oil sector, as the principal driver of the economy was struggling during the period under review, amid rising crude oil price at the international market, it was obvious the production elements in the industry were yet to be sorted out.

He said it should be of serious concern to Nigerians, particularly policy and decision makers that at a time the country was facing less disruptions in oil operations as a result of attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta, oil production and exports dropped.

Although the production estimates in the 2018 budget targeted 2.3 million barrels a day, about two million barrels was realised in the first quarter, against 1.64 million barrels a day in the second.

He blamed the lull in activities in the sector to the pall of uncertainty in the regulatory framework, with the petroleum industry governance bill (PIGB) still pending assent with the president since the harmonised copy was sent by the National Assembly on June 8.

The PIGB is one of four parts of the proposed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) seeking to update and replace the outdated petroleum industry law with a more comprehensive provisions.

The other draft bills include the Petroleum Industry Administration Bill (PIAB), Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill (PIFB) and Petroleum Host and Impacted Communities Bill (PHICB).

Recently, the international oil companies (IOCs) said new investments in the oil and gas sector would wait till the uncertainties associated with the absence of acceptable financial and operational terms were sorted out.

Consequently, the consultant said getting the policies and politics right was critical for the situation to turn around.

The critical actors in the political space have to forgo their selfish interests and think about the nation. The present political tension and confusion are not helping anybody.

From January till date, the Nigerian stock market has lost over N2 trillion in capitalisation as a result of the escalating political tension, which is not helping the economy, he noted.

He called for the overhaul of the process to boost growth in the agricultural sector.

Apart from lack of access to credit, he said the security of farmers, as a result of the herdsmen-farmers crisis was the major reason for the decline in the agricultural sector, despite the various interventionist schemes by various government agencies.

If the critical sectors like agriculture, manufacturing and solid minerals, that should drive non-oil activities are experiencing decline, he said, the assumption could be that most government rhetoric about diversification was not backed up with tangible policies to kick-start growth.

Solutions

For a way out, Mr Rotimi asked government to review its policies and create a more conducive environment on security, policy, access to finance and capacity building for operators.

Apart from creating environment to encourage private sector participation and economic growth. government alone cannot provide all the infrastructure required to grow the economy. Nigerias economy need to be growing at the rate of 7 to 10 per cent for several years on a consistent basis for the people to feel the impact.

Government should get the politics right to attract local and foreign investors; ensure rule of law and security. It should overhaul and restructure development frameworks for institutional reforms. We cannot continue to lose over N1trillion on subsidy on petroleum products. NNPC must be made to be accountable.

An investment consultant, Ogbonna Ukuku, who also featured on the programme, stressed the need for constant interaction between all sectors for the economy to grow.

Mr Ukuku noted that a situation where state governments refuse to buy into policy initiatives at the centre was not helping growth.

If the state governments are not flowing with the federal, not much result should be expected in the economy, he said.

He said the privatisation policy in the power sector by previous administrations was a time bomb that just exploded in the face of the present administration, with most operators in the sector failing to deliver on their mandates.

Cancelling all the contracts to the current owners of the power plants will result in a lot of litigations and total breakdown in the economy.

If the operators are returning the 60 per cent equity in the power companies, the federal government should not buy back. Rather, it should look for competent private sector operators with technical and financial capacity to run the sector, he said

The consultant also criticised the governments decision to sell such strategic infrastructure to private individuals and continue to provide intervention financial support.Hundreds of fans lined up to pay their last respect to U.S. soul legend, Aretha Franklin, at the start of a two-day public viewing in Detroit on Tuesday, broadcaster NBC News reported.

Franklins body was brought to the Charles H Wright Museum of African American History in a white 1940 Cadillac Lasalle hearse, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Her funeral, open to family and friends only and will be held in the Greater Grace Temple on August 31.

She will then be entombed at the citys Woodlawn Cemetery alongside her father, three siblings and a nephew.

Franklin, born in 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee, won 18 Grammys during a career spanning more than six decades.

The Queen of Soul, known for classics such as Respect and I Say a Little Prayer, died of pancreatic cancer.

(dpa/NAN)President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria left on Monday for Geneva for regular medical tests, the presidency said in a statement.

Mr Bouteflika, 81, has rarely been seen in public since he suffered a stroke in 2013, but his backers have urged him to seek a fifth term in next Aprils election.

The veteran leader, in office since 1999, has not said yet whether he will stand.

He will undergo periodic medical checks, the statement said, without elaborating. Bouteflika has undergone checks several times since his stroke.

NAN reports that in February 2017, Bouteflika suffered acute bronchitis.

His illness made him to cancel a scheduled meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

According to Algerias state news agency APS, Ms Merkel was due to visit Algeria on Monday as part of a trip to North Africa.

The visit will be reprogrammed at a date that is suitable for the two parties, the presidency said.

Mr Bouteflika, who suffered a stroke in 2013, is now rarely seen in public, mostly appearing in state media for meetings with visiting dignitaries. He has also travelled to France several times for treatment.

He became Algerias fifth president in 1999 and the longest serving leader.

He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1963 to 1979.

As President, he presided over the end of the bloody Algerian Civil War in 2002, and he ended emergency rule in February 2011 amidst regional unrest.

He has also served as president of the UN General Assembly.

He will be 80 years old on March 2, 2017.

(Reuters/NAN)Soldiers involved in the beating of Ugandan lawmakers and civilians over their alleged role in the stoning of President Yoweri Musevenis convoy have been arrested, the army said on Tuesday.

Supporters of an independent candidate contesting a parliamentary by-election threw stones at the Musevenis motorcade on August 13 as he was leaving the town of Arua after campaigning for a ruling party candidate.

Songwriter Robert Kyagulanyi, who is also a lawmaker, was among dozens of people detained shortly afterwards on suspicion of taking part in the assault on the convoy.

Their lawyers and others have said the detainees have since been beaten and tortured  accusations the government has rejected as rubbish.

We have apprehended all the (soldiers) who were involved in the incidents and they have been brought to book, army spokesman Richard Karemire said.

He declined to identify the detained soldiers, say how many had been arrested or when their cases would be heard.

In a letter to Mr Museveni dated August 27, parliament speaker, Rebecca Kadaga had called for the arrest of security personnel involved in the suspected beating and torture of 33 people after their arrest over the convoy incident.

I am concerned that no effort has been made to arrest the security officers from the (Special Forces Command), Military Police and Uganda Police Force who were involved in the violent actions against unarmed civilians, Mrs Kadaga wrote.

This is therefore to demand that the officers concerned be apprehended at the earliest opportunity and presented in court.

The Uganda parliament will not condone or acquiesce in acts of torture.

Protesters and opposition supporters accuse Mr Museveni, president of the East African country since 1986, of stifling dissent through intimidation, beatings and detentions, charges which his government denies.

On Monday a Ugandan High Court granted bail to all 33 people arrested over the stoning.

Presidential spokesman Don Wanyama could not confirm whether Ms Kadagas letter had reached Museveni but said the issues it purportedly raised had been addressed.

It was President Museveni who was the first to condemn the violence and shooting of civilians during and after (the by-election), he said.

He ordered the arrest of police officers who shot dead a civilian in Mityana Town, Mr Wanyama said, adding that the president would respond once he received the letter.

It was the second time Ms Kadaga had written to Mr Museveni demanding action over assaults on parliamentary deputies.

Last year when soldiers attached to Mr Musevenis office stormed parliament and beat up lawmakers during a debate on scrapping the presidential age limit, Ms Kadaga protested to him over the incident, Ugandan media reported.

The presidential age limit has since been removed, opening the way for Mr Museveni  now 74  to seek re-election in 2021. (Reuters/NAN)President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa on Tuesday thanked thanked British Prime Minister Theresa May for handing over the bell of a World War I ship on which over 600 black South African troops perished when it sunk in 1917.

We were extremely honoured to have been presented with the ships bell of the SS Mendi, Mr Ramaphosa said at the close of Ms Mays visit to the former British colony.

The gesture honours the memory and the sacrifices of all those who perished so far away from their homes and loved ones, he added.

Ms Mays trade trip to South Africa  which will be followed by stops in Kenya and Nigeria  comes as Britain seeks to shore up trade partners ahead of their exit next year from the European Union.

Both our countries have identified key sectors for investment to boost economic growth and development, Mr Ramaphosa said after meeting with Ms May.

We also confirmed our wish that the negotiations on the UKs exit from the European Union are concluded in a manner that restores stability to economic and financial markets, he said.

Earlier, Ms May kicked off her first Africa trip in Cape Town, saying she saw huge potential for investment in the continent.

Ms Mays trip comes as she seeks to shore up trade partners ahead of Britains exit next year from the European Union, with British businesses sounding the alarm about the potential negative impact.

She announced plans for about 5 billion dollars in investment for Africa and said job creation should be at the very heart of the British-African partnership.

Britain was South Africas sixth largest trading partner in 2017.

She spoke about the need to continue British aid to Africa, saying I want to be clear, foreign aid works, and offered assurances on Britains engagement with the wide world even as it prepares to break away from Europe.

We will remain a global champion for aid spending, humanitarian relief and international development, she said in an address.

On the plane to South Africa, Ms May tried to calm fears of what would happen if Britain leaves the European Union without a negotiated Brexit deal, saying it wouldnt be the end of the world.

Britain published 24 documents last week on preparations for a no-deal Brexit, which analysts warn could have dire consequences for the economy.

At the press conference, Ms May also voiced support for South Africas controversial land reform plans.

Her U.S. counterpart Donald Trump last week angered the South African government after tweeting concerns about their intention to expropriate land without compensation in order to address historical inequality.

The UK has for some time now supported land reform  land reform that is legal, transparent, she said, adding that she welcomed assurances already given by South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa that there would be no smash and grab.

Mays comments will come as a relief to many in the country who were

worried the land policy could scare off investment.

The prime minister, however, stressed the need for strong legal frameworks and anti-corruption mechanisms in African countries in order for investors to be secure.

Corruption and dirty money, she said, both have the potential to push development off course.

More widely, the prime minister promised that Britain would support a permanent position for Africa on the United Nations Security Council.

Britain will also be opening more embassies on the continent, including in Chad and Niger, Ms May said, countries that have a closer connection to France because of their colonial history, but which are threatened by terror groups.

We will invest more in countries like Mali, Chad and Niger that are waging a battle against terrorism in the Sahel, she said referring to the fight against Islamist groups like Boko Haram.

Ms May will now meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa and, weather permitting, go to Robben Island  where South Africas first democratic leader Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for years by the apartheid regime.

She then heads to Nigeria, where shell meet President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday as well as speak to victims of modern slavery.

On the third leg of the trip, in Kenya, she will meet President Uhuru Kenyatta and see British soldiers training troops who will ultimately be sent to fight Al-Shabaab in Somalia.(dpa/NAN)France said it killed a top official from Islamic States affiliate in West Africa in an operation in Mali that also killed another member of the group and two civilians.

The defence ministry, in a statement, named him as Mohamed Almouner and said he was one of the top officials of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara.

The ministry did not name the second member of the group who was killed.

The ministry said two civilians  a woman and a teenager  were killed in the operation which was carried out on Sunday.

Two other civilians and a member of the Islamic States affiliate group were also injured, the statement said.

The ministry said it regretted the civilians death.

France has deployed around 4,000 French troops in the West Africas Sahel region as part of Operation Barkhane aimed at combating Islamist militants in the region.

(Reuters/NAN)African leaders have been tasked to prioritise the medical interventions in their respective countries in order to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases ravaging the continent.

This advice was given by the World health Organisation (WHO) regional director for Africa, Rebecca Moeti, at the ongoing 68th session of the WHO/African Regional Organisation meeting holding in Dakar, Senegal.

The five-day meeting has in attendance health ministers from African countries, as well as participants from academia, donor agencies and the UN family.

Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) are also known as chronic diseases that tend to be of long duration, which is as a result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental and behavioural factors.

These include cardiovascular diseases like hypertension, hearts diseases, stroke pulmonary diseases, asthma and diabetes.

According to a press statement released by the Nigerian ministry of health on Tuesday, Ms Moeti said there is a need for African leaders to improve medical policies, strategies and facilities which would help the continent reduce the burden of the diseases.

She said Africa has the highest level of hypertension in the world as about 30 per cent of adults suffering from the disease are found in the continent.

According to her, with the growing trend of adult onset diabetes and obesity reaching epidemic proportion among women in sub-Saharan Africa and about 150, 000 deaths from tobacco related diseases, NCDs have become silent killers of Africans.

She said these diseases are preventable and urged Member States to intensify pursuit of some proven public health policies and strategies to address NCDs.

Member States should increase taxation on tobacco and ban its advertising, have mandatory health warnings for tobacco products and alcohol, and most importantly, they should engage other sectors such as trade that play such important role in this work.

In his reaction to the call, Nigerias health minister, Isaac Adewole, said the country is committed to tackling these diseases by implementing appropriate and effective policies and strategies.

Mr Adewole said in order to achieve this, the government is currently discussing with WHO on the conduct of a pilot project to treat all hypertensive people in Ogun and Yobe states.

Mr Adewole also added that the government would be restricting illicit tobacco trade and enforcing anti-tobacco legislations.Lawyers on Monday condemned in strong terms the comments made by President Muhammadu Buhari that the rule of law will take second stage on issues involving alleged threat to national security.

In various interviews with PREMIUM TIMES, the lawyers described Mr Buharis August 26 address to members of the Nigeria Bar Association as a descent to dictatorship and a sad development.

In a keynote address delivered at the beginning of the 58th annual conference of the Nigerian Bar Association on Sunday, Mr Buhari spoke on various issues, most prominent of which was his view about the rule of law on issues of national interest.

Rule of Law must be subject to the supremacy of the nations security and national interest.

Our apex court has had cause to adopt a position on this issue in this regard and it is now a matter of judicial recognition that; where national security and public interest are threatened or there is a likelihood of their being threatened, the individual rights of those allegedly responsible must take second place, in favour of the greater good of society, Mr Buhari said.

Although the president did not specify current cases in court for which his administration views the need to uphold national interest above the rule of law, his attorney general, Abubakar Malami, has given that as a reason for the governments refusal to comply with repeated court orders for the release of former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki.

Mr Dasuki was arrested in 2015 for alleged possession of firearms and diverting $2.1 billion while he was NSA.

Speaking during a July 13 interview on the continued detention of Mr Dasuki, Mr Malami said the former NSA could not be released because the allegations against him were related to issues of public interest.

What I want you to know is that issues concerning law and order under Muhammadu Buhari are sacrosanct and obeying court order is compulsory, he said.

However you should also know that there is a general consensus world over that where the dispute is only between individuals, then you can consider the issue based on the instant situation. But if the dispute is about an issue that affects an entire nation, then you have to remember that government is about the people not for only an individual.

So you have to look at it from this perspective. If the issue about an individual coincides with that which affects the people of a nation and you are now saying the government did not obey a court order that infringes on a single persons rights. Remember we are talking about a person who was instrumental to the deaths of over 100,000 people. Are you saying that the rights of one person is more important than that of 100,000 who lost their lives?

Mr Malami was largely condemned by lawyers and notable Nigerians for his view on Mr Dasukis prolong incarceration.

Similarly, various lawyers berated Mr Buharis for his views, stressing that nothing justifies the governments disobedience of court orders.

In his opinion, an Abuja based lawyer, Ejeh Monday, said the presidents allusion to national interest as relatively supreme to the rule of law, is unimaginable

There is no such thing as the Supremacy of National Security and Public Interest; regardless of whatever this may mean to the proponent of same: not to talk of saying that there is such thing as the Rule of Law being made subject to the said coinage.

Human, states, communal, societal and international relations are hinged on the hallowed principle of the rule of law. If you take it out, humanity is done for and man will return to the Thomas Hobbes state of lawlessness wherein the life of man is nasty, brutish and short.

The rule of law is akin to ensuring that justice is done at all times and under all circumstances. In fact, injustice breeds anarchy which will eventually lead to a breach of national security. In simple terms, rule of law, simply means that everything must be done according to law, Mr Monday said.

Mr Monday said while the law allows for a variation of a persons rights on issues of national interest, only the courts of law are permitted to determine the terms of the said variation.

I agree with Mr President that the rights of individuals must take second place where national security and public peace is threatened.

However, such suspension or denial of individual rights can only be done in accordance with the rule of law. It is not in the place of the executives to decide whether or not an individuals rights should be suspended or denied for reasons of breach of national security or on grounds of public interest. These are matters for the courts to decide as the executive cannot be the accuser and at the same time a judge in its own case. The executive cannot resort to self-help or take laws into their hands.

I recall the Dasuki and El Zazaky situation and reiterate the fact that the Dasuki and El Zazaky situation cannot be justified under the guise of protection of public interest and national security as the courts have decided that they be released.

Consequently, the president and his advisers missed the point absolutely, if what the president had in mind when he talked about supremacy of national interest and security over and above the rule of law, is to put before lawyers a justification for the continued incarceration of Sambo Dasuki, the former National Security Adviser (NSA) and El-Zazaky, Mr Monday said.

In a similar opinion, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chijioke Okoli, said while the position alluded to by Mr Buhari could be considered in terms of war, nothing justifies this administrations abuse of court orders.

There is no doubt at all, that in times of war, individual liberties may be curtailed. But even then, only to the extent of requirements of the exigencies of that period. In all these, it must always be borne in mind that it is the court of law that has the final say.

The judges are notionally at least, the wisest among the populace. And the constitution has invested them with the power of the last say on any dispute, including those involving the federal Government of Nigeria.

If President Buhari is alluding to the Sambo Dasuki case, as I suspect he was, then he is completely wrong. I believe all the national security considerations must have been brought to the courts attention in the case, but the court has repeatedly held that granting Colonel Dasuki bail on terms does not compromise national security.

The federal governments position is quite sad. A very dangerous precedent is being set for a supposedly democratic dispensation, Mr Okoli said.

In another opinion, Simon Ameh, also a Senior Advocate, said although President Buhari is right in his submission that the right of an accused cannot outweigh the need to ensure national security, the rule of law must always be the determining factor of such conclusions.

Yes, the president is right. There must be a nation before you think of individual rights. But national security must be pursued in accordance with the rule of law. Our democracy is built on the rule of law, Mr Ameh said.

In a similar view, a human rights lawyer described the submissions of Mr Buhari as a descent to dictatorship.

Democracy is rooted in respect for human rights and rule of law. Otherwise, we descend into dictatorship or arbitrary rule. National security is subjective and cannot be used to subvert human liberty and consequently national stability, Mr Nwankwo said on his twitter handle.

In a different opinion however, Rotimi Oguneso, a Senior Advocate, says people have decided to politicise a Known stance, because it is being repeated by the president.

I think basically people are taking the presidents comments out of context-perhaps for politics. What the president said should be viewed from the background of his reference to the decision of the judiciary.

For me, the president has not said anything new. He has merely restated the principle of majority in the old English case Liversidge Vs Anderson. Where the issue in question in a case involves national security, the fundamental rights of an individual must take the back seat, Mr Oguneso said.UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed has attributed the Boko Haram terrorism in Northeast Nigeria largely to the drying up of the once thriving Lake Chad, which provided millions with livelihood.

Ms Mohammed stated this in Stockholm in her remarks to the opening plenary of 2018 World Water Week with theme: Water, Ecosystems and Human Development, at the Heart of the Global Agendas.

The deputy UN scribe recounted her experience as Minister of Environment of Nigeria and Chair of Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council.

According to her, she saw first-hand the disastrous human consequences of badly-managed water resources and ecosystems. She noted the importance of protecting the environment and conserving resources for sustainable development.

She said: I was raised in North-eastern Nigeria, where lack of access to clean water and sanitation is a major challenge.

Lake Chad was once the chief source of economic activity for this region, providing food and economic opportunities to nearly 30 million people.

Today, the lake has shrunk by 90 per cent. Some predict it could disappear entirely by the end of this century.

This drying of the lake and the advance of desertification in the north has disrupted everything, from trade routes to agriculture and fishing.

It has impacted food security and health, increasing the risk of waterborne diseases. It is causing poverty by taking away farmers livelihoods. And it has a gender dimension, contributing to low levels of school enrolment among girls.

Taken together, all these factors have contributed to increased insecurity in a region already affected by violent extremism.

I believe the rise of Boko Haram is inextricably linked with poor water management. And the solution to conflict in the region must include equitable ways of using water resources.

According to her, Lake Chad is just one example of the vital links between water management and all the Sustainable Development Goals.

Ms Mohammed said around the world, growing demands for water, coupled with poor water governance, had increased water stress and were having a broad and negative impact on economies and societies.

She regretted that more than 340,000 children under five years die every year from diarrhoeal diseases due to poor sanitation, poor hygiene, or unsafe drinking water  almost 1000 children per day.

The UN deputy chief added that 40 per cent of people around the world were affected by water scarcity, while some 844 million people lacked basic water services and over two billion people were forced to drink unsafe water.

Ms Mohammed lamented that women and girls suffered disproportionately when water and sanitation were lacking adding, their health is affected, and they may be unable to work or to attend school when they are menstruating.

She stressed: All these problems are exacerbated by climate change. Indeed, water is the primary medium through which climate change impacts people, ecosystems and economies.

There is good news. There is sufficient fresh water in the planet to secure clean and accessible water for all.

The current challenges have to do more with our failure to deliver the right policies and incentives.

(NAN)The management of Zenith Bank has reacted to the arrest of its top executive by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

The bank, in a disclosure notice signed by its head of corporate communication, Victor Adoji, on Tuesday claimed its official was invited by the anti-graft agency in relation to an on-going issue between the Rivers State Government and the EFCC with regards to the governments accounts with the bank.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the Group Managing Director of the bank, Peter Amangbo, was arrested over a series of transactions his bank allegedly carried out on behalf of one of Nigerias largest oil-producing states, Rivers.

The EFCC alleged that the transactions, at least N117 billion in value, are suspicious in nature; but that Zenith failed to report them as demanded by law.

Insiders at the EFCC and Zenith Bank said Mr. Amangbo was held to explain why his bank failed to document the withdrawals, allegedly done over a three-year period, as suspicious. Mr Amangbo was first invited for questioning on August 23, sources said. But he was freed on administrative bail and asked to return on August 24 for further interrogation. He was questioned again on Monday and was still at the EFCC office on Monday night, sources at the commission told PREMIUM TIMES.

The bank in its disclosure said the EFCC requested details of how the River State governments accounts were operated in terms of utilisation of funds over a period of time. The bank, however, did not disclose details of the invitation and questioning of its GMD.

As a responsible corporate citizen, the bank honoured the invitation during which our GMD clarified the areas of concern with the commission, the disclosure, sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, read.

Earlier on Sunday, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers slammed the investigation as political witch-hunt, saying he would continue to prevent state officials from appearing before the EFCC for questioning.

No government official will appear before the EFCC, Mr Wike was quoted as saying in a statement his spokesperson, Simeon Nwakaudu, sent to PREMIUM TIMES Sunday night. He added that an Appeal Court judgement in 2007 prohibited the EFCC from prying into Rivers State coffers, a ruling he claimed had not been appealed.

The EFCC investigation comes two weeks after the agency froze bank accounts owned by Benue and Akwa Ibom states.The U.S. government has said that it was currently looking for African countries that would be interested in bilateral free trade agreements with it.

Peter Haas, the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Trade Policy and Negotiation told journalists in a teleconference that it was a big deal for the U.S. to be looking towards Africa.

What we were looking for are African countries that would be interested in having bilateral free trade agreements with us.

I think one of the things that I would like to point out is that this is a kind of big deal for us, to be looking at countries in Africa for possible free trade agreements.

We are also targeting meetings with the African Union to discuss the future of the U.S.-Africa trade relationship.

We will be looking at countries that express interest to determine which ones make sense, both in terms of capacity, readiness, and all of those things, he said.

Mr Haas, however, said that it was too early to decide or disclose the African country or countries his government might start negotiations with on the proposed bilateral free trade agreements.

The deputy assistant secretary also disclosed the U.S. effort at discussing the benefits of biotechnology with African countries and the rest of the world.

We will be discussing the promise of biotechnology for agriculture, health, and many other sectors in Africa.

I think all of you know that biotechnology allows for intentional changes in plants or animals to improve outcomes in agriculture or health, he said.

Mr Haas said that the U.S. government was deeply committed to increasing food security in Africa by embracing technology, modernising policies, as well as increasing trade.

The US Trade Relations Office of African Affairs develops and coordinates U.S. trade and investment policy for the 49 countries of sub-Saharan Africa.

It leads the negotiation and implementation of U.S. trade and investment policies and objectives in the region.

The administration seeks both to expand markets for U.S. goods and services in sub-Saharan Africa and to facilitate efforts to bolster African economic development through increased global, regional, and bilateral trade. Sub-Saharan Africa presents many opportunities for U.S. businesses as an emerging market for American exports.

In 2017, seven of the 20 fastest growing economies in the world were in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the IMF.

To that end, the Africa Office also will help to implement the Trump Administrations vision to pursue bilateral free trade agreements with sub-Saharan Africa that could serve as model for others in the region.

Import volumes in US/African trade relations for 2015 and 2016 were $25.38 and $26.54 billions, respectively. (NAN)Kenyas deputy chief justice, Philomena Mwilu, was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of corruption, failure to pay tax, and improper dealings with a local bank now in receivership, the police and the countrys top prosecutor said.

Chief Public Prosecutor, Noordin Haji, told a news conference that Ms Mwilu had abused her office for personal gain, undermining public integrity in the judiciary.

The director of criminal investigations, George Kinoti, told Reuters in a text message: I can confirm the arrest of the deputy chief justice.

Reuters was unable to immediately contact representatives of Ms Mwilu.

Corruption in East Africas biggest economy drains billions of dollars from the state each year.

The government has launched a new anti-graft push this year led by Haji, a former deputy head of national intelligence, who has brought criminal charges against dozens of civil servants and businesspeople.

The detention of the deputy chief justice was the highest profile since a series of corruption-related arrests began several months ago.

Lady Justice Mwilu accepted gifts in the form of money which undermined confidence in her office, said Haji.

He said Ms Mwilu had also obtained execution of a security belonging to Imperial Bank, now under receivership, by false pretence and had conducted herself in total disregard of the law, citing what he said was her failure to pay tax.

Haji gave no further details.

I have concluded that the evidence is sufficient for a reasonable prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest that criminal proceedings should be preferred, Mr Haji said.

(NAN)The Akwa Ibom government on Monday launched an attack against a former governor of the state, Godswill Akpabio, over a four-star hotel built by the government during his administration.

The government alleged that the hotel project was not transparent and did not comply with best practice.

The hotel, Four Points by Sheraton, has become a subject of political war between Mr Akpabio and his estranged protegee, the governor of the state, Udom Emmanuel.

Mr Akpabio, a senator representing Akwa Ibom North West District, recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The defection is seen as a major threat to Governor Emmanuels bid for a second term in office.

The hotel, located in Mr Akpabios senatorial district, was one of the signature projects of the Akpabio administration.

While the senator is accusing the current administration of refusing to put the hotel to use, the governor is claiming that his predecessor left the hotel unfinished before he (Akpabio) left office in 2015.

They talked about Four Points by Sheraton. Today, I dont want to answer them. But let me state, the facts must come out fast and the facts must point to the truth because the truth is constant, Governor Emmanuel said on Friday in Uyo before a large crowd of supporters in a 30,000-capacity stadium, while declaring his bid to run for a second term.

It is just now that we have incorporated a company to negotiate with Starwood for that name Four-Point by Sheraton. If anybody has ever done that, let him show me the agreement he signed.

It is now that we are doing external works in that premises in order to turn it into a hotel. Is building a hotel? Can a building be a hotel?

I dont want to join issues today, I just want to humbly submit myself. But the truth must be told that it is just now that I have paid $7.2 million to Starwood so that we can retain the name that was surreptitiously put on the building called Four-Point by Sheraton Hotel.

Who is telling you a lie? Who is telling you a lie? Can they tell you that there were mechanical or electrical fittings in that building? the governor said.

No sooner had the governor finished his declaration speech than APC faithful flooded Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp with photos, including one where the former governor and his successor were having lunch at the Ikot Ekpene hotel, as a proof that Mr Akpabio had completed the hotel before he left office.

The party, in countering Governor Emmanuels remarks, referenced a news story published in the Nation newspaper, July 12, 2014, where Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide reportedly announced the signing of an agreement with the Akwa Ibom government for the establishment of the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, Ikot Ekpene.

But an unrelenting government quickly fired back.

Regrettably, it paints an unpalatable picture of mischief for the immediate past Governor; a lawyer by profession, to present an unsigned and unverified press statement in the Nation newspaper of July 12, 2014, as evidence of a legal contractual obligation on a high net-worth project as one in question, the Commissioner for Information in the state, Charles Udoh, said in a statement issued on Monday.

Mr Udoh insisted that Mr Akpabio, as governor then, commissioned the hotel without a signed franchise agreement and a full complement of requisite furniture and fittings.

The commissioner said Raffia City Hotels and Tours Limited, the company which managed the transaction on behalf of the state government, was incorporated on June 11, 2015, more than one month after Mr Akpabio had commissioned the hotel.

The government also posed seven questions to Mr Akpabio.

How come the hotel that had been commissioned never started operations before the end of his administration?

How come there was no guest traffic count and/or feasibility study carried out to justify the N25.4 billion investment in a 146 room hotel?

Why were external caterers hired to bring in food if the kitchen and dining facilities were ready, equipped and commissioned?

How come the hotel is a subject of discussion today, three years after it was supposedly commissioned?

Who benefited from the contract awards for the hotel?

Who brought the contractors?

Who benefitted from the over 95% payment his administration disbursed on a half-completed hotel?

When contacted for comment, the media aide to Mr Akpabio, Anietie Ekong, declined commenting on the allegations.

But he said: The information that is already in the public domain is enough for people to read and make an informed opinion on the matter.Less than 24 hours to the date slated by the former Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, to declare his presidential bid, authorities have denied him access to Abujas Eagle Square, proposed venue of the event.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered the authorities have also denied the former governor access to the Old Parade Ground, another major public arena.

Mr Kwankwaso, who recently defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had announced Wednesday as the day for the event.

The announcement was contained in a statement from his presidential campaign committee on Sunday.

In a letter signed by Usman Raji, the facility manager of the Abuja International Conference Centre & Eagles Square, the government said the decision to deny him the Eagle Square was to avoid disruption of work flow at the Federal Secretariat, a major hub of civil servants.

The letter was referenced in a statement by the Kwankwaso Campaign Organisation sent to PREMIUM TIMES by PRNigeria, a news agency.

The detailed content of the letter, dated August 27, was published by The New Nigerian news media

We are sorry to inform you that the event can no longer hold on the said date because it is a political event and the 29th of August, 2018 happens to be a work day, as it would disrupt the usual work flow of the Federal Secretariat.

We apologise for the oversight on our part to note the date in relation to the nature of the event. We regret every inconvenience caused by this. Mr Raji said in the letter.

When contacted, the Abuja minister, Mohammed Bello, through his spokesperson, Abubakar Sani, declined comment. He said questions should be referred to the management of Integrated Facility Management Services Ltd,who denied Mr Kwankwaso use of the venue.

In its statement, however, the Kwankwaso Campaign Organisation said it sees the development as a handiwork of the government in power who will not see anything good in growing our fledgling democracy as no level playing field has been created to allow for viable opposition in the country.

Even at that, earlier Tuesday morning the Abuja International Conference and Eagle Square, managed by the Integrated Facility Management Services Ltd refused us access to inspect the premises demanding us to present a police permit, when actual approval for the use of the Eagle Square has been sought and paid for more than one week to the said declaration.

The above development will in no way dampen our morale to go ahead with the declaration or chicken-out as it will only embolden us to legally pursue our fundamental right to freedom of movement and association.

It is not yet clear if Mr Kwankwaso will proceed with the declaration as scheduled despite the permit refusal.

The senators spokesperson, Binta Sipikin, could not be reached at the time of this report as her phone was switched off.Accused of plundering billions of Naira of state funds, ex-Plateau State governor, Jonah Jang, wants to be Nigerias president.

Mr Jang, a serving senator, on Tuesday formally declared his ambition to run for the countrys number one political seat.

The declaration took place at the state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secretariat located along Yakubu Gowon Way, in Jos South Local Government Area.

Mr Jang served as governor from 2007 to 2015. He was later elected senator representing Plateau North Senatorial District under the PDP in 2015.

Mr Jang is currently facing a 12-count charge of diverting N6.3 billion while he was in office. He has denied the charges.

He was recently remanded for nine days at the Jos Prison alongside a cashier at the Office of Secretary to the State Government by judge, Daniel Longi, of the State High Court following his arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). However, he was later granted bail.

Despite his present tango with the law, a crowd gathered to witness the declaration Tuesday, stopping human and vehicular movement for hours.

The former military governor of Benue and Gongola states told the crowd that he has what it takes to be the president considering his experience in military training, governance, democracy, the legislature and his contribution towards the general development of the nation.

Mr Jang said if voted into power, he will make peace and security the priority of his government.

We will give this nation security results, we will not give excuses or cover up any act of criminality and impunity, whatever the colour and creed of the criminals, he said, although his tenure as Plateau governor witnessed some of the worst communal and ethnic violence in the state.

We will end the cheapening of the lives of Nigerians. Gunmen will be known and traced to their roots, arrested and made to face the law. Nigerians will be proud of their country again.

Restructuring and reorganising Nigeria to the comfort of all Nigerians is a task I will face with commitment. If we have operated a system for 58 years and Nigerians are asking for a review of the structures, there is no need to delay it further, he told the gathering.

Mr Jang, who vowed to grow the economy, also had something to say on corruption.

He said all anti-graft agencies would be strengthened and made to fight corruption within the confines of the rule of law and the fight against corruption would be total, balanced, consistent and sustained.

Mr Jang joins the growing list of candidates who have expressed interest in battling it out at the polls with the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari who will be running for a second term under the All Progressive Congress.

Some of the other aspirants are ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Governors Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto and Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe, and ex-governors Sule Lamido, Attahiru Bafarawa and Rabiu Kwankwaso.After being denied usage of the Abuja Eagle Square, former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has announced a new venue for his formal presidential declaration.

Speaking to PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Kwankwasos spokesperson, Binta Sipikin, said the ceremony will now hold at Chida Hotel in Utako, Abuja.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported how the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant was denied use of the Eagle Square a public open facility used for such gathering.

Authorities maintaining the facility had, after initially granting him access, denied him usage of the venue; a move believed to be to checkmate the former Kano governor.

In a letter signed by Usman Raji, the facility manager of the Abuja International Conference Centre & Eagles Square, the government said the decision to deny him the Eagle Square was to avoid disruption of work flow at the federal secretariat, the work place of hundreds of federal civil servants.

Mr Kwankwaso, who recently defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP had announced Wednesday as the day for the event.The British Prime Minister, Theresa May, on Tuesday said 87 million Nigerians live on less than $1.90 a day, making the country home to more very poor people than any other nation in the world.

The statement is coming a day ahead of her scheduled visit to the Nigeria on Wednesday.

The British PM will be hosted by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday at the State House, Abuja.

Ms May made her latest statement in South Africa, according to the UK government.

According to the statement published on the UK government website on Wednesday, at her visit to South Africa in Cape Town, Mrs May said most of the worlds poorest people are Africans.

For example, much of Nigeria is thriving, with many individuals enjoying the fruits of a resurgent economy. Yet 87 million Nigerians live on less than $1.90 a day  making it home to more very poor people than any other nation in the world, she said.

The statement by the British leader could provide fodder for opposition politicians critical of President Muhammadu Buharis administration and his policies. Amidst dwindling resources, the government has embarked on massive construction projects and social investment programmes that it believes would lift millions out of poverty.

On Wednesday, Ms May also spoke on inequality and the impact of terrorism on African countries.

Most of the worlds poorest people are Africans. And increasing wealth has brought rising inequality, both between and within nations.

Extremist groups such as Boko Haram and al-Shabab are killing thousands. Africas ocean economy three times the size of its landmass is under threat from plastic waste and other pollution, she said.A Nigerian senator, Shuhu Sani, has condemned derogatory comments on President Muhammadu Buhari made by U.S. President, Donald Trump.

Mr Trump was reported by Financial Times (FT) to have described the Nigerian President as lifeless after a meeting both had in April.

Mr Trump hosted Mr Buhari on April 30 in Washington as the two leaders discussed issues including fighting terrorism and other threats to peace and security.

According to FT article titled, Africa looks for something new out of Trump, on Monday, Mr Trump told his aides he never wanted to meet with someone as lifeless as the Nigerian president again.

The first meeting, with Nigerias ailing 75-year-old Muhammadu Buhari in April, ended with the US president telling aides he never wanted to meet someone so lifeless again, according to three people familiar with the matter, FT reported.

In reaction to this, the senator said the comment, just like other times Mr Trump had spoken ill of Africa, is an attack on Nigeria and the continent.

He challenged African leaders to defend their integrity while charging them to seek political and economic prosperity within the continent rather than going out.

First our continent Africa was called a shithole, then a Black woman Omarosa was called a dog and now our president was called Lifeless. President Trump contempt for Africa and the black race has become a component of his character and conduct and it stands condemned.

Trump words, if actually uttered against President Buhari, is an attack on the honour of our country and our race.

African leaders must come out of their cowardly shell and defend the integrity and moral uprightness of their people whenever its under attack by ultra right leaders.

Its ironic that the same President Trump that publicity applauded our president can go behind him and uttter such a derogatory and demeaning remarks. Its time African leaders look within the continent for their political and economic prosperity than going to those who will humiliate them.

Mr Sani condemned the statement accusing the author of indecency.

The lifeless statement against our president stands condemned.

President Trump has crossed the line of decency. Trumps statement against our President stands against the spirit and principles of American values and democracy, he said.The Nigerian Navy said it has constituted a court martial to try three naval personnel allegedly involved in the theft of some equipment belonging to Government Ekpemukpolo, a.k.a Tompolo.

Saleh Usman, the outgoing Flag Officer Commanding (FOC), Central Naval Command, disclosed this on Monday during a farewell parade organised in his honour at the Warri Naval Base.

Mr Usman who was flanked by the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) DELTA, Commander, Ibrahim Dewu, said the Navy had concluded investigations into the alleged involvement of the officers in the crime

He added that a court martial had been set up to try the suspects accordingly and would be dismissed from service and handed over to the police if found guilty.

The suspects were allegedly caught with some Tompolos equipment currently confiscated by the federal government.

We all know that there is no institution without bad eggs. To ensure the image of the Navy is not soiled, we have instituted a martial committee to try the suspects.

They are currently in detention. So, if after their trial and they are found guilty, we will dismiss and hand them over to the police for prosecution.

In the next two weeks, the court martial will start sitting and the outcome of the trial will be made public, that I can assure you.

We will not cover anybody up. We have our integrity to protect too, Usman said.

The naval boss urged the ratings to shun partisan politics and show supreme respect to the constitution and the constituted authorities.

The democratic system of government is vital for Nigeria if we aspire to be part of globalisation and the attendant development.

I therefore urge you to shun partisan politics as we approach the 2019 general elections, he said.

Mr Usman said the Central Naval Command was notorious for illegal activities such as crude oil theft, illegal bunkering, piracy and sea robbery adding that the Command was able to checkmate the activities of the criminals.

He also said that the introduction of swamp buggy operations had led to the destruction of over 80 illegal refining sites and 220 illegal refineries.

(NAN)The Chairman of Police Service Commission (PSC), Musiliu Smith, says the commission has concluded plans to reposition police colleges nationwide to train 31,000 personnel per year.

Mr Smith, a former Inspector-General of Police, made the disclosure when he led PSC board members on an inspection tour of Police College, Oji River, Enugu State on Tuesday.

Mr Smith, represented by a Commissioner in the board, Austin Braimoh, said the total upgrade of police colleges had become necessary to meet the presidential mandate of training 31,000 police recruits yearly.

He said the police colleges in the country currently could only cater for the training needs of 15,000 police recruits as their training session lasted between nine and 12 months.

It has become necessary to train police personnel in conducive and decent environment to enable them have decent mentality to work and serve with dignity, courtesy and self-confidence.

There is the need for more instructors as well as decent and more accommodation spaces for the instructors and students.

The board wants to evolve a police that Nigerians can be proud of and associate with. That is why we want to start the reformation and change from the entry point, which is the police colleges.

So, we are leaving no stone unturned as we start our assessment of police colleges with the Police College, Oji River, Mr Smith said.

Mr Smith noted that the board members anticipated to see worst scenario in this college but we have seen that this place is better when compare with what had been said about other colleges.

He, however, lauded the management of the institution for managing the scarce resources and personnel in running the college.

The chairman explained that the board would surely help the college to improve on its capacity to have an intake above 1,200 students for each session.

We saw some dilapidated buildings to be renovated and put to viable use, put ventilation and nets on them as well as making the clinic and its ambulance optimally functional.

We also feel that urgently, we have to see how to fix the water reticulation as the college has a good and functional bore hole.

There is also the need to continuously cut the grasses here to checkmate mosquitoes and reptiles, he said.

(NAN)The Nigerian Prison Service (NPS) has emerged winner of the 2018 UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy due to an education for prisoners programme being run by the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).

The prize was jointly instituted by UNESCO and the Peoples Republic of China in 2007 to reward outstanding individuals, governments and NGOs working to promote literacy for rural adults and out-of-school young people, particularly women and girls.

It was named after Confucius (551-479 BC), the Chinese educator and philosopher and one of the most famous historical and cultural figures, whose thinking still has great influence on education in China and the world today.

Winners of the prize are awarded a silver medal, a diploma and US$20,000 prize money, as well as a trip to the birthplace of Confucius.

The NPS, which was selected as one of the five winners of this years prize, got the laurel in recognition of its innovative literacy programme of equipping prisoners with useful skills and professions to facilitate income generation upon discharge and discourage future crime.

In a press release, the Director of Media and Publicity, NOUN, Ibrahim Sheme, stated that the university, Africas top Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institute, has for years been running the programme in Nigerian prisons without charging any fees.

Sheme also revealed that a letter from UNESCO to the Comptroller-General of the NPS, Jaafaru Ahmed, said that the prizes jury highly appreciated the programme for its innovative approach in equipping prisoners with useful skills and professions to facilitate income generation upon discharge (and) discourage future crime.

Also, a letter from Nigerias Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, Miriam Katagum, intimated the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, that UNESCO recognised that the NPSs education programme is effective through the establishment of Prisons Study Centres by the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).

NOUN should therefore be congratulated as the facilitator of the programme that won the Nigerian Prisons Service this important UNESCO prize.

UNESCOs Assistant Director-General for Education, Stefania Giannini, said in a letter to the NPSs Ahmed that the Confucius Prize will be given at an award ceremony for the UNESCO International Literacy Prizes, scheduled to take place at the organisations headquarters in Paris on September 7.

Both Mr Ahmed and the Vice-Chancellor of NOUN, Abdalla Adamu, have been invited by UNESCO to attend the award ceremony.

An elated Mr Adamu said in response to the news: Glory be to God for this recognition of our programme to empower prisoners and provide totally free education to them from undergraduate all the way to PhD.

We are also ready making plans to recruit those who finished their PhDs as facilitators and supervisors for other inmates. This will be made easier with our proposed forthcoming Directorate of Learning Management System (DLMS).The federal government on Tuesday, denied that there were plans to sell the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG).

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, debunked the allegation during an investigative hearing by House of Representatives Committee on Gas Resources and Allied Matters in Abuja.

Mr Kachikwu, who was represented by Director, Gas Resources in the ministry, said that they were not aware of any plans to sell NLNG by the federal government.

The documents submitted by the ministry and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on the issue, though harmonized, were not accepted by the committee because of identified issues.

The committee discovered irregularities in the documents as presented by NNPCs Chief Operating Officer (Upstream), Bello Rabiu, who represented the Group Managing Director (GMD), Baru Maikanti.

The committee also pointed out that the documents were not authenticated as they were unsigned.

This was in spite of the explanation by representative of the GMD that the documents may be different but that the figures were the same.

Also, the lawmakers queried NNPC and the Petroleum Ministry over some increases in the upgrade contract of OML 58 and the execution of the Northern Option pipeline.

NNPC was said to have entered into a Joint Venture with Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (TEPNG), with a Modified Carry Agreement.

The agreement entailed the award of contract to TEPNG to execute the OML 58 Upgrade 1 in 2008, Obite-Ubeta-Rumuji pipeline in 2010, and the Northern Option Pipeline in 2011.

But, Mr Rabiu defended NNPC, telling the lawmakers that no money had been paid on the variations.

The Chairman of the committee, Fred Agbedi, said though the Parliament made the laws, it did not say that the contractor should be employed as a learning curve, adding that the contract value was too staggering.

He requested that the committee wished to see resolutions of NNPC and Total Board of Directors on the contract before it was awarded to ensure that they complied with procurement laws.

(NAN)The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) on Monday said it would shut down radio and television stations owing the commission licensing fees.

The Director General, Ishaq Modibbo-Kawu, said that any broadcasting station that failed to come up with a payment plan before September 15 would be shut down.

Mr Modibbo-Kawu said this at a news briefing in Lagos after a meeting with the stakeholders in the broadcasting industry.

He said that the broadcasting stations are owing the commission N4.3 billion.

According to him, there was an agreement between the stakeholders and the NBC in February 2017 on how to recover the debt. He said the stations had reneged on the agreement.

He said that it would not be ideal to mention the broadcasting stations due to the relationship between the parties and that the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) and NBC would be meeting.

There will be a consultative meeting between BON and NBC.

Stations must try to regularise or work on a payment plan. The truth of the matter is if there is nothing definite done by trying to pay the money owed NBC we are going to close down quite a number of radio and television stations.

Especially because we know that a lot of them are targeting elections and the money they will make.

We will make it impossible for them to make that money because if they do not pay their licensing fees, then they have no right to enjoy any freebies from elections.

The DG also spoke on the issue of sanctions on various broadcasting stations saying that broadcasting ethics stresses that the peace and unity of the country should be paramount.

He said that in a situation where the ethical boundaries have been breached at various times by a broadcasting station, such a station would be sanctioned or shut down as the case may be.

Mr Modibbo-Kawu said that the commission does not ban songs, but certain songs cannot be broadcast due to their content.

Songs that should be broadcast in Nigeria are songs that families could listen to, he said.

According to him, young artists influence Nigerian children and as such they should be mindful of the songs they air.

Young people are the greatest export of our country in terms of their artistic work and our country is a country of young people, he said.

(NAN)More than 10 ministers from Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC), and African Union (AU) representatives have converged in Abuja to adopt a strategy aimed at regaining areas captured by Boko Haram insurgents and tackling the economic crises around the lake.

The aim of the conference is to validate the adoption of regional stabilisation strategy of the areas affected by the insurgency through their representing ministers and supported by the United Nations Development Program.

In November 2017, the African Union Commission, (AUC), Lake Chad Basin Commission, (LCBC) and development partners organised the first conference on the development of a framework for a regional stabilisation strategy.

The framework was aimed at facilitating a transition from active military engagement to addressing the root cause of the crises and rationalising various initiative to stabilise area affected by Boko Haram, Mamman Nuhu, Executive Secretary, LCBC, said.

The three-day conference which began Monday at Transcop Hilton, Abuja, draws participants from the region, ministers, diplomats and experts from member States.

Mr Nuhu said that the draft is anchored on nine strategic objectives. He said the strategy is designed to address the short, medium and long term needs of the region towards stabilisation, resilience and recovery of the affected areas.

He said there will be a strong imperative to involve local communities in the implementation of development initiative.

He added that the strategy has outlined nine pillars of interventions as well as implementation mechanism, roles and responsibilities of stakeholders.

He said the budget of strategy and how to mobilise the necessary resources to implement it were also spelt out.

The UN Resident, Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, and Samuel Bwalya in a keynote address expressed honour being part of the validation process of the regional strategy.

It is an honour for me to be here with you this morning and be part of the opening ceremony of this important validation process of the Regional Strategy for the Stabilisation, Recovery and Resilience of the Boko-Haram affected areas of the Lake Chad Basin.

Over the next few days, we will have the opportunity to discuss, debate, and internalise the draft Strategy that has been developed by the Lake Chad Basin Commission and the African Union Commission. I want to take this opportunity to congratulate these key partners for their leadership in this process and convening this Experts Meeting and the Ministerial Conference planned for later this week, Mr Kallon said.

PHOTO GALLERY

He noted that the meetings are critical stepping stones towards a resolution of the crisis around Lake Chad.

For decades, the Lake Chad Basin has been plagued by underdevelopment, weak governance, low levels of education, and exclusion of women and youth in decision-making structures, and a myriad of environmental challenges that have been exacerbated by drastic climate change in recent times, he explained.

He said the Lake Chad, which had historically provided a lifeline to millions in the sub-region, had diminished and become increasingly unpredictable.

The prospects of supporting an ever-increasing population and demographic pressures have become even more challenging. These root causes underpin the general cycle of violence seen in the sub-region  both in terms of increased banditry and a resilient insurgency, he said.

Also, Mr Bwalya expressed the commitment of United Nations to support stability and recovery of the Lake Chad.

The United Nations will continue to be a partner to the Lake Chad sub-region as it continues its path towards stability, recovery and resilience.

We continue to support those who need life saving assistance, whilst at the same time supporting Member States to build longer term resilience for affected populations.

With support from the German Government, a flagship project has been launched by the United Nations Development program, UNDP, to support regional stabilisation which, amongst other achievements, facilitated the establishment of the Lake Chad Basin Governors Forum in May of this year as well as supported the development of the regional stabilisation strategy.

As the regional strategy is finalised, UNDP and the entire UN system stands ready to support, where it may be necessary, partners to ensure an inclusive, sustainable, and accountable implementation of the strategy to help lift millions of vulnerable people out of poverty, stop the continued violence, and put the Lake Chad sub-region on a path to sustainable development, he said.

The deliberations will continue till Wednesday. Also, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will declare the Ministerial meeting on August 30 open.

The first conference was held in November 2017 in NDjamena, the capital of Chad.Britain supports South Africas land reform programme provided it is carried out legally, Prime Minister Theresa May said in Cape Town on Tuesday, adding that she would discuss the issue with President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The UK has for some time now supported land reform. Land reform that is legal, that is transparent, that is generated through a democratic process, May told newsmen.

Its an issue that I raised and discussed with President Ramaphosa when he was in London earlier this year.

Ill be talking about it with him later today.

NAN reports that on August 22, U.S. President Donald Trump said he had asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to study South African land and farm seizures and killing of farmers, prompting Pretoria to accuse Mr Trump of stoking racial divisions.

Mr Trumps comments have inflamed an already high-octane debate over land in South Africa, a country that remains deeply racially divided and unequal nearly a quarter of a century after Nelson Mandela swept to power at the end of apartheid.

I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and large scale killing of farmers, Mr Trump said on Twitter.

South Africas foreign ministry will seek clarification of Mr Trumps comments from the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, President Cyril Ramaphosas spokeswoman said, adding that Trump was misinformed.

South Africa totally rejects this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past, a tweet from South Africas official government account said in response to Mr Trumps comments.

South Africas communications minister said Mr Trumps tweet would not affect relations between South Africa and the United States.

The tweet has not determined our approach to the United States on our current relationship and future relationship, Nomvula Mokonyane said after a cabinet meeting.

The U.S. State Department was not immediately available for comment on Trumps tweet.

Mr Ramaphosa announced on August 1 that the ruling African National Congress (ANC) plans to change the constitution to allow the expropriation of land without compensation, as whites still own most of South Africas land.

Mr Ramaphosa has said any land reform will be conducted without an impact on economic growth or food security.

No land has been seized since the reform plans were announced, the ANC says.

Mr Trumps tweet appeared to be a response to a Fox News report on Wednesday that focused on South Africas land issue and murders of white farmers.

Violent crime is a serious problem across South Africa and 47 farmers were killed in 2017, according to statistics from AgriSA, an association of agricultural associations.

However, farm murders are at a 20-year low.

Since the end of apartheid in 1994, the ANC has followed a willing-seller, willing-buyer model under which the government buys white-owned farms for redistribution to blacks.

Progress has been slow and most South Africans believe something has to be done to accelerate change, providing it does not hurt the economy or stoke unrest.

Reforming the land distribution and ownership will be good for South Africa, said political analyst Nic Borain.

That there will be instability and worries about property rights is inevitable, but we dont expect that the government will act in a way that radically destabilises investor security.

Mr Trumps tweet came days after it was announced that his wife, Melania, would travel to Africa in October for her first major solo international trip as first lady.

In January, South Africa protested to the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria about reported remarks by Mr Trump that some immigrants from Africa and Haiti came from shithole countries.

South Africas foreign ministry called the remarks, which sources said Trump made during a meeting on immigration legislation, crude and offensive and said Trumps subsequent denial was not categorical.

AfriForum, an organisation that mostly represents white South Africans who have described land expropriation as catastrophic, travelled to the U.S. earlier this year to lobby the Senate and other officials.

(Reuters/NAN)The Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KIRS) on Monday described the allegation that it diverted N3 billion as spurious and unfounded.

Hassana Salahu, the Director of Administration and Corporate Affairs at KIRS, while addressing journalists in Lokoja, said that the monthly revenue the state realised from Dangote Group was just N65 million.

She said that the organisations revenue accounts are domicile in the governors office, denying the existence of any other accounts outside the ones approved by the government.

Ms Salahu explained that the Chairman of KIRS, Yakubu Oseni, was not a signatory to any of the accounts, saying that the service operates cashless operations.

The director said that the last time Dangote Group remitted as much as N1 billion to the KIRS was in 2016, saying that the amount was an accumulation of unremitted taxes for years.

Mr Salahu dismissed the allegation in its entirety, describing it as fake and hate speech.

It would be recalled that the allegation by some section of the media that the service diverted N3 billion to illegal accounts had been circulated in some quarters for days.

It was alleged that the money was tax proceeds from Dangote Cement and its subsidiaries operating in the state.

(NAN)Abubakar Tsav, a former Federal Commissioner in the Public Complaints CommIssion (PCC), said he was invited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to throw more light in a petition he wrote against Governor Samuel Ortom in 2016.

Mr Tsav told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Makurdi that the petition was a product of complaints he received while serving as PCC boss in the state between 2015 and 2018.

He said the complaints were too weighty to be treated as mere public complaints because they touched on serious financial infractions against the state.

According to him, the issues contained in the complaints are questionable monetary withdrawals involving hundreds of millions of naira from joint governments accounts to unknown destinations.

Specifically, the former police commissioner, a self styled anti-corruption crusader, accused the Benue Government of allowing fronts to make huge withdrawals from a joint account it had with the local government.

He alleged that the withdrawals, amounting to N929.9 million, were withdrawn by two fronts, Festus Andoor and John J Bako, at different intervals between 2015 and 2016.

He also alleged that one Titus Zam, a former special adviser to Ortom on Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, and the state governor were aware of the transactions.

According to him, withdrawals ranged between N525 million and N20 million at several installments at different times.

He said that such withdrawals were questionable, especially after the state received its remittances from the Paris Club Refunds, which was meant to defray the backlog of workers salaries.

The former police boss expressed regretted that the Bureau sent a request for Bail Out funds by the staff strength they met. Yet, as soon as bail out funds were received, a staff audit was carried out and Mr Zam announced that 5,000 ghost workers were found.

He said it was worrisome that after declining payment to over 5000 people on account of being ghost workers, the remaining bonafide ones were still being owed.

Mr Tsav said even though, the petition was sent to the anti-graft agency in 2016 and duly acknowledged, the EFCC sent him a letter dated August 20 requesting his appearance before it on August 26 for more information on the petition.

He said the letter inviting him for additional information was signed by the commissions Director of Operations, Mohammed Abba.

Mr Tsav said he had since honoured the request and furnished EFCC with all necessary information on the petition.

Meanwhile, the Benue Government has obtained a court order to serve substituted service on Mr Tsav in a renewed criminal suit filed against him by the Benue Attorney General, Mike Gusah, at the Makurdi Chief Magistrates Court.

NAN recalls that the state government had dropped the case against Mr Tsav following the intervention of notable elders in the state and an appeal to Mr Tsav to apologise to the governor and withdraw any petition against him.

The order for substituted services was granted on Tuesday by Magistrate Isaac Ajim after listening to arguments of the complainants counsel, Andrew Wombo.

(NAN)The Kaduna State Peace Commission on Tuesday inaugurated its committees in all the 23 local government areas of the state.

The chairman of the commission, Josiah Idowu-Feron, said in Kaduna that the inauguration was part of ongoing efforts to ensure harmonious coexistence among the people.

He noted that the committees were structured as institutional response to the crises facing the state.

It has always been argued that weak governance, ineffective conflict management systems associated with low capacity at the local government and community levels account for most of the conflicts in Nigeria.

He said the council chairmen would be saddled with the responsibility of chairing the peace committee of their respective LGAs, while their secretaries would serve as the vice-chairmen.

Three persons will represent the diverse demography of the LGA, one representative from the Muslim and the Christian communities.

One person representing traditional institutions, youth representative, and the vigilance service coordinators in each of the LGA, he said

According to him, the commission is working on a 5-year strategic plan, aimed at transforming Kaduna state into the most peaceful in Nigeria.

It is our hope that very soon, early warning and early response mechanisms will be set up in each LGA.

We strongly advised that quick response and mediation sub-committees should be constituted in all LGAs to deal with all emerging issues that could trigger all forms of social disorders, he said.

He appealed to all political parties and stakeholders to imbibe the spirit of democratic values and conduct their campaigns in peace.

On his part, Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State said the Commission inaugurated in November 2017, was to help drive commitment toward sustained peace and harmony in the state.

The governor also called for sustenance of monthly security meetings, to improve the security situations in all the LGAs.

Watch out for people who sale alcohol and hard drugs, because these are usually the foundation of conflict, he said.

(NAN)The Kaduna State Government has directed all political appointees aspiring for seats in the state House of Assembly to resign immediately.

In a statement signed by Governor El-Rufais Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Samuel Aruwan, it said the resignation would enable the appointees to comply with the relevant sections in the All Progressive Congress constitution.

The resignation of the appointees will enable them to comply with the relevant sections of the APCs constitution, the statement said.

The statement did not name any of the political appointees aspiring for the legislative seats.Mathew Emuekpere, the Flag Officer Commanding, Eastern Naval Command (ENC), Nigerian Navy, said the command seized over 13,803 bags of smuggled rice valued at N22.8 million in the past seven months.

Mr Emuekpere disclosed this on Tuesday in Calabar, Cross River State, during the handing over of the commands leadership to his successor, David Adeniran.

He said the rice was seized due to the sustained patrol of the maritime domain by personnel of the command.

According to him, the anti-smuggling operation was carried out in line with President Muhammadu Buharis policy of enhancing and promoting local production of rice.

Gladly, in the last seven months, we have been able to achieve some of our set targets in view of the numerous challenges.

To a great extent, we have successfully dealt with illegal bunkering, crude oil theft, smuggling, human trafficking, piracy and sea robbery in Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Rivers states that are under the command.

Within this period, the command seized over 13, 803 bags of imported rice valued at N220.8 million at N16,000 per bag and several contrabands.

These were made possible by continuous deployment of various platforms within the command area of responsibility throughout my stay as the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC).

Within this period also, the command was able to shut down over 150 illegal refineries through sustained operation, while over 90 suspects were arrested for various maritime crimes, he said.

Receiving the flag of leadership, the new FOC, Mr Adeniran, commended Mr Emuekpere for his dynamic leadership in improving the welfare of personnel and protecting the maritime domain.

I want to commend the former FOC for his development drive in the command and also urge officers and men of this command to accord me the needed support to move the Nigerian Navy forward.

Our purpose is to fight all forms of illegality to ensure that our maritime domain is safe for business to thrive.

We are military men, involving in politics or social media activities is not accepted, he said.

NAN reports that Mr Emuekpere has been deployed to Navy Headquarters in Abuja as the Head of Administration.

(NAN)Gunmen on Tuesday shot dead a former councillor in the Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta, Blessing Oguori.

The Commissioner of Police in Delta, Muhammad Mustafa, confirmed the development in an interview with reporters in Warri.

Mr Mustafa said the incident occurred on Monday at Osubi Road in the Okpe Local Government Area of Delta.

He said that investigations had commenced, adding: we are looking for the suspects whose identities are known.

Witnesses said that the deceased was with the son of one Newton Agbofodo and that the boy was also shot.

Oguori was a former Personal Assistant to Agbofodo and was with the son of his former boss, who was also shot but the bullet did not penetrate him, the witness said

The police chief said that Mr Oguoris remains had been deposited at an undisclosed morgue. (NAN)The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide on Tuesday warned that denying the Igbo people their turn to produce the president of Nigeria in 2023 will spell doom for the country.

This warning was part of resolutions reached by the group at its meeting in Abakaliki where it deliberated on several issues affecting the Igbo in the Nigeria.

In a statement issued at the end of the meeting by its Secretary-General, Okwu Nnabuike; and Deputy National Public Relations Officer, Ado Osaka, the group stressed that 2023 Igbo Presidency was not negotiable.

It argued that conceding power to Ndigbo would ensure justice, equity and fairness in the countrys political arena.

The leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide met today in Abakiliki, Ebonyi state being 28th August 2018 and deliberated extensively on issues affecting Ndigbo Economically and politically and resolved as follows.

OYC insists that 2023 Igbo Presidency is not negotiable, and its our date with destiny and any manoeuvring may spell doom to the unity of the country, as the recent unjust appointments since 2015 by the Presidency resulted to the rise of Biafra agitation, and those seeking Igbos votes in 2019 across Nigeria where Igbo reside must consider

handing power to Igbos for justice, equity and fairness in 2023, those clamouring for restructuring should think twice, and no Northern President will restructure a system that favours the north more than the Southerners, its only a Southern President will restructure Nigeria.

Ohanaeze Youths frown at the report that some cabal in APC had perfected plans to return power to South-west instead of South-east immediately after President Buhari quits power. We still insist that the presidency should refute such negative plot or it will make Ndigbo to consider other political options before them in 2019.

We are aware that irrespective of INEC officials denying Igbos their constitutional

rights in some parts of Nigeria to collect their PVCs in 2015 outside Igbo land, our voting strength in South-west is equal to that of the indigenes, even in the North. We have more than 12 million registered Igbos in Northern Nigeria and 5 million Igbos in South-west

OYC insists that APC had not fulfilled their political promises to the people of South-east, which includes the campaign promise of President Buhari to revamp Enugu coal mine which had been politically closed for 45years now, irrespective of the projects the presidency insists they attracted to South-east. But if APC continue to give priority to other zones more than South-east, it may spell doom for them. APC need Ndigbo More than Ndigbo needs them.

The group also congratulated the Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu, and the people of the state on the 27th anniversary of the creation of the state.

The group also backed Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadus single term proposal for president and governors.

We support the single tenure of six years for president and governors proposed by Senator Ike Ekweremadu. We believe it (will) help to unite Nigeria than divide us.Abia State Police Command has impounded a large quantity of military uniforms, allegedly imported from China and stocked at a warehouse in Aba, the commercial hub of the state.

The State Commissioner of Police, Anthony Ogbizi, made this disclosure at the Umuahia Central Police Station on Tuesday, while briefing journalists on the achievements recorded by the command in the fight against crime and criminality within the last two weeks.

Mr Ogbizi said the owner of the warehouse, one Michael Onuoha, was arrested for alleged conspiracy, aiding and abetting the unlawful procurement, importation and possession of the uniforms, which were mainly camouflage.

He alleged that the Managing Director of Messrs U.U Iruoha, one Uche Iruoha, popularly called Urchman, shipped the uniforms in a container to Apapa Port, Lagos, from where they were transported to Aba in March.

The police commissioner said that Mr Onuoha was arrested on August 16 but that Mr Iruoha was still in China.

Abubakar Ibrahim, a brigadier general and Commander, 14 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Ohafia, who accompanied the police boss at the briefing, said that the army was worried by the development.

Mr Ibrahim said it was disturbing that unscrupulous persons wear military uniforms and camouflage to commit crimes.

He said that the organisation was collaborating with the police and other security agencies to check the phenomenon and ensure that perpetrators were arrested and brought to book.

In a related development, the police also arrested two officials of a new generation bank in Umuahia for alleged conspiracy to defraud a high profile customer of the bank.

The suspects, which included a Marketer, Promise Nwangene, and Customer Service Officer, Kenneth Ebereonu, were alleged to have collected the bank account details of the customer, names withheld, including the Bank Verification Number and Automated Teller Machine, which they posted online.

The police commissioner said their intention was to begin to steal the N1 million in the account but nemesis caught up with them.

He alleged that Mr Nwangene in a bid to pass the information to his accomplice, Kenneth, mistakenly sent it to a WhatsApp group chat, where it was intercepted by a friend of the customer, who alerted the management of the bank.

Mr Nwangene told journalists that they collected the bank details in order to reactivate the account for the owner and that no fraud was intended.

He said he saved the information to be able to access it for the reactivation of the account but mistakenly posted it online.

To further diffuse the allegation of fraud, the two suspects said that no money had been removed from the account since July 1, when the information was posted, to date.

We would have started removing money from the account or eloped since July 1, if the intention was to commit fraud, they said.

Also in police net were a 65-year-old iron bender, Mr Chukwuma Orji, and two others, arrested in connection with the alleged kidnap of Dr. Innocent Iwegbu, a medical doctor with the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia.

Mr Ogbizi said that one of the suspects, Ikechukwu Ogbonna, who confessed to the crime, said that Orji, who lived close to the victim, allegedly availed the gang with the information that led to his kidnap.

He said police busted the gang with the assistance of the people of Ohokobe Ndume community, near Umuahia, where the victim was held hostage in a hideout.

The gang had demanded N5 million ransom from the relatives of the doctor before he was rescued on August 16.

The command also arrested four robbery and rape suspects for allegedly terrorising the Ohuhu communities, near Umuahia, with machete and other dangerous weapons.

They were alleged to have broken into the house of one Mrs Osinachi Stephen in the area, where they allegedly gang raped her and dispossed her of her valuables.

Mr Ogbizi also said the command recovered a Toyota Camry, which was snatched from the owner, one Augustine Uchenna, at a gunpoint in Umuahia.

He said two suspects, Kalu Kalu and Ndubuisi George, were arrested in connection with the theft of the vehicle.

He said the police also recovered N385,000 being part of N695,000 allegedly snatched from one Nnamdi Nwosu by robbers, said to be operating in a stolen tricycle (Keke Napep).

The police boss said that Mr Nwosu was on his way to deliver the money from his master to somebody at Umuobasi Village in Umuahia before he was attacked.

He said that the robbers chopped off Mr Nwosus finger, when he attempted to resist them.

He said that the command had also recovered the stolen tricycle.

Mr Ogbizi appealed to residents of the state to be vigilant and assist the police with relevant information that could help in crime reduction.

He said the command would not rest on its oars but would sustain the war against violent crimes in the state.

He said the suspects would be arraigned at the end of the ongoing investigation.

(NAN)The Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described Mondays defection of its chairman, Moshood Salvador, to the All Progressives Congress(APC) as good riddance.

Mr Salvador defected to APC with his supporters on account that his efforts to reposition PDP in the state were frustrated by some elders of the party.

He said he left PDP because the party abandoned him when he was detained in connection with the murder of Adeniyi Aborishade on July 21.

Recall that Mr Salvador, along with 10 others were charged with conspiracy and murder.

They were arraigned in a Yaba Chief Magistrates Court and remanded in prison.

Mr Aborishade, a PDP member, was murdered during the partys Visitation Meeting, that held at Igboseku village, Eti-Osa Local Government Area.

An Ikeja High Court, however, dismissed the murder charge filed against Mr Salvador based on legal advice from Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The former PDP chairman said he could no longer labour in vain, hence his defection to the APC with his supporters.

Reacting, the state Publicity Secretary of PDP, Taofik Gani, said in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos, that the party was better without its former chairman.

Mr Gani said that Salvador was being economical with the truth by claiming he left the party because of Olabode George, a leader of the party.

He said Mr George was actually his benefactor as he facilitated his becoming the state chairman and stood by him during the factional feud in the state chapter.

Mr Gani said that Salvador was not a team player, adding that the party was never demoralised by Salvadors exit.

(NAN)An Igbosere High Court, Lagos, has fixed September 4 for ruling on an application seeking release of a 34-year-old man, Segun Odumeru, who has been in Kirikiri Prison since 2009 without trial.

The vacation Judge, Idowu Alakija, fixed the date after listening to the fundamental rights application brought by the applicants counsel, Tunji Abdulhameed.

Mr Abdulhameed had filed a motion on notice against the police in Lagos State and their privies as the respondents.

He told the court that the applicant was arrested by the police in April 2009 and brought before a magistrate court on a holding charge of armed robbery.

Mr Abdulhameed said that the court had ordered the remand of Mr Odumeru at the Kirikiri Prison pending when appropriate charge would be brought against him.

He said that Mr Odumeru, who was 25 years old in 2009, has been in custody without any proper charge brought against him.

The lawyer also said that the applicant has never been taken to court after the remand order was made.

Mr Abdulhameed urged the vacation judge to make an order releasing Odumeru from custody unconditionally.

He said that the application seeking the release of the applicant from custody was brought pursuant to Order 2 Rules 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the fundamental rights enforcement procedural rules.

Mr Abdulhameed said that the application was seeking an order of the court to declare the continuous detention of his client at the instance of the police as unlawful.

The lawyer also sought the order of the court for the applicant to be released from custody unconditionally.

He urged the court to give an order restraining the respondent (police) or any of their privies from further detention of the applicant.

Mr Abdulhameed said that the application was supported by a written address and a six-paragraph affidavit.

(NAN)A former student of The Polytechnic Ibadan, Ahmed Olalekan, has been killed by suspected cultists.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that before his death on Monday, Mr Olalekan belonged to an anti-cultism group, The Polytechnic Ibadan Students Forum, comprising of current and former students of the institution.

The ex-student was reportedly axed to death in his apartment at Apete area in Ibadan.

Spokesman of the students forum, Adeyemi Ridwan, who spoke with our correspondent. blamed the institutions authority for the tragedy saying they did not act to preempt the strike by the cult members.

We got the call while watching Manchester United match on Monday that our man was killed by Aye (confraternity) members, he said.

Confirming the incident, the Oyo State Police spokesperson, Adekunle Ajisebutu in a text message sent to PREMIUM TIMES said the situation has been brought under control adding that some persons have been arrested.

The situation has been brought under control following immediate deployment of policemen to maintain law and order there. Some arrests have been made and exhibits such as axes and cutlasses recovered. The State CP, Abiodun Odude, has directed that discrete investigation into the incident be carried out and suspects arrested be charged to court, Mr Ajisebutu said.

Efforts to get a reaction from the institutions management were unsuccessful.

The Rector, Tunde Fawole, did not respond to calls and text messages sent to him by PREMIUM TIMES on the allegations raised by the students forum.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.



"Insight continues to prove that it's much more than just a pretty face with great fuel-efficiency ratings." said Ray Mikiciuk, assistant vice president of Honda Automobile Sales. "With standard Honda Sensing  active safety tech and a TOP SAFETY PICK+ rating, Insight is a hybrid with some serious safety chops."

To qualify for the 2018 TOP SAFETY PICK+ award, a vehicle must earn "GOOD" ratings in the driver-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests and an "ACCEPTABLE" or "GOOD" rating in the passenger-side small overlap test. It also needs an available front crash prevention system that earns an "ADVANCED" or "SUPERIOR" rating and available good-rated headlights.

On sale since June 29, the 2019 Honda Insight offers class-leading power and passenger space, universally appealing styling, and an EPA fuel economy rating of 55 mpg1 city (LX/EX), while simultaneously bringing a new level of driving sophistication and style to the compact hybrid market. All 2019 Insights are equipped with the Honda Sensing suite of active safety and driver assistive features as standard equipment.

Insight was engineered to earn top-of-class collision safety ratings, which is proven true by the top rating from IIHS. In addition, Honda expects Insight to earn a 5-Star Overall Vehicle Score from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP)2.

Insight's standard Honda Sensing helps provide greater awareness of driving conditions around the vehicle, in some cases helping drivers maintain lane position and, under certain conditions, is capable of slowing or even stopping the vehicle if it detects a potential front collision. Comprising the Honda Sensing suite are Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) with Forward Collision Warning; Road Departure Mitigation (RDM) incorporating Lane Departure Warning (LDW); Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS); and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC).

About Honda

Honda offers a full line of reliable, fuel-efficient and fun-to-drive vehicles with advanced safety technologies sold through over 1,000 independent U.S. Honda dealers. The Honda lineup includes the Fit, Civic, Insight, Accord and Clarity series passenger cars, along with the HR-V, CR-V and Pilot sport utility vehicles, the Ridgeline pickup and the Odyssey minivan.

Honda has been producing automobiles in America for more than 35 years and currently operates 19 major manufacturing facilities in North America. In 2017, more than 90 percent of all Honda brand vehicles sold in the U.S. were made in North America, using domestic and globally sourced parts.

About Honda Safety Leadership

Honda has a long history of leadership in the development and application of advanced technologies designed to enhance the safety of all road users, including automobile occupants, motorcycle riders and pedestrians. The company operates two of the world's most sophisticated crash test facilities, in Ohio and Japan, and is responsible for numerous pioneering efforts in the areas of crashworthiness, airbag technology, collision compatibility and pedestrian safety.

Toward Honda's goal of a "zero-collision society," the company is broadly applying Honda Sensing and AcuraWatch advanced safety and driver-assistive technologies, now on more than one million combined vehicles on U.S. roads today. These technologies can significantly reduce the likelihood or severity of a collision and also serve as a bridge to highly-automated vehicles of the future. Honda is targeting 2020 for the deployment of vehicles with highly automated highway driving capability and 2025 for the technological achievement of SAE Level 4 automated vehicles for personal use.

1 Based on 2019 model-year EPA ratings for LX/EX models. Use for comparison purposes only. Your MPG will vary depending on driving conditions, how you drive and maintain your vehicle, lithium-ion battery pack age/condition and other factors.

2 Government 5-Star Safety Ratings are part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA's) New Car Assessment Program (www.SaferCar.gov)

SOURCE American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

Related Links

http://www.honda.com

"On behalf of the entire Saint Louis University community, I want to thank Dr. Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield for their transformational gift and for their unparalleled support of our University," said SLU President Fred P. Pestello, Ph.D.

"Through their immense generosity, the Sinquefields will provide the gift of knowledge to the world, bring further attention to the region as a research hub, and draw more outstanding scholars and students to St. Louis," Pestello continued. "For all this and more, we are deeply grateful."

The historic gift will fund a new Saint Louis University Research Institute that will serve as the focal point for SLU's strategic goal of growing the scale and eminence of its research and scholarship. It will also establish a new Sinquefield Center for Applied Economic Research and provide annual support to SLU's chess team.

"Saint Louis University was instrumental to my success in life," said Rex Sinquefield, who is a SLU alumnus and trustee. "I want generations of Saint Louis University students to enjoy the same opportunity that I had. Jeanne and I are fortunate and happy to give this gift to my alma mater. We know it will help propel Saint Louis University and its students to higher levels of excellence in scholarship and research."

Saint Louis University Research Institute

The Saint Louis University Research Institute will help set SLU on a path to become a national and international model in promoting teaching, learning and research efforts that exemplify discovery, transformative outcomes and engaged citizenship in a global society  as called for in the University's strategic plan. The new research institute will have several areas of focus, including:

Creating a Critical Mass of Highly Productive Researchers

The University will recruit and retain faculty research leaders who have a strong track record and potential for future funding and provide accompanying investments to support them. Among other efforts, SLU will create research institute fellowships for early, mid-career and highly accomplished senior faculty.

Investing in Priority Research Areas

Faculty will be encouraged to propose multi-disciplinary research programs that build upon SLU's existing strengths and have the potential to achieve significant impact. The institute will award $50,000-$100,000 planning grants to promising proposals. Projects that engage undergraduate students as collaborators will be encouraged.

Launching a Research Growth Fund

The institute will fund the acquisition of additional resources, such as instrumentation, equipment and technology, that are critical to conducting and advancing leading-edge research. A portion of the growth fund will be designated to promoting research experiences for undergraduate students, including opportunities for ambitious capstone projects.

Sinquefield Center for Applied Economic Research

The Sinquefields' gift will also launch the Sinquefield Center for Applied Economic Research and will fund a new director position  the Sinquefield Professor of Economics  to lead the center. To be housed within the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business, this new center will conduct research grounded in applied economics or the study of economic theories in practice. The gift will also support the establishment of a guest lecture series in economics and related fields.

Support for SLU's Chess Program

In addition to funding the new Saint Louis University Research Institute and the Sinquefield Center for Applied Economics, a portion of the Sinquefields' gift will support SLU's chess team, which has quickly become one of the winningest collegiate chess programs in the country. The gift will help fund student scholarships and player travel to tournaments, among other priorities to advance the University's chess program.

About Dr. Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield

Rex Sinquefield was born in St. Louis. Following the early and unexpected death of his father, he and his younger brother were raised by the Sisters of Christian Charity at the Saint Vincent Home for Children in St. Louis. After graduating from Bishop DuBourg High School, Rex Sinquefield entered the seminary. After three years, he made the difficult decision not to pursue the priesthood and enrolled at Saint Louis University.

After earning bachelor's degrees in philosophy and business at SLU, he pursued his MBA at the University of Chicago, where he met and married Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield, who also earned her MBA at the University of Chicago, as well as a doctorate in demography.

One of the inventors of a type of passive investing and a pioneer of the first index funds, Rex Sinquefield co-founded the investment firm Dimensional Fund Advisors, which today has more than $525 billion in global assets. Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield played a significant role in DFA's achievements, overseeing the Trading Department and serving as executive vice president until the Sinquefields' retirements in 2005.

Since then, the Sinquefields have dedicated their retirements to helping future generations, spending their time and resources on civic and philanthropic causes. Their Sinquefield Charitable Foundation supports programs related to music, art, education and children.

As a leader within the St. Louis region and across the state of Missouri, Rex Sinquefield actively participates in civic and cultural institutions beyond his and Jeanne's generous financial contributions, including serving on the Saint Louis University Board of Trustees, among many others.

Through the years, Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield has had a long history of supporting organizations that enhance music, art and education. She believes strongly that exposure to the arts and quality learning opportunities have lifelong benefits for children.

About Saint Louis University: Founded in 1818, Saint Louis University is one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious Catholic institutions. Rooted in Jesuit values and its pioneering history as the first university west of the Mississippi River, SLU offers nearly 13,000 students a rigorous, transformative education of the whole person. At the core of the University's diverse community of scholars is SLU's service-focused mission, which challenges and prepares students to make the world a better, more just place. For more information, visit slu.edu.

SOURCE Saint Louis UniversitySAN DIEGO, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- AnaBios, the leader in translational pain research, will present its clinical candidates for the treatment of chronic pain at the 17th IASP World Congress on Pain on September 12 in Boston, Mass. The moleculespart of AnaBios' advanced internal drug discovery programhave a novel selectivity profile and properties, targeting ion channels highly expressed in pathological states associated with pain.

"We are very encouraged by the results obtained thus far from these novel compounds and believe they present a significant opportunity for developing non-opioid therapeutics to treat chronic pain," said Dr. Andre Ghetti, Chief Executive Officer of AnaBios. "One of the company's top priorities is to advance these molecules to human clinical studies."

AnaBios employs innovative, proprietary technology that enables the screening and optimization of novel compounds directly in human tissues. In addition to its proprietary programs, AnaBios leverages this unique platform, as well as decades of extensive biopharma expertise, to help support both academia and pharmaceutical drug discovery.

AnaBios' team of executives, including Chief Commercial Officer Dr. Chris Mathes and Dr. Paul E. Miller, co-founder and Chief of Corporate Development, will be at booth 420 during the IASP World Congress on Pain to discuss our pain research and validated human tissue offerings. To arrange a meeting, please contact us at [email protected].

About AnaBios

Located in San Diego, California, AnaBios aims to establish the safety and efficacy of novel compounds through its advanced, human-focused translational technologies. AnaBios primarily focuses on areas of high, unmet medical need, including cardiac disease, pain and itch. In addition to working with Fortune 500 biotech companies, CROs and academia, AnaBios drives an internal drug discovery platform via in-licensed programs from partners in the pharmaceutical industry. For more information about AnaBios, visit http://www.anabios.com.

SOURCE AnaBios

Related Links

http://www.anabios.com

ATLANTA, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- It began as a casual inquiry in May from Farmers Insurance agent Greg Albright to his Canadian real estate client, Nova Georgia Properties. "I know an established property management company in Atlanta. Might you want to talk to them?"



Nova Georgia Properties is based in Nova Scotia. They own high occupancy residential rental properties in Georgia, including Red Oak Village in Athens and Country Club Townhomes in Milledgeville. Nova was considering a change in management of those communities, so Albright's question was timely.



Red Oak Village in Athens & Country Club Townhomes in Milledgeville (PRNewsfoto/DKRentals.net)

Albright introduced Nova to Todd Reid, owner of Atlanta's DKRentals.net. Nova explained that operation of the properties was a little disjointed. Though both had high occupancy, they had too many month to month leases at below market value, and operations reports lacked detail.



With over 60 units at each property, taking on both communities would represent an 80% increase in number of units DKRentals.net would manage. Todd Reid was prepared for such expansion, and this was his chance to prove the company was ready.

Reid offered ready solutions across the board. He contacted members of his network, Jeff Smith of Success Facets and Jon Ramey of Supporting Strategies. Smith is instrumental in positioning DKRentals.net for dramatic growth, and Ramey specializes in turnkey accounting and operational support for growing businesses.

A hallmark of DKRentals.net's management approach is transparency to both owners and tenants.



Service to owners:

stay abreast of market values and build into leases appropriate annual rent increases when justified.

motivate tenants to sign annual leases, collect rents on time and promptly address delinquencies.

provide advanced technology to better manage every facet of rental operations and reporting.

Service to tenants:



maintain a 24/7 service number, always answered by staff.

offer lease agreements, payments and work orders by computer or telephone.

address all repair issues within 24 hours.

"Prior to beginning full time property management, I was a real estate investor myself," says Reid.

"I saw the need to represent owners from a different perspective. Many real estate agencies manage long term rentals as an afterthought, often only for access to tenants who may later purchase a home."

Reid approaches operations as though each unit he manages is his own. That translates into accountability to both owners and tenants, with all issues handled in a timely and equitable manner.

Reid cultivates an extensive team of partners. Beyond HVAC, appliance and other maintenance pros, Reid utilizes the services of advanced strategic and tactical resources. This is where Jeff Smith and Jon Ramey enter into DKRentals.net's superior management.



Jeff Smith is an attorney with experience at technology and media giants. Having completed over 100 mergers and acquisitions of companies, Smith is adept at preparing clients to scale for growth. He shares expertise in the skills of business execution, leadership, strategic thinking, change management and profitability.



Jon Ramey is a seasoned finance professional, a CPA and Chartered Financial Analyst. Ramey provides sophisticated finance services beyond what most companies can employ in house. Each client is served by a dedicated account team, so information is accessible with staff absences that cause delay with typical bookkeeping services.



Nova moved quickly to engage Todd Reid's services. Less than 60 days after their introduction, DKRentals.net is at work managing Red Oak Village and Country Club Townhomes. Things are off to a good start.

After mere weeks under DKRentals.net management, Nova reports that Red Oak Village saw the best rental performance on a variety of levels in 6 years.

Contact Todd Reid and DKRentals.net at 770-518-4470 to learn more about their transparent and innovative approach to rental real estate management.



Contact:



Todd Reid

DKRentals.net

770-518-4470

www.stoddard.media



SOURCE DKRentals.net

Related Links

http://DKRentals.net

BELMONT, Calif., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Avegant Corp. ("Avegant") announced today that the company closed $12M in Series AA funding from new investors Walden SKT Venture Fund and China Walden Venture Investments III, L.P., as well as previous investors.

Ed Tang, CEO of Avegant, said, "The consumer AR industry faces significant challenges developing displays that are high resolution, small form factor, large field-of-view, light field, and low power. The industry is excited about our unique solutions to these technical challenges, which will enable previously impossible AR experiences."

Earlier this year, Avegant focused its operations on its next generation display technologies which are targeted for the consumer market. Avegant's current research builds on its industry-first light field technologies and the high resolution, low latency, and high brightness retinal displays first used in Avegant's Video Headset.

According to Dr. Om Nalamasu, President of Applied Ventures and Chief Technology Officer of Applied Materials, "Applied is excited to use its materials engineering technologies to enable new inflections like AR/VR, which require advanced displays, high-performance computing and lots of memory. We are working with Avegant to accelerate the development of their light field technology to create compelling AR applications."

"Many companies are trying to solve multiple, very difficult technical problems to bring AR experiences to consumers," said Andrew Kau, Managing Director of Walden International. "We chose to invest in Avegant because their solutions elegantly tackle these problems in creative ways that consider human factors without losing sight of manufacturability."

About Walden International:

Walden International is a leading international venture capital firm that has provided investors access to cross-border, IT opportunities with the advantage of an unrivaled pan-Asia network since 1987. The firm's funds total US$2.6 billion in committed capital. Walden International has invested in over 500 companies in 12 countries, with in excess of 100 IPOs on 15 Stock Exchanges and more than 70 M&A exits.

About Applied Ventures:

Applied Ventures, LLC, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, invests in early-stage technology companies that demonstrate the capabilities to deliver high growth and exceptional returns. Applied Ventures has invested in over 80 companies globally across many areas including semiconductors, advanced displays, AR/ VR, AI, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, energy technologies and advanced materials.

About Avegant

Avegant is a well-funded, venture-backed technology company developing next-generation display technology to enable previously impossible augmented reality experiences. The company uses its deep scientific understanding of human sight and head-mounted display ergonomics together with its consumer electronics manufacturing experience to develop displays that enable realistic AR experiences for consumers. Avegant's Light Field Technology enables a compelling, up-close, hands-on AR experience, and its Consumer AR Display Technology makes these experiences possible in a consumer wearable AR device. For more information visit avegant.com or follow Avegant on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Media Contact:

Annie Rogaski

Avegant Corp.

[email protected]

650-457-1010

SOURCE Avegant Corp.

Related Links

https://www.avegant.com

DALLAS, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A Dallas County district court judge has awarded a $2.7 million judgment to housing development partners involved in a dispute with a third partner over an apartment complex project in Round Rock, Texas.

Dallas County 192nd District Judge Craig Smith found MetroMarke Multifamily Development Fund I, LP in breach of contract for refusing to convey its partnership interest to RRAC Development GP, LLC, which caused a $2.7 million loss. MetroMarke has filed a notice of appeal.

GFD and RRAC entered into an agreement with MetroMarke to acquire real estate in Round Rock and build a multifamily residential complex. After the project stalled, MetroMarke initiated claims against GFD and RRAC, accusing the partners of concealing project-related costs in order to persuade MetroMarke to invest in the project.

On the eve of trial, MetroMarke dismissed all claims against GFD and all but two contract-related claims against RRAC. GFD and RRAC defended MetroMarke's claims against RRAC, while pursuing counterclaims.

Judge Smith found that MetroMarke breached the partnership agreement by failing to convey its interest to RRAC in May 2017 and caused GFD and RRAC to suffer damages exceeding $2.7 million. The court also determined that MetroMarke must convey its 90 percent partnership interest to RRAC at the price agreed upon in the contract.

Attorneys for Bell Nunnally representing RRAC, and Sayles Werbner representing GFD, exposed the fallacy of MetroMarke's claims.

"MetroMarke fabricated its claims against my client and RRAC in an effort to leverage them out of the partnership. We didn't blink and waited patiently for our day in court," said GFD attorney Will Snyder, a shareholder at Dallas-based Sayles Werbner.

"Our clients viewed the initial action filed by the plaintiff as nothing more than a ploy to gain control of the partnership and real estate it owned," said RRAC attorney Mike Bowers of Bell Nunnally. "The court saw through that charade."

Also representing GFD was Sayles Werbner attorney Sam Acker. Beverly Whitley of Bell Nunnally also represented RRAC.

The case is MetroMarke Multifamily Development Fund I, L.P., v. RRAC Development GP, LLC, GFD Market Rate Group I, LLC and GFD Holdings, LLC, case number DC-16-08666 in the 192nd District Court in Dallas County.

Media Contact:

Sophia Reza

800-559-4534

[email protected]

SOURCE Sayles Werbner

Related Links

http://www.swtriallaw.com

DUBAI, UAE, August 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

BIOS Middle East, the Middle East's largest cloud provider with its in region cloud, CloudHPT is pleased to announce, that it has been named by Gartner Inc. in the 2018 "Magic Quadrant for Disaster Recovery as a Service" for the second year in a row.

BIOS Middle East, which leverages its in-region cloud, CloudHPT, to deliver its Assured Recovery Services was just one of 10 vendors globally (reduced from 23 in 2017) included in this year's list and was once again the only company from the Middle East.

In the Magic Quadrant for this market sector, Gartner analysts evaluated 10 service providers that offer Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), based on their ability to execute and completeness of vision.

In the report, Gartner estimates DRaaS to currently be a $2.40 billion worldwide business that is expected to reach $3.73 billion by 2021. The report recommends, "Infrastructure and operations leaders should use this Magic Quadrant to help evaluate providers of DRaaS."

Gartner noted that our Assured Recovery Service was one of the only managed service offerings that could meet the needs of clients who needed in-country DRaaS for the UAE and KSA with the options for out of region DRaaS leveraging Azure and AWS.

A second important point Gartner raised was "The vendor has a strong focus on Disaster avoidance through proactive security information and event management SIEM) capabilities".

Rudi Feitsma, Director at BIOS says "Our approach to DRaaS is to dramatically/significantly reduce the chances of an IT disaster due to technical issues and to be able to recover IT services in the event of any such incident with a three-fold approach;

Remote monitoring and management of networks and workloads to reduce the possibility of a disaster by leveraging our BIOS Assured Service to keep workloads healthy and to know the instant they are not allowing us to proactively address potential issues.

To secure these workloads via BIOS Secured, our expansive Security Incident and Event Monitoring (SIEM) solution, continuous vulnerability scanning and our SOC Services to avoid disasters caused by ever increasing security threats and incidents.

To provide the customer with a blended SLA using industry-leading/ the best technologies for service replication and recovery which we monitor 24x7 via our in-house NOC and regular testing.

We are delighted/happy that this approach has once again been noticed and appreciated by Gartner"

About BIOS Middle East

BIOS is an award-winning Managed Service & Cloud Provider established for more than 16 years in the UAE and committed to helping organizations become more efficient and cloud enabled through in-country and global cloud networks and platforms. We provide over 400 customers with over 10,000 servers the capability they need to achieve successful transformation, through industry leading, end-to-end managed networks and security and platform solutions.

CloudHPT is the cloud division of BIOS. It is the Middle East's first and Only Cisco Powered Cloud. The solutions are built on High Performance Technology (hence HPT) and housed in the UAE's best datacenters.

The keys services provided include Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), Backup as a service (BaaS) & Managed Security Services (BIOS Assist, Assured & Secured).

BIOS is also a Microsoft Azure partner and the first company globally to order Azure Stack with Cisco. In 2017 BIOS's cloud platform CloudHPT was listed in Gartner's DRaaS Magic quadrant.

We are vendor, platform and technology agnostic (we are a fully certified and accredited partner with all the major players), ensuring that the solutions we provide are tailored to suit your exact business requirements.

For more information, please visit http://www.biosme.com & http://www.cloudhpt.com

Media Contact: Nidhi Savla, +971-43789082

SOURCE BIOS Middle EastNEW YORK, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Morgan Creek Digital, a leading digital asset management firm backed by multi-billion dollar investment advisor Morgan Creek Capital Management, today announced the launch of The Digital Asset Index Fund to provide endowments, foundations, pensions, wealthy families, and sovereign wealth funds access to broad-based digital asset exposure. The fund is a partnership with Bitwise Asset Management, the leading provider of cryptocurrency indexes and index funds, who serves as the manager.

"Every investor should be considering an allocation to digital assets right now," said Mark Yusko, CIO at Morgan Creek.

"Increasingly, institutional investors are coming to us asking for exposure to the space," said Yusko. "We wanted to create a vehicle tailored for those investors. Bitwise was the ideal partner to do this with because of their institutional approach, experienced team, and track record of success."

"We're thrilled to partner with visionaries like Mark, Anthony, and the rest of the Morgan Creek Digital team to bring this new fund to market," said Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley. "They're thought leaders, experts in asset allocation, and have spent over a decade earning the trust of their clients and institutional investors."

The Digital Asset Index Fund combines Bitwise's best-in-class quantitative index rules and professional fund management with the ongoing oversight of an index committee including Mark Yusko, Morgan Creek CIO and former UNC Endowment CIO, as well as Anthony Pompliano, Partner at Morgan Creek Digital, and Bitwise Global Head of Research Matt Hougan.

The Fund holds a market-cap-weighted basket of the top 10 largest digital assets, reconstituted monthly. Assets must pass rigorous, rules-based eligibility requirements including custody qualifications, trade concentration limits and pre-mine restrictions to qualify for inclusion. All assets are kept in 100% cold storagethe best practice for securityand are audited annually.

"Institutional investors are seeing the market pullback as an opportunity start building exposure to the space, and have been pushing us to get this fund to market quickly," said Morgan Creek Digital Partner Anthony Pompliano. "We're excited to have The Digital Asset Index Fund up and running, creating a one-stop shop for institutional investors intent on securely capturing the significant value creation taking place in the crypto market today."

The Digital Asset Index Fund launches today and is available to approved institutional investors and accredited investors, including endowments, foundations, pensions, wealthy families, and sovereign wealth funds.

For information on the Digital Asset Index Fund, visit www.digitalassetindexfund.com

About Morgan Creek Digital

Morgan Creek Digital Assets, LLC is a global asset manager providing access to blockchain technology and digital assets for institutional clients and wealthy family offices. The firm was founded by Mark Yusko, Jason Williams and Anthony Pompliano, who are known for bringing traditional asset management strategies to emerging markets and technologies. MCDA is backed by Morgan Creek Capital Management, a multi-billion dollar asset manager based in the United States.

About Mark Yusko

Mark W. Yusko is the Founder, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Morgan Creek Capital Management, LLC. Prior to forming Morgan Creek in 2004, Mr. Yusko was President, Chief Investment Officer and Founder of UNC Management Company, the Endowment investment office for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, from 1998 to 2004. Until 1998, Mr. Yusko was the Senior Investment Director for the University of Notre Dame Investment Office where he joined as the Assistant Investment Officer in October of 1993. Mr. Yusko is the President and Chairman of the Investment Committee of The Hesburgh-Yusko Scholars Foundation at the University of Notre Dame, and President and Head of Investment Committee of the Morgan Creek Foundation.

About Bitwise Asset Management

Founded in 2017, Bitwise Asset Management pioneered the first cryptocurrency index fund and is the leading provider of rules-based exposure to the cryptoasset space. The team is based in San Francisco and combines modern software expertise with decades of asset management experience, coming from firms including Facebook, Wealthfront, BlackRock, JPMorgan, US Commodity Funds, Goldman Sachs, and ETF.com. Bitwise is backed by leading institutional investors and is a partner to high net worth individuals, financial advisors, family offices, multi-family offices, investment managers and institutions in navigating the cryptoasset space. Bitwise develops funds, indexes, models, research, and other services. For more information, visit www.bitwiseinvestments.com

Bitwise Investment Advisors, LLC, a subsidiary of Bitwise Asset Management, sponsors U.S. and non-U.S. private funds that invest in cryptocurrencies.

Media

Hewes Communications, Inc.

Tucker Hewes, 212.207.9451

[email protected]

SOURCE Bitwise Asset Management

Related Links

http://www.bitwiseinvestments.com

What was it like having the most enviable job on the planet? "Crazy," Nanney said. "I'm often walking around trying to capture everything with 10 storylines in my head, talking to my camera while trying to be funny. I've loved every minute of this."

Nanney said he's also learned the some "unexpected lessons" during his dream CEO job that he would recommend to others experiencing new locations:

Value good, reliable wi-fi Talk to locals and ask for their recommendations Plan downtime to relax and soak in the moment Be flexible and pack light. Instead of booking one destination, split it up to explore somewhere new. Be open to the possibilities. Get wet. Some of the best experiences, like swimming with 40,000 lb whale sharks in Cancun , are in the water!

"Ivan has been a wonderful ambassador sharing the wonders of Cancun with the rest of world," said Lizzie Cole, director of Promotion for the Quintana Roo Tourism Board. "From adventure travelers to those looking for complete relaxation, Cancun is so much more beyond its incredible water and beautiful beaches."

"Cancun provided Ivan incredible experiences--too many to count," said Chad Meyerson, general manager of Cancun.com. "It's a dream destination when creating video and looking for unique experiences. Ivan was able to cover so much of the variety and richness the entire area has to offer."

Nanney's highlights included a solo road trip down the Grand Costa Maya to less visited areas, sampling ice cream from a family that has been making it for more than 60 years, kayaking to see hundreds of flamingos and bioluminescent plankton, exploring caves with native Mayans, and enjoying Hotel Xcaret, one of the newest and most incredible properties in the entire country.

"My heart is full to the brim with gratitude from the hospitality I have received down here," Nanney said. "I've also been extremely fortunate to share this experience with friends and family who have visited from back home."

To check out Nanney's journey as CEO of Cancun.com, follow Cancun.com's Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. For more information on traveling to Cancun, visit www.cancun.com.

About Best Day Travel

Best Day Travel Group is the leading online travel agency in Mexico, and one of the leading Latin American travel industry companies with a strong focus in business-to-business distribution. The Cancun-based company is a vertically integrated business model with an innovative technology infrastructure that leverages the expertise of six subsidiaries. These include BestDay.com, an online travel agency; BD TRAVEL Solution, a white label technology for partners; HotelDO, services for traditional travel agencies and wholesalers; BD Travel, a leading destination management company in Mexico and Punta Cana; Voiash, a travel brand focused on youth and millennials; and Gran Plan, a strategic alliance with Aeromexico working with more than 120 travel agencies in Mexico.

About TravelPass Group

TravelPass Group is a leading technology company in the travel industry. Based in Utah, TravelPass Group is a marketplace for independent and brand name hotels, wholesalers, and the world's largest travel agencies. TravelPass Group has been featured multiple times as one of the fastest growing companies locally and nationally by Deloitte Technology Fast 500 and Inc. 5000. TravelPass Group books 10,000 room nights per day through its travel-related websites, including Reservation Counter and Reservation Desk, and a best-in-class customer service center that helps travelers access more than a million properties worldwide.

SOURCE TravelPass Group

Related Links

http://www.travelpassgroup.com

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Cedar Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE : CDR ) announced today its acquisition of a 99-year leasehold with purchase option for Senator Square Shopping Center, a 62,000-square-foot shopping plaza at Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road in Northeast Washington, D.C. The transaction continues the Company's investment efforts in the D.C. market and Ward 7, in particular, which began with the acquisition of the East River Park Shopping Center in December 2015. With this acquisition Cedar believes it will be able to meaningfully expand and improve its redevelopment efforts in this important urban neighborhood.

"With this transaction, Cedar affirms its commitment to Washington, D.C. and particularly Ward 7," said Bruce J. Schanzer, Cedar Realty President and CEO. "Situated directly across the street from our East River Park Shopping Center at the intersection of Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road, Senator Square is the perfect complement to our existing investment in this exciting part of the District."



Senator Square will enhance Cedar's retail offering at East River, a 150,000-square-foot-center that anchors the downtown retail hub of this area, and the acquisition of Senator Square will enable Cedar to extend its vision of neighborhood place-making over its total 210,000 square feet. The adjacent properties are situated at the heart of a solid trade area with a median household income of $60,000 and population of 230,000 within a three-mile radius.

"We are committed to making a positive impact on Ward 7 and feel that the addition of Senator Square will expand the ongoing improvements at the East River Park Shopping Center and allow us to further unlock the potential of this wonderful community," said Cedar Realty Trust's Robin Zeigler, Executive Vice President and COO. "In and around both properties, we plan to add to the neighborhood's vitality with activities, events, art, and other outreach to complement our redevelopment efforts. We look forward to partnering with the residents through our investing activities. "



Cedar is committed to the long-term growth and improvement of both Senator Square and East River Park Shopping Center, as well as the surrounding community. Since acquiring the East River Park Shopping Center in 2015, the company has been and continues to be active in new community engagement efforts through its sponsorship of and support for numerous cultural and educational activities. Below are a few examples of new initiatives hosted at East River Park:

Mobile Art Gallery - In conjunction with CulturalDC, Cedar is hosting this interactive art display, which is free to the public at the East River Park Shopping Center. This unique program has been running since August 11th and will continue until September 29, 2018 . Local youth have transformed a 40-foot renovated shipping container into an exhibition showcasing photography taken in and inspired by their community.

- In conjunction with CulturalDC, Cedar is hosting this interactive art display, which is free to the public at the East River Park Shopping Center. This unique program has been running since and will continue until . Local youth have transformed a 40-foot renovated shipping container into an exhibition showcasing photography taken in and inspired by their community. Art All Night  A program to celebrate DC's artistic traditions through displays, demonstrations, and hand-on activities for kids.

 A program to celebrate DC's artistic traditions through displays, demonstrations, and hand-on activities for kids. Uber Greenlight Hub Community Open House  an event for the community to get to know the center's newest employer and tour the facility. The new Greenlight Hub is a state-of-the-art support and resource center for local UBER drivers.

About Cedar Realty Trust

Cedar Realty Trust, Inc. is a fully-integrated real estate investment trust which focuses on the ownership, operation and redevelopment of grocery-anchored shopping centers in high-density urban markets from Washington, D.C. to Boston. The Company's portfolio (excluding properties treated as "held for sale") comprises 59 properties, with approximately 8.7 million square feet of gross leasable area. For additional financial and descriptive information on the Company, its operations and its portfolio, please refer to the Company's website at www.cedarrealtytrust.com.

PRESS CONTACT:

Julie Chase

202-997-8677

[email protected]

SOURCE Cedar Realty Trust, Inc.

Related Links

http://cedarrealtytrust.com

More than a century and a half of service has been recognised at Naylor.

Staff who have worked for 25 and 40 years at the Barnsley-based group attended a lunch hosted by CEO Edward Naylor.

Naylor, Neil Draper, and Jason Whiteley from Naylor Concrete Products were each presented with a 25 years service award. Credit controller Janice Holmes and Nick Balfour, from Naylor Clayware, each received a 40 years service award.

Naylor said: "We're very conscious that having so many long servers sets us apart as a company - although it felt rather strange giving myself an award!"CHICAGO, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Osteopathic Association has partnered with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Tips From Former Smokers campaign to address high smoking rates among service members, who smoke at a rate 60% above the general population.

According to the CDC, approximately one in four (24%) of all active-duty military service members currently smoke.i That number jumps significantly among the young male populationmore than half (50.2%) of male veterans aged 18-25.5 smoke.ii Data from the Department of Defense indicates tobacco use costs the military approximately $1.6 billion annually in lost productivity and health care expenses.iii

In contrast, an estimated 14% of U.S. adults smoke cigarettes.

"Deployment is a factor," says Captain Dennis Amundson, DO, a pulmonary medicine physician who was stationed with the Marines, Seabees and special operations forces during his 38 years in service. "New recruits face a range of stressors and, at the same time, may enter a culture where smoking is more pervasive."

While some military personnel may have used e-cigarettes or other tobacco products prior to entering the service, Dr. Amundson suggests the sheer prevalence of smoking may encourage service people to transition to cigarettes. And though vaping data is still inconclusive, there is a growing body of evidence that indicates the trial and experimentation of e-cigarettes among youth and young adults may lead to subsequent cigarette smoking.

As a physician who still serves a large military population, Dr. Amundson counsels patients not to think of smoking as a stress reliever or method to pass time. He suggests limiting access to cigarettes on base and raising prices to discourage smoking. Research shows these tactics are effective deterrents among the military as well as the general public.

The health impact can be quick and severe

Brian H., who shares his story in the CDC's Tips From Former Smokers campaign, was a smoker when he joined the Air Force at 19. At 35, he suffered a heart attack that ended his military career.

"It's hard to serve your country when you're too weak to put on the uniform," he shares in campaign videos designed to discourage tobacco use. Now 63, a heart attack and lung cancer survivor, he encourages young service members to understand that tobacco use may be the most dangerous part of their military career.

For more information on the campaign, including profiles of the former smokers, links to the ads, and free quit help, visit www.cdc.gov/tips.

About the AOA

The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) represents more than 137,000 osteopathic physicians (DOs) and osteopathic medical students; promotes public health; encourages scientific research; serves as the primary certifying body for DOs; and is the accrediting agency for osteopathic medical schools. To learn more about DOs and the osteopathic philosophy of medicine, visit www.DoctorsThatDo.org.

i https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/resources/data/cigarette-smoking-in-united-states.html#military

ii http://www.lung.org/our-initiatives/tobacco/reports-resources/sotc/by-the-numbers/top-10-populations.html

iii https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-military-tobacco-idUSKCN0XN2VP

SOURCE American Osteopathic Association

Related Links

http://www.DoctorsThatDo.org

HONG KONG, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Highlights of the interim results for the six months ended June 30, 2018:

Success in implementation of AIoT Business Service Platform + IC Component Trading Platform dual business model" - profit attributable to equity shareholders of the Company increased by 657.2% as compared to the second half of 2017 to approximately RMB239.0 million ; Non-GAAP profit attributable to equity shareholders of the Company amounted approximately RMB180.7 million , a significant increase of 223.4% as compared to the second half of 2017.

; Non-GAAP profit attributable to equity shareholders of the Company amounted approximately , a significant increase of 223.4% as compared to the second half of 2017. INGDAN.com's AIoT ecosystem has registered over 38,000 companies on its platform to date.

The Group strengthened its partnerships with emerging chip companies, and built new relationships with leading chip makers in China , Europe , and Japan .

, , and . In June 2018 , the Group entered an agreement to acquire 40% of GIPP Corporation. GIPP Corporation will be responsible for the overseas management and operation of about 100,000 patents from over ten top-tier Japanese technology companies including Sony and Toyota, etc., and providing business development advisory using INGDAN.com's wide industry resources.

, the Group entered an agreement to acquire 40% of GIPP Corporation. GIPP Corporation will be responsible for the overseas management and operation of about 100,000 patents from over ten top-tier Japanese technology companies including Sony and Toyota, etc., and providing business development advisory using INGDAN.com's wide industry resources. In May 2018 , the Group signed an agreement with Europe's largest microelectronics research center to jointly build a microelectronics innovation center with INGDAN.com in Shenzhen , for world-class chip design, manufacturing, and application.

Cogobuy Group ("Cogobuy" or the "Company", stock code: 400.HK; with its subsidiaries (the ''Group'')), a platform providing artificial intelligence and internet of things ("AIoT") in China, is pleased to announce its unaudited interim results for the six months ended June 30, 2018 (the "Period").

Financial Highlights of the First Half of 2018

The implementation of "AIoT Business Service Platform + IC Component Trading Platform dual business model" corporate development strategy launched in Q4 2017 has been successful. During the Period, due to the adjustment of the Company's business structure, reduction in dependence on external funds, and a greater focus on quality to support long-term growth, the Group recorded total revenue of RMB2,961.2 million, a decrease of 51.6% year on year and a decrease of 15.2% as compared to the second half of 2017. Direct sales and INGDAN.com respectively generated 94.2% and 5.8% of the total revenue. Since a significant portion of INGDAN.com's profits it from business services and investment, INGDAN.com's contribution to the Group's profits is far greater than the foregoing percentage of revenue it generated. Meanwhile, INGDAN.com's new profit model helped drive profit attributable to equity shareholders of the Company to approximately RMB239.0 million, a decrease of 11.6% year-on-year and representing a significant increase of 657.2% and compared with the second half of 2017. Non-GAAP profit attributable to equity shareholders of the Company amounted approximately RMB180.7 million, a significant increase of 223.4% as compared to the second half of 2017. During the Period, the Company's gross profit margin was 7.5%. If the profit from the gain on INGDAN.com's incubated project were included, the Company's gross profit margin would have been at 13.6%.

With the high growth and rising commercialization of new technologies in China, including the Internet of Things ("IoT") and artificial intelligence ("AI" and together, "AIoT"), demand for chips is becoming more diversified. As a leading AIoT Business Service Platform in China, INGDAN.com is using its first-mover advantage to grow the available resources along the AIoT industry chain. During the Period, the number of companies registering on INGDAN.com's AIoT ecosystem exceeded 38,000; they included chip companies, AI computing companies, module companies, technical solutions providers, and IoT projects -- which often have high procurement demands, especially for smart cars, smart homes, robotics, smart healthcare and new materials. In the first half of 2018, EZ Robot, Inc. ("EZ Robot") incubated by INGDAN.com has become the first successful case of INGDAN.com industrialization.

The Group is gradually transitioning away from its IC component sales and marketing platform, to a more diversified, business services, investment, and strategic sales platform serving electronic companies in China. Cogobuy expects AIoT downstream projects will become the growth drivers for chip sales in China. In the first half of 2018, INGDAN.com enhanced its AIoT business services by upgrading the IngDan Lab into a Center for AIoT Hardware Innovation to better engage world-class AI researchers, as well as developing new patented AI modules. INGDAN.com has now expanded its presence in emerging industries such as robotic vacuums, payments via facial recognition, smart warehouse robotics, smart cars, and smart medical devices. The Company has also established strategic partnerships with chip manufacturers for blockchain and edge computing applications to build more synergies for INGDAN.com.

According to China Semiconductor Industry Association, sales of China's IC industry in the first quarter of 2018 reached RMB115.3 billion, an increase of 20.8% year-on-year. In the midst of the US-China trade conflicts, domestic IC chips substitution has become an irreversible trend. The Group has been well prepared for such trend and started establishing partnerships with domestic chip manufacturers since 2013. To date, the Group maintains long-term partnerships with 36 domestic leading chip suppliers to capture the market opportunities of domestic chip substitution, while also continues to build strong relationships with first-tier international chip suppliers, to better fulfill market demand for diversified chip types. Meanwhile, riding on national policies, vertical industry applications for IoT, AI, and 5G technologies are expected to grow at a fast pace. The Group's "AIoT Business Service Platform + IC Component Trading Platform dual business model" strategy facilitated the Group's AI module sales and its AIoT business services in the first half of 2018. During the Period, revenue generated from INGDAN.com represented 5.8% of the Group's total revenue. Its role in sustaining the Group's long-term growth in the fast-growing industries of chip sales has becoming prominent.

As at June 30, 2018, the Group's cash and bank balances (including pledged deposits) were RMB2,075.7 million. The number of basic ordinary shares outstanding was 1,456,354,000, and diluted common shares outstanding was 1,459,569,000.

Business Highlights



In view of the rising trade tensions between China and the U.S., the Group is actively entering into partnerships with leading, non-U.S. chip manufacturers. In May 2018 , the Group signed an agreement with Europe's largest microelectronics research center to jointly build a microelectronics innovation center with INGDAN.com in Shenzhen , for world-class chip design, manufacturing, and application. The center has been successful in customizing chips for AIoT companies in sensing technology, sensor networks, communications, ultra-low power technologies, and ultra-low frequency radios.



and the U.S., the Group is actively entering into partnerships with leading, non-U.S. chip manufacturers. In , the Group signed an agreement with largest microelectronics research center to jointly build a microelectronics innovation center with INGDAN.com in , for world-class chip design, manufacturing, and application. The center has been successful in customizing chips for AIoT companies in sensing technology, sensor networks, communications, ultra-low power technologies, and ultra-low frequency radios. In June 2018 , the Group entered an agreement to acquire 40% of GIPP Corporation. GIPP Corporation will be responsible for the overseas management and operation of about 100,000 patents from over ten top-tier Japanese technology companies including Sony and Toyota, etc., and providing business development advisory using INGDAN.com's wide industry resources. The GIPP Corporation will help introduce Japanese companies with core technologies into China , to further enrich INGDAN.com's resources.



, the Group entered an agreement to acquire 40% of GIPP Corporation. GIPP Corporation will be responsible for the overseas management and operation of about 100,000 patents from over ten top-tier Japanese technology companies including Sony and Toyota, etc., and providing business development advisory using INGDAN.com's wide industry resources. The GIPP Corporation will help introduce Japanese companies with core technologies into , to further enrich INGDAN.com's resources. In April 2018 , with the Group's proprietary technology based on the R16 chip technology from Allwinner, the IngDan Lab's K-system successfully developed the SLAM AI module for robotic vacuums, which officially entered into mass production. The Group continues to cooperate with Allwinner to optimize its SLAM technology to enhance its technical advantages. Furthermore INGDAN.com's strategic partner, Unisound, successfully developed an AI chip into a module with the help of INGDAN.com platform and released one of the world's first AI chips implemented in IoT industry, validating Cogobuy's leadership in domestic IC industry.



Outlook

Mr. Jeffrey Kang, CEO of Cogobuy Group said, "Since implementing our new business strategy and corporate adjustments at the end of last year, Cogobuy has integrated all of its business segments into two major platforms, running our IC components direct sales through Cogobuy, and providing our AIoT business services through INGDAN.com.

Under the new 'AIoT Business Service Platform + IC Component Trading Platform dual business model', INGDAN.com realized its three monetization strategies in the first half of 2018: first, the sale of smart hardware, like chips and AI modules, to AIoT enterprises; second, the provision of customized chip design, proprietary AI modules, supply chain finance and other industrial chain services to generate revenue; third, realization of gain from equity investments in AIoT technology companies it incubated. EZ Robot is the first successful case for industrialization through INGDAN.com.

Overall, through INGDAN.com's support for IoT, AI, and chip companies, the Group has gradually transformed from component sales and marketing platform to a business service platform. As we move forward, we will strive to provide multi-dimensional services for AIoT companies, including AI solutions, supply chain management, and intellectual property core design. With the emergence of technologies like IoT, Big Data, and Cloud Computing, and the deepened integration of information technology and industrial manufacturing, demand for chips and AI modules is poised to reach new highs. As the leading provider of IC components and customized chips, Cogobuy will play an increasingly important role. We have focused particularly on our partnerships with chip companies in emerging fields, and strengthening synergies between our IC components trading and INGDAN.com.

According to statistics from the China Semiconductor Industry Association, the value of ICs imported in 2017 was US$260.1 billion. At present, more than half of the world's top 100 chip manufacturers are partner suppliers of the Group. Having established long-term cooperative relationships with 36 leading domestic chip manufacturers, covering the majority of large chip manufacturers in China, the Group believes that it is well positioned for the growth of domestic IC companies in China. Through such impeccable resources on the industry chain, the Group aspires to facilitate China chip development and expects its chip business to maintain growth against the backdrop of the U.S.-China trade conflicts.

The Company believes that the new development strategy will reduce the Group's dependency on external funds, and help it avoid potential business risks brought by the slow recovery of banking facilities. Looking forward to the second half of the year, the Company will continue to rely on its own funds to promote the industrialization of INGDAN.com, and focus on quality to lay solid foundations for sustainable profits. In addition to EZ Robot, which focuses on robotics, INGDAN.com will continue to provide growth drivers as it rolls out other projects in the fields of customized chips, blockchain hardware and smart cars, etc. in 2019. The Group's business is expected to further grow in the second half of 2018 as stimulated by blockchain hardware and 5G demands."

Caution Statement

The information contained in this document has not been independently verified. No representation, warranty or undertaking, express or implied, is made by the Company or any of its affiliates, advisers or representatives as to, and no reliance should be placed on, the fairness, accuracy, completeness or correctness of such information or opinions presented or contained herein. The information contained in this document should be considered in the context of the circumstances prevailing at the time, is subject to change without notice and the Company makes no undertaking to update the information in this document to reflect any developments that occur after the date of the presentation. It is not the Company's intention to provide, and you may not rely on these materials as providing, a complete or comprehensive analysis of the Company, or its financial or trading position or prospects. Neither of the Company nor any of its affiliates, advisers or representatives accept any responsibility or have any liability whatsoever (in negligence or otherwise) for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this document or its contents or otherwise arising in connection with this document.

This document may contain statements that reflect the Company's current intent, beliefs and expectations about the future as of the respective dates indicated herein. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are based on a number of assumptions about the Company's operations and factors beyond the Company's control and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, and accordingly, actual results may differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements. Neither the Company nor any of its affiliates, advisers or representatives has any obligation, nor do they undertake, to update these forward-looking statements for any events or developments including the occurrence of unanticipated events that occur subsequent to such dates.

About Cogobuy Group

Cogobuy Group is headquartered in Shenzhen, with offices and branches across major cities in China, including Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan, Chengdu, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Xi'an, as well as overseas branches in the Singapore, Israel and Japan. The Group operates an IC Components Direct Sales Platform, Cogobuy.com, and INGDAN.com and strives to foster the development of an AIoT ecosystem that connects cloud computing and AI core technologies with the Group's expertise in edge computing, machine learning and deep customization. With the ecosystem, the Group aims to provide AIoT solutions to vertical industries such as smart cars, smart homes, robotics and customized AIoT chips. For further information, please refer to the Company's website at http://www.cogobuy.com/

For investor and media enquiries

Please contact Ms. Wanyee Ho / Ms. Amy Guo at [email protected].

SOURCE Cogobuy Group

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ZUG, Switzerland, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Colendi, the microfinance-focused credit scoring solution for the unbanked and underbanked, today announced their initial funding from early investors as well as the addition of strategic advisors to the team.

Colendi raised $2.5 million from early investors including Aslanoba Capital, Bogazici Ventures, and Next Ventures. Proceeds will support general business operations as well as the development of key products including the Colendi app.

In addition to ongoing foundational support from industry leading infrastructure technology organizations ConsenSys and Token Foundry, the Colendi team continues its strong growth trajectory with the addition of numerous strategic partners bringing expertise in fintech, blockchain and mobile technology and product development. They are:

Nico Jose "Nix" Nolledo, chairman and former CEO of Xurpas Inc., one of the Philippines' largest technology firms. As founder and CEO of ODX, Xurpas' Singapore -based wholly owned subsidiary that has businesses involving blockchain, he brings his goal of providing free access to the internet to mobile consumers in emerging markets.





largest technology firms. As founder and CEO of ODX, Xurpas' -based wholly owned subsidiary that has businesses involving blockchain, he brings his goal of providing free access to the internet to mobile consumers in emerging markets. Baris Ozistek is CEO of Netmarble EMEA, a top 10 global PC and Mobile game developer and publisher. Ozistek has a demonstrated history of leading successful brands in the fintech, online gaming and venture building sectors.





Oguz Serdar , co-founder and CEO at Limk, a content distribution and discovery platform that helps websites grow traffic and engage audiences, has a background in product development, user experience and business development.





, co-founder and CEO at Limk, a content distribution and discovery platform that helps websites grow traffic and engage audiences, has a background in product development, user experience and business development. Sinan Koc - Currently in a leadership role with Token Foundry and ConsenSys, Koc is a widely-respected expert and entrepreneur in the finance and fintech arena. Earlier, he was co-founder of peer-to-peer money transfer company Geld and co-founder at location-based messaging startup Radius. He holds a degree from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, as well as Turkey's prestigious Koc School.

"These investments will enable us to pursue our vision of redefining the credit scoring market and enable us to help the approximately 3 billion unbanked and underbanked worldwide to enter the financial ecosystem," said Bulent Tekmen, co-founder and CEO of Colendi.

Tekmen added, "These advisors will work alongside us as strategic partners to Colendi. As we continue to expand our activities and area of influence, each partner will play a crucial role in our growth. We consider it a great privilege to have such amazing leaders join as they will be key assets to our growing team."

The partners join an already impressive roster of advisors:

About Colendi

Colendi is a blockchain-based, decentralized credit evaluation and microcredit protocol, fully compatible with traditional banking requirements and financing methods. Using modern and fully secure evaluation methods, Colendi credit scoring serves as a bridge between lenders and borrowers, enabling the unbanked and underbanked to fully participate in the banking system through microfinancing. The Colendi solution works in real time and on a global scale. Visit the www.colendi.com to learn more.

Media Contact:

Shannon Baker

(707) 363-7409

[email protected]

SOURCE Colendi

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PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- IT Revolution (http://itrevolution.com), the industry leader for advancing DevOps, today announced the final round of speakers to be added to the DevOps Enterprise Summit Las Vegas 2018 (https://events.itrevolution.com/us/) agenda. The conference takes place from October 22-24, 2018 at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas. IT Revolution and founding partner, Electric Cloud, will offer expansive education opportunities covering all phases of IT transformation for business and technology leaders at large, complex organizations.

Review the full DevOps Enterprise Summit Las Vegas 2018 conference agenda at: https://events.itrevolution.com/us/schedule/

To receive a $300 discount on a full conference pass, register with discount code "DEVOPS300" at: (https://events.itrevolution.com/us/register/). Discount ticket pricing is extremely limited. Attendees are encouraged to register as soon as possible as the event is expected to sell out early.

Maximize your interactions with fellow attendees by staying at the conference hotel, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Specially priced rooms are available via link below. Room block is limited, so make your reservation early: (https://bit.ly/2BbjlKs).

The final group of speakers for DevOps Enterprise Summit Las Vegas 2018 includes:

Manish Aggarwal , Software Engineering Manager, Intel

, Software Engineering Manager, Intel Nicole Bryan , Vice President Product Development, Tasktop

, Vice President Product Development, Tasktop Brent Chapman , Principal, Great Circle Associates

, Principal, Great Circle Associates Ross Clanton , Executive Director - Technology Modernization, Verizon

, Executive Director - Technology Modernization, Verizon Dan Cuniff , Principal Engineer, Target

, Principal Engineer, Target Gabrielle Davelaar , Data Platform Solution Architect/A.I., Microsoft

, Data Platform Solution Architect/A.I., Microsoft Chris Doucet , Solutions Engineer, Electric Cloud

, Solutions Engineer, Electric Cloud Jeffrey Dowds , Chief Technology Officer in Information Technology and Security, Vanguard

, Chief Technology Officer in Information Technology and Security, Vanguard Jordan Edwards , Senior Program Manager, Microsoft

, Senior Program Manager, Microsoft John Esser , Sr. Director Datacenter Operations and SaaS, AdvanceMD

, Sr. Director Datacenter Operations and SaaS, AdvanceMD Kevin Fisher , Associate Vice President of Program and Application Services, Nationwide

, Associate Vice President of Program and Application Services, Nationwide Levi Geinert , Director of Engineering, Target

, Director of Engineering, Target Mark Howell , DevOps Lead, Lloyds Banking Group

, DevOps Lead, Lloyds Banking Group Jian Ma , Senior Site Reliability Engineer, Google

, Senior Site Reliability Engineer, Google Erik Maziarz , IT System Administrator II, AGCO

, IT System Administrator II, AGCO Gary McKay , Scrum Master and Release and Deployment Manager, Somos

, Scrum Master and Release and Deployment Manager, Somos Ken Moser , Special Assistant to the Applied Technology Division, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

, Special Assistant to the Applied Technology Division, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Shozab Naqvi, Solution Architect, Electric Cloud

Chris Nowak , Founder, FlowStates

, Founder, FlowStates Wesley Pullen , Chief DevOps Strategist, Electric Cloud

, Chief DevOps Strategist, Electric Cloud Melinda Solomon , Agile Training Lead, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

, Agile Training Lead, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services J. Paul Reed , Managing Partner, Release Engineering Approaches

, Managing Partner, Release Engineering Approaches Andrew Shafer , Senior Director of Technology, Pivotal

, Senior Director of Technology, Pivotal Jan Schilt , CEO, GamingWorks

, CEO, GamingWorks Torsten Volk , Managing Research Director, Hybrid Cloud, Software Defined, Infrastructure and Machine Learning, EMA Research

, Managing Research Director, Hybrid Cloud, Software Defined, Infrastructure and Machine Learning, EMA Research Anders Wallgren , CTO, Electric Cloud

, CTO, Electric Cloud Paula Watson , Director DevSecOps, DXC Technologies

"I'm so delighted at the breadth of industries represented by the speakers for our Las Vegas conference," said Gene Kim, founder of IT Revolution and co-author of The Phoenix Project, The DevOps Handbook and Accelerate. "Attendees will discover emerging DevOps practices, connect with industry pioneers and will sure leave energized to apply what they've learned in their own organization."

Get a sneak peak of the DevOps Enterprise Summit from speakers. A special edition of Electric Cloud's Continuous Discussions (#c9d9) video podcast will take place on Tuesday, Sept 18 at 10 a.m. PDT. Learn more at: (http://electric-cloud.com/c9d9-devops-podcast/)

About the DevOps Enterprise Summit

The DevOps Enterprise Summit is a conference for technology and business leaders who are transforming how large, complex organizations deliver and operate software to help their organizations win in the marketplace.



Entering its fifth year in the USA, its goal is to accelerate DevOps adoption and increase the likelihood of those initiatives succeeding, enabling the cultural norms, technical practices and architectures that help organizations achieve the highest levels of performance.

The event features experience reports and subject matter expert talks from technology and business leaders at top global brands that leverage DevOps to thrive within today's software-driven economy. Through keynotes, breakout sessions, collaborative workshops and space to interact within an expo hall, attendees gain insights into the evolving technical and architectural practices and the methods needed to lead widespread change efforts in large organizations.

Share This: #DevOps Enterprise Summit #LasVegas 2018 announces full agenda: https://events.itrevolution.com/us/schedule/ Register now to connect with DevOps #biz & #tech leaders @intel @Microsoft @Target @verizon and more! @DOES_USA #DOES18

About IT Revolution

IT Revolution assembles technology leaders and practitioners through publishing, events, and research. Our goal is to elevate the state of technology work, quantify the economic and human costs associated with suboptimal IT performance, and to improve the lives of technology professionals.

Contact:

Jeremy Douglas

Catapult PR-IR

303-581-7760, ext. 16

[email protected]

SOURCE IT Revolution

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When integrated with a high-resolution mass spectrometer, the Thermo Scientific FAIMS Pro interface is designed to increase the breadth and depth of proteins scientists can identify while reducing time-consuming sample preparation steps. Thermo Fisher Scientific is showcasing the new instrument interface during the 22 nd International Mass Spectrometry Conference (IMSC) held August 26-30 in the Fortezza da Basso in Florence, Italy.

"Scientists increasingly demand improved protein coverage during proteomic experiments; increased dynamic range to comprehensively characterize and validate proteins and their post-translational modifications; and more accurate quantitation of hundreds to thousands of proteins in a single run in shorter analysis times," said Iain Mylchreest, vice president, R&D, analytical instruments, Thermo Fisher. "Building on last year's enhancements to the industry-leading Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Fusion Lumos Tribrid mass spectrometer, the FAIMS Pro interface provides new analytical performance that is expected to reduce sample and spectral complexity, improve selectivity and increase coverage of the proteome."

"We have been extremely impressed with the performance of the Thermo FAIMS device for shotgun proteomics," said Josh Coon, Thomas and Margaret Pyle chair at the Morgridge Institute for Research, professor of Biomolecular Chemistry and Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and director of NIH National Center for Quantitative Biology of Complex Systems. "FAIMS enables considerably more sample depth per unit time and could eliminate the need for pre-fractionation of peptides for most applications."

The FAIMS Pro interface is designed to improve analytical performance compared to existing interface options by:

Providing faster, higher-quality results through its next-generation design, further enhancing instrument selectivity and detection limits through gas phase fractionation and reduced matrix interference;

through its next-generation design, further enhancing instrument selectivity and detection limits through gas phase fractionation and reduced matrix interference; Leveraging menu-driven software to design methods using pre-configured parameters, increasing productivity and simplifying use;

to design methods using pre-configured parameters, increasing productivity and simplifying use; Reducing sample fractionation steps , which can help save time, long-term costs and maintenance through increased productivity; and

, which can help save time, long-term costs and maintenance through increased productivity; and Achieving high data quality on sample-limited studies through an interface exclusively designed to improve nano, capillary and microflow applications.

When the interface is combined with the Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Fusion Lumos Tribrid or Thermo Scientific Orbitrap Fusion Tribrid high-resolution mass spectrometers, laboratories have a comprehensive solution to improve selectivity and ensure increased productivity across a range of proteomics workflows.

For more information on the Thermo Scientific FAIMS Pro interface, please visit http://www.thermofisher.com/FAIMSPro.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with revenues of more than $20 billion and approximately 70,000 employees globally. Our mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. We help our customers accelerate life sciences research, solve complex analytical challenges, improve patient diagnostics, deliver medicines to market and increase laboratory productivity. Through our premier brands  Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific and Unity Lab Services  we offer an unmatched combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and comprehensive services. For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com.

Media Contact Information:

Laura Bright

Thermo Fisher Scientific

+1 562-335-8318

[email protected]

or

Ronan Muir

BioStrata

+44 (0) 1223 253787

[email protected]

SOURCE Thermo Fisher Scientific

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Originally tapped to lead DISYS' Boston market, Mr. Barsoumian joined DISYS in 2015 as managing director of sales and recruiting functions. His immediate investment in the DISYS mission and through an ongoing commitment to leading a growing team and supporting an expanding clientele, Al was promoted to vice president in 2016 where he currently supports a team of nearly 25. As a company leader, he also ventures outside of his specific role to offer leadership, feedback and expertise on ways to improve interdepartmental relations and cross-functional support.

"We are not surprised Mr. Barsoumian has made this prestigious list," said Mahfuz Ahmed, DISYS CEO. "His passion for job creation and his keen insight into the Finances industry shows in how he manages his team and in how he interacts with our valued clients. We are pleased SIA has chosen to recognize his contributions to the staffing field and are honored Al is a part of our executive team."

Mr. Barsoumian is a driving force and all-around 'rockstar' in the IT Consulting and Global Staffing industry. At 36, he has achieved tremendous success across several areas of the industry, and consistently demonstrates his passion for the business, as well as determination to ensure top client results and outcomes to build lasting relationships.

"I'm honored to be awarded this prestigious designation. I contribute my success to staying focused on mentoring each of my team members to achieve their individual goals, as well as bringing clients innovative solutions," Mr. Barsoumian said, upon learning of his inclusion on the annual list of winners. "I look forward to what we will accomplish here at DISYS with all of our talented team members over the coming years."

In its second year, Staffing Industry Analysts' 2018 40 Under 40 list honors the next generation of leaders within the staffing industry. It provides a snapshot of the accomplishments and motivations of these industry trailblazers and celebrates their desire to improve the lives of others by putting them to work.

The 40 influential individuals named to the list this year come from varied and diverse backgrounds, making their mark through innovation, efficiencies, diligence and a passion for improving lives. The list is not a ranking but a recognition of talented professionals elevating the industry.

"We are delighted to acknowledge these dynamic trailblazers  CEOs, entrepreneurs, digital gurus, business pundits and workforce specialists, among others  who represent the next generation of leaders in the workforce solutions ecosystem," said SIA Publisher & Editor Subadhra Sriram. "Compelled by a desire to improve the lives of people, they are shaping the world of work in unprecedented ways."

About Digital Intelligence Systems, LLC (DISYS)

Digital Intelligence Systems, LLC (DISYS) is a global managed services and staffing firm with 33 offices worldwide specializing in Managed Staffing Services, Agile Services, Application Development Services, Business Intelligence Services, Cloud Enablement Services, and Enterprise Resource Planning. DISYS' vision is to be a global business partner, delivering the highest quality and most consistent services at the best value to clients worldwide. For more information about DISYS, visit http://disys.com.

For Additional Information and Media Requests:

Deanna M. Murray Manager, Content & Marketing Initiatives Digital Intelligence Systems, LLC (DISYS) (o) 703.659.4878 | (c) 571.337.0191 [email protected] Isiah M. Donaldson Marketing Operations Specialist Digital Intelligence Systems, LLC (DISYS) (o) 571.297.6394 | (fax) 703.653.8449 [email protected]

SOURCE Digital Intelligence Systems, LLC

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DALLAS, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- FIG Tree Capital Ventures, a Texas based venture capital firm, with projects in the Oklahoma STACK and SCOOP, the Williston Basin (Bakken/Three Forks Shale) of North Dakota, and the Woodbine Eaglebine Formations of South East Texas, announces two more recently completed wells that are showing massive initial production. FIG Tree partnered with Continental Resources (CLR) to drill both of the wells to the Meramec Formation from the same pad located in Custer County. The Rockin Dobbin 1-23-14-11XHM had 24-hour production reach a peak rate of 216 bbls of oil and 17,796 mcf of gas. The Zettie 1-23-26XHM 24-hour production peaked at just over 100 bbls of oil and 21,049 mcf of gas.

These impressive well results closely follow the Miller Family 1-13-24XH and Yoder 1-13-12XH, which were both operated by Continental Resources and drilled to the Meramec Formation in Custer County Oklahoma. The Miller Family's 24-hour production rate reached a peak of 17,589 mcf of gas and 91 bbls of oil. The Yoder's 24-hour production rate peaked at 17,135 mcf of gas and 60 bbls of oil.

FIG Tree Capital Ventures began acquiring acreage in the Oklahoma STACK and SCOOP several years ago during the 2015 drop-in oil prices. Garland Benton, the company's director of business development said, "We targeted acreage in the STACK and SCOOP during the downturn because the well data showed the respective plays were highly economic even at lower prices. These flowback numbers are characteristic of what we saw back then that attracted us to the area in the first place."

FIG Tree's energy division specializes in identifying and acquiring non-operated acreage positions in the core areas of the nation's most prolific unconventional resource plays like the Oklahoma STACK and SCOOP. Since first entering the STACK and SCOOP several years ago, FIG Tree and its partners have acquired interests in more than 24 wells across Grady County, Kingfisher County, Canadian County, and Custer County and to date have seen very impressive results. According to Richard Main, the company's President, "We have had great success so far in the SCOOP and STACK and we are eagerly looking forward to the continued development on our leases."

Continental is actively developing this area of Custer County utilizing multiple rigs and drilling multiple wellbores from each pad site. Ryan Wright, the company's CEO said, "This type of development is highly attractive to us due to the lower cap ex and improved returns that can be associated with multi-well pad drilling. These production rates also indicate that Continental has continued to improve their completion techniques during the course of this development which is leading to better well results."

About the Company

FIG Tree Capital Ventures is a venture capital firm in Texas that focuses on providing direct participation investment solutions in Energy, Real Estate, and Technology that are focused on revenue generation, asset appreciation, and tax benefits. Qualified investors that want to learn more, and those looking to sell non-operating interest can contact FIG at (866-894-7309) or email us at [email protected] or visit http://www.figtreecapitalventures.com.

SOURCE FIG Tree Capital Ventures

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MIAMI, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Fly Supply Clothing, the quality brand that inspires a way of life that encompasses confidence, creativity and freedom of expression, has flown to success in just two short years of operating. Drawing inspiration from its name "Fly," the men's clothing brand encourages people to express themselves without limits and to embrace new hip hop fashion trends with confidence.

Spring '18 Collection

Following its humble beginnings in a 10x10 bedroom in Miami, Florida in 2011, the clothing label is now available in over 400 US clothing stores and distributors. It is also available internationally through a fully-fledged online store, which was launched to help keep up with the demand, and which enables customers to order directly online, quickly and conveniently. The men's clothing brand has also received a lot of online attention through its active blog, and Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. Fly Supply Clothing recently moved into a 4000 sq ft. fully-renovated warehouse, which can hold more stock and fulfill orders faster. This past January FSC has expanded to an additional 4000 sq ft. warehouse with a fully renovated and innovative store-front dubbed "Airplane Mode." Feel free to view our recent promo video showcasing our latest releases.

Fly Supply Clothing's concepts and designs have been snapped up by celebrities and athletes who share the brand's vision and ethos. Fly Supply Clothing has become renowned for its continuous release of designs and concepts, which are made available in limited editions, for breaking trends and for creating a bit of a buzz.

To all of you, from all of us at Fly Supply Clothing - Thank you and Happy eCommerce!

Media Contact:

[email protected]

305-244-2341

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SOURCE Fly Supply Clothing

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https://www.flysupply.clothing/

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, August 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Future Farm Technologies Inc. (the "Company" or "Future Farm") (CSE: FFT)(CSE: FFT.CN) (OTCQX: FFRMF) is pleased to announce that the Company has set August 31, 2018 as the effective date for its previously announced plan of arrangement pursuant to which the Company will spin-out its 11,000,000 common shares of NexTech AR Solutions Corp. ("NextTech") to Future Farm shareholders on a pro rata basis. As a result, the Company has set August 30, 2018 as the share distribution record date and only shareholders of record as at the share distribution record date will be entitled to receive common shares of NexTech in the spin-out.

For additional information regarding the spin-out, please see the Company's information circular dated June 26, 2018 and news releases dated August 2, July 26, June 25, June 20, April 3 andJanuary 9 , 2018.

The securities referenced in this news release have not and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act ") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

For further information, contact William Gildea, Director, at +1-(888)-387-3761.

On behalf of the Board,

Future Farm Technologies Inc.

William Gildea, Chairman and CEO

About Future Farm Technologies Inc.

Future Farm is a Canadian company with holdings throughout North America including California, Massachusetts, Florida, Maine, Puerto Rico and Newfoundland. The Company's mission is to advance sustainable agriculture through production of wholesale and retail cannabis products, including hemp. As a leader in its field, Future Farm is committed to using only the highest quality processes and products. Towards this goal, the Company acquires or partners with licensed cannabis operators, and acquires or develops leading technologies in cannabis production, breeding, genetics, and Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA). Future Farm's scalable, indoor CEA systems utilize minimal land, water and energy resources. The Company holds an exclusive, worldwide license to use a patented vertical farming technology that, when compared to traditional plant production methods, generates yields up to 10 times greater per square foot of land.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The Canadian Securities Exchange has not in any way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "will be", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. There is no guarantee that the Company will complete the plan of arrangement as contemplated herein or at all, or if completed, that NexTech will be listed on a stock exchange. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws.

For further information, contact :



William Gildea

Director

+1-(888)-387-3761





SOURCE Future Farm Technologies Inc."Increasing demand and popularity" for its products has prompted a Spanish natural slate supplier to expand its UK team.

CUPA PIZARRAS is based in Northern Spain, where it has 16 quarries and 22 processing plants.

Due to growing demand for natural slate, according to Sales and Specification Manager Allan Liddell, the company needed to develop its base in the UK.

CUPA relocated its UK office from Edinburgh to Victoria, London, and appointed five new specification managers to cover the South West, South East and Greater London, Northern Wales and the North West, and the North East. It also hired a new marketing assistant to oversee its marketing strategy in the UK.

The specification team will work with professional bodies such as architects and land authorities, with the aim of making CUPAs natural slate specified, meaning it can be sold directly to any builders merchants.

Liddell said: It is great to see the team expanding in the UK.

CUPA PIZARRAS produces 37 million natural slates for the UK per year, covering more than 40 houses per day, so it is only fitting that it develops its UK-based team to deal with increasing demand and popularity.MOSCOW, August 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Mr. George Xop, the creator of PB System logic, explains: "A different output given the same starting conditions is not possible unless we have an external source of entropy. For us, the entropy are the participants, plus some neat mathematics. The hard part was to optimize the code logic to fit into a limit of the Blockchain's block size, as the process is happening in real-time and it is impossible to foresee or calculate the result. We made it so no one, not even us, knows what output is going to be generated."

To test the PB System, the creator's team have built a lottery on EVM implementing aforesaid technology, where it is impossible to predict or model draw results.

Unlike traditional (online) casinos and gambling companies, Xop's company is not making any revenue from tickets sales and it does not collect client's money. To maintain its operation, the PB System automatically exerts 4-7% from the amount won by a participant.

The team decided to test the PB System in the PrimeBall.io raffle game. "Gambling software is usually pre-programmed and the outcomes are predetermined, consequently no true randomness exists in such games," says Mr. Xop. Full Automation offered by the blockchain allowed the PB creators to test it in the global uncontrolled environment, implementing randomness on a level and scale ideal for this project. By design, blockchain technology is inherently resistant to modification of data, which means the process is recorded on a public ledger and can be seen on the Etherscan. Participants can thus review anonymous transaction records while staying fully unidentified.

The same system could be used in cryptography, science, statistics and alike fields that require deterministic randomness for new groundbreaking discoveries.

Online gambling industry is expected to reach $96.89 billion by the end of 2024 with CAGR of 10.81%. Deregulation in countries like Brazil, India and Japan are leading drivers that support this growth. Foreign lotteries may blow minds with eye-watering pools as high as $3.3 billion (ElGordo, Spain). "But the industry did not achieve significant improvements for past 10 years, therefore we see great need to bring transparency and innovations to the process," says George Xop.

To learn more: https://primeball.io/

Distributed by Exclusive PR Solutions, ExclusivePRS.com

SOURCE Primeball.IoDUBLIN, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The "Global Digital English Language Learning Market 2018-2022" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Digital English Language Learning Market to grow at a CAGR of 22.38% during the period 2018-2022.

Global Digital English Language Learning Market 2018-2022, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from sale of language courses, packages, and programs.



According to the report, one driver influencing this market is the adoption of English as a global language. English is a widely spoken language and is considered as a common language of communication between countries and governments. Developing English language skills helps in minimizing the barriers that hinder cross-border communications.



The digitalization of the education industry has contributed to multiple digital learning platforms that offer English language learning techniques and practices. Learners of the language can either enrol for online discussion programs or can use English language learning apps.



One trend affecting this market is the use of artificial intelligence and chatbots. Most digital English language learning solutions depend on artificial intelligence in a major way. The incorporation of artificial intelligence helps in developing customized English language learning solutions and tracking student progress.



Further, the report states that one challenge affecting this market is the innovations in the wearable devices market. Product innovations in the wearable devices market have led to development of language translation and interpretation devices which may hinder the growth of digital English language learning market.



Key questions answered in this report

What will the market size be in 2022 and what will the growth rate be?

What are the key market trends?

What is driving this market?

What are the challenges to market growth?

Who are the key vendors in this market space?

What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?



Key vendors

EF Education First

Houghton Mifflin

McGraw-Hill Education

Oxford University Press

Press Pearson ELT

Sanako Corporation

Key Topics Covered:



PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT



PART 03: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY



PART 04: MARKET LANDSCAPE

Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Market segmentation analysis

PART 05: MARKET SIZING

Market definition

Market sizing 2017

Market size and forecast 2017-2022

PART 06: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Bargaining power of buyers

Bargaining power of suppliers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitutes

Threat of rivalry

Market condition

PART 07: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY PRODUCT

Segmentation by product

Comparison by product

On-premise deployment - Market size and forecast 2017-2022

Cloud-based deployment - Market size and forecast 2017-2022

Market opportunity by product

PART 08: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE



PART 09: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY END-USER

Segmentation by end-user

Comparison by end-user

Non-academic learners - Market size and forecast 2017-2022

Academic learners - Market size and forecast 2017-2022

Market opportunity by end-user

PART 10: REGIONAL LANDSCAPE

Geographical segmentation

Regional comparison

APAC - Market size and forecast 2017-2022

EMEA - Market size and forecast 2017-2022

Americas - Market size and forecast 2017-2022

Key leading countries

Market opportunity

PART 11: DECISION FRAMEWORK



PART 12: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

Market drivers

Market challenges

PART 13: MARKET TRENDS



PART 14: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

Overview

Landscape disruption

PART 15: VENDOR ANALYSIS

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/kzxpnv/global_digital?w=5

Media Contact:

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets

Related Links

http://www.researchandmarkets.com

DUBLIN, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The "Metal Forming Market for Automotive by Technique (Roll, Stretch, Stamping, Deep Drawing, Hydroforming), Type (Hot and Cold), Application (BIW, Chassis, Closure), Material (Steel, Aluminum), Vehicle (ICE, Electric & Hybrid) - Global Forecast to 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The metal forming market for automotive is expected to grow at a CAGR of 2.83%, by value, during the forecast period. The market is estimated to be USD 221.22 billion in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 269.01 billion by 2025.



The driving factors for metal forming market for automotive include the growing vehicle production and the increasing trend of vehicle lightweighting.

The growing vehicle production is one of the major driving forces behind metal forming market for automotive. In 2017, according to OICA, the passenger car production in the Asia Oceania region was around 44.96 million units. China, Japan, and India had a share of 55.2%, 18.6%, and 8.8% of the passenger car production in Asia respectively. Passenger cars are, therefore, estimated to be the largest segment of the metal forming market for automotive.

Aluminum is expected to show the fastest growth over the forecast period, by material type. It is rapidly replacing steel in many automotive applications like body in white and chassis. The usage rate (%) of aluminum for forming applications is higher in Europe and North America when compared with that in Asia Oceania. The consumer spending power and vehicle costs are higher in countries such as the US and Germany, as compared to the developing economies. Thus, automakers are increasing the use of expensive lightweight materials such as aluminum, which helps to reduce the overall vehicle weight, thus improving the performance and fuel efficiency. However, it is 35-40% costlier than steel, because of which it has a low penetration in Asia Oceania.

By techniques type, stamping is expected to be the largest market over the forecast period. Stamping is one of the most common forming techniques used in the automotive industry. In the automotive industry, many structural components are manufactured through the stamping process. These include closures (doors, hood, and truck) and components of BIW such as A pillar, B pillar, cross beam, and roof liner. Because of such wide application and being the most cost-effective forming technique, stamping is expected to hold the largest market.

Cold forming market is estimated to be the largest market in forming type segment and is expected to maintain its position in the metal forming market for automotive. Cold forming is one of the most conventional manufacturing processes in which components are formed using different types of forming techniques at room temperature and do not require any additional handling and carrying. Because of this, the overall cost of the cold forming process is low as compared to the hot forming process. Owing to such cost advantages, cold forming is still the major preference of OEMs across the globe.

Because of large vehicle production in the Asia Oceania region, it is estimated to be the largest metal forming market for automotive over the forecast period. China, India, Japan, South Korea, and others are considered under the Asia Oceania region for this study. China is the largest contributor in terms of vehicle production for the Asia Oceania region. Out of the total vehicle production, China contributed approximately 24.9% in 2017. Japan is the second largest vehicle producing country and contributes approximately 8.4% to the global vehicle production. In addition to vehicle production, the trend of vehicle lightweighting is also expected to drive the metal forming market for automotive.

The automotive industry is focusing on weight reduction by replacing some of the metal-formed components with composite material and plastics. As per the repository, plastic use in vehicles is expected to grow by 70-75% in the next 5 years. The OEMs are adopting new materials to reduce the overall weight of their vehicles to comply with government regulations and have better fuel efficiency. This trend might affect the metal forming market for automotive because plastic parts are generally manufactured through injection molding. Many parts that were initially manufactured using metals are now manufactured using plastics. For example, bumpers, side fenders, trunk closures, and many other parts were manufactured using metal sheets and forming techniques; however, many OEMs are now manufacturing them using plastics and composites. This trend might affect the metal forming market for automotive. However, the impact will be limited.

Metal forming market for automotive is dominated by manufacturers such as Magna (Canada), Benteler (Germany), Tower International (UK), Toyota Boshoku (Japan), Aisin Seiki (Japan).



Key Topics Covered:



1 Introduction



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Premium Insights

4.1 Attractive Opportunities Hydroforming Market for Automotive

4.2 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Forming Types

4.3 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Technique

4.4 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Material

4.5 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Application

4.6 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Vehicle Type

4.7 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Electric & Hybrid Vehicle



5 Market Overview

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Market Dynamics

5.2.1 Drivers

5.2.1.1 Rising Global Vehicle Production and Growing Commercial Vehicle Demand to Fuel the Metal Forming Market for Automotive

5.2.1.2 Stringent Emission and Fuel Economy Regulations to Drive the Demand for Lightweight Materials in the Automotive Industry

5.2.2 Restraint

5.2.2.1 Increasing Usage of Composites in Automotive Application Will Impact the Metal Forming Market

5.2.3 Opportunity

5.2.3.1 Growing Sales of Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Will Create an Opportunity for Metal Forming Market

5.2.3.2 Increasing Acceptance of Hydroforming Techniques

5.2.4 Challenges

5.2.4.1 High Capital Investments and Existing Competition for A New Entrant to Set Up Metal Forming Process



6 Technological Overview

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Advantages of Metal Forming Technique Over Other Techniques

6.3 Types of Forming Techniques

6.3.1 Roll Forming

6.3.2 Stretch Forming

6.3.3 Deep Drawing

6.3.4 Stamping

6.3.5 Hot Forming

6.3.6 Hydroforming

6.4 Hydroforming: the Future of Automotive Forming

6.4.1 Advantages of Hydroforming



7 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Roll Forming

7.3 Stretch Forming

7.4 Deep Drawing

7.5 Stamping

7.6 Hydroforming

7.7 Others



8 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Forming Type

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Cold Forming

8.3 Hot Forming



9 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Application

9.1 Introduction

9.2 BIW

9.3 Chassis

9.4 Closures

9.5 Others



10 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Material Type

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Steel

10.3 Aluminum

10.4 Others



11 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Vehicle Type

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Passenger Car

11.3 Light Commercial Vehicle

11.4 Truck

11.5 Bus



12 Metal Forming Market for Electric and Hybrid Vehicle

Note - The Chapter is Further Segmented at Regional Level and Considered Regions are Asia Oceania, Europe, North America, and RoW

12.1 Introduction

12.2 BEV

12.3 HEV

12.4 PHEV



13 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region

Note - The Chapter is Further Segmented at Country Level and By Techniques Type, Considered Techniques are Roll Forming, Stretch Forming, Stamping, Deep Drawing, Hydroforming and Others.

13.1 Introduction

13.2 Asia Oceania

13.2.1 China

13.2.2 India

13.2.3 Japan

13.2.4 South Korea

13.2.5 Thailand

13.2.6 Others

13.3 Europe

13.3.1 France

13.3.2 Germany

13.3.3 Russia

13.3.4 Spain

13.3.5 Turkey

13.3.6 UK

13.3.7 Others

13.4 North America

13.4.1 Canada

13.4.2 Mexico

13.4.3 US

13.5 RoW

13.5.1 Brazil

13.5.2 Iran

13.5.3 Others



14 Competitive Landscape

14.1 Overview

14.2 Metal Forming Market for Automotive: Market Ranking Analysis

14.3 Competitive Scenario

14.3.1 Expansion

14.3.2 Supply Contracts

14.3.3 Partnership/Joint Ventures

14.3.4 New Product Launches/Developments



15 Company Profiles

(Business Overview, Product Offerings, Recent Developments & SWOT Analysis)*

15.1 Benteler

15.2 Tower International

15.3 Magna

15.4 Toyota Boshoku

15.5 Aisin Seiki

15.6 Kirchhoff

15.7 CIE Automotive

15.8 Mills Products

15.9 VNT Automotive

15.10 Superform Aluminium

15.11 Hirotec

*Details on Business Overview, Product Offerings, Recent Developments & SWOT Analysis Might Not Be Captured in Case of Unlisted Companies.

15.12 Additional Companies

15.12.1 North America

15.12.1.1 Vari-Form

15.12.1.2 LTC Roll

15.12.1.3 Multimatic

15.12.2 Asia Oceania

15.12.2.1 Kaizen Metal Forming

15.12.2.2 AES Automotive

15.12.2.3 MIM

15.12.3 Europe

15.12.3.1 Craemer

15.12.3.2 Voestalpine

15.12.3.3 Quintus Technologies



16 Appendix

16.1 Insights of Industry Experts

16.2 Discussion Guide

16.3 Knowledge Store: Subscription Portal

16.4 Available Customizations

16.4.1 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Application & Techniques

16.4.1.1 BIW: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Technique

16.4.1.1.1 Roll Forming

16.4.1.1.2 Stretch Forming

16.4.1.1.3 Stamping

16.4.1.1.4 Deep Drawing

16.4.1.1.5 Hydroforming

16.4.1.1.6 Others

16.4.1.2 Chassis: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Technique

16.4.1.2.1 Roll Forming

16.4.1.2.2 Stretch Forming

16.4.1.2.3 Stamping

16.4.1.2.4 Deep Drawing

16.4.1.2.5 Hydroforming

16.4.1.2.6 Others

16.4.1.3 Closures: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Technique

16.4.1.3.1 Roll Forming

16.4.1.3.2 Stretch Forming

16.4.1.3.3 Stamping

16.4.1.3.4 Deep Drawing

16.4.1.3.5 Hydroforming

16.4.1.3.6 Others

16.4.1.4 Others: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Technique

16.4.1.4.1 Roll Forming

16.4.1.4.2 Stretch Forming

16.4.1.4.3 Stamping

16.4.1.4.4 Deep Drawing

16.4.1.4.5 Hydroforming

16.4.1.4.6 Others

16.4.2 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Application & Material

16.4.2.1 BIW: Metal Forming Market for Automotive By Material Type

16.4.2.1.1 Steel

16.4.2.1.2 Aluminum

16.4.2.1.3 Other

16.4.2.2 Chassis: Metal Forming Market for Automotive By Material Type

16.4.2.2.1 Steel

16.4.2.2.2 Aluminum

16.4.2.2.3 Other

16.4.2.3 Closures: Metal Forming Market for Automotive By Material Type

16.4.2.3.1 Steel

16.4.2.3.2 Aluminum

16.4.2.3.3 Other

16.4.2.4 Others: Metal Forming Market for Automotive By Material Type

16.4.2.4.1 Steel

16.4.2.4.2 Aluminum

16.4.2.4.3 Other

16.4.3 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Application

16.4.3.1 BIW: Metal Forming Market for Automotive By Vehicle Type

16.4.3.1.1 Passenger Car

16.4.3.1.2 LCV

16.4.3.1.3 Truck

16.4.3.1.4 Bus

16.4.3.2 Chassis: Metal Forming Market for Automotive By Vehicle Type

16.4.3.2.1 Passenger Car

16.4.3.2.2 LCV

16.4.3.2.3 Truck

16.4.3.2.4 Bus

16.4.3.3 Closures: Metal Forming Market for Automotive By Vehicle Type

16.4.3.3.1 Passenger Car

16.4.3.3.2 LCV

16.4.3.3.3 Truck

16.4.3.3.4 Bus

16.4.3.4 Others: Metal Forming Market for Automotive By Vehicle Type

16.4.3.4.1 Passenger Car

16.4.3.4.2 LCV

16.4.3.4.3 Truck

16.4.3.4.4 Bus

16.5 Related Report

16.6 Author Details



List of Tables

Table 1 Currency Exchange Rates (Per USD)

Table 2 Metal Forming Market for Automotive Market Dynamics: Impact Analysis

Table 3 US: Future Weight Reduction Targets, By Component, 2025 vs 2050

Table 4 Plastic Use in Vehicle

Table 5 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 6 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 7 Roll Forming: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 8 Roll Forming: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 9 Stretch Forming: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 10 Stretch Forming: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 11 Deep Drawing: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 12 Deep Drawing: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 13 Stamping: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 14 Stamping: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 15 Hydroforming: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 16 Hydroforming: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 17 Others: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 18 Others: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 19 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Forming Type, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 20 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Forming Type, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 21 Cold Forming: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 22 Cold Forming: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 23 Hot Forming: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 24 Hot Forming: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 25 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Application, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 26 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Application, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 27 Ec and Eucar - Super Light-Car (Slc) Project

Table 28 BIW: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 29 BIW: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 30 Chassis: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 31 Chassis: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 32 Closures: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 33 Closures: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 34 Other Applications: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 35 Other Applications: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 36 Average Mass Reduction With the Use of Lightweight Materials, (%)

Table 37 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Material, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 38 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Material, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 39 Steel: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 40 Steel: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 41 Aluminum: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 42 Aluminum: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 43 Others: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 44 Others: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 45 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Vehicle Type, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 46 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Vehicle Type, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 47 Passenger Car: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 48 Passenger Car: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 49 LCV: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 50 LCV: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 51 Truck: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 52 Truck: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 53 Bus: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 54 Bus: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 55 Metal Forming Market for Electric and Hybrid Vehicle, By Vehicle Type, 2016 -2025 (000' Ton)

Table 56 Metal Forming Market for Electric and Hybrid Vehicle, By Vehicle Type, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 57 Top Selling Models for Bev

Table 58 BEV: Metal Forming Market for Electric and Hybrid Vehicle, By Region, 2016-2025 (000' Ton)

Table 59 BEV: Metal Forming Market for Electric and Hybrid Vehicle, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 60 HEV: Metal Forming Market for Electric and Hybrid Vehicle, By Region, 2016 -2025 (000' Ton)

Table 61 HEV: Metal Forming Market for Electric and Hybrid Vehicle, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 62 PHEV: Metal Forming Market for Electric and Hybrid Vehicle, By Region, 2016-2025 (000' Ton)

Table 63 PHEV: Metal Forming Market for Electric and Hybrid Vehicle, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 64 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 65 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 66 Asia Oceania: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Country, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 67 Asia Oceania: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Country, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 68 China: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 69 China: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 70 India: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 71 India: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 72 Japan: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 73 Japan: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 74 South Korea: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 75 South Korea: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 76 Thailand: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 77 Thailand: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 78 Others: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 79 Others: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 80 Europe: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Country, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 81 Europe: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Country, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 82 France: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 83 France: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 84 Germany: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 85 Germany: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 86 Russia: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 87 Russia: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 88 Spain: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 89 Spain: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 90 Turkey: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 91 Turkey: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 92 UK: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 93 UK: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 94 Others: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 95 Others: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 96 North America: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Country, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 97 North America: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Country, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 98 Canada: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 99 Canada: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 100 Mexico: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 101 Mexico: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 102 US: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 103 US: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 104 RoW: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Country, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 105 RoW: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Country, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 106 Brazil: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 107 Brazil: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 108 Iran: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 109 Iran: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 110 Others: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (Million Ton)

Table 111 Others: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2016-2025 (USD Billion)

Table 112 Expansions, 2018

Table 113 Supply Contract, 2017

Table 114 Partnership/Joint Ventures, 2018

Table 115 New Product Launches/Developments, 2016-2017



List of Figures

Figure 1 Market Segmentation: Metal Forming Market for Automotive

Figure 2 Metal Forming Market for Automotive: Research Design

Figure 3 Research Design Model

Figure 4 Breakdown of Primary Interviews

Figure 5 Metal Forming Market for Automotive: Bottom-Up Approach

Figure 6 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Metal: Top-Down Approach

Figure 7 Data Triangulation

Figure 8 Metal Forming Market for Automotive: Market Outlook

Figure 9 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2018 vs 2025 (USD Billion)

Figure 10 Company's Core Competency

Figure 11 Trend of Vehicle Lightweighting and Growing Vehicle Production to Drive the Metal Forming Market

Figure 12 Cold Forming Estimated to Be the Largest Market Over the Forecast Period, By Value (USD Billion)

Figure 13 Hydroforming is to Be the Fastest Growing Metal Forming Technique Over the Forecast Period, By Value (USD Billion)

Figure 14 Steel is Expected to Hold the Largest Market in the Metal Formed Applications Over the Forecast Period, By Value (USD Billion)

Figure 15 BIW is Estimated as Largest Metal Forming Application Over the Forecast Period, By Value (USD Billion)

Figure 16 Passenger Car is Expected to Hold the Largest Share in the Metal Forming Market Over the Forecast Period, By Value (USD Billion)

Figure 17 BEV is Estimated to Showcase the Fastest Growth in Metal Forming Market Over the Forecast Period, By Value (USD Billion)

Figure 18 Metal Forming Market for Automotive: Market Dynamics

Figure 19 Global Vehicle Production, By Vehicle Type, 2015-2025 (Million Units)

Figure 20 Global Emission Regulations, By Country, 2014-2025

Figure 21 Sales of BEV & HEV, 2017 vs 2020 vs 2025

Figure 22 Roll Forming Process

Figure 23 Stretch Forming Process

Figure 24 Deep Drawing Process

Figure 25 Stamping Process

Figure 26 Hot Forming Process

Figure 27 Hydroforming Process

Figure 28 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Techniques, 2018 vs 2025 (USD Billion)

Figure 29 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Forming Type, 2018 vs 2025 (USD Billion)

Figure 30 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Application Type, 2018 vs 2025 (USD Billion)

Figure 31 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Material Type, 2018 vs 2025

Figure 32 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Vehicle Type, 2018 vs 2025 (USD Billion)

Figure 33 Metal Forming Market for Electric and Hybrid Vehicle, By Vehicle Type, 2018 vs 2025 (USD Billion)

Figure 34 Metal Forming Market for Automotive, By Region, 2018 vs 2025 (USD Billion)

Figure 35 Asia Oceania: Metal Forming Market for Automotive Snapshot

Figure 36 Asia Oceania: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, 2018 vs 2025 (USD Billion)

Figure 37 Europe: Metal Forming Market for Automotive Snapshot

Figure 38 Europe: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, 2018 vs 2025 (USD Billion)

Figure 39 North America: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, 2018 vs 2025 (USD Billion)

Figure 40 RoW: Metal Forming Market for Automotive, 2018 vs 2025 (USD Billion)

Figure 41 Companies Adopted Expansions as the Key Growth Strategy, 2016-2017

Figure 42 Metal Forming Market for Automotive: Market Ranking Analysis, 2017

Figure 43 Benteler: Company Snapshot

Figure 44 Benteler: SWOT Analysis

Figure 45 Tower International: Company Snapshot

Figure 46 Tower International: SWOT Analysis

Figure 47 Magna: Company Snapshot

Figure 48 Magna: SWOT Analysis

Figure 49 Toyota Boshoku: Company Snapshot

Figure 50 Toyota Boshuko: SWOT Analysis

Figure 51 Aisin Seiki: Company Snapshot

Figure 52 Aisin Seiki: SWOT Analysis

Figure 53 Kirchhoff: Company Snapshot

Figure 54 CIE Automotive: Company Snapshot

Companies Mentioned





AES Automotive

Aisin Seiki

Benteler

CIE Automotive

Craemer

Hirotec

Kaizen Metal Forming

Kirchhoff

LTC Roll

MIM

Magna

Mills Products

Multimatic

Quintus Technologies

Superform Aluminium

Tower International

Toyota Boshoku

VNT Automotive

Vari-Form

Voestalpine

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/hwj2b3/global_metal?w=5

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VANCOUVER, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Grande West Transportation Group Inc. (TSXV: BUS) (OTC PINK: GWTNF)  August 28, 2018: ("Grande West" or the "Company"), a Canadian manufacturer of mid-sized multi-purpose transit vehicles for sale in Canada and the United States, is pleased to announce that it has successfully completed an independent third party audit of its Buy America assembly and financial bill of materials on its Vicinity bus in order to meet current Federal Transit Administration ("FTA") requirements.

Buy America provisions ensure that transportation infrastructure projects are built with American-made products. This means that local, state and Federal government investments in public transit are able to support an entire supply chain of American companies and their employees. The Vicinity finished bus is required to contain a minimum of 65% U.S. content in order to be included as a vendor for Federally funded projects.

Grand West utilized third party Buy America accredited auditors in order to review the Company's U.S. assembly process and procedures, as well as the bill of materials and supplier Buy America certificates for component parts in the Vicinity product. The assembly process was verified and validated. Additionally, the Vicinity has scored Best-In-Class at the FTA's Altoona Test in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Jean-Marc Landry, CEO of Grande West commented, "This Buy America third party audit is a key milestone in proving out our ability to bid on and deliver to U.S. Federally funded transit opportunities. Grande West has a large pipeline of potential opportunities, many of them in the public transit sector. We expect the U.S. to be our largest opportunity for future growth in Vicinity sales and expect sales to ramp significantly in 2019 as we continue to focus our efforts on U.S. sales."

About Grande West Transportation Group

Grande West is a Canadian company that designs, engineers and manufactures mid-size multi-purpose transit vehicles for public and commercial enterprises. Grande West's Best-in-Class heavy-duty Vicinity bus is available in 27.5', 30' and 35' models powered by clean diesel or CNG designed with affordability, accessibility and global responsibility in mind. It costs significantly less than a regular 40 foot transit bus, is more maneuverable, burns less fuel and emits less harmful emissions. Grande West will soon be offering a new product which will be the first Crossover Vehicle in the transit space - a medium-duty, monocoque-designed rear engine vehicle.

The Company has been successful in supplying Canadian municipal transportation agencies and private operators with new buses and is receiving follow-on orders in many Canadian transit agencies. Grande West is compliant to Buy America certification, and along with ABG, its exclusive US distributor, is actively pursuing opportunities in public and private transit fleet operations that would benefit from Grande West's vehicles.

For further information please contact:

Grande West Transportation

John LaGourgue

Ph: 604-607-4000

[email protected]

www.grandewest.com

Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including without limitation, statements regarding the use of proceeds from the Private Placement, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible", and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results "will", "may", "could", or "should" occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Grande West's expectations include uncertainties relating to the receipt of final approval from the TSX-V; and other risk and uncertainties disclosed in Grande West's reports and documents filed with applicable securities regulatory authorities from time to time. Grande West's forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made. Grande West assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law.

SOURCE Grande West Transportation Group Inc.

Related Links

http://www.grandewest.com/

PALM BEACH, Florida, August 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

MarketNewsUpdates.com News Commentary

The Worldwide market for cannabis is projected to hit $31.4 billion by 2021, according to a report from the Brightfield Group, a cannabis market research firm. Currently, the global market is estimated to be worth $7.7 billion and will see a compound annual growth rate of 60 percent as other countries liberalize their marijuana laws. Many of the major players in the cannabis space have seen double-digit gains this month as rumors of other impending corporate investments in the space have ignited a surge of investor optimism. According to "Fast Money" trader Tim Seymour, the group has much more room to grow. The growth could also be further assisted by political, economic and social catalysts. Active Companies from around the market with current developments this week include: Sugarmade, Inc. (OTC: SGMD), Hemp, Inc. (OTC: HEMP), Kush Bottles, Inc. (OTC: KSHB), mCig, Inc. (OTC: MCIG), Player's Network, Inc. (OTC: PNTV).

Sugarmade, Inc. (OTCPK: SGMD) BREAKING NEWS: Sugarmade, one of the largest publicly traded hydroponics supply companies, today announces the filing of a disclosure statement with the Securities & Exchange Commission concerning possible acquisitions by the Company. Sugarmade has begun formal acquisition negotiations with two companies that provide online and retail hydroponic and other agricultural cultivation supplies.

Mr. Jimmy Chan, CEO of Sugarmade commented, "The hydroponic supply sector is still highly fragmented with many of the larger players not likely to reach public company liquidity events for the original entrepreneurial teams. We have entered into talks with at least two of these companies for acquisition, which we believe will be highly accretive for common Sugarmade shareholders and additive to our already robust top line growth rate. We wanted to publicly disclose these discussions to ensure that all shareholders have equal access to our direction, thus our recent public filing."

On August 21, 2018, the Company filed Schedule 14-A with the Commission calling for a special shareholder meeting at 750 Royal Oaks Drive, Monrovia, CA 91016, on October 10, 2018 at 8:00 a.m., Pacific Time. The purpose of the meeting is to: 1. To approve an amendment to the Articles of Incorporation to increase our authorized capital 300,000,000 common shares to 2,000,000,000 common shares 2.To approve the adjournment of the Special Meeting, if necessary or appropriate, to solicit additional proxies; an 3.To transact such other business as may properly come before the meeting, or any postponement or adjournment thereof. Management of the Company believes this shareholder vote is important as a vote in favor of the increase will allow the Company to facilitate the possible transactions outlined above. Read this and more news for Sugarmade at http://www.marketnewsupdates.com/news/sgmd.html

In the industry developments and happenings in the market this week include:

Hemp, Inc. (OTCPK: HEMP), a global leader in the industrial hemp industry with the largest multipurpose industrial hemp processing facility in the western hemisphere, announced yesterday that the company's CEO Bruce Perlowin will be featured as a speaker at the Southeast Region Industrial Hemp Expo & Festival (Carolina Hemp Festival) event on Aug. 30- Sept. 1, 2018 at Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley event center in Raleigh, North Carolina. Perlowin is scheduled to speak at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 1, during the Hemp Festival taking place from 1 to 5 p.m. Click here to view the three-day event schedule. Perlowin is expected to discuss Hemp, Inc.'s mission and offerings with industrial hemp farmers, professionals, innovators, enthusiasts and advocates from the Southeast Region.

Kush Bottles, Inc. (OTCQB: KSHB), a leading provider of packaging, supplies, vaporizers, hydrocarbon gases, solvents, accessories and branding services for the regulated cannabis industry, today announced the opening of two new hazmat operating facilities strategically located in the Portland, OR and Seattle, WA metropolitan areas, operating under Kush Energy, a division of Kush Bottles. These facilities will focus on supplying customers in these regions with tested, high quality solvents and hydrocarbons which are essential in the cannabis extraction process for the production of items including oils, edibles and waxes. The facilities, located in Salem, OR and Tukwila, WA, are strategically positioned to service the needs of customers in both states in their entirety.

mCig, Inc. (OTCPK: MCIG), a diversified company servicing the legal cannabis markets, recently announced that it will begin harvesting its first crop of organic hemp from NYAcres in two to three weeks time. To oversee the harvest and curing process, MCIG brought on Chadd McKeen, co-author of Idiots Guide: Growing Marijuana and founding partner at Canna Mana Trading Company. With over 12 years of experience in cannabis cultivation, Mr. McKeen will be onsite to jump-start the post-grow process, from the actual mechanics of the harvest to extraction and buyer relationships. The NYAcres project began in June 2018 as a joint project with FarmOn!Foundation. After harvested and dried, cannabidiol (CBD) will be extracted from the plant source material. The particular strains of hemp grown at NYAcres, Cherry Wine and Berry Blue sourced from the Colorado Hemp Project are known for their high concentrations of CBD. Once extracted, CBD distillate can be used as a component for a diverse range of end user products, from CBD capsules to CBD vape.

Player's Network, Inc. (OTCQB: PNTV), a rapidly growing company in the recreational and medical marijuana industry with licensed grow operations in 2 states, announced yesterday they have achieved record sales of over $2.1 million since the recent acquisition of Green Leaf Farms Salinas Valley. They are hosting a live online webinar to discuss the Company's revenue and acquisition strategy at 4:20 p.m. PDT (7:20 P.M. Eastern) on Wednesday, August 29th, 2018. Online attendees are limited to the first 100 people who RSVP. The purpose of this announcement is to provide an update to the Company's Shareholders and the investment community with regards to their recent and substantial increase in sales (unaudited).

DISCLAIMER: MarketNewsUpdates.com (MNU) is a third party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. MNU is NOT affiliated in any manner with any company mentioned herein. MNU and its affiliated companies are a news dissemination solutions provider and are NOT a registered broker/dealer/analyst/adviser, holds no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security. MNU's market updates, news alerts and corporate profiles are NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities. The material in this release is intended to be strictly informational and is NEVER to be construed or interpreted as research material. All readers are strongly urged to perform research and due diligence on their own and consult a licensed financial professional before considering any level of investing in stocks. All material included herein is republished content and details which were previously disseminated by the companies mentioned in this release. MNU is not liable for any investment decisions by its readers or subscribers. Investors are cautioned that they may lose all or a portion of their investment when investing in stocks. For current services performed MNU has been compensated twenty five hundred dollars for news coverage of the current press release issued by Sugarmade, Inc. by a non-affiliated third party. MNU HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE.

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SOURCE MarketNewsUpdates.comHARTFORD, Conn. and CHICAGO, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Lifeway Mobility, an accessibility solutions company, announced a major investment by Rockwood Equity Partners, LLC, a firm with almost two decades of success helping lower middle market businesses achieve their full potential.

As part of the transaction, Rockwood will provide additional capital and resources to enable Lifeway Mobility to accelerate its quest to become the leading provider of accessibility and safety solutions for people with mobility challenges and those wishing to age-in-place.

"Welcoming Rockwood as partners is especially gratifying for me," said Tim Burfield, Lifeway's chairman. "I first met Brett Keith, Rockwood's co-founder and managing partner, about 25 years ago when his father, Ron, and I were partners in a very successful pharmacy venture. Ron's keen business savvy, strategic vision and values are 'inter-generational' and clearly reflected in Rockwood's personnel and culture. We are delighted to be joining the Rockwood family."

"We became interested in accessibility solutions during our investment in Altimate, which is in a related mobility space, and, like Lifeway, was run by an extremely well-respected management team," said Brett Keith. "We look forward to working with Paul Bergantino, David Hess and Tim Burfield, as well as the broader Lifeway team to capitalize on the positive dynamics surrounding the home accessibility industry. We are confident that Lifeway Mobility will become a leading player in the space while continuing to deliver exceptional service to end users who rely on the company's products."

Lifeway also welcomes Elizabeth and Stephen Crandall and their team via Lifeway's majority investment in Extended Home Living Services, Inc (EHLS), the leading provider of accessibility equipment, lifts, elevators and modifications in the Chicago area. The acquisition enables Lifeway to benefit from EHLS's long history in a critically important geography for the company.

"Our plan to build the industry's leading accessibility provider includes collaborating with patient care providers, unique direct to consumer campaigns, and investing in leading regional providers throughout the country," said Paul Bergantino, Lifeway's president. "As a 25-year pioneer in the mobility solutions industry, the EHLS team will prove invaluable in enhancing our customers' safety, independence, and quality of life. Elizabeth and Stephen will continue their accomplished leadership in the Midwest and throughout the Lifeway network."

"Joining Lifeway will allow us to offer expanded coverage, new programs, and a wider range of products and services with the processes, systems and capital to support our growth," said Elizabeth Crandall, president of EHLS. "Stephen and I are excited about the prospect of better serving our customers and look forward to joining the Lifeway team as we build the industry leader together."

About Lifeway

Lifeway Mobility offers a full suite of accessibility and safety solutions including stair lifts, elevators, wheelchair lifts, ramps and bath safety solutions; serving Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, southern New Hampshire, Minnesota, southern/western Wisconsin, Illinois and northwest Indiana. For more information, visit www.lifewaymobility.com.

About Rockwood

Founded in 1999, Rockwood Equity Partners is an operationally-focused investment firm focused on niche engineered product manufacturers, value-added distributors and industrial service providers. The firm has particularly deep expertise in healthcare and other regulated industries. Management benefits from Rockwood's "owner mindset" and partnership approach to adding value and equipping businesses with the tools, support and resources they need to achieve their potential. Additional information can be found at www.rockwoodequity.com.

SOURCE Lifeway Mobility

Related Links

http://www.lifewaymobility.com

While the overall lime production and consumption scenario has been foreseen to remain positive over the next eight years, Persistence Market Research anticipates that the global lime market will exhibit sluggish growth over 2018-2026. Sustained production of ferrous and non-ferrous metals is anticipated to forestall the lime market decline through the next few years, further supported by decently increasing decently growing demand for building materials owing to swift infrastructural development and construction activities - especially in emerging economies.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661339/Persistence_Market_Research.jpg )



Estimated to expand at a passive CAGR of 2.5% CAGR over 2018-2026, the global lime market is anticipated to approach the value of US$ 50 Bn by the end of 2026. Leading lime market players especially from SEA, Oceania, and Europe are presumed to continue major import of low-cost lime and intermediates from China. The lime market is slated to witness relatively higher expansion of SEA region throughout the forecast period, resulting in various growth opportunities for key players.

Request For Report Sample: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/24166

A Sizeable Application Base in Automotive, Chemical, Building & Construction, Agriculture, Waste Water Treatment, and Metallurgy to Uphold Lime Sales

"With a dominating revenue share in the global lime market, mining and metallurgy applications will continue to encourage sales of lime throughout the assessment period. Significant consumption of quicklime by agriculture, construction, chemical, metallurgy, and water treatment industries is expected to remain the key factor retaining the dominance of quicklime in the global lime market," quotes an Expert Research Analyst (Chemicals Domain) at Persistence Market Research.

"Expansion of the automotive industry, increased construction activities around the globe, coupled with the US government acknowledging its long standing issues associated with steel, are foreseen to push for indigenous steel production - which will predominantly drive the sales of lime in the global market. Another key factor shaping the growth of lime market is the production of precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), using high-calcium quicklime. Widely used in plastic, paper, paint, and rubber industries, PCC is enjoying high consumption by manufacturers of PVC plastisols, polysulfides, urethanes, and silicones," the PMR analyst further adds.

Lime Market Segmentation: By Product Type - Quick Lime, Hydrated Lime; Application - Agriculture, Building Material, Mining and Metallurgy, Water Treatment, Others: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/lime-market.asp

Lime Manufacturers Investing Efforts in Enhanced Operational Efficiency and Optimal Energy Consumption

By keeping optimum operational efficiency and productivity at the center, key participants in the lime market landscape are prioritizing periodic capacity expansions along with process improvements that are specifically designed to achieve low carbon emissions as well as energy conservation and optimum fuel expenditure. Lime producers based in the developing regional markets will continue to emphasize enhanced key operational efficiencies. Lime and intermediates import by domestic manufacturers will possibly uplift the lime market scenario, coupled with sustained sale of processed lime products. However, storage of lime will continue to pose a long-term challenge to growth of the players across the value chain of the lime market, as lime cannot be stored for longer owing to its physical and functional peculiarities.

Download and View Report TOC, Figures and Tables @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/24166

To demonstrate an enhanced application portfolio, several manufacturers in the lime market are strategizing the introduction of new grades of lime. They are augmenting investments in air emission control, dust control, and waste disposal to adhere to real-time environmental regulatory standards. Moreover, cost reduction of lime will remain a longstanding concern of market players, according to PMR study. Rapid adoption of M&A strategy has been slated by big-scale lime producers and smaller lime production companies in the next few years, which is likely to support the progress of lime market in the long run.

Long-term Contracts and Vertical Integration to Remain Key Strategic Moves Adopted by Leading Lime Market Players

Lime producers are preferring long-term contracts with end users based in the proximity of their manufacturing plants in order to encounter high potential opportunities and achieve stability in terms of revenue generation. Vertical integration by large-scale lime manufacturers through acquisition of small and mid-scale manufacturing companies will possibly help the former save significantly on the capital expenditure, controlling other input costs as well. PMR concludes that the vertical integration strategy involving strategic operational alliances and joint ventures will result in value accretive assets generating profitability to the acquiring company. Moreover, building standing relationships with trucking and transportation companies will also remain one of the top strategies among key players in the lime market. This will possibly help manufacturers serve their end users better, at lower freight costs, and reduced demurrage in case of delay during product unloading.

Stringent regulatory measures regarding the maintenance of low carbon emission will continue to negatively impact the overall production cost, hampering the performance of manufacturers in the lime market. Such a scenario is most likely to result in declining performance of the lime market over the next few years. Manufacturing companies are focusing on the development of cost effective and energy efficient lime manufacturing processes to cater to the demands of various environmental laws - without altering production budget.

Get full Report Now: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/24166

Increasing Prominence of Affordably Priced Lime Alternatives to Pose a Major Threat to Lime Production Businesses

In various applications including sulfur removal, fluxing, and agriculture, limestone is widely used as an ideal substitute to lime, as it consists of less reactive material, reacts relatively slower compared to lime, and is affordable. Similarly, calcined gypsum has also been a popular alternative to lime in industrial plasters and mortars. Moreover, affordable cost of magnesium hydroxide enables it to be used as a lime substitute in pH control applications. Increasing preference of end use industries to better and low cost lime alternatives is most likely to eventually compel a number of lime producers to close or suspend their production.

More from PMR's Chemicals and Nanomaterials Intelligence:

Butyl Rubber Market Segmented by (By Product Type - Regular Butyl Rubber, Halo Butyl Rubber, Bromo-Butyl Rubber, Chloro-Butyl Rubber; By Application - Tires & Tubes, Pharmaceuticals, Adhesives & Sealants, Automotive, Others): https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/butyl-rubber-market.asp

2-Ethylhexanol Market Segmented by (By Application - Coatings and Paints, Chemical Intermediaries and Solvents, Agrochemicals, Metallurgy; By Delivery Forms - Bulk Containers, Flexitanks, Drums/IBC): https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/2-ethylhexanol-market.asp

Automotive Adhesives and Sealants Market Segmented by (By Product Type - Polyurethane, Epoxy, Acrylic, PVA, EVA, Styrenic Block, Other Product Types; By Application - Paint Shop, Body-in-White, Assembly, UTH & Power Train; By Vehicle Type - Passenger Cars, HCV, LCV): https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/automotive-adhesives-and-sealants-market.asp

Persistence Market Research Overview

Persistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.

To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.

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Email: [email protected]



PMR Latest News: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/news

SOURCE Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd.SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- MegaplanIT (https://www.megaplanit.com/), a leading provider of cybersecurity, compliance consulting services and managed security solutions, has commercially launched its Managed Security Services Channel Partner Program. The program provides MegaplanIT partners with exclusive benefits to increase their competitive advantage, improve customer retention, increase revenue and empowers the company's fast-growing network of resellers to capitalize on the booming managed security services demand at the SMB, Mid-Market, and Enterprise levels.

The MegaplanIT MSS Channel Partner Program provides both the resources and support that our partners require to grow and scale the volume and profitability of their services business. As a partner, companies gain exclusive access to resources that will help drive business and create new opportunities by increasing both deal-size and overall profit.

"MegaplanIT recognizes that partners are integral to our mission of empowering organizations to accurately understand, risk-analyze, and reduce their cyber exposure across the rapidly evolving modern attack surface," said Mark Butler, Chief Information Security Officer at MegaplanIT, who views partners as a critical component to help accelerate the company's next stage of growth.

"Our team acknowledges the importance of our partner relationships and is continuously investing to give our partners the incentives, tools, and training to help drive increased revenue and provide additional security capabilities for new and existing opportunities." This allows MegaplanIT to provide our partners 24x7x365 support with a dedicated account management team that drives consistent communication, partner sales/marketing collateral, and incentive-based subscription pricing models.

MegaplanIT offers partners a complete set of tools and incentives to quickly build and increase revenue while reducing their overall service delivery costs, including:

24/7 Continuous Monitoring

Network and Host-based Intrusion Detection

File Integrity Monitoring

Endpoint Detection & Response

Asset Inventory

Incident Escalation and Response

SIEM Dashboard

Next-Generation Antivirus

Next-Generation Firewall

Multi-Factor Authentication/Protection

About MegaplanIT:

With offices in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Chicago, Illinois, MegaplanIT provides cybersecurity testing, compliance and managed security services to clients in various industries worldwide. MegaplanIT continuously enhances its testing, compliance and managed security services by leveraging innovative technology, proven processes and industry best practices into customized portfolio's that support each customer's unique business, financial, and regulatory compliance goals and objectives. Established in 2009, MegaplanIT is also a PCI-ASV firm and is the platinum sponsor at this year's PCI-SSC North America Community Meeting, to be held Sept 25-27 at the Mirage in Las Vegas.

For more information, please visit https://www.megaplanit.com/managed-security-services, or contact us at [email protected].

SOURCE MegaplanIT

Related Links

https://www.megaplanit.com

STAMFORD, Conn., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Nestle Waters North America, one of the nation's leading beverage manufacturers, announced today that it has expanded its ReadyRefresh by Nestle operations after entering into an agreement to acquire Dayspring Water's customers in Trappe, Maryland. This deal will allow the company to service the Eastern shore of Maryland into Delaware, and down the Maryland shoreline to Virginia for the first time.

The transaction closed on July 27, 2018. ReadyRefresh is Nestle Waters North America's beverage delivery service that provides a variety of refreshing beverage options directly to the homes of consumers and the offices of local businesses. The new branch, which already provided Nestle Waters North America brands through Dayspring Water, hopes to reach more customers through direct delivery.

"We are pleased to provide Maryland-area customers with convenient delivery options for our great brands of refreshing beverages," said Henrik Jelert, Executive Vice President, ReadyRefresh by Nestle. "Dayspring Water has long been known in this market and we're happy to welcome their customers into our ReadyRefresh family and to grow our customer base in the area. This expansion is part of our long-term business strategy to enhance the customer experience and expand our delivery options across the country."

ReadyRefresh makes it easy and convenient for customers and their families to live healthier lifestyles by providing a flexible and reliable beverage delivery service, with no long-term commitments and guaranteed customer satisfaction. ReadyRefresh delivers a variety of well-known brands such as Deer Park Brand 100% Natural Spring Water, Nestle Pure Life Purified Water, Perrier, and S.Pellegrino Sparkling Natural Mineral Water in an assortment of sizes and flavors. ReadyRefresh also offers expanded delivery hours, flexible frequency options (weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc.) as well as an easy-to-shop website.

To learn more about ReadyRefresh and to place your first order visit www.ReadyRefresh.com.

About ReadyRefresh by Nestle

ReadyRefresh by Nestle Beverage Delivery Service provides convenient access to a variety of leading bottled water brands such as Deer Park Brand 100% Natural Spring Water, Poland Spring Brand 100% Natural Spring Water, Nestle Pure Life, Perrier and S.Pellegrino as well as tasty flavored waters and sparkling fruit beverages. With an easy-to-shop website, expanded delivery hours, flexible frequency options, and a broad portfolio of beverage options just a click away, with ReadyRefresh it is easier than ever to keep refreshment on hand. ReadyRefresh by Nestle is owned and operated by Nestle Waters North America.

SOURCE Nestle Waters North America

Related Links

http://www.nestle-watersna.com/company

In mid-May, Tbilisi once again witnessed mass demonstrations led by various liberal groups. This time the unrest was fueled by a harsh police operation against alleged drug trafficking in two popular clubs in Tbilisi: Cafe Gallery and Bassiani. An otherwise quite common sight in the Georgian capital was dramatized by a massive opposing rally led by several Georgian far-right groups. Although not the first such demonstration, this rally seemingly initiated a process of consolidation and unification of Georgias political far-right. This process could lead to a rise of far-right, nativist and anti-EU narratives in Georgias political mainstream.

BACKGROUND: Far-right groups and movements are not a new phenomenon in Georgia. Radical groups conducted the infamous attack on the LGBT pride march in 2013, as well as the raid on the Kiwi vegan cafe in 2014. Until recently, many such actions were either initiated by the Orthodox Church, or constituted isolated, spontaneous incidents. Recently, however, Georgias far-right has evolved both horizontally (the consolidation of dispersed groups into a wider movement), and vertically (evolving from unorganized cells into organizations with political ambitions). The summer of 2017 was a crucial period, catalyzing the evolution on both levels, when the Georgian March was established by Sandro Bregadze and Gia Korkotashvili, following protests against a child abuse case involving an Iranian citizen.

Horizontally, Georgian March created a platform around which other far-right groups could intensify their communication and coordination. This platform was further upgraded by the establishment of the Agreement of National Powers, following the May 2018 rallies. Signatories include, besides Bregadze and Korkotashvili, such names as Levan Chachua from the Georgian Idea party, Zviad Tomaradze from several traditionalist NGOs, and Dmitri Lortkipanidze from the Y. M. Primakov Georgian-Russian Centre. The openly fascist organization Georgias National Unity, led by Giorgi Chelidze, is more indirectly involved. This organizational platform, although it remains loose for now, could create the preconditions for a consolidation of the Georgian far-right groups to a wider movement.

Vertically, these groups have developed in several stages, beginning with the spontaneous participation of small organizations in actions often organized by the church, such as the 2013 violence against the anti-homophobia rally. In the second stage, these groups initiated independent incidents, such as the attack on the Kiwi vegan Cafe in 2014 as well as brutal and often fatal attacks on transgender people. Finally, independently organized mass rallies have emerged, such as the Georgian March, vigilante groups have been established, and in February 2018 the Georgian March announced its intention to enter politics.

Most of these groups are too radical and bizarre even for the quite conservative majority of Georgians, and are therefore frequently not taken seriously. The vigilante groups exist only on paper and their prospect of entering parliament seem scant. However, the recent ascendancy of far-right groups in the West and reports of possible support for these groups from the Kremlin, call for caution in Georgia as well.

IMPLICATIONS: Many Georgians are concerned that the local far-right groups could actually be funded or even controlled by Russia. Indeed, several direct and indirect ties with the Kremlin exist. After announcing the end of his political activities, the above-mentioned Lortkipanidze joined the Y. M. Primakov Georgian-Russian Public Centre as its new director. The Centre was established in 2013 by the International Relations Institute and the Gorchakov Fund. The latter is directly linked to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its role is to promote favorable opinions about Russia abroad. Yet another person involved in the organization of the Georgian March, Shota Apkhaidze, was a member of the pro-Russian think-tank Eurasian Institute.

Given other, less direct links to Russia among the signatories of the Agreement of National Powers, it seems reasonable to assume that the Kremlin is interested in supporting and manipulating the rise of the far-right groups in Georgia to its own benefit. However, these links remain rather rare and predominantly exist on an individual level. Most of these groups were neither created by Russia, nor are they pro-Russian.

To better understand the rise of far-right narratives in Georgia, we should look to the EU rather than Russia. In the first stage of their existence in the EU, the far-right parties often existed for years as a laughing stock for standard politicians and journalists. Today, they have managed to establish themselves in the national parliaments of several EU member states and have significantly shaped the political discourse either directly or through traditional parties adopting their agenda. Frequently, the real danger comes not from the marginal far-right parties themselves, but from their agendas, suddenly presented as mainstream. Two scenarios can be discerned, leading to such a situation.

The first, slower, scenario is characterized by the long-term dissemination of far-right groups and problems nurturing their existence. The marginal far-right parties then have enough time to evolve mainstream mimicry without changing the core of their ideology. One such example is the National Front in France.

In the second scenario, mainstream parties seek to neutralize the danger of the far-right groups by adopting their narratives. For example, many Slovak parties from the opposition as well as the governing coalition adopted strongly anti-immigrant narratives promoted by the Slovak far-right during the peak of the migrant crisis in 2015. In result, radical narratives entered the political mainstream in Slovakia and ratings for the once marginal, far-right People's Party  Our Slovakia jumped from 1.58 percent in 2012 to 8.04 percent in 2016. Even more alarming is the case of Hungary, where an attempt by the ruling party to marginalize the far-right Jobbik by using its rhetoric was one of the factors turning it into a far-right party itself.

There is a real danger that Georgia could fit into the second scenario. The Georgian Dream seems not just to downplay the possible danger of the far-right groups, but also to accept them as a tool for intimidating troublesome liberal groups and activists. This was the case during the May 2018 White Noise demonstration, which ended prematurely due to a far-right counter-rally, as well as a planned anti-homophobia demonstration that was cancelled for the same reason.

Compared to their links to Russia, the ties of these groups to mainstream Georgian politicians and political parties are much more visible. For example, two members of the Georgian Dream, Gia Jorjoliani and David Chichinadze, became bail guarantors for activists of the Georgian March arrested in connection with another incident at the Rustavi 2 TV station in March 2018. These groups will not fade away anytime soon, and if their influence rises, there will be groups of politicians in several mainstream Georgian parties willing to adopt far-right and nativist narratives and policies.

CONCLUSIONS: Russian interests and possible meddling in the current rise of Georgian far-right groups should not be overlooked. However, their emergence presents a rather logical reaction of the radical segments of a still predominantly conservative society against the steady process of liberalization and westernization. Marginal for now, the radical parties could rise in significance and influence especially if Georgia and the EU fail to effectively address the increasing socio-economic and especially educational gap, not just between rural and urban areas, but also inside cities, leading to an extremely low social mobility of these disadvantaged groups in Georgia.

The EU example teaches us that the fastest path to the establishment of far-right narratives in mainstream politics is that mainstream parties adopt these narratives in an attempt to marginalize the far-right parties. In Georgia, such groups seem to enjoy both support from the Kremlin and the benevolence of the ruling party, viewing them as a suitable tool to suppress problematic liberal groups and movements. Moreover, the support from individual politicians from established parties suggests that the possible adoption of far-right narratives into the political mainstream could present an avenue for retaining popular support.

AUTHORS BIO: Tomas Baranec is a graduate of Charles University in Prague. His research interests include nationalism and factors of ethnic conflicts and separatism in the Caucasus. This article was made possible thanks to the STRATPOL Young Professionals Program.

Image source: By: via Wikimedia accessed on 8.28. 2018LAS VEGAS, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Nevada Recovery PAC will launch a platform for candidates and recovery supporters on Wednesday August 29, 2018.

For the first time, recovery supporters and candidates will meet in person to discuss addiction in Nevada. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, from 2011 to 2016, the number of heroin-related deaths has doubled in Nevada.

Nevada Politicians Partner With Recovery Community

Over the past three weeks, Recovery PAC hosted platform meetings for the recovery community. During the meetings, supporters discuss key issues in the recovery community such as stigma and criminal justice reform. Part of the meetings involve organizing and mobilizing recovery-oriented voters- something that has not been done before.

Drug overdoses are the number one cause of death for people under fifty according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last August, President Trump declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency. However, advocates are concerned with the lack of input from the recovery and mental health community.

"People in recovery are the solution to the addiction crisis," says Trey Delap, Political Director of Recovery PAC. "There is value for the person recovering from addiction because they have lived experience."

Up until now, the government hasn't been asking the recovery community for input. "We are facilitating the dialogue between the recovery community and candidates." On Wednesday, politicians will hear the recovery PAC's key concerns. Candidates will also offer practical insight into the political process.

Recovery PAC formed to elevate the profile of a recovery-oriented voter and connect candidates to advocates. They are supported by individuals in recovery. The Recovery PAC supports community-based recovery for addiction and mental health issues.

The candidates will meet with the recovery community inside community room three at 5:30PM inside 4800 Alpine Place, Las Vegas, NV 89107.

CONTACT:

Ryan Hampton

702-531-1677, ext. 661

[email protected]

https://recoverypac.org/

SOURCE Nevada Recovery PAC

Related Links

https://recoverypac.org

NVBDC believes the survey is significant because it will provide an overview of both certified Veteran Business Owners, and companies who may be considering certification. As the leading veteran certification agency, NVBDC is also looking forward to the upcoming National Veteran Business Matchmaker held in Detroit on September 10 th and 11 th . At last year's event, NVBDC tripled their attendance records and are on track for another success. With buyers from major corporations and government agencies in attendance, as well as the Vets Night Out networking event, it promises to be a dynamic opportunity for SD/VOBs.

All reporting will remain anonymous. If companies wish for their information to be shared with NVBDC's corporate partners, there is an option to grant permission in the survey. NVBDC hopes to learn as much about Veteran owned businesses as possible in order for NVBDC to best represent our veterans within corporate America, especially within the supplier diversity space.

Those wishing to participate in the survey, can do so here: https://www.cognitoforms.com/NVBDC1/_2018NationalSurveyOfVeteranOwnedBusinesses

Veteran focused Diversity Spending Programs are an $80 billion market in the United States. Other corporations who support the NVBDC in certifying SD/VOBs include the 28 member corporations of the Billion Dollar Roundtable, as well as Kellogg's, JP Morgan Chase & Co., PPG, Facebook, BMW, Google, Dupont, T-Mobile, Sonoco, and many more.

Mission:

The NVBDC is the only Veteran Owned Business Certification organization developed by Veterans, for Veterans. The purpose is to provide a credible and reliable certifying authority for all size businesses ensuring that valid documentation exists of Veteran ownership and control.

SOURCE National Veteran Business Development CouncilBETHESDA, Md., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Northwest Biotherapeutics (OTCQB: NWBO) -- ("NW Bio"), a biotechnology company developing DCVax personalized immune therapies for solid tumor cancers, announced today that Dr. Marnix Bosch, Chief Technical Officer of NW Bio is presenting at 8:00 pm Wednesday evening, August 29, at the Immuno-Oncology Summit being held at the Seaport World Trade Center, 1 Seaport Boulevard in Boston, Massachusetts. The title of his presentation is Clinical Development Of Dendritic Cell-Based Immunotherapies for Cancer. Dr. Bosch will discuss recently published information about the Company's DCVax-Direct technology.

About Northwest Biotherapeutics

Northwest Biotherapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on developing personalized immunotherapy products designed to treat cancers more effectively than current treatments, without toxicities of the kind associated with chemotherapies, and on a cost-effective basis, in both the North America and Europe. The Company has a broad platform technology for DCVax dendritic cell-based vaccines. The Company's lead program is a 331-patient Phase III trial in newly diagnosed Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). GBM is the most aggressive and lethal form of brain cancer, and is an "orphan disease." The Company is also pursuing a Phase I/II trial with DCVax-Direct for all types of inoperable solid tumor cancers. It has completed the 40-patient Phase I portion of the trial, and is preparing for the Phase II portion. The Company previously conducted a Phase I/II trial with DCVax-L for metastatic ovarian cancer together with the University of Pennsylvania.

Disclaimer

Statements made in this news release that are not historical facts, including statements concerning future treatment of patients using DCVax and future clinical trials, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "expect," "believe," "intend," "design," "plan," "continue," "may," "will," "anticipate," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. We cannot guarantee that we actually will achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statement. Specifically, there are a number of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, such as risks related to the Company's ability to enroll patients in its clinical trials and complete the trials on a timely basis, uncertainties about the clinical trials process, uncertainties about the timely performance of third parties, risks related to whether the Company's products will demonstrate safety and efficacy, risks related to the Company's ongoing ability to raise additional capital, and other risks included in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") filings. Additional information on the foregoing risk factors and other factors, including Risk Factors, which could affect the Company's results, is included in its SEC filings. Finally, there may be other factors not mentioned above or included in the Company's SEC filings that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statement. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or developments, except as required by securities laws.

SOURCE Northwest Biotherapeutics

Related Links

http://www.nwbio.com

BRISBANE, Australia, Aug. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE, TSX: ORL) ("Orocobre" or "the Company") today released financial results for the year ended 30 June 2018 (FY18).

Orocobre Group results:

Statutory net profit of US$1.9 million , record underlying full year net profit after tax from continuing operations of US$25.7 million 1,2 (FY17: US$13.8 million )

, record underlying full year net profit after tax from continuing operations of (FY17: ) Orocobre established as low cost brine producer delivering record margins

Fully funded multiple growth options at Olaroz Stage 2 and Naraha Lithium Hydroxide both approaching final investment decision (FID), and longer term potential development at Cauchari JV

A$361 million funding completed, including a 15% placement to Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC) valued at A$282 million

funding completed, including a 15% placement to Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC) valued at Strong balance sheet with available cash at 30 June 2018 of US$316.7 million

Olaroz Lithium Facility, Argentina (ORE share 66.5%)  Results FY18

Total production of 12,470 tonnes of lithium carbonate, up 5% on FY17

Total sales revenue of US$148.9 million , up 24% from US$120.1 million in FY17

, up 24% from in FY17 Sales of 11,837 tonnes of lithium carbonate at an average price received of US$12,578 /tonne on an FOB basis

/tonne on an FOB basis FY18 EBITDAIX up 33% year on year to US$94.6 million

Reinforced position as one of the lowest cost producers with gross operating margins of 67% ( US$8,384 /tonne) with lithium production costs at US$4,194 /tonne, excluding royalties and head office

/tonne) with lithium production costs at /tonne, excluding royalties and head office FY19 production expected to be higher than FY18

FY19 price received to date of approximately US$14,000 per tonne

Orocobre Managing Director and CEO, Richard Seville said: "In 2018, Orocobre demonstrated significant progress in operational performance especially improvements in pond management. These improvements came at a fortuitous time, with contract lithium chemical prices rising throughout the year. Management of costs, along with strong prices resulted in record gross cash margins for our products and fueled a 33% increase in our operating cashflow from Olaroz.

"We still had our challenges during the year with inclement weather affecting our annual production and we are taking these experiences into account with our design of Stage 2 with increased pond areas, the potential use of crystalliser/evaporators and other measures.

"We have already completed construction of the first ponds for Stage 2 which are now being used in Stage 1 operations and these will help to stabilise our production throughout such weather cycles.

"Global market fundamentals for lithium have recently been questioned with decreases in Chinese spot market prices. While short term price volatility is to be expected, it is important to note that the Chinese spot market is only a small part of the overall global market. Additionally, long term fundamentals remain intact with ongoing, and increasing support from government, regulators and consumers for the move to electrification of transport and installation of electrical storage systems.

"Orocobre is particularly well positioned to meet this long-term increase in demand with current and future expansions (Stage 3 and beyond). From a strong financial footing, Orocobre is fully funded to develop Stage 2 at Olaroz with lithium carbonate production increasing to 42,500 tonnes per annum. We are also preparing to construct a 10,000 tonne per annum lithium hydroxide plant with strategic partner Toyota Tsusho Corporation. The FID process for both projects is expected to be finalised shortly.

"Furthermore, the lithium carbonate we bring to market should be produced at the very bottom of the global cost curve, placing us in a position that will always withstand short term price volatility and deliver optimal returns for shareholders," said Mr. Seville.

Borax Argentina

Orocobre's 'Borax Argentina SA', a long-established Argentine boron (or borate) minerals and refined chemicals producer saw a slight improvement in trading conditions in FY18 and better operating performance. However, to comply with International Financial Reporting Standards an impairment was booked with the carrying value of Borax Argentina's Plant and Equipment written down to nil. For the year ended 30 June 2018, this resulted in a total impairment charge amounting to US$8 million.

Environmental, Social and Community

Orocobre is committed to sustainable and responsible development and has already implemented programs that have been in operation for a number of years. During FY18 we released our inaugural Sustainability Report which provided information on key sustainability metrics and other measures including our contribution to society; our relationship with the environment and management of natural resources; our responsiveness to our customers; and the development, support and safety of our people, suppliers, and communities.

For more information please contact:

Andrew Barber

Investor Relations Manager

Orocobre Limited

T: +61 7 3871 3985

M: +61 418 783 701

E: [email protected]

W: www.orocobre.com.au

About Orocobre Limited

Orocobre Limited (Orocobre) is a dynamic global lithium carbonate supplier and an established producer of boron. Orocobre is dual listed on the Australia and Toronto Stock Exchanges (ASX: ORE), (TSE: ORL). Orocobre's operations include its Olaroz Lithium Facility in Northern Argentina, Borax Argentina, an established Argentine boron minerals and refined chemicals producer and a 33.5% interest in Advantage Lithium.

For further information, please visit www.orocobre.com

Appendix

Proportionally consolidated Profit and Loss

Proportionally Consolidated P&L ORE Group

Statutory Results SDJ PTE (100%) Eliminate NCI of

PTE Add back equity

accounting of PTE

profit Consolidated

Group incl PTE

















US$M US$M US$M US$M US$M















Revenue 17.4 148.9 (49.9) - 116.4















EBITDAIX1 (9.4) 94.6 (31.2) - 54.0

Depreciation & amortisation (1.8) (8.8) 2.4 - (8.2)

EBITIX2 (11.2) 85.8 (28.8) - 45.8

Interest 4.3 (13.0) 4.3 - (4.4)

EBTIX3 (6.9) 72.8 (24.5) - 41.4

Foreign currency gains/(losses) (3.0) (10.1) 3.4 - (9.7)

Impairment (8.0) - - - (8.0)

Share of profit of joint ventures, net of tax 19.8 - - (19.8) -

Total profit/(loss) for the year before tax 1.9 62.7 (21.1) (19.8) 23.7

Income tax expense - (31.9) 10.1 - (21.8)

Total profit/(loss) for the year after tax 1.9 30.8 (11.0) (19.8) 1.9



Notes:

1 Orocobre's results are reported under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This report also includes certain non-IFRS financial information, including the following: 'Proportional consolidation' is a method of including items of income, expense, assets and liabilities in proportion to the company's percentage of participation in the joint venture.

"NCI" is the Non-Controlling Interest which represents the portion of equity ownership in the Joint Venture not attributable to Orocobre Limited.

'EBITDAIX is 'Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, impairment, and foreign exchange gains (losses)'.

'EBITIX is 'Earnings before interest, tax , impairment, and foreign exchange gains (losses)'.

'EBTIX is 'Earnings before tax, impairment, and foreign exchange gains (losses)'.

2 Reconciliation of Statutory profit to Underlying profit Statutory net profit 1.9 Foreign exchange loss 6.7 Share of Advantage loss 1.5 Transaction costs 1.0 Tax on future dividends 9.4 Tax effect of devaluation 2.3 Impairment of assets 8.0 Reduction on tax rate - 2.7 Sale of expl. asset - 2.4 Underlying net profit 25.7

SOURCE Orocobre Limited

Related Links

http://orocobre.com

MADISON, Wis., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Phoenix, LLC, known for making the strongest compact neutron generators in the world, announced plans to build a state-of-the-art neutron imaging center in Fitchburg, WI opening in mid 2019. This will be the first non-reactor facility offering commercial neutron imaging services.

"Opening the Phoenix Neutron Imaging Center represents a major advance in making our neutron imaging technology broadly available to any industry," says Evan Sengbusch, Phoenix President. "By investing in a high performance, reliable, and safe imaging services facility, we're able to tap into new markets that, due to cost, were previously inaccessible."

The Madison-based technology company partnered with Krupp General Contractors, known for sustainable building practices, and the city of Fitchburg to build the 10,000 square foot neutron imaging services facility that will provide neutron activation analysis, radiation effects testing and neutron ("n-ray") and even standard x-ray imaging. The selection process for the new site was done in coordination with local government and economic partner, Madison Region Economic Partnership. "Phoenix's commitment to continue to grow their business in Fitchburg represents another step forward for the Madison Region as a midwestern biotech hub," said MadREP President Paul Jadin. "MadREP is proud to have been a part of the collaboration between local government and business on the site selection."

The ATF/DoD compliant center mitigates the risks, complications, and cost of using a nuclear reactor and will generate high-quality 2D and 3D neutron images for clients in several verticals, most prominently aerospace and defense. Neutron radiography is a best-in-class non-destructive testing methodology for showing highly detailed information about the internal structure of an object. For many components, neutrons reveal defects that would be completely invisible to traditional x-rays.

Phoenix will break ground in November of 2018 on the new facility and has already begun accepting customer orders. The company also has plans that will allow companies to utilize the imaging services facility to trial Phoenix's innovative technology in Wisconsin before transitioning to a dedicated, onsite, custom imaging solutions matching the client's specifications.

In addition to the new facility located in Fitchburg, the company will also be building its new 50,000 square foot corporate headquarters on the same site. Slated for occupancy in 2020, the headquarters will provide rapidly growing Phoenix with increased office and manufacturing space to meet increasing demand for their accelerator systems.

The Madison-based technology company has seen a rapid growth rate over the last year - doubling in size and securing large orders from two of the largest nuclear fuel manufacturers, landing 2 U.S. Army contracts, and closing a recent round of $12M in financing.

About Phoenix: Transforming nuclear technology since 2005, Phoenix designs and manufactures the world's strongest neutron generators. Phoenix's non-destructive, cutting-edge technology has been safely used in the aerospace, defense, medical and energy sectors to improve manufacturing efficiency and quality.

SOURCE Phoenix, LLC

Related Links

https://www.phoenixwi.com

Plex's unique culture and innovative programs empower team members to be successful while building world-class ERP and MES solutions that connect manufacturers' shop floor to the top floor. Plex serves approximately 600 manufacturing industry leaders which run more than 2,000 facilities on the Plex Manufacturing Cloud in over 20 countries.

Plex Systems: The Best Place to Work

Plex fosters a collaborative environment. The company formally surveys its team annually to continuously improve its positive and productive workplace, from benefits to company communications and special projects. Collaborative programs such as weekly Plex Tech Talks, which evangelize Plex's manufacturing technology innovations, encourage teamwork cross-departmentally and cross-functionally.

Plex supports the communities where its team members and customers live and work. In the last year, Plex has supported metro Detroit charities like Rebuilding Together, which works to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize neighborhoods, and Cards for Kids Michigan, a Plex team member-led organization that contributed more than 3,000 handmade cards to southeast Michigan hospitals for Valentine's Day.

charities like Rebuilding Together, which works to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize neighborhoods, and Cards for Kids Michigan, a Plex team member-led organization that contributed more than 3,000 handmade cards to southeast hospitals for Valentine's Day. Plex focuses on health and wellness. Plex's Live Well reimbursement program helps team members and their families get fit and unwind, from getting therapeutic massages to learning how to rock climb. Plex also partners with the Oakland County Animal Shelter for Fitness Unleashed, a dog-walking program that encourages exercising with adoptable dogs. A modern, relaxing work environment with free food and beverages, comfortable spaces, and fun activities also helps team members recharge.

This latest honor from NABR represents Plex's ongoing commitment to its people. In 2017, the company earned its fifth national Best & Brightest Companies to Work For award. Plex has also received eight Top Workplace awards from the Detroit Free Press and was recognized in the Wealthfront Career-Launching Companies list for four consecutive years.

Comments on the News

"Plex is dedicated to building a world-class organization, and that starts with creating a world-class workplace focused on people," said Don Clarke, interim chief executive officer for Plex Systems. "Plex's position as a leader at the intersection of manufacturing and technology is due to the work of its team members, and we are proud to be recognized by the NABR for our focus on making Plex the best place to work, period."

"This award win is a significant milestone and represents the company's culture of leadership, innovation and success," said Cheryl Yuran, group vice president, human resources for Plex Systems. "Plex is committed to our team members and making the environment they work in as positive and engaging as possible."

About Metropolitan Detroit's Best and Brightest Companies to Work For

The Best and Brightest Companies to Work For competition identifies and honors companies that deliver exceptional human resource practices and an impressive commitment to their employees. Organizations are assessed based on categories such as communication, work-life balance, employee education, diversity, recognition, retention and more.

About Plex Systems

Plex is the Manufacturing Cloud, delivering industry-leading ERP and manufacturing automation to nearly 600 companies across process and discrete industries. Plex pioneered Cloud solutions for the shop floor, connecting suppliers, machines, people, systems and customers with capabilities that are easy to configure, deliver continuous innovation and reduce IT costs. With insight that starts on the production line, Plex helps companies see and understand every aspect of their business ecosystems, enabling them to lead in an ever-changing market. Learn more at www.plex.com.

SOURCE Plex Systems

Related Links

http://www.plex.com

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Reproductive Partners Fertility Center  San Diego is excited to welcome infertility specialist Dr. Alexander Quaas. Prior to joining Reproductive Partners, Dr. Quaas was a physician and faculty member at Oklahoma University Health Science Center and at the University Hospital of Basel, Switzerland.

Dr. Quaas is a board certified Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility specialist and an Assistant Clinical Professor of Reproductive Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. He earned his M.D. from the University of Manchester and his Ph.D. from the Albert Ludwig University in Germany. He completed his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Harvard University and his fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of Southern California.

"I received a very warm welcome and immediately felt part of the RPSD family. There is a wonderful team spirit in the practice, and everyone takes great pride in their daily work. Reproductive Partners provides state-of-the-art patient-centered care in close collaboration with UC San Diego, and I am honored to become part of it," Dr. Quaas said.

Dr. Quaas is involved in teaching and research in the field of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Pacific Coast Reproductive Society (PCRS) and on the editorial boards of Fertility and Sterility and the Journal of Assisted Reproductive and Genetics (JARG). Among his numerous teaching and research awards are multiple "Teacher of the Year" honors from Harvard medical students and the prize paper for best overall abstract at the PCRS Annual Meeting in 2011. Dr. Quaas has special interests in endometriosis, adenomyosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome, third party reproduction and fertility preservation.

"We are thrilled to have Dr. Quaas join our team at Reproductive Partners," said Dr. Gabriel Garzo, the center's medical director. "With his extensive research and clinical experience, he will provide outstanding care for our patients."

Reproductive Partners, located in La Jolla, leads the way in establishing high standards for success and safety during ART treatment. Their fertility specialists are experiencing phenomenal success with single embryo transfer, a procedure that can virtually eliminate twin pregnancies for IVF patients. Their rate of single embryo transfers is among the highest in the nation. For more information about Reproductive Partners, visit https://www.fertilityclinicsandiego.com/.

Contact:

Dionne Mameshin, M.S.

Reproductive Partners Fertility Center-San Diego

9850 Genesee Avenue, Suite 800, La Jolla, California 92037

Phone: 858-552-9177

SOURCE Reproductive Partners Fertility Center

Related Links

http://www.fertilityclinicsandiego.com

ADELAIDE, Australia, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Ex Libris, a ProQuest company, is pleased to announce that RMIT University has opted for the Ex Libris Esploro research services solution to help capture, manage, and disseminate the university's research output and data. The solution is built on the Ex Libris Alma library services platform, which RMIT has been using since 2013.

A cloud-based system, Esploro captures research assets and can store them in a central repository along with their metadata. The solution increases the impact of an institution's academic research by maximizing the visibility of research output, automating the update of scholar profiles and delivering analysis and reporting of research activities. Seamless integration of Esploro with academic systems boosts efficiency for library staff, research administrators, and scholars.

RMIT was seeking a product that would provide robust features for managing research data and output from all academic disciplines and could help address current challenges, including compliance with open access mandates and efficient management of Article Processing Charges (APC). In addition, RMIT wanted to enable researchers to create detailed profiles that would be discoverable. The Esploro solution met all these requirements.

As an early adopter of Esploro, the university is enthusiastic about having the opportunity to work with Ex Libris and the Esploro community to shape a product that will increase the exposure of, and access to, the university's research publications and output. The Esploro solution will help RMIT strengthen collaboration with scholars in Australia and overseas.

David Howard, University Librarian and Director, Student Success at RMIT University, commented, "We are looking forward to the increased efficiency that Esploro will bring us, with integration between research-related workflows and library and university systems and overseeing of compliance with regulations and open-access policies. As a global university of technology, design, and enterprise, RMIT is eager to make its outcome-oriented research publications readily available and increase their impact worldwide."

Nadav Doron, vice president of research solutions at Ex Libris, said, "We are delighted that RMIT will be joining the Esploro early adopters. In addition to expanding the impact of an institution's research output, Esploro improves research quality by leveraging the library staff's expertise and fostering collaboration between researchers, the research office, and the library."

About RMIT University

RMIT is a global university of technology, design and enterprise in which teaching, research and engagement are central to achieving positive impact and creating life-changing experiences for our students. Founded in 1887, RMIT is a multi-sector university with more than 87,000 students and 11,000 staff globally. The University enjoys an international reputation for excellence in professional and vocational education, applied and innovative research, and engagement with industry and the community. With three campuses and two sites in Australia, two campuses in Vietnam and a research and industry collaboration centre in Barcelona, Spain, RMIT is a truly global university. RMIT also offers programs through partners in Singapore, Hong Kong, mainland China and Indonesia, and has research and industry partnerships on every continent. RMIT is ranked in the world's top 500 in every major ranking schema. For more information, see http://www.rmit.edu.au/.

About Ex Libris

Ex Libris, a ProQuest company, is a leading global provider of cloud-based solutions for institutions and users to create, manage, and share knowledge. In close collaboration with its customers and the broader community, Ex Libris develops creative solutions that increase library productivity, maximize the impact of research activities, enhance teaching and learning, and drive mobile engagement. Ex Libris serves thousands of customers in 90 countries. For more information about Ex Libris, see our website and join us on LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.

SOURCE Ex Libris

Related Links

http://www.exlibrisgroup.com

BASEL, Switzerland and NEW YORK, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Roivant Sciences today announced that Frank Torti, MD, has joined the company as Vant Investment Chair for Roivant Pharma. In this role, he is expected to be responsible for the oversight of biopharmaceutical companies in the Roivant family and to serve as one of two Roivant-appointed representatives on company boards. Dr. Torti joins Myrtle Potter, the recently-appointed Vant Operating Chair for Roivant Pharma.

"I believe that Roivant has the most compelling business model in the biopharmaceutical industry today and I look forward to playing an important role in helping to dramatically scale the company in the future," said Dr. Torti.

"We are pleased to welcome Frank to serve in this critical role," said Mayukh Sukhatme, MD, President of Roivant Pharma. "He will join Myrtle in providing oversight to our Pharma Vants as Roivant accelerates production of additional Vants in the near term."

Dr. Torti joins Roivant from New Enterprise Associates (NEA), a leading venture capital firm where he served as partner. At NEA, Dr. Torti managed early and growth-stage investments in numerous healthcare companies that were responsible for the development and commercialization of new drugs and medical devices important to clinical medicine today. Prior to joining NEA in 2007, Dr. Torti was a researcher at the Duke University Center for Clinical & Genetic Economics. Dr. Torti received his M.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and his M.B.A. with distinction from Harvard Business School.

In addition, Roivant announced today that Rakhi Kumar has been promoted to Chief Accounting Officer. Ms. Kumar joined Roivant in September 2015 and previously served as Vice President for External Reporting and Finance. Prior to joining Roivant, she was responsible for external reporting and technical accounting at The Medicines Company and served in additional corporate accounting roles including at Ernst & Young from 2004 to 2011. She is a licensed Certified Public Accountant and received her M.S. in Accounting and Taxation from the University of Hartford.

Roivant also announced that NovaQuest Capital Management has made a $100 million strategic investment in Dermavant in exchange for conditional milestone payments achieved by tapinarof, a Phase 3-ready investigational therapeutic aryl hydrocarbon receptor modulating agent (TAMA) for the treatment of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.

"For two decades, NovaQuest has been providing novel solutions to the biopharmaceutical industry to fund the development and commercialization of truly innovative and potentially groundbreaking therapies for patients," said NovaQuest partner Matthew Bullard. "We believe that tapinarof has the potential to address significant medical needs in atopic dermatitis and psoriasis and we are excited to participate in this exciting program."

Roivant also welcomed its 2018 class of rotational analysts. The company's rotational analyst program provides top university graduates with an opportunity to contribute as fulltime employees to the development of innovative medicines. Analysts rotate between multiple departments at Roivant and subsidiary Vants over the course of a two-year program, after which they are deployed to long-term roles across the Vant family. Roivant received over 3,000 applications for its 2018 class and selected a cohort of 30 analysts.

"As part of Roivant's commitment to developing the next generation of leaders in the life sciences, we have built on our past success with campus recruiting and are pleased to welcome an outstanding class of recent graduates to our team," said Danielle Greenberg, who leads the rotational analyst program at Roivant.

Five of this year's analysts come to Roivant from Harvard University, three each from Stanford University and Duke University, two each from MIT, Princeton University, Yale University, Columbia University, Cornell University, the University of Pennsylvania, and UC Berkeley, and one each from Johns Hopkins University, the University of Michigan, the London School of Economics, Hannover Medical School, and the Rotterdam School of Management at Erasmus University.

Applications for next year's rotational analyst class are now open. For more information, please email [email protected].

About Roivant

Roivant is focused on rapidly developing innovative medicines through a novel form of industrial organization. We build Vants  nimble, entrepreneurial biotech companies with a unique approach to sourcing talent, aligning economic incentives, and deploying technology to drive greater efficiency in R&D and commercialization. The goal of our model is to ensure that important medicines rapidly reach patients who suffer from serious diseases.

The Roivant family of companies today includes Myovant (women's health), Axovant (neurology), Urovant (urology), Enzyvant (rare diseases), Dermavant (dermatology), Genevant (RNA therapeutics), Metavant (cardiometabolic diseases), Immunovant (immunology), Altavant (next-generation drug development), Datavant (healthcare data), Arbutus (hepatitis B), and Sinovant (drug development in China). There are over 30 investigational drugs in 12 therapeutic areas being tested across the Roivant family of companies.

For more information, please visit www.roivant.com.

SOURCE Roivant Sciences

Related Links

http://www.roivant.com

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Conexon, a company committed to working with electric membership cooperatives to bring fiber to the home in rural communities, today announced that the Rural Electric Cooperative Consortium (RECC) is the single largest Gigabit winning bidder in the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) recent Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II auction. The consortium of member-owned co-ops will be awarded $186 million over a 10-year period to build fiber-to-the-home networks to more than 66,000 locations across rural America from Virginia to Oregon.

"Co-op members and the communities they serve have waited far too long for services that are available in towns and urban areas across the country," said Randy Klindt, partner at Conexon, which formed and represents the RECC. "Through our participation in this auction, we're demonstrating our willingness to invest in our communities. The nation's electric cooperatives have served their communities with essential services for 80 years and are now stepping up to offer broadband services as well."

Funding levels for the CAF II auction were calculated using the FCC's Connect America Cost Model (CACM). The CACM was first used in 2015 providing $10 billion in funding to the nation's largest telephone companies in exchange for those companies providing 10 Mbps download speeds and 1 Mbps upload speeds.

By comparison, the CAF phase II auction awarded the RECC and the other winning bidders less than one-third the support per home provided to telephone companies. In exchange for the support, the RECC members will build fiber networks delivering symmetrical gigabit speeds to residences and small businesses in their service territories  1,000 times the speed for a fraction of the support. Bidding within a field of more than 200 approved entrants including telecom, cable, satellite, and fixed wireless companies and others, the RECC's involvement signals an important change in the goal of providing broadband across the country.

"The true winners in this are the members of these electric cooperatives and the communities they serve," said Jonathan Chambers, partner at Conexon. "Instead of satellite or fixed wireless at home, the communities will have world-class communications available to every home. Instead of 10 Mbps, the members of these cooperatives will now have gigabit speeds.

"Policymakers have long struggled with the question of how to get real broadband to rural America. The CAF II auction is validation that electric co-ops are the answer."

"Electric cooperatives have traditionally pulled together to share experiences, knowledge and talent as they worked to overcome the challenges of building, operating and maintaining electric lines in rugged and sparsely populated rural areas across the United States," added Gary Wood, CEO at Central Virginia Electric Cooperative. "The forming of the consortium led by Conexon is an extension of that same cooperative spirit among a group of electric cooperatives who have committed to overcoming the lack of true high-speed internet access in their communities.

"The success we had as a group in the CAF II auction will propel the expansion of fiber-optic networks across the country and improve the quality of life for those we serve."

SOURCE ConexonMetro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 27)  Local authorities reported millions of pesos worth of damages to crops and infrastructure in an Ilocos Norte town days after the province was put under a state of calamity due to heavy rains.

San Nicolas Mayor Alfredo Valdez Jr. said the town suffered around P4 million worth of damage to agriculture and P3 million to infrastructure. Ilocos Norte was placed under a state of calamity on Saturday as tropical depression Luis drew in rains from the southwest monsoon.

The rains destroyed high-value crops and small water impounding projects, Valdez said.

"Hindi naman kami binagyo [We didn't experience a typhoon], it was just the continuous rains that was the problem. 'Pag bagyo talagang madaming masisira [If it was a typhoon it would really result to plenty of damages]," Valdez told CNN Philippines' Newsroom Ngayon.

Valdez said vegetables may cost more but not for long.

"Because of the scarcity of available veggies in the market, may konti lang siguro pero hindi magtatagal 'yun," he said.

[Translation: Because of the scarcity of available veggies in the market, there may be a slight increase (in prices) but it won't last.]

The mayor said they are ready to provide help.

"Nakaready na 'yung agriculture sector [The agriculture sector is ready] to assist farmers so I don't see a reason for them (market) to do that (increase prices)," he said.BETHESDA, Md., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- SANS Institute, the global leader in cyber security training, today announced SANS DFIRCON Miami 2018 taking place November 5  10 in Florida. DFIRCON (#DFIRCON) is one of SANS' most comprehensive DFIR training experiences of the year. This unique event features courses to strengthen DFIR skills and streamline day-to-day investigations. SANS DFIR faculty Rob Lee, Lenny Zeltser, Phil Hagen, Heather Mahalik, and Chad Tilbury will deliver the keynote address on the State of the Artifact.

According to SANS DFIR Curriculum Lead Rob Lee (@robtlee), "Data breach incidents are increasing. We can no longer sit and wait for things to go bad before we react. Rather than rely on technology, we need skilled professionals that are prepared to utilize their knowledge and a variety of tactics to hunt and defeat the enemy. The State of the Artifact keynote address at DFIRCON will dive into the latest DFIR developments and best practices the industry is utilizing to overcome current challenges. Join my colleagues and me as we provide a comprehensive analysis on what the future holds for this ever-changing field."

In addition to the keynote address, Lee will co-teach his co-authored course FOR500: Windows Forensic Analysis. Windows is silently recording an unbelievable amount of data about its users. FOR500 teaches DFIR professionals how to mine this mountain of data. Students will leave this course armed with the latest tools and techniques necessary to investigate even the most complicated systems they might encounter.

For additional information on the FOR500: Windows Forensic Analysis course, or to register, visit: www.sans.org/u/HRc

DFIRCON 2018 features course covering such topics as digital forensics, incident response, cyber threat intelligence, reverse-engineering malware, and ethical hacking. All courses at SANS DFIRCON Miami 2018 are associated with GIAC certifications. Attendees will also have the opportunity to test their skills at the DFIR NetWars Tournament.

For a complete list of courses and evening talks, or to register for SANS DFIRCON Miami 2018, visit: www.sans.org/u/HRm

About SANS Institute

The SANS Institute was established in 1989 as a cooperative research and education organization. SANS is the most trusted and, by far, the largest provider of cyber security training and certification to professionals at governments and commercial institutions world-wide. Renowned SANS instructors teach over 60 different courses at more than 200 live cyber security training events as well as online. GIAC, an affiliate of the SANS Institute, validates a practitioner's qualifications via over 30 hands-on, technical certifications in cyber security. The SANS Technology Institute, a regionally accredited independent subsidiary, offers master's degrees in cyber security. SANS offers a myriad of free resources to the InfoSec community including consensus projects, research reports, and newsletters; it also operates the Internet's early warning system--the Internet Storm Center. At the heart of SANS are the many security practitioners, representing varied global organizations from corporations to universities, working together to help the entire information security community. (www.SANS.org)

SOURCE SANS Institute

Related Links

http://www.sans.org

Her practice focuses on employment-based (temporary and permanent) and family-based immigration petitions and applications. She represents the firm's clients before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service as well as consular and other government authorities in the processing of E-2 Treaty visas for investors and managers, O-2 visas for extraordinary ability and L-1 intracompany transferee for executives, managers and specialized knowledge visas.

"We have a robust and diversified practice group and welcome Diamela," said Francis Rodriguez, Managing Partner of the Miami office and Co-Chair of the Tax and International Law practice group. "Her experience will broaden and solidify the services that our international tax and compliance group offers to our clients."

Before joining Shutts, del Castillo-Payet served as in-house counsel to a multinational insurance corporation in New York City, where she oversaw the legal conduct and compliance of the entity's corporate subsidiaries with the mandates of domestic and foreign regulatory bodies. In addition, the Miami native previously served as Assistant County Attorney at the Miami-Dade County Attorney's Office, representing the county in actions involving civil rights, code enforcement, construction disputes, workers' compensation, bid protests and torts.

"Shutts is synonymous with excellence and offers an incredible platform for growth," said del Castillo-Payet. "I'm honored to join the team and to help our clients navigate the U.S. immigration process."

Del Castillo-Payet has taught business law courses as an adjunct professor at the University of Miami focusing on employment law, bankruptcy law, contract law and corporate compliance with immigration laws and regulations.

She received her J.D. and a Bachelor's degree from the University of Miami.

About Shutts & Bowen LLP

Shutts & Bowen, established in 1910, is a full-service business law firm with more than 280 lawyers in offices in Ft. Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Sarasota, Tallahassee, Tampa, and West Palm Beach. Learn more about Shutts & Bowen at www.shutts.com.

SOURCE Shutts & Bowen LLP

Related Links

http://www.shutts.com

PUNE, India, August 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

According to the new market research report "Smart Mirror Market by Application (Automotive, Hospitality & Retail), Automotive Smart Mirror (Type and Functionality), Hospitality & Retail Smart Mirror (Component, Technology, and Augmented Reality), and Region - Global Forecast to 2023", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is expected to grow from USD 2.82 billion by 2018 to USD 4.42 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 9.41% from 2018 to 2023. The growth of the smart mirror market can be attributed to the increasing demand for smart mirrors in the automotive industry, the transition from traditional stores to digital stores in the retail industry, the presence of a large number of start-ups in the smart mirror market, and new and innovative features of smart mirrors.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg )

Browse 65 market data Tables and 43 Figures spread through 139 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Smart Mirror Market - Global Forecast to 2023"

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/smart-mirror-market-71622395.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report



Automotive application to hold largest size of smart mirror market by 2018

The smart mirror market is segmented on the basis of application into automotive, hospitality and retail, and others; others include smart homes and healthcare applications. The automotive application is expected to hold a major share of the smart mirror market by 2018. Smart mirrors are widely used in cars and light commercial vehicles. The smart mirrors used in automotive applications include auto-dimming mirrors and connected mirrors, with functionalities such as temperature display, Bluetooth and hands-free connectivity, navigation, turn signals, and microphone. The wide adoption of auto-dimming mirrors owing to such capabilities is a major factor contributing to the largest share of the automotive application in the smart mirror market.

Automotive smart mirror market for exterior mirror to grow at higher CAGR during 2018-2023

Exterior mirrors, or outer rear-view mirrors, are mounted on the outer body of the vehicle to get rear-view images of the traffic on both sides of vehicles. Generally, the passenger cars are installed with 2 outer mirrors one on each side of the vehicle. The major manufacturers of the exterior smart mirrors for automotive are Gentex (US), Magna (Canada), Ficosa (Spain), and Murakami Co., Ltd. (Japan). OEMs are now focusing on the addition of more features to outer mirrors, as they plan to integrate the capabilities for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), such as blind spot indicator and lane departure warning indicator, along with park assist.

Ask for PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=71622395

Market for software component to grow at highest CAGR from 2018 to 2023

Software is an essential part of any smart mirror used in hospitality and retail, and healthcare and smart home applications. The software is used to display any information on the mirror screen. The information to be displayed varies according to the use of the mirror. The data required for displaying this information is sourced from various data sources. The predicted highest growth of the market for software for the said applications is attributed to the large adoption of AR-based mirrors in the hospitality and retail sectors. The advancement of the features such as 3D modeling is likely to result in the higher growth of the market for software during the forecast period.

Europe to hold largest share of automotive smart mirror market by 2018

Europe is the largest market for automotive smart mirrors. Europe is home to major automobile manufacturers such as Volkswagen (Germany), BMW (Germany), and Daimler (Germany), which are expected to create significant demand for auto-dimming smart mirrors. The region is also known for its stringent safety regulations and advanced technologies. The automotive OEMs in Europe are focused on developing new technologies to meet the increased demand for advanced features and increasingly stringent safety norms.

Major players in the smart mirror market are Gentex (US), Magna (Canada), Electric Mirror (US), Seura (US), Murakami Kaimeido (Japan), Ficosa (Spain), ALKE (Belgium), Ad Notam (Germany), Dension (Hungary), and Keonn (Spain).

Know more about the Smart Mirror Market:

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/smart-mirror-market-71622395.html



About MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions.

Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.

MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets.

Contact:

Mr. Shelly Singh

MarketsandMarkets INC.

630 Dundee Road

Suite 430

Northbrook, IL 60062

USA: +1-888-600-6441

Email: [email protected]



Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/smart-mirror-market.asp

Connect with us on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets



SOURCE MarketsandMarketsMONROVIA, California, August 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Sugarmade, Inc. (SGMD), one of the largest publicly traded hydroponics supply companies, today announces the filing of a disclosure statement with the Securities & Exchange Commission concerning possible acquisitions by the Company. Sugarmade has begun formal acquisition negotiations with two companies that provide online and retail hydroponic and other agricultural cultivation supplies.

Mr. Jimmy Chan, CEO of Sugarmade, commented, "The hydroponic supply sector is still highly fragmented with many of the larger players not likely to reach public company liquidity events for the original entrepreneurial teams. We have entered into talks with at least two of these companies for acquisition, which we believe will be highly accretive for common Sugarmade shareholders and additive to our already robust top line growth rate. We wanted to publicly disclose these discussions to ensure that all shareholders have equal access to our direction, thus our recent public filing."

On August 21, 2018, the Company filed Schedule 14-A with the Commission calling for a special shareholder meeting at 750 Royal Oaks Drive, Monrovia, CA 91016, on October 10, 2018 at 8:00 a.m., Pacific Time. The purpose of the meeting is to: 1. To approve an amendment to the Articles of Incorporation to increase our authorized capital 300,000,000 common shares to 2,000,000,000 common shares 2. To approve the adjournment of the Special Meeting, if necessary or appropriate, to solicit additional proxies; and 3. To transact such other business as may properly come before the meeting, or any postponement or adjournment thereof. Management of the Company believes this shareholder vote is important as a vote in favor of the increase will allow the Company to facilitate the possible transactions outlined above.

Sugarmade's filing, referenced above, can be view at http://www.sec.gov .

About Sugarmade, Inc. (OTC: SGMD):

Sugarmade, Inc. is a product and brand marketing company investing in products and brands with disruptive potential. Sugarmade's brands include ZenHydro.com, CarryOutSupplies.com, and BudLife Cannabis Storage Solutions. For more information on the Company's products, please visit http://www.Sugarmade.com.

STATEMENTS: This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements also may be included in other publicly available documents issued by the Company and in oral statements made by our officers and representatives from time to time. These forward-looking statements are intended to provide management's current expectations or plans for our future operating and financial performance, based on assumptions currently believed to be valid. They can be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "goal," "seek," "believe," "project," "estimate," "expect," "strategy," "future," "likely," "may," "should," "would," "could," "will" and other words of similar meaning in connection with a discussion of future operating or financial performance. Examples of forward looking statements include, among others, statements relating to future sales, earnings, cash flows, results of operations, uses of cash and other measures of financial performance.

Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others such as, but not limited to economic conditions, changes in the laws or regulations, demand for products and services of the company, the effects of competition and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or represented in the forward looking statements.

Any forward-looking information provided in this release should be considered with these factors in mind. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this report.

For inquiries please contact:

Jimmy Chan

(888)982-1628

[email protected]



SOURCE Sugarmade, Inc.ONTARIO, Calif., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly 450,000 airline passengers moved through Ontario International Airport (ONT) in July, up 17% from the same month last year. July was the sixth month this year that ONT experienced double-digit growth in passenger volume.

For the first seven months of the year, nearly 2.9 million air travelers passed through ONT compared to 2.56 million during the same period a year ago, an increase of more than 12%.

At the height of the summer travel season, ONT welcomed 448,299 customers in July, an increase of 16.9% over July last year when 383,349 passengers traveled through the airport. The numbers of domestic and international travelers grew last month by 16% and 32.2%, respectively.

Air cargo shipments, meanwhile, rose 27.4% to 63,204 tons of freight and mail, compared to 49,629 tons last July. For the year, cargo shipment volume is up 18.5%, to 414,844 tons, compared to the first seven months of 2017.

"We are heartened by the strong growth we continue to see in passenger and cargo volumes," said Mark Thorpe, Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario International Airport Authority. "Our customers are looking for attractive alternatives for air service in Southern California and we are working every day to meet their demands."

Frontier Airlines began daily, non-stop service from ONT to Orlando this month, and JetBlue Airways will begin non-stop service to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport in September. The OIAA in June approved a lease agreement with FedEx Express to continue the company's cargo operations at ONT for at least 30 years.

This past week, Ontario marked the completion of a multi-million dollar transformation of its food and beverage concessions.

"I want to congratulate our staff and our partners for the incredible progress that has been made since the airport's return to local control," said Jim Bowman, an OIAA commissioner and Ontario City Council member. "What we're seeing now is only the start of a bold new era for ONT."



July 2018 July 2017 % Change YTD 2018 YTD 2017 % Change Passenger Traffic











Domestic 424,982 365,706 16.2% 2,765,627 2,479,453 11.5% International 23,317 17,643 32.2% 117,715 85,230 38.1% Total 448,299 383,349 16.9% 2,883,342 2,564,683 12.4% Air Cargo (Tons)











Freight 60,734 47,445 28.0% 397,167 333,756 19.0% Mail 2,470 2,184 13.1% 17,676 16,394 7.8% Total 63,204 49,629 27.4% 414,844 350,151 18.5%

About Ontario International Airport

Ontario International (ONT) Airport is located in the Inland Empire, approximately 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles in the center of Southern California. It is a full-service airport with nonstop commercial jet service to 18 major airports in the U.S., Mexico and Taiwan, and connecting service to many domestic and international destinations. There is an average of 64 daily departures offered by 8 air carriers. More information is available at www.flyOntario.com.

Follow @flyONT on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

About the Ontario International Airport Authority (OIAA)

The OIAA was formed in August 2012 by a Joint Powers Agreement between the City of Ontario and the County of San Bernardino to provide overall direction for the management, operations, development and marketing of ONT for the benefit of the Southern California economy and the residents of the airport's four-county catchment area. OIAA Commissioners are Ontario Mayor Pro-Tem Alan D. Wapner (President), Retired Riverside Mayor Ronald O. Loveridge (Vice President), Ontario Council Member Jim W. Bowman (Secretary), San Bernardino County Supervisor Curt Hagman (Commissioner) and retired business executive Julia Gouw (Commissioner).

News Media Contacts:

Atif Elkadi, Deputy Executive Director, (858) 361-9319 [email protected]

Steve Lambert, (909) 841-7527 [email protected]

SOURCE Ontario International Airport

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SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Attention spans are not shrinking, rather they are evolving to be more selective, according to a new research study from Prezi, the presentation platform that helps people connect more powerfully with their audiences and customers. The 2018 State of Attention Report, which measured the effectiveness of content and presentations and how they resonate with business professionals across demographics, including Millennials, Generation X, and Boomers, found that the key to engaging content is a compelling narrative combined with stimulating visuals and dialogue.

According to the survey, the ability to maintain focus has actually improved over time, despite an ever-growing mountain of available content. This demonstrates that the attention of business professionals can be captured for long periods of time with compelling content that includes great stories and interesting, gripping visuals.

More than two thousand business professionals from the United States of America participated in the study, conducted by Kelton Research. Key findings include:

1. Respondents reported that they have increased attention spans, but have become more selective in the content they choose to consume:

59% of professionals say they can give a piece of content their undivided attention without getting distracted more now than they could one year ago.

49% admit they've become more selective about the content they consume.

2. The key to engaging content is a compelling story and visuals:

Nearly 9 in 10 respondents said a strong narrative (88%) or the story (87%) behind what's being presented is critical in maintaining the engagement of their audience.

55% of business professionals say a great story captures their focus and keeps them engaged with content.

In regards to presentations, 79 percent of business professionals said the use of animated visuals in presentations is effective in keeping the audience engaged.

3. The costs of not keeping attention for business professionals are high:

95% of business professionals say they multitask during meetings.

Around one-third of these multitaskers lose track of (37%) or have trouble retaining (31%) the information that was being discussed.

One in five admit multitasking in meetings has caused them to make an error in their work.

"Our attention spans being shorter than a goldfish's is a grossly inaccurate rumor. These days it's common to binge-watch a series for six or more hours, so there's no reason you shouldn't be able to pay attention in a meeting. You just need to couple your content with a compelling story and great visuals," says Nadjya Ghausi, vice president of marketing at Prezi. "We at Prezi believe that attention spans aren't shrinking  they're simply evolving, and the time to cater to new preferences isn't tomorrow; it's now."

Millennials: Key to the Future of Effective Storytelling and Presenting

Millennials, according to Pew Research Center, became the largest generation present in the workforce in 2017, making them the most important group to cater to when seeking the attention of business audiences. The content that Millennials find most engaging aligns with how storytelling needs to evolve in business  that is, it needs to include more visuals, animation, and a compelling narrative:

More Millennial business professionals (90%) than Gen Xers (85%) or Boomers+ (82%) shifted their focus away from the speaker during the most recent presentation or sales pitch they saw live.

More than one-third of Millennials say they only engage with content that they feel has a great story or theme.

engage with content that they feel has a great story or theme. 82% of Millennial presenters say animated visuals are effective in keeping an audience engaged.

The results from the study suggest that attention spans are not only intact, but also getting longer in younger generations. More effective storytelling in business can also help bridge gaps between different generations in the workforce. The State of Attention study found that more than half (55 percent) of all business professionals say a great story captures their focus and keeps them engaged with content.

Methodology:

The State of Attention survey was conducted by Kelton Global between February 27, 2018 and March 7, 2018 among 2,036 Business Professionals in the United States of America working in an office building, using an email invitation and an online survey.



Kelton Global is a leading global insights firm serving as a partner to more than 100 of the Fortune 500 and thousands of smaller companies and organizations. For more information about Kelton Global please call 1.888.8.KELTON or visit www.keltonglobal.com. To access the report, please go to prezi.com/2018-state-of-attention-report.

About Prezi

Prezi is the presentation platform that helps you connect more powerfully with your audience and customers. Unlike slides, Prezi's single, interactive canvas encourages conversation and collaboration, making your overall presentation more engaging, persuasive, and memorable. Prezi's latest offering, Prezi Next, is a full-lifecycle presentation platform so everyone can easily create visually stunning presentations, deliver them in a more natural and conversational way, and analyze their effectiveness. Founded in 2009, and with offices in San Francisco, Budapest, and Riga, Prezi now fosters a community of over 100 million users and Prezi presentations have been viewed over 3.5 billion times. Its investors include Accel Partners, Spectrum Equity, and TED conferences. For more information, please visit www.prezi.com.

PR Contact:

Brett Smith

Prezi

(415) 516-2564

[email protected]

SOURCE Prezi

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NEW YORK, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Teamsters Local 813 is lauding a decision by the Manhattan Supreme Court yesterday to reject a temporary restraining order sought by rouge private waste hauler Sanitation Salvage Corp. and is optimistic that its operations will be permanently halted at a city commission hearing tomorrow.

Sean Campbell, President of Local 813, said the company's record  which includes two deaths and 58 crashes since March 2016  shows that the company does not take safety seriously. The city's Business Integrity Commission suspended Sanitation Salvage's license last Friday and will hold a hearing on whether it should be reinstated Wednesday.

"This has been a long time coming," Campbell said. "This employer has been a bad actor for years. It took the death of two individuals to bring this to light. But justice is finally being served."

Sanitation Salvage was the target of a report by ProPublica last June that highlighted the shady practices of the company that forced workers to work off-the-books for more than 18 hours a day and led to the death of Mouctar Diallo, a worker and African immigrant, in November 2017. A Bronx man, Leon Clark, was also killed by a company truck last April.

Sanitation Salvage employs 86 workers. Local 813 has secured commitments from Teamster employers to get jobs for all of its workers and to work in partnership with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's office to ensure there is no worker displacement.

Contact: Sean Campbell, (718) 937-7010

SOURCE Teamsters Local 813MILFORD, Ohio, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- TruPet LLC, the parent company of TruDog, a division of the same company, have been awarded a spot on the Inc. 5000 prestigious list of the fastest growing private companies in America for 2018. TruPet LLC ranked 39th overall, 4th in the retail category and #1 in the state of Ohio.

Inc. 500 America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies TruDog: Love Your Dog's Life

TruPet's founder, Lori R. Taylor, was grateful for the announcement. "We wouldn't be here without the passion and dedication of our dog mom and dads. When Truman died, I was heartbroken. I made a commitment his death would not be in vain; that his legacy would be the light to lead the way for truth in dog nutrition. I like to think he's looking down, tongue out tail wagging sending good job mom vibes from his heart to mine. We are blessed to be here. Our hearts are full of gratitude for the TruDog tribe that's growing every day."

TruDog currently provides products direct to the consumer, such as:

Freeze dried premium raw dog food

Dehydrated raw dog food

Nutritional raw food toppers and mixers

Natural supplements for dogs such as joint care, calming, skin and coat health, and an Omega proprietary formula

Freeze dried raw treats for dogs and cats

Dental care sprays, gels, and tongue cleaners for cats and dogs

Oven baked natural treats and natural chews for dogs

Dog toys

Accessories for pets and humans such as ID tags and tee shirts

And in 2014, TruDog acquired Orapup, a company that makes tongue cleaning brushes for dogs and dental care pastes. Orapup products can now be purchased directly through the TruDog Website. TruDog products are currently offered on well-known websites such as Amazon, Chewy, and Walmart, as well as their own website.

About TruPet, LLC: TruPet, LLC and TruDog, a division of the parent company, were founded in 2013. The family-owned pet food company based in Ohio currently includes 29 animal-loving employees. The company began after founder Lori R. Taylor lost her Great Dane, Truman, to cancer at an early age. Determined to find out why her vibrant dog developed cancer, she set out to learn the truth about pet foods. Through her research, she discovered that most commercial pet foods simply do not provide the level of nutrition and quality that dedicated pet parents demand, so she developed her own brand of freeze dried, biologically appropriate raw foods for dogs. TruDog is the first division of TruPet LLC, which will eventually launch lines of food, supplements, and pet care products for dogs, cats, and horses. The company is named in honor of Truman, the Great Dane who sparked the search for better pet products.

Media Contacts:

Anthony Santarsiero

CEO TruDog, a division of TruPet, LLC

[email protected]

(800) 476-8808

Christian Adams

[email protected]

(800)476-8808

SOURCE TruPet, LLCSAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- YuJa Inc. formally announces a new partnership with member schools within the Tennessee Board of Regents, including Northeast State Community College and Southwest Tennessee Community College, to provide site-wide software-based lecture capture, live streaming, and video content management tools.

Following a competitive review process, including a Request for Proposal (RFP) from major vendors in the space, YuJa was awarded a 3-year agreement by Northeast State Community College. The award included provisions for other Tennessee Board of Regent members to receive preferred member pricing and expedited contract execution.

The YuJa Enterprise Video Platform is a proven higher-education video solution that integrates with the university's existing D2L Brightspace learning management system (LMS) and existing classroom infrastructure to support educational initiatives centered on video. "We are proud to offer industry-leading, affordable video solutions to Tennessee schools for their campus-wide video initiatives," said Dr. Ajit Singh, Chief Executive Officer of YuJa Inc.

About YuJa

YuJa is a leader in enterprise video solutions. Our products harness the power of video to educate, engage, inspire and collaborate. We serve organizations of all sizes within all sectors, including higher-ed, K-12, government and corporate, delivering video experiences including lecture capture, live streaming, media management, video conferencing, and immersive social & mobile engagement tools. We have legal headquarters in Delaware with primary U.S. offices in Silicon Valley, California and Canadian offices in both Waterloo and Toronto.

About Northeast State Community College

Northeast State Community College is a comprehensive two-year community college under the governance of the Tennessee Board of Regents of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee. Northeast State Community College offers technical education and college transfer programs in Blountville and at teaching sites in Elizabethton, Gray, Johnson City, and Kingsport to a diverse student body of more than 6,000 students.

About Tennessee Board of Regents

The Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) is one of the two systems of public higher education in Tennessee. The TBR was authorized by an act of the Tennessee General Assembly passed in 1972. The TBR supervises all public community colleges and technical colleges in the state, serving over 100,000 students annually.

SOURCE YuJaPETALUMA, Calif., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Picking good employees for a business is time-consuming for most bosses, but it doesn't have to be. Working with a temp or staffing agency can greatly reduce overall costs, time expenditure and possibly a lot of headaches. Brandon Frere, CEO and president of Frere Enterprises, encourages business owners to use all available resources for the betterment of the company. That may mean trying to work with some sort of employment agency.

"Strategic business planners are going to use whatever tools are available to better themselves, the business and those working with and for them. They'll be thinking not just about the here and now but the long term overall," said Frere. There are several reasons that a business owner might consider hiring someone from a temp agency. That includes a project that needs more hands quickly, but not necessarily for the long term or just saving some time by having the agency do the necessary background checks before their application even hits a business' table. It could also be seen as a way to try out an employee and see if they're a good fit for the company. It removes a decent amount of work on the business' end but also helps bring qualified candidates right to them, because the agency will have contact with a variety of people looking for employment.

There are cons in using staffing agencies, too, just like anything else. So it becomes a matter of weighing the choices. No direct benefits from the company may lower morale, but there are remedies for that. Treating a temp agency employee like a regular employee is one of the ways to go about making sure the situation is best for all involved. Proper training, involvement in the workplace and protection in cases of harassment go a long way to making a temporary employee feel welcome. This is especially true if such temporary employees have made a place for themselves at the workplace and it's time to welcome them as a full-time employee.

"My employees come first in my business because they chose to come work for and with me. Take care of your employees and they'll take care of you and your business," said Frere.

About Frere Enterprises

Run by CEO Brandon Frere, Frere Enterprises is a California-based company with a global vision based around the usage of special financial technology, or SpecFinTech, with a current focus on financial wellness and productivity.

He has designed and created multiple companies to meet the ever-demanding needs of businesses and consumers, alike. Frere's website, www.FrereEnterprises.com, is used as a means to communicate many of the lessons, fundamentals and information that he has learned throughout his extensive business and technological endeavors. Through Frere Enterprises, he aims to apply those lessons to other business opportunities.

Frere Enterprises' mission is to acquire traditional businesses and digitally transform them to meet and exceed modern day demand. This mission seeks to transform such businesses by developing the newest and most evolved technologies to speed up the evolution of financial services in order to meet the demands of the modern consumer and exceed the potential of the modern era.

FrereEnterprises.com

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SOURCE Frere Enterprises

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| BY Martin Trevaskis |

Laura Geagea, Managing Director and Executive Producer of China, Asia & MENA at Sweetshop (pictured left on the right) reports for Campaign Brief Asia from AdStars 2018 in Busan, South Korea.

DAY 3.

The third and last day of Adstars and everyones looking forward to the award ceremony this evening.

Hyungkyun Oh, Art Director at Cheil, Aeri Park, Vice President at HS Ad and Matty Burton, Creative Chief Asia Pacific at Google Zoo start off the day with talks touching technology, downloading and condensing work.

Emma Wilkie then took us through Lessons From the Worlds Most Creative Campaigns from Gunn Report. A great 45 minute overview of the very best of our industry from print campaigns, to agencies, interactive and much more. Some fantastic campaigns and ideas make the Gunn Reports prestigious list, but here are a couple of highlights.

The top 5 campaigns of the year:

Brand: Getty Images

Agency: AlmapBBDO

A print campaign with four impressive portraits of Andrea Merkel, Pope Francis, The Dalai Lama and Prince Charles put together with a multitude of stock art images stitched together.

Brand: Sandy hook promise

Agency: BBDO New York

The cute high-school love story that steals our hearts to then finally reveal that gun violence is something that is in the background and we seldom notice.

Brand: Pedigree

Agency: BBDO Auckland

The humorous campaign that encourages parents to adopt a dog after their kids have left the house.

Brand: State street global advisors

Agency: McCann New York

Today its one of the worlds most famous statues, Fearless Girl was initially built and installed opposite the Charging Bull on Wall Street for International Womens Day as a temporary piece. Its now been moved to a permanent spot across the stock exchange in New York. A very clear symbol calling for diversity and empowerment for women.

Brand: Transport Accident Commission

Agency: Clemenger BBDO Melbourne

An interactive sculpture created to show us what our bodies need to look like to withhold a car accident. A very successful campaign that attracted 10 million views on the website in five days.

BDDO worldwide takes the Gunn Reports most awarded network title for the 12th year in a row, followed by McCann Worldgroup, Ogilvy & Mather & DDB Worldwide.

Ari Halper from FCB New York took the stage after Wilkie. Halper told us how The Future of Advertising lies in our creativity. But just not how you think!

He starts off with a simple question: Is there a future in this industry? Or should I get out?

The good news is that advertising is not dead. The bad news is that its hurting, Halper says half-jokingly, half serious. Carrying on with the same tone, he gives us a quick overview of why we are where we are and what we couldve avoided along the road.

He starts of by discussing a model that used to be the norm  where agencies would charge clients 15% of the total budget. The fee-based model ensued preceding the divorce of media and creativity.

Also touching on awards and how they are an obvious big benchmark that create value for our companies, he says, Awards should be part of the journey and not of the destination. It does however feel different.

There is unfortunately a feeling of mistrust that has set itself between Clients and their agencies. However, the future is not all dark and gloomy, Halper gives a few solutions that he believes will lift things up.

Ranging from a performance-based model where the agency makes more if the sales are better than expected, as a first option or even the IP model, which gives the agency ownership of a campaign so that they can capitalize on it when it does well and is aired throughout different media, territories and usage.

Other solutions also include a Fuck it Model  where we just need to not over think it, go for something new and not worry about anything else (and pray to whichever God we believe in that it will work out).

Toby Talbot, Chief Creative Officer at Saatchi & Saatchi was next and took us through his personal journey and story revolving around his relationship with awards and What is the True Value of Awards?. Talbots been in the industry for 28 years. And asks himself whether his legacy will be measured in awards.

When advertising started, there were no awards. But I the 60s, we decided we should give ourselves awards to celebrate ourselves and our work. The logic, if we want to look at it that way, is that if the bar is set high enough, then maybe well all end up pushing for more good work, well have something to aspire to.

Would there be more bad movies if the Oscars didnt exist? A good thought to ponder.

Talbot does believe though that there are too many awards shows out there. So which awards do matter and to who?

A few big names come up, the Effies, which are a bigger attraction to clients as theyre more measurable in terms of data than others. Also, Cannes Lions, D&AD, Spikes Asia, to name a few.

Some agencies are seen to spend up to $1 million a year on awards (this includes case studies, entries, delegates passes, sponsors). In Talbots opinion, perhaps picking and choosing the award shows and investing the rest of your time and money within your own network might be the better choice.

A special note goes out to Adstars that has a system in place, which is different to the majority of awards, where the entries are free. The downside of having to pay for every entry is that some companies simply cannot afford it. Therefore, a lot of good work and ideas get lost every year. Which is something that should be avoided, if we want to see groundbreaking new work!

The creativity talks come an end with Talbot urging us to focus more on creativity, and less on the eterna

l chase of awards.

And off we go to the Awards show and Closing Gala party for the 11th edition of Adstars. A great couple of hours of watching all the work that has been voted the best by the jury, here are a few highlights!

Nike went home with the Advertiser of the Year award. BBDO was awarded Network of the Year, specifically BBDO Pakistan, which won several awards for its gripping Bridal Uniform Campaign.

Grand Prix of the Year went to two campaigns:

And Im pretty proud to say, Sweetshop also walked away with a Gold trophy in Film Craft (Direction) for New Zealand Police Recruitment from Director Damien Shatford.

The 12th edition of Adstars theme was also unveiled, Influence. The hope is to influence the world through advertising and make it a better place!

Thank you for having us Adstars! A shame we didnt get more sun, but still an interesting and exciting three days.

See you next year Busan!BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Oakworth Capital Bank has been named to American Banker's 2018 Best Banks to Work For, ranking first nationally. The ranking, which began in 2013, is a project of American Banker and Best Companies Group to recognize and honor the best banks to work for in the nation. This is Oakworth's second consecutive year to make the list.

"We are honored to be recognized by the American Banker in this prestigious ranking," said CEO Scott Reed. "Our vision of 'Redefining Financial Services' begins with our associates. If we take care of our associates, they will provide our clients the best possible experience. Our people are Oakworth's most valuable asset, so this recognition is tangible evidence that Oakworth is a world-class environment in which to build a career."

Oakworth moved from a number 18 ranking in 2017 to the number 1 ranking in 2018. Reasons cited include Oakworth's comprehensive wellness program, OakWell, as well as the opportunities for all associates to own equity in the Company. These initiatives are consistent with Oakworth's core purpose of Helping People Succeed.

Determining the Best Banks to Work For involves both extensive employee surveys and reviews of employer reports on benefits and policies. This survey and recognition program is dedicated to identifying and recognizing the best employers in the banking industry. Best Companies Group managed the overall registration and survey process, analyzed the data and used their expertise to determine the final ranking. Full results of this year's program are available at American Banker.com.

About Oakworth Capital Bank

Oakworth Capital Bank provides commercial banking, wealth management, and private banking services to successful businesses, families, and individuals. The Bank serves its valued clients across the United States from its headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama as well as offices located in Montgomery and Mobile. For more information about Oakworth Capital Bank and its unique approach, please visit the company website at www.oakworthcapital.com or call us at (205) 263-4700.

For more information contact:

Lindsey Krausen

Phone: 205-278-2736

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Oakworth Capital Bank

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ROHNERT PARK, Calif., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The trend of large companies buying back their own shares extends to the student loan industry. The practice, which creates higher stock prices by reducing the number of outstanding shares, increases companies' earnings per share, without, according to some, improving the economy, and directs resources away from hiring new employees or investing in company infrastructure or research and development. Very few, if any, of those weighed down by student loan debt have enough extra money to invest to directly benefit from stock buybacks. For millions of these borrowers, just paying monthly student loan payments and household expenses is extremely challenging.

Ameritech Financial, a document preparation firm, is focused on helping those overwhelmed by student loan debt navigate the sometimes overly complex process of applying for and maintaining enrollment in federal programs, such as income-driven repayment plans (IDRs).

"Stock buybacks are a way for large companies to add value to their share prices, benefiting investors," said Tom Knickerbocker, executive vice president of Ameritech Financial. "For most of our clients who come to us overburdened by student loan debt, investing in the stock market is far less important than getting to the end of the month to pay all the bills. That's why we help them find the right IDR, and hopefully lower their monthly payment based on income and family size."

Buybacks are attractive for investors and those who are compensated in shares of stock. Apple, for example, recently announced a record $100 billion buyback. According to a recent article, Navient, a company that student loan borrowers rely upon to service their student loan debt, bought back $2.75 billion from 2014 to 2017, including particularly high levels, over five percent, of its outstanding shares over the last 12 months.

Proponents of stock buybacks say that investment in innovation, jobs and worker compensation is underestimated since shareholders who have secured profits turn around and invest these proceeds in smaller public and private firms, supporting economic growth throughout the economy. Critics say that CEOs paid largely in shares directly profit from stock buybacks. The CEO of Navient, Jack Remondi, earned nearly $6.5 million in total compensation in 2017, nearly $3 million of that in stock rewards, despite low rates of customer satisfaction.

Though there may be differences of opinion on the relative merits of stock buybacks for the overall economy, many student loan borrowers are focused on keeping up with their monthly bills. According to recent estimates, nearly 40 percent of borrowers are expected to default on their student loans by 2023. Ameritech Financial remains committed to helping as many of these borrowers as possible, returning them to personal profitability by guiding them through the process of securing IDRS so that their household budgets can become manageable.

"While stock buybacks happen on grander financial stages, we work with one borrower at a time," said Knickerbocker. "We find just the right program for each borrower, then make sure all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed."

About Ameritech Financial

Ameritech Financial is a private company located in Rohnert Park, California. Ameritech Financial has already helped thousands of consumers with financial analysis and student loan document preparation to apply for federal student loan repayment programs offered through the Department of Education.

Each Ameritech Financial telephone representative has received the Certified Student Loan Professional certification through the International Association of Professional Debt Arbitrators (IAPDA).

Ameritech Financial prides itself on its exceptional customer service.

Ameritech Financial Newsroom

Contact

To learn more about Ameritech Financial, please contact:

Ameritech Financial

5789 State Farm Drive #265

Rohnert Park, CA 94928

1-800-792-8621

[email protected]

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SOURCE Ameritech FinancialROLLING MEADOWS, Ill., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Doug Howell, Chief Financial Officer of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE: AJG), will speak at the Keefe, Bruyette & Woods 2018 Insurance Conference at The Crowne Plaza Times Square in New York on Wednesday, September 5, 2018 at 2:05 p.m. ET.

To listen to the live audio webcast of Mr. Howell's comments, log on to the conference website at http://wsw.com/webcast/kbw45/ajg/. A replay of this webcast will be available at the same URL within 24 hours and will remain archived at the same link through December 5, 2018. In addition, an updated slide presentation to be used by Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in meetings with investors will be available on September 5, 2018 at www.ajg.com/ir.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE: AJG), a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting services firm, is headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. The company has operations in 34 countries and offers client service capabilities in more than 150 countries around the world through a network of correspondent brokers and consultants.

Mr. Howell's comments may include "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words "anticipates," "believes," "contemplates," "see," "should," "could," "will," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "plans" and variations thereof and similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements in Mr. Howell's comments may include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: (i) earnings from our clean energy investments and expected future tax rates; (ii) future dividends; (iii) improvements in our new business production; (iv) "tuck-in" M&A activity; (v) global brand recognition; (vi) the leveraging of internal resources across divisions and borders; (vii) our status as the premier provider of claims management services; (viii) our global presence in the claims space; (ix) our ability to stay in front of improvements in technology; (x) our ability to leverage resources across borders; (xi) commercial P&C pricing; (xii) drivers and expected levels of our organic growth; (xiii) future M&A opportunities, including bolt-on acquisitions to our "platforms"; (xiv) increasing productivity and quality; (xv) our management team; (xvi) our use of leverage; (xvii) our balance sheet; and (xviii) our return to shareholders. Statements regarding our clean energy investments and future effective tax rates could be materially impacted by various risk and uncertainties, including uncertainties related to political and regulatory risks, such as potential actions by Congress or challenges by the IRS eliminating or reducing the availability of tax credits under IRC Section 45 retroactively and/or going forward; the ability to maintain and find co-investors; the potential for divergent business objectives by co-investors and other stakeholders; plant operational risks, including supply-chain risks; utilities' future use of, or demand for, coal; the market price of coal; the costs of moving a clean coal plant; intellectual property litigation risks; and environmental risks. The other forward-looking statements referred to above could be materially impacted by declines in premiums or other adverse trends in the insurance industry; an economic downturn (including as a result of Brexit, trade wars or tariffs); tax reform, including new interpretations or guidance from regulators; competitive pressures in our businesses; failure to successfully or cost-effectively integrate recently acquired businesses; risks to our acquisition strategy, including continuing consolidation in our industry and increased interest in acquiring insurance brokers by private equity firms; our failure to attract and retain key executives and other personnel; risks arising from our international operations, including political and economic uncertainty and regulatory and legal compliance risk; concentration of large amounts of revenue with certain clients in our risk management segment; failure to apply technology effectively in our businesses; business continuity and cybersecurity risks; damage to our reputation; and failure to comply with regulatory requirements, including the FCPA, other anti-corruption laws, sanctions laws, and data privacy laws. Please refer to Gallagher's filings with the SEC, including Item 1A, "Risk Factors," of its most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for a more detailed discussion of these and other factors that could impact its forward-looking statements.

Contact:

Ray Iardella

VP - Investor Relations

(630) 285-3661  [email protected]

SOURCE Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE: BIG) announced today that Bruce K. Thorn, 51, a well-respected retail industry executive, has been named Chief Executive Officer and President of Big Lots, Inc. Mr. Thorn was most recently the President and Chief Operating Officer of Tailored Brands, Inc., a leading specialty retailer of men's tailored clothing and men's formalwear. Tailored Brands announced Mr. Thorn's resignation today. Following a transition period with Tailored Brands, Mr. Thorn is expected to be formally appointed as the CEO and President of Big Lots at the end of September, at which time Mr. Thorn will also be appointed as a director to fill the vacancy created at the time of David Campisi's retirement in April 2018.

Mr. Thorn joined Tailored Brands in 2015 as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. In March 2017, he was named President and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining Tailored Brands, Mr. Thorn held various enterprise level roles with PetSmart, Inc. since 2007, most recently as Executive Vice President, Store Operations, Services and Supply Chain. Mr. Thorn's other experiences include leadership positions with Gap, Inc., Cintas Corp, LESCO, Inc. and The United States Army. Mr. Thorn earned a B.S. from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and an M.B.A. from the University of Cincinnati.

"Bruce Thorn is a strong strategic thinker in addition to being an accomplished retail executive and operator," said Cynthia T. Jamison, Chair of the Nominating / Corporate Governance Committee and of the Board's search committee. "We were fortunate to be able to consider a couple of very capable internal candidates in addition to a broad range of external candidates. Bruce's combination of strategic vision, leadership skills and history of operational success impressed all of us and the search firm that we used in the process. We believe that he will be able to build on the Company's transformation into a community retailer while also nimbly navigating the rapidly changing and disrupted retail environment."

James R. Chambers, the Company's non-executive Chair, added: "The entire Board looks forward to welcoming Bruce to Big Lots and to his leadership. We also want to express our gratitude to Lisa Bachmann, Executive Vice President, Chief Merchandising and Operating Officer, and Tim Johnson, Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as well as the other members of the Company's Executive Leadership Team (ELT), for their leadership and stewardship of the Company during the search period of the past several months. We are confident that Bruce's addition will make an already strong and well-established management team even better."

About Big Lots, Inc.

Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE: BIG) is a community retailer operating 1,416 BIG LOTS stores in 47 states, dedicated to friendly service, trustworthy value, and affordable solutions in every season and category  furniture, food, decor, and more. We exist to serve everyone like family, providing a better shopping experience for our customers, valuing and developing our associates, and creating growth for our shareholders. Big Lots supports the communities it serves through the Big Lots Foundation, a charitable organization focused on four areas of need: hunger, housing, healthcare, and education. For more information about the Company, visit www.biglots.com.

Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and such statements are intended to qualify for the protection of the safe harbor provided by the Act. The words "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "objective," "goal," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," "will," "should," "may," "target," "forecast," "guidance," "outlook" and similar expressions generally identify forward-looking statements. Similarly, descriptions of our objectives, strategies, plans, goals or targets are also forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate to the expectations of management as to future occurrences and trends, including statements expressing optimism or pessimism about future operating results or events and projected sales, earnings, capital expenditures and business strategy. Forward-looking statements are based upon a number of assumptions concerning future conditions that may ultimately prove to be inaccurate. Forward-looking statements are and will be based upon management's then-current views and assumptions regarding future events and operating performance, and are applicable only as of the dates of such statements. Although we believe the expectations expressed in forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions within the bounds of our knowledge, forward-looking statements, by their nature, involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, any one or a combination of which could materially affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity.

Forward-looking statements that we make herein and in other reports and releases are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those discussed in such forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, current economic and credit conditions, the cost of goods, our inability to successfully execute strategic initiatives, competitive pressures, economic pressures on our customers and us, the availability of brand name closeout merchandise, trade restrictions, freight costs, the risks discussed in the Risk Factors section of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and other factors discussed from time to time in our other filings with the SEC, including Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. This release should be read in conjunction with such filings, and you should consider all of these risks, uncertainties and other factors carefully in evaluating forward-looking statements.

You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date thereof. We undertake no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You are advised, however, to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our public announcements and SEC filings.

SOURCE Big Lots, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.biglots.com

"As a brand who looks to do things differently and embraces forward-thinking, we see a strong link between ourselves and Emirates Team New Zealand," says Patrick Materman, Brancott Estate Chief Winemaker.

"Brancott Estate cultivated a region considered too cold for grapes, planting Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir grapes in Marlborough and establishing a wine region that is recognised across the globe. Its history of ingenuity, innovation and sustainability has seen us grow to be one of New Zealand's leading wine brands," continues Patrick.

In a similar vein, Emirates Team New Zealand had its beginnings in the New Zealand Challenge team which contested the 1987 America's Cup event in Fremantle, Western Australia. In an event dominated by technology and money, New Zealand punches well above its weight. The team has achieved victory on the world stage no less than three times, and in 2021 will defend their status as America's Cup holders.

"Emirates Team New Zealand are delighted to have Brancott Estate as exclusive supplier to the team for our 36th America's Cup campaign", said Emirates Team New Zealand COO, Kevin Shoebridge.



"We will be welcoming guests from around the world to New Zealand in 2021 and Brancott Estate will be right alongside us rolling out the welcome mat, putting on world renowned kiwi hospitality and sharing the finest taste of New Zealand with them all as we utilise their support and strive to defend the America's Cup."

With total belief and pride that New Zealand can take on the world, Brancott Estate will be looking for ways to enable fans to celebrate New Zealand's champion team and the exciting milestones throughout the journey via its product range in on- and off-premise outlets all over the world, with a focus on the final challenge events in Auckland in 2021.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Brancott Estate

Since planting the first Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir in 1975, Brancott Estate (previously known as Montana) has continued to craft striking wines to suit every occasion, including naturally lower alcohol, sparkling, organic, oak-infused and age-worthy expressions of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. In addition, they have led the revival of Sauvignon Gris, a rare varietal now enjoying a global resurgence.

Brancott Estate has been looking to the future since their beginning, advocating sustainability across all aspects of their winemaking, and helping found sustainable winemaking in New Zealand. This programme has since transformed into Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ). All vineyards and wineries are accredited under the scheme.

MEDIA CONTACT

Liz Patrick

Global PR Manager, New Zealand Brands

E: [email protected]

M: +6427 336 8312

Download images here from Tuesday 28 August.

View the video here: https://youtu.be/0Greo6JwfYE

Enjoy Brancott Estate wines responsibly.

www.brancottestate.com or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Brancott Estate is a trademark of Pernod Ricard Winemakers New Zealand Limited

SOURCE Brancott Estate

Related Links

http://www.brancottestate.com

The CASE markets have experienced steady growth against a backdrop of global economic expansion; gains in industrial and automotive production; and strengthening recovery in the construction markets. Acquisitions are occurring across areas of expertise, technologies, and geographies, as industry players look to gain entry or increase penetration in fast-growing niches, with highly strategic assets attracting premium valuations in the current environment.

Corporates are actively pursuing acquisitive growth, with large targets such as Valspar (Sherwin-Williams), Royal Adhesives & Sealants (H.B. Fuller), and A. Schulman (LyondellBasell) illustrative of an aggressive posture. Bolt-on activity has also been robust with Axalta Coating Systems and PolyOne among the industry players to complete serial buys. Private equity groups have been equally aggressive illustrated by an increasing level of new investments and add-on acquisitions. U.C. Coatings (High Road Capital Partners), Innovative Chemical Products (Audax Group), Valentus Specialty Chemicals (Huron Capital Partners), and Meridian Adhesives Group (Arsenal Capital Partners) are among the platforms looking to consolidate the market.

Liquidity will continue to fuel deal-making as buyers look to deploy surplus capital.

BGL publishes periodic Insider research publications on a variety of industries including automotive; building products and construction materials; business services; consumer and retail; environmental and industrial services; healthcare and life sciences; industrials; metals; and plastics and packaging. Download BGL Insider reports at https://www.bglco.com/research.

About Brown Gibbons Lang & Company

Brown Gibbons Lang & Company is a leading independent investment bank serving the middle market. BGL specializes in mergers and acquisitions advisory services, debt and equity placements, financial restructuring advice, and valuations and fairness opinions, with global industry teams in Business Services, Consumer & Retail, Environmental & Industrial Services, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Diversified Industrials, Metals & Metals Processing, and Real Estate. BGL has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Philadelphia, San Antonio, and San Diego, in addition to Global M&A partner offices in more than 50 countries across 5 continents. BGL is able to deliver to our clients unparalleled access to strategic relationships, investors, and opportunities globally. For more information, please visit www.bglco.com.

SOURCE Brown Gibbons Lang & Company

Related Links

www.bglco.com

CSE:CRL

FSE:7C5

OTC:CDTA

VANCOUVER, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Carl Data Solutions Inc. (CSE:CRL, FSE:7C5, OTC:CDTAF) ("Carl Data" or the "Company"), long-time customer, The City of Elkhart, was recognized by the Indiana Water Environment Association (IWEA) with the 2018 Collection Systems Large Facility Award. One of the tools that helped them win was a public notification system aimed at alerting residents to Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs), developed by Carl Data subsidiary FlowWorks Inc. Recent EPA regulations and health concerns have created an emerging USD $20 million market opportunity for similar CSO/public health notification systems.

"We've worked with The City of Elkhart for years and recognize the city as very proactive in their approach to managing the collection system. We were not surprised to see the city taking the lead on this initiative," commented Kevin Marsh, Carl Data VP of Business Development. "We are currently talking with over a dozen other municipalities in need of similar tools. Continued focus on public health and regulation of sewage in hundreds of communities across the country have created a CSO public notification market easily worth USD $20 million in the US alone, with similar market potential in Canada and the EU."

Earlier this year, the EPA made it a requirement that all Great Lakes Basin municipalities have a CSO public notification system. The timely notice of CSO events may allow the public to reduce their potential exposure to pathogens associated with human sewage, which can cause a wide variety of health effects, including gastrointestinal, skin, ear, respiratory, eye, neurologic and wound infections.

"I am proud to see Elkhart leading the way in this important public safety and quality of life issue," said Elkhart Mayor Tim Neese. "I want to commend our team at Public Works and Utilities for their pro-active approach to service and encourage them to keep up the great work."

Elkhart is the first Great Lakes Basin community to provide a user-friendly, web-based map to notify the public where to take caution when engaging in recreational activity in local rivers and creeks, during and after a rainfall or snowmelt event. The City's website can also inform the public if a CSO has occurred in the past seven days.

To learn more about the City's CSO long term control plan, visit www.elkhartindiana.org.

About FlowWorks

FlowWorks is a powerful Software-as-a-Service ("SaaS")-based application for collecting, monitoring and analyzing all types of environmental data. FlowWorks is flexible, affordable and easy-to-use compared to competing software packages. The FlowWorks Application has the unique ability to collect data from all types of monitoring equipment, gauges and sensor hardware, SCADA systems and other sources of public and private data to merge the information into a single platform to perform comprehensive analytics and reporting, saving time and money for the end user. More information on the FlowWorks Application can be found at www.FlowWorks.com.

About Carl Data Solutions Inc.

Carl Data Solutions Inc. is an Industrial IoT (IIoT) company focused on providing next generation information collection, storage and analytics solutions for data-centric companies. Building on its recent acquisitions, Carl helps its clients analyze and understand all forms of environmental data through a powerful platform of data collection, monitoring, reporting, and predictive analysis tools.

Carl Data continues to develop applications to work with new cloud-based mass storage services and analytics tools (Big-Data-as-a-Service (BDaaS) to provide scalability for municipalities, utilities and other industrial verticals. These data collection and storage methods allow the company to build smart Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based applications that can collect data from many diverse sources and provide deep insight for decision-making purposes. More information can be found at www.CarlSolutions.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors:

Greg Johnston

President, Chief Executive Officer, Director

Carl Data Solutions Inc.

The Canadian Securities Exchange (operated by CNSX Markets Inc.) has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release.

SOURCE Carl Data Solutions Inc.NEW YORK, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CFA Society San Francisco, CAIA San Francisco, and the California Alternative Investments Association, together with Markets Group, will host the ALTSSV Annual Investor Forum on September 17th for leading practitioners in the alternatives field.

Held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View California, the forum is a one-day meeting that will provide participants with an educationally focused agenda including private equity, venture capital, real estate, hedge funds, cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence and other sectors of the alternative investment market.

To download an agenda click here: alts-sv.com

Confirmed speakers include:

Vivek Ranadive , Owner, Chairman, Sacramento Kings , Founder & Managing General Partner, Bow Capital

, Owner, Chairman, , Founder & Managing General Partner, Priya Mathur , President of the Board, California Public Employees Retirement System

, President of the Board, Stephen Moore , Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Project for Economic Growth, Institute for Economic Freedom and Opportunity, The Heritage Foundation

, Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Project for Economic Growth, Institute for Economic Freedom and Opportunity, Jeff Horing , Co-Founder, Managing Director, Insight Venture Partners

, Co-Founder, Managing Director, Betty Tse , Chief Investment Officer, Alameda County Employees' Retirement Association

, Chief Investment Officer, Deepak Narula , Founder, Managing Partner, Metacapital Management

, Founder, Managing Partner, Sean Olesen , Director, Investments, Dignity Health

, Director, Investments, Tim Draper , Founder, Managing Partner, Draper Associates

, Founder, Managing Partner, Lauren Dillard , Managing Director and Head of Investment Solutions Group, Carlyle Group

, Managing Director and Head of Investment Solutions Group, Michael Oliver Weinberg , CFA, Chief Investment Officer, MOV37 Protege Partners

ALTSSV is developed for institutional investors, financial advisors, family offices, asset managers, investment consultants, plan trustees, portfolio managers, and research analysts.

Ticket prices will increase after this Friday, August 31st!

For further information about the conference program or how your team can get involved, please contact Paul Hamann, 347-308-7792, or [email protected].

About Markets Group:

Markets Group is an executive forum organizer with a track record of 300+ conferences in over 20 countries. Founded in 2009 in New York, Markets Group has grown into one of the largest and most successful conference organizers in the financial services sector, with over 75 professionals operating out of the US and Europe. We have successfully executed events in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Additionally, Markets Group was recently named one of America's 500 fastest-growing private companies by Inc. Magazine and distinguished us as the #1 conference organizer and #1 financial services firm based in NYC.

SOURCE Markets GroupMOSCOW, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CoolUtils.com (https://www.coolutils.com/) announced its latest CAD file conversion app, Total CAD Converter (https://www.coolutils.com/TotalCADConverter). Why use a CAD converter program? CAD files are produced using expensive computer drawing software and output specific and non-standard CAD file types. Instead of spending thousands of dollars on CAD software to include drawings and diagrams into documents, Total CAD Converter allows users to convert CAD files into a usable format, such as TIFF, in a cost-effective manner.

Total CAD Converter

Architects, construction organizations, and engineering firms understand the need to use CAD files in documents such as contracts, RFQs and RFPs. However, CAD files don't easily fit into Word or PDF documents. This autocad converter allows users to easily convert CAD files into many different file types, particularly TIFF files. TIFF files are commonly used in bids and contracts by architects, engineers, constructions firms, and anyone who designs products using CAD software.

Total CAD Converter allows users to convert many different types of CAD drawings, including dxf, dwg, dwf, dwfx, hpgl, plo, hpgl2, hp and several additional CAD formats. Total CAD Converter not only converts CAD files into the popular TIFF format, but also PDF, JPG, BMP, PNG, and other images used to include graphics in architectural and design documents.

While other programs simply convert CAD documents to other file formats, Total CAD Converter allows users to customize TIFF files. You can combine files, resize, rotate, and change colors (including changing color drawings to black and white) to get exactly the output you need for your documents.

Total CAD Converter also allows batch conversions. Users can process thousands of CAD files to TIFF in one go. Additional options include adding page numbers and dates on each page of the file to make organization of files easier for professionals. Users can also combine multiple files into one when converting CAD drawings to keep the number of files to a minimum. For example, architects can group files by client or building project and create one file for each project. Total CAD Converter can also convert CAD files in batches to save valuable time.

Total CAD Converter not only creates several different file types, but produces high-quality output of drawings into several different graphic formats. Users can convert CAD to JPEG files to define quality and smoothing for superior output.

Total CAD Converter is easy to use, even for the novice user. The wizard-mode interface steps users through conversion options, including output location, color and black and white options, resizing, rotating and cropping drawings, compression, quality, and many other features users can configure during the conversion process.

Total CAD Converter is ideal for construction companies, engineers, architects and other organizations that use complex autocad drawings and diagrams frequently. If you have clients that share CAD files with you, Total CAD Converter Pro is ideal for viewing, converting and printing those files.

Total CAD Converter is offered as a 30-day free trial download for users to try. For users ready to purchase the application, the home license is $99.00. Total CAD Converter X to convert CAD to TIFF on web servers is $350.00.

About CoolUtils.com

CoolUtils.com specializes in producing file conversion software and has been creating award-winning products for well over 15 years. The company's apps provide support for converting over 1,400 different file formats, including pdf, tiff, dxf, dwg, hpgl2, gl2, etc. CoolUtils offers powerful tools with flexible settings. Learn more about their innovative conversion software at Coolutils.com.

Contact:

Olga Lapshinova

Managing Director

+1 (855) 418-2323

[email protected]

SOURCE CoolUtils.com

Related Links

https://www.coolutils.com

| BY Lynchy |

A new McDonalds branding commercial from Leo Burnett Taiwan features the world champion of womens badminton Miss Tai Tzu Ying, who once nearly gave up playing the sport.

Yings image within the badminton community is young and explosive. Her standard is untouchable and over the past two years she has continued to peak.

However, in this McDonalds 182-second branding spot, she reveals the story that she was about to give up badminton when she was 12 years old. Her father who has accompanied her always, unexpectedly supported her decision to give up. However in time, she figured it out and started again. This is a story of how McDonalds happened to change her mind.

Afer only 1 day this film immediately jumped to over 1 million views on YouTube and on Facebooks fan pages.

Tai Tzu Ying thought that she had the best taste at that time and sharing a McDonalds with her father afer training was a great part of her young life. She finally realized what is the best taste of life  emotional appeal and true confession. It continues to move and encourage the Taiwanese people.VANCOUVER, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Taseko Mines Limited (TSX: TKO; NYSE American: TGB) ("Taseko" or the "Company") announces that The Government of British Columbia was successful in defending its First Nation's consultation process in regards to Taseko's New Prosperity Project.

The Supreme Court of British Columbia's August 23, 2018 decision allows Taseko to proceed with investigative work at the New Prosperity site. This decision reaffirms Provincial Government authority over mine development in the Province and will be beneficial to the future of the New Prosperity Gold-Copper Project and also helpful to the mining industry, in general, in British Columbia.

"The court decision is unequivocal. The Government of British Columbia has the authority to approve resource development work even in the face of aboriginal opposition. The Crown's obligation is to consult with aboriginal people and to accommodate their interests where reasonable to do so. However, there is no duty or obligation to secure aboriginal support for the work being proposed," said Russell Hallbauer, President and CEO of Taseko Mines Limited.

"Last week's decision provides important guidance to the evolving and often complex relationship between the constitutional rights of aboriginal people and the responsibilities, duties and obligations the Government has to its citizens and their resources," added Mr. Hallbauer. "The court's decision, and reasons for the decision, will be helpful to provincial and federal governments, especially statutory decision makers who carry the responsibility to authorize important resource development projects. These decision makers can now move ahead with their decisions knowing the extent, and the limits, of the duties they owe to resource developers and to aboriginal people alike."

The work proposed by Taseko is investigative in nature and will gather hydrological data and other information required for the British Columbia Mines Act Permitting process. The information will also address many of the concerns expressed by the local aboriginal group (the Tsilhqot'in First Nation) during the federal environmental assessment, including outstanding questions relating to environmental protection and the New Prosperity water management plan.

As the judge noted in his decision, "In issuing the Second Federal Rejection, the Federal minister left the door open for additional efforts to justify approval, stating that the federal government "invites the submission of another proposal that addresses the Government's concerns." This alone undermines the petitioners' suggestion that there was no purpose in doing further work unless the Second Federal Rejection was overturned. It is reasonable to infer that TML (Taseko) would wish to gather further data to address the federal government's stated technical concerns, which would assist in any response TML makes to the federal government's invitation."

The judge added, "Based on the evidence presented to me, all parties and governments appear to be acting in good faith to advance what they each perceive to be the proper use for the land. But unfortunately good faith cannot always prevent disagreement. That is when courts must step in to help the parties move forward."

Mr. Hallbauer continued, "Taseko is confident that with the further information gathered under this permit, we will have the additional scientific evidence needed to satisfy key elements of the federal government's 2014 decision."

Further noted in the judge's decision: "TML's tenure rights remain in place until at least 2035. As such, barring further developments, TML will remain entitled to take steps to seek approval to build a mine for many more years, whether or not the present version of the Redesigned Project is rejected."

Mr. Hallbauer concluded, "As a Company, Taseko has always been committed to engaging with all levels of government, local, Provincial, Federal and First Nations, with the express goal of finding a path forward for our project in a manner that supports the court's decision. We look forward to advancing these discussions in the weeks and months ahead."

Russell Hallbauer

President and CEO

No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved of the information contained in this news release.

CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This document contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, "forward looking statements") that were based on Taseko's expectations, estimates and projections as of the dates as of which those statements were made. Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, believes, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "outlook", "anticipate", "project", "target", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "should" and similar expressions.

Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These included but are not limited to:

uncertainties and costs related to the Company's exploration and development activities, such as those associated with continuity of mineralization or determining whether mineral resources or reserves exist on a property;

uncertainties related to the accuracy of our estimates of mineral reserves, mineral resources, production rates and timing of production, future production and future cash and total costs of production and milling;

uncertainties related to feasibility studies that provide estimates of expected or anticipated costs, expenditures and economic returns from a mining project;

uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary title, licenses and permits for development projects and project delays due to third party opposition;

our ability to comply with the extensive governmental regulation to which our business is subject;

uncertainties related to unexpected judicial or regulatory proceedings;

changes in, and the effects of, the laws, regulations and government policies affecting our exploration and development activities and mining operations, particularly laws, regulations and policies;

changes in general economic conditions, the financial markets and in the demand and market price for copper, gold and other minerals and commodities, such as diesel fuel, steel, concrete, electricity and other forms of energy, mining equipment, and fluctuations in exchange rates, particularly with respect to the value of the U.S. dollar and Canadian dollar, and the continued availability of capital and financing;

the effects of forward selling instruments to protect against fluctuations in copper prices and exchange rate movements and the risks of counterparty defaults, and mark to market risk;

the risk of inadequate insurance or inability to obtain insurance to cover mining risks;

the risk of loss of key employees; the risk of changes in accounting policies and methods we use to report our financial condition, including uncertainties associated with critical accounting assumptions and estimates;

environmental issues and liabilities associated with mining including processing and stock piling ore;

labour strikes, work stoppages, or other interruptions to, or difficulties in, the employment of labour in markets in which we operate mines, or environmental hazards, industrial accidents, equipment failure or other events or occurrences, including third party interference that interrupt the production of minerals in our mines

. ; the availability of, and uncertainties relating to the development of, infrastructure necessary for the development of our projects;

our reliance upon key personnel; and

uncertainties relating to increased competition and conditions in the mining capital markets.

For further information on Taseko, investors should review the Company's annual Form 40-F filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission www.sec.gov and home jurisdiction filings that are available at www.sedar.com, including the "Risk Factors" included in our Annual Information Form.

SOURCE Taseko Mines Limited

Related Links

www.tasekomines.com

SEATTLE, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On Monday, a federal judge in Seattle upheld an emergency injunction that sought to prevent Austin-based nonprofit Defense Distributed and its founder, Cody Wilson, from publishing printable 3D gun design files. Judge Robert Lasnick of the Western District in Washington State issued the decision Monday, citing threats to public safety and potential interference with law enforcement's ability to pass and enforce gun laws in his ruling. But in an exclusive interview released Monday night with "Humans of Bitcoin" podcast, part of the Bitcoin.com Podcast Network, hosted by Matt Aaron, Cody Wilson revealed that his sale of the 3-D gun blueprints will go forward, despite his current legal battles in 20 states across the U.S.

Cody Wilson has been called many things by mainstream media and public lawmakers, but he prefers crypto-anarchist and "defense contractor for the people." He's no stranger to legal trouble: A temporary federal restraining order forced DefCad, his website, to go dark at the end of July.

And despite a settlement with the U.S. Department of State that explicitly allowed Wilson to publish the files after a years-long legal battle, a spray of lawsuits from 19 attorneys general and the District of Columbia has kept Wilson tied up in red tape for years.

Most recently, Wilson has served as the central axis around which a media frenzy has swirled since he first published the 3-D files for a plastic, serial-free gun five years ago, eliciting resistance from every corner of the political spectrum. Judge Lasnick's Monday decision has been touted by outlets like VICE and The New York Times as a legal ruling that will serve as a legitimate stumbling-block for Wilson.

But this, Wilson says, is a misrepresentation based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the law.

Mainstream media reports of Monday's legal "victory" for gun control and firearms regulations, says Wilson, are inaccurate. In fact, he exclusively told the "Humans of Bitcoin" podcast sponsored by Bitcoin.com, "No one's even disputing that I can sell you the file or just give it to you."

Wilson explained that, while the public internet distribution of the files has been legally blocked, their sale has always been, and remains, his legal right--a right that he plans to exercise beginning this week. "I'm just going to start selling the files on my site instead of letting you download them," he told Aaron on August 22nd.

The states' lawsuits, Wilson told Aaron, are propagating a false sense of security afforded to the public by a "mere technicality." In other words, "I'm simply choosing not to give the files to the public yet, and I'll be doing that starting next week," Wilson said on Wednesday. "It's always been legal to make your own gun," he elaborated, and the attempts to block him, Wilson argued, are nothing more than an expensive farce.

Of course, Wilson is encountering his own expenses due to his legal troubles. In keeping with Bitcoin.com's philosophy of digital freedom and mission to bring open-source, permissionless currency to the world, Bitcoin.com CEO Roger Ver has pledged his financial support in the wake of Wilson's ongoing legal battle. Through the Defense Distributed Fund at freedom.bitcoin.com, Bitcoin.com will match donations up to $100,000 in Bitcoin Cash.

Wilson, who found Bitcoin in 2012, says that his fight for what he calls "freedom of code" is of particular interest to the cryptocurrency community. The crypto community, like Wilson's nonprofit, is answering fundamental questions about exactly how much speech (and code) should be protected with radically libertarian answers.

About Roger Ver:

Roger Ver, the CEO of Bitcoin.com, was one of Bitcoin's earliest angel investors. A voluntaryist, libertarian, and avid champion for individual freedoms, Ver nearly single-handedly funded Bitcoin's first generation of startups, including Blockchain.info, Bitpay, Kraken, and many others.

Contact:

Laura Dorwart, Public Relations

Bitcoin.com

[email protected]

SOURCE Bitcoin.comWASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Decernis LLC (http://www.decernis.com), the leading provider of technology and content solutions for product compliance, safety, and risk management announced today that Dr. Robert Fellous joined the company as Senior Director Scientific Affairs. In this role, Dr. Fellous will lead the company's development in the Health & Beauty and Home & Personal Care product industries. In addition, he will support flavor and fragrance and ingredient companies that are suppliers to these industries. Finally, as a seasoned toxicologist, he will be applying his experience in expanding our capabilities in safety assessments services and tools and to develop proactive risk analysis approaches to meet emerging market requirements.

"We are very excited to have Dr. Fellous joining our leadership team at Decernis," stated Andrew (Pat) Waldo, CEO. "He brings renowned and international industry leading regulatory and safety expertise to reinforce Decernis in meeting our clients' demands to fulfill regulatory and safety market and consumer requirements."

Prior to joining Decernis, Dr. Fellous spent six years at Intertek in a role leading the global business line for healthcare and beauty products. During this time, Dr. Fellous launched Regulatory and Safety consulting teams, managed Clinical and Analytical Testing Services, and more. Before that, Robert spent 6 years as Vice President of Global Regulatory Affairs for the Scent and Care Division of Symrise. He furthermore held various senior roles with International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF), L'Oreal, and Medibridge. Dr. Fellous has held a number of eminent industry positions, such as the Chair of the EFFA REACh Task Force and Fragrance Expert Committee and the COLIPA-AISE-EFFA Joint Perfumery Steering & Safety Group.

Dr. Fellous received his PhD in Pharmacology from Universite Paris Descartes before attending the University of California, Berkeley where he gained a post-doctoral fellowship in biochemistry and molecular biology. Dr. Fellous also holds an INSEAD MBA.

"Decernis is well-positioned to extend key solutions and tools to the health, beauty, and personal care product industries," stated Dr. Fellous. "I have dedicated a significant amount of my time working with these industries, and in my new role I will be well-positioned to help them meet their fast-emerging consumer and market requirements."

About Decernis

Decernis LLC delivers global solutions for product compliance, safety, and risk management through smart technology, Intelligent Systems Technology, Big Data Analytics, and global expertise. Our horizon scanning, enterprise solutions, supply chain management and experts in global food, consumer, and industrial product safety support our clients in meeting complex market demands and key decisions. Decernis tracks regulatory developments in more than two hundred countries on a day-by-day basis.

Decernis contacts:

Americas Contact: Susanne Kuehne Senior Manager, Business Development Decernis LLC Phone +1 240.428.1800 [email protected] www.decernis.com

EU/APAC Contact: Christina Zimmermann Decernis GmbH Germany Tel. +49 (6483) 915303 [email protected] www.decernis.com

SOURCE Decernis LLC

Related Links

http://www.decernis.com

PLANTATION, Fla., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- DHL, the world's leading international express services provider, recently moved its service center facility in Tucson to a new location nearly double in size to handle the increased volume of international shipping.

"As the world's leader in international shipping, DHL is able to quickly respond to the explosive growth in international e-commerce we're seeing throughout the country, including in the Tucson area," said John Fox, VP and General Manager, Western U.S. for DHL Express. "Our new facility is addressing the overall increase in international shipping volume among all of our Tucson-based customers."

DHL in Tucson is also seeing increased volumes as the result of cross-border trade with Mexico, including shipments from "maquiladoras" -- manufacturing plants that assemble products in Mexico which are then exported to the U.S.

DHL invested $2.8 million in its new location, which features 23,462 square feet of ample warehouse and office space. The larger building also allows for an expanded capacity of 23 routes and features a conveyor sort system that can handle thousands of packages an hour. Located at 6855 South Lisa Frank Avenue, the new service center will provide a more convenient locale for customers than its previous, 12,000-square-foot facility on East Columbia.

The new facility is just a three minute drive from Tucson International Airport as opposed to 20, resulting in earlier deliveries for local customers. DHL also operates an aircraft ramp facility at the airport, where shipments are transported to and from the company's facilities in Phoenix.

The service center is already certified by the International Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA), an internationally recognized leader in the fight against cargo crime. The facility had to meet the security requirements of the TAPA audit process in order to gain certification.

The DHL service center currently has 19 personnel, including couriers, with the possibility of bringing on more in the future.

In addition to its service center facilities in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona, DHL employs more than 700 at its Customer Response Center in Tempe, where the DHL customer service and telesales operations for the U.S is based.

Media Contact:

DHL Express Americas

Media Relations

Robert Mintz

Phone: +1 425 984 4249

E-mail: [email protected]

Follow and tag us:

The Web: www.dhl-usa.com/express

Twitter: www.twitter.com/DHLUS

Instagram: www.instagram.com/dhlus

Facebook: www.facebook.com/DHLExpress

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/DHLExpress

YouTube: www.youtube.com/dhl

DHL  The logistics company for the world

DHL is the leading global brand in the logistics industry. Our DHL family of divisions offer an unrivalled portfolio of logistics services ranging from national and international parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and fulfillment solutions, international express, road, air and ocean transport to industrial supply chain management. With about 360,000 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide, DHL connects people and businesses securely and reliably, enabling global trade flows. With specialized solutions for growth markets and industries including technology, life sciences and healthcare, energy, automotive and retail, a proven commitment to corporate responsibility and an unrivalled presence in developing markets, DHL is decisively positioned as "The logistics company for the world".

DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL Group. The Group generated revenues of more than 60 billion euros in 2017.

SOURCE DHLBROOMFIELD, Colo., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Webroot, the Smarter Cybersecurity company, announced its partnership with Digital Shadows, a leading digital risk management and relevant threat intelligence company. Through the partnership, Digital Shadows SearchLight platform clients will be able to access Webroot BrightCloud Threat Intelligence Services (BCTI), which use big data architecture and the latest machine learning to provide clients with the most comprehensive, accurate, and timely threat intelligence available in the industry.

Explore the Webroot and Digital Shadows Partnership

About the Partnership:

The integration of BCTI into the Digital Shadows market leading SearchLight solution means clients receive timely, accurate, and operational information on malicious URLs and IPs alongside deep context around internet-related threats, including historical background and current threat status.

The partnership enhances and supports the existing offering to further protect Digital Shadows customers' businesses, brands and reputations.

SearchLight Platform clients have access to a suite of Webroot BrightCloud Threat Intelligence Services, including BrightCloud IP Reputation Service, BrightCloud Web Classification and Reputation Services, and BrightCloud Threat Insights.

Digital Shadows SearchLight customers can access the threat intelligence solutions via its Shadow Search feature either via the customer portal or API, allowing clients to access the same data through direct integration with their own custom tooling or third-party applications.

About Webroot BrightCloud Threat Intelligence Services:

Webroot BrightCloud Threat Intelligence Services protect customers from malicious URLs, IP addresses, files, and mobile apps by integrating accurate and operational threat intelligence into an organization's security solutions.

Driven by advanced machine learning and big data architecture, Webroot BrightCloud Threat Intelligence is powered by millions of licensed endpoints and data sources from across the globe.

The BrightCloud Threat Intelligence Services platform scans billions of IP addresses and URLs across millions of domains and leverages machine learning to classify and categorize each according to the threat it represents.

Webroot's Web Threat Insights service provides in-depth threat details that offer a unique mix of information to aid security decision making. Threat Insights also streamlines the incident response process by arming security operations teams to prioritize their investigations according to risk and severity.

Key Quotes:

Hal Lonas, Chief Technology Officer, Webroot

"In today's constantly shifting cyber threat landscape, it is critical for businesses to have timely and accurate threat intelligence to understand the risks they face. Our BrightCloud Threat Intelligence Services allow Digital Shadows customers to proactively protect against the latest in online threats, managing their digital risk."

Alex Seton, SVP Business and Corporate Development, Digital Shadows

"This integration provides yet more relevant insight to our users from within SearchLight, ensuring they have the necessary information to make the best decisions quickly. Providing faster and simpler access to more sources of Threat Intelligence is a great thing for our clients around the world as they struggle to deal with today's complex threat environment and managing their organization's digital risk exposure."

Additional Resources:

About Digital Shadows and Digital Shadows SearchLight

Digital Shadows enables organizations to manage digital risk by identifying and eliminating threats to their business and brand. We monitor for digital risk across the widest range of data sources within the open, deep and dark web to deliver relevant threat intelligence, context and actionable remediation options that enable security teams to be more effective and efficient. Our clients can focus on growing their core business knowing that they are protected if their data is exposed, if employees or third parties put them at risk, or if their brand is being misused. The Digital Shadows SearchLight service combines scalable data analytics with human data analysts to manage and mitigate an organization's digital risks and create an up-to-the minute view with tailored threat intelligence. We do this across all time zones and in 20 different languages to provide the most comprehensive view of your digital risk. To learn more, visit www.digitalshadows.com.

About Webroot

Webroot was the first to harness the cloud and artificial intelligence to protect businesses and individuals against cyber threats. We provide the number one security solution for managed service providers and small businesses, who rely on Webroot for endpoint protection, network protection, and security awareness training. Webroot BrightCloud Threat Intelligence Services are used by market leading companies like Cisco, F5 Networks, Citrix, Aruba, Palo Alto Networks, A10 Networks, and more. Leveraging the power of machine learning to protect millions of businesses and individuals, Webroot secures the connected world. Headquartered in Colorado, Webroot operates globally across North America, Europe, and Asia. Discover Smarter Cybersecurity solutions at webroot.com.

Social Media: Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube | Facebook

2018 Webroot Inc. All rights reserved. Webroot, SecureAnywhere, Webroot SecureAnywhere, Webroot BrightCloud, BrightCloud, and Smarter Cybersecurity are trademarks or registered trademarks of Webroot Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

SOURCE Webroot

Related Links

http://www.webroot.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- DSW Inc. (NYSE: DSW), a leading branded footwear and accessories retailer, announced financial results for the three months ended August 4, 2018, compared to the three months ended July 29, 2017.

Chief Executive Officer, Roger Rawlins stated, "We are thrilled to report record sales and earnings results this quarter as our merchandise strategy and marketing investment fueled strong customer engagement, traffic and transaction activity, resulting in a 10% comp. The strong results we've had this spring demonstrate we're successfully activating customers and increasing lifetime value. I'm proud of the progress we're making and with our updated earnings outlook, we look forward to sales reaching $3 billion for the first time in DSW's history."

"After completing our strategic assessment of the Canadian marketplace, we have decided to close its smallest retail banner and focus on the three largest family footwear banners which we believe have the most potential for future growth and profitability," Mr. Rawlins added.

Second Quarter Operating Results

Total revenue increased by 16.4% to $795 million , including $72.5 million from the consolidation of its Canadian retail business.

, including from the consolidation of its Canadian retail business. Comparable sales increased 9.7% for the same 13-week periods ended August 4, 2018 and August 5, 2017 . Comparable sales exclude results from its Canada Retail segment.

and . Comparable sales exclude results from its Canada Retail segment. Reported gross profit, as a percent of sales, increased by 280 bps, due to favorable merchandise margin and occupancy leverage.

Reported operating expenses, as a percent of sales, increased by 220 bps, driven by marketing investments, acquisition-related costs and restructuring expenses.

Six Months Operating Results

Total revenue increased 9.6% to $1.5 billion , including $72.5 million from the consolidation of its Canadian retail business.

, including from the consolidation of its Canadian retail business. Comparable sales increased 5.8% compared to last year's 1.3% decrease.

Reported gross profit, as a percent of sales, increased by 170 bps, driven by favorable merchandise margin and business mix.

Reported operating expenses, as a percent of sales, increased by 160 bps, due to marketing investments, lease exit costs, acquisition-related costs and restructuring expenses.

Reported net loss was $14.1 million , or $0.18 loss per diluted share, including pre-tax charges totaling $98.4 million , or $1.20 per diluted share, primarily related to the acquisition of the Canadian retail business and the exit of Ebuys.

, or loss per diluted share, including pre-tax charges totaling , or per diluted share, primarily related to the acquisition of the Canadian retail business and the exit of Ebuys. Adjusted net income was $82.4 million , or $1.02 per diluted share, a 47% increase to last year. This includes a loss of $0.01 per diluted share from the operations of the Town Shoes banner, which will be mostly exited by the end of the fiscal year.

Integration of New Canada Retail Segment

As part of the two step acquisition, the Company completed the remeasurement of previously held assets, including the equity investment and note receivable from its initial investment in 2014, resulting in a non-cash charge of $34.0 million .

. As a result of the current enterprise value exceeding the fair value of the acquired net assets, the Company recorded a goodwill impairment of $36.2 million .

. Upon the completion of its comprehensive review, the Company will focus on its largest retail banners, Shoe Company, Shoe Warehouse and DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse. The Company will exit its full price, mall-based Town Shoes banner, which operates 38 locations, mostly by the end of the fiscal year.

The acquisition is expected to generate approximately $215 million in revenues and will be slightly accretive to Adjusted Earnings in 2018.

Second Quarter Balance Sheet Highlights

Cash and investments totaled $289 million compared to $271 million in the second quarter last year.

compared to in the second quarter last year. The Company ended the quarter with inventories of $597 million compared to $527 million last year. Excluding inventories from its Canadian acquisition, inventories per square foot increased by 12.0% and increased by 2.0% on a two-year basis.

Regular Dividend

DSW Inc.'s Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share. The dividend will be paid on October 5, 2018 to shareholders of record at the close of business on September 24, 2018.

Fiscal 2018 Annual Outlook

The Company updated its full year outlook for adjusted earnings in the range of $1.60 to $1.75 per diluted share, compared to its previous range of $1.52 to $1.67 per diluted share. Guidance does not include charges related to exit costs, restructuring or acquisition-related expenses or operating losses from the Town Shoes banner, which will mostly close by the end of the fiscal year.



Current outlook

Previous outlook Revenue outlook Increase 6% to 9%

Decrease 1% to 3% Revenues from Canadian acquisition Approx. $215 million



Comparable sales growth Low- to mid-single digit range

Low-single digit range Tax rate Approx. 27%

Approx. 29% Shares outstanding 82 million

81 million Adjusted EPS $1.60 to $1.75/ share

$1.52 to $1.67/ share

Webcast and Conference Call

The Company is hosting a conference call today at 8:30 am Eastern Time. The conference will be broadcast live over the internet and can be accessed at http://dswinc.investorroom.com. For those unable to listen to the live broadcast, an archived version will be available at the same location until September 12, 2018. The teleconference will be available on replay and can be accessed by dialing 1-877-344-7529 and entering passcode 10123353.

About DSW Inc.

DSW Inc. is a leading footwear and accessories retailer that operates a portfolio of several value retail concepts under the DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse, Shoe Company, Shoe Warehouse and Town Shoes brands. DSW also supplies footwear at leased locations in the U.S. through its Affiliated Business Group and franchised international locations. Products are available across North America at close to 1,000 retail outlets and via e-commerce sites and a mobile app. More information can be found at www.dswinc.com.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

Any statements in this release that are not historical facts, including the statements made in our "Fiscal 2018 Annual Outlook," are forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on the Company's current expectations and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: our success in growing our store base and digital demand; risks related to our acquisition of Town Shoes Limited ("TSL"), including the possibility that the anticipated benefits of the acquisition are not realized when expected or at all; our ability to protect our reputation; maintaining strong relationships with our vendors; our ability to anticipate and respond to fashion trends, consumer preferences and changing customer expectations; risks related to the loss or disruption of our distribution and/or fulfillment operations; continuation of agreements with and our reliance on the financial condition of Stein Mart; our ability to execute our strategies; risks related to international franchisees failing to perform under their obligations and/or not operating the franchised stores according to our standards; fluctuation of our comparable sales and quarterly financial performance; risks related to the loss or disruption of our information systems and data; our ability to prevent or mitigate breaches of our information security and the compromise of sensitive and confidential data; failure to retain our key executives or attract qualified new personnel; our reliance on our loyalty program and marketing to drive traffic, sales and customer loyalty; risks related to leases of our properties; our competitiveness with respect to style, price, brand availability and customer service; our reliance on foreign sources for merchandise and risks inherent to international trade; uncertainty related to future legislation, regulatory reform, policy changes, or interpretive guidance on existing legislation, including the impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; uncertain general economic conditions; risks related to holdings of cash and investments and access to liquidity; and fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. Additional factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our expectations are described in the Company's latest annual or quarterly report, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the time when made. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise the forward-looking statements included in this press release to reflect any future events or circumstances.

DSW INC. SEGMENT RESULTS (unaudited)

Net sales by segment and total revenue

Three months ended

Six months ended (dollars in thousands) August 4, 2018

July 29, 2017

% change

August 4, 2018

July 29, 2017

% change Net sales:





















U.S. Retail segment1 $ 691,757



$ 629,691



9.9 %

$ 1,361,541



$ 1,254,195



8.6 % Canada Retail segment 72,532







 %

72,532







 % Other 29,446



52,030



(43.4) %

70,099



118,345



(40.8) % Total net sales 793,735



681,721



16.4 %

1,504,172



1,372,540



9.6 % Franchise and other revenue 1,533



1,291



18.7 %

3,198



2,510



27.4 % Total revenue $ 795,268



$ 683,012



16.4 %

$ 1,507,370



$ 1,375,050



9.6 %

Comparable sales change

Three months ended

Six months ended

August 4, 2018

July 29, 2017

August 4, 2018

July 29, 2017 U.S. Retail segment1 9.6%

0.6%

5.7%

(1.3)% Other - ABG 12.2%

(0.1)%

8.2%

(1.0)% Total Company 9.7%

0.6%

5.8%

(1.3)%















1 U.S. Retail segment was previously presented as the DSW segment.

Stores data

August 4, 2018

July 29, 2017 Number of stores in the U.S.:





DSW 517

510 ABG 289

349

806

859 Number of stores in Canada:





The Shoe Company / Shoe Warehouse 113

 DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse 27

 Town Shoes 38



178

 Total number of stores 984

859

Reported gross profit by segment1

Three months ended

Six months ended

August 4, 2018

July 29, 2017

August 4, 2018

July 29, 2017 U.S. Retail segment:













Merchandise margin 45.9 %

44.4 %

44.3 %

43.8 % Store occupancy expenses (10.6)

(11.4)

(10.6)

(11.2) Distribution and fulfillment expenses (2.1)

(2.1)

(2.3)

(2.2) Gross profit 33.2

30.9 %

31.4

30.4 Canada Retail segment:













Merchandise margin 41.2



41.2

 Store occupancy expenses (14.9)



(14.9)

 Distribution and fulfillment expenses (1.2)



(1.2)

 Gross profit 25.1



25.1

 Other - gross profit 22.7

8.5

19.3

12.7 Total Company gross profit 32.1 %

29.2 %

30.6 %

28.9 %















1 Numbers are displayed as a percentage of net sales.

DSW INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (unaudited and in thousands)













August 4, 2018

February 3, 2018

July 29, 2017 Assets









Cash and cash equivalents $ 215,996



$ 175,932



$ 89,305

Investments 73,119



124,605



182,062

Accounts receivable 17,259



19,236



17,742

Inventories 596,956



501,903



527,305

Prepaid expenses and other current assets 73,763



49,197



45,529

Total current assets 977,093



870,873



861,943

Property and equipment, net 387,621



355,199



364,552

Goodwill 25,899



25,899



79,689

Deferred income taxes 14,235



27,711



18,792

Equity investment in TSL 



6,096



10,350

Notes receivable from TSL 



115,895



60,094

Intangible assets 20,285



135



33,065

Other assets 19,883



19,709



18,144

Total assets $ 1,445,016



$ 1,421,517



$ 1,446,629

Liabilities and shareholders' equity









Accounts payable $ 229,440



$ 179,308



$ 165,377

Accrued expenses 145,776



148,226



124,343

Total current liabilities 375,216



327,534



289,720

Non-current liabilities 150,316



138,732



178,955

Total shareholders' equity 919,484



955,251



977,954

Total liabilities and shareholders' equity $ 1,445,016



$ 1,421,517



$ 1,446,629



DSW INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (unaudited and in thousands, except per share amounts)









Three months ended

Six months ended

August 4, 2018

July 29, 2017

August 4, 2018

July 29, 2017 Revenue:













Net sales $ 793,735



$ 681,721



$ 1,504,172



$ 1,372,540

Franchise and other revenue 1,533



1,291



3,198



2,510

Total revenue 795,268



683,012



1,507,370



1,375,050

Cost of sales (539,240)



(482,424)



(1,044,452)



(976,158)

Franchise costs (293)







(573)





Operating expenses (195,026)



(152,554)



(363,166)



(309,122)

Impairment charges (36,240)







(36,240)





Change in fair value of contingent consideration

liability 



(1,168)







(2,252)

Operating profit 24,469



46,866



62,939



87,518

Interest income, net 805



661



1,469



1,222

Non-operating expenses, net (47,349)



(679)



(49,486)



(2,183)

Income (loss) before income taxes and income

(loss) from equity investment (22,075)



46,848



14,922



86,557

Income tax provision (16,281)



(18,390)



(27,671)



(33,975)

Income (loss) from equity investment 



219



(1,310)



(1,087)

Net income (loss) $ (38,356)



$ 28,677



$ (14,059)



$ 51,495

Diluted earnings (loss) per share $ (0.48)



$ 0.36



$ (0.18)



$ 0.64

Weighted average diluted shares 80,265



80,714



80,187



80,729



DSW INC. NON-GAAP RECONCILIATION (unaudited and in thousands, except per share amounts)









Three months ended

Six months ended

August 4, 2018

July 29, 2017

August 4, 2018

July 29, 2017 Reported net income (loss) $ (38,356)



$ 28,677



$ (14,059)



$ 51,495

Pre-tax adjustments:













Included in operating expenses:













Lease exit and other termination costs 409







4,403





Acquisition-related costs and target

acquisition costs 5,104







5,612





Restructuring expenses 2,708



292



2,708



829

Amortization of intangible assets 114



1,018



114



2,036

Impairment charges 36,240







36,240





Change in fair value of contingent

consideration liability 



1,168







2,252

Included in non-operating expenses, net:













Fair value adjustments of Town Shoes'

previously held assets 33,988







33,988





Foreign currency transaction losses 13,318



699



15,296



2,161

Total pre-tax adjustments 91,881



3,177



98,361



7,278

Tax effect of adjustments (2,623)



(1,138)



(4,173)



(2,542)

Tax expense impact as a result of Ebuys

exit 







2,265





Total adjustments, after tax 89,258



2,039



96,453



4,736

Adjusted net income $ 50,902



$ 30,716



$ 82,394



$ 56,231

Reported diluted earnings (loss) per share $ (0.48)



$ 0.36



$ (0.18)



$ 0.64

Adjusted diluted earnings per share $ 0.63



$ 0.38



$ 1.02



$ 0.70



Non-GAAP Measures

In addition to earnings per share and net income determined in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP"), for purposes of evaluating operating performance, the Company uses adjusted earnings per share and net income, which adjust for the effects of the lease exit and other termination costs; costs and charges associated with acquisition-related activity, including target acquisition efforts; restructuring expenses; amortization expense of intangible assets; the change in fair value of contingent consideration liability related to Ebuys; and foreign currency losses, including the reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive loss as a result of the Town Shoes acquisition. The unaudited reconciliation of adjusted results should not be construed as an alternative to the reported results determined in accordance with GAAP. These financial measures are not based on any standardized methodology and are not necessarily comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. The Company believes that this non-GAAP information is useful as an additional means for investors to evaluate the Company's operating performance, when reviewed in conjunction with the Company's GAAP statements. These amounts are not determined in accordance with GAAP and therefore should not be used exclusively in evaluating the Company's business and operations.

SOURCE DSW Inc.

Related Links

http://www.DSWinc.com

ERIE, Pa., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- College students, and many 20-somethings, often find themselves living with a roommate or two. While splitting rent and utilities can be great, it can also be tricky if that $20 bill on top of your dresser goes missing or the tablet you left on your desk mysteriously disappears.

Roommate theft can be hard to tackle if there isn't any clear-cut evidence or if your roommate is a friend. It's important to have the right insurance to protect you as well. Erie Insurance offers these eight tips to help you secure your stuff and prevent roommate theft.

Have a conversation with your roommate about what you are willing to share.

Communicate. When first moving in with your new roommate, be sure to discuss what you feel comfortable borrowing or lending out. Letting them know up front if you don't like sharing food, clothes, electronics or money will help set up a general guideline both of you can follow.

Don't leave items out. Leaving something unattended or out in the open increases the opportunity for someone to notice it and take it. Wallets, phones, your keys and ID cards are easy to snatch when you aren't looking. Hold on to sensitive items, and if you aren't using them, put them somewhere safe.

Don't give out private information. This includes your passwords, social security number or any personal information that could help someone gain access into your room or bank account. Lending out your keys or swipe cards can also put your items at risk.

Limit what you say on social media. While you may be itching to update your status and post what an amazing deal you got on that new laptop, you'd also be letting everyone know you have a fancy new piece of technology in your room. Be careful what you post.

Engrave high-value items. Engraving your initials or a personal message on your electronics or other pricier items can make it more difficult for a thief to sell them, possibly deterring them from stealing it all together. It also makes it easier for any items to be returned to you.

Lock your door. It may sound like common sense, but if you don't share a bedroom with your roommate, lock your door when you're not home. Likewise, if your roommate is throwing a party or inviting friends over that you may not trust, locking your door is an easy way to prevent strangers from entering without your permission.

Invest in a safe. A safe can help you securely store cash, credit cards, jewelry and more. Learn more about what to look for when shopping for a safe.

Install a security camera. Smart home technology is getting better and more affordable for a college student's budget. Many security cameras are under $100 . Just make sure to tell your roommate you're installing a camera. Just knowing there's a camera on the premises can be a deterrent.

If the worst does happen, you'll want to have the right insurance. Depending on the circumstances, and the specifics of your policy, your stolen stuff could be covered under your or your parents' homeowners insurance; or your own renters insurance. Finding a local ERIE agent in your neighborhood will help to answer questions, simplify things and help you get the insurance you need  and nothing you don't.

Erie Insurance Group

According to A.M. Best Company, Erie Insurance Group, based in Erie, Pennsylvania, is the 9th largest homeowners insurer and 11th largest automobile insurer in the United States based on direct premiums written and the 16th largest property/casualty insurer in the United States based on total lines net premium written. The Group, rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best Company, has more than 5 million policies in force and operates in 12 states and the District of Columbia. Erie Insurance Group is a FORTUNE 500 company.

News releases and more information about Erie Insurance Group are available at www.erieinsurance.com.

SOURCE Erie Insurance

Related Links

http://www.erieinsurance.com

This first organized worker-management 'First Pre-Production' ceremony was designed to give overall status of all aspects of production as the company marks the first ever FF 91 off the line at Hanford. Today's meeting therefore is as much a milestone about the race toward start of full production of FF 91 as it is a celebration of the teamwork at Hanford that has made this first complete build possible.

As FF is currently hiring on a large scale, a company priority is to emphasize the collaboration recently begun with the College of the Sequoias (Visalia) to execute business-essential training at the state of California's Hanford Training Resource Center. Each group of skilled FF new hires will consist of 20 to 25 individuals for the 40-hour team-building, decision-making, problem solving, and leadership skills needed in an advanced manufacturing facility. Following this, workers will later take part in further applied manufacturing training on site at the Hanford factory for their respective roles.

FF Senior VP of Manufacturing Dag Reckhorn said, "It is inspirational for us at FF to see all the parts come together for this significant day: the literal parts of the FF 91 from our various on-time supplier partners; the processes and tooling within the Hanford facility itself; and the invaluable training for the essential 'soft' skills required for this level of sophisticated teamwork I and others need in our Hanford production teams as we begin creation of our FF 91 for demanding users. The worker training program with College of the Sequoias through the California ETP grant is essential."

In the works for the near future is a formal FF Management Training curriculum under discussion with a select group of community colleges in Tulare, Kings, and Fresno counties of the Central Valley. With upwards of over 1,000 jobs to be created in the FF Hanford factory, this additional leadership training signals FF's commitment to the livelihoods of local skilled workers.

Within the month of September, the public and media will learn further news regarding the company, the factory, and FF 91's leaps forward toward official start of production of FF 91. Today's 'First Pre-Production. Done.' gathering at Hanford is the springboard for this next big event.

The order book for FF 91 early users  aka "FF Futurists"  is open with first deliveries commencing during the first half of 2019.

ABOUT FF 91

FF 91 is an all-purpose fully-connected EV with an estimated 0-60 mph acceleration below three seconds and an expected range of 300+ miles. This intelligent robotic vehicle is a 3rd internet living space and the embodiment of FF's vision to create a shared mobility ecosystem that empowers people to move, connect, breathe, and live freely.

ABOUT FARADAY FUTURE

Faraday Future is a clean-energy intelligent mobility company with headquarters in Southern California. Our global team leverages the talents of leading thinkers and passionate creators to break the boundaries and standard business models of the automotive, internet, new energy, AI, and technology industries to bring the first intelligent and open shared-mobility ecosystem to people worldwide.

FOLLOW FARADAY FUTURE:

www.ff.com

www.twitter.com/faradayfuture

www.facebook.com/faradayfuture

And join our dedicated Facebook FF club page

www.instagram.com/faradayfuture

www.linkedin.com/company/faradayfuture

For more information about Faraday Future, contact: [email protected]

Contact:

John Schilling

PR Director

[email protected]

SOURCE Faraday Future

Related Links

http://www.ff.com

SEATTLE, WA, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - FlowWorks Inc, would like to congratulate their long-time customer, The City of Elkhart, for being recognized by the Indiana Water Environment Association (IWEA) with the 2018 Collection Systems Large Facility Award. This prestigious environmental award recognizes facilities making substantial improvements to the collection system profession.

"I am proud to see Elkhart leading the way in this important public safety and quality of life issue," said Elkhart Mayor Tim Neese. "What makes this accomplishment even more impressive is that we have been able to do so with a relatively small staff and low residential sewer rate. I want to commend our team at Public Works and Utilities for their pro-active approach to service and encourage them to keep up the great work."

FlowWorks helped the City of Elkhart develop one of the unique features that made them stand out amongst other communities, a public notification system aimed at alerting residents to combined sewer overflows (CSO). Elkhart is the first Great Lakes Basin community to provide a user-friendly, web-based map to notify the public where to take caution when engaging in recreational activity in local rivers and creeks, during and after a rainfall or snowmelt event. The City's website can also inform the public if a CSO has occurred in the past seven days. In receiving this award, Elkhart was recognized for achieving and surpassing regulatory requirements to reduce CSOs ahead of schedule, while also working proactively to anticipate future regulatory requirements and develop plans for compliance.

"Our team was challenged with creating a public notification system for CSO events that could provide information on overflow points, start and stop times, and discharge volumes that could be available to the public within two hours of the event," said Joe Foy, Stormwater Manager for the City of Elkhart. "FlowWorks was already hosting our CSO data for internal uses and, at our request and with our input, quickly and easily developed the map that is now available to the public through the City website."

Kevin Marsh, FlowWorks VP of Sales, commented, "We've worked with The City of Elkhart for years and recognize the city as very proactive in their approach to managing the collection system. We were not surprised to see the city taking the lead on this initiative and hope other communities will follow suit."

To learn more about the City's CSO long term control plan, visit www.elkhartindiana.org.

About FlowWorks

FlowWorks is a powerful Software-as-a-Service ("SaaS")-based application for collecting, monitoring and analyzing all types of environmental data. FlowWorks is flexible, affordable and easy-to-use compared to competing software packages. The FlowWorks Application has the unique ability to collect data from all types of monitoring equipment, gauges and sensor hardware, SCADA systems and other sources of public and private data to merge the information into a single platform to perform comprehensive analytics and reporting, saving time and money for the end user. More information on the FlowWorks Application can be found at www.FlowWorks.com.

FlowWorks: A Carl Data Solutions Inc. Company

Carl Data Solutions Inc. is focused on providing next generation information collection, storage and analytics solutions for data-centric companies. Carl Data helps its clients analyze and understand all forms of environmental data through a powerful platform of data collection, monitoring, analysis and reporting tools.

Carl Data continues to develop applications to work with new cloud-based mass storage services and analytics tools (Big-Data-as-a-Service (BDaaS) to provide scalability for municipalities, utilities and other industrial verticals. These data collection and storage methods allow the company to build smart Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based applications that can collect data from many diverse sources and provide deep insight for decision-making purposes. More information can be found at www.CarlSolutions.com.

SOURCE FlowWorks IncDALLAS, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Generational Equity, a leading mergers and acquisitions advisor for privately held businesses, is pleased to announce the sale of its client, Service Furniture and Bedding Inc., to Furniture Factory Outlet LLC (FFO Home). The acquisition closed February 6, 2018.

Service Furniture and Bedding, headquartered in Fairdale, Kentucky, is a leading operator of home furnishings and bedding retailers in the Louisville area using the Furniture Liquidators brand, along with the Mattress and More name. Twenty-eight Service Furniture retail locations were included in the acquisition.

FFO Home, based in Fort Smith, Arkansas, is a fast-growing, value-oriented home furnishings retailer with 47 stores across 7 southern states. This is the first acquisition activity to complement aggressive organic growth since FFO Home received an investment from an affiliate of private equity firm Sun Capital Partners in 2016. With the completed deal, FFO Home now moves into the top 50 home furnishing retailers.

"We are incredibly excited to welcome Furniture Liquidators and Mattress and More to the FFO Home family. Both of these brands have enjoyed strong leadership positions for many years," said FFO Home President and CEO Larry Zigerelli. "Furniture Liquidators provides us strong critical mass in one of our key expansion markets, and fits us strategically as a leading value-oriented retailer. Mattress and More provides an important platform to accelerate the growth of our vertically integrated bedding business."

Generational Equity Senior Managing Director Fred Zweifel successfully closed the deal, and Senior Managing Director Terry Stidham established the initial relationship with Service Furniture and Bedding.

"Service Furniture is a natural fit for FFO Home," said Zweifel. "FFO Home is backed by a leading private equity firm, Sun Capital Partners, and the investment in Service Furniture will provide capital for the company to grow."

About Generational Equity

Generational Equity, DealForce, and Generational Capital Markets, member FINRA/SIPC, are part of the Generational Group, which is headquartered in Dallas and is one of the leading M&A advisory firms in North America. With over 250 professionals located throughout North America, the companies help business owners release the wealth of their business by providing merger, acquisition and strategic growth advisory services. Their four-step approach features exit planning education, business valuation, value enhancement strategies, and M&A transactional services.

The M&A Advisor named the company the 2016 and 2017 Investment Banking Firm of the Year. For more, visit the https://www.genequityco.com/ or the Generational Equity press room.

For more information:

Carl Doerksen

972-232-1125

[email protected]

SOURCE Generational Equity

Related Links

http://www.genequityco.com

| BY Lynchy |

Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) today unveiled its TM Sejahtera Malaysia to mark Malaysias National Day  an innovative campaign that celebrates Malaysias diverse cultures by combining six different languages and two films together to create one unique experience.

Created by Grey Malaysia, the campaign is centred around the song Sejahtera Malaysia which was re-recorded in six different ethnic languages, with each line of the song sung in a different language. The song forms the soundtrack to two separate films, made for mobile phones and shot in vertical format, that uniquely combine when two mobile phones are put together, as depicted below.

Each film stands on its own, but have unique visual elements that interconnect when played together side by side. The films show the lives of disparate individuals crossing paths by accident, colliding by circumstance, and united by the one thing they have in common: a celebration of being Malaysian. To see the full picture and how the two journeys are connected, viewers simply have to join their phones and hit the play button at the same time.

Teh Siow Ling, General Manager, Group Brand Management, Group Brand & Communication, TM said, As Malaysias Convergence Champion, TM is part of the fabric of peoples lives; we use technology to enable people to share their special moments and bring millions of people together. Simply put, the film was designed around the concept of moments of Malaysians coming together, uniting our different cultures despite our diverse backgrounds. The mechanics of joining two screens requires an act of unity, while the soundtrack honours the diversity of the countrys multi-ethnic population. We are proud and excited to bring this unique experience to all Malaysians in conjunction with the momentous National Day celebration this year.

Meanwhile, Graham Drew, Executive Creative Director, Grey Malaysia, said, The campaign is about separate elements all coming together. Different races, images, music, all great on their own, but creating something special when together.

The beloved classic song is given a fresh contemporary sound by Malaysian musician and composer Hady Afro. Aside from the original Bahasa Malaysia, the lyrics were sung in Mandarin, Tamil, Jaku Iban, Dusun Kadazan and English; alternating one after another before coming together in an uplifting chorus. Malaysians can also enjoy the tracks in their individual languages as six different versions, together with the two films in its full form starting 27 August 2018.ATLANTA, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE: GPK), today announced that its subsidiary, Graphic Packaging International, LLC, has reached an agreement to acquire substantially all the assets of the foodservice business of Letica Corporation, a subsidiary of RPC Group PLC (LSE: RPC), for $95 million, subject to standard closing conditions and regulatory review. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018.

Letica Foodservice is focused on the production of paperboard-based cold and hot cups and cartons for the growing foodservice market in North America. The company operates two world class foodservice converting facilities in Clarksville, Tennessee and Pittston, Pennsylvania.

The business generated $110 million in revenue and converted approximately 40 thousand tons of solid bleached sulfate ("SBS") paperboard in the twelve months ended 6/30/2018. Synergies from the acquisition will be driven by the integration of additional SBS paperboard tons, lower logistics costs, and other cost efficiencies. On a post-synergy basis, the EV/EBITDA multiple for this transaction is expected to be approximately 6.0X.

"We are excited to announce the acquisition of the Letica Foodservice assets as it extends our leading position in the growing paperboard-based foodservice market in North America," said President and CEO Michael Doss. "The transaction will further diversify our customer base, enhance our geographic footprint, and provide needed capacity to meet the incremental demand for paper cups resulting from the ongoing shift out of polystyrene foam. The transaction is consistent with the strategy we outlined after the combination with the SBS mill and foodservice assets that closed on January 1, 2018, specifically, our intent to grow our foodservice business organically and through acquisitions and drive higher integration levels for our SBS mills."

Forward Looking Statements

Any statements of the Company's expectations in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements, including but not limited to those regarding the effect of the acquisition on the Company's integration levels and financial position, are based on currently available information and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's present expectations. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to successfully integrate the acquisition and achieve synergies. Undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking statements, as such statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update such statements except as required by law. Additional information regarding these and other risks is contained in the Company's periodic filings with the SEC.

About Graphic Packaging Holding Company

Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE: GPK), headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is committed to providing consumer packaging that makes a world of difference. The Company is a leading provider of paper-based packaging solutions for a wide variety of products to food, beverage, foodservice, and other consumer products companies. The Company operates on a global basis, is one of the largest producers of folding cartons and paper-based foodservice products in the United States and holds leading market positions in solid bleached sulfate paperboard, coated unbleached kraft paperboard and coated recycled paperboard. The Company's customers include many of the world's most widely-recognized companies and brands. Additional information about Graphic Packaging, its business and its products is available on the Company's web site at www.graphicpkg.com.

SOURCE Graphic Packaging Holding Company

Related Links

http://www.graphicpkg.com

WESTERVILLE, Ohio, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- In April this year, Microsoft Outlook introduced Suggested Reply for emails using Artificial Intelligence (AI). However, what if the AI suggestion isn't what the customer wants? What's the alternative? The answer is Better Faster's Clipboard for Outlook. Better Faster Solutions, a registered Microsoft software partner, today released Clipboard for Outlook, a Microsoft Outlook add-in. It allows customers to craft better email responses and reply with the click of a button. Better Faster Clipboard offers more than just email replies. It may save three weeks or more each year on routine Outlook tasks, according to Better Faster Solutions customer research.

Clipboard for Microsoft Outlook Clipboard for Outlook includes sample newsletter templates. Sample Outlook email templates include business letters, customer care, employee recruiting, newsletters, service status notifications and thank you letters.

Features & Benefits of Clipboard for Outlook:

Faster Responses

Save time answering repetitive questions. Reply to emails with canned responses. Create, edit, organize and access frequently used email messages, responses, attachments and meeting information all in one place.

Faster Emails

Send pre-written formatted emails with a single click. Clipboard is an Outlook plug-in, so existing email capabilities are available, plus all the new time-saving features of Clipboard.

Faster Newsletters

Get started today with built-in newsletter templates. Sample Outlook email templates include business letters, customer care, employee recruiting, newsletters, service status notifications and thank you letters.

Faster Meeting Invites

Schedule appointments faster on Outlook calendar. Auto-fill meeting invites with conference details, meeting location and conference bridge dial-in instructions.

Faster Attachments

Attach files that are used the most without searching for them. Clipboard for Outlook is a better way to manage attachments, emails and images.

Faster Images

Insert images in emails, meetings, contacts and tasks. Clipart included.

Customer Validation

"I installed the Clipboard for Outlook Add-In and was using it within minutes. It's so nice having formatted emails and attachments at a click of a button when prospecting and following up on new sales. I can easily send checklists or instructions to our clients creating a better enrollment experience and reduce our time responding to frequently asked questions. The ease of use is great!" - Michael Staebler, Partner, S3 Partners LLC

Pricing and Availability

Clipboard for Outlook download is immediately available to try at no obligation. Single license and team subscriptions are available for individuals, small businesses or corporations. Better Faster Solutions has a Clipboard for Outlook price plan to fit everyone.

About Better Faster Solutions

Better Faster Solutions focuses on creating better faster products to simplify life. The Better Faster team of Microsoft Certified developers and engineers are always looking for new ways to save everyone time. Better Faster's simple-to-use office software sets it apart from others as it allows customers to get started quickly with little or no training. Better Faster Solutions is a Registered Microsoft Partner. For more information, visit www.betterfaster.solutions.

Media Contact

Sri Dasa, President

752 N State St #246

Westerville OH 43082, USA

[email protected]

(813) 444-3150

Related Files

How-Can-a-New-Outlook-Clipboard-Improve-Microsoft-Suggested-Reply-AI.pdf

Related Images

outlook-email-newsletter-templates.gif

Outlook Email Newsletter Templates

Clipboard for Outlook includes sample newsletter templates. Sample Outlook email templates include business letters, customer care, employee recruiting, newsletters, service status notifications and thank you letters.

faster-responses.jpg

Faster Responses

Save time answering repetitive questions. Reply to emails with canned responses. Create, edit, organize, and access your frequently used email messages, responses, attachments, meeting information all in one place.

faster-meeting-invites.jpg

Faster Meeting Invites

Schedule appointments faster on your calendar. Auto-fill meeting invites with your conference details, like meeting location and conference bridge dial-in instructions.

faster-emails.jpg

Faster Emails

Send formatted emails and pre-written responses with a single click. Clipboard may be used as a call center tool to manage your team's canned responses. Clipboard is an Outlook plug-in, so you may use existing email capabilities, plus all the new features of Clipboard.

Related Links

Clipboard for Outlook overview video

About Better Faster Solutions

Related Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUi-nzCJu5k

SOURCE Better Faster SolutionsSHENZHEN, China, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Huntkey, a global leading provider of power solutions, has bolstered its lineup of curved gaming monitor with the X2772CK with a QHD resolution of 2560x1440 to deliver stunning colors and picture details.

The Huntkey X2772CK:

https://en.huntkey.com/product/x2772ck/

As part of Huntkey's gaming monitor, the X2772CK offers a superb high image quality capable of displaying 16.7 million colors. To ensure more vibrant images, it is designed with a response time of 8ms and a color gamut (NTSC) of 85%. It also features a 27-inch screen that supports for 144Hz refresh rate to reduce tearing and stuttering caused by misalignment with the frame rate, and AMD Free Sync technology to deliver smooth images even during the fastest moving scenes.

"Although it is categorized as a gaming monitor, it is ideal for not only video games, but also movies and daily use," said Alva Lee, Marketing Director of Huntkey. "With such a high configuration and elegant design, the X2772CK for sure will be a clean and sleek addition to a gamer's room."

For more product information, please visit: https://en.huntkey.com/

Product Specifications Model X2772CK Screen Size 27" Resolution 2560*1440 (QHD) / 2K Aspect Ratio 16:9 Display Type VA Static Contrast Ratio 3000:1 Brightness 220cd/m2 NTSC 85% Response Time 8ms Refresh Rate 144Hz Color Support 16.7M Inputs HDMI*2+DP Curvature 1800R VESA Mounting NA Dimensions 613*440*225mm Net Weight 4.40kg Color Red Black Viewing Angles 178 degrees/178 degrees

About QHD

Quad HD(1440p), also known as QHD, is a display resolution of 2560x1440 pixels in a 16:9 aspect ratio. It is also commonly called WQHD, to emphasize it being a wide resolution. The name QHD reflects the fact that it has four times as many pixels as HD (720p).

About Huntkey

Huntkey Group, founded in 1995 and headquartered in Shenzhen, is a member of The International Power Supply Manufacturer's Association (PSMA) and a member of The China Power Supply Society (CPSS). With branch companies in the USA, Japan and other areas, and cooperating factories in Brazil, Argentina, India and other countries, Huntkey has specialized in the development, design, and manufacturing of PC power supplies, industrial power supplies, surge protectors, adapters and chargers for many years. With its own technologies and manufacturing strength, Huntkey has served Lenovo, Huawei, Haier, DELL, ZTE, Bestbuy and many other large enterprises for years, and has received unanimous recognition and trust from many customers.

SOURCE Huntkey

Related Links

https://en.huntkey.com

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyperledger, an open source collaborative effort created to advance cross-industry blockchain technologies, today announced 13 new members have joined to the project. From digital identity management to estate settlement and business services to academia, the newest members represent the broadening interest and investment in blockchain technologies.

"We have a front row view of enterprise blockchain's transition from a promising technology to a strategic business approach," said Brian Behlendorf, Executive Director, Hyperledger. "Our growing community reflects the diverse range of businesses that are embracing blockchain to improve how they and, often, their entire industry do business. The increasing adoption and application of Hyperledger, especially to power cross-segment initiatives, industry platforms and interoperability, shows the value of deploying blockchain technologies and solidifies the business case for more and more organizations. We welcome these new organizations and their contributions to the community."

Hyperledger is a multi-project, multi-stakeholder effort that includes 10 business blockchain and distributed ledger technologies. A full breakdown of these projects are available in the new white paper An Introduction to Hyperledger, a comprehensive overview of why Hyperledger was created, how it is governed, and what it hopes to achieve. The paper covers the basic concepts of blockchain, Hyperledger's open source approach and design philosophy and a line-up of use cases.

Hyperledger's goal is to enable organizations to build robust, industry-specific applications, platforms and hardware systems to support their individual business transactions by creating enterprise-grade, open source distributed ledger frameworks and code bases. The latest general members to join the community are: Bezant, Blinking, ChainNinja, China Securities Credit Investment, Datapace, Estateably, FinFabrik, Intain and SoluTech.

Hyperledger supports an open community that values contributions and participation from various entities. As such, pre-approved non-profits, open source projects and government entities can join Hyperledger at no cost as associate members. Associate members joining this month include AAIS (American Association of Insurance Services), Center for CPS & IoT (CCI) at USC Viterbi School of Engineering, Penn Blockchain Club and Yale University.

New member quotes:

Bezant

"Bezant is delighted to be part of the Hyperledger community and contribute to its mission," said Steve Tay, Foundation Representative Director of Bezant. "As we strive to drive business growth and innovation with our blockchain and services platforms, our team looks forward to collaborating with Hyperledger and fellow members to accelerate the development and adoption of blockchain technology in all industries."

Blinking

"We are very much thrilled and proud to join the Hyperledger community," said Alex Migitko, CEO of Blinking. "Blinking offers a multi-factor authentication ID-management tool that gives users complete control over their data. It is an online platform for creating, managing and confirming digital identities that enables users to truly own their personal private data. For businesses, we created a proprietary KYC tool and GDPR-compliant storage. We rely on Hyperledger and chose Hyperledger Fabric as Blinking core framework because it is a very well designed solution with a great balance between simplicity and features required to build a high-quality business solution. Hyperledger Fabric's easy integration with other technologies, strong community and sound support truly give us a chance to focus on our expertise - developing a digital identity management system that gives users a true digital representation of their identity based on many personal features including biometrics."

ChainNinja

"We are thrilled to be a part of the Linux Foundation and join the Hyperledger community in shaping the future of Blockchain while accelerating the growth of ChainNinja as a premier Blockchain professional services company," said Lisa Marks, CEO of ChainNinja. "In collaboration with the members of the Linux Foundation and Hyperledger, we are excited to turn a corner with such a disruptive technology. Teaming with the top technical and business professionals in the world will be key in realizing our goal of deploying and scaling the best decentralized applications."

China Securities Credit Investment Co., Ltd.

"As a leading credit tech service provider in China, CSCI is dedicated to building an infrastructure to support the full lifecycle of credit-based asset, from asset generation to asset trading and asset management. Because our capabilities are embedded in the entire credit value chain, we're able to reduce the cost of credit risk management, improve the efficiency of asset circulation, and mitigate the investment risk. All of these cannot be achieved without the support of our proprietary technological application of blockchain, artificial intelligence, and big data. Not only have we already applied these technologies to our business scenarios, but we are empowering our partners with such technical capabilities," said Mr. Hao Chen, the Chief Data Officer of CSCI (China Securities Credit Investment Co., Ltd.). "CSCI is very pleased to be a member of Hyperledger. We already have a top-tier blockchain team working in this domain. As a member of Hyperleger, CSCI will actively engage in technical collaboration with other members. By working together to mobilize resources, CSCI endeavors to lower the barriers of adopting blockchain technologies in credit service. In addition, CSCI will also contribute our codes and best practices to the Hyperledger community. We expect to collaborate with other members to explore the various applications of blockchain technologies, especially innovative application in the credit-tech service area."

Datapace

"With open source and blockchain being synonyms for trust, Hyperledger was the natural choice for developing Datapace, a decentralized data marketplace powered by blockchain technology and the global network of sensors and telemetry-equipped locations," said George Saleh, Datapace CEO. "Furthermore, the private, permissioned nature of Hyperledger is a perfect match for our enterprise-focused data marketplace mission of providing secure and automated monetization and exchange of data to unlock its enormous value."

Estateably

"In most jurisdictions around the globe, the pace of estate settlement - the process whereby the assets of a deceased person are transferred to beneficiaries - is impeded significantly by the lack of trust that exists amongst multiple participants using their own systems of record," says Ari Brojde, CEO of Estateably. "We believe that distributed ledger technology is the key to bringing Estateably's mission of facilitating near-instant estate settlement while maintaining compliance with local rules and regulations to life. Given that Hyperledger Fabric is the most advanced open-source platform for enterprise-grade blockchain networks, we feel it is best suited to meet the business requirements of estate settlement participants and drive efficiencies for our target users in both governments and professional firms offering estate administration services. We are delighted to join the Hyperledger family and look forward to working with its community to promote the development of blockchain technology."

FinFabrik

"FinFabrik is fueling the reinvention of finance with the most useful, interoperable and future-proof technology. We are enabling clients' and partners' growth with cross-chain capabilities for primary issuance of digital asset-backed securities and easy-to-use secondary multi-assets trading," said Alex Medana, FinFabrik co-founder and CEO. "Joining Hyperledger is an amazing step in FinFabrik's journey towards reinventing capital markets. We can't do it solely on our own and are looking forward to collaborating with all players in the ecosystem to bring value to a larger audience."

Intain

"I don't know if it was brave or foolhardy, but, in an industry plagued by PoC fatigue even for a complex use case like asset securitization, Intain directly went into a production pilot," said Siddhartha, founder and CEO of Intain. "This decision meant that we needed to work with the Hyperledger community as we crossed various hurdles over the last four months. Our membership, in a way, formalizes this association. In addition, through our new Blockchain Competence Center, which is focused on Hyperledger Fabric and is 80% women, we hope we can strengthen the Hyperledger community and add to its diversity."

SoluTech

"The SoluTech team is extremely delighted to be able to work with the growing Hyperledger community to create enterprise blockchain solutions for all businesses, " said Nathan Pitruzzello, CEO of SoluTech. "The Scroll Network, SoluTech's premier blockchain solution, is being built to satisfy all data management requisites for businesses worldwide. With the cross integration of Hyperledger solutions, we believe the Scroll Network will be able to service our future clients in any way they need distributed ledger technologies."

Join industry peers in helping build and shape the ecosystem for blockchain technologies, use cases and applications. More information on joining Hyperledger as a member organization can be found here: https://www.hyperledger.org/members/join.

About Hyperledger

Hyperledger is an open source collaborative effort created to advance cross-industry blockchain technologies. It is a global collaboration including leaders in finance, banking, Internet of Things, supply chains, manufacturing and Technology. The Linux Foundation hosts Hyperledger under the foundation. To learn more, visit: https://www.hyperledger.org/.

Contact:

Jessica Rampen

The Linux Foundation/Hyperledger

[email protected]

650.787.3548

SOURCE Hyperledger

Related Links

https://www.hyperledger.org

TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- TrueCore Behavioral Solutions, a multi-state operator of at-risk-youth residential facilities and outpatient services, has named Mellissa Longo as general counsel. Longo brings almost two decades of legal experience focusing on labor arbitrations, mediations, settlement negotiations, collective bargaining, labor and employment issues, and employment litigations.

Most recently, Longo worked as corporate counsel for The GEO Group, a Florida-based company specializing in privatized corrections, detention, reentry and juvenile facilities.

Prior to that, she was associate counsel for Community Education Centers (CEC) in New Jersey. CEC was a private corrections company that operated residential reentry facilities, jails, and in-prison drug treatment programs in the United States and Bermuda.

"Mellissa is a welcome addition to our team and enhances our ability to bring legal matters in-house," said Steve Tomlin, TrueCore's CEO and president. "Her vast labor experience and reputation for risk mitigation is uniquely balanced by her advocacy for the youth in our care."

Longo also served the city of Hoboken, N.J. as corporation counsel, and the city of Newark, N.J. as assistant corporation counsel in the Labor & Employment section. She was also an adjunct faculty member at Seton Hall University School of Law.

Before earning a law degree, Longo worked in the financial sector holding positions with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated.

"I am very excited to join the talented team as general counsel at TrueCore Behavioral Solutions," said Longo. "I look forward to working with all of our employees and meeting the youth in our care."

She earned a law degree from New York Law School, New York, N.Y.; a Master of Public Administration from Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration, Newark, N.J.; and a Bachelor of Arts in English from New Jersey City University, Jersey City, N.J.

About TrueCore Behavioral Solutions

Tampa, Florida-based TrueCore Behavioral Solutions operates residential facilities for youth who have been ordered by the court into juvenile justice facilities. The company has a 20-year history of providing services to at-risk youth, helping young people discover their true core potential to lead productive and rewarding lives. Today, nearly 2,000 TrueCore professionals and staff in facilities across four states offer vital services and support, including alternative education schools and programs for vocational training, substance abuse recovery, behavioral and mental health, and sexual offender treatment. For more information, please visit www.truecorebehavioral.com.

SOURCE TrueCore Behavioral Solutions

Related Links

https://www.truecorebehavioral.com

OMAHA, Neb. and ST. LOUIS, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Mutual of Omaha, in collaboration with value-based care leader Lumeris, will launch new Medicare Advantage (MA) plans to serve the growing senior population in greater San Antonio.

The plans, which will be available in 2019 pending regulatory approval, will provide members in-network access to all the hospitals and outpatient centers within Tenet's Baptist Health System (BHS), as well as physicians affiliated with Baptist Integrated Physician Partners (BIPP). The collaboration also enables expansion to other Tenet markets in future years.

BHS is one of the largest healthcare providers in the San Antonio area, with six acute care hospitals and 120 patient access points. BHS has significant experience in value-based care and population health management through its accountable care organization and its clinically integrated network, BIPP, which includes more than 2,000 patient access points.

"We are pleased to work together with Mutual and Lumeris on the launch of this new plan, and we look forward to collaborating on efforts to provide high-quality, affordable care to the growing senior community in San Antonio," said Clint Hailey, chief managed care officer for Tenet Healthcare.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, one in three people with Medicare are currently enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan. In the San Antonio market, those numbers are even higher than the national average, with 42 percent of Medicare beneficiaries currently enrolled in MA plans.

"As we strive to respond to customer needs and offer a meaningful suite of senior health solutions, we're excited to introduce a new and innovative Medicare Advantage plan to San Antonio's almost 400,000 seniors," said Amber Rinehart, Mutual of Omaha senior vice president of senior health solutions. "Tenet and Baptist Health System share our commitment to helping seniors lead longer, healthier, more productive lives by focusing on top-quality care and wellness."

Mutual and Lumeris will lead efforts to market the plan to area seniors, manage the day-to-day health plan operations and work in concert with BHS to accelerate the transition to value-based care. The collaborative effort will follow Lumeris' proven value-based model that emphasizes a true cooperative approach between patients, providers and payers to achieve quality, affordable care.

"It is clear that value-based care is the future of healthcare, not only for financial sustainability but because it's the right thing to do," said Jeff Carroll, executive director of health plans at Lumeris. "The challenge is getting there. It's important to break down the old barriers between patients, providers and payers and replace them with a spirit of collaboration that ensures everyone's goals are aligned. We are pleased that we're moving forward with Baptist Health System to help them drive better health outcomes for seniors in greater San Antonio while lowering costs and improving patient and physician satisfaction."

Medicare Advantage plans are private companies that contract with Medicare to provide health care benefits to Medicare beneficiaries. Medicare Advantage plans provide Medicare-covered services as well as additional benefits not traditionally covered by Medicare Parts A and B, including prescription drug coverage.

ABOUT MUTUAL OF OMAHA

Founded in 1909, Mutual of Omaha is a Fortune 500 organization offering a variety of insurance, banking and financial products for individuals, businesses and groups throughout the United States. In the individual market, Mutual is a leader in the Medicare Supplement, life, long-term care, disability and annuity lines. The company also offers a portfolio of employee benefit and retirement solutions. With $8 billion in assets, Mutual of Omaha Bank is a full-service bank providing financial solutions to individuals and businesses across the United States. For more information about Mutual of Omaha, visit www.mutualofomaha.com.

ABOUT LUMERIS

Lumeris is a value-based care managed services operator for health systems and providers seeking extraordinary clinical and financial outcomes. Recognized nationally by KLAS in 2018 for Value-Based Care Managed Services, Lumeris aligns providers and payers across populations with technologies, processes, behaviors and information to achieve high-quality, cost-effective care with satisfied consumers  and engaged physicians. It was the third straight year Lumeris received the distinguished Best in KLAS award. For the past twelve years, Lumeris with Essence Healthcare, its inaugural client and learning laboratory with more than 65,000 Medicare members in Missouri and Illinois, has received 4.5- to 5-Star Ratings from the CMS and produced the highest consumer and physician satisfaction scores in the industry along with significantly better clinical outcomes and lower costs. For more information, go to www.lumeris.com.

Contacts

Media

Amendola Communications for Lumeris

Lisa Chernikoff, 734-678-5513

[email protected]

SOURCE Lumeris

Related Links

http://www.lumeris.com

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- This back-to-school season, millions of students in the United States will hit the books lacking an essential school supply  healthy food. No Kid Hungry, a national campaign to end childhood hunger in America, is coming together with more than 15,000 restaurants and their guests to help the 1 in 6 children in America living with hunger.

Every September, restaurants across the country unite to end childhood hunger in America through Dine Out for No Kid Hungry, a guest-supported fundraising initiative. When guests dine out at a No Kid Hungry partner restaurant, from popular chains to local mom-and-pops, they can donate in exchange for valuable rewards. Every $1 donated provides a child with up to 10 meals.

To help raise awareness about childhood hunger and to highlight where to dine out this September, No Kid Hungry is launching its Hunger Can't Wait tour, which will travel to 5 cities across the country, hosting special events at partner restaurants from August 28 to September 17. The tour will kick off in Los Angeles with stops in San Diego, Denver, Dallas and Atlanta. These events will engage the public in a conversation about the urgency to end childhood hunger in America and celebrate restaurant employees' commitment to the cause. Mobile billboards will be deployed in each market to spread the message and recognize employees and guests who support of the campaign.

"Nobody understands that hunger can't wait better than the restaurant industry," says Russ Bendel, CEO of Habit Burger Grill, and a longtime Dine Out for No Kid Hungry partner. "We're excited to continue our support of No Kid Hungry's work, and look forward to giving our guests a simple way to be part of the solution."

Childhood hunger isn't isolated to inner cities and rural communities. It affects kids and families in every city, town and suburb across America. When kids don't get enough to eat, they are more likely to struggle in school and get sick more often.

"Hungry kids can't learn, and kids who can't learn can't reach their best and brightest potential. Yet three out of four teachers regularly see kids come to school hungry," says Diana Hovey, Senior Vice President at Share Our Strength, the organization behind No Kid Hungry. "Now is the time to act, and we're honored to once again have the support of restaurants, their team members and their diners in this work to end childhood hunger in America."

More information about where to dine out and No Kid Hungry's Hunger Can't Wait tour and can be found at NoKidHungry.org/DineOut. The public can join the conversation on social using #HungerCantWait.

Dine Out for No Kid Hungry national sponsors include Citi, Ecolab, Food Network, National Restaurant Association and Open Table.

ABOUT NO KID HUNGRY

No child should go hungry in America. But 1 in 6 kids will face hunger this year. No Kid Hungry is ending childhood hunger through effective programs that provide kids with the food they need. This is a problem we know how to solve. No Kid Hungry is a campaign of Share Our Strength, an organization working to end hunger and poverty. Learn more at NoKidHungry.org.

Media Contact

Diana Delgado

202-888-1993

[email protected]

SOURCE No Kid Hungry

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http://www.NoKidHungry.org/DineOut

MONROEVILLE, Pa., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) today welcomed local officials and the public to the grand re-opening of the Fine Wine & Good Spirits Premium Collection at 3845 Northern Pike, Monroeville, Allegheny County.

To celebrate the grand re-opening, all in-store items were 10 percent off between 9:00 AM and 10:00 PM.

This store closed due to structural issues in December 2017, and a temporary store location opened in March. Contractors worked to correct the problem, and in early August, a structural engineer evaluated the store as safe to reopen.

The Northern Pike Fine Wine & Good Spirits Premium Collection will be open from 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM Monday through Saturday and from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM Sunday. The store phone number is 412.380.1308. To find additional store locations and hours, visit www.FineWineAndGoodSpirits.com.

The temporary Fine Wine & Good Spirits at Jonnet Plaza Shopping Center, 4089 William Penn Highway, Monroeville, is now closed.

The PLCB regulates the distribution of beverage alcohol in Pennsylvania, operates more than 600 wine and spirits stores statewide, and licenses 20,000 alcohol producers, retailers, and handlers. The PLCB also works to reduce and prevent dangerous and underage drinking through partnerships with schools, community groups, and licensees. Taxes and store profits  totaling $15.8 billion since the agency's inception  are returned to Pennsylvania's General Fund, which finances Pennsylvania's schools, health and human services programs, law enforcement, and public safety initiatives, among other important public services. The PLCB also provides financial support for the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, other state agencies, and local municipalities across the state. For more information about the PLCB, visit www.lcb.pa.gov.

MEDIA CONTACT: Shawn M. Kelly, 717.303.8522

SOURCE Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board

Related Links

https://www.lcb.pa.gov

Three color studios highlighting modern trends

State-of-the-art visual presentations, including digital displays

Design selections specifically tailored to Colorado homebuyers

"We are very excited about our new design center. Personalization is the core of our business, and HG2 by Richmond American provides additional space to help more homebuyers choose colors, textures, finishes and fixtures for their new living spaces," said David Mandarich, President and Chief Operating Officer.

The new HG2 is located just a few doors down from the original Home Gallery in the Belleview Promenade, near Belleview Avenue and I-25. Agents and prospective homebuyers are encouraged to stop by to tour the space.

Location: 8000 E. Belleview Avenue, Suite D30, Greenwood Village, CO 80111

For more information, call 888.402.4663 or visit RichmondAmerican.com.

About M.D.C. Holdings, Inc.

Operating under the name Richmond American Homes, MDC's homebuilding subsidiaries have built more than 195,000 homes since 1977. Among the nation's largest homebuilders, MDC's subsidiary companies have operations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Virginia and Washington. Mortgage lending, plus insurance and title services are offered by the following MDC subsidiaries, respectively: HomeAmerican Mortgage Corporation, American Home Insurance Agency, Inc. and American Home Title and Escrow Company. M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "MDC." For more information, visit MDCHoldings.com.

SOURCE M.D.C. Holdings, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.richmondamerican.com

Jennifer Buckley, SEAF Senior Managing Director, stated, "SEAF's Gender Equality Scorecard is launched with the conviction that those firms that realize internal gender equality in terms of compensation, leadership and other factors are superior financial performers and powerful drivers of women's economic empowerment. In this way, SEAF sees enormous potential in using the GES to create shared value for women, investors and entrepreneurs."

SEAF's Gender Equality Scorecard will assess potential and existing SEAF investees on gender equality, scoring across six key gender equality vectors: pay equity, leadership and governance, workforce participation, benefits and professional development, workplace environment, and women-powered value chains. These assessments will identify opportunities to improve gender equality and hence guide SEAF's critical post-investment value creation work.

The Scorecard was born out of SEAF's current gender lens investing initiative, the SEAF Women's Opportunity Fund. This Fund was launched in partnership with the Investing in Women ("IW") initiative of the Australian government and focuses on women-led/owned businesses in Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia. The Criterion Institute, the gender lens investing think tank and an IW partner, has played a critical role in GES' development.

"SEAF's Gender Equality Scorecard represents an exciting and innovative development to advance gender equality and women's economic empowerment in the impact investing space," explained Joy Anderson, President and Founder, Criterion Institute. "We are delighted to partner with SEAF and look forward to the GES' continued development and influence."

Bob Webster, SEAF Managing Director, said, "The Gender Equality Scorecard is the next key step in our gender lens investing journey and we look forward to working with our partners, including future stakeholders such as asset managers and academic institutions, in assessing its validity and improving it over time. After its pilot use in the SEAF Women's Opportunity Fund, its use will be expanded to SEAF's next generation of gender lens investing initiatives, which are currently under development."

About SEAF

SEAF is an emerging market private equity fund manager targeting both financial returns and significant social impact by providing capital, capacity building, and a global network to support a business' expansion. As an impact investor, the firm is particularly focused on gender equality and women's economic empowerment, sustainable agribusiness, equal access to health care and education, renewable energy and smart products and services, financial and technological inclusion, and displaced and migrant lens investing. Since 1989, SEAF has invested in over 400 companies in 29 countries. For more about SEAF, see www.seaf.com. For more information on SEAF's gender lens investing, please contact Jennifer Buckley at [email protected].

SOURCE SEAF

Related Links

http://www.seaf.com

Monday, August 27, 2018 at 5:26PM

Belkin announced ScreenForce TemperedCurve Screen Protection built specifically for Samsung Galaxy Note9, bringing new consumers peace of mind, precision at-home application, clarity and advanced protection. (Image below). The ScreenForce TemperedCurve will be available this week at Telus stores and on Belkin.com for $49.99 CAD.

Belkin also offers a variety of mobile power and award-winning charging solutions for Samsung devices. See here for more wireless innovations, Quick Charge technology and Android accessories: http://www.belkin.com/us/search?text=samsungThe second edition of Financial Independence: Getting to Point X , published by Wiley, is available for purchase at bookstores nationwide and from major online booksellers. For more information, visit: https://bit.ly/2Bb1jYX .

"The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 opened the door to the most impactful tax reform in decades, and investors and financial professionals need a clear understanding of which wealth management strategies are now obsolete and which new tax-saving opportunities are worth pursuing," said John J. Vento, author of Financial Independence: Getting to Point X. "The American Dream isn't deadbut the old ways of achieving it are. I wrote the second edition of this book to give all Americans, no matter where they are in their lives, realistic ways to save, budget, control debt, manage their investments, and minimize taxes given the new realities of tax reform."

This edition includes new and refreshed content for achieving financial independence, including:

Tax Alpha to the 2nd Power SM facts and strategies that can be applied through a tax-smart approach to all your wealth management issues.

facts and strategies that can be applied through a tax-smart approach to all your wealth management issues. A new chapter, "Starting Your Own Business," which covers Mr. Vento's time-tested advice from his 30 years of experience helping hundreds of small business owners achieve financial independence in the most tax-efficient manner.

A new section on eldercare planning, in the chapter about "Preserving Your Estate," which provides guidance on how to prepare for long-term care costs for yourself, your parents, and your grandparents.

Insights and first-hand advice from a diverse selection of financial experts.

Up-to-date case studies that discuss the impact the latest financial planning strategies will have on Americans in different real-world situations.

Mr. Vento (http://www.ventocpa.com) is affiliated with HD Vest Financial Services, the pioneer of Tax Smart Investing and a wholly owned subsidiary of Blucora, Inc.

"The future of the tax business involves diversifying in order to offer clients a more holistic approach to managing their finances," said Bob Oros, CEO of HD Vest Financial Services, who wrote the foreword to the updated Financial Independence: Getting to Point X. "John and our other advisors have embraced this evolution, working closely with clients to help them obtain financial independence by combining holistic financial planning with Tax Smart Investing. The second edition of John's book, like the original, goes a long way toward improving financial literacythe first step to reaching financial independence."

About John J. Vento

John J. Vento has owned the firms of John J. Vento, CPA, PC and Comprehensive Wealth Management Ltd. in New York City since 1987. He graduated from Pace University with a bachelor's degree in business administration in public accounting, and continued on to earn an MBA in taxation from St. John's University. Mr. Vento is a certified public accountant (CPA) and Certified Financial Planner.

For additional information about John J. Vento, log onto www.ventocpa.com, call (718) 980-9000, or visit his headquarters at: 95 New Dorp Lane, Staten Island, NY 10306.

John J. Vento, CPA, PC and Comprehensive Wealth Management LTD are not registered broker/dealers or registered investment advisory firms.

Securities offered through HD Vest Investment Services, Member FINRA/SIPC, Advisory services offered through HD Vest Advisory Services, Insurance services offered through HD Vest Insurance Agency LLC. 6333 N. State Highway 161, Fourth Floor, Irving, TX 75038, 972-870-6000.

Media Contact:

Dana Taormina

JConnelly

(973) 850-7305

[email protected]

SOURCE John J. VentoLOS ANGELES, Aug. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A former Delta Airlines pilot filed suit on Monday against the airline for wrongful termination and retaliation. Michael Protack, 61, had served as a pilot for Delta for over 20 years in good standing before a work-related dispute caused Delta to remove him from flying duties and increasingly retaliate against him over a period of several years.

The lawsuit alleges multiple instances of retaliation, as well as harassment, wrongful termination, age discrimination, and a variety of other misconduct. The suit shows how Delta's motivations resulted, illegally, from Protack reporting safety concerns about airplanes, including one instance when he refused to fly a scheduled flight for fear of a mechanical issue; reporting misogynistic comments made by other pilots and copilots; and engaging in union activities, such as complaining about unfair pay cuts and pension changes.

Once Delta had poisoned their working relationship with Protack, they then falsely claimed that Protack was medically unfit to fly and required a psychiatric evaluation in order to be restored to flight status. Not only did this directly constitute a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (and other laws), but it was also completely baseless: During this time period Protack had been cleared to fly by numerous board-certified doctors with the FAA, whose authority exceeds Delta's in determining pilot fitness. Protack actually continued to seek and receive these physical exams and clearances on a regular basis throughout his suspension.

Carney Shegerian, of Shegerian & Associates, one of Protack's attorneys, described this situation as different from typical on-the-job disputes.

"Workplace disputes are certainly not uncommon, but what happened here is a systematic violation of numerous laws by Delta Airlines in its efforts to marginalize and minimize Mr. Protack," Shegerian said. "His career as a commercial pilot is effectively over, and he has endured years of pain and suffering, including lost wages and opportunities for advancement, at the hands of his former employersall because Mr. Protack was committed to a safe, fair working environment."

Shegerian added that, shortly before Protack's firing, Delta attempted to coerce Protack to withdraw his grievances, making it clear that Protack had to choose between losing his job, or backing down on the stand he had taken against his years of mistreatment.

"There is no way to win in those situations," Shegerian said, "and management knows it. They know they've got all the power. This happens to workers all the time, who are either forced to endure poor work circumstances or are fired for objecting."

He concluded, "I always use occasions like this to tell the general public that if your employer is mistreating you, speak to an employment law attorney. Learn your rights. Unscrupulous employers count on their workers not knowing what's legal and what isn't. When you learn what the law says about your situation, it completely changes the power imbalance."

Protack's case is now pending in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, Southern Division.

Shegerian & Associates has won clients over $200 million in employment-based disputes and maintains a 98% success rate. We have offices in Los Angeles and New York.

For media: interviews with Carney Shegerian can be arranged at [email protected].

SOURCE Shegerian & Associates, Inc.Nearly 4 in 10 survey respondents indicated they are paying toward a student loan for themselves or on behalf of someone else. Of those, an astounding 85 percent of respondents paying toward student loans reported that their obligation to repay the funds are impacting their ability to prepare for retirement. Of that group, 38 percent said that student loans are having a "significant impact" on their ability to prepare for retirement.

From Aug. 25, 2017 to Jan. 31, 2018, more than 12,200 OneAmerica retirement plan participants responded to an online poll, sharing their thoughts on financial wellness, education and resource preferences, and potential roadblocks to retirement. The survey results provide insights into how retirement plan sponsors can work with participants to improve their financial wellness and overcome retirement planning hurdles.

"The reality that many participants face when it comes to student loans is tough," said Marsha Whitehead, OneAmerica vice president of enterprise marketing. "These survey results make it clear that retirement plan providers, in partnership with retirement plan sponsors and advisors, are in position to help participants understand the impact student loans can have and the best way to balance current and future financial demands. This is critical to retirement preparation."

Survey results also showed that women, who already lag men when it comes to retirement preparation, are more likely to be paying toward a student loan than their male counterparts (41 percent compared to 34 percent).

Retirement plan sponsors do recognize the financial impact student loans are having on their employees, with some offering student loan payback programs to assist employees.

While student loan payback programs are a great benefit to help participants gain control of their student loan debt, OneAmerica cautions sponsors not to replace or provide employees the option of applying an employer retirement plan contribution to student loan debt.

"By providing comprehensive financial wellness education, retirement plan sponsors can help participants get control of their financial lives in balancing immediate financial demands while also focusing on retirement preparation," said Melissa Musial, OneAmerica marketing research and data manager. "Participants may also benefit from education on how to prepare future generations for post-secondary educational expenses  for example, 529 tax-advantaged savings plans and preparing early  to break the cycle of student loans impacting retirement outcomes for the future workforce."

"Participants may feel that their immediate financial needs are more pressing than preparing for retirement," said Musial. "Although it is difficult being tied to the past and paying towards debt, participants need to understand how important it is to prepare for the future."

While participants were able to finance their schooling, they will not be able to borrow in order to finance their retirement years, Musial added.

Want to know more about the OneAmerica Survey? Download a free infographic and whitepaper at www.oneamerica.com/RSsurvey

OneAmerica is the marketing name for the companies of OneAmerica. Products issued and underwritten by American United Life Insurance Company (AUL), a OneAmerica company. Administrative and recordkeeping services provided by McCready and Keene, Inc. or OneAmerica Retirement Services LLC, companies of OneAmerica which are not broker/dealers or investment advisors. Provided content is for overview and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be relied upon as individualized tax, legal, fiduciary, or investment advice.

About OneAmerica

A national leader in the insurance and financial services marketplace for more than 140 years, the companies of OneAmerica help customers build and protect their financial futures. OneAmerica offers a variety of products and services to serve the financial needs of their policyholders and customers. These products include retirement plan products and recordkeeping services, individual life insurance, annuities, asset-based long-term care solutions and employee benefit plan products. Products are issued and underwritten by the companies of OneAmerica and distributed through a nationwide network of employees, agents, brokers and other sources who are committed to providing value to our customers. To learn more about our products, services and the companies of OneAmerica, visit OneAmerica.com/companies.

SOURCE OneAmerica

Related Links

http://www.oneamerica.com

CHENGDU, China, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On August 23, the Opening Ceremony for the 1st China Giant Panda International Culture Week kicked off at Beijing's China Millennium Monument and attracted an audience of over 300 relevant persons and representatives from home and abroad. Significantly, Li Chunliang, Deputy Director of State Administration of Forestry and Grassland, Zhao Qi, Deputy Secretary General of Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Hu Sishe, Vice Chairman of Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Cui Baohua, Vice Chairman of CPPCC Sichuan Provincial Committee, Wei Zengjun, Vice Governor of Shaanxi Province, Li Bin, Vice Governor of Gansu Province, Tu Ruihe, representative of United Nations Environment Programme, and Friedrich Stift, Austrian Ambassador to China attended and addressed the event.

Themed "Panda Culture Goes Global", the 1st China Giant Panda International Culture Week was held with the aim of researching and delving into universal objectives such as panda eco-system protection and panda culture construction in a bid to take the lead in innovation-driven development of panda protection and eco-system culture, shedding light on the essence of panda culture in the new era so as to build consensus on panda protection, and enhancing exchanges on panda culture in an effort to promote panda culture to go global.

According to Mr. Friedrich Stift, Austrian Ambassador to China, "Panda is a symbol of friendliness of Chinese nation. Since I can remember, China and Austria have maintained friendly exchanges. This year, both Austria's President and Chancellor paid state visits to China which have yielded rich fruits."

Following the success of the opening ceremony, a series of wonderful theme exhibitions was opened to public for free from August 23 to August 26. For example, "Panda Protection Research Achievements Exhibition", "Panda Culture Art Exhibition" and "Panda Culture Lantern Exhibition" were scheduled during the period. Ingeniously drawing on various carriers such as picture, video, VR, plastinated specimens, scientific research exhibits, art works and Chinese-style lanterns, these exhibitions zero in on panda stories from a multi-faceted and multi-angled perspective to showcase eco-system historic culture, protection research culture, international exchange culture and common-good care culture related to panda.

As everyone knows, panda is not only an iconic species chosen to provide support for global biodiversity conservation but also a shining example of headways in humankind's devotion to the cause of rare species protection. Endemic to China, panda mainly inhabits in mountainous areas of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu Provinces. Over the past several decades, China has never wavered from great efforts to protect panda. In 1973, Sichuan Province established China's first panda protection and observation station in the hinterlands of Wolong National Nature Reserve, which ushered in an era of systematic protection and research on panda in the history of mankind. So far, China has set up 67 panda nature reserves, forming a protection network for panda habitats. Meanwhile, along with constant perfection and breakthrough in panda artificial breeding technology, China has achieved universally-recognized success with a remarkable and stable increase in panda population. By the end of 2017, China's captive panda population totaled 518, crossing the threshold of 500 for the first time, and China's wild panda population also saw a rise from 1,114 of around 1980s to today's 1,864.

A couple of decades on, people's love towards panda never dies - where there is a panda, there is a "rage for panda". Born with adorably endearing look and ultimately "cute carriage", panda has attracted a legion of followers and become a "friendship ambassador" in exchanges between China and foreign countries. All that has helped panda come to the fore as one of China's most renowned symbols, thus further presenting an image of China as a country that loves peace and amity and embraces opening-up and inclusiveness.

During the next half of 2018, China Giant Panda International Culture Week will find its way to Britain, Netherlands, Austria and other foreign countries to embark on a "'Belt and Road' Journey to Foreign Nations". In addition, a barrage of cultural exchange activities such as "Panda Culture Goes Global", "Panda Culture at UN" and "Panda Culture on Campus" will be scheduled for completion in the next year of 2019, in a bid to enrich Chinese culture and inject new charming elements into it via the image of panda.

SOURCE The Organizing Committee of the 1st China Giant Panda International Culture WeekNEW YORK, August 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Missiles and Missile Defense Systems Market 2018-2028



Summary



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p03605945



The global Missiles and Missile Defense Systems (MMDS) market, valued at over US$33 billion in 2018, is projected grow at a CAGR of about 2%, to cross US$41 billion by 2028. The cumulative market for global expenditure on Missiles and Missile Defense Systems is valued at more than US$384 billion over the forecast period.



The Asia Pacific region is the largest spender in the domain, with China, India, and South Korea accounting for the bulk of spending. China dominates regional spending in the sector, with its desire to bridge the military capabilities gap with the US being the primary driver of the country's defense capital spending, while India is the second largest spender in the region primarily due to its volatile relationship with Pakistan and China.



North America is estimated to witness the second largest investment in the sector with the US formulating long-term programs for missile defense systems, as well as other missile types. In Europe, the missile and missile defense systems market is expected to grow steadily due to continued funding allocation. Russia, the UK, and Poland are anticipated to be the largest spenders in the domain within Europe. In the Middle East, spending on missiles, missile defense and air defense systems is mainly driven by the aim to counter the potential threat from Iran's intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).



In terms of categories, missile defense systems (MDS) is expected to account for the highest proportion of spending, followed by markets for surface-to-surface , surface-to-air, air-to-surface, air-to-air, anti-ship and anti-anti-tank missiles.



This report "The Global Missiles and Missile Defense Systems Market 2018-2028" offers a detailed analysis of the industry, with market size forecasts covering the next ten years. This report will also analyze factors that influence demand for missiles and missile defense systems, key market trends, and challenges encountered by industry participants.



In particular, it provides an in-depth analysis of the following -

- Market size and drivers: detailed analysis during 2018-2028, including highlights of the demand drivers and growth stimulators. It also provides a snapshot of the spending and modernization patterns of different regions around the world

- Recent developments and industry challenges: insights into technological developments and a detailed analysis of the changing preferences of missiles segments around the world. It also provides trends of the changing industry structure and the challenges faced by industry participants

- Regional highlights: study of the key markets in each region, providing an analysis of the key segments of the market that are expected to be in demand

- Major programs: details of the key programs in each segment, which are expected to be executed during 2018-2028

- Competitive landscape and strategic insights: analysis of the competitive landscape of the global market. It provides an overview of key players, together with information regarding key alliances, strategic initiatives, and financial analysis



Companies mentioned in this report - Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, BAE Systems, Orbital ATK, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Raytheon, Mectron, Denel Dynamics, Saab AB, Kongsberg Gruppen, MBDA, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Thales, Safran Electronics & Defense, Tactical Missiles Corporation.



Scope

- The global missiles and missile defense systems market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 2.32% over the forecast period.

- The market consists of seven categories: missile defense systems, surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles, air-to-surface missiles, air-to-air missiles, anti-tank missiles and anti-ship missiles.

- The market is projected to be dominated by the missile defense systems segment, followed by surface-to-surface, surface-to-air, air-to-surface, during the forecast period.

- Region wise, Asia Pacific is expected to lead the global missiles and missile defense systems market during 2018-2028, followed by the North American and the European markets.



Reasons to buy

- Determine prospective investment areas based on a detailed trend analysis of the global missiels and missile defense systems market over the next ten years

- Gain in-depth understanding about the underlying factors driving demand for different missile segments in the top spending countries across the world and identify the opportunities offered by each of them

- Strengthen your understanding of the market in terms of demand drivers, industry trends, and the latest technological developments, among others

- Identify the major channels that are driving the global missiles and missile defense systems market, providing a clear picture about future opportunities that can be tapped, resulting in revenue expansion

- Channelize resources by focusing on the ongoing programs that are being undertaken by the defense ministries of different countries within the global missiles and missile defense systems market

- Make correct business decisions based on thorough analysis of the total competitive landscape of the sector with detailed profiles of the top missile and missile defense system providers around the world which include information about their products, alliances, recent contract wins and financial analysis wherever available



Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p03605945



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.

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Contact Clare: [email protected]

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SOURCE Reportlinker

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LONDON, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

A.S. Watson celebrates successful collaborations with world's top beauty brands

A.S. Watson, the world's largest international health and beauty retailer, has massive partnerships with its strategic partners, such as Unilever, creating together exclusive, commercially successful projects around the globe.

In the growing global beauty market, expected to reach a market value of USD 805.61 billion by 20231, brands need access to category insights and data to ensure the development of products and strategies are in line with the needs of the market, and speak directly to their target customers.

A.S. Watson helps its brand partners, both multi-national and more niche brands or start-ups, to deliver strategies for launches that address their objectives through its global customer base, data insights, digital tools, resources and expertise.

Each year A.S. Watson welcomes over four billion customers into its 14,400 stores in 24 markets, with over 130 million members of its loyalty programmes, giving business partners access to the largest active loyalty member base in the world. The retailer also uses segmentation and analytics to optimise results for brands by offering insights to help identify the right locations for specific brand launches and marketing activity.

Using customer insights to launch an established product in a new market

Insights and retail expertise from A.S. Watson helped Unilever successfully launch TRESemme haircare in China. Already a well-known brand in many global markets, Unilever wanted to expand its TRESemme offering to China and saw A.S. Watson as the perfect global partner to establish the brand in this new market.

The launch strategy was co-developed bringing together the haircare expertise of Unilever with the retail knowledge, wide customer reach and market data insights of A.S. Watson, to ensure a strong plan, focussing on both online and offline activity.

Customer reach and exposure were key to the launch, therefore A.S. Watson targeted its 300,000 Watsons loyalty members to announce it through SMS and an additional five million shoppers were reached through a social media campaign on the app Dianping, described as the Chinese version of Yelp. There was also an instore appearance with Chinese actress Jiang Xin at Watsons in Guangzhou, which was also broadcast online.

Following the launch, Unilever and A.S. Watson continued to work together to grow and develop the digital promotion plans. This joint approach has seen dividends with sales showing a promising 128% uplift compared to the average week.

Berengere Loubatier, Unilever TRESemme Global Hair Care Brand Director said: "TRESemme is a global leading hair care and styling brand to provide the perfect end look and fashionable experience and we're excited to have worked with A.S. Watson to bring this to Chinese customers!"

With its breadth of stores, customer data and market insights, the above example shows how A.S. Watson is able to help brands develop products and grow their presence in new markets.

Malina Ngai, Group Chief Operating Officer at A.S. Watson Group, says: "Our forward-thinking approach and access to new technologies and data allows us to talk directly to over 130 million loyal customers across the globe. This coupled with the expertise of our global retail brands and allows us to work collaboratively with business partners to really maximise opportunities and give our customers the products they want. This tailored approach has already seen dividends for our strategic partners and our customers and we look forward to launching more examples of innovative collaborations."

About A.S. Watson Group

Established in Hong Kong in 1841, A.S. Watson Group is the world's largest international health and beauty retailer with over 14,400 stores in 24 markets. Each year, over four billion customers and members shop with our 12 retail brands, both in stores and online.

In Hong Kong, we operate more than 600 stores under four retail brands  Watsons, PARKnSHOP, FORTRESS, and Watson's Wine. In addition, we manufacture and distribute high quality drinking water brand Watsons Water, as well as the famous juice drinks Mr. Juicy and Sunkist.

For the fiscal year 2017, A.S. Watson Group recorded revenue of HKD156.2 billion. We have over 140,000 employees worldwide, including 12,900 in Hong Kong.

A.S. Watson Group is also a member of the world-renowned multinational conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings Limited, which has five core businesses  ports and related services, retail, infrastructure, energy and telecommunications in over 50 countries.

Please visit www.aswatson.com for more in-depth information about A.S. Watson Group and its brands. You may also stay in touch with us via our digital presence (eCommerce, social media, mobile app & more); more details are at http://www.aswatson.com/our-customers/digitalasw/.

1 http://orbisresearch.com/reports/index/global-cosmetics-products-market-analysis-of-growth-trends-and-forecasts-2018-2023

SOURCE A.S. Watson GroupSUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Visbit Inc., the leading VR video transmission and playback technology company, today released its Premium Playback Service, offering a private content distribution solution with up to 8K 3D quality playback capability, synchronized playback control, and improved rendering sharpness. The company also expanded its platform coverage from the first standalone VR headset, HTC Vive Focus, to across most standalone and mobile VR headsets as well as ODG R-9 Smartglasses, a leading Extended Reality (XR) tether free headset.

"After debuting the world's first 8K 3D VR video player in January, we further developed it into a service that makes private VR content delivery easy," said Elaine Lu, Visbit co-founder and COO. "The traditional approach of sharing Gigabytes of VR video files via Dropbox and asking clients to sideload videos is unprofessional and painful, if not impossible. We see this as one major barrier for VR to be more useful in business use cases." With the new Premium Playback service, this process can be as simple as uploading the video to Visbit Portal and sending a 6-letter code to a specific audience. Besides, content owners can also revoke the access to protect their IP and instantly publish or unpublish new content. "Since the Beta release in April, we have seen content creators and companies using Visbit service for collaboration, demo on show floor, facilitating regular business presentation, and even for paid content distribution," said Elaine Lu.

In this release, Visbit added a new Beta function called "Synchronized Playback Control" to enable VR business owners provide a theater-like VR experience to their customers. Using the iPad app "Visbit Theater Manager" as the central control tool, a movie festival staff or classroom instructor can manage multiple VR headsets to synchronously play a list of videos via Visbit Premium Player and viewers only need to sit and watch. All devices are connected and communicated via local WiFi. The system is powerful enough to support hundreds of headsets simultaneously.

Additionally, Visbit added VR180 support, video auto looping, and custom branding option to enhance product usability.

Visbit continues pushing VR video playback quality in this release by polishing its rendering pipeline. "Pixel resampling degrades video quality in general. By removing the use of Eyebuffer in video rendering pipeline, we are now able to increase the final delivered video sharpness by another 10%," said Changyin Zhou, Co-Founder and CEO of Visbit.

Visbit has also been gradually expanding its platform coverage. In addition to Oculus Go, Gear VR, MiVR, and Lenovo Mirage, noticeably, Visbit has also added support to ODG R-9 Smartglasses and released its Visbit Premium Player app in ODG's app store. ODG R-9 became the first Extended Reality (XR) tether free headset that is capable of playing 6K quality 360-degree or 180-degree videos.

Together with the product release, Visbit also published its pricing for the Premium Playback Service. Interested users can check it out on www.visbit.co. Those who registered before Sep 14th can receive a two-month free trial including 2 licenses and 5mins 8K transcoding.

About Visbit, Inc.

Visbit Inc. is a visual technology company enabling 360-degree videos and VR content to be easily viewed at the highest possible quality across platforms. With its patented Visbit View-Optimized Streaming (VVOS) technology, Visbit is able to stream and play 4K to 12K resolution 360-degree VR videos without noticeable latency over regular Wi-Fi and LTE. With the technology, Visbit offers Premium Playback Service and Streaming SDK Service to content creators, publishers and developers for immersive media as a full-scale content delivery and playback solution.

The company was founded in 2015 by Dr. Changyin Zhou and Elaine Lu, and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, USA. For more information go to www.visbit.co.

SOURCE Visbit Inc.

Related Links

http://www.visbit.co

ATLANTA and NORTHBROOK, Ill., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- WestRock Company ("WestRock") (NYSE: WRK) and KapStone Paper and Packaging Corporation ("KapStone") (NYSE: KS) today announced an anticipated election deadline of 5:00 p.m. New York City time on September 5, 2018 (the "Election Deadline") for KapStone stockholders to elect to receive shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of Whiskey Holdco, Inc. ("Holdco") as consideration in the acquisition of KapStone by WestRock through Holdco. If the KapStone special meeting of stockholders, currently scheduled for September 6, 2018, is delayed to a subsequent date, the Election Deadline will be similarly delayed to a subsequent date, and WestRock and KapStone will announce any such delay and, when determined, the new election deadline.

As previously announced, KapStone stockholders have the option, with respect to each share of KapStone common stock they hold, to receive $35.00 per share in cash (the "Cash Consideration"), or to elect to receive 0.4981 shares of Holdco common stock (the "Stock Consideration") and cash in lieu of fractional shares, provided that Stock Consideration may be received with respect to a maximum of 25% of the issued and outstanding shares of KapStone common stock immediately prior to the Effective Time. There is no limit on the number of shares of KapStone common stock with respect to which Cash Consideration may be received. The documents related to the election of Stock Consideration were mailed to KapStone stockholders beginning on August 2, 2018. The election of Stock Consideration will be subject to proration procedures, which are further described in the proxy statement/prospectus of KapStone and Holdco, dated August 1, 2018, and mailed to KapStone stockholders beginning on August 2, 2018.

As further described in the election materials, to make a valid election of Stock Consideration, record holders of KapStone common stock must deliver to Computershare Trust Company, N.A., the exchange agent for the transaction, by the Election Deadline, a properly completed and signed form of election and letter of transmittal, together with their KapStone stock certificate(s), confirmation of book-entry transfer or notice of guaranteed delivery, as applicable, and a completed Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") Form W-9 (or the appropriate IRS Form W-8, as applicable). KapStone stockholders who hold their shares through a bank, broker or other nominee must make their elections through such bank, broker or other nominee (who may have a deadline earlier than the Election Deadline). KapStone stockholders should carefully read all of the election materials provided to them before making an election.

KapStone stockholders who have questions regarding the election procedures, who want up-to-date information on the Election Deadline or who wish to obtain copies of the election materials may contact Morrow Sodali LLC, the information agent for the transaction, toll-free at (800) 662-5200. Banks and brokerage firms may call (203) 658-9400.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements in this communication about WestRock's and KapStone's expectations, beliefs, plans or forecasts, including statements regarding the proposed transaction among Holdco, WestRock and KapStone, the Election Deadline and the date of the KapStone special meeting of stockholders, that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. These statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as "may," "will," "could," "should," "would," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," "target," "prospects," "potential" and "forecast," and other words, terms and phrases of similar meaning. Forward-looking statements involve estimates, expectations, projections, goals, forecasts, assumptions, risks and uncertainties. WestRock and KapStone caution readers that a forward-looking statement is not a guarantee of future performance, and actual results could differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements are the following: the parties' ability to consummate the transaction; the conditions to the completion of the transaction, including the receipt of KapStone stockholder approval; the regulatory approvals required for the transaction may not be obtained on the terms expected or on the anticipated schedule; and the parties' ability to meet expectations regarding the timing, completion and accounting and tax treatments of the transaction. Additional information and other factors are contained in WestRock's and KapStone's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Because the factors referred to above could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by WestRock or KapStone, you should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this communication, and WestRock and KapStone undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after such date, except as required by applicable law.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

This communication may be deemed to be solicitation material in respect of the proposed transaction among Holdco, WestRock and KapStone. In connection with the proposed transaction, Holdco has filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-4 that includes a prospectus of Holdco and a proxy statement of KapStone (which registration statement was declared effective on August 1, 2018). The definitive proxy statement was mailed to KapStone stockholders on or about August 2, 2018. Investors and security holders are urged to read the proxy statement/prospectus and any other relevant documents filed or to be filed with the SEC by Holdco, WestRock or KapStone, including the definitive proxy statement/prospectus, because they contain or will contain important information about the proposed transaction. The proxy statement/prospectus and other documents relating to the proposed transaction can be obtained free of charge from the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov.

Participants in Solicitation

WestRock, Holdco and KapStone and their respective directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the holders of shares of KapStone common stock in respect of the proposed transaction. Information about the directors and executive officers of WestRock is set forth in the proxy statement for WestRock's 2018 annual meeting of stockholders, which was filed with the SEC on December 19, 2017, and WestRock's current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on July 27, 2018. Information about the directors and executive officers of KapStone is set forth in the definitive proxy statement/prospectus, which was filed with the SEC on August 1, 2018, KapStone's current report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on July 5, 2018 and the proxy statement for KapStone's 2018 annual meeting of stockholders, which was filed with the SEC on April 27, 2018. Investors may obtain additional information regarding the interest of such participants by reading the registration statement and the proxy statement/prospectus.

No Offer or Solicitation

This communication is neither an offer to sell, nor a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, nor the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction pursuant to or in connection with the proposed transaction or otherwise, nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer of securities in any jurisdiction in contravention of applicable law. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and otherwise in accordance with applicable law.

About WestRock

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) partners with our customers to provide differentiated paper and packaging solutions that help them win in the marketplace. WestRock's 45,000 team members support customers around the world from more than 300 operating and business locations spanning North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Learn more at www.WestRock.com.

About KapStone

Headquartered in Northbrook, IL, KapStone is a leading North American producer of containerboard, unbleached kraft paper and corrugated products, and a provider of packaging and logistics solutions. The Company operates four paper mills, 22 converting plants, and more than 65 warehouses and distribution centers located in North America. The business employs approximately 6,200 people.

SOURCE KapStone Paper and Packaging Corporation

Related Links

http://www.kapstonepaper.com

Los Angeles, Aug 28 : The sudden death of beau Dennis Shields left TV personality Bethenny Frankel in shock.

Frankel took to Twitter on Monday to mourn the death of Shields, reports pagesix.com.

She tweeted: "It's hard to breathe.I appreciate you giving me the space and support to try to do so. It's excruciating. Sudden death is no closure and constant.

"Our relationship is current, so it's painfully raw. Trying to stay healthy and move through it with tears and close friends."

Shields was found dead in his Trump Tower apartment earlier this month of a suspected OxyContin overdose. He was 51.

Frankel also thanked followers for supporting her emotionally during this hard phase.

Frankel and Shields began dating in 2016.Pyongyang, Aug 28 : North Korean state media has accused the US of "hatching a criminal plot to unleash a war" against Pyongyang while "having a dialogue with a smile on its face".

The statement on North Korea's Rodong Sinmun daily came after a South Korean radio report said that American forces in Japan were running drills aimed at invading Pyongyang, CNN reported.

"We cannot but take a serious note of the double-dealing attitudes of the US as it is busy staging secret drills involving man-killing special units while having a dialogue with a smile on its face," the daily said.

"The US would be sadly mistaken if it thinks that it can browbeat someone through trite 'gunboat diplomacy' which it used to employ as an almighty weapon in the past and attain its sinister intention," it added.

US Forces Japan (USFJ) told CNN on Monday that it was "not aware of the drills" mentioned in North and South Korean media reports.

"In general, US aircraft and ships operate from Japan every day in support of our commitments to our allies and partners in the region and in the interests of regional peace and security," Col. John Hutcheson, the Director of public affairs of USFJ, said in a statement.

The harsh rhetoric from Pyongyang comes just days after US President Donald Trump nixed plans for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to make what would have been his fourth visit to North Korea, citing insufficient progress on the issue of denuclearization.Washington, Aug 28 : US President Donald Trump offered brief praised for the late Republican Senator John McCain, who passed away on August 25, in a statement after responding only with silence to questions about the Vietnam War veteran turned politician.

"Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain's service to our country," Trump wrote in the four-paragraph statement on Monday, which dealt mainly in the logistical details he had approved for the week-long remembrance ceremonies.

Later, while meeting Evangelical leaders in the State Dining Room, Trump told reporters: "Our hearts and prayers are going to the family of Senator John McCain... And we very much appreciate everything Sen. McCain has done for our country," CNN reported.

After facing criticism for raising the flags at the White House to full-staff after lowering them on Saturday, Trump said he had approved them to be lowered again.

It is a customary tradition in the US that after the death of a person such as McCain - a Vietnam War veteran and prisoner of war who was tortured during his captivity, ultimately served for decades in the Senate and was the Republican presidential nominee in 2008 - for flags to be lowered to half-staff until after the funeral.

He also wrote that he asked Vice President Mike Pence to deliver remarks at a ceremony celebrating McCain's life in the US Capitol on Friday.

Asked what had changed and why the proclamation was issued on Monday, press secretary Sarah Sanders would only say this was the "President's decision to do and the statement speaks for itself".

Monday's statement came after Trump maintained his silence during a string of appearances in front of the media, choosing to ignore questions about the late Arizona Republican.

On Sunday when he was questioned whether he believed McCain -- a former Navy pilot who was shot down over Vietnam -- was a hero, Trump remained stone-faced behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office after announcing a trade breakthrough with Mexico.

The President had openly feuded with McCain, even as the Senator was dying from brain cancer.

McCain is scheduled to be buried on September 2, at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, after a funeral service is held at the National Cathedral in Washington on Saturday.Los Angeles, Aug 28 : Oscar winning director-writer Paul Haggis, seeking dismissal of a rape case, has acknowledged that he had oral sex with a woman who has accused him of rape, but says it was consensual.

The 65-year-old filed his response to a lawsuit against him by publicist Haleigh Breest on Monday in which he admitted he received oral sex from her but claimed it was consensual, according to court documents obtained by People.

Breest sued him in last December, claiming Haggis had raped her after she accepted his offer to drive her home following a film premiere in 2013.

She also claimed the "Crash" director became "sexually aggressive" and forced her to perform oral sex on him before allegedly raping her.

Haggis has said her claims were "shocking and scandalous claims of fiction" which he acevehemently denies". The director also denied Breest "gave (him) oral sex" forcibly or without her consent, calling the moment consensual, people.com reported.

The director also said they had "mutually and voluntarily removed certain items of each other's clothing".

In January, three other woman had come forward to Breest's attorneys. However, Haggis had denied the claims in a statement.Washington, Aug 28 : US President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort had sought a plea deal before his trial in a federal court next month, but the talks stalled over issues raised by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, a media report said.

Manafort was found guilty on August 21 in a separate trial in Virginia federal court on eight counts of financial crimes, including tax fraud, bank fraud and hiding foreign bank accounts, CNN quoted The Wall Street Journal as saying on Monday.

He faces a second set of criminal charges next month in Washington of failure to register his foreign lobbying and money laundering conspiracy.

The talks between the defence and prosecutors occurred last week as the Virginia jury was deliberating, sources told The Journal.

The daily said it was unclear what issues Mueller raised or what terms for a potential plea might have been proposed.

The second trial is scheduled to begin on September 17 and is also related to Manafort's political consulting work in Ukraine.

Mueller's office has almost three times as many exhibits it wants to show a jury as it did in the Virginia case, indicating how expansive the special counsel's investigation of Manafort has been.Canberra, Aug 28 : Members of newly-appointed Australian prime Minister Scott Morrison's cabinet were sworn in on Tuesday after an internal dispute of the ruling Liberal Party that led to a change in its leadership and the head of the government.

The ceremony took place in the presence of Morrison before Governor-General Peter Cosgrove, the representative of Queen Elizabeth II, Australia's Head of State, reports Efe news.

Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg already took office on August 24, a few hours after being elected as leader and deputy leader of the Liberal Party in a vote that ended the leadership and government of former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton was sworn in on Monday.

Dutton, who tried to unseat Turnbull, was re-appointed as home affairs minister, a post he previously held during the Turnbull administration, but without the portfolios of Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, which were taken over by David Coleman.

Other members of the new Cabinet include Marise Payne, who left her post as Defence Minister to take the Foreign Affairs portfolio in the new cabinet.

Christopher Pyne will replace Payne in defence, while Steve Ciobo will become the new Defence Industry Minister and leave his trade portfolio for Simon Birmingham.

The Ministry of Energy and Environment will be divided in two different portfolios, with Angus Taylor, known for his opposition to renewable energies, assuming the first and Melissa Price taking the latter.

Dan Tehan will become the new education minister while Mathias Cormann remains in charge of Finance in the new conservative-leaning cabinet with numerous Dutton allies.

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, considered the main figure fomenting the party opposition against Turnbull, however, did not receive any promotions but it is possible that he will be appointed as a special envoy for Indigenous Affairs.

Turnbull, who took office in 2015 after snatching the seat from Abbott in a similar party dispute, announced that he will leave the parliament this week after being cut off from the government, which was seen as very inclined to the left by the more conservative section of the Liberal Party.

Australia will hold a general election in 2019.

Internal power struggles and leadership changes have become frequent in Australia for nearly a decade, both during the governments of the Liberal-National coalition and the Labour Party.

Not a single Australian Prime Minister has managed to complete a full term since 2007.Dehradun, Aug 28 : Three members of a family were killed when the vehicle they were travelling in, waswashed away by a river in spate near the Jim Corbett National Park, police said on Tuesday.

The victims were on their way back to Delhi from their native village Bainjaro in Paudi Garhwal on Monday, when the incident happened.

The police said that due to the torrential downpours in the region, the river in the Paniyali causeway was in spate. The family was trying to cross it in their car but the driver could not hold it against the heavy currents.

As a result, the car was washed away. One person was rescued.New Delhi, Aug 28 : Although Indian parents are aware that images of their children posted online could end up in the wrong hands, most of them are still sharing their kids' images online often without any consent from them, a survey by global cyber security firm McAfee revealed on Tuesday.

The survey, titled "The Age of Consent," found 40.5 per cent of parents in India (with Mumbai being the most active) post a photo or video of their child at least once a day on their social media accounts, with 36 per cent posting a picture of their child once a week.

Most parents identified the following concerns associated with sharing images online including paedophilia (16.5 per cent), stalking (32 per cent), kidnapping (43 per cent) and cyberbullying (23 per cent), but many (62 per cent) don't even consider if their child would consent to their image being posted online.

"What's even more alarming is that a whopping 76 per cent of parents say they are aware that the images of their children posted online could end up in the wrong hands," the survey noted.

Mumbai (66.5 per cent) was followed by Delhi (61 per cent) and Bengaluru (55 per cent) where majority of parents believed they have the right to share images of their child online without consulting them first.

"The survey reveals parents are not giving enough consideration to what they post online and how it could harm their children. Posting kids' information may compromise their personal information," said Venkat Krishnapur, Vice-President of Engineering and Managing Director - McAfee.

Responsibility lies with parents to understand the implications of their social media habits/actions and the repercussions the child may face, he added.

The survey found parents from Mumbai to be most active with 48 per cent posting a picture of their child on social media at least once per day in comparison to other metros like Delhi (38.5 per cent) and Bengaluru (31 per cent).

More than half of the parents surveyed (67 per cent) admit that they have or would share a photo of their child in their school uniform despite the risk of giving away personal information thus paving the way for stalkers to get added details on their child's whereabouts.

While 55 per cent of parents only share images of their child on private social media accounts, 42 per cent are still sharing images on public social media accounts.

"Parents from Bengaluru (59 per cent) exercise highest caution and post pictures of their children only from private social media accounts, closely followed by Mumbai (57 per cent) and Delhi (48.5 per cent)," the findings showed.

While it's clear that parents are worried about physical risks to their children's safety, results indicate less concern about the emotional risks.

Interestingly, it appears mothers consider the embarrassing side effect more than fathers, with 47 per cent mothers admitting that they would never post images their children would be embarrassed by, in comparison to 38 per cent of dads.

To reach this conclusion, McAfee commissioned market research firm OnePoll to conduct a survey of 1,000 parents of children aged 1 month to 16 years old across Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru.

"Many social networks will tag a user's location when a photo is uploaded. Parents should ensure this feature is turned off to avoid disclosing their location. This is especially important when posting photos away from home," said McAfee.

Parents should only share photos and other social media posts with their intended audience, it added.Islamabad, Aug 28 : Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the absence of an international policy against the generation of blasphemous content is a "collective failure" on part of the Muslim countries.

Addressing the Senate for the first time as Prime Minister, Khan on Monday said his government will raise the matter before the UN, adding: "However, I do not think that would do much," Dawn news reported.

The Senate had passed a resolution to bring the UN's attention to the matter regarding the announcement by the leader of Dutch Freedom Party and Parliamentarian Geert Wilders to hold a competition of blasphemous caricatures.

Pakistan's Foreign Office last week had called the charge d'affaires of the Netherlands to record a protest against the announcement by Wilders.

"Our government will raise the matter in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and ask the Muslim countries to come up with a collective policy that could then be brought up at international forums," the Prime Minister said.

"This should have been done years ago," he said while giving the example of the Holocaust and how four European countries have jail sentences for "anyone who misquotes the figures of Holocaust. That is because they realise that this is something that hurts the sentiments of the Jewish community".

"We need a similar policy for this matter so that people do not repeatedly hurt our sentiments."Chicago, Aug 28 : A century-and-a-quarter after Swami Vivekananda's rousing speech to the World Parliament of Religions here in 1893, the World Hindu Congress has declared its objective to re-connect the 1.1 billion Hindus worldwide with their common heritage and their spiritual link to people of all other denominations.

For three days, beginning September 7, about 2,300 delegates will converge at the Westin Hotel in Lombard, a Chicago suburb, to deliberate, introspect and draw out a plan of action in keeping with the World Hindu Congress conference motto derived from Chapter 37 of the Hindu epic Mahabharata -- Sumantrite Suvikrante (Think Collectively, Act Valiantly) and from the Rig Veda: Sam Gacchadhvam Sam Vadadhvam (Stay Together, Express Together).

The Westin Hotel is some 32 km from the Art Institute of Chicago, where Vivekananda's bust commemorates the spot he spoke from.

Many religious leaders are scheduled to attend the Hindu Congress conference. A video message from the Dalai Lama, who had to drop out due to frail health, will be screened. Speakers in the various events include professor Ved Nanda of the University of Denver; Lord Jitesh Gadhia, the youngest Briton of Indian origin in the House of Lords; Swati Dandekar, a former legislator from Iowa; Congressman Raja Krishnmoorthi; Columbia professor Arvind Panagariya, a former economic advisor to the Indian government; and the actor, Anupam Kher.

The overwhelming majority of the 2,300 delegates -- 1,300 -- are from North America, with other delegates coming from 60 countries.

For Indian immigrants, much has changed in Chicago since 1893. Over a century ago, Vivekananda spent a night shivering in a railway yard before a Good Samaritan took him in. He cut an exotic figure in his flowing robes, with passersby pulling at his saffron turban as he walked on the streets.

At the parliament, Americans heard a Hindu monk speak on behalf of his religion for the first time. Today, Chicago and its suburbs have more than a dozen expansive Hindu temples. Discourses by the likes of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev attract packed audiences.

The faith's underlying message, in 1893 and 2018, is unity and tolerance. In his now famous speech, Vivekananda, who is regarded by many as more of a social reformer than a religious leader, spoke of the fact that India has sheltered "the remnants of the Israelites who came to South India seeking refugee from Roman tyranny, and remnants of the grand Zoroastrian nation".

Another common message, then and now, is of dharma-righteousness for its own sake. Following his speech, an American journalist commented: "Vivekananda's address before the parliament was broad as the heavens above us, embracing the best in all religions, as the ultimate universal religion -- charity to all mankind, good works for the love of God, not for fear of punishment or hope of reward."

The Hindu Congress conference, in the estimation of the organisers, has almost similar ambitions, an indication that Hinduism's core message is timeless and unchanging.

"There will be no spiritual discourses," conference convener Abhaya Asthana said in an interview. "The aim is to use the essence of Hindu philosophy, dharma, to inform how we come together (in the diaspora) as men, women and youth -- in politics, education and commerce."

Asthana noted that despite the fact that Hindus have done well individually in North America, they do not have collective clout, a deficiency that the conference will deliberate on. "We are almost there in the social media, but we need more impact in politics, commerce and technology," he said.

Do Hindus, especially those in alien lands, need to take a long hard look at Hinduism? This is a question that hangs uneasily in the air when Indian Americans talk of current events in India.

But Asthana is sanguine. "We do not have to redefine dharma. The philosophy is sound, the principles are sound. Ahinsa (non-violence) is ingrained. All we need to do is to live our lives rooted in the philosophy of service and tolerance.

"We want to connect all Hindus worldwide as well as reach out to all others for the happiness of all living creatures," Asthana said.

The pervasive, although often unspoken, apprehension, that religion is the great divider of modern times, has persisted since the first World Parliament of Religions in 1893.

The solution, as propounded by various speakers at the parliament, then, was an all-embracing universalism that envisioned a coming together of the great religions of the world.

Racism, xenophobia and intolerance were unaddressed issues when Vivekananda spoke in Chicago.

Poor immigrants from southern Europe, including many Jews fleeing Russia, had arrived in the United States at the time. Nativist feelings inspired laws designed to limit the entry of immigrants. The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1882 and the Immigration Restriction League in 1894.

The parliament chairman, Presbyterian minister John Henry Barrows, noted the scepticism: "Many felt that religion was an element of perpetual discord, which should not be thrust in amid the magnificent harmonies of a fraternal assembly of nations. On the other hand, it was felt that the tendencies of modern civilisation were toward unity." The one word that tolled like a bell through the halls of the parliament was "universalism".

Vivekananda, in his address to the final session of the parliament, elaborated on the theme: "My thanks to this enlightened audience for their uniform kindness to me and for their appreciation of every thought that tends to smooth the friction of religions. A few jarring notes were heard from time to time in this harmony. My special thanks to them, for they have, by their striking contrast, made general harmony the sweeter."

Despite the passing of a century, participants at the World Hindu Congress conference may well find the tools to overcome the impediments in the path of righteousness unchanged.

In addition to unity and tolerance, dharma inspires us to "stand up for justice", said Ashtana, scientist at the Nokia Bell Labs, who works on Artificial Intelligence and neural networks, offering another quote from the Mahabharat -- Yato Dharmastato Jayaha (Whence Dharma, Thence Victory).

(Ashok Easwaran is an American journalist of Indian origin. He has reported from North America for over two decades. The views expressed are personal.He can be contacted at ashok3185@yahoo.com)New Delhi, Aug 28 : A day-long meeting of the BJP Chief Ministers' Council began here on Tuesday to discuss plans of reaching out to the beneficiaries of the Centre's welfare schemes as part of the party's efforts to retain power in 2019.

Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah delivered the inaugural speech. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the meeting at 12 p.m.

The BJP has 15 Chief Ministers and seven Deputy Chief Ministers -- two in Uttar Pradesh and one each in Gujarat, Bihar, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura.

In Bihar, the BJP is part of the coalition government led by the Janata Dal-United while in Nagaland, it is part of Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party's Neiphiu Rio-led People's Democratic Alliance.

The Council meeting has been an annual affair since 2014 after Modi took over as Prime Minister.

He will address the valedictory session later in the evening.Washington, Aug 28 : Scientists have discovered a giant deep-sea coral reef system off the coast of the US state of South Carolina.

Little is known about the natural resources of the deep ocean off the US' Southeast coast from Virginia to Georgia. Deep Search 2018 was created to learn more by exploring the deep sea ecosystems, CNN reported on Tuesday.

The project, consisting of scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the US Geological Survey, is nearing the end of its 15-day voyage aboard the research vessel Atlantis.

A pair of dives in a submersible called Alvin confirmed the existence of the coral reef and based on observations, researchers estimate the reef is at least 85 miles long.

"This is a huge feature," expedition chief scientist Erik Cordes told the media on Monday.

"It's incredible that it stayed hidden off the US East Coast for so long."

Cordes said the ecosystem is unlike anything he has seen, with "mountains" of corals.

Sandra Brooke, a coral ecologist among the research team members who dived near the site, described seeing thriving white Lophelia coral covering the sea floor in every direction and said it was a surprise to find so much live deep-sea coral far from the coast.

Coral reefs form more easily near the surface of the water, where the sun can feed the algae.

The discovery of this reef comes as President Donald Trump's administration is proposing to roll back a ban on offshore drilling, which would reinstate drilling leases in Pacific and Atlantic waters.

Cordes said this coral habitat must be protected from oil and gas development since the reef itself still holds many mysteries.New Delhi, Aug 28 : Google will contribute $1 million (nearly Rs 7 crore) to the relief and restoration work in Kerala which has been battered by severe floods, a top company official said here on Tuesday.

"Google.org and Googlers will contribute $1 million to the relief work in Kerala," Rajan Anandan, Vice President, Southeast Asia and India, said at the Google for India event.

Google Crisis Response team has launched several measures to help victims of Kerala floods.

Among other measures, it activated the "person finder" tool that fetched 22,000 records, Anandan said.

As many as 417 people have lost their lives ever since monsoon rains began lashing Kerala on May 29, with some 8.69 lakh displaced people sheltered in 2,787 relief camps.Srinagar, Aug 28 : The first flight carrying a batch of 310 pilgrims, returning from Saudi Arabia, after performing the Haj landed here on Tuesday.

The Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir, Basheer Khan, and Inspector General of Police S.P. Pani along with other officials received the pilgrims.

Another flight carrying 650 pilgrims is scheduled to land here later on Tuesday.

Around 10,000 pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir performed the Haj this year. Two pilgrims from the state died in Saudi Arabia after performing the Haj.Bengaluru, Aug 28 : Karnataka's IT Minister K.J. George has invited European countries to the Bengaluru Tech Summit on November 29.

George, along with the state's Principal Secretary for IT Gaurav Gupta, were on a five-day tour to invite Finland, Estonia and France to the tech summit.

"The visit was to build partnerships between academia, industry and start-ups of the countries to build our (Karnataka's) ecosystem with innovation, new technology," Gupta said in the statement.

Tie-ups between industry, academia and start-ups across countries can allow the companies to scale up and find technological solutions to problems, he added.

To be held from November 29 to December 1, the Bengaluru Tech Summit is expected to host 3,500 delegates, 300 exhibitors and 250 experts from various countries.

As the IT capital of the country, Bengaluru is home to about 4,000 technology start-ups and is the fourth largest tech hub after the Silicon Valley and Boston in the US and London.Washington, Aug 28 : US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have agreed on the need to improve US trade relations with the European Union following the recent escalation in disputes.

Trump and Merkel in a phone call on Monday "strongly supported ongoing discussions between Washington and Brussels to remove barriers to a deeper trading relationship", White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

The US-EU relations have faltered following Trump's decision to end tax exemptions on steel and aluminium products from its European partners and the subsequent response from Brussels, Efe news reported.

In addition, the US President has repeatedly threatened to levy a 20 per cent tariff on all European vehicles imported into the US, a move that has not been well received by its Transatlantic partner.

Trump earlier called Europe "possibly as bad as China" in terms of its trade issues with the US, despite Washington spending a "fortune in NATO to protect them".

Apart from discussing their trade relations, Trump and Merkel also spoke about the crisis in Syria and the joint efforts to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine.New Delhi, Aug 28 : A cab driver of a private school was arrested for sexually assaulting a minor girl here, police said on Tuesday.

The accused committed the crime on Monday while taking the victim to her residence in Palam.

"The accused parked the cab at a deserted place and assaulted the victim. He later threatened her not to disclose the incident to her parents and dropped her some metres away from her residence," Deputy Commissioners of Police Devender Arya said.

"The victim later informed her mother about the assault following which the police was informed," the officer added.Rome, Aug 28 : Italian Police in Sicily said they detained four people-trafficking suspects who were among 134 rescued migrants allowed off a Coast Guard ship at the port of Catania after being stranded aboard the vessel for 10 days amid a diplomatic standoff.

Three of the suspects are Egyptian citizens and one is Bangladeshi. They are accused of criminal association aimed at people smuggling, abetting illegal immigration and procuring illegal entry, according to investigators.

Italy's hardline Interior Minister Matteo Salvini had refused to allow the migrants to come ashore in Catania unless "the European Union stepped in" and Sicilian prosecutors said they had put Salvini under investigation for possible illegal detention and kidnapping.

Following the announcement of the formal probe, Salvini late on Saturday finally gave permission for the 134 migrants aboard the Diciotti to disembark.

Italy's populist government announced that Albania would take 20 of the migrants, while Ireland would welcome 25 of them.

The Italian church said it would take in the rest to "put an end to this dramatic situation and sufferance", said a spokesman for the Episcopal Conference of Italy.

Two of the migrants had possible symptoms of tuberculosis and one appeared to have pneumonia, according to doctors.

The migrants who disembarked in Catania without apparent health problems were transferred to a holding centre in the Sicilian port city of Messina. Seven of the women migrants are allegedly victims of sexual violence, according to police.New Delhi, Aug 28 : The Delhi Consumers' Cooperative Wholesale Store (DCCWS) on Tuesday donated over Rs 9 lakh for the Kerala relief fund, a Delhi government official said.

"The Chairman of DCCWS met Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at the Delhi Secretariat and handed over a cheque of Rs 9.51 lakh," the official said.

As many as 417 people have lost their lives ever since monsoon rains began lashing Kerala on May 29, with some 8.69 lakh displaced people sheltered in 2,787 relief camps.Washington, Aug 28 : Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are conducting a blood cell experiment which may improve treatments for cancer, the media reported.

In a new video published by the US space agency as part of the AngieX Cancer Therapy study, the team led by NASA astronaut Serena Aunon-Chancellor were shown examining endothelial cells that come from blood vessels, space.com reported on Tuesday.

Several cartridge-shaped containers on board the ISS currently host the cells as they undergo varying amounts of chemotherapy exposure.

The team is conducting blood experiments in space because sometimes, cells act differently in the weightless environment of orbiting spacecraft, called microgravity.

Because these orbiting cells perform more like they normally do inside the body, cancer researchers can more accurately test the cells for chemotherapy responses, the report said.

In the video, Aunon-Chancellor said the flat endothelial containers feel "all nice and warm and comfortable," because they are kept at body temperature aboard the space lab.

"We've had them for almost two months now up here in ISS. We feed them. We give them nutrients A they are like miniature crewmembers living with us."

According to NASA, endothelial cells housed within culture dishes (in vitro) in microgravity seem to perform as if they were in blood vessels within a living organism (in vivo) on Earth.

"The study may facilitate a cost-effective method that does not require animal testing, which may help develop safer and more-effective vascular-targeted drugs," the project page on NASA stated.New Delhi, Aug 28 : Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra's annual dance drama on Hindu god Krishna will kick off at the Kamani Auditorium here on Wednesday, and will showcase his personality as the "Krishna of the Mahabharata" and "the butter-stealing Krishna".

Titled "Krishna", the five-day production which is now running into its 42nd year, is said to have a fresh touch for this year.

The dance drama will showcase Krishna's personality as a "diplomat, sage and man of action", who is "gifted with sage-like detachment and yet intensely human".

The first half of the production will present him as a "folk-hero" who was "gallant in meeting the crisis confronted by a pastoral community", and therefore was looked upon as a leader, a statement from the organisers said.

The character also "elevates the status of Radha from her being just a beloved to that of her being his divine consort".

His portrayal as the 'Chakradhari Krishna' in the second half relies on a specially commissioned script of lesser-known incidents from the Mahabharata, it added.

"This year, I have brought in a whole new cast for the most important roles including that of Krishna, Radha, Arjuna, Draupadi amongst others. This new cast, all accomplished dancers are sure to bring their own dimension into the drama.

"Gautam Bhattacharya, a Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee has been roped in for light design this time. Also choreography, set designs and costumes are all new and will add immensely to a whole new experience for the audience," the Kala Kendra's director Shobha Deepak Singh said in a statement.

The tickets for the production can be bought at Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra, Kamani Auditorium or www.bookmyshow.com.

The production will run till September 3.New Delhi, Aug 28 : People who do not get enrolled in the National Register for Citizens (NRC) in Assam for lack of proof should not be detained in camps like those deemed foreigners by the states Foreigners Tribunals -- but they should have truncated rights: Former Assams Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi did not state this expressly, but as much could be inferred from his suggestions at an interaction with the media here earlier in the week.

These "stateless persons cannot own land" but should be allowed to "do business to a limited extent", the 83-year Congress leader who was Assam's Chief Minister for three terms in a row from 2001, said. He elaborated this as meaning they should be able to earn a livelihood.

There is a real prospect of tens of thousands -- perhaps lakhs -- of Assam residents being declared stateless and losing their rights. These will be the ones filtered out of the four million people who could not get into the draft NRC released at the end of July. The final NRC will be released after their claims and objections are addressed.

They might be incarcerated in liberty-less limbos, like the deemed foreigners, whose plight was documented in a report sent to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in January. The researchers who had authored the report had been deputed by NHRC to visit the detention centres. The NHRC's Special Monitor for Minorities and Communal Violence, Harsh Mander, had also independently sent a report to the NHRC on the same issue. He resigned the position in June to protest the NHRC's inaction, as he put it, on his report.

Mander said thousands of people were languishing in these camps since they were set up in 2010. Families were torn apart. This was a violation, he said, of India's constitution and its obligations under international human rights covenants. In 2002, Mander had quit the Indian Administrative Service after serving in it for 22 years to protest the Gujarat government's failure to prevent the riots in which about a thousand Muslims were killed.

Gogoi said the NRC was not part of the Assam Accord which Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had signed with the leaders of the Assam agitation in 1985 to end a six-year stir on the foreigners' issue. He said it was mooted in 1951 for the whole country following the Partition in 1947.

Supreme Court lawyers Sanjay Hedge and Pranjal Kishore write that such a register for Assam was indeed prepared by census enumerators from the census slips of 1951. But it was a secret, administrative document, not open for inspection.

Gogoi says he decided on a pilot project to update the NRC but abandoned it in 2010 after protests because of a large number of exclusions. Hegde and Kishore write that project was begun in 2005 for two revenue circles of Barpeta and Kamrup (Rural) districts.

"It is my baby. I am (sic) a real father. This government is a foster father," Gogoi said about the current NRC exercise. He proposed an alternative: Those on the electoral rolls of 2014 and 2016 should be automatically considered as citizens.

Starting in 2014, the Supreme Court took upon itself the task of updating the NRC in response to a bunch of public interest suits. The updating began in 2014 and about Rs 1,200 crore has been spent on it. Gogoi says it has been implemented in a "haphazard" manner, the officials were not properly trained, and even the Central Government's Standard Operating Procedures for inclusion and exclusion from the register were not accepted by the Supreme Court.

Former Home Secretary G.K. Pillai says putting those identified as foreigners in detention centres would have disastrous consequences both nationally and internationally. He says the objective should be to give all of them citizenship over a period of time. Three-quarters of them should be dispersed across other states, so that the burden does not fall entirely on Assam. Till they are made citizens, they should be given work permits but no citizenship or voting rights. Pillai was in the Home Ministry overseeing the implementation of the Assam Accord between 1996 and 2001.

Under the Citizenship Amendment Bill of 2016, illegal immigrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan are eligible for citizenship. To become a naturalised citizen, the applicant should have been resident in India in the preceding 12 months and for 11 of the 14 previous years. For the six communities from the three countries, the 11-year requirement is reduced to six.

Assam minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma (who was close to Gogoi before switching parties) has been reported as saying that Bangladeshi Hindus will be retained. But Gogoi said the citizenship amendment bill if made law, will be struck down because it violates the right to equality.

(Vivian Fernandes is a senior journalist and editor of www.smartindianagriculture.com. He can be reached at vivianfernandesonly@gmail.com)Mumbai, Aug 28 : For a second time in five months, Pune Police on Tuesday raided alleged Maoist sympathizers across the country and detained several activists, officials said here on Tuesday.

The raids were carried out in Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Haryana since morning. Scores of supporters of these activists staged noisy protests during the police raids at various locations.

The raids were described as a follow up to similar action taken on April 17 when the Pune Police swooped on over half a dozen Dalit activists and those involved with the Kabir Kala Manch, which organised an Elgar Conference in Pune on December 31, 2017.

The next day, on January 1, caste riots erupted in Koregaon-Bhima which left one person dead, culminating in a Maharashtra shutdown on January 3 called by the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, headed by Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of B.R. Ambedkar.

After nearly five months, Pune Police teams have fanned out in around half a dozen states and raided the homes and offices of several persons who maybe linked with the Elgar Conference and suspected to be Maoist supporters.

As per available information, the activists raided are Varavara Rao and Kranti (Telangana), Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Pereira (Mumbai), Sudha Bharadwaj and Stan Swami (Chhattisgarh), Gautam Navlakha (Delhi) and Anand Teltumbde (Goa).

The police have seized items like computers, laptops, CDs, documents and books from them and claimed that they functioned like an 'urban think tank' for Maoists. Some are human rights activists.

In April, the Pune police carried out a similar action targetting prominent human rights activists like Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen, Rona Wilson, Sudhir Dhawale (all arrested) besides raiding Harshali Potdar, Jyoti Jagtap, Ramesh Gaychor and Sagar Gorke.Lucknow, Aug 28 : Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Tuesday accused the Modi government of giving a step-motherly treatment to flood-hit Kerala and demanded that the calamity be declared a "national disaster".

The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said in a statement that despite the magnitude of the crisis, Kerala was not given adequate help by the central government.

This was done because the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was playing politics even in such testing times for Keralites, she said.

The BSP leader said that Kerala was suffering huge losses, both of life and property, in the worst floods in nearly a century.

But despite demands for more funds and help, the central government was turning a blind eye to the crisis. "The BSP condemns in the harshest words such petty politics by the central government and the BJP."

Giving up on its biased approach, the NDA government should instead provide more assistance, funds, relief and help in the rehabilitation process in the state, she said.

"At a time when millions of individuals are doing something or the other to help those in crisis in Kerala, the union government should also come forward with a positive mindset."

She said it was unfortunate that while the union government was not declaring the Kerala floods a national disaster, it was not even approving the levying of a cess under state GST as sought by the Kerala government.

Mayawati directed her party cadres and office bearers, specially in south India, to extend all possible help to those affected by the floods in Kerala which have claimed hundreds of lives, caused widespread destruction and left thousands without homes.Kathmandu, Aug 28 : A meeting of senior officials of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) member states kicked off here on Tuesday.

In the meeting chaired by Nepali Foreign Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi, foreign secretaries from the members countries held talks on trade and investment, transport and communications, technology, counter-terrorism and transnational crime, agriculture, poverty alleviation and public health.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the fourth Bimstec summit on August 30-31. During his visit, his Nepali counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli is expected to hold talks with him, the Kathmandu Post reported.

On Tuesday, the foreign secretaries were also expected to prepare the agenda for the main summit. Bimstec Foreign Ministers will meet on Wednesday to discuss the Kathmandu Declaration.

Nepal serves as the current chair of the sub regional body formed in June 1997. It comprises seven countries lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

Nepali officials said preparations for the main summit were complete. According to the itinerary, after two back-to-back meetings of the senior officials and foreign ministers, formal opening of the summit will take place on Thursday. The heads of government will start arriving in Kathmandu on Wednesday.

Before the opening session of the summit, Nepali President Bidya Devi Bhandari will meet Bimstec leaders and will host a luncheon in honour of the visiting delegates.

Later, all the heads of state/government will make their opening remarks during a programme chaired by Oli. He will then hold talks with the leaders in the evening.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bhutanese Chief of interim government Lyongpo Tshering Wangchuk, Myanmar's President Win Minta, Sri Lankan President Maitripala Sirisena, and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan O Chale will take part in the summit.Chennai, Aug 28 : Moments after his unanimous election as DMK President, M.K. Stalin on Tuesday dispelled notions that his party was leaning towards the BJP by accusing the Modi government of "saffronizing" India and said it should be taught a lesson.

He also charged the BJP-led government with trying to destroy the basics of education, art, culture and religion through religious hatred.

In a hard-hitting speech to delegates at the party's General Council, which elected him the second President to succeed his father M. Karunanidhi, who held the post for 49 years, Stalin also hit out at the Centre saying it was painful to note that it was destroying policies of egalitarianism, social justice and rationalist thinking.

"The social and political environment that is prevailing now is a big challenge to the self-respect policies. The basics of education, art, literature and religion are being sought to be destroyed by the central government through religious hatred and on the basis of official power.

"The selection process in judiciary, education and state governors and the Centre's actions are aimed at sabotaging the secular principles," he said in a speech, at times overtaken by emotion.

Setting two immediate tasks for his party colleagues, he urged them to join him in the fight against the Modi government and also the "spineless" AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu.

"Come, teach a lesson to the Modi government that is attempting to saffronize the whole of India. Unite and come to throw out the spineless AIADMK government in the state," he said to thunderous applause from the over 1,300 delegates who had earlier approved his election.

Senior party leader Duraimurugan was elected unopposed as Treasurer.

Stalin's attack on the BJP and the central government assumes significance in the context of speculation of late that the DMK may be softening towards the saffron party after it invited BJP President Amit Shah to a memorial meeting to pay homage to Karunanidhi here on Thursday.

Confessing at the outset that he was not like his father and did not have the command of the language like Karunanidhi, the 65-year-old said he would dare to try new things inspired by the late Dravidian legends Periyar E.V. Ramaswamy and C.N. Annadurai.

He said the DMK was a fort founded on four pillars of rationalism, self-respect, social justice and equality.

"But it is painful to see that the (state) government was spineless and without self-respect and the Centre was trying to destroy equality, social justice and rationalistic policies."

He charged the AIADMK government with sacrificing people-centric schemes initiated by the DMK and indulging in "daylight loot" of the state.

"The first duty of the DMK is to remove these social evils and rescue the state from the hands of these thieves," Stalin said, adding that the biggest danger facing the country now was the existence of political parties without any principles with the single aim of targeting offices of power and pelf.

Telling his party colleagues that they would be seeing a 'new Stalin' from now on, he said he dreamt of leading the party treating everyone as equal.

"We are not anti-God. Even if we don't believe (in God) we will respect the beliefs of believers. We will act against whoever commits wrongs, including myself," he said.

Stalin vowed to fight for restoration of individual right of speech and media freedom, protection of right to hold individual views and oppose parties that attempt to obliterate other languages and view the whole of India on the basis of religion.

"These are not distant dreams but would be put to action just now," he said.

The election for party President was necessitated by the death of Karunanidhi on August 7.

DMK General Secretary K. Anbazhagan, who has been a long-time associate of Karunanidhi and senior to him in age, formally announced Stalin's election, saying 1,307 party officials have proposed and seconded him..

Earlier, the General Council condoled the deaths of Karunanidhi, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, former UN General Secretary Kofi Annan, the anti-Sterlite copper smelter plant protesters killed in police firing in Tuticorin in May and also the victims of the Kerala floods.

The meeting passed a resolution demanding Bharat Ratna for Karunanidhi and announcing a grant of Rs 2 lakh for over 200 DMK workers and supporters who died of shock after learning about Karunanidhi's death.Srinagar, Aug 28 : A major fire broke out at an Army camp near the Line of Control in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, police sources said.

The fire was reported at 45 Rashtriya Rifles headquarters in Hamar Gali area in Machil Sector due to short circuit around 1 p.m., the sources said.

"The fire engulfed many structures in the camp where large quantities of fuel, firearms and ammunition are stored. The blaze was triggered by a short circuit. Sabotage has been ruled out so far."

Efforts are on to douse the flames.Hyderabad, Aug 28 : The Maharashtra Police on Tuesday arrested Maoist ideologue Varavara Rao here, with a family member quoting the detectives as saying that he was linked with an alleged plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A police team from Pune arrested the revolutionary writer after searching his house for nearly eight hours. He was produced before a court, which directed the police to produce him in a court in Pune by 5 p.m on Wednesday.

Earlier, the police conducted simultaneous searches at Rao's house and houses of his two daughters, other relatives and friends including two journalists.

Mild tension prevailed at Rao's house in Gandhinagar as his supporters gathered outside raising slogans against the police. The local police cordoned off the area.

The Maharashtra Police seized some documents from Rao's house, while a laptop, hard disk and other material were seized during searches at his relatives' residences.

Rao's wife Hemalatha told reporters that the police told him that he was being arrested in connection with a case relating to the plot to kill the Prime Minister.

She said about 20 policemen reached the house early in the morning and began the search without any warrant.

"They searched every room and every corner. When he asked them to show the arrest warrant, they said no warrant is required," she said.

According to her, the revolutionary writer told the police that it was a fake case.

In June, the police in Pune had registered a case after a letter mentioning assassination plot was recovered from one of the five persons arrested in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence.

The letter written by a person identified only as 'R' reportedly mentions a plot to kill Modi on the lines of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

It also referred to requirement of Rs 8 crore to purchase a M-4 rifle and four lakh rounds to execute the plot. The letter reportedly mentions Varavara Rao's name as the one who will arrange the funds.

The letter addressed to a Maoist leader Prakash was recovered from rights activist Rona Jacob Wilson, when he was arrested in Delhi.

Varavara Rao, who heads "Veerasam" - an association of revolutionary writers - had strongly denied the allegations. He had termed it as an attempt by the central government to check the falling popularity graph of Narendra Modi.

His wife said he was arrested in 20 to 30 cases since 1974 but was not convicted even in one. She said it was the first time that police entered their house and searched every room.Paris, Aug 28 : French Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot on Tuesday announced his resignation on a live radio programme before informing the President or the Prime Minister.

The former TV presenter and green activist said he had quit after a series of disappointments in attempts to address climate change and other environmental threats and added that he felt "all alone" in government.

In an interview to public radio broadcaster, France Inter, Hulot said: "I will take for the first time the hardest decision of my life... I do not want to give the illusion that my presence in the government means that we are up to this challenge. And therefore I take the decision to quit the government today," Hulot said.

He said that he had not informed President Emmanuel Macron or Prime Minister Edouard Philippe of his decision to resign, saying "if I had warned ... (them) of my resignation, they would perhaps have dissuaded me".

Hulot said that the decision was taken on the spot and, he added, even his wife did not know, the BBC reported.

He said that he was disillusioned by his own inability but, above all, that of society at large to change the prevailing paradigm that has been so damaging to the environment.

"I have a profound admiration for Macron and Philippe," he said, adding that he did not want his decision to quit to be used to attack the government.

Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said he regretted Hulot's resignation. "I don't understand why he is stepping down when we had many successes in the first year that are to his credit," he told BFM TV.

The resignation came a day after the government announced it was relaxing restrictions on hunting. Hulot said that this decision had made him aware of the power of lobbyists.

He also said he was frustrated by the "small steps" being taken to deal with climate change and the fact that "this subject was always relegated to the bottom of the list of priorities".New Delhi, Aug 28 : Condemning arrests of various activists and journalists such as Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao and Gautam Navlakha, the CPI-M on Tuesday alleged that the police have been targeting Dalit rights activists an intellectuals after Bhima Koregaon riots.

"The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) strongly protests the raids conducted by police authorities on the homes of various civil rights and human rights activists and Left intellectuals," the party said in a statement.

"Ever since the Bhima Koregoan violence against Dalits, the Maharashtra Police along with central agencies has been targeting Dalit rights activists and lawyers who have been taking up their cases. False charges have been levelled and the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act invoked," it said.

The police conducted raids in Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi, Goa and Hyderabad and arrested some of the activists like Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao and journalist Gautam Navlakha. The police also took in its possession laptops, mobiles and some papers from the homes of those raided.

"These constitute a brazen attack on democratic rights and civil liberties. The CPI-M demands withdrawal of the cases against these activists and their immediate release," the CPI-M said.

On January 1 this year, violent clashes broke out between the Dalits and right-wing Hindutva groups in Bhima Koregaon on the outskirts of Pune where the former had gathered in large numbers to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle in which the Peshwas were defeated by a British Army that had Mahar soldiers.New Delhi, Aug 28 : The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed Maharashtra Police not to take Maoist sympathizer Gautam Navlakha -- who has been arrested on terror charges -- out of Delhi till Wednesday and keep him under house arrest till further orders.

Gautam Navlakha was arrested by a joint team of Delhi Police and a Maharashtra Police team from Pune and were presented before a magistrate's court in Saket Courts Complex, which has allowed the police to take him away and present him before a local court in Pune.

However, Navlakha's counsel filed a habeas corpus seeking his whereabouts in the high court in the afternoon. The bench listed the matter for hearing in the evening and sought a response from the Delhi Police.

The police told the court that they had already got transit remand of the accused from a magistrate court here.

A bench headed by Justice S. Muralidhar, however, directed the police not to take Navlakha out of Delhi and keep him under arrest in his house here till its further orders and listed the matter for further hearing on Wednesday.

For a second time in five months, the Pune police on Tuesday raided alleged Maoist sympathizers across the country and detained several activists.

The raids were carried out in Maharashtra, Goa, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Haryana since morning. Scores of supporters of these activists staged noisy protests during the police raids at various locations.

The raids were described as a follow-up to a similar action on April 17 when the Pune police had swooped on over half-a-dozen Dalit activists and those involved with the Kabir Kala Manch, which organised an Elgar Conference in Pune on December 31, 2017.

The next day, on January 1, caste riots erupted in Koregaon-Bhima which left one person dead, culminating in a Maharashtra shutdown on January 3 called by the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, headed by Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of B.R. Ambedkar.

As per available information, the activists raided are Varavara Rao and Kranti (Telangana), Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Pereira (Mumbai), Sudha Bharadwaj and Stan Swami (Chhattisgarh), Gautam Navlakha (Delhi) and Anand Teltumbde (Goa).New Delhi, Aug 28 : The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on Tuesday said that the BJP workers in Tripura are not allowing the collection of funds to undertake relief work in flood-affected Kerala and alleged that its leaders were manhandled by BJP workers.

"The Tripura State Committee of the CPI-M has been collecting funds from the people for relief work in flood-affected Kerala. There has been a good response from the public. However, on August 27, in three places -- Maharajganj Bazar in Agartala, Khowai town and Belonia town -- BJP workers physically stopped CPI-M leaders and activists from collecting funds," the party said in a statement here.

It said that its senior leaders and elected representatives like MLAs Badal Chowdhury and Sudhan Das and ex-MLA Basudeb Majumder were among those who were "prevented by BJP men in the presence of the police".

"In Khowai Town, the collection team led by party Secretary Padma Debbarma and MLA Nirmal Biswas were not only stopped from collecting funds but also assaulted.

"These attacks and anti-democratic stance of the ruling party is typical of the situation prevailing in Tripura ever since the BJP government came to power. Even collection of money for humanitarian relief is subjected to attack," it said.

Condemning such "anti-democratic and anti-social activities", the CPI-M demanded that the state government take "immediate steps to ensure normal functioning of the opposition".

The CPI-M was dethroned by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tripura after 25 years of uninterrupted rule in Assembly polls this year. Ever since, the CPI-M has been complaining of violence against its cadres by the ruling party members.New Delhi, Aug 28 : Describing the relationship between India and Egypt as "exceptional", Egyptian Ambassador to India Hatem Tageldin on Tuesday said that it is time for the business communities in both countries to play a role in boosting bilateral ties.

"Egypt and India share exceptional ties that go back many years starting with NAM (Non-Aligned Movement)," Tageldin said at an event held to mark the opening of a production facility in India of Egyptian paints manufacturing company Kapci Coatings.

"It is now time for the business communities to play their role in boosting the bilateral ties," he said.

Pointing out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi have already met four times after assuming office in 2014, the Ambassador expressed the confidence that the bilateral relations are set to be enhanced with a favourable economic climate.

"Trade volume between our countries stood at $3.5 billion in 2017," he said.

While Indian companies have invested around $3.5 billion in Egypt, three Egyptian companies that have entered India under the 'Make in India' programme have made a combined investment of $150 million.

Tageldin said that Kapci Coatings is planning to invest $50 million to set up factories in other centres following the opening of its first production facility in Bengaluru.

Headquartered in Port Said, Kapci Coatings has invested $20 million in India till now and plans to export its products from the Bengaluru facility to the Southeast Asian market.

"I thank the government of India and the state of Karnataka for the cooperation extended and hope that they will encourage more Egyptian companies to enter the Indian market," Tageldin said.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines, he said that preparations are in full swing through diplomatic channels for a visit by Modi to Egypt. President Sisi had extended an invitation to the Prime Minister during his visit to India in 2016.

The Ambassador said that Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry had called on Modi during his visit to India in March for the India-Egypt Joint Commission Meeting.

"The Prime Minister confirmed to our Foreign Minister about accepting the invitation," he said.

With defence and security being key areas of cooperation in the India-Egypt relationship, Tageldin said that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will also visit his country.

"We are interested in defence production in India as also training of our armed forces," he said.

He said that Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan will also visit Egypt to attend the UN Biodiversity Conference in the resort city of Sharm El Sheikh in November.New Delhi, Aug 28 : Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with six states for the construction of the Lakhwar multi-purpose project in the upper Yamuna basin to deal with water crisis.

Chief Ministers Yogi Adityanath of Uttar Pradesh, Vasundhara Raje of Rajasthan, Trivendra Singh Rawat of Uttarakhand, Jai Ram Thakur of Himachal Pradesh, Manohar Lal Khattar of Haryana and Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi signed the MoU for the construction of the 204-metre high water storage project near Uttarakhand's Lohari village.

"It will create storage facilities of 330.66 million cubic metres in the upper Yamuna basin to deal with water crisis between January and June," Gadkari said.

The agreement will help conserve and utilise monsoon water that flows into the Yamuna, said the Minister, adding that 90 per cent of the project will be funded by the Centre and the remaining amount by the six states.

The total project cost is Rs 3,966.51 crore.

Gadkari said that the stored water will help irrigate 33,780 hectares of land and make available an additional 78.83 MCM of water for domestic, drinking and industrial use in the six basin states.

The Lakhwar project will also boost electricity production in Uttarakhand. The project will generate 300 megawatt power and will be executed by the Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited.

"When Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan face drinking water crisis from January to May due to water shortage in the Yamuna, the project will help maintain an optimum level to resolve drinking water problem," said the Minister.

Gadkari said that the project will also help increase the Yamuna's storage capacity by 65 per cent and that there would be no drinking water problem in the coming 20-25 years.

He urged the six states to pay attention towards such water projects that are pending for 20-25 years due to absence of agreements among them.

Referring to the partition of India, the Minister said three rivers were given to India in 1947 and pointed out that "our water is flowing into Pakistan's rivers due to lack of management".

"I think maximum water can be taken to the Yamuna to help resolve the irrigation problem in Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. I think water is a biggest problem in our country. There is no crisis of water, but the problem lies with water management."

The Lakhwar project was initially approved by the Planning Commission in 1976 and the construction started in 1987. After 30 per cent construction was done, the project work came to a halt in 1992 due to paucity of funds. In 2009, it was declared a national project.Kharagpur, Aug 28 : The Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Rights (RGSOIPL) in IIT Kharagpur has developed a one-semester inter-disciplinary course titled "Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Law", that aims to provoke a rethink on the modes of societal governance and law by using the new era hybrid sociology, according to a statement on Tuesday.

"This course addresses the paradigm shifts that are occurring due to the intense involvement of AI as autonomous systems that can possibly invent, participate in inventions with humans, create new expressions like music, paintings, and raising sensitive questions on inventorship, authorship, ownership of patents, copyright, designs," said Dean, RGSOIPL's Padmavati Manchikanti.

As it is, RGSOIPL is the only law school in the country that has a technology focus. By weaving AI into its curriculum, RGSOIPL has pioneered another change in legal education, the statement said.

Prabuddha Ganguli, Visiting Professor at RGSOIPL, Shreya Matilal of RGSOIPL and Partha Pratim Chakrabarti, Director IIT Kharagpur, have been instrumental in initiating and formulating the novel course.

"IIT Kharagpur is the only IIT or premier Institute in India which can offer such front-line courses due to its in-depth multi-disciplinary strength," said Chakrabarti.

Around 56 students of the Vinod Gupta School of Management have registered for the course, the statement said.

The Centre of Excellence on AI of IIT Kharagpur is also launching a six-month Certificate Course on Machine Learning and AI.

The course will include lectures on foundational concepts, methods and tools, and areas such as Information retrieval and web search, text and language processing, image and video analytics. It also includes a Capstone Project that involves work on cutting-edge AI projects sourced from deep technology companies.Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 28 : Admitting that the flood damage was much more than what was estimated, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday urged the Kerala Diaspora to contribute a month's salary for the state's reconstruction.

Vijayan's comments came as the total number of people in relief camps, which stood at 14.5 lakh on August 21, came down to 1.97 lakh on Tuesday as thousands returned to their once flooded homes after they were cleaned up.

"The Kerala Diaspora is already coming out in a big way to help us. What we want is a proper system in place to channelise their resources... I call upon all the Diaspora to contribute a month's salary over a period of 10 months," he told the media here.

The government's priority was to source funds for rehabilitation of the hundreds of thousands displaced and badly hit by the worst floods in Kerala in nearly a century, he said.

"The damage that has taken place is much more than we have estimated and hence funds have to come. But given the response, we are confident, our people will rise to the occasion and come to our help."

Vijayan urged businessmen to think of giving a portion of their earnings to the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund.

All schools in Kerala will reopen after the Onam holidays on Wednesday barring those in Alappuzha and Ernakulam districts which have been turned into camps to house those forced to flee their submerged homes.

"Strict action will be taken against all those who dispose waste into lakes and rivers during cleaning operations," added Vijayan.

Tuesday saw a massive cleaning drive led by Finance Minister Thomas Issac and PWD Minister G. Sudhakaran.

"This is perhaps the biggest cleaning drive that has commenced as people have come in huge numbers from various parts of the state to clean up homes in Kuttanadu area," said Issac.

More than one lakh people in Alappuzha continue to be in relief camps, where the cleaning drive is going on on a massive scale.

On Tuesday, Congress President Rahul Gandhi arrived here and went around relief camps in Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta and Ernakulam districts and promised that the Congress would do its best to ease people's sufferings.

The party has decided to build 1,000 new homes through sponsorship. Gandhi handed over the first few houses in Alappuzha besides thanking the fishermen who played a key role in the rescue operations.

Chief Secretary Tom Jose said discussions would be held on Wednesday with World Bank officials on the impact of the floods.

Forest and Animal Husbandry Minister K. Raju on Tuesday said that all those who lost goats, cows and buffaloes would be compensated ranging from Rs 3,000 and Rs 30,000.

"The National Diary Development Board is also extending its support and it has been decided to provide cattle feed to farmers," said Raju.Agartala, Aug 28 : A 18-year-old student was critically injured when he tried to commit suicide by jumping off his school building on being allegedly forced by his teachers to get a Rakhi tied on his wrist by a girl, police said here on Tuesday.

"Principal and other teachers of a private school here on Monday called Dilip Kumar Saha and his girlfriend along with their parents. They then asked the girl to tie Rakhi to Dilip and both of them refused to do so. Subsequently, Dilip went to the second floor of the school building and jumped from there," a police official said.

Dilip was taken to the hospital where his condition continues to be critical, he said.

A large number of students and guardians staged a protest against the school authorities demanding the arrest of the guilty teachers.

Police have started an investigation after the school authorities filed a complaint.Jakarta, Aug 28 : India's Manjit Singh and Jinson Johnson claimed the gold and silver medals respectively in the 800 metres race at the 18th Asian Games here on Tuesday.

Manjit finished first with a timing of one minute and 46.15 seconds. Jinson was 0.20 seconds behind his compatriot.Mysuru (Karnataka), Aug 28 : Hailing 'gurukula' (traditional school) as an ancient and a unique system of education in India, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said guru (teacher) is considered god in human form in the country.

"The gurukula system symbolises the extraordinary relationship between a guru and student, and no other culture accords such importance to teacher-student relationship," Naidu said at an event in Mysuru, about 150km from state capital Bengaluru.

A guru is considered a god in human form and accorded the highest respect in the social hierarchy next to parents, he said.

The Vice President was addressing a gathering to mark the 103rd birth anniversary celebrations of Suttur Mutt's 23rd pontiff Shivaratri Rajendra Swami.

Rajendra Swami was a guru who thought beyond his times, Naidu noted.

"He was a guru in the real sense of the term. He dreamt of India which is rich in its heritage but poor in material wellbeing," he said.

The Vice President also unveiled the "Channaveera Deshikendra Gurukula" building at the Suttur Mutt during his visit.

Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, Bharatiya Janata Party state unit president B.S. Yeddyurappa and other state officials were present on the occasion.Lucknow, Aug 28 : Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said that people were waiting impatiently to teach a lesson to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

"A party which lost back to back Assembly and Lok Sabha by-elections to our candidates is now making claims of winning 73 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. What can be more ridiculous?" he asked party members here.

He congratulated the Samajwadi Party workers for the successful 'cycle yatra' and claimed that it was getting wide support from all sections, specially the youth.

The 45-year-old leader said people were waiting to teach the BJP a lesson for fooling them.

He also slammed the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh for stopping his ambitious free laptop distribution scheme that he initiated during his 2012-17 tenure for meritorious students.

The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also took potshot at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for claiming that Rs 60,000 crore of investment had been made in different projects by industrialists in Uttar Pradesh.

"The Prime Minister should tell us which bank funded this investment," he said.New Delhi, Aug 28 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought a report on the ramifications, including advantages and disadvantages, of giving another opportunity to the 40 lakh people who were not included in the final draft of Assam's National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Rohinton Fali Nariman directed the Assam state co-ordinator of NRC Prateek Hajela to submit a report by September 4.

Fixing the next hearing for September 5, the top court made it clear that the confidential note should to be submitted to the court alone.

The court said the date for the commencement of receiving claims and objections, which at present is August 30, had to be postponed.

Besides, the court directed Hajela to tell the time required for the verification of the sample of 10 per cent of the left out people in each of the 27 districts of Assam.

"We want to examine the correctness of the preparation of the draft NRC by means of sample verification of at least 10 per cent of those who are left out", Justice Gogoi told Hajela.

In the last hearing on August 16, the court had asked Hajela to file in a sealed cover the percentage of population in each district left out of the final draft of NRC.

At the outset, Justice Gogoi referred to the provision in the Standard Operating Procedure for the disposal of claims and objections which provided that a person, left out of draft NRC, can make a claim by producing one of the eligible documents to establish legacy and nativity.

Justice Gogoi asked Attorneys General K.K. Venugopal: "Why call for documents (to prove legacy)? Why are you giving a second chance? Would it not amount to redoing of the exercise at the stage of (receiving) claims and objections?"

Having said this, Justice Gogoi asked: "Will there be no tinkering with the family tree. Once he claims linage to father, then to grandfather, would it not amount to tinkering with family tree?"

Defending the provision in SOP, Attorney General Venugopal said that documents relating to family tree were not the only documents. There are other documents in support of their claims for inclusion in NRC.

At this Justice Gogoi referred to the submission by then Additional Solicitor General P.S. Patwalia telling the court that the family tree was the process through which the linage of a person can be established.

Observing that "you want to give them (left out of NRC) another chance", Justice Gogoi said" "We will hold hearing (on the issue) next week and extend the date for receiving claims and objections.

Referring to the consequences of their non-inclusion in the draft NRC, the Attorney General said: "You may not deport them. They can't have land and jobs."

At this Justice Nariman said, "Consequences are so serious that if he (left out of NRC) is not a citizen, he loses all. It is a human problem."Los Angeles, Aug 28 : Tate Taylor has replaced Matthew Newton as the director of Jessica Chastain's "Eve", two weeks after Newton left the project following an online backlash due to his history of alleged assault and domestic violence.

Chastain announced earlier this month that she would star in and produce the character-driven action film through her Freckle Films production company and Voltage Pictures.

"Eve" is produced by Nicolas Chartier and Dominic Rustam alongside Chastain and her Freckle Films partner Kelly Carmichael. Newton had also been set to produce the film.

Chastain has been a strong supporter of the #MeToo movement.

Newton said he was stepping down due to the responses to his attachment.

"I am profoundly aware that I have a responsibility to lead where I have failed in the past. I can never undo the harm that I've caused the people I've cared about and I carry that shame and responsibility with me every day," Newton said.

The news about Taylor was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.Bengaluru, Aug 28 : Moderate to heavy rains continued to lash coastal and south interior districts of Karnataka, including Kodagu, an official said on Tuesday.

"Moderate rains up to 5cm were received in most parts of coastal districts of Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, along with south interior districts of Kodagu, Shivamogga and Chikkamagaluru," Director of Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) G.S. Srinivasa Reddy told IANS here.

Light to moderate rains up to 3cm were also received in northern districts of Vijayapura, Koppal and Kalaburagi, among others, according to the Bengaluru unit of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Low pressure created in Bay of Bengal has been causing the rains across the state, Reddy added.

Rains are likely recede from Thursday in Kodagu, which has been severely affected by heavy rainfall during August 14-22 period, leading to flash floods and landslips, which claimed 17 lives and damaged over 2,200 houses, the IMD said.

Moderate rains have been incessant in Kodagu over the last week, where rehabilitation work is currently underway.

Hundreds are returning to their homes from relief camps, which were set up when the heavy rains and landslips destroyed many houses.

The 51 temporary relief shelters, which housed 5,041 people across the district last week, have come down to 27, with 3,188 residing in them, according to the state Relief Commissioner Gangaram Baderiya.New Delhi, Aug 28 : The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the Maharashtra Police not to take human rights activist Gautam Navlakha - arrested on terror charges - out of Delhi till Wednesday and to keep him under house arrest till further orders.

Journalist Navlakha was arrested from his residence in south Delhi's Nehru Enclave by a police team from Pune and presented before a magistrate which allowed the police to present him before a court in Pune.

However, Navlakha's counsel filed a habeas corpus seeking his whereabouts in the High Court in the afternoon. The bench sought a response from Delhi Police.

The police told the court that they had already got transit remand of the accused.

A bench headed by Justice S. Muralidhar, however, directed the police not to take Navlakha out of Delhi and keep him under arrest here till its further orders and listed the matter for further hearing on Wednesday.

The court order came after the Pune Police failed to tell the specific allegation levelled against him.

The court, however, directed Navlakha not to misuse his liberty and said he can only meet his lawyers while under house arrest.

"This is clearly an assault on liberals and a motivated act. There is no ground for detention or restriction of movement," activist's counsel Nitya Ramakrishnan and advocate Warisha Farasat said.

The counsel said Navlakha had extended all possible co-operation to the searching officers even in these circumstances.

For a second time in five months, the Pune police on Tuesday raided alleged Maoist sympathizers across the country and detained several activists.

The raids were carried out in Maharashtra, Goa, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Haryana.

The raids were described as a follow-up to a similar action on April 17 when the Pune police had swooped on over half-a-dozen Dalit activists and those involved with the Kabir Kala Manch, which organised an Elgar Conference in Pune on December 31, 2017.

The next day, on January 1, caste riots erupted in Koregaon-Bhima which left one person dead.Mumbai, Aug 28 : For a second time in five months, Pune Police on Tuesday raided alleged Maoist sympathizers across the country and arrested five top activists, some of whom are also human rights advocates.

The raids took place at 10 places in Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Haryana.

"We have arrested Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Pereira, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha, Joint Police Commissioner of Pune Shivajirao Bodkhe told IANS.

Besides, other activists across the country including Kranti, Stan Swami and Anand Teltumbde were raided in the major operation that is part of the ongoing probe into the involvement of Maoist supporters into the Koregaon-Bhima riots of January 1 this year.

Scores of supporters of these activists staged noisy protests during the police raids at various locations, including in Mumbai and Thane.

Among the angles being probed after Tuesday's crackdown are the modus operandi of the activists, their sources of finance and modes of funding of their activities, their suspected connections with like-minded groups and related issues, officials indicated.

Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) President Prakash Ambedkar flayed the action as "the government's attempts to silence the masses" in the wake of the recent crackdown on the Hindu rightwing group Sanatan Sanstha.

"But now NGOs which are non-political will become more active and aggressive than they were earlier in opposing this (BJP) government in order to safeguard democracy and human rights," warned Ambedkar, the grandson of B.R. Ambedkar.

Officials described Tuesday's operations as a 'follow-up' to similar action taken on April 17 when the Pune Police swooped on over half a dozen Dalit activists and those involved with the Kabir Kala Manch, which organised an Elgar Conference in Pune on December 31.

The next day, on January 1, caste riots erupted in Koregaon-Bhima which left one person dead, culminating in a Maharashtra shutdown on January 3 called by the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh of Prakash Ambedkar.

After nearly five months, Pune Police teams fanned out in around half a dozen states and raided the homes and offices of several persons who are suspected to be linked with the Elgar Conference or are alleged Maoist supporters.

The police have seized items like computers, laptops, CDs, pen-drives, 'incriminating documents' and books from them and contended that they functioned like an 'urban think tank' for Maoists. Some of them are also Dalit and human rights activists.

Previously, during the April action, the Pune police had targetted prominent rights activists like Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen, Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale (all arrested) besides raiding Harshali Potdar, Jyoti Jagtap, Ramesh Gaychor and Sagar Gorke.

The arrested persons were charged under various provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code.

Tuesday's operations have been condemned by civil society groups, social and Dalit leaders, academics, rights activists and intellectuals who termed the arrests a conspiracy to divert attention from the activities of the Hindu rightwing.

Calling the arrests "politically motivated and unjustified", they demanded the immediate release of all the arrested individuals.New Delhi, Aug 28 : A couple of days after resigning from government service, former Raipur Collector Om Prakash Choudhary joined the BJP here on Tuesday in the presence of its President Amit Shah and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh.

"I welcome O.P. Choudhary, a symbol of youth power with administrative experience. Under the guidance of Amit Shah, he will establish new ideals for the youth of Chhattisgarh," Raman Singh tweeted.

Choudhary, an IAS officer of the 2005 batch, resigned on August 25, saying "he wanted to devote more time for the country's development". He is likely to contest the Assembly polls from Raigarh this year.

Choudhary, aged 37 and popular as a youth icon in Chhattisgarh, came into the limelight when he established an education city for tribals in south Bastar as Collector of Dantewada.

He was also posted as Commissioner of the Raipur Municipal Corporation and Director, Public Relations, in Chhattisgarh.

A resident of Bayang village in Raigarh district, Choudhary hails from the backward Agharia community, which has a sizeable population in the district.New Delhi, Aug 28 : The Union Law Ministry has written to Chief Justice of India Justice Dipak Misra requesting him to forward the name of the judge who will succeed him upon his retirement on October 2.

The letter was sent to the office of the Chief Justice two to three days ago. Chief Justice Misra is expected to respond to the communication by September 2 or 3.

Going by the convention of the senior most judge succeeding the incumbent CJI, Justice Ranjan Gogoi is likely to be named the next Chief Justice of India.

As per convention, the outgoing Chief Justice sends the recommendation about his successor 30 days before he is to demit office so that the Chief Justice designate is named well in time.Lahore, Aug 28 : A nine-member Indian delegation, led by Water Commissioner P.K. Saxena, arrived here on Tuesday to attend a two-day meeting of the India-Pakistan PermaAnent Indus Commission set to begin on Wednesday.

The talks will be the first official engagement between the two countries since Prime Minister Imran Khan took office this month.

Pakistan Water Commissioner Syed Mehr Ali Shah welcomed the Indian delegation at the Wagah border and will lead his side during the discussions at the Lahore headquarters of the National Engineering Services of Pakistan, Dawn online reported.

During the talks, Pakistan would raise its concerns over the designs of 1,000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnai hydroelectric projects on two different tributaries of River Chenab in Jammu and Kashmir being built by India, the daily said.

Islamabad says that that New Delhi violated the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty by starting construction of reservoirs at a time when the country was reeling from severe water shortage.

Pakistan wants India to either modify them to make them compliant to the Treaty or put the projects on hold until an understanding is reached between the two sides.

According to reports, the Indian delegation was initially supposed to visit Pakistan in July, but later the meeting was postponed.

During the talks, the two sides will finalize the schedule of future meetings of the Permanent Indus Commission and visits of the teams of the Indus commissioners.

The water commissioners of Pakistan and India are required to meet twice a year and arrange technical visits to project sites and critical river head works, but Pakistan has been facing a lot of problems in timin meetings and visits, an official told Dawn daily.

The two-day session was also expected to discuss ways and means for timely and smooth sharing of hydrological data on shared rivers.New Delhi, Aug 28 : A court here on Tuesday directed the CBI to respond to former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram's plea wherein he alleged that the agency is not interested in a fair trial in the Aircel-Maxis case as part of the charge sheet was leaked to the media.

Special Judge O.P. Saini asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file its response and listed the matter for October 8.

"The CBI has clandestinely provided a copy of the charge sheet to a newspaper which is publishing it in instalments to sensationalise the issue and prejudice the rights of the accused," Chidambaram said in his plea.

Chidambaram pleaded that the CBI wanted a media trial, which was causing grave prejudice to the rights of the accused. "The CBI is making a mockery of the judicial process, resulting in complete travesty of justice," the petitioner said.

Chidambaram, a senior Congress leader, his son Karti and others have been charge sheeted in the Aircel-Maxis case by the CBI which claims that he as the then Finance Minister had the power to approve foreign investments only up to Rs 600 crore but cleared the Rs 3,200-crore investment without referring the matter to the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs.

Chidambaram pointed out that the court had not taken cognisance of the charge sheet, and hence copies of the same have not been supplied to any of the accused.

He did not seek any particular direction but urged the court to pass any order as it deems fit in the interest of justice.

On Monday Chidambaram had maintained that he had approved the deal on the basis of a proposal from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).

"The CBI leaks its charge sheet to one newspaper because it wants a trial by the media. Fortunately, under our legal system, the trial can take place only in a court of law," Chidambaram had said on Twitter.

"It is the FIPB that decides if a proposal falls within the competence of the Finance Minister. The FIPB put up the proposal to me and I approved it along with 20 other proposals," he had added.New Delhi, Aug 28 : The government is considering its options in the wake of the Allahabad High Court's refusal to entertain the power producers' petition challenging the RBI deadline for starting bankruptcy proceedings against banks' NPAs, or bad loan accounts, a senior official said on Tuesday.

A Reserve Bank of India (RBI) circular had in February directed the banks to take loan accounts of Rs 2,000 crore and above, which remain unresolved for over 180 days starting from March 1, 2018 to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under the new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The deadline expired on Monday.

The power sector accounts for the major chunk of banks' non-performing assets (NPAs) and power producers had approached the Allahabad High Court for quashing the RBI circular.

Rejecting the power producers' plea on Monday, the court asked the Central government to talk to the RBI for providing some relief to the petitioners within 15 days.

"The matter (power producers' problems) is being discussed and a decision is being made," Finance Ministry's Principle Economic Advisor Sanjeev Sanyal told IANS here.

"We will look at all options and take appropriate action," he added.

Banks had been working overtime to finalise the resolution plans before expiry of the RBI deadline for around 70 large stressed accounts worth over Rs 3.8 lakh crore, and they have another 15 days' time to decide on taking them to NCLT for bankruptcy proceedings.

Around half of these 70 assets are from the power sector with a total bank exposure of around Rs 1.74 lakh crore.

According to the RBI, the total outstanding loans of scheduled commercial banks to the sector, including renewable energy, stood at Rs 5.65 lakh crore as in March 2018.

A parliamentary panel report has revealed that there are as many as 34 stressed electricity projects with a total capacity of over 40,000 MW.

The power producers had petitioned the government that the RBI norms on resolving the NPA issue were too rigid in view of the serious problems being faced by the industry in terms of coal shortage and huge bill outstandings from state distribution companies.

The Power Ministry had urged the RBI to extend the deadline by six months, but the central bank has rejected the extension request.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy in its report earlier this month noted that the new RBI guidelines on NPAs will only deepen the crisis of the electricity sector.Washington, Aug 28 : US President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Alphabet Inc.'s Google search platform of elevating critical news stories about his presidency at the expense of friendly conservative voices, declaring that it is a "very serious situation" that will be addressed.

Trump, in a pair of tweets early morning, said that a search in Google for "Trump News" yielded only "the viewing/reporting of Fake (News) Media".

"In other words, they have it rigged, for me and others, so that almost all stories and news is bad," he wrote.

"Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative and Fair Media is shut out," he wrote. "Google and others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation - will be addressed!"

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Efe news reported.

Asked to elaborate later on the administration's views on potential regulation of the search giant, Lawrence Kudlow, the Director of Trump's National Economic Council, said: "We'll let you know, we're taking a look at it."

Republicans have criticized social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter over their treatment of conservatives on their platforms. Last week, the President accused social media platforms of "silencing millions of people".

Earlier in the month, Trump also claimed that tech companies were "totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices", pledging that his administration "won't let that happen".

Accusations that Google tampers with search results are not new or uncommon. Those accusations took on a new life during the 2016 presidential election when some Conservatives claimed that the technology giant was censoring controversial subjects as part of an effort to purge the Internet of fake news reports.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 28)  Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo de Castro formally assumed her post Tuesday, and her first task is to hear a petition against President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to pull the country out of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

De Castro took her oath in the morning, shortly after receiving her appointment paper. She was warmly welcomed by colleagues and supporters who even gave her flowers and placed white and red balloons at the Supreme Court building in Manila.

A number of protesters, however, were outside the Supeme Court, chanting "Ang cheap, ang cheap, ang cheap ng justice ninyo (Your justice is cheap)."

READ: 'Move on,' De Castro tells critics on busy 1st day as Chief Justice

At 2:30 p.m., De Castro led for the first time oral arguments as Chief Justice: the minority senators' petition urging the High Court to stop the country's withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the treaty that formed the ICC.

Senators Kiko Pangilinan, Franklin Drilon, Bam Aquino, Risa Hontiveros, Antonio Trillanes, and Leila de Lima filed the petition on May 16. They argued the executive cannot pull the country out of the international tribunal without the Senate's concurrence.

They earlier wanted De Lima to argue their case, but this was denied by the Supreme Court. De Lima, a staunch critic of the Duterte administration, has been detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center on drug charges. She has said her drug cases are all trumped-up charges.

Duterte announced he is pulling the country out of the ICC in March, a month after the international tribunal announced a preliminary examination on alleged extrajudicial killings in the country. A preliminary examination will determine whether there is cause to go on a full-blown investigation.

The ICC said it will push through with its preliminary examination. Duterte and his officials said the ICC has no jurisdiction over the Philippines because it was never a member of the ICC. They argued the country's ratification of the Rome Statute never took effect as it was not published on the Official Gazette.

De Castro will lead the hearing as her own appointment is being questioned. Critics said it was Duterte's reward for her, being one of the eight justices who voted to oust Maria Lourdes Sereno as Chief Justice. Duterte has declared himself an enemy of Sereno when she insisted he was behind moves to remove her from office.

Duterte on Monday said he chose De Castro since she was the most senior among the three justices in the shortlist. The other two were Associate Justices Diosdado Peralta and Lucas Bersamin.

"Train 'yan eh. Kung sino 'yung naunang pumasok, siya 'yung unang ma-promote, and that would go for everybody," Duterte told reporters.

[Translation: Whoever went in first, must be promoted first, and that would go for everybody.]

De Castro only has less than two months to serve, since she is retiring on October 8 when she reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70.

She is also facing an impeachment complaint, along with other associate justices who voted to unseat Sereno.

CNN Philippines' Anjo Alimario contributed to this report.New Delhi, Aug 28 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday made a surprise visit to a Mohalla Clinic after getting complaints regarding non-availability of medicines and other problems.

At the Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinic at Kondli in east Delhi, Kejriwal blasted officials of the Health Department over non-availability of some medicines and for not conducting routine tests at the clinic.

He also pulled up Public Works Department (PWD) officials over the non-functioning of the air conditioner.

Kejriwal was accompanied by Health Minister Satyendar Jain, MLA Manoj Kumar and senior officials from the PWD and Health departments.

Upset over the state of affairs at the clinic, Kejriwal then called an urgent meeting with the Ministers and Secretaries of the concerned department at his office.

"Take measures to ensure availability of all medicines with immediate effect, tests should be conducted immediately at the centre," Kejriwal told the officials.

It was also decided to install CCTV cameras inside the clinic.Pune/Hyderabad, Aug 28 : Police on Tuesday arrested five human rights activists and alleged Maoist sympathizers, including Left ideologue Varavara Rao, in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima riots in Maharashtra.

The raids took place at 10 places in Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Haryana.

"We have arrested Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Pereira, Sudha Bharadwaj and Gautam Navlakha," Joint Police Commissioner of Pune Shivajirao Bodkhe told IANS.

Besides, other activists across the country including Kranti, Stan Swami and Anand Teltumbde were raided in the major operation that is part of the ongoing probe into the involvement of Maoist supporters into the Koregaon-Bhima riots of January 1 this year.

In a related development, the Delhi High Court directed Maharashtra Police not to take Navlakha out of Delhi till Wednesday and keep him under house arrest till further orders.

The court directive came on a habeas corpus petition filed by Navlakha's counsel seeking to know his whereabouts. The police told the court that they had already got transit remand of the accused from a magistrate.

Scores of supporters of these activists staged noisy protests during the police raids at various locations, including in Mumbai and Thane.

The arrests also evoked condemnation from other activists and former bureaucrats who expressed shock over the raids on the homes of intellectuals and activists critical of the BJP.

They called it an attempt to strike terror among those fighting for justice for the marginalised.

The signatories to the joint statement included Admiral (retd) L. Ramdas, former bureaucrat Harsh Mander, former JNU student activist Shehla Rashid Shora, journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani and rights activists Teesta Setalvad and Swami Agnivesh.

Among the angles being probed after Tuesday's crackdown are the modus operandi of the activists, their sources of finance and modes of funding of their activities, their suspected connections with like-minded groups and related issues, officials indicated.

Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) President Prakash Ambedkar called it an attempt by the government to "silence the masses" in the wake of the recent crackdown on the Hindu rightwing group Sanatan Sanstha.

"But now NGOs which are non-political will become more active and aggressive than they were earlier in opposing this (BJP) government in order to safeguard democracy and human rights," warned Ambedkar, the grandson of B.R. Ambedkar.

Officials described Tuesday's operations as a follow-up to similar action taken on April 17 when the Pune Police swooped on over half a dozen Dalit activists and those involved with the Kabir Kala Manch, which organised an Elgar Conference in Pune on December 31.

The next day, on January 1, caste riots erupted in Koregaon-Bhima which left one person dead, culminating in a Maharashtra shutdown on January 3 called by the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh of Prakash Ambedkar.

After nearly five months, Pune Police teams fanned out in around half a dozen states and raided the homes and offices of several persons who are suspected to be linked with the Elgar Conference or are considered as Maoist supporters.

The police have seized items like computers, laptops, CDs, pen-drives, 'incriminating documents' and books from them and contended that they functioned like an 'urban think tank' for Maoists.

Previously, during the April action, the Pune police had targeted rights activists like Surendra Gadling, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen, Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale (all arrested) besides raiding Harshali Potdar, Jyoti Jagtap, Ramesh Gaychor and Sagar Gorke.

Those arrested were charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code.Bengaluru, Aug 28 : A concert culminating the five-city workshop and performance series on various musical subjects by multinational all-woman band "Women of the World" took place here at Fandom at Gilly's Redefined here on Tuesday.

Organised by Berklee India Exchange (BIX), a campus initiative of Boston's Berklee College of Music, the series has travelled to Delhi, Kolkata, Pune and Mumbai, and culminated in Bangalore.

The global band features women from different corners of the world: Annette Philip from India, Ayumi Ueda from Japan, Giorgia Renosto from Italy and Debo Ray from Haiti/USA.

It came together at the Berklee College, and has toured across Europe, North America and Asia spreading the message of cultural harmony through music.

The workshop series, open to music enthusiasts, students and educators, focussed on vocal techniques from different cultures, groove, phrasing, body percussion, art of improvisation through circle singing and a short panel discussion on music as a career.

Vocalist Phillip, who is originally from Kerala, told IANS that the band loved the audience's participation in India.

"They dance, sing and clap with us, and are just as enthusiastic about music as our global audiences."

She said they have been performing music from different corners of the world, including their home countries, in 34 languages.

They were named the 2017 International Acappella Champions at the ACA Open festival, the organisers said in a statement.

The workshop and performance series culminated here on Saturday with the last concert of the vocal quartet.New Delhi, Aug 28 : The government on Tuesday extended the deadline for filing of income tax returns for taxpayers in Kerala from August 31 to September 15.

"In view of the disruption caused due to severe floods in Kerala, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) hereby further extends the 'Due Date' for furnishing Income Tax Returns from August 31 to September 15 for all income tax assessees in Kerala," the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The CBDT had earlier extended the 'Due Date' for filing of income tax returns from July 31 to August 31 for all taxpayers across the country.

Further, the government is sending a high level delegation led by Minister of State for Finance Pon Radhakrishnan to review the relief and rehabilitation measures being undertaken by banks and insurance companies in Kerala.

Various relief measures pertaining to re-opening of all submerged, flood affected bank branches and ATMs, exchange of soiled, mutilated, defective currency and extension of loan repayment period have already been initiated by the banks, the Ministry said.

The Ministry said insurance companies have also started processing flood related claims to ensure expeditious settlement. They have established special camp offices, deployed additional surveyors and waived document requirements for speedier claims payment so that quick relief is ensured to the affected people.

The delegation would comprise of senior officers from the central government, CMDs of public sector banks and insurance companies including state-run Agriculture Insurance Co (AIC) and rural development lender NABARD.Chandigarh, Aug 28 : Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday announced in the Assembly a time-bound probe by the SIT instead of the CBI into various sacrilege cases and subsequent police firing in Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura in 2015.

He also assured the house of immediate action on the findings and recommendations of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to ensure justice to the innocent victims.

The Chief Minister's announcement came after the house unanimously passed a resolution by a voice vote to opt out of a CBI probe and an SIT investigation instead.

The resolution was moved by Rural Development Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa on the request from the Chief Minister, who took cognisance of sentiments of a majority of MLAs, including those of the ruling Congress and the opposition Aam Aadmi Party.

The Chief Minister, while concluding a debate on Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) Commission report on the sacrilege and police firing, said there was no question of going soft on his predecessor Parkash Singh Badal, whom he squarely blamed for the damage caused to the state and its people with his "grave acts of omission and commission".

He came down heavily on Akali leaders, including Parkash Singh Badal, his son Sukhbir Singh Badal and daughter-in-law Harsimrat Kaur Badal and the latter's brother Bikram Singh Majithia, for "failing to even visit those injured in the police firing in Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura".

The Chief Minister said that the Congress had promised during campaigning for Assembly elections to bring out the truth in the Bargari sacrilege case and subsequent police firing.

He said he had decided to get the incident thoroughly probe when he visited the injured.

Referring to the Army's Operation Bluestar in Harmandar Sahib in 1984, he said that Akali leader Parkash Singh Badal was directly to blame for the incident.

"Whenever there was any scope for negotiations, Badal sabotaged the efforts," the Chief Minister claimed, adding that he would run away after promising hardliners his support.New Delhi, Aug 28 : Targeting the government on the Rafale deal, the Congress on Tuesday said even the then Foreign Secretary had no idea about it before it was announced by the Prime Minister.

Congress spokesperson Jaipal Reddy told the media that the Rafale deal was made directly by Prime Minister Modi with French President (Francois Hollande).

"Foreign Secretary (S. Jaishankar) had no idea about it until two days before the deal (April 8, 2015) was announced by PM Modi. Just two days before the contract was announced by Modi, the Foreign Secretary had announced that HAL is part of the contract with Dassault Aviation," he added.

Reddy asked why were (the then) Defence Minister (Manohar Parrikar) and Foreign Secretary not taken into confidence.

"Former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said he will back the deal signed by the Prime Minister. Usually PM backs the Defence Minister. This means that even he (Parrikar) didn't know about the deal," said Reddy.

The former Union Minister alleged that the Rafale deal was a "brazen and a gargantuan contract".

"Brazen because, none of the procedures were followed...gargantuan because, the difference between the UPA deal and the current deal is Rs 41,000 crore. Reliance company is disclosing the figures but the government doesn't. How does Reliance, which has zero experience, is undertaking this offset contract?" Reddy said.

He further said Modi behaved like a medieval monarch, Louis XIV (King of France), who said "I am the State". "Modi entered into the contract on his own".

"Like Louis XIV, he also tried to silence the opposition voice. Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) was not followed, Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) and the Price Negotiation Committee were not consulted. We do not know if the Air Force was consulted," said Reddy.

He also said: "Now their defence is -- prices have gone up because 'special equipment' have been added. However, after Modi reached an agreement with the French President, it was stated that configuration would be the same. In other words, the parameters would be the same."

Reddy further said Modi who believed in "Make in India", now believes in "Make Brokers in India".

"With this contract, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd's growth will be stunted. This is a great disservice to the nation. Whenever India made foreign purchase, we insisted upon transfer of technology," said Reddy.

"We needed 126 aircraft, that was the minimal requirement. Why are they now satisfied with just 36? What will happen to the rest?" he said.

He also stated that on July 14, 2015, rival company Eurofighter wrote to the government saying it would supply the aircraft for less than 20 per cent of the price of Dassault.

"Why did the NDA government not seize the offer? We don't question the quality, it's about the price, the deal and transparency," he said.

Latest updates on Howdy Modi HoustonKolkata, Aug 28 : A moderate earthquake was recorded in five districts of West Bengal on Tuesday evening though no loss of life or property was reported, an official of the Regional Meteorological Centre said.

The epicentre of the quake measuring five on the Richter scale was at a depth of 10km in Hoogly district.

"The earthquake hit Hoogly district at 6.33 p.m. Its impact was also felt in East Midnapore, West Midnapore, Jhargram and Bankura districs," the official said.New Delhi, Aug 28 : The Delhi School of Journalism on Tuesday suspended six of its students till further notice on charges of "indiscipline" and "disrupting classes".

The suspended students, along with many others, are on protest for the last two days and have been sleeping inside the college against the institution's authorities to highlight infrastructure issues.

Students have been alleging for months now that the college has failed to provide them the basic infrastructure despite high fees. They have alleged not having a lab, computers, desks and canteen, etc., in the college.

Many students in the past have also alleged that the college has not been able to utilise funds raised by it through fees. The DSJ is a college established under the self-financing model of the Delhi University and has much higher fees per semester than most colleges of the university.

When IANS contacted DSJ Officer-on-Special-Duty Manasvini Yogi, she said that most of the demands of the students have been met and now they have come up with another demand -- not originally made -- of wanting to be part of the DU Students' Union.

"We are just 11-month-old college. Things can only be done gradually. We have enough laptops, but only those students have not been given computers who have refused to pay their semester fees.

"There are 200 laptops for 106 students. Out of these 106, only 17 have paid their semster fees," Yogi said.

On Tuesday, the students were on protest with the specific demand to meet the Vice Chancellor.

"We just want to meet the Vice Chancellor. We are on protest for two days but he is not ready to meet us," a student, eventually suspended, told IANS earlier in the day.New Delhi, Aug 28 : Preparations are on in full swing through diplomatic channels for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Egypt, Egyptian Ambassador to India Hatem Tageldin said on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a business event here, Tageldin said though the dates for the visit have not been fixed yet, "a large number of agreements are being worked out".

Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi had extended an invitation to the Prime Minister during his visit to India in 2016.

The Ambassador said that Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry had also called on Modi during his visit to India in March for the India-Egypt Joint Commission Meeting.

"The Prime Minister confirmed to our Foreign Minister about accepting the invitation," he said.

With defence and security being key areas of cooperation in the India-Egypt relationship, Tageldin said that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will also visit his country.

"We are interested in defence production in India as also training of our armed forces," he said.

He said that Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan will also visit Egypt to attend the UN Biodiversity Conference in the resort city of Sharm El Sheikh in November.

Earlier, in his address to the gathering at the event held to mark the opening of a production facility in India of Egyptian paints manufacturing company Kapci Coatings, Tageldin described India-Egypt ties as "exceptional".

"Egypt and India share exceptional ties that go back many years starting with NAM (Non-Aligned Movement)," he said.

"It is now time for the business communities to play their role in boosting the bilateral ties."

Pointing out that Modi and Egyptian El-Sisi have already met four times after assuming office in 2014, the Ambassador expressed confidence that the bilateral relations are set to be enhanced with a favourable economic climate.New Delhi, Aug 28 : A man was arrested in the national capital on Tuesday for killing his daughter by attacking her with an iron rod, police said.

The incident occurred in Sangam Vihar of south Delhi at around 5 a.m on Tuesday allegedly after an altercation between the accused, Nand Kishore, his wife and their two daughters.

"During investigation it was found that Nand Kishore attacked his wife and daughters with the iron rod when they were sleeping in a room. His younger daughter, Kavita, died on the spot, while his wife and elder daughter, Suman, suffered critical head injuries. They have been admitted to the AIIMS Trauma Centre," said PRO of Delhi Police ACP Anil Mittal.

"The elder son, Rahul, who works as a salesman in a private company, indulged in a fight with his mother on Monday night," Deputy Commissioner of Police Romil Baaniya said.

"After committing the crime, Nand Kishore reached the Sangam Vihar Police Station and informed the duty officer about his crime. The police reached the crime scene and took the injured to hospital. Police later arrested him," Baaniya said.

"During the investigation, police came to know that Nand Kishore has been in depression for last few days and would often confront his children over their coming home late," the officer said.

"Due to his low income, he could not get perfect matches for the marriage of his daughters. Many marriage proposals were turned down earlier because he was not in a position to offer good dowry," Sunil Prasad, a neighbour, told IANS.

"Only family's elder daughter Sushma got married. Two others -- deceased Kavita, 22, and Suman, 24, who received injuries in the attack -- stayed at home. Only Rahul is a helping hand of his father, while two of his siblings -- Mohit and Ravi -- are students of a nearby government school," the officer added.The island community marked the recent opening of a new restaurant-catering company last week.

The Sanibel and Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Aug. 22 for the Paper Fig Kitchen, owned and operated by Jeramie and Debra Campana. It offers take-along, daily made-to-order and over-ready food items, as well as catering and private chef with concierge service.

We make everything in-house, Chef Jeramie Campana, who works the kitchen and handles the food side of the business, said. We dont buy anything and repackage it we make them all by hand.

With a background in meeting and event planning, Debra handles the client-side of the operation.

Food should be good, she said of providing catering menus filled with hand-crafted recipes.

The couple relocated to Sanibel in May 2017 from Barrington, Illinois, where they had owned and operated a boutique custom-catering and event company called the Wild Asparagus for 10 years.

Debra Campana noted that she had been visiting the island since she was a child.

Sanibel was always it, she said of her and her husbands happy place. It was always the goal.

Together, they have a combined 35 years of culinary, food styling and planning experience.

Jeramie Campanas career in the food industry began in the United States Coast Guard, where he learned his way around a kitchen and became a food service specialist for officers at an air station.

He cooked for the pilots, she said.

Afterward, he landed a position at a premier restaurant and catering company in Barrington.

He was their head chef, Debra Campana said.

The husband-wife duo eventually crossed paths and started up the Wild Asparagus, which the couple sold before moving south to the island. However, they had no intentions of settling down just yet.

That was always the plan, she said of opening a new venue. Were not retirees.

Boutique catering really is an art, Debra Campana added.

She explained that she and her husband felt their was a need on-island they could fill. With so many vacationers and even retirees, a business offering fresh, handmade prepared meals could be a hit.

They just want to be able to throw something in and make it easy, Debra Campana said.

And since opening on July 20, the communitys response has been all positive.

Its been awesome, Jeramie Campana said.

I think theres a need for the prepared food side, he added.

The Paper Fig Kitchen features a fully-stocked cold case of ready-to-eat foods and oven-ready hors doeuvres and meal options. Jeramie Campana noted that shoppers simply follow the instructions.

There is also a made-to-order board with sandwiches, salads, soups and more.

Its fairly quick-order stuff, he said of the wait time.

Jeramie Campana explained that he relies on local farms as often as possible to ensure the freshest ingredients. For example, the sandwich meat in the made-to-order items is not prepackaged pre-sliced deli meat. It is meat from, say, a turkey that he seasoned and cooked for the packaged meal options.

We try to stay on trend with things or even stay ahead of the trends, he said of his recipes.

He likes to add a twist to his dishes, like crab cakes but a Southwestern version. There is also a sandwich that comes with their loved cheese puff as a topping, with Asian sweet chili sauce.

So opposite sides of the spectrum, Jeramie Campana said of the flavor combo.

Asked about the story behind the name of their business, Debra Campana explained it.

We wanted something that was very Sanibel, she said, adding that the paper fig is a type of seashell. Its my favorite shell, plus it plays off the food element the fig.

For more information, visit paperfigkitchen.com or call 239-887-0050.

The Paper Fig Kitchen is at 2003 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel.Lucknow, Aug 28 : The Uttar Pradesh government rejigged the police department in a big way on Tuesday and transferred 87 Indian Police Service (IPS) and Provincial Police Service (PPS) officials.

A government spokesman informed that among the transferred officials, 30 are from the IPS and 21 from the PPS.

In the reshuffle, 21 district police chiefs have been changed.

The Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) who have been transferred include those of Faizabad, Meerut, Sonebhadra, Fatehgarh, Auraiyya and Hathras.

Four officials who had been posted with the Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh Police have also been given charge of districts.New Delhi, Aug 28 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday flayed the Modi government over raids and arrest of rights activists and said it wanted all NGOs to shut except the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

"There is place only for one NGO in India -- it's called the RSS. Shut all other NGOs. Jail all activists and shoot those that complain. Welcome to the New India," Gandhi said in a tweet.

Pune Police on Tuesday said it had arrested five human rights activists and alleged Maoist sympathisers, including Left ideologue Varavara Rao, in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima riots in Maharashtra on January 1.

The raids took place at 10 places in Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra, Goa, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, and Haryana.

Those arrested include Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj, and Gautam Navlakha.

Congress leader S. Jaipal Reddy said: "I condemn the arrests in qualified terms. No human rights activist should be arrested, for that matter no Indian can be arrested without a proper case."

Reddy said that he defended the rights of everybody, more particularly human rights protestors. "They are selfless NGOs, activists. They are obliged to fight in the enveloping darkness of dictatorial tendencie."New Delhi, Aug 28 : A relative of poet Varavara Rao on Tuesday accused Pune Police of "forcing" him and his wife Hemalatha to sign a 'punchnama' in Marathi language.

Varavara Rao was arrested from his residence in Hyderabad by police from Pune and presented before a Nampally criminal court. Police are likely to shift him to Pune.

"Both Rao and his wife Hemalatha don't know Marathi... they were forced to sign on the punchnama written in Marathi," journalist N. Venugopal, the son-in-law of Rao, told the media here.

According to Venugopal, as per the law the punchnama -- a document prepared by police and signed by respectable witnesses -- should be in a language the accused is familiar with.

"Without any search warrant, they (police) entered his house, snatched away cell phones. They also disconnected the land line phone and intercom and kept Rao incommunicado for eight hours," he claimed.

As for Rao's health, Venugopal said: "He is 78-year-old, has so many ailments and needs regular medicines."New Delhi, Aug 28 : The Congress Delhi unit on Tuesday said that it will protest at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's official residence here against the "illegal" sealing of non-polluting industrial establishments in the capital.

In a statement, Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said that on August 31, the party will hold a demonstration at Kejriwal's residence in support of their charter of six demands.

Maken demanded that the Centre and the Kejriwal government give permission to run non-polluting industries in Delhi without any delay.

He said that due to laxity of both the governments, the "sword of sealing" was hanging over such establishments.

According to the 6th Economic Census 2013, there are 8,75,308 industrial establishments in Delhi, of which 1,55,950 are manufacturing units, said Maken.

The Congress demands that the central government put small non-polluting industries in the category of household industries.New Delhi, Aug 29 : In order to crack down on the artificial nicotine products, government on Tuesday issued an advisory against the sale of vapes, e-cigarettes, e-nicotine flavoured hookah, heat-not-burn devices, e-sheesha and other similar devices in the country.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare advisory issued to all the states and Union Territories, manufacturing, distributing, trading, importing and advertising of any artificially produced nicotine products -- Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) -- will be brought to an end soon.

The step comes after the Delhi High Court slammed the Health Ministry for not taking regulatory measures on manufacture, import, sale and trading of e-cigarettes in the country.

The Ministry stated that in 2014, a roundtable discussion on ENDS was held where health experts and officers of the health and drug departments concluded that such devices are hazardous.

It further said that such electronic devices that enable nicotine delivery or its use, are a great health risk to the public at large, especially to children, adolescents, pregnant women and women of reproductive age.

The advisory also explained that in addition to creating dependence, nicotine can have adverse effects on the development of the foetus during pregnancy. It may lead to cardiovascular diseases and can also function as a "tumour promoter".

"It is also evident that ENDS are not approved as NRTs (nicotine replacement therapy)under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Rules...," the Ministry said.

According to the Ministry, Punjab, Karnataka, Mizoram, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have already prohibited the manufacture, distribution, import and sale of artificial nicotine products.Mysuru (Karnataka), Aug 29 : Leading tyre maker JK Tyre & Industries on Tuesday opened its research and development (R&D) centre here to focus on multiple aspects of tyre technology.

"The Global Research & Technology Centre and the Raghupati Singhania Centre of Excellence will develop advanced laboratory predictors for tyre performance and provide inputs for life prediction of rubber products," said the company in a statement.

Unveiling the centre here, about 150km from Bengaluru, state Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said the facility would provide technology to JK entities in India and abroad.

"JK Tyre, which has been present in Mysuru for over 21 years is the only tyre making firm of large tyres in the state. I urge the company to provide courses through its research centre to our state youth and contribute to the economic and social development of the region," said Kumaraswamy on the occasion.

The facility has a semi-anechoic chamber for reduced noise vibration and harshness data analysis besides latest technologies for making tyres.

The centre of excellence is part of the Harisankar Singhania Elastomer and Tyre Research Institute, where scientists, engineers and technicians in the industry will optimise product performance and product design cycle time through simulation and productive techniques.

"Since we introduced radial tyre technology in 1977, we have continued our search to stoke the scientific temperament. A year ago, we rolled out our 10 millionth truck/ bus radial tyre from our Mysuru plant, becoming the first company in the country to do," said JK Tyre Chairman and Managing Director Raghupati Singhania at the event.

Among the areas to be researched at the centre include material and compound development, computational mechanics and tyre characterization.

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Director-General Girish Sahni, state-run National Aerospace Laboratory Director Jitendra J. Jadav, state Higher Education Minister G.T Devegowda and state Tourism Minister Sa Ra Mahesh were present at the event.New Delhi, Aug 29 : Hitting out at the Narendra Modi government for the rise in petroleum prices, the Congress on Tuesday said even though prices of petroleum products across the world have gone down with the international prices declining, excise duties have been increased many times.

"During the UPA government, the international crude oil prices were double the present rates, but our excise duties were much lower.

"Now the excise duties have been increased many times and even as the international prices have gone down, the petrol and diesel prices are soaring," said Congress spokesperson Jaipal Reddy.

"All over the world the prices of petroleum products have gone down as the international prices have gone down," he added.

Reddy further said: "Arun Jaitley (Finance Minister) earlier said they are not getting adequate tax collection.

"The fact is dishonest people are not paying taxes and you want to punish the poor and honest middle class people. How does he advance such an argument in public? This government has become utterly insensitive to public opinion," said Reddy.

Fuel prices continued to rise on Tuesday, with diesel prices rising to fresh record levels across metros and petrol crossing the Rs 78-per-litre mark in the national capital.

Javascript Error

Javascript is deactivated in your browser. To use all functions on this portal, for example the login, Javascript must be activated. Please activate Javascript in your browser settings.The luxury waterfront trophy home at 3 Baden Road, Neutral Bay is set to smash the lower north shore residential price record.

It comes with a buyers guide of $35 million.

Owners Vonnie and Bill Wavish have put their 878sq m four level waterfront residence on the market with Ray White Lower North Shore agents Geoff Smith and Richard Harding through an expressions of interest campaign.

"Theres strong demand in the super luxury property market in Sydney right now and this property is set to create a new benchmark, Mr Smith said.

Built on the edge of the Sydney Harbour, 3 Baden Road is a five bedroom contemporary masterpiece with views on all four levels of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.

Mrs Wavish said her goal was to create a large Californian style home, with interiors assisted by Greg Natale.

I sourced the furnishings mainly from California which is relaxed yet confident and classic.

"This is a home that is made for parties and entertaining and we have had some fantastic celebrations."

A major feature of the home is a four storey back-lit travertine marble wall which adjoins the floating glass and marble staircase.

The couple plan to downsize and travel more, now that the last of their children have left school.

Wavish has worked in New Zealand, Hong Kong and Australia and was executive director of Woolworths supermarkets.



In retirement the couple have focused on various indigenous charities including the National Indigenous Culinary

Institute, which Mr Wavish co-founded.Parking fees at the Alison Hagerup Beach Park are being waived through Sept. 10.

The Captiva Erosion Prevention District reported that the action is consistent with the Town of Fort Myers Beach, Lee County Parks and Recreation Department and city of Sanibel, all which have waived fees to assist businesses impacted by red tide.

Lee County has contracted with CrowderGulf to clean the beaches.

Since Aug. 25, Alison Hagerup Beach Park had been closed to the public as the county used it as a necessary staging area for workers and equipment. Crews were expected to be completed by the end of business today, at which point the park will reopen to visitors.

The CEPD will continue to monitor the beaches and inform the public when the fees are reactivated.

For more information, contact the CEPD at 239-472-2472.

Alison Hagerup Beach Park is at 14790 Captiva Drive.The Library of Congress Veterans History Project (VHP) has issued new 60 second TV broadcast Public Service Announcements (PSAs) in English and in Spanish that urge the public to record their memories of their deceased veteran and to submit photos, diaries or journals of their deceased veteran to the Veterans History Project.

The PSA is hosted by Academy Award nominee Gary Sinise. Mr. Sinise is an Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner and has been closely associated with many veterans charity groups.

Its the story of our lives, says Mr. Sinise about the Veterans History Project.

For more information visit the online press kit: 3roads.com/presskit/veterans-history-project/

The PSAs are available to all broadcasting, print and social media organizations at no charge.

To download the HD TV broadcast versions of the PSAs, please go to the following FTP site:

FTP Server: ftp.3roads.com

Username: mediapass@3roads.com

Password: Pre$$Pa$$

Please email info@3roads.com if you've downloaded the PSAs.

Veterans History Project was created in 2000 by Congress as part of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. VHP's mission is to collect, preserve, and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. VHP relies on volunteers to interview veterans to contribute to the permanent library collection by submitting audio and video interviews along with documentation. To learn more about the project and download the field kit visit http://www.loc.gov/vetsAs a preferred provider, Adpearance websites can integrate with inventory management through Sandhills Publishing's many brands. Everything we build is evaluated against how it supports equipment sales, and our new partnership with Sandhills really enables us to deliver on that promise in productive and efficient ways.

Sandhills Publishing has selected Adpearance, a marketing and sales intelligence company based in Portland, Ore., as a preferred provider for their equipment dealers. Through this partnership, Adpearance will assist dealers in the heavy machinery, construction, trucking, and ag industries with website solutions and digital marketing.

As a preferred provider, Adpearance websites can integrate with inventory management through Machinery Trader, Truck Paper, Tractor House and the many other Sandhills Publishing brands. Inventory is the beating heart of an equipment dealers website, says Adpearances co-founder, Aaron James. Making it easy for dealers to manage inventory in one place and then improving the on-site shopping experience with Adpearance website designs is a tremendous benefit for dealers.

No two companies are exactly alike, and Adpearance can help clients mix and match services to create a holistic strategy that develops stronger results at every stage of the buying process. Details about solutions available to equipment dealers are outlined below:

1. Website Solutions: Sales-focused websites built exclusively for equipment dealers and designed to rank.

2. Digital Advertising: Highly targeted paid search, display, and video advertising campaigns across Google, Bing, Facebook and YouTube.

3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Services to keep dealership sites relevant and searchable.

4. Foureyes Sales Intelligence: Patented technology to help convert more leads into sales.

When equipment dealers are evaluating website options, I always encourage them to think about their own business and priorities first, says James. If sales and exceptional inventory management top their list, Adpearance is the best fit. Everything we build is evaluated against how it supports equipment sales, and our new partnership with Sandhills really enables us to deliver on that promise in productive and efficient ways.

To request a free digital analysis or to learn about any of the preferred provider digital marketing solutions available through Adpearance, call (971) 352-3499.

About Adpearance

Adpearance is a marketing and sales intelligence company based in Portland, Oregon. Using a combination of technology and service, Adpearance helps clients who sell offline create better buying experiences that drive more sales. These transformations are made possible with Foureyes, our sales intelligence platform, as well as services that address problems with websites, search, awareness, and customer relationships. For more information, visit http://www.adpearance.com.Whether you are a home seller or buyer you should definitely have the sewer pipe checked to avoid any unpleasant surprises that could slow or halt the sale/purchase of the home.

Do you know what condition your sewer pipe is in? Put this question to most residents and business owners in the Cincinnati Tri-State area and the answer will be no. And most will show no interest in pursuing the question further.

The fact is, we all take our sewer pipes for granted  until they dont function as they should, and we are confronted with the olfactory or physical presence of sewage in our homes or businesses.

Can you imagine coming home to find your beautiful finished basement covered in sewage? That is exactly what happened to the couple who bought a beautiful new home in Blue Ash, OH. Three months after moving in, their sewer backed up destroying their gorgeous finished basement. Unfortunately for the new home buyers, this is actually a common scenario.

What if you found out that repairing your sewer pipe involved digging up your neighbors property? This happened to a customer whose sewer pipe ran underneath the neighbors garage. Digging to repair the sewer pipe would have meant destroying the neighbors garage floor, which our customer would have had to pay to restore to its original state or better! Thankfully, digging was not required.

There is no cause for panic, but there are 2 key things private individuals should know when it comes to their sewers: firstly, how old is my sewer pipe and secondly, how much of it am I responsible for as the property-owner?

We should also all be aware of the signs of a failing sewer pipe:



Visible water damage to the walls or ceiling

Frequent, unexplained toilet backups

Slow-draining water in the sinks and tubs

Cracking of your driveway or porch

A new dip in your yard

If your neighbors are having sewer issues, then odds are you soon will too.

What to do if you are buying or selling a home or suspect sewer pipe damage:

If you are planning on selling your home, you should have your sewer checked before putting your home on the market, to avoid unpleasant surprises that could slow or halt the sale of your home.

If you are a home buyer and the sellers do not provide a sewer inspection report, you should certainly have it checked before making your offer. Find a company that will camera the pipe and provide a video recording of it. The company should then be able to tell you what to expect in terms of reliability of the pipe down the road.

If you suspect your sewer pipe may be clogging up (refer the signs of a failing sewer pipe above), then contact a sewer-repair specialist and have them camera the pipe to determine the best repair options for you. Sewer repairs should only be undertaken by sewer professionals who are trained to work with the health and safety hazards involved.

What does a Sewer Pipe Repair look like?

You know those yards you see with a mound of dirt going from the house to the sidewalk? That is what traditional sewer pipe repair looks like. Traditional sewer pipe repair involves digging up and replacing the entire pipe (or, if you are comfortable with a temporary fix, any broken sections of the pipe). So whether the sewer pipe runs under a tree, a porch or a driveway, whatever is above it will have to be removed in order to access and replace the pipe.

What if the excavation and destruction of your property wasnt necessary? Most sewers can be restored virtually permanently by lining them instead of digging them up.

Sewer lining is faster, cleaner and vastly less destructive than having to dig things up, not to mention the fact that sewer lining provides you with a complete and brand-new sewer pipe that will last at the very least 50 years. Its not a temporary fix.

The best advice is to be prepared: if you smell sewage in your home or business or are concerned that your water isnt draining as it should, consider having your sewer pipe checked; understand how much of your sewer pipe you are actually responsible for; and if you need sewer repair services contact a company that will show you what you are dealing with and offers pipe lining as an option.

CME Pipe Lining in Cincinnati has over 20-years experience in sewer repair. Contact CME at http://www.cmepipelining.com or 513-672-8302Those who are interested in traveling the world will soon have a revamped online resource to guide them in their journeys: a new version of an already-popular travel blog by Ahmed Nashaat.

Version 3.0 of Nashaats website is slated to come out on Sept. 1, even though it was initially scheduled to be released in early 2019. The upcoming release date is a lot sooner than expected because traffic over the summer was much better than originally anticipated, with people visiting the website for the latest traveling tips. The website claimed numerous number-one rankings on search engines and three times the amount of traffic that Nashaat expected.

In addition, due to the popularity of the website, the site will be 100 percent completely free. Originally, the website was going to be placed behind a paywall.

On the now free site, visitors can access a range of advice on what attractions and tours to take advantage of in countries across the globe. Nashaat has had the privilege of traveling to the worlds most exotic countries in South America, Australia, Africa, Asia, and Europe and is passionate about sharing his amazing experience with todays travel enthusiasts.

However, a major focus of his website, which makes it stand out in the crowd, is how to handle dicey situations in foreign countries when there is no help in sight. For instance, Nashaat once lost his passport while traveling to Egypt. Fortunately, his local friend helped him to overcome this challenge -- one of a travelers worst nightmares. Another situation he will address on his website is what a traveler should do in the event that he or she needs to be hospitalized while abroad.

Nashaats ultimate goal with his website is to help readers to acquire both the information and the inspiration they need to make their future global excursions their best ones yet, from start to finish.As Hawaiians continue to deal with the after effects of Hurricane Lane, the American Insurance Association (AIA) offers these tips for those who may need help filing a claim with their insurer.We are always happy to help out the community. Ms. Ford and her students will benefit greatly from a larger classroom library and the opportunity to read and learn more with these books

All Year Cooling, a family-owned air conditioning installation and repair company, gives back to the South Florida community with a recent donation to a third-grade classroom at Silver Ridge Elementary School in Davie, Florida.

The donation will provide Ms. Fords third-grade class with a wide range of books including folktales, poetry, and multi-cultural novels. Ms. Fords goal is to improve students reading comprehension, vocabulary development, grammar, and writing using these books.

Ms. Ford says third grade is when students start reading longer chapter books and has noticed her students have been spending more time reading just for pleasure.

I am committed to helping students become strong, independent readers, said Ms. Ford. Your donations will allow me to purchase books for our interactive read aloud curriculum covering the whole school year.

All Year Coolings President, Tommy Smith, has always held community service close to his heart.

We are always happy to help out the community. Ms. Ford and her students will benefit greatly from a larger classroom library and the opportunity to read and learn more with these books, said All Year Cooling President, Tommy Smith.

All Year Cooling donates to many Broward County Schools each year. As a family-owned business, the air conditioning company enjoys making contributions to the local community such as donations to Projectwecare.org, the American Cancer Society, and the local Kids in Distress (KID) holiday toy drive each year.

More about All Year Cooling:

Established in 1973, All Year Cooling has completed over 350,000 air conditioner installations in South Florida. Their goal is to provide the consumer with the best overall value and service on new air conditioner installations, maintenance, and repairs. Tommy Smith along with his team makes it their mission to provide quality service and remain a trusted part of the South Florida community. Call All Year Cooling for all your AC needs at 888-204-5554 or visit the website at https://www.allyearcooling.com/ for more information!Our name change highlights the brand that has been directing this conference for seven years

Technology end-users filled the ballroom at the Chicago Marriott OHare this past May, as presenters from Tyson Foods, Taylor Guitars, Nestle, automotive supplier AW North Carolina, Vickers Engineering, and other leading manufacturers and industry organizations shared details about how automation technologies have transformed their businesses. Topics addressed included process data analysis, remote equipment access, wi-fi networks, robotics, safety, cybersecurity, digital twins, edge computing and more.

Three hundred industry professionals attended the conference, produced annually by PMMI Media Group, publishers of business-to-business titles including Automation World and Packaging World. The conference program is overseen by David Greenfield, Automation Worlds chief editor and Director of Content. Two dozen automation suppliers supported the conference with exhibits of their products and services and Technology Workshop presentations.

The 8-year old event has been renamed the Automation World Conference & Expo. Comments Automation World Publisher Kurt Belisle, Our name change highlights the brand that has been directing this conference for seven years. Automation World is a well-known and respected publication and incorporating our name leverages the trust and recognition weve earned in the automation and manufacturing community. We look forward to another successful conference in 2019 and have already begun the speaker and sponsor acquisition process.

Dates for the 2019 Automation World Conference & Expo are May 14-15, at the Chicago Marriott OHare. Information about exhibiting, sponsoring or presenting is available at AutomationWorldConference.com or by contacting Kurt Belisle at 815-549-1034.

About PMMI Media Group

PMMI Media Group is a market-leading B2B media company that produces information for processing and packaging professionals, bringing together solution providers and end users and facilitating connectivity throughout the supply chain. Its world class media brands  Packaging World, Automation World, Healthcare Packaging, Contract Packaging, ProFood World and OEM  are proven leaders in covering this diverse and dynamic marketplace, and its digital products incorporate leading edge media technologies to deliver informed, actionable business intelligence to the industry.

PMMI Media Group is owned by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, a trade association representing more than 800 companies that provide a full range of processing and packaging machinery, materials, components and containers. PMMI actively brings buyers and sellers together through initiatives such as packexpo.com, educational programs and world-class events, connecting participants in the packaging and processing supply chain with their customers around the world. The PACK EXPO trade shows unite the world of packaging and processing to advance the industries they serve: PACK EXPO International, PACK EXPO Las Vegas, Healthcare Packaging EXPO, PACK EXPO East, EXPO PACK Mexico, EXPO PACK Guadalajara and ProFood Tech. Learn more at pmmimediagroup.com

###Backroads Announces New Poland Bike Tour When I first started Backroads 40 years ago, I never envisioned the active travel industry would grow to what it is today, said Tom Hale, Founder and President of Backroads

In celebration of the companys 40th anniversary, Backroads today announced new trips and destinations for 2019. Reaching new corners of the globe from Antarctica to Africa and adding exciting destinations, new routes and luxury as well as casual accommodations, more adventures that have departures for families with kids who are both younger and older, new active ocean cruises and even more trips in best-selling regions. Travel in Asia is growing, as the company rolls out a new Trekking & Safari Tour in Nepal and a Biking Tour in Sri Lanka. Safari tourism in Africa is also on the rise, with Multi-Adventure Tours in Tanzania as well as Zambia, Zimbabwe & Botswana. Europe continues to be a best-selling region, with new trips in even more exciting areas, including a Biking Tour in Irelands Connemara, Multi-Adventure Tours in Santorini & Crete, and Walking & Hiking in Norways Lofotens, Poland & Slovakia, Sicily, and Wales. North American travel is also hot, with new itineraries in Banff & Yoho, Columbia River Gorge & Willamette Valley, the Blue Ridge & Great Smoky Mountains, Kentucky Bourbon Trail and  just south of the border  in Mexicos Yucatan.

Starting in 2019, for the first time ever, Backroads is offering daily yoga as a supplemental activity on 14 of the companys itineraries  including Bali, India, Tuscany, Mallorca, Costa Rica, Maui and Santa Barbara  and other select departures on trips around the world.

A pioneer in active and adventure travel, Backroads celebrates 40 years in business in 2019. Tom Hale, Founder and President, started the active travel company in 1979 during a 5,000-mile bike ride when he mapped out the foundation of the company while also actively exploring the Western United States. Backroads launched its first trips in Death Valley, Californias Wine Country, California Coast, New Mexico, Yellowstone/Tetons, Glacier National Park, the San Juan Islands and the Canadian Rockies and continues to this day to run hiking, biking, multi-adventure and family trips in these destinations. Backroads was founded on the principles of creating extraordinary experiences for its guests, being the most guest-focused travel company on the planet and incorporating the highest quality possible into the philosophy and fabric of the company.

When I first started Backroads 40 years ago, I never envisioned the active travel industry would grow to what it is today, said Tom Hale, Founder and President of Backroads. The fact that were launching new trips in Sri Lanka, Sardinia & Corsica, along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and other unique locations across the globe is truly amazing. Leading people on active adventures to explore new destinations while being immersed in local cultures and customs is what Backroads is all about and has been for 40 years.

Backroads New Trips Launching in 2019 Include:

Europe & the Mediterranean



Baltic Sea Ocean Cruise Bike Tour

Irelands Connemara Bike Tour

Italys Lake Como Walking & Hiking Casual Tour

Norway & Sweden Bike Tour

Norways Lofoten Islands Walking & Hiking Tour

Poland Bike Tour

Poland & Slovakia Walking & Hiking Tour

Portugals Douro River Cruise Full Ship Bike Tour

Santorini & Crete Multi-Adventure Tour

Sardinia & Corsica Multi-Adventure and Walking & Hiking Tours

Scotland Walking & Hiking Casual Tour

Sicily Walking & Hiking Tour

Venice to Croatia Ocean Cruise Bike Tour

Wales Walking & Hiking Tour

North America



Banff & Kananaskis Country Multi-Adventure Tour

Banff & Yoho Walking & Hiking Casual Tour

Blue Ridge & Great Smoky Mountains National Park Walking & Hiking Tour

Bryce & Capitol Reef Walking & Hiking Tour

Columbia River Gorge & Willamette Valley Bike Tour

Crater Lake Multi-Adventure Tour

Glacier & Waterton Lakes Multi-Adventure Tour

Kentucky Bike Tour

Maui Multi-Adventure Tour

Mexicos Yucatan Multi-Adventure Tour

San Juan Islands Multi-Adventure Tour

South America



Antarctica Ocean Cruise Multi-Adventure Tour

Chile Walking & Hiking Tour

Galapagos Ocean Cruise Multi-Adventure Tour

Patagonia Walking & Casual Hiking Tour

Africa, Asia & the Pacific



Japan Bike Tour

Japan Ocean Cruise Walking & Hiking Tour

Nepal Trekking & Safari Tour

New Zealand Ocean Cruise Multi-Adventure Tour

Sri Lanka Bike Tour

Tanzania Safari Multi-Adventure Tour

Vietnam & Cambodia Bike Casual Tour

Zambia, Zimbabwe & Botswana Safari Multi-Adventure Tour

Family: Older Teens & 20s; Teens & Kids



Amalfi Coast Walking & Hiking Tour

Bali Bike Tour

Banff to Jasper Multi-Adventure Tour

Banff & Yoho Walking & Hiking Tour

Berlin to Dresden Bike Tour

Big Sky Country, Yellowstone & Tetons Multi-Adventure Tour

Bryce & Capitol Reef Multi-Adventure Tour

Champagne & Alsace Bike Tour

Chile Multi-Adventure Tour

Columbia River Gorge & Mount Hood Multi-Adventure Tour

Crater Lake Multi-Adventure Tour

Cuba Bike Tour

Dolomites Multi-Adventure Casual Tour

Galapagos Ocean Cruise Multi-Adventure Tour

Iceland Northern Lights Multi-Adventure Tour

Iceland Multi-Adventure Tour

Ireland Multi-Adventure Tour

Irelands Connemara Bike Tour

Kauai Multi-Adventure Tour

Mallorca Multi-Adventure Tour

Maui Multi-Adventure Tour

Mexicos Yucatan Multi-Adventure Tour

Norway Multi-Adventure Tour

Norway & Sweden Bike Tour

Norways Lofoten Islands Walking & Hiking Tour

Mallorca Multi-Adventure Tour

Patagonia Walking & Hiking Casual Tour

Prince William Sound to Denali Multi-Adventure Tour

Provence Bike Casual Tour

San Juan Islands Multi-Adventure Tour

Santa Barbara to Ojai Multi-Adventure Tour

Santorini & Crete Multi-Adventure Tour

Sardinia & Corsica Multi-Adventure Tour

Sicily Walking & Hiking Tour

Spanish Pyrenees & Costa Brava Multi-Adventure Tour

Sri Lanka Bike Tour

Tanzania Safari Multi-Adventure Tour

Venice to Croatia Ocean Cruise Bike Tour

Vietnam & Cambodia Bike Tour

Wales Walking & Hiking Tour

Yellowstone & Tetons Walking & Hiking Tour

Family: Younger Kids



Banff & Kananaskis Country Multi-Adventure Tour

Costa Rica Multi-Adventure Tour

Hawaiis Big Island Multi-Adventure Tour

Loire Valley Bike Tour

Netherlands & Belgium Bike Tour

Switzerland Multi-Adventure Tour

For a complete listing of new 2019 Backroads tours and more information, visit http://www.backroads.com or call 1-800-462-2848.

Backroads brings its 40-year expertise, commitment to quality, flexible itineraries and unparalleled leaders to these new trips and regions. The company is poised to see continued growth as it expands its offerings in all segments and makes available even more dates to private groups.

About Backroads

Backroads was founded in 1979 by Tom Hale and has been in business for more than 39 years. The company hosts thousands of guests each year, 75% of whom are repeat guests or referrals from past guests, in hundreds of locations across the globe. Backroads is a founding member of the Adventure Collection. For more information, please visit backroads.com or call 800-462-2848 daily, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Pacific time.Bronx Charter School for the Arts What we are doing at Bronx Arts is truly different than any other school, said Miriam Raccah, Executive Director of Bronx Arts and a 15-year veteran leader of high-performing charter schools.

Bronx Charter School for the Arts students, staff, families and supporters have a lot to be excited about heading back-to-school. On Thursday, Aug. 30, educators, national leaders from the Arts community, elected officials, families and students will join the ribbon-cutting celebration as Bronx Arts opens a middle school for 6th-8th grade students. The middle school is located in the Soundview section of the Bronx, less than half a mile from the Bronx Arts Elementary School, the leading elementary school in the community. School administrators say the lottery selection process for the middle school attracted more than 280 interested rising 6th grade students and families and filled 75 available seats. The school will add additional 6th grade classes annually, reaching capacity in the 2020-2021 school year.

Joining the festivities are special guests Deputy Bronx Borough President Marricka Scott-McFadden, Eduardo Vilaro, Artistic Director & CEO, Ballet Hispanico, and Todd Stoll, Vice President of Education, Jazz at Lincoln Center (on behalf of world renowned jazz musician Wynton Marsalis) to address the inaugural 6th grade class and celebrate an important milestone for Bronx Arts and the community.

Every Bronx Arts classroom is named for a professional artist or artistic luminary - representative of the student body - who has made a lasting impact in the field and serves as an inspiration for future leaders and artists from the Bronx. Celebrated luminaries include Savion Glover, Lorraine Hansberry, Wynton Marsalis, Rita Moreno, Amy Sherald and Eduardo Vilaro.

What we are doing at Bronx Arts is truly different than any other school, said Miriam Raccah, Executive Director of Bronx Arts and a 15-year veteran leader of high-performing charter schools. We are thrilled to expand our successful model, add high-quality middle schools in the South Bronx and deliver a world-class education and arts curriculum to the students in the South Bronx.

Raccah says that being in New York City  the cultural capital of the world  it not only makes sense to prioritize offer a rigorous arts curriculum, she credits the approach as a critical component to students achieving academic excellence. Bronx Arts students far out-perform district, city and state peers on standardized tests, last year scoring twice as high in Math and three times higher in English Language Arts as their peers. Popular among students, families, community members and educators alike, the school also was chosen as a Staff Pick by staff members at Insideschools.org.

Bronx Arts Middle School received approval from the New York State Education Department and crucial early support from Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., City Councilmember Rafael Salamanca, Jr., Senator Jeffrey D. Klein, the Charter School Growth Fund and The Walton Family Foundation.

Bronx Arts Middle School officially opens its doors to students on August 27, 2018.

We look forward to providing a safe, welcoming environment that nurtures creativity, academic progress and confidence, said Raccah. Bronx Arts will prepare and inspire students to succeed academically, gain admission to the high school of their choice, and realize their personal, academic and creative ambitions.

NOTE TO REPORTERS: PLEASE CONTACT ROSSANNA VALDEZ AT (718) 893-7910 FOR INTERVIEWS OR TO CONFIRM ATTENDANCE FOR THE RIBBON-CUTTING CEREMONY, PARTICIPATE IN A SCHOOL TOUR OR TO RECEIVE PHOTOS.

WHAT: BRONX ARTS OPENS SECOND SCHOOL

WHO: STUDENTS, FAMILIES, EDUCATORS, ARTISTIC LUMINARIES, ELECTED OFFICIALS GATHER TO CELEBRATE MIDDLE SCHOOL OPENING IN THE SOUTH BRONX

WHEN: THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, FROM 11:30AM-1:30 PM

WHERE: 1440 STORY AVENUE, BRONX, NY 10473

CONTACT: ROSSANNA VALDEZ

ABOUT BRONX ARTS: Founded in 2002, Bronx Charter Schools for the Arts are public charter schools guided by the principle that a rich and vibrant background in the arts is a key component of achieving academic excellence. Bronx Arts began enrolling students in 2005, has educated more than 3,000 students, and will enroll 435 students from kindergarten through 6th grade in 2018-2019. Bronx Arts has been named a Reward Schoolan honor earned by less than 1% of public schoolsby the New York State Department of Education and was nationally recognized by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as a School of Distinction, a prestigious award for arts education.

For more information about Bronx Arts, please visit http://www.bronxarts.net and watch the About Bronx Arts 2018 video.

On Twitter at:

@bronx_arts

#BronxArts

On Instagram at:

@bronx.arts

#BronxArts2018 Long Term Care Power Lawyers Great information and insight from the professionals. Each session and webinar, I learned new skills to employ in my practice.

The Long Term Care Risk/Legal Forum (LTC Forum) and Pendulum, LLC are proud to announce the graduating class of the 2018 Long Term Care Power Lawyers. The final sessions of the program and the graduation ceremony were held in conjunction with the LTC Forum Committee Meeting in Chicago, Illinois, on August 16.

The Long Term Care Power Lawyers Program is an eight-month program designed to teach long term care trial practice skills to young attorneys who work defending the long term care industry. This program grew out of the LTC Forum, in partnership with Pendulum, LLC.

With four in-person sessions and five webinars, these young lawyers were provided instruction on trial practice skills in long term care cases. A faculty of defense attorneys and subject matter experts provided a wide range of instruction pertaining to the skills needed for defending a case, including the use of videos to show students how they appear while presenting parts of a case, with constructive criticism provided by the highly experienced faculty. Complementing the educational component of the program was the opportunity for students to network with various in-house counsel and faculty members.

This years graduating class of Long Term Care Power Lawyers and the law firms they represent are: Jonathan Blakley, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, Chicago, Illinois; Weathers Bolt, Starnes Davis Florie, Mobile, Alabama; A.J. Cheek, Huff Powell Bailey, Atlanta, Georgia; Brett Cornwell, Quintairos, Prieto, Wood & Boyer, P.A., Dallas, Texas; Spencer Craig, Hall Booth Smith, P.C., Charleston, South Carolina; Joseph Delisi, Dunn and Dunn, Boston, Massachusetts; Lauren Herrera, Horne Rota Moos, LLP, Houston, Texas; Chris Jones, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, Denver, Colorado; Carly MacMillan, Hall Booth Smith, P.C., Nashville, Tennessee; Christopher Mars, Bonezzi Switzer Polito & Hupp Co. L.P.A., Cleveland, Ohio; Jude Steininger, Burns White, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania; and Heather-Ann Young, Perry, Johnson, Anderson, Miller & Moskowitz LLP, Santa Rosa, California.

Two members from the Inaugural Class of the Long Term Care Power Lawyers (2017) also received plaques after completing the August 2018 program: Caitlin Kramer, Fudge Broadwater, P.A., St. Petersburg, Florida; and Jonathan Williams, Hagwood and Tipton, PC, Hillsborough, North Carolina.

Participation in the program is offered to those young lawyers who work for law firms who are current members of the LTC Forum. For more information on the Long Term Care Power Lawyers program or the LTC Forum, please call (888) 803-4447 or email Adminstrator@LTCPowerLawyers.com.

The LTC Forum is an online, collaborative network of professionals who serve the long term care industry. The Forums purpose is to provide the long term care industry a secure online environment where legal and risk management professionals throughout the country can share information and ideas in an effort to more effectively manage and reduce risk.

Pendulum, LLC is a full-service, independently owned risk management company providing consulting services, tools, products, and training to healthcare providers of all types. The companys mission is to assist organizations with minimizing professional and general liability risk and strengthening defensibility. Its unique third-party approach in evaluating potential risk provides clients with innovative risk management strategies.Two people are facing multiple drug charges after being stopped by the Sanibel police.

On Aug. 25, police came into contact with Jaimi Medina, 40, of 262 Harp Terrace, Apt. A, Sebastian, and Mannie Robbin Hilken, 31, of 10318 Tillery Road, Spring Hill. They were driving a stolen vehicle, according to officials at the Sanibel Police Department.

A subsequent investigation revealed that the two were in possession of 140 grams of methamphetamine, along with syringes and other drug paraphernalia. They were taken into custody.

Medina was arrested and charged with two counts of amphetamine traffic or methamphetamine 14 grams or over, as well as one count each of drugs possess listed chemical with manufacture controlled substance, drugs produce methamphetamine and drug equipment possess use manufacture paraphernalia to transport drugs.

Hilken was arrested and charged with two counts each of drive with suspended revoked license and amphetamine traffic or methamphetamine 14 grams or over and one count of drugs produce methamphetamine.

Officials reported that additional charges are pending.

Medina has a court appearance set for Sept. 25.

Hilken has court appearances set for Sept. 12 and Sept. 24.

Police are working with the Pasco County Sheriffs Office on returning the vehicle to its owner.We truly believe that the audience of drone professionals we serve is beyond the cage, and our show floor will not feature any drone cages. The live outdoor drone demonstrations are an incredible hands-on opportunity for our attendees.

Four leading vendors including Autel Robotics, C-Astral, Intel, and Topcon Positioning Systems will demonstrate a range of drone applications including live inspections, public safety scenarios and surveying and mapping during the opening day of Commercial UAV Expo, the leading event for professionals operating UAS in key vertical industries, taking place October 1-3 at the Westgate Hotel in Las Vegas. The live demonstrations are being coordinated with the Nevada Institute of Autonomous Systems (NIAS) and Sundance Media Group, and will take place at Henderson Unmanned Vehicle Range (HUVR) on Monday, October 1st. Demonstrations will showcase not only airframe and sensor capabilities, but a sophisticated AV set up will allow users to view resulting data sets and processing solutions for the full end-to-end view of the technology solutions on display. Registration is required and includes round trip transportation and light snacks, and can be found at this link (https://xpressreg.net/register/uava1018/attendee/reginfo.asp?sc=206539).

Autel Robotics will be conducting an active shooter/barricade scenario and will show how using their UAS overwatch can be a benefit to save time and lives. Intel will conduct a tower/building inspection with their aircraft. For all of the latest information about the Beyond the Cage demonstrations, click here (https://www.expouav.com/outdoor-flying-demos/). There will be two sessions, one from 7:20am  10:15am and one from 9:30am  1:00pm, with three demonstrations each; no two will be repeated. Drone experts will be on-hand to narrate live scenarios and field questions from the audience.

We truly believe that the audience of drone professionals we serve is beyond the cage, said Lisa Murray, Group Director of Diversified Communications, organizer of Commercial UAV Expo. Thats why our show floor will not feature any drone cages. The live outdoor drone demonstrations are an incredible hands-on opportunity for our attendees, and they will walk away from the experience having seen industry leading products in action and with the ability to review the data sets that result from the demonstrations.

Registration is required for Beyond the Cage. Each session is a $50 add-on to the regular registration. Attending both sessions is $100. Space is limited, and this opportunity will sell out. Sign up for these sessions during registration at https://xpressreg.net/register/uava1018/attendee/reginfo.asp?sc=206539.

Commercial UAV Expo was recently recognized by Trade Show Network News as one of the Top 25 Fastest Growing trade shows. In addition to the show floor which will feature 200 exhibitors, attendees will also hear from leading speakers including Michael Kratsios, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer, The White House and have the opportunity to attend six plenary sessions, eight deep dive vertical industry sessions, Exhibitor Education Theaters and several networking events. For a list of speakers and a program overview, visit https://www.expouav.com/conference-information/.

About Commercial UAV Expo Americas

Commercial UAV Expo Americas, presented by Commercial UAV News, is a conference and exhibition exclusively focused on the commercial drone market covering industries including Surveying & Mapping; Civil Infrastructure; Aggregates & Mining; Construction; Process, Power & Utilities; Precision Agriculture; Law Enforcement, Emergency Response and Search & Rescue (SAR). The fourth annual Americas event is taking place October 1-3, 2018 in Las Vegas. Commercial UAV Expo Europe launched in Brussels in June 2017 and will take place in Amsterdam 8-10 April 2019. For more information, visit http://www.expouav.com and http://www.expouav.com/europe or email info@expouav.com.

The events are organized by Diversified Communications, a leading organizer of conferences, trade shows and online media with 15 years in the geospatial arena, including Commercial UAV Expo Americas, Commercial UAV Europe, Commercial UAV News, SPAR 3D Expo & Conference, SPAR3D.com, AECNext Technology Expo & Conference, AEC Next News and International LiDAR Mapping Forum. http://www.divcom.com

# # #From improving enterprise search to comprehensive data discovery and classification, our technology provides the only solutions that address metadata generation and auto-classification integrated across all Microsoft environments.

Concept Searching, the global leader in semantic metadata generation, auto-classification, and taxonomy management software, is pleased to be an exhibitor at the Microsoft Ignite Conference, September 24-28, in Orlando, Florida. Concept Searching will be at booth 212, to demonstrate how its award-winning technology addresses a broad spectrum of metadata challenges.

Concept Searching executives, Martin Garland  President, and Michael Paye  Chief Technology Officer, will discuss their organizations unique technology and expertise in metadata generation, auto-classification, and taxonomy-based solutions for on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments.

Recently acknowledged as one of the leading global vendors for data analytics solutions by a recognized, independent advisory firm, Concept Searching will showcase its new Data Discovery and Classification solution. Visitors to booth 212 will see Concept Searchings insight engine identify security vulnerabilities, in real time.

Concept Searching will demonstrate to attendees its Content Optimization and File Analytics solution. As organizations transition to the cloud, they realize their repositories are often populated with content that no longer has value. Concept Searchings technology identifies versions of content that have been unused, removes duplicates and low value content, and enforces and remediates policy violations. This reduces noncompliance, cleanses content, and offers defensible deletion with full audit capability.

We are excited about our participation at Ignite. Organizations are finally acknowledging and addressing the importance of metadata. From improving enterprise search to comprehensive data discovery and classification, our technology provides the only solutions that address metadata generation and auto-classification integrated across all Microsoft environments, said Martin Garland, President of Concept Searching. Because of our innovative technology, we are able to successfully address a wide range of application challenges. Our compound term processing technology is still unique, generating multi-term metadata regardless of data format or location. This enables our clients to deploy one technology as the enterprise metadata framework, enabling them to leverage their investment in Microsoft technologies, Garland concluded.

Attendees can schedule meetings and book demonstrations with the Concept Searching team before and during the event, and may be eligible to win a $400 Amazon Gift Card.

About Concept Searching

Concept Searching is the industry leader specializing in semantic metadata generation, auto-classification, and taxonomy management. Concept Searching has a Microsoft Gold Application Development competency, and offers a complete suite of platform-agnostic content analytics, insight, and discovery solutions. The award-winning technologies encompass the entire portfolio of unstructured information assets in on-premises, cloud, or hybrid environments. Clients have deployed the intelligent metadata enabled solutions to improve search, records management, identification and protection of privacy data, content optimization, migration, text mining, and eDiscovery.

Concept Searching is headquartered in the US with offices in the UK, Canada and South Africa.

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.Author of the Chris Lynheart series, Dalton Reutlinger, returns to the publishing scene with the release of Chris Lynheart: Daughter of Forayer (published by AuthorHouse), the second book in the series. Following the first book Chris Lynheart: The Rise of Experiment 2025, the subsequent release centers on America's second civil war, and the ultimate downfall of Washington D.C., and the lead character getting revenge for the death of his parents. Readers may visit https://www.authorhouse.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001182039 to know more about the book.

The science fiction novel charts the story of a 14-year-old boy who was kidnapped to become a military experiment so the government could control the elements. The experiment ultimately fails, and the boy is taken back to Washington where they can keep an eye on him. Eventually, he comes across plans of a new force rising in the Middle East, threatening the world, but the government does nothing, so the boy takes matters into his own hands.

Reutlinger explains that the books exploration of political issues follows very closely with what is currently happening in the society. Ultimately, he hopes to provide the readers a good story that will compel them to ask for more.

Chris Lynheart: Daughter of Forayer

By Dalton Reutlinger

Softcover | 6x9 in | 284 pages | ISBN 9781546235026

E-Book | 284 pages | ISBN 9781546235019

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Dalton Reutlinger is the author of the Chris Lynheart series. He took up writing at a relatively young age, and was originally inspired by the Naruto anime and manga, and managed to come up with Chris Lynheart because of it. He plans for Chris Lynheart to continue in the future, and is planning a completely new series and a sci-fi novel.

AuthorHouse, an Author Solutions, Inc. self-publishing imprint, is a leading provider of book publishing, marketing, and bookselling services for authors around the globe and offers the industrys only suite of Hollywood book-to-film services. Committed to providing the highest level of customer service, AuthorHouse assigns each author personal publishing and marketing consultants who provide guidance throughout the process. Headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana, AuthorHouse celebrated 15 years of service to authors in Sept. 2011.For more information or to publish a book visit authorhouse.com or call 1-888-519-5121. For the latest, follow @authorhouse on Twitter.By combining billions of commercial medical claims with our existing proprietary data, we can empower our clients to analyze market trends, develop segmentation strategies, evaluate brand loyalty and behavioral patterns and much more.

Definitive Healthcare, the leading supplier of data, intelligence, and analytics on the healthcare provider market, announced the upcoming launch of all-payer medical claims into its industry-leading database. This powerful data asset will be fully integrated into Definitives existing platform of proprietary intelligence and will reaffirm the companys position as the premier provider of affiliations, financial performance, and quality data on the U.S. Healthcare market.

With this cutting-edge launch, Definitive Healthcares clients will now be able to leverage near real-time analytics on approximately 210 million de-identified patients through an easy-to-use interface, making this data more accessible than ever. The new commercial medical claims offering will increase users ability to glean actionable and relevant insights from a vast and comprehensive set of clinical information.

The impact this investment is going to have on our clients and on the industry as a whole cannot be overstated, said Jason Krantz, CEO of Definitive Healthcare. By combining billions of commercial medical claims with our existing proprietary data, we can empower our clients to analyze market trends, develop segmentation strategies, evaluate brand loyalty and behavioral patterns and much more. We look forward to helping our clients leverage this brand-new solution to revolutionize their market strategies.

The addition of commercial claims to Definitives existing product suite will deliver to clients a comprehensive view of the entire healthcare market. Definitive Healthcare is constantly identifying new ways to enhance its product suite to strengthen its standing as the most reliable, accurate, and up-to-date source for healthcare intelligence and analytics. The companys decision to invest in commercial claims results from continual research, including client feedback, to understand what healthcare market insights best benefit its growing client base.

This revolutionary update to the companys database is slated for release in the summer of 2018. Subscribe to the companys email updates to stay up-to-date on the launch. To learn more about Definitive Healthcares innovative product suite, request a free trial today!

About Definitive Healthcare

Definitive Healthcare is the leading provider of data and intelligence on hospitals, physicians and other healthcare providers. Its product suite provides the most comprehensive and highest quality data available anywhere on 8,800 hospitals and IDNs, 10,000 ambulatory surgery centers, 14,000 imaging centers, 50,000 long-term care facilities, 1,400 ACOs and HIEs, 188,000 physician groups, 1.6 million physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals, and 900 Canadian hospitals. The companys data provides clients with the analytics and insight needed to effectively segment and research the healthcare provider market. Definitive Healthcare is backed by Spectrum Equity. For more information or to trial the service, visit http://www.definitivehc.com.Edrick Lopez, MD, JD The dual degree gave me the opportunity to learn about the system physicians practice in and about how healthcare is run. - Edrick Lopez, M.D.

Physician Partners of America is pleased to announce that Edrick Lopez, M.D., has joined its McKinney, Texas, clinic as an interventional pain management specialist.

Dr. Lopez takes a multidisciplinary approach to pain relief, ranging from neck and back injections to Botox for migraine headaches to regenerative medicine. He is double board-certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Pain Medicine by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

I enjoy the dynamic of interacting with patients and helping to improve their quality of life, he says.

Dr. Lopez earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Michigan, followed by a dual degree in law and medicine from the University of Puerto Rico College of Law and College of Medicine.

My father was a rheumatologist in Puerto Rico and Ive always had an interest in politics and history, Dr. Lopez says. The dual degree gave me the opportunity to learn about the system physicians practice in and about how healthcare is run.

After serving as a research assistant and law clerk in Puerto Rico, he ultimately chose to pursue a career in medicine, beginning with a residency at Harvard Medical School in physical medicine and rehabilitation. He went on to complete a fellowship at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in pain management through the Anesthesiology department.

Throughout his fellowship, he worked in a variety of positions including the West Roxbury Veterans Administration Hospital in Boston, South Texas Spinal Clinic in San Antonio, and Baptist Healthcare System. He comes to Physician Partners of America after three years as a pain management physician at El Paso Pain Center in Texas.

Dr. Lopez has presented and written on a variety of medical and healthcare law topics ranging from spinal cord stimulators to healthcare reform. His law degree gives him unique insight in his patient care.

I feel it makes me a better patient advocate, he says.

Dr. Lopez is now accepting appointments in the McKinney office, 2730 Virginia Parkway, Suite 300 B, McKinney, TX 75071. Patients can call (469) 660-1426. Same-day appointments are available.

About Physician Partners of America

Headquartered in Tampa, Fla., Physician Partners of America (PPOA) is a fast-growing national healthcare company committed to fighting the opioid epidemic through interventional pain management and cutting-edge treatment modalities. It manages operations of a wide range of medical practices and ancillary services. These include pain management, minimally invasive laser spine surgery, orthopedics, primary care, psychological services, personal injury and Workers Compensation. It also operates AAAHC-accredited ambulatory surgery centers and procedure suites. Its ancillary division includes imaging, intraoperative neuromonitoring, medical supply distribution, a COLA-accredited high-complexity quantitative toxicology lab, and a COLA-accredited pharmacogenomics lab.

For more information, please visit http://www.ppoamed.com or call (855) 953-6567.This incredible triathlon adventure consists of 140.6 miles each day (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run) covering a mind-boggling 703-mile USA Triathlon certified course in just five days.

At 6:00am on August 28th in Kauai, Hawaii, a night flight to Honolulu will have the athletes ready to start their second day on Oahu, again at 6am. On August 30th, Molokai will be the stage for the third leg, and Maui will host the fourth day on August 31st. The iconic event will conclude on the Big Island of Hawaii, where Kona, a mecca for triathletes around the world, will be that days course venue.

The following athletes will travel from around the world to participate in this edition of the EPIC5 Challenge:



Chad Bentley (Canada)

Christopher Brennan (USA)

Joseph Jaffe (USA)

Renato Valler (Brazil)

Edwin Vargas (Colombia)

The event was founded in 2010 when Jason Lester and Rich Roll set out to complete what many deemed the impossible. Since then, some of the worlds most accomplished ultra- triathletes have participated in this annual event, testing the limits of mind, body and spirit as they embark on a voyage of self-discover.

For more information about the EPIC5 event, which was founded in Hawaii in 2010, visit http://www.epic5.com.

For sponsorship information or interview requests, please contact Race Director, Rebecca Morgan: rebecca@epic5.com.

Please follow us on social media:

https://www.instagram.com/epic5_challenge/

https://twitter.com/EPIC5_Challenge

https://www.facebook.com/EPIC5ChallengeFlorida Farm Bureau President John L. Hoblick issued the following statement after having received news of a new trade pact between the United States and Mexico on Aug. 27:

On Monday, the United States announced a tentative trade agreement with Mexico. This pact fails to address the plight of our fruit and vegetable producers. Floridas farm families view the negotiations that led to the agreement as an unfortunate, missed opportunity."

When North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renegotiations commenced last year, we had high hopes for a chance to correct the unintended consequences of this flawed trade deal. Since 1994, NAFTA has enabled and allowed unfair trading practices  primarily dumping and heavy subsidization  by Mexico, which directly undercut Floridas struggling family farms."

Many of those farms, unable to fend off competition from Mexican products priced below their own cost of production, are now shuttered. It is a haunting reminder of the long-term effects of unfair and unenforced trade deals"

As a nation, we must use every opportunity to advance free and fair trade. Yesterdays news only strengthens Florida Farm Bureaus resolve to find a fair and equitable trade solution for our fruit and vegetable crop producers"

We remain committed to partnering with the Administration and Congress to achieve this important trade objective for Floridas farmers and ranchers, and look forward to working with them on other agricultural priorities in renegotiations.

Florida Farm Bureau, the states largest general agricultural organization, represents more than 146,000 member-families. We serve to enhance farm enterprise and improve rural communities.

Media contacts:

JohnWalt Boatright

352.275.2392

johnwalt.boatright@ffbf.org

G.B. Crawford

352.374.1517

gb.crawford@ffbf.orgThe festival is a Paso wine-tasting tradition. Big, bold and badass.

The Garagiste Wine Festival marks its 21st festival, and 8th anniversary, at its home base in Paso Robles, November 9th through the 11th, with three days of events, including a Grand Tasting that showcases over 60 micro production winemakers, 20% of whom are pouring at the festival for the first time. Tickets are on sale now at http://californiagaragistes.com/buy-tickets/.

In addition to its signature range of over 200 wines, over 20 different grape varieties and new and iconoclastic blends, this years festival pays tribute to the increasing influence of Spanish grape varieties in California. This includes a Rare and Reserve tasting matched with Paella and a seminar dedicated to Spanish varieties  from Albarino to Graciano - and how todays artisan winemakers, including Enrique Torres of Diablo Paso, Louisa Sawyer Lindquist of Verdad and Jeremy Leffert of Croma Vera Wines, are crafting trail-blazing wines from them.

We are turning 21! This doesnt necessarily mean crossing into adulthood (well never grow up!); but it does mean weve hit on something that both dedicated wine drinkers and the growing micro-winery community find valuable, said Garagiste Festival Co-founder Doug Minnick. It feels great to have helped so many wineries find their audience, while helping new audiences find exciting new winemakers. Were like a matchmaking service where everyone ends up getting married!

Dubbed tasting nirvana strange and wondrous, and one not to miss by the LA Times, the Garagiste Festival is renowned for its renegade spirit, passionate winemakers, handcrafted wines and rules-breaking, no snobs allowed ethos. Launched in Paso Robles in 2011, the festival features the wines of commercial garagiste* winemakers who make under 1500 cases at festivals across California, including Solvang, Sonoma, Los Angeles and Paso Robles. Over 350 different wineries have poured over 3,000 wines for over 10,000 wine lovers at Garagiste Festivals since inception.

The festival takes place at the Paso Robles Fairgrounds and other area locations and includes Thursdays Industry Night, featuring the Garagistes annual Winemaker Shootdown; Friday nights Rare and Reserve event, and Saturdays seminars and epic Grand Tasting, followed by the Keep It RockinAfter Party, featuring special 8th Anniversary guest, Stephen Rowe and the Lonely Loners, who played at the very first Garagiste Festival in 2011. On Sunday, Garagiste Paso Passport Day returns, which offers festival attendees discounts and events at garagiste wineries throughout the area.

Saturday mornings VIP tasting seminar on Spanish varieties, 'The Rise of Spanish Varieties: Classic Grapes find a home in California,' is moderated by Garagiste Festival co-founder, KRUSH radio host and Golden Triangle Wines winemaker, Stewart McLennan.

Said McLennan: The festival is a Paso wine-tasting tradition. Big, bold and badass. So if youve never been to our Paso festival, you need to come join the fun.

And it is all for a good cause - the festivals have raised over $125,000 for The Garagiste Scholarship at Cal Poly. So, as you broaden your exposure to some of the most innovative winemaking in California, you are also supporting winemakings future generations, concluded Minnick.

The Garagiste Festival was the first event to define, and shine a spotlight on, the American garagiste* wine movement and has introduced outstanding California artisan winemakers to thousands of passionate wine consumers, members of the trade and media, helping to ignite the awareness, business and reputations of hundreds of artisan winemakers.

For full schedule details, go to http://californiagaragistes.com/2018-paso-fest/

Among the over 60 winemakers already scheduled to pour are:

Adron Wines*, Alta Colina, Armitage Wines*, Artisan Uprising, Ascension Cellars, Bevela Wines, Bolshoi Family Wines*, Caldera Cuvee, Caliza Winery, Circle B Vineyards, Cloak & Dagger Wines, Copia Vineyards, Corner Cellars*, Cutruzzola Vineyards, Decroux Wines*, DENO Wines, DeWitt Vineyard*, Diablo Paso, Dusty Nabor Wines, Gary Kramer Guitar Cellars*, Golden Triangle, Hoi Polloi Winery, Hoyt Family Vineyards, Jardesca*, Kitson Wines*, Last Light Wine Co, Leverage Wines, Lost Blues, MagnaVita Cellars*, Marin's Vineyard, Mastro Scheidt*, MCV Wines, Merisi Wines*, Montage Russe, On Your Left Wine Co., Powell Mountain Cellars, Saint K Wines, Seven Angels Cellars, Seven Oxen Estate Wines, Sea Shell Cellars, T. Berkley Wines*, Tlo Wines, TOP Winery, Torch Cellars, Transmission Wine Co.*, TW Fermentations, Ultima Tulie, Vandella Vineyards*, Vigo Cellars*, Vinemark Cellars, Vino Vargas, Volatus Wines, and Willow Creek Wine Group*.

*First time pouring at the Paso Festival.

Tickets: To preserve an intimate experience with one-on-one interaction with winemakers, tickets are very limited for the Garagiste Festivals and always sell out. Tickets are available at http://californiagaragistes.com/buy-tickets/. For special discounts and updates on Garagiste Festival events and news, sign up for The Dirt at http://garagistefestival.com/sign-up/, or follow us on Twitter (@GaragisteFest) or Facebook (http://on.fb.me/1rgBC80).

Sponsors include: Travel Paso Robles Association, ETS Laboratories, Farm Credit, G3, Glenn Burdette, Hanover Insurance, mWEBB Communications, Digital Dogma, Laffort USA, WiVi Central Coast, The Oaks Hotel, La Quinta Inn and Suites. House Copper

For sponsorship info, email info(at)garagistefestival(dot)com.

*Garagistes (garage-east) is a term originally used in the Bordeaux region of France to denigrate renegade small-lot wine makers, sometimes working in their "garages" (anything considered not a chateau), who refused to follow the rules, and is now a full-fledged movement responsible for making some of the best wine in the world. The Garagiste Festivals were the first to shine a light on the American garagiste winemaker in 2011.

About The Garagiste Wine Festivals

The Garagiste Wine Festivals (http://www.garagistefestival.com) are the first and only wine festivals dedicated to the undiscovered and under-recognized American artisan garagiste producers who are making some of the best, most exciting, handcrafted small-lot production wines in the world. Founded by fellow garagistes Stewart McLennan and Douglas Minnick, the Garagiste Festivals are committed to discovering the best and most innovative limited-production winemakers and promoting and showcasing them to a broad audience of discerning wine consumers. In addition to its flagship annual festival in Paso Robles, CA, the Garagiste Festival line-up includes Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure, featuring Santa Ynez Valley garagistes; the Garagiste Festival: Urban Exposure, in Los Angeles; the Garagiste Festival, Northern Exposure, in Sonoma; winemaker dinners, a newsletter, garagiste profiles and more.

The festivals were named one of the Top Nine Incredible Epicurean Vacations in the world by ABC News, * one of the premier wine events of the year, by the LA Times and Best Festival by Sunset Magazines Best of the West. The festivals are produced by Garagiste Events, a non-profit dedicated to furthering the education of future winemakers and those training for employment within the wine industry. Proceeds from the festivals support the Garagiste Festival Scholarship fund of the California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo Wine and Viticulture Department.

Media Contacts:

mWEBB Communications for The Garagiste Festivals

Melanie Webber, melanie(at)mwebbcom(dot)com, 424-603-4340Potawatomi Hotel & Casino expansion project celebrates significant milestone and is scheduled to open in late summer 2019

Gilbane Building Company recently celebrated a major milestone on the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino Expansion project in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The topping-off ceremony for this high-profile hotel expansion was attended by City, Tribal and organizational leadership, as well as project team members from Gilbane Building Company, Greenfire Management and Cuningham Group.

The tower expansion will provide Potawatomi Hotel & Casino with 119 additional rooms to the existing facility for a total of 500 rooms. A four-story infill area between the existing casino and hotel will also be added and include storage, multiple kitchens expansion, a pastry kitchen, banquet facilities, ballroom and spa. Construction on the new tower began in December 2017 and is expected to open in August 2019. Gilbane also partnered with Greenfire Management and Cuningham Group in 2014 to complete the first tower for Potawatomi.

Gilbane is proud of the entire project team on achieving this critical milestone. A special thanks to Greenfire Management, Cuningham Group and our trade partners for a strong start on the early phases of this project. A special thanks to Potawatomi Hotel & Casino and the tribe for their leadership on this important project. We look forward to finishing strong and successfully delivering another successful project together!  Dan Keaveney, Gilbane Building Company Project Manager

About Gilbane Building Company

Gilbane provides a full slate of construction and facilities-related services  from pre-construction planning and integrated consulting capabilities to comprehensive construction management, general contracting, design-build and facility management services  for clients across various markets. Founded in 1873 and still a privately held, family-owned company, Gilbane has 46 office locations worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.gilbaneco.com.

For more than 30 years, Gilbanes Milwaukee office has served a wide variety of market sectors and clients throughout Wisconsin including Northwestern Mutual, Waukesha County Health and Human Services, Medical College of Wisconsin, Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, Kerry Ingredients and Flavours, Schlitz Park and Schreiber Foods.This episode of Magnificent Marketing's podcast focuses on how the most popular social media platforms and how to easily use them without spending loads of time or money on them Every business owner has been told the same thing: that they need to use social media to build their audience and further the growth of their business.

Every business owner has been told the same thing: that they need to use social media to build their audience and further the growth of their business. Not everyone is taking action, though. Some people feel like they dont have the money to invest in ads. Others arent convinced that social media is the best way to use their time and resources. And many people simply feel overwhelmed by the whole social media marketing thing.

Thankfully, there's an expert who can help: John Paul Aguiar.

John Paul is a blogger and entrepreneur who has dedicated himself to helping other business owners and bloggers learn how to use social media and blogging successfully, and in the newest episode of Magnificent Marketing's marketing podcast, he discusses how to use the top five social media platforms for business success.

In this episode, Aguiar discusses how to effectively use the following five platforms:

-Twitter

-Facebook

-Instagram

-LinkedIn

-Pinterest.

For each category, he offers expert insights on who the platform works best for and shares tips for how each can be used to expand reach, grow an audience and increase engagement.

This episode of Magnificent's marketing podcast is available for download wherever podcasts are found and, with an accompanying blog, here.

About Magnificent Marketing:

Magnificent Marketing is your full-service content marketing agency that will take care of all your marketing needs so that you can concentrate on the core duties needed to manage and grow your business.

Their objective is to generate leads that turn into customers while focusing on expanding the visibility of your company and brand, and positioning you to be "top of mind" for future potential clients.

In order to achieve this, they draw on their experience and belief that a mixture of traditional marketing techniques combined with modern marketing tools will yield the best results. In other words, they blend old and new school marketing to create the best school of thought.

About John Paul Aguiar:

John Paul is an internet entrepreneur, social media consultant, and experienced online marketer. He shares simple to understand ideas and tips and how to's that are easy to put to work growing a blog into a business by using social media and marketing. His blog, The Money Dummy, will help you learn is everything you need to know to start a blog and finally make money with that blog.

He is also the author of the Twitter Dummy Guide - Teaching how to Build a Large and Strong Twitter Community.Through Visit Floridas Red Tide Recovery Marketing Program, the following programs are available immediately at no cost to core tourism businesses located in the affected counties:

 Complimentary brochure distribution at all five official Florida Welcome Centers

Available through Feb. 28, businesses may ship a maximum of 2,000 brochures per Welcome Center for distribution. For more information and to secure a brochure placement, contact the Visitor Services Department at welcomecenter@visitflorida.org.

 Complimentary Lobby Booth program at four highway Welcome Centers

Available through Feb. 28, businesses may schedule a time to participate in the Lobby Booth Display program. Contact the Welcome Centers at welcomecenter@visitflorida.org to set up a location and time.

 Complimentary VISIT FLORIDA marketing partnership

Core tourism businesses within the affected areas have the opportunity to get a Small Business Marketing Partnership free of charge through Feb. 28. With the partnership, businesses receive an enhanced web listing on VISITFLORIDA.com, the ability to submit social media posts for consideration, ability to promote partner-to-partner specials and more.

 Exposure on VISIT FLORIDAs media website

Businesses are encouraged to submit news releases to be posted on the media website. Press releases should provide newsworthy updates for the consumer travel media and offer a story idea that is unique and compelling to the local Florida area. All news releases are subject to review and approval. Email information and photos to pr@visitflorida.org.

Participation in the programs is limited to core tourism businesses in Charlotte, Collier, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pinellas and Sarasota counties.Scale Computing, a market leader in hyperconverged solutions, today announced that Metropolitan School District (MSD) of Wayne Township has selected Scale Computings HC3 platform for a fast, cost effective and resilient solution for hyperconvergence at the edge of the network.

MSD Wayne Townships first school, Ben Davis High School, was established in 1892. Since then, the district has grown to more than 16,000 students in 21 schools spread across 35 miles in Indianapolis. Due to this expansion, MSD Wayne Township needed a scalable, flexible IT solution capable of processing compute at the edge of the network.

Before migrating to Scale Computing, the school district utilized a blend of cloud computing for its IT infrastructure but realized that many of its services are better provided on premises. MSD Wayne Township turned away from many virtualization solutions due to the high licensing costs until they found Scale Computing. With HC3, no additional software licensing was needed, reducing licensing and maintenance costs.

MSD Wayne Township is driven to provide multiple pathways for learning that exceed the aspirations of our student community, which relies on exceptional, innovative technology to meet their modern education needs, said Pete Just, CTO at MSD Wayne Township. We looked at traditional virtualization solutions for storage and came away dissatisfied. However, after learning about hyperconvergence and turning to Scale Computing, they have been basically flawless enabling the quality of digital tools we are providing to the classroom. From the reliable customer service to the easy implementation, Scale Computing has exceeded our expectations in every way.

MSD Wayne Township turned to Scale Computings HC3 platform for server, storage, virtualization, disaster recovery and edge computing in a single solution. After having so much success with the first implementation, MSD Wayne Township has added a second implementation from Scale Computing. The all-in-one HC3 was far less complex than other solutions, greatly simplifying the management and maintenance of its infrastructure. With industry standard components, the HC3 appliances install in under an hour and can be expanded and upgraded with no downtime.

Maximum uptime and performance is critical to any organizations IT infrastructure, especially when an organization has 21 separate sites spread across 35 miles, with a demand for compute power at the edge, said Jeff Ready, CEO and co-founder at Scale Computing. With Scale Computings HC3, customers like MSD Wayne Township can leverage the performance power and low cost of ownership of hyperconvergence across multiple sites at the edge of the network, with Scale Computings support team on the backend.

Scale Computing and MSD Wayne Township will also be attending the Hossier Educational Computer Coordinators (HECC) between November 7-9, 2018 at the Crowne Hotel and Conference Center Downtown Indianapolis. To attend, register here.

To watch a video on MSD Wayne Townships HC3 implementation story, visit here. For more information on Scale Computing HC3, visit here.

About Scale Computing

Scale Computing integrates storage, servers and virtualization software into an all-in-one appliance-based system that is scalable, self-healing, and as easy to manage as a single server. Using industry standard components, the HC3 appliances install in under an hour and can be expanded and upgraded with no downtime. High availability insulates the user from any disk or server failure and a unified management capability driven by the patented HyperCore Software, efficiently integrates all functionality. The result is a data center solution that reduces operational complexity, allows a faster response to business issues, and dramatically reduces costs.We believe the InterveneRx platform fills a significant gap in identifying the clinical value, safety and effectiveness of specialty drugs."

InterveneRx is proud to announce a partnership with CerpassRx, a leading pharmacy benefits manager (PBM), to offer RxNextCare, an innovative approach in managing the cost and health outcomes associated with specialty drugs for CerpassRx clients and members. RxNextCare provides evidence-based specialty drug care plans that are integrated with a digital therapy mobile application and biometric devices to monitor, engage and manage the care of patients in real-time.

CerpassRx Chief Clinical Officer John Nicolosi, PharmD explains CerpassRxs decision to proceed with the InterveneRx relationship, Specialty medications continue to be a significant cost driver within the pharmacy industry. CerpassRx is continuously evaluating innovative opportunities to deliver value to our clients and improve the care of our members. The InterveneRx program is unique in the market in engaging and monitoring members on specialty medications, and we are excited to offer this program to deliver better health outcomes while providing savings to our clients.

We believe the InterveneRx platform fills a significant gap in identifying the clinical value, safety and effectiveness of specialty drugs. We are pleased that a forward thinking organization such as CerpassRx will be implementing this platform to monitor and manage their specialty drug patients, said InterveneRx CEO Mark Steck, Pharm D, MBA.

CerpassRx expects to roll the RxNextCare program out to its clients within the next 30 days.

About CerpassRx

CerpassRx is a leading pharmacy benefits management company based in Dallas-Fort Worth. CerpassRx provides employers with innovative and proactive solutions to manage their memberships prescription benefits. Their flexible, collaborative approach to focusing on their members sets them apart in their industry.

About InterveneRx

InterveneRx is a technology enabled care management company focused on monitoring and improving complex care for patients utilizing specialty drugs. InterveneRx has developed the first ever automated specialty drug clinical pathways integrated with a mobile application to engage and manage patients more effectively for improved adherence and health outcomes while reducing adverse events and costs.Delicious and lactose-free, JoeFroyo Functional Cold Brew and Clean Label Creamer add functional benefits like probiotics and protein to your daily coffee boost. Dairy innovators, JoeFroyo, bring functional, lactose-free beverages to the renowned ABASTUR trade show. Made with lactose-free Real California Milk, both the Functional Cold Brew and Clean Label Creamer product lines enhance your coffee with probiotics, protein and other health benefits.

U.S. dairy innovators JoeFroyo will be bringing their lactose-free functional beverage line to the renowned ABASTUR Trade Show, Booth #1223, August 2831, 2018, at the Citibanamex Center in Mexico City. They will be debuting their Clean Label Creamer, the world's first and only coffee creamer that allows you to add probiotics to your coffee, as well as sampling their ready-to-drink (RTD) Functional Cold Brew product. All JoeFroyo products are made with premium, lactose-free Real California Milk.

Launched in late 2017, JoeFroyo Functional Cold Brew delivers caffeine, probiotics and protein by combining high-quality cold brew coffee with lactose-free cultured dairy. Featuring 15 grams of natural protein per 12-ounce serving and six live and active probiotic cultures, JoeFroyo Functional Cold Brew adds valuable health benefits to your daily boost. It also contains no added sugar, no preservatives, no artificial thickeners or sweeteners, no soy and no gluten.

Building on their Functional Cold Brew product, JoeFroyos new Clean Label Creamer wants to bring the same lactose-free, functional combination to your coffee cup. With a focus on simple, clean components, Clean Label Creamer features just three ingredients  probiotics, milk and cream  and is packed with seven probiotic cultures. And just like JoeFroyo Functional Cold Brew, it contains no added sugar, no preservatives, no artificial thickeners or sweeteners, no soy and no gluten.

Our Functional Cold Brew product is a great on-the-go option, says JoeFroyo founder and president, Zach Miller. Its full of long-lasting energy, natural health benefits and three satisfying coffee-forward flavors: Latte, Espresso and Mocha. With our Clean Label Creamer, we wanted to provide those same functional benefits, whatever coffee youre drinking.

One of the features of the Clean Label Creamer that Miller is most excited about is the fact that it is specially formulated to highlight the natural characteristics of your coffee.

Says Miller, Were big coffee lovers  obviously  and we wanted to create a creamer that would add functional benefits, without overwhelming the delicate flavors and natural tasting notes of whatever brew you choose. We believe when youre drinking coffee, you should taste coffee. This is a creamer that lets your coffee shine.

JoeFroyo will be taking orders for their Functional Cold Brew as well as their Clean Label Creamer product lines at ABASTUR. Functional Cold Brew is available in a bottled, ready-to-drink (RTD) format, as well as bulk options, served either over ice or in a frozen blended dispensed format. The Clean Label Creamer is the first of a planned series of creamer products, featuring different functional benefits and delectable flavors to provide enlightened options for lightening your coffee.

----

For more information on this product, visit: https://www.JoeFroyo.com/creamer.

For wholesale information, visit: https://www.JoeFroyo.com/wholesale.

For more information and tickets to ABASTUR, visit: https://abastur.com.[W]ere ensuring that current and future clients will have access to a highly-secure, complete safekeeping solution tailored to meet the challenges of institutional finance.

Kingdom Trust, the first regulated financial institution to offer qualified custody for digital asset investments like Bitcoin and Ethereum, has secured insurance for digital assets held on its qualified custody platform through one of the worlds most respected insurers, Lloyds of London. The insurance, which was successfully placed by broker SDBIC, marks a solid resolve for institutional investors seeking to enter the crypto marketplace.

Qualified custody by a regulated, insured financial institution is a top priority and critical hurdle for institutions to invest in the digital asset markets, says Matt Jennings, CEO of Kingdom Trust. By adding another trusted specialist like Lloyds to our platform, were ensuring that current and future clients will have access to a highly-secure, complete safekeeping solution tailored to meet the challenges of institutional finance.

The company recently released a white paper clarifying the concept of qualified custody. The white paper, written by Jennings, outlines why the cryptocurrency marketplace benefits from the inclusion of qualified custodians like Kingdom Trust.

As a qualified, independent custodian, Kingdom Trust provides over 100,000 clients (with over $12 billion in assets under custody) a level of security, accounting, reporting and insurance for digital currencies not found elsewhere in the marketplace.

The companys initial platform accommodated custody for four digital currency assets but now provides custody services for over 30 different assets, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, Ripple and recent additions of ZCash and Stellar Lumens with many more on the horizon.

About Kingdom Trust

Kingdom Trust is a state-regulated public trust company. For nearly a decade, the firm has assisted clients with regulatory compliance by serving as a qualified custodian and specializing in a variety of asset classes. As the pioneer of digital asset custody, its experience and knowledge help provide clients with secure and compliant custody. Unlike other firms in the marketplace touting they provide custody or institutional custody but are not qualified custodians or regulated financial institutions, Kingdom Trust meets the qualifications required by regulators of institutions and asset managers, including the oversight and audits assuring underlying assets are held in proper safekeeping with the necessary audit trails and recordkeeping. To learn more about Kingdom Trust and its qualified custody program, visit KingdomTrust.com or email Business Development at Sales@KingdomTrust.com.Kimberly Anderson - Family Law & Divorce Attorney in Chicago Kim Anderson is a great representative of the legal community. I appreciate her attention to detail, candor, and thorough representation of the issues that we would face, as well as a clear path for how to be successful in the fight for the rights of my children.

A Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage was entered on May 24, 2016. The parties had three minor children, ages 16, 12 and 11. Pursuant to the Allocation Judgment, the mother had been allocated the majority of the childrens parenting time. The mother filed a Petition for Child Relocation and sought permission to relocate with the parties minor children to North Carolina. Judge Elizabeth M. Rochford found that the mother failed to sustain her burden of proof and denied her Petition to Relocate with the children (Case No. 15 D 566). The following summary is based on an edited excerpt of Judge Rochfords transcribed findings and determination.

In the petition for relocation, the father was represented by Kimberly J. Anderson of Anderson & Boback. The Guardian Ad Litem was Marc K. Schwartz of Schwartz, Wolf & Bernstein, LLP.

The court re-appointed Guardian ad Litem Marc Schwartz to investigate the childrens best interest in regard to the relocation petition. In his reports and testimony, he ultimately concluded that relocation was not in the best interests of the children. The court found that the mother failed to sustain her burden of proof and denied her Petition for Relocation to North Carolina. The Allocation Judgment was to be modified to designate the father as the primary residential parent for school purposes.

The case was published in the August issue of the Illinois Divorce Digest. Also, visit the Anderson & Boback website to read the case details.

Kimberly Anderson is the founding partner of Anderson & Boback, with vast experience as a prior prosecutor, family law attorney, and respected leader in the Illinois legal community having served as Chair over both the Chicago Bar Association and the Illinois State Bar Associations Family Law Section Councils. She has been recognized as a Super Lawyer, which only 5% of Illinois lawyers qualify for, by her peers every year since 2008. She is devoted to helping families move their lives forward.

Contact the attorneys at Anderson & Boback for a confidential consultation related to divorce or family law concerns."We are looking for creative people who want to share their energy and talents with others to inspire attendees with what we as humans can do."

Now is the time to enter your project, invention, creation or design for Balboa Parks Maker Faire San Diego 2018. Now in its fourth year, this unique, two-day, family-friendly event will be held October 6-7, 2018, from 10:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m. The entry deadline is just days away, visit our entry page to register.

Remember, space is limited so apply as soon as possible to ensure your spot at the greatest show (& tell) on earth!

This year's theme for the event is #PeopleCanDoIncredibleThings and will highlight the people, places and organizations that make Southern California a great place to live and work. "We are looking for creative people who want to share their energy and talents with others," says Maker Faire San Diego producer Cody Nelson. "We are inviting artists, musicians, engineers, craftsmen, entrepreneurs, students, teachers, businesspeople, comedians and creative people of all ages and backgrounds to inspire attendees with what we as humans can do."

For those passionate about their creations, exhibiting at Maker Faire San Diego is a must.

Ways you can participate:



By showing off your project(s), to demo or discuss how you made them, and to inspire

people to make (includes Individuals, Groups, Universities, Non-profits and Commercial Makers).



By performing a scheduled performance, set lengths vary.

By presenting a scheduled presentation, set lengths vary.

As a sponsor or commercial maker, by selling your products or services.

Here are just some areas the event is seeking:

Artists

Engineers

Robotics

Hacked or Home-built Drones

Arduino Projects

Raspberry Pi

Space Projects

Food Makers (not concessionaires)

Beer Makers

Artisanal and Traditional Hand Crafts

Conductive Materials Projects

Kit Makers

Interactive Art Projects

3D Printers and CNC Mills

Textile Arts and Crafts

E-Textiles

Home Energy Monitoring

Programming Languages (games, apps, etc.)

Rockets and RC Toys

Sustainability & Green Tech

Radios, Vintage Computers and Game Systems

Electronics

Electric Vehicles

Science, Biology, Biotech, and Chemistry Projects

Puppets, Kites, and other Whimsical Creations

Bicycles (and hacked bikes)

Large-scale Art

Shelter (tents, domes, etc.)

Music Performances and Participation

Unusual Tools or Machines

How to Fix Things and/or Take them Apart (vacuums, clocks, washing machines, etc.)

To participate in Maker Faire San Diego, an entry form must be completed at https://sandiego.makerfaire.com/makers/. Entries can be submitted by individuals or by groups, such as hobbyist clubs and schools. The closing date for all entries is September 7, 2018. For more information, visit our website at https://www.sandiego.makerfaire.com. Maker Faire San Diego is produced by the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership.

ABOUT MAKER FAIRE: Maker Faire is an award winning, family friendly event celebrating technology, education, science, arts, crafts, engineering, food, sustainability, and more. Maker Faire has become part of pop culture, a place for experiential marketing, debuting new technologies and inventions, and celebrating geekdom. Maker Media produces two annual flagship Maker Faires, partners with museums to produce Featured Maker Faires, and works with communities to license Mini Maker Faires around the world http://makerfaire.com/.

HISTORY OF MAKER FAIRE: The first Maker Faire launched in May 2006 in the San Francisco Bay Area and was quickly followed by Faires in Austin, Detroit and New York City, as well as others around the world. Technology has lowered the barriers to entry to becoming a Maker and this launched the Maker Movement which fuels Maker Faire. Maker Faire was designed to be forward-looking, showcasing Makers who are exploring new forms and new technologies. But its not just for exhibiting whats new in technical fieldsMaker Faire features innovation and experimentation across the spectrum of science, engineering, art, performance and craft.

ABOUT THE BALBOA PARK CULTURAL PARTNERSHIP: Balboa Park Cultural Partnership is a nonprofit organization through which 30 arts, science and cultural institutions in Balboa Park collaborate to achieve shared goals. By helping these groups achieve greater organizational efficiency, innovation and excellence, it seeks to contribute to the vitality and sustainability of Balboa Park. For more information visit http://www.bpcp.org.

# # #LenddoEFL team outside of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) This is a game-changer as we continue to adopt alternative digital verification and scoring to help push for a more secure, faster and reliable verification process to onboard more unbanked and underserved segments into the financial system, supporting BSP's mission of financial inclusion.

LenddoEFL, whose verification, credit scoring, and consumer insights helps leading banks make data-driven decisions, launched an electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC) product for customers applying for credit card and bank accounts at Philippine financial institutions consistent with Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) regulation.

To date, Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations in the Philippines have always required a face-to-face or real-time online interview to onboard new-to-card or new-to-bank current account/savings account (CASA) customers.

Now, customers will be able to get verified as part of a CASA or credit card account application faster and more conveniently by opting-in to avail of the eKYC solution from their mobile phone. LenddoEFLs eKYC solution offers a simpler way for banks to onboard new customers. See BSP Circular 950, Subsection X806.2 item D for details on using information and communication technology (ICT) in the conduct of face to face contact.

This is a game-changer as we continue to adopt alternative digital verification and scoring to help push for a more secure, faster and reliable verification process to onboard more unbanked and underserved segments into the financial system, supporting BSP's mission of financial inclusion, said Judith Dumapay, APAC Sales Director Philippines, LenddoEFL.

Each bank considering to use technology-aided verification must do so within their risk-based customer acceptance policies and anchored on the results of their risk assessment process. They also remain responsible for watchlist screening.

About LenddoEFL

LenddoEFLs mission is to provide 1 billion people access to powerful financial products at a lower cost, faster and more conveniently. We use AI and advanced analytics to bring together the best sources of digital and behavioral data to help lenders in emerging markets confidently serve underbanked people and small businesses. To date, LenddoEFL has provided credit scoring, verification and insights products to 50+ financial institutions, serving seven million people. In the Philippines, LenddoEFL has processed 3.5 million results and allowed $US400 million in credit disbursed for its financial institution clients. Find more information at https://include1billion.com/ or reach out at Contact(at)LenddoEFL.comThis places Cuba in the same category as Denmark, the UK, Italy, South Africa, France, Spain and the Bahamasamong dozens of other level-2 countries.

"Although overdue, certainly a move in the right direction, said MEDICC Board Chair Dr. Peter G. Bourne, referring to the August 23 announcement by the U.S. Department of State reclassifying the Cuba travel advisory. The decision no longer recommends U.S. citizens reconsider travel (reserved for level 3 countries), but instead that travelers exercise increased caution (for level 2 countries).

This places Cuba in the same category as Denmark, the UK, Italy, South Africa, France, Spain and the Bahamasamong dozens of other level-2 countries.

The earlier level 3 category was determined solely on the basis of health symptoms reported by a group of Havana-based U.S. diplomats some time ago. The source has yet to be determined, according to both Cuban medical experts and the FBI investigators who visited Havana on multiple occasions.

At the same time, in 2018, Cuba was awarded the title of safest country at Madrids International Tourism Fair. And no U.S. travelers have reported symptoms similar to those of diplomats in 2016-2017, according to CREST, the Center for Responsible Travel.

The State Departments inter-agency Crime and Safety Report for Cuba in 2017 notes that crimes against tourists are few and nonviolent, mainly limited to pickpocketing, purse snatching, fraud schemes, and thefts from unoccupied [premises]. The same report, which criticizes aspects such as road safety in Cuba and slow police response, also calls Havana a low-threat location for terrorist activity and for political violence. Its overall Embassy Guidance notes that Cuba welcomes American travelers, and Americans are generally well received by Cubans.

Not only are Americans welcome, noted MEDICC Executive Director Dr. C. William Keck, but in MEDICCs experience, people in both countries have much in common, much to share and to learn from each other. This, we find, is always the best route to explore.

MEDICC recently announced its second annual conference, A Healthy Cuba, Healthy World: Celebrating History, Community and Culture, slated for December 5 to 9/10 in Santiago de Cuba, a professional meeting authorized under general license from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Navigate to http://medicc.org/ns/healthycubahealthyworld/ for more, including discounted early bird registration through September 24.

For more on legal, safe travel to Cuba, see also Center for Responsible Travel.Karla Jo Helms, CEO for JoTo PR, discusses the impact Roy Chat will have on the food delivery market. New technology via Roy Chats multi-use application gives restaurants incentive to work with an intermediary to facilitate the payment and delivery of their food services.

Companies are embracing machine learning and artificial intelligence. Forbes reports that machine learning patents grew at a 34% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR), between 2013 and 2017, the third-fastest of all patents granted.1 Today, over 10,000 companies are manufacturing artificially intelligent chatbots for their customer service platform.2 Recently signed JoTo PR client, Roy Chat, a specialist in machine learning and artificial intelligence, is expanding functionality for users and merchants to interact on a global scale with the assistance of Roy.

Roy is a chatbot utilized as a tool to address issues such as the ordering, delivery and payment of food via SMS. According to a study by McKinsey & Company, the worldwide food delivery market is 83 billion with 82 percent of orders being placed from home.3 With SMS, a consumer wont need a smartphone, internet connection or data to communicate with Roy as they can text Roy from anywhere to execute their order. Other predictions forecast the food-delivery markets value to skyrocket from $43 billion in 2017 to $76 billion in 2022, displaying a 79% surge over the next five years.4

Opportunity exists for innovation within the prospering food delivery market, Karla Jo Helms, CEO for JoTo PR said. New technology via Roy Chats multi-use application gives restaurants incentive to work with an intermediary to facilitate the payment and delivery of their food services.

Roy Chat is a globally accessible personal assistant and best friend that combines AI and machine learning technology with SMS. Roy is the personor in this case the chatbot applicationthat users can text when they want to order a pizzaand later it will be used to find the best local dry cleaner, book concert tickets, schedule a reminder for something, and more. Roy can even split a billincluding tax and tipbetween a group of users, and through secure fintech, will also help users save money and invest. Best of all, Roy Chat does not permanently store or sell user data. The brainchild of young entrepreneur Bryce Jurss, Roy Chats technology is transformative just as social media was transformative a decade ago. Roy, who can be a friend to anyone with access to text messaging, promises to bring greater ease, efficiency, security, and fun to our lives. To learn more, visit http://www.odysseyprojectinc.com/RoyChat.html.

In addition, consumers wont be affected by data storage as Roy Chat doesnt permanently store or sell users data. Machine learning gauges preferences of the user based on algorithms within the application. This is a welcome relief for users who can sleep well at night and not have to worry about their conversation records being tracked, stored or stolen by a third-party, Helms added.

JoTo PR has a history of innovative PR services that demonstrates their ability in gaining consistent news traction within the media for national and international organizationshelping provide front-line information to the media about industry disruptions and technological solutions aimed at making markets better for consumers. The firm is a trailblazer in the PR industry, blending traditional PR expertise with digital media to harness the advantages of the current online landscape. JoTo PR specializes in the healthcare, finance and technology sectors, but has worked for a variety of industries and non-profits, using a proprietary process to consistently identify, communicate and distribute to the press the newest news thats most valuable to its readers, viewers and listenership.

About JoTo PR:

After doing marketing research on a cross-section majority of 5,000 CEOs of fast-growth trajectory companies and finding out exactly how they used PR, how they measure it and how they wanted the PR industry to be different, PR veteran and innovator Karla Jo Helms created JoTo PR and established its entire business model on those research findings. Astute in recognizing industry changes since its launch in 2009, JoTo PRs team utilizes newly established patterns to create timely PR campaigns comprising both traditional and the latest proven media methods. This unique skill enables JoTo PR to continue to increase the market share and improve return on investment (ROI) for its clients, year after yearbeating usual industry standards. Based in Tampa Bay, Florida, JoTo PR is an established international public relations agency. Today, all of JoTo PRs processes are streamlined PR services that have become the hallmark of the JoTo PR name. For more information, visit JoTo PR online at http://www.jotopr.com.

1. Columbus, Louis; Roundup of Machine Learning, Forbes; February 18, 2018.

2. Edwards, Jim; DATA: A Massive, Hidden Shift is Driving Companies to use AI Bots Inside Facebook Messenger, Business Insider; May 12, 2016.

3. Hirschberg, Carsten; Rajko, Alexander; Schumacher, Thomas and Wrulich, Martin; The Changing Market for Food Delivery, McKinsey & Company; November 2016.

4. Franck, Thomas; Home Food Delivery is Surging Thanks to Ease of Online Ordering, New Study Shows, CNBC; July 12, 2017.Ron has been a trusted voice in the PKF OConnor Davies family for a number of years, and were confident in his ability to meet the challenges in his new role, said Kevin J. Keane, Managing Partner.

PKF OConnor Davies, LLP, the nation's 29th largest accounting and advisory firm, announced today it has promoted Ronald F. DeSoiza to the role of Chief Business Development Officer. In this position, DeSoiza will be instrumental in executing the Firms strategic growth initiatives through new business development.

Ron has been a trusted voice in the PKF OConnor Davies family for a number of years, and were confident in his ability to meet the challenges in his new role, said Kevin J. Keane, Managing Partner. Were raising the bar on securing new business this year. Ron is the right person to lead our business development efforts to attract and secure new clients.

DeSoiza has nearly three decades of experience in the accounting industry and has been with PKF OConnor Davies for nearly eight years. During that time, he has been a recognized leader in developing quality new business for the Firm and cross selling to current clients. In his new role, he will take on an expanded role in business development planning and growing specific practice areas within the Firm.

Im proud of the work Ive done for clients over the years, DeSoiza said. As I take on these new responsibilities, I look forward to identifying new ways the Firm can provide value to current clients and bring better solutions and offerings to new business opportunities.

In addition to his role as at PKF OConnor Davies, DeSoiza conducts peer reviews of other CPA firms across the nation on behalf of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He has also participated in numerous New York State civil and criminal cases, and has testified in front of the New York State Insurance Department.

PKF OConnor Davies has nine offices in four states and continues to expand through organic growth and acquisitions in the Northeast and Washington, D.C. region. Its supported this growth with a strategic combination of promoting from within coupled with tactical external hires.

About PKF OConnor Davies, LLP

PKF OConnor Davies, LLP is a full service certified public accounting and advisory firm with a long history of serving clients both domestically and internationally. With roots tracing to 1891, nine offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland, and more than 700 professionals, led by over 100 partners, the Firm provides a complete range of accounting, auditing, tax and management advisory services.

PKF OConnor Davies is ranked number 29 in Accounting Todays 2018 Top 100 Firms list and the Firm is also recognized as a Leader in Audit and Accounting, a Pacesetter in Growth and one of the Top Firms in the Mid-Atlantic. PKF OConnor Davies is ranked number 28 in INSIDE Public Accountings 2017 Top 100 Firms list and recognized as one of the Top Ten Fastest-Growing Firms." In 2017, PKF O'Connor Davies was named one of Vault's Accounting 50, a ranking of the 50 best accounting employers to work for in North America and ranked among the top 50 most prestigious accounting firms in America in a complementary Vault survey. The Firm is the 11th largest accounting firm in the New York Metropolitan area, according to Crains New York Business, and the 11th top accounting firm in New Jersey according to NJBizs 2017 rankings.

By consistently delivering proactive, thorough and efficient service, PKF O'Connor Davies has built long-lasting, valuable relationships with its clients. Partners are intimately involved in the day-to-day management of engagements, ensuring a high degree of client service and cost effectiveness. The Firms seasoned professional staff members employ a team approach to all engagements to provide clients with the utmost quality and timely services aimed at helping them succeed. Continuity of staffing and attention to detail in all client engagements make the Firm stand out among its competitors.

PKF OConnor Davies is the lead North American representative of the international association of PKF member firms. PKF International is a network of legally independent member firms providing accounting and business advisory services in over 400 locations in 150 countries around the world. With its tradition, experience and focus on the future, PKF OConnor Davies is ready to help clients meet todays ever-changing economic conditions and manage the growing complexities of the regulatory environment. For more information, visit http://www.PKFOD.com.

###The ROUSH CleanTech engine is 90-percent cleaner than the current Environmental Protection Agencys most stringent 0.2 g/bhp-hr heavy-duty engine standard. Our newest propane autogas engine reinforces ROUSH CleanTechs commitment to provide vehicle solutions that reduce the impact to the environment while leveraging an abundant, domestically produced fuel that costs less than diesel.

Alternative-fuel technology company, ROUSH CleanTech, has developed the first available propane autogas engine certified to California Air Resources Boards optional low oxides of nitrogen emissions standard for heavy-duty engines with 0.02 grams per brake horsepower-hour (g/bhp-hr). The engine is 90-percent cleaner than the current Environmental Protection Agencys most stringent 0.2 g/bhp-hr heavy-duty engine standard.

Last year, we introduced a propane autogas engine that was 75-percent cleaner than the EPAs emissions standard. But, we knew our next challenge was to meet CARBs lowest NOx standard at 0.02 g/bhp-hr, said Todd Mouw, president of ROUSH CleanTech. Our newest propane autogas engine reinforces ROUSH CleanTechs commitment to provide vehicle solutions that reduce the impact to the environment while leveraging an abundant, domestically produced fuel that costs less than diesel.

NOx emissions are regulated under federal air quality standards because they are known to be harmful to human health and to the environment, contributing to regional ozone attainment challenges, smog and other air-quality issues. Heavy-duty diesel trucks are the single largest source of NOx emissions, contributing to smog in a majority of the nations most populated urban regions. According to the EPA, operating vehicles with ultra-low emission engines can make significant improvements to regional air quality and reduce a wide variety of human health impacts.

In Southern California, the development and deployment of near-zero emission vehicle technologies are critical to meeting clean air standards, said Wayne Nastri, executive officer for the South Coast Air Quality Management District. We congratulate ROUSH CleanTech on this achievement.

This new certification covers all of ROUSH CleanTechs 6.8L V10 3V propane engines for Class 4-7 vehicles. Installation of the new optional ultra-low NOx engines has begun with some 2018 Ford commercial vehicles and Blue Bird Vision propane school buses. ROUSH CleanTech, which has deployed more than 18,000 propane autogas vehicles, will manufacture both the low-NOx 0.05 and ultra-low NOx 0.02 g/bhp-hr propane engines.

School, shuttle and transit buses and Class 4-7 medium-duty trucks equipped with ultra-low NOx engines are expected to be very competitive in seeking funding from the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust settlement.

The certification of this ultra-clean propane engine could not have come at a more opportune time as private and public fleets can now begin applying for a piece of the $2.9 billion Volkswagen settlement funds, said Tucker Perkins, president of the Propane Education & Research Council. The settlement is meant to fund projects that cost-effectively reduce NOx emissions, so vehicles powered by the new ultra-low NOx ROUSH propane autogas engine are an ideal fit for accomplishing this goal.

About ROUSH CleanTech: ROUSH CleanTech, an industry leader of alternative fuel vehicle technology, is a division of Roush Enterprises based in Livonia, Michigan. ROUSH CleanTech designs, engineers, manufactures and installs propane autogas and electric fuel system technology for medium-duty Ford commercial vehicles and school buses, and compressed natural gas fuel systems for school buses. As a Ford QVM-certified alternative fuel vehicle manufacturer, ROUSH CleanTech delivers economical, clean and domestically produced fueling options for fleets across North America. Learn more at ROUSHcleantech.com or by calling 800.59.ROUSH.TEKLYNX is on a mission to help companies work better. Its why we partner closely with customers like Shepherd Material Science throughout the implementation to ensure our integrated technology solutions drive improvements well beyond the barcode software itself.  Doug Niemeyer, TEKLYNX GM

TEKLYNX International, the worlds leading barcode and RFID labeling software developer and solutions provider, today reported its TEKLYNX CENTRAL GHS enterprise label management software implementation improved labeling efficiency and accuracy for industry-leading materials manufacturer Shepherd Material Science.

The materials manufacturer partnered with TEKLYNX to streamline labeling operations across its three companies: Shepherd Color Company, Shepherd Chemical Company and Glass Coatings & Concepts. Shepherd Material Science also sought to improve its ability to efficiently and accurately produce labels compliant with the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS).

The TEKLYNX CENTRAL GHS implementation simplified labeling operations by moving the manufacturer from many labeling systems to one centralized labeling system across its companies. Prior to TEKLYNX CENTRAL GHS, production operators relied on up to three other team members to print required GHS-compliant labels, explains Diana McDonough, Senior Developer for Shepherd Information Systems. Our goal was to eliminate this dependency and give operators the ability to print labels in a more time-efficient, autonomous manner while maintaining accuracy.

Following its TEKLYNX CENTRAL GHS implementation, the manufacturer is better positioned to comply with GHS labeling requirements because team members can now efficiently pull the necessary phrases, symbols, signal words and hazard elements directly from the SDS authoring softwares centralized database, reducing the time required to print labels by 10%.

The TEKLYNX CENTRAL GHS implementation also had a ripple effect of savings throughout other areas of the organization. Prior to the implementation, the manufacturers sample department printed sample labels in batches of four, but sample orders did not always occur in batches of four. New printers purchased to support the TEKLYNX CENTRAL GHS implementation have the ability to print labels one at a time, significantly reducing wasted label stock.

For TEKLYNX General Manager Doug Niemeyer operational improvements and cost savings are the true measure of success for TEKLYNX implementations. Were on a mission to help companies work better, states Niemeyer. Its why we partner closely with customers like Shepherd Material Science throughout the implementation to ensure our integrated technology solutions drive improvements well beyond the barcode software itself.

To read more about Shepherd Material Sciences experience with TEKLYNX CENTRAL GHS, download the full case study here. To learn more about TEKLYNX barcode labeling solutions, visit teklynx.com.

About TEKLYNX International

TEKLYNX International is the worlds leading barcode and RFID labeling software developer and solutions provider. An industry innovator for over 30 years, TEKLYNX helps companies operate smoothly and efficiently by implementing labeling solutions that streamline operations while staying ahead of industry-specific compliance and emerging regulations. TEKLYNX is world-renowned for its customer service; offering flexible purchase options, unparalleled service and support, and a comprehensive product offering that grows with companies over time. With operations in the United States, Europe, Japan, Latin America, China and Singapore, more than 750,000 companies in over 120 countries look to TEKLYNX integrated software solutions for their standard of success. Learn more by visiting teklynx.com, LinkedIn, Twitter @Teklynx, and Facebook.com/TEKLYNXInternational or call 888-629-4444.Sagora Senior Living proudly announces that two of its associates working in Tulsa, Okla., have been named 2018 Caregiver of the Year by the Oklahoma Assisted Living Association (OKALA). Bellarose Maintenance Director Joe Canaan was named Maintenance Caregiver of the Year and Aberdeen Heights Certified Nursing Assistant Brenda Cox was named Direct Care Caregiver of the Year.

OKALA, which is dedicated to excellence in care for Assisted Living residents, conducted a state-wide search to recognize associates that have positive & inspiring attitudes and go above and beyond to improve quality of life for their residents.

Canaan has provided excellent service at Bellarose for more than two years. Joe goes out of his comfort zone to help residents and families to ensure we are well taken care of, wherever and whenever he is needed, one Bellarose resident noted. With his great personality, Joe is a go-to person for just about anything I need in my apartment, wrote another.

Cox has delivered exceptional care to residents and families for more than eight years at Aberdeen Heights Assisted Living. Brenda is reliable, dependable, patient and Johnny-on-the-spotshe isnt pushy, and she doesnt rush me, wrote one Aberdeen Heights resident that nominated Cox. She stands out! Brenda jokes with me and goes out of her way to care for me, wrote another.

We are extremely proud of our associates for receiving these prestigious accolades, said Sagora Senior Living President Bryan McCaleb. Brenda and Joe emulate the Sagora philosophy of resident first every day, and we are so glad their hard work and dedication is being recognized in the senior living industry.

Bellarose Senior Living offers a true continuum of care through independent living, assisted living and memory care in a dynamic environment where residents receive the appropriate level of compassionate care specific to their needs. Located at 18001 East 51st Street, the pet-friendly community has 135 comfortable apartments.

Aberdeen Heights Assisted Living at 7220 South Yale Avenue, boasts 80 apartments in a caring, pet friendly environment that offers privacy and independence with the benefit of 24-hour support and access to care.

About Sagora Senior Living

Sagora Senior Living is one of the nations top 50 senior housing operators. The privately-owned company operates senior living communities throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Florida and soon in California. Living options include independent living, assisted living, respite and memory care. The companys mission is to serve and celebrate the wisdom of residents and family members by enriching their lives with a Resident First philosophy developed locally within each community. Sagora hires only the most qualified industry professionals, implements the most beneficial services and activities, and makes it a priority to listen to their residents. For more information about Sagora Senior Living, visit http://www.Sagora.com.

# # #

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

Joe Canaan (C) receives the 2018 Maintenance Caregiver of the Year award from Gara Wilsie, Remedi Senior Care who sponsored the awards, and Jim McWhirter, OKALA Board Chair.

Brenda Cox (C) is congratulated on receiving the 2018 Direct Care Caregiver of the Year award from Gara Wilsie and Jim McWhirter.Venture West Realtys new website helps buyers search for a new home with ease.

Venture West Realty is an established real estate agency serving Gallatin Valley and the Southwest Montana region with offices in Bozeman, Three Forks and Butte. They also own Venture West Ranches for clients who are looking to buy and sell working ranch properties in Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. Venture West Realtys new website solves a multitude of issues common on modern real estate sites. With integration of the Big Sky Country MLS and a custom-designed properties listing page, it allows visitors shopping for a new home or property to browse and filter by the amenities they need. It automates administrative tasks around their office, such as updating employee information and automatically channels inquiries to the correct agents inbox  so that they can spend their time better serving their clients.

Venture West Realty has three offices serving Southwest Montana  40 Spanish Peaks Drive in Bozeman MT; 202 Highway 2 in Three Forks, MT; and 202 West Park in Butte, MT. They can be reached at their main office by calling (406) 522-9378, emailing info@venturewestrealty.com, or visiting their site venturewestrealty.com.We have made great strides in building teams with world-class talent in essential technology disciplines. Making sure these technologists are part of a consolidated, collaborative development center environment increases their ability to address complex business challenges with speed and innovation.

West Monroe Partners, a national business and technology consultancy, today announced that it has reorganized its technology consulting resources to create a new development center for technology-driven business initiatives. The firms more than 300 technology professionals, covering disciplines such as cybersecurity, digital solutions, cloud computing, application development, and infrastructure, have come together under one practice in response to the markets growing needs for solving tough business challenges through a technology lens. To support these market needs, West Monroe also announced that it is developing a technology hub within its Dallas office.

West Monroes ability to deliver technology expertise with a business mindset has been a driving force behind the firms 35% compound annual growth rate. Founded in 2002, West Monroe currently employs more than 1,000 people across 10 offices nationwide. Last year, the firm announced plans to double its workforce by 2022, in large part to address a growing technology skills gap in business. Investing in technology talent has helped the firm make progress on this goal, hiring hundreds nationwide over the last 12 months.

We have found that mastering the shift in todays rapidly evolving business environment requires doing several things very well  from tapping into actionable data to building a modern platform and securing the business. Each of these dimensions relies on diverse technological competencies, but companies gain the greatest value when they address them in concert rather than as separate initiatives, said Greg Layok, managing director of technology at West Monroe. We have made great strides in building teams with world-class talent in essential technology disciplines. Making sure these technologists are part of a consolidated, collaborative development center environment increases their ability to address complex business challenges with speed and innovation.

While many consultancies provide technology services from remote locations, West Monroe has maintained an onshore approach to building its technology team and locating IT consultants in its offices, where they have the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues in other disciplines to build technology-enabled business solutions. An uncommon blend of business consulting acumen and deep technology expertise is at the heart of what differentiates West Monroe in the consulting marketplace, Layok said. That blend is possible because our technologists are in our offices, working side-by-side every day with industry and other business specialists.

West Monroe now has established technology leaders and consultants in all its offices. The firm was named the runner-up for Best Tech Work Culture in Chicago at the 2017 Timmy Awards by Tech in Motion. It was also ranked No. 18 on the Top 100 Vertical Market MSPs in 2017.

The firm is now focusing on building a second major hub of technology professionals in Dallas, one of its newest and fastest-growing offices. The office plans to triple its workforce over the next five years. Our region is home to rich technology talent, and we believe that establishing a tech hub here will help us attract and retain top-tier technologists, while also driving our local growth goals, said Adam Gersting, senior director of technology in Dallas.

In line with its mission to develop the next generation of leaders, West Monroe invests significantly in talent development, including equipping its technology consultants with both IT and business skills. We encourage our technology professionals to major in one area and minor in another, Gersting said. This is good for us because we are building multi-skilled talent, but it is also good for our people, who are continually learning new and relevant skills.

West Monroe has dozens of open positions for technologist roles.

###

About West Monroe Partners

West Monroe is a national business and technology consulting firm that partners with dynamic organizations to reimagine, build, and operate their businesses at peak performance. Our team of more than 1,000 professionals across 10 offices is comprised of an uncommon blend of business consultants and deep technologists. This unique combination of expertise enables us to design, develop, implement, and run strategic business and technology solutions that yield a dramatic commercial impact on our clients profitability and performance. For more information, visit http://www.wmp.com.

Media Contact

Christina Galoozis

Media Relations Manager

cgaloozis(at)westmonroepartners.com

312.447.6623The End Brain Cancer Initiative (endbraincancer.org) When you hear of famous people dealing with a brain cancer diagnosis, it is natural to assume they will access the best care and most advanced treatments possible irrespective of geography or current medical provider. At EBCI, we think that should be the experience of every brain cancer patient.

Joining with other sister charities and fellow citizens overall, The End Brain Cancer Initiative (EBCI), formerly the Chris Elliott Fund, extends its condolences to the McCain family and respectfully honors Senator John McCain's passing and legacy of service to our country. Senator McCain faced a disease that tragically afflicts and kills many thousands of Americans every year. As an organization, EBCI is dedicated to increasing survivorship now and finding a cure for brain cancer in our lifetime.

As has been widely reported, Senator McCain suffered from a form of brain cancer called glioblastoma, the deadliest form of brain cancer that ends lives on average within 15 months in over 50% of cases. In the past few years, brain cancer has stricken other notables such as Beau Biden (son of former Vice President Joe Biden), Senator Ted Kennedy, President Jimmy Carter. In President Carter's case it was metastasized melanoma cancer to the brain. He benefitted from immunotherapy, an important new treatment that utilizes the body's own resources to fight and destroy cancer cells, and was declared cancer free.

When you hear of famous people dealing with a brain cancer diagnosis, commented Dellann Elliott Mydland, president of The End Brain Cancer Initiative, It is natural to assume they get to access the very best care and most cutting edge medical treatments possible irrespective of geography or current medical provider. At the End Brain Cancer Initiative, we think that should be the assumption and experience for every brain cancer patient. As brain cancer is now more in the public eye, we at the EBCI call for concerted national actions to combat this disease to help patients now and in the future.

Currently, throughout the country there are key brain cancer specialists, centers of excellence for treating this disease, promising breakthrough treatments, and significant new clinical trials. Most brain cancer patients, though, are not informed or given access to these advanced treatments because the current standards of care are not in step with the emerging science and treatment breakthroughs. Additionally, approximately only 3% of brain cancer patients participate in clinical trials.

Speed and access are everything, Mydland added. Brain cancer is one of the most aggressive and fastest to grow forms of cancer. It debilitates and devastates within a matter of months. Our current health care approaches to this are incredibly slow and dated. We have to change the way we respond to this disease and direct patients. Patients deserve to be informed and given the choice to access promising alternatives that may not be the immediate medical options available locally.

Senator McCain's passing has led to calls to give national attention to fighting this disease and fueling new research. Last year, his daughter, Meghan McCain, explained the disease and appealed for support for brain cancer research on The View and in other public forums. One key that has emerged in the past few years is genomic profiling. Research has shown that every cancer is unique both in its original form and as it mutates. These cancers are being carefully profiled by researchers around the world. The profiles or biomarkers can then lead to specific, personalized interventions to address this incredibly complex disease.

Current research directions are moving toward combination therapies. These emerging approaches were summarized by Dr. Minesh P. Mehta, Deputy Director, Miami Cancer Institute and Chief of Radiation Oncology, in a presentation entitled "Glioblastoma: Emerging Approaches." His summary explained: Molecular subsetting of patients and utilizing more specific agents will lead to more trials with fewer patients in each. Future small incremental gains may be made by combining current approaches. Radical transformation will only occur when profiling is married to actionable therapies, or radical new therapeutic strategies are defined. (Link to Presentation)

Another major research direction is in the area of immunotherapy. One such study is being led by Dr. Behnam Badie, chief of neurosurgery and head of the brain tumor program for California-based City of Hope. In this study chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cells are genetically engineered to attack glioblastoma. The study has enrolled about 20 patients and has shown promise. Dr. Badie remarked, "It's not curative, but we are definitely seeing changes in the biology and extending lives." (Link to Article)

Relating to fueling research and advanced treatments, The End Brain Cancer Initiative is currently advocating for two key imperatives: 1) ALL brain cancer patients should receive genomic profiling for their tumors and that information should be used to inform treatment including immunotherapy; 2) Research should be advanced that explores delivering treatments that bypass the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB). Additionally the EBCI is calling for the following national action steps:

1) Enhance patient outcomes by expanding FDA-approved brain cancer treatment modalities.

2) Close the existing GAP from initial diagnosis to IMMEDIATE AND EXPANDED ACCESS to specialists, researchers, advanced & innovative treatments, clinical trials and critical care.

3) Improve patient outcomes through updating and improving WHO (World Health Organization) & NCCN (National Cancer Care Network) Guidelines and clinical practices related to Standard of Care for brain cancer patients.

The End Brain Cancer Initiative was founded in 2002. It was then known as The Chris Elliott Fund. Mydland's former husband, Christopher Stewart Elliott, died of brain cancer. Right before he passed away, he stated emphatically, We MUST do something about this disease. The organization was born to help other patients get the knowledge and tools to access the best options possible and fight this disease. Our thoughts are with Mrs. McCain and their family at this time, concluded Dellann Mydland. Some would say our only hope is research. While we at the EBCI believe in research, we believe that there is hope for patients now in existing new advanced treatments. They simply need information and access. We hope and pray that this renewed attention on brain cancer will lead to new national initiatives to change the standards of care and fuel promising research for the sake of patients.

About the EndBrainCancer Initiative

The EndBrainCancer Initiative (EBCI, formerly the Chris Elliott Fund) is a national brain cancer and brain tumor patient advocacy and services organization and 501(c) 3 social enterprise with offices in Redmond, Washington. Established in 2002 and now celebrating 16 years of service, EBCI is committed to finding a cure for brain cancer and bringing HOPE to the lives of patients and their families through its three programs:

5) Direct Connect Patient Support and Services Program

6) Brain Tumor Disease Education, Awareness, and Outreach Program

7) Brain Tumor Patient Advocacy and Access

Since its founding, EBCI has helped thousands of patients, caregivers, and their families and has become a credible and trusted resource at all levels in the brain cancer treatment community from patients to research institutions to pharmaceutical and regulatory entities advocating on the National and State level for the approval and reimbursement of new therapies for cancer patients. EBCI also participates as the Patient Voice in clinical trial design, an example can be seen in CNS Oncology (Link to Article).

EBCI supports about 900+ patients, caregivers and families, free of charge annually through its Direct Connect Program, and provide Education/Awareness/Outreach to over 8.7 million annually, including members of the Brain Tumor Community. EBCI is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO), American Association of Neuroscience Nurses, American Association for Cancer Research, and Life Sciences Washington, among other organizations.

EBCI Mission

Enhancing patient outcomes by expanding FDA-approved treatment modalities and fueling research in the pharma/bio/life sciences, device & diagnostic industries and by closing the existing GAP from initial diagnosis to IMMEDIATE AND EXPANDED ACCESS to specialists, researchers, advanced & innovative treatments, clinical trials and critical care with the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes through updating and improving WHO & NCCN Guidelines and clinical practices related to Standard of Care for brain cancer patients.

If we can help, please contact us at WeCare@EndBrainCancer.org or 425.444.2215. To support EBCIs efforts, programs, and services, provide a gift today at http://www.endbraincancer.org

Follow us on Social Media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EndBrainCancer

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EndBrainCancer/

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+ChrisElliottfundOrg

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/chris-elliott-fund/If you are new to iQ you can schedule a demo and learn more about this opportunity.

PSFK iQ - Where Innovators Turn for Research. Our professional-grade research platform is designed specifically for Retail and CX leaders who want to know whats next. Whether youre staying current on trends or need a real-time research partner to help you get ahead, count on PSFK iQ to deliver the info you need to make your next move.Cookies

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A cookie is a small text file that a website saves on your computer or mobile device when you visit the site. Cookies are widely used in order to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the site.Website use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. ("Google") to help analyse the use of this website. For this purpose, Google Analytics uses"cookies", which are text files placed on your computer.The information generated by the cookies about your use of this website - standard internet log information (including your IP address) and visitor behaviour information in an anonymous form - will be transmitted to and stored by Google including on servers in the United States. Google will anonymize the information sent by removing the last octet of your IP address prior to its storage.According to Google Analytics terms of service, Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website and compiling reports on website activity.We not use, and not allow any third party to use the statistical analytics tool to track or to collect any personally identifiable information of visitors to this site. Google may transfer the information collected by Google Analytics to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google`s behalf.According to Google Analytics terms of service, Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google.You may refuse the use of Google Analytics cookies by downloading and installing Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. The add-on communicates with the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js) to indicate that information about the website visit should not be sent to Google Analytics.Cookies are also used to record if you have agreed (or not) to our use of cookies on this site, so that you are not asked the question every time you visit the site.You can control and/or delete cookies as you wish. You can delete all cookies that are already on your computer and you can set most browsers to prevent them from being placed.Most browsers allow you to:If you chose to delete cookies, you should be aware that any preferences will be lost. Also, if you block cookies completely many websites (including ours) will not work properly and webcasts will not work at all. For these reasons, we do not recommend turning cookies off when using our webcasting services.It was a year ago that Hurricane Harvey swamped Houston, dropping 60 inches of rain on the city and along the Texas Gulf Coast. Today, the city is still reeling from the aftermath of the storm.

McKenna Jordan, owner of Houston's Murder by the Book, said that it is only now that her bookstores sales have stabilized. I think the economy has been weakened by [Harvey] and there are still so many people who lost their homes and are still trying to rebuild, she said. We have seen a drop in regular customers as people have become more conservative in their discretionary spending. While customers are starting to return, Jordan emphasized that the period since the storm has been difficult. I curtailed much of my marketing after the storm. I didnt want to be pushy, she said. Now, Im starting to feel optimistic about sales again.

Neither Murder by the Book, nor nearby Brazos Bookstore, were flooded, though only a few blocks away the flood water had risen to several feet. We were luckier than most," said Keaton Patterson, book buyer at Brazos, who observed that the city showed great character during the ordeal. We tried to help as many people as we could by keeping the store open and trying to offer them some sense of normalcy, he said. Hurricanes are a fact of live and I feel like the city has bounced back well. It is a resilient place. Patterson points to  naturally  a book as proof. [Author] Joe Holley really captures this in his book, Hurricane Season [Hachette], which covers Hurricane Harvey and the Astross miraculous win in the World Series.

Richard Deupree, manager of Katy Budget Books in the Houston suburb of Katy, concurs with Patterson in seeing a strength in citizens of the city. It was a remarkable time. I remember looking back and being proud of the city, said Deupree. Just one of the 26 employees of the store had their home flooded, not that the store itself was unaffected. The water literally stopped ten feet from the front of our store, he said. In all, the store was closed for four days. Remarkably, said Deupree, we had an even better year in 2017 than 2016.

The neighborhood surrounding Houstons Blue Willow Bookstore saw more than 600 homes flooded. Owner Valerie Kohler noted that her customers have largely returned, though she said that she lost several older and elderly customers who had been regulars. I think they just gave up on the city and moved away to be with family elsewhere, she said.

Cathy Berner, children's/young adult specialist and events coordinator at the store, said that while Harvey was certainly no fun, it brought out the best in many people and we remain grateful for that. Among the stores heroes was childrens book author and illustrator Bob Shea, who when Hurricane Harvey hit last year offered a hand-drawn unicorn to people who donated money to rebuild flooded school and classroom libraries. Thanks to him, we raised more than $10,000, she said. Others who assisted included Carl Lennertz, executive director of the Childrens Book Council, who worked as a liaison between publishers and schools. Candlewick Press sent us several palettes of books which we ensured were delivered to affected schools and campuses as far away as [the coast]. said Berner.

Some coastal areas were hit even harder than Houston. In the beach town of Rockport, Tex., Loris Book Nook was destroyed by the storm and has not reopened. We waited for eight months for the buildings to be repaired in town and when there were some finally available to move into, they were super expensive, said Lori Koviac, who co-owned the business with her mother, Darlene Varner. My mother has retired and Ive had to get a job, she said, adding that she now works for a technology repair shop. Fortunately, she and her mother had insurance on the content of the store, which was completely lost. I wouldnt say [insurance] made us whole, but I will say they made us half-whole. You can only cover so much.

Koviac said that while she still dabbles with selling some books online, she's done with bricks-and-mortar bookselling for now. Though she lamented that Rockport no longer had an independent bookstore, she observed that one local retailer seems to have benefited from her stores absence. When Wal-Mart reopened their store, they expanded the size of the book section.She stated this in a speech in Cape Town on Tuesday, August 28, 2018, during her first trip to the continent as prime minister.

The prime minister also announced UK's pledged of 4bn in support for African economies and create jobs for young people.

Here are some of the highlights from her speech with the President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa:

1. The UK fully supports Cyril Ramaphosa's stride to attract more investment to South Africa so as to create jobs and economic growth.

2. The UK wants British companies to play a central role in helping South Africa achieve its ambitions, helping create and sustain high-quality jobs for the people of both countries.

3. May said the UK will partner with South Africa to train the next generation of scientists, support the continents talented future leaders and decision-makers as they develop their skills and careers at world-class British universities.

4. To work together on international order to see South Africa joining the UN Security Council in 2019.Sign up for the latest Russia investigation updates

As a Virginia jury was moving toward convicting him on eight counts of financial fraud last week, Paul Manafort's lawyers were reportedly in talks with prosecutors about securing a plea deal before his second trial in Washington, DC.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Manafort, the former chairman of President Donald Trump's campaign, engaged in discussions of a possible plea deal to prevent the second trial from going forward.

However, the report said those talks broke down when the special counsel Robert Mueller raised a number of issues with Manafort's lawyers. Sources told The Journal it was unclear what those issues were.

Manafort's first trial, in the Eastern District of Virginia, focused primarily on his efforts to commit tax and bank fraud related to his political consulting work in Ukraine. He was convicted last week on five counts of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud, and one count of failure to report foreign bank accounts. His former right-hand man, Rick Gates, struck a plea deal with Mueller's team in February and was the government's star witness against Manafort in the trial.

Manafort was charged with 18 counts total in the Virginia trial, but the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on the other ten counts, leading US District Judge T.S. Ellis III to declare a mistrial on those. One of the jurors told Fox News last week that the vote on those 10 counts was 11 to 1 in favor of conviction. Prosecutors have until Wednesday to announce whether they will retry Manafort on those charges.

His second trial will take place in Washington, DC, and is scheduled to kick off on September 17. Prosecutors have charged Manafort in the second indictment with money laundering, conspiracy, making false statements, obstruction of justice, and failure to register as a foreign agent.

According to a court filing earlier this month, Mueller's team plans to introduce three times as much evidence in the Washington, DC, trial as it did in the Virginia trial. In the latter, they showed the jury around 400 documents, emails, and financial records to make their case. They plan to introduce "well over" 1,000 pieces of evidence in the Washington, DC trial, the court filing said. They also said they expect to take ten to 12 days to make their case in the second trial.

Manafort's efforts to secure a plea deal last week do not necessarily indicate that he was willing to flip in Mueller's Russia probe, which is examining Russia's interference in the 2016 election and whether members of the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow to tilt the race in his favor.

Instead, in most cases, defendants typically plead guilty to avoid a lengthy trial and secure a reduced sentence if prosecutors agree to such a deal.

The answer to why Manafort hasn't flipped, they say, can likely be boiled down to one thing: a presidential pardon.

Rudy Giuliani, Trump's lead defense lawyer, said the president is not currently considering pardons for anyone caught in Mueller's crosshairs and will wait until the end of the investigation to make his final decisions.

But Trump has made several statements indicating that he may show leniency toward his former campaign chairman.

"Manafort maximizes his chances of getting a pardon by going to trial," said Alex Whiting, a longtime former federal prosecutor in Boston and Washington, DC. "In his situation, given the facts of his case, the rational thing to do is plead guilty without cooperating and get the benefit of a guilty plea, or plead guilty and cooperate and get a bigger benefit. The only way it makes sense for him to go to trial is if he thinks he's going to get a pardon."

Trump ramped up his praise for Manafort on Wednesday, after news broke that his longtime former attorney, Michael Cohen, had struck a plea deal with New York prosecutors and signaled that he would be willing to cooperate with investigators against Trump.Theresa May will tour African countries for the first time since becoming British Prime Minister in 2016 as the United Kingdom prepares to leave the European Union in 2019.

May will visit South Africa (Tuesday), Nigeria (Wednesday) and Kenya (Thursday) on a mission to deepen and strengthen UK global partnerships aimed at boosting post-Brexit fortunes.

This is the first time any British leader will be visiting the Sub-Saharan Africa region since David Cameron attended the Nelson Mandela's memorial service in 2013.

A statement from Downing Street spokeswoman added that The PM will use the visit to announce further support to tackle instability across the region because nations can't prosper without it."

Here are some of the activities of Theresa May on African soil

Theresa May visits South Africa

In South Africa, May will hold bilateral talks with President Cyril Ramaphosa after delivering a keynote speech on trade and how UK private sector investment can be brought into Africa.

She is expected to visit Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned.

Theresa May visits Nigeria

On Wednesday, May will meet with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, the nation's capital. The two leaders are expected to discuss the threat of Boko Haram in the country.

She will also meet victims of the modern slavery in Lagos.

Theresa May in Kenya

The UK PM will end her trip to Africa in Kenya on Thursday with a meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta before visiting a business school.

She will also discuss the role of British troops based in Kenya who are helping countries fight al-Shabab militants in Somalia.

May will be accompanied by a business delegation from the UK.We must start with investing in our children and young people as the surest way to guarantee a prosperous future, he said.

Nana Akufo-Addo was delivering the keynote address at the 58th Annual General Conference of the 160,000-member Nigerian Bar Association in Abuja.

The President urged members of the legal fraternity in Ghana, Nigeria and the rest of Africa to uphold the integrity of the profession and ensure that the rule of law was upheld at all times.

In both our countries, Nigeria and Ghana, it must be a source of pride for us that lawyers were at the forefront of the fight for liberation from colonialism. Indeed, since independence, lawyers have moved seamlessly between politics and the legal profession.

However, he argued that the legal fraternity sometimes have not done themselves proud

The sad truth is that there have always been lawyers ready to find a way to justify some negative developments, no matter how bizarre. It is not surprising, therefore, that sometimes our profession has attracted the most cynical of comments, the President said.

READ ALSO: Katanga and Conti halls admit female students for the first time

I hasten to add that this is not a new phenomenon, as the legal profession has been bashed throughout the ages; be it from Shakespeare and the much argued over first, lets kill all the lawyers or the line from Charles Dickenss Oliver Twist, The law is an ass  an idiot, he said.

Others make disparaging comments about the profession. Examples include fees charged for our services being the regular source of unhappiness, or the judicial process, which many feel does not deliver justice to them.The Ghana Education Service informs the general public that it is recruiting graduate teachers for the Senior High Schools as part of its arrangement for the launching of .

The statement further indicated that interested applicants should log onto www.gespromotions.gov.gh

She added that only applicants who have completed their National Service will be shortlisted after which they would write a test to determine their suitability for the advertised positions.

Regional breakdowns

According to the GES, the Eastern Region requires the highest number of teachers. The region needs about 1,812 new teachers, followed by the Ashanti Region 1,203.

Meanwhile, the Central Region requires 912 while the Northern, Brong Ahafo, Volta and Greater Accra regions require 683, 682, 634 and 525 respectively.

The Western, Upper East and Upper West regions follow with 534, 284 and 361 respectively.

Ms Ampofo Twum added that the GES reserves the right to post them upon recruitment to places where their services will be needed.

Meanwhile, there are also limited vacancies for cooks and other non-teaching staff categories for specific schools. The process for recruitment of these categories will also be announced in due course.

The deadline for the online application is September 1, 2018.The page has been well structured and written and covers every aspect of Sarkodies career since he hit the limelight in 2010 with his debut hit single, Babe featuring Mugeez of R2Bees.

His legal name, date of birth, personal life, initiatives and campaigns, endorsements, song releases, collaborations and tours have all been captured on his Wikipedia page. In fact, there are even separate Wikipedia pages for all the awards he has received so far in his career and pages for three of his albums; Sarkology, Mary and Highest.

Everything you need to find (except his secrets) have been highlighted on his pages.

But there is danger looming. His online presence may be affected. In fact, he may be lost when Googled in the coming weeks.

What danger?

His page which was created by contributors of the most popular online encyclopedia a few years ago faces deletion because it has violated its policies.

Wikipedia has boldly tagged his page with a message regarding the violation.

This article may have been created or edited in return for undisclosed payments, a violation of Wikipedia's terms of use. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, it wrote.

And a violation on Wikipedia means the page in question faces a cleanup or even permanent deletion.

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The future for the pageSpeaking about dependency among Africans, Nana Addo said: We can no longer continue to make policy for ourselves, in our country, in our region, in our continent on the basis of whatever support that the western world or France, or the European Union can give us. It will not work. It has not worked, and it will not work.

We have to get away from this mindset of dependency. This mindset about what can France do for us? France will do whatever it wants to do for its own sake, and when those coincide with ours, tant mieux [so much better] as the French people sayOur concern should be what do we need to do in this 21st century to move Africa away from being cap in hand and begging for aid, for charity, for handouts. The African continent when you look at its resources, should be giving monies to other placesWe need to have a mindset that says we can do itand once we have that mindset well see theres a liberating factor for ourselves, he concluded.In the video that has been circulating on social media, a man believed to be a pastor is seen wearing a white long dress.

He is surrounded by women dressed in like manner with red robes on their waists who are moving round him and acting in a way characteristic of modern day spiritual churches.

While the women move round him, he is seen raising the child who looks sick, haphazardly as though it was a lifeless doll.

READ MORE: Dying CIA agent reveals how he killed Bob Marley

At a point, he sat on the baby girl and then lifted her by the hair and threw her in the air.

Many Facebook users could not muster courage to watch the assault being perpetrated on the innocent girl, while others doubt the incident happened in Ghana.

However, the voiceover describing the incident in Twi says it happened in Ghana.

It is not clear what exactly was deemed to be wrong with the little girl to warrant such a reckless abuse.

Meanwhile, reacting to the video on Facebook, Kofi Bentil wrote: This is so hard to watch.

Ghana Police, please find this Man and arrest him. Charge him with aggravated assault and child abuse.He is a danger to all around him.Tuko.co.ke reported that Philomena Mwilu was picked up by law enforcement agents on Tuesday, August 28, at the premises of the Supreme Court in Nairobi around 1:30pm after a mid-morning meeting between the Judicial Service Commission and the Judiciary.

The said meeting was also attended by the boss of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), George Kinoti and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji.

Tuko.co.ke quoted a source as saying: "Kinoti and Noordin arrived about noon and were moving in and out of Chief Justice David Maraga's office. After Mwilu was led to her car, Kinoti was driven closely behind her. It could not be established if the deputy chief justice had her lawyers or not."

It is reported that the high profile arrest has got to do with some fraudulent deals that led to the collapse of the Imperial Bank in 2015 among others for which the deputy chief justice was being sought after for questioning.

Ghana is currently faced with the challenge of dealing with the collapse of seven local banks which has led to uncertainty in the countrys financial sector.

The government has given a strong indication that all persons whose actions and inactions led to the financial crisis will be prosecuted.Bob Marley died on May 11, 1981 at the age of 36, and the demise was attributed to cancer.

As to why the legend was killed, Daily Star reported Oxley as claiming Marley was among 17 others assassinated for the American government between 1974 and 1985, at a time the CIA was a law unto itself.

He added that Marley others represented a threat to the interests of the United States.

According to yabaleftonline.ng, Oxley who reportedly worked with the CIA for 29 years said: I was a patriot, I believed in the CIA, and I didnt question the motivation of the agency  Ive always understood that sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the greater good.

Posing as a famous photographer working for the New York Times, Oxley gained access to Marley at his Blue Mountain retreat and gave him a pair of Converse All Stars. Size 10. When he tried on the right shoe, he screamed out OUUUCH.

That was it. His life was over right there and then. The nail in the shoe was tainted with cancer viruses and bacteria. If it pierced his skin, which it did, it was goodnight nurse.

There had been a series of high-profile assassinations of counter-culture figures in the United States in the late sixties, early seventies. By the time Bob Marleys time came around, we thought subtlety was the order of the day. No more bullets and splattered brains.

To ensure the mission was accomplished, Oxley said he was always in touch with Bob Marley to ensure the medical advice he received in Paris, London and the United States would hasten his demise rather than cure him.

He added that: The last time I saw Bob before he died he had removed the dreadlocks, and his weight was dropping like a stone.

He was very withdrawn, unbelievably small. He was shrinking in front of us. The cancer had done its job.

Oxleys confession underscores findings by UK scientists in 2014, who discovered the rare mysterious acral melanomas that killed Bob Marley was not caused by the sun as reported at the time.Kitiji John Mathe heinously killed Makanana in April 2017 at their house in Mamelodi East, South Africa.

Judge Cassim Sardiwalla reportedly ordered that the convict must be brought before the court again after 25 years for re-determination of his sentence, describing him as a dangerous criminal.

The convict is reported to have removed all the internal organs of his mothers body including her genitalia, rib cages from the sternum. He also cut off her wrists, ankles and right hand, all of which he placed in a bucket and then placed the main body on the deceaseds bed.

Emotional Cassim Sardiwalla condemned the act, saying: This is not human behaviour. Its not even animal behaviour.

READ MORE: Dying CIA agent reveals how he killed Bob Marley

Kitiji John Mathe claimed he was not in the right frame of mind when he committed the crime, saying voices in his head asked him to do what he did after an attempted suicide.

However, a jury concluded that he was fully aware of the act he was committing and his excuse was not reasonable.

The judge lamented that: The accused attacked an elderly, vulnerable, unsuspecting woman who was his own mother. How much worse a crime can you find?In the long term, the government is constructing new residences for judges at Cantonments.

Reports indicated that about 9 Judges of the Court of Appeal including many other residents within the earmarked area, were being evicted to enable construction works to begin.

The government has earmarked the Ridge Roundabout area in Accra where the judges live for the construction of the 5000-seater capacity church which is being supported by the clergy in the country.

It has also been reported that the structures within the area will be demolished.

As far back as April 5, plans were in the works for the project that would lead to the relocation of the judges.

Samson Anyenini, a prominent legal practitioner and the host of news analysis programme, Newsfile, over the weekend revealed that many residents whose homes are situated on the stretch of prime land to be used for the cathedral, including nine Judges, have been served quit orders to vacate the area immediately.

According to him about ten six-bedroom bungalows that would be demolished if the government goes ahead with its plan were built only five years ago by the Judicial Service to house Court of Appeal Judges.

"The Government has rented alternative expensive bungalows for the Judges to relocate temporarily while it begins construction of over twenty new bungalows on a different land in replacement for what it is going to destroy to make way for the cathedral. Lands Minister Peter Amewu further assures those affected that lands will be found to reconstruct the institutions to be destroyed in this area," Samson wrote in an article.

Although government maintains that the judiciary had planned the evictions already, a letter from the Chief Justice and addressed to the judges is apologising for the inconvenience. The letter however assures the judges that government is providing alternative housing for them.

On Monday, deputy minister for Lands and Natural resources Benito Bio said judges are not being asked to vacate their premises.

But acting Chief Justice at the time, Justice Julius Ansah, apologized to the affected judges for not being given ample time to vacate the place.

The project some believes is a huge negative publicity for the government which the Ghanaians don't like, whether it is good or not.

However, there are reports that some nine justices of the Court of Appeal as well as other judicial staff occupying bungalows around the site earmarked for the project, have been asked to vacate to make way for the construction.

Ghana needs National cathedral

Ghana needs a multipurpose convention centre like that of Rwanda. The edifice in Rwanda continues to attract international and intercontinental conferences.

The convention centre has different conference rooms depending on the number of participants with the biggest conference room at the centre of the structure.According to him, putting up such a facility would bring many advantages to the country as a whole.

As a member of the board of trustees for the National Cathedral, he argued that criticisms against building the facility have been one-sided, saying the cost of the Cathedral cannot be ranked in the same bracket with wasteful expenditures by the nation in the past.

He said it is unfair to for anyone to say that the country needs to focus on the education and health sectors, because the problems with the aforementioned sectors cannot be solved even with the money meant for the building to the Cathedral.

The question is not the National Cathedral, the question is indiscipline, corruption, mismanagement of resources and the rest.

Every year, we hear from the Auditors Report and the Public Accounts Committee about people misusing public funds and walking free on our land, Rev. Dr. Frimpong-Manso said on Accra-based Joy FM.

He added that building a National Cathedral is not a misplaced priority, but rather it will deeper the nations love and acceptance of God.

I dont see it as a misplaced priority...we are people under God and we want to do something as a national symbol to honour God whom a majority of Ghanas believe and accept," he opined.

According to him, a member of the Assemblies of God church has already donated $2 million towards the building of Cathedral.

Governments decision to put up a National Cathedral has been criticised by certain quarters who believe it should not be a priority when other sectors are badly in need of an uplift.Early in February, the government disclosed that it has renegotiated the terms of purchase of some 43 VIP fleet meant for the Presidency, to make room for the purchase of 100 Toyota Corollas.

The renegotiation had to do with a contract between the then Mahama administration and Amalgamated Securities Limited, which ordered for bullet-proof cars at a cost of $9.1 million on 3 January 2017.

But upon inheriting the contract, the Nana Addo government elected to renegotiate the terms, requesting that the 43 bulletproof cars be replaced with 100 Toyota Corollas.Mahama is the first vice president to have ascended to the presidency due to the death of his predecessor, John Evans Atta Mills.

He was elected to serve a full term as President in the December 2012 election. He ran for re-election to a second full term in the 2016 election but was defeated in the first round by New Patriotic Party candidate Nana Akufo-Addo, whom he had defeated four years prior.

This makes him the first president in the history of Ghana to not have won a second term.

John Mahama's father, Emmanuel Adama Mahama, served as the first member of Parliament for the West Gonja constituency, as well as the first regional commissioner of the Northern Region during the First Republic (under Kwame Nkrumah), setting the stage for Mahama to follow in his father's footsteps.

Mahama has an impressive record in Ghanaian politics, having served as the Ghanaian and Pan-African MP, deputy minister, minister, vice president, and president.

Mahama was first elected to the Parliament of Ghana in the 1996 elections to represent the Bole Bamboi Constituency for a four-year term.

In April 1997, Mahama was appointed Deputy Minister of Communications. He was made the substantive Minister of Communications in November 1998, serving in that post until January 2001.

On January 7, 2009, Mahama became the Vice-President of Ghana.

He also served as the Chairman of the National Economic Management Team, the Armed Forces Council of Ghana, the Decentralisation and Implementation Committee and the Police Council of Ghana in this capacity.

Mahama was elected to preside over ECOWAS on March 30, 2014 and was also elected as the Chairperson of the African Unions (AUs) High-Level African Trade Committee (HATC).

He is a communication expert, historian, and writer.

His first book, a memoir called My First Coup dEtat was published by Bloomsbury on July 3, 2012.

Mahama is married to Lordina Mahama and has three children named Farida Mahama, Sharaf Mahama and Jesse Mahama.

He's seeking a second term to be the presidential candidate from his political party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

He will contest against former Minister of Trade and Industry, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, and former National Health Insurance Scheme CEO, Sylvester Mensah.According to him, he takes full responsibility for the comments made, which he said was the misrepresented by some members of the NDC for their political interest.

He said "I want to take full responsibility for the indiscretion of going with issues that will otherwise be private to the NDC. I have learnt that such disclosure could raise emotions among some sections of the Ghanaian society."

Background

Alban Babgin has fired salvos accusing Mahama of appointing unqualified individuals to head sensitive positions during his tenure.

He specifically mentioned colleague MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa, and Dr Edward Omane Boamah, as some people who were not fit to be selected for ministerial positions.

He told NDC delegates in the Volta Region last week that Okudzeto-Ablakwa, then Deputy Education Minister in charge of Tertiary, had problems before he got his certificate from the university while Dr Edward Kofi Omane Boamah was a stammerer, who should not have been the Communications Minister.

"We had very good materials in our last government but the placement was wrong. Look at my son-in-law Ablakwa -brilliant handsome young man but he had problems before he got his certificate at Legon. You recall they almost rusticated him" Bagbin fired.

He said "after he came to do his national service in Parliament and joined politics, he was made a Deputy Minister for Education in charge of Tertiary. (So for) the lecturers, what are you telling them? Some of these decisions affected us a lot."

Bagbin described Dr Omane Boamah as "an intelligent young man" but said his appointment was misplaced.

"I learnt from tradition that its not the chief that speaks, its the linguist and so when you are a leader, you must have a very good linguist," he said.

READ MORE: Why Bagbin is on rampage against Mahama

The Nadowli Kaleo MP in the Upper West region added that "when Prof (Atta Mills) was in power, Haruna Iddrisu was our linguist in charge of communications, when my brother [Mahama] came to power, he substituted him for Dr Omane Boamah, who is a natural stammerer."Daniel Osei, former ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) earlier claimed that former president John Mahama designated former Board Chairman of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Daniel Ohene Agyekum to inform the party of his intention to contest the 2020 election and pick the presidential forms on his behalf because he [Mahama] was intoxicated.

He indicated that the comeback of Mahama would be doom for the NDC in the 2020 elections.

Speaking on Accra-based Adom, the NDC stalwart said "Mahama's only reason for wanting to come back is greed".

READ MORE: Why Mahama stands tall among NDC presidential aspirants

He said "One of them called me whilst they were waiting and told me. Didnt I tell you the man hasnt changed, he couldnt go because they say he is drunk and the scent from his mouth would not be pleasant if he is to submit the letter himself."

In what appears to be an outrageous claim that Mahama has become addicted to alcohol, Alhaji A.B.A. Fuseini in response to the allegations said Daniel Osei is not a true party member adding that he's on an agenda to destroy Mahama and his hardwork.

"When the handshake passes the elbow, its no longer a greeting but a fight and what this man is doing is no longer a criticism to construct but an agenda to destroy not only president Mahama but the NDC," he stated.

READ MORE: NDC youth root for Goosie Tanoh for presidential candidate

"Everybody knows president Mahama is not a drunkard and for you to even make such an allegation, nobody would take you serious", he said.BMO in a statement made available to newsmen, reacted to the US Presidents statement allegedly insulting President Buhari.

A report by Financial Times revealed that Trump told his aides that he did not want to meet with Buhari again, describing him as lifeless.

Nigerias President was in the US in April 2018, for a meeting with President Trump.

The group said President Muhammadu Buhari is fit and capable to run for the 2019 elections and oversee the affairs of the country for four more years President Donald Trumps hate speech notwithstanding.

Trump is disrespectful

According to Vanguard, BMO also said that President Trumps disrespectful attitude towards world leaders is not new.

We are aware that President Trumps disrespect for World Leaders is not new; his comments on Canadas Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, calling him meek and mild; his reference to Germanys Leader, Angela Merkels actions as insane, or his outlandish Tweet at the UKs Theresa May, and more recently, the alleged remarks he made after meeting President Buhari.

It is indeed not the first time President Trump would be heard to lower the standards of respect for his colleagues on the World Stage. We are not surprised, we know that this age-long character of the US President would not change anytime soon. But it is important that we put it on record that President Buhari remains fit and sprightly, even for the next decade.

We recall that during President Buharis visit to Trump in the White House, the US President commended the successes that the Buhari administration had recorded especially in the fight against insurgency and the war on corruption. The US President was full of admiration for Nigerias President during the visit, thus such outlandish remarks as reported by the Financial Times are not just to be taken with a pinch of salt but are untrue in themselves.

The celebrated 800m walk

BMO also stated that President Buharis 800m walk in Daura, Katsina state, though not a show-off, is a proof of his fitness.

The group also added that the President will not be moved by the statement of the United Sates President.The bank injected $543.22 million and Chinese Yuan (CNY) 63.21 million into the inter-bank foreign exchange market on Monday, August 28, 2018.

The breakdown showed that $100 million was injected into the wholesale market and allocated the sum of $55 million to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) forex window.

Also, the invisibles window, which caters to customers requiring forex for Business/Personal Travel Allowances, tuition and medical fees, among others, received $55 million.

Last Friday, August 24, the bank injected the sum of $323.22 million into the interbank retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales and sold a total of CNY 63.21 million in the spot and short-tenured forwards, arising from bids received from authorised dealers

Isaac Okorafor, the CBN spokesperson, said the bank remained committed to maintaining the countrys external reserves to safeguard the international value of the naira in line with the banks mandate.

According to him, the banks management of the forex market had entrenched transparency in the market and continued to strengthen the value of the naira against other major currencies of the world.

On the sale of Chinese Yuan (Renminbi), Okorafor disclosed that it was in line with the CBN guidelines, which stipulate that it would be for the payment of Renminbi-denominated Letters of Credit for agriculture as well as raw materials.

Two weeks ago, the apex bank also injected CNY 69.70 million (Chinese Yuan) in the spot and short-tenor forwards for agricultural raw materials to ease pressure on the Nigerian foreign exchange market.

Currency agreement with China

Since the currency swap agreement Nigeria signed with the Republic of China, the government has been auctioning Chinese Yuan as part of official foreign exchange currency through a combination of spot and short-tenor forwards.

The monetary authority had said the availability of Renminbi was sure to ease pressure on the Nigerian foreign exchange market.

The first auction was done in the last week of July 2018 with the injection of CNY 69.85 million.

A Chinese Yuan currently exchanges for N53.35.On Monday, Kenyas President Uhuru Kenyatta led a high-level delegation bilateral talks with United States President Donald Trump at the White House.

President Trump welcomed President Kenyatta and said it was honour hosting the Kenyan leader and the two countries relationship was but growing bigger by the hour.

Thank you very much. Its great to have President Kenyatta of Kenya, and First Lady Kenyatta. Thank you very much for being here. Its a great honour.

We have a tremendous relationship with Kenya. We have terrorism, a lot of trade, getting bigger and bigger all the time, said Trump.

President Kenyatta who becomes the third African president to hold talks with President Trump after Egypts Fattah el-Sisi and Nigerias President Muhammadu Buhari echoed Trumps sentiments and said Kenya and US relations was strong and solid.

Yes. I want to just take this opportunity to thank Mr. President and the First Lady for welcoming us here to the White House.

As President Trump has said, Kenya and United States have had strong, solid relationships ever since our independence. We are here to renew that partnership. We are here to strengthen it. We have had very good and excellent cooperation, especially in our fight against terrorism because of the neighborhood that were in  al-Shabaab fights, which the United States have been a very good, strong, and solid partner,

According to a source that spoke to the Financial Times, Trump allegedly told his aides that he never wanted to meet someone so lifeless again, in reference to the 75-year-old Nigerian leader.

The first meeting, with Nigerias ailing 75-year-old Muhammadu Buhari in April, ended with the US president telling aides he never wanted to meet someone so lifeless again, according to three people familiar with the matter.

So coming just months apart, Business Insider Sub Saharan Africa examines the difference and similarities between Presidents Kenyatta and Buhari meetings with President Trump.

Lively vs Lifeless

Based on the facial expressions and even the mood of their discussions as captured by the media, President Kenyattas discussion with Trump was more lively compared to Buharis lifeless interaction with Trump.

President Kenyatta and Trump began their talks on high note noting how close Kenya and US were with President Trump setting the tone which Kenyatta picked and run with it.

President Trump who seemed to be in a jolly mood even asked his guest if he would like to say something obviously reading from the same script.

The mood was, however, very different and all serious when President Trump met with the Nigerian leader in April.

President Buhari looking frail didnt help in alleviating the mood and picked on the sour note.

The two then went on and on in a colorless monotone about terrorism challenges bedeviling Africas biggest economy.

Some would even argue that watching Trump-Buharis talk was a pain and hence you wont blame him for describing it a lifeless. I am sure Nigeria is more than Boko Haram and terrorism, dont you think so?

Good vs bad timing

President Buharis visit to the US came at a time Nigeria was battling with serious insecurity challenges and the fighting between Nigerian farmers and herders was getting worse.

Just a few weeks before Buharis visit, 110 Nigerian schoolgirls had been kidnapped by Boko Haram militants in the town of Dapchi. 104 girls were later freed and reunited with their families according to the Nigerian government.

Combined with other factors such as a sluggish economy all combined to make their talks lifeless

On the other hand, Kenyattas visit couldnt have come at a better moment.

President Kenyatta met Trump while riding high on the success of the recently concluded US-Kenya Trade Conference where deals worth Sh10 billion (approximately US $100m) were signed.

Similarly, after years of lucrative road contracts going to the Chinese, Kenya awarded an American contractor, Bechtel, the contract to build the countrys first expressway that is expected to reduce travel time between Nairobi and Mombasa by half at a cost of Sh300 billion ($3 billion) in July.

Kenyas national carrier, Kenya Airways also recently signed an agreement with American-based aircraft maker Boeing that will see the local airline access the latters global network of spare parts and on-demand services, effectively becoming the first airline in Africa to have access to Boeings consumable and expendable services.

The cherry of the pie, of course, is the much-awaited KQs maiden trip to the United States in October which President Kenyatta is highly expected to be onboard.

Now you dont need to be a rocket scientist to know which conversation would be engaging, juicer and to be looked forward to, something President Trump clearly noticed and couldnt hide.Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!The company in a statement made available to Business Insider SSA said its service is now available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal.

The statement added that customers in these countries can now send money 24/7 directly to more than two billion bank accounts and mobile wallets across 200 countries and territories.

Alex Holmes, MoneyGram's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, explained that the move is to provide customers with the brand with more options in an ever-evolving tech-driven world.

"Innovative technology is changing the way we meet our customer's financial needs. In 2018 and beyond MoneyGram will continue to accelerate our digital expansion around the globe. We want to give MoneyGram customers more choice when they use money transfer services and to ensure we are well positioned to compete in today's fast-paced world," Holmes said.

Following its successful launch in Spain and France, Moneygram grew its revenue by 21%.

According to World Bank's Findex 2017 report, digital payments between 2014 and 2017 increased and the share of adults around the world making or receiving digital payments also rose by 11%, to reach 52%.

The platform is now available in the US, the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal and Austria.Paystack has raised $8 million in Series A funding from global payment giants, Stripe, Visa, and Tencent, a follow-up from the $1.3 million it raised in 2016 from both international and local investors.

This is huge for a company that started a little over 2 years ago. In that time, Paystack has embedded itself deep into the Nigerian payments ecosystem, processing about 15% of online transactions in Africas largest economy, according to Kola Aina, a venture capitalist and partner at Ventures Platform.

In the two years since operations began, Paystack has consistently experienced double-digit growth.

This new round of funding will go into expanding the companys operations in Africa. Ghana is the first landing pod, Shola Akinlade, Paystacks CEO tells me. He adds that the goal remains the same, to make it easier for business to make payments.

As simple as that sounds, it is not a very straightforward task in Nigeria for businesses, small and large, to send and receive money. More so, it was not always as (relatively) smooth as it is now. Before Paystack, the payments infrastructure in Nigeria made it so that the process was both cumbersome and uncertain.

In the past, it could take businesses up to 30 minutes to make money transfers. Now, it is a matter of seconds. But even with that, there is still a lot of work to be done. There are gaps that need plugging and holes that need filling. This is evident in the amount of investment that has come into the Nigerian fintech space recently.

For example, within three months in 2018, investors pumped $73.7 million into Nigerian startups. 75% of that funding went to fintech startups. But as important as the amount of funding that Nigerian fintech startups have received is, more crucial in Paystacks case is the elite nature of their headline investors -- Stripe, Visa, and Tencent.

When I ask Shola how they were able to attract these kinds of investors. Everyone understands the potential of the African market, he says.

They understand the problem [of payments] and appreciate the progress Paystack has made in the last 2 years. It follows, then, that they would invest in a progressive industry within a potentially massive market. After all, the wisest investors know very well to play the long game.

Then I ask him what this new investment says about the fintech space and what it means panoramically. He replies that it gives other founders something to aspire to, that it shows the potential and capacity of the market. It also means that theres a lot more attention from Silicon Valley now, attention that was somewhat validated by Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerbergs visit to Lagos in 2016.

Kola Aina echoes Sholas thoughts. It is true that this space has seen a lot of funding but, it is still underexplored, with much room for expansion. In Paystacks case, this new round of funding will open up a world of possibilities for businesses. On a broader level, this investment sends a positive signal to other investors who are still sceptical about our market, he tells me.In a recent interview with reporters after closing out a Catholic family rally in Ireland, the leader of the Roman Catholic church noted that "There have always been gay people and people with homosexual tendencies."

When asked what he would say to a father of a gay child, he suggested praying not condemnation.

In his words, "Don't condemn. Dialogue. Understand, give the child space so he or she can express themselves."

Pope Francis further encouraged parents not to respond with silence or throw their gay children out.

"Ignoring child with this tendency shows a lack of motherhood and fatherhood. This child has the right to a family. And the family not throwing him out," he added.

In other Pope Francis news

The Holy Father has been asked to resign by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, an influential figure in the Catholic church.

In a newly published lengthy letter, he accuses Pope Francis of covering sexual abuse in the Catholic Church for years including allegations facing a cardinal named Theodore McCarrick. He also claims that he had personally informed the pope of the Cardinal's history of abuse as far back as 2013.

The cardinal recently resigned after reports the alleged abuse including an accusation involving the sexual abuse of a minor deemed credible by an internal investigation by the American church.

For this cover-up, Vigano is demanding that he step down. He wrote, "In this extremely dramatic moment for the universal Church. He must acknowledge his mistakes and, in keeping with the proclaimed principle of zero tolerance, Pope Francis must be the first to set a good example for cardinals and bishops who covered up McCarrick's abuses and resign along with all of them."

Meanwhile, Pope Francis has refused to respond to the claims that he knew of the former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick's alleged sexual abuse.

When asked if there was any truth to the claims made in the letter during a news conference on the papal plane back to Rome on Sunday, August 26, 2018, the pope raised eyebrows by sidestepping the questions.

"I will not say a single word about this. I believe the statement speaks for itself. And you have the sufficient journalistic ability to make your conclusions. It's an act of trust, " he said.

Pressed about his knowledge of McCarrick who Vigano refers to as a serial predator by CBS News reporter Anna Matranga, he responded, "This is part of the statement about McCarrick."The Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, gave this directive on Monday, August 27, 2018, at the Redeemers University in Ede, Osun State.

In a keynote address he presented at the 33rd annual conference of the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, Rasheed said since he became the NUC boss in 2016, he and his team had been working on reforms to improve the university education in the country.

He said that the major challenge facing Nigerian Universities at the moment had been sexual harassment allegations against lecturers.

Our major crisis now is sexual harassment.

Whether we like it or not, I want to charge the AVCNU at this meeting to make it a priority in the communique, to take a decisive action on this challenge.

The universities should be willing to punish and stamp out the incidences of sexual harassment because it is damaging to our collective reputation, and we just have to do something.

Please say it and do it; and whenever you punish or sanction somebody in this regard, let your effort be duly publicised.

Let the world know that somebody has lost his or her job because of sexual harassment or somebody has been demoted from being a Professor to Lecturer1 because of sexually harassing a student.

We, in the NUC, will be helping you.

We can be collecting the names of the offenders monthly and advertising in all the newspapers to expose them as culprits of sexual harassment because we are determined to fight them.

This is one area of academic corruption we are fighting.

If lecturers that were told not to take advantage of innocent girls and boys in the universities decide to do so because they have the power to award marks, then we will equally fight them,

Increasing rate of sexual harassment cases in Nigerian Universities

Sexual harassment allegation involving female students and male lecturers in Nigerian Universities has been one of the most discussed topics in 2018.

Female students and graduates have been now coming out to openly accuse their lecturers of sexually harassing them and so far, only one lecturer, Professor Richard Akindele has been found guilty and punished.

Professor Akindele reportedly demanded five rounds of sex from a female student, Monica Osagie.

Following this, Sexual harassment cases have reportedly involved Lagos State University and University of Lagos lecturers.The candidates whose names have not been released by the university were reportedly caught cheating on the first day of the screening exercise.

According to the institution's spokesman, Mr Kunle Akogun, the two suspects have been handed over to the institutions security officers.

One of the two suspects according to Akogun was nabbed for impersonation, while the other was arrested for sitting for the exam twice.

Over 39,000 candidates are writing post UTME at UNILORIN

Earlier, Akogun announced that the post UTME would involve 29,562 at the Ilorin Centre while 10,149 would appear at the Lagos Centre.

The University spokesperson also said that the screening will hold simultaneously at Ilorin and Lagos centres between Monday and Thursday, adding that candidates who might have some issues during the main exercise would have another chance on Friday.

A further breakdown of the figure shows that 32, 272 candidates are seeking admission through the Universal Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME), while the remaining 7, 439 candidates are seeking admission through the Direct Entry (DE) window, he said.

According to Akogun, about 86,401 candidates made the University of Ilorin their first choice institution.

He said that UNILORIN has emerged as the most preferred University for the fifth consecutive year followed by Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria with 74,635 candidates.Mr Kunle Akogun, the institutions Director of Corporate Affairs, announced this on Monday, August 27, 2018, in a statement in Ilorin.

Akogun said the exercise would involve 29,562 at the Ilorin Centre while 10,149 would appear at the Lagos Centre.

The University spokesperson also said that the screening will hold simultaneously at Ilorin and Lagos centres between Monday and Thursday, adding that candidates who might have some issues during the main exercise would have another chance on Friday.

A further breakdown of the figure shows that 32, 272 candidates are seeking admission through the Universal Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME), while the remaining 7, 439 candidates are seeking admission through the Direct Entry (DE) window, he said.

According to Akogun, about 86,401 candidates made the University of Ilorin their first choice institution.

He said that UNILORIN has emerged as the most preferred University for the fifth consecutive year followed by Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria with 74,635 candidates.

The University of Benin (UNIBEN) and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) according to the statistics released by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board have 70,322 and 66,486 candidates respectively.

Other institution included University of Lagos (UNILAG)  62,436; Bayero University Kano (BUK)  56,261; Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU)  48,646; Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka (UNIZIK)  48,554; the University of Ibadan (UI)  47,544; and the University of Jos (UNIJOS)  46,082.

UNILORIN is the most subscribed university in Nigeria

In 2017, the University of Ilorin for the fourth consecutive year maintained its status as the most subscribed university by admission seekers from 2014 to 2017.

Prof. Musa Yusuf, the Director of the Computer Services and Information Technology Centre (COMSIT), of the University, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Ilorin on Tuesday.On Monday, August 27, 2018, the University's Director of Corporate Affairs, Mr Kunle Akogun, in a statement announced that UNILORIN has started the post-UTME screening of 39,711 candidates for the 2018/19 admission process.

Akogun said the exercise would involve 29,562 at the Ilorin Centre while 10,149 would appear at the Lagos Centre.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government had warned all tertiary educational institutions across the country against charging more than N2000 for post UTME screening.

The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB also urged the candidates to report any University or Polytechnic that charge them more N2000 for post UTME screening.

However, complying with this directive means the University of Ilorin will make N79,422,000 from 39,711 candidates.

According to Akogun, about 86,401 candidates made the University of Ilorin their first choice institution.

He said that UNILORIN has emerged as the most preferred University for the fifth consecutive year followed by Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria with 74,635 candidates.

UNILORIN is the most subscribed university in Nigeria

In 2017, the University of Ilorin for the fourth consecutive year maintained its status as the most subscribed university by admission seekers from 2014 to 2017.

Prof. Musa Yusuf, the Director of the Computer Services and Information Technology Centre (COMSIT), of the University, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Ilorin on Tuesday.The comedian took to his Instagram page on Tuesday, August 28, 2018, where he shared photos of his new house. He went on to reveal how he had just N63K in his account just before he bought his house because he had lost a lot of money during his last show.

"God is my rock and my refuge whom shall I fear. Our testimony is huge and no man can share in the glory of what God did, is doing and is going to do. Tears of Joy filled my eyes and my mouth is in awe of God's faithfulness. All the people and brand that I have worked for seem to have abandoned me this year. I travelled out of Nigeria for my shows, had a great show but lost a lot of money.

"My heart raced, my home was shaky, but I kept faith. I contemplated stopping my shows and selling some of our lands, but you know God reminded me of the word He gave me in November 2017. In May, just about a month to buying this house, I had just N63k in my account, having invested in my shows and by my 35th Birthday on the 22nd June 2018, God did what only him could have done.

"If your heart is in a troubled place, there is a God who is Jehovah Shalom. He knows and if you can trust him, he will do exceedingly and abundantly more than you can ever imagine. Your help is in God and not man, for Him alone can and will speak to the hearts of the men that he has chosen for you. Trust in Him alone. Praise God for me. SEYILAW testifies," he wrote.

Funny how we most times see some celebrities post photos and videos of themselves having fun but deeply they might be through hard times. This is probably the first time Seyi Law is giving us a little more into his private life. The last time he caused a stir online was when he called out a nosy follower for criticising his wife's outfit.

ALSO READ:Seyi Law all loved up with daughter

Seyi Law comes for nosy fan who criticised his wife's outfit

About a month ago, Seyi Law took a nosy follower to the cleaners for criticising his wife's outfit. So the gist is that Seyi Law had posted photos from a private family outing a day go, precisely on Saturday, July 28, 2018. It didn't take long before a nosy follower took to the comment section to call out the comedian's wife's outfit.

"Seyi Law is wearing trousers that cover his ankle while his wife's gown or blouse can't even cover her laps. What a tale of a couple," he wrote.The movie which wrapped up production late in 2017 stars Genevieve Nnaji alongside Kate Beckinsale, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Damson Idris.

Shot in several locations including London and Enugu, Nigeria, 'Farming' is set for its premiere at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, and the director has shared more insights into the movie.

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who created the story based on his true life events says the script was developed in the Sundance Film Institute and chronicles his own coming-of-age story growing up fostered by a white working class family in the U.K.

Idris, star of John Singletons FX series 'Snowfall' plays the lead. Despite his Nigerian roots, he grows up to become the leader of a racist skinhead gang in 1980s England. Beckinsale plays his foster mother and Mbatha-Raw portrays a benevolent teacher who offers him one last chance at redemption.

Director speaks on Farming

''One of the most shocking social experiments in recent UK history involved the farming out of Nigerian children to white families in the 1960s.

Drawing on his own life story, actor-turned-director Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje writes and directs this electrifying film that spans the experience of its protagonist from childhood into adulthood.

A coming-of-age film unlike any other, it is a painful but moving look at what this experiment meant to a London-born child whose Yoruba parents voluntarily gave him to a white working-class family, thinking they were giving him the opportunity for a better life.

Enitan's (Damson Idris) upbringing is a rollercoaster ride that ends up out of control. Living with a half-dozen other children in his new foster home, the young boy drifts off into a world of fantasy in an effort to cope but, of course, he is rudely awakened by reality.

A brief move back to Nigeria, where he can't speak his parents' native tongue, offers no asylum. Sent back to England, he is desperate to fit in, to meet with society's approval.

This takes him on the most mind-bending of trips during which he joins a white, Clockwork Orangelike skinhead gang led by a racist psychopath, and finds himself beating up on his own kind.

These moments are the most disturbing and troubling, as this once-sensitive, contemplative adolescent turns into a violent menace.''

Akinnuoye-Agbaje withholds nothing as he details Enitan's hurt, his yearning, and his descent into destructive self-loathing. But the story does not end here.

Farming leads us on a journey of twists and turns, and of perseverance, that will take Enitan in directions not only unexpected, but seemingly unreachable.Joel told Punch News that he joined a group of runners because he feared for his life.

I am not a member of any gay club; I have a girlfriend. I have sex with ladies.

I had visited the venue two years ago for a wedding ceremony and I liked the environment. Saturday was my birthday. I went there to have some drinks when I noticed that a party was going on in the event hall.

Around 2am, I noticed that some guys were running. I had to run because in Nigeria when you see people running, you have to also run for your life.

I noticed that the policemen had invaded the premises of the hotel. They gathered everyone from the bar, club and hall.

I got to know that it was a birthday party that was going on there. The police did not listen to anyone.

Tough job for the police arresting the right gay person

One of the suspects arrested by the police is Obialo James. He is a 20-year-old HIV patient who claims he was at the hotel to perform.

Getting captured by the police has prevented him from taking drugs recommended for his condition.

I am not a gay; I went there to perform because I am a dancer. Is being a dancer a crime? They have been beating me so that I can say I am a gay.

"Even when I told them that I was HIV positive, they did not care. I contracted the disease from my mother during pregnancy.Over the years, Greensprings School has emerged as a leader in the education sector, with many awards, accreditations and success stories from its Alumni community to show for it.

The Greensprings School Ikoyi campus which opens in September 2018 will cater for preschool and elementary school children between the ages of 2 and 10 years.

The opening of Greensprings School Ikoyi campus is a strategic response to the increase in demand from prospective parents and residents of Ikoyi and its environs. The Ikoyi campus of Greensprings School will offer the same quality of education as the existing campuses in Lekki and Anthony areas of Lagos.

According to Mrs Lai Koiki, the Executive Director of Greensprings School this exciting initiative will bring us one step closer towards achieving our vision of leading holistic, inclusive, innovative world class education in Africa.

Greensprings School remains committed to laying a solid foundation for children by its consistent focus on early childhood education. This is very important because, when children adopt a habit of excellence at their formative stage, they stand a better chance of succeeding in any field of interest later in life.

Greensprings School Ikoyi campus provides an enabling environment for children to be nurtured towards reaching their full potential. The adoption of growth mindsetand child-centered learning will adequately prepare students for future exploits.

Why Greensprings School should be considered one of the top private schools in Ikoyi

Greensprings School has been in existence for over 33 years and is known for its consistency in delivering quality education to students from preschool to post-secondary school. Greensprings School has also constantly invested in innovative ideas towards its goal of redefining education in Africa.

Some of their methods that stand out are as follows:-

1. Key focus on Early Childhood Development: One of the major factors that distinguish Greensprings School from other private schools in Ikoyi is their focus on early childhood education, due of the understanding that academic excellence begins with the right educational foundation and can mostly be achieved during the formative years of a child.

This is carefully delivered using the MontessoriMethod of teaching at Pre-school and the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) at the Elementary School.

2. Wellrounded Education: Our approach to education is one that promotes a comprehensive learning culture in key areas, thereby building self-confidence in our future leaders.

In essence, we seek to produce students who are not only sound in academics, but also competent in areas such as sports, community service, entrepreneurship, music and performing arts.

Over the years, our students have progressed to reputable universities globally and our Alumni community are also contributing positively to society in numerous ways. Here are some of their achievements.

3. Outstanding Academic Performances: With the introduction of Thinking Skills to our curriculum, Greensprings students have recorded excellent pass rate in international examinations, leaving parents and educational regulators with the joy of regarding us as one of the top private schools in Ikoyi.

Recently, for the second year in a row, 5 of our students received the Cambridge Outstanding Learner Awards by the British Council and in the last 2 years, 10 Greensprings students have emerged top in country for different subjects in IGCSE examinations, while Honour Olatunji emerged top in the world for Mathematics in 2016.

4. Inclusive Education / Learning Support: Inclusive education allows students with different learning abilities stay together in the same learning environment. Students with learning difficulties will also be catered for at Greensprings School Ikoyi campus.

Our experienced Learning Support team adopts non-traditional resources and methods to make learning more accessible for students with these unique learning needs. It is a belief in Greensprings School that every child possesses unique abilities that require an enabling environment to flourish.

5. Encourage Parental Involvement: We understand that the educational journey of a child can be more productive if parents are involved.

Provisions will be made to ensure that parents who live and work in Ikoyi and its environs, are able to conveniently partake in school activities of Greensprings School Ikoyi.

Greensprings School, Ikoyi campus will provide the following:

Montessori Method for Pre-School

International Primary Curriculum (IPC) for Elementary School

Stimulating learning environment

Qualified and experienced teachers to guarantee academic excellence

Ultra-modern gadgets to aid interactive learning

Conducive classroom

Play and recreation area

Mini - swimming pool

Advisory and guidance throughout their formative years

Open door policy and easy access to school administrators

All these factors combine to create a solid educational foundation required to ensure a smooth transition into secondary school, as well as guarantee academic excellence.

Greensprings School Ikoyi is a perfect choice for families who live and work in Ikoyi and its environs, It is also for parents who are unable to join our sister campuses in Anthony and Awoyaya areas of Lagos due to distance.

Click hereto know more about Greensprings School Ikoyi campus.It is a relaxed environment, one allowing room for free movement even for guests. The privilege soon becomes a loophole explored by a starch-shirted man who had costly motives.

In an empty office, he thinks out a plan to ensure a swift theft and he succeeds. Yet to be identified, he walks out of the radio station unnoticed but doesn't leave alone.

He is one of two menacing figures that are tormenting the city of Lagos and no one can get a firm grip on the individuals.

Like the slippery movement of the fish in the palms, there is no clear-cut idea about how they operate. One is dubbed the crippled thief.

Just like when lightning strikes

The crippled thief has an efficient method of operation. He has an anomaly for a physique which gives him the perfect covering.

An unsuspecting victim will make him out to be a helpless man with a deformity. This is why he is smooth and has not seen inside a prison.

Some poem lovers and art enthusiast gather at a venue to enjoy the magic of words.

The atmosphere is serene until the crippled thief inserted his fang on the event.

He beats everyone but not the camera. It captures him as he palms a mobile phone. The rumours surrounding his capture following this event remains just that - rumours.

The crippled thief is swift. Just like when lightning strikes.

ALSO READ: These dangerous thieves are as deadly as Offa robbery suspects

A newbie is born and he is I.T inclined

Are you looking for a techie? The identity of a newbie thief is unknown but he seems to value gadgets.

On Friday, August 17, 2018, he reportedly visits the City FM, Lagos as a guest but walks out as the owner of an Apple MacBook.

A surveillance camera captures him as he hides the computing device in a bag.

Unlike a more experienced crippled thief, he fidgets like a beginner as he makes to escape with the valuable.

He has quickly earned a stripe. His host City FM has placed an N50,000 bounty on him.

The newbie and the crippled thief share a similarity. They are I.T inclined.

In between these two, many Smartphones and other tech devices reportedly stolen explains their true desire.

ALSO READ: Reward for anyone who finds radio station guest suspected of stealing MacBook

Earlier reports confirm that they operate in an environment where the chances of meeting a thief a petty thief is slim.This is according to the Linda Ikeji's Blog (LIB). The blogger confirms that while the woman has been apprehended by the cops, her accomplice Emmanuel Gbenga was not so lucky.

A mob was able to get a hold on him before a police intervention. The state commissioner of police Edgal Imohimi has condemned the action of mobsters.

ALSO READ: Poly student beaten to death after killing 5 persons with his car

According to LIB, he confirms that anyone who participated in the killing of Gbenga set ablaze will be dealt with.Forty year-old teacher, Fakeye Oluwafemi, could not contain his emotion as he was called out to take home a brand new plasma television set during a raffle draw in the course of the colourful Ojude Oba ceremony.

He exclaimed, "Glo is real, Glo is glorious and Glo is everywhere" as he clutched his winning closely to his body. He was one of the many winners of the evening of fun and spectacular culture.

A 30-year-old mathematics teacher in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, Ayodele Dada, won a brand new Hyundai Accent, the star prize of the Raffle Draw organised by Globacom at the event.

The star prize winner was randomly picked by the Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland, Oba Dr. Sikiru Kayode Adetona, in the lucky draw. Three other names had been picked earlier, but unfortunately, the three people were not present at the venue of the Ojude Oba Festival.

When Dada was called and his phone rang in the crowd, there was a huge eruption of excitement around him as everyone hailed and congratulated him.

An incredulous Dada stood almost transfixed as his unexpected prize was presented to him by the Guest of Honour and Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, assisted by Globacoms representative at the grand finale, Mr. Folu Aderibigbe.

Other lucky winners at the event include 40-year-old Adeyiga Adeboye, 33-year-old Oshin Oluwadara and 34-year-old trader Dupe Saheed who each won a refrigerator. A 25-year-old Facility Manager, Jimoh Toheeb, won a generator and Ogundijo Adekunle, a civil servant went home with a microwave oven.

This years edition of Ojude Oba also featured the usual traditional competitions. At the end of it, Egbe Tobalase Okunrin emerged as the best male age group and was presented with a trophy, while Egbe Bobamoyegun Okunrin Asiwaju placed second. Bobamoyegun Akile Okunrin placed third.

In the Female category, Bobamoyegun Obinrin Asiwaju beat the rest to number one position. Bobagunte Omooba placed second while Bobagunte Obirin Gold placed third.

The Kuku Family emerged the overall winner in the horse riders category, Balogun Shoye emerged second, while Balogun Odunuga Family finished third.

The Chairman of Globacom, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jr., in a speech delivered on his behalf by Mr. Aderibigbe, congratulated the Awujale for the milestones recorded in the land since he ascended the throne in 1960. He said he was proud of the development strides of the community under the ruler.

Meanwhile, a new Miss Ojude Oba emerged in the person of Ololade Aminat Adeiye, a 200-level Accountancy student of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye. A 19-year-old Adeiye defeated 12 others to pick the crown in the early hours of Friday at the Equity Hotel, Ijebu Ode, venue of the event.

An Environmental Education Graduate of University of Benin, Kofoworola Osoteku, placed second, while Halimah Olorode of the Economics Department of the Olabisi Onabanjo University emerged third. Three iconic artistes namely Mr. Real, Idowest and Slimcase assisted by DJTops thrilled the crowd at the beauty pageant while inspirational actor, OdunladeAdekola compered the show.The news has not caught the attention of foremost LGBT rights activist Bisi Alimi. He has made his feelings known about the arrest on his Facebook page.

His tone was definitely of rebuke and distaste at the actions of the Nigerian Police Force, backed up by terrible claims as, Gay initiation party.

In his post, Alimi, now happily to his partner said, People have parties in Lagos everyday. Sometimes the parties have more men than women and sometimes more women than men. The idea that there is a gay party or a gay initiation party is nothing but lack or responsibilities from the part of our police and government.

To underline the outrage of the event and the many questionable circumstances around the event, Alimi continued that, Those innocent people are a victim of their poverty. Whether they are gay or not is not the issue, the issue is, they are poor and they will pay the highest price for being poor in a country that celebrate stolen wealth.

While the actions of the Nigerian Police Force seems questionable, we prefer to let the evidence reveal that angle.

Presidential aspirant says he won't criminalize gay people

In related news, on Tuesday, August 28, 2018, Pulse reports that Presidential Aspirant for the 2019 presidential election, Donald Duke, says even though he would protect homosexual people, he is not comfortable with the idea of them showing love in public.

The former Cross River State governor said this during his interview on On The Couchanchored by entertainer, Folarin Falana, aka Falz, and journalist, Laila Johnson-Salami.

Even though he was not specifically asked about homosexuality in Nigeria, Duke offered to express his thoughts on the countrys stance on it.

According to him, he doesnt understand homosexuality, but he would offer protection to gay people and not criminalise them. However, he said he is uncomfortable with public display of affection by homosexual people and would be against such in the country.

He said, I dont understand it (homosexuality) because Im straight, the emotional feelings a gay person would have of their sexuality, I dont understand it, but I would not criminalise them.

I would ensure that they have the protection of the law but if they want to exhibit their sexuality, thats an affront on the current norms of society.

I arrived at New York and went through the airport, and at the passenger rank, two guys came together and were kissing. Keep it in your house. Im sorry.

Im talking about the norms of society. The day you try and kiss me, the slap Ill slap you ehn. Dont even try it.

You cannot jettison the norms of society. There are certain things youll do in America or in England or Nigeria that you cannot do in Saudi Arabia, for instance, and youve got to respect the norms of the society.

So when youre in Rome, behave like the Romans. Dont swim against the tide because were not there.A witness, simply identified as Musiliu, told NAN that the clash followed a disagreement between two groups of hemp smoking miscreants over the death of a member after heavy doses of marijuana.

What happened was some guys smoking Indian hemp in the market were fighting among themselves over the death of someone whom they gave an overdose of the hemp.

Afterwards, the miscreants were seen carrying the corpse about in the market chanting war songs and destroying anything on sight. I think that was when the policemen were called to intervene.

The police detachment from Ketu Police Station came and started shooting sporadically in the market while the miscreants were also seen facing them in spite of the shooting.

The police latter went back to reinforce and that caused a lot of trouble as the market people started running helter skelter in order not to be caught up in the crisis,  the witness said.

Chioma, another witness, said that the trouble started when the policemen were trying to repel an attack by the miscreants.

We are tired of these jobless youths coming to Ketu to smoke Indian hemp in the market. They are causing trouble here in this market.

Its been long they have been smoking here causing trouble for us in the market. The trouble today started with them, they are attacking those policemen that came to restore peace in the market.

I think the policemen are not happy with thier effrontery at repelling them, so the policemen went for reinforcement.

Things got worse as the policemen came back to the market, shooting sporadically into the air while people run for dear lives, she said.

ALSO READ:9 reported dead after clash between rival cult groups

Speaking on the riot, Spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, Choke Oti, told NAN that normalcy have been restored in the area.

Our men are there doing the needful. The police is proactive and we have been able to put the situation under control.On Sunday, August 26, 2018, Osinbajo held a town hall meeting with US based Nigerians in Minnesota, Minneapolis.

At this town hall, he took questions and interacted with the audience on various subjects of national interest and concern.

One of the talking points during the dialogue was how much has accrued to Nigeria in oil revenues in decades, and how much of that oil wealth has been squandered by the ruling elite.

A short story of wastage

The President Buhari administration never misses the opportunity to dwell on how much past administrations wasted the nations oil riches and Osinbajo grasped at the opportunity when it presented itself at this town hall.

Relying on data presented by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) between 1990 and 2014, the vice president said not much was funneled into improving the nations infrastructure even though Nigeria amassed so much in oil revenue since the 90s.

According to Osinbajo, under the IBB/Abacha administrations (1990  1998), Nigeria realised $199.8bn.

Under the Obasanjo/YarAdua governments (1999-2009), the country got $401.1bn.

During the Jonathan administration (2010-2014), Nigeria got $381.9bn from oil revenues.

The question that we must all ask is that what exactly happened to resources? The question that I asked is that where is the infrastructure?

When added together, the oil revenues that accrued to the country under IBB, Obasanjo, YarAdua and Jonathan amounted to $982.8bn.

Osinbajo told his audience that the Buhari administration is channeling unprecedented capital outlay toward improving the nations crumbling and inadequate infrastructure.

One of the critical things that we must bear in mind and see is that this government, despite earning $94bn, up until 2017, we are spending more on infrastructure and capital than any previous government. So, we are spending N1.5trn on capital. That is the highest we have spent since 1990.

Moving billions before elections

In March of 2018, Osinbajo accused the Jonathan administrationof moving the sums of N100billion and $295million out of the national treasury in one day; only hours before the countrys 2015 general elections.

"Nobody should talk about the economy when you have this kind of huge leakages and huge corruption. Corruption that completely makes nonsense of even what you are allocating to capital projects, Osinbajo had said at the time.

Jonathan and his aides have repeatedly denied the allegations of corruption.

Nigerians may recall that lying is the most consistent achievement of Prof Osinbajos almost three years as vice president, Jonathans media aide, Reno Omokri, had responded.ABC News(WASHINGTON) -- The federal government will spend up to $1.2 billion to buy products from farmers hurt by the retaliatory tariffs from China and other countries, and will provide almost $5 billion in payments to farmers, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday.



The purchases and payments are part of an emergency temporary aid package for farmers that was announced in July to provide relief for producers who were hurt by the trade war with China and other countries. The government said it could spend up to $12 billion to offset the estimated damages from tariffs placed on U.S. goods as retaliation for tariffs President Donald Trump announced against China and other countries. The spending announced on Monday only represents the first phase of aid.



Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said farmers were already under economic pressure, and tariffs couldn't have come at a worse time. USDA's chief economist said net farm income is down more than 20 percent since 2012 and that it's projected to go down even more.



"These are the men and women who year after year put their equity on the line and assume the financial risk every time they plant a new crop. President Trump knows American farmers, ranchers and producers are the ones who feed, fuel and clothe not only this nation but also the rest of the world," Perdue told reporters. "Farmers are patriots and they support the president in his defense of the overall American economy, but its a fact that they cannot pay their bills with simple patriotism."



Perdue said the aid programs announced Monday will give Trump more time to negotiate new trade deals. On Monday, Trump also announced that he had reached a deal with Mexico that will lead to a replacement of the North American Free Trade Agreement  just months after his administration levied tariffs on steel and aluminum from Mexico and Canada, saying that NAFTA talks were taking too long.



The USDA already purchases millions of dollars in surplus food and other products as part of its aid programs, which redirect the products to food banks and nutrition programs like school lunches. The purchases announced on Monday as part of trade relief will be in addition to that spending. USDA undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs Greg Ibach said they will be targeting different products intended for foreign markets, such as buying "fancy oranges" that would be sold in China, because the government does not want to displace food that is already purchased for programs like school lunches.



The largest purchases include $558 million in pork, $93 million in apples and almost $85 million in dairy products. But in addition to purchasing from larger industries, the government will make some smaller purchases including $12 million in peanut butter, $1.7 million in blueberries, and $15,000 in figs.



Industry groups like the National Pork Producers Council said they are grateful for relief from the financial hit they took after the tariffs were put in place, but said that what producers really want is for the administration to end trade wars that hurt their businesses.



In addition to purchasing goods, the government will offer almost $5 billion in direct payments to farmers whose products were affected the most by the trade wars, including soybeans, cotton and dairy. Payments are capped at $125,000 per person or legal entity, in most cases, and are available to applicants with a gross income less than $900,000.



The majority of those payments  $3.6 billion  will go to soybean farmers.

USDA says the aid package also includes $200 million to identify new foreign markets for U.S. goods.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 28)  Newly appointed Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo de Castro is not letting anything disrupt her 40-day stint as the country's top judge.

During her first press conference as chief magistrate on Tuesday, De Castro urged all Filipinos, including critics, to "move on" from the historic ouster of her predecessor, Maria Lourdes Sereno.

"I think we should all move on and work together for the good of our judiciary. Let's put the past behind us, but of course we should not forget the lessons that we learned," De Castro said when asked about her message to her detractors.

De Castro was among the eight justices who voted to unseat Sereno on May 11 and permanently remove her from office on June 19, for alleged failure to file complete statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth.

Critics say President Rodrigo Duterte gave De Castro the chief justice post as a reward for her role in Sereno's ouster, a claim both Duterte and De Castro denied.

"I don't think that one incident like you mentioned would have been enough for me to be elevated to the highest position in the judiciary," De Castro said.

Duterte on Monday said he chose De Castro since she was the most senior among the three justices in the shortlist. The other two were Associate Justices Diosdado Peralta and Lucas Bersamin.

Malacanang also repeatedly denied being behind moves to oust Sereno, even as the President declared himself an enemy of the former chief justice when she insisted on his involvement.

De Castro also said she has no time for distractions, referring to the impeachment complaint filed against her and other justices for voting against Sereno.

"I have no time to think about it," she said when asked about the impeachment complaint which will be tackled by the House Committee on Justice next week. "I have very few weeks to work here in court. I don't want it to be disrupted by anything else," she added.

De Castro is set to retire on October 8 upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70, making her the country's shortest-serving Chief Justice.

'Look at my track record'

De Castro urged her critics to instead look at what she has done for the government for the past 45 years.

"People should just look at my track record, my long service in the judiciary," De Castro said.

Then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appointed De Castro as associate justice in 2007.

She began her government service as a law clerk at the Supreme Court in 1973 after earning her law degree at the University of the Philippines in 1972. She served as state counsel at the Department of Justice in 1978, assistant chief state counsel in 1997, associate justice of the Sandiganbayan in the same year, and presiding justice of the anti-graft court in 2004.

'I haven't met the President'

On her first day at work as Chief Justice, De Castro led the oral arguments on a petition against Duterte's decision to pull the country out of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

De Castro vowed to be independent in all her decisions as chief magistrate, even in cases involving the one who appointed her to the post.

She added she believes Duterte will not do anything to "impair the independence of the judiciary."

She also stressed that she never asked any favors from Duterte.

"I'd like to inform everyone that up to this time, I have not met the President, I have not seen him, I have not approached him, whether directly or through anybody, so he appointed me without knowing me personally," De Castro said.

The De Castro court

De Castro stressed that her legacy as Supreme Court justice will not be determined by her short term as Chief Justice.

"Even when the position of Chief [Justice] was beyond my imagination, I was already working on many projects which I want to be done when I retire not as Chief Justice, but as Associate Justice," she said.

"I want the De Castro court to be remembered as the court which restored collegiality in the Supreme Court," she added.

She thanked colleagues and supporters for a warm welcome as she took her oath Tuesday morning.

"I'm happy that I have the support of all of my colleagues. They were all present during my first day at work," she said.

There were flowers and balloons at the High Court to congratulate De Castro for her promotion. But outside the court's building in Manila, there were also protesters who chanted "Ang cheap, ang cheap, ang cheap ng justice ninyo (Your justice is cheap)."

CNN Philippines' Anjo Alimario contributed to this report.A report by Financial Times revealed that Trump described Buhari as lifeless, adding that he didnt want to meet the Nigerian President again.

Reacting to the alleged comment, Fayose said Just wondering when President Buhari will charge "undiplomatic Trump" for this international "Hate Speech" because if it were to be Fayose uunnm!! ...... Thank God Trump is not a Nigerian.... National security supremacy would have applied.

ALSO READ:

Buhari Media Organisations reaction

The Buhari Media Organisation, in its reaction, said that the President has proven his fitness severally.

The group also said that Buhari will not be distracted by President Trumps alleged comment.Emuekpere disclosed this on Tuesday in Calabar, Cross River, during the handing over of the commands leadership to his successor, Rear Admiral David Adeniran.

He said the rice was seized due to the sustained patrol of the maritime domain by personnel of the command.

According to him, the anti-smuggling operation was carried out in line with President Muhammadu Buharis policy of enhancing and promoting local production of rice.

Gladly, in the last seven months, we have been able to achieve some of our set targets in view of the numerous challenges.

To a great extent, we have successfully dealt with illegal bunkering, crude oil theft, smuggling, human trafficking, piracy and sea robbery in Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Rivers states that are under the command.

Within this period, the command seized over 13, 803 bags of imported rice valued at N220.8 million at N16,000 per bag and several contrabands.

These were made possible by continuous deployment of various platforms within the command area of responsibility throughout my stay as the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC).

Within this period also, the command was able to shut down over 150 illegal refineries through sustained operation, while over 90 suspects were arrested for various maritime crimes, he said.

Receiving the flag of leadership, the new FOC, Adeniran, commended Emuekpere for his dynamic leadership in improving the welfare of personnel and protecting the maritime domain.

I want to commend the former FOC for his development drive in the command and also urge officers and men of this command to accord me the needed support to move the Nigerian Navy forward.

Our purpose is to fight all forms of illegality to ensure that our maritime domain is safe for business to thrive.

We are military men, involving in politics or social media activities is not accepted, he said.Mr Aliyu Adole, the state NDLEA Commander, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe on Tuesday.

Adole tasked the leaders to sensitise their subjects and congregation to shun violence before, during and after the 2019 general elections.

He said that there was need to advise youths in the state to shun drug abuse, saying that it was dangerous to their health.

We need the traditional and religious leaders seriously, especially as we are in the political period; we want peaceful polls in the state and the country at large, Adole said.

According to him, some youths get out of control when they take drugs; religious leaders need to convince them that what they are taking is bad.

Adole also solicited the support of the elders and parents in the communities to speak out on the dangers of substance abuse.

So, everybody in the community should come out to assist the NDLEA to educate youths in Gombe State to get out of drug abuse, the state NDLEA commander said.When terrorists raided Government Girls Science and Technical College in Dapchi, Yobe, on February 19, 2018, Leah was abducted alongside 112 other hostages. After weeks of negotiations with the government, the terrorists released 107 of the 113 originally abducted on March 21.

While it was reported by some of the released hostages that five of them that were taken had died of heart attack and stress and buried in the bush, Leah Sharibu was kept in captivity by the terrorists because she refused to renounce her Christian faith.

In an audio message published on Monday, August 27, 2018, Leah appealed to President Muhammadu Buharito secure her freedom, six months after she was abducted.

She said, "I am Leah Sharibu, the girl that was abducted in GGSS Dapchi. I am calling on the government and people of goodwill to intervene to get me out of my current situation.

"I also plead to the members of the public to help my mother, my father, my younger brother and relatives. Kindly help me out of my predicament. I am begging you to treat me with compassion, I am calling on the government, particularly, the president to pity me and get me out of this serious situation. Thank you."

While speaking during an interview on Channels TV on Tuesday, August 28, President Buhari's Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said the government cannot properly give a timeline of Sharibu's return.

He said, "For how much longer? I think that question can only be answered by God, but I believe that God is interested in that young girl and will ensure that she's preserved.

"At least by the time that clip we had is verified, one will be sure it's her actually and when that is determined, we should all be glad that she's alive.

"When will she return? By the grace of God, the government is working on it, working at it and we believe she'll be back."

Later during the interview, when asked how long it'll take to verify the voice in the audio message, Adesina could not confirm, but he revealed that President Buhari is eager to get the young girl back.

"To verify, that will be within the purview of the security agencies, particularly the DSS, to do, but I don't think that should take time; but on how long it'll take Leah Sharibu to come back, left to the president, he wants her back today," he said.

Leah's parents confirm audio is authentic

Even though Buhari's Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, disclosed that the government is working on verifying the audio message, Leah's parents have confirmed it's indeed her voice in the clip.

"I can confirm to you that the voice that spoke is that of my daughter, Leah. It is her voice, no doubt. I am happy that I can hear my daughter speak. This has given me hope that she is alive. I am also happy to see her recent picture displayed.May is expected to hold discussions with President Buhari and also meet victims of the modern slavery in Lagos, during her visit.

According to Vanguard, the PDP called on the Prime Minister to uncover the true state of affairs in Nigeria.

This was made known in a statement issued by PDPs spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan.

Ologbondiyan said This is particularly as we have been made aware of plans by the Federal Government to use the visit to dish out more lies to the international community in an effort to cover its failures in governance in the last three years, for which Nigerians are clamouring for a new president under the PDP.

We charge the British Prime Minister, as a parliamentarian, to take the Buhari Presidency to task on its unabated interferences and violent attacks on the institution of the National Assembly, including threats to forcefully remove the elected presiding officers of the Senate, as well as the recent invasion and blockade of the National Assembly by Presidency-controlled security forces.

Disobedience of court orders

The party also called on Prime Minister May to speak to the President about the Federal Governments disobedience of court orders.

PDP also urged the British leader to task President Buhari on his widely condemned stand against the supremacy of the rule of law in addition to records of violation of human rights in Nigeria, including governments disobedience to court orders, reported extra-judicial killings, torture, unlawful political arrests and detention, restriction of free speech and media freedom and lack of governments accountability as detailed in report by various international bodies, including Transparency International (TI), Amnesty International (AI) and US Department of States.

The British leader should also elicit discussions with the President on the recent report by Price Waterhouse Cooper showing humongous corruption in his administration, including the circumstances surrounding the N4 trillion unremitted oil money in agencies under his direct supervision as minister.

ALSO READ: Trump called Buhari lifeless after April meeting

Finally, we urge the Prime Minister May, to engage President Buhari on the violent rigging of elections under his watch, and extract commitment from him on his administrations preparedness for a free, fair and credible general elections in 2019, especially as there are apprehensions across Nigeria, that his actions, utterances and body language suggest otherwise, Daily Post reports.According to a report by Financial Times, sources revealed that Trump informed aides after his meeting with Buhari that he never wanted to meet someone so lifeless again.

"The first meeting, with Nigeria's ailing 75-year-old Muhammadu Buhari in April, ended with the US president telling aides he never wanted to meet someone so lifeless again, according to three people familiar with the matter," the newspaper claimed.

The alleged comment has led to public ridicule of the president by Nigerians on social media and calls for the government to question the US government for an explanation. However, the presidency is unfazed by the comment because of its questionable source.

While speaking during an interview on Channels TV on Tuesday, August 28, 2018, the president's Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said the government is not worried about the report which could be politically-motivated.

When asked about the alleged comment, he said, "Channels is a television station reputed for news and objectivity; if that came to you, that information, not ascribed to anybody, not verified, would you take it as authentic? If it's unverified as it came out, then the presidency has no comment on it. It does not pass all the tests of good journalism."

When asked if the comment impacts the president's public image ahead of the 2019 presidential election, Adesina said, "No doubt it won't because Nigerians ultimately are the ones that'll elect their president. No foreign power will determine who gets elected.

"That does not worry us. One because it's unsubstantiated, it's unverified. Anybody could have planted it. We know that in the jostle for power, people can do anything."

Buhari's medical problems

It's unclear why Trump would have allegedly described Buhari as 'lifeless' behind closed doors, but the 75-year-old president has a well-documented history of ill health over the past one year.

He was away in London for a combined 154 days treating an undisclosed ailment on two separate visits. In fact, when he left the US after meeting Trump, he was 'missing' for two days before his aides reported that he was in London for a 'technical stopover'.

A few days later, it was disclosed that the president saw his doctor during the stopover and had been asked to return to London for another four-day medical trip.Trumps alleged pejorative remarks about Buhari happened after both leaders met at the White House in April.

The White House has been silent since the story broke. It shouldnt be. I expected White House Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders--who can look anyone straight in the eye and regale them with alternative facts--to label the report a work of fiction, at a hurriedly called press conference.

I expected the White House to have issued a statement to say Trumps "innocuous remarks" have once again been twisted out of context by the fake news media.

I expected the White House to have called before going on to ask Financial Times to retract the story or contend with some libel suit.

Instead, the White House and Trumps office have treated this whole saga as a non-issue. But it is not. Buhari is not just president of the most populous, powerful black nation on earth, Nigeria is also Africas number one economy and power house. To call her president lifeless is to pour scorn on over 190 million people for choosing the most lifeless among them to run their affairs.

To be lifeless is to die. Lifeless is moribund. Lifeless is derogatory. To be lifeless is to inspire no one. To be lifeless is to show up at cabinet meetings with a blank mind and with a face so bland, Mona Lisa would go green with envy. Lifeless is an insult.

And President Trump is an insult churner; an insult machine. The words attributed to him in that story sounded very much like him. Trump churns out insults and disparaging remarks the way a water dispenser issues water. His acerbic tongue should be studied in tertiary institutions if only as a means of avoiding another world war.

There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that Trump called Nigeria shithole back when he was accused of calling Nigeria shithole. Because of his personality, I always consider Trump guilty until proven otherwise. Whatever they say Trump said, he most likely said.

But is it really an insult to describe Buhari as lifeless? The Nigerian leader hardly inspires in speech or body language. He looks to be brooding or crestfallen most of the time. He is not one for showing up at policy debates because he would rather have aides issue banal press statements in his name. He hasnt spoken directly to the local press since 2015, his television appearances are a bore and you would be lucky not to fall asleep when he gets hold of the microphone.As the world remembers U.S Senator, John McCain, as the soldier, the patriot, and the political maverick, I remember McCain as the legislator, whose bipartisan approach to getting things done, earned him a place amongst the greatest parliamentarians of our time. He will be missed.

His issues-based approach to politics allowed him to look beyond party lines in other to get things done for his nation. His legacy as a presidential candidate of the U.S. Republican Party and as a prisoner of war whose resilience remained unbroken while captured in Vietnam for five years, is a reminder to all of us that the interests of our respective nations must always prevail over our individual interests. He will be missed.Ogbonnia said this while reacting to a statement that was attributed to United Sates President, Donald Trump.

A Financial Times report revealed that Trump, after meeting with Buhari in April 2018, at the White House, referred to him as lifeless.

Ogbonnia also said that the world does not want Buhari to return to office in 2019, Vanguard reports.

His statement I told you so. About ten days ago, I revealed to our great party, the All Progressive Congress (APC), and fellow Nigerians that the world is against President Muhammadu Buharis second term bid.

I asserted that the opposition is coming from influential leaders within our major allies, including Great Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Russia, China, Canada, etc.

I added that the emerging consensus among these nations is that President Buharis second term ambition lacks in cogency. They point to Buharis failing health, lack of clear vision, lack of intellectual capacity, an apparent pattern of torpor, nepotism, wanton killings, disregard for the rule of law, and a growing sense of disunity and uncertainty in the land, among many failings.

However, both the Presidency and the Hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, vigorously countered my account. According to Onyeama,

The international community is very supportive of President Buhari. As you can see President Buhari has transformed our relationship with foreign countries and also the perception of Nigeria by foreign leaders.

But the hard truth is trickling in. The trending report by Financial Times where US President Donald Trump blatantly referred to Buhari as lifeless is a partial testimony.

In short, my sources within the White House confided that Trump believes that Africa has the potential to be fully independent, 'but the countries over there need to get their act together.'

They need good leaders who can get things done. Nigeria, for example, has huge, huge resources and can do much better than what is going on over there. This view is popular among the Western nations. I also gathered that some of the world leaders plan to visit or talk to Buhari soon.

Perhaps, leadership is contingent upon the environment. What is good for America may not be good for Nigeria and vice versa.

But if any relationship with the outside world is a factor in solving Nigerian problems, President Buhari has no business touching the APC nomination form. Further, the Financial Times does not speak for the world, quite alright, but its report is a part of the pressure from the international community that will continue to mount as the months leading to 2019 go by.

Such a global campaign is expected to be more robust than what President Goodluck Jonathan faced in 2015.

Buhari Media Organisation fires back

In its response to President Trumps alleged comment, the Buhari Media Organisation said that the US Presidents disrespectful attitude towards world leaders is not new.The Prime Minister kicked off her first visit to Africa in Cape Town, South Africa, on Tuesday, August 28, 2018, and expressed concerns about Nigeria's situation.

Even though she praised the country's economy to be a thriving one, she also complained about the worrying number of poor people living in the country.

She said, "Most of the world's poorest people are Africans. And increasing wealth has brought rising inequality, both between and within nations.

"For example, much of Nigeria is thriving, with many individuals enjoying the fruits of a resurgent economy. Yet 87 million Nigerians live on less than $1.90 a day - making it home to more very poor people than any other nation in the world."

The current estimate of poor people that live in Nigeria was released by the World Poverty Clock in June with 44.2% of its current estimated 196 million population measured to be living on less than $1.25 a day.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Zeus Polls correctly predicted Gov. Willie Obianos and Dr Kayode Fayemis victories in the last gubernatorial elections in Anambra and Ekiti.

The latest Zeus Polls findings signed by Tanko Suleiman, Polls Chief Operating Officer, Berlin, Germany, was made available to newsmen in Lagos on Tuesday.

The polls posited that in spite of a seemingly voters antipathy to the APC in the upcoming 2019 general elections, the party was favoured to win the 2019 governorship elections in key states.

It noted that 51 per cent of voters polled in Kaduna State expressed a desire to return incumbent Gov. Nasir el-Rufai come 2019.

65 per cent of voters polled in Lagos State want incumbent Gov. returned in 2019 while 58 per cent of voters polled in Edo State say they will return incumbent Gov. .

In the PDP-held Rivers State, 65 per cent of voters polled do not want incumbent Gov. back in 2019, as over 47 per cent of polled voters said they will vote , a riverine aspirant of the APC if he picks the partys ticket.

In Kano State, only 43 per cent of voters polled are in favour of the incumbent Gov. returning in 2019, as 60 per cent say they will vote for any candidate supported by former Gov s Kwankwasiyya Movement, it stated.Jang, a serving Senator representing Plateau North senatorial district, made the announcement at the PDP Secretariat in Jos, Plateau State capital, on Tuesday, August 28, 2018.

While speaking on Tuesday, Jang promised to save Nigeria from insecurity and end the the cheapening of lives. He also promised to restructure the country in respect to demands by Nigerians.

He said, "We will give this nation security results, we will not give excuses or cover up any act of criminality and impunity, whatever the colour and creed of the criminals.

"We will end the cheapening of the lives of Nigerians. Gunmen will be known and traced to their roots, arrested and made to face the law. Nigerians will be proud of their country again.

"Restructuring and reorganising Nigeria to the comfort of all Nigerians is a task I will face with commitment. If we have operated a system for 58 years and Nigerians are asking for a review of the structures, there is no need to delay it further."

He joins a growing list of aspirants who are eyeing the presidential ticket of the opposition party with former Kano State governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, also expected to declare his intention to contest on Wednesday, August 29.

Jang's N6.3bn fraud trial

Jang's decision to run for president comes despite currently standing trial for alleged misappropriation of N6.3 billion during his time as Plateau governor.

In a 12-count charge filed against him and Yusuf Pam, a former Plateau government official, Jang is accused of mis-using some special funds released to the state government by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Jang is alleged to have misappropriated N2 billion released by the CBN for disbursement to small and medium enterprises in the state under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Funds (MSMEDF).

He is also accused of siphoning the sum of N4.3 billion from the state's treasury through Pam who was working as a cashier in the office of the Secretary to the Plateau State Government at the time.

Even though he was remanded in jail for over a week in May, Justice Daniel Longji, granted him bail on May 24, 2018 and ordered him to deposit his international passport to authorities.The inspection was ordered after the rifles started appearing a year ago on the black market.

Storage

The rifles were being kept in storage in the armoury in the city of Capiata while the police force were replacing them with newer models as reported in a story by the Metro.

Some of the guns are believed to have ended up in Argentina whiles others were allegedly smuggled into Brazil.

Brazil has complained for years that many of the illegal weapons being seized in the country come from Paraguay.

Embarassing

Photos of the toy replicas were shared by Paraguayan media who branded it the most embarrassing scandal in the history of the countrys police force.Speaking at the Oval Office during the historic talks, President Trump thanked Kenyatta for his presence and praised Kenya terming the East African nation as one of the most beautiful countries which the US had a lot of business with.

"We have lots of pictures and lots of people that tell me how beautiful your country is. And we do a lot of tourism. We do a lot of trade. And we do a lot of defense and security. And were working very much on security right now. And I appreciate you very much being with us and your staff. This is really great. Your representatives have been dealing with our representatives and making a lot of progress. Were talking about a very major highway/roadway. And that seems to be going along well. Thats a very important project, I think, for your country," Trump stated.

Strong relations

President Kenyatta on his part thanked Trump for his warm welcome and reiterated Kenya's strong relations with the US which he said stretched back all the way back to independence.

"We are here to cement that partnership. We are here to strengthen the support we have received as a country, especially with regards to our security and defense cooperation has been immense," Kenyatta affirmed.

Kenyatta cited the importance of trade and investment partnership as the key to Kenya's survival which was what the two nations should work to deepen more going forward.Speaking during an interview on Citizen TV, Sonko said that his relationship with Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho was restored following meetings chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Early this year, Sonko was in a fierce tussle with Mr. Kibicho over the management on Nairobi County.

According to the flamboyant Governor, the PS was undermining his authority and even alluded that he (Kibicho) was sending threats through messages.

The alleged threats forced Mr. Sonko to run away from Nairobi and relocated to his Mua Hills home in Machakos county, where he conducted Nairobis County affairs from.

However, it now seems that all this is over as the two decided to bury the hatchet over a cup of tea in a bid to focus on the development of Kenyas Capital.

During the interview, Sonko insisted that he was still in charge of Nairobi adding that his brawl with Kibicho was mere politics.

"There is no permanent enmity in politics and the senior officers we had issues with them we sorted those issues. Actually, the President himself chaired that meeting and we are now in good working relations with the National Government.Its not just an elephant in the room - it is a large neon sign with fireworks going off in the background.

Thats Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's description of business confidence, or rather, lack of it.

Last July, 40 percent of firms thought things would get better for them. However, fast forward to July this year - just four percent felt that way.

Speaking at a business community breakfast this morning, the Prime Minister decided to tackle the issue head on by announcing a business advisory committee.

Air New Zealand chief executive Christopher Luxon will be chair of the council which aims to "build closer relationships between Government and business," a statement released by the Government reads.

The council will enable "high-level free and frank advice to the Prime Minister on key economic issues," the statement adds. The council will also "create a vehicle to harness expertise from the private sector to inform the development of the Government's economic policies".

Speaking to RadioLIVE Drive, Mr Luxon said he's looking forward to the challenge. He said the initiative is important because "building a better, more sustainable New Zealand is a cause well worth putting all our collective efforts and energy behind."

But business confidence hasn't been so low since March 2011, according to the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) quarterly survey of business opinion for June.

Listen to the full interview with Christopher Luxon above.

Drive with Lisa Owen and Shane Te Pou, filling in for Ryan Bridge, 3pm - 6pm Weekdays and streaming live on 'rova' channel 9 - available on Android and iPhone.

RadioLIVE.Liam Templeton, Watercare environmental technician, discusses the new breed of Coopworth super sheep that have just arrived at the companys Mangere Wastewater Treatment Plant that will help save over $160k of public money for lawn-mowing services over the next 13 years.

Listen to all the full interviews above.

The Long Lunch with Wendyl Nissen, 12pm - 3pm on RadioLIVE and streaming live to the rova app on Android and iPhone.



RadioLIVE.Figures from the Ministry of Health about the oral health of five year olds, shows that nationally, 40 percent of five year olds had some tooth decay.

But for south Auckland, things may be looking up.

Health Minister David Clark has welcomed a new $28 million University of Otago dental teaching facility to be built at the Manukau Super Clinic.

Theres a lot more teeth needing treatment in south Auckland than in Dunedin.

The teaching clinic is expected to help students with hands-on experience and address the dental health needs in the local community, said the University of Otago.

Associate professor Jonathan Broadbent told RadioLIVE that the new clinics location makes sense for a teaching environment.

Theres a lot more teeth needing treatment in south Auckland than in Dunedin.

Prof Broadbent explained that research also shows that south Auckland has somewhat of a dental clinic desert in parts of the area.

He emphasised that the students, though learning, will be supervised by qualified clinicians at the new clinic.

Night Talk: Mitch Harris opening comments, 28th August 2018.

Tonight: Should Chelsea Manning be allowed into New Zealand and profit from her speaking tour?

The National Party says the Government should refuse to allow US whistleblower Chelsea Manning to visit New Zealand for a speaking tour.

"She is a convicted felon. Ordinary rules should apply, there shouldn't be special treatment," says National Party leader Simon Bridges.

Ms Manning, a former US Army intelligence analyst, was found guilty of espionage and theft and sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking military files to Wikileaks.

Also tonight: Have you ever been chased by an overly amorous animal? There's a bizarre news story out of France today - a French Mayor has banned swimming at a beach because an amorous dolphin keeps rubbing up against swimmers and boats!

We'd love to hear your stories about overly amorous animals tonight!

Night Talk with Mitch Harris, 8pm - 12am Monday to Thursday night on RadioLIVE, and streaming live to the rova app on Android and iPhone.

RadioLIVE.Australia: The South Australian government has approved an extension to Lendleases Phase I contract for the electrification of Adelaides 40 km Gawler Line to include the second phase from Salisbury to Gawler, due to be completed by the end of 2020 at a cost of A$4625m.Welcome to Railway Gazette. This site uses cookies. Read our policy.

OKFuse Media has entered into a multi-year agreement with UnidosUS, previously known as the National Council of La Raza, to become the exclusive multiplatform media home of the American Latino Media Arts (ALMA) Awards.





The partnership to revive the ALMA Awardsfollowing a three-year hiatuswas jointly announced today by and.The 2018 ALMA Awards will honour the contributions of top music artists and actors, as well as political figures and key influencers, and feature live performances. An air date for this fall along with related multimedia plans for the ALMA Award show will be announced shortly.Fuse Media (and its predecessor SiTV), since day one, has been committed to building a unique entertainment platform to lift the voices of Latinos and other underserved communities and in so doing, celebrate our diverse, multicultural nation, said Fuse Media CEO Michael Schwimmer. I cannot think of a better way, especially today, to embrace this mission than by partnering with UnidosUS to reimagine the ALMA Awards. UnidosUS president and CEO Janet Murguia added, We are proud to have the ALMA Awards back as part of our organisations 50th anniversary, and to host the first ALMAs under our new name. Now more than ever, Latinos must reclaim the narrative of our place in US society, and as always, ALMAs is an opportunity to recognise and celebrate everything our community contributes to American culture. Fuse Medias ongoing commitment to inclusion and chronicling the stories of our community makes them a perfect partner in showing America the true Latino story.Mexico will likely halt oil auctions for at least two years, dealing a blow to its oil industry.

Mexico's president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) will reportedly suspend oil auctions for at least two years, according to the Wall Street Journal, with some experts believing that his administration won't hold any new oil auctions at all during his six-year term. He has also vowed to review the 107 contracts already awarded to companies through auctions over the last few years to check for corruption, although he has said he would not try to invalidate them so long as they check out.Catholic Abuse Scandal Leads All the Way to the Vatican

An ecclesial straight shooter. A reliable character. A serious man. Thats how sources familiar with Carlo Maria Vigano describe the Italian archbishop, who served as the Vatican ambassador to the United States from 2011 to 2016."McCain's Death Leaves Void" ran The Wall Street Journal headline over a front-page story that began:

"The death of John McCain will leave Congress without perhaps its loudest voice in support of the robust internationalism that has defined the country's security relations since World War II."

Certainly, the passing of the senator whose life story will dominate the news until he is buried at his alma mater, the Naval Academy, on Sunday, leaves America's interventionists without their greatest champion.

No one around has the prestige or media following of McCain.

And the cause he championed, compulsive intervention in foreign quarrels to face down dictators and bring democrats to power, appears to be a cause whose time has passed.

When 9/11 occurred, America was united in crushing the al-Qaida terrorists who perpetrated the atrocities. John McCain then backed President Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003, which had no role in the attacks.

During Barack Obama's presidency, he slipped into northern Syria to cheer rebels who had arisen to overthrow President Bashar Assad, an insurgency that led to a seven-year civil war and one of the great humanitarian disasters of our time.

McCain supported the expansion of NATO into Eastern Europe and the Baltic, right up to Russia's border. When Georgia invaded South Ossetia in 2008, and was expelled by the Russian army, McCain roared, "We are all Georgians now!"

He urged intervention. But Bush, his approval rating scraping bottom, had had enough of the neocon crusades for democracy.

McCain's contempt for Vladimir Putin was unconstrained. When crowds gathered in Maidan Square in Kiev to overthrow an elected pro-Russian president, McCain was there, cheering them on.

He supported sending arms to the Ukrainian army to fight pro-Russian rebels in the Donbass. He backed U.S. support for Saudi intervention in Yemen. And this war, too, proved to be a humanitarian disaster.

John McCain was a war hawk, and proud of it. But by 2006, the wars he had championed had cost the Republican Party both houses of Congress.

In 2008, when he was on the ballot, those wars helped cost him the presidency.

By 2016, the Republican majority would turn its back on McCain and his protege, Sen. Lindsey Graham, and nominate Donald Trump, who said he would seek to get along with Russia and extricate America from the wars into which McCain had helped plunge the country.

Yet, while interventionism now has no great champion and has proven unable to rally an American majority, it retains a residual momentum. This compulsion is pushing us to continue backing the Saudi war in Yemen and to seek regime change in Iran.

Yet if either of these enterprises holds any prospect of bringing about a more peaceful and prosperous Middle East, no one has made the case.

While the foreign policy that won the Cold War, containment, was articulated by George Kennan and pursued by presidents from Truman to Bush I, no grand strategy for the post-Cold War era has ever been embraced by a majority of Americans.

Bush I's "New World Order" was rejected by Ross Perot's economic patriots and Bill Clinton's baby boomers who wanted to spend America's peace dividend from our Cold War victory on America's homefront.

As for the Bush II crusades for democracy "to end tyranny in our world," the fruits of that Wilsonian idealism turned into ashes in our mouths.

But if the foreign policy agendas of Bush I and Bush II, along with McCain's interventionism, have been tried and found wanting, what is America's grand strategy?

What are the great goals of U.S. foreign policy? What are the vital interests for which all, or almost all Americans, believe we should fight?

"Take away this pudding; it has no theme," said Churchill. Britain has lost an empire, but not yet found a role, was the crushing comment of Dean Acheson in 1962.

Both statements appear to apply to U.S. foreign policy in 2018.

We are bombing and fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen, partly John McCain's legacy. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has sent a virtual ultimatum to Iran. We have told North Korea, a nuclear power with the world's fourth-largest army, either to denuclearize or the U.S. may use its military might to get the job done.

We are challenging Beijing in its claimed territorial waters of the South China Sea. From South Korea to Estonia, we are committed by solemn treaty to go to war if any one of dozens of nations is attacked.

Now one hears talk of an "Arab NATO" to confront the ayatollah's Iran and its Shiite allies. Lest we forget, ISIS and al-Qaida are Sunni.

With all these war guarantees, the odds are excellent that one day we are going to be dragged in yet another war that the American people will sour upon soon after it begins.

Where is the American Kennan of the new century?

COPYRIGHT 2018 CREATORS.COMRon DeSantis, a Republican member of the House of Representatives in the hunt for the governorship of Florida  the states primary is being held today -- found himself on the wrong side of a fact check from PolitiFact recently. The fracas began when DeSantis sided with President Trump and against Obama-era CIA Director John Brennan. Brennan, in a tweet, had called Trumps conduct during a meeting and press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin treasonous.

Several hours later during an interview with Fox News, DeSantis asserted that Brennan is not one to talk, given that he was a member of the Communist Party during the Cold War. DeSantis had other choice words for Brennan, but this claim in particular became the subject of PolitiFacts examination. In a piece titled Was John Brennan once a member of the Communist Party?, Heaven Taylor-Wynn saddles DeSantis with a verdict of Mostly False.

Taylor-Wynn, via the exemplary reporting typical of the Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact, shows that Brennan was never a registered member of the Communist Party. So in the strictest sense, DeSantis claim is simply false. But is the reality is a bit more complicated?

DeSantis assertion presumably originates from a CNN report linked to by Taylor-Wynn in her fact check. The report concerns Brennans turn as a speaker at the 2016 Congressional Black Caucus Foundations annual conference. During a panel on diversity in the intelligence community, Brennan was asked whether a history of activism would hamper an individuals prospects for future government service. According to CNN, Brennan answered that he was apprehensive when taking a polygraph test upon his entry into the CIA because he had been asked Have you ever worked with or for a group that was dedicated to overthrowing the U.S.?

Brennan told the audience that he disclosed to the CIA interviewer that he had voted for Communist Party candidate for president Gus Hall in 1976, but that he was never a member of the party. He told the story by way of reassuring the crowd that a history of radical activism wouldnt preclude government work. So in the barest sense, DeSantis claim is untrue.

But PolitiFact doesnt only assign ratings of True and False. It also has other ratings such as Half True, Mostly True, and Mostly False, the one which was assigned to DeSantis. In apprehending Brennans claim, Taylor-Wynn asserts that Sen. Rand Paul  who said in a Fox interview that John Brennan started his illustrious career by voting for the Communist Party  and commentator Sebastian Gorka  who said on Fox that John Brennan  voted for the Communist Party at the height of the Cold War in 1976 when the Soviet Union actually wanted to destroy America  framed similar criticism of Brennan more accurately, singling out the vote but not going as far as saying he belonged to the party itself.

This is a fair argument on the part of Taylor-Wynn. But would it be equally fair to argue that DeSantis should have garnered a Mostly True rating? Brennan copped to voting for Americas greatest enemy during the height of the Cold War, and Gorka called Brennans vote treasonous. Brennan himself seems sensitive to this accusation, given that he once believed his honest answer as to whether he ever worked to overthrow the U.S. might derail his career. So one must ask whether the crux of DeSantis argument is really that Brennan was once a card-carrying Communist. It seems probable that DeSantis, Paul, and Gorka were all attempting to make the same point: that its hypocritical for Brennan to call Trumps warm behavior towards Putin an act of treason given that he, Brennan, once effectively voted for Russian takeover.

Taylor-Wynn also editorializes a bit on Brennans behalf, writing that in 1976, Brennan was studying political science at Fordham University. This was the first election after the Watergate scandal, which left many Americans disillusioned with American politics. She consults with a political science professor who opines that, at the time, Jimmy Carters progressive chops were in doubt. Ultimately, she concludes that becoming a member of a party is a much more specific and intensive commitment than simply pulling a lever in the ballot booth. This may be so, but it is unlikely to assuage those concerned by Brennans 1976 vote.

This piece is but one of many examples of the subjectivity of fact-checking politicians statements, which almost invariably entail hyperbole  in this case by Donald Trumps critics as well as his defenders.. While in the barest sense, Brennan was never a Communist, the importance of context is both highly relevant -- and highly open to interpretation.As Florida holds its primary today, the Senate race there is emerging as a potential bright spot for the GOP in an otherwise dismal-looking year. The Republican challengers lead in the polls is surprising, but will it last? Im skeptical, but would not rule it out.

The Florida GOP, like most Southern Republican parties in peripheral Southern states, grew out of the increased urbanization of the South in the 1940s and 1950s. Republicans won their first seat in Congress in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area in 1954, as northerners moved down and brought their Republican voting habits with them. In 1962, similar shifts moved the Space Coast toward the GOP, while central Florida and Broward counties followed in 1972. In 1968, Republican Edward Gurney defeated Democrat LeRoy Collins by 12 percentage points to claim the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. George Smathers.

As with most states, there was a two-steps-forward/one-step-back element to the GOPs advance across the state. Edward Stack won back the Broward County seat for the Democrats in 1978 by over 20 points, while a young Democrat named Bill Nelson captured the open Space Coast district by 22 points.

But the GOPs progression was palpable, and by 1990 a tectonic shift seemed inevitable. While Democrats held their own in the northern portion of the state (in Florida, the saying goes, you have to go North to go South), the increasingly suburban areas voted Republican, and the influx of Cuban refugees made the southern tip increasingly hospitable to the Republican Party. Yet Nelson never had a truly competitive race during his House tenure. He resigned to run for governor in 1990, a race he lost to Lawton Chiles.

Nelson won election as state treasurer in 1994, and was re-elected in 1998 as the GOP continued to post wins in the state. Yet Florida was also in flux; the suburban gains made by the GOP began to work against them in the 90s. As recently as 1988, George H.W. Bush won the state by 22 points, but Bill Clintons reputation as a moderate Democrat enabled him to flip counties like Pinellas and Palm Beach to the Democrats. These counties voted Democratic in 1992 for the second and first time since 1944, respectively, as Clinton shifted the voting patterns of northern suburbs, losing narrowly to Bush (H. Ross Perot siphoned off 19 percent of the vote). In 1996, he carried the state outright.

Since then, Nelsons career has been blessed by badly flawed GOP opponents; he is one of a handful of Democrats to win statewide office since 1998. In 2000, he faced uncharismatic Republican Bill McCollum, en route to a five-point victory as Al Gore and George W. Bush were locked in a historically close struggle for the state. In 2006, he benefited from the anti-GOP wave and an opponent guaranteed to energize the Democratic base in Secretary of State Katherine Harris, who had overseen the contested 2000 election. He won by 22 points. In 2012, he faced Connie Mack IV, who ran an underwhelming campaign and was dogged by allegations of road rage and an arrest for a bar fight. Nelson won by 13.

This year could be different. Nelson faces a solid Republican in Gov. Rick Scott. While Scott has been unpopular for much of his tenure and only narrowly won the governorship in GOP wave years, his job approval has improved and now is in the high 50s. During Hurricane Maria, Scott made himself a near fixture in the Puerto Rican community; polling shows him performing unusually well among that subpopulation. Scott is also wealthy, and can spend freely in the election; he has been pounding Nelson on the airwaves.

This is evident in the polls. Scott has led Nelson in most recent polls, and is currently up by 1.5 points in the RCP Average. In fact, Nelson has led in only two polls since February. The 75-year-old incumbent has the disadvantage of a lifetime association with Washington, D.C., which is as unpopular as ever, and it is unclear that he is prepared for what is likely to be the first serious re-election contest of his life. Nelson is low-key and cuts a low profile at home, which lends credence to charges that he is ineffective.

If this were an environment like 2010 or 2014, Nelson would likely be an underdog, perhaps heavily so. But it is decidedly not. The president has weak approval ratings nationally. There is probably no state that has followed national trends as closely as Florida. Since 1992, Democratic presidential candidates have won a total of 24,140,463 votes in the state, while Republicans have won a total of 24,122,710 votes, a difference of 17,753 votes, or about 2,500 per election (thanks to Steve Schale for pointing this out).

The point is that the president is likely unpopular here, and there is a longstanding tendency for senators to run roughly even with the job approval of their presidents. For Scott, we would expect him to probably win somewhere between 44 and 46 percent of the vote with the president at 43 percent nationally.

This also happens to be roughly where the polls show Scott polling. In other words, he has likely locked down the vast majority of Trump supporters and undecideds. The remaining pool is probably not particularly fertile soil for him. Moreover, as a well-known statewide officeholder, he is something of a de facto incumbent, especially against a lower-profile Democrat like Nelson.

The bottom line is that Scott might be at something of a ceiling. This is consistent with what we saw in 2014, where many Democrats had leads throughout the year, but never saw their vote shares increase. As a classic example, in the Thom Tillis-Kay Hagan race in North Carolina, Hagan was up by around six points in September of 2014, but her 46 percent support then almost exactly matched what she received on Election Day; undecideds overwhelmingly broke against her.

None of this is to say Scott cant win; he very much can. It is merely to say that the polls are probably overstating his strength, and he probably needs to get his poll average up to around 48 percent for a lengthy period of time before he really starts to feel good about this race.Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale

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Search Real EstateCynthia Bailey cradles Kenya Moore's growing baby bump in a new photo.

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The 51-year-old reunited with her pregnant former "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" co-star at a conference Sunday in Washington, D.C.

Bailey and Moore attended The Ubiquitous Women's Expo at the Marriott Marquis hotel. Moore shared a picture Monday on Instagram of herself with Bailey at the event.

"Auntie @cynthiabailey10," she captioned the snapshot.

Moore was accompanied by her husband, Marc Daly. She said on Instagram she was promoting her Kenya Moore Hair Care line at the conference.

"My two loves #baby and #babydaly came to support me at the #ubiquitous convention this weekend. We LOVE DC and everyone was so kind to us. Thank you for all the well wishes and all the people excited for #KenyaMooreHairCare," the star wrote.

Moore confirmed her pregnancy during "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" Season 10 reunion in April. She shared a video and her awestruck reaction to "Baby Daly" moving in the womb in July.

"This has got to be the most amazing feeling any first time mother can have," the star said.

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS!

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"Thinking of where my life was before I met my husband. Now I have a baby on the way and a man who truly loves me. NEVER ever give up on your dreams!"

"The Real Housewives of Atlanta" will return for an 11th season in November.

The series stars Bailey, NeNe Leakes, Kandi Burruss, Porsha Williams, Marlo Hampton, Eva Marcille and Shamari DeVoe.By Reality TV World staff, 08/28/2018



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Steven Rogers is a senior entertainment reporter for Reality TV World and been covering the reality TV genre for two decades.

's latest engaged couple, Amber Green and Johnny Yesh, have revealed the current status of their relationship.Amber, a 29-year-old mother of two from Austin, TX, served as the mystery woman in Monday night's episode of and ultimately accepted a marriage proposal from her final pick Johnny, a 28-year-old fitness freelancer from Newport Beach, CA.Amber chose Johnny over her runner-up, Shad McRell, a 30-year-old solar energy specialist from Denver, CO, who also popped the question but got rejected.So are Amber and Johnny an item to this day? Did their relationship last, and are they still engaged?'s social media accounts unfortunately reveal the couple has called it quits on their romance and ended their engagement."Amber and Johnny dated for a while after #TheProposal, with Johnny even flying out to her hometown. However, they are no longer engaged and have decided to stay friends," tweeted the show late Monday night.In addition to the post on Twitter and Instagram, also shared several photos of Johnny and Amber spending time together. They appeared happy, flirtatious and smitten with each other.Two photos featured the former couple standing on a deck that overlooked the ocean, and one of them captured Johnny kissing Amber on the cheek. In a third picture, Johnny was giving his then-fiancee a piggy-back ride, and she was giving him a peck on the cheek.However, the honeymoon stage apparently didn't last long.Johnny was one of nine men who competed for Amber's heart in four rounds of pageant-style competition, including beachwear and "dealbreaker questions," in an episode that filmed several months ago.Until only two men remained in the running for Amber's heart, the blonde beauty's identity and appearance was concealed from the contestants.Amber, a mother of two children, was looking for a guy who is a mix of Mr. Rogers and Christian Grey from the movie 50 Shades of Grey.Johnny insisted on the show he was serious and sincere about finding his future wife and becoming a father. Although he lost his first love in a drunk-driving accident, he continued to search for the perfect partner and attempt to obtain an ideal marriage like that of what his parents have.Once Johnny popped the question, Amber didn't hesitate or even consider Shad's proposal. Instead, she said, "Yes," and put Johnny's Neil Lane diamond engagement ring on her finger.With 26,353 patients enrolled in the states medical marijuana program as of Saturday, up one-third since May 2017  and with the programs Board of Physicians scheduled to vote on whether to add opiate withdrawal to the list of approved conditions  dispensary owners are concerned about whether there will be enough supply to meet the ever-growing demand.

However, one of the producers and a lobbyist for the four growers, as well as Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle Seagull, say they are confident the four can meet the expected increase in consumers.

We have no problem handling additional patients, said David Lipton, CEO of Advanced Grow Labs in West Haven, one of the four original  and still only  licensed medical marijuana producers in the state. Were projected out to be able to handle product for about 75,000 patients.

Advanced Grow Labs, with 48 employees, has expanded twice since it opened in the fall of 2014, when there were about 2,000 certified patients in the program. The other growers, in Portland, Simsbury and Watertown, also have expanded to double or triple capacity, according to Linda Kowalski, lobbyist for the growers Connecticut Medical Cannabis Council.

Connecticuts medical marijuana program is regarded as one of the best in the country, and our members are proud to play an important role in this innovative and compassionate program, Kowalski wrote in an email.

She said the producers have spent millions in expansion and that the quality and purity of their products lead the nation while their pharmaceutical grade products are available to all patients in Connecticuts program.

The state program has ballooned in growth since it began with six dispensaries and those 2,000 patients, and could explode if the Board of Physicians adds opiate use disorder and opiate withdrawal to the 29 conditions now approved for adults and seven for children.

The board, which tabled votes on opioids and progressive degenerative disc disease of the spine when it met Feb. 26, will take up the two conditions again on June 25.

Patients who are certified to use marijuana for painful conditions such as cancer and sickle cell disease report that cannabis has allowed them to reduce or eliminate their use of opioids, said Angela DAmico, owner of the Compassionate Care Center of Connecticut in Bethel. Opioid dependence has become a national epidemic.

We get phone calls from parents whose children are coming out of rehab for opioid addiction, but we cant certify them, DAmico said.

Laurie Zrenda, owner of Thames Valley Alternative Relief LLC in Montville, said, I see people on a daily basis who have come off their opioids using medical marijuana.

Seagull said of the possible approval of marijuana to treat opioid addiction, It would likely add a large number of patients. Once Seagull ratifies the boards vote, the new condition must go through a legislative committee and regulatory review board, before its added to the approved list. And during that regulations process the state, and the production facilities, would have time to consider the appropriate options for expansion, Seagull said.

Meanwhile, there have definitely been periods of time when weve had issues and short supply of things, Zrenda said. The dispensary owners have formed their own Medical Marijuana Academy within the Connecticut Pharmacists Association and, Zrenda said, As a group we sent two representatives to go and visit the commissioner to talk about the issue of supply.

The pharmacists would like a fifth grower to be approved, Zrenda said. The patient count is increasing, new conditions are coming on board  and we have had issues of supply problems in the last couple of years.

But she said she understands the reluctance to approve another grower. I think they worry about them surviving given that it is a huge investment, Zrenda said. Its a huge expense to run a growth facility.  I know the state wants to keep them going and doesnt want them to go belly-up.

Zrenda said both growers and dispensary owners also have to contend with the U.S. tax code, specifically Section 280e, which forbids a business from deducting any expense connected to trafficking in controlled substances, and marijuana is listed as a Schedule 1 drug, along with heroin and cocaine. Selling it is still a federal crime.

That means the cannabis businesses cant deduct payroll or equipment as normal business expenses. If a normal business pays 25 percent in tax, were probably paying 60 percent, Zrenda said. It isnt the big money-maker that everybody thinks it is.

There are now nine dispensaries across the state  up from the original six  and the Consumer Protection Department has asked for applicants to open three to 10 more in the fall.

DAmico said the addition of new dispensaries could bring on shortages, because the growers are required to offer the same amount of product to each dispensary. She said the allocation should be based on each dispensarys number of patients.

Its medication. How do you tell your cancer patient in the middle of chemo, Sorry, we cant supply you with what youve been on?

Seagull said, Right now were not planning to add new producers, but were continuing to monitor the situation. Right now were comfortable that the producers have the capacity to serve our patients.

Advanced Grow Labs Lipton said his plant on Frontage Road in West Haven started at 16,000 square feet, is now up to 41,000 and were more productive per square foot. Starting with five employees, in addition to five owners, AGL now has 48 employees, he said.

Besides the growing areas, there are genetics rooms, where hybrids are developed from mothers and clones, Lipton said. We have a lot of new genetics and also a lot of new products. Weve got a lot more products that we are making for the patients in Connecticut now. In any given day in the dispensaries, theyve got 200 to 230 different products they have available to sell.

The program is based on a pharmaceutical model, with physicians  there are now 897 registered doctors  certifying their patients to buy up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis a month.

The patients then work with the pharmacists to choose a strain, from Lexikan  known on the street as lemon skunk  to Gwyniva, and what form to use, whether to smoke, vape, insert a capsule under the tongue, or eat as a cookie or brownie.

Each product has a particular ratio of THC, the hallucinogenic cannabinoid, to CBD, which doesnt make the user high but which reduces anxiety and nausea and aids in sleep.

With more products to choose from, the dispensary owners can run into spot shortages of particular items. We get deliveries twice a week from every producer, DAmico said. Each dispensary can get 200 vials of XYZ. If my pharmacist orders that late  its not available to us anymore.

Zrenda said that, for some strains that are high in CBD, there was a long time when we didnt have any [for] at least a couple months.

Supply and demand is a real issue, especially for products that people love. They cant keep it up, said Michael Petruzelli of Hamden, a medical marijuana patient who suffers from spina bifida caused by his fathers being exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. What happens is, you find something that works for you  Guess what, its not available. Theres probably about five key strains that they should be growing every month.

He said he favors Lexikan flower. Its a very, very good sativa. "Itll make the most miserable person really happy. Sativa is one of two types of cannabis, along with indica. Hybrids are created using characteristics of the two.

Growing patient numbers means changing demands for specific types of medication, Seagull said. While growing capacity exists, producers also have to anticipate demand for specific medication types months in advance, and may not have a large stock of the exact medication a dispensary facility is looking to purchase on short notice.

Petruzelli believes adding another grower would bring prices down, although he said hes noticed prices dropping recently.

Lipton said prices have dropped now that the growers have recouped their startup costs. Prices have definitely come down for the patients since the program started, he said. Weve all put the money into our facilities, weve paid the money to the state.  I dont think someone could start new and be competitive.

The Consumer Protection Departments Board of Physicians will meet at 8:30 a.m. June 25 at 450 Columbus Blvd., Meeting Rooms C and D in the North Tower. They are expected to vote on opioid withdrawal and progressive degenerative disc disease at the meeting, which is open to the public.

edward.stannard@hearstmediact.com; 203-680-9382.Photo: Contributed - COSAR

UPDATE 3:30 P.M. AUG 28

Police continue to search for a 64-year-old Alberta man whose boat was found unoccupied on Okanagan Lake Tuesday night.



Shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday, West Kelowna RCMP received a report of a collision between watercrafts on Okanagan Lake.

A local couple were operating their boat in the middle of the lake near Kalamoir Regional Park when they impacted an unoccupied Malibu boat.

The craft did not have any lights turned on and simply appeared to be adrift. Upon closer examination of the vessel, police located some personal effects of Brian Daryl Lakevold of St. Albert, Alberta along with the ignition keys for the boat indicating that he was possibly missing.



Investigators have since confirmed with his family that Lakevold is missing.



The search for Lakevold continues and investigators are appealing to the public for their help in establishing a time line of his whereabouts Tuesday afternoon in order to better focus the search. Specifically, police are looking to speak with anyone who may have seen him or his maroon and white Malibu LXI after 2:30 p.m. on August 26, up until his boat was found unoccupied that evening.



A search of Okanagan Lake is underway for a 64-year-old Alberta man who is believed to be missing.

The man's boat was found unoccupied on the lake Tuesday evening.

Shortly after 9:15 p.m., West Kelowna RCMP received a report of a collision between water crafts on Okanagan Lake.

A local couple were operating their boat in the middle of the lake near Kalamoir Regional Park when they impacted an unoccupied Malibu boat.

The craft did not have any lights turned on and simply appeared to be adrift. Upon closer examination of the vessel, police located some personal effects of a 64-year-old Alberta man along with the ignition keys for the boat indicating that the operator was possibly missing.



No one was injured and minimal damage was incurred in the collision.



Investigators have spoken since with the man's family and have determined that he is in fact missing. His name is being withheld at this time.



The West Kelowna RCMP, with assistance from RCMP Air Services and Central Okanagan Search and Rescue, have commenced a search for the missing man.Photo: Arbron Flickr

British Columbia's highest court has dismissed the appeal of a South Okanagan man sentenced to three years in prison last year on drug trafficking charges.

Dennis Russell was found guilty at trial by Penticton Judge Gregory Koturbash in March 2017 and jailed for three years.

Russell had a court order barring him from entering Summerland on Aug. 5, 2015, when RCMP stopped him at midnight for driving without taillights.

A police officer arrested Russell and called a tow truck. A wallet and laptop bag were inside the vehicle in plain view, so he removed them from the car for safekeeping and gave the keys to the tow truck driver.

Russell told the RCMP he wanted the bag and wallet left in the vehicle, but the officer took the wallet and laptop bag back to the detachment where he conducted an inventory search of the contents of each. During that search, he discovered the drugs inside the laptop bag.

Methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, GHB and ketamine was discovered.

Russell argued at trial, and failed, that the search of his bag was warrantless and unlawful and any evidence obtained via it should be inadmissible.

On Friday, a three-judge panel with the BC Court of Appeal upheld that decision unanimously.

Where a vehicle is lawfully taken into police custody the police have the authority, if not the duty, to conduct an inventory search of its contents, said Justice Daphne Smith in the judgement.

The arresting officer in this case testified at least three times that his purpose in retrieving the wallet and laptop bag from the vehicle had been to secure and safeguard its contents until the vehicle could be returned to Mr. Russell, she continued. The judge accepted his evidence. The inventory search was therefore authorized by law.The Cambodian government on Tuesday released 14 jailed opposition party activists freed under a royal pardon requested by Prime Minister Hun Sen following his partys return to power in an election widely condemned as unfair.



The fourteen were serving long sentences for insurrection in connection with anti-government street protests in 2014 that turned into violent clashes with police and security forces, and were released after sending letters of apology to Hun Sen.



Their release at around 1:00 a.m. on Aug. 28 follows the freeing under a decree by Cambodian King Sihamoni earlier this month of Tep Vanny, a prominent land activist, and three other campaigners convicted for their roles in a protest over a land grab.



The decree came just days after Cambodias National Election Commission announced the results of the countrys July 29 election, confirming that the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) had swept the ballot and won all 125 parliamentary seats in play.



The election had been widely dismissed as one-sided and unfair following the dissolution and banning of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) and the arrest of its president Kem Sokha two months earlier on allegations of a plot to topple the government.



Kem Sokha was not freed in Tuesdays prisoner release, and remains in jail.



International pressure



Writing on his Facebook page, former CNRP leader Sam Rainsy, who is living in self-imposed exile in Paris, welcomed Tuesdays prisoner release, calling it a response by Hun Sen to foreign pressure to free his criticsa suggestion Hun Sen has strongly denied.



Fellow Cambodians, dont believe Hun Sens lies, and dont let him bully you, Sam Rainsy said. He has actually been cornered by unprecedented international pressure.



Those prisoners do not need to ask Hun Sens forgiveness. It is Hun Sen who must ask their forgiveness for having arrested them in the first place, Sam Rainsy said, adding that he expects Kem Sokha will also soon be freed and calling for the full reinstatement of the CNRP.



Speaking to RFA's Khmer Service on Aug. 28, former CNRP media and communications director Meach Sovanarra said that he and the other prisoners freed Tuesday should never have been jailed in the first place, calling their imprisonment unjust.



CNRP activist Neang Sokhan, also freed on Tuesday, meanwhile said that the political situation in Cambodia remains tense, because not all political prisoners have been released yet, especially Kem Sokha.



Filmmaker hopes for release



Now on trial in Cambodia on charges of espionage, Australian filmmaker and Hun Sen critic James Ricketson voiced hope in a Sydney Morning Herald article on Tuesday that he might be included in a prisoner release, saying that a journalists work, however critical its tone, should not be confused with spying.



There is now a certain amount of evidence that perhaps I am a political prisoner, Ricketson told reporters following a court appearance on Aug. 28, and quoted by the Herald.



If I am, I hope I am released along with the other political prisoners as soon as possible.



Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Sok Ry Sum. Written in English by Richard Finney.Authorities in the Chinese capital have raided two leftist websites in the wake of a Maoist-supported labor movement in the southern province of Guangdong, detaining at least eight members of staff, RFA has learned.

Chen Hongtao, editor-in-chief of the Red Reference website confirmed to RFA that their offices in Beijing's Fangshan district had been raided at around the same time that some 50 supporters of the labor movement at Jasic Technology in Guangdong's Shenzhen city were bundled onto buses and held in detention.

"[On Friday] at around 7.00 a.m., more than 20 people, mostly from Guangdong, came to our offices ... armed with a search warrant and a notice of criminal detention made out for [fellow editor] Shang Kai," Chen, who was out of town on a business trip at the time, told RFA.

"They searched every corner of our offices, and even smashed a cupboard, and took our computers, our books away in a bunch of boxes," he said. "I heard that they have now sealed up the premises and handed them back to the landlord."

"We don't know where Shang Kai is right now ... he had expressed support for the student movement [in support of Jasic workers]," Chen said.

"But the police didn't say anything about how deeply involved he was in that business."

A source close to the leftists who gave only his surname Liu said seven editors at another leftist website, Epoch Pioneer, had also been detained in the raid, and their whereabouts is currently unknown.

"Their offices were quite close to [those of Red Reference], so maybe they thought they were somehow connected," Liu said. "The Epoch Pioneer offices were also searched, and seven people were detained; I don't think they left anyone behind. They detained everyone."

Another source who asked to remain anonymous said further arrests had been carried out in Guangdong province, in what appeared to be a nationwide, coordinated police operation targeting leftist supporters of the Jasic workers' campaign for an independent trade union.

Some were later released, including former journalist Song Yangbiao, who was taken away in the early hours of Friday morning, the source said.

'Hostile foreign forces'

An article hitting out at the crackdown on the Jasic workers, which saw around 40 detained at its height, after they complained about unfair treatment at the hands of their employers, was still visible on the Epoch Pioneer website on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, articles claiming that the Jasic protests were instigated by "hostile foreign forces" have also appeared in China's tightly controlled state media in recent days.

The articles blamed the Hong Kong-based NGO Worker Empowerment and mainland-Chinese migrant worker support group Dagongzhe for "instigating and supporting" the workers' protests.

"The organization was involved in multiple worker-related incidents in Shenzhen and nearby regions and responsible for coercing some workers into taking radical actions," state news industry Xinhua quoted police as saying.

Worker Empowerment said in a statement on Tuesday that it had never organized nor funded workers or their supporters.

It said it is "seriously concerned" about Dagongzhe supporters Fu Changguo and Huang Qingnan, who have been in police detention for two weeks with no access to a lawyers.

"[Worker Empowerment] sincerely hopes that the Shenzhen police [will] release them in due course," the group said. "Fu and Huang are entitled to the right to meet and communicate with family and lawyers, as well as to be fairly treated during different stages of the legal process."

A third source surnamed Wu said a similar article had appeared in the publications of Southern media group.

"The order for an article like this ... would definitely have come from the highest levels," Wu said. "It must have have come from the pen of central propaganda ministry."

Independent journalist Bei Feng said neither "foreign organizations" nor Dagongzhe were "behind" the Jasic movement.

"The labor rights movement in the Pearl River Delta has basically been wiped out," he said. "So Dagongzhe had ... very little to do with [the Jasic workers' movement].

The Jasic Workers' Support Group said in a statement following the detention of 50 of its members on Aug. 24 that they were held en masse, some of them beaten and manhandled, in a nearby primary school before being sent back to their respective hometowns.

During their detention, they sang revolutionary anthems including the Internationale and the song of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), and berated the police with not being true communists, it said.

"We are young people who firmly defend socialism and stand by the working class," the statement said.

"We have been accepting the guidance of Marxism for more than 100 years, and yet we are smeared by official media in socialist China as being hoodwinked by 'foreign forces'."

Direct connection to Communist Party

Scholar Wang Jiangsong, who studies workers' movements in China, said the government daren't admit the Jasic movement's direct connection to the leftist, Maoist arm of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

"They will just quietly release the Maoists and the leftists, and Xinhua news agency will make it look like a few people at Dagongzhe who are being severely punished for being were tainted by [involvement with] overseas organizations or individuals," Wang told RFA.

"As for the Jasic workers, they will be treated leniently, as long as they admit their "crimes" and express remorse," he said. "At the same time, we could also see a union set up for Jasic workers, and an improvement in their working conditions."

The administration of President Xi Jinping has shut down a number of Maoist websites in recent years, including Utopia, but has previously allowed them to reopen after politically sensitive events.

The Jasic protests have also inspired solidarity among labor groups across the internal immigration border in the former British colony of Hong Kong, who have protested outside Beijing's Central Liaison Office for the release of detained Jasic workers.

The detention of workers came on July 27 as they protested the dismissal by factory management of those involved in a bid to set up a union through legal channels.

Seven workers said they had been beaten up by police for their involvement in the campaign to found a union, which began on July 18.

Reported by Wong Siu-san and Lau Siu-fung for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Wang Yun for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.The Facebook logo is seen on an advertisement by a local telecom company in Myanmar's commercial capital Yangon, June 7, 2018.

Myanmars government spokesman on Tuesday questioned Facebooks decision to remove top military leaders and the powerful army from the social media website to "prevent the spread of hate and misinformation on its networks, saying the move could endanger a fragile civilian-military reconciliation in the country.

The U.S. social media giant said on Monday it was removing 18 Facebook accounts, one Instagram account and 52 Facebook pages linked to the Myanmar military  to prevent them from using our service to further inflame ethnic and religious tensions.

Specifically, we are banning 20 individuals and organizations from Facebook in Myanmar  including Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and the militarys Myawaddy television network, Facebook said in a statement.

Facebooks move came shortly after a three-member fact-finding mission, working under a mandate from the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council said Min Aung Hlaing and other Myanmar military leaders should be referred to the International Criminal Court in the Hague for the army campaign that killed thousands and drove some 700,000 of Muslim Rohingya minority into Bangladesh last year.

We are concerned that the action of Facebook can somehow damage our national reconciliation. For instance, it may lead to misunderstanding between the military and government, Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay told reporters in Naypyidaw.

Soon after the accounts of Myanmars top general and other military leaders were blocked, the officers from Myanmar armys social media unit contacted us and questioned why. We then asked the Facebook company to give us the reason for blocking those accounts, he said.

According to the democratic point of view, Facebook shouldnt do this. There was no hate speech on Senior General Min Aung Hlaings Facebook page, only his news. And also, the military is second largest institution after government. We should pay both of them equal respect, said Soe Thein, a former minister of the presidents office, told RFAs Myanmar Service.

Reuters news agency quoted Facebook spokeswoman Ruchika Budhraja as saying it was the first time Facebook banned a countrys military or political leaders. She said the bans could not be appealed, and were driven by the United Nations findings as well as media reports and advocacy groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Many of these violations undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law, said the report to the UN by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, which cataloged abuses in Rakhine, home to the Rohingya, as well as Kachin and Shan States in the north where the army has waged war against ethnic armies for decades.

They are shocking for the level of denial, normalcy and impunity that is attached to them, said the report.

'One-sided point of view'

Myanmar has flatly denied committing the atrocities against Rohingya documented in various UN and NGO reports on the military campaign that followed attacks on guard posts and a police station on Aug. 25, 2017 by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a Rohingya militant group, that triggered a campaign of violence by Myanmar forces targeting the Rohingya, including killings, torture, rape, and village burnings in Rakhine.

U.N. officials have denounced the Myanmar military for committing alleged human rights violations and Myanmar has said that this is not true, said former Lieutenant General Thaung Aye, a lawmaker of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), a military-backed group.

Even though Myanmar has been doing as much as it can to solve the problems, Facebook has removed Myanmar generals accounts with the reason of human right violations and it is a very one-sided point of view. All Myanmar people should reject this kind of action, he told RFA.

Myanmar citizens who spoke to RFA had mixed views of the decision by Facebook, which is a key component of online life in a country that ended nearly 50 years of isolation only early in this decade.

We could know what military was doing via their pages and we need to know it, said Aung Win, a resident of Ye Township in southern Myanmars Mon State

There are about 20 million Facebook users in Myanmar and these 20 million include ethnic armed groups, the government, other organizations and different classes of people who have lost their chances to check and know military news and actions because Facebook removed their accounts. I think it makes the peace process and national reconciliation difficult, he told RFA.

IT technician Ye Myat Thu said he wanted to hear more concrete explanations from Facebook about its decision.

If not, this kind of removal can impact it, and other social media, such as (Chinese platform) WeChat can replace in its spot as they are trying to gain markets, he added.

Businessman Kyaw Thu Han, however, said that Facebook was only a small part of the communication channels available to the military. The army has dominated the country once known as Burma since a 1962 coup and still controls the nation from behind the scenes despite the election in 2015 of Aung San Suu Kyi.

These military generals have many channels, such as TV, radio, online and print media, not only this Facebook. They wont hurt that much because their accounts are removed, but, they might feel ashamed because they cant any longer use a social media platform that everybody can use, said Kyaw Thu Han.

Reported by Win Ko Ko Latt and Zarni Htun for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Paul Eckert.United Nations' Independent International Fact-finding Mission on Myanmar chairperson Marzuki Darusman presents the final report on alleged rights violations during a press conference, Aug. 27, 2018 in Geneva.

Myanmar military leaders should be prosecuted for genocide against the Rohingya for the army campaign that killed thousands and drove some 700,000 of the Muslim ethnic minority into Bangladesh, investigators for the U.N.'s top human rights body said Monday.

Three-member fact-finding mission, working under a mandate from the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council, said the situation in Myanmar should be referred to the International Criminal Court in the Hague, naming Myanmars commander-in-chief, Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing, and five other generals for prosecution.

Many of these violations undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law, said the report by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, which cataloged abuses in Rakhine, home to the Rohingya, as well as Kachin and Shan states in the north where the army has waged war against ethnic armies for decades.

They are shocking for the level of denial, normalcy and impunity that is attached to them, said the report.

"The military's contempt for human life, dignity and freedom  for international law in general  should be a cause of concern for the entire population of Myanmar, and to the international community as a whole," said fact-finding mission chair Marzuki Darusman, a former Indonesian attorney-general, at a news conference in Geneva.

The investigators called for the U.N. Security Council to place an arms embargo on Myanmar and impose targeted sanctions on officials. They faulted de facto civilian leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, for failing to protect civilians.

Suu Kyi "has not used her de facto position as Head of Government, nor her moral authority, to stem or prevent the unfolding events, or seek alternative avenues to meet a responsibility to protect the civilian population, said the report, issued in Geneva.

The report was issued just after the first anniversary of attacks on guard posts by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), a Rohingya militant group, on Aug. 25, 2017, that triggered a campaign of violence by Myanmar forces targeting the Rohingya, including killings, torture, rape, and village burnings in Rakhine.

The Myanmar government has largely denied the national militarys involvement in atrocities against the Rohingya and has defended its activities as part of a legitimate counterinsurgency operation against ARSA.

The U.N. report says ARSA also committed serious human rights abuses but says Myanmars military action was "grossly disproportionate to actual security threats."

Military necessity would never justify killing indiscriminately, gang raping women, assaulting children, and burning entire villages," the report says.

Genocidal intent

The 2017 campaign against the Rohingya followed years of abuses and hateful rhetoric, and displayed organization and planning that pointed to genocidal intent, the group said.



"The crimes in Rakhine state, and the manner in which they were perpetrated, are similar in nature, gravity and scope to those that have allowed genocidal intent to be established in other contexts," said the U.N. panel.

Factors pointing at such intent include the broader oppressive context and hate rhetoric; specific utterances of commanders and direct perpetrators; exclusionary policies, including to alter the demographic composition of Rakhine State; the level of organization indicating a plan for destruction; and the extreme scale and brutality of the violence, said the report.

The campaign of August 2017 was preceded by a major build-up of military forces in Rakhine state, with airlifts of troops and equipment into area and the recruitment of ethnic Rakhine villages into security forces, it said.

This build-up was significant, requiring logistical planning and time to implement, indicating that the subsequent operations were foreseen and planned, said the report.

In the aftermath of the military campaign, the report said, the mass displacement and burning of Rohingya villages was followed by systematic appropriation of emptied land.

Bulldozers flattened burned, damaged and even surviving structures and vegetation, erasing every trace of the Rohingya communities  while destroying criminal evidence, added the report.

Human rights groups estimate that between 6,000 and 10,000 people died in the military campaign, in which soldiers were aided by Rakhine Buddhists in attacking the Rohingya.

Buddhist-ruled Myanmar does not recognize the Rohingya as an indigenous ethnic group, denying them citizenship and work opportunities and has pejoratively described them as illegal Bengali immigrants.

There was no formal response from Myanmar to the report, an advance copy of which was given to the government. Myanmar has refused to cooperate with UN and other international efforts to investigate the exodus of the Rohingya, and its own government probes of the violence exonerated the military.

Myanmar's Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, Hau Do Suan, echoed his governments rejection of UN investigations into the Rakhine crisis.

Myanmar doesnt recognize the fact finding mission and the resolution of UN Human Rights Commission. Therefore, were not cooperating with them. Also, we wont allow their visit to Myanmar, he told RFAs Myanmar Service.

Myo Nyunt, an official of Suu Kyis ruling National League for Democracy, repeated Myanmars call for more evidence of atrocities. The government has prevented investigators from entering the conflict zone, while repeatedly rejecting evidence, including satellite imagery of burned villages and the vivid testimony of hundreds of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

We have been asking for concrete evidence for a long time, but they cant provide evidence that shows army burned down all these villages, he told RFA.

Time for action?

The U.N. panel, set up in March 2017, interviewed 875 victims and witnesses in Bangladesh and other countries, and studied videos, photographs and satellite images.

Min Lwin Oo, a lawyer at the Asia Human Rights Commission, was dismissive about the likelihood that Myanmar generals would be prosecuted.

I think that the UN fact-finding team released it because of international pressure, but it could be a warning to Myanmar generals not to do the same things in the future. he told RFA.

The UN needs much concrete and hard evidence to prosecute Myanmar at the ICC. Oral evidence alone will not work, he added.

In addition to commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing, other generals named in the report included Brigadier-General Aung Aung, commander of the 33rd Light Infantry Division; army deputy commander-in-chief Vice Senior-General Soe Win; the commander of the Bureau of Special Operations-3, Lieutenant-General Aung Kyaw Zaw; the commander of Western Regional Military Command, Major-General Maung Maung Soe; and the commander of 99th Light Infantry Division, Brigadier-General Than Oo.

Representatives of a Rohingya group and a group from Kachin State in northern Myanmar, where abuses by Myanmars army were also condemned in Mondays report, welcomed the findings.

As the UN released a report, it means this is the time that UN should make an important decision, said Tun Khin of the Myanmar Rohingya Organization UK.

We have released and received a lot of statements and reports during these years, especially within these two years, but have seen no action. This is the time for action, he told RFA.

Khun Ja, a leader of northern Myanmars Kachin Peace Network, also welcomed the prospect of prosecuting military leaders.

For generations, top military generals who have ordered the crimes and violated human rights havent been punished properly. The highest punishment they have is economic sanction and these sanctions dont affect them directly, but affect the people, she told RFA.

All ethnic groups have been suffering since 1988 and this ICC thing can control Myanmar military so they do not repeat the same crimes, added Khun Ja.

Rights groups demand justice

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Bangladesh Foreign Ministry official said the government had yet to give an official statement on the UN report, but added, "Our position is the same as the international community's. We want justice for Rohingyas who were tortured and who were victims of ethnic cleansing. We also want them to be able to return to their homes with full citizenship rights."

Dipu Moni, a former Bangladesh foreign minister and current MP who chairs the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, said Dhaka should support the U.N. position on prosecution of Myanmar military officials responsible for genocide and ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims.

Of course, we should call for prosecution of the generals. We have always been demanding accountability. Unless the persons responsible for genocide, torture and ethnic cleansing are made accountable, the rights of the Rohingya will not be guaranteed, and they will not feel safe to return to their homeland, she told BenarNews, an RFA-affilated online news service.

Rohingya Abdul Motaleb, a community leader at Leda Refugee Camp in Teknaf, Bangladesh, thanked the UN for the report.

We hope that the Security Council will act quickly to prosecute the crimes of Myanmar army officers. We also want to see prosecution of those civilians who were involved in genocide and supported genocide."

Last week, Myanmar rejected cooperation with the ICC, to which it is not a party. China, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council with veto power over whether the issue will be brought before the ICC, has largely backed Myanmar throughout the Rakhine crisis.

Rights groups welcomed a move by the UN that they had long been calling for.

This report, which adds to a mountain of evidence of crimes under international law committed by the military, shows the urgent need for independent criminal investigation and is clear that the Myanmar authorities are incapable of bringing to justice those responsible, said Tirana Hassan, director of crisis response at Amnesty International.

The international community has the responsibility to act to ensure justice and accountability. Failing to do so sends a dangerous message that Myanmars military will not only enjoy impunity but is free to commit such atrocities again, added Hassan.

Human Rights Watch called for immediate steps to set up a body to preserve evidence and assist in investigations.

The Fact-Finding Missions powerful report and clear recommendations demonstrate the obvious need for concrete steps to advance criminal justice for atrocious crimes, instead of more hollow condemnations and expressions of concern, said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.



U.N. member states should step up efforts that include the urgent creation of an International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to ensure those most responsible for grave crimes do not escape prosecution.



The U.S. social media giant Facebook responded to the report by removing 18 Facebook accounts, one Instagram account and 52 Facebook pages linked to the Myanmar military, as part of its work to "prevent the spread of hate and misinformation" on its networks.

Specifically, we are banning 20 individuals and organizations from Facebook in Myanmar  including Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and the militarys Myawaddy television network, it said in a statement.

We want to prevent them from using our service to further inflame ethnic and religious tensions, added the statement.

Myanmar meanwhile postponed until Sept. 3 a verdict expected on Monday for Reuters journalists Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28.

The journalists, whose reporting revealed atrocities in the village of Inn Din where 10 Rohingya boys and men were killed, were arrested last December and are being tried on charges of violating Myanmar's Official Secrets Act.

Reporting by Khin Khin Ei, Khet Mar, Nay Rein Kyaw and Tin Aung Khine for RFA's Myanmar Service and by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Paul Eckert.MINSK -- Belarusian authorities have imposed travel bans on several journalists working for three independent media outlets who are suspected of having obtained information illegally from state-run news agency BelTA.

A correspondent of Germany's Deutsche Welle radio in Minsk, Paulyuk Bykouski, said on August 27 that the Investigative Committee had ordered him not to leave the country as the investigation into the alleged hacking of BelTAs computer systems is underway.

Bykouski added that he was ordered not to provide details of the case to the public.

Meanwhile, Tatsyana Karavyankova, a reporter with the BelaPAN news agency, told RFE/RL that she and her chief editor Iryna Leushyna had also been ordered not to leave Belarus for an unspecified period.

Karavyankova said that travel bans were also imposed on four journalists working for the private online news portal Tut.by -- Halina Ulasik, Hanna Kaltyhina, Hanna Yermachonak, and Dzmitry Bobryk.

The journalists were among 18 reporters detained for 24 hours for questioning on August 7 as part of the investigation. Investigators have also searched the newsrooms of Tut.by and BelaPAN.

Rights groups have charged that the government is trying to muzzle independent media that are critical of strongman President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and his government.

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry has denied that allegation.

With reporting by Deutsche WelleJournalists in Bosnia-Herzegovina protested for a second day to express outrage after a reporter in the countrys predominantly Serb entity was badly beaten by unknown assailants.

Nearly 200 journalists on August 28 gathered in the center of Bosnias capital, Sarajevo, to demand an end to attacks on journalists in the Balkan country and to urge authorities to quickly find those responsible for the assault against Vladimir Kovacevic of the independent Bosnian Serb television station BNTV.

Similar rallies were reportedly held in Zenica and Mostar, a day after hundreds of people protested in downtown Banja Luka, the administrative center of Republika Srpska, where the August 26 attack took place.

Some television stations also aired a black-and-red message reading, "Stop violence against journalists in Bosnia!"

"The freedom of the press has been threatened since [the start of the Bosnian war in] 1992 and has never been improved, said journalist Arijana Saracevic-Helac, who attended the protest on Sarajevos Susan Sontag Square.

Kovacevic was hospitalized after he said two men beat him with metal bars late on August 26 as he was coming home after reporting on an antigovernment protest in Banja Luka.

A photo posted on Kovacevics Twitter account showed his bloodied and bandaged head.

Prosecutors in Banja Luka said they were treating the case as attempted murder.

In an August 27 statement, the Bosnian journalists' association blamed Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik for leading a campaign against independent media, saying it made reporters "open targets" for attackers.

Dodik, parliament speaker Nedeljko Cubrilovic, and other politicians condemned the attack against Kovacevic.

"It is not true that a lynching atmosphere exists, and I reject that," Dodik said after visiting Kovacevic in hospital.

The brutal beating has also drawn international outrage, with the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo tweeting that attacks on journalists are "unacceptable."

Council of Europe commissioner for human rights Dunja Mijatovic called the assault "the latest of several alarming attacks against journalists and media actors in Bosnia.

"The negative rhetoric being used against the media must end, in order to prevent further such attacks against journalists," said the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) media-freedom representative, Harlem Desir.

With reporting by APFrench President Emmanuel Macron is calling on the European Union to boost military cooperation and stop relying on the United States for defense while reaching out to Russia to develop a "strategic partnership."

In an address to French ambassadors on August 27, Macron appeared to leave behind his efforts in the last year to develop joint policies with U.S. President Donald Trump and instead criticized Trump for being an "unreliable" partner and "turning his back" on the "multilaterism" built by Western powers since World War II with such actions as pulling out of the global climate change agreement and Iran's nuclear deal.

The 40-year-old French president said he would put forward new proposals in the coming months for the EU to boost defense cooperation, as well as talks with Russia on their security relationship.

"Europe can no longer rely on the United States for its security. It is up to us to guarantee European security, and therefore European sovereignty," Macron told an audience of some 250 diplomats, lawmakers, and international relations experts.

Although the did not call for any break with NATO, the U.S.-led military alliance that has been the foundation of Western European security since World War II, Macron called for Europe to build a "strategic partnership" with Russia, despite differences with the Kremlin over Ukraine, Syria and other issues.

He qualified his call for talks with Russia, however, by saying Moscow must first make progress on putting an end to the conflict between the Ukrainian government and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Macron said he envisions a "revision of the European architecture of defense and security" as a result of "renewed dialogue on cybersecurity, chemical weapons, conventional weaponry, territorial conflicts, space security, the protection of the polar zones -- in particular with Russia."

New Geopolitical Realities

Macron's remarks follow a similar call for increased EU defense cooperation last week by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who has said Europe should "take an equal share of the responsibility" and "form a counterweight" to Washington in the world as Europe-U.S. relations cool.

"Obviously, it irritates us when President Trump describes Europe as an enemy of the U.S.A in the same breath as Russia and China, or calls NATO into question almost as a throwaway remark," Maas told a gathering of Romanian diplomats in Bucharest on August 27.

"It seems absurd that we in the European Union have to worry about reacting to U.S. tariffs that are justified on 'national security grounds'," Maas said, but he said this "absurdity" may simply reflect new geopolitical realities.

"'America First' was a wake-up call. Our answer to that must be: 'Europe United!,'" Maas said.

France and Germany have both backed the idea of a small joint European response force over the last year, and have announced plans to develop a fighter jet together.

While Macron's call for more European defense cooperation may resonate with Germany it is not clear whether newer members of the bloc in Eastern Europe will go along.

With the exceptions of France and Britain, all other European members of NATO have lived under the nuclear umbrella provided by the United States since World War II.

That NATO alliance with the U.S. has been especially important to newer members like Poland and the Baltic states, which have called for an increased NATO presence in their countries since Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

Since taking office, Trump has vacillated between criticizing NATO and pledging his commitment to the alliance at the same time he has been putting pressure on European allies to increase their defense spending to at least 2 percent of their economic output..

Many of the eastern bloc members already meet that goal. Trump has singled Germany out for criticism for not meeting the goal, though Berlin has announced plans to increase its military spending to 1.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2025.

A spokesperson for EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that the EU has already taken "decisive steps" to build up European security and defense in recent years, including the development of a joint defense fund and a new planning cell for EU military missions around the world.

In November, EU countries officially launched a new era in defense cooperation with a program of joint military investment and project development. Twenty-three of the EU's 28 member nations signed up to the process, known as permanent structured cooperation, or PESCO.

With reporting by AFP, dpa, and AP

Photo: Google Maps

Conservation officers say a bear that seriously injured two hikers in a southern Alberta park retreated after biting into a can of bear spray that one of the people was holding.

Officials with Alberta Parks said a Calgary woman and her adult son were hiking in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park on Saturday afternoon when the bear came out of the forest a few metres in front of them.

"The hikers surprised a bear at close range near a carcass and it resulted in a defensive attack," said Arian Spiteri, district conservation officer in Kananaskis.

It's unknown whether it was a black bear or a grizzly, but she said they suspect it was a grizzly.

"The bear made contact with the first hiker, knocking him to the ground twice," she said. "He suffered wounds to his face, his head and his arms."

Spiteri said the woman had dropped her bear spray, but she was able to pick it up again and was about to spray the aerosol deterrent when the bear bit her hand and the canister.

"At that point, the bear spray deployed in the bear's face  from the holes that were created when it bit the canister  and the bear retreated."

She said the hikers were able to drive themselves to the Canmore hospital, where they were treated for bites and scratches before being released.

Officers evacuated the area and closed several popular hikes in the Spray Valley until further notice.

"We're closing this area to give the bear space and allow it some time to recover from the encounter," she said. "From the bear's perspective, this would be quite a stressful encounter as well."

Spiteri said bear attacks are rare in the park, but hikers should always be prepared for an encounter by hiking in groups of four or more, making lots of noise, watching for signs of bear activity and carrying bear spray.

They also recommend not wearing ear buds and keeping dogs on a leash at all times.Germany's top diplomat says he's concerned about "growing polarization" in Romania over the fight against anticorruption, which he said led to the violence that broke out at street protests against graft.

"It's not the discussion as such that worries us, as that has to take place. It is the harshness of the debate, which has led to violent confrontations," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on a visit to Bucharest on August 27.

Maas was referring to a clash between police and protesters at the end of a mass protest in Bucharest on August 10 that resulted in more than 450 people being treated for injuries, including 30 police.

He called for both sides to search for a "compromise" on judicial reform which would preserve fundamental rights and the governmental balance of powers while bringing Romanian society back together.

Thousands of Romanians have staged protests since the Social Democratic Party won power in 2016, contending that the government wants to dilute the fight against graft.

The government, contending that the nation's anticorruption agency has unfairly targeted some politicians, passed judicial reforms that the protesters and other critics say weaken the nation's judicial system.

During his visit to Bucharest on August 27, Maas held talks with his Romanian counterpart, Teodor Melescanu. Talks with President Klaus Iohannis are also planned.

Iohannis, like Maas, has also decried the tough police response to the protests on August 10, calling it "disproportionate" at the time.

Romania takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union on January 1. Maas said he was confident Romania is capable of taking on the big role for the first time since it joined the EU in 2007.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and dpaBAKU -- Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has sacked the administrative head of the country's second-largest city, weeks after the official was wounded in an armed attack and two police officers were stabbed to death.

Aliyev's office said on August 28 that Elmar Valiyev was replaced by Niyazi Bayramov.

Valiyev and one of his bodyguards were hospitalized with various injuries late on July 3 after being shot by an individual.

Police arrested the suspected gunman, identified as Yunis Safarov.

Authorities alleged that he belonged to a radical Islamist group and was plotting a coup intended to pave the way for the creation of an Islamic state in the mostly Shi'ite Muslim nation that borders Iran.

In July, hundreds of Safarov's supporters clashed with police in Ganca, stabbing two high-tanking police officers to death.

Two men suspected of involvement in the assault were shot dead in two separate police operations, while some 60 other suspects were detained, according to authorities.If video killed the radio star, then the Internet, dominated by Latin characters, may be the culprit when it comes to Cyrillic in Serbia.

Upon entering Serbia, whether at an airport, a train station, or on a highway, visitors are immediately struck by Cyrillic script in official signs.

But elsewhere, especially in an age when the Internet is becoming dominant in supplying information to many Serbs, the script is in decline.

All younger people are starting to use Latin because of their phones and computers, so I dont know if there is a future for Cyrillic, says 14-year-old student Lazar Nikolic.

Created in the second half of the ninth century in what is now the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Cyrillic is used in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Mongolia, and a few Central Asian republics, as well as in Bulgaria and some of the states that emerged from the former Yugoslavia -- Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and parts of Bosnia.

Cyrillic was enshrined as Serbias official alphabet in its 2006 constitution, which stipulates that communication between public institutions, as well as between such bodies and the public at large, must be in Cyrillic, except for official communication with national minorities.

But outside the official hallways of the state, Latin-based script has become so prevalent that the government is being forced to fight back.

The Ministry of Culture and Information has proposed tightening language laws, the creation of a Council for the Serbian Language, and fines for those who do not respect Serbias mother script.

From incentives to businesses for using the script to legislation, the battle to protect Cyrillic is on, and Vladan Vukosavljevic, Serbias culture minister, is leading the charge.

The Cyrillic alphabet is being used less and less, Vukosavljevic says. It's not about enacting Draconian measures but about a reasonable correction.

A case in point is the capital, Belgrade.

Though state buildings are adorned with the ancient alphabet, the citys bustling commercial center is teeming with signs in Latin script.

To combat the invasion, Belgrade city hall adopted measures to reward companies that promote Cyrillic through its usage. Under the plan, companies and individuals who rent space from the city get a 5 percent discount on their rent if their signs are in Cyrillic.

As long as there are schools in Serbia, people will know Cyrillic and its survival is not in jeopardy."

Starbucks and McDonald's have their own Cyrillic names in countries where this is the official script. If they feel that this is in their interest, I think it will be accepted, Andreja Mladenovic, an adviser to Belgrade Mayor Zoran Radojicic, told the Beta News Agency.

The city will look much nicer. This will give a nice picture of our city to foreign tourists. And it's also a way to encourage our institutions to protect the Cyrillic script, Mladenovic added.

Language expert Ranko Bugarski, a professor at the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade, questions the effectiveness of further legislating any aspect of language, given its personal nature.

He notes that Cyrillic already has a place in the constitution, whereas Latin script doesnt. In addition, students are first taught Cyrillic characters and its virtually impossible to finish high school without a good knowledge of it.

Students in all schools first learn Cyrillic, and only after that Latin. All school textbooks are in Cyrillic. That is already a very strong degree of protection. As long as there are schools in Serbia, people will know Cyrillic and its survival is not in jeopardy, he told RFE/RL.

Dunja Jasovic agrees.

The 21-year-old student from Belgrade says she always writes in Cyrillic, a habit developed during elementary school.

Now, when I study at college or write notes, I always use Cyrillic. But online, or when we do something on a laptop, it's always easier to use Latin, she says.

Much of that comfort is likely aided by the fact that the Internet in Serbia has gone decidedly Latin, as it has in most of the cyberworld.

According to the Serbian National Internet Domain Registry, 101,648 websites have been registered on the .rs Latin-script domain, compared with just 2,512 for its Cyrillic-script equivalent.

Jasovic knows the statistics but notes that Serbs should be proud of their language, whichever script is used.

I think it is a gift that we know both letter types and that we do not make a big difference between them. For some, its easier to use Cyrillic. Others prefer to use Latin. Thats not a deficiency. Thats something good.President Hassan Rohani has told lawmakers that Iran will overcome newly reimposed U.S. sanctions and will show "the anti-Iranian officials in the White House" that the measures will fail to reach their goal.

Rohani was summoned before Tehran's parliament on August 28 to answer questions about his handling of the economy amid a growing economic crisis, rising prices, and unemployment.

However, the lawmakers were not convinced by his answers and referred the case to the judiciary.

"The economic problems are critical, but more important than that is that many people have lost their faith in the future of the Islamic republic and are in doubt about its power," Rohani said in his speech, which was broadcast live on television.

"We are not afraid of America or the economic problems," he also said. "We will overcome the troubles."

"I want to assure the Iranian nation that we will not allow the U.S. plot against the Islamic republic to succeed," Rohani added.

"We will not let this bunch of anti-Iranians in the White House be able to plot against us."

Members of parliament asked the president about the government's failure in stemming unemployment, slow economic growth, and the free fall of the country's currency, the rial -- as well as the incapacity to put an end to cross-border smuggling operations.

Rohani told lawmakers that the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) had been called in to help tackling the smuggling.

Lawmakers also inquired about the lack of financial reforms and asked why, more than two years after the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Iranian banks still had only limited access to global financial services.

Members of parliament only found Rohani's answer about the banking satisfactory and referred the rest to the hard-line judiciary.

Iran's parliament has the power to impeach the president, but Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said Rohani should be allowed to serve his entire term through 2021.

First Parliamentary Grilling

It is the first time Rohani, who is regarded as a moderate, has been summoned by parliament since he was elected in 2013, and is a victory for the hard-liners who have opposed his economic reforms.

Lawmakers were questioning him about his plans to shore up the rial, which has fallen in value by more than half since April, and rising unemployment.

His appearance comes days after Masoud Karbasian was ousted as economy minister, the fourth member of Rohani's economic team to be removed in recent weeks.

His labor minister was voted out by lawmakers earlier this month and the chief and deputy chief of the central bank were given the axe in July.

The lawmakers have been blaming Rohani and his team for what many economists say is the result of a U.S. decision this year to withdraw from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and reimpose sanctions.

The fall of rial has been partly blamed on those sanctions, some of which were imposed earlier this month and others are due to be reimposed in November.

Most of Rohani's hard-line critics were opposed to the nuclear deal and the rapprochement with the West that it ushered in, and many are now calling on Rohani to step down.

Rohani's hard-line rivals lost to him at the polls in recent years, but some see the current crisis as an opportunity to return to power.

Rohani is believed to still have the backing of moderate conservatives, including powerful parliament speaker Ali Larijani.

Based on reporting by AFP, dpa, and Reuters

ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- An inmate whose relatives insist he was tortured while being detained in a Kazakh penal colony has died in hospital.

Qairat Egimbaev's wife, Aizhan Omar, told RFE/RL that her husband had been pronounced dead on August 26 and his body was delivered to her on August 28.

Omar said that Egimbaev died a day before he was supposed to testify about his situation to investigators.

Egimbaev's relatives told journalists last week that the 44-year-old man was transferred from the penal colony to a regular hospital in early August and underwent four operations on his intestines, adding that they had not been allowed to see him and talk to him.

Egimbaev's lawyer, Aigul Baimaghambetova, told RFE/RL earlier that the penal colony authorities claim that Egimbaev sustained injuries after he fell in a shower room.

His relatives have rejected that explanation and demanded the real reasons for the four operations.

Ghalymzhan Khasenov, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry's Penitentiary Committee, told RFE/RL last week that Egimbaev's case was under investigation.

Almaty regional penitentiary service officials were not available for comment on August 28.

Torture in Kazakh penitentiaries has been reported several times in recent years.

On August 8, a deputy warden of a penal colony in the central Qaraghandy region, his subordinate, and six inmates were sentenced to prison terms between seven and eight years after a court found them guilty of torturing a prisoner to death.From the length of their beards and dresses to the amount of food they're allowed to prepare, Tajiks have seen their government take numerous steps to regulate their private lives.

Now, Tajikistan is trying to control how its citizens are memorialized after they die.

Tajik officials are conducting public outreach about restrictions on the size of tombstones in the Central Asian country's cemeteries, an official with the government's Committee on Religious Affairs and Regulation of National Traditions told RFE/RL's Tajik Service on August 25.

He said that the measure is aimed at reining in displays of the wealth of the deceased and his or her relatives.

"Awareness-raising activities are under way among the population," the official said.

The regulations limiting the size of tombstones were first unveiled in a little-noticed February 2017 statement in the state-controlled Jumhuriyat newspaper. But they appear to have only garnered broad public attention after an August 25 report on the rules by RFE/RLs Tajik Service.

In the Jumhuriyat announcement by Abdukarim Mustafozoda, an official with the governments religious affairs committee, said headstones should be no more than 1.5 meters long, 1 meter wide, and 50 centimeters tall.

The official who spoke to RFE/RLs Tajik Service said these measurements were "established by government decree," adding that local authorities and branches of the religious affairs committee had been tasked with putting the decree into practice.

"No penalty has been introduced yet for violating the policy," the official said.

Under President Emomali Rahmon, an authoritarian leader who has been in power since 1992, the Tajik government has enacted a raft of measures micromanaging the dress and behavior of citizens.

Last year, the government released new measures forbidding bereaved family members from loud wailing at funerals, a traditional manner of mourning in Tajikistan, primarily among women.

Authorities have also placed restrictions on how much families are allowed to spend on funerals, weddings, and other private events. One family in southern Tajikistan last year had food for a wedding confiscated by officials who said a "wasteful" amount had been prepared.

Wary of what they portray as a threat from religious extremism, Tajik authorities have tightened restrictions over Islamic institutions and public displays of faith in the mainly Muslim country that are often seen as indicators of religiosity, including men's beards, baby names, and how women tie their scarves.

The tombstone regulations, however, hew toward the traditional austerity of Islamic grave markers.

In announcing the rules last year, Mustafozoda wrote that Tajik cemeteries have become a place for people to show off their wealth and try to outdo one another by erecting extravagant headstones for their relatives.



"This trend is not only wrong, it's also against Islam.... This wastefulness and unnecessary display of wealth is creating an unhealthy competition among people," he wrote.

Several members of Rahmons family and relatives occupy important official positions or control major businesses in Tajikistan, and he has been widely criticized for widespread corruption and cracking down on dissent.

Written by senior correspondent Carl Schreck based on reporting by Mullorajab Yusufzoda of RFE/RLs Tajik Service.The United States says the reimposition of nuclear-related sanctions against Iran is a legal and justified national security measure that cannot be challenged by Tehran at the United Nations' highest court.

U.S. State Department legal adviser Jennifer Newstead called on judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on August 28 to reject a request by Iran to order the suspension of the sanctions reimposed by President Donald Trumps administration earlier this month.

The move followed Washingtons withdrawal from the landmark 2015 nuclear accord between Tehran and six world powers that curbed Tehrans nuclear ambitions in exchange for lifting crippling sanctions.

Newstead told the UN court in The Hague that it has no jurisdiction to rule on the matter, and argued that the United States has the right to protect its national security and other interests.

In the first day of hearings on August 27, a lawyer representing Iran, Mohsen Mohebi, told the court that the U.S. policies on Iran were "nothing but a naked economic aggression."

Iran filed a complaint with the ICJ in July, claiming that the sanctions breach a 1955 friendship treaty between Washington and Tehran.

The treaty, known as the Treaty of Amity, called for "friendly relations" between the two countries, encourages mutual trade and investment, and regulates diplomatic ties.

It was signed at a time of close relations between Washington and Tehran, long before the 1979 Islamic Revolution brought about decades of hostility between the two.

While Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 nuclear pact, other signees of the treaty urged Washington to remain in the deal and have vowed to stay in it themselves.

The renewed U.S. sanctions target Iran's car industry, trade in gold and other precious metals, and purchases of U.S. dollars crucial to support its oil exports and other global trade.

Further sanctions are due to go into effect in November specifically targeting Iran's banking sector and oil industry, which drives growth in the Iranian economy.

With reporting by AFP, AP, and ReutersRussia has formally moved to restrict the activities of Pacific Environment, labeling the longtime U.S.-based environmental and advocacy group an undesirable organization.

The group is the latest in a growing number of nongovernmental organizations to be blacklisted by the Justice Ministry, which announced the move on August 28.

It followed a decision last week by the Prosecutor-Generals Office to seek the designation, which said Pacific Environment posed "a threat to the constitutional foundations of Russia and state security."

The San Francisco-based organization has worked in Russias Siberia, Far East, and Arctic regions for years, helping to fund local groups and raise awareness of issues like endangered species in Primorsky Krai, oil pollution on Sakhalin, and other matters. It also advocates in other Pacific Rim countries.

The group did not immediately respond to a call and an e-mail seeking comment.

The group is the 15th organization to be blacklisted under the law adopted in 2015 but the first environmental group to be placed on the "undesirables" list.

The blacklist has so far targeted mainly U.S. democracy-promoting organizations, such as the National Endowment for Democracy, or groups funded by figures like U.S billionaire George Soros and exiled Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

The crackdown on foreign organizations followed a separate law passed three years earlier known as the "foreign agents" law. That was aimed at restricting organizations performing the function of foreign agents -- which meant Russian nongovernmental organizations that receive foreign funding and conduct political activities."

Dozens of Russian organizations have been labeled "foreign agents," a designation that requires lengthy, often onerous reporting requirements.Russia suggested a Syrian rebel group was preparing to use chemical weapons amid a looming battle in Syria's northern Idlib region.

The August 28 comments by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov came amid other warnings from Washington and European allies that focused on Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad's regime, whose forces are preparing an assault on Idlib.

Ryabkov alleged that the Al-Qaeda-linked Levant Liberation Committee was preparing an attack in Idlib Province.

He asserted that it would be filmed by a first-responder group known as the White Helmets and the chemical weapons would then be used as a pretext by the West.

"It will be used as an excuse to carry out a large-scale military attack on Syria," he was quoted as saying.

Moscow has routinely accused the White Helmets, without evidence, of staging attacks in the past, in a bid to generate international sympathy.

The Syrian government has been sending reinforcements toward Idlib for weeks ahead of an expected major offensive. The region is the last major rebel stronghold in Syria.

Russia is a close ally of the Syrian government, which denies ever using chemical weapons.

U.S. national security adviser John Bolton last week warned Assad against using chemical weapons and vowed a tough response if they were used.

French President Emmanuel Macron on August 27 called on Russia to rein in Assad over repeated reports of chemical-weapons usage.

Based on reporting by AP, Interfax, and AFPRussia's defense minister said the country will hold its biggest military exercises in almost 40 years.

Sergei Shoigu said on August 28 that the drills, called Vostok-2018, will involve almost 300,000 troops, more than 1,000 aircraft, both the Pacific and Northern Fleets, and all Russian airborne units. They will take place in the central and eastern military districts, in southern Siberia, and the Far East.

"This is the biggest drill to take place in Russia since 1981," Shoigu said in a statement.

He was referring to the Zapad exercises that year, which involved Soviet and other Warsaw Pact forces and were the largest war drills ever carried out by the Soviet Union and its allies.

The Vostok-2018 exercises are set to be carried out from September 11-15 with the participation of Chinese and Mongolian military personnel.

The maneuvers come as relations between Moscow and the West have deteriorated to a post-Cold War low. Tensions have been stoked by Russia's seizure of Crimea, its role in wars in Syria and eastern Ukraine, and its alleged election meddling in the United States and Europe.

In recent years, Russia's military has stepped up the frequency and scope of its military exercises, reflecting the Kremlin's multiyear focus on modernizing its armed forces and its tactics.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that such war games were essential in the current international situation, which he said is often aggressive and unfriendly toward our country.

NATO spokesman Dylan White said that Russia had briefed the alliance, which planned to monitor them.

"Vostok demonstrates Russias focus on exercising large-scale conflict. It fits into a pattern we have seen over some time: a more assertive Russia, significantly increasing its defense budget and its military presence," White said in a statement.

Russia last held large-scale war games in September 2017, in regions bordering NATO countries in the Baltics.

Moscow and Minsk said the joint maneuvers involved some 12,700 troops in the two countries combined, but Western officials have said the true number may have been around 100,000.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and InterfaxPhoto: Contributed

A Canadian mom says her children are being treated like foreigners.

Theyre not Canadian because Im not Canadian enough apparently, Vicki Maruyama told CTV. I was like, What? We live here, Im from here, I grew up here.

Maruyama grew up in Edmonton and is a Canadian citizen, but her children were born in Japan.

She's had trouble getting her two kids into public school and even getting them vaccinated, thanks to a citizenship law that deems them not Canadian.

The children were brought into Canada last week under a temporary resident permit, but Maruyama says they deserve to be considered citizens.

Bill C-37, passed in 2009, is aimed at Canadians of convenience." It allows a first generation born abroad to keep their citizenship, but not a second generation.

Maruyama was born in Hong Kong to Canadian parents, but moved to Japan to teach English, where she met her husband. She learned of the new rules while eight months pregnant.

She was advised to "get on a plane. Then they will be Canadian ... or you can have your children immigrate.

She's had to leave the country periodically to keep the children's visitor visas, was blocked registration at schools in Edmonton, and the kids have been denied health care.

This is my home. Its kind of awful, she said.

 with files from CTV VancouverSince Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, it has sought to control all aspects of life on the peninsula, including its airwaves. Russian transmissions are jamming frequencies broadcast from the Ukrainian mainland, while Kyiv fights back with new and upgraded radio towers.As relations between the United States and Turkey have soured in recent months, Ankara has stepped up its pursuit of better relations and increased trade with Europe and Russia.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the leaders of Britain and Germany on August 27 to discuss strengthened ties even as his government warned the United States that recently imposed U.S. tariffs on Turkish goods threaten to destabilize the Middle East.

At the end of last week, Turkey sent a delegation led by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to Moscow to discuss the planned purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems -- a deal opposed by Washington -- as well as efforts to find a peaceful solution to the seven-year war in Syria.

In a sign of the importance of the visit, Cavusoglu was received by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who praised their "deep cooperation" on Syria.

On August 27, Turkish media reported that the presidents of Turkey, Russia, and Iran would all meet next week at a summit in Tehran aimed at forging an agreement on Syria.

Cavusoglu told Putin during their meeting that "your dear friend Mr. Erdogan" also expects him in Istanbul soon for dinner at a fish restaurant. Erdogan and Putin have met at least 11 times since August 2016.

'Striking Level Of Pragmatism'

Turkey's increasingly warm relations with Moscow, which also includes the joint development of a major Russian gas pipeline that is to run through the Black Sea and Turkey to southern Europe, has become critical for Ankara at a time when a crisis in relations with Washington has caused the Turkish lira to lose nearly half its value against the U.S. dollar.

The rapprochement between Russia and Turkey, a NATO member, "demonstrates a striking level of pragmatism" on both sides, but it is particularly helpful to Russia, Anna Arutunyan, a Moscow-based senior analyst for the International Crisis Group, told AP.

"The prospect of a friendly NATO member is very valuable for Moscow" as it aims to bolster its influence in the Middle East, Arutunyan said. "Turkey is a good avenue to do that. Syria has been a good avenue to do that."

During Erdogan's call with British Prime Minister Theresa May on August 27, the two leaders focused on the economy, trade, and investments, as well as the Syrian crisis. May told Erdogan that Britain wants to see Turkey's economy "flourish," her office said.

The warm response in London contrasted with recent exchanges of threats and economic retaliation between Ankara and Washington that have sent Turkey's currency, markets, and economy tumbling.

In a second call with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu reported that Erdogan and Steinmeier both showed determination to strengthen diplomatic ties.

They also discussed preparations for Erdogan's state visit to Germany at the end of September and a meeting planned between both countries' finance ministers in Berlin on September 21.

The calls come after personal calls by Erdogan to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, and German leader Angela Merkel in recent weeks.

With reporting by AP, AFP, dpa, and ReutersUkraine has shut down its representative offices in member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

The CIS is a loose grouping of former Soviet republics.

CIS Executive Secretary Sergei Lebedev said on August 28 that the Ukrainian offices were closed earlier this month, adding that the grouping's ties with Kyiv are being maintained through the Ukrainian Embassy in Minsk.

"I still hope that Ukraine will preserve its presence within the [CIS]," Lebedev said.

The Ukraininan move came after President Petro Poroshenko earlier this year signed a decree recalling Kyiv's envoys from CIS bodies and announced plans to quit the organization, criticizing its "failure to denounce Russia's aggression [in Ukraine]."

Russia illegally annexed Ukraines Crimea region in March 2014 and is backing separatists in the countrys east in a conflict that has killed more than 10,300 people since April 2014.

Poroshenko, who was elected after Russia-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych fled in February 2014 following months of mass street protests, has repeatedly said that Ukraine's future is in Europe, and not with Russia.

Ukraine has been an associate member of the CIS since the grouping was established following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Full members include Russia and eight former Soviet republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Based on reporting by TASS and InterfaxThe United Nations peace envoy for Syria is planning to host officials from the United States and six other countries next month for talks on drafting a new Syrian constitution.

UN spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci said on August 28 that Staffan de Mistura will convene a meeting in Geneva on September 14 with senior representatives from Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.

The discussions will focus on "the way ahead on the political process" for Syria, "including the UN effort to facilitate the establishment of a constitutional committee," Vellucci said.

De Mistura is also set to meet officials from Russia, Turkey, and Iran on September 11-12 for previously announced talks on war-ravaged Syria.

The UN envoy has been tasked with forming a committee to draw up the new Syrian constitution, after receiving nominations from the Syrian government and the opposition.

His previous efforts to negotiate an end to the Syrian conflict have achieved no breakthroughs.

The United States will join the negotiations, represented by James Jeffrey, the newly minted special representative for Syria, and Joel Rayburn, the administration's special envoy for Syria, a State Department official was quoted by Reuters as saying.

The seven-year war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and uprooted millions since it began with a government crackdown on protesters in March 2011.

Based on reporting by AFP and ReutersWASHINGTON -- U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis rebuffed suggestions that private military forces could join the fight in Afghanistan, and possibly replace regular U.S. troops.

Mattis made the comments at a Pentagon press briefing on August 28, where he was asked about such proposals that have been floated in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere.

"When Americans put their nation's credibility on the line, privatizing it is probably not a wise idea," Mattis said.

The main proponent of the idea has been Erik Prince, the former head of a controversial private military contractor once known as Blackwater.

A longtime Republican supporter and brother of President Donald Trump's education secretary, Prince has argued that using private mercenaries would help decrease the US military presence in Afghanistan after 17 years of war.

In recent weeks, Prince has engaged in a public relations campaign, including publishing online videos, to press his arguments.

About 14,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, providing the largest contingent of NATO's mission and helping lead increasingly tense offensive operations against Taliban fighters.



Western powers are calling on Russia to rein in its ally Syria and prevent another potential "humanitarian crisis" from breaking out in the latest arena of the country's seven-year civil war.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump shared concerns about developments in Syria in a phone call on August 27, especially the humanitarian situation in the Idlib region on the border with Turkey, their offices said,

Russia has given President Bashar al-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 tide 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.

Rebel forces have been routed in many parts of the country. Syrian pro-government forces are preparing to launch what appears to be a major offensive to try to regain control over the northwestern province of Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold.

Both Trump and Merkel "called for international action to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Idlib Province," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

"Russia is called upon to act in a moderating manner on the Syrian government and prevent a further escalation," Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said.

Concerns Over Idlib

Before discussing the matter with Trump, Merkel raised concerns about the situation in Idlib during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin just over a week ago, Seibert said.

The United States, France, and Britain last week issued a warning to Syria not to use chemical weapons as government forces ready their assault on Idlib.

French President Emmanuel Macron separately on August 27 called on Russia to rein in Assad, who denies using chemical weapons despite several instances documented by the UN and whom Russia has shielded from UN retribution over the chemical incidents for years.

"The situation is alarming because the regime is threatening to create another humanitarian crisis in Idlib province, and until now has shown no desire to negotiate the slightest political transition," Macron said.

"This means reinforcing pressure on the regime and its allies, and I expect Russia and Turkey to take account of their roles and the commitments they have made," he said.

After regaining control of most of Syria's major urban areas in the last year as well as Syria's southern borders with Jordan and Israel, Assad has set his sights on recapturing Idlib, where thousands of rebels and their families were transported under safe-passage arrangements brokered by Russia when they surrendered in other parts of the country.

Assad's forces started hitting the province with air strikes and shelling this month in what appears to be a prelude to a full-scale government offensive.

Bloomberg News reported last week that U.S. intelligence agencies believe they have evidence that Assad is planning a chemical attack, which if it occurs would fall into a pattern of Assad allegedly using such weapons to both terrorize his rebel opponents and prompt civilians to flee the area under siege.

Bloomberg said the indications of a planned chemical attack prompted White House National Security Adviser John Bolton to warn his Russian counterpart Nikolai Petrushev in a meeting last week that any such assault would draw a strong response from the United States going beyond the targeted air strikes Washington has ordered twice in the past year in retaliation for alleged chemical attacks.

Russia Claims 'Provocation'

As Western leaders have increasingly made public their concerns about a possible chemical attack in Idlib, Russia in recent days has countered with charges that rebels controlling Idlib province are the ones that are preparing to use chemical weapons.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov over the weekend accused the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham of "preparing another provocation" with the delivery of eight tanks of chlorine which he claimed would be used in a chlorine gas attack that the rebels would then blame on the government.

Konashenkov claimed that the planned "provocation" would "serve as another reason for the U.S., the U.K., and France to hit Syrian government targets with air strikes."

Russia on August 27 accused the United States of positioning warships and cruise missiles around the Mediterranean in preparation for a massive attack on Syria -- charges that the Pentagon denied.

Russia and Syria have repeatedly blamed past chemical attacks that have killed dozens of civilians in Syria on rebel groups, in several cases despite evidence that the chemicals were delivered by aerial bombs that the rebels do not have in their arsenals.

A Pentagon spokesman on August 27 called the latest Russian accusations "lies" and "propaganda," and a Syrian war monitor agreed.

"These are mere allegations and lies aimed at preparing the ground for the battle for [retaking] Idlib," Rami Abdel-Rahman, the head of London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told the dpa news agency.

He added that "the chlorine shipments about which Russia is talking are sent periodically for water plants to sterilize water in Idlib."

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, dpa, Interfax, and TASSThe six-foot great white shark was unintentionally caught in a fishermans net last weekend. The shark was then released safely.Photo: BC Wildfire Service

Northern Vancouver Island is usually one of the wettest places in Canada.

But a cluster of wildfires in the rainforest is making scientists take note.

Sixty-seven fires are burning in the region.

Forest fuels are drier than they have been in the past 40 years, fire information officer Shayne McCool told CTV.

"We are seeing fires in places that typically don't get wildfire, said Faron Onslow, a climate scientist at the University of Victoria.

He and his colleagues are investigating whether climate change is to blame.

 with files from CTV Vancouver IslandPhoto: The Canadian Press Louis C.K., co-creator/writer/executive producer, participates in the "Better Things" panel during the FX Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Comedian Louis C.K. has returned to the stage for apparently the first time after he admitted to engaging in sexual misconduct.

He made an unannounced appearance Sunday night at the Comedy Cellar in New York City's Greenwich Village.

The club's owner, Noam Dworman, told the New York Times he watched a video of the appearance. He says the 50-year-old was "very relaxed" and was greeted by an ovation from the audience. He says he performed "typical Louis C.K. stuff."

Five women last November accused the comedian of inappropriate behaviour. He released a statement in which he said the stories were true and he expressed remorse for his actions.

The actions resulted in the end of a production deal with FX Networks and the cancellation of a movie release.Cancuns new urban development plan goes vertical

Cancun, Q.R.  The Urban Development Program of Cancun says they have made modifications to the current urban plan for the city, which will now see vertical construction rather than horizontal.

The 22 districts that make up the city will be divided into primary, secondary and suburban and will be a neighborhood with specific services and focal points says Miguel Angel Lemus Mateos, president of the Real Estate Commission of the Caribbean Business Coordinating Council (CCE).

In the primary corridors, the land use will be mixed to construct taller buildings and generate investments not only in real estate housing, but commercial and tourism that will attract other projects.

The primary areas will allow highrise buildings of up to 30 stories and would apply in the areas of Jose Lopez Portillo avenue, the road to Merida and to Playa del Carmen. Highrise buildings of 15 stories would be built in areas such as Andres Quintana Roo and Bonampak, explained explained Tayde Favila Soriano, president of the Mexican Association of Real Estate Professionals (AMPI).

The municipality of Benito Juarez used to consist of 180,000 hectares but was reduced to 90,000 once Puerto Morelos became its own municipality. This change was also a motivating factor for the recent modification of the Urban Development Program of Cancun.

Since the announcement, some residents of Cancun are demanding municipal authorities not to approve the Plan of Urban Development because they say it would be over-densifying several areas.

Although they recognized the importance of vertical growth, it is not valid to over-populate areas with 10-story buildings, adding that such a move would not be beneficial but only bring problems in the way of the supply of public services and transportation.

They explained that currently in the Cumbres division, three 10-story buildings are being built, which will directly affect the residents of that area.Lopez Obrador says hes satisfied with US trade agreement

Mexico City, Mexico  President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador says he is satisfied with the trade agreement with the United States. The president-elect stressed the importance of Mexico and the United States reaching a trade agreement, but also stressed the importance of Canada being part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

This step gives economic and financial stability, said Lopez Obrador, who will assume the reins of the country on December 1. However, he admitted that there are other things that do not satisfy us at all () that Canada is not yet included.

It is important that the government of Canada be called to maintain the North American Free Trade Agreement. We are very interested in being a treaty of three countries.

The president-elect said that the US president, Donald Trump, listened to and understood the Mexican position on the issue of energy.

We are satisfied because our sovereignty is safe. Mexico reserves the right to reform its Constitution, its laws on energy matters and it was established that the oil and natural resources of Mexico belong to our nation, he said.

We put the emphasis on defending national sovereignty on the energy issue and it was achieved.

He also considered that there is a pending point, which is the participation of Canada in the commercial agreement, calling on the Prime Minister Canada, Justin Trudeau, to join.

Let politics be used, which is a noble trade he knows well, to settle, to resolve differences. This agreement was achieved with Mexico, but we want it to be achieved with Canada.

President Pena is also looking for Prime Minister Trudeau to start trade negotiations with the United States and certainly with us, said Lopez Obrador.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 28)  The families of alleged victims of extrajudicial killings filed a complaint Tuesday before the International Criminal Court (ICC), seeking the arrest of President Rodrigo Duterte for his administration's deadly war on drugs.

Six complainants, along with rights advocacy group Rise Up for Life and for Rights, filed the communication and complaint charging Duterte with murder and inhumane acts.

They said Duterte's publicly announced policies against drug suspects as well as police anti-drug operations Oplan Tokhang and Oplan Double Barrel went against the Rome Statute, the treaty which established the ICC.

"The extra-judicial killings, mass arrests, and other inhumane acts committed by and under President Duterte, whether 4,410 killed as claimed by the Philippine government or 23,000 as claimed by human rights and media groups, the mass murder and rights violations are so grievous and so heinous that is of sufficient gravity to justify further action of the Court," the complaint read.

It added that the petitioners went directly to the international court since Philippine law exempts presidents from suit. They also sought protection and reparation for the victims, lawyers, and witnesses while the case is still ongoing.

The complaint added Duterte's move to withdraw from the ICC is inconsequential under the Rome Statute.

The Philippines remains a party to the Statute, despite Duterte announcing the country's withdrawal from the international court in March. Article 127 of the Rome Statute states that "the withdrawal shall take effect one year after the date of receipt of the notification, unless the notification specifies a later date."

"It is our hope, that with the Court taking jurisdiction of herein Complaint, it may force President Duterte to reexamine, if not abandon, his distorted notion of mass murder to solve the country's drug and crime problem," the complainants added.

Malacanang remained unfazed with the complaint.

"My fearless prediction is that it will not prosper," Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said, citing the complementarity principle of the court will prevail.

The ICC functions as "a court of last resort" under the Rome Statute. It seeks to complement, not replace, national courts.

This is the second communication to be filed before the international court. The first came from Atty. Jude Sabio, a lawyer of self-confessed hitman Edgar Matobato. His communication sought ICC intervention in the country's war on drugs through a preliminary investigation.

READ: Lawyer asks international court to look into 'mass murder' in PH

CNN Philippines' Correspondent Gerg Cahiles contributed to this report.Photo: Contributed

Three months after a Vancouver Island man went missing, cadaver dogs are searching the Cowichan Valley for any signs of him.

Cobble Hill resident Ben Kilmer, 41, vanished mysteriously on May 16. His electrician's van was found still running on the side of Cowichan Lake Road, with blood inside.

Police, search and rescue teams and volunteers have scoured the area to no avail.

"To be honest it's discouraging," family spokeswoman Shannon Wiest told CTV.

Volunteer searchers with eight cadaver dogs were brought in over the weekend.

"Obviously, we hoped this weekend would yield more results," said Wiest. "But this is a really highly trained team, and we have a lot of faith in their skills and abilities."

Kilmer's disappearance has not been deemed suspicious, but a retired police officer and family friend is blunt in his assessment.

"Four things happened to him: He left on his own, he was murdered, he killed himself or he accidentally was injured," said David Hastie.

The RCMP file on the case remains open.

 with files from CTV Vancouver IslandA ROTHERHAM baker will rise to the challenge as he aims to create the right recipe to win the Great British Bake Off.

Dr Rahul Mandal, an engineering researcher at Catcliffes Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), will appear on screens tonight (Tuesday) as the popular TV baking competition makes its return.

The 30-year-old, who won last years Rotherham Show baking competition (below), has been unveiled as one of the 12 new bakers that will enter the big white tent and attempt to cook up a storm.

An AMRC statement said Dr Mandal, a research associate specialising in light-based measurement of engineered components, started baking cakes for colleagues at the Nuclear AMRC only two years ago.

The statement added: Born in India, Rahul came to the UK in 2010 on a scholarship to study for his PhD in optical metrology at Loughborough University. He joined the Nuclear AMRC in 2015, to develop innovative automated techniques for inspecting components for any contamination or flaw.

Rahul has expanded his research skills, and now works with other light-based measurement technologies including confocal microscopy and interferometry for weld inspection, added the statement.

Rahul said his job was all about measuring things with light and described his baking style as East-meets-West.

The blossoming baker added: I try to bake on alternate days. If it is something big, I develop and design it over the week and then execute it over the weekend. I am a very messy baker and viewers will see that! My flat is quite small and so its even messier at home - a big issue!

He said pretty much everybody he knew would be surprised that he had made it onto the show

Colleagues I knew during my PhD dont have a clue that I can bake. Back in India I didnt bake either. All of them and actually myself are surprised that I made it into the tent, he said.

The Great British Bake Off is on Channel 4 at 8pm.Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath

The law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh is the best the state has seen in the last 15 years, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath claimed as he lashed at the Opposition for disrupting the state Assembly on the issue of handling crime. "Not just in the state but in the entire country it has been accepted that law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh has improved and an indicator of this is that investment is flowing in," Adityanath said as he accused the opposition parties of working with a "negative attitude".

Law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh is the best

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The chief minister was speaking to media persons after the state Assembly was adjourned for the day following noisy protests by opposition members over the Deoria shelter home case. It is very unfortunate that the House, which is meant for discussing serious issues, is being used for raising unnecessary slogans, the chief minister said. "I feel to hide their own incompetence and avoid becoming a laughing stock, they are raising a matter (Deoria case) that is sub-judice and being monitored by the High Court," Adityanath said. The House has 403 elected MLAs but a handful of people are holding it hostage and encroaching upon the rights of others, Adityanath said adding it was "not a good sign" for democracy.

Referring to the Deoria shelter home case, he said the facts that had emerged in the probe indicated that if anyone was to be blamed, it was the previous governments. The shelter home got recognition in 2009 and was getting grants till 2017, he said. "We have taken action against the DM and the SP and all those found lax and have also recommended a CBI inquiry. A three-member committee is carrying out the probe till the CBI takes over and High Count is monitoring the matter," he said. On August 6, 24 girls were rescued from a shelter home in Deoria after allegations of abuse came to light.

Allahabad high court

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We have emphatically curbed loot and other activities of criminal elements who had entered politics," Adityanath said. "I can understand the problem of the SP, the Congress and others in this regard," he said. He said the crime rate in the state was lesser than what was under the previous government and FIRs were being lodged. The National Crime Records Bureau clearly believes that crime control is determined by the common people's perception, he said.Amit Shah today inaugurated a day-long meeting of the party's chief ministers

BJP president Amit Shah today inaugurated a day-long meeting of the party's chief ministers in which it was decided to meet targets of the 'Swachh Bharat' scheme in a time-bound manner. The ongoing 'Gram Swaraj' project in over 48,000 villages was also discussed in the meeting. Party sources said the meeting also passed a condolence message commemorating former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as a leader who brought to fruition the concept of good governance and in whose death the country lost a visionary. BJP leaders also remembered Vajpayee's work to develop the northeast region and also create three new states as they paid him tributes.

Swachh Bharat, Gram Swaraj projects in focus in BJP CMs' meeting

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Sources said it was decided in the meeting that the targets set for the 'Swachh Bharat' (Clean India) project should be met within a specified period. Leaders also took stock of the implementation of seven central welfare schemes, including distribution of cooking gas connection and LED bulbs among the poor and also their coverage under insurance schemes, in over 48000 villages. The meeting has assumed significance due to the upcoming assembly polls in three BJP-ruled states and the Lok Sabha elections, which are less than eight months away.Meetings were held in Faridkot, Sangrur under Additional Deputy Commissioners

All adulterators will later or sooner be caught. No one can evade law for long, said KS Pannu, Commissioner Food and Drug Administration (CDFA)Punjab while informing that a Milk and Milk Product Seller had been duping the Food Safety Teams for past ten days and was carrying on the sale of adulterated products, unabated. Detailing the modus operandi, CFDA informed that the seller from Malerkotla in Sangrur used to sell spurious MMP in Ludhiana.

Food and Drug Administration

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He brought the products in a vehicle and used to park it in a pre-designated place every morning. On a tip off, the Food Safety Team conducted the raid but he deceived by changing the delivery time. The team kept the search on, but he managed to elude by constantly changing the time and place of delivery in Ludhiana. Finally, in a joint raid by food safety and dairy development officers, the adulterator was caught red-handed selling spurious cottage cheese (paneer) for Rs. 160 per kilogram and milk at Rs. 30 per litre.

Joint raid by food safety and dairy development officers

The samples have been taken action would be taken as per law, said Pannu. In SBS Nagar, the food safety teams seized the stock of expired spices and condiments at Shri Durga Karyana Store on Balachaur Pojewal Road. Samples were taken and the entire stock of expired carom seeds (ajwain) was destroyed. The team also inspected sweet shops and destroyed about 10kg of spoiled sweets and directed the sellers to use good quality of MMP and maintain good hygienic conditions.

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The samples have been taken action would be taken as per law

Similarly, a food safety team seized 120 kg of spurious paneer from Phagwara At Faridkot, sampling was done in Bishnandi Bazar and Himmatpura Basti, Jaito along with Dairy Development Department and at Purana Shalla and Bhani Mian Khan in Gurdaspur wherein Samples of milk, paneer and loose ghee were taken. At Maan Dairy, Sujanpur approximately 2 Quintals of Paneer and 2.5 Quintals of Milk was found and samples taken. At other places, samples of water, cold drinks, haldi, lalmirch, besan, juice, milk and milk product were taken.

Milk carrying vehicles were intercepted early in the morning at about 6:00 am

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Sampling was also done in Pathankot, Jandiala(Amritsar),Chabal (Tarn Taran), Dorangla(Gurdaspur), Jalandhar and Moga. Milk carrying vehicles were intercepted early in the morning at about 6:00 am by setting up naka in Block Balachaur of District SBS Nagar to trap spurious MMP. One vehicle of Joshi Dairy Farm, Banga chowk, Garhshankar carrying about 2 quintals of milk and other vehicle of Choudhary Dairy Birowal was intercepted carrying about one quintal of mixed milk. Samples have been taken and sent for analysis.

Sensitization meetings with stakeholders are afoot at district and sub-divisional level

Along with the inspection drive, the Sensitization meetings with stakeholders are afoot at district and sub-divisional level, state wide. Meetings were held in Faridkot, Sangrur under Additional Deputy Commissioners, in Moonak and Kapurthala under Sub Divisional Magistrates with the dairy owners, halwais, milk vendors ,dhaba, hotel and restaurants owners. All were strictly instructed to sell and prepare genuine milk and milk products only and keep a record of bills from where the milk was being procured.

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Sangrur spurious MMP seller held after ten-day labour

They were also suggested to prepare Khoya/Paneer required for preparation of sweets at own premises or from trusted sources as Milk Products procured from other districts/states have been found usually to be of Low Quality . They have been informed that strict action will be taken, if someone is found engaged in selling/preparing spurious and substandard food products as it is a crime against humanity.Photo: The Canadian Press B.C. Premier John Horgan looks on as Finance Minister Carole James speaks to the media on Tuesday.

British Columbia maintained its budget surplus in the last fiscal year even though it boosted spending on government programs by almost $3 billion and covered significant expenses from disastrous wildfires in 2017.

Finance Minister Carole James said the government reduced its debt and achieved a balanced budget despite historic losses at the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia.

James said regardless of what it will cost to fight fires, there is money in the budget.

The audited financial statements were released today, and showed an operating surplus of $301 million for 2017-18, which is $55 million higher than the surplus forecast in the budget update last fall.

Revenue was $571 million higher than the previous year, mostly due to increased federal transfers resulting from revised population estimates and higher taxation revenue.

James said overall, the province is seeing long-term economic growth.Capt Amarinder Singh at Punjab Vidhan Sabha

Acceding to the Chief Ministers request, Punjab Vidhan Speaker on Tuesday constituted a House Committee under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa to probe SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badals allegations of a meeting between Captain Amarinder Singh and Sikh preacher Baljit Singh Daduwal at the formers residence.

Captain Amarinder Singh described Sukhbir as a master of disinformation

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Intervening on the issue raised by SAD MLA, Captain Amarinder Singh described Sukhbir as a master of disinformation as he had misled the House by furnishing wrong information. The tower locations released by Sukhbir did not even exist, he said, adding that the Akali leader was clearly aimed at spreading misinformation. On the photograph showing him with Daduwal, which Sukhbir had flaunted, the Chief Minister said it was clicked during a meeting with a delegation that came to meet him at Punjab Bhavan. It was not a secret meeting and was widely covered by the media, he said.

Pb Vidhan Speaker sets up House Committee under Randhawa

The delegation had consisted of political leaders from different political parties, such as UAD, SAD (Mann), SAD (1920), who had come with a charter of demands, including detection of sacrilege cases & arrest of those involved in sacrilege/desecration,) release & transfer of TADA detenus who continue to be in Jails both in Punjab Jails and outside despite having served their sentences, among other things. Daduwal came along with the delegation of these leaders, he added.

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The delegation had consisted of political leaders from different political parties

The fact was that if five persons of similar build and physique were made to stand with Daduwal, he would not be able to identify him, said the Chief Minister, adding that the inquiry by the House Committee would nail Sukhbirs lies and ascertain the truth of the matter. Pointing out that his official residence was under strict CCTV surveillance, the Chief Minister dared Sukhbir to get the footage checked. Meanwhile, AAP MLA Harwinder Singh Phoolka lashed out at Sukhbir, saying there was nothing wrong in the Chief Minister meeting Daduwal in case such a meeting had taken place, since Daduwal was facing threats and had every right to approach Captain Amarinder Singh on the issue.

Capt Amarinder Singh at Punjab Vidhan Sabha: CM

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Earlier, Captain Amarinder Singh proposed the constitution of a House Committee to investigate Sukhbirs charges, which was allowed by the Speaker Rana Kanwarpal Singh and endorsed by members of Aam Aadmi Party. On Monday, the Chief Minister had lashed out at the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president for attempting to mislead the House with his unfounded charges.

The allegations were made by Sukhbir soon after the government tabled in the House the Justice (retd) Ranjit Singh Commission report into the sacrilege cases. The report was earlier accepted, along with Action Taken Report (ATR), by the state cabinet at a meeting chaired by the Chief Minister. The Cabinet gave its formal nod to the tabling of the report in the House. Asserting that he had never met Daduwal and does not even recognize him, Captain Amarinder Singh said in response to Sikhbirs allegations that when he had gone to Bargari after the police firing, he was told that the Sikh preacher was also sitting there. But he had neither seen nor ever met him personally, said the Chief Minister.

Chief Minister had lashed out at the Shiromani Akali Dal

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Captain Amarinder Singh said the Akalis were merely indulging in cheap gimmicks now to divert public attention from their misdeeds of 10 years, particularly the incidents of sacrilege which they had failed to check during their rule. He challenged the Akali leaders to join the debate on the report and not run away from it, as they had been doing on key issues in the past.India and Pakistan will resume their talks on various aspects of the crucial Indus Waters Treaty

India and Pakistan will resume their talks on various aspects of the crucial Indus Waters Treaty in Lahore on Wednesday, the first bilateral engagement since Prime Minister Imran Khan took office. India's Indus Water Commissioner P K Saxena is expected to reach here to begin the two-day discussions with his Pakistani counterpart Syed Mehr Ali Shah on Wednesday, Dawn quoted a government official as saying. The last meeting of the Pakistan-India Permanent Indus Commission was held in New Delhi in March during which both the sides had shared details of the water flow and the quantum of water being used under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty.

The talks will be the first official engagement between India and Pakistan since Khan became Pakistan's 22nd prime minister on August 18. In a letter to Khan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed India's resolve to build good neighbourly relations between the two countries. India and Pakistan would also finalise the schedule of future meetings of the Permanent Indus Commission and visits of the teams of the Indus commissioners, the official said. He said the water commissioners of both the countries are required to meet twice a year and arrange technical visits to projects' sites and critical river head works, but Pakistan had been facing a lot of problems in timely meetings and visits.

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Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan

The meeting is also expected to discuss ways and means for timely and smooth sharing of hydrological data on shared rivers. On July 30, Modi telephoned Khan to congratulate him on his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party's victory in the general elections and expressed hope that both countries will work to open a new chapter in bilateral ties. The report said that the Pakistani side will reiterate its objections over two water storage and hydropower projects being built by India during the two-day talks scheduled for August 29-30. The World Bank, a signatory to the Indus Waters Treaty, said in May that it could not reach an agreement with Pakistan to address its concerns after two-days of talks in Washington, days after India inaugurated the 330 MW Kishanganga hydroelectric project in Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistan had protested the inauguration of the project by Prime Minister Modi, claiming it will disrupt water supplies to Pakistan. As a signatory to the treaty, the World Bank's role is limited and procedural, the Bank had said. The 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by the World Bank and signed by then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistan's president Ayub Khan, administers how the water of the Indus river and its tributaries that flow in both the countries will be utilised. Under the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty 1960, waters of the eastern rivers Sutlej, Beas and Ravi had been allocated to India and the western rivers the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab to Pakistan, except for certain non-consumptive uses for India.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Islamabad had been raising objections over the design of the Kishanganga hydroelectric project, saying it is not in line with the criteria laid down under the Indus Waters Treaty between the two countries. However, India said that the project design was well within the treaty's parameters. The Kishanganga project was started in 2007 but on May 17, 2010, Pakistan moved for international arbitration against India under the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty.

The Hague-based International Court of Arbitration allowed India in 2013 to go ahead with construction of the project in North Kashmir and upheld India's right under the bilateral Indus Waters Treaty to divert waters from the Kishanganga for power generation in Jammu and Kashmir. The international court, however, decided that India shall release a minimum flow of nine cubic metres per second into the Kishanganga river (known as Neelam in Pakistan) at all times to maintain environmental flows.Researchers at UBC's Okanagan campus have developed a new and improved method to judge the effectiveness of experimental therapies for neurodegeneration -- the progressive loss of neurons.

"Neurons -- or nerve cells -- are hugely important to our daily lives," says post doctoral fellow Aaron Johnstone and study lead author. "These specialized cells collect and process the large amounts of information that enter our bodies via our senses, control our muscles and organs, and form our thoughts and memories. When these cells become unhealthy, it leads to diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, ALS, glaucoma and chronic pain."

Johnstone says his study uses the first automated test specifically designed for measuring degeneration of sensory neurons grown in a lab.

"The variability in nerve cell lengths, densities and shapes have traditionally made it difficult to reliably analyze their health," says Johnstone. "This, in turn, has generated confusion about the effectiveness of potential pharmacological or genetic treatments."

Using the new approach, which is software-assisted, the research team were able to measure nerve cell densities more accurately.

To do this the team grew nerve cells in a lab environment, and after establishing healthy neurons researchers mimicked the conditions that cause neurodegeneration. Neuron loss was then captured using fluorescent microcopy -- a process that makes the tiny cells easier to see -- and analyzed using a computer algorithm.

Johnstone suggests that objective measurement is essential to the process of developing new medicines.

"This procedure makes evaluating new treatment options, like drugs or gene therapies, far more accurate and trustworthy," Johnstone adds.

The study is a collaboration between UBC Okanagan Vice Principal of Research Phil Barker's lab and Robin Hallett, research fellow at Toronto's Sick Kids Hospital.

The study, published in PLOS ONE was supported by funds from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Health Research Fund of Quebec.

About neurodegenerative disease

Neurodegenerative disease is an umbrella term for a range of conditions, which primarily affect the neurons of the brain, the sensory system, muscles and organs. Neurons are the building blocks of the nervous system. Neurodegenerative diseases are incurable and debilitating -- dementia being the most common. More specific conditions include Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers reveal techniques -- inspired by the study of information theory -- to track how changes in precipitation alter interactions between the atmosphere, vegetation and soil at two National Science Foundation Critical Zone Observatory sites in the western United States.

"Information arising from fluctuations in rainfall moves through ecosystems, similar to the way that information flows through communication networks," said Praveen Kumar, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and study co-author. "This type of analysis, which is new to ecological and hydrological studies, lets us determine how well different aspects of an ecosystem are connected and whether responses to changes in climate are site-specific or common across different ecosystems."

The researchers looked at changes in heat, soil moisture and carbon flow -- known as fluxes -- before, during and after rainfall and drought events in two locations. The first site, in southwestern Idaho, experienced several days of rainfall during July 2015. The second, in the Southern Sierra region of California, experienced a multiyear drought starting in 2012.

"At the Idaho site, we saw increased connectivity between the atmosphere and soil in the period directly after the rainfall," said Allison Goodwell, a civil engineering professor at the University of Colorado, Denver who is a former Illinois graduate student and lead author of the new study. "At the Southern Sierra site, we found that heat and carbon fluxes responded to the drought in different ways, and that sources of connectivity varied between high- and low-elevation sites."

"Another aspect that made this study unique was the availability of data from multiple stations at different elevations at each site," Kumar said. "This allowed us to see if the changes in connectivity were due to climate differences resulting from elevation. Normally, the data collection stations are isolated, making it difficult to perform this type of comparative analysis."

Although the field sites and data are from different ecosystems, times and weather disturbances, the study provides insight into how connectivity influences different types of fluxes, the researchers said. Stronger connectivity alters how rainfall affects moisture, heat and carbon flux in the system, and the progression from early to late-stage drought.

"These results show the ways in which a watershed may respond to precipitation disturbances, in this case drought," said Richard Yuretich, the program director for the NSF Critical Zone Observatories. "The information is important to predicting how ecosystems will respond to future extreme events."

Aaron Fellows and Gerald Flerchinger from the U.S. Department of Agriculture also contributed to this research.

The National Science Foundation Grant for the Critical Zone Observatory for Intensively Managed Landscapes and the NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship supported this research.For the first time, scientists discovered a new ebola virus species in a host prior to detection in an infected human or sick animal.

The discovery of the Bombali virus in bats in Sierra Leone and the sequencing of the complete genome was officially published today in the journal Nature Microbiology. The Sierra Leone government announced preliminary findings in late July.

The discovery was made by scientists at the University of California Davis' One Health Institute and Columbia University's Center for Infection and Immunity, working with the government of Sierra Leone and the University of Makeni and Metabiota. The work is part of the PREDICT Ebola Host Project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development.

Predict in Action

The discovery illustrates the mission of USAID's PREDICT project, which aims to find viruses before they spillover into humans. The Bombali virus has the potential to infect human cells, but it is unknown if the virus has already caused human infections or if it is harmful to humans.

"Identifying new viruses like Bombali ebolavirus in wildlife and testing their capacity for human infection can enhance our understanding of the pre-emergent viral diversity circulating in animals," said co-lead author Simon Anthony, a virologist and assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. "We want to discover viruses that have the genetic prerequisites for human infection and then prioritize them for further study and intervention."

Bats Likely Hosts of Ebolaviruses

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Prior to the discovery of Bombali virus, five ebolavirus species had been described. For instance, Bombali virus is different from the Zaire ebolavirus, which killed thousands of people between 2013-2016. Despite more than 40 years of research, the reservoir hosts for these viruses is still unknown. But the discovery of Bombali virus adds to growing evidence that bats are the likely hosts of these viruses.

"If you want to prevent Ebola outbreaks, it's important to know which species are hosts and can shed the virus," said co-lead author Tracey Goldstein, an associate director of the One Health Institute at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. "Then we can help target changes in behavior so we can protect people, which is the overarching goal of our work."

The PREDICT team sampled more than 6,000 animals in Sierra Leone and performed laboratory tests to look for both known and unknown ebolaviruses. Bombali virus was found in five individual bats belonging to two different species of insectivorous bats that were found roosting inside people's houses.

Don't Kill Bats

The researchers emphasize that people should not attempt to kill or eradicate bats in response to the discovery. In fact, killing bats can actually increase the risk of virus transmission, not halt it.

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Bats also play important ecological and agricultural roles for pollination. Insectivorous bats eat thousands of insects each night, helping to control pests that can transmit disease and damage crops.

Reducing Exposure

Researchers have been engaging with local communities throughout the project. They continue to share results, answer questions and discuss with communities how they can live safely with bats and reduce their risk of exposure to the virus.

Infected bats are not known to show signs of illness but can shed the virus in their saliva and feces. As a result, other animals and people may be exposed if they touch live or dead bats, ingest food or water on which bats have fed or if they come into contact with the urine or feces of infected bats.

Funding was provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats PREDICT project and by the National Institutes of Health.As ocean conservation efforts kick into high gear amid concerns over climate change, food insecurity and habitat degradation, a disturbing phenomenon may also be on the rise: preemptive overfishing in a given area in anticipation of impending conservation policies.

"We show that efforts to close off fishing in a major part of the world's ocean paradoxically led to more fishing, thus undermining the very conservation goal that was being sought," Kyle Meng, a professor at the UC Santa Barbara Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, said of his new research. Meng is a co-author of "The blue paradox: Preemptive overfishing in marine reserves," now published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The findings have implications for general conservation efforts, as well as methods that scientists use to monitor and evaluate policy efficacy.

According to the researchers, while efforts to curtail overfishing and promote ocean biodiversity through the establishment of marine reserves have generally had positive results, the period leading up to implementation of policy can be a particularly vulnerable one. Fishermen, perhaps fearing the decline of their livelihood, recreation or general entitlement to their activity, tend to over-extract resources immediately before the protections become official.

"A simple way to think about it is that fishers face a 'use it or lose it' dilemma," said Grant McDermott, a professor at the University of Oregon and fellow co-author of the study. "And, like I presume many of us would in their situation, they invariably choose to fish as much as possible while they still can."

Such behavior was noted in the team's recent observation of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA), a swath of central Pacific Ocean roughly the size of California, known for its remarkably diverse marine ecosystem. Using datasets and continuous satellite monitoring provided by Global Fishing Watch, the researchers found that in the period leading up to the ban on fishing in PIPA that was enacted on January 1, 2015 -- a successful ban celebrated by conservationists and scientists alike -- preemptive fishing placed PIPA in a more impoverished state by the time the policy was enforced. In fact, this extra preemptive fishing was equivalent to 1.5 years of avoided fishing following the ban.

Such events are not new, according to the study. In other environmental domains, similar policies affecting endangered species, water and land resources, and climate change policy, have seen similar anticipatory behaviors. For example, in advance of the 1973 Endangered Species Act (ESA), private landowners in North Carolina and elsewhere deforested their properties to minimize land-use restrictions that would go into play upon settlement by woodpecker colonies. As a result, red-cockaded woodpecker habitats declined after the bird gained protected status via ESA. This phenomenon also was evident in non-environmental circles, such as after the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre, when calls for tougher legislation led to a surge in firearm sales.

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However, these previous examples are all land-based and involve clearly demarcated property rights, according to the authors. The striking thing about this latest study, they said, is that it demonstrates preemptive resource extraction can occur even in a marine setting, where property rights are usually far from secure. The precise conditions that would allow for this to occur in such a "commons" remains a topic for future research, however.

"While we do not know exactly why this behavior is occurring just yet," said Meng, "it is not hard to imagine that a fisher who has expertise in a particular fishing region may want to take advantage of that experience before a ban is implemented. After the ban, that know-how no longer has any value."

"Our goal in this study was to find out whether preemptive extraction is actually occurring in a marine setting and to quantify the effects," added McDermott. "Now that we've established those facts, we hope to uncover the underlying mechanisms more precisely in subsequent research."

In terms of marine overfishing, the researchers extrapolate that if other marine reserve announcements were to trigger similar preemptive fishing behavior, it could temporarily increase the share of global over-extracted fisheries from 65 percent to 72 percent. This increase, they say, undermines the very objective of the marine reserve and can push fisheries and fish populations in an already precarious state to a point of no return even before a ban is enacted. In addition, they said, a further depleted fish population means less income for fishers and the communities they live in.

"While a certain amount of preparatory time is needed for any future policy, we do urge future marine reserves to be implemented in a quicker manner," said co-author Christopher Costello, who is a professor at the Bren School. "Additionally, the ability to continuously monitor fishing activity around the world using data from Global Fishing Watch also suggests that such preemptive action can be detected and discouraged from happening even before the fishing ban takes place."

The group is currently investigating those possible remedies and exploring why fishers are engaging in this preemptive fishing behavior.

"Undercovering the exact motives behind this phenomenon will help us go a long way toward ultimately preventing it from happening," Meng said.If you've ever experienced jet lag, you are familiar with your circadian rhythm, which manages nearly all aspects of metabolism, from sleep-wake cycles to body temperature to digestion. Every cell in the body has a circadian clock, but researchers were unclear about how networks of cells connect with each other over time and how those time-varying connections impact network functions.

In research published Aug. 27 in PNAS, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and collaborating institutions developed a unified, data-driven computational approach to infer and reveal these connections in biological and chemical oscillatory networks, known as the topology of these complex networks, based on their time-series data. Once they establish the topology, they can infer how the agents, or cells, in the network work together in synchrony, an important state for the brain. Abnormal synchrony has been linked to a variety of brain disorders, such as epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

Jr-Shin Li, professor of systems science & mathematics and an applied mathematician in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, developed an algorithm, called the ICON (infer connections of networks) method, that shows for the first time the strength of these connections over time. Previously, researchers could only determine whether a connection existed between networks.

Li and collaborators first tested their method on simulated network of different sizes they created. Next, they tested the method on a network of oscillators -- populations of dynamic units that repeatedly fire together, go silent, then fire together again -- created in the lab by Istvan Kiss, professor of chemistry at Saint Louis University. When they applied Li's algorithm to the network of interactions among the synthetic oscillators, the results matched what Kiss had determined through his experiments, finding the same connections in a network of 15 chemical oscillators. Such prediction of this dynamic topology was not previously possible, the researchers said.

Li said this method has a variety of applications beyond cell networks.

"This lays the foundation to analyze real-world complex networks of tremendous size, such as transportation, internet, power grids, and social networks," he said.

Li also collaborated with Erik Herzog, professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University who studies the cellular and molecular basis of circadian rhythms in mammals, to determine the connections between cells in a mouse brain. Herzog measured the circadian rhythm from 541 cells from the right and left sides of the mouse brain, then asked Li to estimate how these connections changed over time -- something that hadn't been done in the biology field.

"The connection at one time may be strong, but at another time it may be stronger or weaker, so we can use this data to recover the functional connectivity," Li said. "If we know this, then we know the network, then we can do more study and investigate over time whether this network will be synchronized or whether specific dynamic patterns will emerge."

Herzog said ICON would help him and other scientists to understand principles that allow systems to efficiently synchronize.

"For example, we want to define the essential features of networks of cells that keep daily time under different conditions," Herzog said. "We hope that ICON can map out connections and describe the interactions, such as attraction versus repulsion, of cells at different developmental stages so we can understand more about how circadian systems assemble after birth, adapt to challenges such as winter or summer, and fail to coordinate during stressors such as shift work or flying across multiple time zones."

In another experiment, collaborator William Schwartz, a former visiting professor of biology at Washington University now at the University of Texas at Austin, tested the method on seven groups of five mice who were housed together for a period of time as social networks. Schwartz measured the oscillations of the mice at the end of the experiment and provided the data to Li, who applied his algorithm to infer results from the data. In the end, both Schwartz and Li found that four of the groups of mice had social synchronization because they had the same body temperatures at the end of their time together. Three groups did not have the same body temperatures and were not socially synchronized.Bone marrow, the spongy tissue inside most of our bones, produces red blood cells as well as immune cells that help fight off infections and heal injuries. According to a new study of mice and humans, tiny tunnels run from skull bone marrow to the lining of the brain and may provide a direct route for immune cells responding to injuries caused by stroke and other brain disorders. The study was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health and published in Nature Neuroscience.

"We always thought that immune cells from our arms and legs traveled via blood to damaged brain tissue. These findings suggest that immune cells may instead be taking a shortcut to rapidly arrive at areas of inflammation," said Francesca Bosetti, Ph.D., program director at the NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), which provided funding for the study. "Inflammation plays a critical role in many brain disorders and it is possible that the newly described channels may be important in a number of conditions. The discovery of these channels opens up many new avenues of research."

Using state-of-the-art tools and cell-specific dyes in mice, Matthias Nahrendorf, M.D., Ph.D., professor at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and his colleagues were able to distinguish whether immune cells traveling to brain tissue damaged by stroke or meningitis, came from bone marrow in the skull or the tibia, a large legbone. In this study, the researchers focused on neutrophils, a particular type of immune cell, which are among the first to arrive at an injury site.

Results in mouse brains showed that during stroke, the skull is more likely to supply neutrophils to the injured tissue than the tibia. In contrast, following a heart attack, the skull and tibia provided similar numbers of neutrophils to the heart, which is far from both of those areas.

Dr. Nahrendorf's group also observed that six hours after stroke, there were fewer neutrophils in the skull bone marrow than in the tibia bone marrow, suggesting that the skull marrow released many more cells to the injury site. These findings indicate that bone marrow throughout the body does not uniformly contribute immune cells to help injured or infected tissue and suggests that the injured brain and skull bone marrow may "communicate" in some way that results in a direct response from adjacent leukocytes.

Dr. Nahrendorf's team found that differences in bone marrow activity during inflammation may be determined by stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1), a molecule that keeps immune cells in the bone marrow. When levels of SDF-1 decrease, neutrophils are released from marrow. The researchers observed levels of SDF-1 decreasing six hours after stroke, but only in the skull marrow, and not in the tibia. The results suggest that the decrease in levels of SDF-1 may be a response to local tissue damage and alert and mobilize only the bone marrow that is closest to the site of inflammation.

Next, Dr. Nahrendorf and his colleagues wanted to see how the neutrophils were arriving at the injured tissue.

"We started examining the skull very carefully, looking at it from all angles, trying to figure out how neutrophils are getting to the brain," said Dr. Nahrendorf. "Unexpectedly, we discovered tiny channels that connected the marrow directly with the outer lining of the brain."

With the help of advanced imaging techniques, the researchers watched neutrophils moving through the channels. Blood normally flowed through the channels from the skull's interior to the bone marrow, but after a stroke, neutrophils were seen moving in the opposite direction to get to damaged tissue.

Dr. Nahrendorf's team detected the channels throughout the skull as well as in the tibia, which led them to search for similar features in the human skull. Detailed imaging of human skull samples obtained from surgery uncovered the presence of the channels. The channels in the human skull were five times larger in diameter compared to those found in mice. In human and mouse skulls, the channels were found in the both in the inner and outer layers of bone.

Future research will seek to identify the other types of cells that travel through the newly discovered tunnels and the role these structures play in health and disease.

This study was supported by NINDS (NS084863) and the NIH's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (HL139598).Most people infected with Zika never show symptoms. But the virus sometimes causes severe disability -- from microcephaly in babies to weakness or partial paralysis in adults -- and there is no treatment. In a recent study in the journal Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, researchers report a comprehensive study of how the virus interacts with host cells. One of their findings offers insight into how Zika escapes immune signaling and proliferates inside the body.

Like most viruses, Zika accomplishes a lot with only a few tools. It has just one protein coding gene, which produces a single polypeptide that's cleaved into 10 smaller proteins -- a number dwarfed by the estimated 20,000 protein-coding genes in a human cell. Nevertheless, Zika can take over the vastly more complex human cell, repurposing it into a virus factory. Brian Raught, a researcher at the University of Toronto, said he found that process fascinating.

"With just these 10 proteins, this crazy virus turns your cells into zombies that do its bidding," said Raught. "I always found that mindblowing."

Researchers in Raught's lab, led by postdoctoral fellow Etienne Coyaud, wanted to find out how the handful of Zika proteins were able to hijack the host cell. They knew that the feat must depend on physical interactions between viral proteins and proteins native to the cell -- but which ones?

Because of the increasing evidence linking Zika infections in expectant mothers to microcephaly in their children, Raught said, "We thought it better to leave the actual virus work to the experts." Instead of using infectious material, the team made 10 strains of human cells -- each expressing one of Zika's 10 proteins. By adding a small "epitope" tag to each viral protein (called a "Flag" tag), they were able to retrieve the viral proteins using an antibody that binds to this tag. The host proteins that stuck tightly to each viral protein came along for the ride; the researchers used a technique called mass spectrometry to identify those human proteins.

But there was a drawback with this approach. What if proteins from the human cell were interacting with Zika proteins, but separating from them before being extracted? To identify proteins that are close to, but not inseparably intertwined with, each viral protein, the team used a second technique called proximity labeling. In essence, they rigged each viral protein with an enzyme that would attach the sticky biotin tag onto anything that came close enough.

Proximity labeling is especially useful for detecting interactions with proteins embedded in cell membranes; those molecules are notoriously difficult to isolate. "This is a really big asset of a proximity-labeling approach compared to traditional approaches," said Coyaud. Because Zika, like many viruses, enters the cell in a membrane-bound envelope, and reorganizes many of its host's membrane-bound organelles in the course of infection, its interactions with membrane proteins might be key to understanding the viral life cycle.

When the researchers combined the results of the two approaches, they could piece together a detailed picture of what Raught calls the "neighborhood" within the cell where each Zika protein takes up residence.

For example, the researchers found that one Zika protein, called NS2A, interacted with many human neighbors in a host organelle called the peroxisome. Peroxisomes are involved in innate immune signaling, a type of early-warning alarm that goes off when viruses are present. Proteins from Dengue and West Nile viruses, which are in the same family as Zika, have been shown to associate with peroxisomes and disrupt antiviral signaling.

Using fluorescence microscopy, said Raught, "we could see that this one protein (NS2A) only localized to peroxisomes." Because NS2A is thought to be involved in replication of the virus's genome and construction of its protein shell, its preference for the peroxisome led the team to investigate whether the peroxisome might be involved in replication. The team recruited some virologists with access to a biocontainment facility, who could test whether infectious Zika virus can proliferate in cells without peroxisomes. Turns out, in those cells, the virus proliferates more slowly.

"There really does appear to be an important link between having a peroxisome and being able to efficiently make Zika virus," said Raught. "We don't know exactly why that is." But the host-virus protein interaction data showed them where to look.

The dataset Raught's lab has collected is full of such clues. Slightly more than half of the human proteins the researchers found interacting with viral proteins are known to be involved in other viral infections, while the rest had not yet been described. According to Raught, "a better understanding of these processes will allow us to identify specific vulnerabilities in the virus life cycle, where antiviral drugs can be targeted."In a finding that caps years of exploration into the tiny particle known as the Higgs boson, researchers have traced the fifth and most prominent way that the particle decays into other particles. The discovery gives researchers a new pathway by which to study the physical laws that govern the universe.

Physicists at Princeton University led one of the two main teams that today announced the detection of the Higgs particle via its decay into two particles called bottom quarks. This pathway is the last to be detected of the five main signature pathways that can identify the Higgs particle.

"We found it exactly where we expected to find it and now we can use this new pathway to study the Higgs' properties," said James Olsen, professor of physics and leader of the team at Princeton. "This has been a truly collaborative effort from the beginning and it is exciting to see the amplification of effort that comes from people working together."

Long-sought because it confirms theories about the nature of matter, the Higgs particle exists only fleetingly before transforming into other, so-called "daughter" particles. Because the boson lasts only for about one septillionth of a second, researchers use the particle's offspring as evidence of its existence.

These daughter particles are scattered among the shower of particles created from the collision of two protons at the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). The Higgs particle was observed for the first time in 2012 through three of the other modes of decay.

Of these lineages or decay patterns, the decay into two bottom quarks occurs most often, making up about 60 percent of the decay events from the Higgs, according to Olsen.

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But at the LHC, the bottom-quark pattern is the hardest to trace back definitively to the Higgs because many other particles can also give off bottom quarks.

Quarks are tiny constituents of protons, which themselves are some of the building blocks of atoms. The bottom quark is one of the six types of quarks that make up the menagerie of particles in the "standard model" that explains matter and their interactions.

Discerning which bottom quarks came from the Higgs versus other particles has been the main challenge facing the LHC's two Higgs detectors, the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) with which Olsen works, and its companion, ATLAS. The detectors operate independently and are run by separate teams of scientists.

Once produced, these bottom quarks split into jets of particles, making them hard to trace back to the original parent particles. Because of this background noise, the researchers required more data than was needed for the other pathways to be sure of their finding.

Both detectors are adept at spotting particles such as electrons, photons and muons, but are more challenged by quarks. The quarks due to their nature are not observed as free particles. Instead they are bound and appear as other particles such as mesons and baryons or decay quickly.

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"It is a messy business because you have to collect all of those jets and measure their properties to calculate the mass of the object that decayed into the jets," Olsen said.

The two detectors are massive, complex structures that sit at the end of the LHC tunnel where protons are accelerated and smashed together at high energy levels. The structures contain layers of smaller detectors arranged like layers of an onion.

The devices detect particles at each layer of the onion to reconstruct their paths. This allows researchers to trace the path of a particle back to its source in a manner analogous to following the trail of a firework's light back to the place where the first burst occurred. By following many of these paths, the researchers can identify where and when the Higgs first formed in the proton-proton collision.

"The Higgs-to-bottom-quark decay is important because it is the most frequent decay, so a precise measurement of its rate tells us a lot about the nature of this particle," said Christopher Palmer, an associate research scholar at Princeton, who describes the work in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfCgbGtVZCo

Additional Princeton researchers on the team included physics graduate student Stephane Cooperstein and undergraduate Jan Offerman, Class of 2018. The team also included collaborators at the University of Florida and Fermilab, as well as groups from Italy, Switzerland and Germany.

The main challenge in detecting the bottom-quark decay mode was the amount of background bottom quarks produced by non-Higgs events. In addition to gathering more data from collisions, the researchers searched for a distinct way that the Higgs gave rise to the bottom quarks.

Olsen began working on this challenge 10 years ago, before the LHC had switched on and when physicists were running simulations on computers. Around that time, Olsen learned about a theoretical study showing that it is possible to find bottom quarks created from the Higgs recoiling off another particle, such as a Z boson or a W boson.

"It was an idea that nobody had before, to search for it in that channel, and the only question was whether it was possible experimentally and whether it really would pay off," Olsen said.

Olsen said it is exciting to see the work come to fruition. "This is a very satisfying moment."

Princeton University's research at the LHC is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday co-chaired the 16th meeting of the Joint Commission, along with Vietnam's Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh. Several Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were also signed between the two countries.

On Monday, the EAM met several foreign dignitaries from Bangladesh, Japan and Sri Lanka in order to strengthen strategic partnership and bilateral relations with the respective nations.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Japan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kazuyuki Nakane and Bangladeshi Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal were some of the dignitaries Swaraj held talks with on the sidelines of the third Indian Ocean Conference, which was inaugurated by Swaraj.

At the Conference, Swaraj asserted that the Indian Ocean is a central component of a free and fair Indo-Pacific region.

"The Indian Ocean was known as 'Ratnakali' or ocean of treasures'. Our vision for the region is of collective cooperation and coordination. Therefore, nurturing a climate of peace and stability is an important priority for our foreign policy. We have to commit to the idea of peaceful co-existence," she had said.

Earlier, Swaraj lauded the Indian embassies across the world, saying that, "If any Non-Resident Indian (NRI) gets stuck anywhere in the world, they are confident that their government will save them. Relief is just one tweet away. What was never a priority in embassies has become the top priority now."

The EAM had also unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at the Indian Embassy at Hanoi.

Swaraj is scheduled to depart for Cambodia tomorrow, where she will hold bilateral meetings with her Cambodian counterpart, Prak Sokhonn. She will also meet Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and President of Senate Say Chhum.

(ANI)The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against the founder of a Maine-based medical marijuana company that solicited investors on Craigslist.

The SEC's complaint alleges that, beginning in 2014, Richard J. Greenlaw, of Kittery, Maine, raised approximately $500,000 from at least 59 investors by offering securities in 20 cannabis-related entities that he formed, which purportedly sold medical marijuana products that did not contain THC, the chemical compound responsible for most of marijuana's psychological effects. According to the complaint, Greenlaw sold ownership interests in the companies by posting advertisements on Craigslist. When prospective investors responded to his online ads, Greenlaw followed up with securities offering documents and sales materials describing the purported marijuana products. No registration statement was on file or in effect with the SEC with respect to this offering of securities.

The SEC's complaint charges Greenlaw and the 20 cannabis-related entities, including: NECS LLC, MaineCS LLC, VTCS LLC, MassCS LLC, NHCS LLC, RICS LLC, CTCS LLC, FLCS LLC, ILCS LLC, IACS LLC, LOUCS LLC, MICS LLC, MNCS LLC, NDCS LLC, NJCS LLC, NYCS LLC, OHCS LLC, PennCS LLC, UPCS LLC, and WICS LLC, with violating the registration provisions of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933. Greenlaw and the cannabis-related entities consented to the entry of a final judgment imposing permanent injunctions from further violations of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act. In addition, Greenlaw consented to a conduct-based injunction. The settlement also requires Greenlaw to pay disgorgement and prejudgment interest of $340,142 and a civil penalty of $50,000. The settlement is subject to approval of the court.A federal appeals court has ruled that there is enough evidence to move forward with a case alleging that the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, with about 13,000 students, cheated the government out of millions of dollars in student loans and grants.

Evidence exists that the huge for-profit art school  one of San Franciscos biggest property owners  may have used illegal tactics to enroll students from 2006 to 2010 by offering employees tremendous bonuses based on the number of people they recruited to the school, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal in San Francisco said Friday.

If the case goes to trial, the plaintiffs say a ruling in their favor could cost the school nearly a half-billion dollars in damages and force the Academy of Art to shut its doors.

The courts decision to move the case forward is a significant victory for courageous whistle-blowers around the United States who are uncovering corporate fraud against the government, said Stephen Jaffe, an attorney representing the plaintiffs. We look forward to getting the case resolved as quickly as possible.

Attorney Steve Gombos, representing the Academy of Art, said in a statement that the university is disappointed with the outcome of the three-judge panels decision but is confident that it adhered to the law.

Of the 89-year-old Academy of Arts 13,000 students, 38 percent take courses exclusively online, according to a March review by its accreditor, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission. Tuition and fees cost nearly $24,000. Student housing  in buildings the school leases from its owners  costs $8,200 to $16,400 a year.

The case against the school began nine years ago, when three employees and one former employee approached an attorney with evidence that the school offered raises of up to $30,000 based on how many students they enrolled, reduced their pay if they missed recruitment goals and dangled trips to Hawaii as an extra incentive.

The federal government bans such incentive compensation so colleges wont enroll unqualified applicants who stand little chance of graduating and being able to pay back their government-backed student loans.

The four plaintiffs, who no longer work at the school, said the Academy of Art did just that. They sued the school in U.S. District Court in Oakland on Dec. 21, 2009, and promptly became federal whistle-blowers.

The former recruiters  Scott Rose, Mary Aquino, Mitchell Nelson and Lucy Stearns  are suing under the federal False Claims Act, which awards triple damages to encourage whistle-blowers to come forward if they believe the government is being cheated.

I view this as a bet-the-company case, said Jaffe, their lawyer, who has said he may seek damages of up to $150 million in the Academy of Art case, which, tripled, would grow to $450 million.

Since 2006, the Academy of Art has collected more than $1.5 billion in federal student loans and $171 million in Pell and other federal grants, according to a Chronicle analysis of federal records.

The former recruiters say that those millions motivated the school to impose illegal recruiting schemes to vigorously court students.

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Representatives of the Academy of Art have said they no longer use such compensation tactics  but that when they did, they were legal. The schools lawyers have argued that federal law permitted the tactics under a safe harbor provision created by the Bush administration in 2002 and rescinded by the Obama administration in 2010.

The lawyers have said the approach was legal at the time because the school did not award raises solely based on the number of students recruited; employees also had to demonstrate good work habits.

But the court said Friday that the record contains evidence that (the school) did make compensation adjustments based solely on ... enrollment numbers.

The ruling marks the fourth time since 2009 that the school has unsuccessfully tried to get the case tossed out.

The Academy of Art could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the case. If not, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal is expected to send the case back to the federal court in Oakland sometime this fall.

Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimovThe controversial Womens Column of Strength statue in Chinatown has now been in place for nearly a year, but the fight over whether it should stay remains as heated as ever.

The statue  three Asian girls standing on a pedestal holding hands and a grandmother standing down below  represents comfort women, the 200,000 women from China, Korea and the Philippines who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II.

Unidentified assailants clearly arent happy about the statue. First, somebody scratched up the panel describing it. That was replaced, but it was scratched up again.

Then somebody splattered green and white paint on the grandmothers dress and colored her eyes white, making her look like a creepy ghost. I asked a spokeswoman for the Arts Commission on Monday morning if the statue would be repaired; she said later it was cleaned up by late Monday afternoon.

Lillian Sing and Julie Tang, retired San Francisco Superior Court judges who spearheaded the installation of the statue, noticed the defacement a few weeks ago while taking visitors to see the artwork.

I was shocked and hurt, Sing said. Its a deliberate act of vandalism that represents some kind of hate for our message.

There is plenty of hate for their message, though whether the vandalism is related is anybodys guess.

The statue is one of dozens around the world that are part of a growing movement to honor comfort women. But some Japanese Americans and government officials in Japan want the statues pulled down, saying its unfair to target Japan for wartime atrocities when so many other countries engaged in terrible acts of war. Some have also disputed the numbers of comfort women and the severity of their treatment.

Hirofumi Yoshimura, the mayor of Osaka, Japan, told Mayor Ed Lee in November he would sever the sister-city relationship with San Francisco by the end of the year, saying the 60-year-old tie between the cities had been completely destroyed by Lees acceptance of the statue on public land.

Apparently, Yoshimura backed off after Lees death in mid-December. But he waited less than two weeks after Mayor London Breeds inauguration July 11 to write to

her, again saying he will terminate the relationship if the statue isnt removed from public land. He gave her until the end of September to respond.

He wrote that theres disagreement over the number of comfort women, the degree to which the Japanese military was involved and the extent of harm to the women.

Yet uncertain and one-sided claims are inscribed onto the Comfort Women Memorial plaque as historical facts, he wrote.

Breeds team forwarded the letter to the local leaders of the San Francisco-Osaka Sister City Association, who responded to Yoshimura that the sister city is not a partnership between two governments, but is instead a relationship between both cities nonprofits, businesses and civic organizations.

We will continue to pursue people-to-people exchanges with the citizens of Osaka, their letter states.

As for Breed, she supports leaving the statue in St. Marys Square, said her spokesman, Jeff Cretan.

In the meantime, Sing and Tang are doubling down on their backing of the statue and the women it represents. Theyre behind a new display of portraits of real-life comfort women that will be on view Sept. 4-20 at the California State Building, 350 McAllister St. It will then be displayed at City Colleges Chinatown campus at 808 Kearny St.

Theyve also planned a first anniversary celebration of the statues installation called Standing Tall for 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, at 651 California St. It will be immediately followed by a procession to City Colleges Chinatown campus for lunch and a screening of Da Han, a documentary on the life of a Chinese comfort woman.

Dont read this item if youre eating breakfast. Its about a disturbing video showing a man wearing a bright orange Public Works vest cleaning a street and then stopping to defecate on that same street. He then removes his plastic gloves, uses them to wipe, drops them on the pile and leaves.

The video was captured by a security camera outside a lighting design company in South of Market. Marco Heithaus, founder of the company, turned it over to a local news station, which then showed it to Public Works.

This being San Francisco, which has so much feces on its sidewalks its launching the Poop Patrol, that same camera has captured lots of public defecation. Usually, its people who appear homeless, but not always. It also captured a driver pulling over, defecating on the sidewalk and driving away.

No one has the political will to really figure out a solution here, Heithaus said. It seems like no one is taking responsibility for the problems that were having.

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.

If a pictures worth a thousand words, a videos worth even more, and it did get city officials attention.

Rachel Gordon, spokeswoman for Public Works, said the worker in the yellow vest was not a city employee. Instead, he was employed by Hunters Point Family, a nonprofit workforce development program that helps patrol the citys Pit Stop public toilets and clean its sidewalks.

Its unacceptable behavior in San Francisco, and it was extremely unfortunate, Gordon said.

Lena Miller, executive director of Hunters Point Family, said the man was a new hire and was let go after the video surfaced.

It was a shock to the entire agency, and all of us felt really, really let down, she said. Its an embarrassment to the agency.

To be fair, workers with Hunters Point Family have done a lot of great work, too  two were recorded the other day on a different video administering the life-saving drug Narcan to a person who had overdosed.

Really, all the public pooping points yet again to the need for far more public bathrooms in San Francisco. While the citys Pit Stop bathrooms are helping, theyre closed overnight because its so expensive to pay monitors. And without monitors, the bathrooms sometimes become homeless shelters or drug dens.

Any human knows that when you need to go to the bathroom, you need to go to the bathroom, Gordon said. Were working to expand access.

Why is dealing with the most basic human function proving such a challenge to this innovative city? What about offering grants or tax incentives to businesses to open their bathrooms to anybody who needs to use them rather than just paying customers?

Youre a smart bunch. Got any other ideas for expanding bathroom access? Know of any cities that have solved this oh-so-human dilemma? Let me know, and Ill print the best answers in a future column.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsfThe fat September Vogue includes writer Dodie Kazanjians Meet Max Hollein, the Metropolitan Museums new director. Hollein, of course, has moved from here to there.

Much of the story consists of biographical detail covered in this newspaper when Hollein became director of the Fine Arts Museums in San Francisco in 2016. But we San Franciscans, always preening, are almost always mesmerized by the selfie principle: How do we look to others?

The story begins with a description of Hollein approaching Dede Wilsey, the imperial president and main patron of the Fine Arts Museums, to tell her he was considering the Met job. As we know, she was gracious in urging him to take it, and highly complimentary. Max likes to run things, Wilsey told Kazanjian. Hes always way ahead of everybody in his thinking. Hollein is described as brimming with ideas, credited with bringing contemporary artists  and the forthcoming Muslim fashion exhibition, subject of another Vogue story  to the Fine Arts Museums.

Vogue isnt usually a hell-raising publication, but the profile points out that Hollein, like every director of the Met before him, is male; and European, like half the Met directors who preceded him. You have to be an institution that embraces diversity, Hollein tells Vogue.

While a search committee at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco is looking for a new director, we might keep that in mind. Around here, its been all white males from day one.

OK, Im taking a leap here by revealing myself as a philistine. We loved the after-movie meal and didnt love the pre-meal movie, and thats the honest report card on Saturday nights Film to Table dinner at the Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive.

To get to the best part first, after La Notte, which is set in Milan in the early 1960s, Joan Ellis and Patrick Hooker, who run and cook for Babette, the cafe at BAMPFA, served a family-style Italian dinner to 28 people. At a long table, we were mostly surrounded by people wed never met.

The food was said to have been inspired by the movie, but in fact the only food specifically mentioned in the movie was a prosciutto sandwich. There was sure more than that at dinner, not a fancy banquet but a bountiful feast, with shared platters brimming with figs and prosciutto, tomatoes, some kind of Italian version of ratatouille, osso buco and saffron risotto, and then fruit and tarts. Passing the platters forged an intimacy with ones neighbors.

The menu may have reflected the region, but it sure didnt reflect La Notte, a much-praised Michelangelo Antonioni classic I found slow-moving and self-consciously bleak. Set in a city where modernity is changing the skyline  there are lots of scenes of buildings, construction sites  its about the disconnection of people from their changing landscapes, said lawyer and legal scholar Bill Turner, who was sitting next to me, about their alienation from the architecture and soulless buildings. People are lost, and dont know who they are, and dont know what they care about.

Dinner was about connections, sharing, discussing things  the wildfires, urban planning  larger than individual existential crises.

On the opposite side of the table was Bill Stewart, a professor of forestry at UC Berkeley. When do you get to talk to forestry people about Antonioni? said Turner. Come to Berkeley.

Sunday afternoon, we headed off to Orinda to see Cal Shakes production of The War of the Roses, Eric Ting and Philippa Kellys adaption of Shakespeares three Henry VI plays plus Richard III, reviewed by Lily Janiak. The more than four hours of the production passed quickly, what with plenty of fighting and killing to see, and the program to consult so as to understand who was killing whom and why. Although seeing it during the day meant we couldnt see the dramatic lighting, it meant we were able to read the synopses while watching, handy for following the action.

The companys managing director Susie Falk invited the audience to respond aloud during the production, as would an audience in Shakespeares time. When Richard III was surrounded by the spirits of the people he had killed, though, everyone was way too well-behaved to cry out.

So Ill do it today: Flippers! Non-applauders are treasonous! Fake news!

PUBLIC EAVESDROPPING

Why would anyone read a book while sitting in front of a perfectly good TV?

Woman to woman, overheard outside Mrs. Dalloways bookstore by Leslie Piels

Leah Garchik is open for business in San Francisco, 415-777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @leahgarchikJOSHUA KOSMANS CLASSICAL MUSIC PICK

More Information "Roberto Devereux": 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8. $26-$370. War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave., S.F. 415-864-3330. www.sfopera.com. See More Collapse

Theres no law that operas based on history need to be faithful to the facts of the matter. Its an art form that follows its own inimitable logic, after all  emotional, expressive and dramaturgical  and if the lives of, say, the Tudors dont conform to it, then history will have to give way. Thats the thinking behind Roberto Devereux, Donizettis fast-and-loose tale of love and intrigue in the court of Queen Elizabeth I.Kudos to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for promptly suggesting an enduring tribute to the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

The renaming of the Russell Senate Office Building would achieve two noble objectives: a fitting tribute to a war hero and senator who was willing to put country over partisan alliances, and the removal of the name of a white supremacist whose opposition to civil rights was so virulent that he filibustered an anti-lynching bill, fought to keep public schools segregated, and once proposed legislation to encourage African Americans to leave the South.

Sen. Richard Russell, D-Ga., was considered a master tactician who made some positive contributions in his 38 years: including his role in establishing a school-lunch program and the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. But the attachment of his name to a building where senators should be working for all Americans and toward a more perfect union is simply incongruent. Various proposals have been made over the years to change the name, but none has gained enough traction to reverse the Senates 1972 decision.

John McCain, with 60 years of public service, would be a most worthy successor.

John Diaz, editorial page editorWASHINGTON - The Trump administration on Tuesday said it would explore regulating Google - an effort that would challenge protections around free speech online - in response to the president's allegations that the tech giant manipulates its search results to prominently display negative stories about him and other Republicans.

President Donald Trump in a pre-dawn tweet claimed that search returns for "Trump News" were "RIGGED for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD," apparently responding to a report from Fox News. Then, his top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said the White House is now "taking a look" at whether, and how, Google should be regulated by the government.

In the United States, regulating search results could violate the First Amendment, said lawmakers from both parties, free-speech advocates and tech experts. The Trump administration's threat drew rebukes from Democrats and even a few Republicans, who said government shouldn't play a role in monitoring search results or other content online.

"We can all agree on one thing: Poison is being spread on the Internet, but what is poison? Somebody is going to have to step in and be a neutral arbiter of what can go on, and what can't," said Republican Sen. John Neely Kennedy, La., who cautioned he hadn't seen the president's tweet. "I don't want to see the government do that."

Google denied the allegations and said its search results aren't politically biased.

Trump's comments marked a major escalation in allegations of anti-conservative censorship against Google, Facebook and Twitter, which some in the tech industry worry could undermine the public's trust in the Web as a marketplace of ideas.

"Google and Twitter and Facebook, they're really treading on very, very troubled territory. And they have to be careful," the president said later Tuesday. "It's not fair to large portions of the population."

Google processes 90 percent of searches globally, and its powerful algorithms return results based on their calculated relevance, a process Google portrays as neutral. Google takes into account multiple signals including a user's geographic location and browsing history, which is why Trump's search results look different from what another user might see. Social media differs from search because information on social media platforms is circulated through friends and brands that users choose to follow.

Riva Sciuto, a spokeswoman for Google, said when users "type queries into the Google Search bar, our goal is to make sure they receive the most relevant answers in a matter of seconds. Search is not used to set a political agenda, and we don't bias our results toward any political ideology."

But Google's algorithm is shrouded in secrecy, and in the past, Google has faced investigations for giving preference to its own products and services in search results. In China, Google even has explored launching a new, special search engine that would meet the demands of the country's strict Internet censors.

The controversy Tuesday also illustrates the tricky political terrain that Google and its tech peers now navigate. Regulators and users increasingly demand that Silicon Valley apply a heavier hand in moderating content that appears online to prevent harassment, stop hate speech and ensure civil political discourse. At the same time, those decisions about what to allow, and what to take down, aren't always obvious - and can create controversy. A decision this month from Facebook, Google-owned YouTube and Twitter to discipline Infowars, a conspiracy theory site founded by Alex Jones, drew the attention of the president's son, Donald Trump Jr., who tweeted that sites like Breitbart and Daily Caller could be next.

Facebook declined to comment. Twitter pointed to previous statements calling allegations of systemic bias "unfounded and false."

Trump's tweets came the morning after Fox Business host Lou Dobbs aired an interview with the pro-Trump commentators Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, popularly known as Diamond and Silk. The duo has long said that their online videos are being suppressed by tech companies, though some of their claims have been debunked.

"I am not for big government, but I really do believe that the government should step in and really check this out," Hardaway told Dobbs in the interview.

In the past, federal courts have found that search engine results are protected speech because they resemble the editorial content produced by more traditional sources of information, such as newspapers and books.

"There's no question about this. The courts have uniformly ruled that search results are protected speech," said Eric Goldman, co-director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University.

Sen. Brian Schatz, the top Democrat on one of the Senate's tech-focused subcommittees, lambasted Trump's tweet and threat to regulate as a "crazy, authoritarian idea," saying it is "unconstitutional, unworkable and antithetical to everything our country stands for."

Among conservatives, suspicions of bias run deep, fueled in part by high-profile mishaps at many major tech companies. In 2016, anonymous former Facebook employees suggested that the site often passed over conservative media outlets when choosing stories to curate for its "trending" news feature. Twitter has long denied charges that it limits the reach of tweets from its conservative users but doesn't tell them, a practice known as shadow-banning.

Under public pressure from Republicans, tech companies have been quick to apologize for the mishaps. Some, like Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, have admitted that their companies, located in the liberal-leaning San Francisco Bay Area, have a leftward political tilt.

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.

But that's hardly dissuaded some Republicans on Capitol Hill, where GOP lawmakers this year have already held two hearings focused on allegations of conservative bias. A key House committee intends to grill Dorsey about claims of censorship at a hearing scheduled for next week.

"They've been bluegdoning these CEOs to the point where they're now overcorrecting for perceived liberal bias," Schatz said. "I think we should understand this is a specific strategy to try to influence the way these platforms present information."

Conservatives' attacks have intensified as the 2018 election has drawn closer. Trump has tweeted three times since late July about "discriminatory" practices at Twitter and social media sites more broadly. His tweets Tuesday doubled as a new way to appeal to his supporters: Hours after he sent them, Trump's campaign cited his attack on Google in a text message asking voters to donate ahead of a key fundraising deadline. At least one lawmaker, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, has purchased fundraising ads on Facebook that call attention to anti-conservative censorship online. A spokesman for McCarthy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"They're using the platforms to complain about the platforms," said Michael Beckerman, the president of the Internet Association, which represents Facebook, Google and Twitter in Washington, District of Columbia.

- - -

The Washington Post's Craig Timberg, Isaac Stanley-Becker and Brian Fung contributed to this report.

---

Video Embed Code

Video: In an Aug. 28 tweet, President Trump accused Google of "suppressing voices of Conservatives." In response, the search engine said its searches aren't politically biased.(Elyse Samuels,Patrick Martin/The Washington Post)

Embed code:Fire seasons and legislative sessions come and go, but the PG&E bailout is forever. Thats the apparent upshot of California lawmakers latest proposal to rescue Pacific Gas and Electric Co. from the consequences of wildfires started by its power lines.

On Friday, a week after a special legislative committee abandoned plans to relieve PG&E and other utilities of liability for future disasters, it unveiled the outlines of a proposal that could help the company force its customers to pay off billions of dollars in potential damages resulting from last years catastrophic Wine Country wildfires.

The details remained vague with only a week left before the end of the session, but the legislative framework threatened to hand PG&E a blank check to charge ratepayers for fire damages before investigators finish assessing the extent of the companys responsibility.

The committee proposes to allow PG&E and other utilities to issue bonds to cover wildfire liabilities that would be paid off through charges added to their customers bills. The utility expects to face billions of dollars in damages as a result of the October fires, 16 of which have been linked to its equipment and 11 of which have been referred for criminal investigation, with conclusions about the deadliest fire yet to be announced.

PG&E, its employees and sympathetic politicians have argued that with climate change making fires more destructive, the utility faces a return to bankruptcy without a government lifeline, a cause the company pushed relentlessly in expensive lobbying and advertising campaigns. The trouble is that if utility executives and shareholders face scant consequences even in cases where the utility broke state law, there will be less incentive for it to act more responsibly to head off future fires.

State Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, a co-chairman of the committee, said the legislation would protect utility ratepayers from bearing undue costs. A representative of manufacturers and other major ratepayers argued more persuasively that the plan looks like a bailout, smells like a bailout and certainly feels like a bailout.

To their credit, legislators have dropped an even more dubious plan to dramatically narrow utilities liability for future fires and other disasters, at least for the time being. And they are proposing a series of more reasonable and necessary measures to limit the ravages of wildfires as part of an omnibus bill, including funding and regulatory changes to strengthen cooperation among firefighting forces and clear more combustible brush and trees.

In the aftermath of last years unprecedented destruction and with another frightening fire season under way, the Legislature should focus on prevention and preparedness measures that make Californians safer. Softening the consequences of causing fires, particularly in cases where wrongdoing played a role, will have precisely the opposite effect.

This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.TUESDAY

D10 supervisor debate: Candidates for San Francisco supervisor District 10  Theo Ellington, Tony Kelly, Shamann Walton and Uzuri Pease-Greene  debate in a forum sponsored by the Potrero Boosters, Potrero Hill Democratic Club and PREFund. 6:30-8:30 p.m., Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, 953 De Haro St. More information is here.

WEDNESDAY

D2 supervisor forum: Candidates for San Francisco supervsor District 2  John Dennis, Schulyer Hudak, Nick Josefowitz and Catherine Stefani  take part in a forum. 6:30-8:30 p.m., Rigolo Cafe, 3465 California St., San Francisco. More information is here.

THURSDAY

Steve Israel: Former New York congressman, House Democrats chief political strategist from 2011-15, speaks at the Commonwealth Club. $30 for nonmembers, $10 for students. 6:30-7:30 p.m., 110 Embarcadero, San Francisco. More information is here.

SATURDAY

Political realignment: Peace and Freedom Party sponsors a discussion, Are we seeing a major political realignment in the 2018 elections? Free. 2-4:30 p.m., Starry Plough pub, 3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. More information is here.

SEPT. 6

Climate politics: Environmental justice advocate Mustafa Ali, scientist and former House candidate Jess Phoenix and Mother Jones reporter Rebecca Leber discuss climate politics and the possibilities for grassroots action. Sponsored by Ben & Jerrys and FreeSpeechTV. $20 until July 31, $25 after. Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Blvd., San Francisco. More information is here.

New citizen voting: Register new U.S. citizens to vote after they take oath of allegiance. Organized by Democracy Action. Two sessions, 10 a.m.-noon and 2-4 p.m., Paramount Theater, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. More information is here.

SEPT. 8

Climate day of action: Rallies, town halls and community forums to call for action on climate change. San Francisco rally at 10 a.m. at Embarcadero Plaza. More information about that and other events is here.

SEPT. 10

LGBTQ and the high court: A discussion on the future of LGBTQ rights under a changing U.S. Supreme Court. Panelists include Elizabeth Gill, senior attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, and Joel Engardio of the San Francisco Examiner. Sponsored by United Democratic Club. 6:30-8 p.m., San Francisco LGBT Community Center, 1800 Market St. More information is here.

SEPT. 11

Climate forums: UC Davis Policy Institute for Energy, Environment, and the Economy hosts a series of forums on climate change issues. $15 per symposium. 8 a.m.-7:30 p.m., 555 Market St., San Francisco. More information is here.

Trump forum: San Francisco State University faculty members discuss America in the age of President Trump. Free. 3-5 p.m., Room 270 of the Science Building at San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave. More information is here.

SEPT. 13

Climate damage: How countries, states and companies are using climate damage estimates to inform their decision-making. Panel discussion hosted by Institute for Policy Integrity. 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; venue to be announced. More information is here.

Latin America and climate: An interactive session to discuss how networks of Latin American and Caribbean non-state actors are helping to raise raise climate ambition. 8:30-11:30 a.m. Tenderloin Museum, 398 Eddy St., San Francisco. More information is here.

Tales of the City: University of Wisconsin English Professor Ramzi Fawaz discusses his oral history project on how Armistead Maupins Tales of the City serial in The Chronicle affected gay politics. $5. GLBT History Museum, 4127 18th St., San Francisco. More information is here.

SEPT. 15

Schools chief election forum: Candidates for state superintendent of public instruction, Tony Thurmond and Marshall Tuck, take part in a forum sponsored by Sistallect, California Black Media and Black Women Organized for Political Action. 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Holy Names University, 3500 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. More information is here.

SEPT. 17-18

Two-day conference on the 231st anniversary of the U.S. Constitution, focusing on the past, present and future of constitutional rights, freedoms, citizenship, democracy, equality and justice. Free. 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. both days at the Paul Leonard Library and Cesar Chavez Student Center at San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave. More information is here.

SEPT. 18

DeRay Mckesson: Black Lives Matter activist and Pod Save the People podcast host talks about his new book, On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope. $35 for non-Commonwealth Club members, $10 for students. 6:30-7:45 p.m., Marines Memorial Theater, 609 Sutter St., San Francisco. More information is here.

SEPT. 22

Race and medicine: Panel discussion on the impact of race in medicine. Sponsored by the African American Community Health Advisory Committee and the African American Library Advisory Committee. 2-4 p.m., San Mateo Public Library, 55 West Third Ave. More information is here.

SEPT. 25

Get out the vote: Register to vote, learn about legislation affecting local communities and network with social justice advocates. Sponsored by Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency. 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza. More information is here.

Truth decay: RAND Corp. CEO Michael Rich discusses truth decay  the diminishing role of facts and analysis in American public life, at the Commonwealth Club. $35 nonmembers, $10 students. 6:30-7:30 p.m., 110 Embarcadero, San Francisco. More information is here.

SEPT. 29

Tech politics: Candidates for statewide and Bay Area offices invited to discuss issues of importance to Silicon Valley and the technology industry. Sponsored by Royce Law LLC. Noon-4 p.m., Mission Bay Conference Center at UCSF, 1675 Owens St., San Francisco. More information is here.

SEPT. 30

Preventing nuclear war: Free forum marking 50th anniversary of Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty features ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern and anti-nuclear activists Jacqueline Cabasso and Marylia Kelley. Sponsored by San Francisco Public Library and Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament. 1 p.m., Main Public Librarys Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin St., San Francisco. More information is here.

OCT. 2

Assembly candidates forum: Jovanka Beckles and Buffy Wicks, candidates in Assembly District 15 in the East Bay, participate in a League of Women Voters forum. 7-8:30 p.m., Berkeley City College, 2050 Center St. More information is here.

The Browns and California: Journalist Miriam Pawel, author of The Browns of California: The Family Dynasty That Transformed a State and Shaped a Nation, discusses Pat Brown, Jerry Brown and the modern history of the state, at the Commonwealth Club. $20 for nonmembers, $7 for students. 6-7:15 p.m., 110 Embarcadero, San Francisco. More information is here.

OCT. 5

Barbara Lee: Forum with Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, celebrating her 20th anniversary in Congress. Sponsored by the Commonwealth Club. $30 for nonmembers, $10 for students. 6:30-7:30 p.m., 110 Embarcadero, San Francisco. More information is here.

OCT. 16

D4 supervisor forum: Candidates for San Francisco supervisorial District Four participate in a forum sponsored by the Outer Sunset/Parkside Residents Association. 6-8:30 p.m., Ortega Branch Library, 3223 Ortega St., San Francisco. More information is here.

OCT. 20

Race and politics: Panel discussion on the impact of race in politics. Sponsored by the African American Community Health Advisory Committee and the African American Library Advisory Committee. 2-4 p.m., San Mateo Public Library, 55 West Third Ave. More information is here.

To list an event, email Politics Editor Trapper Byrne at tbyrne@sfchronicleSACRAMENTO  San Francisco would be authorized to open safe injection facilities for illicit drug users to shoot up and ride out their high under clinical supervision, under a bill state lawmakers approved Monday.

AB186 by Assemblywoman Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, passed the Assembly 41-24 and heads to Gov. Jerry Brown for final approval. Browns office declined to comment on the bill Monday. The long-sought bill creates a four-year pilot program in San Francisco aimed at reducing opioid overdoses and encouraging users to go into treatment.

We know we have people losing their lives on the streets, Eggman said. We know what we are doing is not working. There is over 20 years of data supporting these as a harm reduction, preventive measure to help people get into treatment and safe lives.

The bill stalled in the Senate last year before Eggman narrowed it this year from allowing six counties to participate in the pilot program to just San Francisco. The bill passed the Senate 21-16 last week.

The bill is backed by San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who has been working to ease unrest about the potential for safe injection sites in the city. Starting Tuesday, a mock injection site will be opened to the public in the Tenderloin.

The reluctance around safe injection sites was seen in the Assembly on Monday, where Republican lawmakers said such facilities send the wrong message that drug use is OK.

How is this not legalizing heroin injection in the city of San Francisco? said Assemblyman Travis Allen, R-Huntington Beach. Everyone knows that legalizing heroin injection centers is a bad idea. Its not just a bad idea, its a terrible idea.

Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, urged lawmakers to give the city a chance to try something new to help addicts.

Supervised locations are meant to help get people into treatment, Chiu said. Its about getting people off the streets and into a safe location ... This has been demonstrated to be successful in other countries.

Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @MelodyGutierrezSACRAMENTO  A state Assembly investigation has substantiated a Sacramento lobbyists allegation that a former lawmaker pushed her into a hotel bathroom and masturbated in front of her.

Assemblyman Matt Dababneh, D-Encino (Los Angeles County), resigned in December after he was accused by lobbyist Pamela Lopez and two other women of sexual misconduct and harassment. The Assembly launched its investigation despite Dababnehs resignation and released the findings Monday.

The only allegation addressed in the findings that were made public was the masturbation incident, which Lopez said happened in January 2016 at a Las Vegas party for mutual friends.

Lopez said Dababneh forced his way into a bathroom with her and urged her to touch his genitals.

Before the ordeal ended, he told me not to tell anyone, Lopez wrote in her complaint filed in December with the Assembly.

So far it seems like the process is working, Lopez said Monday. I was sexually harassed by Dababneh, the Legislature conducted an investigation and substantiated that claim, and then denied his appeal. They opined twice that my claim is substantiated.

Her allegation was among a tide of #MeToo complaints about sexual harassment in and around the state Capitol over the past year. Women said they did not have faith that their complaints would be taken seriously in the Senate or Assembly and that lawmakers misdeeds were often ignored.

After months of self-examination, the Legislature adopted new policies and passed long-stalled whistle-blower protections for their legislative employees.

Dababneh was one of three lawmakers who resigned amid sexual misconduct allegations, joining Assemblymen Raul Bocanegra, D-San Fernando Valley, and Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia (Los Angeles County).

Dababneh, who denies the allegations, appealed the investigators finding, but the Assembly wrote him last week to say his appeal was denied.

Dababneh filed a defamation lawsuit against Lopez this month, accusing her of fabricating the accusations that led to his resignation. Dababnehs attorney, Patty Glaser, said her client has been presumed guilty in this matter from the start, and was never given due process.

Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com.

Twitter: @MelodyGutierrezBack at my desk following a lovely vacation in France, Im chuckling over my inaugural experience of Paris in August. And believe me, theres a reason no one has penned a dreamy tune to that month a la April in Paris.

I salivated while plotting my potential cultural agenda for our final days in the exquisite City of Light, chock-full of some of the worlds greatest museums. Picasso: Blue & Rose at the Musee dOrsay? Swoon! Except, oof, that doesnt open until mid-September. On and on went these near misses until I fully absorbed the handwritten signs posted in numerous windows of cute cafes and chic boutiques in Saint-Germain-des-Pres: Bonne vacances!

A majority of Parisians had abandoned their fair yet extremely overheated 91-degree city for more bucolic and cooler vacation climes.

Now back in San Francisco  where (a brief digression, si vous plait) the streets of our much less-populated and geographically smaller city are consistently dirtier than Paris main arrondissements  Im determined not to miss our sizzling cultural season that, ready-set-go, commences Wednesday.

To snap us out of our summer slumber, Hell Week unfurls Sept. 5 at the San Francisco Symphony opening-night gala followed Friday by the Opera Ball.

After that, were off to the races!

If you havent yet experienced The Fifth Season exhibition of works by Rene Magritte, then beeline to SFMOMA before Oct. 28. The museum will be honoring artist Kara Walker Oct. 3 during the Contemporary Vision Award dinner. And among numerous exhibitions, Brassai (opening Nov. 17) features many never-seen images of 1930s Paris by the legendary photographer.

At the Fine Arts Museums, Contemporary Muslim Fashions opens Sept. 22 at the de Young Museum. East Meets West: Jewels of the Maharajas dazzles beginning Nov. 3 at the Legion of Honor.

One of the biggest changes to this years cultural calendar is a new date for the San Francisco Fall Art & Antiques Show. One of the nations oldest exhibitions and the largest on the West Coast, this exhibition and sale of exquisite goods (with the theme The Sun, the Moon & the Stars: Celestial Imagery in Art, Antiques and Design) has bumped up its launch to Oct. 10 for its preview gala benefiting Enterprise for Youth. Interior designer Suzanne Tucker again leads the charge  with former fashion designer-style queen Carolyne Roehm as honorary chair.

As long as were halfway to St. Patricks Day, the local Irish community is already in full swing with an outdoor noon fete Sept. 15 at the United Irish Cultural Center to celebrate this Celtic countdown. Also at the center, beloved Chronicle columnist Carl Nolte, whose mother hailed from the ould sod, stars Sept. 30 at the Irish Literary and Historical Societys Speaker Series for a talk on his life and career titled From Portrero Hill to Fifth & Mission.

In advance of the Global Climate Action Summit (Sept. 12-14) in San Francisco, the Asia Society New York presents the U.S. premiere of Coal + Ice, a documentary photography, video exhibition and new site-specific work by multimedia artist Clifford Ross (Sept. 5-23) at Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture. Produced by author-activist Orville Schell, former dean of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, this three-week series features educational programming, dance and spoken-word performances on one of our presidents least favorite topics.

Opening night of the Mill Valley Film Festival also features another presidential disappointment: fearless journalism. Actress Rosamund Pike and film director-war photographer Matthew Heineman star at the festivals Oct. 4 opening night for the U.S. premiere of Heinemans biopic about journalist Marie Colvin, A Private War.

Saroyan site: Further afield, a new museum recently opened in Fresno, where the last home of author-playwright-screenwriter William Saroyan has been transformed into an interactive museum honoring the renowned Armenian American artist who, for many years, was a hugely admired North Beach bohemian and storied bon vivant.

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The Aug. 31 opening, which coincides with the 110th anniversary of Saroyans birth, is thanks to Arthur Janibekyan, of the Renaissance Cultural & Intellectual Foundation in Armenia, who purchased the authors home in 2015 to save it from foreclosure.

While Fresno takes pride as the locale of Saroyans birth, early youth and death, the author was equally inspired by his years in San Francisco, where his family moved during the Depression.

Saroyans most famous play, The Time of Your Life, unspools in a fictional EssEff waterfront saloon  likely inspired by one of the many such joints he frequented.

And the William Saroyan Foundation is headquartered here and chaired by Haig Mardikian, another successful Armenian American.

Whether or not Saroyan actually hung out at Specs, another storied North Beach boite, is lost in the mists of time. But the alley fronting that saloon was rechristened Saroyan Alley in honor of the Pulitzer Prize winner.

Yet its certain our city seared the soul of Saroyan, who famously wrote this poignant paean: San Francisco itself is an art, above all literary art. Every block is a short story, every hill a novel.

Catherine Bigelow is The San Francisco Chronicles society correspondent. Email: missbigelow@sfgate.com Instagram: @missbigelowUnited Airlines finally is going to offer a flight between Wine Country and a major hub that is long enough for drink service.

The airline announced Monday that it will begin nonstop service between Santa Rosa and Denver beginning in March 2019, roughly a three-hour flight. Currently, Uniteds only flight out of Wine Country has been a nonstop to San Francisco, a 67-mile journey that takes 17 minutes. (Not long enough to turn off the seat belt light.)

The new nonstop to Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport (STS) in Santa Rosa from Denver, a major hub for the Midwest, will be a daily round trip (although the return flight might not be on the same aircraft).

The shift in service is based on demand, both inbound and outbound, as well as for both business and leisure fliers, according to Madhu Unnikrishnan, a United spokesman.

Weve been working with the airport authority and local authorities, and they had expressed interest in flights to Denver. The airport authority said it was in their Top 10 destinations, Unnikrishnan said.

Currently, the only other direct flights available from Santa Rosa to major hubs on Alaska Airlines travel to Los Angeles (LAX), Orange County (SNA), Portland (PDX), Seattle (SEA) and San Diego (SAN); and on American Airlines to Phoenix-Sky Harbor (PHX). Sun Country Airlines operates seasonal flights to Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) two months a year.

The new Denver connection comes as good news for Wine Country tourism, according to Claudia Vecchio, president and CEO of Sonoma County Tourism. Denver is an important feeder market into Sonoma County for both leisure and business travelers and provides a gateway for international travelers as well, she said in a statement.

In October, United also plans to reduce the number of daily flights between Santa Rosa and San Francisco from three to one. The move is unrelated to the new Denver service, Unnikrishnan said.

Spud Hilton is an editor for Travel. Email: shilton@sfchronicle.com. Twitter and Instagram: @spudhiltonIts a crisp, sunny morning on Spring Mountain in Calistoga when Sarah McCrea and Chris Hall, the progeny of two important Napa Valley estates, come together to discuss an event that will forever change both of their families lives. The Hall familys winery, Long Meadow Ranch, has agreed to buy the McCrea familys winery, Stony Hill Vineyard.

Its once in a generation that a vineyard like this becomes available, says Chris Hall, Long Meadow Ranchs COO.

Fans of Stony Hills old-school Chardonnays will no doubt feel a pang at learning that the beloved institution is no longer solely in the McCreas hands. Stony Hill, founded 70 years ago by Sarah McCreas grandparents Fred and Eleanor, has long felt like the last holdout of a bygone era of Napa Valley wine: homegrown, humble, family-owned. It is the only major Napa producer known for white wine rather than red. Winemaker Mike Chelini, entering his 45th harvest here, is the longest-tenured winemaker in the valley. Of Napa Valleys truly iconic wines, Stony Hill Chardonnay is likely the least expensive.

The recently completed transaction gives Long Meadow Ranch a majority stake in Stony Hills 160-acre property, brand and inventory. The McCreas retain some equity in the business; President Sarah McCrea is becoming part of the Long Meadow Ranch executive team, while her father, Peter, joins the advisory board. The parties did not disclose a purchase price.

Still, theres no question that an acquisition by Long Meadow Ranch is a different sort of acquisition from what Napa has seen lately.

Jessica Christian / The Chronicle

Other family-owned wineries have been handed over to global corporations (Schrader, to Constellation), to absentee investors (Heitz, to Arkansas billionaire Gaylon Lawrence Jr.), or to private equity (Duckhorn, to TSG Consumer Partners). But Stony Hill is passing from one family to another. In fact, its passing between friends: Peter McCrea and Ted Hall have been pals since the 1980s.

We knew it had to be someone operating at a larger scale, but still a family, says Sarah McCrea of Stony Hills suitors. Our dream was we could find someone who wanted to keep Stony Hill Stony Hill.

Scale is the crucial term here. While Stony Hill is a tiny, almost anachronistic operation, producing 5,000 cases of wine in a good year, Long Meadow Ranch is a diversified agricultural business with 2,000 acres of farmland in three counties including a cattle ranch, an annual wine production of 75,000 cases, plus olives and olive oil, grass-fed beef and lamb, fruit, vegetables and eggs. It even runs a successful restaurant, Farmstead. Its family-owned and family-run, but sizable.

But why did Stony Hill sell?

First, says McCrea, the property badly needs some infrastructure updates, including some major replantings of the vineyard, which the business simply cant afford. It needs capital investment.

Second, the evolving wholesale wine market in the U.S. is becoming increasingly difficult for small producers like Stony Hill, which have become reliant on personal, direct-to-consumer sales, neglecting the three-tier distribution system. Its just very hard as a small winery to get attention from a distributor, says McCrea. Long Meadow Ranch already has that attention.

The third factor is about Stony Hill doing right by its staff. The winery has only 13 employees, many of whom have worked there for more than 30 years. Weve never been able to provide retirement benefits like we would have wanted, McCrea says. Extracting some equity in the business will help Stony Hill send its employees off into healthy retirement.

Gabrielle Lurie / Special to The Chronicle 2016

A big piece of the puzzle for us is Mike, she adds, referring to Stony Hill winemaker Mike Chelini.

When Fred McCrea hired Chelini in 1972, Sarah says, he offered him an unusual compensation package: a home on the property, where Chelini still resides, and a promise that Chelini would receive some portion of the proceeds if Stony Hill were ever to sell.

Did Fred and Eleanor McCrea expect Stony Hill to sell during Chelinis lifetime, then? My grandparents were very practical people, Sarah McCrea says. They would have thought it would sell long ago.

Today, Chardonnay is the most widely planted grape in California. When Fred and Eleanor arrived on Spring Mountain in 1943, with dreams of growing Chardonnay to rival white Burgundy, planting it seemed like a fools errand. They consulted UC Davis Professor Maynard Amerine, who warned them, We dont even know anything about Chardonnay, according to Peter McCrea, their son. At least diversify, Amerine pleaded.

In 1947, the first vines went in at Stony Hill: 8 acres of Riesling, 5 acres of Pinot Blanc and, because Fred was stubborn, 6 acres of Chardonnay. The Pinot Blanc never made a very good wine, Peter says, and was eventually ripped out. (Heitz Cellars bottled a McCrea Vineyard Pinot Blanc at one point.) Gewurztraminer was later added. Some of the original Riesling vines are still producing fruit.

A lot has since changed for California Chardonnay, but not much has changed at Stony Hill. The style of Chardonnay that we make today was the original way we made Chardonnay, Peter McCrea says. Stony Hills hallmarks: The wines are fermented in neutral oak barrels, which dont impart the toasty vanilla flavors common to newer oak barrels; malolactic fermentation, which gives white wines a buttery richness, is always inhibited.

Visit its crusty barn of a winery today, and youll see its crowded with ancient, faded barrels, the oldest of which were purchased in 1973. That winery is still what speaks to people when they visit, Sarah says. Red wines have never been fermented there.

Even when Chardonnay exploded in popularity, in the 1980s and 90s, it didnt do much good for Stony Hill, which refused to jump on the stylistic bandwagon. There was a time  the era of big, buttery, oaky Chardonnay  when critically we were on the fringe, Sarah says.

That kept us from expanding, Peter adds. Ironically, the qualities that endeared Stony Hill to admirers were the very qualities that held it back as a business. Its old vines struggled, yielding little fruit. Its wines demanded aging, but restaurants werent accustomed to selling vintage Chardonnay. Its dependence on its mailing list kept it from developing a healthy wholesale business. As Napas cult wines surged to over $500 a bottle, Stony Hills commitment to reasonable wine prices left it in the dust.

There came a time when keeping our prices affordable was hurting our reputation, Peter McCrea says.

Jessica Christian / The Chronicle

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Long Meadow Ranch looked a lot like Stony Hill at one point, and might still today, had it not experienced a major turning point that spurred it to change course from a small, quiet estate to a formidable business of scale. Its founders, Ted and Laddie Hall, came to Napa in 1989, buying a small plot of land in the western mountains above Rutherford. They built a small winery to produce about 4,000 cases of wine from their 16 acres of grapes, mostly Cabernet.

But in 2005, Long Meadow Ranch lost almost everything when an arsonist set fire to the Wines Central warehouse in Vallejo. All the wines theyd ever produced  the 1994 through 2002 vintages  burned to the ground. I had 18 employees and no revenue, Ted Hall says. It was an awakening: I came to the realization that the business model wed been following wasnt sufficient scale to survive in the way the wine world was evolving.

Either we sell everything and move to Barbados, Ted Hall recalls saying to his family, or we decide were really going to do this. In the years since, Long Meadow Ranch has expanded its land holdings to include a cattle ranch in Tomales Bay, a Pinot Noir vineyard in Mendocino Countys Anderson Valley, plus a St. Helena property where they house a tasting room, general store and Farmstead restaurant.

Long Meadow Ranch adapted to a changing wine market in a way that Stony Hill did not, in a way that Stony Hill perhaps could not have. The day has come, says Ted Hall. You cant exist at the scale that Stony Hill was operating at without having some large source of subsidy.

How will Long Meadow Ranch change Stony Hill? The Halls certainly plan to implement those much-needed infrastructure improvements, including replanting portions of the vineyard and upgrading the winery equipment (but not, Chris Hall swears, the old barrels). Crucially, theyre taking the vineyard organic, which they expect will increase yields somewhat. A modest price increase could be in store, Ted Hall says, and its possible that Stony Hills small block of Cabernet Sauvignon could become a component in a Long Meadow Ranch Cabernet.

But as for the big questions that Stony Hills die-hard fans will have  will the wine style remain the same? will the 70-year-old Riesling vines stay?  the answers, for now, are yes.

Both families hope that Long Meadow Ranchs business savvy can help usher Stony Hill into a new era, modernizing the winery without relinquishing the old-school traditions that make it special.

For Ted Hall, whats most important is that properties like Stony Hill remain family-owned. Vineyards you replant once a generation, he says. They need to stay in families, who think in terms of generations, rather than in the hands of a public company, or a private equity firm thats looking for a short-term payoff.

He goes on: The McCreas are demonstrating  our transaction is basically demonstrating  the underlying economic correctness of holding these properties privately, and ideally through families.

Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles wine critic. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram: @esthermobUber is teaming up with Toyota to build self-driving cars for its ride-hailing service after its efforts to do it alone were derailed by a fatal collision and allegations of high-tech theft.

The Japanese automaker is also investing $500 million in Uber as part of the alliance announced this week.

The deal is crafted to combine the best features from the two companies work on autonomous technology into cars that will be picking up Ubers customers by 2021.

By the time that happens, San Franciscos Uber hopes to have completed an initial public offering of stock that will enrich a list of early investors that now includes Toyota. Those investors have been pouring billions of dollars into Ubers revolutionary ride-hailing service that still hasnt proven it can make money since its inception nearly a decade ago.

Uber is counting on self-driving cars to help it turn the financial corner by reducing the need to pay human drivers who arrive to pick up passengers in private vehicles summoned through a smartphone app.

By expanding into autonomous vehicles, Uber also hopes to ward off a looming competitive threat from another early investor, Google and its self-driving car spin-off Waymo, which is preparing to create its own ride-hailing service in Arizona before the end of the year.

Our goal is to deploy the worlds safest self-driving cars on the Uber network, and this agreement is another significant step towards making that a reality, said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.

Meanwhile, Toyota is trying to evolve from a pure automobile maker into a mobility company, as are many of its industry peers, including General Motors and Ford. That crusade has prodded decades-old automakers such as Toyota and GM to invest in and team with technology companies working on self-driving cars, while also opening up their own research hubs in Silicon Valley.

Besides allowing them to lean on each others respective strengths, Toyotas deal with Uber also will help the two companies spread out the cost of designing and building the complex systems, which use computers, cameras, radar and laser sensors to guide the self-driving vehicles.

Uber is turning to Toyota for help in autonomous vehicles five months after one of its self-driving cars ran over and killed a pedestrian crossing a dark street in Tempe, Ariz.

The March 18 crash prompted Uber to temporarily suspend work on its self-driving car program while conducting a safety evaluation.

Authorities determined that the sensors on Ubers self-driving car spotted the pedestrian, 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg, but the vehicles automatic-braking function had been disabled in favor of a human backup driver. Tempe police said the driver was distracted and streaming a television show before the crash.

Uber had little choice but to find a self-driving car partner after the collision that killed Herzberg, said Navigant Research analyst Sam Abuelsamid.

Its going to be tough for them to build consumer trust in whatever it is theyre developing, he said. I think that people will have a lot more trust in Toyota to do this the right way, to take due care and make sure everything is properly tested and evaluated.

Ubers expansion into self-driving cars suffered another setback last year after Waymo accused it of stealing its technology in an elaborate scheme. The case went through one week of a high-profile trial before Uber agreed to pay Waymo $245 million in stock to settle the allegations without acknowledging wrongdoing.

Michael Liedtke and Tom Krisher are Associated Press writers.A small airline with gigantic dreams of becoming a major player in California has finally announced when and where it will launch flights in the state.

California Pacific Airlines said it will begin flying out of its home base at McClellan  Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, California (about a 50-minute drive north of San Diego) on November 1 with non-stop flights to Mineta San Jose International Airport and Reno-Tahoe Airport. On November 15, the carrier said it would launch flights to Las Vegas-McCarran Airport.

The service between Carlsbad and San Jose will operate twice daily on weekdays, and once a day on weekends. The carrier says flights from Carlsbad to Reno will operate four times a week, and flights to Las Vegas will operate three times a week.

Fares on the Carlsbad-San Jose route are very consistent: $99 each way for non-refundable tickets or $199 each way for refundable ones. The airline offers a generous baggage allowance: two checked bags for free, and that's in addition to a small carry-on item. Tickets are on sale now on the airline's website.

For comparison, we checked Southwest's schedules and fares between San Jose (SJC) and San Diego (SAN) and found 12 nonstop flights per day with the cheapest fares running in the $60 to $115 range each way.

California Pacific says it will operate a fleet of four single-aisle Embraer ERJ-145 jets, each with 50 seats configured 3-abreast (double seats on the right side, single seats on the left).

"Our community will warmly welcome scheduled flights to the Carlsbad, Calif. area, an in-demand destination for both tech and tourism," said Mineta San Jose International Airport Director John Aitken. "We appreciate California Pacific's investment in offering convenience for our local business and leisure travelers."

The planned launch in the state has been in the making for nearly a decade. Many had doubts about whether California Pacific Airlines would ever take flight.

The airline is the brainchild of 97-year-old San Diego County resident and multi-millionaire Ted Vallas, who originally laid out plans to begin a California-based airline in 2009. But it endured years of FAA regulatory hurdles and setbacks. Planned inaugural flights kept getting delayed, and jets that were supposed to fly passengers were returned to air lessors.

In May, Vallas (who is also the airline CEO) bought charter airline Aerodynamics Inc. (also known as SkyValue Airlines), and acquired its fleet of ERJ-145s. The airline is keeping the number of seats onboard those jets at 50 after previously announcing plans to reduce the number to 44.

In the acquisition, CPA also inherited two federally subsidized air routes from Denver, Colo. to a couple small towns in South Dakota. From the beginning, Vallas's goal was to launch flights out of Carlsbad.

"Today's announcement marks the culmination of a multi-year effort that will bring significant convenience in air travel between San Diego's North County and the top Western-Region destinations our community wants to fly to nonstop," he said. "Passengers can spend less time fretting the drive to and from the airport, and spend more time enjoying their destination."

Google

CPA is entering the market at a unique time for small up-start airlines. Niche outfits like JetSuiteX, Blackbird and Surf Air have filled many voids at underserved airports airports in California  providing passengers with affordable and convenient alternatives to traditional commercial airline flights.

Last year, CPA planned a robust U.S. West Coast route map, with flights to Oakland, Sacramento, San Jose, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. The carrier said it will announce other destinations "in the near future," offering competitive fares "on all flights."

Why Carlsbad? Here's what the airport's website says: "McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad is a gateway to and from San Diego's North County. It serves the general aviation community, corporate aircraft and commercial services. What makes this airport so popular is its proximity to business and recreation. Major corporations and world-class resorts are just minutes from McClellan-Palomar. Some of the finest beaches in San Diego County are close to the airport and offer surfers, swimmers and sun worshipers balmy weather and beautiful ocean waters most of the year. Oceanside Harbor, with its shops, yachts and fishing boats, is a pleasant place to spend time. Legoland is two miles west of the airport. La Costa Resort & Spa is just a short drive from McClellan-Palomar, and the Four Seasons Aviara Resort is also nearby."

What do you think are the chances of a new airline making inroads in the busy California market? Will you fly California-Pacific? Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

Read all recent TravelSkills posts here

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Chris McGinnis is the founder of TravelSkills.com. The author is solely responsible for the content above, and it is used here by permission. You can reach Chris at chris@travelskills.com or on Twitter @cjmcginnis.Consider the following scenarios:

1. Tony comes from a long line of San Franciscans. He recently moved to New York City.

2. Allison moved to San Francisco 10 years ago to work as a designer at Twitter. She purchased a home in Bernal Heights last summer.

3. Jimmy was born at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital. Two weeks after entering this world, his parents took him away from the City by the Bay. They moved to Fremont.

4. Jacob just moved to the city to work at a homeless rights organization. He attends every community meeting and plans to open a neighborhood art space.

Of the following imaginary individuals, which one would be considered a true San Franciscan?

There is no correct answer to this quandary, but city dwellers love to debate it regardless. This fact was made infinitely clear this week when I posed the question to members of San Francisco Remembered  one of the largest and most active Facebook groups about San Francisco.

In less than 24 hours, the post garnered lots of squabbling and more than 940 comments. I read every single one of them, arriving at the conclusion that the qualifications for San Franciscan-hood will probably never be pinned down. That's fitting. After all, San Franciscans love to argue especially about matters of civic identity.

Some said you must live in the city for 10 years to call yourself a San Franciscan; others said time is irrelevant  being San Franciscan is a state of mind. Still, more claimed San Franciscan identity boils down to the little things, like hating the Dodgers and mastering the left turn against oncoming traffic on Van Ness.

Some of the most compelling responses have been compiled in the above gallery. Have two-cents to add? Email me at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com.

I'm a native Bay Area resident, but I've lived in San Francisco only three years. Still, I consider myself to be a San Franciscan. I decided this one day while reading old Herb Caen columns (a very San Franciscan thing to do, indeed). I'll leave you with the quote that has since stuck with me:

"If I do go to heaven, I'm going to do what every San Franciscan does who goes to heaven. He looks around and says, 'It ain't bad, but it ain't San Francisco.'"

Read Michelle Robertson's latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com.

Start receiving breaking news emails on wildfires, civil emergencies, riots, national breaking news, Amber Alerts, weather emergencies, and other critical events with the SFGATE breaking news email. Click here to make sure you get the news.Currently Reading

When can you consider yourself a real San Franciscan?Some person or persons have been relieving themselves in SFO's taxi parking lot  creating a "health hazard"  and at least one airport official thinks cabbies are to blame.

The San Francisco Examiner obtained an email from Seth Morgan, a senior transportation planner at SFO, admonishing San Francisco taxi drivers to do their business in the proper place.

"Airport staff have noticed an increased rate of urination and defecation in the rear of SFO Taxi Lot #3 and nearby stairwells," Morgan wrote in the email, which was posted Friday on a taxi message board. "This creates a highly unsanitary condition and a health hazard for SFO custodians and other staff handling the materials stored in these areas."

On Tuesday, SFO Public Information Officer Doug Yakel confirmed via email that the notice had been sent to the taxi drivers, but did not have any details about how prevalent the problem is. He did say the "issue seems to be confined to an overnight period when customer activity is minimal."

Mark Gruberg, a spokesman for the San Francisco Taxi Workers Alliance, suggested that the instances of urination and defecation could be isolated cases.

"This is not worth smearing the entire taxi work force... The vast majority of drivers are not doing this. It's not fair to be smearing them," Gruberg said.

He noted that anybody  not just cab drivers  can access the taxi lots at the airport.

"Maybe it could be dogs," he said. "People bring dogs to the airport."

MORE: 20 lbs. of human waste dropped on SF street corner

Restrooms are available to drivers 24 hours a day in taxi lots 2 and 3, and drivers can leave their vehicles in the lots while using them, Morgan wrote.

Morgan warned that the airport was ramping up "enforcement action" patrols day and night to curb the practice. Both the San Francisco Police Department and SFO security will patrol the area.

---

Read Mike Moffitt's latest stories and send him news tips at mmoffitt@sfchronicle.com.

Start receiving breaking news emails on wildfires, civil emergencies, riots, national breaking news, Amber Alerts, weather emergencies, and other critical events with the SFGATE breaking news email. Click here to make sure you get the news.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 28)  An opposition lawmaker said expediting the impeachment complaints against seven Supreme Court justices might mean immediate dismissal to clear the calendar for legislative work.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said there is an implied consideration in House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's statement that she wanted the impeachment complaints disposed of so these would not hinder the legislative agenda.

He said hearing the impeachment complaints in the justice committee would not interfere with the performance of other committees insofar as legislative work is concerned.

"The power of the House to initiate and prosecute impeachment complaints is a mandate of the Constitution, and it has to be performed by the House together with its legislative functions. So I would not say that it would impede on the legislative process because you remember, with respect to the investigation on the complaint of Gadon, it took months for the committee to hear the testimonies of witnesses etcetera," Lagman said.

The seven justices voted in favor of the quo warranto petition against then Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. Opposition lawmakers who filed the complaints said the justices violated the Constitution which states the Chief Justice can only be removed from office by impeachment. A quo warranto challenges the authority of an official to hold office.

House Majority Leader Nonoy Andaya said the impeachment proceedings will not affect the legislative agenda.

He said lawmakers can take on various tasks at the same time.

"This will have no effect on the legislative agenda of the House. Magaling naman sa multitasking ang Congress [Congress is good at multitasking]," he said.

For his part, House Justice Committee Chairman Doy Leachon said the complaints will be handled with utmost impartiality.

"Expediting is different from dismissing. The only thing the Speaker would mean in saying we have to expedite the termination and disposition of this case is precisely, one, it's a budget season. Second, there are other more important legislative priorities set forth by the President in his State of the Nation Address and the House of Congress should definitely attend to that," he said.

Leachon added, "The complainants should not be worried about the outright dismissal, unless the cases filed are without utter or devoid of merit. But what I can assure them, and with guarantee them, that as long as I am here, with the 55 members under my watch, can definitely say that we will deal with these cases with utmost impartiality."

Meanwhile, Leachon said his committee is inclined to consolidate the seven complaints.

This means lawmakers will only have to vote once for all complaints when they determine sufficiency in form and sufficiency in substance.WASHINGTON  In remarks to evangelical ministers in the White House State Dining Room on Monday night, President Donald Trump spoke in high-minded tones about religious liberty, abortion and youth unemployment. He noted a John Adams quote carved into the rooms fireplace: I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house.

But once reporters and television cameras were ushered out of the room, Trump turned to the more pragmatic concerns of how evangelical leaders can use their pulpits to help Republicans win in the midterm elections, according to an audiotape of his remarks provided to The New York Times by someone who attended the event.

I just ask you to go out and make sure all of your people vote, Trump told the group of about 100 evangelical ministers. Because if they dont  its Nov. 6  if they dont vote were going to have a miserable two years and were going to have, frankly, a very hard period of time because then it just gets to be one election  youre one election away from losing everything youve got.

Trump spent most of his private remarks to the group bragging about having gotten rid of the Johnson Amendment, a 1954 provision of tax law that threatened religious organizations, like churches, with the loss of tax-exempt status if they endorse or oppose political candidates.

Under that amendment, Trump said, religious leaders had been prevented from speaking their minds.

Maybe its why you are very plateaued. I hate to say it, if you were a stock, youd be like, youre very plateaued, Trump said, prompting laughter in the room. I really believe youre plateaued because you cant speak. They really have silenced you. But now youre not silenced anymore.

The president recalled when he first learned about the Johnson Amendment at a meeting during the 2016 campaign, when several dozen pastors and ministers came to see him at Trump Tower in New York City. He said he was pleased by the meeting because the religious leaders seemed to like him.

I know when people like me, Trump said. I know when people dont like me. You know, pretty good at that stuff. A lot of them like, and some dont and thats OK. But this group really liked me.

Trump also recalled on Monday night looking out the window during the Trump Tower meeting, though it was unclear why he chose to discuss it.

We were in the 68th floor of Trump Tower and we looked down on the sidewalks and there were thousands and thousands of people, he said. They looked like ants, little people going all over  boom, boom, boom  so little, cause when youre 68 floors, they look really small. But there were a lot of them.

Trump said he told the religious leaders at that campaign meeting that he would oppose the Johnson Amendment if he won the presidency and fight very hard to make sure that provision gets taken away.

In fact, the president has fallen short of that promise.

Eliminating the provision in the law would require Congress to act. Instead, Trump signed an executive order in May 2017 directing the Internal Revenue Service not to aggressively pursue cases where a church endorses a candidate or makes political donations.

Legal experts have said the IRS has very rarely pursued such cases against churches, and religious leaders have often been outspoken about politics even if they have had to stop short of officially endorsing a candidate.

Trump ignored that reality Monday night. He urged religious leaders to use what he described as their newfound freedom of speech to campaign from the pulpit on behalf of Republican candidates.

You have people that preach to almost 200 million people  150 to, close, depending on which Sunday we are talking about, and beyond Sunday, 100, 150 million people, he said.

Trump warned that if Republicans do not retain control of Congress, religious communities would lose all of the gains he had secured on their behalf.

They will end everything immediately, he said, apparently referring to Democrats. He added, again without being clear whom he was talking about: They will overturn everything that weve done and theyll do it quickly and violently. And violently. Theres violence. When you look at Antifa, and you look at some of these groups, these are violent people.

Antifa is a term that describes some militant, leftist anti-fascist groups in the United States.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)



A group of immigrants traveling the country to bring awareness to people living in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status made a stop in San Francisco this afternoon to hold a rally.



The TPS Caravan for Justice, as the activists are called, are visiting more than 50 cities across the U.S. over a 12-week period to highlight the Trump Administration's decision to end the program for some.



The program allows people from nations facing upheaval or natural disasters to live and work in the United States on a renewable temporary basis.



The administration is planning to end TPS for people from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Liberia, Syria, South Sudan and Nepal at various times in 2019, citing improved conditions in those nations.



TPS for people from Sudan is set to end in November, while the end of TPS for people from Nicaragua is set for early January.



"We're here to fix a system that is broken," San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi said at today's rally outside of City Hall.



"It is about ensuring that all Americans understand how important TPS is. At a time when we should be expanding the program, the Trump Administration is eliminating it. At a time when we should be opening our borders to immigrants, the Trump Administration is doing everything it can to destroy the important sanctuary cities, like what we have here in San Francisco," Adachi said. "We need to band together. We need to make sure that our message is heard loud and clear."



Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who also made an appearance at the rally, said, "Ending TPS for the countries, especially in Central America, where we've had it for so long, especially, where there continues to be so much violence and so many reasons for people to be escaping those countries to come to the U.S. to have safety for their families and themselves," she said. "Immigrants contribute to our communities. They're what make the U.S. amazing and strong and a place that we're proud of."



The activists are demanding that TPS holders be provided a path to permanent residency.



In March, a lawsuit filed by nine immigrants from countries affected by the TPS changes and five of their U.S. citizen children is seeking a preliminary injunction blocking the termination of their status.



Cristina Morales, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said at today's rally that the decision early this year by the Trump Administration to end TPS for some has already impacted her and her family "really bad."



Morales said, "If we don't stop this administration, more families are going to be on the same boat.



"It's hard for me to place my family in a situation where they have to decide to go back with me to a country they don't belong to or to stay without me. And it's not fair for me to go back. I don't know that country. I've been here for so long; for twenty years. This is my home. I belong here," she said.



According to the group National TPS Alliance, if TPS were ended for all countries, the termination would affect as many as 450,000 TPS holders, in addition to their 270,000 U.S.-born children.



"Without TPS, without having protections, it will be really easy for the government to get rid of us. They are going to send us with no excuses; they're going to separate us from our families. And we don't want that. We want justice. And we need all your help," Morales said.





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.Gov. Jerry Brown today signed a bill to reform the California's money bail system.



Under the new law, which takes effect on Oct. 1, 2019, a decision about whether to grant a criminal defendant release on bail before trial will be based on an evaluation of the risk to public safety rather than the defendant's ability to pay a set bail amount.



Many advocates who claimed the former system was unfair to low-income defendants have been calling for bail reform, including California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye.



Cantil-Sakauye said in a statement, "Today is a transformative day for our justice system. Our old system of money bail was outdated, unsafe, and unfair."



Brown said, "Today, California reforms its bail system so that rich and poor alike are treated fairly."



Some critics have contended, however, that the new law could potentially result in more, rather than fewer, arrestees being held in pretrial detention.





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.ANTIOCH (BCN)



Contra Costa County Fire Protection District crews extinguished a one-alarm fire at an apartment complex in Antioch early this morning, according to a fire dispatcher.



Fire crews were dispatched to the residence in the 1600 block of G Street around 3:25 a.m. today. The dispatcher said a car fire spread from a vehicle to the garage of the residence.



Nobody was injured in the blaze.





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.SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)



A state appeals court today upheld the second-degree murder conviction of a man who was charged as a result of a "cold hit" DNA match 13 years after he fatally stabbed a San Francisco woman.



Anthony Hughes, now 59, was arrested in San Francisco in 2011 on charges of murdering Lisa Valdez, 32, in her studio condominium in the Diamond Heights neighborhood of the city in 1998.



He was convicted of second-degree murder in San Francisco Superior Court in 2016 and sentenced to 16 years to life in prison.



A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal unanimously upheld the conviction, rejecting Hughes's claim that the delay in prosecution violated his state and federal constitutional rights to a fair trial.



Valdez, a computer programmer, was last seen on May 16, 2011, at a dinner she prepared in her condominium for her mother and three other people. Her body with 21 stab wounds was found in her studio on May 20, 2011.



Hughes was identified as a suspect through a match of bloodstains on two pillows with a sample in a national database maintained by the FBI. The identification was made possible through advances in technology. Hughes was also matched to a fingerprint in the victim's bathroom.



The appeals court said the delay didn't substantially harm Hughes's defense case and that prosecutors' "justification for the delay was compelling" because of the new DNA evidence.



Justice Terence Bruiniers wrote for the court, "This new evidence amply justifies the delay and outweighs any minimal prejudice Hughes has presented."





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.MENLO PARK (BCN)



An urban search and rescue task force based in Menlo Park continues to do its work in remote areas outside Hilo, Hawaii, in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Lane, the fire chief of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District said today.



Chief Harold Schapelhouman said the task force of 36 is divided into four groups who are trained to search for people in remote areas.



"In the last two days, they have searched over 50 square miles of a 77-square-mile area of concern that was severely impacted by record rainfall and mudslides," Schapelhouman said.



The group is trying out a new mapping application for situational awareness. The app tracks the group's progress and improves methodology, according to Schapelhouman.



The task force, called California Search and Rescue Task Force 3, was deployed to Hawaii as then Category 5 Hurricane Lane was headed to state.



Friday, the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm.



Forty thousand pounds of equipment went with the task force.





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.NAPA (BCN)



A bill from a Napa state senator to encourage media literacy in students is likely headed soon to the governor's desk for approval after the state Assembly passed it on Monday.



Senate Bill 830, which was introduced by state Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, would require the state's Department of Education to provide online access to resources and instructional materials on media literacy for use by school districts.



The bill was inspired by a 2016 Stanford University study that found that 82 percent of middle school students struggled to distinguish advertisements from news stories.



"The rise of fake and misleading news is deeply concerning. By giving students the proper tools to analyze the media they consume, we can empower them to make informed decisions," Dodd said in a statement.



The bill was passed by the state Senate in May and will return to the Senate this week for a concurrence vote before going to Gov. Jerry Brown's desk for his signature, according to Dodd's office.





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.The California Legislature on Monday passed Assembly Bill 186, which would give the green light for safe injection sites in San Francisco under a three-year pilot.



Amid a visible drug crisis happening in the city, safe injection sites would allow for people suffering from addiction to use drugs at facilities under the supervision of trained staff.



The bill now heads to Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature.



On Wednesday, San Francisco Mayor London Breed is set to visit a full-scale model of a safe injection site at the Glide Foundation in the city's Tenderloin neighborhood. The model, called Safer Inside, is equipped with supervised injection booths, medical equipment, trained staff and a clinical area that provides users with access to health care and harm reduction services.



Breed has been a longtime advocate for safe injection sites. During her time as supervisor, Breed led a task force which estimated in a September 2017 report that the city could save around $3.5 million a year by opening a safe injection site because of reduced health care costs and increased drug treatment uptake.







A bill from a Napa state senator to encourage media literacy in students is likely headed soon to the governor's desk for approval after the state Assembly passed it on Monday.



Senate Bill 830, which was introduced by state Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, would require the state's Department of Education to provide online access to resources and instructional materials on media literacy for use by school districts.



The bill was inspired by a 2016 Stanford University study that found that 82 percent of middle school students struggled to distinguish advertisements from news stories.



"The rise of fake and misleading news is deeply concerning. By giving students the proper tools to analyze the media they consume, we can empower them to make informed decisions," Dodd said in a statement.



The bill was passed by the state Senate in May and will return to the Senate this week for a concurrence vote before going to Gov. Jerry Brown's desk for his signature, according to Dodd's office.







Police are awaiting an autopsy report after officers discovered human remains at a San Francisco home recently, police said today.



The remains were reportedly discovered at a home on Santa Clara Street in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood sometime earlier this month, the city's medical examiner confirmed.



Officers found the remains as they were investigating a report of a missing person, according to police.



Further information about the case has not been released.







A male victim died in a shooting on Monday afternoon in East Oakland, police said today.



The shooting was reported at 4:13 p.m. in the 7100 block of International Boulevard. The victim's name has not been released.



No one has been arrested for the shooting and no suspect information was immediately available from police.



Monday's homicide comes after three separate fatal shootings in Oakland on Sunday.







Two men pleaded not guilty in Sonoma County Superior Court this morning to marijuana-related charges of kidnapping and killing a Cloverdale man in June.



Socorro Sierra, 34, of Healdsburg, and Climmie Hill Jr., 30, of Santa Rosa, face a preliminary hearing in December on the charges that they kidnapped and killed 46-year-old Jose Martinez on or around June 29.



A third suspect, Felix Fernando Carreon, 43, of Santa Rosa, has not yet been charged in the case, Deputy District Attorney Barbara Nanney said.



Sonoma County sheriff's officials said Martinez may have been involved in "significant" marijuana dealing. He was missing since June 29.







Richmond police today announced $10,000 rewards for information leading to the arrest and charging of people in two separate homicides from April.



The first of the two cases involved 30-year-old Mark Henderson Jr., a Richmond resident found fatally shot in the 5000 block of Hartnett Avenue shortly before 9 p.m. on April 9, according to police.



On April 18, officers responded at 11:23 p.m. to a shooting at the Stop & Shop Market at 800 Carlson Blvd. and found 21-year-old Joseph Alexander suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.



Anyone with information about either homicide is asked to call the Police Department's homicide unit at (510) 621-1212, ext. 1933.







A Fremont man was arrested Monday for allegedly slaughtering 11 cows and burying them underneath his rural property in unincorporated Santa Clara County, county sheriff's officials said.



Marc Belluomini, 54, owned 1,500 acres near the Canada de los Osos Ecological Reserve off of state Highway 152 and had entered into an agreement early this year with two cattle owners for them to use the area for grazing, according to sheriff's deputies.



The agreement "began to break down," sheriff's officials said, and the man allegedly brandished a rifle at one of the cattle owners on May 25 when they tried to remove the animals from the property.



The cattle owner reported the incident to sheriff's officials, who said both parties agreed to a negotiated removal of the cattle.



But on June 5, the cattle owner told sheriff's deputies that several of their cows had been slaughtered and buried on the property. Deputies said they launched an investigation and later unearthed 11 cows, in addition to bullet fragments and other evidence.



Belluomini was arrested at his Fremont house on Monday and was booked into jail on suspicion of 11 counts of animal cruelty, two counts of illegal cattle driving and allegedly brandishing a firearm, sheriff's officials said.







A California Highway Patrol motorcycle officer wasn't hurt after colliding with a SUV while pursuing a speeding suspect on westbound Interstate Highway 80 in Hercules on Monday evening, according to the CHP.



The collision occurred at 5:57 p.m. near Appian Way in Pinole, CHP officials said.



The officer noticed a white Hyundai sedan speeding around 90 mph near the Willow Avenue exit in Hercules. According to the CHP, the driver of the sedan at first slowed down and appeared ready to pull over, but then took off and drove recklessly in an attempt to evade the officer.



The driver of the sedan then cut off a green Jeep Cherokee, which lost control and crashed into the center divider, right in front of the motorcycle officer who struck it, according to the CHP.



The CHP said neither the Jeep driver nor the officer were injured in the collision. The suspect in the Hyundai was not captured by the CHP.







Contra Costa County Fire Protection District crews extinguished a one-alarm fire at an apartment complex in Antioch early this morning, according to a fire dispatcher.



Fire crews were dispatched to the residence in the 1600 block of G Street around 3:25 a.m. today. The dispatcher said a car fire spread from a vehicle to the garage of the residence.



Nobody was injured in the blaze.







A fire was quickly extinguished in a storage room at the San Mateo Police Department on Monday afternoon, according to police.



The fire was reported at about 1:15 p.m. at the police headquarters at 200 Franklin Parkway.



Firefighters responded and found flames in a storage room in the building and quickly extinguished the blaze, police said.



The building was briefly evacuated but 911 emergency services remained uninterrupted and police walk-in services resumed by later in the afternoon.





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.The San Jose Police Officers Association was set to submit a tentative agreement on expanding police oversight to the Mayor and City Council in response to the city independent police auditor's resignation on Thursday.



The agreement was set to be submitted Monday.



POA President Paul Kelly repeatedly called for Aaron Zisser's resignation beginning in June, saying he wouldn't move forward on police reforms or work with the IPA until Zisser was out of office.



Zisser submitted his resignation to the City Council on Thursday evening and said he was grateful for the opportunity to serve the city, but the POA's "extraordinary personal attacks" had become too large an obstacle to his work.



The tentative agreement authored by the POA's office lays out three possible oversight expansions to be ratified by October, according to Kelly.



It would allow the IPA to access use of force data in cases where police have not received a complaint, allow the IPA to review completed investigations into all officer-involved shootings, and allow the IPA oversight over internal complaints against officers, as it already has for public complaints against officers.







The Boyes Hot Springs man on trial in Sonoma County Superior Court for the beating murder of his wife has testified he remembers only "snapshots, not a movie" of what happened on the living room couch of their home last August.



The man gave the testimony Monday.



Steven Rothschild, 73, said he remembers his hand on his wife Juanita's throat, looking at her arm and being on top of her chest.



"I heard her gasp, I saw blood coming out of her nose or mouth and I remember striking her throat. I was in a rage," Rothschild said.



Rothschild said he remembers washing his hands in the kitchen, looking for his glasses in the bedroom, washing his hands again and calling his son on the East Coast.



"But I hung up. I was numb, confused and afraid. Then I called 911. I wanted to get help. There was nothing I could do," Rothschild said.







A group of immigrants traveling the country to bring awareness to people living in the U.S. under Temporary Protected Status made a stop in San Francisco to hold a rally.



The group made their stop in San Francisco Monday.



The TPS Caravan for Justice, as the activists are called, are visiting more than 50 cities across the U.S. over a 12-week period to highlight the Trump Administration's decision to end the program for some.



The program allows people from nations facing upheaval or natural disasters to live and work in the United States on a renewable temporary basis.



The administration is planning to end TPS for people from El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Liberia, Syria, South Sudan and Nepal at various times in 2019, citing improved conditions in those nations.



TPS for people from Sudan is set to end in November, while the end of TPS for people from Nicaragua is set for early January.







A state appeals court has upheld the second-degree murder conviction of a man who was charged as a result of a "cold hit" DNA match 13 years after he fatally stabbed a San Francisco woman.



The appeals court made its decision Monday.



Anthony Hughes, now 59, was arrested in San Francisco in 2011 on charges of murdering Lisa Valdez, 32, in her studio condominium in the Diamond Heights neighborhood of the city in 1998.



He was convicted of second-degree murder in San Francisco Superior Court in 2016 and sentenced to 16 years to life in prison.



A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal unanimously upheld the conviction, rejecting Hughes's claim that the delay in prosecution violated his state and federal constitutional rights to a fair trial.







The Grand Lake Theatre was sold to Allen Michaan, the longtime leaseholder of the venerable Oakland movie palace.



Michaan purchased the Grand Lake last week for $3.75 million from descendants of Louis Kaliski and Abraham C. Karski, who built the theater in 1926.



Michaan had been operating the theater at 3200 Grand Ave. under a 95-year lease that would have ended in 2023.



He said Monday that he has many restoration and renovation projects in mind -- including work on the theater's vintage neon sign -- and will apply to have it listed with the National Register of Historic Places.







An urban search and rescue task force based in Menlo Park continues to do its work in remote areas outside Hilo, Hawaii, in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Lane, the fire chief of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District said.



Chief Harold Schapelhouman on Monday said the task force of 36 is divided into four groups who are trained to search for people in remote areas.



"In the last two days, they have searched over 50 square miles of a 77-square-mile area of concern that was severely impacted by record rainfall and mudslides," Schapelhouman said.



The group is trying out a new mapping application for situational awareness. The app tracks the group's progress and improves methodology, according to Schapelhouman.



The task force, called California Search and Rescue Task Force 3, was deployed to Hawaii as then Category 5 Hurricane Lane was headed to state.













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.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 28)  Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said the Philippines will not fall into China's "debt trap" in the wake of partnerships with infrastructure projects.

"How can you have a debt trap if one percent lang ng debt mo is to that country? The best insurance I guess is also transparency, na bawat isang debt lumabas para alam niyo na [that every debt is revealed] despite one percent, every peso is accounted for," Cayetano told reporters Tuesday.

In May, Socioeconomic Secretary Ernesto Pernia said the administration is cautious with economic deals with Beijing.

READ: Government to 'make haste slowly' in deals with China

A number of projects in the "Build, Build, Build" program such as the Mindanao Railway Project will be funded by China. In April, President Rodrigo Duterte said Beijing is important to the P9-trillion infrastructure program, even as Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua had earlier said these projects have "no strings attached" to them.

READ: Duterte: China an 'important ingredient' in 'Build, Build, Build' program

A Harvard University study identified countries vulnerable to China's "debtbook diplomacy," whereby Beijing reportedly influences nations through debts. These include Djibouti, Kenya, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Cayetano said he is looking forward to have the framework for the joint exploration agreement between Philippines and China in disputed areas of the South China Sea.

"I'd like to see a framework agreement in the next few months. Kung kaya [If possible], next two or three months. I'd like to see one but it depends sa pag-uusap [on the discusssion]," he said.

READ: DFA chief: Duterte approves working group for PH-China oil explorationBERLIN  Germanys top security official offered to send federal assistance to the eastern state of Saxony on Tuesday following violence during a far-right protest in the city of Chemnitz that left at least 18 people injured.

The protest late Monday, sparked by the killing of a 35-year-old German man in an altercation with migrants over the weekend, erupted into clashes between neo-Nazis and left-wing counter-protesters. Opposition parties criticized police for failing to prevent the violence.

The police in Saxony are in a difficult situation, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said. Should it be requested, the federal government will provide police support.

He was backed by Chancellor Angela Merkel, who condemned the violence.

Should Saxony need help to maintain law and order, and to uphold the law, the federal government stands ready, she said.

Saxonys police chief Juergen Georgie acknowledged authorities had underestimated the size of the protest. Initial estimates had forecasts about 1,000 far-right protesters and half that number of counter-protesters would descend on Chemnitz, he said.

In the end, some 600 officers struggled to prevent 6,000 supporters of the far-right from breaking through police lines. Footage showed demonstrators performing Nazi salutes and chanting the national resistance is marching here!

Georgie said the police presence in Chemnitz would be stepped up in the coming days, with more protests planned.

Green lawmaker Konstantin von Notz urged Seehofer to consider resigning, accusing him of fanning anti-migrant sentiment over the past year. Von Notz told the news portal t-online.de that the violence in Chemnitz recalled events elsewhere in eastern Germany during the early 1990s, when authorities failed to stop far-right mobs from attacking migrants.

The state of Saxony has long been a hotbed of anti-migrant sentiment, with some accusing police of turning a blind eye to sympathizers in their own ranks. The far-right Alternative for Germany party received almost a quarter of the vote in Chemnitz last year.

Chemnitz police said they have arrested a 22-year-old Syrian and a 21-year-old Iraqi on suspicion of manslaughter in the stabbing death of the German man after a street festival early Sunday. Prosecutors said the killing was preceded by a verbal confrontation that escalated.

Frank Jordans is an Associated Press writer.HANOI  Sen. John McCains Vietnamese jailer said he respected his former inmate and felt sad about his death, as others in Vietnam paid their respects to the former U.S. Navy pilot who became a prisoner of war and later was instrumental in bringing the wartime foes together.

McCains Skyhawk dive bomber was shot down over Hanoi in 1967 and he was taken prisoner and held in the infamous Hanoi Hilton prison for more than five years.

Former Col. Tran Trong Duyet, who ran the prison at the time, said he met with McCain many times while he was confined there.

At that time I liked him personally for his toughness and strong stance, he told the newspaper Vietnam News, published by the official Vietnam News Agency.

Later on when he became a U.S. senator, he and Sen. John Kerry greatly contributed to promote Vietnam-U.S. relations so I was very fond of him, Vietnam News quoted Duyet as saying Sunday.

When I learned about his death early this morning, I feel very sad. I would like to send condolences to his family. I think its the same feeling for all Vietnamese people as he has greatly contributed to the development of Vietnam-U.S. relations, Duyet was quoted as saying.

Duyet could not be reached for further comment. McCain died of brain cancer on Saturday at age 81 in his home state of Arizona.

Meanwhile, scores of people in Hanoi paid their respects to McCain at the U.S. Embassy and at a monument by Truc Bach lake, where he landed after parachuting from his damaged plane.

Speaking to reporters after writing in a book of condolences, U.S. Ambassador Daniel Kritenbrink said McCain was a great leader and real hero who helped normalize relations between the former enemies.

He was a warrior, he was also a peacemaker and of course he fought and suffered during the Vietnam War, but then later as a senator, he was one of the leaders who helped bring our countries back together and helped the United States and Vietnam normalize our relationship and now become partners and friends, Kritenbrink said.

McCain and former Sen. Kerry played important roles in the normalization of bilateral relations in 1995.

The Vietnam News Agency said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan sent messages of condolence to McCains family and U.S. Senate leaders.

The U.S. Embassy announced it will launch a McCain/Kerry Fellowship in which a young Vietnamese leader committed to public service will be chosen each year to travel to the U.S. on a study tour to deepen ties between the two peoples.

Tran Van Minh is an Associated Press writer.TOKYO  Japan needs to bolster its missile defenses and its alliance with the United States, its government stressed Tuesday in an annual defense review that judged North Korea to still be a serious threat that has not taken concrete steps to denuclearize.

The defense paper, approved Tuesday by the Cabinet, said Japan must add to its missile defense capabilities to be fully prepared while watching if North Korea keeps its promise.

President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a vague joint statement at their summit in June that included agreements to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. Last week, Trump directed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to postpone a planned trip to the North, citing insufficient progress.

North Korea tested intercontinental ballistic missiles last year, including launching some over Japan, and it deploys several hundred shorter-range Rodong missiles capable of hitting Japan. The defense paper also says Pyongyang likely has made miniaturized nuclear warheads it can place atop ballistic missiles, an advancement of its nuclear capability that North Korea has claimed to have achieved.

North Korea has increased the range, accuracy and versatility of its missiles and diversified its launch sites and methods over the past few years. In addition to the three nuclear tests the North has conducted since 2016, it also has carried out more than 40 missile tests in that time, according to the paper.

Its military actions have become an unprecedentedly serious and imminent threat to Japans national security, the paper said. There is no change in our basic recognition about the threat of North Koreas nuclear weapons and missiles.

It was significant that Kim promised to pursue denuclearization of the peninsula but it is necessary to watch what North Korea does to scrap its nuclear weapons and missiles, the report said.

While the United States is primarily concerned about the ICBMs that can reach its mainland, Japan is within range of North Koreas smaller missiles. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pushed to raise Japans military participation and its missile defenses. Joint exercises with the U.S. and other defense partners including Britain and Australia have significantly increased, and Japan is buying costly U.S. equipment as Trump tries to sell more weapons and reduce the U.S. trade deficit.

Japan is currently updating its national defense guidelines and the medium-term defense program to reflect North Koreas threat, and to have necessary and sufficient defense capabilities qualitatively and quantitatively, the paper said.

It has also stepped up surveillance and patrolling in regional seas to crack down on offshore ship-to-ship oil transfers to North Korean vessels in violation to U.N. sanctions.

Tuesdays report comes days before Japans Defense Ministry is set to approve its fiscal 2019 budget plan that would include an initial acquisition cost for a land-to-air missile defense system, Aegis Ashore.

Mari Yamaguchi is an Associated Press writer.GENEVA  The military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in Yemen has killed thousands of civilians in air strikes, tortured detainees, raped civilians and used child soldiers as young as 8  actions that may amount to war crimes, U.N. investigators said in a report issued Tuesday.

The report singled out Saudi and Emirati air strikes for causing the most civilian casualties, saying they had hit residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, jails, boats and medical facilities.

There is little evidence of any attempt by parties to the conflict to minimize civilian casualties, Kamel Jendoubi, chairman of the panel of experts that produced the report.

The report also said that the Houthi rebels, who control northern Yemen and are fighting the Saudi-Emirati coalition, may have committed war crimes. They were accused of shelling civilians, torturing detainees, recruiting young children to fight and blocking access to humanitarian agencies.

None have clean hands, one of the experts, Charles Garraway, a retired military officer who served for 30 years as a legal officer in the British army, told reporters in Geneva. Despite the severity of the situation, we continue to witness a total disregard of the suffering of the people of Yemen.

A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition said it would respond after its legal team had reviewed the report.

The Emirati minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, said on Twitter that his government would need to study the report before responding, but he said the culpability of the Houthis for civilian suffering needed to be recognized.

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis told reporters in Washington that the Trump administration had reviewed its support for the Saudi-Emirati coalition.

We determined it was the right thing to do in defense of their own countries, but also to restore the rightful government there, he told reporters. Our conduct there is to try to keep the human cost of innocents being killed accidentally to an absolute minimum.

The U.S. goal, Mattis said, is to encourage the combatants to negotiate a settlement to the conflict.

Political factions and militias have been fighting for control of Yemen, the Arab worlds poorest country, since power-sharing talks collapsed in 2014 and the Houthis ousted the internationally backed government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

Nick Cumming-Bruce is a New York Times writer.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- U.S. Army Reserve Ambassador Myron J. Berman of Eltingville received the Public Service Commendation Medal from Maj. Gen. Troy D. Kok, commanding general of the U.S. Army Reserve's 99th Readiness Division, during a ceremony Aug. 3 on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, near Trenton, N.J.

The Public Service Commendation Medal is the fourth highest public service decoration the United States Department of the Army can bestow upon a civilian, ranking directly below the Meritorious Public Service Medal.

Before being appointed an Army Reserve Ambassador, Berman served in the Army Reserve for 35 years at Fort Totten, Queens, Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, Caven Point Reserve Center, Jersey City and eight overseas assignments in the Republic of Panama.

FYI: The Army Reserve Ambassador Program was established in 1998 to promote awareness of the Army Reserve, its goals and objectives, and to serve as a vital bridge in states and communities to further educate and offer support for the Army Reserve.

The function of the ambassador is similar to that of civilian aides to the Secretary of the Army, and carries a protocol status equivalent to a major general that is a key by which ambassadors are able to effectively execute their responsibilities. Ambassadors are special government employees who represent the Chief of the Army Reserve without salary, wages or related benefits.

Ambassadors provide community outreach assistance to Army Reserve members/families, other military personnel and families as needed, and provide feedback on plans, programs and needs to the commander of the Army Reserve, the Readiness Division commander and to local Army Reserve commanders.

Additionally, ambassadors build relationships and strive to improve the understanding and knowledge of the Army Reserve within the business and social sectors of communities across America.

They help to educate the public, community leaders, and congressional staff offices about the capabilities and values of the Army Reserve and the soldiers who live and work in their communities. They establish open lines of communication with the local communities and they work to support recruiting efforts by assisting community and business leaders in recognizing that the Army Reserve strengthens the soldiers, the community, and the nation.

While not all ambassadors have military experience, many are retired officers or senior non-commissioned officers who wish to remain engaged in military affairs. Each state and territory has at least one Army Reserve ambassador.

For more information, visit USAr.army.mil/Featured/Ambassador-Program.NEW YORK -- Prosecutors have arrested a 13th suspect in the brutal gang-related slaying of a teenager outside a New York City deli and are seeking a 14th.

The Daily News reports that Bronx prosecutors are seeking a 14th suspect in the June 20 machete death of 15-year-old Lesandro Guzman-Feliz.

The 13th suspect, 29-year-old Ronald Urena, was arrested Sunday and pleaded not guilty in court Monday. He told reporters in Spanish that he was innocent.

Police say Urena was in one of the cars that chased Guzman-Feliz to the grocery store where he was stabbed to death.

Authorities say the suspects are members of the violent Trinitarios gang. They said Guzman-Feliz was been mistakenly targeted by the gang.

A widely shared video recording of the teen's murder shocked the city.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory from 11 a.m. Tuesday to 9 p.m. on Wednesday.

Following a Monday afternoon that broke the 90 degree mark, the National Weather Service expects both Tuesday and Wednesday to have highs of 93 degrees, with heat index values ranging from 94 to 104 degrees.

According to the National Weather Service, the extreme heat can cause illness and death among at-risk populations that cannot stay cool. The heat and humidity may cause heat stress during outdoor exertion or extended exposure.

To beat the heat, the New York City Emergency Management Department and the Health Department announced that cooling centers will be open on both days, giving Staten Islanders public spaces to cool off, according to a media release.

"Stay cool and hydrated during the extreme heat we're expecting in the coming days," said NYC Emergency Management Commissioner Joseph Esposito. "Use air conditioning or visit a cooling center, drink plenty of water, and avoid strenuous outdoor activity during the periods of intense heat," the media release states.

Earlier this summer, Staten Island faced its worst heat wave since 2013, scorching the borough for approximately a week.

That July heat wave landed among the longest heat waves in New York's history.

"Extreme heat can cause serious illness and even death," said Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett. "The Health Department encourages New Yorkers to stay hydrated, to remain in air conditioned spaces and to utilize cooling centers if necessary. It's also very important that residents check on neighbors and family members who have a greater risk of health illness to ensure that they are healthy and cool," according to the media release.

To be protected against the heat, residents are urged to stay out of the sun and avoid extreme temperature changes. In addition, lightweight clothing, adequate hydration and avoiding strenuous activity from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. are some of the recommendations offered by NYC Emergency Management and the Health Department.

For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/health.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A St. George man is facing a bevy of criminal charges following a shooting on Slosson Terrace on Aug. 17, according to police.

Mitchell Royan, 39, is facing charges of attempted murder, assault, criminal possession of a weapon and resisting arrest after allegedly shooting a 42-year-old victim in both legs on Slosson Terrace, according to a spokesman for the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.

Royan allegedly shot the victim with a shotgun, the spokesman said.

The injured individual was transported to Richmond University Medical Center in stable condition by another male, a police spokesman said.

Royan is a resident of Slosson Terrace, the police spokesman said.

According to a law enforcement source, Royan was apprehended in lower Manhattan at Canal and Forsyth Streets and brought back to the 120th Precinct in St. George following his arrest.Update: Police released the identity of the suspect as Peter Guarneri. Click here for the story and more details about the incident.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - A police encounter with a motorist driving the wrong way on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge ended when the suspect's white van collided head-on with an NYPD anti-crime unit vehicle, sending both the suspect and at least one officer to the hospital, according to a law enforcement source.

The vehicle was sought in connection with a crime, the source said.

The incident ended on the Staten Island-bound side of the Verrazano bridge at approximately 5:35 p.m., according to an MTA spokesman. The driver of a white Ford Econoline van was driving toward Brooklyn in the Staten Island-bound HOV lane, the MTA spokesman said.

The wrong-way motorist is in custody and was transported to Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze, the law enforcement source said.

At least one injured NYPD officer was also transported to the hospital.

The extent of their injuries wasn't immediately available.

Several witnesses who posted about the incident on social media called it "a chase." However an NYPD spokesman said it wasn't a chase.

One video shows what appears to be a State Police vehicle following the car with its siren on.

The NYPD spokesman was not able to provide further information.

A State Police spokesman was not able to confirm that the agency was involved or provide information about the incident.

According to eyewitness accounts, the Staten Island-bound upper-level of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge was slowed to a standstill following the accident, at the height of rush hour.

A driver on the bridge confirmed to the Advance that helicopters could be seen hovering overhead as the perpetrator was taken into custody.

The driver said that a van could be seen smoking on the upper level on the Staten Island-bound side of the bridge following the accident.

Brooklyn-bound traffic was also slow following the police incident.

"Traffic is now backed up before even getting into the tunnel. A complete nightmare! How can someone go the wrong way with all the security at the bridge!," one commuter said on Facebook.

Police block smoking white van, SI bound, caucasian male in early thirties, on Verrazano bridge. He turns and heads the wrong way back to Brooklyn. A crazy chase ensues as vehicles dodge the van. pic.twitter.com/ftr4MNX2mM  Francesco Portelos (@MrPortelos) August 27, 2018STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A federal judge in Manhattan set a trial date Tuesday for the St. George woman accused of climbing the Statue of Liberty on the Fourth of July.

Theresa Okoumou, who allegedly made her way to the base of the landmark, will have the chance to present her case to a jury on Nov. 5.

Defense Attorney Ron Kuby, who is representing Okoumou, said his client is eager for her court date, calling the jury system, "the conscience of the people."

She pleaded not guilty on July 5 to charges of trespassing, interfering with agency functions and disorderly conduct.

At that court appearance, Okoumou said her act was intended as a protest against the Trump Adiminstration's "draconian, zero-tolerance policy on immigration."

Prosecutors have described it as a dangerous stunt that resulted in the evacuation of Liberty Island.

Okoumou believed her message was sent, and borrowed from the words of former First Lady Michelle Obama.

"When they go low, we go high; and I went as high as I could," she said, drawing loud applause and cheers from fellow Rise and Resist members.

President Donald Trump indicated at a July 5 campaign rally in Montana that he was aware of Okoumou's actions.

"You see that clown yesterday on the Statue of Liberty," Trump asked the crowd of thousands. "You see the guys that went up? I wouldn't have done it. I would've said 'let's get some nets, and let's wait until she comes down."

-- Associated Press material was used in this reportSTATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Starbucks is welcoming the fall season earlier than usual this year, with the return of its Pumpkin Spice Latte.

The popular fall beverage is officially in Starbucks stores in the United States beginning Tuesday.

"Since making its debut in 2003, Pumpkin Spice Latte remains Starbucks most popular seasonal beverage, to the delight of fall fanatics everywhere," Starbucks said in a news release.

The Pumpkin Spice Latte combines espresso and steamed milk with real pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. The beverage is then topped with whipped cream and pumpkin pie spices.

In addition to the latte, customers can enjoy returning favorites as part of the fall Starbucks menu, including the Salted Caramel Mocha and the Teavana Pumpkin Spice Chai Tea Latte.

The Salted Caramel Mocha blends mocha sauce and toffee nut syrup, combined with espresso and milk. It's topped with whipped cream, caramel drizzle and a blend of turbinado suger and sea salt.

The Teavana Pumpkin Spice Chai Tea Latte is a beverage that combines lightly sweet chai and pumpkin spice.

The fall food Starbucks will offer include: the Maple Pecan Muffin, Apple Cider Doughnut, Morning Muffin, pumpkin scones and new takes on the classic coffee cake and blueberry muffin.

Pumpkin-flavored beverages are offered in grocery stores as well, including pumpkin spice flavored cookie straws, bottled pumpkin lattes and pumpkin K-Cup Pods.

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A woman axed to death by her husband inside their Pennsylvania home lived on Staten Island for more than 10 years and has family on the borough, the Advance has learned.

Police in Luzerne County said troopers were called to a Exeter Township home Sunday where they found two bodies, identified as 58-year-old Daniel Arangio, and 47-year-old Valerie Arangio.

Police said Daniel Arangio, of Harding, Pa., killed Valerie Arangio "by striking her in the head with an ax."



They said he then committed suicide by a self-inflicted stab wound.

The wife's body was found in a bedroom of the home, while her alleged attacker was found dead in a bathroom. Troopers said the deaths occurred sometime between Saturday and Sunday.

Friends posted their farewells over the past few days on social media.

"Oh Valerie, can't believe this happened. We grew up together..." said one message. "A senseless cowardly act took your life way too soon."

Public records show Valerie Davi associated with a home on Catherine Street in Port Richmond from 2000 to 2011. Social media posts indicated she has family currently living on Staten Island.

Facebook photos show what appear to be a close relationship with her adult daughter, son and granddaughter.

Wedding photos of the couple are dated July, 2016.

Real estate records indicate the couple purchased a three-bedroom, ranch-style home in rural Pennsylvania, which police have since deemed a crime scene.

-- Associated Press material was used in this report.To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.

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A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!The ferry business is booming for WA shipbuilder Austal after it rolled out a $100 million, 109-metre high-speed passenger catamaran from its Henderson facility on Monday.

In a milestone moment the aluminium hull and superstructure left the construction halls and have been joined together.

Austal's new catamaran is bound for Denmark. Credit:Austal

After a final fit-out and sea trials the Express 4 catamaran will head to Denmark where it will join ferry operator Molslinjen's fleet.

Austal started construction of the catamaran in April 2017, supporting more than 450 jobs.Investor demand for medical centre properties has driven yields to record lows of under 5 per cent as private investors compete with syndicates and institutions for limited opportunities.

In Melbourne  the hottest market  buyer interest is also focused on outer suburban growth corridors that have experienced baby booms in recent years.

According to property advisory group Herron Todd White, yields have tightened from 8 per cent five years ago to below 5 per cent, with average transaction values rising from $4000 per square metre to $7000 per sq m over that period.

The medical centre at 224-226 & 228-232 Caroline Springs Boulevard in western Melbourne.

''In Victoria alone, health expenditure in 2015-16 was more than $41 billion and there is absolutely no doubt that is driving a very strong medical centre property market and, of course, values and yields reflect that,'' HTW director Craig Veljkovic said.Melbourne developers and residents are in for a windfall of new transit retail, office and residential projects as the city looks to future-proof its train infrastructure with the $50 billion plan by the Victorian government.

Retail landlords Vicinity and Scentre are sitting in the box seats with at least four major developments ear-marked around Box Hill, Doncaster, Glen Waverley and Monash in the south.

Developers and metropolitan office agents have all said it is a step in the right direction to ensure the infrastructure is catching up with the projects to create an interconnected city.

Vicinity's The Glen apartments atop the shopping centre, Melbourne

Under the scheme, the Victorian government has plans for a suburban rail loop which is expected to take almost 30 years to build and connect key train lines from Frankston to Werribee. It will allow commuters to by-pass the city.A swath of neighbourhood mall asset sales is hitting the national market with a combined value of about $90 million as investors and developers take advantage of the demand for food-based centres.

It comes as the real estate investment trusts, including Vicinity and Stockland, are also embarking on major sales programs predominately across Victoria and NSW, worth close to $1.5 billion, but the centres are larger and command high exposure to their catchment areas.

Demand is high from a range of investors for the centres that rely more on food and general services than fashion.

Charter Hall Retail REIT is selling the Woolworths Supermarket and Woolworths Petrol in Young, NSW.

Charter Hall Retail REIT and Centuria are leading the charge in the sales of two NSW regional assets in Young and Windsor, respectively, while a private investor is selling a site in Penrith. It comes amid the sale of the Coburg North Village, Melbourne at a record yield.Lithium company Orocobre has urged people to look past short-term volatility in lithium spot prices, and says it is well-placed to capitalise on global demand for lithium due to the rise of electric vehicles and the spread of electrical storage systems.

The Australian-headquartered company, which has large-scale lithium operations in Argentina, emphasised that it is a low-cost producer, as it forecast higher lithium production volumes in fiscal 2019.

An evaporative pond at Orocobre's Olaroz facility in northern Argentina.

The company, which released its full-year results for 2018 on Tuesday, also confirmed its prices so far in the new financial year were considerably higher than last year, but it did not forecast an average price for the full fiscal year.

The company said prices for its lithium in fiscal 2019 so far, had averaged about $US14,000 per tonne. This compares to an average price of $US12,578 per tonne for its lithium carbonate in fiscal 2017.Uber is teaming up with Toyota to build self-driving cars for its ride-hailing service after its efforts to do it alone were derailed by a fatal collision and allegations of high-tech theft.

Toyota, based in Japan, is also investing $US500 million ($680 million) in Uber as part of the alliance announced Monday.

As part of the deal, Toyota is investing $US500 million in Uber. Credit:AP

The deal aims to combine the best features from the two companies' work on autonomous technology into cars that will be picking up Uber's customers by 2021.

By the time that happens, Uber hopes to have completed an initial public offering of stock that will enrich a list of early investors that now includes Toyota. Those investors have been pouring billions of dollars into Uber's revolutionary ride-hailing service that still hasn't proven it can make money since its inception nearly a decade ago.The quality of some products sold by the country's top electronic retailers, including Kogan, Samsung and Harvey Norman, is "not good enough", says NSW Fair Trading Minister Matt Kean.

His comments come as the latest monthly list of consumer complaints was dominated by claims of defective and poor quality goods sold by the country's biggest and most well-known electronic retailers.

Ruslan Kogan, founder and CEO of Kogan. Credit:Josh Robenstone

Of the 18 companies generating 314 complaints on the monthly register, nine were electronic retailers.

These related to laptops, mobile phones, cameras and drones.Learning through play is crucial to kids' academic development but has almost disappeared from the early primary years as schools adopt more traditional methods in order to meet benchmarks and produce data, new research has found.

Children's play outside school is also under threat from urbanisation, apartment living, over-cautious parenting and over scheduling activities, according to The Importance of Early Childhood and the Academia of Play report.

Kim Moroney's research underscores the importance of play in children's learning during the early years of school. Credit:Jonathan Carroll

Early learning specialist Kim Moroney travelled to five counties, including China and Finland, to look at international attitudes to play as a teaching technique for kindergarten to year two and report back to Catholic Schools NSW.

She found that other countries put greater emphasis on play as a key part of early primary school teaching. "[In Australia], play as a pedagogy has almost disappeared from many schools," Ms Moroney's report read.Diverting water earmarked for the environment to help drought-hit farmers would "absolutely" breach the federal Water Act, says David Papps, the former head of the Commonwealth Environment Water Office.

Mr Papps was responding to Barnaby Joyce, the former Nationals leader and special drought envoy under the Morrison government, who said such diversions were needed to address a "national emergency" as the big dry spreads.

Not enough: storms and showers near Narrabri last week brought some water to drought-hit parts of NSW and Queensland. Credit:Nick Moir

"We have billions of dollars worth of water in the Commonwealth Water Holder's accounts," Mr Joyce told ABC's Radio National on Tuesday. "If we diverted a section of it, we could start growing the fodder [such as lucerne] that is required to keep the stock alive."

Mr Joyce's comments were rounded on by federal Labor and the Greens, and by former water officials.Thousands of posters warning pregnant women about the dangers of alcohol have had to be removed from the walls of hospitals and GP clinics around the country.

Fairfax Media can reveal DrinkWise, a "safe drinking" group almost entirely funded by alcohol companies, recently withdrew 2400 pregnancy warning posters after doctors and health groups told it the message was "utterly wrong".

While the headline "It's safest not to drink while pregnant" reflected government guidelines, the text beneath, including the words "It's not known if alcohol is safe to drink when you are pregnant", was considered misleading and inaccurate.

From afar, the posters appear the same. But the original poster (left) was replaced with an updated message after complaints.

Tony Bartone, president of the AMA, who raised concerns with DrinkWise, said the small print was "fundamentally incorrect" because the science was clear that alcohol had devastating effects on unborn babies.The guy on the other end of the phone line was very convincing.

"I am from Telstra," he said, when he called someone I know, let's just call him Fred, urgently demanding he be granted access to Fred's computer.

"There is a problem with your internet," the purported Telstra employee went on to tell Fred.

"Your account has been hacked. Your internet will disconnected in two hours."Malcolm Nicholson of Katoomba has "just received an email from Princess Cruises, advertising a new cruise that finishes up in Sydney with views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Oprah House. I know she's been there but to name it after her is going too far."

Russell Hill needn't be concerned about the lack of wedding rings in Fathers Day catalogues (C8). Ruth Robinson of Terrigal says: My husband of 38 years has never worn a wedding ring. He says if he did, he would 'look married! John Bunyan of Campbelltown recalls: "In my day (long ago), it was not the custom for married men to wear wedding rings, though it is one I welcome. And while Anne Cook of Ermington explains that the fathers are probably unmarried models, Frank Maundrell of Nundle reminds us that having a wedding ring is not an essential prerequisite to being a father.

Matt Petersen of Randwick has greater concerns: Whats more disconcerting than a lack of wedding rings in on dads in Fathers Day catalogues, is the appearance of dads sporting man-buns.

"It wasn't a chook (C8)," declares William Galton of Hurstville Grove. "Paul Keating told Parliament that, 'the Opposition crowd could not raffle a duck in a pub.' He also questioned his opponents' business ability when he declared, 'the Opposition could not manage a tart shop.' Although he is an admirer of things French, I don't think the former PM was referring to a patisserie."

David Davies of Callala Beach reckons Groucho Marx (C8) was somewhat harsh on his sister: "She is hopeless with Roman numerals. She thinks we are up to World War eleven."

Looking for that silver lining, Chris Wilkinson of Turramurra says: "I've just asked our local butcher if they have tripe. No  it might take a few days searching and probably a minimum 20kg order. I used to buy tripe from Glenmore Meats in Glebe until it closed about two years ago. Where can one conveniently buy (white) tripe in Sydney? My wife introduced me to tripe whilst we were courting many years ago  half her family love it, the other half loathe it."

First things first, thinks Joy Cooksey of Harrington: "If they believe they can provide a change in atmosphere that will cause the 'end of toxic politics', the old political fossils must first believe it is possible to have a change in climate."Moments after attacking his wife of 30 years with a hammer and a knife, Robert Hilton Fraley phoned police to tell them what he had done.

"I'm worried I've killed her," he said down the line. "I suppose I'll be going to jail."

The scene at Athlone Street in Cecil Hills, where Robynne Fraley, inset, was found seriously injured.

Mr Fraley asked if they would be sending someone around, and that he would leave the door to the garage of their family home - where Robynne Fraley lay bloodied and motionless - unlocked.

"I'm going for a drive," he said before getting behind the wheel of Mrs Fraley's Holden Barina and leaving the Cecil Hills property.A ride-share driver has been charged with sexually assaulting a teenage passenger in Bondi on the weekend.

The 17-year-old girl and her two friends were picked up in the city by a 37-year-old ride-share driver about 1.30am on Sunday after booking the service, police say.

The girl's two friends got out at Bondi, but she remained in the car to travel on to North Bondi.

Police allege the driver sexually assaulted the teenager in his car.

The assault was reported to police who began investigating, and about 4.20pm on Monday, officers arrested the driver at an address in Liverpool.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 28)  The House of Representatives and budget officials have agreed to restore cuts on appropriations for the Health, Education, and Public Works and Highways departments for 2019, House Majority Leader Nonoy Andaya said Tuesday.

This came about after House leaders and budget officials met Tuesday to resolve their differences on the proposed 2019 budget.

"Unang-una nag-agree kami na may kakulangan. That's one. Secondly, na ibabalik naming yung mga kakulangan na yun, or selected lang, di naman kaya lahat. And then that we would have a unified voice on this matter. And we want a new budget. That's clear," he said.

Andaya said this will be done by realigning the budget of some agencies or realigning allocations for unprogrammed funds to those that need additional funding.

"We're looking at options, maybe we can source some from unprogrammed funds or maybe we can source some from supplemental budgets. Now, we're doing the numbers crunching. We're also looking at revenue side para masuportahan karagadang programa ng gobyerno," the lawmaker said.

Andaya have also agreed on a mixed cash- and obligation-based budget.

Under this scheme, the life of the budget will be extended to one and a half years for payables or projects which have been obligated and needs and extended time to complete, the lawmaker explained.

"We agreed that the life of the budget will be extended to one year and a half. In that sense, hybrid ka na... for payables. For projects which have been obligated and need to be finished within the year, they'll be giving an extension to finish it," he said.

The Budget Department earlier submitted the 2019 National Expenditure Program that follows a cash-based budgeting system, allowing funding for projects to be initiated and completed within a year.

Andaya said they are also looking into passing a supplemental budget or a bill providing additional funding for some projects that will not be included in the General Appropriations Bill.

"Necessarily we need to have additional income or there should be program loans that have come in within the year which can fund the supplemental budget," he said.

Andaya said the House is hoping to pass the 2019 General Appropriations Bill on final reading on October 12.

Andaya assured the public lawmakers and budget officials agreed to dispense with reenacted budget, or carrying over the current budget to next year.

"The meeting was more on getting all parties on the same page. Clarifying that there will be no re-enacted budget, that we want a new budget. Both sides explained the merits why we want a hybrid type of budget. Secretary Diokno gave the merits of a purely cash-based budget, but in the end, we agreed na magtulungan," he said.A man has been charged after he allegedly slashed a nurse a number of times with two knives during an incident at Blacktown Hospital in Sydney.

The attack has prompted a fresh call for specialist security forces in NSW hospitals.

The man, a patient under the care of the nurse, allegedly began behaving erratically about 10pm on Monday night, walking into patients' rooms and taking photos with his mobile phone. He is then said to have armed himself with two knives from the staff room.

The attack on a nurse in Blacktown Hospital has prompted a fresh call for specialist security forces in NSW hospitals. Credit:Geoff Jones

When the nurse, who was unaware he was armed, attempted to persuade him to return to his room, he allegedly attacked her with the knives, slashing her wrist and her clothing.An Uber driver accused of raping his teenage passenger in a "traumatic" attack has been released on bail.

Onur Dedeoglu, 37, was working as a driver for the ride-share service on Sunday morning when he picked up the 17-year-old girl and two of her friends in the city.

The Uber driver was arrested at a Liverpool home and charged over the alleged incident. Credit:Ryan Stuart

The girl's two friends got out of the car in Bondi around 1.30am, and she remained inside to be taken to an address in North Bondi.

The Uber driver is accused of raping her in the car while she was asleep.A Brisbane City Council chairman has chastised the opposition leader for his inconsistent voting after he refused to vote in favour of LNP-supported recommendations at committee meetings, accusing Quirk administration councillors of being "suspect".

At Tuesdays infrastructure committee, there were three petitions discussed and recommendations voted upon.

Opposition leader Peter Cumming said he would decide his vote on petition recommendations on a case by case basis. Credit:Glenn Hunt

Committee chairman Amanda Cooper called out opposition leader Peter Cumming for his inconsistent voting as he abstained from one petition, voted in favour of another and voted against the third.

Cr Cumming said he assessed each petition separately as he believed Labor councillors were "trustworthy people" while the LNP recommendations put forward for voting were "suspect".Three men accused of preparing for violent jihad in a terror attack on Melbourne landmarks believed they would die as martyrs and enter paradise, a trial has heard.

Prosecutors allege Abdullah Chaarani, 27, Ahmed Mohamed, 25, and Hamza Abbas, 23, bought machetes and components that could be used in improvised explosive devices for an intended terror attack on Federation Square, St Pauls Cathedral and Flinders Street over the 2016 Christmas and New Year period.

The three accused in the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Left to right: Ahmed Mohamed, Abdullah Chaarani, and Hamza Abbas. Credit:Jeff Hayes

The trio followed an extreme brand of Sunni Islam, and were prepared to die in the name of their ideological and religious beliefs in waging jihad against those they considered disbelievers, prosecutor Nick Papas, QC, told the Supreme Court.

They believed dying in the name of jihad meant they would be sent to paradise as a martyr, Mr Papas told a jury on Tuesday in outlining the case against the three men.A man accused of killing a 10-year-old boy in a crash in Melbourne last week wont be allowed behind the wheel under his bail conditions.

Zhou Lu, 45, briefly faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday, where his bail was extended until his next appearance in January on a charge of dangerous driving causing death.

Zhou Lu leaves the Magistrates Court on Tuesday. Credit:AAP

It is alleged Mr Lu hit 10-year-old Jack Power with his Toyota Hiace van as the boy was crossing at the lights at Springfield Road, Blackburn North shortly before 6.30pm on August 21.

The Croydon boy was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries and died the following day.

A public funeral to celebrate Jacks life will be held on Friday.A 50-year-old man has been jailed for 11 years after supplying almost five kilograms of ice and possessing large amounts of other drugs in a hidden compartment in his car.

The 5kg ice deal took place in an underground car park in Perth. Credit:File image

Gavin David Steers, 50, pleaded guilty to a string of serious drugs charges in the WA District Court on Tuesday.

The court heard Steers supplied 4.9 kilograms of ice to a woman in an underground car park in Perth earlier this year.

A raid on Steers city hotel room shortly after the transaction uncovered large amounts of cocaine and more meth.Theyre way in front of us in terms of the volume of supply, theyve got much larger resource than we have. But the point is if you know youre buying WA cobalt or a battery that has WA cobalt in it then you can justify to your customers that youve had proper ethical supply. WA Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston inspecting a Tesla vehicle at a lithium event in May. Credit:Hamish Hastie Whereas getting supply out of the DRC its more problematic. That is a genuine opportunity for WA. "The world now does look at these things. What is your carbon footprint, what was your ethical supply chain?

Thats to our advantage. Down, down, downstream One of the biggest questions over the lithium battery sector was how far could WA move down the battery supply chain to meet the growing demand in batteries driven by electric vehicles and utility energy storage. Chinese lithium giant Tianqi was building a $700 million lithium hydroxide processing plant in Kwinana and at least four more plants are in the pipeline from international and WA companies. However, there were still three to four steps WA needed to take before it could become a bona fide home of battery manufacturing.

Mr Johnston said he was confident the state could convince someone to build a precursor battery chemical plant in WA. Loading One of the things I think needs to be emphasised is that if somebody turned up tomorrow and set up a battery factory they would have to import all of the components, he said. Lithium hydroxide doesnt go into a battery, it goes into precursor chemicals, which then go into cathodes and then that goes into a battery. The good thing is the other materials that go into a battery are all available here.

So now thats the trick, can we get somebody to invest in the precursor chemical plant? We think we can, we think there is a good business case to make for investors to make that decision and if that happens then we can start talking about the next step which is the anodes and cathodes and then if we can get that then we can start talking about batteries. Mr Johnston confirmed he had met with Tesla representatives, but would not reveal the details of their conversations. He said he had also met with other energy storage and battery companies. Mr Johnston said the further down the supply chain WA got, the better it would be for the WA job opportunities.

"It's clearly a very important opportunity. The great thing about these jobs is they are high skill, high wage jobs," he said. "This is not about a race to the bottom, this is about providing genuine opportunities for West Australians to have strong careers both in advanced occupations as well as process workers. "The good thing is many of the industries we have in WA today, the skills needed for those industries are transferable to this industry. "We are the world's number one resources jurisdiction, not because we're good at quarrying, because we're good at tech. "Now we want to apply the tech we have in the resources sector so a new activity, which is the downstream processing activity."

Getting the eye of the feds Loading Awareness of the potential multi-billion dollar economic injection and jobs boom that would come with a strong lithium industry was lacking in federal circles, Mr Johnston said. He said they were going to lobby the government to reverse its decision to cap research and development tax incentives for companies in the battery metals industry. Mr Johnston said he was also concerned federal political instability would hurt the states bid at establishing a lithium and battery metals cooperative research centre in WA.

The state has offered a $6 million contribution while the private sector has committed to a whopping $27 million to establish the centre here. The centre would conduct battery research in collaboration with the private sector with a view to commercialising it. Mr Johnston said he was very concerned that the current political chaos might get in the way of them making a good decision. I think it is generally understood that WA's CRC bid is above any other state, he said. One of the risks is they might combine it with another industry. For example they might say rather than battery metals and new energy they might go battery metals, new energy and LNG. So they might combine it as something else and then say well thats a reason not to do it in WA.A District Court Judge has raised serious concerns with mandatory minimum sentencing as she jailed a man for a shockingly violent attack on a woman in her Perth home earlier this year.

Judge Felicity Davis jailed Jason Scott Illman on Tuesday for 15 years over the break-in and sexual assault of the woman in March this year.

Illman will spend 15 years behind bars.

Legislation which passed State Parliament in 2015 means an offender who breaks into a house and rapes someone must be jailed for a minimum of 15 years.

The former Liberal National Government introduced the legislation as part of what it called "tough home invasion and burglary laws".The search for a boatload of suspected asylum seekers in Queensland's crocodile country appears to be over after the last two missing men were arrested.

The men, understood to be the captain and first mate of the rickety boat which ran aground near the mouth of the Daintree River were taken into custody on Tuesday after being held by the operator of the river's ferry, the ABC has reported.

Two suspected asylum seekers were detained by police on the banks of the Daintree River.

Border Force officials and the Department of Home Affairs have refused to confirm if the search is ongoing but it's understood 17 people have now been detained.

The group, believed to be from Vietnam, fled the sinking vessel north of Cairns on Sunday.In the video, she stiffly moves back and forth as a group of children dances across from her, her leopard-print shoes tapping this way and that. The short clip became a Twitter moment, with social media users calling her moves "dad dancing" and "painful."

Washington: Some of Theresa May's critics already call her "RoboMay," claiming the British prime minister moves so awkwardly that she comes off as robotic. So it isn't shocking that the South African government tweeting a video clip of her dancing with students in Cape Town on Tuesday slightly overshadowed her trade-focused trip to South Africa.

South Africa is the first stop on a trip that will also take May to Kenya and Nigeria. It's her first visit to Africa since taking office in 2016; she's there to promote trade with Britain as the country prepares for Brexit.

On her visit to the school in Cape Town, she also announced that Britain will expand an existing scholarship program for foreigners and will add 100 new slots for African students.

British Prime Minister Theresa dances with children during a visit to the ID Mkhize High School in Gugulethu, Cape Town, South Africa. Credit:AP

Britain is eager to expand its investment in Africa, as it competes with the United States, China, France and others for influence on the continent. In Cape Town, May said the British government plans to invest around $US5.1 billion in the continent and that by 2022, she hopes Britain will be "the G7s number one investor in Africa, with Britain's private sector companies taking the lead in investing the billions that will see Africa's economies grow by trillions." That would mean investing more than both the United States and France, which is also seeking to boost its involvement in Africa.

She also said she plans to use British aid programs to help prevent illegal migration and organised crime.Officials plan to tow the vessel to coastal cities in need of power, either for short-term boosts or longer-term additions to electricity supply. It can carry sufficient enriched uranium to power the two reactors for 12 years, before having to be towed, with its spent fuel, back to Russia, where the radioactive waste will be processed. Technical staff in the corridors on the ground floor of the Akademik Lomonosov. Credit:New York Times A rotating crew of about 300 Russians, including private security guards, will operate the plant. Rosatom is considering a work schedule where they will remain on board for four months at a time before taking a four-month break. The Akademik Lomonosov will start out serving Pevek, a remote port in Siberia about 840 kilometres from Alaska, next year. While on the vessel, the civilian crew will have access to a host of amenities, making the structure a sort of cross between the set for The Hunt for Red October and a cruise ship. Those aboard can swim in a pool decorated with pictures of a tropical beach, play squash or strangely, given the seeming importance of sobriety on such a vessel, have a drink at a bar. "Such a local source of electrical energy, which can easily be transported to difficult-to-access locations, is economically effective," Vitaly Trutnev, director of Rosatom's floating reactor program, said in an interview in the captain's cabin, a suite decorated with orange upholstered chairs and wood laminate tables.

Using nuclear reactors for marine propulsion, or on floating power plants, is not new. The United States used a barge-based reactor to generate electricity for the Panama Canal Zone from 1968 until 1976, and Westinghouse, the US reactor builder, planned  but never built  two floating plants off the New Jersey coast at around that time. A bar aboard the Akademik Lomonosov. Credit:New York Times The idea of floating nuclear power won unexpected support after the 2011 Japanese tsunami. That disaster wrecked havoc on the Fukushima coastal power plant by flooding back-up diesel generators intended to cool the plant in an emergency shutdown. A floating reactor, supporters say, would survive tsunami waves at sea. And if an emergency shutdown were needed, it would retain access to cooling, something that is easier to do if it is already in the water, rather than relying on pumps. Rosatom, in a statement, insisted its plant was "invulnerable to tsunamis."

Buongiorno of MIT has himself proposed floating either small or full-scale nuclear plants on platforms similar to those used in the oil and gas industry. That, he said, would improve the project's economics and safety as the nuclear industry seeks to compete with cheap electricity from wind, solar and natural gas. A cabin in the residential block of the floating nuclear power plant Akademik Lomonosov. Credit:New York Times Placing nuclear reactors on vessels could also help reduce the costs of construction. Cost overruns, as well as political opposition, have all but halted nuclear plant construction in the United States. Assembly-line efficiencies at shipyards would help reduce costs. And then there is the potential climate change benefit. Nuclear power stations generate electricity free of planet-warming greenhouse gases and, unlike other clean sources of energy like wind turbines and solar farms, run around the clock. Rosatom has so far not disclosed the cost of building the barge, or which countries are interested in buying electricity. The company estimates each floating plant will take four years to build, compared with a decade or so for many nuclear plants. The Sudan Tribune has cited that country's minister of water resources and electricity as saying the government in Khartoum has a deal to become the first foreign customer. A Sudanese government spokesman, Mujahid Mohammed Satti, declined to comment on the report.

Others are also exploring the technology. China wants to build 20 floating nuclear plants, the first of which will start within two years. A French company has designed a reactor called Flexblue that would not float but rather be submerged on the ocean floor. But some environmental groups  even those open to a role for nuclear power as a substitute for traditional power plants  are skeptical. A gym aboard the Akademik Lomonosov, a floating nuclear power plant moored in Murmansk. Credit:New York Times For one, they are not convinced by Rosatom's assurances of safety. Critics worry that during a tsunami, the 21,000-tonne steel structure might not ride out the wave. In a worst-case scenario, they say, it would instead be torn from its moorings and sent barrelling inland, plowing through buildings until it landed, steaming and dented and with two active reactors on board, well away from its source of coolant. In such a case, Rosatom says, a back-up power source and coolant on board would prevent the reactors from melting down, at least for the first 24 hours. "During this time we would consider what to do," said Dmitri Alekseyenko, deputy director for Rosatom's floating reactor program.

Regulators in the United States, however, require on-land reactors to operate for 72 hours in an emergency shutdown without external water supplies. And the fact that the technology is well tested in Russian ships gives critics little solace, given a long history of spills and accidents involving nuclear-powered submarines and icebreakers operated by the Soviet and Russian navies. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Soviet Union dumped reactors in the Kara Sea, in the Arctic Ocean north of Kola Bay. Russian nuclear submarines sank in 1989 and 2000, while one Russian nuclear icebreaker caught fire in 2011 and the reactor on another leaked radiation that year, according to Bellona, a Norwegian environmental group. "The question is, would clients of Russia be comfortable with something like this being parked right at a pier in a major city?" Matthew McKinzie, director of the nuclear program at the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, said in a telephone interview. A Greenpeace sailboat tailed the Akademik Lomonosov on its maiden voyage from a shipyard in St. Petersburg to Murmansk, where it will be fuelled, flying a banner in English saying: "Floating Nuclear Reactor? Srsly?"Geneva: The military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and supported by the United States in Yemen has killed thousands of civilians in airstrikes, tortured detainees, raped civilians and used child soldiers as young as 8  actions that may amount to war crimes, UN investigators said in a report issued on Tuesday.

The report singled out Saudi and Emirati airstrikes for causing the most civilian casualties, saying they had hit residential areas, markets, funerals, weddings, jails, boats and medical facilities.

Charles Garraway, member of the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen. Credit:AP

"There is little evidence of any attempt by parties to the conflict to minimise civilian casualties," Kamel Jendoubi, the chairman of the panel of experts that produced the report.

The report also said that the Houthi rebels, who control northern Yemen and are fighting the Saudi-Emirati coalition, may have committed war crimes. They were accused of shelling civilians, torturing detainees, recruiting young children to fight and blocking access to humanitarian agencies.Since it's happening behind closed doors we can't be sure what went on in this meeting. But given how previous iterations of this charade have gone, I'm guessing it involved Republicans like Meadows and Jordan asking some ridiculous questions positing vast conspiracies, Ohr patiently explaining why those questions were absurd, then Republicans responding by shouting the same questions much louder. Republicans have fixated on Ohr, a widely respected public servant who has spent years investigating the Russian mob, because he was a contact for former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who had cooperated with American intelligence long before he approached our government with troubling information he had learned about then-candidate Donald Trump. In addition, Ohr's wife worked for Fusion GPS, the firm that hired Steele. US President Donald Trump Credit:AP None of that is inappropriate, nor was it concealed - Ohr logged all his contacts with Steele. But since Republicans have constructed an insane fantasy in which had it not been for Steele dossier then the FBI would never have even suspected there was anything fishy going on with regard to Trump and Russia, they've decided Ohr must be at the center of the conspiracy. And Trump, going on whatever he saw on "Hannity" the night before, has lobbed blistering but always vague attacks at Ohr. "I think that Bruce Ohr is a disgrace with his wife, Nellie," the president said not long ago. "For him to be in the Justice Department and to be doing what he did, that is a disgrace." I am 99.9 percent sure that if someone had immediately asked, "What specifically did Ohr do that is a disgrace?", Trump would have been utterly unable to say.

In a saner world, Republicans would have looked at Ohr and said, "OK, we were hoping this guy might be the nexus of a sinister anti-Trump conspiracy, but I guess not." That, however, is not how these people roll. Republicans still haven't been able to come up with an answer to this basic question: If there was an anti-Trump conspiracy driving the FBI investigation of the Russian contacts with the Trump campaign in 2016, why did the bureau so assiduously avoid leaking to the public that the investigation existed? In other words, why did this alleged conspiracy to torpedo Trump's campaign not do the one thing that might actually have harmed Trump's campaign, but instead carefully adhered to Justice Department guidelines so as not to harm Trump's campaign? Seriously: Ask a Republican that question and see what happens. They're likely to sputter incoherently for a few moments, then point over your shoulder and shout "Look over there!" When you turn back you'll see them running in the other direction. But that's not all. Here's another report from The Atlantic's Natasha Bertrand, on how the GOP investigation into the anti-Trump conspiracy is going. Bertrand reports that House Intelligence Committee chair Devin Nunes travelled to London earlier this month, "seeking out new information" on Steele: "According to two people familiar with his trip across the pond who requested anonymity to discuss the chairman's travels, Devin Nunes, a California Republican, was investigating, among other things, Steele's own service record and whether British authorities had known about his repeated contact with a US Justice Department official named Bruce Ohr. To that end, Nunes requested meetings with the heads of three different British agencies-MI5, MI6, and the Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ. . .PHILIPSBURG:--- It is with great pride and gratitude that Founder Julienne Augusty, Board, Management, Staff and Students of the Charlotte Brookson Academy of the Performance Arts (CBA) announce their second consecutive year of excellence in reference to the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examinations (CSEC) administered by the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) as well as the GCE (Cambridge) Dutch exams.

For the academic year 2016-2017 the CBA senior students left their mark and placed the bar high for the lower forms to follow. In the academic year 2017-2018 a total of thirty (30) students wrote their final examinations (CSEC) and secured for their school an overall passing rate of 98.3%. On the Dutch Cambridge exams they captured a passing rate of 93.8%. Our students gave a stellar performance and proved that they did not only work towards passing: they worked towards achieving excellence.

CBA students obtained a spectacular 100% passing rate in the subjects English A, Mathematics, Spanish, Electronic Document Preparation Management, Social Studies, Chemistry, Biology, Principles of Business, Principles of Accounts, Visual Arts, Music, Theatre Arts and Human Social Biology. In the subject Integrated Science they captured a passing rate of 80%. Over the various subjects a cumulative of 55 grades one (I) were captured, 41grades two (II), 24 grades three (III) and 1 grade four (IV). All but one student passed the Cambridge Dutch exam with grades A, B or C.

It was the first time that a large cohort of CBA students wrote the CSEC examinations in Mathematics and they captured 9 grades one (I )with 5 straight A-profiles. In English A they performed remarkably by securing 11 grades one (I) of which 10 were straight A profiles out of a total of 18 students.

With this exceptional showing CBA students have captured a place of prominence in the educational landscape of St. Maarten and its students have soared like eagles above the hardship, adversity, humiliation and roadblocks that they encountered along their climb to success. These students and their teachers are the embodiment of perseverance, hard work, resilience and determination. Their steadfastness was crowned with triumph!

James Turner, a great educator once said: No significant learning takes place unless it is built on relationships. CBAs Dream Team consisting of teachers, management and staff proved that indeed students truly do not care what their educators know, unless they know that those educators truly care (Educator Alberic Arrindell). Our students success bears testament to what St. Maartens youngsters are able to accomplish when given opportunities, nurturing, guidance, attention and care. They are shining examples of the sky being the limit for any school when instilling self-esteem, self-worth and confidence.

We teach our students to have a spirit of gratitude and so on their behalf we would like to thank all those who believed in CBA. In this context it would be remiss of us not to reveal that our academic success also came as a result of a collaborative effort among secondary schools on St. Maarten. As a fledgling school that has only recently turned six and with students and teachers, being our only assets we reached out to other schools on the island for assistance when necessary and our requests were never turned down. They shared with us their expertise, their facilities and of late, even their teachers. Hence we would like to thank the Board and management of the St. Maarten Academy, the Board and management of the St. Dominic High School, Learning Unlimited, the Milton Peters College and the University of St. Martin. Our students could not have accomplished this feat, especially in the areas of Science and Mathematics, without you. We would also wish to thank the Board and management of the Cultural Center, in particular Ms. Kaishah Peters and Ms. Ramona Thomas at the John Larmonie Center: two institutions which in so many ways became extensions of our school as they sheltered and opened their doors to our students. We could not have achieved this success without your kindness and generosity.

Last but not least, we give thanks and praise to our Heavenly Father for looking over our children, for protecting them and their teachers and for providing the school with management and leadership that was forward thinking, creative, resourceful and innovative enough to be able to cater adequately to the social, emotional and educational needs of our students.

At this point the Management and Staff of the Charlotte Brookson Academy will end the first chapter in the book describing our journey, with the following statement: The first six years were not easy, but they were worth every single step that we took, every hurdle that we crossed, every tear that we shed. The struggle was worth it all because it made a dramatic difference in the life of our first cohort of students. We assisted them to believe that they could.....and they did. We are so very proud of them all!PHILIPSBURG:--- On Monday, August 27th the Parliament of Sint Maarten approved the National Recovery & Resiliency Plan (NRRP) as well as the Temporary Ordinance on the National Recovery Program Bureau. I am very pleased that these important documents were passed unanimously today. I would like to express my gratitude to all MPs and especially the members of the opposition for showing unity on these matters, Prime Minister Romeo-Marlin stated after the Public Meeting. Parliaments endorsement demonstrates that we are moving in the right direction in terms of Sint Maartens recovery. It will take time, more funds and the continued patience of our people, but the Government of Sint Maarten is very committed to accelerate the different recovery and resilience projects.

As the roadmap for the recovery process, the NRRP will play an important role in the planning and preparation of future projects. The NRRP was prepared by more than 170 national and international experts. They collected, validated and analyzed data on the damages, losses and needs of Sint Maarten in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

With the approval of the Temporary Ordinance, the Governments implementation capacity Trust Fund projects will be strengthened. The National Recovery Program Bureau will operate alongside the existing government organization and will be responsible for the implementation of the projects that will be financed by the Trust Fund.Ensure GDPR Compliance & Easy Customer Information Processes With This Correctsender Tool From Gabo Bruno

Gabo Bruno has announced the launch of Correctsender GDPR Fix, which allows small and medium sized companies to do the correct GDPR measures by themselves. It makes GDPR compliance extremely simpler and cheap, and is designed to be easy to use.

More information can be found at: http://letsgolook.at/Correctsender-GDPRFix

The site explains that there are a number of different websites that need to ensure they are GDPR compliant. For example, if visitors from European union can visit and interact with a website, and if it runs monitoting like cookies, pixel or similar, it needs to be compliant.

Whats more, if visitors from the EU can sign up or register on the site, or give away their data in any other way, the site needs to be compliant.

In addition to this, if the site stores any email addresses and other information about EU citizens, it need to be compliant. Any sites that sends any kind of newsletters or offers to people from the EU needs to be compliant as well.

Correctsender has a number of features for different types of website and makes it easier than ever before to ensure GDPR compliance. For information websites, they simply have to set up a company profile, edit the templates, and paste in the correct code.

This website fix tool can be applied to websites of any kind, not just WordPress sites. It is highly versatile to use, and visitors can be forwarded on if they dont accept the cookie policy.

Correctsender fulfills 14 compliances, rules and key requirements for GDPR. For example, it allows customers to request access to data that the site has about them.

In addition to this, it offers data erasure, privacy policy acceptance, the right to object, the right to be forgotten, and a number of other options.

Full details can be found on the URL above. Additional information is available at: https://muncheye.com/gabo-bruno-correctsender-gdpr-compliant-autoresponder-and-website-fixAiphones IX Series IP video intercom system helps Roselle Catholic High School upgrade security

Roselle Catholic High School is a co-ed private high school founded 61 years ago in Roselle, New Jersey. Home to more than 400 students, Roselle Catholic is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark. In its community, Roselle Catholic is known for its core values promoting academic excellence, service, and tolerance. Like many high schools across the country, Roselle Catholic High School relied on outdated technology to communicate between the front office and classrooms. Outdated intercom system While the front office could connect with the classroom through its dated oneway intercom system, teachers could not communicate with the front office from the classroom. In the event of a classroom emergency, such as a student suddenly falling ill or a classroom disruption, teachers had to rely on a student to run down to the front office to request assistance. Our school is in an older building and the original communication system layout doesnt have the talkback option to the main office, said Principal Tom Berrios. That left teachers in a bad spot if they ever had to reach an administrator for an emergency. Lack of visitor management system School administrators sought a new system that could provide communications between teachers and staff The school also lacked a visitor management system allowing the front office to visually confirm and speak with anyone before permitting them to physically enter the building. In addition, with new health and safety concerns from the COVID19 pandemic, the school wanted to implement new measures to help screen visitors before they enter the building. As part of its efforts to improve security facility-wide, school administrators sought a new system that could provide internal communications between teachers and staffwhile sending audio alerts in the event of an emergency. They also needed a visitor management system enabling them to visually confirm and communicate with visitors before they enter the building. IP video intercom system To assist with these challenges, the school installed the IX Series PeertoPeer IP Video Intercom System from Aiphone. Installing the system was Maffeys Security Group, a systems integration company from Elizabeth, New Jersey, with close ties to the high school. Roselle Catholic High School is my alma mater and we try to help them keep uptodate with the latest technology and security, said Ed Maffey, president of Maffeys Security Group, a family-owned and operated business for 110 years. By leveraging a program through the state of New Jersey, the high school was able to apply and receive a grant designed to support security improvements at both public and private schools. The grant was used to help pay for the new Aiphone IX Series PeertoPeer IP Video Intercom System, which included two master stations, two IP video door stations, and 43 IP audio substations for classrooms. The IX Series delivers flexibility The benefit of the IP video intercom system is its ability to integrate with a recently installed thermal imaging camera The IP system is a scalable, enterpriselevel solution that uses Power over Ethernet (PoE), eliminates the need for a power source for each intercom and substation. The system can easily integrate with access control, video, and other security devices to provide a fully unified solution. One main benefit of the IP video intercom system is its ability to integrate with a recently installed thermal imaging camera system, which is being used to screen students, staff, and visitors before the entrance. A thermal imaging camera located at the front entrance will screen people for a mask and elevated temperature, and only allow access if that visitor is cleared. Video-based monitoring system With the new Aiphone IX Series system, front office staff can respond when a visitor rings a bell asking for entrance. Staff can speak to the visitor and also make visual contact before pushing the door release button to allow that person to enter. The school is equipped with two touchscreen master stations, with one located in the front office and the second located in the principals office. The live video also helps to prevent people from following an approved guest through the doors. Trained front desk staff can monitor a visitor as they enter the building to ensure additional people arent following behind. Added benefits with emergency notifications In addition to enabling communication directly from teachers to the front office, they also can put the entire school on a lockdown notice in the event of an emergency. The Aiphone IX Series can send a prerecorded notification buildingwide, alerting students or staff of a problem and providing directions about what steps to take next. With one push of a button, a message will play continuously and that message can be used for a variety of scenarios The system makes the teachers feel more secure with whats going on in the building and they have an easier way to communicate, said Berrios. Maffey called this feature a hot button capability. With one push of a button, a message will play continuously and that prerecorded message can be used for a variety of scenarios, including fire drills, emergency evacuations, and lockdown situations. Entry door security The school is also using the Aiphone IX Series on an entry door located in the back of the building, which is frequently used by students heading outside for athletics or gym class. After school, the intercom system has become an added security feature because we can now visually see the students who need to enter the building and the locker room, said Berrios. Before we had to keep the door propped open or students could not gain access from the back of the building. Leveraging IP connectivity Maffey said the installation was relatively easy because he was able to leverage the schools existing IP network to run the new IPbased video intercom system. Additional switches helped to fill in areas where network connectivity wasnt available. When we install an Aiphone system we can walk away confident that it is going to work, said Maffey. Aiphone has been our goto intercom system for over 20 years.Can an owl help keep a 12,000-student university safe? It can when its designed into the identity card program at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU), whose mascot is the Fighting Owl. SCSU, spanning 168 acres in New Haven, Conn., is in the midst of a $230 million campus renovation that includes the introduction of a Hoot Loot card for identification.

With a student population of 12,000 in 115 graduate and undergraduate programs, the university believes campus security is a critical component of the renovation. It needed to replace its paper ID cards and laminated photos with a more modern, more durable multi-purpose identification card for all university students, staff and faculty.

Effective identification system

The universitys outdated card printing system was no longer filling the schools needs"

Found In 2006, Mark Waters, Director of Financial Business Applications, was hired as the Card Office Coordinator to set up the new ID card system, upgrading the paper ID cards with a plastic ID card system. When it came time for the upgrade, Jordan Jones, Card Office Assistant, knew where to go. Ive worked with ID Wholesaler for some time, Jones said. They directed us to Fargo because they knew our needs. We were impressed that Fargo received good reviews, especially in higher education applications.

Mark and Jordan are advanced users, said Amy Sanders, Account Manager, ID Wholesaler (www.IDWholesaler.com), the Fargo Value-Added Retailer. When I first spoke with Jordan in April 2006, the universitys outdated card printing system was no longer filling the schools needs. Jordan was beginning to research more reliable solutions, and the Fargo DTC550-LC was a perfect fit. It provided a reliable, cost-effective solution.

Fargo DTC Printer

Jones and Waters chose this printer for several reasons. We knew we wanted to print on two sides of the card, said Waters, and we also wanted a built-in encoder for magnetic stripes because the campus has many legacy devices that use magnetic stripe technology. We also wanted the printer to be a network printer. It was important that it be a standalone device and not tied to a desktop computer or server. The Fargo printer is kept in a secure office in a secure building to prevent tampering.

Jones, who manages the day-to-day operation of the Card Office, which includes customer support, also wanted a printer that could handle the pace of output he needed. We were impressed with the speed of the DTC, he said. It cut our card production time in half or better. Likewise, its ease of use was important. There are no cumbersome parts, Jones added. I like the WYSIWYG version of installing new ribbons, card media and laminate.

Secure access system

The Southern Connecticut State University system has grown to include seven part-time student employees who are trained to verify identity and produce ID cards

The lamination capability was important in providing durability for our students, Jones continued. We issue one card for the entire length of a students education here, which might be as long as five or six years. We want it to last. A $10 replacement fee is assessed for the first card that is lost or stolen. After that, the cost increases to $20.

The Southern Connecticut State University system has grown to include seven part-time student employees who are trained to verify identity and produce ID cards. To obtain a card, students must present an official photo ID, such as a drivers license, as well as their academic schedule or proof of enrollment. Faculty, staff and others must present a photo ID and a letter of authorisation to verify affiliation with the university and entitlement to an ID card.

Hoot Loot ID card

The cards serve a myriad of purposes. First and foremost, the Hoot Loot card is a mandatory ID card for everybody on campus, said Waters. It is important that we be able to identify who actually belongs here and who doesnt. Currently, there are several different versions of the ID card, identifying undergraduate, graduate, full-time and part-time students; administration; faculty; staff; faculty emeritus and contractors.

After the Virginia Tech shooting incident in April 2007, a change was made in the orientation of the SCSU cards. Student cards are printed horizontally because they are carried in purses and wallets. Faculty and staff cards are printed vertically, in a badge format, and expected to be worn at all times. We want our faculty and staff to be easily identifiable as authority figures on campus, said Jones.

The SCSU Hoot Loot ID card can be used both on and off campus

Hoot Loot card readers



The SCSU Hoot Loot ID card can be used both on and off campus. For the 2,600 students living on campus, a magnetic stripe on the card provides access to their residence hall, where users need to enter a pre-programmed PIN after swiping their card in the card reader. For all students, the card can be used for access to the universitys computer labs as well as for health services, laundry machines, the bookstore, fitness centre and vending machines.

A bar code on the card enables users to check out library books at the Hilton C. Buley Library, while the magnetic stripe enables them to pay library fines or use self-service copiers and color printers there. Hoot Loot card holders can also access SCSUs online Web service, called BannerWeb, thanks to the individuals unique eight-digit identification number printed on the card.

Smart payment solution

Off campus, students can use Hoot Loot cards at a wide variety of locations, from Greek restaurants to gas stations and UPS stores. Not surprisingly, a large number of local pizza restaurants accept the Hoot Loot card for payment. Hoot Loot cardholders can also receive discounts nationwide through a Student Advantage Discount Card membership, which can be incorporated into the card itself.

Not only does use of the Hoot Loot card lessen the need to carry cash, adding to a students personal safety, but it also helps students avoid credit card interest fees and the possibility of overdrawing a bank account. The debit account carries over from year to year and is protected if reported lost or stolen.

Campus and facility access solution

The Food Loot information is stored on the Hoot Loot card to simplify the process

Students, faculty and staff can add money to a Hoot Loot card at five locations on campus or through a secure online centre, called MyCard Online, where they can also check their card balance, print out their card history or change their PIN.

Resident students who sign up for a meal plan are required to participate in Food Loot, a declining balance plan for use at on-campus dining facilities, including the main dining hall, student centre cafe and on-campus convenience stores. Food Loot requires that students living in kitchen-equipped rooms have $300 in Food Loot per semester. Others must have at least $50 per semester, in addition to their traditional board meal plan. The Food Loot information is stored on the Hoot Loot card to simplify the process.

Card-based security

Card-based security has become more of an issue with the increase in multi-function, campus wide ID cards, Sanders added. The cards at SCSU are used for so much more than just a photo ID that lamination has become a necessity, not only for security purposes, but also for enhanced durability.

Waters knew even back in 2000 that schools looking at ID card programs should view their primary purpose as providing a service to the students, faculty and staff. If they always keep that in mind, he said, everything they do will at least stay even with the curve.The view inside mission control on the Nautilus, the research vessel that will be studying microbial life at the seafloor on Lo'ihi Seamount, an active volcano in Hawaii, in August 2018.

Astrobiologists want to snorkel in the hidden oceans of icy moons that may have the potential to host life. But, of course, research trips to these distant worlds are awfully difficult to coordinate. So, as a consolation prize, they're going to Hawaii.

But these scientists aren't going for the sandy beaches and verdant foliage. Instead, they are visiting the seafloor off the coast of the Big Island at a place called Lo'ihi, where what will one day become the newest island in the archipelago is being born. They hope this harsh environment will mirror that found on Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus, giving them clues to what kinds of life might be hiding there (that is, if there's life there at all).

And if your invitation seems to have been lost in the mail, never fear: You can watch the whole expedition online beginning this morning (Aug. 28), along with many of the experts the team will rely on to make real-time decisions about what to do next. The mission was originally due to begin on Aug. 23 but was delayed due to Hurricane Lane. [Photos: Underwater Astronauts Practice Space Exploration on Ocean Floor]

"There's just opportunity here galore," said Darlene Lim, principal investigator of the new mission and a geobiologist at NASA. That's true both for the scientists who will be working on the mission and for the public, who is getting the rare chance to see live footage from the seafloor. "You're going to see what we're going to see," Lim told Space.com.

The expedition, called Systematic Underwater Biogeochemical Science and Exploration Analog, or SUBSEA, is a joint endeavor among NASA, the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and a nonprofit organization called the Ocean Exploration Trust. They've assembled a broad team of experts, including microbiologists, astrobiologists, geologists and planetary scientists.

But as with many oceanography expeditions, there's only one research vessel. And after all the people needed to pilot the ship and its robotic explorers, there were only half a dozen spots left for scientists. "Research vessels are getting smaller; it's harder to get funding to go to sea," Nicole Raineault, expedition leader for SUBSEA with the Ocean Exploration Trust, told Space.com.

That's where telepresence comes in  reaching out to scientists before the expedition to become "doctors on call," so to speak, who watch livestreamed footage and chime in remotely.

"It would either be by luck that you had the right expert on board, or they would have to go by best gut instincts," Alan Leonardi, director of ocean exploration and research at NOAA, told Space.com. But with telepresence, that's no longer the case  and distant experts can subtly influence immediate decisions in the mission, potentially deepening the science that can be done.

One of the two remotely operated vehicles that will be studying the seafloor off the coast of Hawaii in August 2018. (Image credit: OET/Nautilus Live)

Deep-space analogue

Telepresence isn't just a clever response to the constraints of boat space; it's also a surprisingly good model for what it's like to work on a mission in deep space. Next year, the team will even institute a Mars-like communication lag to get more authentic practice in controlling robots in other parts of the solar system.

There are also social scientists watching the mission exclusively to study how telepresence affects the team's communication. "I suspect that some of the shore-based participants are reluctant to chime in too frequently," Leonardi said, worried that, by the time their input arrives, the team will have moved on. "Somebody sitting on the sidelines has a tendency to be hesitant jumping in full throttle." [Sci-Fi Film 'Europa Report' Sends Astronauts to Icy Jupiter Moon (Photos)]

It's not just the mission format that makes SUBSEA so intriguing to planetary scientists; the destination is a draw as well. Scientists have studied plenty of hydrothermal vent systems, but all of those systems have been located at plate boundaries, where giant chunks of Earth's crust are slipping apart.

Not so at Lo'ihi, where the SUBSEA expedition is taking place. Lo'ihi is a seamount being built by the same hotspot that created the Hawaiian islands, and, therefore, should better mimic the geologic underpinnings of a place like Enceladus. "We chose Lo'ihi as this opportunity to really have a portal to another ocean world system," Lim said. "It's the first time that any crew has ever gone out to examine Lo'ihi from this kind of lens."

Specifically, scientists will be focusing on studying the environmental characteristics of the seamount itself and the communities of microbes living there. "As microbiologists, we're really interested in what types of microbes are there and what they might be doing," Amy Smith, a microbiologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, told Space.com. "We're just basically looking for who's there, what are they doing there, how are they making a living."

She's particularly interested in finding out whether any critters can use hydrogen as a source of energy, since that molecule can be found below the ice of Enceladus. In addition to studying microbes at the site, she'll also take samples for genetic testing and gather specimens to try to grow in her lab. "Since this environment is similar to what we might find, we predict, on other ocean worlds, we're hoping to get some answers as to what kinds of life might be there," Smith said.

The Nautilus research vessel will livestream footage to scientists and the public. (Image credit: OET/Nautilus Live)

But the mission isn't just about biology, and the geologists on board got particularly lucky with the timing of the mission, given nearby Kilauea's exceptional uptick in activity that began in May. "It's also pretty cool because we're going to be the first team to get eyes on Lo'ihi, since this very active eruptive period began on the Big Island," Lim said. That should let them see how far lava has traveled and how it has shaped the seafloor.

The team will also test a drilling device that could be used on both space missions and oceanography expeditions. Underwater, as in a zero-gravity space environment, drilling doesn't work quite right. "All you're going to do is push yourself away," Leonardi said. The new device should clamp onto the rock, allowing scientists to drill for samples without the help of gravity. [Photos: Enceladus, Saturn's Cold, Bright Moon]

Will it work? You'll have to tune in to the livestream to find out. Smith noted, however, that this isn't a lush environment like a coral reef or a more traditional hydrothermal vent, so viewers shouldn't expect to see particularly charismatic creatures. "There's not a whole lot of shrimps or other organisms floating around on it," she said, although there are fuzzy, mat-like structures created by microbes.

Even when there's not much to see, there will be plenty to listen to, because the livestream includes a running commentary from experts and science communicators, offering a unique inside look at the expedition and answering questions from the public. "There will be a lot of dialogue about how the sampling is done and why we're choosing particular sites and how they might differ," Smith said.

The livestream will continue through Sept. 11, when the research vessel will move on to its next adventure. But until then, it's your chance to explore the ocean floor  and imagine what it would be like to explore even more distant oceans.

"I think it's really cool; it kind of gives us an opportunity to act like astronauts," Smith said. "It kind of feels like we're training for a mission and learning how all of it works."

Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com or follow her @meghanbartels. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.HELSINKI  China's launch of a pair of Beidou navigation satellites late Friday saw the country set a new annual launch record as its space activities ramp up.

A Long March 3B with a Yuanzheng-1 upper stage lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China at 7:52 p.m. Eastern Friday (11:52 UTC) sending two Beidou satellites directly into medium Earth orbits at around 22,000 kilometers altitude.

Success of the launch was confirmed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the main contractor for the space program, around four hours after launch, following direct insertion of the satellites into preset orbits. [China in Space: The Latest News and Missions]

The launch was consistent with airspace closure notices issued days earlier which signaled impending activity. A post on Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo suggests that partial booster or first stage wreckage had been discovered downrange in Guangxi province, to the southeast of Xichang.

The satellites are the 35th and 36th orbited for the Beidou system, China's answer to the U.S. GPS precision timing and navigation system, following the first launch in 2000. The pair were developed by the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

China is seeking to complete the system of 35 active satellites by 2020 to provide global GNSS coverage, with 27 satellites in medium Earth orbits, five in geostationary orbit and three more in inclined geosynchronous orbits.

Along with civilian uses such as navigation and positioning, Beidou will also provide weapons targeting, guidance and other services for the People's Liberation Army, removing previous Chinese military reliance on GPS.

New annual launch record

Friday's launch was China's 23rd of 2018, surpassing the national record 22 set during 2016. CASC is aiming to carry out around 35 launches in total this year, indicating a large jump in activity. Emerging commercial companies Landspace, OneSpace and Expace expected to further contribute to Chinese launches this year.

The increased launch cadence underlines China's intent to pursue a full range of space capabilities and technologies, but also indicates that the country has a long way to go to catch up with other powers.

"Launch rate is also not a very useful way to measure space power," says Brian Weeden, director of program planning at the Secure World Foundation, a U.S.-based think tank focused on space.

"The Soviets had a very high launch rate during the Cold War in part because they didn't have the advanced imaging satellites the U.S. had that could send back photos electronically. They still had to launch film-based satellites and thus had to launch them more often. What matters a lot more is what those launches are putting into orbit."

"For example, the U.S. government launches far fewer satellites than China does but U.S. military and intelligence satellites are far more capable than what China is putting up. And China's launch rate is in part due to the fact that it is still building out the satellite constellations and capabilities that the U.S. already has," Weeden says, also noting that China is still far below the launch rates set by the U.S. and USSR during the Cold War.

Along with the Beidou system, China is still building its civilian Earth observation system (Gaofen) and military counterpart (Yaogan), as well as weather (Fengyun) and ocean observation (Haiyang) satellite constellations among others. Each of these has or will see a launch in 2018.

In December, China will attempt the first ever soft-landing on the far side of the moon with the Chang'e-4 lunar lander and rover, following launch of a requisite relay satellite in May, in a repurposing of backup spacecraft to the 2013 Chang'e-3 lander and rover.

More significant is the return to flight of the Long March 5, the country's heavy-lift rocket which failed during its second flight in July 2017 and brought a three-month cessation of launches.

The return to flight, which will use redesigned first-stage engines, is expected late this year, carrying a large, experimental high-throughput communications satellite, Shijian-20, to geostationary orbit.

China's major space plans, including launch of space station modules, testing a new generation of crewed spacecraft and lunar exploration ambitions including a sample return, hinge on a successful flight of the third Long March 5.

Specially designed cargo ships, Yuanwang 21 and 22, will need to leave port on the Yangtze River in the coming weeks to collect the Long March 5 rocket components from Tianjin, north China, for transport to Hainan Island in the south for launch from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in November or December.

This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.WASHINGTON  Exos Aerospace performed what it called a "very successful" test launch of a reusable suborbital sounding rocket from New Mexico Aug. 25.

The company's first Suborbital Autonomous Rocket with GuidancE, or SARGE, rocket lifted off from Spaceport America in New Mexico at approximately 2:15 p.m. Eastern. After reaching an unspecified peak altitude, the rocket descended under parachute, landing about 15 minutes later a short distance from the pad. The rocket's nose cone, descending under a ballute, landed several minutes earlier.

The company didn't immediately disclose technical details about the flight, such as the peak altitude, but in a live webcast of the launch appeared to be satisfied with the vehicle's performance, despite the vehicle appearing to veer from its vertical trajectory briefly after liftoff.

"This was a very successful test for us," said John Quinn, chief operating officer of Exos, on the webcast. "We're very excited that we had all of our recovery systems operational."

The launch was carried out under a commercial launch license issued by the Federal Aviation Administration in February. At the time, the company was planning a launch in early April, but postponed that launch because of technical problems with the vehicle, notably issues with its inertial measurement units, that pushed back the launch by several months.

The company, featuring a number of veterans of now-defunct launch company Armadillo Aerospace, has been working for the last few years on SARGE, a vehicle designed to carry payloads of up to 50 kilograms on suborbital flights. Prior to this launch, Quinn said the company hoped this "pathfinder" launch would help it secure new customers, including NASA's Flight Opportunities program for parabolic and suborbital research payloads.

Exos also announced earlier this month plans to develop a small orbital launch vehicle, called Jaguar, based on technology developed for SARGE as well as software licensed from NASA's Morpheus lander technology demonstration program. The company didn't state when it expected Jaguar to make its first flight.

This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.STAMFORD  A 15-month fight between residents and an office park owner seeking to build a fitness complex is going to court.

The owner, George Comfort & Sons, a Manhattan-based real estate investment firm, is appealing a Board of Representatives decision to reject a zoning change that would have allowed a Life Time Fitness center to be built in High Ridge Office Park.

The board agreed with residents that the change, approved by the Zoning Board, would have opened the door to projects that could harm the character of neighborhoods surrounding half a dozen office parks on High Ridge and Long Ridge roads. Representatives overturned the Zoning Board ruling on Aug. 6.

In the complaint, filed Aug. 17, George Comfort & Sons, identified in court papers as High Ridge Real Estate Owner LLC, asserts that the company has been aggrieved by the Board of Representatives purported acceptance of an invalid protest petition.

Its a reference to signatures residents gathered after the Zoning Board approved changing regulations so that freestanding fitness centers could be built in office parks, which are struggling for tenants and  city planners have said  must be adapted for new uses. The Planning Board, however, also rejected the change.

Residents collected hundreds of signatures but city attorney James Minor rejected most of them, saying those who signed were not landowners as defined by state law and the city Charter. Condo owners, for example, are not landowners, Minor said, and in cases in which two or more people own a property, all must sign for it to be counted.

Residents then asked the Board of Representatives to determine the validity of the petition under authority of the city Charter. Representatives decided the petition had 300 valid signatures, meeting the requirement.

Not so, the High Ridge Office Park owner alleges in the complaint.

The Board of Representatives imputed their own definition of landowner against state law and Minors advice, the complaint alleges.

These actions of the board and (its) Land Use Committee are beyond the scope of their authority as set forth in the Stamford Charter, it states.

It alleges that, during public hearings, city reps exhibited clear and continual support for the petitioners that demonstrated their predetermination on the matter, as (representatives) ignored the advice of legal counsel, the Zoning Board findings letter, conclusions from their own legislative officer, the (boards) own practices and procedures, and the standards prescribed for a Zoning Board that (representatives) are required to follow.

Representatives voted based upon political or other arbitrary or improper reasons or motivation, the complaint alleges, and they failed to follow and apply the zoning standards set forth in the city Charter.

The office park owner is asking the court to find that the Board of Representatives had no jurisdiction over the petition because it had an insufficient number of signatures, and to overrule its rejection of the zoning change.

Attorneys for the Board of Representatives must appear in state Superior Court in Stamford on Sept. 18, according to a summons attached to the complaint.

Director of Legal Affairs Kathryn Emmett refused to comment on the pending litigation.

The Board of Representatives will be represented in the lawsuit by outside counsel, Emmett said Tuesday. Beyond that, there is not anything I can say at this point.

Emmett did not explain why the city will hire outside attorneys to represent the board, instead of the law department. The presumption is that the complaint presents a conflict, since it cites advice provided to the board by Minor, a law department employee. Minor voided 560 of the 700 signatures, leaving residents 60 short of the requirement.

In a memo during the hearings, Minor wrote that a condominium owner does not own the land upon which the condominium is built because the association owns it. A petition would have to include the names of all owners in a given association for it to count as one signature, he wrote.

Representatives countered that the city Charter fails to define landowner. They also questioned how a condo association can be a landowner, since associations are not listed on the tax rolls, and why individual condo owners cant be counted when they pay taxes.

Residents opposed the high-end Life Time Fitness center because it was proposed as a 100-square-foot, indoor-outdoor complex that would operate from early in the morning until late at night, seven days a week. They were concerned about lights, noise, and traffic that the planned 5,000 gym memberships would bring, and that the big new building would ruin the character of their neighborhood.

Steve Grushkin, the Stamford attorney hired by the Sterling Lake Association - condos adjacent to High Ridge Office Park - could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

acarella@stamfordadvocate.com; 203-964-2296.Got a hankering for shaved ice?

Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top shaved ice outlets in Houston, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of where to satisfy your cravings.

1. Treats of Mexico

Photo: Treats of Mexico/Yelp

Topping the list is Treats of Mexico. Located at 724 Telephone Road in Eastwood, the candy store and dessert spot is the highest rated shaved ice shop in Houston, boasting five stars out of 59 reviews on Yelp.

It offers shaved ice flavors like strawberry, cantaloupe, tamarind, Chamoy, coconut, watermelon, pineapple, lime and cucumber. It also has ice cream, including ice cream stuffed in a concha (a type of Mexican pastry).

Yelper Ashley G. wrote, "The ice cream and shaved ice is handmade at the location. The owners are wonderful people that actually work in the store. They're most known for their concha ice cream, but it's best to go early as they do run out of conchas since they buy those from a bakery."

2. Gogo Ice

Photo: Geno C./Yelp

Next up is Chinatown's Gogo Ice, situated at 9188 Bellaire Blvd. With 4.5 stars out of 152 reviews on Yelp, the spot to score shaved ice, juice, smoothies and bubble tea has proven to be a local favorite.

It serves a shaved ice plate, which you can add up to four toppings to, including fresh fruit.

Yelp reviewer John C. said, "Best fruit drinks in Houston because they use real fruit. Try avocado in your drink. Believe it or not, avocado adds to the flavor. Creamy. Delicious. Love the shaved ice desserts. Quick service, nice people and great prices."

3. Friohana

Photo: Ling C./Yelp

Friohana, located at 103 Sabine St. in Buffalo Bayou Park, is another top choice, with Yelpers giving the food truck, which offers shaved ice and more, 4.5 stars out of 118 reviews.

The food truck serves Hawaiian-style shaved ice. It carries seasonal flavors like strawberry-basil, mango-strawberry, green apple, mojito grape and honeydew, as well as year-round flavors like root beer, dreamsicle, lemon lime, cherry, blue raspberry and more. (See the full list of flavors here.)

Keep up with the truck's whereabouts on its website.

Rosy P. wrote, "Without doubt the best shaved ice in Houston! We went in search of the perfect snow cone and we found it! I got a mango and blue bubblegum flavored shaved ice in a cute small flower cup."

4. SnoBall Hut

Photo: Aliza S./Yelp

Finally, over in Clear Lake, check out SnoBall Hut, which has earned 4.5 stars out of 56 reviews on Yelp. You can find the frozen treat spot, which also offers popcorn, desserts and more, at 16701 El Camino Real, Suite 140.

If you're on the hunt for shaved ice, you'll find flavors like birthday cake, butterscotch, horchata, praline, marshmallow, vanilla, margarita and many more. It also offers specialty flavors, such as tres leches, pumpkin pie, creamed coffee, caramel apple pecan and chocolate cherry cola. Top off your treat with hot fudge, Skittles, fresh lime or Chamoy. (See the full list of options here.)

Yelper Ira A. said, "The shaved ice is smooth, just like I like it. The flavor choices are outrageously huge. The syrup is sweet and tastes great. You will not be disappointed. The portion size for the price is great as well."T op London insurer Aspen fell prey to a $2.6 billion (2 billion) takeover on Tuesday amid a growing stampede to sell underperforming insurance companies.

The Lloyds of London insurer and reinsurer, which employs 700 people in the UK, accepted a $42.75 per share offer in cash from US private equity firm Apollo.

It put itself up for sale five months ago following heavy losses from 2017s spate of natural disasters.

Chief executive and founder Chris OKane, who set up the firm in 2002, will pocket $9.3 million from the sale of his stake in the company once the deal completes in the first half of next year. He will stay on as chief executive.

The Irishman, who started as a Lloyds broker 40 years ago, said the sale will help it move to the next level and opens a new chapter for the company.

This transaction is a testament to the strength of Aspens franchise, the quality of our business and the talent and expertise of our people, he said.

Aspen joins a string of insurers targeted by private equity groups like UK car insurer esure, which is set to be acquired by US firm Bain Capital for 1.2 billion. Cinven, the European private equity firm, is also in talks to buy a division of French insurer Axa.

Aspens Lloyds underwriting syndicates are under pressure due to rising costs and bigger losses. Big money backers like Liberty Mutual, Hanover and Munich Re have put some of their loss-making syndicates up for sale due to the pressures.

Aspen made a $245 million loss in final quarter of 2017, including $135 million of losses made on the wildfires in California.

Aspen chairman Glyn Jones, who also chairs Quilter and is former chairman of Aldermore, launched a strategic review on behalf of the board five months ago following a slump in performance.

However, the New York-listed company reportedly received only minimal interest after launching an auction, with possible buyers like Blackstone walking away from an offer, leaving Apollo ready to swoop.

Apollos London-based partner Alex Humphreys, 36, led the deal. He sits on the board of other Apollo-owned insurers like Catalina.

He said: We believe that Aspen benefits from strong underwriting talent, specialised expertise and long-standing client relationships, which makes them well positioned in the market. Over the past 18 months Aspen shares have fallen by more than a third. The deal is at a 6.6% premium to yesterdays closing price.

Three years ago Aspen shunned a $3.2 billion offer from insurance rival Endurance which was offered at $47.50 a share. The firm employs around 1400 people globally and underwrites risks in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance. OKane, who grew up in County Derry and studied at Trinity College, Dublin, started as a Lloyds broker in 1979. After moving up the ranks at Wellington Underwriting he founded Aspen, listing it in New York in 2003.F ormer Royal Bank of Scotland executive John Hourican on Tuesday landed a 1.3 billion deal with US private equity house Apollo Global.

Hourican, who left RBS in the wake of its fine for rigging Libor, now runs Bank of Cyprus.

He has offloaded a 2.7 billion (2.4 billion) book of poorly performing loans to Apollo for 1.4 billion.

Hourican described the deal as transformative as it marks a big step forward on derisking the banks battered balance sheet.

He said: There is of course much more work to be done and we remain as focused as ever on continuing to seek solutions to further improve the Banks asset quality position.

Hourican was chief executive of markets and international banking at RBS, leaving in February 2013.

He was not personally implicated in the Libor scandal but said he wanted to demonstrate responsibility.R etirement housebuilder McCarthy & Stone has looked haggard of late.

Shareholders have been spooked by proposed reforms that could set ground rents on new long leases to zero, leaving developers with less money to construct more properties.

But investors today decided to take a punt on the firm after it set out proposals for the government which could improve its prospects.

McCarthy & Stone called on Westminster to provide a stamp duty exemption for over 65s who are downsizing.

The property developer made its plea alongside the results of a study that showed 22% of OAPs would be more likely to move if they were given the one off-exemption.

That could boost their finances by 230.8 billion and release 924.9 billion of housing stock by giving them an incentive to move, the firm calculated. The move could mean a surge in demand for digs for pensioners.

Shareholders took a bet that McCarthy & Stone could be on to something, with its stock one of the biggest risers on the mid-cap index. The shares rose 3.4p to 114.4p.

The FTSE 250 increased 169.89 points to 20,861.3 points. The FTSE 100 was also up, 54.94 points to 7632.43.

CMC Markets UKs analyst David Madden said sentiment in Europe was boosted by Donald Trump saying the US and Mexico have agreed terms for a new trade deal. Top risers on the blue-chip index included hospitals operator NMC Health.

The private healthcare firm, which focuses on the Gulf States, put out a statement to deny reports it is looking to acquire assets in India. NMC reaffirmed its commitment to the Middle East, which sent the shares 145.2p, higher to 3957.2p.

On Londons junior market investors piled into IG Design Group, the company that makes Christmas crackers for the Queen.

The cards and stationery firm impressed the City by wrapping up a deal to buy US gift-packaging business Impact Innovations for 56.5 million on a cash and debt-free basis.

The firm also raised 50 million through a share placing to help fund the acquisition.

IG Design Groups boss Paul Fineman said the purchase doubles the scale of our business in the Americas.

Shares in the firm jumped 19.3p to 542.3p.

Small-cap spotlight

Surveillance technology group Synectics said it has been awarded a contract by government outsourcer Serco to replace CCTV systems at six prisons in Britain.D eaths in politics can have as much impact as decisions taken in a lifetime. Senator John McCain, suffering from an aggressive brain tumour, anticipated his own end. After a long-running feud with Donald Trump, he ensured the last word was his. The address he wrote to be delivered post-humously was a rallying cry to American greatness and a pointed attack on an administration hiding behind walls. The White Houses erratic down, up and down again flag-flying in his honour since the weekend demonstrates the late senators uncanny ability to irk the President.

I met him on a few occasions, the first time covering the 2008 White House race for this paper. He was a fierce upholder of bi-partisanship  if selective in what he agreed to be co-operative about. Over the years he reached across the aisle on climate change, immigration and party finance, while adhering to his patriotic, small-government roots. Just as keenly as he enjoyed unanimity in a good cause, he relished a worthwhile foe.

The sitting President will therefore be one of the few senior Democrats and Republicans not at his funeral service. Eulogies are planned by Barack Obama and George W Bush  a restatement of McCains broad base of admirers (though he had run against both for office). But the Trump-McCain stand-off, which culminated in the gimcrack jibe at McCains imprisonment by the Viet Cong: I like heroes that werent captured, was not just The Donald at his most grimly asinine. It stemmed from resentment at the kind of respect McCain had earned for his bravery.

My esteem for McCain and one of the reasons he attracted admirers stemmed from another major conflict and its aftermath. When the Iraq wars goals proved elusive and disappointments led to disillusion about liberal interventionism, it was so easy to slip into one of two default modes of thinking about American-led endeavours. First, that it was inevitably doomed and the world would be better off without it. Second, that in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks pretty much any form of behaviour inspired by the immediate interests of the US was acceptable.

McCain unfashionably resisted the glib temptation to call-the-whole-thing-off on interventions, stubbornly advocating the use of hard power in Syria and support for Ukraine. He viscerally distrusted the preaching of soft power if it left less scrupulous leaders to make the running. One of his fiercest denunciations of Trump was for toadying to a tyrant in the Kremlin.

He believed in the projection of American force without sending the marines to every brushfire. Yet he was equally forthright in making cases that were inconvenient to many of his domestic allies on the Right. Where many US hawks were over-keen to excuse human rights abuses in the early chaotic years of the war on terror, McCain warned that it would bring the US into moral dispute  and he was right. Britains own intelligence agencies have recently been forced to revisit operations to address complaints that they were complicit in the maltreatment of detainees.

Today this all sounds blindingly obvious. But McCain made his argument at a moment of great self-doubt in the US and when it was hard to be both a defence hawk and an opponent of torture with equal vigour. He is frequently described as a maverick. In which case, we need more mavericks: capable of coming to their own conclusions and challenging friends and foes. His final act  voting against a key Trump measure to repeal Obamas Affordable Healthcare Act  was craftily planned to strike a blow where he knew it would damage the Presidents legislative programme most.

"In his final message, Trump is reduced to the status of present difficulties to be endured and overcome"

None of this made him flawless. He could be testy and short-termist and his run against Obama in the 2008 White House race seemed absurdly cavalier in its lack of response to the financial crisis. The mesalliance with Sarah Palin was so obviously a compromise cobbled together to lure the Tea Party vote to his side.

Because he had too little time for the detail of the fray there were sometimes comedies of errors along the way. The finest was surely memorable  he proved unable to remember how many houses he owned (around seven it turned out). McCain was a wealthy man, with no shortage of adoring acolytes and the vanity to enjoy it. But he was also fundamentally serious about Americas mission in the world and he died urging his country to re-embrace it.

My last encounter with McCain happened just over a year ago, shortly before his cancer was diagnosed. In our interview he ranged from cheerfully courteous to outright irritation if he did not want to answer a question. He was clearly in the process of moving from chiding Trump to more forthright opposition, which he found hard as a lifelong Republican. But anger and bitterness were proliferating under the President and Americas shining city on the hill was allowing its values to dim.

By the end, he had given up hope that Trump could be changed or his impact diluted. But he did believe that people of good faith putting aside differences could start to build alternatives to the bleak offer of a walled-off America.

In his final message, Trump is reduced to the status of present difficulties to be endured and overcome. Blessings are duly invited on America and its ability to conqer adversity. The way to annoy a puny incumbent, he knew full well, was to deliver an uplifting, stubborn quasi-presidential address from beyond the grave. And he did just that.T heresa May brought two much-needed things with her when she landed at Cape Town airport this morning. The first was heavy rain: earlier this year drought almost caused taps to run dry. The second was a focus on business.

Its a cliche of trips like this to announce pre-cooked trade deals but our links with Africas big economies matter.

Britain is the biggest foreign investor in South Africa, its a huge player in the Nigerian economy, the country where the PM will go next, and it has deep economic, cultural and security links, too, with Kenya, her third stop.

Weve got used to hearing about Africas problems and the need for aid  and Britain is among the most generous and respected donors.

But the point about aid is that it has built a platform for economic success through things such as education and better healthcare.

The best way to get poverty down is to back growth  and powered by new technology and growing cities thats happening. Ask any market trader using booming mobile phone payment systems.

Ethiopia has moved from famine to having one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Kenyas growth rate this year is about five times that of Britain.

Of course, Britain isnt the only country to notice. While its great to see Mrs May in South Africa and about to make the first visit to Kenya by a British Prime Minister for three decades, Emmanuel Macron has visited 11 African countries in nine trips since he became French President last May  including English-speaking Nigeria, where he once spent six months working.

I have a very different view of Africa than a lot of other people in Europe, he boasted in Lagos.

Meanwhile, China has become a massive investor across Africa and Kenyas President Uhuru is meeting President Trump in Washington today.

While Britain has lots to offer, it hasnt been missed in Africa that our Government is preoccupied with problems at home.

Talk of the global opportunities from Brexit is, of course, nonsense. Our influence in Africa will be reduced because of it.

So Mrs Mays tour is important, but if were to make the most of what Africa has to offer, and give back in return, well need something better than bold promises that we are reaching out to the world.

Thanks for Carnival joy

The writer of the film Notting Hill, Richard Curtis, said in an interview this month that we romanticise bad news. Good things happen, societies advance, people enjoy lives, he says, but our society focuses instead on what goes wrong.

Its right that media such as the Evening Standard report mistakes and hold the powerful to account. But that criticism carries more weight if we also acknowledge successes.

This years Notting Hill Carnival is one of those successes. The organisers put on a great party that more than a million people enjoyed.

The Metropolitan Police did a very effective policing job, preventing violence and providing reassurance without a heavy-handed presence.

The local councils moved quickly to clear up after the revellers, so the local residents could get their streets back.

To everyone involved, we say: thanks for the good news.

Londons secret art show

Theres an amazing gallery of art in London which no one has ever seen.

As we report today, the capitals councils between them own enough paintings, drawings and sculptures to fill Tate Modern 10 times over  only its not on show. Southwark alone guards a collection which includes works by L S Lowry, Picasso and Degas.

Almost all of this great art is in storage.

So what should be done? The answer is to dust them down and get them seen.

If Amsterdam airport can have art on show, why not Heathrow? And (with care) theres no reason we cant have pictures in other public spaces, like hospitals, too.What are the ingredients for great French dressing?

The style variety that is, not the salad. Is it down to the perfect silk shirt? A beautifully tailored jacket? Or perhaps its not what you wear, but how you wear it? One thing for certain is that it helps if you are French. Cest la vie, Francophiles.

But for those determined not to let their sub-chic lineage stand in their way, I bring excellent news because next week Sezane, the cult Parisian label that provides wardrobe bread and butter to the planets best-dressed inhabitants, is set to fling open the doors of its first shop here in the capital .

Having started life as Frances first online-only fashion brand, Sezanes offline London home follows similarly chic boutiques in New York and, of course, Paris, where rails of clothes are housed alongside a mini basement cinema and a library next door.

Sezane

But whats surprising for a label thats as French as a croque monsieur is that our fair capital had a hand in its making. London is a big part of the Sezane story, says founder Morgane Sezalory. It all started 14 years ago when my sister moved to London leaving three bags of vintage pieces behind. I took out my camera and started an online adventure on eBay, without knowing it would be the beginning of my professional path.

Since then and having graduated from flogging second-hand wares to designing her own, Sezalorys collections are divided into two types: La Liste, a permanent line of never-be-without French staples (think high-waist jeans, lace blouses and white leather sneakers) alongside monthly small-batch drops of bags, shoes and threads with a certain je ne sais quoi that causes them to sell out, often within days.

Sezane

Of course, Sezanes success is not just down to covetable Gallic aesthetics. Notably because its not the first to bring quality French fashion exports to our shores  one need only count the number of Isabel Marant boots lining any Primrose Hill school gate to confirm that. But while the biggest brands often require even bigger budgets, Sezane is positioned in the sweet spot where high quality and limited exclusivity doesnt equal eye-watering price tags. As a result, you can pick up a rebooted Breton top for 60 or a leather bag for 150, while jumpsuits and dresses hover around the 100 mark. As Sezalory puts it: We offer clothes that women have always been looking for  true, affordable luxury.

Sezane

Sezalory predicts that a pair of leopard-print ankle boots (185) will cause the biggest stir on UK soil. A floral printed shirt (80) and a classic camel Crombie coat (265) also make her top three. Sezalorys sales intel also confirms that the Jack sneakers (low-top, leather, lovely) and the brands iconic denim Will jacket, along with all our blouses are big hits among the Brit pack.A cclaimed artist Chantal Joffe has joined the judging panel for the Evening Standards Art Prize.

The painter, whose work has been shown at the Saatchi Gallery and National Portrait Gallery, will help find the winner of the 10,000 prize which is held in association with insurance firm Hiscox.

Joffe, who trained at Camberwell School of Art and the Royal College of Art, said she would encourage other artists to enter the Standards competition. She said: I have always liked entering competitions, I like the sense of possibility, the unknown.

I said yes to becoming a judge because I love London and I know so many great artists working here.

Asked what advice she would give to fellow artists, she said: I think the obvious thing is to enter a piece that is your best work, the most exciting and direct.

The competition, which is in its second year, is open to all UK artists over the age of 18 and the prize also includes Hiscox insurance of the work and a National Art Pass.

The winner will be announced at an event at the National Gallery on November 1. Last years winner was Helen A Pritchard with her work To Make A Sculpture. The shortlist and the top entry will be chosen by a panel including Evening Standard arts editor William Moore, digital arts editor Jessie Thompson, Hiscox head of art Robert Read, and writers Matthew Collings and Olivia Laing. Moore said: Im delighted that Chantal and Olivia have joined our judging panel for this year.

As the prizes September 30 deadline approaches, I hope that Londons artists will be inspired to meet their high critical standards.

Evening Standard Art Prize in association with Hiscox 1 /6 Evening Standard Art Prize in association with Hiscox Evening Standard Art Prize in association with Hiscox Helen A Pritchard with her winning entry NIGEL HOWARD Evening Standard Art Prize in association with Hiscox NIGEL HOWARD  Evening Standard Art Prize in association with Hiscox Helen A Pritchard with her winning entry NIGEL HOWARD  Evening Standard Art Prize in association with Hiscox Judging panel member Robert Read from Hiscox gives a speech NIGEL HOWARD  Evening Standard Art Prize in association with Hiscox NIGEL HOWARD  Evening Standard Art Prize in association with Hiscox Winner Helen A Pritchard with Evening Standard arts editor William Moore NIGEL HOWARD 

The theme of this years competition is Progress and artists are free to interpret that as they like, but the rules state submissions should not exceed 841mm by 1,189mm (33.1in x 46.8in) and must be able to be displayed on a wall or on an easel.

To enter, artists must send their full name, contact number, postcode, the title of the artwork, its dimensions and three images of the work from different angles (not to exceed 14MB) via email to artprize@standard.co.uk by September 30. Only one piece per person may be submitted.M ercury Prize winner Talvin Singh will be returning to his home town to help launch Londons first ever Borough of Culture.

The Leytonstone-born musician, who has worked with Madonna, Bjork and Massive Attack, is coming back to Waltham Forest for the event, it was announced today.

He will collaborate with young musicians in the borough, composing a soundtrack for Welcome to the Forest, which will see a history of the area beamed on to the walls of the town in a laser light show.

Waltham Forest beat 21 others to win the 1.35 million Borough of Culture competition. Its plans include a film festival honouring another local  Alfred Hitchcock, born above a grocers store in Leytonstone.

Creative director Sam Hunt said the town hall event in January would stretch over several days: It is de-signed so we can invite as many people as possible and make it as easy as possible for people to be part of it.

Things to do in London in September 1 /15 Things to do in London in September Afropunk Chazz Adnitt London Brunch Festival London Brunch Festival Videogames at the V&A Robin Baumgarten/V&A Kino Vino X TT Liquor supper club HarvestFest at Skylight Floating Wine Festival London Nights at Museum of London Museum of London Tower of London Food Festival The Great River Race The Great River Race/Ray Little London Mezcal Week BBC Proms in the Park BBC/Sarah Jeynes Open House The Old Waiting room at Peckham Rye Station Gastrophysics Chef's Table Jimmy Garcia's BBQ Club The Breadwinner screening at the Royal Albert Hall The Breadwinner: Produced by Jolie

Mr Hunt, who led the Hull City of Culture creative programme last year, said involving local students in the light projection was typical of how the year will unfold.

Its the antithesis of art being done to a place  it needs to be the voice of Waltham Forest. Tabla player and DJ Singhs debut album Ok, which fused Indian classical music with styles from jazz to drum n bass, won the Mercury Prize in 1999. He now lives in Suffolk.

Waltham Forest has built a reputation for the arts as artists priced out of inner London have moved in. The Grade II-listed William Morris Gallery, home to the Victorian designer, writer and socialist activist for almost 10 years, was named Museum of the Year in 2013. Residents put on a regular art trail, transforming homes into galleries and opening to visitors.

Other stars to hail from the borough include Blur frontman Damon Albarn and rapper Lethal Bizzle, while Ian Dury, Ken Russell and Peter Greenaway studied at Walthamstow School of Art  now Waltham Forest College  and Peter Blake taught there.Review at a glance









S aturday was the day that would have been Leonard Bernsteins 100th birthday and the Proms celebrated with a high-octane performance of On the Town by the London Symphony Orchestra superbly paced by John Wilson.

In Martin Duncans lively semi-staging the trio of sailors had a hectic 24-hour leave chasing round New York City, disproving the maxim of the spoilsport singing teacher Madame Dilly that sex and art dont mix.

They joyously do in Bernstein, even if the emotional highpoint is that elegiac meditation on ephemeral love, Some Other Time. Here it was delivered touchingly by Celinde Schoenmaker as Claire de Loone and Louise Dearman as Hildy, exploiting her lower register to heart-stopping effect.

Schoenmaker was excellent as the hyper-sexed anthropologist, while Barnaby Rea, as her long-suffering husband Judge Pitkin, drew on his powerful, classically trained bass to deliver a vigorous I Understand and an arresting I Feel Like Im Not Out of Bed Yet, the works opening number.

Nathaniel Hackmanns Gabey gave us an admirable Lonely Town and Lucky to Be Me and students from ArtsEd provided an exuberant youthful chorus, with standout solos.

The BBC Proms (bbc.co.uk/proms) continue until Sept 8.A celebration of Black alternative culture is returning to south London this weekend.

Afropunk, a roaming festival that has outposts in New York, Paris, Johannesburg and Atlanta, is gearing up for its third edition in the capital.

Taking over a number of venues in Brixton, it will bring together boundary-pushing artists from the fields of music, film, art and beyond.

Here's everything you need to know.

When and where is it?

Afropunk London takes place across various venues in Brixton from September 1-8.

Line-up

Laura Mvula / Getty Images

The main musical attractions at Afropunk take place on the Friday and Saturday evenings. First, on August 7, theres a club night at Electric Brixton led by DJ Spoony, Jazzie B and BBZ, which promises a whole lot of hip-hop, house, afrobeats and more. The following night, August 8, sees a takeover of O2 Academy Brixton. Running from 4pm to 1am, head over for performances from August Greene (the musical trio of Robert Glasper, Common and Karriem Riggins), as well as Laura Mvula, Akala, Bakar and more.

Before all of that, theres a Battle of the Bands competition taking place at Pop Brixton on August 5, pitting the best local, up-and-coming bands against each other.

A series of talks will run throughout the festival, covering everything from mental health in the Black community to LGTBQ+ clubbing culture to Black masculinity. All the discussions will take place at The Department Store.

Elsewhere, there will be a week-long art exhibition at 198 Gallery, film screenings and poetry nights.

For full line-up information, click here.

Tickets

Brixton area guide: The highlights 1 /14 Brixton area guide: The highlights San Marino Trinity Arms Brockwell Park Getty Images Stir Coffee Crown and Anchor Craft Beer Co Salon Three Eight Four Brixton Village Getty Images David Bowie mural AFP/Getty Images Black Cultural Archives Getty Images Boqueria O2 Academy Brixton Getty Images Canova Hall

Tickets are sold separately for each event and can be purchased here.I ts a rare thing to get a glimpse into the makings of theatre.

Audiences have come to expect plays that are perfect and polished by the time they reach the stage. In truth, there can be countless rehearsals but until it's put in front of an audience, there's no real gauge of what a show will look like.

In fact, theres something incredibly exciting about seeing an imperfect work and being in the room when a new idea is born.

Running September 11-15, Live Drafts is the Yard Theatres festival of new ideas. In the space of a week, a host of artists share their work in varying early stages of development. Some have never been seen before, some have only been seen a couple of times. All will inevitably end up being different to how they are at the moment.

Now an integral part of the Yards programming, many plays in Live Drafts go on to become fully fledged productions. Who knows? You could be there for the inception of something huge  or maybe it simply wont work. Its worth the risk.

Here are a few of the best shows to see at Live Drafts.

Totality by Mae-Li Evans

1999 was the year of the eclipse. At 11:11 on August 11, totality occurred and the sun disappeared behind the moon. Evanss play draws inspiration from home videos and testimonies to explore the experience of watching a full solar eclipse, and asks why we are still so awestruck by it.

September 11

London's best new writing theatres 1 /12 London's best new writing theatres King's Head Theatre When it opened in 1970, The Kings Head Theatre was the first theatre pub since the days of Shakespeare. With a diverse programme, it has been known for being a champion of LGBTQ+ work since the beginning. While their annual festival in July gives us a concentrated few weeks of new writing, its non-stop throughout the year across the genres. Its so popular with theatre lovers and practitioners alike - Sir Ian McKellen has been known to frequent - that it is moving a few doors down to a bigger space, so more can enjoy the magic. Bush Theatre With an emerging writers group and bursaries for BAMER writers, the Bush Theatre is a well-established powerhouse for new writing that reflects British contemporary culture. Stephen Poliakoff, Conor McPherson, Helen Edmundson and Irvine Welsh are just a few to have debuted work at the Bush in the past. Now, with Madani Younis at the helm as artistic director, they receive nearly 2,000 scripts each year and have cemented themselves as the place to go for groundbreaking work as diverse as its audiences. Philip Vile Arcola Theatre The Arcola Theatre in Dalston is a truly community focused endeavour, with endless opportunities and support when it comes to new work. Its committed to creating diverse theatre with and for local people, but its still worth visiting even if east isnt your area. For the past decade, Grimeborn - Glyndebournes ever so much trendier younger sister - has presented some of the greatest new, offbeat opera around. Recent highlights of that include the Marriage of Kim K, a combination of Kim Kardashian and the Marriage of Figaro. The Yard Every piece of work presented at The Yard theatre in Hackney Wick is new. Plays first seen on the Yard stage have transferred to the National Theatre and made their way around the country. They pride themselves on offering insights that can only be seen in theatre, and run the Live Draft series, where playwrights test their new scripts out on an audience. If you want to be fully immersed in the theatremaking experience, go here and see its inception. The Yard Theatre503 Theatre503 has a year round submission policy, the annual Playwriting Award for unproduced writers, and a rapid response short play scheme, where playwrights attend a show in the first week and submit a 10 minute script inspired by the play - a handful of scripts are selected and staged two weeks later. They stage more work from first-time writers than anywhere else in the country and many alumnae have gone onto great things, including Vinay Patel, who won a BAFTA for Murdered By My Father. Soho Theatre For comedy, cabaret, drag and one-handers, this is your place. Every year, they pick the Soho Six, a group of six invited artists, who become playwrights-in-residence. Upstairs or downstairs, there is something on every night of the week, whether its hard-hitting, real life stories or lighthearted pop culture. The Vaults You may know it for the Vaults Festival - Londons answer to Edinburgh Fringe and the capitals biggest arts festival - but the Vaults never stops. The multidisciplinary arts venue stages everything from immersive musicals to immersive drama to immersive theatrical dining (theyre big on the immersive stuff). Its a really interesting place to catch new work that might not conform to a traditional stage. Hackney Showroom Diversity, inclusivity and uniqueness are behind everything staged at Hackney Showroom. Co-artistic directors Nina Lyndon and Sam Curtis Lindsay provide the space (a warehouse full of it) for each artist or company to produce new work you wouldnt catch somewhere else. With such associate artists as Zawe Ashton, Travis Alabanza and Lucy McCormick, you can be sure that youll see something completely out of the mainstream. Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court in Sloane Square premiered John Osbornes Look Back in Anger in 1956 and was met with largely damning reviews. Only two critics, Kenneth Tynan and Harold Hobson, saw the play as a radical change for modern British drama. They went on to become two of the most respected theatre critics of all time. Since then, the Royal Court has continued to champion new writing that pushes boundaries, supporting fresh, young voices in producing work with an edge. National Theatre The National Theatre is a trusted source for some of the biggest production and names in theatre, both on stage and behind the scenes. Even so, it isnt averse to taking risks. Since launching in 2015, the New Work Department has seen thousands of artists work on developing new projects in house. Their focus is working with mid-career artists and elevating them to mainstream stages, so this is the place to go for playwrights with a few years under their belt. Old Red Lion Theatre Sunday and Monday nights at this theatre pub are scratch nights, where emerging theatre-makers can try out their new work. Plays often transfer to the West End, with Trafalgar Studios being a regular recipient: a world premiere of an unearthed Arthur Miller play, No Villain, transferred there after debuting at the Old Red Lion in 2015. Mischief Theatres The Play That Goes Wrong was born here, going on to win an Olivier and prompting similar success with The Comedy About a Bank Robbery. Finborough Theatre The Finborough above a pub in Earls Court may be tiny - just 50 seats - but it packs a punch. Dedicated exclusively to producing new work or revivals of forgotten plays, youre guaranteed to find something special, in a particularly intimate setting. Under the reign of artistic director Neil McPherson, the theatre has won numerous fringe awards, as well as the Encouragement of New Writing award from the Writers Guild of Great Britain.

The Distance by Ben Norris

Ben Norris shares his experience as a former GB long distance runner in this play about endurance and addiction. The work-in-progress piece looks at what happens to the bodies and minds of elite young runners when they stop.

September 11

Alley. Pearls. Gunshot by Rafaella Marcus and David Ralf

Batmans origin story gets an undressing in this play about cities, wealth and inheritance. In a place where the poor and the super-rich share postcodes, how does the son of millionaire philanthropists respond to the killing of his parents and the poverty in his hometown?

September 13

Crops by Ransack Theatre

Rural meets technical in this surreal piece by Bruntwood Prize-winning playwright Tim Foley. Billy returns to the family farm and Bernard the scarecrow wants to help him sort everything out. Between Billys childhood memories and Bernards digital ones, they try to piece things together.

September 15

Sex Sex Men Men by Pecs Drag Kings

Sex Sex Men Men does what it says on the tin  its about desire, electricity, sensuality and pleasure. All-female/non-binary drag theatre company Pecs take the cabaret form to the limit in their investigation of sexuality and masculinity.

September 15I went to Notting Hill Carnival for the first time last summer.

Id read the stories in the papers that seemed to repeat themselves about carnival being a hotbed of violent crime and debauchery, so Id presumptively made the decision to be more of a spectator than a participant.

When I finally joined the crowd gathering behind Westbourne Park station, though, I quickly realised I didnt have much of a choice. I was unwillingly dragged into the parades epicentre. Melted chocolate from one of the many Mas bands was being pelted from every angle and, suffice to say, my carefully selected outfit was ruined within five minutes.

Everywhere I looked people were laughing with freedom, hips swaying to the soca music blaring out of the sound systems. Complete strangers were pulling me into the crowd and getting me to dance, and soon enough I was whining with the best of them.

Despite having Jamaican roots, this environment was completely foreign to me. Growing up in the majority-white Kent countryside, Id been shielded from my Jamaican heritage most of my life.

Although Ive always taken an interest in my culture, Id never been confronted with so many aspects of it in one instance, from the sweet and spicy smell of jerk chicken to dancehall music to just being surrounded carefree black people. I loved every minute of it, and its these factors that make the Caribbean and African origins of what is now Europes biggest festival undeniable.

Notting Hill Carnival has served as an expression of Caribbean culture / PA

Dawn-Maria France is a journalist and broadcaster who has written about the history of Notting Hill Carnival. She says that the carnival tradition emanates from the struggle of the Caribbean people.

Upon emancipation, freed African slaves from the Caribbean transformed the old European festival tradition forever, with their mix of African and Caribbean culture," she explains.

"It was a celebration of the end of slavery  the rejoicing in the freedom of enslaved Africans liberated from the evils of forced human labour.

The Caribbean and African take on carnival eventually spread across various countries, including the UK. During the late 50s and early 60s, Notting Hill had one of the most concentrated populations of West Indians in the country after Windrush.

Racial tensions between black and white were running high, eventually igniting the Notting Hill race riots of 1958 - the worst instance of racial violence Britain had ever seen.

Wanting a safe space for the black community, Trinidadian political activist Claudia Jones had the idea of holding a carnival as a celebration of Caribbean culture. In January of 1959, the first carnival was held inside St Pancras Town Hall and televised by the BBC.

Although many people now consider Rhaune Laslett, a white community activist, to have started the first outdoor carnival in 1966, the Caribbean influence and anti-racism stance on which the event was founded still feeds the spirit of the Notting Hill Carnival we know and love today.

The only difference being, perhaps, that the true essence of carnival often gets overshadowed by the focus on crime and disorder.

Last year, grime artist Stormzy hit out at Metropolitan police for linking drug busts in Catford and Lewisham to the Notting Hill carnival.

In a critical tweet, he wrote: How many drugs did you lot seize in the run-up to Glastonbury or we only doing tweets like this for black events.

Such instances of casual racism were unfortunately all too familiar for black Brits and do well to perpetuate stereotypes about us during an event which is supposed to be a celebration of our true selves.

Sorry: Stormzy winning the award for Best RnB, Hip Hop or Grime at The Global Awards / Joel Ryan/PA

Joyann is 27 and has been attending carnival on and off for a number of years. Like me, she feels like carnival is one of the few places she can express herself unapologetically.

I grew up in Trinidad so carnival is part of my culture  its in my blood," she explains.

Being able to experience an event that has a history which directly links to me feels amazing. Its one of the few times I feel welcome in the UK.

Joyanns experiences of belonging cast a poignant reflection of the state of race relations in Britain since the Windrush scandal, during which members of the Windrush generation and their children were wrongly targeted by the governments hostile environment policies.

The debacle was a stark reminder that whilst we were born here and have created a life for ourselves here, to some we are still not considered British.

This is why having a space like carnival is so important for black Brits and why its served as a tradition in many Caribbean families for years.

Notting Hill Carnival over the years - In pictures 1 /40 Notting Hill Carnival over the years - In pictures 1972 Charlie Gillett/Redferns 1975 Richard Braine/PYMCA/Rex 1976 Hulton Archive/Getty Images 1977 Associated Newspaper 1977 Daily Mail 1978 Frank Barratt/Getty Images 1978 Bill Johnson/Associated Newspapers 1978 Frank Barratt/Evening Standard 1980 Stuart Nicol/Evening Standard 1980 Evening Standard 1980 Evening Standard 1983 Peter Anderson/PYMCA/Rex 1984 John Minihan/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 1994 Steve Eason/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 1994 Steve Eason/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 1995 Steve Eason/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 2003 Scott Barbour/Getty Images 2004 Graeme Robertson/Getty Images 2005 Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images 2005 Chris Jackson/Getty Images 2006 Miles Willis/Getty Images 2006 Miles Willis/Getty Images 2006 Miles Willis/Getty Images 2006 Chris Jackson/Getty Images 2007 Chris Jackson/Getty Images 2009 Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images 2011 Oli Scarff/Getty Images 2012 Oli Scarff/Getty Images 2015 Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images 2015 Daniel C Sims/Getty Images 2017 Getty Images 2017 Getty Images 2017 Getty Images for RedBull 2017 Getty Images for RedBull 2017 AFP/Getty Images 2018 Getty Images for Redbull 2018 Getty Images 2018 Reuters 2019 Getty Images 2019 Reuters

Kyra is 24 and works in TV production. Shes been going to carnival since she was a baby.

Carnival is life for me. Id go with my Mum, whos Ugandan and my Dad, whose Jamaican and my brother. Id sit on their shoulders watching all of the costumes, colours and dancers go by as well as taking in the sweet smell of Caribbean food cooking up.

I love soca, I love my culture and I love seeing everyone holding their flags representing their roots.

Theres a real sense of community. I literally make friends at carnival all the time. Youll be encouraging a girl you dont even know to give her wickedest whine and its just fun, its like ultimate happiness.

And its this sense of community that attracts 2 million visitors each year, giving people a sense of freedom and belonging that we dont always have the privilege of experiencing on a day-to-day basis.

Talks of moving carnival away from the area following the Grenfell Tower fire last year were thrown out by Sadiq Khan, saying that moving it away risked further damaging community relations.

The mayor wrote: The Notting Hill carnival is one of the biggest street festivals and has become a firm London tradition over many decades. It was born out of the African-Caribbean immigrant community in North Kensington in the 1950s, and its only right that this remains its home."

Whilst final preparations for masquerade floats and parade costumes take place in the run-up to carnival next weekend, Mr Khans words still ring true.A 36-year-old man has been charged with grievous bodily harm after two lone women were stabbed in east London.

The victims, aged in their 50s and 60s, were left needing hospital treatment following the attacks in Bow that took place two days apart.

Scotland Yard said Ivor Collingwood-Williams, of Garrison Road, Bow, will appear at Thames Magistrates' Court charged with two counts of GBH with intent and two counts of possession of an offensive weapon.

In the first attack, a woman in her 60s was stabbed in Chariot Close on Friday. Police said at the time she was on her way home after buying fish and chips.

She was taken to hospital for treatment, although her injuries were not life-threatening.P olice have arrested three Britons who posed as tourists to try to smuggle more than 8 million worth of cannabis into mainland Spain on a hired yacht.

They seized some of the drugs after stopping the crew members as they came out of a supermarket in Spains north African enclave of Ceuta.

Officers found 230kg of cannabis hidden under food in 16 plastic bags. An-other 440kg was subsequently found hidden on a yacht the crew were heading to, which they were intending to sail to the mainland.

Also held were a woman who was with them and a taxi driver taking them to the marina in Ceuta, which is about 10 miles from mainland Spain across the Strait of Gibraltar. Their nationalities have not been revealed.

A spokesman for Spains National Police said its officers seized 670kg of cannabis hidden in a yacht in Ceutas marina and have arrested five people who pretended to be tourists to try to go unnoticed.

The crew members made several purchases in a supermarket in the city and took the bags back to the marina in a taxi. The movements of the men  three British nationals, a taxi driver and a woman who was accompanying them  aroused the suspicion of the officers, who identified them and checked the content of the bags.

Several packets containing cannabis resin were found in one of the bags. All five were arrested on suspicion of a drugs trafficking offence. The drugs, which came from Morocco, had been hidden somewhere in Ceuta until the arrival of the yacht.His grieving father Vernon today called for a return of family values to stop the tide of violence.

Shevaun was attacked just yards from an anti-knife crime poster when a brawl broke out in Creek Road near his home in Deptford. He was rushed to hospital but died an hour later.

Mr Sorrell, 70, said: I dont know why this happened. I have tried to bring up my children with family values and not everyone does this.

You read about these killings in the newspapers and see it on the news, but until it happens to you its not really possible to understand.

Shevaun lived with his father, a retired railway engineer, his mother Donna and older brother Shane, 24. Mr Sorrell said his son had attended college in Lewisham where he was training to become a tradesman.

Mr Sorrell, who came to Britain from Jamaica in the Sixties, told the Evening Standard: He was good with his hands and could have been an electrician or something like that.

He was bright and good with computers. He also loved his music. He really was one of the best, we are devastated and struggling to understand why he was killed.

The victim was attacked yards from an anti-knife crime poster

Mr Sorrell added: He had not been in any trouble, we are totally in the dark. The police are doing what they can. On the day he was attacked he was going out with friends, it was just a normal day.

Shevauns killing comes amid a surge in violent crime in London, with more than 100 homicide investigations launched so far this year.

Last night a row of railings near the crime scene was covered in flowers, candles and notes paying tribute to the worker at the B&M Bargains store.

A friend, 23, said she had known the victim since school, adding: He was a normal guy, not associated with gangs in anyway. He wasnt confrontational.

He was quiet, but he was popular. He would give you his last pound. He was never horrible to anyone.

The friend said Mr Sorrell had shared a news story about Londons knife crime crisis on social media on the day he was killed.

A Home Office anti-knife crime poster with the hashtag #KnifeFree could seen displayed on a bus stop yards from the scene of the stabbing.

Scotland Yard is appealing for witnesses who saw an altercation between two males or a group of males. There have been no arrests.L ondon should impose a US-style of policing to curb a "toxic cycle of serious violence" and ramp up "stop and search" in the capital, according to a think tank.

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has called for a zero-tolerance approach similar to a model used in Glasgow and Cincinnati, which the CSJ's chair, Iain Duncan Smith, branded a "proven blueprint" that could save thousands of lives.

The report, entitled It Can Be Stopped, states: "If London implemented a Safer Streets GVI (Group Violence Intervention) and achieved comparable reductions to those seen in Glasgow, Boston, and Cincinnati, it could save the lives of thousands of young Londoners over the next decade, preventing serious injury and the physical and psychological traumas associated with exposure to gangs and serious violence."

It added the number of stop and searches in London has fallen "significantly" in the last decade, from around 600,000 a year in 2010/11 to around 125,000 in 2017/18.

Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith is chair of think tank, Centre for Social Justice / PA Archive/PA Images

This form of proactive policing has "been under sustained attack for years", the think tank said, with the report urging a greater scepticism about claims of racial disparity over those stopped and searched.

Mr Duncan Smith told the Daily Mail: "Stop and search does two things. It tells the gangs they cannot move their guns and drugs around, making their lives much more difficult.

"People claim 'it's not fair', but who are the communities affected by this the most? It's the poorest communities in our country.

It Can Be Stopped Headline figures for the CSJ report 250 - the number of gangs in London according to police estimates (with 4,500 members in total) 27 hours - how long between every recorded gunshot in London 2.2m - the economic and social costs of each homicide 70% - the number of people surveyed who believed police should have the power to search even when there is no suspicion of a crime

"It means shops close, people don't go on the street, kids who want nothing to do with the gang feel threatened."

Figures quoted in the report said more than three-quarters of those asked supported police using stop and search, while 70 per cent backed the idea of police using the powers even when there is no "reasonable suspicion" of criminality.

The CSJ report also said there is a report of a gun being fired every 27 hours in London, but the true figure could be as little as every six hours as not all cases are reported to police.

Chief executive Andy Cook said: "If a gun were fired every day in rural Oxfordshire or leafy Surrey, every police resource in the country would be focused on bringing the violence to an end.

"And yet because this epidemic of crime is happening in our poorest, often most ethnic diverse communities, politicians feel they can turn a blind eye and pray that it all just goes away."

Where are stop-and-searches most common? The London Boroughs where police powers are most often used - and where they aren't Top 5

1. Lambeth - 10,119

2. Westminster - 8,690

3. Southwark - 8,496

4.Newham - 7,378

5. Tower Hamlets - 5,554



Bottom 5

1. Aviation Policing - 379

2. Sutton - 1,195

3. Richmond-upon Thames - 1,219

4. Havering - 1,515

5. Bexley - 1,522

The GVI model of policing was developed in Boston, Massachusetts as "Operation Ceasefire", involving a partnership between involves community members, law enforcement, and social service providers who directly engage with targeted individuals involved in street groups and gangs.

In the UK, the police codes outline that offices must have reasonable grounds for a stop and search - and should not be biased towards a particular person or group.

Fair policing campaigners StopWatch said 137,553 stop and searches were conducted in 2016-17 under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act - and 315 under Section 60 Criminal Justice & Public Order Act - which doesn't require any suspicion to detain a person to be searched.

The campaign claims that, although the total number of searches overwhelmingly involve white people, a black person is up to four times as likely to be stopped.

The number of searches fell again in 2017-18 to 122,970 according to Met figures.P olice say more than 370 arrests at this years Notting Hill Carnival as the bank holiday weekends festivities were marred by a stabbing on Monday evening.

A man, whose age is not known, was rushed to hospital after the stabbing at around 8.10pm in Ladbroke Grove.

A Met Police spokeswoman said his injuries were not life threatening.

The total number of arrests made during the event, 373, is up from 313 made last year.

Scotland Yard also revealed 30 officers were injured this year "in the line of duty".

Police stop and search people during this year's Notting Hill Carnival / REUTERS

As of 10.15pm on Monday, the Met Police said it made 240 arrests on Monday and 133 on Sunday, which included 10 made by the British Transport Police (BTP).

A further 12 arrests were carried out by BTP on Monday.

Officers detained 156 people on drugs offences, 69 on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and nine on suspicion of sexual offences.

Among the items seized were knives, a metal pole and a taser.

Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Day Two - In pictures 1 /36 Notting Hill Carnival 2018 Day Two - In pictures Performers in costume take part in the carnival on the main Parade day AFP/Getty Images Model Jourdan Dunn poses on the Red Bull Music X Mangrove float Getty Images for Redbull A carnival-goer strikes a racy pose next to police officers AFP/Getty Images A performer in costume takes part in the 2018 Notting Hill carnival AFP/Getty Images The Red Bull Music X Mangrove float Getty Images for Redbull Dancers enjoy the jubilant atmosphere at carnival Getty Images for Redbull Police officers stand guard on a side-street on the main Parade day AFP/Getty Images Revellers pour a top-up for each other Getty Images Hundreds of thousands of people attended carnival today Getty Images for Redbull Revellers attend the final day of the Notting Hill Carnival Getty Images Jourdan Dunn and Jordan Stephens of Rizzle Kicks on the Red Bull Music X Mangrove floa Getty Images for Redbull A huge crowd of carnival-goers on Ladbroke Grove AP Over a million people are thought to have attended over the course of the weekend AP Model Jourdan Dunn celebrates on the Red Bull Music X Mangrove float Getty Images for Redbull Dancers wow the crowds at the 2018 Notting Hill Carnival Getty Images for Redbull The party is expected to run well into the evening Getty Images for Redbull The second day of Notting Hill Carnival is under way Reuters Carnival performers in costume pose for a photograph ahead of their appearance on the main Parade AFP/Getty Images Pictures showed smiling carnival-goers dressed in bejewelled outfits AFP/Getty Images Dancers paraded through the streets of west London in a feast of colour PA Floats are parading through the streets today as hundreds of thousands of people flock to the event REUTERS Tributes to victims of the Grenfell Tower fire can be seen throughout the Carnival route Getty Images Unlike Sunday, visitors to the Carnival were not covered by ponchos and rain coats Getty Images Carnival performers showed off their feathers Getty Images Thousands are expected to descend on west London to join the festivities today Getty Images It comes after downpours blighted the first day of the Carnival on Sunday Getty Images But performers danced in pouring rain throughout the day - determined to keep festival spirits high AFP/Getty Images The annual festival, which takes place over the August Bank Holiday, is Europes largest street event Getty Images Monday is traditionally the adult's day party, with music and sound systems until 7pm Getty Images The parade includes perormances from mas bands, Brazilian bands and steelbands Getty Images Sound systems include reggae, house, samba and more Getty Images This year a 72-second silence will be held on Sunday and Monday at 3pm to remember the lives lost in the Grenfell Tower tragedy Getty Images Performers were seen in intricate costme Getty Images Dancers will shimmy through west London throughout the final day of Carnival Getty Images One performer shows off her feathers Getty Images Carnival-goers and performers gather in Notting Hill on the final day of the Carnival Getty Images

Notting Hill Carnival Gold Commander Dave Musker said: "We would like to thank all those who took to the streets to celebrate everything that the carnival stands for, in a kind and considerate manner.

"However Monday night was marred by the news of a non-life-threatening stabbing at around 8.10pm in Ladbroke Grove. Thankfully this was the only incident of this nature throughout the whole weekend."

He added: "I am very pleased with the results of the screening arches and the Section 60 order; 36 offensive weapons were taken off the streets by my officers and 373 arrests were made over the course of the weekend, which we expect could rise.

"Although I am happy with how the event ran overall, once again 30 of my colleagues were injured in the line of duty. Any assault on police is unacceptable."

Police were operating with enhanced stop-and-search powers in a bid to crack down on violence.

Scotland Yard imposed a Section 60 order across the carnival area between 9am and 11.59pm. The order allowed officers to search people if they believed they were carrying offensive weapons or in anticipation of violence.

The bank holiday weekend event was policed by the highest number of officers in six years.

Almost 7,000, some from the Metropolitan Police's newly formed Violent Crime Task Force, policed Monday's event to "combat the threat of violent crime".A pervert has been jailed for filming up womens skirts as they travelled on the Tube.

Aaron Lal, 32, targeted female commuters as they travelled on the London Underground network between June and October last year.

He was caught by officers after a passenger saw him filming up a womans skirt on the Victoria Line on July 15, British Transport Police said.

A second passenger travelling in the same carriage also reported it to police.

Officers arrested Lal, of Dangan Road, Wanstead, and discovered more footage on his mobile phone which showed he had repeatedly been filming up womens skirts on the Tube network.

He was sentenced to four months in prison after pleading guilty to five counts of outraging public indecency at Westminster Magistrates Court on Monday.

Police Sergeant Dan Rushall said: I am really pleased that this multiple offender has been brought to justice.

"Behaviour like this will never be tolerated on the transport network and I urge people to report any unwanted sexual behaviour to us so people like Lal can be brought to justice.A woman who was stabbed to death with her mother was on the phone to police as the fatal attack unfolded, according to detectives.

Raneem Oudeh, 22, and her mother Khaola Saleem, 49, were attacked in Solihull the early hours of Bank Holiday Monday outside Ms Saleem's house.

Police are hunting Janbaz Tarin, who is Miss Oudeh's ex-lover, in connection with the incident.

Clarifying "speculation" about police contact with Miss Oudeh in the hours leading up to her death, West Midlands Police said there had been "a number of calls" from her to the force on Sunday night.

Khaola Saleem, 49, who was also stabbed to death / PA

In a statement, police added one of its call handlers was on the phone to the young woman when "the situation quickly escalated" and "immediately" dispatched officers to the scene.

Earlier, the force said it could not comment on any previous contact, having referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

Officers rushed to Northdown Road shortly after 12.30am, finding both victims stabbed to death. Despite the efforts of emergency services neither could be saved.

A large-scale operation to trace Tarin is currently under way, with three addresses having been raided by police.

A photo handed out by West Midlands Police of murder suspect Janbaz Tarin / EPA

Computer equipment and mobile phones have been seized and a van is undergoing forensic examination.

The force has appealed directly to Tarin, an Afghan national who is in the UK legally, to hand himself in and also warned against anyone "shielding" the 21-year-old.

Chief Constable Dave Thompson tweeted: "Huge effort under way to locate this man. Call us, web chat us or tell Crimestoppers UK if you can help."

Neighbours had described being woken by screams coming from Ms Saleem's address, where Miss Oudeh lived with her mother, as the attack happened.

Miss Oudeh had a two-year-old son, though Tarin is not the father, and had moved to England from Syria, along with Ms Saleem, who herself had six children.

In a statement, their family said they had been left "devastated".

Following a public appeal, police said they had received dozens of phone calls and were currently sifting the information and a number of potential sightings.A Scotland Yard officer took to Twitter today to tell how he arrested a woman at Notting Hill Carnival after she slapped him on the backside.

Inspector Owen Pyle of Southwark police told of his ordeal online following the incident, which happened at Notting Hill Carnival on Monday.

He said: While dealing with an incident at Carnival yesterday a woman thought it'd be funny to slap my bum.

She soon regretted it when I arrested her.

I don't come to work to be sexually assaulted while doing my job. That kind of behaviour is unacceptable.

When asked by someone if the woman was apologetic afterwards, he said: Not initially. Only when she was arrested and escorted away from Carnival.

Following his post Inspector Pyle received a number of supportive messages.

One person said: I really don't understand how people can think that behaving like that towards a police officer or anyone else for that matter would be acceptable.

Day two at the Notting Hill Carnival

Another wrote: Well done hope she is shown the full force of the law.

A fellow Met officer, Jon Killen an emergency response team police constable, responded on Twitter.

He said: This is just appalling, sorry Guv. I'm sure she thought that the Carnival atmosphere meant she could get away with it, and I'm glad you showed her how wrong she was!

Police officers attempt to filter in thousands of revellers as they arrive at the Notting Hill Carnival / EPA

Inspector Pyle added after his initial post that we need to be robust when dealing with people who commit these sort of offences.

Scotland Yard said in a statement: "At 21:45hrs on Monday, 27 August a 26-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly in Westbourne Park Road, W2.A woman is fighting for life after being hit by a cyclist "riding an electric bike" who made off from the scene in east London.

Police and paramedics raced to Kingsland High Street, in Dalston, during Tuesday afternoon's rush hour.

A female pedestrian, aged in her 50s, had been struck as she tried to cross the road shortly after 5pm. She was rushed to hospital in a life-threatening condition, police said.

The male cyclist initially stopped due to coming off his bike but left the scene a few moments later.

Witnesses said she was hit by a man riding a dark red motorised e-bike. Police said a bicycle was recovered in nearby Approach Close and later confirmed it was battery-powered.

Caleb Garba, 30, said: Two cyclists were trying to dodge her but one hit her at the crossing. He must have been going at some speed to do that much damage.

"My colleague brought out towels for her and put her into the recovery position. Her breathing was really bad.

He said other people helped the cyclist get to his feet. He was bleeding from the head and dazed but only wanted to get out of there. He didnt say anything and ran away.

"People were telling him to wait for the police and get treatment. They tried to stop him.

Another witness, who did not want to be named, said : I heard a big bang and saw a guy on a bike on the floor and a lady unresponsive, like she had been knocked out.

"Someone who saw the incident started talking to him. It looked rather confrontational... next minute he had gone.

The witness described the e-bike cyclist as wearing an orange or red jumper and jeans, but no helmet. He added: Im sure the lights were red as it happened, so I can only assume she was crossing.

Scotland Yard said no arrests have been made. Officers are currently trying to find the pedestrian's next of kin.

Detective Constable Darren Case, of the Serious Collisions Investigations Unit, said: "This is a shocking incident as it appears the cyclist involved did not stop to assist the victim or contact the emergency services, instead making off.

"We need to hear from anyone who was in the area at the time. Did you see the cyclist before, during or after the collision? Maybe you are in possession of dash cam footage or filmed the cyclist on your mobile phone.

"We are also appealing directly to the cyclist along with his friends and family who may know of his whereabouts."

Road closures were put in place while emergency services dealt with the incident.M ark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, has been quietly approached by the Government to stay on for another year, despite saying he would only serve six of a seven-year term.

The Londoner understands the Treasury is keen for him to stay on until 2020 so that he can provide continuity during the turbulence of Brexit. It is also understood that they are struggling to find a candidate strong enough to replace him. An extension to Carneys term would be welcomed across the City and Whitehall, but could raise eyebrows from arch-Brexiteers such as the backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg, who thinks the governor has been too candid about the damanging economic consequences of leaving the EU.

Carney (left), who started the job in 2013, was once thought to favour a return to his home country of Canada, where he had been tipped to become a government minister. The Globe and Mail, Canadas biggest-selling newspaper, said in 2016, Carneys rightful place is in a country and government not besieged by a populist surge  in Canadas Liberal cabinet.

In the same year, however, Carney agreed to extend his term  which he had initially agreed to do for five years  until the end of June 2019, saying: By taking my term in office beyond the expected period of the Article 50 process, this should help contribute to securing an orderly transition to the UKs new relationship with Europe.

Meanwhile, in Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is understood to be wary of appointing such a powerful rival to his team.

And Carney is keeping his options open  he will be much in demand after six years in such a high-profile role in the UK. Brexiteers may not want Carney, but the rest of the world does, including, it seems, the Chancellor of Exchequer, Philip Hammond (far left). A Treasury spokesperson said this morning: We will begin recruitment for the next Governor of the Bank of England in due course.

Corbyn yes to IHRA

Jeremy Corbyn will adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism  in full with all examples  at the next meeting of the National Executive Committee on September 4, according to todays blog of ITVs political editor Robert Peston. But officials may insert addendums which weaken the force of the IHRA examples, sources told Peston. Corbyn has come under heavy pressure to accept all definitions after he refused to do so in July  a decision that split the party. But addendums interpreting the examples may keep the row boiling.

--

Estate agents Foxtons knows how to sell an area. In its blurb for Whats So Great About Living In Hammersmith, it writes: Hammersmith Bridge has been subject to not one but three separate bomb attacks. In 1996, the IRA planted the largest Semtex bomb ever found in mainland Britain on the bridge at a whopping 15kg in size.

---

Paul Masterton MP loves nothing more than teasing his Brexit-mad Conservative colleagues. After Boris Johnson said there was a direct read-across between Greeces economic woes and the risk for Britain from Mays Brexit deal, Masterton screeched: Project Fear! Talking Britain Down! Eeyore! Then: Am I doing this right?

Dame Joan and her youthful new look leaves that Gerry role behind

DAME Joan Collins was out and about in Los Angeles with her husband Percy Gibson last night shortly after unveiling an updated new look on Instagram.

The 85-year-old actor drew attention to her hair, make-up and jewellery, but whats also striking is her youthful complexion.

The image contrasts with her performance in Gerry, her latest film, in which she was made to look older to play an elderly, melancholic widow.

Back in London, actor Caitlin Fitzgerald and director Robert D. Krzykowski were at the premiere of the film The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot.

Also in the cast is Aidan Turner, famous for his naked-to-the-waist scenes in BBCs Poldark.

He says he doesnt get the hype: You take a top off, and then its madness. Its interesting what people care about. Indeed.

SW1A

Silver screen: Amber Rudd (Photo by Alberto Pezzali/NurPhoto via Getty Images) / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Could former Home Secretary Amber Rudd be enticed into TV drama? Jed Mercurio, the writer of Bodyguard, the BBC hit show about a fictional Home Secretary, said of Rudd: Maybe shell honour us with a cameo appearance if we get a second series. Tempting, Rudd replied to Mercurio. Although she rejected a fictional Cabinet post, asking instead: Can I play a hardcore Bodyguard? Shes certainly seen them in action.

---

Ayesha Hazarika, former adviser to Ed Miliband, reminisced about writing jokes with the ex-Labour leader before Prime Ministers Questions. Ken Clarke used to wear Hush Puppies  so I was like, Why dont you say to David Cameron: Tell Ken Clarke to get his Hush Puppies off my lawn. Eds rubbish delivery to the House was met with tumbleweed, she says. Now every time I suggest a crappy joke to Ed, he says, Ayesha, two words: Hush Puppies.

Quote of the day

I know a lot of straights who could do with some counselling on their sexual make-up

Author Jeanette Winterson responds to the Pope saying, of homosexuality, There is a lot that can be done through psychiatry

Bond? I've got a licence to teach

Teacher: Idris Elba (Photo by Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage) / Samir Hussein/WireImage

Idris Elba is preoccupied by things other than playing James Bond. As well as acting, he sees a future in education, and wants to hand the baton on.

Speaking to David Lammy MP, the Yardie director and Luther star said hed like to be an educator: I definitely feel like my legacy is to be able to teach some of what I know.

Lammy was filling in for James OBrien on his podcast Unfiltered.T heresa May is to make an unashamed vow to use Britains overseas aid budget to boost Britain's investment in Africa after Brexit.

The prime minister will declare in a speech in Cape Town later on Tuesday that she wants to ensure UK overseas aid in the continent is used in the national interest".

At the start of a three-day visit, she will state her desire for the UK to overtake the US to become the G7's leading investor in Africa by 2022.

Mrs May will also use her speech to outline her ambitions for Africa amid warnings of "greater conflict and an increased susceptibility to extremism" emerging if jobs are not created.

Dominic Raab: Government ready to deliver no-deal Brexit

Downing Street believes helping young people in Africa secure jobs will stabilise the economy of their country while also reducing the likelihood of them undertaking risky journeys to Europe.

The PM is expected to reassert the UK's shift in strategy over aid spending  using her trip to encourage private sector investment alongside efforts to alleviate extreme poverty.

Britain's overseas aid budget totalled 13.9 billion in 2017, an increase of 555 million in 2016 and in line with the legal commitment to invest 0.7 per cent of national income in this area.

It has proven a controversial pledge among some Tory backbenchers, with successive international development secretaries vowing to use the cash to help develop trade against the backdrop of Brexit.

Theresa May joins husband Philip on break in Italy 1 /8 Theresa May joins husband Philip on break in Italy The couple chatted as they walked round Desenzano del Garda AFP/Getty Images Theresa May appeared to be pointed out sights to her husband Getty Images Theresa and Philip both looked casual as they strolled around Getty Images Both donned sunglasses on their Italian break AP Theresa May swapped kitten heels for Converse REUTERS The couple are huge fans of the Italian lakes AFP/Getty Images Theresa May appeared knowledgeable about the area REUTERS Theresa May and Philip are on their summer break REUTERS

Mrs May is expected to use her speech to outline investment in Britain's diplomatic network in Africa, with the use of trade experts to help encourage investment, amid growing influence on the continent from other countries including China.

Speaking at the First National Bank in Cape Town on Tuesday, Mrs May is expected to say the private sector is key to driving growth in labour markets and "unleashing the entrepreneurial spirit" in Africa.

She will say: "However, for a variety of reasons the private sector has not yet managed to deliver the level of job creation and investment that many African nations need.

"So I want to put our development budget and expertise at the centre of our partnership as part of an ambitious new approach  and use this to support the private sector to take root and grow."

Mrs May will add: "I am unashamed about the need to ensure that our aid programme works for the UK.

"So today I am committing that our development spending will not only combat extreme poverty, but at the same time tackle global challenges and support our own national interest. This will ensure that our investment in aid benefits us all, and is fully aligned with our wider national security priorities."

Downing Street cited data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) as showing UK direct investment in Africa was 55 billion US dollars (42.7 billion) in 2016 compared to 57 billion US dollars (44.3 billion) from the US.

France followed in third with 49 billion US dollars (38 billion) and China fourth with 40 billion US dollars (31 billion).

Mrs May will outline her ambition for the UK to be the G7's "number one investor in Africa" by 2022, adding Britain's private sector should invest the billions that will see "African economies growing by trillions".

The PM will add: "It is in the world's interest to see that those jobs are created, to tackle the causes and symptoms of extremism and instability, to deal with migration flows and to encourage clean growth.

"If we fail to do so, the economic and environmental impacts will swiftly reach every corner of our networked, connected world.

"And the human impacts - from a loss of faith in free markets and democracy as the best way to secure global growth and human rights, to greater conflict and an increased susceptibility to extremism - will be similarly global."

Mrs Mays first trip to Africa as PM will be made up of a three-day trade mission to South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. She will meet the presidents of all three countries.T heresa May has said a "no deal" Brexit "wouldn't be the end of the world", despite her chancellor's warning that such an event would seriously damage the economy.

The Prime Minister rejected fears over leaving the EU without an agreement after Philip Hammond was accused of launching another "project fear" with his claims last week.

She added that the Government is putting in place measures to ensure it can "make a success of no deal" but maintained it was still possible to agree a "good deal".

The chancellor evoked the wrath of Tory backbenchers by referring to disputed provisional analysis which claimed GDP could fall and borrowing could be around 80 billion a year higher by 2033/34 if Britain resorted to World Trade Organisation terms.

Philip Hammond issued a stark warning over no deal Brexit last week / AFP/Getty Images

Mr Hammond said such an impact on GDP would have "large fiscal consequences".

He also said this analysis was undergoing a "process of refinement" ahead of a parliamentary vote on any deal.

Mrs May, asked about the timing and content of Mr Hammond's intervention, said she had previously labelled the data as a work in progress.

Speaking to reporters on her trade mission to Africa, the PM added: "Look at what the director of the World Trade Organisation has said.

Theresa May joins husband Philip on break in Italy 1 /8 Theresa May joins husband Philip on break in Italy The couple chatted as they walked round Desenzano del Garda AFP/Getty Images Theresa May appeared to be pointed out sights to her husband Getty Images Theresa and Philip both looked casual as they strolled around Getty Images Both donned sunglasses on their Italian break AP Theresa May swapped kitten heels for Converse REUTERS The couple are huge fans of the Italian lakes AFP/Getty Images Theresa May appeared knowledgeable about the area REUTERS Theresa May and Philip are on their summer break REUTERS

"He said about a no deal situation that it would not be a walk in the park but it wouldn't be the end of the world.

"What the Government is doing is putting in place the preparations such that if we're in that situation we can make a success of it, just as we will make a success of the good deal I believe we're able to get and the good deal we're working to get."

Mrs May was also challenged on whether she would order her MPs to vote for no deal if her preferred approach  agreed following talks at Chequers  was not secured with the EU.

She replied: "I've said right from the beginning that no deal is better than a bad deal.

"I think it's absolutely right that the Government is putting the preparations in place for no deal because we don't know what the outcome of this is going to be.

"But alongside that what we're doing is working for a good deal.

"I believe what we've set out in the Chequers arrangement, set out in the white paper is a deal that benefits not just the United Kingdom but benefits the European Union as well."

Eurosceptic Tories have criticised the Government's proposals, which include a "common rulebook" with the EU on goods, amid fears it could restrict the UK's ability to do trade deals.

Mrs May also said the UK was working to secure a deal by October and within a timetable which meant Brexit could occur in March 2019.

On whether Tory MPs face a backlash from their local party associations for supporting a second EU referendum, Mrs May added: "I believe that what matters to local associations is what the Conservative Government is delivering for them - and what we're delivering is what the people voted for."

Mrs May also reiterated the UK Government's desire to end free movement is "non-negotiable".A lex Salmond has written to Scotlands top civil servant calling for an inquiry into how sexual harassment allegations against him were made public.

The former first minister contacted Permanent Secretary Leslie Evans yesterday urging her to investigate.

He said someone in the Scottish Government had flagrantly and repeatedly breached the confidential complaints process by leaking details to the Daily Record newspaper.

He strongly denies the allegations and has launched legal action against the Scottish Government over the probe. It says its investigation into two complaints against him has been entirely confidential throughout.

A statement released on his behalf said: It is manifestly absurd for the Permanent Secretary to claim that her procedure is confidential when it is splashed over the front pages, emanating from briefings to a single newspaper ... confidentiality on such matters is crucial.

Without it those who wish to make a complaint can have no confidence in the system protecting them while those complained about are denied fairness.

Someone within the Scottish Government has flagrantly, and repeatedly, breached that requirement and the Permanent Secretary is now required to try and find out who it was.

Allegations about Mr Salmonds conduct towards two staff members in 2013  while he was in office  emerged last week when the former MP released a statement prompted by an inquiry from the Daily Record.F irefighters are battling a major blaze at the Primark store in Belfast city centre.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service is currently in attendance at the scene.

Social media posts show huge plumes of black smoke coming from the roof of the Bank Buildings which is home to the Primark store.

Shoppers were evacuated from the branch of the clothing department store while others looked on from the street.

Flames and smoke from a major blaze which has broken out at the Primark store in Belfast city centre / PA

The blaze is on the fifth floor of the Primark building in Castle Street, the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service confirmed.

A representative of the service has advised people to avoid the area as the incident is dealt with.

The blaze broke out on the fifth floor of the building, firefighters confirmed / PA

There are 11 fire engines at the scene.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for the NIFRS said: "NIFRS received a call at 11am today to a fire on the top floor of the Primark building - a five-storey commercial property in the Castle Street area of Belfast.

"11 appliances are in attendance. The building has been evacuated.

"The public are advised to avoid the Castle Street/Royal Avenue area whilst the incident is ongoing."

Members of the public have been advised to stay away from the area / PA

The Police Service of Northern Ireland also issued a warning to motorists to avoid the area.

A number of diversions are in place at Bridge Street, High Street, Castle Street and Queen's Street as well as Royal Avenue and North Street to allow the fire service to deal with the ongoing incident.

Police have advised drivers to seek an alternative route.

Graham Newton, who works near to the scene, said: I was in work when I heard about it and when I saw it to be honest I was shocked.

The flames were just starting to rise through the roof. The roof has now collapsed completely with black smoke billowing over Belfast.

The 30-year-old, who works as a manager at a Costa Coffee, said he can smell the smoke quite vividly.

It doesnt look like its going to die down any time soon, he added.

Another witness, posting on social media, said they heard bangs from the scene.

She said the scenes were shocking.

A Primark spokesperson said: "Our Belfast store on Castle Street was safely evacuated this morning (August 28) following a fire on the roof.A disabled comedian claims she has lost her independence after a valuable part of her mobility scooter went missing on a flight from Italy to Stansted.

Tanyalee Davis, 47, was flying home from a show in Slovenia on a Ryanair flight on Friday evening when the custom-made rack was lost.

The flight from Treviso landed over three hours late in London and it took her a further two hours to be reunited with the scooter.

However, she immediately noticed the valuable rack, which was custom-made in North Carolina five years ago, had been taken off and was missing.

Ms Davis said she cannot travel independently without the custom-made metal rack / Tanyalee Davis

The comedian, who has a form of dwarfism, told the Standard: After landing, we kept getting passed from person to person with nobody knowing where the scooter was meant to be coming from.

We had to keep walking all around and it was absolute chaos.

I finally got the scooter back two hours after we landed, but then I found out a custom made part was gone. Its a rack that sits on the backseat and allows me to store my luggage.

She said the rack, which has still not been found, must have been taken off manually at some point in transit.

Ms Davis, a Canadian national who lives in Norwich, added: Im going away for shows next week and I dont know what Im going to do because I cant carry or wheel my suitcase.

Its such a valuable piece  it gives me my independence.

She said her Ryanair lost luggage claim could be rejected as she doesnt have a tag or original receipt for the rack.

Paralympic gold medallist Tanni Grey-Thompson commented on Ms Davis' post on Twitter to ask: "What were they doing taking [the rack] off? Did they take it off with you present ? Or broke it and lost it?"

Ryanair said wheelchair service companies at both Treviso and Stansted airports were responsible for transporting the scooter.

The Standard has contacted Stansted Airport and Omniserv, the firm which provides the airport's wheelchair services, for comment.

In a separate incident at Stansted, Paralympian Anne Wafula-Strike says she was left on a plane for 45 minutes before airport staff came to help her.

Disabled comedian Tanyalee Davis left stranded in Darlington after staff failed to bring her a ramp

She said a guard on a Great Western Railway (GWR) service from Plymouth to London threatened to call the police if she did not vacate the disabled space.

She said it was humiliating and really embarrassing.K weku Adoboli is the first to admit that he, as he puts it f***ed up.

The 38-year-olds banking career ended explosively when he was convicted in 2011 of losing $2.3 billion of the bank UBSs money and was dubbed the biggest rogue trader in British history.

The insults thrown at him during his trial still smart. They roll off his tongue: adrenaline junkie, driven by money, massive show-off, gambler. Overnight, he says, he became a pariah: a figurehead for everything that was wrong in the City.

But after serving half of a seven-year sentence he says he has had a new lease of life. He is trying to atone for his crimes by working to reform the City; speaking to more than 7,000 bankers, students and politicians about how to bring about what he calls a radical change in culture. Hes even given a talk with Tony Blair. Now he has another battle on his hands  to stay in the country.

The Government is trying to deport him to Ghana, where he was born, because he is not a British citizen. While he appeals their decision he has to report to the police station every fortnight. His MP, Hannah Bardell, has joined his campaign to stay in the country and has sent a request to the Home Secretary asking that he is not held. Adoboli argues that he has served his prison sentence and that deportation is not meant to be a double punishment.

Despite no longer working in the City, Adoboli is dressed in the uniform of an off-duty banker; a pristine white T-shirt, navy blazer and smart jeans.

He left Ghana aged four, when his father went to work for the United Nations in Jerusalem. At 12 he was sent to Ackworth, a Quaker boarding school in Yorkshire.

Kweku Adoboli pictured leaving the City of London Magistrates Court after a hearing in 2011 / PA

Theresa May talked about global citizens being citizens of nowhere, he says. I am that global citizen, so I never stopped to think that my passport restricted my freedom. I broke down last week in tears thinking I could be in a detention centre: worse than prison. My godson, who I live with, would come home from his first day of school to me not being there. My godsons are three and five and call me My Kweku  they think everyone has a mum, a dad and a My Kweku because theyve known me all their life.

The deportation has caused division in his immediate family. My father thinks if this country wants to deport me I should go back to Ghana. But he has to understand that he sent me here, I built an alternative surrogate family here. If I leave Im allowing them to take away a massive part of my identity.

His father sat through Adobolis trial and it brought them closer. It was hard for me to watch him going through that. For the first time in my life he said he was proud of me because I told the truth and took responsibility.

Going over what happened at UBS is painful, like cutting out a little piece of my heart, but he has now spoken about it countless times at workshops run by think tank the Forward Institute. The conversations were having about it are deeply important. Ive seen it all, from running a $5 billion book to being cast out in prison  you see how society works and how you need to make it better.

Hes crowdfunding his appeal and if its overturned and he no longer needs the money he is planning to donate it to others in need of legal aid, especially those from the Windrush Generation who are at risk of deportation.

At the trial my father told me he was proud of me for the first time in my life, because I told the truth

What Adoboli did was illegal. In his job as a trader he was booking non-existent trades as hedges to hide that risk limits had been exceeded. Eventually the money lost was too much to hide. He sent an email to colleagues, signing off: I take responsibility for my actions and the s*** storm that will now ensue. I am deeply sorry to have left this mess for everyone and to have put my bank and my colleagues at risk.

He plead not guilty, he says, to get disclosure on everything that happened so I could contribute to learning and cultural change.

Adoboli says that he didnt want to go into banking. He studied computer science and management at Nottingham University and did an internship at UBS because he couldnt get one in consulting. Whats ridiculous is by the end of my 10-week internship at UBS in 2012 I had become part of the culture. I was told that our values matched. When they offered me a job I was proud and thought they had embraced me.

Aged 27 he was promoted to run a $50 billion portfolio. It was me and my supervisor John [Hughes], who was 25, running the biggest book in the bank. We had 30 months of experience between us. Thats like two kids running the economy of Ghana. I had imposter syndrome every day.

Hughes was dismissed for gross misconduct weeks after Adobolis arrest but not charged with anything.

Adoboli continues: We were trying to rebuild after the financial crisis and regain some independence after being bailed out by the Swiss taxpayer, but to do that we had to take risks  we didnt know another way to create profit. There had been swathes of redundancies and people had fear they cant deliver  so you dont talk about failure, Bankers were being bashed from outside, which affected us.

Rogue trading was a way to run the book in this stressed environment. It protected you from making short- term decisions and bought time.

Was he driven by money? No. Yuval Noah Harari talks about this  we tell stories to control society. The narrative about me is Im an adrenaline junkie driven by money. Thats the opposite of who I am. I went to a Quaker school with the motto Not for himself but for all. Colleagues said: Kwek, youve got it wrong, this game is not about the community its about how much profit you can make as quick as possible with as little effort.

By the time he was convicted he had decided to leave trading. My partner then, a doctor, had said I needed to choose between the job and her. I was desperate to make it work so committed to leaving the bank. She had said I was doing well so why wasnt I happy?

Id ask my bosses, Whats our purpose? You get the stock line about trickle-down economics or moving assets to where they are in demand to lubricate globalisation.

He quotes academic theories of resource depletion, when a person works in a high-pressure environment and feels that they identify with the values of an institution. When there is a bifurcation between your values and the institution you feel inauthentic but instead of dealing with it and seeing your family and friends you withdraw into the institution.

His partner gave him an ultimatum  it was the job or her. I was desperate to make it work with her. Then the loss happened and three months later Im in prison. He sighs.

Its becoming less emotionally gruelling to return to the area of Shoreditch where he worked: Back then, how near I was to work was more important than where I lived.

What he wants is a shift in banking culture so no one has to go through what he has. Our most brilliant people are working in finance; we need to get those people thinking about how to solve problems rather than how do we generate tons of profit. The financial industry needs to change its purpose and fix social global problems like migration, water shortages and climate change through investments they make. He speaks to young people, who want to change the world, like I once did and says their idealism is valuable to companies. We need to give them the tools to protect themselves.

Its taken a long time and a lot of therapy to reach this reflective point. When he arrived at Verne Prison in Dorset he was a minor celebrity. People were like: Mate, its the billion-dollar banker. He says it in a laddish voice. I kept myself to myself at first. I was bullied by security  they searched my cell every Friday for four weeks in a row  no one gets that. They turn it upside down, pull apart your legal paperwork. Washing-up liquid was squirted everywhere, oats thrown around. Eventually he made friends, working as a listener for the Samaritans and becoming chair of the prison council. Prisoners fondly called him uncle.

Adobolis been following debates around prison privatisation. There shouldnt be private prisons because prison is a social tool for protecting and rehabilitation  it shouldnt be linked to profit. I was in prison in Ukip land, and at the prison council decisions were political. You have to invest in rehabilitation like in Scandinavia if you want to reduce crime so when prisoners come out they have a life to build  thats a reason not to re-offend.

He survived prison because of his friends. Ro and Pip, friends from uni who I live with now, were amazing. When I broke up with my partner two-and-a-half years into my sentence I was smoking non-stop, not sleeping, drinking too much coffee. I spoke to Ro on the phone and he came down from Scotland to check up on me.

Ro picked Adoboli up when he was released and drove him to Scotland. On the way, Ro stopped. He said: I want you to repeat, I am not a criminal. Say it until you believe it. You made mistakes but that doesnt define who you are.

Adoboli doesnt miss his old life. Despite the Home Office and the constant sword of Damocles hanging over us, my life today is rich and happy. I dont miss making tons of profit for the bank, but not being able to live.

He has a new girlfriend and beams at the mention of her. Telling someone what happened is always difficult  its complex but also theres stigma, worrying about meeting their parents and explaining that the caricature in the press isnt the real me.S everal people were injured as thousands of far right protesters clashed with riot police in an east German city where a killing was allegedly committed by a Syrian and an Iraqi.

The activists gathered in the centre of Chemnitz for a second day on Monday, shouting "we are louder, we are more" and "lying press".

Demonstrators hurled bottles and firecrackers at about 1,000 rival left-wing protestors, who yelled slogans like "Nazis out" and "There's no right to Nazi propaganda".

Hundreds of police officers in riot gear pushed people back as they tried to get at those on the other side.

Riot police: Hundreds of officers were deployed in the German city of Chemnitz / AFP/Getty Images

The groups took to the streets after a 35-year-old German man was injured during a clash after a street festival and died early on Sunday.

Prosecutor Christine Muecke said the killing stemmed from a verbal confrontation that escalated.

Two men, a 22-year-old Syrian citizen and a 21-year-old Iraqi citizen, were arrested and held on suspicion of manslaughter.

Protests: Far right activists confront police in riot gear / EPA

Hundreds of people also took part in spontaneous protests late on Sunday in Chemnitz, a city where almost a quarter of the voters supported the far-right Alternative for Germany party last year.

Videos posted on social media appeared to show far-right protesters threatening and chasing passers-by.

Of the estimated 800 people who took part in the first round of protests, about 50 were involved in violence and attacked police officers with bottles and stones, police said.

Clashes: Far right protesters took to the streets after a German man was stabbed to death in Chemnitz / REUTERS

Teenagers from Syria and Afghanistan were attacked in separate incidents but were not seriously hurt and a 30-year-old Bulgarian was also threatened.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, strongly condemned Sunday's violence.

"What was seen yesterday in parts of Chemnitz and what was recorded on video has no place in our country," Mr Seibert said.

"People ganging up, chasing people who look different from them or who come from elsewhere... is something we won't tolerate," he said.F acebook has said it is banning Myanmar's powerful military chief and 19 other individuals and groups from its site to prevent the spread of hate and misinformation.

The social media giant was heavily criticised for permitting itself to be used to inflame ethnic and religious conflict in the country, particularly against minority Rohingya Muslims.

The social network has said it will block 18 accounts, one Instagram account and 52 Facebook pages linked to generals in Myanmar, including the country's commander in chief Min Aung Hlaing, after leaders were found to have perpetuated hate, enslavement and "crimes against humanity" with impunity.

Facebook officials responded to the claims after calls for it to silence comments from Min Aung Hlaing, who the UN has also called to be investigated and prosecuted for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the north of Rakhine State.

Myanmar soldiers march in formation during a military parade in Naypyidaw. / Thet Aung/AFP/Getty Images

The social network said in a post that it had banned 18 Facebook accounts, one Instagram account and 52 Facebook pages - collectively followed by 12 million people.

Facebook said in a statement: "The ethnic violence in Myanmar has been truly horrific. Earlier this month, we shared an update on the steps were taking to prevent the spread of hate and misinformation on Facebook. While we were too slow to act, were now making progress  with better technology to identify hate speech, improved reporting tools, and more people to review content.

"We are banning 20 individuals and organizations from Facebook in Myanmar  including Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and the militarys Myawady television network. International experts, most recently in a report by the UN Human Rights Council-authorized Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, have found evidence that many of these individuals and organizations committed or enabled serious human rights abuses in the country. And we want to prevent them from using our service to further inflame ethnic and religious tensions."

Some 46 pages and 12 accounts were also removed for engaging in "inauthentic behaviour", which were discovered to use seemingly independent news and opinion pages to "covertly push the messages of the Myanmar military."

Journalists and Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, (pictured) were arrested in January after investigating a massacre of 10 Rohingya militants on August 25, 2017. The pair face trial under secrecy laws and await a verdict. / Ye Aung ThuAFP/Getty Images

The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar found patterns of gross human rights violations and abuses committed in Kachin, Rakhine and Shan States that undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law, principally by Myanmars military, the Tatmadaw, but also by other security forces.

The report stated: Military necessity would never justify killing indiscriminately, gang raping women, assaulting children, and burning entire villages. The Tatmadaws tactics are consistently and grossly disproportionate to actual security threats, especially in Rakhine State, but also in northern Myanmar."

The report pointed at "specific utterances of commanders and direct perpetrators" as a factor in its assessment of genocidal intentions, but did not name the social network specifically.

The Mission's report laid bare the military's countless crimes - from mass killings to the scorching of Rohingya settlements and large-scale gang rape by Tatmadaw soldiers. One survivor said in testimony: I was lucky, I was only raped by three men. Rapes were often in public spaces in front of families, including children.

Satellite images provided by Digital Globe were compared to show the destruction of home in the village of Thit Tone Nar Gwa Son, Rakhine state - one of hundreds of villages said to be flattened by the military in the space of three months. / DigitalGlobe via AP

"The role of social media is significant," the report found.

It added: "Facebook has been a useful instrument for those seeking to spread hate, in a context where for most users Facebook is the Internet. Although improved in recent months, Facebooks response has been slow and ineffective. The extent to which Facebook posts and messages have led to real-world discrimination and violence must be independently and thoroughly examined."

Violence erupted in August 2017 when 10 Rohingya militants were murdered - the Reuters journalists Kyaw Soe Oo, 28 and Wa Lone, 32 were arrested while investigating the incident and await a verdict on September 13 which could see them imprisoned for 14 years under secrecy laws.

Myanmar's current military rulers have a legacy of decades of violence since independence from the British Empire. The country is a democracy on paper - drafting a new constitution in 2008, which enshrined that 25 per cent of parliamentary seats must be held by members of the armed forced. it was overwhelmingly approved by 92.4 per cent of the pubic - from a referendum which saw a turnout of 99 per cent of the country, and reports of fraud across rural voting stations as authorities ticking ballots and refusing to let people vote themselves. The country's first elections in 2010 were damned as fraudulent by the UN. The ruling far-right USDP is littered with former military officers.A woman branded "the worst bride ever" has called off her wedding because guests refused to pay nearly 900 (1,500 Canadian dollars) to attend.

In a bizarre Facebook rant, the Canadian mother-of-one, named only as Susan, complained: I just wanted to be a Kardashian for the day.

The expletive-filled post started by announcing the wedding had been cancelled, just four days before it was meant to take place, and that she had broken up with her fiance.

Unfortunately, she said, [he] and I have broken up due to some recent and irreparable problems.

The first part of Canadian Susan's Facebook rant

Her dream wedding, she went on, cost just over 35,000 (60,000 Canadian dollars).

She wrote: All we asked was for a little help from our friends and family to make it happen.

I SPECIFICALLY, I mean SPECIFICALLY asked for cash gifts. How could we have OUR wedding that WE dreamed of without proper funding? Wed sacrificed so much and only asked each guest for around $1,500.

We made it CLEAR. If you couldnt contribute, you werent invited to our exclusive wedding. Its a once in a lifetime party.

The second part of Canadian Susan's Facebook rant

To Susans shock, only eight people replied to the invite. Her fiances family, meanwhile, refused to pay-up.

I mean seriously people, Susan wrote, what is $1,000? What is $1,500? Clearly not a lot. It would be quite manageable and within budget.

A GoFundMe page, meanwhile, was said to have raised only 150 (250 Canadian dollars).

When her fiance suggested a quickie wedding in Las Vegas, she said: I laughed in his face, but he was dead serious. He wanted one of those cheap, filthy, Vegas weddings.

I mean WHAT the f**k? Was he out of his mind? Am I some piece of f**king trash, a hooker? Am I supposed to like the idea of getting married in the heart of shady gamblers, alcoholics, and the get rich fast fallacy?

She claimed to have suffered a panic attack, and matters didnt improve when she caught her ex and maid of honour talking about her behind her back, she said. The relationship was soon over.

Susan finished by announcing she is going to spend the next two months backpacking in South America to rid herself of toxic energy and explore her soul.

I need to get away from this awful society, she said.

The post, which was shared on Mumsnet, left others baffled. One posted: "Surely no one is actually that nuts?"

Another said: "The trip to South America to 'find' herself should be interesting. If no-one could come to the wedding unless they paid the requested amount and no-one did surely there is no need to inform anyone of the cancellation? The paltry amount raised on the GoFundMe page just about finished me off."T he White House flag has been re-lowered in tribute to John McCain following criticism of Donald Trump's response to the senator's death.

The US president has repeatedly refused to talk about Mr McCain since his death on Saturday and previously only tweeted his condolences to his family.

He has drawn strong criticism from Republicans and veterans' groups as well as Democrats for his refusal to comment on Mr McCain's legacy.

He finally relented, in a printed statement, on Monday but was sparing with his praise for the Arizona senator.

Senator John McCain died on Saturday after a battle with brain cancer / REUTERS

He said: "Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain's service to our country and, in his honour, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment."

The flag at the top of the White House had flown at half-mast over the weekend but was raised again on Monday.

Tribute: The US flag above the White House flies at half-mast / AFP/Getty Images

Denise Rohan, The American Legion's national commander, was among those to urge Mr Trump to lower the flag.

She said in a statement: "On the behalf of the American Legion's two million wartime veterans, I strongly urge you to make an appropriate presidential proclamation noting Senator McCain's death and legacy of service to our nation, and that our nation's flag be half-staffed through his internment."

US president Donald Trump in the White House on Monday / REUTERS

By the end of the day, Mr Trump had done just that.

He also confirmed reports he will not attend Mr McCain's funeral next weekend.

He said vice president Mike Pence would address a ceremony at the US capital on Friday, while his chief of staff, defence secretary and national security adviser will also represent the administration.

Earlier on Monday, Mr McCain took aim at Mr Trump in a posthumous message.

In his farewell letter, read aloud by family friend Rick Davis, Mr McCain said: We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe.

We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down.

Mr Trump has made building a wall between the US and Mexico one of his signature policies.

Mr McCain was a frequent critic of Mr Trump on everything from his leadership style to his Russia policy.T he ex-chief of the Hanoi Hilton jail where the late John McCain was held for five years during the Vietnam War today paid tribute to the US statesmans toughness and strong stance.

Colonel Tran Trong Duyet, who ran notorious Hoa Lo jail, met Mr McCain many times during the years he was detained after his Skyhawk dive bomber was shot down over Hanoi in 1967.

He said: At that time I liked him personally for his toughness and strong stance.

Later on when he became a US senator, he and Senator John Kerry greatly contributed to promote Vietnam-US relations so I was very fond of him.

He told state-published Vietnam News he was very sad and I think its the same feeling for all Vietnamese people as he has greatly contributed to the development of Vietnam-US relations.

Tran Trong Duyet, the former director at the Hoa Lo prison in Hanoi, speaking in front of photos of US prisoners of war / AFP/Getty Images

Mr McCain, who died of brain cancer on Saturday aged 81, was tortured repeatedly while in jail and admitted he tried to commit suicide.

The son of a four-star admiral, he was offered his release after a year, but would not abandon fellow prisoners. He was freed in 1973.

Republican Mr McCain and Democrat Mr Kerry, who both fought unsuccessful campaigns for the US presidency, played key roles in normalising relations with Vietnam in 1995.

Mr McCain was an outspoken critic of Donald Trump and the pair clashed repeatedly, with the president once flinging the insult: Hes not a war hero. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who werent captured.

Pressured Trump breaks silence on John McCain

However, as the nation mourned the loss of the Arizona senator, Mr Trump bowed to pressure to lower the White House flag to half-mast again.

While US regulations state flags should be lowered on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress, for figures with the prominence of Mr McCain it is typical for the flag to stay at half-mast until the burial.

Mr Trump had ignored questions about his tepid response to the senators death but released a statement via the White House last night after the American Legion joined the clamour for the flag to be lowered.

He said: Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCains service to our country and ... have signed a proclamation to fly the flag ... at half-staff until the day of his interment.

I have asked Vice President Mike Pence to offer an address at the ceremony honouring Senator McCain at the United States Capitol this Friday ... I have also authorised military transportation of Senator McCains remains from Arizona to Washington, DC ... and a horse and caisson transport during the service at the United States Naval Academy.

Chief of staff John Kelly, defence secretary James Mattis and national security adviser John Bolton will represent the administration at the services.

In a final, emotional letter, read out by friend and former campaign manager Rick Davis, Mr McCain made pointed remarks about the president: We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe. We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down.

Do not despair of our present difficulties but believe always in the promise and greatness of America because nothing is inevitable here. Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history.J ohn McCain took aim at Donald Trump in a posthumous message as a spokesman for the late senator confirmed the president will not attend his funeral.

In a final message read out by family friend Rick Davis, Mr McCain said the United States is weakened when we hide behind walls.

Mr Davis also confirmed the president would not be attending the funeral as far as we know, adding thats just a fact.

The Arizona Republican died on Saturday at the age of 81 after battling brain cancer.

Rick Davis, spokesperson for Senator John McCain's family, speaks to the media / AP

In his farewell letter, read aloud in Arizona on Monday, Mr McCain said: We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe.

We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down.

McCain disagreed with Obama but said he was still a decent man

Mr Trump has made building a wall between the US and Mexico one of his signature policies.

Mr McCain, who expressed a deep gratitude and love of country, encouraged Americans not to "despair of our present difficulties".

US president Donald Trump in the White House on Monday / REUTERS

"Do not despair of our present difficulties but believe always in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here," he wrote. "Americans never quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We make history."

"We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe," he said.

Later on Monday Mr Trump, who has repeatedly refused to talk about Mr McCain since his death, said he respects the senators "service to our country" and signed a proclamation to fly the US flag at half-mast until his burial.

Pressured Trump breaks silence on John McCain

The president had previously only tweeted his condolences to Mr McCain's family but made no reference to the senator.

The flag at the top of the White House flew at half-mast over the weekend but was raised on Monday and then lowered again amid criticism.

Mr Trump added in a written statement on Monday that he has asked Vice President Mike Pence to speak at a ceremony honouring Mr McCain at the Capitol on Friday.

The president also said he agreed to the McCain family's request for military transportation of Mr McCain's remains from Arizona to Washington DC.mages released by NASA have shown the devastating effects of flooding in parts of Southern Indian state Kerala from space.

Satellite pictures show the area surrounding the Vembanad lake, including regions in Alappuzha, Kottayam, Changanassery and Thiruvalla, submerged in water.

Nearly 400 people have died since August 8, according to Reuters.

The images captured by two satellites show Kerala overwhelmed by water in the aftermath of the intense rainfall.

The first picture was captured before the flood on February 6 - showing vast stretches of vegetation across the state, coloured in bright green.A French minister who kept his job working for Emmanuel Macron despite historical rape allegations by the granddaughter of a former president has resigned.

Environment minister Nicolas Hulot said he had fallen out with President Macron over policy issues, declaring: Ive now taken the decision to leave the government.

Mr Hulot, 63, a green activist and former TV presenter, had been accused of attacking Pascale Mitterand, granddaughter of Francois Mitterand, in 1997. He denies any wrongdoing.

Ms Mitterand, now 41, issued a statement through her lawyers in February confirming she went to police.

Her allegation of rape was investigated by detectives for three months, but then dropped because the alleged crime had taken place 11 years before, putting it beyond the statute of limitations.

Despite the scandal, Mr Macron stood by his colleague and friend, saying there was no question of him being sacked.

French president Emmanuel Macron poses with former environment minister Nicolas Hulot / AFP/Getty Images

The attack was alleged to have taken place when Ms Mitterand was a 20-year-old apprentice photographer and was spending a week picturing Mr Hulot, an environmentalist and TV presenter, at his holiday home in Corsica.

Gilbert Mitterand, Pascales father, told Paris magazine Ebdo, which originally broke the story: My daughter became different after that.

Mr Hulot was also said to have sexually harassed a second unnamed woman he met through his Hulot Foundation, which campaigns on environmental issues.

In this case, money was said to have been paid out by the Foundation as part of a settlement with Mr Hulots former lover, but this was denied by him and his organisation.

Mr Hulot, who is married with two children, denied any wrongdoing throughout the scandals, and has pledged to sue Ebdo magazine.

Announcing his resignation, he cited disappointment with the governments lack of progress on combating climate change and taking action on other environmental goals.A ctivists have taken to the streets in protest after a dolphin and dozens of penguins were abandoned in an aquarium in Japan.

Protesters were out in force in Japan calling for the animals to be saved.

The animals, including a dolphin called Honey, have been abandoned since the start of the year.

Honey, a female bottlenose dolphin, was captured in 2005 near Taiji, a western port of the town that has become notorious for its annual dolphin hunt which was featured in the Oscar-winning documentary, The Cove.

The practice of Japanese aquariums buying dolphins from Taiji came under heavy criticism following the release of the film.

The hunt involves driving hundreds of dolphins into a cove, where some are taken alive for sale to marine parks, while others are killed for meat.

Honey, a bottle-nose dolphin, was filmed by activists / REUTERS

The Japan Association of Zoos and Aquariums has since agreed to stop buying dolphins from Taiji.

Honey, 46 penguins and hundreds of fish and reptiles remain at the Inubosaki Marine Park Aquarium, in the city of Choshi in Chiba, just east of Tokyo.

The facility shut in January after citing a decline in visitors after the 2011 earthquake and nuclear crisis.

An official with the Chiba prefectural Health and Welfare department said employees have been feeding the animals regularly.

Photos taken in March and August by activists show Honey floating in a tiny pool in an eerily empty facility.

Honey, penguins and reptiles are said to have been left / REUTERS

In another picture, dust-covered penguins can be seen perched on a crumbling structure near a pile of debris.

Honey is a symbol of both the problem of marine parks and Taijis hunting practices, said Akiko Mitsunobu, chief of aquarium issues for Animal Rights Center.

When we went to check on the facility, she was showing signs of stress, putting her head weakly in and out of the water.

News of the abandoned animals spread quickly over social media, with Twitter users posting photos captioned Save Honey. A resort hotels offer to give them a new home sparked a flood of retweets.R ussia is to hold its biggest war games in nearly four decades, according to reports.

Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu was quoted as saying the huge military event will take place next month.

The exercise, called Vostok-2018, is said to be taking place in central and eastern Russian military districts.

It is reported to involve almost 300,000 troops, over 1,000 military aircraft, two of Russia's naval fleets, and all its airborne units.

It will be the biggest military exercise since 1981, Mr Shoigu was quoted as telling Russian news agencies.

The Standard has approached the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence for comment.

Russia held a huge war games Zapad-2017 in September last year, with president Vladimir Putin inspecting the military exercise.

Members of Nato have voiced concern about the purpose of the drill.S panish police have seized 67kg of cocaine found stashed inside pineapples at a market in Madrid.

The huge haul was found crammed into hollowed out fruit at wholesale market Merco Madrid in the Spanish capital.

The shipment of pineapples had been imported from Costa Rica, police said.

A video shared on social media shows officers from Spain's National Police hurling the fruit at the floor to smash open the skins and cut through what is believed to be paraffin wax to reveal the tightly-packed cylinders of cocaine inside.

Those containing the drug were carrying between 800 and 7,000 grams (28 - 246oz) of cocaine.

Agents from Spain's National Police Agency found the cocaine stashed inside pineapples / CNP

The force said in a statement: "Agents of the National Police have seized 67 kilos of cocaine inside hollow pineapples and have arrested seven people in Madrid and Barcelona.

Seven arrests have been made in connection to the trafficking of drugs worth around 9.5 million. / CNP

"The drug was transported inside pineapples perfectly emptied and stuffed with compact cylinders of cocaine that were coated with a bath of wax or yellowish paraffin. Thus they isolated the odours of the chemical products contained in the drug and dodged detection.

"The cargo was located in MercaMadrid and it was necessary to open each pineapple until locating those containing between 800 and 1,000 grams per piece."

The investigation began after officers witnessed similar trafficking operations using the same "modus operandi", and having identified the company which would be importing narcotics, knew to check the pineapples in the shipment.

The huge haul was found crammed into hollowed out fruit at wholesale market Merco Madrid. / AFP/Getty Images

The owner of the company was said to have made several transactions using various fruit companies. After the shipment arrived at the Port of Setubal in Portugal, they waited for the traffickers to being unloading in Madrid before raiding the operation.T heresa May was filmed awkwardly dancing during a school visit in Cape Town on the first day of her trade trip to Africa.

Clad in a bright red blazer the UK leader shuffled along, shifting her feet forward and swaying her hands near her hips as a choir of schoolchildren sang.

Mrs May smiled broadly as she shuffled from side-to-side at the ID Mkize School in Cape Town.

Speaking to pupils afterwards, she said: "Can I thank all those young people who were involved in the performances outside who welcomed me."

She also joined in a second dance during her visit as she embarked on her latest Africa trip, which began on Tuesday.

The Prime Minister's rhythmic moves received a lot of attention on social media, with many saying she was "dad dancing".

One person wrote: Im watching this through my fingers #daddancing.

The school the PM danced at in Cape Town is twinned with Whitby High School in Yorkshire.

Another said: I thought I had left feet.

Mrs May was also likened to a robot, with a GIF of Futurama character Bender, a metallic robot, dancing being shared online in response to her moves.

One questioned why it mattered how well she danced and wrote: How is this important? Shes not auditioning for Strictly.

The school trip was used to announce more places on a scholarship, helping those with the desire come to the UK for university.

The prime minister is visiting South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya on a trade mission.

In an assembly, the PM said: "What I see before me in this hall today is the future of South Africa."

"I'd like to think that some of you, when you get older, if you're thinking of going to university that you might think of coming to one of our great universities in the UK.T heresa May made a stop at Robben Island on Tuesday as part of her two-day tour of South Africa.

The Prime Minister received a guided tour of the island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years during the apartheid era.

Images from the stop show Ms May standing inside the former President of South Africa's cell.

Upon leaving the island, she wrote in the visitor book: "It has been a privilege to visit in this year - the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nelson Mandela.

The Prime Minister is currently on a two-day visit to South Africa / PA

"His legacy lives on in the hopes and dreams of young people here in South Africa and around the world."

Her stop comes hours after she secured her first post-Brexit deal and pledged to fight off Boris Johnson if he challenged her leadership.

Ms May said the government intends to carry over the EU's economic partnership agreement with Mozambique and the Southern African Customs Union which consists of South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland.

Speaking in Cape Town, she said: "We will today confirm plans to carry over the European Union's economic partnership with the South African Customs Union and Mozambique, once the EU's deal no longer applies to the UK."

The Prime Minister wrote in the visitor notebook on Robben Island / PA

Ms May also added that the UK would also invest an additional 4 billion in African economies, which is hoped will pave the way for "another 4 billion in private sector finance."

Her visit is the first by a British prime minister to sub-Saharan Africa in five years.

When asked if the UK has neglected Africa and come "late to the party" compared to other nations in working with the continent, Ms May replied: "No.

"I think, just look at the number of visits the former foreign secretary made just last year as an example of that.

"We have been working with African nations and African governments in the past. What I'm talking about today is a new partnership for the future - recognising the challenges we both face."

Prime Minister Theresa May poses with school children during a visit to the ID Mkhize Secondary School / AFP/Getty Images

Earlier today, she indicated that she will fight Boris Johnson if he tries to oust her as Conservative leader.

Her comments follow weeks of mounting speculation that Mr Johnson is mobilising for an attempted coup that could be launched within months.

Responding to a question about whether she was worried by any attempt by Mr Johnson to make a show of popularity at conference, she said: Ive been asked before whether it is my intention to lead the Conservative Party into the next general election.

"And Ive answered that question before, Im in this for the long term, what Im focusing on delivering is what the British people want.

She stressed that this includes not only negotiating Brexit but also delivering on the domestic agenda.

An ally of Mr Johnson declined to comment on her remarks.D onald Trump today accused Google of rigging its search results to make him look bad.

In an angry outburst on Twitter, the US president claimed the technology company was promoting negative stories to users looking for the latest news on him.

He said Google was suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good.

A search for Trump News on the site only showed reports Fake New (sic) Media, he claimed, adding: This is a very serious situation - will be addressed.

President Trump has launched a string of attacks on the media in the past, calling the press the enemy of the people, very dangerous, sick and fake news.

Trump accused Google of promoting negative stories about him / PA

In his new outburst, he suggested the search giant could even be breaking the law by not showing enough positive stories.

Google search results for Trump News shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD.

Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96% of results on Trump News are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous.

Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!

Mr Trump sent the post at 5.24am local time, apparently after having searched his own name.

It was unclear where the statistic he used originated from.

Last month, the president wrote on Twitter about how social media was discriminating against right-wing voices.

It comes after more than 300 US newspapers came together to defend press freedom against the Presidents attacks, in an effort coordinated by the Boston Globe.

A spokeswoman for Google denied manipulating search results.

She told the Standard: When users type queries into the Google Search bar, our goal is to make sure they receive the most relevant answers in a matter of seconds.

Search is not used to set a political agenda and we don't bias our results toward any political ideology.White House lowers flag again in John McCain tribute

It was lowered in tribute on Saturday following the former Presidential candidates death but then returned to full mast on Monday.

Mr McCain had been a fierce critic of Donald Trump and there were complaints the White House had not kept the flag flying at half mast for long enough.

Mr Trump has now ordered American flags at Government building are lowered until Mr McCains burial on Sunday.

373 arrested during Notting Hill Carnival

Monday night saw the only stabbing of the event, with a man receiving non-life-threatening injuries.

Knife arches were used at the carnival for the first time and 36 weapons were seized, police said.

Commander Dave Musker said he was pleased overall with how the weekend went.

May dismissed No Deal Brexit fears

Theresa May has dismissed fears of a no-deal Brexit apocalypse as she played down the Chancellor's warnings of major economic consequences.

The Prime Minister repeated claims that no agreement with the EU, quote, "would not be a walk in the park but wouldn't be the end of the world", initially made by the World Trade Organisation's Roberto Azevedo.

She added the Government is putting in place measures to ensure it can make a success of no deal and remains confident it can do similar with a good deal.

Mrs May also said Philip Hammond was only highlighting work in progress figures when he published a letter about the potential economic impact on no deal last week.

Police hunt for man after Solihull murders continues

Police have made a direct appeal to a 21-year-old man to hand himself in after the murders of his former partner and her mother.

Janbaz Tarin is being sought over the killings of Raneem Oudeh and Khaola Saleem outside their home in Solihull yesterday.

Spurs win at Manchester United

Harry Kane opened the scoring with a header before Lucas Moura struck twice.

Taylor Swift no longer YouTube's record Idol

South Korean boyband BTS have broken Taylor Swift's record for the biggest music video debut on YouTube.

Their video for new single Idol was viewed more than 45 million times in the first 24 hours of its release on Friday.A sia Argento has reportedly been sacked from The X Factor Italy in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations.

Argento was accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old and paying him a $380,000 settlement, according to the New York Times.

The Hollywood reporter has now claimed Argento has been dropped as a judge on the reality singing contest with someone else set to replace her ahead of the live shows.

Argento has denied allegations of sexual assault.

Speaking Out: McGowan has released a statement on the allegations (Photo by Agostino Fabio/GC Images) / GC Images

She will reportedly star on the first seven episodes of the series as these were shot before the allegations surfaced.

According to the publication, the new judge will be announced September 5 during the X Factor press conference in Milan.

Standard Online has contacted representatives for Argento for comment.

Alleged: The claims have been made in relation to a supposed incident in 2013 / AP

Rose McGowan, who has been at the forefront of the #MeToo movement, has spoken out about the claims made against Argento.

In a statement published by Deadline today, McGowan explained her involvement in the case.

She wrote: Many people believe that because we have been close in each other's lives over the past year that perhaps I am affiliated with this incident or being complicit. I am not.C hart-topping DJ Jax Jones has claimed he was thrown out of his south London home because his parents disapproved of him pursuing a career in music.

The producer ended up moving into the converted garage of a family friend, and then started trying to build a name for himself.

Now 31, he has reconciled with his parents and said he has been enjoying treating them to nice things with the fruits of his success.

Jones  whose single I Got U with Duke Dumont was No 1 in 2014  left home to study at Brunel University London but said his parents took away his keys.

In action: Jax Jones with artist Raye / Dave Benett

He told A-List: Music was a taboo subject. That was the reason I was kicked out of my house eventually. Most people come back from uni to a home, then they have the freedom to start grafting away and maybe dont leave. But that wasnt an option for me. Even during uni, my parents took my house keys away and that was it.

I moved into the converted garage of a family friend, where they had put a stove and a sofa bed, and I just got busy. I would play in churches, when sometimes youd just get paid with a meal. I had to earn my stripes. My parents disregarded music totally.

Jones added: I dont think they quite understand it, but they know that Im comfortable. They get nice things from me and they definitely like the accolades. My mum says shes proud now.

Joness single Ring Ring with Mabel, the daughter of Neneh Cherry and Massive Attack producer Cameron McVey, is currently in the charts.

He is working on his debut album and hopes to release singles with Jess Glynne and Rita Ora in the future.A yda Field has clapped back at critics, insisting years of experience from being married to Robbie Williams makes her the perfect X Factor judge.

Field will join Williams, Louis Tomlinson and Simon Cowell for the upcoming series after Nicole Scherzinger, Sharon Osborne and Louis Walsh were dropped from the panel.

She faced a backlash from fans who questioned why Cowell chose her to judge and mentor this years hopefuls, with many branding the decision rubbish.

Field has since defended herself, saying her straightforward attitude to Williams music is ample experience to star on the show.

New look: Robbie Williams with his wife Ayda Field, Simon Cowell and Louis Tomlinson on X Factor / Thames/Syco

I know that Ive helped Rob for 12 years now, Ive had to pick him up off the ground and lift him up, Field told Press Association.

Ive been part of every song choice for like five albums, every creative for his live shows, his tours, music videos, I feel like Ive had enough experience with his career and my own career to make a difference with these contestants.

New judge: Louis Tomlinson is returning to the show that made him famous / Rex Features

She continued: Im very passionate. With Rob, I think Im also not afraid to tell him when I dont like something. Hes in a position where a lot of people could tell him they like something even if they dont.

I am always incredibly straightforward, I say it with compassion but I stick to my word and carry it through.

Cowell also defended his decision to recruit the American TV star, describing her as a revelation after the slog of last year.

X Factor returns 1 September

Robbies been a huge part of the show over the years, its how we became friends, and Ayda has been a revelation, I mean, seriously, shes been brilliant, he said.

I can name you on one hand the good managers I know, you dont have to be a music manager or an artist to be on this show. You have to have taste, good instincts, you have got to like people.

Dermot OLeary will return as host for the third consecutive year after he was called back to the helm following Olly Murs and Caroline Flacks stint in 2015.

This series will see the return of the arena auditions as opposed to up close and personal in a small room with the judges.

A Britains Got Talent style Golden Buzzer has reportedly been introduced for the Six Chair Challenge round.

First look at The X Factor Judges 2018 1 /6 First look at The X Factor Judges 2018 Robbie Williams, Ayda Field, Simon Cowell and Louis Tomlinson Thames/Syco Louis Tomlinson Thames/Syco Ayda Field Thames/Syco Robbie Williams Thames/Syco Dermot O'Leary Thames/Syco Louis Tomlinson Rex FeaturesB odyguard viewers are already counting down the minutes until the next episode of the new thriller  but some were left amused by a tea-loving teacher.

Created by Jed Mercurio, the writer behind Line of Duty, Bodyguard follows security officer David Budd, played by Richard Madden, who is assigned to protect Home Secretary Julia Montague, played by Keeley Hawes.

The opening episodes featured shocking scenes of active shooters and potential attacks, but viewers were left chuckling at a teacher clinging onto her cup of tea as she ushered a group of children to safety.

The clip didn't go unnoticed by eagle-eyed fans who gave a "shout out" to the character on Twitter, hailing her a "real hero" for not spilling a drop.

Tea hero: The teacher was congratulated for holding firm as she protected the children / BBC

Shoutout to the teacher who kept hold of her cup of tea all the way through that incident. #Bodyguard, wrote one.

Another said: Only in a British drama would a grown up protect their cup of tea whilst simultaneously protecting children #Bodyguard.

Bosses at the BBC were obviously amused and retweeted a post reading: Shoutout to the teacher who kept her cool and held her cup of tea the entire time her life and the kids lives were in danger #teaismoreimportant #bodyguard.

Others wondered if she could have moved faster had she thrown the cup of tea away, but joked this wouldnt be British.

The attack, which was targeted at the school Budds children attend, left pupils unharmed with officers among fatalities and casualties.

But Budds relationship to his protectee is already in danger as he later found out that Montague may have known the identity of the school before the hit.

The six-part drama kicked off over the Bank Holiday weekend, with episode one on Sunday and two following on Monday.L ove Island may be over but the search for love is still hotting up abroad - this time on Channel 4.

Maitre d Fred Sirieix is back with a brand new series of First Dates Hotel, helping singletons find their perfect match outside Londons Paternoster Chop House.

After being matched up by a clever scientific formula, the love-seeking hopefuls will check in the Italian heaven and hope that sparks fly.

Ahead of the return of the series, here is everything you need to know about First Dates Hotel

What is First Dates Hotel?

Each episode works similar to First Dates, with two singletons being paired up before being wined and dined in a romantic location, except theyre in a hotel setting instead of the London-based restaurant.

If they really hit it off and want to see each other again, they can stay the night in the hotel  which is located in Southern Italy  before spending the next day on a date getting to know each other.

Host: Maitre d Fred Sirieix / Channel 4

Where is the First Dates Hotel?

The same hotel in Campania will be featured in the second series, seeing guests check in at the Aquapetra Resort and Spa.

Of the location, series editor of Adam Chapman said: Were so excited about the gorgeous location in Southern Italy.

"This hotel has the perfect mix of luxury and old-fashioned romance in arguably the most passionate country in the world.

When is First Dates Hotel on?W e're all in need of some comfort food to ease ourselves into autumn, and The Great British Bake Off is back to help us do it.

Whilst some of us may not fancy ourselves as masters in the kitchen, we can certainly spend the next few weeks drooling over the bakers' sweet treats as they enter the famous tent.

Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig are back as hosts while Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith will be there to preside over the perfect pastries.

With just one week to go until the first episode, its time to meet the 2018 contestants.

Contestants: The new bakers have been revealed / Mark Bourdillon/Love Productions/PA Wire

Jon, 47, from Wales

PAMark Bourdillon/Love Productions/PA Wire

The blood courier says that he loves to bake after a hard day at work and aims to make impressive creations and experiment with different techniques.

The father-of-four bakes whenever he gets a spare moment, and thinks the tent will be easier than his kitchen.

Kim-Joy, 27, from Leeds

Mark Bourdillon/Love Productions/PA Wire

The mental health specialist, born to an English father and Malaysian-Chinese mother, grew up in London and now lives in Leeds.

As the only one of her family who bakes, she says her mixed-heritage background is reflected in her open attitude to all styles of baking.

Nadiya Hussain Top 5 baking essentials

Antony, 30, from London

Mark Bourdillon/Love Productions/PA Wire

The banker learned to bake growing up in India and is sure that his friends are going to be really surprised to see him on the show.

Rahul, 30, from Rotherham

Mark Bourdillon/Love Productions/PA Wire

The research scientist moved to the UK on a university scholarship seven years ago and incorporates an East-meets-West fusion into his baking.

Ruby, 29, from London

Mark Bourdillon/Love Productions/PA Wire

The project manager grew up in an Indian family and remembers sweet treats made by her mum, powering her love of all this dessert.

She loves to make cakes and pastries and boozy treats for her friends and family.

Karen, 60, from West Yorkshire

Mark Bourdillon/Love Productions/PA Wire

Having fallen in love with baking 15 years ago in France, the in-store sampling assistants daughters encouraged her to give the show a go.

Manon, 26, from London

Mark Bourdillon/Love Productions/PA Wire

The French project manager found a love of baking when she moved to London and now travels the world in search of the next big thing in baking.

Luke, 30, from Sheffield

Mark Bourdillon/Love Productions/PA Wire

The civil servant, who works as a techno DJ in his spare time, has been baking since the age of 10 before deciding to try his luck on the biggest baking show.

Briony, 33, from Bristol

Mark Bourdillon/Love Productions/PA Wire

The full-time parent has perfected her techniques from YouTube and is ready to take on the famous tent.

Terry, 56, from the West Midlands

Mark Bourdillon/Love Productions/PA Wire

The retired air steward was encouraged to apply for the show by his daughters who wanted him to start a new journey.

He says he will use his background as a prosthetic technician, as well as spoils from his own microbrewery and allotment, to add edge to his bakes.

Imelda, 33, from County Tyrone

Mark Bourdillon/Love Productions/PA Wire

The Northern Irish countryside recreation officer learned to bake in her picturesque home and is ready to show the judges what she can do

Dan, 36, from London

Mark Bourdillon/Love Productions/PA Wire

The full-time parent wants to rejoin the adults after six years of raising his children, admitting his selfish reasons for joining the show include him wanting to do something for himself.Ogden police officer shoots man armed with knife

OGDEN  An Ogden police officer shot and wounded a man who had a knife and was fighting a woman on a downtown sidewalk Monday afternoon, Police Chief Eric Young said. Officers got a weapons disturbance call shortly before 4 p.m. and arrived about two minutes later, finding the two fighting and the man holding a knife, Young said. An officer fired four shots, hitting the man twice, Young said at an evening news conference at the police station. The man was conscious, breathing and alert before he was taken to the hospital, Young said. He did not know whether the woman was injured, but ...Uh-oh! It could be you, or it could be us, but there's no page here.Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III has joined 15 other states asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals interpreting the term sex in federal antidiscrimination law to include transgender status.

In Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. RG & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc., the Sixth Circuit held that a Michigan funeral home had violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by firing a transgender employee who refused to adhere to the employers dress code. The Sixth Circuit interpreted Title VIIs prohibition on discrimination because of sex to include discrimination based on an employees transgender status.

The states brief argues that, when Congress enacted Title VII in 1964, it used the word sex to mean only biological sex, not gender identity.

The Sixth Circuits decision in Harris essentially rewrote federal law, said Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III. Unless and until Congress affirmatively acts to change Title VII, it is up to the states, not the federal judiciary, to determine which protections, or not, should flow to individuals based on gender identity.

Because this case may also have implications for Tennessees schools, Tennessee has a strong interest in obtaining review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Other states joining the brief are Nebraska, Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Kentucky, Maine, and Mississippi.Countries & Areas

Search for country or area A Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan B Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi C Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cote dIvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia D Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic E Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia F Fiji Finland France G Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana H Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary I Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy J Jamaica Japan Jordan K Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan L Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg M Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique N Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway O Oman P Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Q Qatar R Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda S Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria T Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu U Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan V Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Y Yemen Z Zambia ZimbabweBasel physicists examined the orientations of individual electron and nuclear spins. The basis for this was a chip with an edge length of 2 mm, which was cooled to the extremely low temperature 60 millikelvin.

Physicists at the University of Basel are working on using the spin of an electron confined in a semiconductor nanostructure as a unit of information for future quantum computers. For the first time, they have now been able to experimentally demonstrate a mechanism of electron spin relaxation that was predicted 15 years ago. The scientists also succeeded in keeping the direction of the electron spin fixed for almost a minute  a new record.

The intrinsic angular momentum of electrons (spin) could be used to store information in future quantum computers. Professor Daniel Loss from the University of Basels Department of Physics and Swiss Nanoscience Institute developed this concept 20 years ago together with Professor David DiVincenzo (RWTH Aachen), and proposed using electron spins in quantum dots as the smallest unit of information (qubit).

Theoretically applicable, experimentally challenging

Electron spin fulfills the necessary requirements: if a magnetic field is applied, the spin can act in the two states spin-up and spin-down, and can be quickly switched back and forth between the two.

Electron spin is also governed by the particular rules of quantum physics: both states can exist at the same time for a certain period of time, known as the coherence time. Spins can also be linked (entangled) with each other. If the state of a spin is manipulated, the state of the entangled spin also changes immediately. A spin-based quantum computer could use this to conduct millions of computing operations at the same time and complete tasks that are unthinkable for current supercomputers.

However, it has proven difficult to experimentally implement the theory; among other reasons, because the electrons and their spin are so tiny. This means that measuring and manipulating spin is only possible with huge technical effort.

New mechanism for orienting spin

One prerequisite for measuring the direction of a spin is its directional stability over as long a timeframe as possible. When uninfluenced, spins tend to move relatively quickly into the lower-energy spin-up state.

This process, known as relaxation, has been under examination by the group led by Professor Dominik Zumbuhl at the University of Basels Department of Physics and Swiss Nanoscience Institute for several years now, because the key value of coherence time is always limited by relaxation time.

For the first time, the physicists were able to experimentally demonstrate a new mechanism of spin relaxation that was predicted about 15 years ago. When the electron spin flips, a nuclear spin flips in the opposite direction at the same time. The surplus energy is emitted in the form of a lattice vibration.

Progress enabled by technical improvements

Thanks to the technical innovations that made this experimental proof possible, the Basel scientists also achieved a new world record in electron spin stability. On average, the electron spin was able to remain in the high-energy spin-down state for 57 seconds.

They achieved this record by carrying out their experiments with great technical effort just above absolute zero (-273.15C) and using a piezoelectric rotator to precisely control the direction of the magnetic field.

For the experiments, the Basel researchers designed an around 22 mm chip made of the semiconductor material gallium arsenide, on which they used nanofabricated metal electrodes to capture a single electron in a quantum dot. Cooled to an extremely low 60 millikelvin, the scientists were able to measure the timeframe of thousands of spin orientations; their optimal configuration with the smallest magnetic field gave an average value of 57 seconds.

With this experimental observation of the new relaxation mechanism, we have substantially expanded our understanding of the physics of electron spins in nanostructures that we are hoping to use as qubits, says Dominik Zumbuhl. These advances in control and measurement of the spin are important steps on the path to a quantum computer.The Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Romania, Andrew Noble, announced on Tuesday that a new strategic partnership between his country and Romania is in the works, specifying that the current one needs to be "improved and modernized".

We are working together with the Romanian Government for a new strategic partnership between the United Kingdom and Romania. We already have a partnership, but it needs to be improved and modernized to match today's preoccupations. We need a strategic partnership that answers the challenges of a new Europe and I am referring, of course, to the Brexit matter, which will be very important during this negotiation period (...) in Brussels. Europe has many worries concerning security and its prosperity and Brexit cannot be an event that negatively affects Romanian, British, or European matters. (...) My main task is to discuss with the Romanian Government concerning the most appropriate details for the new relationship that will exist between Romania and the United Kingdom within Europe, Andrew Noble told his first press conference since taking office as the United Kingdom's ambassador in Bucharest.

Also, he specified that Romanians within the United Kingdom have no reasons to worry about Brexit."I don't believe that they have any reasons to be worried, but (...) I understand the human reaction that they have. The British Government was very clear and negotiations about the position of Romanian citizens in the United Kingdom were very good. I understand why they feel nervous, many British people are as well," Andrew Noble said, stating that he has faith that the situation will be settled in a "very positive way" concerning this "complicated process" which is Brexit.The ambassador made a reference towards that fact that next year our country will take on the Presidency of the Council of the EU, "a special event for Romania's political and social development of."We live in a time where bilateral relations grow impressively and I'm not just talking about the economy, but rather the cooperation concerning security (...) and life together (...) and I would like refer to the hero in London, a Romanian citizen that saved the lives of London citizens during the terrorist attack (...) of last year, Andrew Noble showed.The British diplomat underlined the fact that during his mandate he will take into account cooperation in all fields. "The entire array of relations is my priority, the position of citizens, economic exchanges, military cooperation and I am going tomorrow [Wednesday ed. n] to "Mihail Kogalniceanu". (...) The fight against organized crime is a huge priority, the ambassador said.He also talked about his first visit in Romania. "I stayed for three years in Bucharest, from 1983 to 1986. (...) I was here during socialist Romania and this is a different country now. (...) Even if there were difficult years for Romanians, but also for foreign diplomats in Bucharest, I created (...) A strong bond with Romania (...) This for me is an honor and a privilege to represent my Queen, my Government and the British people in Romania, Andrew Noble pointed out.The British official mentioned that he learned the Romanian language in his youth and perfected it in London and Iasi, before officially taking office as ambassador in Romania.Andrew Noble also said that his family is very glad for coming in Romania for the first time, saying that even his friends wish to visit our country.Before this I was in Germany, South Africa, Greece, but never have I had so many friends who wanted to come (...) to see us (...). They want to see what this country is about. (...) In the past, people knew about (...) Dracula and Bran Castle, but now the relationship is more intelligent, and the British people talk about Sighisoara and Vlad Tepes, the ambassador declared.He also said that his family adopted a bear in Zarnesti reservation.Ambassador Andrew Noble submitted the copies of the letters of credence with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he will next present the official original documents to President Klaus Iohannis, according to the British Embassy in Bucharest.UK ambassador in Bucharest Andrew Noble said on Tuesday, referring to the political life in Romania, that everywhere in the world "political life is turbulent", specifying that he came to our country to listen, to learn and to understand.

"Everywhere in the world the political life is turbulent. I cannot discuss the political situation in Romania, because I do not know it. I have read a lot, heard a lot, but so far have not experienced anything and I am here to listen, to learn and I hope, to understand. (...) We could have this matter about the political life in the United Kingdom as well, or from the United States, or the Netherlands and so on. It's almost a normal situation, but the details about Romania I cannot comment," declared Andrew Noble, during his first press conference since taking over the mandate as the United Kingdom's ambassador in Bucharest, being asked if he is worried about the fact that there is a polarization of society, as well as for the political class in Romania.

Also, asked about the protest that occurred in Bucharest on August 10, ambassador Andrew Noble specified that he did not discuss the matter with a lot of people from our country, claiming that "the most important aspect" for a diplomat is to "listen"."I am very new here. Until now I haven't discussed with a lot of people from Romania. (...) Only Thursday I presented my letters of accreditation to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and I am here to learn, to listen and to understand", Andrew Noble mentioned.He specified that he does not believe that he would be a "serious diplomat", if he were to comment from the beginning about "the internal situation" of Romania.Asked if in the following period he has meetings scheduled with the chairmen of the Houses of Parliament and with the Minister of Justice, Andrew Noble replied: "I have every intention to meet with the entire leadership of the Romanian Government, not only the people that you mentioned, but currently I have not yet presented my letters of accreditation to the president, which is why there are still some limits. (...) I have yet to establish dates for the meetings you mentioned.Preventing corruption should be a political priority for Romania that needs an independent judicial system, capable to efficiently fight against this phenomenon, Spokesman of the European Commission (EC) Christian Wigand told AGERPRES, as a response to Justice Minister Tudorel Toader's statement regarding the initiation of the assessment procedure of Prosecutor General Augustin Lazar.

The EC Spokesman mentioned that just as other international partners and member states, the Commission repeatedly underscored that the independence of Romania's judiciary and its capacity to efficiently fight against corruption are of high importance.

He added that in the last CVM report, the Commission highlighted that corruption prevention should be a political priority, especially through enforcing the measures necessary in view of fully endorsing the implementation of the National Anticorruption Strategy at central and local level, ensuring the stability of the relevant legal framework, as well as through maintaining the positive balance of the General Prosecutor's Office.Justice Minister Tudorel Toader announced on Saturday the initiation of the assessment procedure of Prosecutor General Augustin Lazar's managerial activity, in the context of the protocols concluded with the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI).He mentioned that the assessment results, which are to be accompanied by possible proposals, will be made public within no more than 30 days.President Klaus Iohannis stated on Tuesday that the cornerstone of foreign policy remain the same, indicating in this respect the strengthening of the Strategic Partnership with the United States and increasing the role and efficiency within the EU and NATO.

"The cornerstone of our foreign policy remains the same," Iohannis told the meeting with the heads of diplomatic missions and Consuls-general on the occasion of the Annual Reunion of the Romanian Diplomatic Corps at Cotroceni Presidential Palace, mentioning in this regard the strengthening of the Strategic Partnership with the United States and increasing the role and efficiency within the EU and NATO.

According to the head of state, pursuing the Strategic Partnership with the USA remains a high priority."This triad defines the community of values we are part of and ensures our security and prosperity. That is why Romania must act so as to maintain, concurrently, the intrinsic strategic relevance of these three pillars, as well as the enhancement of Romania's relevance within the three. Thus, pursuing the deepening of the Strategic Partnership with the United States along all of its dimensions, as I decided with President Trump last year, represents a high priority," Klaus Iohannis.He saluted the United States' enhanced commitment in Europe's security, that of the Eastern Flank of the North-Atlantic alliance, including Romania's and highlighted that the NATO Summit in Brussels was successful for our country."As regards Romania's participation within NATO, it should be pointed out that the recent Summit in Brussels was a successful one for Romania. It provided a fresh impetus to the adaptive process of the Alliance to the security environment changes. NATO's defence and deterrence posture has been consolidated, including on the Eastern Flank and in the Black Sea region. The main decisions in this regard, of direct interest for Romania, aimed the consolidation of the multinational Brigade status and the recognition of Romania's offer to host an operational command centre. The Summit confirmed that the Black sea remains a region of interest for the Alliance, according to Romania's strategic interest. The current politic with regard to Russia was also maintained and the efforts to project stability in the Alliance's vicinity, including in the eastern one, were pursued. Last but not least, the continuity of NATO's "open doors" policy was reconfirmed. All these have ensured a comprehensive package, that fully reflected the objectives pursued by Romania," Iohannis showed.President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday said that he wishes Romania could have an efficient Presidency of the Council of the European Union, pointing out that the Government has the obligation to make sure that this mandate will be an exercise through which our country will win in its relations with the European bodies, with the EU Member States and with the external partners.

"The period left until the end of this year is paramount to building a consistent, realistic, credible mandate of the future Presidency. This is not easy task. We have to prove a deep knowledge of the files and of the procedures as well, and yet above all we shall have to prove that our pro-European commitment is beyond any doubt. I wish Romania will perform an efficient Presidency of the Council of the EU. The Government has the obligation to make sure that carrying out the Presidency will be an exercise through which Romania will win in its relations with the European bodies, with the Union's Member States and with the external partners," Iohannis asserted at the reunion with the heads of diplomatic missions and consuls general of our country, who participate in the Annual Reunion of the Romanian Diplomatic Corps.President Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday that the Three Seas Initiative Summit due in Bucharest from 17 to 18 September will be crucial for the future of this informal cooperation platform.

"If the Bucharest Format we launched in 2015 together with Poland has proved its usefulness, the Three Seas Initiative Summit that I will be hosting in only three weeks will be crucial for the future of this informal cooperation platform," Iohannis told the meeting with the heads of diplomatic missions and Consuls-general on the occasion of the Annual Reunion of the Romanian Diplomatic Corps.

He said that this summit will have to prove that concrete outcome can be achieved, of a nature to stimulate the region's economic growth, so as to narrow the gap against the Western EU countries."At the same time, the summit should demonstrate that the Initiative is a tool that is stimulating the real convergence, meaning the cohesion inside the EU, being a project that is supporting the strengthening of the Union and at the same time, through the boosting of the US economic interest in the region, an instrument of enhancing the transatlantic relation," Iohannis added.Chairman of the National Liberal Party (PNL) Ludovic Orban said on Monday evening that President Trump's attorney Rudolph Giuliani holds no official position in the US public institutions and therefore the letter he sent the Romanian authorities expresses just "a personal point of view".

"I think the subject received excessive hype. Mr. Giuliani currently holds no official position in the state of America, he does in no way represent the official position of any institution - the Senate, the House of Representatives, the Department of State or the Presidency of the United States of America. (...) This is a personal point of view that does in no way engage any institution. (...) I think the subject got too much attention. It's a position expressed by someone who has indeed an important career behind, but who does not represent any institution of the state of America," Orban said.

He added that "in no way" does this allow the conclusion that the US President would be behind the position expressed by Giuliani."There is speculation that he is Trump's attorney - but this is a contractual relationship between two individuals, and in no case does this allow the conclusion that the President is behind the position expressed by Giuliani. (...) I say this again, this is a point of view expressed by a particular person from the United States of America, who has a personal contractual relationship with US President Donald Trump," Ludovic Orban told broadcaster Romania TV.Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) specified that the Border Police of the Republic of Moldova on Monday decided to send back from the Albita border checkpoint the group of Romanians who were set to participate in the Union Parade, while claiming that they were "disturbing public order" in the border area.

According to a release MAE sent to AGERPRES on Tuesday, according to the Romanian border authorities, the group of persons who showed up in the morning of August 27 at the Albita border checkpoint did not disturb public order in any way on the Romanian side of the border and it did not violate the legal regime of the state border in any way.

"The Romanian Embassy in the Republic of Moldova took notice of the existence of a group of Romanian citizens that, on August 27 2018, wanted to cross to the Republic of Moldova, as well as about the press release sent by the Border Police from the Republic of Moldova. According to the specifications of the abovementioned institution, "the Romanian citizens, who were set to participate in the Union Parade, were banned from crossing the state border and from stepping into the Moldovan territory. The reason was that they disturbed public order in the border area and also violated the checkpoints regime. We mention that this was a decision of the authorities in the Republic of Moldova and that the Romanian Embassy in Chisinau will have a discussion with the authorities in the Republic of Moldova about the rights of the Romanian citizens, which must be observed, according to the internal regulations of this state and the international obligations of the Republic of Moldova," mentions MAE.Platforma Unionista Actiunea 2012 [unionist platform - translator's note] on Monday sent a release to AGERPRES showing that 35 Romanian citizens who were set to participate in the Centennial Parade were banned from entering Moldova.President Klaus Iohannis on Monday hailed Germany's decision to get involved in the Three Seas Initiative and participate in the Bucharest Summit due 17 and 18 September, as a partner, says a release by the Presidential Administration.

The President made this statement upon welcoming at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace German Foreign Affairs Minister Heiko Maas, who has participated in the afternoon in the reunion of the Romanian Diplomatic Corps, at the Parliament Palace.

"Romania's President said that both Germany and the Three Seas Initiative stand to gain from this collaboration," the release reads, stressing that Germany's involvement will strengthen the Initiative's capacity to attain its goal of boosting the growth of the region's economic development and interconnection, to the very benefit of the entire European Union, as well as that of the German companies interested to extend their operations in Central and Eastern Europe.President Iohannis also saluted the very good cooperation with Germany in European affairs and the availability of this state to back the accomplishment of the general objective of Romania's Presidency of the Council of the European Union to move forward the European agenda. The President asserted in the context that the Sibiu Summit due in May 2019 will be a good opportunity to assess the propositions, the ideas and the expectations of the Member States and the citizens regarding the Union's future.The President has also emphasized the very good level of the bilateral relationship, stressing that it is a special one, with a strategic character and extremely important to our country.President Iohannis underlined "the balanced nature" of the trade between the two countries and the fact that Germany is Romania's most important commercial partner and the 3rd investor in Romania's economy.According to the release, the President mentioned that the good economic cooperation between the two countries is also advocated by the German minority of Romania, alongside the increasing Romanian community on Germany's soil, both of which making a "real bridge" between the two countries.In his turn, the German Foreign Affairs Minister hailed the quality of the Romanian-German partnership and expressed his support for President Iohannis's open, pro-European policy. Moreover, Heiko Maas stressed Germany's full availability to back the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2019. The German dignitary reiterated his country's interest in getting involved in the support of the Three Seas Initiative, as well as in participating in the Initiative's Bucharest Summit, hosted by President Klaus Iohannis.President Klaus Iohannis on Tuesday told Romanian diplomats that Romania's position on the peace process, the status of Jerusalem included, is unchanged.

"All the other major lines of action mentioned in the previous years remain in place, whether we speak for instance about the Western Balkans, the South Caucasus or Central Asia and the Middle East, and our positions as regards the peace process - the status of Jerusalem included - Asia, Latin America and Africa stay unchanged," Iohannis told the heads of missions and Consuls-general gathered at the Cotroceni Presidential Place on the occasion of the annual meeting of the Romanian diplomats.

The President also urged the Romanian diplomats to keep on working towards the strengthening of partnerships and bilateral strategic relations with countries like Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Turkey and Japan."The Strategic Partnership for the European integration of the Republic of Moldova is further at the forefront of our action in pursuit of reform and rapprochement with the EU, even if this is no easy task," added the head of the state.President Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday that there is no place in Romania's foreign policy for "debatable personal experiments, amateurism, diplomatic gaffes."

"The stability and predictability of Romania's foreign policy are essential to our credibility as an external actor. (...) There is no place in Romania's foreign policy for debatable personal experiments, amateurism, diplomatic gaffes, because all these are highly damaging to our national interests and goals," Iohannis told the heads of missions and Consuls-general gathered at the Cotroceni Presidential Place on the occasion of the annual meeting of the Romanian diplomats.Max BLUMENTHAL

As the Cold War entered its final act in 1985, journalist Helena Cobban participated in an academic conference at an upscale resort near Tucson, Arizona, on U.S.-Soviet interactions in the Middle East. When she attended what was listed as the Gala Dinner with keynote speech, she quickly learned that the virtual theme of the evening was, Adopt a Muj.

I remember mingling with all of these wealthy Republican women from the Phoenix suburbs and being asked, Have you adopted a muj? Cobban told me. Each one had pledged money to sponsor a member of the Afghan mujahedin in the name of beating the communists. Some were even seated at the event next to their personal muj.

The keynote speaker of the evening, according to Cobban, was a hard-charging freshman member of Congress named John McCain.

During the Vietnam war, McCain had been captured by the North Vietnamese Army after being shot down on his way to bomb a civilian lightbulb factory. He spent two years in solitary confinement and underwent torture that left him with crippling injuries. McCain returned from the war with a deep, abiding loathing of his former captors, remarking as late as 2000, I hate the gooks. I will hate them as long as I live. After he was criticized for the racist remark, McCain refused to apologize. I was referring to my prison guards, he said, and I will continue to refer to them in language that might offend some people because of the beating and torture of my friends.

Hanoi Hilton prison where McCain was tortured. (Wikimedia Commons)

McCains visceral resentment informed his vocal support for the mujahedin as well as the right-wing contra death squads in Central America  any proxy group sworn to the destruction of communist governments.

So committed was McCain to the anti-communist cause that in the mid-1980s he had joinedthe advisory board of the United States Council for World Freedom, the American affiliate of the World Anti-Communist League (WACL). Geoffrey Stewart-Smith, a former leader of WACLs British chapter who had turned against the group in 1974, described the organization as a collection of Nazis, fascists, anti-Semites, sellers of forgeries, vicious racialists, and corrupt self-seekers. It has evolved into an anti-Semitic international.

Joining McCain in the organization were notables such as Jaroslav Stetsko, the Croatian Nazi collaborator who helped oversee the extermination of 7,000 Jews in 1941; the brutal Argentinian former dictator Jorge Rafael Videla; and Guatemalan death squad leader Mario Sandoval Alarcon. Then-President Ronald Reagan honored the group for playinga leadership role in drawing attention to the gallant struggle now being waged by the true freedom fighters of our day.

Being Lauded as a Hero

On the occasion of his death, McCain is being honored in much the same way  as a patriotic hero and freedom fighter for democracy. A stream of hagiographies is pouring forth from the Beltway press corps that he described as his true political base. Among McCains most enthusiastic groupies is CNNs Jake Tapper, whom he chose as his personal stenographer for a 2000 trip to Vietnam. When the former CNN host Howard Kurtz asked Tapper in February, 2000, When youre on the [campaign] bus, do you make a conscious effort not to fall under the magical McCain spell?

Oh, you cant. You become like Patty Hearst when the SLA took her, Tapper joked in reply.

Ocasio-Cortez: Called McCain an unparalleled example of human decency.

But the late senator has also been treated to gratuitous tributes from an array of prominent liberals, from George Soros to his soft power-pushing client, Ken Roth, along with three fellow directors of Human Rights Watch and democratic socialist celebrity Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, who hailed McCain as an unparalleled example of human decency. Rep. John Lewis, the favorite civil rights symbol of the Beltway political class, weighed in as well to memorialize McCain as a warrior for peace.

If the paeans to McCain by this diverse cast of political climbers and Davos denizens seemed detached from reality, thats because they perfectly reflected the elite view of American military interventions as akin to a game of chess, and the millions of dead left in the wake of the Wests unprovoked aggression as mere statistics.

There were few figures in recent American life who dedicated themselves so personally to the perpetuation of war and empire as McCain. But in Washington, the most defining aspect of his career was studiously overlooked, or waved away as the trivial idiosyncrasy of a noble servant who nonetheless deserved everyones reverence.

McCain did not simply thunder for every major intervention of the post-Cold War era from the Senate floor, while pushing for sanctions and assorted campaigns of subterfuge on the side. He was uniquely ruthless when it came to advancing imperial goals, barnstorming from one conflict zones to another to personally recruit far-right fanatics as American proxies.

In Libya and Syria, he cultivated affiliates of Al Qaeda as allies, and in Ukraine, McCain courted actual, sig-heiling neo-Nazis.

While McCains Senate office functioned as a clubhouse for arms industry lobbyists and neocon operatives, his fascistic allies waged a campaign of human devastation that will continue until long after the flowers dry up on his grave.

American media may have sought to bury this legacy with the senators body, but it is what much of the outside world will remember him for.

They are Not al-Qaeda

McCain with Abdelhakim Belhaj, leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a former Al Qaeda affiliate

When a violent insurgency swept through Libya in 2011, McCain parachuted into the country to meet with leaders of the main insurgent outfit, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), battling the government of Moamar Gaddafi. His goal was to make kosher this band of hardline Islamists in the eyes of the Obama administration, which was considering a military intervention at the time.

What happened next is well documented, though it is scarcely discussed by a Washington political class that depended on the Benghazi charade to deflect from the real scandal of Libyas societal destruction. Gaddafis motorcade was attacked by NATO jets, enabling a band of LIFG fighters to capture him, sodomize him with a bayonet, then murder him and leave his body to rot in a butcher shop in Misrata while rebel fanboys snapped cellphone selfies of his fetid corpse.

A slaughter of Black citizens of Libya by the racist sectarian militias recruited by McCain immediately followed the killing of the pan-African leader. ISIS took over Gaddafis hometown of Sirte while Belhajs militia took control of Tripoli, and a war of the warlords began. Just as Gaddafi had warned, the ruined country became a staging ground for migrant smugglers on the Mediterranean, fueling the rise of the far-right across Europe and enabling the return of slavery to Africa.

Many might describe Libya as a failed state, but it also represents a successful realization of the vision McCain and his allies have advanced on the global stage.

Following the NATO-orchestrated murder of Libyas leader, McCain tweeted, Qaddafi on his way out, Bashar al Assad is next.

McCains Syrian Boondoggle

Like Libya, Syria had resisted aligning with the West and was suddenly confronted with a Salafi-jihadi insurgency armed by the CIA. Once again, McCain made it his personal duty to market Islamist insurgents to America as a cross between the Minutemen and the Freedom Riders of the civil rights era. To do so, he took under his wing a youthful DC-based Syria-American operative named Mouaz Moustafa who had been a consultant to the Libyan Transitional Council during the run-up to the NATO invasion.

In May 2013, Moustafa convinced McCain to take an illegal trip across the Syrian border and meet some freedom fighters. An Israeli millionaire named Moti Kahana who coordinated efforts between the Syrian opposition and the Israeli military through his NGO, Amaliah, claimed to have financed the opposition group which took senator John McCain to visit war-torn Syria.

This could be like his Benghazi moment, Moustafa remarked excitedly in a scene from a documentary, Red Lines, that depicted his efforts for regime change. [McCain] went to Benghazi, he came back, we bombed.

During his brief excursion into Syria, McCain met with a group of CIA-backed insurgents and blessed their struggle. The senator wanted to assure the Free Syrian Army that the American people support their cry for freedom, support their revolution, Moustafa said in an interview with CNN. McCains office promptly released a photo showing the senatorposing beside a beaming Moustafa and two grim-looking gunmen.

Days later, the men were named by the Lebanese Daily Star as Mohammad Nour and Abu Ibrahim. Both had been implicated in the kidnapping a year prior of 11 Shia pilgrims, and were identified by one of the survivors. McCain and Moustafa returned to the U.S. the targets of mockery from Daily Show host John Stewart and the subject of harshly critical reports from across the media spectrum. At a town hall in Arizona, McCain was berated by constituents, including Jumana Hadid, a Syrian Christian woman who warned that the sectarian militants he had cozied up to threatened her community with genocide.

McCain with then-FSA commander Salam Idriss, an insurgent later exposed for kidnapping Shia pilgrims

But McCain pressed ahead anyway. On Capitol Hill, he introduced another shady young operative into his interventionist theater. Named Elizabeth OBagy, she was a fellow at the Institute for the Study of War, an arms industry-funded think tank directed by Kimberly Kagan of the neoconservative Kagan clan. Behind the scenes, OBagy was consulting for Moustafa at his Syrian Emergency Task Force, a clear conflict of interest that her top Senate patron was well aware of. Before the Senate, McCain cited a Wall Street Journal editorial by OBagy to support his assessment of the Syrian rebels as predominately moderate, and potentially Western-friendly.

Days later, OBagy was exposed for faking her PhD in Arabic studies. As soon as the humiliated Kagan fired OBagy, the academic fraudster took another pass through the Beltways revolving door, striding into the halls of Congress as McCains newest foreign policy aide.

McCain ultimately failed to see the Islamist revolutionaries he glad handled take control of Damascus. Syrias government held on thanks to help from his mortal enemies in Tehran and Moscow, but not before a billion dollar CIA arm-and-equip operation helped spawn one of the worst refugee crises in post-war history. Luckily for McCain, there were other intrigues seeking his attention, and new bands of fanatical rogues in need of his blessing. Months after his Syrian boondoggle, the ornery militarist turned his attention to Ukraine, then in the throes of an upheaval stimulated by U.S. and EU-funded soft power NGOs.

Coddling the Neo-Nazis of Ukraine

On December 14, 2013, McCain materialized in Kiev for a meeting with Oleh Tyanhbok, an unreconstructed fascist who had emerged as a top opposition leader. Tyanhbok had co-founded the fascist Social-National Party, a far-right political outfit that touted itself as the last hope of the white race, of humankind as such. No fan of Jews, he had complained that a Muscovite-Jewish mafia had taken control of his country, and had been photographed throwing up a sieg heil Nazi salute during a speech.

None of this apparently mattered to McCain. Nor did the scene of Right Sector neo-Nazis filling up Kievs Maidan Square while he appeared on stage to egg them on.

Ukraine will make Europe better and Europe will make Ukraine better! McCain proclaimed to cheering throngs while Tyanhbok stood by his side. The only issue that mattered to him at the time was the refusal of Ukraines elected president to sign a European Union austerity plan, opting instead for an economic deal with Moscow.

McCain met with Social-National Party co-founder Oleh Tyanhbok

McCain was so committed to replacing an independent-minded government with a NATO vassal that he even mulled a military assault on Kiev. I do not see a military option and that is tragic, McCain lamented in an interview about the crisis. Fortunately for him, regime change arrived soon after his appearance on the Maidan, and Tyanhboks allies rushed in to fill the void.

By the end of the year, the Ukrainian military had become bogged down in a bloody trench war with pro-Russian, anti-coup separatists in the countrys east. A militia affiliated with the new government in Kiev called Dnipro-1 was accused by Amnesty International observers of blocking humanitarian aid into a separatist-held area, including food and clothing for the war torn population.

Six months later, McCain appeared at Dnipro-1s training base alongside Sen.s Tom Cotton and John Barasso. The people of my country are proud of your fight and your courage, McCain told an assembly of soldiers from the militia. When he completed his remarks, the fighters belted out a World War II-era salute made famous by Ukrainian Nazi collaborators: Glory to Ukraine!

Today, far-right nationalists occupy key posts in Ukraines pro-Western government. The speaker of its parliament is Andriy Parubiy, a co-founder with Tyanhbok of the Social-National Party and leader of the movement to honor World World Two-era Nazi collaborators like Stepan Bandera. On the cover of his 1998 manifesto, View From The Right, Parubiy appeared in a Nazi-style brown shirt with a pistol strapped to his waist. In June 2017, McCain and Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan welcomed Parubiy on Capitol Hill for what McCain called a good meeting. It was a shot in the arm for the fascist forces sweeping across Ukraine.

McCain with Dnipro-1 militants on June 20, 2015

The past months in Ukraine have seen a state sponsored neo-Nazi militia called C14 carrying out a pogromist rampage against Ukraines Roma population, the countrys parliament erecting an exhibition honoring Nazi collaborators, and the Ukrainian military formally approving the pro-Nazi Glory to Ukraine greeting as its own official salute.

Ukraine is now the sick man of Europe, a perpetual aid case bogged down in an endless war in its east. In a testament to the countrys demise since its so-called Revolution of Dignity, the deeply unpopular President Petro Poroshenko has promised White House National Security Advisor John Bolton that his country  once a plentiful source of coal on par with Pennsylvania  will now purchase coal from the U.S. Once again, a regime change operation that generated a failing, fascistic state stands as one of McCains greatest triumphs.

McCains history conjures up memory of one of the most inflammatory statements by Sarah Palin, another cretinous fanatic he foisted onto the world stage. During a characteristically rambling stump speech in October 2008, Palin accused Barack Obama of palling around with terrorists. The line was dismissed as ridiculous and borderline slander, as it should have been. But looking back at McCains career, the accusation seems richly ironic.

By any objective standard, it was McCain who had palled around with terrorists, and who wrested as much resources as he could from the American taxpayer to maximize their mayhem. Heres hoping that the societies shattered by McCains proxies will someday rest in peace.

consortiumnews.comMali has been relatively quiet lately with a lot more Islamic terrorist activity occurring in eastern neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger. The newly active G5 Sahel Joint Force was designed for situations like this because the five Sahel nations (Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad) each contributed troops best able to deal with Islamic terrorism throughout the Sahel. That is no instant solution because there is a lot of Islamic terrorist activity in the Sahel. G5 began operations in early 2018 and so far has demonstrated the ability to move and fight and make a difference. Mali is still the most troublesome Sahel nation but also has the most outside assistance, including a peacekeeping force along with a separate French counter-terror forces that also covers much of the Sahel along with the G5 force. The Mali contingent of the G5 is considered the least capable and that has to be taken into account while the training program for the Mali military slowly improves the quality of leadership and troop reliability. With Mali secured by all these foreign troops the G5 has been able to deal with Islamic terror problems elsewhere, especially Burkina Faso and Niger.

The G5 force consists of 5,000 soldiers and police that are stationed in three operational areas along with troops familiar with local conditions. Thus Sahel East consists of troops from Chad and Niger. Sahel Central is staffed by troops from Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso while Sahel West uses troops from Mali and Mauritania. Some of the G5 force was operational by the end of 2017 and by early 2018 the G5 force had already taken part in several counter-terror operations, one of them in the area where the borders of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso meet.

A successful G5 Force would enable France to shrink and eventually disband the force of 4,000 French troops it has deployed in the Sahel since 2013 and reduce the 13,000 strong UN peacekeeper force in Mali. The recent appearance of ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) in the area and the October 2017 attack on American Special Forces troops in Niger encouraged local and international support for the G5 Force. The peacekeepers in Mali are mainly African and mainly stationed in the north and, increasingly central Mali where there is more Islamic terror group activity, not all of it violent.

Yet most of the recent Islamic terrorist violence has not been in Mali. That was one reason the Mali Army was successful in keeping things peaceful for the recent (July 29-August 13) presidential elections (the first round then a runoff). Most of the violent threats to the voting were in the north but thats where most of the foreign troops were deployed. The Islamic terrorists are still operating in Mali but they have been embarrassed by their inability to disrupt the elections (as they said they would) or inflict many casualties on the local and foreign troops confronting them. The Islamic terrorists did make an effort to disrupt the elections but the most they were able to do was fire on voting places with machine-guns or mortars, rarely causing any casualties. Sometimes groups of armed Islamic terrorists would show up at voting locations in person but no matter what they did troops and police were quick to respond and it was the Islamic terrorists who found themselves more off balance than those running the elections. Over 96 percent of the 23,000 voting locations were able to function during the voting.

This election security effort success should not have been a surprise. In mid-July the Mali army cooperated with G5 forces in Burkina Faso during a ten day operation that captured sixty Islamic terrorists and destroyed several bases near the central Mali border. In April a similar eight day counter-terror operation sealed the Mali border and over a hundred suspected Islamic terrorists on the Burkina Faso side of the frontier were arrested. Some of those arrested were known Islamic terrorists and in other locations explosives and weapons were seized. Not surprisingly the Burkina Faso based Islamic terrorists did not seek safe haven in Mali because they knew that effective troops (mostly foreign) were more numerous in Mali than in Burkina Faso. Moreover the Islamic terror problems in Burkina Faso were, as is often the case, caused by local unrest and organized by local leaders. The Islamic terror groups in Mali are still there and constantly working to carry out successful, and hopefully headline worthy, attacks. The Islamic terrorists need the publicity to help with recruiting and efforts to intimidate local populations to cooperate (and not fight back or report Islamic terrorist activity to security forces).

August 12, 2018: President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was reelected in the second (runoff) round of voting today, with 67 percent of the votes. Only about 27 percent of registered voters cast a ballot (compared to the more common 40 percent). About two percent of the polling places (mostly in the north) were shut down by Islamic terrorist threats. Keita won 41 percent of the votes in the first round and opinion polls showed him winning the second round by a wide margin. His opponent Soumaila Cisse claimed fraud but foreign election monitors and the UN certified that the voting was generally free and untainted and corroborated what polling had predicted.

In the north (near Timbuktu) Islamic terrorists attacked a polling station and killed one of the election workers there. This was the only fatality during the runoff election.

August 11, 2018: In the north, across the border in Algeria (Tamanrasset) Sultan Ould Bady, a veteran Mali al Qaeda leader, surrendered to an Algerian army patrol. Since May Algeria has publicized border zones where Islamic terrorists seeking to surrender can cross while armed and not be shot on sight. Islamic terrorists seeking to surrender are advised what to do when they encounter troops. After the surrender of Bady was revealed there were rumors he had actually surrendered in late June (when a group of unidentified Mali Islamic terrorists surrendered) and that was kept secret while Bady was interrogated and what he revealed was acted on. Intelligence indicates there are a growing number of Islamic terrorists in northern Mali who want to get out of the terrorism business. Algeria has about 80,000 troops guarding its 3,000 kilometer long border with Mali and Libya and has been effective in detecting, if not always stopping. Those crossing illegally.

August 7, 2018: In central Mali (Mopti) there was another clash between tribal militias that left 11 Fulani dead. This happened at a cattle market when the Fulani were confronted by a Bambera militia who took the Fulani away and killed them. In July a similar clash left at least 17 dead. Over the last few months about 70 have died in this militia violence. The non-Moslem tribesmen traditionally form hunting groups called Dozo which can also function as a tribal militia and have proved formidable adversaries for the often violent Fulani.

July 31, 2018: In central Mali (Segou) Ansar Dine Islamic terrorists ambushed a military convoy. Four soldiers and eight of the attackers were killed. So far this year Islamic terrorist violence in Mali has left nearly 300 people dead in 99 incidents.

July 30, 2018: The results of the first round of the presidential election (held yesterday) are in and no one got a majority of the vote so there will be a runoff in two weeks. The two leaders in the first round are the same two candidates (Keita and Cisse) who faced each other in the 2013 elections. Cisse consistently gets half (or less) as many votes as Keita.Auckland

Can you work well in a team environment and keep everyone motivated to get the work done?? Well then this is the role for...



View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nzForget the giant low in the Tasman Sea, says WeatherWatch.co.nz, the main threat this week to New Zealand comes from a sub-tropical northerly between this low and the blocking high to the east.

The result? A burst of very slow moving sub-tropical rain for the Upper North Island starting tonight and not easing until Thursday.

This rain band, while narrow and somewhat connected to the Tasman Sea low, has a mind of its own and will track slowly from the north in to the Upper North Island from tonight, then very slowly eastwards until Thursday, says the weather organisation.

This band of rain is both fed by the large high to the east but also blocked by it, ensuring a slow passage over regions like Bay of Plenty and that leads to a chance of localised flooding. The heaviest bursts of rain will be surrounded by lighter drizzle, so it may be hit and miss.

The main rainy period in the northern and western North Island and western South Island will begin during Wednesday morning.

Thunderstorms may be involved over the North Island because of the warm airflow. The front will stay over the eastern part of the North Island until later on Thursday.

Heavy rain accumulation is possible in the Bay of Plenty region and around East Cape and Gisborne too.

Coromandel Peninsula and other areas west may also get some heavy downpours overnight and into Wednesday morning.Police are making enquiries after another money box was stolen from a Tauranga bus.

The incident happened on Friday August 24, around 5pm at the Grenada Street bus stop, the same bus stop where a money box was previously stolen earlier this year.

A police spokesperson says a male passenger ran from the back of the bus, snatched the box and then ran from the vehicle.

A male passenger on the bus gave chase but did not manage to catch up with the offender.

A bay hopper bus driver who doesnt want to be named says robbery in the area seems to be ramping up, especially in dairys, petrol stations and now buses.

The offender took anywhere from $100 to $120.

The bus driver is also worried about the lack of cameras on the buses.

There are no cameras on the busses so when something like this happens, it is our word and description to the police. If we had cameras it would make it easier to identify these guys and it would also hopefully stop people stealing from us or at least keep us a bit safer.Bay of Plenty Regional Council is boasting an international accolade.

The organisation has just won the 2018 Australasian Management Challenge, which was announced at the LG Professionals Australia National Congress 2018 held in Canberra, Australia on Thursday 23 August.

The Australasian Management Challenge provides real-life problem-solving experiences for local government professionals, as well as opportunities to develop leadership, communication and analytical skills.

Teams must tackle a quick succession of real life scenarios based on the kinds of management challenges that may arise day-to-day in the local government environment.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council claimed the title as winner of the New Zealand leg of the challenge in February earlier this year when it competed against 14 other councils from around New Zealand.

Following on from its win in February, Bay of Plenty Regional Council represented New Zealand in Canberra, competing against seven teams from Australia.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council chief executive Fiona McTavish says its a fantastic win.

We are elated to have won. This team is not only a reflection of the talent we have within our organisation but also the immense talent in this region.

The challenge aims to test a teams ability to understand the complexities of their communities and environment, then demonstrate how to serve them in innovative and meaningful ways.

Winning this competition shows we are leading the way in this, not only in New Zealand but Australasia.

Lead Facilitators of the 2018 Australian Management Challenge, Jim Myhill and Jane Trotter, say the competition was of a high calibre.

The teams that competed in the Final of the Australasian Management Challenge in Canberra were the eight regional Challenge winners.

These teams were the best of the best, so we expected a high standard. Even against such high-calibre competition the Bay of Plenty team shone through. They displayed outstanding professionalism, problem-solving, attention to detail and teamwork - they were very worthy winners."

Bay of Plenty Regional Council also won the best Risk Task award. This task was a component of the Management Challenge and was developed and judged by the Principal Partner of the National Congress and Management Challenge - JLT.

To find out more about the Management Challenge go to solgm.org.nzBy a unanimous vote last month, the FCC referred the Sinclair deal to a separate legal review process that is typically initiated when the agency is preparing to block a merger. Central to the agency's concern was Sinclair's plan to sell off several stations to buyers said to be close to the company's chairman. Pai said at the time the arrangement risked allowing Sinclair to "control those stations in practice, even if not in name, in violation of the law."PHOENIX, N.Y. -- An Oswego County man has been accused of sexually abusing two children, according to New York State Police.

Joseph R. Bell, 50, was charged with two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, a felony, state police said.

Bell, of 37 Spring St., Phoenix, is accused of having sexual contact with a boy and girl under the age of 13, state police said.

Bell was arraigned in Schroeppel Town Court and taken to the Oswego County Jail on $5,000 cash or $10,000 bond.SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse firefighters saved a woman's life after she dangled from a chain for about 15 minutes Monday off the Bear Street bridge overlooking the Inner Harbor, First Deputy Fire Chief Steve Evans said.

The woman climbed over the bridge to the outside rail, grabbed onto a chain hanging from the bridge and threatened to jump sometime between 1 and 2 p.m., Evans said. The chain was in a big loop and part of the bridge.

Firefighters arrived two to three minutes after someone called 911.

"She was dangling on the chain," Evans said. "Her body was being held up by the chain, which she was straddling and hanging onto."

The woman was about 30 feet to 40 feet above the water, which was about 3 feet deep at that point, Evans said.

A Syracuse police negotiator tried to talk to the woman, but she wasn't cooperative, officials said.

At the same time, the Syracuse Fire Department's Rescue Company and Marine 1 took action.

Firefighter Paul Veri, a 13-year veteran with the Rescue Company, got into a rappelling harness. With help from fellow firefighters, Veri (pronounced Ver-EYE) rappelled about six feet down -- just below the bridge, where the woman was still clinging to the chain.

But the woman was combative. She yelled at Veri and threatened to pull his boot off, Evans said.

"He was afraid she would reach out and cause her to fall so other (firefighters with the Rescue Company) pulled him out of her reach," Evans said.

Meanwhile, the fire department boat, Marine 1, went downstream in the harbor, right below where the woman would fall if she let go of the chain.

Two other firefighters from the Rescue Company also strapped on water rescue suits and entered the creek.

After several minutes, the woman stopped talking and put her head down as she cradled the chain. Worried that she may lose consciousness and had become tired, firefighters quickly moved in.

Firefighter Veri rappelled down -- and before the woman had time to react -- he had locked his arms and legs around the back of her body, Evans said.

Firefighters from above cut the chain, and lowered Veri and the woman into the water to the two rescuers in the water, Evans said.

But on their way down, the woman became combative again, he said.

She bit Veri on the arm, near his wrist, Evans said.

"He just held on tight and lowered her down," the chief said.

The two firefighters in the water put a lifebuoy ring around the woman's body and pulled her out of the water.

"This is one of those rescues where their training takes over," Evans said. "I'm glad they were able to save her life so she can get the help she needs."

American Medical Response (AMR) ambulance took the woman to a Syracuse hospital for evaluation.

Syracuse firefighters drove Veri to a local hospital. He was waiting on blood tests Monday night, Evans said.

After the rescue Monday, the chief said the firefighters were "just doing their job," but he also admitted this rescue was one-of-a-kind.

"They train every day, which makes the routine rescues easier and the extraordinary rescues obtainable," Evans said. "This was one of those extraordinary rescues that makes me proud to be a Syracuse firefighter."SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- If you were a fan of J.Ryan's Pub in downtown Syracuse, you'll recognize the black-and-white tile floor, the zig-zag bar, the pool table in the corner and the outdoor patio.

In fact, there's a lot of similarity between the new bar, Talisman Tap Room, and its predecessor. J.Ryan's, one of the top craft beer bars in the Syracuse area, closed abruptly in March.

Talisman will have slightly fewer taps -- down to 52 from J.Ryan's 69 -- and what owner Bob Carvotta calls an "upgraded" food menu.

Carvotta says he's hoping to keep the beer selection relevant and topical, with more of some of the better known New England-style IPAs from New York City along with a full range of local, state, regional and national craft beers, plus imports and a few stalwarts like Labatt's Blue.

"Bringing the number (of taps) down makes it more manageable," he said. "But it's going to be a really wide range."

This week, the number of taps is about 37, but will grow as Carvotta is able to make some beer runs to the New York City area. Notable taps in the bar's opening days included Sloop Brewing (Juice Bomb), Fiddlehead Brewery, Long Island City Beer Project and Lawson's, and locals like Buried Acorn Brewing of Syracuse and Critz Farms Hard Cider of Cazenovia.

Carvotta owns the building at 253 E. Water St. and was the landlord for J.Ryan's, which was operated by his daughter and son-in-law, Julie and Alex Bielecki.

Carvotta's role in the property goes back to the early days of the "micro" and craft beer revolution in Syracuse. He and his brother, Rick, first opened a branch of the Rochester-based MacGregor's Grill & Tap Room at that location in 1996, when the craft competition downtown was limited to Clark's Ale House and The Blue Tusk.

When MacGregor's closed, the pub operated under different ownership as Kelly Cole's Improper. In 2009, Carvotta oversaw the reopening as J. Ryan's, with the license held by Alex Bielecki.

Now, there are plenty more bars serving craft beers downtown. In the Hanover Square area alone, they include such places as The Evergreen, Maxwell's, Orbis and Wolff's Biergarten, which is across Water Street from the Talisman.

That's one reason Carvotta decided to enhance the food offerings. JRyan's offered pub food, including burgers and quesadillas and a version of the Rochester garbage plate.

Some of that will remain, but new chef-kitchen manager Brett Morrow has designed a menu that he calls "elevated pub food."

The menu includes variations on the Canadian fries-cheese curds-and gravy dish poutine, plus the English pub favorite Scotch Eggs. There's a heart plat of Stacked Nachos, and entrees like Chicken and Waffles, Fish and Chips, Chicken Pot Pie, Mac and Cheese and a "Rochester" Plate.

Morrow, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of American in Hyde Park, is bringing bringing some his culinary skills to the kitchen at Talisman: He's curing his own ham, and making his own breakfast sausage, for example.

"We're making bar food, but it's all scratch-made," Morrow said.

It's also allowing Talismam to work out a deal with one of its new neighbors: It's breakfast sandwich is served on bagels from the Water Street Bagel Co., which is scheduled to open soon at 239 E. Water St. Talisman will send some of its sausage and ham to Water Street Bagel for use on its menu.

"We're going to support local business as much as we can," Carvotta said.

The name, Talisman, means an object or symbol that is said to have magic powers.

"We're going to put talismans on the walls as we go along,'' Carvotta said. "It's a lucky charm, so we'll see if it works."

Talisman Tap Room is open 11:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesdays through Sundays, and 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Mondays.

Don Cazentre writes about craft beer, wine, spirits and beverages for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.The death Saturday of Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, closes the book on an extraordinary American life.



The many tributes to McCain capture some of the man's many contradictions. The son and grandson of Navy admirals who piled up the demerits and graduated near the bottom of his class at Annapolis. The heroic prisoner of war who berated himself for giving in to torture by his North Vietnamese captors. The senator whose brush with scandal turned him into a crusader for campaign finance reform. The conservative Republican who fought like hell against liberal Democrats and then made deals with them. One of few in his party willing to buck President Donald Trump, but only after endorsing Trump to curry favor with Arizona primary voters.



McCain was acutely aware of his faults. As Doyle McManus wrote in the Los Angeles Times: "In his life and in his words, McCain preached that every American should try to meet the highest standards of honor and valor -- but he recognized that no one will always succeed, including himself. The test of character, he argued, was whether you owned up to your errors and used them to spur yourself to do better."



At every opportunity, McCain preached optimism in the American experiment, and the hope it gave to oppressed people around the world.



In his May 2000 commencement speech at Colgate University in Hamilton - one that still rings true today -- McCain blamed politicians like himself for "pervasive public cynicism that is debilitating our democracy." He urged Colgate graduates not to give in to it.



"Be patriots. You are part of something noble and important; a great experiment to prove to the world that democracy is not only the most effective form of government, but the only moral government. That is a cause well worth serving, and I hope every one of you will at some point in your lives give your hearts to it."



"I am privileged to have held a public trust since I graduated from the Naval Academy ... I have never lived a single day, in good times and bad, that I wasn't grateful for that privilege. This country and her causes are a blessing to mankind, and they honor all of us who work to make America an even better place, and America's example a greater influence on human history.



"... I hope you will lend your hearts to the new patriotic challenge; to recall Americans to the faith that has made us the greatest force for good on earth. Let it be the most important of your life's work to remind all of us that we are part of a great experiment; that people who are free to act in their own interests will conceive their interests in an enlightened way, and will gratefully accept the obligation of freedom to make of our wealth and power a civilization for the ages - a civilization in which all people share in the promise of freedom."



Such idealism seems quaint now, as the cynicism and alienation McCain warned against 18 years ago take hold. Now that the torch bearer for our better angels is gone, who will tend the flame?





John McCain farewell message: 'Do not despair of our present difficulties'The $199 price is for select Chicago to New Delhi flights from January to March, and the fare  which includes a small personal item but no carry-on or checked luggage  is subject to availability. The return flight is at the full fare, Fridriksdottir said.SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The chairman of the Onondaga County Democratic Committee is challenging the gubernatorial candidacy of Stephanie Miner, the former Democratic mayor of Syracuse.

Chairman Mark English was one of three people who filed objections to Miner's designating petitions with the New York State Board of Elections last week. The deadline on those objections was Friday.

Miner is running for governor as an independent. She's seeking a spot on November's ballot with the Serve America Movement, a start-up party based in Denver, Colorado.

Miner submitted nearly 41,000 petition signatures to the Board of Elections last week. She needs 15,000 valid signatures to get on the ballot.

The objections are a placeholder before a more detailed challenge, which is due by the end of the day Thursday. Objectors must prove enough of Miner's petition signatures are invalid to drop her below that 15,000 threshold.

In addition to English, two other men from downstate filed objections to Miner's petitions: Benjamin Lavender and Matthew Pangburn. Lavender is a labor union specialist in Massapequa. Both have given money to the Nassau County Democratic Committee in the past.

English was chairman of the Democratic Committee during most of Miner's tenure as mayor.

"As chair of the Onondaga County Democratic Committee it is my job to protect and preserve the rights of our designated candidates under the election law," English said in an email. "I, of course, strongly support the candidacy of our designee for governor, Andrew Cuomo."

Miner said last week she anticipated Gov. Cuomo's allies would challenge those signatures. Her campaign manager, Sherman Jewett, described the challenge as "machine party politics."

"This is what machine party politics looks like, and it's typical of Andrew Cuomo's heavy-handed tactics," Jewett said. "Challenging our petitions is an attempt to disenfranchise 41,000 New Yorkers who want a choice in this important election."

English's objection was notarized by City Auditor Marty Masterpole, also an active Syracuse Democrat. Masterpole was auditor for most of Miner's two terms as mayor.

Despite a career as an elected Democrat, Miner has sometimes clashed with her own party. In 2014, Miner resigned her position as co-chair of the New York State Democratic Committee amid a policy feud with Gov. Cuomo. She and the governor were frequently at odds throughout the rest of her tenure as mayor.Pfizer Consumer Healthcare is recalling some Children's Advil due to potential overdose concerns.

CBS reports Pfizer has issued a voluntary recall for 4-ounce bottles of Children's Advil Suspension Bubble Gum flavor because the dosage cup markings are incorrect. The instructions on the label describe doses in milliliters, while the dosage cup is marked in teaspoons; one teaspoon is equal to about 4.9 milliliters.

Pfizer said the error could cause parents to mistakenly give their kids too much of the fever reducer/pain reliever medicine, potentially causing an overdose.

"Pfizer performed a Health Hazard Assessment which concluded that the use of the impacted product has a chance of being associated with the potential overdose," a press release said.

According to CBS, common ibuprofen overdose symptoms include nausea, vomiting, headache, drowsiness, blurred vision, and dizziness. No injuries or illnesses have been reported.

ABC reports the recall only affects one specific product lot, but it was distributed to retailers and distributors nationwide between May and June 2018. Here are the details to look for:

Product Name: Children's Advil Suspension Bubble Gum Flavored 4 fl oz. Bottle

GTIN #: 3-0573-0207-30-0

Lot #: R51129

Expiration Date: 11/20

Affected products should be returned to the store for a full refund, Pfizer said.

Additional questions and concerns can be directed to the Pfizer Consumer Healthcare Information Line at at 1-800-88-Advil (1-800-882-3845).GEDDES, N.Y. -- Despite the heat and humidity, another daily attendance record was set Monday at the New York State Fair.

A record 90,244 people attended the fair Monday, the first of three free senior days this week. That's 1,301 more people than the same day last year, which also happened to set a record. But the 2017 record of 88,943 lasted only one year.

"That's the fifth single-day record in the first six days," fair spokesman Dave Bullard said in a news release Monday night.

"Last year, when we set new total attendance records, we had four single-day records," he said in the release. "We're 52,768 ahead of last year with seven days to go."

Smokey Robinson drew "a large and happy crowd" of 17,550, fair organizers said.

Anyone 60 years or older entered the fair for free Monday. Senior Days continue Tuesday and Thursday. Fair officials added a third Senior Day this year because of the heat advisory.

The heat index reached into the 90s on Monday; it's expected to soar over 100 degrees on Tuesday. Tuesday, in fact, could be the hottest day in fair history.

NYS Fair Attendance

Day Dates for 2017 2018 2017 +/- Record Day 1 Wed, Aug. 22 73,596* 67,974 +5,622 73,596 (2018) Day 2 Thurs, Aug. 23 86,353* 64,642 +21,711 86,353 (2018) Day 3 Friday, Aug. 24 97,456* 81,710 +15,746 97,456 (2018) Day 4 Sat, Aug. 25 127,394** 97,390 +30,004 127,394 (2018)** Day 5 Sun. Aug. 26 101,590 123,206 -21,616 123,206 (2017) Day 6 Mon, Aug. 27 90,244* 88,943 +1,301 90,244 (2018) Day 7 Tues, Aug. 28 72,030 102,098 (1972) Day 8 Wed, Aug. 29 72,613 112,774 (1972) Day 9 Thurs, Aug. 30 75,253 90,036 (2016) Day 10 Fri, Aug. 31 97,632 111,390 (2016) Day 11 Sat., Sept. 1 121,203 121,203 (2017) Day 12 Sun, Sept. 2 74,497 119,726 (1985) Day 13 Mon, Sept. 3 124,819 124,819 (2017) Total 1,161,913

* New daily record ** All-time daily recordSYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse University has banned romantic and sexual relationships between students and employees, including professors.

University leadership recently approved a policy change which limits romantic relationships, SU announced this week.

The policy prohibits all employees from engaging in relationships with undergraduate students. It also limits employees from engaging in relationships with graduate students over whom they have some supervisory or advisory role.

SU said in a news release that the new policy was recommended by the University Senate, a body of professors, administrators and students.

Title IX officer Sheila Johnson-Willis said the policy is part of an effort to make the campus environment free from discrimination and harassment.

The new policy does not apply to students who enroll at SU and are already spouses and domestic partners of faculty or staff. The policy also notes that exceptions can be made in consultation with college administration.

The policy urges faculty members to consider their professional responsibility to students. It notes that romantic relationships that "might be acceptable in other circumstances" pose risks in an academic setting, where power dynamics and conflicts of interest could arise.

It notes the risk is very high with undergraduate students, but that relationships between faculty and graduate students are also "problematic."

The pitfalls include putting the student in a vulnerable position and putting other students who are aware of the relationship in a difficult learning environment, the policy says.

"Professionalism within the University demands that those with authority not abuse, nor seem to abuse, the power with which they are entrusted."

Public Affairs Reporter Julie McMahon covers courts, government and other issues affecting taxpayers. She can be reached anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992Hurricane Maria is to blame for nearly 3,000 deaths in Puerto Rico, far more than the official U.S. tally of 64, according to a new study.

CBS reports independent analysis commissioned by the governor of Puerto Rico and conducted by researchers at George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health found that the hurricane caused 2,975 deaths from September 2017 through February 2018.

Researchers say they estimated the death toll by comparing historical death patterns from 2010 to 2017 to the actual number of deaths on the island, a U.S. commonwealth, in the six months that followed Hurricane Maria. All age groups and social strata were affected by the hurricane, but the risk of death was found to be 45 percent higher for low-income residents and older men.

CNN reports the new study is similar to a research letter published earlier this month that estimated between 1,006 and 1,272 people died due to Hurricane Maria. Another study published in May by Harvard University researchers estimated that at least 4,645 people died in Maria's wake.

Puerto Rican officials estimated more than 1,400 people killed by Maria in a report to Congress two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the official U.S. government count is still considerably lower -- 64 -- due to differences in how deaths are tied to the hurricane.

"The official government estimate of 64 deaths from the hurricane is low primarily because the conventions used for causal attribution only allowed for classification of deaths attributable directly to the storm, e.g., those caused by structural collapse, flying debris, floods and drownings," the new George Washington University study says. "During our broader study, we found that many physicians were not oriented in the appropriate certification protocol. This translated into an inadequate indicator for monitoring mortality in the hurricane's aftermath."

The new report and others also included the loss of power, a lack of drinking water, and significant road closures and infrastructure damage in figures estimating Maria's impact. As of last month, some communities were still relying on generators for electricity and daily supplies of ice to keep milk and food refrigerated -- nearly a year after the hurricane hit.

Harvard's study also blamed the hurricane for deaths caused by health-care disruption for the elderly and the loss of basic utility services for the chronically ill.

It's unclear whether any of these studies will affect the official death toll.

President Donald Trump said in October that the federal response to the hurricane Puerto Rico deserves a grade of 10 out of 10. He has not addressed recent reports citing higher death tolls.A Texas couple has been arrested after leaving their child home alone for five days while they went to a concert more than 1,000 miles away.

The Houston Chronicle reports John Guerrero Jr., 48, and Virginia Yearnd, 39, were arrested Monday after they arrived back home in Spring, Texas. The pair left on Wednesday, Aug. 22, to see English industrial metal band Godflesh perform in Detroit, Michigan, that same night, according to court documents.

According to KTRK, they left their 11-year-old daughter home alone. Her aunt called sheriff's deputies on Thursday, Aug. 23, after speaking to the girl on the phone and learning she had been alone since Wednesday morning.

When police arrived to the house, they found the child cooking food on the stove. She said she tried to call her parents but only got their voicemail.

The Chronicle reports deputies eventually got ahold of Yearnd, who claimed they were in Louisiana. She later admitted she and Guerrero went to see Godflesh in Detroit, some 1,300 miles away, according to deputies.

It's unclear if the couple drove or flew to Michigan, or why it took them so long to return.

KTRK reports their daughter told authorities that it wasn't the first time she had been left home alone for an extended period of time, and she hadn't expected them to return until late Friday, Aug. 24.

According to the Chronicle, Texas Penal Code states that a parent, guardian or anyone else caring for a child under age 15 can be charged with child endangerment if he or she "intentionally abandons the child in any place under circumstances that expose the child to an unreasonable risk of harm."

Guerrero and Yearnd were booked with no bond Monday at the Harris County Jail on second-degree felony child endangerment charges. They face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The girl was released into the custody of a neighbor, according to KTRK.President Donald Trump arose before dawn Tuesday complaining about Google search results for "Trump News."

In a pair of tweets posted before 6 a.m., the president said the results included only "the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media." He hadn't corrected the typo within about an hour.

"Google search results for 'Trump News' shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96 percent of results on 'Trump News' are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous. Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situation - will be addressed!" Trump wrote in his tweets.

Google search results are affected not only by region but also by personal search history. It was unclear whether the president had Googled himself, or whether he was referring to a recent piece in PJ Media, a conservative blog, alleging that 96 percent of Google search results for news about Trump were from "left-leaning news outlets." His accusations appeared to mirror those in the August 25 piece.

"Is Google manipulating its algorithm to prioritize left-leaning news outlets in their coverage of President Trump?" asked Paula Bolyard, the "supervising editor" of the site who describes herself on Twitter as a Christian, a constitutional conservative and a "Cultural nonconformist."

She said she searched "Trump" on Google News and weighed the results using a media bias chart developed by Sharyl Attkisson, a former CBS News correspondent. Bolyard said left-leaning outlets accounted for 96 percent of the results, with CNN stories making up "nearly 29 percent of the total." She said she performed the search several times using different computers, and the results did not differ considerably.

But nowhere did the editor and blogger reckon with the fact that the sheer volume of content produced by different outlets plays a major role in determining the share of results they claim. She did, however, acknowledge that her methods are "not scientific."

Trump, for his part, gave only once specific example, saying "Fake CNN is prominent." But he concluded, "they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD." Conservative media, he claimed, is "shut out."

"Illegal?" he speculated, going on to accuse Google of "controlling what we can & cannot see." He promised the "very serious situation" would be "addressed," but didn't give specifics.

A search for "Trump News" shortly after the president's posts returned three top stories. There was a Fox News report about Lanny Davis, an attorney and spokesman for Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen, admitting he was an anonymous source for CNN's report about Trump's possible prior knowledge of the summer 2016 meeting at Trump Tower attended by a Russian lawyer. There was also a CNN account of Trump's decision to issue, several days late, a statement praising the late U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. And there was an NBC story about the surge of Muslim candidates inspired to run for office across the country by Trump's election.

Trump has raised increasing alarm about what he describes as political bias pervading technology and social media companies. In July, he accused Twitter of using a "discriminatory and illegal practice" to silence conservative voices. Jack Dorsey, the chief executive of the social media giant, said the company's employees are "more left-leaning" but maintained that political ideology doesn't affect what appears on Twitter.

Representatives of major technology companies appeared before Congress in July to answer allegations of censorship.

"We have a natural and long-term incentive to make sure our products work for users of all viewpoints," said Juniper Downs, who works on policy for Google-owned YouTube.Reach key decision makers with sales-ready leads that shorten your sales process. Move the needle by delivering funnel qualified leads to your sales team. Learn more

Michelle Cirocco is head of global marketing for Televerde, a company focusing on business-to-business demand generation and inside sales solutions.

Televerde staffs a portion of its contact centers with incarcerated women, providing them with training and helping them find career opportunities after their release.

In this exclusive interview, Cirocco explains how everyone wins when a company provides employees with the opportunity to turn their lives around.

Televerde Head of Global MarketingMichelle Cirocco

TechNewsWorld: What is Televerdes mission?

Michelle Cirocco:

Televerde is the global leader in market insight. Our mission is to provide opportunities for our clients to grow their businesses and achieve their personal best.

Were a B2B sales and marketing agency, and we generate demand and accelerate sales for our clients. Our clients are the largest technology companies in the world, as well as startup, high-tech, high-growth companies. Ninety-eight percent of our customers are in the high-tech space.

Were a true extension of our clients sales and marketing organizations, and were consistently delivering measurable value for our customers.

Our company was founded with the idea of providing job opportunities for women in corrections. Our CEO came with a technical background, and when he came to Televerde, he found the answer to what sales, marketing and technology companies needed.

Sales reps needed good-quality leads, and he believed he could teach women in corrections all the skills they needed to enter the technical sales field. He built the business on this idea of providing job opportunities.

Weve had over 1,700 women work for us inside correctional facilities in Arizona and Indiana, and weve expanded the business outside of corrections to provide jobs when theyre released and want to build real careers.

TNW: Could you describe the trajectory of your career. How did you get where you are today?

Cirocco:

My real business career started with Televerde, and Ive been with the company for almost 20 years. When you have the opportunity to work with a company with such an amazing social purpose, it makes it easy to fall in love and be committed to the mission of the company.

Thats also part of what the company is about  investing in individuals and helping to achieve their personal best. I started in an entry-level position in project management and account management, and my career has been a procession of increasing responsibility within the company, from sales to sales operations to marketing.

As my responsibilities increased, so did my education. When I started, I had an associates degree, and then I got my bachelors in marketing and finally an MBA. Its been a commitment to lifelong learning.

TNW: Why do you have a passion for what you do?

Cirocco:

I have a passion for what Televerde does. When you have the opportunity to work with people to recreate themselves and build a meaningful career for themselves and their families, and you get to watch and help that happen, its very rewarding.

It enables me to have my arms around the brand and, promoting Televerde so that it becomes a bigger organization that can provide more jobs and more opportunities for women. The bigger this company gets, the more women and families we can help.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

TNW: What does it mean to use technology to accentuate the human connection? And why is it important?

Cirocco:

The thing about technology is that were a human-touch organization. Were people people. Everybodys using technologies like artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, marketing automation tools, search engine marketing and lead analytics tools.

Were using all these tools and technologies to identify who we should communicate with, and we use them to set the stage for our marketing and demand-generation efforts, and to get our names or clients names in front of their prospects.

Ultimately, though, our real goal is to build relationships. At the end of the day, people buy from people. Technology is a tool for us to enable trust and build relationships.

TNW: What kind of work do the women do?

Cirocco:

A large portion of the work involves contact centers, lead development and inside sales. But we have people in a wide variety of roles outside of those, including project management, technical reporting, IT work and QA testing.

We have women certified in marketing automation tools who are designing and setting up our marketing automation campaigns. We have folks in our finance department doing financial reporting and analysis. I have my marketing and communications team thats responsible for writing content and graphic design.

Our own inside sales and sales development is also a job opportunity for women. They all have career paths at our corporate office when they get out, and many have career paths to go work for our clients.

TNW: Why do you think its a good idea to work with people in correctional facilities?

Cirocco:

Theyre a highly motivated, committed workforce. Theyre women who went left when they should have gone right, and theyre at the lowest point in their lives. Every single one wants to have a better life.

Theyre all willing to work hard at whatever will enable them to have a better life, to get their children and families back. Its a workforce of people who are in love with their jobs. These are people who truly love what theyre doing, because they have the time and focus and ability to commit to it.

Theyre in an environment that encourages them to be naturally supportive of each other to be more successful. Because of this environment, we have the highest-quality call centers in the world. Our clients buy from us because were the best at what we do, and thats because we have a phenomenal workforce.

TNW: Is Televerdes mission being adopted by other companies?

Cirocco:

Most states have correctional industries responsible for jobs within the community or within the government, providing work opportunities for inmates. While people are incarcerated, theyre required to have a job, unless theyre medically exempted.

Many companies are using this kind of workforce, but were one of the biggest employers. Were also one of the few employers developing knowledge workers.

Most correction industry job opportunities tend to be vocational and blue collar, but our employees are truly knowledge workers, in fields like sales and technology. We offer more than just job opportunities. These are career opportunities.The big picture: Samsung has released two QLED monitors featuring Thunderbolt 3 connectivity. A single wire is all that is needed for power and data making it possible for several peripherals to be connected without cable clutter.

Following the release of two budget-friendly monitors at Gamescom, Samsung has pulled out two more monitors featuring Thunderbolt 3 connectivity with large 34-inch and 43-inch panels.

Utilizing Thunderbolt 3 allows for up to 40 Gbps of data to be sent to the monitor while simultaneously providing up to 85W of power for charging devices. The 34-inch CJ79 is a 3440x1440 ultra-wide with 21:9 aspect ratio. The larger CJ89 is 3840x1200 with a 32:10 aspect ratio. Curvature measures in at 1500R on the 34-inch model and 1800R on the 43-inch monitor.

Aside from the two USB-C ports used for Thunderbolt 3, the CJ79 has one HDMI, one DisplayPort, and two USB 3.0 ports. The only difference on the CJ89 is that there is one USB 3.0 port and two USB 2.0 ports.

Samsung's CJ79 uses Quantum Dot technology to achieve 125 percent coverage of the sRGB color space with a 3000:1 contrast ratio.

Both displays feature VA panels, but the main difference other than size lies in refresh rates and adaptive sync functionality. The CJ79 has a 100Hz panel and supports FreeSync. It has a response time of 4 milliseconds. On the contrary, the CJ89 has a 120Hz panel but does not have any variable refresh rate capabilities and a response time of 5 milliseconds.

Monitor standards for each are height adjustable with tilting and wall mount support. Only the CJ89 allows for stand swivel.

Samsung's latest QLED monitors with Thunderbolt 3 are available now in Europe. Worldwide availability is coming soon.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 28)  The Israel 'gift' trip for military and police delegation will prove to be beneficial for the country's security measure, a top government official said.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Tuesday said the officials will have an agenda of their own in Israel--particularly in boosting the country's fight against extremism and terrorism.

"Including them of course (is) a part of a gesture of appreciation, it's part of the reason why they will join the trip," Roque told reporters in a media briefing.

"But obviously, for security personnel, a trip to Israel would entail collaborating and mingling with security forces of Israel, in order for our men and women in uniform to benefit from the experience including their drive against extremism and terrorism," he added.

This came in response to Senator Ping Lacson's criticism of the said travel gift. In a statement, Lacson said that official presidential trips "must have a better purpose than just being a gift to anyone in the government."

President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday said he is adding military and police officers to his trip "as a gift for serving the country well."

READ: Duterte gives Israel trip 'gift' to retiring military, police officials

Roque noted he found nothing wrong with the sudden inclusion of the security officials.

"(There's) Nothing wrong (with it). I think that strengthening security cooperation is one of the matters that will be discussed," Roque said.

"They have their own agenda when they get there. Meron po silang sariling schedule at agenda na susundin aside from the President (They have their own schedule and agenda to follow aside from the President). That's how it operates," he added.

Roque said since they are still active members of the service, the military and police personnel's trip expenses will be paid for by the government.

Earlier this month, Duterte claimed he was reconsidering the September trips to Israel and Jordan due to the travel expenses. But the President said he will push through with the state visits.

Duterte is set to visit Israel from September 2 to 5."There has been investment from Korean, Japanese, Chinese and German automakers," said Dave Sullivan, manager of product analysis at AutoPacific Inc. "This has resulted in a mushrooming supplier base in Mexico. For automakers, the prospect of business as usual with Mexico allows for further investment in product and assembly decisions that can also impact production decisions in the U.S. The fact is, assembly work in the U.S. is still quite dependent on low-cost countries producing the parts to allow for higher cost final assembly in the U.S."Why it matters: For the roughly 250,000 service members who leave the US military every year to move into civilian jobs, finding a position that takes advantage of their skills can prove difficult. But Google is making the process easier, thanks to updates to its job search feature and a generous grant.

Many veterans feel they are forced to take jobs beneath their skill levels when they leave the armed services, and just under half quit their first job after leaving the military within a year because they find it unsuitable or are unsatisfied.

Now, Google aims to help match the right job with the right veteran using its new tool. By typing Jobs for veterans and a military occupational specialty code into its search engine, nearby civilian jobs that require similar skills will be surfaced, along with the average salaries and growth rates of job opportunities in these areas.

The feature can be used on sites that utilize Googles Talent Solutionits machine learning-based job search platform. These include CareerBuilder, Getting Hired, and FedEx Careers.

Google is also lending a helping hand to those ex-vets who start their own business. Sean OKeefe, a former US Army staff sergeant and current Google data scientist, writes that over 2.5 million businesses in America are majority-owned by veterans. To help identify them on Google My Business, a Veteran-Led attribute badge is being introduced.

Additionally, Googles charity initiative, Google.org, is giving a $2.5 million grant to the USO. The money will provide IT training and career support to service members and military spouses, as well as helping them earn Googles IT Support Professional Certificationthe online-only program normally costs $49 per month for its 8- to 12-month duration.

There is an opportunity to re-equip service members with IT skills as they move onto their next chapter after military service and to help address the spouse unemployment/underemployment problem with highly portable careers in the IT industry, said Alan Reyes, USO senior vice president of operations, programs, and transition.

Image credit: Michelle Eberhart on FlickrIn context: The Apple I computer is an iconic piece of history for modern computing. As the supply of working models dwindles, there may not be many more of these legendary systems available.

In a cubicle at HP and a modest apartment being rented in Cupertino, California, Steve Wozniak hand-soldered numerous circuit boards that would eventually become the Apple I computer.

Offered as a freely available design to the Homebrew Computer Club in Silicon Valley, word got out about the quality of work and shear impressiveness of a big board full of working components. Apple was founded, but it was not until three months after its inception that Steve Jobs actually saw Wozniak's design.

Paul Terrell became the first customer of the Apple I when he agreed to purchase completed boards for The Byte Shop in Palo Alto. Only 200 Apple I computers were ever fully built.

Fast forward to present day and there are only around 60 known Apple I computers still in good condition. Out of those 60, around 15 are actually working. There is one fully functional and unmodified Apple I computer headed to auction on September 25. Bids are expected to surpass $300,000 for the iconic machine.

An original user manual with hand written notes is also said to be included in the auction. Additionally, two Apple Cassette Interface manuals with original cassette interface are included.

The machine in question was originally purchased in either late 1976 or early 1977 for $666.66 but was then subsequently sold approximately a year later for just $300. The current owner claims he attempted to sell it back to Steve Wozniak in 1982 for $10,000 but never received a response to his offer.

RR auction has worked with Apple I expert Corey Cohen to give the system an 8.5 rating. Another Apple I that was protected under a glass cover for most of its life received a 9.5. The near perfect machine sold for $905,000 in 2014 to the Henry Ford museum.Why it matters: Though the US' current administration doesn't seem concerned about climate change, tech companies throughout the country aren't giving up the fight for renewable energy. Facebook today announced that it will commit to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent while powering 100 percent of its global operations with clean energy by the end of 2020.

Amazon and Google aren't the only companies dedicating additional resources to going green - Facebook is following their lead now, according to a press release published by the company on Tuesday.

The release details Facebook's plans to reduce its greenhouse emissions, and drastically increase the amount of renewable energy its global operations use.

Specifically, Facebook is hoping to reduce emissions by a whopping 75 percent while powering its global facilities using 100 percent renewable energy - all by the end of 2020.

As you can probably tell, these are two very ambitious energy targets, and it's tough to say whether or not Facebook will be able to pull them off.

However, if California can hit its emissions goals years ahead of schedule, it's certainly not unreasonable for a tech company with the resources Facebook has to do the same.

At any rate, specifics regarding how Facebook plans to accomplish its new goals are a bit vague at the moment. Presumably, the company will continue to launch solar and wind projects in the future, but that's pure speculation for the time being.

With that said, Facebook does mention the "efficiency" of its data centers on the Sustainability section of its website. These data centers are apparently designed to use less water and consume less power than traditional data centers, through the use of water and energy-saving "fixtures."Xbox One connoisseurs are in for a treat, as Microsoft officially verified its Xbox All Access subscription service on Monday.

Affordable Xbox Subscription

The Xbox All Access subscription, which will allow users to get an Xbox Console, Xbox Live Gold, and an Xbox Game Pass, is available for $22 and $35 a month, depending on whether the user chooses the Xbox One S or the Xbox One X console. The service is only available for Xbox users in the United States.

"For no upfront cost and one low monthly price for 24 months, Xbox All Access gets you a new Xbox One S or Xbox One X, access to more than 100 great games through Xbox Game Pass, and online multiplayer with Xbox Live Gold. That's more than 100 all-you-can-play games  including highly-anticipated new Xbox One exclusives the day they're released, plus more games added all the time on the fastest, most reliable gaming network and an Xbox One console," Bogdan Bilan of Microsoft said.

With the Xbox Live Gold, users can play online with their friends as well as receive discounts and free games. On the other hand, the Xbox Game Pass awards Xbox One buffs with unlimited access to more than 100 games.

The Xbox Game Pass is armed with popular games such as State of Decay 2 and Sea of Thieves. During last week's Gamescom event, Microsoft also unveiled that a gilt-edged and enhanced Halo: The Master Chief Collection, which will hit Game Pass on Sept. 1.

Presently, an Xbox One S is priced in the range of $230 on the Microsoft Store with a free game. Meanwhile, Xbox Live, which is likewise available on Microsoft Store, charges users $59.99 annually, with an Xbox Game Pass selling at $9.99 per month.

Limited-Time Offer

Variety reported that the Xbox All Access is only a limited-time offer and is available for qualified customers. In addition, the subscription is also strengthened with a Dell Preferred Account feature that assists users in managing their technology purchasing and services.

With its Dell Preferred Account, users can take advantage of the Xbox All Access subscription with no upfront cost and 0 percent APR for 24 months. Dell Financing is extended by Member FDIC and WebBank to residents in the United States.

Kotaku noted that Microsoft's decision to unwrap the Xbox All Access was not surprising, citing that the company has struggled to move its hardware in the recent years. Microsoft stopped releasing sales numbers in 2015 and has since turned its attention to the number of people subscribed to its services as a decisive metric for monitoring growth.

Photo: Mack Male | Flickr

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.It may be invisible to the naked eye, but the air is full of particles of salt, smoke, dust, and other microscopic gunk.

NASA has recently released a stunning but scary visualization of the plumes of aerosols swirling everywhere in the world. Using satellites and ground sensors, the agency was able to create a map that shows clouds of particles of matter floating around the globe and puts into perspective how pervasive they have become.

What Are Aerosols?

Aerosols are ubiquitous specks of liquid or solid found in the air that drift from the atmosphere and back to the ground. These particles range in size from a few nanometers to tens of micrometers.

Aerosols are everywhere  they can be found over oceans and seas, forests, deserts, cities and rural areas, mountains, and ecosystems in between. Humans breathe them in when they are in the ground or interact with the climate when floating in the atmosphere,

These specks of solid and liquid are produced and emitted into the air by a variety of natural and man-made phenomena. NASA claims that majority of the aerosols in the air or about 90 percent have natural origins.

Sea salt and dust are the most common aerosols around the world. Wind-driven spray from ocean sends microscopic drops of sea salt into the air while sandstorm lifts up particles of mineral dust from the desert to the atmosphere.

Wildfires, like the ones currently raging across Canada and United States, also contribute to the clouds of aerosols in the air and the atmosphere. In the visualization below, the areas in red represent black carbon particles.

Blue represents sea salt aerosol while purple shows clouds of dust.

pic.twitter.com/I9BKFPik01 If you have ever watched smoke billowing from a wildfire or dust blowing in the wind, you've seen aerosols. This visualization uses @NASAEarth satellite data to show the expansive view of the mishmash of particles that dance & swirl through the atmosphere https://t.co/kSeB1jWjmP August 24, 2018

The remaining 10 percent of the aerosol caused by man-made events are often found in the air in urban and industrial areas. They come from automobiles, power plants, incinerators, fireplaces, candles, and others. Deforestation, excessive irrigation, and overgrazing also contribute to the problem.

NASA warns that the visualization "is not a direct representation of satellite data." The agency also added that some aerosols are causing very real problems on the ground, namely the twin tropical cyclones Soulik and Cimarron in South Korea and Hurricane Lane in Hawaii.

How Aerosol Affects The World

Aerosols have direct and indirect effects to the planet. One direct effect of these ubiquitous particles of matter in the air and the atmosphere is poor air quality recently experienced in cities such as Seattle and Portland.

The indirect effect is the particles' interaction with the climate by scattering or absorbing light and changing the planet's reflectivity. Particles of aerosols are said to reflect about a quarter of the sun's energy back to outer space or absorb sunlight in varying degrees. In contrast to the greenhouse effects of atmospheric gases, aerosol can cool the atmosphere.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Roy King, the former LSU band director fired in April 2016, has been placed on administrative leave at his job at J.M. Tate High School in Cantonment, Florida, 3WEARTV.com reported.

An administrator with the Escambia County School District refused to discuss details for the leave.

King was director of the Golden Band from Tigerland at LSU from 2010 until he was fired in April 2016.

LSU, in its termination letter, accused King of, among other things, circumventing management directives by awarding scholarships to members of the Golden Girls dance team and flag girls of the color guard without proper approval.

King later sued LSU, claiming his firing violated his First Amendment and due process rights, and accused the university of slander. LSU settled for $110,000, without admitting fault or liability.

Tigerland to Tate: Former LSU band director Roy King lands job at Florida high school After a contentious exit from LSU, former Tigers band director Roy King has accepted a position as the band leader for Tate High School in Can

What did LSU pay to settle former marching band director's suit? $110,000 Without any admission of fault or liability, LSU paid $110,000 to settle a lawsuit by former LSU Tiger Marching Band director Roy King, accordTwo men accused in the 2015 kidnapping and slaying of an elderly Highland Road couple are still set to go on trial Oct. 1 after making separate court appearances Tuesday.

But before that date, Ernesto Llerena Alonso and his cousin, Frank Garcia, will return to state District Judge Trudy White's courtroom Sept. 13 for a motions hearing.

+3 Trial of two men in 2015 killing of Highland Road couple pushed back to Oct. 1 The trial of two men accused in the 2015 robbery, abduction and killing of an elderly Highland Road couple was pushed back to Oct. 1 on Thursday.

Alonso, 45, and Garcia, 50, are charged with first-degree murder in the October 2015 robbery, beating, abduction and killing of Denis "Bubbie" Duplantier, 71, and Suzanne "Suzy" Duplantier, 70. Authorities have said the victims were strangled.

Alonso did landscaping work for the Duplantiers and lived in an apartment above a Nicholson Drive barn on their property.

The couples bodies were found Oct. 19, 2015, in the rear seat of their red pickup at a Hammond gas station. Alonsos white pickup was captured on surveillance video as it followed the Duplantiers truck into the Petro truck stop, authorities said. Alonsos truck was recovered at Garcias house in Hollywood, Florida.

A safe inside the Duplantier home was found open, with cash missing, and a large amount of cash and a number of unspecified items believed stolen from the home were discovered at Garcias residence, authorities said.

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Investigators have said they believe Alonso and Garcia went into the Duplantier home and beat the couple to obtain information needed to open the safe. Blood was found in several rooms, according to police.

Alonso's attorneys have filed a motion asking White to throw out the statements Alonso gave detectives after telling them he had "nothing else to say." Garcia has filed a request that his trial be moved out of East Baton Rouge Parish because of pretrial publicity.

+4 Man accused in 2015 Highland Road double murder wants police statements tossed out Attorneys for one of the men charged in the 2015 abduction and killing of a Highland Road couple asked a judge Monday to throw out the stateme

The two men do not face the death penalty, so they would be sentenced to life in prison if convicted as charged. Alonso and Garcia are expected to be tried separately, though attorneys for neither man have filed a motion requesting separate trials.

Alonso appeared before White on Tuesday with his attorneys, Dwight Doskey and Meghan Harwell from the Capital Defense Project of Southeast Louisiana in New Orleans. Garcia stood before the judge with his lawyers, East Baton Rouge Parish Public Defender Mike Mitchell and Lyn Legier, an assistant public defender.

+6 Death penalty not sought against two men accused of killing Highland Road couple during robbery, DA decides Family members of an elderly couple killed in their Highland Road home made a gut-wrenching decision after meeting with prosecutors over whe

Neither defendant speaks English, so a different interpreter was present for each man.A Baton Rouge man's murder and drug trial in the 2015 heroin overdose death of a 20-year-old man was delayed Monday.

Prosecutor John Russell told state District Judge Trudy White that new information was brought to his attention during his pretrial preparation in the case of Brandon Jamal Parker, and he feels obliged to follow up on the material.

Parker, 27, was scheduled to stand trial Monday on second-degree murder and possession with intent to distribute heroin in the March 7, 2015, death of James "Alex" Brasfield. Instead, he will return to court Sept. 26 for a hearing.

Baton Rouge man booked on murder count, accused of selling heroin to a man who overdosed and died in March A 24-year-old man has been booked on a count of second-degree murder in the heroin overdose death of James Alex Brasfield on March 7.

Parker is accused of selling heroin to Brasfield the night of March 6, 2015.

A witness told investigators that Brasfield went to his residence on Denham Road and ingested the drug before falling asleep. He did not wake up.

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Brasfield died of acute heroin intoxication, East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Beau Clark concluded.

Parker is being prosecuted under a rarely-used provision of Louisiana's second-degree murder statute that allows a murder prosecution when someone is killed and the suspect is accused of distributing or dispensing an illegal drug that directly causes the recipient's death.

Jarret McCasland, 29, of Denham Springs, is the only person who has been convicted in East Baton Rouge Parish of second-degree murder under that provision. He was found guilty in 2015 in the heroin overdose death of his girlfriend, 19-year-old Flavia "Cathy" Cardenas. She also died with cocaine and other drugs in her system.

Judge refuses to alter life sentence for Denham Springs man in girlfriends alleged heroin death Despite saying the mandatory sentence he imposed bothers me tremendously, a Baton Rouge state judge refused Monday to reduce a Denham Spring

McCasland, who is appealing, is serving a mandatory life sentence.In his first opportunity to implement a new video release policy aimed at improving transparency, Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul decided against sharing with the public the body or dash camera videos from an Aug. 7 officer-involved shooting.

Almost three weeks after the shooting and the subsequent arrest of a man allegedly involved  police say the man shot at an officer while fleeing a traffic stop, prompting the officer to return fire  Paul chose not to release the footage from the incident. No one was injured in the shooting.

The Public Release of Critical Incident Recordings policy, which went into effect last week, allows the police chief 12 days to review any video captured from such an officer-involved shootings and determine if the video can be shared publicly. On the 14th business day since the Aug. 7 officer-involved shooting, an attorney for the police department responded to The Advocate's public records request, saying Paul decided the "requested video(s) will not released at this time based on the active admin and criminal investigation."

+5 BRPD adopts new policy for faster release of video footage from officer-involved shootings, chief says A year after the rollout of body cameras for all Baton Rouge police officers, the department has adopted a new policy for the faster release o

Paul declined to comment further.

Three days after the shooting, 21-year-old Raheem Howard was arrested on attempted murder of a police officer and illegal use of a weapon. He is being held on $90,000 bond in Parish Prison.

Police allege Howard fired a single shot at officer Yuseff Hamadeh on North 15th Street on the evening of Aug. 7, after fleeing when Hamadeh stopped his vehicle for not having a license plate. Hamadeh returned fire; no one was injured.

+4 Man who allegedly shot at BRPD officer arrested on attempted first-degree murder, police say Baton Rouge police captured the man who fired a gun at an officer earlier last week and arrested him on attempted first-degree murder, police 

Upon his arrest, Howard called for the release of the body and dash camera videos, claiming they would prove his innocence. He did not deny being at the scene or even fleeing, but said he did not have a gun.

Howard's attorney, Ronald Haley Jr., said he is extremely disappointed by Paul's decision not to release the footage.

I was happy that the chief announced the policy and I was looking forward to getting the evidence to hopefully exonerate my client," Haley said. "There needs to be transparency in this case."

The body camera release policy says it was created to increase the trust between the police department and the community.

"It is the policy of the police department to facilitate the prompt release of audio and video recordings of critical incidents involving the the police department, so long as the release is consistent with the legitimate needs of ongoing law enforcement operations," the policy says. But, complete discretion is given to the chief, which means he can release the video even during an ongoing investigation, or not.

Retired Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank, now the vice president of strategic partnerships for the Center for Policing Equity, encourages the release of video footage and practiced that during his tenure as a police chief. In a previous interview about body camera policy, he said he believes the benefits far outweigh the minor challenges it can pose for investigators, and he called a decision not to release relevant video based on an ongoing investigation a "poor excuse."

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"We routinely in other situations, show (evidence)," Burbank said, citing photos and videos of bank robberies or suspects shared, or even cell phone video taken during crimes. "You can still prosecute the matter, you can still hold people accountable. Does it create challenges? In some cases.  What it does, it provides transparency to the public and it shows we have nothing to hide."

Which is Haley's concern in the Aug. 7 shooting, where he feels his client is being framed for the shooting, going so far as to speculate that Howard's arrest is part of a "cover-up" from the police department.

"Every day that it goes on that we dont get the video, its bringing more doubt as into the veracity of the story," Haley said. "If the video shows my client firing at a police officer, if the video shows my client with a gun, then it is what it is, it would be self-proving.  The more I believe the area is gray and does not live in black and white, thats problematic."

Haley said his client did not have a firearm at the time of the shooting, and had nothing on him that could have even been mistaken for a gun.

"He left his cell phone, his ID and his wallet inside the car," the attorney said. "He did not have anything on his physical person that could be mistaken for a firearm.

At Howard's arrest on Aug. 10, police spokesman Sgt. Don Coppola Jr. said no gun had been recovered. He declined to comment on any further developments Monday, citing an ongoing investigation.

+2 Baton Rouge officer in post-traffic stop shooting ID'd, was also involved 2017 fatal shooting The Baton Rouge police officer involved in the Tuesday night shooting after a traffic stop near North 15th Street is the same police officer w

Haley said he is also concerned that the officer involved has a history of such incidents. Hamadeh was the officer who fatally shot Jordan Frazier in 2017, a shooting in which police say Frazier pointed a gun at officers following a traffic stop.

"A year later, its another shooting," Haley said. "We have another traffic stop that has ended up in gunfire, thats not normal.  The only difference between this one and that one is that the officer missed this time."

The father of Jordan Frazier, who was shot and killed on South Acadian Thruway, said this decision confirms his concerns about how police have handled the investigation of his son's shooting. There was no video of that shooting.

+3 'An atrocity': Parents of man fatally shot by BRPD upset officer awarded Medal of Valor In the year since Henry and Helen Frazier found out their 35-year-old son had been fatally shot by a Baton Rouge police officer, the couple ha

Henry Frazier, who continues to make comments only after qualifying that he supports law enforcement officers, said he is disappointed that Paul is not allowing the public to see the video in the Aug. 7 shooting.

"Its almost the citizens are guilty until proven innocent," Henry Frazier said. "It seems like the officers are assumed innocent no matter what the cameras show.  How are we as citizens supposed to feel?

Editors note: This post was updated Aug. 28, 2018 to correctly portray allegations against Jordan Frazier, who was killed in a June 2017 officer-involved shooting. Police allege that Frazier pointed a weapon at officers, not that he fired the weapon. The Advocate regrets the error.The plan to widen Interstate 10 in Baton Rouge would not only add a lane in each direction.

It also would make huge changes to some of the exits along the 3.5-mile corridor between the Interstate 10/12 split and the Mississippi River bridge.

Gov. John Bel Edwards outlined his proposal last month, and state officials hope to start construction in 2019 or 2020 using federal bonds that the state would repay over 12 years.

Many details of the project are unclear.

"We can't speak with certainty because we are in the process," said Shawn Wilson, secretary for the state Department of Transportation and Development. "We can only tell you what the next phase is."

However, major changes are envisioned from the "new" bridge eastbound after nearly two decades of proposals, controversy and false starts.

Mississippi River bridge to Dalrymple

This section of the corridor is one of the biggest traffic chokepoints in the Baton Rouge area.

Motorists leaving the bridge and heading into Baton Rouge now have two eastbound lanes  briefly. The outside lane requires drivers leaving the bridge to quickly exit at little-used Washington Street.

That often sparks panic by motorists, who then force their way one lane over, and out of the Washington Street-bound lane, to continue eastbound on I-10.

Under the plan, what is now the Washington Street exit lane off the bridge would become the new eastbound lane that carries travelers through town to the I-10/12 split.

Motorists still would have the option of exiting farther east at a new, combined Washington Street/Dalrymple exit.

"That way, you will have two lanes coming from I-110 south and two lanes coming off the bridge," said Eric Kalivoda, deputy secretary for DOTD.

The current configuration narrows I-10 eastbound to three lanes after motorists leave the bridge.

In addition, the overhaul would add an eastbound I-10 path from Dalrymple, which has been discussed for years.

Motorists can currently use an on-ramp from Dalrymple to get to I-10 westbound. That would not change.

What is new is motorists on Dalrymple also would have the option to take a short frontage road toward Washington Street, cross under the interstate and loop around to a new, eastbound I-10 on-ramp.

"It would be a Texas turnaround," Kalivoda said. "Very similar to the one we have at Government Street, where you can turn around and go to the casino."

State Rep. Patricia Smith, D-Baton Rouge, who generally backs the governor's plan, said some concerns in the past about widening I-10 from residents in the Washington Street area have disappeared.

"The houses are occupied by renters because the majority of homeowners have died," Smith said.

Perkins Road overpass

Business owners in the area have long criticized I-10 widening plans and predicted that adding new lanes would destroy restaurants, bars and shops.

Kalivoda said the state may not need any right of way for that section of the widening.

The work can be done, he said, without putting more restaurants and bars literally under a revamped I-10.

The key? Closing the on- and off-ramps at Perkins, which would create space on both sides of the existing interstate.

"In removing those ramps, and of course we own the right of way that the ramps currently occupy, that gives us the room to widen and add additional through lanes," he said.

Most of the widening will be done on the outside of the roadway.

Lanes have to be 12 feet wide.

Acadian Thruway

The scoop on state politics in your inbox Get the Louisiana politics insider details once a week from us. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

At Acadian Thruway, the westbound on-ramp and the eastbound off-ramp would be lengthened.

Both would be done after the Perkins Road on- and off-ramps are removed.

The westbound on-ramp to I-10, which is near TJ Ribs, is especially troublesome, and some motorists avoid it.

"It is a very short on-ramp," Kalivoda said. "But we can't really lengthen it because the Perkins Road on-ramp is in the way."

The eastbound auxiliary lane between Acadian and College is expected to remain.

Some soundwalls in the area will be relocated on mostly state-owned property to allow for the widening.

College Drive

At College Drive, the widening means there will be four eastbound lanes crossing the College Drive overpass, and the College Drive on-ramp will make five.

Significantly, a new elevated express ramp will be added on I-10 for westbound drivers headed to College Drive.

The current pattern is this: Westbound motorists on I-10, after they pass Essen Lane, see that the interstate narrows from three lanes to two near the ramp for eastbound I-12.

That often results in motorists trying to wedge into traffic to avoid heading east on I-12.

The changes would eliminate the triple lane change that westbound I-10 drivers have to make to exit at College Drive.

No changes are planned for those headed to eastbound I-12 from westbound I-10, officials said.

+5 I-10 widening? Some residents fear project's potential effect on Baton Rouge businesses Gov. John Bel Edwards' $350 million plan to widen Interstate 10 from the Mississippi River bridge to the I-10/I-12 split in Baton Rouge has re

What's next

Traffic through the entire corridor was built in the 1960s for around 80,000 vehicles per day.

Instead, more than twice that number use it daily.

According to projections, more than 200,000 vehicles will be using it daily by 2032, boosting travel times by up to 80 percent.

Wilson has said the work will take at least five years and more likely six or seven years, which means 2025 for completion or more likely 2026 or 2027.

The governor's proposal has cleared the House and Senate transportation committees.

It next faces action in the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, possibly this month, and then the State Bond Commission.

Baton Rouge-area lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats, generally support the governor's plan.

"It is the best opportunity we are going to have to get something done," said House Transportation Committee Chairman Kenny Havard, R-St. Francisville.

The I-10 work is the biggest part of a $600 million undertaking, including up to $110 million to finish an I-10 connection from Loyola Avenue in Kenner to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.

Also, work is about to begin on an earlier announced project in Baton Rouge to add a new exit off I-110 South. Southbound motorists on I-110 will be able to get off at Terrace Avenue and get to the Washington Street area without using the Washington Street exit, which would be used for eastbound cars and trucks leaving the bridge. The Terrace Avenue work is expected to take about 18 months.

The aim is to allow motorists on I-110 South to exit left rather than having to cross multiple lanes to exit right at Washington, which causes backups.

The larger interstate widening plan envisions the state repaying the bond money annually from a portion of annual federal highway aid.

Sen. Bodi White, R-Central, is among supporters of the effort.

"If we don't do that, we will never get to alleviate the traffic problem in Baton Rouge," White said.The $360 million widening of Interstate 10 in Baton Rouge means the state will buy at least 17 homes, add up to nine new sections of sound walls and delay plans for a westbound express ramp to College Drive if the funds run short, state officials said Monday.

Most of the affected homes are between either Washington Street and Dalrymple Drive or Perkins Road and Acadian Thruway.

Of the 17, nine or 10 are rental properties, one is vacant and six are owner occupied, said Eric Kalivoda, deputy secretary for the state Department of Transportation and Development.

The state also plans to buy four businesses in the path of the work, including a convenience store, salon, barber shop and The Overpass Merchant, a restaurant at 2904 Perkins Rd, officials said.

The details are spelled out in documents and maps that will be on display starting Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at McKinley Middle Magnet School.

The public meeting, which lasts until 8 p.m., is the first of three this week for residents to see the plans, which will add a new travel lane in each direction for a good portion of the 3 1/2 mile corridor between the Mississippi River bridge and the I-10/12 split.

Also, the Perkins Road on- and off-ramps will be closed and the westbound on-ramp and eastbound off-ramp at Acadian Thruway will be lengthened, with a new third lane set for Acadian from the exit to Perkins.

Backers say the work is long overdue in a city plagued by daily traffic tie-ups.

Morning and evening rush hour travel times will be trimmed by up to two-thirds, according to planners.

Without the expansion, officials say, commuters will spend up to 80 percent more time in their cars and trucks by 2032.

"Something has to give," Kalivoda said.

The work is scheduled to start next year. It will take 5-7 years to finish.

The project is part of a $600 million highway package announced by Gov. John Bel Edwards in January, including improved access to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport from I-10.

+2 Major financing plan to widen I-10, improve N.O. airport access coming together; here are next steps The state of Louisiana expects to finalize a borrowing plan with federal officials this year to widen Interstate 10 in Baton Rouge and other w

It will be financed using bonds to be repaid over 12 years with a portion of annual federal highway aid for state transportation projects.

The homes and businesses are part of less than five acres of right of way needed for the expansion, DOTD says.

Kalivoda said that, aside from the 17 homes, four more will be closer to the interstate once the expansion is finished and the owners may want to relocate. "We are offering them the option to sell if they want to," he said.

Most of the home and business owners have been contacted by state officials.

Operators of The Overpass Merchant could not be reached for comment Monday.

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DOTD uses licensed appraisers to gauge the value of property, with each one getting two appraisals.

I-10 widening in Baton Rouge sparks 'concerns' from some homeowners, lawmaker says What impact the planned widening of Interstate 10 in Baton Rouge will have on private homes and other property is one of the key questions ahe

The owner can also hire his or her own appraiser, and those findings can be used in DOTD's price review.

The state provides some money for relocation assistance.

Aside from homes and businesses the state will also buy 10 vacant lots and 61 partial parcels, including 28 on vacant lots.

The expansion will also mean new and revamped sound walls along the corridor, with some up to 14 feet high.

Four sections of sounds walls are eligible for federal funds: Fig Street eastbound to the east side of City Park Lakes; westbound I-10 between Dalrymple Drive and Washington Street; the east side of City Park Lakes to east of Christian Street and on westbound I-10 from Christian Street to the east side of City Park Lakes.

Five other sections of sound walls would need state dollars.

Those include eastbound I-10 from East Boulevard and Washington Street; westbound I-10 from Washington Street to Terrace Street and westbound I-10 from the east side of City Park Lakes to the west side of the lakes.

Also, some existing sound walls between Acadian and College will be relocated or replaced to make room for the wider interstate lanes.

Shawn Wilson, secretary for the state Department of Transportation and Development, has repeatedly said that exactly how much work is done depends on how far the $360 million goes.

The plan includes construction of an elevated express ramp on westbound I-10, and over I-12, for motorists headed to College Drive.

Westbound drivers now have to make a triple lane change to get off at College.

Kalivoda said the flyover could be done separately, at a later date, from the other work.

"We would probably leave that off if we had to leave something off," he said.

The public meetings are also meant to gauge interest in constructing new roundabouts  circular intersections that slow but keeps traffic moving in one direction.

One under review would be on Dalrymple, where there is now a stop light near the entrance to westbound I-10 and the Knock Knock Museum.

The second meeting is Wednesday, Addis Community Center, 7520 Highway 1 South, and on Thursday at the Baton Rouge Marriott Hotel, 5500 Hilton Avenue.

Both sessions are from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.Together Baton Rouge wants to conduct its own vetting process for candidates to become the citys next police chief and plans to hire former NGov. John Bel Edwards tells Board of Regents Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018, that higher education remains a priority. But he didn't commit to spending more money on colleges and universities.Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commissionAnd why no-stir? I love the old-fashioned type of peanut butter in which oil rises to the top and you have to mix the peanut butter and oil together with a knife or spoon. Given the growing amount of shelf space devoted to that style, its clear others do too. But, the back-to-school rationale behind this tasting calls to mind the harried parents putting together lunches.FILE - In this May 25, 1973, file photo, U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. John McCain is greeted by President Richard Nixon, left, in Washington, after McCain's release from a prisoner of war camp in North Vietnam. (AP Photo/Harvey Georges, File) ORG XMIT: NYJM106Hurricane Maria came ashore near Ponce, Puerto Rico as a near Cat 5 on Sept. 20, 2017. The area of about 1 million people endured about 30 hours of hurricane-force winds and rains. Two and a half weeks later, state Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, the New Orleans Democrat who took this photo on Oct. 6, 2017, says FEMA and Red Cross have yet to visit.The families of two black girls sent home from Christ the King Elementary School in Terrytown last week for violating a policy against hair extensions met with school officials Tuesday afternoon.

If any resolution was reached, it was not made available to the public. Both parties left through a side door and the Archdiocese said no statement was forthcoming.

The meeting was supposed to be held on Monday, but plans collapsed and the families' attorney and the Archdiocese of New Orleans' Office of Catholic Schools sent out dueling statements with contradictory accounts of the recent days' developments.

The school issued a statement at 6 p.m. on Monday saying that the families of Faith Fennidy and Tyrielle Davis postponed the meeting and then cancelled it, while attorney James Williams issued a statement later that night saying the school knew the family wanted to have it Tuesday in order to accommodate everyone who needed to be there.

Can't see video below? Click here.

A spokeswoman said the idea of the Tuesday meeting time wasn't raised until after the Archdiocese put out its statement.

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The Archdiocese said Monday that it has rescinded the policy banning hair extensions and that it notified the families that the girls could return to school last Thursday. The families' statement noted that the offer came after a court had ordered a temporary injunction lifting the ban until early next month.

The controversy began Aug. 21, when a video posted on Instagram by Faith Fennidy's brother showed her in tears as school officials forced her to go home because she was wearing hair extensions, which were newly banned by the school.

The following day, the school sent Davis home as well, and the video of Fennidy continued to garner national attention.

The families and their supporters say the ban on hair extensions is culturally insensitive and unfairly affects black students, while others have said the girls should have to follow the rules established by the school.

Signs supporting the school were placed anonymously in front of the building overnight Sunday, though school officials took them down.St. John the Baptist Parish officials announced late Tuesday that they planned to shut off water to around 17,000 customers in LaPlace so crews could make repairs to a water main that was damaged by a contractor. The taps were expected go dry at 10 p.m. and stay that way for up to eight hours.

The shut-off will be followed by a boil water advisory, which will stay in effect until the repairs are complete and water samples are deemed safe by the Louisiana Office of Public Health. Water tests typically take about 24 hours to complete.

Parish spokeswoman Baileigh Rebowe Helm said the problem started around 5 p.m. Monday when a contractor working the intersection of La. 673 and La. 628 accidentally severed a large water pipe, puncturing a hole through the pipe itself.

Repairing it is a tedious task since the water pipe also has gas lines around it.

During a boil water advisory, residents should not drink water or use it to make ice or brush their teeth unless they boil it for a minute first. Those with compromised immune systems should not use water from their taps to wash their hands, shower or bathe, and parents should make sure that infants and young children do not swallow water when they bathe.Just before opening arguments were scheduled to take place Tuesday, a man facing what would have been his third murder trial instead pleaded guilty to manslaughter for a 2012 shooting in the former Iberville housing development.

Its over with, Criminal District Court Judge Benedict Willard told waiting jurors.

Prosecutors agreed to downgrade the second-degree murder charge, but they are leaving the sentence up to Willard.

That leaves the question of punishment for 25-year-old Demonte Carmouche wide open. He faces up to 40 years in prison at a Sept. 6 hearing, but could be set free. Had he been convicted of murder, he would have faced an automatic sentence of life in prison.

The agreement between the Orleans Parish District Attorneys Office and defense attorney Greg Carter wrapped up a protracted legal struggle that had already resulted in another defendants conviction.

Carmouche has been in custody since his arrest days after the July 8, 2012, shooting of 19-year-old Terrance Lewis in the 1400 block of Iberville Street.

Authorities alleged that Carmouche and Aldred Dixon, now 23, had been stalking Lewis for hours as part of a neighborhood beef. They said Lewis cousin had been accused of trying to murder both Carmouche and Dixon, and another cousin of Lewis was charged in the death of Dixon's brother.

Two gunmen  one with a 9 mm pistol and the other with a .40-caliber  shot Lewis as he stepped out of his grandmothers house, police said. Lewis grandmother and a Housing Authority of New Orleans police officer said that with his dying words, he pinned the blame on Al and D-Man.

That dying declaration became a key point of contention at two trials in April 2015 and September 2017. Defense attorneys said police had only "hearsay" to support their case and there was no physical or forensic evidence.

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A jury deadlocked on both defendants at the first trial. At the second trial, the jury convicted Dixon of second-degree murder but deadlocked 6-6 on Carmouche.

Because Dixon was under 18 at the time of the crime, Willard sentenced him to life but said he will one day be eligible for parole.

Defense attorney Greg Carter, who took over Carmouche's defense after the previous trials, said he was absolutely ready to present a case this week. However, he praised District Attorney Leon Cannizzaros office for agreeing to amend the charge.

"This defendant finally chose to admit his guilt, rather than risk the same life sentence already imposed on his co-defendant in this crime," Cannizzaro said in a statement. "I remain hopeful that Judge Willard will impose a meaningful sentence for the taking of this young victim's life. Only through real consequences can we stem the senseless gun violence plaguing our city."

Carter said the last plea offer on the table from the District Attorneys Office that came with a firm sentence was for 15 years, but his client refused to take it.

At this point, we think its a fair conclusion, Carter said. Hes fought this case six years, unrelentingly. So it was certainly a tough decision for him to make, and his family to make.

Carter represented Carmouche, along with Royce Duplessis. Assistant District Attorneys Jason Napoli and Darius Greene prosecuted the case.

Meanwhile, Carmouche still has an open second-degree battery count linked to a 2012 incident in jail. The judge said he will hold a hearing on that charge next week.A man who allegedly beat a black bystander in a parking lot after stealing a bottle of wine from a Circle K food store has been booked with a hate crime, after he told New Orleans police he would beat others and boasted about a swastika tattoo on his arm.

The fight erupted in a parking lot in the 700 block of Howard Avenue when 33-year-old JR Wilson, who is white, grabbed a bottle of wine in the convenience store and walked out without paying around midnight Sunday.

Wilson got into a shouting match outside the store with a black man, and the shouting turned into a fight. Wilson began kicking and stomping on the head of the victim, who had fallen to the ground, police said.

The victim lost consciousness. Wilson fled with the bottle but then returned  wine still in hand  as paramedics treated the injured man, police said in court records.

A witness identified Wilson as the shoplifter and attacker, and police put him in the back of a patrol cruiser, the records show.

There, an officer asked Wilson, What happened with you and the other guy outside? He said Wilson replied, I dont know what you are talking about. There will be a lot more of them. I have a swastika on my arm.

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The swastika symbol is closely associated with fascist Nazi Germany and with white supremacists. So, besides misdemeanor counts of theft, battery and illegal possession of stolen things, police booked Wilson with a hate crime.

Misdemeanor theft, battery and illegal possession of stolen things each carry up to six months in prison. Violating Louisianas hate crime law would mean a maximum six-month sentence running consecutively to any other punishment he may receive for the other allegations.

It is relatively uncommon to see police accuse suspects of a hate crime. Louisiana law defines that offense as targeting a person in certain property crimes or violent crimes based on a victim's race, age, gender or sexual orientation  perceived or actual.

A court form reporting basic facts about Wilson lists the address of a rehabilitation center in Jefferson as his home. His police photo suggests he has tattoos on his chest and left shoulder.

Staff writer Matt Sledge contributed to this report.Free WiFi will soon be accessible at 25 points along the Brisbane River with Brisbane City Council planning to roll out more public WiFi points by the end of 2018.

Deputy mayor Adrian Schrinner said the high-speed network would be installed at 20 terminals by the end of 2018.

Free WiFi will be available at all CityCat and ferry terminals by the end of 2018. Credit:Fairfax Media

From the furthest stop upstream at UQ St Lucia to the last downstream terminal at Northshore Hamilton, every ferry terminal in Brisbane will be serviced by free public Wi-Fi," he said.

Our 25 ferry terminals service thousands of residents and visitors every day and the installation of free Wi-Fi means passengers will be able to connect to our wireless service as they wait for CityCats, CityHoppers and cross-river CityFerries.Police investigate a shooting in Melbourne's north.

A gunman is on the run after shooting a man several times in Melbourne's north on Tuesday night.

A 34-year-old man was outside a house in Stanley Street, Glenroy, when he was shot.

The man was taken by road ambulance to Royal Melbourne Hospital with non-life threatening injuries to his stomach and upper body, while the shooter fled. He remained in a stable condition on Wednesday morning.

No arrests have been made and police are investigating.A plane from Bali to Perth was forced to stop over in Port Hedland and a French pair was arrested after one of them became disruptive on the flight on Monday night.

The flight continued to Perth, where Australian Federal Police officers spoke to the flight crew and passengers. Credit:File image

WA Police were alerted to the incident about 9.30pm after two passengers were acting in a disruptive manner on board the international flight travelling from Bali to Perth.

A male French national had to be restrained on the flight due to his erratic behaviour and the flight was diverted to the Port Hedland International Airport.

South Hedland Police attended and took the 32-year-old man into custody.A top government adviser has blasted Australia's response to drought, saying billions of dollars have been wasted in taxpayer-funded rescue packages that do not help farmers.

In a warning to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is drawing up a new response to the worsening disaster, Productivity Commission chairman Peter Harris said the extra help would be "condemned to failure" if policy mistakes of the past were repeated.

Mr Harris pointed to government subsidies that had actually led to higher freight and feed costs, which quickly earned a stinging rebuke from the governments new drought envoy, the former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce.

"It might be a complete waste of money for Mr Harris with his six-figure job, in his office in the middle of town, but the people who are actually trying to survive don't think it is a joke," Mr Joyce told Fairfax Media on Tuesday night.

Mr Harris, who comes from a rural beef background, said decades of drought assistance and taxpayer funding had done little to change the prospects of farmers when the next drought inevitably arrived.You cant get much farther than Pakistan, where Broasted chicken is synonymous with fried chicken  but sometimes not the same. Sadly, I did not have the budget to travel to Karachi on a Broasted chicken quest but did visit some Pakistani restaurants in Chicagoland. While Broaster does now make spicy Chickite marinade and Slo-Bro coating with hatch, habanero and chipotle chile pepper heat, a source at one local restaurant that serves chicken broast on its menu said they use their own recipe and fry in an open deep-fryer, not a closed pressure-fryer.The Victorian government caught many by surprise on Tuesday with its announcement of what it spruiked as the biggest public transport project in Australian history. In dollar terms, it probably is.

A circumferential underground railway from Cheltenham to Box Hill, Doncaster to Broadmeadows, and Melbourne Airport to Werribee costing $50 billion-plus, taking 30 years to build, and seeking to strike a blow at congestion, cater for population growth, connect key activity centres and provide a long-term pipeline of economic activity and employment must be taken seriously and examined carefully.

Premier Daniel Andrews and Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan talk to the media about Labors plan. Credit:Joe Armao

The proposal is a most welcome alternative to freeway proposals that induce more car travel.

Cross-town trips between suburbs and major activity centres not on the same rail line are not well catered for by public transport. Buses have carried that burden for years, but their patronage has declined, and fare avoidance, heavy subsidies and empty trips are too common.The Andrews government has refused to release key patronage figures. Credit:Craig Abraham

While the suburban rail loop plan put forward by the Andrews government on Tuesday was welcomed by many as a visionary project for the citys future, several major questions remain unanswered.

Loading

Key among them is who would use the rail lineand how much it would cost.

On the same day it announced the plan, the government refused to release patronage studies it has conducted using a publicly-owned modelling system.The engineering challenges presented by a rail project circling the citys middle suburbs  an arc from Cheltenham to Werribee  are sizeable.

But experts were at pains to point out on Tuesday that they were far from insurmountable.

Evan Tattersall is head of the governments Metro Tunnel project, now under construction through Melbournes CBD.

On Tuesday, he appeared with Premier Daniel Andrews at a press conference spruiking the planned $50 billion Suburban Rail Loop project.It seems you support the [opposition] CNRP. The writing is not like a journalist at all. What is your intention?" Ricketson said he was merely expressing his opinion and had a right to freedom of speech. Loading Presiding Judge Seng Leang then asked whether Ricketson saw his criticism as constructive criticism or destructive criticism? Ricketson responded that, Criticism of a government anywhere in the world, whether it is constructive or destructive, cannot be confused, in my opinion, with espionage.

I feel from this line of questioning that it is my journalism that is in trial here, Ricketson said. He said it seems he has written articles that the Cambodian government is not happy with. There is now a certain amount of evidence that perhaps I am a political prisoner, Ricketson told reporters from a prison van. If I am, I hope I am released along with the other political prisoners as soon as possible." Ricketson noted many phrases were being lost in translation, as he was questioned about the terms Cambodian Spring and bloodless coup.

Over the past two years, the Cambodian government has been whipping up fear and suggesting the opposition was fomenting a so-called color revolution. In one email, Ricketson wrote: It is fascinating to be behind the scenes and to be observing the way in which Rainsy is plotting to become Prime Minister. Judges questioned him on whether this meant regardless of votes and if becoming Prime Minister outside an election was proper and democratic. Ricketson stressed he used plotting in a colloquial sense and Rainsys plans were for a legal ascension to office by outwitting Hun Sen. Further, Ricketson wrote: "He may or may not pull of[f] what he has planned [a bloodless coup] but if he does he will have Hun Sen scratching his head and wondering how he didn't see it coming.

Emails to Rainsy and other CNRP leaders were examined and Ricketson was questioned about whether he provided footage or political or media advice to the opposition party  which had not yet been outlawed at the time of the emails. CNRP needs to have a well thought out media strategy...if the story in this mornings Cambodia Daily is accurate, you can be sure the CPP will use social media to undermine the CNRP in any way it can. You need to be prepared for this, Ricketson wrote to members of the CNRP leadership. He suggested a series of punchy ads in the year leading up to the election, highlighting that education, health, housing needed improvement. Hun Sen has had 30 years to solve these problems. Change, he wrote. He was questioned about the email regarding the bodyguards, in which he talked about rumours of them being prepared to shoot and kill protestors.

Ricketson pondered whether the rumour originated from Hun Sen in an attempt to scare demonstrators, or if it has been circulated by Rainsy, trying to discredit Hun Sen and to attract young followers who are prepared to die in the struggle. In another email, Ricketson mentioned he planned to write to his Prime Minister to suggest Hun Sens trip to Australia be cancelled. If Australia or the international community will cut off aid to Cambodia, who are the victims? Judge Seang Leang asked. Ricketson responded that aid had caused a lot of damge to Cambodia and created a culture of dependency. Cambodia has been through a turbulent 18 months, which saw the main opposition party forcibly dissolved, news outlets shuttered, and politicians, activists and journalists jailed on politically-motivated charges in the lead up to last months national election.

About two dozen political prisoners have been released in the past week alone following the landslide victory for Hun Sen, with the ruling party sweeping every seat in parliament. Ricketson was also questioned about the existence of another email, in which he wrote to the wife of former opposition leader Sam Rainsy, asking her to check his article for any factual errors or misleading information. Judges asked why the wife of a political leader would be asked to edit his article, but Ricketson said he was merely checking his facts. Ricketson also told the court he planned to sue the Prosecutor Sieng Sok for unlawful prosecution and false imprisonment. Meanwhile, Ricketsons adopted son-in-law Phun Chork gave an emotional testimony that brought Ricketson to tears.Milan: Italy and Hungary, two fierce critics of European immigration policy, have vowed to work together to pursue a new hardline approach to migrants searching for a new life inside the European Union.

Italian Deputy Prime Matteo Salvini, who has ordered ports closed to most migrant arrivals by sea, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose government built a border wall, cemented their political ties in talks in Milan.

Italy's Interior Minister and Deputy-Premier Matteo Salvini, right, shakes hand with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban after their meeting in Milan, Italy. Credit:AP

"We agreed that the most important issue is migration," Orban said, adding that they had agreed to jointly pursue their anti-immigration agenda as the European Union enters campaign mode for EU parliamentary elections in May next year.

He said Hungary had shown immigration could be halted across land borders and that Salvini's new Italian government had shown that it could also be stopped in the Mediterranean Sea.Paris: French Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot resigned on Tuesday in frustration over sluggish progress on climate goals and nuclear energy policy, dealing a major blow to President Emmanuel Macron's already tarnished green credentials.

Hulot, a former TV presenter and green activist who consistently scored high in opinion polls, quit during a live radio interview following what he called an "accumulation of disappointments".

"I don't want to lie to myself any more, or create the illusion that we're facing up to these challenges," Hulot said on France Inter. "I have therefore decided to leave the government."

Nicolas Hulot and Emmanuel Macron meet with NGOs to discuss climate and environment at the Elysee Palace in Paris in 2017. Credit:AP

Hulot was among Macron's first ministerial appointments following his May 2017 election victory. His inclusion helped to sustain a green image France had earned 18 months earlier by brokering the Paris Agreement to combat global greenhouse emissions.New York: US President Donald Trump has bowed to public pressure by agreeing to re-lower the American flag over the White House in honour of one of his most vociferous critics, the late US senator and former Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

The White House flag was lowered to half-mast on Saturday evening after McCain's death but was returned to full-mast a day later. Trump's reversal came just hours after McCain's spokesman released a farewell statement containing clear rebukes of the President.

The official rule is that flags fly at half-mast for 24 hours after a member of Congress dies, but leaders of both political parties and military veteran groups said it was disrespectful not to keep the flags lowered for longer given McCain's legacy as a Vietnam War veteran and longtime congressman.

"Its outrageous that the White House would mark American hero John McCains death with a two-sentence tweet, making no mention of his heroic and inspiring life," Joe Chenelly, executive director of veterans' group AMVETS, said.Trump is not expected to attend the funeral or memorial services in Washington for McCain, a senior White House official said. Vice President Mike Pence will speak at a ceremony on Friday at the US Capitol Rotunda. Chief of staff John Kelly, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and national security adviser John Bolton will represent the administration at McCain's private funeral on Sunday at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. In his statement on Monday, Trump wrote: "Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain's service to our country and, in his honour, have signed a proclamation to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff until the day of his interment." After McCain's death on Saturday at the age of 81, Trump had initially offered words of condolence to the senator's family in a tweet that made no mention of McCain's storied service in the military and on Capitol Hill - a stark contrast with the effusive praise for McCain voiced by legislators, world leaders and members of the military. Late US Senator John McCain in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra in 2017. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen That was followed by nearly two full days of silence from the President, who ignored almost a dozen shouted questions about McCain from reporters at three separate White House events on Monday while he tweeted on a wide range of other topics, from Tiger Woods to trade with Mexico.

Trump's silence reflected the bitter years-long battle between the two men. Trump has said that McCain, who spent more than five years as a POW in Vietnam, was "not a war hero" and continued to snub the longtime senator throughout his battle with brain cancer. McCain, in turn, pulled no punches in criticising the President on foreign policy and other issues, most recently in a stinging denunciation of Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki last month. Loading The Washington Post reported on Sunday that Trump had rejected the advice of top aides who advocated releasing an official statement that gave the decorated Vietnam War POW plaudits for his military and Senate service and called him a "hero". On Monday morning, images of the flag atop the White House at full-mast - and behind it, the Washington Monument encircled by flags, all at half-mast - blazed across the nation's TV and computer screens. Criticism was not far behind.

The American Legion, a veterans organisation, issued a sternly worded statement calling on Trump to treat McCain with more reverence. "On the behalf of The American Legion's two million wartime veterans, I strongly urge you to make an appropriate presidential proclamation noting Senator McCain's death and legacy of service to our nation, and that our nation's flag be half-staffed through his internment," Denise Rohan, the group's national commander said. Several administration officials said Trump was frustrated with the TV coverage and felt besieged - that nothing he said about McCain would be enough. Trump also suggested to advisers that many of those speaking out on television were merely looking for reasons to attack him and that some of the same people now praising McCain previously did not like the senator. Yet among those hailing McCain was Ivanka Trump, Trump's daughter and senior White House adviser, who on Monday called the late senator "an American patriot who served our country with distinction for more than six decades". "The nation is united in its grief and the world mourns the loss of a true hero and a great statesman," the first daughter said in remarks at a meeting of the Organisation of American States in Washington.

Trump told advisers over the weekend that lavishing praise on McCain would not be genuine because he did not feel that way. "Everyone knows we don't like each other," the President said, according to one White House official who spoke with him. Even so, after speaking with a number of close advisers Monday, including Bolton, Mattis, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders - all of whom urged him to clean up the mess - the President backtracked. Trump wrote much of Monday's statement, White House officials said, and wanted to express that he disagreed with McCain on policy and politics. Later, at a White House dinner celebrating evangelical leaders, Trump said that "our hearts and prayers" are with McCain's family and made note of this week's planned events in honour of the senator.

"We very much appreciate everything that Senator McCain has done for our country," Trump said. Trump's proclamation came hours after an emotional news conference in Phoenix at which McCain's longtime adviser and family spokesman, Rick Davis, read a farewell statement from the senator that contained a veiled critique of the President. In the letter, McCain did not name Trump but called on Americans to rally behind the country's founding principles rather than hiding behind walls and succumbing to political tribalism. "We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe," McCain wrote in the letter. "We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been." Trump campaigned on a promise to build a wall across the US border with Mexico and force Mexico to pay for it. McCain's statement also referred at some length to the populist and protectionist forces that helped propel Trump to the office McCain twice failed to win.

"We are citizens of the world's greatest republic, a nation of ideals, not blood and soil," McCain wrote. "We are blessed and are a blessing to humanity when we uphold and advance those ideals at home and in the world." White supremacists who marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, last year chanted "blood and soil," a translation of a Nazi slogan. Trump appeared to defend the rally-goers, who clashed with counter-protesters, when he said there were "fine people on both sides". At the Capitol on Monday, the Senate convened for the first time since McCain's death. Inside the chamber, the wooden desk that McCain occupied for six terms was draped in black. A vase of white flowers had been placed on top. One by one, McCain's colleagues rose to deliver sombre tributes to him. They included Republican Senator Jeff Flake, McCain's junior Arizona colleague, who welled with emotion as he spoke of the late senator's legacy. "If John McCain can forgive the North Vietnamese torturers, we can at least forgive each other," Flake said.

Yet it was Trump's actions that dominated the conversations between senators and reporters in the marble hallways just outside the chamber. "I don't know why the administration had the flag lowered for such a brief period of time," Republican Senator Susan Collins said. "It seems to me that it would be appropriate to keep the flag at half-mast until Senator McCain has been buried." Asked whether Trump had let his personal views stand in the way of paying proper respects to McCain, Collins responded: "It certainly looks that way." Some Trump allies, including Republican Senator James Inhofe, suggested the dust-up was being blown out of proportion. Both Trump and McCain were "two of the most stubborn people I ever met," Inhofe said, arguing that if McCain had been the one in the White House, he would have behaved similarly to Trump. "If the tables were turned, it'd be the same way with McCain. The flag is lowered, so he's doing it with respect, but everyone knows they didn't get along," Inhofe said.But many of the poke places you see on the mainland are fast-casual Chipotle-style places with a vast array of toppings and sauces. Bialik found that reviews of poke places on the mainland were more likely to mention ingredients like noodles, edamame, mayo, mango and cucumber. Yelp reviews on the mainland are also more likely to use words like "toppings," "options" and "sushi." (Some mainland poke eaters conflate the dish with chirashi, a bowl of sushi over rice.) When Yelp users from Hawaii visit the mainland and eat poke, they give higher marks - an average of 4.15 stars - to poke restaurants when their reviews don't mention any of those words. That could be a mark of authenticity for those poke shops - or they could just be creating an "authentic" bowl at an inauthentic place.Photo: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

Yazmin Juarez, 20, and her 8-month-old daughter, Mariee, were detained this March when crossing the border into the United States from Mexico, after traveling from Guatemala. While they were detained, Mariee became sick. The toddler died weeks after being released from the South Texas Family Detention Center.

According to CNN, Yazmin Juarez and her lawyers are alleging that she and Mariee were held in a detention center with unsafe conditions, neglectful medical care, and inadequate supervision. The statement, released by the law firm Arnold & Porter, also says that Mariee caught a respiratory illness that went woefully under-treated for nearly a month.

Earlier in August, reports of a child dying after leaving a detention center in Dilley, Texas, circulated on Twitter. At the time, details about the child and the circumstances of their death were unconfirmed. Texas officials have launched an investigation into those allegations.

Yazmin reportedly sought treatment for Mariee five times while detained at the Dilley detention center. Despite prescriptions of Tylenol and various diagnoses, Mariee only got sicker. After three weeks, Mariee and Yazmin were released and flown to New Jersey, where Yazmins mother lives. After spending six more weeks in the hospital, the toddler died.

A mother lost her little girl because ICE and those running the Dilley immigration prison failed them inexcusably, read the statement released by the law firm representing Juarez. We are working with Yazmin and her family to obtain justice for the failures by ICE and others, and to ensure that no other family suffers such a needless and devastating loss.

A statement provided to CNN from ICE did not specifically mention Mariee Juarez. Customs and Border Protection has yet to comment on the allegations made in the statement.

The allegations come after months of reports alleging horrible conditions for both parents and children detained in facilities across the country, including reports of children who were separated from their parents being fed rotten food, sexually assaulted by guards, and strapped down in chairs.Maria Butina. Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images

It is a tale as old as time: Russian gun-rights activist moves to America, where she meets the man of her dreams, a powerful GOP operative whos as big of an adult Disney fan as she is.

This is the account a lawyer for Maria Butina is advancing  one that differs drastically from what federal prosecutors are saying: that Butina was a 29-year-old Russian spy who infiltrated Stateside political groups and traded sex for influence to advance the interests of the Russian Federation. (Which is, I guess, another tale as old as time.)

While federal prosecutors say that the alleged Russian spy has tried to exploit personal connections with U.S. persons having influence in American politics, Butinas lawyer, Robert N. Driscoll, is arguing that her five-year relationship with Paul Erickson is the real deal.

I think in some ways its a classic love story, Driscoll said in an interview with ABC News last week, which aired Tuesday on Good Morning America. I think [reporters] are filling in a lot of the gaps with a lot of spy novels.

And the ways that reporters and the American government are filling in the gaps, in Driscolls opinion, are unfortunate and sexist. In the governments complaint against Butina, the Russian national is accused of offering sex in exchange for power  a claim that Driscoll is disputing with a video of Erickson and Butina singing Beauty and the Beast together.

New details on accused Russian spy--attorney saying video shows Maria Butina is innocent: https://t.co/HgIU81Hmt3 @KyraPhillips is in Washington with the developing story pic.twitter.com/iQ27J3NDt8  Good Morning America (@GMA) August 28, 2018

I think you also look at this and say, This looks pretty legitimate, Driscoll said. At least I do. Maybe Im a sucker for romance.

The video evidence may not prove Butinas complete innocence, but one point is inarguable: Someone would have to be seriously in love with you to agree to sing a Disney ballad on camera with you.Rain Dove and Rose McGowan. Photo: Getty Images

On Monday night, Rose McGowan released a statement about the allegations against Asia Argento and her statement implicated yet another persons involvement in an increasingly messy and complicated story. McGowan revealed that (recently leaked) text messages , in which Argento says that she did in fact have sex with Jimmy Bennett, came from the model Rain Dove, whom McGowan is currently dating. So who is Dove? And whats their relationship to this story? Heres what to know.

What does Rain Dove do?

Dove has a well established career as a gender non-conforming model. They do not have preferred gender pronouns, but were referring to Dove as they/them as they were used in McGowans statement. Dove has worked on campaigns for both men and womens clothing.

Dove has done multiple runway shows, presenting as both male and female, including Boyswear and Malan Breton. Before booking their first modeling job, Dove received a bachelors degree in genetic engineering from U.C.-Berkeley and was working as a firefighter.

Dove also is a vocal advocate for the LGBTQ community, and frequently discuss their own outlook on gender that they dont believe in the limitations of gender labels.

Dove has also supported the #MeToo movement. In a tweet posted on August 22, they wrote that no one gets special treatment  which could possibly refer to Asia Argento.

The truth helps me sleep well at night. Thats why its coming out no matter what. Friend, family, acquaintance it doesnt matter when it comes to justice- you do not get special treatment. You get equal treatment. Hope youre ready. #MeToo pic.twitter.com/xvn9aFWx7G  Rain Dove (@raindovemodel) August 22, 2018

Whats Doves relationship to Rose McGowan?

In Mondays statement, McGowan confirmed that Dove is her partner, though the news of them being together has been circulating for a while. Photographs of the two from earlier this summer show them kissing in New York City.

In early August, Dove tweeted that she was dating someone that other people hated  and McGowan has been criticized in the past for her treatment of the transgender community.

Im dating a human many hate me 4 dating. Yet those ppl never met them. Likely never will. They dont see the activism behind the scenes, hard work, ppl this Being surrounds themself w/. They only believe wht they read in tabloids & its sad cuz I wish ppl wld think 4 themselves.  Rain Dove (@raindovemodel) August 6, 2018

How is Rain embroiled in the Asia Argento story?

According to McGowan, Doves friendship with Argento deepened after the death of Anthony Bourdain. The three took a trip to Berlin together and Argento and Dove continued to be in touch.

Argento apparently revealed to Dove that she had slept with Jimmy Bennett via text. McGowan also says that Dove turned these texts over to the police.

Rain also shared that Argento had stated that shed been receiving unsolicited nudes of Jimmy since he had been 12. Asia mentioned in these texts that she didnt take any action on those images, McGowan wrote.

These are the text messages that would later be released to TMZ, and would directly contradict the statement released by Argento.

Why would Asia confide in Rain?

Although it seems risky that Argento would divulge the details of her relationship with Bennett to a person shed only recently become close with, McGowan said Dove is regularly consulted on such matters. I know Rain is a person to whom many high profile entities consult when they are experiencing social pressures, McGowan wrote, because Rain is good at guiding them through the research confrontation, rehabilitation, and solution process.

McGowan described Dove as someone who felt compelled to share what Argento had confided with the authorities. While they are a person who is good at keeping a secret for those dedicated to making things right  they are also justice driven, she wrote.Photo: JGI/Tom Grill/Blend Images/Getty Images

Doulas  non-medical professionals who help pregnant women before, during, and after childbirth  typically cost at least $1,000 and are not covered by insurance. While this makes them a luxury enjoyed by the lucky few, some doulas also work with low-income women  and specifically low-income women of color  often as volunteers, to help improve their odds of a healthy birth. As these doulas guide their clients in a variety of hospitals and birthing environments, they witness the way women often receive different standards of care depending on their race, their insurance, and their location.

Public attention on the race gap in maternal mortality has pushed Governor Cuomo to announce plans to make childbirth safer for women of color. This includes a pilot program to expand Medicaid to cover doulas, as they tend to improve the health outcomes of new mothers and infants. While the states Health Department irons out the details of this experiment  which has seen some success in Minnesota and Oregon  six doulas who work with low-income women of color in New York City discuss the challenges of their jobs, the differences in care experienced by clients who are white versus women of color, and the need for Medicaid reimbursements for their work.

My clients who were women of color didnt get the same attention as my white clients.

Chanel Porchia-Albert, founder of Ancient Song Doula Services, an organization in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, that offers doulas and childbirth services to women of color and low-income families

Before I met my husband, I happened upon a natural-birth expo in Union Square. I met black midwives and a black doula and I was like, wow, I didnt even know this was a thing. A couple of years later I was having a baby with my husband and I went to an obstetrician, but it wasnt the care I wanted. She didnt answer my questions, and I would leave feeling like I didnt really understand what was going on. So, I got in contact with the midwives and the doula and ended up having a home-birth experience, which was amazing. I decided I wanted to train to become a doula myself.

At the time I was a commodities broker and I had private insurance. After I was laid off during the recession in 2008 I became a doula full-time. Most doula trainings prepare you to have a private practice, which I did for a bit  but then I started to see how my Medicaid clients were treated differently from those who have private insurance. My clients who were women of color didnt get the same attention as my white clients. I sometimes sat with women for over six hours for prenatal appointments. I put a call out on a list-serve and asked if other doulas are interested in working with those who otherwise cant afford doula services. Over 23 people showed up in my living room, and Ancient Song got started from there.

The organization came out of a need to address basic human rights in childbirth. Our primary focus is women of color, low-income families, and marginalized communities. We assist those who have criminal cases and ACS cases. We have doulas who go to Rikers Island twice a week to assist those who are pregnant and incarcerated. We wanted to help those who felt like they werent being listened to. I noticed there was a lot of food insecurity, a lot of housing issues and mental-health problems. We provide spaces for people to get groceries while they get their prenatal care. We offer culturally relevant doula training and childbirth education. We see everyone. We never turn anyone away.

Ancient Song is always under financial constraints. Its by the grace of the community and a few grants that were able to sustain ourselves. About 85 percent of the individuals who walk through our doors are Medicaid recipients, so if we could accept Medicaid we could have a flourishing organization. Most of our doulas are volunteers.

Institutionalized racism affects how black and brown women experience health care. As a woman of color, I know that whenever I take my children to the ER I have to worry not only about my sick child, but about whether the hospital is going to call Child Protective Services on me. Ive assisted folks who have had ACS called on them after a drug test taken without their consent revealed a trace of marijuana in their blood. This stuff happens on a regular basis and no one talks about it.

Some doulas say we should not be able to accept Medicaid. I would be in these doula chat rooms and there would be all this talk around having a business, about how much to charge people. Nobody was talking about people who cant afford to pay. I believe everybody should be able to get equitable health care. You want to get paid, get paid. For me, Im trying to serve the people who otherwise cant afford it. Those folks need care.

The problem is urgent when it comes to black infant and maternal health, especially for black women who are birthing in New York City. In order for us to have equitable change, we have to address the underlying issues of institutional racism as well as implicit bias in health care.

New York City, where I moved in 2015, is saturated with doulas. Most are white.

Efe Osaren, a doula and reproductive justice advocate who is studying to become a midwife in Texas

When I became a doula in Houston in 2014, I saw racial disparities everywhere. I noticed that with black clients, my job involved more activism and advocacy. It was my job to make sure these women had access to the things they are supposed to have access to, that their birth plans were respected, that they were seen and heard. Im on the front lines with them. Were not just going in and rubbing backs, lighting candles, and having special oils. Its a lot more about empowering women to speak for themselves, to know their rights and know when they are being mistreated. Most moms dont know that they are customers in these hospitals and that they have the right to ask for different care.

New York City, where I moved in 2015, is saturated with doulas. Most are white. They can afford to focus more on the business aspects of being a doula. I assisted mostly low-income women of color. They couldnt afford to pay, so I had to work as a volunteer. I supported myself with births with white clients and side jobs. I worked in a cafe in the mornings. A lot of time I was just as low-income as my clients. The majority of doulas who are black and brown are often burnt out. The work is very taxing. Its hard to make this a long-term career.

Its easier with white clients in New York City. Im not running around. I dont have to advocate as hard. If she asks for something she usually gets it. I do more back-rubbing. A lot of babies for my white clients have been eight pounds and over. My black clients often have babies with lower birth weight. Why? The stress of living in a racist city. Their prenatal care isnt good. Their housing isnt good. My clients ask me for diapers, for car seats, for strollers, clothing, housing, jobs. They lack access to healthy food. All of this affects the way the baby gets nutrients from the mother. Stress wreaks havoc on the womb. Women tend to go into labor earlier due to stress.

I can count on two hands how many black midwives are able to do home births in New York City. Im going to midwifery school to fill that gap of access to care and to provide home births for clients who otherwise cant afford it. I dont see many white midwives offering pro bono services to low-income black women.

I remember the doctor saying, Whats your problem, you have other kids. Didnt you give birth in the jungle, anyway?

Regina M.Conceicao, a doula and founder of A Passion for New Beginnings, a doula collective in New York. Regina has also been a doula consultant with the By My Side Birth Support Program since 2010, and she became the programs coordinator this year.

It is amazing what doctors say to women sometimes. I was once assisting a mom from Sudan who didnt want to do a vaginal exam because she was a victim of female genital mutilation. She didnt want to endure the pain of a hand in her vagina. Really, this mom was very afraid. The doctor told her that since she had no problem opening her legs to make the baby, she should open them again to get the baby out. Later, when this mom was having trouble pushing, I remember the doctor saying, Whats your problem, you have other kids. Didnt you give birth in the jungle, anyway?

Language is so important. What people say and how they say it can really affect the mother. But you have to pick your battles. A lot of times I will stand up and speak up for these women when they are treated with disrespect, but I also have to be careful because I dont want to be in a situation where they kick me out and my client wont have anyone to advocate for her.

As a community doula theres so much more work involved. Im dealing with a lot of social services. Im working with moms who are in a shelter. These moms dont have diapers, they dont have clothes for their child, they dont have a crib. There are a lot of added stressers during pregnancy. As their doula, Im trying to get these resources for them. When a mom says the food stamps arent enough, Im connecting her with a supermarket-style food pantry that I like. Then, when you get to the hospital, theres even more to do. Advocating for them, getting staff to actually address them by their names. I dont feel like I have that when I work with my white clients. I do private work as well, and its really a stark difference.

Ive been a doula for 17 years. Im actually phasing out. I recently had a two-month hiatus. I went through a huge depression. Especially when youre a community doula, its a lot. Im dealing with moms who have nothing, who are dealing with domestic violence. There are just so many layers and eventually you burn out. Thats why doulas balance it out with private clients who can afford the fee and dont require all the social-work stuff. Im still working in the reproductive-justice field and supporting other doulas. But Ive had enough. I love what I do, but when I get to a point where Im so depressed I dont want to be around a pregnant woman or a baby, which is normally something I love, thats serious.

In late 2016 I had a client give birth to a stillborn child. She wasnt due for another month, but when she went to her prenatal appointment the doctor couldnt hear a heartbeat, so she had to be induced. I was with her in labor. I asked her if she would like to hold her baby, name her, take pictures with her. I helped her arrange free funeral arrangements by connecting her with an infant-loss organization in Brooklyn. The whole experience was devastating, but it didnt hit me until two months later. I fell into a depression. I was also dealing with an overwhelming schedule, with four people due and jugging two part-time jobs that relate to birth work. I just panicked.

Its hard to fix things, especially things that have been done a certain way for many years. Like providers who dont practice evidence-based medicine. One of my favorites is now women are allowed to eat during labor. The official recommendation changed a few years ago. But I still get, no matter where Im going, nurses and anesthesiologists saying these women cant eat. Its draining, but I have this thing where I say Im changing birth one birth at a time.

Its important to have the option of a provider who looks like you, who speaks your language, who understands things that another provider might not. Some of our clients go on to become doulas themselves because they see the impact we have. They felt valued and supported during this special, sacred time, and in turn wanted to do the same thing for others. Thats the best reward.

I have a client who hasnt even had her child yet but already feels like a bad mom.

Maritza Franqui, a birth and postpartum doula who trained with Ancient Song Doula Services

Having a doula can cost upward of $1,000, which is not something a lot of young moms can afford. I trained to be a doula last year, and I work mostly with young clients who dont have much support. If a woman having a child doesnt have the support she needs to be the best mother she can be, then her child is at a huge disadvantage from the start. I have a client who hasnt even had her child yet but already feels like a bad mom. It breaks my heart. She doesnt trust herself or the system, which often sets these girls up for failure.

I have one client who is 23 years old and seven and a half months pregnant. She didnt get her first prenatal check-up until she was six months in because she didnt know she was pregnant at first [she was on birth control], and then she didnt have insurance. She has been diagnosed as high risk, which means she needs bed rest and is unable to work. She is a carrier for cystic fibrosis. The father isnt involved, so we dont know if hes a carrier as well. She applied for cash benefits and had to wait months to be approved. Im just trying to help her feel empowered, to let her know that better times are ahead. Im helping her get what she needs for the child, like diapers and clothing. Im also trying to get her to repair her relationship with her mother. Shes staying in a shelter. Im trying to get her to interact with other women there, but she has trouble trusting other people. She likes to keep to herself.

I have to be careful when I talk about race with my clients. It can put them in such a negative space, and I dont want them to automatically fear care as a woman of color. Instead, I focus more on conversations that help women make birthing choices that they feel are the best for them, and I try to emphasize how physicians can have a big influence on the birthing process. I dont have white clients, so I cant make a comparison. Im also still gaining experience, so it is hard to know if the kind of care we get at hospitals is how they treat everyone. Im still learning how to engage with hospital staff so they view us as part of the birthing team. You never know what kind of staff youre going to get.

No one explained what was going on. Just hurry up and get this baby out.

Annette Perel, a doula and lactation counselor

Women with private health insurance have more agency with their care. They can come in with a birth plan and talk about how they want their care to be. Women on Medicaid often spend three or four hours waiting at a clinic before their prenatal appointments. Whatever resident is on call will end up delivering the baby  and the woman probably has not had that provider before. They dont have anyone to talk to about what they want their experience to be.

I once brought a client to a hospital to deliver her second baby. Her husband had to stay at home with their first child. Residents came in, students came in, and no one really spoke to her. They broke her water without telling her. She wanted to labor naturally, but a nurse came in with a bag of Pitocin [to induce labor]. I had to initiate a conversation about why they were giving her the Pitocin. She was already five or six centimeters dilated, and no one explained why they needed to speed things along. This mom had delivered her first child naturally, without medication, but there was no conversation about that. The next time a resident came in, they were telling her it would be better if she got an epidural. She was trying to avoid that but the contractions from the Pitocin were really painful, so she eventually conceded.

She expressed concerns about one intervention leading to another and then potentially to a C-section, but they told her she was progressing fine. Then the babys heart-rate went down. People disconnected the machines and rushed her into the operating room. She asked if they could wait because the baby was right there, she was ready to push. I wasnt allowed in the OR because it was an emergency, so she was separated from her support. She pushed for only 30 minutes. She said she didnt want an episiotomy, but they cut her anyway saying the baby was in distress. But the babys Apgar was 9.9. If the baby had been in distress that wouldnt have been the case. She was just whisked away and told what would happen. No one explained what was going on. Just hurry up and get this baby out. She was traumatized by the whole thing.

Even with private insurance, all hospitals try to rush through the process of birth. They dont have enough rooms. Sometimes you can get a room right away; other times you may have to wait for six hours. People give birth in hallways, in triage, because they have no space. Once youre in a room, they are definitely looking to push things along.

Even with white women, even in private hospitals, there are still problems with childbirth. Many women dont realize they have a right to say no. But women who try to push back against interventions are often told, You dont want a dead baby, right? How do you fight that if youre not educated?

I have noticed differences in treatment. Theres definitely more of a conversation when the client is white. Even when my white clients are not married, if their partner is there people always assume hes the husband. But when a woman of color comes with her husband, he is referred to as the partner or the childs father. Ive noticed that hospitals are more likely to ask a white mom what her name is, but a woman of color they just call mom.

One client, a Brazilian woman of color with private insurance, delivered her baby and everything was fine. But when she was ready to be released, she was told she had to wait. The hospital had called Child Protective Services on her because she wouldnt consent to all of the newborn exams and tests. Here was a woman who was educated, who knew her rights, who didnt want to expose her child to sonograms unnecessarily, and she almost had her baby taken away from her. I never had something like that happen with a white client. She was ultimately discharged. She articulated her reasoning, and the agent was fine with her answer. But the thought of your doctor calling Child Protective Services on you because you deny a sonogram that youre well within your rights to deny, its crazy.

For the most part women of color get tested for drugs without being told. If you have a client who you know recreationally uses marijuana, you have to counsel her that if they find that in her system, shell have issues. Theyll call Child Protective Services. It happens routinely in hospitals and no one is talking about it. Some clients refuse the vitamin K shot for their babies. With my white clients, this was not an issue, they just had to sign a release form. But Ive had clients of color say the same thing and theyre told they have to do it, otherwise the hospital will call CPS.

There used to be communities around birth  now doulas create that sense of community. Ive been a doula for 16 years. I wish we could serve more of these women. But as a doula we can only do so much. Medical professionals need to recognize that they are often biased in their care.

Women of color who just got here, like moms who were raised in Africa, have way less problems than women who were born here.

Maiysha Campbell Kramer, a birth doula, lactation counselor, and childbirth educator

I work with a range of clients, from the poorest of the poor to the super wealthy. Ive assisted a number of women of color who are incredibly successful. They seek me out and I enjoy that. But I will say that my black clients have more complications than those who are white. Research has shown that even when you tease out the poverty thing, even if shes financially successful and in a good marriage and shes got support and money and is going to a better hospital where shes not dealing with any crap, even with all of that, they still have more complications. Women of color who just got here, like moms who were raised in Africa, have way less problems than women who were born here. Its not just about being black, its about being African-American.

If you just got here from another country, you probably have stress. But its not the same stress as black moms who have been here. You know, all our black girls have fibroids  my friends, my clients, me  and it can cause complications in birth. So, I was coming home the other day, in Harlem, and as I was getting off the train I saw that, as is often the case, there were cops with black teenage kids in handcuffs who probably hopped the train. And I feel this, as a mom of black kids, I feel this in my womb. Im looking at the black girls coming home from high school and Im thinking they feel this too. What happens in ten years or five years or 20 years, when she has a baby after shes been watching this. Youve got to talk about what that trauma is that were carrying around in our wombs, that we feel but we need to keep going on with our day. All the things on the news, all that pain.

Im not saying there isnt garbage that happens at hospitals. Thats a definitely a huge part of the problem. The more brown a hospital, the worse it is. But even when the care is adequate, I still see problems. I was at this birth with a Hispanic mom delivering her first baby and she tore really badly. The midwife explained that the tear was because of poor nutrition. Birth is physically demanding. You need to eat well to get healthy tissue, and not just for a week or nine months. A lifetime of poor nutrition creates worse outcomes in everything.

I speak to other doulas of color, and many of us think about the racial dynamic with our clients. With my white clients, I often wonder, am I the nanny? Black women hire us maybe because its easier to be authoritative with them without seeming condescending. I think they also feel more comfortable with us in their homes, meeting their families. Im not judgmental. I have my own crazy family, too. I am a bi-racial woman and feel particularly sensitive to the intersections and disparities that I see. I have dual citizenship in these two worlds and speak both languages.

A lot of doulas of color want to support the community, but as a businessperson, how are you going to make a living? I charge money. I do some pro bono work, but its really hard. Many poor clients dont have a phone. The big issue is how do we educate and help a disenfranchised population about advocating for better care? Many mothers dont even know how bad their care was. The bar here is so low.Apart from the presence of espresso in every single aforementioned Starbucks drink, each region enjoys different drinks. But one particular beverage is ordered at a high frequency among young scholars everywhere: the Espresso Frappuccino. This frozen drink contains coffee, a shot of espresso, and milk blended with ice. You get a shot of espresso! And you get a shot of espresso! Everyone gets a shot of espresso!4 Ohio Children Said to Be in Danger: Multi-State Alert Issued

Officials say that four missing Ohio children are believed to be in danger, and they are asking for the publics help in finding them.

A missing child alert was issued for states between Ohio and Florida, WKYC reported. The children were taken by their non-custodial mother, Marianne Merritt, on Aug. 28.

Officials said that the childrenwho are between the ages of 8 and 13might be in danger. An AMBER Alert wasnt issued.

According to the Lima Police Department, the missing children are identified as follows:

 Damara Croley, 13 years old, white female, born Nov. 8, 2004, 5 feet 3 inches and 180 pounds, and has brown hair and blue eyes. She was last wearing a red OSU shirt and Spiderman web pants.

 Benjamin Karl-Leland Croley, 12 years old, white male, born Jan. 30, 2006, 5 feet 1 inch and 120 pounds, and has blonde hair and blue eyes. He was last wearing yellow smiley emoji pants.

 Patience Wilson, 9 years old, white female, born March 5, 2009, 4 feet 5 inches and 80 pounds, and has blonde hair and blue eyes. She was last wearing a white top and dark blue or black leggings.

 Damien Wilson, 8 years old, white male, born April 16, 2010, 4 feet 5 inches and 111 pounds, and has blonde hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a blue shirt and red and black shorts.

The suspect, Marianne Merritt, is 40 years old, and police described her as 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing about 210 pounds. She has red hair and green eyes.

Police said that she might be traveling to Florida with her boyfriend, Charles Perkins. WKYC reported that he has active warrants and was described as being abusive towards children.

Police said he is armed and dangerous, and he is 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 164 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.

A car that is linked to the alert is a 2000 dark blue Chrysler Voyager minivan with Ohio license plate FMQ3175. The van has a white passenger-side door.

Anyone with information about the case is being asked to contact Lima police at 419-227-4444.Australia's Bondi Beach was closed due to risk of increased shark activity after a headless whale calf washed ashore on Aug. 28, 2018. (Seven Network)

Australia: Bondi Beach Closed Due to Shark-Bitten Whale Carcass

Bondi Beach in Australia was closed on Aug. 28 after a shark-bitten, headless whale carcass washed ashore.

The whale was covered with a number of shark bites and was believed to be a juvenile humpback. The whale was also missing its tail, an official with the National Parks and Wildlife Service told AAP.

Simon Krite was headed to surf at around 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning when he spotted the carcass.

There was no one around it, I thought I better get a photo of that it looks really cool, he told The Sydney Morning Herald. After taking a picture, he surfed for several hours.

Bondi Beach has been closed after the headless carcass of a whale calf washed ashore overnight https://t.co/Rz6l0ZeDnJ  The Sydney Morning Herald (@smh) August 28, 2018

Body Moved, Beach Closed

By 8 a.m., the Waverly Council had moved the body and closed the beach, citing increased risk of shark activity.

Around midday, the decision was made to keep the beach closed for the rest of the day, though a council representative said it would likely reopen early Wednesday.

While government experts involved in moving the carcass said the cause of death for the whale was unknown, associate professor Culum Brown, head of the Fish Lab at Macquarie University, told the Herald that juvenile whales are the perfect choice of a meal for large sharks.

They will get chomped, theres no doubt about that, and once its dead then pretty much anything can have a go at it, Brown said, noting the carcass had to be removed or it would attract sharks even though it was on the sand.

Brown said that carcasses do bring increased shark activity but that sharks are always in the water.

The reality is there are sharks in the water all the time, thats just the way it is, thats where they live, he said. Lets keep in mind, over 300 people die from drowning on our beaches every year, and less than one from a shark bite so if somethings going to happen to you at the beach, chances are its not going to have anything to do with a shark.

Dead whale calf closes Bondi Beach https://t.co/F0hWPa6Pku  NewsfeedsMedia (@NewsfeedsMedia) August 28, 2018

Attacks

There have been three shark attacks at Bondi Beach since 1990, reported News.co.au, citing Finder. The last one, in 2010, left a 33-year-old surfer with severe arm injuries but he eventually recovered.

The beach has offshore shark nets but some sharks still get through.

According to the Taronga Conservation Society, there have been 13 recorded attacks nationwide in 2018, four of which have occurred in New South Wales, the state Bondi Beach is located in.

In 2017, there were 18 total attacks recorded.

The last fatal shark attack took place last year in April, at Kelp Beds at Wylie Bay in Western Australia.

The victims mother and two siblings witnessed the attack, reported ABC. The teenage girl was attacked while surfing with her father, who dragged her to shore. She later died at a hospital.

From NTD.tvBombing at Philippine Street Festival Leaves 1 Dead, Wounds 34

A homemade bomb hidden under a motorcycle killed at least one person and wounded more than 30 at a local street festival in the southern Philippines on Monday (August 27), police and the army said, the latest unrest in a region prone to militancy.

The explosion took place in front of a restaurant on a highway in Isulan in Sultan Kudarat province, which has been plagued by decades of Maoist and Islamic rebellions that have given rise to banditry and extremism.

According to initial reports, one person was killed, one critically injured and 34 others wounded, said provincial police chief. Radio station DZRH reported multiple fatalities.

ISIS claimed responsibility, which the military disputes, suspecting that a local group was behind it, with the intended target civilians in an urban area.

Sultan Kudarat province is on the Philippines second-largest island, Mindanao, which remains under martial law until the end of the year.Foreign Nationals Missing From Illegal Fishing Boat Found in Far North QLD

The two remaining suspected asylum seekers who had been on the run since Aug. 26 are thought to have been found, the State Emergency Service (SES) said.

The two Vietnamese nationals are believed to be the captain and first mate of the boat that ran aground on the morning of Aug. 26 in the Daintree River in far north Queensland. At least 17 are believed to have been on board, 15 of whom had been detained as of Aug. 27, according to local reports.

The SES were stood down by Queensland police late yesterday (Aug. 27), State Emergency Service acting local area director Peter Rinaudo told ABC radio on Aug. 28.

It was determined as of that stage that all of the missing persons they were looking for were located.

According to the ABC, police have detained the two men on the morning of Aug. 28 shortly after 9 a.m.

Crab Fishing

On Aug. 27, two local fishermen, Barry Preston and Peter Ward, found two Vietnamese men in the mangroves near the banks of the Daintree River, not far from where the boat ran aground.

Preston and Ward spoke with the Vietnamese men, who barely spoke English, and later went crab fishing together.

We got the blokes to pull in some crab pots for us and we showed them the sights and we had a bit of a bantershowed them a few crocs, Preston told the ABC.

We thought, hang on what are we going to do with these blokes, so we drove up the river to our local boat ramp and called the cops on the way so they could meet us there.

At Least 17

The Department of Home Affairs has been asked by local media whether it is still searching for any more people who had abandoned the boat on Aug. 26.

On Aug. 26, locals saw people abandoning a boat and running into a rainforest near Cape Kimberley, an area known for its crocodile-infested waters. The local witnesses notified border police, according to reports.

Initially, the number of those that fled from the wrecked vessel was not known, but according to the ABC, at least 17 are believed to have been on board.

The Department of Home Affairs has not publicly identified the nationalities of the 15 that had been detained as of Aug. 27, according to The Guardian.

A former Australia Border Force official, Roman Quaedvlieg, said that it is not uncommon to have Vietnamese asylum seekers come to a remote area of Australias shores.

Its not unusual for Vietnamese asylum seekers to target a remote part of the Australian Coast. Its relatively easy to do; but most dont get far once landed due to the hostility and are soon detained or give themselves up quickly. Their asylum claims fail in the majority.  Roman Quaedvlieg (@quaedvliegs) August 26, 2018

First Smuggler Op in Almost 4 Years

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton confirmed that the boat is part of a people-smuggling operation, the first thats been seen in Australia in almost four years.

Australia has received the first people-smuggling venture in over 1,400 days, he told local media on the Gold Coast on Aug. 27.

Dutton said the 15 detained will be deported from Australia at the first available opportunity.

The arrival of this boat should be a very clear and timely message that people smugglers will seek to put people on to boats, to take money from innocent men, women, and children and to send them to our country, Dutton said.

The newly appointed defence industry minister, Steve Ciobo, said on Aug. 27 those detained should be sent to somewhere offshore for processing.

Those people if we can find them, they should be taken into custody, so to speak, and they should be sent to Nauru, Ciobo told Sky News on Aug. 27.

From NTD.tvChemnitz Stabbing Sparks Protest Violence, Exposes Rifts in Germany

Clashes sparked by rival protests in the east German city of Chemnitz, in response to the slaying of a man allegedly by two immigrants, have left six people injured and officials sounding the alarm on vigilante justice.

Right-wing demonstrators clashed with leftist counter-protesters on Aug. 27, following the arrest of an Iraqi and Syrian over the fatal knife attack on a German man.

The stabbing triggered a wave of protests that included opposing demonstrators throwing bottles and fireworks at each other, and police deploying water cannons to quell the violence.

State officials appealed for calm amid reports of several revenge attacks.

That was a horrible incident, said Chancellor Angela Merkel at a news conference in Berlin, decrying the killing.

She added, however, that citizens taking the law into their own hands is something that has no place in a state under the rule of law.

The unrest reflects a schism in German society after Merkels government allowed about 1 million asylum seekers to enter the country in 2015, triggering fears that mass migration would undercut social stability.

Street Festival Stabbing

Prosecutor Christine Muecke told reporters the slaying stemmed from a verbal altercation on the sidelines of a local street festival in the early-morning hours of Aug. 26. It is unclear what led to the dispute, which ended with a 35-year-old German man fatally wounded.

Two other German men, aged 33 and 38, suffered serious injuries in the stabbing, which reportedly involved about 10 attackers.

A 22-year-old Syrian citizen and a 21-year-old Iraqi citizen were arrested and are being held on suspicion of manslaughter. They are suspected of stabbing the victim multiple times with no justifiable reason, prosecutors said on Aug. 27.

The victim has been identified as Daniel H., a carpenter, according to the BBC.

Protests in the Wake of the Slaying

An initial rally of about 100 people occurred without incident on Aug. 26, according to the news agency AFP. Tensions rose, however, when about 800 people gathered later in the day, following calls on social media for a more forceful response.

Among the protesters was a group of about 50 individuals ready to commit violence, the BBC reported, citing police.

Tweeting about the clash, Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician Markus Frohnmaier said, If the state is no longer to protect citizens, then people take to the streets and protect themselves. Its as simple as that!

AfD, a right-wing party and the main opposition in Parliament, has been critical of Germanys wholesale acceptance of migrants who have made their way into the European Union illegally. Deutsche Welle, a German news service, reported that Frohnmaiers AfD colleagues criticized his tweet and gave assurances that the party opposes vigilante justice.

Police said they were investigating reports of assaults on an Afghan, a Syrian, and a Bulgarian on Sunday.

A larger protest occurred Aug. 27, with some holding anti-immigration placards with messages such as Stop the asylum flood.

Left-wing counter-demonstrators gathered nearby, with volleys of projectiles from both sides resulting in injuries.

Meanwhile, the interior minister of Saxony, the province in which Chemnitz is located, appealed for calm.

Now is the time to remain calm and level-headed, said Roland Woeller, adding that Chemnitz authorities will not allow the perpetrators of violence and anarchists to run rampant on our streets, but we will enforce the rule of law.

The Risk of Mob Justice

The escalation of violence seemed to have caught police by surprise, as officials acknowledged that too few officers were mobilized for Mondays demonstration, the German news agency DPA reported.

Reinforcements have since been brought in to contain potential flare-ups, but the chairman of Germanys Federal Police Union (GdP) warned that cuts of about 16,000 police jobs in recent years have exacerbated the risk of mob violence.

Any village brawl can turn into a hunt, said Oliver Malchow, according to the New Osnabruck newspaper, adding that if people lose confidence in the ability of the government to provide protection, There is a danger that citizens will take the law into their own hands and resort to vigilante justice.

For operational situations like in Chemnitz, several hundred colleagues would always have to be kept in reserve, Malchow told the paper, adding that, under the current circumstances thats totally unrealistic.

The GdP demands the reinstatement of 20,000 law-enforcement jobs.

The state has failed in the area of internal security because it has massively reduced staff, the GdP chairman said. This problem cannot be solved quickly.

Reuters contributed to this report.The entrance to the Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York on March 7, 2017. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

CNN Boldly Decides It No Longer Needs Reliable Sources

Commentary

On July 27, CNN aired a news story in which it claimed President Donald Trump had advance knowledge of the meeting at Trump Tower between members of his campaign team and two Russians working with Fusion GPS. Despite the fact Trump has repeatedly stated that he didnt know about this meeting until after it had occurred, two anonymous sources assured CNN that former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen personally witnessed the then-candidate for the presidency being told the details about the forthcoming meeting. The two sources went on to claim that Cohen wanted to make this assertion to special counsel Robert Mueller.

So excited was the mainstream media by this anonymously sourced story that it dominated the headlines for days. Trump was caught now! Soon, Mueller would have Cohen under oath before a grand jury, and then Trumps collusion with the two Russians at the Trump Tower meeting, Natalia Veselnitskaya and Rinat Akhmetshin, would be fully exposed!

Never mind the fact that by this point, its been revealed these two Russian lobbyists were affiliated with Fusion GPS, the same research firm that produced the Steele dossier, which had sent them to this meeting to lobby Trumps team against the Magnitsky Act sanctions.

There has been a very interesting development in this story since CNN published their article.

Michael Cohens lawyer, longtime Clinton associate Lanny Davis, outed himself publicly as one of the anonymous sources for the story, and recanted. He did this live on camera during a television interview with Anderson Cooper  on CNN.

In fact, it now looks as if Davis is making an apology tour, since, in just the past three days, hes recanted both the Trump Tower story and another story for which it appears he was a key anonymous source.

Davis has gone on to recant a story in which he claimed Trump also had advance knowledge of the Russian hacking of Democratic emails. Davis had claimed this was another thing that Cohen looked forward to telling Mueller.

And it gets worse. Just as several media outlets began driving a new narrative based on leaks that claim Muellers special counsel team has evidence that places Cohen in Prague in 2016, here came Davis in several televised interviews to categorically state Cohen had never been to Prague, and not only that, all the other allegations about his client that appear in Christopher Steeles dossier are also not true.

If you are counting, thats three major narratives the mainstream media have been pushing hard that Davis has called into question in just one week.

Even more problematic for CNN: In its report on the Trump Tower meeting, the network stated that Davis refused to comment on the story when CNN gave him a chance to respond to  himself. It stated, Contacted by CNN, one of Cohens lawyers, Lanny Davis, declined to comment.

Got that? The guy who gave CNN this scoop off the record about Trump knowing the Trump Tower meeting was going to happen was asked by CNN for comment on the story, and he declined to respond to himself on the record. You cant make it up at this point.

While Davis has publicly apologized several times over the last few days for misleading the reporters in several news stories for which he was an anonymous source, the response CNN has made to this has been truly astonishing.

CNN has yet to issue a retraction or even a correction of the original story. It has updated the false story only once at this point, on the same day the article went up, to add in a few quotes from President Trump and his lawyer, Rudy Guiliani.

The Daily Callers news editor, Amber Athey, best summed up the problem with this Aug. 27 tweet:

CNN can resort to the were just reporting on what sources claimed defense, but that doesnt explain why they havent reported on or updated with the additional information that calls into serious question what those sources claimed.

CNN can resort to the "we're just reporting on what sources claimed" defense, but that doesn't explain why they haven't reported on or updated with the additional information that calls into serious question what those sources claimed.  Amber Athey (@amber_athey) August 27, 2018

As Chuck Ross, reporter for The Daily Caller, and others have noted with some bemusement, CNN not only will not correct the record, they are actually embargoing any mention of Daviss public recantationthe one he made on air on their own network.

At the very least, CNN should write a news story acknowledging Lanny Davis' recent statements and all of the new questions raised about their July 27 report. https://t.co/spJ8dzcUax  Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) August 27, 2018

The television news channel wont even acknowledge that Davis has changed his tune. Brian Stelter, the host of the CNN program Reliable Sources, defiantly stated that CNN was standing behind its reporting on the Trump Tower story despite Daviss retraction.

Re: CNN's July 27 story about Cohen claiming that Trump knew in advance about the Trump Tower meeting: "We stand by our story, and are confident in our reporting of it." https://t.co/TOMJuQDbrp  Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) August 27, 2018

This news network is so desperate for some kind of payoff to their two-year-long pushing of the TrumpRussia narrative that they cant let go of their last shred of hope. They want to believe Trump knew about this meeting at Trump Tower, so theyll stand by the story even after their main source admits he lied to them. This isnt journalismthis is fanaticism.

CNN should be commended for at last dropping its mask and ending the charade of being any kind of objective, neutral news organization. Its a propaganda arm of the Democratic National Committee, nothing more.

When a major source you used for a news story later recants what they told you, journalistic ethics should compel you to note this development in your further reporting on that story.

That is, if you have any journalistic ethics. And its becoming increasingly clear that CNN does not.

Brian Cates is a political pundit and writer based in southern Texas and the author of Nobody Asked For My Opinion  But Here It Is Anyway! He can be reached on Twitter at @drawandstrike

If you enjoyed reading this article, subscribe today at ReadEpoch.com

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.Michael Sharp, an American investigator for the United Nations in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Feb. 7, 2017. (John E. Sharp/Reuters)

Congo Trial Over Killings of UN Experts Resumes After Long Suspension

DAKARThe trial of more than two dozen people, including a former intelligence agency informant, suspected in the killings of two U.N. sanctions monitors last year in central Congo resumed on Aug. 27 after a 10-month suspension, defense lawyers said.

Zaida Catalan, a Swede, and Michael Sharp, an American, were killed in March 2017 while investigating an armed conflict in Democratic Republic of Congos Kasai region between government forces and the local Kamuina Nsapu militia.

Congos government has blamed their kidnappings and killings on the militia but some Western governments and rights groups suspect state officials may have been involved as Catalan and Sharp were conducting investigations in an area where the United Nations has accused Congos military of war crimes.

Congolese government officials initially said no state agents were involved in the killings and that they did not know at the time that the two experts were in the region. But they later said they could not exclude the possibility state agents were involved.

Among the 13 defendants appearing in court on Aug. 27 in the Kasai city of Kananga were suspected militia leaders Constantin Tshidime Bulabula and Vincent Manga, who were arrested earlier this year, Bulabulas lawyer Tresor Kabangu told reporters.

Kabangu said Bulabula denies wrongdoing. Mangas lawyer, Moise Bidua, also says he denies the accusations against him.

Another dozen defendants are scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 28 to be identified, Kabangu said, including his client Jose Tshibuabua, who was arrested late last year.

Reuters and Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported in December that Tshibuabua was working as an informant for Congos national intelligence agency (ANR) when he helped Sharp and Catalan organize their trip to the town of Bunkonde. Kabangu says Tshibuabua denies any wrongdoing.

According to phone logs in the Congolese prosecutors file reviewed by reporters and RFI, Tshibuabua exchanged dozens of text messages with a local ANR boss in the days before and after Sharp and Catalan were killed.

Congos top ANR official, Kalev Mutond, said Tshibuabua had repeatedly assured him during interrogation that he had not informed ANR officials about his contacts with the U.N. monitors and suggested Tshibuabua was acting on behalf of the militia.

The trial began in June of last year. It was suspended in October pending the arrival of a team of U.N. experts meant to assist the investigation.

The experts have complained that Congolese security officials are interfering with their work, including by not granting access to key witnesses. Swedish prosecutors working the case also say Congolese authorities have not been cooperative.

Congo denies those accusations and says its justice system is conducting an impartial investigation.

The conflict in previously peaceful Kasai erupted in August 2016 when Congolese forces killed a local chief who had been demanding their withdrawal from the region.

According to a U.N. report in June, both state forces and the militia committed atrocities that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity during the year-long conflict, in which up to 5,000 people died.

By Aaron RossThe swan quartet led to Bushman the gorilla (now preserved at the Field Museum) and King the baby rhino (now an adolescent moved to nearby Brookfield Zoo). To legendary mid-century zoo directors Marlin Perkins and Dr. Lester Fisher. To untold thousands of creatures, from mynah birds to dromedary camels, from sea lions to actual lions, bringing touches of the exotic to the Middle West. And to popular features that have come and gone: Captive elephants and chimps that visitors could join at a tea party brought smiles in their day but would merit cringes now, while the zoo has retired two kinds of boat, a replica Viking ship that is now in a park on the Fox River, and those popular and garish paddleboats that plied the waters of the zoos South Pond, now remade as the center of an urban wildlife oasis, the Nature Boardwalk footpath.Syrian rescue worker Samir Salim sits next to his colleague Ahmed Rashid during an interview with Reuters in Azaz, Syria July 8, 2018. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Driven From Home, White Helmet Rescuers Start Over in North Syria

AZAZ, SyriaSyrian rescue worker Samir Salim found his mothers body under their collapsed house, but there was no time for a funeral.

We buried her and went back to work. There were a lot of people under the rubble, he said. Months later, he can no longer even visit her grave.

When Syrian government forces clawed back his eastern Ghouta hometown, near the capital Damascus, Salim followed hundreds of thousands of others who had fled to the northwest under rebel surrender deals.

Now, he and White Helmet workers driven from different parts of Syria have come together in the rebel-controlled town of Azaz to try to rebuild their lives near the Turkish border.

Their work has changed drastically: with no warplanes cruising overhead, they help the opposition authorities put out fires, clean the streets, and plant trees.

Azaz falls within a de facto buffer zone which Turkey has carved out since 2016. The northwest corner remains Syrias last major insurgent stronghold and is now in President Bashar al-Assads crosshairs.

The White Helmets have often said they worried about reprisals as government forces defeated rebel enclaves with Russian and Iranian help.

The civil defense service, which receives funding from Western governments, pulls people from the rubble of air strikes in rebel territory. Assad has accused it of being a Western-sponsored front for al Qaedas branch in Syria.

New Life, Foreign Place

Salim said many comrades stayed behind in eastern Ghouta.

Before leaving, he helped burn down the emergency center he had once helped establish in his town, where his three brothers also worked.

As buses shuttled evacuees out through government territory, including Salims wife, five children, and relatives, some people cursed and threw stones at them, he added.

We arrived with great misery, said Salim, 45. Our peers gave us an exceptional welcome.

Azaz is worlds apart from Ghouta, which lived through years of bitter siege and air strikesfar from the Turkish influence of the northwest.

Salim recalled a sarin gas attack that killed hundreds of people in 2013 in the rebel enclave. People were running down the streets screaming chemicals and there were a lot of civilians lying in the streets foaming at the mouth.

He said he injured his spleen during an air strike on a market in 2016 and had part of his intestines removed.

The White Helmet first responders say Damascus has specifically targeted them during the more than seven-year conflict. The government says it only targets militants.

We fear building a new life in a foreign place and then having to leave once again, Salim said. I fear northern Syria will face what we did in Ghouta.

His family now lives in the nearby Afrin region, where a Turkish assault earlier this year ousted Syrian Kurdish fighters. Those forces have accused Turkey of expelling Afrins residents to resettle other people, which Ankara denies.

Harsher Lies

Salims new team includes Ahmed Rashid, 30, who was bussed out of eastern Aleppo two years ago after fighter jets leveled entire districts.

The bloody battle for Aleppo in northern Syria marked a turning point in the war as pro-government forces swept through the insurgent half of the city. Rashid said 12 friends from his center in Aleppo were killed.

Nobody expected me to persevere, especially since my parents are in Turkey. But I cannot leave the civil defense, the former shoe designer said.

In Aleppo, the bombing was so heavy we couldnt sleep. Here (in Azaz), there is no such pressure.

Nayef al-Aboud, also part of the same team, said they largely work on services like helping with car accidents.

Today, our center has workers from the displaced populations, said Aboud, 22, who is from Azaz. Our strength has grown because they are here, we learn from their experiences, they lived through harsher times.

By Khalil AshawiNicolas Hulot, French environment minister, looks over toward President Emmanuel Macron as they visit the Cap Frehel peninsula in northern Brittany, France, on June 20, 2018. (Stephane Mahe/Reuters/File Photo)

French Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot Resigns Unexpectedly During Live Radio Interview

French President Emmanuel Macron has been dealt a blow after his environment minister resigned unexpectedly during a live radio interview.

Nicolas Hulot, a former TV presenter and environmental activist, quit on Tuesday, Aug. 28, following what he called an accumulation of disappointments.

I dont want to lie to myself any more, or create the illusion that were facing up to these challenges, Hulot said on radio station France Inter. I have therefore decided to leave the government.

He did not inform Macron before the announcement.

This may not be the right protocol, but if I had warned them they might have talked me out of it yet again, Hulot said.

Hulot was chosen by Macron to lead efforts to combat global warming following the Paris climate deal in December 2015.

But Hulot was frustrated by what he saw as a watering down of Macrons campaign pledges on the environment, such as cutting nuclear power contributions to electricity by 50 percent and boosting renewable energy.

In the interview, Hulot said he still had an immense friendship with Macrons government.

But on a challenge this serious, I find myself resigned to it every day, adapting to it a little more each day, even though the global situation with a planet thats becoming a sauna requires us to change our scale, change our scope, change our thinking, Hulot said.

Disappointed by Lack of Political Response

The resignation comes at a bad time for Macron, whose ratings have been sliding since his bodyguard was filmed assaulting demonstrators last month.

Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux expressed bemusement at Hulots departure, which the government regretted.

The fight for biodiversity, the environment, energy transition is a long one, you dont get results in just a year and Nicolas Hulot knows that, Griveaux said. It takes time to transform our agricultural model. You dont transform the French agricultural model by clicking your fingers, in 18 months.

Griveaux added, I would have liked him to stay because he brought his own voice, his own convictions, his history of campaigning, so I regret that hes going and above all I regret the fact that we havent been able to demonstrate everything hes done over the 14 months that hes been in government.

Hulot was also disappointed by Macrons lack of commitment on banning the weedkiller glyphosate, which is sold as Roundup.

Hulot said his doubts about remaining in government had grown following a lack of political response to devastating droughts over the summer, and hoped his exit might provoke deep introspection in our society about the reality of the world.

Greenpeace France Director Jean-Francois Julliard echoed Hulots concerns, saying that while Macron had made some fine speeches on climate change he had never turned these words to concrete action.

There is still no energy transition policy in France, Julliard said.

Former prime minister and presidential contender Alain Juppe said he was impressed by Hulots high-mindedness and by the nobility of his act.

Beyond the inevitable political buzz, I hope this decision encourages us all to think and to change, he said on Twitter.

Reuters contributed to this report.Francis Cissna, Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, talks about the agency's challenges at the National Press Club in Washington on Aug. 15, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

H-1B Visa Holders Should Not Replace American Workers, USCIS Director Says

WASHINGTONAlthough not much tinkering can be done without Congress, the head of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said issues surrounding visas such as the H-1B need to be addressed, but without causing harm to American workers.

The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa that allows foreigners to work in the United States for three years, with options to renew it. Silicon Valley companies are the heaviest users of the H-1B visa, bringing in workers largely from India.

The visas are currently decided through a lottery system and capped at 65,000 per year, with an added 20,000 for those with masters degrees or higher.

The number of petitions filed in fiscal 2016 reached almost 400,000. About 75 percent of those were from India and almost 70 percent were for 25- to 34-year olds.

Americans are unable to vie for the positions offered through H-1B visasa point some lawmakers are trying to resolve through legislation.

The director of USCIS, Francis Cissna, said he can totally understand how an employer can be frustrated by identifying a potential employee on a university campus, but being unable to get an H-1B visa for them because the program is oversubscribed.

The cap is not sufficiently high to guarantee that person getting a work visa. I can completely understand how frustrating that would be to the employer, Cissna said during a discussion with the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington on Aug. 15.

He said its up to Congress to address that.

I cant change the criteria for getting an H-1B, I cant change the cap.  It is what it is, Cissna said.

But, he warned, any reforms need to be mindful of the possible adverse effects on American workers.

A simple fix, for example, [could be] just banning the ability of employers to fire American workers and replace them with H-1Bs, he said. We all know its happened. I am talking about  intentional replacement of American workers with foreign workers. Things like that need to be taken into account.

Better Vetting

Last year, in his Buy American, Hire American initiative, President Donald Trump called on federal departments to propose reforms to curb H-1B abuses and ensure visas are awarded to the most skilled or highest-paid applicants.

Right now, H-1B visas are awarded in a totally random lottery, and thats wrong, Trump said on April 18, 2017, in Wisconsin as he unveiled the initiative. Instead, they should be given to the most skilled and highest-paid applicants, and they should never, ever be used to replace Americans.

Cissna said, so far, only relatively small changes have been imposed on the H-1B process and other work visas.

For example, asking adjudicators to look more carefully at whether the wages that are being proffered to the worker correspond to the skill level of the job, he said.

That is a completely rational thing to do, and if it requires more evidence to substantiate the connection between the proffered wage and the skill level, so be it.

The agency is also working on rescinding the regulation issued by the Obama administration in 2015 that allows spouses of H-1B visas to also get work authorization.

Cissna said Congress only identified two categories of people who should receive spousal work permits when it set up the H-4 categoryspouses of intra-company transferees and to the spouses of E investor visa and treaty investor visa workers.

They said that those two categories of people.  They didnt talk about H-1Bs, he said.

The idea that we are intentionally, mischievously, impishly, malevolently trying to build an invisible wall on purpose because we dont want foreign workers to come, is false.

Big Tech Pushes Back

About a week after Cissnas interview, CEOs of the Business Roundtable penned a letter to Kirstjen Nielsen, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, under which USCIS operates.

The letter expressed the CEOs serious concern about changes in immigration policy that are causing considerable anxiety for many thousands of our employees, while threatening to disrupt company operations.

It was signed by 59 of Americas most prominent CEOs, from companies such as Apple, Morgan Stanley, American Airlines, Verizon, and JPMorgan Chase. The Business Roundtable CEOs lead companies with more than 16 million employees and more than $7 trillion in annual revenues, according to its website.

The CEOs complained about inconsistent immigration decisions, uncertainty about information required for visa renewals, and the upcoming change that would revoke the H-4 spouse eligibility to work.

The CEOs also complained about USCISs recent announcement that a visa holder will be automatically placed in removal proceedings if his or her application to change or extend status is denied and he or she doesnt have another underlying lawful status.

Together, the USCIS actions significantly increase the likelihood that a long-term employeewho has followed the rules and who has been authorized by the U.S. government multiple times to work in the United Stateswill lose his or her status, the letter states.

Cissna said fraud and abuse is an eternal problem with administering the immigration system, but the agency is set up to simply follow the laws Congress sets. He said the increase in interviews required for work permits is already helping reduce fraudulent claims.

Using the example of someone first entering the United States on a tourist visa, Cissna outlined a possible scenario that indicates how flawed the current system can be.

Its kind of remarkable that you could have somebody come to the country  as a tourist. Then they change to a student visa. Then they study for four years. Then they get a masters degree. So, theres six years. Then they get an H-1B, thats another three years. Then they get an extension. Theres another three, he said.

The person could then also receive an Optional Practical Training work permit, allowing for up to three additional years of work.

So, you could have a person here for a dozen years, and we never talk to them, Cissna said. I think the administration is focusing on vetting and screening because you have things like thatwhere people could be here a long time and they have no physical contact, much less an actual interview, with an immigration officer.Honey the Lonely Dolphin, Left in Derelict Japanese Aquarium, Sparks Public Outcry

TOKYOThe plight of a lonely dolphin and dozens of penguins that have been abandoned in a derelict aquarium in Japan since the start of the year sparked protests this week, with activists and ordinary Japanese alike calling for the animals to be saved.

The female bottlenose dolphin, nicknamed Honey, was captured in 2005 near Taiji, a western port town that has become notorious for its annual dolphin hunt that was featured in the Oscar-winning 2009 documentary The Cove, Japanese media reports said.

The practice of Japanese aquariums buying dolphins from Taiji came under heavy criticism following the release of the film. The hunt involves driving hundreds of dolphins into a cove, where some are taken alive for sale to marine parks, while others are killed for meat. The Japan Association of Zoos and Aquariums has since agreed to stop buying dolphins from Taiji.

Shuttered Aquarium

The operator of the Inubosaki Marine Park Aquarium in the city of Choshi in Chiba Prefecture, just east of Tokyo, shuttered the facility in January. The operator cited a decline in visitors after the 2011 earthquake and nuclear crisis.

Honey and 46 penguins, along with hundreds of fish and reptiles, remain at the aquarium, an official with the Chiba prefectural Health and Welfare department said.

Employees have been regularly feeding the animals, he added, but photos and video taken by activists in March and August from outside the park show Honey floating in a tiny pool in an eerily empty facility. In another picture, dust-covered penguins can be seen perched on a crumbling structure near a pile of debris.

Honey is a symbol of both the problem of marine parks and Taijis hunting practices, said Akiko Mitsunobu, chief of aquarium issues for Animal Rights Center, a local group.

When we went to check on the facility, she was showing signs of stress, putting her head weakly in and out of the water, Mitsunobu said.

Repeated calls to Inubosaki Marine Park and its parent company went unanswered. A Choshi city official said they have also been unable to reach park representatives.

Push to Relocate Honey

I get feelings of danger and doubt from the fact that they are so silent about this, said Sachiko Azuma, a representative of local activist group PEACE (Put an End to Animal Cruelty and Exploitation).

As a group that handles animals, they have a responsibility to explain what they intend to do with Honey and the other animals, Azuma said.

News of the abandoned animals spread quickly over social media, with Twitter users posting photos captioned Save Honey. A resort hotels offer to give them a new home sparked a flood of retweets.

I beg the authorities to get in close contact with each other and push ahead with this, wrote one Twitter user.

(Reporting by Mayuko Ono, writing by Mari Saito and Elaine Lies; Editing by Michael Perry)Ivan Lam, chairman of pro-democracy group Demosisto, shows a picture of a "prisoner's chair" to the media during a press conference in Hong Kong on Aug. 27, 2018. The group said Aug. 27 two of its members had been detained and questioned in mainland China. (Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images)

Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Group Denounces Scare Tactics by Chinese Agents

HONG KONGHong Kongs leading youth pro-democracy party, Demosisto, accused Chinese state security agents of using scare tactics to intimidate two activists briefly detained for questioning earlier this year during visits to the mainland.

Chinas Ministry of State Security couldnt be immediately reached for comment on the two incidents, while the Hong Kong governments Security Bureau gave no immediate response to a Reuters request for comment.

Demosisto withheld the names of the two party members, one of whom subsequently quit the pro-democracy party.

One was held for questioning for five hours during a visit to a city in southern Chinas Guangdong Province earlier this month, and the other was questioned in March during a trip to another city in the same province.

Were not just talking about a simple dialogue with no harm or no threat. Were talking about our members being detained with a hostile attitude, said Nathan Law, a founding member of Demosisto and an elected lawmaker who was disqualified from public office by authorities last July.

Its definitely a scare tactic.

Law, one of the leaders during Hong Kongs Umbrella Movement in 2014, was one of the six elected lawmakers who lost their seats in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo) when their oaths during the swearing-in ceremony were rejected.

An activist held in the most recent incident had recounted how an agent described Demosistos advocacy of Hong Kongs right to self-determination and greater autonomy as being akin to inciting subversion.

A copy of Chinas national security and counter-espionage laws was placed on the table during the interrogation, and the activist was persuaded to sign an apology letter before being released and allowed to return to Hong Kong.

In the incident in March, a Demosisto member was picked up in Guangzhou City and taken to a hotel room for questioning, before being allowed to return home.

What we are afraid of is (that) under this kind of hardline of President Xi (Jinping), this kind of situation will be more common in future, Demosisto leader Joshua Wong said.

In recent years, pro-democracy groups in Hong Kong have decried what they see as Chinese regimes increased suppression of civil liberties and democratic reforms.

Earlier this month, Chinas Foreign Ministry publicly rebuked Hong Kongs Foreign Correspondents Club for inviting a pro-independence activist, Andy Chan, to give a speech at the club.

Calls have since grown from Chinese officials and pro-Beijing Hong Kong politicians for the city to enact tough national security laws known as Article 23 legislation.

Article 23, an anti-subversion bill that was viewed as potentially dismantling the protection of basic rights in Hong Kong, was first introduced by the Hong Kong government in 2003. The bill caused a public uproar and resulted in a march on July 1, 2003, with more than 500,000 participants. Eventually, the bill was withdrawn.

Hong Kong reverted from British to Chinese rule in 1997 under a so-called one country, two systems arrangement which guarantees a high degree of autonomy.

Hong Kong-born citizens are allowed to travel freely into China on special re-entry permits, but many vocal critics of Beijing and prominent democracy activists are often barred from entering.

By James PomfretLas Vegas Police Shoot Man Who Allegedly Stabbed 2 Women at Random

Warning: Footage toward the end is graphic. Viewer discretion is advised.

Las Vegas Police released video footage of an officer-involved shooting of a stabbing suspect armed with a knife who was trying to flee officers.

In the video, the suspect can be seen acting erratically as officers order him to put down the knife. Put the knife down, one officer tells the man. Hey, drop the knife, another adds.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported on Aug. 27 that police identified the suspect as Caleb Rydlin Hill, 38. Assistant Sheriff Tim Kelly said the stabbings were random, adding that Hill hadnt been in an altercation with either woman.

According to KTNV, police said that the suspect stabbed two different women on a bus. Next thing I know I got maybe a quarter of a block to the bus and I felt an arm around my neck and something going in my throat, said victim Robin Woodfin, adding that she was able to get off the bus and sought help.

Hill got off the bus, put another woman in a chokehold, and then started stabbing her, police said.

When police met the suspect on Spring Mountain and Rainbow Boulevard, he ran from officers armed with the knife and refused to comply, according to the report.

Police tried subduing Hill with a Taser and a low-lethal beanbag shotgun, but they were not effective, the Review-Journal reported.

The video footage shows Hill trying to enter a car that drove up on the sidewalk at one point. Then, as he gets close to a bus stop that appears to have people inside, an officer opens fire.

The suspect was taken to UMC Trauma in critical yet stable condition, according to the Review-Journal report. The two women he allegedly stabbed were taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Kelly told the newspaper that police are trained to stay at least 21 feet from individuals with knives, which is why the officers didnt approach Hill to try and disarm him.

The officers did everything they could to stop this from getting to the point that it got to, he said.

Hill faces one count of resisting an officer with a weapon and two counts of attempted murder.

Questions Over Tasers

In a 2016 report, Los Angeles Police Department officers used Tasers 1,101 times in 2015, but the device only worked just under half the time, or 516 times, SCPR reported.

So many shootings involve an inefficient Taser first, said Peter Moskos, who is a former Baltimore police officer and professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, NBC reported. They often dont work, and then what?

Tasers are not for deadly force situations, said Eugene ODonnell, who is a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, in a 2016 NBC report. The only time the police need to be shooting is when there is an absolute matter between life and death. Its not a tool for apprehension.

William Terrill, a criminology professor at Arizona State University, added: If you were to respond with less force, it will put you in danger or another citizen in danger.

Video Credit: Las Vegas Police DepartmentKnowing what resources are available and what to expect can make caring for loved ones with demential more manageable.

Learning to Live Well With Dementia

Resources, practices, and perspectives to help navigate cognitive impairment

Imagine your doctor telling you that you have Alzheimers disease or some other type of dementia. Then, imagine being told, Im sorry, theres nothing we can do. You might want to start getting your affairs in order.

Time and again, people newly diagnosed with these conditions describe feeling subsequently overcome by hopelessness.

In their new book, Better Living With Dementia, Laura Gitlin and Nancy Hodgsontwo of the nations leading experts on care for people with cognitive impairmentargue forcefully that its time for this cycle of despair to be broken.

There is no cure for Alzheimers but there are many things that can be done to make life better for people with dementia and their caregivers, said Gitlin, dean of the College of Nursing and Health Professions at Drexel University and chair of the Department of Health and Human Services advisory council on Alzheimers Research, Care and Human Services.

At a minimum, Gitlin and Hodgson suggest pointing people newly diagnosed with dementia to the Alzheimers Association, the Lewy Body Dementia Association, the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, and the governments website, alzheimers.govall valuable sources of information and potential assistance.

Also, individuals and families should obtain referrals to elder law attorneys, financial planners, adult day centers, respite services, and caregiver support services, among other resources. But none of this happens routinely. Instead, people are not given access to the resources they need to plan for the future, said Hodgson, the Anthony Buividas endowed term chair in gerontology at the University of Pennsylvania. Theyre left on their own to find out even basic information.

Most people with Alzheimers and other types of dementia live at homean estimated 70 percent. But few professionals inquire about patients living conditions, even though these environments play a major role in shaping peoples safety and well-being. (The remainder live in nursing homes or assisted living residences.)

More often than not, professionals dont help families anticipate what to expect as dementia progresses. Left to their own devices, individuals with dementia and their caregivers tend to move inwards and away from their communities, which fosters isolation, which worsens their sense of despair, Hodgson said.

Even small steps could help improve quality of life. In their book and subsequent phone conversations, Gitlin and Hodgson highlighted several strategies:

Attend to the Home

As people with dementia become more impaired, attention to their home environment needs to become a priority.

In one study cited in Gitlin and Hodgsons book, safety issuescleaning agents under the sink, knives and other sharp objects, guns, and ovens that can be turned on and left running, for instancewere discovered in 90 percent of homes where people with dementia lived. Another study found an average of eight hazards in these residences.

What can be done: Hire an occupational therapist, ideally with expertise in dementia, to do a home assessment and recommend modifications.

Common suggestions: Reduce clutter, which can contribute to disorientation. Install handrails along staircases and grab bars and shower seats in bathrooms to reduce the risk of falls. Put up visual cues that identify where common objects are storedunderwear and socks, for instance, or coffee mugs. Make sure lighting is adequate. Remove knobs from stoves and remove other potentially dangerous electronic devices.

What you want to know is can a person with dementia find their way easily in the home? Are there sufficient cues? Is the environment too stimulating is there too much noise from a television thats left on during the day, for exampleor not stimulating enough? Gitlin said.

Create a Routine

People with dementia need predictability and well-structured routines that minimize uncertainty and help them get through the day.

A routine helps people with dementia know what to expect, Hodgson said. That lowers their anxiety and stress and makes it easier for them to negotiate their environments. If change is introduced regularly, theyre just not going to do as well.

What can be done: Time activities through the day to match an individuals physical and psychological rhythms.

Common suggestions: Most people are sharper, cognitively, in the morning, so thats a good time to look through photo albums, do puzzles, reminisce about the past, play simple word games, or go off to adult day care, Hodgson said.

After lunch, people may need to rest, but they shouldnt nap too long. You want to have some physical activity in the afternoon, as more and more research is showing the importance of exercise for people with dementia, Hodgson noted.

Around sunset, its time for relaxation and helping people settle down. Playing music or lighting a scented candle can set the mood. Good sleep hygieneno caffeine at the end of the day, darkness, quiet, and comfortable temperatures in the bedroomis recommended at night, as sleep problems are common in people with dementia.

An occupational therapist, who can evaluate the skills of people with dementia, can suggest appropriate activities. Youll need to learn how to understand if someone can initiate an activity on their own or follow a sequence needed for the activity, Gitlin said. If not, and this is common later on, youll have to learn how to set up the activity and cue the person.

Know What to Expect

Individuals with dementia and their caregivers will find their needs changing as their illness progresses.

What can be done: During every significant transition, reassess needs and how youre going to get them metwith the help of an experienced social worker or care manager, if possible. Who are the people who can help you? What resources are available? What alterations need to be made in the home and care arrangements? Youll need a new plan of action, Hodgson said.

At first, the most significant need may be obtaining a reliable diagnosis and learning more about the type of dementia your physician has identified. According to a new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, nearly 60 percent of people with dementia have not been diagnosed or are not aware of their diagnosis.

Common suggestions: Gitlin and Hodgson recommend that people with dementia be involved in learning about treatment options and planning for their care, to the extent possible. Talking over people or ignoring them or telling them what should happen, without soliciting their participation, is attack on personhood, Gitlin said.

Depression and anxiety may need to be addressed, as people struggle with the reality of a diagnosis, withdraw from work or social activities, and worry about the future. Finding ways to keep people engaged with meaningful activities starts to become a challenge.

When individuals progress to moderate dementia, they may need more supervision and assistance with dressing, bathing, grooming and taking medications. This is when families often hire caregivers if they can afford it. Communication may become compromised and problematic behaviors such as wandering, agitation, or aggression may emerge.

Often, someone with dementia is unable to express her needs and resorts to difficult behaviors. A person may be bored, afraid, in pain, constipated, overwhelmed or distressed, for example. To cope, caregivers are urged to try to understand the triggers for troublesome behaviors and take steps to address them.

Interactive web-based systems that offer expert assistance to caregivers may become available going forward. Gitlin and colleagues at the University of Michigan and Johns Hopkins University have developed a comprehensive program, WeCareAdvisor, that is being tested. Another website featuring the DICE Approach is expected to debut in three months and include interactive training videos.

In the final stage, severe dementia, people need sensory stimulationa foot massage, music they enjoy, a fragrant bouquet of flowers. Addressing distress, discomfort and pain are key care challenges. Even if the person with dementia cant acknowledge it, the presence of family and friends remains important. Throughout every stage of this illness, its important to let people with dementia know that they belong and surround them with a feeling of warmth and affection, Hodgson said.

Judith Graham is a staff journalist for Kaiser Health News, which originally published this article. KHNs coverage of these topics is supported by John A. Hartford Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and The SCAN Foundation.The logo of Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing is seen at their new drivers center in Toluca, Mexico, April 23, 2018. Carlos Jasso/Reuters

Murder of Didi Passenger Prompts China Clampdown, Outrage

China pledged on August 27 to tighten oversight of its transport industry and warned that the country did not need ride-hailing firms which compromised on passenger safety, on Augst 25 a Didi Chuxing passenger was raped and murdered by her driver.

The killing of a 20-year-old passenger who rode in the Didi vehicle on August 24 in the eastern city of Wenzhou is the second such incident since May, denting the image of the Beijing-based company, which is the worlds largest ride-hailing firm by a number of rides and is expanding globally.

The latest attack triggered severe criticism of Didi on social media and prompted regulators to warn of industry-wide action.

If a company is not compliant and self-disciplined, and takes its passengers lives as a game, the public will vote with their feet and the government will not just stand by, the transport ministry said in a commentary on its website.

The National Development and Reform Commission said that various government departments would push to improve overall governance of operators and would expand the use of a fledgling social credit system across the transport sector.

Didi declined to comment on August 27. It has suspended its Hitch carpooling service and previously said that it felt deeply responsible and would complete by Sept. 1 a new compliance operation to be inspected by the ministries and the public.

Police said a 27-year-old driver named Zhong was detained at about 4 a.m. on August 25 and confessed to raping and killing the passenger, who had used the Hitch service to book her trip. Her body was dumped over a guardrail and down a cliff, police said.

Didi said the suspect had no criminal record, had provided authentic documentation and passed a facial recognition test before starting work.

However, it also said it failed to act on a complaint made against the driver on August 24 by a passenger who alleged the driver took her to a remote place and followed her after she got out of the car.

Changes Demanded

Authorities in Shenzhen told Didis local subsidiary to make improvements to its service by the end of September, the official Peoples Daily reported.

Shenzhens traffic bureau said that if Didi did not comply with the requirements, the city could revoke the companys local business license and require it to stop offering internet services in Shenzhen.

China has more than 80 companies that hold licenses to compete in the ride-hailing sector, the transport ministry said last week.

Didis backers include Japans SoftBank Group Corp , Apple Inc and U.S-based ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies, whose China business Didi acquired in 2016, making Didi the dominant operator in the worlds most populous country.

Didi, which was valued at $56 billion in a fundraising round last year, has been expanding into overseas markets including Australia and Mexico, going head-to-head with Uber. The company has also prepared for an initial public offering as soon as this year, according to people familiar with its plans.

Didi says it makes 30 million trips a day, with more than 30 million drivers on its platform. It offers 14 services including Hitch, which allows users to hail a car via their smartphone and share a ride with someone headed in the same direction. Didi said Hitch has run more than 1 billion trips in the past three years.

Two lawsuits were filed in courts in Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces last year against Didi Hitch drivers by passengers who said the drivers had raped or assaulted them, according to court documents. One driver was sentenced to 10 months in prison, while the other received a sentence of 3.5 years.

After a 21-year-old flight attendant was murdered in May, allegedly by her Didi Hitch driver, the company took steps including limiting the hours during which carpool drivers can pick up passengers of the opposite sex, and testing an escort mode on its app enabling passengers to share their routes and destinations with emergency contacts.

The latest killing has been one of the most discussed topics on Chinas Twitter-like Weibo service since the weekend, with Didis official apology post gaining more than 500,000 comments.

Some comments were critical of Didis outsourcing of some customer service functions in some cities, after a series of media reports focused on that. Didi said the incident had revealed many deficiencies with its customer service processes.

Reuters found advertisements on job portals dating as far back as 2014 from third-party companies seeking customer service personnel for Didi in cities such as Beijing, Hefei, and Chengdu offering salaries starting from about 3,000 yuan ($436.43) a month.

Many social media users said that they wanted to see major changes being made and that public trust was being eroded as it was not the first incident.

I dont dare to use Didi in the future, one said.

Didi rival AutoNavi Maps suspended its carpooling service on August 27 saying that it was doing so out of concern for passenger safety. It declined to comment on whether the decision was related to the Didi case.

($1 = 6.8740 Chinese yuan renminbi)

By Beijing Monitoring Desk and Brenda Goh.Nearly Out, Californias Holy Fire Bursts Back to Life

The so-called Holy Fire, which started burning in Californias Cleveland National Park on August 6 and had been 91 percent contained, has burst back into life.

The fire, which ravaged 22,986 acres in Orange and Riverside counties, started on Aug. 6, likely as the result of arson. A disgruntled and potentially unstable homeowner allegedly set his neighbors homes on fire, and the flames spread throughout the National Park.

The Cleveland National Park website announced on Aug. 21, that the fire was 91 percent contained, and projected that it would be completely extinguished by Sept. 1. Some news outlets reported on Aug. 27 that the fire was entirely out, based on an incident alert on the Cal Fire website.

Then around 10 a.m. on Aug. 27, a stationary camera on top of Santiago Peak showed a flare-up, which quickly spread to engulf 150 acres.

Some new activity is occurring around the #HolyFire. This will be very visible from surrounding communities. Resources have been dispatched and are responding with cooperators. Please refer questions to the Trabuco Ranger District 951-736-1811 pic.twitter.com/fgRz2uMAOa  Cleveland NF (@ClevelandNF) August 27, 2018

Tankers and Choppers

Orange County Fire Authority reposted a tweet around 11 a.m. local time on Aug. 27, that it was sending five air tankers and four helicopters to do water drops on the new flare-up, with ground crews to be deployed when the fire is beaten back to the point where it is safe to send firefighters in on foot.

The #HolyFire flareup has slopped outside of containment lines and has grown to 40 acres. 5 air tankers and 4 helicopters have been assigned. Ground resources will be utilized when it is safe to do so.  Cleveland NF (@ClevelandNF) August 27, 2018

There were no homes near the new flare-up. The Fire Authority was concerned about several communications towers atop Santiago peak, the highest point in Orange County.

The towers serve law enforcement, including police, CHP and fire officials, as well as public broadcast television and commercial radio and television stations, Orange County Sheriffs Department spokeswoman Carrie Braun told the Orange County Register.

Started by Arson?

Orange County Sheriffs Deputies arrested Forrest Gordon Clark, 51, on August 7 on suspicion of two counts of arson, one count of felony threat to terrorize, and one misdemeanor count of resisting arrest, the Orange County Register reported. His bail was set at $1 million.

Clark, who owns a cabin in Holy Jim Canyon, apparently sent emails saying This place will burn to Volunteer Fire Chief Mike Milligan a week before the fire started.

Clarks cabin was one of over a dozen clustered in Holy Jims Canyonand the only one not consumed by the flames.

#HolyFire Arrest.

Forrest Gordon Clark sent an email warning this place will burnhttps://t.co/O6Uhu2f3e0  Max News Media (@MaxNewsMedia) August 8, 2018

According to Milligan, who owned one of the destroyed cabins, Clark had an ongoing feud with all his neighbors, and particularly with Milligan.

When deputies arrived to question him, Clark stripped naked except for a large gold medallion, and began shouting at the deputies.

From NTD.tv

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The First Ever Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom Inspires Hope

The freedom of belief was at the center of the United States founding.This fall drive is top-rated for its leaf-filled parks, roadsides and hiking trails as well as its breweries and farm inns. Start your northeast Indiana tour about 15 miles north of Fort Wayne at the hilly Bicentennial Woods in Huntertown to hike among the towering oaks, hickories and sycamores, some of which are more than 200 years old. From there, head south on Coldwater Road and U.S. Route 27 into Fort Wayne. Headwaters Park, the historic West Central neighborhood and Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory should be on the agenda to see the burnt red colors of oak trees and the glowing yellows and oranges of native maples. Ash trees are also abundant in Fort Wayne. Take in more fall leaves at Purdue Universitys Fort Wayne campus or while hiking on Fort Waynes 100-plus miles of trails. Prefer to cycle on your leaf tour? Rent some wheels from Fort Wayne Outfitters.New Sack Technology Goes Long Way in Safeguarding Grain for Tanzanian Farmers

KONDOA, TanzaniaSixty-year-old Mwanahamisi Selemani is a farmer in Mnenia village, Kondoa district, in central Tanzania. She cultivates maize on a five-acre piece of land.

It gives around 20 sacks, but last year I only planted three acres and harvested seven bags of maize, said Selemani, a mother of three grown children.

Even with a modest output, however, a major challenge facing local farmers like Selemani has been proper storage of grains so that they arent lost to pest infestation. So, the 2013 introduction of hermetic grain storage technologieswhich include the use of airtight storage sackscreated a sigh of relief among smallholder farmers.

Before this new storage technology, I used to store my grains in plastic bags. But they werent good enough because I had to buy pesticides. Otherwise, the grains would be damaged by weevils, Selemani recalled.

The bags, she said, would last for only three months and farmers would be forced to buy new ones. In addition, the use of pesticides was harmful to human health, and she feared for her childrens health, she said.

But the new technology has helped us save on costs, as well as deal with the health risks associated with insecticides. We do not need to use chemicals with these bags.

According to World Bank projections, food demand will increase by at least 20 percent globally over the next 15 years.

The biggest demand for food will be in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as South Asia and East Asia. In 2016, the World Bank further estimated that one in nine people were food-insecure.

However, analysts argue that more food is going to waste as a result of poor storage facilities in developing nations.

Globally, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 1.3 billion tons of food are lost every year. This translates to about a third of the worlds food produced for human consumption.

Cutting Costs

For Amina Hussein, a 58-year-old mother of four, subsistence farming is her only source of livelihood. Like Selemani, she has been cultivating maize on her five-acre piece of land in Mnenia village and has faced persistent problems with storing her harvest.

Previously, Hussein would lose an average of $100 every harvest season, partly due to buying pesticides to preserve her maize. Now, the new hermetic sacks have cut that cost.

We are not incurring the huge costs anymore and we do not need to buy chemicals to preserve our maize, Hussein said, with a smile.

To facilitate the adoption of the new technologies, farmers organize themselves into groups. Hussein chairs one of these groups in her village.

Once weve harvested, we dry the maize and then preserve them in the new bags, she said, referring to the hermetic storage sacks, which are also locally produced.

The airtight sacks ensure that the grains remain fresh over a long period of time. They also help deal with health concerns by eliminating the use of chemicals in fumigating the grains.

Gaining Autonomy

In Tanzania, 85 percent of the population live in rural areas. Smallholder farmers constitute the majority of the population.

Analysts say post-harvest loss reduces the income of smallholder farmers by 15 percent. This is a major concern particularly for grains such as maize, which form the base for nutrition and income for people in the rural areas.

We know that farmers work hard and spend a lot in acquiring seeds, so when they incur these losses ranging between 15 to 40 percent, this is not a small percentage, said Eliabu Philemon Ndossi, a senior program officer with Tanzanias Ministry of Agriculture.

We call upon smallholder farmers to embrace these new technologies in order to preserve their produce.

Researchers from the University of Zurich have recently conducted a survey in Tanzania to assess how cutting post-harvest losses in food grains improves food security and increases income levels among farming households.

Being able to safely store food grains for a longer time, smallholder farmers gain autonomy on storing their harvest for their families consumption, and when to sell surplus on the markets, said Matthias Huss, the coordinator of the research project.

Improved storage may also be linked to food prices, as seasonal price fluctuations can be reduced if not all produce hits the market at the same time, according to the research team.

For farmers like Hussein, even a modest cut in grain losses can mean more food for their children, and more cash for the family.The logo and ticker for Nokia are displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 21, 2018. Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Nokia Secures 500 Million Euro EU Loan for 5G Development

Finnish telecom network equipment maker Nokia has secured a 500 million euro ($572 million) loan from the European Investment Bank to step up development of next-generation 5G technology capable of faster speeds, wider coverage, and more stable connections.

5G mobile networks, which are still at an early stage, will offer data speeds up to 50 or 100 times faster than current 4G networks and serve as critical infrastructure for a range of industries, such as driverless cars.

We have to understand that China and the U.S. have moved fast with the 5G. It is very important to have European companies going in for this competition, EIB vice president Alexander Stubb, a Finn himself, told the online edition of Helsingin Sanomat.

The bank had earlier this year signed a 250 million euro loan deal with Nokias Swedish rival, Ericsson, but EIB noted that the terms of the agreements were different.

The network gear business, led by Chinas Huawei and the two Nordic companies, has struggled with flagging growth since demand for the current generation of 4G mobile equipment peaked in 2015.

Nokia last month announced $3.5 billion deal with U.S. mobile carrier T-Mobile, so far the worlds largest 5G agreement.

By 2025, 1.2 billion people worldwide are set to have access to 5G networks  a third of them in China, according to trade group GSMA.

By Jussi Rosendahl.Ohr Testimony Suggests a Key Witness Lied to Congress, Lawmakers Say

Lawmakers who questioned Justice Department (DOJ) official Bruce Ohr on Aug. 28 say there are significant discrepancies between what they learned from Ohr and prior testimonies given by former FBI attorney Lisa Page and Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson, suggesting that at least one among them may have lied to Congress.

Ohr, Simpson, and Page are among a group of key witnesses who have been interviewed by the House Judiciary and Government Oversight committees as part of an investigation of FBI and DOJ actions before and after the 2016 election.

Ohr entered the spotlight relatively late after his text messages, emails, and notes revealed that he was in regular contact with Simpson and former British spy Christopher Steele, the author of the infamous anti-Trump dossier produced for Fusion GPS. After the FBI terminated Steele as a source for leaking to the media, Ohr became the foreign spys conduit for funneling information to the bureau. Ohr also met with Page and her then-FBI colleague Peter Strzok.

The factual differences in the testimonies are significant because of potential perjury charges against one or more of the central figures in the investigation or the possibility that a witness may have to walk back their prior answers to Congress, leading lawmakers closer to the truth.

In the first hour of testimony, it became very clear that there are a number of factual conflicts. Either Bruce Ohr is lying or Glenn Simpson is lying, and in another circumstance, either Bruce Ohr is lying or Lisa Page is lying, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) told reporters on Capitol Hill on Aug. 28.

Rep. Darrell Issa told the press during a break in the closed-door session that the discrepancy between the testimonies of Ohr and Simpson is significant.

Theres also some ambiguity between Ohr and Lisa Page, Issa said. And there is no question at all, were going to have to go back through the loop to find out which one of them is willing to change their story or face perjury.

Ohr was the fourth-highest ranking official at the DOJ before he was demoted for failing to disclose that his wife, Nellie Ohr, was paid by Fusion GPS to conduct opposition research on then-candidate Donald Trump in 2016. Nellie Ohr worked on the same project at Fusion GPS as Steele.

The Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee paid Fusion GPS for the work of Nellie Ohr, Steele, and others. The research culminated in a dossier of unverified claims authored by Steele. Bruce Ohr passed the dossier to FBI officials, who went on to use it as a probable cause to spy on former Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page.

The application to spy on Carter Page didnt mention Ohr, his wife, or their connection to the dossier. The omission is troubling since Ohr benefited from his wifes Clinton-funded work and helped funnel the fruits of the labor to the FBI.

In the four FISA applications I reviewed in their full, unredacted form, Bruce Ohrs involvement with the Steele dossier was never disclosed, Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) wrote on Twitter.

The FISA acronym Ratcliffe mentioned refers to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which enables U.S. intelligence agencies to conduct some of the most intrusive spying options available, provided that they convince a secret court that there is probable cause to suggest the target of the surveillance is an agent of a foreign power.

Carter Page was subjected to a year of FISA surveillance through a warrant based on the dossier concocted by Steele, even though none of the claims in the dossier have been verified to this day.

The Page FISA warrant application and its three renewals also failed to mention that Ohr informed the FBI that Steele was biased against Trump, nor did they mention that the research on the dossier was funded by the Clinton campaign and the DNC.

Lawmakers also plan to find out if anyone at the DOJ knew of Ohrs involvement with the Steele dossier. Ohr wasnt officially part of Crossfire Hurricane, the bureaus codename for the counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign.

Thats a big concern. Who at DOJ knew that? Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) told reporters on his way to the Ohr hearing. Did [Deputy Attorney General] Sally Yates know what was going on?

Ohr reported to Yates at the DOJ. Yates signed the FISA warrant to spy on Page. Trump fired Yates for insubordination in early 2017.

Among other issues, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) planned to question Ohr about leaks to the media. The joint committee investigation recently uncovered that the FBI leaked to the media in order to use the resulting stories to apply for FISA warrants, according to Meadows.

Weve learned NEW information suggesting our suspicions are true: FBI/DOJ have previously leaked info to the press, and then used those same press stories as a separate source to justify FISAs, Meadows wrote on Twitter. Unreal. Tomorrows Bruce Ohr interview is even more critical. Did he ever do this?

During a lunch break, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) told reporters that Ohr was cooperating with lawmakers.

Hes been so far willing to pitch some answers to us, which also always leads to more questions, of course, Biggs said.Paint-Covered Driver Arrested After Crashing Truck in Pennsylvania

A man who was totally covered in paint was handcuffed by police in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, after crashing his vehicle into parked vehicles, according to reports.

Video footage showed officers wrestling with the man, who is seen covered head-to-toe in silver or white paint.

ABC27 reported on Aug. 27 that a pickup truck loaded with paint was stolen in Delaware in the morning.

The truck then drove up the back of a flatbed trailer as if it were a ramp and then overturned, hitting three parked cars in Lancaster, the ABC affiliate reported.

Officials said they were working to identify the paint-covered pickup driver. He walked away from the scene and returned when officers arrived.

Police said he was acting in an erratic manner, and it wasnt clear if he was under the influence of drugs.

PennLive reported that the driver of the stolen truck went past a flagger who was diverting traffic from the left lane that was blocked by the flatbed trailer. Thats when the driver went up the back of the flatbed before crashing.

Police said that several other parked vehicles were hit by debris and paint.

There were around fix or six five-gallon buckets of paint inside the trucks bed, police told Lancaster Online.

No charges have been filed yet, and the crash is being investigated. The driver was not identified in news reports.

It was really chaotic, witness Nina Morange told ABC27. I didnt know where my car was. We focused on my co-workers car and then I looked up the street and I was in total shock when it was my car in the middle totally dismantled.Police Identify Suspect in Solihull Double Stabbing

LONDONUK police have identified the suspect in a double murder as the former partner of the woman stabbed to death on the street with her mother in the early hours of Monday morning in the West Midlands.

West Midlands police directly appealed to Janbaz Tarin to turn himself in, saying that huge efforts were underway to locate him.

Tarin, 21, is being sought over the killings of Raneem Oudeh, and her mother, Khaola Saleem, both found dead outside of Saleems house with serious stab wounds at 12.30am on Monday, Aug. 27.

Police on Monday said that they believed the murderer was known to the victims, appealing to him to come forward.

Later, authorities released Tarins name and photograph, hoping to enlist the help of the public after initial attempts to locate him failed.

Detective Inspector Caroline Corfield, leading the investigation, said, Weve been working flat out to apprehend Tarin since the early hours of this morning, following up a number of lines of enquiry.

If anyone knows where he is or thinks they may have seen him, Id urge them to ring 999 immediately, she said in a statement.

If theres anyone out there who may be shielding him through a sense of misguided loyalty, they need to be aware that they are committing an offense and will be prosecuted. My message to Tarin would be that its vitally important that we get to speak to you as soon as possible, so please do the right thing and let us know where you are, she said.

Police said that the public should not approach Tarin if they spot him.

Screaming Her Head Off

Emergency services were called to Northdown Road in Solihull, where they found the women, aged 22 and 49, in the street with serious stab wounds.

Tragically there was nothing which could be done to save them, said Corfield.

The two were declared dead at the scene.

The Daily Mail quoted one neighbor saying that she heard screaming late on Sunday, Aug. 26.

The woman said, I thought it was foxes screaming. She was absolutely screaming her head off. He wasnt speaking English, thats for sure. He shouted something and then ran off. There was a lot of screaming and shouting and then I saw the guy run off. About a minute later I saw him leave in a van.

Another man living near the property told the BBC that he too had heard screaming, but assumed it was people returning from a night out.

He said, Then police knocked on my door and asked for some towels, so I knew at that point it was serious. Ive got a young family, so I was worried about what was going on.

Police said they were speaking to people who live nearby and that there would be a visible presence in the area over the coming days to provide community reassurance.

The victims family said in a statement, Our family is devastated with the loss of our loved ones. We would like to give thanks for all the love and support we have received. We kindly request that our privacy is respected at this difficult time.Pope Francis (C), flanked by Head of the Vatican press office, Greg Burke (R), addresses a reporter during a press conference in flight while returning from Ireland to The Vatican at the end of his two-day visit to Ireland on Aug. 26, 2018. (GREGORIO BORGIA/AFP/Getty Images)

Pope Francis Wont Respond to Claims He Covered-Up Sexual Abuse Allegations

Letter claim was backed up by another church official

Pope Francis on Aug. 26 said he will not say a single word about claims made by a former Vatican ambassador that he covered up sexual-abuse allegations against then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of the United States.

The claims, outlined in an 11-page letter by Carlo Maria Vigano, a former Vatican ambassador to the United States, describe how Vigano warned the pope in 2013 about the allegations and sanctions imposed on McCarrick by former Pope Benedict XVI.

Vigano, 77, wrote that Pope Francis didnt respond to his exchange with him and, instead, allowed McCarrick to continue in his role as a prominent public figure in the Roman Catholic Church. Vigano also accused several other senior church officials of complicity, in regard to McCarrick.

Pope Francis, while on his plane flying back to Rome from Dublin after a two-day trip to Ireland, refused to comment on the Aug. 22 letter.

I will not say a word about that. I think that the communique speaks for itself, he said on Aug. 26.

Appearing to avoid the question further, the pope told journalists to read the communique attentively and make your own judgment, in reference to Viganos lengthy letter. You have sufficient journalistic capacity to reach your own conclusions.

The Vatican didnt respond to an emailed request for comment before publication.

The pope met with victims of sexual abuse while in Ireland, although the trip was originally meant to celebrate Catholic families. Similar allegations of abuse by clergy in Ireland were brought to light again by the recent, high-profile U.S. incidents.

In July this year, Pope Francis accepted McCarricks resignation from the College of Cardinals, about five years after the original disclosure by Vigano. American Catholic Church officials said the allegations that McCarrick sexually abused a 16-year-old boy almost 50 years ago were credible and substantiated.

McCarrick, a former archbishop of Washington, has maintained his innocence.

The Truth

Meanwhile, a church leader has vouched for the claims outlined in the letter.

Monsignor Jean-Francois Lantheaume, the former first counselor at the apostolic nunciature in Washington, told the Catholic News Agency (CNA) that Vigano was honest with his allegations.

Vigano said the truth. Thats all, he wrote to CNA, after refusing an interview with the outlet. Lantheaume said he doesnt plan to comment any further on the subject.

According to Viganos letter, Lantheaume told him that in 2011, then-nuncio Pietro Sambi communicated with McCarrick in person about the allegations during a stormy exchange at a nunciature in Washington.

Lantheaume, then first Counsellor of the Nunciature in Washington and Charge dAffaires a.i. after the unexpected death of Nuncio Sambi in Baltimore, told me when I arrived in Washingtonand he is ready to testify to itabout a stormy conversation, lasting over an hour, that Nuncio Sambi had with Cardinal McCarrick whom he had summoned to the Nunciature, Vigano wrote.

Monsignor Lantheaume told Vigano that the Nuncios voice could be heard all the way out in the corridor.

Three different Vatican Secretaries of State also were accused by Vigano of failing to act, even though they were told about McCarricks behavior; they were identified as Cardinals Angelo Sodano, Tarcissio Bertone, and Pietro Parolin. Some didnt just fail to act, but attempted to cover-up the allegations as well, he said.

Vigano, in his letter, calls on Pope Francis to resign, as well as the other senior leaders involved.

Pope Francis must be the first to set a good example for cardinals and bishops who covered up McCarricks abuses and resign along with all of them.

The letter comes after a state grand jury report released publicly in August accused more than 300 predator priests across Pennsylvania of sexual abuseand the Roman Catholic Church for a decades-long cover-up of it.Shanann Watts Funeral Announced as Obituary Remembers Colorado Mother

The funeral date for Shanann Watts and her two children was announced as an obituary was published by the funeral home in memory of the slain Colorado mother.

Watts, 34, was murdered by her husband Chris Watts, 33. Officials believe she was killed on Aug. 13 after returning home from a business trip while her daughters Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3, were killed on August 12 or August 13. The obituary listed the death as Aug. 16, but Chris Watts was jailed on August 15.

Chris Watts admitted to killing his pregnant wife but claimed it was after he saw her choking their children; prosecutors have charged Watts with five counts of murder, three counts due to the murdered family members and two others due to Bella and Celeste both being under the age of 12.

He was also charged with tampering with their bodies as well as unlawful termination of a pregnancy. Shanann Watts was 15 weeks pregnant at the time of her death.

Obituary Remembers Mother, Daughters

The obituary for the mother said that she was born in 1984 in New Jersey. She was our pride and joy, a true gift from God. We were so blessed to have such a joyful and wonderful daughter whose beauty was that of a doll, her parents Frank Rzucek and Sandra Onorati Rzucek wrote.

The family also remembered the young girls that were killed.

Shanann was so excited to have her first baby girl. She spent every minute thanking God and taking care of her precious gift that the Lord had blessed her with. How she loved and cherished her, the grandparents wrote of Bella.

About Celeste, they added: Oh how Shanann was so excited to be able to have another child because of her battle with Lupus. She was determined to stay healthy and with her love for her Celeste, every moment with her was a blessing.

The baby Shanann was carrying when she was killed was a baby boy; she had decided to call him Nico.

Funeral and Donations

A funeral mass for the Watts is slated to be held at 1 p.m. on Sep. 1 at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

The family said anyone who wanted to make donations should make them to one of three groups: the Lupus Foundation of America, the Frederick Colorado Police Deptartments Missing Persons Division, or the St.Judes Childrens Hospital.

The other recent news concerning the Watts was the emergence of a picture showing them on vacation in North Carolina just days before the killings.

From NTD.tvShanann Watts Struggled to Conceive, Brother Reveals

In a long, emotional Facebook post, Frankie Rzucek, brother of murdered expectant mother of two Shanann Watts, revealed that his sister had had a hard time conceiving.

When our family found out she beat all the odds and become pregnant I cant even explain our excitement, he posted.

Shanann was born to be a mother and help change lives. (This I know) She was the picture perfect mother  She made being a parent look easy.

#BREAKING: High-ranking sources tell @JennKovaleski the bodies of the 2 Watts girls were concealed inside oil and gas tanks. Live update on #Denver7 in just a few minutes: https://t.co/ivlxVOSr9r #ShanannWattsInvestigation pic.twitter.com/lkpVPSjOhf  Denver7 News (@DenverChannel) August 17, 2018

In the post, he revealed that his sister had the auto-immune disease lupus, which an autoimmune disease which causes fertility problems and high-risk pregnancies. But despite having successfully conceived a third child, it wasnt to be.

Shanann Watts and her two children, Bella, age 4, and Celeste, age 3, were found dead in barrels of refinery products on land owned by the firm that had employed husband and father Christopher Watts. Watts was arrested later that night and charged with the murders of his family members.

Shanann had been 15 weeks pregnant with the couples first son, whom they planned to name Nico.

A Heartbroken Brother

This was not the only emotional Facebook message posted by the murdered womans brother. On August 16, the day after Watts was arrested, Frankie Rzucek vented his rage at the alleged killer, who he had already suspected of being the killer.

I just want 30 seconds alone with that heartless psychopath. May Satan have mercy on his soul.  My blood is boiling and the pain and anger and sadness I have in my heart. Nothing absolutely nothing would get in my way of taking away his life like he did mine and my ENTIRE FAMILY.

Rzucek talked about his outburst in another post the next day: I let my feelings and love for my family get the best of me on my post last night about that evil man. But I will never delete it or regret it. I meant every word.

He stole my whole world and treated them like they were trash. Ive never been so mad, sad, enraged, hurt heartbroken, lost, and shocked in all my life. So forgive me for how I went about it.

My sister and nieces meant the absolute world to me. They made me strive to be an even better man. I wanted them to be proud of their Uncle.

Finances Might Have Been a Factor

Although Shanann Watts had been involved quite successfully in a multi-level market company since 2016, the Watts household seemed to have had a history of financial stresses.

Despite earning some $90,000 in 2014, the couple had to file for bankruptcy in 2015, as they faced a mountain of debt from school loans and credit cards.

Shanann Watts seemed to be extremely successful at her multi-level marketing job promoting weight-loss and health-boosting patches. She earned a car and many trips around the country to promote the product.

Even so, the couple was sued in July for unpaid Homeowners Association fees amounting to $1,533.80, suggesting that the couple still had cash-flow problems.

It is possible that the addition of a third child and the income lost when Shanann had to take leave to care for her children might have added to the household stress level.

I love this man so much! Hes my rock! Posted by Shanann Watts on Saturday, March 10, 2018

Less Than Perfect Union

Reading Shanann Watts Facebook or Instagram pages, one would think that she and her husband had a perfect marriage.

Shanann posted on Facebook on March 10, I love this man so much! Hes my rock! and again on May 5, even more emphatically, I love this man! Hes my ROCK!

However, she spent much of the summer traveling away from her husband and apparently told her mother the couple was close to breaking up.

A coworker of Shananns mother told WRAL that after spending some weeks with her daughter in North Carolina, Shanann had mentioned that she was considering separation.

This is bolstered by a comment Christopher Watts made to a friend of Shananns, who called after Shanann went missing.

Nickole Atkinson said that Shanann never mentioned marital troubles, but her husband did when Atkinson called on the morning of August 13.

I didnt find out that they were going to separate or anything like that until I called Chris that morning, Atkinson said, according to The Epoch Times.

When I called him and asked him where she was, thats when he told me and I basically told him that that wasnt my [concern] at that particular moment because it wasnt and that their business was their business, that they would either work it out or they wouldnt.

Uncertain Past

While the couple apparently were getting their lives on track in Colorado, it seems they had a rocky history in North Carolina, where they met and married.

Website Meaww reported that Chris Watts had been arrested three times in North Carolina, and Shanann Watts 15 times. There was no mention of what the charges might have been.

According to Byron Falls, who bought the Wattss house in North Carolina, the couple was in a huge rush to make the sale and leave the state.

Once in Colorado, the couple was still on shaky ground, with Shanann having to work nights and overtime to make extra money at her job at a childrens hospital call center. It wasnt until the end of 2014 that Watts got hired to a $61,000 per year position with Anadarko Petroleum.

Success Dividing the Pair?

As Shanann Watts continued to rise at Le-Vel, the multi-level marketing company where she started in 2016, she earned perks and bonusessuch as frequent trips around the country. She also had to leave her husband at home to care for the kids while also working full-time.

Though the couple appeared together in a promotional article in the Le-Vel company newsletter in 2017, and Christopher Watts showed up, smiling and prominently wearing one of the companys energy patches in multiple Instagram photos, it is possible that Shanann would have wanted a more dynamic partner who could better help keep her and her growing business in overdrive.

From NTD.tv

If you enjoyed reading this article, please continue to read more stories here.

Sign up for our free newsletters here.Then-Secretary of State-designate Sen. Hillary Clinton looks at her BlackBerry in an elevator at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 7, 2009. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Sources: China Hacked Hillary Clintons Private Email Server

A Chinese-owned company operating in the Washington area hacked Hillary Clintons private server throughout her term as secretary of state and obtained nearly all her emails, two sources briefed on the matter told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

The Chinese firm obtained Clintons emails in real time as she sent and received communications and documents through her personal server, according to the sources, who said the hacking was conducted as part of an intelligence operation.

The Chinese wrote code that was embedded in the server, which was kept in Clintons residence in upstate New York. The code generated an instant courtesy copy for nearly all of her emails and forwarded them to the Chinese company, according to the sources.

The Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) found that virtually all of Clintons emails were sent to a foreign entity, Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican, said at a July 12 House Committee on the Judiciary hearing. He did not reveal the entitys identity, but said it was unrelated to Russia.

Two officials with the ICIG, investigator Frank Rucker and attorney Janette McMillan, met repeatedly with FBI officials to warn them of the Chinese intrusion, according to a former intelligence officer with expertise in cybersecurity issues, who was briefed on the matter. He spoke anonymously, as he was not authorized to publicly address the Chineses role with Clintons server.

Among those FBI officials was Peter Strzok, who was then the bureaus top counterintelligence official. Strzok was fired this month following the discovery he sent anti-Trump texts to his mistress and co-worker, Lisa Page. Strzok didnt act on the information the ICIG provided to him, according to Gohmert.

Gohmert mentioned in the Judiciary Committee hearing that ICIG officials told Strzok and three other top FBI officials that they found an anomaly on Clintons server.

The former intelligence officer who spoke with TheDCNF said the ICIG discovered the anomaly pretty early in 2015.

When [the ICIG] did a very deep dive, they found in the actual metadatathe data which is at the header and footer of all the emailsthat a copy, a courtesy copy, was being sent to a third party and that third party was a known Chinese public company that was involved in collecting intelligence for China, the former intelligence officer told TheDCNF.

The [ICIG] believe that there was some level of phishing. But once they got into the server something was embedded, he said. The Chinese are notorious for embedding little surprises like this.

The intelligence officer declined to name the Chinese company.

We do know the name of the company. There are indications there are other cutouts that were involved. I would be in a lot of trouble if I gave you the name, he told TheDCNF.

A government staff official whos been briefed on the ICIGs findings told TheDCNF that the Chinese state-owned firm linked to the hacking operates in Washingtons northern Virginia suburbs. The source was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.

The company that penetrated Clintons server was not a technology firm and it served as a front group for the Chinese government, the source told TheDCNF.

The Fairfax and Loudoun county governments told TheDCNF that 13 state-owned Chinese companies operate in the area. Of those, three were not technologically oriented.

Fairfax County Economic Development Authority communications manager Seth Livingston told TheDCNF that all of the nine firms operating in his county were there in 2009 when Clinton began as secretary of state.

Our Asian folks believe that all of the companies have been around and known to us since that time period, he said in an email.

This is the most combed over subject in modern American political history, Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill told TheDCNF. The FBI spent thousands of hours investigating, and found no evidence of intrusion. Thats a fact.

But in an age where facts are alternative and truth isnt truth, its no surprise that an outlet like the Daily Caller would try to distract us from very real and very immediate threats to our democracy brought by the man occupying the White House, he continued.

Department of State Inspector General Steven A. Linick and then-ICIG I. Charles McCullough III scrutinized Clintons server in 2015. McCullough told Congress in July 2015 that her emails contained classified material.

IC IG was involved in the classification review of certain information drawn from the private email server, an agency spokeswoman told TheDCNF. She declined to comment further.

The two IGs asked the Department of Justice to investigate whether the classified information was compromised, according to a July 23, 2015, New York Times report based on unnamed senior government officials.

The FBI issued a referral to the Justice Department in July 2015. The bureau warned that classified information may have been disclosed to a foreign power or to one of its agents.

FBIHQ, Counterespionage Section, is opening a full investigation based on specific articulated facts provided by an 811 referral from the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, dated July 6, 2015 regarding the potential compromise of classified information, a July 10, 2015, FBI memo stated.

An 811 referral informs the FBI of classified information that was potentially released to a foreign power or agent of a foreign power.

This investigation is also designated a Sensitive Investigative Matter (SIM) due to a connection to a current public official, political appointee or candidate, the memo stated.

Then-FBI Deputy Director Mark F. Giuliano sent a follow-up memo on July 21, 2015, to President Barack Obamas deputy attorney general, Sally Yates, about two conversations he had with her about the criminal referral.

On 13 July 2015 and 20 July 2015, I verbally advised you of a Section 811(c) referral from the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community received by the FBI on 06 July 2015. The referral addressed the mishandling of classified information on the personal e-mail account and electronic media of a former high-level us Government official, according to the FBI memo, which was hand delivered to Yates.

Justice Department spokesman Devin M. OMalley declined to comment on this story.

Former FBI Director James Comey acknowledged in his recent book, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership, that the FBI was conducting a criminal investigation into Clintons conduct.

London Center for Policy Researchs vice president of operations, retired Col. Anthony Shaffer, told TheDCNF that Clintons server was vulnerable to hacking.

Look, theres evidence based on the complete lack of security hygiene on the server. Fourteen-year-old hackers from Canada could have probably hacked into her server and left very little trace, Shaffer said. Any sophisticated organization is going to be able to essentially get in and then clean up their presence.

And a former consultant to the U.S. trade representative, Claude Barfield, told TheDCNF: The Chinese were in the process of really gaining technological competence in 2009 to 2010. This begins to really take off in the early years of the Obama administration. The Obama administration was kind of late and there was this slow reaction about how sophisticated the Chinese were.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.orgAt that moment, McCain could have won the favor of a contingent of Americans who felt disenfranchised and neglected by their government. He could have rallied an ugly movement that had been launched when he brought Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on as his running mate. In an act of pure desperation, the McCain campaign had recruited Palin to appeal not only to women, but also to this fringe group of the GOP that had long proved difficult for mainstream Republicans such as McCain to grasp.A row of new Tesla Model 3 electric vehicles is seen at a parking lot in Richmond, California, U.S. June 22, 2018. Picture taken June 22, 2018. (Reuters/Stephen Lam).

Tesla, Elon Musk Win Dismissal of Lawsuit Over Model 3 Production

A federal judge in San Francisco dismissed a securities fraud lawsuit in which Tesla Inc shareholders accused the electric car company and Chief Executive Elon Musk of misleading them about the progress of production of its Model 3 vehicle.

In a decision made public on August 27, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said that while shareholders claimed that Tesla fell short of its production goals, federal securities laws do not punish companies for failing to achieve their targets.

Breyer said the shareholders have until September 28 to amend their complaint. Their lawyer, Laurence Rosen, did not respond to a request for comment.

The case is separate from lawsuits accusing Tesla and Musk of scheming to hurt short-sellers through Musks August 7 tweets about taking the Palo Alto, California-based company private, and that funding had been secured.

Musk abandoned that proposal on August 24 night.

Tesla formally launched the Model 3 in July 2017, touting it as a vehicle for the masses, and attracted deposits from more than 500,000 potential customers.

But shareholders said Musk knew Tesla was woefully unprepared to meet its production goal of 5,000 Model 3s per week, and that Teslas share price was inflated until after the company finally cut its production target last November.

Belief in the Model 3 had helped propel Teslas share price 62 percent higher in the 1-1/2 years after the Palo Alto, the California-based company unveiled it in March 2016.

But the judge said shareholders failed to show that Tesla needed to be clearer that Model 3 production could fall short.

The company eventually blamed its production shortfall on bottlenecks at its battery factory outside Reno, Nevada and its assembly plant in Fremont, California.

Plaintiffs are correct that defendants qualifications would not have been meaningful if defendants had known that it was impossible for Tesla to meet its stated production goals, not merely highly unlikely, Breyer wrote. The facts plaintiffs have put forth do not tend to establish that this was the case.

Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Breyers decision is dated August 24.

The case is Wochos v Tesla Inc et al., U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 17-05828.

By Jonathan Stempel and Alexandria Sage.President Donald Trump announces that Mexico has agreed to enter into a new trade deal, the United States-Mexico trade agreement, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Aug. 27, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Trump Calls Out Google Over Bias in Search Results

An Epoch Times test affirmed that liberal media dominated news search headlines

President Donald Trump called out Google for rigged search algorithms, in a string of early-morning Twitter posts that appeared to cite a PJ Media report that found liberal media dominates news search results.

Trump accused the company of predominantly showing news results from the fake news media and questioned if the practice was lawful. His economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, later told reporters that the White House would conduct some investigation and some analysis at Google, without elaborating further.

Google search results for Trump News shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media, Trump wrote on Aug. 28. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD.

Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96% of results on Trump News are from National Left-Wing Media, very dangerous. Google & others are suppressing voices of Conservatives and hiding information and news that is good. They are controlling what we can & cannot see. This is a very serious situationwill be addressed!

Days earlier, the report from PJ Media found that 96 percent of Google search results for news on the president came from liberal media outlets. The reports findings were gathered from an analysis of Google search results for the keyword Trump using the search engines News tab. The data was then compared to investigative journalist Sharyl Attkissons media bias chart.

A few of you asked to see my Media Bias chart per a story in The Hill so here it is. https://t.co/lsnDFYLzxA pic.twitter.com/SAuH3hINNa  Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) August 28, 2018

A test conducted by The Epoch Times on Aug. 28, using similar methods, found similar results. Using Google Chromes incognito mode (so cookies and search history wont affect results), a search for Trump revealed 86 percent of articles shown by Google came from liberal or left-wing media sources.

Analyzing the first page of results only, The Epoch Times found that 3 out of 27 articles shown in total were conservative, and they all came from a single site: Fox News. The majority of the articles shown were from CNN, Washington Post, and The New York Times, all media with a liberal bias.

The top two results came from the Washington Post and ABC News, followed by Fox News at No. 3. The media outlet that showed up the highest number of times was CNNappearing a total of six times.

A Google representative didnt respond to a request for comment on the bias claim by press time.

Censorship Claims

Aside from Google, other companies with international influence such as Facebook and Twitter have likewise been subjects of criticism over reports that they have censored conservative voices.

Earlier this month, Facebook severely penalized PragerU, a nonprofit organization that produces conservative educational videos, only to remove the penalties and apologize a day later, after saying the sanctions were a mistake. It was the latest apology in a string of similar incidents.

We just discovered that PragerU is being heavily censored and shadow banned on Facebook, PragerU social-media influencer Will Witt said in a post.

Shadow banning is a term used to describe the practice by social media platforms of reducing or limiting the visibility of a users content.

In January, Project Veritas released a number of undercover videos of current and former Twitter employees, describing to investigators how the company uses an array of tools to identify users with conservative, pro-Trump, pro-America, or even pro-God views and target them for censorship.

Twitters CEO Jack Dorsey also admitted in a recent interview with CNN that he himself and most of the companys employees share a left-leaning bias.

In another incident, both Twitter and Facebook reversed a decision to block a campaign video by House candidate Elizabeth Heng, a California Republican, upon further review. Her video had included graphic footage depicting the communist genocide in Cambodiawhich her parents survivedin the 1970s. Heng argued that her parents story had rooted personal relevance.

A key finding listed in a report by NewsBusters, a site launched by the Media Research Center (MRC), found that that the number of liberal Twitter advisors far outnumbered conservatives.

Twelve of the 25 U.S. members of Twitters Trust and Safety Councilwhich helps guide its policiesare liberal, and only one is conservative, the report stated.

The report, which investigated how social-media companies have suppressed conservative speech, described what they found as far more troubling than most conservatives realize.

Another finding revealed that tech companies such as Facebook and Google have both partnered with anti-conservative fact-checking organizations. Facebooks flagger program had allowed Snopes, PolitiFact and ABC News, all outlets with a left-wing bias, to discern what is and is not real news.

Meanwhile, the report said that Googles fact-checkers had accused conservative sources of making claims that did not appear in their articles and disproportionately fact-checked conservative sources.A UPS worker carries an Amazon box to be delivered in New York, on July 24, 2015. (Reuters/Eduardo Munoz)

US Calls Foreign Mail System Unfair in Surprise Win for Amazon

The U.S. State Department on Aug. 24 said it would push for foreign postal carriers to pay the U.S. Postal Service more to deliver small parcels within the United States, taking up a longtime complaint by Amazon.com, UPS and others who have alleged the current system is unfair.

The State Department also said it would push foreign postal services to furnish data that would help customs officials detect opioids and other illegal shipments entering the United States. That task could also add to their costs.

If successful, the effort would benefit U.S. merchants and shippers who say they are undercut by foreign postal services access to low rates. U.S. shoppers could see higher bills for foreign goods ordered online.

The move may face pushback during meetings next month of the United Nations Universal Postal Union, from countries like China and Brazil, which already face price hikes for mail to Europe and the United States.

On Aug. 23, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a memorandum on terminal dues, or rates one countrys postal service pays another for finishing an international delivery.

The current system of terminal dues distorts the flow of small packages around the world by incentivizing the shipping of goods from foreign countries that benefit from artificially low reimbursement rates, the memo said.

It added that the U.S. Secretary of State shall include recommendations for future action, including the possibility of adopting self-declared rates, if insufficient progress is made with the Universal Postal Union.

The policy makes Trump a surprise ally of Amazon, the worlds largest online retailer, which he has accused of turning the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) into its delivery boy.

Amazon did not return a request for comment. UPS called the administrations actions a positive step toward addressing longstanding imbalances in the global postal market.

Those companies and industry groups have sought White House meetings since last year to attack arcane postal agreements they say make it cheaper to air-mail goods to Los Angeles from Beijing than from New York.

Others say the issue is not so simple. USPS claims to save money on outbound shipments thanks to the Universal Postal Unions exchange system, and rates for countries such as China have already been negotiated to rise by 2021 to a significant percentage of USPSs costs, the same rate USPS pays other countries.

Mighty Mug CEO Jayme Smaldone, who has found merchants in China cheaply shipping knock-offs of his products directly to U.S. consumers, said, This isnt something that should be phased out over years. This is something thats gone on for long enough.

It was not clear if the memorandum followed recommendations, not yet made public, of the postal task force Trump set up this year to examine USPSs business.

By Jeffrey DastinRodrigo Werle, a weed scientist at the University of Wisconsin inspects soybean fields as part of the university's research into whether the weed killer Dicamba drifted away from where it was sprayed in Arlington, Wisconsin, Aug. 2, 2018. (REUTERS/Tom Polansek)

US Offers Farmers Up to $9.4 Billion to Ease Brunt of Retaliatory Tariffs

The United States will pay farmers as much as $9.4 billion to offset the estimated losses from retaliatory tariffs by foreign nations, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced on Aug. 27.

President Donald Trump had ordered Perdue to study a short-term strategy to protect U.S. farmers while the White House negotiated better trade deals. In response, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a $12 billion package in July that will pay cash subsidies to the farmers of crops and livestock directly impacted by tariffs, purchase surplus food for distribution to food-assistance programs, and help farmers market their goods to new customers.

A secondary dimension to the subsidy package is the need to signal to Americas trade partners that the Trump administration is serious about securing better trade deals and is willing to shoulder the temporary damage from retaliatory tariffs, senior administration officials say.

That strategy appeared to bear fruit on the same day as Perdues announcement, with Trump revealing that the United States and Mexico have reached a major preliminary trade deal that is set to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, also known as NAFTA.

After careful analysis by our team at USDA, we have formulated our strategy to mitigate the trade damages sustained by our farmers. Our farmers work hard and are the most productive in the world, and we aim to protect them, Perdue said.

The bulk of the $12 billion package will be distributed as cash to farmers and producers of goods directly hit by foreign tariffs, including cotton, corn, dairy, pork, soybeans, sorghum, and wheat. Half of the $9.4 billion that is dedicated to the direct payments program will be distributed starting Sept. 4, according to a USDA press release. The other half will be distributed if the USDA determines that a second round of payments is warranted.

More than 77 percent of the cash will go to soybean farmers, who have been hit by retaliatory tariffs imposed by China. Soybean farmers will be paid $1.65 per bushel for up to $3.6 billion during the first round of payments. Beijing levied a 25 percent duty on soybeans as part of a $50 billion retaliatory tariff package on 106 American imports.

President Trump has been standing up to China and other nations, sending the clear message that the United States will no longer tolerate their unfair trade practices, which include non-tariff trade barriers and the theft of intellectual property, Perdue said. In short, the president has taken action to benefit all sectors of the American economyincluding agriculturein the long run.

Its important to note all of this could go away tomorrow if China and the other nations simply correct their behavior, Perdue added. But in the meantime, the programs we are announcing today buy time for the president to strike long-lasting trade deals to benefit our entire economy.

Trump struck a tentative long-lasting trade deal with Mexico shortly before the USDA announcement. The deal includes provisions that will benefit American and Mexican farmers, according to the White House. Trump said that Mexico has promised to immediately start purchasing as much farm product as they can.

Our farmers are going to be so happy, Trump said. The farmers have stuck with me.

The United States will spend an additional $1.2 billion purchasing surplus fruits, nuts, dairy, beef and pork for distribution to food programs, including the National School Lunch Program and The Emergency Food Assistance Program. The USDA is coordinating with private and public partners to sort out the logistics, including trucking, inspection, and staffing.

The USDA has also dedicated $200 million to a separate program dedicated to helping farmers market their products to new overseas destinations, though the agency provided no specifics.Views from atop Ferris wheels, the smell of fried dough filling the air and the sound of children cheering as they see farm animals can only mean one thing -- Connecticut's country fair season is upon us.

Bring your appetite for fun and unique flavors. Fairs across the state offer a chance to indulge in drool-worthy foods and old-fashioned activities, like antique tractor pulls, livestock shows and pie-eating contests.

We have rounded up several of the state's "major" fairs, as designated by CTAgFairs.org. The fairs, which are slated for August, September and October, are some of the largest events in the state.

Click through the slideshow above for a look at some of the state's major country fairs, and here for the full list.

According to the Connecticut Office of Tourism website, the Orange Country Fair will feature "craft exhibits, antique cars, tractor pulls, children's games, country music, contests, flower and vegetable exhibits, carriage rally, and much more." The 44th annual event will be held September 15 and 16.

In its 67th year, the Bridgewater Country Fair is "a long standing tradition that preserves the character of the quintessential country fair," the state's tourism site said. Head to the fair between August 17-19.

While the largest fair in New England isn't located in Connecticut, it attracts residents from across the area. The Big E features 17 days of activities, including one specifically set to celebrate all things Connecticut. This year's Connecticut Day is scheduled for Wednesday, September 19.Nearly 50 Connecticut towns will benefit from a wave of funding for schools that took in students displaced by last years natural disasters.

Connecticut earned $10.6 million of the $359.8 million the U.S. Department of Education gave to 20 states and the Virgin Islands to cover the cost to educate students who were displaced by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, as well as the 2017 California wildfires.

The money is meant to reimburse the districts for what they spent on these students last academic year.

The impact of natural disasters like hurricanes and wildfires goes beyond the disaster area Betsy DeVos, U.S. secretary of education, said in a statement. The effects are felt nationwide, especially in those communities that take in displaced students and families. This additional funding will ensure schools serving displaced students are able to meet their unique needs under such difficult circumstances.

The state Department of Education dispersed the money based on the number of displaced students in the districts, with the bulk of funding going toward bigger cities.

Hartford received the largest grant of $2.22 million, with New Haven receiving $1 million, Bridgeport $790,000, Stamford $96,600, Norwalk collecting $65,000 and Stratford $60,000.

In Danbury, the district recieved $9,250, less than Superintendent Sal Pascarella had expected. He said the district had about 20 students who came in and out of the schools last year, but the Department of Education only considered students who stayed.

They didnt count them as permanent, which was kind of disappointing to me, he said.

Pascarella said some of these students could return this year, too, but estimated six to seven kids have remained in the district.

He said the district already paid the bills for any extra costs from the students, but that it would put this money in the salary budget for this year.

The impact would have been in salaries, so thats the most logical place to put it, Pascarella said.

Meanwhile, Brookfield earned $9,750, slightly more than Danbury.

We welcome these students, said Christine Sipala, director of special education. The funds will be used to support those students.

In Bethel, the district received $4,500 for the two students it took in.

Christine Carver, superintendent in Bethel, plans to use the money for its program for English learners, a population that is growing in the district.

Weve seen an increase in our English learner students, so any types of resources we could purchase for them would be wonderful, she said.With a long holiday weekend approaching state police are ramping up patrols on all the major highways beginning Thursday to crack down on speeding, seat belt violations as well as impaired and distracted drivers.

State Police Col. George Battle expects that with the bright, warm weather forecasts state highways will be jammed with motorists out to celebrate the summers final holiday by traveling to beaches and parties.

He said troopers in marked and unmarked vehicles will be focusing on drunk driving, speeding, seat belt violations, and distracted driving starting Thursday.

Troopers will man sobriety checkpoints, increase roving patrols and utilize the State Police Breath Alcohol Testing Mobile Unit (BAT Mobile), announced Battle, who is the deputy commissioner of the Public Safety Division.

During the 2017 Labor Day weekend, troopers issued 1,189 tickets for speeding, 46 for seat belt violations and 2,764 tickets for moving violations. They arrested 47 motorists for driving under the influence.

Additionally troopers investigated 529 motor vehicle crashes which included 78 with injuries and one fatal.

But Battle said enforcement will continue into the next week with many children returning to school either by walking or riding a bus.

So he reminded drivers to be vigilant in watching for pedestrians during the before- and after-school hours.

The afternoon hours are particularly dangerous for walking children - over the last decade nationally, nearly one-third of child pedestrian fatalities occurred between 3 and 7 p.m., Battle said.

State law makes it mandatory drivers stop for school buses flashing their red warning lights to indicate a child is getting on or off.

Failure to obey this law not only puts our children at great risk, but it carries a hefty penalty for drivers, Battle said. Fines for passing a school bus that has its flashing red warning lights activated start at $465 for a first offense.

He asks that those partying this weekend designate a driver or call someone to take them home. Anyone who suspects a driver is impared should immediately call 911.

Battle released the following schedule:

Troop C-Tolland

DUI/Sobriety Checkpoint - Saturday, September 1, 2018 from 6:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., in the Town of Ellington on Route 83 in the area on Meadowview Plaza, 175 Route 83.

DUI and Motor Vehicle Enforcement Roving patrols - Thursday, August 30th through Monday, September 3, 2018 throughout the Troop C patrol area.

Troop G-Bridgeport

DUI/Sobriety Checkpoint - Friday, August 31, 2018 from 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., on the route 34 connector westbound in New Haven. This will be conducted along with the State Police Breath Alcohol Testing Mobile.

DUI and Motor Vehicle Enforcement Roving patrols -

Thursday, August 30, 2018 from 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., on I-95, I-91 and Route 34 in the greater New Haven area.

Saturday September 1, 2018 from 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., on I-95, Route 8 and Route 25 in the Bridgeport/Stratford/Trumbull area.

Sunday, September 2, 2018 from 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., on I-95 in the Stamford/Norwalk/Greenwich area and Route 7 in the Norwalk area.

Monday, September 3, 2018 from 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., on Route 15 (Merritt Parkway) from the New York State Line to the Sikorsky Bridge."This is not an emergency. This is not a public health immediate crisis. This is something we are managing, Rauner told reporters after a bill-signing event in Chicago. We are going to work with the federal government to monitor this whole situation  and try to reduce exposures from this as much as we can.3 1 of 3 Susan Haigh / Associated Press Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Bill Sikes / Associated Press Show More Show Less 3 of 3





Bob Stefanowski, the Republican nominee for governor who avoided his partys five debates in the run-up to his primary win two weeks ago, has committed to only four debates before November 6, Election Day.

But Ned Lamont on Tuesday pressed Stefanowski to attend an additional debate, scheduled for September 5 in Hartford.President Donald Trump thinks Google's search engine is "rigged." By featuring more mainstream news outlets and relatively fewer conservative sites in the results he sees, Trump tweeted Tuesday, Google is "suppressing" right-wing views on its platform. Trump escalated his attacks Tuesday afternoon in remarks from the Oval Office, warning that "Google and Twitter and Facebook, they are treading on very, very troubled territory and they have to be careful."

It's easy to see how Trump arrived at this conclusion, because in many ways his experience mirrors that of millions of Americans who've awoken to the dominance of Google - and Facebook, and Twitter - in their everyday lives without being quite certain how it wound up there.

We rely constantly on Google to find out what to buy, which restaurants to eat at and how to get from one place to another. But, partly by design, how Google does its job can still seem deeply mysterious, giving rise to theories about the way it supposedly operates. Is it possible for Google to manipulate your results? Would it?

RELATED: Trump adviser: 'Taking a look' at whether Google searches should be regulated

Google denies that it does. "Search is not used to set a political agenda and we don't bias our results toward any political ideology," the company said Tuesday. "We never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment."

Google's claim may be small comfort to those convinced that their own results are being skewed. But the dust up between Trump and Google is an important opportunity to shed light on what we do know about Google and its search algorithm.

- - -

What happens when you run a Google search?

At a high level, Google's search engine is based on a long list of websites from which Google has already scraped information, using automated software it calls a "crawler." The crawler gathers keywords and other data about sites on the Internet, and at this point billions of Web pages have been analyzed this way.

When users type in a search query, Google takes their request and goes looking in its records for any matches. Then it faces another problem: How to organize all the results.

This is where the more subjective parts of Google's search engine come in. Over 100 factors - from where the user is located to how recently a given webpage was updated - contribute to how highly a certain result may appear. In addition, the company's famous PageRank algorithm, developed by co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, plays a role in determining the authoritativeness of a given source.

Google executives are hesitant to discuss the specifics of their software, for fear of encouraging those who may seek to game the algorithm. And a core aspect of Trump's critique is that Google is mistaken in the way that it assigns authority in the first place.

TWEETS: A short investigation into Trump's tweets on Google

But, said Pandu Nayak, the head of Google's search ranking team, Google tests its own search results with regular humans to ensure that the search engine does what it is meant to do: Provide relevant and authoritative results.

"We've developed a detailed series of guidelines about what it means to be authoritative," said Nayak in an interview. "It's a 160-page document, it's been publicly available on the Web for several years now, and it's our representation about what it means to give relevant and authoritative results. Raters must study it and pass a test" before they can participate in the evaluation process.

- - -

Google News' secret sauce

Some of Trump's criticism appears to revolve around which stories appear in Google News.

Recent changes to Google News have turned it into a much more personalized product. The company now apples artificial intelligence and accounts more for your expressed preferences.

This approach has given rise to questions about what determines News results and just how much its engineers truly understand about the decisions their AI is making. A consistent theme in current machine learning research is that the algorithms are typically black boxes - often, the only way to determine why an algorithm made a decision is to try to reverse-engineer the logic from the results.

- - -

Influencing the sauce?

Still, it appears, companies and individuals can influence Google search results.

EARLIER: Trump says he 'won't let' social media target conservatives

Reverse-engineering Google has practically become something of a cottage industry, particularly in media. Publishers are constantly trying to find ways to compete for visibility on Google News and on Google Search. For example, Google's tendency to favor recency, or "freshness," incentivizes companies such as The Washington Post to create their webpages with metadata keywords that the search engine can easily read.

But not even the best experts can know for sure whether their techniques are working.

"The file that has the smart meta-title on it is the file that people land on for the latest updates," said Megan Chan, director of digital operations at The Post. "A lot of it is trial and error."

While The Post has a relationship with Google on special initiatives such as The Trust Project, an effort to promote integrity in journalism, Google does not use those relationships to provide insights into how its algorithms work, Chan said.

- - -

Google is certainly capable of tailoring search results, but often does it less than you think

That media outlets tinker with ways to boost their performance on Google is a byproduct of Google's success and dominance, not evidence of any favoritism by Google, experts say.

"If you're a publisher, it's impossible to simply remove yourself from any interaction with Google," said Chris Pedigo, senior vice president for government affairs at Digital Content Next, a trade association representing online publishers.

Still, by setting up the system this way, Google clearly has some degree of control over how information is presented to the user.

The question for many is how aggressively Google intervenes in this process.

Google's algorithm, particularly for search, is a master algorithm that is applied in real time against each search query as it comes in, according to the company. Although the algorithm itself frequently changes as Google makes tweaks, it is applied identically to each search.

If the results differ from person to person, that could be because they may be using a browser in incognito mode, which deletes the cookies and other third-party tracking software. Or they may be searching from a different location, triggering Google's reflex to return local results. Or they may simply be performing a search slightly later in time than another, said Christo Wilson, a computer science professor at Northeastern University who has studied Google's search practices for six years.

Wilson's research involves comparing Google searches under different conditions - having one group of testers search Google in incognito mode for example, while another group uses Google in normal mode. In other studies, Wilson assigned one group to log onto Fox News and another group to browse CNN before performing an identical Google search. What he has found may seem surprising.

"We have never seen big differences," said Wilson. "In fact - what we typically have seen in the past is that your search history - things you've looked for in the past - they only matter for about 10 minutes and even that's not true anymore for most queries."

This may be a function of Google's "bias" toward freshness, Wilson explained. And this is likely what Trump experienced as well.

"The results he's getting are going to be the same results that everyone is getting for those [same] queries," said Wilson, "at least for the U.S."

- - -

Overseas, it's a different story

Which brings us to Google's activities in other countries that underscore the company's ability to censor results - literally. In China, the search giant has reportedly sought to build a version of its engine that complies with the government's policy of blocking certain sensitive results, such as those related to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

And it wasn't long ago that Eric Schmidt, then the chairman of Google's parent company, Alphabet, publicly considered the possibility of demoting content that's considered hateful or extreme.

"We're very good at detecting what's the most relevant and what's the least relevant," he told Fox Business in 2017. "It should be possible for computers to detect malicious, misleading and incorrect information and essentially have you not see it. We're not arguing for censorship, we're arguing just take it off the page, put it somewhere else ... make it harder to find."NORWALK  All but a few former Washington Village tenants who have been relocated during the multiyear redevelopment will be able to move back to their old neighborhood when the project is finished in spring 2020.

The criteria for resettlement came up at a meeting of the Norwalk Housing Authority Board of Commissioners on Monday, at which details of the Washington Village Phase Two project were discussed. Chairman Cesar Ramirez said he had learned of three families who were told they could not return to their former home once construction was complete.

It appears to be that they were promised to go to the next buildings and they were supposed to be qualified, Ramirez said the the board, Norwalk Housing Authority staff and Patrick Lee, principal of Trinity Financial, the developer overseeing the project. But now because their financial income had changed, theyre not qualifying to move back into the building.

Ramirez and other commissioners expressed concern that certain residents might lose out on housing.

Our contract obligations with the Housing Authority says that were to provide housing for existing residents of Washington village that you, the Housing Authority, deem to be in good standing, Lee said.

According to Thomas J. Ivers, director of the Housing Authorities Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, a resident in good standing is one who has been lease compliant and is not behind on payments.

Ivers added that there were a handful of families  three or four  who wont qualify for housing at the new Washington Village because their income levels exceed maximums set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. As an example, Ivers said that a family of four could not have a combined income of more than roughly $60,000 to qualify for the new development.

Its an issue weve made a real point of because of the nature of this development. The income criteria are more stringent than the existing Washington Village, Ivers said. So someone could be income eligible at Washington Village, but not be eligible at the new one, and obviously that presents challenges. So its been something weve talked about a lot.

As part of their efforts to prepare the families who may not qualify for the new development, Ivers told the board that the Housing Authority flagged the tenants as early as three years ago and discussed other potential housing options.

Still, some commissioners worried about the displacement of former Washington Village residents who may have incomes higher than allowed in the development, but still may have limited housing options.

You guys are going to take these peoples places from them, and they dont qualify to move (back in). Thats terrible, terrible, Brenda Penn-Williams said.

Still, Bovilsky said HUDs restrictions were meant to ensure housing for low-income individuals, and that the Housing Authority had a responsibility to aid residents most in need.

The issue is, what is the mission of this institution? said Adam Bovilsky, executive director of the Housing Authority. Are we here to provide housing to people regardless of income? Or are we here to provide housing to people who are low to moderate income? At some point if we start providing housing to people who are earning $70-, $80-, $90,000, thats housing with a subsidy that could go to somebody who cant afford housing in Norwalk any other way.

justin.papp@scni.com; @justinjpapp1; 203-842-2586In the Women Entrepreneur series My First Moves, we talk to founders about that pivotal moment when they decided to turn their business idea into a reality -- and the first steps they took to make it happen.

At the age of 30, Dana Pollack quit a steady job, enrolled in culinary school, worked grueling hours in a kitchen and eventually started a small macaron business out of a rented kitchen space in New Jersey. Today, Danas Bakery is a thriving and fast-growing operation thats breathed new life into the trendy dessert. But in those early days, to turn her dream into an actual business, Pollack leaned on her own drive, public transportation, and her mom.

1. Make a big change.

Pollack had spent nearly 10 years working as a photo editor, hopping from gig to gig before landing at Muscle & Fitness magazine. After requesting a raise and getting turned down, she started questioning whether all the hard work was worth it.

I was sitting at my desk editing photos of men in speedos, she says. It was a shoot I had produced, and it was great storytelling, but it wasnt fulfilling my passion.

Shed always loved baking -- something she enjoyed as a hobby but never considered as a career. But as she started thinking about leaving publishing, she explored her options.

I went for a tour at the Institute of Culinary Education and fell in love, she says. I quit my job that week and enrolled in the baking and pastry program. It was a big leap, but it felt like the right time. I was about to turn 30, I didnt have kids, I wasnt married, she says.

RELATED: How This Founder Bootstrapped an Office Furniture Company That Targeted What Other Furniture Companies Are Missing.

2. Hustle -- hard.

Pollack wanted to finish culinary school and hit the ground running. I didnt want to graduate just to spend all my time working in a kitchen to get my real-world experience, she says. So she committed to a brutal schedule. In addition to spending her days at school, she worked weekends at the restaurant Lexington Brass in Manhattan. I soaked up that time in the kitchen, did one night of service and on weekends Id do production -- peeling and coring hundreds of apples, making thousands of brioches. Id work until 1 a.m. and go to school at 6 a.m.

3. Take baby steps.

At the Institute of Culinary Education, she fell in love with macarons, and realized there was a hole in the market: Everything available was in traditional French flavors like lavender and pistachio. She wanted to Americanize the dessert: birthday cake macarons, pink lemonade macarons.

With a concept in mind, she started taking small but necessary steps. What do I need to do? Have an LLC. Whats going to make the macarons different? Flavors. Where will I make them? I need a kitchen space.

With the help of her mom, she got the LLC in order and rented space, by the hour, at an incubator kitchen in New Jersey, which provided her with all the equipment and tools she needed. It was just day by day, laying down the bricks, she says.

RELATED: The Founder of Miss Jessie's Got Retail Placement by Asking a Stock Boy for Intel.

4. Figure out what sets you apart.

To highlight her unique flavors and market the brand on a shoestring budget, Pollack leaned on her past as a photo editor.

I love bold colors, and photographed these macarons the way you would photograph, say, a sexy bottle of perfume, she says. I put the photos on Instagram, and it just spread. We hit the wave at the right moment.

A friend that knew web design helped her build a website, and Danas Bakery was up and running.

5. Wear many hats.

Pollack started offering local delivery in New York, which required her to haul her finished product in from her rented kitchen in New Jersey and deliver it by hand.

Id do it all on public transportation, she says. I was just running around the city, carrying a million bags. Really grinding. Grinding. As our sales grew, I started enlisting family members, my boyfriend, anyone to help me.

Eventually she expanded her delivery options and started shipping via the Postal Service, but that came with its own set of learning curves. The first box we used for shipping, I didnt use protective clamshell for the macarons, so they would break, she recalls. That was a costly lesson.

RELATED: How a First Date Led to a Multi-Million Dollar Confection Company Sugarfina.

6. Find strategic partners.

To expand her reach, Pollack started exploring wholesale partnerships. It was just about knocking on doors, she says. Who do I know who knows someone that works there? How can I walk the fine line of being persistent but not annoying? I was confident that if I could get the product in front of someone and get them to taste it, itd be a no brainer.

Her persistence led to partnerships with Williams Sonoma, among other players, though she eventually pulled back on the wholesale side of her business and focused on the partners that were the best (and most reliable) fit.

Wholesale is great but you dont make much money, she said. We had become 70 percent wholesale and 30 percent direct, and I wanted to flip that. She kept some longstanding, reliable brand partners, and cut out the smaller organizations who were less likely to pay on time. It took a year to switch the scale.

Related:

The Founder of a Macaron Bakery Used Her Past Experience As a Photo Editor to Build Her Instagram-Ready Brand

How This Founder Bootstrapped an Office Furniture Company That Targeted What Other Furniture Companies Are Missing

The Founder of Miss Jessie's Got Retail Placement by Asking a Stock Boy for Intel



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedSo why is Connecticut called The Constitution State? Or why was its alternate appellation The Nutmeg State? Who was the nations first woman elected in her own right to governor? What is the current annual state budget?

We cant guarantee that you will be asked those questions, but state government and politics trivia will be in the mix on Thursday night September 6, when Hearst Connecticut Medias CTPolitics sponsors its first Trivia Night, 7-to-9 p.m., at Half Full Brewery in Stamford. The event is called Pints and Politics.People can lose years of their life rooting around for the cumin or coriander in a cupboard full of spicesin fact, many would say organizing their spices in some logical and effective manner is probably the biggest kitchen riddle they are dying to solve.

So how do you get started?

In this latest installment of our Dream Kitchen Remodeling Guide, we home in on this tricky area and offer some spice organization ideas that will work for any space and tastes (both in terms of food and decor). Trust us, cooking will be a breeze once you've found the right system.

It's time to kick your kitchen organization up a (spicy) notch!

1. First, declutter your stash

Dont organize a single bottle more than necessary. Before you even start looking at ideas, purge what you dont really need.

Spice solutions are something nearly all of our clients ask for," says Ben Soreff, co-founder of House to Home Organizing. But before we even think of the best home for spices, we focus on what we are keeping.

One rule of thumb: Toss any spices older than a year (since they aren't fresh anymore). While you can replace those you use regularly, if you haven't used any particular spice in over a year, odds are you never will, and these spices should be tossed, too (or at least not earn a prime spot in your kitchen).

When you look at all your spices together, you usually see those exotic spices from that once-in-a-lifetime recipe, says Soreff. Go ahead and let go of those spices and the memory of dishes that didnt quite turn out well enough to repeat.

Once youve pared down your collection to the essentials, itll be easier to figure out where to keep them.

2. Decant your spices into matching jars

Lets be honest: That jumble of mismatched spice jars looks like a mess.

Transferring your spices into uniform glass jars takes organization to the next level while also allowing you to clearly see your spice inventory, says Ria Safford, founder of full-service organizing company RiOrganize.

A rack of spices in matching jars adds a sense of calm to your pantry. Ria Safford/RiOrganize

Williams-Sonoma sells a set of 12 jars with screw-top lids (like those above) for $20. Dont feel like printing out labels? Safford suggests writing directly on the bottles with a waterproof paint pen.

You can find all kinds of spice jars and tins at all kinds of prices. A set of 12 from Crate & Barrel (below, $30) comes with charming clamp lids.

Glass jars with clamp lids Crate & Barrel

Are you more of a minimalist with spice? This set of four spice "beakers" (below, $17) from Ikea is fun.

Spice beakers perfect for your culinary experiments IKEA

3. Organize your spices alphabetically

If you're tired of your epic spice hunts, consider organizing your spices alphabetically.

No matter where spices are being stored, keeping them alphabetized makes for quick retrieval, says personal organizer Amy Trager. It also means it's easier to see when something is suddenly used up or missing from the shelf/drawer/cabinet.

But its not the only way to go. Tragers more adventurous cooking clients group their spices by cuisines.

Whether its baking spices, Indian, Greek, or Thai, when the spices they use most for these dishes are already in a bin or container together, they can grab it and get to work, she explains.

You could also sort your spices by height or size of jar, by color, or by type (e.g., spicy, sweet, mild).

Now that you have an idea of how much space you need, how you cook, and how you want to organize your spices, here are some ideas for where you could store them.

4. Store spices in drawers

I am a professionally trained chef, says Learnivore CEO Emily Burns, so the user experience of her kitchen is crucial to her cooking routine. As an intuitive cook who adjusts her spices as she cooks, rather than following a recipe, keeping all her spices within eyesight is imperative.

It is also imperative that they stay in alphabetical order so that when I am looking for a specific spice, I can easily find it," Burns says.

Never fumble for the right spice again with this spice drawer. Emily Burns

Chris Marcum of home blog Chris Loves Julia also keeps spices neatly stored and easily accessible in a drawer. Marcum uses 3-ounce aluminum jars with clear display windows from Specialty Stuff SoCal on Etsy (6 for $12). This type of jar works for experienced cooks who can identify most spices by sight. The jars are labeled on the sides, too.

Another way to work the spice drawer Chris Marcum/Chris Loves Julia

5. Store spices inside a cabinet

This is most peoples go-to. But when spices are lined up a few bottles deep, youll still have to pull up bottles to find what youre looking for. So you may want to consider one of these tiered racks, which make efficient use of cabinet space while also giving you a full visual of everything in there. Here's a three-tier expandable bamboo version from Target for $13. (A 12-bottle plastic version is available for $15.)

No hiding for these spices Target

This 30-bottle, pull-out spice rack will also fit inside a cabinet ($40, Target).

This spice rack will fit inside a cabinet or on a shelf. Target

6. Store spices on your counter

For those of you with just a few spices or plenty of counter space, you can keep your spices handy in a decorative rack. Just remember to keep it away from the stove and out of direct sunlight. This 14-jar rack from Crate & Barrel includes the herbs and spices inside ($50).

Just what you need, right on the counter Crate & Barrel

7. Mount spices on a wall

Another handy way to store spices is mounted to a magnetic board on the wall, the side of a refrigerator, or the inside of a cabinet. I dont recommend keeping them on a refrigerator door as theyll be likely to get knocked off (imagine broken glass and a cloud of spice going everywhere). This six-jar mounted set comes with five years of spice refills ($20, Amazon.com).

No counter space necessary Amazon.com

These interlocking magnetic hexagon spice jars from GneissSpice on Etsy are especially fun (24 jars for $100). Throw in the stainless-steel wall plate ($25, Etsy) and you can stick them anywhere you want. They double as kitchen art.

Spice organizers that double as cool visuals GneissSpice/Etsy

The post 7 Spice-Organizing Ideas for Kitchen Cabinets, Drawers, and More appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 28)  Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque advised Fr. Amado Picardal to use legal remedies if death threats towards the latter are, indeed, proven.

In a media briefing Tuesday, Roque told Picardal to file before the Supreme Court a writ of amparo, instead of publicly declaring that his life is in danger.

"His remedy is to file a writ of amparo with the Supreme Court or any court. It can be filed even in the lower courts. And it could be acted upon expeditiously," Roque told reporters.

"Si Father, tama na po yang pagdedeklara na may banta sa buhay mo, gamitin niyo na po yung mga remedyong legal na nariyan," he said.

(Translation: Father, please stop declaring that your life is in danger. Just use the legal remedies available.)

"Mabibigyan kayo ng proteksyon kung talagang may ebidensyang may banta sa buhay ninyo," he added.

(Translation: That will give you protection if there is, indeed, an evidence of that death threat.)

According to the Philippine Constitution, the petition for a writ of amparo "is a remedy available to any person whose right to life, liberty, and security is violated or threatened with violation by an unlawful act."

Call for safety

The Redemptorist priest, through a personal blog post on Sunday, claimed that a group of unidentified motorcycle-clad men was out to kill him for being vocal against the extrajudicial killings in the country.

He suspected they were members of a certain death squad under the administration.

"Two weeks ago (August 11), I almost became a victim of extrajudicial killing and the 4th priest to be killed under the Duterte Regime had I stuck to my routine," Picardal wrote on his page. "I always knew that my life would be at risk and I have accepted this as a consequence of fulfilling my prophetic mission. I am not afraid of death."

Roque, however, maintained there are no death squads in the country, and asked the priest to "stop with the media declarations."

Meanwhile, the Liberal Party, in a statement, called on authorities to ensure the safety of Picardal.

"We have witnessed servants of God and servants of the people being gunned down in the past, and justice has not been served," said Liberal Party Vice President on External Affairs Erin Tanada.

"Without arrests and punishments, the killers, including the so-called death squad, are free to roam around, waiting for command on who their next victim would be," he said.

Picardal has been critical about President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war, and has also assisted investigators in looking into the administration's extrajudicial killings.

CNN Philippines reached out to the Cebu City Redemptorist monastery community. However, no one was authorized to speak on Picardal's claims.

CNN Philippines Digital Producer Alyssa Rola and Cebu-based journalist Dale Israel contributed to this report.Regarding Cupich, one cannot fail to note his ostentatious arrogance, and the insolence with which he denies the evidence that is now obvious to all: that 80% of the abuses found were committed against young adults by homosexuals who were in a relationship of authority over their victims, Vigano wrote. During the speech he gave when he took possession of the Chicago See, at which I was present as a representative of the Pope, Cupich quipped that one certainly should not expect the new Archbishop to walk on water. Perhaps it would be enough for him to be able to remain with his feet on the ground and not try to turn reality upside-down, blinded by his pro-gay ideology, as he stated in a recent interview with America Magazine.Travel study programs can change a persons life forever: personally, academically and professionally.

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Assistant Professor of Public Health Michelle Cathorall, DrPH, MPH, stands by her statement wholeheartedly having witnessed such a transformation as she accompanied eight public health students on a five-week travel study in eastern Africa.

The international service experience left an indelible mark on all involved as students worked in local Ugandan neighborhoods, helped develop programs to address issues of malaria and HIV, and advanced life skills like enhanced communication, gratitude and patience.

Being in Uganda, working in the rural communities, while also experiencing what it is like to be a Ugandan university student, I discovered a passion for dedicating my life to sharing my public health education with the world, said Chelsea Franklin, of Greenville, who participated in the travel study before completing a bachelors in public health in August. The most impactful part of my experience was realizing that there is nothing else in the world that I want to do more.

The humbling realization of the importance of selflessness and self-confidence was shared by numerous students during their travels.

The trip allowed my heart and brain to grow, and made an everlasting impact on me, said Mica Coleman, of Pawnee. Following the summer program, Coleman achieved her bachelors in public health. She is now pursuing a masters in public administration and policy analysis, concentrating in human safety, at SIUE.

The travel study program was made possible through a long-term partnership with Ndejje University in Uganda. It offered students the unique opportunity to work with diverse communities, an integral learning component of their preparation as future public health leaders, according to Cathorall.

I was able to apply classroom knowledge and skills while completing fieldwork at Ndejje University, Coleman recalled. I learned more about myself and where I see myself in the future.

One of the challenges of training the next generation of public health leaders is helping them develop a global perspective on public health issues and on how to work with those diverse communities to understand and address their health needs in appropriate ways. Thats why experiences like this are essential for our students.

Cathorall noted the SIUE students personal and professional development as they completed community fieldwork and learned to communicate in a productive and meaningful way with Ugandans.

Students who were quiet in class blossomed, taking on leadership roles during the trip, she explained. I watched students change the way they think about situations, from their perspective being the right or normal one to recognizing that our cultural perspective is not always the right one and that when there are issues or disagreements, each person plays a role.

As a professor, there is a sense of pride and professional fulfillment in developing a program that has the power to transform a persons life by helping them see the broader picture of life in another country and to change how they view themselves, their country and culture, Cathorall added.

While in eastern Africa, the students also learned a new sport, woodball, and competed in a tournament at the National Stadium. They also explored an island that has been turned into a chimpanzee sanctuary, and visited a local government hospital where they learned about the healthcare delivery systems challenges and improvements. The finale of their trip included a five-day safari tour.

After a successful inaugural trip to Uganda, Cathorall anticipates this is the first of many travel study programs to the African country.

To other students considering participating in a future trip, I would say definitely do it, said Mikayla Colenburg, of St. Louis, a senior studying public health. This trip presented so many benefits and allowed me to grow as a person and see my major in action. I hope to travel more in the future, so that I can see all the world has to offer.

The SIUE School of Education, Health and Human Behavior prepares students in a wide range of fields including public health, exercise science, nutrition, instructional technology, psychology, speech-language pathology and audiology, educational administration, and teaching. Faculty members engage in leading-edge research, which enhances teaching and enriches the educational experience. The School supports the community through on-campus clinics, outreach to children and families, and a focused commitment to enhancing individual lives across the region.Im struck that youre proceeding at this pace for (Discovery Partners Institute), and yet I have a list of at least six not yets that have been revealed this afternoon, said McGuire, a Democrat from Crest Hill. Given the profound need to revive our states economy, and given the work that you and others are putting into this, you dont want to be building a house of sand.In Chicago, where an estimated more than 80,000 are homeless, panhandling is legally defined as any solicitation made in person upon any street, public place or park in the city, in which a person requests an immediate donation of money or other gratuity from another person. The city bans panhandling in various places, including CTA property, and in certain circumstances, such as doing so in a way that a reasonable person would find intimidating, including touching people, asking for money when someones standing in line, blocking someones path or using profanity or abusive language.In Back of the Yards, a 27-year old man was shot in his right forearm around 6:30 p.m. while standing in an alley in the 4700 block of South Ashland Avenue. Someone in a dark vehicle driving by fired shots, hitting the man, police said. He was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center and stabilized.Home >Police Enforcement > Checkpoints and Stops > Federal Judge Upholds Right To Flip Off Virginia CopsPolice pursued the vehicle, which crashed at Vermont and Parnell, police said. The only person inside, the driver, got out and ran away, firing a shot at officers in pursuit, police said. Police said they did not shoot back.Missing Indonesian mans body found washed up on Phuket Beach

PHUKET: It has been confirmed that a body found washed up on Karon Beach today is that of the Indonesian man swept away by dangerous surf on Sunday.

accidentsdeathtourismmarinepolice

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Tuesday 28 August 2018, 01:31PM

The body was discovered by local residents at about 10am today (Aug 28). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

At 5:30pm on Sunday (Aug 26), Capt Channarong Prakongkue of the Karon Police was notified by the Karon Radio Centre that two tourists has been swept away while in the sea at Karon Beach.

Lifeguards noticed that the couple, Inna Lutsyk, 23, from the Ukraine and Andryono Tanuwijaya, 26, from Indonesia were in trouble and went out to assist them. Ms Lutsyk was successfully brought back to shore, however, Mr Tanuwijaya was pulled out by strong waves.

During a search of the area on Sunday officials were unable to find Mr Tanuwijaya so the search resumed yesterday (Aug 27). (See story here.)

At 10am today (Aug 28), Karon Police were informed by local residents that a body had been found washed up on Karon Beach. The body had on only a pair of shorts.

Officers have confirmed that relatives were called to the scene where they confirmed that it was the body of Mr Tanuwijaya .

The body has been taken Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket Town for an autopsy.Overcrowded Vachira Phuket Hospital to refuse non-critical patients due to bed shortage

PHUKET: Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket Town, which is the main government hospital on the island, from Oct 1 will begin refusing to treat non-critical inpatients from other areas across the island unless they have been referred by a medical specialist due to a bed shortage.



By Tanyaluk Sakoot

Tuesday 28 August 2018, 06:54PM

Vachira Hospital is overloaded with non-critical patients seeking treatment there as it is the best-equipped government hospital on the island. Photo: The Phuket News / file

The news came via a notice posted on Vachira Hospitals website on Friday (Aug 24), which explained that the decision was made at a meeting held on July 26.

Any patients needing emergency care will still receive urgent medical treatment at Vachira, but patients who live in other areas where there is already a healthcare facility will not be admitted unless the patients have been referred by the healthcare facility in the patients area of residence, said the notice.

Vachira Puket Hospital has reached full capacity and patients seeking medical attention should first go to the nearest available hospital or Tambon Health Promoting Hospital, the notice explained.

The notice posted on Friday noted that that there are now 21 government medical facilities on the island, comprising Vachira Phuket Hospital, Patong Hospital, Thalang Hospital, Chalong Health Centre, Phuket Provincial Hospital and other Health Promoting Hospitals where people can seek medical attention.

From Oct 1 people seeking medical attention should first go to their nearest available hospital. If that hospital is unable to deal with the patients problem the hospital will transfer them to a hospital that is able to assist, the notice explained.

As an example, representatives from the National Health Security Office (NHSO), who were also in attendance at the meeting on July 26, stated that people living in the Thalang area and require medical attention should first visit Thalang Hospital. If the hospital is unable to treat the patient the hospital will transfer them to Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket Town.

Phuket has only one hospital  Vachira Phuket Hospital  that offers tertiary care, the notice said.

Tertiary care is specialised health care, usually for inpatients and on referral from a primary or secondary health professional, in a facility that has personnel and facilities for advanced medical investigation and treatment.

The current practice by people to use Vachira Hospital as it is the largest and best-equipped government hospital on the island has left the facility overwhelmed.

This leaves Vachira Phuket Hospital short of staff and beds to deal with tertiary care patients and therefore, patients should first seek attention at Patong Hospital, Thalang Hospital, Chalong Health Centre, Phuket Provincial Hospital and other Health Promoting Hospitals which should be able to take care of them, said the notice.

If these hospitals consider a patients case too serious for them to deal with then they will be transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital immediately.

At present there are not enough beds to treat emergency or tertiary care patients, the notice read.

Due to the shortage of beds, there are often cases where patients have to be transferred to Surat Thani Hospital or sometimes even Maharat Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital in Nakorn Sri Thammarat province.

If the number of patients requiring non-complicated treatment decreases, Vachira Hospital will be able to save enough bed spaces for serious cases, it added.

However, Vachira Phuket Hospital will still receives patients seeking emergency treatment and treatment for non-complicated cases such as flu, stomach aches, diarrhoea, headache, diabetes, blood pressure, among other afflictions, the notice assured.

Vachira Hospital currently has only 551 inpatient beds, and will be adding space for a further 100 beds in the future, the hospital explained.

Staff at Vachira Hospital contacted by The Phuket News today were unavailable to comment on the current inpatient bed shortage.

Meanwhile, Dr Chuchart Nijwattana, told The Phuket News today (Aug 28) that the Chalong Health Centre should be the first port of call for people living in the Chalong area until the adjacent Chalong Hospital is completed early next year.

Dr Chuchart has already been appointed Director of the still-under-construction Chalong Hospital and now oversees operations of the Chalong Health Centre.

Today he referred to the Chalong Hospital as the Chalong Health Centre, though did not clarify any formal name change.

The Chalong Health Centre is not formally open yet. When it should be fully open is still under consideration, he said.

The Chalong Health Centre falls under the same management of Vachira Phuket Hospital and they will be providing an update at the beginning of 2019, he added.

The centre is still not able to offer a 24-hour service and there is no inpatient service right now, but when the hospital opens it will offer 30 beds for inpatients, Dr Chuchart said.How to make sure you leave inheritances that are helpful, not harmful

columnsHe was known as Maverick.

If thats the case, we could use a lot more of them.

Its hard to consider something other than the five years John McCain spent as a prisoner of war in the infamous Hanoi Hilton in North Vietnam as the defining moment of his life.

But it was another moment, one that took place years later but no doubt forged in the same ideals of the American spirit, that strikes us as quintessential McCain.

As we mourn this fighter pilot, statesman, congressman, senator and presidential candidate who lost his battle with brain cancer over the weekend, it is the moment that reminds of just how special John McCain was.

Back in 2008, at the height of the presidential campaign, McCain, the Republican standard bearer eight years after losing a bitter contest with George W. Bush, was locked in another contentious battle. The perennial soldier this time was going head to head with a brash, upstart, new young senator from Illinois, Democrat Barack Hussein Obama.

McCain was doing a town hall rally in the little town of Lakeville, Minn.

A woman approached the microphone and indicated she couldnt trust Obama because hes an Arab.

McCain never hesitated.

He cut the woman off, took the microphone and quickly corrected her, offering this exceptional response.

No, Maam.Hes a decent family man and citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and thats what the campaigns all about. Hes not (an Arab).

The crowd booed. The candidate was not deterred.

The Maverick persisted.

It is that sense of self-confidence, that devotion to following his own moral compass, that underwrites McCains exceptional lifetime of public service.

McCain remained undaunted after his political defeats, a steely resolve forged during years of torture as a prison of war.

He spoke  and voted  his mind, and was not afraid to confront his own party when he felt the call to do so.

Its a lesson President Donald Trump would learn a few years later, when McCain cast the deciding vote against the GOP push to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Ironically, McCain in effect became the savior of the hallmark legislation of the man who defeated him in his bid for the White House. And in so doing earned the bitter enmity of the man who succeeded Obama, a candidate who once led the movement that questioned if Obama was even eligible for office, demanding that Obama produce a birth certificate.

Of course, Trumps derision was not limited to Obama, or even Democrats. He routinely bullied and belittled other Republican candidates. Of McCains unquestioned status as a war hero, he offered this reply, dripping with arrogance and disdain.

Hes a hero because he got captured, Trump said. I like people who werent captured.

Ever magnanimous, McCain sought to calm the waters of outrage among veterans who took great offense to the snide remark, urging them to put it behind us and move forward.

McCains final legislative victory came, most fittingly, as the last push in a lifetime devotion to helping the nations defense and his fellow veterans. On Aug. 13, President Trump managed to sign into law the $716 billion John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act at a military base in New York, in the process failing to make a single mention of McCains name.

McCain came from a family of Naval heroes, his father and grandfather were both four-star admirals. Like them he was a product of the U.S. Naval Academy.

He was on his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam in October 1967 when he was shot down and taken prisoner.

When his North Vietnamese captors offered him his freedom as part of a propaganda ploy, McCain showed the steely resolve that would be his hallmark, insisting that those captured before him be released first.

In his waning days after his diagnosis with glioblastoma, McCains voice continued to resound through the Capitol, chiding his colleagues for their insistence on allowing the overheated, partisan rhetoric to supercharge the gridlock that has now become the nameplate of Washington.

Were not getting anything done, McCain said.

From his time as a POW, to his distinguished service as both a congressman and U.S. senator, to presidential candidate, that is a description that could never be affixed to the Arizona Republican.

His death leaves a massive void in American politics, and a memory when the good of the country  not necessarily blind devotion to party and ideology  was the key factor in our noble experiment in democracy.

The nation will deeply miss this maverick.

We hope for more to rise up and take his place, but fear only more pettiness, bickering and gridlock that sullies the memory of a true maverick and American hero.But what most of the public doesnt know is that Cowley, 43, and Pendleton, 47, worried themselves sick, losing many nights of sleep thinking about the outcome of the trial. While they shielded their emotions in the courtroom, the two-week trial proved to be a grueling experience, putting them face-to-face with the gritty details of how their daughter was senselessly slain. On the day that attorneys began defending Ward and Williams, Cowley became so ill that she threw up.Limerick >> Exelon Generation will host a community information night at Limerick Generating Station on Thursday, Aug. 30. The free event will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. at the plant, located at 3146 Sanatoga Road, Limerick.

Attendees are welcomed to bring any question with them for community information night. Our employee volunteers are excited to welcome visitors and are happy to answer questions at the event, said Emily Ryan, communications manager at Limerick Generating Station.

Plant employees will be available to talk with members of the public and answer questions about a variety of topics including: plant operations, environmental stewardship, radiological safety and emergency preparedness.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to tour the stations control room simulator, which is used for training reactor operators. The event does not include a tour of the plant.

The annual community information night events at the plant are an important part of Exelon Generations annual public information and outreach campaign, according to the company. They are designed to engage and educate the public on plant operations, the press release stated.

We enjoy the opportunity to welcome our neighbors onsite and share information about nuclear power operations, Ryan added.

Registration for the event is requested, but is not required to attend the event. Members of the public may register online by visiting https://lgscommunitynight2018.eventbrite.com.

Once visitors arrive at the Limerick plant for the event, signage will direct them and Limerick employees will be on hand to show visitors where to proceed, according to Ryan.

Ice cream and water ice from Petruccis will be served. There will also be a balloon stand for children. The event is for all ages, Ryan added.

Limerick Generating Station is a nuclear power plant that produces enough electricity to power two million homes.

Exelon Generation is a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation, with a generating capacity of more than 32,700 megawatts. For more information about Exelon Generation visit http://www.exeloncorp.com/companies/exelon-generation.WASHINGTONCanada and the U.S. agreed Tuesday that one of NAFTAs most significant hurdles  defining the content rules of North American autos  may have been resolved by Mondays side deal between the Trump administration and Mexico.

The White House is calling on Canada to endorse what President Donald Trump has described as the North America Free Trade Agreements replacement, by the end of the week. Trump has already rebranded it the United States-Mexico trade agreement.

Top members of Canadas negotiating team made an abrupt return to NAFTA talks in Washington where they face stiff pressure from Trump to join the deal his administration struck Monday with Mexico.

Both Larry Kudlow, the director of Trumps National Economic Council, and U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross turned up the heat on Canadas negotiators during televised interviews prior to Canadas return.

The pressure comes one day after the U.S. president again blasted the Canadian dairy industry.

Serious differences remain on other issues, including agriculture, how to settle disputes, and a U.S. proposal for a sunset clause.

Read more:

Trump tries to put squeeze on Canada as U.S. and Mexico make NAFTA breakthrough

Trump says U.S., Mexico nearing deal on NAFTA sticking points

Trump adviser says president wants to make separate trade deals with Canada and Mexico

But Ross also said the progress the U.S. and Mexico made on autos would be palatable to Canada.

The U.S. and Mexico agreed that 75 per cent of automobile content would come from within North America, an increase from the current 62.5 per cent. They also agreed workers earning at least $16 an hour should make 40 per cent to 45 per cent of autos.

Weve already resolved the automotive issues with Mexico, and those are not issues that are particularly adverse to Canada, Ross told the Fox Business News program Mornings With Maria.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signalled agreement.

Theres been some very positive progress particularly on autos and were glad to be engaging as we have been, he told reporters Tuesday in Longueuil, Que.

If Canada declines to join the U.S.-Mexico deal, Trump has threatened automotive tariffs that would cause considerable damage to both economies.

He also warned he would terminate the 24-year-old NAFTA, a treaty between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico that has been economically significant for the continent.

Kudlow told the Fox Business News show Varney & Co. that Trump would love to make a deal with Canada but it has to be in the interests of American workers and farmers.

Kudlow said he didnt want to pre-empt what U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would put before Canadas Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland on Tuesday, but he said Canada really ought to look at what the U.S. and Mexico just completed as an example of what can be done if theres good faith negotiating and a willingness to compromise in the interests of both parties.

For the last five weeks, Ottawa has watched from afar as Canadas two continental partners moved forward with one-on-one trade talks of their own.

We have been encouraged by the progress made by our NAFTA partners over the past weeks. This was an important step to moving forward on renegotiating and improving NAFTA, Trudeau said.

Freeland arrived Tuesday afternoon in the U.S. capital, cutting short a week-long diplomatic trip to Europe. Freeland has said she stayed in close contact with Lighthizer and Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo throughout their summertime talks.

The two countries agreed on issues including intellectual property, digital trade, labour, financial services and Mexicos de minimis threshold for duty-free online sales that cross borders.

In addition, the new deal would expire after 16 years with reviews every six years, a senior U.S. administration official said Monday during a briefing. Canada had rejected an earlier U.S. proposal that NAFTA 2.0 be renegotiated  or sunsetted, in trade lingo  every five years.

Trudeau sidestepped a question about the new version of the sunset clause in the U.S.-Mexico deal.

Trump, who has called NAFTA a rip off for the U.S., called Mondays announcement a big win.

He then delivered his ultimatum to Canada.

One way or the other, we have a deal with Canada, Trump said from the Oval Office, where he was joined on a speaker phone by Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

It will either be a tariff on cars, or it will be a negotiated deal; and frankly a tariff on cars is a much easier way to go, but perhaps the other would be much better for Canada.

Trudeau offered a more measured assessment on Tuesday, saying the Canadian contingent in Washington was digging into the progress made and looking at what the next steps are. We will engage in a positive and constructive way as we always have been, and look forward to ultimately signing a deal as long as it is good for Canada, and good for middle class Canadians.

For Trump, striking a new trade deal with Mexico  and possibly Canada  would be welcomed as a political win for Republicans ahead of the crucial U.S. midterm elections this fall.

Mexico would like to seal a new trade agreement before the incoming government of president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador takes office Dec. 1.

Read more about:Thomson Reuters Corp. announced plans to purchase as much as $9 billion (U.S.) of its stock, a move to reward shareholders after the sale of its financial-and-risk operations to Blackstone Group.

The price range for the tender offer is $42 to $47 a share, Thomson Reuters said on Tuesday. That represents a nearly 12 per cent premium over the stocks trading price over the past 20 trading days, according to a statement. Woodbridge Co., a Thomson family-backed firm that is already the companys biggest investor, will take part in the deal and maintain its current 64 per cent stake.

In January, a group led by Blackstone agreed to buy a 55 per cent stake in Reuterss financial-and-risk division in a deal valued at about $17 billion. The unit, which provides data, analytics and trading to Wall Street and financial professionals around the world, doesnt include the newsgathering operation.

We are committed to returning a significant portion of the F&R transaction proceeds to our shareholders, Thomson Reuters chief executive officer Jim Smith said in a statement.

The so-called substantial issuer bid, or SIB, is slated to start on Tuesday and expire on Oct. 2. The Blackstone transaction is scheduled to close the previous day, and the SIB is dependent on that deal being completed.

Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg, competes with Thomson Reuters in providing news and information.Cigarette makers and the budding marijuana industry seem like a natural fit. But alcoholic-beverage companies are the ones leading investors to, well, the green.

Tobacco giants Altria Group Inc. and Philip Morris International Inc. are among the worst-performing consumer stocks in the S&P 500 this year, as cigarette consumption declines and innovative products remain only a tiny source of revenue. Contrast that with the situation over at Constellation Brands Inc. and Diageo Plc, which are both trading near all-time highs as they get a head start in expanding beyond booze and into the cannabis space. Their share-price gains arent entirely due to such investments (in fact, Constellations stock has bounced around this year as shipping costs eat into beer profits). But cannabis is the next growth frontier and shareholders are cheering the early movers.

The U.S. tobacco industry hasnt said much about marijuana, even though it would seem to be a natural extension of their smoking products and an obvious path to forge. I made a video about this two years ago and explained how it wouldnt be inconceivable to see the industry throw its lobbying power behind cannabis as the U.S. inevitably moves toward legalization. I mean, is there any industry more equipped to navigate the regulatory hurdles? But little has changed since then.

Read more:

Constellation Brands invests $5B to boost stake in pot producer Canopy Growth

Liberals approve first saliva screening roadside test for cannabis

Opinion | Tony Coulson and Curtis Brown: Pot smokers most happy with private retail model

Cigarette sales volume has slowed alongside higher gas prices, and newer vapour products may be cannibalizing traditional smokes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is also considering drastically reducing nicotine in cigarettes to make them less addictive. Meanwhile, Philip Morris has faced an uphill battle in winning approval from the agency to market its IQos tobacco-heating stick as a reduced-risk product. London-based rival British American Tobacco Plc has its own heated-tobacco product called Neocore (inherited from acquiring Reynolds American last year) that already secured FDA clearance and will likely beat IQos to the market.

All the major consumer-staples companies are confronting growth challenges and trying to figure to out whats next. But while the tobacco industry has failed to generate much excitement lately, the alcohol space is delivering a more intriguing story.

Constellation Brands, the company behind Robert Mondavi wines, Svedka vodka and Corona in the U.S., has been gobbling up craft brewers as part of an M&A-driven strategy to add more beverages that consumers are willing to pay up for. Along the way, its also taken a stake in Canadas Canopy Growth Corp.  ticker WEED  a stake thats now worth about $4 billion. Canada has been the hot spot for investment as it becomes the first G-20 nation to legalize marijuana. Just nine U.S. states and Washington, D.C. have legalized recreational use for adults, though the list continues to grow.

Diageo, the maker of Guinness beer, is in discussions with at least three Canadian cannabis producers about a possible investment or alliance to make marijuana-infused beverages, BNN Bloomberg TV reported last week. Molson Coors Brewing Co. is also starting a joint venture with Quebec-based Hydropothecary Corp. But while all the action is north of the border, this money is being spent with an eye toward the U.S. market.

Its only a matter of time before the tobacco giants get in on this, and when they do other players will need to watch out. But for now, its moves like Constellations that are lighting up the market.Donald Trump insider David Pecker is stepping down as a director on the board of Canadian media giant Postmedia Network Canada Corp.

The company that owns several of Canadas biggest daily newspapers says Pecker has tendered his resignation so that he can better focus on his other business interests.

The CEO of American Media Inc., publisher of the tabloid National Enquirer, was reported last week to have been granted immunity by U.S. federal prosecutors in return for information in their probe of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.

Postmedia CEO Paul Godfrey thanked Pecker for his service since being appointed to the board in October 2016.

His departure is effective immediately.

The Associated Press has reported that the Enquirer kept a safe containing documents about hush-money payments and damaging stories it killed as part of its cozy relationship with Trump leading up to 2016 presidential election.

David Pecker has advised us of his resignation, said Postmedia lead director Peter Sharpe in a news release.

David noted that it is important for him to focus his efforts on ensuring that his businesses are best positioned for continued growth.

Read more about:EDMONTONAlbertas only NDP member of Parliament announced on Tuesday that she will not seek re-election in 2019.

Linda Duncan is in her 10th year as MP for Edmonton-Strathcona and plans to ride it out until the next federal election. She currently serves as the opposition critic for international development and deputy critic for the environment and climate change. Ever since she was elected for the first time in 2008, Duncan has championed issues surrounding climate change and the energy sector.

Duncan spoke to StarMetro to answer some questions about her legacy, the future and the hole shell leave behind in Parliament. The questions and answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.

What was behind your decision?

Im announcing now, a year before I dont run again, in fairness to the candidate who will replace me so they can have time to run. Been thinking about it for a while. As of this October, I will have been elected for a decade, and by the time the election is called itll be 11 years. I think thats sufficient time for somebody to be in office.

Its a lot of commuting. Im looking forward to, at the end of next year, being able to just spend more time in my community with my own family and friends.

How was it being the only NDP MP in Alberta?

What it meant was: everybody came to me. So I know, all anybody wants to talk to me about is particular pipelines. But people need to understand that I have to deal with the issues that people bring to me, and by and large, those range from people upset with shooting the bison in the park, to people concerned about selling Canadian arms to Saudi Arabia, to people concerned about access to affordable medicines, to everybody having access to advanced education.

Ive also had the privilege of being a spokesperson on behalf of the Ukrainian community in Edmonton. That has been a great honour, even though I have no Ukrainian heritage. Ive worked very closely with them but Ive also been a strong spokesperson for nuclear disarmament, working very closely with the former Progressive Conservative MP from my riding, Doug Roche, and I have worked very closely with farmers in Alberta.

I have been very fortunate to work with a heck of a lot of people on a lot of diverse issues and its been a great honour to represent all those people in the house.

Youve got to remember, people fixate on whos in government. They need to also pay attention to the fact that we need strong opposition in there holding the governments feet to the fire, and its important to also be electing strong opposition members.

Whats your legacy?

I promised that I would be there for my constituency and Ive done that. Frankly, every week Ive travelled back to Edmonton, and I hold town halls, and Im having a barbecue tomorrow night, and I have done that. I ran for office because I was concerned that if Stephen Harper ever got a majority he would shred all the federal environmental laws, and thats exactly what he did. So I have been a strong spokesperson to retain those, I ran for a party that said that we would bring them back and so did the Liberals  but they havent. So I think thats what people remember me for and they also remember all my incredible staff.

You know a lot of people say, Well, how are you ever going to elect another NDP? And I say to them, Thats what they said when I ran! So yes, I am fully confident. In fact, Im hoping that we elect more federal NDP across this province.

Will there be a void in Parliament where your voice was?

Maybe on some of the things that were my particular issues, but that is the prerogative of anybody who gets elected to decide what the issues are. But you know, the constituency isnt going to change.

The constituents are still going to demand that the representatives speak up on the issues that are their top concern, and so Im presuming that whoever replaces me will be continuing to do that.

What are the biggest issues facing Canadians, Albertans and Edmontonians?

I would say that the priority is we need to work with our provincial government and federal one to diversify our energy economy.

We need to be educating our youth so that they will have jobs in the future. We need to be building affordable housing and we need to be actually addressing climate change.

Read more about:HALIFAXA protest at Nova Scotias largest correctional facility is entering its second week as inmates push for better health care, rehabilitation programs, air quality and other improvements.

The inmates at the Central Nova Correctional Facility in the Burnside area of Dartmouth have been taking part in what they call a non-violent, peaceful protest since Aug. 21 to coincide with the large-scale prison strike at institutions in the United States. Those protests are calling attention to issues such as poor jail conditions, prison fatalities and sentencing practices.

Although some American jails have seen inmates refuse food or take other action, Halifax prisoner advocate El Jones helped the Burnside inmates channel their concerns into an open letter with a list of demands posted online by the Halifax Examiner and The Nova Scotia Advocate last week.

The demands range from adequate health care, contact visits, rehabilitation programs and exercise equipment to the ability to change visitor lists, better air circulation, library access and healthier food options.

You get a lot of people saying, Dont commit a crime if you dont want to do the time, or, Jail isnt supposed to be fun. Now, were not talking about fun. ... Its really basic stuff theyre asking for, she said.

A report in May from the provinces auditor general also found shortcomings in key areas of the Justice Department, and said improvements are needed on the management of correctional facilities to better promote safety and security since policies were not consistently followed, there was no risk assessment framework, and staff training was not properly completed.

Burnside, a medium-security jail, is Nova Scotias largest correctional facility with a bed capacity of 322 male and 48 female inmates and about 300 employees, according to the provincial website.

The inmate population is made up of people serving provincial sentences, awaiting trial and serving parole suspensions, people found guilty of immigration violations, and newly sentenced federal offenders.

Although conditions at Burnside have long been the focus of prisoner advocates and unions like the Nova Scotia Government Employees Union (NSGEU), which has members among the correctional staff, Jones said the recent changeover to a direct-supervision model combined with an staffing crisis has brought things to a level of chaos.

Officers now spend their shifts among inmates in common areas, rather than doing rounds and watching them on video monitors, after Burnsides $6.8-million renovation. Work was completed in the prisons north wing in June and is ongoing in the west wing into the fall.

Although Jones said the direct-supervision model is a good one if done properly, it is vital to have enough staff, programming and recreation opportunities to have the system work  and instead work refusals have led to lockdowns just last week.

Jason MacLean, NSGEU president and a former correctional officer himself, was not available for an interview Monday, but told the Examiner that when officers showed up to supervise the new day rooms where inmates are all together, it was so loud they could hardly hear their radios  which is not good in case something happens and people need to respond. MacLean said in light of the work refusals, the facility didnt have enough people to run the area, so inmates were locked up.

MacLean supported most of the inmates demands, especially the implementation of more rehabilitation to ensure that direct supervision works and better air, but suggested contact visits could be used more as an incentive.

Its important people know that its not optimal in there for anybody, and inmates and staff are  it seems to me  working together to get through this crisis, MacLean said.

The inmates are looking for better rehabilitation programs around mental health and addictions, employable skills, financial management and healthy family relationships that would help people reintegrate better into society.

Theyre asking to be able to rehabilitate themselves, which I think is a really interesting one, because theyre saying, Were here, help us fix ourselves, Jones said.

Jones said she knows many people have no idea about what daily life is like inside a Nova Scotia jail, which is why it is important to have inmates speak up as well as to hold public information sessions with those who can speak to their experiences in the system, like one hosted at a Halifax cafe on Monday evening.

Jones said at the most practical level, its in everyones interest to have a clean jail with proper health care and programming, because the correctional officers who work there will be safer, and the inmates themselves will have a proper chance at addressing their own trauma and problems.

Do you want to live in a community with someone whos just got out of three months in segregation, and hasnt received any mental health care, and then been released into the community? Do you want that person living next to you? Jones asked.

When we dont provide people with mental health services, that does not keep our communities safe.

In an email Monday, Justice Department spokesperson Sarah Gillis said Correctional Services provides healthy food to inmates, the current renovations include a new air ventilation system and a wide range of programs are available to inmates through community-based partnerships and government departments that help with substance abuse, anger management, mental health supports and intimate partner violence education.

Gillis wrote that they can confirm there have been concerns raised by the employees. We anticipated this as we transition to direct supervision. Direct supervision has been effectively used since the opening of our new facility in Pictou in 2015.

She added that this model is considered the best practice in corrections across North America. Staff are in units with the inmates, which helps develop better relationships and allows for early intervention, as the staff are there to assess and respond to incidents before they escalate.

Change is difficult. Training, including scenario-based training, will be ongoing to ensure staff become more comfortable with direct supervision. We are continuing to work with our staff and the Union to address concerns as we work through this change, Gillis wrote.

In fact, Gillis said the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility is operating as usual. Demonstrations or protests of any kind are not taking place.

For Jones, that statement is interesting because she believes had there been any disruptive action, (The province) would acknowledge the protest, but they would call it violent  but because theyre not doing violent things, somehow theres no protest.

NDP MLA Claudia Chender, the partys justice critic, urged provincial Justice Minister Mark Furey to take meaningful action to address the concerns that have been raised at Burnside in a release Monday.

Its clear that there are problems in Nova Scotias correctional facilities. Inmates have highlighted many serious issues, Chender said.

As of now, the inmates have planned the protest to go until Sept. 9 alongside the American one, Jones said. Shes unsure what will exactly happen after that if that demands arent met, but said shes looking forward to the legislature opening on Sept. 6 where there will be the opportunity to put questions to Furey.

With files from The Canadian Press

Read more about:For years Ive been collecting Aeroplan miles in hopes of booking a dream vacation for my family. And soon, that dream will become reality.

I just redeemed 120,000 Aeroplan miles to travel to Edinburgh next summer. Its the first trip across the pond for our family of four and we plan to stay for one month  12 days in Scotland and 18 days in Ireland.

Ive been covering Aeroplan for years as a freelance writer for The Toronto Star, and through my Rewards Cards Canada blog. This experience has taught me many of the pain points Aeroplan members feel when they redeem miles for flight rewards.

For example, I wrote about one Aeroplan member who tried to redeem miles for two business class tickets to Glasgow, only to find out his free reward would cost him $2,200 in fees.

Other readers complained that carrier fees and fuel surcharges levied by Air Canada on flight rewards often add up to more than the cost of booking a flight directly with the airline.

All of this could soon change, however, when Aeroplans new owners sign off on the purchase deal and take over the program

On my familys 2019 vacation, I want to minimize fees and maximize the value I get from my points. Here are five lessons I learned about Aeroplan:

1. Avoid Air Canada

Air Canada is part of the Star Alliance and, for now, Aeroplan members can redeem their miles on any of the 27 partner airlines.

Some of those partners, such as United Airlines, dont impose fuel surcharges, so you can save hundreds  if not thousands  of dollars by flying on one of those airlines instead of Air Canada.

Trouble is, the Aeroplan flight search tool will often display only the Air Canada flights. A savvy customer looking to maximize his or her points, while minimizing fees, will have to do some extra research.

2. Check Google Flights

Check Google Flights (google.ca/flights) for the direct flights or flight combinations that best match your trip. Then search for those routes on the Aeroplan flight search tool. You can filter the routes on Google Flights to show only Star Alliance members (or even one member in particular) to help you zero-in on the best available options.

3. Be flexible with your dates and itinerary

For weeks we had an itinerary set in our minds. We wanted to fly business class from Calgary to Dublin on United Airlines, and then fly home business class on United from Edinburgh to Calgary. Two things in our favour were our flexible dates (leaving any day between June 12 and 26) and our willingness to book up to one year in advance.

While Air Canada allows customers to book 355 days in advance, United only opens up their flights for booking 330 days out. I started checking once that window opened, hoping to score business class seats the moment they became available, but no such luck. I couldnt even find economy seats on United to Dublin next June.

Eager to book our accommodations and map out the rest of our journey, I tried another option: doing our trip in reverse with the Scottish destination first and flying into Edinburgh. Bingo!

I couldnt find business class seats, but I did snag four economy seats on a great route from Calgary to Chicago to Edinburgh. Best of all, the fees and taxes on four tickets amounted to just $345.64.

4. Call a booking agent

If you do have trouble finding exactly what youre looking for  especially with a more complicated itinerary  then contact an Aeroplan agent by telephone. Youll pay a $30 booking fee if the agent completes the booking on your behalf, but its a small price to pay to avoid wasting time searching for flights on your own.

5. Be patient

As you may have noticed, Ive only booked one-way tickets to Scotland. Thats because our expected return date is currently outside the booking window. Well have to wait a few weeks and then go through this process all over again.

With Aeroplan, you arent penalized for booking a one-way ticket instead of a round trip. Itll cost 120,000 Aeroplan miles to get four economy seats on our return journey to Canada  the same as it was on the way to the U.K. If we can find business class seats on the way home from Dublin, then well pay 220,000 Aeroplan miles.

Final thoughts

It pays to learn the ins and outs of rewards programs to help maximize their value, while minimizing fees and hassles.

Altogether the trip will cost us between 240,000 to 340,000 Aeroplan miles and around $700 in fees and taxes. Thats compared to booking directly through Air Canada and paying approximately $4,500 for four round-trip flights.

Robb Engen is a Lethbridge, Alta.-based writer and a freelance contributor for the Star. He blogs at Boomer & Echo. Reach him at robbengen@gmail.com

Read more about:This summer, as students prepared to go back to school, some post-secondary institutions did preparing of their own to make changes that they say address a legacy of colonialism and respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada report.

The report, released in 2015, contained a list of calls to action, one of which was a demand that universities and colleges include Indigenous knowledge into their programs and address barriers to Indigenous students access to education.

Since then, institutions across Canada have created roles to lead those initiatives on campus, along with hiring Indigenous educators and creating programs geared to Indigenous knowledge and culture.

Olson Crow, an Indigenous student at Torontos Ryerson University, said indigenization is about incorporating Indigenous ways of knowledge and having Indigenous community members come into the space.

This summer was pivotal at the university, which is named after Egerton Ryerson, a pioneer of public education who is also widely believed to have helped shape Canadas residential school policy. After Indigenous students on campus lobbied the university for years to remove the statue of Egerton, the school instead installed a plaque in July beside the statue that addressed Egertons role in cultural genocide.

Crow had met with the universitys administration on multiple occasions last school year to discuss the removal of the statue. While he calls the plaque a great step to raising awareness, he said he will not stop demanding the statues removal. I dont think the plaque is a solution and I dont think its an alternative to having the statue removed, he said.

Ryerson public affairs said the university is open to continuing discussions with students on the statue, but at this time no decisions have been made.

This summer, Ryerson launched the Yellowhead Institute, calling it Canadas first think tank focused on analysis of policy and law that affects First Nation communities.

Ryerson has also started the process of decolonizing their library.

The universitys chief librarian, Carol Shepstone, said while she thinks its important for all universities to address colonialism, there is added weight to this with the Ryerson name.

Its about changing the way we describe and think about how we organize information. A lot of the terms used in libraries are very colonial, very inappropriate and not reflective of traditional appropriate names, said Shepstone.

For example, Indigenous history is sometimes classified under the category Indians of North America or the word Indian is used in some Canadian libraries.

Breaking away from these terms has proven quite difficult in large library systems as there are thousands of headings and subheadings that cannot be changed in an instant with available technology, said Christine Bone, cataloguing librarian at the University of Manitoba, whose research focuses on Indigenous subject headings.

Bone said she is currently working on a project with the Association for Manitoba Archives to find solutions to this issue. She said the project can hopefully be used as a template for other libraries and archives across Canada.

What were doing is adding to the larger work that will benefit everyone, said Bone, adding that she has already started implementing some minor solutions at the University of Manitoba including adding an Indigenous Peoples subject heading to the appropriate catalogue records.

The University of Saskatchewan and the University of Alberta said they are also in the early stages of changing headings of Indigenous works and history in their library.

New initiatives to increase access to Indigenous knowledge have also been in the works at other post-secondary institutions across Canada.

At Saint Marys University in Halifax, the institution said it has implemented various recommendations that were included in a 2014 report that was created after Loretta Saunders, a 26-year-old Inuk student at the university, was killed.

The university said that since then, they have hired an Indigenous student adviser, created new academic programming dedicated to Indigenous history, and in early August, the Mikmaq Grand Council flag was raised permanently on the universitys campus.

At the University of British Columbia, this will be the first school year that the universitys new Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre will be utilized after it opened in April 2018. The centres mandate is to be accessible for not only university students and faculty, but anyone who wants to use the centres open-source libraries and archives, said the centres director, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond.

I want people to learn about the history of the residential schools, but this isnt something you would see in a typical museum space. There is going to be a really active piece to this, said Turpel-Lafond, who is Cree. She said the dialogue aspect of the centre would be to engage community members in discussion and wouldnt be a traditional talk where only one person is speaking.

An exchange program will launch this school year with Indigenous students from Wilfrid Laurier University and Syracuse University in New York state. Three students from each university will swap places while working together to create Indigenous curriculum material.

Jean Becker, senior adviser of Indigenous initiatives at the university, said there can be barriers for Indigenous students applying to exchange programs, and she hopes this program will change that.

We find that our students dont really even consider doing exchanges, said Becker. Its a lot of money. And for our Indigenous students just coming to the university, its such a huge transition.

At McGill University, the school has partnered with the Mohawk community of Kahnawake to offer a Bachelor of Education program on the Kahnawake reserve, which is near Montreal.

This was also the first summer that a program was held at the University of Regina to enhance Indigenous undergraduate students writing and research skills to encourage them to pursue graduate studies. The Indigenous Summer Research Institute awarded $3,000 to each student to participate, which included 10 Indigenous students and nine non-Indigenous students.

The Canadian Federation of Students, the countrys largest student advocacy group, will also be working to increase Indigenous knowledge in post-secondary education.

Shanese Steele, national chairperson for the organizations National Circle of First Nations, Metis and Inuit Students, said they will be officially launching a campaign in the fall that will demand universities create Indigenous language programs.

Steele said she hopes institutions will do more to address services for Indigenous students. She said while hiring Indigenous educators and creating Indigenous leadership roles is important, she hopes student services, such as counselling, academic advertising and food banks geared toward Indigenous students will also be prioritized.

Universities and colleges are inherently colonial. Theyre inherently anti-Indigenous, she said, adding that she stresses that universities continue to use the word indigenize and not decolonize.

Its hard to decolonize a space thats rooted in that. Its more that just hiring people into these positions, she said.

Read more about:Although less known than many of the announced challengers, Enyia is no stranger to mayoral races. She ran in the 2015 campaign before dropping out and joining then-Ald. Bob Fiorettis team. She said many of the issues discussed then  inequality and a lack of community investment among them  have gotten worse.MONTREALOver the summer with the kids away, construction crews have hastily been erecting temporary, metal-clad extensions to aging school buildings across Montreal, to help cope with ever-increasing enrolment.

A mini baby boom in the 2000s, increased immigration and a recent influx of refugees are putting enormous pressure on the education system in the city amid recent budget cuts and rapidly deteriorating school infrastructure.

Montreals public schools are bursting at the seams and, similarly to the highways and bridges across the province, the bill for decades of neglect has come due.

As the first week of the Quebec election campaign comes to end and as thousands of children return to school, teachers and their unions want the four main political parties to make a pledge: reinvest massively in education instead of dogmatically striving to balance the budget.

At Saint-Gabriel-Lalemant elementary school in Montreals north end, the red, orange and grey-painted extension protrudes from the original buildings backside, swallowing part of the paved schoolyard.

Marie-Jose Mastromonaco, a school board commissioner and its vice-president, said many of her boards 150 schools had been expanding internally over the years, turning less frequently used spaces such as libraries into classrooms.

We got to a point where we transformed everything that was transformable, she said in an interview, sitting inside one of the new classrooms in the extension.

Some schools dont have libraries, no dedicated music rooms. This is to give a little bit of breathing room.

Most immigrants and refugees dont qualify for the right to attend English school under Quebecs strict language legislation and by law must enter the French system.

While many English schools have empty classrooms and plenty of space for new children, French-language schools are being retrofitted with these one-floor, temporary extensions to handle all the kids.

The so-called modular classrooms are impressive: theyre well-lit, air-conditioned, with new desks and a giant digital screen at the front of the room.

For the 2018-19 school year, Mastromonacos board built 104 modular classrooms at 19 Montreal-area schools that will house roughly 1,800 students beginning Monday.

The extensions took roughly seven months to build from conception to delivery and cost about $20 million, she said.

These are temporary, she insisted, while her board waits for the money for a real extension  or a new building.

But she doesnt know how long, temporary means.

We hope (students) are here for five to 10 years  maximum, she said.

While the modular classes look like any new classroom, they mask a serious problem: roughly 75 per cent of all primary school buildings in the province are in bad or very bad shape, according to a recent government evaluation.

Additionally, the government noted 47 per cent of high schools were also in serious need of repair. The same report, the 2017-27 infrastructure plan, indicated that maintenance budgets for each school are running a collective deficit of $1.8 billion  not including the junior college or university system.

Its not just the physical structures that are in bad shape, either.

Teachers are burning out, according to their unions, and the Liberals drive to balance the books between 2014 and 2016 had a serious effect on morale.

IRIS, an independent research institute in Montreal, estimated the Liberals so-called austerity initiatives resulted in cuts to school budgets totalling roughly $675 million  $337 million in the elementary and high school system alone.

Following the lean years in spending, the Liberals used budget surpluses to inject money back into the education sector. The 2018-19 budget planned for a five per cent increase in the education budget over the previous fiscal year, followed by a 3.8 per cent increase for 2019-20.

While none of the parties has yet released their costed financial plans regarding education, Francois Legaults Coalition Avenir Quebec is promising to make school available for children at four years old and to modernize all school infrastructure.

The Parti Quebecois is pledging to pass a law guaranteeing a minimum, annual budget increase for the education department, while Quebec Solidaire wants to extend subsidies and make university free.

Jacques Letourneau, president of the Confederation des syndicats nationaux, a major labour federation that represents teachers, said the new government must decide what its priority will be: deficit reduction or investment in schools.

For years we have been obsessed with achieving a zero deficit, paying back debt, he said in an interview. Were not saying we shouldnt take care of our finances, but we cut so much we are jeopardizing services.

As of March 2018, Quebecs gross debt stood at $204.5 billion, representing 49.6 per cent of GDP, down from the peak of 54.3 per cent in 2014-15.

Josee Scalabrini, head of another teachers federation, grudgingly recognizes that despite the problems, Quebec schools are very acceptable.

But thats because of the teachers, she said in an interview. They are the ones holding our schools together. But they arent paid what they are worth, and we arent attracting enough young people to the profession.

Back at Saint-Gabriel-Lalemant, Mastromonaco said her schools couldnt renovate at the pace they want even if they had the cash and the political will.

Schools, she said, are suffering from another reality felt across the province: labour shortages due to a strong economy.

Mastromonaco said construction companies have so much work to do that some school-renovation contracts offered by her board havent attracted a single tender.

The entrepreneurs just cant anymore, she said. Their workloads are full. I have never seen this, not having any takers for school contracts.

Read more about:When the recreational cannabis market opens across Canada on Oct. 17 there will be a huge chunk of it missing.

Edible products  which are expected to represent more than 50 per cent of dollar value sales in pot purchases when they are legalized  will not be available for at least a year after smokable buds and oils hit the shelves.

But there will be no law stopping buyers from using combustible buds and oils to cook up their own eats.

People will be free to smoke or bake with their purchases, says Jo Vos, managing director of Leafly Canada, a cannabis information company that is tracking the legal changes closely.

Pot-and-hash-laced cookies, brownies and other homemade confections will be perfectly legal despite their absence from regulated online and street-front stores, Vos says.

While they are eager to welcome the massive edibles market, however, even cannabis advocates say the federal delay in their introduction is justified by the additional complexity that formulating food regulations requires.

When you get into the realm of food youre bringing all sorts of new regulations and requirements around safe production and health concerns, says Matei Olaru, CEO of the Toronto-based Lift & Co.

Youre getting to the food space and that itself is a whole new world, says Olaru, whose company will offer a trip adviser web function to help consumers navigate a complex cannabis world once legalization of the inhalable products commences Oct. 17.

Have your say:

Vos, says the federal government will begin consultations on edible products with producers, food makers and other interest groups this winter with an eye on legalization in October of 2019.

Clearly theyre being prudent in their approach given the complexity of cannabis and the nature of edibles, says Vos, who heads the new Canadian arm of the Seattle-based company.

They have to keep public health in mind and its clearly of paramount importance that the regulations be established (beforehand), says Vos, whose site already has a segment dedicated to edible usage that includes dosing and selection tips.

The strict labelling and content rules the regulations will spawn will also help stave off the freak out level highs that many neophyte users experience with illicit edible products, says Will Hyde, a marijuana sommelier and a senior subject matter expert with Leafly.

A lot of the concern over edibles all comes down to proper dosing and understanding how cannabis is metabolized in your system when you eat it versus when you inhale it, Hyde says.

So, yes, having a regulated dose goes a long way and also theres more consistency from product to product so as people try a new edible product the dose will likely be the same or at least similar.

A key contributor to cannabis overdoses among edible users is the lengthy lag that exists between ingestion and the onset of a high  a lull thats much longer than the one that accompanies inhaled products.

That delayed onset  due to the need to digest the active compounds before they can enter the blood stream  has caused many new users to eat more in an attempt to boost a rush that, upon its eventual arrival, will be too much to handle.

This practice has landed some people in hospital. But doctors surveyed at Torontos St. Michaels Hospital emergency room  one of the countrys busiest  said they had seen too few cases to form an expert opinion on the scope or severity of this overdose problem, a hospital spokesperson says.

Read more:

Move over Betty Crocker: Pot edibles to include anything you can brew, stew, cook or chew

Officers accused of consuming marijuana edibles while on duty ate chocolate laced with cannabis oil, documents show

Opinion | An aching thumb sent me to the cannabis counter. It was one part 1970s LCBO and one part Holt Renfrew

Even so, Vos says cannabis legalization will help people suffering from frightening episodes by making them more open to going to an ER.

Cannabis legalization empowers people to report emergencies. If you are having a situation at home you can feel safe knowing that you can (go to) a hospital ... in a safe and legal way.

Avoiding such edible overdoses is mostly a matter of education, Vos says.

We generally say go low, go slow, she says. Thats a rule of thumb to certainly follow.

Self control will be key as well, Hyde says.

A lot of times the treats that youre eating or the infused food that youre eating is really delicious, he says.Big business, pot advocates and recreational tokers may be eagerly counting the days until cannabis is legalized, but James MacKillop is feeling a little uneasy.

MacKillop is director of the Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research, a collaborative project between McMaster University and Hamiltons St. Josephs Healthcare.

Hes concerned that the general public will see the Oct. 17 legalization as a stamp of approval signalling that marijuana is harmless and without risk.

Thats definitely not the case, says MacKillop, noting one of the priorities of the research centre is to promote an evidence-based understanding of cannabis to combat myths and misinformation, a lot of it spread on the internet.

Generally, I think the tone of the discourse on the internet tends to be much more favourable to cannabis than balanced in terms of risks associated. Thats where a lot of my concerns lie in terms of the impending legalization.

The reality is there are certainly risks and, although hopefully there will be benefits from legalization, theyll largely be because of the increased capacity to regulate a legal product over an illegal product, not because the drug itself will change by virtue of the law changing.

Read more:

An aching thumb sent me to the cannabis counter. It was one part 1970s LCBO and one part Holt Renfrew

Half of pediatricians surveyed say their young patients have used cannabis for medical reasons

Lets park the commercial hoopla and look at the risks associated with getting stoned on weed.

Briefly, cannabis is a psychoactive drug that affects the mind and behaviour and produces side effects for both medical and recreational users.

In terms of acute effects, it intoxicates, impairs motor abilities and reaction time, sedates some people and, at high doses, can induce delirium and psychotic symptoms.

According to MacKillop, a psychiatry and neurosciences professor, evidence suggests chronic use can also have negative cognitive consequences, including memory and attention impairment.

Some people may also develop what experts call cannabis use disorder.

In other words, an addiction.

That doesnt happen to a large percentage of people or even the majority of people who use cannabis, but it is a legitimate aspect of risk and a minority of people who use it can become addicted to it.

As with tobacco and alcohol, risks scale with the amount consumed.

On to some of the myths. Consider medical marijuana, which has been legal in Canada since 2001.

MacKillop says part of the reason for the research centres existence is that the use of medical cannabis  there are now about 300,000 authorized users in Canada  has outpaced the evidence for its medical applications.

Although cannabis is used to treat a wide variety of different medical conditions, he says there is only consistent evidence to support its use in a small number of cases.

So far, evidence suggests cannabis can reduce pain, nausea and muscle spasticity.

On the other hand, though people report using it to treat, among other conditions, anxiety, depression, autism and schizophrenia, its efficacy for those conditions is unproven.

The simple fact is cannabis hasnt run the gauntlet of traditional testing that would normally lead to its designation as a prescription medicine, says MacKillop.

As it is, doctors dont prescribe cannabis, they merely authorize its use.

Meanwhile, as legalization looms, marketing is booming.

Take, for example, the promotion of Sativa and Indica, different strains of cannabis often reverently described as having their own unique profiles and effects.

MacKillop all but scoffs at the idea. The reality is theres very little scientific basis for any of these differences in the perceived psychoactive effect.

MacKillop believes there are good reasons for legalizing marijuana, including quality control. But as it becomes readily available, he also believes more than ever we need to think critically about using it. He notes people often say its no worse than tobacco or alcohol.

Well, thats true. But alcohol and tobacco both are addictive drugs that have a significant risk and are indeed associated with a lot of public health harms in our society.

I think the parallel is very true both in terms of the benefits, hopefully, of regulating them and also the potential risks that come with these substances.

MacKillop doesnt say it, but I will: Legalization may not mean marijuana is harmless but government sanctioning certainly does mean its now considered another one of lifes acceptable vices or, if you prefer, one of its dubious consolations.Nicholas Camerons heartbroken siblings are still trying to process the ridiculous way he died on March 21 while sitting in the back seat of an Uber car en route to Pearson airport.

The driver, Abdihared Bishar Mussa, had steered his 2012 Hyundai Sonata onto the shoulder of the Gardiner Expressway, near Royal York Rd., to remount his fallen cellphone on the dashboard. He was attempting to slowly merge back into traffic when the car was slammed from behind by a BMW, Toronto police said after the crash.

Mussa, who recently moved to Toronto from Ottawa, had started driving for Uber just four days earlier to help his family. The BMW driver broke his hand in the crash and Mussa, 23, escaped without injury.

Cameron, who was 28, was taken to hospital without vital signs and died in hospital the following day.

Such tragedies are inevitable since the city abdicated its role in the safety regulation of the vehicle-for-hire industry, say critics of Torontos 2016 reforms, which scrapped 17-day mandatory driver training, loosened vehicle standards, and let the newly created Private Transportation Companies (PTC), such as Uber, essentially regulate themselves.

There are too many instances of app-dispatched drivers causing severe problems, in some tragic cases passenger deaths, caused by untrained, unprofessional drivers, reads a July editorial in Taxinews.

Uber drivers must pass background screening and will be denied a PTC licence if they have accumulated nine or more demerit points  at the time of the application or renewal  or if they have been convicted of serious Highway Traffic Act offences, such as racing or stunt driving, or failing to remain at the scene of an accident, in the preceding five years.

Camerons family believes the loosened rules fall short of protecting the travelling public.

In June, Camerons mother Cheryl Hawkes appeared before the citys municipal licensing and standards committee and urged councillors to re-examine how the vehicle-for-hire drivers are regulated. Currently, it is up to Uber to deal with complaints or problems with Uber drivers, not city staff.

For Nicholas Cameron, its too late.

He and his girlfriend  who sustained minor injuries in the crash  were heading to Mexico for a vacation, before Cameron was to return to Toronto to start the next phase in his life.

He was just working so hard lately in getting his life in order, and setting himself up. He wanted to go to law school and was starting a new job, teaching part-time, volunteering, going to the gym, said older brother Patrick Cameron, 35.

He was just at his prime, said his sister, Rachel Cameron Burns, 34.

Their father was late TV broadcaster Bill Cameron, who died of cancer in 2005 at the age of 62.

Nick was just 15 when his father died. It shaped who he was as a person. He was so close to our dad, said Rachel. We were all extremely close after that, going through that together, added her brother.

The siblings met with the Star last week in a west-end coffee shop because they want to raise awareness about the dangers of hiring a ride in a city that has stripped away regulatory requirements.

We dont have an agenda, or were not trying to be experts on what policy or regulation should change. All we know is that Nick shouldnt have been killed the way he was and that it will happen to other people if things dont change, said Rachel, a mother of two small children.

The Camerons cant help but feel anger toward Uber, the San Francisco-based giant whose arrival in Toronto led to a major overhaul of the vehicle-for-hire industry.

People should just be aware that when you call an Uber, the chances are, most Uber drivers are conscientious, but you just dont know. Theres no guarantee and were not saying taxis dont have their own safety problems, said Patrick, adding: Were not trying to make this some scare story about Uber.

Still, he feels Ubers star rating system  where passengers rate the driver  is inadequate. Its like Ubers customers are doing their safety test for them.

Uber spokesperson Andrew Hasbun said the company co-operated with the police and the driver no longer has access to Uber.

Every Uber driver must pass a background screening and the driver met the bylaw requirements in Toronto, he wrote in an email.

No words can ease the pain of losing a loved one. Our thoughts are with those involved and Nicholass family and friends during this incredibly difficult time.

Compounding the Camerons grief is that theyve been told Mussa, originally charged with four Criminal Code offences, including criminal negligence causing death, is expected only to plead guilty to careless driving under the Highway Traffic Act.

It just traumatizes the family a second time  it feels like Nick didnt matter, said Patrick. Its not that we want to see this guys life ruined, but just to be found guilty of careless driving its just  I have very little confidence in the justice system.

Crown attorney Michael Coristine would not confirm anything about the case except the existing charges and that Mussa will be back in court Oct. 25. He is out on $3,000 bail and is not allowed to be in the front seat of any vehicle as a condition of his release.

Mussas lawyer, David Parry, wrote in an email that his client was actually doing the responsible thing when he pulled over and stopped on the shoulder to put his phone back in the dash cradle. The sad part is that Mr. Mussas mistake in prematurely pulling out onto the highway had disastrous consequences, but just because Mr. Cameron tragically died does not transform that mistake into a criminal act.

Parry added that dangerous driving and criminal negligence  Mussa was charged with both  require a high level of criminal fault or intent.

The law essentially asks what a reasonable person would do in the circumstances, and only a marked departure from that norm is a crime. We can all think of situations in our lives where weve misjudged the situation and ended up making a careless mistake with bad consequences. That doesnt make us a criminal.

Mussa had a clean driving record and no criminal record, Parry said, adding his client is extremely saddened by Mr. Camerons death and the impact it has had on his family.

He intends to make a donation to a charity as part of the resolution of this case.

Correction  Aug. 28, 2018: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated Nicholas Cameron was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. He was taken to hospital without vital signs and died the next day.

Read more about:To mark the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter being published in North America, the ebook version of the first book in the iconic series will be available for instant download for two weeks to anyone who has a library card.

Its great news for a series that is still flying off the shelves at libraries, both in its print and digital versions, says Maria Cipriano, senior collections librarian with Toronto Public Library.

Normally the citys library has only 45 copies of the Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone ebook available to check out, and Cipriano says anyone who wants to read the series, even in a digital version, are going to find themselves on a waiting list. Since they added The Philosophers Stone ebook in 2012, its been checked out more than 4,500 times.

If The Philosophers Stone was a person, it might be going into its third year of university.

The kids that read that book way back when are now adults (and) are introducing their children to the book, Cipriano said, adding the books are checked out by adults and children alike.

In troubled times, I think people do like to go back and reread books they loved as children.

The series is still being discovered by new readers too. Cipriano herself only read the books for the first time around three years ago, after listening to the Jim Dale narrated audiobook on long car rides to the cottage.

We now have a whole house full of Gryffindor scarves.

The series is special to Cipriano for a personal reason: her son, who has autism, wasnt interested in reading anything outside of picture books until listening to the Harry Potter audiobooks on those family trips. After that, she said, he wanted to read the physical books himself.

It was a major victory, Cipriano said. We tried numerous books, but that was the only one (to get his interest). He was Harry Potter for Halloween last year.

OverDrive, which distributes ebooks through libraries across the world, including Toronto, has made The Philosophers Stone available through all their libraries, so its not just those in Toronto who have access to the magic.

Even though ebooks are digital, there is still a limited amount that libraries can lend out for temporary download due to licensing agreements with the publishers of the book. The two-week unlimited download period for The Philosophers Stone that has been allowed in order to celebrate the anniversary is rare, and exciting to Cipriano, especially for such a beloved book.

It resonates. Were always going to have that book in our collection, she said. Some books are a flash in the pan. This is not one of them.

Ebooks didnt exist when the series originally came out. And although the characters of the wizarding world are stuck in the 90s, Cipriano is sure they would find ebooks magical.

I think Hermione would embrace it wholeheartedly, she said of the bookish girl who became one of the series most beloved characters.

She is a hero in the library world.

Library card holders across North America can take out the book instantly, with no waiting list, from now to Sept. 10.

Clarification  Aug. 28, 2018: This article was edited from a previous version to add that digital distributor Overdrive is offering the electronic copies of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone.Standing outside the St. James Town apartment building evacuated six days ago due to a fire, resident Valentina Masitch couldnt hide her exasperation as she realized she may not get a chance to enter the building.

I cant take this anymore. I am frustrated, she said, bursting into tears outside the 650 Parliament St. building on Monday afternoon. Hundreds of her fellow residents had been lining up since the morning with the hopes of being escorted inside to retrieve their necessary belongings.

But the process was slow, and several interruptions made her fear her turn wouldnt come in time.

Ive been standing on this line forever. I need my medications and my papers for my pension.

Masitch and more than 1,500 other residents were forced to evacuate the building last week following a six-alarm fire. Many residents have been housed in hotels, while others are living with friends and family.

City officials said last week it could be months before repairs are completed and residents allowed back in the building.

On a hot, sticky and rainy day, people formed a long line outside the building alongside Parliament St. Residents had previously registered to be escorted inside by firefighters. On Monday, hired security officers checked each ones registration and then let groups of people, floor by floor, into the 23-storey building. There was one emergency elevator working for those who needed it.

Residents were given bottles of water. Ten portable toilets were also installed along the lines.

In early afternoon, tempers began to flare and chaos and confusion ensued after residents voiced concerns over being told to sign a waiver that stated they would be entering the building at their own risk, and could not sue the property owners if something happens during the process.

Angry residents started shouting that they would not sign the waiver, and that it was their human right to be allowed inside and be protected.

This is stupid. Were not fools, said Aziz Laghrabli, who had been waiting in line all morning in the sweltering heat.

He said he has been inside twice last week, and had been taken out by emergency workers after experiencing breathing problems from the smoke inside. He had come back to pick up his laptop, some paperwork and clothes.

Its too dangerous in there, he said, describing a lack of electricity and many items scattered around the hallways and stairs.

Amita Sharma, a resident who lives on the 17th floor, described the waiver as managements way to avoid their responsibilities.

Weve been going inside and out for the past few days, without signing anything. Who wants to claim anything right now? I just want to get my clothes, she said.

Doug Sartell, general manager of Wellesley-Parliament Square, which manages the building, later explained to residents the waiver was written and came into effect Sunday evening, after Toronto Fire issued a closed order for the building, informing owners the property was not secured or deemed safe yet.

Sartell said as residents still needed to get inside to collect their belongings, it was necessary for management to inform people of the situation. They can still go inside, but management is not liable for anything that may occur in that process, he said.

Youre not waiving your rights to sue us if your stuff got spoiled, loss of income, loss of clothing, loss of anything, he said.

This waiver is strictly and expressly for the entry into the building. We want to get you in safe, we want to get you out safe. If you decide you want to bring a 60-inch TV down the stairs, you slip and fall, OK, thats on you.

Lucy Troisi, councillor for Ward 28 Toronto Centre-Rosedale, said she has been checking in with the residents regularly. She said she understands the concern about the waiver that came in at last minute, and said shed bring in legal aid staff to make sure residents understand what its about.

Ayda Abroufarakh

With her mother visiting from Iran, she wanted to show her the best of Toronto.

The fire incident forced them out of her 23rd floor apartment, and a nearby hotel didnt want to house them because I have two cats, she said. She has since found a cheap motel in Brampton.

First priority when she was finally allowed back into her apartment Monday morning: the helmet for her motorbike. Then, it was a bunch of books and school material (shes a third-year political science student at York University), toys for her cats and more clothes.

She packed all of it into her Uber bag and, as she headed to her car with her belongings, she said she hopes things can return to normal soon.

Everything smelled like smoke in there, she said.

Neil Haggart

The 84-year-old has lived in a two-bedroom apartment on the 17th floor for 38 years, and it took him a long time to get out of the building when the fire incident happened.

As he lined up Monday outside with a walking cane  bottle of water in hand  he regularly sat down in the shade under the apartments balcony.

Hes been staying at the Sheraton hotel, and came back here with a list of things to get from his apartment: his shaving gear, a few jeans, and anything else he can get out.

He praised firefighters and the mayor for their support during this ordeal, then added: No help from the premier. Its a shame.

Aileen Saldua and her husband, Ernesto Tillo

Tillo had to take a day off from his work at No Frills in order to come and collect things from the apartment for his family of five.

He has already been inside twice, and described it as a zombie apocalypse scene. Very scary. It smells bad too.

They had come to collect school uniforms and supplies for their older children, ages 7 and 12. They also needed to grab their passports and other important documents, which were left behind during the chaos.

We thought this was our last day coming here, said Saldua, after theyd been waiting in line for more than three hours. Theyre staying at the Marriott hotel, which his 7-year-old likes because he thinks were on vacation, said Saldua.

Gene Chi

Chi lives on the 23rd floor and works in the St. James Town renovation department. Hes still carrying around a bunch of keys to various storage and maintenance rooms, and came back to see if he can collect some clothing and documents for himself and his family of four kids.

Theyre now staying at a friends house in the neighbourhood.

Nobody is mentally or physically prepared for this, he said, as he waited in line to re-enter the building.

He said it has taught him a good life lesson: theres no need to own too much of anything.

Twenty-three years of me buying all these things, and it turns out all I need is just a few things I can take out with me, he said.

Lucy Maniquiz

Its been nearly a week since Maniquiz left her 17th floor apartment, and she was back on Monday hoping to get more clothes for herself and her 2-year-old. But her frustration grew as she waited and the line didnt seem to move.

It looks like they have one person working at the table. This is ridiculous, she said.

She said they had been told every fridge in the building had been emptied and every food item thrown away  and for her that meant some chicken, veggies, fruits, milk and baby food items.

That is a lot of money lost, she said.Talks between the union representing Toronto stagehands and Exhibition Place are on the rocks after just one full day of negotiation, with no further meetings scheduled for the CNEs final week.

Local 58 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and the Exhibition Place Board of Governors met Friday. But the key issue  whether or not tenants at Exhibition Place should be allowed to bring in their own workers  is proving intractable. More than 400 stagehands and technical workers have been locked out since July 20.

On Monday night, the union proposed meeting on Wednesday or Thursday, but said it has not yet received a response.

Last week, the CNE said it expected the labour dispute to cost the fair $1.5 million in reduced attendance and called on all parties to come together to ensure the 2018 CNE is a success for the 1.6 million people who make our fair part of their annual end-of-summer tradition.

That tradition usually concludes with thousands of Labour Day parade-goers attending the CNE. IATSE Local 58 president Justin Antheunis said if workers are still locked out, the parade would end at Lamport stadium instead and no admissions wristbands would be handed out.

Board of Governors chair and city councillor for Etobicoke-Lakeshore Mark Grimes said Exhibition Place provided a comprehensive proposal aimed at ensuring the competitiveness of the venue but received a partial response from the union Sunday.

It did nothing to move the parties closer to a resolution of the outstanding issues, he said.

Rather than respond in kind, the employer has advised the union, through the mediator, that we will continue our efforts to find a solution to this dispute. We have invited the union to provide a fulsome response to the comprehensive set of proposals tabled by the board on Friday.

Antheunis said Exhibition Places proposal did not have any movement on the unions key concern: contracting out IATSE jobs.

He added that a formal response was provided on that issue, but said the rest of the proposal should be discussed at the bargaining table, where as (Mayor) John Tory has said, these discussions need to take place.

We are available to meet at anytime the city is ready.

The union has said the proposals reflected the interests of multibillion dollar corporations such as Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, with no regard for Toronto workers or consumers.

In addition to a provincially-appointed conciliator who had assisted with negotiations before the lockout, the parties have drafted in a new mediator at the urging of a special in-camera city council meeting.

The Star has reported that a source with knowledge of the meeting said Tory did not support a motion urging both sides to bring in a third-party arbitrator to settle the matter, but instead backed one for non-binding mediation, which passed.

In July, the union also proposed the use of binding independent arbitrator, which Exhibition Place refused.

Read more:

CNE says it could lose $1.5M due to impact of labour dispute

Photo exhibit explores the mutual history between Toronto and the CNE

U.S. unions showing signs of revival despite devastating Supreme Court decisionAt 90 years old, Elizabeth Mary Mahoney is active and resourceful.

Knee replacements havent slowed her down. She lives alone in her rented Toronto condo near High Park, takes long walks, rides the TTC and attends an aqua-fitness class twice a week.

Short-term memory can sometimes play tricks, but she participates in a book club, regularly goes to the theatre in Stratford and is involved in fighting the expansion of a nearby condo highrise.

Recently, to the consternation of her four children, she used various modes of public transit to visit friends in Guelph, where she spent the early part of her retirement. She worked for years as the librarian for a Sarnia chemical company, after earning a bachelor degree in chemistry and a masters in library sciences.

She also does her own banking, a usually straightforward activity that on July 4 proved fateful  a scam cost her a large part of her savings. Since then, she has tried  and failed  to get the Toronto-Dominion Bank to accept some responsibility, particularly since her $10,000 withdrawal was all cash.

Mahoney is a victim of the grandmother scam, one of several mass-marketing swindles that, together, bilked Canadians over 60 years old of $20 million in 2017. The actual amount defrauded is far higher: the RCMP-led Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre estimates that only 5 per cent of victims notify the centre.

Share your thoughts

Read more: How the CRA scam keeps duping us

For Mahoney, it began with a morning phone call from someone claiming to be her 20-year-old grandson, Colin, the youngest of her seven grandchildren.

He said hed been in a car accident, Mahoney recalls, sitting in the living room of her two-bedroom condo. The caller said the accident was his fault  he was looking at his phone  and he was being detained at a police station. He needed $9,500 in cash to go free.

The caller asked her to mail the bills to a Montreal-area address and pleaded with Mahoney to not tell his parents.

I was sort of transfixed, you know  poor Colin, Mahoney says. Somehow he convinced me that he couldnt get away from the (police) station until he had reimbursed the man for all the damage, which was highly implausible but 

Jeff Thomson, acting manager of the anti-fraud centre, notes that fraudsters are able to get a psychological hold on their victims. The victims feel a sense of urgency and panic so they just want to get it done, and they miss the red flags.

Mahoney walked to her TD branch in a terrified state. My head was buzzing, she says.

She filled out a withdrawal slip for $10,000, leaving only $1,000 in her chequing account. The teller counted the bills  98 x $100 and 10 x $20, according to the receipt  and handed over the cash.

As she was about to leave, Mahoney says the teller approached her with another bank official who politely asked, What are you going to do with all that money? Mahoney doesnt remember her response, but a TD summary of the incident says she stated the funds were for a family member and renovations.

Bank officials then had Mahoney sign a Standard Release of Liability form, which clients are asked to sign whenever they withdraw large amounts. It states, in part, that they have cautioned the undersigned that risks and dangers of loss, theft, personal injury and disappearance are obviously present when such a large amount of bank notes are delivered to an individual customer and taken away by a customer from the branch.

The document also discharges and releases forever the TD Bank from any responsibility for theft, loss or any other mishap that might befall Mahoney with regards to the cash.

The forms six clauses focus on protecting the bank from liability. They do not mention the possibility of fraud or scams. Mahoney says the bank officials didnt warn her of those risks, either.

She says she signed the document without reading it. I was frightened and I thought, I better get out of here or somebody will find out about Colin.

You feel like youre in a nightmare and you cant use any logical thought, she adds.

Her chequing account is jointly held by her daughter, Susan, who was not contacted by bank officials about the unusually large withdrawal. The joint account allows Mahoney to make transactions with her signature alone.

Once home, Mahoney put $9,500 in a large envelope and headed to the nearest FedEx office. At 3:57 p.m., according to the FedEx receipt, she paid $67 to have the package shipped overnight.

It was delivered at 9:22 the next morning to 3235 Boulevard de la Grande-Allee, Apt. 42, in Boisbriand, north of Montreal. It was signed for by M. Marsha, according to FedEx records.

That same day, shortly after the delivery, Mahoney got a second phone call from the person pretending to be her grandson. He wanted another $6,000 to compensate the accident victim for a broken watch. Mahoney gently declined, but still suspected nothing.

On July 6 she called Colins home. She wanted to insist that he tell his parents about the car accident. When a puzzled Colin came to the phone, Mahoney finally understood she was the victim of a scam.

I was stupid, Mahoney says.

No, Mom, you were compassionate and brave, her daughter Susan, a producer at CBC Radio, assures her. You were acting on the very best of intentions.

Mahoney went to the TD branch with another daughter the day she realized shed been had. They hoped for compensation.

The facts  a distressed 90-year-old on a fixed income virtually empties her account with a $10,000 withdrawal  should have raised enough red flags to stop a car race, Mahoneys daughters insist.

They have so far spoken with five different TD officials who assessed the case, including Becky Sagriff, manager of customer relations in the office of Bharat Masrani, CEO of the TD Bank Group. Much empathy was expressed, but no responsibility was taken, the family says.

The official response came in a July 24 letter to Mahoney by Alex Della Sciucca, a TD district vice-president. He notes that bank employees asked Mahoney what the cash was for, explained the risks of taking that amount of money out of the branch and had her sign the liability release form.

TD has procedures in place to prevent fraud and trains employees to protect customers, the letter states. However, it is also the responsibility of customers to provide us with accurate information, Della Sciucca adds.

I can confirm that the Branch followed instructions that were made by you to complete a cash withdrawal and we followed our protocol to confirm identify (sic) of the accountholder before the request was processed, he says.

I do understand that when questioned about the withdraw, (sic) you stated  that the funds were for a family member and renovations. Mrs. Mahoney, while I sympathize with your situation, please understand that the Bank cannot be held responsible for business dealings that we are not involved in.

I would recommend that you contact the local authorities to report this incident. Based on the reasons above, the Bank will not be reimbursing you for the requested $9,500 that was withdrawn and sent to a third party.

Questioned by the Star, TDs senior manager for corporate and public affairs, Carly Libman, forwarded a statement that added, in part: Our colleagues are trained to look for signs of fraud, and in this situation our Customer Service Representative had concerns about the request and escalated it to their manager.

They then took care to ask questions about the purpose of the transaction, review alternative options that would be more secure than cash (a wire transfer, for example), and then discussed the risks of a large cash withdrawal.

The bank did not respond to questions about what protocols are in place to prevent seniors from being swindled, or whether the bank has a campaign that informs older clients about financial scams.

Aaron Boles, spokesperson for the Canadian Bankers Association, says his group provides free seminars to thousands of seniors on protecting their money from fraud. He adds that bank staff are trained to notice when a customer makes an unusual transaction, but owners of accounts are ultimately responsible for their withdrawals.

He added in a statement that banks must strike an appropriate balance between helping to prevent fraud and protecting the rights of their clients to access their money.

Mahoneys daughters insist that in all their contacts with TD, bank officials never once said their mother was warned about the possibility of fraud or scams. They have asked TDs ombudsman to review the case.

In the U.S., where impostor scams alone swindled Americans out of $328 million (U.S.) last year, a branch of the Unity National Bank in Ohio trains its tellers, when they suspect fraud, to give clients a flyer that describes the four top scams. One involves fraudsters (who) pretend to be a grandchild in financial trouble and ask for money to be wired.

TOP STORIES. IN YOUR INBOX: For the days top news from the Stars award-winning journalists, sign up for our daily headlines newsletter.

Mahoney says if bank employees had shown her a similar flyer it would have clicked right away that she was being scammed. She has since put together a list of headlines from the internet warning about grandma scams and posted it in her buildings laundry room.

The anti-fraud centres Thomson, who is also an intelligence analyst with the RCMP, says financial institutions have taken steps to prevent mass-marketing fraud in the past two decades, but adds its fair to ask, Are they really doing enough?

TD and RBC are Canadas largest banks in terms of assets, often exchanging the top spot.

Institutions are increasingly being held accountable. In the U.S., Western Union agreed to pay back $586 million to its clients this year after the Federal Trade Commission accused the company of not doing enough to protect people from fraud, including grandparent scams like Mahoneys.

CARP, formerly known as the Canadian Association of Retired Persons, has been pushing banks to include a trusted contact on accounts, a person who can be called if tellers suspect fraud. Privacy legislation is currently blocking that initiative from being widely adopted, says CARPs chief advocacy officer, Wanda Morris.

Morris expressed shock when told of Mahoneys case. She fears the bank did more to protect itself than its customer.

Obviously, we dont want anybody of any age going into a bank and being treated like theyre mentally incompetent, Morris says. But our members do want banks to step in and provide extra care.

Police teams with a mandate to tackle mass-marketing fraud were set up in Montreal, Toronto, Alberta and B.C., in the late 1990s. But its not unusual for other crime-fighting priorities to take resources away from those teams, Thomson says.

In fact, when Mahoney called Toronto police in early July to report the fraud, police never showed up to interview her, she said. She then wrote a letter dated Aug. 17 to the superintendent of 11 Division, noting the scam and the police no-show. She has yet to hear back, despite what Thomson calls the tangible information of the exact Quebec address where the money was delivered.

Thomson says Mahoney received the scam phone call because she is likely on what is sometimes known as the suckers list  a list of potential targets shared by fraudsters. He warned of more calls to come.

Indeed, during the Star interview, Mahoney got a call saying she had won a $2.2-million prize. Her daughter Susan, who answered the phone, ended the conversation before the inevitable request for money.

The experience has been painful for Mahoney. And telling friends she was duped is embarrassing. Still, she wants to alert others to the danger: When the phone rings, be careful.

Read more about:Cottagers and residents in the Bala Falls area are calling on Premier Doug Ford to keep a campaign promise and shut down a hydroelectric project in the Muskoka town before its too late.

Ford called the project, which is now under construction, a big scam during the Progressive Conservative leadership campaign. He blamed the Liberal government for it and pledged, As premier I will clean up this mess. I will be back here in this same spot and we will stop this project.

But his government hasnt taken any action since the June 7 election  and a news release last week from Environment Minister Rod Phillips seemed to fall short of Fords promise.

The release said the government would respond to concerns raised by the community about projects such as the North Bala Small Hydro Project, which is proceeding subject to a number of permits and approvals in place that require the facility to operate in the most environmentally responsible way.

That sounds like a lot of spin from Fords publicity machine, Mitchell Shnier of the activist group SaveTheBalaFalls.com said Tuesday.

Shnier and other opponents of the hydroelectric project on the Muskoka towns picturesque Moon River cascade are worried that if construction is allowed to continue at its current speedy rate, it will soon be too late to reverse.

Read more:

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Doug Ford delivers buck-a-beer, but corner stores will have to wait

We are going to hold him to his word and sincerely hope we arent sold out, he said, citing fears for boater and swimmer safety from water intakes.

This doesnt get him out of his promise, said Shnier, a Toronto resident and Bala-area cottager for 44 years, who called the consultation promise vague.

The news release from Phillips, which promised $5 million for watershed conservation in Muskoka, came out last Wednesday afternoon, but was overshadowed by the Ford administrations bombshell announcement on sex education consultations and a snitch line for concerned parents to report teachers using the modernized sex education curriculum in schools since 2015.

We are providing real solutions to the issues facing the Muskoka region while supporting residents, the local economy and a thriving recreational and tourist industry, Phillips stated in the news release.

His spokesman, Andrew Brander, said Tuesday that the advisory group will also respond directly to the concerns raised by the community about the hydroelectric project at the falls.

By protecting this particular watershed and working with the local community, this initiative will help us develop a more comprehensive approach to watershed management, which can inform current actions and future development, Brander said.

New Democrat MPP Jennifer French (Oshawa) said Ford has some serious explaining to do for saying one thing during the leadership race and doing another now that hes premier.

Back room deals and favours to friends and lobbyists come first, added French, her partys infrastructure critic.

The Bala Falls generating station is a private contract to produce power thats not needed in a town that doesnt want it. Ford should respect the community.

At 4.7 megawatts, the project at Balas north dam would produce enough electricity to power 4,000 homes  an amount Shnier called piddly.

The projects developer, Swift River Energy Ltd., said construction is quite advanced and the project is on track for completion early next summer.

Were carrying on with business as usual, said Nhung Nguyen, vice-president of development, adding that all approvals are in place.

We remain committed to working with the government and stakeholders on any issues that arise.

In its June newsletter, Swift River said workers have excavated rock to a depth of 21 metres for a power house and a tailrace, where water exits the plant back into the river.

Some of the rock will be used to build a park next to the facility. In mid-June, construction crews began pouring 5,000 cubic metres of concrete  enough to fill two Olympic-sized swimming pools  to shape the powerhouse. That work will continue until late fall.

The park will feature an observation deck overlooking the river, more parking spaces and additional fish habitat, with the entire project expected to be completed in 2019.

Swift River has said previously that water will not be diverted from the popular falls, except during runoff periods in the spring and fall, ensuring the scenic cascades will not dry up.

The flow during the tourist season, which is in the summer, will not change over those falls, Swift Rivers Karen McGhee told the Star in 2012.When a small army of lawyers meet in a courtroom on Friday to challenge Premier Doug Fords new legislation cutting the size of Toronto council, there will be several individual names on the stacks of spiral-bound paperwork in front of them listed as applicants.

These are the individuals who have sought legal representation to fight Bill 5, known as the Better Local Government Act, along with the City of Toronto and the Toronto District School Board.

Their stories represent candidates, electors, community organizations and residents: A gay, Black school trustee who now plans to withdraw his candidacy; campaign volunteers drawn to a political cause for the first time; and several diverse and progressive-minded women encouraged to run by a grassroots group pushing to see better representation on a largely white, male council.

Their stories will be central to the narrative told by lawyers when they argue that marginalized groups will be further disadvantaged by the provincial legislation, that it violates rights of free expression and freedom of association, and that changing the rules of the election in the middle of a campaign is an unconstitutional breach of democratic principles.

The Star interviewed most of the applicants and read hundreds of pages of records filed in court, including sworn affidavits from each person. This is why theyre challenging the province.

Chris Moise, Ward 25 candidate

Moise had been preparing to be a candidate since learning the city would adjust its ward boundaries, a process that led to the city settling on a 47-ward system. He registered the first day nominations were open this May.

The current Toronto District School Board trustee, a gay, Black man, said he chose to run in the open race in a new downtown Ward 25 that includes that Gay Village because thats where he had connections and wanted to serve. He sold his home in Cabbagetown, which was part of the school board ward he was elected to in 2016 and which was almost mortgage-free, he said, and bought a condo in Yorkville in the new ward.

Moise, a 25-year resident of the city who previously worked as a counsellor at St. Michaels Hospital and briefly as a police officer in Waterloo, hoped to liaise with residents on the tensions between police and the Black and LGBTQ communities and other issues that are important to locals and businesses.

I have a different perspective that I can bring the table and I was really looking forward to doing that in an open and transparent race, Moise said. Now, he says: I feel that my voice, my communitys voice, has been stifled in the process.

Moise plans to not run in a 25-ward race, which would pit him against friend, mentor and fellow LGBTQ community member Kristyn Wong-Tam, one of the incumbent councillors for the area. His work to date, his affidavit notes, would be rendered futile.

Without knowing how the court challenge will end, Moise says hes still dropping campaign literature that states hes running in Ward 25. He has spent $20,000 on his campaign so far and still has 6,000 handouts left, he said.

I think its important to stand up for the community by putting my name forward in this court challenge.

Ish Aderonmu, campaign volunteer

It was Premier Doug Ford that first got Aderonmu interested in municipal politics.

The 34-year-old Nigerian immigrant and Cabbagetown resident said he was struck by a video showing Walied Khogali  who would become a candidate for Ward 23 in the 47-ward system, which encompassed Cabbagetown  challenge Ford on the provincial campaign trail about community mistrust of policing, including the controversial and now-disbanded Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy.

Aderonmu said in his affidavit that he was impressed with the way Khogali stood up to Ford on behalf of diverse communities. He connected began working on the candidates campaign.

Through volunteering with Khogali and serving his campaign, I have discovered my political voice, Aderonmus affidavit says, adding he does not think he would have been motivated to volunteer for a candidate who does not better reflect the citys diversity.

Hes learned how hard it is for non-incumbents to win and believes the cut to council will lead to worse representation on council.

This is deeply disappointing to me as an elector who has been working to advance one of these campaigns, expressing myself politically for the first time.

Prabha Khosla, adviser to Women Win TO

Helping women get elected to public office has been central to Khoslas work for decades.

The downtown resident, who earned a masters degree in urban planning and has worked with international organizations on gender equality and other issues, is founding member of the Toronto Womens City Alliance and adviser to the group Women Win TO, which has encouraged and trained women to run politically.

Not only were women excluded from public office because city council is overwhelmingly comprised of white, male councillors, the citys policies and programs were also not gender inclusive in a city that is 50 per cent racialized, and where women represent 52 per cent of the population, her affidavit says about the decision to launch those groups.

Changing the ward structure in the middle of an election, she said, would disadvantage candidates who are women, trans and part of racialized groups  people who have less financial resources and who now have to campaign in a much larger area with thousands more potential constituents. The women they have been working to support have greater domestic responsibilities for things like child care, her affidavit said, and will have a harder time campaigning in these new mega-wards.

This will compound the silencing of women in public life on the municipal level, she said, and reinforce the structural barriers that obstruct women from accessing positions in local governance.

Rocco Achampong, Ward 13 candidate

Achampong, a former provincial PC candidate and 2010 mayoral candidate, was the first to apply in court to fight Fords Bill 5.

In his affidavit, Achampong says he learned about the rules of the election which he believed would be in place and which informed whether or not I can be a viable candidate with the necessary resources to contest effectively.

The Ward 13 boundaries in the 47-ward system encompassed an area Achampong  a 39-year-old son of immigrant parents from Ghana, according to a Black Canadian Network profile  said he grew up in and where he has built connections. But in the now much larger Eglinton-Lawrence ward, he said he lacks historical connections that would have impacted that decision.

As a practising lawyer who was the students union president at the University of Toronto before attending York Universitys Osgoode Hall, Achampong said he has also had to make professional decisions to accommodate his campaigning against an incumbent and slate of other candidates.

Lily Cheng, Ward 29 candidate

Its kind of like living in two realities at the same time, Cheng tells the Star about her life now. One of my friends called it Schrodingers election. You dont know if the cat is dead or not.

Fighting for a spot on council as a first-time candidate makes it difficult to adjust to an entirely new election covering a much larger geographic area and needing to raise much more in donations, the Willowdale-area candidate said.

Cheng, the daughter of Taiwanese parents, signed up to run in the 47-ward system in Ward 29, a newly created North York district with no incumbent. The community organizer and mother of two young children decided to put her name on the ballot after the van attack on Yonge St. led her to speak at a vigil encouraging others to give back to their community. She felt she should do the same.

In the 25-ward system, the Willowdale ward for the area now combines two open races with a slew of candidates. Nine have already re-registered and Cheng expects there will be about 20 people in the race. As a woman, a mom and a visible minority, Cheng said she feels voices from those groups are under-represented on council, so she still plans to run.

Theres been moments where Ive thought, Can I do this? And I think what has given me the courage to persevere is firstly the narrative of what I tell my children.

Susan Dexter, residents association board member

Representing the Harbord Village Residents Association as a board member has become a full-time role for Dexter, who knows the only way for residents to get traction at city hall is through their councillor.

We have no power with the bureaucracy, she said.

Considering the projected population for the new University-Rosedale ward the association will be in  with the Harbord Village area stretching from Bloor St. W. to College St. and from Bathurst St. to Spadina Ave.  and their current councillors considerable workload in their area alone, the retired journalist and journalism instructor said in an affidavit that we seriously doubt that he, or any successor, would be able to continue to engage with our concerns under a 25-ward system.

We worry that we will lose connection with our elected representative, and that our concerns will not be heard at council, her affidavit says. The governments direct intervention in the election has made our municipal democracy feel uncertain and unstable.

Jennifer Hollett, Ward 21 candidate

Hollett heard the rumours about the cut as her campaign launch wrapped up on July 26.

I am taking it day by day, the 42-year-old St. Lawrence resident told the Star, having not yet signed up for the 25-ward race.

I am still out in the community attending events, speaking with voters and weve just been trying to do our best in the middle of what is a very chaotic time, said the candidate who was previously running in an open race in the downtown Ward 21 in the 47-ward system, with boundaries encompassing a small geographic area that includes Moss Park, Corktown and St. Lawrence.

The former MuchMusic VJ and journalist quit her job as the head of news at Twitter Canada, a position that now no longer exists, to campaign. She finds herself living in an area where parts of four wards have been merged and a long list of potential candidates, including two incumbents, is expected.

Like other candidates, you make sacrifices, but you do so in calculated way, she said. If I knew we were going to be in a 25-ward race I would have made a different decision.

Geoffrey Kettel, residents association co-chair

Kettel knows there is a cynical opinion in communities that you cant fight city hall.

The longtime community advocate and retired land use planner can often be seen in committee and hearing rooms managing development, heritage, traffic and other midtown files as co-chair of the Federation of North Toronto Residents Associations, an umbrella group for more than 30 residents organizations, as well as co-president of the Leaside Property Owners Association.

The cynicism, he fears, will only deepen with the changing wards.

When you remove the politician from the people as youre going to do . . . then they become more of a bureaucrat. They become a king and queen, I guess, within their boundaries and the average person is going to have less access to them, he said.

Having worked on municipal issues, the premiers comments on there being too many councillors confused me, his affidavit says. Councillors have always had a significant burden in keeping up with local demands . . . I worry that my community will not be properly represented on city council.

Dyanoosh Youssefi, Ward 14 candidate

Its certainly been a lot more chaotic, Youssefi said of life lately.

The Jewish-Iranian immigrant, who was running in Ward 14 in the 47-ward system against incumbent Christin Carmichael Greb, said she believed she was gaining momentum to be a top contender.

Youssefi, a single mother of two daughters, lawyer and legal studies professor at Humber College, placed a close third in the 2014 race.

The area is now part of the Eglinton-Lawrence ward where she plans to still run but will be facing off against not just Carmichael Greb, but former Liberal MPP Mike Colle and likely many others.

All of my planning had focused on the concerns and the needs of approximately 55,000 residents of Ward 14, she says in her affidavit. With the population of the ward doubling under the 25-ward model, I did not know how I would be able to re-orient my campaign, or reach so many more residents.

Read more about:A cursor moves over Google's search engine page on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018, in Portland, Ore. (Don Ryan / AP)MALAKOFF, TEXASAn East Texas man and woman have been arrested after a 70-year-old woman said they kept her in a dog kennel, beat and kicked her, withheld food and water, and forced her to walk on broken glass.

Tyler television station KLTV reports 47-year-old Leonnia Darlene Anderson Castillo of Log Cabin is charged with first-degree felony injury to the elderly and being held at the Henderson County Jail in Athens on a $50,000 bond. A jail booking officer declined to say if she had an attorney.

Tommy Lee Anderson, a 49-year-old Malakoff resident, is charged with felony unlawful restraint and free on $15,000 bond.

A police affidavit says the victim approached a Malakoff police officer and said she had been staying with the woman, to whom she was related, and her boyfriend when the ordeal began in January. Other relatives rescued her on Aug. 22.CHICAGOInside the convention hall, the choreography of American politics stumbled on.

Vice President Hubert Humphrey won the Democratic presidential nomination with 1,761 votes to 601 for Sen. Eugene McCarthy. The delegates adopted Humphreys platform, which continued President Lyndon Johnsons unpopular Vietnam policies, and rejected McCarthys anti-war plank. But their attention was on the radios and television screens reporting chaos outside.

A few miles away, thousands of protesters streamed out of Grant Park into a sea of tear gas and billy clubs. Some were caught in a crush against the facade of a Hilton hotel and fell through the plate glass, cutting themselves on shards. People on upper floors threw crystal ashtrays, one of which struck a passerby and shattered, embedding glass in his eyes. Blood ran from skulls into gutters. Someone tried to overturn a police van. All the while, the crowd was chanting.

The whole world is watching. The whole world is watching.

It was on this night, Aug. 28, that all the anxiety and rage of 1968 exploded. Numerous groups were involved, with different motives and tactics. There were Yippies who said they would get high and have sex outdoors, and black and Latino Chicagoans, including the Puerto Rican leftist group the Young Lords, who wanted to challenge police brutality; McCarthy supporters who sought change within the system, and Students for a Democratic Society activists who wanted to shred it.

Some protesters taunted the police, and a small number threw bags of feces at them. But an official report found that police acted out of proportion to the provocations and largely targeted people who had done nothing to provoke officers. It was, the report concluded, a police riot driven partly by Mayor Richard J. Daley, who had earlier given the police license to shoot to kill in certain circumstances.

Here is a look at that week and its legacy through the eyes of nine people who experienced it, condensed from interviews and from a panel discussion last week at the Chicago Public Library.

Sunday, Aug. 25: He was exploding with anger

MARILYN KATZ, then 21, SDS security chief: I was pretty exuberant. We were having a good time. We had Allen Ginsberg and all these adults who were our idols coming to say how wonderful we were. It wasnt just in Chicago  it was Paris, Mexico City, Prague. We were part of a worldwide youth movement, and we really thought we were the future.

TAYLOR PENSONEAU, 27, St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter: There was some humour at the start. The Yippies brought a pig into the Civic Center [on Aug. 23] and nominated it for president. They demanded immediate Secret Service protection for the pig. Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman were arrested, and the pig was arrested. I watched them put the pig in a paddy wagon.

KATZ: That night, these fire trucks with big lights and tear gas come from the Lake Shore Drive part of Lincoln Park. Officers with batons are just running over this crowd. And that was where, for the first time, after being tear-gassed to death, people turned around and grabbed something from a garbage can and threw something back. People felt better not just taking it, and it was a pretty exhilarating moment.

MICHAEL KLONSKY, 25, SDS national secretary: I saw a kid who had come from Michigan, 16 years old, his parents are diplomats. After the police attacked, he picked up a brick, and he was so angry he was going to throw it through this bank window. You could see the look on his face. He was exploding with anger. The crowd started yelling, Throw it, throw it. And finally he took all his courage and threw it.

Monday, Aug. 26: This time were ready for a fight

KATZ: During the day, we were practicing snake dances. The Yippies were passing out dope-laced brownies. Allen Ginsberg was meditating. There were speeches. We were probably under 500 people, hardly an occupying force.

But that night, people just poured into Lincoln Park, and this time were ready for a fight. This is not the era of the Weathermen. We were not two well-matched forces. The police cleared out the park, and there was a battle on the corner. People proceeded down Clark and Wells Street, Young Lords territory.

OMAR LOPEZ, 25, Young Lords information minister: We were already established in Lincoln Park as a street gang. At the beginning, we didnt participate. Were saying, Thats not our fight. It was primarily white youth. Its not us.

But that night, when the fighting started, we said, Wait a minute. We saw that they were beating up the youth, and we related to that. For us, the convention was a trigger in terms of politicizing the youth, especially Puerto Rican youth, in the Lincoln Park community. By Monday we were participating, not in the big groups in Grant Park, but in whatever came into the neighbourhood.

Tuesday, Aug. 27: You could see the fear in their faces

DON ROSE, 29, National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam press organizer: We had an anti-birthday party for L.B.J. maybe until 9, and then we moved to the front of the Hilton. The whole area directly across from the Hilton was packed. We had a police cordon on the sidewalk that kept us back on the grass. They were all brandishing their nightsticks.

Suddenly we see coming down Michigan Avenue these bizarre jeeps with a huge mesh of barbed wire on the front. Thats when the National Guard takes over from the Chicago cops. Theyre standing there with bayonets fixed, and were still chanting and trying to figure out what in the hell is going on.

KATZ: What was scary is theyre our age, and theyre as scared as we were. You could see the fear in their faces.

ROSE: I started singing My Country, Tis of Thee, and everyone picks it up, and were singing it to the National Guard.

KATZ: The SDS faction was not joining in.

ROSE: One young guardsman picked up his rifle as if he was going to use the butt as a club, and he was immediately pulled away and replaced. We started negotiating. The first concession, they said we could stay there all night  and people started breaking up. It was scary, but there was no violence.

Wednesday, Aug. 28: The tear gas comes in

KATZ: We were all in Grant Park at the bandshell. Its hot, its sunny. The crowd is massive.

ROSE: People are just coming in. I actually saw the flag coming down, the famous flag drop, which later turned out to be the work of a police mole. I saw the police attack people from the rear. As theyre getting into their seats, theyre being clubbed from behind.

KATZ: This phalanx of cops comes into the back of the crowd and just is whaling into the crowd. People are running and getting knocked to the ground. There is just no way our puny little snake dance and locking arms blocks any of that.

EDWARD BURKE, 24, Chicago police officer: Some cops did lose their cool, but to put it in proper perspective, everybody was working 12-hour shifts. All days off were cancelled. Cops didnt have body armour like they do today.

BERNARD SIERACKI, Roosevelt University student who witnessed the protests: Before the convention, there were threats that they [the Yippies] were going to kill the candidates, kidnap delegates wives, pose as cabdrivers and take the delegates God knows where. I think we have to look at the whole mosaic.

ROSE: Then David Dellinger says were going to have a nonviolent march on the convention, and we have to walk on the sidewalk and obey the traffic laws. We go a block or two, and were stopped at Balbo [Drive]. The police are not letting us go. And after half an hour or so, I heard some explosions. The tear gas comes in, and thats where this group of marchers starts breaking up and running toward Michigan Avenue.

TODD GITLIN, 25, former SDS president: The police had arranged it so there was only one direction to exit. So you had lots of people, including me, running through the clouds of gas until you could find a way out of the park.

The police had built a cage, essentially. They were surrounding the crowd on three sides, walking right into the wall of the Hilton. There was a big plate-glass window for the Haymarket lounge. There was nowhere to move. Had somebody not had the wit to smash the window, there could very well have been a stampede and a lot of deaths.

ROSE: People were being thrown into the vans. I saw blood flowing in the streets. There was a young guy who we found out later was a seminarian, who had been knocked out. His head was split and he was bleeding into the gutter.

KLONSKY: I got a billy club across my back as I was high-tailing it. I remember barely escaping their wrath by running to the L station and jumping on a train, and I ended up uptown someplace.

LOPEZ: The police came all the way to Lincoln Park, and the only reason the Young Lords came out was because of that. And we did pick up rocks. We did pick up bottles. We did attack the squad cars. For us, that was a natural thing to do.

PENSONEAU: Even at 1 or 2 in the morning, I saw police chasing protesters down the middle of the street and alleys. I saw clubbings. Sometimes I saw protesters who had gotten a billy club away from a cop and were beating a cop.

GITLIN: It was just holy hell for the rest of the day.

Looking back: Our numbers began to swell

RICHARD SIMPSON, Ill. campaign manager for McCarthy: The first impact of the clash was Humphrey lost. The convention had simply torn apart the Democratic Party.

GITLIN: It was the beginning of the rollback. It was the Southern strategy, it was the Dixiecrat conversion to the Republicans, it was the feebleness and division of the left.

KATZ: We did not lose the vote for Hubert Humphrey. The backlash began in 64 when five Southern states, [most of them] for the first time since Reconstruction, voted for a Republican. After the civil rights legislation, it was over. The turning point comes in 64 but is blamed on the lawlessness of the convention.

ROSE: I think it played a part. It was only 69 days before the election. The polling was clearly on Daleys side and the polices side and against the hippies and dippies. Race is the largest factor, but there are many factors.

KLONSKY: The events here radicalized a lot of kids who grew up in middle-class families. The system would give them everything if they had gone straight, but because of the times, they didnt want to go straight.

KATZ: Our numbers began to swell. Every college campus suddenly had a growing SDS chapter. Fred Hampton formalized the black movement and the Illinois chapter of the Black Panthers. The Young Lords began to grow.

KLONSKY: Without the protests, you wouldnt have had those grassroots changes.

KATZ: One of the myths is that we were just spoiled kids, we didnt accomplish anything. We changed the world! You can disagree with what we did and why we did it, but we were very impactful. History is not a straight line.

GITLIN: I think once you step back, what really happened here was not the beginning of the revolution but the beginning of the counterrevolution.WASHINGTONBrushing off U.S. President Donald Trumps threats once more, Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus government returned to the North American Free Trade Agreement bargaining table on Tuesday with only praise for the preliminary deal the U.S. and Mexico made without Canada.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Mexicos significant concessions on automotive manufacturing and labour would benefit Canadian workers and smooth the path to a three-country agreement. Trudeau said he was encouraged by the progress made by our NAFTA partners.

This was an important step to moving forward on renegotiating and improving NAFTA, Trudeau told reporters in Montreal.

Read more:

Facing new pressures, Canadian negotiators re-enter trade talks with U.S., Mexico

Opinion | Olive: Trump impeachment, NAFTA casts a shadow over Canadian economy

They betrayed no hint of concern about Trumps efforts to pressure Canada into its own concessions. But Freeland would not talk about the policy issues that loom as potential obstacles to Canada making a deal, from dairy supply management to tariff dispute resolution to the U.S. desire to attach an expiry date to any new accord.

Trump threatened on Monday to impose tariffs on Canadian-made cars and to finalize a deal with Mexico alone if Canada did not negotiate fairly. And his team started a ticking clock, promising to notify Congress of a trade agreement on Friday whether or not Canada was involved.

But the administrations hardball tactics faced pushback from members of Trumps own party, among others. Senior Republicans, the Republican-leaning U.S. business lobby and the Mexican government all said Tuesday that they strongly prefer an agreement that includes Canada. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched an effort on Twitter to promote Canadas inclusion, calling the day #TrilateralTuesday.

Both Republicans and Democrats also raised concerns about various substantive elements of the deal between the U.S. and Mexico, underscoring the difficulty of getting any eventual agreement through Congress. And some of the Republicans, along with independent trade experts, warned the Trump administration that it could face legal problems if it tried to proceed with a deal with Mexico alone after notifying Congress that it was negotiating a three-country accord.

I hope we can get this done, and I hope Canadas on board. Because that would eliminate some of the technical, procedural problems  that might otherwise arise, said Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the second-ranking Senate Republican, the Washington Post reported.

Trudeau officials scrambled on Tuesday to learn what is actually in the agreement between the U.S. and Mexico. Trudeau wants his team to make a deal as quickly as possible, but it was not clear how much urgency he feels to sign on by Friday.

After a constructive but general meeting with her counterpart, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, on Tuesday afternoon, Freeland said they would start talking specifics on Wednesday.

Peter Navarro, one of Trumps top advisers on trade, tried to minimize talk that the U.S. might move forward without Canada.

Were very close with them. Theres just a few hang-ups, Navarro said.

There was skepticism among trade experts that a three-country deal could occur by Friday given the number and complexity of unresolved issues.

While Canada was widely expected to accept a deal between the U.S. and Mexico on auto manufacturing, since Canadas interests were aligned with those of the U.S., there are several other issues where there is difficult Canada-U.S. bargaining ahead.

Among them: the sunset clause the U.S. wants to insert, which would have the agreement expire in 16 years if the three countries did not renew it; the U.S. demand for greater access to Canadas highly protected dairy market; the U.S. demand to eliminate or significantly weaken the Chapter 19 system for resolving certain tariff disputes outside domestic courts; and significant changes to intellectual property law and government procurement rules.

After months of Mexican haggling, Canadas supposed to snap in three days? It doesnt work, said Peter Clark, a Canadian trade lawyer.

The Mexican government has sent mixed signals on how committed it is to a three-country deal. Senior officials spoke more strongly in favour of Canadas inclusion on Tuesday than they did Monday, with Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray telling a Mexican television network that they have a clear direction from President Enrique Pena Nieto to make a trilateral agreement.

It was not clear how much of a fight Congress would be willing to put up if Trump tried to sign with only Mexico. The Republicans who control both chambers have been largely unwilling to challenge the president.

Freeland flew in from Europe on Tuesday afternoon. Trudeaus principal secretary, Gerald Butts, and Canada-U.S. point man Brian Clow were also in Washington.

Conservative Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer faulted Trudeau for Canadas absence from the bargaining table as the U.S. and Mexico made a deal. He said on Twitter: Canadians will pay for Justin Trudeaus weakness and failure on NAFTA. He has left Canada out in the cold and put thousands of jobs at risk.

Trump injected further tension into the process when he said, again, that Mexico would pay, very easily, for his proposed border wall. Videgaray quickly responded on Twitter: We just reached a trade understanding with the US, and the outlook for the relationship between our two countries is very positive. We will NEVER pay for a wall, however. That has been absolutely clear from the very beginning.

Read more about:WASHINGTONIts a forensics technique that has helped crack several cold cases. Across the country, investigators are analyzing DNA and using basic genealogy to find relatives of potential suspects in the hope that these familial searches will lead them to the killer.

Familial searches led California authorities to arrest Joseph James DeAngelo in the Golden State Killer probe in April, and investigators have since used it to make breakthroughs in several other unsolved murder cases, including four in Washington state, Pennsylvania, Texas and North Carolina.

But as these searches proliferate, they are raising concerns about police engagement in DNA dragnets and genetic stop and frisk techniques. And as public DNA databases grow and are accessed by law enforcement, investigators may soon have the ability to track down nearly anyone, even people who never submitted their genetic material for analysis.

If you are a privacy zealot, this is super alarming. It means you dont have any privacy, said Malia Fullerton, a bioethics specialist and professor at the University of Washington. On the other hand, if you have no problem with police using your family information to solve these cold cases, you might see this as a good thing.

Part of the concern stems from law enforcements rapid embrace of familial searches to investigate crimes, aided by open-access DNA databases that did not exist a decade ago.

One of these is Florida-based GEDmatch, founded in 2010. GEDmatch allows genealogy enthusiasts to upload and share their DNA profiles, created from commercial services such as Ancestry and 23andMe. The site offers special tools to help find people find relatives, and since it is free of charge, it has rapidly grown to more than 920,000 profiles by May.

Read more:

What can Toronto police learn from the Golden State Killer case?

Alleged Golden State Killer faces 13 new rape-related charges

How Californias Golden State Killer left a trail of horror

Its also proven to be a gold mine for law enforcement.

In Californias Golden State Killer probe, investigator Paul Holes turned to GEDMatch after trying to find a match for DNA the killer left at a Ventura County crime scene. Holes initially looked through the FBIs DNA database, which includes genetic profiles of people arrested or convicted of crimes, but he came up empty.

To broaden his search, Holes registered with GEDmatch using an alias, uploaded the unknown suspects DNA profile. Several distant relatives of the suspect came up. Investigators then spent months building family trees and tracking down relatives using basic genealogical research, to narrow their list of possible suspects.

Ultimately they arrested DeAngelo, a former police officer living outside Sacramento.

Investigators were lucky that at least one of DeAngelos distant relatives had shared their DNA profile on GEDmatch. But the methods police employed in their search are coming under scrutiny.

Before identifying DeAngelo, investigators reportedly assembled and examined 25 different family trees, possibly involving up to 1,000 people. Only one of these family trees ended up containing the alleged serial rapist and murderer. But now investigators had information on all those other people.

Investigators initially zeroed in on two suspects other than DeAngelo, and even went so far as to gain a court warrant to sample DNA from one of them, a 73-year-old man in an Oregon nursing home, by force if necessary. But neither he nor another man had DNA that matched the crime scene sample.

In a recent commentary, Fullerton and collaborator Rori Rohlfs argued that the Golden State Killer probe demonstrated how innocent bystanders can be ensnared through familial searches.

These details, many of which only came to light after intense press coverage, raise a host of concerns about the methods employed (by police) and the degree to which they exposed otherwise innocent individuals to harms associated with unjustified privacy intrusions, they wrote in Leapsmag, an online magazine focused on the life sciences.

Researchers say it wont be long before investigators can track a wide swatch of the U.S. population, at least those of European descent, using familial searches.

In a study this year, Columbia University geneticist Yaniv Erlich and other scientists examined DNA data for 600,000 people of European heritage, and found that, in half of their searches, they could find a match with a third cousin or closer relative. In the near future virtually any European-descent US person could be implicated by this technique, the researchers wrote in their paper, currently under journal peer review. Open-access DNA databases have a higher proportion of samples from people of European descent.

In California, investigators have used familial searching for several years to catch rapists and murderers, including the Grim Sleeper Lonnie Franklin Jr., convicted in 2016 of ten serial killings. But the technique has skyrocketed in popularity following DeAngelos arrest.

In June, police used the technique to identify and arrest Gary C. Hartman in the 1986 rape and murder of 12-year-old Michella Welch outside her home in Tacoma, Wash. Five days later, investigators used it to arrest Raymond D.J. Freez Rowe in the 1992 assault and strangling of Christy Mirack in Lancaster, Pa.

Last Wednesday, investigators announced they had used genetic genealogy to track down and arrest Darold Wayne Bowden for a series of rapes in North Carolina from 2006 to 2008.

These cases and others were aided by CeCe Moore, a genetic genealogist now working with Parabon NanoLabs, a DNA technology company in Virginia. Moore has a hero to crime victims nationally and a media celebrity. She appeared this month on NBCs Today show extolling the potential of familial DNA searching and the work of Parabon, which has become a go-to service for law enforcement nationwide.

I think we can make society a safer place, and hopefully even cause someone to stop and think maybe it could be a deterrent, Moore said.

Investigators are increasingly turning to open-access databases because the limitations of existing FBI and state databases. Since these databases only contain genetic information for people arrested or convicted of crimes, they arent representative of the U.S. population as a whole, and may not include DNA of unknown serial killers.

A detailed tally of serial killers worldwide maintained by Radford University in Virginia now numbering 5,031 dating back to the 1900s shows that 12.9 per cent U.S. serial killers had never been arrested before starting their murder sprees, according to Michael Aamodt, a retired Radford professor who launched the tally.

For investigators, federal and state DNA databases present other limitations. Unlike GEDmatch, many of these were originally designed to aid law enforcement in making direct genetic matches, not the partial ones used in familial searching. In addition, California and other states have enacted restrictions on using their law enforcement databases for familial searching, partly out of privacy concerns. Maryland and Washington, D.C., have passed laws forbidding such use.

Given the reach of familial searching through GEDmatch and similar sites, some legal experts say the time has come for government regulation of these sites and how law enforcement uses them.

Exploitation of GEDmatch raises the question what kind of end runs police allowed to do around our current database system, without any kind of oversight at all, said Erin Murphy, a law professor at New York University who wrote a book on forensic DNA.

Ariel Deray, a Florida lawyer familiar with DNA cases, said that many consumers submit their genetic information to GEDmatch and other sites with little awareness that third parties, including the police, might seek to access it. These services have become exponentially popular in such a short period of time, but the laws havent caught up, said Deray, an associate in the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., office of Arnstein & Lehr.Russia is to hold its biggest military manoeuvres since the height of the Cold War next month, mobilizing about 300,000 troops and including the participation of thousands of soldiers from China, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said.

The Vostok-2018 exercises in Russias eastern and central military districts  spanning from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific coast  from Sept. 11-15 will involve almost a third of the countrys soldiers, making them the largest since 1981, Shoigu said, according to a ministry press release. Some 1,000 aircraft and both the Northern and Pacific fleets will be deployed.

Imagine 36,000 tanks and armoured personnel carriers all moving at the same time, the defence minister said. This will all be tested under conditions as close as possible to war.

Russia stoked alarm a year ago when it staged major war games on its western flank neighbouring Poland and the Baltic States that NATO said involved 100,000 troops  far above the 13,000 soldiers that Russian officials said took part. Next months military exercises will be the most ambitious since the Zapad-81 drills in 1981 staged by the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies. Chinese and Mongolian forces will also participate.

In some ways, these manoeuvres repeat Zapad-81, but in others theyre probably even bigger, Shoigu said.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the drills were needed to ensure Russias military capabilities in the current international situation, which is often quite aggressive and unfriendly to our country.

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Vasily Kashin, a senior fellow at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that Kremlin is preparing for possible conflict amid the chilliest relations with the U.S. for decades. Such large manoeuvres are aimed partly at showing our preparedness and partly to increase our actual readiness for war. The situation is bad.

China, which has steadily tightened ties with Moscow in recent years, will contribute 3,200 troops and 30 aircraft.

This is a new step. Its the first time Chinese forces have been allowed in internal manoeuvres, not joint ones, said Kashin. For the moment, theres no sign that Russia and China are preparing a full military alliance, but on the military level, thats whats happening.

Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, said the Chinese participation is evidence of the expansion of co-operation in all areas between two allies.

Read more about:HARRISBURG, PA.It took 50 years, until the release of a landmark investigative report, for sisters Mary Robb Jackson and Cynthia Carr Gardner to realize that the parish priest in the Pittsburgh-area suburb where they lived as children had molested both of them, a couple of years apart.

The sisters discovery  during a long-distance telephone conversation between Massachusetts and Pennsylvania  added theirs to the cases of siblings cited throughout the state grand jury report on the sexual abuse of children by clergy within six Roman Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania.

The nearly 900-page report, released Aug. 14 after a two-year investigation, cited at least two dozen sets of siblings victimized by clergy among the scores of abuse cases it documented going back to the 1940s. Two of the cases involved five siblings.

Clergy members often won the trust of parents before going on to molest siblings, sometimes in a home while parents were present, sometimes on trips with the children, the report said. The priests then parlayed that trust into leverage against children, who were afraid to say no to an authority figure trusted by their parents.s

The predator priests often warned their victims to keep quiet. That and shame often kept victims quiet and unaware of their siblings trauma for years; some spoke up more quickly.

Jackson did eventually complain to her mother, a devout Roman Catholic, about the Rev. Lawrence OConnells abuse, which consisted of groping and kissing while she performed office tasks in the St. Gabriel parish house practically next door as part of an after-school job. Her mother promptly ended the after-school job, Jackson said.

Read more:

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Pope says he shares outrage over clergy abuse coverup

Jackson went off to college, and the girls mother died suddenly. OConnell soon invited Gardner  who was 11 or 12 at the time and lived with their father  to spend her afternoons doing office tasks in the parish house, and went on to molest her, Gardner said.

Jackson, away at college, never knew that OConnell had invited Gardner in, she said. Neither Jackson nor her mother had said anything to the other family members about OConnell, and neither Gardner nor her father had any reason to refuse a job offer from a man who had bestowed gifts on the girls, including trips to the Ice Capades and the circus.

Was it calculated? I dont understand that kind of mindset. But, if it was, thats just pure evil, Gardner, now 63, said. Thats pure evil calculation if you take advantage of a family whos had a horrific life event and you prey on the younger version of the sibling.

OConnell died in 1986.

Child sex abuse cases in which the victims are siblings are more common when the predator is part of an organized religion, said Ben Andreozzi, a lawyer who has represented victims of Catholic clergy and Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach now serving a long prison sentence.

Parents will at times unknowingly legitimize the perpetrator to the children, Andreozzi said. In other words, the parents will bring them into the home, theyll break bread with the religious figure and hold that religious figure out to the children as someone they can trust. And that religious figure will use that as an opportunity to access the children.

In one case documented in the report, five siblings  brothers and sisters  were allegedly victimized in the 1970s by a seminarian, and three of them by a priest at St. Brigid in Meadville in northwestern Pennsylvania.

The survivors reported that they were poor, dysfunctional, and dependent upon the diocese for their mothers employment at St. Brigid parish, the grand jury report said. Furthermore, the parents were befriended by the abusers and the family would often invite them over to engage in drinking parties.

Once the parents were drunk and distracted, the abusers would molest or rape the children in the home, and threaten them against telling their parents, the report said.

In another case, two brothers testified that a priest at Mother of Sorrows school in Murrysville in western Pennsylvania molested them in the early 1980s in their bedrooms while praying before going to bed and on trips the family invited the priest to join.

The parents discovered what was going on when one of the boys screamed at the priest, but the boys had otherwise been afraid to say anything because their parents liked the priest so much, the report said.

The report cites other accusers who are now adults  including one woman in a 2004 lawsuit  saying they had performed sex acts on OConnell as girls.

Gardner, who lives in Massachusetts, called her sister in suburban Pittsburgh when she realized OConnell was in the report. In that conversation, they discovered theyd both been abused by OConnell, although Gardner thought she had mentioned it years earlier.

She told me she had been haunted by it when we finally had the conversation about it, said Jackson, now 70.

At the parish house, Gardner tried to ward off OConnells groping hands and reject his invitations to go somewhere private. She walked out for good after he forced a kiss on her, she said.

The Associated Press does not name victims of sexual abuse without their consent. Gardner decided to speak publicly to add her voice to the others victimized by OConnell, she said.

Jackson  who had quietly reported her own story to the Pittsburgh Diocese after hearing of the 2004 lawsuit  decided to speak publicly now out of anger that OConnell had targeted her younger sister.

Thats what made me so sad and so angry, Jackson said. I never knew.Bonnie Foerster knew within minutes of meeting Beverly Grossaint at a friends party in New York City in 1968 that they were meant to be together.

Foerster, then 24 and working for a poultry company, was married to an abusive husband who had blackened both her eyes and broken several of her ribs. She was wearing dark sunglasses to hide her bruises, when Grossaint, 31, took off my glasses, looked at me with those deep blue eyes and told me that she could see my soul, Foerster said in an interview with The Washington Post. Just like that, we fell in love.

Fifty years after that chance encounter, Foerster, now 74 and living in Salt Lake City, is mourning the loss of her partner, who died in May of pneumonia at age 82. The pair never married because they were suffering from various health problems in 2015, when same-sex marriage became legal nationwide.

Now, three months after Grossaints death, the couple has been declared legally married by a Utah court in an unusual case of a posthumous marriage union.

Im numb with happiness to finally be a married woman, Foerster said.

The idea came about several weeks after Grossaint died, when Foersters longtime friend and lawyer, Roger Hoole, told her it might be still possible for the couple to be married. Meaning that, even though Grossaint had died  and even though they did not have a wedding ceremony  a judge could declare them legal spouses.

I was floored, Foerster said.

It had happened at least once before in Utah, and was upheld by the Utah Supreme Court in 2014. Each state governs its own laws of common-law marriage  which Utah does not recognize without a judges ruling  and the much rarer practice of posthumous marriages.

Marriage was something Grossaint and Foerster had hoped to do someday, Foerster said, but she had no idea it was still possible after Grossaints death.

Wed always wanted to, but life kept getting in the way, Foerster said.

Hoole told her that posthumous marriage rulings are extremely rare, but he thought their situation met the section of Utahs marriage guidelines that deals with common-law marriage: Utah does not have common law marriage; instead, you may petition the court to recognize your relationship as a marriage even though you never had a marriage ceremony.

The law stipulates several requirements, including that the couple must have lived together, treat each other as if they are married and present themselves so other people believe they are married.

It also specifically allows for one partner to file for marriage after the other has died, as long as the petition is within one year of the death, or the end of the relationship.

Hoole filed a petition July 23.

On Aug. 21, Foerster, who is blind and a double amputee, was wheeled into Salt Lake Citys 3rd District Court. Hoole asked Judge Patrick Corum to declare his client legally married to Grossaint in honour of their five decades together.

Foerster clutched a small rainbow flag and summoned her courage. She told the judge how she had left her husband and moved in with Grossaint one week after their first meeting. She recalled the time they had marched together in New York Citys Gay Pride Parade in 1976, and were pelted with garbage by people protesting gay unions. She talked about helping to care for Grossaint in her last years.

Mostly, though, she talked about Bonnie and Bev.

We were perfect together, Foerster recalled telling the judge through tears. I was born for her and she was born for me.

Hoole filed affidavits from people who had known the couple over the years to support the idea that they had always wanted to be married and that they had a reputation of being spouses.

Clearly, the relationship they had as domestic partners was akin to a marriage, Hoole said.

One of the pairs friends, Ryan Garrett, 42, said he wrote in his affidavit that he had thought of Foerster and Grossaint as a regular, old married couple since he met them while helping to fix a plumbing problem in 2006.

From that first day, I fell in love with them both, Garrett said. You could tell that they had a lot of affection and respect for each other. They really were inseparable.

When Garrett was going through a difficult divorce, they were both right there for me, he added. Instead of just one shoulder to cry on, I had two.

At the end of the 20-minute hearing, Corum agreed, ruling that Foerster and Grossaint be recognized as lawfully married.

He said that during their 50-year relationship, they maintained a single household and joint finances, mutually contributed to the support of each other, and were treated by family, friends and neighbours as though they were married.

Foerster said she was overwhelmed with tears. She could barely believe it was true.

She said she will not benefit financially other than to inherit her sweethearts belongings, adding that Grossaint did not have a life insurance policy. But she said there is an enormous emotional windfall.

Hoole was pleased as well.

This isnt a political thing for me  I just thought that their relationship should be recognized, Hoole said. Regardless of the position one takes on these matters, its difficult not to be happy for someone whose five-decade relationship is recognized legally after the long struggle theyve been through.

There have been few publicized cases of posthumous marriages in the United States apart from the one in Utah that reached the state Supreme Court. In that case, Janetta Gardiner and Kenneth Vanderwerff were in a relationship for three years starting in 2007, until he died at age 78. A judge granted her request for a posthumous marriage, making her the executor of his estate. Relatives of Vanderwerff challenged it and the ruling was overturned, but it was eventually upheld by the states highest court.

In another case in Miami Beach, a couple was married in a religious ceremony on the beach in 1987, and the groom died of a heart attack a few months later. The two had never gotten a marriage license, so the bride went to the courthouse and a circuit judge performed a posthumous marriage. It was later contested by the grooms relatives, and the marriage was overturned by an appeals court.

We dreamed all the time about getting married someday

As for Foerster, she said she got married when she was 17 in New York City because she wanted to escape an unhappy life at home.

He went out six nights a week to meet women and I went to the gay bar once a week, she recalled. Two months after we married, he started beating me, but I always forgave him. And then, I met Bev.

Foerster moved in with Grossaint, who was then working as an office manager for an embroidery company. In 1979, the pair decided to move to Salt Lake City to be closer to Grossaints ailing mother and find jobs: Foerster with a life insurance company and Grossaint with the Utah Public Service Commission.

We dreamed all the time about getting married someday, and even had a commitment ceremony, Foerster said. We always thought, Wow, wouldnt that be wonderful someday to be recognized legally?

After about a decade, Foerster developed back trouble and then was hit with many other health problems, including failing eyesight, breast and cervical cancer and a rare bone infection called osteomyelitis. Grossaint accompanied her to every doctor and hospital visit.

Its OK, Bon  youre a survivor, she recalled Grossaint telling her often. Youre beautiful from the inside out and Ill always love you, no matter what. Ill see you through this.

And she did  through 29 back surgeries, blindness caused by macular degeneration and the amputation of both of Foersters legs below the knee in 2016, when her bone infection nearly ended her life.

Through their troubles, they had spoken with Bishop Terry Elkington of Salt Lake Citys Old Catholic Fellowship Church, who had planned to help the Catholic couple tie the knot.

Beverlys greatest wish was to legally marry Bonnie, Elkington said. The three of us had talked about it a lot before Beverly took a turn for the worst. They were so close and perfect for each other.

Later in 2016, Grossaint, a former smoker, was struggling with health problems of her own, including vision loss, chronic heart failure and emphysema. In and out of the hospital for two years, she ended up in intensive care in the spring with trouble breathing, and doctors said there was nothing more they could do.

Foerster got a call from the hospice centre saying it was time for her to come say her final goodbye.

When she heard my voice in the room, she asked me to go, recalled Foerster emotionally, because she didnt want me to see her dying. She wanted me to remember the good times, the happy times. But every day was a good time and a happy time with Bevvie. So I stayed.

Positioning her wheelchair next to Grossaints bed, Foerster held her hand tightly and sang Day by Day  the song from the Godspell musical that they had made theirs after hearing it on the radio in 1972.

Then she recalled telling Grossaint: I want to thank you for every second of our lives. Every moment that we shared, every argument that we had, every bill that we paid together. I will never forget you. I love you more than words can say.

Because her wheelchair prevented her from leaning over to kiss Grossaint goodbye, she wiped the tears from her longtime loves eyes.

Grossaint softly responded, Oh, Bon, I will be waiting for you with open arms, and I will hold you eternally, Foerster said.

Foerster, who lives in an assisted living centre, was planning a memorial service for Sept. 15 but will now combine it with a wedding celebration party in honour of the judges ruling.

Im going to get a tattoo right above my heart with Bevs name, a rose and a miniature heart, Foerster said. I know it will hurt like hell, but Bevs worth it.Toronto residents were surprised to wake up recently to discover their harbourfront visibly soiled by the sewage of millions of toilets, after heavy rains overflowed aging sewer systems in the area.

When Lake Ontario Waterkeeper members took their phones and cameras to document the sewage on Torontos beaches, they were contributing to an alarmingly small dataset that tells us how much of our waste is flowing into waterways.

Wastewater is, admittedly, not the sexiest of topics. Canadians are witnessing the impacts of climate change on our aging infrastructure. These unpleasant but necessary stories about our sewage are capturing everyones attention.

It is shocking how little we monitor wastewater overflows. We are trying to manage a problem the extent of which we dont even comprehend.

In Canada, some municipalities and provinces report on sewage overflows, but these numbers come from rough-hewn models or rainfall calculations. Most of our cities dont track sewage overflows into oceans, rivers or lakes in real time, and any data used to make decisions on freshwater management and sewage infrastructure are based on little more than informed conjecture.

And thats only the ones that report. In 2017, more than a hundred municipal wastewater systems did not report their sewage overflow, meaning that major urban areas contributions are unaccounted for.

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In a country like Canada, where we are proudly home to 20 per cent of the worlds fresh water, getting a handle on where and when sewage enters the streams and rivers is a logistical nightmare.

But there is hope. Collecting, processing and using large amounts of data is not an impossible challenge, nor is it unique to sewage management. In fact, we do it every day.

The network of internet-connected devices we use daily has come to be known as the Internet of Things. This network provides us with data on any number of topics, from when a cluster of cell phones is stuck in a traffic jam to Instagram posts tagging lakes affected by algae blooms. Inexpensive web-connected sensors are becoming the norm.

Our friends in the financial sector are using data harvested from the IoT to understand their clients better and improve customer experience. In the humanitarian sector, data from satellites and cellphones fills in gaps missing from maps, helping experts and local officials plan risk reduction and disaster response activities accordingly.

Stockholm is rushing to become the worlds smartest city by putting sensors across the entire water delivery and sanitation system, so residents and waste managers can understand the human and environmental impacts with real data in real time. There is no reason why a similar system cannot be developed for Canada.

Kofi Annan once said, without good data, were flying blind. If you cant see it, you cant solve it. The political and social will to fix aging infrastructure can come from simple data that lets us know how we are affecting the environment and where  and prevent the worst problems before they begin.

Geoffrey Gunn is a geographer at the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Experimental Lakes Area in Winnipeg.

Read more about:The tripping point, August 26

Everyone seems to recognize the benefits of subway barriers: suicide prevention, reduction of murder opportunities by troubled people, the reduction of delays from smoke at track level, injuries to those with disabilities, random accidents and even the discomfort of the wind blasts though the subway stations (if full height barriers were in place). However, there is the continual moan about the cost.

But this is an infrastructure cost, and so its a gift that keeps giving. Calculate the cost of all those delays and the human toll that not acting implies. According to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, travel delays across Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver cost Canadians 10,000 years annually. Travel delays represent a huge cost to business and industry in the GTA alone.

Isnt it time for industry to step up and help defray the cost of making Toronto more efficient and more livable?

During the ozone depletion crisis, the chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) industry decided research was needed to save their industry. So they created the Alternative Fluorocarbons Environmental Acceptability Study. All producers contributed to the cost in proportion to their sales.

Perhaps businesses could come together in enlightened self-interest and fund a similar venture to reduce travel times. We would all benefit.

Tom McElroy, Toronto

Read more about:VANCOUVERCanadian consumers forking out for seafood are not getting what they pay for. What masquerades as sea bass, cod or wild salmon could be a far cheaper catfish, pollock or even a fish dubbed the laxative of the sea, according to a national report from advocacy organization Oceana Canada.

That poses a serious risk to consumers pockets  and public health.

Roughly 44 per cent of fish were incorrectly labelled, the report found. Whats more, 60 per cent of the roughly 400 samples collected from retailers in Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, Ottawa and Halifax were found to carry potential health risks.

Instead of butterfish, consumers have been eating escolar  an oily fish that has been called the laxative of the sea and can cause diarrhea, vomiting and other stomach problems  which is banned in several countries, such as Japan, South Korea and Italy. Escolar was also a substitute for white tuna.

This, researchers say, is rampant seafood fraud, defined as any activity that misrepresents the seafood being purchased.

Beyond economic concerns, seafood fraud creates food safety and health risks, threatens our oceans, cheats honest fishers and vendors and creates a market for illegally caught fish, which masks global human-rights abuses, said Julia Levin, Oceana Canada seafood fraud campaigner, adding most Canadians dont know theyre being cheated.

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Canadian labels that read product of refer to the last point of transformation. That means even if a fish was caught in Canadian waters and packaged in China, the label will read product of China, Levin explained.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency regulates labelling of all food products. StarMetro reached out to the agency for comment on seafood fraud and planned changes to food safety regulations, expected in 2019.

An interview was not available before publication, however, the agencys website stated the new regulations will make the food system safer by replacing 14 sets of rules with one. They will also require food businesses to have licences and to be able to trace their food back to their supplier.

In 2016, Canada exported a record $6.6 billion in fish and seafood products, a marked increase from the previous year. Thats why the investigation focused on fish prone to being mislabelled for economic gain.

For instance, every single sample of snapper  100 per cent  turned out to be another species, despite the CFIA Fish List allowing 200 fish species to carry that name, the report noted.

Tilapia, escolar and Japanese amberjack accounted for nearly 40 per cent of improper labels. The latter is a common substitution for yellowtail known to have ciguatera  a natural toxin that causes long-term debilitating neurological symptoms.

Notably, mislabelling rates were highest in restaurants. Three out of four times, the fish listed was more expensive than what was actually sold, the report noted.

Thats because theres seafood fraud everywhere, said chef Robert Clark, co-owner of the Fish Counter restaurant in Vancouver. In fact, tackling mislabelling was a catalyst for his current career: He helped grandfather the sustainable seafood movement in Canada.

Customers are concerned environmentally, socially, economically and about all these issues that surround food, he said in an interview. Food is very political, every decision we make.

Clark said the only way to deter mislabelling is by making fish traceable from boat to plate. He sources his seafood locally and directly from fishermen.

As Canadians, it should be unacceptable that we are being lied to. You wouldnt exchange money and get back less than what you expected, he said.

Have your say:

But even in the fast-growing niche market of local and sustainably caught seafood, fraud can still cheat consumers as well as honest vendors, Levin said.

The seafood supply chains are notoriously complex and opaque, making it murky to determine where a fish is coming from. Seafood is traded internationally more than any other food product, Levin explained.

A fish can cross international borders and change hands sometimes 10 times before ending up on the plate.

A fish caught in Canada may be shipped to China to be gutted, to the U.S. to be breaded, then ultimately appear on shelves back in Canada, but be listed as an American product. With this complex supply chain, misidentification can happen at any stage, explained Robert Hanner, professor of biology at the University of Guelph.

This represents a $52-billion problem globally  all occurring under the noses of consumers, industry and governments.

Tracing fish from boat to plate works for the worlds largest seafood importer, the European Union. The species scientific name, the body of water in which it was caught and the production method are all listed on the package for the consumer at the point of sale, Levin said.

After putting in stringent traceability requirements, fraud rates dropped drastically within three years, she said. Even the U.S. has taken steps to follow suit.

But in Canada, regulations allow for vague and generic market names, Levin said, pointing to the CFIA Fish List, which allows more than 200 species to carry the snapper name.

When the food inspection agency proposed new Safe Food for Canadians Regulations last year, Oceana Canada submitted recommendations to include a system to trace all fish from boat to plate and require key information to follow products through the supply chain.

But Levin said the regulations, which come into effect next year, fall short  failing to address seafood fraud and leaving Canada well behind international best practices.

We need penalties and enforcement measures at a high enough level to deter fraud paired with consumer labelling at the final point of sale, so that Canadians can make informed decisions, Levin said. Canadian businesses who export are meeting the EU requirements. Canadian consumers deserve the same level of transparency.

Read more about:Pope Francis visits Santiago, Chile, in January 2018. The pontiff has been accused by a former Vatican ambassador of covering up sexual abuse. That ambassador  Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano  has demanded that Francis step down. (Tamara Merino / Bloomberg)For the Telegraph

ALTON  The American Cancer Society (ACS) recently recognized OSF HealthCare Saint Anthonys Health Center with its Mission Award for support of the societys fight against cancer, assisting individuals before, during and after their diagnosis. The American Cancer Society is the nations largest community-based voluntary health organization playing a vital role in advocacy and cancer research.

OSF Saint Anthonys Health Center is a collaborative, engaged, and supportive partner of the American Cancer Society, said Linda Schulz, health systems manager for hospitals in the North Central Region for the American Cancer Society. Leading the fight against cancer, whether it be in the Riverbend or across Illinois, it is an honor to work with Saint Anthonys as such a strong partner to focus on a mission of caring for individuals with cancer and their families.Illinois prison officials say they cant disclose information about the death of an inmate that led to the suspension of several staff members because the department didnt maintain a copy of the records before sending them to federal investigators.

Former federal prosecutors and detectives were surprised by the Illinois Department of Corrections response to an open records request by The Associated Press. Officials have provided no information about the May 17 incident at Western Illinois Correctional Center in Mount Sterling, except that an injured inmate was flown to a regional hospital and later died.

IDOC said several staff members are on leave and confirmed the FBI investigation but has declined further comment. So did Brad Ware, spokesman for the FBI in Springfield.

Turning over everything without keeping a copy? That sounds a little strange, said Thomas Raftery III of Linwood, New Jersey, a global business-security consultant who spent 22 years as an FBI agent. I never heard of that. They may not want to give to it you, but why not just come out and say that?

Disposing of all records means the public has no information about how prisons are run under Gov. Bruce Rauner, how the incident occurred or IDOCs response to it. Experts say it also could leave the state more susceptible to losing a civil lawsuit over the matter because juries are instructed to look unfavorably on a defendant who disposed of relevant information.

What a jury is told is the defendant had them, the defendant got rid of them, and from that, to make an adverse inference, said Phillip Turner, a Chicago defense attorney and former federal prosecutor. Hearing that, youre dead in the water.

When the AP first requested documents about the incident, the department denied disclosure under exceptions to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act dealing with protecting ongoing criminal investigations and inmate privacy. When the AP appealed in late July, IDOC told the attorney generals public access counselor that it gave everything to the FBI.

I find it highly implausible, Turner said. Maybe they dont have them on paper, but who uses paper these days?

Last week came a new response. Instead of commenting when the AP asked why it turned over all its original records to the FBI, it responded with a letter to the public access counselor saying that it had found 100 additional documents, some previously supplied to the FBI, and all exempt from disclosure.

Whether documents are surrendered voluntarily or under subpoena, Raftery said, the FBI generally allows an agency to make copies. An exception might be if it suspects a cover-up by higher-level officials, he said. And copies might be prohibited initially if records are confiscated by search warrant  for example, if the FBI takes a computer server. But such scenarios are rare.

The FBI is cognizant of the fact that these guys gotta run a jail, Raftery said. They cant be without records.

IDOCs claim that it cannot disclose what it doesnt have also runs counter to Illinois case law. In 2017, the 2nd District Appellate Court ruled in favor of The Chicago Tribune when the College of DuPage argued it couldnt hand over a subpoena because it no longer had it.

The court ruled that disclosure is not limited to those public records that the public body has present possession or control of  that obligation continues even if such records are transferred.The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Engineerings (SOE) Student Design Center (SDC) will be filled with an entrepreneurial spirit as the center for engagement and creativity features the names of a distinguished alumnus, who has contributed a total of $1 million, and his two most inspiring educators.

Civil engineering alumnus Ed Grady 72 recognized how the SDC would raise the national profile of the School and the incredible impact it would make on students. He demonstrated his support of the SDC and laid the foundation for its success, giving the SOE $300,000, its first private donation toward the project.

Now, he has contributed an additional $400,000 in support of Phase II of the SOEs state-of-the-art SDC including the reconceptualization and design of the Student Design Lab/Innovation Suite. Grady has acquired interior naming rights of the SDCs second floor. Rooms will be named after him, and by his request, pioneering SIUE faculty Dr. Alfred Korn and Dr. Harry Duffey.

Grady has also graciously donated $300,000 to create two endowed scholarships that will support entrepreneurship among engineering professionals.

The advancement of the SIUE School of Engineering is propelled by the incredible contributions and faithful support of distinguished alumni like Mr. Ed Grady, said SOE Dean Cem Karacal, PhD. Our School has continuously strived to distinguish itself as a center of excellence in engineering education in the region. Mr. Gradys support will help us excel in the effective development of future technological leaders.

I am a strong supporter and believer in the value of hands-on experience in engineering, Grady said. It was key in my personal situation at SIUE as I tend to learn the most and the fastest by doing. Of course, knowing the theory and methods is equally important, but applying them solidifies the learning experience.

The SOEs 14,000-square-foot facility is a hub for the applied learning environment that Grady finds most beneficial.

It features design team workspaces, project prototyping workspace, a large conference room and innovative design labs that encourage collaboration and interaction among students.

The SDC expands opportunities for students to gain valuable hands-on experience, said Grady. In industry, it is also important to know how to work in teams and leverage team problem solving. The SDC is designed to enhance the team and individual learning experience.

Grady has been an enthusiastic and consistently involved alumnus. Karacal emphasizes his leadership on the SOE Advisory Board and his lifetime membership with the SIUE Alumni Association.

With his support, Grady is naming two of the faculty office spaces on the second-floor of the SDC after inspiring professors who made a positive impact on his life and the School in its formative years.

Dr. Korn and Dr. Duffey were two of the people, along with others, who proved the value and viability of the SIUE School of Engineering, Grady recalled. Both were key in my personal success at SIUE. They pushed and encouraged me when things were tough, and were engaged in my learning experience.

Grady is paying forward that type of motivating support to students with an entrepreneurial spirit and drive through a gift of $300,000 to the SOE and the SIUE School of Business. His contribution will provide scholarships with an emphasis in entrepreneurship to engineering and business students.

My career experience has shown that no matter what engineering discipline one chooses, one can get the most of this engineering education if one has a basic understanding of business practices, Grady explained. History shows that many of the inventions and technologies we enjoy commercially today were invented or developed by people with engineering or technical training. However, the individual rewards vary vastly based on whether or not the person knew how to manage business activities.

According to Karacal, endowed student scholarships allow the University to attract and retain high-quality undergraduate and graduate students who want to make SIUE their top choice school, while also granting them the financial freedom to focus on their schooling and get involved on campus.

Gradys support will provide two sizable scholarships, one in the School of Engineering and one in the School of Business, both named on behalf of the Grady Family Foundation.

As the culture in technology-related industries is rapidly shifting toward innovation and entrepreneurship, it is extremely important for our School to keep up with the trend and continue our student success stories, Karacal said. Providing a culture of creative thinking and innovation to produce new products or services is an integral part of the early engineering education we offer. That is how we prepare outstanding alumni such as Mr. Grady, who can take the initiative to start several successful companies.

Grady has high hopes for SIUE engineering students and boasts the Schools SDC will elevate the School as a premier educational institution across the nation.

The Student Design Center is a major selling point to attract the best students and faculty, he said. It is my belief that through the scholarships that promote entrepreneurship, along with the enhanced Student Design Center, SIUE School of Engineering students will have the opportunity to achieve success and be the next generation to pay it forward.Edwardsvilles Goshen Market Foundation is bringing tasty treats, healthy produce, flowers and other homemade items to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville from 3:30-5:30 p.m. every Tuesday through October.

We wanted to bring the market to SIUE to connect the Edwardsville community with the campus community, said Goshen Market Manager Tara Pohlman. This is a convenient way for students and others on campus to access the many items our various vendors offer.

Junior computer science major Asija Watson, of Chicago, was excitedly surprised to find the market on SIUEs Stratton Quadrangle last week. It marked her first farmers market experience.

I was walking with my roommate through campus, we saw the vendors and had to stop, she said. We bought blueberries, cucumbers and peppers.

This is a great offering to have on campus, added junior computer science major Jaylen Robertson. The transfer student expressed his appreciation for a University that has such good energy and vibrancy.

Instead of going away from the University to have fun, it comes to you, Robertson said. I checked out the flowers one vendor was selling and considered buying some for my room. I also liked the handmade jewelry.

Skye Odelehr, of Brussels, a junior studying nutrition, enjoyed seeing the locally grown and produced items being made accessible for students.

I appreciate the hard work these vendors put in, Odelehr said. This is incredibly convenient for students to stop by, pick up fresh produce to take back to their room or apartment and use it to make a healthy meal.

Community members are welcome to attend the market on SIUEs campus. Parking is available in Lot B.

Goshen Market customers can use their Illinois Link Card and receive matching coupons of up to $25 to purchase additional fruits and vegetables.

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville provides students with a high quality, affordable education that prepares them for successful careers and lives of purpose to shape a changing world. Built on the foundation of a broad-based liberal education, and enhanced by hands-on research and real-world experiences, the academic preparation SIUE students receive equips them to thrive in the global marketplace and make our communities better places to live. Situated on 2,660 acres of beautiful woodland atop the bluffs overlooking the natural beauty of the Mississippi Rivers rich bottomland and only a short drive from downtown St. Louis, the SIUE campus is home to a diverse student body of nearly 14,000.The depth and extent of evil such as this shocks even the most jaded among us. No less than three hundred priests in six Pennsylvania dioceses sexually abused at least 1,000 children over a period of 70 years.

Examples of this abuse, as cited in the report of a grand jury, read like a description of hell. NPR reported that the 1,000 victims we now know about might just be the tip of an iceberg. Since the grand jury report was released, a cascade of more than 400 calls has rolled in to the Pennsylvania clergy-abuse hotline.

Pennsylvanias Catholic hierarchy made no attempt to thwart these priests who preyed on children. In an article for Vox, Tara Isabella Burton noted the grand jury report also indicts a wider culture of silence and secrecy among church officials, who frequently declined to inform law enforcement authorities of any allegations. Instead, these predators were transferred from parish to parish where they would remain in continued contact with children.

Many of these victimized children were too ashamed and afraid to talk about what was being done to them. The ones who dared to speak out were castigated and told to keep silent. One girl was abused by a priest who was supposed to be tutoring her in math. When she told the school principal that the priest touched her in weird ways, the grand jury report notes, the principal became angry, scolded the child and said, How dare you make these terrible accusations. You are a demon-child.

The victim didnt have much success with her mother, either. Were not going to talk about this, her mother said. I dont want anyone thinking that this is our fault.

The Catholic Church has known about this abuse for decades. The Reverend Tom Doyle, a Dominican priest and former canon lawyer for the papal nuncio in the United States, wrote a 92-page report in 1985 that warned the Catholic Church about its pedophile priests. The bishops, according to one source, ran from Doyles report as though it had fangs. He was told to drop the subject and ignore the report that he had so painstakingly put together. When he didnt, Doyle was fired by the nuncio.

In a conversation with Kevin Horrigan some years ago, Doyle suggested that the Catholic hierarchy really has no idea of the harm inflicted by pedophile priests because theyre so far removed from family life. The church wont talk about this bizarre formation program [seminaries] that send out these sexually and emotionally immature men as priests. Doyle also observed that the church is afraid to look at celibacy, so they shift the blame to other reasons.

Those Pennsylvania priests were able to perpetrate a 70-year crime spree because the hierarchy believed protecting their church from scandal was more important than protecting children from pedophiles. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep, Jesus is recorded as saying in John 10:11. Rather than give their lives to protect their churchs children, these shepherds willingly turned them over to ravenous wolves.

Pope Francis proclaimed in a public statement, No effort must be spared to create a culture able to prevent such situations from happening, but also to prevent the possibility of their being covered up and perpetuated. The culture of which Francis wrote must be created now before more abuse occurs.

John J. Dunphy is the author of Abolitionism and the Civil War in Southwestern Illinois and From Christmas to Twelfth Night in Southern Illinois. He owns The Second Reading Book Shop in Alton.Stanbic Bank UgandaLimited is a subsidiary of Stanbic Africa Holdings Limited which is in turnowned by Standard Bank Group Limited (the Group), Africas leading bankingand financial services group. The Standard Bank Group is the leading bankinggroup focused on emerging markets. It is the largest African banking groupranked by assets and earnings. Stanbic Bank Uganda Limited is the largest bankin Uganda by assets and market capitalization. It offers a full range ofbanking services through two business units; Personal and Business Banking(PBB), and Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB).The United Nationsis an impartial and trusted partner in Uganda, supporting the Government toachieve its development goals. The United Nations Country Team (UNCT), iscomprised of 22 resident and non-resident UN agencies. The UN ResidentCoordinator/UNDP Resident Representative (RC/RR) leads the UNCT and is thehighest representative of UNDP in Uganda. The RC/RR is also the DesignatedOfficial for security for UN Uganda. The UN Resident Coordinator is assisted inher coordination role in the field by United Nations Area Coordinators (UNACs)in the areas where the UN has a strong presence on the ground. The UNAC systemis a UNCT-integrated coordination system at the field level that convenes UNagency representatives through regular Area Coordination Team meetings. TheUNAC system seeks to accelerate the implementation of Delivering as One at thefield level in Acholi and West Nile, Karamoja and South West.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 28)  Senator Antonio Trillanes should get a sanity check first before challenging the President, a top government official said.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque issued a challenge of his own to Trillanes after the Senator said he would resign if the President surpasses him in an Intelligence Quotient (IQ) test.

"Let's start with a psych test then we can go to an IQ testPerhaps he should begin with a test on sanity before we even talk about IQ," Roque told the press Tuesday.

Roque even justified his wager by citing the psychology test requirement for Chief Justices.

"An IQ test is premature, let's begin with a psych test, after all would-be Chief Justices are required to take that test," the spokesperson said.

He clarified, however, that the test should be taken by the Senator alone and not the President. Roque maintained that President Duterte will not heed just any request.

"The President is not obliged to give in to any demands of anyone," Roque said.

Trillanes' challenge comes after Duterte tagged the Senator as a person with "low IQ" in response to his recent criticisms.

READ: Trillanes to Duterte: I will resign if you get higher IQ scoreThe lawyer representing the porn star suing President Donald Trump is considering his own White House run in 2020. Unlike most other Democratic presidential wannabes, he wants the world to know it.



Last week alone, Michael Avenatti hobnobbed with Democratic National Committee leaders in Chicago, started a political action committee to raise money for Democratic congressional candidates, and met with David Axelrod, former President Barack Obama's strategist.



All that follows Avenatti appearances at the Iowa State Fair and a Democratic Party picnic in New Hampshire, traditional stomping grounds for presidential aspirants. The buzz behind the lawyer is real, said Jeff Link, an Iowa-based strategist who recently spent part of a day with Avenatti as he traveled the state.



"He was mobbed by people wanting to meet him and ask for selfies," Link said. Democrats are "desperate for someone to stand up to the president," he added.



Avenatti, who is representing Stephanie Clifford, the porn star better known as Stormy Daniels, in her cases against the president, understands that the American public might be skeptical.



But Trump's election, he says, opened the door to unconventional candidates -- like, say, Avenatti. He says that if Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were to publicly commit not to run in 2020, he'd drop out too, and he complains that other Democrats thinking about a presidential campaign should make their intentions known.



"It's not about my ego and wanting to be president of the United States," Avenatti said in an interview in the back of a Lincoln sedan on his way to Chicago's Midway airport on Friday. "It's about whether I have the ability to potentially help solve this nightmare, this dumpster fire of an administration, and help us push the reset button and instill some respect and dignity back to the Oval Office and America's standing, both domestically and abroad."



The field of Democratic hopefuls for 2020 is slowly taking shape. Those believed to be considering a challenge to Trump include Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, California Sen. Kamala Harris, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, former vice president Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.



None of them have publicly announced they're exploring a run. The field of declared potential candidates is small: pretty much Avenatti and a Maryland congressman, Rep. John Delaney. Billionaire Tom Steyer, who is financing a campaign to promote Trump's impeachment, hasn't ruled it out.



Avenatti, who is 47, figures his name recognition puts him in at least the top half of the likely Democratic field. But the lawyer insists that doesn't make him a celebrity candidate.



"I'm not a celebrity," he said. "Maybe I've become notorious or infamous or famous or something of that nature because I've been on television so much but I'm a substantive individual. I'm a student of the law. I've had a long career of nearly two decades fighting on behalf of Davids versus Goliaths."



He is only part of the national consciousness because of his client claims to have had an affair with Trump in 2006. She's suing the president both to get out of a nondisclosure agreement and for defamation. Her lawyer has become a near-constant on cable television, at first on behalf of Daniels but now increasingly for himself.



In addition to representing Daniels, Avenatti has taken on the cause of migrant children separated from parents caught illegally crossing the Mexican border under Trump's now-abandoned "zero tolerance" policy. He says he's representing about 80 of the parents and 100 kids, pro bono.



Christine Pelosi, a member of the DNC executive committee and an activist who first met Avenatti in an MSNBC makeup room in April, said he "certainly has the raw talent." She said she hopes he'll help Democrats win in the midterm elections and that Democratic activists will expect more than TV appearances.



"This is great that you're on television but are you at the local fish fry? Are you meeting people where you need them to rev up the local phone bankers?" Pelosi, who is the daughter of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, said in an interview.



Avenatti said he plans to travel to "state after state." His reception so far, he says, has been encouraging.



"I've got a lot of people within the party that are encouraging me to do it. And that's been a welcome surprise," he said, declining to name any supporters. "I thought that to a certain degree I was going to be ostracized by the party. That hasn't come to fruition at all."



Hillary Clinton's former Iowa state director Matt Paul and New Hampshire Democratic Party chairman Ray Buckley have introduced him to Democrats in their states. Adam Parkhomenko, a former DNC staffer who was the co-founder of Ready for Hillary, which encouraged Clinton to run before 2016, helped connect him with reporters at the party's meeting. Alexandra Chalupa, a Democratic consultant, introduced him to meeting attendees.



At the DNC meeting, Avenatti couldn't get far without being stopped for photos and brief conversations. Leaving the women's caucus meeting Friday afternoon, Pelosi thanked him for committing not to accept donations from corporate PACs.



Jeff Berman, a delegate and strategist for Obama in 2008 and for Clinton in 2016, and his college-age daughter asked for a photo. Avenatti apologized to Chicago-area Congresswoman Robin Kelly for cutting their conversation short to catch a flight and encouraged her to "keep up the good fight."



His campaign platform is a work in progress. He says he'd create jobs with a "real infrastructure program;" expand Medicare, the health program for the elderly and disabled, to cover all Americans; and "figure out college affordability." None of those issues would distinguish him from most of the rest of the Democratic field, and he waved off questions about how he'd pay for the proposals.



"Once I do deep dives on those issues, I'm going to propose how we're going to pay for them," he said.



He sounds less antagonistic toward Wall Street than Democrats like Warren, who has made her career advocating for greater bank regulation. "Certain aspects of Wall Street need more regulation, but I've also found that I think the judicial system does a pretty good job from time to time," he said, declining to elaborate.



His political resume is similarly thin. He worked for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's opposition research firm as a student in college and law school. He has never held elected office.



Avenatti, though, says politics is about timing -- and Daniels and Trump may have provided it to him.



"I believe that in life -- and I certainly believe that in politics -- it's all about windows opening and closing, and match-ups, to a certain degree," he said.Comedian Louis C.K. is many things. An infallible legend for some. A black sweater aficianado. A master of cruel understatements. A white man who could get away with openly dropping the n-word. And, in the #MeToo era, a new sobriquet: serial harasser and public masturbator. The star of the acclaimed Louie was just one of the many celebrities who were caught in the firestorm of #MeToo allegations, after five women came forward with claims of sexual misconduct, as reported by the New York Times. According to the publication, once, he invited two women comedians to his hotel room, where he stripped and masturbated in front of them; in another case, a woman reported that he was masturbating while talking to her on the phone.

After months of fading from the limelight, CK has made his first public appearance at the famous Comedy Cellar in New York City. According to Deadline, the audience welcomed the disgraced comedian as he took the stage at 11pm for a 15-minute set, but he did not address or mention the allegations against him. Does he deserve a chance for rehabilitation? The issue is polarising.

Why the HELL would the Comedy Cellar allow Louis CK to come back?  Gena Hymowech (@genah) August 28, 2018 Louis CK is the GOAT. Fuck you if u think otherwise  Bryancito (@TheLionBryan) August 28, 2018 If Louis CK had stolen jokes, hed be a fucking pariah. But instead he stole careers and passion and trust from possibly brilliant comedians - women that well never get to hear from - and that is worse. Or it should be.  Jason Filiatrault (@jfiliatrault) August 28, 2018 Louis CK has the right to work And earn a living. Im sure hes got bills to pay like the rest of us. No one is forcing anyone to go see him. Press charges or Mind your own business!  Exceptions rule (@Exceptions_rule) August 28, 2018 Louis CK still has an audience and you get deal with it

Don't like it? Don't go, don't buy it, don't listen to it.

Simple as that.

He could easily 'retire', live off royalties, and never do anything ever again; this shows he actually cares about this stuff beyond some fame & cash  Rocko MacLeod (@RealMrAnonymity) August 28, 2018 Louis CK is a creep. However, Louis didn't RAPE anyone. he wasn't violent!

He was GROSS.

Most of my friends growing up were gross.

Guys are disgusting

.. Is this NEWS to anyone?

Louis CK is Funny and I would honestly still like to see him perform.  Richard A. Fleming (@RichardAFleming) August 28, 2018 Louis CK admitted to luring women to his hotel room, cornering them and forcing them to watch him masturbate.



But the stand up community welcomes him back with open arms, because fuck the victims, he's one of their own. https://t.co/mdrQeubhQI  Pedro Hollanda (@phollanda) August 28, 2018

Will CK's reentry facilitate the same for fellow comedians like T.J. Miller (accused of sexual assault), Chris Hardwick (accused of domestic violence), or Andy Dick (accused of inappropriate behaviour)? Comedian and maker of Netflix's acclaimed Master of None, Aziz Ansari, has been performing comedy routines on and off for the past few months, after he was accused of not heeding to 'non-verbal cues' in a very tense date by a New York photographer.

In an indication of the strength of the #MeToo movement, actor Kevin Spacey's latest film Billionaire Boys Club raked in a record low of $126 on its opening day. Spacey had been accused of trying to seduce a 14-year-old boy in 1986, which had led to Netflix cutting all ties with the actor. The total weekend collection of the film, according to The Washington Post, stood at $618. The movie, ironically, revolved around a con man and a ponzi scheme. The contrast is starkSpacey's earlier film Baby Driver had collected more than $20 million on its opening day.

Whose prerogative was it to accept these apologies? As comedian Aditi Mittal very eloquently puts in a thread, "I love how easily men forgive other men for sexually harassing women. It is not your forgiveness to give out."

The adage that failures can teach many lessons seems quite...Flood-ravaged Kerala may be slowly picking up the pieces and trying to rebuild all that is lost. But even amid the struggle, the state is not spared from those who attempt to point a finger at the reason for the deluge. From eating beef, to women moving court to enter the Sabarimala shrine, the reasons keep coming. Now, it is actress Payal Rohatgi who is out with another controversial tweet on the same. Payal, a 2008 Bigg Boss contestant, blames it on cow slaughter in Kerala which hurts the sentiments of Hindus and god.

In a tweet on Monday, Payal, who calls herself a 'proud Hindu', wrote (sic): #cowslaughter is NOT banned in #kerala. Dear Kerala people and politicians of Kerala, not good to hurt the sentiments of #Hindus. If u openly do that, sorry to sound but God also openly does it.. God is one but u cant hurt religious faith like this. The tweet has garnered a lot of traction on social media, and heated exchange of comments between users and Payal. In some of the comments, users question Payal if the same fate will befall Goa, and how would god deal with India, the largest exporter of beef.

And the reason for Uttarakhand floods is soya chunks. God thought people are eating beef, tweeted a user. Please send us a list of food items which won't hurt your sentiments. Other users commented she was seeking attention as she was out of work.

#cowslaughter is NOT banned in #kerala. Dear Kerala people and politicians of Kerala, not good to hurt the sentiments of #Hindus. If u openly do that, sorry to sound but God also openly does it.. God is one  but u cant hurt religious faith like this pic.twitter.com/eqBwM7F15G  PAAYAL ROHATGI & TEAM (@Payal_Rohatgi) August 27, 2018

This is not the first time Payal's tweet with a communal angle has shaken up social media. In January 2017, she went on a rant on Twitter and Facebook after two Jet Airways ground staff in Mumbai denied her and husband Sangram Singh permission to board a flight to Thiruvananthapuram. She said they were not allowed to fly despite reaching at 6:20 am for a 6:50 am flight. To make matters worse, she asked if she was subjected to this treatment because she is a Hindu, and the two airline supervisors were Muslims. She got slammed on social media for the rant.

Payal is married to wrestler Sangram Singh. She competed in the Miss India pageant in 2000 and later represented India in Miss Tourism World competition. She was crowned Supermodel Miss Tourism World in the same year. She made her Bollywood debut in Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai? and acted in films like Plan, Rakht, 36 China Town and Dil Kabaddi.

Payal and Sangram have participated in reality show Bigg Boss but in different seasons.Actor Amitabh Bachchan said he would donate Rs 1 crore to the families of martyrs, and an additional Rs 1.5 crore to waive off loans of farmers. The 75-year-old actor said he wanted to do something for the families of martyrs.

"Just yesterday, we got a list of 44 families from the government. We have prepared 112 demand drafts to the value of Rs 1 crore to take care of the families," Bachchan told reporters.

"There is a system in the government. 60 per cent of the amount has to go to the wife, 20 per cent to the father, and 20 per cent to the mother... Like this, we have divided the amount for 44 families of martyrs," he added.

The actor said he was also pained by the farmers' suicide and has decided to pitch in. "I have always been bothered by reading about farmers' suicides. Many years ago, I was shooting in Vizag and read that farmers who had loaned Rs 15,000, Rs 20,000 or Rs 30,000 and couldn't pay back and were committing suicide... I came back and paid for 40-50 families"

"This time I am paying Rs 1.25 crore to 200 farmers' families. I went to my bank and we got a list of all the farmers' loans and there were 200 loans and that's what I am paying off," he added.

Bachchan was speaking at the press conference of "Kaun Banega Crorepati" season 10.In his first speech as the newly elected president of the DMK, M.K. Stalin on Tuesday called on party activists to unite and teach the Narendra Modi government and the AIADMK dispensation in Tamil Nadu a lesson.

Stalin declared that he would uphold the DMK's creed of self-respect, social justice, rationalism and secularism. Stalin claimed the Modi government was using education, art, literature and religion to spread communal hatred.

He also accused the Modi government of destabilising the judiciary. Stalin accused the ruling AIADMK of abandoning schemes introduced by Annadurai and his late father M. Karunanidhi.

Earlier on Tuesday, Stalin was elected unopposed to the post of party president, with party general secretary K. Anbazhagan saying Stalin was the sole candidate to file nomination papers for the post.

Chants of Thalapathy (commander), in praise of Stalin, went up at the Kalaignar Arangam in Chennai where the DMK's general council meeting was held.

On Monday, the BJP had announced party chief Amit Shah would not be attending a memorial meeting for Karunanidhi scheduled for August 30. Instead, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and party general secretary Murlidhar Rao would be attending on behalf of the BJP.

Initial reports of Shah attending the event had sparked speculation that the BJP could attempt to cosy up to the DMK before the next Lok Sabha elections. The DMK, during Stalin's time as working president since 2017, has been very critical of the BJP, including on the Cauvery issue and the controversy over the NEET examination.

(With PTI inputs)Revolutionary writer and well-known civil rights activist, Varavara Rao, was detained by the Maharashtra police in Hyderabad on Tuesday afternoon to probe his role in an alleged assassination plot of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bhima Koregaon violence. Searches were conducted right from 6 am in the morning in the two-bedroom flat of Rao, which is located in the Gandhinagar area.

The Maharashtra police officials also raided the houses of Rao's two daughters. While one daughter stays in the same building, the other lives in the English and Foreign Language University (EFLU) campus. The officials also landed at the house of a Telugu newspaper journalist, T. Kranthi, and searched the property for hours.

It may be recalled that a few months back, police officials had allegedly seized a letter from activist Rona Wilsons house in Pune. As per news reports, it was mentioned in the letter that Rao would help in funding the plot to assassinate Modi. The allegation was immediately denied by the 78-year-old activist, who accused the NDA government of a conspiracy.

Even as the searches were on, a large number of activists and supporters of Rao assembled outside his residence and raised slogans against the state and central governments. A group of activists also approached the local police officials who clarified that they were not involved in the operation. His supporters, then, tried to meet Telangana home minister who also refused to intervene.

After more than seven hours, the Maharashtra police collected a mobile phone, some documents, literary work and hard disk from Raos house. He was taken by the officials to a government hospital and then to a local court under heavy security cover to obtain transit warrant. It is learnt that Rao will be flown to Pune by Tuesday night.

Speaking immediately after the searches concluded, Hemalatha, wife of Rao, said that the arrests were not new to them but expressed surprise at the way the officials carried out the searches. She said that the officials informed Rao at the end of their search operation that they would arrest him. He said he is ready to fight it in the court and left with them, she said.President Donald Trump listens during a phone call with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto about a trade agreement between the U.S. and Mexico in the Oval Office on Aug. 27, 2018. (Evan Vucci / AP)As tension is on the rise in Kashmir in anticipation of the hearing on Article 35A in Supreme Court on August 31, leaders are calling on people to stop rumour mongering.

Senior separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq slammed the rumour mongers and tweeted to clear the confusion. ''Confusion is being created among people about the hearing of the case pertaining to Article 35A in the Indian Supreme Court for today. In this regard, what has been reported in media, is that a fresh case has been filed challenging Article 35A in SC, he wrote on the microblogging site.

The separatist Joint Resistance Leadership, comprising Mirwaiz, Yasin Malik, and Ali Shah Geelani, in a statement on Monday, warned of mass agitation in case the Article that protects the 90-year-old J&K State Subjects Law is scrapped.

It warned that any change in the law will evoke a strong response. It said the protests and sit-ins by various traders bodies and other segments of society will continue till August 31. In case the Supreme Court announces a verdict against the wishes and aspirations of people of J&K a mass agitation will start across the state, it stated.

It is a highly emotive issue for the people, affecting their very existence as a people in pursuit of their fundamental Right to self-determination, the JRL statement said. The statement added the people of Kashmir will never allow their birthplace to become another Palestine, where Israel changed the demography by grabbing land and property of Palestinians.

The Kashmir-based mainstream parties and separatist have found common ground in defence of the Article 35A. Both the PDP and the NC have become a party to the case and engaged lawyers to defend the law. The PDP has nominated senior party leader and noted lawyer Muzaffar Beigh to defend the Article in the Supreme Court. The NC has engaged former solicitor general of India Gopal Subramanium to defend the Article.

A fresh petition against the Article moved by a BJP leader on Monday had lead to spontaneous shutdown across the valley. Around 100 protesters were injured in clashes. The police tried to clarify the confusion over the petition that people mistook for a hearing in the Supreme Court.

Article 35A bars outsiders from settling in Jammu and Kashmir and guarantees special citizenship rights to the people of the state. The law was promulgated in 1927 by the last king of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh, a Dogra whose forefathers had acquired Jammu and Kashmir from the British against a payment of 75,000 Nanakshahi rupees after the defeat of the Sikh in the first Anglo-Sikh war in 1846.

The law was given protection by the government of India through Article 35A under Article 370 of the Constitution after 1952 Delhi Agreement between Sheikh Abdullah and Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru.

The petitions against 35A has raised anxiety in Kashmir, parts of Muslim dominated areas of Jammu and Ladakh because of fears that scrapping of the law will lead to demographic changes in the state.

Muslims, who constitute majority 69 per cent, believe the plan to change Kashmir's demography is aimed at changing the nature of the Kashmir dispute and to nullify the UN resolution that calls for a plebiscite in the state.The BJP and its ally, the Shiromani Akali Dal, on Monday stepped up their attack on Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for remarks that his party was not involved in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, alleging the opposition party's entire apparatus was involved in the genocide and they could not be absolved of their sins.

The BJP and Akali Dal also attacked Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for defending Rahul and his stand and claimed he had hurt the sentiments of people in his state and of Sikhs across the country.

"This was not expected from Amarinder Singh. Being a Sikh, he should not have stood with the conspirators of the 1984 genocide on this issue. The Punjab chief minister has hurt the sentiments of the people from his state," senior SAD leader Prem Singh Chandumajra claimed.

He alleged it was a fact that the Congress was involved in the riots and they "cannot be absolved of their sins".

Echoing similar sentiments, BJP's national secretary R.P. Singh alleged,"Not one or two hands, the entire Congress apparatus was involved in 1984 genocide against Sikhs in the national capital."

He claimed then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, the father of Rahul, tried to justify the violence by saying that when a giant tree falls, the earth below shakes, referring to the assassination of prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1984, which triggered the riots.

The Congress was forced to cancel the appointment of veteran party leader Kamal Nath as Punjab Assembly polls in-charge following anger from sections of the Sikh community that pointed to his alleged involvement in the violence, he claimed.

Last week, Rahul, who was on a two-day visit to the UK, told an audience that the anti-Sikh riots were a tragedy and a painful experience, but disagreed with the view that the Congress was "involved" in it.

Rahul's comments provoked a flurry of protests by the BJP and Akali Dal, who accused the Congress leader of being in denial.BJP MP Jyoti Dhurve, 52, elected from Betul Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh, faces the danger of losing her membership of Parliament after the Madhya Pradesh High Court ordered on Monday the state governments Tribal Welfare Department to determine her tribal status within 15 days. Dhurve is accused of falsifying her scheduled tribe certificate.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court also imposed fines on two IAS officers for being lax in the case.

Dhurve is a two-time MP from Betul, a seat reserved for tribals. She has represented the seat since 2009. The scheduled tribe certificate she produced to contest elections was challenged in the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 2010. The decision on her tribal status had been pending for the last eight years as a high-level committee to determine her status had been sitting on it. However, instructions from High Court last year forced the committee to decide the case in a fixed-time period.

Justice Sujoy Paul of the principal bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court, Jabalpur, hearing a contempt of court petition filed by Shankar Peddam, expressed unhappiness over the casual approach of senior IAS officers in the Dhurve case, which he termed a serious matter. Justice Paul imposed a personal fine of Rs 1,000 on Principal Secretary Ashok Shah and Commissioner Deepali Rastogi. Both officers are posted in the Tribal Welfare department of the Madhya Pradesh government.

Earlier, in May 2017, the committee empowered to scrutinise Dhurve's scheduled tribe certificate had declared she was not a tribal. However, later, the high-level committee of the Tribal Welfare department, owing to political pressure, kept the matter pending. Unhappy over the delay, Peddam approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which ordered a fast disposal of the case following laid-down rules and regulations.

However, since the issue had serious political ramifications, the officials did not take any action. Unhappy over this, the complainant again went to the Madhya Pradesh High Court recently.

In 2016, the High Court on a petition from Peddam, had issued a notice to the state government to decide the tribal status of Dhurve. Dhurve had been evading the notices sent by the high-level committee for several years. Finally, when she appeared before the committee, she could not submit enough evidence to prove her claim of belonging to a tribal community.

Peddam said Dhurve originally belonged to the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category before getting married to Prem Singh Dhurve. Her actual name before marriage was Jyotikiran Thakur. She graduated from Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur, and got a scheduled tribe certificate from Raipur in 1984.

Peddam, who had contested against Dhurve as an independent candidate, said that official documents of her father and uncle clearly mentioned that they belonged to OBC category, while she claimed to be a tribal just because she married a person from the tribal community.

With the High Court asking the state government to decide her scheduled tribe certificate case, Dhurve, who had been chairman of the state Scheduled Tribe Commission, now faces the danger of being disqualified from the Lok Sabha. Dhurve was also made national general secretary of BJP by Amit Shah three years ago.Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti leader Hardik Patel's indefinite hunger fast entered the fourth day on Tuesday even as NCP leader Praful Patel met him at his residence where he is fasting.

Hardik is demanding reservation for Patidars in jobs and education. He is also demanding loan waiver for farmers.

After he was denied permission to sit on a hunger fast in Nikol, Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, he sat on a fast at his residence.

Praful Patel, who visited Hardik, said that the youth leader was not only fasting for the cause of Patidars but also for various strata of the society and farmers and, hence the NCP has extended support to him.

On Rakshabandhan day, Trinamool Congress' Dinesh Trivedi had tied rakhi to him. On Monday, 28 Congress MLAs from Gujarat had visited Hardik.

Doctors, who examined Hardik, said that he should either eat fruits or take liquid or else his kidney could be affected.

On Tuesday, reports of people sitting on token hunger fasts in support of Hardik in various parts of the state started trickling in. In Palanpur, people, holding dharna outside the collectorate, were picked up by the police.

Meanwhile, Hardik wrote a letter to Human Rights Commission seeking its intervention in the alleged violation of human rights by the Gujarat government.

Detailing how he was denied permission for protests and how essential commodities were not allowed for his supporters inside his residence, Hardik requested the commission to instruct the Gujarat government to ensure that the human rights are not violated.Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaks during a hearing at the Capitol on Nov. 30, 2017. The senator's death has shone an even brighter spotlight on the divisiveness of the current American political climate. (Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg)The caning of two women who were convicted of lesbian sex in Malaysia has been postponed by an Islamic court. Activists hope that this break would give them time to stop the punishment from being carried out.

The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is routinely persecuted in Muslim-majority Malaysia, where they are seen as a threat to conservative values.

Media on Sunday said the women were charged under Islamic laws forbidding lesbian sex at the Shariah High Court in Terengganu, a conservative state ruled by the Islamist opposition party Pan-Malaysian Islamist Party (PAS).

The women, aged 32 and 22, pleaded guilty and were sentenced to caning and a 3,300 ringgit ($806) fine, according to the Malay-language newspaper Sinar Harian. The women are out on bail.

Last week, Amnesty International Malaysia said caning amounted to torture and called on the government to repeal laws that impose punishment against marginalized communities.

The court ruling indicated a concerning climate of LGBT discrimination and a growing threat on the lives and the safety of LGBT people in Malaysia, the groups interim executive director, Gwen Lee, said in a statement to Reuters.

Malaysia describes oral and anal sex as against the order of nature. Civil law stipulates jail for up to 20 years, caning and fines for offenders.

Muslims are also governed by state-level Islamic laws, most of which carry provisions outlawing gay and lesbian sex.

Transgender rights group Justice for Sisters co-founder Thilaga Sulathireh hoped the postponement would give activists time to try to stop the punishment from being carried out.

"There is a bit more time now... (to) have more conversations about this and see if these conversations can add any kind of pressure or change people's mind about the sentence itself," she said.

Malaysia operates a dual-track legal system and Islamic courts can handle religious and family matters, as well as cases such as adultery. Caning is conducted out of public view.

(With inputs from AFP, Reuters)"Despite our differences on policy and politics, I respect Senator John McCain's service to our country," Donald Trump said in a statement as he ordered the flag atop the White House and elsewhere to fly at half-staff until McCain's burial on Sunday.

Trump bowed to pressure to honour the late John McCain as the late senator fired a parting shot at the president in a farewell message to the United States. Trump's about-face came after he found himself mired in controversy over his rather conspicuous failure to pay tribute to McCain, who died Saturday at 81 after a year-long battle with brain cancer.

He later told evangelical leaders that "we very much appreciate everything that senator McCain has done for our country." The White House flag was lowered after McCain's death on Saturdaybut it was once again at the top of the flagpole on Monday morning.

Trump's initial silence about McCain underscored the isolation of the US leader and fueled criticism that he is incapable of bringing a divided nation together even as it mourns a man widely seen as an American hero and a political icon.

In Phoenix, where a week of tributes to McCain was soon to get under way, the two-time presidential candidate's former campaign manager Rick Davis confirmed that Trump would not be attending the funeral.

However, Vice President Mike Pence is set to speak at a ceremony honoring McCain at the US Capitol on Friday.

White House chief of staff John Kelly, Defense Secretary James Mattis and National Security Advisor John Bolton will represent the administration during services.

In Phoenix, Davis read a posthumous statement that made a final jab at Trump.

"We weaken our greatness when we confuse our patriotism with tribal rivalries that have sown resentment and hatred and violence in all the corners of the globe," McCain said.

"We weaken it when we hide behind walls, rather than tear them down, when we doubt the power of our ideals, rather than trust them to be the great force for change they have always been," he saidan apparent reference to Trump's plans for a border wall.

McCain, who served as a senator from Arizona for more than 30 years, clashed repeatedly with Trump even though they were both Republicans, and the president initially paid scant tribute to the senator after his death.

The Washington Post reported that White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, Chief of Staff Kelly and other senior staff had urged a statement be released referring to McCain as a "hero"but Trump opted for a terse, impersonal tweet instead.

The enmity between Trump and McCain dates from the day the real estate tycoon announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination with an attack on Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists. During the 2016 campaign, Trump mocked McCain's war service. In the years since, McCain was Trump's loudest Republican critic, especially as the president disrupted America's long-time alliances.

McCain's remains will lie in state at Arizona's capitol on Wednesday, before a public viewing Friday in the rotunda of the US Capitolan honor reserved for the likes of John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and civil rights champion Rosa Parks.

The two men who defeated McCain in his White House campaigns, Republican George W. Bush in 2000 and Democrat Barack Obama in 2008, are expected to deliver eulogies at a Saturday service at the National Cathedral in Washington.

Among the pallbearers will be Democratic former vice president Joe Biden, ex-senator Russ Feingold, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and actor Warren Beatty.

McCain will be buried Sunday at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in a private funeral service.

In Washington, McCain's death has been a rare occasion for bipartisan praise for his lifetime in public service.

Tributes have poured in from every living former president honoring the former Navy aviator for his courage, integrity and decency. On Capitol Hill, his desk on the Senate floor was draped with a black cloth, and adorned with white roses.Its been about twenty months and HMD Global (that owns exclusive marketing rights for the Nokia brand in the smartphone space) has kept the Nokia smartphones coming. The 6.1 Plus might well be the device that could give HMD the impetus it needs in the Indian market that not surprisingly is a big focus for the company. The 6.1 Plus is more than just a do or die device for Nokia, it looks set to shake things up in the mid-range segment where hardware and design standards are seeing a new high.

Glass is the new gold standard

The 6.1 Plus breaks away from its predecessors like the 6.1 and the 6, opting instead to take a cue from the Siroccos all-glass form. Its probably our favourite attribute of this smartphone. The 6.1 Plus svelte design language lends it a premium demeanour; it certainly looks more expensive than its sticker price. Its Scandinavian design at its best  clean lines with the dual rear camera and fingerprint sensor placed perfectly at rear of the device. The trademark silver accents that encircle the camera and the fingerprint sensor are a nice touch. At 151 gms it feels light in your hands and is certainly less slippery than the Nokia 8 Sirocco. The bezels have all but vanished and then theres the notch that is becoming ubiquitous across smartphones this year. The 81.2% screen: body ratio keeps the 5.8-inch FHD+ display (2280 x 1080 pixels) quite immersive.



Camera hits and misses

You wont find the Carl Zeiss badge on the Nokia 6.1 Plus. The devices rear cam combines a 16MP and 5MP lens and a 16MP selfie cam completes the overall camera package. The selfie cam wont let you down; it compares quite favourably with devices in the same segment. We tested the primary cam in multiple shooting scenarios and the results were a mixed bag. It snapped good images in optimal light; the bokeh option worked well too. Results took a hit in indoor and lowlight scenarios though. This is an area where devices like the Redmi Note 5 Pro have a slight edge over the 6.1 Plus.

Power packed

At the heart of the 6.1 Plus is Qualcomms Snapdragon 636 processor that teams up with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of ROM. Its enough to keep this device keep chugging along without any fuss. We experienced no stutters during multi-tasking or gaming mode. Nokia is sensitive to some of the key consumer needs in this segment. Theres an expandable storage option (via a hybrid SIM slot) that allows you to add up to 400GB of memory. Nokia also retains the 3.5 mm headphone jack at a time when its become fashionable to omit it. The 3060 mAh battery should work for most users. But you are likely to reach for your charger before 7 pm if youve been indulging in heavy gaming or multi-media usage. The 6.1 Plus is fast charging compatible. Unfortunately, the Type-C charger bundled in the box wont do the trick; you will need to buy a fast charger.



The android one advantage

The 6.1 Plus is one of many devices that benefits from Nokias much publicised presence on the Android One platform. This means you get the latest Android iterations and security patches faster than other device manufacturers. Its certainly one reason wed recommend this device. This is pureplay Android at its best and isnt burdened by unnecessary pre-loaded apps and bloatware that take away from the clean Android user experience.

The Nokia 6.1 Plus is all set to spice things up in the Rs 15,000  Rs 20,000 price band. This is an area where Xiaomi devices have held sway and the 6.1 Plus certainly adds an interesting dimension. It scores with its design aesthetic and a spec sheet that will satisfy most consumers in this segment. Its likely to be a game changer for Nokia in India with an aggressive price (its priced even lower than its predecessor  the 6.1) and whats more, you dont have to wait for a flash sale to own one. This ones also available in retail stores.

The Nokia 6 Plus comes in three colours  midnight blue, black and white.

Plan afoot to install floating solar panels in dams in Maha

Mumbai, Aug 28 (PTI) A state-run agency in Maharashtra

has come up with a plan to install solar panels in the

backwater of two dams to generate electricity.

Jayakwadi dam, located in Aurangabad district of

Central Maharashtra, and Ujani dam in Solapur district of

Western Maharashtra, will be the sites of the solar power

generation project, an official said today.

The Marathwada Statutory Development Corporation

(MSDC), a body formed by the state government, has come up

with a plan to erect floating solar panels in the backwater of

the two dams falling under its jurisdiction.

A study in this regard is in an advanced stage at the

Ujani dam, while the Jayakwadi dam was later added to the

project, he said.

"The Jayakwadi dam, like Ujani, has widespread

backwater, which can be used for installing floating solar

panels for power generation.

"There is ample free space at the tail-end of the dam,

which we are planning to use for (erecting) solar panels,"

Bhagwat Karad, chairman of MSDC, told PTI.

Located in Marathwada, the Jayakwadi dam, built on the

Godavari river, is located near the Aurangabad city and is a

key source of water to the arid region.

The Ujani dam, built on the Bhima river, is located in

Madha tehsil of Solapur district. It is the state's largest

dam in terms of water storage capacity.

"Ujani and Jayakwadi dams come under the corporation's

jurisdiction. We have decided to seriously pursue the concept

and come up with practical plans for setting up solar panels,"

Karad said.

Asked what prompted the corporation to use backwater

space of dams for setting up solar panels, he said, "Similar

projects are in operation in Kerala and West Bengal.

"Maharashtra also has widespread dams such as Ujani

and Jayakwadi, which are under my jurisdiction. I have asked

officials concerned to conduct a study on possibility of

setting up solar panels on dam water."

The corporation has held talks with private companies

to find out if they are willing to invest in this project and

operate such facilities, Karad said.

"A meeting with officials from the state water

resources and electricity departments took place recently in

Aurangabad to discuss the proposed project. We also held talks

with some private companies which are willing to invest in

this project and operate it," he said.

Such projects will reduce the government's dependence

on acquiring land, which is a long-drawn process, for setting

up solar power plants, the official said.

"The biggest relief is availability of space for

setting up solar plants. If similar solar panels are to be

deployed on land, then acquisition for such projects would

have taken longer time.

"Here, it is just an inter-departmental issue and

panels have to be set up and operated within the joint

framework of the WRD (water resources department and the state

-run power generation company," he said.

Another official said Marathwada is a suitable region

for harnessing solar energy, a clean source of power.

"Marathwada has higher solar radiation, which is good

for setting up solar panels. All we need to study is the up

and down movement of water (in dams) during the year and

operate panels after ensuring they don't get damaged," said

the official from the Maharashtra State Electricity

Distribution Company Ltd. PTI ND

RSY RSYMoradabad (UP), Aug 28 (PTI) Union Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said today that the NDA government connected every Indian with the banking system.

Addressing beneficiaries of various loan schemes of Prathama Bank here, the minister said that every prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru tried to improve the banking system, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the one who could connect millions of Indians with banks through the Jan Dhan Yojana.

He said Prathama Bank was the number one in rural banking and was playing a crucial role in uplifting the downtrodden.

The senior BJP leader said his party's government was committed to welfare of all people irerspective of their caste and creed.

A cheque of Rs 30 lakh, collected by Prathama Bank employees for the Kerala flood victims, was also handed over to the authorities. PTI CORR SMNMumbai, Aug 28 (PTI) Amitabh Bachchan says he is in awe of the current generation of actors  like Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao  who have honed their craft to such a level that even he gets scared while working with them.

Bachchan said while he is still trying to fine-tune his craft, young actors come prepared on sets.

"The new generation of actors like Alia, Anushka (Sharma), Deepika (Padukone), they are such capable actors, you get scared while working with them, kha hee jayenge (they'll eat me up). They are so brilliant.

"We took years and years and are still trying to fine-tune our craft but these people, they come first day on the set and know exactly what they are doing. They are so confident, mature," Bachchan told reporters.

The 75-year-old actor said he considers himself fortunate to have worked with two generations of actors.

"Look at Sushant (Singh Rajput), Varun (Dhawan), Rajkummar Rao and Kartik Aaryan. I get so obsessed that I write to them and send flowers when I watch their performance.

"I am fortunate that I've been able to live through the period where I saw Meena (Kumari) ji, Nutan ji, Waheeda (Rehman) ji and now I'm getting an opportunity to work with actors like Alia and Ranbir (his 'Brahmastra' co-stars)... It's just unbelievable," he added.

Bachchan was speaking at the launch of the 10th season of Kaun Banega Crorepati. The popular game show will start airing on Sony from September 3. PTI JUR BK

BKNew Delhi, Aug 28 (PTI) "Lust Stories", "Sacred Games" and now "Ghoul". Is there too much of Radhika Apte on Netflix?

Weighing in on the question that became viral on social media, the actor said she took it as a compliment.

"I was very happy. I think it is a great compliment because it is such a great platform. Who would not like to be a part of the projects from Netflix," Apte told PTI.

"With Netflix, what happens is that they stress on the quality because it is a global platform. They will give you the freedom to choose topics, projects and creative control but they are very particular about the quality," she added.

In response to the memes, the streaming service reunited with Apte and director Vikramaditya Motwane to make a two-minute behind-the-scenes video where they "mock" her "omnipresence". PTI RB BK SHD

SHDHanoi, Aug 28 (PTI) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today held talks with her Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh and discussed measures to strengthen trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation between the two countries.

Swaraj is in Vietnam on the first leg of her four-day two-nation tour which aims at deepening India's strategic cooperation with Vietnam and Cambodia -- the key countries in the ASEAN region.

"Deepening our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership! EAM @SushmaSwaraj and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh led delegation level talks where trade, investment, maritime and defence cooperation were discussed," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

Swaraj co-chaired the 16th meeting of the Joint Commission along with the Vietnamese foreign minister.

Earlier, addressing the 3rd Indian Ocean Conference here yesterday, Swaraj said India and Vietnam are connected not only by the common waters but also by a shared vision for peace and prosperity.

Hanoi is therefore a particularly appropriate setting to discuss developments in the Indian Ocean and the Indo-Pacific region, she said.

Swaraj said India and Vietnam have agreed to further strengthen cooperation in the maritime domain, including on anti-piracy, security of sea lanes and exchange of white shipping information.

"We also agreed on the importance of the early conclusion of an ASEAN-India Maritime Transport Cooperation Agreement. In this context, we intend to accelerate the establishment of direct shipping routes between the sea ports of India and Vietnam," she said.

Yesterday, Swaraj met Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Bangladeshi Planning Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal.

She also held talks with Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. PTI PMS PMS

PMSPresident Donald Trump, left, reportedly has revived the idea of firing Attorney General Jeff Sessions, right. (Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images photos)Police conduct searches at residences of activists; two

arrested

(Eds: Updating with fresh details)

Pune (Maha), Aug 28 (PTI) Two Left-wing activists

Varavara Rao and Sudha Bhardwaj were arrested today as the

Pune police carried out searches at multiple places in various

states on the residences of people suspected to have Maoist

links, a senior police official said.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the

violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon-Bhima village, triggered by

an event called 'Elgar Parishad' (conclave) held in Pune on

December 31 last year.

Searches were carried out at the residences of Left

wing activist and poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists

Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade union

activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad and Chhattisgarh and

civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in Delhi, the

official said, while refusing to be identified.

Following the searches, Rao and Bhardwaj were

arrested, the official added.

Rao's name had figured in a letter which the Pune

police had claimed to have seized during searches at the

premises of one of the five people arrested in June in

connection with the 'Elgar Parishad' event last December to

commemorate 200 years of the Koregaon-Bhima battle in 1818.

In June, five people were arrested for having close

Maoist links after they allegedly made "provocative" speeches

at the event, triggering violence at Koregaon-Bhima village in

the district, according to an FIR registered at the

Vishrambaug Police Station after the event.

Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale was arrested from his

home in Mumbai, while lawyer Surendra Gadling, activist Mahesh

Raut and Shoma Sen were picked up from Nagpur and Rona Wilson

was arrested from his flat in Munirka in Delhi in simultaneous

raids in June.

"During our investigation in connection with the Elgar

Parishad event, some evidences came to light about members of

a proscribed organisation, following which the police carried

out raids in Chhattisgarh, Mumbai and Hyderabad," the police

official said.

The searches today were conducted at homes of people

having Maoist links and those directly or indirectly connected

with the five arrested people, the official said.

The police claimed to have recovered "some

incriminating documents" during the searches.

"We are also checking the financial transactions of

these people, their modes of communication and also trying to

gather technical evidence," the police official said.

Outgoing joint commissioner of Pune police Ravindra

Kadam, on August 2, said no Maoist link had been found in the

Bhima Koregaon violence.

He had, however, said an 'anti-fascist front', formed

by the Maoists to oppose the policies of the current

government, was behind the 'Elgar Parishad' held in Pune a day

before the incident that saw protests by Dalit groups.

Kadam, who has been transferred to Nagpur in a recent

reshuffle, had told reporters that the police have ample

evidence in the form of documents and video footage against

the arrested persons.

Earlier, the police had booked the five arrested

people under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

They were also booked under IPC sections 153-A

(promoting disharmony, enmity between groups), 505 (inciting

class, community of persons to commit any offence against any

other class or community), 117 (abetting commission of offence

by the public or by more than ten persons) and 120-B (criminal

conspiracy). PTI SPK/DC GK AKK

AKK AKKChandigarh, Aug 28 (PTI) The Punjab Assembly here today unanimously passed bills proposing amendments to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to make desecration of religious texts punishable with life imprisonment.

The Assembly passed the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018, and The Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018, moved by the state PWD Minister Vijay Inder Singla.

Significantly, the Punjab Assembly in 2016, when the previous SAD-BJP government was in power, had passed the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016 and Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016.

The amendments at that time were approved to seek life imprisonment for desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib.

However, the Centre raised objection, saying the punishment of life imprisonment could not be limited to the desecration of holy book of just one religion and should instead be for all religions. Both the earlier bills now stand withdrawn

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said the Centre had opined it was not possible to consider one religion separately and prescribe separate punishment.

Participating in the debate, AAP MLA Aman Arora demanded that an amendment be made in the bills mandating that the trial be completed within six months.

Senior Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia said his party supported the bills. He, however, sought that desecration of Guru Granth Sahib be treated separately, "as it was accepted as a living guru".

Earlier, the Punjab cabinet had approved the insertion of section 295AA to the IPC to provide that - whoever causes injury, damage or sacrilege to Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Srimad Bhagwad Gita, Holy Quran and Holy Bible with the intention to hurt the religious feelings of the people, shall be punished with imprisonment for life.

The state had witnessed incidents of sacrilege in recent years which became an election issue in the Assembly polls last year.

Meanwhile, the Assembly also passed the Punjab Protection of Interests of Depositors (in financial establishments) Bill, 2018 to protect the interests of depositors.

As per the provisions of the Bill, "...where any financial establishment defaults the return of deposit or defaults the payment of interest on the deposit or fails to return in any kind or fails to render service for which the deposit has been made, every person, including the promoter, partner, director, manager or any other person or any employee responsible for the management of or conducting the business or the affairs of such financial establishment, shall on conviction, be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend up to ten years and fine which may extend up to Rs one lakh."

And further such financial establishment shall also be liable for a minimum fine of Rs 2 lakh which may extend up to Rs one crore," according to the bill. PTI SUN CHS VSD ADS

ADS(Eds: Adding reference to Maoist plans to assassinate PM in para 3)

Pune (Maha), Aug 28 (PTI) Maharashtra police today raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states and arrested at least five of them for suspected Maoist links, sparking a chorus of outraged protests from human rights defenders.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and the upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village near Pune after an event called Elgar Parishad, or conclave, on December 31 last year.

Security officials said two letters recovered over the past few months, indicating Maoist plans to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and Home Minister Rajnath Singh, were also a reason for the raids.

The arrests are "a dangerous sign of a government that fears it is losing its mandate and is falling into panic. That lawyers, poets, writers, Dalit rights activists and intellectuals are being arrested on ludicrous charges... tells us very clearly where India is headed," award-winning author Arundhati Roy told PTI.

Near simultaneous searches were carried out at the residences of prominent Telugu poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activists Vernon Gonzalves and Arun Farreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad and civil liberties activist Gautam Navalakha in New Delhi, a senior police official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Subsequently, Rao, Bhardwaj, Farreira, Gonzalves and Navalakha were arrested under IPC Section 153 (A), which relates to promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place or birth, residence, language and committing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony, said the official.

Some other sections of the IPC were also pressed against those arrested, along with Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for their "alleged naxal activities," said the police official, without elaborating. The premises of Father Stan Swamy, a tribal leader in Jharkhand, too were searched but he was not detained, the official said.

In New Delhi, soon after Navalakha's arrest, the Delhi High Court ordered police not to take him out of the national capital at least until tomorrow. The High Court was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Navalakha by his advocate Warisha Farasat after he was picked up from his Delhi home this afternoon by the Maharashtra police.

According to unconfirmed reports, others whose residences were raided are Susan Abraham, Kranthi Tekula and Anand Teltumbde in Goa.

Koregaon-Bhima occupies a central place in Dalit history -- it witnessed a major battle in which the Peshwa rulers were defeated on January 1, 1818 by the British army, comprising a large number of Dalit soldiers. Every year, the anniversary of the battle is marked by thousands of Dalits assembling in Pune and marching to Koregaon-Bhima war memorial.

Police say the speeches made at the conclave on December 31, a day before the 200th anniversary of the battle, were one of the triggers for the violence.

Today's events mirrored simultaneous raids conducted in June when five activists were arrested in connection with the Koregaon-Bhima violence.

"While arresting them, we had seized some documents, and while scrutinising these documents the connection of these five people surfaced," said the police official. "Their exact role in the case is part of the investigation."

Rao's name had figured in a letter which the Pune police claimed to have seized during searches at the premises of one of the five people arrested in June in connection with the Elgar Parishad. The five were accused of having close Maoist links, according to an FIR registered at the Vishrambaug Police Station after the event.

Rao was arrested from his residence at Gandhi Nagar in Hyderabad by a Pune police team, which earlier searched the residences of his two daughters.

"Pune police sought our assistance. We have provided them with local force to assist in conducting searches and making the arrest. He (Rao)... will be produced in a court and taken to Pune on transit warrant," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central Zone) Viswa Prasad told PTI.

In June, Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale was arrested from his home in Mumbai, while lawyer Surendra Gadling, activist Mahesh Raut and Shoma Sen were picked up from Nagpur and Rona Wilson was arrested from his flat in Munirka in Delhi in simultaneous raids.

"During our investigation in connection with the Elgar Parishad event, some evidence came to light about members of a proscribed organisation, following which the police carried out raids in Chhattisgarh, Mumbai and Hyderabad" today, the police official said.

The searches were conducted at homes of people having Maoist links and those directly or indirectly connected with the five arrested people, the official said.

The police claimed to have recovered "some incriminating documents" during the searches.

"We are also checking the financial transactions of these people, their modes of communication and also trying to gather technical evidence," the police official said.

However, outgoing joint commissioner of Pune police Ravindra Kadam, had said on August 2, that no Maoist links were found in the Koregaon-Bhima violence.

Today's arrests were condemned widely.

"Fascist fangs are now openly bared," tweeted lawyer Prashant Bhushan.

"It is a clear declaration of emergency. They are going after anyone who has spoken against the government on rights issues. They are against any dissent," Bhushan said.

PTI SPK/DC GK AKK VJ ASH

ASHNew Delhi, Aug 28 (PTI) Following are the top stories from the northern region at 10 pm



NEWDELHI DEL45 DL-LD-RAIN-TRAFFIC JAMS

Gurgaon/New Delhi, Aug 28 (PTI) Heavy rains lashed several parts of Delhi-NCR through the night, submerging roads and triggering traffic jams that lasted hours.



NEWDELHI DEL24 JK-GOVERNOR-INTERVIEW

New Delhi: Bridging the gap between the peoples of Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of India and engaging with alienated youths top the agenda of newly appointed governor Satya Pal Malik, who says politics will take a back seat during his tenure and reaching out to common people will have the topmost priority.



CHANDIGARH DES11 PB-SESSION-REPORT

Chandigarh: The Punjab Assembly had to be adjourned briefly after the opposition SAD protested over the "less time" allotted to them today to speak during a debate on the Justice Ranjit Singh commission report on sacrilege incidents.



CHANDIGARH DEL44 PB-SESSION-BILLS

Chandigarh: The Punjab Assembly here today unanimously passed bills proposing amendments to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to make desecration of religious texts punishable with life imprisonment.



LUCKNOW DES15 UP-ASSEMBLY WALKOUT

Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party (SP) charged the state government with failing to act against those instigating riots and staged a walkout from the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly over the issue today.



LUCKNOW DES13 UP-LD-SHIVPAL-BJP

Lucknow, Aug 28 (PTI) Expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh today said he had set up a meeting between sidelined SP legislator Shivpal Yadav with top BJP leaders, but it did not take place.



VIJAYPUR (JK) DEL15 JK-DGP

Vijaypur (JK) A large number of heavily-armed terrorists are waiting across the Line of Control and the International Border for an opportunity to sneak into the state, Jammu and Kashmir police chief S P Vaid said today.



JAIPUR DES16 RJ-CONG-BJP-FIR

Jaipur: The BJP's Kota district unit has filed a counter-FIR in response to one lodged by the Congress' unit after the supporters of the two parties pelted stones at each other in Kundanpur area during a rally, the police said today



NEWDELHI DES17 DL-VAJPAYEE-YATRA

New Delhi: The Delhi unit of the BJP immersed the ashes of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the Yamuna river today after a procession covering all the seven Lok Sabha constituencies of the national capital.



SRINAGAR DES25 JK-WEDDINGS-ARTICLE 35A

Srinagar: Mohammad Shafi had planned a big celebration for his daughter's wedding this week. The invitation cards have been sent, but Shafi says he is now not sure about the celebration.



VIJAYPUR (JK) DEL15 JK-DGP

Vijaypur (JK): A large number of heavily-armed terrorists are waiting across the Line of Control and the International Border for an opportunity to sneak into the state, Jammu and Kashmir police chief S P Vaid said today.



LUCKNOW DES35 UP-LD-COUNCIL-SUMMON

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council has summoned a superintendent of police to the House tomorrow for allegedly failing to take a call from a legislator.



NEWDELHI DES39 DL-LD CHANDNI CHOWK

New Delhi: Chandni Chowk will soon become the first locality in the national capital where only pedestrians, cycle rickshaws and e-rickshaws will be allowed between 9 am and 9 pm everyday, an official said.



PTI

ASH

ASHNew Delhi, Aug 28 (PTI) KVIC chief V K Saxena today told a Delhi court that there was a deliberate attempt by Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) activist Medha Patkar to defame him and tarnish his image on a TV programme in 2006.

Patkar and Saxena, the Khadi Village and Industries Commission (KVIC) chairman, have been embroiled in a legal battle since 2000 after she filed a suit against him for publishing advertisements against her and the NBA. Saxena was then the head of an Ahmedabad-based NGO, National Council for Civil Liberties.

Saxena, in turn, had filed two cases against her for making derogatory remarks against him on a TV channel and issuing a defamatory press statement against him.

Metropolitan Magistrate Nishant Garg today recorded the statement of Saxena who was deposing as a complainant witness in the defamation case against Patkar.

Saxena told the court that on April 20, 2006, he had participated in a televison programme "Breaking News" on India TV on the activities of Narmada Bachao Andolan.

During the TV programme, he was shown a video in which Patkar had accused him of getting some civil contracts relating to the Sardar Sarovar project, Saxena said, adding he had outrightly denied the allegations.

He also told the court that during the programme he had said he would file a defamation case against her for defaming him "without an iota of evidence".

"There was a deliberate attempt on the part of the accused to defame me in the programme which had wide national and international coverage. Because of the statement, I was badly defamed and my image was tarnished. Many people called me to enquire about the matter. The CD of the entire programme has been placed on record," Saxena told the court.

The CD of the programme, which was of almost 29 minute duration, was played in the court.

When the court asked the advocate Sridevi Panikkar, appearing for Patkar, to cross examine Saxena, she sought adjournment saying she does not have the file and needs time to go through it.

Before Panikkar, advocate V K Ohri was appearing for Patkar, who was discharged from the case today.

The matter was posted for hearing on November 29.

The court had earlier imposed a cost of Rs 7,000 on Patkar for seeking adjournment for cross-examining a witness in the defamation case. On July 9, it had framed defamation charges against Patkar in the case lodged by Saxena.

The court had framed the notice against the activist under sections 499/500 (defamation) of the IPC and fixed the matter for recording of Saxena's evidence. It entails a punishment of up to two years.

The court has separated the three defamation cases -- one filed by Patkar and two by Saxena, considering that these were pending since long and needed to be expedited.

The activist, in her complaint, has alleged that she was defamed by an advertisement published by Saxena in November 2000 and the imputations made in the publication affected her reputation and fame and caused her immense harm.

The court had on April 9 begun the cross-examination of Patkar in this case during which she had denied having deliberately concealed facts to tarnish Saxena's image.

Both Patkar and Saxena had earlier refused the suggestion of the court to settle the matter through mediation. PTI PKS RKS ARCNew Delhi, Aug 28 (PTI) The Supreme Court today dismissed a plea of journalist Upendra Rai seeking to restrain Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer Rajeshwar Singh from conducting probe against him in a graft case.

A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said the cases lodged against Rai have nothing to do with the 2G case pending before it and his plea is not maintainable in the present set of proceedings.

"We are dismissing it as not maintainable. It is not the subject matter of the present proceedings," the bench said.

Senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, appearing for Rai, said since he had made certain allegations against Singh, the ED and the CBI have lodged cases against him.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Singh, said identical allegations are being made time and again and court has often protected the official from such averments.

Rohatgi said cases against Rai are related to corruption and CBI has allegedly found Rs 100 crore in bank accounts which is the money made out of extortion.

"These all are separate cases lodged against you (Rai). It has nothing to do with the 2G case. We are concerned with the 2G only. It will be better if you file a separate petition to challenge the proceedings against you," the bench told Rai.

Earlier, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had opposed Rai's plea to restrain Singh from probing him.

Swamy had said that the Aircel-Maxis case was brought before the court through his petition and Rai in his plea had made some "scurrilous remarks" against ED officer Singh, who is probing the case.

He had also alleged that it was an attempt to delay the completion of probe in the Aircel-Maxis deal case.

Rai was arrested on June 8 by the agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at the Tihar Jail here, moments after he secured bail in a Central Bureau of Investigation case related to alleged extortion and dubious financial transactions.

He was arrested by the CBI on May 3 for allegedly indulging in dubious financial transactions, getting an airport access pass made by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) by furnishing false information, alleged extortion and manipulation of an Income Tax Department case against a Mumbai-bound businessman.

The ED had registered a money laundering case against him based on the CBI FIR.

In its FIR, the CBI has alleged that going by the value of transactions of over Rs one lakh each during 2017, Rai's accounts received Rs 79 crore while Rs 78.51 crore was debited from it during the same period. PTI MNL RRT DV

DVLeft leaning poet & writer Varavara Rao arrested

Hyderabad, Aug 28 (PTI): Left leaning poet and writer

Varavara Rao was arrested from his residence here today for

his alleged links with Maoists.

He was arrested from his residence at Gandhi Nagar by a

police team from Pune.

A senior police official here said the team conducted

searches at the residences of Rao's two daughters and a

journalist, among others, before arresting him.

"Pune police sought our assistance. We have provided them

with local force to assist in conducting searches and making

the arrest. They arrested Varavara Rao. He will be produced in

a court and taken to Pune on transit warrant," Deputy

Commissioner of Police ( Central Zone) Viswa Prasad told PTI.

Besides Rao, left wing activist Sudha Bhardwaj was also

arrested at Faridabad.

Protesting against the arrest, Civil Liberties Committee

president GaddamLaxman said they would fight the issue

legally.

"The BJP Government is attacking intellectuals physically

and mentally tortutring them. We are consulting legal experts.

We will fight legally. National Human Rights Commission should

take this up suo moto. His arrest is a gross violation of

human rights," Laxman told reporters.

The raids and arrests were carried out as part of the

probe into the violence at Maharashtra's Koregaon Bhima

village following an event called 'Elgar Parishad' (conclave)

held in Pune last year.

In June, five people were arrested for having close

Maoist links after they allegedly made "provocative" speeches

at the event, triggering violence at Koregaon-Bhima village.

Rao's name had cropped up in a letter seized by police

during searches at the premises of one of the five people

arrested in June in connection with the Elgar Parishad event

held on December 31, 2017 to commemorate 200 years of the

Koregaon Bhima battle in 1818. PTI GDK APR

APR APRTN seeks Fin Min nod to release second instalment from CFC

Chennai, Aug 28 (PTI): Tamil Nadu today sought the

Finance Ministry's nod to grant the second instalment of funds

from the Central Finance Commission to take up development

work in urban and rural local bodies in the state.

Municipal Administration Minister S P Velumani called on

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi and submitted the

memorandum, seeking more funds.

Copies of the memorandum were released to the media here.

He sought the Ministry's nod to release the second

instalment of basic grant of Rs 1,390.04 crore and also the

performance grant of Rs 560.15 crore to urban and rural local

bodies for the 2017-18 year.

"The urban and rural local bodies are in dire need of

funds to carry out their day to day affairs in order to

provide basic amenities to its citizens", he said.

Noting that local bodies have taken up development work

and have utilised the first instalment to settle the bills, he

said the development works were at the completion stage

and required further funds to settle the final bills.

"The non-receipt of basic grant of the Central Finance

Commission from the Government of India has led to public

hardship and suffering", he said.

Velumani sought Jaitley's intervention on the issue and

also requested him to instruct the Department of Expenditure,

Ministry of Finance to release the second instalment.

He requested him to release the first instalment of the

basic grant of Rs 1,608.03 crore for the 2018-19 fiscal.

Recalling the earlier representation to Jaitley, Velumani

said the funds were withheld by the centre since elections

were not held for local bodies due to legal impediments.

"The elections to local bodies could not be held in the

State due to various litigations and also on account of the

process of delimitation of territorial wards of local bodies

being undertaken by the Tamil Nadu Delimitation Commission",

he said.

After completion of delimitation process, the State

Election Commission would be in a position to notify the

elections to the local bodies, he said. PTI VIJ APR

APR APRMaha govt sends 50 tonnes of tur dal to flood-hit Kerala

Mumbai, Aug 28 (PTI) The Maharashtra government today

sent 50 tonnes of tur dal as aid to flood-affected Kerala.

State Agriculture Minister Chandrakant Patil flagged

off the Netravati Express, loaded with 50 tonnes of tur dal,

from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) in Mumbai.

"Today's supply is in line with the ongoing support to

Kerala from Maharashtra in various forms apart from the

already-announced help of Rs 20 crore from the state

government and Rs 10 crore from the MSRTC (Maharashtra State

Road Transport Corporation)," Patil told reporters.

"The money will be used for infrastructure development

and rebuilding the areas, which is a long procedure. This help

in the form of tur dal is meant for immediate use as many

people will need pulses and food grains so that they can cook

and eat," Patil said.

According to the minister, a huge stock of biscuits

was also sent to the southern state from Sangli yesterday. PTI

ND

NP NP

SDM SDMPune, Aug 28 (PTI) A letter purportedly written by a Maoist leader and seized by the police in April this year hails prominent Telugu poet Varavara Rao for his alleged "guidance" in various Naxal activities in the country.

Rao was among the five people arrested today for suspected Maoist links. The arrests were made after the Maharashtra police raided the homes of prominent Left-wing activists in several states.

The letter in question was part of a bunch of documents seized by the Pune police during the searches at the premises of five people arrested in June this year for alleged links with Maoists. The searches were carried out in different parts of the country in April.

The letter written in Hindi by one comrade named Milind, hails Rao, described as a "senior comrade", and advocate Surendra Gadling for their "guidance" in carrying out Naxal activities in various parts of the country.

"In the last few months, due to the guidance by senior comrade Varavara Rao and our legal advisor Comrade adv Surendra Gadling in various activities, we received good publicity at the national level," reads the letter, a copy of which is also with PTI.

The letter, whose authenticity could not be verified independently, also talks about Rao raising funds for future "operations" and Gadling being given the responsibility to provide those funds to the "jungle comrades".

The undated letter also has a mention of some meeting to be held in Nagpur where Rao and Gadling were supposed to speak.

The June arrests of five people, including prominent Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale, were made in connection with violent clashes at Koregaon-Bhima village near here on January 1.

Rao and four others were arrested under IPC Section 153 (A), which relates to promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place or birth, residence, language and committing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony, said an official. PTI SPK RSY TIR

TIRKolkata, Aug 28 (PTI) The West Bengal Congress today asked the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) to spell out if it would support the BJP after the next Lok Sabha elections.

A clear cut announcement on part of the TMC was needed as the party has been differentiating between leaders of the BJP, state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said, while addressing the foundation day programme of the Chhatra Parishad, the student's wing of Congress in West Bengal.

"We have to defeat the BJP at the Centre and the TMC at the state in the next election. The TMC is talking against the BJP but is not saying clearly whether it will support the BJP in the post-poll scenario," Chowdhury said.

He said, "For the TMC, L K Advani is good but (Narendra) Modi is bad. Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj are good but Amit Shah is bad. We don't believe in such differentiation."

The Congress thinks that the BJP as a whole represents one single ideology which is against the basic ethos of the country and its diversity, Chowdhury said.

"(TMC supremo) Mamata Banerjee should clarify whether her party would support Sushma Swaraj or Rajnath Singh if they are made prime ministerial candidate of the BJP instead of Narendra Modi," he said.

Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi, who was present at the programme, said the party's focus is to strengthen the organisation in the state and assured state leaders that the high command stands by its workers who are being attacked by the ruling TMC in Bengal.

During the programme, infighting in West Bengal Congress unit came out in the open after leaders of party's students' wing exchanged blows with each other in front of senior leaders.

A quarrel broke out between two groups over who would take seat on the dais. Following this, supporters of both groups hurled abuses and clashed with each other, witnesses said. PTI PNT NN TIR

TIRChandigarh, Aug 28 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh announced today that a special investigation team (SIT) of the Punjab Police for the time-bound investigation into the Bargari and other sacrilege cases as well as the firing incidents of Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura.

Winding up the discussion on the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report on sacrilege incidents on the last day of the Assembly session, he said his government would take immediate action as per the findings and recommendations of the SIT to ensure that justice is meted out to innocent victims.

The announcement and the assurance came after the House unanimously passed a resolution, by voice vote, to withdraw CBI investigations into the cases and get the same probed by the SIT.

The resolution was moved by Rural Development Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa on chief minister's request, who took the decision after taking cognizance of the sentiment of the majority, including the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs.

However, Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said by handing over the sacrilege cases to the Punjab Police, the CM had admitted that he "failed" to "achieve his objectives" against them through the commission and would now "misuse" police.

The CBI is already probing three sacrilege cases including theft of a 'bir' (copy of Guru Granth Sahib) from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in Kotkapura.

On July 30, the Congress government announced to hand over the probe into Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan firing that followed the Bargari sacrilege to the CBI.

The chief minister said there was no question of going soft on Parkash Singh Badal, whom he blamed squarely for the damage caused to the state and its people with his grave acts of commission and omission.

He came down heavily on the SAD leaders, including Parkash Singh Badal, Sukhbir Badal, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Bikram Singh Majithia and others, for "failing" to even visit those injured in the police firing in Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura.

The chief minister said the Congress had made an election promise to bring the truth of the Bargari sacrilege case and the subsequent firing incidents to the people of

Punjab.

He said he had decided to get the incident thoroughly probe when he visited the injured after the incidents.

Amarinder Singh attacked Parkash Singh Badal calling him "coward and liar" and said Badal had lodged false cases against him, adding he was even turned out of the Assembly and had to be reinstated by the Supreme Court.

Referring to Operation Bluestar, he blamed Badal for the incident.

"Whenever there was any scope of negotiation, Badal would sabotage the efforts," the CM said, adding that he would run away after promising the hardliners of his support.

The CM also lashed out at Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia, saying nobody knew where he had come from and he clearly came from a family which completely "lacked

character".

Majithia, along with Badal and Sukhbir Badal, had come together to form a "dangerous coteries" working against the interests of the state and continuously trying to divide it, he alleged.

On the Bargari and Behbal Kalan incidents, Amarinder pointed out that DGP Sumedh Singh Saini, on the last day of his service, had given a statement that he had

spoken to then CM Parkash Singh Badal before the firing incident.

He wondered how the then CM could have been sleeping, as claimed by him, at such a grave time for the state. It was not done for a leader to blame his subordinates, said Amarinder, adding that Badal was obviously not a leader in the true sense of the word.

Earlier participating in debate, Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal lashed out at Badals for indulging in "communal politics to polarise the society".

He accused them of sowing the seeds of communal divide in Punjab for the first time by conspiring to allow the 'Nirankari Samagam' on April 13, 1978, despite intelligence reports against holding it in Amritsar, which resulted in the death of 16 Sikhs protesting against the 'Samagam'.

Punjab minister Sukhjinder Randhawa demanded that Parkash Singh Badal be stripped of the honour of 'Fakhr-e-Quom' bestowed by the Jathedar Sri Akal Takht Sahib

as he had indulged in his "anti-Sikh and anti-panthic" activities, for which he actually deserves the title of 'Gaddar-e-Quom'- traitor of 'Panth'.

Leader of Opposition Harpal Singh Cheema moved a resolution seeking apology by the Centre for failing to take any action against guilty in sacrilege cases, which was

unanimously passed by the House.

During the debate, the House also passed a privilege motion against the SGPC chief for rejecting the Ranjit Singh Commission report. PTI CHS SUN VSD DIP

DIPThe appearance was Obamas first since May, when he came to the Stony Island Arts Bank in South Shore to meet the first class of Obama Fellows. This recent meeting coincided with the gathering of the first class of Obama Foundation Scholars, but its the first time he has met with a small group of stakeholders in an intimate setting this year, officials with the foundation said.First Data Corporation provides commerce enabled technology and solutions for merchants, financial institutions, and card issuers in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through three segments: Global Business Solutions, Global Financial Solutions, and Network & Security Solutions. The Global Business Solutions segment provides solutions to merchants, such as retail point of sale merchant acquiring, e-commerce, and mobile payment services, as well as cloud based point of sale operating system that include a marketplace for proprietary and third party applications. The Global Finance Solutions segment provides technology solutions for bank and non-bank issuers, such as credit, retail private label, commercial card, and loan processing, as well as licensed financial software systems; suite of account services that include card personalization and embossing, customer communications, and professional services; and call center solutions and back office processing. The Network & Security Solutions segment offers EFT network, stored value network, and security and fraud solutions, as well as other value added solutions to its clients in GBS and GFS segments, smaller financial institutions, and other enterprise clients. First Data Corporation was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Read MoreNot only that, it didnt clean up our elections. Opponents warned that by barring large individual and corporate contributions to political parties, it would precipitate a tectonic shift of political power away from the parties and toward outside groups, which were likely to be far more extreme and far less accountable, wrote Robert Kelner and Raymond La Raja in 2014 in The Washington Post. The critics were correct. Its another way the foe of Trump facilitated the rise of Trump.NORRISTOWN  A Red Hill woman has been convicted of charges she tried to smuggle drugs into the Montgomery County Correctional Facility while there to visit an inmate.

Angela K. Hausman, 38, of the 1400 block of West Third Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 11 months already served to 23 months in the county jail after she pleaded guilty to a felony charge of contraband in connection with the Sept. 27, 2017, incident at the Lower Providence jail.

Court documents indicate Hausman was given credit for the time she spent in jail since being detained on Sept. 27.

Judge Wendy G. Rothstein, who accepted a plea agreement in the matter, also ordered Hausman to complete four years probation following parole, meaning Hausman will be under court supervision for about six years.

The judge said Hausman is to be paroled directly to Florida, on an unrelated detainer, where, according to court documents filed by detectives, she was on parole and probation for drug violations.

An investigation began about 1:25 p.m. Sept. 27, when Lower Providence police responded to the jail on Eagleville Road for a report of a drug violation. Correctional officers reported that Hausman entered the jail and was in a secured area waiting to enter a prisoner visitor area when officials noticed her crushing up something that was inside of her hand, according to the criminal complaint filed by Lower Providence Police Officer Matthew M. Barber.

Hausman allegedly did not comply with a correctional officers commands to open her hand and her hand had to be forcefully opened, court papers indicate. In Hausmans hand, officials observed a paper towel with numerous prescription pills inside, some of which had been crushed, according to the arrest affidavit.

Officials recovered one white pill and three blue pills, which were determined to be Buprenorphine and Xanax, which are controlled substances under the law, according to court papers. Officials also located one green pill, subsequently determined to be oxycodone, inside Hausmans wallet, according to the criminal complaint.

Hausman did not have a valid prescription for any of the controlled substances that were found in her possession, Barber alleged.AMSTERDAM - ICE arrested 17 undocumented men after a traffic stop by Amsterdam city police. Immigration attorneys said the number arrested a week ago reflects an increase nationwide and cooperation between immigration officials and local law enforcement in the Capital Region.

Camille Mackler, director of Immigration Legal Policy at the New York Immigration Coalition, said that arrests as a result of traffic stops or calls from citizens have become more common in upstate New York and along the northern U.S. border.

An Amsterdam police patrol officer pulled over a white Chevrolet work van near Knights Inn motel along Route 5S at 3 p.m. on Aug. 21, according to the police report.

Police Sgt. Carl Rust said the officer spotted the driver drinking beer in a bottle through a cracked windshield of the van carrying 18 men. There were some beer bottles on board, and several of the men didn't have proper identification. The officer alerted ICE, which arrived in 30 minutes.

Regional ICE spokesman Khaalid Walls said the 17 men arrested, are from Mexico and Honduras and range in age from 19 to 58. They were detained in Albany County Jail, where immigration attorneys interviewed them in the 24 hours after their arrests.

Mackler, who oversees the volunteer attorneys, said the men were returning home from construction work. Some had lived in New York for years, others just a few months.

ICE arrests nationwide increased from 110,000 in fiscal year 2016 to almost 150,000 in last year 2017. In the most recent data from the end of 2017, arrests in upstate New York hovered around 100 a month.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

Rust couldn't provide data on how frequently his department calls Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but he said "we've used them quite often" in the past three years.

Mackler said arrests as the result of police calls are concerning for her and other immigration attorneys.

"It's creating a much wider dragnet for immigrants. It fosters distrust between local communities and law enforcement and that's very dangerous," Mackler said. "It gives people, especially individuals of color, it gives them more reason to not come forward to the police if they witness crime."

Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said all 17 men were still detained as of Monday, awaiting removal proceedings. The jail received an influx of 330 migrants transferred from the southern border this summer. Even though those detainees are now being transferred to other facilities, local arrests continue to fill the jail.But what happens in the House will still be a long way from the 67 votes in the Senate needed to remove the president from office. Remember, impeachment is more like an indictment. The Senate will be responsible for having a trial and reaching a verdict. It is possible that Trump is impeached in the House but not convicted in the Senate, and the 2020 elections will be left to resolve the question of Trump's future.Illuminate Theatre celebrates milestone

Finger food. Raffles. Cupcakes.

All this and more will be part of Illuminate Theatre's one year anniversary celebration from 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, at 25 Warren St. in Albany.

Illuminate Theatre focuses on actors and poets of color in the Capital Region, and offers performances on every fourth Tuesday of the month. The theater was founded by actor-producer Morgan Elizabeth, an Albany High and Russell Sage College graduate.

Actors who have taken the stage throughout the year will start the evening off with performances, followed by brief talk backs. The night will end with dancing and music by DJ Tru Mastr.

Tickets are $20. For information, go to facebook.com/IlluminateTheater.

Upbeat season coming to a close

The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs will host the final concert of the 2018 Upbeat on the Roof concert season at 7 p.m. Thursday, with the Arthur Brooks Ensemble V.

An improvisational jazz group led by musician, composer, trumpeter and flugelhornist Arthur Brooks, the ensemble was founded at Bennington College in 1973.

Thursday's concert is the group's Upbeat debut. Its current members are recognized professionals who have performed nationally and internationally. They combine improvisation with composition to craft unique pieces.

Performances are free and open to the public. Due to the popularity of Upbeat concerts, visitors are encouraged to arrive early to ensure a seat.

For information, call 518-580-8080 or go to tang.skidmore.edu.

Thomas Cole event offered in Esperance

A special program focusing on Thomas Cole and his time spent at Featherstonhaugh Park painting scenes of Duanesburg and Esperance will be held at 1 p.m. Sept. 1, at the Esperance Old Stone Presbyterian Church.

Sign up for The Knick  Get the latest news and some area history with our afternoon newsletter.

The free program will be followed by refreshments at the Esperance Historical Museum, located next door to the church, where a recently acquired reproduction of Thomas Cole's "View on the Schoharie" and a collection of local art will be on display.

Thomas Cole is considered the father of the Hudson River School of landscape painting. In the mid 1820s, Cole spent time in Esperance at the residence of his patron, George Featherstonhaugh.

The program's speaker is William Coleman, a historian of art, architecture, material culture and music, with particular interests in landscape and country houses in the Anglo-American world. He serves as associate curator of American art at the Newark Museum.

For information, go to facebook.com/events/450022128842528.

 Jennifer PattersonA beer company called Frog Alley Brewing is being developed to open late this year as a brewery and taproom in the newly designated Mill Artisan District in downtown Schenectady.

The district, which make over the south side of State Street between Church and Ferry streets, will have Frog Alley Brewing as its centerpiece. The brewery is owned by J.T. Pollard, owner of Schenectady's Re4orm Architecture, which designed the half-billion-dollar Mohawk Harbor development in Schenectady that includes Rivers Casino.Saratoga Springs

Gregory Veitch lied. I hate to say it, but there's no better way to put it.

The dishonesty was revealed in a blockbuster story by Barbara Lombardo, who in Sunday's Times Union reported that Veitch, the police chief in Saratoga Springs, willfully misled the public when he said police had conducted an internal investigation into the death Darryl Mount Jr., a 21-year-old fatally injured while fleeing from officers.

There was no investigation.

Veitch admitted to purposeful deception in a deposition taken as part of the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Mount's family. He also admitted the department investigated the criminal case against Mount, but nothing else.

"You did not have any other investigation?" an attorney asked.

"Correct," Veitch replied. "There was no official internal investigation."

We live in a time when elected officials  Donald Trump and Andrew Cuomo come to mind  routinely lie to us. The blatancy of political dishonesty is worsening, which is terrible for democracy, but many of us learned long ago that only fools trust politicians.

Call me naive, but I still like to believe that police chiefs should have more credibility than the average baby-kisser. When they speak, we should be able to trust what they say. We want to believe our police.

Veitch has lost that trust, which makes it fair to wonder whether he can continue as chief.

No, it isn't fair to judge his entire career by this case. And it's worth noting that Christian Mathiesen, the city's former commissioner of public safety, describes Veitch as a man of "unwavering integrity."

But what happens the next time there's a controversy involving the city's police, as there inevitably will be? How will Saratoga trust Veitch when he stands up to deliver the facts?

None of this is to say that Saratoga Springs police did anything wrong as they pursued Mount. In the official version of things, Mount assaulted a woman on Caroline Street in 2013 and ran when approached by police. He then fell from a scaffold, never regained consciousness and died nine months later.

His family claims that his injuries were inflicted by police. They begged Saratoga Springs to authorize an outside investigation. That wasn't necessary, said city officials, because the department's internal investigation had ruled out police misconduct.

Wrong. There was no internal investigation. Veitch had decided it wasn't necessary, and so he only pretended one was underway.

"We had no allegations of misconduct and we didn't have any facts that would support an allegation of misconduct," Veitch said during the deposition.

The first part of that sentence is another untruth. Lombardo reports that on the day of Mount's fall, family members made misconduct claims directly to a sergeant who relayed the allegations to Veitch.

The lies will have consequences. They will make it much more difficult for the city to defend the lawsuit, filed by Mount's mother, claiming "excessive deadly and unreasonable force." Expect a seven-figure payout, at minimum.

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The family seems to have a good case. A noted forensic pathologist has found that Mount's injuries were "inconsistent with an accidental fall" and "consistent with trauma sustained from a direct assault, i.e., physical beating."

Maybe that explains why Veitch didn't want an internal investigation. Or maybe Veitch really and truly believed that his officers had done nothing wrong. But in that case, what's the harm in conducting an internal investigation?

More Information Contact columnist Chris Churchill at 518-454-5442 or email cchurchill@timesunion.com See More Collapse

The bigger picture issue here is about whether any police department can be trusted when it comes to investigating their own. Or does the famed "blue wall" preclude honesty when abuse occurs?

It's a question that's especially relevant in Albany at the moment, after Ellazar Williams was shot and paralyzed last week by one of three pursuing detectives. Police say they found a knife at the scene, but no gun.

And it's a question that has been asked, among many other places, in Troy, where the department investigation into the 2013 police shooting death of Edson Thevenin was outed by an attorney general's investigation as a sham.

That AG report said Troy police "grossly mishandled" witnesses. It says the department "prejudged the outcome" of its investigation. It says it failed to arrange basic forensic analyses. It says police "overlooked or ignored evidence."

It all makes you wonder: Is it better for police departments to conduct internal investigations that are fraudulent, as Troy did, or is it better if they, as in Saratoga Springs, just pretend to conduct investigations?

READ: Commissioner: No civilian oversight needed for Saratoga Springs police

Either way, the public gets duped.

cchurchill@timesunion.com  518-454-5442  @chris_churchillCourtesy photo

ALBANY  A Brooklyn man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday for selling fentanyl and cocaine in Colonie last year, the Albany County District Attorney Office said.

Keith Stevens, 34, pleaded guilty in July to felony criminal sale of a controlled substance and was sentenced in Albany County Court on Monday.ALBANY  Former Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner, an independent candidate for governor, is facing several challenges to her efforts to file petitions to get onto the ballot  and blames a fellow Democrat, Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

"It's clear that Andrew Cuomo fears and wants to disenfranchise the nearly 41,000 New Yorkers who have rejected the status quo by demanding a real choice in November," said Miner's campaign manager, Sherman Jewett.

Miner's 41,000 petition signatures to get onto the ballot as a gubernatorial candidate for the nascent Serve America Movement party face "general" challenges from three people so far, according to a spokesman for the state Board of Elections. Those people  all of whom have ties to the Democratic Party establishment that is strongly backing Cuomo  have not yet filed required "specific" challenges to the signatures that would enumerate why the Miner signatures are not valid.

Miner needs 15,000 valid signatures to get her name onto the ballot for the November general election.

Two of the challengers are Benjamin Lavender, a former labor relations specialist with CSEA, a public sector union that is backing Cuomo, and Matthew Pangburn, a special assistant to the commissioner of the Nassau County Board of Elections.

The envelopes received by the state Board of Elections for the general objections had a return address from the Nassau County Democratic Committee. That committee's chairman is Jay Jacobs, a close Cuomo ally and former chairman of the state Democratic Party.

Reached by phone, neither Lavender nor Pangburn answered a question about whether the Cuomo campaign was involved with their objections. Both said they were at work and would call back later.

"Not a shred of truth to it," Cuomo campaign spokeswoman Abbey Collins said of Miner's charges. "Newly minted neo-con Stephanie Miner must have heard it from it from Infowars."

Jacobs did not immediately return phone calls.

Both Lavender and Pangburn also filed objections against the petitions of Miner's running mate for the SAM Party, Michael Volpe.

The other objection filed against Miner's petitions came from Mark English, chairman of the Onondaga County Democratic Committee. That committee has pledged its support to Cuomo over Miner, who is from Onondaga County.

"As Chair of the Onondaga County Democratic Committee it is my job to protect and preserve the rights of our designated candidates under the election law," English said in an emailed statement. "I, of course, strongly support the candidacy of our designee for governor, Andrew Cuomo. By filing the objection, I have preserved the party's right to file specific objections to Ms. Miner's petitions. I will not have any further comment on this matter until the signatures are reviewed and a ruling is made on any specific objections that may be made after that review."

Cuomo and Miner are former allies: Miner served as co-chair of the state Democratic Party early in Cuomo's tenure as governor, which began in 2011. But the two had a falling out over a 2013 op-ed Miner penned in the New York Times criticizing Cuomo's fiscal policies for cities.

Since then Miner has emerged as a persistent Cuomo critic. She announced she was making an independent run for governor earlier this summer. Cuomo officials have suggested that the candidacy was meant to siphon votes away from a fellow Democrat, Cuomo, and help Republican Marc Molinaro, the Dutchess County executive, in the general election.

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Former aides to ex-President George W. Bush, a Republican founded the Serve America Movement. But party officials insist they are dedicated to building a national, nonpartisan third party, not helping Molinaro.

A general challenge was also filed against the petitions of Libertarian Party candidate Larry Sharpe. The challenge was filed by Frank Panasuk, president of the 1971 Society political action committee.

Another objection was filed against the petitions of Jimmy McMillan, the perennial colorful candidate of the "Rent Is Too Damn High Party," by Bryan Jimenez, who was the Green Party candidate for Albany mayor in 2017.

After filing general objections, the objectors have several days to file more specific objections laying out the problems with a candidate's petition signatures.

In 2014, Cuomo unsuccessfully tried to have his Democratic primary opponent, Zephyr Teachout, removed from the ballot. Cuomo's election lawyer that year, former state Sen. Martin Connor, this year is working for Miner.

Besides Miner, Cuomo faces the possibility of another Democrat in the general election mix. Cynthia Nixon has the Working Families line, and it's unclear if she would stay on the line if she loses to Cuomo in their primary on Sept. 13.

An earlier version of this article misidentified Frank Panasuk as an official with Shooters Committee on Political Education. Panasuk is a former board member. Also, Benjamin Lavender is a former employee of CSEA.ALBANY  U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says congressional Democrats' plan to thwart the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh depends on citizens in every state calling their representatives and urging them to reject President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee.

The Democratic senator, who is running for re-election in November against Republican Chele Farley, cited voters' ability to sway three Republican senators to vote down the Trump administration's healthcare overhaul last year.

"The only way you're going to beat Judge Kavanaugh that I know of is to make every person in America care about this issue and raise their voice and their views with members of the Senate," Gillibrand said during a meeting with the Times Union editorial board Monday.

Democrats have been sounding the alarm on Kavanaugh's judicial record on abortion, same-sex marriage, and environmental issues, but Kavanaugh's past arguments that a sitting president cannot be indicted makes blocking the judge's appointment even more critical, according to Gillibrand.

That view on indicting a president is shared by many legal experts, including the author of an advisory opinion that currently binds the Justice Department, which is investigating whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to intervene in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump was implicated in federal crimes by his former attorney Michael Cohen last week, and special counsel Robert Mueller appears to be closing in on the president in his Russia collusion probe, granting immunity in exchange for cooperation to several people close to the president.

It is unclear what Kavanaugh's current beliefs are regarding the indictment of a sitting president, though he argued for presidential immunity in the past and the issue is likely to arise during the upcoming Senate confirmation hearings.

Gillibrand says Kavanaugh's past statements indicate that he believes the president is above the law.

"I think that disqualifies him because that's a conflict of interest. On those grounds, I'm going to urge my colleagues when I get back this evening to start thinking long and hard on whether he should not be voted on," Gillibrand said.

Republicans control both the Senate and the House, making it difficult for Democrats to move legislation. Gillibrand said the odds are not great for Democratic hopes to retake the U.S. Senate during midterm elections this fall.

"There's a chance, but it's a terrible map for Democrats. We have 25 seats up and they have eight seats up. Of our 25, 10 are in red or purple states," she said. "But so far, our candidates are doing really well. Most of them are up in the polls."

She added that Democrats hope to flip at least four Republican-held seats.

Gillibrand expressed frustration that her bills on education reform, energy efficiency, paid family leave, gun control, and immigration reform, which have bipartisan support, are short a handful of votes or have been blocked from a vote by the Republican leadership.

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"These are common-sense things. They are not complex; they are simple. Not getting the votes is frustrating. So flipping the Senate is important to me," she said.

Gillibrand said she has spoken to the president's daughter Ivanka Trump about her national paid leave plan, which was once unpopular but has recently garnered support from many Republicans, including Florida's Sen. Marco Rubio.

"Even moderates have been signing up to paid leave because it makes sense," Gillibrand said.

She is currently pitching the plan to businesses, noting that it would cost them just $104 a year per employee. Gillibrand points to the success of a state paid leave leave plan in California, which had little negative impact on employers.

Gillibrand talked about her intervention into the $1.04 million settlement deal between the Hoosick Falls Village Board and two companies blamed for polluting the town's water sources, noting that it absolved the polluters and does not account for the health problems that residents were likely to develop in the coming years.

The senator referenced her experience passing the Zadroga Act, which provided medical monitoring and healthcare funding for first responders who fell ill years after inhaling toxins at the site of the 9/11 attacks.

She said a similar program should be set up for victims of the Hoosick Falls contamination, predicting that the area would likely become a hot spot for cancer, and families will need a lot more support.

"Every single resident who has polluted water should have guaranteed medical monitoring and we should be getting the funds to do that from the polluters," she said.The country's co-ops have been put on alert by farm organisations that they expect the current positive market sentiment to translate back into better farm gate prices over the coming months.

Following the announcement from numerous milk processors of a lift in their July milk price, the chairperson of ICMSAs dairy committee, Gerald Quain, said he wholeheartedly welcomed the news.

Mr Quain noted that Lakelands, Kerry, Aurivo and individual co-ops in West Cork had all raised their price for July milk, but, he said, farmer attention would focus on what he described as the very substantial discrepancies that existed between the final prices of those co-ops.

Farmers will be looking at the fact that Lisavaird are paying over 35cpl while Aurivo are at 31.5 cpl, he said.

Thats a very substantial price gap and while ICMSA will always acknowledge those co-ops paying a rising price, we equally will always stress that the Ornua PPI is the minimum price that should be returned and a higher price must be paid if possible, said Mr Quian.

Looking at current wholesale markets, Mr Quain said they showed that Dutch Dairy Quotations had reached higher levels across most categories again, with butter fetching over 5,500 per tonne after slipping back last month.

The standard Butter / SMP mix is equivalent to 34.1cpl translated back to the farm gate, and those prices will have to be returned if initial estimates of total costs of production for 2018 are correct, he said.

The dairy leader said that the doubling-up of 2018 costs caused by the long winter and summer drought will exert pressures on every dairy farmer in the country.

Co-ops will have to understand that many of their suppliers were going to be at make-or-break levels this coming winter and spring and milk price will decide the issue either way, he said.

Meanwhile, IFA national dairy committee chairman Tom Phelan said that Kerrys Eamonn Scanlon and Glanbias Siobhan Talbot had recently expressed confidence in the market place, borne out by the latest European quotes, despite a negative GDT.

This must lead to higher milk prices from August supplies, he said.

Mr Talbot said that co-ops had taken fright earlier this summer and been overly conservative in just holding base prices, some making do with temporary support payments which could readily be whipped out.

I think it is important to put GDT auctions in context. The USDA predicts that over 7.5m tonnes of dairy products will be traded globally in the year ending December 2018. The quantities traded through GDT in 2017 were less than 10 per cent of that, Mr Phelan said.

He said that the latest European market trends showed drought had moderated volumes from June and helped the prices of most commodities rally this month.

All co-ops, especially those whose base prices have been allowed fall behind, must increase their August base price and be ready to increase it further before year-end as markets allow, he said.

The Ornua PPI published in August for July trade was slightly down, but as always lagged behind market trends. In recent weeks, most product prices had rallied, said Mr Talbot.

He said that it was clear that reduced production from June due to drought in Europe was impacting market sentiment and dairy prices.

Co-ops must ensure that farmers benefit from this, seen as the impact of weather on feeding costs in particular will hit their 2018 margins hard, he said.[August 27, 2018] CareerBuilder Offers Google Cloud Talent Solution Feature to Help Military Veterans Find Civilian Jobs Faster and Easier

CHICAGO and ATLANTA, Aug. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Earlier this year, CareerBuilder announced that it was collaborating with Google Cloud to transform the industry standard for job search. All of the job search on careerbuilder.com and its 4,000 talent networks is powered by Google's cloud-based machine learning solution (Google Cloud Talent Solution), enabling faster, easier connections between candidates and employers. Today, CareerBuilder is excited to announce the availability of the Google Cloud Talent Solution feature on its job site (careerbuilder.com) that allows US military service members to enter their military occupational specialty code (MOS, AFSC, NEC) and find relevant civilian jobs that require similar skills to those used in their military roles. "One of the biggest challenges veterans face is understanding how their military skills translate in the civilian world," said Irina Novoselsky, President and COO of CareerBuilder. "Veterans have fought for the freedom and opportunities our nation enjoys today, yet a significant number of them are underemployed or working in low-paying jobs. CareerBuilder is passionate about providing veterans with the resources they need to find fulfilling work that pays well  and we are excited that Google Cloud's new feature will help to expedite that process." "We owe a debt of gratitude to America's service members and were committed to helping them thrive in civilian life," said Tarquin Clark, Director of Partnerships & GTM, Google Cloud. "By working with industry leaders like CareerBuilder, we can help veterans transition from the militry to relevant, impactful civilian jobs."



According to CareerBuilder research, 40 percent of employers reported that they plan to actively recruit U.S. veterans for their jobs in 2018. Sixty-eight percent said that, if they had two equally qualified candidates and one was a veteran, they would hire the veteran. An estimated 250,000 military members enter civilian life each year. By creating a feature for transitioning service personnel to use their MOS codes to find civilian jobs, Google Cloud is helping CareerBuilder to ensure that the skills they acquired in the military transfer to their new profession and that they can connect with top employers.

Key Features of Google's MOS Code Functionality: Veterans can now enter their MOS, AFSC or NEC code directly into the search bar of careerbuilder.com or the talent networks for any of CareerBuilder's clients and instantly see civilian jobs that match their experience in any location.

Military rank codes are supported in the system. For example, both "11A" for Infantry Officer and " 11B " for Infantryman are supported. CareerBuilder has a long-standing commitment to helping veterans and their families. Last year, CareerBuilder announced a partnership with Rally Point, one of the largest military-focused online networks in the world. The partnership brings together CareerBuilder's network of hundreds of thousands of employers with RallyPoint's 1.5 million military members. CareerBuilder also has a long-term partnership with the Military Times, powering the career site for one of the leading sources of news and information for military members and their families. About CareerBuilder

CareerBuilder is a global, end-to-end HR tech company that helps employers hire and manage great talent and helps workers build careers. Leading the industry in innovation for nearly 25 years, CareerBuilder is the only company that offers both software and services to cover every step of hiring. Specializing in recruiting solutions, employment screening and human capital management, CareerBuilder is the largest provider of AI-powered hiring solutions serving the Fortune 1,000. CareerBuilder is majority-owned by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC and operates in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com. Media Contact

Jennifer Grasz

773.527.1164

Jennifer.Grasz@careerbuilder.com

http://www.twitter.com/CareerBuilderPR View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/careerbuilder-offers-google-cloud-talent-solution-feature-to-help-military-veterans-find-civilian-jobs-faster-and-easier-300702917.html SOURCE CareerBuilder

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]Before Hundley, Krystal Ball chose to speak out when photos of her were leaked during her campaign for Congress in Virginia in 2010, in one of the first instances of this strain of online harassment to garner national attention. The photos were taken at a costume party when Ball was 22 and showed her and her ex-husband holding a sex toy. Shed faced an uphill battle as a 28-year-old female, Democratic candidate with an odd name, running in an overwhelmingly Republican district. When she thinks back to when she first saw the photos online, after having worked so hard to be taken seriously, she said, the horror still seems fresh.[August 27, 2018] Toyota and Uber Extend Collaboration to Automated Vehicle Technologies

TOKYO, Aug. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) and Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber) today announced that they have agreed to expand their collaboration with the aim of advancing and bringing to market autonomous ride-sharing as a mobility service at scale. To accomplish this, technology from each company will be integrated into purpose-built Toyota vehicles to be deployed on Uber's ride-sharing network. Separately, Toyota is investing $500 million in Uber. "Combining efforts with Uber, one of the predominant global ride-sharing and automated driving R&D companies, could further advance future mobility," said Shigeki Tomoyama, executive vice president, TMC, and president, Toyota Connected Company. "This agreement and investment marks an important milestone in our transformation to a mobility company as we help provide a path for safe and secure expansion of mobility services like ride-sharing that includes Toyota vehicles and technologies." As Uber and Toyota look ahead to a self-driving future, this partnership will be critical in realizing self-driving technology at scale. Uber and Toyota anticipate that the mass-produced autonomous vehicles will be owned and operated by mutually agreed upon third party autonomous fleet operators. "The deal is the first of its kind for Uber, and signals our commitment to bringing world-class technologies to the Uber network," said Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber's CEO. "Our goal is to deploy the world's safest self-driving cars on theUber network, and this agreement is another significant step towards making that a reality. Uber's advanced technology and Toyota's commitment to safety and its renowned manufacturing prowess make this partnership a natural fit. I look forward to seeing what our teams accomplish together."



The initial "Autono-MaaS" (autonomous-mobility as a service) fleet will be based on Toyota's Sienna Minivan platform. Uber's Autonomous Driving System and the Toyota Guardian automated safety support system will both be integrated into the Autono-MaaS vehicles. Toyota will also utilize its Mobility Services Platform (MSPF), its core information infrastructure for connected vehicles. Pilot-scale deployments will begin on the Uber ride-sharing network in 2021. "Uber's automated driving system and Toyota's Guardian system will independently monitor the vehicle environment and real-time situation, enhancing overall vehicle safety for both the automated driver and the vehicle," said Dr. Gill Pratt, Toyota Research Institute CEO and TMC Fellow. "We look forward to this partnership accelerating both companies' development and deployment of automated driving technology."

Toyota's investment in Uber and the proposed collaboration are subject to standard regulatory approvals. About Uber

Uber's mission is to bring reliable transportation to everyone, everywhere. We started in 2010 to solve a simple problem: how do you get a ride at the touch of a button? We've since completed 5 billion trips and remain committed to building a platform that enables the safe, efficient movement of people around the world. Today, the team at the Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) is tackling another challenge: how do you build and deploy self-driving technology at scale? The ATG is comprised of world-class engineering talent dedicated to vehicle safety, self-driving software, mapping, and more. Uber is taking a holistic approach to bringing self-driving vehicles to market through a variety of partnerships, with the ultimate goal of creating autonomous ridesharing at scale. About Toyota

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) (NYSE:TM) is the global mobility company that introduced the Prius hybrid-electric car in 1997 and the first mass-produced fuel cell sedan, Mirai, in 2014. Headquartered in Toyota City, Japan, Toyota has been making cars since 1937. Today, Toyota proudly employs 370,000 employees in communities around the world. Together, they build around 10 million vehicles per year in 28 countries and regions, from mainstream cars and premium vehicles to mini-vehicles and commercial trucks, and sell them in more than 170 countries and regions under the brands Toyota, Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino. For more information, please visit www.toyota-global.com. Media Contacts

Toyota Motor Corporation

Japan

Media line, +81-3-3817-9170, bc-toyota-pr@mail.toyota.co.jp US (Toyota Motor North America):

Brian Lyons, brian.lyons@toyota.com, +1-469-292-3573 Toyota Research Institute

John Hanson, john.hanson@tri.global, +1-657-331-1291 Uber

Media email: press@uber.com View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/toyota-and-uber-extend-collaboration-to-automated-vehicle-technologies-300702903.html SOURCE Toyota Motor North America

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 27, 2018] Getting Hired Now Supports Google Cloud Talent Solution Feature, Offering New Function to Help Veterans Find Jobs

HANOVER, Md., Aug. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Getting Hired, an Allegis Group Company, today announced the availability of the Google Cloud Talent Solution feature on its career site that allows U.S. military service members and veterans to enter their military occupational specialty code (MOS, AFSC, NEC) and find relevant civilian jobs that require similar skills to those used in their military roles. An estimated 250,000 military members enter civilian life each year. By creating a feature for transitioning service personnel and veterans to use their MOS codes to find civilian jobs, Getting Hired and Google are helping to ensure that the skills they acquired in the military transfer to their new profession. Key Features of MOS Code Functionality: Veterans can now enter their MOS, AFSC, or NEC code directly into the search bar of any career site or job board powered by Cloud Talent Solution and see the relevant civilian jobs available right now at Getting Hired. Military ranks codes are supported in the system. For example both "11A" for Infantry Officer and " 11B " Infantryman are supported.



Jill Stutzman-Deaner , Director of Getting Hired. "We owe a debt of gratitude to America's service members and we're committed to helping them thrive in civilian life," said Tarquin Clark, Director of Partnerships & GTM, Google Cloud. "By working with industry leaders like Getting Hired, we can help veterans transition from the military to relevant, impactful civilian jobs."

To learn more about Cloud Talent Solution and this announcement, review Google's blog here. About Getting Hired Getting Hired, an Allegis Group Company, is a recruitment solution dedicated to helping inclusive employers hire professional individuals and veterans with disabilities. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/getting-hired-now-supports-google-cloud-talent-solution-feature-offering-new-function-to-help-veterans-find-jobs-300702760.html SOURCE Getting Hired

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 27, 2018] Jason Burkey-Skye Named Regional Managing Director for Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank in Denver

U.S. Bank Wealth Management, ranked among the top 20 U.S. wealth managers,* has announced that Jason Burkey-Skye was named regional managing director of Ascent Private Capital Management in Denver. Ascent is a multi-family office serving ultra-high net worth families. Jason will continue to reside in the Denver area. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180827005599/en/ Jason Burkey-Skye is named region managing director for Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank in Denver. (Photo: Business Wire) In his new role, Jason will manage a team of 10 highly talented professionals who currently work with 26 families in the Rocky Mountain region. He fills the position vacated by John Zimmerman, who was promoted to president of Ascent earlier this summer. "I'm delighted that Jason will lead the Denver regional office. Having been with the Denver team since its inception, he has been an integral part of its success. I look forward to working with him in his new role," said Zimmerman. Burkey-Skye has more than 13 years of experience in the wealth management industry, all served with U.S. Bank. He started as a private banker in 005 before being promoted to managing director of private banking for U.S. Bank's Private Wealth Management division in 2008. In 2011, Jason joined the newly formed Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank and served as a banker and then a client advisor before this most recent promotion to regional managing director.



"I'm deeply honored to have been selected to lead the Denver Ascent regional office. We have an amazing team and a terrific group of families we are proud to serve," said Burkey-Skye. Burkey-Skye received his bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and his MBA from University of Texas, Austin.

About Ascent Private Capital Management

Ascent Private Capital Management serves individuals and multigenerational families with significant resources who aspire to make an impact with their wealth. Clients can expect highly personalized advisory services that combine traditional wealth planning offerings with cutting-edge wealth impact planning and communication tools. For more information, visit ascent.usbank.com. About U.S. Bank

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), with 74,000 employees and $461 billion in assets as of June 30, 2018, is the parent company of U.S. Bank, the fifth-largest commercial bank in the United States. The Minneapolis-based bank blends its relationship teams, branches and ATM network with mobile and online tools that allow customers to bank how, when and where they prefer. U.S. Bank is committed to serving its millions of retail, business, wealth management, payment, commercial and corporate, and investment services customers across the country and around the world as a trusted financial partner, a commitment recognized by the Ethisphere Institute naming the bank a 2018 World's Most Ethical Company. Visit U.S. Bank online or follow on social media to stay up to date with company news. * Barron's "Top 40 Wealth Management Firms," Sept. 25, 2017 ranked by client assets in accounts of $5 million or more as of March 31, 2017. Investment products and services are:

NOT A DEPOSIT  NOT FDIC INSURED  MAY LOSE VALUE 

NOT BANK GUARANTEED  NOT INSURED BY ANY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY Deposit products offered by U.S. Bank National Association. Member FDIC. Credit products offered by U.S. Bank National Association and subject to normal credit approval. U.S. Bank and its representatives do not provide tax or legal advice. Each individual's tax and financial situation is unique. Individuals should consult their tax and/or legal advisor for advice and information concerning their particular situation. U.S. Bank is not affiliated with the companies or organizations mentioned above. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180827005599/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 27, 2018] Speedcast International Limited Announces Financial Results for Half Year 2018 and Agreement to Acquire Globecomm

SYDNEY, Aug. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Speedcast International Limited (ASX: SDA), the world's most trusted provider of remote communication and IT solutions, today announced its financial results for the six-month period ended 30 June 2018 (1H 2018), with group revenues of US$304.9 million, a 24% period-on-period increase. 1H 2018 Financial Highlights Group revenue grew 24% to US$304.9 million (1H 2017: US$246.3 million )

(1H 2017: ) Underlying EBITDA grew 14% to US$60.4 million (1H 2017: US$53.2 million )

(1H 2017: ) EBITDA margin impacted by 180 basis points to 19.8% (1H 2017: 21.6%) due to dilution from the UltiSat acquisition in November 2017 , phase 1 of the NBN contract, a one-time investment in a key Cruise customer relationship in 1H 2018, and the delay in recovery of the Energy market

, phase 1 of the NBN contract, a one-time investment in a key Cruise customer relationship in 1H 2018, and the delay in recovery of the Energy market Underlying NPATA grew 37% to US$21.1 million (1H 2017: US$15.4 million )

(1H 2017: ) Strong operating cash flows (89% of Underlying EBITDA) generated as a result of improved working capital discipline

Net debt increased from US$388 million at 31 December 2017 to US$430 million at 30 June 2018 as a result of investment in growth including debt refinancing costs and US$20 million for the UltiSat acquisition earnout

at to at as a result of investment in growth including debt refinancing costs and for the UltiSat acquisition earnout The Board declared a fully franked interim dividend of AU$2.40 cents per share for the six-month period ended 30 June 2018 "We are pleased with the organic growth we achieved in the first half of 2018 across Maritime, Government, and EEM. Disappointingly, the Energy sector suffered from delays in the market recovery, but we remain bullish about our ability to significantly benefit from the Energy sector's recovery, which we believe will be stronger than previously forecasted. We have a diversified business and will continue to invest in market segments where we are confident we can deliver strong organic growth," said Pierre-Jean Beylier, Chief Executive Officer of Speedcast. 1H 2018 Operational and Divisional Highlights Maritime division revenue grew 10% to US$106 million in 1H 2018 from US$97 million in 1H 2017. This strong organic increase was driven primarily by high growth in Commercial Shipping from increased VSAT activations and some bandwidth growth in Cruise.

in 1H 2018 from in 1H 2017. This strong organic increase was driven primarily by high growth in Commercial Shipping from increased VSAT activations and some bandwidth growth in Cruise. Energy division revenue in 1H 2018 was down 17% to US$76 million from US$92 million in 1H 2017 due to the delayed recovery in the Offshore Energy sector, which caused higher than expected industry churn (rig count attrition) and pricing pressure, delays in certain projects, and one time customer effects

from in 1H 2017 due to the delayed recovery in the Offshore Energy sector, which caused higher than expected industry churn (rig count attrition) and pricing pressure, delays in certain projects, and one time customer effects EEM revenue grew organically by 29% in 1H 2018 to US$75 million from US$58 million in 1H 017. This strong growth included the first phase of the NBN contract in Australia and growth in wholesale voice activity

from in 1H 017. This strong growth included the first phase of the NBN contract in and growth in wholesale voice activity Government division revenue from the Ultisat acquisition was US$47 million during the period. This acquisition closed in November 2017 and was not included in the results for the half year to 30 June 2017 . On a pro forma basis, revenue increased 17%. This growth was driven primarily by increased US defence spending



Full Year 2018 earnings outlook The Company expects Underlying EBITDA for the full year 2018 to be in the range of US$135 million to US$145 million. This reflects the following:

A positive outlook for Maritime with strong backlog and pipeline in Commercial Shipping and in Cruise as customers connectivity needs continue to grow

Full year 2018 Energy revenue expected to be down 10% compared to full year 2017, with 2H 2018 revenue recovery based on the existing backlog and pipeline. While delayed, the recovery in the offshore energy market is now expected to be stronger than previously forecasted. Speedcast's market share, and strong customer base, position it well to participate in the market recovery. This is expected to drive growth in 2019 and beyond

The Company expects continued growth in the EEM division driven by the NBN contract, a strong win rate during 1H 2018 and a robust pipeline in Latin America , South East Asia and Africa

, and Government revenue growth is expected to continue in 2H 2018 Acquisition of Globecomm Speedcast separately announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Globecomm Systems Inc. ("Globecomm") from affiliates of HPS Investment Partners, LLC and Tennenbaum Capital Partners, LLC for an estimated net purchase consideration of US$135 million 1 , on a cash & debt free basis

, on a cash & debt free basis The acquisition, which is expected to close in Q4 2018, strengthens Speedcast's global position in Government, Maritime and Enterprise and it strongly complements last year's acquisition of UltiSat. This will double Speedcast's revenue in Government, and add more scale, visibility and capabilities in this strategic growth market

Speedcast estimates it will generate over US$15 million in annual cost synergies within 18 months after the acquisition

in annual cost synergies within 18 months after the acquisition The acquisition will be funded by a fully underwritten US$175 million add-on to Speedcast's existing 7-year senior secured credit facility (due 2025) from the US institutional term loan market. This will also be used to repay a portion of Speedcast's Revolving Credit Facility and enhance Speedcast's liquidity and cash reserves "The acquisition of Globecomm is fully in line with our strategy to consolidate our market and thus build competitive advantages based on scale and capabilities. Globecomm is particularly complementary to UltiSat as it strengthens Speedcast's position serving Government customers at a time when government spending globally is expected to rise. I am excited to have the Globecomm team joining Speedcast. They will strengthen our innovation capabilities with new solutions and strong engineering experience, as well as enhancing our system integration propositions." said Pierre-Jean Beylier, Chief Executive Officer of Speedcast. About Speedcast International Limited

Speedcast International Ltd (ASX: SDA) is the largest provider of remote communications and IT services in the world. Speedcast's fully-managed service is delivered via a leading global, multi-access technology, multi-band and multi-orbit network of 70+ satellites and an interconnecting global terrestrial network, bolstered by extensive on-the-ground local support from 40+ countries. This global "network of networks" allows customers to fully rely on the most robust, integrated infrastructure available in the market for their mission critical applications. Speedcast is uniquely positioned as a strategic business partner, tailoring communications, IT and digital solutions to meet unique customer needs and enable business transformation. Speedcast extends its managed services through differentiated technology offerings including cyber-security, crew welfare, content solutions, data and voice applications, and network systems integration services. With a passionate customer focus and a strong safety culture, Speedcast serves more than 2,000 customers in more than 140 countries in sectors such as Maritime, Energy, Mining, Enterprise, Media, Cruise, NGOs and Government. Learn more at www.speedcast.com. Speedcast is a registered trademark of Speedcast Limited. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective owners.  2018 Speedcast International Limited. All rights reserved. Contact Information:

Vanessa Cardonnel

SVP, Investor Relations and Corporate Development

vanessa.cardonnel@speedcast.com

+852 3919 6833 1 The purchase price of US$135M is net of the total proceeds from the sale and leaseback of Globecomm's Hauppauge facility of ~US$20M, 50% of which will be payable to the Vendors and the remaining 50% to be retained by Speedcast, and other estimated purchase price adjustments. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/speedcast-international-limited-announces-financial-results-for-half-year-2018-and-agreement-to-acquire-globecomm-300702953.html SOURCE Speedcast International Limited

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 27, 2018] 2018 APAC HPC-AI Student Competition Sharpens Weather Forecast Accuracy and Image Recognition to Deliver Improved Real-Life Results

The HPC-AI Advisory Council, a leading community benefit organization dedicated to high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) research, education and outreach, in collaboration with NSCC Singapore, today announced the winning teams of the first Asia-Pacific HPC-AI Competition during a live award ceremony in Singapore. The award ceremony recognized the top three winners and meritorious performers from amongst 18 teams representing prestigious universities throughout Asia-Pacific. The competition kicked off at Supercomputing Asia 2018, NSCC Singapore's flagship HPC annual conference, on the 27th of March, 2018 by Dr. Janil Puthucheary, the then Senior Minister of State for Communications and Education, and ended on the 13th of August, 2018. The competition saw intense, but healthy, rivalry among 18 university teams from seven countries, and yielded winning solutions for improving the real-life accuracy of weather forecasts and image recognition. Tasked with demonstrating the highest performance on a range of complex HPC and AI applications, China's Tsinghua University team was awarded First Place. Second and Third Place were awarded to the two Taiwanese teams from National Cheng Kung University. The two primary focuses of the competition were High Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications. For the HPC applications, teams were challenged to achieve the highest simulation speed of the CONUS 2.5km benchmark using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model, a very popular weather forecast tool used in by weather research institutes around the world. This application reduces forecasting time while maintaining its level of precision. For AI applications, the competition focused on multi-node distributed training of the ImageNet dataset. Participating teams were challenged to optimise the AI framework and neural network architecture. This is aligned with what the world is now doing in AI, turning technology into real-life applications including smart city and security-related initiatives. To collect the winner's trophy, the top winning team from China's Tsinghua University had to analyse, evaluate and optimise the performance of multiple nodes, and each node with multiple GPUs, over an intense five-month period. The top winning team also gets to participate in the 2019 International HPC-ISC Student Cluster Competition, to be held in Germany, June 2019. The second and third trophy-winning teams were the two teams represented by Taiwan's National Cheng Kung University. The fight to the wire was very tight, with all winning teams demonstrating a high level of performance. To further encourage the teams throughout the competition, a special prize for creativity was announced. Teams submitted a video of their five-month journey and were graded based on the video's level of creativity. The special prize-winning team was from Thailand's Thammasat University. Said Chief Judge and Chairman of the HPC Advisory Council Mr Gilad Shainer, "The judges were really impressed with the high levels of skill and strategy that participants evidenced throughout the competition period. This made the judging committee's job that much harder, as each team proved to be an equal match with one another. Ultimately, what impressed us most was how such a student competition could yield results to improve the lives of ordinary individuals the world over. The competition proved once again that the availability of HPC resources can empower universities, research laboratories and commercial vendors to develop tomorrow's products and services, from safer cars and airplanes, to more accurate weather and storm predictions, as well as finding new cures. Since HPC and AI applicatins share the same underlying technologies and infrastructures, new developments in HPC are being adopted immediately for AI, and vice versa, and could also extend to commercial areas including security and smart nation initiatives."



Mr Shainer added, "We commend all the teams for their tremendous efforts and achievements demonstrated throughout the months of this competition, and extend our sincere appreciation to NSCC Singapore for their partnership and managing this important region-wide competition. We also thank the competition committee for its support of the competition throughout. It's an incredible opportunity to contribute to the development of the core knowledge and critical skills for the region's new generation of HPC and AI researchers, scientists and professionals, and the council's mission in continuous outreach and education." NSCC Singapore's Chief Executive Prof Tan Tin Wee shared, "If you think that supercomputing competitions are but an exercise conducted in an ivory tower, offering no practical benefits to mankind - think again. This competition supports NSCC Singapore's mission to use HPC to power innovation and champion Asia as a regional supercomputing centre. The winning solutions show clearly how supercomputing can align research, university work and commercial considerations to drive innovation that benefits all. It has been our privilege to be the co-organiser of this event."

About the 2018 HPC-AI Competition The 2018 APAC HPC-AI Competition was managed by the HPC-AI Advisory Council and NSCC Singapore in March to encourage students throughout Asia Pacific to showcase their education and hone their expertise in a friendly, yet spirited region-wide competition, comprised of two parts; HPC and AI. The HPC teams were tasked to benchmark the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model and were scored based on performance and scalability. The AI teams were tasked to run the benchmark based on ImageNet dataset and were scored based on their performance improvement. AI has rocketed from an emerging idea to a critical domain across industries, interests, disciplines and technologies for its extensive capability and promise - from better and more accurate decision-making from massive amounts of data to enabling deep intelligence and innovation - from science, manufacturing, security and finance to self-driving cars and smart cities. In parallel, continuous advances in HPC disciplines and technologies are enabling academia, government and commercial industries to develop breakthrough discoveries in new products and services - from safer transportation, accurate storm prediction and weather forecasting, to finding new lifesaving cures, and much more. By sharing the same underlying methodologies, technologies and infrastructures, new developments in HPC and AI are being adopted immediately in both domains. Supporting Resources: Learn more about the APAC HPC-AI Competition

Learn more about Sponsoring Next Generation HPC Experts

Become a HPC-AI Advisory Council member

Follow the HPC-AI Advisory Council on: Twitter and Facebook For more information and general questions please email info@hpcadvisorycouncil.com About the HPC-AI Advisory Council Founded in 2008, the non-profit HPC-AI Advisory Council is an international organization with over 400 members committed to education and outreach. Members share expertise, lead special interest groups and have access to the technology center to explore opportunities and evangelize the benefits of HPC and AI technologies, applications and future development. The council hosts multiple annual conferences and STEM challenges worldwide including the RDMA Student Competition in China and the Student Cluster Competition in Germany. Membership is free of charge and obligation. More information: www.hpcadvisorycouncil.com. About National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore The National Supercomputing Centre (NSCC) Singapore was established in 2015 and manages Singapore's first national petascale facility with high performance computing (HPC) resources to support science and engineering computing needs for academic, research and industry communities. Funded by its stakeholders, including Agency for Science Technology and Research (A* STAR (News - Alert) ), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), National University of Singapore (NUS), and Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), with substantial funding from the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry ( MTI (News - Alert) ), NSCC Singapore aims to democratise access to supercomputing. NSCC Singapore works with local and international organisations to catalyse collaborative HPC projects and programmes which support national research and development initiatives, attract industrial research collaborations and enhance Singapore's research capabilities. For more information, please visit https://nscc.sg. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180827005616/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 27, 2018] 250 New Singaporean Startups to Benefit from TRIVE Pay-It-Forward Community Program

SINGAPORE, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Southeast Asian-focused early stage Venture Capital TRIVE (previously known as "TRi5 Ventures"), aims to support 250 new Singaporean startups in the next 30 months via its pro-bono pay-it-forward Community startup program. It has already aided 12 startups to receive the S$30k Startup SG Founders Grant and currently processing another 20 since May 2018. Its recent community event, Startup Journeys by TRIVE, at SGInnovate on Thursday, 23rd of August, saw more than 200 attendees and 2 fireside chats with startup founders and ecosystem players. TRIVE's Managing Partner, Christopher Quek, celebrated the pay-it-forward movement and achievements over the last 7 years developing Singaporean startups in the Singapore startup ecosystem. Since 2011, TRIVE and its NEXT50.sg mentors conducted over 1500 1-to-1 free advisory and mentorship sessions done, impacting 800 startup founders. It has also aided 38 startups to raise US$5.6m in angel funding in a previous incubation program. But in spite of many achievements, there is much more to be done. Quek says, "Silicon Valley was built on its members giving back to the community. Building a pay-it-forward community is necessary to evolve Singapore's startup ecosystem to the next stage, where the community drives its development. We believe a Singaporean tech entrepreneur will succeed when the startup community is backing him." According to a report by Kroll and Mergermarket, Singapore has been the second largest market after India for tech PE and VC activity in the region, accounting for 218 transactions and US$11.5b between 2015 and Q1 2018.



But participation in receiving VC funding among Singaporean-born founders remains weak in comparison to foreign-born entrepreneur based in Singapore, observed by TRIVE's team. This issue arises due to the lack of pay-it-forward support for Singaporean founders. Quek continues, "To see this vision fulfilled in Singapore, TRIVE is committed to building a more robust startup ecosystem and will do more pay-it-forward activities. Under the community initiative, young Singaporean founders can gain even more access to pay-it-forward entrepreneurial support."

Singaporean tech startups are already able to seek a S$30k Startup SG Founder grant via TRIVE without any payment or sweat equity in its rolling program. To enhance further support, these Singaporean tech startups will also be able to tap on new pay-it-forward activities: Accessing TRIVE's exclusive network of free business partner benefits worth S$50k ; Connecting with up over 70 NEXT50 mentors based in Singapore and overseas for pro-bono mentorship and connections; Attending startup masterclasses taught by TRIVE's partners; Access the follow-on funding network of angel investors and seed VCs. TRIVE is also working together with fellow ecosystem players like accelerators to compliment resources to their cohorts. The event was also organised to enrich aspiring entrepreneurs with valuable insights from within Singapore's startup ecosystem. The event brought together Singaporean industry experts and startup founders and engaged the audience in an enriching dialogue, sharing their perspective about entrepreneurship in Singapore. "It's all about execution. We need a resilient team who can survive the toughest of times and execute, which is far more important than the idea itself," shares Max Sim from SME Centre. The experienced founders and corporate stakeholders brought deep insights to the table, and encouraged young founders in Singapore to continue pursuing their entrepreneurship dreams, despite the challenges ahead. Jerry Chen, founder of Express in Music, discussed the importance of Singaporean founders having a global mindset and to explore beyond the shores of Singapore. "Singapore is a small market, so we need to go out there to establish ourselves. However, Singaporeans are lucky to have support through events like Startup Journeys and funding from the government." About TRIVE TRIVE (previously known as TRi5 Ventures), is an early stage Southeast Asia (SEA) focused Venture Capital firm based in Singapore. TRIVE invests in technology startups from the seed to series A rounds of funding, with main focus on deep technologies, blockchain and programming schools. The team has over 7 years of VC, mentoring and advisory experience, and 20 years in entrepreneurship. TRIVE has a pro-bono pay-it-forward Community program, which has provided more than 1500 one-on-one advisory sessions, advising more than 800 startup founders and supporting 40+ startups in various domains including Deep Technologies, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Marketplaces and FinTech. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180827/2221135-1 SOURCE TRIVE

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 27, 2018] TUV Rheinland recognized to assess Level 1 ZDHC MRSL conformance for chemical formulations

Global leader in testing, inspection and certification helping manufacturers and users of chemical formulations in textile and leather brands open the door to lucrative and increasingly regulated markets HONG KONG, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- TUV Rheinland's Manufacturing Restricted Substances List (MRSL) testing program has been recognized by the Stichting ZDHC Foundation (ZDHC Roadmap to Zero Programme) as newest Certification standard to assess ZDHC MRSL Level 1 Conformance (Newslink). The organization, which has built a reputation as a global leader in testing, inspection and certification, has been approved to assess MRSL Level 1 testing conformance in connection with the ZDHC Gateway - Chemical Module. The Module is an advanced search engine for chemical formulations that conform to ZDHC's MRSL guidance. It enables textile and leather manufacturers to find safer alternatives and reduce their use of hazardous chemicals. "We are delighted to have TUV Rheinland as our newest ZDHC MRSL Accepted Certification Standard," says ZDHC Programme Director Scott Echols. "Today, every company or brand that is engaged in chemicals management has a Restricted Substances List (RSL) aimed at limiting the hazardous chemicals and substances that consumers are exposed to in finished garments. However, the manufacturing process may use hundreds of chemicals, and even if they are washed-out before the garments reach the end-consumer, they may still impact the health of workers and the environment in the countries of production," said Mohammed Dkhissi, Global Vice President Softlines, TUV Rheinland. In addition, the chemicals used to clean the processing equipment and facilities can have a massive impact. Not only on the final product, but on the environment as well./p>



Achieving ZDHC MRSL Level 1 Conformance with TUV Rheinland

The ZDHC Programme relies on expert third-parties to gauge ZDHC MRSL conformance. ZDHC MRSL Level 1 includes a process to help chemical suppliers to demonstrate conformance. TUV Rheinland has developed sophisticated certification systems, based on the assessment of chemicals used during production and product evaluation. "Along with our ZDHC-approved waste water testing laboratory, our global team of ZDHC-approved trainers, SAC FEM 3.0 & BEPI qualified auditors and verifiers, this new recognition enables chemical manufacturers and textile, garment and leather product producers to manage the input of chemicals and remove hazardous substances from their manufacturing processes," said Dkhissi. The ZDHC MRSL is a living document which is updated as needed to expand the scope of materials and processes covered, and include new substances that should be phased out of the value chain. The latest ZDHC MRSL can be downloaded at mrsl.roadmaptozero.com. About TUV Rheinland's services to enable DETOX goals www.tuv.com/detox About TUV Rheinland TUV Rheinland is a global leader in independent inspection services, founded 145 years ago. The group employs 19,700 people around the globe. Annual revenue is more than EUR1.9 billion. The independent experts stand for quality and safety for people, technology and the environment in nearly all industrial sectors and areas of life. TUV Rheinland inspects technical equipment, products and services, and oversees projects, processes and information security for companies. Its experts train people in a wide range of careers and industries. To this end, the company operates a global network of approved labs and testing and education centers. Since 2006, TUV Rheinland has been a member of the United Nations Global Compact to promote sustainability and combat corruption. www.tuv.com About the ZDHC Roadmap to Zero Programme The ZDHC Foundation oversees implementation of the Roadmap to Zero Programme and is a global industry collaboration of currently 109 contributors (24 brands, 69 value chain affiliates, and 16 associates) within the sports, fashion, luxury and outdoor industry. The vision is widespread implementation of sustainable chemistry, driving innovations and best practices in the textile, apparel, leather and footwear industries to protect consumers, workers and the environment. Through collaborative engagement, standard setting and large-scale implementation ZDHC advances the industry towards zero discharge of hazardous chemicals. ZDHC takes a holistic approach to sustainable chemical management and enables tangible progress in the wider industry by a number of reference guidance and practical tools, capacity building and innovation projects. More information about ZDHC at www.roadmaptozero.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, on Facebook and on Twitter. SOURCE TUV Rheinland Singapore Pte Ltd

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 27, 2018] US Electrodynamics Adds New Walton De-Ice Systems for its Satellite Earth Station Antennas

AMSTERDAM, the Netherlands, Aug. 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IBC 2018 Amsterdam  Walton De-Ice ( www.de-ice.com ), the worlds leading designer and manufacturer of satellite earth station antenna (ESA) weather protection solutions, announced that US Electrodynamics, Inc. (USEI), a major US teleport operator, is adding new antennas with Walton Plenum Hot-Air De-Icing systems to help ensure that USEI delivers the highest level of uptime due to winter storms at its teleports.

USEI is known for providing quality services, attention to detail and cost-effective solutions, says Darryl White, USEI General Manager. The new and existing Walton De-Ice systems ensure our antenna systems keep snow and ice from forming on our antenna reflectors during winter storms. Walton De-Ice systems helps us to ensure our customers mission critical services meet their operational requirements, White says. USEI, headquartered in Brewster, Washington, provides government, commercial and private satellite and terrestrial teleport network services. These include Telemetry Tracking & Control (TT&C), broadcast video, mobility, GEO, MEO & LEO tracking and Internet services. USEIs Brewster Teleport in Washington State and Vernon Valley Teleport in New Jersey are major satellite gateways, delivering connectivity to the Pacific Ocean Region (POR), Contiguous USA (CONUS), and Atlantic Ocean Region (AOR). USEI offers the combination of Brewsters orbital arc viewfrom 52 to 188 West Longitude and Vernon Valleys view from 3 to 143 West Longitude



Due to growing demand, USEI is adding two new antennas equipped with Walton De-Ice systems at our Vernon Valley teleport to serve Ka-Band and other growth markets. We continue to choose Walton De-Ice because of their industry-proven reliability combined with customer service, technical support and affordability, White adds. At its Vernon Valley Teleport, to protect customers from snow and ice USEI currently operates eight Walton De-Ice systems on C and Ku-Band antennas ranging in size from 4.8 to over 13 meters. Even with the Brewster teleports extremely low precipitation, the Walton Hot-Air De-Ice systems add an extra level of protection for sixteen antennas ranging in size from 3.7 to 16.4 meters. In addition, two electrically heated Hot-Air De-Ice systems protect smaller 2.4 meter Ka and Ku-Band antennas.

Waltons Hot Air De-Ice systems, including the companys unique Plenum Hot-Air enclosure installed on the rear of an antenna, provide the most reliable and economic de-icing solutions on the market. Unlike competing anti-icing solutions such as electric pad systems that can cause reflector distortion, Walton Hot Air De-Ice systems heat the entire antenna reflector uniformly, which minimizes reflector distortion that can cause signal problems at the Ku and Ka Bands. Walton systems also uniquely offer maximum flexibility with electric, natural gas and liquid propane gas heater options. We are delighted that USEI, one of the largest earth station operators in the satellite industry, has decided to further leverage Walton De-Ices products to protect its customers signals from the effects of rain, snow and ice, and we greatly appreciate our longstanding relationship with USEI, says Bill Walton, President of W.B. Walton Enterprises, Inc. (Walton De-Ice).



During the IBC 2018 trade show, September 14-18 at RAI Amsterdam at Stand 1.A62, Walton De-Ice will be promoting its latest in gas and electric heated hot-air Plenum systems for large 3.7 to 32 meter antennas as well as its innovative Ice Quake and Snow Shield solutions for 0.6 to 6.3 meter antennas. About USEI Teleports USEI is a communications and aerospace company headquartered at its Brewster, Washington teleport along with its East Coast, Vernon Valley, New Jersey teleport. USEI provides government, commercial and private satellite and terrestrial teleport network services including TT&C, broadcast video, mobility, GEO, MEO & LEO tracking and Internet services delivery. USEI operates and manages a redundant nationwide fiber network, and offers seamless connectivity from its teleports to key Points of Presence (POPs), data centers, carrier hotels, voice and video hubs in the US as well as connectivity to major international carrier facilities in Asia, Europe, South America, Africa and the Middle East. About Walton De-Ice

For over 39 years, Walton De-ice ( http://www.de-ice.com ) has designed and manufactured the broadest and highest performance line of De-Ice equipment available for satellite earth station antennas. From its original Hot Air Plenum design which mounts behind antennas from 3.7 to 32 meters, to its Snow Shield, Rain Quake and Ice Quake systems for 0.6 to 6.3 meter antennas, Walton De-Ice delivers the most innovative and effective solutions to help protect critical satellite networks from degradation and outages due to weather. Press Contact for Walton De-Ice:

Dan Freyer, AdWavez Marketing

Phone: 1 (310) 849-0721, dan@adwavez.com

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 27, 2018] The 7th AIP Will be Held from October 24-28, 2018 in Shanghai -- A Gateway to China's Printing Market

SHANGHAI, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Organized by The Printing Technology Association of China, China Academy of Printing Technology and Messe Dusseldorf (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., All in Print China (AIP) is one of the most influential exhibitions in China's printing industry.The 7th AIP (AIP 2018) will be held from October 24-28, 2018 in Shanghai with new theme: Enter the Era of Intelligent Printing. Its scale will once again hit a peak with exhibition area reaching 110,000 m2. More than 1,000 exhibitors will display their latest products and technologies under one roof. Confirmed exhibitors include: KOMORI, BOBST, SIEMENS, Epson, Ricoh, DuPont, KURZ, Bosch Rexroth, Esko, EFI, CRON, MIMAKI, Masterwork, etc. See more exhibitors at http://www.allinprint.com/c.aspx?id=367. There will be 7 thematic pavilions in line with different popular topics, including pavilions for Digital Pre-Press Equipment, Comprehensive Printing, Post-press Converting, Packaging Equipment, Label Industry Ink & Innovative Materials and Comprehensive Packaging. 3 highlight zones will also be set up, namely Innovation Factory, Customized Experience Zone and Intelligent Factory.



Exhibit Profile: Pre-Press Equipment

Printing Equipment

Post-Press and Packaging Converting Equipment

Paper and Substrates

Printing Ink

Other Consumables

Components and Infrastructure

Services and Software

Innovative Technologies Visitor Profile:

Commercial Printing, Newspaper Printing, Label Printing, Business Form , Book Printing

Printing Repro House, Publishing, Finishing, Paper Converting Companies

Retailing and Manufacturing

Advertising and Design Firms, Direct Marketing and PR Agencies

Graphic Arts and Graphic Arts Specialists

Paper and Envelope Manufacturers

Paper Packaging, Flexible Packaging and Corrugated Carton Factory

Multimedia and Internet Publishers

Trade Publications

Government Agencies and Financial Institutions

Educational Establishments and Professional Bodies

Relevant Trade Associations AIP is a platform not only for displaying products and technologies, but also for information exchange. In AIP 2018, more than 40 forums and events of great value and influence will be held concurrently, including the 2018 International Packaging Printing Forum, the 2018 World Print & Communication Forum, the China Printing Summit, and more. As an international event, previous AIP editions have attracted numerous trade visitors from around the globe. This year, it is expected to attract more than 100,000 trade visitors. Over 100 local buyer groups and around 30 international buyer groups will visit the show. To visit AIP 2018 for free, please register at http://www.allinprint.com/c.aspx?id=351. Media Contact: Rita Chu

+86-21-6169-8319

rita.chu@mds.cn SOURCE The Organization Committee of The 7th All in Print China

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 27, 2018] AMAX Ireland Achieves NVIDIA Preferred Partner Status

AMAX Ireland Certified to Provide GPU-Accelerated Solutions for Artificial Intelligence and High Performance Computing SHANNON, Ireland, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- AMAX, a global provider of NVIDIA GPU solutions, announced today that its Ireland organization has achieved Preferred Partner status in NVIDIA's solution provider partner program, part of the NVIDIA Partner Network (NPN). Located in Shannon, Ireland, AMAX is dedicated to serving the European market with cutting-edge high-density GPU servers, GPU clusters and GPU workstations for high performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI)/deep learning applications. As an NVIDIA Preferred Partner, AMAX Ireland has verified its technical proficiency in designing and supporting NVIDIA technology and is able to support its European customers with the latest and greatest technology releases, technical support and competitive pricing to provide world-class solutions and services. <>"AMAX is responding to the increasing demand for experienced GPU solutions providers, particularly those technically proficient in guiding companies through an AI development strategy," said Denis O'Shea , head of commercial affairs, AMAX Ireland. "Becoming an NPN Preferred Partner builds on AMAX's established global reputation as a leader in AI and HPC solutions, ensuring our customer base in Ireland and throughout Europe has access to the latest enterprise technologies."



"AI is at the heart of business transformation, driving growth and increased demand for deep learning expertise throughout Europe," says Richard Jackson, head of EMEA partner organization, NVIDIA. "AMAX's proficiency in supporting AI initiatives through technical expertise and high-performance solutions featuring NVIDIA Tesla GPUs enables customers to accelerate their AI development to take advantage of this exciting market opportunity." AMAX Ireland serves as the EMEA extension of AMAX Engineering Corp., headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley, Fremont, California. As a longstanding NVIDIA NPN Elite Partner, AMAX is a full-cycle provider for GPU compute at any scale, providing solutions for R&D, innovation development, deep learning training and inference, and rack scale data center deployments running mission-critical workloads. All solutions are expertly designed by HPC engineers and account for performance, cost and power efficiency, as well as power and thermal considerations to ensure that the solutions satisfy performance and scalability requirements once deployed to customer sites.

For more information, visit AMAX's GPU solutions or contact Elaine Gonzalez, global strategy and integrated marketing communications manager, elaine_gonzalez@amax.com. About AMAX AMAX is a global leader in award-winning AI/Deep Learning, Cloud and Data Center high-performance computing solutions. AMAX solutions are designed to represent the intersection between high performance and best efficiency for today's highly efficient data center. Founded in 1979 and headquartered in Silicon Valley, AMAX Ireland is dedicated to direct support for customers throughout Europe, providing Silicon Valley's most cutting-edge computing technologies while being Made-in-the-EU for the highest quality, faster delivery and hands-on support.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]Trump wanted the trade agreement to expire after five years unless it was renewed by the signatories. That sort of provision sows uncertainty. Companies would be reluctant to make big capital investments knowing their markets might be taken away in just a few years. Omitting a sell date, by contrast, sends a signal that the parties are in for the long haul. In the end, the negotiators decided the deal will last 16 years, although with a mutual review after six years.[August 28, 2018] Chengdu, Russia sign agreements valued over 8 billion yuan for seven projects

MOSCOW, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Chengdu and Russia signed agreements valued at more than 8 billion yuan (approx. US$1.1 billion) for seven projects during the 2018 Chengdu-Russia Economic and Trade Cooperation Promotion Conference held in Moscow on August 24, 2018. The agreements cover a wide range of sectors, including biomedicine, digital information, public infrastructure, culture and music. As part of Moscow-Chengdu Week, a promotional component of the "Panda Chengdu in Russia" campaign co-hosted by the municipal governments of Chengdu and Moscow, the event brought together over 200 guests, including representatives from the Embassy of China in Russia, the municipal governments of Chengdu and Moscow, Russian business associations and companies engaged in related sectors as well as Chengdu-based firms, with a focus on Chengdu's investment environmen and its development prospects.



During the conference that included extensive promotion of Chengdu's business, tourism, convention and exhibition markets, a spokesperson for the Commission of Commerce of Chengdu highlighted the roll out of China Rail Chengdu-Europe Express and business opportunities brought about by the freight train service. During the three-day Moscow-Chengdu Week, the "Silk Road on the Cloud"-themed cross-border e-commerce exhibition that was hosted by the Chengdu government in Russia for the first time displayed many made-in-Chengdu products, including textiles, garments and electronics, at Krasnaya Presnya Park in Moscow, attracting the widespread attention of local visitors.

By partnering with a Russian e-commerce platform, the event has not only brought made-in-Sichuan products to local consumers in Moscow through a combination of physical exhibitions, online sales and trade negotiations, but has also helped brands in Chengdu expand into international markets by promoting their products in Russia, according to the spokesperson. "Organized by the Chengdu government, local cross-border e-commerce and foreign trade companies have joined in a survey of products made in Russia, with the aim of boosting mutual trade," added the spokesperson. Besides the e-commerce exhibition, an exhibit of Chengdu's non-tangible cultural heritage and a performance of traditional Chengdu dance and music held during Moscow-Chengdu Week showcased a variety of traditional wares and arts that are distinctive of Sichuan province, including Sichuan brocade, Sichuan embroidery, paper-cutting, bamboo weaving and tea art. The event was warmly received by the large crowd of local visitors. SOURCE Chengdu Municipal Commerce of Commission

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] CrowdStrike Accelerates Growth in India, Launches First Innovation and Development Center in Pune

CrowdStrike Inc., the leader in cloud-delivered endpoint protection, today announced the expansion of its operations in the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region with the opening of a new Innovation and Development Center in Pune, India and the appointment of Jagdish Mahapatra as managing director Asia (India, South East Asia and North Asia). Since the 2015 launch of its APJ operations in Sydney, Australia, CrowdStrike has experienced rapid, triple-digit growth adding new customers across the region. The company has expanded presence and the growing team will support and accelerate the substantial market demand for the CrowdStrike Falcon platform, threat intelligence, and response services. CrowdStrike has appointed Jagdish Mahapatra as managing director Asia, to strengthen the company's foothold in the region and rapidly drive new growth opportunities. Mr Mahapatra joins CrowdStrike from McAfee (News - Alert) where he was responsible for the APAC channel, effectively building a strong partner and alliance ecosystem in the region. Prior to that, he was the managing director of McAfee India and SAARC. He also spent over 10 years with Cisco (News - Alert) . "The security market has changed and I'm excited to work with the company leading the charge and setting the new standard for endpoint protection. CrowdStrike's incredible global growth demonstrates that the market is ready for a cloud-native approach to endpoint security that is far more effective and efficient in stopping breaches. India and SAARC are a strategic growth market for CrowdStrike and I'm looking forward to driving continued momentum in this region," said Jagdish Mahapatra, managing director Asia at CrowdStrike. CrowdStrike has chosen the city of Pune to leverage partnerships with local universities as part of a long-term collaboration to address the cybersecurity talent shortage in India. CrowdStrike's Chief Product Officer, Amol Kulkarni is a College of Engineering Pune Graduate. "Today, I'm very proud to be here in Pune to launch our CrowdStrike Innovation and Development Center, and to announce that we are partnering with the Pune College of Engineering and the Pune University Cyber Security department to offer cyber education opportunities, as well as internships," said Amol Kulkarni, chief product officer. In addition to launching the Innovation and Development Center in Pune and a local team, CrowdStrke is actively expanding its partner and channel ecosystem across Asia to support its go-to-market strategy and service a rapidly growing customer base.



"As a fast-growing industry leader, CrowdStrike is continually expanding our footprint in APJ, adding resources and operations in the most high-yielding regional markets. I'm looking forward to expanding our team and customer base even further and continuing to drive explosive growth within the India and SAARC market," Andrew Littleproud, vice president Asia Pacific and Japan. CrowdStrike Falcon is the first and only platform that unifies next-generation antivirus (AV), endpoint detection and response (EDR), and a 24/7 threat hunting service - all delivered via a single lightweight agent. CrowdStrike Falcon's modular approach enables customers to have integrated access to the full suite of endpoint protection capabilities, including vulnerability management, IT hygiene, threat intelligence automation, device control, and more.

The company is meeting spiking demand for its unique cloud-native solution as more and more organizations are looking to replace their AV or augment it with advanced endpoint detection and response capability. CrowdStrike currently processes over 150 billion security events per day from throughout the world to offer security teams unprecedented threat telemetry. CrowdStrike continues to significantly expand the capabilities of the CrowdStrike Falcon platform through the addition of new cloud-native modules, like Falcon Discover for AWS, to provide customers with a comprehensive solution. For additional information, read our blog. You can gain full access to Falcon Prevent by starting your free trial. About CrowdStrike CrowdStrike is the leader in cloud-delivered endpoint protection. Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), the CrowdStrike Falcon platform offers instant visibility and protection across the enterprise and prevents attacks on endpoints on or off the network. CrowdStrike Falcon deploys in minutes to deliver actionable intelligence and real-time protection from Day One. It seamlessly unifies next-generation AV with best-in-class endpoint detection and response, backed by 24/7 managed hunting. Its cloud infrastructure and single-agent architecture take away complexity and add scalability, manageability, and speed. CrowdStrike Falcon protects customers against all cyber attack types, using sophisticated signatureless AI and Indicator-of-Attack (IOA) based threat prevention to stop known and unknown threats in real time. Powered by the CrowdStrike Threat Graph, Falcon instantly correlates over 150 billion security events a day from across the globe to immediately prevent and detect threats. There's much more to the story of how Falcon has redefined endpoint protection but there's only one thing to remember about CrowdStrike: We stop breaches. Learn more: https://www.crowdstrike.com/

Follow us: Blog | Twitter  2018 CrowdStrike, Inc. All rights reserved. CrowdStrike, CrowdStrike Falcon, CrowdStrike Threat Graph, CrowdStrike Falcon Prevent, Falcon Prevent, CrowdStrike Falcon Insight, Falcon Insight, CrowdStrike Falcon Discover, Falcon Discover, CrowdStrike Falcon Intelligence, Falcon Intelligence, CrowdStrike Falcon DNS, Falcon DNS, CrowdStrike Falcon OverWatch, Falcon OverWatch, CrowdStrike Falcon Spotlight and Falcon Spotlight are among the trademarks of CrowdStrike, Inc. Other brands may be third-party trademarks. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180827005459/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited Enters into a Definitive Agreement to be Acquired by Certain Investment Funds Affiliated with Apollo Global Management in an All-Cash Transaction Valued at $2.6 Billion

Affiliates of certain investment funds (the "Apollo Funds") managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, LLC (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, "Apollo") (NYSE: APO), a leading global alternative investment manager and Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited ("Aspen") (NYSE: AHL) announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Aspen will be acquired by the Apollo Funds. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180827005635/en/ Under the terms of the agreement, which has been approved by Aspen's Board of Directors, the Apollo Funds will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Aspen for $42.75 per share in cash, representing an equity value of approximately $2.6 billion. "We are tremendously excited for the Apollo Funds to acquire Aspen," said Alex Humphreys, Partner at Apollo. "We believe that Aspen benefits from strong underwriting talent, specialized expertise and longstanding client relationships which makes them well positioned in the market. We look forward to working with Aspen to build on the existing high quality specialty insurance and reinsurance business and we aim to leverage Apollo's resources and deep expertise in financial services to support the Company as it embarks on its next chapter." Glyn Jones, Chairman of Aspen's Board of Directors, said: "We are delighted to have reached this agreement with the Apollo Funds. This transaction, which is the outcome of a thorough strategic review by Aspen's Board of Directors, provides shareholders with immediate value and will allow Aspen to work with an investor that has substantial expertise and a successful track record in the (re)insurance industry." Chris O'Kane, Aspen's Group Chief Executive Officer, added: "This transaction is a testament to the strength of Aspen's franchise, the quality of our business and the talent and expertise of our people. Under the ownership of the Apollo Funds, Aspen will have additional scale and access to Apollo's investment and strategic guidance, which will help us to accelerate our strategy and take Aspen to the next level. We are excited about the future as we embark on a new chapter in our history with a partner that understands our strengths, culture and customer-centric philosophy." Additional Transaction Details The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2019, subject to approval of regulators and Aspen's shareholders and the satisfaction of other closing conditions. Consummation of the transaction is not subject to any financing contingencies. Upon completion of the transaction, Aspen will be a privately held portfolio company of the Apollo Funds and Aspen's ordinary shares will no longer be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Apollo was advised by Willis Towers Watson and Libero Ventures and Sidley Austin LLP served as its legal counsel on this transaction. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as financial advisors to Aspen and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP served as its legal counsel on this transaction. ENDS - NOTES TO EDITORS: About Apollo Apollo is a leading global alternative investment manager with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Bethesda, London, Frankfurt, Madrid, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Apollo had assets under management of approximately $270 billion as of June 30, 2018 in private equity, credit and real assets funds invested across a core group of nine industries where Apollo has considerable knowledge and resoures. For more information about Apollo, please visit www.agm.com.



About Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited Aspen provides reinsurance and insurance coverage to clients in various domestic and global markets through wholly-owned subsidiaries and offices in Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. For the year ended December 31, 2017, Aspen reported $12.9 billion in total assets, $6.7 billion in gross reserves, $2.9 billion in total shareholders' equity and $3.4 billion in gross written premiums. Its operating subsidiaries have been assigned a rating of "A" by Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC, an "A" ("Excellent") by A.M. Best Company Inc. and an "A2" by Moody's Investors Service, Inc.

For more information about Aspen, please visit www.aspen.co. Additional Important Information About the Proposed Merger and Where to Find It: This communication relates to a proposed merger between Aspen and an affiliate of investment funds affiliated with Apollo that will be the subject of a proxy statement that Aspen intends to file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the " SEC (News - Alert) "). This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval, and is not a substitute for the proxy statement or any other document that Aspen may file with the SEC or send to its shareholders in connection with the proposed merger. Investors and shareholders are urged to read the proxy statement and all other relevant documents filed with the SEC or sent to Aspen's shareholders as they become available because they will contain important information about the proposed merger. All documents, when filed, will be available free of charge at the SEC's website (www.sec.gov). You may also obtain documents filed by Aspen with the SEC by writing to Investor Relations, c/o Aspen Insurance, 590 Madison Avenue, 7th floor, New York, New York 10022, United States of America, emailing mark.p.jones@aspen.co or visiting Aspen's website at www.aspen.co. Participants in the Solicitation: Aspen and its directors, executive officers and other members of management and employees may be deemed to be participants in any solicitation of proxies in connection with the proposed merger. Information about Aspen's directors and executive officers is available in Aspen's proxy statement filed with the SEC on March 19, 2018. Other information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be contained in the proxy statement and other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC regarding the merger when they become available. Investors and shareholders should read the proxy statement carefully when it becomes available before making any investment or voting decisions. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This communication and other written or oral statements made by or on behalf of Aspen contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In particular, statements using words such as "may," "seek," "will," "likely," "assume," "estimate," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "believe," "do not believe," "aim," "predict," "plan," "project," "continue," "potential," "guidance," "objective," "outlook," "trends," "future," "could," "would," "should," "target," "on track" or their negatives or variations, and similar terminology and words of similar import, generally involve future or forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect Aspen's current views, plans or expectations with respect to future events and financial performance. They are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and other risks, uncertainties and contingencies. The inclusion of forward-looking statements in this or any other communication should not be considered as a representation by Aspen or any other person that current plans or expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and Aspen undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law. There are or will be important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in any such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the following: the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the merger agreement; required governmental approvals of the merger may not be obtained or may not be obtained on the terms expected or on the anticipated schedule, and adverse regulatory conditions may be imposed in connection with any such governmental approvals; Aspen's shareholders may fail to approve the merger; Aspen may fail to satisfy other conditions required for the completion of the merger, or may not be able to meet expectations regarding the timing and completion of the merger; operating costs, customer loss and business disruption (including, without limitation, difficulties in maintaining relationships with employees, customers, reinsurers or suppliers) may be greater than expected following the announcement of the proposed merger; Aspen may be unable to retain key personnel; the amount of the costs, fees, expenses and other charges related to the proposed merger; and other factors affecting future results disclosed in Aspen's filings with the SEC, including but not limited to those discussed under Item 1A, "Risk Factors", in Aspen's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, which are incorporated herein by reference. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180827005635/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] Epiq Announces Continued Expansion in Switzerland

ZURICH, Switzerland, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Epiq, a global leader in the legal services industry, today announced the continued growth of its global operations with the opening of a new data centre in Switzerland.

Our collocated facility at the Green Data Centre in Zurich provides highly secure, local hosting for our clients in the Swiss market. The centres infrastructure is built in accordance with the Uptime Institutes Tier IV standards. It meets high performance connectivity, security, and energy efficiency standards, and upon request we can facilitate an audit to demonstrate compliance with ISAE-3402 and FINMA regulations. All client data is fully backed up to a second Swiss location that meets the same security and resilience standards as the primary data centre. The data centre will allow us to expand support to our clients across a wide range of eDiscovery and trial technology applications. The Zurich data centre allows us to process and store data within Swiss borders, a key issue to Swiss clients, particularly given theever-increasing focus on privacy and data protection, said Simon Hill, managing director, Europe. While our mobile solutions allow us to also work on-site at a clients office, a data centre is often the preferred solution as it provides cost and time efficiencies with an enhanced level of security.



Investing more resources in operations, client services and sales, as well as the new data centre, allows Epiq provide clients with processing and client service support on the ground in Switzerland. About Epiq

Epiq, a global leader in the legal services industry, takes on large-scale, increasingly complex tasks for corporate counsel, law firms, and business professionals with efficiency, clarity, and confidence. Clients rely on Epiq to streamline the administration of business operations, class action and mass tort, court reporting, eDiscovery, regulatory, compliance, restructuring, and bankruptcy matters. Epiq subject-matter experts and technologies create efficiency through expertise and deliver confidence to high-performing clients around the world. Learn more at www.epiqglobal.com .

Press Contacts

Sarah Brown

Epiq

+1 503 350 5850

sbrown@epiqglobal.com Kate Giblin

Epiq

+44 (0)20 3880 9391

kgiblin@epiqglobal.co.uk

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018]

Investoo Group Appoints General Counsel as the Business Progresses With Expansion Plan

LONDON, August 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Investoo Group is happy to announce the appointment of James McCarthy as General Counsel to provide strategic and risk sensitive legal advice.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/687072/Investoo_Group_Logo.jpg )



James will play an integral role in formalising internal governance policies and ensuring compliance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements.

In his former role as Senior Counsel at the helm of the legal team at Aztec Group, James consulted on a variety of matters across multiple jurisdictions.

"I am delighted to be joining Investoo Group at such a pioneering time.

"The opportunity to contribute to the continued growth of a company which has quickly established itself at the forefront of financial marketing was simply too good to pass up.

Driving growth and adding value whilst ensuring the highest standards of conduct is my main goal," James commented.







James is motivated to add value through a deep understanding of the Investoo Group business model and its particularities. He explains:

"To really add value as an in-house lawyer, you must take time to understand the business.

"To deliver practical, commercial and risk-sensitive legal advice to Investoo Group, I will become fully acquainted with the ventures and the innovative finance sectors Investoo Group deals with."

David Merry, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Investoo Group, has warmly welcomed James' skillset and vision. David comments:

"I'm delighted to have James with us. The field of modern finance requires a fast-growing and agile business, but also one that respects ever-evolving legislation, regulation and licensing requirements.

"The sound legal experience that James can provide will also be essential as we successfully progress with our expansion plan."

Throughout August, Investoo made two further strategic key hires. James Beale joined as Chief Finance Officer and Jamie Beadle was appointed as the Chief Operating Officer. All hires will play key roles in expanding and diversifying the company's diverse global portfolio.

http://www.investoogroup.com

For more information contact:

Linzi Nedoszytko

Head of Digital PR and Branded Content

+44(0)203-9501806

Linzi.nedoszytko@investoogroup.com[August 28, 2018]

6th Commercial Farm Africa reinforces Modern Technology's role in Transforming Africa's Agriculture

Amid rising global food demand, CMT's 6th Commercial Farm Africa on 16-17 October, 2018 in Marrakesh, Morocco sets out to discuss ways to transform Africa's vast and unused land resources into commercial agriculture - using better farming techniques, quality seeds and modern technologies.

MARRAKESH, Morocco, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Global agribusiness companies, agritech providers, investors as well as commercial farming consultants will head to Marrakesh for a much needed exchange on 'Modernizing Africa's Agriculture & strengthening the value chain'. Summit day one features a presentation by LMC International on - 'What will be the Role of African Agriculture in Satisfying Future Global Crop Demand?'.

Morocco has around 9 million hectares of forested areas and 8.1 million hectares of arable land for agriculture -- that provides ample opportunities for agribusiness development. Agency for Agricultural Development of Morocco (ADA) provides latest update on 'The Green Morocco Plan, Morocco's National Strategy for Agriculture' and investor - Tierras de Marruecos shares insights on 'Commercial Olive Farm Investment in Morocco'.







Groupe KKO International updates on how it is 'Modernizing Cocoa Production in Cote D'Ivoire' while Horizon Investment Group spells out the opportunities and challenges of 'Developing a Modern Commercial Farm in Ethiopia'. In addition, Divine Masters talks about its 'Soya Beans and Grains Cultivation & Value Addition in Uganda' while Zampalm presents a session on 'Developing an Oil Palm Plantation & Downstream Processing Facilities in Zambia'.

Corporate Sponsors SGS Precision Farming Services and New Holland Agriculture will be sharing on the modern agri technologies in their respective sessions on 'How Technology Platforms Enable Precision Farming among Small Scale Farmers across Africa' and 'How to Increase the Yield for Cereals from Land Preparation to Harvesting'.

Organized by Centre for Management Technology (CMT), the program also includes sessions on:

Inclusive Agricultural Transformation Partnership - Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa

Investing in Sugar Value Chain in Nigeria - Flour Mills of Nigeria

A site visit to Domaine Tizgui - a 120 ha citrus farm located 10 km from Marrakesh concludes the summit on 17 October.

Visit event website or contact Ms. Grace Oh - grace@cmtsp.com.sg or call +65 63469147 for more information.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/733092/6th_Commercial_Farm_Africa.jpg

SOURCE Centre for Management Technology[August 28, 2018] Fosun International Reports 1H 2018 Financial Results

HONG KONG and SHANGHAI, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- 1H 2018 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS: Net profit increases 17% to RMB 6.86 billion, six years of consecutive rapid growth

Pro-forma net profit increases 41% to RMB 8.29 billion (under previous accounting standards)

Focused on health and happiness ecosystems; key investments include St Hubert, Tsingtao Brewery, Lanvin and Wolford

RMB 4 billion invested into technology and innovation during reporting period Fosun International Limited (HKEX stock code: 00656) and its subsidiaries ("Fosun" or the "Group") today published financial results for the first six months of 2018. During this reporting period, Fosun International delivered revenue of RMB 43.51 billion, an increase of 20% over the same period of last year and profit attributable to the owners of the parent of RMB 6.86 billion, an increase of 17% over the same period of last year. Pro-forma profit attributable to the owners of the parent under the previous financial instrument accounting standards HKAS 39 was RMB 8.29 billion, an increase of 41% over the same period of last year. Earnings per share was HK$0.98 (RMB 0.80), an increase of 18% over the same period of last year. This is the sixth consecutive year of profit growth and represents a 5-year compounded annual growth rate of 29% in profit attributable to the owners of the parent and 21% in earnings per share. As at 30 June 2018, the Company's continued focus on maintaining a healthy balance sheet achieved a net gearing ratio of 53.6% with an overall financing cost of 5.18%. In January 2018, Moody's increased the Company's credit rating from Ba3 to Ba2 Stable. The Company's adjusted net asset value ("NAV"), estimated by management, was HK$30.78 per share, representing a slight decrease of 7.5% from the adjusted NAV recorded as of 31 December 2017. The main change in NAV was attributable to secondary market volatility. Chairman of Fosun International, Guo Guangchang said, "In the first six months of 2018, despite the market volatility, Fosun recorded a net profit growth of 17% (or 41% under previous accounting standards), reflecting the resilience of our business model, which focuses on health, happiness and wealth ecosystems for global families with deep roots in China. Over the past 10 years, Fosun's commitment to investment, continuous innovation and delivering superior value to shareholders has seen its per share book value increase from HK$3.60 to HK$13.79, a rate of 14.4% compounded annually." "In the first six months of 2018, we continued to make strategic investments across the world, balanced with key divestments in some projects. On the industrial operating front, five years after commencing construction of our champion project, Atlantis Sanya opened this year with phenomenal success and popularity. We are also executing our strategy of bringing several key assets into public markets, including the completed restructuring of Yuyuan in July 2018. We also signed important strategic agreements with major partners such as HSBC, SPD Bank, and New China Insurance. And finally, the Group launched youle, Fosun's proprietary loyalty program, with a total user base now exceeding 148 million despite only launching six months ago." Speaking to how the Group plans to deliver even greater shareholder value, Mr. Guo outlined three key strategies: ''First, we remain fully committed to disciplined investment and professional operations across our three core ecosystems in wealth, health and happiness. Second, with 10 IPOs completed by Fosun and its affiliates in 2017, we will continue to execute the strategy of bringing our key assets into the public markets, with a strong IPO pipeline including Babytree and Fosun Tourism Group. Third, we will continue to increase our investment in technology, research and innovation to further strengthen Fosun's strategy of transformational operations and continuously improve customer experience. In the first half of 2018, RMB 4 billion was invested into technology initiatives to enhance our operating capabilities. With the application of leading technology in our core businesses such as Fosun Pharma, Club Med, Atlantis Sanya, Fidelidade and BCP, I am confident that Fosun will continue to generate rapid and sustainable growth in our recurring operating profit and cash flow.'' Financial Results Summary Profit Attributable to Owners of the Parent







RMB mn 1H 2018 1H 2017 YoY Change (%) Health Ecosystem 828.9 631.6 31.2 Happiness Ecosystem 832.6 791.5 5.2 Wealth Ecosystem 5,196.8 4,441.4 17.0

Insurance and Finance 1,737.2 1,523.5 14.0

Investment 3,062.9 2,557.8 19.7

Hive Property 396.7 360.1 10.2 Total 6,858.3 5,864.5 16.9 Total (pro-forma under HKAS 39) 8,291.8 5,864.5 41.4

Net Profit / EPS/ Net Asset Per Share RMB 1H 2018 1H 2017 YoY Change (%) Profit attributable to owners of the parent (mn) 6,858.3 5,864.5 16.9 Basic earnings per share -- RMB 0.80 0.68 17.6 Diluted earnings per share -- RMB 0.79 0.68 16.2 HKD 2018/6/30 2017/12/31 Change (%) Net asset per share 13.79 14.07 -2.0 Adjusted NAV per share1 30.78 33.28 -7.5

1 Adjusted NAV includes the market value of listed investments held by the Group, fair value of unlisted investments utilizing recent transactions or comparable companies minus the Group's net debt. Interim Results Announcement 2018 and Presentation Full details of the Group's 2018 interim results can be found on the company's website www.fosun.com and on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The Group's management will present its key financial results and strategic outlook in Hong Kong on 29 August 2018 at 10am. A live-video feed of the presentation is available via the following link (ENGLISH) / (CHINESE). A copy of the latest Investor Relations presentation can also be downloaded from the website. English live-video link: https://live.vhall.com/247614756

Chinese live-video link: https://live.vhall.com/843059179 About Fosun Fosun was founded in 1992. Fosun International Limited is a family-focused multinational company that has been listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (00656.HK) since 2007, with total assets exceeded RMB560 billion (c.US$85 billion) as of June 30, 2018. With its roots in China, and through technology and innovation, Fosun's mission is to create customer-to-maker (C2M) ecosystems in health, happiness and wealth, providing high-quality products and services for families around the world. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, that address activities, events or developments that Fosun International Limited (the "Company") expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including but not limited to projections, targets, estimates and business plans) are forward-looking statements. The Company's actual results or developments may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors and uncertainties, and other risks and factors beyond our control. In addition, the Company makes the forward-looking statements referred to herein as of today and undertakes no obligation to update these statements. The financial figures in this press release are calculated using the average exchange rate for the reporting period January 2018 to June 2018 (USD/CNY= 6.3870 HKD/CNY= 0.8147), and period-end exchange rate as of 2018/6/30 (USD/CNY=6.6166 HKD/CNY=0.8431), unless otherwise stated. SOURCE Fosun

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] Security Chain was invited to "The First China-Australia Blockchain Ecology Summit" of 2018

SINGAPORE, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The First China-Australia Blockchain Ecology Construction Summit was successfully held as the "ACTE 2018 Australia-China Economic and Trade Expo" at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Center in Australia on August 25, 2018. As an international versatile technology, blockchain technology is gradually accelerating its innovative integration of traditional real economy and the digital economy. It is widely concerned that how blockchain would become an indispensable part of the future technology world and how blockchain would empower traditional industries. The Australia-China Economic and Trade Expo 2018 were co-sponsored and initiated by VFUND, Genesis Capital, Blockchain Global, ACTE. This summit had the principle of openness, sharing and communication and was aimed at in-depth discussion on the current status and application scenarios of blockchain. It conducted the practical feasibility of the blockchain project in the future and promoted the development of global blockchain technology. The summit invited 20 entrepreneurs, blockchain entrepreneurs and speakers from all over the world, more than 100 global investors and cryptocurrency experts, and nearly 500 elites from China, Australia and other countries. In addition, the world's first decentralized security defense system, Security Chain, is a live roadshow for the high-quality blockchain project of the "Blockchain Ecology Construction global roadshow brand.



Security Chain Ecological Development Officer Mingo shared the issue of traditional security in the blockchain. He mentioned that cybersecurity has always been a challenge for the Internet. With the birth of blockchain and development of blockchain technology, the security of the blockchain industry has become a new challenge. There are more incidents of attacks, and the commercial scale of the security industry is also growing at a high speed. The digital currency associated with blockchain technology has received great attention, and the security of digital currency has caused serious losses due to insufficient investment in offense and defense. In response to the current traditional security issues, MINGO analyzed the problems:

There has always been a problem of unfair distribution of interests between hackers and white hats. There is no clear product, and the data is hidden and manipulated by the central planning company. The current b lockchain security solutions are mostly solutions for all application layers and are operated by almost all centralized companies. This is also the original intention of the Security Chain. The team proposed a new model called decentralized secure network mode. In the past, security products were sold as software models; Security products is currently sold through centralized cloud services; Security products in the future will be decentralized secure network models. Security Chain provides a decentralized network system based on security components and secure block systems. Mingo mentioned that security network in the future consists of security nodes in countries around the world. The characteristics of Security Chain are that anyone can participate in safe co-construction. Since technical risks are inevitable, security people from all the world need to contribute efforts and the security of the public chain gradually receives more attention. A secure multi-chain system is required to constitute a secure chain, and global linkage and defense are jointed. This is also the innovation point of the Security Chain compared to the traditional security industry. About Security Chain Security Chain builds a secure ecological circle consisting of security elites, top hackers and white hats in the world through blockchain technology and certification. It solves the problem of security attack and defense from the underlying structure and breaks the centralized security monopoly in the Internet era and allows everyone could contribute to the security forces. Security Chain is an indispensable support for major exchanges, wallets, and blockchain projects. The core community and founding R&D have set up projects sites in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, China, and Silicon Valley, Singapore, and Taipei. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/security-chain-was-invited-to-the-first-china-australia-blockchain-ecology-summit-of-2018-300703203.html SOURCE Security Chain

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] Millennials in ASEAN: The Next Growth Engine

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Millennial is a much talked-about generation in the world today. More and more brands are continuing to show interest in millennials these days and view them as their target market. For several brands, this segment is like a gold mine which can not be skipped. More millennials in your demographic segmentation means more gains. That's typically how most brands think nowadays. It is attributable, among other things, to the size and weight of millennials, or the Y generation, as they represent majority of the world's population. Millennials are generally considered to be born between 1984 and 1996, and thus aged 22 up to 34 years. Besides their sheer size and the strong influence they cast in shaping perceptions and driving behaviors of other generations, millennials are also sought after in this digital age, because they represent a tech-savvy generation, with their enormous Internet appetite and voracious consumption and sharing of information through their smartphones and other devices. The 4th ASEAN Marketing Summit 2018, presented by MarkPlus, Inc., aims to discuss the problems that Millennials in ASEAN are facing and how the brands capture this market by learning the millennials character and behaviour, and come up with solutions. "A large part of them today work as young professionals, and more and more of the millennials are becoming entrepreneurs. At their young age, it is believed they will bring significant changes and power to global economy," said the world marketing expert Hermawan Kartajaya, who is also chairman and founder of well-known marketing consulting firm MarkPlus, Inc. But is it easy to conquer the millennials market? Of course not. With a very big market being eyed, the competitio is indeed intense too. All brands keep their ammo pointed at them at all times to capture the attention of millennials.



Moreover, technology has, to an extent, made millennials an 'instant gratification' market, wherein everything is supposed to be easier, faster, and this culture of impatience sometimes results in unfavorable financial conditions. All these temptations in this tech era also makes them a somewhat unprepared and unplanned generation. Millennials, like their predecessor generations, also harbor similar goals to settle into their lives, start a family, own vehicles and build a home of their own. But their tendency to 'live-in-the-moment' and limited attention towards financial planning does not always make it easy for them to realize these goals. This is also aggravated by their spending behavior which is more geared towards higher lifestyle expenses, for example concerts and hangouts, travelling and owning expensive items and gadgets, which eventually affects their savings.

The situation surrounding their savings and spending behaviors also snowballs into a greater 'debt' problem. A consequence of this phenomenon is that millennials, in general, are less invested into 'brands.' They consider products for their functional value and will not shy from buying unbranded products, as long as it meets their needs. This results in millennial generation being somewhat less loyalist towards brands, compared with other generations. But this should not stop brands from trying to maximize the opportunity to get millennials' attention. In fact, owing to a less loyalist behaviour, most brands tend to have similar a leveler playing field when it comes to reaching the millennial market and winning it. Hence, how do we know the winning strategies to capture the millennials, especially in ASEAN, where millennials represent the majority of population? ASEAN Marketing Summit 2018 is an event that aims to provide answers to that question, and much more, concerning millennials in ASEAN. This event will be bringing together distinguished experts and industry commentators from business and marketing arenas to discuss the most pressing issues facing ASEAN as a region today, from famous brands and agencies such as Facebook, LINE, Post10 Worlwide, and Hakuhodo. Themed, "Marketing to Millennials," AMS will welcome these brands to come together under one roof and show how they address issues concerning millennials and provide solutions to win in the ASEAN millennials market. In the 4th edition of this annual event, speakers will cover a variety of topics related to ASEAN millennials and share industry dynamics from tourism, commercial, financial, and also digital world. "The most important thing is how to communicate, like them, speak like them, use popular media so brands can be accepted by millennials. The trick is to follow the trending topics. What is the most relevant issue among millennials," said Hermawan. ASEAN Marketing Summit 2018 will be held on September 6, 2018, in Raffles Hotel Jakarta and tickets are available on aseanmarketingsummit.com. PR Newswire is the News Release Distribution Partner of the 4th ASEAN Marketing Summit. Media contact: Jaka Perdana

Corporate Communications Manager

MarkPlus, Inc.

+62-818-201-1958 SOURCE MarkPlus, Inc.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] Vietnam's First Agency Day Taking Place in Ho Chi Minh City

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Thousands of communications and marketing professionals from around the world will gather for Agency Day August 30th in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The event is the first of its kind in Vietnam and organized by MMA Vietnam. MMA Vietnam localize global mission with various educational event, workshop, ecosystem report release that empower the whole marketing ecosystem in Vietnam. The event aims to nurture the talents and get the market ready for the next wave to come, the topics of this event revolve around creativity in the new era, measurement and performance marketing, talentacquisition and management, Tet campaign preparation.



WHAT: AGENCY DAY VIETNAM WHEN: Thursday, August 30, 2018

WHERE: Sheraton hotel, District 1. HCMC, Vietnam. The event will host the most prestigious speakers and marketing experts from the industry giants from brands, to platform providers - Facebook, Google, Coca-Cola, FrieslandCampina, Adtima, Dentsu Aegis Network, etc., the event is an excellent opportunity to network with communications and marketing professionals and experts on the workplace, and take home new idea and resources. For additional information, please visit: https://agency.mmaglobal.com/ For media enquires, please contact: doan.nguyenngoc@mmaglobal.com About MMA The MMA is the world's leading global non-profit trade association comprised of more than 800 member companies, from nearly fifty countries around the world. MMA Member companies hail from every faction of the mobile media ecosystem. Our consortium includes brand marketers, agencies, enabling technologies, media companies and others. The MMA's mission is to accelerate the transformation and innovation of marketing through mobile, driving business growth with closer and stronger consumer engagement. PR Newswire is the News Release Distribution partner of Agency Day Vietnam 2018 Media contact:

Ms Doan Nguyen

doan.nguyenngoc@mmaglobal.com Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180828/2222244-1 SOURCE MMA Global

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 28)  The Senate on Wednesday will probe the Chinese airline mishap that paralyzed Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) operations for days.

The hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Services begins 9:30 a.m.

It will tackle three resolutions, all about air traffic congestion.

The first is Senate Resolution 852  filed by Committee Chair Grace Poe  which aims to investigate the events surrounding how a Xiamen Airlines plane skidded off the runway on August 16.

The incident shut down the runway for 36 hours, resulting in cancelled and delayed flights and thousands of passengers stranded. NAIA resumed normal operations five days later, on August 21.

The same resolution also called for the committee to look into the status of all airports in the country to address passenger concerns and decongest NAIA.

Poe also filed a related measure, Senate Resolution 277, which aims to look into the Transportation Department's plans to resolve air traffic.

Senate Resolution 63, filed by committee vice-chairman JV Ejercito, also aims to find out how airport congestion inconveniences travelers and affects tourism and business losses.

Among the guests invited to the hearing are Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, Transportation Undersecretary for Aviation and Airports Manuel Antonio Tamayo, Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Ed Monreal, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines Director General Jim Sydiongco, Civil Aeronautics Board Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla, and Clark International Airport Corp. President and Chief Executive Officer Alexander Cauguiran.

Chief officers and representatives from Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Air Asia Philippines, Xiamen Airlines, and other partners from the private sector were also invited.

Xiamen has since apologized and agreed to shoulder the costs of extracting the plane. However, Senator Koko Pimentel believes the airline should pay back other carriers for some expenses that were a result of the mishap.

The Department of Foreign Affairs also extended 5,000 in assistance to stranded overseas workers, who worried that the delay put their jobs on the line.

Many saw the airport chaos, compounded by uncoordinated flights, as an exposure of how travel authorities were ill-equipped in unforeseen circumstances.

The House of Representatives will conduct a similar hearing on the issue on September 5.Google itself released a statement saying: When users type queries into the Google Search bar, our goal is to make sure they receive the most relevant answers in a matter of seconds. Search is not used to set a political agenda and we dont bias our results toward any political ideology.[August 28, 2018] AudioEye to Present at the 7th Annual Liolios Gateway Conference on September 6, 2018

TUCSON, Ariz., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- AudioEye, Inc. (OTCQB: AEYE) (OTCQB: AEYED) ("AudioEye" or the "Company"), the leader in cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) digital content accessibility solutions, will be presenting at the 7th Annual Liolios Gateway Conference, which is being held September 5-6, 2018 at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco, CA. AudioEye's Executive Chairman, Dr. Carr Bettis, and CEO, Todd Bankofier, are scheduled to present on Thursday, September 6 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific time, with one-on-one meetings to be held throughout the conference. The presentation will be webcast live and available for replay here and on the Gateway Conference website at www.gateway-conference.com/presenters. To receive additional information, request an invitation or to schedule a one-on-one meeting, please email gateway@liolios.com. About the Gateway Conference

The 7th Annual Gateway Conference is an invite-only conference presented by Liolios, a full-service financial communications firm. Gateway was created to bring together the most compelling companies with the nation's top institutional investors and analysts. This year's event features approximately 100 companies from a number of growth industries, including technology, business and financial services, consumer, digital media, clean technology and life sciences. The format has been esigned to give attendees direct access to senior management via company presentations, Q&A sessions and one-on-one meetings. For more information, visit www.gateway-conference.com or www.liolios.com. To receive updates and highlights from #LioliosGateway, make sure to follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.



About AudioEye, Inc.

AudioEye is a technology company serving businesses committed to providing equal access to their digital content. Through patented technology, subject matter expertise and proprietary processes, AudioEye is transforming how the world experiences digital content. Leading with technology, AudioEye identifies and resolves issues of accessibility and enhances the user experience, making digital content more accessible and more usable for more people. AudioEye's common stock trades on the OTCQB under the symbol "AEYE." The Company maintains offices in Tucson, Atlanta and Washington D.C. For more information about AudioEye and its online accessibility solutions, please visit https://www.audioeye.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements in this press release about AudioEye's expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, prospects, financial condition, assumptions or future events or performance are not historical facts and are "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined under the federal securities laws. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as "believe", "anticipate", "should", "intend", "plan", "will", "expects", "estimates", "projects", "positioned", "strategy", "outlook" and similar words. You should read the statements that contain these types of words carefully. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from what is expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements, including the risk that the Company's bookings will not increase as currently expected or at all. There may be events in the future that AudioEye is not able to predict accurately or over which AudioEye has no control. Other risks are described more fully in AudioEye's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements reflect management's analysis as of the date of this press release and AudioEye urges you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. AudioEye does not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to such forward-looking statements to reflect events or uncertainties after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Corporate Contact:

AudioEye, Inc.

Todd Bankofier, Chief Executive Officer

tbankofier@audioeye.com

(520) 308-6140 Investor Contact:

Matt Glover or Tom Colton

Liolios

AEYE@liolios.com

(949) 574-3860 View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/audioeye-to-present-at-the-7th-annual-liolios-gateway-conference-on-september-6-2018-300702614.html SOURCE AudioEye, Inc.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] LDRA Takes Leadership Role in Helping GM Supplier Ecosystem Deliver Safe and Secure Software

As the multi-tiered automotive supply chain becomes increasingly complex, software and connected services become increasingly important. This, combined with higher safety awareness on the part of consumers and the ongoing threat of car hacking, has led automobile manufacturers to place higher expectations on software developers to reduce the risks associated with both functional safety and security vulnerabilities. To this end, LDRA- software quality experts in the areas of functional safety, security, and standards compliance-has worked with General Motors for more than two years to implement new technologies used by GM for software component validation and verification. The specification enables suppliers to more easily and cost-effectively develop high assurance software by automating the process of complying with coding standards most appropriate for the end user applications ranging from multimedia and infotainment to powertrain and body electronics. These application areas have very different demands on the software development and verification teams, as well as the desired technology and software development languages used to realize these applications. The LDRA tool suite automates and simplifies the process of software quality analysis and verification in each of these domains and as a result, reduces the qualification time frame and effort while reducing risk and cost. LDRA is focused on helping members of the automotive manufacturing community work together to comply with industry standards and OEM functional safety processes. LDRA has made a significant step toward this goal by incorporating the GM coding standards within the LDRA tool suite for Automotive, which helps suppliers comply with GM's component validation and verification specification. While the final responsibility for certification lies with the automobile manufacturer, OEMs and suppliers face significant challenges managing distributed teams, reducing time to market, and containing compliance costs. Improved collaboration and communication between OEMs and suppliers at the software development level can help suppliers achieve compliance more quickly, shorten time to market, lower costs, and improve software quality. Supplier requirements

Each automotive application has differing safety and security needs, and suppliers must adapt to the specific needs and meet the highest safety and security levels defined by industry and OEM standards. For instance, multimedia and infotainment applications such as GPS, in-vehicle connectivity, back-up cameras, and security systems, are dynamic in nature and rely on advanced software development languages, like C/C++ and Java. Powertrain and body electronics applications typically use the C programming language, as they are more statically oriented and safety-critical by nature. A failure of these components can result in physical harm or loss of life. By mitigating risk earlier in the development cycle and relying on stringent static analysis requirements that are more prescriptive in nature, developers can ensure that code is functionally safe. Developers must also nsure they are meeting a variety of industry standards, depending on the application and target market. They include:



AUTOSAR, an open and standardized software architecture for automotive electronic control units (ECUs)

SAE J3061, an engineering process for designing and building cybersecurity into vehicle systems

ISO 26262, an international standard for functional safety in electronic systems in vehicles

MISRA, a set of software development coding standard for the C programming language that safety, security, portability, and reliability "Because drivers and passengers alike are dependent on increasingly sophisticated electronics for vehicle performance, driver assistance, infotainment, and other advanced capabilities, car manufacturers have stepped up demands that suppliers deliver software that will function safely and without security vulnerabilities," said Steve Hoffenberg, Director and Industry Analyst for IoT and Embedded Technology at VDC Research. "Software developers face the challenge of adhering to industry standards while meeting the tight deadlines of a multi-tiered supply chain." The LDRA tool suite for Automotive helps address the challenges suppliers face in developing software that meets such stringent automotive standards. It does this by automating the process of complying with industry and coding standards to ensure that progress from one stage to another is seamless. By providing GM suppliers a tool suite that fully integrates the GM coding standards, LDRA enables GM suppliers to streamline their verification process, improve communication with GM itself, and reduce potentially thousands of hours of documentation effort.

"Because Automotive OEMs recognize that safety and security are tightly coupled, they are applying pressure on software suppliers to adhere to strict development standards," said Ian Hennell, Operations Director, LDRA. "The big-picture challenge for all suppliers is to do this in a cost-effective manner. Now, at least for GM and its suppliers, there is a solution. By automating the compliance process according to GM's guidelines, we can ensure that suppliers have a cost-effective way to address GM's safety and security requirements." Webinar: Leveraging LDRA to Help GM Suppliers Achieve Functional Safety and Security Presented by LDRA and GM's Software Validation Technical Integration Engineer John Theofanopoulos, this webinar will describe how GM is working with its suppliers to produce the industry's highest quality software and, more specifically, how GM suppliers can leverage the LDRA tool suite to cost-effectively address the requirements of functional safety and security for GM. Date: September 6, 2018 Time: 11am - 12pm EDT Register: Leveraging LDRA to Help GM Suppliers Achieve Functional Safety and Security About LDRA For more than 40 years, LDRA has developed and driven the market for software that automates code analysis and software testing for safety-, mission-, security-, and business-critical markets. Working with clients to achieve early error identification and full compliance with industry standards, LDRA traces requirements through static and dynamic analysis to unit testing and verification for a wide variety of hardware and software platforms. Boasting a worldwide presence, LDRA is headquartered in the United Kingdom with subsidiaries in the United States and India coupled with an extensive distributor network. For more information on the LDRA tool suite, please visit www.ldra.com. Please send reader inquiries to: Mark James Email: mark.james@ldra.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005190/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] FTE's CrossLayer to Enter Canadian Market Through Ontario-Based Buttcon Holdings Limited

NAPLES, Fla., Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FTE Networks, Inc. (NYSE American: FTNW) (FTE or the Company), a leading provider of innovative technology-oriented solutions for smart platforms, network infrastructure and intelligent buildings, today announced its subsidiary, CrossLayer , Inc., will be working with Buttcon Holdings Limited , an Ontario, Canada-based construction company, to present CrossLayer as the preferred technology partner for Buttcons family of businesses, marking CrossLayers entry into the Canadian market. Buttcon is one of the 25 largest contractors in Canada, according to On-Site magazine, Canadas leading publication serving the commercial construction industry.

Buttcon will present CrossLayer as the preferred technology partner for Buttcons family of businesses, marking CrossLayers entry into the Canadian market. The proposal calls for CrossLayer to utilize Buttcons construction services for installation and deployment of fiber, conduit and equipment required to deliver on CrossLayer services in Buttcon sourced buildings in the Province of Ontario, the most populous province in the country. Buttcon will also be designated as the exclusive provider of remote/on-site service support for all commercial, institutional, industrial, and residential properties utilizing CrossLayer services in Ontario. I am extremely excited about partnering with Buttcon. This represents a great strategic relationship with a high-quality, customer-focused company, and our first international expansion of the CrossLayer platform, said Michael Palleschi, President and CEO of FTE Networks. CrossLayers compute-to-the-edge technology solution is rapidly gaining traction in the U.S., and were looking forward to expanding our footprint in the growing Ontario region. This alliance and the numerous opportunities it brings to CrossLayer will add additional buildings to the portfolio of buildings that utilize our compute to te edge technology and further strengthen our stated objectives of having at least 30 buildings on-net by year end 2018. This alliance with CrossLayer provides additional opportunities to attain our stated objectives of having at least 30 buildings on-net by year end 2018.



This new business relationship is not just a win-win for Buttcon and CrossLayer, but also a win-win for property owners and their tenants, said Michael A. Butt, P.Eng., Chairman, CEO and Director of Buttcon. The CrossLayer advanced data network is a significant differentiator for commercial property owners and developers looking to attract a dynamic workforce that requires always-on connectivity wherever they work across a campus. About Buttcon Limited

Buttcon Limited is a 100% employee-owned Canadian company founded in 1979. Buttcon specializes in three services: pre-construction; construction, including design build, construction management and general contracting; and facilities management.

About FTE Networks, Inc.

FTE Networks, Inc. (FTNW) is a leading provider of innovation technology. We enable adaptive and efficient smart network connectivity platforms, infrastructure and buildings. FTE provides end-to-end design, build, and support solutions for state-of-the-art networks, data centers, residential and commercial properties. We create transformative smart platforms and buildings. FTEs services are predicated on smart design and consistent standards that reduce deployment costs and accelerate delivery of leading edge projects and services. The Company works with Fortune 100/500 companies, including some of the worlds leading Telecommunications and IT Services Providers as well as REITs and Media Providers. Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: expected, will, looking forward, and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements in this release may include, without limitation, statements and forecasts regarding our ability to perform as anticipated in Canada, including the successful integration of our technology and services with those of Buttcons, the successful implementation of our strategy and our ability to realize the benefits of this strategy, including our ability to meet our previously stated guidance, and other matters that involve known or unknown performance or achievements to differ materially from results expressed or implied by this release. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and market trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risk and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. These risk factors and others are included from time to time in documents we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to, our Form 10-Ks, Form 10-Qs and Form 8-Ks. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this update is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, where as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. For more information, please contact:

Investor Contact:

Ted Haberfield

MZ Group

Phone: (760) 755-2716

Email: thaberfield@mzgroup.us Corporate Contact:

FTE Networks, Inc.

Kirstin Gooldy

999 Vanderbilt Beach Rd., Suite 601

Naples, FL 23108

(877) 850-4308

ir@ftenet.com

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] StorONE Breaks Speed Record of 1.7 Million IOPS Using Only 24 SSD Commodity Drives

StorONE today announced results of benchmark testing featuring the StorONE S1 software-based enterprise storage solution running on a commodity 2U24 Flash Storage Platform JBOD with 24 commodity drives. The testing achieved record-setting performance by attaining more speed per drive than entire AFA arrays from competing solutions. StorONE benchmarked the capabilities of S1 software to demonstrate high performance using only two 2U off-the-shelf servers running in an HA configuration with standard components and 24 commodity drives. The results were exceptional: 1.7M IOPS for random reads, 15 GB/s sequential reads, 7.5 GB/s sequential writes and 10 GB/s for a mixed workload of 80/20 reads/writes. By comparison, all-flash array competitors in the market required at least 4 times the amount of hardware and expense to deliver similar results. The benchmark utilized four initiators: two 4x16Gb Fibre Channel and two 1X40GB iSCSI. The impressive results were attained with all enterprise storage features turned on, and showed ultra-high performance and ultra-low latency. The testing and subsequent results validate that StorONE TRU Storage technology efficiency provides customers with the best price/performance ratio among enterprise storage solutions available today. The software also supports virtual environments. In another benchmark tst, the S1 software running in a VMware ESXi Server with only two nodes, achieved 500,000 IOPS with no altering of the AFA hardware. This test demonstrated how to turbocharge storage performance in a virtual environment simply by adding the StorONE software to commodity hardware. The solution is ideal for accelerating enterprise workloads such as database, virtualization and scale-out configurations all in a single simple to use solution. The S1 virtual solution supports both internal VMs and External iSCSI and Fibre Channel initiators, either ESXis or physical machines.



StorONE's S1 TRU Storage efficiency technology can - for the first time - extract the full performance of drives and deliver them directly to the applications. No other enterprise storage solution can do this. With complete data protection running in all of its implementations by default, StorONE gives users the best possible performance and density from their investment. StorONE provides revolutionary AFA SSD and NVMe solutions, cost-effective high capacity with integrated backup solutions, and a breakthrough virtual appliance, all in one solution. "StorONE is the only enterprise storage vendor able to extract the full spec out of the drives and deliver them to the applications achieving 70,000 IOPS per drive with very low latency," said Gal Naor, CEO StorONE. "I'm very proud with our results as we are 5-10 times more efficient compared to anyone else in the market. With StorONE users finally get all the advantages of using less compute, buying less hardware, and spending much less on integration and management. We are able to give customers complete enterprise data protection features in a comprehensive software solution while still achieving record speeds."

About StorONE StorONE is transforming software-defined storage with a new class of SDS that completely redefines expectations in performance, results, functionality, convenience and cost. Founded by proven disruptive serial entrepreneurs and backed by top-tier industry luminaries and strategic investors, StorONE provides enterprise-class functionality, high performance and high capacity. With more than 50 patents awarded in its first seven years of deep technical development, StorONE is completely changing the perception of storage from an IT cost center to a resource that provides organizations with a key competitive advantage. StorONE is headquartered in New York, with offices in Dallas, Tel Aviv and Singapore. Additional information about StorONE is available at https://www.storone.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005268/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] Ross University School of Medicine Appoints Dr. Rhonda McIntyre-Francis as Associate Dean of Medical Sciences

Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) Dean and Chancellor William Owen, MD, FACP, recently announced the appointment of Dr. Rhonda McIntyre-Francis, MBBS, FAAP, FRCP(C), as the Associate Dean of Medical Sciences effective September 1. Dr. McIntyre is well-versed in all aspects of RUSM, having served in various leadership roles throughout her 21-year career at RUSM. Prior to her current roles as Campus Dean for the St. Kitts Satellite Campus and Director of the RUSM HEART Training Centre, she held the following positions: Director of Health Services, Director of the International Health Program, Director of the Advanced Introduction to Clinical Medicine PMH program, Professor of Pediatrics, and Clerkship Preceptor. "Under her leadership, Dr. McIntyre displayed steadfast dedication to academic excellence and built a strong and united campus community," said Dr. Owen. "Her priority remains our students, championing scholarly excellence, community engagement, volunteer efforts, and launching innovative best practices for experiential learning. Dr. McIntyre is a remarkably capable steward to lead our university's medical sciences campus." As Associate Dean of Medical Sciences, Dr. McIntyre will partner closely with Dr. Owen and RUSM's Cabinet, campus Department Chairs, and faculty. They collectively will maintain RUSM's focus on maintaining successful student outcomes and community engagement. "I look forward to building on our rich and sustaining legacy in medical education with a commitment to providing opportunities for our students to serve as good stewards in the community via physician-training and medical advocacy programs. These initiatives help prepare our students to become well-rounded leaders in the medical profession with a global perspective on patient care," said Dr. McIntyre. Dr. McIntyre attended medical school at The University of the West Indies. She completed her pediatric residency at BC Children's Hospital at University of British Columbia in Vancouver. After residency, she was a practicing pediatrician in Canada, before returning to her hometown in Dominica. Thereafter, she continued as a practicing pediatrician before taking the position of Head of Pediatris at Princess Margaret Hospital and eventually joining RUSM in 1997 as a clinical preceptor in Pediatrics. Dr. McIntyre is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada and board certified in Pediatrics.



Moreover, Dr. Owen said, "In turn, I am deeply grateful to our former Senior Associate Dean of Medical Sciences, Dr. Stan White for his strong leadership and positive contributions to RUSM over the past four years." As RUSM prepares to relocate to a new permanent medical science campus in Barbados in January 2019, Dr. McIntyre will initially be based at RUSM's temporary Knoxville campus. Dr. White will serve as the Satellite Campus Dean for the St. Kitts Campus.

In addition to the changes to the leadership of the medical science campus, additional leadership appointments were recently announced. These include but are not limited to: Seeth Vivek , MD, DLFAPA, who joined RUSM as Chair of Psychiatry in January 2018, has been appointed Assistant Dean of Clinical Sciences, effective July 1. He will also continue as Chair of Psychiatry. Dr. Vivek has spent many years in academia, including creating a major postgraduate training program in psychiatry in New York. He is an officer in his state's medical specialty society and is a recognized scholar in medical education.

MD, DLFAPA, who joined RUSM as Chair of Psychiatry in January 2018, has been appointed Assistant Dean of Clinical Sciences, effective July 1. He will also continue as Chair of Psychiatry. Dr. Vivek has spent many years in academia, including creating a major postgraduate training program in psychiatry in New York. He is an officer in his state's medical specialty society and is a recognized scholar in medical education. Pranaya Mishra, PharmD, Associate Dean of Student Affairs, has assumed the additional role of Academic Chief of Staff, effective August 1. As Academic Chief of Staff, Dr. Mishra will work closely with Dr. Owen and senior academic leaders on several major university initiatives. For more information about RUSM's faculty and leadership team, visit medical.rossu.edu/. About Ross University School of Medicine Ross University School of Medicine is a member of Adtalem Global Education (NYSE: ATGE), a global education provider headquartered in the United States. The organization's purpose is to empower students to achieve their goals, find success and make inspiring contributions to our global community. Founded in 1978, RUSM is committed to educating a diverse group of skilled physicians to serve as leaders in the U.S. healthcare system. With more than 14,000 alumni, RUSM is an important contributor to healthcare in North America. RUSM is accredited by the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and Other Health Professions (CAAM-HP). For more information, please visit www.medical.rossu.edu. About Adtalem Global Education The purpose of Adtalem Global Education is to empower students to achieve their goals, find success and make inspiring contributions to our global community. Adtalem Global Education Inc. (NYSE: ATGE; member S&P MidCap 400 Index) is a leading global education provider, and the parent organization of Adtalem Educacional do Brasil, American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists, Becker Professional Education, Carrington College, Chamberlain University, DeVry University and its Keller Graduate School of Management, Ross University School of Medicine and Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine. For more information, visit adtalem.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005081/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] Video Ads on Instagram Drove Business Results for These Animoto Customers

NEW YORK, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Animoto, the company that makes it easy for anyone to create professional marketing videos, showcased business results from customers who have become successful video advertisers on Instagram. Using Animoto's online video maker to create their videos, these businesses produced videos optimized for the Instagram Feed. 48 Percent Increase in Sales for this Ecommerce Beauty Brand Click n Curl is a detachable brush styling tool for women, developed by its owner, Kim Nimsgern. Kim wanted to create an ad for Instagram that demonstrated her product with an entertaining how-to video, so she did a simple photo and video shoot to obtain the assets she needed. She then created a video in a square aspect ratio, since square videos are optimized for mobile-viewing and take up 78 percent more screen space. Kim then placed $100 against the square video ad on Instagram using Facebook Ads Manager. The video received 5,134 views, and increased sales by 48 percent. The video led to a 17 percent increase in website visits. Additionally, the Animoto video boosted link clicks from Click n Curl's Instagram page to their website. From a baseline of zero link clicks to their website page, they went to 222 link clicks just from Instagram trafic.



Earning Praise from the Press and 40 Percent More Views Cupcake Market is a bakery in Manhattan's East Village. To help spread the word about their celebrity-inspired desserts beyond their local NYC audience, they A/B tested a landscape video ad and square video ad on Instagram. The square version received 40 percent more views and Cupcake Market received impressive business results.

With just a minimal spend, Cupcake Market saw a threefold increase in inquiries through their website, a 700 percent increase of online orders, and a 175 percent increase in average order value. In addition, People Magazine, Fox News, and a large food distributor contacted them while the video ads ran. "The most exclusive food delivery network in the country engaged me after seeing our Instagram feed," says Josh Silverman, Marketing and Technology Operations Manager for Cupcake Market. "Static images alone could never create this kind of opportunity." More Instagram Video Ad Results These stories aren't isolated. Animoto has seen more and more customers achieving success with Instagram video advertising. For example, Nohohon Tea drove foot traffic and sales through Instagram ads. Like A Local Tours and Nest Homeware have similarly used video on Instagram with impressive results. For more information on these brands and other case studies showing the impact of video on social media visit Animoto's video marketing success page. About Animoto: Animoto's award-winning online video maker makes it easy for anyone to drag and drop their way to powerful and professional marketing videos. The company's certified partnerships with Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and the Small Business Administration give it unique insight into the changing social media and business landscape, which may be why more than 1 million businesses around the world have used Animoto to create marketing videos that stand out on social media and beyond. Founded in 2006, Animoto has offices in New York City and San Francisco. For more information, visit http://animoto.com. Animoto is a registered trademark of Animoto Inc. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Public Relations Contact

Rebecca Brooks

rebecca@animoto.com View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/video-ads-on-instagram-drove-business-results-for-these-animoto-customers-300702850.html SOURCE Animoto

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] Fortanix Self-Defending Key Management Service Achieves VMware Ready Status

Fortanix Inc., the leader in Runtime Encryption, today announced that its Self-Defending Key Management Service (SDKMS) has achieved VMware Ready status. This designation indicates that after a detailed validation process Fortanix SDKMS has achieved VMware's highest level of endorsement and is supported on VMware vSphere 6.7 and vSAN 6.7 for production environments. "We are pleased that Fortanix and its SDKMS qualify for the VMware Ready logo, signifying to customers that it has met specific VMware interoperability standards and works effectively with VMware cloud infrastructure," said Kristen Edwards, director, Technology Alliance Partner Program, VMware. "This signifies to customers that Fortanix can be deployed in production environments with confidence and can speed time to value within customer environments." "By using Fortanix SDKMS with vSphere 6.7 and vSAN 6.7, organizations can accelerate data protection and compliance for their VMware virtual infrastructure for any cloud - private, public and hybrid," said Ambuj Kumar, co-founder and CEO of Fortanix. "We are excited about the VMware Ready certification and what this means for SDKMS' expansion. Organizations looking to encrypt their virtual machines and dta-at-rest in VMware environments can benefit from SDKMS' HSM-grade security with a software-defined simplicity that is essential to securing VMware virtual environments."



Fortanix SDKMS can be found within the online VMware Solution Exchange (VSX) at https://marketplace.vmware.com/vsx/solutions/fortanix-self-defending-key-management-service-1-x. The VMware Solution Exchange is an online marketplace where VMware partners and developers can publish rich marketing content and downloadable software for customers. About Fortanix SDKMS

Fortanix's SDKMS leverages Runtime Encryption and Intel SGX to deliver security for encryption keys and cryptographic services with software-defined simplicity. The solution offers flexible consumption models; a FIPS hardened appliance; and a SaaS (News - Alert) service Equinix SmartKey, powered by Fortanix. The solution is uniquely architected to enable easy integration for new modern cloud applications, as well as existing applications, with support for both RESTful APIs and traditional cryptographic interfaces, including KMIP, PKCS#11, JCE and CNG. About Fortanix Fortanix delivers provable deterministic security to organizations by offering the industry's only Runtime Encryption. It has been selected by leading partners, including to power Equinix (News - Alert) SmartKey HSM-as-a-service. While today's encryption technologies protect only data at rest and data in motion, Runtime Encryption keeps keys, data and applications completely protected while in use from external and internal threats, including insiders, cloud providers, government subpoena, OS-level attacks, and network intruders. Fortanix is venture backed and headquartered in Mountain View, Calif. Fortanix, Runtime Encryption, and Self-Defending Key Management Service are trademarks of Fortanix, Inc. VMware, vSphere, vSAN, and VMware Ready are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc., in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005025/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] GoNetspeed Now Offering High-Speed Fiber Optic Internet in Select Connecticut Neighborhoods

GoNetspeed, a high-speed fiber optic Internet provider, today announced it has completed the buildout of its initial network in West Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport, Connecticut, providing residential customers and small businesses access to Internet speeds up to 1 Gigabit (Gbps) per second (both download and upload), the fastest in the area. The company has constructed an initial footprint of more than 50 miles of high-speed fiber optic network in Connecticut with the ability to serve over 12,000 homes-and plans to quickly expand to nearby communities as part of its multi-year, multi-million dollar private investment in Connecticut. "Having access to high-speed Internet service has become as critical a resource to residents as electricity," said Larry Coleman, President at GoNetspeed. "More people are "cutting the cord," moving away from cable providers and running online streaming services which increases the demand for bandwidth. We can now offer residents a faster, more cost-effective alternative without having to worry about network reliability or hidden contract fees." The rate of consumers dropping cable and satellite TV packages has hit the highest level ever, and Internet TV subscribership is on a rapid rise. According to new estimates from research firm eMarketer, U.S. consumers who have canceled traditional pay-TV service and not re-subscribed will jump to more than 32 percent or 33 million adults, by the end of 2018. This national cord-cutting trend also coincides with the fact that more cord-cutters are turning to Internet streaming services with nearly 148 million people in the U.S. watching Netflix at least once per month.



"What differentiates GoNetspeed from other providers is our ability to offer customers direct access to 100 percent fiber connectivity, without any extra fees or taxes, and with no contract required," added Coleman. "We also provide customers a Lifetime Price Pledge that guarantees they pay the same price for their Internet speeds for the entire time they remain a customer within a GoNetspeed service territory." Today the company offers residential service plans starting at $50 for 100 Mbps (Megabits per second), as well as options for 500 Mbps and 1 Gbps (Gigabits per second). As an introductory offer, the company is also waiving its installation fee, a $100 value, for all serviceable customers.

The company will continue to expand into new neighborhoods and areas throughout Connecticut based on demand, noting areas need at least 15% interest for consideration. Communities are encouraged to register on the GoNetspeed's website. The company has hired Brian Quinn as its Director of Sales and Ken Lane as Market Operations Manager to lead its awareness and expansion activities in Connecticut, with plans to add other employees as it continues to grow its network footprint. It also works with local contractors to help perform customer installations. About GoNetspeed GoNetspeed is a high-speed fiber-optic Internet provider serving residential and small business customers. The company was founded by Frank Chiaino, who also formed Fibertech Networks, which built more than 14,000 miles of fiber networks across the Northeast - including more than 2,500 route miles in Connecticut. GoNetspeed is now serving 14 communities throughout Pennsylvania and Connecticut. For more information on the company, or to inquire about service for your residence or community, please visit www.gonetspeed.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005450/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] Neustar and Thunder join forces to deliver better customer experiences, powered by people-based intelligence

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Thunder Experience Cloud, the leader in people-based ad serving, and Neustar Marketing Solutions (a division of Neustar, Inc.), the leading unified marketing intelligence platform for marketers, today announced the integration of Thunders people-based ad server with the Neustar Identity Data Management Platform (IDMP) and the Neustar MarketShare solution. The partnership will enable brands and agencies to quickly customize ad creatives to each customer, as well as measure performance for real-time optimization. Thunder's dynamic creative optimization (DCO) solution is a people-based, dynamic ad server that enables advertisers to factor in data signals such as CRM, weather, device type, time, media exposure, and now, audience data from large Data Management Platforms (DMP) like Neustar. Customers of Neustar and Thunder will be able to target creative messaging for individual, real people and audience segments cross digital channels such as display, video and mobile. By synchronizing people IDs on the open web, they can achieve a higher level of personalization, consistency and accuracy, eliminating irrelevant or redundant advertising.



In addition, Thunder's people-based Experience Measurement solution tracks the performance of ads from exposure to viewer to conversion to allow for a high level of optimization. From there, joint customers can quickly and easily activate media by person tracked on the open web through the Neustar IDMP. This people-based data set will also be integrated within the Neustar IDMP and the Neustar MarketShare solution. Advertisers must be able to have a clear view of how their marketing performs across channels  which creatives and messages are being shown to whom, when and where. Neustar is dedicated to giving the industry access to independent and accurate media exposure data, ensuring brands and agencies have the tools they need for personalized, measurable experiences at scale, said Steve Silvers, General Manager, IDMP, Neustar.

There is no excuse for a bad ad, added Victor Wong, CEO of Thunder. This integration is another step toward ensuring every ad meets the highest standard of relevancy, frequency and impact, ultimately creating a better customer experience. About Thunder:

Thunder solves bad ads. Thunder Experience Cloud enables enterprises to produce, personalize, and track their ads cross-channel to achieve the right consistency, relevancy and frequency. Consumers maintain privacy, publishers safeguard data, and brands gain transparency through Thunder for a better ad experience for all. To learn more visit: https://www.makethunder.com/ About Neustar Marketing Solutions

Neustar, Inc. helps companies grow and guard their business in a connected world. Neustar Marketing Solutions provides the worlds largest brands with the marketing intelligence needed to drive more profitable programs and to create truly connected customer experiences. Through a portfolio of solutions underpinned by the Neustar OneID system of trusted identity and through a privacy by design approach, we enhance brands CRM and digital audiences, enable advanced segmentation and modeling, and provide measurement and analytics all tied to a persistent identity key. Neustars position as a neutral information services provider, and as a partner to Google, Facebook and Amazon, provides marketers access to the most comprehensive customer intelligence and marketing analytics in the industry. More information is available at www.marketing.neustar. Press Contact: Cassady Nordeen Blast PR on behalf of Thunder Cassady@blastpr.com

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] Platform9's Managed Kubernetes Solution Adds 'Arbitrage' Capabilities to Dynamically Run Nodes in a Cluster on Amazon EC2 Spot Instances

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Platform9 (https://platform9.com/), the leader in SaaS-managed hybrid cloud, today announced Arbitrage - a new capability for Platform9 Managed Kubernetes. The solution allows companies to define what percentage of their total number of nodes in a Kubernetes cluster to deploy as Spot instances on Amazon EC2 at adjustable Spot bid prices, and what level of fault tolerance and performance to maintain. It also provides improved cloud cost control for organizations by continuously evaluating the pricing of cloud resources against target SLAs to automatically decide whether Spot instances or standard EC2 instances are deployed. The advantages of Arbitrage are further realized when combined with Fission, the open source Serverless framework (https://fission.io/), for the execution of Functions for Kubernetes using cheaper cloud resources than the more expensive EC2 instances or the dedicated Kubernetes services offered by public clouds. Learn more about Arbitrage and other Platform9 Managed Kubernetes capabilities at: (https://platform9.com/managed-kubernetes/). "With Arbitrage, organizations can significantly lower their Amazon EC2 costs without sacrificing fault tolerance for mission-critical Kubernetes-based applications," said Sirish Raghuram, Co-Founder nd CEO of Platform9. "Arbitrage is another example of the automated management capabilities we offer our customers to enable them to take advantage of new technologies, such as Kubernetes, while reducing infrastructure costs and management overhead."



Platform9 Managed Kubernetes is the industry's only enterprise-grade, SaaS-managed solution that is infrastructure agnostic, working across any public cloud or on-premises infrastructure. This remotely-managed service eliminates the operational complexity around using Kubernetes for enterprise workloads by delivering it as a Service -- with deployments, monitoring, upgrades, fault tolerance and troubleshooting -- all handled automatically. Platform9 Managed Kubernetes allows enterprises to benefit from a robust production-grade Kubernetes solution within an hour, on any infrastructure environment, with all the enterprise features built in -- such as SSO, backups, failover and HA clusters, auto healing, and more -- all of which are backed by the company's 247x7x365 SLA. To allow users to accelerate their time-to-value with Kubernetes even further, Platform9 created Fission, the industry leading open source Serverless framework that is Kubernetes-native, and is free to use under the Apache license. With Fission, developers can easily code, deploy and operate Serverless applications that are production-ready from the get-go without having to learn anything about Kubernetes. It allows Operations to enable a Lambda-like experience (the Serverless service from AWS) in their own backyard, on any infrastructure, without risking lock-in or incurring additional cloud costs.

Furthermore, Platform9's hybrid cloud solution provides a single pane of glass with a unified experience across VMs, Kubernetes, and Serverless functions. This ensures enterprises have consistent management and visibility across all their technology stacks and environments - on prem and in the cloud. Share This: New 'Arbitrage' Feature Added to Managed #Kubernetes Solution from @Platform9Sys to Dynamically Run Nodes in a Cluster on Amazon #EC2 Spot Instances https://platform9.com/press/platform9s-managed-kubernetes-solution-adds-arbitrage-capabilities-to-dynamically-run-nodes-in-a-cluster-on-amazon-ec2-spot-instances/ #AWS #cloud #K8s #cloudcost #spotinstances About Platform9

Platform9 (platform9.com) delivers a SaaS-managed hybrid cloud solution that turns existing infrastructure into a cloud, instantly. We help enterprises drive digital transformation by enabling them to manage VMs, Containers and Serverless Functions on ANY infrastructure  on-premises, in public clouds, or at the edge - with a self-service, simple and unified experience. Customers such as Cadence, Autodesk, Splunk, EBSCO, Bitly, LogMeIn and Aruba see upwards of 300 percent improvement in IT efficiency, 33 percent faster time to market, and 50-80 percent improvement in data center utilization and cost reduction. The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, and is backed by Redpoint Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Canvas Ventures and HPE. Media Contact:

Jeremy Douglas

Catapult PR-IR

303-581-7760

jdouglas@catapultpr-ir.com View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/platform9s-managed-kubernetes-solution-adds-arbitrage-capabilities-to-dynamically-run-nodes-in-a-cluster-on-amazon-ec2-spot-instances-300703134.html SOURCE Platform9

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]The story's details are truly wild and unbelievable, but the plotting and characters feel rote. Perhaps that's just overfamiliarity with the story. The second half, when Isaac and Kingsley face off in a war of philosophies, is when the film truly comes together. El Al refuses to transport Eichmann until he signs a document assenting to the extradition and trial, so the team must wait, holding him hostage in a safe house. To get him to sign, Peter appeals to the man's ego, vulnerability and ultimately, his humanity, facing down the man he believes responsible for the death of his sister.[August 28, 2018] Impact Bolsters Leadership Team to Support and Continue Rapid Growth

Impact, a natively-integrated suite of products for fraud protection, marketing attribution and analytics, and creating and optimizing performance partnerships, today announced the appointment of Marc Fanelli to General Manager (GM), Forensiq and Altitude. Fanelli will be responsible for global P&L and day-to-day management of the Forensiq and Altitude business units, including sales, customer success, operations and product. The company has also promoted Michael Head to GM, Radius and hired Jesper Rathje as chief financial officer (CFO). The GM roles were created to drive the next stage of commitment and investment to the solution areas of Forensiq, Altitude and Radius. Creation of the CFO role will support Impact's rapid business growth, evidenced by the company's inclusion in the 2018 Inc. 5000 List of America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies. "This year Impact has more than doubled its volume year-over-year, expanded our team globally, and integrated product features from major acquisitions to better serve the needs of today's modern marketer," said David A. Yovanno, CEO of Impact. "Marc is a talented executive whose deep technical aptitude, experience creating and scaling products, and inspirng leadership will be key to our focus on and investment in the evolution of our solutions. In combination with Mike and Jesper's new appointments, Impact is set up for accelerated growth and success in the years to come."



"It's an incredibly exciting time to join the Impact team, as strategy across business units will drive synergy in our solutions and ultimately deliver smart, integrated technology to marketers in the digital ecosystem," said Fanelli. "The verification and measurement segment of MarTech is poised for growth and Impact's unique SaaS (News - Alert) offering is best in class. I'm thrilled for the opportunity." Prior to joining Impact, Fanelli was SVP, Global Data & Analytics for Acxiom (News - Alert) , a marketing database analytics company. While at Acxiom, Marc ran the global data and analytics businesses, enabling clients and partners to reach highly targeted audiences within digital publishers and platforms across the globe. He also previously served as GM of Merkle, a leading performance marketing agency, responsible for all aspects of the creation and distribution of global data-driven solutions into the online ecosystem. Based in Impact's New York office, Fanelli will report to Impact CEO, David A. Yovanno.

Since joining Impact nine years ago, Mike Head has helped Impact scale sales globally across all products. As a sales leader his team scaled from 4 to 70+ and on-boarded dozens of world class clients. In his new position as GM, Radius, he will be accountable for the strategy and operations of the Radius business unit, aiming to accelerate global growth in partner marketing. Jesper Rathje has served as a financial consultant to Impact for several years, and brings more than 30 years of financial experience to the CFO role including extensive involvement in building financial infrastructure. About Impact

Impact is a marketing technology company helping brands grow by optimizing their paid marketing and media spend. The Impact platform was designed to respond to marketers' demands for simplicity, transparency, performance, and confidence to drive growth through marketing. Impact's platform is the first native integration of leading solutions to stop ad fraud, enable more confident decisions through media measurement, attribution, and mix optimization, and create new performance partnerships, including with influencers and strategic partners. Founded in Santa Barbara, CA (News - Alert) in 2008, Impact has grown to over 350 employees and seven offices across the United States, Europe, and Asia. To learn more visit www.impact.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005466/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] Raytheon developing system that lets artificial intelligence explain itself

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Under the Defense Research Project Agency's (DARPA) Explainable Artificial Intelligence program (XAI), Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) BBN Technologies is developing a first of its kind neural network that explains itself. The XAI program aims to create a suite of machine learning techniques that produce more explainable models while maintaining a high level of performance. It also aims to help human users understand, appropriately trust and effectively manage the emerging generation of artificially intelligent partners. Raytheon BBN's Explainable Question Answering System will allow AI programs to 'show their work,' increasing the human user's confidence in the machine's suggestions. "Our goal is to give the user enough information about how the machine's answer was derived and show that the system considered relevant information so users feel comfortable acting on the system's recommendation," said Bill Ferguson, lead scientist and EQUAS principal investigator at Raytheon BBN. EQUAS will show users which data mattered most in the AI decision-making process. Using a graphical interface, users can explore the system's recommendations and see why it chose one answer over another The technology is still in its early phases of development but could potentially be used for a wide-range of applications.



"A fully developed system like EQUAS could help with decision-making not only in DoD operations, but in a range of other applications like campus security, industrial operations and the medical field," said Ferguson. "Say a doctor has an x-ray image of a lung and her AI system says that its cancer. She asks why and the system highlights what it thinks are suspicious shadows, which she had previously disregarded as artifacts of the X-ray process. Now the doctor can make the call  to diagnose, investigate further, or, if she still thinks the system is in error, to let it go." As the system is enhanced, EQUAS will be able to monitor itself and share factors that limit its ability to make reliable recommendations. This self-monitoring capability will help developers refine AI systems, allowing them to inject additional data or change how data is processed.

About Raytheon

Raytheon Company, with 2017 sales of $25 billion and 64,000 employees, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions. With a history of innovation spanning 96 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration, C5ITM products and services, sensing, effects, and mission support for customers in more than 80 countries. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Mass. Follow us on Twitter. Raytheon Company

Space and Airborne Systems

BBN Technologies

Cambridge, Mass. Media Contact

Joyce Kuzmin

+1.617.873.8120

joyce.kuzmin@raytheon.com View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/raytheon-developing-system-that-lets-artificial-intelligence-explain-itself-300703309.html SOURCE Raytheon Company

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] Andreessen Horowitz Leads $8.5 Million Investment in Very Good Security

San Francisco-based data security firm Very Good Security (VGS) announced today that it has raised $8.5 million via a Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. The funding will allow VGS to further scale its core security product, which lets companies collect, secure and exchange sensitive data without the risk or liability associated with storing it on their own systems. By reducing or eliminating data security scope, VGS' customers can rapidly achieve compliance certifications (e.g. PCI, SOC2, EI3PA, HIPAA) and accelerate their time to market. NYCA, Vertex (News - Alert) Ventures, Slow Ventures and Max Levchin also participated in the round. "Data security and compliance shouldn't hold companies back from getting to market safely and quickly," Mahmoud Abdelkader, CEO and co-founder of VGS, said. "This investment fuels our mission to securely power the world's sensitive data and transform data security from a business obstacle into a competitive advantage." VGS is built on the premise that you can't hack what isn't there, allowing companies to preserve the functionality of their sensitive data without having to store that data on their own systems. VGS instead collects and stores the sensitive data in its own highly secure vaults, freeing customers from the costs and liability of building and maintaining their own compliant security systems. When customer applications require sensitive data, VGS identifies that data in transit and swaps it-in real time-for surrogate values that retain the same functionality of the original data. Integrating VGS requires no changes to existing products or legacy architecture, and the sevice starts working instantly. Because VGS maintains multiple compliances and isolates customers from sensitive data, it enables businesses to quickly achieve regulatory compliance. Customers include Flutterwave, a payment technology provider for pan-African commerce; Shift Payments, a card issuer that allows users to spend both fiat and digital/cryptocurrencies anywhere major credit cards are accepted; Deserve, an analytics-based financial technology company that connects customers to fair credit products; and LendUp, a fintech company providing loans and credit products as well as financial education in pursuit of better financial health and empowerment for its customers.



"We appreciate VGS' approach to compliance and security, as it aligns well with our philosophy of protecting cardholder data," Venkat Udayasankar, architect for LendUp Card Services, said. "Together, we've been able to quickly craft a PCI (News - Alert) Level 1 solution that fits our business needs. VGS integrations were seamless, fast and easy, allowing us to focus on LendUp's core business." By removing the complex constraints posed by digital security and compliance, VGS allows customers to scale rapidly without having to worry about data breaches, regulatory issues, or service provider security requirements that could significantly slow a company's growth. This latest round of funding will allow VGS to scale its own operations as it works to vastly simplify data security for a growing number of companies.

"VGS ensures that businesses and services requiring identification 'keys'-e.g. credit card or Social Security numbers-for their customers will not have to worry about compliance around the storing of confidential or private data, and frees them from vendor lock-in," said Alex Rampell, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz. "We are incredibly excited to partner with Mahmoud and team to build a category-defining enterprise platform." About Very Good Security Very Good Security (VGS) is a data security company providing a fast and simple end-to-end security solution to companies that need to collect and access sensitive data. By securing data collection, processing, and storage as well as enabling rapid achievement of security compliance for its customers, VGS helps companies grow quickly without being constrained by digital security or compliance issues. Founded in 2016 by Mahmoud Abdelkader and Marshall Jones, the company is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif. and has raised $9.9 million in total funding to date. For more information, visit www.verygoodsecurity.com/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005257/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] Marcus by Goldman Sachs Partners with HouseCanary to Launch Home Addition Calculator

Today Marcus by Goldman Sachs announces the new Home Addition Calculator, created in partnership with HouseCanary, a leading data analytics and valuation platform for real estate professionals. The Home Addition Calculator is an innovative tool which helps homeowners to calculate the estimated adjusted value of a home addition. The creation of the free calculator is part of Marcus' commitment to provide personalized products and resources to help consumers take control of their finances. Marcus offers personalized financial products including personal loans and high-yield savings accounts that are designed to help people be smarter with their money. Earlier this year, Marcus personal loans became available for home improvement projects - providing funds to homeowners to make their renovation ideas a reality. The free Home Addition Calculator uses public information and market factors, including sales and listing data from MLS and county assessor records, in addition to other factors, to estimate property values. The calculator provides estimates in real time for the value of a home based on the following home additions:  Bathroom  Bedroom  Pool  Square footage "We are excited to partner with HouseCanary to offer a new resource to consumers who are looking to build an addition to their home," said Abhinav Anand, Head of Lending for Marcus by Goldman Sachs. "Our free Home Addition Calculator provides homeowners an estimate of how much an addition could impact the value of their home and helps them make smarte financial decisions."



"Marcus by Goldman Sachs is helping homeowners finance their home improvement dreams using a streamlined technology experience," said Jeremy Sicklick, co-founder and CEO at HouseCanary. "HouseCanary's industry-leading data and proprietary analytics provide homeowners with in-depth insights on the current and estimated future values of their homes, and we are excited to partner with Marcus to bring this project to life." Marcus home improvement loans have no fees. Ever. No sign-up fees, no late fees (customers only pay interest for the additional days) and no prepayment fees. The application process is easy and does not require a home appraisal or borrowing against your home. Once approved, many Marcus customers receive their funds within four days. Marcus home improvement loans provide borrowers complete control over how they use their funds without being committed to pre-approved projects or a single contractor. Loans range from $3,500 to $40,000 for periods of three to six years, providing creditworthy customers with a smart and simple solution for investing in a home renovation. Marcus home improvement loans provide value, simplicity and flexibility.

To learn more about the Home Addition Calculator and Marcus home improvement loans, visit www.marcus.com. About Marcus by Goldman Sachs: Marcus by Goldman Sachs offers products and tools designed to help people achieve financial well-being. Marcus offers no-fee, fixed-rate unsecured personal loans, high-yield online savings accounts and certificates of deposit in a variety of terms as well as home improvement loans. Marcus is supported by the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) and its 148-year history of financial expertise, risk management and customer service. About HouseCanary: Founded in 2013, HouseCanary's mission is to help people make better real estate decisions. Built on a foundation of great data, powerful models, and predictive analytics, the HouseCanary platform aggregates millions of data elements, including more than four decades of property data and a rapidly expanding arsenal of proprietary calculations and analytics, to accurately define and forecast values and market influences. HouseCanary is financed by notable investors including Hillspire (Alphabet Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt's (News - Alert) family office), PSP Growth/PSP Capital (firm founded by entrepreneur and former Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker), Alpha Edison, ECA Ventures, Raven Ventures and other top investors. The company is headquartered in San Francisco. www.housecanary.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005479/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] 12 ReTech's Lexi-Luu Dancewear is "Made In The USA" and Selling in Asia!

Emotion Fashion Brands, Inc. lands a 4-year contract worth over $14 million dollars. Carson City, NV & Hong Kong, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 12 ReTech Corporation (OTCQB: RETC) announced today that its Emotion Fashion Brands, Incs Lexi-Luu Dancewear is to be sold in Asia. A distribution contract was recently signed between Emotion Fashion Brands, Inc. and Global Outlets Group, Inc., a USA based distributor who successfully brings American manufactured products and brands to countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Macao, China and Vietnam. This contract will allow Global Outlets to sell Lexi-Luu branded merchandise in its distribution territories for four years. Global Outlets Group plans to sell $1 million of Lexi Luu Dancewear in the first year, the minimum annual merchandise purchase guaranteed is $500,000, with any unpurchased amount between $500,000 and $1 million being added to the second years minimum guarantee. The Contract specifies a higher minimum purchase guarantee each year with the fourth years minimum purchase guarantee set at $10,000,000. Lexi-Luu Dancewear is one of the micro brands that 12 ReTech acquired on May 1, 2018 as part of its Emotion Fashion Brands acquisition. Emotion Fashion now operates in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is ramping up its manufacturing operations to be able to meet domestic and international demand. Recently, Utah was ranked third by CNBC in their Americas Top States for Business 2018 scorecard which is part of the reason for the move from California. Visit Lexi-Luus website to learn more at www.lexiludancewear.com . Hub Blanchett, Emotion Apparels CEO commented, I am very pleased that Lexi-Luu Dancewear will be available to parents in a larger part of the world. We have brightened the smiles of children in the USA for many years, and now the time to bring our dancewear to the rest of the world has arrived. Angelo Ponzetta, 12 ReTechs CEO previously stated, Lexi-Luu is a timeless brand of kids dancewear that is well recognized in the dance world. That our products are Made in the USA has been well received by families with young children in our pimary geographic market. Hubs team has worked closely with us and because of that, we are now ready, ahead of schedule, to grow our sales and extend our brand awareness into worldwide consumer markets.



Hub concluded, Many demographics on foreign lands want to experience the American lifestyle. In the 70s, for example, famous apparel brands such as Levis, Lee and Wrangler were sought out in the rest of the world and became iconic symbols of American culture. We think that American culture is resurging again and Emotion Fashions is ready to meet that need in the worldwide markets. The new contract was brought to us by the 12 ReTech team who operates internationally. Their reach is one of many reasons why we joined up with them. We never would have seen this opportunity without 12ReTech. Mr. Ponzetta concluded, We are working hard on our 12 Technology Suite and expect to be able to announce additional strategic partnership(s) in the near future to bring value to our prospective retailers.

About Lexi-Luu Dancewear: A special apparel brand owned by Emotion Fashion Brands, Inc. that designs, manufactures and sells childrens dancewear apparel. This brand was launched in 2007 and recently acquired by 12 ReTech Corporation (OTCQB RETC) as part of 12 ReTechs consumer brand roll-up strategy. Our story is, Lexi-Luu Designs make you feel like a star. And when you wear Lexi-Luu, a star is what you are! Playful patterns, fun colors and oodles of lace. With ruffles and flowers all over the place! For dancing, gymnastics or out to dine. The star that you are will really shine! Interested consumers may choose to visit us at www.lexiluudancewear.com . About 12 ReTech Corporation: At our core, we are a software company whose technology allows retailers to combat the dual threats of Walmart and Amazon  both online and in physical stores. Our microbrand rollup acquisition strategy allows us to demonstrate the effectiveness of our software, devise and test new products, while providing shareholder value through immediate revenue and earnings growth. The Company operates through our subsidiaries on three continents: 12 Hong Kong, Ltd., 12 Japan, Ltd., 12 Europe A.G., 12 Retail Corporation (and its subsidiaries in North America, including Emotion Fashion Brands, Inc.). For more information please visit our website at www.12ReTech.com . 12 ReTech Corporation is publicly listed on the OTCQB Markets under the symbol RETC. Safe Harbor: This document contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created thereby. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainty, including without limitation, the ability of the Company to successfully implement its turnaround strategy, changes in costs of raw materials, labor, and employee benefits, as well as general market conditions, competition and pricing. Although the Company believes that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein are reasonable, any of the assumptions could be inaccurate, and therefore, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements included in this letter will prove to be accurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking statements included herein, the inclusion of such information should not be regarded as representation by the Company or any other person that the objectives and plans of the Company will be achieved. In assessing forward-looking statements included herein, readers are urged to carefully read those statements. When used in the Annual Report on Form 10-K, the words "estimate," "anticipate," "expect," "believe," and similar expressions are intended to be forward-looking statements. Investors Relations Contacts: Mark Gilbert Magellan FIN, LLC mgilbert@magellanfin.com 317-361-2392 (USA) Corporate Headquarters investors@12ReTech.com

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] Ryan Cush Joins data.world as Chief Revenue Officer

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- data.world today announced that Ryan Cush has joined as Chief Revenue Officer to lead the company's sales, technical services, and customer success teams. He will help the business evolve faster on multiple fronts. The company's mission and product inspired Ryan to leave his private consulting business and join the company full time. "I'm thrilled and honored to be joining data.world," said Ryan. "This was a big decision and one that I put a ton of thought into. I'm very intentional about joining a company, because to me it's far more than a job; it's a major life commitment. Ultimately it came down to a very personal decision: is this where I want to invest my most precious resource, time? The answer was a clear 'yes.' It is a real honor to be working every day on such an ambitious and exciting business, alongside the best early-stage team I've ever been a part of." Ryan is an established figure in the Austin entrepreneurial ecosystem and has guided technology companies on their grwth and customer success strategies. He has also held a variety of business development and customer success roles over a twenty-year period. This includes time spent at Bazaarvoice and Trilogy, where he first met and worked with the data.world co-founders.



"Quite simply, Ryan is the best sales leader I've ever worked with," said Brett Hurt, co-founder and CEO at data.world. "He was by far one of our top performers over the years at Bazaarvoice and set the standard for our culture as well. What made him very unique is he was a true champion of our customers, and a real partner to them as well as to our engineering, customer success, and product management teams. It is a major validation of where we are as a company, and our market potential, to have Ryan decide to join us." Moving forward, Ryan will ensure that data.world's platform and in-house expertise are being best used to help enterprises build data-driven cultures through Collective Data Empowermentthe approach that makes all internal stakeholders more productive with data, not just an elite few.

About data.world

data.world is the platform for modern data teamwork. It helps you tap into more of your team's collective brainpower to achieve anything with data, faster. The Austin-based Public Benefit Corporation and Certified B Corporation serves the enterprise by speeding up data work and creating shared context to preserve and perpetuate essential project knowledge. Visit data.world and read our blogs Distinct Values (blog.data.world) and Meta (meta.data.world) for more. Media Contact:

Drew Knapp

dknapp@hudsoncutler.com

(540) 315-0774

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] Michigan Great Lakes Virtual Academy Grows Career Prep Program for the 2018-2019 School Year

Students and teachers at Michigan Great Lakes Virtual Academy (MGLVA) will start the 2018-2019 school year on September 4. A full-time online public charter school for students in grades K-12, MGLVA is available tuition-free to students across the state. MGLVA combines innovative technology with a rigorous curriculum led by Michigan-certified teachers. Students take a full course load across the core subjects of math, science, language arts, history, music and art, as well as a variety of electives, honors and Advanced Placement courses at the appropriate grade levels. Beginning this year, MGLVA high school students will have the opportunity to take online Career Technical Education (CTE) courses through the school's Destinations Career Program. This program introduces students to specialty trade skills through online courses in the fields of busness management and administration, finance, marketing and health science. These engaging, content-rich courses expand the traditional education experience and maximize a student's ability to succeed in the community and workforce.



"As the new school year gets underway, we're excited to introduce our students to the Destinations programs," said Kendall Schroeder, MGLVA head of school. "We have long been a trusted public education partner to Michigan families, and the addition of these online CTE courses will be another way we are preparing our students for college and in-demand career opportunities." From live classes to one-on-one instruction to chat sessions, phone calls and in-person events, MGLVA's dedicated teachers work in close partnership with families and students to support academic success. The online platform enables students to enjoy a safe learning environment and connects them with classmates and teachers from across the state.

To learn more about MGLVA, families are encouraged to attend an online or in-person information session hosted by the school. To learn more about enrollment and for a schedule of upcoming events visit mglva.k12.com or download the K12 enrollment app for iOS and Android (News - Alert) devices. About Michigan Great Lakes Virtual Academy Michigan Great Lakes Virtual Academy (MGLVA) is a full-time, online public charter school authorized by Manistee Area Public Schools and serving students statewide in grades K through 12. MGLVA is tuition-free, giving parents and families the choice to access the engaging curriculum and tools provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN), the nation's leading provider of K-12 proprietary curriculum and online education programs. For more information about MGLVA, visit mglva.k12.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005227/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] Highpoint Virtual Academy of Michigan Kicks Off the 2018-2019 School Year on September 4

Students and teachers at Highpoint Virtual Academy of Michigan (HVAM) will start the 2018-2019 school year on September 4, simply by turning on their computers. A full-time, online public charter school authorized by Mesick Consolidated Schools, HVAM provides a tuition-free public education option for students in grades K-10 across the state. "At HVAM, we offer Michigan families a unique opportunity to attend public school from home," said Head of School Mary Moorman. "Whether a student enrolls because they are an advanced learner, are looking for a safer learning environment, or have a variety of medical or other needs, our online platform and inspired teachers offer students a learning experience that is right for them." Combining innovative technology with a rigorous curriculum led by Michigan-licensed teachers, HVAM provides each student with a personalized learning experience. Students take a full course load in the core subjects of math, science, language arts, history, art, music and physical education/health. As the school grows its offerings to 10th grade this academic year, high school students are offred a host of electives, world languages and Advanced Placement courses to prepare for the future.



HVAM's teachers facilitate lessons during live, interactive online classes, allowing students to enjoy a safe learning environment. In addition to scheduled classes, teachers offer one-on-one instruction and support, online chat sessions and phone calls to build close partnerships in support of students' academic success. Throughout the year, HVAM builds a sense of community through in-person field trips, community service opportunities and social outings. Virtual clubs and organizations also allow students to further explore shared interests together in the online setting.

HVAM is still accepting enrollment applications for the 2018-2019 school year. Families are encouraged to attend an online or in-person information session hosted by the school. To learn more about enrollment and for a schedule of upcoming events, visit hvam.k12.com or download the K12 enrollment app for iOS and Android (News - Alert) devices. About Highpoint Virtual Academy of Michigan Highpoint Virtual Academy of Michigan (HVAM) is an online public charter school authorized by Mesick Consolidated Schools that currently serves students in grades K through 10 throughout the state. As part of the Michigan public school system, HVAM is tuition-free, giving parents and families the choice to access the engaging curriculum and tools provided by K12 Inc. (NYSE:LRN), the nation's leading provider of K-12 proprietary curriculum and online education programs. For more information about HVAM, visit hvam.k12.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005214/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] IRI Launches New Audience Builder Solution

IRI, one of the global leaders in innovative solutions and services for consumer, retail and media companies, today announced the launch of IRI Audience (News - Alert) Builder, a new offering in IRI's audience portfolio. IRI Audience Builder, in addition to the concierge-based audience development service, IRI Audience Desk, expands IRI's audience development capabilities by providing clients with self-service access to the industry's largest repository of de-identified multichannel retailer data. This powerful, web-based solution helps marketers, media planners and media buyers to build and activate IRI Verified Audiences, IRI's 100 percent deterministic audience solution, in seconds as opposed to the hours and days it may take other products in the marketplace. IRI Audience Builder, accessed through the IRI Liquid Data technology platform, is powered by de-identified data from IRI's industry-leading 350 million national shopper loyalty cards. These cards span numerous leading retailers and enable scalable, nationally representative, purchase-based audiences across the grocery, drug, club and convenience channels. IRI Audience Builder is a flexible, intuitive and fast solution that helps users build 100 percent deterministic purchase-based audiences across a host of audience types, ranging from category and brand buyers to more complex audiences (e.g., switchers, heavy buyers and lost buyers). Within each audience type, users can select from a variety of parameters, such as IRI's proprietary product hierarchy (from total store down to the individual UPC level); time period, from within the past 52 weeks down to the individual day; key engagement metrics such as dollar sales and trips; and geographies at the national and state levels. IRI research has shown that IRI Verified Audiences deliver up to 4X higher return on advertising spend (ROAS) compared to traditional contextual or demographic targeting techniques. With Audience Builder, users will have direct accss to size, activate and iterate these powerful, accurate audiences at will, and ultimately drive the optimal impact and return for their campaigns.



"IRI offers clients the richest loyalty card data in the industry, enabling extremely tailored and precise audiences that help marketers reach actual consumers with messages most relevant to them," said Nishat Mehta, president of the IRI Media Center of Excellence. "We are proud to be a strategic partner for many of the nation's leading retailers and leverage insights from hundreds of millions of loyalty cards to empower our clients with unprecedented personalization. With the launch of Audience Builder, our clients now have direct access to discover and create audiences against this industry-leading collection of behavioral data for more efficient engagement and, ultimately, more effective marketing." "IRI's customer-first attitude, innovative solutions and leading technology platform make them the perfect fit to help national advertisers create customized audiences for their brand-building campaigns through a single, user-friendly platform to enhance collaboration and growth," said Stuart Aitken, Kroger Group Vice President and CEO of 84.51.

Audience Builder as well as 90-day trial demo IDs are available today. For more information, contact IRIMedia@IRIWorldwide.com. Helpful Link: Press Release: IRI Revolutionizes Precision Marketing with Launch of New IRI Personalization Suite on Liquid Data; Enhanced IRI Audiences and IRI Lift Solutions Now Available About the IRI Partner Ecosystem: IRI fundamentally believes that delivering differentiated growth for clients requires deep, highly integrated partnering with a variety of best-of-breed companies. As such, IRI works closely with a broad range of industry leaders across multiple industries and sectors to create innovative joint solutions, services and access to capabilities to help its clients more effectively collaborate and compete in their various markets, and exceed their growth objectives. IRI is committed to its partnership philosophy and continues to actively enhance its open ecosystem of partners through alliances, joint ventures, acquisitions and affiliations. The IRI Partner Ecosystem includes such leading companies as 84.51, Adobe, The Boston Consulting Group, comScore, Data Plus Math, Experian, GfK, Gigwalk, Google (News - Alert) , Ipsos, Mastercard Advisors, MaxPoint, Omnicom, Oracle, Pinterest, Research Now, Simulmedia, SPINS, Survey Sampling International, Univision, Viant, Yieldbot and others. About IRI IRI is a leading provider of big data, predictive analytics and forward-looking insights that help CPG, OTC health care organizations, retailers, financial services and media companies grow their businesses. A confluence of major external events - a change in consumer buying habits, big data coming into its own, advanced analytics and personalized consumer activation - is leading to a seismic shift in drivers of success in all industries. With the largest repository of purchase, media, social, causal and loyalty data, all integrated on an on-demand, cloud-based technology platform, IRI is empowering the personalization revolution, helping to guide its more than 5,000 clients around the world in their quests to remain relentlessly relevant, capture market share, connect with consumers, collaborate with key constituents and deliver market-leading growth. For more information, visit www.iriworldwide.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005056/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] Braun Demers, Cincom CPQ Partner to Improve Buyer Experience Across Sales Channels

CINCINNATI, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Leading ambulance manufacturer, Braun Demers, has teamed with configure-price-quote (CPQ) solution provider Cincom to standardize processes across Braun Demerss sales channels, including its dealer network, and ultimately deliver a better, easier buying experience for its customers.

Our objective is to provide our dealers with a tool that will greatly simplify their quote process with both Braun and Demers, create a better buyer experience and improve quote and product quality, explains Alain Brunelle, CEO of Braun Demers. Dealer reps will benefit from a user-friendly tool that allows them to point-and-click to choose and select already-designed product configurations and provide quicker turnaround on quotes with more consistent and accurate pricing, says Brunelle. Cincom will collaborate closely with an internal task force assembled by Braun Demers comprised of accounting, IT, design and engineering, and sales experts to ensure a smooth transition to its CPQ program and promote adoption of new processes around it. Some shared Braun Demers dealers will be asked to participate in Beta testing during the trial phase of design. The ambulance manufacturer has targeted Q2 of 2019 for roll-out to all dealers. Results of the program will be benchmarked and measured jointly by both teams, with outcomes to be reported in 2020. By doing so, both ompanies hope to contribute new best-practices to the way complex manufacturers do business.



When you launch an initiative like this with CPQ at the center, what youre really doing is improving alignment across your sales channels and throughout your organization in the way it sells, builds and delivers products, says Joseph McMahon, the Cincom Account Executive that helped broker the partnership. It takes stress out of the relationship between Sales and Engineering, it frees up IT resources, it ensures quality and accuracy for the manufacturers, the list goes on, McMahon continues. This is a big commitment from Braun Demers and Cincom is going to do whatever we can to make sure they succeed.

About Cincom

Cincom is a global software company with a legacy of innovation dating back to its founding in 1968. Cincom solutions help organizations improve the way they do business, from multi-channel configure-price-quote solutions for complex products and services to software improving customer communications management capabilities. In other words, Cincom builds solutions to help clients improve their most critical business processes and operating results. Visit cincom.com for more information. About Braun and Demers Ambulances

Recognized for leadership in innovative design, quality product, and for their over 100-years of combined rich history serving the emergency response market in over 20 countries worldwide, Demers and Braun offer ambulance models ranging from the price-conscience value ambulance to the very highly-customized specialty vehicle. To learn more about how Demers Ambulances and Braun Industries can help you save more lives, visit www.Demers-Ambulances.com and www.BraunAmbulances.com . Contact:

Catherine Poulsen

cpoulsen@cincom.com

1 800 224 6266

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]While you can look at a stat line or you can look at a box score and say, This guy looks like hes doing well, looks like hes ready, our checklist that we want these guys to answer is a little more lengthy than that, Hahn said. And not until theyve answered all those questions we have for them at the minor-league level will we promote them.CUSO Financial Services Continues Growth with Customized Investment Program Options for New Clients Across the U.S.

CUSO Financial Services, L.P. (CFS) continues its trajectory as a leading broker-dealer for financial institutions with the addition of seven credit unions across the U.S. to its growing roster of investment programs. The credit unions, varying in size, location, and investment program operational models, have each partnered with CFS to introduce or expand investment and technology offerings for their members. The credit unions include 4Front Credit Union in Michigan, Capital Credit Union in North Dakota, Cascade Federal Credit Union in Washington state, Department of Commerce Federal Credit Union in Washington, D.C., Kern Federal Credit Union in California, People First Federal Credit Union in Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma's Credit Union in Oklahoma.

People First Federal Credit Union (PFFCU), with $557 million in assets, eight branches, and 70,000+ members, is one of the larger firms recently joining CFS. PFFCU is working with CFS to develop a new startup, managed investment program for its members, expanding on its mission to provide the highest quality financial services in a friendly, convenient, personalized atmosphere.

Jeffrey Albert, President/Chief Executive Officer at the credit union, summarized: "I was clear CFS could support our members with the personal service they deserve and allow us to build easy and convenient mobile technologies as the program develops. We considered two other firms, but were drawn to CFS because of its comprehensive and fully integrated dataVISION platform as well as their ability to work jointly with us to develop new service outreach initiatives. So far, since starting our investment program with them in May, we have already gained tremendous interest from our members with nearly $1 million in the pipeline."







CFS offers a great deal of flexibility in the operational models that are offered to credit unions, including fully-managed programs, dual employee programs, and hybrid programs. In all cases, CFS protects program reputations with its strong compliance record and drives advisor successes with its benchmark-driven practice management and training departments. CFS's tradition of "white glove" customer service plus efficient, multi-channel delivery systems and upgraded technologies, such as fully-integrated home banking for investments, have made it a favorite investment program partner for credit unions. In addition to PFFCU, the other new clients and program types are:

4Front Credit Union - $512 million in assets, 14 branches, and 70,000 members across Michigan, for a startup managed program.

Capital Credit Union - $459 million in assets, 10 branches, and 30,000 members across Bismarck, Hazen, Fargo, Beulah, and New Salem, ND, for a managed hybrid program.

Cascade Federal Credit Union - with $300 million in assets, four branches in Kent, Seattle, Everett, and Vancouver, WA, and over 10,000 members, for a startup managed program.

Department of Commerce Federal Credit Union - with $435 million in assets, three branches, and over 19,000 members in Washington D.C., for a startup managed program.

Kern Federal Credit Union - with $245 million in assets, two branches in downtown and northwest Bakersfield, CA (News - Alert) , and over 20,000 members, for a dual program.

Oklahoma's Credit Union - with over $503 million in assets and over 40,000 members in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Edmond, and Vinita, for a startup managed program.

CFS and its holding company Atria Wealth Solutions recently announced large capital investments into its award-winning dataVISION financial advisor platform and leading client portal, MyPortfolioView, continuing their evolution as the premier platform in the industry. Audiences at the firms' recent Annual Conference were thrilled with hands-on interactions with these new capabilities as well as a behind-the-scenes look into new technologies slated for early next year.

"We are pleased to welcome all of our new programs to CFS. With more than 20 years of placing investment programs in hundreds of financial institutions across the country, we know the needs of every credit union are unique, and we welcome each and every one," said Valorie Seyfert, CEO at CFS. "We deliver on our promises of flexibility, service, and award-winning technology for each of our financial institutions to develop a program that successfully serves their needs and the needs of their members. We're honored so many credit unions continue to choose us as their broker-dealer."

About CUSO Financial Services, L.P.

CUSO Financial Services, L.P. and Sorrento Pacific Financial, LLC (Members FINRA/SIPC) are subsidiaries of Atria Wealth Solutions. Established in 1997, they specialize in placing investment programs inside credit unions and banks, providing customized investment and insurance solutions to over 200 financial institutions throughout the country, with $30+ billion in AUA. Headquartered in San Diego, with branch offices nationwide, both broker-dealers are SEC Registered Investment Advisers, with expertise in key areas including retirement services, wealth management, advisory solutions and insurance products for individuals and business customers. For more information, see www.cusonet.com or visit their LinkedIn (News - Alert) pages: CFS and SPF.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005195/en/[August 28, 2018] Asset-Map Brings One-Page Financial Landscape Tool to Orion in Strategic Partnership

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Asset-Map announces a new integration with Orion Advisor Services ("Orion"), the premier portfolio accounting solution provider for registered investment advisors. This integration brings advisors closer to a fully integrated meeting experience, where clients can see their full financial picture clearly in one screen. "We are excited to integrate with Orion and offer portfolio data population and performance access within Asset-Map," said H. Adam Holt, founder and Chief Executive Officer at Asset-Map. "We've seen a trend in the financial services industry of advisors needing their digital advice solutions to create clearer and more actionable meeting experiences. With the native Orion and Asset-Map integration, advisors can focus less on the technology and more on the client and advice delivery." With this integration, advisors can access Orion household data directly through Asset-Maps Platform to get a deeper view on the details about their client's performance, documents, statements, and allocation in a clean, one-page visual summary. With this integration, advisors can easily show their clients a more informative snapshot of their financial landscape. "Asset-Map's ability to create a big-picture, comprehensive financial dashboard for clients is a valuable addition to the arsenal of any advisor," said Eric Clarke, founder and CEO of Orion. "With this integration, advisors cn populate their maps with Orion's household data, offering a more detailed snapshot of their client's financial life."



To learn more about Asset-Map's integration with Orion, please visit: https://www.asset-map.com/partners/orion. About Asset-Map

Asset-Map (www.asset-map.com) was founded by financial professional Adam Holt in 2008. Because financial advisors cannot manage what they cannot see, the Asset-Map platform blends design thinking and personal finance to deepen client relations, spark meaningful conversation with clients, and efficiently illustrate their complete financial landscape all in a simple, one-page/screen visualization. Asset-Map has been proven to increase client engagement and sales for financial professionals and firms who use it to facilitate client discussions, and will work with every type of client from complex HNW households to those just starting their financial journey. For more information about Asset-Map, call 888.664.8850 or email info@asset-map.com.

About Orion Advisor Services

Orion Advisor Services, LLC (Orion) is the premier portfolio accounting service provider for advisors. Orion frees advisors from back-office tedium so they can enjoy their business again by devoting their time and energy to better serving clients. Orion provides the integrated and fully customizable technology solutions that advisors need to build great advisory firms. Orion's technology solutions empower more than $675 billion in AUA and over 2 million accounts. For more, please visit www.orionadvisor.com or follow our news and insights via our blog.

Contact: Cass Bailey, Slice Communications

cbailey@slicecommunications.com

202-309-2263 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/asset-map-brings-one-page-financial-landscape-tool-to-orion-in-strategic-partnership-300703352.html SOURCE Asset-Map

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] CloudBees Releases New Solutions for VMware and Pivotal

CloudBees, the enterprise DevOps leader powering the continuous economy, announced today at VMworld that new CloudBees Core functionality for vSphere, as well as new deployment options for Pivotal Container Service (PKS) and VMware Kubernetes Engine (VKE) are immediately available. With CloudBees Core, VMware and Pivotal customers can now leverage dynamic continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) workloads whether they are on-premise or in the cloud, on virtual machines or on Kubernetes. CloudBees is a sponsor of VMworld, August 26-30, at the Mandalay Bay. Visit us in the Solutions Exchange, booth 2119, and see a demo of CloudBees Core. CloudBees Core can now dynamically launch Jenkins agent virtual machines (VMs) from customer-specified templates. The agent VMs have the ability to execute jobs and then, once the job has run, the agent is terminated to free up resources. This works for both on-premise vSphere and VMware Cloud on AWS and enables customers to efficiently utilize their infrastructure, reduce infrastructure management and lower costs. CloudBees Core now works with Pivotal Container Service (PKS) and VMware Kubernetes Engine (VKE). With this latest announcement, CloudBees customers have more platform choices for running CloudBees Core in their on-premise or cloud environments than ever before. "This new offering creates a unique value for our existing and potential future customers while expanding on our growing platform options," said Francois Dechery, chief strategy officer at CloudBees. "vSphere will provide easier management of infrastructure while simultaneously reducing cost fr enterprises. As enterprises continue to transform their CI/CD workloads, whether on-premise or in the cloud, they can utilize this new functionality to expand or auto scale as needed."



Additional Resources Learn more about CloudBees on VMware

Read the blog, Updates to the VMware Autoscaling Plugin

Read about Pivotal Container Service

Read about VMware Kubernetes Engine About CloudBees

CloudBees is powering the continuous economy by building the world's first end-to-end system for automating software delivery, the CloudBees Suite. The CloudBees Suite builds on emerging DevOps practices and continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) automation adding a layer of governance, visibility and insights necessary to achieve optimum efficiency and control new risks. Since every company in the world is now a software company, this new automated software delivery system will become the most mission-critical business system in the modern enterprise. As today's clear leader in continuous CI/CD, CloudBees is uniquely positioned to define and lead the automated software delivery category. CloudBees puts companies on the fastest path to transforming great ideas into great software and returning value to the business more quickly.

Backed by Matrix Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Verizon (News - Alert) Ventures, Delta-v Capital, Golub Capital and Unusual Ventures, CloudBees was founded in 2010 by former JBoss CTO Sacha Labourey and an elite team of continuous integration, continuous delivery and DevOps professionals. Follow CloudBees on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005074/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] AllyO Releases Next Generation of Platform, Becoming The Only End-to-End AI Recruiting Solution On The Market

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- AllyO, the end-to-end AI recruiter, today announces the latest advancement to its recruiting solution: AllyO New Hire Check-ins. While AllyO has traditionally assisted organizations and candidates through their entire hiring funnel from "Hi to Hire," the addition of New Hire Check-ins allows AllyO to be the single point-of-contact for everyone involved across hiring and retention  including recruiters, talent acquisition leaders, hiring managers, candidates and current employees. "Retention is a huge challenge in the HR industry  organizations often see 30 percent of new hires churn in the first 90 days. There are two reasons for this issue. First, current feedback systems do not sufficiently engage all employees. Second, separate teams within the HR function are responsible for talent acquisition and retention. This leads to misaligned approaches to hiring and retaining talent along with a lack of data sharing across the teams," said Ankit Somani, co-founder of AllyO. "With the New Hire Check-ins feature, AllyO goes beyond recruiting to fill positions  it helps organizations retain talent. By integrating the two functions, HR teams can welcome and guide new employees, identify issues early on and use actionable insights to reduce turnover. Additionally, employers can improve future recruiting efforts by soliciting feedback from candidates on the hiring experience." This latest generation of AllyO's platform enables HR professionals to check-in with new hires several times within their first 90 days on the job by asking customized questions like: "How happy are you in your new role?" and "Do you feel ou are well-trained for the job?" The responses provide hiring teams with actionable feedback to improve retention. This new functionality also increases efficiency among HR teams by eliminating the need to manually check-in with candidates on their opinions about the hiring, onboarding and training processes.



Early customers for this new solution have seen 2X higher engagement rates than traditional methods, while those who were helped by AllyO during the hiring process respond more frequently than those who weren't  pointing to the advantage of establishing trust with a single point-of-contact. For example, a large hospitality chain was able to benchmark the new hire experience across different roles and locations. Furthermore, the company identified its best hiring managers and were able to share their insights with the entire team. Visit AllyO at booth #837 at the HR Technology Conference and Exposition September 11-14 for live demos of New Hire Check-ins, along with the entire AllyO platform. For more information about AllyO's newest technology and presence at HR Tech, please visit www.allyo.com/new-hire-check-ins or schedule a 1:1 meeting with a member of the executive team at www.allyo.com/hrtech.

About AllyO AllyO is an AI technology company with a simple mission  make recruiting delightful and efficient for everyone. It addresses the traditional inefficiencies of lost applicants and conversions due to poor candidate experience, the high cost of recruiting due to overburdening of administrative tasks on hiring teams and lack of visibility and control for HR leadership. It utilizes deeply conversational AI to fully automate an end to end recruiting workflow by intelligently engaging via texting over mobile and web. It is used by Fortune 500 enterprises that have experienced a 2-6X increase in applicant capture and conversion rate, 91 percent application completion rate, and over 50 percent reduction in cost and time to hire. AllyO is backed by leading investors such as Gradient Ventures (Google's AI fund), Randstad Innovation Fund, Bain Capital Ventures and Cervin Ventures. AllyO is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For additional information, please visit us at www.allyo.com, LinkedIn or Twitter. Media Contacts Bennett Sung, Head of Marketing AllyO 206-579-7904 bennett@allyo.com View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/allyo-releases-next-generation-of-platform-becoming-the-only-end-to-end-ai-recruiting-solution-on-the-market-300702971.html SOURCE AllyO

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] RMIT University Adopts Ex Libris Esploro Research Services Solution to Help Increase Research Impact

ADELAIDE, Australia, Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Ex Libris, a ProQuest company, is pleased to announce that RMIT University has opted for the Ex Libris Esploro research services solution to help capture, manage, and disseminate the university's research output and data. The solution is built on the Ex Libris Alma library services platform, which RMIT has been using since 2013. A cloud-based system, Esploro captures research assets and can store them in a central repository along with their metadata. The solution increases the impact of an institution's academic research by maximizing the visibility of research output, automating the update of scholar profiles and delivering analysis and reporting of research activities. Seamless integration of Esploro with academic systems boosts efficiency for library staff, research administrators, and scholars. RMIT was seeking a product that would provide robust features for managing research data and output from all academic disciplines and could help address current challenges, including compliance with open access mandates and efficient management of Article Processing Charges (APC). In addition, RMIT wanted to enable researchers to create detailed profiles that would be discoverable. The Esploro solution met all these requirements. As an early adopter of Esploro, the university is enthusiastic about having the opportunity to work with Ex Libris and the Esploro community to shape a product that will increase the exposure of, and access to, the university's research publications and output. The Esploro solution will help RMIT strengthen collaboration with scholars in Australia and overseas. David Howard, University Librarian and Director, Student Success at RMIT University, commented, "We are looking forward to the increased efficiency that Esploro will bring us, with integration between research-related workflows and librar and university systems and overseeing of compliance with regulations and open-access policies. As a global university of technology, design, and enterprise, RMIT is eager to make its outcome-oriented research publications readily available and increase their impact worldwide."



Nadav Doron, vice president of research solutions at Ex Libris, said, "We are delighted that RMIT will be joining the Esploro early adopters. In addition to expanding the impact of an institution's research output, Esploro improves research quality by leveraging the library staff's expertise and fostering collaboration between researchers, the research office, and the library." About RMIT University

RMIT is a global university of technology, design and enterprise in which teaching, research and engagement are central to achieving positive impact and creating life-changing experiences for our students. Founded in 1887, RMIT is a multi-sector university with more than 87,000 students and 11,000 staff globally. The University enjoys an international reputation for excellence in professional and vocational education, applied and innovative research, and engagement with industry and the community. With three campuses and two sites in Australia, two campuses in Vietnam and a research and industry collaboration centre in Barcelona, Spain, RMIT is a truly global university. RMIT also offers programs through partners in Singapore, Hong Kong, mainland China and Indonesia, and has research and industry partnerships on every continent. RMIT is ranked in the world's top 500 in every major ranking schema. For more information, see http://www.rmit.edu.au/. About Ex Libris Ex Libris, a ProQuest company, is a leading global provider of cloud-based solutions for institutions and users to create, manage, and share knowledge. In close collaboration with its customers and the broader community, Ex Libris develops creative solutions that increase library productivity, maximize the impact of research activities, enhance teaching and learning, and drive mobile engagement. Ex Libris serves thousands of customers in 90 countries. For more information about Ex Libris, see our website and join us on LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rmit-university-adopts-ex-libris-esploro-research-services-solution-to-help-increase-research-impact-300703453.html SOURCE Ex Libris

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] AIS Technology Services Kicks Off Major Infrastructure Improvement Project

Today AIS Technology Services, a leading data center and cloud services provider, begins a $2 million HVAC improvement project that will enable more efficient cooling of its Kearny Mesa Data Center. In the past six years, AIS Technology services has invested nearly $18 million in capital improvements to its Lightwave Data Center. The company is currently in the design and permitting phase of the project; however, leadership expects to break ground in the next 90-120 days. Matt Thoene, AIS CEO, feels confident that these efforts illustrate the level of investment that separates AIS from its competitors. "Our clients trust us with their most crucial workloads that contribute to the success of their businesses. Continuous investment in projects like this create the foundation for supporting our clients' ever-evolving requirements," said Thoene. Ken Carter (News - Alert) , VP of critical infrastructure added, "This improvement project comes on the heels of significant upgrades to the UPS systems at Lighwave. Our experienced and dedicated internal Critical Infrastructure team, Network Operations Center staff, and contractors are working diligently to ensure that our infrastructure is designed, built, and maintained to world-class standards."



When the project is complete, the data center will have upgraded all of the components of the central plant. Since 2012, AIS has invested in the upgrade or replacement of all of its continuously sustainable and concurrently maintainable mission-critical infrastructure systems. This will provide the IT community with greater scalability and efficiencies that come with the economies of scale at the largest commercial data center in the region. About AIS Technology Services

As southern California's leading data center and cloud services provider, AIS Technology Services has the experience and expertise needed to help companies transform their infrastructure and streamline business processes. With geographically diverse data centers in San Diego and Phoenix delivering colocation and cloud solutions over a secure, scalable platform, AIS provides customers with the security, reliability and redundancy they need. From cloud to colocation to managed services, AIS acts as an extension of in-house IT teams. Learn more at https://www.americanis.net/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005637/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] LiveData Utilities President Brad Harkavy Reveals Smart Grid Integration Promise of OTMB Middleware

Every day renewable and traditional energy companies add new Distributed Energy Resources to the electric power grid. This avalanche of new assets and the associated real-time data needed to manage each asset increases the complexity of managing the grid at a geometric rate. While managing the grid is an ever-expanding challenge, LiveData Utilities President Brad Harkavy explains how OT middleware can help utilities simplify the endless influx of DER data and systems while future-proofing their architecture in a session at the forthcoming SCADA Tech Summit. Based on research from several smart grid utilities, his presentation, "Architect a Light-Weight Middleware OTMB to Bridge All Your OT Assets and IT," is a featured session on Sept. 12, opening day of the two-day SCADA Tech Summit at the Double-Tree Oak Brook (Illinois). Harkavy said that to answer these demands, more utilities are employing an OT middleware software pattern called an Operational Technology Message Bus (OTMB) within their OT/IT hybrid architectures. These architectures provide for bi-directional publication and consumption of OT data between SCADA systems, assets and devices utilizing various protocols (ICCP DNP3, MODBUS, OCP (News - Alert) , etc.), IT and OT analytics applications, time-series databases and SQL databases. "Utilities that have employed an OTMB as a bridge between IT and OT have experienced reduced operational complexity and costs while bringing integrated OT online faster," Harkavy said. The single architectural layer enables utilities to unify and manage distributed assets and their data regardless of their relation to a system or protocol language, he explained. In addtion, this middleware layer establishes an operational technology structure to simplify growth and data management as well as enable greater business intelligence.



Harkavy will share information derived from establishing bi-directional communication and interoperability between independent and unique smart grid data networks and SCADA systems or SCADA-less systems at numerous utilities. He examines scenarios for SCADA system applications, OT real-time middleware applications, and a hybridized approach that uses both SCADA and middleware. "Frequently an OTMB is a better integration bridge to analytics applications than a traditional SCADA system," Harkavy said. "The increase of marketplace assets and consequent complexity requires utilities and generation operators to implement OT middleware solutions to successfully manage their systems and data today while having high performance scalability tomorrow."

SCADA Technology Summit 2018 is a leading global event focused on the latest economic developments and technical advancements in the SCADA and ICS markets and technologies bringing together worldwide SCADA experts. Professionals involved in SCADA/ICS technologies use this once-a-year conference to learn the latest advancements in applications, new technology, as well as global issues of remote and distributed equipment and facilities. About LiveData Utilities LiveData Utilities is a leading innovator of real-time integration and data visualization technology for the smart grid. A business unit of LiveData, Inc., the company's solutions continuously monitor, synthesize, and respond to highly complex, multi-faceted processes in real time, spanning a broad mix of distributed devices, diverse vendor systems, protocols, and databases. Founded in 1991, LiveData serves customers in healthcare and electric power and utilities industries. LiveData Utilities smart grid solutions simplify operational technology integrations enabling real-time management of power grid assets; establishing network segmentation and protection for critical infrastructure; connecting to ISO/RTO markets; allowing SCADA, NMS, OMS and DMS real-time state monitoring, control, and communication; and providing demand response aggregation. For more information, visit www.livedatautilities.com. LiveData is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. NOTE: LiveData is a registered trademark of LiveData, Inc. LiveData Utilities, LiveData Real-Time Integration, and LiveData RTI Server are trademarks of LiveData, Inc. All other marks are the property of their respective owners and are used for identification purposes only. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005661/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] Infogain Announces Strategic Alliance with Jesta I.S.

Infogain, a Silicon Valley provider of vertically-specialized software engineering services, is pleased to announce our partnership with Jesta I.S. Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Jesta I.S. is an international supplier of integrated software solutions for brand manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers specializing in apparel, footwear and hard goods verticals. The company was recently positioned as a "Major Player" in IDC's (News - Alert) report "Worldwide Point-of-Sale Software in Small and Midsize Retail Apparel and Softlines 2018 Vendor Assessment". The report assesses vendors' capabilities in omni-channel, technical, integration, customer (record/engagement), product, transaction management, and fulfillment. In the new alliance, Infogain will support Jesta I.S. to provide best-in-class retail functionality to customers in the United States and Canada as well as responding to for demand for Jesta IS services internationally. Infogain's deep retail industry expertise combined with new digital approaches such as robotic process automation will improve business operations and enhance customer service for Jesta I.S. clients. "Our new alliance with Infogain will enable Jesta IS to leverage and further enhance its marketing and sales efforts by strengthening our position in North America and expanding as a market leader in the APAC and Middle East regions. Infogain's extensive retail client relationships and delivery centers around the world make this partnership a great step in the right direction for Jesta, and will help us meet the increasing demand for our solutions," said Moris Chemov, President of Jesta I.S.



"Infogain's digital transformation and automation solutions, along with our software platform engineering expertise complement Jesta I.S. offerings and further expand value added at Jesta customers. We are excited to partner with a software solution leader that is best-in-class, innovative and recognized for outstanding client service. We look forward to a long and successful partnership," said Rohit Nagpal, VP & Global Head of Retail, Travel and Hospitality services at Infogain. About Jesta I.S., Inc.

Jesta I.S. is an international supplier of integrated software solutions for brand manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers specializing in apparel, footwear and hard goods verticals. Jesta's Vision Suite is a modular software platform that helps simplify the Omni- channel journey for retailers and wholesalers - from PLM to POS. With 50 years in the business, Jesta I.S. has the experience and resources to help with the technology aspect, the human factor and everything in between. Customers include Perry Ellis International, Puma, Harry Rosen, Genesco, Town Shoes, Peter Harris Clothes, Cole Haan, Canex, DSW, Carter's and Stokes. For more information, visit www.jestais.com. About Infogain Infogain is a Silicon Valley headquartered company with expertise in software platform engineering and deep domain skills in travel, retail, insurance, and high technology. We accelerate the delivery of digital customer engagement systems using digital technologies such as cloud, microservices, robotic process automation and artificial Intelligence for our clients. Our unique engagement approach of "Listen-Curate-Deliver" helps to accelerate the innovation journey of 5 of the world's largest 50 companies and 24 of the Fortune 500, with several relationships of over 10 years. We deliver positive business outcomes using rapid prototyping and a solid foundation of DevOps-based software platform engineering that ensure high-quality and on-time delivery. Our 3,500 global employees across the US, UK, Singapore, Middle East and India focus on client value creation, delivery excellence and innovation. For more information, visit www.infogain.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005692/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] Duos Technologies to Present at the 7th Annual Liolios Gateway Conference on September 5, 2018

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Duos Technologies Group, Inc. (Duos or the Company) (OTCQB: DUOT), a provider of advanced intelligent security and analytical technology solutions, has been invited to present at the 7 th Annual Liolios Gateway Conference , which is being held September 5-6, 2018 at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco, CA.

Duos Technologies CFO Adrian Goldfarb is scheduled to present on Wednesday, September 5th at 2:30 p.m. Pacific time, with one-on-one meetings to be held throughout the conference. The presentation will be webcast live and available for replay here and on the Gateway Conference website at www.gateway-conference.com/presenters . To receive additional information, request an invitation or to schedule a one-on-one meeting, please email gateway@liolios.com . About the Gateway ConferenceThe 7th Annual Gateway Conference is an invite-only conference presented by Liolios, a full-service financial communications firm. Gateway was created to bring together the most compelling companies with the nations top institutional investors and analysts. This years event features approximately 100 companies from a number of growth industries, including technology, business and financial services, consumer, digital media, clean technology and life sciences. The format has been designed to give attendees direct access to senior management via company presentations, Q&A sessions and one-on-one meetings. For more information, visit www.gateway-conference.com or www.liolios.com . To receive updates and highlights from #LioliosGateway, make sure to follow us on Twitter , LinkedIn and Facebook .



About Duos Technologies Group Inc.

Duos Technologies Group, Inc. (OTCQB: DUOT), based in Jacksonville, FL, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Duos Technologies, Inc., provides advanced intelligent security and analytical technology solutions with a strong portfolio of intellectual property. Duos Technologies' core competencies include intelligent technologies that combine machine learning, artificial intelligence and advanced video analytics that are delivered through its proprietary integrated enterprise command and control platform, centraco. The Company provides its broad range of technology solutions with an emphasis on mission critical security, inspection and operations within the rail transportation, retail, petrochemical, government, and banking sectors. Duos Technologies Group also offers professional and consulting services for large data centers. For more information, visit www.duostech.com . Contacts:

Duos Technologies Corporate

Tracie Hutchins

Duos Technology Group, Inc.

904-652-1601

tlh@duostech.com Investor Relations

Matt Glover or Tom Colton

Liolios

949-574-3860

DUOT@liolios.com

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] Box Reports Record Revenue of $148 Million, Up 21 Percent Year-Over-Year for Fiscal Second Quarter 2019

Box, Inc. (NYSE:BOX), a leader in cloud content management, today announced financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2019, which ended July 31, 2018. "Driving deeper relationships with customers such as JLL, Nationwide and Societe Generale, as well as focusing on strategic solution sales, led to another quarter of strong attach rates for add-on products like Box Governance, Zones and Platform," said Aaron Levie, co-founder and CEO of Box. "Our approach to providing a single, neutral platform for cloud content management with enterprise-grade security and powerful workflow capabilities positions us to help the world's largest and most regulated enterprises digitize their workplace and business processes." "In the second quarter, we delivered solid top line growth and improved cash flow from operations by over $8 million year-over-year," said Dylan Smith, co-founder and CFO of Box. "Our proven ability to further capture our market opportunity while driving operational leverage positions us for long-term growth on our path to $1 billion and beyond." Adoption of the New Revenue Recognition Standard - ASC Topic 606 Box adopted the new revenue recognition accounting standard Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606 ("ASC 606") on a modified retrospective basis, effective February 1, 2018. Financial results for reporting periods in Box's fiscal year ending January 31, 2019 are presented in compliance with the new revenue recognition standard. Historical financial results for reporting periods prior to fiscal 2019 are presented in conformity with amounts previously disclosed under the prior revenue recognition standard Accounting Standards Codification Topic 605 ("ASC 605"). This press release includes additional information regarding Box's financial results for the quarter ended July 31, 2018 under ASC 605 for comparison to the prior year. Fiscal Second Quarter Financial Highlights Revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2019 was a record $148.2 million, an increase of 21% (ASC 606 in fiscal 2019 compared to ASC 605 in fiscal 2018) and 23% (ASC 605 in fiscal 2019 compared to ASC 605 fiscal 2018) from the second quarter of fiscal 2018.

Deferred revenue as of July 31, 2018 was $301.5 million, an increase of 25% (ASC 606 to ASC 605) and 27% (ASC 605 to ASC 605) from July 31, 2017.

Billings for the second quarter of fiscal 2019 were $162.8 million, an increase of 17% (ASC 606 to ASC 605 and ASC 605 to ASC 605) from the second quarter of fiscal 2018.

GAAP operating loss in the second quarter of fiscal 2019 was $37.2 million, or 25% of revenue, under ASC 606, and $40.1 million, or 27% of revenue, under ASC 605. This compares to GAAP operating loss of $39.0 million, or 32% of revenue, in the second quarter of fiscal 2018.

Non-GAAP operating loss in the second quarter of fiscal 2019 was $6.5 million, or 4% of revenue (ASC 606), and $9.4 million, or 6% of revenue (ASC 605). This compares to a non-GAAP operating loss of $14.9 million, or 12% of revenue, in the second quarter of fiscal 2018.

GAAP net loss per share, basic and diluted, in the second quarter of fiscal 2019 was $0.27 (ASC 606) and $0.29 (ASC 605) on 140.7 million shares outstanding. This compares to a GAAP net loss per share of $0.30 in the second quarter of fiscal 2018 on 133.0 million shares outstanding.

Non-GAAP net loss per share, basic and diluted, in the second quarter of fiscal 2019 was $0.05 (ASC 606) and $0.07 (ASC 605). This compares to non-GAAP net loss per share of $0.11 in the second quarter of fiscal 2018.

Net cash used in operating activities in the second quarter of fiscal 2019 totaled negative $1.3 million. This compares to net cash used in operating activities of negative $9.8 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2018.

Free cash flow in the second quarter of fiscal 2019 was negative $10.3 million. This compares to negative $15.0 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2018. For more information on the non-GAAP financial measures and key metrics discussed in this press release, please see the section titled, "About Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Other Key Metrics," and the reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures and certain key metrics to their nearest comparable GAAP financial measures at the end of this press release. Business Highlights since Last Earnings Release Grew paying customer base to more than 87,000 businesses, including new or expanded deployments with leading organizations such as Canon U.S.A., City of Atlanta, JLL, Lionsgate, Nationwide, The Philadelphia Phillies, Rodan & Fields, Sacramento Kings, Societe Generale U.S. and World Fuel Services.

Announced an expanded private beta for Box Skills, the availability of a new service from IBM to apply Watson AI technologies for building custom Box Skills, and support for new machine learning capabilities from Microsoft Azure.

Announced new integrations with best-of-breed cloud services, including ServiceNow and Quip, to make collaboration on enterprises' most critical content seamless, simple and secure.

Unveiled the Box for Gmail add-on, which allows customers to access Box files and download email attachments to Box without leaving the Gmail interface.

Welcomed the addition of employee teams from both Progressly and Butter.ai to Box to help execute on the company's vision of enabling enterprises to get the most value out of their content with Box.

Announced that Box was positioned as a Leader in Gartner's 2018 Content Collaboration Platforms Magic Quadrant report for the fifth consecutive year.

Moved to a new office in Tokyo, demonstrating Box's commitment to continued growth in the Japanese market and helping Japanese enterprises make the shift to the cloud for content management. Outlook Q3 FY19 Guidance: Revenue is expected to be in the range of $154 million to $155 million. GAAP and non-GAAP basic and diluted loss per share are expected to be in the range of ($0.30) to ($0.29) and ($0.08) to ($0.07), respectively. Weighted average basic and diluted shares outstanding are expected to be approximately 142 million.

Revenue is expected to be in the range of $154 million to $155 million. GAAP and non-GAAP basic and diluted loss per share are expected to be in the range of ($0.30) to ($0.29) and ($0.08) to ($0.07), respectively. Weighted average basic and diluted shares outstanding are expected to be approximately 142 million. Full Year FY19 Guidance: Revenue is expected to be in the range of $606 million to $608 million. GAAP and non-GAAP basic and diluted loss per share are expected to be in the range of ($1.02) to ($1.00) and ($0.18) to ($0.16), respectively. Weighted average basic and diluted shares outstanding are expected to be approximately 142 million. All forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures contained in this section titled "Outlook" exclude estimates for stock-based compensation expense, intangible assets amortization, and as applicable, certain legal settlement and related costs. Box has provided a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP earnings per share guidance at the end of this press release. Webcast and Conference Call Information Box's management team will host a conference call today beginning at 2:00 PM (PT) / 5:00 PM (ET) to discuss Box's financial results, business highlights and future outlook. A live audio webcast of this call will be available through Box's Investor Relations website at www.box.com/investors for a period of 90 days after the date of the call. The access details for the live conference call are:

+ 1-833-231-7240 (U.S. and Canada), conference ID: 8088005

+ 1-647-689-4084 (international), conference ID: 8088005 A telephonic replay of the call will be available approximately two hours after the call and will run for one week. The replay can be accessed by dialing:

+ 1-800-585-8367 (U.S. and Canada), conference ID: 8088005

+ 1-416-621-4642 (international), conference ID: 8088005 Box has used, and intends to continue to use, its Investor Relations website (www.box.com/investors), as well as certain Twitter accounts (@boxhq, @levie and @boxincir), as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Information on or that can be accessed through Box's Investor Relations website, these Twitter accounts, or that is contained in any website to which a hyperlink is provided herein is not part of this press release, and the inclusion of Box's Investor Relations website address, these Twitter accounts, and any hyperlinks are only inactive textual references. This press release, the financial tables, as well as other supplemental information including the reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures and certain key metrics to their nearest comparable GAAP financial measures, are also available on Box's Investor Relations website. Box also provides investor information, including news and commentary about Box's business and financial performance, Box's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, notices of investor events and Box's press and earnings releases, on Box's Investor Relations website. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including statements regarding Box's expectations regarding the size of its market opportunity, the demand for its products, its ability to scale its business and drive operating efficiencies, its ability to achieve its revenue target of $1 billion in the coming years, expectations regarding its ability to achieve profitability on a quarterly or ongoing basis, the timing of recent and planned product introductions and enhancements, the short- and long-term success, market adoption, capabilities, and benefits of such product introductions and enhancements, and the success of strategic partnerships, as well as expectations regarding its revenue, GAAP and non-GAAP earnings per share, the related components of GAAP and non-GAAP earnings per share, and weighted average basic and diluted outstanding share count expectations for Box's fiscal third quarter and full fiscal 2019 in the section titled "Outlook" above. There are a significant number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from statements made in this press release, including: (1) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (2) delays or reductions in information technology spending; (3) factors related to Box's highly competitive market, including but not limited to pricing pressures, industry consolidation, entry of new competitors and new applications and marketing initiatives by Box's current or future competitors; (4) the development of the cloud content management market; (5) Box's limited operating history, which makes it difficult to predict future results; (6) the risk that Box's customers do not renew their subscriptions, expand their use of Box's services, or adopt new products offered by Box; (7) Box's ability to provide timely and successful enhancements, new features and modifications to its platform and services; (8) actual or perceived security vulnerabilities in Box's services or any breaches of Box's security controls; and (9) Box's ability to realize the expected benefits of its third-party partnerships. Additional information on potential factors that could affect Box's financial results is included in the reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K and in other filings Box makes with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed for the fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2018. These documents are available on the SEC Filings section of Box's Investor Relations website located at www.box.com/investors. Box does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained in this press release to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made. About Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Other Key Metrics To supplement Box's consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP, Box provides investors with certain non-GAAP financial measures and other key metrics, including non-GAAP operating loss, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net loss, non-GAAP net loss per share, billings and free cash flow. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures and key metrics is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures and key metrics, please see the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures and certain key metrics to their nearest comparable GAAP financial measures at the end of this press release. Box uses these non-GAAP financial measures and key metrics for financial and operational decision-making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. Box's management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures and key metrics provide meaningful supplemental information regarding Box's performance by excluding certain expenses that may not be indicative of Box's recurring core business operating results. Box believes that both management and investors benefit from referring to these non-GAAP financial measures and key metrics in assessing Box's performance and when planning, forecasting, and analyzing future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures and key metrics also facilitate management's internal comparisons to Box's historical performance as well as comparisons to Box's competitors' operating results. Box believes these non-GAAP financial measures and key metrics are useful to investors both because (1) they allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision-making and (2) they are used by Box's institutional investors and the analyst community to help them analyze the health of Box's business. A limitation of non-GAAP financial measures and key metrics is that they do not have uniform definitions. Further, Box's definitions will likely differ from the definitions used by other companies, including peer companies, and therefore comparability may be limited. Thus, Box's non-GAAP financial measures and key metrics should be considered in addition to, and not as a substitute for, or in isolation from, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. Additionally, in the case of stock-based compensation expense, if Box did not pay a portion of compensation in the form of stock-based compensation expense, the cash salary expense included in cost of revenue and operating expenses would be higher, which would affect Box's cash position. Non-GAAP operating loss and non-GAAP operating margin. Box defines non-GAAP operating loss as operating loss excluding expenses related to stock-based compensation ("SBC"), intangible assets amortization, and as applicable, other special items. Non-GAAP operating margin is defined as non-GAAP operating loss divided by revenue. Although SBC is an important aspect of the compensation of Box's employees and executives, determining the fair value of certain of the stock-based instruments Box utilizes involves a high degree of judgment and estimation and the expense recorded may bear little resemblance to the actual value realized upon the vesting or future exercise of the related stock-based awards. Furthermore, unlike cash compensation, the value of stock options, which is an element of Box's ongoing stock-based compensation expense, is determined using a complex formula that incorporates factors, such as market volatility, that are beyond Box's control. For restricted stock unit awards, the amount of stock-based compensation expenses is not reflective of the value ultimately received by the grant recipients. Management believes it is useful to exclude SBC in order to better understand the long-term performance of Box's core business and to facilitate comparison of Box's results to those of peer companies. Management also views amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets, such as the amortization of the cost associated with an acquired company's developed technology and trade names, as items arising from pre-acquisition activities determined at the time of an acquisition. While these intangible assets are continually evaluated for impairment, amortization of the cost of purchased intangibles is a static expense, one that is not typically affected by operations during any particular period. Box further excludes expenses related to certain litigation because they are considered by management to be special items outside Box's core operating results. Non-GAAP net loss and non-GAAP net loss per share. Box defines non-GAAP net loss as net loss excluding expenses related to SBC, intangible assets amortization, and as applicable, other special items. Box defines non-GAAP net loss per share as non-GAAP net loss divided by the weighted average outstanding shares. Billings. Billings reflect, in any particular period, (1) sales to new customers, plus (2) subscription renewals and (3) expansion within existing customers, and represent amounts invoiced for all products and professional services. Box calculates billings for a period by adding changes in deferred revenue and contract assets in that period to revenue. Box believes that billings help investors better understand sales activity for a particular period, which is not necessarily reflected in revenue as a result of the fact that Box recognizes subscription revenue ratably over the subscription term. Box considers billings a significant performance measure and, after adjusting for any shifts in relative payment frequencies, a leading indicator of future revenue. Box monitors billings to manage the business, make planning decisions, evaluate performance and allocate resources. Box believes that billings offers valuable supplemental information regarding the performance of the business and will help investors better understand the sales volumes and performance of the business. Although Box considers billings to be a significant performance measure, Box does not consider it to be a non-GAAP financial measure given that it is calculated using exclusively revenue, deferred revenue, and contract assets, all of which are financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. Free cash flow. Box defines free cash flow as cash flows from operating activities less purchases of property and equipment, principal payments of capital lease obligations, and other items that did not or are not expected to require cash settlement and that management considers to be outside of Box's core business. Box specifically identifies adjusting items in the reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures. Prior to the adoption of Accounting Standards Update 2016-18, Restricted Cash, historically, these adjusting items include the use and release of restricted cash to guarantee a significant letter of credit for Box's Redwood City headquarters. Box considers free cash flow to be a profitability and liquidity measure that provides useful information to management and investors about the amount of cash generated by the business that can possibly be used for investing in Box's business and strengthening its balance sheet, but it is not intended to represent the residual cash flow available for discretionary expenditures. The presentation of non-GAAP free cash flow is also not meant to be considered in isolation or as an alternative to cash flows from operating activities as a measure of liquidity. The accompanying tables have more details on the reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures and certain key metrics to their nearest comparable GAAP financial measures. About Box Box (NYSE:BOX) is the cloud content management company that empowers enterprises to revolutionize how they work by securely connecting their people, information and applications. Founded in 2005, Box powers more than 87,000 businesses globally, including AstraZeneca, General Electric, P&G, and The GAP. Box is headquartered in Redwood City, CA, with offices across the United States, Europe and Asia. To learn more about Box, visit http://www.box.com.







BOX, INC.



CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (In Thousands) July 31, January 31, 2018 * 2018 ** (Unaudited) ASSETS Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 203,726 $ 208,076 Accounts receivable, net 114,779 162,133 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 16,459 11,391 Deferred commissions 16,855 17,589 Total current assets 351,819 399,189 Property and equipment, net 125,357 123,977 Intangible assets, net - 24 Goodwill 18,740 16,293 Restricted cash 238 350 Deferred commissions, non-current 44,059 8,330 Other long-term assets 5,211 5,403 Total assets $ 545,424 $ 553,566 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY Current liabilities: Accounts payable $ 12,960 $ 17,036 Accrued compensation and benefits 25,506 37,707 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 24,818 26,198 Capital lease obligations 21,341 18,844 Deferred revenue 281,765 291,902 Deferred rent 2,947 2,280 Total current liabilities 369,337 393,967 Debt, non-current 40,000 40,000 Capital lease obligations, non-current 31,777 26,980 Deferred revenue, non-current 19,752 29,021 Deferred rent, non-current 45,552 45,882 Other long-term liabilities 3,879 2,748 Total liabilities 510,297 538,598 Stockholders' equity: Common stock (1) 14 13 Additional paid-in capital 1,110,296 1,054,932 Treasury stock (1,177 ) (1,177 ) Accumulated other comprehensive income 2 288 Accumulated deficit (1,074,008 ) (1,039,088 ) Total stockholders' equity 35,127 14,968 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 545,424 $ 553,566

(1) As of July 31, 2018, there were 141,606 shares of Box's Class A common stock outstanding. On June 14, 2018, all outstanding shares of Box's Class B common stock automatically converted into the same number of shares of Class A common stock pursuant to the terms of Box's Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended. Box does not intend to issue any additional shares of Class B common stock. * As reported under ASC Topic 606 ** As reported under ASC Topic 605 BOX, INC.



CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (In Thousands, Except Per Share Data) (Unaudited) Three Months Ended Six Months Ended July 31, July 31, 2018 * 2017 ** 2018 * 2017 ** Revenue $ 148,222 $ 122,941 $ 288,729 $ 240,163 Cost of revenue(1)(2) 42,605 32,778 81,673 65,501 Gross profit 105,617 90,163 207,056 174,662 Operating expenses: Research and development(2) 41,830 34,042 80,078 67,576 Sales and marketing(1)(2) 76,984 73,271 153,982 143,934 General and administrative(1)(2) 24,022 21,846 46,075 42,127 Total operating expenses 142,836 129,159 280,135 253,637 Loss from operations (37,219 ) (38,996 ) (73,079 ) (78,975 ) Interest expense, net (91 ) (236 ) (161 ) (515 ) Other (loss) income, net (579 ) 267 (922 ) 283 Loss before provision for income taxes (37,889 ) (38,965 ) (74,162 ) (79,207 ) Provision for income taxes 196 320 560 164 Net loss $ (38,085 ) $ (39,285 ) $ (74,722 ) $ (79,371 ) Net loss per common share, basic and diluted $ (0.27 ) $ (0.30 ) $ (0.54 ) $ (0.60 ) Weighted-average shares used to compute net loss per share, basic and diluted 140,718 132,981 139,639 132,237 (1) Includes intangible assets amortization as follows: Three Months Ended Six Months Ended July 31, July 31, 2018 * 2017 ** 2018 * 2017 ** Cost of revenue $ - $ - $ - $ 365 Sales and marketing 8 - 9 - General and administrative 2 38 15 77 Total intangible assets amortization $ 10 $ 38 $ 24 $ 442 (2) Includes stock-based compensation expense as follows: Three Months Ended Six Months Ended July 31, July 31, 2018 * 2017 ** 2018 * 2017 ** Cost of revenue $ 3,561 $ 2,663 $ 6,682 $ 5,131 Research and development 11,477 9,554 21,625 18,714 Sales and marketing 9,932 7,934 17,993 15,674 General and administrative 5,713 3,916 10,996 7,494 Total stock-based compensation $ 30,683 $ 24,067 $ 57,296 $ 47,013 * As reported under ASC Topic 606 ** As reported under ASC Topic 605 BOX, INC.



CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (In Thousands) (Unaudited) Three Months Ended Six Months Ended July 31, July 31, 2018 * 2017 (as

adjusted) ** 2018 * 2017 (as

adjusted) ** CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES: Net loss $ (38,085 ) $ (39,285 ) $ (74,722 ) $ (79,371 ) Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash (used in) provided by operating activities: Depreciation and amortization 11,849 9,765 23,244 19,337 Stock-based compensation expense 30,683 24,067 57,296 47,013 Amortization of deferred commissions 4,040 5,368 7,715 10,358 Other 26 19 5 41 Changes in operating assets and liabilities: Accounts receivable, net (23,754 ) (25,124 ) 47,936 12,222 Deferred commissions (8,588 ) (5,835 ) (13,304 ) (8,619 ) Prepaid expenses and other assets 267 (3,402 ) (4,933 ) (5,943 ) Accounts payable (1,680 ) (121 ) (1,205 ) 7,061 Accrued expenses and other liabilities 9,113 7,074 (15,604 ) (3,893 ) Deferred rent 294 1,189 337 1,719 Deferred revenue 14,568 16,524 (9,592 ) (1,145 ) Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities (1,267 ) (9,761 ) 17,173 (1,220 ) CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES: Purchases of property and equipment (3,326 ) (1,013 ) (7,366 ) (1,797 ) Proceeds from sale of property and equipment - 2 1 29 Acquisitions and purchases of intangible assets, net of cash acquired (458 ) - (458 ) - Net cash used in investing activities (3,784 ) (1,011 ) (7,823 ) (1,768 ) CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES: Proceeds from exercise of stock options 9,469 2,957 12,831 5,413 Proceeds from issuances of common stock under employee stock purchase plan - - 11,846 8,881 Employee payroll taxes paid related to net share settlement of restricted stock units (12,010 ) (5,821 ) (25,305 ) (14,935 ) Acquisition related contingent consideration - (991 ) - (991 ) Payments of capital lease obligations (5,752 ) (4,176 ) (12,902 ) (7,912 ) Net cash used in financing activities (8,293 ) (8,031 ) (13,530 ) (9,544 ) Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash (158 ) 149 (282 ) 178 Net decrease in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash (13,502 ) (18,654 ) (4,462 ) (12,354 ) Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, beginning of period 217,466 210,472 208,426 204,172 Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, end of period $ 203,964 $ 191,818 $ 203,964 $ 191,818 * As reported under ASC Topic 606 ** As reported under ASC Topic 605 and adjusted due to the adoption of ASU 2016-18 BOX, INC.



RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP DATA (In Thousands, Except Per Share Data and Percentages) (Unaudited) Three Months Ended Six Months Ended July 31, July 31, 2018 * 2017 ** 2018 * 2017 ** GAAP operating loss $ (37,219 ) $ (38,996 ) $ (73,079 ) $ (78,975 ) Stock-based compensation 30,683 24,067 57,296 47,013 Intangible assets amortization 10 38 24 442 Non-GAAP operating loss $ (6,526 ) $ (14,891 ) $ (15,759 ) $ (31,520 ) GAAP operating margin (25 ) % (32 ) % (25 ) % (33 ) % Stock-based compensation 21 20 20 20 Intangible assets amortization - - - - Non-GAAP operating margin (4 ) % (12 ) % (5 ) % (13 ) % GAAP net loss $ (38,085 ) $ (39,285 ) $ (74,722 ) $ (79,371 ) Stock-based compensation 30,683 24,067 57,296 47,013 Intangible assets amortization 10 38 24 442 Non-GAAP net loss $ (7,392 ) $ (15,180 ) $ (17,402 ) $ (31,916 ) GAAP net loss per share, basic and diluted $ (0.27 ) $ (0.30 ) $ (0.54 ) $ (0.60 ) Stock-based compensation 0.22 0.19 0.42 0.36 Intangible assets amortization - - - - Non-GAAP net loss per share, basic and diluted $ (0.05 ) $ (0.11 ) $ (0.12 ) $ (0.24 ) Weighted-average shares outstanding, basic and diluted 140,718 132,981 139,639 132,237 Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities $ (1,267 ) $ (9,761 ) *** $ 17,173 $ (1,220 ) *** Purchases of property and equipment (3,326 ) (1,013 ) (7,366 ) (1,797 ) Payments of capital lease obligations (5,752 ) (4,176 ) (12,902 ) (7,912 ) Free cash flow $ (10,345 ) $ (14,950 ) *** $ (3,095 ) $ (10,929 ) *** Net cash used in investing activities $ (3,784 ) $ (1,011 ) $ (7,823 ) $ (1,768 ) Net cash used in financing activities $ (8,293 ) $ (8,031 ) $ (13,530 ) $ (9,544 ) * As reported under ASC Topic 606 ** As reported under ASC Topic 605 *** Adjusted due to the adoption of ASU 2016-18 BOX, INC.



RECONCILIATION OF GAAP REVENUE TO BILLINGS (In Thousands) (Unaudited) Three Months Ended Six Months Ended July 31, July 31, 2018 * 2017 ** 2018 * 2017 ** GAAP revenue $ 148,222 $ 122,941 $ 288,729 $ 240,163 Deferred revenue, end of period 301,517 240,839 301,517 240,839 Less: deferred revenue, beginning of period (286,949 ) (224,315 ) (311,109 ) *** (241,984 ) Contract assets, beginning of period **** 195 - 582 - Less: contract assets, end of period **** (157 ) - (157 ) - Billings $ 162,828 $ 139,465 $ 279,562 $ 239,018 * As reported under ASC Topic 606 ** As reported under ASC Topic 605 *** Balance as of February 1, 2018 upon the adoption of ASC Topic 606 **** Contract assets are reported as part of accounts receivable upon the adoption of ASC Topic 606 RECONCILIATION OF GAAP NET LOSS TO NON-GAAP NET LOSS PER SHARE GUIDANCE (In Thousands, Except Per Share Data) (Unaudited) For the Three Months

Ended October 31, 2018 For the Year Ended

January 31, 2019 GAAP net loss per share range, basic and diluted $(0.30-0.29) $(1.02-1.00) Stock-based compensation 0.22 0.84 Non-GAAP net loss per share range, basic and diluted $(0.08-0.07) $(0.18-0.16) Weighted average shares outstanding, basic and diluted 142,481 141,502 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005741/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] Chatham Lodging Acquires Brand New Residence Inn Charleston Summerville, S.C.

Chatham Lodging Trust (NYSE: CLDT), a hotel real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on investing in upscale, extended-stay hotels and premium-branded, select-service hotels, today announced that it has acquired the 96-room Residence Inn by Marriott Charleston Summerville, S.C., for $20.8 million, or approximately $217,000 per room. "This is a beautiful, brand new, superior-quality hotel located in Nexton, a rapidly expanding area just outside of Charleston which sits in the direct path of metro Charleston's most energetic growth," said Jeffrey H. Fisher, Chatham's chief executive officer and president. "Including the Courtyard by Marriott Charleston Summerville, this marks our second hotel in the heart of Nexton, a thriving community which mixes a smart, vibrant blend of businesses, schools, new homes, apartments, shops and eateries connected to each other by trails, parks and nature, and connected to the world through leading-edge technology. "Volvo has completed construction of its first American factory, a state-of-the-art, 2.3-million-square-foot facility on nearly 3,000 acres very close to Nexton that is expecting its first cars to come off the production line in the next few months. Additionally and importantly for continued economic expansion in the area, Volvo has already announced plans to expand the facility with a second production line with completion estimated in 2020," Fisher highlighted. "Our two hotels are the nicest and closest hotels to the new factory and are best positioned to service corporate guests given the mix of rooms and suites at our Courtyard and Residence Inn hotels. Given the recent run-up in construction costs, we already are acquirin this hotel below replacement cost, and operationally, we are able to leverage our operating expenses across two adjacent hotels which should generate higher than underwritten returns."



South Carolina has been one of the fastest growing states in the country over the last five years due to the relocation of major corporations, as well as corporate investment and expansion. The state has one of the highest migration rates in the country for in-bound, college graduates under the age of 40. In the greater Charleston area, corporate demand is well-diversified with the area home to companies within the aerospace, automotive, bioscience, marine and distribution industries. Additionally, the region is home to over 250 technology companies employing more than 11,000 employees. Specifically, Nexton is projected to encompass approximately 10,000 homes, eight million commercial square feet and a medical campus over the next decade. In addition to the nearby Volvo facility, other major companies, such as Daimler and Boeing (News - Alert) , have significant facilities in the area and have acquired additional land to expand their operations. Chatham funded the purchase using available cash and borrowings on its unsecured credit facility. The hotel will be managed by Island Hospitality Management, which is 51 percent owned by Fisher. Chatham estimates it acquired the property at a year two net operating income capitalization rate of approximately eight percent.

About Chatham Lodging Trust Chatham Lodging Trust is a self-advised, publicly-traded real estate investment trust focused primarily on investing in upscale, extended-stay hotels and premium-branded, select-service hotels. The company owns interests in 136 hotels totaling 18,616 rooms/suites, comprised of 41 properties it wholly owns with an aggregate of 6,117 rooms/suites in 15 states and the District of Columbia and a minority investment in two joint ventures that own 95 hotels with an aggregate of 12,499 rooms/suites. Additional information about Chatham may be found at chathamlodgingtrust.com. This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 about Chatham Lodging Trust, including statements regarding future plans, strategies, performance, acquisitions, capital expenditures, future operating results and the timing and composition of revenues, among others, and statements containing words such as "expects," "believes" or "will," which indicate that those statements are forward-looking. Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results or performance to differ materially from those discussed in such statements. Additional risks are discussed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005707/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] VIQ Reports Second Quarter Revenue Growth and Provides Operational Update

TORONTO, Aug. 28, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VIQ Solutions Inc. (VIQ or the Company) (TSX Venture: VQS), a global expert providing a highly secured and protected technology for digital evidence capture, content management, and artificial intelligence, today reported financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018. Results are reported in US dollars and are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

We are pleased to report continued revenue growth for the quarter, said Sebastien Pare, President and CEO of VIQ. "We experienced new customer wins, but also, importantly, we are excited to see existing customers transitioning from conventional license and support models to our new SaaS platform. Customers are truly gaining understanding of the benefits and are moving to take advantage of NetScribe and aiAssistsTM enhanced functionality. aiAssistTM and NetScribe  our new transformative products  are progressing to commercial development on plan. Our cognitive artificial intelligence allows customers to unlock the value of all the content captured and stored by our core products. We successfully contracted two international customers to deploy NetScribe as their end to end platform. Full implementation is expected before year end. These advancements are critical for VIQ as our newly expanded artificial intelligence fulfills new and existing customer needs. VIQ now positions as an end to end solution provider differentiating us materially from competitors. Customer acceptance of our transformative products combined with our ongoing SaaS transition continues to strengthen VIQs recurring revenues and market presence, Mr Pare added. Q2 2018 Highlights Revenues increased 2.6% to $3.3 million from $3.2 million in Q2 2017.

Significant development efforts continued on our new artificial intelligence product aiAssist TM , ensuring on track development and accelerated new revenue generation from this transformative initiative in the second half of 2018.

, ensuring on track development and accelerated new revenue generation from this transformative initiative in the second half of 2018. Formed new implementation team strictly focused on NetScribe and aiAssist TM . The team consists of documentation/transcription experts with extensive industry experience.

. The team consists of documentation/transcription experts with extensive industry experience. Phase 2 of The United Kingdoms Ministry of Justice upgrade has started with the initial pilot site demonstrating the latest features and advanced security added to the VIQ platform.

Several large existing clients have signed multi-year agreements transforming from standard licensing to our new SaaS offering and expanded services.

Spark & Cannon, VIQs Australian based reporting and transcription services division, was awarded a major new contract with the Victoria Police for secure police recordings transcription.

Launch of MobileMic, our first ai Smartphone app available on the Google Play and Apple App Stores, providing studio-quality recording functionality, with the power of artificial intelligence to generate professional grade automated transcriptions and document creation for professionals who require an end to end mobile solution.

Further expansion of Bosnia and Herzegovina Courts reording and transcription services.

Botswana National Assembly and Seychelles Supreme Court recording and transcription installations.

New installation at another Canadian medical institute further enhancing training capability, quality assurance and process improvement teams.



Conference call to Discuss Second Quarter 2018 Results The Company will hold a conference call to discuss Q2 2018 results. The call will consist of a brief update by VIQ President and CEO Sebastien Pare, followed by a question period. Interested parties can participate in the conference call.

The call will be held on Thursday, August 30th at 16:00 ET. Participants are welcome to join the conference call by dialing 1-855-223-2840 within North America or 1-647-788-4945 outside of North America five to ten minutes prior to the scheduled start time. The conference ID is 1899625 VIQ Solutions Second Quarter Earnings Call. A telephone replay will be available beginning on August 30th at 18:45 ET. To access the replay, please dial in 1-855-859-2056 and follow the prompt with the passcode number 1899625. Financial Results The unaudited second quarter 2018 condensed interim consolidated financial statements and results of operations and Managements Discussion and Analysis of Results and Financial Condition for the three and six months ended June 30th, 2018 will be posted on SEDARs website at www.sedar.com . The financial information included in this release is qualified in its entirety and should be read together with the unaudited second quarter 2018 condensed interim consolidated financial statements and the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017, including the notes thereto. Forward-looking Statements Certain statements included in this news release constitute forward looking statements or forward looking information under applicable securities legislation. Such forward looking statements or information are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward looking statements or information typically contain statements with words such as "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "plan", "intend", "estimate", "propose", "project" or similar words suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. Forward looking statements or information in this news release include, but are not limited to, managements targets for the Companys growth in 2018, as well as the size, scope, and timing of the implementation of projects currently in the pilot phase. Forward looking statements or information is based on a number of factors and assumptions which have been used to develop such statements and information, but which may prove to be incorrect. Although VIQ believes that the expectations reflected in such forward looking statements or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward looking statements because VIQ can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. In addition to other factors and assumptions which may be identified in this news release, assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the Companys recent initiatives, and that sales and prospects may provide incremental value for shareholders. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all factors and assumptions which have been used. Forward looking statements or information are based on current expectations, estimates and projections that involve a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by VIQ and described in the forward looking statements or information. These risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward looking statements or information. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all possible risks and uncertainties. About VIQ Solutions Inc. VIQ is the leading technology and service platform provider for digital evidence capture and content management. Our secure modular software allows customers to onboard the VIQ platform at any stage of their organization's digitization, from the digital capture of video and audio to online collaboration, mobility, data analytics and integration with sensors, facial recognition, speech recognition and case management or patient record systems. VIQ's technology leads the industry in security, meeting the highest international standards for digital/cyber security and privacy, including military and medical regulations. Our solutions are used in over 20 countries with tens of thousands of users in more than 200 government and private agencies including law enforcement, immigration, medical, legal, insurance, courts, transportation and transcription service providers. VIQ also provides end-to-end transcription services to several large government agencies through our Australia-based reporting and transcription partners. VIQ operates worldwide with partners like security integrators, audio-video specialists, and hardware and data storage suppliers. For more information about VIQ, please visit www.viqsolutions.com . For further information: Peter Kostandenou, Chief Marketing Officer, VIQ Solutions, (905) 948-8266 ext. 213, email: peter@viqsolutions.com . For more information about VIQ, please visit www.viqsolutions.com . Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][August 28, 2018] LendingHome Tops $3 Billion in Loan Originations

LendingHome - the largest, fastest-growing, online mortgage marketplace lender - today announced a new company record: the origination of more than $3 billion in mortgage loans for property investors and homeowners. The company achieved this milestone at an unprecedented pace: it lent its third billion in just eight months, which is 33% faster than the second billion and 375% faster than it took to lend the first billion. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005828/en/ LendingHome announces new company record: more than $3 billion in loan originations, fueled by exponential success with the fix and flip industry. (Graphic: Business Wire) Fueled by the efficiency of its proprietary technology, LendingHome has also funded the purchase of more than 14,000 houses and returned to investors more than $1.6 billion in principal and over $133 million in interest. "LendingHome's goal is to radically improve every aspect of the mortgage process for customers who simply want and need a better way to get a home loan," said Matt Humphrey, co-founder and CEO of LendingHome. "The solution we provide has profoundly resonated with the fix and flip industry. This segment of the mortgage market recently accounted for almost 7 percent* of all homes sold, and we are proud to be a trusted partner helping fuel that growth." The "fix and flip" industry - in which property investors buy, rehabilitate (fix), and resell (flip) residential homes - provides a vital service to U.S. consumers who want to buy a home, but find themselves in the midst of a nationwide housing shortage: the rate of new home construction is near its lowest level in 60 years of record keeping**. Meanwhile, about 70% of the U.S. housing stock was built prior to 1989, according to the American Housing Survey, and is likely in need of significant repair or renovation.



"Just four years ago when we started lending, flippers had very few financing options," Humphrey said. "They could ask friends and family for money, or they could find someone in their network who has a lot of cash and is willing to provide a so-called 'country club' loan. Banks were never an option; they are too entrenched in 30 year mortgages to create a specialty loan product for property investors. So we seized upon that opportunity and created loans with reliable terms, transparency, and online access. Today flippers don't need to know someone rich. They just need to visit our website." Cathy Gould-Harrison can attest to the difference LendingHome makes. She is the owner of Maxx Investors, LLC, in Stockton, Calif., and just closed her fourth deal with LendingHome: "When I started with LendingHome, I was shocked at how quickly and easily everything went. The website is easy to use and the process is 10 times faster than that of any regular lending company. I appreciate that I can log onto my account, see what I have uploaded, see what's needed - and that's really, really easy."

LendingHome is more than a lender. With its company-wide value of "Customer First," coupled with its built-from-scratch technology, LendingHome strives to be a partner that maximizes each borrower's chance of success. First, the FinTech startup leverages its treasure trove of data to assess what worked, or didn't work, with similar properties in similar markets. This allows LendingHome to give accurate rates and terms instantly, all online. Then the company's "feasibility experts" assess the strengths and weaknesses of a borrower's business plan and provide strategic counsel. Loans close in as fast as five days. As a result of this hands-on partnership, LendingHome is helping flippers turn their hobby into a thriving small business. Sara and Dan Dyer are a retired couple in Nashville, who just completed their fifth flip with LendingHome and are currently financing their next one with the startup. "We are amazed by how personable and communicative our lending team is. The relationship has been great, and they are always respectful of us," said Sara Dyer. "But what really makes the difference is how knowledgeable they are. They understand that small things can stymie the flipping process because we have so many irons in the fire - we're working with a construction team, appraisers, real estate agents, so many people. They know the hoops we're jumping through because they understand the flipping process, and that has been invaluable to us." *ATTOM Data Solutions

**Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City About LendingHome: LendingHome has designed a better way for people to buy a home. Its built-from-scratch technology has transformed a slow, painful, paper-based process into a fast, transparent, online experience. At the same time, LendingHome is a marketplace lender: institutional and accredited investors have access to attractive, high-yield real estate assets. Since it started lending in mid-2014, LendingHome has funded more than $3 billion in mortgage loans. The company is headquartered in San Francisco with an office in Pittsburgh, Pa. To learn more, go to www.lendinghome.com or www.lendinghome.com/careers. NMLS ID #1125207 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180828005828/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]BERLIN  You may not be familiar with IFA, the European equivalent of the massive CES trade show, but you've certainly seen the products that have debuted at recent IFAs. LG's V30 smartphone, Samsung's Gear smartwatches and a host of laptops from leading brands like Lenovo, Acer and Asus have all spent some time in the IFA spotlight.

What products could join those ranks when this year's IFA kicks off Friday (Aug. 31) in Berlin? We're in Germany to take in the sights from the show floor, and here are the potential announcements that have us excited.

(Before we get started, one important note about IFA scheduling. While the show doesn't officially get underway until Friday and runs through Sept. 5, a press day on Thursday (Aug. 30) and preview events mean you can expect announcements out of Berlin all week long.)

LGs focus on smarts

LG has gone all-in with AI, as weve seen from the ThinQ branding its used across a suite of devices, such as smartphones, TVs and appliances. The ThinQ label signifies a smart product with artificial intelligence baked right in, as evidenced by the G7 ThinQ smartphones artificially intelligent camera.

Look for the same AI features LG builds into phones like the G7 ThinQ to appear in other products.

LG will deliver the opening keynote at IFA this year, and its all about  you guessed it  AI. LG CEO Jo Seong-jin and CTO I.P. Park will discuss the companys AI strategy and how it applies to refrigerators, TVs and washing machines. We expect to see new additions to LGs smart home lineup on the show floor, including a few high-end appliances that LG announced early this week as part of its pricey Signature label. A voice-controlled wine cellar will debut at IFA alongside a new Signature dryer and bottom-freezer refrigerator.

Huaweis next move

Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's consumer products division, is also slated to give a keynote at IFA this Friday, and considering that the Chinese phone maker builds some pretty innovative phones  even if they're not always available in the U.S.  it's worth paying attention to what he has to say.

It's unlikely we'll see the rumored Huawei Mate 20 at IFA  Huawei tends to hold its own phone launch events, and in recent years, it's used the CES show in January to talk about U.S. availability. That said, we could hear some hints about what Huawei's planning for its next phones. At least year's IFA, Yu took the wraps off Huawei's Kirin 970 processor, talking up its new neural processing features for image recognition. That chip would power the Mate 10 Pro and P20 Pro, among other devices.

The Kirin 970 at last year's IFA.

Huawei may not restrict itself to phones, either. At CES this past January, the company unveiled new mesh routers. It will also be interesting to see if Huawei, now the world's second-largest phone maker, has more to say about its plans for the U.S. market, in light of the U.S. government's ongoing concerns about the company's alleged ties to the Chinese government. (U.S. agencies are barred from buying Huawei hardware.)

Samsung goes beyond the Galaxy

Samsung likes to go big at IFA  literally. The company just announced the Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Home smart speaker, so were not expecting any new phones, wearables or smart home devices (though it would be nice to see the Galaxy Home in action).

MORE: Galaxy Note 9 User Guide: Tips, Tricks and How-Tos

Instead, Samsung will likely show off some impressive examples of its game-changing display technology. The company has already announced two such products ahead of IFA: a 34-inch QLED (3440 x 1440) curved monitor with two Thunderbolt 3 ports, and a 43-inch ultra-wide curved monitor with an eye-popping 3840 x 1200 resolution. We expect to see some incredible TVs, too, when Samsung hosts a press conference Thursday at 11 a.m. CET.

The return of ZTE

Speaking of another phone maker that's run afoul of the U.S. government, ZTE has a Thursday press conference. The last we heard from that Chinese company, it had shut up shop after the U.S. government banned ZTE from importing U.S. components in a row over ZTE selling equipment to Iran and North Korea. President Donald Trump later intervened as part of the U.S's ongoing trade maneuverings with China, and the ban has since been lifted.

ZTE could return to IFA with a new Axon phone.

So what does ZTE do on its return to the stage? All signs point to a new flagship device from the phone maker, with leaked renders reportedly of the Axon 9 Pro popping up online this week. IFA would be a fitting venue for a new Axon phone: two years ago, the company launched the Axon 7 Mini here.

Laptops galore

Given IFA's spot on the calendar  right before fall gets underway and the holiday shopping season kicks off  you can understand why laptop makers see this event as a great venue for showing off the latest notebooks, 2-in-1s and gaming machines. Acer, Asus and Lenovo are all expected to be on hand in Berlin, showing off new gear powered by latest chipsets from Intel. If you're in the market for a laptop, it's a good idea to always wait for IFA to see what's coming down the pike.

First-of-its-kind AltCap investment pool aims to transform KC's urban blight With more than 5,000 blighted homes and vacant lots, Kansas City's urban core might soon see some help thanks to new AltCap investment pool. AltCap, a Kansas City-based community development financial institution , has partnered with Legal Aid of Western Missouri and Stinson Leonard Street to create a fund that's focused on rehabilitation of housing in Kansas City's urban core.

Follow-up on a recent plan to throw money at a problem that really requires. . . All the money in the world to restore homes won't fix the problem if they're build in the middle of a battlefield.Read more:Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd, who was reprimanded by the Missouri Supreme Court for his conduct in a child molestation case, is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review his punishment.The Communications Workers of America (CWA) labor union has argued that the T-Mobile merger with Sprint should not go ahead as currently planned, as it would result in the loss of 28,000 jobs across the nation. These jobs would consist of 24,000 in overlapping retail store closures, and 4,500 from "duplicative functions at corporate headquarters in Overland Park, KS, and Bellevue, WA", it said.



KC Flu Season Redux

Battery Operated Tech Hotness Coming Soon To South Kansas City

Tesla appears ready to open new KC dealership - Kansas City Business Journal Tenants are pulling out of a Kansas City retail center to make way for what looks to be a new showroom and service center for electric car maker Tesla. A sandwich shop already has closed and a Sherwin-Williams paint store has moved operations to trucks in the parking lot of the State Line Shopping Center, The Martin City Telegraph reports.

Meth Town Makeover???

Community wants action with an Independence eye-sore INDEPENDENCE, Mo. - People in Independence, Missouri are upset over a building they say has become an eye-sore in their community. "Virtually, nothing has been done to this building over the last 11 years," said Elisa Breitenbach, Independence Resident. In those 11 years, Breitenbach has lived next door to what was once the Monte Parker Printing business.

Redevelopment Redux

Two of Kansas City's oldest buildings near 18th and Vine getting new life KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- As a landscape and urban designer, Tim Duggan often marveled at how ancient buildings in places like New Orleans could be repurposed to create economic vitality in distressed neighborhoods. Now he's hoping to work some magic of his own on a pair of limestone buildings near Kansas City's 18th and Vine district.

Vet Helping Hand Up

Veterans Community Project building 13 houses, planning for even more KANSAS CITY, Mo. - January 31, the VCP moved 13 veterans into its tiny home community at 89th and Troost. In just seven months, eight of them have already transitioned into permanent housing. "I think it's our intensive case management and our wraparound services that we provide on a daily basis," VCP CEO Chris Stout, said.

Double Dose

Does Eric Berry have another comeback in him? Don't bet against it 8:00 AM ET Adam TeicherESPN Staff Writer Close Covered Chiefs for 20 seasons for Kansas City Star Joined ESPN in 2013 KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Andy Reid recently recalled visiting Eric Berry at his home near Atlanta while the Kansas City Chiefs safety was undergoing chemotherapy treatments for lymphoma in the winter of 2015.

Kansas City Money Pit Captivity Justified

Kansas City Zoo works to save endangered species KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Last month, the Trump Administration proposed ending protections for threatened animals and plant species under the Endangered Species Act. The proposal would make it harder for animals to be put on the list and easier to be taken off.

It's nice that at leastunderstand branding . . .Closer to home, these news links are also worth gawking at . . .is the song of the day and this is thefor right now . . .Aston Martins plan to recreate 25 continuation James Bond DB5 models comes with the caveat that future owners cant drive them on public roads because the gadgets that came in the original Bond DB5 are included on these continuation models. Each car carries a 2.75 million price tag or around $3.5 million based on current exchange rates. Those who can afford to pay for any one of these 25 DB5s will have to make do with having these cars serve as garage jewelry.

We still dont know which gadgets will be included in the 25 continuation DB5s

Its cool that Aston Martin is bringing back James Bonds Aston Martin DB5. Its even cooler that the British automaker is collaborating with long-time Bond special effects supervisor Chris Corbould to include a lot of the gadgets that came in the most famous Bond car of all time. But before you start imagining the feeling of actually using ejector seats in real life, you need to know that there are real-world limits to what Aston Martin and Corbould can do.

We still dont know which gadgets will be included in the 25 continuation DB5s. We can run down a list of what Bonds original DB5 came with and see if theyre feasible enough to be featured in the continuation DB5 models, knowing full well that none of these models are road-legal.

Rotating license plates

The rotating license plates are arguably the most famous feature of the Bond DB5 so expect this gadget in the continuation DB5s. The rotating plates are inherently harmless for showcase purposes and the gadget is one of the hallmark features of Bonds classic ride. Wed be shocked if this feature isnt included.

Hidden GPS dashboard with radio communication

File this one next to the rotating license plates. The hidden GPS dashboard with radio communication is highly likely to be included in the continuation Bond DB5 models. The setup should be there. Whats important is whether its going to be functional in the todays world. Would it end up becoming a better tech system that Aston Martins current infotainment system? Dont be surprised if the answer ends up being yes.

Oil slick and smoke screen, both via the center armrest

On paper, these two enemy deterrents should be included in the continuation Bond DB5 models. But a lot of things can go wrong when you store oil and whatever gas compound is used to create the smoke in a car for novelty purposes. The mechanisms to release the oil and smoke screen could be included. But as far as the oil and the gas compound themselves? Were not as optimistic.

Front machine guns under the headlights

Unless Aston Martin can secure a legitimate firearms license, dont think for one second that the continuation DB5 will carry real machine guns with real bullets. At best, the cars will have prop machine guns with no means of putting real bullets in them.

Rear collapsible bulletproof shield

This could take a lot of work, particularly in creating an actual bulletproof shield. But it could still go either way. Were not sure if this can be included, though the cars 2.75 million ($3.5 million) price tag suggests that Aston Martin and Chris Corbould will have some latitude to spend on developing actual bulletproof shields.

Tire slashers

The tire slashers fall into the same category as the front machine guns. Theyre classified as dangerous weapons so they could be omitted from the continuation DB5s. If Aston Martin decides to include them, dont expect the slashers to have sharp points. They should be blunt points, at least for safety purposes.

Ejector seat

As awesome as this sounds, dont expect it to come in the continuation DB5 models for obvious safety reasons.

Cooled champagne fridge

Yeah, the cooled champagne fridge will be there.

Further Reading

Read our full review on the 1963 - 1967 Aston Martin DB5.

Read more Aston Martin news.

Source: JalopnikPrime Minister Theresa Mays press statement alongside the President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa

Scroll down for President Ramaphosas remarks

Thank you, Mr President, for your welcome and thank you for hosting me and my delegates here today. Its a pleasure to see you again after your very good visit to London in April.

This is my first time in South Africa, indeed my first visit to Africa as Prime Minister. Im delighted to be beginning my trip here with you in Cape Town, where of course Nelson Mandela gave his first speech after walking free from prison, standing with you on the balcony of City Hall 28 years ago.

I was honoured today to handover to you and to the people of South Africa the ships bell from the SS Mendi, and to commemorate the troops who lost their lives when the ship sank in the English Channel over a century ago, on their way to join the Allied Forces on the Western Front. And we will be forever grateful for their sacrifice in a common cause.

The historical links between us are hugely important. But our partnership today should be based on more.

The UK and South Africa enjoy a broad and forward-looking relationship, and we have committed today to reinvigorating it for the future.

Trade and Investment

We want to build on the strong foundation of our economic relationship to ensure the prosperity and security of our people.

The UK is one of South Africas largest trading partners  with our trade worth over 9 billion last year.

And we have agreed that  as the UK prepares to leave the EU  we must think about how to grow that trade in the future.

So today, as weve just witnessed, we have signed a Joint Statement with South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Eswatini to ensure the provisions of the regions current trade deal with the EU continue after this agreement no longer applies to the United Kingdom.

This important step will provide the strong foundations on which we can build a closer trade and investment partnership in the future that brings even greater benefits for both sides.

The UK has long been the biggest investor in South Africa, and is the second biggest investor across Africa.

And as I said in my speech today, my ambition is for the UK to be the number one G7 investor in Africa by 2022.

As we discussed in London, the UK fully supports your drive, Mr President, to attract more investment to South Africa so as to create jobs and economic growth.

And I want to see British companies play a central role in helping you achieve your ambitions, helping create and sustain high quality jobs for the people of both our countries.

Im sure this is something we will discuss further at our investment roundtable this afternoon with some of the British firms who are travelling with me this week.

Science and Innovation

The UKs plan for jobs and growth is set out in our modern industrial strategy. That strategy has science, research and innovation at its heart and these themes are also a central part of our bilateral partnership.

Our world-class academics and researchers are collaborating at the cutting edge of scientific discovery to help solve shared problems, save lives, and shape a better world for our people.

We are partnering with you to train the next generation of South African scientists, and we will make more scholarships available for the brightest and best African students at world-class British universities  to support the continents talented future leaders and decision-makers as they develop their skills and careers.

Shared security

I look forward to discussing international issues with the President over lunch  in particular how we can work together to uphold the rules based international order as South Africa prepares to join the UN Security Council next year

So thank you again, Mr President, for the warm welcome you have given me today and for the productive discussions weve had.

We want to be South Africas partner as we deliver the better lives that our citizens aspire to and deserve. I look forward to continuing to work with you in the years ahead to deepen our friendship and to achieve our shared ambitions.

Media remarks by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the conclusion of the UK Working Visit

Let me begin by extending, once more, a very warm welcome to our esteemed guest and dear friend, Prime Minister May and her delegation on her first working visit to South Africa as Prime Minister.

We were extremely honoured to have been presented with the ships bell of the SS Mendi, on which over 600 members of the South African Native Labour Corps perished in 1917.

Please accept our gratitude and appreciation for this gesture, which honours the memory and the sacrifices of all those who perished so far away from their homes and loved ones.

Prime Minister May and I have just concluded discussions that were characterised by a renewed commitment to forge a closer partnership between our two countries.

During our talks, we reviewed a range of issues of a bilateral, continental and global nature.

We have noted with great satisfaction the strong relationship between South Africa and the United Kingdom in wide-ranging areas of cooperation, including energy, science and technology, education, health, arts and culture.

We recognised that these areas of cooperation are currently at different stages of progress.

We have directed our Ministers and officials to ensure full implementation of all existing legal instruments for the mutual benefit of our respective countries and peoples.

In our official talks, we noted the increased economic cooperation and trade relations between our countries.

Both our countries have identified key sectors for investment to boost economic growth and development.

These sectors include manufacturing, agro-processing, infrastructure development, mining, energy and tourism.

We also confirmed our wish that the negotiations on the United Kingdoms exit from the European Union are concluded in a manner that restores stability to economic and financial markets.

We further welcomed the regular engagements between the trade Ministers of the members of the Southern African Customs Union and the United Kingdom on a future trade agreement.

We are encouraged on the signing today of the Joint Statement on the UK, SACU and Mozambique Economic Partnership Agreement, which significantly advances these engagements.

We also held discussions on various peace and security challenges on the African continent and internationally.

We have noted with concern the continued instability and conflict in some of our sister countries.

We have reaffirmed our commitment to working together in pursuit of peace, stability and development on the continent.

We have saluted the strides being made by the AU Member States to advance continental integration.

On the international front, we have affirmed our common view on the need to promote multilateralism and effective North-South cooperation.

In conclusion, we reaffirmed the importance of our historical relations, and further committed ourselves to working together to enhance close political, economic and social cooperation in keeping with our mutual desire to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Prime Minister, let me again thank you and your delegation for visiting us and we hope that you have enjoyed your stay.

I thank you.The teachers are back, the buses are rolling, and our classrooms are filled with bright, eager learners. Welcome to the 2018/19 school year! Public schools are special because everyone in the community is a stakeholder. Good public schools are a necessary component of a successful, thriving community. We are all partners in that enterprise, and school board members are honored to represent the community and provide accountability.

The Transylvania County Board of Education has three top priorities. First, the safety and security of the children entrusted to our care for 180 days a yea...Pictured in the front row, from left to right, are Harold Wellington, David Morrow and Emmett Casciato. Back row, from left to right, are Larry Garofalo, Pete Lillard and Ray Pavlik.

New Pathfinders at the WNC Military History Museum are prepared to make visitors' experience interesting and meaningful. The three new Pathfinders attending training on Aug. 22 are all Navy veterans, and the two experienced Pathfinders assisting them also served in the Navy.

They use their military experience to add first-person accounts to the stories behind the museum's artifacts for guests touring the museum. Along with museum founder and curator Emmett Casciato, these sailors make guests feel welcome and well-informed:

Harold Wellington, Merchant Marine, 1942-1946; U.S. Army, 1948;...Brevard Police Chief Paul Fisher (center) and officers Ray Buchanan and Boyce Gillespie confiscated 6 gallons of moonshine from a stolen 1950 Ford. The driver was not apprehended.

Making moonshine was common practice and a part of mountain culture during the 1800s. Nearly every home kept some form of spirits - whiskey, wine, ale or brandy - available for themselves and visitors. In addition, converting corn, grain and fruit crops to liquor allowed for easier transport to market for much needed cash. It was simply considered good economics.

By the beginning of the 20th century, public opinion, influenced by groups such as the Women's Christian Temperance Union, had shifted against alcohol consumption. The 18th Amendment made production, importation, transportatio...While some families wish to remain private about their loved ones cause of death when it involves an opioid overdose, Glueckert recalled meeting with the parents of a young man who had died of such an overdose, and they were determined to prevent other families from going through the same pain and suffering.Treehugger and our third-party partners use cookies and process personal data like unique identifiers based on your consent to store and/or access information on a device, display personalized ads and for content measurement, audience insight, and product development. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Treehugger.com, including your right to object where legitimate interest is used, click below. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. List of Partners (vendors)The Economist suggests three things: Better machines, better refrigerants and better buildings.

This TreeHugger used to write that air conditioning was a response to really bad design, quoting Professor Cameron Tonkinwise who said, The window air conditioner allows architects to be lazy. We don't have to think about making a building work, because you can just buy a box.

But as I wrote recently, the world has changed, and so have I, recognizing that I was being an elitist writing from a detached old house in a temperate climate. Most people are not so lucky. The Economist is following this trend, writing:

At the moment, only 8% of the 3bn people in the tropics have air-conditioning, compared with over 90% of households in America and Japan. But eventually, it will be near universal because so many trends are converging behind its spread: ageing, since old people are more vulnerable to heat stroke; urbanisation, since fields cannot be air-conditioned but offices and factories must be; and economic growth, since, after mobile phones, the middle class in emerging markets want fans or air-conditioners next.

Lloyd Alter/ minisplits in Changsha/CC BY 2.0

But there is a huge carbon footprint to running all this AC. At current rates, Saudi Arabia will be using more energy to run air-conditioners in 2030 than it now exports as oil. International Energy Agency (IEA) figures that running AC now produces 4 billion tons of CO2 annually or 12 percent of the total.

In their leader to the AC story, How to make air conditioning more sustainable, the Economist notes that just doubling the efficiency of AC and changing the refrigerants could save more carbon than having half the world go vegetarian. But they claim that AC is not given the attention it deserves:

Air-conditioning is one of the worlds great overlooked industries. Automobiles and air-conditioners were invented at roughly the same time, and both have had a huge impact on where people live and work. Unlike cars, though, air-conditioners have drawn little criticism for their social impact, emissions or energy efficiency. Most hot countries do not have rules to govern their energy use. There is not even a common English word for coolth (the opposite of warmth).



This is absolutely true. It also points to a contradiction, since to get rid of cars we need greater urban density, which increases the temperature and the ambient noise, creating a need for more air conditioning. The Economist has three recommendations:

Raise minimum acceptable standards of efficiency. The most energy-efficient models on the market today consume only about one-third as much electricity as average ones.

Change to safer, less damaging refrigerants. An international deal to phase out these pollutants, called the Kigali amendment, will come into force in 2019. Foot-draggers should ratify and implement it; America is one country that has not done so. This is a whole other story, with a pile of right-wing anti-science organizations that have the ear of the President lobbying against Kigali.

And here is perhaps the most important one:

Last, more could be done to design offices, malls and even cities so they do not need as many air-conditioners in the first place. More buildings should be built with overhanging roofs or balconies for shade, or with natural ventilation. Simply painting roofs white can help keep temperatures down.



This has been our mantra, too: Reduce Demand! They list all the traditional measures that we have discussed, but its not enough. There have to be much higher standards for controlling heat gain through insulation, window sizing and quality for when the old ways cant cope. Thats why their conclusion is so important:

Better machines are necessary. But cooling as an overall system needs to be improved if air-conditioning is to fulfill its promise to make people healthier, wealthier and wiser, without too high an environmental cost.



You cant, as Cameron Tonkinwise put it, just add a box. You cant, as the Rocky Mountain Institute suggests, just sell someone a new HVAC unit. It starts with urban design and goes right down to the detail of how you build a wall. We have to get away from boxes and think about overall systems, the bigger picture, or as William Saletan put it years ago, we will be cooking our planet to refrigerate the diminishing part that's still habitable."Every neighborhood has one  that favored tree or bush around the corner where all the dogs like to stop on a walk and do their business.

To you and the other pet owners, it's a tree or bush where they like to "go." To the dogs, it's so much more than that. They see it as the canine version of social media, a place where they can post and receive messages about what's going on in their lives.

"This is how dogs have a conversation between dogs," said Sharon Crowell-Davis, a professor of behavioral medicine at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine. "This is how dogs tell each other that I was here and that I am a part of this area." Not only do the dogs know who else has come by, they can tell from the scents whether the other dogs that have stopped there are old or young, male or female, healthy or not feeling so well, what they've eaten, whether something has frightened them, or whether there's a new dog in the 'hood they will "like."

Crowell-Davis, who was one of the founding diplomates of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists and has published more than 400 papers and book chapters on various aspects of animal behavioral medicine, calls dogs' sense of smell "a world of odor information that humans are totally blind to. We can't imagine what their world is like. It's virtually impossible for us to perceive."

If we could, perhaps we wouldnt feel so embarrassed as we stand at the other end of the leash as our dogs do their thing and someone drives by. If we understood more, we might even get a chuckle from the canine conversation.

"Hey Peanut and TeeVee, Louie was here today, too."

"Im liking that new diet, Peanut!"

"Hope you feel better, TeeVee. Sorry about the bladder issues. Thats no fun."

"Looks like we all missed smokin hot Ellie Mae and Lady yesterday."

"OMG! Whos this new guy in the 'hood?"

The art and science of butt sniffing

Dogs can have these deep canine conversations because they learn to recognize each other in another way thats may seem odd to humans: they sniff each other's butts. "They do that because this is where a dog's scent is the strongest," said Crowell-Davis. Essentially, a dog's biography is in its derriere in scent molecules and pheromones. Think of a dog's ability to remember another dog by the scents coming from the backside as akin to a politician's ability to remember faces.

How long can dogs remember that scent? "We don't know for sure," Crowell-Davis said, adding that researchers do know that dogs' recall is fairly long. "At least weeks, probably longer," she said.

Where your dog takes care of her business can also offer valuable information.

If you've noticed that your dog prefers particular substrates such as ivy or liriope for his ritual, this may be a learned experience from when he was a puppy, Crowell-Davis said. A dog that tries to drag you under a bush in the name of privacy could be exhibiting another learned behavior, she said. It's physically uncomfortable for dogs to be disturbed "in the act," so it's possible that dogs that have had this experience may be more prone to wanting privacy.

Poop matters

Your dog's favorite spots can also be a clue about health issues.

Especially when it comes to pooping, you should watch where you dog wants to stop and what happens when he gets there, Crowell-Davis advised.

Crowell-Davis stresses that owners should inspect their dog's poo. "If you're going to have a dog, you need to monitor its health. And a good way to get the scoop on your pets health is to look at its poop. One of the really important things you can learn is developing medical problems. If you see anything out of the ordinary in terms of color or firmness, its time to go to the vet, Crowell-Davis advised.

And placement matters too  not just for the dog, but for your neighborly relations. If you have a neighbor who's proud of his manicured lawn or who has had to replace a bush one too many times and constantly watches from windows to shoo off pet walkers, dont even let your dog stop in their yard, Crowell-Davis said. The worst thing you can do if you suddenly realize your dog has stopped on forbidden real estate is to try and drag him away in the middle of the act.

"Once dogs start, they want to finish up and not be disturbed," said Crowell-Davis, emphasizing that there's more "need" than "want" in the effort. Anyone should appreciate how hard it is on a dog to stop the process once his gut has set things in motion, she said.

So the next time you're on a walk with your dog, consider the conversation that he's a part of  even if you can't understand everything that's being said. He'll thank you for it, in his own canine way.On the day of the shooting, Soto said Alvarez told him he had a message from a drug cartel called La Familia and said to him in Spanish that he was there to kill him. Soto said he was not a member of any cartels.editorial@tribune.com

Mumbai, August 27

The Naresh Goyal-run Jet Airways today reported a whopping Rs 1,323 crore of net loss for the three months to June owing to higher fuel cost and other expenses due to the falling rupee.

The ongoing cash crunch has forced the airline to embark on a Rs 2,000-crore cost-cutting drive and stake sale in its loyalty programme Jet Previlage as part of capital infusion.

The airline, which publicly admitted to cash flow issues, had posted a net profit of Rs 53.50 crore in the year-ago period.

Total income marginally improved to Rs 6,066 crore from Rs 5,953 crore a year ago, the airline said.  PTIeditorial@tribune.com

Zurich, August 28

Swiss food giant Nestle on Tuesday said it has sealed a deal to market the products of US coffee giant Starbucks around the world, outside of its cafes.

The company, which also produces Nescafe instant coffee, had announced in May it would pay $7.15 billion (6.13 billion euros) for the rights to market Starbucks coffee globally.

Under the deal, some 500 Starbucks employees in the US and Europe will join Nestle, the Swiss company said in a statement.

With Starbucks, Nescafe and Nespresso we bring together the worlds most iconic coffee brands, Nestle CEO Mark Schneider said.

The outstanding collaboration between the two teams resulted in a swift completion of this agreement, which will pave the way to capture further growth opportunities, he added.

According to the statement, the deal will significantly boost Nestles portfolio in North America.  AFPeditorial@tribune.com

Shivani Bhakoo/Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana/Chandigarh, August 28

The Punjab government will soon allow a hassle-free movement of textile items for job work within the state and save thousands of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from the trouble of getting e-way bills by enhancing the exemption limit from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh.

Textile and apparel value chain thrives on job works, which was hampered because of mandatory e-way bill requirement for items valued more than Rs 50,000. An exemption from mandatory e-way bill will help textile clusters in Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar.

A decision has been taken on this matter. It will be implemented after the government issues a formal notification, which is expected soon, an official source said.

Under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rules, ferrying goods worth over Rs 50,000 within or outside a state requires securing an electronic-way challan (e-way bill) through prior online registration of the consignment. States can tinker with e-way bills only for intra-state movement of goods.

We are going to follow the Maharashtra model, which has already abolished requirement of e-way bill for transportation of hank, yarn, fabric and garments meant for job work, the source said. Officials, however, say the Punjab government may trim down the number of items. Maharashtra gave relief to its textile industry from July this year, which allows intra-state movement of specified items within 50 km for job work.

Officials said, the Punjab Cabinet gave its nod to allow hassle-free movement of textile goods meant for job work and also extended the limit of intra-state e-way bill from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh on Monday. Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and West Bengal are among other states to raise such limit.

Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal president Piara Lal Seth said the proposed move would help the traders and manufacturers from un-necessary burden and paper work.

The textile and garment industry is largely dependent on knitting, embroidery, printing and dyeing units, but all job workers are not that well-educated. They were facing problems in generating e-way bills. The decision of the state government will provide a sigh of relief to them, said Superfine Industries managing director Ajit Lakra.

The governments decision is also prompted by the fact that several people were avoiding generating e-way bills by using horse-carts (tongas) for transporting goods as non-motorised vehicles do not require e-way bills for transporting goods.

Many industrialists had started transporting furniture, yarn, ready stocks above Rs 50,000 through the tongas to avoid e-way bills/taxes. Respite will be given to those who are doing business in a transparent manner, said Federation of Punjab Small Industries Associations (FOPSIA) president Badish Jindal.

e-way bill exemptionvermaajay1968@gmail.com

Tribune News Service

Mohali, August 27

The Mohali police have arrested two members of a gang of vehicle thieves. The police said at least 30 stolen motorcycles were recovered from them. The accused have been identified as Lucky from Jandekalan village in Mansa district and Sukhminder Singh from Dhani Kahma Ram village in Ferozepur.

Mohali Superintendent of Police (Detective) Varun Sharma said the miscreants were active in Mohali, Mansa, Sirsa, Fazilka, Ludhiana, Chandigarh and Delhi. We have arrested two persons while their three accomplices are yet to be arrested, said the SP. The three other miscreants have been identified as Gurpreet Singh, alias Gopi, from Jhande Kalan village, Mansa, Purshotam from Sirsa and Amandeep Singh, alias Ladda, from Bodla village, Mansa.

The SP said the miscreants, who came from a rural background, came into the crime world to earn a quick buck. They used to spend the ill-gotten money mainly on liquor and girls, said the SP.

The modus operandi of the miscreants was that they first identified some public place to steal motorcycles that were not in a good condition. Then they used to park these in parking lots at public places such as malls, hospitals and railway station by paying fee till they got a customer, said the SP, adding that they recovered most of the motorcycles from such parking lots on information provided by the miscreants.

We have solved at least 22 cases of vehicle theft with their arrest. The accused have confessed that they had parked 40 more bikes in different parking lots of various towns, said the SP.ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 28

A local court on Tuesday framed charges against an auto driver, Baldev Singh, in a three-year-old rape case of a US national. The charges have been framed under Sections 328, 342, 366, 376, 392 and 34 of the IPC. Despite the fact that the statement of the victim under Section 164 of the CrPC is yet to be recorded, the police had filed a challan in the case and now, charges have been framed.

The prosecution had moved an application almost six months ago to allow the victim to record her statement and conduct the test identification parade via video-conferencing. However, it is still pending in the High Court and the next date for it is September 17.

In January 2015, the victim came to India on a tourist visa. In March, she reached Chandigarh in a bus from Rishikesh. She reached Chandigarh at night and had planned to take a bus to Delhi the next day to board her flight to France. However, the auto driver, who had promised to find her a good hotel room, took her to a friends room in Kharar, where she was allegedly raped. The second accused in the case, Jaswinder Singh, alias Lucky, is yet to be arrested.

The victim, however, did not make a complaint while in the city and went to France as her passport was to expire in four days. From there, she sent an e-mail to the Inspector General of Police, Chandigarh, alleging rape and narrating the episode.

The police reverted to her mail and asked whether she had got a medical examination conducted to prove her claims. She replied in the affirmative and sent her medical examination report, which confirmed rape.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 27

A Burail Jail inmate, who was being taken back to the jail from the PGI, escaped from the police bus at the Sector 40/41 light point on Monday afternoon.

The inmate, Rajwinder Singh, who was lodged at Burail Jail in an NDPS case registered against him at the Sector 3 police station, was taken to the hospital for a check-up.

In the afternoon, while the police were taking him back to Burail Jail in a police bus, the accused escaped after jumping out of the window of the bus at the Sector 40/41 light point. As soon the bus stopped at the traffic lights, the accused pushed a cop and escaped, said a police official.

By the time the cops got down from the bus, the accused had already escaped.

The Police Control Room was informed following which PCR teams launched a search in the area.

OP Mishra, IG (Prisons), said an inquiry had been marked into the incident to fix responsibility of cops for negligence.

Sources said a police team also visited the house of the accused in his search.

A case has been registered at the Sector 39 police station.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 27

A 26-year-old drug addict, who works as a security guard, has turned-out to be white scooter-borne snatcher. The Chandigarh Police nabbed the miscreant and claimed to have cracked four cases of snatching and one of vehicle theft.

A team of the Sector 39 police station, led by Inspector Rajdeep Singh, nabbed the snatcher, identified as Kavi Visht (26), at a naka in Sector 37 on Sunday night. The accused was arrested while riding the same white scooter, which was used in the snatching incidents reported from the city recently.

The latest snatching by the accused was committed in Sector 38. The accused had snatched a purse containing Rs 10,000, a mobile phone and documents from a woman, Monica Singh, on August 25. Monica did not call the Police Control Room and straightaway rushed to the police station. The police swung into action and scrutinised the footage of CCTV cameras in the area and managed to identify the accused.

The mobile phone and the victims documents have been recovered by the police from the accused.

A motorcycle stolen from the area falling under the jurisdiction of the Sector 39 police station was also recovered from the accused.

The police also claimed to have solved two snatching cases, one registered at the Sector 17 police station and the other at the Sector 11 police station. The valuables snatched from the victims have also been recovered by the police. The accused was produced in a court on Monday from where the Sector 17 police took him on a production warrant.

Kavi is a graduate and works as a security guard in Sector 46. He hails from Uttarakhand and is the father of a newly born girl child.Pradip Phanjoubam

Pradip Phanjoubam

Editor, Imphal free press

There is a clever subterfuge offered by those opposed to the criticisms of the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA). Whenever such an issue arises, they work up an equivocation to suggest those against AFSPA are also against the Army. This is mistaking the wood for the forest. The objection against AFSPA is that it gives largely unaccountable power to the security forces, such as to use force to the extent of causing death on suspicion they are militants; destroy any structure on suspicion they are sheltering militants; enter and search any premises and make arrests without warrant, etc. Moreover, security personnel involved in any atrocities under this Act cannot be taken to court without explicit permission from the Central government.

While it may be argued that the power given to the Army under AFSPA may have been made necessary by extraordinary law and order breakdowns where they are deployed, it is the impunity clause which makes it extremely dangerous. Nobody will doubt how power without accountability can become prone to misuse, and recent revelations by whistleblowers from within the Army have demonstrated how, indeed, AFSPA has been misused by sections within the Army to routinely resort to custodial torture, murder and even extortion.

Given the esteem the Army generally commands, this insinuation normally works to dampen any movement for either the repeal or softening of this draconian legislation. This has been true of even official efforts to humanise AFSPA, as former PM Manmohan Singh tried in 2004, appointing the Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee to look for ways of doing this. The committee recommended the incorporation of most of AFSPA provisions to a civil act  the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA)  so that the Army can still be called upon to lend its firepower to meet extreme challenges in the upkeep of internal civil order, but at the same time, be made accountable to civil law for whatever deviation any personnel may make from what the law warrants.

The recommendation was, however, shelved on account of pressures from the lobby that wants AFSPA as it is, pushing the same equivalence and claiming the Army will be made vulnerable without the cover of the Act. The fact is, counterinsurgency has been as much the polices responsibility, and it is not under AFSPAs coverage, therefore, accountable to the law as anybody else. The police can be equally brutal too, but the check here is, the victims of atrocities are not completely helpless and they can hit back with the law. In Punjab, Kashmir or Manipur, this has been demonstrated. The only reason why the militarys service is called upon is that the police does not have the firepower of the military. It is for this reason that police officers such as the late KPS Gill were of the opinion that the answer is in modernising the police force

and armoury.

The other often heard defence of AFSPA is that the Armys primary responsibility is to fight wars and defend the countrys border, and that it is left to do policing duty only because it is invited. It would, otherwise, be happy to go back to the barracks and wait for the next war. There is a flawed presumption here as well. In a true republic, civil authority is supreme and even the Army must come under civil command. The fact that the supreme commander of the Indian Army is a civilian  the President of India  is the loudest articulation of this power structure. The Army hence cannot act on its own volition. Even wars have to be first declared by the civil authority before the military are called upon to fight them.

This being so, if the civil authorities call upon the military to assist in civil law-keeping, that too would become its duty. AFSPA is a legal mechanism to allow this, but even AFSPA says nothing about civil offences such as custodial murders, rapes, robberies, etc,. therefore it is unimaginable why the Army discharging these duties should want a legal shield for its personnel against the possibilities of these atrocities.

There is yet one more subterfuge in the defence of AFSPA. The argument is human rights activists and the Press always are eager to cry foul when security forces are seen as committing atrocities, but never so when insurgents resort to the same ways. This is the very mandate of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948. The rights movement took a tangible shape in the aftermath of WWII with the realisation that the State can also make very serious infringement on individual rights.

The urgently felt need was to draw up a mechanism to check State violence on individuals. So while atrocities committed by non-state entities must remain as a law and order problem for the laws of the State to resolve, when the State itself turns against the individual, international human rights law was thought of as a check. There were efforts to bring parity, and the Geneva Conventions Protocol II is one such. Unfortunately, few or no State with serious internal dissents, including India, ratified it as this would give their internal conflict a semblance of war of states. Until this issue is resolved, the understanding that only the States atrocities amount to rights violation must remain.This is in the center of the city where the church community started, Haas said. First United Methodist Church was one of the first congregations in Aurora. We feel it is an appropriate place to gather in prayer for God's blessings on our city and celebrate what we have done in outreach over the past few months.Satish C Aikant

Satish C Aikant

Former Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla

Each year on August 15, there is an outpouring of enthusiasm. It is a time to banish thoughts other than those evoked by the National Anthem. However, it is also a moment of deep reflection.

Ask any student of Indian history how many British were actually in India in the heyday of the colonial rule. You are likely to draw a blank. These figures are seldom mentioned in nationalist historiography. The remarkable thing about the British in India was that there were so few of them, and the number being embarrassingly small, they are deliberately kept out of sight. There were perhaps more than 2,000 Indians to each Englishman. Even the Indian Civil Service had only 1,000 officers in all, half of whom were Indian.

It makes imperialism look more like a shrew than a frightful monster. But in the nationalist view, the urge for freedom and the indomitable will of the Indian people fought against the might of the monstrous British Raj.

It is largely true that the British domination in India was secured by a comprador native elite. As Gandhi observed in 1905 in Hind Swaraj, 'The English have not taken India; we have given it to them. They are not in India because of their strength, but because we keep them.' He believed that 'no ideology legitimising superior-inferior relations is worth its salt unless it wins at least a grudging assent in the minds of the dominated.' It feels awkward to admit that the British rule was made possible by Indian collaboration; otherwise how could the British sustain their power if not without Indian complicity? Isn't it a fact that the 'civilising mission,' aimed at legitimising colonial rule, was endorsed and embraced by the Indian elite? Those who supported the Raj included government personnel, princes, businessmen, landlords and several political leaders.

That Independence was achieved as the result of India's determined fight for freedom is only one part of the story. There has been a tendency to depict the story of the Congress and the Raj predominantly as one of all-out conflict. After 1947, nationalists projected themselves as implacable opponents of imperialism. This view, however, glosses over some inconvenient facts.

For example, the early sessions of the Congress were vocal in their professions of loyalty to Queen Victoria. Moderate nationalism did not question the British presence in India. Dadabhai Naoroji, one of the grand old men of Indian politics, called his book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India which decried the drain of wealth from India to the British. Yet, despite the criticism he levelled against the rulers, the word 'British' carried connotations of justice and fair play. Indeed, there were times when nationalist leaders and British officials worked together  as in the Provincial Congress Ministries functioning for two years between 1937 and 1939. These events get little mention in national narratives.

There has also been an attempt to minimise the alien influences on Indian nationalism. Nationalism is seen as if it sprang solely from conditions within India than from ideas imported from Europe. One needs to underline that while Indian reality was formative for Indian politicians, so was British ideology. After all, Gandhi, Nehru and Patel were all partly products of the study of western liberal ideas of England.

Imperialism sought to depict the British departure as voluntary while nationalism sought to depict it as an eviction. But could the nationalist movement actually evict the British from India? The only all-out attempt to do so was made in August, 1942. It was with the 'Quit India' Movement that the Indian National Congress made its most determined effort to throw the British out. Yet, the slogan 'Quit India' is charged with more passion than what the events entailed. The British did not flee: instead, they crushed the main force of the movement in about three weeks, and reasserted imperial authority. Although glorified later with much fanfare, the 1942 Quit India Movement was a failure in terms of its own stated objective, and left the Congress leaders locked up in jail for three years. Mark the timing of independence  1947, not 1942. Indeed, if independence had come in 1942 instead of 1947, the task of nationalist history would have been simpler, and its fables more convincing.

Another impression sought to be created is that 1947 marks a new beginning. It was the year when India made a fresh start. The nature of state power before that is held to be different from the nature of state power after it. An alien state became indigenous, a regulatory state became a developmental one, and an exploitative and unjust state became a welfare state. A sudden metamorphosis took place in August 1947 as if a magic wand had been waved. The reality is that post Independence, the systems of governance remained much the same; and practically, it was 'business as usual.'

We often overlook the obvious continuities. With the departure of British superiors, the Indian Civil Service, the Indian police, the railways and other civilian services  and the Indian officers of the armed forces  readily stepped into the shoes of their erstwhile British compatriots and announced that their new boots fitted them very well. The British in India had already in the late eighteenth century become what Edmund Burke had perceptively called, 'a nation of placement.' The British in India had come to resemble the community of EM Forster's Chandrapore in A Passage to India; remote from Indians. Distancing from the common man became both the official policy and the aspiration of most members of the Indian services. The attitudes are no different in postcolonial India.

With a deliberate concealment of continuity, innumerable efforts were made to give the superficial impression that a new world was called into being in 1947. In 1950, India was declared a sovereign democratic republic with a new Constitution. The government tried to show that it was built on the wreckage of colonialism, rather than on the foundations provided by the colonial state. The officers of the Indian Civil Service, having served British, were retained in their posts, and were promoted; the members of the Indian National Army were not even rehabilitated; most of them gained a few moments of glory, and soon lost their livelihood. It was not the Indian National Army, but the British Indian Army, which provided the armed forces of independent India. And while the Constitution was hailed as the founding, original document of a new nation, much of it borrowed heavily from the Government of India Act of 1935. Most of the legal structures of British India, including its archaic colonial laws on secrecy and of sedition, remained firmly in place. There was a shift in rhetoric as the propaganda of imperialism gave way to the propaganda of the nation state.

The past bequeaths to us a diversity of memories. For those who lived through the events of the 1940s, the meaning of the events depended on their experiences. For the villagers of Bengal, the great famine dwarfed most other events of the 1940s. In North India, 1947 is still referred to as the year of 'partition' rather than independence; in South India, the reverse is the case. If the elation was visible at one extreme, the grief of the victims of famine, rape and murder was discernible at the other. In the euphoria, we ignore disparate voices. Gandhi's measure of swaraj (which has wider implications than mere freedom), was the condition of the 'last man.' Sadly, that last man, the helpless subaltern, is still languishing, his voice muffled further in the endless chatter of news channels concocting and certifying fables of nationalism.Rajesh Pillai

Rajesh Pillai

Media Entrepreneur

On August 15, we were planning to return to Thiruvananthapuram after the Independence Day celebrations in my 12-year-old son's school Aranmula in Pathanamthitta district, where my wife also works. My 82-year-old mother and pet dog were also with us. It had been raining continuously since August 14 evening. But rains being a part and parcel of Kerala life, we take them in our stride.

But soon the situation took an ugly turn. I went to the Pampa river bank around 2.30 am and found that water was submerging the roads nearby. We decided to move out by 5 am. But as we waited for sunrise, all our calculations went wrong. Showers gave way to unending torrents, which soon saw water filling the canals near our homes. The Pampa water level was rising at an alarming speed. By dawn, the water had made its way into the courtyard. We were trapped.

Even then, we were not panicky. After all, flood in the area was not that uncommon during the monsoons. But mostly, the water entered the road only to recede the next day. Experience told me that even in the worst scenario, half of our ground floor would be submerged. Knowing Pampa's nature, I was convinced that the water level would remain steady for another six hours and then bid goodbye. So we shifted the gas stove and cylinder, fridge and some furniture to the first floor and settled down. As the water started rising, the authorities shut down the power supply, fearing electrocution.

And then the deadly invasion began. Amid the gushing wind and unrelenting rains, the ground floor got fully submerged in front of our eyes. For a while we believed that we were safe and that the villainous deluge that had coiled itself in the ground floor would make an exit soon. Every breathing second was a prayer that the water level halts there! Death...he sat with us too, and added fuel to our torment.

While my family prayed, preparing for the inevitable, I sent SOSes to people. They included ministers, MLAs and the Chief Secretary. All responded and were truly concerned. But, the state administration was ill prepared and ill equipped to face the enormity of the doom. Help was nowhere in sight.

Darkness crept in. The flood water entered the first floor. It started accumulating in the corners, only to slowly advance towards us. The realisation sank in: the deluge was finally here.

Since our roof is sloped, there was no open terrace to give us the next level of refuge. These were petrifying moments, when you are completely aware of the watery grave and darkness that have engulfed you and yet you are kept alive mercifully. Every breathing second seemed a journey to eternity. Through the darkness, along with the amplified rhythm of our breaths, pierced the shrieks of the rising deluge. And rising above those were screams of humans and animals  in panic or in the grip of death.

In this intimidating time, I sat the whole night like a sentry, flashing the torchlight whenever I heard a sound, hoping it to be a rescue boat.

Meanwhile, the water level had risen up to our knees, leaving us half paralysed, powerless and defenceless.

Those were probably moments of the deepest introspection! What shattered me more was the way my little son clung on me, chanting "Om Namah Shivayah". To think that such a formidable turn of events had led to a spiritual awakening in him at such a tender age was emotionally crushing. The boy had placed faith in Lord Shiva, unflinchingly. Only if someone could save him....at least him!

It was then that I decided to call my daughter who was in Vijayawada, pursuing her masters in architecture. In the past 30 hours, we had responded to her frantic calls with caution. But now it was time to tell the truth. My wife and I spoke to her for what we thought was the final time. How she should handle life when we are no more with her, was what I tried conveying. All that I heard from her was her incessant sobbing.

Then I switched off the mobile, kept my bag on the loft and we all stood and started counting momentsthe last moments.

Meanwhile, there was a flurry of activity outside which was being coordinated by my brother who is based in Bahrain and assisted by my friends and colleagues. The SOS had reached the Chief Minister's Office and the Prime Minister's chamber. My heart sank when a chopper that was given my location coordinates from Delhi hovered over us for some time and left. They could not trace us and we had no open space to wave at them. The trees around had made the search all the more difficult. I grabbed my son and tried to comfort him in vain. Fear was written large on my wife's face. My mother was unusually calm and composed.

And the water was still rising.

It was probably then that Death decided to ease his watery grip on us. From nowhere came a fishing boat! We made all the noise and waved frantically at them. They saw us and approached us. I pinched myself to ensure that it was not an illusion. And it was indeed that extremely decisive moment when Death decided to gift us back to life.

As we, including our dog, settled down in the rusted old fibre boat and traversed through the directionless water path, nothing but a feeling of numbness grappled us. There was no doubt, a total sense of surrender and supplication before the divine superintendence, for being alive.

There are moments in life, when lexical references can never do justice to renderings of the heart. This was one such moment! But I was sure of one thing - never will I be deterred into doing any work that focuses on rehabilitation, in the small proportions that I can.

Life must go on, after all.Sankar Sen

Sankar Sen

Former Director General, National Human Rights Commission

The CBI Court in Kerala recently sentenced to death two police officers for custodial killing. In this case, a scrap dealer arrested by the police had to be released as he was found innocent, but he had to pay the price with his life when he demanded the return of money extorted from him by the police. He was taken to the Fort police station in Thiruvananthapuram and brutally tortured to death. The brave mother of the victim courageously and doggedly pursued the case which, after 13 years, ended in the accused being sentenced to death.

This is not perhaps the first case where serving police officers have been awarded the death sentence for committing brutal crimes. I recollect the case of a notorious police sub-inspector being awarded the death sentence by the lower court for gunning down a businessman, who refused to pay the extortion money, but the high court subsequently commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment.

Deaths in police custody in the country continue unabated and merit a searching analysis of the reasons behind it. Is it just police perversity or outcome of systemic malaise? The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had as early as in 1993 directed all state governments to report to it any death in police or jail custody within 24 hours. The Collectors and SPs were clearly warned that failure to report a custodial death would force the Commission to draw an adverse presumption.

NHRC records show that 2,860 people died in police custody in the 20 years between 1993 and 2013. This works out to an average of nearly 150 deaths in police custody every year. The pattern has held in the subsequent years also. It is true that all cases of deaths in police custody are due to custodial violence. Some commit suicide or die due to pre-existing ailments. NHRC closes such cases without ordering any monetary compensation but the stark fact remains that torture causes many deaths in police custody.

The scenario remains unchanged despite the courts punishing some errant police officers, firm directives of the apex court, a slew of recommendations of National and State HRCs, copious police orders and circulars.

The evil is not of recent origin though instances of custodial torture and violence by the police are now coming to notice with increasing frequency. The Torture Commission (1850) highlighted wide prevalence of torture in the police stations of Madras Presidency, and the Indian Police Commission (1902-03) also expressed serious concerns about prevalence of torture and deaths in police stations.

The deaths convey the impression that the police force is packed with sadists and maniacs, who relish the sight of broken skulls. This notion, however, is misleading. But pressure on the police mounts whenever there is a surge in crime and lawlessness. There is public outcry for apprehending the alleged criminals and bringing them to book, if necessary, by adopting extra-legal methods. Political masters too bear down on the police to ensure that criminals are booked and tend to wink at the lawlessness of the police. A perceptive writer on police psychology (Ben Whiteaker) has aptly observed that Janus-like, we have always turned two faces towards a police man. Because of incompatible demands of the public some policemen become stoically immune to criticism.

There is also an undercurrent of feeling among the police officers that it is difficult to nail them for the atrocities committed within police stations. Other colleagues including the seniors rally round them and try to whitewash their omissions and commissions. The blue code of silence will rule. Very few members of the public will muster courage to depose against them. This explains the low conviction rate. The National Police Commission analysed complaints of police torture and custodial deaths in eight states, and found that the charges against the aberrant police personnel could not be proved in most of the cases. Only in some judicial enquiries, they were found guilty, but seldom in departmental enquiries, which drag on interminably, and fail to sustain the charges. There is downright supervisory cowardice to expose and punish the violence prone subordinates. Group solidarity triumphs over oath to honour the law and uphold the Constitution.

The National Police Commission recommended mandatory judicial enquiries in all cases of custodial deaths. NHRCs annual reports mention the compensation awarded to the victims in cases of police torture and custodial deaths, but there is no indication of punishment imposed on the culpable officers. This is because in very few cases they are visited with exemplary punishment.

Unbecoming conduct of the police is not the outcome of aberration of some bad apples. Police deviance is deep-seated. It is caused by an organisational culture that does not frown upon misuse and abuse of force and glorifies the ethic of masculinity. In many police training institutions, the emphasis is still on hard-nosed and not humane policing. The human rights culture is yet to permeate the Indian police. Many police leaders forget the fact that indulgence in torture or other extra-legal strong arm tactics has a long term corroding effect on the police organisations.

It builds up a guild of professional torturers and plays havoc with police professionalism. In cases of custodial deaths, the police have to contrive elaborate ingenuous device to cover their tracks. Police work ceases to be straightforward and a bunker mentality grows. It is also a fact that most of the victims of custodial torture are poor and disadvantaged people with little political or financial power to back them. And, at times, pecuniary gains, become important considerations for custodial deaths, rather than investigation of cases.

Human rights training and sensitisation of the police force has had marginal impact but the more enduring result has been accomplished by constant exhortations by senior police leaders that custodial torture is illegal and counter-productive and will not be brooked.ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Touts, brokers and middlemen are bred and nurtured by archaic laws and bureaucratic systems. These rogue elements find a perfect breeding ground in India with a plethora of unnecessary regulations, indifferent legislators and illiterate majority. The Centre has tried to take the bull by the horns through its digital India campaigns and e-governance initiatives. Many states have also adopted tools of online administration, monitoring and governance. Digital payments have become popular. All these digital efforts, however, have failed to curb red-tape, tame bureaucrats and check corruption. The notion that the online system has helped in the elimination of intermediaries is still a fallacy. The same is amply evident when a citizen faces the online system while getting his or her property registered.

The Punjab Government claims that its online property registration system is very simple and citizen friendly that eliminates the scope of fraud and makes the process hassle free for citizens. Theoretically, one cannot dispute the claim. The ground reality is, however, different. Online registration has added another layer of touts and made the middleman-ship more lucrative. Besides their routine commission that they used to charge when the system was offline, the brokers now make additional bucks for providing online services to clients. The online system is cumbersome, the forms are complicated and the processes are technical for a common citizen, who has no option but to take the help of parasitic agents. Most of the citizens are digitally illiterate and need technical assistance. Even those who are well versed in computers do not want to bypass agents knowing well that at the end they would be the net loser because the corrupt system will ultimately reject their proposals on some grounds during the physical assessment.

Indeed, digital technology is here to stay. It has the power to cleanse the corrupt bureaucracy by cutting down on overregulation. In order to make Digital India successful, there is a need to make online systems and procedures simple. Non-governmental agencies should be roped in for digital literacy and they should also help citizens in carrying out online transactions.ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

The resounding failure of the August 12 Referendum 2020 rally in London has oddly enough whetted the appetite of pro-Khalistan elements in the West, especially in the US and the UK. Last week, president of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) Manjit Singh GK was allegedly attacked in the US by pro-Khalistan individuals. For those asking what business did the DSGMC chief have in the US, the simple answer is that the Sikh faith allows everyone entry into gurdwaras irrespective of race and creed. Recently a heartwarming picture of a Muslim man being permitted to pray in a gurdwara attested to this spirit of inclusivity fostered by all the Gurus.

Rahul Gandhi, too, was heckled during a town hall meeting in London but mercifully there was no physical violence involved nor was the venue a place of worship. A closer examination of the activities of anti-India dissidents abroad reveals that their motivation and determination are directly proportional to the long rope given by the host country. And it is inversely proportional if that countrys national interests  mainly business  are made to suffer. Canadian PM Justin Trudeaus loss of interest in the cause occurred after India gave him a cold shoulder on his official visit to the country.

The past has enough markers about the ratcheting up of anti-India activity abroad as a tool of foreign policy. The Khalistan bogey first reared its head when Indira Gandhi was at odds with the Anglo-American aims for the subcontinent. And now when India seems to be recalibrating its foreign policy to a more centrist orientation, the demand for Khalistan is enjoying a fresh lease of life. The past is also a guide to know how a tactical ploy by Western intelligence snowballed into an uncontrollable demon that ravaged the landscape of Punjab for over a decade. The cause of angst  a dozen commissions and committees have been unable to bring closure to 1984  can hardly be addressed by tilting at windmills. Or by being handmaidens of forces who have an axe to grind with their homeland.editorial@tribune.com

Sumedha Sharma

Tribune News Service

Gurugram, August 27

A 19-year-old was on August 12 abducted and gangraped by four persons at gunpoint for almost 15 days before being left to die. The victim, a resident of the Nagina block, approached the police on Sunday night, accusing four Kotla villagers of the crime.

I was on way to the fields when four persons pulled me inside their car. They took me to a jungle and took turns to rape me. They shot the crime on a mobile phone and threatened to circulate it in my village if I resisted them. They raped me for many days at gunpoint before I could flee. They uploaded the video and sent to village residents, the victim told the police.

The victim could not reveal much about the duration and place of captivity. Following her complaint, the police registered a case.

We have identified the accused and got medical examination conducted said investigating officer Muniya Devi.

Investigation revealed that the accused had attacked the victim a few months ago, but the family and village elders had covered it up.

Another teen reports rape

A teenager moved the Nuh police, reporting gangrape by six men who she claimed had an old enmity with her family.

The victim alleged the accused entered her house, thrashed her family members and dragged and gang-raped her to settle scores. The police have registered a case and investigating the matter.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 27

Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari and six Chief Ministers  Yogi Adityanath (UP), Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan), Trivendra Singh Rawat (Uttarakhand), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana), Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi) and Jai Ram Thakur (HP) will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the Rs 3,966-crore Lakhwar Multipurpose Project on the Yamuna, near Dehradun, in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The project is intended to generate 300 MW of power, create 33,780-hectare irrigation potential and 78.83 million cubic metre (MCM) water availability for the stakeholder states.

The Centre would fund 90 per cent of irrigation component with the six states. Of the total project cost of Rs 3,966.51 crore, power component of Rs 1,388.28 crore will be borne by the Uttarakhand Government.

Out of the remaining cost of Rs 2,578.23 crore, which form irrigation and drinking water components, 90 per cent will be borne by the Centre (Rs 2,320.41 crore) and 10 per cent will be divided between the states of Haryana (Rs 123.29 crore (47.82%), Uttar Pradesh/Uttarakhand ( Rs 86.75 crore (33.65%), Rajasthan (Rs 24.08 crore (9.34%), Delhi ( Rs 15.58 crore (6.04%) and Himachal Pradesh (Rs 8.13 crore (3.15%).

The Lakhwar project envisages the construction of a 204-metre-high concrete dam across the Yamuna in Dehradun.

The Planning Commission had approved the project in 1976 and the construction work started in 1987. The work was stopped in 1992 for want of funds. However, by them nearly 30 per cent of the work on the project was completed.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, August 28

Representatives of khap panchayats from various states have resolved to form a united platform  Jan Kalyan Manch  to push for their demand to legally ban intra-gotra marriages.

At a mahapanchayat held in Jind on Tuesday, the community leaders unanimously elected prominent khap leader from Delhis 360 villages Ram Karan Singh Solanki as the national patron, whereas Tek Ram Kandela of Sarvjatiya Khap Panchayat as the national convener of the manch.

A social and political leader from Jind, Kandela said the apolitical front was supported by khap leaders from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. He said the manch would soon nominate committee members with specific tasks to achieve their goals.

Kandela said the khap leaders decided to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and others to garner support for amendment to the Hindu Marriage Act.

We want a Central legislation banning marriages within the gotra and villages. Such practices are breach of the traditional brotherhood in rural society. Matrimonial alliances of intra-gotra or villages are against the socially accepted norms and traditions of villages, said Kandela.

Also, the community leaders demanded pension scheme for former members of panchayats on par with the MPs and MLAs, complete waiver of farm loans, a pension of Rs5,000 for each farmer above 42 years of age and implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report.

Kandela said Jind was a centrally located district of Haryana, and the government should promote an industrial hub for the development of the district.editorial@tribune.com

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 27

Hundreds of thousands of greeting cards and rakhis reaching Rohtak during the past 15 days to be delivered to jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh are being posted by dera followers from Haryana, Punjab and some other states as part of an orchestrated campaign.

The Tribune has learnt that with parliamentary elections due in May next year and Assembly polls in Haryana due in October 2019, the dera think tank has coordinated this move to prove the point that Ram Rahims influence over his followers is still intact and he is still politically relevant despite his confinement.

Postal material containing greeting cards and rakhis running into several thousands and weighing quintals have been reaching Rohtak to be delivered to Ram Rahim in the Sunaria jail.

The process started reaching Rohtak near his birthday on August 15 and still continued. Sources said most of the postal material had its origin in Haryana and Punjab while some was from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan too.

Kamal Kumar, Postmaster, Main Post Office, Sirsa, informed The Tribune that for the past 15 days, 600 to 700 envelopes per day were being dispatched from Sirsa for Ram Rahim by registered post and speed post while the number of letters going by ordinary post was much higher.

It started before August 15 and was still continuing. The number of letters being received at our counters has started coming down gradually now. Often, a single person comes with 10 to 15 letters. Initially, the letters contained greeting cards for Ram Rahims birthday. After August 15 we started receiving envelopes with rakhis. I had to open two special counters for dera followers so that the common man did not have to face any inconvenience, Kumar added.

A block-level committee member of the dera said each 15-member committee in Haryana and Punjab had been assigned the task of arranging at least 5,000 letters from their respective blocks.

The dera has 124 block-level committees in Haryana and 105 in Punjab. It has 25-member committees at the district level and 45-member committees at the state level.

We brought the BJP to power in Haryana in 2014, but the state government did not deal fairly with Guruji. Through these greetings and rakhis we want convey to all political parties that Gurujis following has not been affected by his conviction, said the dera functionary.

A senior dera functionary who has been active in various committees inside the dera before Ram Rahims conviction maintained that the followers had been sending greetings and rakhis on their own. Political leaders of the region, cutting across party lines, used to make a beeline to the dera to seek blessings from Ram Rahim near elections.

In the last Assembly polls, the dera had extended open support to the BJP, leading to the partys overwhelming victory and formation of its government for the first time.

In return, the dera had been getting benefits ranging from statutory permission for its projects by overlooking deficiencies to monetary grants from various governments.

With polls approaching, the dera wants to send across the impression that its political relevance remains intact despite Ram Rahims conviction.traineesubeditor@tribuneindia.com

BERLIN: Listening to soothing, meditative yoga music before sleep may be good for the heart, according to a study by Indian researchers.

"We use music therapy in our hospital and in this study we showed that yoga music has a beneficial impact on heart rate variability before sleeping," said study author Naresh Sen, a Consultant Cardiologist at HG SMS Hospital in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

The study, presented at the ongoing European Society of Cardiology Congress 2018 in Germany, investigated the impact of listening to yoga music, which is a type of soothing or meditative music, before bedtime on heart rate variability.

It included 149 healthy people who participated in three sessions on separate nights: yoga music before sleep at night; pop music with steady beats before sleep at night; and no music or silence before sleep at night.

At each session, heart rate variability was measured for five minutes before the music or silence started, for ten minutes during the music/silence, and five minutes after it had stopped.

In addition, anxiety levels were assessed before and after each session using the Goldberg Anxiety Scale. The level of positive feeling was subjectively measured after each session using a visual analogue scale.

The average age of participants was 26 years. The researchers found that heart rate variability increased during the yoga music, decreased during the pop music, and did not significantly change during the silence.

Anxiety levels fell significantly after the yoga music, rose significantly post the pop music, and increased after the no music session. Participants felt significantly more positive after the yoga music than they did after the pop music.

Sen noted that holistic therapies such as music cannot replace evidence-based drugs and interventions, and should only be used as an add-on.

"Science may have not always agreed, but Indians have long believed in the power of various therapies other than medicines as a mode of treatment for ailments," he said.

"This is a small study, and more research is needed on the cardiovascular effects of music interventions offered by a trained music therapist. But listening to soothing music before bedtime is a cheap and easy to implement therapy that cannot cause harm," he added.  PTI.A warrant was issued for Castle, who is currently in state prison in connection with an unrelated incident concerning the possession of controlled substances, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.editorial@tribune.com

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 27

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday ordered a magisterial inquiry into a clash between the police and Youth Congress activists outside the Vidhan Sabha on August 24 even as he accused the Congress of trying to gain political mileage from the incident.

It was after Opposition MLAs staged a walkout in the Vidhan Sabha, demanding a judicial inquiry and action against the erring police officials, that the CM made this announcement.

In a democracy, everyone has the right to express his viewpoint but there should be some objectivity in the argument. The Congress is behaving as if there is a complete breakdown of law and order in the state, he said.

After acceding to the request of the Congress, the CM appealed to the Opposition members to take part in the Assembly proceedings. Both ruling and Opposition are important part of the democracy, so I request them to join the proceedings as the government is keen that the House functions smoothly, he said.

We would have been happy had a discussion under Rule 67 on the police action been held. At least, everybody would have come to know the truth. The past incidents would also have been discussed when our leaders like Shanta Kumar had been injured while the Congress was in power, he said. He said the manner in which Youth Congress activists threw lathis and stones on the police, it invited sharp criticism from netizens. I have a lot of respect for the media but, surprisingly, one newspaper had even published the picture of an injured student in a Rajasthan incident, terming it a clash outside the Himachal Vidhan Sabha, he regretted.

Thakur also pointed out that though the permission had been given to the protest from 11.30am to 1.30pm by the Deputy Commissioner, the incident happened around 3.30 pm. The video clips show that some activists mounted the barricades and pelted stones. On the contrary, the police exercised restraint, he said. Even the BJP had held protests while in the Opposition, but peacefully and responsibly. He said nine police personnel had been injured in the incident and there was no need for a judicial inquiry when the Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police were present at the site. However, my government has no objection to an inquiry so that everyone knows the truth over which the Congress is creating a fuss, he announced.

What led to clash

Activists of the Youth Congress were allowed to hold demonstrations between 11.30 am and 1.30 pm by the Shimla Deputy Commissioner, but its workers held the protest at 3.30 pm. Some of them climbed barricades and started throwing stones and lathis at police personnel. Nine policemen were injured and the latter had to use water cannons to disperse the protesters.

Past incidents should also have been discussed

We would have been happy had a discussion on the police action been held. At least, everybody would have come to know the truth. The past incidents would also have been discussed when our leaders like Shanta Kumar had been injured when the Congress was in power. Jai Ram Thakur, Chief Minister

Scheme for state farmersmonicakchauhan@gmail.com

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 28

The Congress on Tuesday staged a walkout in the Vidhan Sabha over amendments made in the HP Power Policy 2006.

They termed the provision of waiving off 12 per cent royalty and free power for 12 years for power producers as sell out of states interest.

Congress legislators, including Mukesh Agnihotri and Harshwardhan Chauhan, accused the government of succumbing to the pressure from power lobby.

They accused the government of weakening Himachals case on power-related issues in the Supreme Court. Opposition members indulged in sloganeering as Power Minister Anil Sharma was giving a reply to the debate under the Rule 63.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 27

Town and Country Planning (TCP) Minister Sarveen Chaudhary on Monday said the government would take action as per law against encroachers and those who had dug up bore wells illegally in the Baddi Housing Board colony.

Replying to the query raised by Paramjeet Singh Pammi during question hour in the Assembly, the minister said the law was the same for all, whether rich or the common. Those who have illegally encroached on land in Pahse I,II and III in the housing board colony are very influential and no action is being taken against them, said Pammi. He added that these people had erected illegal structures from which they were earning huge rent. Chaudhary said the TCP had written to the Revenue Department for demarcation of the land but so far it had not been done. She said water connections to the 25 persons who had illegally bored wells had been disconnected, she informed the House. She assured the members that those who had committed illegalities will have to face action.

Replying to a query raised by CMP legislator Rakesh Singha, Agriculture Minister Ram Lal Markanday informed that a sum of Rs 18.39 lakh had been collected as premium under weather-based crop insurance scheme from farmers in Shimla district. A total of 1,310 farmers have been covered under the scheme and claims to the tune of Rs 18.38 lakh have been disbursed to the affected farmers, he said.

Replying to a query by Kishori Lal, Horticulture Minister Mahender Singh said rationalisation would be undertaken to fill vacancies.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 28

The Congress on Tuesday created ruckus in the Vidhan Sabha over the huge pendency in grant of old age pension for which the age criteria had been reduced from 80 years to 70 years by the BJP regime.

It was during the reply to a query sought by Ramesh Dhwala and Vikramaditya Singh in the Vidhan Sabha that there were heated exchanges on the issue. Urban Development Minister Sarveen Chaudhary was replying to the query in the absence of Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Rajiv Sehjal.

The Congress members led by Mukesh Agnihotri and Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu took on the government on the issue of delay. Chaudhary herself informed the House that out of a total of 40,359 application received so far 17,981 cases had been approved while the remaining 22,378 were still pending.

While the minister was replying, the Congress MLAs were on their toes demanding the reason for delay. They pointed out that when there is no income criteria for this then why was there such a he pendency, resulting in wait for the applicants. Speaker Rajeev Bindal tried to pacify, both the minister as well as the opposition benches.

It was Irrigation and Public Health Minister (IPH) who intervened to pacify the Congress legislators. This is a very laudable step taken by our regime but obviously the pension cant be given overnight as verification of documents has to be done. However, I can assure there is no dearth of funds for the pension and every eligible person would get kit, he assured, pacifying the agitated members.

Replying to a question by Anirudh Singh on widening of Circular Road in Shimla, IPH minister informed that work on 28 out of a total of 70 points had been completed. Work is underway on 14 points while in case of 28 points, the concerned departments had been requested to give the possession of land, he said. The minister said that a sum of Rs 18.84 crore had bene provided for the work.

Replying to a question by Narender Thakur on irregularities in the Kangra Central Cooperative Bank (KCCB), Industry Minister Vikram Singh assured that a probe had already been ordered and the guilty will not be spared.

The minister pointed out that out of loans to the tune of Rs 174 crore disbursed by the KCCB, there was an NPA of Rs 64 crore.

What is surprising is that the loan defaulters are those who have no dearth of money and are living a lavish life but not returning loans, said Thakur. He said the movable and immovable assets of such defaulters must be confiscated.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 27

The Opposition on Monday turned the heat on the government on the issue of police high-handedness during the Youth Congress protest. Venting ire, leaders staged a walkout.

The moment the Vidhan Sabha began after a two-day break, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mukesh Agnihotri urged Speaker Rajeev Bindal to allow a debate under Rule 67, sought by Congress MLAs. Even before the Speaker could give his ruling, heated exchanges started taking place between the treasury benches and Opposition members as Nurpur MLA Rakesh Pathania took on the latter.

Both sides indulged in counter-sloganeering as complete pandemonium prevailed in the House. The Congress MLAs trouped to the Well of the House, demanding a judicial probe into the clash between the police and Youth Congress activists and action against the former for using force. They were seen waving newspaper clippings of the police action and pictures of the bleeding Youth Congress activists. Some MLAs were also holding CDs of the incident. As there was bedlam, the Speaker adjourned the House at 2.15 pm for 15 minutes. The House re-assembled at almost 2.40 pm as the Speaker had invited Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Bhardwaj and Leader of the Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri for talks to end the deadlock. Agnihotri said it would not be accepted if the Opposition was not even allowed to speak by ruling party MLAs like Pathania.

It is so strange that we are not even being allowed to speak. We only want a judicial probe into the incident and action against those responsible for injuring the activists who were silently protesting, he said.

Agnihotri said he, along with Asha Kumari, Sukhiwnder Singh Sukhu and Anirudh Singh, had given a notice under Rule 67 for allowing a debate.

It does not behove of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Bhardwaj to say we (BJP) have taken revenge for the attack on our office by Youth Congress workers, he said. Sukhu pointed out that the police action was completely unprovoked and the Youth Congress activists only wanted to submit a memorandum to the Chief Minister. The Congress MLAs once again got provoked when Rakesh Pathania countered the Opposition. They trouped to the Well of the House, raising slogans.

Bedlam in House as cong MLAs not allowed to speakeditorial@tribune.com

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 28

Over 200 Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) companies are being deployed in the 10 districts of the Valley to instil confidence into people in the run-up to the panchayat elections.

The authorities have retained 203 CAPF companies (over 15,000 personnel) deployed by the Ministry of Home Affairs for the two-month Amarnath yatra which concluded on Sunday. The 15,000 personnel are now being deployed in all districts of the Valley for the pre-election duties.

According to an order issued by the J&K Police, of the 203 companies, the highest number of 71 companies is being deployed in central Kashmirs Srinagar, Ganderbal and Budgam districts. In north Kashmir, 61 companies are being deployed and 49 are being deployed in south Kashmir. Many companies have also been kept at the disposal of the police in Srinagar.

In the run-up to the forthcoming panchayat elections, the CAPF companies which were here for the yatra duty are being deployed in various district, a security official said.

If the need arises, some more personnel may be deployed for the upcoming civic polls, the security official said.

Of the total personnel being deployed, the Central Reserve Police Force has the highest number of 132 companies, followed by the Border Security Forces 32, Indo-Tibetan Border Police has 25 and Sashastra Seema Bal has 13.

The state is planning to hold the elections to the urban local bodies in September-October and the panchayat polls are slated to be held during October-December this year.

The panchayat elections were scheduled in 2016 but could not be held due to the unrest. As a result, nearly Rs 1,200 crore funds meant for Central schemes were not released.

The last panchayat elections in the state were held in 2011 after a gap of 33 years and saw over 80 per cent voting.editorial@tribune.com

Srinagar, August 27

As the petitions challenging Article 35A are scheduled for hearing before the Supreme Court on August 31, senior Peoples Democratic Party leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig has flown to Delhi to appear in the case, challenging the provision on behalf of his party.

Considered an authority on the constitutional relationship of the state with the Union of India, Baig is scheduled to lead a team of lawyers on behalf of the Peoples Democratic Party in its intervention plea filed by the party through its president Mehbooba Mufti last week, a PDP statement said.

When the PDP was in power in the state, it had engaged the services of renowned jurist and famous constitutional expert Fali S Nariman to represent the state in defence of Article 35A and other constitutional provisions ensuring special position of the state, the statement said.

However, after the imposition of Governors rule in the state and unaware of the present dispensations course, the PDP has decided to approach the Supreme Court seeking intervention in the matter by filing a petition on its own, it added.  TNSeditorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 28

Facing continued neglect, the displaced Kashmiri Pandits have decided to approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a plea to constitute a monitoring agency to track the use of funds released under the security related expenditure scheme for the welfare of 3.50 lakh people, who were forced to leave the Valley in 1990.

The expenditure incurred by the state in respect of relief and rehabilitation of militancy victims is reimbursed by the Government of India under the security related expenditure, but the community has been alleging that it is being diverted by the state government to other sectors.

As per the data, an assistance of Rs 1,599.18 crore has been provided to the J&K Government by the Centre in this respect since 1989-90, which included the relief provided to the displaced Kashmiri Pandits.

Right from the construction of multi-storey units in Jammu at Jagti, Muthi and Nagrota and transit camps in Kashmir, housing the Prime Ministers package employees, there have been charges of corruption against officials and contractors for using poor quality material.

Even the water supply scheme for the camps in Jammu and transit camps in Kashmir has not been completed for the last eight years. Notable among them are the multi-crore scheme at Jagti township and Rs 2-crore drinking water project for the Veervan camp in Baramulla.

Sources said the funds utilised through the Relief Organisation (Migrants) had turned into a goldmine for officials and contractors, especially in construction of multi-storey flats in Jammu that were in a dilapidated condition.

The government says crores are being spent for the welfare of the Pandits. However, a visit to the townships in Jagti, Nagrota, Muthi, Purkhoo and Buta Nagar presents a grim picture. The multi-storey housing units are constructed using low-grade material and even repairs are not carried out regularly. So, where are the funds meant for the repairs going? asked SL Pandita, president, Jagti Tenement Committee.

For years, the Pandit community has been demanding white paper from the government to investigate the reason for their exodus and slow pace of the implementation of the PMs rehabilitation package.

The only way to end ambiguity is to establish a monitoring mechanism and allow the Central government to implement the rehabilitation package directly. This is the sole way of bringing transparency, said TK Bhat, general secretary, All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference.editorial@tribune.com

Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 28

Director General of Police (DGP) Shesh Paul Vaid on Tuesday flagged his concern over Pakistans relentless social media campaign to mislead the youth of the state, saying the J&K police have taken measures to counter neighbouring countrys propaganda.

We have taken various measures to counter social media campaign launched by the neighbouring country to mislead our youth. We have blocked several accounts on the social media, the DGP said while addressing police personnel at the attestation-cum-passing-out parade at Vijaypur in Samba district.

He said the police had created 26 Facebook pages at the range and zonal levels while 189 pages had been created at the police station level. We have also started 31 Twitter handles, Vaid said.

Highlighting the supreme sacrifices made by the state policemen, he said, As many as 1,660 police personnel have been martyred for the country and the state while fighting terrorism, proxy war and maintaining peace. This supreme sacrifice is equivalent to the sacrifices made during the Kargil war, Vaid said.

MHA approached for 5,000 residential quarters

The DGP also disclosed that the state police have approached the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) with a request to fund the construction of 5,000 residential quarters for policemen working in different parts of the state.

We have requested the MHA for allowing us to construct 5,000 residential quarters in different parts of the state because the terrorists are targeting our men and their families. Once the proposal gets approval, these quarters will be constructed in Jammu, Srinagar, and other parts of the state, Vaid said.

Pertinently, militants have recently targeted policemen, particularly in the Kashmir valley. A fortnight ago, about two dozen special police officers (SPOs) posted in south Kashmir had quit from the department. The DGP also said the police department had increased the ex gratia in case of SPOs from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 17.5 lakh if they attain martyrdom in the line of duty. Similarly, the ex gratia of policemen and officers has been increased from Rs 27 lakh to Rs 55 lakh. We are making efforts to increase it further, Vaid said.editorial@tribune.com

Jammu, August 27

The police on Monday registered a case of sedition against unknown persons for raising anti-national slogans during a rally organised by Javed Ahmed Rana, National Conference legislator, in favour of Article 35A at Mendhar in Poonch on August 25.

An FIR under Sections 124A (sedition) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) has been registered at the Mendhar police station against unknown persons for raising anti-national slogans. The FIR was registered on a complaint by the Poonch District Magistrate under Section 196 of the CrPC after a video showing protesters raising anti-national slogans during a protest was circulated, Rajiv Pandey, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Poonch, told The Tribune.

We will identify all these persons who raised slogans and will seek warrant from the court for initiating legal action against them, Pandey said, maintaining, This was the second such incident in Poonch where protesters raised such slogans. He said there were some people in the district who were acting as instigators in the district. People in Poonch district have never endorsed the secessionist tendency. Some miscreants are instigating people and we will identify them soon, the SSP said. The NC MLA had called for a shutdown in Mendhar to caution the Government of India against tinkering with Article 35A of the Constitution. He had also warned that the dilution or scrapping of the provision would have serious ramifications. Rana has remained in controversies for his statements recently.  TNSeditorial@tribune.com

Ishfaq Tantry

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 27

The change of Governor notwithstanding, the state government will press for the deferment of hearing into the petitions challenging the validity of Article 35A of the Constitution, citing the forthcoming panchayat elections.

As the matter is slated to come up before the Supreme Court on August 31, sources said the lawyers representing the J&K Government had been given instructions to seek the adjournment of the hearing into the matter.

The matter is listed on August 31. Our stand would be the same that we had taken earlier. The J&K Government will request for an adjournment, a J&K Government law official connected with the matter disclosed on condition of anonymity.

When the matter had been listed on August 8, the previous J&K administration headed by NN Vohra had sought an adjournment of the hearings on account of the ongoing preparations for the upcoming panchayat/urban local bodies and municipal elections.

The official said there was no other option for the J&K Government other than to seek the adjournment till December, as it had done earlier.

However, J&K Law Secretary Abdul Majid Bhat when contacted said he could not discuss with the media what stand the state government was going to take before the Supreme Court.

As stated in our preliminary objections in the matter, our stand is that the matter related to 35A has already been settled (in 1962 and 1969) by the apex court, he said while refusing to disclose the stand.

The writ petitions challenging Article 35A were adjudicated by the Supreme Court in Purandal Lakhanpal versus President of India and others in 1962 and Sampat Prakash versus the state of Jammu and Kashmir and others in 1969.The contentions were rejected in both cases.

Petitions filedshalender@tribune.com

Mona

With elections around the corner, one would think its all about swanky cars, fiery speeches, posters in every nook and corner of the Panjab University...but, books? That too on Bhagat Singh may seem out of place!

Not really, four students of Lalkaar, Punjab Student Union, happily spread out their stash, sandwiched between an election campaign and Khalsa Aid stall.

There are books right from Maxim Gorky to Munshi Premchand in Hindi, English, Punjabi; but it is literature on Bhagat Singh and posters that stand out. Look out at the hujoom of the people aiming to make it in politics; they are the ones who need the books the most, they shout in unison in order to be heard over the speech and the sound of clapping.

Many takers

The books, priced anything between Rs 5 to Rs 300, have many takers. A PhD student in Women Studies, with thesis centred on domestic violence, Virender, picks up three  Katyayanis Prem, Pramapara Aur Vidroh, Radhamohan Gokuls Ishwar Ka Bahishkar and Rahul Sankrityayans Tumhari Kshay  his bill totalling to a mere Rs 55. He wants Sankrityayans Dimagi Ghulami too, which the girl behind the counter duly notes.

Dikshant Thakur, who loves Durjoy Dutta and Dan Brown, is interested in knowing much more about Bhagat Singh. A wide range of experience that reading provides makes physics students  Hartanya Kaur and Komal Kaur  swing towards the stall. You think of Bhagat Singh and the first thought to hit you is that at the age when he made the supreme sacrifice!

As many individuals, as many voices...finding perfect echo in books amongst the din of finding next student leaders of the university; all is abuzz on PU campus.

mona@tribunemail.comHarvinder Khetal

Harvinder Khetal

There is fresh excitement over the renewed possibility of a Sikh pilgrim corridor to Pakistan ever since Navjot Singh Sidhu claimed that the Pakistan army chief, Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, had told him of Pakistans intention to connect Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur in Pakistan with Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district. He was also given a dateline: it would open on the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, which is next year.

That would be historic. 2019 may well be the year when visa-free flow of people, limited to start with, between the two Punjabs would begin  for the first time since the 1965 war. The notion felt akin to that other historic event of November 8, 1989: the fall of the Berlin wall. It had led to the citizens of the same ethnic stock from East and West Germany freely crossing the boundaries following the thawing of the Cold War.

From this hopeful picture of a rosy future, I recalled the summer of 2016 when I had gone on a pilgrimage to Pakistan with a Sikh jatha visiting various shrines symbolising landmarks of the Sikh Gurus. Under a tight security umbrella, we paid obeisance at Gurdwara Janam Asthan (the place where Guru Nanak was born in 1469) in Nankana Sahib. Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hasan Abdal and Gurdwara Sacha Sauda in Farooqabad were the other important places on the itinerary. On the last leg of the yatra was the Dera Sahib gurdwara in Lahore.

All this while, contact with kith and kin was limited to making calls from the telephone sets installed by the hosts in the gurdwara precincts. For, our mobile sets had fallen silent the moment we had crossed over to Wagah. Almost immediately after the gates on the border closed and as the train trundled into foreign soil, the lack of Internet and mobile data had considerably depleted the smartness of our phones. They were mostly coming in handy for clicking pictures.

The morning after checking into Lahore, we were bundled into a fleet of buses to visit a couple of gurdwaras in the 150-km radius of the city. Riding through verdant fields, as we reached the secluded Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur, with drones keeping a watch on us, we realised that we were just 3 km from India  from Dera Baba Nanak, to be exact. On a clear day, Indians can view the site that marks the final resting place of Guru Nanak. So near, yet so far! The borders hold back people on both sides.

While I was partaking of a langar of karhi-chawal, I noticed a strange activity. Many pilgrims were intently radiating off to different directions, their mobile phones crackling in their ears. The signal had come alive! Crossing over the Ravi separating the two countries, not recognising the Radcliffe Line marking the border, the airwaves seemed to scoff at the manmade borders!ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Hanoi, August 27

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday inaugurated the Jaipur Foot camp here and met with 500 Vietnamese beneficiaries of the free India-made prosthetic limb.

Swaraj is in Vietnam on the first leg of her four-day two-nation tour aimed at deepening Indias strategic cooperation with Vietnam and Cambodia  the key countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region.

The minister met with the beneficiaries and encouraged a girl to walk with the newly-fitted artificial limb.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Ravish Kumar said in a tweet: Together with you when you take those small steps! EAM @SushmaSwaraj inaugurated the Jaipur foot camp and encouraged a girl to walk with the newly fitted artificial limb. 500 Vietnamese beneficiaries were present at the Camp organised in the Phu Tho province of Vietnam (sic). PTIsanjiv@tribunemail.com

Shiv Kumar & Naveen S Garewal

Tribune News Service

Mumbai/Hyderabad, August 28

The Maharashtra Police on Tuesday conducted nationwide raids on the homes and offices of prominent Left-wing activists and arrested at least five persons for their suspected links with Maoists, prompting human rights defenders and Opposition to call it virtual declaration of emergency.

The raids were carried out as part of a probe into the violence between Dalits and upper caste Peshwas at Koregaon-Bhima village, near Pune, after the Elgar Parishad (conclave) on December 31 last year.

Officials said two letters recovered over the past few months, indicating Maoist plans to assassinate PM Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and Home Minister Rajnath Singh, were also a reason for the raids.

Taking a dig, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said there was place for only one NGO in the new India and it was the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh).

Those arrested include Left-wing Telugu poet Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, activist-lawyers Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai, trade union activist Sudha Bhardwaj in Faridabad and activist-journalist Gautam Navlakha from Delhi.

They were charged under various Sections of the IPC, including 153 (A) for promoting enmity on grounds of religion, race, place or birth, residence, language and committing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony, besides Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for their alleged Naxal activities, said a police official.

The police said eight places in Hyderabad, Ranchi, Delhi, Faridabad and Mumbai were searched. Houses of journalist Tekula Kranthi in Hyderabad and tribal leader Father Stan Swamy in Jharkhand were also searched.

The police said those arrested were linked to five people  Dalit activist Sudhir Dhawale, lawyer Surendra Gadling, activist Mahesh Raut, academic Shoma Sen and activist Rona Wilson  arrested in June in connection with the Elgar Parishad, commemorating 200 years of the Koregaon Bhima battle in 1818.

In Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee leader Varavara Rao was arrested after an eight-hour raid on his Gandhi Nagar residence. Several documents were seized in the searches.

The raids were apparently carried out after investigators got leads from data found in a laptop seized from the five arrested in June. The laptop reportedly contained the names of those allegedly financing the Maoists. The police had recovered a letter written by a person identified only as R that revealed a Maoist plot to kill PM Modi.

Amnesty International and other groups, including Peoples Union for Civil Liberties, called the action a concerted attempt to crush human rights interventions. Author Arundhati Roy said: In the run-up to polls, it is an attempted coup against the Constitution and all freedoms that we cherish.

WHO ARE THEY

Varavara Rao

Telugu poet was arrested multiple times between 1973 and 1986 in different cases, including 1986 Ramnagar conspiracy case

Gautam Navlakha

Delhi-based journalist has written extensively about alleged rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir

Sudha Bharadwaj

Fought for rights of Bhilai mine workers in Chhattisgarh. The civil rights activist and lawyer has also been fighting against land acquisition

Arun Ferreira

Mumbai-based activist was alleged to be leader of propaganda and communications wing of CPM (Maoist)

Vernon Gonzalves

The former lecturer is accused of being former secretary of Maharashtra State Rajya Committee of Naxalites

Relief for two

Activist Gautam Navlakha obtained a stay order from the Delhi High Court, preventing the Maharashtra Police from taking him out of Delhi till Wednesday

Activist Sudha Bharadwaj, too, got relief from the Punjab and Haryana High Court as it directed that she be kept at her home at Badarpur border in Haryana from where she was arrested

(With agency inputs)rchopra@tribunemail.com

Muzaffarnagar, August 28

A driver of a school bus, which had 34 children on board, was shot at by unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants in Uttar Pradeshs Shamli district, police said on Tuesday.

The incident took place on Monday near Jatbhaneda village. The bus was carrying the children from Maharaja Surajmal Public School to their homes, Additional Superintendent of Police Shalok Kumar said.

The driver was admitted to a local hospital in a serious condition, he said.

The bus was stopped by four men on two motorcycles and when the driver got down, they shot at him, the officer said.

Police are trying to identify the assailants. The cause behind the attack is not known, Kumar said. PTIROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 27

Ahead of the September 25 rollout of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, each one of the 10.74 crore families entitled to benefits under the scheme will receive a VVIP mail  a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The letter will contain all the information a beneficiary family requires to avail of the worlds largest health protection plan.

It will bear the PMs signature and contain unique IT codes of the family along with names of its members. The letter will be called beneficiary information letter and its hallmark will be the family card which will have the names of all entitled members.

This is only the second occasion in recent times when a sitting PM will be writing personally to beneficiaries to disseminate information on a given scheme. Former PM Manmohan Singh had on November 11 (Education Day) in 2011 written to 13 lakh elementary school principals across India to inform them of the passage of the Right to Education Act. PM Modis letter to each beneficiary of the National Health Protection Mission (NHPM) will also be personalised and mark the high priority the government is attaching to the plan, which is set to become the BJPs top campaign plank for 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Health Minister JP Nadda on Monday unveiled the logo of the Mission plus anti-fraud and data privacy guidelines. The minister said 29 states had signed the MoUs with the Centre, five states  Punjab, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu were in the process of signing  and two  Telangana and Odisha  will sign later (read after state elections next year). Eighteen states have chosen the trust model to settle claims under the scheme which has attracted 10,000 empanelment applications from hospitals, said the minister.

So far we have identified 85 per cent rural area beneficiaries and 60 per urban area beneficiaries, Nadda said. A call centre with helpline 14555 will become operational from September 25 to distribute scheme-related information.

Nadda categorically said websites and agents circulating wrong information about the scheme would face criminal cases.

About PM Jan Arogya Yojana

Rs 11,000 cr the scheme will cost per year

10.74 cr poor families listed under Socio Economic Caste census to benefit

Rs 5 lakh financial protection per family per year guaranteed

1,300 procedures in 23 specialties rates finalised

50% procedures need pre-authorisation; all govt hospitals empanelled

Sept 25 is the rollout date of the worlds largest health planeditorial@tribune.com

Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 28

Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday inked Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chief Ministers of Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi for the construction of Lakhwar multi-purpose project in the Upper Yamuna Basin.

After signing the agreement, Gadkari expressed hope that completion of the project would give boost to economic activities, especially agriculture sector in the states concerned.

The problem of water shortage in all six states will be resolved once the project is complete as flow in the Yamuna river will improve in dry season from December to May-June every year, he said.

Upper Yamuna refers to the stretch from the point of Yamunas origin in Yamunotri Glacier at Banderpooch peaks in the lower Himalayan region in Uttarakhand to the Okhla Barrage in Delhi. Yamuna is the longest and second largest tributary of the Ganges in north India.

Chief Ministers  Trivendra Singh Rawat (Uttarakhand), ML Khattar (Haryana), Jai Ram Thakur (Himachal Pradesh), Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan) and Arvind Kejriwal (Delhi)  too exuded optimism on projects positive impact.

Gadkari said the focus was also on abating pollution in Yamuna under Clean Ganga Mission. As many as 34 projects are being taken on the river out of which 12 are in Delhi which will ensure that the water going to Haryana and Rajasthan will be nirmal (pure).

The Rs 3,967-crore project envisages construction of 204-m high concrete dam across Yamuna near Lohari village in Dehradun district of Uttarakhand with a live storage capacity of about 331 MCM.

This storage will provide irrigation for 33,780 hectares and availability of about 79 MCM water for domestic, drinking and industrial use in the six basin states.

The project, to be executed by Uttarakhand Jal Nigam Limited (UJVL), will also generate 300 MW of power.

Of the total project cost, the power component of about Rs 1,388 crore will be borne totally by the Uttarakhand Government. The state will also get benefit of total power generation once the project is complete.

Of the remaining cost of about Rs 2,578 crore which forms the irrigation and drinking water components, 90 per cent will be borne by the Centre (Rs 2,320 crore) and the basin states pitching in cumulatively for the balance 10 per cent.

Storage created as result of the project will be shared by these states in proportion. Except the sharing of stored water, all other resultant economic benefits, including generation of hydropower due to construction of the dam, are assigned to Uttarakhand.ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 27

Officials of India and Pakistan will meet in Lahore this week to continue ongoing dialogue on the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), having held the last round in March this year.

The 115th meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC), led by the Indus Commissioners on both side and comprising technical experts, is scheduled for August 29 and 30. The Indian delegation led by PK Saxena will hold discussions with the Pakistan side led by Syed Muhammad MeharAli Shah.

This will be the first round of official dialogue on the subject since the Imran Khan government took over this month. The two-day talks are expected to focus on Indian hydropower projects at Lower Kalnai (48 MW) and Pakal Dul (1000 MW) under construction in Jammu and Kashmir in Chenab basin.

Islamabad had objected to the construction in the last round of talks and called the designs violative of the IWT. India dismisses the objection as baseless and insists the designs are in compliance with the treaty.

The PIC, formed under the IWT signed in 1960, comprises Indus Commissioners for both countries. It is an established mechanism under the IWT to promote cooperation in development of Indus Water Systems.

The treaty signed with World Bank mediation after nine years of negotiations mandates the PIC to meet at least once a year alternately in India and Pakistan. The IWT allows control of water flowing in eastern rivers of Beas, Sutlej and Ravi to India, while Pakistan has control over Indus, Chenab and Jhelum.

In the March meeting, according to sources, Pakistan had requested India to allow tours to the Indus Basin, including to Kishenganga and Ratle hydro projects. The request has been pending since 2014 and as per norms under the PIC, the tour has to take place within five years of request.

Chenab projects may be discussedROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Sreevalsan Thiyyadi

In flood-hit Alappuzha, filmmaker Dhanya Rajagopal is cleaning houses. At Tripunithura, Dr Shibu KP skips his morning consultations and drives past Kochi to work as a plumber-electrician in Paravur. Further north near Thrissur, AT Jaya is spending the Onam break with her college students  all of them carrying buckets and brooms.

A consumerist state known for its burgeoning immigrant labourers, Keralas elite are quietly doing manual work for those affected in the August deluge, for free. In fact, many withdraw into a shell when asked for details. For instance, a promoter of a Kochi-based Rs 1,000-crore company wont reveal his name. He wants no publicity whatsoever. Ajeesh Nair, though, wont mind revealing what he is up to  draining out water from wells in his neighbourhood.

In Ernakulam districts Kalamassery, a general manager with a tyre firm, in his mid-thirties, says, Potable water is in shortage. So are pumps on rent. Hence, we have bought one.

In upstate Malappuram district, M Usman of the Parappanangadi municipal council is overwhelmed. Engineers, CAs... holding a brush and washing toilets... We never expected such a response.

Around Aluva, where Keralas longest Periyar river wreaked havoc, film actor Tovino Thomas has joined volunteers, gunny bags on his shoulders. A more popular Malayalam hero, Indrajith, is at a suburban Kochi camp for similar efforts.

Dhanya, an assistant director for a Mammootty-starrer, says he is cleaning up Kuttanad because its in a real bad shape. It is to this low-lying area that Chennai-based radiologist Smitha Makkat took a train once rail traffic was restored. Seeing the local residents optimism as I helped them out, I became cheerful, she says.

Prof Jaya of Prajyothi Niketan College in Pudukad is making ravaged houses liveable. Emptying a house of its furniture before cleaning the mud requires manpower. Once that is done, there is a huge sense of relief, she observes.

Assisted by his son Krishnanunni K, an MBBS student, Dr Shaju, a homoeopathy practitioner, fixes water taps and power connections.

I always had an interest in repairing faucets and rewiring. I have the tools for the tasks too, he says, working on a pressure cleaner. Never thought they would come in handy this way, Dr Shaju adds, pensively.